Peter was in a bit of a crucial bind at the moment, given how the past two days had gone down. His every move being under the watchful eye of the niece of his greatest critic and balancing actually having a girl being INTO him for once, on top of making sure not one, but TWO other super kids in school didn't go off the rails, and that wasn't even getting into Puckmaster and keeping his crazy butt on a short leash.

So now he had to balance his precarious life by lowering one section of it. "Come on, pick up, pick up …" Taking a night off from Spider-Man for a girl … Uncle Ben would be SO disappointed in him right now. He wouldn't even bother with the mental bartering and justification, he just really….REALLY wanted to be with Liz at the moment.

Yes, he was choosing himself over Spidey for once, YES he was choosing to not don the mask and putting HIS responsibility on others…but he messed up so many of his relationships in the past due to his duty as Spider-Man. Harry, Eddie, Gwen. He was lucky the first and last of which still managed to be here in spite of his Parker luck…. though he still had nightmares about Venom's return…. and about Gobby's return as well.

Liz asked him to be with her as they waited for Flash in the hospital….on the one hand, Liz wanting to wait on her ex in the hospital was a concerning sign, but on the other…Liz was counting on PETER to be the shoulder to lean on … and once again, he failed to do that with his other friends when it counted.

So he bottled down his guilt, decided to call the guys, and ask for another night off so he could hang with her … and HOPEFULLY there were no supervillains to stop that from happening. "Don't jinx it, don't jinx it, don't jinx it…"

"This is Leo.,." Yes!

"Ah, hey, dude. It's…a lovely night we're having, right?" He started off awkwardly.

"... Let me guess, still can't get loose from your fangirl?" Leo instantly cut through the awkward tension that would've immediately dragged through the conversation.

"Yes and no …" He sighed. "Flash broke his leg…"

"The guy who constantly makes your life a nightmare?" Donnie asked in a confused tone. "Figured something like that would've made you want to celebrate. Fireworks in the air as you stomp on his grave."

"...What kind of sociopath do you think I am?" Peter asked in horror.

"We already did that when we killed Kraang Prime, didn't we?" The violent turtle asked.

"There's a difference between a giant brain parasite trying to take over the planet and a human being." Peter countered.

"So does that mean I should get rid of my party plans for when we take down the Foot?" Mikey asked.

There was a certain irony on trying to get out of his moral responsibilities while lecturing these guys on morality. "Look, we're getting off topic. Flash is in the hospital now and Liz wants to wait in the lobby to show support."

"Ouch, you've barely dated the girl and she's already going back to the dumb jock." Raph laughed. "Either he's just that good or you're just that bad."

"I am going to punch your head into your shell one of these days, and it's not going to pop back out." He grumbled.

"You're free to try any day of the week, web head."

"Like I was saying…" He growled. "Liz wants me to be there to support her while she's giving support…so … I need you guys to handle it solo…again for tonight." He tentatively said. "Unless of course there's a supervillain on the loose, or the Foot's up to something."

"What's that, the high and mighty Spidey thinks we can handle it for one night?" Leo asked in a jokey manner. "Does his highness bequeath his blessing upon us to go off on our lonesome?"

"Okay, I could be petty and point out you don't exactly have the best track record for solo missions." He shot back.

"Name one time." Mikey answered in a cocky tone.

"There was the Sinister Six, attacking TCRI, the mutagen fall, trying to kill the Shredder that one time, prom night when you faced the Goblin by yourselves..."

"...Well, I bet you couldn't name…okay I got nothing there." Mikey admitted after a minute of silence. "But don't worry dude, we got this." Mikey said with what he imagined was a smirk. "We already beat up a crazy old man with an accent and sharp knives the other day."

"Wait, there was another villain popping up and you didn't tell me!?"

"Calling him a villain would be a generous definition." Donnie snickered. "It was just some crazy Russian guy dressed in lion furs. Not even aligned with Shredder or anybody."

"He wanted to hunt us cause he thought our shells would look nice on a shelf, but we knocked his socks off." Leo replied with confidence. "Dumped him in a trashcan, Nester Glooban style to boot, honestly felt like a low rent Bradford before he was mutated."

"Alright …" Still would have been nice to know beforehand.

"Sides, you're always whining about not having any game with girls, so this is probably your only chance." Raph chucked.

"Says the turtle who will never get game." He sighed. "Thanks guys."

"No problem, man. We wouldn't be heroes if we didn't do our part. Later." Leo spoke out, before hanging up. Maybe…maybe this wouldn't be too bad. The turtles DID save him from being possessed by living tar, and they were maturing….it was at a turtle's pace (heh), but the growth was there…maybe he just needed to give them space to spread their wings.

"Petey?" He turned to see Liz looking at him with concern. "Who was that?"

"Just some work friends, made sure someone had me covered." He answered, putting his phone away. "It's just you and me, alright?"

"You sure this isn't too awkward? I know you and Flash don't have the best history together..."

"Neither did the two of us, but look where we are now." He chuckled. "Honestly I'm more worried about Sally. She's been giving me the stink eye since I got here."

"Pfft, she's harmless."

"The bleeding of my eardrums says otherwise." Honestly, why did Peter have a crush on her at the beginning of the year…

It was the blonde hair. Most likely. Blondes and redheads seemed to be his go to most of the time … Oh god, Eddie was right. He really DOES put himself in situations like that. Okay, just relax, Liz was into him, and he was into her, and she wasn't either … so it all worked out in the end. Not like any other red head in his life was going to fall in love with him. Mary Jane kind of sank that ship after prom.

Mikey blinked, looking over the box in front of him. "Super … Robo … Mecha … Force … Five." He read aloud. "Who puts weird sounding VHS tapes in the middle of a dumpster?"

"And why do we keep listening to Donnie's scanner? It's more impractical than a trenchcoat on a turtle!" Raph shouted. "First it led us to a blender, then to the movies, then the public park bathroom, and now this! It's going to lead us inside a washing machine before it leads us to any mutagen."

"I'm trying my best here, but without at least ONE unopened canister I can't scan for more." The turtle said. "The only option I can think of is ripping apart twenty mutants and using their collective DNA to track a signature that matches the energy in every atom, but even THAT'S iffy." Sometimes it was really hard to tell who was the craziest on their team.

"Let's be grateful that we haven't had any sightings of new mutants since Squirrel Girl." Leo noted. "We can't afford to have crazies like Shriek pop up around every corner. If we can stop even one maniac from getting superpowers, that's a win."

"I certainly don't feel like I'm winning right now." Raph grumbled. "We've barely had any action since Shriek. Not even a purple dragon thug trying to rob a convenience store or something."

"Maybe Squirrel Girl and the Fantastic Four scared them off." Mikey guessed.

"Mikey, for one, Doreen is a giant squirrel … that's not terrifying in the least." Donnie counted.

"It is if she takes talking to squirrels to a Rat King level." He pointed out. "Just imagine it, a whole army of squirrels …"

"Then we'll just let Spidey go nuts on her." Raph shrugged.

"But she was bitten by a radioactive animal too! Same propiza-whatsa strength thing applies to her too!"

"By that logic Spidey could talk to Spiders." Leo pointed out.

"Also Squirrels to Spiders proportional strength is about ten to fifteen, he'd still win in a fist fight as long as she doesn't bite him." Donnie pointed out. "Come on, gotta be …" He paused. "Mutagen."

They all turned, and saw a canister of the glowing goop … in the middle of the empty rooftop. "Aw sweet! Finally, we can stop running into broken cars and abandoned video stores!" Raph shouted. "Come on, let's grab it before the universe decides to be an ass for no reason."

"It's not covered in snow …" Leo muttered.

"Dude, it's been days since the canisters fell. Who knows what's happened in the meantime." Raph argued. "We're lucky they didn't all crack and leak into the streets all at once."

"But still, this feels too coincidental.."

"Aw come on bro, relax. We're just awesome." Mikey said, walking over and pulling on it … and a string? "What the-"

Thud

A net shot out of the ground, launching the turtle into the wall. "MIKEY!"

"Did you think that I would only attempt to hunt you once?" Leo pulled out his swords, blocking a machete that came out of nowhere. "I told you the hunt only stops when you die or I die. You should've put me down while you had the chance."

"Kravenof, is that you?" Raph took his sais out as they all began looking around. "Can't face us head on so you're hiding with your tail behind your legs?"

Slash

A blur of orange ran past Raph, leaving scratches on his shell. "Ironic that a ninja would criticize an enemy for using stealth." The voice said. "I hunt as any animal would. Tracking, laying traps … going in for the kill!" Another blur of orange shot forward at Donnie.

"We spent our whole lives hiding in the shadows, it takes a lot to get the jump on us!" Donnie tried to block, only for his staff to get broken. "Oh come on, I had a whole character arc about not breaking that and everyth-!"

Slash

Donnie was sent back, his chest bleeding from what looked like claw marks across it. "Oh now you've done it, Kravenof!" Leo launched himself at the blur-

Shing

And for his blades to be caught … in the mouth of some feral looking Lion man in taken get up. "You turtles bested Sergei Kravenof when he was human." Spitting out the blades, Kravenof grabbed Leo by the throat and pinned him against the wall. "But now I am the apex predator. I have been reborn as Kraven the Hunter!"!

"... Terrible name." Mikey shook his head from inside the net. "What about the Liongedon, or the Predator, or the Feline Menac-"

Smash

The giant cat man threw Leo right at Mikey with enough force to break through the wall. "Silence, worm! Kraven is superior animal here. Only I name Kraven, no one else!"

"You're superior in looking ugly and making mistakes!" Raph shouted as he jumped forward, trying to land a blow on the mutant.

"Like the tortoise crossing the sahara, you are far too slow!" Raph took a kick to the chest long before he had a chance to land a blow. "I took the same treatment you all did, gained great power." The man smirked. "Now I have speed of cheetah, agility of leopard, and strength of Lion!"

"That's stupid." Donnie spoke up. "Panthers have much more leg strength than leopards, so they'd be able to jump higher. And the only reason lions are effective is because of a pack mentality, tigers are MUCH stronge-"

Slash slash slash slash

Multiple slashes from the claws were made at Donnie's leg, making him cry out as Kraven held him above his head. "And much like the petulant mockingbird, you squawk too much!" The man threw Donnie to the ground, raising his claw to the turtle's throat. "Say goodnight, mutant."

"Donnie!" Mikey shouted, sending his chains out and around Kraven's neck. "Get away from my brother!" He began pulling hard to get him away.

"Yes, yes, now the hunt gets exciting!"

"How's this for exciting!?" Leo grabbed his swords and slashed across Kraven's back.

The crazy dude cackled. "Once upon a time I would have felt excruciating pain, as the blood fell from my back, while I ripped the life from my foe!" He shouted, matching Leo and pushing him back with a maniacal grin. "Now, now I barely feel it! I have truly become the greatest hunter! And you … you four shall be the greatest of prey!"

Leo glared into the maniac's eyes. Another mutated mad man on the streets, one with the express interest of hunting him and his brothers down like animals. They got cocky again and now they were caught off guard by another super villain.

He pushed away, trying to cut Kraven's arms, only for the hunter to move around the blade, delivering a punch Leo could feel through his shell, launching Leo backwards. Raph rammed in, trying to land a few blows that Kraven caught within his hands. "A fiery temper, one easily dominated!" The new mutant countered with a headbutt.

"You know, before I was limited with just Tarzan and George of the Jungle jokes, but now I have so many other cat jokes to give out!" Mikey repeatedly bashed the man in the head with his chucks, only to get kicked in the face. "Like … how … you have a case of Catscratch … fever ..."

"You offer nothing compared to your brethren." The man said, raising his brother and kneeing them in the stomach.

"And you offer nothing compared to the two week old pizza box I threw out last week!" Donnie charged in, taking out the half of his bo staff that held the hidden blade and stabbed Kraven in the back. "Try grabbing onto something with a dislodged shoulder blade!"

The man growled, roundhouse kicking Donnie before grabbing his own arm and lodging it back in place. "Kraven has dealt with worse." He responded, resting his clawed foot on Donnie.

"And Kraven should stop trying to sound more important by speaking in the third person!" Raph charged in, aiming his sais at his knee caps, but he got an uppercut to the face.

"Your banter only delays the inevitable. Defeated prey go down in silent dignity."

"Then you obviously never met a teenager before in your life!" Leo took out his smoke bomb and threw it at the man's face. "Turtles, scatter!" He shouted.

"I do not think so." With a clicking noise, an electric fence erected itself from the roof of the building. "I told you turtles, did I not?" The man let out a soft growl as he grinned. "I am a hunter first …"

"What is he.." Miley looked above-

Shink

…and got an arrow in his arm. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" More arrows kept falling as Mikey screamed in pain.

"Keep moving, it's an ambush!" Leo ordered as they began running.

"Can't move all that much when the entire place is surrounded with a shock cage!" Raph shouted, blocking an arrow before he was kicked into said electric wall. "Gaaah!"

"Weakened, trapped, and ready for the kill!" The mad man screamed, trying to claw at them. "Before you held advantage of home base, now I am master of both the wild and concrete jungle!"

"Too bad…you never mastered … the art … of hitintheballs." Mikey coughed.

"Hitintheballs?" Kraven raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking-?"

Smack

Crunch

Mikey swung his chucks…and hit Kraven right in the jewels. "… MREEEEE!" What sounded like the highest pitch of cat screams erupted from the man's mouth.

"Barrier's down, move it!" Donnie shouted as the fence started to lower.

They all jumped into the alley, making their way into the sewers, running down a couple of tunnels, before taking a breath. "Are we good?" Mikey asked, wincing while holding his injured arm. "He's not behind me about to rip out my eyes for revenge, right?"

"No, we lost him for now." Raph huffed as he patted Mikey on the back. "Gotta say though little brother, that was impressively dirty fighting. I couldn't be more proud in the moment…well, I'd probably would if we weren't just escaping a psychopath."

"Yeah, I'm already on it." Donnie pulled out the T phone. "One Spidey comin up." Peter once again having to come to their rescue… picking up the slack while they lagged behind… this couldn't keep happening… it couldn't.

"No…we're not calling SpiderMan." Leo said in a low tone.

"Ah, I don't know what fight you were a part of, but we just barely got out of the way with our shells intact!" Donnie shouted. "Mine's still bleeding Leo! Even Dogpound and Fishface don't make us bleed from our shells!"

"And relying on Peter whenever we're in a bind is partially how we got situations like Venom!"

"This isn't like that. If it was Kraang or Foot we'd be fine." Raph answered. "This guy is off the chain and treating our skills like they're trash."

"Before he was like Brad lite, but now he's on super cat speed or something!" Mikey shouted "He beat the ability to name him out of me man! And you KNOW how I am with names!"

"Face it Leo; our pride isn't worth the risk if we can get help." Donnie glared. "We can't beat Kraven on our-"

"I'm not going to take no for an answer! T-phone self-destruct." Leo announced.

"Hey!" His brothers threw the smoking phones away.

"You idiot!" Donnie shoved him back. "Do you have any idea what you just did!?"

"Yes. I got rid of any excuse we have for not taking this guy head on." He glared. "Don't you guys get it? We're never going to grow as ninjas if we keep calling on Spidey!" Leo shouted angrily. "What's the point of training with the best martial artist in the world if we don't use what he taught us!?"

"Wasn't the point it's going to take years and years of being beaten up before we're close to where he is?" Raph asked rhetorically.

"That shouldn't matter! The powers or strength shouldn't matter! We shouldn't be making mistakes like dropping all the mutagen!" Leo kept going. "But we did, and we're paying for it. It's our mess; so let's clean up our mess by ourselves for once!"

"How!? We just hit him with four ways of ninja butt whoop and he still kicked our butts!" Mikey shouted.

"We take home field advantage." Leo gripped his palms. "He may be a hunter, but this city is still our home. These sewers are our turf. We're going to flip this game of cat and mouse and turn the hunter into the hunted." They would do this, Peter WOULD have a night off, and they would be successful as heroes for once!

Liz placed her gaze on the red 'operation' sign. It's been a few hours, and he was still held up, with no answers on what would happen to the boy.

Sure, she broke up with Flash, but she still cared about him on some level, who wouldn't care about a friend? Sally was trying to get her to read into it, like it was a sign that she had repressed feelings for Flash and being with Petey was just her way of playing hard to get…but given that her and Rand's relationship wasn't exactly squeaky clean, Liz would choose to take that advice with a grain of salt.

Speaking of, her boyfriend was currently squeezing her hand, giving a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I know these doctors, they mean well. The worst thing that's gonna happen to Flash is a hospital bill."

"Bills. The bane of adulthood." Liz smiled. "They always tell us we can be whoever we want to be, but always manage to forget to tell us how much it costs."

"Truly, the source of all evil is the almighty one dollar bill." Peter smirked. "Too bad you can't arrest money…though if you did I think most of the world would be equally as poor as each other."

So many jokes. Just one conversation with this guy was enough to keep Liz feeling lighter than she would've been with anyone else. "I got to ask…what's the deal between you and Flash? I know you two have known each other since elementary school, but I never got the why."

"Oh, we've known each other even before that." Peter waved off. "Before we knew popularity existed, one could almost mistake us for best friends."

"Really?" Liz asked. "Huh…guess I could see it. You were friends with Eddie too back then, right?"

"Yeah. Me and Eddie grew up together … he was my closest friend back when I was a kid." Peter said with a nostalgic tone in his voice. "Funny enough, I gave Flash his nickname."

"Really?"

He leaned in close with a grin. "And it wasn't because he could run fast." The boy whispered.

"You mean he…" Liz chuckled at the idea.

"Let's just say he loved feeling 'all natural'." Peter smirked. "Then middle school happened and it was all uphill from there." He rolled his eyes. "He got a growth spurt and I needed glasses, a small snowball that eventually rolled into a mountain of problems."

"Sorry to hear." It was hard to just hear the fall from the other side. And to think she was a part of this BS social structure for so long.

"It's fine. I learned to roll with the smarts … and I got you." He smiled at her. "So that's definitely a plus."

"It's just…even after all that happened, I'm surprised you gave me a chance."

"Well, Uncle Ben used to say everyone deserves a second chance…and third, and fourth, he was a really forgiving guy." Petey smiled fondly. "I don't always practice that as I should, but I try my hardest. That and you're really pretty, so you already got points in your favor."

"Oh, so it's a point system now?" She smirked.

"I gotta keep you on your toes somehow, Miss Allen."

"Fair enough." She leaned in closer, getting her face close to his to where they could feel each other's breath. "But I'm still a cheerleader….and I play to win."

"Ah…" He blushed red.

"What's that? Peter Parker is finally speechless, I thought I would never see the day." She laughed as she sat back down.

"Well, it happens rarely." He chuckled, taking a breath. It was fun teasing him like this.

"Seriously, thank you Petey." She held onto his arm tightly… noticing just how firm it really felt when she gave it enough time. "You know; I honestly expected you to be running late or running off…but you've stayed the whole time."

"I have some friends covering my shift." He said. "It's … nice, having someone to rely on." There was a smile on his lips. "Of course, Jameson would have my head if he knew his niece wasn't getting a first class seat to Spider-Man in action."

"I think Squirrel Girl is holding her attention just fine." She pointed to the excited little girl sitting next to the mutant. "Surprise she's here actually."

"Well Mattie follows me everywhere and she has an iron grip." Peter said. "Just glad she's holding onto her tail and not my arm."

"Do you store nuts for the winter?" Mattie asked.

"I store nuts ALL the time." The talking squirrel answered. "It's how I keep Monkey Joe here fed."

"Can't have animals in the building, but she is one, but can't have animals in the building." They saw one doctor constantly trying to walk to Doreen, but backing away out of fear.

"That's pretty surreal, right? I'm not the only one who's thinking that?" Liz asked. It was one thing to have super powers exist, it was another to have someone with said powers act like a normal person.

"Eh, as someone who's chased around a guy running across roofs in blue and red spandex, I've kind of gotten used to it." Peter shrugged. "The girl walking to class like it's nothing is a brand new level of confidence however."

"One more question." The little girl said. "Are you and Spider-Man dating?"

Doreen stared at Mattie for a moment, before snorting. "Nah, he's not my type at all." She waved off. "Like, he's got a nice butt and all, but I'm more into the free spirited go with the flow types, you know?" Free spirited … yeah, that didn't fit Petey at all. He was always dealing with one thing or another.

Donnie hid in silence, nothing but the sounds of flowing sewage surrounding them, gazing with focused eyes at the entrance. Their plan was simple. If this guy likes ambushing them, then they throw their own ambush. Luckily, the sewers were the perfect place to spring one. Not only was it dark, it was damp and musty, so that would damper both his sense of sight and smell. "Smoke bombs ready brothers?" Leo asked silently, keeping his swords tightly gripped.

"Ready." They nodded, tightening their own weapons while waiting for the man.

After what felt like an eternity, they heard the sound of footsteps. "Come out little tortoises." The maniac said aloud. "You can't hide forever from the hunt." The scraping of his claws was echoed as he scratched them across the walls.

Readying his part of the plan, Donnie began making a run for it, shouting out in the air. "You're already slipping, cat man! Turtles and Tortoises are different animals under the same genus!" The echo would help distract his hearing, so he wouldn't have a completely accurate depiction of his location.

"So, finally plan on sticking around … excellent!" The sound of footsteps began echoing around.

"So is it cannibalism if you're a big cat wearing a big cat coat!?" Mikey shouted, adding further echoes.

"No beast is beyond my reach, little terrapin! All that stand in the way of the hunt shall be conquered by the Hunter!"

"And yet Kraven was the best you could come up with!" Donnie added. "Just your last name with one less syllable!"

"I told you being 'The Predator' was cooler, but nooo, hunter big strong smart man." Mikey added a caveman accent to his taunt. "Me go grow fur over body and lick meself all over."

"No one taunts Kraven!"

"But it's so easy." Donnie smirked. "You don't even have the balls to taunt back…not that you even have balls anymore after Mikey smashed them. So sorry you won't be able to have a litter of your own anymore."

Shink

A spear lodged itself next to Donnie's head. "Found you …." The mutant grinned, pouncing at him.

"And we found you!" He threw down a smoke bomb, flipping out of the way of the oncoming attack. "Eat smoke, kitty cat!"

"Hack!" The man coughed, his eyes going red. "Fools, I've trained in harsher conditions than this! It'll take more than mere smoke to dull the senses of the hunter!"

"Then how about a whole bowl's worth!?" Leo shouted as he and Raph leapt forward and kept throwing more and more smoke bombs into his face.

The moment the man was blinded, Donnie used his close proximity to land a blow to the man's chest, sending him into Raph, who kicked him in the back of the head. "If these attacks did not work before, what makes you think they will now!?" He elbowed Raph in the shell.

"Because before we were fighting in your cage!" Raph landed right next to a pipe. "And now you're fighting in ours!" He stabbed the pipe, and a huge rush of water began pouring out, sending Kraven back against the wall. "Hope you can swim, fleabag!"

"A little water does nothing to hold back the hunt-!"

"But it does loosen your traction on the ground!" Leo came in and crashed the man across the chest, making him bleed as he was forced back.

"And have a stinkbomb to add to the top!" Mikey shouted, throwing the rancid object.

"GAAA! HOW DOES THIS SMELL WORSE THAN THE CATACOMBS!?"

"We've lived in the sewers our whole lives, we know the worst of the worst when we see them!" He took his staff and smacked him across the ground.

"The… the hunt is not over… It can't be over…. I am… apex predator-!"

"And I'm a cool guy with chains, but you don't hear me bragging!" Mikey threw his weapon around his arms as the rest of them wrapping up his limbs.

Once there they threw chains, locking the hunter in place, pinning him to the ground as their blades were held at his neck. "Cool guy, pushing it." Raph snarked as he had a sai at Kraven's eye. "So much as blink funny and I'm scooping out these eyes… so go ahead…make my day, hairball."

"It's over Kraven." Leo glared, a blade at the throat. "No more hunting lives for your sick games."

"Heheheheheheh…You've bested me….. for now…. Noble terrapins…" The man cackled. "You truly are… worthy prey…. next time, you won't be so fortunate."

"Dude, you're gonna go to jail." Mikey shook his head. "It's gonna be MONTHS before next time."

Bump bump Bump bump

They heard the sounds of drums, glancing to one of the tunnels, seeing nothing, before looking back … as Kraven was gone. "...Donnie…" Mikey asked. "...Do Cats have the ability to teleport?"

"Not since the last time I checked… no…" He stood there, just as stunned as the rest of them. "Hey Leo … ever recall any of Splinter's lessons … explaining this?"

"Nope … Ninja leave no trace … but … I'm not sure how to … I just.." Leo shook his head. "Who here wants to chalk this up to exhaustion and think about it tomorrow?"

"I."

Splinter watched as his sons returned, covered in injuries. "I'll get the first aid." He'd have to stock up on that soon, they were using it a BIT too often for his liking.

"Hope… you're happy… with yourself Leo…" Raphael fell down on the couch. "Because I'm not. When morning comes, I'm pounding you into the ground."

"That's … completely fair." Leonardo coughed, hitting the floor on his back in the middle of walking.

"I take it you had another run in with one of your Mutated mishaps?" He asked, applying aloe onto the visible burn marks.

"Yeah, some hunter dude got mutated and wanted to cut open our shells." Michelangelo complained. "Didn't even have a grudge against us like Shredder does, he's just a crazy guy who really wanted to hunt turtles."

"I swear the villains are just getting more insane." Donatello grumbled, wrapping his chest in bandages. "On the bright side…we did manage to secure a canister." He held up a glowing glass jar. "Which means my scanner will be more accurate on future patrols."

"No more trash cans, hurray." Raphael sarcastically remarked.

"So he's making a full recovery." Peter stated as he walked in with April. "Just gonna be off the team for the rest of the …" He paused, looking at the group. "... What happened to calling me if you encountered a supervillain!?"

"It's…. better than… it looks?" Leonardo tried to excuse.

"Don't believe a single filthy lie he tells you, we got our butt's kicked in." Michelangelo raised his hands. "That same crazy guy we told you about came back mutated as a cat version of Dogpound basically, except less bony and more tarzan-y. Called himself Kraven… which again, is the worst name he could've picked, but he scared me, so I didn't have much of a choice."

Peter sighed. "Just tell me where you last saw him and we can kick his butt."

"Well we kicked his furry tail in." Raphael stated. "... Then he teleported."

"...Did he have some kind of mutant cat teleportation power or…?" April tried to ask.

"We just heard drums, then he was gone." Donatello explained, groaning. "We have no idea how he did it."

"Great, the one time I choose to take a day off and this is what happens." The boy shook his head. "I knew that was going to bite me in the butt somehow."

"We handled it … until the end." Leonardo said. "Don't beat yourself up just because you decided to relax Peter."

"No, cause then other people beat you up." He shot back. "You guys got mauled by a new mutant while I was getting cozy with Liz, that's not a fair trade off."

"I mean…isn't it kind of?" April said. "None of the guys have had serious injuries…or at least the kind of injuries you had in the past."

"Our internal organs are intact, so that's a win." Donatello noted. "Plus Mikey landed a blow on him that he's not going to recover from anytime soon."

"Yep, hit him where the sun don't shine … I feel slightly guilty but not by much considering he wants to mount our shells."

"A ninja must know when to fight with honor, and when without." Splinter told his sons. "Though I may question the timing of taking unnecessary risks such as fighting a mutated foe without backup, I commend you for sticking with your choices." He turned to Leonardo. "That is the true sign of a leader."

Leonardo smiled brightly at the compliment. "Thank you Sensei, I hope to make you proud."

"Proud or not, I'm still going to pound you for blowing up the T-phones." Raphael moaned.

"Wait, it's not just Donnie?" Peter asked. "Anyone can just say 'T-Phone self-destruct' and-" There was a spark from Peter and April's bags. "... You know, maybe you should work on an algorithm that'll allow the phones to detect sarcasm."

"On it, along with your next phones." Donatello raised a hand, before falling forward. "I'll get to it tomorrow...Kraven took a lot out of me and I can hardly think."

"You know…Doreen isn't shy about being a mutant and a hero." April spoke up with a curious expression. "And you said she helped you guys…maybe an extra hand here and there wouldn't be too bad. It would lighten the load of you guys and Peter."

"Doreen's too eager about being a hero. I'm not convinced she takes it all too seriously." Peter sighed. "And I'm already trying to reign in a hockey nut from killing himself, it seems like too much to juggle all at once."

It seemed like the safest thing to do was simply leave behind a responsibility … but he highly doubted Peter would do such a thing. "Hey..." April patted the boy on the back. "Like you say, Parker luck. Today Peter Parker got a win. So tomorrow, Spider-Man will. If it's give and take anyways, just enjoy what life gave you for once."

"True …" The boy sighed. "Anyway, I better head home before Aunt May starts asking if I'm spending the night at a girl's house, and before Mattie decides to try chasing me downtown. Patrol with you guys tomorrow?"

"If we can feel our legs, yes." Michelangelo nodded.

Kraven …had lost. It was not the first time he's experienced the sting of failure, but it was the first time he had failed a hunt. He's hunted both man and beast in his time as a hunter, but even in this enhanced form… he failed to defeat the turtles. He had underestimated their human intelligence and maturity, believing them to be that of mere children.

They were experienced with battle, realized his weaknesses before Kraven even knew of them, then kept him pinned, able to be killed at a moments notice, only spared due to their sense of morality. They truly lived by the shinobi code… and it meant his honor could one day be restored… only when his hunt ended could that day come.

For now…he would have to be on his own. He sacrificed his humanity for this power, and he would live with it. His darling Calypso, his children, he would have to leave it all behind. Perhaps Dimitri would be able to lend a hand. His work in espionage allowed him to disappear quite easily.

He stirred himself away… awoke to the feeling of soft hands caressing his aching body. "Wha...?"

"Shhh..." His darling Calypso rubbed her gentle hands on his body, as he awoke to see that he was now in a vehicle, his head resting against his lover's lap. "Rest, my beloved Sergei, recover your strength."

"My darling … I have failed the hunt." He told her quietly.

"Worry not, this was merely your first encounter. Next time … you will win, I know this." She gently kissed his forehead.

"You … still want me?" He asked. "As this…creature?"

"All you've done is brought your inner beast out … I've never seen your eyes reflect your soul so clearly before."

Such a beautiful creature…."I'm sorry…but until the hunt is complete, nothing but my honor can fill the hole that is within me now."

"I thought you might say that. " Calypso nodded in understanding, "Our anonymous 'friend' in America now has a name to go by."

"Hello, Mr. Kravinoff." A filtered voice announced itself from the car's speakers. "You may call me, the Master Planner. I'm glad to see that everything went according to plan."

"To plan? But…I failed the hunt."

"I apologize for the deception, but this was never about destroying the turtles. They have survived far worse than what a lone man can offer." They stated. "I'm building a team of the most capable of combatants to face that group, and seeing how your skills at tracking, trapping, and hand to hand combat are far superior to most … I would like to offer you a spot." A team..? "After all, the best hunts can be found in packs."

A pack…he was hunting four turtles….it wouldn't been cheating himself out of a hunt, it would even the playing field. "You have the interest of Kraven."

"Excellent."