When the spider-sense was triggered, a brief anomaly would occur in Batman's brainwave signals—a fact Batman had known long ago.
Batman had also consistently kept records of the computer data every time his spider-sense was triggered involuntarily, and this time was no exception.
After giving his instructions to Alfred, Batman didn't immediately set about reviewing the data. Instead, he looked at Gwen Stacy, who had appeared a short distance away in front of him with a mixture of vigilance, excitement, and nervousness.
Batman was currently half-squatting on a gargoyle head commonly found on New York street architecture, his wide, heavy cape draping down from the gargoyle with its hem fluttering in the wind.
Gwen Stacy had both feet and one hand pressed flat against the building's wall, her body curled up like a spider, while her black, white-trimmed, pink-lined suit made her look somewhat like a quirky bat.
Hum-hum—
The spider-sense didn't make a literal sound, but Gwen could indeed feel her senses buzzing right at that moment.
She could even perceive that the person opposite her had triggered the spider-sense just like she had.
"Hi?" Gwen lifted her free hand to wave it about in the air, lowering her voice as much as possible in an attempt to disguise her naturally clear, sweet vocal timbre.
"Gwen," Batman's voice was low. "The world of superheroes is far too dangerous; I don't want you stepping into it."
Listening to that familiar voice, Gwen felt it sounded somewhat similar, as if she had heard it somewhere before, only she couldn't place it for the moment.
Watching the figure completely shrouded in shadows, Gwen harbored a faint suspicion in the back of her mind as to whether this person could actually be Batman.
But... would Batman possess the same spider-sense as her, and specifically show up along the exact route she used to traverse New York?
One was an untouchable Avenger, a Batman who commanded a massive following of fans worldwide; the other was a minor, nobody-cares Gwen who didn't even have an official hero moniker.
Though Gwen knew there might be some kind of cooperative relationship between her father, Captain George, and Batman, even that had nothing to do with her.
She couldn't find any reason for Batman to be waiting here for her, and simply concluded that the weirdo in the shadows was an eccentric fanatic imitating Batman.
—That's right; imitating members of the Avengers had quietly become a rather popular obsession among a small segment of people.
In Manhattan alone, there were three or four Batman impersonators, and those mimicking Hawkeye, Black Widow, Wolverine, and Thor were hardly in short supply either.
Among them were both powered individuals and ordinary people, primarily consisting of the younger crowd.
Even Gwen Stacy herself was part of that enthusiastic demographic; the suit she was currently wearing had been crafted in imitation of Batman's Gargoyle Suit.
"Who are you?" Gwen looked doubtfully at the figure in the shadows.
In that instant, she even half-suspected that the person was one of those melancholic older men commonly seen hanging around the streets—the types who would light up a cigarette, approach young girls with a gloomy expression—mostly foreign tourists—and spout life philosophies in a deep voice.
They often had a rose or a piece of candy concealed in their hands, or else were simply holding a guitar.
And those young girls would often have their curiosity piqued by the guy's initiative to chat and his so-called pearls of wisdom, allowing the pickup attempt to succeed smoothly.
As for the logical, further actions that would naturally follow a successful pickup—Gwen was not yet eighteen, and her mind simply wouldn't render those scenes.
In Gwen's eyes, the guy squatting on the gargoyle right now bore a strong resemblance to those melancholic older men.
Except he was dressed in a superhero edition.
"If you're trying to lecture me with some grand philosophy, I'm sorry, but I have no interest in listening," Gwen forced her voice to sound a bit intimidating. "And I'm not any 'Gwen'—who's that? Sounds like a bubbly girl's name?"
Batman gave a silent sigh. He had discovered a shared trait between the Gwen before him and Peter Parker, the Spider-Man from before his crossover.
Whenever they put on their suits and masks, they would desperately try to disguise their voices, and indeed, it sounded different from their original vocal tones.
Yet to Batman's ears, those slight differences were virtually negligible.
Even if Captain George Stacy were brought here, just listening to the voice alone would make him suspect whether the person was his own daughter.
This was precisely why Batman had long since scrubbed away any videos and audio concerning Spider-Man Peter Parker from the internet, while embedding monitoring keywords and critical data viruses deep into the network.
The moment anyone uploaded content related to Spider-Man, Batman would detect it instantly and have it automatically deleted.
"Gwen Stacy." Batman's frame slowly rose, lifting out of his semi-crouched stance as his upper body emerged from the shadows and became exposed to the faint starlight.
Gwen's heart skipped a beat, her whole body stiffening involuntarily.
When she clearly beheld the actual appearance of the figure straightening up out of the shadows, along with the giant bat emblem emblazoned across the chest of his Gargoyle Suit, Gwen nearly forgot to breathe.
"Ba-ba-ba-batman?!" Gwen slapped both hands over her mouth and drew in a sharp gasp of air, her voice helplessly escaping in a shrill shriek.
"It's me, Gwen," Batman said. "You're not an adult yet, are you?"
Batman possessed all of Gwen's information, but he always had to leave a girl some privacy.
Gwen Stacy nodded:
"Yes, I've got one more year to go."
The moment the words left her mouth, she smacked herself on the head in exasperation—she shouldn't have exposed her real age.
And so Gwen frantically corrected herself:
"No, I mean I'm just one year past being an adult. Right, I became an adult last year."
Batman stood unmoving, and Gwen couldn't tell whether he had bought the clumsy lie she had just spun.
"Did you look for me because you need my help with something?" Gwen hurriedly asked, seizing the chance to change the subject.
"I came looking for you for only one reason," Batman repeated his earlier words. "The world of superheroes is far too dangerous; I don't want you stepping into it."
"But if nobody faces those dangers just because they're dangerous, then who's going to deal with them?" Gwen retorted without a moment's hesitation.
"The Avengers and I," Batman said.
"You're bound to get tired someday."
"No. I am Batman, and I do not get tired."
Gwen blinked. She had no intention of debating such deep, philosophical topics with Batman, so she decided to pivot her approach:
"Well, what if I only do things within my own capability? Like acting as a friendly neighborhood whatever?"
"Besides... if I have the ability to help others and choose not to do it, I'll feel guilty inside."
Batman fell silent for a moment, retrieved a metal vial smaller than the tip of his pinky finger from his utility belt, and tossed it across:
"Listen to me: crush this the moment you run into danger."
"What's inside this?" Gwen reached out and caught the vial smoothly in her hand.
She pinched it between two fingers, held it up before her eyes to inspect it for a moment, and asked.
"Something that can save your life, but comes with side effects, so don't use it lightly unless it's an absolute last resort," Batman said.
--
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