(Legend of the Kuro Kabuto)

Jebest4781: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.

SuperJoeyF721: Possibly, but he did appear in season 5 in canon. Here he just appeared a lot sooner.

Spectacular Webhead 11: Yep, Murakami was a good man. Now Tatsu is by Shredder's side, and Karai is locked in a dungeon, but the truth is out if nothing else.

Gamelover41592: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.

Godzillaboy2021: Yep, and Tatsu is one hell of a powerhouse, if his appearance in canon is anything to go by. He's also insanely ruthless, as proven by him killing Murakami. You're right that there's no honor in that, but he's not in it for the honor. And trust me, the Goblin King is going to make his in person debut soon enough. As for Karai, you'll see soon enough, don't worry about that. The same goes with Eddie, and the Symbiote itself.

Musiclover64: Maybe a cameo at some point, but there are not going to be any love triangles in my story.

Guest99: You'll see soon enough.

TheIrishman1999: Yep, Murakami was a good man. And sadly, in war the good are always the first to suffer. But we're finally starting off Karai's redemption arc, as I'm sure you've wanted to see for ages. I've got ideas for her story arc, but they aren't going to reveal themselves until much later on. And yeah, with Tiger Claw out of the picture, Tatsu was the best choice to take his place as Shredder's new second in command. I get what you mean about the title, but Tatsu's name does translate to Dragon, hence I called it Wrath of the Dragon. Also it's the name of a Dragon Ball movie, and it's kickass, so I went with it. And don't worry, I opted to cut out the chapter with Pizza Face, which is what led to the chapter debuting the Avengers. But I don't think it's that bad of an episode, just filler.

Frosty Wolf: Yep, rest in peace to the creator of pizza gyoza. But yeah, it did make sense given how the war with the Foot Clan was going. I wouldn't say Tatsu's showing was mediocre, but it does seem like a waste to have a character as strong as him only show up for one episode in the final season. And yeah, you pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as Karai's parentage is concerned. Also you don't need to tell me about the website acting up, I think we've all seen it at this point.

5FingerDeathFist: Believe me, I'm well aware of the Last Ronin storyline and all of the dark stuff included in it.

Pikachu345: Yeah, and TMNT 2012 is no stranger to being brutal, especially by the standards of a kids show. Punisher has already appeared once, and I have given some thought to Deadpool, but for how that would turn out, we'll have to wait and see.

Spartan 117: The jury is still out on whether or not I'll actually include Cindy Moon or Miles Morales in this story, but I'll keep it in mind if nothing else. The same with the others.

Lyoko2003: Yep, RIP to a great man and maker of pizza gyoza. Keep in mind that Splinter does go to rescue Karai with the Turtles later on, but initially he was hesitant because he didn't want to put anyone's lives at risk. Maybe not the best way to go about it, but his intentions are always good. And keep in mind that when Gwen was abducted by the Master Planner/Doc Ock, he was forced to almost give him access to just about every major computer in the world. And I get it about Raphael, he's not well liked among your group of reviewers, but he gets better. It just takes time. The same applies here, mainly with his relationship with Peter.

GTA Godfather: Personally I thought Mutant Mayhem was awesome, and Superfly was one of the best parts. Plus we got teasted for a sequel, so who knows what else they have planned, the same with the series that's coming out. And yeah, RIP to Murakami.

Shakespeare RZA: Look I get it, Splinter isn't perfect, but that makes him a better character if you ask me. His flaws make him more human, and he does admit to them, which is what makes him different from Shredder. As for Raph and April, the former is cynical and untrusting by nature, but April may just be sore about Karai trying to kidnap her twice, and keep in mind that in the Wrath of Tiger Claw, April was willing to vouch for her after hearing her story.

Anonymous: Good choices for quotes, I'll definitely be sure to keep them in mind for when the time comes.

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Night had fallen over the city, and once again, it was permeated by dark clouds and rain falling from overhead.

"This feels way more familiar than it should." Peter (clad in a black suit) cast a look around as he made his way into the cemetery, his expression growing more downcast as his gaze fell onto a coffin surrounded by others "Feels like just yesterday I was coming to this for Uncle Ben. A big part of me hoped he was gonna be the last."

"I know what you mean. It reminds me of being here for Harry's mom." Gwen stood by his side, clad in a black dress of her own holding an umbrella, and gripped Peter's hand reassuringly, her own downcast gaze locked onto the coffin "I guess it's like dad said. The hardest part is that you can't always save everyone."

"Yeah. I learned that the hard way. And as of a week ago, so did the others by the look of it. Take a look up there and see for yourself." he gestured to the three shadowy figures lurking on a tree overlooking the cemetery "And then there's Mikey. Just look."

"Thank you. For letting me do this I mean." as it turns out, Turtle Titan was standing at the front of the crowd of mourners, standing directly in front of the coffin, trying to keep composed as he looked up at the crowd "A lot of you guys know me as the Turtle Titan, the new guy trying to be a hero for the city. Some people may like me, some of you might hate me, I didn't really think too much about it. I just tried to do what I could to do right by the people I care about. But before I was Turtle Titan, I was just a guy who… happened to look like a Turtle underneath the mask. I never let people see me, cause… well I think that's pretty obvious. Murakami figured me and my bros out pretty fast though, goes to show that he wasn't as blind as people thought he was. Other senses, you know? But he didn't care. It didn't do anything to stop him from making me and my bros feel welcome whenever we stopped by his restaurant. A lot of people around Chinatown only knew him as a shop owner or a chef, and he was. He was a damn good one too. Just try his pizza gyoza if you don't believe me." he was met with a few small chuckles from within the crowd "But he was a good man, more important than any of that, and that's coming from the biggest pizza lover on the face of the planet. And he was a friend. He knew who we were, what we were, he understood us. I did everything I could to try and pay him back for what he did for us. For me. I'm gonna keep doing it, do my part to honor his memory, and make sure something like this doesn't happen to anyone else." he placed a single rose on the coffin, then backed away to let others make their own tributes.

'Gotta give it to Mikey. When push comes to shove, he knows how to speak from the heart. And he's right too.' Peter and Gwen slowly made their way through the crowd and eached placed a single flower on Murakami's coffin 'Maybe we can't always save everyone… but we're never going to stop trying. No matter what happens. Or who we're up against.'

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What no one else knew was that within the shadows, a certain Russian arms dealer going by the name of Steranko was going over his collection of trophies, though showing disappointment over the one artifact that was missing: Shredder's helmet, the legendary Kuro Kabuto. This lead him to bring in his own henchman Anton Zeck, armed with a high tech stealth suit, to break in and steal it for him, the payment being to forgive Zeck for accidentally shooting one of Sternako's eyes out.

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Meanwhile, with the main group of heroes (at least for this chapter)…

"Oh man, that's… that's just messed up." Harry cringed as he sat one of the chairs in the living room of the Parker household, across from where Peter and Gwen were both sitting on the couch, listening to them recounting Murakami's funeral "Seems like he was a decent guy at least."

"Yeah, there was a pretty good turn out, and it was a nice service." Peter let out a sigh "Doesn't make it sting any less though, especially since it's only been a week since it happened."

"I know what you mean. Pretty much how it went for my mom's funeral. Speaking of which, what happaned with your turtle buddies? They were there too weren't they?"

"Yeah, but they decided to stay behind after and pay their own private tribute to Murakami once everybody else was gone. In case it wasn't obvious, they don't like showing themselves around other people. I figured it was best to just leave them alone for now."

"Fair, I guess. So what now?"

"Probably not much aside from the usual, heading out on patrol and catching up on the school stuff I missed. Lucky for me I've got almost all the really important stuff, so now I just need to finish that up and then focus on whatever I have left to do for graduation."

"Actually, I had one topic I wanted to broach when I had the chance." Gwen took a breath as she looked up at Peter "We need to find a way to help Karai and get her away from Shredder."

"Oh. That. Yeah, I mean I thought it was obvious we'd do that."

"Wait, Karai is who again?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Daughter of Shredder, you know the crime lord with all the blades and stuff? Long story short, his daughter is actually Splinter's daughter."

"The rat."

"And the Turtles' sister. Plus she's the girl that showed up at school a few months ago to try and blackmail me into an alliance."

"Okay, this sounds kind of familiar." Harry frowned in thought for a moment, until a moment of realization dawned on him "Wait, was she that one girl who-"

"Yeah." was all Gwen said.

"Ah. So it was her. The one who basically broke me and Gwen up.' Harry paused as he gave a scowl and turned away "You uh… You guys might need to do that one without me. I'm gonna have to opt out."

"Wait, seriously?" Peter was visibly less than thrilled to hear this "What the shell for?"

"Maybe she thinks that Shredder isn't her real dad, assuming I understand anything about any of this, but he raised her. He taught her pretty much everything she knows. It isn't easy to just turn on the person that raised you, and I would know."

"Okay, that's a valid point. Assuming that is the main reason you don't want to help her. So is that it, or is there anything else." Gwen gave him a scowl and a raised eyebrow, causing Harry to recoil.

"Alright alright, I'm not exactly her number one fan after the last time I ran into her, just stop giving me the Look. Are you happy now?"

"Not really. A girl's entire life is at stake here, are we really going to let petty grudges get in the way of doing what we have to do?" Gwen was met with silence, and so she let out a sigh clearly filled with frustration.

"Tone down on the Look for now Gwen, I don't think it's gonna get us anywhere." Peter pulled himself to his feet and pulled his web shooters out of his backpack "For now, we might as well go check out Shredder's lair and see if it has any weak points we can work with."

"Okay, that's a good idea." Gwen pulled out her own set of web shooters and strapped them onto her wrists, the two of them preparing to change into their suits, until…

"Hold on." Harry let out a sigh of frustration as he stood up, earning a small smile of approval from Gwen "I'll come to. But that doesn't mean I'm cool with charging in there like a crazed bull or anything."

"Trust me, that was gonna be a bad idea from the start. Pretty sure we'd have to fight Shredder himself along with all his cronies." Peter cringed slightly at the thought "Not eager to do that after last time. I still get nightmares about that guy. And that's without knowing what his face looks like under the mask."

"Not to mention the fact that the Jackal is apparently working with the Foot now." Gwen pointed out "God only knows how that's going to work out for them in the future."

"Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling we're gonna be finding that out a split second before it leaves at least one of us face down in the pavement. That's usually how it works for me."

"I would object to that if I could."

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Deep within the dungeon of Shredder's lair, Karai was trying to secretly make her own escape attempt, only to be forced to hide these efforts when Shredder appeared before her, claiming that he never wanted this to happen, and how he did what he knew was right by ensuring that she would not be brought up by scum like Splinter. It was only after he had left that Karai picked up where she left off.

At the same time, Zeck had managed to easily sneak into the Foot base and located Shredder's helmet, conveniently hidden in a compartment underneath his throne room, albeit running into a road block when Razhar showed up in the room with a group of Foot Bots. He wasn't able to actually see Zeck due to his suit's cloaking tech, but he did manage to detect him via scent, but just as Razhar was about to finish him off, Zeck managed to pin him to the ground with a shot of glue, before finishing off the Foot Bots with a barrage of energy blasts from the head piece of his suit and making his escape, leaving Razhar with a calling card in the process.

It was only after Zeck was gone that Shredder came up from the dungeon and was informed of the situation by Razhar. As one could imagine, Shredder was left seething over this and gave the order to, as he put it, get him EVERYONE.

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Meanwhile, with the hero group…

"Okay, so here's where I'm thinking." Spider-Man (riding the Spider Cycle with Ghost Spider on the seat behind him) glanced up at where Hobgoblin could be seen flying through the skies above them on top of his glider "We'll probably have better luck if we try tunneling up from underneath the Foot lair."

"How about if we try tunneling down from above?" Hobgoblin paused as he lookd down to see both of the Spiders looking up at him "Okay okay, it seemed like a better idea in my head."

"Actually it might not be that far off, but you're the only one of us that can fly right now, so I'm pretty sure you're the only one who'd be able to do that."

"Great, so I'd be the one that goes in and gets her. From the pack of mutants and super strong ninja crime lord. Awesome." Hobgoblin gave a scowl under his face plate, only to pause when he looked down and noticed something "Wait hold on, there's something in front of you guys."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, it just- Hit the brakes!"

"What do you-" Ghost Spider was cut off by the sensation of her Spider Sense blaring, followed by Spider-Man slamming on the brakes of the Spider Cycle, leaving it to screech to a halt… but not before ramming into Zeck as he was running through the streets while cloaked, the impact causing him to flicker in and out of existence for a moment before he disappeared, leaving the bag he was carrying to fall to the ground. It was only after they came to a stop that she leapt off the Spider Cycle "Hold on, what the heck was that?"

"I'm pretty sure you just hit a guy." Hobgoblin floated down to the ground and leapt off his glider in front of them "He has some kind of cloaking tech too, he only showed up when I set my mask on infrared."

"First question, you have infrared on that thing?" Spider-Man gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I have a lot of stuff on this thing."

"Huh. Nice."

"I know right? So what, is this a Goblin Nation thing or something? What about those guys behind TCRI, what are they called again? The robots with the little brains in them that look like knockoff Stormtroopers?"

"The Kraang, and I haven't seen cloaking tech from them yet but I'm not putting anything past them at this point." Spider-Man leapt off the Spider Cycle and paused as his his Spider Sense began blaring, which alerted him to a massive army of Foot Bots that appeared on the rooftops above them, armed with numerous weapons along with several mechanical arms "Okay second question, when did the Foot ninja start sprouting more arms than Dock Ock?"

"Probably around the time they became robots." Ghost Spider told him.

"When the hell did they become robots?!"

"Peter I say this with love, you missed A LOT while you were gone."

"Yeah, apparently." Spider-Man leapt over to grab the bag that Zeck had dropped, and paused when he opened it up and saw its contents "And apparently I'm not the only one missing some pretty big stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"Take a look and see for yourself." Spider-Man held up the contents of the bag for Ghost Spider and Hobgoblin to see, that being Shredder's helmet.

"Wow… Okay not going to lie, I did not see that coming. So much for tonight being normal for a change." Ghost Spider dropped into a stance and readied her web shooters, with Spider-Man doing the same.

"Okay so, quick question before we do this." Hobgoblin cast a glance over at them "Those ninjas are robots right?"

"Yep."

"As in all of them, no flesh and bone to be found?"

"As far as I know, yeah."

"Good, then I don't have to hold out on using this thing." Hobgoblin pulled out a metal hilt and summoned a flame sword out of it "Anybody got a plan yeah."

"My advice, put that thing to good use." Spider-Man told him dryly "The same for whatever the hell else you've got. So basically slice, cut, blow up, stuff like that. You know, kind of like the other Goblins did, but not aiming at me for once."

"Fair enough." so Hobgoblin braced himself just as the Foot Bots began dropping down to the ground all around them, with him using his flame sword to rip through one of them after another, with only their charred metallic forms being left behind on the ground "Not gonna lie, this is way easier than I thought it'd be!"

"Never say that dude." Spider-Man fired a few shots of electric webbing at the Foot Bots trying to close in on him, causing them to short circuit and fall to the ground, and then he fired shots of impact webbing at the others, binding them to the ground or to various walls and other nearby structures and objects "No seriously, that's like one of the worst possible things you can say with stuff like this."

"Why?"

"Well for starters-" Spider-Man cut himself short as his Spider Sense began going off in his head again, alerting him to another large group of Foot Bots arriving on the scene "That's one decent reason, and knowing Parker Luck that's probably gonna lead to even more of them."

"Then let's not sit around waiting for them, hurry and get on!" Ghost Spider mounted the Spider Cycle and fired a Concussive Blaster, unleashing a sonic wave that blew the Foot Bots back a short distance, allowing Spider-Man to climb on and Hobgoblin to mount his glider, and the three of them to take off "You got the helmet right?"

"Right over here." he gestured to where he was now wearing it on his head, earning a raised eyebrow "Didn't have time to grab the bag, and besides I kinda wanted to see what it's like to wear this thing as much as Shredder does."

"And?"

"It's hot as hell in this thing, I gotta wonder how he's not suffocating all the time."

What went unnoticed however, was that Zeck had managed to pick himself back up during all of the chaos, and gave a smirk as he threw a tracker disc onto the Spider Cycle "Now we're talking, and Zeck is coming after you my ectothermic friends."

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Meanwhile, with the villainous faction…

"Listen well, for this is more important than our very lives." Tatsu stood before those gathered before him, those being Warren, Razhar, Fishface and a massive army of Foot Bots "We have been tasked by Shredder with locating and retrieving his helmet, the Kuro Kabuto. Until it has been returned to his hold, there is nothing else that matters and nothing else to be done."

"Quite the reaction for something like this." Warren gave a raised eyebrow, not even flinching as he was met with a sword point at his throat "I'm guessing that this is more than just sentimental attachment?"

"Don't disparage the importance of the Kabuto as something so trivial. It goes much deeper than just sentimentality." Tatsu paused as he turned to face the group, and thus he began his tale "I had been told of this myself some time into my own tenure as Shredder's disciple. That helmet he wears, the Kuro Kabuto, has served as the symbol of the Foot Clan for over 1,500 years. The founder of the clan himself, the dreaded Koga Takuza, was said to be the greatest ninja in the history of Japan. With skills with a blade that surpassed any samurai, Takuza was ruthless as he laid waste to warriors and rulers alike. He stole the sacred totems of the enemies that fell at his hands, and he fused them into an alloy stronger than steel. It was by his hands that the Kabuto was brought into existence, and it has survived undamaged to this day. As the one who revived the Foot Clan and now leads it, Shredder is sworn to protect it with his life, and in our service to the Foot Clan, the same applies to us."

"Hm. Say no more." Warren paused as his his body underwent a transformation, turning him into the hulking green form of the Jackal "So how do you want to go about this? I take it we'll be splitting up to search for the helmet?"

"We'll be sending out the Foot Bots in squadrons, and the rest of us will be heading out in teams of two. Doctor you will accompany the fish, while Bradford will be accompanying myself in our search." Tatsu paused again as he placed his sword back in its sheath "And I'm sure that this will go without saying, but the consequences for failure will be dire."

"Oh believe me, it does."

"Good. Now scatter." and so they did, Foot Bots included.

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One quick split up later…

"Let's hurry and get this over with." Fishface cast a glance over at the Jackal as the two of them made their way across the rooftops of New York "We'd better get that helmet back, otherwise we'll have to keep looking at Shredder's gross face."

"Compared to the thought of him mutilating you for your failures?" Jackal gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I'm used to that by this point, but his face is another matter. Frankly he looks far worse than even you."

"This coming from the one who looks like a literal gaping fish."

"Don't turn this around on me, you're the one who looks like if the Hulk was a furry." and on that note, Fishface continued on his way.

'Hm… I always have had a taste for fried fish, and it's not like anyone would know… I could just blame it on this helmet thief…' Jackal held up one of his gauntlets and aimed it at Xever as it began surging with electricity, only to pause and lower it 'No no, patience. It's better to keep these fools around as an insurance policy in case everything with the Kraang and the Goblin Nation goes south. After all, the more alliegances you have, the more likely it is you can come out on top.'

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Meanwhile, with the other villain duo…

"The scent is pretty faint…" Razhar paused as he leapt to the ground and took a sniff "But I think he went this way."

"No, he went this way. I can barely sense him myself." Tatsu leapt onto a rooftop and quickly motioned for Razhar to follow him "As far as I can tell he's on foot, and I can make out the sounds of something metallic."

"He was wearing a teched out suit, so that should explain it." Razhar paused and cast a look over at Tatsu "That super hearing of yours never fails, does it?"

"They said it was a sixth sense after all, the tradeoff of being born blind." Tatsu scowled from underneath his oni mask "To think so many fools mocked me for it, when Shredder was the only one to recognize it as a skill. But I chose to use that prejudice to fuel my resolve and dedicate myself fully to Shredder's cause, and now here I am."

"The Shredder's right hand man. The Blind Swordsman."

"Shredder put his faith in me by making me into his right hand. After all that he has done for me, I will NOT fail him now."

"Hm. You're already miles ahead of how Tiger Claw carried himself as Shredder's new second in command. Plus Xever kept going on about how he must have hated me because I was turned into a dog."

"You are a warrior, one would think that you would not let species get in the way of fulfilling your oath of loyalty to the Foot."

"I'm not, that's just Xever being a dick. Though Tiger Claw did want to eat him, you know cause he's a fish. Personally I wanna eat him just to make him shut up."

"...If this conversation is deviating towards what could be considered cannibalism, then I believe that would be the point to end it."

"Fair enough." and on that note, the two of them continued on their way across the rooftops.

"It's also why I choose to avoid small talk."

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Meanwhile, with the main heroes of the chapter…

"I feel like we probably should've asked this before we took the super helmet, but I'm gonna say it now." Hobgoblin looked down at where the others were riding on the Spider Cycle, the bag with the Kuro Kabuto in hand "Now we've got the helmet, what are we gonna do with it?"

"I actually do have one idea." Ghost Spider drew the attention of the others as she continued driving "If we can get to Shredder's lair, then we might be able to trade it to get Karai out of there."

"Are you serious right now? Didn't she try to kill your turtle friends a bunch of times?"

"And try to blackmail me with my identity." Spider-Man spoke up.

"Hold up, what now?"

"Long story short, she found out my identity and used that as a way to get close to me to try and offer up an alliance."

"Hell of a way to do it."

"I wasn't super thrilled about that. It wasn't really a fun couple of days in the grand scheme of things."

"You don't have to tell me that." Hobgoblin paused as he looked down at them, then looked away to avoid the gaze "That day sucked for a bunch of reasons."

"Yeah, it's more the day after that sucked for me. Had to rat out the plan the guys had to take out her dad, pretty sure that Raph still hates me for it. But she still kept my secret all this time, so I think that's a sign there's really good in her."

"If you say so, but I don't think-" Hobgoblin was cut off by a sudden purple flash coming at him from behind, hitting him dead on and blowing him right off his glider, sending him crashing to the ground in a nearby alley.

"What the-" Ghost Spider cut herself short as the Spider Sense blared in her and Spider-Man's heads, prompting her to bring the Spider Cycle to a screeching halt just in time for another purple flash to soar overhead and blow up a nearby trashcan 'Okay, that was close. Also, what the heck was that?!'

"Wow to the wow." Zeck gave a triumphant smirk at his successful impact and began to glide his way down the walls towards where the group had stopped, only to pause when something else caught his eye 'Man there are so many freaks around here, this town is really going down hill fast!' and so he glided back up to the rooftop.

As it turns out, what caught his eye was Razhar and Tatsu lurking on another nearby rooftop, only for the former to look down and spot a certain item the group was carrying "Down there, they have the Kuro Kabuto!"

"Then you know what we have to do." Tatsu promptly moved to draw his sword.

"So we get to retrieve Shredder's helmet and squash a couple of nosy spiders. Here I thought this was supposed to be a chore."

"This is our responsibility, do not forget that Shredder's helmet is top priority. This is not about your own petty grudges." and so on that note, Tatsu and Razhar both leapt down into the alley and made a dash for the helmet, when…

"Hey!" a quick webline from Ghost Spider latched onto Razhar and sent him hurtling into a nearby wall, giving Spider-Man the chance to make a grab for the helmet "You know the drill, we can't let him get the helmet!"

"That helmet belongs to the Shredder alone, anyone who dares to lay their hands on it will pay for their transgressions with their life!" Tatsu pounced towards Ghost Spider with his sword drawn, cutting through the barrage of impact webs with incredible precision and managing to hit a pressure point on her arm, and then he dove for Spider-Man and the bag carrying the helmet, until…

"HEY!" a pumpkin bomb suddenly hit the ground, releasing a cloud of green smoke and a loud shriek that left Tatsu stunned, giving Hobgoblin the chance to swoop in through the smoke and deal him an uppercut to the jaw that sent him crashing into Razhar, allowing Hobgoblin himself to pull Ghost Spider upright "You good?"

"Yeah, my arm is just pretty numb, I need a second for that. Luckily I have to." Ghost Spider was quick to web a line and pull both of them onto a nearby fire escape "What about the helmet?"

"I got it right here, hot potato can suck it!" Spider-Man leapt up onto the fire escape next to them with the bag, then shot a quick electric web at the others, electrocuting Razhar on the spot and leaving him writing on the ground "Come on, we gotta get moving."

"I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you." it was at this moment that the Jackal appeared through a purple doorway in front of them, with Fishface cutting them off from behind "I believe the three of you have something that we need."

"A razor so you don't look like a giant Furry?"

"Funny. Nice to know your two months of mutation did nothing to curtail your sense of humor or that smart mouth. Why don't we see what I can do to it?" Jackal brandished his gauntlets as they surged with electricity, with Fishface advancing towards them as he pulled out his knife.

"Big whoop, you know how many other guys have tried that?" Spider-Man leapt back to avoid a surge of electricity the Jackal fired at him, hurling the bag with the helmet toward Ghost Spider a split second before one of Jackal's giant hands, followed by another surge.

"Yes, that's about what I expected. Xever hurry and get the helmet, remember that-" Jackal was cut short by Spider-Man's knee slamming into his jaw.

"The little araña is all mine!" Fishface barred his teeth and moved to pounce at Ghost Spider with his gaze locked onto the bag… and yet was quickly stoppbed by something grabbing him by the leg and yanking him away from her and up onto a nearby billboard "What the-"

"Right over here!" Hobgoblin pulled Fishface into the air, and with a burst of enhanced strength he hurled him back down towards the rooftop, sending him crashing into the Jackal and both of them hurtling to the ground "Piece of advice, the spiders aren't the only ones you have to watch out for."

"Duly noted."

Hobgoblin whipped around just in time to find Jackal behind him, only to be grabbed by the neck and hurled down onto the rooftop himself, directly through the stand of the billboard, and then crashing into Spider-Man in the process… and then the billboard itself came down on top of the two of them with a loud crash.

"I believe the moral of this story is to be careful what you wish for, because you never know just who may end up bringing it down on you. Case and point." Jackal returned to the ground and appeared over where Spider-Man and Hobgoblin were pinned down, preparing another blast of electricity, until…

"HEY!" an impact web shot over Jackal's gauntlet, followed by Ghost Spider landing a swift roundhouse kick straight to the face, sending him hurtling straight off the roof, giving her the chance to turn her attention to the others "You guys okay?"

"We're not dead" Spider-Man poked his head out from underneath the billboard "If Parker Luck is anything to go by, then I'm gonna go ahead and call that a win.

"Alright, hang in there and I'll get you guys out."

"Don't worry about it, you got the helmet right?" he received an answer in the form of her holding up the bag "In that case hurry up and get to Shredder's lair, to the whole trade off thing and get Karai out of there. We can handle these jackasses."

"Got it, just be careful." Ghost Spider and Spider-Man exchanged a brief yet tender look from underneath their masks, and then she turned her gaze towards the others "If you want this thing, then come and get me!" and then she webbed a line and took off across the rooftops.

"You two take care of those fools, Bradford and I will retrieve the Kabuto!" Tatsu and Razhar were quick to take off chasing after Ghost Spider.

"Now this part of the job will never get old." Xever gave a smirk as he readied his knife and moved to advance on Spider-Man and Hobgoblin… only to pause as he looked down and saw a pumpkin bomb land right in front of him "Oh mierda." and then the rooftop went up in a cloud of green smoke and a deafening shriek.

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Meanwhile, with the chase for the helmet…

"You guys want me, then you'll have to come and get me!" Ghost Spider rounded a corner and dove into a dumpster, shooting an impact web at a nearby trash can to draw her pursuiers toward the source of the noise.

"This way, hurry!" Tatsu and Razhar were quickly drawn past the dumpster by the sound of the crash, prompting them and the others to continue past it none the wiser.

'Okay, I think I lost them… Now if only it wasn't for the stench…' Ghost Spider lifted up the lid to the dumpster, only to pause as she discovered the source of the aforementioned stench 'And it's a pack of used diapers, because of course it is… Now I know how Pete felt when he had to hide under a dumpster last year. Then again, I get the feeling this stench isn't going to come out as easily. Anyway enough of that, I need to get to Shredder's lair.' and so she climbed out of the dumpster and moved to web a line onto a nearby rooftop, only to pause as a familiar sensation began ringing in her head, along with a certain laughter 'Spider Sense… and I don't think it's the Foot again.'

"Wow to the wow." a silhouette passed in front of her, barely visible only thanks to the steam emitting from a nearby drain.

"This is what you're after I'm guessing?" Ghost Spider held up the bag to bait him, but just as the silhouette closed in she latched onto the figure with a webline, pulled him in close and landed a solid roundhouse kick to the face, causing Zeck to turn fully visible and hit the ground with a loud crash.

"Ow…"

'That's one down, now to-' Ghost Spider's musings were cut short when she turned to see Tatsu and the others rushing towards her, prompting her to put the bag around Zeck's neck and pull him to his feet "This is what you're looking for right? Well here you go, and say hi to your little friends for me!" and then she webbed a line and took off across the rooftops?"

"Wait, what…?" Zeck took a moment to snap out of his disorientation just in time to see Tatsu, Jackal and the others rushing towards him 'Oh crapbaskets. Well, no time like the present to do my thing.' he tried to push the button to turn himself invisible, only for nothing to happen 'And the girl messed the plug up, just gotta- There!' he was invisible in an instant, albeit the bag still there plain as day, and took off running.

"Don't let him get away!" Razhar and the others were quick to chase after him, the former letting out a snarl as he did so "This is gonna be slow and painful, but you already knew that going in didn't you?"

"You don't scare me ya Wolf Man ripoff, all I have to do is drop the bag and you're never gonna be able to find me!"

"Two problems with that you Michael Jackson reject. One, I already proved that I can track you by your scent. Two, I can see you plain as day."

"I don't think- Wait, what?" Zeck paused and looked down to find that he was indeed visible again, prompting him to slow to a halt "Um… anybody got any AA batteries around?"

"If it's power you're looking for, I may be able to supply it for you." Jackal pounced at Zeck and let loose a powerful surge of electricity, sending him hurtling to the ground, with the group from the Foot slowly advancing towards him "I think you know what's going to come next."

"Um… Just try not to bust my sunglasses okay? They're kinda like my thing. You know, like with the freaky lightning gloves."

"Hm. I'll keep that in mind when they try to skin you alive."

"...This was a horrible idea, wasn't it?"

"Yes, yes it was." Jackal prepared another surge of electricity as he held up his glove… only to be stopped by a barrage of lasers courtesy of a helicopter arriving on the scene "But apparently it wasn't without its contingencies."

"Yep, and a quick one for the road: Wow to the wow!" Zeck latched onto a rope hanging from the helicopter and was immediately swept away from the scene.

"Hm. Well that's one way to make an escape. I take it you wish to pursue then?"

"There's no point." this was when Tatsu finally made his way over to join them "We have no reason to pursue him further. He does not carry what our objective."

"What are you talking about?" asked Fishface.

"I knew when we discovered him that he did not carry the helmet. Keep in mind that while my acute hearing is my strongest sense, it is not the only one I have. A strong sense of smell, for instance."

"So then what's he carrying, and where's the actual helmet?"

"For what he's carrying, I think it's better left unsaid. As for the helmet itself…" Tatsu paused and looked in a certain direction "I believe the female arachnid is bringing it to Shredder as we speak, most likely to make a trade."

"Meaning she'll try to exchange it to get Karai out of there." Razhar gave a scowl "There's no way in hell Shredder would let that happen."

"Of course not, why is why sensei gave us orders to have Dr Warren create a… contingency plan of sorts, should the need arise. I assume we will see it in action soon enough."

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After making his escape with Steranko's help, Zeck presented the bag that contained the Kuro Kabuto… or was supposed to anyway. In reality, it was opened up to reveal that it was actually full of dirty diapers. As one could imagine, Steranko was left enraged by this and told Zeck that he would, as he put it, pop his head like a blueberry, something Zeck was not surprised by.

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Meanwhile, with the holder of the actual helmet…

'Okay, so far so good… Now here goes nothing.' Ghost Spider took a breath as she snuck her way into the Shredder's lair through the roof and quietly landed in the throne room, looking around cautiously for signs of any other presence, until…

"Why does the fly walk into a spider's web?" the echoing voice of Shredder drew Ghost Spider's attention to where he stood beside his throne.

"Because the spider sent his men on a milk run and left the door open." Ghost Spider paused as she looked over Shredder 'Come to think of it, this is the first time Shredder and I have ever come face to face isn't it? Not counting when Splinter got poisoned and we had to break in to save him, but then I didn't really take too much notice of him. Now I can practically feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up… It's not just raw power or anything either… It's the sheer bloodlust coming off of him… Even compared to all the supervillains and monsters I've fought so far, this guy is in a league of his own…'

"So you have it with you." Shredder's gaze locked onto where the Kuro Kabuto sat tucked underneath Ghost Spider's arm "I take it you've come to make a trade?"

"That's one way to put it." she held the helmet up in front of him "I give you the helmet, and you hand over Karai."

"Hm. So be it then." Shredder gave a subtle nod to a Foot Bot standing nearby, prompting it to leave the room "She'll have to be brought up from her cell in the dungeon."

"You locked her in a cell after you raised her from infancy?" Ghost Spider's expression under her mask morphed into disgust "Looks like the others weren't lying when they said that you were a monster in human skin."

"That simply proves you are young and naive. A true and experienced warrior understands that in any conflict, the winner is the one who is prepared to do what the loser is not."

"Let me go!" Karai was brought into the throne room with a sack over her head and forced onto her knees "Let me go!"

"Now hand over the Kuro Kabuto."

"Yeah, quick question before I do that." Ghost Spider looked back up at Shredder as she finished loading new cartridges into her web shooters "What guarantee do I have you won't attack me the second you get your hands on the helmet."

"Hm. Of course I'm going to attack you. Did you really believe that you were going to get out of this without having to fight for your life?"

"Truth be told, it was more hope than thought, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Ghost Spider sat the helmet down behind her as she got into a stance, studying Shredder intently 'I'd say that I have this in the bag, but from what Peter has told me, even with the Turtles backing him up he still barely survived fighting him the first time. I'll have to be cautious. Come at me."

"That was my intention." Shredder drew his blades out of his gauntlets and charged at her in a flash, launching a rapid series of strikes at her.

'Stay calm, focus on his strikes and wait for an opening… There!' Ghost Spider managed to dodge and weave around Shredder's attacks and leap over a strike of his blades, giving her the chance to deal him a kick to the back, sending him crashing to the ground, and then she closed in on him with a fist readied… only to pause and slowly withdraw it 'No. Not like this.'

"Compassion and mercy. Pathetic weaknesses." Shredder slashed at her with his blades, forcing her to leap back, but the blades still managed to cut through part of her suit "But such a thing is to be expected when your sensei is a weak willed coward like Splinter."

"At least Splinter can admit when he's in the wrong, whereas you keep blaming him for all of your problems." Ghost Spider ducked to avoid another slash of Shredder's blades, only for the other hand to succeed in grazing her as she leapt back, leaving a thin but long gash along her shoulder, bleeding enough to stain her suit.

"Your insolence is about to cost you your life. You were foolish to come here and try to do this alone."

"Who said she was alone?"

An impact web shot at Shredder from behind, causing him to turn around to cut through it, and he saw Spider-Man and Hobgoblin standing before him, the latter holding his helmet in one hand "Hm. So you came. It seems you value your own life as little as one would believe."

"Meh, wouldn't be the first time I snuck into the base of a psychopath in a tower, and I wanted to get a look at the real deal." Spider-Man let out a low whistle as he looked over Shredder "Hot damn, and I thought you were ugly with the helmet on, not to mention pale. Seriously dude, you gotta get some sun."

"You're not wrong, I'm pretty sure skin isn't supposed to be pink. And I'm talking about the part without the burns." Hobgoblin tucked the helmet under one arm and used his free hand to fire off a barrage of razor bats.

"Give me that helmet!" Shredder ripped through the razor bats with his blades and launched himself at Hobgoblin, dealing him a swift kick to the chest that threw him to the ground, but didn't stop him from hurtling the helmet across the room "NO!"

"I got it!" Ghost Spider caught the helmet with a webline.

"You're going to suffer for your actions!" Shredder moved to charge at Ghost Spider, easily stopping Hobgoblin's attempted strike with a flame sword with a slash across the torso that sent him crashing to the ground, and then he moved to strike him down with another blow, until…

"Nope!" Spider-Man hurled a web bomb at Shredder before he could strike, binding his arms in a way that he couldn't cut free easily, and then he followed that up with a shot of electric webs that electrocuted him in an instant, causing him to cry out in pain "Well you know what they say, ugly on the outside and ugly on the inside. That pretty much describes you to a tee. It's not hard to see why Tombstone took you off his Christmas card list."

"Silence!" Shredder let out a snarl as he used a burst of strength to rip himself free of the webs and brandished his bladed gauntlets in anger "Do you fools actually believe that you have what it takes to defeat me?"

"Well you're not about to find out, mostly because we don't need to." Spider-Man gave a smirk underneath his mask as he and the others backed up towards Shredder's throne… and to be more specifically, to where Karai was still bound in her sack, with Spider-Man slinging him over her shoulder "We just had to keep you busy long enough for us to get Karai."

"Filthy wretches, none of you will ever get out of here with your lives."

"So what, you want the helmet so bad? Then go ahead and take it!" Hobgoblin hurled the helmet towards Shredder as the three of them quickly made a break for it.

"Arrogant little-" Shredder caught the Kuro Kabuto in his hands, only to falter when he took notice of a miniature pumpkin bomb inside the helmet, which promptly went off, resulting in a loud shriek and a burst of green smoke, causing him to cry out in pain. When he regained his sense of awareness, he looked around only to find Hobgoblin and the Spiders gone, to which he gave his typical scowl as he placed his helmet back on 'Fools… It would seem it was wise to have that contingency plan put into place.'

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Meanwhile, with the heroes of the chapter…

"Not gonna lie, that was a close one." Ghost Spider breathed a sigh of relief, and once they were a safe distance away from Shredder's lair they stopped on a random rooftop, where she took off her maks, revealing the face of Gwen Stacy, and she gave a relieved smile "Thanks for showing up to help when you did guys. To be totally honest, I don't think I could've taken Shredder on by myself."

"I say this with love, you definitely couldn't have taken him." Spider-Man sat Karai down and lifted up his mask to reveal the face of Peter Parker, only to falter when he saw Gwen giving him the Look "But you still did a lot better than I did the first time I fought him, the same can be said for Daredevil. Please stop giving me the Look."

"...You're lucky I love you." Gwen's expression softened as she caught him in a quick kiss and gave him a loving smile.

"I love you too."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but I think we're forgetting something." Hobgoblin pulled up his face plate to reveal the face of Harry Osborn, and he jerked a thumb at Karai's bound form "Shouldn't we get her out of the sack?"

"Oh yeah, give me one second." Peter knelt down and took the sack off… only to pause as they saw that it wasn't actually Karai, so much as a fake with a bomb for a head "Huh. So that's why my Spider Sense has been going off this whole time."

"You're not freaking out?"

"Please, you think this is the first time someone tried to blow me up on a rooftop?"

"...We're still gonna run though right."

"Well duh. Anyway, RUN!" and so the three of them tried to make a break for it, right before the explosion went off and blew them clear off the roof.

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A little while later, back at the Parker household…

"Well that could've gone better." Harry let out a sigh as he sat down on one of the chairs in the living room of the Parker household, holding an icepack to a bruise on his face "Fight for our lives and don't get a damn thing for it. Is this what you go through all the time?"

"I could lie and give you hope, but yeah pretty much." Peter let out a groan as he laid back on the couch, with Gwen resting her head on his shoulder "But we keep going regardless."

"Kind of demoralizing when you think about it though, that the girl-"

"Karai."

"Right. That Karai is still stuck down there in some freaky dungeon."

"I know. But we're not giving up." Gwen's gaze hardened as she placed a hand over Peter's and gripped it tightly "If what happened to Mr Murakami is anything to go by, it's a reminder that we can't save everyone… but no matter what, we don't stop trying. And thanks Harry, for sticking through all of that with us."

"Uh… yeah sure, it wasn't a big deal. It felt… kind of nice actually."

"I know what you mean." Peter sat upright and gave a grin "Kind of like old times. Never could've imagined us being superheroes a year ago. Or at least not you guys, cause I already was doing this whole thing. Then I met the Turtles, found out about the Kraang, dealing with the whole alien invasion thing… Holy crap, a lot has happened."

"Yeah. A lot has changed. Including us."

"Maybe. But a lot of it is for the better." Peter tightened her grip on Gwen's hand as the two of them shared a quick kiss "And it's like that old saying: the more things change, the more things stay the same. We're still the same people, still friends, just new and improved."

"Yeah, that uh… that's one way of putting it." Harry paused as he looked down at his phone "It's getting late, I think I'd better get going. I'll see you guys in school tomorrow." and on that note, he pulled himself to his feet and made his way out of the Parker household without another word, pulling out his cell phone the moment he was out the door and stepping onto his glider, pushing a button on his watch that causing his suit to form from underneath his clothes "It's almost 2 AM, you never call for just a social visit. Something come up?"

"I believe you would know that better than me. From what I've heard, you've been rather active tonight."

"It kind of just happened out of the blue."

"So is my understanding, but I hear it was quite the show. Anyway, putting that aside, I wanted to let you know that we'll be getting ready to make our move fairly soon. I also wanted to ensure that you're going to be ready to do your part when the time comes."

"I already told you that I'd do what you need me to. Just make sure that you keep your word about my condition."

"Come now Harry, when have you ever known me to go back on my word? Just don't give me a reason to. But big things are about to transpire. And everything is going to change." and then the line cut off.

"Yeah. I figured that was about the case." Harry kept his gaze locked forward as he glided above the streets of New York 'A lot is gonna happen, good and bad… but at the very least, I'll make sure she's kept out of it.'

A/N:

This chapter was a bit of a short one, especially in comparison to the others in recent times, but honestly I feel like that was probably needed given everything that's happened before now, and everything that's going to happen. But it is still fairly important, given that we are eluded to the return of Steranko and see the debut of Anton Zeck, and you guys know how important they're going to be later on down the line.

The big difference here is that the Turtles pretty much sit this whole chapter out, mainly due to them paying their own respects to Murakami's grave in private. On the plus side, this gives me the chance to show off how Spider-Man and Ghost Spider work as a team, along with some extra support in the form of Harry as the new Hobgoblin.

Now then, before I close this chapter out, I'd like all of you to know that this story has recently (about a week ago) received its own TV Tropes page, courtesy of one reviewer kind enough to crate it.

I've been writing fanfiction for about seven years now, and I've been posting on this website for more than sixyears (even though I had been reading on here for a few years longer than that), and it's a huge honor to know that one of my stories is getting this kind of recognition. Anyway, I want to take the chance to thank you all for supporting my stories over the past few years, and I hope that you continue to do so.