Of Webs and Shells-time to come together
Madam Web took a sip of tea. "Yes, I know. We're cutting you off right at the most important moment." She nodded to the audience. "But as one thread of the web of life diverges in its path, several more are drawn together." She showed off several images of the web, where the nine universes presented themselves.
"Every moment they're growing, connecting, changing one another." She narrated with a smile. "… No idea what led to two Spider-men liking Karai though, really thought there'd be more variety."
She leaned forward. "Ah, now I have your interest … then let us see what fates await these spiders … we'll, most of them."
Sensei Mikey( hah, he loved that he got to use that title now) watched as his children returned. If you had told a much younger version of himself that he would take on the next generation of the Hamato clan…well, he would've shouted awesome and 'in your face' to his brothers, but then he would've thought about the implication about having kids, and then get freaked out. Point was, he didn't think that He'd be the one to take on Master Splinter's role. He always figured that would fall to Leo.
But as fate would have it, destiny put all of his brother's on a different path. Leo took Splinter's ashes to Japan, where he stayed, perhaps even to this day. Donnie decided to go off planet to do his science thing, and Raph … the less said about him the better, as much as Mikey hated to ignore the past …
Peter, April, and Casey, as awesome as they were, were still human…even with Spider-man's blood, that only extended his life by so much. They all died young compared to most of the mutants that populated the planet now.. It hurt, but he learned to accept death after Splinter's passing. So soon, Mikey was the only one left remaining in the lair, looking after the old place.
At first it was boring, then lonely, then not so lonely when voices popped into his head, then scary when the voices wouldn't shut up, then weird when he was tripping and saw a massive turtle cosmology, and finally, he was peaceful once more … Then he got lonely again. It wasn't long before Mikey decided he couldn't live alone after the first day.
Luckily, like the tides of the water, the earth changed, and fortunately for the better. Mutants, aliens, robots, everyone got to live and party on the surface as equals….for the most part. Oddly enough, it was humans that were discriminated against now due to their rarity. He didn't know if it counted as Karma or Irony.
So Mikey rented an apartment with a roommate, it tried to eat him, he beat them up, he walked the streets, then somehow got roped into a death match. Mikey planned on breaking out … until he learned the prize was free pizza from Antonio's for life!
Unfortunately for Mikey, he did not get that prize. Because his first opponents were four small, weak, scared children. The 'entertainment' section. That alone was enough for Mikey to unleash his completely awesome and totally unmatched ninja sensei skills, and whip the butts of the people incharge of such a sick and cruel game.
From there he had a tiny problem that would eventually grow into a great joy … he couldn't ditch the kids. They got attached and thought he was radical and cool, which he was. They even tracked Mikey after he tried to fake a trail. Granted he wasn't trying … but there was potential.
And as he gazed on them, he could almost feel it … Splinter's hand on his shoulder, Peter's on the other … students and responsibility and all that. For Mikey to become a father … that was something he couldn't ever had expected, but something that he wouldn't trade for the world.
"Sensei Mikey!" The youngest and definitely most spirited of his new turtles, Kusuma ran up to him in an affectionate hug. "We beat our first bad guy! Can we throw a pizza party!?"
"Of course. Beating bad guys is always cause for celebration." Out of all his children, Kusuma was the one that felt the most 'Mikey-like', which was both a good and bad thing as the wise turtle found out. Like himself, the girl was rather hyperactive and tended to sway off course when distracted, but she more than made up for it with her frantic energy. But unlike Mikey's style of going with the flow and fighting without thought, the girl was more of a savage animal, similar to Raphael.
"We don't deserve Pizza. We didn't beat the bad guy on our own." The second oldest of his children, Jackson, spoke with his head down in disappointment. "I'm sorry Sensei, we have failed you." He was definitely the most Leo-like of the group. Disciplined, straight laced, and a bit of a buzzkill. Unlike Leo though, who fought to prove his own worth and skill, Jackson solely disciplined himself to meet his sensei's, aka, MIKEY'S standards and approval.
"Yeah, but we totally managed to take out most of the droids, beat up Mysterio, and hack Stark tech. I'd count that a win." Basgue pointed out. "And we did it without getting hurt, so double win in my book." He was definitely the Donnie of the group, although there was a healthy dose of street smarts his lanky brother lacked. Who knows, maybe this one could hold a stable relationship with a girl. The only real complaint Mikey had for him was his fear of pain, something that the turtle mechs only complicated sadly. Sure, giant mecha turtles were awesome and he'd never tell his kids to get rid of them, but a metal suit could only get you so far in life. Otherwise you just ended up with another Metalhead.
"Not to mention we made besties with a super-hero! That alone is a win that lasts a lifetime." And last, but certainly not least, was the oldest of his children, Frida. She took after Raphael, except more suited to the role of leadership. Her temper was miles below what his brother's was, and unlike Raph, actually preferred to be with a team rather than fight alone. Mikey guessed it has something to do with essentially being both the kid's big sister/mother figure for so long on the streets. Not to mention Frida was more than willing to chill when the situation called for it. Unfortunately this led to a desperate need to be around others, regardless if she disagreed or not, basing her strength and growth on their strength and growth.
"Children, children." He raised his hand. "A superhero is not a title, it is one who does the work of a hero beyond what the common man is willing to do." Mikey grinned. "You are all superheroes." Leo may have wanted to follow more in Splinter's footsteps, but Mikey was not aiming to be the next Splinter. He was going to be the best sensei Mikey he could possibly be.
"Thanks Master Mikey, but I mean, we have like, an ACTUAL Superhero here in our lair and everything!" Frida cheered.
He turned to see a person in a spider mech walk to them, the screen blinking in a cautious emote. "… You know, my master once had a thing about bringing people to the lair … welcome to the family!" He shouted. His children were already following in his footsteps….he's never been more proud.
"Not sure what I was expecting when you said you lived in the sewers….but it wasn't this." What sounded like a girl spoke from inside the machine.
"Once your nose loses its ability to detect any and all scents, it's actually quite nice." Basque shrugged. "Welcome to our home."
"Please keep it a secret, or else we'll have no choice but to kill you!" Kusuma smiled with her toothy gapped filled grin.
"We're not going to kill anyone….unless she gives us a reason not to trust her." Jackson glared at the mechanical spider.
"Come on, don't try the tough guy act here. You're gonna scare off the only friend we've made in years." Frida whined.
"So." Mikey smiled as he looked over the mecha. "You're the next Spider-Man … or Spider-Woman I should say." It's been a while since he met one of those.
"It's Sp/Dr actually, mister turtle man." The girl responded.
"Heh, well you definitely have more creativity in the name department than your predecessors." So many chances for them to change their name.
"How did she voice out the backslashes?" Jackson muttered in confusion.
"So, I may be completely off base here, but does the name 'Peter Parker' ring any bells to you?" Mikey had to ask, wondering if this was who he thought it was. Peter wanted his family to be safe and away from the spotlight, which was understandable given who he ended with.
"... So you knew my grandpa?"
THAT sent the room into a pause. "... Spider-Man had a kid!?" Kusuma shouted with a wide smile. "Oh, awesome! A whole Spider family of butt kickings!"
"Family of one actually…it's kind of just me now…technically.." The mech opened up, and out came a young japanese girl with short black hair and in a school uniform. "The names Peni. Peni Tengshen Parker. I'm Spider-Man's grandaughter."
"Aaah, so cool!" Frida exclaimed with sparkly eyes. "She's our age but she's so awesome! Taking out villains with style!"
"Are most people who fight in mech suits teenagers?" Basque asked. "Or did we jump aboard a trend that we didn't know about?"
"It's mainly the government's excuse to get free labor out of civilians while having plausible deniability about the whole thing." Peni explained, rubbing her hand on her mech. "I can't tell you the number of paperwork I had to fill just to get this guy off the ground."
"Paperwork, the bane of all living things." It's one of the reasons Mikey quickly realized that even with his newfound freedom, he was not one for living on the surface.
"So, you're a legacy hero then?" Jackson asked quizzically. "Honoring your family name?"
"Something like that." Peni answered. "They needed 'Parker DNA' to make the test work, so I was really the only choice they had." She sighed. "My dad never had powers, but he built SP/DR as a way to compensate… it didn't turn out so well for him." She leapt to the ceiling…. and stuck. "And because I can do this…" She walked upside down. "I happen to be 'perfect' for the job." She definitely had the skillset.
"... I don't see how being able stick to walls makes you applicable to drive a giant mech." Basgue said bluntly.
"Well … I'm not as strong as Spider-Man." She admitted. "But I did get one power he didn't …" The mecha behind her closed up, the eyes lighting up and smiling as it waved on it's own. "Meet the Co-Pilot of Sp/Dr."
":):):)" The emoji's formed on the mech's shield and it waved. "So you're mech's sentient?" Frida asked.
"No, that's my partner having fun. Come out little guy, don't be shy."
":." With what looked like apprehension it opened up … as a small spider slowly crawled out, Peni reaching forward and taking it into her hands.
"She can talk to animals too!" Kusuma shouted with glee, running up to the small spider. "Hey there, I'm Kusuma, we're gonna be besties!"
"!" The spider was able to somehow emote its panic and ran up the girl's hair.
"He's not the most trusting of humans aside from me, it's why he prefers the mech." Peni chuckled. "Anyways, I'm psychically connected to him. Technically, I could push it to all spider's, but he's the only one I've met where the partnership is mutual." She rubbed the little arachind dude on her head. "It's makes him the perfect co-pilot."
"It's quite a twist of fate." Mikey lightly smiled. "His son didn't inherit the powers but the granddaughter did … or were you also bitten by a radioactive spider?"
The small spider tilted its head in confusion, turning to its partner. "... That sounds like fake science. This spider just has grandpa's DNA in it."
"And your grandpa was bitten by a radioactive spider." Mikey chuckled.
"...I think grandma would've mentioned that at some point."
"Wait, you knew who your grandmother was?" Frida asked. "The 'woman who had kids with Spider-Man' is the biggest mystery on the planet! My top vote was on the actress Mary Jane Watson, he was always saving her!"
"No way, it's gotta be a clone of that Gwen Stacy girl. There's probably hundreds out there." Jackson shook his head.
"My money's on Felicia Hardy." Kusuma raised her hand. "Boy's love a bad girl, and you don't get badder than the Black Cat."
"I still say it was April O'Neil. They were partners right? Something had to be there." Basgue suggested.
Mikey took a bite of the best meal to ever live as he handed it around. "It was actually Karai Saki." And then for the first time in all his years of knowing about it, Hamato Michelangelo spit out a slice of pizza.
"...SPIDER-MAN MARRIED THE HEAD OF THE FOOT CLAN!?" Frida freaked out.
"I knew it would be a bad girl, but … THAT'S A BIT TOO FAR DON'T YOU THINK!?" Kusuma shouted.
"Hey, grandma is a lovely and caring woman." Peni pouted. "She read me bedtime stories at night when I was a kid. She's very mellow for an assassin."
"...Mellow and Assassin are not two words that go together!" Jackson shouted.
"It's not like she's killed anybody lately….that I know about."
"That should be red flag number one!" Bagues shouted.
Mikey slammed his cane into the ground, silencing them all. "... I must say … It was quite the shock." He admitted. "But we must respect the wish."
"But sensei! You told us all about the Foot!" Jackson argued.
"All living things are capable of change, Jackson." He spoke, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "From becoming a stronger person, to a smarter person, to a kinder person, or an evil person." So many heel-faced revolving doors. "When someone asks for a chance of betterment, it is your duty to at least give them the chance to be better than the person they once were."
"But-!"
"And you must remember…. children are not their parents, or their grandparents." He calmly told them. "Peni Parker deserves a chance to stand out on her own, beyond her family and blood."
"Yeah, she's already a badass, and that was before we even knew she was Spidey's grandkid!" Frida cheered, shaking the girl. "You are awesome!"
"Thanks …" Peni smiled at the acceptance.
"Although … never let this information become known, especially in Japan." He told the girl.
"Why?"
"Because my brother, Leonardo, would absolutely declare vengeance." No matter how funny the freakout would be. "Now onto more important matters … pizza party!"
Raph sat down with a notebook in hand as Spider-Woman walked along the side of the building. After that whole thing with the underground city and Draxus, he was going to take EVERY precaution possible to keep his brother's safe. "Alright, first rule about being a superhero. No notes, you lose those fast." She sent a web to his book and yeeted the object into the distance. "Memorization is key, people. Also, if you do lose it or leave it lying around, that's just more evidence of who you are and how to find you. I know your giant turtles, but something tells me you still appreciate anonymity."
"I mean, is it wrong to want my own movie series, like Lu Jitsu?" Leo raised his hand. "He was able to kick butt both on and off screen. All I need to do is be just as badass as him and I got nothing to worry about."
"Do you have any enemies that would want to set up a trap?" She asked.
"... Not yet?"
"Then you're good." The hero nodded. "Next up, action. Pop quiz, what do you do when confronted with a purse snatcher."
"Beat up the jerk!" Mikey shouted. "Then give the lady back her purse, help her across the street, go to her house for a nice cup of camomile tea."
"...That's actually pretty spot on, except for beating up the jerk thing." Spider woman said. "When crime fighting, never go overboard with kicking butt. Sure, it's scummy for someone to rob a lady, but sometimes it's just an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing, or someone desperate for cash down on their luck. At most, trip them and hang them upside down. Mild humiliation will often be enough for them to never try it again."
"So you're saying we need to humiliate them with witty one liners." Leo grinned.
"If your barbs are good enough, then go for it." She nodded.
"They're not." Donnie bluntly stated.
"Oh really, mr … cyber shell." Leo threw his hands. "Boom, can't get better than that."
"One, that's not an insult, that is LITERALLY what I was going for with my shell." Donnie pointed to his mechanical pack bluntly. "You know, the thing I need to live and protect myself because I'm a soft shell. You're essentially making fun of a cripple dude. That's not going to come off as heroic, just douchey."
"Exactly my friend." Spider-Woman shook her head. "There's plenty of things to comment on that are perfectly alright to communicate. His need for a mask to hide away the clear need of plastic surgery, his color choice of purple as a secondary color, the creepy one sided romance between him and his tools."
"It's not my fault they're better company. They never argue back." Donnie justified.
"A barb is not done for one's body, but for one's aesthetic and life choices." She spoke. "Although if you're fighting a maniacal asshole, feel free to go as low as you want."
"Would that include foot size?" Raph asked, making sure to make the comment as pg as possible for his little brothers.
"Especially foot size. One thing you should always be aware of is that most of the baddies you'll find are insecure as heck." She explained. "Like last week, I was fighting this gal calling herself 'the ringer'."
"...Really, that's the best she could do?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "What, does she constantly beat people up with a giant bell?"
"And people complain about 'Spider-Woman'." She chuckled. "Point is that all I had to do was make a couple of comments about her size and name choices, and she got so angry she couldn't see in front of her, making it easy for a beatdown."
"Good point, good point, but while we're on the subject…. are you stuck with the name Spider-woman?" Mikey asked. "Not that it's a bad name, short and sticks to the point… but what about something more exotic … like Ghost Spider!"
"Ghost Spider sounds too try-hard." Gwen waved off. "And it's not like I can turn invisible, so no real need."
"Also, why does she need to differentiate?" Donnie asked. "She's the only Spider person on the planet, no matter how impossible being bitten by a radioactive spider and getting powers from it is."
"You guys are giant mutant turtles! How is a spider bite giving spider powers so hard to believe….you even have freakin magic weapons!"
"Uh, they have what they BELIEVE to be magic. I'm sticking with good ole technology." Donnie took out his rocketstaff.
"You can keep that, I've got my portal sword!" Leo swung it, falling down it … "AAAHH!" Then screamed as he fell into a nearby alley. He'd be fine.
"... Discussion for later." The girl muttered. "Alright, let's try something else. Police … just run. You'll never have a decent discussion with them."
"Really, not even if I make them homemade donuts?" Mikey asked. "I add extra sugar for extra sparks."
"Nope. Police are intolerant a-holes that'll never understand you or let you be who you want to be, so it's best to never even attempt to talk to him at all." She crossed her arms.
Raph picked up on that last part. "...Him?"
The girl looked flustered for a second before clearing her throat. "THEM! You can't attempt to talk to them! Yeah, that's what I said, not whatever you thought I said a second ago."
"Anything you wanna talk about?" Donnie asked.
"Oh would you look at that, pop quiz time kiddies, bank robbery!" She shouted. "Take out the wheels, I'll go for the men on board with guns!"
"Oh, backstory! I can't wait to unravel this entire backstory and get to know you better through a series of wacky hijinks!" Leo smirked.
"Leo, be real. This isn't a cartoon." Raph shook his head. Being the sensible one hurts at times.
Felicia Hardy steeled herself as she conversed with one of the more powerful men in New York City … Hammerhead. "So, this month's budget." She spoke, keeping her gaze steady. Livin on the edge had both its perks and downsides. Each night it was a coin toss between either business or pleasure. Tonight was business. Business that would get her back shot full of holes if she made one wrong step.
"If it's paid, you'll get your protection." The man spoke. "You've done well despite being a newcomer, I trust you'll make the due date." Owning one of the most lucrative and successful clubs in town, the Black Cat, it was a free pass for crooks of all kinds. She never asked where the money came from, and they got to use her back rooms for more….messy operations.
"It's no problem at all." Each night was a different flavor of fun. Monday's were for the gamblers and risk takers. Tuesday's were half off on drinks. Wednesday's were ladies night, her personal favorite day of the week. Thursday's were 'special prizes' involving Felicia herself, something she wasn't against but not particularly fond of either. Friday's was 'entertainment' night, and Saturday's/sundays were for night's like this, where the big wigs of the underworld were free to speak openly and freely without risk of exposure. "Business has been booming quite well." Of course it paid even more to play both sides of the law. Any useful tips she gathered she stored away for rainy days, a personal nest egg she could call her own.
"Then we have an agreement." The man smiled. "However …" He leaned forward. "I do have a concern involving one of your patrons." Another part of the job. Leaking information about a man they needed to blackmail, or luring him into the back rooms for a bloody bad time.
"And which one in particular are you asking about? There's so many." So many friends, enemies, and lovers that she's both helped and betrayed in her time running this business.
"Spider-Man." That sent a chill down her spine. Both from what the man was implying, and from hearing the name of her current, and quite frankly, best lover she's had in all her years alive. They never really needed much. Just swinging by, offering cash for information on certain gangs, and swinging away. No huss, no fuss.
On one occasion when a deal went bad he came by and beat the crook dead, simply asking if she was alright. After that she stopped asking him to pay for her info. The man, from what she could gather from his sarcasm, wasn't exactly raining money. She half suspected the vigilante robbed criminals for his money. What would possess such a man with so much power to do so little with it, at least little in the eyes of most people?
Then they started to talk more. From little small tidbits about their lives, a game of cat and spider as she tried to pin the truth of what was under that mask. One particularly fun moment was offering a peck on the lips if he took half the thing off. That led to something… much more passionate that they've continued for the past month. She still never got a look at his face, but she would get him to pry it off eventually.
"I don't know what to say." She shrugged. "The man comes in and out for info whenever he feels like it, no set schedule." The surprise was alluring. "I take the cash he brings me, he leaves with no hassle."
"Tombstone here said he saw the guy enter and leave after three hours passed." Hammerhead pointed to a goon. "Word on the street says the bug 'webs up your insides' if you catch my drift."
"I don't know what to tell you. I give a lot of favors to a lot of people. I lose track of how many there are." Not untrue. She's played this game for so long she lost track of who she's brought to bed. Part of what made everything work with the Spider was that he never judged her for her life choices.
"Then here's a 'favor'." He slid over an envelope. "Tell him we're meeting up on June fifth for a drug deal." False information, a trap. "If the bug doesn't show, we'll know you're more than a loose hoar to the bug. You'd be something he'd care about if that pretty little face of yours got scratched up."
"Understood." She gritted her teeth having to work with pieces of shit like this. What she wouldn't do to wipe his smug little face from the planet. Oh people have tried, they've tried hard. But no one had ever been able to make death stick onto Hammerhead … and he made sure people paid for trying. Felicia of course would tell the Spider it was a trap. She trusted him to take care of himself on the streets. And she would be there to patch him up if it got messy.
"Then we're all good." He grinned. "You don't mind if I take one of the gals to my place for a night?"
"Sorry, store policy. Nobody takes them outside. If you wanna get dirty, you do it in here." She responded. Too many wouldn't return from a night when they got a bit too frisky, ending up in some river.
"Oh yeah?" The man took out a tommy gun. "I got two dozen bullets that say otherwise." Scum, all of them scum. Either she compromised and lost two relatively innocent victims, or stuck to her guns and get a bullet to her head… and sadly, she was not one to stand by any moral standard.
CRAAASSH
Through the roof, what looked like four large… turtle creatures fell into the room, one with swords being straddled by a particular stud in a spider costume. "How about you lot back off before I …" He paused, looking up to see Hammerhead and his gang armed, then at Felicia, then back at Hammerhead. "... I don't suppose you'd be down to chat over a cup of milk while we try to figure out who's fighting who?" Oh yeah, the Spider was a lightweight with alcohol…she learned that the fun way after a night of champagne. Then he started to make 'kitty drinking milk' jokes, which was pretty charming.
"No." The mobster said, firing as everyone began to scramble. One thing about having money from so much dirty mooks? Her desk was reinforced to survive a couple of stray bullets. She ducked behind it, keeping one head exposed in a small hole to keep an eye on the chaos.
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire…. now THIS is a party I can get behind!" The turtle creature with nunchucks smirked like a maniac as he flipped around, smacking two men into the ground with bloody gashes across their heads.
"A party with no food isn't a party I'd stick around for." The turtle with blades said as he started creating human kabobs with his blades. "Though I suppose I can offer up some free samples."
"They could at least come up with some decent music." The one with a giant wooden stick used it like a pole vault, jumping over head and grabbing a broken bottle, using it to stab one of the goons in the face. "I'm tired of hearing 'ahh, you sick freak' over and over again."
"Maybe we can ask the manager for a request." The one with sai stabbed another in the eyes. "But kicking for free."
"As if we needed to hear more jokes from another group of clowns." Hammerhead growled, blasting his tommy gun everywhere.
"I don't know, you fit right alongside these jokers at the rodea, Hammster." The spider grabbed the gun, and repeatedly fired at the man's face over and over again. "I know that ain't gonna kill you, but you'll have the mother of all headaches."
"Wow, you're a lousy shot." The sword one grumbled, completely missing the lack of damage. "Let me show you how it's done." He ran forward and swung his blade at the man's head … as it snapped in two.
"Adamantum skull, dumbass." Hammerhead headbutted the turtle, sending him fling back.
"LEO!" The one with nunchucks rushed forward, swinging them at the mobster's skull over and over with enough speed and force to actually start sounding like the Sunday school bells she snuck away from as a kid.
"Amateurs. Guess they're gonna learn the hard way." The spider casually walked over to the bar, looking down at her. "Hey pretty kitty. Mind giving a spider a drink?"
"Not at all." She smirked, pulling out some milk. "You know I always knew you were an active spider, but I never took you for one to get two gangs to fight each other." They did the dirty work, he got the win.
"Hey, sometimes my luck can give me a break for once." The stud chuckled. "I have no idea what those four chuckleheads are about though. One moment they're stopping me from killing a crazed cannibal, the next they're fighting some kind of alligator monster straight from the funny pages."
"Ah, so you're not the only animal in the city anymore." She smirked.
"Says the cat."
"Touche." Felicia admitted as she took a sip. "So you gonna let them kill each other out before you try and rip Hammerhead's heart out?"
"Fun as that might be, I need Hamster alive for the moment. He's the only lead I have on the Goblin."
The one piece of information she couldn't give. The elusive, unseen Goblin that never showed their face, only leaving clues and messages to even the highest of officers. "Good luck out their tiger. And come back with a few less bullet holes than last time. I want my sheets to be as clean as possible."
"Oh like anything on the bed is clean after what we do." The spider smirked, chugging down his milk, flipping back into the madhouse. "Yo Hammerhead, how about we cool it and have a nice discussion where you give me what I want instead of the usual routine of a gut check?"
"Oooh, my kitty senses are purring." Felica Hardy was never an honest woman, far from it….but the Spider may be able to make even an alley cat like herself domesticated…. after a few more years of fun of course.
"Date log November Twenty Third, Twenty one oh five." Miguel O'hara was a simple scientist. A man that tried to do things by the book as much as possible. Of course, that came with complications when he was forced to work for a corporation such as Alechemax. "We're now either going to peer a whole into the past…or completely break the timeline." Said job ended up leading him to meeting his current junior lab partner, and making sure he didn't blow up the universe.
"We're doing it." Cody O'niel Parker smiled. "We're building a window into the past. We're gonna see the turtles themselves in action!" A bright boy, pretty innocent too. He had a good head on his shoulders and Miguel wanted to keep it that way. His uncle, Darius Daun on the other hand triggered every single red flag he had. He didn't need to be prerogative to figure out the man was bad news. "It'll be more than just reading about it in the journal, we'll be seeing first hand the dawn of the Heroic age! The Turtles and the original Spider-man! Isn't that great Miguel!?"
"It's… something.." Miguel squinted at the calculation one last time. He had to be sure there was no room for error. The last time there was an error … Miguel was forced to wear his day of the dead costume. Ever since 2099, he's been the second Spider-Man, doing his best to stop Alchemix from causing even more mistakes and problems, something that he's struggled with quite a bit in such a big city that said company own half of. "Cody, are you SURE you want to do this? A project this big should at least have another month before anything official."
"Yeah, but imagine the good we can do. We can solve murders, find out hidden history, and watch the original heroes in action." Find out government secrets, corporate sabotage, destroy the stock market, there were several ways this could go wrong. "Besides, this is just a window Miguel. Worst case scenario this doesn't work."
"Worst case scenario it blows a hole in the space time continuum." Miguel emphasized.
"I really have to agree with him, master Cody." Sterling, the boy's robotic butler/guardian spoke up. "We should at least test this … awayfrom the city filled with many people, including yourself." The robot was as stiff as the metal he was made out of, but he did have great common sense…when it came to Cody's safety at least.. Anything else he was a bit narrow minded about.
"Uncle Darius said you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Cody said some really bad advice. "And besides, if we don't make the technology first, someone else will, and who knows how they'd use it."
"There's no turning you away from this, is there?" Miguel shook his head. The boy was stubborn. He wasn't sure if that came from the Parker side of his family, the O'neil side, or from Jones…..probably the Jones. Casey Jones was known as a whackjob.
"Not a bit." The kid grinned as he held up a journal. "Entering temporal coordinates … three … two … one … go!" He grinned, pressing a button.
The machine began to hum, glowing brightly as it sparked, they all gazed as the energy seemed to circulate into a small hole … that got bigger … and bigger … until they saw the four turtles of legend … arguing over a tv remote. "... It worked …" Miguel couldn't believe it … a window to the past. "Shock it, it actually worked
"By thor, the universe didn't blow up!" Sterling cheered.
"I told you guys I knew what I was doing." Cody grinned. This kid really was a genius.
They watched as Miguel gazed at the vortex. A window to the past … maybe the kid was right, maybe there really was good in this device. He has the opportunity to learn from the best, to learn from the original Spider-man."
They watched as Splinter had the remote taken by Michelangelo, the orange one. "Monster movie marathon!" The turtle shouted, before frowning. "Aww, adds. Fastforward." As he clicked the button on the remote, the machine sparked.
FWOSH
With a flash of light, the turtles and rat vanished, their clothes and weapons clattering to the ground. "... I guess they died." Sterling said bluntly. "I suppose this is where the legends end."
"What!? No, this can't be happening!" Cody flipped through the notebook. "So many tales of heroism, aliens, mutants …" He looked through it. "What happened!?"
"...Didn't you say that your grandma and grandpa started writing this book AFTER turtles pulled a disappearing act?" Miguel asked.
"Yeah … hang on … oh, I got it!" Cody smiled. "They came back, telling us of their adventure from … the year … twenty one o five …"
"...So this is one of those time loops that the science fiction shows always talk about?"
"WE SHOCKED WITH TIME!" Miguel shouted in horror. "WE MESSED WITH THE ONE RULE OF TIME TRAVEL! DON'T DO IT!"
"I wasn't trying to time travel! I just wanted to watch the past!"
"WATCHING THE PAST COMPLETELY SHOCKED THE TIMESTREAM!" Miguel shouted.
"What's this about the timestream?" … They all slowly turned to the face of Darius Daun, gazing at them with that normal cold expression. "I hope your experiment hasn't done anything too dangerous."
"N. dangerous Uncle! We're completely fine and didn't destroy the universe!" Cody said unconvincingly.
"We just … realized we missed a few parts, we were gonna have Sterling go out to grab them." Miguel said quickly, moving close to the robot. "Grab the turtles before something terrible happens." He whispered.
"I expect double my micro processors when this is all done. Those cretins are going to be a handful to deal with."
As if that was what he needed, sass, when the TIMESTREAM WAS SHOCKED! What was life coming to?
When the bomb went off, Donnie … wasn't in the best shape. Limbs and organs were damaged beyond repair. He would have died then and there if it wasn't for Metalhead's rescue programming bringing him back to the lair. Splinter wasn't there, so that hurt. He barely had enough time to scramble his body back together before it shut down altogether…which is how he ended up making a decision he wasn't sure he fully regretted or embraced.
Donatello the turtle was now Donatello the machine. The good thing was that he seemed to keep all his emotions, so he wasn't a heartless AI. But he was still a solar powered tin can traveling the desert, looking for gas in a banged up shellraiser. He had no need for food or air, and he hardly got tired, if at all. With little to keep him going in this barren wasteland of a world, the only thing he could do was keep moving forward, and hopefully find his brothers, wherever they may be now.
But he did find something unexpected … Miles Morales. Originally he was just some half dead kid in the desert, nothing notable, other than his lack of mutations. But when Donnie checked over his body … the kid was one hundred percent human … and fifty percent Peter Parker.
After waiting for them to wake up, he finally got answers. Peter died protecting him from the mutagen blast, which in turn mutated them into a Spider-Man mutant, somehow more potent and stable than Spider-Byte. Donnie would go into another tirade about how this made NO sense whatsoever, but given that the kid existed at all was enough for him to keep quiet…for the time being that is.
So lack for any real options or goals, Donnie, given that he literally had nothing else to do, figured the least he could do was make sure the kid could wall crawl on his own two feet, making sure Peter's sacrifice wasn't all for nothing.
Which was a little hard to do for multiple reasons. The first being that Miles was abnormal, even for a muatate/mutant hybrid. He had two whole powers that went beyond what he knew Spidey had. Complete invisibility that worked even on his own clothing(which was bullshit given that spiders were suppose to camoflauge at best), and a bioelectric shock that could power the entire Shellraiser battery supply three days over(which was also bullshit, as while some spider bites could contain a small paralytic shock, this was almost electro-levels of output).
Fortunately for his sanity, and unfortunately for the boy's safety, it seemed that his raw spider speed and strength weren't up to par with Peter himself. But like he told Miles, it was never about the power, but how you used it. Which brought them to today's test. "We're gonna start with a web line." He told the boy. "You start by aiming your arm at the object you wanna grab."
"So Spider-man's webbing for real wasn't organic?" Miles asked skeptically, adjusting the web shooters. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"
"Kid, I've been wandering the desert for over a decade. You really think I'd go through all that just to throw you some kind of pity party?" He said blatantly.
"... I mean you seem bored enough."
"..Touche, but I promise you I'm not that petty or cruel. That was my brother Raph's wheelhouse." He swore.
"Wait, so you're both a turtle and italian?"
"We're getting off topic." He shook his head. "Now, aim your hand at the rock, then place your ring and middle fingers on the two circles."
"That's it?" He asked. "Seems a little simple."
"Not as simple as you think. Peter said he made it that way so he wouldn't web up his hands every time he made a fist. It takes the precise strength of those fingers to shootwebs."
"Wait, really?" The kid asked with surprise. "I would have thought that if he could stick to walls he could just reverse it and make his body adhesive to his own webs."
"... Smarter than you look."
"I'm a kid wandering the apocalypse. I read whatever I could find on the ground…fried my brain on the book of quantum theory, but I picked up one or two pointers."
"Anyway, aim the line, hold the two buttons until it connects, then let go. Anything else will result in small or spread out webs." Peter designed a lot of variety for pressure.
"Alright, two fingers, hold until connection." Miles aimed his hand, and pressed, sending out a line at what Donnie assumed to be a nearby rock. "Aha! I did it!"
"Great, now grip the line, and pull." Teaching the next generation was easy.
The kid did so … as a head of a massive, mutant mole popped out of the ground. "... Ggggg."
"...What's the spider-man way on how to deal with giant mutant vermin with claws that can rip you in half?" Miles asked with sweat coming down his head.
"Well that was Rat King territory, in which case it was usually his Aunt May in danger, which kinda sent Peter on a raging warpath of blood and violence straight to the source of the problem."
"...So hit it and hope for the best?"
"Grrr." Multiple moles popped out of the ground.
"Well … Have you ever heard of the old saying 'the best way to train is to undergo horrifying bloodcurdling fear'?"
"That's a saying?"
"It is now! Start webbing them up!" Donnie screamed as he started to run back to the Shellraiser. Damn it, why did that have to park it so far away!
"Okay, okay, so I just hold it and…ahhhh!" A wide need of webbing spread all over the ground…completely missing the moles entirely as they got closer and ripped through it. "That failed! That completely failed!"
"Keep trying and running! You have enough web fluid for a couple mistakes!"
"I don't think I have enough time to make a couple of mistakes!" Miles yelled as he began running. "And there's no trees or anything for me to swing away from!"
"It's the apocalypse! We don't use tall places, we use wheels and …" Donnie remembered something, reaching into a compartment. "Use these!"
"...ROLLER SKATES!?" Miles shouted. "Out of everything you could've packed….it was ROLLER SKATES!?"
"Again, apocalypse, I'm working with everything I can here!" Donnie tossed them over to the kid. "Wheels you can use to zip yourself across the barren wasteland! You gotta put on the roller skates or they're going to catch you!"
"But it looks so silly!" The kid complained.
"We can design them later, just put them on, or you're going to look silly with your head dangling out of a mole's mouth!" He shouted.
"Fine!" Miles put them on his feet. "This better work, or I'm gonna use whatever actual turtle parts you have for turtle soup!" Jokes on him, there were no actual meat parts left! The kid aimed at the shellraiser. "Come on …" They shot a line at the vehicle and yanked, sending themselves zooming forward. "Haha!" The kid cried out, racing on the wheels.
"Way to go Spider-Man!" He shouted.
"... I'm definitely not gonna be the most stylish spiderman." The kid groaned.
"If it's any consolation, you haven't needed to replace underwear with webs yet." Donnie chuckled. "If you're going to be Spider-man, humiliation is a feeling you're going to have to get used to. Like it said in his theme song. 'Wealth and fame, he's ignored. Action is his reward'.
"...Spider-man had a theme song?"
"Quite a few actually. So did me and my brothers….it was a weird time." But a fun one … one he hoped to have back soon … hopefully.
Peter Porker had quite the life. Between looking after his aunt Maypig, working for the Daily Beagle and J. Jonah Jackal, and the complicated love life between Mary Jane Watterbufflo and Liz Anteater, he could feel himself getting pulled away from all sides.
That barely left Spider-Ham any time to fight off the High Evolutionary, the Savage Six, and the Green Gobbler. What was a pig to do with so little free time? "You know, it really sucks that you guys focus so much on evolution and growth." He quipped as he fought against Sir Ram. "Without the classics, we wouldn't have maniacal men explaining their evil plans. Your making life hard on us overworked heroes, you know."
"My deepest apologies. I shall remember that as I mount your head on my wall and dissect the rest of your body for research!" The old can eater blasted his raygun at him.
"Okay, now you're starting to sound like the classic cliche Evil scientist, so we're getting somewhere. Progress, it feels good, don't it?" Ever since those humans showed up on that one bust, Spider-Ham had been investigating a certain lead. The Kraang and their Mutagen supply. A liquid that could transform anyone into anything … if focused, the High Evolutionary could get rid of the last traces of humanity in one fell swoop.
Now one might be wondering why would a pig such as himself care about that. Why would plain ole Peter Porker want to protect humanity… in all honesty he had no reason to protect beastials either. He used to be a spider, but a lab accident involving Maypig Parker's atomic hairdrawer led to him becoming the hammy guy he is today. Part of him missed his old life, but that woman's love … something he wouldn't give up for the world.
Plus being a normal spider who suddenly gain the perspective of a pig…it made one thing about life. He cherished it all, and found value in all living things, no matter how ugly they were. "You know we could probably do this all day, but I also have a timetable." He commented as he kicked away the mad man. "So I'm gonna start destroying your stash now. You don't mind, right Rammy?"
"You will do no such thing, Spider-Ham! Tonight, I'm turning you into fried porkchops!"
"You said that last week." He countered, swinging around the room. "If you're gonna insult me, start mixing it up! I feel like I'm the only one putin effort into our relationship." The banter was a big part of making up for the nightmares Spider-Ham had to deal with on the daily. That and Aunt maypig's truffle and potato casserole. Man, that woman could cook.
"Freeze Spider-Ham!" A familiar voice shouted out.
"Ah, Lord Tiger." He turned to the shadowy figure. "I take it you wanna show up and make it a tussle? If Lady Vermin doesn't know I won't call it weird." Not that it wasn't fun to flirt in battle … but he was a hero, she was a villain, yadda, yadda, yaddaa.
"I don't believe that will be happening." They came out of the shadows … with a gun pressed to the back of a human. "I know you care about this species. Stand down or he'll face my wrath for trying to break in."
"Ain't this humiliating." The flat headed human with what looked like oversized forks on his belt grumbled.
"Seriously Lord Tiger? I thought you had more dignity than to hold a hostage at gunpoint." Spidey glared. "I'm guessing scout's honor means nothing to the lap dogs of the high evolutionary."
"Honor starts to die out after many of your disastrous setbacks." He growled. "Do not worry, if you surrender, I will overlook his transgression and set this man free."
"Oh you'll live to regret it stripey, when I get my hands on you-!" The human with clear anger issues was NOT making it any easier for anybody.
"I guess we'll see about that, won't we." Lord Tiger stated. "Sir Ram, the restraints?"
Thinkthinkthink. Panicking, can't think, work on instinct! He pressed a button.
Self destruct initiated in ten seconds.
Instincts bad! What the hell spidey sense!?
"You fool, you've killed us all!" Sir ram shouted, allowing Spidey to jump on the man's back, and throw him into Lord Tiger, pushing both into a wall, and freeing the human.
"No, just you two…hopefully, if I can get us out of here in time." He grabbed the human.
"Why should I trust the guy that just set the place to blow with us in it!?" They screamed.
"Because he could've left you for dead to save his own bacon, but he didn't for the chance that we both get to live." Spidey rebutted. "So either come with me and live to see another day, or stay here and add a lovely side of bones to the goat and tiger skin rugs about to be made!"
He grabbed the guy before he could think, webbing them out of a window as the flames came after them.
Boom
"Rug burn, rug burn!" He shouted as he tried putting out the fire, web slinging, and carrying the human. "Listen, I have no love for the high evolutionary either too bub, how do you think I got this ugly?" He said as he carried the ungrateful jerk around. "Snout's all wrong and the tail is just irritating."
"Oh, pig boy hates being pig boy?"
"Yeah, life was much simpler back when I was a normal spider."
They stared at him for a moment. "… You know, I truly believe you're against the high evolutionary now."
"Really?"
"Yeah, only a bestial as in need of a mental ward as you would fight against them."
"Oh aren't you a comedian." Spider-ham rolled his eyes.
"Trust me, I'm way funnier than my brother Michelagelo." The human countered.
"Talking family! Opening up, peace between people!" He knew behind that grouchy shell was a softie. After a while he landed them into a back alley. "Alright, I'll go back out there and swing around some more so the knights don't immediately go after you. Make sure to hide bub."
"Guess that sounds good." The human said, picking up a nearby sewer grate. "Just so you know, I still don't trust you. If I find the High Evolutionary at my doorstep tomorrow morning, I'm roasting you over a fire."
"So everyone keeps telling me." Peter chuckled. "See ya around, you weird hairless monkey." He commented as he swung away. Ah, distrust in hate, just another day in the life of the Porktacular Spider-Ham!"
Leopardon's life was not particularly normal. They couldn't communicate with most people, and it was only about a year ago that they managed to have some kind of hobby as of late…mainly due to some random kid, a street bike racer going by Takuya Yamashiro, being given spider powers from an alien queen….it was a weird day for everyone.
From that day forward they became the emissary of hell, Spider-Man, defender of justice and slayer of the Foot. And watching him had been … unique to say the least. The boy had a pretty straight forward sense of morality, usually going out of his way to correct any and all manner of wrong doing whenever he had the chance….sometimes to an almost comical degree. The boy would often let himself get beaten to near death in a fight, completely disregarding the fact he had a giant robot waiting to be used at any and all times. Sure the concept of overkill existed…but if you want to destroy all evil, it wouldn't hurt to bring him out more often.
Not to mention that he resorted to punches and kicks when he carried a machine gun on hand at all times. Or when how carried thirty six masks under his own just to avoid be unmasked. Just five would have been overkill alone! That wasn't even accounting for the fact everyone had a weird habit of calling out their attacks before they moved…and they just let them, like they were taking turns in a video game. This world had a very weird sense of honor.
But hey, Leopardon spent the last couple thousand years in hibernation. They would take whatever entertainment they could get, no matter how stupid. Like how right now he could have a causal conversation with Takuya while fighting a giant mechanical gorilla.
"I cannot believe it!" The man shouted. "That child has a good heart, but he's too young to try and endanger himself fighting the Foot! He should wait until he's at least an adult!"
Meh, any effort was appreciated, the foot was big after all. Besides, technically you are a child as well.
"I am sixteen! I'm am an emotionally mature adult that can handle the weight and responsibility thrusted on me!"
Riiiiiiiiggght, totally emotionally mature. That's why you yell whenever there's traffic.
"Obviously the laws of the road aren't being followed, unconvincing the honest hard workers that make up our economy and society!"
You know you could use that 'spider string' to swing across the town right? The buildings are big enough.
"My powers are a gift! I shall not flounder or waste them on something so trivial!"
A gift is to use as you please. Being a hero doesn't mean you can't use them on smaller things, you know, like crushing these guys BEFORE they become giant monsters.
"Where is the honor in that!? My enemies may be heinous, but they deserve the chance to fight for their lives!"
The lives that revolve around murdering other lives and the lives you've sworn to murder?
"Not all of them deserve death!"
Ah, like the girly you got a crush on.
"I have no feelings for the daughter of the shredder!"
I never said it was the daughter of the shredder, so thank you for confirming.
"I am the emissary of hell! I can't fall for a sinner such as her!"
So you're keeping her alive on the off chance she changes her mind eventually?
"I believe the mechanical gorilla is punching your chest!"
Sure it is buddy. That's just you running from your feelings.
"No-I mean-"
Smack
….Okay…you can get away with it this time. Now let's bring out the sword.
"But we're only meant to bring out the sword at the very end of a fig-"
BRING OUT THE FUCKING SWORD NOW!
"Leopardon, Sword Vigor!"
They raised the blade, stabbing the gorilla in the chest, swinging up as it began to spark, before exploding … why did every enemy explode? There wasn't even any dynamite involved.
Cindy Moon's life wasn't exactly hard. It wasn't exactly easy either, but it wasn't difficult. Nobody had an easy life in a Shredder ruled world, thus it all came down to how to survive under their rule. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your world view on things, she was only ever told one thing….never leave the bunker.
It all started from a very, very, very young age, a time where she could recall the Shredder's raise to power very vividly. Experiments were being exploited at almost every turn and point, one of which came into the city, and bit her on the ankle. What appeared to be a small, tiny, radioactive spider.
It wasn't something she felt the need to focus on in that particular moment…though the next day when she found her hands sticking to the walls caught her attention. It freaked her out, as well as her parents and little brother. So she was taken to a lab, experimented on, studied, and eventually determined to be an anomaly. Anomalies were dangerous, unsuited, and unwelcomed under the rule of the shredder.
So they put her into a bunker where she and everyone else would be safe. It hurt Cindy … but her family was safe, so that was fine. All she needed to do was stay down here, let them run her tests, and avoid letting anyone not a machine get too close. Then life would be alright. There were days where she got woozy from how much blood they took, and sometimes the buzzing in her head would last for almost a week, preventing her from getting any kind of sleep. But everyone had problems … right?
Cindy awoke, waiting for the next test that would be given to her by the doctors. There was fire instead. She was laying on the floor, away from the fire, low enough to not breathe smoke. This was fine, right? Was this another test? Were they going to test out how flammable the little goops on her fingers were? Or were they going to set her on fire to test how fast she healed from burns?
She took out the small webs she kept in her ears to sleep better, hearing a loud blaring around her. Was something wrong? Did an anomaly break free? Was it going to hurt people?
BANG
Gunshots could be heard all over.
BANG
The sound of crunching metal were echoed through the halls.
BANG
But for some reason…the tingle in her head was getting….smaller.
BAANG
Cindy began to crawl away from the testing window, keeping her gaze at the blood splatter that showed up on the glass. Something was out there, something that wanted to hurt others.
"I told you lab creeps to get the shell out of my way!"
KABAAAAANG
The door of her bunker was blown open, Cindy barely given enough room to move out of the way. A turtle man walked inside, gazing at her. He was going to hurt her, he was going to hurt her just like he hurt everyone else-
Without thinking, she raised her hand, shooting out webs at the turtle man. They were dangerous, they were sharp, they hurt people so she didn't like using them.
Slash
Within a blink of an eye, the man sliced away her webbing like it was paper. This was it, she was going to die, she was going to die, she was going… "You want to get out of here kid?"
Out of … "No." She responded. "The Bunker's safe. I'm safe … people are safe …"
"Really?" The turtle man said. "Last I checked, the science-creeps here were ready to blow this place sky high."
"... You hurt them." She looked at the blood on the window.
"Yeah…I did." He looked to the window. "They hurt me first though. Me and my entire family."
"They … keep my family safe." Cindy said. "I'm … danger."
"Kid, that's what people say when they know they can't control you." The turtle man responded curtly. "They hid you away not because you're dangerous, but because you're special. In shredder's world, no one gets to be special but him."
"Shredder … would hurt people."
"I wanna hurt Shredder." He said. "And I'm looking for a friend that can help me do it." They sat down. "There's people who will fight against him, who will stand up, even in the smallest of ways. You can start by not being afraid."
Cindy had no reason to trust him, no reason at all … but the buzzing stopped hurting when she crawled over to him….he wasn't dangerous….not to her at least. "...alright."