The Spider Web (All 24 Chapters Up!!)

[§ilvercell]

Hot is right! ;D EXALT

[latikono]

XD Woo! Danke! I am simply pleased to serve my fellow fan girls. ^^ I'll write up the next chapter as fast as I can, I swear. Hee hee hee . . .

*scampers off*

[Niquinga]

That was great, please post the next chapter, I can't wait to find out what happens...

[latikono]

(Chapter Ten - In Which Business Begins)



"Yes, Dahlia." Crane spoke once again as he kept his hold over Dahlia, at this point unknowing of what she would do if he were to let her go. He was already a bit short of breath and was in enough pain to notice - this girl was a lot tougher than she put on, not to mention that Crane wasn't one who was specialized in physicality. Though his knee and aching side were his main concerns regarding his body, he had failed to realize that her blow to his face had ruptured a few vessels in his nose, blood trickling out of his left nostril. "I mean you no harm."

Crane admitted to himself - She affected him. When her own fears were out plainly for others to see, and when she always seemed lonely, lost, and alone, seemingly nothing to live for and with no one to care about her . . . It only resulted in him staring at his own past. Even her fear, which he was often so used to feeding off of like some sort of psychic vampire. His footsteps into the sands of time were specifically retraced by Dahlia. And this little incident didn't help her much. Now he was sure she would forever be terrified of him . . . unless . . .

. . . unless of course he could continue to play along with being the compassionate friend. Why not strike up a deal? She certainly needed a friend who could understand her fears, and he could always use another playmate, another test subject and 'partner-in-crime.' Who would suspect a timid nineteen-year-old girl with no friends?

Dahlia's lips continued to tremble as she opened her mouth to speak, but no sensible words came out. Mostly a line of stutters and silent sobs, which Crane stifled with a gesture of his free hand, palm out towards her defensively. She was obviously going to be pretty saken up about this for a while - Bullying was one thing, but being assaulted by a masked man in what she must of thought to be a safe place was bad enough. Hopefully she wasn't beyond reasoning with.

"What you found in my basement is a laboratory and my personal factory - not for drugs or whatever you may have thought. Down there, I create fear."
"F-F . . . Fear?" She was apparently still having a mental blockade up, seeing Crane, but not yet coming to truly believe it was him. Dahlia's wrists pulled and pushed under his strong hand, and her large eyes had yet to leave his. Leaning forward slightly, looking her directly in the eyes and holding his face close to hers, he continued very calmly and with an almost whispering voice,
"Toxins of many types, Dahlia. To install fear into any person, to remove it altogether, injections of fear pheremones . . . To strike back at the evil people of Gotham. Those who step up the social ladder by climbing over the brilliant and the gifted. The very people who even help run this city. I'm offering you a chance to join me. Together, we can hit back at the world and the cruel injustices heaped upon people like us."

Dahlia was no longer writhing or shaking. Very carefully and with great care, Crane slid his hand off of Dahlia's. Seeing that she was not already up and running for the door, he slid across the floor as he leaned back and took a seat next to her for a brief moment. He also lifted his knee from her legs, then carefully stood and took several uneven steps back to sit on the nearby armchair. Finally feeling the cool blood on his upper lip, he lifted the back of his hand to his face and wiped part of it away, leaving a blood streak on his knuckles. "At last, you will have the chance to turn the tables on your tormentors."

But he had to whip her to be of more use. Dahlia was just a kid after all, and quit a shy one at that. She was emotional, easily startled and frightened, one who was very emotionally weak. She had immense difficulty trying to cope with her fears and anxieties. She was also highly intelligent and keen on what was going on around her, a somewhat innocently devious girl. Hopefully he could train her, shape her up, while giving her all that she needed to get her much-deserved revenge. Those martial arts lessons would come in handy. Leaning back in relaxation, Crane clasped his hands in his lap as he continued to gaze down upon Dahlia's figure still lying still on his floor. Somehow, her silence and lack of recognition bothered him, as if he had really done a number on her. Believe it or not, he was almost guilty for his short attack.
No more than a few minutes from when he has just sat there, Crane stood headed back to her, then crouched by her side and looked down to her. He also took the time to pick up the burlap mask and stuff it into his inside jacket pocket.

"You don't have to answer now if you wish. Take some time to think about it."

As if handling a fragile newborn puppy, Crane took Dahlia's hand and slowly lifted it up. Going with his gesture, she finally stirred and became alive, closing her eyes as the last of her tears ran down her cheeks. She very slowly curled up and put the bottoms of her feet on the floor, leaning forward and standing as Crane helped her as gentle as he could. As soon as she was able to stand on her own however, she quickly pulled her hand back from his and turned away.

Crane was giving her this time to think because he was almost sure that Dahlia would have refused right that moment. She would have most likely bitterly lashed back after her intense scare, and the only thing that would have done for her was get her gassed and stifled, and sent to Arkham. But if she did accept like he was hoping (or rather, leaning more towards), she could potentially become one who was just as dangerous and brilliant as himself. She had the psychological background to live up to it if she chose to. All he needed was for her to accept.

". . . You were the one who attacked Natalie, weren't you?" Dahlia turned to face Crane after what seemed like hours of silence. She had taken the bottom sleeve of her shirt to dry the tears from her cheeks, though her eyes were still red, at least now relaxed. Not at all surprised that she had done her addition of circumstances and clues, Crane nodded almost proudly to answer her question. What was so intruiging however was the strange gaze she held on him - Her black eyes didn't need to be brilliantly colored to strike his interest, to capture his attention. Something behind them were the same as when she looked upon him as simply her psychology professor, with that trust and respect . . .

"Caitlin had a lot of guts to keep shoving me around after that night with Natalie . . . Gossip goes around pretty loud, about how everyone should lighten up on me because Natalie was attacked for it. Life's been so much easier with less harassment . . . but Caitlin's got even more attitude than Natalie. She wouldn't leave me alone this morning, and was spying on me the other day . . ."

The corners of Crane's lips stretched into a pleased smile.

Dahlia finished, determination in her firmer voice, "I'm sick of being shoved around and treated like a dog."

[Murchadh]

Crane's got a partner, thats awesome! I love this story so so much, and an glad you added more, and now I can't wait to read the next chapter! Especially now that Dahlia is aperently going to join with Crane in his terror inducing spree. Keep up the great writing!

[§ilvercell]

Yeah! be asertive!

[latikono]

(Chapter Eleven - In Which Her First Hunt is Done

Thanks again for the nice comments. ^^)



"Cat, today's going to be one of the most important days of my life."

Dahlia was all anger, ambition, and confidence. She didn't fear anything, other than failure. If anything was going to get in her way, it would either be herself or death. She was very thirsty for vengeance, and Crane's tempting offer had appealed to her in so many ways. 'A chance to turn the tables on her tormentors' . . . Splendid. Simply splendid. That sold it. Besides, she was wise - If she had declined, he probably would have poisoned her, too, to silence her. No fear of that however. Dahlia accepted very willingly.

Pacing about her small room in only her black underwear, she spoke to her feline friend as she picked out the day's clothes, "Professor Crane gave me a bottle of his special formula last night too, Cat. He said it was permenant like the gas he used on Natalie at the hospital. She went so crazy that they sent her to Arkham, a place for the criminally insane. Arkham! Can you imagine?" Finding a suitable ankle-length rippled skirt that she had never worn before, Dahlia began to slip it on. "She must have been completely out of her mind for that to happen. This isn't a poison - It's like justice in a bottle. It serves her right." Quickly flipping through her closet, she also found a clean long-sleeved and unhemmed shirt. She hid it with an oversized black hooded sweater.

"It's completely just, right, Cat?" The black cat just yawned and stretched out across Dahlia's pillow on her side, lightly clawing at the bed frame. Dahlia nodded. "Right. An eye for an eye. And after getting beat up and tripped and getting my things stolen for years, I think I deserve to dish out some fear too." To finish up her preparations for school, the goth headed to her vanity mirror and spread on some lip gloss and light eye shadow. It was one of her rare times wearing makeup, but she wanted to start looking better for Crane. Even her scare the previous night didn't break her attraction to him. She smiled at her reflection, and batted her eyelashes, practicing her charisma. Then turning back to Cat, she nodded once again before hiding the spray bottle of toxin under her skirt and in her thigh-length fishnet stocking.

"I deserve some peace once in a while. And I'm going to get it."

There was one other thing that Dahlia grabbed before heading off, and that was one of her favorite possessions from her childhood. It was a white porcelain mask, with black ribbons hanging from each side. It had only one large and narrow eye hole, the other eye painted on and decorated with black gems, and a long and narrow, toothless grin. Both high and elegant cheek bones were red with rouge.

She hid it in her other fishnet stocking.

~**~**~**~**~**~

"So how is he?" Caitlin side stepped from her group of friends to stand in front of Dahlia. The only thing that kept Dahlia from plowing through to psychology class was curiosity of what she planned to say next. But all it provided was more anger, as she continued in a sarcastic and cruel tone, "Bet he wasn't energetic enough to keep a $l*t like you entertained in the sack, huh?"
"Get bent." And so she did plow through . . . only to feel an unpredicted shove from behind, sending her onto her knees and causing her to drop her books. Laughter followed, and Dahlia only sighed furiously to herself as she gathered her things before many people stepped on them.

"I'm taking over now that Natalie's out of the picture, Witchy." Caitlin hovered over Dahlia, planting an uncomfortably firm hand over the girl's black hair. "Talk to me like that again, and I'll finish the job that Natalie started." Dahlia slapped it away and quickly jogged off.

As usual, she was in Crane's classroom early, and took advantage to have some private chit chat with him. Upon entering the door, she saw him reclining at his desk, just like any other day, but noticed that while he was reading papers he held in one hand, his other hand was gently massaging his side. Before he even noticed her there, she stepped forward and said in an openly sympathetic tone, "I'm so sorry about that, Professor Crane. I didn't even think about it when I did it."

Looking up from his notes, Crane at first held a confused look on his face, but then too realized that he had just given away the sore muscle in his abdomen. He glanced down to the hidden bruise, then back up to Dahlia as he smiled, "Oh, no, Miss Rhodes. It wasn't your fault, after all. You certainly do put up quite a decent fight, though." She smiled bashfully, still feeling quite guilty, and he continued. "You seem much better from last night. Are you feeling well today?"
"Mm hm." With shut lips, she replied. Her shoulders and back were still bruised and ached from being pinned to the floor so firmly, but she was sure that that's not what he meant. "I'm fine, Professor."
Placing the papers down, Crane leaned forward and spoke, cautious of their privacy in the unlocked room, "Miss Rhodes, now that we are associates in this endeavor for justice, I do insist that you refer to my by my first name." Smiling, he purred, "Jonathan."
Dahlia replied with a sassy glance, "Only if you do the same for me."

The bell rang, and suddenly the door swung open with students marching in. Dahlia nodded to Crane, ready to continue the more important part of her intended conversation at a more opportune time, as she headed up to her seat.

~**~**~**~**~**~

So Caitlin truly wasn't as rich or high-class as she let on at the university. Peering carefully around the corner of the building, Dahlia watched her leave a fast food restauraunt with a bag of french fries in hand, munching on them as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. This long day of stalking proved quite embarassing for Caitlin, had she have found out. Her most hated enemy now knew of her basic home life, her extreme vanity, and her lack of implied wealth, among many other things. Though Dahlia did admit, she could put on a pretty good front for the other students, but once out of the gates, she was just an average person.

Finally, finally the shielding night had come down in full bloom. The stars were dull, and the cloudy sky helped conceal the darkness. Perfect. It was time.

Hidden behind a dumpster in an alley, Dahlia stipped off her sweatshirt and took out the tie in her hair, letting it hang straight down and to her shoulder blades. Hiking up her skirt, she took the porcelain mask, then placed it over her face and tied it with the black ribbon, making sure to hide it underneath her hair. She dumped the sweatshirt and ripped off the top layer of her skirt as well, leaving just the thick knee-length slip underneath.

And calmly, she slipped back out onto the generally empty street. Caitlin was still in view, seemingly wandering aimlessly up ahead at the next block. But Dahlia kept her cool - She followed calmly and with patience, ignoring the confused or amused stares of the passer-bys. With every step she grew closer and closer, until finally she found Caitlin quite conveniently parked at a deserted street corner, digging through her purse. Slowly she stalked up behind her, careful of the potentially noisey heels of her boots. "Ugh, where is it . . ." Caitlin said aloud, completely oblivious.

No one was looking, or even in the immediate area. . . . Dahlia took her opportunity. Thrusting her hand forward, she clenched onto Caitlin's bleach blonde hair and was quick in yanking her back, the girl shouting in pain and dropping her bag. The alley behind the corner store would suffice. The white-masked mystery kept pulling and pulling, and once far enough back between the narrow walls, she jerked Caitlin back and up against the fence.

"What the hell . . . ?!" Caitlin planted both hands on the back of her head, slightly hunched over as she glared up at the stranger. "Who the hell are you?" Dahlia stepped forward and placed a swift kick into her chest, knocking her back onto her hind quarters and knocking the wind out of her. After coughing, Caitlin lifted herself up slowly, now her eyes holding fear. It was the kind of fear Dahlia had always held inside herself, and finally seeing it in the eyes of her enemies was thrilling and exciting, and dangerously joyous.

"Remember me." Was the last thing Dahlia said before she slowly lifted up her skirt to her thigh, taking the bottle of fear toxin from her stocking, and spraying it into Caitlin's blanched face.

Unfortunately, Dahlia didn't realize that it wouldn't have been that easy for her. Now that Caitlin was hallucinating and seeing things no other person was seeing, she was screaming in terror, backing herself up into a corner and refusing to remained silent. It was quite annoying on her ears. The sounds had attracted a male pedestrian who immediately ran into the alley. "What's wrong?" He half asked, half shouted in worry. Dahlia turned around in surprise, feeling her heart begin to beat fast with adrenalin. "Hey, you! What are you doing to that girl?!" She couldn't risk getting caught whatsoever. So she rushed forward, and once close enough, leapt into the air and landed another swift kick, this time into this man's neck, knocking him away and knocking him out. As soon as she was back on the ground, she took off and didn't look back.

~**~**~**~**~**~

"Cat . . . Tonight was the best night of my life . . ."

Dahlia was stretched out on her side next to Cat, cradling the porcelain mask in her hands. She held it close to her face and studied its contours, smiling to it, and running her fingers across the smooth texture. "You should have seen her face . . . She was so frightened of me . . . She was screaming as if she were crawling with spiders, or face to face with rabid wolves. Who knows what was flashing in front of her eyes with the toxin's effects . . .

"And the best part is that she won't be kicking me around anymore."

[Murchadh]

ohhh..........payback ^_^. Glad Dahlia is standing up for herself and giving out what she got. I can't wait to read the next chapter, wonder what Crane will say when he hears....

[§ilvercell]

it'd be a crime not to continue with this fic!

[dior4ever]

so true!!

[latikono]

Ohhhhhh, gosh, that is like the nicest comment!! ^^

Don't worry though, this fan fic is far from done. So far, I've already planned out the basic events of the next six chapters, and it doesn't end there.

[seonedevinian]

hah! Caitlin also gets her comeuppance! i love this. Dahlia is very cool - i like the way Crane's dealing with her. waiting for more, good work!

[latikono]

(Chapter Twelve - In Which the Dark Knight Appears, Part I

This one's a bit short, but it was a good place to pause, and I didn't want to combine the chapters since that would be uber long. Plus, I just gotsta have both Dahlia and Crane's perspectives on this event. ^^)



"Quite a dazzling performance, if I do say so myself, Dahlia." Crane leaned over his desk and smiled as he saw her enter the classroom. Only a day since her scare and their partnering up, and already she managed to prove herself not quite as useless as he would have thought.
"Huh?" She was confused as to what he meant. Relaxing his eyes, Crane took the newspaper he had just been reading and tossed it onto the opposite side of the desk towards her. The front page read in bold letters, 'NEW VILLAIN LURKS OVER GOTHAM.' With her mouth slightly agape, Dahlia quickly skimmed over the article. Several seconds later, she looked up to Crane and said with a quirked eyebrow and a devious grin, " 'Banshee?' "
"Your first hunt, and already you've been given a title." He replied. "Congratulations, Dahlia. I'm only disappointed that I wasn't there to see it." She grinned a thank you, then looked back to the paper to continue reading. It mentioned that the attacker of a Gotham U student had been terrorized and turned uncontrollably insane by an unknown woman wearing all flowing and black clothes with a white face like an evil spirit. The only clues from the witness was that the petite woman was about 5'05" in height with great skill in martial arts, and policemen believe she was around 22 to 30 years of age.
Seeing that she was indeed reading through it all and had gotten beyond the attacker's description, Crane commented, "You'll know it's a good hunt if any witnesses have inaccurate observations." Dahlia smiled once again, and once finished with the article, sighed happily and glanced back up to Crane.
"You should have seen the terror in her eyes. It was one of the most thrilling and happy experiences of my life."

"I'm sure it was." Crane nodded. "However, now we must get on the subject of business."
"Oh?" Dahlia's face suddenly seemed to drop in worry, most likely suspicious of what he meant exactly. Reassuringly, Crane continued after a smile,
"No need to fear, my dear. It's simply an issue of funding. It is highly expensive to manufacture the fear toxin, and without the proper payments, it cannot be done. Needless to say, my salary doesn't cut it, and it would take years to save up . . ."
"So what you're saying is we need money, now." Dahlia nodded along, following the conversation like a natural, though uncomfortable with speaking aloud on how they were to acquire the cash. She left that for him.
"Our last attempt at the bank was . . . disrupted, by the Bat-man." He spoke the name with a tinge of irritation and subtle sarcastic admiration. After all, apart from the foolish and often corrupt policemen, Batman was the only thing standing in their way of their vision of justice. "But, with you there and armed with the ambition and weaponry I myself hold, I believe tonight's heist will be succesful."
"Tonight?" Dahlia said with a bit of surprise.
"Late notice, I know." Crane replied. "But this funding is very much needed, and as soon as possible. Our resources are abating to nothing. Are you able to do it?"
Dahlia nodded. "Of course, Professor."
Crane turned his head to the side as he kept his eyes on Dahlia, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh . . . Jonathan." She giggled.

~**~**~**~**~**~

That night, Crane and Dahlia met up in a secluded area outside the grungy Narrows and together headed for the bank, which at this time was already crawling with Crane's thugs busy at work. The main vault was wide open and vulnerable, the security systems down and camera's smashed. Sacks and bundles of paper money were being carried out to several large vans parked off in the alley one worker at a time. And as the two entered, masked as both the renowned Scarecrow and newly discovered Banshee, each thug paused in his work to look up to their leaders. The Scarecrow stepped up first and ordered, "From now on, you will carry out Miss Dahlia Rhodes' orders as if given from me." He paused as he gestured to his accomplice. "Back to work, men." And so they continued.

"Now, listen up." Crane then turned to Dahlia, whose one exposed eye looked up to him after only hesitantly tearing away from the scene. He spoke softly, though firmly - Any one blunder and they could put their little fund-raiser into jeapardy. "Keep your eyes open and your senses alert. If you see or hear any unusual movements in the shadows, the ceiling, anywhere . . . do not hesitate from telling one of these lackies to check it out, or to inform me about it."
"Roger that."

For the next few minutes, Crane ran his short paces, making sure everyone was working and making sure that their cash was safe and ready for deporting. Now and then he would bark out orders to hurry it up, or to be more cautious of what was around them. After all, only those could handle firearms and fight with their fists were hired - Higher intelligence and, occasionally, common sense wasn't a necessity. Finally, Dahlia approached him as he stood near one of the enormous room's pillars, leaning over one man's shoulder to monitor his job. "How much money do we need?"
Without turning and with his hand clasping his hand over his wrist behind his back, Crane replied coolly, "Two million should cover the costs for a while."
"Two million?" Her surprise turned his eyes towards her. "That much? Aren't a lot of people going to be poor, or bakrupted after this?"

No, no, no . . . Dahlia seemed to be getting out of touch with the vengeance she had wanted so dearly just the night before. Though wearing such a hideous mask, Crane stood up straight and assumed the friendly professor role once again. Reaching out his hands to the sides of her shoulders, he reasoned carefully. "Dahlia . . . The people of Gotham will endure. Even without money, they can survive during the most remarkable circumstances. We need this money more than they do. We need to purge Gotham of its corrupt businessmen, its bullies and teenage delinquents, its citizens who choose to mock and ridicule innocent people like us just to upsurge their own self worth . . . Only then can Gotham begin to heal and attain its original glory."
He knew very well that Dahlia was attracted to him, posibly obsessed with him because of her loneliness and seclusion from such kindness that he had shown her - It seemed quite easy for those in her kind of position to obsess. So, he didn't require much use of long speeches or flashy words to get her to see it 'his way.' After a few seconds, she nodded. The familiar lifting of muscles in her face and under her eyes shown through that one eye hole indicated her smile.

As Crane stepped away to once again monitor the job, he snuck in a a quick, but soft, and affectionate slide of his slender fingers over the base of her exposed neck. While watching the funds get passed along, he heard the quiet, happy sigh Dahlia gave, and smiled deviously behind the burlap sack.

Meanwhile, two thugs carried a particularly heavy sack of money to a van outside, stealth on their side under the night's shadows. They moved quickly, and unfortunately their shuffling feet were noisy on the concrete as they sidled towards the back doors of the vehicle. "Man, this weighs a ton."
"Just shut up and hurry. We need to get out of here before that bat creature shows up."
But their conversation was interrupted by a swift blackness that suddenly swallowed them up from above. The heavy sack of money fell to the ground with a thud.

One by one, the men exitted the building to load up their haul, but after only a few minutes, Crane began to become suspicious. After the fourth man had left and not returned, he kept wary eyes on the doors and out the windows, watching for those tell-tale signs, but found nothing. Still, it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened to them, if one put aside their stupidity. Though it was not likely for Him to reveal himself the easy way.

As he walked by Dahlia to head nearer to the bank vault, he had patted a hand on her shoulder and warned, "Stay alert. We're not alone." Picking up on the job far better than he thought yet still, he heard her bark out,
"Pick up the pace, guys. Get moving!"
One worker's loud cry echoed within the auditorium of a room, and immediately everyone stopped what they were doing to look around, some already fearful of what was to come and crouching defensively. Several continued on with the job, running money out to the vans as others seemed suddenly clueless as to what to do. Their quick and low chatter began to fill the air. Crane only kept watching the ceilings, his hand ready to deliver the toxin should it be required.

Suddenly, one row of ceiling lights was quickly wiped out one by one as a piercing, whip-like sound rang out, casting half of the room into shadows. This had finally managed to startle Dahlia, and she dropped to her knees nearby one of the enormous marble collums to avoid any projectiles that may have been aimed at her. "Who, or what the hell is it?!"

With his unblinking eyes scoping the ceiling, Crane replied bitterly.

"The Bat-man."

[Niquinga]

Yes! You managed to incorporate that line. GREAT chapter!

[§ilvercell]

loved the chapter!

"the bat-man"