"It's not what it looks like."

It is a familiar situation for me in the back of limo, Talia on the phone next to me. She is dressed impeccably, black pants suit with a red camisole under the jacket and red heels. As parents go, she is not as strict as Bruce is but did have one ironclad rule: do not interrupt her while she is on the phone. This was fine. I can zone out watching the world slide past the window. Back home we were deep into fall but here Spring was in full bloom. Gotham was one of those places were the season's change really made an impact. Like for instance…

Then my Spider-sense raised a mild warning. There was one glaring addition to this Gotham; Silent Eye Patch sat across from me giving me the seething cauldron of hate vibe. This was the first time I saw her in western clothes. She had on a white, traditional eye patch and short Platinum Blonde bob haircut with bangs that framed her face. Despite her demeanor, she was pretty. She was dressed in Gotham Prep uniform like Mari's except she had on thigh high white stockings opposed to Mari's black tights. She must have caught my glance because she took the crimson blazer next to her and covered legs.

I smile at her and return to the window. I recognize the route. We are on our way to Gotham Preparatory. When we got through the thick forest that surrounded the school, I got my first glimpse of this Gotham Prep…and…well it looked closer to Hogwarts than a modern college campus; like mine. There is a huge main building with climbing spires and everything with other smaller, similarly styled buildings.

ROBN gave me the layout and back-story. The other buildings arranged in square around a giant courtyard and connected via stone walk paths and sky bridges. The courtyard had the athletics fields and a garden. The coolest thing is they did have an Olympic sized pool but it was underground. I could not wait to see it.

Justin Arthur, an eccentric millionaire, designed and built in the thirties. He claimed to be a descendant of one of the Knights of the Roundtable. As such, he espoused Arthurian virtues, sound mind, strong body, chivalry, honor, and honesty. This is where Bruce got the Knight for his Dark Knight.

I saw a bunch of news vans in the parking lot as we pulled up to the front: odd. I half expected a drawbridge or something for the entrance as we get out of the limo. Sadly, it was a normal set of glass doors. Silent Eye Patch walked in the main entrance but I followed Talia around to a side door.

When we enter the building, it looks like a regular, modern college building no torches lining the hallway or anything. Although it was all dark wood floors that had a Deathstar shine and dark wood walls with beautiful windows. There's still a chance this was secretly the Xavier Institute for wizards. Talia stopped in front a set of matching wood doors with the title "MEN" in gold lettering over it.

"Please go in and change." Talia said.

I walked into what is an executive washroom with four marble sinks, three urinals and six stalls. I saw a black suit with a crimson shirt and black tie, complete with black Berluti shoes in a bag hung on a hook near the sinks and mirrors. After ROBN ran a quick scan, I got dressed. Before I left, I glanced back at the clothes on the hanger. I do not know what I expected but they did not show any signs of life. I tabled it for a later discussion with Mari. Trust me 'living clothes' was the least weird thing in my life right now. When I came out Talia gave me a final once over straightening my tie and brushing my hair back then smiled approvingly.

"Let's go." She said

"Sure." I said as I fell in step beside her.

I assumed she was going to register me for school, something I had been thinking of doing but had not figured out how to do yet. However, this was not that, not entirely. We walk into the lobby from the opposite side that Silent Eye Patch entered. The place screamed expensive and exclusive in equal manner from the lounging décor even down to the fixtures that held pamphlets concerning school issues. There was a podium set up with microphones facing a small crowd of reporters. They all snapped to when Talia stepped up.

"Thank you all for coming." She said. "I asked you here today because I've returned to Gotham with my son to enroll him in his father's alma marter."

That did it! They erupted with a flurry of questions. Just like back home, she and Bruce were always linked together in the tabloids and papers so it was clear whom she was referring to. She let it die down then she continued.

"First, he will not legally pursue any Wayne inheritance." She said shocking them. "He has his Al Gul inherence which is more than comparable. It is my hope, in time, that he will take my position as head of the family."

She paused to let that sink in. My heart jumped and I swallowed hard. Unbeknownst to the media, she announced to the world that I am the next head of the League of Assassins…whoa. Thank God for the "Wayne Poker Face"

"We're here because my son wanted to see his father's city." She said. Then she turned to me. "I would like to introduce you all to Peter Wayne."

She stepped aside giving me clear instructions with her eyes to take the podium. I could also see she's amused at the situation; the same sense of humor as my Talia. Well two can play this game.

"Thank you, mom." I said as I paused to kiss her on the cheek. The crowd ate it up but I know she hated PDA. I gave her a knowing smile before I took the podium. I would in trouble later for sure.

The next few minutes were what you expect; questions my whereabouts and such. It was not too hard to come up with my backstory on the fly. Suffice to say that anything I said was vague enough for Talia to produce proof without any problems. When it is over, she registered me for school. If you're wondering I did get a Legacy parking spot; one opened up under the Al Gul; the power of money.

"Shall I have you drawn and quartered for your little stunt?" Talia asked as we headed back to the manor. My official first day would be tomorrow.

"That seems a bit much for a kiss on the cheek." I replied looking across to her. I sat in Silent Eye Patch's spot on the way back. "How about we have dinner tonight at Wally Burger? I assume there's one here, right."

"There is. But I don't eat there." She said. "I will never understand the American fascination with greasy fast food."

"That's because you haven't had one, yet." I replied off hand.

"Well it's a moot point." She said. "I'm returning home after tonight. Besides, you should use this time to prepare yourself the coming battle."

"Um…for what?" I asked.

"You have Jason's attention now." She said.

"That's what this was all about?"

"Of course." She replied. "When facing a superior enemy, its best on your terms not his."

"It is but…."

"You said you were going to deal with him. This is your best chance to do so." She explained. "Always move forward."

"It's only been a couple of days." I replied.

"I believe in you."

"Could I get I don't know a week maybe?"

"Stagnation is the same as death, Little One."

She left me that little nugget of Al Gul wisdom; a ringing cell phone ended any more conversation. Ok...so this really is not my Dafina. Who puts their kid in the bull's-eye of a psychopath? This was some Spartan level motherly love.

When I got back to the gate, I swung up to the manor. After I stowed the clothes Talia gave in in my room I headed down to the cave, my mind a mess as took the steps. Unexpectedly the lights were already on and I heard the computer running. I assumed it was Mari. You knew what they said about assuming right. My Spider-sense alerted me to the man at the computer before I actually saw him.

"I was wondering when you would get here." He as he turned to face me. His hair was jet black, cut and styled like a K-Pop idol. To be honest he was handsome as one as well. His build tough with wide shoulders and arms, was that of a person who worked with his body. Interestingly his dress was business professional like he had just walked out a board meeting. His was older; my Richard's age if I had to guess and his brown eyes were heavier than I remembered; but this was Conner Kent aka Frat-Boy Superman.

"You look too comfortable in that seat." I said. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." He replied as stood up and stepped to the side.

"What brings you here, Connor?" I asked as I sat down the turned to the computer.

"The Titans called and told me about you." He said calmly.

"That doesn't tell me why you're here."

"I came to see how you're doing. I got transported to the thirtieth century once so I know it can be rough." He said. The warmth in his voice was…convincing, almost.

"I assure you I'm fine, Connor." I replied. "If that's all you wanted you can go."

"Well if you need anything give me a call, Peter." He said. "One question before I go; why are you upset with me. Did the Connor Kent on your earth do something?"

I turned to him and everything about Cassie and Frat-Boy Superman came tumbling out. I didn't know why either the day's events, maybe?

"Frat-Boy Superman, huh." He said amused.

"No offense."

"No, no I get it." He said. "Seriously, Peter I can relate. I had the something similar happen to me too. You have to put on your big boy pants and move on."

"You sound like Richard." I replied.

"Then I'm in good company." He said, "You're lucky"

"How so?" I asked.

"You barely knew the guy." He explained. "Robin…Jason was my best friend."

"Really?" I replied. I cannot picture Super-boy and Robin being BFFs.

"Even after the Joker, it still took time to forgive him." He said. "I wish he was alive for me to tell him."

Yup, he doesn't have a clue and I didn't have the time to break it gently.

"So, you managed to forgive him?" I asked.

"Yeah, I supposed I did." He said obviously proud of himself.

"That's good because Jason's not dead." I replied.

"What?" He replied exactly in the tone you would expect. "What, he's not dead?"

"Yes, not dead." I said. "And I'm pretty sure he's here, right Jason?"

"Not bad, Booby." Red Hood said as he stepped from the shadows. His uniform was smoke-gray like the original Batman but more of a body suit like Nightwing even down to the boots and gloves. There was a red symbol across his chest reminiscent of a bat or bird but actual neither. An unzipped black leather biker jacket half covered it. His red belt linked into two holsters, one on each leg, with what looked like .45 pistols shoved in. However, the main draw was the red, armored, sleek helmet. It was closer to one of Tony's creations than what a motorcycle rider would wear. I would bet money that behind those white eyes was a similar visual suite to mine.

"Jason?" Connor said almost a whisper as he turned to meet our guest.

"Yeah, it's me Connor." He said.

"But you were…what happened?" Connor asked.

"The League brought me back." Red Hood explained.

"The team mourned you man, I mourned you."

"After everything that happened…the losses, I thought it was better this way."

"M'gann…" He said visibly shaken. "She took it hard Connor; almost had a break down."

"I know." Red Hood said. "She told me."

"She told you? She knows you are alive, for how long?" Connor asked. The hairs on my arms stood up. I did not like where this was going.

"I don't know three years, or so I guess." Red Hood said casually as if unaware.

"Three year ago!" he repeated. "But… she and I."

"Look Connor, I've been too busy to worry about you still sniffing behind her like a lost puppy." Red Hood replied. I can hear the smirk in his voice. "It's funny, you can leap tall buildings in a single bound but not out of the Friend-Zone."

Uh oh, I have seen video of Bruce Banner transforming into the Hulk. Everybody always talked about the green skin and muscle mass from an extra dimensional source. What scared me the most was that the face a regular person changed to the expression of pure, focused rage; as Connor wore now.

"You two were laughing behind my back all this time!" Connor said.

My Spider-sense screamed and Connor was on ground ten feet away. Red Hood has his guns and I did not even see it happen. I have heard of Quick Draw but this was ridiculous.

"Stay down Connor." Red Hood said.

"Jason…" he said as he stood. His shirt trashed; smoke came from two soot marks on his chest. Who in the world rolls around with High-Ex bullets strong enough to do that? Do not get me started how hard it would be to make them small enough for a .45 I could only imagine the cost.

"Connor, calm down." I said as I stood between them. "Jason put the guns away."

"Stay out of this." they replied in unison.

Part of me really wanted to trust me. However, these two could destroy the cave and bring the whole manor crashing down. Worse, if Mari came home who knows what would happen.

"I'm afraid I wasn't asking." I said. ROBN pulled up what I needed before I can ask. Connor is a rage engine that needed idling as quickly as possible.

I hit him with the bright red "Hulk" webbing and he stumbled to the ground. Tony called it that because it can "hold" a rampaging Hulk for thirty seconds, which is twenty-nine seconds longer than anything less than adamantium or a golden lasso. I estimate I have about a minute before Connor is back in the game.

When I turn to Red Hood, he stood there calmly; I found it eerily familiar.

"You ready to dance Spider-boy?" he said as he slid his guns back in the holsters.

"It's Spider-Man." I corrected.

"Oh, Booby you have to earn that." He replied.

We stood there like old west gunslingers; two heartbeats later, it started. I dove at him in a mid-air corkscrew while I fired my web. I managed to twist past his initial shots. The web hit him square in the chest as I planted my feet. My intent was to whip him into the wall however as he was snatched from his feet, one hand exchanged a gun for wicked looking knife from his jacket. In mid arc, he cut the web free and landed in a cool superhero pose as he slid back a few feet. I could not take it in because he was back on the offensive. Even with my Spider Sense, I barely kept him from giving me any extra holes.

"You dance pretty good, Spider-Lad." He said before he stitched shots up the wall that forced me to skitter away. It's like I'm fighting John Wick. Also is it me or did he downgrade my name.

"Peter, I'm in." ROBN said in my earpiece. She had been hacking into his helmet since he appeared.

"Black out." I said.

"What the hell?" He said when his world went dark.

While he had my sympathy, I still made him a webbed stalagmite.

"Who's Spider-Lad now?" I said off hand. He cut loose with words that made my ears turn red. "Mute."

Then I heard a very muffled "Look out!" and since I wasn't a super villain, I believed him and turned around.

"Jason!" Connor screamed.

My webbing lay shredded around him. What's worse his eyes lit up red. I could leap away but that would give him a clear shot at Red Hood. He deserved some prison time not charred to crisp.

People do not appreciate Heat vision. As offensive powers go its top three. The Super family heat vision in particular can cut through the hardest metals like butter. Thankfully, my family has been trained how to deal with them.

First, up I put pellets of Blackout gas between us it is an energy absorbing cloud. My version is beefed up slivers of Vibranium as well. Second, you guessed it, cloud of freeze pellets backward engineered from Victor Frese technology. Last line of defense is your out of his league Spider-Man. I put my forearms together and ROBN made them a super reflective shield and ramped up the heat sinks.

Then it happened. The Blackout gas turned snow white as it was over loaded but the beam dimmed a few shades. The beam continued through second cloud. The color was the same but turned more translucent. When it hit me temperature reading on my suit spiked and heat absorbing coils kicked into overdrive. I survived. Connor had forgotten one thing: never give a Wayne home field advantage. Everything here was my weapon. Before he could react, the heavy Gatling guns from sides of the Batmobile opened up. Yeah, it is about as effective as you would assume ricochets flew everywhere but that was about it.

"Hit him."

The Batmobile's tires spun and smoked as the rocket engine came alive. After a few quick calculations, it boosted off the platform to hit Connor like four-ton missile. When he tossed the wreckage off him it cartwheeled three times before it came to rest at the base of the Giant Penny; completely demolishing the Trophy area. The car was totaled and no, it didn't explode; cars rarely do that outside of the movies. It brought me the time to get up-close and personal though. Even with my suits advantages it felt like punching granite. I cannot let up. I hit him with a hammer blow to the head. That was the last shot I got. He lashed out with a backhand that I dodged but the concussion sent me like flying like a leaf in a hurricane.

I managed to snag the cocoon I made for Red Hood instead of flying across the cave. Now, I found myself perched on top of Red Hood looking at Connor stomp over to me. I don't think I've ever been in this much danger. So why was I grinning?

"ROBN, plan B."

"I'm on it."

"Oh, and please restore Red Hood's systems." I added. "I'm going to need some back up."

I take a deep breath and focus on my right and the suit retracted so that I could place a bare palm on the webbing holding Red Hood. Then, in the space of a blink, the webbing vaporized.

"Let's go, Hoodie." I said as I swung away. "I'm tired of saving you."

"Catch." He said but he wasn't talking to me.

Connor had instinctually caught Red Hood's helmet. He looked down the white eye curiously before it exploded. What is it with this guy and explosives? It was effective however because it staggered Connor down to one knee. This would be the perfect time to get Batman's stash of Kryptonite, but it wasn't logged in the computer. Maybe this version wasn't paranoid to have one. Who am I kidding…I just hadn't found it yet.

Connor stood and Red Hood and I prepared ourselves. I glanced over; Red Hood had on a red domino mask now. This guy. Who wears a mask under their helmet?

"You wouldn't happen to have any Kryptonite bullets would you?" I asked.

"You want me to kill him, Psychopath. Who do you think I am?" Red Hood protested.

"Hey don't try to make me the bad guy." I replied. "You're the one that keeps exploding him."

"Relax, I'm kidding." He said as he holstered his guns then reached into his jacket. "Of course I have K-Bullets. Last resort though." Now he held two escrima sticks like my big brother's.

I decided to try the path of reason. I stretched my arms wide and did my best to be non-threatening.

"Connor, this isn't you." I said as I slowly walked toward him. "Would Clark be proud of you right now?"

His eyes softened and my spider-sense eased a little as well.

"Come on Connor your bigger than this." I continued. "The sun's going down big guy."

"What sun?" Connor asked. "Peter, what are you even talking about?"

I exhaled, finally. He was back.

"I don't know." I replied. "Something I heard once. Hey it worked didn't it."

"I guess it did." He said. He was still tense but the fury had drained from him.

"You cool, Connor?" Red Hood shouted from behind me.

"Hell no, Jason." He replied. "I forgot how much of an ass you are."

"Guilty as charged." Red Hood replied. "But M'gann loves it though."

OMG what was with this guy. I was starting to agree with Connor man that stung just thinking it.

"I'm in." ROBN interrupted. Thank goodness.

"Do it."

Connor tilted his head to the side slightly as if he was listening to something. He shot Red Hood a glare that would have frozen most people in their tracks. Red Hood wasn't fazed. We'd seen better. Then he took off like…well like a speeding bullet up the tunnel the Batwing used.

"What did you do?" Red Hood asked sliding his escrima sticks back into his jacket.

"I sent a fake distress call from the ISS." I replied.

"Clever." He said. "Over all this went better than I expected."

"What did?"

"This whole Connor thing I kept putting it off." He explained. "When I tracked him heading here I figured why not."

"Jason, look at this place!"

"See what I mean much better here than at my place in Bludhaven."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"So this had nothing to do with the press conference this morning?"

"What press conference?"

"Unbelievable!" I snapped. I really would not want to see my own reflection right now.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave." He said as he walked past me. I just let him go if not I probably would have strangled him.

"Next time I'm coming to see you." I finally mustered.

"Yeah, yeah and I'll be waiting Spider-Man." He called back over his shoulder.

I continued to stand there with my mind going into deep processing mode. I was only ten minutes in when a whoosh of wind disturbed me then felt a presence next to me. It was Mari no, Night-Fire; dark purple Batgirl look with black gloves, boots and cowl, minus the symbol. Just in case, you forgot.

"What in heaven's name happened here?" She asked surveying the damage.

I did not even have time to answer. She jumped into reading the riot act; irresponsible this, reckless that; hand on hip, finger in face and everything. She acted like this part of some grand, but lame, adolescent scheme. Normally I found her attitude on the cute, quirky side but not now. Maybe it was sting of Red Hood using me or that I had ended up connecting with Connor. I think the word 'come' in my head.

"Spiders!" she screamed mid rant as my friends crawled up her legs.

I did not even have time to laugh before she jumped, flew at me and we both toppled to the ground.

"Ouch." I said opening my eyes and rubbed the back of my head. She lay on top of me with her head buried in my chest and our legs intertwined.

"You are so disgraceful." A feminine voice said above me. Silent Eye Patch looked down at us in her school uniform plus white, gloves and white hilted katana strapped to her back. She stood back enough that I could not see up her skirt, not that I tried.

"It's not what it looks like."