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Peter didn’t know how long he’d been standing here for, but he would guess it had been at least two hours.
The Gotham rain was just as relentless as usual, not even stopping for the righteous cause that he calls ‘fun’. Well, it was fun until his target had neglected to show up.
You see, every Halloween, Peter makes a point to prank his fellow heroes in the most random ways he can think of. He picks a different person every year to put everyone on edge, and at the last moment, he strikes, leaving them either flabbergasted or running away.
Everyone found it funny at the end of the day, but Peter had to admit, it could be difficult to pull off. Especially when it’s the Avengers or freaking Daredevil that he’s trying to prank.
One year, he had brought Deadpool to the top of the Empire State building and scared him with a Scream mask, leading to the vigilante nearly toppling off the edge and onto the street.
This is why Peter was going to take full advantage of the fact he was in Gotham this Halloween. He had woken up here a few weeks ago and had been tormented by the locals ever since. This included, millionaire (billionaire?) Timothy Drake-Wayne, some guy Jason (He likes to call him Janet), his boss Barbara, not to mention the one and only Batman.
The most interesting of his stalkers though, had to be Nightwing. When Peter had woken up here, it was Nightwing that had found him lying face first in a puddle, soaked from head to toe in rain.
He hadn’t stuck around long enough to gather more information, but since Peter didn’t know his name at the time, he had called him “Puddle guy” ever since. The vigilante didn’t necessarily appreciate this sentiment, but Peter continued to give him this nickname all the same.
Actually, this is what inspired this prank. This “trick” park of trick-or-treating if you will.
The last time Peter spoke to the vigilante, he had to leave early to deal with some minor crime nearby. Of course, this is perfectly understandable, but it hadn’t given Peter enough time to crack some of his best jokes.
This warrants revenge…
Okay, so that sounds dramatic, but if Spider-Man isn’t dramatic, what is he? Batman? Heck no.
The plan is as follows: Wait for Nightwing to pass by the building and throw a heavy stone onto an empty balcony to get his attention. Then, Nightwing will be forced to stop at the abrupt sound to investigate.
Yes, Peter has checked if this is safe. No, no one lives there.
Next, Peter will wait for Nightwing to stand on the balcony below him before “accidentally” knocking over a bucket of water, resulting in a drenched blue guy that lives up to his infamous nickname, Puddle guy.
It’s perfect.
Now all he has to do is wait.
…
WOOSH
Bingo.
Peter picked up the stone like it weighed nothing and threw it over the side of the building. He was careful to avoid the pleasantly decorated balcony just beneath where he stood, taking care to aim away from all the plants.
Just as he predicted, Nightwing turned at the sound, prompting Peter to duck quickly behind the ledge.
Everything was playing out just as he expected. The target was moving into position.
Peter readied the bucket of water.
Nearly…
Just a few more seconds…
“What are you doing?”
Shit .
Peter turned to see an ominous looking Red Hood behind him, his shadow looming over his crouched figure like an umbrella.
“Get down!” Peter frantically gestured for the man to crouch down beside him before Nightwing would notice his presence.
Red Hood started eyeing the bucket of water with trepidation, but he obliged all the same, kneeling down next to Peter with an intrigued gaze. Peter didn’t much care though, leaning slowly over the edge to watch as Nightwing landed on the balcony in search of a threat.
Peter reached for the bucket, wrapping his fingers around the slippery plastic and hurling the contents over the roof.
Directly onto Nightwing's waiting head.
Red Hood let out a harsh chuckle, clasping a hand over where his mouth must be under the helmet. He looked over at where Peter was curled in on himself trying desperately to contain his laughter.
Nightwing’s head shot up to see where the water had come from.
Red Hood pulled Peter away from the balcony. “You run. I’ll distract him”
“Really?” Peter hesitated. He hadn’t expected a partner in crime tonight, let alone a free escape route.
“Go kid”.
Peter ran to the fire escape on the opposite end of the roof that he had climbed up to get here. The grin he wore on his face stretched from ear to ear.
***
Dick was drenched in water, standing on a random balcony in Crime Alley.
He could have sworn he heard a loud crash coming from this direction. Though, as he peered up at the roof above him, he was pretty sure he could guess the source.
Leaning over the edge of the roof, a shit-eating grin sat on his face that had been freshly relieved of the usual mask, was Jason. The Red Hood had just thrown water on him.
“Happy Halloween!” The man called out from about 20 feet up from where Dick was standing. He was laughing so hard like it was the most intelligent prank he had ever pulled off.
To be honest, Dick couldn’t be that mad though. It was raining anyway so the extra water didn’t make that much of a difference to his appearance or his temperature.
In response to his brother’s taunt, Dick shouted back “Very funny! You beat Tim to it this year!”
“What do you mean?” Jason shouted back, still laughing but with a hint of confusion this time, as if he was raising an eyebrow under the domino mask.
***
Tim had been waiting all year to pull off that prank.
Yet, here he was, standing on a rooftop, watching as a few streets over, Peter and Jason had just thrown an entire bucket of water over Dick’s head while he was patrolling.
Tim glanced solemnly down at his own bucket, formulating a plan in his mind.
Maybe this water didn’t have to go to waste.
***
“You should have seen your face” Jason was still giggling hysterically by the time Dick reached the rooftop. Peter had long since left the crime scene and had left Jason to gladly take the blame for the incident.
It was fine, Peter would probably just confuse him by bringing it up later or something. That’s for him to figure out, not Jason.
“Yeah, I get it; I was… surprised” Dick replied, pausing towards the end of his sentence to smile at something behind him.
Jason didn’t care though. He was way too preoccupied trying to breathe normally again to notice the approaching figure with an ominously familiar bucket.
Now it was Tim’s time to strike.