Web of Gotham
By ShawnMorgan, Jedireaper
Additional material, by PrincessAuroraBunny
Jedireaper: Four Chapters ago, ShawnMorgan wanted a fight, and I told him it would have to occur naturally as part of the story we couldn't just force it. I was right. It took four chapters! Sorry for the slow turn around, writing something that we enjoyed and we considered something worth reading and fun to write can take time.
ShawnMorgan: Yeah, he's right, again, the annoying bugger... ;-) but it amazes me how much this story has grown since its rather basic initial concept. I'll tell you about it at the end of the story. FYI, JR has been vital
Chapter Eight
Caught in a Web
"And if she can find me…" Spider-Man continued his thoughts out loud, then caught himself. "I really need to stop thinking out-" Dammit Spidey!
The Justice League of America were looking for him, (and what a name, The Avengers was so much simpler). He wasn't completely sure what to expect, but he'd done some research, enough to start coming up with a tactic or two.
"So Spidey, just a quick swing around the city, keep a few people out of trouble, and then head home."
"Yo, Webber!"
The voice that was an inbetween mix of whispering and shouting, startled Spider-Man. He turned to see a guy leaning out of his apartment window, two windows over.
"Hey buddy," Spidey responded.
"Can you stop talkin' all your plans out loud, we're tryin' to get it on in 'ere." The guy made a motion with his head and had a desperate pleading in his eyes.
With a thwip and a "sorry!" Webber leapt away from the building, and into the huddle of Gotham city.
A few dozen seconds later, Spider-Man perched himself on top of a gargoyle, enjoying the intentional coincidence of Gotham city's gothic aesthetic, whilst visually scanning the city, and simultaneously working out plans for the foes he'd been briefed about, whispering in noir fashion, "Spider-Cop is on the case, ready to bring justice to the mean streets of Gotham City! A city out of time, a city, out of place… One Spider, alone and against the elements..."
He sat down, allowing one leg to fall lazily down the side of the gargoyle as he mulled over the various tactics he could employ against Gotham's surprisingly vast variety of villains. Some, he deemed straight forward, like the Ventriloquist. How hard could a man who makes a doll talk be?
There were many others that left him perplexed. Others, like Solomon Grundy who was a Hulk-like zombie; or Poison Ivy, seemingly some sort of plant controlling geneticist hellbent on turning everybody into Groots.
Somehow at the top of Gotham's villain list: The Joker, apparently just a mortal man, one who had so many online backstories and no clear agenda other than pure chaos. Knowing his own luck, these three would pop up before he even got close to figuring out a plan, so he knew he needed to think and think fast.
Lawson had thankfully mentioned earlier that the Joker had turned himself in, and was currently sitting snug in a cell in GCPD Custody, awaiting transfer to Arkham, or Blackgate. Lawson had at least thought the Joker must be up to something, because turning himself in was an odd move.
Peter's reverie was broken as several police sirens pierced the Gotham air, wailing over the background hum of the city. "That didn't take long, and they're close…"
Spider-Man swung into action, and down between the amber and neon lit streets, following just behind the speeding Police Cruiser; its red and blue lights ablaze. He could have gone faster than them, but this wasn't New York, and he was wary of unexpected obstacles. Sure he could probably react fast enough to avoid them but he wasn't taking any chances here.
It was then he could hear the alarm ringing out, crying foul of this Gotham night. A Bank robbery?
It took him a mere multitude of seconds to reach the scene, swinging down to land on the lip of the opposite building. He surveyed the robbery in progress. Below him, bathed in the bright glow of street lamps, building lighting, and punctuated by the flash of gunfire, the GCPD's finest found themselves outflanked and outgunned by at least six men in matching suits, body armor, and masks. These men were all carrying duffel bags, and high powered assault rifles, and were ensuring to use them to give the few GCPD Responders a hard time. Spidey could see that one or two of the Officers were already wounded, so he'd best intervene before Lawson gave him an even harder time. I have to act, now.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, one of the assailants ducked to the back of their large armoured van and brought out a Rocket launcher. Instantly, Spider-Man moved, snapping out a webline and catapulting himself into action. He looped himself around a lamppost and then down to the ground in front of the set of Robbers that were getting ready to use the rocket launcher.
"Didn't your parents tell you guys to put your toys away? It… causes… trip hazards!"
He web zipped the weapon from the hands of the now gormless goons, spun it around and sent it straight back into their legs, sending all three to the ground, and he quickly webbed them down. "Sticky situation?" he quipped.
Shouts of alarm sprang up from the other bank crew, (along with shouts of "Go Webber!" from the Police Officers) and Peter's Spider sense tingle. In a slew of actions, he shoved the trio of disarmed mooks behind the car and let rip with a flurry of webbing. Looking over his shoulder, it was as though the rest of the bank robbers were moving in slow motion; slow enough that he could plot a course between them, their firing angle and keep them focused on the brick wall he'd shortly be bouncing off, just as enemy reinforcements exited the bank.
Oracle blinked for a moment, watching on her screen as the masked menace that took Batman, webbed his way through the Bank Heisters. It seemed obvious to her, his intent was to take the loot for himself. Then an almost sinister smile spread across her lips.
"Got you!"
Renee Montoya heard Webber's shout and gestured to the officers on each side. As much as she appreciated Webber's help, there was no way in hell that she would sit idly by whilst some costumed vigilante did all the work. After all, she never had before.
"Tyler, take a squad and get the wounded to safety. Daniels, You're with me. We need to make sure none of them get past us."
"Understood sarge... Though judging by the way those webs are spinning and boxes are flying into them, I don't think they will!
She brought up her loudhailer and pointed it upwards whilst maintaining her own cover, calling out, "Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up. This is your final warning!" The hail of gunfire that left her patrol vehicle in need of severe repair wasn't entirely unexpected, but it did its job of distracting the gunmen from officer Tylor as he evacuated the wounded.
"Hurry up, would you Webber?" she called out as the superhero swung through, webbing up the remaining thugs. She got a cheery salute as he went past, "I want to be in one piece when I watch the 'New 'L'' Word' tonight-"
She watched, opened mouthed, as a red and orange blur smacked into Spider-Man and both disappeared, with a gust of air in their wake.
"What the hell?" Renee asked aloud.
Diana was flying, breathing in the night air high above the Gotham nightlife. Webber was out there in the cityscape, somewhere. She had the active team out searching for the red and webbed menace, and they'd seemed to have finally gotten their act together, which helped. Oracle had plenty of leads, and the former Batgirl was already working on a plan to take him in. They needed to find out what happened to Batman, and this Webber was their only real lead.
If we can't bring him in, we'll have to eliminate h-, Diana shook her head. No, we need him alive to answer for his crimes.
She saw the smoke billowing in the distance before hearing the sirens go off. For a split second she debated continuing her chase or going to investigate this new emergency. She sneered, contemptuous of her hesitation. Her honour demanded nobility of her, and to leave innocents in peril for personal reasons was unforgivable.
She shook her head to centre herself, a nagging sensation at the back of her mind Whatever it was, it could wait. Conscience clear, she made for the distant blaze. The others can have their chance with Webber.
Spider-Man's head buzzed in warning but the scarlet blur that hit him had simply been moving too fast to react to. Just as suddenly as it started, his forward carriage stopped and he was free, but before he could throw out a web-line, or orient himself; his Spider-Sense screamed at him as he smashed into and through the side of a building.
Mere seconds later Spider-Man found himself staring straight up at dangling wires and bent metalwork, and a silvery light beaming in through the dust kicked up by the broken brickwork. "Ow… that hurt. What the hell just hit me?"
Peter quickly realised he was laying on a pile of bricks that had previously made up the wall, and that it was not the most comfortable of beds. Placing a hand to his side, he pushed himself upright and rose to his feet, facing the hole he'd created. The dust was still settling and the way it caught the light obscured his vision of the outside.
Spidey's Spider-Sense tingled and he saw it in the same moment: the glint of reflected street light. It was less than a second, but Spider-Man's hands were a blur as he reacted, grabbing the arrow that materialised a mere inch from his facemask.
Behind said mask, Peter Parker's eyes narrowed, and he studied the arrow for a moment before tossing it aside. He'd had practice against a storied and celebrated archer known as Hawkeye; mostly as an ally. Factoring in the fact that if his vision was obscured, so was the archer's. For this guy to be as accurate as he'd been just then, then he had to be as good (if not better than) Hawkeye. This guy must be that Green Lantern guy I read about, Spidey thought.
His Spider-Sense screamed and he instinctively threw out his arms and a webline from each wrist, propelling himself upwards just as a sonic shockwave visibly shot through the still settling stone dust, accompanied by a high pitched shriek.
Spidey zipped and thwipped down and through the hole and with a flip, landed on an overhead pylon above a set of docklands rail tracks. He could see the edge of the Gotham harbour and the darkness of the river just beyond the area he'd been brought to. Then he spied his current foes.
"Hi guys!" Spider-Man called out, waving cheerily. "I think there's been a misunderstanding…"
"No misunderstanding, Webber!" a voice growled loudly back. "Tell us what you did to Batman!"
"I didn't do anything to Batman!" Spider-Man shouted back, spying the speaker concealed in shadow and behind a low edged wall, a little above him, on a building.
"Then tell us who you're working for!"
Spider-Man slowly rose to his feet, balanced on the pylon, facing the speaker, mirth in his voice. "I'm working for your friendly neighbourhood-"
The arrow glinted through the air, cutting short Peter's sentence, and only his Spider-Sense and superhuman reflexes allowed him to snatch the arrow in mid-air, just inches from him again. This time the action was in full view of his foes.
"Hey, that wasn't very ni-" he began, until his Spider-Sense gave off a warning and the arrow exploded, the blast sending him staggering back and off the pylon to land in the dirt below. Spider-Man picked himself up shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears from the blast he'd just endured. "Boy, this just isn't my night," he muttered to himself.
Renee Montoya tightened her grip on the radio transmitter in her patrol car as she listened to Jim Gorden's voice, disbelief plastering her face: "What did you just say?"
Peter Parker's mind froze mid-thought as he felt the familiar tingle- a warning! It allowed him to just about avoid the ballistic projectile that sped past him as he web-zipped out of the way and straight into the path of the instantaneous sonic screech.
The sound was ear piercing and his Spider-Sense flared and buzzed, seemingly in tune with the frequency of the sonic vibrations, as he was engulfed by the blast. His hands came up to cover his ears to no apparent effect, as his sense of balance was thrown off, and he tumbled into the soggy ground below.
The blast of sound had rendered him almost senseless for a moment, and that moment was all it took for him to sustain an injury. He dodged the arrow, just too late, and it sliced through his suit, and he felt the pain as it skimmed past, leaving him with a gash on his right side.
Spider-Man looked up and saw the three costumed kooks were closing in on him, tightening their cordon around him. Instinctively he threw out a web to propel himself upwards, only to see the web disappear in an orangy blur. He just about tracked that blur as it sped behind him and came to a stop.
"Hey Webber!," the red and yellow suited man (hence orange when he was blurred) stood examining the webbing Spider-Man had thrown out, "what do you make this stuff out of?"
Spider-Man turned to face him, his eyes under the mask narrowed, his mind racing as he worked out the best course of actions he could and should take. "I'd love to explain it, but I don't think your arrow guy is gonna give me much of a chance."
"It doesn't come out of you does it?" The Flash, Peter suspected, looked visibly perturbed by that idea. "Ew, ew, ew!" He started shaking the webbing from his hand.
It was clearly a distraction- Peter's Spidey sense prompted him to look up in time to dodge the arrow fired straight down at him from the green suited shooter, as the archer leapt over him.
I'm actually running low on web fluid, not that I'm telling these guys that. Madam Web didn't exactly give me time to pack, Spider-Man thought.
He came out of his roll just as another sonic blast tore at him, and with his continued momentum, he leapt up, letting out a webline to the overhead pylons, using them to propel himself out of harm's way, however temporary.
His brief moment out of the firing line lived up to its name, as arrows and screeches hailed in; zipping past him as he dodged, dived, weaved and bobbed. His Spider Sense letting him avoid the danger as it came, but it was all too much and maybe that was their intention as he twisted in mid-air to avoid the incoming- too late.
The red and yellow blur slammed into him, sending him flying forcibly into one of the large iron supports for one of the dock cranes. Spider-Man slammed into it painfully, the metal bent, and it tore at his suit even as he rebounded and landed chest first on the gritty and slimy ground right on the edge of the docks.
He pulled himself to his feet, slick with sludge; and judging from the sharp protest he felt just above his ribs, soon to be his own blood, too.
He'd been in dire straits like this before, from facing down the Green Goblin to taking a hammering from the Sinister Six, and the three opponents facing him now lacked the disadvantages of his hometown foes. The Goblin had worked alone and the Sinister Six consisted of independent villains, who tended to spend more time in the end fighting each other than their Spider-Quarry. This trio however, were synergising well, combining their strengths with their numbers.
"Some days, I really hate teamwork..." he muttered through gritted teeth. He spat out the blood that had collected in his mouth and willed his body to push through the pain of what he was starting to suspect was at least a cracked rib.
No time- The thought barely registered along with the cacophony of his Spider-Sense. Spider-Man cleared his mind, his adrenalin racing. In a split second his hand moved, and he caught the arrow, snapping it in two as he stepped forward.
The blur that was The Flash, came in at him, and Spider-Man's heightened metahuman abilities, coupled with his adrenalin fueled state just about allowed him to track the speedster. He threw a solid punch at just the right moment, and the curled fist collided with The Flash's jaw. The punch carried enough force to break its target out of his super speed run, and into a momentous tumble that ended with the red and yellow suited hero crashing into a cargo container, closely followed by two web blasts to hold him in place.
Spider-Man leaped in a dodge as the shrieker lady came in, loosing her vocal attack against him, but this time he was ready. His dodge sailed him past her and she very promptly received a mouthful of webbing.
"What's a matter, vocal cords all tied up?" Spider-Man almost coldly quipped as he turned his attention towards the archer, though in his mind he knew the webbing wouldn't hold them for long, being aware of who they were. In the distance he could hear police sirens gaining volume as the GCPD neared.
Multiple arrows rained in at him from the free running archer, and Peter seemingly dodged them easily; but between the vicious buzzing in his skull and the pain that was taking over his body, he was beginning to lose focus.
And these trick arrows are not fucking helping! He thought.
He continued evading his assailant's attacks, and only just managed to avoid the arrows that started exploding all around him, sending out all sorts of glues, and nets and chaff. He propelled himself up, aiming to land high on the dock crane, but his body started to feel like it was moving in slow motion. His reactions were beginning to feel muddy.
The archer landed on the crane a quintuple metres ahead of the wounded Spider-Man, loosing an arrow that split into multiple projectiles. He flipped up higher on the iron strutted crane, two of the mini arrows piercing his left arm and sternum, and he could only hope they'd missed any vital organs.
It was then that the air was visibly disturbed; the wave like blast from below told him that the other two would be rejoining the fight- a fight he was losing. The Scarlet clad figure he glimpsed next to the blonde told him how she had gotten free.
"Guys," Peter started woundedly, "can't we talk about this?!"
"No," The shrieky blonde replied as she joined the archer, "you had your chance."
"You call attacking me, a chance?"
Peter saw her smirk knowingly, and before he could focus and move, she screamed that dreaded cone of noise yet again. This time she was directly on target. Her assault threw Spider-Man backwards, leaving him teetering on the edge, with the roiling darkness below. Pain raked through his body as he did his best to maintain his balance.
Worse was to follow, as he found himself buffeted by wind as an orangey-yellow blur flashed by him, first in one direction, then the other. Spider-Man tried to snap out a wave of webbing to snare his assailant, only to have it all dangle helplessly.
A blunted arrow flew at him and his spider sense warned Peter, but the buffeting wind, the sonic attack and the multiple arrows coming in from several directions were too much. The arrow took him in the shoulder and Canary's cry slammed him along the crane strut, and he simultaneously found himself off balance and seconds from falling.
He did his best with his footing to propel himself away from the crane throwing his still good arm outwards, to web a lifeline. Peter grimaced when he heard the sound he kept swearing he'd never let himself ever hear again: The sound of his webshooters clicking empty. Shit! he thought.
The final sonic blast hit him as he fell, buffeting him away from the dockside; the wind whistling in his ears, one eye looking towards those who had attacked him, believing him responsible for Batman's disappearance. He hit the water, and briefly wondered what the hell had happened before everything went black.
Lucius Fox watched from the railings of the Vincent-Finkel Bridge as the distant silhouetted figure plunged into the darkness of the Gotham River. "Somehow Mr. Parker, I didn't think I'd be getting home on time tonight…"