Chapter II: An x Unexpected x Opportunity
Author's Note: This is probably not the best chapter because it's still in the beginning stages. I just felt that I couldn't get the dialogue right here. My apologies.
'Italic indicates the characters thoughts.'
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics or the character Spider-Man. The character is property of The Walt Disney Company, as well as Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. I do not own DC Comics, or DC Comics characters. They are all property of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. I do not own Mortal Kombat, or their characters either. I OWN NOTHING BUT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.
October 11, 15:46 EST
"What are you talking about?" The young hero replied, nervous and confused.
"First, who are you?" Batman asked.
"Well, I'm your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man of course!" He proclaimed.
"Second, how and why were you transported into our universe?" The Caped Crusader asked.
"I assume you talked to those other superheroes on that Space Station of yours… I don't know any more than they do."
Batman stared at Spider-Man for a few seconds, before deciding he was telling him the truth. "Come with me." The Dark Knight said, as he pressed a series of buttons on his gauntlet, calling the Batmobile to their location.
Several kilometres away, beneath Wayne Manor, the Batmobile started up on its own as the drawbridge, which doubled as a door to the Bat Cave lowered, and the Batmobile drove off.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Batman stood in silence as a few minutes passed, before the web-slinger finally asked curiously "What are we waiting for?"v
Just then, the Batmobile pulled up to Batman and Spider-Man and parked right beside them. Batman pressed another button on his gauntlet, once it had stopped opening the Batmobile's hatch.
Spider-Man walked up the Batmobile. "Wow! Sweet ride. What kind of car is this?" He asked.
"The Batmobile. Get in." Batman ordered.
"But what about mud mouth over here? We can't just leave him." Spider-Man pointed out.
"The Police will bring him back to his cell." Batman he said, before sitting down inside the Batmobile.
Spider-Man jumped into the Batmobile and landed in a seated position. Then he put his feet up on the dashboard. "So this is Gotham City, huh? I can't say that I have ever heard of this place…" He said as he looked around.
Batman looked at the web-slinger with an emotionless face. Noticing this, he took his feet off of the dashboard and placed them on the Batmobile's floor.
The Batmobile's hatch closed and they started heading toward the Bat Cave.
"So… Where are we going?"
"The Bat Cave." Batman replied, mainly focusing on the road.
"The Bat Cave? You don't put a bat-prefix before everything, do you?" The young hero asked curiously.
Batman remained silent and continued driving toward the Bat Cave.
"Okay, I'll stop talking…" Spider-Man said, getting the hint.
Spider-Man's Spider-Sense starting tingling at the base of his skull, before knockout gas was released out of the glove box on the passenger side of the vehicle, which temporarilly rendered the young hero unconscious.
The Bat Cave was the secret headquarters of Batman. Consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath Wayne Manor, the cave contained state of the art facilities such as a crime lab, various specialized laboratories, mechanized workshops, a personal gymnasium, a vast library, parking, docking and hangar space for his Batmoblie, Batplane, and his Batboat, as well as separate exits for each type, memorabilia from past cases, a large bat colony, and a Justice League teleporter.
Thirty minutes after his arrival Batman was seated down at the Batcomputer.
Spider-Man slowly came to and then he saw Batman and another man; this one was an older fellow, easily in his mid to late sixties.
"Would you like any tea, Master Bruce?" Batman's butler Alfred asked.
Spider-Man barely heard Alfred's voice. It sounded muffled, due to him still being a little weary from the knockout gas.
"No thank you, Alfred." Batman replied.
"And what about out guest?" Alfred asked, as watched Spider-Man sit up from where he had been laying.
"W… Was that necessary…?" The web-slinger asked, still dazed and confused.
"Sorry, but I can't let anyone know where I go to work." Batman replied.
Alfred walked up to Spider-Man and asked: "Would you like anything to drink, sir?"
Spider-Man places his hand as if he's politely signalling to stop. "I'm fine. But thanks, Jeeves."
"While you were unconscious, I ran a series of tests. You're emitting an energy anomaly similar to what I detected from other beings we encountered from another universe, two years ago…" Batman said.
"I'm not the first? There have been others?" Spider-Man asked, surprised to hear that.
"Last time, their universe was trying to merge with ours. I'm trying to make sure that it doesn't happen again, which is why I created robots called 'OMACs.' I created the robots you fought earlier." Batman turned to Spider-Man. "So far, I haven't detected any energy frequency identical to yours."
"So you're the reason I was nearly killed by those machines?" The young hero asked.
"The OMACs were designed to immobilize. Not kill." Batman assured him.
"That's good then… I guess…" He replied.
"As I was saying, I don't detect anyone else emitting the same energy frequency as your are," Batman told him. "To get you home, first I will have to find out exactly how you got here." He added.
"Doesn't sound much better than searching on Google…" Spider-Man replied.
"You might not be going back to your universe any time soon…" Batman said.
"What am I going to do?… How is my family going to react? My Aunt, she…she just lost her husband a few years ago… I might not see my family ever again…" Spider-Man said, saddened.
Hearing that made Batman think about his parents. He knew what it was like to lose those closest to him. At that moment, Batman came to sympathize with the young superhero from another universe.
"If it'll be a while until you are sent back to your own universe, you will need a place to stay." Batman stopped typing on the Batcomputer and then turned to Spider-Man. "I can get you a job. The starting monthly salary should be enough for you to at least rent an apartment for several months."
"For me? You shouldn't have… Wait, what's the job?" Spider-Man asked.
"I have a friend who owns a large company called Wayne Enterprises-" Batman began, but he was interrupted.
"I can't have a job like that! I haven't even graduated from school yet!" The web-slinger said, cutting Batman off.
"How old are you?"
"Uh… Well, sixteen years old, but I'm intelligent for my age…" Spider-Man replied.
"Fine. Then you'll be enrolled in Gotham Academy. No job. I'll arrange for you to have a tour from a fellow student named Dick Grayson. You'll be in 10th grade, while he's in the 9th." Batman said.
"High school?" Spider-Man immediately replied. "Lots of great times there…" He said in a sarcastic tone.
"You'll start next week." Batman turned to Alfred. "Alfred, set up a room for our new guest."
"Right away, sir." Alfred replied.
"One more thing… In order to get you a scholarship, I'll need to know who you are." Batman said as he turned to Spider-Man.
Spider-Man took a short pause. "Can I trust you?" He said, wanting to be assured that Batman would keep his secret.
Batman lowered his cowl like it was a hoodie, and revealed himself to be Bruce Wayne, the C.E.O. of Wayne Enterprises. "Bruce Wayne." He offered Spider-Man his hand.
Spider-Man took off his mask and revealed himself to be Peter Parker. "Peter Parker." He replied, then he reached forward and shook Bruce's hand.
"Let's take you to your new room. Follow me, Master Peter." Alfred said, as he looked to Peter.
'Now I have a butler too? I'm going to like this place.' Peter thought to himself.
"Master Dick has more clothes than he knows what to do with. I will put some of them in your closet tonight, and I will dry clean your costume by morning." Alfred offered.
"Thanks."
Peter continued to follow Alfred, upstairs to his new bedroom in Wayne Manor.
Now that Peter is staying with Bruce, and Spider-Man is in Gotham City, what does this mean for his future? Find out in the next chapter.