[SPIDER-MAN × TMNT]
HEROES IN ASUIT AND A HALF SHELL
CHAPTER 0 - (TEASER)
It is dark out at night in New York city; more accurately, 12:03 AM past midnight. While many are in their homes sleeping the night away, there're still some hints of activity in the one place in America that is nicknamed, "The City That Never Sleeps." Some people are working overtime in whatever jobs they have to make a living for themselves. But it's not just the honest hard-working citizens that are staying up so late.
Meanwhile, at an old, but still-working dock site, several armed men have infiltrated this place. Using the forklift, they brought down one of the giant cargo crates just behind their cargo trucks—ones they most likely have stolen before. Then, they pry it open to find carton boxes containing something they don't know about. Whatever they are holding within must be important enough for them to steal.
"Ya think this what they wanted us to fetch?" one of the robbers ask, somewhat doubting if what the boxes have inside are what they came for.
Another answers the question, "It had better be. We'll be gettin' paid big time once we make the delivery."
"We're gonna be set for life once we get outta this hellhole of a city," another guy chimes in, enthusiastic about what may come after they deliver these boxes.
"Then we better get movin'. The cops might be on their way right now. Or maybe one of those freaks might show up. Make it fast!"
After hearing those words, the thieves move with a purpose—transferring the cargo's boxes into the back of the truck—without wasting any time. While they are busy loading up the boxes, the other robbers they came with patrol the area to prevent anyone outside from snooping into their business. Inside the dock's warehouse, there are more men armed with guns, and with them are hostages—dock workers—tied up together as they watch the armed men loot the place of its stored items.
Outside the confines of the dock site, perching on top of one of the nearby buildings, someone is surveying the place, and watching the guards' movements around the area. Looking over the dock are four anonymous figures; crouching on the ledge, their bandanas blowing against the wind, and shadows covering their faces with the moon behind them shining in the night sky. With a leap, they make their move, and simultaneously disappear.
Meanwhile, another robbery is taking place in a local bank. After breaking in with three package trucks, and cracking the vault, seven of the ten masked men start hauling all the cash, and gold inside the back of their vehicles.
"Make it quick boys, the cops could be here any minute."
While they do so, the other three remained outside to keep an eye out. Little did they know that someone is watching them from above after noticing their break-in; a dark silhouette with big, white, menacing eyes sitting in the neighboring buildings' shadows before making his move.
Back at the dock site, the guards walk with vigilance while the trucks keep getting filled with more boxes. One of the guards heard something drop at the other side of the empty cargo crate. He walks over to where the sound came from, and found a dropped pistol on the dry concrete. But no sign of the guy who held it. Before he could call out to him or any of his fellow thieves, a dark figure with pale white eyes firmly covers his mouth, and instantly pulls him into the shadows—probably to give him the same fate as the other guy.
Above ground, two guys armed with full-auto rifles keep their eyes peeled for the ones below. Meanwhile, on the rooftops, snipers acting as their eyes in the sky to take out anything they see that isn't one of their own. One of them scans the area with his scope to look for anything unusual. So far, things seem pretty normal, though he seems to have noticed one of the snipers missing from his assigned post. Did he decide to go to the restroom for a bit? Maybe. But while he kept his eyes open for what may happen in front of him, he was oblivious to the shadowy figure standing right behind him.
The trucks are nearly full of boxes; one of the robbers supervising the looting informs the others nearby.
"Hey, we're almost done packin' up here. Tell the rest we're gonna leave soon."
The boys he's talking to nod their heads as they relay the orders they were told to the rest. Little did they know that once they're out of each other's sights, they're being stealthily taken down in the shadows without making a sound. Finally, the last of the boxes are stacked and secured. As soon as one of the guys sealed the truck's back door, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"Huh?"
As soon as he turns his head, he gets a left hook to the jaw—knocking him out cold. The ones preparing to enter the front of the truck all get either knocked on the head, tranquilized, or chopped on the back of the neck.
The robbers are nearly finished loading all of the vault's money into their get-away vehicles. Suddenly, the three men that are on look-out get taken out silently, and pulled up. One of the robbers noticed that the three are gone from their posts. Just as he was about to head outside and check, a skinny figure swings into the bank; kicking him onto the floor, then landed with a three-point landing pose. The men were startled by the vigilante's sudden appearance that all their attention snaps to him.
He is wearing a skin-tight suit with the classic color combination of red and blue. The red is covered in a symmetrical pattern of webs that leads up to his mask. The white eyes outlined with black to form a roundish, but angry expression. And finally, smack-dab on his chest is the iconic spider symbol. Lifting his head, the masked figure looks at the thieves as he squints his mask's eyes.
"Holy shit! GET HIM!" one of the thieves yells out to the others.
Listening to what they heard, they drop some of the money they were hauling, and aim their weapons at him. In just one step, he gets in one of the guy's faces before giving him a good left hook to the cheek, followed by a punch in the gut, and finishes with a roundhouse kick which sends him flying backward. The others charge at him with the intent of taking down the scrawny vigilante in red.
Back inside the dock's warehouse, the armed men are still waiting for the time to move out of the area; oblivious to what happened outside. One of them gets impatient, and tries to go out to check on them.
"Rrrgh! What's taking them so long? It's past an hour; they should've packed up—"
But before he reaches the door, the lights start to flicker before completely shutting off—dimming the entire building. Startled by the sudden power outage, they turn on their flashlights to see in the dark. Then, they hear canisters dropping to the floor, and releasing dense clouds of smoke that quickly fills the warehouse. Despite having flashlights, the smokescreen dampens their ability to see each other, and the figures infiltrating the building. In quick succession, one of them goes down. Followed by another. Then another, then another. Driven by fear and panic, one of them starts shooting blindly, and is soon joined by another one. There's so much chaos occupying the room that neither man have any idea who's who, and which is which.
Going back to the bank robbery, the thieves are still trying to take down the masked vigilante. But, he's so agile that they miss every time they wanted a piece of him.
Weaving away from a punch, the web-head smacks the man who threw it with the back of his fist which stunned him a little. Another guy, who is holding a crowbar, swings it at him—trying to hit him on the head. The crimson vigilante is about to throw a punch at the crowbar-wielder's face; which the latter sees, and tries to block it. But instead, the vigilante sweeps under him to the back where he then hits the robber at the back of his neck—instantly knocking him out. Another robber—a brute—tries to grab him, but the vigilante jumps away before locking his eyes onto him. The big guy throws powerful punches at him, but easily dodges them in great succession.
Knowing he can't take him out easily, he extends both of arms outward aiming at him. Using a little gadget planted on his wrist, he presses the buttons at the center of his palms which made them shoot sticky substances at his eyes; blinding him. The brute tries to pull it off with annoyance in his voice, but while he's busy pulling, the vigilante throws a flurry of punches and kicks at the blinded man. All the hits he's throwing starts to where him down enough for the masked man to finally knock him out with an uppercut SO powerful that he flew off the floor and landed on his back.
The robbers are finally defeated, but he's not yet done as he hears tires screeching the asphalt road from outside. From the two newly-arrived cars come the back-up of the men he defeated. They rush the bank with guns, and aim them right at him. Undeterred by their arrival, the web-masked hero faces them with confidence, and ask them:
"So… who else wants to go next?"
The noise the panicked robbers are making have undoubtedly caught the attention of some people outside; prompting them to call the police. The hostages whimper, and hurdle to the wall or corner while listening to all the guns firing in the warehouse. The armed thieves are dropping like flies, and they can only wait in absolute horror as the other men get taken out until they eventually meet their inevitable fate.
Suddenly, the shooting stopped; the chaotic noise of guns blazing in the warehouse is then replaced by an eerie silence, and the smokescreen slowly wafting away. They felt the tightness around their hands loosen up, and found that the binds holding them together have been cut off. Standing up from the floor, they curiously, but cautiously survey the warehouse, and find their captors knocked unconscious, and all tied up. They have no idea exactly who saved them, but for now, they are grateful to be alive. Suddenly, they hear the familiar sounds of sirens outside the building. With nothing else to worry about, they exit the warehouse to meet the cops of New York.
Meanwhile at the bank, the scrawny man in the suit made quick work of the thieves without breaking a sweat as he watches their bodies limply lying on the floor. With all the gunshots being fired, someone's bound to have called the cops already. He gathers them all up to the corner of the building into one pile where he ties them all down with a lot of his sticky webs. The vigilante hears the sound of sirens coming to the bank, and leaves a little note before making his exit.
The police arrived a minute later at the infiltrated bank. After stepping out of their vehicles, they carefully enter the building with pistols in their hands. They found all the beaten criminals tied together with a note being left for them to read.
One of the cops asks, "So, it's him again?"
"Heh. Who else is this city wearing red and blue tights would leave a note after stopping a crime?" a woman wearing a black blazer answer with a rhetorical question, then started to order some of the cops she brought with her,
"Okay people, let's get all these crooks out of here. Be sure to check the entire building as thoroughly as possible. And bring in back all the cash they got in those trucks."
Without question, they all did as they were told. But then, one of the officers called out to her.
"Captain Watanabe! I've just received new of another robbery at the docks near 32nd Avenue!"
"What? How bad is the situation?"
"Actually, the robbery's already been handled. The workers being held hostage were all fine when the other unit got there."
The news left Watanabe puzzled, but she asks another question, "And the robbers?"
"They've already been handled. Some are injured, but nobody died."
While the cops are busy arresting the captured criminals, and cleaning up the mess left behind, the vigilante—who calls himself 'Spider-Man' perches on the edge of the building with a camera in his hands. With the click of a button, he snapped a picture of the scene before leaving.
MORNING — 6:30 AM
In the next morning, we are taken to a house somewhere in Queens. As the sun slowly rises up from the horizon, the light of dawn pierces through a certain house's window, and shines on the sheets of an occupied bed. In the bed is a young teenage boy with brown hair, sleeping soundly in the comfort of his own bed. That is until a knock on the door is heard. Followed by a woman's voice from the other side.
"Peter? Peter. Time to get ready, I'm making breakfast."
Groaning, and turning to the other side of the bed, the boy groggily tells the woman loud enough that she can still hear him through the door.
"Coming, May, I'll be up in a sec…"
Peter tiredly opens his eyes just enough for him to see the calendar hanging on his room's wall. He then noticed a red circle marked around the number of the month. After seeing it, he thinks to himself.
'Just a couple of weeks left. I just need to hold on a little longer.'
After taking a good long shower, Peter brushes his teeth in front of the mirror. Then, making sure that all the stuff he needs are already in his back pack. After dressing up in a blue flannel, and black jeans, Peter sits himself down, and eat his personal favorite breakfast: wheat cakes.
As he easts his fill, the TV plays in the background; a local news channel covering the events that happened last night:
"—In one of our latest news, a group of men that broke into a local bank long after it was closed for the night. We still have no updates as to what drove these men into committing the heist, but fortunately, by the time to police arrived at the scene, they were already apprehended."
While chewing his food, Peter paid close attention to what the anchorwoman is saying on screen.
"In addition, according to the bank manager, the money that's been returned to the vault is the exact same amount that he calculated before he was the last to leave the building.
"So, for those who were worried about their savings in the bank, rest assured that the one who left a THIS note on the scene already had it handled."
Next to the reporter, an image of the note left that night is displayed on screen:
'Courtesy of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 😊'
Getting a glimpse of the note displayed on TV, Peter made a subtle smirk on his face. May suddenly speaks her thoughts about the news.
"It's definitely reassuring that there is someone out there who cares enough to keep the peace in the city both day and night."
"Oh, uh, yeah; sure is. He's been doing it for almost two years when he first showed up. And now, crime rates are much lower, and more than half of New York feel safe and happy that a spider-themed superhero is out there swingin' around the city protecting the streets."
May, while cleaning up the utensils she just used, listens to what her nephew says.
"While the people are glad that none of their money got stolen, there was another robbery that occurred at the docks near Chaplain Rock Triangle."
The news caught Peter's attention, and listens closely while still eating the food from his plate.
"The robbers that attacked the site were heavily armed, and held the workers there as hostages while they started hauling the boxes inside the cargo. According to the workers, the boxes they were stealing contained machinery, and various electronic parts that were sent from different facilities outside of New York.
"Right now, the police are still in the process of getting some answers out of them about their motives, and who they are potentially working for—"
Suddenly, Peter and May both hear a familiar honking noise from outside the house which snapped the former out of his head while trying to understand the news.
"The bus is here. You finished yet?"
"Hang on, just one last bite," Peter answers as he finishes the last slice of wheat cake from his plate; leaving nothing behind.
May then packs his lunch into his bag before handing it to him. With everything loaded, Peter is ready to leave for his first day in the new school year. Watching him exit the house, and making his way to the bus, two of Peter's classmates greet May from the bus's open window—a boy with a slightly different shade and style of brown hair, and a beauty of a girl with a long and red hair.
"Morning May!" they said loudly.
"Stay safe, sweetie! I love you!"
"Love you too, May!"
And just like that, Peter and co. are now on their way to Midtown High School while May sees them off.
Now, we transition to somewhere else—a place deep underneath New York where there is no sunlight; nothing but the putrid smell of trash, and contaminated water: the SEWER.
In a place like the sewer, you'd think that no one would ever live all the way down there. However, there are a few exceptions that made it into their home. Inside a section of the sewer that's long been abandoned, there is a sound of news being broadcasted on TV. As it turns out, it is broadcasting the same news about one of last night's incident. Right in front of the old, and repaired TV are the four new vigilantes.
But these four aren't humans: they have green scales all over their bodies, and a hard protective shell sticking on their backs—they are TURTLES. Although, they do possess some human-like features; like longer arms, hands with three functional fingers, and strong legs that help them walk upright. How these turtles turn out this way is anyone's guess.
On top of a small table sits a box of fresh hot pizza, and they each grab a slice while listening to the news.
"—It was just chaos in the warehouse. We could barely see anything through the smoke, but all we heard are guns firing everywhere."
The screen then switches to another dock worker, and shares his side of the story.
"With all the smoke comin' in, I can barely make out anything that night. What I do know is that they were all dropping like flies. I couldn't see who or what came to save us, but I'm just happy to still be alive. When the smoke cleared up, the guys were already on the floor.
"Whoever it was that saved us, I'm just glad to still be alive."
One of the dock workers finishes, before the screen switches again to the anchorwoman who is about to finish her report.
"And that's it for my report for today. This is Whitney Chang reporting for CHANNEL 6."
Once the news has finished one of the turtles speak up; feeling proud that people actually like what they're doing.
"You hear that, guys? People are already thanking us, and we didn't have to show are faces. Sooner or later, we're going to be famous."
He apparently is wearing a blue bandana around his head with two holes in them forming a sort of mask.
"I really can't get over this feeling: going out on the streets, and fighting dirty criminals—it really gets the blood pumpin'. You should've seen the look on that one guy's face when he started whining like a baby," says the other turtle—wearing a red bandana—relishing the feeling of combat.
Then, another speaks his mind about the robbery that occurred last night. This one's bandana is purple.
"It's really a shame that we had to leave so soon. Those boxes are full of next-level tech that I could use."
The one in blue speaks his thoughts about it to his brothers, "But that would be stealing, which is the exact of opposite of what we did last night."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." the one in purple sighs and admits in before he follows up with a question.
"And about the bank robbery; any idea who could've stopped it?"
The turtle in blue had been wondering about that himself. Since they were all busy at the docks, there's probably someone out there with the skills to take them down alone.
"No idea. I heard he left a note before he left the robbers to the cops. He took out all fifteen of them—BY HIMSELF. He's gotta be another martial artist; one who's almost the same level as Sensei."
The rowdy one on red objects to that notion, "Ha! A vigilante that's almost as good as Splinter? Puh-lease. I'll believe it when I see it."
"I don't know, Raph. This city's been labeled as a hotspot for superheroes, and supervillains. He could probably hit as fast and hard as you," says the nerdy turtle to his rowdy, hot-headed brother whose confidence isn't shaken a little bit.
"Heh. We'll see about that."
Then, just when he was going to get another slice of pizza, he finds it missing with its box.
"What the— Okay, did you guys eat the rest of the pizza?!" he asks in a slightly angry tone.
"This is my second bite," says the one in blue while showing his pizza slice in hand.
"Don't look at me, I only got one," the one in purple says next in defense.
The pizza they had has enough slices for all of them to eat equally. Someone just stole the rest of it right under their noses. And they seem to have a VERY good idea who the culprit is…
The last, and youngest of the four—wearing an orange bandana—easily gobbles up the rest of the last pizza that they bought. Licking his fingers for the remainders of sauce, and ketchup, he burps, then sighs with satisfaction after eating.
"Aaahh… Pizza… I love you… you're the best thing in the ENTIRE universe…"
Just as when he's about to relax after eating what was left of the food, he can feel a sense of malice from behind, and turn his head around. He can see angry gazes staring right into his very being; the three of his brothers seething with anger for stealing a meal that's meant to be served equally.
The little one nervously laughs, and gives them a wave before saying, "Uh, h-hey guys, I swear I didn't just eat the rest of the equally-sliced pizza—"
But all he did was make them angrier, because this turtle—out of all of them—is a total pizza-glutton; so, nothing he says will convince them that he's innocent. And it was at this moment that he knew… he screwed up.
"You are so going to get it—!"
The one in red yells as they start to comically chase their mischievous little brother around the lair.
— TO BE CONTINUED —
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Well, here it is, folks; another story for your eyes to feast upon. This TEASER is a little experiment for me to know how readers will respond after reading—whether or not they want to read more.
I decided to have the TMNT share the same Earth as the Marvel characters in order to keep the plot simple, but interesting enough for the readers. Other Marvel and TMNT characters will be added as the story goes on.
A little bit of warning: The of origins of some characters are slightly altered; I pulled some ideas from different media (mostly the movies and TV series), but for the most part, they remain the same.
For example:
Peter Parker got his powers from a genetically altered spider. His father—Richard Parker—was involved in the experiments that created the formula which altered the spider's DNA. Richard's formula came from his research on the mutagen from TCRI.
With this idea in mind, I'm going to try to be careful with how much alterations I make, and which characters I apply them to keep the readers—and myself—from getting confused.
I cannot say how frequent I will upload a new chapter, but I will try to keep this story afloat until the very end.
Feel free to leave your reviews. And leave an explanation for your answer to the question above.
See ya, for now. 😉