Chapter Seven
"Mister Parker. Peter Parker." Chief Bock repeated the name Peter had given him in confirmation, "This is officer Lawson. He'll handle the rest of your interview, sorry to detain you for so long Mister Parker." Bock gestured to the ensuing crowd that had gathered and the police line keeping them back, as he continued, "As you can see, things have gotten quite busy and with the media dubbing this Webber guy GCPD's problem, you can understand it draws in more than just your usual crime watchers."
Officer Lawson gave Pete a knowing look, "I don't think of him as a problem, chief."
Mackenzie Bock gave Lawson a steady stare, recalling the pretty recent events of the past few nights; hell Lawson had come within seconds of being a snack for Killer Croc, and it was this Webber guy that had saved Lawson's ass.
"Well tell that to city hall, Lawson," Bock retorted sourly, and watched Lawson wince, the junior cop fully aware of the media circus that he was referring to. "Make no mistake, I'm glad he pitched in, but you know what I've have to deal with since, hell I had Wonder Woman march through my door just this morning, and on the wrong side of my coffee."
Bock gave them both a tired look and turned, walking away into the swarm of forensics and uniformed officers.
Lawson leaned a little closer to Peter, "Yeah I saw her leaving his office as I clocked in, and he didn't look very happy about it. She's quite..."
"Who is Wonder Woman?" Peter interjected, questions on his mind.
Lawson gave Peter a sceptical look before shaking his head, "She's the current head of the JLA."
"The what?"
Lawson's expression changed to one of incredulity. "You're kidding right?"
Diana looked up at Alfred Pennyworth as he entered the reception room. He'd brought with him a tray upon which were laid out a continental brunch of sorts, and a steaming silver pot of tea. The food and drink were much warmer than the atmosphere between them..Except for the chilled Greek yoghurt and even that was close thing.
"Thank you Alfred," she said calmly, "that will be all."
"Your Highness-" Alfred began, his voice betraying frustration at being unable to convince the Amazon warrior of the importance of bringing the miscreant known as Webber to justice.
"Dismissed." Diana's tone was cold as she gave her order, hearing the loyal servant sigh as he walked away. She still had no idea why her friends had acted so dishonestly towards her, but being who she was, she continued to grant them the benefit of the doubt. The silver lining in this cloud was that she was able to change her schedule to allow a visit to Oracle. It would still have to wait for the discomforting but unavoidable conversation with the errant trio, though.
She switched the television channel to Gotham City News, looking for any new mention of Webber. It wasn't long before she found what she was searching for, as the news was now a flurry of discussion over the attempt on Lucius Fox's life and the now secured assassin, Deadshot.
Radio jock, Jack Rider was there with his usual speculation about Batman having a new sidekick, but that wasn't who drew Diana's attention; it was an officer who looked like he'd been around Gotham, serving in the valiant echelons of the beleaguered GCPD for years.
The officer didn't have the same expression as his colleagues. Instead, this one had more of a weary knowing look, one that told the long lived Princess that this man knew more than the rest. And that meant she'd be speaking to him soon.
Barbara Gordon cursed and threw off her headset, having watched the GCPD apprehend Deadshot who'd been packaged up nicely for them by Webber. She chided herself for admiring the speed at which the miscreant had taken down the famed assassin, and briefly wondered why Webber was even helping the Police; a thought she dismissed it quickly.
"He was at Wayne tower. But since the two of you are here," I guess you didn't find him." She turned to face Barry Allen, brushing a lock of sweat drenched hair from her face. "I thought you were the fastest man alive."
"Well," started the red clad superhero with the yellow lightning symbol, "I can't be everywhere at once. By the time I arrived there was no sign of him."
Barbara gave him a sour look. The whole point of him being here was for them to be as close to being everywhere at once as possible. She let it go and asked him, "did you speak to any of the cops, like Chief Bock?"
"I didn't want to get in the way of the GCPD."
"Well I didn't want Batman to be missing, so whatever this Web-head is up to, it is that important!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm and Barry even blurred a step backwards.
"Hey Barb," the experienced voice of Oliver Queen leaned in, "lay off of the kid. We've tried on two occasions now, but this guy is fast." At the pointed look he received from Barry, he shook his head. "No not you fast. But quick enough. We'll get him. We have to."
Barbara narrowed her eyes. "You'd better get him. Seriously, why are you always late?" She gave her hapless ally an exasperated stare, and Barry wilted under her gaze. "Seriously, there's three of you to cover the city, but according to my feed, less than five minutes after you," she pointed at Barry, "passed the Wayne Enterprises Building, Lucius Fox was in protective custody, Deadshot was wrapped up in some seriously creepy binding, and you' weren't even in the city, where were you?"
"I was getting a hot dog!" Barry replied.
Barbera's eyes glinted. "Where from? Germany." The sarcasm dripped from her voice.
"They do do the best hot-"
"I. Don't. Care."
"Hey!" Barry said defensively, "If I could actually be everywhere at once, firstly, I wouldn't have any problems with any of my own opponents, secondly, you're the person with surveillance network and we've got communications worked into our outfits, so why didn't you tell us where Webber was. Or did you miss him too, huh?"
Barbara's eyes narrowed even further at the accusation, a retort ready on her lips. she started pushing herself upright, momentarily forgetting that her legs did not work. She remembered this as she pitched forwards, putting her hands out to protect herself from a hard landing.
She hadn't needed to as Barry blurred to catch her. He smiled, slightly embarrassed, even as he quipped, "Looks like I'm fast enough to catch someone, hey?"
Barbara sat back down in her chair, growling irritably, in part at Barry and in part at the situation. "At least I saw you move?"
Oliver Queen smiled as the other two continued to look embarrassed before chipping in, "Ah, good to see that you're remembering who it is we're really trying to take down. So, what ideas do we now have on taking down this Spider-dweeb?"
Oliver glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see his wife, but Black Canary had decided that it didn't take all three of them to talk to Barbara, though Oliver was now beginning to suspect that she had simply known the reception they were in for..
He thought of Dinah had often told him when they were alone, how much people tended to underestimate him, thinking of him as nothing more than a second rate Batman. He smiled at the irony that had him here, in pretty much that role.
Admittedly, calling his urban warfare plane The Arrowplane and his underground base, The Arrowcave, hadn't helped. To make matters worse, it had been Harley Quinn of all people who had given them both better nicknames, The Shaft and The Quiver respectively.
"Arrows are also known as shafts, ain't they?" Harley had said, "And they come out of Quivers."
"Hey! That's - actually a better idea." The conversation had gone something like that, anyway.
"So, let's give the better half of my marriage some back up?" He said before adding, "And you both know I mean Dinah."
His friends gave him quizzical looks and Barry asked rhetorically, "Who else could you mean?"
Barbara chuckled at that and returned to her task of infiltrating every possible surveillance system across the Arkham River, over in Gotham.
She was partway into the task when all of the systems tasked with co-opting the Wayne Enterprises main building beeped and went dead. Leaving her with a one block dead zone centred around the towering structure.
Most of her monitors flickered and went dark, excepting those that were surveilling Arkham Asylum and its surrounding environs. She slumped with a groan as her own systems found themselves over ridden by an external source alongside the materialisation of a stylised fox motif.
"Good afternoon Oracle," The image of Lucius Fox said, the tone cordial. "Since you are seeing this, allow me to remind you of a conversation your boss and I had a while back about too much power resting in the hands of one man. I made it extremely clear that if there were external links to this building then there was no need for a Chief Executive Officer. And that I would hand him my resignation. Note that I still work here in the same position."
"Understand this, Oracle, This building is off limits to you. Hell, it's off limits to Superman and before you ask why, consider that your boss has contingency plans for neutralising any compromised Justice League member, himself included. Perhaps you thought that the Bat family would be exempt? Nothing could be further than the truth, all of you are considered the highest priority: Alongside Plastic Man.
"Plastic Man?" Oliver Queen said in a confused, quiet voice.
"Plastic Man," affirmed Barbara, her tone serious.
Lucius Fox continued, "If you attempt to infiltrate this building's system's again, I will assume that you are compromised and respond accordingly. And just to be clear, Kal does not enjoy visiting Gotham. Fox out."
"Does the Bat distrust everyone?" Barry's tone was practically pleading. "Even himself?"
The trio glared at the now blank screen with gritted teeth. Batman was the world's greatest alright, but in this moment many other adjectives other than detective were being considered.
Diana Prince flew through the Gotham air, wearing her most form fitting outfit (and iconic), thigh boots and top, bare legs, but with greaves that would snap down into place quickly enough for battle. Complementing this was her iconic lasso, hitched at the waist, the same lasso that she occasionally let her teammates accidentally sit on.
She smiled as she recalled Guy Gardner giving a rather sweet comment about his teammate Ice. He denied doing so this to this day, but whenever he did, Diana simply patted the lasso.
Her good mood evaporated as she touched down at the Arkham Tower Observatory, her metahuman hearing alerting her to the 'silent' alarm going off. She stood and waited for the half second that it took for The Flash to arrive. Then she smiled tightly, saying, "Lead me to the others. Now."
The Flash swallowed and did as ordered, taking hold of Wonder Woman's arm. One blur later, the warrior princess from Themyscira was facing her teammates. Her ire rose as she saw the guilty looks flash across their faces. Green Arrow opened his mouth, managing to say, "Princess-" before she'd cut him off.
She glared at him, giving him a stop motion with her hand, "No. Don't talk, Listen."
The Green Arrow didn't even try to argue, as he knew that tone of voice very well. It was one That Black Canary had also used on him often enough, and him on her; a tone they'd used when they considered the other to have been moronic.
Wonder Woman pursed her lips then began in a low voice, "One of my closest friends is missing, one of the very few men allowed to set foot on Themyscira. Make no mistake , I am fully aware that he puts Gotham before everything else, even us."
She paused, surveying each of their face in turn. " That aside, we agreed to look for this Webber as a team. And then you abandoned me. I do not tolerate such behaviour."
Felix Faust paused in his latest endeavour as he felt vibration in the mystic weave he so regularly abused. He reached out, his eyes wide and a smile forming sinisterly on his lips as he recognised the reverberation as Amazonian in origin. What was more, she was angry. The spell hadn't taken hold like it should have, when she'd originally been exposed to it; but now...
This was his chance, to enhance the spell and affect an actual Amazon, exploiting her anger. He gestured swiftly, weaving intricate patterns in the air accompanied by arcane incantations, careful not to overplay his hand, it needed to be subtle.
There was something in the air that was off, Diana thought, something she couldn't quite place; and it was affecting her mortal comrades. She had obviously expected too much of them, they never could keep up with her, not even Barry. Endurance, even of the mental kind, was something she excelled at far beyond what they could. Why do I even work with such beings?
Diana shook off the thought as quickly as it came, these were her friends, and had fought many battles alongside her. How can I ever doubt them?
Looking at the three, she continued, "You all strive against impossible odds again and again. So much so," she chided (mostly to herself), "that I had almost forgotten that you are all only mortal. Oliver, your skill is incredible, but Artemis of Themyscira you are not. Barry, whilst touched with the blessings of Hermes, a Greek god you are not. Dinah, daughter of justice, you fight and train as hard as any I have met, and it is that that makes me forget that you are not actually an Amazon."
The trio stared back at her, astonished that Diana of all people would condescend to them in this manner.
Diana mistook her friend's expressions for ones of awe, which was only right in her view. She was, after all, the mightiest of Amazons; created from the earth by divine writ, in answer to Hippolyta's Supplication.
"Worry not, my worthiest of mortal friends," she then proclaimed almost too theatrically, "for I shall apprehend Webber!" And with a blur of movement, she was gone.
Peter found the Gotham Central Library easily enough. Hunkering down in the Wayne Trust research section, he rapidly flicked through the archive material concerning this strange city, the JLA, Wonder Woman, but something gave him pause as he settled on information pertaining to Gotham's notorious island asylum.
Just the little that was available for public scrutiny about Arkham Asylum made him shudder. The place made Ravenscroft seem lightweight in comparison. And the worst of the usual inmates, The Joker, apparently had no powers at all, just a regular if batshit crazy human: Just thinking about the crazed clown prince of crime made Peter's Spider-sense activate briefly, something he made a mental note of.
He continued his study, becoming engrossed in the articles he read sat and studied each of the Arkham escapees one by one, taking a good hard look at the many who were still incarcerated. A pattern was developing, he was sure of it. After all, it was becoming increasingly noticeable just how many of the people he was on the inmates list of Arkhams big six, and the members of the Justice League of America (bit specific, though. At least the Avengers were more globally named).
He shook away the errant thoughts and returned to his task, becoming more convinced that a pattern was forming with every entry. Bruce Wayne's similarities with Tony Stark (at least in Peter's mind) only served to reinforce that suspicion.
Bruce Wayne, Six feet two inches, blue eyes, owns a major multinational corporation. Slouches a little in photoshoots, seems like a fop, but still carries himself as if he's ready for trouble, if you know what you're looking for. And I do.
Peter's pocket vibrated as the cheapo smartphone (bought for him by Jack Lawson) hummed into life. It was one of those Cell Network introductory messages… He silenced it, as soon as he realised the time, and that the GCPD should have about finished up at Wayne tower now.
Time for my meeting with, Lucious. Hopefully...
As he left, he found himself, grinning at the sight of a novelty shop. He sent a text to Lawson, amusing himself by imagining the cop's face when he saw the items Peter had bought, two canisters of silly string, One 'V' for Vendetta mask, a rubber chicken, a lighter and a fake potato.
It was mid-afternoon when Peter Parker was being escorted through two elevators and a variety of security checkpoints. Behind each of these checkpoints he could see heavily reinforced security doors that almost made the ensemble of security personnel look relaxed.
After a fifteen minute foray through the building, Peter finally arrived at the destination floor. He was then walked up to a reception like area, with a desk and assistant sat behind it. It was here that the Security Guards left him.
Peter hesitated for a moment as he looked at the empty and rather plush waiting area, before marching up to the desk. "Mister Peter Parker," he stated, "here to see Mr. Lucius Fox."
The person behind the desk barely glanced at him as they worked, giving Peter the barest of acknowledgements.
"I would have been here earlier," he continued, "but..."
"Mister Fox has been expecting you, Mr Parker. He left word that you were to meet with him as soon as you returned."
Peter grimaced, "Yeah, sorry about that. Things got outta hand, and then the cops showed up, and then their unending questions, and that Deadpool guy just wouldn't stop firing his mouth off."
"Dead Shot." The assistant corrected smoothly.
Peter gave the impression of being taken aback at the correction, "Sorry?"
"Deadshot," the assistant repeated. "That's the name of that guy the Webber took down this morning."
"Ah, right," was all Peter said.
The assistant finally looked up from their computer, a smile on their face. "You're not from around here, are you?" At Peter's head shake, they then just pointed towards some ornate oak doors, "Through there."
Peter Parker was finally sat across the desk from Lucius Fox, who seemed to be in high spirits as Peter took the older man's proffered hand, shaking it. It was surprising to see the man smile so easily, because not more than five hours earlier he'd been the victim of an assassination attempt.
Lucius sat down, pressing a button under his desk, beckoning the man across from him to do the same as he smiled knowingly, and stated softly, "This room is cut off from the rest of the building, no audio or video. So tell me, Webber, what brings you to Gotham?"
Peter blinked, looking nonplussed as he replied. "You think that I'm-" He smiled his goofiest smile.
The act was good, Lucius had to admit, but he worked for Bruce Wayne, he could already see the tells. He chuckled, "Mister Parker, do I think that he's you?" Lucius gestured for emphasis, "I sure do. You are after all, the person who shoved me, a one hundred and sixty pound man, practically flying into cover, without effort. On top of that, Deadshot was swiftly thereafter apprehended by GCPD's hero?"
Parker laughed, "Adrenaline, y'know, it does weird things, like allowing a seven stone Mom to lift a station wagon from her son, or fight off a cougar for her daughter."
Lucius quirked an eyebrow, pleased that Parker wasn't that easily cowed. He rose, and walked over to the large and Peter imagined rather bullet-proof, bomb-proof (hell if this place was anything like Stark Tower, Hulk resistant) windows, that looked over the city. The sky, and the sunlight reflected off of building tops seemed to have grown more orange since he'd arrived. Fox gestured for the young man to join him.
As Parker came over to him, Lucius chuckled.
"Let me tell you Mister Parker," the veteran CEO said, "that I have lived and worked in Gotham for decades and have survived sieges of madmen, plant women, undead abominations, and a hostile takeover by a legion of ninja women led by the daughter of the world's greatest eco , those are tales for another time, so…"
Parker seemed speechless, so Lucius motioned towards the window and continued, "Do you see it Mr Parker?"
"See what?"
"Yourself of course." As Lucius finished, an image of the red and blue bedecked vigilante known as Webber appeared as an almost ghostly three dimensional projection within the glass, with a profile of Peter Parker next to it.
A computerised voice spoke: "DNA scan complete: match confirmed."
Lucius saw the look of resignation in Peter's eyes, even as the young man asked, "How did you get my DNA?"
Lucius nodded in quiet acceptance of Peter's soft admission, just pretending to dust off his suit. Although both men knew what was really being said.
"When I touched your jacket earlier… Well then," Peter paused, perusing his thoughts on, perhaps, the most perplexing, and possibly paramount of his current ponderings. He met Lucius's gaze, steeling himself for what might be a prickly conversation. "I suppose," Peter began, "that this is the part where we stop playing games, and insulting each other's intelligence."
Lucius took his seat and motioned Parker to do the same. "Now, Mister Parker. Where would you like to begin?"
Cold night air whipped past as Spider-Man swung between the tall and gothic looking buildings of Gotham City. Dusk was settling into night as the dazzling array of city lights below almost reminding him of his home city. It'd taken him an hour or two to get a working overview of this city. Bridges, straits, corporate buildings, it was all a friendly, neighbourhood wandering Webber would want.
"At least I have an ally now, besides Lawson, that is. And Lucius was helpful in coming up with some web-like fluid straight from the arsenal of the Bat himself. Must be great to be a billionaire and employ people like that."
"You talking to yourself, or are you just telling me your woes, Spidey-Geek?"
The feminine voice almost startled Spider-Man, as it purred into his ears, but there was no threat. Probably why his Spider-Sense hadn't been set off. He landed on the building opposite and turned to see her use a whip to swing across, and join him. "Hey, Felici- Uh, Cat."
"Fleecy arr Cat, hmmm… I don't know what you're implying there." She laughed at his masked but still perplexed look. "Don't worry Spider-Web, I'm kidding with you."
Spider-Man regarded Catwoman for a moment, thinking about how she was almost just as irritating as her counterpart to him in his universe. "What do you want, Cat?"
She turned upside down and curved her back bringing her face (plus more) close to him, "I'm just here to warn you, Spider-freak. The Justice League is on the hunt for you, and I hear that something weird is going on with that bunch, Wonder Woman and her pets. They say you're dangerous, that they might even have to kill you."
"How'd you hear that?" Spider-Man asked, moving his head back slightly. He could smell her aromatic scent, and the waxiness of her lipstick. He imagined she used that, and her more natural assets to her advantage against any of her adversaries.
"I'm a cat," she smiled, slowly somersaulting down the side of the building as she jumped away, "I hear a lot of things, Webber-Man. See ya around!"
"In that case, thanks for the warning," Spider-Man said quietly, mostly to himself as she disappeared into the Gotham night. "And if she can find me…"
The hour was late, and Lucius was just getting ready to leave his office. The day had in fact been even longer than most, and yet extremely informative; but he was used to unusual hours, and the occasional peril. It was then that his personal phone rang.
Picking it up from his desk, he answered, "Alfred, It's good to hear from you."
"And good to hear from you too, sir." Bruce Wayne's butler sounded extremely relieved, "I saw you had a run in with that Mister Webber today on the Gotham News."
"Indeed I did, old friend. It was a close one. But informative."
"You are lucky you weren't hurt."
"Luck had nothing to do with it." Lucius responded, thinking back to the young man he'd spent most of the afternoon with.
"Perhaps," Alfred continued, "had you not been ushered in so quickly by your Security, you might have been at this Webber's mercy."
"I…" at this Webber's mercy? Did he watch the same news report? "I see. Yes… perhaps you are right." Lucius answered carefully. As their conversation went on, it became clear that Alfred didn't seem to be himself, in fact he seemed have some odd obsession with this extremely dangerous new criminal known as Webber (or at least that was the impression he was being given). What was stranger still was the man who hadn't missed a beat in over forty years of knowing him, had completely glossed over the attempted assassination by Deadshot.
"After all," Alfred continued, "we wouldn't want to lose you so soon after Batman's disappearance. It would be quite dreadful."