Spider-Man: Edge of Arkham

Chapter 5: Serum

Hey everyone I'm still alive. Been working on other personal projects and unfortunately we've lost another iconic person from our childhoods. Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. You were taken before your time.

After what felt like hours of swinging Spider-Man finally arrived at the GCPD with Simon Stagg wobbling a bit after all the swinging. Both men entered the building and Simon was taken to a police office. The Wall Crawler let Batman know that he and Simon made it to the GCPD unscathed.

The Wall crawler then walked to the front desk and was met with a warm reception by Aaron Cash.

"Hey Cash. How's it been since I left?", Peter asked.

Aaron replied, "It's been crazy out there. More than usual. Let me show you"

Aaron pulled up a list of crimes in progress. One was about a firehouse burning, the other was about a dead body being found and displayed like the Lord being crucified, last one was about the militia taking over the city.

"Geez, are things always this crazy?" Spider-Man asked with wide eye lenses.

Cash chuckled and replied. "No, this is a Tuesday." In an attempt to lighten the mood. "It's the worst we've had."

Suddenly Peter hears a beeping sound and it's the communicator that Batman lent him. He answered and saw Batman on a holographic projector.

"Is Simon Stagg with you?", Batman asked.

In a confused tone Spider-Man replied, "Yeah why? What happened, are the militia still after him?"

"He's been working with Scarecrow on a project called: Cloudburst. I need you to interrogate him for information.", ordered Batman before hanging up.

After this sudden revelation Spider-Man walked straight towards the police office that Simon Stagg was in and suddenly webbed the man to his chair. Stagg and the officer were shocked by the spider's sudden actions and immediately pointed his gun at the Web Head, but the latter shot an impact web at the officer sticking him to a wall.

"You were in cahoots with Scarecrow. Why?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about"

Spider-Man simply stared at him in complete silence to the point it became a bit unnerving for Stagg as the red and blue suit became slightly more off-putting once the Arachnid themed vigilante changed his posture and began to move ever so slightly closer to him, the lenses still wide and open.

"Stay away from me!" Stagg voices out as he shrinks back on his chair. The red themed hunter did not heed his plea as he hopped on the table but no sound came out of it, frightening the CEO even more.

It was as if he was in front of a wild animal ready to kill him at the slightest movement. Which he felt like even doing nothing would just get him killed anyway.

With that Stagg relented. "Okay okay! I'll tell you what I know."

Like a gear shift Spider-Man simply sat down on the nearby chair as his lenses moved once more in a more relaxed form. "See, was that so hard?"

"What even was that!?" Stagg stammered as he tried to regain the breath he didn't even know he lost. "Batman never did-"

"I'm not Batman", replied Spider-Man. After that Simon told Spider-Man everything he needed to know. Including how to stop it.

A few minutes later Spider-Man untied the guard and Stagg from the webbing and walked out of the room. He told Cash what had happened and Aaron was impressed by how the spider managed to get the information out of him.

Spider-Man then asked Cash about what other crimes are currently happening in the city. Officer Cash listed the current crimes for Spider-Man and just when he was about to continue, a live broadcast of Scarecrow appeared on the screen.

The Wall Crawler's eyes widened when he saw Barbara Gordon in some sort of gas chamber. Without hesitation he pulled out the communicator to call Batman.

"Batman, it's Spider-Man I just saw where Scarecrow is keeping Ms. Gordon I'm on my way.", said the Web Slinger.

"No, I'll go it. You stay where you are.", Batman ordered.

"But Batman-", Spider-Man began to protest.

The line was cut off and he stared angrily at his communicator.

'What is with that guy?', Peter berated in his head.

He then walked to the front desk, but stopped when he saw an officer acting paranoid. He asked the officer next to him about it and the officer told the Web Swinger that he was affected by Scarecrow's new fear toxin that caused him to commit horrible acts. That was it. He got an idea on what to do. He pulled out the communicator that Batman gave him and contacted the only other person he's met in this universe.

"Master Spider-Man. How may I be of assistance?", asked Alfred in a polite manner.

"Alfred, show me the chemical formula for the fear toxin that Scarecrow is using." Spider-Man requested.

Alfred complied and pulled up the formula. Peter analyzed the formula and began brainstorming a serum that could counteract the effects. Most people when they look at Spider-Man they see a guy who makes jokes, swings on webs and punches bad guys, but little do they know that his passion was science.

'Alright, I think I can work with this.', Spidey thought.

He asked Officer Cash where the forensics lab was, to which the latter brought him along to where it was. The Web Head looks over the table before stretching himself in preparation. "Time to work out a solution."

"What are you working on, if I may ask?", asked Cash in a curious tone.

"I'm going to create a serum that'll counteract the effects of the fear toxin. Think of it like a- Anti-Fear Toxin or something. I'm workshopping the name."

A wide eyed Cash looked at the Web Head in astonishment at the explanation. He then wished him luck and headed back to the front desk of the station. Spider-Man continued with the process of creating the serum.

As he was creating the anti-toxin It reminded him of the time Scorpion poisoned him with his venom and he saw the city being flooded with poison and how he had to find a flower to create an antidote. Then he remembered that one embarrassing moment after taking the antidote. He never did get a cent from those Spider-Man undies.

He added the finishing touches to the serum and placed the vial into a rotating mixer. When it was done he analyzed the serum's effect on a microscope. He was pleased to see that it worked on the blood sample, but he needed to test it on the affected officer.

"Best case scenario it works, worst case the effects are mitigated.", Spider-Man muttered to himself.

He walked to where Officer Owens was and injected him with the finished serum. The officer resisted at first, but after being injected he began to calm down.

"How'd you do that?", asked Batman.

The Web Head screamed a little that caused him to shoot webs at the Bats cowl.

"Oh my God, why do you keep doing that?!", shouted Spider-Man both scared and enraged. This was the second time that the Caped Crusader snuck up on him without his spider sense going off.

"How did you manage to create an antidote to Scarecrow's fear toxin?', asked the Bat.

Spider-Man explained the process to the Dark Knight in heavy detail. He then realized something.

"Where's Ms. Gordon?", Spider-Man asked.

As soon as he asked that question, Batman's face became grim. Well… Grimmer than usual. The Web Head put two-and-two together and realized what had happened without being told anything at all. His fist clenched and the lenses on his eyes narrowed.

"Where's Scarecrow?", asked the spider in a more cold tone.

And that's where I'll leave this chapter. Thank you all for reading this. Sorry I've been M.I.A for a while. Rest assured that this fic will be finished and will get more interesting. Please leave a comment on what you thought of this chapter. I'd like to once again thank my editor Berserker Jeanne. See ya next time.