(De-Mutation Roulette)
Gamelover41592: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Superjoeyf721: Really? I didn't know that, but it does sound right for him.
Spectacular Webhead 11: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Harry will have a big part to play going forward… but whether it's good or bad remains to be seen. All I'll say is that I have A LOT going forward. I enjoyed bringing in Angel as Casey's sister, give him a little bit more depth. As for Peter, I won't spoil anything just yet.
Jebest4781: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Trust me when I say tha I have some pretty big plans for Harry when the time comes. As for the Casey plot, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And good job with keeping up with the order of episodes for TMNT. That might give you an idea of what's about to come.
TheIrishman1999: Pigeon, sparrow, you know what I mean. Though him meeting with Dr Strange might be fun, or even Mysterio. Anyway I'm glad to see you enjoyed the chapter, so thanks for that. Harry has become the Hobgoblin in the comics for the record, and I wanted to do something different rather than just make him the next Green Goblin. As for Liz, you'll see her again in due time, but it's still a ways away. Harry himself has a pretty big part to play, as does his… benefactor, so to speak. But you'll have to wait until the end of the season to see what I've got planned. Although regarding certain ideas and similarities to Amphibia… just keep those on the table for now. As far as Peter and Kirby go… you'll see.
XaralandoWyattWyatt: I don't know about MUCH more involved, but the X-Men will make an appearance in the future of this story, trust me. Some of them at least. And yeah, that is a good point about people mutated by the Mutagen. Xavier would definitely be willing to do something like that.
Godzillaboy2021: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it so much. Rhino and the Goblin Nation were fun villains to write about here. And yeah, while Silver Samurai was a fun villain to add in, he's definitely a loathsome piece of trash who wouldn't know honor if it slashed him across the face in the form of Wolverine's claws. As for Mariko, unfortunately some things just aren't meant to be.
Shakespeare RZA: Don't think the thought of making Harry a cold blooded sociopath didn't cross my mind, because it did. But I wanted to try and do something different than just make him a straight up villain that will end up rotting in a cell for the rest of his life. So no, he's not going to end up like most of the people on this list. As for number seven… keep it in mind, at least for the time being.
962: Gone but NEVER forgotten. We'll make sure of it.
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The night was far from calm, as a long awaited hunt was about to get underway.
"Yes, this is it… At last, the moment I have waited so long for…" Kraven let out a low growl as he studied the hulking figure of the Man-Spider before him in an abandoned warehouse, albeit while being forced to leap back to avoid a shot of acid being lobbed at him, and he dropped into a stance as he prepared to make his move.
"You…" Man-Spider suddenly let out a snarl, which took Kraven aback, but only slightly "You want me… Hunt me for sport…"
"Kraven is nothing if not sporting, but you are not the same as the rest of Kraven's prey. You made a fool of Kraven, and now the time has come for Kraven to bring this hunt to an end." on that note, Kraven leapt at the Man-Spider and attempted to slash at him with his claws, only to suddenly be caught by four of Man-Spider's arms, two of which began digging into Kraven's arm hard enough to draw blood, earning a low growl of pain before throwing him into a series of oil drums against the wall of the warehouse.
Man-Spider didn't hesitate in letting loose another lob of acid, hitting one of the oil drums dead center and causing it to go up in flames, along with several others around it, which caused the warehouse to be set ablaze as well.
"Yes, now this is what I wanted to see! The strength, the speed, the savagery! Show Kraven what kind of beast you truly are!" Kraven pounced along one of the walls to avoid the flames and tried to move around to attack Man-Spider from behind… only to be met with a webline sprouting from one of his arms and latching onto his face, before yanking him to the ground with a mighty crash.
"You hunt me like trophy… Hurt my friend… Hurt my love… Now you PAY! You hunt NO MORE!" Man-Spider let out a snarl as he advanced on Kraven's downed form, using two arms to grab him by the throat, slowly crushing it in his grip.
"The one to decide… when Kraven has hunted his last… is Kraven himself!" Kraven gritted his teeth as he let both set of his claws fly, slashing Man-Spider across the face and letting him howl in pain while Kraven himself leapt back and onto one of the walls of the warehouse, only to cast a glance around and see the building being engulfed in flames "Hm… It seems that our greatest hunt will be interrupted. Kraven fears that we will have to change locations if we want this to continue unimpeded." and so he leapt further up the wall towards the opening in the warehouse roof, clawing through the web cocoon Man-Spider attempted to trap him in, albeit with his claws struggling to rip through the material "But rest assured, you will be my greatest hunt. As for whether or not I will be your first… that remains to be seen." he leapt through the opening in the roof, with a livid Man-Spider shooting a wave of acid at him, only for him to escape.
"What the hell…?" on the ground below, a stocky man with balding black hair, clad in an orange jumpsuit with blue jeans, black gloves and boots, and a yellow construction hat (Garson Grunge) was able to see Kraven leap away across the rooftops… only to scream in terror when he looked up.
As it turns out, Man-Spider was able to tear through one of the walls of the warehouse, stopping to look at Grunge, but then he webbed a line and crawled away along it, disappearing into the night.
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Ever since Stockman was recruited back into the Foot Clan, Shredder was less than impressed by his contributions to the Foot Clan, particularly in regards to giving him his own mutant army to kill the Turtles. But rather than let Razhar maul him, Shredder had a better idea: he activated the mutagen collar locked around Stockman's neck, before leaving him behind as the mutagen was exploded all over him… just as a fly landed on his nose.
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Meanwhile, with the aftermath of the first hunt…
"Okay, I need you to slow down a bit for me." DeWolff knelt down in front of Grunge as the two of them relcoated themselves a short distance away from where the fire in the warehouse was being put out "What exactly did it look like?"
"It had ugly claws… like six of them I think." Grunge shuddered at the thought "It even had these shredded parts of Spider-Man's costume, like he got turned into that monster right out of Stranger Things!"
"Okay, as much as I get the thought process, that doesn't really narrow it down. And that's just before we get into god only knows what they've got planned for season 5."
"DeWolff, are you done with your composite sketch yet?" George made his way over to the two of them and was promptly handed the sketch in question "I see… Excuse me a moment, I need to make a call." he turned on his heel and walked back over to his police car, pulling his cell phone out as he did so 'Honestly Gwen, if there was ever a time part of me wishes you weren't involved in all of this, it would have to be now.'
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Meanwhile, with the heroes…
"He's giving us the rat eye, I think we gotta get started pulled himself to his feet, with Gwen still standing directly in front of him, clad in her Ghost Spider suit, albeit with numerous signs of stitching and sewing in her suit "You sure you're up for this?"
"The others out there won't rest, so I shouldn't either." Gwen crouched down and got into a certain stance, prompting Mikey to brandish his nunchucks "Go ahead and make the first move if you want."
"Alright." so Mikey took a breath and rushed forward, letting a few swings of his nunhcucks fly, only for Gwen to dodge and weave around them and kick his legs out from under him, leaving him to fall flat on the back of his shell, but he leapt back onto his feet and let a swing of one of his nunchcks fly, striking Gwen hard enough to send her staggering back, prompting Mikey to close in on her… only to stop when he saw her fall to one knee.
"Michelangelo." this was when Splinter drew his attention from where he was kneeling in front of the tree "You had your opponntat a disadvantage, but chose not to attack. Why?"
"Um… no reason sensei."
"I know the reason." Gwen wiped away some blood from her lip as she slowly pulled herself back to her feet "Don't hold back because you think I'm still too hurt to take it. Guys like the Foot or the Kraang won't hold back, and that means we have to be ready. Okay?"
"I just… alright." Mikey tightened his grip on his nunchucks and rushed at Gwen, forcing her to go on the evasive.
All the while, Leo and Raph were watching the scene unfold from the doorway of the dojo, both of them thinking the same thing 'Well damn.'
"Hey shell holes." this was when Logan made his way out of the kitchen with a single slice of pizza in hand "What's going on?"
"Keep quiet and you'll find out." Leo gestured to where Mikey and Gwen were continuing with their sparring match "They're going at it pretty hard, and frankly I'm kinda surprised Mikey lasted so long already."
"It ain't that hard to figure out why. The Arachnette hasn't finished healing yet, and she's been taking a lot of hits lately. First the Silver Samurai, now the lava kid and saving him and his sister from those Goblin Nation punks. At this rate she's basically turning herself into a giant living pin cushion."
"That explains why Mikey hasn't finished her off already. Plus he's always been pretty soft on her." Raph breathed a sigh "Not hard to see why though."
"Kinda surprising you're being so understanding about this. Don't you usually like to make him into a punching bag."
"Hey he's my little brother, that's all there is to it. Besides, who do you think was the one that found him after Parker got mutated? I saw how bad it shook him up."
"You guys mind? We're kind of in the middle of something." Gwen shot a familiar Look at the trio, causing them to take their leave, and then she continued fending off the series of attacks from Mikey, only to land on one leg that resulted in a small crack that forced her onto one knee, leaving her open for Mikey to land a roundhouse kick that sent her crashing to the ground "I… I give up."
"You okay?" Mikey quickly threw away his nunchucks and tried to help Gwen onto her feet, only to be met with another cracking sound, prompting Gwen to yelp in pain and Mikey to ease her down onto her knees "I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
"Don't worry about it, we're supposed to be training right? And you won fair and square."
"Pretty sure it's only cause you're still hurt."
"Maybe, but…"
"Then I suppose we shall have to fix this once more." Splinter made his way over to Gwen and knelt down next to her as he began forming a series of hand seals "Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." and his hands began glowing with white energy as he placed his palms down on Gwen's shoulders… which slowly caused most of her visible cuts and bruises to fade away, as if they were never there.
"What the shell?" Mikey quickly crouched down next to him "Did you just… Okay is it me, or did you just pull a Naruto?"
"This my son, is an ancient technique known as the Healing Hands, and it is not the first time that I have used it on our newest kunoichi in training."
"Wait, seriously?"
"He's been using it on me for awhile now, ever since the first time I fought Taskmaster. And for good reason." Gwen let out a chuckle as she rubbed her newly healed leg "If it wasn't for that, I would probably have more scars across my body than Baki."
"Wow… that's definitely convenient."
"Indeed." Splinter looked over to see that the others had left, then turned back to Mikey "Now, I ask that you not inform your brothers of this lesson just yet. I do not believe that they are ready for such a technique."
"Works for me. Wouldn't be the first time I had to keep stuff from them."
"Not really sure that's what you should be taking away from this." Gwen shot a raised eyebrow over at Mikey, then pulled herself to her feet and began stretching "So what's next?"
"I believe that should be enough for today." Splinter pulled himself to his feet, with Mikey doing the same "Use of the Healing Hands takes some time to spread to the rest of the body, so be sure not to push yourself to hard, at least for a few hours."
"Fair enough. In the meantime I'll head over to the lab, see if Donnie needs any help with his latest shot at the Retro-Mutagen or-" Gwen was cut short by the sound of cheering coming from the lab, which led to her and Mikey rushing inside to find Donnie jumping for joy "Should we be concerned by this?"
"Depends on whether or not you find this concerning." Donnie gave a wide grin as he held up a beaker full of orange liquid in triumph, just as Logan, Splinter and the others made their way into the lab "It's taken months but we finally did it, we created a working retro-mutagen!"
"Wait, are you serious? Like REALLY serious?"
"I haven't been more serious about anything since I learned about the death of Stephn Hawking, so yes. This is it, this is the key to turning both Mr O'Neil and Peter human again!" he turned to the new arrivals "And once we turn them back… we can do it for you too Master Splinter."
"To be… human once more?" Splinter was silent for a moment, but then his gaze hardened as he turned around "Focus on saving both April's father and Peter first, that is the highest priority at the moment. Only then will I… consider it." and then he promptly walked out of the lab without another word.
"Huh… I was expecting a little bit more enthusiasm."
"That ain't the sort of thing you just take without a second thought kid. Trust me, I get how he feels." Wolverine pointed out, then glanced at the retro-mutagen "So if any of you touched the stuff, then you'd just turn back into regular turtles?"
"That is essentially how it would work, yes. The thing is that we only have enough here for three different doses. One for Peter, one for April's dad, and one for Master Splinter."
"Assuming that he does want it." Leo frowned in thought "You should be able to make more of the stuff right?"
"Yeah, but the thing is that it took 10 canisters of regular mutagnen to create the three doses of retro-mutagen we have here, and we don't have any of them left."
"To be fair, a lot of that was trial and error." Gwen pointed out.
"True, but my point stands. We'd need to find more Mutagen canisters and who knows how long it would take after that." Donnie breathed a sigh, but then he turned back to April and gave her a hopeful smile "But it doesn't matter right now, because with this we finally have what it takes to turn your dad back to normal. As soon as we find him."
"I just… I don't know what to say, I'm just completely speechless! Thank you, thank so much for all of this Donnie! I swear you're the best!" April grabbed hold of him and gave him a LONG kiss on the cheek, which left him a babbling mess that face planted onto his lab desk.
Gwen on the other hand, just silently looked at the beaker of retro-mutagen, then turned her gaze towards Mikey and wrapped him in a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder "It took so long, but we finally got it… We can finally turn Peter back to normal…"
"Hate to be that guy here, but we gotta track either of them down before we can focus on the whole turning them human thing." Raph pointed out dryly, only to pause as his T-phone began buzzing, prompting him to pull it out "Lucky for you guys I know how to think ahead."
"You lost us at thinking." Donnie noted dryly as he pulled his head up, only to find it slammed back down onto the desk by Raph.
"Text from Daredevil and his new crew, apparently one of them Kirby Bat sucking on the neck of a billboard somewhere in Hell's Kitchen. No idea what that means, but we got a location so I say we work with it."
"Okay, so that's one down. We have to find Peter next, but how-" Gwen was cut off by the sound of her own cell phone ringing, to which she pulled it out and answered it "Hey dad. Wait, are you serious? Where? Wait, who? Oh no… thanks dad, we'll be over there soon. Love you too, see you later." then she hung up and turned to the others "I've got something."
"Let me guess, good news bad news deal?" Wolverine gave a raised eyebrow.
"The good news is apparently my dad and one of his officers caught sight of what looked like a giant spider monster in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Chinatown."
"And the bad news?"
"Apparently they also saw someone else heading that direction… it was Kraven." that was enough to make both Gwen and Mikey cringe.
"So we have to find Peter before Kraven does." Leo frowned in thought, then turned to face the whole group "I hate to say it, but if we're gonna get both of them in time then we might have to split up. Gwen, Donnie, April and I will go after Kirby Bat. Raph, Mikey, you and Wolverine go after Man-Spider and make sure Kraven doesn't get his hands on him. And remember to be careful, the last thing we want is to scare them."
"Got it." Mikey paused and pulled out his T-phone "Just making sure May is at work, we're gonna have to stop by her place first, pick up one of Pete's extra Spider-Man suits, some extra clothes, maybe see if he's got another mask lying around
"Why?" asked April.
"Because Pete's the one that got mutated, doesn't mean his clothes got mutated all the way. Leo said don't freak him out, pretty sure waking up after a couple months and seeing himself naked is gonna freak him out."
"...Oh yeah, good point." April cast a glance over at the others "We might need to make a quick stop by my dad's apartment and get some extra clothes for him."
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As a result of Shredder's punishment, Stockman had been transformed into a giant mutant fly and was miserable, moping about how he would never be taken seriously… until an idea came to him, to extract human DNA and combine it with his own, turning him human again, but far improved compared to how he was before. It was then that Razhar showed up with a group of Foot Bots, hoping to see the results of Stockman's mutation. Stockman hid within the shadows and took out the Foot Bots with ease, spitting acid on Razhar before making his escape.
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Meanwhile, with Hunter Group A…
"Even months after he vanished among the various other disappearances during the events of Mutation Day, the rumors and questions continue to circulate: Has Spider-Man truly mutated into some sort of giant Man-Spider? One can't help but wonder if there is a connection between Spider-Man himself, the mysterious disappearances that's been overtaking New York over the past year, and the rumors of a frightening Spider monster that's been spotted numerous times around the city."
"See, stuff like that is why I usually don't bother with the news. It's always the same, overly dramatic and desperate for attention." Nightwatcher rolled his eyes as he stuffed his T-phone back into his suit and cast a glance over at Turtle Titan and Wolverine as the three of them rode through the streets on their respective motorcycles "So it's pretty safe to say we didn't get there in time. What's our next move?"
"As much as I hate to say it, we could probably us an extra set of eyes." Wolverine let out a small growl "Maybe from the air."
"Meaning?"
"Probably gonna regret this, but one of us oughta call in the new guy." Wolverine pulled his cell phone out of his suit and dialed a number "Hey pumpkin kid. Yeah it's me. No it's not your girl, I ain't even back at the Institute yet. You wanna do more to prove your chops as far as this whole hero thing goes? Well here's your chance."
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Meanwhile, with the Hunter himself…
'Such a disappointment…' Kraven gave a scowl as he watched the fires in the distance being doused, and a hulking spider figure swinging away into the distance 'To think such a great hunt must be interrupted by forces of nature.'
"I had expected that I would find you somewhere close to here."
Kraven looked back to see Doc Ock standing on the rooftop behind him, with Electro, Vulture and Alistar Smythe standing close behind him "For one not trained in the ways of the hunt, your ability to track never ceases to impress Doctor."
"You are a master of your craft Kraven, whereas I am a master of mine. I'm sure that you're quite busy with, how did you put it?"
"Pursuing my destiny of the hunt and restoring the honor stolen from me."
"Ah yes. Of course, I do recall asking you to remain in our base. With other insidious forces on the rise, we have to gather all of the strength that we can. I'm sure you know this easily, but we cannot afford to lose you."
"Apologies doctor, but Kraven will not be lost so easily. And on a lesser level, Kraven hopes that the vanquishing of the Spider will make the pursuit of our goals that much easier. And if you should disagree with the hunt, keep in mind that you were the one who guided Kraven to target the Spider in the first place. Many of Kraven's actions up to this point have been of the doctor's design."
"A point I am well aware of, believe me. However, I believe that all of us are well aware by now that the Spider, either this one or the new female variant, cannot be disposed of so easily."
"One lesson that Kraven has learned all too well. However, come the end of the night, Kraven will have crushed the arachnid like the insect he is, along with those who wish to protect him or stand in Kraven's way."
"Hm." Doc Ock paused for a moment and shared a look with the others, then turned his gaze back over to Kraven "So be it. Given that this is your reason for being here to begin with, I will not stand in your way. This time. But keep in mind going forward, our focus must be on the greater picture, not petty personal grudges."
"Kraven will remember this." Kraven gave a smirk, then pounced off the rooftop and leapt into the New York skyline.
"I'm sure you will. One way or another. Now come my friends, we have much preparation to undergo. Let us return to our base."
There was a pause, and then Electro spoke up "You really think he's gonna do it Doc?"
"Don't misunderstand me Electro. If there's one thing I've learned in the various encounters we have had with Spider-Man, it's that if one thinks they have him where they want him… They're about to lose in a fashion more than likely to be degrading and painful. Kraven must learn this the hard way I'm afraid. Even if we told him this, I'm sure he won't listen. All we can do is wait for him to return and continue building our own warchest for when the time comes."
"That's another thing. You said you wanted to basically build up another Sinister Six, or go with something along those lines right? We've only got five so far."
"Believe me Electro, I'm well aware of that. But with others such as Tinkerer, Rhino, Mysterio and the like being drafted into the Goblin Nation and put under the boot of its ruler, building our forces has been… slower going than I would prefer."
"So what do we do then?"
"As a wise man once said, all good things to those who wait. We shall find our final member in due time. For now, let's return and make our preparations."
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Meanwhile, with Hunter Group B…
"There he is…" it didn't take long for April and the other Turtles, along with Ghost Spider, to track down Kirby Bat and found him sucking on the neck of a picture of a woman in the middle of a giant billboard, only to stop and go to sleep while hanging from the billboard, though she was still left dismayed at the sight "Oh god, dad…"
"Well if nothing else, we know that Daredevil's tip was right on the money." Gwen breathed a sigh as she pulled her Ghost Spider mask down over her face "April you should stay here, the last thing we want is to work him up or scare him."
"But I can help, I know how to calm him down."
"True, but from what I heard, you only figured that out the last time after he kidnapped you, took you to his nest and tried to feed you a bunch of dead rats covered in his slobber."
"...Oh yeah, good point."
"Yeah. Just keep those extra clothes on standby." Gwen webbed a line and swung her way across the street, with Leo and Donnie doing the same with their respective grappling hooks "So do we have a plan?"
"I've got a few ideas after how this went last time." Leo cast a glance over at the others, being sure to keep his voice low "Remember that we have to do this quick. Ghosty we have to make sure we don't let him escape, and Donnie make sure to use it on him fast."
"Right." the three of them slowly closed in on Kirby Bat as he slept, with Donnie preparing to inject him with the retro-mutagen, but Ghost Spider stopped in her tracks as a familiar sensation went off in her head "Wait a second."
"What is it?"
"My Spider Sense is going off… something's coming."
"Just hold it off so-" Donnie was cut short by a new presence blitzing past the group, startling him into dropping the injector he was holding and leaving it and the canister of retro-mutagen to clatter to the ground, which caused Kirby Bat to wake up and subsequently fly away "Mr O'Neil wait! Dammit!"
"I uh… think we have other problems right now." Ghost Spider points a finger directly above the group.
"Like what?"
"Sentimental human!" a certain hideous yet familiar insect figure (Stockman-Fly as he will now be known) was hovering direclty above the group, eyeing them with nothing but contempt "Give me the retro-mutagen now, and I may spare all of you!"
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me…" Leo muttered "Another mutant… and is it just me, or is there something kinda familiar about this one?"
"The retro-mutagen… belongs to me!" Stockman-Fly wasted no time in pouncing for the vial in a frenzy.
"Get your claws off that vial!" Donnie pounced for it in turn, grabbing hold of Stockman-Fly, with Leo and Ghost Spider quickly doing the same… only for the retro-mutagen to be sent flying during the skirmish, and hurtling towards the street below "NO!"
"I got it!" Ghost Spider leapt down and tried to latch onto the vial with a webline, only to miss at the last second, leaving the retro-mutagen to splatter all over the hood of a car.
"NO!" Stockman Fly let out an angry snarl at the sight of the retro-mutagen being lost, so he did the next best thing: blitz across the street to where April was on the other rooftop and snatch her up in his claws.
"Hey! Get the hell off of me you ugly germ farm!" April wasted no time in punching and kicking at Stockman Fly until he dropped her, only for him to pick her up again, with both arms bound this time.
"Silence girl! I won't tolerate your interference!"
"Wait a second." Leo paused and glanced at the rest of the group "I think I know who he is. Isn't that Derek Stockboy?"
"Baxter Stockman! Seriously, how hard is it to get my name right? Anyway, you will come to my lab and bring me more retro-mutagen, or the girl will mutate with me!" and then he flew away from the scene, taking April with him.
"April!" Donnie could only look on in horror at the sight of April being taken away, and then he glanced down at the splattered remains of the retro-mutagen.
"That uh… That really could've gone a lot better." Leo muttered, idly patting Donnie on the shoulder.
"Now we only have one vial of retro-mutagen left, who knows how long it's going to take to make more."
"Don't worry Donnie, we'll get her back and turn her dad human again." Ghost Spider patted him on the shoulder, then let out a sigh as she glanced up at the moon "Here's hoping Mikey and the others are fairing better than us."
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Meanwhile, with some of the bystanders…
'Honestly at this point, I find investors more terrifying than the prospect of the literal end of the world.' Martin Li breathed out some frustration through his nose as he made his way down the hall of the FEAST Center, only to stop at the doorway to a certain office, where he could plainly see May typing away at a computer "Alright, I think that's enough for one day. Iced coffee can only get us so far. I'm going to head home for the night."
"Hm?" May glanced up at him and rubbed her eyes slightly "Oh of course Martin, I can lock up here, don't worry."
"That's more meant to be a way of saying, you can go home now. Like I said you could two hours ago."
"I know, but I still have to fill out this spreadsheet and call the accountant and-" May was cut off by Martin gently gripping one of her shoulders.
"This isn't going to help May, believe me I know. And I can only imagine how hard things have been for you." Martin's gaze softened, albeit with a hint of firmness to it "But working yourself into the ground isn't going to fix everything. And I don't think that your nephew would want you to make yourself sick over this."
May said nothing, she just looked away at him and blinked away a few tears.
"I know. Believe me, I know how hard it can be. Come on, I'll take you home." Martin gently pulled May out of her chair and led her out of the office, shutting the door behind him just as the hall lights shut off… albeit with a small pulse of energy still lighting up the walkway in front of them, just enough for him to see, but not enough for May to notice.
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Meanwhile, with Hunter Group A…
"Here's hoping things work out better for us than they do for them." Raph stowed his T-phone away and glanced over at Turtle Titan and Wolverine "Short version, Dorkster Stockhole got turned into a giant mutant fly and kidnapped April and apparently he's holding her for ransom in exchange for the retro-mutagen."
"Do they need us to break off and help?" Turtle Titan looked slightly panicked "But Pete is still out there and-"
"Cool it Mikey, they called Casey to help out and they're splitting up to save her and track down her dad. The biggest issue Donnie has with it, aside from the whole kidnapping thing, is that his plan to turn Splinter human with the last retro-mutagen went right down the crapper."
"It was pretty much in there to begin with. Knowing how Yoshi is, he probably would've said no to begin with." Wolverine paused and gave a sniff of the air "Anyway look alive you two, we've got incoming."
"Good or bad?"
"Depends on how things work out tonight. Anyway look alive, we've got a literal goblin coming in right about now."
Sure enough, it was at this moment that the orange and blue figure of the Hobgoblin flew onto the scene and stepped off his glider "Okay I got your message, you said we had to stab a giant Thundercat?"
"That's the short version. One of these guys are gonna give you more details."
"Okay." Hobgoblin turned towards Turtle Titan and Nightwatcher, the former in particular as he lifted up his facplace, revealing the face of Harry Osborn "So… hey. Been awhile."
"Yeah. A lot's gone down without a doubt." Turtle Titan cringed slightly at the awkwardness, then looked Harry over for a moment "Not gonna lie man, you look pretty different from the last time I saw you."
"What can I say, a lot's gone down in the past few months. But I know you guys need help with something about Spi- I mean Pe- Uh…"
"You already know and so do they." Wolverine told him flatly.
"Got it. I'm here to help out with Pete."
"Oh. Guess that cat's out of the bag, okay I guess." Turtle Titan shared a look with Nightwatcher, but quickly shook it off as he pulled out the vial of retro-mutagen "Pete's been stuck as that giant Man-Spider for like two months. One of my bros finally managed to make a retro-mutagen that we can use to turn him back, but we gotta find him and keep him still to turn him back. It ain't gonna be easy, especially when that giant cat dude Kraven is hunting him."
"Yeah, the wolf guy over there mentioned that. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure this suit and all its tricks can fight him off. I think. I guess we're about to find out."
"Works for me."
"Has to work for someone I guess." Nightwatcher shot a glare at Harry from under his mask and pulled Turtle Titan aside "You seriously cool with trusting this guy? We don't know anything about him, not to mention being the son of the Green Goblin. We've heard enough about what that psychopath was capable of."
"Yeah I get it man, I do. But it's like with Venom, Gwen trusts him so I'm up for at least giving him a shot."
"...Fine, but if this goes south, I get bragging rights."
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Meanwhile, with Hunter Group B…
"Okay, we've got one vial of retro-mutagen left." Donnie made his way out of the lab and into the living room to find Leo practicing a series of Katas and Gwen placing a new cartridge of web fluid into her web shooters "That means we only have one shot left to turn April's dad human again… and it means I can't do it Splinter."
"I know Donnie, and I'm not thrilled about taking the chance from him either." Leo broke off from his stance as his gaze softened "But curing Peter and Mr O'Neil is the most important thing to do right now. Sensei understands that as well as any of us."
"And rescuing April."
"Of course, it's why we called in the backup."
"Goongala!" this was when Casey made his way into the Lair, clad in his face paint and armed with all of the metal hockey sticks he could carry "So give me the name of the mutated freak that kidnapped April, and tell me where to go so I can break this over his skull."
"It's a long story Casey, but we need your help for this big time. And yes you'll get the chance to beat someone over the head with your stick, probably more than once."
"Now you're speaking my language."
"Good now pay attention, because we're gonna have to split up. Donnie, Casey and I are going to Stockman's lab to rescue April, while Gwen is going to track down Mr O'Neil, see if she can keep him in place or even capture him. And remember guys, be careful. We don't want any of them scared or hurt.
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Having been taken by Stockman to his usual lab, April tried to get herself out of being harmed by telling him that Donnie and the others could make another retro-mutagen. Stockman was quick to refuse, and instead planned to perform a series of experiments on April, not unlike what the Kraang would do to do her.
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Meanwhile, with one of the hunted…
At the same time, the Man-Spider was wandering along the rooftops in New York, his mind being dragged in numerous different directions, flashes of memories appearing before his eyes and driving him, until he came across a familiar location: Midtown High. He made his way through one of the windows and into the science lab, stopping as more memories flashed through his mind, causing him to let out a roar of pain.
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Meanwhile, out in the halls…
"Okay so refresh my memory." Flash glanced over at the asian girl with long hair (Sha Shan Nguyen) walking next to him "I'm all for the rehearsal stuff and all that, but why the hell are we doing at school at freaking midnight?"
"Beleive me, I'm not any more thrilled about it than you are." Sha Shan breathed a sigh "But you can thank Mary Jane for coming up with the late night rehearsal idea, the only way we can do it without, in her words, the teachers trying to dictate how we breathe."
"Still no idea what the hell that means."
"Well to put in a way that I think she's trying to get across, acting is a sort of art, and being an artist means having the freedom to explore and find what works and what doesn't. And these days, there's way too much that teachers and faculty frown upon."
"I've been saying people get jacked up way too easily these days."
"You also say that- Wait." Sha Shan cut herself short as they rounded a corner, and she stopped in her tracks, prompting Flash to do the same "Do you see that?"
"See what?"
"That, right there." she pointed to a shadowy figure of a spider looming in the doorway of the science lab.
"Okay, that's all kinds of creepy BS just waiting to happen. Wait here." Flash grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall bracket nearby and carefully made his way along the wall towards the lab, bursting through the door with extinguisher in hand… only to find that there was nothing there "New plan, tone down the creepy and tone up the BS."
"That's… definitely strange, to say the least." Sha Shan frowned as she made her way into the room behind Flash "You did see that too right?"
"Yeah, but… Nah you know what, it's probably just one of those things where you put it up on a light and it looks way bigger. Shadow puppet stuff and all. I'd know, I used to do that all the time to scare kids."
"Uh huh…" Sha Shan cast an unimpressed look in Flash's direction, but it quickly melted away as she made her way over to the window sill, and found a patch of webbing stuck on it, which led the two of them to share a look 'Okay, now we definitely know something was here. What's going on around here?'
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Meanwhile, back with the hunted…
Following his departure from Midtown, Man-Spider once again swung along the rooftops of New York, albeit stopping for a moment when he looked down and saw a woman with long blonde hair walking along the sidewalk, which caused images of Gwen to flash before his six eyes. He webbed a line and moved to jump down in front of her, but stopped himself, and then he continued on his way, climbing along the wall of a higher skyscraper… but stopped before reaching the top as a familiar sensation rang through his head.
"At last you find me Spider. Kraven has been waiting for the hunt to resume." who should be looming over him but Kraven, lying in wait for him, and then he made his move. He pounced towards Man-Spider, dodging a lob of acid being spat at him and chasing after him as he tried to swing away, and then he leapt after him with a burst of primal strength.
Man-Spider let out a snarl as he prepared pounce at Kraven, only to suddenly find himself on the ground, bound by a set of bolas wrapped around his numerous limbs, despite his attempts to free himself.
"You waste your efforts. These bolas are made to be stronger than steel. Without the strength of your mind, even you are helpless to free yourself. And now is the time iKraven's greatest hunt comes to its conclusion." Kraven slowly made his way towards Man-Spider with both of his claws barred "This is what Kraven has lived for so many years. To tame the strongest of beasts and show them, and the world at large, why Kraven is the greatest hunter there is. But fear not of your death, for you will prove to be Kraven's greatest trophy." he prepared to bring his claws down… only to be stopped by a flash blitzing past him, leaving a series of bleeding gashes across his chest that sent him hurtling off the rooftop, but he rebounded by digging his claws into the wall and launching himself back up onto the rooftop "Who dares attempt to attack Kraven while his back is turned?"
"Give you one guess Whiskers." it was at this moment that Turtle Titan and Nightwatcher leapt down onto the scene, with Wolverine and Hobgoblin close behind him, though they turned their attention over to freeing Man-Spider "You're looking at them right here."
"Kraven recognizes your scent… the reptile that interfered with Kraven's hunt the last time we met."
"You were under mind control, I figured you would've been glad we yanked that thing out of your neck"
"A hunt is a hunt, to have it ended prematurely is without honor. So Kraven shall hunt the two of you in return!" Kraven pounced at the two of them, forcing them to break off in two different directions, but he caught Nightwatcher by the leg and hurled him into Turtle Titan, sending the two of them crashing onto another rooftop.
"Yeah well, imagine what we're gonna do with the freaking rug we're gonna make out of you when this is over." Nightwatcher pulled himself back to his feet, with Turtle Titan doing the same, and he shot a glare at Kraven "Seriously though, what the hell is your deal? You look like something Winny the Pooh just crapped out."
"To vanquish a foe such as the Spider, Kraven chose to understand what gave him such strength, but with the difference that Kraven pay for highr class of DNA."
"You actually paid to make yourself look like a Furry? Dude, you've got issues."
"What Kraven has is a hunt to settle, and now with the power to do so."
"Yeah, to look like a freaking Thundrcat!" Turtle Titan rebounded and quickly wrapped his kusarigama chain around Kraven's arm, only to find himself yanked forward and sent crashing into Nightwatcher, leaving both of them sprawled out on the rooftop.
"It is far more than just how Kraven looks reptile. Now Kraven is able to climb and leap like leopard, run fast as cheetah, and possess strength of lion."
"Well guess what whiskers, none of those are fire proof!" Hobgoblin leapt down from the other rooftop and tried to bring his flaming sword down on Kraven… only for it to be knocked out of his hand and for him to be sent crashing into a wall with claw marks in the front of his suit.
"Kraven knows of you as well young Goblin. You are young and strong, but naive. You lack true experienc in the field of battle. That is why your weapons give you no advantage, and Kraven will claim you as another trophy!"
"Yah well funny thing about that big guy. You see a hunter…" another flash blitzed past Kraven in the form of Wolverine, leaving bloody gash marks and hurling him off the rooftop, sending him crashing to the ground on the street below "All I see is another goddamn Furry going after a big score to try and fuel his own screaming ego." with that in mind, he made his way over to the others "You good?"
"We're not dead, I'm counting that as a win." Nightwatcher let out a groan as he pulled himself to his feet, but paused as he noticed the burn marks along Wolverine's face "And what the shell happened to you?"
"Turns out that when your buddy looks like that, he ain't exactly big on saying thanks in any way that doesn't involve shooting acid at a guy. Hit me right in the eyes."
"But you can still see?"
"Healing factor remember? Anyway I already got his scene, let's see if we can go track him down before Whiskers down there tries to get ahold of him again. You guys can give him that miracle cure or whatever once we find him."
"What about you?" asked Turtle Titan.
"I'm gonna take down that hunter wannabe over there myself." Wolverine paused and looked over the edge of the roof to see an empty crater below them "As soon as he shows his face to us again."
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Meanwhile, with another spider-based party (of sorts)…
"That which is known as, ouch…" amidst the wreckage of a Kraang lab (or what was left of it anyway), one of the damaged Kraangdroids (having been liberated of his legs) made his way over to where the only other survivor "Kraang must be notified that the one hosting that which is known as the Symbiote has destroyed yet another of Kraang's research labs and hindered Kraang's invasion plans for that which is known as-"
"Yeah, quick word to the wise on your parts you little monsters." from within the shadows emerged the hulking form of Venom, his giant tongue trailing down his chain as he eyed the two surviving Kraang with pure hatred "You'll get to tell the rest of them soon enough… as soon as they join you in hell!" he moved to devour the two of them, only to be stopped by a webline suddenly latching onto his giant hulking arm, prompting him to turn around… and he was a bit taken aback by the source "Well what do we have here?"
Sure enough, the Man-Spider was latched onto the other end of the webline, all six of his eyes narrowing at the sight of Venom, which turned into glowering once the webline in question was cut, prompting him to pounce at Venom in an attempt to tackle him to the ground.
"Bigger and uglier, it doesn't make a difference. We're poison to either part of you, or did you forget that little detail, bro?" Venom dug both of his claws into the Man-Spider's waist and subsequently threw him through a wall, sending him crashing out of the building and onto a nearby rooftop.
A moment passed before the Man-Spider picked himself up, shooting another glare at Venom, before he fired another webline and disappeared into the night.
"...Huh. Well that happened." Venom watched Man-Spider depart from the scene before his hulking black mass disappeared, revealing the form of Eddie Brock underneath as he leapt out the window and landed on the ground 'Gwen wasn't kidding around I guess. He really did get turned into a mutant.'
"It does nothing to earn him sympathy. All those abominations did was make him look like the hideous creature that we already know him to be."
"I thought we agreed that the Kraang had to be dealt with first. They're the ones that actively ruined our lives."
"And yet Parker did not? Do not forget what he's done to you, to us! Everything that we have endured, because of him! This is why we exist, to get revenge on him for every last one of his wrongdoings!"
"Yeah, I… I know."
"Do you? Because we know that your hatred has diminished as of late. We know everything that you think and feel Do not forget what our purpose is. Why we exist."
"I know. And I won't." Eddie glanced out at the retreating form of Man-Spider, and his face fell slightly before it was enveloped in the hulking mass that was Venom.
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At the same time, Stockman Fly had April suspended over at tank of Mutagen, preparing to drop her in and go in after her, where they would come apart and come back together as one, restoring his humanity. It was around this time that Leo, Donnie and Casey snuck into the lab, only for their cover to quickly be blown (give you one guess whose fault that was), alerting Stockman Fly to their presence, prompting him to shoot a lob of acid at the rope holding April as he began to fight off the group, doing surprisingly well with his new abilities and enhanced strength.
Eventually the rope holding April snapped just as Donnie was able to reach her… but his grip just missed the rope, leaving April to fall into the Mutagen. However, the shocking part was that she crawled out of the tanker a few minutes later, completely unharmed, leaving the group to the realization that she was immune to mutagen. It wasn't long after this that they received the alert about Kirby Bat's location… and then things got even more complicated when Razhar showed up with a squad of Foot Bots, wanting the retro-mutagen for himself. Eventually the group was able to escape from the warehouse with the retro-mutagen in hand, with Stockman chasing after them, and Razhar sending the Foot Bots after all of them.
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Meanwhile, with the hunted…
As he continued making his way across the roofrtops of New York, it didn't take very long for the Man-Spider to realize that he was being tracked again, to which he let out a roar and leapt at the pursuer before it could strike.
"You strike first, and yet all Kraven smells of you is fear." Kraven gave a smirk as he ducked under the strike of the Man-Spider and slashed at him with his claws, causing him to roar in pain as he was sent tumbling backwards, with Kraven moving in to land another blow, until…
"HEY!" in another familiar move, a figure blitzed acrossed Kraven fast enough to blow him off his feet and leave a series of bloody gashes on his chest, courtesy of Wolverine as he loomed over Kraven with his claws barred "If it's a hunt you're looking for, try someone that ain't afraid of gouging out your eyes."
"You again? Yes, Kraven has a good understanding of you… You look of a man, but sense and smell of a beast… Kraven will enjoy this one, before returning to the Spider." Kraven gave a smirk as he pounced at Wolverine with enough speed to slash him across the chest and send him flying off the building they were on, leaving him to crash land on another rooftop, with Kraven wasting no time in chasing after him.
With the two of them gone, the Man-Spider picked himself up just in time to find himself being confronted by three more figures… and his gaze locked squarely on the goblin figure hovering on a glider, to which he let out an animalistic roar.
"Take it easy Pete, we just wanna help-" Turtle Titan didn't get to say a word before Man-Spider blitzed past them fast enough to blow him and Nightwatcher right off their feet, with Man-Spider grabbing Hobgoblin in two of his claws and hurling him to the ground with a bang.
"Hey wait wait, I don't wanna-" Hobgoblin's protests were cut short as Man-Spider pinned him down before he could use his flame sword or any projectile weapons, and he soon found himself encased in a thick cocoon of webbing before being slung over the Man-Spider's shoulder and dragged away.
"...Well that could've gon better." Nightwatcher was the first one to pick himself up and then unceremoniously yanked Turtle Titan back onto his feet "Come on, let's go get him before he gets turned into an egg sack or something.
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Meanwhile, with the battle between hunters…
'Okay, so the Tigger knockoff hits pretty hard. Good to know.' Wolverine let out a groan as he pulled himself back to his feet and cracked his neck, just in time for Kraven to drop down in front of him "Fine then Tony, you wanna do this? Let's do this. Go ahead and come at me, see how that works out for you." he summoned his claws from within his knuckles "Spoiler alert, it ain't gonna last long."
"On that, Kraven can agree." Kraven gave a smirk as he blitzed towards Wolverine at full speed, leaving a series of claw marks on his chest and sending him flying into a water tower on another nearby rooftop, with it being shattered into pieces on impact and washing Wolverine away onto another rooftop, while Kraven chased after him to launch a follow up attack.
"So you hit hard and fast. Not bad, but not good enough." Wolverine rebounded from the tidal wave in time to meet Kraven's next attack with one of his own, the two of them slashing away at each other with their respective claws, though this quickly came to an end when Kraven grabbed hold of Wolverine by the leg and threw him hard enough to send him hurtling off the building, leaving him to hit the ground in a nearby park with an audible bang.
Of course Kraven wasted no time in chasing after him, leaping to the ground in the park and casting a few looks around, along with sniffing the air, only to find no sign of Wolverine's presence "So you hide yourself and mask your scent…"
"Word to the wise bub, if you're tracking a scent then try keeping your opponent away from a water tower."
Kraven whipped around at the sound of the voice, only a bit too late, which led to Wolverine's claws being stabbed into his back repeatedly, causing him to roar in agony. When his attempts to pull Wolverine off of him failed, he smashed Wolverine against the side of a nearby building to try and get him off, to no avail, so he resorted to the next best thing: grabbing two boulders and smashing them against Wolverine's back. Or trying to anyway.
"Yeah yeah, get me off so you can smash me. Dude I've fought the Hulk, you don't have a damn thing on him." Wolverine leapt off of Kraven's back before the boulders could strike him, while also dodging the few smaller boulders being hurled at him as well as the slashes of Kraven's claws "And you sure as hell ain't the strongest there is. But since you ain't learning the same way as him, let's try and do things my way." so he leapt onto Kraven's chest with his claws barred and began slashing away at Kraven's face, before embedding them into Kraven's chest, leaving it stained red and Kraven screaming in pain. He leapt off to gain some distance, then ran at Kraven and leapt over his head, leaving gashes and claw marks along his shoulders and collar bone as he did so, before leaving a few more slashes along his back and torso that eventually managed to bring Kraven to his knees, both of them panting heavily as a result "The thing to remember with me… is that I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do… it sure as hell ain't very nice." he paused and took a sniff of the air, then gave a scowl as he cast a look into the distance and saw Man-Spider swinging across the skies with a cocooned figure in hand, and two others chasing after him "And now that's a thing, great. Now I gotta go make sure the rest of them don't get turned into an egg sack or something." and so he took off running.
"Filthy weasel…" Kraven coughed up a considerable amount of blood as he began slowly crawling forward "I'm not done… not yet… Kraven will prevail… over the Spider… and over the Wolverine… You will both tremble at Kraven's feet… And then you shall know… Who the true greatest hunter is…" and then he finally passed out from his wounds.
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Meanwhile, with the main hunter team…
'Come on, come on! Why the hell is the super strength never kicking in when you need it?' now being hung upside down, Hobgoblin struggled to free himself from as he remained bound by his web cocoon
'Come on, come on! Why the hell is the super strength never kicking in when you need it?' still bound by his web cocoon, Hobgoblin struggled to free himself from as he remained suspended upside down, until the sound of a quick slash led to him falling to the ground, and then another quick slash cut open the cocoon and led to his mask being pulled off, revealing the face of Harry Osborn "What the-"
"Shut up and keep your voice down." Turtle Titan gently pulled Harry to his feet and pointed to where Nightwatcher was cutting the rest of him fre "You okay?"
"Blood rushing to my head and I feel like I got tossed around like a sack of raw meat… So you know, feels like another day of high school." Harry took back his Hobgoblin mask and placed it over his face, then pushd a button on the wrist of his suit, and the three of them started making their way towards the exit, though they didn't get far before Hobgoblin noticed the hilt of his sword hanging from the web and reached to grab it.
"Wait no, don't!" Nightwatcher's warning went unheard Hobgoblin pulled his hilt off the web with a loud ripping noise "You idiot!"
"What? He had my sword, what's the big deal."
"You just screwed with the web, now he's gonna-" Nightwatcher didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before Man-Spider leapt down onto the scene and backhanded him hard enough to send him crashing to the ground, and once it started looming over him…
"Booyakasha!" Turtle Titan wasted no time in pouncing on the Man-Spider and wrapping both of his kusarigama chains around him, binding him in place long enough for Nightwatcher to hurl a single smoke bomb at Man-Spider, causing him to howl in pain and leave him disoriented just long enough for a certain object to come crashing through the wall of the building, in the form of the Hobgoblin's glider, which opened up a compartment below and revealed a large projectile cannon "Anyone got a plan? Super spider strength and all that, my chains ain't gonna hold him for that long!"
"I've got one idea. And depending on how it works, a little bit of payback!" Hobgoblin ripped the cannon off of the glider and shot a single projectile at Man-Spider, blowing him back and encasing him in a green adhesive, which quickly hardened around him and left him trapped on the ground.
"Okay, so that works I guess." Nightwatcher let out a pained groan as he pulled himself back to his feet "So what the shell is that stuff?"
"Came out of something called the Gobweb Inhibitor. No idea why my dad made it, but knowing him he probably tried to recreate the webs that the Spiders uses and this is the best result he was able to get. Looks like it works well enough though. So you guys mentioned having a cure for him right?"
"Yep, I got it right here." Turtle Titan pulled the vial of retro-mutagen out from his suit "My big bro Donnie already gave me the heads up on what we gotta do. Keep him on the ground, we need him to stay still if this is gonna work."
"Right." Hobgoblin knelt down and pinned Man-Spider on one side, with Nightwatcher doing the same on the other side.
"Okay, hang tight Pete, here goes nothing…" Turtle Titan held his breath as he opened up the vial and carefully poured the contents over the Man-Spider's back. A moment passed without anything happening… but then they watched as the extra arms receded back into his side "Wait, is it… I think it's working!
"So… should we cover him up or something? Pretty sure his clothes got wrecked because of all of that?"
"I already got that covered, just hang tight." Turtle Titan quickly removed his cowl, revealing the face of Michelangelo, and he draped it over Man-Spider's body as more of his animalistic traits continued to disappear. Once the transformation seemed to subside, Mikey knelt down in front of the figure "Okay, one way to know for sure if it worked… Pete? You there bro?"
"Mikey…" a low groan erupted as the figure slowly removed the cloak covering him… revealing the face of Peter Parker, fully human "Oh god, my head… What the hell is-" he didn't get to finish before Mikey tackled him to the ground in a hug "Okay, ow ow ow…"
"Sorry, it's just… really good to have you back bro. So… how are you feeling?"
"Honestly, like my head is pounding like it's freaking Cinco de Mayo. Next thing you know I'm about to look up and see a Goblin right in front of me." Peter looked up and his gaze quickly fell on Nightwatcher… and then on Hobgoblin, leading him to pounce on him in a burst of strength and speed and pin him to the ground.
"Easy Pete, just take it easy! We're friends here!" Hobgoblin managed to throw Peter off of him long enough to take off his mask, revealing the face of Harry Osborn "It's just me."
"Harry…? Okay, now the first thing I wanna say is, what the fu-"
"It's okay bro, we're buddies here." Mikey patted him on the shoulder "He actually helped us find you and turn you back. He's one of the good ones."
"Really…?" Peter looked at Harry, then at Mikey… and then his gaze fell onto Nightwatcher after a moment "Still looking for an explanation for that one."
"That's just Raph, he went through some stuff, tell you later."
"...I missed out on a lot didn't I?"
"You were gone for like two months, you don't know the half of it." Nightwatcher rolled his eyes as he lifted up his mask, revealing the face of Raphael, and then he pulled out his T-phone "Got a text from Leo, apparently they found Kirby Bat but the Foot is screwing things up for them like they usually do."
"Okay first question, Kirby what now?"
"Oh yeah, after you got mutated I found out April's dad did too." Mikey cringed at the memory of that incident "Anyway we got another retro-mutagen, the others are off trying to catch him so they can turn him back. If you wanna go ahead and take a breather, we got this."
"Take a breather huh…?" Peter slowly pulled himself back onto his feet "Remember the whole speech from my Uncle Ben? Great power, great responsibility and all that?"
"Figured you were gonna say that kid." this was when Wolverine (covered in claw marks and dry blood) made his way onto the scene and threw a few things at Peter's feet namely a fresh suit and mask for him "Why do ya think the Batman knockoff over here wanted to stop by your place and got these things?"
"...I'm gonna need some mor info with this one."
"Friend of Splinter, long story. We'll tell you later." Mikey assured him.
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Meanwhile, with Hunter Group B…
"For the love of god you guys, move the freaking wheels on this thing!" Casey and the rest of the group made their way through the streets as fast as they could, though this did little in their effort to get Stockman Fly "He's gaining on us, do something already!"
"Way ahead of you, let's see how he likes a taste of our garbage cannon!" Donnie pushed a button on his control panel and activated the garbage cannon… and then they looked through the camera feed to see the results.
"And he's eating it."
"I can see that!"
"Will you two quiet down, I need to concentrate!" April placed a palm to her temple, and then her gaze snapped towards Leo "Take a right!"
"On it!" Leo steered the Shellraiser hard to the right "Where to now?"
"Now go left, dad is this way!"
"Remind me again how you know this?"
"I just do, remember that I get a certain feeling about things! Now move faster Leo, and take another right!"
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Meanwhile, with the other bat hunter…
'Remind me again why I agreed to turn myself into bait for a giant bat?!' Ghost Spider was less than thrilled as she swung her way across the skyline of New York with Kirby Bat trailing close behind her, until the sound of a phone ringing led her to tap her ear piece "Guys?"
"We're still trying to lose Stockman Fly but we're on our way, closing in on your position. How are things on your end?"
"I'm about to trap him, right about NOW!" with one particular webline, Ghost Spider leapt over the head of Kirby Bat and pulled out a small device from her suit, that being a web bomb, which she promtply hurled at Kirby Bat right before it detonated, encasing him in a thick cocoon of webbing, resulting in him hurtling downwards and crashing onto a nearby rooftop, with Ghost Spider landing a short distance away from him "Okay, that could've gone worse. Hang on a sec you guys, I'll just web him up and bring him to-"
"Wait!" it was at this moment that April climbed her way up onto the rooftop, with Donnie and the others right behind her.
"April, are you okay?"
"I'll be better if you give me a second to talk to him." with that said, April slowly made her way over to Kirby Bat and knelt down in front of him "Stay calm dad, we're here to help you, but I need you to calm down. Okay?" she gently rubbed his head, causing him to nuzzle up against her chest.
"Sorry this took as long as it did Mr O'Neil, but a quick spray of retro-mutagen on your skin and you'll be good as new." Donnie made his way towards Kirby with the vial of retro-mutagen in his hand… only to suddenly find it swiped out of his hand "What the-?!"
"Yes!" as it turns out, Stockman Fly got ahold of the vial for himself "I have it, at long last the retro-mutagen belongs to me!"
"Oh come on! Are you kidding me?! We're doing this again?"
"And if the Spider Sense is any indication, we have other problems." Ghost Spider directed their attention to where a group of Foot Bots were gliding overhead "Apparently the Foot Bots can fly now. I think we need to put a pin in this now."
"Way ahead of you, now let's move. Also see if you can keep one of them intact, I wanna see if I can reverse engineer the gliding tech." Donnie moved to chase after Leo as they prepared to pounce on the Foot Bots, though he paused when he noticed Ghost Spider giving him the Look underneath her mask "What, the glider tech is phenomenal. You can't tell me you didn't think of that yourself."
"Of course I thought of it, I just had the decency not to say it out loud. Alright come on, let's go get the vial back."
"Right, April stay here with Casey and keep an eye on your dad." so Donnie launched a line from his grappling hook and swung off after Stockman Fly and the Foot Bots.
"I so need to get a grappling hook of my own. Mabel from Gravity Falls could eat her freaking heart out." Casey paused and glanced over to see April looking at Kirby Bat "Let me take a wild guess, you're getting another one of those feelings?"
"Nope." April turned back to Casey and gave a smirk "Just a really bad idea."
"I like it already."
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Meanwhile, with the retro-mutagen thief…
"Come on, come on… stupid childproof cap…" Stockman Fly was having less success than he would've liked in opening the retro-mutagen despite his efforts, until…
"Hey buzz kill, hands off the antidotie! It took us months to make that!" Ghost Spider swung onto the scene and landed a sharp kick to Stockman Fly's head, sending him flying away while she latched onto the retro-mutagen with a webline and pulled it into her hand, only for her Spider Sense to go off a split second before a group of Foot Bots surrounded her, one of the managing to blindside her and snag the retro-mutagen from her, though she was quick to latch onto it with a webline and give chase "One of the Foot Bots has it!"
"I got it!" Leo leapt off the back of one Foot Bot and cut through the Foot Bot with a single stroke of his katana, leaving its severed remains to fall to the ground and the retro-mutagen to hurtle towards where Stockman Fly was making a grab for it "Dammit!"
"We got it!" this was when April and Casey flew onto the scene on the back of Kirby Bat and rammed straight into Stockman Fly hard enough to send him hurtling across the skies "Yes, now get him dad, knock him out of the sky!"
"So let me see if I got this." Casey glanced over at April "You mean we're riding your giant mutant dad right now? You know how screwed up that sounds right?"
"My best friends are Spider-Man and his girlfriend and a pack of giant mutant turtles, I got used to screwed up stuff awhile ago like- Crap, the retro-mutagen!"
"I got it!" luckily for them, Donnie swung his way onto the scene via grappling hook and was able to catch the retro-mutagen before it hit the ground… right before a Foot Bot cut through the line from his grappling hook and caught the retro-mutagen for itself, leaving Donnie to fall to the ground and land in a dumpster with a loud crash "Okay, ow… and ew…"
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Meanwhile, with the sky chase…
"I got him! Get a load of this one you Jeff Goldblum!" Casey stood up on Kirby Bat's back and tried hurling a projectile at Stockman Fly, only to lose his balance and end up falling off, but he was caught by the foot by Kirby Bat before he could hit the ground… just in time to look up and see Stockman Fly lobbing some acid at them "Aw crapbaskets."
"Hang tight Casey, I've got this!" April steered Kirby Bat out of the way of the acid "Okay, that was a new level of disgusting."
"Just hurry and catch up to him, he's getting away!"
"No he's not, now hurry up and get him dad!"
"That retro-mutagen belongs to me, I will become human again!" Stockman Fly blitzed his way through the group of Foot Bots until he managed to rip them apart and take the retro-mutagen for himself… only to end up crashing face first into a pest control billboard, which also caused him to fall onto the edge of the rooftop, and then off of it altogether, with the retro-mutagen falling out of his grip.
"There it is!" the sight of the retro-mutagen falling was enough to make April and everyone else make a beeline, only for the Turtles and Foot Bots to end up crashing into each other, which prompted April to sent Kirby Bat hurtling towards it, with Ghost Spider coming at it from the other end… only for a webline to suddenly latch onto it and yank it back up into the air a few feet "What the-"
"IT'S MINE!" Stockman Fly managed to will himself up and made one last dash for the vial, only for Kirby Bat to end up ramming into him and sending both of them crashing into the wall of a building, while the vial itself was hoisted up by the webline and slammd against Stockman Fly's head… causing its contents to spill all over both of them, with Stockman Fly to fall to the ground in a heap, and Kirby Bat ramming straight into a cloth Ghost spider was holding up, followed by him hitting the ground and writhing underneath said cloth.
"Okay, we… we got him…?" April and Casey crawled their way out as Ghost Spider and the others joined them, listening to the writing and shrieking "So what happens now? How long do we have to wait?"
"Well the retro-mutagen did take a moment to take effect when I looked at it earlier under the microscope." Donnie told her "Just give it a few minutes."
"If you say so."
Sure enough, as a moment went by, the mutated giant arm of Kirby Bat emerged from the cloth before receding… and then out popped the human head of Kirby O'Neil himself as he took a confused look around "What… What happened…?"
"DAD!" as the group celebrated over their success, April wasted no time in launch herself over to Kirby and pulling him into a tight hug "Dad I can't believe it, you have no idea how much I missed you!"
"April, I… What happened? Where am I? And where are my clothes?"
"...Oh yeah. That. Right. Guys?"
"I've already got it covered. Sorry if they're a little bit… pungent, I had to crash land into a dumpster." Donnie knelt down in front of Kirby and handed him an extra set of clothes, and then promptly found himself pulled into a tight hug by April.
"You did it Donnie! You're the best of the best of the best!" and then she gave him yet another prolonged kiss on the cheek before running back over to Kirby, leaving Donatello in a daze with a big gaping smile on his face.
"Two kisses in one day… so worth crash landing in a dumpster."
"That's one way to put it. Definitely a close call though." Leo idly patted Donnie on the back of his shell and cast a look over at Ghost Spider "Nice job with the webline, one more second and it probably would've blown up in our faces."
"Yeah, I can't take credit for that." Ghost Spider looked down at the shattered remains of the vial on the ground around them "I wasn't the one who hit them with the retro-mutagen either."
"Wait, then what was-"
"Oh good, that means I smacked around the right guy with it." the sound of another familiar voice was enough make heads snap up.
'That voice… Does that mean…' Ghost Spider slowly turned around at the sound of the new voice, and she promptly froze on the spot "Peter…?"
Sure enough, Spider-Man stood at the end of the alley, with Turtle Titan and Nightwatcher both supporting him, along with Wolverine and Hobgoblin trailing close behind him, to which he quickly removed his mask, revealing the face of Peter Parker, and he promtply shot her a small smile "Hey Gwen, sorry I kept you waiting so long. But I said I'd be back soon, didn't I?"
"Peter…" the sight of him was enough to make Ghost Spider rip off her mask, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy underneath, giving a wide smile as tears streamed down her face, and she didn't hesitate in rushing towards him and throwing her arms around him in a tight hug with enough force to send both of them crashing to the ground, and it was only then that she pressed her lips against his.
"Not too bad a day's work for a friendly neighborhood hero huh?" Turtle Titan pulled up his mask to reveal the face of Michelangelo, and he gave a small smile as he walked away from the scene to give Peter and Gwen some space, with Nightwatcher and Wolverine doing the same on their end.
'Yeah, that uh… that's good for them.' Hobgoblin watched the embrace between Peter and Gwen, but quickly turned his head away and prepared to mount his glider, only to stop when he looked up and saw Stockman sulking by himself on a fire escape "Oh yeah, I thought they mentioned something about a guy turned into a giant mutant fly in a purple sweater."
"Just go away. I'm not in the mood." Stockman gave a scowl and turned away "I've already been through enough."
"Seriously? Dude, I'm pretty sure two of them over there had to stay stuck as giant mindless monsters for two months. You really don't have anything to complain about."
"Big whoop. One of them has a kid and the other is a hero, at least they have stuff to fall back on and people who give a crap about them." Stockman's scowl only deepened as he looked away from Hobgoblin "What do I get out of all of this?"
"You got turned human again."
"Yeah, and exactly back to the way that I was before. Sure being stuck as a giant bug was super disgusting, but I was faster, stronger and actually had something going for me. Maybe then I could've actually gotten people's respect. No chance of that now."
"Trying to get everybody to respect you? That's what this is about?"
"I have a scientific mind that can comprehend just about anything, but just because I'm not the same level as Tony Stark or Reed Richards, people turned their backs on me. I refuse to let myself be unrecognized." Stockman was met with silence for a moment… and then a smack to the back of the head via the hilt of Hobgoblin's sword "OW! What the hell was that for?"
"You're trying to get everybody to like or respect you, and you thought getting dosed in some freaky green stuff is the way to do it, even if it makes you something you're not. You literally just described my junior year of high school word for word. Take it from a voice of experience, you try shit like that and all people are gonna see is the bad stuff. I'd know."
"So what, I'm supposed to sit around and do nothing, let people walk all over me and look down on me?"
"Here's an idea: How about you try caring about someone or something other than yourself instead of just your own screaming ego. See where that takes you." Hobgoblin mounted his glider, then paused and took another look at Stockman "I'm still not sold on the whole hero thing myself, but even I've got at least one person I wanna keep safe." and then he flew away into the night.
"Okay, so much for him sticking around to celebrate the win." Nightwatcher glanced upwards to see Hobgoblin disappearing into the night sky, then glanced over at Wolverine "By the way we never asked you, what happened to Kraven?"
"Pretty much the same thing as when I fought the Hulk, I fought him and stabbed him a bunch of times, except he didn't get back up as fast." Wolverine gave a shrug "Then I went off to help you guys. But if the Tony knockoff is anything like Big Green, he picked himself up not long after, and now he's probably off licking his wounds."
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Meanwhile, with the hunter in question…
"I see that you've returned to us." Doc Ock looked up from the computer screen he was working at and glanced over to see a heavily wounded Kraven make his way through the entrance to their hideout "Judging by your current condition, can I assume that Spider-Man still walks among the living?"
"It would seem that…" Kraven coughed up a fair amount of blood as he let himself fall onto his knees "That the hunt was not as straightforward… as Kraven had believed…"
"Very few things are in this world. Still, while the Spider may live, the fact that you do as well is a victory in itself. But I trust you understand my own reasonings now?"
"Kraven does understand doctor… You allowed Kraven to pursue his hunt… Now I am bound by honor to aid you in your goals…"
"Excellent. Now then, I believe that is enough incessant activity for one night. You would be wise to have your wounds tended to before returning to the hunt, as you would call it."
"You speak the truth Doctor." Kraven gave a simple nod and made his way out of the room without nother word.
"Say what you will Kraven my friend, but Otto Octavius is far from foolish."
"...So that's it then?" Electro gave Doc Ock a raised eyebrow from where he was working at a station nearby "I kind of figured you were gonna punish him or something."
"Punishment is not the answer to everything Electro, and I believe that Kraven has learned plenty already from his experiences tonight. Besides, as I mentioned previously, we can't afford to let ourselves lose even one piece of our chess board in these turbulent times. Speaking of which, I have identified a few possible new recruits to our forces. Observe." Doc Ock pulled up a few images on the screen, two of which caught Electro's attention.
"Serioulsy?"
"Quite so. The first one I'll be leaving to your capable hands when the time comes, given that you have more history with him than any of us."
"Fair I guess. But what about this other one? Isn't he already with the pumpkin heads?"
"More of an unwilling conscript than anything else. They forced him into their ranks, so we just have to find the right opportunity to pull him out." Doc Ock gave a smirk "Yes, this Mr Gargan will do very nicely with us when the time comes."
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Meanwhile, with the main hero team…
"Okay hold on, let me see if I've got this." Peter glanced over at the others as the group rode in the Shellraiser and he slipped on a new change of clothes over his Spider-Man suit, or rather what was left of it "So adding onto the fact that I was stuck as a giant spider monster for two freaking months, in order you guys have dealt with… Liz being a mutant, Gwen becoming a superhero in her own right-"
"You knew about my spider powers before anyone else." Gwen pointed out as she stuffed her Ghost Spider suit into a backpack.
"Getting my head around all of this, give me a minute. Adding onto that, the Foot ninjas are robots now, there's some dude out there that makes robots designed to kill us, there's some kind of doppelganger of me out there doing god knows what but works with the Kraang, Jackal and god only knows who else."
"He calls himself the Scarlet Spider." was Leo's input.
"The Kraang and the Jackal tried to get their hands on Venom and he teamed up with you guys to take them down mainly because he hates them more, Raph's pet turtle got turned into a freaking godzilla and tried to kill all of you. April is a mutant, like both kinds of mutants and that's where she got her psychic powers from. Also she's got psychic powers."
"It was a whole thing." was April's blunt explanation.
"So I've heard. Also there's a new guy here and he's basically Raph's new BFF."
"Sup." Casey shot a quick finger pistole at Peter.
"Adding onto that, apparently the Jackal and the Kraang are in league with this new gang called the Goblin Nation, whose leader is literally called the Goblin King."
"Yep."
"Metalhead got destroyed for good and you guys apparently teamed up with the Vulture at one point, who's out there now doing god knows what."
"True, but he was willing to work with us if nothing else." Donnie pointed out "And he said he would put a good word in for us with whoever his allies were. If nothing else, it might mean more allies against the Kraang."
"My guess is Doc Ock and whoever else they've got with them. That's basically how it went with the whole Master Planner thing. In addition to that, the new guy and Splinter apparently killed the Rat King."
"Pretty much like how they kill most of the bad guys in old Disney movies." Casey pointed out dryly.
"Fair enough. In addition to that, Shredder got two new assassins that apparently quit after you kicked their asses once, and it turns out Karai is actually Splinter's daughter that you thought was dead."
"Yep, and it's why we keep calling Leo Skywalker now." Nightwatcher told him dryly, earning a loud groan of frustration from Leo.
"Okay. And finally the Goblin Nation guys came after Liz and her brother, the weasel guy with the claws-"
"Wolverine."
"-gave him some high tech wristwatch that lets him turn his powers on and off whenever he wants, Liz went up to join some school for mutants upstate, and apparently Harry calls himself the new Hobgoblin while taking a new supposedly stable version of the same formula that sent him off the deep end before and turned his dad into the Green Goblin."
"Yes, but I take the Harry being stable portion with a grain of salt." Gwen told him flatly.
"Uh huh." Peter stayed silent for a few moments to process everything, and then he looked at the others "Holy shit, there's been a lot going on."
"You don't know the freaking half of it." Mikey gave a grin as he leapt to his feet and wrapped an arm around Peter "I'm just glad to have you all back."
"Tell me about it. Trust me, being stuck as a giant spider monster for two months wasn't exactly fun. Plus god only knows what I ate during that time, my own breath smells like something just crawled out of my mouth and died." he paused and looked sheepishly over at Gwen "Um… sorry about that."
"I already thought about it, there's a reason why I brought these with me." Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tin of mints before downing one herself, and then handed one to Peter, allowing him to down it.
"Thanks, that uh… that was REALLY needed."
"Alright look alive you guys, we're here." Leo brought the Shellraiser to a stop across the street from a certain familiar household "This is it…"
"Yep. I'm home. It's really happening… I'm gonna see my Aunt May again…" Peter took a breath and tried to steady himself, only to feel another hand grip his reassuringly.
"It's alright. You don't have to be nervous." Gwen gave him a soft smile as she gently pressed her other hand to his cheek "I'm with you all the way. End of story."
"Yeah, I… I know."
"She ain't the only one bro." Mikey leapt to his feet as he finished changing back into his Turtle Titan costume "I'm going up there with you. Also quick note, never told her about the whole "you being Spider-Man" thing. She just thinks you got hit with a canister."
"That uh… That oughta make things easier, thanks." Peter paused and looked back at the group, then gave a small smile "Seriously though, I can't thank you guys enough for this."
"For turning you human again?" asked Leo.
"For giving me back my life. Stuff is probably gonna get again tomorrow, but honestly, for once I'm not that worried about it. I'm just relieved to be me again."
Peter took another breath to steady himself, and then he made his way out of the Shellraiser and up to the front door of the Parker house, with both Gwen and Mikey by his side, and then he knocked on the door 'This is it. No turning back now.'
"I'm coming, I'm coming." there was the sound of footsteps, and then May opening the front door, only to freeze on the spot.
"Hey Aunt May." that was all Peter managed to get out before May grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, with Gwen and Mikey joining in.
All the while, Leo and the other Turtles just watched from inside the Shellraiser, and the former gave a small smile "Yep, I'd say that's a pretty good day's work all things considered."
"Yeah…" Raph paused and glanced over to see Wolverine park his motorcycle directly behind the Shellraiser "Don't know if it's gonna stay that way, depends on how this turns out if I had to guess."
"Depends on how you take this." the hatch above them opened up to reveal Wolverine on the roof above them, and he dropped down inside "I figured I'd take the chance to say goodbye before I head out."
"You're leaving? Like for real?"
"Yep, heading back to the Institute. Somebody's gotta make sure the kids don't burn the place down, and the others are too soft on that front."
"Ah. Well shit, you're one of the ones I actually like."
"Figures you'd be the one to say that."
"He usually is. It's a shame you're leaving though." Leo pulled himself to his feet and quickly shook hands with Wolverine "But thank you. For everything up until now."
"I just make sure you don't die, you guys are the ones who picked up the slack. Just keep your heads in the clouds and feet on the ground. And listen to what Yoshi says, but don't be afraid of trusting your own gut."
"We'll take that under advisement. So, is this goodbye?"
"For good? It never is with me, just takes awhile before we meet up again. I'll be back to help out when the time is right. That usually comes around when the world is in danger, so… I'd say keep an eye on that new Goblin kid." Wolverine was about to leap back out, but paused and cast one more glance over at them "Oh yeah that reminds me, if we're going with a real hardcore alien invasion then you might wanna try bringing in the big guns."
"Wait, THE big guns?" Leo shared a glance with the other Turtles "You mean-"
"Yep. Put a good word in with the big leagues: the Avengers. Talked to the ones that already met the Batman knockoff over there." he jerked a thumb at Mikey "They're up for meeting with ya, but once you get in there you gotta make it count. So I say this as gently and loving as you can expect from me: Don't fuck this up." and on that note, he climbed out of the Shellraiser, mounted his motorcycle and drove off into the night.
"...Well that's encouraging."
"Speaking of, we got another problem." Raph turned their attention to where the figure of one Eddie Brock could be seen watching them from down the street.
"You think he's gonna try something?" asked Donnie.
"I think we oughta try out that new annoying ass speaker blaster thing you guys stole from those Kraangdroids while we were fighting Tiger Claw and the Silver Samurai."
"It's called the Resonance Blaster, and I still haven't tested it yet."
"Then test it on him if he tries some crap."
"First of all, try that thing and see where I shove it." it was then that Eddie Brock drew their attention to where he now stood on the roof of the Shellraiser "Second of all, you can tone it down a couple notches. I'm not here to pick a fight."
"So then… do you want to talk to him?" Leo spoke up, albeit rather tentatively "Do you want to go inside with the others?"
"I… I don't think I can. Or that I should."
"Are you sure? You said it yourself, you and Peter have stuff to work through. And I doubt that putting it off is going to mak it any easier."
"Yeah, but… not like this." Eddie glanced ahead to where the group at the Parker household could be seen through the living room window, and he and Peter seemed to lock eyes for a brief moment, before he looked away "Right now, I… I think it's gonna be better for all of us if I'm not here." then he disappeared into the hulking form of Venom before swinging away into the darkness of the night.
"...Well that's not a good sign."
"Right after the only guy that can stab him and dish it back out leaves too." Raph cast a glance over at the others "What do you think he's gonna do now?"
"I guess we'll find out soon enough. I just hope he still hates the Kraang more than us the next time we see him."
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Meanwhile, with the lethal protector in question…
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Venom swung his way through the skyline of New York, albeit stopping once he reached an isolated rooftop "The Kraang are the ones we hate most, we should be focused on that, but…"
"But Parker was the first one to commit transgressions against us. He turned those of your world against you, and he rejected us. Have you forgotten that?"
"No, I…"
"Then WHY?!" the voice came screeching through Eddie's mind with audible rage, bringing him to his knees as he clutched his head "Have you forgotten why we became Venom in the first place?! Have you forgotten what transgressions he cast upon us?! Have you lost touch with the hate that binds us?!"
"Stop… just stop… I need to think! LET ME THINK!" the hulking form of Venom disappeared to reveal the figure of Eddie Brock, on his knees and panting heavily "What… What in the hell am I supposed to do?"
"You could try beating the shit out of the ones that deserve it. It's what I do."
Eddie whipped around to find a familiar turtle figure looming over him "You!"
"Tone it down runt, I'm not here looking for a fight." Slash placed his morning star on the back of his shell and crossed his arms "I'm just here cause the new head honcho wants me to stick around for his offer."
"What the hell are you going on about?"
"Perhaps I should explain." from behind Slash emerged another figure, a feline figure with a patch over one eye and one ear torn, with blasters in the holsters at his side "You are the one they call Venom, are you not?"
"Who wants to know?"
"You may call me Tiger Claw, and as Slash said, we are not here for a fight. We are here to offer you a… proposition of sorts. One that you may find intriguing."
"...I'm listening." Eddie relaxed slightly and crossed his arms "Let's hear it."
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Meanwhile, with another bad guy faction…
"Bradford."
Razhar's gaze snapped up the minute he entered the throne room, and he found Shredder's glare locked squarely onto him "Master Shredder, I-"
"Be silent and stand at attention. We have an… unexpected visitor."
"An intruder?" Razhar was quick to bare his claws "Shall I dispose of them master?"
"No. Not yet. Let us see what their business is first."
"Calm down, I should've made it clear by now that I hate melodrama." the doors to the throne room opened once again to reveal a familiar figure with glasses, a mustache and a lab coat "You are Oroku Saki I presume, the leader of the Foot Clan organiztion?"
"That is correct. And you are?"
"Ah yes, allow me to introduce myself. Dr Miles Warren. I come on behalf of my benefactors with a proposition for you. One that I think you and the rest of your soldiers will be sure to find most interesting."
A/N:
And thus, we finally see a hero return to where he rightfully belongs. Spider-Man and Peter Parker are both and better than ever. The only thing is they both have A LOT to catch up on from the two months they were MIA, especially considering all the stuff that happened during that time. And trust me, they're going to need him for the fight to come, and all of the help they can get. A storm is coming, and it's going to come down on them like a typhoon.
On another note, I had Stockman get turned back early, given that both before and after he gets turned into a fly, he's basically just the butt monkey of the series. Who knows, maybe this way I can give him some kind of happy ending. We'll see how that goes. But on a more ominous note, Stockman's departure from the Foot Clan makes way for a new scientist to offer his services: the Jackal. In addition to that, now that Peter is back, Eddie has broken away from the group in a way, but has found new allies at the same time.
Now to wrap this up, this is going to be the last chapter I upload for this story, at least for a few weeks. I've got other stories that I'm neglecting way too much while I'm working on this one. Until the next chapter, feel free to reread and give predictions or ideas. I'm always open to suggestions. And I wouldn't say no to a mention on TV Tropes, or a page if it's not too much.
