Fan Fiction: Crossovers
Why Wasn't I There?
Part 3
For another few hours, The Shadow stayed with his friend. Even as he heard the cries, felt the tremors as the second building came down, he stayed by his partner's side. Until finally: Spider-Man woke up.
"Hey there." Spider-Man said weakly.
"Hey. You feeling better now?" The Shadow asked.
Spider-Man rubbed his head and got to his feet woozily. "Isn't the first knock to the head I've ever had. Won't be the last." He looked at his friend. "You stayed here?"
"That's what partners do." assured The Shadow. "Besides, it was a lot more fun than going back out there."
Spider-Man looked out the mouth of the alleyway, at the destroyed street. "Dear lord, it wasn't a dream."
"Not a dream." whispered his partner darkly. "A nightmare. And if dreams can come true, then what of nightmares?"
Slowly the men made their way back to ground zero. "They just came true big time." answered Spider-Man.
As they turned into the street, and saw first hand what was left, they paused in awed horror. Spider-Man's mask darkened with tears, and once more the Shadow closed his eyes.
In silent agreement, the masked men made their way to the wreck.
"I can hear them. Under the ruins. There's one over here," yelled The Shadow.
They had been working all day, the sun was going down, and The Shadow thought he was going mad. All day he had heard the terrified thoughts of victims in his mind, as they called for help beneath the rubble, and one by one went out.
Spider-Man put down the steel girder he had been carrying and ran over. They both wrapped their arms around a piece of cement the size of a truck, and strained to lift. It budged, but not nearly enough.
"We can't lift it." grunted Spider-Man. "We need help."
"You've got it," said a voice behind them both. The men turned, and standing there behind them, was their main target, the man they always considered an enemy.
The Kingpin.
He was not wearing his suit, but overalls. The mass of dirt on him said that he had been working all day. "Would you accept help from an enemy? For today at least?"
The duo shared the briefest of looks. "For today." agreed The Shadow, and the immense man came forward and wrapped his huge hands around the concrete.
The three men lifted the concrete and slowly managed to move it aside. Underneath was another wounded man. As the paramedics took him away, The Shadow guided them to another buried mind. "I assume you knew nothing about this?" he asked the Kingpin.
The disgusted look said it all. "Nothing." said the Kingpin. "If I had I would have stopped it. I am still human after all. I would never sanction this...this...barbarism."
Another casualty found, another life saved. "Then I suggest we both use our considerable resources to find out who would." continued The Shadow.
"Are you suggesting an alliance?" said the Kingpin, surprised as he pulled more wreckage away.
"An information exchange." clarified The Shadow as he listened. "This one is bigger than our fight Kingpin."
"Agreed."
"I'll contact you. Help me with this." And the two enemies worked together.
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