NEW YORK:

Ivy was currently working overtime on some of her experiments at the workplace. She was looking over a small sample in her experiment when she heard someone enter the labs. It was Jason Woodrue. The same guy that constantly would try asking her out, and flirted every chance that she was alone. She thought he had already gone home for the day and was hoping to get some time alone.

"Hey, Red." Jason said as he walked over, annoying Pamela.

"What do you want, Dr. Woodrue?" Pamela asked as she was focused on her work.

"There's no reason for formalities when we're alone, sweet cheeks," Jason said as he walked over aside her, looking her over as she was trying to ignore him. "You're looking good."

"Great," Pamela wasn't interested as she finished looking into the microscope and took the sample over to the others. "I am glad that I meet your standards of beauty."

"Why are you here late by yourself?" Jason asked.

"If you haven't noticed, there is kinda a blizzard out there, and a little difficult getting my car out of the garage with the way out frozen over," Pamela informed him. "And you are here because...?"

"Well, I heard that Parker moron was out of the way, and was hoping maybe this could give us a chance to get to know each other better," Jason said as he reached up and messed with her hair. "Maybe you want to spend the holidays with me instead of that joke Peter."

Pamela smacked his hand and finally began to have enough of him. "I am having enough of you, Jason. Peter's a better man than you are and ever could be. And even if you were the last man on earth, I wouldn't even look in your direction."

"You really think you still have a chance to get with that moron when you can have someone who is better?" Jason asked in a demeaning tone, noticing Pamela's face. "Yeah, trust me, a lot of us here know your crush on him. No idea how he doesn't realize it."

As Jason leaves he looks back and sees Pamela grab a picture of her and Peter together and she rubs a finger over the portion with Peter which causes Jason to grit his teeth and clench his fist in anger

Pamela just heard Jason leave the labs and to her surprise, Diana was the next to walk in. "You okay?" Diana asks Pamela.

"I'm fine," Pamela tells her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was coming past and was thinking maybe you would like a ride home," Diana tells her. "And wanted to offer you to spend the holidays with Peter and me at his aunt's. Peter told me he wanted to invite you."

"Peter already back from Gotham?" Pamela asks.

"Not yet, but he promised to be home for Christmas," Diana tells her but notices the worried face on Pamela. "What's wrong Pamela?"

"It's Peter. He went after Kraven in Gotham. I'm really scared for him. The last time Peter fought Kraven he nearly died. He had horrible injuries and it left him bedridden for weeks even after I took care of him and healed him the best I could." Pamela says while holding the picture to her even tighter and spinning her chair around to face her desk again.

"Yeah, I remember that. Honestly, I'm scared for him too but I know that Peter will be fine no matter what happens." Said Diana noticing how Pamela is still holding the picture to herself.

"I-I guess I just wish Peter was back here with me; where we can spend time together and I can take care of him. He always takes care of others, but never himself. I-I wish I was that person that could take of him like that." Said Pamela not noticing that Diana heard that last part even though Pamela said it quietly.

"Don't worry, like I said he'll be back before you know it. We just have to have faith." Said Diana putting a hand on Pamela's shoulder.

Pamela looks at the picture again and says, "Yeah, you're right." Pamela puts the picture back on the desk and turns back around

"So back to my original question. How about you come to spend Christmas with Peter and me?"

Pamela sighed and saw that was a better idea than that and shrugged. "Sure." She wasn't exactly a fan of hanging out with the woman who stole Peter's heart before she had a chance but this would give her a chance to spend more time with Peter. "I can't wait to see May."

As Pamela gets up and gets her jacket and starts to walk out of the lab and looks at the picture one last time; Diana starts to follow but sighs internally figuring out that Pamela has romantic feelings for Peter.


GOTHAM:

While Batman and Spider-Man were flying towards the city, he realized that the nearby GCR tower was realizing a jamming signal. The static confused him as he looked over his gear.

"What's that static?" Spider-Man asks.

"Something is wrong. Alfred, I've got-" Batman was interrupted by Alfred.

"I'm tracking it, too," Alfred reported. "It appears the control towers you use for your auto nav systems are putting out a jamming signal."

"Storm damage?" Batman guessed.

"You two will have to go down there and find out yourselves, sir," Alfred tells them.

"Got it. I'm close to one now." Batman responded.

"I hope it's just storm damage." Spider-Man said, "The last thing we need tonight is someone purposely blocking comms."

Then Batman slowed down the jet as he then jumped out of the Batwing and fell over the tower. Spider-Man then stood up and looked down to watch Batman plummet. Spider-Man leaped after him as Batman reached it first as he fell through the window, shattering glass everywhere.

Before they could move forward, Batman reached into his pocket and handed Spider-Man a communicator. "You'll need this. It will allow you to communicate with me and Alfred."

"Thanks," Spider-Man says as he takes the communicator from Batman and looks it over. He then turned around so he could lift part of his mask open and put it in his ear. "You aren't gonna hack my gear with this, are you?"

Batman didn't respond as he heard voices coming from behind the door in front of them. "I swear, we're the only ones here. Look, Gotham Optics gets a call that a tower acting funny right? So they send a guy over. But he never shows. Probably went home for the night, lazy bastard… Anyway, when he doesn't report in, they send us over. There's no secret plan here, fellas. We're just doing our jobs."

The two begin to listen in on the conversation, "And we're just doing ours. See, we've been hired to make sure no one touches this tower."

"You want us to leave?" Came a different voice. "No problem. Just let us go and it'll be like none of this ever happened."

"Yeah, but what if you decide to tell someone, hmm? So I texted the boss to ask what we should do. Gotta wait 'till he writes back."

"Can't you just, uh, call him?" Came a new voice.

"He only takes texts, this guy. Weird, right? But as long as he keeps paying us, he can use smoke signals for all I care."

"So uh... does Gotham Optics give you good benefits? Vacation time? Health Insurance? I'm thinkin' they must set ya up pretty nice."

"I...guess?" said one of the hostages.

The two had enough waiting around walked through the door and shocked all of the mobsters. They all jumped and pointed their guns at the two figures above them.

"What the? Grab the hostages!" Panicked one of the men as he ran off to grab a hostage to protect himself..

"Y-You seein' this?!"

"You two got some kind of deathwish?"

"I can drop smoke pellets to conceal my movement," Batman said to Spider-Man as he threw one to the ground.

Spider-Man had no idea what Batman was saying and was getting a little irritated with Batman for not telling him when he was going to do something. As Batman grappled up to a vantage point, Spider-Man jumped up onto the ceiling and groaned at the smoke.

"Okay, you really need to actually talk about what you're going to do something before you do it," Spider-Man said as he hung upside down. "We're not psychic."

Batman ignored him and looked at the mobster with a hostage and looked to Spider-Man, "Attacking head-on is a good way to get ourselves shot, and probably the hostage too. But they won't expect an attack from above."

"Heh, nobody ever does," Spider-Man said as he crawled forward. "I call dibs on this guy."

"Are those things out there with you?!" Shouts the mobster as Spider-Man crawls along the ceiling over to the vantage point above him.

"Are you crazy?! We were answering a service call! That's it!"

"You better not be lying to me…" The mobster threatens.

Once he was on the vantage point, Spider-Man sneaked his way down on a web and webbed the mobster in a cocoon of webbing, before using his web to pull him up. He pulled him up so he was now caught in a web on the ceiling.

"Screw this! I quit!" Says the hostage as he runs to a safe spot.

Both Spider-Man and Batman get off of their vantage points and they both see a vent on the wall.

"I can sneak up on the hostage taker by crawling through the vent," Batman says as he walks over to it and rips off the vent cover. As he and Spider-Man made their way through, they could hear the mobsters talking.

"W-what the hell was that?! Do you think it's the guy who hired us? You piss him off or something?"

"No way. Besides, I don't get the sense he's the uh, physical type."

Then Batman broke through the vent, knocked the mobster off his feet, and knocked him out with a strike to the chin.

"Get yourself to safety, and call the police. They'll want to see what's going on here." Batman said to the hostage.

"Okay, I will. This was just supposed to be a service call. Fix the tower. In and out. I need a new job…"

The two heroes spotted another vent to crawl through. Once they got in, they heard the mobsters talking again.

"I'm out."

"Where are you going?"

"Where those... things, can't get me."

Then one of the criminals grabbed a hostage "Whoever you guys are, come near me and I'll kill this guy. I ain't playin'."

Once the two got out of the vent, they were in a small room right behind the hostage taker. In front of them were wooden boards. Batman grabbed the criminal through the boards and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

"Holy shit," Spider-Man said as he was shocked at what Batman just did.

As they moved forward, the hostage began to panic. "I can fix the tower, whatever you want. Just, please don't hurt me."

"All we want is for you to get yourself to safety," Spider-Man told the hostage.

As they proceeded down the hallway, they noticed the final individual standing beside the ledge overhead. Spider-Man ascended the wall, and when he reached a point just beneath the criminal, he deployed his webs to yank him over the railing. He then swung him onto the same wall and secured him there with his webbing.

The two made their way over the railing and through the door into the control room. Once they were in the room, they saw a destroyed wall and a body.

"Wonder what happened here," Spider-Man said as he kneeled down.

"I don't think this tower malfunction is from storm damage," Batman tells him. "I need to set up a crime scene and find out what happened. I should start by identifying the victim."

"What are you doing?" Spider-Man said as he saw Batman's eyes turn white and stared at the body.

"I'm using a device and scanner in my mask to find out what happened," Batman explained. "It allows me to identify people and replay events. If I can find out what happened, I may be able to discover what's going on with the tower."

Spider-Man didn't understand what he was talking about, but he didn't feel like questioning it. So he decided to stay silent, stand back, and let him do his thing. "So, it's like a...detective mode of sorts?"

Batman ignored him and went on scanning the environment and the body. "Victim's name is David Shannon, a Gotham Optics employee sent here to repair a faulty network tower. But what killed him? Scanning the DNA impact should provide an answer."

Once he scanned the DNA, a reconstruction of the crime scene played in his mask.

"Impact analysis indicates the victim was killed by some kind of explosion, originating at that access panel. I should scan it for additional clues." He then kept searching the area and this was something Spider-Man had never seen before. "It looks like the panel was rigged to detonate when swiped with a keycard. Someone really didn't want this tower repaired. And it looks like that same someone left a set of fingerprints behind."

"How...?" Peter looked closer to try and see what he was seeing. "How do you...?"

Batman then walked over and scanned the panel and he contacted Alfred. "Alfred." He called in, "I'm uploading some prints for analysis. Let me know what comes back."

"Certainly sir. Searching now… And here we are. They belong to one John F. Baker. He's a rather unremarkable criminal. Small jobs mostly. Only… That's curious."

"What's curious?" Spider-Man said, entering to conversation.

"Ah, Spider-Man. Didn't realize Batman gave a communicator." Alfred was surprised to hear. "Anyway, Mr. Baker's dead sir. His body was recovered from the Diamond District just under an hour ago."

"Looks like someone's tying up loose ends," Batman said.

"I can bypass the booby-trapped access panel with my Cryptographic Sequencer," Batman tells Spider-Man, pulling out the device. "But I'll need the encryption codes from the victim's access card. Reviewing the crime scene will show me where it is. Batman thought as he began to rewind the crime scene."

It showed the access card flying into the vent next to him. He opened it and scanned the card. "What's that?" Spider-Man said when he saw Batman open the vent.

"It's the access card the victim used. It has the codes I need to hack any of the network tower's access panels with my Cryptographic Sequencer." Batman informed him.

"A what?" Spider-Man questioned.

Batman then pulled out his Cryptographic Sequencer. "This, it allows me to hack into any security panel," Batman explained. He then began to hack the panel. Once he entered the code in, the door unlocked and Batman climbed up the ladder.

"Where does he get this stuff?" Spider-Man wonders as he follows.


Once they climbed up, there was a big metal door in front of them.

"Alfred. Contact the GCPD. Let them know about the body. Send the data from my analysis too." Batman said.

"Certainly sir. Does this mean you two found the source of the disturbance?" Alfred asked.

"I think so," Spider-Man responded.

Spider-Man then walked up to the door and opened it. There was another access panel. Once Batman was about to hack it, He was interrupted by someone appearing on the screen and hiding his face in the shadows.

"Well, well. If it isn't the King Thugs themselves. Figured it was only a matter of time before you two showed up. Sorry about the mess downstairs."

"Who is this?" Batman questioned.

"Think of me as a great big mystery! One you two are never going to solve."

"Enigma then," Batman said.

"Ha. I got that." Spider-Man laughed.

"Oh ho ho. You must think you're so clever. Well, how's this for clever? I've taken control of towers all over the City. As long as they're active, your Batwing's useless. And it looks like it's gonna stay that way. I mean, this one's practically BEGGING to be taken offline and you still can't hack it. Pun intended, of course."

"We'll see about that," Spider-Man said as Batman began to hack the panel. Once he was done, Enigma came back.

"Hmmm... Black Mask's not going to like this."

"What are you talking about?" Batman asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Enigma said as he disconnected.

"Yeah, that's why he asked," Spider-Man said to himself.

"I see that you two have regained control of the Batwing, sir. I suppose it's off to Jezebel Plaza, then?" Alfred asked.

"That's the plan. But then… We've also got a lead on Enigma." Batman replied.

"Don't overthink it too much, sir. We both know you will eventually wind up doing both."

Then the two opened the door next to them and walked out of the room. Then climbed up the ladder in front of them and onto the roof.

"C'mon, if we don't get to Jezebel Plaza before that arms deal, We'll have no way to locate the Penguin," Batman said.

"Alright, lead the way," Spider-Man said as he and Batman jumped off the roof and made their way through the city.

Batman looked and realized Spider-Man was swinging from the device on his wrist. "How are you doing that?"

"Oh, like them?" Spider-Man asked as he swung around Batman. "My signature mode of transport. Web shooters. A synthetic web fluid that I made myself."

"Hm," Batman responded, realizing that Spider-Man must be smarter than he gave him credit for originally.


Upon arriving at Jezebel Plaza, Spider-Man and Batman quickly noticed the absence of others. Spider-Man found this peculiar and even employed his Spider Senses, yet he detected no one nearby.

"Looks like we're the first ones here," Spider-Man tells his partner.

"We need to find a spot where we can stake this place out unnoticed," Batman said to Spider-Man.

Spider-Man spotted a gargoyle above them, it seemed like the perfect spot for them. "Hey, about right there?" he responded while pointing at the gargoyle.

Batman acknowledged with a nod and ascended above using his grapple, while Spider-Man swiftly climbed to the gargoyles with his webbing. They positioned themselves atop the gargoyle, lying in wait for Penguin's henchmen. Batman settled on the gargoyle, surveying the area, as Spider-Man took his stance on the glass ceiling just behind.

"So, who's this guy we're looking for?" Spider-Man asked as they saw a group of men approach Penguin's men.

"Penguin. Not a dime changes hands in this city he can't tell you about. If anyone knows where Black Mask and his assassins are, it's him." Batman explained to him. "But Penguin's hard to find. His men are doing a deal here. I'll make them talk and tell us where he is."

"Guys!" Loose Lips, the one in charge of the deal shouted. "So, little boys, what do you want for Christmas? Oh wait, I already know."

Loose Lips snapped his fingers and gestured for the thug carrying the briefcase to open it. Inside was a sniper rifle. One of the men from the group threw a briefcase to Loose Lips.

"Now let's see if you've been naughty or... Nice." One of the men in the group approached the briefcase and put all the pieces of the sniper rifle together.

"Punk in the Santa Hat must be in charge," Batman observed.

"What was your first clue?" Spider-Man remarked sarcastically. "And here I thought Trapster was obvious."

"Where's the rest of 'em?" Someone asked Loose Lips.

"Easy, tiger. When you deal with us, you're dealing with the Penguin. This ain't some fly-by-night operation." Loose Lips replied.

Batman was the first to leap down and tackle two of the criminals before another word was spoken. Spider-Man, with a nonchalant shrug, dropped down and followed suit, firing webs at two of the thugs and pulling them together to knock them out.

After the heroes subdued each criminal in succession, Batman employed his grapple hook to ensnare their necks, drawing them in for a punch. Spider-Man followed by launching a taser web, incapacitating one of the foes. Loose Lips remained the sole adversary standing. Batman hurled him onto a chair and tossed the briefcase towards him.

"Get away!" Loose Lips tried to scream as Batman kicked him square in the chest, toppling the chair over. "No...NO!" He screamed as Batman jumped on him and lifted him high in the air.

"Where's the Penguin?" Batman interrogated him.

"I don't know." Loose Lips choked out.

"Where is he!?" Batman demanded, lifting him higher in the air.

"I swear." That was all he was able to say before passing out.

Batman sighed. "Damn."

"What do we do now?" Spider-Man asked.

Batman turned his head to look up at the Gotham Bank. "I have an idea."


"Wake up," Batman said.

Loose Lips slowly regained his consciousness. "What… what happened?" was all he said before he panicked once he realized his predicament.

He was hanging upside down by Batman above the Gotham Bank building. He looked and noticed Spider-Man perched next to Batman, their eyes the only thing shining against the dark silhouettes they cast over the moon.

"Time to talk. Where's Cobblepot?"

"Let me go!"

"If you insist," Batman said as he dropped Loose Lips.

Loose Lips let out a scream just as Spider-Man fired a web that latched onto his foot, sending him crashing into the building's clock. As his phone started to ring, Spider-Man exchanged a glance with Batman, then leaped down and shot another web to lower himself to Loose Lips' level.

"You know, you should really be careful with how you word things," Spider-Man said as he reached into his pocket for the phone.

He then pulled him up further as Loose Lips began to beg. "Please… Stop, stop, I'll talk, I'll tell you anything you want to know! Please!"

Spider-Man looked and saw that the phone received a message, asking if the deal went through. "Looks like 'Cob' is wondering if the deal went through." He said as he tossed the phone up to Batman.

Batman took the phone out of his pocket and read the text that Penguin had sent to Loose Lips. "Looks like we already have what we need."

"NO!" He said as Batman let him go. He screamed in terror until he fell straight into the giant Christmas tree below him. "You're crazy! You're friggin crazy!" Loose Lips shouted at Batman from the tree.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the criminal." Spider-Man gulped, in shock of what just happened but wasn't going to say that near Batman. He then climbed up his web and made his way over to Batman as he used the phone. "So, what's the plan?"

"If I can read this SIM card, I may be able to locate Penguin," Batman said, dismissing what just happened. When Batman tried to use his Cryptographic Sequencer, there was some sort of jamming signal blocking him. "Alfred, I getting interference on my com systems. Is that on your side?"

"No, sir. I'm seeing it as well. It's from the nearby GCR tower. It's the same signal jamming the Batwing's auto-nav systems. I've highlighted the tower on your map."

"We'll need to stop that signal before I can track down the Penguin." Batman sighed.

"I'm on it," Spider-Man said as he swung his way over.

Spider-Man advanced toward the GCR tower located just down the street. Climbing the building, he noticed a band of criminals on the rooftop, vigilantly guarding the entrance to the GCR control room.

"I'm just happy to have work right now." Said one of the criminals.

"But don't you think it's weird? We've never seen this guy or heard his voice. Nothin' but texts from an unlisted number." Responded another.

"Whaddo I care, long as the money shows up in my bank account."

As soon as he said that, Spider-Man leaped into action. He swung and shot out a ricochet web, which bounced off of the thugs and webbed them to the nearby surfaces before they knew what hit them. "Well, look who just showed up! Have you two really decided to try and take me on? Get to it, then! I'm looking forward to watching you both fail." Came Enigma's voice over their comms.

Spider-Man then made his way over yanked off the door and approached the signal, using his own mask to hack the signal.

"Eh, Typical. I mean, why apply cognitive resources to a problem when you can just use brute force!" Enigma whined as Spider-Man hacked his signal. "You know, if you'd asked nicely, I'd of opened It for you,"

Once he finally hacked the tower, Enigma came back on the screen. "Congratulations are in order! Maybe you're not as stupid as I've been led to believe."

"Why are you doing this, Enigma?" Batman demanded as he was listening in.

"Direct! I like it. So I'll tell you. Gotham is sullied. It's filled with brutes who control this city through violence and intimidation."

"You didn't answer his question," Spider-Man said.

"Because you didn't let me finish! I want to get rid of them. To improve Gotham's intellectual and moral standing. But I'm not a thug like you. My approach is a bit more refined."

"What you're doing is no different than stealing. There's nothing refined about it." Batman stated.

"Your response is as predictable as it is banal. Goodbye." He said as the transmission was turned off.

Once Spider-Man swung his way back to the roof, he saw Batman was already at work. "Now I found a way to access the SIM card I took from that arms dealer and hack Penguin's communications." He said.

Once Batman found the coordinates, they could hear Penguin's men talking about the deal. "The Penguin's pretty pissed off about the deal going south." Came a voice.

"Yeah, if I was involved in that, I'd be on my way out of the city." Came another.

"Alfred, I'm reading a signal from Penguin's men but it's not associated with any known wireless frequency," Batman said.

"Ah yes. I see it here. Looks like Penguin runs his own private wireless network using laptop transmitters serving as ad hoc com stations. He's feeding his men frequencies via two-way radio. There are two of these com stations near your position."

"Good. Mark them on my map. It loan find and hack those walkie-talkies I can triangulate Penguin's position." Batman said as he ended the transmission. He then turned to Spider-Man, "We should split up, I'll go to Gotham Casino, and you head to the Sionis Steel Mill. You know where that is?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I saw the sign during my swinging patrols looking for Kraven," Spider-Man said.

"Good, we'll meet on the roof of the Amertek building, you can give me the SIM card there." He said as he took out his grapnel gun and flew off.


Once Batman got there, he could overhear the thugs talking. "I start my trainin' tomorrow. Gonna kick ass in next year's Boiler Deck".

"I already started lookin' into some self-defense classes." Said another thug.

"Self-defense? What's that all about?" Questioned one of the thugs.

"You know. Martial arts techniques on how to defend yourself from an attacker."

"Defend yourself? Are you just gonna stand there and defend yourself while the other guy walls on you? You won't last two rounds."

Then Batman came in and took all of them out. Once they were out cold, he took the SIM card from the nearby computer and hacked into their communications.

"...the Bat Man and the Spider-Man? You expect me to believe that? Listen, I happen to know that those two have way more important things to do tonight than mess with our shipment. Probably saving their own asses. So next time you want to make up a story, you better make sure the person you're telling it to is dumber than you are. Oh wait, that's right, THERE AIN'T NO ONE DUMBER THAN YOU!" Came Penguin's voice.

"Mr. Cobblepot. I swear it was the Bat and Spider. They dropped Ricky off the roof of the clock tower straight into the Christmas tree." Said one of Penguin's men.

"I don't care what you think you saw. If you're not back 'ere with my money in the next ten minutes. I'll cut your damn eyeballs out. And then you won't have to worry about seeing anything ever again. Is that clear!?"

"Yes, Mr. Cobblepot. I'm sorry, Mr. Cobblepot."

Batman then made his to the Amertek building.


Spider-Man had already taken out all of the guards in the area and grabbed the card. He did a little skip and a jump as he scooped up some snow for the fun of it and threw it in the face of one of the goons he had already webbed up on the wall. He heard a muffled scream of anger come from him.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Spider-Man said as he swung off.

Once he made it to the Amertek building, he saw Batman was already there. "You took longer than I thought," Batman commented.

"Yeah, yeah, here," Spider-Man said as he handed Batman the card. "A thank you wouldn't kill you."

Once Batman hacked the card, they heard the Penguin talking.

"All right everyone, listen up. I know I oughtta cancel our annual Boiler Deck fights after what happened tonight at Jezebel Plaza, but just to show you what a nice guy I am, the fights are still on. So get to the ship right now if you want in on this. Do I make myself clear? Good, I ain't waiting for laggers."

"There you are. Onboard the Final Offer." Batman said as a map of the Final Offer appeared on his gauntlet. "Penguin's been hiding out on an old ship. No wonder he's been so hard to find."

"Wow, our bad guys have the same choices in hideouts. I'd love to find one that hangs out somewhere like an abandoned amusement park. "Spider-Man remarked as they turned to the boat that was next to them on the docks.

Batman doesn't reply jumps off the roof and glides towards the boat.

"Hey! Wait up!" Spider-Man shouts as he quickly swings after him. He landed on the sparrow of the ship, where they took out one of the snipers. "Okay, if we are gonna work together, you have got to be better at communicating. I am not a mind reader, that wasn't one of the skills I got from the spider."

"Just take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right," Batman said as he glided using the darkness as cover and landed behind some crates.

Spider-Man looked underneath his arms and muttered to himself, "Maybe I could revisit those web wings I tried to get working."

With his quick reflexes and web-slinging abilities, Spider-Man used his webs to create a line and yank his enemies upward from above, taking them down with ease. Meanwhile, Batman had strategically used the cover of darkness to his advantage, lurking in the shadows and yanking the criminals into the darkness one by one, knocking them out slowly and quietly.

As the battle raged on, the only two criminals left were the ones standing guard at the door, but it didn't take much effort for Spider-Man to yank the guns out of their hands and disarm them. With the path clear, Batman glided in with his cape and delivered a swift smack to the face, taking down the last two criminals and securing the area.


Once they were inside, two of Penguin's men were waiting for them with knives. "You want to get cut, freaks?"

"Looks like someone brought a bat and a spider to knife fight."

Then the two charged at the heroes, ready to cut them. However, Batman and Spider-Man were expecting it and quickly dodged the attacks before knocking them out easily. Spider-Man webbed them against the wall, keeping them out of the way of their exit just in case they need to deal with them later.

All of a sudden, Penguin's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Ha ha ha ha ha, welcome, welcome to this year's Boiler Deck fights! You know. I always get a laugh outta you first-round lot, ha ha. That's why I keep you boys 'round ha ha. Well that an' I need someone to clean out the pisser! HAHAHAHA. An' don't think I didn't notice those of you who didn't bet on yourselves. You're either cheap or lacking confidence. Neither are desirable qualities. I'll sort out you lot after the tourney. But let's get started! Who's ready for some action?"

"Penguin is hosting some kind of fighting tournament. That's where we need to go." Batman said to Spider-Man and he replied with a nod.

As the two were walking, they could hear Penguin's crew testing out the guns. "The latest in military surveillance gear. Not bad." Came a voice from one of the men.

"Yeah. Pretty sweet, right? My cousin was using these in the war."

"Boss find any buyers for 'em yet?"

"Nah Penguin's just been testin' 'em out on his own so far."

Batman opened the door and knocked out the criminal in front of him. Spider-Man leaped into the air and used a splitter web to latch onto a few of them, throwing the goons into one another.

"All available hands report to aft deck four. Engine room's starting to flood. Needs to be pumped out pronto." Came a voice over the loudspeaker as Batman and Spider-Man entered the next room.

They then entered an area that led to two places. One led the boiler deck fight and the other went somewhere else. The hallway that led to the boiler deck was flooded with deep water. Spider-Man realized that he could make it across, however Batman could not.

Spider-Man turned to Batman "You wouldn't happen to suddenly have the ability to fly, right?" Spider-Man joked but was answered with silence. "Don't worry, I'll get you."

Spider-Man then shot out a web and yanked Batman over, catching him in the chest and helping him come over and got them over. As they approached the doors, they could see the Penguin high above the fighting area, above other spectators who were cheering on as two men were throwing punches and kicks at one another.

"C'mon, son! At least make a show of it." Shouted Penguin.

"Alright lads, the rest of you losers-to-be are gonna have to embarrass yourselves without me. God knows you can do it. I got some business to take care of in me office, and I don't want to be disturbed. Tracey'll be running the fights til I get back."

"Sounds like Penguin will be in his office. Tracey should know where that is. I'll make her talk." Batman said

Batman tried to open the door but realized it was locked. He began to climb up the room to find another way in. Spider-Man shrugged and just followed him up as they reached the top of the platform and ran across the catwalk in front of them, dodging the steam from the steam pipes above them. Once they made it to the top, they saw a circular steam pipe that was big enough for them to crawl through. Batman pulled open the latch with his bat claw and crawled through it as it led to the arena of the fight. Once they dropped down, they saw everyone staring at them in shock and confusion.

Then their attention turned towards a lady who was walking towards them and then leaned on the rail and said, "Now there's a pair of naughty geezas. Proper naughty. An' they deserve a right proper welcome. Don' they lads?" She said as she gestured behind her. They looked over to see The Electrocutioner walking down a set of stairs behind Tracey.

"You two just saved me a lot of trouble coming here, Bat-Man and Spider-Man." He said before jumping from the stairwell onto the platform above the arena. "I'm-a kill you." He says as he points at them. "Then, I'm-a jumpstart your hearts, and kill you again!" He said as he sent electricity running through the railing he was holding onto.

Then he leaped over the railing and landed on the ground, sending small waves of electricity toward the heroes as he slammed his fist on the metal beneath him.

"ARE YOU READY?!" He yelled as the crowd cheered him on. The Electrocutioner got ready to fight put his hands in front of him and cracked his neck.

"We're looking for Black Mask. Where is he?" Batman questioned, not in the mood for this.

"Hahaha, I ain't here to talk. I'm here to kick both your asses." He responded.

"This is your last chance, man, talk or wake up with a headache," Spider-Man warned.

However, the Electrocutioner did not listen and began trash-talking the two. The heroes looked at each other, almost as if they were reading the other's mind, before nodding to each other as the two just went for it and sucker-punched the Electrocutioner square in the face, sending him flying through the air and rendering him unconscious.

"Who wants to show us where the Penguin is?!" Batman shouted toward the crowd.

"Alright you lousy mugs, time t'earn your supper," Tracey said as Penguin's men began jumping into the arena.

In the midst of a chaotic brawl, Batman and Spider-Man, found themselves surrounded by a group of menacing men. They fought off the attackers with all their might, but it seemed like the men were too many to handle. Tracey, who was watching from a distance, began shouting at the superheroes, hoping to "motivate" them to fight better, but to no avail.

In a moment of quick thinking, Spider-Man leaped onto the wall and used it as a springboard to tackle one of the men, knocking him down. He then leaped off the man's body and webbed a few attackers in the face, momentarily blinding them and giving Batman some breathing room.

Batman watched in awe as Spider-Man fought off the attackers with a unique technique that he had never seen before. It seemed like Spider-Man was flailing his arms around and punching whatever was closest, but it was clear that his fighting style was effective. Batman couldn't help but be impressed by Spider-Man's agility and quick reflexes.

Once there was only a handful left standing, Tracey took her leave and said, "Bugger it all! You lads sure are a disappointment. To the Casino, then. Someone's gotta warn Cobblepot what's comin' 'is way."

Once only one man was standing, Batman picked him up by the throat and began to interrogate him. "Where's Cobblepot?"

Spider-Man took his leave as he swung after Tracey.

"I ain't telling you jack."

"A little more pressure and I'll crush your larynx. What's it going to be?"

"All right, all right. He's in his office. The only way is through the theater, on the other side of the casino. But you'll never get past Tracey."

"Tracey is not a problem." He finished before knocking him out.

Spider-Man then came back while throwing Tracey into the room. "Found her trying to run. Figured it would be best to stop her from getting way."

"You loud snot nosey buggers thing I'm gonna 'alk?" Tracey asked.

"No, I just want you to shut up," Spider-Man said as he webbed her mouth. "Shall we?"

Batman nodded as he headed for the exit. "You're odd, but effective."

"Same to you," Spider-Man replied. "And I know some odd people."

"I'll bet." Batman retorted.

Spider-Man was surprised to hear Batman attempt a joke before swiftly following him. They moved to the platform above the arena, navigating their way to the deck access corridor. The walkway ahead was sealed, forcing them to seek an alternate path. Dropping to the lower area, they sprinted down the corridor, leaped over the chasm filled with deep water, and slid under a wall obstructed by a pipe. Climbing up to the air duct, they encountered ice on the wall. Batman applied explosive gel and detonated it, while Spider-Man ascended via a different route, both alerted by the voices above.

"Yeah. Heard the boss was just gonna send it to the bottom when he gets the new ship."

"Can't say I'll miss the ole rust bucket. What a'ya think he'll call her? Final Offer Two?"

"You can't call It that, Final Offer's the final offer. As in, final. As in you can't make another one."

"Good point. Well, maybe a new name's good luck. We could use it."

"'Specially if the Bat and that Spider guy are here somewhere."

Spider-Man reaches the summit before Batman and spots two thugs on the walkway. He leaps up, flinging one over the edge while securing him with a web to the railing. He then swiftly subdues the second thug with a series of strikes, rendering him unconscious. By the time Batman arrives, Spider-Man has already neutralized the threat.

"What took you so long?" Spider-Man quipped, recalling what Batman said.

Batman just ignored him and walked past him as they moved up the stairs at the end of the walkway and walked through the door. Once they entered the upper deck, they could hear more voices. They peeked around the corner to see three more of Penguin's men.

"Full alert she says. Intruders on board, she says."

"Yeah, when was the last time we had an intruder on this ship?"

"Heh. Who'd think to break into this heap?"

"All part of Penguin's plan I'm sure. Question is, can Tracey stop them before they get to the boss."

Batman then threw a smoke pellet at them and the two heroes took them out in the confusion. "Alfred, we had a run-in with one of the assassins, Lester Buchinsky," Batman said to Alfred over the radio.

"The Electrocutioner. Are the two of you all right?" Alfred asked, worried for both of their safeties.

"We're fine. But he might have escaped." Spider-Man said, knowing criminals always find a way to escape. "His gloves put out a strong electromagnetic pulse. Are you able to isolate the signal from the cave so we can track him down?"

"Yes, I can. Where are you two going now?"

"We're on our way to the Final Offer's casino. We're going to make Penguin's assistant show us to her boss." Spider-Man answered.

After ending the call, Spider-Man spotted the fragile ceiling overhead. With a swift motion, he used his webs to bring it down. They ascended to the floor above and noticed an air vent on their left. Batman forcefully opened it, and they both scurried through. Reaching the end of the air duct, Batman forcefully kicked the vent open, emerging first with Spider-Man following. They walked on until they arrived at the casino's bar, where they observed one of Penguin's henchmen asleep in the corner, clutching a bottle.

"Must've partied too hard," Spider-Man murmured to himself. They entered the casino and spotted what appeared to be the security room through the glass of an overhead room. Beneath them, three of Penguin's henchmen were busy; two counting cash and one patrolling the area.

"Should I go bring it to him?" One of the thugs asked the other.

"You serious? We got'a move this cash before the Bat and the Spider get here."

"Right, right. Hey. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?"

"I'm thinkin' you should shut the hell up and pack the money."

"But… There's so much. He ain't gonna miss it if I just take a little Christmas Bonus?"

"You hear about the last guy who lined a few bucks? Penguin told him he could work it off, at the bottom of the harbor."

"Hey… I was just askin'"

"Less askin'. More packin'."

Spider-Man stealthily leaped onto the ceiling, swiftly ensnaring the patrolling guard with his web and suspending him above. Meanwhile, Batman crept up on the remaining two guards and knocked their heads together. Alerted by the noise, Tracey witnessed Spider-Man descend to the floor beside Batman, who had just extracted a chip from one of the criminal's radios.

Suddenly, the entrance to the casino opened, and out rushed a bunch of Penguin's men. Once all of them were in she sealed off the doors behind them with metal bars. The criminals didn't stand a chance as the two took them all out. When Tracey saw the last of Penguin's men fall, she barricaded the window to her office.

"Sounds like Cobblepot's office is connected to the theater. And the entrance is controlled from that security room." Spider-Man informed Batman

Batman spotted an air vent for them to use. Once he ripped off the cover and crawled through the vent he began to hack the control panel as he heard more of Penguin's men talking.

"Nothin'. I just told her I was workin' Christmas Eve and there wasn't a damn thing she could do 'bout it." One of them said

"Like that, huh?"

"Yeah. Like that. Ain't like she's makin' enough she can tell me what to do."

"You're right. You can't let them get the upper hand."

"That's what my dad always said. 'Course mom would slap him right after."

Once Batman hacked the panel. The door opened to show Spider-Man waiting.

"Let's kill this sunova-" he cut himself off when he saw Spider-Man standing in front of them leaning on the wall casually.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Spider-Man said as he shot his webs at two of the thugs who were holding guns and yanked them out of their hands. By the time Batman reached them, Two thugs were unconscious while the last one was strung up on the low ceiling.

Upon entering the elevator where the thugs were, they noticed an extensive security setup. Batman swiftly hacked into the control panel, unlocking the door and clearing the window. They then leaped out of the window and approached the door. As Batman attempted to open it, an immense force propelled him back into Spider-Man. Regaining their footing, they caught sight of the one who had sent them flying.

"Allo, boys. You know you ain't welcome 'ere. And you know what we do to trespassers? Well, yer 'bout ta find out, ain't ya?" Came the voice of a huge thug as more men surrounded the two heroes.

"Can we go two minutes without fighting one of these guys?" Spider-Man asked Batman. "Your city is full of criminals."

"Welcome to Gotham," Batman replied sarcastically.

The other thugs encircling them seemed diminutive in comparison to him. As he lunged at the duo, Spider-Man swiftly webbed his face, halting him instantly. Struggling to remove the webbing, Batman seized the moment to deliver a flurry of punches to his abdomen, while Spider-Man subdued the remaining thugs. When the Enforcer was sufficiently disoriented, Batman struck his knee, forcing him to turn, then wrapped around his neck and drove his head into the ground. Turning back, Batman observed Spider-Man incapacitate the final thug by leaping onto his head, driving him to the ground, and webbing him in place.

The duo proceeded through the door into the next room, which featured a miniature model of the Final Offer in a central display case. As they entered, they spotted five armed henchmen. A hostage was positioned across the room from their location. Batman noted a henchman just a few feet to their right. Silently taking down the thug, he could hear one of Penguin's men talking to the hostage.

"You gotta know mister Falcone's not gonna stand for this." Said the hostage.

"You wanna end up on ice like your friends?"

"You're scum. All a'you. You got no idea what you're startin'."

"You don't get it. The Falcones' are done. Finished. A dyin' empire. It's our turn now."

"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth."

"You callin' me weak?"

"Meek. It's from the bible."

"Ah. I ain't never read that book. But if you're the prayin' type should shut your mouth and pray your boss tells me what he wants to know. Else both'a yas are gonna be… What do you guys say? 'Swimmin' with the fishes'."

"Swimming with the fishes? Oh that's original. You think of that yourself, you low-class goomba?"

"I'm warnin' ya. One more word…"

After their conversation ended, Spider-Man had already silently suspended one of the thugs from the bird statue above, while Batman had stealthily subdued another thug from Penguin's gang. Spider-Man then descended to the ground, yanked the next criminal towards him with his web, slammed him against the wall, and secured him there with webbing. Meanwhile, Batman had stealthily navigated through an air vent beneath the last thug standing by the hostage, emerged from the vent, and forcefully brought the thug's face to the ground. Seeing the room was safe, the hostage stood up as Batman approached him.

"What do you want, I didn't do nothin'." Said the hostage in a panicked voice.

""Who's your boss? What does Penguin want with him?" Batman demands.

"Alberto Falcone, but I got no idea what Penguin wants with him I swear."

"Falcone?" Spider-Man asked. "That criminal?"

"You know your history," Batman replied.

"I had a long flight here. Read some magazines." Spider-Man admitted.

Before the two could make their way to the door, the Falcone bodyguard decided to say one more thing. "I don't know what your game is, but old man Falcone would be in your debt if the two of you take Cobblepot down. He's right through that door back there."

"No thanks. We don't need the Falcone's in our debt." Batman answers before he moves towards the door with Spider-Man right behind him.


As they open the door, the heroes surprisingly go unnoticed by everyone in the room as they continue their conversation.

"Now where were we, Candy?" Said Penguin.

"You suggested little Alberto over here, hey baby." She said as she winked at him. "Try to convince his father to take early retirement. He disagreed… Called you a… Let's see… 'psychotic little bastard.'" Replied Candy.

Penguin approached Alberto, who was in a state of panic. "No... Please, no!" Alberto pleaded before Penguin struck him in the stomach with his umbrella.

Blood spurted from Alberto's mouth as Penguin calmly lit a cigar and exhaled smoke into his face. Coughing ensued from Alberto as Penguin grasped a zapper from a nearby table. "You better listen, Falcone... 'coze I won't ask again," Penguin stated, activating the zapper.

He walks in front of Falcone grabs the back of his head and yanks it back. "What are you gonna tell yer father?" Penguin threatens as he moves the zapper closer to his face.

"That we're getting out of the weapons business. I promise. I'll make him do it." Alberto says as sparks from the zapper shoot out from it near his face. The Penguin throws his head forward and starts laughing.

"I see your lips flappin, Berty, but they ain't makin the sound I want to hear," Penguin says before he starts zapping him a few times before a Batarang comes out of nowhere and knocks the zapper out of his hands.

Penguin sees the two heroes standing in the room and quickly takes cover behind Falcone. "You idiots better kill them, 'cos if not, you better 'ope they kill you." He threatens

"Please! Don't hurt me!" Falcone begs. As the two begin taking down the thugs.

Penguin begins yelling at his men to do better as Batman and Spider-Man mop the floor with them. Penguin then begins panicking as he realizes that all the thugs are knocked out.

"Hold on, just hold on a bloody minute!" he pleads before Batman lifts him and hurls him towards a nearby mirror. The glass shatters, scattering fragments all around as Penguin crashes onto the table. "I seen your acts. I ain't done nothing you two not'a done." He says before Batman throws him off the table and onto the floor.

As Penguin tries to get up, Batman slams his head onto the floor. "Black Mask. Put a bounty on our heads. Where is he?" He demands.

"I don't keep tabs on every geezer with a grudge. You two aren't popular blokes in this town." Penguin responds. "Are you two doing some good cop, bad cop?"

"Yeah, and he's good cop." Spider-Man tried to be intimidating. When in Gotham... "So, I would start talking."

Batman turns him from his stomach onto his back and delivers several punches to his face. He then hoists Penguin into the air by his throat and says, "Do as he says. Time is running out." Following this, Batman strikes Penguin in the face once more.

"Man, you are brutal on these guys." Spider-Man comments in surprise.

"Eck… Wait - Wait… Lacey Towers. There was a murder… it was supposed to be his safehouse…" As Penguin was being interrogated, Spider-Man could have sworn he heard footsteps behind them, but couldn't see anything. "But ol' Black Mask he's got problems of his own, I'd say. Someone broke in there and- "

Spider-Man's spider senses started to tingle. "Batman, watch out!" he yelled, just as something began to coil around their feet.

They tumble to the ground and are swept across the floor. Batman clings to the door frame while Spider-Man is pulled from the room, dangling upside-down from a wire. Batman receives a kick to the face from the enigmatic assailant, loses his grip, and swings beside Spider-Man. They watch the man approach with a sword. Attempting to stab Batman, the man is thwarted as Batman seizes the sword, repels the attacker, and slices through the wire binding Spider-Man's and his own feet. Batman then soars down to the boiler deck below, while Spider-Man regains his footing with a perfect landing. The man lands before them, revealed as Deathstroke. Batman relinquishes the sword as Deathstroke draws a new one from behind. Batman and Spider-Man start to encircle the assassin, bracing themselves for the ensuing battle.

"It appears the game is over before it even begins." Deathstroke taunts.

"We're not here to play games," Batman says as he and Batman get into fighting stances.

"Tell us where we can find Black Mask," Spider-Man demanded.

"Tracking the both of you down was much easier than I thought. Perhaps you two won't be much of a challenge after all." Deathstroke said.

The scene was tense as Spider-Man and Batman stood opposite Deathstroke, each of them poised for an attack. Deathstroke, however, was not one to be underestimated. He was quick, agile, and highly skilled in combat. As soon as Batman threw the first punch, Deathstroke dodged it with lightning speed and delivered a swift kick to Batman's midsection. Spider-Man was quick to respond, lunging forward with his web-slinging fists, but Deathstroke was already one step ahead, sidestepping the attack and striking Spider-Man's back with a powerful blow.

The two heroes were now struggling to keep up with Deathstroke's relentless assault. Batman was blocking a series of punches and kicks, but Deathstroke was too fast and too skilled. Spider-Man's spider-sense was barely giving him enough time to dodge Deathstroke's razor-sharp sword. It seemed as though Deathstroke had the upper hand, taunting his opponents as he landed blow after blow.

But Batman and Spider-Man were not ones to give up easily. They began to work together, Batman creating distractions while Spider-Man landed a few solid hits. Batman delivered a powerful punch to Deathstroke's jaw, causing the mercenary to stagger for just a moment. In that moment, Spider-Man took advantage, webbing Deathstroke's sword hand and yanking it away. With his weapon gone, Deathstroke was vulnerable.

The heroes pressed their advantage, pummeling Deathstroke with everything they had. He fought back with all his strength, but it was no use. Spider-Man landed a final, decisive blow, knocking Deathstroke against the wall and webbing him there. The fight was over, and the two heroes emerged victorious, having worked together to take down their formidable opponent.

"That should help with your back. No doubt you have a few broken bones." Spider-Man quipped as he leaped on the wall. "So, honest question, the eyepatch. Where do you get them? Is it a store-bought thing, or is there somewhere specific? Is your eye just scarred, or is it missing? Because I know a guy like that."

Before anything else happens Batman picks up Deathstrokes remote claw. "You like to piss off some serious people."

"I know," Spider-Man said as he dangled off the wall. "It's funny watching the different ways people can get pissed off."

"It was nice seein' you two. Feel free to let yourselves out." Came Penguin's voice from above.

He was standing on the balcony with Candy and Tracey. He then turned around and walked back into his office with Candy as he lightly smacked her on the ass and closed the doors behind him.

"I am not gonna lie, that is seriously disturbing," Spider-Man admitted as he approached Batman. "I mean, is it just his face that's disfigured, or is it...everything?"

Batman didn't even respond as he kept going.

"You know you are thinking it too," Spider-Man stated as he followed.

"Alfred. See if you can find any information on a murder at Lacey Towers." Batman asked Alfred through his communicator.

"Hmm, Looks like police are on the scene now, sir. Oh, and this is interesting. They're saying Black Mask is the victim." He responds.

"Black Mask dead? Before we head to the crime scene, let's head back to the Batcave. Prep another version of detective vision." Batman states before ending the transmission and heading for the exit.

"Why are we heading back to your cave anyway?" Peter asked as he started to follow Batman out.

"If you're going to continue helping me tonight, then we need to figure out the truth about this murder. That means you need detective vision," said Batman.

"Sweet," said Peter as he internally celebrated and followed after.