(The Good, The Bad and The Casey Jones)
Spectacular Webhead 11: Yep, from Defenders to Nightwatcher, this chapter definitely had a lot going on. Don't worry, April will make amends with the Turtles soon enough.
Gamelover41592: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Trust me, this Nightwatcher is here to stay.
Awesomerebel55: Yeah, April has A LOT to process after this chapter, but she and the Turtles will make up soon enough. Plus Raph is getting into the vigilante game himself, which will be fun to see, and Mikey and the others will find out in due time.
Colacheunion: I figured if one Turtle becomes a hero, it wouldn't hurt for another to follow in the same footsteps. I did establish that the original Nightwatcher knew Daredevil, but we'll see if he met other heroes as well. Don't count too much on the April clones, but considering who the Jackal is and his history, we'll see who he does clone, if he hasn't already.
Guest: True, but keep in mind that while April is mad at the Turtles, she hasn't tried to hurt them in any way, like Eddie has with Peter. On another note, we'll be having Nightwatcher set himself up as a new vigilante in town over the next few chapters. Leo's Ghost of the Jungle alter ego and Donnie being Dark Turtle are interesting, but I want genuine hero or vigilante personas, not some references or jungle ghost. I guess worse comes to worse, I could probably come up with my own personas for them.
Guest: Don't worry, Spider-Man will be back soon enough. Keep in mind that I have a history of giving more focus to Spider-Man than the Turtles, so I thought maybe it's time for me to return the favor a bit.
Jebest4781: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Godzillaboy2021: Yep, having Nightwatcher and Turtle Titan together is gonna be all kinds of fun. Also yeah, Nightwatcher is pretty heavily based on the version from the 2007 movie. And yes, Spider-Man will return soon enough.
TheIrishman1999: Clint Eastwood would be a good casting choice, and the Boondock Saints sounds interesting. I'll check it out when I get the chance.
5FingerDeathFist: Including Miles Morales in season 3 is an interesting idea, but I don't think it would work in this story. Maybe another time, sorry.
Pikachu345: Merry Christmas to you too. Yes April is a hypocrite considering her relationship with the Turtles, but I will be addressing that soon enough. And yeah, she is a bit… impulsive, to say the least, but it's part of her character arc, which will be wrapped up in a few chapters, so hang in there. In the meantime, you'll see more of Raph being Nightwatcher when the time comes, so hang in there.
Frosty Wolf: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
ZukahanMultiColor: Oh believe me, Raph isn't the last Turtle I've thought about having join the hero ranks, but I do see them taking to different groups depending on their personalities and fighting styles. April… well she has a lot to learn, in terms of character and powers.
MercWithaMouth1: Thanks, and Happy Holidays to you too.
Tortugafash2002: It would definitely be something to behold. But yeah, now that she knows about this, April can pretty much kiss a normal life goodbye. Yeah she might have been fairly hypocritical in her talk with Venom, but to be fair, as angry as she is with the Turtles, she still never went out of her way to hurt them in any way. The same can't exactly be said for Venom with Spider-Man. Raph has his own newfound set of gear as the Nightwatcher, and you'll see how he uses them in time, the same with the clones being featured in this story.
Shakespeare RZA: I didn't know that about Tale of the Yokai, but it actually does sound pretty interesting.
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"Bet these freaks never stopped to think about how folks like me would like getting their heads nearly shot off for some reason. Well they're about to find out. Freaky robot scorpions and giant ripoffs of Stormtroopers are taking over my city. They already proved that they can take on the likes of that new Spider chick, and the Avengers, the Fantastic Four? I don't see them coming to the rescue anytime soon. I don't know how long it's gonna be before those freaks try and go after someone that I actually care about, whether it be my dad or my little sister… or April. I don't know when that's going to happen, but you can be sure as hell I'm not gonna wait around and find out about it, and if the big shot heroes aren't gonna do something about it, then you can be sure that I will. All my life I knew that I was mean for something greater, that I was never meant to be ordinary or surrounded by all that normal crap. Now I know for a fact that this is my calling, it's my destiny. A true warrior has to be prepared, both in body and in mind. Whether they be mutant robot ninjas or whatever, they can come at me all they want but I'll still rip them to shreds."
And so, after extensive physical training and preparation, he geared up with a decorated hockey mask, two hockey sticks, a baseball bad and various other weapons, his gaze hard as he readied himself "Better be ready you scum sucking freaks of this screwed up world, because now you're about to face the wrath of Casey Jones."
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Another night, and with it another round of training in the Lair.
"Listen my sons, and my student, and listen well." Splinter addressed the four Turtles while they were in the middle of stretching in preparation for a training session, with Gwen kneeling next to him "All of you are truly becoming a group of impressive warriors. However, if you intend to grow as a team, then you must know and understand the strengths and weaknesses that each of you possess."
"Because knowing your limitations is the only way you're able to push past them." Gwen looked up at Splinter "Is that right?"
"Precisely. Now then, this competition is going to be a free for all, and as such the last turtle standing wins. Hajime."
"I've got this one in the bag!" in a flash, Raph suddenly blitzed behind Donnie and kicked him square into the big tree, leaving him to fall to the ground "Hate to break it to you Donnie, but this right here is a ninja-eat-ninja world."
"And you've gotta be prepared if you want to survive and thrive." Mikey quickly blocked a strike from Raph's sais using his kusarigama chain.
"Nothing personal Mikey, just gotta make way so I can finish this off by knocking Leo on his shell."
"Hate to break it to you Raph, he he said last Turtle standing right. That means every Turtle for himself, so if you want to get to Leo then you're gonna have to go through me!"
"Fine by me, if you wanna get your shell handed to you in the boss fight before Leo does, then I say go for it."
"Part of me is gonna enjoy wiping that smug grin off your face Raph, you ain't dealing with the average turtle ninja anymore."
"We'll see about that." Raph and Mikey promptly started clashing sais against kusarigama chain and a set of nunchucks, only for Raph to knock the nunchucks out of Mikey's hand, but in the process he ended up losing one himself as it was knocked out of his grasp and into the side of the tree, but just as he managed to free it…
"You left yourself wide open!" Leo suddenly swooped in and dealt Raph a sharp kick to the face, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap.
"Looks like you won that one, and that means it's just the two of us."
"I gotta admit, this is gonna be fun." Mikey gave a smirk as he pulled out his remaining set of nunchucks and readied his kusarigama chain, but stopped before he could launch his first attack and cringd slightly "Oh shell. Leo you'd better duck, looks like we just woke up the beast."
"What do you-" Leo whipped around too late, and was met with an elbow to the chest and a solid fist to the face, courtesy of Raph, which proved to be enough to knock him to the ground in a heap.
"Leo are you okay?" Gwen was quick to rush to Leo's side and help him to his feet, shooting the Look at Raph as she did so "Seriously Raph, what the heck did you do that for?"
"I… I didn't mean to hurt him." Raph was quick to try and defend himself, feeble as it might have been, as he backed away.
"Really? Because from here it looked like you got mad and charged at him in a rage."
"It was just an accident, I swear!"
"It didn't look like that from here. Looks like you just got mad that you lost. Do you have any idea how bad you could've hurt him?"
"But I-"
"Enough Raphael." was the sharp reprimand from Splinter "We have spoken about this problem time and again. Anger is a dangerous ally with the potential to cloud your judgement, and as such you have to learn to control it, or else it will control you, and eventually it will destroy you from within."
"But sensei I wasn't angry, I was just… determined to win."
"Yeah, even after you already lost." Donnie shot an unconvinced glare at Raph, along with the other turtles.
"WHAT?! I said I wasn't angry!" Raph's not at all angry glare turned on them, and then he let out a snarl "You know what screw all of this, I'm out of here!" and so he stormed out of the dojo, leaving the others to worry over this.
"...I think that could've gone better." Gwen pulled out an ice pack and held it to Leo's face "At least I thought to bring one or two of these just in case."
"Thanks. At least I got the number of the bus that hit me." Leo let out a groan "Sad thing is it's not like this is the first time either. So much for letting the angry stuff wash over him like a river over stone."
"Some things take time, issues like that can't just be resolved over night. I would know."
"You had a temper problem?"
"Not that specifically, but I do have problems I have to deal with. Which also brings me to one thing I wanted to mention to you guys, if we can talk for a second?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"Well the thing is that I've been doing the whole hero and training thing with you guys for the past few weeks now…"
"...Anyone else feel like this sounds like the start of a break up?" asked Mikey.
"It's not, but… it is something that has to be dealt with. My dad still isn't crazy about me being part of this whole thing."
"He said that before didn't he? After you got captured by those Spider Slayer robots, and he said he wasn't gonna stop you."
"Yeah, but he also said that… he wanted to meet you guys. Here. He said that if I'm gonna be doing this, he should know more about you guys, where you come from." she paused and looked over at Splinter "I did try to put this off for a little while, but…"
"You do not need to fear my child, I understand." Splinter took a step forward and gave a warm smile as he set a hand on Gwen's shoulder "If you wish to bring your father here, then I will not object. Such a thing is important to you, and therefore it is important to us."
"Thank you for that, really. Does this weekend work for you maybe? Finals should be over by then."
"But if tonight is anything to go by, Raph's temper tantrum won't be." Donnie noted dryly.
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The night was calm, or about as calm as it could be in New York City.
"GOD DAMMIT!" that came to an abrupt end when Raphael started throwing a tantrum across the rooftops "This always happens, I can keep myself under control just fine until those guys decide to push my buttons!"
"Hate to break it to you Hulk reject, but that kind of excuse is only gonna get you so far."
Raph glanced over to see Logan jump onto the rooftop next to him with a Mutagen canister in hand, and he let out a sigh "Well it's better than having to deal with the others right now. Not by much."
"Meh, not the worst thing I've been called." Logan gave a shrug as he stowed the canister into his jacket and sat down next to Nightwatcher "Alright start talking, what happened this time?"
"I was sparring with Leo and it… got a little bit out of hand. Then they all started jumping down my throat over it."
"Uh huh. So to sum it up, you were training, you lost your cool and lashed out."
"Hey it's not like it's my fault, I was fine until they started pushing my buttons! It happens all the freaking time!" Raph was left breathing heavily after this outburst, but once he calmed down he let out a sigh "It's not like I was trying to hurt Leo or anything. They just don't get it."
"Maybe the other Turtles don't, but Yoshi does. So do I. It's why he's way he is about making sure you get your crap together." Logan was met with a raised eyebrow "I saw a lot of that stuff myself awhile back, when I was staying with the Hamato clan during my time in Japan. Yoshi and Saki were always at each other's throats for one reason or another, and their sense basically had to beat them into paste to get them to calm the hell down."
"Wasn't all of that about Tang Shen? It's not like me and Leo are gonna end up killing each other over a girl. It sure as hell ain't gonna be about Karai."
"Actually it goes a lot deeper than just a woman, but if you're gonna hear the details on that then it should be from Yoshi himself. But is it really that hard for you to figure out that he doesn't want you following in Saki's footsteps?"
"...What?" Raph glanced at Logan with a raised non-existent eyebrow.
"I've seen the same story at least a dozen times. Brothers fight, one wins, the other loses his cool and charges in like a crazed animal, that point I know a fair bit about. Yoshi knows all too well how that can play out. Whether he actually says it or not, he can tell that if you don't get a grip on it at some point, you may end up like Shredder. That's probably what Yoshi fears way more than anything in this entire freaking world. You get it now?" Logan was met with silence, but chose not to push on it further and simply glanced out towards the city.
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Meanwhile, with another vigilant with anger issues…
'I can practically smell it…' onanother end of the spectrum of brooding, Casey was sitting on a rooftop overlooking the city, waiting for something to do… but he wasn't finding much action, so he took to writing in his journal 'I know for a fact that my city is infested, a boil, a festering sore, it stinks with pure evil poking out from every corner. And the only one who can face that evil is Casey Jones. Actually crime fighting is pretty boring, when the hell is something going to happen already?' he got what he wanted, courtesy of a rat scurrying a few feet away from him, causing him to let out a terrified yelp and scurry away from it 'For the love of god, I hate those furry little freaks! Seriously, when the hell am I gonna get to hit something?' and then the sound of a loud crash got his attention, to which he gave a smirk 'About time one of the higher ups started listening to me.'
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Now for the source of that crash…
"Well what do we have here?" as it turns out, it was Fong and the Purple Dragons mugging a guy in an alley, a malicious smirk plasted across Fong's face as he pulled out a dagger "Check it out you guys, looks like a walking ATM just ripe for using to make a pretty big withdrawal. Make sure you hand it all over, and don't forget about that watch." he was about to advance on the guy as he pulled out a knife, only to be distracted by the sound of a hockey puck hitting the big one in the face and knocking him to the ground "What the hell?" this provided enough of a distraction for the guy getting mugged to make a break for it "Okay seriously, what the hell was that supposed to be?"
"That would be yours truly." from the shadows emerged Casey Jones himself, his hockey mask covering his face with a hockey stick in hand "You pieces of crap picked the wrong night to come around here."
"Nice outfit jackass, so who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"I'm the last thing you see before you wake up in the hospital." Casey promptly used his hockey stick to slam Fong into the ground, then went on to throw the big one (I think his name is Sid) into a nearby trash can, and then throw him and the can into the last member (I think that one's name is Tsoi), sending both of them crashing to the ground, before going on to brutalize the three of them even further.
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Meanwhile, with the other angry anti-hero types…
"You've gotta be freaking kidding me." what went unnoticed by those on the ground was Raph and Logan watching Casey go to town on the three idiots from their place on a nearby rooftop, with the former being less than impressed "This dude is completely out of control!"
"Yeah, like we haven't seen that before." Logan noted dryly, only to be met with what a certain finger gesture from Raph.
"I say it's time for a little bit of intervention."
"You know that you aren't supposed to let people see you right?"
"Yeah well, I think Mikey said it best. I ain't gonna let being afraid of people seeing me stop me from doing what I've gotta do."
"Two things about that. First off, that's from Tchalla's autobiography. I'd know, they read a chapter of it during his and Storm's wedding. Second, I never said don't do it. I just wanna get it out there that I'm not telling Yoshi if this goes South."
"Fair enough." and so Raph pounced down towards the alley.
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Now for the ongoing beatdown…
"Casey Jones shoots, and Casey Jones scores assholes!" Casey took a lot more glee than he should've in watching Fong try and make a break for it, and he promptly knocked him to the ground with a hockey puck aimed at his back, and then he turned to the others "And then there were two."
Sid and Tsoi were left trying to cower in fear for their lives "Hey come on man that's enough, we give up already!"
"Not good enough for me, I'm not finished with you two lowlives yet." Casey prepared to bring down his hockey stick on the two of them, only to be met with Raph yanking it out of his hand from behind and then disappearing into the shadows "What the hell? Alright who's back there, get out here and show yourself!"
"How about you cool it the hell down a few notches." this was when Raph emerged from the shadows, both of his sais in hand.
"...Okay seriously, what the hell am I looking at right now? Some kind of mutant?"
"So what if I am, you got a problem with that?"
this caused him to burst out laughing.
"What the hell are you supposed to be, some kind of turtle ninja?" but then Casey's laughing was quickly cut short when he saw the Purple Dragons making a break for it "Hey get back here you filthy scum, I'm not done with you yet!"
"Hey take it easy man, let me handle this." Raph put a hand on Casey's shoulder, only for it to be jerked away.
"Get the hell out of my way."
"You know something dude, anger is a really dangerous ally. Why don't you just cool off for a little while?" he said this while shoving Casey into a wall.
"That's it lizard, I'm already done with you. GOONGALA!" Casey brandished a bat in one hand and a hockey stick in the other, and he promptly charged forward.
"I thought I told you to back off!" Raph quickly ended up on the defensive, fending off Casey's rapid attacks before kicking him into a nearby dumpster.
"You're the one who let those muggers go, you're gonna pay for that freak!" Casey burst out of the dumpster and slammed Raph into a wall, and then he tried to follow up with a smash attack to the head with his bat.
Raph leapt over the bat and hurled forward a volley of shuriken.
Casey was quick to use his customer blocker glove to shield himself from the volley of shuriken with ease "Okay I've gotta admit, throwing stars are pretty cool."
"If you think those are cool then you're gonna lose it when I show you my sai."
"I say show me what you've got, then I'll shove it right up your shell." the two of them brandished their respective weapons and then charged at each other at full speed, sais clashing against a hockey stick and baseball bat, which ended when Casey dealt Raph a blow to the back of the head that knocked him to the ground "Didn't I once hear somewhere that Turtles are supposed to be endangered?"
"Only the ones that can't do this!" Raph quickly dealt Casey a two-legged uppercut kick to the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground "That answer your question?"
"Oh yeah, and I'm gonna change that in a minute!" Casey was quick to rebound and charged forward towards Raph with both weapons barred, the two of them rapidly taking their clash out towards the street, which was where he leapt over a car to avoid an attack from Raph and revealed a trick he had up his sleeve: retractable roller blades built into his shoes "Alright freakshow, let's go for the next round."
"Fine!" with his frustration showing, Raph barred his sais and charged forward.
Now that he had his skates on, Casey started weaving around Raph's attacks with noticeable levels of ease, dealing Raph a few light attacks here and there until he finally knocked him clear off his feet.
With his rage finally boiling over, Raph grabbed Casey by the hockey stick and went on to slam him down on the hood of a car, and he moved to bring down one of his sais directly on Casey's face… but then he stopped as he came to his senses 'Oh god, what the shell am I doing? Maybe I do have some anger issues going for me.'
Seeing that Raph was distracted, Casey took the opportunity to zap him with his homemade taser, sending him tumbling across the street, while Casey himself hitched a ride by grabbing onto the back of a taxi passing through the scene "Better be ready Turtle, cause you sure as hell haven't seen the last of me!"
"Yeah forget it assclown, you better run or skate or, whatever!" Raph shot a glare at Casey's form as it retreated from sight… and immediately let out a pained groan 'So that's what smoked turtle smells like. Didn't know I needed to know that, but okay.'
"You getting the idea of it yet?" Logan jumped down onto the street and held out a hand to Raph, prompting him to take it and pulled him back to his feet.
"Okay fine… maybe I do have some anger issues. But I get angry alright? It's a part of who I am and stuff."
"You think I don't get it? It's basically one of my default emotions. Think of it this way, start by figuring out where you're not supposed to point it."
"It's that simple?"
"I doubt it's gonna work 100% of the time, but apparently it works well enough that it's basically what the Avengers do with the Hulk."
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Another day came, and with it a round of exams at Midtown High.
"Thanks Professor Warren, Merry Christmas." Gwen set her test booklet down on the teacher's desk and made her way out of the classroom, though she cast a sad glance in the direction of one empty seat as she did so 'Knowing what Pete is like, he probably would've been finished before anyone else. We'll be changing that soon enough, we just have to find him and then turn him back to- Wait, Spider Sense. Crap.' the familiar sensation in her head drove her to dodge as an oncoming hockey puck barreled past her, missing her only by a few inches.
"Nice dodging, you got some skills Blondie." as it turns out, Casey was the one throwing the ball in question and quickly went over to pick it up, revealing to Gwen the black eye and bruises he was sporting "Any chance you know where I can find Red right about now?"
"Depends on which Red you're talking about." Gwen pointed to where MJ was still working on her exam "If you're talking about April, I think she went over to the library to study for the big trig final. Speaking of which, she mentioned she was tutoring a Casey Jones to get him ready for the final. Any chance it came to fruition?"
"What can I say, she managed to crack the code on making me give a crap." Casey gave a smirk, then rubbed the bruises on his face "I even spent all last night… studying."
"Really? What about homework leaves you with a black guy and half a dozen bruises? Not that I'm one to talk anymore.'
"The coach called me up for a late night hockey practice, it got a little rough."
"Really now? That sounds a bit peculiar." it was at this moment that Irma made her way over to the two of them, causing Gwen to tsne up "I remember the rink being closed after dark ever since a mysterious fight broke out there a few weeks ago? Tell me something, how exactly did you get those bruises Casey?"
"What are you Irma, my interrogator? I already got enough BS on my own to deal with, so do me a favor and butt out already." and so Casey slung his backpack over his shoulder and stormed his way down the hall.
"Hm. To each their own then. Well I think I've wasted enough time with the likes of an inferior mind, I have an exam to attend to myself after all." Irma turned on her heel and made her way down the hall without another word.
'Okay, that definitely doesn't feel right.' Gwen frowned as she watched Irma's form retreat from her line of sight 'That's the new girl, Irma right? The second she showed up she set off my Spider Sense, but why? I think I'd better keep a closer eye on her.' it was then that the sound of ringing drew her to pull out her cell phone "Hey Mikey, what's up? Yeah, I just finished, the exam itself was fine. I'm more dreading what's gonna happen in a few days. My dad? He's got some stuff to go over for the Criminology lecture, but we agreed that I would bring him to the Lair after school lets out on Friday. So yeah… this is gonna be really nervewracking to say the least. Or maybe it's just me."
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Friday came, and with it the inevitable meeting of the parents (or parent and teacher).
"Alright thanks Gwen, see you in a few." Mikey pocketed his T-phone and cast a glance over towards Donnie as he made his way into the Lair's living room "You guys ready for this? Gwen is on her way on the Spider Cycle and bringing her dad with her."
"I can't be the only one who thinks this is a bad idea." Raph was quick to voice his opinion as he made his way towards the others, with Leo standing off to the side "Seriously, it can't just be me that thinks this is gonna backfire on us in some way."
"What are you talking about Raph?"
"What do you think? What world do we live in where it's okay to just bring random people to our secret Lair. Splinter almost busted our shells during the whole Squirrelenoid thing with that homeless guy, now you wanna do it again?"
"This isn't just some random guy Raph, it's Gwen's dad. He said he wanted to meet Splinter at some point, and this is important to Gwen, so we gotta do this right."
"So that means we bring her here? For all we know someone is gonna follow them here!"
"Enough!" the sharp tap of a cane broke up any arguments as Splinter made his way out of the dojo "Be ready my sons, for I believe we have a guest approaching."
There was a pause, and then Ghost Spider made her way into the Lair, with George Stacy following close behind her as she pulled off her mask, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy "Hey guys. So uh… this is my dad. Dad, you've already met the Turtles."
"Most of them at least, though I don't believe we've met." George turned his gaze to Raphael and gave him a simple nod, with the gesture being returned after a moment.
"That's Raphael. You've already met Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo."
"That I have, and you've told me a fair bit about them as well." George then turned his gaze over toward Splinter "And I assume that you're the sensei that Gwen told me about?"
"You assume correct." Splinter took a few steps forward and met George at eye level "I've heard many things about you before now Captain. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."
"Likewise. But putting aside all of the pleasantries, I think it's safe to say that the two of us have a few things to talk about."
"Yes, I believe we do. Come with me." so Splinter made his way back into the dojo, with George following close behind him.
"...Okay, so that's a thing. Anyone up for that Super Robo Mecha Force marathon we've been talking about?" Mikey held up a bag of popcorn as he and Donnie sat down in front of the TV and turned it on.
"Sure why not, I feel like I could use a distraction." Gwen let out a sigh as she sat down next to the two of them and stuck a hand into the bag.
It was at this moment that Raph took the chance to approach Leo "Hey Leo, you got a second to talk?"
"I was just gonna get it on that Super Robo Mecha Force marathon." Leo told him "Why, you need something?"
"Yeah cool, so here's the deal. I, well… I'm sorry."
"What was that?"
"I said… I was sorry. "
"One more time?"
"Oh for- Sorry okay, I'm sorry!" this was met with jaw dropped stares from Donnie and Mikey, and a look of surprise from Gwen "I thought I had I had my anger under control and it turns out that I didn't, but now I do. For real."
"Yeah, he means for now anyway." Mikey glanced over at the others "I'm giving him about 10 more seconds. 9… 8… 7… 6…"
"Cram it Mikey."
"So what are you saying Raph?" asked Leo "It's not that you are angry but that me and the rest of us make you angry?"
"I never said that." and then he got fed up with Mikey counting down "SHUT UP!"
"Bing bing bing, we have a winner!" Mikey gave a grin, but it quickly fell away when he took notice of Gwen giving him the Look and Raph storming away in a rage "Hey come on Raph, we're just busting your shell. Come on and watch the show with us, we've got popcorn and some parent drama we wanna steer clear of."
"Oh forget it, you might as well let the big green baby go." Donnie was met with a shuriken being thrown at the bag, sending popcorn spurting all over them, before Raph stormed out of the Lair in a rage.
"...Meh, it's still good to me." Mikey reached down and plucked a few pieces of popcorn off the floor and ate them, earning a few disgusted looks from the others "What? We live in a sewer and eating off the floor is where you draw the line?"
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Meanwhile, with another angry brooding jackass…
Now geared up and out on patrol again, Casey was sitting on a fire escape and writing in his journal, his mind drifting to his previous encounter with Raph 'It's been a full three days and my body still feels like a punching bag. That Turtle is a worthy opponent, I've gotta give him that much at least.'
"DAMMIT!" the sound of lots of crashing drew Casey's attention to where Raph climbed out of a nearby manhole cover and took to the rooftops "These sons of shellholes are making me go nuts, they just don't get it! None of them do!"
'And it looks like it's time for the second round.' and so he quickly made his move to follow Raph, making sure to avoid being seen.
However, what he failed to notice was that a number of Foot Bots were watching him from afar, and made to follow him while remaining stealthy.
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Meanwhile, with the parent-teacher conference…
"I have to be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect." George glanced up at the tree as he followed Splinter into the dojo "But it's actually pretty… serene, I think is the best word I can use to describe it."
"That is the sensation that many find when they enter this place. I myself felt it myself the first time my sons and I ventured here." Splinter drew George's attention back to him, and to the shrine he was standing in front of.
"Those are yours I take it?"
"Yes. I retain very little of my life as a human, but there are some things that I will never let go of." he showed the picture to George of himself, Tang Shen and Miwa "That is me with my wife and my daughter, before… I lost them."
"I'm sorry. Your daughter was beautiful."
"Yes… She would be about the age of my other children by now. I like to think she would've turned out just as well as they have. And as well as your daughter has."
"Yeah… I like to think I'm doing right by her. It hasn't been easy." George's face fell as he cast a glance up at the tree "Of course her having powers and being put in danger thanks to them really doesn't do much to put me at ease. But it does kind of help me to know that she isn't alone in all of this. I don't think there's much I can really do for her in terms of this."
"You've raised a fine daughter so far."
"I'm just doing what I thought was right. I taught her and raised her on my own since she was in middle school. I know it might not have been the best choice in the grand scheme of things, but after we lost her mother… I just wanted to have her close by me. I know things are only going to get harder for her from here on out. It's pretty much always an uphill battle, no matter what form it takes, and I can't say that every other parent has to deal with their little girl being a superhero or a ninja."
"I understand that sentiment much better than you realize, but the context of that is a story best saved for another time. I will not lie to you, she will have a difficult path ahead of her. As soon as one challenge is done, a new one will take its place. And she will experience failure in one capacity or another, because such a thing in life is inevitable. But one of the most important of lessons I was imparted by my own father was that wisdom comes from gaining experience, and gaining experience comes from making mistakes."
"Yeah. I've made plenty of mistakes myself over the years. But it does help me to know Gwen has people that are looking out for, helping her in ways that I can't. So please… keep looking out for her. Do for her what I can't."
"Captain… I intended to do that regardless." Splinter put a hand on George's shoulder, and the two of them exchanged a small smile.
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Meanwhile, with the main heroes…
"They've been in there awhile." Gwen looked back towards the dojo, then cast a glance over at the others "How do you think it's going over there?"
"I'm willing to bet a lot better than what's going on with the show." Leo pointed at the TV "I don't get it, how can one guy infiltrate Super Robo Mecha Headquarters so easily?"
"He shut down the defense systems with his laser tentacles, I've seen this episode 6 times so I know it by heart."
"Some kind of crappy line about anger issues, who the shell has anger issues? I don't have any anger issues, maybe they have anger issues!"
"...And now it sounds like Raph is back."
"You say that like it's a good thing." Leo muttered dryly.
"Boo freaking hoo for you man." Raph just rolled his eyes as he made his way into the Lair "You know you guys watch so much TV your brains are gonna rot."
"Good to see you too Raph. You cool off yet?"
"I'm always cool until one of you starts talking, now shut up and move over.
What none of them noticed was that Casey was hiding by the entrance, and his jaw dropped beneath his mask 'You've gotta be kidding me, there's four of them? And the freaking Spider chick too?! I'd better run back and get the big guns before I try to take them all on.' he tried to turn and run… only for the gear strapped to his back to knock over a stack of empty pizza boxes nearby, which quickly drew the attention of the Turtles and Ghost Spider (prompting her to pull down her mask before he could see her face) "Oh crap."
"For the love of shell, you again?!" Raph was quick to pounce at Casey, which provided an opportunity for Ghost Spider to hit him with a single shot of webbing, pinning him to the wall behind him "I thought I got rid of you the last time you jackass."
"I told you that you hadn't seen the last of me turtle scum, now you and your buddies get me the hell out of this stuff!"
"Yeah, let me think about that… Nope!"
"Hold on Raph, you actually know this guy?" Leo cast him a raised eyebrow, but chose to put that off for the moment as he pulled of Casey's mask, only for he and the others to yelp at the sight of the black and white stuff on his face, but then he relaxed as soon as he got a better look at him "Wait a second it's just face paint, he's just a kid."
"I'm your worst freaking nightmare you godddamn reptiles, as soon as I get out of whatever the hell this stuff is!"
"Trust me when I tell you this, I've learned plenty of times to trust my instincts. In my line of work, you'd be surprised the difference that can make." George and Splinter made their way out of the dojo… only for the former to pause when he saw Casey surrounded by Ghost Spider and the Turtles and trapped in a layer of webbing "Among other things, like one of your students showing up out of the blue dressed like something out of Nightmare Before Christmas. Alright that's enough Jones, settle down. That goes for the rest of you too."
"Wait what?" now that got a reaction out of both Casey and the Turtles "You know this guy/ You know these guys?"
"He's a student at my daughter's school. Let him go."
"R-Right. I thought he seemed familiar.' Ghost Spider grabbed hold of Casey and pulled him out of the webbing.
"There. Now then Jones, I think we have a bit of talking to do. For starters, what are you doing here?"
"Here's a better question for you Captain." Casey was quick to back away and reach a hand for one of his hocket sticks "How the hell do you know the Spider chick and these freaks?!"
"They're not freaks, they're… friends of Spider-Man and Ghost Spider. It's through the Spiders that I came to know them, and actually rely on them in a few different situations." that seemed to make Casey relax, if only slightly.
"Hold up, so you mean they're not the bad guys?"
"Far from it. Barring the Spiders, they're actually some of the finest heroes that this city has to offer these days."
"Are you serious?"
"If stopping what people are calling the Death Star incident earlier this year was anything to go by, then yes." Ghost Spider stepped in between the others "Casey Jones, allow me to introduce to you Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and I think you've already met Raphael."
this prompted all of the Turtles to wave.
"So what then, the Turtles are all Italian or something?"
"Not exactly." this was when Splinter came up to him "I named them after my favorite painters and artists from the Italian Renaissance." the only response he received was Casey screaming and fainting "Um… was it something I said?"
"To be honest, that's probably how I would've reacted the first time I saw you guys if not for all of the craziness I'd already seen beforehand." Ghost Spider knelt down in front of Casey and shook him a few times, then slapped him to wake him up "Okay, pretending that didn't happen, this is their teacher Master Splinter. He's a friend."
"You do not have to fear me my friend, rest assured I do not bite."
"He's a giant t-t-talking rat?" Casey was let jaw dropped and literally shaking.
"In a word, yes.
"Oh please." Raph let out a snort "The big bad vigilante is afraid of rats, that's just pathetic."
"Yeah, but take a look at you." Mikey held up a cockroach to Raph, prompting him to scream and subsequently retreat into his shell "Just like you and cockroaches, huh Raph?"
"Okay, all things considered this could be going a lot worst." Ghost Spider let out a small sigh of relief… but it quickly faded as a familiar sensation went off in her head "Okay, that's definitely not good."
"What's the matter?"
"Get ready you guys, we have problems. Big problems." Ghost Spider directd their attention upwards… to where a large group of Foot Bots were quickly dropping down from the ceiling with weapons drawn.
"...Aw crap. Well, might as well go all in. Booyakasha." Mikey drew his kusarigama chain, with the other Turtles drawing their own "Just gonna say it Raph, after this you definitely don't get to gripe about bringing people to the Lair anymore."
"Hey it's the kid's fault, he was the one following me!" Raph was quick to protest as the Foot Bots started attacking.
"How the hell was that my fault?!" Casey didn't waste any time as he started beating down one Foot Bot after another, with Ghost Spider, Splinter & the Turtles all doing the same, and George grabbing a nearby metal pipe to beat down one of the Foot Bots that came at him.
"You're the one that did this!"
"Hey they followed you too dude, all I did was follow the sound of a five year old screaming his head off!"
"Enough!" Splinter was quick to oneshot a number of Foot Bots with a series of quick blows, which left the Turtles in awe.
"Wow…" Casey let out a low whistle "Watch out for the quiet ones I guess."
"Stay alert, there are more of them coming." this was immediately followed by at least a dozen more Foot Bots entering the lair, one in particular scanning its surroundings.
"Oh crap, that's not good." Ghost Spider was the first to take notice of this as she used a webline to launch herself through three Foot Bots simultaneously, and then subsequently take off running from the scene at full speed "That one is trying to get a read on our location!"
"We must not allow that robot to escape."
"Way ahead of you rat man." Casey was quick to chase after the Foot Bot "Casey Jones is on the case."
"Tell Casey Jones that we don't need his help." Raph promptly shoved Casey to the side and chased after the Foot Bot himself, with Casey shoving himself to the front, and Raph then pulling out a grappling hook to grab onto the robot, only for it to pull Casey back instead.
"Hey what the hell are you doing?!"
"I should be asking you that, you're the one that got in my way!" the two of them kept bickering as they chased after the robot.
"Wow. They barely know each other for two minutes and they're already bonding. I guess one muscle bound jackass will automatically be drawn to another." Donnie ripped through several Foot Bots with his staff as he watched the two of them take off.
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Meanwhile, with the jackasses in question…
Casey and Raph continued their pursuit of the primary Foot Bot, only to find several more of them of them waiting to ambush them "Oh you've gotta be kidding me, where the hell did that thing go?"
"Less talking, more ripping these things apart!" Raph didn't waste any time in tearing into one Foot Bot after another "Let me tell you now that if that thing gets back to Karai and gives away our hideout, you're gonna be answering to Splinter!"
"You mean the giant rat? Wait hold that thought!" seeing the Foot Bot they were looking for trying to make a getaway, Casey was quick to mark it with a makeshift paint grenade using a can of spraypaint.
"How about next time you use your brain and tag the thing with a real grenade!"
"At least this way we know which one we have to turn to scrap metal first!" Casey promptly activated his makeshift roller blades and started chasing after the tagged Foot Bot "Faster dude, move that shell of yours already!"
"I say you can blow it out your hockey stick!" Raph had to chase after Casey on foot, unaware of the fact that a train was coming on the same track they were running on, until…
"Move it!" Casey yanked Raph out of the way right before they got hit by the train "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, uh… thanks. Oh crap there it is, let's go!" Raph pointed at the Foot Bot riding on top of one of the train cars, and with a newfound determination and sense of respect for each other, he and Casey traverrsed onto the roof of the train and began fighting against the Foot Bot two on one after it pulled out a series of saw blades, but this came to a quick halt when the Foot Bot dealt Casey a sharp blow to the side and nearby blew him clear off the rooftop, but fortunately this didn't pan out as Raph grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back up at the very last second "You good?"
"Yeah I'm good, thanks Raph."
"Now we're even, so let's get this piece of scrap metal."
"Right!" so Casey chased the Foot Bot into the train car through a broken window and started attacking it relentlessly as the train pulled to a stop in the subway terminal.
"Get the shell out of my way!" this was when Raph leapt into the subway car and started attacking the Foot Bot himself, eventually kicking it down a flight of stairs.
"Step aside shell hole, I can take this robot down myself!" Casey skated down the railing and pulled out a baseball bat.
Raph on the other hand leapt over the railing and hurled one of his sais at the Foot Bot, pinning it to a pillar, only for it to free itself and make a break for it "It's trying to make a break for the streets, we can't let it get away! You'd better be ready for this!" he grabbed Casey by the arm and hurled him forward.
"Trust me turtle man, Casey Jones is ready for anything!" Casey surged forward and promptly stunned the Foot Bot using his self made taser, causing it to tumble down the stairs.
This gave Raph the opportunity to stab it right between the eys with one of his sais, finally causing the robot to shut down.
"That was… a lot closer than I would've liked."
"Yeah, you tend to get used to that. You know you're a pretty good fighter Jones. I mean sure you're raw, unfocused, dangers and crazy as all hell, but you're not bad."
"Thanks for that, you know you're not so bad yourself. For an amphibian that is." the two of them clashed hands and exchanged a few fake punches, and then they started making their way back towards the lair.
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Meanwhile, back in the lair…
Leo didn't miss a beat as he cut down two Foot Bots in a series of clean strokes "How many of them are left?"
"Hold on." George managed to grab one of the knives off a downed Foot Bot and use it to cut off the head of one attempting to attack Leo from behind "So is that all of them?" it was then that the sound of stabbing drew their attention to one attempting to pounce on them from above.
As it turns out, Splinter had managed to skewer the one above them with a naginata "Yes, that is all of them. We are safe now."
"That's a relief." Ghost Spider breathed a sigh, but then paused as she cast a look around "So then what happened to Raph and Casey?"
"I mean seriously dude, the thing way we chased that thing down and the way I shocked that thing with my stunner, how kickass was that? And don't forget about the whole subway chase, that was the most kickass part." this was when Casey and Raph made their way back into the lair, only to find that the battle was over and everyone was staring at them "Hey what's up, you guys didn't bother leaving any more robots for me and Raph to take care of?"
"Okay seriously, what's up with you two?" asked Mikey "We're supposed to believe you're like best friends forever now or something?"
"Meh, what can I say? Beating the crap out of robots lets you get to know a guy. Or a turtle. Or whatever the hell the deal is."
"So apparently the two of you supposedly formed bonds of friendship while beating the ever loving crap out of each other? Yeah that sounds about right."
"So it would seem." this was when Splinter came up to the two of them, causing Casey to hide behind Raph on instinct "I see that you have found yourself a new ally Raphael."
"Yeah well, what can I say?" Raph gave a shrug "Casey is pretty cool.
"So it would seem. Thank you for helping my family in this time of need."
"Yeah, what he said."
"Not a problem rat dude." Casey gave a confident smirk "That wasn't too bad of a warmup, but now I say it's time for us to clean the scum off the streets."
"You're damn right!" and then they butted heads.
"Now let's get moving!"
"Great, just great." Donnie turned to the others as a horrible realization dawned on him "You all know what this means right? Now we have two of them!"
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Hours passed, the hype had cooled down, and the moon shown brightly over the city.
"Okay I'm just gonna say it, tonight was freaking nuts." Casey cast a glance over at Ghost Spider as the Spider Cycle came to a stop "I've already fought off robot scorpions and some kind of freaky Stormtrooper knockoffs, but giant mutant turtles? That's nuts even by my standards."
"Trust me when I say, you experience enough crazy stuff and you tend to get used to all of it after awhile." Ghost Spider breathed a sigh as she let Casey dismount the bike "But I will say that it's good to have someone else who knows about the Turtles. I've got a few people to talk to about it, but my dad is the only one who's ever actually interacted with them before."
"Wait, your dad?"
"Yeah… Truth be told I was little hesitant about this so soon, but I guess you can call it a good will gesture." Ghost Spider cast a look around and then pulled up her mask, revealing the true face of Gwen Stacy underneath "Maybe my way of saying welcome to the team."
"Hold up, Stacy?! You're the-" Casey paused and lowered his voice "You're seriously that Spider chick?"
"The term is Ghost Spider, but yeah. I have been for the past few weeks, and the Turtles and their sensei have been helping me learn how to use the new powers. Like I said, you can call this a good will gesture."
"Fair, I guess." Casey breathed a sigh as he glanced down at a manhole cover in an alleyway beneath them "I gotta admit, all this stuff is pretty mind blowing. A bunch of ninja turtles that live in a sewer with a giant talking rat, fighting an army of robot ninjas and aliens trying to mutate the planet? You can't make this stuff up."
"Tell me about it. I'm still kind of geting used to it myself. But we might as well work with what we've got, I guess. Right?" Gwen gave him a small smile, one that Casey returned, and then she cast a glance at the gear on his back "You know the guys have made a routine of scrapping some of the enemy tech they come across and using it in their own gear, and I've been working on a bit of that myself. Maybe you could too."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that you did pretty well considering your gear is self made, but if you're going to keep up with the bigger threats, you might want to get an upgrade or two. Maybe I could repurpose some of the Foot Bot scraps and make some new gear for you."
"Huh. You make an interesting case. Alright blondie, Casey Jones is intrigued. Show him what you've got and we'll work from there. In the meantime, I gotta get hom before my dad knows I snuck out. Your dad is one thing, but him finding out about aliens, ninjas and giant turtles in the sewer is probably gonna give him a stroke. Later." and so he leapt down into the alley below and took off down the street.
'Casey Jones huh? This should prove to be interesting if nothing else.' Gwen lowered her Ghost Spier mask back over face and webbed a line as she swung away into the night 'But if tonight was anything to go by, we'll probably need all the help we can get for what's to come.'
A/N:
Well here we are everybody, the last chapter of 2023, and with it we finally get to see Casey Jones become a full fledged ally of the Turtles, and pretty much the team's second Raphael. Yeah, part of me has always wondered how things would've gone down if Casey had met the Turtles during the time they were separated from April. This gives Casey a chance to bond with the Turtles without April being involved, and it gets rid of the love triangle that existed between April, Donnie and Casey, which was really the only thing about the show that I wasn't too fond of.
On another note, we finally saw the inevitable meeting between George Stacy and Master Splinter. Truth be told I struggled for awhile over where to put this in the story, but I thought it would be for the best to just do it now before we got to the really big plot points. And trust me, there's A LOT to unpack going forward.
