Author's Note: Happy New Year, my dear readers! To kick off 2024, I thought I'd give you the next part of my Spider-Man/Ninja Turtles fanfic, which unexpectedly has gained even more popularity than I thought so quickly.
This seems like a good place to pause this fanfic and focus more on my Young Avengers story. Don't worry. I will write more of the Spider-Nick series. Within time, I'll get started on the next story in the series. Which story though, however? Which ones are you looking forward to the most.
Now, there are some things I forgot to mention in my last author's note. I'm going to make a few changes in this fanfic. For example, in this fanfic, Donnie doesn't have a lovesick crush on April. Here, he just sees her as a friend same as the other turtles.
Well, now that all that is taken care of, enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"Whoa." All the turtles stared in awe at the cannister of mutagen that fell from Flint Marko's truck.
"I still can't believe this stuff turned four normal turtles into… you guys." Spider-Man said pointing both his index fingers at them.
"Let's drink some!" Mikey suggested excitedly.
"What?" Raph asked. "Why would you do that?"
"'Cause if you mutate a mutant, you get a super mutant!"
"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk." Donnie said.
"Or a mindless monster." Spider-Man added.
"Either way, it's an improvement." Raph said.
"Guys, this is huge." Leo said. "Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us 15 years ago."
"How is that possible?" Donnie asked.
"For alien robots, anything is possible." Mikey stated.
"Uh… alien what-now?" Spider-Man asked.
"Ignore him." Donnie said. "Mikey somehow got the idea that the guys in suits are alien robots."
"I'll prove it to you." Mikey said.
He marched toward the van which was hung by its web while at the same time, Flint Marko fell from the driver's seat window. He groaned after he fell flat on the ground. Mikey grabbed him by his head to hold him up.
"Tell me, Mr. Smarty Shell, if there's no such thing as alien robots, how do you explain THIS?!"
Mikey squeezed the sides of Marko's face and pulled hard. The crook yelled trying to pry himself free from the turtle's grip.
"Man, this mask is glued on tight!"
"Mikey, stop! It's not a mask!" Leo stopped his brother.
"Wow. Is that how I looked when I tried to pull your face off last night?" Spider-Man asked Donnie.
"I wouldn't know. My face was being stretched at the time." Donnie reminded dryly.
"Okay. He's in the clear." Mikey said dropping Marko back on the ground. "But those other guys were totally alien robots!"
"Enough!" Raph yelled. He walked past Mikey and stood over Marko while holding the mutagen cannister in his hand. "Time to get some answers. Mucko, was it? What's going on?"
"It's 'Marko'! Flint Marko!" Marko corrected. "And I got nothing to say to a bunch of freaks!"
"Well, that's 'cause you don't know us yet." Raph said with a devilish grin. He tossed Marko to Donnie and Mikey who held him in place before opening the cannister. "See, we were just regular guys until we got hit with a little of this."
Marko's eyes widened in fear. "W-What are you doing?"
"Playing a little game I like to call 'Mutation Roulette'. Now, you could turn out handsome like me, or you might end up disgusting and deformed, like Mikey here."
"Hey!"
"Uh, he's not really gonna…" Spider-Man whispered to Leo.
"Knowing him, it's anyone's guess." Leo answered.
"So, you feel lucky?" Raph asked threateningly while tilting the cannister.
Marko, unable to hold in his fear, broke quickly. "Okay! Okay! They call themselves the Kraang! They've been grabbing scientists from all over the city!"
"That certainly fits the detective's story." Spider-Man said. "What's their endgame, Flinty?"
"I don't know." Marko answered. "I'm just their hired driver. Sometimes, I transport them during their kidnappings. Sometimes, I deliver their goods."
"Okay, but why would you work for them?" Donnie asked. "You're kidnapping innocent people."
"So what? A guy's gotta earn a livin'." Flint shrugged. "Being a parolee after spending a couple months in the slammer for bank robbery, you don't get a lotta people trusting you, and that makes getting cash hard. The odd jobs I do at that garage barely make ends meet. These guys? Don't ask me how, but they got a lotta money. And I mean a LOT. You do the math, genius."
"Well, you gotta know something." Spider-Man said. "Don't make me sic Raph on you again."
"Look, all I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight, but I don't know where. Like I said, I'm just the driver."
"Where are they now?" Leo asked.
Marko lead Spider-Man and the turtles to the edge of the city where they stopped at a rooftop. While Mikey was watching over him, the others looked across at the triangular building which Leo studied through a telescope.
"There's gotta be, like 20 of those Kraang guys down there." Leo said.
"And that's just the ones we can see." Donnie added. "Not to mention strange weaponry, a helicopter pad, and a… SWEET NEWTON'S APPLE! Is that a particle accelerator?! This base actually has a particle accelerator?!"
"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Leo asked.
"It's a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged to high speeds and energies." Donnie said. "It then contains them in beams before colliding them."
The turtles looked blankly until Spider-Man broke the silence.
"It basically studies charged particles running at high speed." Spider-Man said. "It's very big in the scientific community."
"You're a scientist too, huh?" Donnie asked.
"How do you think I made my webs?"
"All right." Raph said spinning his sais around his hands. "If the nerd fest is over, let's bash those goons up."
"We can't just rush in there." Leo said. "We need a plan."
"I was just going to knock on their door and say 'cupcake gram'." Spider-Man said. "Everybody loves cupcakes."
"Tell me you're kidding." Donnie said with a deadpan expression.
"Hey. It lightens the mood."
"Why do we even need a plan?" Raph asked.
"Think, you shell brain." Donnie said. "There are innocent lives at stake. If we screw this up, they're all goners."
"Then we won't it screw up." Raph said.
"Do you really think it's that easy?" Spider-Man asked.
"It's certainly fun."
"Boy, I could sure go for some of that pizza right now, huh?" Mikey said, but when everyone turned to the direction of his voice, they found him not where he was supposed to be, which was watching over Marko. "What? I can't be the only one that's hungry."
"Where's Marko?" Leo asked.
Realizing his mistake, Mikey gasped and looked over to where he was before. Wherever Marko was, he wasn't there anymore.
"Oh, geez."
"Over there!" Spider-Man pointed out finding Marko jumping from the roof and heading down the fire escape.
The five of them followed Marko off the roof, but they lost him when they hit the ground. They looked around until Leo locked his eyes on a dark alleyway. He gestured his head to the others indicating he found Marko. Spider-Man looked at Leo's eyes and instantly knew he had a plan. He nodded his head and let him take the lead.
"Oh, great. We let him get away." Leo said with an acting tone.
"Whoa, whoa. You're the leader." Raph said. "That means you let him get away."
"You're not helping." Leo whispered harshly.
"I'm not trying to help. Besides, we could also blame web-head here."
"Hey, I barely know you guys." Spider-Man said.
Okay, fine." Leo said before speaking up to make sure Marko hears them. "We go back to the Lair, gear up, and at midnight, we drive Marko's van right up to the gate. They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in."
"Isn't Marko's van all caught in a web or something?" Raph asked.
"Should be down by now." Spider-Man said. "My web dissolves after a while. Otherwise, there'd be leftover strands everywhere."
"So the plan still works." Leo said. "We take the van, trick the Kraang, and drive right in."
"And then, we bust some heads?" Raph asked.
"And then, we bust some heads." Leo answered.
Spider-Man chuckled. "I've always wanted to try the Trojan Horse trick."
Donnie and Mikey snickered softly before nodding in agreement. The five of them left with Marko grinning to himself. He fell right for their trick.
The heroes returned to the roof and looked back at the Kraang base outside the city.
"So what's the real plan?" Raph asked.
"We're still going to take Marko's van, but we may need to do something creative." Leo said.
"I got some equipment we can use, but they're back at the lair." Donnie said.
"So do I get to see what a mutant turtle lair looks like?" Spider-Man asked.
The turtles widened their eyes and turned to the web-slinger. They blinked twice before huddling.
"We're gonna have to take him back to the Lair with us." Leo said.
"What, are you nuts?" Raph asked. "Splinter will go ballistic if we bring an outsider in."
"I don't know, guys." Mikey said. "Spidey is a superhero, and wouldn't it be great to show off our sweet pad to him?"
"You're far too amused, you know that." Donnie said.
"I know it's risky," Leo said, "But we're going to have to finalize the plan at the Lair anyway, and Spider-Man is as much involved in this as the rest of us. So as the leader, I say he comes with."
Raph sighed. "Fine. But if Splinter whacks us for it, I'm blaming you."
"Are you guys talking about me?" Spider-Man asked. "I know what it looks like for people to talk about someone behind their back."
The turtles stopped huddling and turned to Spider-Man.
"Okay, Spider-Man." Leo said. "We're about to take you someplace, but you're gonna have to keep quiet about it."
"Dude, my own aunt doesn't know I'm a superhero." Spider-Man said. "Trust me. Your secret's safe."
"Okay. Are we almost there? I feel like I'm about to be taken to my doom here."
Spider-Man was currently being led down an old subway tunnel with the turtles at his sides. After going to get the freed van which, while a little banged up, still worked, they then brought Spider-Man down a manhole into a sewer and then to the subway.
"We're almost there. Trust us," Leo assured.
"I still don't like this." Raph grumbled.
"I told you, Raph. If Spider-Man is going to be an ally, he needs to know what he's getting involved with. He's a part of this as much as any of us." Leo explained.
Raph didn't say anything. He just pouted in response.
"We're here!" Mikey cheered.
The group soon stopped at what looked like an old turnstile. The turtles jumped over it with Spider-Man behind them. The web-slinger then looked around in amazement.
From what he could see, he was looking at an abandoned subway relay station that appeared to have a connection to the sewer. It had apparently been converted into a common room. He saw quite a few things that one would not expect turtle mutants to have such as a sitting area that was in front of a large TV set, a spiral staircase, an old Space Heroes pinball machine, an authentic Atomic Robo-X arcade game, a tabletop hockey arcade game, a tire swing, and a training dummy.
"Woah," Spider-Man whispered in awe.
"Welcome to Casa del Turtle, Spider-Dude! Or as I have named it, 'the Lair!'" Mikey presented. "Don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty good at naming stuff."
Spider-Man however didn't seem to hear him as he took in the incredible sights. "This is amazing!"
"We found this place shortly after we mutated and had it reconfigured into a living space over the years." Donnie said. "I fitted it up with modern amenities found down here in the sewer. You wouldn't believe what people just throw down the drains or manholes. I actually found that TV just lying next to a pipeline near Bleeker. A little elbow grease and it was working good as new."
"And the arcade machines?" Spider-Man asked.
"Eh. Some old arcades closed a while back." Raph shrugged. "Guess they thought tossing them down here would be better for whatever nutty reason. Leo was the one who insisted on the Space Heroes machine. The guy's a loon when it comes to that dumb show."
"Hey! It happens to be an underrated piece of animated gold showing the adventures of a crew of galaxy-farers boldly searching for new species and planets!" Leo protested.
"Like I said, 'dumb show'." Raph stated.
"Okay, okay. We should probably try to keep it down now." Donnie said.
"Why?" Mikey asked.
"Because, shell brain, if Splinter finds out about this, who knows what could happen!" Raph snapped.
"Who?" Spider-Man asked.
"He's our sensei and the one who raised us. And he's not exactly fond of uninvited guests." Leo said.
"Yeah. If he found out, he'd be all like, 'You boys brought a stranger into the Lair without my permission?!'" He said this in an exaggerated deep voice with a terrible Japanese accent. "'This is very irresponsible! Have you forgotten everything I taught you already? I told you, 'don't talk to strangers! Everyone is a stranger!' And rah, rah, rah!'"
As he continued to do this, Spider-Man blinked for a second and when he looked again, his eyes widened with shock behind his mask at what he saw suddenly appear behind an oblivious Mikey.
It was a tall mutant brown and white rat with a long white beard, wearing a red kimono robe and having bandages wrapped around his arms. In his right clawed hand was what appeared to be a cane made of a green translucent crystal. A tail behind him twitched in an irritable fashion and his reddish-brown eyes gazed down unamused at the turtle. The other three began making movements and facial expressions to get Mikey to shut up and stop his crude impersonation of what was obviously the rat behind him.
"And then he'll…" Mikey finally paused in yapping to notice his brother's actions and Spider-Man's seeming shock. "He's right behind me, isn't he?" he asked in a worried tone as his three brothers merely nodded. He turned and saw the large angry rat behind him. He immediately screamed and leapt up in a cartoonish fashion before quickly retreating and cowering behind Donnie.
"Sensei!" squeaked Leo. "You're, uh, still up."
"I was waiting for you, my sons. However, I had not expected you to bring a stranger into our home." Splinter said, his deep voice filled with quiet anger.
All at once, the turtles began speaking up.
"Sensei, we managed to find the driver for the truck from before!"
"We kicked his butt and then I convinced him into telling us what he knew!"
"We also met with Spider-Man here when he offered his aid after last night and informed us that the girl and her dad were the latest victims of scientists being abducted!"
"And those weird guys we fought were called the Kraang! Totally good robot brain alien name!"
"Will you shut up about that?! Mikey let the driver Marko get away and Fearless Leader here came up with the bright idea to bring Spidey home with us to work on a plan!"
"I told you…"
"YAME!" All at once the turtles fell silent as Splinter walked towards Spider-Man, who stood still shocked and silent at Splinter. "You are the one they call 'Spider-Man', correct? My sons mentioned you the other night. And about the grave mistake made."
Spider-Man finally snapped out of his shock and replied nervously. "Um, yeah, yeah, I am. So... You're the guy who likes Renaissance art. Never thought a rat would be interested in stuff like that."
The turtles gasped a little and turned to Splinter, who didn't really show any change
outwardly.
"From what I can tell, you are attempting to ally yourself with us." Splinter continued. "However, I have heard about you. Many state that you are a danger. A loose cannon. And after what my sons told me last night, quite willing to jump in without observing. This is very dangerous and not something wise to have by a ninja's side. And I will not have someone like that in my home, putting my sons in danger. So tell me, Spider-Man, why should I place my family's trust and safety in you?"
Spider-Man was silent for a second before letting out a breath and answering. "I made a big mistake in the past. And because of that big mistake, someone I cared about..." He paused and the turtles and Splinter seemed to get what he meant. "This person once told me 'With great power comes great responsibility'. I've vowed since then to use my abilities in just that way from now on. Last night, I made a mistake as huge as that first one and didn't act responsibly at all. I won't allow what happened to occur again. And if it means teaming up with the turtles to do it, then I will."
Splinter remained silent for a bit, stroking his beard in thought. Everyone waited on pins and needles. Finally, Splinter smiled.
"I can tell by your tone you are speaking the truth, young one. I can admire your reasons for doing what you do. They are honorable." He turned to the turtles who had calmed down. "My sons. The Spider-Man is truly an ally and he is welcome in our home." The turtles all breathed sighs of relief. "But do not let it happen too often or it is Randori for all!" Splinter then calmly turned to Leo. "Leonardo, come into the dojo and you may have enough time and quiet to prepare for your attack against these Kraang."
"Hai, sensei." Leo said. "Mikey, Donnie, how about you show Spider-Man around?"
"Aw yeah! Come on, Spidey! Grand tour time!" Mikey cheered.
While Leo went with Splinter to plan out the attack and Raph went off on his own, Mikey and Donnie showed their new friend around the Lair. Well, more like Mikey dragged him around and showed him every small thing he was able. They showed him their rooms. Donnie's was rather clean and filled with many scientific books and such while Mikey's was like a pigsty. He was then brough to the kitchen where they saw Raph talking to his pet turtle, Spike, which Spider-Man thought was rather odd; a turtle with a pet turtle. They then entered Donnie's lab, where Spider-Man was again in awe at Donnie's numerous inventions and set about to looking at them while the techie grabbed what was needed for the coming battle.
Of course, the enjoyment was broken slightly by Mikey apparently making fun of Raph for talking to Spike and the hothead chasing his younger brother, threatening to cream him. Donnie nonchalantly told Spider-Man not to worry and that that happened all the time. Soon, Leo stepped out saying it was near midnight and the heroes finished preparing themselves.
Just outside the front gate, Flint Marko stood guard between two guards. They all held advanced laser pistols in their hands waiting for the enemy.
"Kraang," one of the guards said to the other with a robotic tone, "Are those who are coming to this place coming to this place?"
"I lack that knowledge, Kraang." The other guard replied in the same tone and voice. "I will inquire of Kraang about that knowledge." He looked up to more guards. "Do you have the knowledge if those coming to this place are near this place, Kraang?"
"Oh, for goodness sake!" Marko yelled impatiently. "They're turtles and Spider-Man! Four of them are freaks with shells and one is a freak who shoots web! They're not called 'those who are coming'! They're Spider-Man and turtles! Seriously, how do you people live with yourselves if you keep talking like that? Are Spider-Man and the turtles here?"
Up above, one of the Kraang guards pointed into the distance. "There are lights of a vehicle which contain that which you wish us to call Spider-Man and the turtles coming to this place which you wish to call here."
"What?" Marko asked before hearing the distant sound of an engine running. He turned and spotted his old van driving toward them at high speed. "There they are! Shoot them!"
Following Marko's lead, the guards fired their pistols at the van as it drove much closer at top speed. After realizing the van wasn't going to slow down, Marko jumped out of the way letting it crash into the front gate. The impact created a fiery explosion which also shot out splashes of mutagen everywhere.
Marko recovered from the fall and looked up seeing the mutagen spray everywhere. He gasped and moved around as fast as he could. He didn't have time to think. He could only avoid the mutagen before it could hit him.
During Marko's dodging, he accidentally stumbled off of the edge of the ground and fell into a circular hole where he landed in a large pile of sand. He groaned and looked around finding a metal wall with tubes and wires. He widened his eyes finding out where he was.
Flint Marko was inside of the particle accelerator.
The van crash caused a major ruckus to the electronics on the wall and everything attached to it, including the accelerator which accidentally turned on. The metal walls lit up and everything began to spin around him. Marko started to panic and looked for a way to escape, but it was too late.
Then, he felt a numbness course through his body. He looked at his hand only to see it disappear before his eyes. It scattered along with the spinning machine like dust in the wind. He yelled out in a great panic until his entire body fell apart and he was one with the dust in the sand.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't stay down for long.
Back at the fiery wreckage, guards moved in slowly around the destroyed van to inspect it. They looked inside and saw that it was rigged to drive itself without anyone inside.
"The ones coming to this place are not in the vehicle bringing them to this place."
"Then in what place are the ones called Spider-Man and the turtles?"
Spider-Man and the turtles were far away from the crash scaling up the wall. Spider-Man was using his powers to crawl up while the turtles climbed with tools on their hands that had hooks attached to them.
"So what are those things called?" Spider-Man asked.
"Tegaki." Leo said. "It's a useful ninja tool for infiltrating a place stealthily."
"I gotta say," Mikey said looking at the crashed van, "Lucky thing that van showed up to distract them."
Donnie facepalmed, forgetting he was wearing something sharp and yelped in pain.
"That was the plan, Mikey." Leo said. "We knew Marko was hiding in the alley, so we made him think we would be in the van."
"But we weren't in the van." Mikey said.
"Just keep climbing."
"Can do."
"Why do I have a feeling your rat dad dropped that one when he was a baby?" Spider-Man asked continuing his climb with the turtles.
Once they were inside, the first thing the heroes did was beat down two guards who were unfortunate enough to be in their way. The next thing they did was notice the highly advanced corridor which they walked through.
"Wow. I've never seen anything like this." Donnie said in awe. "They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize."
"Gosh. A metal alloy even you don't know about." Raph said sarcastically. "It boggles the mind."
"Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it." Donnie challenged.
"I don't, and…"
"Hey, Larry and Moe, quit being wise guys and let's find the prisoners." Spider-Man said.
They continued sneaking through the hallway. They stopped when they noticed a group of strange-looking figures standing at the far end. They had their backs turned, but the heroes squinted their eyes to see what they were. They had the shapes of humans, but they were either blue or silver. Either way, they were certainly metallic. And more strangely, they all had pink, slug-like creatures with faces in their stomachs.
"Wait a minute." Spider-Man said with his eyes widening under his mask. "Are those things…"
"Alien robots." Donnie said in astonishment.
"Alien robots, huh?" Mikey asked. "Hmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. I've been saying it for HOURS!"
Mikey's outburst was loud enough for the robots to hear. They all turned and saw the intruders at the other end of the hallway.
Spider-Man chuckled nervously. "Is this not part of the evil alien robot base tour? Sorry. We got turned around. Maybe you could point us to the cafetorium?"
The Kraang aimed their pistols and fired purple laser blasts. Thankfully, Spider-Man and the turtles were agile enough to dodge them. They all headed to the Kraang while avoiding their blasts.
"Are these pew-pew guns? I love pew-pew guns!" Spider-Man said getting closer to the Kraang.
They reached the Kraang and worked on demolishing them with their weapons. Mikey knocked his down with his nunchucks, Donnie used his staff to throw them, Raph stabbed one with his sai, and Leo cut through them with his katana. Meanwhile, Spider-Man kicked at one Kraang and landed in front of another. It aimed its pistol at him and prepared to fire, but at the last second, Spider-Man fired a web shot to cover it. The blocked gun caused it to malfunction and electrocute the Kraang holding it before it fell on its back.
"Pew."
In the aftermath of the short skirmish, one of the fallen Kraang began to move. Its pink, slug-like stomach shot out tentacles and pulled itself up. It opened its green eyes and screeched violently at them before Mikey knocked it out and pulled it by its tentacles. He held it up to show off to the others.
"See? See? It's a brain thing! I told you! I told you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of bonehead!"
"Okay. We're sorry." Spider-Man said. "Now, how about you put down that slithering tumor before it…"
Too late. The Kraang in Mikey's hand woke up and bit him in the hand. He yelled before throwing it off. The Kraang hit a button on the wall which flashed a bright, purple light throughout the hallway and let out a loud alarm for everyone to hear.
"MIKEY!" everyone yelled at once.
"Okay!" Mikey said. "But I was still right about the brain thing! You gotta give me that!"
"Let's move!" Leo said.
"Move where?" Raph asked.
Donnie looked up and noticed purple lines on the metal ceiling. "I think those are power conduits."
"Oh. That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing, Donnie." Raph said sarcastically.
"Hey, he's saying that the power conduits could be leading to something important." Spider-Man said. "We need to follow them to see what they lead to."
The turtles nodded and followed the line of conduits.
Spider-Man and the turtles traveled down the hallway until Donnie stopped at a doorway. He looked through the window and noticed two figures inside.
"We found them! It's the girl and her dad!"
The others regrouped with Donnie. Spider-Man looked in to see April and her dad watching them from inside their cell. He was relieved they were safe before looking at an alien button panel attached to the cell door.
All of a sudden, more Kraang robots appeared from the far end of the hallway. They fired their laser pistols trying to hit them.
"We'll hold them off!" Leo said pulling out his swords. "You pick the lock!" He, Raph, and Mikey moved in towards the Kraang to fight them.
"Don't worry." Donnie assured April. "We'll have you out of there in a second."
"Okay, giant lizard thing and… Aren't you Spider-Man?" April asked.
"Yeah. Sorry about last night." Spider-Man said awkwardly.
"It's alright," Kirby said with an understanding smile. "You're trying to help now. Just get us out of here, we'll call it even." April also smiled and nodded.
"Okay then." Spider-Man said. "How's it going, Donnie?"
"Working on it." Donnie said removing the front of the panel and starting to tinker with the wires.
"Not to rush you, but hurry up!" April yelled.
"Hey, you think it's easy trying to pick a lock with these hands?" Donnie asked holding up his three-fingered hands.
"Sorry."
"You know what? There's always the simpler plan." Spider-Man said.
"What simpler plan?" Donnie asked.
Spider-Man shot a web toward an unconscious Kraang and caught its pistol. He pulled it into his own hands and shot it right into the open panel. The door beeped and slid open.
"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." Spider-Man said proudly before looking into the cell. Another door opened on the other end and another group of Kraang grabbed April and Kirby dragging them out. "Probably not so lemon squeezy."
"They're getting away!" Donnie yelled to his brothers.
"Then let's go!" Leo said chasing after the Kraang with the others.
After returning outside of the base, Raph used a severed Kraang arm to bolt the door shut so they couldn't be followed. Although they agreed it was twisted, they knew they still had people to save, so they ran to catch up with them.
All of a sudden, Spider-Man stopped feeling a tingling sensation inside of his head. As soon as he felt it, he knew exactly what it meant.
"GUYS, GET DOWN!"
"What? Why… OOF!" Leo was suddenly knocked back by a giant fist.
Everyone watched as the fist began to change in front of them. It broke down into a giant pile of sand that shifted around until a giant man towered fifteen feet above them. The shape of the man was familiar to them, and so did the voice.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME! NOW, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"
"Flint Marko? Is that you?" Spider-Man asked. "What happened to you?"
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Marko yelled. "That stunt you pulled with my van knocked me into the accelerator! And now, I'm a freak like you!"
"The accelerator?" Donnie gasped. "That's insane! It deconstructed his body into basic particles transforming him into sentient grains of silicon!"
At the other turtle's confused stares, Spider-Man translated. "It turned him into a giant living pile of sand."
"That's weird." Mikey said. "You'd think he'd transform into a giant living pile of flint."
"Yeah, you would, if you were an idiot!" Raph shot at him.
"But his name is Flint."
"So?"
"You don't understand science."
"ENOUGH!" Marko yelled. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
"Uh, would it help if we said it was an accident?" Donnie asked nervously.
Marko growled and held his fists up. They both expanded in size and mass looking more intimidating.
"I don't think that's a sign of forgiveness." Spider-Man said
Marko slammed his fists down just as the heroes dodged out of the way. Leo retaliated by severing his arm with his katanas. Marko's hand quickly regrew from the stump left behind. He looked down at it with an impressed and sadistic grin.
"It grew back?" Donnie asked. "No fair!"
At that moment, they heard the sound of helicopter blades whirring. Looking up, they saw April and her dad being pushed into the aircraft by the Kraang.
"Donnie, go!" Leo ordered. He helped Donnie jump up to the helicopter pad while the others fought Marko.
Mikey sliced at Marko with his kusarigama, Leo made marks with his swords, and Raph cut through his legs with his tegaki. But no matter how much they cut off, Marko always grew it back with even more sand. He threw another punch, but Spider-Man caught it with a large net of his web and removed it from him. He then spun around and threw it back at Marko's head. All it did was leave a hole which he repaired.
"Is that the best you got?"
"Hey, it worked on Goliath." He then dodged another attack that Marko threw.
"Sandman is really powerful!" Mikey yelled.
"Sandman?" Raph asked.
"Yeah. He's a man who's now made of sand, so…"
"We get it!"
"We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back!" Leo said just as more Kraang appeared with pistols. "While not getting shot by alien robots!"
"With brains!" Mikey yelled.
"Let it go, man." Raph said. "So what's the plan?"
"I'm working on it!" Leo replied.
Spider-Man looked around and noticed metal cables along the walls. "Guys, power conduits!"
"Are we really talking about that again?!" Raph yelled just as the Kraang started firing.
"No, you don't understand!" Spider-Man said dodging the Kraang's fire with the others. "Do you know what happens when you electrocute sand?!"
Leo looked at the conduits and smiled. "I think I get what you're saying! Guys, follow my lead!"
During the firefight, some of the Kraang hit Sandman, who responded by picking them up and crushing them in his colossal hands. While the others were fighting Spider-Man and the turtles, Sandman soon made it close to a power generator.
Spider-Man swung himself to land right between the Kraang and Sandman with the power generator.
"Come one, come all!" Spider-Man taunted. "Hit the hero, and you win a prize!"
The Kraang fired their guns again which Spider-Man dodged. The laser blasts instead hit Sandman and the power generator behind him. Leo threw a couple of his ninja stars at Sandman to get his attention. After taunting him, Sandman threw another punch right at him. Leo dodged and the generator was completely destroyed. The impact created a large, purple, electrical surge that petrified Sandman. It then blew up scattering pieces of him all over the base.
Moving away from the explosion, Spider-Man and the turtles soon regrouped with Donnie who just came back from saving April.
"What about her dad?" Leo asked.
"I couldn't save him." Donnie said regretfully. "But don't worry, April. We will save him."
"Thanks." April said.
"Well, as much as I'd love to cause more of a riot at this party, I think it's about time we check ourselves out." Spider-Man said before leaving with the others.
The remaining Kraang saw the scattered remains of the battle that just occurred and looked amongst each other.
"Kraang, the ones in this place are not in this place where they were."
"The ones are called Spider-Man and turtles, Kraang. They are dangerous to what we are doing in this place and other places."
"Yes. I am knowledge of that. I also have knowledge of something else with is something to have knowledge about. The one we are now referring to as 'Spider-Man' appears to show a set of skills and abilities that Kraang has failed to see in some time."
"What is this that Kraang is speaking of?"
"Agility. Strength. Intuition. The abilities which I have listed are the abilities which are precisely what the one known as Spider-Man seems to possess. These abilities that we have seen seem to be similar to the results that Kraang was looking for from the subject which is known as Subject S8412."
"That statement which you have made is that which is impossible, Kraang. The one known as Subject S8412 was destroyed, and therefore cannot be in this place."
"But if the one known as Subject S8412 somehow made contact with that which is known as a human being and infected said human, then that human would possess the abilities which I have listed which are the result of Subject S8412."
"If what you have stated is indeed somehow possible, then the one known as Spider-Man is now one who is also called the new Subject S8412 and must be brought in to Kraang."
"Then it is agreed. The one known as Spider-Man also known as Subject S8412 must be captured, and the turtles must be eliminated from all places."
Meanwhile, little bits of Sandman escaped the destroyed, glass-like remains and crawled out of the base. It was clear then that he was not done for yet.
Immediately after leaving the Kraang base, Spider-Man and the turtles headed straight at an apartment to drop her off. They opened her window and helped her inside.
"Are you gonna be all right?" Donnie asked.
"I guess." April replied. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want, but I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad."
"Won't the police help?" Leo asked.
"Funny thing. When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."
"I hear that." Mikey agreed.
"If it helps, I have a friend on the police force." Spider-Man said. "Clearly, I can't tell her about the whole 'X-Files alien base' thing, but I can at least count on her to take the kidnappings seriously. If you ever need her help, just ask for Yuri Watanabe."
"Thanks." April said feeling slightly better.
"April, I promise you, we will not rest until we find your dad." Donnie said.
"Thank you, but it's not your fight." April said.
"Maybe, but it's our responsibility." Spider-Man said.
April smiled in reassurance as her heroes headed to the rooftop. She closed the window behind her and headed into her room.
"So what now?" Raph asked.
"Now, we need to figure out what the Kraang are up to and what they want." Leo said.
"Well, if I know my alien movies," Spider-Man said, "They're likely trying to prepare the Earth for a hostile takeover. But the whole kidnapped scientist thing, the mutagen, the underground dealings… This is clearly a very big operation with lots of organization. Any chance I can count on you guys to help me take them down?"
"Of course." Leo said holding out his hand. "We're New Yorkers, and no one threatens our city."
"Hear, hear." Spider-Man agreed accepting Leo's handshake.
As soon as Peter returned to his home in Queens, he removed his costume and changed into his normal clothes before going through his front door. He was immediately greeted by his Aunt May, a middle-aged woman with gray hair and blue clothes on.
"Peter, you're back." May smiled proudly hugging her nephew. "Where were you? I was so worried."
"Sorry about that, Aunt May." Peter said. "You see, I made these new friends and they needed my help with something."
"Your help?" May asked. "Oh, I hope it's nothing illegal."
"No, no, no. I promise you, it's a good thing." Peter said. He was careful not to let his aunt worry. He knew that if she ever knew he was Spider-Man, she would never be calm again.
"Well, I'm just glad you're unharmed." May said in relief. "And that you apparently made some new friends. What are they like?"
"They're… unique, I can tell you that."
"Breaking news!" A voice yelled out from the living room TV. Peter and May followed it to find J. Jonah Jameson taking over most of the screen. Next to him was a picture of a ninja in front of a city.
"Get this, New York! That blasted Spider-Man is at it again! Earlier tonight, residents of our great city reported a disturbance and caught a photograph of the web-swinging menace on their phones!"
Jameson showed an image of Spider-Man swinging away from the Kraang base right after an explosion.
"Now, apparently, this place which he left a smoking ruin is classified, but anyone with common sense can clearly see the truth! Spider-Man broke into that strange facility and left a great mess of destruction upon his exit! And if that's not bad enough, the police managed to recover something that makes my fears about Spider-Man all the more terrifying!"
Jameson now showed an image of Leo's ninja star. Spider-Man recognized it by the five-pronged symbol at its center.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but the evidence seems pretty obvious to me! It appears that Spider-Man… IS NOW A NINJA! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! As if his wanton destruction isn't bad enough. Now, we have to worry about him being a menace in the shadows too! How long until he decides to take up assassinations? I don't know who is teaching the wall-crawler how to be a ninja, but I can tell that they have no regard for what they can do to New York City!"
It was at that moment that Aunt May decided to turn the TV off.
"Oh, that blowhard. It's always 'Spider-Man this' and 'Spider-Man that'. How many times does he have to keep saying that name before he comes up with a new story."
"Don't worry about him, Aunt May." Peter assured. "I mean, Spider-Man a ninja? I doubt that there is anyone on Earth who will take that seriously."
Across the sea, in the darkest parts of Tokyo, Japan, a man with a heavily burnt face sat in his office sitting on his throne. He was accompanied by two ninja with spears. He was watching the TV screen which showed Jameson's report.
As soon as he saw the ninja star, the burnt man paused the image and fixed his eyes on the symbol. After an intense moment, he finally broke the silence.
"So my old enemy is in New York, and has taken in a new and most unusual pupil. At last, I can finish what I started so long ago. Prepare my jet."
As the ninja left the man picked up a metal helmet which he used to cover his deformed face. He then rose from his throne revealing a pair of gauntlets which he wore that had blades sticking out of them.
"I am going to visit an old friend. And I will find him, even if I have to rip the truth out of his new student. This… Spider-Man."
