𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐃𝐨 𝐖𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥?

"For in responsibility, the seed is sown,
To nurture goodness, till it fully has grown.
With great power, let love and justice thrive,
And may our actions help this world survive."

Pain.

That was the only thing that registered in Penny Parker's mind. A searing pain that wrapped around the teenager like a blanket of immense agony. She shakily inhaled, fearful of what would invade her lungs. The first breath of clean air, however, she greedily gasped for more. The zephyr that passed through her lips was like a cool drink of water in the middle of scorching heat.

It was difficult to open her eyes. It was not like after a long sleep you did not want to let the light invade your view. It was like after a car crash where you needed to see the damage inflicted upon you and your passengers. She needed to see. But Penny could not open her eyes. At least, when she thought she did, black was still all she could see. Her hands slowly raised to her face and she let her fingertips brush the fabric that was wrapped around her head. It was no difficult feat to rip away the blindfold, but it was to adjust her eyes to the sight before her.

It was dark, save for a hanging lightbulb in the center of the room that flickered once every few minutes. Her head slowly turned and stopped when a door entered her line of vision. Running on pure adrenaline, Penny pushed herself to her feet and attempted to run. She did not make it more than two steps before her left leg gave out. She hit the cement floor in a loud heap, the sound echoing throughout the room. The girl groaned in a mixture of aggravation and pain. Her gaze shifted down to her leg. She nearly puked at the sight.

There was an entire portion of her calf missing. Penny could not seem to drag her eyes away from the gory view. Scarlet-red blood poured from the wound like rain pours from the February sky.

Her hand searched the floor wildly, trying to find the strip of fabric that once covered her face. Eventually, she managed to find the blindfold that laid a few feet away. Penny struggled to remember Doctor Cho's words about what to do in situations such as this when there was no access to medical supplies. Her mind was too hazy to come up with the woman's advice. Tightly, she tied the fabric around the injury, watching as the cloth was stained red.

Suddenly, the metal door slammed open. Her sixth sense went wild, alerting her of the oncoming danger. Penny did not look up to meet the face of whoever entered, only watched their black dress shoes near her hunched-over form. Her eyebrows furrowed as she caught sight of the colorful socks beneath their purple pant leg. Against her better judgment, Penny tilted her head up.

The smile was what her gaze was drawn to first. It did not just send shivers down her spine, it chilled Penny to the very marrow.

The Joker looked down at the girl who fell from the sky and could not prevent the maniacal cackle that erupted from his throat. He could only imagine what Batman would say when he caught wind of this. Slowly, he squatted down to be level with Penny and harshly grabbed her by the chin. The mutant was forced to meet his eyes. Crazed met fearful as the ocean met the shore. The man leaned forward until his lips were just beside Penny's ear.

"What are you?"

Penny could not show fear. She could not let this psychotic man know that she was completely and utterly terrified.

"Why do you want to know?" She questioned, her voice not wavering in the slightest. The Joker was not expecting this reaction from the girl, that much was evident from his response. He grasped Penny by her science-pun shirt and hauled her to her feet. The teenager forced herself to maintain eye contact. Neither spoke. A minute passed. AN agonizingly long minute that left Penny wondering if she'd broken the villain.

"I like you." The Joker suddenly giggled. "You're much more fun than those bat boys."

"Who?" Penny asked, confused. The Joker ignored her question and continued to talk.

"I wonder if you'll scream while I tear you limb from limb?"

If Penny's spidey-sense was on the fritz before, it was going haywire now. Quickly, the hero used her right leg to kick the Joker backward. She was dropped into her back, her breath escaping her lungs at the impact. There was no time for that, however. By the time she had crawled back to her feet, as had the Joker. In his hand was a crowbar, a long metal crowbar with rusted blood coating the end.

Penny glanced down at her wrist, unsurprised to see the bare skin, rather than her web-shooter. What surprised her, however, was the indentation in the flesh. It was no bigger than the dot of an 'i'. It was the same mark she had seen on the wrist of Peter Parker 2 before their battle.

Acting on pure instinct, Penny shot her arm out and watched as a web spouted toward the unsuspecting Joker. The sticky material connected with the crowbar and adhered to the cement wall behind him. The crazed man glances between what once was his weapon and the girl standing a few feet away. His grin, though it seemed impossible to Penny, widened.

"Isn't that interesting?!" He exclaimed, fully facing the webbed-up crowbar. When he turned around though, he was immediately met with a web on his hand, connecting it to the wall. His other hand soon met the same fate. Even though he struggled, he could not manage to break free of the restraints. He did not seem agitated. He seemed amused.

"I'm a fly caught in a web!" The Joker cackled, throwing his head back as he did so. Penny did not waste any time, unsure if this webbing was as strong as her artificially made one. She hastened past the maniacal man and down the hallway. Utilizing her heightened senses she found her way to the exit in a mere matter of minutes. The door was vast, at least four heads taller than the teenager that stood before it. It was made of what looked like titanium to Penny. With a deep breath, the girl rushed toward it. Her shoulder slammed into it and the slab of metal was sent flying backward, Penny with it. Both hit the ground in a loud clamor, dust spraying upwards as the door made contact with the dirt ground.

Hastily, Penny stood up and looked around. She was in the absolute middle of nowhere. Behind her was the factory she was held in and miles ahead was what looked like a city. It was not New York, that much Penny could tell. But it was civilization, and in that moment that was all that mattered. She began to run. No, she began to sprint. It was a speed that could rival Captain America on his best day. Her breath did not grow ragged as it would have before the spider bite. She did not collapse in an asthma attack.

Penny Parker was racing toward the city as though her life depended on it and there was nothing that could stop her from reaching it.

▀▄▀▄ ••••••••• ▄▀▄▀

Batman looked at the webbed-up Joker in amazement. The crazed man cackled uncontrollably as he looked at the confused expression on his foe's face. He was garbed in a suit of midnight black and each step he took was as silent as the dead. His cape billowed behind him, even with the lack of wind.

Nightwing stepped beside him, equally as bewildered by the scene they walked in on. This vigilante was clothed similarly to his companion, though his suit had a splash of blue coloring in the bird symbol on his chest.

"What the hell happened here?" The younger of the pair questioned, looking around at the abandoned room he was standing in. Batman shifted his gaze to his associate and could only sigh.

"I have no idea." He responded in his gruff voice. Nightwing's scan of space faltered when he saw a puddle of red on the ground.

"Batman." He said, gaining his mentor's attention. Both approached the blood, bending down beside it. They slowly looked between it and the uninjured Joker.

"Whose blood is this?" Batman inquired, not really expecting an answer. He received one, however, in between the laughter of the Joker.

"The Itsy Bitsy Spider climbed up the water spout..." He sang the nursery rhyme as though it were a joke that only he was in on. The two heroes ignored the villain's words and focused on the task at hand. Batman ripped a section of his cape off and dipped it in the still-warm liquid. He then handed it off to Nightwing.

"Get this to the cave." He ordered before rising to his feet and turning to face the Joker. "And I'll get him to Arkham."

Even as the Joker was hauled away to his prison, he continued to sing.

"Down came the rain, and washed the spider out..."