In a office room, behind a desk made of rich mahogany sat an obese black man in a pristine white suit and orange vest. He leaned back in his crimson cushioned chair and brought a rectangular silver lighter up to the tip of a thick Cuban cigar clutched tight between his lips.
The man's real name was Wilson Fisk, but no one in the building would ever dare refer to him by it. Here in the halls of the enormous skyscraper, he was known only as Kingpin – one of the most dangerous Mob Bosses in the world.
Slowly Kingpin pulled the cigar out of his mouth and exhaled a large gray puff of smoke. His dark eyes shot across the desk, to where one of his lieutenants stood straight up, shaking slightly from fear.
"... I don't understand. I gave you a simple job. I even told you how important it was that those shipments arrive on time and without damage." Kingpin asked in a eerily calm voice. There was no trace of anger, yet that only added to the fear felt by the failed lieutenant.
"Sir, it wasn't my fault! It was Spiderman!" The lanky lieutenant pleaded. The fear was stamped on his face, unable to be hidden or held back any longer. "I tried, I really tried, but Spiderman ruined everything!"
Kingpin took along long drag on the cigar, before slowly exhaling and putting it out in a large glass ashtray on his desk. He stood up and walked around the room, his hands folded behind his back.
"The Spiderman problem will soon be a thing of the past... but as for you..." Kingpin began to reach under his white jacket and the lieutenant flinched, but before anything else could happen, the intercom on Kingpin's desk began to buzz.
The crime lord paused and calmly walked over to the intercom, his enormous finger pressing down against one of the buttons. "Yes, what is it? I'm in the middle of a meeting."
"Sir, Rupert Thorne to see you."
Kingpin paused for a moment, pursing his lips. "Of course. Send him up immediately." Without ever looking back at the cowering lieutenant, Kingpin pulled a heavy revolver from beneath his coat and shot the man in the chest.
The doors at the far end of the room opened and in walked a white-haired man in a black suit. His dark eyebrow rose as he noticed the dying criminal on the floor, clutching his side and moaning loudly. Rupert Thorne simply walked over and adjusted his black tie.
"Seems a shame to get such a nice rug soaked in blood." Thorne said, noticing the expensive foreign rug beneath the dying man.
Kingpin nodded absently. "A small price to pay. My apologies for making such a mess before our meeting, but sometimes you must teach an example to show the price of failure."
Thorne just smirked as he walked over and took a seat. He sat straight up, twisting the large gold ring on his finger as he waited for Kingpin to do the same. "I understand completely. We have similar problems in Gotham."
"Yes, I've heard of those. Quite dreadful." Kingpin snapped his fingers and two of his men entered the room, bringing a silver tray containing a large bottle of scotch and two smaller glasses, as well as a container of ice.
As one man sat the tray down between the two criminal bosses, the other moved and picked up his now-dead colleague. With the help of the first man, the two carried the corpse out and closed the door behind them to leave the bosses in peace.
"Were you able to find suitable candidates for the plan?" Kingpin asked, as he poured himself a full glass.
"I was. The three of them are extremely dangerous, and they'll be more than happy to squash the bug for you." Thorne explained as he dropped a few ice cubes into his glass and then filled it only halfway with the alcoholic brew.
A smile crossed Kingpin's face as he leaned back in his chair. "Good."
"I am curious," Thorne spoke up after a long sip of his scotch. "From what I hear, there was already a Sinister Six once before. What makes you think this time will be any different?"
Kingpin nodded thoughtfully, strumming his chin with one of his enormous hands. "It's true that this was tried once before and Spiderman managed to survive... but that time, all six of of the foes were ones he had fought many times before. He knew how to beat them."
"I see... so that's why you came to me." Thorne laughed, sitting his empty glass down on the silver tray. "Three of Gotham's finest criminals, all of whom would be a new challenge. Spiderman will have no idea how to fight them... but they will know exactly how to fight him thanks to the three local criminals. Not a bad plan, Kingpin."
A toothy grin appeared on Kingpin's face. "Of course, Rupert. I've thought of everything... and once Spiderman has been eliminated and I can once again control New York without some so-called 'superhero' getting in the way, I'll be able to spread the good fortune back to your enterprises."
"It's a win-win." Thorne laughed, and then his lips curved into a smirk of his own. "And who knows, if this goes well, maybe I'll have to send this new Sinister Six to eliminate my bat problem."
Kingpin poured another shot of scotch into Thorne's empty glass and then raised his own. "To the end of our problems!"
Thorne clinked his glass into Kingpin's and then the two drank, each feeling confident that they would finally see an end to the problems that had plagued them for so long.
[…]
At LaGuardia Airport, on the tarmac of the runway in front of a sleek black private jet a group of people had gathered. Most of them were members of the press, milling together in a large group as they eagerly awaited what the the man walking down the steps of the plane had to say.
Among the crowd pushing at a chance to get a perfect photo was the thin, brown-haired Peter Parker. The high school senior was kneeling down, hoping to have a picture to sell to the Daily Bugle. For once, he was not photographing Spiderman – but this time a visiting billionaire.
Reporters shouted out questions as a man with short, black hair in an expensive suit walked away from the plane. Bruce Wayne adjusted his tie and waved to the crowd as he hurried on towards the waiting limousine. The smiles he flashed were just a facade for the cameras.
"Celebrities," Peter muttered under his breath as he watched Wayne slip into the limousine. "I'll never understand why people care so much about a guy like Wayne. What's he ever done that's so special?"
The reporters started to rapidly pack away their equipment, each eager to jump into their news vans and followed after Wayne, when suddenly a thunderous boom shattered the air, spreading confusion.
Peter craned his neck and gazed past the air field fence. Down the road a cloud of black smoke billowed up from the street. He saw the unmistakable sight of several large men wearing ski masks, running out of a building and piling themselves into a maroon truck.
'A jewelry store heist in broad daylight? Well, at least they were nice enough to wait until after I got the photos I needed to interrupt my day.' Peter smirked a bit to himself as he stowed the camera in his backpack and went running down the street.
Luckily for him, the sudden explosion created a lot of confusion and panic and no one noticed a high school student rushing beyond the chain-link fence of the airport and off onto the streets of Brooklyn.
He slipped into an alleyway behind a nearby building and quickly changed out of the simple white tee-shirt and cargo shorts, trading them in for a suit everyone in New York could recognize. A red and blue suit that covered his head, with large white mesh in the shape of eyes, and the pattern of a spider's web across the red. Over his chest was an emblem he had designed himself – the emblem of the Amazing Spiderman!
Beneath the cloth of his gloves, devices of his own invention fired out an unusual cord of webbing that attached to a nearby building and allowed the costumed hero to jump up into the air and go sailing out of the alley. He twisted and turned in the air, falling with grace before he fired a second web and swung on.
He could hear the sirens of the police cars in the distance and knew they would never catch up in time. It was just as well – Spiderman liked to do these things himself. It was less danger for the police, and a lot of fun.
As he swung on, Spiderman noticed something from the corner of his eye. A black limousine parked in a nearby alleyway. It looked a lot like the one Bruce Wayne had driven off in, but the wall-crawler didn't have have time to think too much about it.
Spiderman jumped from the end of the webs, tucking his legs and rolling in midair as he spun straight towards the maroon truck and came down on the top of it. The momentum nearly sent him falling off, but he grabbed the side with an open palm and the same stickiness that allowed him to climb up walls kept him stuck to the roof of the getaway truck.
Once he got his balance back he crawled over to the front of the truck and popped his head down in front of the windshield. "Let me guess, you guys never passed driver's ed? You're supposed to pull over when you hear sirens."
As soon as his joke was finished, Spiderman quickly moved his head away from the windshield as one of the criminals inside fired a few rounds, creating deep cracks all along the windshield and small holes. Spiderman simply shook his head as he began to blast his web-fluid all over the surface.
"Now, now, you shouldn't drive with holes in your car. I'll plug them up for you... oh wait, now you can't see. My bad." He laughed to himself as he jumped off the roof, fired a web strand onto a nearby street pole and jumped away just as the truck slammed into a parked car.
Spiderman jumped down from the pole and dusted his hands off, smirking beneath his mask. He hear the applause from nearby people, and for a moment he waved to people all along the street and took a bow – before he heard gasps of surprise from all around.
It was an odd moment. Normally, he'd expect that kind of gasp to accompany one of the criminals crawling out of the truck and trying to kill him – but his spider sense was quiet so he knew that couldn't be the case. When Spiderman turned to see what was actually happening, it was his turn to gasp.
There was another man in a costume standing near the back of the truck. He was bigger than Spiderman, both in height and muscle mass, and his costume was completely different. A gray suit with blue boots, gloves, briefs and a cape and cowl. The pointed ears of the cowl, the spikes on the edge of the gloves, the yellow belt and the unmistakable emblem on the chest.
"Whoa, I knew I wasn't the only superhero game in town, but is that who I think it is?" Spiderman tilted his head. He jumped over and ended up just a few feet away, smirking beneath his mask. "Holy hamburgers, you're Batman, aren't you?"
The Dark Knight ignored Spiderman's every word as he grabbed the handle of the truck's door and flipped it up. Inside were several shaken criminals who were only just starting to recover from the crash. One of them looked up, recognized the figure at the door and let out a yell as he brought his gun up.
Batman rushed forward and in one smooth motion ripped the gun out of the criminal's hand while slamming his forearm down on the man's arm at the elbow. The criminal screamed as his arm was dislocated, but Batman had already moved on from him to kick another criminal and render him unconscious.
"Whoa, whoa! No need to go and break bones, Batman, I can just do this!" Spiderman called out as he launched several globes of web-fluid that trapped the remaining criminals against the wall.
With the threat subdued for the moment, Batman finally turned and acknowledged the local superhero. His voice was stoic and strong, with a tone that sounded even less friendly than the criminals. "What were you thinking with that stunt? This truck could have slammed into someone and killed them."
"No, it wouldn't have." Spiderman crossed his arms. "I was aware of my surroundings, and odds were it would do exactly what it did... and if it had gone off course and threatened someone, I could just web it up from behind and bring it to a stop."
Batman looked him over for a moment. Spiderman stared right back, as the hollow white eyes of their suits locked and somewhere beneath the true eyes stared into one another. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Spiderman just shrugged.
"What are you doing in New York, anyway? Don't tell me Gotham has become so safe you needed to venture out here." Spiderman asked, feeling annoyed at his superhero colleague's attitude.
"That's none of your business." Batman replied, and he walked past Spiderman. In an instant, Spiderman shot a web over the opening of the truck and blocked Batman's path.
"Actually it is," Spiderman replied, crossing his arms as he stared at the back of Batman's head. "It's called professional courtesy. If I came to your city and started beating up clowns, I'd be nice enough to give you a call."
Batman just scoffed, looking back over his shoulder at Spiderman. "Try it sometime and tell me how that works out for you." He then turned away once more and slipped a metal bat-shaped shuirken out of his belt and sliced through the webbing, jumping out of the truck.
The onlookers were making more noise now, and several NYPD cruisers had arrived. Even the police looked confused to see Batman and Spiderman standing around outside of a crashed truck.
In one swift motion, Batman pulled a grappling hook gun from his belt and fired a line onto a nearby building. He was hoisted up and above the crowd, disappearing onto the rooftop. Spiderman just watched him go and shook his head. "I can do that too you know! I could totally follow you right now!"
He paused, sighing a bit to himself. 'But as it is, I'm already late for lunch for MJ. Still...' Spiderman glanced up at the building where the blue bat had disappeared too. 'I gotta admit, I'm pretty tempted to follow you... not everyday you meet a superhero.'
Smirking at his own joke, Spiderman turned and swung away on his webs down the opposite direction.
[…]
"Whoa, Spiderman? Really? That's kind of cool."
In his hotel room, Bruce Wayne was slipping back into the expensive business suit he knew the public expected him to wear. He had never quite grown accustom to wearing these suits – it was a very different suit he felt at home wearing.
"He's as reckless as I thought, Barbara." Bruce replied. Sitting on the desk in his hotel room was a small computer screen, broadcasting straight to the subterranean catacombs beneath his home. Sitting in a black, leather chair was a young woman with red hair and a large smile.
"So was I." Barbara Gordon replied as she leaned back, grinning cheekily at her mentor on the other side. "Come on, Spiderman can't be that bad. A lot of people consider him a hero."
"Not everyone." Bruce replied as his eyes briefly flicked over to the television on the opposite wall. It was muted at the moment, but showed a news channel where an extremely angry mustachioed man named J. Jonah Jameson was ranting about the incident in Brooklyn.
Barbara laughed aloud, shaking her head. "Oh please... and I suppose everything Jack Rider reports about Batman is the truth? Like that story about how you drink blood and live in a coffin. Or that time he was convinced that you and the Joker are really the same guy."
"It doesn't matter how much is true or not. Spiderman is not the priority – finding out why Rupert Thorne came to New York is." Bruce replied. He slipped his jacket on over his shirt and then turned back to the computer screen. "Had any luck with that?"
"Of course I did." Barbara replied coyly. "I was able to hack into Thorne's computer... looks like he's been trading emails with someone named Wilson Fisk."
Bruce's eyes widened as he tied his tie. "I've heard of Fisk. He's one of the biggest mob bosses in New York. Goes by the name Kingpin. I'd heard rumors that he and Thorne had worked together before, but Fisk has kept clear of Gotham so I never went after him."
"Guess that's about to change." Barbara said. Then the smirk on her face vanished and her tone grew slightly more serious. "Be careful, Bruce. You're on your own this time. I can't very well make a spontaneous road trip to New York, and Dick doesn't have time for us anymore now that he's leading his own team."
"I can handle it." Bruce replied instantly. There was unshakable confidence in his voice.
"I know you can," Barbara smiled. "... but if you do need help, you might consider looking up Spiderman. You can never have too many friends."
Bruce did not reply, instead he just raised an eyebrow towards Barbara before turning off the computer screen and slipping it back into his belt.
[…]
At a small cafe on the bustling isle of Manhattan, the young Peter Parker took a seat sheepishly across from his girlfriend. The pretty redhead just sighed, smiling slightly as she shook her head at Peter.
"You know, Tiger, if you ever need to bust out a 'big romantic surprise' like in the movies, you could try showing up on time for a date." Mary Jane Watson rolled her eyes as she twirled a strand of long red hair around her finger.
Peter rubbed his neck. As much as he loved being Spiderman, it did have some drawbacks – especially when it came to his girlfriend. He loved to spend time with Mary Jane – but he knew that his power came with responsibility.
"I'm really sorry MJ," Peter said, shaking his head. "I was taking photos at the airport and there was some big superhero thing going down. Jameson always pays double for stuff like that, so now I can take you someplace really fancy to make up for it."
"That sounds fun... assuming you show up for that date." Mary Jane teased with a big grin.
Peter sighed, leaning forward and running his hands through his messy brown hair. "I know. I know. I'm sorry, MJ. I really am. I-"
"It's fine," Mary Jane cut him off with a laugh and a wave of her hand. She smiled over at the photographer and just chuckled slightly. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Just try to show up next time, okay?"
"MJ, there's nothing that can interrupt next time. I promise." Peter smiled.
Mary Jane leaned across the table and took Peter's hand, interlacing her fingers with his. She pulled his hand up to her lips and kissed it softly before looking over at him and smiling warmly. "I'm going to hold you to that."
Suddenly Peter felt a sickening sensation prickle on the back of his neck and he dove across the table, wrapping his arms around Mary Jane as he pulled her to the ground and rolled the two of them several feet away from the window. Just as he did, there was a massive explosion from the street as a car was ripped apart and engulfed in flames – the shock-wave shattered the window, showering the restaurant with glass shards.
"Stay low, get as far back as you can!" Peter yelled to MJ as he jumped up and ran towards the bathroom. Mary Jane wanted to call out to him, but she knew from prior experience that the best thing she could do was stay safe so Peter wouldn't worry about her. She turned and ran for the back of the restaurant, rushing into the kitchen even as most of the patrons ran towards the shattered window.
Peter ducked into the backroom, which was thankfully empty. He jumped into one of the stalls and locked the door, quickly changing and jumping up to the ceiling, sticking to it. He crawled around the ceiling til he reached the window on the wall and went through it, crawling his way further up to the cafe's roof.
Spiderman ran forward to the edge of the roof, where he saw the cause of the explosion. Flying around in the middle of the street was an unusual sight; a man dressed in an orange hood and cape, standing on a gray curved glider that soared through the air.
"Run! Run all of you! I want to see you burn while I wait for Spiderman!" Hobgoblin cackled from behind his hideous yellow mask. He reached into the gray satchel at his side and pulled out a small, pumpkin shaped disc – which he hurled down at the street, towards a crowd of people!
A thick strand of webbing shot and wrapped around the pumpkin as Spiderman pulled it away from the crowd and up into his own hand. "A little early for Halloween, isn't it?" He called out towards the Hobgoblin as he dropped the pumpkin off the side of the roof into a large dumpster – which exploded.
"Ah, Spiderman! Excellent!" Hobgoblin called out with a twisted glee oozing in his every syllable. "Today is the last day of your life, my wall-crawling friend, and I'm going to enjoy watching you die!"
"Give it your best shot, Gobby!" Spiderman called out – but suddenly he felt his Spider Sense tingle down the back of his spine and he turned just in time. A huge spark of electricity had traveled down an electrical wire on the roof, and in a massive blast of energy a man had appeared, shooting lightning bolts at the back of Peter's head.
Spiderman jumped back, barely dodging the sparking electrical arc. He had to jump several times to evade it all. When he finished, Spiderman was perched on the side of the roof and behind his mask his eyes had widened a bit.
Standing by the electrical line was a black man in a green suit with yellow gloves and boots, and an electrical design down the front. He wore a large mask that was shaped like an electrical bolt. Electricity crackled in his hands as he stepped forward and grinned.
"Electro!" Spiderman gasped, surprised to see another of his foes. "Oh no... don't tell me..."
Spiderman jumped away from the roof, swinging on his webs as he hurried down the street. His mind was racing at the possibilities. 'Hobgoblin AND Electro? Hopefully this is just a very bad coincidence, but the last time I saw more than one of my foes at once...'
Spiderman flashed back to his first encounter with a group called the Sinister Six. Six of his greatest enemies had allied themselves to try to destroy him, and they had come awfully close to actually doing so. Right now all Peter cared about was getting clear of these two – if his worst fears were true and there were more of his enemies lurking nearby, he wanted to get away from the public.
Hobgoblin quickly pursued Spiderman, but Electro hung back on the roof. He reached his hand up to his mask and pressed down on an earpiece. "It's working. Spiderman showed up and just like you predicted he's heading towards Central Park."
"Of course. These hero types all think the same way; they want to minimize civilian casualties. Central Park is the closest option. We'll be ready for him." A harsh voice with a heavy Spanish accent came over the call. "Spiderman will come... and then we will break him."
[…]
"Bruce, we have a BIG problem."
Batman was in the living room of a small, Lenox Hill apartment. An unconscious man was lying across a table in the middle of the room, while two others were leaning against one another in the corner with obvious injuries. A fourth man was struggling for breath as he squirmed against the iron-like grip of Batman's glove, which was currently wrapped around his throat.
"What?" Batman asked, pressing his free hand down to one of the 'ears' of his cowl.
"I was able to decrypt the rest of Thorne's emails. Apparently he didn't come to New York alone -these emails mention he's bringing some 'heavy hitters' from Gotham with him. It doesn't mention anyone specifically, but apparently Thorne's after Spiderman." Barbara explained over the com channel.
Batman's eyes widened behind the cowl. He slammed his fist down on the criminal's head, rendering him unconscious and tossing him to the floor. "That explains what he's doing here. Barbara, we need to find Spiderman right away. Patch me into the NYPD dispatch radio."
With a sharp crackle, Batman could now hear everything the NYPD dispatcher was saying to the various police in the city – and as luck had it, there was an all-points bulletin going out.
"All Units, All Units, subject 'Spiderman' spotted heading towards Central Park. He is being pursued by Hobgoblin. There are reports of explosions and property damage in the area. All Units, respond."
Batman quickly cut off the message and he headed towards the door, knowing he had to get to Central Park...
[…]
Spiderman spun in the air as he jumped from one building across the road to the massive expanse of Central Park. Peter had always loved the park as a child – a refuge of wilderness and nature right in the heart of the world's busiest city. His web fluid caught a tree branch and he slung himself deeper into the woods.
Right now, he needed to stay away from the heavily populated buildings. As much as Peter hated the idea of a fight damaging the Park, he knew it was better to have pumpkin bombs thrown at trees than buildings. He landed in the middle of a clear, his eyes looking skyward for any sigh of Hobgoblin.
Suddenly his Spider Sense tingled along his neck and he jumped just as a beam of bright blue energy came careening just past his head. He flipped several times and when he came to a stop he looked up to see his left shoulder was covered in frost and snow.
"Talk about a cold shoulder." Spiderman muttered to himself as he looked up to see a truly strange sight emerging from between two nearby trees.
The man was very tall and wearing a suit of gray, blue and black – his skin was a pale blue and he was completely hairless. His eyes were hidden behind piercing red goggles, and his head was encased in a clear container that swirled with frosty air. In his hand was a massive gun, which Spiderman assumed had fired that frosty beam.
"Hey... I know you!" Spiderman called out, just as Mr. Freeze fired another beam of concentrated cold and he had to jump aside to keep from becoming a Popsicle. Spiderman, now hanging upside down from a tree, looked over at the newest assailant. "Yeah, I read about you! You're Dr. Victor Fries! A brilliant scientist who invented cryogenic freezing!"
"Allow me to demonstrate my technology, Spiderman." Mr. Freeze said in an eerily robotic voice as he fired a beam of ice right at the web-slinger – but Spiderman jumped away, spinning a web and sailing to a different tree.
Spiderman jumped from the tree branch, firing several quick web shots towards the frozen foe. The webbing splattered across Freeze's helmet, obscuring his vision. Spiderman collided with a tree, pushing off with both feet and springing right towards Freeze – where he brought his leg down against his stomach and sent him flying backwards.
"Maybe nobody told you, but I'm a lot stronger than I look!" Spiderman called out.
Mr. Freeze had smashed into a tree, and his free hand came up and ripped away the webbing. He raised his freeze gun and fired, causing Spiderman to dodge wildly – but this time the beam caught his left arm and pinned him against a tree.
"So am I." Freeze sneered as he started walking towards Spiderman.
Spiderman strained against the ice, bringing his free hand to bare, smashing into it and sending hairline cracks across the surface. Freeze was almost upon him as Spiderman managed to break free and duck down, rushing between Freeze's legs and jumping up behind him – kicking him in the small of his back and knocking him forward into the tree.
Before Freeze could get up, Spiderman fired several web shots on each of his hands, sticking him against the tree. "So Iceman, what are you doing in New York?"
"The same thing I am."
Spiderman turned just in time to be sprayed in the face with a thick brown gas. He fell backwards, coughing and sputtering, waving his arm in front of him to try to keep distance between himself and whoever had attacked him. He looked up and saw a strange man in brown, tattered clothes – wearing a leathery brown mask and an old hat pulled down over his head.
Yet in seconds, the man seemed to change and transformed. He looked taller and his eyes were burning like flames. His fingers had curved out into large, knife-like blades and a mouth had opened on the mask, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and thousands of maggots and bugs pouring forth from his mouth.
"Whoa... whoa, whoa, whoa..." Spiderman gasped as he stumbled backwards. His temperature had spiked and he was sweating profusely beneath his suit. He could hardly tell what was real and what was imaginary anymore. Central Park had peeled away and in its place he saw a hellish landscape, the trees were barren and flames bubbled up from the ground. He saw shadows move all around him and he could see terrible visions in every directions.
"Peter... why did you let me die, Peter?"
He turned to his right and saw a gray-haired man with thick glasses and a disappointed frown. The man's shirt was covered in blood and he held his hand down over his heart – it was just where the robber had shot him.
"Uncle Ben?" Spiderman gasped at the sight. "No... no... I didn't..."
Ben's skin had become a ghostly white and his eyes were unnatural dark. Blood began to ooze out from his mouth and nose, and even his eyes, as he continuously accused Peter of letting him die.
"Peter... you didn't save me... and you forgot about me..."
A second terrible chill, colder than Freeze's blast, went down Spiderman's spine as he turned once more and saw a beautiful blonde girl. She was covered in blood and held her head at an unnatural angle – her neck was clearly broken as she staggered towards him, blood and tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Gwen, no, Gwen that's not true!" Peter could feel the tears beneath his mask now as he stared at her in horror. "I tried to save you Gwen, I tried... I tried so hard..."
"Not hard enough, Spiderman!" Gwen snarled in a horrible voice as he neck suddenly straightened out. She reached beneath her chin and ripped off her own face, revealing a horrible green face beneath – piercing yellow eyes, pointed green ears and a rubbery skin like a Halloween mask.
Suddenly Spiderman felt someone slam him hard in the chest and he fell backwards. The hellish landscape gave way to Central Park, but as he looked up he saw a truly terrible sight. It looked like Hobgoblin, but his face had become downright demonic – his twisted eyes burning like molten embers and snakes crawling out of his mouth as his gnarled, clawed hands reached out for him.
Hobgoblin grabbed Spiderman by the front of his costume, picking him up and tossing him into a nearby tree. He laughed in a demented tone as he watched Spiderman slam into the wood and bounce to the ground.
"I gotta admit, Scarecrow, that gas of yours is quite a doozy." Hobgoblin smirked over to the villain from another city.
"Of course," Scarecrow gave a tip of his tattered hat. "I can only imagine how delightfully terrifying your mask must be under the influence of my gas. You simply must help me in some experiments sometime."
Mr. Freeze strolled between the two of them, bumping them each with his broad shoulders. "You two can make friends later. We're not here for games. Let's just squash the bug and be done with it."
The cold-hearted scientist walked over and raised his foot above Spiderman's head – but a blast of electricity slammed into his chest and knocked him back away. Electro came sprinting forward through the bushes, blue lightning crackling in his hands.
"Are you KIDDING me? I've never seen Spiderman so weak! This may just be a paycheck for you, out-of-towner, but for some of us it's PERSONAL! I want to watch Spiderman suffer before he meets his end, and I'm sure the Doc agrees."
Mr. Freeze turned and aimed his gun towards Electro's face with a grim expression. "Do not presume that I am like the rest of you. I am not doing this for money, lowlife, and I do not care about your petty revenge. The sooner the Spider is dead, the sooner what is precious to me will be returned."
"That explains why you're here, Victor. I was wondering why you'd suddenly go and work for a man like Fisk."
Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow both went wide-eyed at the voice that permeated the forest. Electro and Hobgoblin did not look as concerned, instead both were eagerly examining their surroundings for whoever was foolish enough to be eavesdropping on them.
Suddenly a thin, bat-shaped boomerang came flying out of the darkness and embedded in the ground between the four of them – and it immediately unleashed a high-pierced sonic sound that caused them all to yell out and cover their ears. Freeze dropped to one knee, unable to cover his ears with his helmet and feeling the full brunt of the sonic sound.
Out of the shadows, several small smoke pellets rolled out and immediately began spitting out thick, black smoke. The entire area was engulfed in just seconds, and a shadow rushed through it. Batman grabbed the injured Spiderman and threw him over his shoulder before he turned and ran, darting between the trees.
"It's Batman!" Scarecrow yelled out. He was unaffected by the smoke – a respirator covering his mouth and nose beneath his mask. "Don't let him take Spiderman!"
Electro covered his ears with one hand while with his other he blasted the sonic batarang with a blast of electricity that destroyed it completely. As the sound waves stopped, Hobgoblin blasted up above the canopy of smoke on his glider.
"I'll not let some stupid Bat ruin this score!" Hobgoblin growled as looked around wildly – and then spotted the fluttering blue cape in the distance. He grinned and shot off, eager to destroy both heroes.
[…]
Batman ran until he got to an area of the park where a stream ran through – a large bridge extended over the trickle of water, and Batman hurried beneath the bridge. He leaned Spiderman against the underside of the bridge, not concerned about the shallow water that flowed up to his boots.
His gloved hand went down to the golden utility belt and he pulled out a small injection device. He loaded it with clear liquid from a small capsule on his belt and he brought it down to Spiderman's neck. With a pop, a needle injected the contents right into Spiderman's bloodstream.
After a few seconds, Spiderman gasped aloud and began to flail around. Batman tried to hold him still, but the superior strength of the teen made it easy for him to knock Batman backwards and into the water.
Spiderman looked around, coughing several times. His vision was blurred for a moment, and then he heard a cold, stern voice.
"Stay quiet and still! They're looking for us." Batman commanded.
"What happened to me?" Spiderman groaned, rubbing his head. "I feel like I just went twelve rounds with the Hulk."
Batman simply shook his head. "They did beat on you, but your bigger problem right now is Scarecrow's toxins. The antidote I injected into your body should kick in and remove the last lingering effects within minutes, but you're going to feel like hell for a while still."
With a loud groan, Spiderman climbed back to his feet, clutching his side. "Not an option. I appreciate the help, but right now this forest is crawling with crazy super villains and I've got to do something about that."
"It's Rupert Thorne and Wilson Fisk." Batman explained quietly. "That's why I'm in New York. Thorne came here to meet with Fisk. Now I know why – they've hired several criminals from Gotham and New York to team up to kill you."
Spiderman sighed deeply. "Fisk... I should have known. That guys had it out for me for a long time. Makes sense he'd hired out-of-town muscle this time."
"He's done this before?" Batman inquired, curious.
"Well, no, he hasn't... but another of my enemies, a man named Norman Osborne, has. He put together six of my biggest foes and sicked them on me at once. I guess Fisk stole the idea and decided to make it more exotic." Spiderman replied as he rotated his shoulder, trying to get the feeling back all over his body.
Batman rubbed his chin. "You said Six of your foes? I've only counted four. Freeze, Scarecrow, the electric guy and the one who flies."
"Electro and Hobgoblin." Spiderman nodded. "Maybe Fisk and Thorne decided four would be enough – or maybe there's a couple more out there waiting. Either way, I need to get these guys off the street before someone gets hurt."
Batman reached his hand out, which caught Spiderman off guard. He cautiously reached out and took Batman's gloved hand, letting the taller hero pull him to his feet. The two exchanged glances for a moment from behind masked faces.
"Does this mean we're friends now?" Spiderman asked in his usual, cheeky tone.
"Don't push it." Batman replied in a voice as cold as Freeze's. "There's a better chance of protecting the city if we work together."
Spiderman nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense... plus if you had told me about Thorne and Fisk this afternoon when I asked you, maybe we could have figured out what they were up to before now and could have stopped them, so now you feel guilty and want to team up."
"You talk a lot." Batman replied simply. Spiderman started to chuckle, but suddenly a gloved hand clamped down over his mouth and Batman made a hand gesture for silence. Spiderman listened – and he heard the familiar buzzing of Hobgoblin's glider.
Something fell and tumbled atop the bridge – and suddenly it exploded above them! Batman jumped to the left while Spiderman ran to the right, each managing to get clear before the bridge collapsed entirely into the trickling stream.
Flying high above them was Hobgoblin, who laughed like a fiend. Batman felt incredible annoyance at the laughter and he threw a batarang which sailed straight and true through the air and embedded in the underside of the glider – a moment later and there was a massive crackle of electricity as the batarang gave off an EMP and fried the glider. Hobgoblin let out a suddenly scream as he went careening out of control, flying towards the ground.
Spiderman swung forward on a tree branch and managed to catch Hobgoblin seconds before the glider smashed into the ground and ripped apart. He threw Hobgoblin down roughly, and then landed right on his back with his full force.
"Well, that's one down!" Spiderman called out.
"Five to go-ARAGH!" Batman suddenly screamed in pain as electricity racked his body, flowing through him completely. He was still standing in the ankle-deep stream when Electro blasted him in the back with a burst of lightning, and in just a manner of seconds Batman collapsed to the shore of the stream unmoving.
"Not good." Spiderman groaned as rushed towards Batman – but Mr. Freeze emerged from the treeline, firing several freeze blasts at him, causing Spiderman to go on the defensive ad have to swing away – in the opposite direction of the injured Batman.
From beside Electro, Scarecrow eagerly rushed up and dropped down beside Batman, pressing a hand down over his exposed mouth and letting a puff of brown smoke emit from his glove. Scarecrow laughed out madly and looked down at Batman as he coughed. "I've brewed up an extra strong batch of my toxin just for you, Batman! Now tell me – what do you see?"
The world around Bruce had melted away. Central Park, the villains and Spiderman were gone – now he was lying in an dirty alleyway. A newspaper blew by on the wind, and as he looked up he could see the Gotham Skyline behind him. The Monarch Theater loomed in front of him and eight year old Bruce screamed out, knowing what was to come.
At the end of the alleyway he saw them. A man with trimmed black hair and an impeccable suit and his wife, dressed up in her finest clothes and wearing a necklace of immaculate pearls. Suddenly a shadowy figure rushed at them, and gunshots rang out.
"It was your fault, Bruce!" Thomas Wayne accused as he fell down dead.
"If you hadn't wanted to leave the show early like a sniveling coward!" Martha Wayne shouted at him as she died.
Bruce scrambled to his feet and ran forward, but as he did the alleyway melted away for the inside of a darkened factory. He was no longer a child, now back in his Batman costume – and at the far side of the alley he saw a young man with black hair, a red shirt and green pants. He was on his knees, covered in blood and sobbing from behind his domino mask.
"Bruce... I was just a kid... why did you ever get me involved in this... why did you let me die?" Jason Todd begged as the crowbar came down and split his head open.
A horrible laughter filled the factory, and Bruce watched as a silhouette towered above Jason, holding a blood-soaked crowbar. All he could see was the horrible grin, and all he could hear was the sickening, repeated thud of the crowbar and the never-ending laughter.
As Batman was haunted by those he had lost, Electro walked over to him and kicked him in the ribs, causing him to roll back into the water. He held up his hands, which sparked with electricity and turned his eye towards Scarecrow. "Think we'll get paid extra to fry the Bat?"
"Barbeque the Bat and I guarantee you Thorne will triple our pays... and if he doesn't, I'll just have to use him for my experiments." Scarecrow snickered from behind his mask. "To think, I took this job to fund my studies into fear, and now I get to watch Batman's life drain from his body. It was well worth the trip."
On the other side of the smashed bridge, Spiderman was ducking away from Mr. Freeze's furious assault when he spotted Electro and Scarecrow standing over the injured Batman. He jumped, twisting in mid-air and shooting his webbing into the end of Freeze's gun. The next frozen beam was caught in the barrel and the gun gave a very loud pop as it burst, encasing Mr. Freeze's arm in ice.
Spiderman webbed a tree and swung across the stream, coming down with both of his feet into Electro's chest and knocking him back away from the water. Spiderman jumped up and turned towards Scarecrow, who was already reaching for him.
"Not this time!" Spiderman called as he webbed Scarecrow's mask right over the eyes. He grabbed Scarecrow by the wrist and twisted his arm, pulling it right towards Electro and spraying him in the face with the fear gas.
Electro scrambled backwards, sparks flying from his face as he coughed and sputtered. He looked up at Spiderman as the brown smoke cleared from his face and he screamed at the sight before him. It was like Spiderman had grown several feet taller and massive arms protruded from his sides, covered in gray hair and massive claws. His feet were the same, and his head had ripped out of the mask, revealing a horrible elongated head with six eyes and massive jaws.
With a scream of sheer horror, Electro raised his hands and blasted lightning at the monstrous Man-Spider before him, but Spiderman acted quick and pulled Scarecrow in front of him, letting the master of fear take the full brunt of electric storm. Then he pushed Scarecrow into Electro and jumped beside them, grabbing each of them by the back of their heads and slamming their faces together.
He watched in satisfaction as they both fell unconscious. "Sorry, I just don't like you guys, so why don't you hang out with each other?" Spiderman sprayed them with webbing, twisting them about until they had both been cocooned in a thick mat of webs – and then he tossed the cocoon up towards a tree, and sprayed several additional webs – suspending the cocoon between two branches.
Spiderman watched with satisfaction – until he felt his Spider Sense tingle and turned just as a pumpkin bomb went off. He dodged quickly enough to keep from being blown apart, but he was thrown backwards and smashed into the rubble of the bridge. Hobgoblin was rushing forward, clutching his side with one hand but holding a second bomb with the other.
"Did you think you'd get rid of me THAT easily, Spiderman?" Hobgoblin growled.
"Kinda hoped so, yeah." Spiderman replied with a groan.
Hobgoblin raised his hand with the bomb and began to laugh, but suddenly a gloved hand clamped down on his wrist and suddenly retched his arm into an unnatural position. Batman's elbow came down hard, dislocating Hobgoblin's arm in one powerful hit and causing him to scream out as he dropped the bomb and it went bouncing off into the stream.
"H-How! The gas!" Hobgoblin groaned through gritted teeth.
Batman slammed his open palm against Hobgoblin's mask, making him grunt out in pain. Several rapid-paced punches to the ribs and Hobgoblin fell to the ground with a thud. He was knocked out, but Batman brought his boot down on the back of Hobgoblin's knee hard enough to snap it.
"Even if he gets up again, he won't be a threat to anyone." Batman called over to Spiderman.
The wall-crawler hobbled over and shot a web onto Hobgoblin's gray satchel, pulling it into his hands and then threw it into the stream. "Now he won't be a threat to anyone. Geez, you don't pull any punches, do you, Batsy?"
"Don't call me that." Batman growled. "And we can't afford to pull punches. I don't think this is over yet."
Spiderman nodded, rotating his aching shoulder. "Hey... I hate to be a chorus gal for a crazy goblin, but how DID you recover from that gas? That stuff had my head all twisted up when I was under it."
"It did me too, at first." Batman replied as his side, still feeling the burning pain of the electrocution from before. "I inoculated myself from Scarecrow's gas earlier when we were under the bridge. He was using a special, extra-strength gas so I was still affected, but I recovered faster than normal."
"Nice." Spiderman gave a thumb's up. "Well, that's Hobgoblin, Scarecrow and Electro down, and I left Mr. Freeze on the other side of the..."
Peter's voice trailed off as he glanced across the stream and saw that Mr. Freeze was gone. There were several large chunks of ice and the broken remains of his gun, but the chilled villain was nowhere to be seen.
"... I swear he was right there a minute ago." Spiderman sighed deeply.
"Not anymore!" Mr. Freeze jumped out from behind a pair of nearby bushes, brandishing a secondary freeze gun. He blasted out a beam of concentrated cold that slammed into Spiderman's chest, causing the hero to groan as he fell backwards with ice and snow accumulating quickly all over his body.
Batman spun around and threw a batarang at Mr. Freeze that smashed into the front of his helmet, hitting the hard plastic right in the middle and creating a long crack across the front. Mr. Freeze stepped back and turned his gun towards his traditional enemy, opening fire and forcing Batman to jump for cover.
Spiderman, meanwhile, forced himself to sit up and ignore the cold. He reached to his belt and pulled out a small capsule which he burst in his hand and rubbed across his chest – and quickly the ice and snow began to dissolve away.
As soon as he felt warm spread over him, Peter grabbed two more of the heating packs and tossed them at Mr. Freeze – they slammed into his legs and popped, sending the warm liquid across his knees. Mr. Freeze let out a sharp gasp as he felt the heat spreading through his suit and he stumbled forward, dropping the gun.
Batman rushed over and slammed his fist down on Freeze's back, knocking him to the ground. He pulled his hands behind him and cuffed them, before smashing his fist onto Freeze's helmet and shattering it.
"With his suit compromised, he won't be a threat to anyone." Batman called to Spiderman. "What is that stuff you used on him?"
Spiderman shrugged. "A heating pack I developed myself. It got really cold last winter and I spent most nights outdoors doing this kind of thing."
There was a mechanical crunching sound as something hard and metal smashed into the ground. Spiderman and Batman both turned to see a figure heading their way, and Spiderman groaned in recognition of him. A short, squat man with a bowl-haircut and very large goggles over his face. He was wearing a green jumpsuit with yellow gloves and boots, but what was most striking about the man were his extra arms.
Four mechanical tentacles were attached to his back, and he used them to walk across the ground with massive, impressive stride from the bottom two while the two on top slithered around him like snakes.
"One of yours?" Batman asked.
"Yeah. Doc Ock. He's a genius, but completely insane. Don't underestimate those arms." Spiderman warned.
"Spiderman, Batman! I'm surprised to see the two of you working together... but no matter. I saw everything that happened. You've both sustained serious injury. It should be a simple matter to remove you both from this world." Doctor Octopus grinned as he approached them. One of his mechanical arms brought a cigar to his mouth and let him puff on it for several seconds.
Batman knew that their newest foe had a point. Neither he nor Spiderman were at full fighting strength, and the two had never truly worked together before. Still, as much as it went against his natural instinct, Bruce knew he had to trust the mysterious wall-crawler. "Two against one." He called out to Doc Ock.
"Is it, pendejo?" Another voice called out as a final figure emerged from the opposite direction. A massive mountain of a man in a black tank-top and brown camouflage pants. He had a thick South American accent, and his muscles were enormous. He dwarfed even Batman, and over his face he wore a black luchadore mask. There was a hose attached to the back of his head that ran down to a large glove on his left hand.
"Wow, Steroids Ahoy!" Spiderman called out upon seeing him. "And I thought Rhino was big."
"His name's Bane. He's a master strategist and incredibly strong – and he can increase his strength with a drug called venom." Batman explained in one quick breath.
"Venom?" Spiderman blinked a few times. "... Greeeeat. At least this venom isn't drooling all over the place. Yet."
Batman ignored the teenage crime fighter beside him as he narrowed his eyes at Bane. "I get it now. This was the plan all along. Send the others to work us over and tire us out, so you can step in and do the heavy lifting."
"I think we both know heavy lifting is my specialty, cabrón." Bane smirked, as he cracked his knuckles. He cast a glance over at Doctor Octopus. "I will crush your bug problem, you pull the wings off the Bat. Agreed?"
One of Doc Ock's massive mechanical tendril shot at Batman, causing the hero to jump to the side as the cold steel claw ripped a hole in his cape. "Agreed!" Doc Ock called out as he charged at Batman on his robotic appendages.
Bane meanwhile turned towards Spiderman and sprinted towards him in a full-one charge. Spiderman jumped up, flipping above Bane and coming down behind him. He aimed a kick at Bane's side and his foot slammed into the enormous man, but much to Spidey's surprise Bane showed little reaction.
"You are strong," Bane sneered. He spun around and brought a closed fist down on Spiderman's shoulder hard enough to send him crumpling to the ground in a single blow. "But I am stronger!"
Spiderman rolled across the ground to avoid being stomped on by Bane. He sat up, clutching his aching shoulder. It was the left, the same shoulder that he had been shot in by Mr. Freeze earlier and the frostbite only made the current pain worse.
Batman meanwhile had his hands full as Doc Ock's mechanical appendages attacked him from every side. He threw a batarang, but it was caught and crushed by one of the octopus arms even as another wrapped around his waist and lifted Batman off his feet before smashing him into a tall tree.
Spiderman fired web shots at Bane, tying his arms together but the massive man easily ripped through the super-strong webbing. Spidey ducked down, dodging past a punch aimed at him and he popped up beside Bane. He threw a left hook and caught Bane in the face, knocking him back.
Several punches followed the first successful one as Spiderman let loose a furious flurry of fists at Bane. The larger man stumbled back away from Spiderman, as the local hero crossed his arms and chuckled slightly. "You want to reconsider whose stronger?"
A deep, throaty laugh escaped Bane's masked mouth. His right hand moved down to the device strapped around his left wrist and he pressed a button. Suddenly the hose connecting the wrist device to the back of his head began to pulsate as something pumped directly into Bane's blood.
In a matter of seconds the already bulbous muscles of the luchadore practically tripled in size. His arms had become inhumanly large and veins protruded against his tanned skin. The mask around his face strained to stay on with how much bigger the man had gotten, and he let loose a roar like a dinosaur.
"... I just haaaaaad to open my mouth." Spidey groaned.
Bane turned towards a particularly large tree that towered over him. He gripped the trunk with both hands and let out a loud grunt. The sound of wood snapping filled Central Park as he tugged viciously and uprooted the tree with relative ease.
With a loud yell, Bane swung the tree like a baseball bat, trying to smash Spiderman beneath the bark. The hero jumped and managed to keep from being crushed, but he was caught in the chest with the tree and knocked several feet away where he hit the ground and lay still.
Spidey groaned, clutching his chest and trying to catch his breath. Pain radiated through his entire body and beneath the mask he clenched his eyes shut, trying to work up the strength to stand.
Nearby Batman let out a sharp yell of pain. Doc Ock's metal tentacles had wrapped around him, one binding his hands while another held his feet together. The Dark Knight was suspended above the mad scientist's head, and each of the robotic arms was pulling him in a different direction.
"And now you die!" Doctor Octopus called out with a gleeful laugh.
Batman struggled to move his fingers from one glove to the back of the other. On the knuckle of each glove was a small bump beneath the blue – a hint of what he wore tucked into his gloves. Batman's finger barely stretched far enough to touch the activation button and suddenly there were electric sparks on his gloves, from both the knuckles and tips of the fingers.
He strained with a great grunt to move his hand and grab hold of the mechanical tendril wrapped around his wrist – and in an instant it sent a powerful surge of electricity through Doc Ock's robotic appendages all the way to where they connected to his back. Octopus screamed out in sudden pain as he glowed with electricity and he released Batman while he fell backwards onto the ground.
Batman slammed against the grassy ground with a loud thud and he groaned in pain. His arms and legs felt like jelly, but he knew he could not sit still. He leaned up, his hands still sparking with electrical power.
Suddenly Spiderman came crashing into Batman from the side and they both went tumbling to the ground. Bane stood several yards away, clenching his fists tight as he glared over at the two heroes. "Your trickery ends here, Bat! I will crush you both beneath my boots! The world will forever sing of Bane, the man who Broke the Bat and Squashed the Spider!"
Sitting up, Spidey watched as Bane started charging at them. Batman noticed it too and quickly shut off his shock gloves. The two locked eyes for just one moment before each jumped in a different direction.
Batman jumped to the left and he threw a batarang out which flew straight for the tube that ran from Bane's wrist to his head. The corner of the razor sharp shuriken sliced clean through the rubber tube, and a thick green liquid sprayed out from both sides.
Even as Batman cut free the venom tube, Spiderman had jumped to the right and aimed both of his hands at the massive brute's legs, shooting several globs of webbing towards Bane's ankles, knees and legs. The thick webbing accumulated in seconds, wrapping the massive man's legs and causing him to trip face first into the grass.
Batman and Spiderman stood a few feet away from Bane, but suddenly a sickening tingling spread through Peter's spine and he barely had enough time to grab Batman and jump to the side as two large mechanical tentacles stabbed into the ground where the two heroes had previously stood.
Doc Ock was back on his feet and he let out a loud yell as he stabbed all four of his robotic appendages at the two. Batman dodged to the side as one of the hands nearly slammed into his face, while Spiderman swung into a tree as two of the tentacles impaled deep intop the wood.
"You always were too persistent, Otto!" Spiderman yelled out. He fired web fluid onto Doc Ock's goggles, coating them completely. The scientist yelled out in anger as he used his regular hands to try to tear away the webbing.
Batman suddenly rushed up from behind him, quickly slapping an open palm against his back where metal had fused to flesh. A small circular device was attached where Batman had slapped him, and the detective jumped away as a few seconds later there was a massive blast of kinetic energy that shot Doc Ock forward into a tree.
The scientist's face smashed against the bark and he slipped out of consciousness – and just as quickly Spiderman fired several strands of webbing all around Doc Ock's body, pinning him to the tree and keeping him tied there tightly. He made sure to web up each of the mechanical tendrils separately.
"I think that's finally over." Spidey called out with relief. Yet even as the words left his mouth, his Spider Sense started to go crazy. He was too tired and injured to dodge the danger this time, as a pair of massive hands grabbed him – one wrapping around his neck and the other grabbing his leg.
Bane hoisted Spiderman up over his head. "I WILL BREAK YOU!"
The whirling sound of a batarang cut the air – and a second later the black blade cut across Bane's left hand, causing him to cry out and drop Spiderman as he flinched away from the pain. He clutched his bloody hand against his chest, as Spiderman jumped up and delivered a powerful kick to Bane's face, knocking him over and into the ground.
"Thanks. I had a bad feeling about that." Spiderman called over as Batman approached him.
"You have no idea." Batman shook his head. "That's all six of them."
"Just in time, too, because my every muscle feels like jello." Spiderman groaned. "Nice working with you, Bats."
Batman crossed his arms. "We're not done yet. We still have two to go..."
[…]
As the sun rose above the New York Skyline, the two biggest mob bosses on the Eastern seaboard sat around a glimmering pool on the roof of one of New York's tallest buildings. Rupert Thorne and The Kingpin were relaxing in pool chairs, each taking great joy in their imported Scotch and the scantily clad women who played in the pool.
"Any word from the Sinister Six?" Thorne asked as he sipped his scotch and let his eyes wander to one of the women in the pool, licking his lips.
Kingpin simply shrugged. "Not yet, but I doubt we'll have to wait much longer. With the amount we offered for Spiderman's head, there's no way they'll wait to deliver. Soon I'll have that web-slinger stuffed and mounted on my wall."
"And then it will be Batman's turn." Thorne grinned devilishly. "I can hardly wait to see that blood-soaked cowl presented to me."
"It will be a good day." Kingpin agreed, raising his glass. "Perhaps I'll even throw in some extra money and send them after Daredevil. Hell, with the Sinister Six in our employ, we could start exporting them! Kill superheroes all across the country!"
Throne chuckled loudly. "We'll go down in history as the enterprising partnership that brought and end to the dark age of spandex and ruined profits."
"Yeeeeah, so bad news about that."
Thorne and Kingpin's laughing self-congratulations came to a sudden end as a web shot into one of the stone archways that cornered the pool, and a moment later Spiderman swung over and perched himself atop the arc. Several of the woman in the pool screamed out and quickly scrambled to climb out and rush for the doorway on the corner of the roof.
"Spiderman!" Kingpin snarled as he jumped up and grabbed his walking stick. He clenched it so tight in his fist that the metal stick began to bend. "How can you possibly be alive!? There's no way you could have survived all six of those killers!"
The wall-crawler just shrugged. "I had some help."
"Hello, Rupert."
Thorne's eyes widened as he heard the cold voice from just behind him. He turned and reached his hand beneath his jacket for his revolver, but Batman grabbed him in an instant, lifting him above his head and throwing him across the rooftop and into the pool.
Kingpin gasped at the sight and lashed out, trying to smash Batman over the head with his bent walking stick; but a strand of webbing shot the stick and wretched it out of Fisk's fist. Spiderman jumped off the arc, spiraled in the air and came down with both feet right on Kingpin's shoulders, knocking him to the ground.
He casually tossed the walking stick off the roof and dusted his hands off. "Too slow!"
Kingpin growled and jumped up, reached for Spiderman. He moved much faster than his enormous size would have suggested, and the punch that missed Spiderman slammed into the stone archway and left a large indentation.
What looked like layers of fat was actually muscle; Kingpin was stronger than he appeared to be. He spun around at Spiderman, just as Batman's fist slammed into his face. Not expecting it, Kingpin stumbled back – and tripped on a line of webbing that was sprayed between two of the archways.
He fell backwards and landed in the pool with a loud splash, knocking a great deal of water from the sides of the pool. Spiderman and Batman stood at the edge of the pool, glaring down at the two water-logged mob bosses.
"You two did just a great job on this plan. I mean, really, you should be proud – now you've helped me and Batman become friends. Just imagine how good that's going to be for your business?" Spiderman chuckled.
"The Sinister Six are on their way to Riker's Island as we speak," Batman announced. Then a great gust of wind blew across the rooftop as several police helicopters came into view, hovering above the skyscraper. "And you'll be joining them."
[…]
"I hear the police found some hidden computer files on Fisk's computer that prove he was in cahoots with Thorne to hire the Sinister Six. I'm guessing you helped them?"
The hours had passed, and while Spiderman had swung away the moments the cops arrived, Batman had remained at the penthouse to tell them everything. Now the Dark Knight was perched on the edge of a rooftop, his eyes scanning Time Square below.
"I did." Batman said simply. "It may not keep Fisk in jail for long, though. He has a lot of money and wide reach."
Spiderman shrugged as he walked over and sat on the edge of the roof beside where Batman was perched. "True, but at least we did some good for today."
"We did." Batman agreed. "I was wrong about you. You did extremely well today."
"Thanks, Batsy." Spiderman snickered as he slipped his hands behind his head.
The Detective glared at him for a moment, but decided not to say anything. Instead he just stood up and turned away, slowly making his way across the rooftop. "I'll be leaving New York soon. Thorne's in jail so I have no reason to be here."
Spiderman nodded slightly. "I'll be sorry to see you go. You make a pretty good partner, I was going to offer you a job as my sidekick."
"Riiight." Batman rolled his eyes.
As he too jumped up, Spiderman walked over to the dark knight and extended a hand. "I hope what I said to Fisk and Thorne is true. Friends?"
Slowly Batman turned towards him, his eyes narrowed into slits. "I don't make friends, Spiderman." Then he extended his hand and took Spidey's, shaking it firmly. "But I do count you among my allies."
"Well that's something anyway." Spiderman chuckled. Then he held up a camera from his spare hand. "By the way, mind if I get a picture of the two of us? It's for a... thing."
Batman crossed his arms. "... I don't do scrapbooks."
"No, it's not a scrapbook," Spiderman sighed, shaking his head and running his hand over the top of his mask. "It's kind of a long story, but... oh you gotta be kidding me."
As the web-slinger looked up from his sigh, he realized he was alone on the rooftop. Batman had seemingly vanished into thin air. The local superhero just sighed, and then shrugged his shoulders. He turned and ran for the edge of the roof and leaped off – sailing through the air for several seconds before launching his web line and swinging away through the city...