(The Manhattan Project)
Gamelover41592: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I know what you mean, these do take a fair bit longer than I like, but better to take longer for a good product than to get it out fast and let it suck. Plus it's better for the characters, like Eddie and April in this case.
Superjoeyf721: Yeah, I figured it was about time for April to make up with the Turtles, given everything that has to be done going forward.
Spectacular Webhead 11: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I figured it was about time for April to reunite with the group. Scarlet Spider's true identity will be revealed in time, the same with his connection to the Osborns.
Jebest4781: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Moheart7: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it, and good job catching the Owl House references too.
Guest99: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I figured April making up with the group was long overdue. However, I should point out that Spider-Man and Black Cat did more or less make up with each other back during the first season, in the chapter focusing on the Hobgoblin.
Guest: That's assuming it takes four chapters to get to that point.
Guest2: Don't worry, Spider-Man is due to return anytime now.
BetaZackFan: Great minds think alike I guess, and nice job catching the Owl House reference there.
TheIrishman1999: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it so much. Mikey referencing a meeting with Megan Fox was fun, and I'm trying to give Casey some good character development, since he never really got that much in canon. You'll see what I have planned for the Manhattan Project when the time comes, the same for Karai's arc.
Neostardustdragon101: Yep, this is one of my personal favorite episodes in canon, and I look forward to adapting it here. But we still have to get through it before Man-Spider can be found and turned back, so keep that in mind.
Godzilaboy2021: Yep, one step closer to having the whole gang back together. Now all that's left is bringing Spider-Man back into the fold, but they still have to finish the retro-mutagen before that could happen.
Guest: Yep, we finally got April back, and Peter will follow soon enough.
Frosty Wolf: Sounds like a hell of a coincidence, but a good one if you ask me. Eddie might be in for something better than you think. Martin Li from the games is one thing, but if you know about the relationship between them in the comics, you'll know I have something big planned later on. And that was a nod to Dragon Ball, but no, I didn't plan to include Timothy. Though the thought of him working at FEAST isn't a bad idea actually. And yeah, we finally got to see the debut of Ice Cream Kitty, and Venom acting like the Kool Aid Man. Also yes, I thought this would be a good chapter for Casey to get some spotlight. And now that April is back, all that's left is to find Peter and turn him back. Of course that won't be easy, and there's still a little bit to do before then.
C.S. Allen: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Good job with catching the references that I included. Things are really coming together, for better and for worse. As for the Harry thing, I'll be touching on that a bit more in due time. Just bear with me until then.
GTA Godfather: Interesting idea. It probably couldn't hurt to mention some other members of the Maggia in this universe.
Tortugafash2002: Yep, the team is finally back together (mostly), and Venom's character arc is coming along nicely, if his interactions with Scarlet Spider are anything to go by.
Anonymous: Yeah, we lost a legend way before his time.
TheIrishman1999: Interesting comparison. Personally I haven't watched Breaking Bad, but I'll take your word for it. I'll definitely keep in mind the idea with Tiger Claw and Kraven, but that's still a long way away from this point. As for Karai, you'll see.
MercWithaMouth1: Interesting idea. We'll see if that happens.
5FingerDeathFist: That's actually a really interesting idea for a What If sort of chapter. I don't think I'll do it now, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for the future.
Anonymous: I've never heard of that movie, but I'll keep it in mind.
Draco Mercer: That's an interesting take, but I'm not going to make it THAT dark. I might make a nod to it though.
Lyoko2003: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it, and nice job catching the references to Owl House. Don't worry, Peter will come back home before too long. I have to say, having Karai be mentored in a way by Black Widow is actually a pretty cool idea, and there are a fair number of similarities between them when you think about it. Also, nice reference to Hazbin Hotel. That show was awesome.
C.S. Allen: So in short, this Toshiro is an elder combat instructor and medic that acts as a sort of mentor to Karai. Interesting idea, I'll have to keep that in mind.
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Another night came, one that was filled with a sense of purpose. But at the same time, it was filled with sorrow.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised it's this hard to track them down." Ghost Spider swung her way onto a skyscraper overlooking the New York skyline, speaking into the earpiece embedded to the inside of her mask "I don't suppose you can help with that Hobie?"
"In case it slipped your notice Stacy, I do have a life to lead outside of being the occasional man behind the controversial superhero team. I'm kind of in the middle of something myself, given what happened less than two weeks ago."
"The death of Akira Toriyama, I heard."
(Make a nod to the passing of Akira Toriyama." Ghost Spider let out a sigh as she pulled off her mask, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy as she pulled out her cell phone "Believe me, I know how you feel. I think it's safe to say pretty much all of us grew up with Dragon Ball. The guys were really broken up about it too. I guess… I think just about all of us, whether we realized it or not, kind of got to the point where we never thought he would actually die. At least, not so soon anyway. Personally… I'm not really sure how to feel."
"Miserable and pissed off are the two feelings that come to mind for me, because lord knows that's how I describe most of the people I've seen since the news got out."
"Take it easy Hobie. I know how you feel, believe me, but getting worked up and throwing a fit over it isn't going to bring him back."
"Well of course I know that, but most of the other people out there don't. What the hell am I supposed to say to them?"
"Honestly? I think someone has to tell them to do the only thing they really can: Adapt to the situation. We carry ourselves like the adults, or near adults, that we are now and not give into any juvenile impulses. I think that's what Toriyama would want all of us to do, and I think it's the best way to honor his memory and what his works taught all of us. Of course we're still going to be sad, but we can't give into it. And we shouldn't."
"Yeah, that… that's actually a pretty good way to put it. Probably won't sink in for a lot of them though, at least not for awhile."
"I figured. But I don't think we have much to worry about. Whoever spearheads the future of Dragon Ball is bound to make it as good as they can, and honor Toriyama's legacy. I'm sure that in itself is what he'd want."
"Pretty well put Stacy. So, putting the death of childhoods aside, you needed my help with some other problem?"
"A pretty big one all things considered. I don't know if any of the others told you, but around Christmas Eve my Uncle Mac, you know the PI, helped me find a base that belongs to the Goblin Nation."
"So much for the holiday spirit. Find anything helpful in there?"
"I found out that their leader apparently calls himself the Goblin King, and he's been capturing all of these supervillains to recruit them into the Goblin Nation. Either willingly or by force. He's apparently crazy strong too, I saw him take down the Beetle in just two blows at most."
"Well that's ominous. So it's like he's building an army."
"He's got a whole list of supervillains too, current and former, with no telling how many he already has."
"So let me see if I've got where you're going with this. You think the Prowler is gonna be one of his targets?"
"That thought did cross my mind, so I wanted to get the warning out to you while I had the chance. The list is really extensive. They got Beetle and Snakeweed, Jackal and Mysterio, they even got Sandman at one point. Which brings me to one really uncomfortable name on the list I found… Felicia Hardy."
"...Oh god dammit. Is this gonna be some love triangle drama? Nobody wants or needs any of that crap."
"It's not that. Look I know Peter's relationship with Black Cat hasn't exactly been a bed of roses or anything, but I'm not gonna sit around and do nothing when she's out there and being hunted by an army of criminals working for a madman. Plus I talked to Daredevil, apparently she left the Defenders about two weeks ago and they haven't been able to track her down since. Based on what I know about her, she won't listen if one of them says she's in danger, but maybe if I can just talk to her girl to girl… I might be able to get through to her."
"Huh. Well hot damn, you're actually going out of your way to save your boyfriend's old love interest, even though she stole his first kiss out from under you? Not gonna lie Stacy, you're a better person than me."
"Yeah, that uh… I had kind of forgotten about that for a minute." Gwen gritted her teeth as she pulled her Ghost Spider mask back down over her face "Anyway… I said I'd take point on this, if maybe you could give me some sort of idea of where she might be hiding out?"
"I've got a few ideas, but take the info with a grain of salt. She's slippery and secretive, even I only know so much. And listen Stacy, me running my mouth aside, just be sure to keep your head clear on this, alright?"
"I know."
"Cool. Anyway, I've got a fair idea on where you can start looking. I've got a few locations for some of her safehouses. I'm texting the first address, head over there when you can alright?"
"Sounds like a plan."
And listen, don't worry about Parker. I know he can get kind of… put off by Felicia. Mostly due to her constantly oozing sultry sex appeal, but we know Watson so we should probably be used to that by now. But in all seriousness, I know you guys are gonna find him and turn him back to normal, and if you need any help with that, just give me a shout, okay?"
"Okay."
"Thanks Hobie."
"No problem. Later Ghost Spider." and then the call cut off.
"Well, time to do my thing I guess." Ghost Spider steeled herself and webbed a line as she began swinging across the skyline of New York City, until her ear piece began ringing again, prompting her to answer it "Mikey?"
"Hey Gwen, just heard from Daredevil. You're out looking for Black Cat?"
"Yeah, Hobie just sent me a few addresses to her safehouses. I'm heading for the first one as we speak."
"Gotcha. Me and the guys are out on a training exercise, maybe see if we can pick up a canister or two if we find any. But be real with me… You gonna be alright doing this? The whole thing with Black Cat is… well you know."
"Yeah, I know. But I'm a big girl and she might be in danger, I'm not gonna let any grudges get in the way of helping her if I can. The only other thing I really have to worry about it is going back to school, the last semester before graduation. But I have other things to worry about now, so I'm gonna put that on hold for the time being. Work life balance, right?"
"Yep, gotta make time to be you without the mask. Plus you got me and the guys to help you out if you need it. Pete had a lot of trouble with it too, before… you know."
"I know, believe me. As far as I've heard, it's been a struggle to make sure that he can make up the school stuff he's missing now. May can be persuasive, but even she can only do so much for so long. He's already missed about two months, too much longer and they might say he's ineligible for graduation. And truth be told, I've kind of been slipping too… Between all of the new Ghost Spider stuff and what happened to Peter… it's been hard to focus."
"I gotcha, trust me. But you can't let it eat you up inside Gwen, just… try and focus on what you have going on now. We're in this together, and that's how we're gonna find Pete and turn him back."
"Yeah, I… I know. It's just… a lot of weight to carry, not just physically. How did Pete manage to do this alone for so long?"
"It definitely took a toll on the poor guy, in a bunch of different ways. I think the big thing to keep in mind is that you aren't alone in this. To be honest, I'm still kind of trying to figure out the whole Turtle Titan thing myself, and my ninja mojo. Just… one thing at a time I guess. We're gonna figure it all out, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks for the talk Mikey."
"Sure thing. And piece of advice, take care with the Cat. She's got a good heart, I can tell, but she's pretty slippery and knows how to play people. Tell her about the Goblin Nation yeah, but maybe get her out of the city or something."
"I know. Based on her background and history with Pete, I don't think she's that trustworthy in the grand scheme of things. I'll be careful, don't worry. We'll talk later." Ghost Spider promptly hung up, then paused as she landed on top of a particular balcony to a rooftop penthouse, only to find the outside area reduced to a wreck "Oh man…" and then her ear piece began ringing once again "Hobie?"
"You at her penthouse?"
"I just got here, and the place looks like it was ransacked. Maybe this is a chance to use the AR app that Donnie and I uploaded onto my phone." she pulled out her cell phone and used it to scan the deck, until she came across a set of claw marks on a damaged table 'Scratch marks? That looks bad.'
"Any sign of her so far?"
"I found a set of scratch marks with traces of metal. I'm gonna check it to see if it matches the info we have on her claws."
"You can do that there?"
"Another app we developed for my phone, I just have to isolate the molecular components of the metal filings I found." she proceeded to do just that on her phone until a match came up "Okay, I'm finding traces of titanium and cobalt, with traces of tungsten. It's a match."
"Nice, now all the people who says that science isn't fun can shove it."
"I know right? Anyway it's her, and I'm picking up a set of scuff marks on the ground. Seems like she was in a hurry." she followed the scuff marks on the ground until she reached a box embedded in the far wall "She grabbed something from this box here, some kind of emergency stash box by the look of it."
"Any sign of the Goblin Nation?"
"Hold on." Ghost Spider paused and checked around the wall, finding a sizable amount of damage across it "Structural damage, bullet holes and spear damage by the look of it. They were here. They tried to hit her with a surprise attack, but she was on the run."
"So they're already onto her. There isn't much that can make Black Cat squirm and run away like that. If these guys weren't the real deal before, they sure as hell are now. Be sure to keep me posted."
"Right." Ghost Spider prepared to hang up, only for her Spider Sense to go off a split second before a large explosion went off in the distance, resulting in a large ball of flames, to which she immediately leapt off the building and began webslinging towards the source "Well I think it's safe to say this just hit the fan pretty hard and fast."
"You mean the big ass bang I just heard from home?"
"It was an explosion, it has to be her. I just hope I'm not too late."
"You and me both. I know damn well what she's capable of, but everything you and the Turtles have seen from the Goblin Nation so far has me pretty worried. Still I gotta give it to you, it takes a lot of character to go this far for your boyfriend's old flame."
"Hate to be that girl Hobie, but you're kind of pushing the wrong button no." she leapt onto the rooftop of the skyscraper in question, finding the rooftop penthouse on fire but nobody else in sight "Looks like I just missed them."
"Did they leave any sign of where they went?"
"That's what I'm about to try and find out." Ghost Spider wandered around the outer deck of the penthouse, and quickly found another stash box in the wall "Looks like another stash box, but this one hasn't been opened yet. She was willing to put herself at risk to get to this on, which means whatever's inside must be important."
"Is this the penthouse in Greenwich?"
"Yeah I think so, why?"
"Just trying to confirm a hunch. Try a shot of that Electric Webbing that Parker told me about, that might be able to byass the circuit."
"I'm on it." Ghost Spider quickly shot at the electrical node attached to the box with a shot of electric webbing, resulting in a quick surge, followed by the box opening, allowing her to pull out two pictures "Okay, this feels more like some twisted murder mystery game."
"What did you find in there?"
"A postcard with a picture of the Eiffel Tower on it, with some writing on it."
"Any chance you took French?"
"Spanish actually."
"Had to try. Alright, what have you got?"
"Let me just send it to you." she took a picture of the card, then turned to the other item, that being a book "And now things are getting even weirder. There's an instruction manual in here for something called… the Wand of Watoomb?"
"Okay, that's a new one. Give me a second and I'll let you know what Wikipedia can offer. Take it with a grain of salt though."
"Got it." Ghost Spider tucked away the manual, only to immediately duck when she noticed a familiar chopper flying overhead "Another chopper from the Goblin Nation. Wherever they're heading, I'd better check and see what they're up to." so she latched onto the chopper with a webline and hung on tight as it ventured towards its destination "Anything Hobie?"
"Not on Wikipedia, but other sources were a lot more helpful. According to a translation of the Mystic Arcana, whatever the hell that is, that wand is old. As in BC old. Word that goes with it is that whoever gets their hands on that thing will have the power to create portals to any place they can think of."
"Like magic?"
"I take it with that old saying, magic is just science we don't understand yet. But I know Felicia, and if she gets her hands on something like that… Aw crap, this one is gonna be bad."
"I don't know, I can think of a few uses for it."
"If it comes to that, but for now I say stay on task."
"I know, it's just- Wait hold on." she released her hold on the chopper as it began to descend, and she landed on top of a water tower.
"We're already in position sir." as it turns out, a few pumpkin soldiers were stationed on the rooftop overlooking a certain building across the street, rifles and missile launchers ready "The second she comes out of there, she's as good as ours."
'She's definitely inside that building, and they're trying to ambush her. Not when I'm here to do something about it.' with that in mind, Ghost Spider quickly pounced on the soldier below her, knocking him out with a single strike, before taking out the one across the rooftop by yanking him to the ground with a webline and using a shot of webbing to pin him down, during which she noticed a light glowing within the skylight of the other building "Okay, whatever the Wand of Watoomb does, it does it brightly. Either Black Cat is putting on a magic show in there, or there's a hell of a rave that I'm missing out on. Now that I think about it, I have heard a few rumors about weird things going on in this building… I guess some rumors do pan out after all."
"Here's hoping it doesn't nuke us all when we're asleep. Anyway I translated that post card you showed me, short version it means: My reason for living. Time is short."
"A new partner maybe? Now that I think about it, I did see her a few times with that visiting scientist at ESU, Dr Michael Morbius."
"That might be it, but she's a wild card so you never know."
"I think I'm about to find out. I'm gonna head inside that building and see what the heck is going on in there." Ghost Spider prepared to launch herself from the rooftop and towards the building in question… only to immediately freeze when she saw a portal open up on the skylight of the building "Okay, what?"
"That was surprisingly easy." from the portal emerged none other than Black Cat, with the Wand of Watoomb in hand, and she gave a smirk once her gaze fell on Ghost Spider "Well, what do you know?"
"Not going to lie… that's a first."
"Let me guess, the little Spider has a new lady friend and she wants to play? Well in that case, I say game on." she held out the wand and let a few magic sparks fly… only for nothing else to happen, so she waved it again, and a portal appeared, which she promptly leapt through, coming out through another portal a short distance away and repeating this process.
"Game on huh? Well in that case, it's my turn!" Ghost Spider wasted no time in swinging after her, tapping her ear piece as she did so "Okay so she got her claws on the wand, and apparently magic is very real."
"Again with the quote by Arthur C Clarke. But seriously, what the hell is going on?"
"She's portaling all over the place like something out of Black Clover! Cat hold up a second, I just want to talk!"
"Take my advice girlfriend, back the hell off while you still can." the voice of Black Cat came through the ear piece as she popped out of one portal and into another "I've got no problem with using this thing to send you all the way to Madripoor."
"What the- How did you get on our comms?"
"You're using the same channel as the Spider and his turtle buddies, a freaking monkey could crack that. I figured you'd have better things to do right now, like dealing with another alien invasion by the freaky pink blobs with the Stormtrooper bodies."
"Yeah they're working on that, but seriously Felicia you gotta cool it." Hobie's voice came through the comm "This is reckless and batshit crazy, even by your standards."
"Hobie, figures you'd be a part of this somehow. How are things with Angela?"
"Can we not talk about his dating life right now?" Ghost Spider launched herself forward to try and grab Black Cat, only to end up flying through a portal and being forced to maneuver her way through a helicopter in mid-air as she continued chasing after Black Cat, only for her to end up blitzing through multiple portals "Would you give it a rest? I'm trying to help you!"
"I don't need any help from you or the Spider, or any other My Hero Academia rejects trying to play hero."
"Do you even know what you could do with that wand? How do I know you're not gonna use it to steal more jewels or other priceless artifacts?"
"Well you know what they say about assuming girlfrien, in this case it just makes an ass out of you."
"Give me a minute, I might be able to fix that!" Ghost Spider launched herself through another portal, taking them into an empty office building… just as a train car came crashing through the portal in front of them "What the fu- That could've killed someone!"
"You don't see anyone in here do you? Then quit whining!"
"That's not the point!" she leapt through another portal, taking the chase back outside until a certain chopper came hovering onto the scene above them "Be careful, looks like the Goblin Nation is taking another shot at you!"
"Well what do you know, they must really like me."
"Not the way I'd describe it." Ghost Spider let out a sigh as she tried to calm herself "Look, the two of us can end this tonight. These guys may be trying to kill, capture or conscript you, but we can stop them."
"Steal your own magic wand girly, this one is mine!"
"Would you just-" Ghost Spider didn't get the chance to finish before she fell through another portal… leading to an area surrounded by icebergs and ocean "Is… Is this the Artcitc?"
"Didn't see that one coming did you? To be totally honest, I didn't either, so… Yeah. Like it any better than the Big Apple?"
"If nothing else, I'll never complain about Winter in New York after this again." the two of them rushed through another portal, continuing their chase until they reached Washington Square Park, where Ghost Spider managed to latch onto Black Cat with a webline, bringing them both to a stop atop the arch "But think about what we could do with that wand! We could use it to find the leader of the Goblin Nation, or… to find Spider-Man and help him."
"This was never about this Goblin King, or anything else… This is a lot more important. At least to me." Black Cat cut the webline with her claws and used the wand to conjure another portal that sent her right into the Goblin Nation's helicopter, knocking out the pumpkin soldier next to her with a swift backhand to the face, and then made quick work of the remaining soldiers, before exiting the helicopter via another portal and leaving it to crash to the ground and explode on impact "Huh. Well that was fun."
"Not the word I'd use for it." Ghost Spider leapt to the ground in front of her and shot her a hardened glare "Why won't you help us to stop these guys?"
"You're a Spider like the main one, and I know what your MO is by this point. You guys have saved the city a bunch of times, hell you've even saved the world by this point, and there's no reason why you can't do it again."
"You know a lot of people have told me that you're not as bad as you like to let people think. I know you helped rescue Spider-Man and defeat the Hobgoblin before. But apparently you like to look out for yourself more than anyone else. If I'm wrong, then prove it to me now."
"...Great, again with infecting me with the conscience." Black Cat gave a scowl, but then she let out a sigh as her face fell "Look here's the thing sister, not that it's any of your business but… I know how guys like these think. They don't just want me for my skills, they want my… well I don't know if I'd say boyfriend, but they want him for his mind and his own skills. They tried to get to him before they went after me. I was lucky enough to call in a few favors and get him out of the country before that could happen. Michael is in Paris now… but they're gonna try and go after him again, I know it." her gaze hardened again as she locked eyes with Ghost Spider "So tell me something Ghosty, you ever done something for love? He needs me, and I'm getting to him one way or another. The only problem is figuring out how the hell to go more than 10 feet with this stupid glow stick."
"You know… I've heard a lot of conflicting things about you. Even one of the Turtles, the one that's usually the first to give people chances, is pretty cautious about you."
"The main Spider's new besty right, with the stupid look and the nunchucks? He's smarter than he looks, I'll give him that. But sometimes you gotta make your own choices. I bet the others on the Defenders got that, probably why they haven't tried dragging me back to then.
"Cat… Feli-" Ghost Spider was cut short by her Spider Sense going off, throwing herself and Black Cat to the ground just in time to avoid a missile that flew over their heads, and she looked up to see a group of pumpkin soldiers armed with rockey launchers and rifles climbing out of the wreckage of the helicopter "I guess girl talk is gonna have to wait for now."
"There's the Cat, remember that the Boss wants her alive!" the soldiers prepared to fire at the two of them again.
"Let me think about that… Nope!" Black Cat leapt through another portal in time to avoid a round of gunfire "Behind you by the way!"
"I noticed!" Ghost Spider whipped around and latched onto the thug behind her with a webline before he could shoot at her with a rifle, yanking him to the ground and pinning him there with another shot of webbing "You should go and portal out of here, I can handle this!"
"Don't you think I would if I could? The manual on this thing wasn't exactly clear!"
"From what I've noticed, you do seem to be getting better at it since this little chase of ours first started."
"Not better enough!"
"Well we have to figure it out and we will, together."
"Huh. Determined and plucky. I guess the OG Spider's got a type." Black Cat leapt through a portal and landed on a pumpkin soldier's face hard enough to knock him out cold, then leaopt off of Ghost Spider's back into another portal "Seems like you're the real deal then. Works for me, so show me what you've got with these guys."
"Working on it now!" Ghost Spider ducked under another barrage of gunfire and let loose a few shots of Impact Webbing, pinning them to walls and the ground in a matter of seconds "They're persistent, I have to give them that much."
"Just look alive, there's more of them on the roof!"
"I see them!" Ghost Spider prepared to leap onto the roof of a nearby building to confront the next group of pumpkin soldiers, only to stop in her tracks as the ground beneath her began to shake violently 'What the- Is this is an earthquake, in New York? That shouldn't be possible, how did they-'
"Heads up Ghosty!" Black Cat tackled Ghost Spider through a portal just as a water tower fell off the roof of a building at the edge of the park, sending it crashing down onto the battlefield, leaving it to shatter into pieces on impact and the scattered debris to hit a number of the pumpkin soldiers "Well that happened."
"No kiding." Ghost Spider watched as the remaining pumpkin soldiers (Aka the ones not totally crushed under the rubble) picked themselves up and began brandishing knives in place of their destroyed rocket launchers "These guys are definitely persistent. The Goblin King must really want to get his hands on you."
"Yeah well too bad for him, I'm not available. If they wanna get their hands on me then they'll have to kill me first."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not have it come to that." with that said, Black Cat leapt through another portal and proceeded to use her claws to cut through the weapons of the pumpkin soldiers in front of her, only to find one of the remaining soldiers pointing a rifle directly at the back of her head "Well shit… I guess you got me on my last life here."
"In that case, here's a bonus life for you!" Ghost Spider dealt the soldier a roundhouse kick to the face hard enough to send him hurtling backwards a sizable distance "We're getting you to Paris, your friend needs you."
"Huh. So you really are a real deal Spider after all." Black Cat took a quick glance around to make sure all of the soldiers were taken care of, then turned back to Ghost Spider as she held out the Wand of Watoomb "Alright, assuming the only part of the manual I could understand is actually true, we have to focus. Think of the Eiffel Tower."
"Right. Eiffel Tower…" Ghost Spider gripped the wand with one hand, and a moment later a large portal appeared, with the Eiffel Tower visible on the other side "Huh… I feel like this is the part where I'm supposed to make a quip about the power of love or something."
"Save it for the Saturday morning cartoons." Black Cat rolled her eyes as she leapt through the portal, and once on the other side she cast a look back at Ghost Spider and gave her a small but genuine smile "Give my regards to the Spider once you find him. And as for you… Thank you for this. I mean it." and then the portal closed.
"Au revoir Felicia… and give Dr Morbius my regards." Ghost Spider gave a small smile under her mask, but then her gaze trailed down towards the Wand of Watoomb as she leapt onto a nearby rooftop 'If you just have to think about where you want to go… I wonder, does that mean I could…? I guess there's only one way to find out. Show me Peter Parker." there was a flash of light… and then she looked down to find the Wand of Watoomb was gone "What the-"
Then there was another flash, and then a note appeared in her hand, which read: "Sorry to dump that on you. Just got back from Nepal. The Doctor and I owe you one- Wong."
"...Okay, well so much for that." Ghost Spider let out a sigh as she watched the note disappear, but then her gaze trailed down to the ground below her 'Tonight has been an entirely new level of crazy. Magic wands and portals portals, saving the girl that stole my boyfriend's first kiss. I'm probably going to try and block that one out… but then that localised quake. Where the heck did that come from?' her musings were cut short by the sound of her phone ringing, to which she tapped her ear piece "Hey Mikey."
"Gwen hey, wanted to check in. Me and the guys got ambushed by the Foot when that freaky earthquake hit. You okay on your end? You find Black Cat?"
"I'm fine don't worry, and Black Cat is safe. For now at least. She says hi by the way. I think we've got a few things to talk about. I'll meet you guys at the Lair in a little bit."
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A little while later, in the Lair…
"Scientists are referring to them as micro-quakes, but they shake so hard that this reporter's beloved hair was badly messed up. No need to be concerned, as of now I'm being treated by my personal stylist."
"Truth be told, his hair wasn't really on my list of concerns." Ghost Spider glanced over at the others as she pulled off her mask, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy underneath "But if nothing else, it confirms we're not the only ones who felt that earlier."
"No kidding, earthquakes in Manhattan of all places? Something is definitely up." Raph frowned in thought, then cast a glance over at Gwen "But seriously, you go after Black Cat and she's got freaking magic now?"
"Only because of something called the Wand of Watoomb that she stole from some mysterious building in Greenwich."
"Back up, what was that last part?" this was when Wolverine made his way out of the kitchen with a slice of pizza in hand "Wand of Watoomb huh? This happen from a freaky building over on Blecker Street in Greenwich?"
"Yeah, why?" Gwen was subsequently met with a loud snort.
"You gotta be freaking kidding me. She really went after his stuff?"
"You know what that is?"
"Freaky magic stuff is as far as I understand it, but I know the guys who live there. I heard this cat chick was ballsy, but I didn't think she was that stupid."
"She's not stupid, but she was pretty desperate. That can do things to you, and I'd know. I've seen it happen to at least a few people." Gwen cast a glance over to see Leo making his way into the dojo "Speaking of which, I… have something that I need to go and check on." and so she quickly rushed off after him.
"Right, teenage drama. Glad I don't have to deal with that crap." Wolverine rolled his eyes as he and Raph shared a quick fist bump.
"Hey guys, you'd better check this out!" the voice of Donnie drew the three of them to make their way into the lab, where they found him typing away at his computer "I've been graphing the epicenters of the earthquakes, and it turns out they're happening in a pattern that isn't at all random."
"Not one of the science guys brainiac, dumb it down to normal speak."
"I'm getting to the point. I got weird readings under the epicenter, so I think some sort of tech is being used to cause the quakes."
"Any ideas who's causing it then? It ain't a secret that a lot of guys out there could screw around with earthquakes all they want."
"True, but if our history is any indication, I think it's a safe bet to say that the Kraang are the most likely ones." Donnie frowned in thought "But for what purpose?"
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Meanwhile, with the wayward members of the group…
"So yeah, Black Cat is safe and out of the picture, at least for the time being." Gwen cast a look over towards Leo as the two of them made their way towards the dojo, only for the former to see the latter stop at the entryway "But I'm guessing that things didn't go as smoothly for you as it did for me tonight?"
"That's… one way to put it at least." Leo breathed a long sigh as he slowly made his way into the dojo and knelt down next to where Splinter was meditating, with Gwen doing the same "We got ambushed by the Foot Clan earlier tonight, and I ended up fighting Karai… and I tried to tell her the truth. That Splinter is her father. I thought that if she knew, then it might convince her to come over to our side.
"...I see." Splinter's eyes snapped open as he pulled himself to his feet "There is a saying that I know of: He who runs his mouth gets a face full of nunchaku."
"They actually say that in Japan?"
"They would if you were there." Splinter paused and breathed a small sigh "Still, your heart was in the right place, I know this well."
"I hate to say it, but…" Gwen paused for a moment and glanced up at Splinter "Whether you think it's the right call to tell her the truth right now, I think you should at least tell the rest of the Turtles. They're as involved in this as you are."
"...Perhaps you are right my dear. Please call them in here, we have much to discuss."
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A few moments later…
"Thank you for coming my sons, and my friends." Splinter looked down to where Gwen and the Turtles were kneeling in front of him, then to where Logan stood off to the side leaning against the wall "This is… difficult for me to tell you, to say the least… But I believe the time has come for all of you to know the truth."
"The truth about what sensei?" asked Mikey.
"You all know of the child I lost in the fire, my daughter Miwa… at least, that is what I was led to believe for many years… But the truth is that child… is Karai. Fury became flame that night, and that flame darkened the world with smoke… It was in that darkness that the Shredder had stolen Miwa away from me. I thought for so long that she had perished, but in reality she was raised by the Shredder as his daughter, and trained as a deadly assassin for the Foot."
"You… You're screwing with us right?" Raph was the first one to regain his voice "This is some kind of seriously screwed up joke, right sensei?"
"I am afraid not Raphael… this is the truth."
"Well… she's still our enemy, she was raised by the freaking Shredder. How the shell should we ever be able to trust her."
"I am aware of this my son, all too well." Splinter's face fell as he walked over to the dojo shrine and picked up the portrait of his family "But there is good in her. I know this. The truth must be told… and it too will be an earthquake."
"That's one way to put it."
"I think sensei is right guys." Mikey glanced over at the other Turtles "She ain't the nicest, but she isn't all bad or anything. Don't forget that when she found out Peter's secret, she kept it from Shredder and the rest of the Foot… even after we kinda stabbed her in the back. Maybe she can come over to our side after all, even if she and Leo have this freaky Skywalker thing going on between them."
"Exactly, maybe she- Wait, what?" Leo shot a glance over at Mikey "Skywalker thing, what the shell is that supposed to mean?"
"Think about it. Karai's really sensei's daughter, so she's like our big sister right?"
"Technically our adoptive half-sister, but yes." was Donnie's sister.
"Either way, that kinda means… Leo has the hots for our sister."
"Hang on a second Mikey, it's not like that!" Leo was quick to protest.
"It kinda is, like with Luke and Leia and all that in Return of the Jedi. Dude we all know you had a thing for her when you met her and…" Mikey paused as his skin turned a more sickly shade of green "Oh boy…"
"Wait wait, no no no! It's not like that!"
"Oh for crying out loud, now I got mental pictures…" Raph was left clutching his head in clear disgust "Mikey figuring stuff out is freaky enough on its own, why the shell did he have to put that in my head!"
"Come on Raph, not you too!"
"Well it could've been a lot worse all things considered." Donnie noted "At least nothing had actually happened between the two of you."
"No it's not- Okay, someone kill me now. Logan you have those claws in your hands, any chance you could-"
"Forget it, you're on your own Skywalker." Logan gave a simple wave back as he turned on his heel and walked out of the dojo.
"Can… Can we please just drop this?"
"I think that's enough of that for now. Come on, let's go get you some air." Gwen wrappd one of her arms around Leo's shoulder and guided him out of the dojo.
"Thanks for the save Gwen, that was…" Leo breathed a sigh of relief "It was a lot, to put it really mildly."
"Don't worry about it…" Gwen paused, then shot him a mischevious grin "Skywalker."
"Oh come on!"
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Meanwhile, with the aforementioned wayward daughter…
"Okay, this is getting annoying." Karai cast a glance over at Razhar, Fishface and Stockman as the four of them waited in the throne room for Shredder to return "Father should've been back from Japan with these new little secret weapons of his hours ago. I don't suppose any of you know more details about them than me?"
"I've heard my fair share of rumors." Fishface gave a smirk "Word is that at least one of them is a new mutant: part woman and part tuna, but all lover for yours truly."
"I hope not, I'm actually allergic to fish." Stockman muttered, only to recoil visibly at the glare that Fishface sent his way "Nothing personal Xever."
"It had better not be whelp. Go ahead and give me a reason."
"How about I give you a reason to shut your fish hole." Karai shot an annoyed glare at Fishface, then turned to Razhar "I don't suppose you've heard anything?"
"I only know a few details." Razhar frowned in thought "One of them is a deadly assassin that the Kraang turned into a mutant when he was a kid decades ago. The other one is an old friend of Master Shredder from before you were born."
"Other one?" Karai didn't receive an answer before the doors were flung open and a group of Foot Bots, bowing and standing at attention as Shredder himself entered, prompting her and the others to do the same "Father."
"Master Shredder." Razhar bowed his head.
"...You look terrible Bradford." Shredder shot an unimpressed glance at Razhar as he continued on his way.
"I told you he'd noticed." Karai shot a suble smirk at Razhar, causing him to growl and hand her a few bills.
"I have returned." Shredder drew the attention of everyone present to him as he sat down on his throne "And I bring with me our two newest assets, which will aid us in turning the tide of our war against Splinter and the Turtles. The first of which is revered as the most feared assassin in all of Asia. Tiger Claw."
There was a pause, and then a second figure entered the room, in the form of a large humanoid tiger with a patch over one eye, one of his ears torn slightly, and a blaster on a holster around his waist, and he stopped as he reached the end of the room and promptly got down on one knee in front of Shredder "Master Shredder."
"And for our other newest member, from our allies within the Yakuza. Kenuichio Harada. He may be known to some of you as… the Silver Samurai."
Sure enough, it was at that moment that another figure made his way into the room, clad fully in silver-colored armor with a katana at his waist "So this is the Foot Clan. Intriguing."
"Seriously?" Karai didn't waste any time in voicing her opinion of the new arrivals "These are your new secret weapon father, another couple of freaks?"
"This is the Foot Clan we were promised? Intriguing is not the word I prefer." Tiger Claw cast an unimpressed glance back at, then turned to Shredder "I must say Master Shredder, based on what I have seen so far, I am disappointed to say the least." and then he pulled his blaster out from its holster and pointed it at Karai the very second she drew her own sword "You would be wise not to test me child."
"Very few have accused her of being wise." Fishface was quick to jump in and start sucking up, at least to Tiger Claw "I on the other hand honor you great Tiger Claw. May I offer you any sort of refreshments?"
"...Milk. Skim." and that was enough to send Xever on his way.
"How very animalistic of you." Harada shot a smirk at Tiger Claw, which only grew when his gaze trailed down to the stump where his tail was supposed to be "Though that does lose a bit of its meaning when one sees you missing an appendage."
"You would be wise not to mock me Harada. It was a rival that was responsible for slicing off my tail many years ago. The day will come where I will find him, and then I will ensure that he pays the price." Tiger Claw's gaze hardened at the memory… but it quickly melted away as he began licking the milk out of a glass that Xever handed to him
"Quite the bold claim." Karai gave a smirk of her own "But if you find it hard enough to keep your own tail on your-"
"Silence, both of you." Shredder was quick to shut them up "Tiger Claw will be treated with the utmost respect. Such is only fitting, given that he is my new second in command."
"What? I've earned that job in my own right, not some oversized cat in a scarf and Samurai Champloo reject!"
"And you lost that privilege when you defied my orders not to attack the Turtles when I was away." that was enough to shut her up, and so Shredder continued "Tiger Claw, take my daughter with you to capture Splinter and his Turtles. Karai, you will not disobey him."
"...Understood father." Karai bowed her head slightly, only to scowl when she noticed the smirk that Tiger Claw was sending her way.
"Harada, you will accompany them as well, in the event that any of their more formidable allies attempt to intervene."
"Consider it done." the Silver Samurai gave a smirk as he placed his helmet on his head, but then stopped and cast a hardened gaze over at Shredder "Just remember to uphold your end of our agreement: I will aid you in waging your war against the ones you detest. But in return, when that filthy gaijin animal reveals himself, it will be my blade and mine alone that goes through his throat."
"So long as you honor your end of our agreement, I will honor mine."
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Meanwhile, with the other plot…
"Sounds like that was a pretty eventful night for you." Ashley cast a glance over at Eddie as the two of them made their way along the sidewalks of New York City "But if you ran into this person on New Year's Eve, how come you waited almost a full week to tell me?"
"Would you believe it was because I didn't want to ruin New Year's by talking about any of my emotional baggage?" Eddie cast a hopeful glance at Ashley, only to falter at the unconvinced look she was sending his way, to which he let out a sigh "Okay fine… I could give this whole spiel about one stupid reason or another, but truth be told… He kinda said a few things that got to me, poked at a few insecurities. About me trying to do some good and… about you."
"Oh…" Ashley's gaze softened slightly "You know I won't force you to talk about it if you don't feel ready."
"No it's… it's okay. This guy I ran into… he reminded me so much of Pete. He looked like him, talked like him, acted like him… There was a part of me that wanted to talk it all out on him. All of my anger, the sadness I felt… the hate… But I couldn't. It feels like the first time in ages where I could be around anything that reminded me of Pete and not wanna tear out his kidneys or something."
"That means you're going in the right direction. And don't forget, forgiveness is the first step that you have to take to begin healing."
"Yeah… forgiveness…" Eddie stopped walking and glanced up at the night sky, something that didn't go unnoticed by Ashley "Assuming that could even go…"
"Eddie?"
"You know Pete and I have bad shit we gotta work through, and even if we do I'm not really sure forgiveness is on the table… For him or for me… If we can ever go back to the way things were before all of this started… or if I even want to."
"Maybe you can. Maybe not. I think that's a choice you have to make on your own." Ashley then gently gripped one of Eddie's hands and used her other one to cup his cheek "But before any of that, maybe the one you need to forgive first… is yourself."
"Forgive myself…?" Eddie paused and looked down at his hands, gripping them tightly to the point "I don't know…"
"Eddie?"
"Sorry, it's just… I kinda leapt into this whole thing with the Kraang, and I've been so busy with all of that lately that I guess… I never got to really process how bad some of the stuff I did really was."
"The Symbiote is-"
"It didn't make me do anything. It might have pushed a lot of bad stuff to the surface, but what I got is there. How do I know my sins aren't gonna just catch up to me when I least expect it?" he was immediately enveloped in a tight hug by Ashley.
"What can I do to help put your mind at ease?"
"That's just it… You can do a lot of things Ashley, but that isn't one of them. I spent so long trying to bury those feelings, to do right by the people I care about… But I guess at some point along the way, that got shoved to the side."
"You can't change the past Eddie, but you can change your future. It's not who we used to be that matters. What really truly matters, is who we are in the here and now."
Eddie didn't respond for a few moments. Eventually he managed to open his mouth to say something, but it died in his throat as a familiar sound drew his attention "You gotta be kidding me."
"What is it?"
"Stay back, I heard something." Eddie poked his head around a corner, and glanced into an alley to see a line of Kraangdroids marching into a familiar purple doorway "Typical, of course they show up now. There's so many of them too."
"Those are the creatures you told me about right? The ones inside the human figures that attacked you before?"
"With the Jackal yeah, the robot bodies with the little brains inside of them. The same freaky doorway he used to get away last time too I don't know what they're doing, but I'm gonna find out. Wait here." so with that said, Eddie snuck his way into the alley and used a black tendril to pull back the last one in the line before it could get through, quickly ripping it in half and hurling the Kraang inside into a nearby dumpster "Well that was surprisingly easy… He says right before something bad is bound to happen."
"So this is what they were using." Ashley made her way over to the doorway and pushed the button at the top of it, causing the doorway to disappear and the small metal devic from the top of it to clatter to the ground.
"I thought I said to wait out there."
"Remember that I always listen to my patients, but I don't take orders. Besides, I think it already yielded a few results." Ashley handed the device to Eddie "The only question is, where do we go to find out more about this? You mentioned being close to Dr Connors' family."
"Yeah, but they've got enough on their plate as it is. Not sure how this is gonna go over, but I've got an idea of where we can take it." Eddie pulled his cell phone out of the black mass on his chest and dialed a number "Hey Gwen, yeah it's me. Listen, I know your Turtle buddies aren't thrilled about the idea of me knowing where they live, but I don't think we can screw around on that front anymore. I just found something Kraang-related that I think all of us are gonna want to take a look at."
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A little while later, in the Lair…
"So based on what I saw Ashley do earlier, all we have to do is press the button and then stuff happens, like this." once inside Donnie's lab, Eddie pushed the button on the device, causing it to hover into the air, and a triangular portal door opened up beneath it "And apparently a portal on the go. It explains how the Jackal was able to make such quick use of something like that."
"Wow, they managed to make it portal." Donnie and the rest of the group (the Turtles, Ghost Spider, April and Casey) were left looking on in awe at the sight "The Kraang always manage to stay one step ahead."
"It definitely adds to the whole idea that the Goblin Nation and the Kraang are working together too."
"But it raises another question I have in mind: Is this what's been causing the earthquakes over the last few days? We might have to run some tests on it."
"I'm not so sure about that." Leo muttered "Seriously Donnie, do you think that's a good idea with something like this?"
"What other choice do we have? We have to learn more about it somehow."
"I'm with Donnie on this one, and if you guys are gonna be freaking turtles about it then I'm going in." Casey pulled down his skull mask and prepared to jump into the portal.
"What are you crazy?" Raph was quick to pull him back before he could jump in "No scratch that, you're out of your freaking gourd right now if you think we're letting you jump in there first."
"So what the hell do you wanna do?"
"What do you think? I'm going first." Raph promptly leapt into the portal head first.
"Oh that is such a dick move!" Casey wasted no time in leaping in after him, with both Donnie and April chasing after him.
"You know the crazy thing is, this isn't the first time in the past 24 hours that I've seen crazy portals popping up from god knows where." Gwen shared a look with Eddie as she pulled her Ghost Spider mask down, and the two of them leapt in.
"Hold up guys, we ain't gonna let you go in alone." Mikey took a breath and leapt into the portal next, with Leo following close behind him.
What none of them knew however, was that after they went in, another earthquake struck, with a piece of stray rubble hitting the device, causing the portal to close and leaving it to clatter to the ground.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the portal…
"Woah…" Mikey and the rest looked around once they reached the other end of the portal, in which they found the area lined with several other gateways on each side, and then he cast a look down "Okay just gonna throw this out there, anyone else see we're literally walking on air like they do in Bleach?"
"Must have something to do with the dimensional travel." Donnie cast his own look around the area in awe "I mean look at this… it's like the Grand Central Station of dimensional travel. I've never even dreamt like this."
"I'd admire it more if it didn't pose a big problem for us." Ghost Spider frowned in thought "The Kraang must be using it as a gateway between their dimension and ours."
"So then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Casey glanced back to see the portal they came through close, leaving nothing behind "Besides freak out about that."
"There's god only knows how many doors, one of them has to lead back home. I say we start looking around." Eddie was the first one to start scouring portals, with the rest of the group doing the same in different areas 'Is there any chance we have a way of skipping the search through god only knows how many of these before we find a way back without having to look through god knows how many wrong ones first?"
"No… The only way to understand the unknown is to experience it for yourself… Though with our kind, the unknown means very little."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"80 billion light years of hive knowledge across countless universes. Your meager human mind would not be able to withstand even a fraction of what we have experienced."
"Again, that means what exactly?"
"Allow us to give you a taste… Just a smallest fraction of the things that we Symbiotes have come to experience."
"Such as?"
"Such as what was experienced by our counterpart on Earth-92131
"Yo guys, come and take a look at this one." Casey quickly drew everyone's attention over to one particular portal door.
"Wait a second, is…" Ghost Spider quickly took off her mask, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy underneath "Is that… Peter…?"
Sure enough, on the other side of the portal was the image of Peter Parker, or Spider-Man in this case, chasing after a certain familiar supervillain throughout a bell tower "GET BACK HERE SHOCKER! SHOCKEEEERRR! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME! I'LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EEEEEEEEARTH!"
"...Wow." Casey glanced back at the others "I'm just gonna say it, that dude's either gotta lay off the caffeine or smoke some weed."
"Okay, that was… interesting. Everyone keep looking for a way home." Leo made the call, and the team once again split up.
"Woah… hey April, take a look at this one." Donnie quickly ushered April over to gaze into the portal he found.
"Wow…" April was left in awe at the sight of the neon blue landscape, with gelatinous creatures of the same color floating for as far as her eye could see "It's so beautiful…"
"Yeah, beautiful…" Donnie's gaze trailed towards April, the two of them locking eyes for a brief moment, before he quickly snapped his gaze away "It uh… It's really good to have you back with us."
"Yeah, it… It feels right to just… be back where I belong, you know?" April blushed slightly as she looked back towards him.
"Hey guys, check this out." Mikey quickly drew everyone's attention over to another portal she was gazing into "If I had to guess, I'd say that's Dimension X… home of the Kraang, for those of you that don't know. Not gonna lie, this place is kinda making my brain melt."
"Hold that thought." April paused and placed a hand to her temple "I can sense it… something is coming… A lot of somethings…"
"What do you-" Ghost Spider was cut off by the sight of three biotroids and a set of Kraang flyers popping up on the other side of the gateway, causing a familiar ringing sensation to go off in your head "Oh. Okay, now I get it."
"In that case, we say… Get ready to rumble." the face of Eddie Brock quickly faded into the hulking form of Venom as the rest of the group drew their weapons, just as the Kraang flyers burst out of the portal and shooting lasers at them, to which Venom latched onto them with two black weblines and smashd them into each other, leaving their wrecked forms to hit the ground with an audible thud "Is that all?"
"Biotroids, destroy!" it was at this moment that the three Biotroids destroy emerged from the portal and quickly went on the offensive.
"You wanna go ugly, well let's go!" Mikey fended off one of the Biotroids with his nunchucks and moved to launch a counterattack, only for Ghost Spider to swoop in and spin kick it, but this distracted him long enough for another biotroid to hit him in the face and send him hurtling back a fair distance.
"Stay where you are Kraang filth!" Venom let out a primal roar as he pounced on the Biotroid in a rage, yanking it towards him with his tendrils and using his claws to rip it apart, allowing him to get to the Kraang in the cockpit "We will devour you whole and pick the remains of you out of our teeth with a runcible spoon!"
"Okay, that's… one image in my head I really don't need." April on the other hand was left trying to avoid the attacks of one Biotroid, only to whip around and see the other one about to come crashing down on her 'Crap!'
"April!" lucky for her, Donnie was quick to pull her out of the way using his bo staff, letting the Biotroid crash to the ground on its own "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm good, thanks for the save D."
"It was nothing, just- Look out!" Donnie once again pulled her out of the way just as two more Kraang flyers came through the portal and shot a laser at them, but he quickly batted them away with a quick strike of his bo staff.
"Everybody get down!" Ghost Spider on the other hand was luring the third Biotroid away from the others, and once it fired its chainsaws at her (attached to metal tendrils that emerged from its nipples) she gracefully leapt over the strike and latched onto them with webs, using her enhanced strength to rip them off in a matter of seconds "Now!"
"I'm on it!" Raph was the first one to leap at the Biotroid and began stabbing at the Kraang in the cockpit, only to be grabbed by one of the giant hands and thrown to the ground.
"Nice try ugly, Casey Jones sure as hell ain't gonna let that happen!" Casey was quick to charge at the Kraang flyer and send it hurtling through a portal with a quick smack of one of his metal hockey sticks "He shoots and he scores, and they choke on it!"
"Yeah good for you Jones, now how about a little less gloating and a little more getting this goddamn Bigfoot reject off of me!"
"I've got you!" Casey was quick to stun the Biotroid with a quick whack of his hockey stick, causing it to stumble backwards in a stupor.
"Thanks for the save, now let's take this hairy mo-fo down!"
"I'm on it!" Ghost Spider leapt overhead and used a single webline to yank the Kraang right out of the cockpit, leaving it to hit the ground and scurry away…
"Gwen get down, it's coming your way!" Mikey, Raph and Casey were quick to try and rush the last Biotroid as it pounced at Ghost Spider, only for the Biotroid grabbed both Turtles in one of its giant hands and hurled it into Ghost Spider, sending all four of them hurtling through one of the many portals.
"Guys! Come on, we gotta follow them!" Leo and Donnie were quick to make a break for the portal, only for it to disappear before they could step through it "Dammit, they're gone."
"It's because of that one!" April quickly tried to rush for the Kraang flyer that held a remote in its hand, only for it to throw the remote through another doorway, just as another Biotroid came out and began firing its butt cannons at them "And now there's that. RUN!"
"Aw, and here we thought we wouldn't get another snack." Venom pulled himself back to his feet from the wreckage that used to be one of the Biotroids, slurping one last tentacle back into his mouth "But I guess this is our lucky day."
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Manwhile, with the newly formed A team…
"Crap, crap, crap!" it was only a matter of seconds before Raph and the others fell out of the portal and into New York… landing right in a dumpster as they did so, to which Rapt spat out a rotten banana peel "You know, since we live in New York, I feel like I shouldn't be surprised by us landing face first in a freaking dumpster. And yet here we are."
"Not saying I disagree, but I think we have other problems right now." Ghost Spider glanced up at the portal above them, only to see it close "Problems like half of our group is trapped in some kind of void in between dimensions."
"Yeah and the smart members of our team are trapped with them." Casey ignored the looks he got from Ghost Spider and Mikey at that comment "So what the hell do we do?"
"We've gotta find a way to-" Ghost Spider was cut short by another earthquake erupting under their feet, to which she let out a sigh "Okay, as much as I hate to leave them on their own, the others can take care of themselves for a little while. We've gotta find the source of these quakes before they rip Manhattan apart like cotton candy."
"And if we gotta bust a few heads during it, all the better." and so the four of them took off running towards the exit to the alley.
What went unnoticed however, was that the trio of Karai, Tiger Claw and the Silver Samurai were watching them from the rooftop above them "Huh. Well that's convenient. Here I thought we were gonna have to spend all night hunting for them."
"Do not become complacent Karai, and remember your instructions." Tiger Claw was met with a single nod, and then he turned to the Silver Samurai "Based on what Master Shredder and the others have told me, those with the arachnid-based abilities are formidable. I want you to defeat her, while I will deal with the Turtles and their human ally."
"Consider it done." Silver Samurai gave a smirk as he moved to grip his katana "It should make for some adequate entertainment before my encounter with that filthy gaijin animal."
"In that case, let us go into battle." with that said, Tiger Claw leapt off the roof and down into the alleyway below in front of the heroes "So the Turtles and the Arachnid themed hero, as well as one of their obligatory human allies. We meet at last."
"Hey watch it dude, I'm not ob- oblidary!" Casey shot a glare at Tiger Claw as he pulled one of his metal sticks off his back "Who the hell are you supposed to be anyway?"
"You may refer to me as Tiger Claw."
"Huh. Well it's a better name than Mikey would've stuck him with." Raph promptly ignored the dirty look Mikey sent his way.
"And depending on your course of action, it may be the last name you hear." Tiger Claw drew one of his blasters from the holster on his leg "I will ask this of you only once, summon your rat master or you will die here and now."
"I hate to break it to you buddy, but we ain't exactly cat people-" Raph was promptly cut off by Tiger Claw firing a barrage of laser blasts at them, one of them hitting him while he was trying to rebound off the wall, sending him tumbling to the ground, leaving Mikey and Casey to rush to his aid.
"Guys get back, I've got this!" Ghost Spider was quick to charge at Tiger Claw, leaping through the barrage of blaster fire and managing to land a swift roundhouse kick to the chest, sending him skidding backwards a short distance.
"The Turtles and their human friend are nothing but cubs, but you…" Tiger Claw spat out some blood to the side and gave a smirk "You are quite powerful. I can see why Master Shredder saw it necessary to bring him into this war as well."
"Him being who exactly?" Ghost Spider received an answer in the form of her spider sense going off, to which she leapt out of the way a split second before a burst of energy from above splintered the ground beneath her.
"That would be me." it was at this moment that the Silver Samurai leapt down onto the scene, his katana glowing with blue energy as he pointed the blade at Ghost Spider "Now let us see if your reputation truly proceeds you child."
"Works for me." Ghost Spider was quick to launch herself forward with a burst of enhanced strength, only for Silver Samurai to block and weave his way around her attacks, eventually managing to catch one of her arms in between his wrists, then use a quick enhanced strike of his sword to slash her across the chest, sending her skidding backwards with a noticeable bloody gash as a result.
"It would seem that the answer is no."
"I'm just… getting started." Ghost Spider shook off the pain and wiped away some of the blood from her wound just in time to avoid the follow up strike, latching onto Silver Samurai with a webline and using it to deal him a swift knee to the jaw, followed by a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him hurtling backwards.
"Interesting. So they seem to be fairly evenly matched." Tiger Claw watched the battle unfold a short distance away, then turned back to the Turtles and Casey as he pulled his other blaster out of its holster "As for you three, you are nothing but cubs."
"Big whoop Tigger, but guess what? Even cubs have fangs!" Raph brandished his nunchucks and kusarigama chain as he prepared to charge, only to be forced to go on the evasive as Tiger Claw fired a barrage of freeze bullets, leaving ice ruptures in their wake, prompting him to cast a frantic look over at Mikey and Casey "Come on guys, we gotta get to high ground!" and so he leapt up the nearby fire escape and onto the rooftop, with Casey quickly following his lead.
"But we can't just…" Mikey's face fell as he watched Ghost Spider continue with her own battle against the Silver Samurai "Just hang in there Gw-Ghosty, we'll take this guy down and I'll be back to help you out. I swear." and then he took off after Raph and Casey.
"You won't be able to escape from me that easily!" Tiger Claw let out a growl as he activated his jetpack and flew up after the group.
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Meanwhile, with the newly christened B-team…
"Crap, crap, crap!" by this point, Leo, Donnie and April had been forced to take off running to escape the remaining Biotroid, only for it to leap in front of them and cut them off, forcing them to brandish their weapons and prepare to fight, until…
"WE WILL DEVOUR YOU WHOLE!" Venom let out an animalistic roar as he pounced on the last Biotroid, ripping it to shreds before picking up the Kraang from what was left of the cockpit and stuffing it in his mouth, devouring it in a single gulp "Case and point."
"Okay, that's… a choice." Donnie shared a look with Leo "Now we just need to figure out how the shell we get out of here and back to New York."
"Forget about that for now, you guys need to take a look at this." April quickly directed the group's attention to another portal, or to be more specific, the other side of it "You think this is another part of Dimension X?"
"Maybe, but more importantly take a look at that." Donnie pointed to where they could see a group of Kraangdroids using stun rods to force a giant worm creature through a portal.
"What the shell is that thing supposed to be?"
"Alert. Kraang is aware of spies in that which is known as the doorway where Kraang is not, but soon will be."
"...Aw crapbaskets. I think we're in serious trouble right now."
"Let them come." Venom took a few steps forward, readying a series of black webs as he came to a stop in front of th door "We will devour them whole for their sins, and there is nothing they can do to stop us."
"Kraang, prepare to use that which is known as the resonanc blaster." came the voice from behind the group, followed by a pulsating soundwave ringing throughout the area that proved enough to make the group scream in pain and fall to his knees as the hulking form of Venom shrunk down and subsided, leaving only the form of Eddie Brock in its place.
"D-Dammit…" Leo tried to force himself back onto his feet, only to quickly fall back to his knees as he and the others were surrounded by a group of Kraangdroids.
"I take it the four of you like the Resonance Blaster then?" it was at this moment that a familiar hulking green figure appeared through one of the portals, a confident smirk spreading across his face.
"Jackal… figures you'd be involved in this…" Eddie spat out some blood as he glared daggers at the Jackal.
"Glad to see that I'm so well known. Yes, the Resonance Blaster is a little trinket of my very own design, crafted for the sake of maximum sonic devastation. See, I can have fun with soundwaves for reasons beyond just putting you in your place."
"Go ahead and laugh it up… you'll be singing a different tune once I get ahold of your skull and crush it like a tin can…" Eddie slowly pulled himself back onto his feet and let a fist fly… only for the Jackal to catch it and subsequently crush it in his own hand with ease.
"Ooh, such bravado. Too bad it doesn't mean anything. Well as much as I'd love to stick around and chat for a bit, I have other business to attend to. I'll leave my associates here to take care of things for the time being. Ciao." Jackal gave a quick mocking wave and stepped back through the portal.
"Son of a… He's gonna get what's coming to him, I swear it…"
"Surrender is optimum." the Kraangdroids pointed their blasters at Eddie and the rest of the group "Non-surrender means disintegration, which is less optimum."
"You think you Stormtrooper rejects can scare me?"
"Hold on, give it a rest for a little bit." Leo slowly stood back up and raised his hands into the air, with Donnie and April following his lead "Just play along with them for the time being, at the very least we can use them to find a way back home."
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Meanwhile, with the A team…
"Your forms are interesting, and your techniques are fairly well honed." Tiger Claw managed to dodge every strike the Turtles and Casey were throwing at him while subsequently spinning around and firing from each of his blasters "But you still lack the qualities necessary to defeat a warrior of my level."
"Casey Jones ain't needing any experience, I've got plenty of raw awesomeness to kick your sorry tail in!" Casey wasted no time in charging at Tiger Claw, using his metal hockey sticks to volley a series of pucks at Tiger Claw, with each one detonating a few seconds after being fired and releasing surges of electricity, but none of them actually managing to make contact.
"Projectiles that release powerful electrical currents. Intriguing, but ineffective." Tiger Claw shot a seires of freeze bullets at each electric puck, neutralizing each of them in jagged blocks of ice, and then he went on to use both of his blasters to fend off the attacks from the others, with Casey quickly being sent crashing to the ground.
"Casey hang on!" Mikey swooped in and tried to attack Tiger Claw with his kusarigama chain and nunchucks, only for Tiger Claw to swoop towards him with his jetpack and ram into him hard enough to send him crashing to the ground.
"You all have spirit, that much is evident. But spirit is not enough to claim victory."
"Try saying that after I shove my sais right up your tail hole!" Raph was the next one to charge towards Tiger Claw with his sais in hand, only for his attacks to miss and to be met with Tiger Claw firing a net from another blaster, sending a bound Raph crashing to the ground.
"As I said, spirit will only get you so far. This battle is over, and you have all lost."
"Don't count us out yet big guy." Mikey spat out some blood as he leapt back to his feet and barred his weapons "We ain't going down without a fight, and don't forget Ghosty just has to beat your buddy and she's coming here to help take you down."
"You would be wise not to underestimate the Silver Samurai. There is a reason why the Shredder chose him specifically to join his cause." Tiger Claw was then met with a loud crash in front of him, courtesy of the Silver Samurai crashing to the ground in front of him.
"And that's… how we do things… in New York City…" Ghost Spider swung up onto the scene to join the group, though she was left panting heavily, covered in several cuts and gashes and her mask was torn "Now I think… it's time to end this…"
"On that child… we can agree…" Silver Samurai gritted his teeth as he pulled out a small projectile from his suit and hurled it at Ghost Spider, only for her to rip it apart, releasing a small cloud of gas that subsequently left her to fall to the ground "Thus it is over, and my point has been proven. The Silver Samurai will yield to no man, or woman."
"Gwen!" Mikey was quick to rush over to Ghost Spider's side, only to find her sprawled out and unconscious 'She's out cold, probably some kinda knockout gas. She's pretty banged up too, this guy messed her up pretty good.'
"This girl may be formidable, but she lacks the spirit of a true warrior."
"The same can easily. be said for you." Tiger Claw shot a raised eyebrow at Silver Samurai "You claim the girl lacks the spirit of a warrior, and yet look at your own actions. The Yakuza pride themselves on their code of honor, and yet you choose to resort to sedatives in order to win. Do you consider that to be honorable?"
"I do not need to explain my actions to a creature such as you. My honor was stolen from me long ago by that filth, and once I find him and impale him on my blade, I will reclaim what I have lost. Until then, I will leave the rest of this mission to you." on that note, the Silver Samurai leapt off the rooftop and took his leave of the scene.
"The mission is my will, as I would prefer it." with that in mind, Tiger Claw picked up Casey by the leg and began dangling him over the smoldering hole in the roof "As I said, all of you have been defeated. I tell you once more to summon your master, or your human companion will go into the furnace."
"Don't do it guys!" Casey was quick to put on a brave face, and he quickly shot a hardend glare at Tiger Claw "Go ahead and try it ya Tigger reject, I can take it!"
"You expressly cannot. Such is the point of this trap for the rat."
"Well duh, even an idiot can tell it's a trap." Mikey's gaze hardened further as he stood back up and levelled a glare at Tiger Claw "Tell me the part of it where I've got a choice."
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Meanwhile, in the Lair…
Yes, listen to the silence…' Splinter sat in the dojo in a meditative position, almost completely at peace and filled with a sense of serenity and tranquility 'I can allow myself to be lost in the sound of the silence for days. Such a pleasant meditation, complete with sweet solitude…'
But this moment was cut short by the sound of a nearby phone ringing, which quickly snapped him out of his meditation.
"The cheese phone, it truly must be an emergency." and so Splinter made his way over to the cheese-themed phone in question and answered it "Moshi moshi. Michelangelo, what is the problem? There is no need to fear my son, I am on my way." and then he hung up, and his gaze hardened as he prepared to take his leave.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Onward, that which is known as prisoners." the Kraangdroids led Eddie, April and the other two Turtles out of the portal and into an abandoned subway tunnel, still having their blasters pointed at them "You will continue marching from the place that you are to the plate that you are not yet."
"Well this could be going a lot better." Donnie let out a sigh as he shared a glance with Leo "If nothing else, at least we managed to get back into New York."
"That's one problem traded for at least two others right now." April muttered "We're being held at literal gunpoint, and they said they were going to feed us to something. It was a… what was it called again?"
"I think it was called a Kraathatrogon. I honestly have no idea what that is, but I think it's safe to say it's going to be bad. Although…" Donnie cast a quick glance over at Eddie "You and your Symbiote have had your fair share of experiences with the Kraang and their activities, I don't suppose there's anything you can tell us about this?"
"Honestly, even the information my Other has is pretty limited." Eddie muttered "At most I can get a few flashes of something big, long and has three sides to its mouth and lots of teeth. Kind of like the Demogorgons from Stranger Things, but somehow even more disturbing."
"That's a high bar to clear. Any chance you can… well I wanna say Hulk out but I think there's a copyright issue in there somewhere."
"I've been saying go Full Venom personally, I just think it has a better ring to it. And no, thanks to that sonic blaster trick the Jackal pulled we're still drained. I'd say I'm back to about 30%, and that's me being generous."
"Well in that case, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't plan to wait around to get eaten. So I say… let's do this!" Leo spun around in an instant and cut down the Kraangdroid that was holding him at gunpoint, with April and Donnie doing the same.
'It's now or never, better to at least try.' Eddie took a breath and held out an arm, and a black tendril shot out and latched onto a nearby sewer wheel, pulling on it and releasing a large cloud of steam that enveloped the area, allowing the four of them to take off running "Well that worked out better than I thought it would."
"Come on let's go, this way!" April quickly led the group down another tunnel and through a door, which she quickly propped shut amidst the blaster fire, and then they continued on their way.
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Meanwhil, with the A plot…
"You've gotta be freaking kidding me." Raph shot a dirty look at Mikey from where the two of them, along with Casey and a still unconscious Ghost Spider, sat bound by ropes next to the hole leading to the furnace "You actually went and called Splinter into this? I swear if anything ends up happening to him…"
"I didn't have any other choice, okay? I just…" Mikey let out a sigh, and his face fell "I just did what I thought Leo would've done… I mean he's not here, so somebody's gotta make the call right?"
"Take it from me Mikey, you ain't gonna wanna do exactly what Leo does. It's just gonna end up in a giant headache."
"You mean cause you keep griping about it?"
"I've heard enough of your prattling." Tiger Claw made his way towards the group and let out a low growl "You called the rat, now where is he? I don't need to remind all of you of what will happen with a single push."
"He's gonna be here, just wait and see, and then he'll kick your tail in."
"Hm. In that case, perhaps I shall provide a bit more incentive for him." Tiger Claw placed a foot on the rope and began pushing the group towards the furnace, until…
"Release my children!" the shout drew the attention of everyone present, revealing Splinter looming over the group from his place standing atop a nearby rooftop, cane in hand with his gaze hardened "I will not ask again."
"So the master has finally shown himself." Tiger Claw gave a smirk, and then uttered a certain phrase in Japanese "An ancient proverb says: Even a cornered rat will bite a cat. Is that the case?"
"Hm. Come and find out." Splinter gave a smirk, and then the battle began as he swiftly dodged the freeze bullets Tiger Claw began firing at him, leaping off the building and across the fire escape until he was right in front of Tiger Claw, forcing him to retreat using his jetpack, to which Splinter dodged another series of freeze bullets and began using his cane to lob bits of debris at him, hitting him in the face and knocking him back a short distance.
"It seems that long range will be ineffective. No matter." Tiger Claw let out a low growl as he drew his sword "I would prefer to slice you into bite-sized pieces instead."
"You are more than welcome to try." Splinter met Tiger Claw's charge and leapt into the air as their weapons collided.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Well the good news is, we're not getting shot at now." Leo cast a look around as he and the others made their way "So where are we now? I don't think I've seen this part of the sewers before."
"We're in one of the old pneumatic subway tunnels." Eddie told him, as Donnie looked around in awe "They were built back in the 19th century, but nobody uses them now. Unless you're trying to track down a pack of giant rats."
"Wait, what?"
"Long story short, we came down here when we were trying to trail the Rat King and his forces back to their lair. Would've just gone to you guys, but we weren't exactly keen on the idea of bringing that Scarlet Spider kid to where you live."
"Oh. Yeah, Wolverine did mention a little bit about that."
"You… might have been right though." Eddie cast an uneasy glance back at Leo "We checked him out for ourselves, and there's a lot of similarities but… He ain't Pete. Not the real Pete at least."
"Yeah, we kinda figured that part out, but-" Leo was cut short by an unsettling noise in the distance "Okay, what the shell is that? It sounds worse than Mikey eating pizza."
"I think it's coming from down there, come on!" Donnie quickly led the group to the end of the tunnel until they could see the main vault, where they found several giant alien worms hooked up to a machine filled to the brim with Mutagen "Those must be the Kraathatrogons the Kraang were talking about earlier."
"So now we know, but it doesn't make it any less terrifying. Or disgusting." Leo cringed at the sight of the worms, until one was pulled through a portal at the end of another tunnel, thrashing violently against the Kraang's attempts to subdue it, resulting in the ground shaking violently, to which it dawned on them "Um, Donnie?"
"Yeah I know, it's the worms. They're what's causing the earthquakes."
"But why would they bring them here in the first place?"
"I think we just found our answer." April pointed to where the Kraang were hooking up tubes to one of the Kraathatrogons, sucking a certain substance out of it and into the machine "It's like they're milking them… but for Mutagen."
"By Darwin's beard, this is it!" Donnie's face lit up with awe at the realization "This is it, this is where the Mutagen comes from! It's just fascinating!"
"More like downright disgusting." April recoiled at the sight, only to pause as a certain sensation made itself known to her, and she shot a dirty look at the others "Okay whoever's doing that, take the hand away now."
"What are you talking about?"
"What do you think, who's touching my-" April cut herself short when she turned around, and saw a smaller Kraathatrogon rubbing against her rear, to which she subsequently let out a scream of terror.
"Get away from her!" Donnie was quick to bring his bo staff down on the head of the worm, which caused it to let out a shriek, subsequently revealing its three-sided mouth and lots of sharp teeth.
"Kraang, we have been discovered in the place that was meant to be undiscovered. Unleash that which is known as the Kraathatrogon!" yep, it turns out the shriek alerted the Kraang to the presence of the others, and they subsequently released one of the Kraathatrogons from the machine, causing it to loom over the group and let out an ungodly shriek.
"...Oh boy."
"Call it a hunch, but I don't think my swords can cut through that." Leo muttered "Anyone have a plan?"
"My personal preference is to run and scream at the top of our lungs."
"Works for me." and so they turned on their heels and took off running through the tunnels while screaming at the top of their lungs.
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
"Yeah come on sensei, kick him in his tail hole!" Mikey and the others cheered Splinter on as his battle with Tiger Claw continued, and then he looked to see Ghost Spider coming to "Gwen, hey how are you holding up?"
"A little groggy and sore, but otherwise… Yeah, make that a lot sore." Ghost Spider cringed from the pain of her various wounds but quickly shook off any disorientation "It feels like he drugged me or something…"
"Short version, he hit you with some kind of sedative." Raph told her flatly "Anyway Mikey had to call up Splinter to get us out of this, not the best move if you ask me, and now he's going up against Tiger Claw and kicking tail."
"Oh. So we're okay then?"
"So long as sensei turns the overgrown cat into a pelt, yeah I'd say so."
"You shall pay for that one rodent!" Tiger Claw was sent staggering back by a series of strikes from Splinter's cain, to which he responded by charging forward and attempting a series of slashes with his sword, eventually managing to cut Splinter's cain clean in two "As I said, and now you are defenseless."
"That is where you are wrong, for a ninja is never defenseless." Splinter promptly volleyed a barrage of kunai at Tiger Claw, forcing him to deflect them with his sword, but one of them still managed to lodge itself into his jetpack, giving Splinter the chance to kick Tiger Claw in the chest, before going on the evasive to avoid the slashes of his sword. Once he found an opening, he forced Tiger Claw back with a volley of shuriken and ducked under a slash of Tiger Claw's sword, giving him the chance to strike a series of pressure points on Tiger Claw's arm, causing it to go limp, giving Splinter the chance to seize the sword and push him back.
"I have no need for that sword to finish you rat." Tiger Claw whipped out one of his blasters and fired a net at Splinter.
"You will not be able to trip me up so easily feline!" Splinter caught the net and promptly hurled it back at Tiger Claw, forcing him to dodge it, giving Splinter the chance to Tiger Claw back to the edge of the rooftop with a series of pressure point strikes, ending it by holding a blade to his throat at the edge "And now we shall see if a cat always lands on its feet."
"That is what you believe… but more like we shall see if a rat is able to crawl out of a tiger's trap. Now!" Tiger Claw gave the order, prompting Karai to emerge from her hiding spot a fair distance away and fire a single blow dart, striking Splinter in the back of his neck, which he pulled out with ease… only for him to stumble and fall to his knees almost immediately, which prompted Tiger Claw to smirk "It would seem that we have our answer."
"No…"
"A big fat no, took the words right out of my mouth." Karai gave a smirk as she leapt onto the rooftop next to them "Which makes this all the more entertaining."
"Miwa…" that was all Splinter managed to get out before he lost consciousness.
"That's it? I was kind of hoping he was going to be for his life. Kind of a big let down if you ask me."
"Karai wait, you don't have to do this." Ghost Spider was quick to get her attention "Look I know you probably won't believe this, but Splinter isn't who you think he is. He's your father, as in your true father."
"And I'm supposed to believe that? I've already heard enough lies from Leo and the other Turtles, the last thing I need is some pep rally reject in a Spider costume trying to do the same thing." Karai gave a scowl as she made her way over to the group and raised her sword "By all mans, go ahead and give me a reason to bring this down."
"More like a reason to show restraint." Tiger Claw promptly grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to drop her sword "Keep in mind that Master Sherdder desires his prey alive, he wants the pleasure of finishing Splinter and his disciples himself."
"...Fine, then let's just deal with the rat first."
"You're not… going anywhere near him…" with a burst of strength, Ghost Spider ripped apart the ropes binding her and the others and launched a volley of webs at Karai and Tiger Claw, forcing both of them to retreat, though she did cough up a bit of blood as she did so "We're taking him… and going home…"
"No my child… you must run… go…" Splinter pulled himself up and fired a quick volley of shuriken forward, though this did little more than irritate Tiger Claw, leading to Splinter being kicked in the face and sent crashing onto a lower edge of the rooftop.
"Sensei!"
"Ghosty come on, we gotta go, but we'll come afte him." Mikey quickly slung Ghost Spider's arm over his shoulder, his voice low enough that only she could hear "I made a promise to Pete, remember? I ain't gonna let you get any more hurt than you already are."
"But-"
"No buts, I'm getting you out of here." Mikey pulled her down to avoid a barrage of blaster fire from Tiger Claw, and the two of them, along with Raph and Casey, quickly took off towards another rooftop.
"You will not be able to escap as easily as that!" Tiger Claw managed to reactivate his jetpack to launch himself after the four of them, fully prepared to bring his sword down on them.
"Hey Tigger, get a load of this one! GOONGALA!" Casey wasted no time in meeting Tiger Claw's charge with a taster at point blank range, electrocuting him and causing him to scream in pain as he was sent crashing back onto the rooftop, allowing Casey to throw down a smoke bomb that engulfed the four of them, and when the smoke had cleared, they were gone.
"Dammit…" Tiger Claw spat out some blood as he pulled himself back onto his feet, but then he gave a small smirk "If nothing else, they are resourceful and have spirit."
"Try telling Shredder that and see if he gets any less pissed off." Karai rolled her eyes, but then gave a smirk of her ow as she glanced over at Splinter "If nothing else, at least we managed to get the rat."
"This is true. Master Shredder will more than likely be pleased that-" Tiger Claw was cut short by the ground beneath them shaking violently "What in the- What is this?"
"God only knows, this city is basically a gigantic dumpster fire. Except with more trash than an actual dumpster."
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Run, run, RUN!" by this point, Leo and the others had taken to running for their lives from a giant Kraathatrogon through an abandoned sewer tunnel "RUN FASTER!"
"Better idea, why run when you can just hang?" thinking quickly, Eddie leapt into the air and latched onto the roof of the tunnel with a series of tendrils, pulling Leo, Donnie and April up into the air as he did so, allowing the Kraathatrogon to pass over them "Huh, I didn't think that would actually work. You guys okay?"
"Yeah, I… I think so…" April breathed a sigh of relief as she let herself drop back onto the ground… only to come face to face with the cutesy face of the Kraathatrogon, prompting her to scream and whack it with her fan, then take off running in the opposite direction, with Donnie and the others quickly following her lead "Well so much for that, what the hell are we supposed to do now?!"
"We have to slow it down somehow, just keep going and leave it to me!" Donnie turned on his heels and ran towards the Kraathatrogon, to which he pulled out a single smoke bomb and hurled it into the creature's mouth, stopping it in its tracks and causing it to recoil… only for it to roar and subsequently take off once again, forcing Donnie to take off running.
"Donnie hurry, we have to move!"
"I'm TRYING!" and that led to Donnie and April running side by side as fast as they could while trying to avoid being eaten by the Kraathatrogon.
"I see our escape, over there!" Eddie quickly latched onto a nearby sewer ladder using a tendril emerging from one arm, using his other arm to hoist Leo onto it as well "If you guys are gonna make a jump for it, now's gotta be the time!"
"We're working on it, just extend the tendril and- LOOK OUT!" Donnie and April took the chance to jump and try to let the tendrils grab them, only for Donnie to look back and see the Kraathatrogon closing in on them, which led him to push April towards the wall, allowing the tendril to snatch her up to safety… and leave him to be devoured by the Kraathatrogon before it could reach him.
"Oh shit…"
"DONNIE!" April was left to look on in horror as the Kraathatrogon disappeared down the subway tunnel, tears streaming down her face as she buried her face into Leo's chest "Donnie, he's… he's gone…"
"April, I… I'm sorry…" Leo wrapped his free arm around April as he tried to fight back a few tears himself 'Donnie…'
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
"Okay easy Gwen, just try to hold still okay?" after returning to the Lair, Mikey had Gwen lay sprawled out on a futon, putting medicine on whatever cuts and slashes he could find before gently banading them, only to recoil when he heard her gritting her teeth "Sorry, are they too tight?"
"No, it's… it's fine." Gwen let out a sigh as she pulled herself onto her knees, once again wincing from the pain as she did so "So much for Ghost Spider being able to save the day, am I right? I really messed that one up, didn't I?"
"Hey don't say that, you did what you could. That samurai dude was crazy strong."
"I know, it's just… I guess I got so caught up in being able to overcome just about everything that got thrown at me since I got these powers, that I never saw myself actually losing a real fight and then it just kinda got thrown in my face."
"Yeah well, you still did better than me. At least you didn't end up getting Splinter poisoned and kidnapped. I mean I thought he could handle it, I just… I did what I thought Leo would do for something like this." Mikey's face fell as he turned away, only to feel Gwen gently grip him by the shoulders.
"Oh no we're not going there, I know that look on your face. You had to make a decision and you did, that's all there is to it. Nobody blames you."
"Raph does, I'm not such a bonehead I can't see that. Plus I know how he thinks."
"Then you know I'm gonna say whining and sulking ain't gonna change anything." Raph made his way back into the living room, with Casey by his side "The fact is Gwen's hurt and Splinter got taken by the Foot, so we can either sit around here moaning or we can mount a rescue and kick some ass."
"You had me at kicking some ass." Casey gave a smirk and caught Raph in a fist bump "So what the hell is stopping us from gearing up and storming the place?"
"I just put a call in for a little backup, we're just waiting for him to show up."
"So you called Daredevil?" asked Mikey.
"No, he's dealing with Kraang stuff right now. I meant the other backup."
"He's talking about me." it was at this moment that Wolverine made his way into the Lair, his bike parked just outside the exit, and he cast a quick look over at Gwen "The angry one gave me a few details, how are you holding up?"
"Honestly, I've been better." Gwen gestured to the various cuts and gashes across her arms and torso "Apparently the Foot have two new mercenaries, the one I fought could release bursts of energy from his sword. The kind of tech he must have to be able to do that…"
"It this punk is who I think it is then it ain't tech he's using, and frankly you might be lucky to be alive right now." Wolverine knelt down and sniffed over Gwen's wounds for a moment, and then he gave a scowl "Like I thought, it's him. Figures he'd be involved in this for whatever bullshit reason."
"You mean that freak in the armor? You know him?" Casey gave a raised eyebrow.
"He ain't on my Christmas card list if that's what you're wondering. We fought a few times years ago… over a woman."
"Seriously?" Raph shared a look with the others "Is it just me or do these blood feuds always start with pining after a chick?"
"It ain't like with your dad and Saki. It's… more complicated than that." Logan breathed a sigh, and he began his story "It was years ago, back when I was still hanging around Japan, but it might as well have been another lifetime. Her name was Mariko, and she meant a lot to me But her father wanted her to marry this creep by the name of Harada, you know him as… the Silver Samurai. He was Japanese nobility, and a member of the criminal Yakuza. I was a gaijin, the term used for outsiders. He wanted to fight me for Mariko, and I accepted. She wasn't happy about it, but I went ahead with it anyway. The thing with Harada is that he doesn't use some crazy teched-out sword or anything. The guy is a mutant, he can supercharge his sword to cut through just about anything. I didn't need a sword to rip through the creep like a hot knife through butter, but this challenge was bound by the code of the samurai, meaning no powers were allowed. I won the battle without too much of a problem, but whoever said that winning the fight means you get the girl… he's a goddamn liar. Mariko told me to leave, for good, and so I did."
"But you said it yourself, you won." Gwen looked up "Why did she-"
"Doesn't matter, minds were already made up."
"So what the hell gives then?" asked Casey "This dude gets the girl and you walk away alone, what the hell else would he want?"
"The one thing he's always wanted with me: a fight to the death." Wolverine's gaze harened with anger underneath his mask "If he and Saki's other lapdogs took Yoshi, then you know where we've gotta go."
"Shredder's lair. The old church building." Raph and Mikey shared a look.
"Go ahead and gear up, get together whatever you need. You can take the Foot lapdogs, divide them up however the hell you like, and get Yoshi out of there… but leave Harada to me."
"Works for me. Now let's do this." Raph and Mikey stuck their hands in, with Gwen, Casey and Wolverine doing the same "For Splinter. So what's our plan?"
"I got one idea." Mikey gave a wicked grin "You still got that chest full of fireworks from last year's Fourth of July Party?"
"...Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun."
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Okay, looks like the coast is clear." Eddie threw off a manhole cover and climbed his way out and into an alley, then helped Leo and April out behind him "Listen, probably not the right time for it but… about Donatello…"
"This is so terrible…" April wiped away a few tears "The way Donnie was just…"
"Yeah… I've seen that kind of thing happen to a few of the Kraang's test subjects… it's not a fun thing to see."
"And Donnie definitely didn't deserve that. We have to find a way to stop those Kraang worms once and for all." April's gaze hardened with fury, but it quickly fell away as the ground under them began shaking violently.
"Nobody's arguing with that, but we're gonna need more info. Even the Symbiote and I only know so much." Eddie frowned in thought "I think we're gonna have to get some info from our source."
"What source are you talking about?" Leo raised a non-existent eyebrow "In case it slipped your notice, we just lost our source for information to a giant alien worm!"
"Your smart guy maybe, but we've got our own ways of gathering info. How do you think I found all the Kraang hideouts I'd been ripping through after the Technodrome?"
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Okay, so let me get this straight." Leo glance over at Eddie and April as the latter knocked on the window to a certain apartment "You mean to tell me that all this time you've been working with a journalist who's gathering info on the Kraang, and you never said anything?"
"To be fair, it was when we weren't exactly on speaking terms." April gave a shrug as she got close to the window, just in time for a flashlight to shine in her face "And that's right in my eyes, okay then."
"Great caesar's ghost, quick get in before you get spotted!" Kurtzman opened the window and quickly ushered the group inside, and then his gaze fell onto Leonardo "I have to admit, I didn't think this was how I was going to finally meet one of the talking ninja turtles face to face."
"Oh, so you have heard of us." Leo lt out a nervous chuckle as they shook hands "Nice to meet you I guess, Mr Kurtzman was it?"
"Call me Jack. As much as I appreciate the pleasantries, I think we have to get down to business and fast. Let me guess, you came here regarding the earthquake situation didn't you?" he was quick to pull out a number of pictures from a file and spread them out on a table for the group to look over "I personally like to refer to this little scheme the Kraang are up to as the Manhattan Project."
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By this point, Tiger Claw had brought Splinter back to Shredder's Lair, chained in addition to the poison used on him earlier, though it wouldn't do more than weaken him. It was at this moment that Shredder entered the room and began taunting Splinter, only for him to bite back about the Shredder's lack of humanity and how he deceived himself and those around him. Enraged by these claims, Shredder drew his blades and prepared to finish the job, only for Karai to call out and stop him, defending her action by claiming that there was no honor in killing Splinter while he was poisoned in chained, something that Tiger Claw agreed with. Shredder reluctantly backed down and left to make preparations for one final fight. Splinter made one more attempt to reach out to Karai, only for her to disregard his efforts and leave him alone.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Not gonna lie, I didn't think it was gonna go that hard." Eddie glanced down at the pictures of the Kraathatrogon on the coffee table, then turned towards Kurtzman "If the worms we've seen so far are only the young ones, how big are the adults supposed to be?"
"They're supposedly huge, somewhere hundreds of feet long." Kurtzman rolled out a picture of a larger Kraathatrogon for the others, using a salt shaker as a paperweight "The Kraang have been importing the worms here from Dimension X in order to suck out their Mutagen, it's actually a bit like milking a giant cow."
"Okay, I really don't need that image in my head." April gagged slightly at the thought "But how are we supposed to stop them?"
"I haven't figured out how to stop them, but I know that the Kraang ride these puppies. You see the antenna on their head? They pull on them like you do the rings on a horse."
"Huh. I didn't think this could get more disgusting, and yet here we are."
"Yeah, that's one way to describe it." Eddie frowned in thought as he looked over the picture, and then the realization dawned on him "Dammit, how did I not think of it before? The answer is literally right in front of us. Salt!"
"Salt, what are you-" Leo was cut short by his T-phone ringing, and his face lit up as he read over the caller ID "No way… Donnie?"
"Leo, hey. How are things?"
"Um… they're okay I guess. What about you?"
"Good, good. I've been better. I'm actually kind of trapped inside the Kraathatrogon an I'm about 72% sure it's trying to digest me. But I'm still alive, so that's a positive."
"You're inside the worm? And you get a signal in there?"
"A stronger one than you might think. Anyway going back to the whole digesting me thing, I'm fairly certain I can't get out of here on my own, so I could use a little bit right about now."
"Got it. Just hang in there Donnie, we'll get you out soon." Leo quickly turned back to the others as his face lit up with relief "It really is Donnie, and he's still alive."
"Oh… thank goodness…" April breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she slumped further down into the couch.
"We just have to find a way to get him out."
"Not too big of a problem if you ask me." Eddie shot them a smirk "Because I think I figured out just how to do that."
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
'Go check out an interdimensional portal, fight a giant tiger guy, now rescue sensei from that tiger guy , a superpowered samurai and the entire Foot Clan? Not gonna lie, tonight has been A LOT.' Ghost Spier was left musing over the nights events as she climbed the wall of Shredder's lairquickly dispatching both of the Foot Bots guarding the roof with two shots of Impact Webs, allowing her to slip in through the roof and into the Shredder's throne room, where she quickly found Splinter lying on the ground in chains "Sensei, sensei it's me."
"Gwen…" Splinter opened his eyes and looked up at her with what little strength he was able to muster "You must go… now…"
"I can't just leave you to-" Ghost Spider was cut short by torches being lit up along the walkway, bathing the room in a crimson hue just as she saw Shredder emerge from the shadows, prompting her to try and back away a few feet, only for her Spider Sense to go off a split second before she was grabbed by the arm by something big, strong and fuzzy.
"You have spirit and resolve." Tiger Claw shot her a smirk "Unfortunatley, you lack the strength to follow through on it."
"Wanna take a second guess at that?" Ghost Spider use her enhanced agility to spin around and deal Tiger Claw a kick to the face, causing him to stumble back, but it wasn't enough to make him let go of her.
"I have to be honest." Karai shot a smirk at Ghost Spider as she held a blade to her throat "I was hoping that Leo was going to be the one that came to us, but I guess you'll do. So where are the rest of them?"
"Hold on." Tiger Claw paused and took a quick sniff, then looked at the others "This girl is the only one that came here, I do not sense any other presence."
"Very well. Then let us begin." Shredder promptly cut Splinter's chains and drew the blades out of both of his gauntlets "If the Turtles refuse to show themselves, then this Spider will simply have to watch herself, for it will be the last fight she ever bears witness to. The destruction of the once great Hamato Yoshi, and the end of the Hamato Clan."
"The Hamato Clan… will not die this day…" Splinter shakily pulled himself back to his feet, still cringing in pain from the poison and stumbling, but he managed to evade most of the attacks that Shredder threw at him, at least until a kick to the chest managed to send him crashing to the ground.
"Fight me you wretched rodent!"
"Your rage and desire to fight… is what will seal your downfall…" Splinter slowly pulled himself back to his feet, only to receive a backhand that threw him back to the floor, which allowed Shredder to pick him up and point a blae directly at his throat.
"A pathetic display, but that is to be expected from you. And now the time has come for me to finally put you out of your misery." Shredder drew back his arm and prepared to strike… only to be stopped at the last second as the ground once again began shaking violently, with enough force to crack most of the glass in the room "What?!"
"It seems that fate… is on my side…" Splinter quickly seized the opportunity to strike a crack in the glass beneath him, creating a big enough fracture that the ground under Shredder shattered, causing him to fall into the water beneath him with a mighty splash.
"Father!" Karai was about to rush over to help him, only to be stopped in her tracks by a series of fire crackers being dropped onto the scene, sending fireworks scattering throughout the room and creating a massive spectacle "What the fu-"
"A big damn rescue mission, that's what!" this was when Mikey and Raph leapt down onto the scene, forcing their way through the chaos and grabbing hold of both Splinter and Ghost Spider before throwing down a smokebomb and disappearing.
"Dammit!"
"Hey Harada!" once the fireworks died down, Wolverine drew their attention from his place in the hole in the glass roof "If it's a fight to the death you're looking for then come at me, I'm more than ready to settle this. All of us are." and then he leapt off the building.
"Filthy gaijin animal, your anger will betray you!" Silver Samurai let out a snarl as he took off running out of the building, with Tiger Claw and the rest of the Foot group following close behind him.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Okay, it should be somewhere around here." Eddie and the rest of the group once they reached a certain subway tunnel, the sound of a roar echoing in the distance "Yep no doubt about it, this is the tunnel."
"So you've got a plan then?" Leo shot him a raised eyebrow.
"I do, but it's more than likely gonna suck, at least for me. You still got your swords and that battle fan with you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Start slamming them against the rails, it'll make a vibration big enough that it should attract the worm to us."
"Alright, I guess." so with that in mind, Leo drew his katanas, with April pulling out her tessen, the two of them smashing their blades against the rails, creating a loud vibration that resulted in a pained shriek, and Eddie's black t-shirt pulsating violently, which didn't go unnoticed "Um, are you okay?"
"It's the Symbiote, it… it doesn't like the vibrations. But it can hold out, keep going until the worm gets here."
"If you say so." Leo continued slamming his blades against the rails, until the Kraathatrogon could be seen hurtling towards them in the distance "Okay, it's here… so what in the hell are we supposed to do now?"
"Grab the man purse!"
"It's a satchel- you know what, that's another conversation." April opened up her bag, only to quickly end up incredulous over what she found inside "You filled it with cans of salt?"
"The ionic strength of salt can burn through the neurosecretory cells of a worm, to them it's like acid."
"Yeah but, salt?"
"You got a better idea?" Eddie received no response "Didn't think so, now chuck one of them at me already."
"If you say so." April quickly threw a can of salt at Venom, prompting him to use a tendril to launch it at the Kraathatrogon, only for it to bounce off, the same with most of the other salt cans he hurled at it… until a certain problem came up.
"Don't just stand around, give me the next one!"
"Yeah, there's a little problem with that." April held up the empty satchel to him "That was the last one."
"Crapbaskets. Well at least I kept the shaker Kurtzman gave me." Eddie pulled out the salt shaker in question and threw it on the ground, prompting April to start waving it with her tessen, spreading it towards the Kraathatrogon until it eventually slowed down and came to a halt right in front of the group… right before it unleashed a wave of vomit that sent the group (along with a newly spat out Donnie) careening backwards through the tunnel, until they eventually came to a halt "Okay, so that was disgusting… I'm voting we never tell anyone about this. All of those in favor?"
"Donnie!" April was a little bit distracted at the moment, giving that she pulled Donnie into a tight hug, with Leo following right behind her.
'Right, family and/or future lover reunion, got it.' Eddie let out a sigh, but it quickly died in his throat when he turned around and saw something "Okay, as much as I hate to break up the family reunion, we have a little problem that needs attending to right about now."
"Like what?" Leo and the others followed Eddie's gaze… and they saw the Kraang guiding a massive Kraathatrogon through the makeshift portal behind them "Oh. Okay yeah, that's a big worm."
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
"Come on guys hurry, we gotta move it!" Mikey and the others quickly carried Splinter away from the church building as fast as they could and across the rooftops.
"My children… all of you…" Splinter glanced up at the others "You were foolish… to take such a risk in coming for me…"
"And you're an idiot for thinking they weren't gonna come for you." Wolverine told him dryly, and the group continued on until they reached a certain rooftop with a water tower, allowing them to come to a brief stop "Probably a stupid question Yoshi, but how are you feeling right about now?"
"I need… to rest… I must get the poison… out of my system…"
"Take it easy sensei, just drink some water." Mikey handed a flask of water to Splinter, allowing him to down its contents in a few gulps.
"I must… meditate… negate the effects of the poison…" Splinter slowly pulled himself onto his knees and got into a meditative position.
"Okay, I think he's in there deep now."
"Let him get some rest and recover his strength. You guys stick around and guard him just in case, I'll keep a lookout for the others." Ghost Spider leapt to her feet and rounded a corner… and immediately found herself face to face with Tiger Claw, Silver Samurai and the rest "Found them."
"Attack!" Tiger Claw gave the order, and the two groups charged at each other as the battle began, with two exceptions.
"So you chose to show yourself." Silver Samurai turned to face Wolverine as he drew his katana from its sheath "I have waited for this moment for many years Logan. Now the time has at last come for me to defeat you, and reclaim the honor you stole from me!"
"Honor? Bub, you don't know the first damn thing about honor." Wolverine ducked under a slash of Tiger Claw's sword and dealt him a sharp kick to the chest hard enough to make him lose his grip on it, allowing him to wield it himself "But if that's the way you wanna play it, how about I show you a thing or two? We do this old school, samurai style. No powers, just swords."
"You have nothing to teach. You are nothing more than a brute, an animal, and the moment shall come when your anger betrays you. And when that moment comes, I shall strike you own with my own katana."
"Big words Harada, makes a guy wonder if you're compensating for something."
"Gaijin filth!" Silver Samurai let out a primal roar as he charged at Wolverine and brought down katana, the blade clashing against Wolverine's own sword, and then he let another slash fly.
"Gaijin has its perks you know." Wolverine ducked under the slash and moved to strike with his own sword, only for it to be blocked, and for him to go on the defensive, until he found an opening and fended off Silver Samurai's sword, allowing him to point his own sword at the throat of his opponent "For starters, it means that I don't have to be a lackey to a freaking sociopath like Saki. To be honest, I figured you at least had enough pride to not fall for a shtick like that."
"Do not think so little of me, animalistic filth." Silver Samurai batted away Wolverine's sword with enough force to send him staggering back a few feet "I am not so honorless that I would ignore a debt that I owe to the likes of the Shredder, but I am far from another one of his mindless servants. I only agreed to do his bidding in his war against Hamato Yoshi so that I may have the opportunity to reclaim what you stole from me!"
"I can't steal what you never had to begin with." the only response Wolverine received was the Silver Samurai's scowl growing deeper.
"I know the eyes of my wife are on you Logan, they always have been. Once I defeat you, I will return to her in Japan and ensure that she pays for her impudence!" Silver Samurai brought his blade forward, clashing with Logan's sword several times and matching blow for blow, until he found an opening to land a blow, slashing Logan across the chest hard enough to send him skidding back a short distance, blood dripping from the new wound on his chest "Tell me, do you wish to know the truth Logan? The truth is that Mariko means nothing to me! I only married her so that you could not!" he let out a roar and leapt forward with his sword raised.
"You filthy piece of shit." Wolverine let out a snarl as he blocked Silver Samurai's strike, though the blow held enough force to push him down onto one knee "All you're proving is that you're a damn fool Harada, along with being a filthy coward. And this fight… ends now!" he batted away the Silver Samurai's blade and rushed forward, pushing him back with every strike, until one particular slash managed to knock his helmet off, along with drawing blood from his face, and he reached the edge of the rooftop, with Wolverine holding a blade to his throat "You wanna act like you got some kind of honor Harada? Well this is your last chance. Yield."
"You should know by now… that the Silver Samurai yields to no man!" Silver Samurai let out a roar as his eyes and blade began glowing blue, a single slash easily ripping through the blade of the sword Wolverine held, and then he rushed forward and began slashing wildly, with Wolverine being forced to go on the evasive, at least until one slash managed to cut his chest hard enough to send him hurtling backwards across the rooftop and leave another deep bloody gash "As I said before, you have nothing to teach me."
"And like I said, you don't know the first thing about honor." Wolverine spat out some blood to the side, but then shot his opponent a smirk "But I've got one thing you don't right now."
"The only thing you shall have, is death!" Silver Samurai let out another roar as he leapt into the air and raised his blade, preparing to strike Wolverine down.
"It's called backup."
"Booyakasha!" it was at this moment that Ghost Spider swung onto the scene and managed to meet Silver Samurai in mid-air, and managed to land a spin kick directly to his spleen with enough force to make him drop his sword, along with sending him hurtling through the night sky and to the street below a fair distance away, where he landed with a mighty crash.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Christ, it's even more disturbing when you get close." Eddie cringed as and the others stealthily made their way closer to the portal, watching as the Kraang struggled to pull the Kraathatrogon through "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I've got a few ideas." Donnie cast a look over at him "I don't suppose it involves me having to reverse the polarity of the portal?"
"Not you alone, I'm gonna be doing that too. You might be smart, but you're not the only one here with an understanding of science. My parents were scientists after all, and I used to work for the Connors as a lab assistant."
"So in short, you know what you're doing."
"Pretty much yeah. You and me go take down the portal, the other two will distract the Kraang and give us time to get shit done."
"In other words, go and fight while you tinker with the portal. I shouldn't be surprised by this, and yet here we are." Leo breathed a sigh as he gripped his katanas and leapt out of his hiding spot, instantly cutting down two Kraangdroids as he revealed himself "If you guys want me, then you'll have to come and get me!"
"It is the Turtle known as the Turtle." the Kraangdroids immediately turned their attention away from the portal and began firing at Leo and April, forcing them to go on the evasive to avoi the blaster fire.
Fortunately, this gave Eddie and Donnie time to sneak along the walls towards the portal to shut it down 'Yeah that's right you idiotic little monsters, give us a good reason to send you back to your dimension and turn you into bloody paste.'
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
"Well that… definitely happened." with the Silver Samurai dealt with, Ghost Spider made her way over to Wolverine and helped him to his feet "You okay?"
"I'm not dead, frankly that's about the same thing for me." Wolverine wiped away some of the blood and looked down to see Silver Samurai lying unconscious in the street "Yeah right, I'm the one that let my anger get the better of me. Pot meet pain in the ass silver kettle."
"So, what's going to happen to him now?"
"My guess, Shredder is gonna send some lackeys to pick him up or something, and then he'll probably run back to Japan with his tail between his legs. Speaking of which, nice work with the kick."
"Honestly, it felt more cathartic than it probably should've considering how things went when I fought him earlier. Anyway enough griping about that, we got other mutants to beat the crap out of. Speaking of which…" Wolverine looked over to see Casey, Raph and Mikey in the middle of fighting off Razhar and Xever, whipped around and summoned his claws just in time to cut through a net Tiger Claw fired at him from a blaster.
"Yeah I know, Spider Sense is going off." Ghost Spider whipped around just in time to avoid a slash of Karai's sword and leap onto the nearby water tower to gain some distance, only to then see both Razhar and Fishface try to pounce at her… but then they were stopped by a dark red and brown blur throwing both of them to the ground.
As it turns out, Splinter stood before their downed forms, back to full strength and with his gaze turning hard "I hope you are prepared, because now the time has come to end this."
"Sensei!" Mikey and Raph were quick to rush over to Splinter's side and hug him, but they broke off once they saw Karai and the others regrouping and preparing to attack.
"My sons, and our dearest friends, are you ready?"
"As if you had to ask! GOONGALA!" Casey was the first one to charge, using his metal hockey stick to fire a crimson ball at Fishface, detonating in a burst of flames on impact, and then the rest of the group charged as well, ready to end the battle once and for all.
'Okay, so far it's one down, but still four more to go.' Ghost Spider looked around at the battle unfolding on multiple areas of the roof, then her Spider Sense went off just in time for her to dodge another slash of Karai's sword and grab her by both of her wrists "Karai listen to me, none of us want to fight you anymore. Except maybe Raphael and Casey. But none of us are your real enemies."
"Yeah well here's the thing girlfriend, I still wanna fight you." Karai positioned herself to try and knee Ghost Spider in the stomach, only to be stopped both the ground beneath them shaking violently, causing Ghost Spider to lose her grip on Karai, and Karai herself to stumble and fall off the rooftop, but she was saved from falling by a shot of webbing pinning her to the wall by one of her arms, to which she shot a scowl up at Ghost Spider "Don't think this means I'm going to thank you or anything."
"I wouldn't dream of it.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
"Kraang, eliminate that which is known as-" the Kraangdroids' convoluted sentences were (mercifully) cut short by Leo and April managing to rip through one of them after another with their katanas and tessen respectively, sending the Kraang themselves scrambling away.
"Good thing for the henchmen being so incompetent." Eddie lept down onto the ground next to the portal and used a tenril to pull Donnie down with him, and then the two of them opened up the panel on the side… only to be less than pleased by what they found inside "Oh you gotta be shitting me."
"Okay, there's perplexing and then there's this." Donnie looked around the inside of the machine in slight disgust "Is that supposed to be some kind of flesh in there?"
"At this point, I learned to stop questioning it." Eddie quickly summoned a large piece of flesh in to a makeshift shield to protect them from a bit of blaster fire "Okay new plan, I can handle this thing if you go make sure your brother and girlfriend are okay."
"Actually she's not my- Okay fine. If nothing else I'll make sure they're alright, and maybe I can find a way to siphon some of the Mutagen from that machine." Donnie breathed a sigh as he drew his bo staff off his back and leapt.
'Good, now to figure out how the hell this thing works.' Eddie turned back to the machine and began to move a few smaller tendrils into the panel, carefully maneuevring around the circuitry and bits of flesh.
"Kraang, unleash that which is known as another Kraathatrogon." one Kraangdroid picked itself up off the ground and hit a button on a nearby control panel, subsequently releasing another Kraathatrogon from the machine and causing it to pounce towards the others.
"Get down!" Donnie managed to shove both Leo and April out of the way right before the worm could crush them as it hit the ground "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks for the save. I guess that makes us even" April breathed a sigh of relief as she looked up at the Kraathatrogon, and then her face lit up with realization "I think I just got a really crazy idea thanks to something Kurtzman said."
"Crazy good or crazy bad?"
"Depends on whether or not it works."
"...Okay, good enough for me." so with that in mind, Donnie let April pull him up onto the back of the Kraathatrogon, and quickly mowed down a Kraangdroid that was preparing to shoot Leo in the back "So far it looks like crazy good."
"More like crazy period." and yet Leo allowed himself to be pulled up onto the back of the worm along with them "Also very slimy."
"Yeah, I think we have to be used to that by this point. Now move it girl!" April pulled on the antenna, sending the Kraathatrogon hurtling forward and mowing down any Kraangdroid in their path "Now that's what I'm talking about, go worm go! We can distract the Kraang, do what you have to do Eddie!"
"What the fu-" Eddie was left in a bit of stupor as he watched the others ride the worm and mow down the remaining Kraangdroids 'You think you see everything, then more crazy shit happens right in front of you.'
"There is an endless amount of possibilities throughout all of existence, many of which we can make even better."
"Oh, so you're finally back. Does that mean we're back to full strength?"
"Not as of yet. We still require more time to recuperate from the vibrations and sound blaster used on us before."
"In that case, there's only one thing we can really do." and so Eddie got back to work on the panel of the portal, using his tendrils to fiddle with it in any way he could.
"There we go girl, now take us up to the surface!" once the remaining Kraangdroids had been taken care of, April and the Turtles ended up riding
"I haven't figured out how to stop them, but I know that the Kraang ride these puppies. You see the antenna on their head? They pull on them like you do the rings on a horse."
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Meanwhile, with the A plot…
"Wolverines vs tigers, I think we finally have an answer." Tiger Claw gave a smirk as he loomed over the downed form of Wolverine with both arms trapped in blocks of ice, and he prepared to fire a laser from his other blaster when…
"GOONGALA!" Casey leapt at Tiger Claw and backhanded him in the face with his metal stick hard enough to send him crashing to the ground below "Now that's what happens when you look down on Casey Jones."
"Word to the wise kid, tone it down on the showboating." Wolverine rolled his eyes as he leapt back to his feet, but then gave a smirk of approval "That being said, not too shabby."
"Damn right, there ain't nothing that can catch Casey Jones off guard!" Casey's smirk grew even wider… right before a loud crash got the attention of everyone present.
"WHOO HOO!" it was at this moment that April, Donnie and Leo burst up from within the ground on the back of the Kraathatrogon "Hey guys, get a load of this!"
"...Okay, nothing except that can catch Casey Jones off guard."
"Kore wa nani?!" Tiger Claw leapt back up onto the rooftop just in time to get a good long look at the Kraathatrogon, his expression turning to one of shock and horror "That creature… it comes from the world of the Kraang…"
"You know about those things?" Karai shot him a raised eyebrow from where she was still stuck to the side of the building.
"Those abominations are responsible for turning me into what I am now." with that thought in mind, Tiger Claw shot an almost livid glare down at her "You knew of their presence in this city, did you not?"
"Don't act so surprised, you had to hear about the whole Death Star thing that happened a few months back."
"And no doubt Master Shredder has made use of their presence in his own way?" Tiger Claw's gaze slowly hardened with fury "He has allied with them, has he not?"
"How could you possibly guess at that?"
"I know how that kind of man thinks. It is clear the Kraang have many enemies in this world, and the same can be said for the likes of the Shredder. I can imagine that he would find that they have common enemies and choose to use that to further his own goals, even if this world were to burn as a result?" Tiger Claw levelled his glare at Razhar and Xever, only to be met with silence from the two of them, to which he let out an animalistic snarl.
"So… is this the part where you automatically turn into a good guy or something?"
"Do not think me so simple child, but I will be having words with your father when we return to his headquarters."
"He's not gonna be happy about how this fight is turning out."
"Then that will make two of us." on that note, Tiger Claw activated his jet pack and flew off in the direction of Shredder's lair.
"So… he's just gonna leave us up here? Okay then, I guess."
"...He's not coming back is he?" Fishface looked over at the others.
"I doubt it. Either he's bailing on us and going AWOL or he's gonna confront my father and get his head mounted on a wall.
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Meanwhile, with the B plot…
'Okay so far so good, now I just have to reverse the polarity.' Eddie continued working on the portal, using his tendrils to fiddle with various wires and mechanisms within the panel, and eventually he managed to start the portal up, only to recoil slightly when the worm puke on him, but he quickly shook it off 'Okay that's disgusting, but not as annoying as trying to figure out why the hell this won't work!' he continued fiddling with the control panel and pulling out wires, and eventually he managed to get it to suck the large Kraathatrogon back into the portal, along with the others and all of the Kraangdroids present, while he himself dug his claws into the side of the portal to keep from being sucked in "Yes, now that right there is what we're talking about!"
"CRAP CRAP CRAP!" it was at this moment that the last Kraathatrogon came back down to get sucked into the portal… with April, Donnie and Leo being pulled towards it as well…
"...Oh yeah, we forgot about the rest of them." Eddie quickly used his free hand to launch a series of tendrils to grab onto the others, keeping them from getting sucked in before he ripped out a few more wires, causing the portal itself toclose and let all of them fall to the ground harmlessly "You guys okay?"
"Well we're not dead… so yeah, I can pretty much take that." April let out a groan as she pulled herself back to her feet, along with the others, and she quickly caught Eddie in a hug "You really did it Eddie, you just saved the city."
"Yeah… I guess I did. It hasn't totally sunk in to be honest."
"Maybe not, but it doesn't change what's what." Leo and Donnie stood back up and quickly caught Eddie in fist bumps "Listen Venom… Eddie. I don't care what anyone says, or what we've said about you in the past. As far as we're concerned now, you rule."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence- Wait, you guys say things about me?"
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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies above New York City.
"Hold up, are you serious?" Casey cast an unconvinced glance over at the others "You mean those freaky earthquakes were caused by a pack of freaking Titan-sized worms that lived under the sewers? That sounds freaking nuts, and that's coming from me."
"There isn't anything about our lives that isn't crazy, but I'm just stoked that you guys are back now." Mikey was quick to catch Leo, Donnie and April in a group hug.
All the while, Ghost Spider pulled her mask off to reveal the face of Gwen Stacy, and she made her way over to where Splinter stood at the edge "To be totally honest, I feel like that could've gone a lot better, but at least we won in the end. Pretty much thanks to you."
"I did what I had to do, but this was not my victory alone." Splinter glanced down at the hole in the street below with crowds and police gathered around it, including George casting them a quick glance beneath them, and then he looked back at the rest of the group "It was with the help of my family, we were all able to triumph today."
"Speaking of which, what are we going to do about Karai? I hate to say it, but I think it's pretty clear she's not exactly willing to listen to anything we have to say."
"Perhaps one day she will come to believe the truth, but that is her decision."
"Call it an old cliche if you want, but some people can't handle the truth." Wolverine took a quick sniff and glanced over to where Karai was hiding behind a nearby billboard "At least not for a good long while. Some stuff has to happen on its own. If she's gonna figure out what's what, she's gonna have to do it on her own terms."
"You speak the truth my friend. But for now, this victory is worth celebrating."
"Yes! Time for some Antonio's!" Mikey was quick to pull out his T-phone and start dialing the number.
All the while, Eddie watched the scene unfold from afar and gave a small smile 'Beat down the Kraang and saved a lot of lives… not too bad of a day if you ask me.'
"Even better. In our efforts to thwart the Kraang, we've gained the trust of the Spider's new allies. Once the Spider himself has been restored and their defenses have lowered themselves completely, we will take the moment to strike, and we will have the vengeance against him that we have waited so long for!"
"Yeah, vengeance… on Pete… right." Eddie's face fell slightly at the thought 'It's why we became Venom in the first place.'
"Hey Eddie, are you alright?"
"What?" Eddie snapped out of it and found Gwen looking at him with concern "Yeah I'm fine, just… thinking I guess. It's been a hell of a day."
"Tell me about it. I fought against a mutant samurai and got my butt kicked, not to mention that new assassin working for the Foot Clan."
"Assuming he's still working for the Foot." Wolverine muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"You saw how pissed he got when he saw the worm and found out about the Foot working with the Kraang before. Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling they ain't gonna be seeing eye to eye after this."
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Meanwhile, with the villains in question…
"USELESS FOOLS!" as one could imagine, Shredder was less than happy to hear about the recent failure, ripping through one Foot Bot after another in his throne room, only to stop when he registered another presence in the doorway "My men have proven to be useless once again, but even they know when to avoid me lest they feel my wrath."
"I think you'll find that I am not so similar to the rest of your men." Tiger Claw kept his cool as he made his way into the throne room, keeping his furious gaze locked onto Shredder "When did you intend to tell me that you had allied with the Kraang? You know of my history with them, of what they've done to me."
"I do not recall asking for your opinion on how I handle business matters, nor does it matter to me in any form."
"This goes far beyond business, you know that as well as I do. You know that the Kraang cannot be trusted, they care nothing for the human race."
"Nor do I. You should be aware of that."
"And what then? You would wait for the Kraang to sink their filthy tentacles into this entire world, to destroy all of humanity?"
"Watch your tone with me Tiger Claw. The Kraang are nothing more than a means to an end, and they will be disposed of when the time is right." Shredder spun around and locked his furious gaze onto Tiger Claw "However, what you feel of the matter means nothing to me. Less than nothing in fact. You are here to serve me, to serve the Foot Clan as I see fit. Do not forget your place, or you shall be disposed of as the others have. End of discussion."
"...Hm. I see." Tiger Claw's gaze turned neutral as he turned around "When I first saw the Foot Clan that you promised me, I was fairly disappointed. But now, I have come to understand just how deep the shadow of disgrace cast upon this clan runs. It is a cause that I no longer wish to be a part of."
"You would be wise to hold your tongue Tiger Claw. You are as aware as anyone of how the Foot Clan deals with traitors."
"I am aware. Such as you should be aware that when your forces come for me, I will NOT be holding back." and with that, Tiger Claw left the throne room, and the church building entirely, without another word, leaving Shredder to seeth in fury.
A/N:
Well here we are guys, officially halfway through the second season, and what a season it's been so far. Now Shredder is officially back in New York, and he brought a new mercenary in Tiger Claw… whose stint with the Foot Clan was actually quite short lived. Don't expect that to go the same way it did in canon, I've got ideas for how that's going to pan out. You'll see in the next coming chapters, so bear with me until then.
In addition to Tiger Claw, I chose to take the opportunity to introduce another new Japanese villain: the Silver Samurai, a mutant swordsman involved in his own feud with Wolverine. Frankly this shouldn't come as a surprise, given how I referenced the time Wolverine spent in Japan. And who knows, name other Japanese heroes or villains from Marvel and maybe I'll include them too.
Adding onto that, if the first part of this chapter is anything to go by, Black Cat will be out of the story, at least for the time being, along with Dr Morbius. Truth be told, when I first started planning this story, I had intended to introduce Morbius in the second season, but given everything else I have going on (and other things planned for the near future), I thought it would be too much to include him now. Don't worry though, he'll show up in due time.
Also, on a more somber note, I want to take a moment and acknowledge the tragedy that befell us all recently… the passing of Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball. We lost a legend today. But as was said by another legend taken from us too soon (Chadwick Boseman), death is not the end. They are still with us, so long as we don't forget them. Plus it's as the original end of DBZ Kai says: Live your life like a Kamehameha. And he did, no one can deny that. Now it's up to us to carry on the legacy he left behind.
