“So there really is a Batman in this world.”
Gwen looked at the Bat standing before her, clearly astonished.
The feeling was strangely surreal.
A character who should have existed only in comic books was now standing right in front of her.
It gave her an odd sense that reality itself had become distorted.
“I’ve got to admit, I’m impressed you came up with a way to find me like this.”
Bruce didn’t even spare Gwen or Miles a glance.
The moment he arrived, he addressed Peter Parker directly.
“Well, you’re a die-hard Batman fan. I figured this would definitely get your attention.”
Peter Parker spread his hands nonchalantly before switching off the makeshift Bat-Signal beside him.
With a single leap, he landed beside Bruce.
Touching down effortlessly, Peter casually draped an arm over Bruce’s shoulder as though they had known each other for years.
Seeing Peter already make the jump, Gwen naturally wasn’t about to fall behind.
She gave a light hop and landed beside Batman as well.
The only one left struggling was Miles.
He had only recently gained his spider powers.
He still hadn’t fully mastered them.
Even sticking to walls—the most basic Spider-Man ability—was difficult for him.
Although the chase through Alchemax had helped him become more familiar with using his web-shooters, that situation was nothing like this one.
Asking him to clear the gap between two skyscrapers in one leap was asking far too much.
Looking over at Gwen, who was already standing safely on the opposite rooftop, Miles patted his cheeks before taking two steps back.
“You can do this… You can do this… You can do this!”
Cheering himself on, Miles sprinted forward.
Just as he reached the edge and prepared to jump…
He stepped on his untied shoelace.
The leap itself was perfect.
Unfortunately, after stumbling on the lace, he lost all momentum.
There was no way he was making it across.
Seeing Miles about to plummet, Gwen and Peter Parker both instinctively raised their wrists to fire webs and pull him to safety.
But someone moved even faster.
Bruce’s grappling gun fired instantly.
The hook wrapped around Miles’s arm.
Bruce squeezed the trigger, effortlessly reeling him onto the rooftop.
“Thanks.”
Watching Bruce silently retract and stow away the grappling gun with his usual expressionless face, Miles offered the fierce-looking Bat a sincere thank-you.
Bruce didn’t respond.
Instead, he simply raised the grappling gun again.
“If you’ve got something to say, I’d suggest we move somewhere else.”
“Otherwise, someone will be here soon.”
As he spoke, Bruce fired another grappling line toward a distant building.
Without waiting for a reply from the Spider-People, he disappeared into the darkness.
“Seriously…”
“I feel like his whole aesthetic is about a thousand times darker than ours.”
“He didn’t actually crawl out of a comic book, did he?”
Peter Parker nodded in agreement.
“That right there?”
“That’s the most Spider-Man thing you’ve said all day.”
With that, Peter fired a web and swung after Bruce.
Gwen had originally intended to leave alongside Peter.
But after glancing at Miles, she hesitated for a moment.
“You’ll catch up.”
That was all she left him before firing a web and swinging away herself.
Miles had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to feel anymore.
What is this supposed to be?
At this point, the only thing he could do was gather his courage and follow after them.
Fortunately, he really was a quick learner.
At the very least, he could now keep pace with Gwen and the others.
What surprised Miles even more was this:
The other two Spider-People should have been the most agile people in the city.
Yet even they could only follow behind the Bat.
Bruce had been right.
Not long after they left, another squad arrived on the rooftop.
This group’s uniform patches bore the image of a simple eagle.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had finally taken notice of the unusual incident.
To them, any supernatural event had to be kept within controllable limits.
Especially the appearance of a mysterious new superhero whose origins were completely unknown.
“Looks like we were too late.”
After examining the now-dark Bat-Signal, the lead agent pressed his communicator.
“Keep monitoring the area.”
“Perhaps in a few days, everything will become clear.”
The person on the other end clearly wasn’t particularly concerned.
In S.H.I.E.L.D.’s eyes, this newcomer was nothing more than another street-level vigilante.
A street-level hero simply wasn’t worth dedicating massive resources to.
Leaving someone behind to keep an eye on the neighborhood was more than enough.
After all, New York already had far too many vigilantes.
S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t possibly place every one of them under constant surveillance.
“Understood.”
The team leader ordered his agents to remove the bat emblem from the makeshift Bat-Signal.
“Take it back for analysis.”
“Let’s find out who put this thing here.”
“Yes, sir!”
Meanwhile, Bruce and the three Spider-People had already arrived near the neighborhood where May Parker lived.
Without warning, Gwen accelerated.
With a single leap, she landed directly in front of Bruce, cutting off his path.
Only then did Miles realize something.
It wasn’t that the Spider-People couldn’t outrun the Bat.
They had simply been waiting for him to stop.
“Wait!”
Gwen stared directly at Bruce.
“Why did you come here?”
“What exactly do you know?”
At that moment, Gwen resembled a cat with all its fur standing on end.
And what she was protecting…
Was Aunt May’s home behind her.
“Whoa… what happened?”
Peter Parker hurried forward to play peacemaker.
The last thing he wanted was to see a Spider-Person clash with Batman.
Even though he had complete confidence in Spider-Man’s abilities…
Facing Batman—a man famous in the comics for always having a contingency plan—still left him with lingering psychological scars.
Especially this Batman.
The one Peter knew never held back when it came to fighting.
“Then we’ll talk here.”
Bruce didn’t react in the slightest to being stopped.
The location didn’t matter.
All he wanted was a place to have a proper conversation.
“What did you need me for?”
Ignoring Gwen, Bruce turned his attention to Peter Parker.
After all…
Peter was the one who had lit the Bat-Signal.
“First…”
“Let’s go back to the question you asked me last time.”
“I’ve figured out my answer.”
Rather than explaining why he’d summoned Bruce, Peter wanted to settle their unfinished debate first.
“Hm?”
Bruce let out another ambiguous sound.
Once again, Miles found himself incredibly curious.
He really wanted to know what Batman’s trademark little “Hm?” was actually supposed to mean.
“We’re not criminals.”
“Because we’ve always known exactly what kind of road we’ve chosen.”
“And we’ve always known that every choice we make follows our own sense of justice.”
“At least…”
“I can say that much for myself.”
Peter’s eyes shone with conviction as he spoke.
“So…”
Bruce interrupted calmly.
“What exactly did you call me here for?”
The middle-aged Spider-Man hadn’t expected that at all.
Batman had absolutely no interest in continuing the philosophical discussion.
That…
Was enough to drive Peter completely crazy.
(End of Chapter)