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The Batcave was quiet for once, tense in that calm-before-the-storm way. Penny was crouched on the edge of the rooftop across from the abandoned warehouse. She flexed her fingers, her green eyes sharp and calculating while the white lenses of her masked pinched in focus.
“Intel says there are children inside,” she murmured. “We hit fast. Hit hard. No mistakes.”
Dick gave her a quick nod. “We’re ready. Let’s bring them home.”
Jason smirked beside her, but his eyes were serious. “Just don’t kill anyone tonight, Spider.”
Penny’s lips twitched. “Relax. Not killing. Promise.”
The Moment She Saw Them
They breached the warehouse, the Bats as shadows moving through the hallways like wraiths. Penny led the way, webs ready, senses sharp. And then she saw them.
Children. Huddled in a corner, eyes wide, bodies shaking. One little girl clutched a tattered doll; a boy trembled, hands over his ears. And in that instant, seeing them so utterly terrified, something snapped.
The Pit rage surged. It wasn’t just anger. It was pure, raw, protective fury. Her pupils contracted, heartbeat hammering, and her usual sarcastic demeanour evaporated.
The first trafficker turned toward her, grinning cockily, and Penny lunged.
The Attack
It was brutal, precise, and terrifying.
Webs snapped around ankles, arms, necks. Her strikes were lightning-fast, precise, and painful without being lethal. She slammed a man into a wall, immobilised another with a web-line across his throat and wrists. She swung from rafters, using momentum to take down multiple attackers in a single move, her body flowing like a weapon.
The Bats all followed, but even they were taken aback. They’d seen Penny fight countless times, but never with this… intensity. Every punch, every kick, every manoeuvre radiated a rage that was unrelenting, merciless, and yet still controlled.
She cornered one man holding a frightened child. His gun trembled in his hands. She yanked it from him, slammed him into the ground, and webbed him up. He whimpered as she loomed over him, her voice low and dangerous:
“You touch them, you don’t exist.”
He was shaking, paralysed with terror.
Jason stepped forward, ready to pull her back, but even he paused, watching the sheer force radiating off her.
The Bats Step In
It took everything her family had to talk her down.
“Sweetheart! Look at me!” Jason barked, slapping her shoulder lightly to break her focus.
Dick grabbed her arm gently but firmly. “Breathe! Look at us! You’re here. You’re okay. You’re not alone.”
Cass moved silently, sliding next to her, laying a hand against her back. “We’ve got them. They’re safe. The rage doesn’t need to control you.”
Stephanie’s voice, calm but insistent, pierced the storm in Penny’s mind. “You’re Spider-Woman. You’re better than this. Focus.”
Duke and Tim flanked her, steadying her legs, giving her grounding while Bruce guided the rescued children to safety.
Penny’s breathing was ragged, her knuckles white around her webs, but slowly, the hyper-focus of the Pit rage subsided. Her green eyes softened, the raw, scorching intensity ebbing back into her usual sharp, sarcastic self.
Aftermath
She slumped against the wall, chest heaving, sweat streaking her face, hair stuck to her forehead. “…I… I didn’t…” Her voice faltered. “I didn’t touch any of them. I didn’t kill anyone.”
Jason crouched beside her, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. “I know. You were incredible. Terrifying, but… you saved them.”
Dick nodded. “That was incredible, Spidey. But you can’t let the rage take over completely. You know that.”
Cass added quietly, “We’re always here. You don’t have to carry it alone.”
She gave a dry laugh, though it was shaky. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I just… saw them. And… couldn’t stop.”
Bruce approached, silent as ever, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Your rage is a tool. But it’s your control that makes you a hero. You controlled it. You saved them. That’s what matters.”
Penny smirked faintly, still catching her breath. “Control... right... I think I got it.”
The Weight of It
The warehouse was silent now, except for the quiet murmurs of children reassured and slowly recovering. Penny sat down, exhausted, looking at her family around her.
They didn’t need her to apologise. They didn’t need her to explain. They only needed her to know they had her back. Always.
And for a brief moment, even the rage of the Pit felt less like a curse and more like a part of her that Gotham, and this family, could survive with.
Because as terrifying as it was, it was fuelled by something pure: her unwavering, unrelenting, protective love for the innocent.