Gotham Spider

Chapter 9: No

The single word made the world seem to stop dead in its tracks. No one said anything, no one did anything. It was just me staring down the Dark Knight himself. "No?" Batman asked. "No. I won't help you catch my friend," I said. Everyone was floored, even the Joker had shut up for once. Someone was standing up to the Batman. Like, THE BATMAN! The one who survived being broken in half by Bane! Yet, here's some kid from New York wearing a red and blue costume and he's standing up to literally the scariest man in Gotham City. Batman yanked at the webbing until the entire car door was ripped off the hinges. I swung over and kicked the door, which pushed Batman back a bit. "Do you know what Quinn has done?" Batman asked as he cut the webbing off his hand, releasing the door from his grip. "She's tortured people. Killed people. She's done things that put her on the levels of the Joker! She needs to be locked up!" Batman said as he tried to punch me. I tried my best to dodge all the punches. "How much of that is her though and how much of that is the Joker telling her to do those things?" I said as I shot some slam webs at Batman. He got all of them and let them fall. It was then that I feel like I made a mistake saying no to Batman.

Batman landed one punch and that was all it took for me to be ultimately caught off guard. Let me tell you, getting punched by Batman hurts! It feels like being hit by a brick wall if that brick wall was a man. He started wailing away at me, punching and throwing things at me. There were some lucky times where I would dodge thanks to my spider-sense but those were few and far between. Soon, I was bruised underneath my suit and mask. I barely had enough energy to stand up. The police arrived and held Batman back, yelling "He's a kid! He's a kid!". I was able to shoot a web into Batman's face and get up and swing away to safety. I laid down on a rooftop to try and catch my breath after the brutal beatdown I received. I took my mask off to let more air get to my lungs. It was then that I saw a figure walk up to me, dressed in black with a big blue bird on the chest.

"Yeesh. What happened to you?" He asked as he crouched down, his face showing he was wearing a black domino mask. "Got a Batman beatdown," I said, trying to heave myself to my feet. THe man helped me up and helped me lean up against an air conditioner. "It's better if you stand. Disperses blood better throughout the body," He said. "Thanks. Who are you anyways?" I asked. "Just call me Nightwing," He said. "Nightwing. That's an interesting name," I said. "You're new to Gotham aren't you?" Nightwing asked. "That obvious, huh?" I asked with a chuckle. "Considering you're trying to fight people who'll easily use a machine gun and fighting with an augmented form of New York slugger boxing? Yeah it was obvious," Nightwing said. "Oh. I guess that is a way to know if someone's new," I said. "You need to learn how to fight like Gotham to fight in Gotham. So put 'em up," Nightwing said as he put his fists up. I stood up and put my fists up. "No no. You're still fighting like you're in New York. You need to remember you're not in New York anymore," Nightwing said as he went to me. "Open hands, be ready to catch an enemy's hand," Nightwing said as he corrected my hands according to what he said. "Bend your knees a bit, don't lock them in place. Be able to move quickly if you need to," Nightwing said as I accommodated based on what he said. "Make sure you let the opponent make the first move, then adjust according to what they did," Nightwing said as he pretended to throw a punch. I grabbed his arm and pretended to throw a right hook against his cheek.

"Boom. Nice. Alright let's try for real, okay?" Nightwing asked and I nodded. He backed up a bit and went to actually try and punch me. I caught his arm and jammed my fist into his face, which actually caught him off guard. He backed up and held his cheek. "Woah, that's quite a swing you got there," Nightwing said. "I'm sorry," I quickly responded. Nightwing held his hand out, "No no. That was great. Keep that up and you'll do great here in Gotham," Nightwing said as he jumped off the rooftop and used a grappling hook to hop between rooftop to rooftop. It was then that I realized the whole time I had my mask off and he actually saw my face. "Oh...man!" I shouted as I put my mask back on and swung back home. I saw myself in the mirror, just what I thought. Bruises...lots and lots of bruises. Which sucks because I have work tomorrow and if Mr. Wayne asks, I can't say where I got the bruises from. That might give me away! I guess I just have to play it cool and try and ignore the fact that they're there. Difficult is an understatement for the performance I have to pull.

The next day came and I had to take the bus to get to work again and I sat next to a man that wore a green shirt and brown jacket. He had a pair of glasses on and read a book about neurology. "Hi. Are you expecting anyone to sit here?" I asked the man politely. "Oh? No, go ahead. I'm not waiting for anyone," The man said as I sat down next to him. "Say, I feel like I know you from somewhere. Do I know you?" I asked him. The man looked up from his book and looked at me. "I don't think we've met before," The man said as he held a hand out. "Dr. Otto Octavius. Pleasure to meet you," He said. "Dr. Octavius?! Uh! Mark Slater. Pleasure to meet you,"

I replied as I shook his hand. "Slater? I heard of you. Your thesis from Cornell reached Empire State. You have an interesting view about how chemistry can shape the world of architecture," He said. "Your research about neural connection with prosthetic limbs is amazing. Really world changing if it goes through," I said ecstatically. "That's what I hope is happening today. My research got picked up by Wayne Enterprises and I'm starting today to help the R&D department make my prosthetics a reality," Otto explained. "I work in the R&D department. I can help you make those prosthetics!" I said excitedly. Otto noticed my bruises, "Woah, what happened to you?" He asked. "Uh...I got mugged last night. Fought them off but didn't escape unscathed," I said calmly. "Huh, that's Gotham for you. Anyways, it'll be a pleasure working with you," Otto said as the bus stopped by Wayne Enterprise. We both got off the bus and walked into the building. Bruce was there waiting for us, that kind smile on his face. He went up and shook Otto's hand, saying he was glad that a great mind like himself is able to work here. Then...he came to me.

"Mark, you uh...you okay? You have some bruises on you," Bruce said. "Oh uh...yeah I'm fine," I responded. "If you say so," Bruce said with a tiny bit of suspicion in his eyes. Otto and I both went upstairs and to our respective labs in the R&D department. I noticed Lucius working on something. "Uh...Lucius?" I asked. "What is it, Mark?" Lucius asked. "What are you working on?" I hesitantly asked. "Just a little something for a partner of mine," He said calmly. I looked over his shoulder and saw what he was working on. It was a black circular device with what look like shock components inside. "Looks like a small taser device. Helping out the police?" I asked. "Yes, once I figure out this prototype and work out the bugs; I'll mass produce them for the police to use," Lucius said. For some reason, my spider sense started to go off. "Ok, cool. Hey what does it do exactly? I'm noticing some adhesive components in the machinations," I inquired. "Well it's supposed to be thrown, whatever it sticks to gets a 30,000 volt shock until the device is removed," Lucius explained. It seemed really cool, yet a bit extreme for the police.

The day went by without a hitch after that, that is until someone walked in to visit Bruce. He was a few inches shorter than Bruce, and had black hair with blue eyes. He went up and gave Bruce a hug. "Bruce. How have you been?" The man said. "Good, Dick. How's the family?" Bruce said. I walked up to the two men and introduced myself. "Oh right. Mark, this is Dick Grayson. Dick, this is Mark Slater," He said as we both shook each others hand. Bruce went back to his office and Dick gave me a look. "So, red and blue?" Dick asked me. "Wait what?" I asked in shock. "Hi, I'm Nightwing, pleased to meet you," Dick said as my jaw dropped. "Spider-Man," I said with a lost tone to my voice. "Hey, like the comic book character," He replied. "That's uh...that's the idea," I said awkwardly. "Well nice to meet you Spider-Man," Dick said as he started to walk away. "Can you teach me more?" I rapidly spat out. "What do you mean?" Dick asked, turning around to face me again. "More of that fighting stuff. Fighting like I'm in Gotham?" I said, reminding him of the combat lesson he gave me the night before. "Oh. Uh sure, just name the rooftop or whatever. I'm always glad to help the new blood," Dick said. "Iceberg Lounge, 8:00," I said rapidly. "Sure. Just be sure to wear your mask," He said as he walked out of the building.