Chapter 31: Under Control
"Isn't it better if we just go straight down there?" Peter B. Parker asked, gesturing toward the bustling hall below.
The Bat, walking in the opposite direction, paused. "If you think Kingpin won't recognize you because of a cheap costume, then you haven't survived as long as he has for a reason." His voice was flat. "Also, he already held a public memorial. Why hold another, private, extravagant one?"
He turned his head slightly, the white lenses seeming to bore into Peter's confused face. The Bat's silence felt like a sigh.
"Because... he knows we'll come," Gwen said, the realization dawning in her voice.
The Bat gave a single, curt nod and resumed walking toward the service access he'd identified.
"So this is all a trap?" Spider-Man Noir understood instantly. Kingpin had set the stage. He was waiting for them to walk onto it. And they had no choice but to do so.
"Then, where are we going now?" Spider-Ham asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"There's no way around it. It's an open trap, and we have to spring it," Peter B. said, his voice regaining some of its sharpness. "If we don't show up, Fisk activates the collider anyway and wins. And we... we get stuck here." He gestured to his own flickering form.
"And we die," Gwen finished, her tone grim. "Our cells keep decaying. We can't stay. It would be a slow, painful way to go."
Noir nodded, the strange pain he'd felt earlier now making terrible sense. This universe was rejecting them, poisoning them.
"Then what are you waiting for?" The Bat's voice cut through the grim realization. He had already pried open a nearly invisible panel in the wall, revealing a narrow maintenance ladder leading down into the building's dark interior.
"Whoa! How did you know that was there?" Peter B. was impressed.
Their original plan had been to swing down to a lower window. The main hall was several stories tall. From a lower floor, with a little stealth, they could have blended in with the waitstaff. But Bruce had found a much more direct route.
"The Spider-Man of this world had the Fisk Tower's blueprints on his computer. Anyone with the sense to look could find them." The Bat's reply made the assembled Spiders shift a little awkwardly. In their own worlds, they were heroes, but few went to such lengths of preparation. This world's Peter Parker had built a full lair. It made sense the Bat would have combed through every file. Didn't Batman have his own cave?
"Honestly," Peter B. said, slinging a friendly arm around Bruce's stiff shoulders, even as his own body glitched slightly, "I'm starting to doubt you're just a fanboy. You're not like us, are you? From another world? You are Batman, aren't you?"
The Bat just glanced at the arm on his shoulder, then at Peter's face, and dropped silently down the shaft without a word. His cape billowed, softening his landing to complete silence.
"That... tells me a lot," Peter B. said, undeterred, a grin spreading on his face.
"Okay, let's focus on the mission," Gwen said, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. She just wanted to go home.
Peter shrugged. "I just want to know who he is. Don't tell me you're not curious."
Gwen pressed her lips together but said nothing. She simply slipped down the ladder after Bruce, moving with spider-quiet grace.
"See? I was right," Peter B. said, smiling, before dropping down himself.
"I think we're all a little curious about the face under the mask," Spider-Ham chimed in. "As a newspaperman, getting that scoop would sell papers for a year!" He adopted a dramatic, anime-like expression, clearly imagining the headline.
But it was just a fantasy. As a vigilante himself, he knew the sacred rule of the mask.
"He always makes me feel like I met my father," Peni said softly, her voice carrying a strange mix of awe and sadness from within her mech. Then, SP//dr whirred and clanked as she descended.
"Hmm," Spider-Ham mumbled, not sure how to respond. He shot a web and swung down after her.
Only Noir remained silent, hanging back. He already knew the face under the cowl. His curiosity wasn't about Bruce's identity, but about his origin. Was he, like them, displaced?
As they moved through the cramped, dark service corridors of the tower, a deep, resonant thrum vibrated through the walls, transmitted through the steel skeleton of the building. The Spider-People felt it in their bones. Bruce simply paused, listening.
"They've already begun powering the collider," he stated, his voice devoid of alarm.
"So what's our move now?" Peter B. asked, relieved to have someone else handling the tactical thinking for once.
"We wait for our 'philanthropist' to finish his speech," Bruce said, his gaze shifting upward as if he could see through the floors. "And then..." He looked at the Spiders clinging to the walls and ceiling around him. "...we split up. Execute your individual roles."
He said nothing more, turning his attention to a small, holographic projection on his gauntlet. It showed Wilson Fisk, concluding his speech in the grand hall below. It also showed the massive, hulking form of the enforcer called Tombstone, already moving toward the lower levels, ready to crush any intruders.
Fisk was now leaving the hall. Everything was unfolding. And from Bruce's calm, focused demeanor, it was clear: every piece was moving exactly as he had anticipated. The situation, for now, was under control.
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
💕Patreon members get early access to chapters, bonus content, and voting power on future ideas.💕
Every bit of support helps me write more and faster. Thank you so much for reading! 🥰
✨✨ I'll release an extra chapter for every 5 reviews! ✨✨🥳🥳 For every 50 power stones! 🥳🥳
Lets hit the goal of 60 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕