CHEERDROPS

One night, Peter swings through the city while on patrol, trying to clear his head about Andrea.

"It's pretty quiet tonight, sir. Maybe you can take the night off. Call Ms. Watson, perhaps."

Peter stays silent for a moment, flipping in the air and landing on a rooftop.

"I can't, Ben." Peter says.

"But, you do want to. Correct?"

Peter doesn't answer and continues to swing through the city.

"Sir, if I may. You shouldn't be afraid to be happy because of what happened to Ms. Stacy."

"I can't make the same mistake, Ben. I can't be happy and be Spider-Bat." Peter says.

As Ben sighs, Peter notices something on the street. He sees a car speeding and swerving in the road.

"I gotta call you back, Ben. There's a drunk driver on the road."

Peter jumps off the roof and goes after the car. Before he could stop it, the car crashes into a fire hydrant and stops. Peter drops down next to the car, shocked by the sight of a little boy in the driver's seat. He opens the door slowly, trying not to scare the child.

"Are you ok?"

The boy slowly nods.

"Good. Come on, get out."

"I can't, I have to get her to the hospital. She's dying." The boy says.

Peter is confused for a moment, then sees a teenage girl in the backseat.

"My sister O.D'D, please help her. She's dying!" the boy says.

Peter quickly jumps over the car and rips off the door to get to the girl fast. He carefully holds her head and quickly checks on her condition, realizing she's barely breathing. He then quickly dials Stacy.

"Stacy, I need an RA sent to the location I'm giving you now. Female, twenties, overdose."

Peter then looks at her eyes and sees that they are bright yellow. He turns to the boy who is standing behind him outside of the car.

"Do you know what she took?" Peter asks him.

"No, I'm sorry." The boy says.

"It's ok." Peter says, reaching into his utility belt and pulling out Narcan.

"Come on, stay with us." Peter whispers as he pours the Narcan down her throat.

"She's gonna be ok. This stuff will wake her right up, alright?" Peter tells the boy while they wait for his sister to wake up.

After a few more minutes pass, the girl finally breathes as Peter and the little boy are relieved. The boy then hugs Peter, causing the hero to smile.

"You got her help. You saved her." Peter says with a smile.

He then reaches over and holds the girl's hand.

"It's alright, just breathe." Peter tells her.

Hours later, Spider-Bat stands in the hospital, staring at the boy sitting beside his sister's hospital bed. Commissioner Stacy then walks up to the hero.

"The girl is stable. Caitlin and Jake Peralta, a year ago, their mother died from an overdose."

"Do we know what she was on?" Peter asks.

"Yeah, a new drug on the streets. Gives people a sense of euphoria, extremely pleasant hallucinations. Their called cheerdrops. It all sounds good at first, but the addicts can get stuck in that state of cheer, which is what almost happened to Caitlin. Not just overdoses, walking into traffic, drowning, or committing self-harm. All while seeing their greatest dreams coming true. People are dying out there."

"Do we have any leads?"

Commissioner Stacy nods, handing Spider-Bat a picture of a man with blonde hair and a neck tattoo.

"Just one. A dealer we believe is selling the drug, named Austin Luck. Unfortunately, we don't have enough evidence for a warrant."

Peter glares at the picture of Austin.

"I don't need a warrant." Peter replies, walking away.

Later, Austin walks down the street while holding a hotdog. As he is about to take a bite out of it, a web sticks onto his ankle, and he is pulled up into the air with great speed, soon brought face to face with Spider-Bat, sticking on the side of a tall building, while dangling upside-down.

"I want to know about Cheerdrops!" Peter demands in an intimidating voice.

Fear overwhelms Austin.

"I don't know anything, I swear to God."

Peter grabs Austin by the shirt.

"SWEAR TO ME!"

Peter then lets him fall for a moment, pulling him back up when he's inches away from the ground.

"I know you sell the drugs, I want the name of the one who makes it!"

"I-I-I don't know, I've never met him! I just go pick the stuff up from a warehouse on the corner of Fifth and Main!"

Peter glares at the dealer for a moment, then drops him to the ground safely. When Austin looks up, he doesn't see anyone there anymore and quickly gets to his feet and starts running.

Moments later, Peter stands in front of the warehouse that Austin told him about. As he walks closer to it, he notices the door already knocked down and a few men unconscious on the ground.

"Uncle Ben, I made it to the warehouse. But it looks like someone got here first."

"Stay on your guard, sir." Ben says.

Peter slowly walks inside, slowly stepping over multiple unconscious bodies. He then hears noises around the corner and slowly approaches. At that moment, a man is thrown into a wall across from him. Peter quickly pulls out a Batarang, prepared to fight as a man in a black mask that fully covers the upper part of his face steps out.

"I had a feeling you'd show up." The man in the black mask says.

Peter stares for a moment, slowly lowering the Batarang.

"I've heard of you. They call you the Devil of Hells Kitchen."

The man sighs.

"I hate that name."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm guessing the same reason you're here. These drugs put someone close to me in the hospital and I want it off the streets. I've been asking around for a few days and it brought me here. Is this the part where you tell me to stay out of it?"

Peter thinks for a moment.

"No. This is the part where I suggest we work together to find the one responsible for Cheerdrops."

The man in the black mask is surprised.

"You didn't seem like a team player."

Peter smirks.

"Never had to be until now. Thought I would be the only one wearing a mask. So what do you say? Partners for tonight?"

As Peter extends his hand, the man in black smiles and shakes his hand.

"Let's do this."