(Enemy of My Enemy)
Gamelover41592: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Of course Black Cat hasn't turned over to the heroes' side right away, considering she's still a thief, but at least she doesn't outright hate Spider-Man anymore. I didn't include anything about that final detail because I figured that there was enough tension between them as it is.
Superjoeyf721: Yeah, there was a lot going on in that chapter.
Superjoeyf721: You're not wrong, Mark Hamill would be great as the Hobgoblin in Spectacular if it comes back.
Kival737101: I know black is in the name, but in Spectacular it's a dark purple. I'm just saying it like it is.
Moheart7: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I've put a lot of effort into this story, and it looks like it's really paying off. The hints are meant to be subtle, and more will be revealed as the story goes further. I made Gwen's uncle the guy who would become the Scorpion, and that is definitely going to come up, but not for at least a little while. I do plan to include a bunch of other villains too, such as Carnage and Morbius. I actually haven't heard of White Rabbit, though I wouldn't say no to including Screwball at some point. However, that's not the only alias that Liz has taken in the comics. I might go somewhere with that at some point.
Spectacular Webhead 11: Oh just wait, Roderick Kingsley himself is going to have a role to play later on. Gwen and Harry's relationship was doomed from the start, but it won't be too much longer now. Black Cat's story is more like a semi-redemption, but at least she's not exactly against our heroes now.
Pikachu345: Oh trust me, I plan to include Wolverine later on in the story, and at least a few nods to the Punisher. Moon Knight however, I haven't decided yet, but a meeting with the three of them would be interesting. I haven't really seen any of the live action X Men movies (aside from the two Deadpool movies), but the idea of Magneto using Mutagen for his own ends is a pretty interesting one. I'll have to keep it in mind.
Althea Sirius: Yeah, they're not exactly friends or on the same side, considering she's not going to give up being a thief, but at least they don't hate each other now.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I wouldn't say Spider-Man and Black Cat are on friendly terms, more like frenemies, pretty similar to how they were after their encounter in the first season. But yeah, it does help to wrap up that little loose thread after the end of the second season. And yeah, aside from training with Splinter and the Turtles, Peter is also experimenting with new gadgets and ideas. You'll see more of them scattered throughout the story.
Martyrex: Oh trust me, that was completely intentional on my part. It's one of those things where I'm giving a somewhat subtle hint as to who the benefactor is, and what he's up to during this time.
TheIrishman1999: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it, and it feels good to be back. And trust me, that clue to the identity of the Hobgoblin's benefactor is fully intentional. We'll see how many people figure it out before the big reveal. As for the Kingpin being brought in… well we'll just have to wait and see.
Tortugafash2002: You never know. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether or not that has any repercussions. The Spider Support Squad has at least a few members now, but there will be at least a few more in time. And yeah, a lot did happen, but it led to Spider-Man and Black Cat being back on better terms.
TheIrishman1999: I actually hadn't heard about Mutant Mayhem until I saw your review, but it does sound pretty interesting. Jackie Chan as Splinter sounds like a good choice. Giancarlo Esposito definitely has a lot of range as far as acting and voice acting go, so I have to give him points for that.
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Another night, another stakeout.
"So far things are quiet." Leo stopped looking through a telescope and turned to the rest of the Turtles "Nothing of note just yet. Speaking of which, should we expect any extra help from the others tonight?"
"You're gonna have to count Daredevil out." Raph told him "Apparently he's tracking some kind of smuggling ring over in Hell's Kitchen."
"And what about Peter?"
"He's still pretty banged up after the whole Hobgoblin thing." Mikey told him "Plus his aunt and a few others are pretty pissed at him for sneaking out of the hospital."
"Take it easy guys, I'm gonna be fine." it was at this moment that Spider-Man made himself known to the group from where he was hanging upside down from a nearby water tower, a cup of iced coffee in hand "Seriously, sometimes you guys are worse than parents. I already have my Aunt May hovering over me after what happened with the Hobgoblin, I don't need it from you guys too."
"The worry is for good reason." Leo pointed out "You did get hit with at least half a dozen of those pumpkin bombs. And tossed through a building. And tortured by the Kraang. The point is that the worry comes from a good place."
"I never said it didn't, but don't forget that I have spider powers which also enhance my recovery from injuries. At this point there isn't anything that can really hurt me." and then he took a sip of his iced coffee… only to immediately start choking on it "Okay, I realize that hurts the point I'm trying to make, but you get the idea."
"Yeah, that you're stupid enough to try and drink coffee upside down." Raph noted dryly, only to be met with a shot of webs covering his mouth.
"Now that the obligatory banter is out of the way, what are we dealing with?"
"I decrypted some more information from the Kraang storage device." Donnie told him "From what I was able to gather, some kind of scouting ship is being brought through the Kraang portal tonight."
"Any details on it?"
"As far as we can tell, none." Leo told him "But when the Kraang are involved, you know it's going to be bad. We all have to stay alert."
"Trust me that's exactly what I've been doing since the whole thing with the Hobgoblin. You never know when some dipstick in a costume is about to blindside with you a pumpkin bomb to the back."
"Believe me when I tell you this Spidey, we know how to keep an eye on our surroundings at all times."
"Apparently not good enough." it was at this moment that a new group made themselves known on the scene, in the form of Karai and a small squad of Foot ninja "You never know when you'll find someone sneaking up on you. You know, like I just did."
"Yeah, as cute as that is Karai, I'm not in the mood for any of you right now."
"You say that as if I'm giving you a choice." Karai drew her tanto and charged at Leo, prompting him to draw his own katanas and fend off her attacks.
"Okay seriously, we don't have time for any of this right now. Guys get in here, we're gonna have to get this over with fast."
"For once we're on the same page." Karai snapped her fingers, prompting her squad of Foot ninja to charge at the group "Keep the Spider busy, I'll take care of the Turtles."
"Go ahead and try it chica. Booyakasha!" Mikey and the others brandished their own weapons and charged at Karai, only for her to maneuver around her attacks with ease.
"Okay seriously, booyakasha? What the hell does that even mean?"
"I don't have a clue, but it's fun to yell." Mikey launched his nunchucks at Karai, only for her to trap them with her sword and use them to pull him towards her and kick him aside.
"And you're fun to kick, so I guess that balances out." Karai then went on to block another attack from Leo "You really know how to make a girl feel welcome."
"Right, because that's my first priority." Leo retreated back a short distance and dropped into a stance with his swords "That was sarcasm for the record."
"Yeah I got that. You know I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang, you planning to tell me what's on?"
"None of your business."
"So you claim."
"And I'm not scrawny for the record, I happen to be svelte!" Donnie was the next one to make a charge on Karai, with Raph right behind him.
"Oh come on you two, let me in on the fun." Karai fended off their attacks with ease and moved to launch one of her own… only to suddenly find her arm webbed to an AC unit, her tanto being knocked out of her reach "Not what I had in mind."
"No, but this is more fun." Spider-Man leapt down in front of her "At least for me."
"You seriously beat down half a dozen Foot ninja just like that?"
"You tell me." he jerked a thumb at where the Foot ninja lay unconscious "Proportionate strength of a spider, enhanced agility, and now you can add ninja training into the mix."
"Huh. Good for you." Karai tried to pull herself free of the webs, with little success "Seriously though, you guys gonna tell me what's going on or what? Also, does this stuff come out of you or something?"
"Yeah here's the thing Black Cat wannabe, we're in the middle of trying to stop an alien invasion from turning the planet into a freaky brain squid version of Planet of the Apes, so what's it gonna take to get you to leave us to it?"
"...Okay hold on, what now?"
"We're trying to stop an alien invasion, better?"
"An alien invasion? Like for real?" Karai's playful expression quickly gave way to one filled with shock "Are you serious about this?" she was met with the sound of thunder flashing overhead, followed by a door opening up in the side of the TCRI building, and then out came a menacing-looking round alien ship that floated out into the open skies.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Oh boy." Mikey cringed in fear at the sight of the Kraang ship "Not to be that turtle guys, but I think I need to change my shell."
"I don't think anyone is gonna object to that right now."
"Doesn't make it any less disturbing." Leo muttered "But I agree with the sentiment. That is an entirely new level of terrifying."
"Attention!" the voice of the Kraang sounded from within the ship "The ones who are called Turtles and the one who is called Spider-Man have been detected by the scanner which scans for turtles and Spider-Man. They are knowing too much of Kraang's plan. Initiate that which is known as attack." and then
"And that makes it worse."
"Yeah, I'm starting to notice that." Karai cast a glance over at him "I hope you have a plan on how you guys are gonna fight that thing."
"Of course I do. The first step… RUN LIKE HELL!" and so the six of them took off running as the Kraang ship swooped in and started shooting an energy beam from an eye in the center of its main body, incinerating the unconscious Foot soldiers in the process.
"Down here!" Spider-Man leapt down into an alley and webbed a line for the Turtles and Karai to slide down, avoiding the Kraang ship as it deactivated its energy beam and started scanning for them.
"Okay, so that's a thing apparently." Karai glanced over at Spider-Man as the group continued running "But seriously, what the hell is that thing?"
"The hell if I know, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say that they use it for flying and shooting at people, or scanning for people that they want to shoot. So you know, nothing really that out of the ordinary for me. But being serious again, KEEP RUNNING!"
"As if you had to tell me." Karai broke off from the Turtles and Spider-Man as they exited the alley and the ship started firing its energy beam at them again, prompting her to take shelter in another nearby alley as the ship passed her
As for the others, Spider-Man and the Turtles had taken refuge in another alley and ducked behind an abandoned car "Well so much for a routine stakeout. Oh who the hell am I kidding? In my life there's no such thing as routine."
"So you think it knows where we are?" asked Mikey.
"I'm gonna go ahead and assume yes." then they looked up and saw the Kraang ship picking up the car, revealing their location, and then dropping it, forcing them to retreat as it was dropped back to the ground "And that just proves my point."
"This isn't good." Leo muttered "We're gonna have to get back underground, I'll draw their fire while the rest of you go and-"
"Forget it, I'll take a crack at it while you guys get underground."
"But Spidey… Peter…"
"I'll be fine. Superhero, remember? Plus your brothers need you. Now get moving and I'll meet up with you when I can" Spider-Man lifted his the lower half of his mask and shot a small smile at the four of them, then pulled it back down as he charged at the Kraang ship and lured it away from the alley "Hey cyclops, if you wanna take a crack at somebody then get a load of me!" he paused as he continued leading them away 'Okay as far as quippage goes, that one was pretty lame, at least by my standards. Must be the lack of sleep starting to get to me.'
"Eesh, you know he's running on fumes when his quips are dropping." Leo opened up a manhole cover and let the others go down into the sewers first "Spidey let's go!"
"Keep going, I'll join up with you when I can!" Spider-Man webbed himself up onto a rooftop and fired a single shot of electric webbing at the Kraang ship… only to find that it did nothing to it "Dammit, they're getting smarter. Just go and I'll catch up!"
"You'd better." so Leo closed the cover just as the Kraang ship's scanner went over the manhole, prompting it to turn its attention back to Spider-Man, only to find that he wasn't there either, and then it turned invisible.
'Great, as if it wasn't enough of a problem when we could see the thing that was trying to blow us up.' Spider-Man was quick to duck into another alley 'Add that to the list of things that'll keep me up at night, along with the recurring nightmares about Shredder, Green Goblin, Venom, etc. On the plus side, I've got one idea to throw them off. These idiots are out looking for the Turtles and Spider-Man, not for Peter Parker, so assuming that logic pans out…' he moved to remove his costume.
'Okay, that turned out to be the wrong kind of fun I was looking for.' Karai took a moment to catch her breath as she leapt onto a rooftop. Didn't count on an alien invasion coming into play either. I'd better tell Father and the others about this.' she was about to make her way across the rooftop, only to stop when something caught her eye 'What do we have here?'
"I've really gotta rethink these all-nighters." Spider-Man let out a long yawn as he took off his mask… revealing the face of Peter Parker for anyone present to see, whether he was aware of that or not "They're murder on a guy's quippage material, not to mention the number it does on cognitive function." then he pulled out his Spider Cell as he began putting on his new set of clothes, complete with his blue t-shirt, gray long-sleeved shirt and brown khakis "Guys. Yeah it's me, I'm fine. Turns out those things aren't after the man underneath the mask, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear. Or it's the lack of sleep talking. Speaking of which, I'd better do something about that, especially if my Aunt wakes up so I'm gonna head home and get some sleep. I'll come by after school tomorrow and we'll work on a game plan. Later." and then he hung up and paused, a familiar sensation going off in his head, prompting him to look around, only to find that there was nothing he could see 'Spider-Sense…must be my imagination. Lack of sleep and all that…' and so made his way out of the alley.
'...Okay, I wasn't expecting that.' Karai blinked as she watched Peter make his way down the street, then slowly came out from behind an AC unit 'That's Spider-Man, as in the guy that's taken down at least a dozen supervillains? He's just a teenager, about the same age as me if I had to guess. Feels kind of anticlimactic, but I guess I can't complain about an opportunity like this.' on that note, she pulled out her cell phone from within her uniform and took a picture of his face 'Now if only I had any idea who the hell he is. Anyway I can't waste time worrying about that right now.' so she started to retreat along the rooftops just as the police began to arrive on the scene "I've gotta get back to Father and the others. He might be blindly obsessed with revenge, but even he wouldn't be so stubborn and shortsighted that he would ignore something like this.'
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Later, at the Foot Clan's lair…
'Well so much for any faith I have in him.' Karai gave a scowl as she stormed her way out of the Shredder's throne room and down the halls of the old church building 'Seriously, the guy is so stubborn and shortsighted that not even a freaking alien invasion is enough to pull him from this obsession with killing Splinter and the Turtles. Well if he's not going to do something about it, then I will.'
"Let me guess, trying to reason with Shredder didn't go well?"
Karai glanced over to where Xever was lounging around in a pool of water, a certain newspaper in hand "If you know the answer to that then why are you asking?"
"Because it's fun to see the look on your face." Xever gave a smirk as Karai's scowl only grew deeper.
"Ha freaking ha. You happy now?"
"More so than before you came in. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to read the Midtown High School Times."
"Explain something to me first. Why do you even bother reading those high school newspapers in the first place?"
"I happen to read them for the articles. Kids are either incredibly intelligent or incredibly stupid these days, there's no in between with them, so you need to know what they're thinking. And if we can make use of them in some way."
"You mean so you can make use of them." Karai rolled her eyes… until something caught her attention on the paper, and she snatched it away "Hey tell me something."
"What I'm gonna do to you for stealing my reading material?"
"Your threats don't mean anything to me. You know who this kid is?" she pointed to a picture of a certain teenager.
"You mean that kid? The boy's name is Peter Parker, he's a senior at Midtown. He takes the pictures for this paper, and for the Daily Bugle. Why the interest?" Xever gained another wide smirk "Why, does the daughter of Shredder have an interest in the dating scene? I might be able to give a few pointers senorita."
"I'd rather turn you into chum and swallow you whole." Karai let out a scoff as she threw away the paper and walked away, her mind drifting 'Peter Parker, a senior at Midtown High, and as I now know, Spider-Man. Now I know who you are, and where to find you. Things seem to be working in my favor then. If Father isn't going to do anything about the Kraang, then I will… and I think I know how to go about it.'
"...Really?" Xever snapped her out of her thoughts "You're not even going to bother giving me back the newspaper?"
"You've got the cyborg legs for a reason, go and get it yourself."
"Hey just because you're Shredder's daughter doesn't make you in charge of the rest of us around here."
"Tell that to him and see what happens."
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(the scene opens up to Peter Parker as Spiderman standing on top of one of the buildings in New York. The scene shifts to the same scene as before but now it shows the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo standing next to Spiderman. Spiderman turns to the audience as he raises his right arm before he shoots out his web from his wrist towards another direction off-screen and begins to web-sling as the TMNT begin to follow him as the title of the fanfic: Along Came Some Turtles appeared.)
Whoa Whoa Whoa...
(The next scene shows Peter Parker standing alone on top of a building, but then he looks back to see the Turtles standing behind him, and he smiles. The scene then transitions to the five of them spending time with their friends and family, all of them having a good time with each other)
Daijoubu ore ga nanman kai mo sakende yaru
Kimi no ashita ga subete kagayaite iru to shinjiteru
(The next scene shows a past events involving Spiderman's origins (getting bitten by the spider and losing his Uncle Ben) and the TMNT origins (them and Splinter getting mutated, along with flashes of their training to become ninjas) as well with all the important details for each one shown and how they come to be who they are now.)
Yume wo kanaete subete no hito ni kasanariau kyoutsuuten
Akirame nakattatte koto soredake sa maken nayo
(The next scene shows the rooftops of New York city as Spiderman and the TMNT were having a stand off towards the Foot Clan ninjas and mutants. They all stood there in silence as the heroes charged forwards to face their foes)
Mukaikaze ni nagasare kujike sou na toki wa
Kono te nigire TRY TO TAKE A CHANCE mou
Kimi wa hitori nanka ja naize?
(the next scene shows the villains Spiderman and the TMNT have dealt with over the years as the Shredder takes the top of this pyramid of villains.)
Motto motto mae e mae e kimi no ashita yume akiramenaide (Whoa Whoa Whoa)
Sou naite nai de susume MY WAY ima (Whoa Whoa Whoa)
Kimi o terashiten da hikari (Whoa Whoa Whoa)
Akirame nanka zenbu sutete tsuyosa to hikikae ni mata kizutsuite (Whoa Whoa Whoa)
(The next scene shows the heroes fighting their respective villains with Spiderman handling The Rhino, Doc Ock, Green Goblin, and Venom while the TMNT dealing with Stockman-Fly, Bebop, Rocksteady, Tiger Claw, and the Shredder.)
Demo kimi no massugu na hitomi ni wa
Ima mieru daro hikari
(The next scene shows the heroes looking battered and defeated but they begin to rise back up as Raphael stood up with a roar as Spiderman shot some webbing towards the screen.)
Whoa Whoa Whoa...
(The final scene shows a still image of Spider Man and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ready to face off against their villains once again)
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Another day came, and school at Midtown High was in full swing.
"So let me see if I got this straight…" April glanced over at Peter as they sat in one of the labs of the high school "There's a high-tech Kraang ship roaming around the city right now looking for you and the guys and you can't do anything to bring it down?"
"Nothing in my electric webs anyway." Peter gave a shrug "But then again we didn't have all of our weapons and stuff on hand then, so we can't say for sure nothing we have is going to work on it."
"Fair enough I guess. But what's it doing here?"
"As far as I can tell, it was brought here to wipe us out, and based on what we've seen, they're not bluffing when they say they can. That just means we're gonna have to take it out before it takes us out."
"Yeah but you mentioned it's invisible, so unless your Spider Sense lets you sense that thing from afar…"
"Pretty sure it's only gonna work if the ship starts shooting at me, trying to avoid that. Luckily for us, Donnie called me this morning and told me about his plan to find it. They actually put it into action last night."
"What plan is that?"
"Well-"
"Hey Pete." it was at this moment Gwen made her way into the lab, with Harry trailing close behind her.
"Gwen, Harry, hey. What's up?"
"Nothing much, just wanted a little alone time before class." Harry stepped in close and put an arm around Gwen's waist, his expression smug "You know, us being a couple and all."
"Ah. Right." Peter's face fell slightly, but he quickly shook it off "Good for you."
"Thanks." Gwen suppressed the uncomfortable expression on her face "So what are you guys doing in here?"
"Well right now I'm about to give April a quick crash course on understanding the science behind utilizing waves of electromagnetic radiation."
"...What?" was the simultaneous chorus from Harry and April.
"I'm talking about radar. You see-" Peter was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing "Okay hold that thought. Gwen could you give them the crash course for a minute? I'm gonna have to take this."
"Sure thing." Gwen gave him a reassuring smile as Peter stepped out into the hall, and then turned to Harry and April "Okay, so how it works is…"
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Meanwhile, with the protagonist…
'Okay blocked number, that's not sketchy in the slightest.' Peter seemed rather unsettled as he answered his phone "Hello?"
"I have to admit I'm kind of surprised." a distinctly female voice came from "Of all the places in the city, I wasn't expecting to find you in a place like this."
"Um… I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who this is?"
"Oh trust me, you already know pretty well who I am… Spider-Man."
That was more than enough to make Peter stiffen, but then his expression hardened "What do you want?"
"I have a certain proposition for you. I'll meet you after your school day lets out and then we'll bring up negotiations." and then the line was cut off.
A moment passed before Peter slowly put his phone away, his face going slightly pale 'What am I gonna do?'
"Okay, as interesting as that is, we've gotta get to the criminology lecture." April made her way out of the classroom, only to notice how shaken Peter looked "Peter? What's the matter?"
"Suddenly the Kraang ship is the least of my worries right now…" Peter slowly turned to face her "Someone knows my secret identity."
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Later, during the Criminology lecture…
"Believe me, I'm aware this topic has been covered before." Matt Murdock turned to face the students as he wrote of the day's topic on the chalkboard "But both Captain Stacy and myself agree that there are few things more important for all of you to learn than to keep your personal information private. To that end…"
'Keep your secret identity a secret, or else you'll end up like me.' Peter took a quick frantic look around 'Perfect, at this rate my whole freaking world is about to come crashing down right around me.'
"Okay this is getting out of hand." April hissed as she leaned towards him "You need to relax or you're going to explode."
"How the hell am I supposed to relax? Someone out there knows my secret, I don't have a damn clue who it is and for all they're gonna kick in the door any second now."
"You don't know that for certain, and you said that whoever called you wanted to meet you after school for some kind of proposition. Don't assume the worst is going to happen until you can prove it. It's not much to go with, but it's gotta be better than nothing."
"Yeah I guess, but…" Peter was cut short by the sound of the classroom door being flung open making him let out a yelp in terror, which drew everyone's attention to him.
As it turns out, it was just Foggy Nelson standing in the doorway "Alright alright, next time I'll wait until after class before I go to the bathroom."
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One post-humiliation lecture later…
'Well that was humiliating.' Peter hung his head as he pulled his things out of his locker 'Then again, it's not the most humiliating thing that's happened to me during class. Now that I hear myself think that, it's actually kind of sad.'
"Mr Parler."
"Son of a-" Peter whipped around and found both Stacy George standing before him, and he let out a groan of what sounded like exhaustion and frustration "I don't know how criminals make it work, I'm way too stressed out right now, even for me."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the impression everyone got when you ran out of the classroom screaming." George told him dryly "Now why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what's going on?"
"This is… something really sensitive."
"How sensitive?"
"About this much." Peter pulled down the collar of his shirt just enough for George to see his Spider-Man suit underneath "And if a call I got earlier is any indication, you're not the only one that's gotten a look at this suit without the mask recently."
"...Why don't we take this somewhere more secluded?" George motioned for Peter to follow him back into the classroom "Now start from the beginning."
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Meanwhile, with the Spider Support Squad…
"Oh man, that's what happened?" MJ cast a glance over at April "No wonder he was so freaked out during class."
"That's pretty much the understatement of the decade." April muttered "I haven't seen him this freaked out since… ever really."
"Not like you can really blame him either. I remember what Venom did after he found out who's behind the mask. What he did. Who he tried to do it too." MJ cringed at the memories "All he wanted was to make Tiger suffer."
"Yeah, he told me about that. Frankly it's no surprise he'd have a panic attack."
"Lord knows I probably would." MJ stopped in her tracks and turned towards April "It raises the question. What the hell do we do now?"
"I… I don't know. Maybe meet up with Peter and at least try to help him through this."
"Knowing what Tiger is like, I doubt he's gonna want you anywhere near this person, whoever they are."
"Yeah well, when has that ever stopped me before?" April shot MJ a smirk, and then she took her leave of the scene.
'...What's worse is that I can't argue with that.' MJ breathed a sigh 'What makes it worse is that I can't let her go alone either, so that means…'
"Hey Mary Jane."
'Or not.' MJ turned around and found Gwen standing before her "I'm starting to get why Tiger hates it so much when people sneak up behind you like that."
"Oh, sorry about that." Gwen let out a sheepish chuckle, though her entire demeanor remained nervous "So speaking of Ti- Peter, do you know where he is right now? I kind of wanted to talk to him about something."
"Not really a good time to bring up relationship drama, he's dealing with stuff right now. Work stuff."
"Oh… got it." Gwen hung her head slightly "I don't suppose there's anything I can do to help him?"
"Nothing I can think of at the moment, unless you've got something that can make him stop having a panic attack."
"Not really, but I… do have some news that could cheer him up."
"Such as?"
"Such as… today is the day." Gwen looked back up at MJ, her eyes filled with resolve "I'm going to do it. Today's the day I'm going to break up with Harry."
"...Seriously?"
"Seriously." Gwen's face fell slightly "I just wish I had done it awhile ago, for all of our sakes really. It probably would've kept things from getting so out of hand."
"Come on girlfriend, don't beat yourself up over this. I mean it's not like you never even cared about Harry right?"
"Of course not, I always have. But it didn't take me long to realize that, as scared and concerned as I've been about Harry… it's more as if I was worried about a little brother. Don't get me wrong, I do care about him… but not in the way I would a boyfriend. Not in the same way that I do for Peter. The fact is that Peter is the one that I love, he always has been. I guess for a while there, I was trying to convince myself to move on from him… but I couldn't."
"Yeah, I kind of noticed that myself." MJ patted Gwen on the shoulder and gave her a small smile "I get the feeling Tiger is gonna be pretty thrilled to hear that. You know, when he stops hyperventilating."
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Meanwhile, with the main protagonist…
'Okay, the moment of truth is at hand…' Peter made his way out of the school building and into the courtyard, his gaze hardened as he scanned his surroundings 'Whoever it is said that they'd be around after school let out, so where's-'
"You up for some company?"
"Son of a-" Peter whipped around and found April standing behind him "Why the hell does everyone keep sneaking up on me today?"
"All I did was come up behind you." April told him "At the very most I figured your Spider Sense would've told you I was close."
"Yeah well it turns out that having the Spider Sense is like having the relatives that nobody really likes, never around when you want it and always around when you don't." he was left panting slightly at the end of his rant.
"Eesh, I can't remember the last time I saw this worked up."
"I refer to the fact that someone out there figured out my secret." Peter paused, then let out a long yawn "Then again, the lack of sleep might have something to do with that. Plus my original plan of binging iced coffee isn't helping much anymore."
"Has it really been that bad?"
"Well aside from the nightmares I've been having about Shredder since the first time me and the guys fought him, I may or may not have put in about a dozen or so all nighters since I found out about the Hobgoblin."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Do the bags under my eyes make it look like I'm kidding you?" it was then that the sound of a cell phone ringing drew their attention, and Peter drew his out of his pocket "Hello?"
"So how was school Parker? Learn anything new?" the tone on the other end came off as both mocking and playful.
"Okay enough games, where are you and what do you want?"
"You'll recognize me as the good looking chick in the sunglasses and the leather jacket heading your way right now."
"What?" Peter took a look around… until his gaze settled on a certain teenage girl with short black hair in a leather biker jacket and a pair of jeans coming towards him "Oh crap."
"You know her?" asked April.
"I'm not the only one either. That's Karai."
Sure enough, Karai was standing before the two of them, and she shot Peter a smirk "You might wanna be careful, wouldn't want anyone around to find out anything they shouldn't." she cast a quick glance over at April as she said this "Unless… she already knows?"
"Yeah we've already established it."
"Huh. Pretty sloppy on your part. I figured someone with your experience would've been a lot more careful about keeping your job under wraps."
"Cut the nice girl act already, she already knows." Peter's gaze grew even harder "What do you want?"
"It's not just about what I want." Karai's expression grew more serious "It's about what we both want, and something we all need. This was just a way of getting your attention."
"Enough being vague, just get to the point."
"I will. But not here. Let's take this somewhere a little bit less open. On a related note, is there a good coffee shop around here?"
"...Fine." Peter shared a quick look with April, then turned back to Karai "The Coffee Bean isn't that far from here. It's kind of a regular hangout for the students here."
"Sounds good, now let's go. And your friend can come too, assuming she's actually aware of your… night job so to speak."
"She is."
"In that case she can come." Karai gave a smirk "So then, lead the way?"
"Fine." so Peter took his leave of the campus and made his way down the street, with both Karai and April following close behind him.
It didn't take long during their walk before April made her way up beside Peter and leaned in towards him, her voice low "What are you going to do?"
"Truth be told, right now all I really have is hearing her out and praying to the love of god that she didn't tell the rest of the Foot or anyone else my secret identity."
"And assuming she did?"
"I… haven't gotten that far yet." Peter's expression was one of pure fear "But one thing is for certain. If the Shredder of all people finds out that I'm Spider-Man, nobody I care about will be safe."
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Meanwhile, with the love interest…
'It's finally time, I'm going to do something I should've done ages ago.' Gwen took a deep breath as she made her way down the sidewalk and into a certain cafe, and found Harry sitting at a table waiting for her "Hey."
"Hey." Harry gave her a wide smile as he pulled her into a hug "Kind of surprised you called me out here all alone, just the two of us. Not complaining, just surprising is all." he pulled back, and his face fell when he saw how serious she look "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just… no actually. The thing is Harry, you and me… I think we should-"
"So this is the place huh?"
Gwen and Harry both broke off from their conversation and looked over to see Karai standing in the doorway to the Coffee Bean, alongside Peter and April 'Peter… honestly I was hoping that I could do this without anyone else here, to make it less awkward. Not that it isn't awkward to begin with.'
"Pretty nice all things considered." Karai took a look around the interior of the Coffee Bean, then glanced back at Peter "So out of curiosity, how good is the coffee here?"
"Good enough that I come here for about half a dozen cups of iced coffee a day." Peter told her dryly, then paused when he saw Gwen and Harry sitting at the other end of the coffee shop 'Oh you've gotta be kidding me.'
"Two regulars, one iced." Karai put some money down on the counter and sat down at a table with three cups, then handed one to April "There."
"Thanks, I guess." Peter paused as he looked at his cup, then at Karai "You didn't poison this or anything did you?"
"You saw me get it from the counter and give it to you. Plus you really think I'd poison a cup of coffee just to get you? Seems like a waste of a good drink if you ask me."
"Then what gives?"
"Well if you want me to put it in simple terms…" Karai paused as she took notice of both Gwen and Harry staring at them from afar "Call it my way of saying thanks for what you did for me last night. You know, you and your… special friends helping me to get away from those guys last night."
"You mean…"
"Uh huh."
"...Oh. Huh. I didn't really think that warranted a free coffee or anything, but…"
"You're getting a free drink, don't over analyze. That ruins everything."
"Which raises the question." April cut into their conversation "What are you doing here, and what do you want with him?"
"Calm down red, I'm getting to that." Karai leaned towards the two of them, her voice low "But speaking of your special friends… the proposition that I mentioned earlier applies to the four of them too."
"I'm not telling you where they live."
"Oh trust me, if I wanted to get that out of you I would've done it by now. But before I get into any of that, help satisfy some curiosity I have."
"About what?"
"To put it in simple terms, you."
"Come again?"
"Like I said before, I never would've guessed that Spider-Man was some nerdy and scrawny teenager."
"Hey I'm not scrawny, and I'll have you know that web-slinging builds up a hell of a lot of muscle tone."
"I'll believe that when I see it. But the point is, it got me thinking: How does someone like you become Spider-Man, probably the most controversial hero or vigilante since the Punisher became a thing a few years ago?"
"Hey watch it, Peter isn't like that gun-packing lunatic." April snapped at her "He would never cross that line. Willingly."
"That just raises my point: How does someone like him get into that role?" Karai then turned back to Peter "To put it in more simple terms… What I want is to know your story. Who you are, how you got the powers and why you do what you do."
"And I'm assuming I don't have a say in this?" Peter shot a glare at her.
"Oh you do, just keep in mind that I know your secret and could scream it at the top of my lungs for all the world to hear whenever the hell I want."
"...God dammit." Peter breathed a sigh "So you wanna know my life story?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"Fine. I never really knew either of my parents, they died when I was too young to remember them, and I was raised by my Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens. Despite that, I had a pretty normal childhood all things considered, until I was a sophomore and my class went on a trip to the lab at ESU…"
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Meanwhile, with a certain former mercenary…
"Okay hold up a second." a tall jock with a cap on (Randy Robertson) glanced over at Hobie as the two of them made their way down the sidewalk "What's it called again?"
"It's a type of fighting style called aikido." Hobie told him "It's a great martial art that happens to be one of the most time-honored traditions in Japanese culture. The key principle of Aikido is to deflect your opponent's attack by using his own strength and speed against them."
"And you know how to use it?"
"It's how I weaved my way around those muscle bound idiots on the other team during the state championship last year. Granted we lost the title anyway because of Osborn, but the point still stands."
"Which is?"
"The point I'm trying to make is that just having brute strength isn't enough, you have to have the skill to put it to good use. Plus I can tell you for a fact that I once used this to fight against a bull and win."
"Yeah we all saw that clip on YouTube. But why tell me this instead of the whole team?"
"To give you the short version, it's because you're the only one I trust to actually listen to my advice and take it seriously."
"Really? I'm the only one?"
"You're more likely to than Thompson or Kong anyway, but…" Hobie cut himself short when he looked over through a window and noticed Peter and April sitting with Karai inside the Coffee Bean "Oh god dammit, there's no way that can end well."
"What's the matter?"
"You see that girl that Parker and O'Neil are with inside the Coffee Bean? I know her."
"What, is she your ex or something?"
"Not even close. I used to work for her dad, and I can tell you from experience that the guy is sure as hell bad news. If she's here for the reason I think she is, then that means Parker is in some serious trouble."
"So what do we do?"
"We don't do anything, but I'm gonna follow her. Just make sure Thompson and the others don't go in there." and so without another word, Hobie made his way across the street and towards the Coffee Bean 'I know how Karai works, she wouldn't be going after Parker unless she actually wanted something from him. The question is, what exactly is it?'
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Meanwhile, inside the Coffee Bean…
"Oh…" Karai was briefly taken aback as she listened to a particular part of Peter's story "Okay I have to admit, that was… unexpected."
"That's pretty much the biggest understatement of my life." Peter looked away from her "Only it was pretty much overshadowed by realizing that my uncle was killed by the same guy that I let go before… My hubris cost my uncle his life."
"I don't suppose me or anyone else trying to tell you it wasn't your fault would make any actual difference here?"
"Tried it already with Leonardo when I told him, didn't work." Peter took a moment to compose himself, then turned back to Karai and April "Anyway, I know I can't take back what happened that night, but that's why I became Spider-Man, to make sure that what happened to Uncle Ben never happens again."
"I see…" Karai paused, then her expression softened slightly "That's pretty noble of you all things considered. Not the sort of thing I would do, but still. Anyway, that wraps up the origin story pretty nicely, but it's only one part of the story. Keep going, this is getting good."
"So essentially you want to hear about my superhero life up to this point?"
"Not just that, all of the personal drama too. This is so much better than listening to Bradford watch episodes of that old cartoon of his from like a decade ago."
"So essentially you wanna hear about my superhero life and my personal life."
"I like to think of it as me hearing about you getting the crap beaten out of you while trying to balance your lovelife. That makes it way more entertaining for me."
"...You're really twisted, you know that right?"
"Yep."
"Just checking." Peter breathed a sigh and continued recounting his history "So I went into my junior year about four months after I started crime fighting…"
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Meanwhile, at the other end of the coffee shop…
'It's too quiet.' Gwen leaned further out of her seat in the direction of Peter's table, trying to pick up on the conversation, with little success 'What's going on over there?'
"Gwen?" Harry tried snapping her attention back towards him, to little success.
'I can't hear what they're saying, and knowing Peter he probably wants to keep it that way, and that means this is something important. Probably about Spider-Man business.'
"Gwen?"
'But who is that girl, what is it about her that has him so stressed out?'
"Gwen!"
"What-" Gwen's gaze snapped back towards Harry in an instant "Oh, sorry Harry. I guess I got a little distracted."
"Yeah, like I didn't notice that." Harry rolled his eyes "Anyway, you said you wanted to talk about something?"
"Actually yeah, I did. Harry, I think we should-"
"Hey Stacy, Osborn."
"What the-" Gwen whipped around and found Hobie standing before them "Hobie, hey. Listen, this isn't really a good time."
"Trust me, it is. I was hoping to get your input on something for an assignment."
"Are you sure this can't wait?"
"Trust me, it can't. It's something for Criminology that I've been meaning to ask your dad about for awhile, but considering class always ends before I can even say anything…"
"Oh. You know I never really noticed that."
"Yeah well, putting aside the pain that causes to a guy's self esteem, it's mostly about why there are certain secrets that need to be kept private." he cast a subtle glance over at Peter's table, and that was enough to make it click in Gwen's mind.
"Oh. Oh! Yeah I'm sure I can spare a few minutes. Come on Harry, I'm sure he'd want your input too." so Gwen quickly grabbed Harry by the arm before he could protest, and the two of them followed Hobie outside.
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Meanwhile, at the other end of the coffee shop…
"And that's about it." Peter finished his cup of iced coffee and looked at Karai and April "Now you know everything that's been happening with me on the supervillain front, and on the dating front."
"And don't think it hasn't been entertaining as hell." Karai let out a chuckle, but then she turned more serious "But there's one or two things you haven't mentioned: How you met the Turtles, or how you got involved with stopping the Kraang."
"Ah. So you picked up on that." Peter breathed a sigh "It was a few weeks after my final fight with the Green Goblin. I wasn't on speaking terms with Gwen or Harry anymore, and I went out on a swing to clear my head. Then I came across the Kraang attempting to kidnap a girl and her dad, I swooped in to help and apparently so did the Turtles. After that I got to talking with them, told them a little bit about my story, they told me theirs, and we agreed to partner up until we brought down the Kraang."
"I see." Karai paused for a moment, then let out a sigh "Well since you told me everything, not like you had a choice but still, I should probably get this out there. I never told anyone that I saw your face last night."
"You mean…?"
"The Shredder doesn't know who you are or where you live or anything about you, and neither does the rest of the Foot. And frankly I don't plan to tell him after last night." Karai let out a sigh of frustration "You try to tell the guy that his own daughter got shot at by an alien warship and that their group is plotting a full on invasion, and he doesn't even bat an eye."
"Considering that Shredder is- Wait, you're his daughter? He reproduced?"
"Yeah, like I haven't heard that joke before." she rolled her eyes "Anyway that brings me to my proposition I brought up before. After seeing them in action, hearing about what they're planning to do, I get why you and the Turtles-"
"And Daredevil."
"I get why you're working so hard to stop them. And I want to help." now that got a reaction out of the others.
"...Seriously?" Peter shared a look with April, then turned back to Karai "You're not punking me right now are you? Because frankly that wouldn't surprise me."
"Not this time. I tried broaching this to Leo last night but he wasn't as receptive as you're being now."
"Not by choice."
"Not the point. The point is that if the Kraang win, then we don't have a planet anymore. I think it's safe to say that makes the whole feud between us pretty pointless."
"Call it a hunch, but I doubt Shredder is gonna agree with that logic."
"And I'm not exactly inclined to care about that. Shredder is about as stubborn and short-sighted as they come. He doesn't care about anything except revenge, and it drives me crazy. He's way too fixated on it to realize that this stupid vendetta of his is gonna get us all killed. He might not be able to see that, but I know that you do, and so do the rest of the Turtles." she paused, then let out another sigh "I don't intend to tell Shredder about who you are, so I guess you can call that a gesture of good faith on my part. So what do you say, work together for now? At least until we can bring down the Kraang." she held out a hand.
"...You know what, hold that thought. I need to make a call." so Peter pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and made his way out of the back entrance of the coffee shop "For the love of god you guys pick up, this is important…"
"Hm. Okay, I'll take it." Karai glanced over at April "Not exactly a yes, but it's better than I got from Leonardo, so I call that progress."
"You got that progress by blackmailing him." April pointed out dryly.
"Well I had to get him to listen somehow, and I did just figure out his big secret, so I figured I'd take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself. Plus even you have to admit, what I said wasn't wrong."
"Yeah I know, but you don't exactly have the best track record. I know about you turning on them at the World Wide Genome Project."
"Oh for crying out loud." Karai let out a groan "I'm gonna go ahead and guess Leo was the one who told you about that?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Then that's how you know he's got it wrong. I never actually betrayed him, because that implies that at some point I said I wouldn't leave them behind. I never said anything of the sort. All the stuff he had in his head about me having some good in me or staying to help them, he got on his own. I might not be a giant ball of sunshine like the rest of the dipsticks running around in tights, but I'm not a liar. When I don't have to be anyway."
"And that about sums you up." this was when Hobie made his way back into the shop "At least based on what I've seen from you up until now."
"You can read me like a book can't you Brown?"
"More like I'm a master of observation, like observing that you were just blackmailing him into god only knows what."
"You might be shocked to know this, but not everything I do is for selfish reasons."
"You're right, that does surprise me."
"Ha ha." Karai gave a smirk "You know that's why I always liked you Hobie, you're the only guy I know who can match me snark for snark."
"It's a gift. But getting back to the subject at hand, whatever you guys are up to I managed to buy you about five minutes, but chances are we're gonna have more company."
"Let me take a wild guess, they're standing right behind me?"
"Yep."
Sure enough, Gwen was standing in the entrance to the shop, Harry standing next to her "Oh, hi there. I didn't mean to interrupt or anything, I know you and Peter are probably talking about something important."
"Eh, he had to step out to take a call, so it's fine." Karai gave a shrug and put on a friendly act in front of them "You can call me Harmony. I think I know pretty well who the two of you are as well."
"You do?"
"I think so. You're Gwen Stacy, the daughter of the police captain right?"
"Yeah…?"
"And that would make your friend here Harry Osborn, the heir to Oscorp, right?"
"Yep, and her boyfriend." Harry said this a little bit too loud as he grabbed a firm hold of Gwen's hand "We're very happy."
"Yeah, I'm sure you are."
"Right, um…" Gwen quickly slipped her hand out of Harry's and turned back to Karai "So, you said your name was Harmony? If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Pete?"
"You mean Peter?" there was a pause, and then Karai broke out a smile "Actually I owe him my life. Not long ago I was being jumped by a couple of thugs, he jumped in and helped me to get away from them. He wouldn't accept any kind of rewards from me that night, but I figured that buying him and his friend here a cup of coffee was the least I could do to say thanks."
"Oh, I see."
"We did get to talking about some things, and frankly the guy's been through a lot, what with his personal life and all."
"Really? What… exactly did he tell you?"
"All kinds of things. I don't think he really trusts me with it, more like he REALLY needed to get some things off his chest. Like how his uncle died last year and he got a job to help pay the bills, stuff like that. He spoke pretty highly of the two of you."
"He did?"
"Of course, you guys have been his best friends since middle school. Apparently you didn't really talk over the past few months though, and that did seem to hurt him more than he let on."
"Well don't blame us for that." Harry gave a scowl "I had enough going on with my dad dying and all, sorry if I didn't have a lot of time for other stuff." he was promptly met with an elbow to the side and a certain Look from Gwen, which quickly shut him up "Sorry."
"Sure you are." Karai rolled her eyes.
"He is, we both are really." Gwen bowed her head slightly "I know it was wrong of the two of us to leave him alone all that time, and I'm doing what I can to make it right."
"I wouldn't worry about that too much, at least on your end. I mean your boyfriend here is the one that guilted you into staying with him." now that got everyone's attention and made their gazes snap towards him.
"Wait, what?" Gwen turned to face Harry and saw him frozen on the spot "Harry, what is she talking about?"
"I know what I said."
"I don't think you do." Harry forced this out through gritted teeth "What exactly do you think you're talking about?"
"Isn't it obvious? You know Stacy here wanted to break up with you to be with Parker, which is also why he dumped the Allen girl, so you used your dad's death to guilt her into staying with you instead."
"Wha- That- But I-"
"What?" Gwen slowly turned back to face Harry, her expression turning saddened with a hint of anger and "Is… Is that true?"
"Gwen, I… Come on, you're not going to believe some random chick you just met? She could be a chronic liar for all we know!"
"Wouldn't put money on that if I were you." Hobie told him from where he was sipping on his own cup of coffee "I've known Harmony here for a while now. I can tell you for a fact that she's a lot of things. A liar isn't one of them."
"Well… How am I supposed to know that-"
"Stop it Harry, just stop." Gwen's gaze hardened, the anger becoming more apparent "I'm going to ask you one more time. Is. It. True?"
"I…" Harry tried to think up something else to say, everyone else present staring at him intently, but after a moment he just let out a sigh "Gwen, I… I can explain-"
"So it is true?" Gwen's anger turned into full on shock and disgust, but it quickly devolved into one single expression: hurt, as tears began streaming down her face "How could you?"
"Gwen, I'm sorry I- I can explain-"
"No, just… just don't." and then without another word, she turned on her heel and ran out of the Coffee Bean in tears.
"Gwen!" Harry tried to call after her, only to receive no response, and it was only after this that he noticed that everyone else in the coffee shop was glaring at him, but he didn't respond to it and rushed out without a word.
"...Well that was fun." Karai broke the silence as she turned back to Hobie and April "You know what the best part is? I didn't even know for sure it was true until he confirmed it."
"Then what led you to suggest it in the first place?" asked April.
"It wasn't really hard to figure out. Parker told me about his and Stacy's plan to break off their relationships and hook up, Osborn saying that emotional BS right at his dad's funeral and Stacy choosing to stay with him after that."
"And why bother saying it in front of them?" Hobie gave a raised eyebrow "You know, aside from the fact that you basically worship drama."
"I could give this whole thing about how even I have standards, which is partially true, but I like to think that giving Parker's love life a little kick start could act as a gesture of good faith to get him to accept my proposition. Well, depending on what he says to it anyway."
It was at this moment that Peter made his way back into the coffee shop and sat down at their table as he put his phone away "Sorry about that, had to make a call."
"Let me guess, taking precautions in case you think I'm gonna stab you in the back?" Karai was met with silence "Hey it's cool, I'm fully aware of how self serving I am."
"Then you pretty much know the answer to that. Now comes the hard part: The proposition you brought up." Peter looked at Hobie and April, then back at Karai "You did lay out a couple good points. The Kraang winning pretty much means we lose our home planet, and that's a lot more important than any feud."
"So then…"
"But with that being said, this isn't just my decision. It impacts me and the Turtles, so I can't just make this call myself. So I'm going to meet up with them and talk to them about it, and the next time we meet I'll let you know what we decide. That's my final say on the matter."
"Uh huh." Karai paused for a moment, then gave a shrug "Well it's still better than what I got out of Leonardo last night, so I'll take it. Later." and so she grabbed her coffee cup and left without another word.
"Okay, that went… surprisingly well." so Peter cast a quick glance at April and Hobie "I hate to ask, but given the circumstances…"
"I already got your text." Hobie held up his phone "I'll keep an eye on your place while you're off doing your thing. Do what you have to do."
"Got it, thanks." so Peter grabbed his stuff and took his leave of the coffee shop.
"Okay, so that happened." Hobie then turned back to April "Just gonna throw this out there, you might wanna wait a little while before you tell him about the break up."
"Yeah, not exactly on my list of priorities." April told him dryly.
"Well it's on everyone else's list of priorities at our school, I figured that it was at least gonna be worth mentioning."
"...Okay, fair enough."
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Meanwhile, with the main protagonist…
"Look, I already have a pretty good idea of what you guys are going to say." Peter glanced over at the Turtles and Splinter "We can't trust her, we shouldn't, but keep in mind that my hands are pretty much tied here."
"It's not just that either." Leo muttered "When Karai approached me last night, I got the sense that she really is fed up with Shredder."
"I don't know about that, but she's not wrong when she says that taking down the Kraang is more important than some stupid feud. I kind of have that going with Tombstone as it is, at least until the Shredder is taken care of."
"Fair enough, but I know what vibe Karai was giving me. I think she's for real."
"Easy for you to say." Raph grumbled "For all we know, that's probably just what she wants you to think."
"I know, but…"
"We can't just blow this off, especially since she's pretty much got me by the throat." Peter then turned towards Splinter "What do you think, is there any chance she's for real?"
"I believe that the possibility does exist." Splinter told him "Loyalties have been known to shift, and if not that, alliances have been formed for the sake of defeating greater evils. However, what is also known is that a kunoichi is trained to use deception to her advantage."
"Which means what exactly?" asked Leo "You're telling me that she either will or won't betray us?"
"Correct. You must trust your instincts. However, you must also beware the trap of believing something to be true simply because you wish for it to be true."
"So essentially, we have to trust our instincts unless our instincts turn out to be wrong."
"Correct." and then Splinter took his leave of the dojo.
"Okay then, thanks for the talk sensei. I think."
"Woah…" Mikey was left in awe "You know it's good advice when you're confused once he's gone."
"Say what you will about how smart he is." Peter patted Mikey on the shoulder "I think it's safe to say he knows what's what."
"But seriously guys, an alliance with Karai of all people? Raph let out a snort "No chance, why the hell are we even talking about this?"
"Pull your head out of your shell dude, you know exactly why. She's practically got me by the throat here with my secret identity, I have to play this carefully."
"Either way, it's still kind of a shame we can't trust her." Donnie muttered "It would be pretty nice to have a kunoichi on our side."
"Yeah word to the wise, I get the sentiment and all, but I don't think you're gonna want April to hear you say that."
"Duly noted. Speaking of which, where is April? She's supposed to be here for training."
"Oh given the whole Karai situation, I asked her to keep an eye on my Aunt May while I'm out hunting the Kraang ship with you guys. The same with the Prowler. And Daredevil. And this one captain in the NYPD. Speaking of which, we don't have time to waste in an all night grudge match, so I'm breaking out the heavy artillery this time."
"You mean your Spider X suit?" asked Mikey.
"Nope, that thing is still at least a few weeks away from being done." Peter led the group out of the dojo and into the lab, and showed them a motorcycle with a red and blue web pattern along the side parked in the center "Alright gentlemen and Raphael, after about three weeks of work I give you the Spider Cycle."
"Woah…" Mikey was left particularly in awe at the sight, with the others not doing much better in comparison "This thing looks so cool!"
"It had better, it took me, Donnie and Hobie about three weeks to work on. Anyway, this bad boy is complete with an automated web bridge controlled via GPS and the ability to ride any surface like yours truly, and it's bound to give the Kraang one hell of a fight when we finally put it into action."
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Nightfall came, and the time for Kraang ship hunting had begun.
'So far so good, as in nothing trying to kill us.' Spider-Man rode alongside the Shellraiser on his newly appointed Spider Cycle, glancing at his Spider Cell on the holder in front of him, and once he spotted something he was quick to push a button "Guys?"
"Yeah I know, I just got something on mine too." Donnie's voice came through the phone "It doesn't match any authorized flight patterns, so it has to be the Kraang ship."
"Or a chance of it being Iron Man." Spider-Man brought the Spider Cycle to a halt when he saw the Kraang Ship floating in the skies above them "Where the hell is an Avenger when you really need one?"
"As far as I know, they're off battling HYDRA factions somewhere in Europe."
"That was rhetorical, and it doesn't help. Now then, RUN!" and so the Spider Cycle and the Shellraiser both took off as fast as they could as the Kraang ship began firing its energy beam at them "Anyone wanna start firing at that thing right about now?"
"What do you think we're doing?!" that one came from Raph as the Shellraiser started firing at the Kraang ship with its garbage cannon, only for the projectiles to bounce off it harmlessly in an instant.
"You were saying?"
"I don't see you trying to fire at that thing!"
"Hey give me a break dude, it was hard enough for me to learn to drive as it is. On the plus side, I think we figured out what it's after. Us!"
"Really? No, I never would've guessed." Raph's tone was oozing sarcasm.
"Save the sarcasm for when we're not getting shot at!" this argument was cut short when the Shellraiser veered into an alley, whereas Spider-Man took the chance to drive up the side of a building and take it to the rooftops, just in time to see the Kraang ship's energy beam carving into the Shellraiser "You guys okay?"
"We're about to get sliced like a living turtle pizza!" that one came from Mikey "I'll put just about anything on pizza, but turtle sure as hell ain't one of them! Neither is pineapple."
"Deal with the controversy of pineapple later, I'm coming so hang on!" the Spider Cycle charged forward at full speed, Spider-Man webbing a line connecting the Kraang Ship to the rooftop as he closed in, until…
"GET THE HELL DOWN!" it was at this moment that Karai drove onto the scene on the back of her own motorcycle and leapt onto the back of the Kraang Ship, and she began stabbing at it with her katana.
"...Okay, that happened." Spider-Man brought the Spider Cycle to a halt and turned back to his Spider Cell "You guys saw that right?"
"Yeah and we saw it, that was Karai!" that one came from Leo "We have to go back and help her!"
"Forget about that!" the protest came from Raph "She can take care of herself, for now we have to put some distance between that thing and us!"
"And just leave her?"
"For once, I think Raph has a point." Spider-Man cut in "And trust me, I'm about as shocked to hear myself say that as I'm sure the rest of you are."
"So what, she saves us and we just leave her to fend for herself?"
"I never said that. I'm already out here, I'll go after her and meet you guys later."
"...We'll be heading underground, track out T-phones and meet up with us when you can."
"Got it, see you soon." so Spider-Man ended the cell and locked onto where the Kraang Ship was flying overhead, and he quickly gave chase to it.
"This… is… so… not… fun!" Karai was still trying to stab at the outer armor of the ship with her sword, albeit with very little success "This is why I don't do things for other people! It sucks so hard!" it was at this moment that the Kraang Ship rounded a street corner and she lost her grip on it, causing her to be sent flying off.
"I gotcha!" thinking quick, Spider-Man pushed a button and thrusters fired out of the back of his Spider Cycle, sending it hurtling forward at nearly blinding speeds, allowing him to catch Karai before she could hit the ground "Okay, that was awesome. And here I thought I wouldn't get the chance to try the rocket boosters. So, you okay?"
"Yeah, more or less." Karai looked up from where she now sat in his lap, only to maneuver around until she was behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist "Are you?"
"I've been worse."
"Cool." there was a pause, and then she looked up at him again "You know I'm not really good at saying thank you."
"And?" they swerved slightly to avoid an oncoming energy beam from the Kraang ship.
"That was it."
"Uh huh. You know what, it's still a lot more than I get from most of the people that I save on a daily basis."
"That's… kind of sad actually."
"Trust me, I know. Also just gonna throw this one out there, if it wasn't me it totally would've been Leo coming to your rescue." Spider-Man pressed another button, causing a shield in the shape of his logo to rise up over the two of them, camouflaging them from the ship's view, giving them the chance to hide in an alley as the ship flew past them "Okay… that went better than I thought it would."
"I take it that things with the Kraang don't always go that smoothly?"
"I think the fact that we've almost died at least a dozen times because of them has something to say about that. Speaking of which, give me a second." Spider-Man paused as he pulled out his cell phone "Leo, it's me."
"What happened, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Karai is too. I have her with me."
"In that case, bring her with you to the rendezvous point. I think it's safe to say we have a few things to talk about."
"Got it, see you in a few."
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One quick trip underground later…
"And here we are." Spider-Man brought the Spider Cycle to a stop next to where the Shellraiser was parked, and once the door opened he made his way in, with Karai coming in right behind him "I'm not dead, thanks to the rest of you for asking."
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Raph promptly rounded on him "You brought her inside our ride? She's gonna see all of our gear!"
"Right, because I'm supposed to be terrified of your crap." Karai rolled her eyes and took a look around, then gave a smirk as she caught sight of a certain something "I'll tell you this for sure, if the Shredder finds out you have an ice cream lamp, you guys are beyond screwed."
"Yeah you're talking tough now, let's see if you keep it up once I shove my sais up your-"
"Alright Raph, cool it." Leo was quick to shut him up "Keep in mind that Karai just risked her life to save us. I think it's safe to say that she's earned a little bit of trust. At the very least we should hear her out."
"...Fine, you're the boss." so Raph just scowled and sat back down at his station.
"Alright Karai, go ahead and say your piece."
"Smart choice." so Karai took a breath and turned to the others "You guys need my help with this and you know it. Are you really so delusional that you believe you can shoot down an alien warship?"
"I'll have you know that it's compressed garbage. And manhole covers. And whatever we can think up." Donnie told her firmly, and caught Spider-Man in a fist bump.
"Yeah, good for you. The point I'm making is that if you want to take out a ship like that, then you need to get your hands on a real weapon."
"And what exactly do you suggest?" Raph shot her a skeptical look.
"What if I told you I could get you guys a shoulder-fired missile launcher?"
"...I'm starting to like you."
"I figured that would get your attention."
"Yeah, big rockets and blowing stuff up can do that with guys." Spider-Man gave a shrug as he lifted his mask, revealing the face of Peter Parker "But it raises another question. Where would you get your hands on a shoulder-fired missile launcher?"
"Where else, from the Shredder."
"There some Shredder we don't know about? Cause otherwise that would mean you're talking about the big dude with a lot of blades that really hates us, and I'm pretty sure he isn't gonna want to share any of his toys with us."
"If all goes well he won't even find out about it. He's gonna be buying a big shipment of new weapons down at the dockyard in Hell's Kitchen tomorrow night from that Russian arms dealer, I think his name is Steranko. If you wanna get your hands on the good stuff, all we have to do is sneak in and help ourselves."
"Uh huh." Raph shared a look with the others "Anyone else smelling a trap right now? And no I don't mean you Mikey, so put your hand down."
"Why would I trap you? You guys are the only ones that have any idea what the Kraang are trying to do."
"First of all, Daredevil knows too." Peter told her "Second of all, you don't exactly have the best track record, considering you blackmailed me with my secret identity this morning."
"Fine, if this is what it takes… then I'll get you guys the missile launcher myself."
"...Really?" Leo shared a look with Peter, then the other Turtles, and then turned his attention back to Karai "You're really willing to steal from Shredder over this?"
"I meant what I said before, these things have to be stopped and it's more important than any kind of feud between us. If the Shredder isn't going to do anything about it then I will, with your help or without it.
"You… really are serious about this aren't you?"
"Deadly."
"...Alright then." Leo shared another look with the others, then turned back to Karai "Here's the deal, you get us that missile launcher and you've got yourself an alliance."
"Sounds good to me." Karai shot him a smirk, and the two of them shook on it, during which she turned back towards Peter "And for the record, I get the whole secret identity thing. It kind of goes hand in hand with being a ninja. So your secret is safe with me."
"That's… a gigantic relief." Peter breathed a sigh 'At least that's one weight off my shoulders for the time being. I hope. Now how are things gonna turn out from here? I guess only time will tell for now.'
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Meanwhile, with a certain victim of karma…
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Harry was pretty much seething as he stormed into his family's penthouse and chucked his bag at a nearby vase, knocking it over and causing it to shatter "Just freaking perfect."
"That's never a good sign." Emily looked over at him "I'm going to go ahead and guess that you had a bad day."
"Oh gee, you think? That's a huge understatement mom. First off Gwen dumped me, and now everyone at school hates me! Even more than they did before! Seriously, it's like the whole world is just out to get me or something." he took a few heavy breaths, then sighed and hung his head "What did I do to deserve all of this?"
"Honestly? I think you would know better than anyone."
"What?" Harry's gaze snapped back towards Emily "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Emily fully turned to face her son, her expression full of anger and disappointment "Tell me Harry, how did you think things were going to turn out?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said. What did you think was going to be the end result when you guilted Gwen into staying with you at your father's funeral?" that was enough to make Harry tense up.
"What… What do you-"
"Don't take me for a fool Harry. I heard everything you said to her back then, and it wasn't that hard to figure out what you were up to."
"Well…" Harry was left at a loss for words, but he quickly plucked up courage and rounded on her "If you knew then why didn't you bother saying anything before now?"
"Now that I will admit, it was a mistake on my part. I stood by because I had thought it wouldn't last… that you would be mature enough to come to your senses and realize what you were doing. Evidently, I was the one who was wrong there."
"But… What was I supposed to do? She and Peter were conspiring against me, she was gonna dump me just so they could get together! I was gonna be left alone and miserable!"
"So instead you chose to force her to stay with you and leave her miserable?" Emily was met with silence, just Harry looking away from her "That's what I thought. What was going through your mind when you made that choice?"
"I… I did what dad said." Harry slowly looked up at her "He said that I should cowboy up and do what I had to do. That I should take control of my destiny."
"By letting him dictate to you what you should do, how you should get what you want even if it means hurting other people?" Emily was again met with silence, and she let out a sigh "And trust me, I know I'm not innocent in this. I should've done more to stop him from influencing you like that, so I will admit that I'm partially to blame for this." her demeanor softened as she took a step forward and pulled Harry into a hug "I'm sorry I didn't do more to stop him. But now I'm doing what I can to make things right. And if you really aren't happy with the way that things have turned out, then you should too…"
"Mom, I…" Harry hesitated, before slowly returning the hug "So what do I do?"
"Well if you want to fix things with Gwen, and with Peter for that matter, then you have to work for it. I already took a step myself, by paying Parker's hospital bill after the whole fiasco with the Hobgoblin."
"You did?"
"He saved my life, it was the least I could do."
"So… what do I do?"
"Try admitting that you were the one in the wrong, and take responsibility for your own actions instead of just blaming everyone else. You can start by apologizing."
"...Dad never apologized."
"And look where that got him." Emily pulled away and looked Harry dead in the eye as her gaze hardened "Harry, I loved your father with all of my heart… but I will be damned if I let you turn out like him." and on that note, she turned and walked into her office without another word.
Now alone, Harry just slumped against the wall with his head in his hands, his thoughts starting to drift 'What do I do now…?'
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Meanwhile, with the main protagonist…
'Well that went well.' after parting ways with Karai and the Turtles, Peter made his way down the street until he came upon his own house, and made his way inside "Aunt May, I'm home!"
"Oh Peter, welcome home." May gave him a smile from where she was clearing up the dining room table "I was wondering when you were going to come."
"Yeah sorry about that, something with the guys ran a little longer than expected. They say hi by the way."
"Always good to hear they're doing well. You know it is a shame, we had some good company come in tonight. Gwen and her father, and even your friend Hobie stopped in."
"Oh. Too bad I couldn't be here." Peter gave a shrug, though inwardly he was relieved 'I gotta thank Hobie and Captain Stacy for keeping an eye on her. Plus having Gwen in the same place would make that easier too. Sounds like a good time."
"It was. I take it you've already taken care of homework?"
"Yep. Hey listen I can take care of cleaning up, you go ahead and get some rest."
"Oh come now, I'm not so fragile that I can't do something like this."
"I never said you were, but if I missed out on dinner I figure the least I can do is take care of the cleanup for you."
"Peter… alright, if you're so sure. But don't stay up too late." May gave him a small smile and a quick kiss on the cheek, then made her way up the stairs.
'Well I've already been dealing with little to no sleep for a few months, what's one more night going to do in comparison?' Peter promptly got to work on clearing the dishes and bringing them over to the sink, during which his phone began ringing "Hello?"
"Pete dude, you're gonna wanna hear this."
"Mikey we've been over this, nobody wants to try your pee-shakes."
"No not that, but I still say it was a good idea even if the name doesn't work. But here's the thing, me and the guys have been talking about the whole weapons deal, and Raph came up with an idea."
"...I'm not gonna like the sound of this am I?"
"I dunno. Anyway, Raph came up with this idea that since we know that Shredder is gonna be at the docks tomorrow night, we could set a trap and take him out."
"What? And you guys are on board with it?"
"I didn't really say much, but Raph talked Leo into it, something about not passing up the chance to take old Buckethead by surprise."
"So let me see if I've got this. You guys are gonna go behind Karai's back, keeping in mind that she knows my identity and could rat me out at any time, and use it to kill her father?"
"That's… a pretty brutal way of looking at it, but yeah more or less. I figured you weren't gonna be thrilled about this, so I thought I'd give you a heads up. Look Pete, this whole thing with the Foot and Shredder, it's more our fight than yours. We didn't mean for you to get caught up in all of this. If you don't wanna be part of the plan, we're not gonna force you."
"Yeah, that… doesn't sound like a good idea to me. If you guys wanna do this… then you'll have to do it without me. Listen, I've gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow." so Peter hung up and put away his cell phone, then breathed a sigh as he slumped into a chair "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Perhaps consult someone who's been in his own share of situations?"
Peter glanced over to see Daredevil standing at the doorway "Depends on the perspective you can offer and whether or not it can end without me getting a sword through my skull."
"That outcome is… actually fairly possible regardless of the chain of events." Daredevil made his way into the kitchen and sat down in front of Peter "Tell me what happened."
"Okay, you know how Karai found out my identity?"
"She approached you and offered an alliance to bring down the Kraang."
"Yeah, and we agreed to it as long as she held up her promise to get us a missile launcher to blow up the Kraang ship. The only thing is, when Mikey called just now, he told me that they're going to use it as an opportunity to set a trap for Shredder."
"Which means betraying her trust, and possibly earning her wrath to a great enough extent that your secret identity would be in jeopardy."
"Yeah. And even if it weren't for that… I don't think I'd be able to do it. I mean Shredder is evil, I know that… but does he really deserve to die, and does Karai deserve to lose her father to a bunch of guys that she tried to form an alliance with, only to stab her in the back?"
"Hmm… So what is your say in this matter?"
"I say… I can't do it. I can't let them do it. Shredder is a bad guy for sure, but killing him… it's just too much."
"I see… In that case, I support your decision."
"You do?"
"Absolutely. I relate to it myself." Daredevil breathed a sigh "I was faced with that decision myself a few times, the first of which was when I came into contact with the man who came to be known as the Punisher. As ashamed as I am to admit it, there was a time when I was willing to work with him at least once. The Punisher held little regard for the legal system, but he refused to let me cross that line."
"If he's as brutal as people say, why wouldn't he let you?"
"Because he knew there's no coming back from it once you start. Of course that didn't stop me from trying to do it once later on. With Wilson Fisk."
"The Kingpin?"
"That's him. I had a great deal of emotional turmoil during that time, a crisis of faith, and being forced to question everything I believed in. Eventually the time came for me to battle Fisk, and I was out for blood. So was he. Eventually I had Fisk at my mercy… but I couldn't do it. I refused to do it. I wouldn't let him destroy who I am. Of course, I know there are those out there that would disagree with my decision."
"Like the Punisher?"
"And perhaps others like him. But don't let them dissuade your resolve." Daredevil stood and put a hand on Peter's shoulder "Whatever you decide to do, so long as you truly believe it to be the right decision, I will support you. However, you must also prepare yourself to face whatever consequences may arise from your decision, whether they be good or bad." and then he took his leave of the scene.
'So that's about the sum of it.' Peter leaned back in his chair as he gazed out at the night sky 'I can't let the Turtles assassinate Shredder, I know that much… But what about them? Can I just stab them in the back? What do I do?'
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Another day came, and with it another day of school that seemed to by far too fast.
"Thanks." Peter made his way out of the Coffee Bean with another cup of iced coffee in hand, and he quickly took a long sip of it, then looked at the donut in his other hand 'Well if there's one good thing that's come out of the past 24 hours, all the coffees I buy gets me a free donut. So you know, silver lining. Very thin and hard to see, but it's still there.'
"You know the use of caffeine tends to wear off after a while."
Peter glanced over to see Hobie making his way towards him "I wouldn't have this problem if the same couldn't be said for the Shredder. Or Venom. Or the Green Goblin."
"Fair enough." Hobie then paused as he took a look at Peter, and he let out a sigh "Okay, what's wrong?"
"What?"
"I don't need to be able to read minds to know that something's bothering you. Let me guess, it's the whole thing with Karai isn't it?"
"No. Well yes. I mean- It's sort of like that but-" Peter let out a groan as he slumped down into a nearby chair, Hobie nonchalantly sitting across from him "Okay here's the thing. Me and the guys agreed to an alliance with Karai depending on whether or not she could hijack this weapons shipment Shredder is getting tonight."
"So that's good."
"It would be, if not for the fact that the Turtles are planning to go behind her back and use it as a chance to set up a trap for Shredder, probably to assassinate him or something."
"But it ties back to the problem of Karai being the one to know your identity."
"Exactly. Even if that takes care of the Shredder himself, how do I know that Karai isn't going to rat me out or attack my loved ones for revenge? I already had that happen with Venom, I can't risk it happening again." Peter buried his head in his hands "If I let the Turtles go through with this, Shredder is gone but I might have a giant target on my back, and the backs of my aunt and all my friends. But if I do something about it, I'd basically be stabbing the Turtles in the back of their shells. Either way, I'll be screwing over people I care about."
"...Uh huh." Hobie paused for a moment, then looked over at Peter "Okay, I can see why this has you so freaked out."
"Case and point. So what the hell do I do about this?"
"That's your call man, it's really all I can say."
"That's about what I got from Daredevil too."
"Well I can add something extra. Not sure how helpful it's really gonna be, but it's all I've got for this one. Remember what I said to you back during that whole thing with me and Black Cat stealing the formula for the Goblin serum?"
"That your Prowler mask can rip right through the secret identity thing?"
"Not that. There are times when we have to do things we don't like, especially if it means doing right by the people we care about." on that note, Hobie pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it "Here's how you can do that."
"What is this?"
"It's the number you can use to get into contact with Karai. What you choose to do with it is up to you. Anyway I got stuff to take care of. Later." and so Hobie placed the piece of paper down in front of Peter and left without another word.
"...I'm gonna hate myself for this later on, I just know it." Peter took a breath and pulled out his cell phone, then dialed the number.
"Huh. I have to admit this is a surprise." Karai's voice came through the other end "I blackmail you with your biggest secret and you end up calling me. Weird how that works."
"Yeah the phrase "stockholm syndrome" kind of comes to mind here, but this isn't about that. I mean it is, but it isn't. It's about tonight, the whole weapons deal tonight."
"Yep, at that dockyard in Hell's Kitchen. I already sent you the address. What, you don't wanna come?"
"No no, I'll definitely be there, and so will the Turtles. For better or for worse."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Okay… anything else you wanna say?"
"No… I don't think so."
"Okay then… I guess I'll see you tonight."
"Yeah, for sure." Peter moved to hang up, but stopped… and then he reluctantly put the phone back up to his ear "Wait. Before you go… there's something I have to tell you."
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Nightfall came, and the time of the weapons deal was closing in.
"Is taking too long." a man in a trench coat and an ushanka hat, with blonde hair and a prosthetic eye, took a look around the dockyard "Does he not want the shipment?"
"Here's an idea Steranko, why don't you turn around and see for yourself?"
Steranko whipped around at the sound of a loud crash, only to see Karai land on the roof of his car "Ah, daughter of Shredder. So what about-"
"Where is the shipment?"
Steranko turned around again to see Shredder and a small squad of Foot ninja standing before him "You brought what I requested?"
"I did." Shredder gave a single nod to one of the Foot ninja, prompting him to hand a briefcase over to Steranko, opening it to reveal a golden glow shining from within "As promised."
"Excellent. I have what you asked for as well."
"Very well. Karai, inspect the merchandise."
'Where are they?' Karai cast a look around the harbor, only to find that there was no one else in her line of sight 'I know they said they'd be here, but what's their move going to be?'
"Karai!"
"Hm?" Karai snapped out of her stupor "Oh, sorry father. I'll inspect the merchandise."
"See that you do, and that you stay focused."
"Pleasure as always." Steranko turned to leave, only to be stopped by a Foot ninja stepping in between him and his car, and he shot a smirk over at Shredder "What, you don't trust me? Here I thought we were old friends."
"In that case, I suppose you won't mind keeping me company as she checks."
'So far so good. Gotta give it to Steranko, at least he knows good weapons.' Karai took a look through the merchandise in Steranko's car, during which she looked out and caught sight of two figures, one red and blue and one red and black, across the dock 'So there he is, with some added company by the looks of it, now where are the others?'
As it turns out, Spider-Man was squatting on a high perch on the other side of the dock that overlooked the harbor, with Daredevil perched on a shipping container next to him "You think she's gonna follow through on her end of the deal?"
"If nothing else, I can confirm that the weapons are authentic." Daredevil told him "I've heard of this man. His name is Ivan Steranko, he's a well known Russian arms dealer."
"Didn't you say you fought the Russians back when you were first starting out?"
"For awhile yes, before they got blown to hell by a suicide attack by forces working for a woman part of a certain… organization I was up against a while ago."
"Somebody I should know about?"
"With any luck, you'll never have to. In any case, I've never encountered this man before, but he does have a notable reputation in the criminal underworld. I'm sure the police will be more than interested in him. You'll want to put the call in when you can."
"Duly noted." Spider-Man then looked over to where the Turtles were perched on a nearby shipping container with Mikey being perched to launch a small device "Oh, so that's how they're gonna do it. Not a bad idea if you're into that."
"Launching a small projectile at someone like the Shredder? What exactly is it?"
"You probably don't know about this, but after I revealed my identity to Donnie he and I began experimenting with ideas for new gadgets. Once I showed him my electric webbing he came up with the idea for an electro-grenade that could electrocute anything in a small radius. I thought it was a little bit much, so instead we took the initial idea and made a web bomb out of it. I think you used one of those yourself."
"Against the Hobgoblin, yes. Evidently Donatello kept at least one prototype."
"Looks like it, and apparently Mikey is the one launching it so the chances of it actually landing with Shredder are pretty high." Spider-Man paused, then breathed a sigh "I'm gonna hate myself for this in the morning, I just know it."
"Remember what I told you before, and also this: Sometimes, whether it be as a hero or just for life in general, you have to make a call and hope it's not a mistake. Whatever happens from here on out, I'll stand with you."
"So at least there will be at least one of you that won't hate me." Spider-Man's gaze hardened from underneath his mask, and he looked over at Karai and caught her attention with a single shot of webbing.
'If that's his way of sending a signal, he needs to work on it.' Karai glanced over at the small patch of webbing and followed its path back to where Spider-Man was perched… and then she caught sight of the Turtles preparing to launch the electro-grenade towards them, her expression growing dark with fury 'So he was telling the truth, and that means they're… Oh they're so not gonna get away with this.'
"Booyakasha Shredhead." and Mikey launched the electro-grenade forward, leaving it to hurtle towards Shredder, until…
"Look out!" Karai didn't hesitate to tackle Shredder out of the way as the electro-grenade hit the ground and bounced onto Steranko's car, electrocuting him and the nearby Foot ninja, and then she took hold of the missile launcher and fired it at the Turtles, striking the container they were on and blowing them to the ground.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me…" Raph let out a pained groan as he and the other Turtles picked themselves up off the ground… only to find the Shredder glaring directly at them from the other end of the dock "Aw crap baskets. Well, it's not like this can get much worse."
"Yeah word to the wise, never say that out loud." Spider-Man leapt down in front of the group, with Daredevil following right behind him "Never say that or anything about losing an enemy or asking what could go wrong? Because it's always gonna come back to bite you."
"Oh get real, how could this get any worse than it is now?"
"I think I have an answer." Donnie pulled out his T-phone and looked over at the others "The radar is getting a signal, the Kraang ship is nearby."
"...I had to say something didn't I?" the group then glanced up to see the Kraang ship appear on the scene "So what do we do?"
"We can't take that thing and Shredder at the same time, let's fall back!" Leo made the call, and the group took off running into the makeshift maze of shipping containers, with Shredder hot on their trail… until they came to a dead end "Dammit!"
"There's nowhere for you to run." the Shredder appeared before them in the only exit from the dead end, drawing his blades from his gauntlet "Tell me where Splinter is and I'll allow the four of you to live long enough to watch him perish."
"You really think that's going to happen?" Leo drew his katanas as the other Turtles drew their own weapons, only for their attention to be grabbed by the Kraang ship swooping down onto the scene "That thing again? Great, this night just keeps getting better."
"Honto ni wa?" Shredder's gaze hardened further at the sight of the Kraang ship, but this was quickly cut short by the ship firing an energy beam at the group, forcing him to open the door to a nearby shipping container and roll inside it to avoid the blast.
"Now!" thinking quick, Leo locked the door to the container to trap Shredder inside, and then he took off running "Come on guys, let's go!"
"Right!" so Raph and the others moved to follow him… only to be stopped by a blade bursting out from within the container and ripping the door open, and Shredder stepping out "Yeah we should've seen that coming."
"Prepare yourself Turtles, for now you will see why they call me the Shredder." on that fairly menacing note, the Shredder drew his blades from both gauntlets and advanced on the Turtles once again… only to be stopped by what appeared to be a grapple wrapping around one of his gauntlets, resulting in him being yanked on top of one of the containers "What?!"
"Now that's what I'm talking about." Raph gave a smirk as he looked up "You always know how to make an entrance don't you Daredevil?"
Sure enough, it was at this moment that Daredevil dropped down onto the scene in front of the Turtles, the Devil's Horn in hand and he cast a glance back at the trio "Sorry for the delay, but you should know that there are more Foot ninja out on the dock. Spider-Man is dealing with them as we speak. Go and help him and Leonardo, and get that missile launcher to take care of the Kraang ship. I'll take care of the Shredder myself."
"Are you sure you can beat him?"
"If nothing else I'll be sure to give it everything I've got. Go and help the others, and remember to be cautious."
"Got it. Just make sure to give him hell." and so Raph and the others quickly made their way out of the opening, leaving Daredevil alone to face Shredder.
"I have the moniker of the devil for a reason, and I suppose now would be the time to put it to good use."
"Spare me your trivialities." the Shredder moved to chase after the Turtles with both his blades drawn, only to be stopped by a grapnel once again latching onto him, courtesy of the Devil's Horn.
"I think you'll find that my involvement is anything but trivial."
"So you claim." Shredder ripped through the cable with one of his blades, causing the grapnel to clatter to the ground, and then he leapt down to meet Daredevil at eye level "But the fact remains that you made a grave mistake interfering in my business vigilante."
"And you made a mistake spreading your chaos into my city. I suppose it only balances things out then."
"We shall see soon enough." Shredder promptly launched himself towards Daredevil, and their battle began.
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Meanwhile, with the main protagonists…
"There it is!" Leo emerged from the maze of shipping containers and made a beeline for the stash of weapons by Steranko's car, only to stop in his tracks when he noticed Spider-Man leap down in front of him "Spidey!"
"Sorry I didn't get to join in on the fun, I had to deal with the Foot soldiers." Spider-Man jerked a thumb to where at least a dozen Foot ninja were either lying unconscious on the ground, or being webbed up in various positions.
"Oh yeah, good one. You know because they're foot soldiers and they're soldiers that work for the Foot clan."
"Yeah humor 101, explaining the joke also ruins the joke. Also know the timing, because I'm pretty sure the time for jokes just flew out the metaphorical window."
"Right, we have to get the missile launcher and take out the Kraang ship."
"True, but not what I was talking about."
"What do you mean?" Leo turned, and immediately noticed Karai leap out with a sword pointed right at him "Aw crap."
"I thought you were better than this." Karai let out a snarl "I thought you could see the bigger picture, but I was wrong. About this and about the four of you."
"Karai, I-"
"Save it. I actually try to help you sons of bitches, and you go behind my back and try to take out my father?!"
"I didn't- Wait, Shredder is your father?!"
"Of course he's my father you idiot, why else would a teenage girl like me get involved with a freaking ninja clan?" Karai gritted her teeth as her anger dissipated, if only slightly "At least one of you had the decency to fes up and tell me your plan beforehand."
"Wait, one of us told you? But who-" Leo paused, then looked over to where Spider-Man stood off to the side in silence, and his eyes widened "Spidey…?"
"Don't look so surprised, he told me everything. And frankly that's why he's the only one of you I don't wanna stab in the eyes right now."
"Yeah, there's that." Spider-Man breathed a sigh as he turned to Leo "Look, I didn't want to stab you guys in the back or anything, but I couldn't let it happen. Even putting aside the fact that she knows who I am and could sick the Foot on everyone I care about… Stabbing her in the back like that and the whole assassination thing… it's just not right."
"Yep, so noble that it borders on kind of disgusting." Karai gave a shrug, then turned her glare back on Leo "But it did show me the truth, that you and your brothers are just as short sighted and obsessed as Shredder."
"As much as I hate to interrupt the latest episode of Ninja Bachelorette, we've got other stuff to worry about right now." Spider-Man gestured to where the Kraang ship was flying towards them, then promptly leapt out of the way and dragged Leo and Karai with him via weblines to avoid an oncoming energy beam "The giant alien warship trying to kill us comes to mind."
"...The missile launcher is in one of the crates by the car. If you wanna use it to bring down that ship then I'm not gonna stop you." Karai patted Spider-Man on the arm, then turned her glare back to Leo as she got into a stance "But as for you, if it's a feud you and your brothers want, then it's a feud you're gonna get."
"Right, so… I'll leave you guys to it." Spider-Man promptly swung his way over to the car and found the missile launcher, which he latched onto with a web line, and then took off in search of the Kraang ship, leaving Leo and Karai to duke it out, just as the other Turtles showed up just in time to encounter another group of Foot ninja 'I'm pretty sure this is gonna come back and bite me in my web hole big time, but that can wait. Right now I need to focus on finding the Kraang ship and blowing it out of the sky.'
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Meanwhile, with the one on one showdown…
"We shall see soon enough." Shredder promptly launched himself towards Daredevil, and their battle began.
"Something that we actually agree on." Daredevil raised his forearms to block Shredder's, then went on to dodge and weave his way around the next series of strikes and let Shredder roll right over his back, only to be met with a knee to the jaw that sent him staggering into one of the shipping containers. Fortunately, he managed to recover in time to dodge Shredder's next strike from his blades, leaving them to slice through the solid metal, and then he drew the Devil's Horn out in its baton form and used it to block and counter most of Shredder's attacks.
"Enough!" losing patience, Shredder grabbed Daredevil by the forearm and flipped him over his shoulder and through the air, leaving him to land on one of the shipping containers with a loud crash.
'Evidently he's as formidable as I was told… I suppose I'll have to try out those new additions to my weapon that Dontaello told me about.' Daredevil pulled himself back to his feet and held out the end of the Devil's Horn, which then began launching a volley of shuriken 'I see, automatic shuriken projectiles. Interesting choice.'
"Such trivialities will not be enough with me." Shredder ripped through each of the shuriken with ease as he leapt onto the shipping container, and he and Daredevil began trading a series of even blows, which came to an abrupt end when he tried to strike Daredevil with a roundhouse kick aimed at his head.
Reacting on instinct, Daredevil managed to catch Shredder by the leg in the middle of the kick, then grabbed Shredder by the front of his helmet and slammed his head first against the side of another shipping container.
Growing more irate, Shredder charged at Daredevil again, only to be grabbed by the leg and thrown onto the ground face first. He quickly recovered in time to block a series of strikes from the Devil's Horn and grabbed Daredevil by the knee, only to be grabbed by the head and thrown to the ground, but he recovered and rolled over in time to strike the back of Daredevil's leg with his blades, bringing him down on one knee.
Gritting his teeth from the pain, Daredevil managed to whip around enough to kick Shredder in the chest with his other leg, knocking him back a short distance.
Shredder managed to rebound in time to block an incoming roundhouse kick from Daredevil, as well as the next incoming barrage of attacks from the Devil's Horn, then grabbed Daredevil by the throat and rammed him head first against the wall of a shipping container, then moved to stab him with one of his gauntlets.
Thinking quick, Daredevil cranked his head back just enough to avoid the blades, then morphed the Devil's Horn into its staff form and used it to break the blades off of Shredder's gauntlets in one swift movement, leaving Shredder somewhat stunned by this, but he shook it off and aimed an attack at Daredevil with his other gauntlet, only for the blades on that one to end up broken as well, and he was quickly flipped over and sent crashing to the ground head first. And then he got elbowed in the head and knocked into a shipping container for good measure.
Shredder managed to recover quickly and went on to deal Daredevil a series of swift blows to the chest, leading to the two of them trading even blows, which ended when Shredder managed to strike Daredevil in the throat with two fingers, only to be met with a kick to the face, knocking him clear off the shipping container and down onto the dock. A moment passed before Shredder was able to pull himself back onto one knee, panting heavily, and he looked up to see Daredevil in a similar state "Evidently you are… more skilled than I expected. However, such a fact will not earn you my mercy."
"I was expecting nothing less from the likes of you. Now then, I think it's about time for the two of us to end this." Daredevil brandished the Devil's Horn in its staff form, and then he leapt off the shipping container and down towards Shredder.
"On that… we can agree." Shredder gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up onto his feet and got into a stance, and once Daredevil closed in Shredder charged forward and managed to strike him with a series of pressure point attacks, the force of which managing to blow him back into one of the shipping containers, leaving him sprawled out against it "You would've been wiser stay out of my way."
"Daredevil!" once the other Foot ninja were taken care of, Raph and the other Turtles were quick to charge at Shredder with their weapons drawn, only to be forced to retreat when the Kraang ship swooped down towards them, and then it began charging its energy beam, when…
"HEY!" this was when Spider-Man got the attention of the Kraang ship from where he had been perched on an old building on the edge of the dock "You wanna play rough? Okay. Say hello to my little friend!" and then he pulled the trigger and fired the missile, hitting the Kraang ship dead on and sending it hurtling down towards the dock.
"Yes!" Leo pumped a fist in triumph at the sight of the ship going down, only to be forced to dodge a strike from Karai's blade… and then he saw where the ship was heading "Spidey!"
"I know already, move it guys or you're gonna be Kraang chow!"
"Heads up guys, MOVE IT!" Raph and the others Turtles leapt out of the way, with Shredder being left to face the Kraang Ship head on.
To make a long story short, it ended with it and him being sent hurtling into the bay, left to sink to the bottom of its watery depths.
"Father!" Karai didn't hesitate as she broke off from her clash with Leo and dove into the water after Shredder.
"...So call it a win." Spider-Man cast the missile launcher aside… only to turn and notice the looks he was getting from the Turtles 'Right… that. Crap.' he was about to say something, only to pause and look over to where Daredevil was lying unconscious against one of the shipping containers "He needs help."
"What are we gonna do?" asked Leo "We can't take him to a hospital, his secret identity would be exposed."
"I've got that covered. He gave me the address of this nurse friend of his who lives in Hell's Kitchen. We can take him to her." Spider-Man swung his way over and slung Daredevil's arm over his shoulder, then paused and looked over at the Turtles "We can talk about the elephant in the room when we get him to her."
"...Fine. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Got it." and so the five of them took their leave of the harbor just as police cars began to arrive on the scene.
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About an hour passed, and stars were shining brightly in the skies, but the mood was tense in comparison.
"Okay, the nurse said Daredevil is gonna be fine in a few days." Spider-Man tucked away his Spider Cell and dismounted the Spider Cycle, then turned to where the Turtles were looking at him in silence "Okay look, I knew this was coming. Let's just get it out in the open. Whatever you guys wanna say, go ahead and say it." he was met with silence, until…
"You son of a bitch!" Raph pounced at Spider-Man in a rage, only for him to sidestep the charge with ease "You ratted us out to Karai?!"
"Okay, pretty obvious I'm not gonna get a chance to explain my side of this."
"There's nothing to explain, you freaking stabbed us in the back!"
"I didn't just tell her for shits and giggles, I did what I thought was right! You guys were gonna go back on a deal you made!"
"So what, that makes it okay for you to betray us, to take away the only chance we had of ending the fight with Shredder for good?"
"Alright Raph, cool it for a minute." Leo and Donnie stepped in between them to try and mediate "He had to make a call, it's not our place to second guess his decision."
"Like hell it isn't! He betrayed us, that's it, end of the freaking story!"
"Hey come on bro, it wasn't that simple." Mikey told him "We did kind of plan to take Shredder out without even talking to him first, did you really think he was just gonna be okay with pulling that out of nowhere? Besides Karai had him by the webs, he was just trying to protect his friends and his family."
"And what the hell about our family?!" that was enough to shut the others up, and Raph went on with his tirade against Spider-Man "You stabbed us in the back, that's all there is to it. You know what? We don't even need you here."
"Raph!"
"Shut it Mikey! If he's just gonna stab us in the back, he might as well not even be part of this team, or partnership, or whatever the hell we call it. As far as I'm concerned, he's nothing but a backstabbing traitor, just like Shredder or any of those guys he fights, like Venom or the Goblin or-" Raph's tirade was cut short by a web being shot over his mouth, and then being grabbed by the front of his shell and shoved against a wall.
"Get this through that thick skull of yours." Spider-Man let out a snarl as he ripped off his mask, revealing the face of Peter Parker "I don't care what you say. I don't care what you do. I care even less what goes through whatever tiny brain you've got rattling around in your head. I will do whatever I have to in order to make sure that the people I care about stay safe. And if you don't like that, then you can just suck on the flat end of my webs!" he let Raph go and put his mask back on, then turned around "See ya." he mounted his Spider Cycle and prepared to web a line with it.
"Pete hold up." Mikey was quick to stop him "Look, Raph can say whatever he wants, but I do get it. So do the rest of us. You were in a bad spot. But look, don't let some bad vibes and harsh words take away what we got going. We're more than just partners, we're your friends. I don't wanna lose that, and I don't think you do either."
"...I know. I'll see you guys later. I hope." so Spider-Man webbed a line from the Spider Cycle and drove off into the night.
"Aw man." Mikey slumped to the ground and buried his head in his knees, to which he was met with a comforting hand on his shoulder, courtesy of Leo "Not really in the mood bro."
"I didn't think you would be." Leo turned to face the other Turtles "I think it's safe to say that all of us have made a few… controversial decisions in the past day or so. But whether any of them were right or wrong doesn't matter, not anymore at least. The fact is that what's done is done, so all we can do is deal with the consequences and keep moving forward. That's what we have to do now, be it as ninjas or heroes."
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At the docks, Karai had managed to rescue Shredder from the water, and after he recovered, he revealed something to her: one of the Kraang he had captured from the ship.
A/N:
Of course it wouldn't be a Spider-Man story if it didn't involve him (and the Turtles by extension given the circumstances) teaming up with someone that's tried to kill him on more than one occasion. In this case, it's Karai teaming up with them to fend off the Kraang, or at least trying to. Granted it doesn't go well in the end, but how many of Spider-Man's team up with his enemies actually do?
Other things to note in this chapter include the fact that Karai now knows that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one in the same (though she resolves not to tell Shredder about it because she actually has standards), and as a result of this, and a little bit of meddling on her part, Gwen has officially broken up with Harry, so I'm sure you guys can guess where that's going to lead. Oh and I don't know if I had mentioned this before, but I want to go ahead and make it clear now, Gwen is NOT going to be dying in this story. I've got big plans for her going forward, though it may be a little while before you see them come to fruition. As for what those plans are, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see.
One more thing I was looking forward to in this chapter was something that I don't think many of you were expecting: a straight up fight between Daredevil and the Shredder. I'm currently watching the Daredevil series on Disney Plus, and if his portrayal in that is any indication, a fight between two characters like this would be absolutely insane, and I hope that all of you enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, this chapter ended on a somewhat somber note, given that recent events and decisions led to Spider-Man and the Turtles (Raphael in particular) not parting on the best terms. Of course I knew that Spider-Man would never be on board with planning an assassination, but that wouldn't make it any easier.
