Dogs of War
'I'm going to be late!'
That thought ran through the mind of Nick as he swung across the city. He was currently in his Spider-Man suit racing towards school. He had spent another night of patrolling the city. He stopped a few muggings, a couple burglars, and even a Joker or two.
It was Gotham, so it wasn't hard to find crime.
It's been nearly two weeks since he became Spider-Man. He'd be lying if he said that what he did had its ups, but it had its downs as well. Such as sometimes being late to school a couple of times.
Nick swung high in the air and let go of the web line. He soon landed on the roof of a building and started running. When he reached the edge of the roof he jumped down and started to free dive. When he reached a certain altitude, he shot another web line and continued swinging.
'I can still make it!' Nick thought with excitement.
"Help!"
"Oh come on." Nick sighed, knowing a hero's job is never done. He swung in the direction of the cry for help.
A woman was crying as she was backed into a corner. She was being mugged by a man at knife point. She was just walking to work and decided to take a shortcut. Last mistake she'll ever make. "Please, just leave me alone!"
"Just hand over the purse and this'll be over quick." The man said as he brought his knife closer.
Before he could try anything, Spider-Man came swinging down and did a swing kick, knocking the guy into a pile of garbage bags.
"I guess that's a new meaning of taking out the trash." Spider-Man joked.
The mugger got back up and still held his knife. "What the...you some kind of cop or something?!" The guy said in surprise at the hero.
"Really? You take one look at me and you automatically think cop." Spider-Man said in a deadpanned tone as he gestured to his suit. "Maybe I should think of a career change."
"Shut up, your dead!" The guy yelled as he charged at the hero.
Spider-Man simply shot a web line at the guys face and then pulled down. This caused the guy to face plant into the pavement. Spider-Man saw the guy was knocked out so he webbed him to the ground and was about to leave.
"Wait!" The woman said, stopping him before he left. She looked at him with wonder and awe. "Who are you?"
Even though he knew the woman couldn't see his face, he still smiled at her. "Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." He said as he swung away, leaving the woman to call the police.
Nick continued his way to school and soon saw it approaching. He landed on the roof and quickly changed out of his suit. He raced into the school and ran down the hallways to his class. He made it to the classroom and ran right through the doors.
RIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!
Professor Connors looked towards Nick. "Congratulations on making it by one second Mr. Styles."
"Sorry Professor." Nick apologized.
Connors sighs and gestures to his seat. "Well, what matters is that you are here on time, so please take your seat."
Nick nodded as he sat down in his seat. He took out his books and yawned at how tired he was.
"You okay, man?" Terry asked from right next to him.
"Yeah, just another all nighter studying." Nick lied. He hated lying to his friends, but he had to keep his identity secret.
/
Barbara Gordon sighed in frustration as she just hit another dead end. Not that long ago they received a call from a woman who said that she had been mugged. They asked if she was okay, but were surprised to hear that she was just fine and was only calling for her attacker, saying that he needed pick up for arresting.
When they got there, they were not so surprised to see the attacker pinned down on the ground by a web, courtesy of this 'Spider-Man.' These things have been appearing all over the city and more and more criminals are being arrested. Officers have been split on their opinions of this vigilante, some thought he was a menace, while others thought it was nice to have an extra hand if it meant less paperwork.
Barbara was indifferent. She wanted to say that whoever this Spider-Man is he shouldn't be doing this, but if she did that, she would be calling herself a hypocrite. Still, that doesn't mean she shouldn't find him and at least talk this person out of this life he's chosen.
He's not up for that kind of life...and neither was she.
"And before I knew it, he came swinging down and saved me." The woman said as she explained the situation.
"He swung down?" Barbara asked as she took notes.
"Yeah, like on a spider's web." The woman confirmed.
"Were you able to see what he looked like?" Barbara asked.
The woman shook her head. "He wore an all blue suit with red markings. I did see a large red spider on his chest."
Barbara pulled out a sketch pad and showed it to the woman. It showed a perfect drawing of Spider-Man. "Is this him?"
The smiles at the picture. "Yes! He's the one who saved me!" She said happily.
Barbara nodded and put her stuff down. "Thank you for your help, miss."
The lady got up and was about to walk away, but stopped and turned back to the Commissioner. "I know you cops aren't all big on the whole vigilante thing, but this guy...he's a hero." And with that she walked away.
Barbara sighed as she leaned back in her chair. This whole situation was bringing a major headache.
Especially last week.
One week earlier...
Barbara sighed as she walked up towards the mansion of her old friend. She stopped when his pet dog Ace growled at her, but she just pet his head and that pacified him. She opened the doors and made her way inside.
It was an old mansion, not the kind they build anymore, with a dark decor and old school furniture. She made her way to the living room and found Bruce Wayne sitting at the table by himself eating soup.
"I was surprised to get your call." Bruce said, not even turning around to address her.
"It was certainly a surprise for me to." Barbara said. "You know I wouldn't have come unless it was important."
"You know you're always welcomed, Barbara." Bruce said looking up from his soup. "So why did you come here?"
Barbara didn't say anything until she placed a file on the table. Bruce looked through it and saw different case files and photos of criminals being tied up in webs.
"I've been keeping this away from the press, but I'm not sure for how much longer. Apparently, we have new player in town. He's been taking down criminals left and right." Barbara then handed him the card. "He even leaves behind a calling card."
Bruce looked at the card before speaking. "What are you asking me?"
"We both know how much the job meant to you, Bruce." Barbara said.
"That was a lifetime ago, Barbara." Bruce said as he knew what she was asking him. "You know me better than that."
Barbara stared at him before she started walking away. "Yeah, I do. Take care of yourself, Bruce."
Present...
That wasn't the most pleasant of visits she had with her former mentor, but it could've been worse. She just had to make sure that he was telling the truth, and based on the look in his eyes, he was.
'So if Bruce has no idea who this guy is...' Barbara thought to herself as she stared at the drawn picture of Spider-Man, '...then who are you?'
/
Nick continued to yawn as he was in the school library, catching up on some studying. Being Spider-Man was pretty taxing on his school work, and it's only been a couple of weeks. Still, he wouldn't change it.
"Maybe you should stop studying so hard." Terry suggested as he sat next to him. "You need to get out more and do stuff."
"Like what?" Nick asked.
"There's a party that Dana invited me to. Why don't you come along?" Terry suggested.
"Sorry, but I'm busy tonight." Nick answered. He hated blowing his friend off, but even before he was Spider-Man he was never much of a party guy.
"With what?" Terry asked.
"You know...just swinging by places and running errands." Nick said cryptically.
"Hey guys, check this out!" Dana called out as she and Chelsea were by the computers set up.
Terry and Nick walked by them and saw that they were looking at an article. It was titled 'Giant Spiders in Gotham?' and it showed some web lines hanging from buildings.
"This keeps popping up in every news blog." Chelsea said. "Apparently people have been finding these webs everywhere."
"How come I haven't seen them?" Terry asked.
"Because just as soon as they're found, they dissolve just a few minutes later." Dana answered. "People sometimes see them, but they can't keep them."
"It's probably just a hoax." Nick said trying to divert their attention.
"Yeah, probably just some whackjob trying to get attention." Terry said.
"Yeah you're probably right." Dana said dismissively as she exited the blog.
/
After school was done Nick went back home. He saw that his grandfather was in the kitchen. "Hey Grandpa Joe, what's for dinner?"
Joe looked up and smiled. "You're in luck, I'm making my famous goulash."
"Famous, how?" Nick joked.
"Well it was famous at family reunions." Joe countered.
Nick chuckled as he sat down to finish some homework before he went out tonight. After homework was done, he and Joe were eating dinner. "Oh, I'll be going out tonight. Need to run a few errands."
"Don't forget the rules." Joe cautioned.
"I know, be back before eleven. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Nick assured.
When dinner was done, Nick went back down to his lab to work on his latest project. He sat down by his desk and put on some goggles. He grabbed some tools and worked on a small device, causing some sparks to fly out.
He pulled the tools away after a few minutes and checked his work. It was a small device in the shape of a spider.
"Now I just need something to test it on." Nick said. He sighed as he looked at some of his stuff, or more specifically lack thereof. "I should also think about restocking on supplies. Maybe take a trip at the junk yard or something, since I got no cash."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
His computer started to send an alarm and he went to check it. "Well at least this police scanner still works. Now let's see...car chase...5th Avenue...Jokerz with stolen property. Well, time to call this circus off."
Nick raced out of the basement and saw his grandfather sitting on the chair watching TV. "Hey Grandpa Joe, just going out now."
"Remember what I said." Joe reminded.
"Back by eleven, got it." Nick said before he was out the door.
/
The police were currently in their hover cruisers and on a high-speed chase against the Jokerz. They got the call that a silent alarm went off in an old WaynePowers warehouse. When they got there, they saw four Jokerz leaving with a stolen crate, tied up in the trunk of their car.
The Jokerz were just laughing like crazy over the thrill of the chase. "Hahahaha! Isn't this a rush, boys!" The lead joker exclaimed with glee, getting the others to laugh alongside him.
The cops continued their chase. "Pull over now and no one gets hurt!"
"But that's the best kind of fun, coppers!" One of the Jokerz exclaimed.
He then pulled out a bazooka from the back seat and fired. Instead of firing a rocket however, it fired a pie and landed on the windshield. It did nothing at first until it started melt the cruiser.
The two police officers screamed as they were going down, but then two web lines latched onto them and then yanked them out before it crashed. The officers were soon flung safely on the roof.
They looked back down the streets and saw a figure swinging after the Jokerz.
"Was that him?" One officer asked in surprise.
"Call the Commissioner." The other officer said.
The Jokerz laughed like crazy when they saw the cruiser go down. "Now that was fun!" One of them exclaimed joyfully.
They continued driving until they felt something on the roof of the car. "What was that?" One of them asked.
"Go check it out." The leader said.
One Joker stuck his head out the window, but was then yanked out of the car. He then found himself hanging by a web line attached to a building.
"What the?!" One Joker exclaimed.
All of a sudden, Spider-Man landed on the hood of the car. "Excuse me, but I think you're taking the term 'clown car' a bit too literally."
The lead Joker, who was at the steering wheel, growled in anger and brought out a little flower.
Spider-Man wasn't worried. "Really? What are you going to do, pollinate me to death?"
His spider sense, as he has dubbed the tingley feeling, started going off and he jumped off the car. Good thing to because that flower shot out acid that hit a street light, melting it. Spider-Man landed on the side of a building and saw it cruising down the street.
"Where do you clowns get that stuff, Psycho Gags R Us?" Spider-Man exclaimed before he continued to chase them.
He swung after them as fast as he could, but the clowns still had a trick up their sleeve. Out of the side of the car popped out two large booster rockets and they were about to go off.
'Uh oh.' Spider-Man thought with worry. 'They're about to make a break for it.'
Spider-Man swung up high and reached behind him to pull out the small device he was working on. He pulled his arm back and tossed the little trinket. It landed on the crate sticking out and latched on, all the while blinking a red light.
And not too soon because the car's booster rockets turned on and they shot down the street and disappeared.
Spider-Man landed on the street and watched them leave. "Seriously, where do a bunch of clowns get that stuff."
Spider-Man shot a web and started swinging around the city. He landed on the roof of a building and pulled out his tablet. It showed a blip racing down the streets until it came to a stop. He checked the address it stopped at and made his way towards the location.
He followed the signal and found himself at an old construction yard. He landed on top of a steel beam and out of site.
'Well, well, looks like the spider tracer was a success. Now where are you clowns?' Spider-Man thought until he spotted them. 'Bingo.'
He saw that the three remaining Jokerz were just standing around the crate. It looks like it wasn't opened, and each of the clowns were waiting impatiently for something...or maybe...waiting for someone.
Spider-Man then heard the sounds of multiple engines were racing towards his location. He looked to the sides and saw multiple bikers, at least ten of them, enter the construction yard. They parked their bikes and walked towards the joker. Spider-Man saw that each of them had a mask on the lower half of their faces that looked like a raging bulldog. Each of them was wearing leather jackets with the words Dogs of War written in the back.
One of the bikers walked up to the Jokerz. He gave them a critical look before speaking. "I thought there were four of you."
The lead Joker stepped forward. "There was a...complication." He said nervously.
"The police?" The biker asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No...it was him. The 'Spider-Man.'" The joker said nervously.
The biker narrowed his eyes at that. "I thought he was just a myth."
"Oh no, he's real." Another Joker stepped forward. "He caught one of our guys, but we managed to give him the slip."
The biker looked at the crate and walked up to it. "And you got the stash, it seems."
"So what's in that thing anyway?" The lead Joker asked.
"We paid you to steal, not to ask questions." The biker said as he snapped his fingers. Another biker came by carrying a case. "And as promised, the Dogs of War delivers."
'Dogs of War? Never heard of these guys.' Spider-Man thought.
Before the biker could hand the case over to the clowns, it was latched onto a web line and was yanked out of his hands. "What the heck?!"
Everyone looked up and saw Spider-Man crouched down on the steel beam. "Sorry, but I'm afraid the 'shady deal' building is still under construction. Come back from your jail cell in about ten to twenty years."
The Dogs of War and the Jokerz were shocked by the new arrival.
Spider-Man launched two web lines on the ground and slingshot himself towards the main Joker, slamming him to the ground. He launched another web line at the chest of the second Joker and swung him right into the other Joker, knocking him out.
The lead biker snapped out of his shock and glared at the hero. "What are you waiting for?! Get him!"
The bikers charged at the hero. Spider-Man jumped up over a few of them and delivered a spin kick to one's head. He then deflected a punch from one of the bikers and punched him a couple of times. He ducked just in time to avoid a swing by a steel pipe from behind, causing another biker to hit the one the hero was fighting on the head.
Spider-Man turned around and kicked the guy in the stomach, sending him crashing into another biker. One biker reached behind him and pulled out a steel chain and lashed it at the hero, and wrapped it around his arm. The hero however pulled hard and sent the biker towards him, where he delivered a clothesline. The last four charged at the same time, but the hero jumped up, causing them to slam into each other.
Spider-Man fired multiple web shots, sticking one of the bikers to the wall. He saw off to the side that one of the cranes had a hanging steel beam, so he launched a web line and pulled, causing the steel beam to hit the three bikers, knocking them unconscious.
Spider-Man turned around and saw that there was only one biker left. "So what's it gonna be? We gonna shake hands and you turn yourself in?" Spider-Man quipped.
The biker glared at the hero before reaching behind his jacket and pulled out two sledgehammers. "Pal, you just made a powerful enemy."
"Really, cause my most powerful enemy was trying to run a mile in gym class." Spider-Man chuckled.
The biker roared in fury as he started swinging his sledgehammers. Spider-Man dodged each strike with swerves and flips. The biker swung both his hammers downward, which the hero flipped out of the way, and slammed the ground so hard he left cracks. The biker continues to swing but Spider-Man thought it was time to end this.
The biker prepared to swing his hammer again, but Spider-Man shot some web in his face. "Gah! What is this?!"
Spider-Man didn't stop there as he fired multiple web shots at the biker, getting him all tangled. Spider-Man ceased his moment and delivered multiple punches at the guy, disorienting him. He then shot two strands of webs beside the biker and slingshot himself right at him. The hero then kicked the guy so hard that he sent him crashing into a wall, leaving an indention. The biker then collapsed on the ground.
Spider-Man saw that all of these guys were dealt with. He then walked towards the crate that the Jokerz were delivering to these guys.
"Now, let's see what Halloween candy these clowns stole." Spider-Man said as he opened the crate. What he saw was a whole arsenal of different firearms, rifles, and explosives. "Whoa, there's enough military grade weapons to start a war. What would these Dogs of War need this much firepower for?"
/
Barbara stood in front of her entire police force so they can prepare for the search of those Jokerz.
"Alright, listen up." She said, gaining their attention. She gestured to a large map of the city behind her with sections of the city circled. "These are alleged locations on different territory the Jokerz use. We spread out and hit these simultaneously, we just might get that crate back."
"Do we have any idea what's inside the crate?" An officer asked.
"I've been trying to get in contact with Powers, but he isn't answering. We can't afford to wait, but if you happen to see the crate do not open it. Wait for the bomb squad." Barbara explained. "Are there any questions?"
Nobody raised their hands, signaling the got the message.
"Alright, then let's move out." Barbara ordered as they were about to leave.
A police officer then ran inside the meeting. "You might want to rethink that Commiss."
Barbara narrowed her eyes at the cop. "And why's that?"
"Well, you see...you know the...we just got a..." The officer stuttered as he tried to say the right sentence.
"Spit it out already!" Barbara said impatiently.
The officer sighed and gestured to follow him. "You all should come outside."
Barbara and everyone else was confused by this so they complied. The moment they stepped outside they were shocked by what they saw. Not just them, but a whole bunch of civilians came by and started taking videos.
Between to buildings was a large spiderweb and on that web sticking to it was not only the Jokerz that stole the crate, but the Dogs of War members as well. She saw that beneath, hanging on a web net, was the crate they stole.
"Look!" One guy shouted as he pointed above to one of the buildings. They saw what he was pointing at and were once again shocked by what they saw.
They saw Spider-Man himself standing on top of the left building, while between them was also a message that was written in webs.
LOOKING FOR THESE GUYS? SPIDER-MAN
Spider-Man launched a web line and swung above everyone. They all looked on in shock as he swung away.
Barbara still didn't say anything as she looked at the message then at the tied up criminals.
"Guess we can't keep the press away from this." One of the officers said nervously.
Barbara still didn't say anything as she narrowed her eyes in the direction Spider-Man swung off to.
'Just who are you?'
/
A man wearing a Dogs of War jacket walked inside of an office. He was sweating at the fact that he was voted to talk to the boss. He may have been a ruthless gang member, but he'd rather jump off a cliff than deal with their boss.
"Well." A large figure said in the shadows, behind a desk.
The biker gulped before speaking. "The crate was taken into police custody."
The figure sighed in frustration. "I should never have sent clowns to do a man's job. They couldn't have handled simple police."
"Actually sir...the Jokerz weren't taken out by police." The biker said.
The large boss didn't say anything at first, but then he did menacingly. "What?"
The biker gulps again before speaking. "My intel says that...it was that rumored Spider-Man guy. He took out the Jokerz, and then our boys."
The large figure slowly got up and walked towards the biker, making him more nervous. "I don't care if he took out those clowns...but when you disrespect my gang, you disrespect me." He stopped and stared down at the biker. "Call them in."
The biker was surprised by the order. "But boss, those guys don't come cheap. They'll-GAK!"
The large boss grabbed the biker by the neck and lightly squeezed. "I know how much they're worth...and I don't care." He lifted up the guy by the neck with one hand until his feet were no longer touching the ground.
"Now...call in the Enforcers."
/
Hey everybody, and I hope you like the new chapter.
So, it looks like we have a new gang in town and their boss means business. So wait till next time where our web head goes toe to toe with the Enforcers.
The Enforcers has always been a fascinating villain group for Spider-Man , with quite a bit of incarnations over the ages, and I'm excited to bring in my own version into this story.
I've got to say, my favorite thing to write in this chapter was the interaction between Barbara and Bruce, despite it being a little short. They've had so much history in the DCAU that it was nice to write them out when they've had a strain on their friendship in Batman Beyond.
I'll see you next time everyone!