"He was easy pickings!"

"Spider-Man!"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" he said and waved at everyone present. They all stared dumbly at him. He shrugged. Tough crowd. He then turned his focus to Maroni. "I gotta say, that's a great plan you came up with. Though, I think it works better when the person you're trying to take out doesn't know the plan."

"You're dead either way."

"Done that. It's not all that it's cracked up to be. But you, well, you'll be strung up and begging for a cell before the end of the week."

Cheshire appeared at the doorway. Mila didn't hesitate to go to her. They were both gone before Cobblepott made a hasty retreat; followed closely by Falcone.

Maroni pulled out his phone. "You're trespassing."

"I wouldn't bother calling the police. Batman is heading this way to clear out the trash I left on your table."

Said trash was wriggling on the table and screaming muffled incoherences.

"Never trust a copycat," Spider-Man told him. "It's always best to stick to the original."

Maroni was typing something into his phone.

"Oh, did you use up all your calling minutes? I hope you're keeping track of how many texts you send. I had a friend who had to pay $2000 on his last bill for going over his monthly limit!"

Maroni side-eyed him and then went back to typing. He noticed everyone had cleared out, but he didn't care.

"Not me! I stick to pay phones. If I can't say what I need to in five minutes or less, I can just drop another coin in. Problem solved. No exuberant phone bills."

"You talk too much."

"Only in person."

"Well, that's something I can solve without lifting a finger."

Spider-Man quirked his head to the side.

Maroni pointed at the pictures on the table and smirked.

"You know who I don't see in any pictures?"

"Does that not count as lifting your finger?"

Maroni chuckled without humor and ignored his question.

"The Red Hood hates rapists. He doesn't wait for the police to take them in. He takes them out right on the spot. I have a feeling he'd do the same for pedophiles and anyone who is responsible for letting one off the hook."

Spider-Man became visibly still. He stared at Maroni with shock visible in the lenses of his mask. It unnerved Maroni to see that humanoid feature in the lenses, but he didn't focus on that. Instead, he pressed the send button on his phone. He showed Spider-Man who he sent the message to and then laughed when Spider-Man quickly exited out of the nearest window.

Spider-Man could still hear Maroni's laugh as he crossed the Narrow's bridge into Midtown.

Please let me get there on time before Hood does something incredibly stupid.

It didn't take long to find his quarry since Oracle had given him Red Hood's last known location. Hood had gone dark after that. It wasn't hard to guess where he'd gone or who he went after.

Spider-Man arrived in time to see a man fall off the side of a fifteen-story building. The smell of gunpowder and blood was heavy in the air.

Dear god, I'm too late.

"Hood!"

The Red Hood turned around quickly with a gun in each hand. He pointed them both at Spider-Man's head.

"What did you do?!" Spider-Man said as he landed on the roof in a crouch.

"Whadda ya want?"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Yeah. And I'd do it again," Hood said, raising his chin in defiance. "What are you here for? You wanna lecture me? Take me in—"

"That's not why I'm here." Spider-Man stood at his full height. Hands fisted at his sides. I came to stop you, but I'm too late. If only…

"Then why'd you come at me hot?"

Spider-man took a breath and turned away from the Red Hood. He had to get his anger under control. Hood's not the enemy. He says to himself even though Hood just killed a man. Gah! Pick your battles, Spidey. Take a breath. Get back to the point. Was there a point? He didn't know. Dammit. He didn't know. "You have no idea what you did, do you?"

"I saved a little girl from a pervert! That's what I fucking did! What the fuck are you doing? You think it's okay to let those fuckers back on the street so that they can keep hurting kids?!"

Spider-Man let out a deep, tired, and broken sigh.

"You were right that I had him. I let him go even though that's not what I wanted to do. I was only able to restrain myself because I put the needs of the child above all else. I don't regret it or the decision I made afterward.

"Because he became a linchpin that led to people behind human tracking and exploitation of children. It's a big operation that expands further out than Gotham's borders. This city is just a stopover for them. So far, we've merely touched the surface of the trafficking ring.

"I'm working in conjunction with the Commissioner and Oracle. They brought in a few people to help build a case. Together we were able to persuade three high-profile people who were making bank off these children to cooperate. As of today, we've managed to save over twenty kids."

Spider-Man turned to face the Red Hood. His guilt was eating at him. If he hadn't kept Red Hood out of the loop, that man would still be alive. That death was on his hands. His anger resurfaced now that he had laid it all out there.

"That's what I was doing. What you just did-who did that help? Who is it helping? Do you think it's easy to get someone on the inside of something like that? But it doesn't matter that you killed him. I'll figure out another way to save more children."

Red Hood put his guns away once he realized Spider-Man was angry at the situation and not him. He didn't start a fight even though he'd thought that Hood had killed somebody. Hood was glad. He'd hate to think he'd lost a friend and ally over this. If the Spider had been as pigheaded as Batman, Hood would've cut ties with Spider-Man, right there and then. Instead, he could come clean and hopefully get the green light to help with the case.

"I didn't kill him. Oracle told me what you guys were doing with him. So I shot him in the shoulder, and he landed on the fire escape below. It's a good thing you came when you did because now he can say he escaped by the skin of his teeth, and it will be believable. Maybe if we stage a fight, I won't lose any—"

The hair at the back of Spider-Man's neck rose right before his entire head buzzed with warning. He didn't have time to think. He had to act now. He lunged at Hood to push him down.

"Argh!"

Hood hit the roof so hard he felt his head bounce. His neck muscles were tense, and he felt the strain. That was not going to feel good in the morning. He could taste iron in his mouth. Dammit. I think I bit my tongue.

"I said stage a fight, not give me a fucking concussion," Hood hissed. He heard the gunfire that stopped when it missed its intended target. Were they shooting at me or the Spider?

"I would say sorry, but I figured you'd forgive a concussion if you survived," Spider-Man told him as he carefully moved off Hood and crawled to the edge. "Stay down. I'm going to take a look." He had to peek to see who was shooting at them. His head cleared the ledge, and he saw a figure three buildings away. He had to duck to avoid bullets to his head. He thought about what he saw and shook his head. Was there some sort of cosplay convention I didn't know about? If there was, that was the most serious take on Deadpool I've seen.

Red Hood belly crawled to Spider-Man's side. "What did you see?"

"Do you know any sword-wielding, trigger-happy, one-eyed men?"

"Fuck!"

"I take it that's a yes?"

"That's Deathstroke."

Spidey snickered. "Deathstroke? I guess that's a choice."

"His name is Slade Wilson."

Slade. Wade. I seriously doubt that's a coincidence.

"Deathstroke the Terminator."

Terminator? As in, he terminates lives? That's on the nose, unlike Deathstroke. He should've called himself the Reaper and carried a scythe to really keep people guessing what he did for a living.

"He's a mercenary. He's enhanced. Extremely difficult to kill."

Check. Check. Check-mate. I'm calling it. He's definitely a wanna-be Bullseye.

"He's one brutal son of a bitch. So it's a little weird that he's keeping his distance. The real question is, who hired him and why?"

"That would be Maroni. And most likely to kill me. He might have been tailing you and waiting for me to show up."

"We'll circle back to Maroni hiring a mercenary to kill you. The pressing issue is how did Deathstroke know you'd seek me out?"

"And we just circled back. Maroni. He set up a meeting. Knew I'd confront him. Took the time to figure out where his assassin was before he set the bait for me. And I took it. Here I am. With you. Just like he planned. Wait, does Maroni want you dead too?"

"Not that I know of. But Deathstroke might be peeved at me."

"You stood him up, didn't you? Was it the swords? He crossed the line with the second sword, didn't he?"

Hood chuckled. Though through the helmet, it sounded like radio static.

"I was hired to put the hurt on him. Didn't know at the time that his daughter had been kidnapped, and he was out looking for her. He found her eventually, but I don't blame him for holding a grudge for slowing him down."

"I doubt he'd hold a grudge for that. He's a mercenary. He'll understand that you took a job and that it wasn't personal."

"I sort of made it personal."

"Well, there's that."

"Kind of my thing," Red Hood said and shrugged. "Do you hear anything?"

"I hear a lot of things."

"From the direction Deathstroke was and hopefully still is, smartass."

"Oh, um," Spider-Man tilted his head. He shook it to let Hood know he heard zip. Then he took a peek. "He's still there. And he's holding a bazooka. He wouldn't really—Fuck!"

Spider-Man stood up quickly and jumped to the next roof over. He bent his knees and planted his feet. The rocket was coming towards him. He flicked both wrists, and his webbing stuck to the rocket. I just have to direct it into the air and away from the building. I have to time this perfectly and use the right amount of force. Gotta love physics. I'll adore it when that rocket is clear. He brought his hands together and quickly wrapped the web string from his hand to his elbow three times before he jumped and yanked the rocket up. He spun in the air and directed the rocket toward the sky. It should go off in the sky even if it doesn't hit anything.

Right before Spider-Man released his webs, his spider-sense warned him of something. Not danger. Not to him. More like watch-where-you-point-that-thing. How did he know that? He didn't know and didn't question it. He had to veer the rocket's direction by a few degrees. He pulled his web line to the right just as the sky distorted.

BAMF!

Spider-Man's eyes widened. "Deadpool!?"

"Spidey! I found you!" Deadpool was in the path of the rocket. He hadn't noticed. The mask's eyes looked like they were brimmed with tears and were locked on Spidey's.

"Rocket! Incoming!"

"Wha—oh, fuck!"

I am not dying before I get to smooch and squeeze my Spidey. Dang it, where'd I put the thing? Oh, here it is.

Deadpool pulled something out from behind him. "Don't worry, Spidey. I'll save myself and then hug you to death! You deserve only the best! Air kisses!"

BAMF!

Spidey's entire vision distorted just as his head buzzed with an immediate danger warning.

"Well, I'm fucked. And no longer in Gotham. At least, there will be no civilian casualties here in this lava world. No, that would just be me. He says as he hurls towards the ground covered in lava at unprecedented speeds with a rocket coming at him from behind still attached to his webline. Thanks for nothing, Deadpool, you piece—"

Wait, maybe if I…that could work.

Spidey somersaulted in the air. He hurled the rocket ahead of him. It landed and exploded. Spidey just happened to fall through the explosion. But hopefully, he wouldn't land on lava.

Parker luck, fail me now.