Chapter 3: Clothes, Cameras, and a Cat...

Key: 'Words' = Peter 4th walling it

"How the hell did you win with a pair of twos! This is bullshit!" Helena shouted, slapping her cards on the table. She forcefully pushed her chair out, and menacingly slammed her hands on the table, staring down Spider-Man from across the game. Peter cringed back a bit, slightly worried she was going to pounce on him.

"Uh...Spidey just lucky I guess." Pete rubbed the back of his masked head, his lenses turned up in sheepish sympathy.

"Calm down Helena. Just because you're loosing doesn't mean you can take it out on him." Barbara sighed, and handed over her cards to Dinah, who was dealing. She rested her elbows on the table, and steepled her hands together in front of her. "Even if he is doing surprisingly well." She added with a questioning eyebrow. Peter collected his winning cards and passed them to Dinah, keeping an eye on the suspicious look Oracle was giving him. 'She's starting to wonder! Quick man think fast!'

"What can I say I have a great poker face." 'Nailed it.' Spidey is currently sticking the the wall behind him by his buttocks and feet. 'Maybe it's the spider in me, but I've always feel more comfortable sticking to things or crouching when in costume. They don't mind it anymore. Though they asked me to stop hanging upside down by web. Said it's creepy.' Leaning forward he scooped up the small pile of money on the table, and started to sort it while the next hand was being prepped.

"Maybe...but I have a sneaking suspicion it's something else. Heaven help you if you're using some sort of visual sensor in that mask of yours." Barb said offhandedly as she leaned back in her wheelchair, looking to her mobile monitor after smirking at him. 'Hot Wheels is one hell of a multi-tasker. The entire game she's been winning steadily, keeping an eye on crime in Gotham via computer, and talking with us like she wasn't. What a woman.' Helena squints, hardening her gaze, and points an accusing finger at him.

"You're not cheating, are you Peter?" 'Crap, the low scary voice. Guess I better start holding back on winning.' Huntress put a good dose of threat into her voice.

"Moi. My good Vie, I take offense to that. The day I cheat is the day I start using claws, raised lenses, and four waldoes." 'Why did I say that? Huh...' Pete's weird comment had the desired effect and she sat back down in her chair slowly. She huffs and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine, but take the mask off just to be sure." Helena demanded.

"But I have such horrible hat hair today." Peter whined.

"Oh c'mon Peter, at least put her suspicions to rest so we can get back to the game." Dinah spoke up, as she started to deal out the cards.

"Alright, alright. If you all wanted to stare at this handsome mug so bad, all you had to do was ask." Peter pulls his mask up and off his head, his shaggy brown hair slightly puffing out, and his brown eyes being revealed. 'It's still a bit weird being able to take off my mask in front of them. It wasn't until that recent incident, that I'm still not gonna tell you about yet, that the rest of the Birds found out who I am.' Tossing the mask onto the table, next to his winnings, he runs his right hand through his hair once.

"Well welcome to the party Mr. Parker." Barbara smiles at him, and picks up her hand. Peter smiles back awkwardly, and picks up his hand too.

"Whatever. I'm not gonna lose this time cheater." Helena huffs, and picks up her hand.

"Children lets just have a nice pleasant game shall we." Dinah looks to each of the younger people in the room, before picking up her own cards.

'So as I start my loosing streak how about I give you a bit of back story. The Birds of Prey is a team of mostly female heroes, brought together by Ms. Barbara Gordon here. Barb is better know by her previous alias Batgirl. She, alongside the Robin at the time, was trained by Batman, after jumping in the game on her own. They became the crime fighting group of Gotham before most of the other capes started to show. If what I'm told is correct she was easily a match for Harley back in the day. However, thanks to the Joker shooting her, she was crippled and left a paraplegic. Seriously the Joker is basically the Goblin version of Batman's rogues gallery, and by default his apprentices. So bad news. Guess I can at least breath easy that the world here knows him for the evil he is, before they elect him President... Anyway, after some time she started hero-ing again under the new alias Oracle, but instead of being on the front lines, she uses a huge network of information to lead her team and help us other heroes. She is a vibrant and mostly cheerful red headed beauty, who doesn't let the lack of mobility get her down.'

'I really admire Hot Wheels for her strength and perseverance. I've been in situations before that made me want to give up the game, like loosing my Spider Sense, and...Gwen...But Barb found her handicap only more motivation. She decided to start working another angle to help. When she created the Birds, it was originally just her, Dinah, and Helena. The roster has grown and switches regularly, but the three have mostly stayed strong.'

'Speaking of Screaming Mimi. She doesn't get her nickname, and I don't blame her, but its appropriate trust me. Anyway she's known as the hero Black Canary. I mentioned her previously as Ollie's wife, which she still is. Rocky relationship that one, at least from what I've heard. She is basically the sub leader here, and one hell of a martial artist. If it wasn't for my Way of the Spider, or my Spider-Sense, she'd kick my ass three ways from Sunday.'

'Way of the Spider you ask, I'm glad you did. Off topic time! I lost my Spider-Sense some time back. Until that point, if it wasn't for it, I'd be dead. No two ways about it. Dead, doornail dead. Deader that the Dead Sea, dead. Riding bikes with Mephisto, yucking it up with Hela, tea with Death, and...well you get the picture. Where was I...oh right. So turns out most of my career I've been so reliant on my six sense that I was basically useless without it. During the whole Spider-Island thing, as we dubbed it, it was taken from me. I ended up having to learn some form of self defense to just survive measly bullets. I know right! I end up under the tutelage of Shang-Chi. He taught me how to work with what I had and improvise to compensate for the loss of my Spider-Sense. Turns out I was Neo-ing it when I could have been Jackie Chan-ing it. Get it? Props if you do. So stuff happened, my clone, Kane, killed the Spider Queen, and I got my Spider-Sense back. Now I'm a better person for it. Okay back on topic.'

'Basically I'm sweating every time we end our sparring matches. She's that good...Hey mind out of the gutter! I mean she's one heck of a fighter, and keeps me on my toes constantly. Plus she's married, not that she isn't attractive...Gah look where put my mind. Stop it. So I think she's actually adapting to my personal style, and learning from it. *Shudders* She isn't just a master of the kung-fu's, she also has the superhuman ability to create sonic screams, which can reach upwards of 300 decibels. For those not in the science-y field, it's very, very, very, loud. How loud is it? It's loud enough to the point of shattering metal. Hence the nickname Screaming Mimi. Though I should probably get Melissa's approval first, but hey different world, different copyright laws. Besides she gave that alias up, so it okay right? Anyway, aside from that, Dinah keeps her personal and professional lives very separate. I know little to nothing about her outside what she's told me or Ollie has told me, which isn't a lot cause I try not to pry.'

'Finally we have Vie, whom I've already spilled the beans about. So nothing I can really add there. Oh, though I can say that she was the first hero to meet Peter Parker, and learn about my secret hobby. Let's see what else can I add here. Not much...where does that leave us. Oh look, I won again...and Vie's pissed...crap.'

"Uh what's up Vie? Something on my face? Maybe a worried look, from the glare I'm getting." He asks trying to be lighthearted about the situation he finds himself in.

"Obviously your poker face was hidden by the mask, and yet you are still winning. Curious, very curious." Barbara says her fingers interlocked, and resting just in front of her face. It gave her a very calculating and slightly cold appearance. 'Ulp.'

"Annnd that's a bad thing?" 'Sure Parker goad the Hunter some more. Freaking mouth.' He looks around the table at the differing appearances of the ladies. Barbara, easily being the calmest, but definitely has something on her mind. Dinah looks like she's trying not to laugh at Helena. Then there's Helena, and the inferno behind her eyes. 'Though that might be because she has about ten bucks left.'

"You...you...grrrrrr." Huntress's eye twitches, while she's pointing at Peter. She looks at her last bill before she throws her cards on the table again, and snatches up what's left of her money. "I'm going to bed." She storms off out of the living area, muttering harsh words under her breath. Peter recoils, trying to look as small as possible. He overhears one rather loud mutter from Helena before she leaves earshot. "Great now I'm gonna need to work extra hours. Stupid Parker."

"Yeah I think this is probably a good stopping point. Thanks for coming by Peter, we'll have to do it again soon." Dinah chuckles, and collects the cards together, before leaving the table herself. "Night all."

"Night." Peter responds sheepishly.

"Good night Dinah." Barb says, before she turns back to look at Peter calculatingly again. He nervously scratches his hair, and makes squirrely glances up at her from the table.

"Sooo...I guess I should probably go too." Peter grabs his mask and winnings, then lands on the floor from his wall sitting position.

"Probably. Could you possibly walk me to my room first? I forgot to charge the battery." Barb asks sweetly, patting the wheel on her chair. 'I know that tone and look. She wants to talk.'

"Of course Barb. I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't escort a pretty lady to her door." Peter gives her a big smile, and rounds the table to her. Grabbing her handles, he starts leading her out of the room.

"Thank you Peter." She gives him another smile, and lets him push her down the hall. It's quite for a bit before Spider-Man breaks the silence.

"So what did you want to talk about Hot Wheels?" She snickers at her given nickname, and turns her head around to look up at him.

"If you don't mind could it wait till we get to my room." Her eyes project serious intent, but her smile calms him.

"Scandalous. Miss Gordon I'm flattered, but what would the others think? I'm pretty sure one Mr. Grayson might be rather off put. By the way wasn't he supposed to be here tonight for the game?" Peter puts on his best gossipy lady impersonation, even adding in the low tone of voice.

"It's only scandalous if you keep whispering about it Mr. Parker. 'Ah I love when people play along.' And Dick probably got caught up in patrol. You know how it is." They reached her door, and she presses a button on her console, opening the door remotely.

"Boy do I. Half my life is missed appointments and dates." Peter sighs, and again Barbara snickers. She resumes control of her obviously still alive chair, and rolls over to her bed. "You minx, you tricked me." Peter grins, and steps in, with the door closing behind him. She gives him a grin of equal measure.

"And you fell for it Spidey." She lets out a calming breath, her red locks moving around her face. She looks back up with a serious expression, her glasses slightly glowing from the light. "Peter... I'm worried about you. We all are." 'Figured that was where this conversation was going. Glad someone here finally came out and wants to actually talk to me about it.'

"Guess it was to much to hope that you were going to profess your undying love for me. Dang." Peter sighs and shrugs, then leans against the wall next to the door. His arms cross over his costumed chest.

"It amazes me you can be so relaxed after going through something that...life altering." She sends Peter a slightly incredulous look. Peter just shrugs his shoulders, and directs his gaze out the window into the night.

"Not like it's the first time I had more than the normal amount of limbs." He glances back to her and seeing her wide eyes smirks.'Okay you got your foreshadowing for later in my story, but it's still a bit too early to be talking about this in front of you guys. Don't hate the Spider. I'm just making sure you all get your money's worth of this. So I'm gonna cut off the conversation there. What say we get back to the start of my new life?'

"So just to recap...you and Miss Sunshine are not the good guys, but are in fact the opposite?" Peter recounted, his hands dug deep into his front pant's pockets, wisps of breath coming out with each breath.

"In the clear cut definition of good an bad, yup." Harley mused lyrically, her hands clasped behind and holding her head. She was taking long out stretched steps, over exaggerating her walk.

"And that Joker guy..." He trailed off, as they walked down the busy 2pm street,

"My ol boss and ex boyfriend." Harley started whistling a tune after she said this. Peter's right hand came out of his pocket and he held the front of his face with his palm. Even with the lack of sight, he easily avoided bumping into people.

"Great. First thing I do here is break up a baddie domestic dispute, and then I get forced into playing Renfield for several of the bad guys. Boy someone out there must be rolling on the ground laughing." 'Jerky universe.' Peter was in his civy clothing, which consisted of a long sleeved black t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers. 'Neat thing about my suit, and thank you Reed for doing this, it can not only alter colors, and has all those nice little climate features, mine was designed to transform into civy's. Basically just the black shirt, jeans and shoes, but it's so very useful for quick changes. I can't even believe I used to wear my costume under my clothing everyday. Looking back I could have been caught so many times. A little surprised I didn't. Eh.' From the looks he was getting from passerby's, they must have though he was crazy for wearing such thin clothing. Peter however felt fine, the suit kept plenty of heat in.

Harleen giggled, before looping her right arm around his still pocketed left arm, and snuggling up to him. "That's about the long an short of it, hun. Welcome ta the club." She said while beaming up at him from behind her black round framed glasses 'A note, Harleen actually wears prescription glasses. She just chooses to wear contacts most of the time. Personally I like the glasses, but I have no problem with her without them.' Peter couldn't help but smile back at her. Harley was currently dressed in a black jacket, red vertical patterned sweater, blue poured into jeans, and black half heel boots. Her hair was tied up in her trade marked pony tails. He let out an exasperated sigh, and went back to taking in their surroundings. "But enough about work Petey. Let's do some shopping!" She pumped her unoccupied arm happily in the air.

"I would have never guessed this was how I would be treated while I'm a minion." 'Bubbles is currently taking me shopping for new clothing, and the other miscellaneous guy stuff that the ladies do not have at home.' Peter scratched his the back of his head, as was his habit, and then chuckled a bit.

"What kind of girl do ya take me for Petey? I would never deprive ya of clothing and sundries. Especially when I get to pick all of them out for ya." Harls let out a happy, but decidedly sinister chuckle.

"Should I be worried?" Peter asked sarcastically, while looking down at the shorter blond currently wrapped around his left arm.

"Only if ya try to stop me." She flashed her pearly whites back at him, and Peter felt he should take the joke seriously.

"Duly noted." Peter nodded, and returned again to their surroundings. He was trying to get some sort of lay of the land while out on this little excursion. 'Let me tell you this right now. I've never been much of a shopper. Blame it on my humble upbringing, and my constantly small paychecks, but I basically end up at a big chain store, buy the cheap basics of what I need, and leave. Easy peasy. Now, shopping with a lady...that takes finesse, consideration, and a butt load of patience. As I'm basically the sub in this situation, and Harls easily the dom, you can imagine just how much fun she had.'

The trip was filled with plenty of playful back and forth. Peter found himself really enjoying Harleen's take on life. It was so much more bright and cheerful than he would have ever guessed of a villainess. 'She reminded me a lot of Spider-Girl at this point. Full of life, excited about what she does, and can easily talk your ear off if you give her an inch.' Occasionally he was reminded, mainly by offhanded comments or threats to some random person/s, that she was indeed a villain. Most was only said between them, but there was one occasion where a man bumped into Harley without apologizing. 'Poor guy got the scariest manner adjustment I'd ever seen come from such a little woman. I ended up having to drag her off of him kicking and screaming. Guy was strait up crying. It was actually kind of funny now that I think about it. Heh heh.' Still their trip seemed that much shorter because of it. Peter even found himself paying more attention to her than his mapping of the area. 'Wasn't really a hard choice. Pretty, happy girl on your arm, or worrying where the best alley is to change into my alter ego. Guess which one I chose. Go on guess.' They soon arrived at a huge nine story tall and block wide shopping mall. This was nothing new to Peter, being from New York and all, but actually going into one was a totally nerve wracking experience. He managed a loud gulp before he was pulled inside. 'Again, not a shopper.'

Once inside Harleen dragged Pete around like a dog on a leash. She made sure to keep a tight grip on his arm, and led him around to the different stores. At first they just perused the levels, going from shop to shop. About half way up the nine stories, Pete actually almost forgot she wasn't anything but a normal female shopping enthusiast. Peter eventually ended up catching her enthusiasm, and even pulled her towards some stores that interested him. Since the clothing stores were all on the upper levels, it took a good hour to get to them. 'I didn't mind though. My head hadn't caught up with my dimension jumped situation quite yet. I just decided to enjoy the trip, hoping it was all just a rather vivid dream.'

Shopping for clothes was a much more time consuming activity. Harley made sure to have Peter try on almost everything she had picked out for him. 'Imagine one of those romantic comedy movie fashion montages, only with a much more awkward guy as the model, and you basically had what it was like. Bubbles was loving every single second of my misery though. Once a villain right?' With almost every store they visited Peter ended up carrying a new bag or bags. By the eighth floor he looked like a pile of logos with legs. They were drawing all sorts of attention to them. The overly spunky and gung-ho blond, and her luggage handler who seemed like he should have collapsed under the weight a floor ago. 'The perk of having super strength, I didn't need to worry about the weight. The downside...the girls know it...and still do.'

"So what exactly do you do for a living?" Peter joked as they left the last clothing store on the level. He couldn't believe she was willing to spend so much money on him. He half expected Ivy to scream at them upon their return about needless expenditures. 'Scratch that I was totally expecting it. A well founded worry by the way.'

"Psychologist, but now I'm more of a banker." She sent back, and a muffled laugh was heard from behind the hill of bags.

"No really, I am a Psychologist." She turned around to look at him, and his head buzzed making him stop too. Poking his head out around the bags, he saw no hint of lying on her face.

"Really?"

"Really, really." She smiled and nodded once.

"Wow...I woulda never guessed. 'Bad Parker! Don't say things like that to your master. Fix it! Fix it quick!''" Peter quickly saw the slightly hurt look in her face, and added. "Uh, not that I don't believe you or anything, just that well...um you don't quite act like a Psychologist. I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. I do believe you though, honestly." Peter quickly tried to cover his unintended insult, which got a large grin to come to her face. He ended up blushing quite deeply. 'Smoooooth.'

"No worries hun. I know how people usually see me, especially now. Besides it's not like I can go back to bein one." Her grin was obviously well practiced, and Peter recognized it as the same one he's used for years.

"I really am sorry Harleen, I didn't mean to offend you. Especially considering you're probably my only friend in the world right now." Peter felt like a real heel now. He hung his head in shame, until she ruffled his hair.

"Thas sweet of ya to say Pete. How about we get some food? I'm a bit rumbly in my tumbly." Harley gave a genuine smile, before she turned around and headed for the 9th floor escalator. The nice restaurants were up there. If he could he would have kicked himself for making her feel like he had, but for now he'd try to apologize some more, and use the last of the money in his wallet to pay for their late lunch. 'Luckily the currency exchange between dimensions was the same. Lucky me Mighty Joe Dollar travels far.'

"Wait for me Winnie! Lunch is on me today!" Peter called after her, as he shuffled forward with his cargo.

They ended up at a small, but nice bistro, which had a great view of the city from the windows. After he set the bag down next to a window table, he asked Harleen what she wanted, and ordered them by himself, along with two espressos. He kept stealing glances of her at the table while in line. She seemed a bit happier while looking out over the city. Peter just hoped that she accepted his apology.

With lunch mostly eaten, and warm drinks being sipped on, the two sat in a comfortable silence. Despite both's extremely talkative nature, the mood just didn't seem quite right for small talk. Most of Peter's time while eating was gazing out at Gotham City. It really started to hit home then, that he wasn't. He ended gaining a distant look in his eyes. 'Wanda... Are you out there? Are you okay? I hope you're safe.' His mind drifted to his other dimensional traveler. He really needed to start looking for her. 'Are you kidding Parker? Knowing you're luck she's...' Before his went down that mental road, Peter forced his thoughts to the woman actually in front of him. Shaking his head, he went back to eating hoping to break the ice on this frozen conversation before he fell to far into his other worldly problem. After Peter finished his sandwich he finally couldn't stand the quiet any longer.

"I'm really sorry for the unintended insult Harls. I honestly shouldn't be one to judge, most of the people back home see me as a chatterbox idiot who can lift ten tons." Peter said timidly. Considering they were in a corner, and no one was close he felt he could converse about their second lives, if they were careful about it. Quinzel actually sputtered while drinking from her cup, and stared up at him wide eyed.

"Te...ten tons!?" She kept her voice down, just enough to not attract to much attention, but her shocked expression brought a quirk to Peter's lips.

"I take it that's not common in this world?" He said with a chuckle. She mimicked an owl for a few seconds, before shaking her head of her surprise.

"That's...wow. That puts ya up there with the supa capes." She said putting her cup down finally.

"Super capes?" He asked slightly confused.

"Yeah like Sups and Starry Butt." Peter's cheeks bulged along with his eyes, followed quickly by rather loud and hysterical laughter. The entire eatery went silent and watched the brown haired man, who quickly tried to reign it in. 'Starry Butt. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Every time I hear it. Oh so good. Thank you Harley.' Harley actually joined in his laugh shortly after he started. It took a good minute but the two of them finally calmed down enough to start catching their breaths.

"Oh man Harls, you gotta warn me before you lay down a gem like that. Phew." Peter, having finally caught his breath looked around them, at the quiet room. "Sorry folks, really funny joke." Peter said with a red hue to his face. Several people chuckled, and most just turned away trying to ignore the people in the corner.

"Ya know ya are cute when ya laugh Petey." Harleen snickered, seeing the flush on his cheeks come back.

"Th..thanks Harleen. So are you." His blush grew darker, and she even gained a pink tint to her cheeks. 'A very cute pink tint.'

"Flatterer."

"Not usually, but I do occasionally manage to stutter something out. Anyway, back to super capes." Peter did his best to redirect the conversation back on topic.

"Spoilsport. Okay, well there ain't a lot of capes that actually have supa powers here. Gotham especially."

"So this league consists of Sups, Starry Butt, and Spider-Man now? Great, just what I need, working with a guy named Starry Butt." Peter deadpanned the last sentence.

"Gal actually. She's called Wonder Woman." Harley corrected.

"I...I can't...wow. Um why Starry Butt, I dare ask?"

"Blue spangled bloomers." Harley's face got a mischievous grin, as she took her cup in her hands and tapped on it with her fingers. 'You can imagine how difficult it was when I actually met Diana. Especially when all I could think about was Starry Butt.'

"Um..wow. Just wow." Peter took his cup in hand, and had it just to his lips when an explosion was heard, followed by a clattering of glass. Peter quickly looked out the windows, as did Harley. The rest of the people in the building were gasping and quickly chattering, but obviously shaken. From the window Peter and Harleen could see smoke rising some distance away. Another explosion rocked the area, and the two vigilantes rose to their feet, sharing a glance.

"Maybe we should get you home." Peter's attitude went serious, as he started gathering up the bags.

"Petey?" Harley asked, but she was right there with him as they exited the bistro.

"I don't know what's going on, but I should be there to help if I can." He told her softly as they headed to the ground floor.

"Why?" She asked as if what he said was foreign to her.

"Why? Because people are in danger. If I can help then I'm gonna." The stairs were clogged with people, and the escalators were moving slow. Peter was obviously growing more impatient and anxious with each passing second.

"But it's not your fight." Harls said with a conviction that brought him back to reality again. Harley was still one of the bad guys. Charismatic, adorable, fun to be around, but a villain. They could laugh together, talk about the most pointless things, and enjoy each others company, but at the end of the day their views were very different. 'Causes and Effects are what separate heroes and villains. At least mostly. Given the right, or wrong, situations a hero could easily have become a villain and vice versa. At the end of the day we are all just people shaped by a handful of cause and effects. I was starting to see Harleen like I originally did Felicia. Grant it the mallet certainly set her back, but my track record with the Ms. Hardy was much worse.'

"They usually aren't Harls, but with great power comes great responsibility. It was a lesson I learned in the hardest of ways, and not something I'm just going to give up because of the new 'situation' I find myself in." He looked around for a break in the people, and was quickly growing frustrated. "Grrr. Come on people I need a way out of here." He said lowly enough so his companion was the only one to hear him.

Harleen, while still baffled by his determination, was oddly struck by his words. She said something under her breath, and grabbed Peter's arm when they reached the fourth floor. She pulled him out of the stream of people, and to a much less crowded line heading out to the parking garage. "We'll use the parking garage. Follow me."

Without another word Peter nodded, and followed. Inside there were cars leaving, but mostly it was pedestrians heading to the roof for a better view. Harley and Peter dashed down the stair access to the street below. No one paid attention to them when they reached street level. 'Thank whatever being decided to make humans so curious. It makes slipping from view so very easy.'

"Harleen I'm sorry for sticking you with the bags, but..." Peter shuffled the bags in his hands to the ground. Harley pulled her large purse around her front and opened it, revealing his Web Shooters.

"It's okay Petey. I'll take a cab. Meetcha back at home." She started picking up the bags, but looked up to him with a smirk. "Don't get looost."

"I'll try not to. Welp, time for me to hold up my end of the bargain. Thanks Harls." He flashed her a smile, took his devices from her, and ran off further down the street into an adjoining alley. 'A shout out to alleys everywhere by the way. You are a hero's best friend thru and thru. Love ya alleys.' A quick look around and a few death defying parkour wall bounces, he was on the roof. Another quick look, slipping his shooters on, and focusing his suit into changing in his true red and blues. Pulling his mask from the seam on his hip, he pulled it on as charged toward the edge of the roof.

"Gotham City, say hello to your new friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" Spider-Man announced jumping off the roof. Shifting into a nose dive, he waited till he was half way down the building before launching his line to a nearby building. Using his momentum he pulled into a wide ark-ing swing, around the corner of the block. Out of the corner of his lenses he saw Harley on the sidewalk holding the many bags. Another web line and he was out of sight, but already creating a stir from the onlookers below. 'And skip ahead to the trouble.'

Spidey landed on the tallest building closest to the fires and chaos below. A glance over the side, and he had to double take. Street level were two exploded vehicles, and torrents of flame everywhere. Police were trapped behind anything they could find that wouldn't explode. And the cause of the mess.

"No way. Is that the Beetle?" Peter couldn't believe his eyes. The person flinging flames and hovering off the ground, was a chrome armored, obviously bug themed bad guy. His mask had huge raised bug-eye lenses, and he had a set of metal wings on his back to each side of the jet pack. He was holding two large rifle looking flame throwers. Bullets were bouncing off his suit, leaving the police as nothing but a mere distraction.

"Hahahaha! Burn, burn, burn! Bring on the bats! I'll burn them too!" 'Wasn't the Beetle. Beetle doesn't talk much. This guy uses standard cliched bad guy threats. So we have Firefly, almost a dead ringer for the Beetle back home. Something you'll notice as time goes on, but Batman's rogues gallery are pretty dang similar to mine. That led me to thinking Bat's was this world's version of me. Oh so wrong was I.' The baddie lifted his guns and launched another few torrents of flames, aiming for the cops. Peter took a few seconds to check the scene, and then dived off this roof too.

"Hey arachnid, pick on someone your own species!" Spider-Man shouted over the roaring flames. The bug man jerked his head up toward the new voice.

"WHAT?! I'm Firefly, not some...!" The maniac shouted, rather pissed off with the comment. 'I cannot believe I got to use this turn around of insult. It was so refreshing to be on the other end of that for a change.' Two gossamer strands of webbing flew to either side of him, connecting the the ground. Peter pulled the lines taught and rocket downward, feet first. His rocket kick rammed into the Firefly's armored chest, slamming the madman into the concrete sidewalk. Spider-Man back flipped off of the guy, and landed in his usual hunched crouch.

"Oh yeah that's right, I'm the spider here. And I eat guys like you for breakfast, Fly-Boy." Peter watched as Firefly wobbled to his feet, one of his rifles lost down the street, but the other within arms reach.

"You bas...bastard!" Firefly shouted, pulling his flame gun up. Spidey leaned back up, into a squat and launched a web line from his right shooter. Sticking the weapon Peter yanked it out of Firefly's grip, and caught the weapon with both hands. His lenses squinted, while the unseen smirk grew. "Hey Glow Worm...got yer gun." He taunted waving it at the menace. 'I swear I could see the guy's eyes twitching behind his mask. Either that or it was the probable concussion I gave him earlier. Either way hot heads are so much fun to toy with. Except the the Hulk. Never. With. The Hulk.'

"I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE!" Firefly raged, and launched himself forward with his jet pack. He cocked his right hand back ready to punch the hero. 'Really? This rarely works on me even when I've had the daylights beaten out of me.'

Spider-Man stood up and held the gun to his right side by the barrel. "What's the best way to deal with a fly?" Peter asked out loud to anybody who could hear him. In a moment of blinding speed, Spider-Man grabbed the barrel with his left hand, and brought it around in a hard swing. The clang that resulted resounded over the fire. The gun connected with Firefly's head, hard. Sending him spiraling to the left, and into the brick wall of a building. "Flyswatter!" Spidey joked, as he held the badly bent weapon in a batter's swing.

The gun started to hiss violently. One of his lenses opened the whole way as he looked at the gas escaping the gun. 'Crap!' Both lenses shot open, and he tossed the gun to the ground a few feet away, before launching webs from both wrists onto the gun. He made sure to cover the gun in several layers of thick webbing, and waited. No explosion came. He sighed heavily, and pretended to wipe his masked brow. "Talk about almost adding fuel to the fire."

Taking a quick glance around he saw the cops starting to emerge from their hiding places, and saw the fire trucks pulling up. 'They had been there the whole time, but at a safe distance. The last thing they needed was the conundrum of a fire truck on fire.' The officers approached slowly, cautious of the new costumed man.

"Hold up a second officers. Let me make sure our little matchstick is out and well secure." Spidey called out to them, causing most to halt. An inhuman leap to the side of the broken wall, and Spider-Man saw the motionless body of Firefly laying halfway inside the brick rubble. He web lined a stray brick to his hand, then gingerly tossed it at the man's head. After the clank, Firefly moaned painfully, and rolled his head to the side. "Alriiight, out cold." The vigilante dropped off the wall, and pulled the unconscious man out of the pile. He walked him away a bit then set him on the ground, and webbed him up really good. "He's cooled down now. Come and get'im."

Seven of Gotham City's PD approached the scene quick but cautiously. All had their guns trained on either the unknown masked man or Firefly. "Freeze." One of the higher ranked, a woman, said authoritatively.

Peter automatically raised his hands in surrender, and took a few steps back from the bad guy. "I know it's probably not gonna help much, but I'm one of the good guys." He knew better than to mess with police that didn't know him. 'I wanted to start my career here with a positive first impression. Last thing I wanted is another J.J. making this life miserable too.'

"What do you wanna do Mel?" One of the male officers asked the woman who was leading the pack.

"Depends. No sudden movements, and you better answer my questions quick-like buddy." She directed her demands toward Spidey, who kept his hands up, but looked around at the fires and devastation from behind his blank lenses.

"No problem Ma'am. Just trying to be a good Samaritan. Cross my heart." Peter said in an upbeat tone. By this time the paparazzi were on scene, and already snapping pictures with abandon.

"Good. Who are you?" She said, not sounding any more amused.

"First introduction manner protocols usually warrant the askee to name themselves first." The woman cocked back the hammer on her gun. "But then again, I guess those rules are pretty flexible. I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, err...may I get your name? It would make this a bit less awkward." Spidey's voice was a bit hurried.

"Spider-Man? Never heard of ya. Anybody know anything about this guy?" A round of no's from her fellow officers brought her back to him. "You with the League?"

"League? No, I actually just got here pretty recently. Could I get your name now?" He said the last part a bit sheepishly. The woman raised an eyebrow, and there was a few seconds of silence, as officers slowly, methodically moved to surround Spider-Man. Spidey's lenses raised appropriately with the direction his head turned, as he watched them do this.

"Detective McKenna. Well Spider-Man if you're not with the League, then I'm gonna have to ask you to come with us." She let her left hand fall to her belt, and to a pair of cuffs there. The cops advanced on him slightly. 'Heh. They don know me vewy wewl do dey.'

"I suppose a polite declination isn't a option here?"

"Nope. Are you gonna behave, or is this gonna get messy." McKenna said, bringing the cuffs up, and letting one half dangle from her hand.

"I'd rather just get a pat on the back, and a see ya next time. But..." A few windows on the other side of the street exploded outward in flame. All the officers turned to look in that direction. Taking the very brief chance, Peter leapt nearly ten feet in the air, and web lined the burning building that distracted them. 'Thank you convenient happenstance. Actually Melody and I end up getting along pretty well. Actually most of the GCPD are pretty cool with me now. Took a some time and a few more escapes, but they know I'm one of the good guys.'

"Don't shoot me! I'm just gonna see if anybody needs some rescuing." Spidey called back to the group of police. SPIDER-SENSE! He weaved away from several bullets with practiced ease, before landing on the roof and crouching.

"Great way to leave a first impression Spidey." Peter rolled his eyes under his mask, and proceeded to climb around to the other side of the building. The side that wasn't on fire at least. Breaking into a hallway window, Spider-Man crawled along the ceiling, and started his search for trapper survivors. "Anybody in here need rescuing!" He shouted over the flames. Hearing panicked cries come from several rooms, he jumped into action. The first door was locked, and the handle was very hot.

"Hang on!" He cemented his hands to the door, and ripped it right off it's handles. 'You know I actually jump into a lot of burning buildings, now that I think about it. It's become kind of an art for me to rescue people in them. After about the fiftieth time it gets really easy.' Flames licked at him from just on the other side of the door. Peter took the door and slammed it down on the flames hard, extinguishing them in a gust of wind. "Anybody trapped, or can you get out to the hallway?" A mother and daughter came running out of the apartment, and into the smoky hallway.

"Thank you!" The woman said hurriedly, carrying her young daughter in her arms.

"No problem. Anybody else in there?" The woman coughed a few times, and shook her head no. "Alright head to the window at the end of the hallway. I'll be there in a minute." Panicked but understanding, the mom ran to where Spidey had entered.

Spider-Man rushed into the increasingly dangerous building, and ended up rescuing several more people, before finding no others. He, while carrying a young boy, rushed to the filled, fire free, end of the hallway. He set the kid down, and poked his head out the window. 'No fire escape. Okay net time.' Spidey thought quickly.

'Alright folks listen up. I'm going to create a net, and I need the adults to jump down into it. I'll lower the kids down on a line. Everybody get me. We need to do this quick." Peter made sure his voice was as determined as possible. 'When people are scared, they need a rock to anchor to. I'm their rock until they are safe. Period.' Spider-Man devil horned his upturned hands, and pressed down lightly on his shooters trigger. A wide spray of webbing launched out, connecting to two street lamps. He reinforced the connection to the lamps and building. "Okay folks time to be brave. Adults first." He called to them, and a man walked up first. "Trust me it's as strong as steel. Hurry." Them man hesitated for a few seconds before jumping. He landed in the stretchy net safely, and the rest followed with much more gusto. The children came next as Spider-Man lowered them down on individual strands. The smoke was becoming deadly, and he ended up having the last little girl piggy back on him as he jumped himself.

Emergency vehicles were already on scene on this side of the building, so Spidey set the girl down quick, and web lined up and away. He came around the front of the building, and swung just over head of the cops and Detective McKenna. "See you next time Gotham's finest!" Peter swore he saw a half smile on McKenna's face before he vanished from her sight.

'Home free right? Nope, they got choppers. But I won't bore you with the thrilling helicopter chase they gave me. Onto my next big surprise.'

"Phew. They don't give up easily. Alright." Our hero watched the police choppers fly off in another direction from his vantage on a roof. He stretched his arms to the air, letting his muscles relax a bit. "Time to blend back into the crowd and head home." Spidey reached for his mask and started to peel it up. SPIDER-SENSE! Letting the hem go he quickly turned around, and looked over the many large fanned roof.

"Awww. Don't let little ol' me stop you. I don't mind the show." A woman's voice came from behind the roof access.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a third date kinda guy. So you gonna come on out, or am I just talking to a sexy sounding wall?" A soft laugh came from behind the access, followed slowly and sensually by a black leather clad leg, and another, then a whole womanly body. Spider-Man pulled another double take. A vision of Felica Hardy, aka the Black Cat, stood about ten feet away from him now.

"Fe...Felica, is that you?" Peter's voice was wavering, he didn't expect her at all.

"Sorry stud I'm no Felicia." The woman said cutely, and Spidey's vision finally wiped away, revealing the actual woman in front of him. She was absolutely poured into her black catsuit. 'Ironic no?' She had a cat eared cowl covering most of her head, and huge slanted eye-like glasses over her eyes. From the few strands of hair uncovered he determined she was black haired. It was uncanny how she wore her outfit in comparison to Black Cat's, even down to the lowered zipper and generous show of pale flesh.

"Geeze, my bad. You look almost exactly like her. Anyway, who may I ask are you?" Spider-Man shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest. His Spider-Sense wasn't going off, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of setting it off.

"We're not on a first name basis, so just call me Catwoman." She gave him a bow at the waist, which would normally direct his gaze to the exposed flesh. 'Guy.' However his lenses were owling, as he was just gawking at her smiling face. His arms even fell to his sides. 'Seriously?! Talk about deja vu.'

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She was upright again, her hips cocked to the right, and her hands on the them.

"Gah. Sorry, sorry. It's just the resemblances are uncanny." Shaking his head again, he resumed his crossed arm state. "Hi Catwoman, I'm Spider-Man."

"I know. I was watching." This made Peter's head pull back slightly. "Nice moves by the way."

"Well...thank you. Didn't realize I had masked people in the audience, or I would have put on more of a show." Peter joked, but was now looking Catwoman over from behind his blank lenses. 'I was looking for weapons, and dangerous objects! I swear!'

"Actually I just caught the end of your little display. I was kinda busy with the robbery Firefly was covering for." Catwoman winked at him, from behind her glasses.

"So he wasn't just a madman with a super suit and fire fetish."

"No he is, but he was sent to be a distraction. Which he did flawlessly with your help. I just wanted to meet the newbie in town, before the bats' got a hold of you." She raised her hand up and pointed at Spider-Man, rocking her hips the the left.

"Well the pleasure is all mine Kitty, but who are the bats and why should I be worried?" Peter questioned, his right lens raising in question.

"Quite the charmer aren't you? Well let me see." She tapped her index finger against her chin. "Nope, I think I'll let you find out who they are on your own." Catwoman cracked a mischievous smile, clasping her hands behind her back, slightly pushing her bust out.

"Well that's not very fair now is it? Wait...if you were at the robbery... You weren't?" Spidey pointed an accusatory finger at her. 'Hey I'm a genius, not a detective. Got enough of those around here already.'

"Oh, he is more than just a nice figure." She chided, pulling a little black bag out from behind her back in her left hand. She waved it teasingly.

"Seriously are you sure you're not related to Felicia? Oh well. I'm gonna have to have you hand the bag over Kitty." Spider-Man's body tensed slightly, and his arms unfolded.

"Nuh uh, these stay right were they are. Unless you think you can take them from lil' ol me." Catwoman teased, bouncing the bag in her hand now. Peter's lenses shortened, and he shot his right hand forward launching a strand of webbing. The webbing went right past her empty hand, when she calmly tossed the bad to her other hand.

"Oh c'mon, what kind of thief do you think I am. You're gonna have to try harder than that Spider." Brilliant white teeth flashed, and taking a step back with her right foot.

"A cat burglar of course, and you asked for it." Spider-Man jumped forward and high in the air, pulling himself into a flip. Catwoman swiped her left hand toward the ground, four tiny black balls exploded against the ground creating a large smokescreen. Two strands of webbing penetrated the cloud no more than a second later, followed by Spidey falling into the cloud, dispersing it. The sound of something tapping against the ground in the alley below, made Peter jump off the roof into the alley.

He landed in the alley after a few amazing jumps down, and looked around quickly. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." There was nothing in the alley.

"You're fast, but not fast enough. See ya next time Spider." Her sing song voice rang from above him. She gave him one quick wave from the same roof he was just on, and vanished from sight.

"Wha...Oh come on!" A strand of webbing a second later, and he was back on the empty roof. He looked over the entire roof, and the surrounding roofs, to find nothing. 'Cat themed people are so frustrating! Grr.' Peter let out a long sigh. "Dang it. Not Felicia my web shooters." Peter resigned himself that he lost the cat, and decided to head back home.

'And our elusive Black Cat look alike is Selena Kyle. Ms. Kyle is...well...basically...Felicia Hardy, just a less illustrious background and no bad luck powers. Though she has a great relationship with felines, bordering on super power. I mean seriously there is not much difference aside from that. Both are well trained thieves, infinitely frustrating to try and catch, have a complicated relationship with a hero, and have been both bad and good...multiple times. Once I found out about Bat's on again off again romance with Catwoman, we had an unsung understanding. When I mentioned it to him, I swear he gave me the ghost of a smile.'

Nearly two hours later Peter Parker finally arrived at the loft. Pressing the button to the com, he was rewarded with Harleen's cheerful voice.

"Who is it?" She drew the words out.

"It's Renfield. May I come in?"

"You're late. You got lost didn't you?" He could practically see the triumphant glint in her eyes.

"Y...yeah." He said defeated.

"You're lucky there is someone I wantcha to meet, or I would leave ya out there." The door buzzed and unlocked, allowing Peter entrance. The elevator ride made him increasingly nervous.

"Oh this can't be good. The only people I can think Harls knows, and Ivy would allow in would be on the wrong side of the law. No, no, no this can't be good." His monolog was cut off when the elevator came to a halt, and he slowly opened the gate. "I'm back."

"Oh goodie! Petey come here." Harley called from the living room. Peter slowly moved from the lift, and froze halfway to the living room. In the recliner, with her legs crossed and sipping on a cup of tea was Catwoman. She had her glasses up on her forehead, and set the cup down onto the china plate.

"Well well, we meet again. A bit sooner than expected though isn't it, Spider-Man." Peter's jaw hung agape, just pointing a shaking finger at her, his expression worried.

"This is Catwoman, an ally of ours." Pam said from the second floor, leaning forward against the railing using her arms as a brace. She was in her red housecoat, and rather annoyed for some reason. Catwoman smiled, and pulled the same small black bag out, taunting him with it.

'And with that the Sirens have been assembled, and my identity revealed once more in less than a three days. Could my life get any more complicated? Yes. Yes it can. One word...Batman.'

Chapter 3 End

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. There was two weeks there where work and a vacation took me from writing. Anyways, we have Peter meeting Selena, and Spider-Man's first official appearance in Gotham. What could possibly go wrong? Yeah I'll leave that to your imaginations. Starting with the next chapter we'll be forging ahead in time. I actually made an outline of story arcs to come and have about five arcs idea'd out. So this story will be a long one. I hope you'll stick with me until the end. Also I'm thinking of adding a companion to this story. Either Harley's Diary, or a Marvel Journal (Not sure who just yet). They will basically be short entries that explain what is going on from a different side of the story. A poll will be put up, and stay up for until the next chapter is finished. Let me hear your thoughts on it. Thank you all for your Favs, Reviews, and support. I will do my best to make the next chapter come out quicker. Until then, I hope you enjoyed, and see ya next time.

FrivolousThoughts: I was a bit surprised myself with the reviews, but your got first spot at least lol. No worries, the next chapter will have Batman's appearance, so hopefully I'll answer some of your questions. As for the Marvel side, you'll just have to vote in the poll. I hope to keep up the awesome too. Thanks for inspiring me again Friv.

Never-End66: Lol sorry, but at least it was a nice surprise for when you woke up. I like Wanda way to much to leave her out of the story. In fact she was specifically put there as more than just a plot device. Glad you like Spidet's storytelling. Have some more.

Dark Vizard447: Thanks

The Raggle Fraggle: It'll be an interesting ride if what my head is thinking is done correctly. Sorry to make you wait so long, but here it is.

Lord Edric: How do you think it went lol.

A-BOMBLIKEABOSS: I doubt I will. However time travel is a possibility.

tylerbamafan34: Thanks for reading this crossover. I hope to keep you interested.

Scarlet Spider-Ham: You flatter me kind reader. I hope to keep it up.

ST3VETH3PIRATE: I know I'm horrible about time frames, I can only promise that I will continue this story. Hopefully at a quicker pace than I have. Aside from that I'm hoping you'll like how they get the the future point in their relationship. Thanks for reading.

mkeeg91: I'll do my best to make the transitions know better from now on.

GumGumOnigiri: You'll see my friend, that's all I can say for now without spoilers. I hope to keep you entertained. Here's some more.

edboy4926: Going on.

koryandrs: Trust me it sounds much less confusing to the writer lol. I will try to make it less so as we move forward.

Book-AddictFF: Good luck on your story my friend. When you get it out just tell me I'll take a look at it. Spidey will be meeting them soon. Maybe not all, but I'll certainly try to get them an appearance.

Selias: Wow, can't say I approve, but you might like the 4th arc.

Scimitar Prime: Wait no longer...sorry for the wait though.

DarkDevilKnight: Updated.