Chronicles of the Spider

Axis vs Shadow Society Part 2 - Brothers

Earth Prime

Present Day

Peter sighed as he jetted out of his tower. He had just received the analysis of the magical residue found at the scene. Zatanna reported that it wasn't just Postman who'd targeted her, but it seemed that there was another magical at the scene as well. From what they could determine, it seemed that the mysterious new person and Postman had gotten into a fight after ambushing Raven and knocking her out. From what the Justice League Dark could deduce, the other person likely involved was Hell's Bane, a sorcerer affiliated with the Shadow Society. She was an enhanced metahuman that was kidnapped shortly after the Particle Accelerator and dragged to a hellish dimension. While surviving there, she became particularly competent at the magical arts, eventually escaping and learning further under Postman himself. They seemed to have had a falling out when Postman tried to steal her powers for himself, which Peter was extremely thankful for. He didn't think he could have survived two sorcerers simultaneously.

Peter needed to get information about the Axis's further movements, so he headed towards a place that he knew could help him. Devil's Child, a notorious gangster, was one of the largest crime bosses in the city, despite being blind. He was only tangentially affiliated with the Axis, but he prided himself as an information broker, bragging that he knew everything about the criminal underworld of the city, and sometimes even the country. If there was anyone who knew what was going to happen next, it would be him.

Just as Peter landed outside the compound, another figure joined him. This one was dressed in blue and black. Peter knew who he was, of course. It was his brother, Dick.

XXXX

Earth Prime

13 Years Ago

"Have you completely lost your mind!" Peter roared as he burst into the study. The door slammed open, and a sheepish Alfred was seen on the other side. However, his expression soon morphed into a satisfied one, and he turned around to let father and son argue in privacy.

"Peter," Bruce greeted evenly. "Can I help you with something?"

"You can help me by telling me that you're not taking a kid out on patrol with you!" Peter shot back, breathing heavily.

Bruce sighed, and massaged his forehead.

"No no no, you don't get to act like I'm being unreasonable, dad!" Peter yelled as he watched his father's reaction. "I think I'm entitled to an explanation about why you're dragging my brother out there to be shot at by all the scum this city has to offer!"

"Peter, I'm not taking him into any dangerous situations," Bruce tried to assure. "The most Dick's seen so far is some muggers and thugs. There's absolutely no chance that he's going to get hurt especially when I'm around him all the time."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Peter screamed. "Anything could happen, dad! There's no predicting what happens in a fight! That kid, who weighs less than a hundred pounds, soaking wet, is not going to be able to control everything that happens in combat. He's not you!"

"No he's not," Bruce agreed. "He's better than me."

That took the wind out of Peter's sails for a moment. Seeing that Peter was struck dumb for a moment, Bruce hurried to continue when he had the chance.

"We discovered what caused the deaths of his parents. It was some smalltime gangster that the circus hadn't paid protection money to. I was going to go for him myself, but when I arrived, I spotted a small figure rushing past the guards into the building. Apparently, he learnt a lot more from my hand to hand combat instruction than I had previously thought, and he managed to even take down two guys before I arrived. I entered the room just behind him, and saw him holding a gun to the guy's head. His hands were shaking, and I was about to stop him, but he turned the gun away. I was so proud of him, Peter. Dick managed to stop himself from seeking vengeance. That took me forever. It took all my years of training to center my emotions, but here's a twelve year old, who could ignore revenge, keep a clear head, and think about justice."