Welcome to the Show (Era)

## Alternate Covers

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* 4

"A Taste of Things To Come" Variant

"Rings of Ten" Variant

"X Lives" Variant

 We have reports of giant spiders eating people in The Mojave Desert, mutated Turtles in Manhattan's sewer system, young girls with mystical swords, savage nomads in Japan, rival spy organizations, Werewolves in Oregon, and Vampires in Africa. Tony, this world you are trying to protect just got a whole lot bigger, you just don't know it yet. The real question isn't, "Is the world ready?" but are you?
—Nick Fury
Before diving into the complex era of *Welcome to the Show*, there are a few things to go over. First, this era is what is known as "Year One" as many of the things that take place are extremely important and set up the entirety of The Donuts Universe, including the debut of the primary players. Prior, chronologically - and retroactively - many of these characters were introduced in previous eras, this era is the proper debut of these characters.

Second, due to the vast nature of these stories which make this era and subsequent later eras complex, each storyline will get one to three paragraphs that briefly go over them but will have links to the proper storyline page for full readership in both their sub-headers and in the infobox. Lastly, moving forward with future eras, this is how all of it will be formatted to alleviate any confusion. Eras = the year where all of these stories happened & storylines = the character/team-based stories that are inside of an era. And without further a-do...

## Synopsis

### Welcome to the Show

Ford Easton was a former Marine working through Med School to get his doctoral in Oregon. However, Ford had a darker secret, as he was known to shift into a werewolf occasionally. This secret would be a blessing in disguise as Nick Fury tapped Ford personally to join SHIELD. Elsewhere, Bucky Barnes, who was thought dead in 1945, washed up on the shores of Myrth, Africa, where he was saved by Dakari Onasi, his old friend and former teammate of The Invaders. Happy to see his friend safe, Dakari would begin to help Bucky by working with him to remove the Hydra brainwashing and trauma.

#### The Invincible Iron Man Volume 1

With the world knowing that Tony Stark is Iron Man, villains plotted against him and his company. However, none more than The Mandarin. As Pepper Potts returned to her station as Tony's right hand, the two began to discover that being a superhero isn't as glamorous as it was during World War II. The Mandarin came to Manhattan for the last of The Ten Rings, hoping to gain unlimited power and resurrect the great dragon, Fing Fang Foom.

Tony attempted to stop The Mandarin but failed as he hadn't encountered mysticism before. This defeat resulted in The Mandarin summoning Fing Fang Foom in Brooklyn. Forced to defeat both The Mandarin and a legendary dragon, Pepper sent out an SOS for all heroes in Manhattan, and those who answered were Hellcat, The Thing, and Stormsword. The five would defeat Fing Fang Foom, and The Mandarin and The Defenders were born. After this, Tony would discover that The Mandarin had been experimenting on a man named Levi King and once he was freed, Levi would leave Manhattan after thanking The Defenders.

### Web of Tarantula Volume 1

One day, before Shay gains his superhuman abilities, Jennifer Daniels is greeted by Shay's long-lost father, Dr. Daniels, who hopes to give Shay a birthday gift. What began as an argument led to a warning from Dr. Daniels about Monica Eden and Connor Carter. Jennifer reluctantly hears him out but becomes increasingly more belligerent towards her former husband. While she rages against his disappearance and abandonment of his son, Dr. Daniels warns her about how Monica will try to convince Jennifer to have Shay's birthday party in the desert. Not listening and done, Jennifer leaves Dr. Daniels in the desert, who somberly thinks about the darker future his son will have to endure.

When Shay Daniels turned sixteen, he was eaten by a giant prehistoric spider in The Mojave Desert. Shay began to display superhuman abilities a week after the incident but refused to utilize them out of genuine fear. His reluctance to use his abilities sadly led to his downfall. His step-father, Patrick Knight, would be killed during a hit-and-run, an event that Shay could've stopped if he had used his abilities.

Still reluctant to use his newfound powers, Chester Ballinger - later, The Radioactive Man - would attack Shay at his step-father's funeral, who needed to absorb gamma radiation to survive. Shay would be forced to become something more significant, so he donned a suit created by his two best friends, Ren Carter and Alexis May, and defeated The Radioactive Man. That night, Shay became The Spectacular Tarantula from then on.

### Voodoo Volume 1

Ren Carter, after the events of Mythos, would decide to face her past. With her adoptive father, Hendrix Shays, the two would travel back to Toronto, Canada, hoping to find more information about Connor Carter and Dynamics Industries. However, when Ren returned to her old home, she discovered a prototype Big Stepper and her mother's sword in a display case. She reached for the blade, which bonded with her and activated The Big Stepper.

This event led to Hendrix and Ren defeating The Big Stepper and learning that this was a dead end and a bad idea; the two returned to Vegas. However, Ren would get a news report about sentient water causing problems at the MGM Grand. As Shay was sleeping and no one else had abilities in Vegas, Ren summoned Epitaph and debuted as Voodoo, The Most Dangerous Woman Alive.

### Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1

After learning of Shredder's plans, Splinter would venture into the city of New York himself in order to find a better location to hide himself and his children. However, this would prove problematic as Shredder had tracked Levi to Manhattan and when he encountered Splinter, Shredder learned of his mortal enemy's existence yet again. Enraged, the two would fight across the city, ending it in Harlem as both Shredder and Splinter were incredibly equally matched. With no way out, Splinter created a diversion and escaped into the sewer system, returning to his home with his sons. Meanwhile, while Splinter was away, The Turtles had managed to get to an opening of the lair where Brock Khosher was walking above.

Bumped into, Brock's briefcase would open and a vial of a highly potent mutagen, officially known as Jettison 905 - a variation of the Super Soldier Serum - fell out of the briefcase and broke when it entered the sewer drain. The strange liquid spread itself over The Turtles, mutating them to become more humanoid and altering their evolution, making them capable of speech, cognitive thought, and physically aging them to be eleven in human years. When Master Splinter returned, he saw his children scared and confused. Knowing what was coming, he began to teach them martial artists, just as he and Shredder were trained in hopes that one day, The Turtles would have enough power to defeat his former friend and defend the city if it came to it.