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Chapter Text

Though some may think that Peter Parker-aka Spider-Man- went into fights in only his spandex undies,-Though Mr. Stark would claim otherwise with his nicknames- he didn’t. Peter didn’t like to be even more exposed than he already was. Plus, it was quicker to slide the suit onto his clothes when a giant floating donut crashed into the earth.

Currently, he was flying through the air attached to a web. Which was attached to the magic cloak. Which was attached to the wizard. It felt like he was going at light speed. Trying not to scream, he rationalized that- OFuhdafdf- that was a sign. A literal sign that he should throw rationality out the window. The extra layer of clothes didn’t do much for the impact, but it was the thought that counted. He hoped that his phone wasn't cracked. He should have put it in the special pocket Mr. Stark made for his personal items.

Peter crouched back down and jumped, attaching a web to the wizard- He should really learn the man's name soon- and instead of pulling it back, it pulled him like a game of tug of war. Against the Hulk. Speaking of the Hulk- Where is he? Peter would love to meet him as both, Bruce Banner has 7 PhDs---

----

Don’t ask Peter how he got here. He doesn’t even know. He was hanging onto the Flying Wizard Man™. Then in what felt like seconds later but was only actually a few minutes, he was being lectured about being a stowaway on a ship that was most likely going to a one-way stop.

“You hear me?” Tony lectured. “Don’t pretend you thought this through.”

“I did think this through.” Peter detested.

“I know you didn’t.”

“I did think this through!”

“You can not have possibly thought this through” scoffed Tony.

“You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighborhood,” Peter said. They both paused. “Okay that didn’t really make sense, but you know what I’m trying to say.”

Tony stopped and sighed. “Come on, we got a situation.” They inched towards the edge of the ledge. “See em’ down there? He’s in trouble. What’s your plan? Go.”

“Umm…” Peter thought. “Okay, okay okay. Uh.” He had no ideas yet but-wait! “Okay! You ever see this really old movie Aliens?”

----

All Peter can think about as he’s held in a chokehold is “What the hell?!”

Okay okay, He needed to back up a bit. So they were fighting the alien thingy and saving the wizard- Who’s superhero name is Dr. Strange, by the way. Isn’t that so cool?!- Anyways they rescued Strange with Peter’s awesome idea. Also, he became an Avenger and crashed into an alien planet.

Oh! and now he was being held hostage. Parker luck sucks man.

“Everyone stay where you are, chill the eff out!” Space-Man held a weird-looking gun to his head. His mask slipped down and his face showed. “I’m gonna ask you this one time.”

“Yeah, I’ll do you one better. Who is Gamora?” Tony questioned while aiming his gun at knock-off Rock.

Knock-off Rock piped up and asked “I’ll do you one better. Why is Gamora?!”

Dr. Strange gave Rock 2.0 a weird look.

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I’m gonna, fry this little freak.” Space-Man looked serious.'

“Let’s do it! You blast my guy and I’ll blast him! Let’s go!”

“No one ever asks how is Gamora,” Peter muttered.

“Do it Quill!” Rock yelled. “I can take it!”

“No, he can’t take it!” Antennae Girl looked frantic.

“She’s right you can’t,” Dr. Strange said, still holding his magic thingies. Peter makes a note-to-self to ask him what they are.

“Oh, yeah! You don’t wanna tell me where she is? That’s fineee. I’ll kill all three of you and I’ll beat it out of Thanos myself!” Quill’s grip tightened around the gun. “Starting with you!” He exclaimed, gesturing to Peter.

“Wait, What? Thanos? Alright, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?” Dr. Strange was quick to say.

“What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, Jesus?” Quill scoffed.

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re from earth.”

“I’m not from earth, I’m from Missouri.”

“Yeah that's on earth dipshit-What are you hassling us for?”

Peter strained his voice. “So you’re not with Thanos?”

Quill looked appalled at the notion. “With Thanos?” He asked incredulously. “No, I’m here to kill Thanos. He took my girl-Wait who are you?!”

Peter used the technology to slide his mask down. “We’re the Avengers, man!”

“You’re the ones Thor told us about!” Antennae girl gasped.

“You know Thor.” Tony’s voice echoed through the spaceship.

“Yeah, Tall guy, not that good-looking.” Peter doesn’t think that Quill is talking about the Thor they knew. Must be another guy. “Needed saving.”

“Where is he now?” Strange asked.

----

After Quill had explained, with Mantis and Drax (Those were their names!) cutting in at times to correct inaccuracies, they got out of the ship. Titan was a strange-looking planet. Speaking of strange, while Peter was totally paying attention to the plan. Cough. Yeah totally… he was watching Dr. Strange.

The man looked as if his body was shifting on itself.

“Does your friend usually do that?” Mantis asked.

All eyes turned to Dr. Strange.

“Strange! You all right?” Tony called out. The man continued shifting around for a few more seconds and then he fell, crying out and breathing hard.

“You’re back. You’re alright.” Tony reassured. He was good at breaking Peter out of panic attacks so it makes sense.

“Hey what was that?” Peter asked, almost afraid.

“I looked forward in time.” He looked down. “To a few alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of coming conflict.”

“How many did you see?” Someone asked, but Peter couldn’t tell. He was too focused on what Strange would say.

“14,000,605.” Strange said with a solemn look on his face.

“How many did we win?” Tony questioned.

“One.”

---

Let’s just say that Peter was scared.

No. Scared was an understatement.

The fight with Thanos went to shit. Quill punched the daylights out of him, and Peter almost had the gauntlet off of Thanos’s hand, but all he got were chunks of each stone.

Peter didn’t know what to do with them, while the others were shaking themselves off, but the stones decided for him. They absorbed into the metal, and presumably his skin.

Peter didn’t have much time to think about it, because then he felt something.

“Something’s happening,” Mantis said, terrified. Peter thought the same thing. This is bad.

Everyone was looking around, including Peter, looking for the source of the “Something”

And then the pain started.

And the itching. It felt like his whole body was disappearing and reappearing at the same time.

Mantis turned to dust.

Well, that explained it.

The pain continued as more and more of the heartbeats around him faded to nothing. He was sure that they were saying things, but he was too focused on the agony he was in.

3 heartbeats left.

Tony.

Robot girl who he never caught the name of.

And him.

One of those three was beating out of control.

He held his stomach.

“Mr. Stark?”

He concentrated on the only person there who he thought would give comfort. Lab days and movie nights flashed in his mind. Please. Peter didn’t want to go.

“I don’t feel so good.”

Tony looked petrified. Peter tried to move closer but his feet were falling apart and going back together again. He fell into Tony’s arms.

Peter always called Tony, Mr. Stark, because it annoyed him to pieces and he knew the hero loved it at the same time.

“You’re alright” Tony tried to tell him like he had so many times before. But this was different. Peter was dying.

“I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t--Please, Please, Mr. Stark. I don’t wanna go.”

He hugged on tight.

“I don’t wanna go. Tony, please. Please, I don't wanna go.” Tony was laying him down on the ground as parts of his legs blew in the wind. “Dad, I don’t want to go.” Both Peter and Tony’s eyes were filled with pain. Both for the same, and yet two completely different reasons.

Peter recalled the Ferry incident and the rant that Tony went on.

Tony had said ‘If you die, then that’s on me.’ and Peter had made a promise to never let the man’s guilt complex get out of hand afterward.

Another promise. Broken.

Peter looked into the man he thought of as a father and said his last words.

“I’m sorry.”

Peter closed his eyes waiting for that release from the indescribable pain he was in that meant he could see his parents and uncle again. Some people said they saw a light as they died, or in a near-death experience. This was nothing like that. Darkness was growing and encompassing him. As he faded he saw silhouettes moving about and Mr. Stark faded out of view.

----

“It was supposed to be the only way!”

“Couldn’t you have looked a little bit farther?! Maybe 14,000,606?!”

“We have no idea what the future holds”

The voices stopped.

----

Life burst into his eardrums, heartbeats all around him, honking cars, and screaming?

Peter opened his eyes

Chapter Text

----Previously----

Life burst into his eardrums, heartbeats all around him, honking cars, and screaming?

Peter opened his eyes

---------------------

June 5th: A few hours after the fight with Thanos

---------------------

He jumped up, still shaking, his limbs itching.

Peter scanned his surroundings, looking for Tony. As he was gouging out his surroundings and roaming without a place to go, he heard a young voice yell.

“This has nothing to do with you!”

Okay, so a fight was happening…

He followed the sound of the voices, with his Spidey-sense getting louder and louder.

Peter needed to ignore his ever-increasing dread, someone was in trouble. Pushing aside the fact that he had most likely died and was a ghost and that he was in the middle of Thor knows where.

Great responsibility Peter. Remember. Always.

His senses screamed as the smell of blood got closer.

The voices were speaking in Japanese, thankfully he knew after a foreign exchange student didn’t have a translator at his school. They were all in the same class together, he, Ned, and the foreign student so they both learned Japanese to translate for them. Unfortunately, the foreign student had to move away after a few months. So it didn’t last long, but Peter continued learning and even picked up a few other languages too!

“... It’s my duty to kill these two.” Angry dude with a large knife- wouldn’t that count as a sword?- Was this man in the mafia or something?

“And if we’re forced to fight, then naturally… the Weaker of us will be culled” Murder-Man said with venom.

Time to wrap this up, there was a kid who was standing (Trembling) determined in front of the injured kid. There was someone else on the ground most likely injured too. They were all wearing weird costumes- were they acting out an anime scene? Peter hoped not.

The green-haired kid still looked determined. Peter noticed he pulled out his phone from behind his back and pressed a button. He was likely texting or calling for help.

Smart move kid.

“Karen, scan Murder-Man please” Peter muttered to his AI. He hoped she still worked wherever he was.

“Okay Peter, Playing ‘Teenagers’ by My Chemical Romance.”

Well, that answers that question. He was going to have to wing this. As the music started blasting out of his suit, He manually activated the “Spider-kid sensory overload” Protocol and muffled the music so he could focus. Karen was AWOL so he would have to strategize.

Everyone on the ground looked confused.

He took that second of confusion and used it to his advantage.

“They’re gonna clean up your looks…”

Peter attached a web to Murder-Man.

“...With all the lies in the books…”

He threw Murder-Man at the wall.

“Well, that was easy.”

“... to make a citizen out of you…”

He attached a few more webs to the man, not knowing if the new suit had extras.

“Because they sleep with a gun, and keep an eye on you, son so that they can watch all the things that you do.”

The kids stood there frozen.

“Mr. Murder-Man, did your parents never teach you not to murder people?” Peter asked. “Ah sorry about the music, my AI is kinda broken right now. I’ll try to turn it off.”

With a few tries the music didn't turn off, but it did quiet down.

Murder-Man growled. “Who are you? A new fake?” He struggled against the webs.

“Because the drugs never work, They’re gonna give you a smirk…”

“I take offense to that, I am very much real. I’m just your friendly neighborhood spiderman!” Peter turned away from the man and faced the kids and another man.

“Do you have any injuries? Wait, I could probably figure out how to scan you.” Peter muttered.

The green-haired kid snapped out of his trance. “Are you a new pro?”

Peter considered this while he searched through the settings in his suit. “Um, not exactly… I think I’m considered a vigilante.”

The dark blue-haired kid was appalled.

“Cause’ they got methods of keeping you clean.”

“Why be a vigilante when you can become a Hero?” The blue kid said. He still had a long sword in his arm.

“Uh well, others would argue being a vigilante is being a hero, they save people.” Peter continued. Ah! The nanobot sealant thingy that Tony used on his stab wound. “As full-fledged heroes, they are only focused on the big threats. I, however, want to look out for the little guys. Stop muggings. What do you think a hero is?”

The green-haired kid looked intent on something. “I think- I think that it’s just like All Might said. Giving help that’s not asked for… is what makes a true hero.”

Peter grinned. “That’s the spirit. I don’t know who All Might is but they’ve got the right idea. Sticking your nose in other people’s business is exactly what heroes do.”

“They're gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds”

“How did you get into this mess kid?” Peter asked the blue-haired kid as he knelt down to look at his wounds. The kid looked wary at the incoming hands coming towards his arm. “Ah, don’t worry. I’m first aid certified.” Aunt May had made him take the course every year since he was nine. Peter has got this down pat. With a little twinge of sadness about May, he tried to start.

“Please do Native first. I think he’s worse off than I am.” The blue-haired kid said. The person in question groaned.

“I’m fine, do the kid first.”

Ugh. Was this what Tony felt like when Peter insisted he was okay?

“Nah, man. Coming from the master at stab wounds, you’ve got like four and that’s way more than the normal person gets.” Native looked concerned but relented.

As he was finishing up sealing the wounds on Native, the Blue haired kid spoke up.

“My Brother.” He said.

“What?” Peter asked, head tilted in confusion.

“Another cog in the murder machine.”

“He hurt my brother.” The blue-haired kid paused and then continued. “Stain, he paralyzed my brother. He ruined my brother's career. He will never be able to walk again.” Tears streaked down the kid's face. “I want him gone. Dead. I want to repay him for the pain that he caused my family.”

“They say that teenagers scare the living shit out of me!”

Peter got up from Native after ensuring that he was stable and not about to bleed out any second.

He was quiet for a moment as he started. “My uncle died when I was fourteen.” He took a deep breath in. “ We were out to get ingredients for food, my aunt couldn’t-can’t cook at all.” The blue-haired kid winced as the sealant touched the broken flesh.

“We were laughing and joking around as we picked up ingredients. My aunt was going to try making meatloaf for the thousandth time. We had already pre-ordered the pizza afterwards.” Peter huffed out a laugh at this. “Then a robber showed up. He had a gun. My uncle pushed me behind him and I froze. I could have done something to stop the bullet from hitting him. Push him out of the way or something. But no. I stood there frozen as my uncle was negotiating with the robber. The robber got irritated and shot my uncle.”

He was finishing the finishing touches on the wound so that the kid wouldn’t bleed out on the way to the hospital. He didn’t notice Stain using the sharp edge of a knife to slowly cut through the webbing.

“I held him as he bled out. He was dying, but he used his last words to tell me, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility.’ It was a phrase he used all the time when I was younger. And I took those words wrongly. I tracked down the man that murdered my uncle. I wanted to kill him so much. But I knew my uncle would not approve. So I had him arrested. My uncle got the justice he deserved and I didn't become a murderer.”

“They could care less as someone’ll bleed”

He shuddered out a breath. “So let me tell you this kid, this is not the only way. Your brother is alive. Did he ask you to murder someone?”

The teen looked down, eyes filled with guilt. “Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re beating yourself up over what you did. Now what you did was wrong, you know that, but… what are you going to do to make it right?” Peter said imitating the Captain America PSAs that he memorized in his detentions.

In a split second, his spidey sense screamed at him to move. He rolled out of the way and a giant sword covered in web fluid met the ground where he had been.

“Dude! Way to ruin the moment!” Peter yelped as the sword cut through the air an inch away from him. The Green kid moved in sync with him as they both dodged the knives headed for them.

“I don’t want to kill either of you. I’m just here for these two.” Stain said while swiping at Peter.

“Watch out! If he cuts you…” The blue-haired kid said from his place on the ground.

Stain swiped at the air near the Green haired kid, and the kid lit up with green lightning.

“Woah Dude! Cool powers!” Peter yelled as the Teen vaulted over Stain and aimed a kick at his head.

“Five percent… Detroit… SMASH!!” The green-haired teen yelled as he… Punched?

“Was that only five percent?! Dang, what’s in the food these days?” Peter questioned.

The teen gritted his teeth.

Peter directed his foot towards Stain's gut. Remember to hold back Peter, a little voice in the back of his head said. Why did the little voice in the back of his head sound like the king of T’Challa? No matter. Back to the fight.

Peter held back at the last second.

“IT WORKED?! It worked! My Full cowling!” Green-haired kid™ shouted in disbelief.

“Yeah, good work dude! AGH!” Stain scratched Green-haired kid™ and stabbed Peter at the same time.

He brought the swords up to his mouth, blood dripping off one and another only had a drop. “Uh I wouldn’t do that-” He licked the swords. Peter’s blood was radioactive. Not so much that it would kill someone, but enough to make them sick or pass out. Eh, he’d find out later.

The muscles in his body froze and the Green haired kid™ froze too. The teens were in the same predicament as the other two.

“Wha-”

He and the Green Haired kid™ froze as soon as the blood touched Stain's mouth. His power must be paralysis by ingesting blood. It took the other teen a moment but he must have come to the same conclusion as Peter because his eyes widened.

Both teens were stuck in awkward positions, but due to his strength, he was the only one not shaking.

“You lack power,” Stain said.

“Uh did you miss my whole speech on great power comes great responsibility and whatnot?”

“But you did track my movements. You exploited my blind spot… and planned to bring me down… that's how you moved.” Stain ignored Peter, and directed his speech toward the green-haired kid™.

And then he turned to Peter. “And you.” If Peter could move he would be dramatic and point towards himself while saying “Moi?”

“You are new, you are young.” Stain continued. “You are smart. You have great power.” Peter didn’t like the way he said that last line.

This man didn’t scare Peter. He had faced Thanos and liv- well that’s not a good example.

“So many fools out there are nothing but talk…” Stain pulled out another sword. Seriously. Where was he getting these? He had almost as many swords as the Black Widow herself!

“But you two… are worth keeping alive.”

“What you got under your shirt, will make them pay for the things that they did.”

“Unlike the others.” Stain stalked towards the still-down blue-haired boy.

“OH CRAP!! NO DON’T” begged Green-haired teen™. Peter still didn’t know his name so he was trademarking it.

Peter needed a plan and quick. He tried moving and- his fingers twitched! Now if only his metabolism would work faster. Chop Chop Peter’s on the clock.

“Ugh,” the blue-haired teen™ groaned as he struggled to move. What the heck might as well trademark them all.

‘Come on body, I need you to hurry up!!’

“Wait! Wait! Let me say something first!!” Peter thought.

“What?” Stain was getting annoyed.

“What’s your name kid? How old are you?” Peter asked the blue-haired teen™. He needed to buy some time before he could move again or Stain collapsed from Peter’s radioactive blood.

“My-My name is Ten-Tenya I-Iida and I’m fifteen years old.” The kid said.

“It’s going to be okay, Iida.” The kid was Japanese and so were the other people around him. He assumed their customs of saying the last name first instead of the first name. He then gazed at Stain.

“The kid is only fifteen.” Heck. Peter was only fifteen. “Yeah, he should know better, but his judgment was clouded by anger. That doesn’t mean he should deserve to die! If you want to change the system so much then why don’t you change the system by going to the government? Advocating for what you believe in. What gives you the right to decide who should live or die? Are you a god?” Peter questioned.

He saw the wheels turning in the murderer’s head as he considered this. Good. Keep him distracted. Peter could already feel the muscles in his feet starting to loosen more.

The Villain turned back to Iida and raised his sword. “It’s too late for that.”

“NO!” Peter and Green-haired kid™ screamed at the same time.

“All together now”

Peter heard footsteps, sprinting towards them. And then fire and ice poured into the alleyway headed straight towards Stain. Everyone turned towards the source.

There stood another teen. His hair split down the middle in perfect red and white.

“They say that teenagers scare the living shit out of me!”

“One after another… So many interruptions today…” Stain sneered.

“Midoriya.” Ah! Green-haired kid™ had a name! “Learn to write more specific directions. I was almost too late.”

This was the backup?! Not that Peter wasn’t glad, it's that he preferred one teen (Him) fighting at a time.

“One after another… hahhh… Time might be up for someone…”

What does that mean?

“Todoroki you too?” Iida asked. New names galore!

“But how’d you? And-Your left!” Midoriya exclaimed.

“‘How?’ That’s my line,” Todoroki said. “Took me a few seconds to figure it out. That group text you sent to everyone with nothing but your location. Because sending out a meaningless message isn’t your style.

“I realized it meant, ‘I’m in trouble. Help!” What an astute deduction.

Peter’s spidey sense warned him to jump up. With his strength returning to him he jumped. Todoroki stomped down and Ice flowed out of his right foot. He had to admit. The teen looked like Elsa.

“Don’t worry. Only a few more minutes… the pros’ll be here.” Nobody noticed him sticking to the wall as fire shot out of Todoroki.

Great sneak attack. The song Teenagers had finally stopped playing. Peter would have to find some way to recalibrate her, He didn’t think she was broken.

Shouts came from the three on the ground. “OWW!!” “Woah!” “Wah! Gah!”

Peter crept across the wall, inching toward a place where he could jump on him.

“It’s like the reports said,” Todoroki continued talking. “But you’re not killing these guys today, Hero Killer.”

Peter checked his web fluid container as Todoroki dodged a knife, almost empty. It will have to make due right now. He didn’t trust Karen enough right now to activate different web combinations because the last time he did that, she activated instant kill mode.

Stain pulled out YET ANOTHER KNIFE-- Was he pulling them out of his ass?- and said. “You’ve got good friends… INGENIUM!” He threw the knife and it knicked the skin on Todoroki's face, right under the cool scar on his left eye.

At the same time Stain threw the knife he threw a katana and it flew through the air. Peter lept off the wall and latched onto it. His feet dug into the concrete. There goes plan A, moving on to plan B.

“That was a close one, I’m Spider-Man. I would offer you my hand but in one hand I’m holding a Katana and we are in the middle of a fight with a villain.”

Stain Jumped into the air. “How did you get out of my hold so fast? Must have a faster metabolism.”

The fight continued and Iida asked. “Why? Both of you… just stop it…” His voice was choked. “I’ve inherited my brother’s name. I have to do this. He’s mine too…”

“Inherited his name?” Todoroki asked, Baffled. “That’s weird…” Peter jumped even higher as Todoroki’s ice exploded off of him. “Cuz the Ingenium I know never made faces like that. Guess your family’s also got a dark side to it.”

Peter wielded the sword, thanking Tony for all the time he spent giving him hand-to-hand and weapons training. He also thanked Ned and Shuri for the lightsaber fights. “You’re welcome idiot,” A voice in the back of his head said. It sounded like Shuri’s. Peter thinks he’s lost a teensy bit too much blood.

Peter heard a twitch behind him and saw Midoriya tensing up, trying to move.

“Todoroki…”

Before he could help Midoriya, Stain sliced through the ice.

“Obstructing your own vision when against an opponent faster than yourself… poor strategy indeed.”

Peter detests that. He is much faster than Stain.

“You’d like to think so.” Todoroki snarked.

Peter saw the knives headed toward Todoroki, but it was too late. They stuck into the teens' skin like porcupine needles.

Stain was above Iida ready to strike down. “You’re not bad either…”

Todoroki smiled, “ Above…”

Midoriya was up. The normal human eye wouldn’t be able to track him. He would be a streak of green.

He kicked the sword out of Stain’s hand and punched him in the face. Oooh, that’s gotta hurt.

“Somehow I can move again just fine!” Midoriya shouted.

Peter’s side was beginning to itch worse as his stab wound heals. Villains work hard, but Peter’s super-healing works harder.

“Midoriya!” Todoroki yelled. “So it has a time limit?”

“No, he was the last of us to get hit! And I still can’t move.” Native said.

“This kid… must be O,” Stain murmured, not loud enough for the others to hear him but Peter did.

“IT'S BASED ON BLOOD TYPE!” Peter yelled to the other four. “Quick! Everyone, what's your blood type?”

“Blood type?” Native asked. “I’m B.”

“And I’m A…” Iida said.

The only reason Peter knew his blood type is because of how often he went to Medbay. “I’m O.” … With a side of radioactivity.

“Blood type. Hah... That’s right” Stain grinned.

“Though it’s not like knowing that will help us… “ What a pessimistic way of thinking Midoriya.

“We need to hurry and get these two out of here…” Todoroki said.

Peter sighed and scrolled through his web settings. Ah! There it is!

“He’s quick enough to react to both my fire and ice. So I’m not seeing an opening. Until the pros get here… our best hope is to keep him at bay and keep dodging.” Todoroki’s eyes sharpened as he assessed the situation.

“We could do that, or we could try this.” Peter aimed his webs and shot a web as fast as he could. It was sparking and the metal strapped over Stain conducted the electricity even more.

Stain collapsed.

“Wow. I didn’t think that would work. He’s out cold, right? Pun intended.” Peter mused.

“Spider-Man, why didn’t you do that before?” Native asked incredulously.

“Um, well it's a new feature, my suit is broken so I didn’t think it would work,” Peter explained.

Todoroki shrugged.

“Does anyone have any immediate injuries? I know Todoroki does, but speak now or forever hold your peace.” Peter asked switching his webs back to the nanobot sealant.

“This is going to hurt.” He said holding onto one of the knives embedded into Todoroki’s skin. Todoroki braced himself.

The knife slid out and Peter quickly moved to seal the wound. Peter didn’t have to worry about running out of the stuff because the Nanobots were constantly making it. He needed to figure out how to do that with his webs.

Todoroki hissed in pain. “You’re okay. Only two more.”

The way the nanobot sealant worked is it held things together, meant to be more effective than stitches. The nanobots also took the tissue surrounding the wound and sped up the process. Tony and Peter worked together to replicate Peter’s healing. Using the web formula to make pseudo skin and they ended up with artificial super healing. It was revolutionary tech.

“Not bad, colonizer,” Not-Shuri said. Really. Were the Hero Killer’s knives poisoned? Was the poison headed to his brain?

Iida finally stood up. The- power?- of Stain finally wearing off. The short angry old man aimed his kick toward Midoriya. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?! I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN YOUR SEAT.”

“Gran Torino!!” Midoriya said while coughing.

“Well… I don’t know what happened here but… Glad to see you’re alive.” The man said, reminding him of Tony.

Midoriya’s voice was quiet. “Gran Torino… I’m sorry.”

People were coming towards them, probably more Heroes.

“Is this the alley he mentioned?! One of them said,

“Huh?” Gran Torino grunted.

“We got a backup request from Endeavor but…” One with tall hair said.

“Kids?!” The one with a robot mask exclaimed.

“They’re badly hurt. Call an ambulance!!!” Goggles yelled at the people coming.

“But not for me…” Peter whispered.

“Hey, is that… THE HERO KILLER?!” The woman questioned.

Peter nudged him just to be sure he was out.

“So he’s… Endeavor’s still over there fighting then?” Todoroki asked.

“Oh yeah. Those nomu siblings or whatever…” Midoriya interrupted.

The woman with short hair decided to answer. “Yes! Those of us whose quirks had no effect on those villains came to help you guys.”

What is a quirk and what is a nomu?

“All three of you. You were wounded because of me. I am so terribly sorry,” Iida looked ashamed as he bowed. “I was blind… I lost sight of everything!”

Midoriya was quick to refute and Peter started removing the last knife from Todoroki. “No, I’m sorry too… I couldn’t tell at all that you were so upset about it. And I’m supposed to be your friend.”

There’s the guilt complex.

As Peter sealed Todoroki’s last knife wound he heard wings behind him headed toward Midoriya. “Get it together. You’re class president aren’t you?”

The wings got closer.

“LOOK OUT!” Peter tried to shove Midoriya out of the way but he was only half successful. The creature grabbed onto Peter’s left shoulder and Midoriya's right. When he looked up he screamed.

“WHAT THE FU-” His shout was cut off by Midoriya’s confused grunts of pain. He must have a broken rib or two.

“Midoriya! Spider-Man!” Todoroki and Iida shouted at the same time.

“A villain!! How could Endeavor let it go?”

Peter was liking Endeavor less and less by the minute.

He tried to thwip a web out but his container was empty.

“Dang it.”

“Crap. He came all this way just to run?”

Over all the frightened and panicked shouts of a plan, he heard someone move.

The creature was shot down.

“Both this sham-filled society… and the criminals who wield their power in the name of petty mischief… are the targets of my purge.” The hero killer took in a ragged breath. “ All for the sake… of a better society.”

Stain moved towards Midoriya and Peter. One was wheezing on the ground (*Cough* Peter) and the other half conscious.

“He saved them?!”

“No, They are hostages.”

“This is an unrepentant murderer we’re talking about.”

“Enough already! Assume battle positions!”

The heroes were all in battle-ready positions.

“WHY ARE YOU BUNCHED UP ALL TOGETHER?! ONE OF THEM SHOULD HAVE HEADED YOUR WAY!!” A booming voice made Peter wince.

“Endeavor!!” Ahh, so this is Endeavor.

“You’re already finished?!”

“More or less. I had to get a little rough!”Endeavor's face tightened in confusion. “Wait… is that?”

Ughh! Get off of me!” Midoriya groaned.

“Yeah what he said.” Peter agreed.

Stain decidedly ignored them. “Endeavor.”

“HERO KILLER!!” Endeavor started to ramp up his power.

“Todoroki, wait!” Gran Torino shouted. Todoroki? Why did the younger Todoroki look disgusted when he- oh. Man, he really hates Endeavor now.

“YOU FAKE…” Stain frothed at the mouth.

Midoriya shook.

The heroes were scared.

“IF I DON’T FIX IT… IF SOMEONE ISN'T STAINED WITH BLOOD…!”

Gran Torino’s eyes widened.

Peter however was just riding the tide. It had been at least fifteen minutes since Stain ingested his blood. That's about the time it takes to digest liquids. All he needed to do was wait and hope that Stain didn’t kill either of them.

“IF I DON'T RESTORE THE IDEAS OF HEROISM…!!”

Man, this guy could talk. And that was saying something since Peter could talk a lot.

Stain stomped his foot down.

Endeavor stepped closer.

“COME! JUST TRY ME… YOU FAKES!” The Hero Killer’s eyes were crazed.

“THE ONLY ONES ALLOWED TO KILL ME ARE…” the man rasped. “ALL MIGHT, DEKU, AND SPIDER-MAN. THE ONLY TRUE HEROES.”

Spittle and blood sprayed out of the man’s mouth. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot and they rolled into the back of his head.

Thank goodness that fifteen minutes took forever. “Are you sure? That’s what we said last time.” Peter groaned as he got up.

Peter tapped the Hero killer and the man fell into a heap.

“Huh…” Todoroki said.

“Well, I guess that’s time for me to take my leave.” Peter climbed up the wall. “Your friendly neighborhood spiderman, out.” He saluted with two fingers.

“Wait!” Endeavor yelled, but Peter was already gone.

Peter changed behind a dumpster, too exhausted to find anywhere else. He stuffed the suit into his jeans. He walked for a few minutes; He needed to hide the blood stain on his shirt. Dang, he liked this shirt. His “Lettuce: The Taste of Sadness” was a good shirt. Though now red stained- oh a pun!- a bowl that used to be white was ruined. Maybe he could spread out the stain?

The gas station attendant gave him a weird look as he headed to the restroom to clean up.

Peter served the wound. It was already halfway healed. It'd be gone by the morning.

Peter pulled out his phone. He pressed the power button… It still worked! It was a little glitchy though. Peter looked in his wallet, He had his ID, A few bills,- Peter doubted that the register would take American dollars- his driver’s permit, and- Peter stopped.

There was a picture of May, Pepper, Tony, and him. It was the night of his 15th birthday and Ned and MJ had already had lunch with him. The laughter was etched on their faces as Tony and Peter were covered in cake. Tears pricked in his eyes, but he blinked them away. Now was not the time. “Peter…” A voice with a vaguely Sokovian accent resounded in his head.

He walked out of the gas station reluctantly and wandered for five minutes before he heard waves crashing. Was he near the ocean? He must be close to the coast of Japan.

As he got closer he saw piles of trash, there was a sign that said “Arata Saisei Beach: DUMPING TRASH COULD RESULT IN A 500 YEN FINE AND LEGAL CONSEQUENCES”

Perfect. Peter could make a hut out of the piles.

Peter started looking for pieces of metal that he could use, even though he was exhausted. During his search, he found an old boxcar.

He snorted as he was reminded of one of his childhood stories, “The Boxcar Children”. Maybe he could become a boxcar kid if it was in okay enough shape!

He opened the door to the car and found nothing. The inside was a little rusty, but nothing a little white vinegar and baking soda couldn’t fix.

Peter should go buy a lottery ticket. Though it was rusty, there was no mold. A miracle!

He climbed inside. He left the door open just a crack, for the light of the moon to reach in. Another plus of doing that was lessening the chance of suffocating. He didn’t know how tightly shut the car would be with the rust, so he wasn’t taking any chances.

He took out his suits from his jeans and bundled them up, making a pillow.

Peter lay down. And then he cried.

He sobbed for the life he had before. Sobbed for the people he knew.

The voices in his head were arguing. “Who’s going to comfort him?”

“Me, I’m a licensed therapist okay?”

Peter’s eyes drooped.

“It’s okay to not be okay.”

It’s okay to not be okay. Peter told himself.

He drifted off to the sounds of waves.

---------------------

Chapter Text

Early morning June 6th:

Shota Aizawa hates kids. And life. Don't believe anything Hizashi says. When he got a call that 3 of his problem children had an “Incident”. More specifically: Iida (Seriously?), Todoroki, Midoriya (It was a given at this point), and a new vigilante. He told Hitoshi to go home as he sprinted to the Hosu General Hospital. He asked himself: why did God abandon this timeline.

When the doctors finally finished poking around at the weird white goo attached to his students' wounds, he walked in. They had to get some of the goo for testing. Apparently, their wounds were healing from the inside out. Now it was about two AM and Shota finally stopped berating them. His students were exhausted and he told them to get some rest. As he got up to move, the door slid open.

“OHH, all the little wounded warriors are awake!” Torino said.

“Gran Torino!” Midoriya exclaimed.

“Mr. Manual!” Iida tried to do his hand chop and winced.

“I’m still going to chew you out but, you’ve got a visitor,” Gran Torino paused for dramatic effect. Shota rolled his eyes. “This is Mr. Kenji Tsuragamae, Hosu’s Chief of Police.”

“Tsuragame!! Ch-Chief of Police?!” Midoriya shouted frantically.

“Please stay seated, woof.” The man said.

“So you're the U.A. students… who had a hand in putting a stop to the hero killer, Woof.”

Midoriya’s jaw was practically on the ground, Iida’s eyes widened with his eyebrows raised, and Todoroki was impassive.

“As for the Hero Killer… He’s currently in treatment for his burns, broken bones, and interestingly enough: radioactive poisoning. He's also dealing with several other serious injuries, Woof.”

Iida and Todoroki straightened their posture.

“At the dawn of this extraordinary era, the police moved to prioritize leadership and to maintain the status quo. So they decided not to use quirks as weapons.” Tsuragamae took a breath. “The profession of “Hero” Rose as one that would fill that void, woof.”

“Authorizing the use of such might, of these powers that could very easily kill… was a heavily criticized decision at first, but would garner public support. All because your predecessors acted morally and complied with the laws, Woof.”

“But those without permission… those who inflicted harm without explicit instruction from the police and powers that be… even if they were to face someone like the Hero Killer… Such action would represent a stunning breach of the law, Woof. You three as well as your pro hero mentors Endeavor. Manual. Gran Torino. The six of you must be dealt with strictly and impartially-”

Todoroki interrupted the man. “Hold on a minute.”

“Todoroki…”

“If Iida hadn’t acted Native would have been killed. And if Midoriya hadn’t shown up, both of them would have been dead. Without Spider-Man things could have gone way worse. Nobody even knew the hero killer was in town. Should we have let people die, all in the name of the “Law”?!” He ranted.

“Whoa, whoa,” Midoriya said, trying to calm his fellow peer.

“Everything turned out fine so let's forget about the law this time! ISN’T IT A HERO’S JOB TO SAVE PEOPLE?” The youngest Todoroki practically shouted.

The footage was shaky and obviously taken from a second-story window.

“You clearly have much to learn. Some education you’re getting, woof, from U.A. and Endeavor.”

Todoroki took a step forward and looked royally pissed.

“Wait… just listen to what he’s got to say.” Gran Torino put himself in between the chief and Todoroki.

“All of that... Is what I’m obligated to tell you as the police.” Tsuragamae mused. “But, The real question is whether to deal with this issue publicly, woof. If we let the story out, you’ll all be lauded by the public, but you won’t be able to avoid punishment. But if we keep all this nasty business to ourselves, the webs that were surrounding the Hero Killer will support the story that Spider-Man was the key operative. He’ll receive the credit. As much as I loathe to commend a vigilante, he gave us the perfect narrative. Fortunately, the number of eyewitnesses was small enough that we can hush up this whole matter before it causes problems, woof.”

A look of understanding came over Shota’s students.

“But in that case, your decisive action and Achievements... Will remain unknown to the general public.” Tsuragamae held a thumbs up. “ What do you say?! I’m an understanding man. So when it comes to a promising group of young people… I’d rather not have to pursue charges over this admittedly massive indiscretion, woof!!”

Manual looked down. “Either way, our negligence is to blame. We have to take responsibility.”

Iida bowed his head in shame. “I am so very sorry.” Manual whacked the boy.

“Yeah! You caused a lot of trouble for your mentor, so don’t do it again!!”

“Thanks for everything. The world’s an unfair place. You’ll receive none of the commendations that you might have otherwise but,” The chief of police bowed. “At least as someone invested in keeping the peace… I can thank you!”

Midoriya hesitated before asking his question, “What about Spider-Man?”

Shota then spoke up. “We are currently investigating the vigilante. According to Native, he was worried that Spider-Man was a child around your age due to his size.” He answered. “Spider-Man also said some worrying things during the fight. Our best scientists are currently analyzing the webs and blood he left behind.”

----------

Things went smoothly after that. Shota was getting up to call Hizashi when a scientist burst into the waiting room.

“Are you the hero who is taking on the case of Spider-Man?” Shota nodded.

The scientist’s eyes were wide and his hair was a mess. “Well our best scientists were analyzing the webs that were left at the scene- Or while we could-it dissolved shortly after we analyzed it. Its tensile strength is off the charts. We hypothesized that it could hold several thousand pounds- if not more.” The scientist was out of breath but still continued his rant. “And that’s not even the beginning of it. Apparently, it’s manufactured. Not organic. We have no clue what it's made out of. And his blood! Don’t even get me started on his blood! He’s not even fully human. 98% of his DNA was human, but the other was on par with Brown recluse and black widow DNA.”

Before he could continue speaking Shota interrupted, thoroughly whipped. “Do you think it’s his quirk?”

The man shook his head. “It’s likely not his quirk. Evidence suggests that he was bitten by the spider. This is concerning if we’re talking about human experimentation.”

Shota saw red. That’s it he’s going to find the vigilante whether the other likes it or not and take him home. The scientist didn’t let him stew in his rage and plans for adoption for long.

“His blood is radioactive, and it's a miracle that Spider-Man’s even alive. The bite should have killed him. Heck, Stain ingested the blood and got radioactive poisoning. That may be due to Spider-Man’s quirk.”

The man left shortly after to continue analyzing the blood.

Shota sat for a moment in silence. Thinking about the what-ifs of Spider-Man. Most of them were about the kids' home life.

Shota’s ringtone for Hizashi rang out and Careless Whisper played. He looked at his phone.

Shit. 63 missed calls and hundreds of missed texts from his husband and son.

He answered. And was hit with a barrage of questions.

“Hizashi, Hitoshi. Calm down. I’m fine, and my students are fine… ish. But we’ve got a code AV.”

Hizashi and Hitoshi quieted. “Do I need to prepare the spare bedroom?” His wonderful husband asked.

“Unfortunately not right now-”

“Am I going to have a new sibling?” Hitoshi asked.

Shit. Hitoshi. “Only if you are okay with it, we would never make a big decision like this without you Toshi,” Hizashi answered before Shota could.

“Of course. What kind of hero would I be if I didn’t help someone in need… I’ve always wanted a sibling. As long as they aren’t a jerk, I’m okay with it Dad.”

Shota’s smile was soft.

“So who’s the kid that you decided to enact Code Adopt Vigilante? We haven’t had to use that code since its making.”

“You should see him on the news tomorrow, He stopped the Hero Killer and saved Iida, Todoroki, Midoriya, and another injured hero on the scene.” Shota hoped that Zashi got the hint. He didn’t want to tell Hitoshi classified information.

“HE STOPPED THE HER-” Hizashi yelled into the phone and Shota hung up.

God, he needed a nap.

And some ibuprofen.

Chapter Text

-June 8th-

“Breaking News- We have footage from the fight against the Hero killer: Stain and the vigilante Spiderman. Warning this video is graphic, and is not suitable for children. Watch at your own risk.”

The news report cut to the video, it was shaky, and obviously shot from a second story window. The filmer whispered, “I’m recording this just in case something happens to me. The hero killer is down there,” Their voice wavered with fear.

The camera was facing the Hero Killer, a green haired teenager and a red and gold clad vigilante behind him. The latter was straining to move. The hero killer had a long sword through the head of an amalgamated creature's head. Brains and blood coated the walls surrounding.

A voice echoed through the alley way. “WHY ARE YOU BUNCHED UP ALL TOGETHER?! ONE OF THEM SHOULD HAVE HEADED YOUR WAY!!”

The vigilantes' eyes screwed up in pain.

The cameraperson gasped. “We’re saved!”

“Endeavor!!” one of the Heroes shouted.

“You’re already finished?!” another exclaimed.

“More or less. I had to get a little rough!” Endeavors face tightened in confusion. “Wait… is that?”

“UGh! Get off of me!” The green haired teenager groaned.

“Yeah what he said.” Peter agreed.

It was hard to hear, but the window being open helped.

Stain ignored them. “Endeavor.”

“HERO KILLER!!” Endeavor started to ramp up his power.

“Nevermind. I’m going to die in an apartment fire.” Their laugh was without humor.

“Todoroki, wait!” The older hero shouted.

“YOU FAKE…” Stain frothed at the mouth.

The smaller green haired teen shook.

The heroes were scared.

“Isn’t Endeavor going to do something? What is he waiting for?” They whispered again.

“IF I DON’T FIX IT… IF SOMEONE ISN'T STAINED WITH BLOOD…!”

The older hero’s eyes widened. The cameraperson and the other heroes were silent.

The Spiderman looked almost- relaxed?

“IF I DON'T RESTORE THE IDEAS OF HEROISM…!!”

Stain stomped his foot down. The blood of the creature splashing.

Endeavor stepped closer.

“COME! JUST TRY ME… YOU FAKES!” The Hero Killer’s eyes were crazed.

The camera trembled.

“THE ONLY ONES ALLOWED TO KILL ME ARE…” the man rasped. “ALL MIGHT, DEKU, AND SPIDER-MAN. THE ONLY TRUE HEROES.”

Spittle and blood sprayed out of the man’s mouth. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot and they rolled into the back of his head.

“Is it over?”

And the video cut out.

------

Trending: Vigilante Spider-Man and Hero-in-training Deku declared worthy of killing the Hero Killer

Hero Killer defeated after Spider-Man jumps to the rescue

HERO OR VILLAIN: DOES SPIDER-MAN REALLY DESERVE ALL THE PRAISE?

------------

Peter peeled his face off of the floor of the boxcar, his cheeks were lined with dried tear streaks. Luckily his eyes weren't puffy from last nights--was it last night? He couldn't tell how long he was out.

The light that showed through the crack of the door had him squinting.

He readjusted himself moving out of the light. His bones creaked and ached.

The door of the boxcar screeched as he opened it more.

Now that there was more light, he could see that he really had won the jackpot. The only sign of rust was on the outside, which was understandable because it was situated on a beach.

The sun was just barely rising off the horizon, meaning that it was early in the morning.

The garbage around it was in giant piles making a maze.

His wounds were all healed up. He needed to find a decent screwdriver so he could fix Karen.

The boxcar was so deep into the trash maze that he wouldn’t have to worry about hiding the car or making it look older.

Peter had plenty of time to think about anything and everything while he scavenged the heaps.

Instead of making himself cry again thinking about everything he left behind, he made a list in his head of things he needed to do.

1. Fix karen
2. Find out how to get money (Maybe get a job)
3. Make more web fluid and sew the suit (subsequently patrol)
4. Start fixing up the boxcar
5. Research quirks
6. Find out what the crap was a nomu
7. Get new clothes
8. Find food

That was about as much as he could remember of what he needed to do, and Peter was sure that it would grow as the day went on.

Peter had made a big pile of things he could recycle. Luckily he had experience with dumpster diving and this wasn’t much different. He found 2 rusty screwdrivers and he hoped that one of them would work. He grabbed the plastic dora table he pulled out of the wreckage and wiped it off as best as he could. Peter sat down and got to work on Karen’s mainframe.

The waves were a calming sound and helped him concentrate while he worked.

He had to work slowly, to not mess up anything anymore than it was.

He found the source of the problem, there was dust clouding the wires.

Peter tried not to think about where the dust came from as he carefully maneuvered the wires around to blow the dust out.

He put the cover back over the mainframe and crossed his fingers.

As the mask slid over his face he sighed in relief at Karen’s voice.

“We got a mini Tony on our hands.” Not-Bucky said.

“Hello Peter, it is Thursday, June 8th, 2017 at 10:45 in the morning. It seems like you should be in school, should I activate the “no playing hookie spidey” Protocol and contact FRIDAY?”

Tears pricked at his eyes and he struggled to not outright sob. “No! Karen, Please don’t contact FRIDAY or Mr. Stark, I’ll explain everything,” He breathed out as Karen did not reply.

“So, you know how we were fighting Thanos in space?”

“Yes Peter, my recording on the baby monitor protocol records everything, but the footage is corrupt after a certain point.”

Peter nodded. “Karen, the reason that the file is corrupt is because I died. Or at least I think I did, all I remember is that I was turning to dust and then I woke up here in a completely different universe.” Peter started muttering. “This could possibly prove the multiverse theory, which is so cool by the way. I wish there was someway to prove-”

“Peter, It appears that your heart rate is elevated. Do you need assistance?”

Karen’s voice snapped him out of his rant. “Uh, no sorry Karen.”

It stayed quiet for a moment. The only sound that could be heard was the waves, seagulls, and cars driving in the distance.

He could cross off recalibrating Karen, He would need to connect her to the internet soon too.

“Karen?” He asked, voice soft.

“Yes Peter?”

“I need- uh- I need money.”

Karen sounded smug when she next spoke. “Activating ‘Spider-Kid emergency money, otherwise known as Peter, finally accepts my money. Seriously, who wouldn’t accept money from a billionaire?’ Protocol. Transferring 50,000 dollars to your debit card.”

Peter choked. If he was drinking anything, he would have done a spit take.

“When setting up this protocol Boss made it to where anytime you ask for money that 50,000 dollars will be added to your account.”

Peter let out a string of curses. “Oh man, I had almost a year streak of not accepting money from Mr. Stark.” He sighed. “I’m technically dead, so this doesn’t count.”

He got up, put all of his findings in the boxcar and closed the door. Wallet in hand he started navigating through the beach. “Now… where is the nearest mall?”

---------

Pepper was worried. No. beyond worried. She was panicking.

It had been three days since the blip. That’s what people were calling it. Three days since Peter and Tony had gone off the grid. Three. Days.

She had so much to do now that half of the population was gone. But Pepper had sent out a message telling the employee’s that were left to take all the time they needed. No one had came to work, not that she was expecting them to, but it was eerie being in the tower now that it was empty.

What was left of the team was off helping people get off the streets. There were many casualties during the blip and unfortunately, after. Children were found crying in their homes, and that’s not including the children who couldn’t take care of themselves.

It was devastating.

So excuse her for crying on the couch in the common room eating a carton of cookies and cream ice cream and watching a folder that Tony made. It was labeled “Irondad and Spiderkid.” Rhodey and Happy never let him live it down.

Happy was on his way to check on the Keeners. It was only her home now.

“FRIDAY, send any alerts from Tony and Peter’s suit to me as soon as you get them.”

“Okay Main Boss, would you like anything else?”

“No thank you FRI.”

About an hour into the clips FRIDAY spoke up. “Main Boss. It seems like Karen activated the ‘Spider-Kid emergency money, otherwise known as Peter finally accepts my money, Seriously who wouldn’t accept money from a billionaire?’ Protocol.”

Pepper froze. “What?”

“Boss added a large amount of protocols to Peter’s suit. This is one of them, when activated 50,000 dollars is added to Peter’s debit card.”

Pepper sat there for a minute. She laughed. Peter was alive. What about Tony?

Few people knew this, but before she was Tony’s Personal assistant and CEO, she was an accounting manager. She had noticed a mistake that could have cost the company millions of dollars. She quickly made her way to Tony’s office, but security wouldn’t let her through. Undeterred though, she pushed through to the CEO’s office and personally confronted him with her findings. Security continued to try and remove her but she lied and said that she had pepper spray in her bag. Tony calmed the situation down and when finding the same mistake he promoted her to personal assistant. When he found out she lied about the pepper spray, she became Pepper.

Peter didn’t even know this. Tony must have known that she would notice that money was missing. Tony and Peter are alive.

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Main Boss?”

“Track where the money was taken from.”

FRIDAY took a moment before answering again. “I can not get an accurate pinpoint of the transfer.”

Looks like she was playing a waiting game then. If only she didn’t feel sick.

Please come home safe.

-------

The first thing Peter did with his money was buy a new shirt. People were staring before and it gets kind of awkward after a while.

He ends up finding a whole section of shirts at the mall that were very ironic. Just his style.

He got several shirts all ranging from saying t-shirt, pajama shirt, dress shirt, and stuff like that in Japanese.

He also got plain normal shirts too. Peter even found an English one that said ‘Duck sky’ and it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. The writing was purple and glittery and had little stars around it. There was absolutely no reason for it to say that.

He moved on to the bottom section. He picked out several pairs of pants, shorts, and jeans.

Peter then noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

“Hiring now!”

It was a bookstore that had a coffee shop in it. He did need a job.

Swerving to avoid the oncoming people he headed towards the shop.

In big letters the sign above the door said “Aratana Hajimari”, Which means new beginnings in Japanese. Fitting.

A little doorbell rang as he walked in, and the door rattled in its frame.

If Peter didn’t get the job then he could always offer to be a handyman.

Books lined the walls, covering practically every surface. There was a musty smell that normally comes with older books and- dust. Dust was on every surface almost as much as there were books . The place looked decrepit.

The floor creaked as he walked across to the counter. Peter hoped he wouldn’t have to catch the tower of books that was precariously placed.

MJ would have liked this place. He could imagine her laughing as she dragged a groaning Ned and a smiling Peter there. Peter tried to think of something else. At this rate he would cry again. Can’t cry infront of his possible future employer.

Shuffling in the adjoining room brought his attention back. “I’ll be right there!-” A frail voice said. Peter’s spidey sense went off and he burst into action.

He ran to the back rooms and pushed the person out of the way of the books that were tumbling down towards them. The crash reverberated around the room and the floor vibrated with the force.

Dust arose from the books and both Peter and the shop owner coughed up a fit.

“Sorry, sorry Mx. Are you okay?” Peter asked as he coughed.

The shopkeeper was short and had laughter lining their face. They reminded him of the elderly people that he helped cross the street. Especially the lady who gave him a churro after.

“No, I’m fine kiddo,” They said as he helped them up. “Thank you for saving me, I don’t know what would have happened if I was alone and they fell.”

Peter held his hand out before remembering that they don’t do that in Japan, and bowed.

They did the same before asking me what I was looking for. “Oh- I’m Peter, I use he/him pronouns, and I sort of saw the sign outside that said you were hiring and so I came in because I’m looking for a job because I just- uh moved here- and you don’t have to hire me of course. If you don’t decide to hire me I can maybe be a handyman for you or something you don’t have to though, it was stupid-” Peter’s rambling was cut off by the shopkeeper’s laugh.

Peter just looked at them confused as they laughed.

“Sorry, sorry.” They laughed. “It’s just that you reminded me of my son, he was just like that.” They huffed out more laughs. “You’ve never done this before have you?”

Peter shook his head, face red.

They laughed. “I haven’t laughed this much in ages. You’re hired.”

“Wait- What?”

“You’re hired sonny. You can call me Mx. Fujimoto, They/them pronouns. Now come in here so we can work out your paperwork and hours.”

Peter followed them as they talked. “I can’t work anymore. Can’t move things around so that’s why I’m hiring.” They started asking questions about him. “So are you from America? One of my son’s friend’s studied abroad there. It was great, he came back speaking English…”

Chapter Text

June 8th, 2 hours later.

So, Peter had a job now, which was awesome! He didn’t want to keep smooching off of Mr. Stark, He’s got a reputation to uphold! He walked through the door, waving goodbye to his new boss. They had talked about their son’s friends, but not once did they mention their son. Peter felt it was rude to ask. He got the feeling that Mx. Fujimoto was not their last name, but rather their given name. But he supposed that they thought since Peter was more used to using first names they’d make him feel more comfortable. It. was sweet of them.

Bags in hand, he walked back to the box car, stowing them away. He decided it was finally time to get rid of his slimy T-shirt. It was covered in blood after all. He grabbed the duck sky shirt and some shorts. The heat wasn’t unbearable, but it was the summer. Crap he forgot gym shoes.

Peter sighed. He needed to go back anyways. His navy blue sneakers were pretty crusty. “WHAT ARE THOSE?” Not-Shuri shouted laughing. Peter laughed too. At least the voices in his head were funny.

“Damn right.”

For some reason, Not-T’Challa was shaking his head. Well, at least some of them were funny.

He headed back to the mall. He needed to memorize the route, so might as well do it now.

The cherry blossom trees were angled slightly to the right. Children were laughing as they chased each other, playing tag. Parents smiled fondly at their children. Nothing was amiss.

Except for Peter. Who wasn’t even supposed to be alive? Was this some sort of cosmic joke?

“Seems like it, Peter.” Not Strange lamented.

Peter sighed. It seems like he was doing a lot of that these days.

Peter’s second trip went pretty smoothly after that. He went to a furniture store and bought a hammock, a couple of blankets, and pillows. Instead of gym shoes, he bought some combat boots, which seemed better for running and fighting. You never know when you had to become your alter-vigilante-ego.

He headed back for more. He would have carried more but it would seem suspicious for a teen to be carrying nine full bags around.

During his third trip, he bought sunscreen, a Camping backpack, Raincoats, Several first aid kits, Water bottles, Matches, and a lighter.

The employee at the cash register asked him if he was going camping, so he quickly thought of a lie.

“Uh, Yeah! My dad and I are going camping this weekend. He would have come with me to shop but he’s at work and doesn’t get off until later.”

The woman smiled and handed him his things.

Peter headed to a different store for his fourth trip. He bought basic toiletries. Body wash, conditioner, hair gel, shampoo, shaving cream (Who knows he might start growing one!), a razor, and Chemicals for web fluid. You might think that it would be weird to classify chemicals for web fluid as basic toiletries, but as a vigilante, they were a necessity.

Especially when you’re in a world full of superheroes.

He went to a hardware store next. Peter bought a bunch of 2 by 4’s and profusely promised he would bring back the shopping cart.

He made true to his promise, after putting the wood into his very humble abode.

The next things he bought were a chair, a couple of plates, cups, bowls, and utensils.

Peter neatly placed these things into one corner of the box car.

He’d try to find a Walmart, but there were none. Seriously, he frowned, where could a person get their low-quality capitalist items for cheap?

Peter’s 6th trip- wow this is getting old, he should have kept that shopping cart and returned AFTER he got finished buying things- he went to a store called Daiso, which seemed like it sold things for cheap. Ah, yes, there was that capitalism that he was so used to. Perfect. Peter bought food and drinks, all healthy, Aunt May would find a way to ground him even if he was in a different universe. He also bought hangers to hang his clothes. He bought a shower rod, which seemed like a good alternative to hanging his clothes on. He also bought tools, nails, and all the necessary things for an inventor. Peter couldn’t buy any knives, because he was underage, but he was sure that he would acquire them soon. By aquire, he means getting stabbed and not giving the knife back.

What? If a criminal decided to stab him, then why not? They were a criminal after all.

By the time he got done buying things and putting them into the Box car, it was already 6.

He got himself a bento box from a local cat cafe and sat in a corner booth, laughing as the cats flocked to him. Peter looked around for a sign, one that would tell him if he could- ah there it is ‘No feeding the cats, Thank you! -Manager’- “Sorry cats I can’t feed you.”

The disapproving glare he got made him chuckle. “Take it up with your owners.”

After about five minutes most of the cats realized they weren’t going to get any food from him. The only ones that were left were the kittens. They looked expectantly at him and it took everything in him to not feed them.

A laugh sounded from in front of him and he looked up. “Are you okay dude? You look like someone just peed in your bento.” The yellow-haired person gasped in horror. “Oh no, did one of the kittens on you just-”

Peter rushed to dispel the confusion. “No!” He laughed. “I was just sad that I couldn’t feed the kittens.” He pouted.

“Oh man, yeah, it's tempting.” The yellow-haired person had a black lightning strike on the side of his hair. Peter wondered if it was natural or if he dyed it like that. If he did dye it, Peter was wondering how. They lightened up.

“Hey! Can my friends and I come and sit here with you?” They asked.

“Sure,” Peter said.

“Sweet, let me just go get them.” They left to go get them.

When they came back there were three other people with them.

“Thanks for letting us sit with you! We are actually waiting for our teacher, His name’s Mr. Aizawa and we heard that he usually goes to cat cafes so this is our third try. I’m Denki Kaminari!” Kaminari said.

“I’m Mina Ashido!” The pink-haired girl said. “You can call me Mina!”

“Hanta Sero.”

“And I’m Eijiro Kirishima!”

Peter gave them a small smile. “I’m Peter Parker, You can just call me Peter.”

Mina gasped. “Are you English? I can tell when I hear an English name.”

Flustered, Peter’s ears were hot and he put down his chopsticks. “Uh, Yeah, I just moved here from America.” He awkwardly rubbed the scruff of his neck.

“Ooh, Bro can you say something in English for us?” Kirishima asked.

Peter thought about what he could say. “This is really embarrassing.” He decided on.

“Woah! What did you say? I only understood about half of that.”

Peter froze. “Ah, It was slang for it's nice to meet you guys.”

“That's so cool dude, I’m so going to use that in Present Mic-Sensei’s English class!” Kaminari Cheered. Peter winced. Hopefully, Present Mic would go easy on him.

“Could you teach us English curse words?”

The banter went on like this for a little bit.

Peter was having a hard time maneuvering his chopsticks. Was he going to ask for help?

No.

Peter would sooner die again before he asked for help. Not-Sam sighed. He didn’t want to seem like an American Idiot. So whenever one of his new friends picked up and used their chopsticks he would copy them. Luckily all of them were immersed in the conversation for them to notice.

“What do you guys think about that new vigilante Spider-Man? He totally saved Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida’s ass from the Hero Killer!” Sero joked.

Peter tried very hard not to choke on his rice as he took a big, long drink of his water. Caffeine messed with him. Peter still shuddered at what he did in his last coffee-induced daze. Tony had effectively banned Peter from coffee and soda. Friday had several Protocols in place to enforce this ban. He wasn’t sure about Karen, but he wasn't going to leave it up to chance. When he zoned back in all of his friends were staring at him.

“Uh, sorry lost my train of thought there, what was the question?” Peter questioned.

“Nah, it's fine! Sero just asked what you think about the new vigilante, Spider-Man! I know there aren’t as many villain attacks over in America so it must be a culture shock.” Kaminari repeated, oblivious to the lie.

“Oh, Um, he seems like a cool guy. It's impressive how his webs can hold him and others up.” Peter said. Might as well feed his ego while he’s at it.

“I know! It must be his quirk because I don’t think any support item could do that.”

When the conversation had shifted from Spider-Man, Peter had finished his meal. Taking big bites and long sips could only get him so far.

“It was nice to meet you Peter, but we have to be headed home. Tonight is a school night after all!” Kirishima said.

As they all left Kaminari stopped, eyes brightening.

“Hey, Peter do you want to come study with us next Wednesday? Finals are about a month away but our class rep and vice rep- That’s Iida and Momo by the way- Want us to be prepared. I know that most of our class could use some help with English and I’m sure your new school will be having finals soon too!”

Peter hesitated. “Um, I don’t know guys-” He stopped that sentence when he saw the bummed-out faces of the four. “I guess I can make it work!” They all cheered.

He walked back to the box car with a half-full stomach and four new numbers in his phone.

Chapter Text

June 9th

Peter had hit the jackpot. He found a semi-working refrigerator and even found several usable parts. He could definitely make a solar panel with them. All Peter had to do was fix up the fridge and make solar panels that connected to an inverter, an electrical panel, and the electric meter… which he also had to make-

---------

June 10th

He was almost finished with the paneling system and was going to hook up the fridge he had got working before Karen shocked him out of his thoughts.

“Peter, if you don’t go to sleep now I will have to inform Mr. Stark.”

Peter flinched so hard, that the mainframe he was working on flew into the air, and if he didn’t have super fast reflexes it would have shattered.

He quickly looked over the item that he had spent hours on, and once Peter confirmed that it was okay he grabbed his mask.

A perk of having superhearing was that he could hear his AI even if she was only in his mask.

“Karen? What do you mean?” he paused, thinking for a moment before asking her. “What time is it?”

Peter could have sworn that he had only spent a couple of hours on his project, the sun had only just started to set- He opened the door and the light of the moon shone down on him. A light flew overhead with blinking lights, indicating a late night/early morning flight.

“It is currently 2:44 in the morning on June 10th, 2017. The ‘Spider-baby curfew’ protocol indicates that you need to be back home and in bed by 3 in the morning. Mr. Stark has programmed me to say “Get your ass in bed Peter or face the wrath of Pepper and May.’”

His eyes widened. “Okay Karen, don’t worry I’m heading to bed.” Karen didn’t say anything afterward but he knew that she was monitoring his movements through the sound in his phone. “Karen set an alarm for 9 in the morning please”. He lay down in his hammock that he had hung up two days before and looked out the crack in the door.

Peter left it slightly ajar because as he looked up at the moon, he could see stars. The sight was breathtaking. When he lived in his shitty little apartment with May, the light pollution had taken over the sky at night. The last time he thinks he’s seen stars were on a camping trip with Ben before the Bite.

He had a lot of fun on that trip. It was the last trip he had ever taken with Ben. They used to go camping all the time when he was little. May didn’t know how to put up a tent, and they had laughed about it for a long time. After Ben’s death, they sold all the camping supplies. Peter couldn’t look at it without tearing up so theyy thought it was best to get rid of it.

Peter could think of many memories of him, Ben, and May laughing as they shared funny stories around the campfire that he helped his uncle make.

--------

Peter actually woke up fifteen minutes before 9:00 am, something that usually only happens when he has school. When this happens Peter closes his eyes and questions his existence before his alarm went off.

“Relatable.” Not-Shuri snorted.

“Man, I wish we could sleep when we’re like this,” Not-Sam complained.

Peter exhaled, accepting that he wouldn’t get any more sleep. He stretched, nearly contorting his body into a pretzel, and heard several pops of his spine.

“How does he do that?” Not-Bucky wonders aloud.

Drax nodded, agreeing. “He is a mighty warrior who strikes fear in all he fights.”

Peter imagined that they all flinched,“Where did you come from?!”

He rolled his eyes.

“I have mastered the ability to make myself invisible if I move so incredibly slow.”

“That's stupid.”

Peter went over to the makeshift workspace he made and picked up where he left off.

-----

He looked around his boxcar which was fully lit up and put his hands on his hips.

Peter had successfully hooked up the fridge to the solar panel and he even made a power bank so he could store more power when he wasn’t using it. Maybe if he got back he could show Tony and have it sold for cheap. No. Not if. When.

Anyway moving on from that topic, since Peter had finished fixing what he could of the boxcar, he decided it was time to make more web-fluid. He decided it wouldn’t hurt to use up all of the ingredients and make as much as he could.

Before he could sit back down to start working, his stomach gave a growl. “I guess I should feed myself or Karen will go ballistic on me,” Peter muttered to himself.

After feeding himself sustenance, which was what he always ordered at Delmar’s but cheaper, he gathered the materials to make as many web canisters as he could and set to work.

----

If Peter was a normal person his arm would be numb and like a noodle. That’s how long he spent making web fluid. All in all, after 5 hours of nonstop mixing and filling, he ended up with 50 canisters of web fluid. He doesn’t even think that he’s made this much even with Tony in the lab. Peter shouldn’t have to refill the canisters for at least a couple of weeks depending on how much time it takes to take down petty criminals.

It wasn’t anywhere near the time for a patrol so he looked back at his to-do list.

Fix Karen. Check.
Find out how to get money (Maybe get a job). Check. Check!
Make more web fluid and sew the suit (subsequently patrol) eh… half check.
Start fixing up the boxcar. Check.
Research quirks.
Find out what the crap was a nomu.
Get new clothes. Check.
Find food. Check.

… Looks like he has 3 more things to do. Pulling out the suit he realized that even though it protected him from bullets it still gave him little protection. Peter sighed and pondered the conundrum, grabbing the nano-bots that contained his brand-new suit off of his desk. Nano-bots were so cool. He wondered how they worked. Wait.

“Karen, could you access Tony’s information on nano-bots?” He asked, a bit tentative.

The not-avengers were giving him curious looks. He doesn’t know how he knows this.

Karen paused. “Boss gave you access to all the aspects of the suit when you became an Avenger.” Oblivious to Peter’s wince she continued on. “If you would tap the top of the nano-box twice it will show you.” Carefully he tapped the nano-box, and it expanded outward and slid across his hand onto his wrist. Before he could process what it was doing, the room was illuminated in blue light.

“Is this thing on?”

The figure in front of him waved a bit before getting close to the camera, brown eyes visible, and the tell-tale sound of Tony Starks voice started speaking. “I’m kidding. I told FRIDAY to start recording, I just thought it would be funny to reenact one of your favorite scenes in Big-hero 6 Peter.” Holo-Tony laughed at his antics before becoming semi-serious. “Hopefully this is happening when I’m in the room with you so I could see your reaction, but if I’m not it’s recording.” He flashed a grin.

“So Underoos,” He grabbed a chair and twisted it around to where he could sit backward, imitating the PSAs Peter despised. “You’ve become an avenger. Now, what are you going to do about it?”

As Tony chuckled to himself, Peter couldn’t bring himself to laugh along.

“I’ve probably told you this already but I am so proud of you buddy, and I couldn’t be happier that I found you that fateful day on YouTube stopping a car with your super-human strength. Now that you are a part of the Avengers, I fully plan on helping you along the way so that you aren’t out getting stabbed every night. On to the suit! It has all the capabilities of your normal suit plus some. Two of these upgrades include, being bulletproof and stab-proof --god knows you need it-- and I’ve even figured out how to get the nanobots to make web fluid on their own. You’re welcome. So Peter with great power comes great responsibility, or whatever. Your Aunt told me that was your favorite phrase. Nerd. Love you, FRIDAY you can end the recording.”

Tony was frozen, stuck in the last frame of the video. Peter’s eyes remained locked on Tony’s signature smirk. It felt as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. Tony looked so real and it felt almost as if he could touch him if he reached. He didn’t move and neither did Tony.

Peter sat like that for a long moment before speaking. “Karen, pull up the files on the Iron-Spiders capabilities,” Karen said nothing of his voice crack.

The watch blinked off, submerging him in darkness, nothing but the low light of the fridge, and sunlight that cracked through the boxcar door.

“Accessing files.”

“Thanks, Karen.” Peter swallowed the lump in his throat.

The light blinked on and the files that he asked for appeared.

----

It had only been 10 minutes since Peter started looking through the files andalready knew his suit's main capabilities. Tony was so cool. It was amazing how the genius made the suit because quite frankly, it was genius.

“Astute observation Peter.” Shuri- No. Not-Shuri rolled her eyes.

“Thanks. I made it myself.” He said without a second thought. “Karen, I’ve been wondering something. Could you search the internet here for what the nomu things are?”

The search pulled up at his will.

The first page contained only recent news such as “THE HERO KILLER DEFEATS NOMU” or “The ‘LEAGUE OF VILLIANS’ INFILTRATE UA HIGH SCHOOL WITH MYSTERIOUS CREATURE CALLED NOMU”

He decided to click on the one that said “NOMU: everything you need to know” because it seemed less like clickbait than the other websites.

Overall, it seemed like no one knew what it was except a mindless creature that did the League of Villains’ bidding.
He thought of something else. “Karen, pull up relevant information on the ‘League of Villains.’”

Karen answered immediately. “Certainly Peter, Heropedia says that the League of Villains or the Villain Alliance is a villain organization made up of powerful villains with powerful quirks that threaten to destroy the hero society.” Heropedia? weird.

“Hm. What are quirks? I probably need to know what I’m up against out there.” Peter replied.

“80 percent of the population possess an uncanny ability called a quirk. The 20 percent that don’t are called quirkless, and they are typically older in age.”

“So quirks are powers? Are they born with them, or can you gain a quirk later in life?”

“I would say yes Peter, Quirks are superpowers. I’ve searched for any instances of someone gaining a quirk and the latest I can gather is 8 years old. Though there was a tweet from @YuitoIto on March 17th, 2017 Saying ‘The useless Deku took the UA exam, the Quirkless freak even claims he gain a quirk. What a loser am I right?’ there are no claims to back up these statements so I am unsure how true they are. There are no other instances of this mentioned in the quirk registry.” Karen finished reading.

Peter thought for a moment. What was so familiar about the name Deku? Other than it hit close to home being called useless by Flash.

“Who is this Flash guy? I just wanna talk.” Quill asked.

Peter shook his head. “Karen. Do you have access to the quirk registry? Do they have pictures attached to them?”

Karen sounded smug the next time she spoke. “I have access to anything on the internet and anything I can’t access I can hack. The pictures are attached to each file, so I can run facial recognition on anyone you ask Peter.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. His face also lit up but that’s beside the point. Peter jumped up, now more determined than ever. “That means I can find out anyone’s powers ahead of time.”

“Not if it’s dark.” not-Sam said. Good point. He totally wasn’t going to listen to the voice. He’s asking this out of his own will and not because of some hallucination.

“One more thing Karen.”

“Yes, Peter?”

“Can my suit’s eyes light up like a flashlight?”

“Yes, Peter. What do you take Mr. Stark for?” She said adding a little snark.

Peter smiled fondly. “Har-har. I’m just going to ignore that. When I say-wait what should the word be?”

Not-Shuri cackled gleefully. “DO IT FOR THE VINE!”

Peter snorted. “Karen, whenever I shout “do it for the vine” can you make my suits eyes light up and scan the criminal's face in the registry?”

“Yes, Peter.”

“Great,” Peter said while looking at the time the watch displayed. 6:30 PM. Not quite the time to patrol, but the sun was setting so he decided that he would eat, insert his web cartridges, and suit up.

Thirty minutes later he was ready, and dusk had arrived. The perfect time for patrol.

Peter tapped the watch once. The nanobots flowed up and down his body and encased him fully. Somehow it still smelt like a new car. Not-Bucky rolled his eyes with fondness.

Soaring through the skyscrapers of the Shizuoka region of Japan was a blast. While he aimed and released each web from his web-slinger he spread the output of spidey-sense.

“I don’t understand how you can do this without wanting to puke,” Not-Dr.-Strange said.

‘I just do’ Peter thought.

“You can call me Stephen, Peter.” not-Stephen said.
Peter sighed.

A split second later and Spidey-Sense went off. Peter changed his course and headed towards the spot.

----

He landed on the roof of a building that gave him a clear view of the alley below.

Shouts reverberated off of the walls and he peered down. There was a person being shoved against the wall of the alleyway. Notably, the mugger had red hands. If Peter wasn’t enhanced he wouldn’t have been able to see the slight steam that was being emitted.

“Please, I don’t have anything valuable on me,” The person’s eyes were filling with tears and he struggled for air.

The steam grew more potent, “LIAR! You’re a Todoroki. Your family practically bathes in money!” He growled out.

Peter jumped into action. “DO IT FOR THE VINE!” He shouted, and bright lights flashed from his suit. The criminal let go of the victim and shielded his eyes, which left Peter an opening to web him to the ground.

Karen turned off the suits lights and the mugger was knocked out of his stupor.

“Ugh, what-What is this stuff?”

“Web fluid. Don’t even think about trying to burn through it. You probably won’t even make a dent.” Peter answered. “Karen, could you scan his face and notify the police?”

“Already done.”

Awesome.

He turned to the victim. “What hurts the most right now?”

The victim had stark white hair that glittered in the setting sun. He eyed Peter up and down before replying. “My neck.”

“Okay- Wait-” Peter suddenly realized he didn’t even know the victim’s name. “Sorry, what’s your name?”

“I’m, um, Natsuo Todoroki. Call me Natsuo though. I don’t like to be associated with my Dad.” That was slightly concerning. “You don’t have to worry about my neck, I can use my quirk on it. It didn’t even break through the skin.” Natsuo put his hand on his neck and waited. It was about fifteen seconds before a frost settled across his throat.

Peter marveled at the sight. “Woah, that’s so cool! Your quirk is awesome dude!” Peter heard the sound of two pairs of footsteps above him. “Well, that’s my cue to leave! The police should be here any second.”

With that, He climbed up the wall with haste. As soon as he stood on the roof, his spider sense notified him that he should duck, so he did. A white fabric curled around the air where he once was before looping back around to its owner.

Red eyes flared at him through yellow goggles. “Shinsou. Go down and see what happened. Stay with whoever is there and I meet back up with you. This vigilante and I need to have to talk.” his gruff-sounding voice rang out.

The teen with the purple hair that Peter had only just noticed gave him a wary look before jumping off the roof into the alleyway.

The man with black hair and- black eyes? They were red before. It must be a part of his quirk- was still glaring at him. Then he sighed. “You’re a problem child aren’t you.” He didn’t phrase it like a question. More like a statement.

“Uh, I try not to be. I’m actually just someone who's trying to stop problems. Like that mugging down there.” Peter pointed to his side with his thumb towards the opening.

The man rolled his eyes. “I’m Eraserhead.”

Peter tilt his head in confusion. “What kind of a name is Eraserhead?”

Eraserhead grumbled. “Not important. Where are you from?”

Fine. If it’s gonna be like that then Peter will be petty.

“Here and there.” Peter pointed his finger in every which way, like the Cheshire Cat in Alice and Wonderland.

Undeterred, Eraserhead continued. “What do you do?”

“This and that.”

“You ever…”

“Every now and then.” Peter shrugged.

“Boy, you’re just full of information aren’t you?” Eraserhead scoffs. “Could I at least have your name?”

“Why? Don’t you already have one? I know it might be crappy but it’s still yours!”

Eraserhead looked done. He took a deep breath in and held it. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Peter laughed. “DO IT FOR THE VINE!” Shining the lights into Eraserheads eyes and temporarily blinding him, Peter shot out a web towards a higher building. One that the Pro-hero wouldn’t be able to reach with his scarf-thingy. “See ya Eraser! Oh! By the way, my name’s Spider-Man! You can’t have it!”

------

Pepper had been feeling sick for the past 2 days. She thought it was just a cold that would go away in a day after some rest. But worrying about Peter and Tony hadn’t helped at all. Rhodey had been trying to get her out of the penthouse since he got back from Wakanda- that day he had asked if the remaining Avengers could stay at the tower and she agreed easily. She had the resources to help so she was going to help- but she was too worried about Tony, Peter, Harley, and Happy. It had taken over 12 hours for Happy to get to Rose Hill Tennessee but it had been worth it. Harley was stranded with only a couple of people left in his small town. Happy said that he was going to stay a day down there to help Harley pack up everything he needed. Projects from the lab, pictures, clothes, books, and potato guns were all packed up. They had left the small town about 2 hours ago, so they still had 10 hours to go.

FRIDAY’s voice shook her out of her thoughts. “Boss” Ever since Tony went MIA FRIDAY had been calling her boss instead of Main Boss. It hurt her a lot to think about it. “You seem to be in distress. I’ve called Colonel Rhodes up here to help.”

Pepper sighed. “Okay, but could you scan me? I don’t want to get Rhodey sick if it’s contagious.” She smiled a bit at that.

FRIDAY paused for a moment. A moment to long.

“Fri? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, boss.” The AI sounded happy. “It seems like you are two weeks pregnant.”

Pepper’s heart stopped. Metaphorically of course.

“Pep? FRIDAY called me up here. Is everything okay?” Rhodey looked like he ran up here.

She stared at him. Her mouth was wide open and if Tony was here he would tell her that if she kept her mouth open much longer she would catch flies.

Thinking of Tony made everything crash into her.

“I’m pregnant.”

Those two words explained everything.

Rhodey looked as shocked as she felt. “Oh, Pepper. That’s great! I’m going to be an uncle!”

Pepper bit her lip and failed at holding the tears in.

“What if they grow up without a father?”

His smile dropped. She rushed to hug him. And she sobbed.

Is this what grief felt like?

Oh.

Oh.