SPIDER-MEN AND LEAGUE WOMEN
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man, Justice League, Evangelion, or its characters.
Summary: Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Dark Spider are members of the Justice League, and have unique relationships with many of them. Lemons in later chapters.
Based on 'A Series of Spectacular Affairs' by HandAssassinSpider-Man.
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(Watchtower, The Moon)
Peter Parker, also known as the Amazing Spider-Man, was sitting in the mess hall drinking his coffee and just gloomily staring out the window of the moon-based headquarters of the Justice League, known as The Watchtower. He was dressed in his specially modified red and blue suit, with a large black spider on his chest, and a mechanical backpack that had four 'spider legs' that emerged from it to preform various special tasks. His upgraded equipment also included mini-spider drones and tracking HUD displays in his mask lenses.
Ben Reilly, Peter's twin clone-brother also known as the Scarlet Spider, was in his room, working on one of his projects. Ben wore his regular outfit, the red bodysuit with the light blue sleeveless sweatshirt, and small carrying pouches for extra supplies. With his specially developed sedative projectiles and his mesh-net webbing, Ben more than earned his own place as a spider-hero.
Shinji Ikari, Peter's younger clone-brother (actually Shinji merged with a genetically-augmented clone body of Spider-Man) known as Dark Spider, was in the gym. He was dressed in his usual black bodysuit with a large white spider on his chest and back. Being merged with a genetically enhanced clone of Spider-Man, Shinji had organic-web shooters in his wrists, but also twice the physical strength of his predecessor. Peter had also educated him in biology, chemistry and computer science.
The trio had had a really bad night. Actually, they had had a really bad couple of weeks, but last night was the worst.
They had been on assignment for the League, tracking a weapons shipment which was being guarded by a group of metahumans working for one of the League's worst enemies: Lex Luthor! Known as The Injustice Gang, the group of metas consisted of the rogue amazon enforcer Mercy, the power gem wielder Star Sapphire, the werecat woman known as Cheetah, the super strong zombie called Solomon Grundy, the dark-force thief The Shade, the snake-like criminal Copperhead, and the master marksman assassin called Deadshot.
The trio of spider-heroes had a hard fight on their hands, dealing with the gang of seven.
They defeated them, but then had another problem to deal with.
The Royal Flush Gang showed up.
The super strong and invulnerable Ten, the super-elastic Jack, the metal manipulating Queen, the plasma bolt shooting King, and the psychic Ace.
That fight was worse because Joker was leading the group of metahumans.
It was only thanks to their upgrades, gained from their cross-dimensional trip through the Web of Life prior to their coming to this universe, that the trio had survived that battle. Not only survived, but won.
Peter had been gifted with an enhanced bio-electrical nervous system, which enabled him to project electrical-bolts from his hands that could be used to paralyze the nervous systems of organic and even technologic beings. He could even use the attacks at a distance. He called them Venom-Blasts.
Ben had been gifted with barb-like single-talon spikes that protruded from his knuckles, that he used to inject a paralytic venom into his enemies. It was strong enough to take down someone as powerful as Thundra, Doc Samson or even Hercules. If they were stabbed multiple times, that is. He called them his Stingers.
Shinji had been gifted with camouflage stealth, enabling him to turn invisible for brief periods of time by wrapping himself in a type of mystic cocoon, which included the clothes he was wearing, and making him silent as a shadow. Spider-Man had dubbed it the Shadow Cocoon.
The trio had been here in the Justice League's universe for almost four years now. They had been teleported to this dimension thanks to the efforts of Thanos using the Infinity Gauntlet to try and kill the heroes of his universe - The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and X-Men, etc. - only to be attacked by various cosmic beings as well as Mephisto, the Silver Surfer, Thor and even Adam Warlock.
The resulting battle caused Thanos to temporarily lose control over the Gauntlet, and instead of killing them, he sent some of the heroes to different universes.
Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Dark Spider had ended up in this one.
The trio had arrived in Metropolis when the evil alien warlord Darkseid and his vicious legions of parademons had decided to invade Earth. They joined forces with several of Earth's mightiest heroes in order to fight against them.
Once the battle had been won and Darkseid all but sent back to his home world of Apokolips in a crippled state, the newly formed group of heroes decided to stay together to take on any situation or threat that might come up in the future.
They called themselves The Justice League.
Along with the super powered kryptonian Superman, the amazon warrior Wonder Woman, the dark knight detective Batman, the power-ring wielder Green Lantern, the super fast Flash, the magically empowered Shazam, the high-tech athlete Cyborg and the sonic scream fighter Black Canary, the trio of spider-heroes were praised for saving millions of lives from being turned into Darkseids parademons as well as thwarting a massive invasion of Earth.
Two years ago the heroes decided to construct their headquarters, The Watchtower II, on the moon. The first Watchtower, an orbiting space station that was built by the United Nations several years ago, and then moth-balled due to political indecision, was taken over by the heroes and completely refurbished. A year later it was destroyed fighting off another alien invasion, The Thanagarians, who were planning to destroy Earth to make way for a hyper-space expressway so as to continue their war with another race, called the Gordanians. They had been aided by Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who had turned on their warrior brethren after finding out their true intentions.
After that, the heroes decided to build their new base of operations on the moon.
Peter and his brothers had lent their technical acumen to the construction process as well.
Prior to taking over the space station, the team had been based out of STAR Labs in Metropolis. Though that was makeshift at best. They didn't get serious about an actual headquarters until another invasion from space, a group of alien geneticists called The Dominators, nearly created chaos on the planet, using meta-gene therapy to give super powers to everyone on Earth. In reality, their meta-gene therapy was also a means of mind-controlling the people they gave super powers to. To waylay the heroes of Earth, the Dominators recruited a group of super villains and gave them power upgrades as well, while they presented their proposal to the people of Earth.
The Justice League was able to expose their plot and sent the Dominators packing.
The League continued to grow over the following years, adding various members to their ranks from all over the world, and even from outer space.
Their ranks swelled with various vigilantes, high-tech heroes and magic users, warriors from Atlantis and Themyscira, and even aliens from different worlds.
The spider heroes even garnered more respect in this universe than they did their previous one, mostly since Perry White of the Daily Planet was less antagonistic than J. Jonah Jameson had been.
And after their bad night, they had one more bad night to get through.
Time had no real meaning on The Moon. But they tended to keep time very well on The Watchtower in relation to various major cities that they operated out of.
It was late in the evening as a statuesque woman with long black hair, tied in a single braid, walked into the towers mess hall. She was wearing a bright blue designer dress with a plunging neckline that exposed a generous portion of her ample chest, and a large exposed back, revealing she wasn't wearing a bra, a slit up the side of her right leg that went up to mid-thigh level, a pair of matching high-heeled shoes and very lightly done up makeup. She had lightning blue eyes and a happy smile on her face.
Her name was Diana Prince, also known to the world as the amazing amazon heroine Wonder Woman.
Diana had a very nice time on her date with Bruce Wayne. She had been messaged by Peter to meet up with him later in the Watchtower, saying that he had something important to share with her. Diana hadn't been sure what to expect, but at least she got to enjoy her evening. Sure she hadn't ended up in bed with Bruce, but that could wait until later.
Spider-Man saw her approach, and couldn't help but admire how she looked. It had to be the best part of his night.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't know you were on a date." Spider-Man said as he looked at her.
"It's alright. It's expected when you're a member of the Justice League. Just be glad you didn't interrupt something more... intimate." she said.
Spider-Man nodded, sensing her implication.
"Plus Bruce got a call that one of his Rogues had escaped from Arkham, again, just after we finished dinner." she said.
"And he choose to chase bad guys instead of staying with you?" he asked, incredulously.
Most guys would have chosen Diana over doing the right thing.
Diana shrugged.
"His overdeveloped sense of justice, I think. So, what did you want to talk about? It sounded urgent." she asked.
"It is." he said as he handed her a fancy-looking red folder with the Wonder Woman symbol on the front of it. He had wanted it to actually be presentable to her and the others when he gave it to them.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's... your file."
Diana read through the file, her expression turning from one of mild confusion to that of horror with each line she read.
"What... what is this?" she gasped.
"It's a kill file. On you. Specifically detailing weaknesses and methods of taking you down." Spider-Man said as he looked at the large stack of files that were sitting next to him. "These are the files on other League members. Including me."
Diana noticed that the file sitting on the top of the pile had a picture of the webslingers face on it.
His file. She thought. "But... who would... where did this come from?"
"The Batcave super computer." he said.
Bruce? she mentally gasped. "But how? Why?"
"Do you remember when Superman, Flash and Green Lantern were mind-controlled by Circe?" he asked.
"Yes. Almost two years ago. They nearly killed all of us. Circe got away, too." she grumbled, hating the witch absolutely.
"After we stopped them, Batman started working on plans and failsafes to take down the League just in case we ever got out of control." he said.
"How did you figure this out?" she asked.
"A few months ago, Ben, Shinji and I were working on the Watchtowers new computer programs when we came across a Ghost Drive that we couldn't access. We thought it was a mistake, but before we could try and get inside it, we were called away on that mission to Guatemala. You remember those cultists at that ancient pyramid-looking temple?"
"Ah, yes. The dragon case." she exclaimed, remembering how she got there late to help defeat those monsters.
"Right. Anyway, when we got back to the Watchtower, we found that the Ghost Drive was gone. Physically gone. We weren't sure when it happened, or who did it, but eventually we found out that the last person to use the computer that day was Batman. We figured something was up, but we weren't sure what it was. At first we thought it was a special project he was working on. Then about a week ago, we decided to have Dark Spider go to the Cave in order to find out if the Ghost Drive was on his computer system. And it was."
"Why did you wait so long?" she asked, realizing the huge time gap between the Guatemala mission, which was nearly eight months ago, and last week.
"Because at first we didn't have any reason to suspect that it was anything malicious." he said.
"Apparently it was." she said under her breath.
"Over the last few months we became increasingly suspicious, and so we sent Dark Spider to get the info from the source, directly." he explained.
"So you downloaded the files and made hard-copies." she realized.
"Yeah. We would have delivered these files sooner, but we had a case in Metropolis. I was going to give these files to the rest of the League, I just wanted to give you yours first." he said.
"T-Thank you."
"No problem." he said as he got up and walked away from the table, files in hand.
"Wait, how did Dark Spider get into the Batcave?" she called out.
"He asked Batgirl for a favor. Course... that was before he found out...well, never mind." he said as he turned and left.
"Found out?" Diana wondered what he meant by that. At first she thought it was about the kill files, but she got the feeling that it was something else.
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Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, was in his room, which doubled as his workshop/lab. Their bout against the Royal Flush Gang had nearly killed the spider-trio and Ben was working on a couple of new inventions that would help them in future.
Just then, Mari Jiwe McCabe, a.k.a. Vixen, walked into the room.
The woman was athletic and shapely, with smooth chocolate skin, brown eyes and short hair, dark brown eyes that seemed to glow gold whenever she used her powers. Being a world-famous supermodel was demanding job, after all. She was dressed in a tan-gold bodysuit with matching boots, no sleeves, matching gloves and a special talisman around her neck.
"Scarlet." she said.
"Vixen." he stated.
"I heard you had something for me." she said.
Scarlet Spider picked up the file that was on his desk and handed it to the animal-mimic heroine.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's a file. On you." he said.
Vixen read the file and gasped with each line she read.
"What is this?" she gasped.
"It's a kill file. Batman created it." he said.
"Wha... why would he..."
"You remember when Superman, Flash and Green Lantern were mind-controlled by Circe?" he asked.
"The witch. Heard about it. I wasn't there for that." she said.
"Wish you had been. Circe's magic some times doesn't affect women. Anyway, the three of them nearly killed us all. We barely stopped them. After which, Batman started creating files on how to take down the League members in case something like this happened again." he explained.
"Take down? This file details how to kill us." she asked.
"I know. Mines over there." he said, nodding towards the other table.
Vixen looked over and saw a file with a spider-symbol on the front.
"Do the others know?" she asked.
"I gave Captain Atom, Vigilante, Shining Knight, Atom Smasher, Stargirl, STRIPE, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold their own files. Spider-Man and Dark Spider are delivering to the others. You're the last one." he said.
"Last one? Why last?" she asked.
"You weren't here when I was handing out the other files." he said.
She nodded her head at that. "Oh. Right." she said. "Is there anything I need to know?" she asked.
"Everything was already included in the report. I haven't read it." he said.
"Thank you for that." she said, but then had a thought. "But... you had the report and..."
"I didn't read it, but putting it together was something Pete insisted on. Wanted it to be presentable."
"Oh? You didn't want to know more about me?" she teased a little.
"It's a file on how to take you out. I don't want to know that." he said.
"Well, thanks for that." she smiled. "What are you working on?" she asked.
"Oh, this? I... well, it's a couple new inventions I came up with. Hopefully I'll be able to patent these before Bruce finds out about them." he said.
"Before Bruce finds out? Why is that a concern?"
"You know those new inventions that Wayne Enterprises announced last year?" he asked.
"The Hyper-Strength adhesive polymer glue that is sold commercially? The micro-thin safety cables that maintenance, repair and special rescue response crews use? That specialized material that can insulate and completely protect people from electricity, fire and ice?"
"Yeah. Those. Patented as Mega-Glue, Ultra-Cables, and Super-Inso."
"Terrible names, by the way, but they are memorable. They did a lot of publicity on them. Saved a lot of lives."
"Yeah. They did." he said.
"What about them?" she asked.
"They weren't his." he said.
"What?" she gasped.
"Peter, Shinji and I invented them. We were helping Batman and his team out with some special projects in Gotham City, when The Joker got his hands on prototype super weapons created by S.T.A.R. Labs."
"You mean those battle suits and chemical-enhancement drugs that S.T.A.R. was developing for the military?" she asked.
"Yeah. Legitimate Military contracts, stolen by super criminals. Anyway, we used the super adhesive to trap his stolen battle suit-wearing henchmen, we used the micro-thin cables in specialized snare devices to trap his chemically-enhanced henchmen, and we used the insulation material to protect us from the Zero-Point ice gun and Super flamethrower that was stolen from S.T.A.R." he said with a sigh. "And then, of course, there's the merchandise issue."
"Merchandise issue? Of what?" she asked.
"Us." he said.
"You mean all those Spider-Man action figures, t-shirts, baseball caps, comic books, and video games? I even heard there was a movie deal being made with Warner Brothers." she said.
"Yeah, those." he said.
"You guys must be swimming in loot." she smirked.
"We're not. We don't own the patents on any of it. Or the merchandising rights." he said.
"Who does?" she asked.
"Wayne Enterprises."
"What? When did Bruce get merchandising rights to you and the others?"
"He didn't. The Board of Directors of Wayne Enterprises, headed by a man named Richard Earl, officially patented us as well as the items we created." he said.
"They patented you? Can they do that?" she gasped.
"They can, because we can't officially contest it without revealing our identities, which is a legal criterion since we, as superheroes, need to maintain a high degree of anonymity. Spider-Man, Dark Spider, and Scarlet Spider are not 'recognized U.S. citizens', and therefore have no legal rights or identities. Like we're made-up comic book characters." he said.
Vixen just rolled her eyes at how that sounded.
"And the fact that you and your brothers are from another universe probably didn't help either." she said.
"Yeah. That. Convenient loophole, huh?" he asked. "Which probably explains why we don't see as many Superman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League actions figures filling out toy shelves."
"They have better lawyers, plus I think the public likes them more." she said. "What about your inventions?" she asked.
"We made them at Wayne Enterprises. The Board members found them after we had left, and... well.."
"I see. You invented these things to help Bruce out, and the Board took advantage of the fact that you made these things in their company. But... did Bruce at least compensate you for the millions of dollars the company is making off of them?"
"He can't. The Board was lenient on Bruce's mysterious spending of company funds because most of that money was being funneled into Wayne Enterprises R&D. This helps out Batman, but those funds stay in Gotham. And while Bruce openly lives a playboy lifestyle, his accounts are tracked by a group of accountants that were recently hired by the Board. He can't give us a cut from the patents without someone finding out. Especially since they have new security tracking protocols to account for all the money he does spend."
"But it's his money, isn't it? Can't he do whatever he wants with it?" she asked.
"He can, but not without someone finding out about who we are if we are given that money." he said.
"What do you mean? He can give you money because you and your brothers invented this stuff. How is that difficult?" she asked.
"Because security footage showed the three of us, at Wayne Enterprises, working on these inventions with Mr. Wayne and Lucius Fox present, using their resources, before we were forced to go after The Joker and his crew."
"Wait. Security cameras caught you? Shouldn't Bruce have turned off the cameras in that area you were working on?"
"He said they were turned off."
"You think it was a set-up?"
"He told us to use our superhero names when we were around Mr. Fox. At the time we thought it was because he wanted to protect our identities from someone who knew his. But..."
"You think he used that little slip-up so that he could get something out of you, and not pay you back for it?"
"I want to think that he's actually an ally. We helped him out so many times, and as Batman he's had our back, but... because of these little slip-ups, The Wayne Enterprise Board of Directors were able to patent our inventions and our identities, and Bruce failed to help us out with that, mostly because I believe he was trying to protect himself as The Batman. And then we find out about these kill files, so..."
"Yeah, I see where you're going with this. You can't really depend on him anymore, can you?" she asked.
He sighed heavily before he looked at her.
"We could handle letting the Board have those three inventions, and accept the fact that Batman, the most brilliant and tactical genius we've ever known, actually slipped up so that his company could do that, but patenting us... everything from the t-shirts to the video games and action figures... it's like they're stealing us. And he's not really doing anything about it. Either he can't, or he won't. And then we find out about these kill files that he created to take us down, so... yeah."
"Yeah." she said.
"I mean... I know he's a busy guy, but..."
"I'm sorry." she said to him.
"Thanks. Was there something else?" Ben asked.
"Actually, there was. I... need a hand with something." Mari said.
"What?" he asked.
"I've got a job I'm working on. In Chicago. And I need a... photographer."
"Oh? Is that all?" he asked.
"Well, I could use your brains and brawn on a case I'm working on." she said.
Ben smiled at how that sounded.
"Okay. Sounds good."
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(The Kitchen, Watchtower)
Dinah Lance just looked at the mess of robots that littered the training area. She had heard that Shinji was training and wanted to see him action. She was a little concerned that the robots had been set to Level 9 difficulty, which was high challenge
The training area, which used a combination of holograms and robotics to simulate various scenarios to maximize their exercise regimes, was called The Kitchen. It was called that based on the American idiom, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.'
The difficulty levels for The Kitchen ranged from Level 1 (common street thugs) to Level 13 (Darkseid). Level 9 was pretty much Metallo-level.
And right now, Dark Spider was tearing through the Level 9 robots like they were tissue paper.
Dinah just watched him as he moved. His strength, his speed, his agility, and of course his martial arts prowess impressed her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah. Fine." he said curtly.
Dinah knew that Shinji really wasn't one for conversation, unlike his brothers. But she was curious as to why he was punishing himself like this.
"A little pent-up, are we?" she asked.
"I guess." he replied.
"Is there a reason?"
"Yes."
"Care to share?"
"No." he said as he went over to the computer by the wall and started punching in new commands.
Dinah had been impressed with Shinji since he had arrived in this universe. Mostly because he was trained in martial arts, unlike his brothers. He said he had received formal training from Elektra, a highly skilled ninja woman said to be one of the deadliest fighters in his world.
It was this that had drawn her to him, but it was also his somewhat dour mood. She figured that his name wasn't just a name, but a reflection of how he felt at times. Dinah had tried to get close to him, and he trusted her more than most, but he was still a little bit isolated. At least she thought so.
"Talk to me, Shinji. What's really got you down?" she asked as she moved up behind him.
"My girlfriend's pregnant." he said.
"Congrat-"
"It's not mine."
"Oh! Wait! You were dating Batgirl, weren't you?"
"I was."
"So who got her pregnant? Nightwing?"
"Nope."
"Red Hood?"
"Nope."
"Azrael?"
"Nope."
"Batwing?"
"Nope."
"Robin?"
"Nope."
"Red Robin?"
"Nope."
"...Alfred?" she asked, slightly joking.
"I wish." he replied.
"It wasn't one of Batmans Rogues, was it?" she asked, slightly fearful of the answer.
"No."
"Oh, thank god." she sighed, before another revelation dawned on her. "Then... that means... unless it was some random guy she met..."
"It was Batman."
"Oh. Oh! Ohhh!" she winced.
"Yeah."
"When was this? And why would she... I thought you two were serious."
"I thought so too. Guess I wasn't dark enough for her." he said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry." Dinah said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Why? You didn't do anything." Shinji said to her.
"True, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset by this." she said.
"Well... thanks."
Shinji finished typing the commands into the computer.
"You might want to leave." he said.
"Why?" she asked.
"LEVEL 10 INITIATED!" the computer said.
"WHAT?!" she screamed.
A trio of heavily armored robots entered the training area, each suddenly taking on the holographic image of Solomon Grundy, Lobo and Mongul.
"Like I said, you might want to leave." Shinji said as he pulled his mask over his face.
"God! You are dark!" she gasped as she got into a fighting stance.
"Not dark enough for Barbara!" he growled as he punched the Lobo robot with his wrapped fists.
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Diana appeared at Peter's door. There were questions she needed answered before she confronted Bruce about the kill file.
She knocked on his door. Within a few seconds he opened it.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
"Sure." he said as he stepped aside to let her pass.
She stepped inside as the door shut behind her.
"This report..." she said, holding the file in her hand.
"I know." he said. "Batman has a series of checks and balances on the League members."
"You said that you knew about the Ghost Drive some months ago, and downloaded the files from the Batcave computer, but... what made you suspicious?" she asked.
"Six months ago, I was in Gotham, helping Shinji out with a case, tracking Killer Croc and Man-Bat, when something triggered our Spider-senses. We were distracted so badly that the mutant duo got the drop on us. Nearly killed us. Batman showed up and dealt with them. That's when I noticed something on his belt, a special type of psionic-trigger device that I've seen before." he said.
Diana was shocked as she heard that.
"A psionic-trigger device? You mean..."
"He used it to trigger our spider-senses, to confuse and distract us. The sonofabitch used us as an experiment to see if he could get the upper hand on us."
"And that's when you got suspicious."
"Yes." he said.
"Did you confront him about this?"
"I did. He said he didn't know what I was talking about."
"Really? He said that? Even though he had the device on him?"
"He didn't when I asked him about it."
Diana sighed, knowing Bruce was good at slight of hand. But he also played everything close to the vest.
"But that wasn't the end of it." he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"A week ago we accessed the computer in the Batcave and found these files. But Batgirl also found out that someone else had accessed the files, and it wasn't any of us."
"And you just show up with a kill file on us, and say that Batman created them."
Spider-Man seemed to process what she was talking about.
"Yes. Why?"
"I just... I don't want to think negatively about this, Peter, but... you called me in the middle of my date with Bruce, because you had this file on me, and... I know you liked me, even though I had feelings for Bruce, and..."
"Oh, I see." he said as he stood up and grabbed another file.
Diana seemed to sense his shift in mood.
"Let me explain this. Do I hate Bruce for the things he's done to me and the others? Yes. Do I have feelings for you? Yes. But to imply that I would fabricate this report to drive a wedge between you two so as to get you for myself... is a little overestimating of my desires."
"I've seen this kind of thing before, Peter. And I know how smart you are."
"I know. But you weren't the only ones I've given a report to. I'm smart, but not this devious. And even though I'm from another universe, I've never betrayed any of you. I just thought you had a right to know about this." he said as he handed her another file he had with him. "And there's something else, too. When Dark Spider and Batgirl accessed the files, they also found out that someone else had hacked the Ghost Drive. Four and a half months ago." he said, looking at the report before he pressed the button and closed the door on her.
Diana looked at the report in her hand, before opening it reading.
Inside was a compilation of other reports on attacks made on the League in the last four months.
Plastic Man, Animal Man, Halo, Steel, Black Lightning, Red Tornado, Dr. Light, Wildcat, Hawk and Dove.
All of them part-time members, some of them heavy hitters in the League, but they had been nearly killed in these attacks, barely escaped and most of them in intensive care in their respective cities. And all attacked by people who were known associates of Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller.
While attacks made on League-members was not unusual, what was unusual was their reports on how they were attacked. Each one attacked in such a way that their weaknesses were exploited. They barely got away, severely injured and nearly crippled, almost as if in a desperate, last ditch effort to avoid either death or capture.
A victory for the bad guys, in any case.
In some of the cases, the heroes had been helped out by other League members. But, still.
Diana looked shocked. She had known about a couple of these attacks, but not all of them. That, and none of them had been killed, which she considered important. Batman had to have known, and he still had the audacity to have dinner with her?
For what purpose? To hide the fact that he was responsible for all this? To act innocent and make the League think he wasn't involved?
How the hell did we not know about this? she wondered to herself. Granted that we've been busy, but...
Diana was left standing in front of Spider-Man's door, looking slightly hurt and a little embarrassed. She had pretty much accused Spider-Man of trying to break her and Bruce up.
And while there was strong evidence to suggest it was the truth, Diana had to admit that Peter was not that kind of man. And to even think that he was that kind of man, well... it made herself feel cheap. No, cheap wasn't the right word. More like... despicable.
She stared at the report in her hands, and then back at the door. She turned and walked away, for she had much to think on.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Barbara 'Batgirl' Gordon walked through the Watchtower's hallways, looking for someone.
She passed by several League members, barely noticing the odd looks turned her way.
She then saw Black Canary, with a torn outfit and limping a little.
"Dinah? Are you alright?" Batgirl asked.
Black Canary looked at the Dark Angel of Gotham in surprise before she answered.
"Level 10 training session, in The Kitchen." Canary answered.
"Wha... Level 10? Really? Uh... do you need help?" she gasped.
"I could ask you the same thing." she said as she limped passed the redhead. "I heard the good news, by the way. Congratulations."
"Uh... congratulations?" she asked.
"You're expecting." Dinah said.
Batgirl just hung her head and said nothing as the sonic scream fighter hobbled passed her. She knew what Dinah was implying, and she could feel the woman's respect for her drop.
Batgirl eventually came to The Kitchen, and was shocked to see dozens of robots in various states of ruin. In the center of the wreckage was Dark Spider. His costume was torn in several places and his shirt looked like little more than a pile of rags. His torso and arms were marked by various bruises and injuries. A couple of them were bleeding. His mask seemed to be the least damaged.
"Batman's not going to like that you wrecked so many of his robots." she said.
"He can afford them." he said tersely.
"Yeah." she said. "Heard you were up to Level 10. That's impressive. I...guess this whole thing was good for something." she said, trying to make light of this whole situation.
Which was a poor attempt on her part.
Dark Spider turned on his heels and brushed passed her.
"I didn't mean for this to happen!" she called out to him.
Dark Spider stopped.
"I didn't. It... just happened." she said as she approached him. He didn't turn to look at her. She kept talking. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I..."
"Is Bruce going to do anything for you?"
"I haven't talked to him yet. He's... kinda been avoiding me."
"Well... you'd probably get more child support from him than you would me." Dark Spider said. "But if you need anything... call me."
Batgirl looked up at him in surprise. Truly surprised. Even though she had betrayed him, even though he was obviously hurt by what happened, he was still willing to help her out.
Shinji cared, and that was the reason she fell for him. Sure, Bruce cared but he never showed it. That wasn't how he was.
But now, after all this...
Would Shinji marry her and raise another mans child, just to save her from the inconvenience and humiliation? Would Shinji tell her father that the baby was his, just so that James Gordon wouldn't find out about her secret identity and that of others? If Shinji did, it would be a life without happiness because of what she had done.
It did feel like taking advantage of him. Something that Bruce would have done immediately.
She mentally hissed at that thought, comparing herself to Bruce.
"I wanted to wait. Do things right." he said in a near whisper that she caught. "Thought it would be more special that way. But I guess I should have realized that a woman has needs, and... I wasn't meeting them. So you went somewhere else. All of our plans... don't matter any more."
Batgirl had tears in her eyes as he said that. Maybe Shinji was trying to blame himself to make her feel better, but she knew it was her fault. She knew that. He wasn't blaming her, but at the same time he was.
Regardless if what happened between her and Bruce was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, that didn't justify that she had gone behind her boyfriends back, had sex with another guy, and now she was pregnant because of it.
And here she was right now, pregnant and unwed, her boyfriend pretty much didn't want anything to do with her, and her baby daddy wasn't talking to her right now.
She had made a mistake, and while she knew it was going to cost her, she didn't know how much. But she was slowly starting to see.
"I don't know what to do." she said.
Both she and Shinji knew what she was talking about.
Would she keep the baby? Would she get an abortion? Would she have the baby and then give it up for adoption?
Her career as Batgirl kind of hinged on whether or not to keep the baby.
And if she did keep the baby, would she have to raise it by herself?
Maybe not. If Shinji was such a good man, he would help her raise it.
Being a father was more than blood.
Would it be a girl or boy? Would it be like her or would it be like the father?
She wished that Shinji had been the father.
The first problem was... would he ever forgive her for what she had done?
So many questions raced through her head as she thought about this.
It probably would have been a whole lot easier for them both if Barbara had been raped. At least then it wouldn't feel like she had consciously betrayed him.
"What do you want, Barbara?" he asked.
"I just need to know... where we stand." she said.
And there it was. She was asking him if he was going to forgive her or not. They hadn't spoken since he had found out she was pregnant, and he knew he wasn't the father. He had been able to figure out who was, though, and that probably hurt him more than anything else.
He had every reason to be mad at her, at Bruce, maybe even at himself. But now she was wondering just where they would go from here.
Moving in front of him, Batgirl removed her cowl to look at him directly. It was bold of her, since she was sure he didn't really want to look at her. But she needed to do this, she needed to confront him. Even if it seemed like she was trying to gain sympathy from him, she needed to face him.
"I want to hate you, Barbara. But I can't. There's a part of me that still cares about you. But... I can't be around you right now." he said as he walked around him and then out of The Kitchen.
Barbara just watched him go. She couldn't blame him for leaving her, but at least he didn't hate her. She wouldn't have blamed him if he did. It gave her hope, at least. Which was more than Bruce had given to her as of late.
He had basically gotten her pregnant and was now avoiding her.
Thanks a lot, Bruce!
Dark Spider walked back to his room as he passed Black Canary in the hallway.
"That went better than I thought it would." she said to him.
"I just can't hate her." he said as he walked passed her. He paused when he noticed that she was leaning against the wall. "Need a hand?"
"Uh, yeah. I think I might."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(Wayne Manor, morning)
"Miss Prince. How nice to see you again." Alfred said.
"Thank you, Alfred." Diana said as she stepped inside the mansion.
"Diana. Nice to see you again." Bruce said.
"I wish it was under better circumstances." she said.
Bruce noticed that her posture was ridged, and her mood was somewhat sour. She looked like she was holding back her emotions. Almost like she wanted to hit something.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Diana then dropped a file on the table in front of him.
Bruce took a quick look at the file. His mood turned.
"Is it considered lying if you don't tell anyone, Bruce? Because I'm not exactly up on legality."
"Diana..."
"It's a file, Bruce. On me. Created by you. Detailing how to render me powerless and take me down. Downloaded from your own computer less than a week ago, by Dark Spider. But that's not the worst part." she said.
"It's not?" he asked, feeling a strong sense of violation on his part.
"Spider-Man gave similar files to the rest of the League. He felt we had a right to know." she said as she dropped another file on the table. "Plastic Man, Animal Man, Halo, Steel, Black Lightning, Red Tornado, Dr. Light, Wildcat, Hawk and Dove." she said. "All attacked within the last four months."
Bruce sighed, knowing where this was going.
"We knew about a couple of these attacks, but not all of them. But you did, didn't you? Why didn't you tell us, Bruce? About the files? About the attacks on the other League members?"
Bruce sighed as he looked at her.
"You remember when Circe took control of three of the most powerful members of the League? Well, that wasn't an isolated incident. There have been numerous other times that the League has been duped and manipulated into fighting each other. Mind-control is not the same as being tricked or deceived. Regardless, what did Clark or you or any of the others do about that? What plans and contingencies did you all make in case it happened again? None! I knew something like that would happen again, so I created a series of safeguards to stop them in case they were ever compromised. Safeguards, to stop them, not weapons to be used against them."
"'Them'. But not you?"
"I'm the most human of the League, Diana. Any of the League could take me out at any time, in a hundred different ways. Super strength, super speed, heat vision, a power ring, radiation burn, fire or ice, magic. A sword." he said as he looked at Diana pointedly. "Maybe one of my Rogues will do it. Or maybe some punk with a gun will get lucky. There's a lot of lead in this world."
"And how could we take you down, since you'll know how to take us down, and by then have no qualms about killing us?"
"I wasn't trying to figure out how to kill you. Immobilize, yes. But not kill."
Diana huffed, still not believing him to a degree.
"Two dozen to one are not fair odds." he said.
"Nothing is fair in a fight, Bruce. That's what determines the winner." she said.
"Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Dark Spider have powers and abilities superior to my own. They are not from this dimension, so it was only logical to have some contingencies in place to stop them if they became a threat."
"Some might see this as a logical step, Bruce. But to others, like your teammates, it's almost a betrayal."
"Betrayal?" he gasped, looking at the amazon. "I did what was necessary. What no one else would do. What none of you wanted to, because it makes you feel weak. People with super powers running around and doing whatever they wanted to do. Without any checks and balances, nothing to stop them. Answering to no one. It makes people rather fearful."
"First of all, that's awfully hypocritical, coming from a man who dresses like a bat, and fights crime by scaring and intimidating people. I've heard the rumors, Bruce. Some people think you might be a vampire, or some such."
Alfred had to hold back a chuckle at that.
"Secondly, you're placing heroes and villains in the same category, as people that need to be stopped despite all the good we have done. You make it sound as if the two are interchangeable."
"Power intimidates Diana. Do you know how many good, normal, law-abiding citizens are actually scared of the League? The things we can do? The government has been working for years on weapons and tech to take us down, in case we ever became a threat to them."
"To take us down? The ones who have defended and saved this planet time and time again? Shouldn't they be developing these weapons to fight against the forces that actually threaten them? The super villains? The alien forces that have tried to invade and conquer mankind?" she growled. "And how many times have 'government' officials tried to take over the world?"
"We've beaten those threats, Diana. We're what they are concerned about because they can't control us, and that makes them afraid. Too often, allies have become enemies and enemies have become allies. History is filled with such examples. And the government isn't blind to this possibility. The possibility that we could turn on them in an instant." Bruce explained.
"They're not the ones who defeated Darkseid and his legions. They're not the ones who stopped Lex Luthor and his Legion of Doom from taking over the world. They're not the ones who stopped invasion after invasion upon this world! Aliens, Gods, monsters, supernatural threats, even human terrorists with super weapons. And correct me if I'm wrong, but some of those weapons were created by the government. Like that satellite-based Mass Driver that Vandal Savage used to destroy the Pacific Fleet last year. Or what about that earthquake machine that nearly destroyed China, stolen by Ras Al Ghul and his League of Assassins? Not to mention those robotic battle suits which were originally developed by STAR Labs? And let's not even talk about their metahuman weapons program that created the Jokers Royal Flush Gang and The Ultra-Marines. Government weapons that we stopped. We have the power, the strength, and the skills, and I'd say we are using it responsibly."
"It wouldn't take much to push some of us over the edge, Diana. Everyone has the potential for good and evil." Bruce stated.
"And if we lose a couple of supervillains or megalomaniacal tyrants, dictators or despots? You make that sound like a bad thing. I mean... how many of your own Rogues have repeatedly escaped from Arkham, because of a technical loophole, Bruce? Or just because their security wasn't strong enough? How many people did they kill before they were recaptured? How many people has Ras Al Ghul killed over the centuries? How many lives has The Joker ended and ruined? Poison Ivy has poisoned how many? Harvey Two-Face passed judgement on how many people with that coin of his? The Penguin is now a power broker in Gotham, still involved in organized crime yet no one takes him down? How many people has Bane broken? How many people has Killer Croc eaten or mutilated? How many, Bruce?"
Bruce hated to admit it, but she was right. Though, not about what they were originally talking about.
"My Rogues are different than yours." he said.
"That's true. My Rogues get locked up in prison, or banished from this dimension. Yours get sent to therapy, which hasn't done a lot of good. And between us, which of our Rogues have actually escaped more?"
"That's a different issue."
"It's not, really. I've killed my enemies in the past, Bruce."
"You've killed monsters and minor demigods, it's not the same thing."
"Some think that your rogues are monsters."
"It's not that simple, Diana. We can't become like them."
"Are you actually defending them? Most of your Rogues are seemingly irredeemable. And you're talking about regulating us. Taking us down instead of the ones who actually threaten... everyone." she asked.
"Because we're more powerful than they are." he said.
Diana was getting tired of arguing with Bruce.
"According to Dark Spider and Batgirl, someone also hacked these files from your computer. About four and a half months ago? Just prior to the attacks on the League." she said.
Bruce grimaced, knowing where she was going with this.
"Some of them were nearly killed. Because some villains have your files, Bruce. Maybe Luthor hacked your system, I don't know. Maybe Waller and her people have them. And, you tested some kind of psionic-device on Spider-Man and his brothers about six months back? Nearly got them killed by Killer Croc and Man-Bat."
"I didn't know those two were in the area at the time." Bruce said, defending himself.
"Didn't know? They don't exactly mix with the locals, Bruce." she said. "Then again, it is Gotham." she added.
Bruce was silent for several seconds, what seemed longer than most.
"And then you sweep in and save them, trying to make it look like it wasn't your fault. And it wouldn't have been, if Spider-Man hadn't seen the psionic-trigger device on your belt."
Bruce winced at that, unaccustomed to being caught.
Sigh. "So... what now, Diana?" Bruce asked.
"Well, safe to say The League is going to want some explanations for this. They might understand, but they might not trust you ever again. As for me... I'll be looking for other company to spend time with." she said as she turned around and walked out of the dining room. "Goodbye, Alfred. I'll see myself out."
"Miss Prince." Alfred said with a nod as the woman left.
Alfred then looked at Bruce, who just stared at the files that Diana had left. He wondered what Bruce was thinking at that moment. There was a part of him that wanted to say 'I told you so', or 'I knew this would happen'. While Alfred didn't fully trust some of the League, like Superman for example, he did like most of them, which included Diana and Spider-Man. Most of the League, he knew, were decent enough, and while all of them came from different backgrounds and origins, they all choose to put their lives on the line to make a difference in this world. Mostly to make sure that the terrible things that happened in their lives didn't happen to anyone else.
In Bruce's mind, he realized that things could be worse.
A handful of League members had been attacked, because of his files, but none of them were dead. And while he had been aware of the breach of his computer system, he had not yet been able to find out who was behind it. The data trail had been erased or redirected so badly it was impossible to track down. It should have been obvious, though. After the attacks. But he couldn't go actively looking into it, least the League become aware, or get involved themselves. He wouldn't have been able to keep them out. They were aware of some of the attacks, but not that it was because of him. They would now.
The worst part was, that someone knew he had been creating those files, and knew where to look, which means that someone knew who he was and where he was.
There were only a few who knew his true identity, and some of them were smart enough to hack his system. If they were working together...
Bruce grabbed the file and flipped through it. It was then that his eyes focused on something interesting. He finished his breakfast and then hurried down to the Batcave.
He had a lot of work to do.
"I'll cancel your appointments for today, sir." Alfred said as Bruce departed, not wondering if he had heard him or not.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Authors Notes:
Yes, another story I've been working on involving Spider-Man and Shinji Ikari. I've got about three or four chapters already prepared. The following chapter need work, though.
The pairings for this story are as follows.
Peter - Diana, Zatanna.
Ben - Mari, Clara Kendall
Shinji - Dinah, Barbara
And I hope some people caught the references I made to various other Justice League films, including Batman Begins.
Nothing else to say about this. Hope you liked it.
And just so everyone knows, here are the different levels for The Kitchen.
The Kitchen Danger Levels:
Level 1 - common street thug
Level 2 - street thugs with guns
Level 3 - gang, multi-street thugs
Level 4 - Military-trained thugs and ninjas.
Level 5 - Human criminals with special weapons: Captain Cold, Heatwave, The Shade, Firefly, Penguin, Two-Face
Level 6 - Lady Shiva, Prometheus, Copperhead, Dr. Polaris, Parasite, Luminous
Level 7 - Cheetah, Killer Frost, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Livewire, Volcana
Level 8 - Bane, Killer Croc, Gorilla Grodd, The Joker, Man-Bat,
Level 9 - Metallo, Giganta, Kalibak, Aresia, Silverback, Star Sapphire, Sinestro
Level 10 - Bizarro, Lex Luthor, Mongul, Solomon Grundy, Lobo
Level 11 - Circe, Morgaine Le Fay, Mordru
Level 12 - Hades, Ares, Amazo, Nekron
Level 13 - Darkseid, Trigon, Brainiac