TIGERS AND SPIDERS
by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics or their characters.

Summary: When The Hood and Jigsaw attack Tigra in order to beat and humiliate her, she is rescued by the black-costumed Spider Man who has a surprise of his own for The Hood.

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"Please... I'm just the night watchman! I don't have the code to the safe!" the security guard to the department store warehouse said.

"Do you know who I am?" the heavily scarred psychotic criminal named Jigsaw growled at the man.

"N-No." the guard said, staring at the man in the wrinkled dark blue suit, dark hair, and black eyes, who had the gun aimed at his head.

Jigsaw raised his gun and, BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Open The Safe!" Jigsaw demanded as his lowered his gun back to the guard's head.

"I d-don't have it." the guard said again.

"Well, you're gonna get it!" Jigsaw said as he pulled the hammer back on his gun.

"Hey, the guy said he don't have it... He Don't Have It!" Tigra shouted as she leaped at Jigsaw from the rafters. Her fist slammed into his face, knocking him back as she landed between Jigsaw and the guard. "This is a lucky break. Usually I have to watch my claws... but not on a puss like yours." the sexy tiger-woman in the blue bikini said, leaping into the air and kicking him in the neck. "Anything's got to be an improvement, right?" she said, quickly punching him down again. "You're Jigsaw, right? Can't remember your real name. That's not your real name, is it? Because that would be a huge co-inky-" she started to say, right as a pair of police officers entered the warehouse.

"Freeze! Police!" the first police officer shouted.

"Put The-Oh My God! We-We Have a 545! Repeat, I have a 545! I think it's – I don't know what it is!" the second police officer said.

"It's okay, I'm one of the-" Tigra started to say, only to get interrupted.

"On The Ground!" the second cop shouted.

"Officer, my name is Greer Gra-" she tried again.

"On The Ground!" the cop shouted again.

"Is that fur?" the first officer asked.

"Officer, I'm a card-carrying member of the Avengers! My codename is Tigra!" the tiger-woman stated to the cops.

"Stay Down! Stay Down!" the first cop shouted at both Jigsaw and Tigra.

"Don't You Move! You're Under Arrest!" the second cop shouted.

I don't believe this! Tigra mentally groaned.

However, while this was going on, Jigsaw saw the opportunity and started shooting.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Look Out!" Tigra shouted, dodging the bullets.

"AGH!" The police shouted as they dodged the bullets.

Jigsaw kept shooting until he was out of the building, down the street and out of sight.

Tigra was the same way.

"I Can't Believe You!" the first cop shouted at his partner.

"She Was Covered In Fur! In Her Panties! She Looked Crazy!" the second cop replied.

"She's One Of The Avengers!" the first cop shouted again, mortified that he didn't recognize her right out.

"I Know!"

"You Know!"

"I know now."

Idiot! The first cop mentally huffed.

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(New York skyline, one hour later)

Spider Man swung through the thick canyons of New York, just trying to clear his head due to all the recent troubles he and the team had been having as of late.

Tony and his damned Initiative is nothing short of fascism. And people are going along with it because they are scared and want security. He mentally groused as he flipped through the air and shot out another webline. There has to be something more I can do than just head back to the Doc's.

Spider Man and his current teammates, Luke Cage, his wife Jessica Jones and their baby, Iron Fist, Ronin, Echo, Wolverine, and Dr Strange, were hold up at Dr Strange's ruined townhouse.

Hiding. Like a pack of wanted criminals.

Which did beg the immediate question, where were all the real criminals?

Ever since nearly a hundred supervillains were broken out of the Super Max prison, The Raft, by Electro, the Avengers had been hard pressed to recapture all of them.

The newly formed team, headed by Captain America before he had died, had rounded up more than half the escaped super criminals before the Stamford Incident. Or, Tragedy, as it were.

The Civil War took off shortly after that, thanks to a bunch of scared politicians and hordes of people who wanted safety and security. As a result of this, the rest of the un-caught supervillains were left obscure.

After that, the rest of his life had basically gone to crap.

First, Spider Man had been on Iron Man's side, against Captain America and his underground hero team who opposed the Initiative and the Super Hero Registration Act.

Then he had had a change of heart, changed sides against Iron Man, with the support of his Aunt May and his wife Mary Jane.

Then he had gone into hiding in order to protect himself and them.

But this had left him and his family vulnerable to attack by The Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk, who had sent an assassin to track and eliminate Parker and his family.

The rather patient assassin had spent weeks waiting for the perfect opportunity to eliminate Parker and his family, and when the opportunity came, it had failed.

However, Peter was convinced that his family would no longer be safe as long as he continued to do what he did.

It was then that he had been made an offer, by Mephisto, the so-called Devil of their universe. In exchange for sending his wife and aunt to some place else, where they could live free and open lives, their memories of Peter/Spider Man would be erased. They would never again remember him, but he would remember them.

The deal sounded like something Mephisto would offer. While his family would be safe, Peter would be the only one to know them. He would never see them again; he would never get to hold them, talk to them, kiss his wife, enjoy his aunt's cooking. It would pain him for years to come that he would never see them again.

And so, without them knowing, both Mary Jane Watson and May Parker were 'sent away' to Los Angeles where they were living normal happy lives now. MJ was a famous super model and actress in Hollywood, May had moved to San Francisco and was dating a man who ran a bakery.

While he was happy for them, because of this decision, Peter was now alone. He spent more time as Spider Man than he had as Peter Parker, trying to get the pain of losing his loved ones off his mind. Which was ever-present.

Which is what Mephisto actually enjoyed.

Maybe I should get the gang together and go and take out these remaining supervillains. Spider Man thought, trying to get his mind off his lost family. Of course... I'd have to find them first.

Just then... his spider sense went off.

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"Tony, I don't think this is a good idea." Greer Grant said as she walked down the street, talking into her Blue-Tooth. "It's not that imperative, is it? It's a babysitting job! Isn't there anyone else you could... there isn't? What if something important comes up?"

The very attractive woman with the long black hair, blue eyes, dressed in the white blouse, black skirt, black stockings and shoes, was arguing with current Avengers team leader Iron Man about what to do regarding a prison transfer of a supervillain named The Looter to a new SuperMax prison facility in Arkansas.

She didn't want to go to Arkansas. Especially for something like this.

She entered her apartment building and headed for her place. She dropped her purse and jacket by the door and walked into her study, staring at herself in the mirror of her apartment, which was laden with several different types of cat-like masks and artifacts. Some of them looked tribal, like African masks, though most people knew there were no tigers in Africa.

She brushed her long hair out of her face as her body suddenly shifted into that of her superheroine alter-ego: Tigra!

Within seconds her long black hair was gone, replaced by a bright reddish mane. Her blue, human looking eyes replaced with green cat-slitted orbs. Her ordinary human ears jutted out into points, like that of a cat. Her flawless lite peach-colored skin was instantly covered in orange fur with black stripes spread over her arms, legs, the sides of her body, even her tail.

She looked over her feline features and smiled. This is who she was. The Tigress of The Concrete Jungle.

Suddenly, her enhanced sense of smell detected someone behind her.

What the... she thought, right before a hard piece of metal connected with her face. The impact was enough to surprise her, but it didn't stop as another blow struck her, followed-up by a hand grabbing the back of her head and forcing it into the mirror.

Hard.

"AGH!" she gasped as her hair was pulled back and she felt her face get struck again.

She was knocked to the floor, which gave her a moment's reprieve to retaliate, leaping back into the air and swing... at nothing.

"What? Where?" she gasped in confusion.

BANG!

"AAAIIEE!" she cried out as a bullet smashed into her arm.

A pair of rough hands grabbed her hair and slammed it into the floor twice before whispering into her ears.

"AAAAHHHH! AAAAIIIEEEE!" she cried out as pain raced through her body.

"Quiet now. You don't want to wake the neighbors." the voice said to her.

The man pulled out a cellphone and dialed a number.

"Janet Garson. 45 Penny Lane, Madison Wisconsin." the man said to her.

"Nnnnn-" Tigra huffed.

"That's your mommy. You love your mommy. She even loves you..."

"Nnnss–" she hissed.

"Even though you turned into this horrible-smelling cat person." he said as he hefted the phone to her ear. "Say HI to Mommy."

"Ggkk.." she groaned weakly.

(Hello? Hello, Greer?)

Though injured, Tigra was able to recognize the voice on the other end.

The man shut the phone and whispered roughly to the tiger woman.

"You Stay Away From My Men!" he said to her. "You do what I saw when I say, or I will KILL your mother. I will KILL her, get it? And after you've fully grieved the fact that you let me kill your mother because you're a selfish little pig... when I feel you've fully felt every single horrible feeling you could possibly feel from that selfishness... then I will kill you too." he said, hefting his gun into her face. Tigra's eyes were barely open, noticing the red hooded figure in front of her. "Got it?"

"Stoppp-" she pleaded.

"Got It?" the man hissed at her.

SMACK! He struck her again with her gun.

"AAAIIEE!" she cried out.

"Got It?" he asked again.

SMACK!

"AAAIIEE!" she cried out.

"GOT IT?" he asked again.

SMACK!

"AAIIE!" she cried out again.

"GOT IT?" he shouted again.

CRASH!

"I Think She Got It!" a new voice shouted as a black fist slammed into the man's face, sending him across the room.

The room's second occupant, the physically and mentally twisted criminal Jigsaw, gasped as the dark figure spun wildly in mid-air after punching his companion, and kicked the heavily-scarred villain in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to drop the video camera he was using to tape Tigra's humiliation.

Spider Man leaped back to where the hooded man was and grabbed him by his neck, ripping the crimson cloak from his body before slamming him face down into the floor.

"I know you! Parker Robbins, A.K.A. The Hood. But without it, you're just a regular Hood!" he said as he arched his body straight up, straining the villain's neck at a bad angle as his head was still pressed against the floor. "I don't know where you've been hiding yourself, but I really don't care. I needed someone to take my aggression out on, and you'll do nicely." Spider Man said, stomping his foot against Robbins' face, making him scream, while the other side was being scrubbed by the carpet. "Of course, I'm not stupid enough to try and give you any kind of advantage. Which is why I'm not letting you have your cloak." he said, holding up the blood-red mystic cloak in his hands.

He dropped the cloak and pulled Robbins up to his face, before slapping his hand across it.

SLAP!

"And as for you, Robbins! If I ever find out you did something like this again, attacking a woman and threatening her mother, I'll shove that hood of yours so far down your throat you'll be crapping it until next Christmas!" Spider Man hissed to him.

SLAP!

"Do you get me, big man?" Spider Man asked.

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

"Do You Get Me?" he shouted as he slapped and hurled him across the room.

SLAP! SMASH! CRASH!

"S-stop..." a weak voice gasped from his upside down position.

"What? What was that?" Spider Man asked as he walked over to Robbins.

"Stop... please..." the man groaned weakly.

"Are you begging? Begging for your life? That's really sad. The lady begged. Not for her life, but for her mother, whom you threatened. I guess that's the difference between you two. She wouldn't beg to save her own life... unlike you, you weakling." Spider Man said.

He slapped Robbins a few more times, before hurling him across the room like a rag doll again, watching as he slammed into a thick wooden desk, turning it into splinters.

He then went back to the slowly reviving Jigsaw and slapped him around before tossing him onto Robbins, knocking the scarred criminal unconscious.

Spider Man looked over and under his mask smiled at the video camera that had recorded everything from Tigra's assault to Hood begging like a baby.

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Spider Man left the pair webbed up so that the Initiative officers could haul them to prison. He gave Tigra the video camera so that she could do whatever she wanted with it.

Post it, send it out on the Internet, give it its own site, whatever.

However, instead of leaving right away, Spider Man actually tried to patch up some of Tigra's more serious injuries.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Spider Man asked. "When the medic's get here they can..."

"I've had worse." she said, flexing her arm to indicate she was alright.

"If you're sure." he said, not about to argue with her with Robbins' red cloak bundled up in his hand.

"Souvenir?" she asked, noticing the bundle.

"If I actually had a place to put it." he said, though he was sure it would be safer with him than in the police lock up. Once he had given it to Dr Strange.

"You still with Luke Cage and the others?" Tigra asked.

"Yeah. Birds of a feather and all that." Spider Man said. "And speaking of which... I'd better get going before I get arrested. I'm still something of a wanted felon."

"Yeah. I'll tell Tony what you did... which I'm still a little confused at how you managed to arrive right when you did."

"Simple. I followed the danger."

"Followed the danger?" she asked.

"Hood's cloak gives him the ability to teleport anywhere he wants. But he still had to pass through normal space to do it. My spider-sense went off and I followed it here. At first I wasn't sure what I was following, but when I arrived I overheard Hood threatening your mother, and then pistol whipping you, I decided to help. Sorry about your apartment."

Tigra just smiled as he said that.

"But then, why didn't you come in sooner?" she asked.

"I wanted him to be distracted enough before I made my move. Sorry about that." he replied.

She rubbed her face, sighing in sadness as she suddenly noticed his outfit.

"Why the costume change?" she asked.

He didn't answer her right away. Instead, he seemed to be brooding.

"I... let's just say... I'm not as... jovial... as I was before." he said.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. And... I need to get going." he said as he started to head to the window.

Tigra looked around at her apartment, at the criminals, and at what was once considered her life.

"Wait!" she shouted, getting up off the couch and hobbling over to him. "Take me with you!"

He looked at her, stunned, for a few seconds before answering.

"Take you... what? Why?" he asked.

"Well, several reasons, actually."

"Go on." he prompted.

"You helped me out. You saved me and my mom. You defeated a dangerous supervillain. But most of all... I Don't Want To Go To Arkansas!" she explained.

"Huh?" he asked, truly confused.

"Iron Man assigned me to Arkansas. I don't want to go." she said.

"You... want to go with me, become a fugitive, because you don't want to go to Arkansas?" he asked her, still confused.

"Do you want to go there?"

"Well no, but..."

"There you go."

"But if you come with me... you'll be a fugitive." he argued.

"Like you, and Luke Cage, and Iron Fist and... I Don't Want To Leave New York! I Like It Here!"

"You really don't know what you're asking." he said.

"Are you trying to dissuade me, because you don't want me tagging along... or you don't trust me?" she asked.

"It's not that... well... kind of... but... not really." he replied.

"And what do I have to do in order to come with you?" she asked, a slight hint of desperation in her voice.

Spider Man tilted his head to the side for a few moments, as if in thought.

"I... actually have an idea." he said.

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"I can't believe this!" Luke Cage said as Spider Man walked into their temporary base along with the feral tiger-woman.

"What is she doing here?" Iron Fist (Danny Rand) asked.

"It's a complicated story, but trust me, she can be trusted." Spider Man said.

"And why should we believe you?" Luke Cage asked the tiger-woman.

"Because of this." Spider Man said, holding up a black zip-disc.

He handed the disc to Ronin (Clint Barton), who plugged it in and booted up his computer.

Ronin read the information on it and gasped.

"Whoa! This is... this is..." Ronin gasped as he turned back to Spider Man and Tigra. "Where did you get this?"

"From Tony's database at Avengers Tower." Tigra said.

"What is it?" Jessica Jones asked, holding her baby in her arms while feeding said baby with a bottle of milk.

"It's a Pardon's List. A complete, government-authorized pardon." Ronin explained. "Signed by the President himself!"

"Are you kidding me?" Wolverine (Logan) gasped as he looked over at the file.

"No. Under these special provisions... SHIELD offers us, and by us I mean the people who sign these pardons, full immunity from prison and prosecution for past crimes, if we... well... continue being super heroes." Ronin said, a wide grin on his face.

"You stole this from Tony Stark?" Luke Cage asked Tigra.

"As a show of faith." Tigra said.

"To let you join us?" Jessica asked.

"Yes." she said.

"But... how did you even know about this?" Iron Fist asked.

"Actually that was me." Spider Man said. "Back when I was working for Stark, he showed me this Pardon's List. He actually has about a hundred of these which were supposed to be granted to several super villains in exchange for cooperation with the 50-States Initiative plan." he explained.

"But... you just took these... and Stark let you?" Iron Fist asked.

"Tony doesn't know about this. Like Spidey said, he's got a hundred of these Presidential pardons that he was supposed to use for the super villains." Tigra said. "Basically, with this, you'd be able to live normal, regular lives, and... you could still be heroes if you wanted."

The heroes looked around and had mixed feelings. On the one hand, it would mean they would no longer be considered criminals. On the other, it would put them back under Stark's control as part of his Initiative.

"If this gets us off the Wanted List, I say we take it." Jessica said.

"I'm not disagreeing with you, but..." Luke started to say. "...I just wonder what the catch is."

"The catch... is that we will be basically on our own. We won't be criminals anymore, but we won't be part of Stark's Initiative. No back-up, no support, just us." Ronin said. "And that's according to the details in this file."

"Well then... sign us up... and let's get on with our lives." Wolverine said.

Ronin did exactly that. He input all their names, real and super hero, saved it, and handed it back to Tigra.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours." Tigra said, winking at Spider Man as she left to file the pardons.

It was Wolverine who noticed that wink.

"Something going on between you two?" the razor-clawed mutant asked.

"I... think so." Spider Man said to the mutant hero. "And I think... I'll go help her." he said as he quickly rushed out of their makeshift base.

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Author's Notes:

This chapter was written after reading The New Avengers #35, December, 2007, in which Tigra was attacked by The Hood so she could be made an example out of. She was beaten and humiliated while Jigsaw videotaped the whole thing and showed it to the other criminals. They all cheered at it. The whole thing made me kinda sick, only because bad guys aren't supposed to get away with that kind of thing. So I wrote this chapter up as an alternate scene to that.

Hope everyone likes this. I was originally intending this to be a one-shot. But... I might make it more than it is... if I get enough reviews and suggestions. Maybe two or three chapters.