Preview to Spider-Man in Gotham Chapter 9

“You’d think after fighting aliens and being sent to another because an all-powerful being was feeling bored, a murder-happy hypnotist would be the least weird thing I would deal with,” Spider-Man says as he hops across the rooftops of Gotham. 

After Gordon introduced himself, Spidey asked if he could help in catching the madman. Gordon was hesitant at first since one, he didn’t know Spider-Man and two, if Jervis sees Gordon with someone else he might kill someone out of spite. 

Spider-Man then said that Gordon could assume he has good intentions since he saved three people's lives for no reason. And he could just travel across the rooftop to stay out of sight until he had an opportunity to get involved. 

“I believe the term ‘it’s all relative’ applies here,” Karen tells him. 

Spider-Man lands on another rooftop as he continues to watch Gordon run in the streets, “True,” he says as he sees the man enter a building. “But still, the craziness has got to stop here, right? I mean, it can’t get any weirder.”

“Statistically speaking, yes, the weirdness should cease here.”

Good ole math. That’s always been a good friend to him. 

Focusing back to the task at hand, which is to keep an eye out for Jervis Tetch, the queen's born teen realizes he forgot to ask Gordon what the mad hypnotist looked like. 

After their initial meeting, Gordon said they had no time to talk since Jervis gave the man a small time window to get to a location. He could ask him while they both run but that could expose Spider-Man to being Gordon’s helper. 

Spider-Man lands on a rooftop just as Gordon runs into an old and what looks to be an abandoned building. He lands on a building just across the street from it. He focuses his eyes on the street to see if anyone saw him, and sees only parked cars and a single white van, before looking around to see if there’s anyone on the rooftops. 

“Coast is clear,” he says to himself, “No sign of anyone suspicious.”

Then again, for him, suspicious means long trench coats in dirty back alleys. 

Looking back at the building and contemplating whether or not he should enter, he stops that train of thought when he sees Gordon through one of the windows talking on a phone. 

With there not being any sunshine he can see very well in and can tell the man is tense. Spider-Man can also tell he’s looking at something. Following his line of sight, Spidey sees another man on the phone looking at the same direction Gordon would be. 

He thinks he can safely assume that man there is Jervis Tetch. 

The man looks very frustrated as he continues to talk on the phone. Spider-Man meanwhile tries to think of the best way to approach this guy. Since he doesn’t have any webbing and can’t just stick the guy to the wall, he could try to sneak up on him and knock him out for Gordon to haul him away. But he doesn’t see a way to do that in middle of the street. 

“C’mon,” he quietly mutters to himself as he gets jittery, “Think, Spidey, think!”

He stops jittering as he looks down at the brick his hands are on. He moves the brick around and sees that they are loosened. 

An idea pops into his head. One that is both childish and stupid. 

But it just might work.

(X)

Jervis stands in front of the van looking up at where Jim Gordon was as the two goons under his control load Valerie Vale into the vehicle. His plan is going splendidly. The man was watching helplessly as the woman he loves is being taken away from him. Now he is rushing down the building to try to stop them but by the time he gets to the streets it will be too late. Gordon will understand what it felt like when he took Jervis’s dear sweet Alice from him.  

And it seems his contingency was unnecessary.

THUNK! 

Jervis jumps at the sudden impact that the van just took. He looks over to see a brick had hit the side of the van and left quite a dent. 

THUNK!THUNK!THUNK!THUNK!THUNK!

A volley of bricks starts to rain down onto the van and breaking the windows and bending the rims. He takes cover behind the van as do the two meatheads with the reporter still in their grasp. Jervis takes a peek through the van's passenger window and sees someone in a red ski mask throwing the bricks from across the street. 

“Oh Jim,” Jervis says in great aggravation, “You are not playing by the rules.”

Nobody ever understands that it’s better when they listen to what HE SAYS!

(X)

Gordon gets down to the streets and sees Jervis, the goons, and Valerie hiding behind the Van as it is being pelted by bricks. He follows the trajectory and looks up to see Bagman/Spider-Man continuously pull bricks from the edge, break them in half, and throw them at the van. 

Gordon is very thankful to have run into him. 

He pulls out his gun and runs to the group behind the van to rescue Vale before he stops when a brick hits the side of the van at the right spot that the door pops open. And inside he sees his former fiancé, Lee Thompkins, crouching with her hands covering her head.

“Lee?” Gordon says as he stares in shock before he realizes she is trying to cover herself from the volley of bricks being thrown at the van. He looks over to the source and tries to get his attention, “HEY! SOMEONES INSIDE THE VAN!”

The bricks stop after one more hits the rim of the back tire making it deflate. He looks back over to see Jervis and his goons getting back up and points his gun at them. 

Jervis glares at him as one of his goons points a gun back at him while the other keeps a gun at Vale, “You broke the rules, James!”

Gordon keeps his gun trained on Jervis as he steps closer to them from just a few yards, “You said no cops!”