A/N: This marks the beginning of the end for this story. But not for this 'merged universe'.

In Amalgam: X-termination (the first chapter is up), Green Arrow & Company will be teaming up with a Ninja, a Thief, and a Beast! All to fight against the villainous team of Ra's Al Gul & Deathstroke

He let out a sigh as he watched the blonde-haired beauty float away, out of sight. A part of him wished he had been more affirmative in the alleyway when she had been so...open with him. Who am I kidding? He thought to himself as he slumped down on his bed, and ran his hand through his hair. She was throwing herself my way...and I acted like an idiot! I could have taken her right there and then! Of course, I probably would feel guilty and all afterwards. That would make things awkward... he pondered to himself in minor silence. He found himself at a crossroads, as he still felt pangs of regret over Mary-Jane's death. A small part of him felt that he could have done something to help her. He could have been there to save her life. To help Harry get her to safety. It was just like what happened with Uncle Ben. He had failed miserably.

He looked to the left, towards a picture of the three of them, on their first day of high school. She was smiling. Harry was smiling. He was nursing his shoulder from the heavy punch Flash Thompson had thrown his way. That had been before the spider-bite. Before Spider-man. Before all the craziness that would ensue. Goblins, monsters, mutants, dimensional blending, hot alien chicks... a quick knock at his door alerted him to his Aunt's presence.

"I'm decent!" he said, and seconds later, she opened the door and walked in, wearing a smile on her face.

"I saw you on the news," his Aunt said as she sat down beside him.

"Oh," he replied, not entirely sure where the conversation was headed. Dialogue that would fit the awkward situation flew through his mind at a mile a minute. He was sure his Aunt's radar sense for his emotional state would pick up on what was going through his mind at the moment. The fact that he could feel his heart racing at the very thought, or mention of the girl who he wasn't even sure he was dating.

Sure, he wanted to date her, badly. Who in their right mind wouldn't? She was stunningly beautiful, and sharp as a knife. Not to mention, there was something very alluring about the sheer strength contained within her slender and beautiful body. But...but a memory flowed into his mind. He remembered the day, several weeks ago, when he had taken Laura Kinney out to the ruins of an old mall. He had never intended for that day to be anything more than just a recovery effort. But, he couldn't help but notice how vulnerable, and open she had seemed. A far stretch from the closed-off, cold assassin she seemed to be any other time. There had been a hint of joy in her eyes. A hint which he had found himself enjoying.

"She's very pretty," his Aunt said in a calm voice as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "I assume she's the very same girl who was at our table that one day? The one-"

"Yeah," Peter replied with a slight sigh.

"But there's someone else on your mind, right?" Aunt May said with a small smirk as she rubbed his shoulder. "That's alright, Peter. You're allowed to think those kinds of thoughts. I know I did, before your Uncle and I got together," She finished, giving him the ability to sigh with slight relief.

"Yeah," he replied with honesty. "Yeah, there is. I...I can't quite explain it but...Hell, I barely even know her name." He felt relieved, in a way. He was being honest with himself, which he felt was a start. Although he still didn't like his situation, feeling like he was being torn in half, with each side pulling as hard as it could in it's own direction. "She...this girl...she saved my life. And now, well..."

"You don't feel like you're being honest with either of them," Aunt May said as she rubbed his shoulder. "I think I may know who you're talking about, Peter. Petite girl, messy black hair. She had long, metal-" Aunt May began, perfectly describing Laura Kinney to him.

"Claws," he said with a sigh. "Yeah, that's her. She's...different. To say the least." He continued with a slight yawn. He felt a wave of exhaustion wash over his body. His entire body, in fact. And it was more than one wave. It was thousands of smaller waves, joining together in a constant onslaught of tiredness that he couldn't explain. It was unnatural, and he could already see that his Aunt was fast asleep on his bed. And he had only precious few seconds before he too felt himself slipping away. He barely had time to register something slipping through his window before he hit the floor. A black boot rested near his eyes as they slipped into nothingness.

xxx

Kara felt odd. She felt like something was off in her life, which was already abnormal. She needed to clear her head after what she had done in the past hour, trying to come on to Peter Parker like she had. It didn't seem like it was in her nature, that something else was driving her to do it. Immediately, her mind flew towards the exchange she had earlier with her evil counterpart. All about how X-23 was trying to put moves on Peter, and that she had better move fast, or lose her chance. What do I really have to fear from her? Kara thought to herself as she cut through the skies at supersonic speeds. I get that he likes her...but more as a friend. She saved his life, and he's thankful for that. But...

She shook her head as she passed over Gotham city, and came to a stop. There was only one real person she could talk to, and that person was in Gotham City, with nothing else to really do, at the moment other than sulk about her own situation. Which, admittedly, was worse than Kara's...but still, she needed to talk to someone about the whole situation, and Barbara was the only one who she was comfortable speaking to it about.

It only took her a few minutes to reach Barbara's apartment, which had been heavily modified to accommodate her. The door had been widened, and furniture had been shuffled around and replaced to accommodate Barbara's wheelchair. As Kara slipped through the window to her best friend's apartment, she noted the only recent addition was a industrial-sized computer. And sitting in front of that computer was Barbara Gordon.

"I do have a door, you know," Barbara said with an exasperated sigh, "maybe you should use it."

"That would take to long," Kara replied as she kicked off her boots. "How's the new network coming?" she asked as she walked over, and looked over Barbara's shoulder. Because of of her handicap, she was unable to resume hero-work. Instead, Barbara had taken to being a nerve centre for communications between Superhero groups. Already, the Justice League and Teen Titans agreed to allow her access to their databases. And she was currently in talks with the Avengers about bridging the gap and making the most complete record of vigilante activity to date.

"Nearly done," Barbara sighed as she typed in a command key. "I just installed Batman's algorithm for tracking supersonic heroes," she continued as she pulled up a screen, which showed a streak of green passing over Gotham. "It works," she continued as she spun her chair around and blinked in Kara's direction. "What's up?" she asked.

"I...uh...," Kara began, unsure of where to begin.

"Guy troubles?" Barbara smirked as she tapped her fingers against the arm of her wheelchair.

"Sorta," Kara huffed as she blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"Competition problems?" Barbara said as she caught on perfectly.

"Yeah," was all Kara could say. She still was slightly unsure of the entire situation, and how she should be feeling about it. "I...I ah, cornered him a few hours ago in an alleyway. You know," she said as she inclined her head forward. "Offering him a little incentive. But I kinda felt wrong afterwords, like maybe I was putting him in an uncomfortable situation. Then of course," Kara sighed as she let her mind travel to the perplexing mutant girl. "There's this little..." she refrained from insulting the girl, mainly because Kara found her to be somewhat...damaged. Perhaps she had faced a childhood trauma of some sorts.

"Hmm," Barbara said as she set her fingers against her chin. "Bats taught me a lot about reading body language. And I've been keeping my eyes on that guy," she said with a slight smirk. "All the press photos, news feed, etc. Especially the few that you share with him. And let me tell you,"she said as she leaned in as much as possible. "Two things; first, he's got a nice body on him. Way better than Aquaman or Green Lantern. Second, he's a genuinely caring guy. I read a story about how he went into a burning apartment building to save a small dog that had gotten trapped. I think," Barbara continued as she turned around in her wheelchair, "that he's a winner. Not to many people would risk their lives to save an animal the size of my forearm. Now, the girl..." Barbara said as she typed in a series of command on her computer, and brought up a somewhat blurry image of X-23. "Is this her?"

"Yes," Kara answered with a nod, "why-"

"The big guy wants me to run psyche profiles on the Avengers-side people," Barbara answered as she continued to type away. "He's looking to maybe expand our operations. Provide a little funding here and there. Maybe even taking one or two on as interns at Wayne Enterprises...and I shouldn't have told you that," Barbara smiled devilishly as she pulled up a small note on the side of the screen. "Anyway, I think she's had it pretty rough. And of all the people on the team, she seems to only want to connect with him. If I had to hazard a guess," the former Batgirl sighed, as something began to blink behind her. Within seconds, something began to beep loudly, fully earning Barbara's attention.

"What's that?" Kara asked as she pointed to the screen, which showed a yellow line passing over miles of countryside.

"That," Barbara said with a huff as she began to type furiously. "Is your doppelganger. She's headed for..."

"Queens," Kara snapped as she realized her true destination, and quickly threw on her boots. "Call the league. Call somebody," Kara finished before literally leaping out of Barbara's apartment window, and into the night sky. She ripped through the air at a supersonic speed, travelling twice as fast as she had on the way there. She knew that she might not get another chance to stop her other half, so she had to make this one count. It took her less than ten minutes to reach Peter Parker's house. And already, she could tell that something was wrong. All the lights where off in the house, except for his bedroom, which was empty. And in addition to that, the front door was damaged. It had been broken off it's hinges, by force.

"Peter?" Kara said tentatively as she stepped inside to investigate.

"You," someone growled from a dark corner of the house. What came next was a distinct SNIKT! SNIKT!