Fan Fiction: Crossovers
Why Wasn't I There?

  Kingpin had kept his word; on his desk was all the information his contacts could find. His subordinates had not been happy when he told them of the joint operation. Many of them had risked their lives fighting the Shadow, but Kingpin made it clear: this was the one and only time. Most of them had understood the need for this agreement. The attack had left everyone in shock.

  But the Kingpin was getting edgy waiting for The Shadow to contact him.

  #Tap tap tap#

  Kingpin decided that he should have suggested a neutral meeting place; somewhere that they could meet, or at least send representatives.

  #Tap! Tap! Tap! #

  This way, The Shadow could control it all, was this whole idea a mistake?

  #TAP! TAP! TAP! #

  Kingpin spun his chair around, and saw, resting comfortably on the outside of his window, Spider-Man. Kingpin stood up and strode over to the window. Spider-Man waved jovially.

  "Your partner sent you?" he shouted through the glass.

  Spider-Man pushed a piece of paper against the window. "Look behind you" the paper said.

  Kingpin frowned, turned around, and there, sitting calmly in his chair, with feet up on the desk, was The Shadow.

  "How did you get in here?" demanded Kingpin.

  "The same way I always do." Answered the Shadow, reclining back in The Kingpin's chair.

  "Comfortable?" he asked sarcastically.

  The Shadow sighed and stood up. "Found anything?"

  Kingpin pointed to the papers on the table. "The men used sliding switch blades, simple box cutters to gain control. Isn't that hard to smuggle those sorts of things aboard planes. Also, we figure that Osama Bin Laden planned the attack. Al Qaeda carried out the attack. We also ran a search on the passenger manifests. Four of the passengers went to flight school, right here in the USA."

  The Shadow looked the papers over, "Bin Laden." He hissed. "Well it's only been seven years since his last attempt. Looks like he finally managed to do it completely." He handed The Kingpin the pictures, taken from the video. "This is one of the Hijackers. We haven't been able to identify him. The name he gave at the ticket counter, and at the flight school, was a fake. How many people do you have in terrorist organizations?"

  "More than you do it seems." The Kingpin took the picture, and pushed a button on the armrest of his chair. A huge view screen slid down from a hidden panel in the ceiling, and a keyboard extended from his desk. In the side of the keyboard was a scanner slot. He fed the picture into the slot, and then typed at the keyboard. As he worked, he spoke. "So, can I assume that you'll be on the next flight to Afghanistan?"

  The Shadow shook his head. "No. The powers that be won't accept someone else getting their number one target. I'm more concerned about other people doing the same here, now that they've been shown it can be done."

  "So you're going to let the army take their pound of flesh, while you take care of the home front?"

  "Precisely." answered The Shadow, "But these guys are my only lead. I'm betting that at least one of them belongs to more outfits than Al Qaeda."

  "Well, I will deny ever saying this to you, but, Good Luck." The Kingpin stopped typing. And on the screen, the picture came up.

  Next to it, came the picture of another man. The second picture changed rapidly, the computer looking for a match.

  "That's amazing!" said a voice from the ceiling, "You have the coolest toys. Where can I get one?"

  Kingpin looked up and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, now how did YOU get in?"

  Spider-Man pointed to the Shadow. "The same way he did."

  Kingpin shook his head. "There are guards in every hallway, he can be sneaky, but the ceilings aren't high enough for you to hide. How did you get past?"

  Spider-Man lowered himself to eye-level on a web line. "Well, your bodyguards wouldn't believe me when I told them I had an appointment, so I had to explain the meaning of trust to them. They will recover a bit later."

  Kingpin rubbed his eyes again, and pushed a second button on his armrest. A second window opened on the screen, this one a videophone. "Yes boss?" said the man on the screen, his eyes widening when he saw The Shadow and Spider-Man.

  "Smythe," said the Kingpin. "I am in an important meeting, I am not to be disturbed."

  "I understand sir."

  "And I want a complete review of tower security tomorrow morning."

  "Yes sir."

  Kingpin hit the button again and the videophone closed. The photo search was continuing.

  "Which button is the Pizza Hut Speed dial?" asked Spider-Man. "A guy your size would have Pizza Hut, Baskin' Robbins, McDonalds, KFC, all those guys on speed dial right? And to imagine, you don't even have to leave you chair! And when they deliver, you have a whole building worth of flunkies to pay and bring it up to you! WOW!"

  Kingpin glared daggers at Spider-Man, while The Shadow did his best not to laugh.

  The computer beeped. It had a match. "Well, Shadow." The Kingpin said graciously. "Looks like you were right."