Spider-man and Red Hood stood on a rooftop as they surveyed the damage that led away from Arkham Asylum through the Coventry.
"He's heading towards the Bowery," Hood said looking in that direction. "Where's the clown?"
Spider-man looked at the Red Hood and shrugged. "I didn't see a clown."
"Not talking to you," Red Hood told him without looking at him. He had his helmet on which prevented Peter from hearing his conversation with Oracle through the comm.
Peter came closer to the edge as he looked down at the street.
"I don't care what he said," Red Hood said and tightened his fists. "I'm going after the clown. You either tell me where he is or I'll look for him on my own, O."
"Hey," Peter said getting the Hood's attention. "Whoever is doing this, they're not actually attacking anyone. They might just be a distraction. I'll go after them and wrap them up while you go get your clown. Maybe I'll see you later."
Peter didn't wait for the Red Hood to answer. He leaped off the roof and shot a web. He followed the trail of overturned cars and random debris. There wasn't any damage to the buildings and there weren't any people in the area. Then he heard the screams and right after that an animalistic howl. Peter landed on a roof and stopped short. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was that the Lizard?
Peter shook his head and took another look. He'd thought he'd seen the Black Cat before and it was just this world's version of a cat-themed thief. This was probably something similar. Not Doc Connors. A whole other Lizard.
The beast howled again and Peter jumped into action. He didn't want to hurt it. All he wanted to do was wrap it up. Because from what he was seeing, the big lizard had a soft spot for people. At least that was what Peter thought was happening. All the howling was a warning for people to get out of the way before it hurled cars and anything else that wasn't bolted down. It aimed whatever it got its hands on into the middle of the empty streets. Nothing was directed to the nearby buildings or anyone that Peter saw running past him to safety.
"All right, big guy, it's time to wrap this up," Peter said as he attached a web to the back of the lizard beast and proceeded to wrap him up from shoulders to knees. The beast struggled in the webs and fell over. It howled and growled. Peter shook his head a little bemused and walked closer. "Looks like someone missed their bedtime. Don't worry, little lizard, I'll get you all tucked in for the night."
"I'm not a lizard!" the beast said and growled as it began to wriggle on the ground. The webbing started to break apart with all the shifting and force the Croc was pushing against the webs with his scaly arms.
"Oh boy," Peter said and flipped back in time to miss the claw that broke free and came at him. Peter landed in a crouch and inwardly cursed his organic webs. He shouldn't have assumed that they'd be as strong as the ones he fabricated. He hadn't even tested their strength. How could he have made such a rookie mistake? Because you're a bonehead, Peter that's why.
"You can talk, huh?" Peter said and only got another growl and swipe of claws in response. "Then why don't we try using our words instead of our sharp claws?"
"You think you can stop me, Spider! I'm Killer Croc! I'll break you in half!" Waylon didn't understand what the Black Spider was doing in Gotham or why he was getting in his way. He had a job to do and Eric wasn't going to keep him from getting it done.
"Well, I don't doubt you can," Peter said seeing Killer Croc tear a street lamp out of the sidewalk and bend it in half. "No need to destroy public property just to prove that. I followed your trail of destruction to find you so I know you're strong, Crocky. Why don't you set down the crushed lamppost gently and we can get to the bottom of this rampage front you got going on."
Peter backflipped in time to miss the ball of metal made from the lamppost that Croc threw at him. He crouched on the side of a building and then stood up vertically.
"Shut up and leave! You talk too much!"
Peter pointed a finger at Killer Croc. "I tried talking to you reasonably but now I think it's time for a Reality Check," Peter said and took a running start.
Peter charged at Croc, moving so fast that the beast didn't have time to defend itself. He threw both knees upwards to strike Killer Croc's chin. He flipped over to be back to back with Croc, then reached over his shoulder mid-air to take hold of Coc's head. Croc growled angrily and tried to thrash but Peter's grip was relentless. Peter then used the momentum and a strategically placed web string to pull on to fall to his back while maintaining the hold on Killer Croc, dragging the beast down with him.
Croc let out a howl of pain when his body smacked into the already cracked asphalt and retaliated faster than Peter could have imagined. Luckily his spider-sense warned him of the danger and he moved out of the way of Croc's leg. Killer Croc slammed his fists into the ground and jumped to his feet. But Spider-man was already heading his way. He'd catapulted himself using his webs to drive his feet into Croc's midsection.
A few things happened in quick succession. The speed and force Spider-man used to execute his move was enough to cause the asphalt to break apart causing them both to lose their bearings. Croc growled as he fell back and reached out a claw automatically to try to hold on. He managed to scrape his claws on Spider-man's stomach. Peter didn't have time to react. His spider-sense warned him of the fall but he couldn't distinguish the second warning of the claw coming his way. He shouted in pain as he wrapped an arm around his belly and kicked his leg's out to get some distance between him and Killer Croc.
They both landed hard on the sewer floor. Croc hit his head so hard he felt his skull crack. He was dazed and half seated against the sewer wall that had cracked behind him. He groaned and tried to keep his eyes open. Peter landed on his shoulder and rolled a few times before coming to a stop. He gritted his teeth and let out a pained groan. His shoulder was dislocated.
Great. Add that to the gash in my stomach and the mild concussion. Why did I think this would be a quick and easy fight again? Ok, Peter, time to get up before the monster gets away. Any minute now.
Peter only had time to web up his stomach before he passed out. When Peter opened his eyes again, about fifteen minutes had passed. He stood up gingerly and looked around. He saw Killer Croc half-sitting across the sewer tunnel. His eyes were closed but from the heavy lift and fall of the beast's abdomen, Peter knew he was still alive. He groaned when he tried to move his right arm. Right. Dislocated shoulder. He looked at his stomach and grimaced. At least the bleeding stopped. Now I need to fix my shoulder.
Peter looked at the wall and his shoulder then back at the wall. Well, here goes nothing. He walked up to the wall and squared his shoulders as much as possible through gritted teeth. Then he rammed his shoulder against the wall and let out a shout of pain when his shoulder went back into place.
"Alright, big guy," Peter said looking over at Killer Croc who stirred and opened its eyes. He slowly walked over to the croc taking heavy breaths. "Ready for round two?" Oh, I really really hope Crocky says no.
"Why'd you get in my way, Eric?" Killer Croc said angrily through half-lidded eyes. "If you're here to kill me, what are you waiting for?"
"Okay, first off," Peter said and pointed to himself. "Not Eric. Second, I'm not the Black Spider. This suit is navy. I keep running into color-blind people. Wait a minute, are crocodiles color blind?"
"I'm not a crocodile," Croc said sharply.
Peter's eyes widened. "Oh," Peter said lowering his voice and sitting next to Croc. "Did someone experiment on you?"
"No," Killer Croc said and let out a drawn-out sigh. He could feel the sincerity dripping off the little man next to him. He was small in stature compared to Waylon but not in strength. And yet, he seemed to care. "I was born with this condition. The older I got, the more scales I grew until eventually, everyone saw a monster instead of a boy; including my own mother. Everyone abandoned me. So I became the monster they thought I was to survive. Took on the name Killer Croc. Did any job I could get to have enough money to reverse my condition. But the only doctors that could help me ended up making my condition worse."
"Yeah, I know what that feels like," Spider-man said and rubbed his cheek.
"No one does so don't pretend to understand," Waylon said starting to get angry.
"What? You think I was always this cute?" Peter said, gesturing to himself. Croc snorted out a laugh. "There was a point that I started to change. At first, it was just my strength. The next thing I knew, I had grown two extra arms. I couldn't go home. I couldn't go to work. I was desperate to get help. I went to a geneticist for help. But he said he couldn't help me. I was so angry I almost destroyed his lab. But he took me to one of his colleagues and between the two of them they came up with a formula to help stabilize me.
"Before they could test it, I drank it. And I turned myself into a six-foot-tall spider. I still had the mind of a human but had the instinct of a spider. I attacked my friends. Luckily they were able to subdue me. But I still have nightmares of rampaging the city and eating my family and friends. But as you can see, those scientists, my friends, helped me and reversed the effects of the formula then managed to stabilize me. And maybe I didn't have to deal with all that as long as you have, but I know the feeling of being desperate enough to try anything that could help. You think things can't get worse until they do."
"You were lucky," Waylon said and looked down at his clawed scaly hands. "I have not had your type of luck. But I'm tired of hurting people for another chance at being normal."
"Is that why you only destroyed cars instead of hurting people today?"
"Yes."
"And you attacked me because you thought I was trying to kill you?"
"Yes."
"Who put you up to it?"
Croc opened his mouth to speak but he caught himself. "You thought you could trick me!" He fisted his hands and punched the ground next to him. He sat fully upright but still had to lean against the wall.
Peter flipped back and crouched down. He stretched out a placating hand. "Easy now, big guy. I thought we were having a kumbaya moment."
"All that talk was a lie to get information out of me!"
Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help you, Crocky. Yeesh!
"You were never a giant spider! You betrayed me like all the others!"
"Woah, now hold on a minute!" Peter said getting angry. "I would never lie about something that still gives me nightmares!"
Killer Croc growled so loud that Peter stopped talking and made his way up the wall. He wanted to keep more distance between them. He knew he couldn't move as fast but he could still get away if he needed to. He wasn't sure if his webs would even subdue the big guy now that he was so angry. But he didn't think he could create enough momentum to knock Croc out with the limited space they had in the sewer.
"All you pink hairless monkeys are the same. You all betray me. Every single one...and I'm hungry!" Croc forced his body to get up and charge. But he only managed two steps before he fell flat on his face.
"I guess you weren't kidding about being hungry. Looks like your blood sugar just bottomed out," Peter said jumping down to get closer to the Croc.
"It wasn't his blood sugar. I tranquilized him," Batman said stepping out of the shadows.
And Peter did not scream like a little girl.
A/N: The Reality Check Peter mentions is a wrestling move.