Whoever was behind the mind-controlled robberies was doing a much better job of staying hidden than Ghost Spider expected.

As far as anyone knew there had been four robberies by the same group. A delivery of precious metals and stones heading to various jewelers. Two bank robberies; one the heroes stopped and another the day of the Falcone Fiasco that succeeded. And a Wayne-tech RnD lab that had been trashed in order to cover up what had actually been taken. The only thing linking all three robberies was the robotic way the robbers had been acting; something only evident in hindsight. Other than that? Nothing. The robbers caught on camera were all different, their gear was something anyone could have picked up off the street with a few connections, and the stolen items had almost nothing in common with each other that could point to a common use.

The money from the bank? Immediate funds, obviously, that could be used to buy literally anything else. The metals and stones? That could be for anything from just more money to custom electronics and supertech. Gold was a fantastic conductor afterall. The stolen Wayne-tech? Was it something the mastermind needed? A job they were hired for? A distraction to confuse the police? There was no way to tell. So Ghost Spider was left with the good old superhero backup plan for when they had no leads.

Patrol the seedier parts of the city randomly and hope to get lucky.

Alright, that wasn’t exactly true. Ghost Spider was actually looking for an informant she could squeeze for any rumors going around the underbelly of the city. In a city like Gotham; gossip traveled faster than the Flash. It had to or otherwise the low level criminals found themselves dragged into being test subjects for the likes of the Scarecrow or wandering into areas claimed by Poison Ivy, just two of many potentially fatal mistakes a criminal could make. That didn’t even cover what could happen to the poor bastards that got caught up with the Joker.

Batgirl had already told her that the rest of the Batfamily was split up either digging through whatever electronic trails they could or working with whatever the GCPD could toss their way. And since Ghost Spider didn’t exactly have a computer setup that could do anything the BatComputer couldn’t or any unique contacts with law enforcement she could leverage beyond maybe Detective Montoya, and she was already helping them out anyway, so that left sweeping the streets.

It helped that even if Ghost Spider didn’t pick up any info regarding the robbers she was still helping out. She’d only been out for a few hours but she had already stopped a half dozen muggings and a car robbery. Small stuff, but it was the kind of instant gratification heroics that really put a smile on her face.

She’d take being out here swinging through the air over being stuck behind a computer screen any day of the week.

Speaking of swinging, Ghost Spider let go of the line of silk in her hand and allowed herself to land softly on a wall overlooking a trash filled alley. Two men in hoodies were huddled up near a light and acting shifty. Considering one kept patting at a pocket like he was reassuring himself something was still in there Ghost Spider was willing to bet they weren’t just hanging out. A drug sale perhaps?

She snuck over to a nice spot on the wall that was hidden in the shadows and brought one hand up to eye level. After a bit of concentration, the black material shifted into a rather large black spider.

“Go, my mini-minion. Let’s see what they're up to…” She muttered and tossed the fake spider close to the two guys, far enough away they didn’t notice the dark shape landing behind them though.

The spider scurried across the ground, hiding behind the random junk scattered everywhere, until it was close enough to hear what they were saying.

“Man, what are we even doing out here? This isn’t what we normally deal.” One of them whined.

The other, the shifty one, snapped at his friend. “Yeah? Well, we ain't making shit dealing fucking weed to a bunch of fratboys. This is our chance to start raking in the big bucks.” he patted his pocket again.

“Are you fucking nuts? This is the kinda shit that gets you fucked up. What the fuck did you think happened to the last dumbass Marcus had running this shit? Fuck, why did I let you talk me into this?” Whiny complained.

“Cause you owe me for pulling your ass outta the shit with the cops last week. Now shut up, I think this is our guy.”

The two dealers clammed up real quick as a nondescript man in casual clothes made his way into the alley. Ghost Spider didn’t recognise him specifically, but she did recognise a career criminal when she saw one. It was the way that his eyes darted to all the shadowed corners before he even took a step forward. Only people used to dealing with Batman and his bunch did that. Ghost Spider actually had to shift invisible for a bit because the man’s gaze kept sweeping over her hiding spot and she didn’t want him to freak out. Not yet anyway.

The man stopped a couple feet away from the two. Comfortable speaking distance, but far enough away getting grabbed was unlikely.

“You aren’t the normal guy.”

“He screwed up another job. Marcus sent us instead.” Shifty said with a used car salesman smile.

“Hmph, you have what I ordered?”

“Ye- yep! Got it right here!” Shifty pulled a metal case from his pocket and opened it. It was hard to make out from her position, but to Ghost Spider it looked like a bunch of small vials.

The buyer looked at the case for a couple seconds before shifting his gaze back up to Shifty. “It looks like the product but what about the effects?”

Shifty nodded a few times before clapping a hand down on Whiny’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, that’s why I got my man right here for! A quick demo. A sneak peak to prove it's the real deal!”

Shifty pulled one of the vials from the case and shoved it into Whiny’s hands with a muttered, “Don’t fuck this up. Remember, you owe me.” and turned back to the buyer.

“Right, demonstration yeah? You wanted steroids for your rings, a bit of something to make the crowd see something special? Well-”

“Get to the point.” the buyer interrupted. “I know what I’m paying for and what it does. What I don’t know is if you clowns have the genuine article or not. And you better pray you do. I don’t like having my time wasted.”

Shifty swallowed heavily. “Sure thing, boss.” He tapped Whiny. “Go ‘head and show ‘im.”

Whiny looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, looking at the exit to the alley with longing before sighing and pulling at a cap on one of the ends of the vial in his hand. There was a tiny needle on the end which Whiny jabbed into his neck with just a tiny bit of hesitation. A second later he ripped the empty vial away and tossed it to the ground as his muscles swelled. He had gone from a skinny guy with no real bulk to speak of to the kind of physique commonly seen on people who spent all day in the gym. Whiny walked over to a nearby dumpster, easily lifting it to show his enhanced strength.

Ghost Spider’s eyes went wide at the sudden transformation. That looked awfully similar to-

“Venom's crazy shit right?” Shifty was smiling again. “New version doesn’t last as long, but doesn’t crash as hard. Get a couple fighters up with this and bam! Instant super fight.”

The hidden heroine slowly let out a breath. Superpowered drug fights? That sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. And someone had enough of a pipeline for these things that not only did they have henchmen running around pushing the stuff they had refined versions of it too.

She was going to have to track both these groups down, wasn’t she?

The buyer whistled appreciatively at the demonstration. “Guess you have something worth buying. Do you have the doses I need though?”

“Yeah man, here check it for yourself.”

The two of them looked over the case and apparently everything was acceptable to the buyer since he pulled out a stack of bills and handed them over.

“Let Marcus know I’ll contact him if these work out.”

The buyer started walking away and Ghost Spider suddenly needed to work fast. Still invisible, she ran along the building wall and silently dropped to street level in front of the buyer. Since she doubted this guy was going to give up any locations without a fight she figured it would be best to follow him back to his base later.

Ghost Spider pulled a homemade tracker (a GPS broadcaster attached to a battery) and covered it in webbing. With careful timing and every bit of her enhanced speed and reflexes, she managed to attach the tracker to the inside of the buyer’s pant leg. That should let her find him again unless he either changed pants for some reason or found the tracker. Now to deal with the two drug dealers.

Shifty and Whiny were still in the alley. Shifty was counting the money he got with a huge grin on his face and Whiny was...doing one handed pull ups on a nearby fire escape?

“We shoulda kept some of the Venom.” Whiny was saying when Ghost Spider got back. “I feel amazing! Could you imagine what we could do with some of this shit?”

“Get capped by Marcus for skimming his product?” Shifty scowled. “Like hell I’m doing something that fucking stupid.”

“No, no, you don’t get it. This Venom shit? It doesn’t just do muscles. It does brain shit too. You always hear how smart people just think differently, but everything is just so fucking...clear. We get enough to keep this going and we could move up from just dealing. Fuck we find out where he get’s the shit from we could just take over Marcus’ operation. Start selling to the frats like we did the weed. Could you imagine how much the football fucks would pay for a hit of this?”

“No, because super drugs at a college would get Batman on our asses faster than your sister gets on her knees for a twenty.”

Whiny dropped off the fire escape and stalked over to his buddy. “First, don’t talk about my sister that way. Second, what’s stopping us? Batman can’t be everywhere. And you think he’s going to be paying attention to a college team doping when one of those psychos starts blowing up the city? At worst he dumps a sidekick to look into it and with this shit we could break Robin in half if the little bastard pokes his nose in.”

Ghost Spider’s eyes narrowed at the thought of these two mimicking Bane’s treatment of Batman with the young teen. She didn’t like that thought at all, in fact, so she was going to let these two know that in person.

“Dude, that's just asking for the Justice League to come bust our ass.” Shifty moaned. “I know it's all over the web but I don’t actually want Wonder Woman to crush my head between her thighs. Now let’s get out of here before someone sees us.”

“Too late for that.”

Ghost Spider landed in the alley in front of the two, uncloaked and in a combat crouch. Not the best for intimidation but that could be fixed later.

“I saw your little deal just now. Care to tell me where you got your drugs or do I get to beat it out of you first?”

Shifty started cursing and moved backwards further into the alley, also placing Whiny between himself and Ghost Spider.

“Dude, what the fuck? It’s not even one of the bats. Just some no-name chick.” Whiny laughed at his friend’s reaction and turned back to the heroine. “Weren’t you a thief anyway?”

“That’s the mask that helped Supergirl crash the Fiasco, dumbass!”

“No shit? Then I guess when I beat her ass we’re going to get some real cred then.”

Ghost Spider had a hard time equating this Whiny with the same guy from earlier. Sure part of it was probably from riding high knowing he had super strength for a bit, but he also seemed far more aggressive than what she had seen. Did Venom do that? She knew eventually it fucked with both the mind and body, but she couldn’t remember if it messed with emotions like that too.

“Look ‘roid Rick, I know they say ‘fake it till you make it’ but drugs are bad, m’kay?” Ghost Spider bantered. “So why don’t you tell me what I want to know and you get to cool it in a jail cell and not a hospital?”

“Dude, we need to get out of here…” Shifty hissed but Whiny wasn’t having it.

“No! Fuck you! We always do what you want and I’m sick of it! For once I have the power and you need to listen to me!”

Ghost Spider sighed and straightened up a bit. “Look as much as I’d like to play couples counselor, what I really want is where Marcus is getting Venom. So how ‘bout it?”

Unfortunately, diplomacy failed and Whiny ran forward, fists swinging. Shifty followed after him a few seconds later. The heroine kept one eye on him while she ducked and weaved through the drugged up dealer’s assault just in case he tried hitting her from behind. Then he just… kept on running, making his way towards the end of the alley.

Apparently he wasn’t much of a fighter.

Ghost Spider snagged Shifty with a web line and pulled him back into the alley, sidestepping and letting him collide into Whiny when she dodged another punch.

Both dealers went down in a mess of limbs and Ghost Spider leaned up against a wall.

“Got that out of your system? Cause hanging out in a dirty alley wasn’t how I wanted to spend my night.”

Whiny threw Shifty off of him, got up, screamed something, and threw another punch at the spider themed hero. She dodged easily and Whiny’s fist slammed into the brick wall.

“Alright no need to go breaking walls, someone has to fix those you know?” Ghost Spider chided as Whiny pulled his hand out of the crumbling brickwork.

“Then stop fucking running already! I’m gonna catch you eventually!” Whiny...well, whined.

“I mean, alright I guess. It’s not going to go how you think though.”

The dealer didn’t exactly listen though, he just wound up for a massive haymaker. Ghost Spider kept her promise and didn’t move. Instead she just caught his fist a couple inches from her face with a small grunt. Then she socked her attacker in the jaw with a quick rabbit punch, knocking him out before he even had time to react to her casually catching his punch.

That was one down. Now Ghost Spider just had to deal with the other. Looking back to where the two dealers had fallen earlier, the Heroine saw Shifty hadn’t stayed on the ground anymore than his friend did. He did seem to think running was the better part of valor or however that quote went because he was nearly out of the alley in the short time it took Ghost Spider to deal with his friend.

Another webline, this one around his ankles, solved that problem and Ghost Spider started dragging him back over the ground towards her. The alternating screams for help or mercy got annoying quickly though so she met him halfway, lifted him up by the front of his jacket, and slammed him into a wall a bit harder than absolutely necessary.

Ghost Spider’s oversized eyes narrowed threateningly as she leaned closer.

“So then...about those drugs…”