"Alfred. Bane knows who I am. You're not safe at Wayne Manor." Batman warned as he and Spider-Man rushed out of the lab.
"Got it. I'll call the police!"
"No. I can't risk them discovering my identity as well. Just secure yourself in the Batcave."
"What are you two going to do then?"
"We're on our way to you. I'll… I'll figure something out." He said before hanging up.
"He knows who I am," Spider-Man said in worry. "If he knows who I am, then he knows about who I care about."
"It will be fine," Batman said.
"He could go after May. She can't defend herself. I mean, neither can Pam, but-"
"Listen!" Batman shoved him on the wall to stop him from rambling. "Look... we will keep them safe. If we find Bane, he cant hurt them. He is focusing on us. He knows we are here. He won't travel to New York to go harm some innocent old lady. He wants us."
Spider-Man began to calm down and knew he was right. "You're right... Sorry, I tend to ramble sometimes when I panic."
Batman didn't say anything as he then released Spider-Man and nodded, knowing that he was just afraid for his family as they continued forward. When they were halfway through the facility, they heard very concerning police chatter from their communications.
"Repeat: one suspect is airborne in a jet pack, armed with a flamethrower. Suspect two has some sort of metal bird suit and quills that are dangerous. Multiple hostages on the Pioneers bridge."
"That has to be Firefly," Spider-Man said.
"And Vulture," Batman agreed. "They must not know the Joker's behind bars."
"And that they're putting those people in danger, to get to us." Spider-Man nodded.
"We better move," Batman said as they raced out of the facility.
"Delta 6-5 to Dispatch. Who's the O.I.C. at Pioneers?" Another voice came over the radio.
"Captain James Gordon is the officer in charge."
"Think you can hack into their communications?" Spider-Man asked as they came to a stop.
"Yes, just give me a second," Batman said as he pulled out his Cryptographic Sequencer. After a few seconds, they could hear Firefly talking to his men.
"And if the cops try anything stupid, kill a few hostages."
"Sure thing. And uh… How long before we set the timers on the bombs?" Said one of the thugs.
"Not until the Bat and Spider show. We'll wait all night if we have to. There's 50 Million riding on this."
"Tonight will be the day that I finally rid myself of that Spider-Pest," Vulture cried in anger.
"Wow, and I thought we had something," Spider-Man scoffed.
"Alfred... Firefly and Vulture have hostages on the Pioneers Bridge. We need to deal with him before coming back." Batman said, updating him as they exited the hideout.
"Can't you let Spider-Man handle this? I'm sure he's more than qualified to handle them."
"I am not sending someone else to fight for my city without going myself," Batman stated. "If Vulture and Firefly notice that only one of us is there, they might suspect something and blow up the bridge. Besides, those hostages are in jeopardy because of me. Because of the bounty that was placed on us, you'll be safe in the Batcave."
"You know, I can head back to the Batcave if you want me to. I can handle Bane." Spider-Man stated.
"Like I said, if they see that you're gone, they'll detonate the bombs."
"But what if-"
"We'll finish up quickly, the Batcave has high-security countermeasures in case of a break-in."
"Think it will last long enough?" Spider-Man asks.
"Hopefully we won't have to find out," Batman stated.
As the duo approached the bridge, they could hear Captain Gordon over the police radio.
"This is a hostage situation, people. Get into position and prepare to breach on my order. Do not provoke or engage the suspects. They've got hostages in the bridge sublevel. Just get yourselves into position."
"What's the plan?" Spider-Man asked as they came to a stop near the entrance to the bridge.
"We need to draw Firefly's and Vulture's attention away from the bridge so we can approach safely, then we need to find the bombs and disable them before dealing with him."
Spider-Man looked down for a few seconds in thought. "I'll distract them."
"What?" Batman asks. "No, that's too dangerous."
"C'mon, you're probably better at defusing bombs than I am. And I know I can handle them, at least until you're done with the bombs. I know how to push Vulture's buttons, and Firefly... I always love meeting new people."
"What if he detonates the bombs? How are you-"
"Do you trust me?"
There was only silence in the air as the two stared at each other as if they were waiting for something to happen. Then, a hesitant hand reached up before Spider-Man pulled off his mask. He looked at Batman right in the eye.
"Do you trust me?" He drew out.
Batman was silent. He couldn't figure out how he felt on that question. After all they had been through together on this night, did he trust him? He pushed him away all night, and only ended up working together through coincidence. But despite the bruises, cuts, wounds, and trauma, he was still willing to put his life on the line if it meant Batman could save someone else. He would never admit it, but it reminded him of himself a little. Letting out a small breath, he gave him a nod.
A confident smile dawned on Spider-Man's face. "I got this." He said before putting his mask back on and zooming off. "Hey, Adrian, it's me, Spider-Man!"
On the bridge, everything was being set on fire. Any vehicles that were misfortune enough to be nearby were caught up in the flames before exploding.
"Yeah! Woooo!"
The one behind these fires was flying around above, using his own jet back and flamethrower to cause as much damage as possible. Laughing maniacally as he did so. Suddenly, he felt something smack him in the face. Ripping it off, he saw that it was a web, a spider's web. He looked over as he saw Vulture was flying around, shooting quills toward him.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play with fire?"
Looking down, he saw Spider-Man standing on top of one of the trucks that was lucky enough to not get caught on fire yet.
"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up," Firefly said before alerting the rest of his men through his own earpiece. "Listen up… The Spider is here. That means the Bat's likely here too. If just one of those stinking pigs sets foot on this bridge… set the timers."
"Hey, Toomes. What are you even doing working with Flame Brain here? Isn't he a little too psychotic even for you?"
"His mental state aside this alliance is only temporary until we kill you and the bat," Vulture stated.
Firefly turned his attention back to Spider-Man. "Don't try anything funny, or I might just send this bridge to the bottom of the- Hey!"
As Firefly was threatening the wall-crawler, he took out his detonator and showed it off. Almost as if he was bragging. Using Firefly's monologue as a distraction, Spider-Man had pulled the detonator out of his hands.
"Yoink!"
He whipped it behind him and stuck it to one of the cables holding up the bridge. Vulture then came flying at full speed, and Spider-Man tried to dodge the incoming strike. He shot a web onto his pack, accidentally getting Vulture to give him a ride, and then kicked Firefly and escaped.
"Oof, it seems you're in a bit of a sticky situation here." Spider-Man quipped. "Now, let's see what you got."
"Grrrrrr!" Firefly growled as he zoomed towards him.
Spider-Man jumped towards him with a fist ready and began to clash.
"Gordon would never order a breach if he knew about Firefly's and Vulture's bombs. I've got to stop him before he sends his men into a trap." Batman said after he had knocked out all the SWAT officers standing around the base of the Central Pillar. On the stairway above him was a door that led to the Maintenance Room of the bridge. Knowing it was his only way in, he grappled over the railing and walked in.
As he entered, he saw Captain Gordon below him. He was behind the reception desk with his back turned to him, talking to someone over the radio. After walking down the steps, he crouched below the desk beside a box before Captain Gordon could see him.
"Don't send in your men. Firefly and Vulture have the bridge rigged with explosives." Batman warned, causing Gordon to spin around in the direction of his voice.
"Show yourself," Gordon demanded.
"Branden to Gordon. We're in place, awaiting your orders." A voice stated from Gordon's radio.
"You have a go."
"No, call them back. Spider-Man's handling them right now. If he gets distracted, Firefly could blow the bridge. There's no telling how many people would die."
"You two are the reason those people are in danger. They're doing this for the bounty on your heads. Call him back and give yourselves up."
"We're going to bring in Firefly and Vulture ourselves. Don't send anyone else in until I tell you it's safe."
"You'll stay the hell out of this! You hear me?!"
"No! Take him down!" Branden's voice shouted once again from the radio with the sounds of struggle echoing through.
"Branden! Branden, report!" Gordon said when the sound of gunfire suddenly stopped.
"Captain Gordon I told you, the ONLY people I want setting foot on this bridge are the Bat and Spider. Test me again… and things will not go well for Officer Branden, is it?" Firefly's voice warned.
"Dammit. Does anyone have eyes on Branden?" Gordon asked, switching the channel.
"Bravo-Z. Command. That's a negative."
"All units, maintain your positions. No one else goes in without my order." Gordon said before running off.
"Spider-Man, what's going on up there?" Batman questioned through his communicator.
"Got bad news. I was dealing with Firefly and Vulture when Branden and some other officer came over and started firing at us. Some of Firefly's guys came up behind them and knocked them out. I tried to stop them but there were too many. Branden was gone."
"I'll find him. Have you seen the detonator yet?"
"Don't worry, I've been keeping it away from them." Spider-Man cried as he shot two webs to grab onto the two and then made it ricochet so they would slam into one another. "It's like fish and a barrel out here."
"Good, I'm going to find one of Firefly's men and make them tell me where the bombs are. Make sure he never finds that detonator."
"Hey, what do you take me for? Of course, I'll keep him away from- Hey get back here you two! I called a timeout!" Spider-Man suddenly shouted before hanging up.
After extracting information from one of their henchmen, Batman discovered that there were a total of four bombs strategically placed around the city. One bomb was located near the thug he was interrogating, another was positioned on the bridge sublevel, and the remaining two were situated at opposite ends of the bridge. Batman successfully managed to defuse three of the four bombs, ensuring the safety of the hostages and Branden's team. With the Southend bomb defused, his next target was the Northside bomb. Meanwhile, Spider-Man continued to engage Firefly and Vulture, who were relentlessly pursuing him for the bounty on his head.
However, a new obstacle arose as the path to the Northside bomb was obstructed by a fire door. Commissioner Gordon possessed the codes required to open the door, but he was unwilling to collaborate with a vigilante like Batman. Fortunately, Alfred was able to provide assistance in resolving this predicament.
"Sir. I have those fire door codes you asked for."
"OK. I'll call you when I'm at the door."
"I also thought I'd let you know, the hostages you released have escaped. They're telling tales of a hero who saved their lives."
"I'm not looking for praise, Alfred."
"I figured you'd say that. Would it kill you to lighten up a bit, sir?"
"Spider-Man's got the two of them distracted, should we move in?" A police officer asked over the radio.
"Negative. Spider-Man's the only one keeping him from blowing the bridges. We can't risk interfering. The bomb squad is nearly there." Gordon responded.
Up above the rubble, Batman could see Spider-Man battling Vulture and Firefly as they were fighting in midair.
I've got to get to the last bomb before Spider-Man or Gordon forces their hand. Batman thought as he made his way back towards the firewall.
After Batman took out the guards around the firewall, he heard Gordon talking over the radio.
"Alright. All units we are breaching. Move in people."
"Gordon. I've defused three of the four bombs. As soon as I defuse the final bomb-" Batman tried to say.
"We are breaching now. You're too late."
"Alfred. Open the fire door." Batman said, switching communications.
"As you wish, sir."
The alarm started to go off as the fire door slowly rose up. Once it was just at the right height for Batman to slip through, he slid under it and spotted the next door to go through. Using his Shock Gloves, he caused the barricaded bars to lower and go through.
On the other side, he noticed two things: one, he was back outside and two the path towards the other end of the bridge was destroyed by Vulture and Firefly against Spider-Man. With no other choice, he used the rubble to make his way through the destruction. Nearing the top, he saw Firefly suddenly attack the police helicopter. The chopper began to spin around out of control.
"Mayday! Mayday! We are goin' down. Re-" The cop panicked over the radio
"Don't worry folks, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here to save you." Spider-Man's voice said in a heroic tone.
Batman could spot a small figure above him moving away from the helicopter as it crashed into the bridge.
"Anybody see what happened to Air One?" Gordon asked in a panic.
Air Two to command. Air One got pulled out of the chopper before it made contact."
"Air One to command. Spider-Man saved us before our chopper hit the bridge. He dropped us off by the Southend unit." Came a response with a shaky breath.
"Are you two okay?" Gordon asked.
"We're good, sir. Thanks to Spider-Man."
Good job kid. Batman praised in his head. He grappled up to a sign hanging above the side of the bridge. Down below he could hear Firefly's thugs talking.
"He's here somewhere. Just gotta keep our eyes open." One of them said.
"We should check the wreckage of the chopper. He might be lookin' for survivors."
Another responded.
"Nah, no point. I saw Spider-Man carry them off before it blew up."
"Really? I didn't see anything."
"It was kinda hard to see, but I definitely saw him save those cops."
"What did he do that for? Most of GCPD is corrupt anyway. Could've done the city a favor."
"Nah, not his style. Just like the Bat. I guess all freaks have one thing in common."
Batman jumped down and started a fight. The commotion caused the other thugs nearby to check it out.
One of the thugs was about to punch Batman from behind when Spider-Man came out of nowhere and kicked him away.
"Miss me?" He rhetorically asked. Looking at him now, Batman could see that his suit was mostly covered in soot and a part of his costume had been ripped off near his hip and right knee due to Vulture's wings and quills.
"Where's the detonator?"
"... Firefly found it."
"What?"
"Can we just deal with these guys before you berate me?" Spider-Man said before leaping towards one of Firefly's men.
Batman merely shook his head before countering an incoming punch from the side.
After everyone was down, Firefly reappeared.
"How do you two want to die? The quick…incinerating flash of an explosion? Or…a nice slow Burn?!" He said as he activated his flamethrower, causing the duo to roll out of the way as the flames reached a nearby car and caused it to explode.
"The Joker's behind bars. There's no more prize money. You can give up now or we can make you surrender. Your choice." Batman warned.
"Don't hate me, Batman. I just want to melt your face." Firefly said as he showed off the detonator.
"Aww, how romantic." Spider-Man jokes before shooting a web at Firefly's arm, with Batman doing the same.
This causes Firefly to panic and take off, dragging behind the two heroes who hang on tight.
Spider-Man was about to help him out when he sensed someone closing and saw Vulture coming in. He groaned as he was getting a little tired of Adrian tonight. He quickly waited for an opening and then leaped on his back, dragging Adrian to follow after Batman and Firefly.
Eventually, Batman is able to plant his feet on the side of one of the pillars and keep Firefly in place as he tangled in the air. Batman throws one of his Batarangs at Firefly's hand, causing him to drop the detonator. It lands inside one of the vehicles as the heroes let go of Firefly and fall back down on the ground. Spider-Man leaped off of Vulture and landed aside Batman.
"Time to clip their wings," Spider-Man said to Batman as Firefly flew above them, firing his flamethrower.
"We need to defeat him quickly," Batman shouted as they dodged the incoming flames.
"Why?"
"I never defused the last bomb. If Firefly finds his remote detonator, everyone on this bridge will die."
"As if we needed more pressure to deal with." Spider-Man sighed.
"Stay focused, Spider-Man," Batman replied, his voice low and commanding. "Firefly is our priority. We can't let him bring this bridge down."
"I've got your back!" Spider-Man shot back, webbing a nearby lamppost and launching himself into the air. He swung high above the bridge, narrowly dodging a burst of flames from Firefly's flamethrower.
Firefly, clad in his signature suit, cackled as he unleashed a torrent of fire towards Spider-Man. But the agile hero flipped mid-air, using his webs to redirect the flames into the water below. "Not today, hothead!" he called out, landing deftly on the edge of the bridge.
As Spider-Man distracted Firefly, Batman sprinted forward, using his grappling hook to ascend the bridge's structure. He reached a vantage point just above the flame-wielding villain.
"It's over, Firefly!" Batman declared, dropping down with a swift kick that sent the pyromaniac sprawling.
Firefly grunted, momentarily stunned, but quickly regained his composure, firing his flamethrower at Batman. The Dark Knight rolled to the side, the flames licking at his heels. He threw a series of smoke bombs, enveloping the area in a thick haze. "Now, Spider-Man!" Batman shouted, his voice resonating through the smoke.
Spider-Man swung back in, using the confusion to his advantage. With a few expertly placed web shots, he ensnared Firefly's wrists and pulled him off balance. "You should really consider a new line of work!" he joked, as he pinned Firefly against the bridge railing.
Meanwhile, Vulture swooped in, furious at the sight of his partner being captured. "You'll pay for this!" he screeched, launching a barrage of razor-sharp feathers towards Spider-Man.
Batman leaped into action, intercepting the feathers with his cape. "You'll have to do better than that!" he growled. With a quick motion, he activated his EMP device, which disabled Vulture's flight suit for a brief moment.
"Now!" Batman yelled, signaling to Spider-Man. The wall-crawler leaped into the air, delivering a powerful kick to Vulture's chest, sending him crashing to the bridge.
Vulture struggled to recover as Batman approached, his cape billowing like a dark specter. "This ends now," Batman said, gripping Vulture by the collar and pulling him upright. "You're going back to prison."
Just as victory seemed certain, Firefly broke free from the webbing and located the trigger. He then flew into the air and evaded the strikes from the two. "Say goodbye!"
"No!" Spider-Man cried.
"Don't!" Batman shouted.
But it was too late, Firefly pressed the button causing the north end to collapse into the water, killing anyone on that part of the bridge.
Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. But after he pressed his thumb down, everything went quiet.
"Uhh… not that I am not complaining, but isn't there supposed to be a big 'boom'?" Spider-Man asked.
Firefly kept trying to activate the explosion, but nothing was working. He threw the detonator down out of frustration.
"Time to run!" Firefly shouted as he threw his custom-made grenades at the two.
Both Batman and Spider-Man rolled out of the way of the explosions jumped down the hole in the bridge and landed in the bridge's lower interior. Vulture was beginning to fall when Spider-Man created a cocoon to keep him from falling.
Realizing their safety was only temporary, Spider-Man used the few seconds he had to reload his web shooters before he and Batman used the opening to their left to quickly get back on the bridge before Firefly burnt them to a crisp.
Once back up on the bridge, Firefly flew by above them, using his flamethrower to leave a trail of flames behind him. This caused some of the trucks blocking the area to their right to move, opening up an exit. The duo quickly moved before Firefly could reach them and leaped over a giant whole below them and safely made it to the other side of the bridge.
Now Firefly was behind them, and the road ahead of them was being blocked off by a large truck. With not many options left, the two ran straight for the truck as the heat of the flames trailed behind them.
Firefly reappeared in front of them, ready to fire his flamethrower but was stopped when Spider-Man covered him up in his webs. Batman threw his Batarangs as quickly as he could at Firefly, making him dizzy again. The two pulled him down to their level again. Batman hit him with an uppercut while Spider-Man leaped onto his back again and gave the other engine a few punches. Firefly knocked him off him and flew up.
"Can you feel the heat?!" Firefly taunted as he threw more of his grenades. After the two kept dodging the explosions, Firefly just threw a bunch of them at the same time, boxing the two in.
"What do we do now?" Spider-man asked as the flames drew closer.
"We need to attach ourselves to Firefly, it's a risk we need to take."
"This is gonna be a bumpy ride," Spider-Man said as he and Batman grappled or webbed up to Firefly before he took off.
"You guys never give up, do you?" He said he flew around the bridge with the two heroes in tow.
"Watch out for the bridge!" Firefly yelled as he flew down before pulling up, hoping the heroes would crash into the ground. But they were able to maneuver themselves around a bit so they were able to hang on. Pretty soon, Batman was getting pretty close to Firefly, who took notice and tried to use his flamethrower on him but was blocked as Batman moved it away from him and began to punch him in the face. He attached one of his glue grenades to him before jumping off, with Spider-Man letting go as well.
Batman quickly grabbed back onto Firefly as Spider-Man joined him and directed him towards the top of the main pillar. They crashed into a pole before bouncing off the ground and nearly slid off the side before they were able to stop. The crash had knocked off one of Firefly's wings, so Batman made it fair by ripping off the other one while Spider-Man punched Firefly so hard in the face that the glass around his eye broke, exposing part of his burnt face.
"Now what did we learn today? When you play with fire, you crash and burn." Spider-Man quipped before giving him one last punch to knock him out.
Later on, Gordon, Bullock, and another officer found Firefly dangling a few feet off the ground, a web tangled around his leg to keep him suspended.
"They did it," Gordon said, surprised.
"You mean the Bat and Spider? Don't give them too much credit. Something tells me if you hadn't given the bomb squad the breach order, this bridge would be at the bottom of the river." Bullock countered.
There were a few moments of silence before Gordon looked to the Vulture and Firefly who were webbed up for them. "Get them out of here."
"Hmmph," Bullock grunted before taking out a knife to cut Firefly down while the other officer held him still.
Gordon walked over to the edge of the bridge and looked down, trying to relax his nerves a bit after all that happened. Suddenly he hears a clang on the ground. Looking up, he sees both Batman and Spider-Man perched on the top of the fence that surrounds the edge of the bridge. One of them had thrown Firefly's detonator next to his feet.
"You didn't listen," Batman stated.
"Not big on taking orders from wanted men," Gordon responded.
"Yeah well, we're not big on taking orders from cops," Spider-Man said with a sigh at the end. "I should have kept Firefly away from that detonator."
"Yeah, and I should've given your friend access to that security door. But between the three of us." He says as he picks up the detonator "We covered it pretty well." He looks back up to see both men gone.