Hey, everyone. Here is Chapter 18 of the Spectacular Spider-man. All the craziness going on with Team Arrow is getting only weirder so Will liked to keep it simple. Simple in this case being investigating students at SCU for cheating and to save Dr. Connors. He's going to need to stretch his inner Batman and Sherlock Holmes to make this work and lucky for him, he's got some friends to help but first he's got to help Oliver get out of his funk. Enjoy!
AND TO ANY IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA! STAY SAFE AND I HOPE THINGS GET BETTER YOU! MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU!
The Spectacular Spider-man: The Offer
February 2015: SCU, Star City
The cold chill of Winter was in full swing for Star City so everyone was bundled up in heavy layers including the students at SCU. Now that things had completely settled down from Hammerhead's gang war in Star City, the students could go about their days without any issue. Granted they didn't exactly have many issues beforehand as the war never touched the campus but still, they no longer had to deal with the grim possibility that one of their classmates or professors could have gotten injured or killed by accident. The SCPD cracked down on all the remaining Maggia fronts and members in Star city and the Mayor made a big show of their success. The city leadership made a big point of emphasizing to everyone that the city was safe now. The old school mobsters of the Maggia were gone. Hammerhead was in jail awaiting trial for a litany of crimes, all of his associates were either dead or in jail as well and he was without any resources. The war cost Hammerhead a lot in money and manpower so he was a gangster in name only now. The last standing relic of a bygone era. Granted, he was still a vicious killer and not someone you wanted to mess with in a fight but after the beating Spider-man had given him, his reputation definitely suffered.
While officially the gang war was over and the SCPD could continue their normal duties, many of which were looking into the various gangs involved in said war and tying up loose ends like tracking down wanted fugitives, Captain Lance kept the Major Crimes Unit focused on tracking down leads and building up a case on the new power broker who went to war with Hammerhead. While the Mayor and City leadership wanted peace, Lance knew that he needed to get a head start on investigating the people who would try and fill the power vacuum left behind and now with Hammerhead in jail they had no competition. He had Lieutenant Yuri Watanbe leading the Major Crimes unit on investigating the connection between the Bratva, Triads, and Stokes crime family who all agreed to work together curtsey of Wesley and the Fatman. Unfortunately, they hadn't made any progress on identifying the two leaders of this new collective since they started but with the settled peace following the gang war, Yuri was able to have her detectives begin gathering CI's and information on the new territories established. The best way for them to be prepared and win the next war would be to work now while there was peace. Start small and let things build.
For Spider-man, it meant the usual patrols and busting up petty criminals as the gangs kept very quiet, likely wanting to avoid any serious issues ever since Hammerhead's public execution attempt put the city on alert. They all knew the police and city leadership would come down on them hard if they acted up so they were being as quiet as possible. Spider-man kept up the patrols and things were quiet but that didn't mean that things in Star City were peaceful because there was some conflict simmering beneath the surface only it involved Malcolm Merlyn, the League of Assassins, and Oliver losing some braincells and common sense. Will wasn't privy to everything going on with Team Arrow, part of which was by design as he had enough craziness in his life as it is with school, patrolling the city and his burgeoning group of supervillains that he didn't need whatever Oliver had going on but clearly something happened during his leave of absence from the city. For one thing he decided to team up with Malcolm Merlyn who it turns out was responsible for killing Sara Lance by using Oliver's sister Thea. Will's not entirely sure how that works out since Thea seems so nice but he was sure he was missing a few key details. Anyway, Thea gave Merlyn up to the League to them for safety but Oliver went to go free him in some kind of misguided overprotective brother mentality and that may have been part of it but Will felt there was more to it. Anyway, things went sideways and Merlyn was taken away but Oliver returned with Nyssa al Ghul as his prisoner. A situation already complicated got even more complicated with Oliver volunteering to go rescue Merlyn which meant confronting this Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins. Will knew there was nothing he could do to convince Oliver not to go so it was out of his hands. So, while Oliver went off to do whatever it is he was doing, Will coopted Laurel and Felicity's help to deal with an issue at SCU: help prove Dr. Connors innocence and expose an academic cheating scandal.
"…and so, with everything going on here at the university, Dr. Connors is in trouble. That's the gist of the situation." Will explained to Laurel and Felicity. He was seated at the campus's coffee shop/café with Spencer and Aria. Emily and Maya were busy and since this conversation involved delicate knowledge that only a few knew about, mainly Will being Spider-man then Maya couldn't be here. Felicity and Laurel sat there and soaked in the story from Will. They were confused at first as to what Will could need their help with at SCU since meeting there likely didn't involve anything Spider-man related which ended up being proven true. He needed their help to expose the truth behind a cheating scandal at SCU. Will suspected a student, Alison DiLaurentis, of cheating on her final to stay in school last semester and told Dr. Connors, who in turn did some investigating of his own. Turns out Will's hunch was right and it wasn't just limited to Alison. Dr. Connors spoke with other professors and it turns out other students pulled off miracle A's in their finals that kept them from expulsion with their test results the exact same as the answer keys. He had compiled a full list and was going to submit it to the university's disciplinary board when the DiLaurentis's filed their lawsuit to the Board of Trustees. Her family was wealthy and had donated to the school but Dr. Connors had tenure and the Dean was supporting him. Still, who knows what this lawsuit could do so Will needed help before things got worse.
"All right. Well, from what you've told me about Dr. Connors, unless the DiLaurentis's can buy another campus for the board then his job should be safe. A tenured professor can only be let go under specific circumstances like serious misconduct so a prejudice claim against their daughter probably won't go very far if they can't back it up. It was likely a scare tactic to try and get him to back off. Still, I'll converse with the university lawyers to make sure and if things get bad I'd be happy to step in and help Dr. Connors pro-bono." Laurel offered.
"And I'll speak with Ray about ensuring that Dr. Connors' research contract with Palmer Tech for the Genetic Recombinator doesn't get interrupted. He and the Palmer Tech board love you and Dr. Connors and we'll support you through this." Felicity promised.
"Thanks. I'm just worried that Alison and her parents will drag Dr. Connors name through the mud. He doesn't deserve that so we need to figure out a way to get to the truth and clear his name." Will stated.
"Well, if this Alison girl really had her parents file that lawsuit just to cover up her cheating then she had to know what Dr. Connors was going to do. I'm guessing she wasn't close with Dr. Connors and you never mentioned this…" Laurel said and Will shook his head no. "…well in that case then its likely she's working with the person helping her pass her tests and that person has to have access to the university's computer system."
"We've been thinking about that." Spencer sat up and pulled out a piece of paper with a list of names on it. "I used to work at the Bursar's office so I was able to get some information from the system that Will helped me looked for. These people are the only ones with access to the university's administrative system to get the information for the finals that Alison and the others would need."
"Not a long list. I can narrow it down with some light hacking into the system." Felicity suggested.
"The key thing will be getting this proof in a way that the University board and lawyers can use in a legal manner. Unfortunately, our jobs as heroes won't do much good here if this information can't be used by the University to counter the DiLaurentis's claim." Laurel told them.
"So, what would we need? Photos of Alison getting this information? That was last semester and we're not exactly friends with her so it'll hard to find proof of it happening back then." Aria pointed out which left them with a conundrum to solve. With Felicity's hacking help they could figure out who was doing the hacking but to completely absolve Dr. Connors of the DiLaurentis's lawsuit and get the university completely on his side then they'd need to get solid proof that he was right. That was the trick. No doubt Alison and those other students would be more careful as would the person helping them whether it's a TA, professor or whoever. They needed a plan.
"Maybe there's a way we could trick Alison and whoever is helping her into revealing themselves?" Spencer wondered.
"Oh, like setting up a sting. Nice…" Will liked the idea but the question remained how would it work. "Ok, but how? With Alison going after Dr. Connors then she and whoever she's working with know now to be extra careful and likely avoid doing whatever it is they're doing."
"Hmm…let me go through the list of names that Spencer gave me and narrow down our suspect list. When we know who is the one helping Alison and the others with their cheating then it'll make figuring out how to expose them much easier." Felicity suggested and Will nodded before sliding her over a folded piece of paper with some words written on it.
"That's my log-in and credentials for the system as well. Since I'm Dr. Connors research assistant I have a log-in in the system. I don't have the same access but just in case you need access to the system to start your hack." Will told her.
"Thanks. I'll get started when I get back to Palmer Tech and I'll speak with Ray. I guarantee that Palmer Tech won't cancel the contract but if something does come up I'll let you know." Felicity promised.
"Thank you, Felicity, really. All right. We'll talk later when you figure out a lead for us. Laurel, I can take you to Dr. Connors now if that's ok." Will said and Laurel nodded. Everyone finished their coffee and Will bid farewell to Spencer and Aria who had classes before leading Laurel to Dr. Connors office in the science building.
Dr. Connors was sitting at his desk and working on his computer. There was a separate hard drive plugged-in, indicating that whatever he was working on he didn't want to risk leaving on the University's server. It was his cross-species genetic work using Lizard DNA for accelerated limb regeneration. Their work with the Genetic Recombinator at Palmer Tech was showing incredible results and with how things were going they had managed to eliminate cancer cells in their test batches with a near 90% success rate of complete eradication. It meant that their procedure would in theory be able to put 90% of its test subjects into complete remission if not be completely cured for most cancers excluding severe forms of Stage 3 and 4. More testing and modifications were needed for severe cancer strains. The Palmer Tech board was ecstatic at this revelation as it meant that Dr. Connors work would revolutionize cancer treatment.
Already they were contacting the FDA about human trials and wanting to expand from just cancer into other genetic condition treatments. Dr. Connors rested easy knowing that with that kind of research he and Will were able to do, his job with Palmer Tech was secured even with the legal issues facing the University from the DiLaurentis family. With the contract he has with them, they wouldn't be able to take his research so they couldn't push him out so hopefully Dean Albert would be able to handle the board and get this sorted out quickly. All the work they've done at Palmer Tech to expand the progress with the Genetic Recombinator has aided in his research into cross-species genetics. Every single sample test result from the cancer tests he was able to use the data and refine the procedure to extract that genetic components of accelerator cell growth associated with reptile DNA to later use for the Genetic Recombinator infusion. When the city was on lockdown regarding the Maggia war, Dr. Connors wasn't able to go into Palmer Tech so he relied on his computers to run simulated tests. Now that things returned to normal and he could return to his lab at Palmer Tech he had begun testing on some of the lab rats there, using a rat named Pinky. Will named him in honor of Pinky and the Brain and yes, there was a fat rat named Brain. Pinky had a missing limb so Dr. Connors used him for the test. There was no immediate affect but a few days later the limb regrew so it worked and all the tests of Pinky's have been great. All the simulations indicated that the Cross-Species Genetic tests were ready for human trials but getting that approved would be a very difficult and a longer, arduous process compared to their cancer trials. It could likely take years and Dr. Connors didn't know if he could wait that long. Science often benefited the bold so perhaps a bold decision needed to be made.
[Knock-Knock-Knock]
Dr. Connors looked up from his computer screen towards the door. "Who is it?"
"Dr. Connors, it's me. Can I come in?" Will asked.
"Sure thing. Give me one second." Dr. Connors saved his research and downloaded the files back onto his hard drive before removing it and putting it in his desk. "Come in."
Will opened the door and walked in followed by Laurel. "Hello, Dr. Connors."
"Hello, Laurel. I wasn't expecting to see you today. What a surprise." Dr. Connors smiled and stood up as his two visitors came over to his desk. "What brings you by the university?"
"Will told me what's going on so he asked me for my help." Laurel said and Dr. Connors shot Will a look and he just shrugged in response.
"Hey, you told me not to help personally? You never said anything about going to get help from others. You need to be a little more specific." Will pointed out much to Laurel's amusement and Dr. Connors slight frustration.
"Will got you there." Laurel added.
"He did." Dr. Connors admitted. "Look, Laurel, it's nice to see you but you don't have to get involved with this. Will shouldn't have called you."
"It's fine. I'm happy to help however I can. You and Will are doing great work at Palmer Tech and Will has become a good friend of mine. I'm more than happy to help friends pro-bono." Laurel told him as Dr. Connors looked at her and Will.
"I'm not getting rid of you two, am I?"
"No."
"All right." Dr. Connors settled himself and let Laurel give him her legal advice. He admired Will's loyalty but he just hoped that going to get a lawyer would be all he did.
He'd be wrong in that regard.
Line Break xxxxx
It was nighttime for Star City which meant it was the perfect time for Will to do his Spider-man thing. He released the grip of his web at the apex of his swing and backflipped in the air before diving to the ground to pick up speed. As he neared the ground he unfolded the web wings and glided through the air at breakneck speeds, flying past cars driving below him.
"WOOHOO!" His shout of exhilaration echoed out as he retracted the wings and fired a web to swing forward. Out of the corner of his eye he caught some movement on the roof of an apartment building so he made his way over there.
[Bam!] A man was tossed across the roof of an apartment building as a large man and his four larger associates surrounded him. They took him from his apartment and were giving him trouble pertaining to a manner of debt collection. The man in debt cowered in fear as he slowly crawled away.
"Please! I'm good for the money! I just need more time!" He begged as he crawled away only to get grabbed at the collar by the leader.
"Do I look like a bank? No, because if I was then I wouldn't be messing around with low-rent suckers like you and instead be dealing with bigger suckers for more money." The leader punched the man in the face again, cutting his lip before he pulled out a pocket knife. "You borrowed ten grand from me and I expect it back with interest or do I need to take that interest from that stupid store you run?"
"I'll get you the money. It's been a quiet winter with Hammerhead's gang war but I'm getting the money back. I'm just two thousand short." The man pleaded.
"Now it's four thousand because you've pissed me off and forced me here out in the cold. It would have been six thousand but I'll have the boys beat two thousand out of you." The leader said, stepping away from the man and his cronies stepped forward.
"No, please!" The man crawled away until he was picked up off the ground by one of the leader's associates. He closed his eyes and prayed to god to survive the beating when he was suddenly dropped to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw the thug trying to rip off webbing that was stuck to his face.
"Excuse me!" The man and the thugs looked and saw Spider-man fall through the air and perch himself up on the edge of the roof. "Hope you don't mind me interrupting here but if this is your money lending process then you should really not be in this line of work."
Spider-man web zipped forward and hit one thug in the chest with a flying knee before sliding between the legs of the leader and hit him in the back with a double jump kick. The leader was thrown forward into one of his cronies while Spider-man webbed the feet of another goon to the roof before hitting him with a spinning uppercut. During the jump, he web zipped back to the ground and kicked him across the face. He did a butterfly twist to the side to dodge some bullets from a pistol before shooting a web to disarm and then closed the distance. A punch to the gut, a kick to the face, and a leg sweep knocked him to the ground and then a final knee to his face knocked him out. The remaining crony picked up a metal pipe and swung at Spider-man who ducked and dodged with ease. He dropped onto his back to dodge a swing at his head and kicked the man in the stomach before tackling his mid-section and then throwing him up into the air. A web line attached to the man's back which Spider-man used to slam him into the ground. The leader pushed his underling's body off of him and reached into his pocket to get his gun only for Spider-man to take him out with a flying side kick.
"Ah, all's well that ends well." Spider-man said before he helped up the man they were beating.
"Thank you, Spider-man. Thank you."
"Happy to help. Don't worry. I'll be sure these guys get tied up. Call the police." Spider-man told him and the man nodded before running inside. Two SCPD squad cars would arrive a few moments later to find the loan shark and his men tied up together and hanging in the air via a light pole.
Spider-man swung through Star City until he stopped up at his usual perch atop the tallest skyscraper in the city. He walked over to a gargoyle and plopped himself down onto the ledge. "How's it going, Bob? It's been a while." Will reached over the side and carefully removed a duffel bag he had hidden in a small spot. When he first started off as Spider-man he kept a bag of spare supplies atop the skyscraper near the gargoyles incase of an emergency which came in handy during Brick's takeover of Star City and then Hammerhead's Maggia war. He had refilled the duffel on a few occasions so it was filled with extra web cartridges and web gadgets but also had a change of clothes, a burner cellphone and some bandages just in case. There was also some food which was his sole purpose for this little pit stop. He took out a separate paper bag and retrieved a bottle of water, two strawberry Fig Bars, and a small bag of beef jerky.
"Aw, is that it? I thought I left the bag of Flammin' Hot Cheetos and the Snickers bar in here. Bob, did you eat them?" Will asked the gargoyle like he was expecting a response. "Oh, wait, no. I ate them last week. Dammit."
Will begrudgingly sat down and ate his odd assortment of snacks though eating the beef jerky without the combo of the Cheetos was weird. He liked the combo. The food was not exactly the most filling like a sandwich or Star City hotdog but considering the bag was usually left up in the skyscraper for days on end he had to keep food that could last at least a week without going bad. He wouldn't be able to check the bag regularly otherwise he'd had put aside a large Italian cold cut hero sandwich with a large order of French Fries and pig out…only to return a few days later to find it spoiled and cold. He unwrapped one of the Fig bars and took a bite while he made a reminder to go restock his emergency bag with some food from a convenience store. Thinking of that made him remember the special guest that Team Arrow had in their bunker. Nyssa Al Ghul, Daughter of the Demon's Heart…or was it head?
"Hey, Bob. I wanted to get your opinion on something. So, it turns out Oliver has a hostage in his bunker. Crazy scary assassin lady who I fought before. Even without her weapons her gaze alone would make your heart stop. Oliver got himself mixed up with this League of Assassins group and it involves Malcolm Merlyn being alive, which I already told you about before, but it turns out he pissed off this group because I think he used to be one of them and it involves Thea? I'm not sure, this whole thing is kind of convoluted to understand. On top of the fact that I've been technically working with Thea this entire time and she still doesn't know it's me under the mask. I wonder when I'll have to tell her…if I have to tell her. I'm worried about Merlyn figuring out who I am. God, this is all so complicated to keep track of which is why I like my situation better. I got bit by a spider after being exposed to energy from the Particle Accelerator at STAR labs thus giving me my powers which I use to protect Star City. I've made some enemies in cleaning up the city and I've ran the gamut from typical gangsters and mafia types to murder machines and metahumans. Much simpler." Will remarked before he took a sip of water. "Anyway. The thing I wanted to get your opinion on is if I should pick up some food for the crazy assassin lady? A peace offering sort of thing. A single act of kindness could go a long way in the future. What do you think?"
He looked at the Gargoyle which remained still and inanimate as it always has since it's been put in. "Yeah, you're right. Random act of kindness. And who knows. It could earn me some good will. Big Belly Burger has been known to help bridge gaps. Thanks, Bob."
Will put his bag away and pulled his mask down before jumping off the skyscraper and swinging away. After throwing out the garbage he went to a Big Belly Burger to pick up some food for the crazy assassin lady. He had no idea what she liked or even if they had Big Belly Burger where she was from so he went with the classics. Big Belly Burger original with fries and a soda. You can't beat the classics. He arrived at Verdant and lowered himself into the alley behind the club where the secret door to the bunker was. After inputting the code that Felicity gave him, he was greeted to the sound of fighting so he rushed down the stairs to see Nyssa fighting Roy and Laurel with Thea near the prison cell. Laurel had already been knocked to the ground and Roy wasn't fairing any better. Sure, he had a year's worth of training from Oliver but Nyssa Al Ghul was out of his league. Acting quickly, he dropped the Big Belly Burger off to the side and rushed forward. Nyssa kicked Roy across the face only to get webbed in her face. Spider-man flipped over her as she tried to rip the webbing off and he touched her back, giving her a small venom shock that completely paralyzed her head to toe.
She fell to the ground and he quickly put her back into her cell as Laurel and Roy got back to their feet. "Are you ok?" Roy asked Thea and she nodded.
"How the hell…did she get out?" Laurel asked.
"It's League training, probably." Thea answered but her delivery was halfhearted at best.
"What were you doing down here, anyway?" Roy wondered.
"I just wanted to pay my respects." Thea said before she walked away and left.
"You two know she's lying right?" Will pointed out as he leaned against the prison cell. "My HUD scanned the keypad to the lock. Thea's prints are all over it."
"Why would Thea let Nyssa out?" Roy asked and Will shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Clearly something is going on here. What happened when you two showed up?" Will wondered.
"We came to check up on Nyssa and saw her standing in front of Thea. We fought and you arrived a few moments later." Laurel recounted so he thought it over.
"Ok. I've gotten the broad strokes about what's going on from like everyone on this team but just so I have it clear…Malcolm Merlyn killed Sara because she was after him because both belonged to this assassin group and Ra's Ah Ghul wanted him dead. Merlyn didn't kill Sara himself and instead used Thea who was already with him having left Star City after Deathstroke's attack last year and finding out he was her real father. She was with him and he was training her, for what reason I don't know, but prior to her officially coming back to Star City, Merlyn and she secretly came back a few weeks prior and he drugged her to kill Sara knowing that Sara would drop her guard when she saw it was Thea. Thea didn't know this because Malcolm's drug called Votura is like a roofie so she doesn't remember anything. Malcolm told Oliver when the League came back in December in order to force Oliver to fight Ra's Al Ghul which nearly killed him. Oliver survived and came back but decided to work with Merlyn to fight the League, he told Thea the truth about being the Arrow, Oliver had some attitude problems which is just normal for Oliver at this point around the time Vertigo escaped likely adding on to the problems he was having. He and Thea left shortly after to go do some special training while we all dealt with Hammerhead's Maggia war but upon their return things got even more intense. Thea learned the truth and the guilt was eating up at her so she told Laurel who confronted Oliver and then you told me which is how I now know what exactly has been going on." Will recounted. "Anyway, our conundrum ends with Thea having contacted the League and giving up Merlyn only for Oliver to try and stop them and capture crazy assassin lady. He went to go save Merlyn and that's where we are at this point."
"Sounds about right." Roy told him.
"Honestly, still sounds crazier compared to the crap I deal with on a daily basis." Will admitted when he had a thought. Thinking about how Laurel told him Nyssa was in front of Thea and how Thea unlocked the cage and her general demeanor before she just left…perhaps that was the answer. "Roy, how has Thea seemed lately?"
"What do you mean?" Roy wondered.
"After learning the truth and everything that's happened lately…how has she been?" Will asked and Roy thought it over.
"Conflicted, grief stricken, and in a turmoil of emotion like the rest of us." Roy admitted.
"Hard to blame her feeling that way with everything that's happened." Laurel added. "What is it, Will?"
"It's just…her fingerprints were on the lock to the cell and she didn't mention being forced to open it. Maybe she let Nyssa out on purpose? Maybe she told Nyssa the truth?" Will suggested. Laurel and Roy looked horrified at that suggestion because it meant that Thea wanted Nyssa to know it wasn't her father who killed Sara but her. And Nyssa was Sara's lover which meant she would be filled with anger and rage towards her killer. It was tantamount to suicide. "Look, I don't have the same relationship with Thea as you two do. Heck, she still doesn't know it's me underneath the mask. She thinks Will Detmer and Spider-man are two different people and I'm ok with keeping my secret identity secret a little longer but you would know her best. Maybe keep an extra eye on her…especially if Oliver doesn't make it back."
The two nodded so Will bid them farewell and left. Laurel and Roy were stunned and weren't sure how to handle Thea when they heard footsteps and saw Will walk back over with a Big Belly Burger bag and soda. "I got it for crazy assassin lady as a peace offering. Now…eh, you guys decide. I'm not sure what to do about that." He waved goodbye and got back to his usual schedule of crazy for a night out on patrol. He swung through the city and took care of the usual stuff. A few car accidents he helped out at, stopped a few muggings, and some attempted robberies. Honestly, things were still quiet in the city after the Maggia war and all the quiet was really starting to weird him out.
He finished trussing up a robber when his HUD alerted him to a call from Felicity so he web zipped to a nearby rooftop and answered. "Hey, Felicity. Something wrong?"
"No. I just wanted to let you know that I'm done with the suspect list you gave me and I have your suspect."
"Finally, some good news. Who is it?" Will asked and Felicity brought up an image of an elderly white professor with glasses.
"It's Professor Ewan McDowell from the Archaeological Department?"
"What? No way. Professor McDowell? I love that guy. Everyone loves him. He's one of the best professors on campus. I loved his Intro to History course I took my freshman year. Despite being nearly 70 years old, Professor McDowell didn't fall into the trope of old college professors being buzzkills or boring." Will smiled in remembrance. Professor McDowell was someone who ate, slept, and breathed academics. The guy had accumulated two PHDs, wrote several award-winning books and led several Academic digs and even participated in some of the biggest digs in history like Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt and the Suontaka Grave in Finland. After leaving field work he came home to Star City to teach. He's a tenured professor, on the University's board of trustees, academic board and an all-around amazing person. Even the students who weren't history or archaeology majors like Will loved him. "Why would he help Alison cheat? He's such an advocate for education and academic integrity. He volunteers to teach at the community college in his free time. It can't be him."
"I don't know what to tell you, Will. I traced all the user access to the University's systems and the only irregularities I found were Dr. Connors, obviously because he was looking into the cheating and Dr. McDowell. I've got records of him accessing the system numerous times for the Science and Math departments at SCU last semester and this one. He's the person helping Alison DiLaurentis."
Will knew Felicity was smart and a tech genius, in an entirely different league than he was. To use a sports term, he was college-level basketball skilled with computers and she was an NBA Hall of Famer. He had no doubt that if the digital evidence she went through pointed to Dr. McDowell then it had to be right but he felt there was something missing. No matter how advanced technology got, it was never foolproof and every now and then it needed the human touch. "There has to be something we're missing. Can you check his bank accounts and stuff like that? The only reason I could see him doing something like this is if he was having serious money problems and needed a way to make up for that." He said and heard Felicity type away on her keyboard. "Then again his main clientele are college students and we're not exactly flush with money to begin with. Alison's family is rich but how much could he charge college students to make it worthwhile to him and turn a profit."
"A lot of the people Dr. Connors looked into are student athletes so maybe they could find a way to get the money. Hang on. I'm almost done." Felicity told him as the information downloaded. "Ok, I have his financials and wow. He does really well for a Professor. A nice nest egg and savings but it looks like most of it is from investments and his past work. Payments for his various archeological digs and his book sales. I'm not seeing any odd financial history. No debts, no gambling, no weird wire transfers. He's clean. So, maybe the motive is not financial…maybe it's personal? Maybe the Professor and Alison are…close?"
"Ugh, I don't want to think about that. Plus, he's nearly 70 with a lovely wife and kids and grandkids. Why would someone let all that go for someone younger who is just gonna use them?" Will wondered.
"Welcome to the reality of life. Hollywood has made millions of movies and TV shows about that concept for years." Felicity pointed out.
"Touché." Will had to give her that and that could be the reason. Who knows what was going on with Professor McDowell and honestly seducing a professor sounds exactly like something Alison would do but he felt there was more to it. "I'm gonna talk to Professor McDowell tomorrow and get to the bottom of this."
"Whoa, Will are you sure about that? Look, you know this guy better than I do but if you go talking to him and he really is behind this then you risk him finding out what we're doing. It'll make it that much harder to prove everything."
"Don't worry, Felicity. I've learned to be sneaky and can be plenty charming. I've been Will Detmer longer than I've been Spider-man so I'll just be my usual geeky, college nerd-self and he'll never know anything is wrong." Will promised.
"Well, from one nerd to another, be safe."
"I promise. Nerds rule the world." Will quipped before he cut the line and swung away, content to finish out his patrol.
Line Break xxxxx
It was the next day and Will went about his day as usual but after his morning class he diverted from his usual course to stay within the science buildings and headed towards the history/social sciences part of the campus. He entered the building housing the history department and made his way up to the floor where Professor McDowell had his office and saw the elderly professor still upright and sorting through some books in a study room. Professor McDowell kept himself in shape and mobile despite his growing age which possibly lent credence to the student affair theory but Will didn't want to get that image in his head again. His momentary train of thought had him standing there which is when Professor McDowell noticed him.
"Can I help you, young man?" Professor McDowell asked, acting all kind and respectable.
"Sorry, Professor McDowell. It's me, Will Detmer. I'm not sure if you remember me but I was in your Intro to History class last year." Will said and Professor McDowell paused to think.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Detmer. You always sat in the front row and were always eager to learn. Straight A's and that final essay you wrote was one of the best I read in that freshman class. I remember you being shorter and wearing glasses though." The Professor pointed out and Will chuckled in amusement.
"Well, I hit a growth spurt and got contacts. And I only got the A's because you were always free to help." He pointed out. "Open office hours so that you were available to help was one of the reasons I aced the class."
"Well, helps that you were passionate about the subject. I know you had your heart set on science but I also think you'd make one hell of a historian." Professor McDowell praised and Will smiled. "So, what brings you by for this pleasant surprise?"
"My friend asked me to pick up a form for the Study Abroad program the department is co-hosting with Cambridge. Apparently, since I was free I was ready to be put to work." Will joked and Professor McDowell chuckled in amusement. "I came here and took a small trip down memory lane so I thought I'd swing by and say hi. Maybe see if you are planning another Archaeology trip and if so, maybe I can momentarily switch my major to join you on a trip? Where are you off to next? Italy? Spain? China?"
"Ha-ha. I'm afraid my next trip is just to England. I'm one of the professors who is working with Cambridge university on a recent dig site they discovered. Can't say much about you changing your major but if your friend is interested I'd be happy to put in a good word on behalf of one of my favorite students. Spots are filling up quick so you should tell your friend to hurry." Professor McDowell told him.
"Wow, thanks, Professor. And I took your class a year ago."
"Well, I still believe you'd be a great historian but I've heard the work you and Curt are doing and I'm proud. He's spoken of you a great deal as his research assistant and he's praised your intelligence. He holds a great deal of respect for you, Will." Professor McDowell told him.
"Well, the feeling is mutual. I knew I would stick with science as my major but Dr. Connors has only helped me move forward in the right path." Will admitted.
"He's a good man, Curt. Shame on what's going on. I want you to know and you can tell him that I will vouch for Curt with the board. He's not losing his job so long as I am here." Professor McDowell promised. Will could feel that everything the Professor said was genuine and knew right then and there that he couldn't be the person helping Alison. Something else had to be at play.
"I'll be sure to tell him that and I'll tell my friend about your offer." Will promised and Professor McDowell nodded before he put in some more books on the shelves. "Not to overstep my bounds, Professor but this seems like busy work. Don't you have an assistant that could help you? Or your TA? I remember you having one last year."
"I did. Adam Jones, a senior who got into a program for his masters degree and is currently abroad at Cambridge on my recommendation of course. I guess I haven't found another student to be my TA just yet but don't worry. The TA's of the other professors in the department have been helping me when I need it. And I've also gotten some help from another professor on campus." Professor McDowell told him.
"Really? That's nice. Another professor in the Archaeology department helping you out. Makes it easier that way." Will admitted.
"Oh, no. He's not in the Archaeology department. He's working in Sports science and Medicine. Uh…Thomas." Professor McDowell said and Will looked at him.
"Ian Thomas?"
"Yes, do you know him?"
"Not personally. He's the future brother-in-law to one of my friends."
"Oh, well, a charming young man. He started at the university officially this semester but last semester when he was hired he introduced himself to all the professors, attending all the mixers, and helped us with whatever we could possibly need. Such a nice young man. Even before he was paid to work here he helped me with occasional odds and ends I needed assistance with now that I was without a TA. Even when he officially joined us he still comes by to help me every now and then." Professor McDowell said.
"Oh, so like helping you with books, setting up meetings, and stuff like that?" Will wondered.
"Yes, exactly and he's even helped me in some of my classes. Our schedules are so different that he is free when I have the majority of my classes so he so graciously offered to help me. That man is special." Professor McDowell praised.
"Yeah, special." Will muttered before he straightened up. "Well, I don't have another class today so I'm happy to lend a hand. Maybe even talk about that study abroad option to Cambridge a little more."
"Well, I won't say no to some extra help." Professor McDowell replied and Will hung around for another two hours. Part of it was to spend a little more time with Professor McDowell and confirm that he wasn't the person helping Alison. A precaution to be on the safe side and spending more time with him further solidified Will's belief that he wasn't the culprit. The other part of it was to not arouse suspicion by leaving so suddenly and it helped him gain some more information on Ian Thomas, his new primary suspect. When he left Professor McDowell's office he returned to his dorm room to get something before making his way to the Sports Science building and gym which along with the fields for the various sports teams was all located on the southern part of campus.
He entered the Sports Science building under the guise of using the gym equipment to work out. A quick change of clothes in the locker room put him in a t-shirt and shorts so he stuffed his regular clothes and bag in a locker and once it was all secured he did a quick scan of the area and when he was sure that the coast was clear he pulled out a spider-bot from his backpack. Hiding it with a towel, he walked over to a corner where there was an air vent and used a screw driver to remove the grate so the spider-bot could crawl in before screwing it back into place. He then went into the gym and walked onto a treadmill looking down at his phone and moving his thumbs like he was texting but he was actually using his phone to remotely control the spider-bot through the vents until it arrived at the air vent in Ian's office.
'All right, Ian. Let's see if you really are the asshole Spencer and I think you are.' Will thought to himself as he settled himself in for his first sting operation.
Later that night…
Arrow Bunker
Felicity, Laurel, and Roy were at the bunker when they saw Oliver and Diggle descend the stairs, alive and well. It looks like Oliver's suicide mission to Nanda Parbat wasn't suicide after all.
"Well, thank god. You know, just because I'm furious with you, that doesn't mean I want you dead." Laurel told him as Felicity walked up beside her.
"What about Malcolm? I mean, I know Laurel wants him dead, I mean, is he?"
"Nope. We got him back." Oliver said, walking up the prison cell holding Nyssa.
"Well, I suppose congrats, and why, oh why, did you do that, are in order." Felicity said to him.
"Oliver?" Laurel called out as everyone saw him unlock the prison cell and open the door. "Oliver, what are you doing?"
"You're free to go." Oliver told her.
"My father would never trade my life for yours. And he certainly wouldn't do it for Malcolm Merlyn's." Nyssa stated.
"He didn't."
"If no bargain was struck, then how are you still alive?" Nyssa questioned but Oliver kept his usual stoic facial expression.
"Go home, Nyssa." He said and she gave him a final glare before leaving.
"Ok. Well, I don't understand anything anymore." Felicity declared but she wasn't the only one."
"Why did Ra's—" "It doesn't matter. Let's focus on what does. Somewhere, there is someone that needs a reminder that we are still watching over this city." Oliver's declaration caught everyone off guard. They knew something was up but Oliver just wanted to act like everything was normal when it clearly wasn't. Just Oliver being Oliver. Felicity begrudgingly got to work and looked for anything odd.
"Well, there is a robbery in progress at the Kingston Property Depot on Third. New shipment just arrived. I'm assuming whatever it is, it's worth a lot of money."
"Ok. Suit up." Oliver said only for Roy and Laurel to look at him.
"Oliver…"
"Suit up." He told them before he grabbed his bow.
The trio arrived at the Kingston Depot and saw a group of masked men armed with assault rifles taking boxes from the depot and putting them into a van. Arrow dropped down from the ceiling and took down two robbers with arrow shots to the shoulders. Arsenal was perched up in the ceiling rafters and fired an arrow at one of the crates the men were taking, causing its contents to spill out.
"Drop it!" He shouted only for the men to shoot at him. Arsenal fired a few more arrows before rushing for cover. While the gunmen were occupied Black Canary rushed forward and kicked one man to the ground with a kick to the back before hitting the other in the stomach with her baton and then uppercut him in the face. She landed a spinning back kick to his chest that knocked him back as the other masked man got up only to get hit with an arrow from Arsenal. Headlights shined on Black Canary as the group's van sped forward. "Look out!"
Arrow descended down from the ceiling via a grapple cable, grabbed Black Canary around the waist and ascended back up into the air, saving her from the speeding van. While the van was speeding away the rear doors were open allowing the leader, a very creepy looking guy with his mouth sewed shut, to open fire at the heroes preventing them from chasing after him as they hid behind cover. Once it was gone, the heroes stepped out with Arsenal looking at the crate the thieves tried to take.
Arrow and Black Canary huffed in disappointment that they weren't able to stop the bad guys but none of them were dead so that was a plus. "You still need training." Arrow said to Black Canary.
"When are you going to stop telling me that?" Black Canary wondered.
"When you no longer need training." Arrow turned around and walked over to Arsenal.
"The head guy got away…with these." Arsenal held up a handful of diamonds. The entire crate was filled with them and the thieves had taken several other crates like the one Arsenal shot so they had more. Looks like they had diamond thieves on their hands.
At the SCPD, Captain Lance got a text from a number he hadn't gotten a message from in months and kind of hoped to never get one from ever again. Begrudgingly, he exited the alleyway exit and found four men tied up with cables. The fact that they were not tied up with webbing combined with the text he got confirmed that it wasn't Spider-man he was dealing with. Low and behold he looked up and saw the Arrow on the fire escape.
"Ran into a new player tonight who dropped some bodies. I need a name. One of these four will give him up." The Arrow told him.
"Did you recently hit your head or something? What makes you think I'll give you the name?" Lance wondered.
"Detective—"
"It's Captain. It has been for months and in those months I remember telling you that I never wanted to see your face again. You think that just because I haven't shot you on sight that it means I'm gonna work with you again? That after some time apart I'm ok to even give you a sliver of help. Uh-uh. I told you I was done with you and I meant it." Lance reminded him.
"But you're ok working with Spider-man?"
"Spider-man has earned my trust. He has done more for this city than you ever did and he's managed to do so without becoming a dangerous sociopath. You know the only reason I'm not having you arrested right now is because of what you've done before but my charity has limits. You started off on your own so go back to that." Lance told him before he dragged the thieves into SCPD. The Arrow just stood there and let it all soak in.
Back with Will…
Will was in his dorm room sitting at his desk and monitoring the progress of his spider-bot from his laptop. It had been watching Ian all day since he went to the gym and first sent it through the air vents. Even after Will's fake workout ended the spider-bot kept tabs on Ian as he worked. Ian had been in his office working on some paperwork, he took some work calls and some personal calls from Spencer's sister Melissa before he went to teach his class. Will had the spider-bot continue to follow him all that time, hoping that something in Ian's routine would give him the smoking gun he needed to prove his theory that Ian was behind everything. On paper or technically, according to University's computer system, it looked like Professor McDowell was the person responsible so Ian clearly thought this through. He must have gotten Professor McDowell's credentials from all the time spent together and used them to help Alison and the other students cheat. Because of Professor McDowell's higher position within the university, he had administrative access like Dr. Connors did, which granted them access to all the departments drives and files while professors not involved with administrative duties were given general access only to their respective departments. Will remembered Dr. Connors speaking about all the administrative paper work he has to do near the beginning and end of the semester. The department databases were where all the copies of tests, homework, and assignments were kept so Ian could use Professor McDowell's access to steal the tests ahead of time and get that information to Alison and the other students.
A solid theory but one he still needed to prove. With it all being digital it was likely on Ian's computer so when he left his office to go to his class, Will piloted the spider-bot into action. Using two of its claws, he forced open the air vent grate and piloted the bot through the room over to his computer. The Spider-bot inserted the USB plug located in its rear into a computer slot which allowed Will to scan through his system. He began downloading everything on the computer and did a quick search for himself but didn't find anything incriminating. No trace of the files on the computer for any kind of tests or answer keys and no odd programs like an encrypted drive or anything similar.
"Oh, come on." Will's exasperation was palpable as he leaned back into his chair and let out an angry huff. "What is this guy? A tech genius too? Where the hell are the files?"
Once everything was downloaded, the spider-bot returned to its original spot in the air vent and just in time as Ian returned to his room. Done with his final class for the day, Ian walked to his desk and grabbed some things from his desk to put into his bag. Will was about to call it a night as it looked like Ian was going to go home. A part of him was tempted to just have the spider-bot follow him back home but rather than waste its battery trying to follow Ian and risk it getting broken he could just sneak to Ian's place and place a fresh spider-bot there.
[Knock-Knock]
Will perked up when he heard the knock at Ian's door and saw him perk up. "Come in and lock the door behind you."
Will watched as Alison of all people walked in and he smiled. 'Boom. Smoking gun got.'
"Sorry, I'm late. With my parents around I can't get around as much. Told them I'm going to a friend's dorm to study." Alison said as she walked into view.
"No problem. You caught me just before I was going to leave. We've got half an hour before I have to get home."
"Plenty of time." Alison closed the distance and kissed Ian and he kissed back. Will watched as they wrapped themselves around one another, trying to suck the other ones tongue out.
"Ha! Boom. Got you both." Will started to dance in his chair when he saw their clothes start to come off. "Ah, my eyes!" He covered his eyes and leaned away from the computer, inadvertently leaning back too far and falling off the chair. He scrambled back to his feet and quickly cut the feed so he didn't see anything he didn't want to see and just in time because he saw some pants getting pulled down.
[Ringing]
Will checked his phone and saw it was Laurel so he answered. "Hey Laurel, you'll never believe what I got. I think I got enough to help Dr. Connors after I get Felicity's help with this." Will said and Laurel was happy but then informed him the reason behind the call. "Wait, the guy had his lips sewn shut?"
Line Break xxxxx
It was the next day and Will had to go through the normal paces of a typical day for him, going to classes and such and acting like everything was relatively normal. Thankfully, he had plenty of practice in that regard given the dual nature of his life. Masquerading as ordinary college student Will Detmer by day and by night as the Spectacular Spider-man. That meant he was inadvertently well-versed in acting like everything was normal when it really wasn't. Yesterday in his investigation to the cheating scandal he confirmed that Professor McDowell wasn't the culprit but was set up as the fall guy. The personal likely responsible was Ian Thomas, Spencer's future brother-in-law and working at the university in the Sport's Science and Medicine department. He was using Professor McDowell's system credentials to get the information he needed that helped Alison and the other students successfully cheat as they did and how Alison knew that Dr. Connors was looking into what happened. With the access, he saw the memo he was going to submit to the Board so he told Alison who acted. The reason he likely was doing this was because the scumbag was having an affair with Alison DiLaurentis despite the fact that he was engaged to Spencer's older sister Melissa. Will was for sure that Ian was the culprit but the only trick was he still hadn't found the proof yet. There was no information on Ian's desktop in his office and his investigation last night ended when he discovered the affair and avoided watching the rest to prevent some serious PTSD.
After that discovery he got a call from Laurel. He told her the news and it was good because they could now focus their strategy now that they had a suspect. With the suspect they just needed to confirm and find proof that Ian had done what they all suspect he had and he would be out of a job and disgraced while Alison and the other students could kiss the university goodbye. Laurel informed him that Oliver made it back alive as did Diggle which was good news. He returned and everyone could tell something was wrong but Oliver being Oliver he didn't say anything. He just let Nyssa go and wanted to get back out into the field. He, Roy, and Laurel encountered a crew last night that stole crates of diamonds from a shipping depot and their leader was some guy who had his lips sewn shut. Will put in a call to Yuri and she managed to get him a name. Michael Amar known by the street name Murmur. Evidently he was beaten by the police into giving a false confession to a crime he didn't commit so he sewed his mouth shut as a result. Yuri pointed out that the cops responsible for that were busted by Internal Affairs a few months ago, having been responsible for a lot of other bad stuff including being corrupt cops working for Tombstone. Looks like Murmur decided to become a criminal for real and had resorted to stealing diamonds. Will sent the information to Felicity who in turn would get it to Oliver and the others.
Will went about his day, handling his classes as usual but didn't tell Aria and the others about his discovery about Ian. For one thing, the smaller the circle of trust could be then the less likely chance it could slip. He trusted Aria, Spencer, and Emily but he didn't want to risk Ian getting tipped off in any way that they knew about his affair with Alison and given Spencer's temperament than it was a certain likelihood. For another, he still needed to confirm Ian supplied Alison and the other students with the answer key to the tests. Like Laurel said, they needed solid evidence that a lawyer couldn't dispute which in this case meant evidence that Ian had done what he did. He was going to get busted anyway for sleeping with Alison but to vindicate Dr. Connors allegations, they needed proof so Will got Felicity to help.
After his classes he returned to his dorm for privacy and got on his laptop before calling Felicity. He told her everything and she was able look through all the data the Spider-bot got from his little spy mission. Will pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in frustration. "So, I didn't miss anything and there wasn't a secret file or encrypted drive I missed?" Will asked her.
"I've checked the data from the spider-bot and there were no deleted files from Ian's computer. I checked the university's servers and nothing. No hidden files and no separate accounts. It's all clean."
"Great. I suffered through the mind-scarring image of Ian hooking up with Alison in his office and got bupkis." Will remarked.
"Well, you got proof of Ian's infidelity. That's something. At the very least he'll be fired for inappropriate misconduct with a student and several HR violations. Maybe when that is taken care of we can figure out how he's doing the cheating?" Felicity suggested.
"Ok, but how can I use this? You heard Laurel. To really get the DiLaurentis to back off and make everything square with the school board to save Dr. Connors it needs to be infallible and completely bulletproof in a court of law. How can I tell the school board that Ian's sleeping with a student? Hi, Dean. How did I get this information? Well, I'm secretly a superhero and I used a high-tech spy robot shaped like a spider to snoop on a professor who I thought was involved in the cheating scandal Dr. Connors told you about." Will was a bit over the top in his delivery.
"No need for the sarcasm." Felicity scolded him like his mother.
"Sorry."
"You're forgiven. Look, Will you're hunch is right which puts us on the right track. All you need to do regarding Ian sleeping with Alison is go tell the Dean and say that you were in the athletics building and saw them in his office or something like that. That takes care of one problem. Now we just need to figure out our next move." Felicity said as she looked over the footage taken from the Spider-bot on her computer when she noticed something. When Ian was working in his office, he was using the desktop the school provided but had a separate laptop he was working on. "Huh…"
"What huh? A good huh or a bad huh?" Will asked her.
"A maybe huh. Ian's got a separate laptop with him in his office when he already has a computer. Not exactly out of the ordinary for someone at a university but he's doing a lot of work on that thing so whatever is on it must be important." Felicity sped up the recording and saw that in every instance of Ian leaving the office even for a short time, he made sure to close and put away his laptop so it wasn't in view. Even when a student came into his office to speak with him, he put it away. "And he's doing a particularly impressive job in making sure no one sees him use it."
"You think the proof we need could be on the laptop?" Will wondered.
"One thing I do know is that if Ian really is the man responsible for helping the other students cheat then he would need to download the tests and answer keys to show them. Downloading them to his laptop not on the school's system could be a way to keep anyone from finding out what he's doing. Hang on." Felicity rechecked the data from the spider-bot and did see some download activity during the times he accessed his department's files on the university's server but the file size pinged for the downloads were way to big for the files on his computer. "I think I have it. It looks like Ian is masking the cheating by tricking the system into thinking he's accessing his department's files at the same time he is accessing the other department's using Professor McDowell's login credentials. An ethernet cable to connect his laptop to the desktop and he could divert certain files during the download onto his laptop and keep the ones he needs on his computer and download them at the same time so the system reads it as just one download."
"All right, so we need that laptop. Even if he deleted those files they can still be recovered, right?"
"Yeah, so long as he didn't get a different laptop each time. If the files were on that laptop at any one time they can be recovered."
"Now the question remains how do we get it and expose all of this?" Will said to himself as he thought it over. Maybe the simplest answer could be to just take it one step at a time and maybe he needed to speak with Dr. Connors. This kind of thing could be the ammunition they would need to investigate. Felicity's idea had some merit. Go to Dr. Connors and tell him he saw Ian and Alison hooking up in his office. How and why did Will see him? He went to the gym after his talk with Professor McDowell. He had a weird hunch and could admit that after hearing that he had a bad feeling he wanted to investigate which in turn led him to see what he technically didn't see. Telling Dr. Connors about the inappropriate student relationship would be the first step. The university had a strict policy in place, as did all universities and it would at the very least get Ian fired. Dr. Connors would tell the dean and Will would be happy to go on record. It would force the Dean and the university board to investigate and perhaps with that instance if Will and Felicity played their cards right it could lead them to the laptop Ian hides. "I think I have an idea. Felicity, do you mind handling the spider-bot watching over Ian. The second you see a chance can you hack into it to make sure it's got what you need."
"I can do that. What are you thinking?"
"I know it's not really right as it's not police but exigent circumstances could help us here. The University can look through your computer only with a warrant or a very strong suspicion of misconduct…" Will said and Felicity could see where he was going with this.
"…like a teacher sleeping with a student. Nice. Very sneaky."
"Yup. I think it can work. And with the spider-bot we can first make sure the laptop has what we need so that when the Dean checks it it's not going to be for nothing." He pointed out.
"I can even do you one better. I could download a trojan horse bug onto the laptop and when the dean goes to investigate I could force it to turn on so they can see and make sure Ian won't be able to delete anything."
"Excellent. All right. I think we've got our plan. Take over the control for the spider-bot. I'm gonna talk to Dr. Connors and get the ball rolling on this." Will said, hanging up. He felt good that he had a plan now and that everything was coming together.
[Ringing-Ringing]
Will looked at his phone and saw a number he wasn't expecting to call him but he answered anyway. "Hey, Dig."
"Hey, Will. Sorry to bother you. Is now a bad time?"
"No, I've got a second to talk. Uh, is there a problem? Laurel mentioned the diamond heist last night so I spoke with Yuri and she gave me the information on the leader. I sent everything to Felicity. She should have told Oliver by now. Is something wrong?" Will wondered.
"There is…and it's about Oliver. I was hoping you could talk to him."
"Come again?"
"I know it's an ask but I figured that he would do well to hear from you."
"Uh, look Dig…I've really come to appreciate your great sense of wisdom and moral guidance in our short time together. Felicity mentioned you are definitely the Yoda of the team but are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, my relationship with Oliver…well, it's complicated. I feel like a conversation with you or Felicity would be more meaningful than with me." Will told him.
"You're right and I spoke with him but I think what he's going through…talking to you might do him some good."
Will was still confused as to what was going on but he could tell by Diggle's voice that something was wrong with Oliver. "What's going on? What happened to Oliver when you guys went to Nanda Parbat?"
"A lot."
A few minutes later…
Dr. Connors was in his office and read over an email the Dean sent him. The Board had scheduled the disciplinary meeting tomorrow with Alison's parents who had flown in. He was already dreading what was to come and just hoped that the board would be able to see how baseless these claims were.
[Knock-Knock]
"Come in." Curt called out and in walked Will. "What is it, Will?"
"Uh, Dr. Connors…there's something I need to tell you. I saw something last night that might help you against Alison." Will said and Dr. Connors looked both intrigued and confused.
Time for a plan to come together.
A few more hours later…
Will took a bus to Verdant and got off at his stop when he got a text message on his phone. It was from Felicity. It read:
Ian left for a class. I checked his laptop and your hunch was right. It's got everything they'll need to take him down and likely get the police involved too. Guy's a creep too. A real creep. You'll find out later.
Will smiled and texted back, Well done, Q. Will enjoyed his first spy effort but couldn't do what he did without the help of Felicity and her insane hacking/computer skills. James Bond was only as good as his support and gadgets. Without Q, he wouldn't be as affective so without Felicity then Will would have some trouble. He put his phone away and walked into Verdant, putting in the code for the alleyway door. He walked down into the bunker and saw Oliver leaning against a table. "Well, this is depressing. A lone hero sitting in his bunker…alone." Will admitted.
"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.
"Thought I'd drop by and see how things are going." Will answered. "You got the intel I sent, right?"
"I did. Thank you for getting us the intel on Amar." Oliver said to him.
"Don't mention it. I spoke with Diggle. He told me that he was looking into a lead with Roy." Will told him before he put his bag and jacket down on a table. "If you're wondering about Felicity…well, sorry about that but I actually had her helping me with something. Hopefully it should be over soon."
"It's fine. She can help who she wants." Oliver replied. Will took note of Oliver's tone and general demeanor and saw that Diggle was right. He was definitely bottling something up.
"She's helping me out as a favor. Don't worry, her commitment to the team is solid and despite our issues, I'm happy to help out too. We're allies so my commitment is obvious. Question remains about yours thought" Will said and Oliver put his head down. "John told me what happened in Nanda Parbat. Ra's Al Ghul let you two and Malcolm Merlyn walk away unscathed, not the latter but whatever, as good faith for a job offer. The whole situation is a special kind of crazy that is quickly becoming normal in my tenure as a superhero but the crazy thing I heard from him is that you were considering it."
"John talks a lot." Oliver said.
"Maybe but with that talking it's usually because he makes a good point when he sees something that's wrong. Especially with the fact that he came to me of all people than you know something's really screwed up." Will pointed out. "God, I know that it isn't any of my business—"
"It's not." Oliver told him.
"But if it's Diggle of all people coming to me to talk to you than perhaps me getting involved is what you need. You really think that taking up the leader mantle for a group of assassins is a good idea?"
"I've been an assassin. There is more than one path to justice." Oliver stated only for Will to shake his head in disbelief.
"And you honestly think that being an assassin is the better option? I'm sure that'll do a lot to improve your standing with Captain Lance and the SCPD. Just drop more bodies like you did when you first started. Why change that now when you've come so far." Will said and Oliver stood up.
"Ok, ok. You know why? Because it's been over two years and you tell me. What have I really accomplished for this city? My mother's dead. My best friend. Sara. Dealing with the crime is just a vicious cycle with no end and my sister is in ten different kinds of pain right now." Oliver listed off.
"And your bright idea is to just leave and make that worse? Oliver, if you leave now then Thea will only fall deeper down the rabbit hole she's in. If anything, she doesn't need you to be Ra's Al Ghul she just needs you to be here and be her brother." Will stated and Oliver just turned around. "Look, I don't know how things were for you when you got back from the island but the person you were when you first put on the hood and the person you have become now are two completely different people. You grew, you changed, you evolved. You have helped countless people and inspired others to follow you. Hell, I wouldn't wear my mask if it wasn't for you. Barry wouldn't either. So, what, just because things haven't been going well you lately you decide that giving up is the better option? What will that mean for all the people who need you or the people who died? Everything you ever did and everyone you ever lost will have been for nothing."
Oliver just looked at Will in defeat. "I don't know why I'm doing this anymore."
Will could see that it was a losing battle in talking with Oliver, especially with their relationship being what it was. Perhaps if Diggle or Felicity were here than talking alone might be enough but for Will, he had a feeling that actions might speak louder than words and he had a really bad idea…but it just might work.
"You know what, fine. Just go ahead. Walk away from your problems. Honestly, it'll be more on brand for you to do so. Here I thought you were a selfless hero wanting to help others but then I remembered you're a Queen. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and even after five years shipwrecked that's not gonna change." Will walked over to his stuff and got ready to leave. Oliver ignored him and didn't let his words linger in his head. "I mean, it's just like a Queen. You ignore your problems and screw the people who actually need help. Your mother helped Malcolm Merlyn killed 503 innocent people and everyone basically agrees that you or she bribed someone on the jury to acquit her. Guess karma nabbed her in the end because Deathstroke killed her and no one is upset about that."
Oliver stiffened up and his hand twitched a bit.
"You were just an Ivy League dropout and playboy who was more successful in not managing to knock up the girls you hooked up with than you ever were as a club owner or CEO of Queen Consolidated. The fact that you lost your family's company speaks volume but really the thing that gets me was how you cheated on Laurel with her sister and the fact that Laurel doesn't want you dead still. Not only that but now you're trying to notch Felicity onto your belt when we all know she's too good for you." Will said, purposely saying things he didn't believe to get Oliver riled up and he didn't need to see his face to know it was working.
"And clearly the rest of you Queens are the same. Must be a cursed bloodline which will likely end in this generation, thank god for that. I mean we've got you, the psycho high school dropout, your mass-murdering mother, your dad who was a horrible person that he chose to shoot himself rather than face up to what he did which was the coward's way out, by the way, and then your sister. The spoiled brat with the drug problem. I mean, I knew her back in high school and she was just a bitch and its honestly karma that her life went down the toilet." Will said and Oliver's hands tightened into fists. He was squeezing with so much force that he was cracking his knuckles. "And it's not just your family but people you associate with. I mean, you ruined Laurel's life. She told me about the time you and she hooked up when she was dating your best friend. What was his name? Tommy?"
Oliver shook with anger and he was one more comment from exploding. "I mean, compared to everything else you've done that's just coldhearted. And unfortunately, not soon after you got him killed. I wonder if the last thoughts running through his head…were how in the end you were nothing but a spoiled, selfish…dick."
Oliver snapped in that moment. He turned Will around and landed a wild haymaker punch across his face that knocked Will into the table. Oliver let out heavy breaths as Will picked himself up and felt some blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and responded with a punch of his own that hit Oliver across the face. Oliver returned it in kind but Will blocked it and jabbed him in the face before landing a kick to his stomach. Oliver skidded back and then quickly ducked under a roundhouse kick before sidestepping a spinning back kick to punch Will in the stomach. He uppercut him in the face and then threw out a punch only for Will to duck and tackle him. He lifted Oliver off the ground and slammed him into the empty display case holding his mannequin, causing the glass to shatter and the two fell to the ground. Will did a kip-up back to his feet and hit Oliver with a spinning hook kick to the face that knocked him on his back.
"Is that all you got, Arrow?!" Will shouted so Oliver did a kip-up of his own. Will punched him again in the face but Oliver blocked the second punch and hit him with a punch to the gut before throwing him over his hip and onto the floor. Oliver threw out another punch only for Will to tackle him around the waist. Oliver stayed on his feet and grabbed Will's arm before throwing him to the ground again and then kicking him in the chest as he got back to his feet. Oliver leapt off a table with a flying punch before ducking a spinning hook kick and throwing out a back kick only for Will to grab his leg mid-spin and take him to the ground with a grapple. Will got into the mount position and punched Oliver across the face twice before putting him in an arm bar.
"GRRR!" Oliver grit his teeth in anger and fought through the pain before he rolled himself backward. He got out of the hold and got into mount position and punched Will in the face only to get his arms grabbed and headbutted in the stomach. Will brought his legs in and kicked Oliver off before doing a kip-up. He ducked a spinning hook kick and grabbed Oliver from behind, performing a powerful suplex onto a table that got both of them. They both fell off the table and laid on the ground in pain as the adrenaline from the fight began to fade. Both of them were bleeding from the face, nothing too serious and had some minor bruises. As the adrenaline faded Oliver could feel a cathartic sense of ease wash over him. Will picked himself up and looked over at the Arrow hood and then down at Oliver.
"I can't tell you why you're doing this, Oliver. When we all thought you were dead, the others needed to figure out why they were doing all this too. Why they stayed with the team. They stayed because they wanted to continue fighting for this city…for the people who need our help. So, you need to ask yourself the same question. Did you keep putting on the hood because you wanted to be praised by the city and Captain Lance? Be treated like a celebrity…or did you put on the hood to help people no matter what?"
Will held out his hand and Oliver took it to get back to his feet. As Will left Oliver with that poignant question, Diggle and Roy returned and looked at the state of the place. It looked like a fight was had and judging by the cut lips and small bruising then the fight was between Oliver and Will.
"Are we interrupting something?" Roy asked.
"No. Right on time. What is it?" Will wondered, wiping the blood from his lip.
"Just talked to a friend of mine who used to run a munitions depot back when I was in Afghanistan. I think I know why our guy is so interested in low grade diamonds." Diggle said.
"The type of diamonds Amar and his crew are interested in is used to make diamond-tipped bullets. They can go through body armor like tissue paper." Roy added.
"So, he's making very specific bullets. The only people who wear Kevlar are the police." Will said when it clicked for him. "He's going after the police. He doesn't know the cops who beat the confession out of him are in jail. He just wants to get payback."
Oliver heard that and he was ready to get into action. "Ok. Roy, suit up. Dig, I need you to secure the perimeter of the station. Will, contact Captain Lance. Let's hurry." Oliver grabbed his bow from the display case while Will removed his web shooters from his bag.
SCPD
Captain Lance was doing some paperwork in his office when he got a call on his phone and saw it was Will so he answered. "Yeah?"
"Captain Lance we've got a possible situation. The thief from the depot is making diamond-tipped bullets. They can go through Kevlar. We think he's heading to the SCPD for revenge. We're on our way but tell Yuri and the others to get everyone to safety!"
"On it." Lance stood up and walked out of his office to address his men. "All right, everyone! We've got a situation! Possible armed gunmen are going to make an attack on this station. I want all non-essential personnel escorted to safety, double-check your weapons and prepare yourselves!" Lance ordered so all the officers did as they were told. He saw Yuri ordering her men to get all the non-combatants to safety. "Watanabe! Head to the gun locker and get everything you can!"
"On it." Yuri coopted two officers who followed her. Just in time as some gunfire was heard outside.
Amar and his crew walked towards the side entrance of the SCPD and gunned down two officers who came out when they heard the gunfire. He then made some hand signals to his second in command. "Kill them all!"
Amar and his men walked into the SCPD but the officers and Captain Lance were ready for them. They constructed makeshift barricades with furniture and got themselves into defensive positions. Amar and his crew opened fire as officers took cover and took shots while they could. The automatic fire of Amar's crew kept them pinned down but the police wisely stayed behind cover. Lance leaned out from his desk and fired a few shots from his pistol and the other officers did the same. One of Amar's crew got hit forcing the others to scatter or take cover while a few officers were hit. Amar's bullets had greater penetration so a few officers were hit through the makeshift barricades.
Yuri and some officers were sweeping through the hallways with shotguns and automatic weapons, taking out Amar's crew who were doing the same. Yuri blasted one goon with a shotgun when she was tackled into a wall. She pushed off and elbowed the goon in the face and threw him over her shoulder only to see another goon take aim at her. Before he could shoot he was hit with an arrow in the chest. Yuri turned around and saw a red and black cloaked archer with a sword at her waist. More gunfire was heard so Yuri ducked and quickly got behind cover but when she looked back the archer was gone.
Back with Lance, a few of his men were hit and pulled behind cover when a small explosion ripped through the roof. Arrow and Arsenal dropped down and fired arrows at Amar's crew with the Arrow managing to hit Amar in the shoulder. The man held his injured arm before he blindly fired his bullets as he made his escape so the Arrow went after him. With Yuri, she hugged the wall as more of Amar's men flooded in to kill Arsenal when something crashed through a window and kicked one of the goons into a wall. Spider-man rolled forward and turned into a butterfly twist, kicking another goon across the face before firing a web line at a chair and hurling it across the room. One of the goons was hit but his friend wasn't so he raised his gun only to get hit in the back with an arrow but not fired by Arsenal or Arrow. It was the same black and red hooded archer that saved Yuri. She had no idea who the archer was but Spider-man did. He recognized the garb but was confused as to what Nyssa Al Ghul was doing back in Star City. Thankfully he saw that with the arrow she fired she was not here to hurt him.
Spider-man fired a splitter web, ensnaring two goons and hurled them into a wall before he webbed a guy in the face and pulled him in close to land a tornado kick to the face. Arsenal punched with his bow and landed low kicks to the bad guy's legs before taking one down with a wrist lock, managing to force him to shoot his friend in the leg before knocking him out with an elbow across the face. Nyssa punched one goon in the throat and kicked him in the chest. He fell onto a desk but got back up only for Nyssa to slice him with her sword. Another goon raised his gun at her but Spider-man fired a web and yanked it out of his hands and she sliced him across the chest before spinning into a low sweep that knocked a goon to the ground who she then punched across the face. Arsenal put one goon in to a clinch and kneed him in the face twice before a final knee knocked him onto his back and he push kicked another goon to Spider-man who tossed him to the ground with an over the shoulder throw and landed an axe kick to his face. Another guy came at him with a chair but he ducked and then punched the guy in the face, then punched him in the gut and dropped low to double-kick him in the chest and sent him crashing out a window. The last two goons turn to flee only for Nyssa to slash one across the chest and Spider-man to web pull the other towards him and landed a spinning elbow to his face. The man groaned before he slumped back and passed out. Nyssa, Arsenal, and Spider-man saw they were all clear with the latter two looking at their former prisoner. They had no idea why she was here after she left but they weren't ungrateful for the support. She gave them a nod of acknowledgement before she turned around and walked away.
Amar stumbled out the side door when an officer returning from patrol saw him so he shot him dead. He stumbled away only for the Arrow to drop down and kick him across the face. Amar got up and raised his gun only for it to get kicked out his hand before the Arrow punched him in the face and then the gut. The knock out blow came in the form of a powerful uppercut that sent Amar to the ground. The Arrow stood over his body as Captain Lance walked out with his pistol raised but saw Amar was taken down.
"What? Are you waiting around for a thank you?" Captain Lance asked.
"That's not why I do this." Arrow replied before he turned around and fired a grapple arrow to leave.
Paramedics and other officers were called to help at the SCPD. There were some causalities but not that many. Mostly bad injuries that would take time to recover but things could have been worse if Captain Lance hadn't warned them all ahead of time. That moment gave them the time necessary to prep a modicum of defense which ended up saving them from greater casualties. Arsenal and Arrow left but Spider-man hung around to help the injured. He carefully lifted an injured officer onto a gurney and the paramedics gave him thankful nods before he walked over to Yuri and Captain Lance where the latter was having his right arm bandaged up.
"Captain Lance, you all right?" Spider-man asked and Lance waved him off.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a scratch. Bullet grazed my arm. Thanks for coming. Things could have gone really bad tonight." Lance told him.
"Well, you know me. Always happy to help." He quipped.
"Dad!" They heard and saw Laurel walk in. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just a scratch." Lance assured her. Spider-man and Yuri stepped away to give them some privacy.
"So, who was the woman in red and black? I didn't know the Arrow had a new sidekick." Yuri admitted.
"He doesn't and I'm not sure what she was doing here tonight but she came in clutch." Spider-man admitted, sticking around a little longer to help with the injured before he left.
Laurel walked out the side entrance after she was assured her father was fine. She was terrified when she heard the news about the attack at the Precinct but thankfully Oliver, Will, and Roy arrived in time. Lance was just glad she was around as she could have gotten a stray bullet. Laurel walked to her car when she saw Nyssa standing nearby. "Your father is all right, yes?"
"What are you doing here?" Laurel asked her.
"Look for you, actually. I missed your sister." Nyssa admitted. "I suppose I wanted something to remind me of her."
"You know what? I could use a reminder of Sara, too. Dinner's on me." Laurel said and Nyssa smiled before the two left together.
"I took noticed of your fight with Merlyn. Your technique was competent." Nyssa told her.
"Why do I feel like that's your idea of a compliment?" Laurel asked. "I've had some training but Spider-man has helped me get better."
"He has…but it could certainly be improved." Nyssa said.
"Is that an offer to teach me?" Laurel wondered.
"I have nowhere else to go." Nyssa smiled as did Laurel.
Oliver, Roy, and Diggle walked into the bunker and saw Felicity at the computers. [Whistles] "Nice work."
"Not without a few casualties but Amar and his men are in custody." Oliver told her.
"So, that's a no to the whole victory dance thing?" Felicity joked.
"You know me. I don't dance. But I do occasionally admit when I'm wrong…and this was one of them." Oliver admitted.
"Does that have anything to do with why my workplace looks like a fight happened?" Felicity wondered.
"It did…and a fight did break out but it was what I needed. It was Will." Oliver said and Felicity smirked. "When I got back with Merlyn things were…I was listless. I needed help and Will gave me the clarity I needed. I started all of this for my father…to right his wrongs. It has become something more but I never stopped to think about it or about why…until he asked me to."
"And what was the answer?"
"Tonight, at the precinct…the only thing that I could think about was…those police officers, and how their families were counting on me, and Roy, and Diggle, and Will…to get them home safe. That's why I'm doing this." Oliver stated.
"So, that means a pass on becoming the most handsome demon's head ever?" Felicity joked.
"It means I'm not ready to give up on what we're doing here. All of us…and that includes Will." Oliver admitted.
"Ah…something I'm sure he'll be glad to know." Felicity quipped. "You know, you're always saying how you just want me to be happy. You know, the thing is, as long as you're in my life, I am." Oliver smiled when they heard Felicity's cellphone ring and saw it was Will. "Oh, looks like Will gets to hear you tell him he was right. Enjoy."
She handed Oliver the phone and gave him a wink before she stepped aside so he could talk in private. "Thanks for your help tonight." Oliver said as he answered his phone.
"Don't mention it. Glad to see you got that stick out of your ass. Now you just have to make sure another one doesn't take its place." Will quipped and Oliver chuckled. "So, do you have an answer yet?"
"I do. And thank you. Guess with everything that's happened…I lost my way. All it took was someone to remind me why I put the hood back on. I believe from you…with great power comes great responsibility." Oliver recited.
"Words to live by. And I'm happy to help even if it did take some physical violence. And FYI, you do know that I was taking it easy on you, right? I just let you let out your emotions. Don't make this a habit because if there's a next time with this than I'm gonna make the next lesson hurt a lot more." Will warned him.
"Understood."
"Well, I just wanted to call to thank Felicity for her help. She really came through for me."
"Yeah, she has a habit of that. What did she help you with?" Oliver wondered.
With Will…
He was standing in a group of students including Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Maya as they all watched Ian Thomas being handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. Everyone was taking pictures with their phones as one officer spoke with the Dean and campus security to get their statements while the other secured Ian in the car before calling it in. No one knew what was going on but all would be revealed soon.
"She helped me with my first sting operation. I'll talk to you later." Will hung up and smiled as he saw Ian's usual smug mug replaced with a look of worry. "Oh, sweet vindication."
Finally, things seemed to be going right.
That wouldn't last long.
End of Chapter 18
Hey, everyone. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Apologies again for the wait but I got it done and hope you enjoy it. Will now has a greater understanding of what's going on with Oliver and Team Arrow and helped the former get out of his funk. Hopefully it'll be the last time but knowing Oliver, probably not. They're now on better terms which is good because next chapter things get crazy.
Next chapter, things in Star City get bad as Oliver's decline of the title of Ra's al Ghul's heir doesn't sit well with the Demon's Head. The League is going to force Oliver's hand which means Will is going to be busy helping Team Arrow stop them. Until next time!
January Update: Blue Wolf on 1/14/25 and What if Superman and Mandalorian Maverick on 1/31/2025.
Again, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, reviews, and words of encouragement. Special thanks to Masamune X23, my Beta reader. He gives me a lot of great ideas for this story as well as my other ones as well. Also, thanks to War Sage, JhotoLoraxius, Omni-Creator Kami of Anime and all the other people who PM me with ideas for my stories. Thank you, guys. They help a lot. Also, make sure to check my DeviantArt every now and then for new pics I'll put up. I've made cover photos for about all my stories, but I'll have more pics made so check them out.
Also, not sure if you checked my profile page but I do have a P-A-T-R-E-O-N page now. It's Choejhulkp9 writing endeavor. Don't feel pressured to sign up. Regardless, I still plan on doing what I'm doing. Writing for free and updating on and I'm slowly working on Wattpad. Sorry I'm really bad about that. But for those that would like to help with what they can or are feeling gracious, it would be greatly appreciated. I've got tiers for any small amount. And some exclusive stuff for the time being to start a new possible story. Again, don't feel pressured.
William Alexander Detmer-Age 20/Sophomore at SCU: Birthday, October 8th, 1994
Moniker: The Spectacular Spider-man
Appearance: Tyler Posey
Uniform: Ben Reilly's dark blue and red spider-man suit with the black spider logo and web pattern. Now STAR labs upgraded with new durable fabric and insulation, built-in HUD, and communications systems with various modes of vision. Built-in parachute, web wings, and new utility belt.
Casual outfit: sneakers, blue jeans, black or red t-shirt with blue button-up or sweatshirt.
Weapons:
STAR labs upgraded Web Shooters capable of configuring to over 200 different web-shooter combinations and connected to HUD for easy configuration and control. New capacitors to hold and resist an electrical overload.
STAR Labs modified Web Grenades/Bombs, Web Trip Mines, and acid embrittlement bombs
New Spider tracers, mini-camera/recording device, spider-thumb drive.
New Spider-bot. Mini-drone capable of field reconnaissance and interfacing with security systems.
Skills: Genius intellect with 250 IQ, Superhuman strength, Superhuman speed, Superhuman reflexes, Superhuman agility and balance, Super senses, accelerated healing factor, wall-crawling/adhesive stick, Spider-Sense, Night Vision, and telescopic vision, Bio-Electrokinesis/Venom strike-blast
May Detmer: Marisa Tomei
Aria Montgomery: Lucy Hale
Emily Fields: Shay Mitchell
Spencer Hastings: Troian Bellisario
Dr. Curt Connors: Dylan Baker
SCPD Lieutenant Yuri Watanabe: Kelly Hu
Disclaimer: I don't own Spider-man, Arrow, or any above-mentioned products. All rights belong to their respective owners, I'm just a big fan.
