In my first story, Spider-Man: Homecoming had taken a different turn- Peter was exposed long before ever meeting Tony Stark- when Uncle Ben was killed- and the reveal with Aunt May turned sour. Peter is blamed for his uncle's death kicked out to the streets of the Big Apple when he meets someone not unlike himself, but… different. Meet Natsu, a Japanese-descent Cajun girl with a bad past and in need of a friend, or as the streets know her since a week ago- Salamander. Born classed as a Mutant with the ability to breathe fire, sprout bat-like red and gold wings, her cheeks being covered in red scales and she had a tail with a blade-like arrowhead tip at the end along with super-senses like enhanced hearing, smell, and eyesight. For a whole year Peter and Natsu watch each other's backs and are together through thick and thin, even gradually becoming a romantic couple both in the suit and on the streets, but then the Avengers get wind of the two vigilantes' work and plan to bring them in for questioning. The questions arise as soon as the two are unmasked: who are the real heroes?

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I: Spider and Salamander! God and Falcon!

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"…It's your fault…"

"Aunt May-! Please, please listen to me!"

"You killed Ben!"

"Aunt May-!"

"Get out! Don't come back or so help me I'll kill you myself!"

…

"…I'm sorry…"

It's been a full seven months since the fourteen-year-old Peter Parker had been kicked out of his home by his only remaining family member. As the teenager in his suit swung between buildings looking for any potential mugging attempts before heading back to his shed at the Hudson River, he caught sight of something circling the Chrysler building. "The heck…?" he muttered under his breath. Steering his way over, Peter saw the thing take a dive and then fly into the opened area near the top- it was a good place, he usually went there to think when the stress became unbearable, the loneliness agonizing- and perch where one of the spire's openings would be. It stood there for a moment before flaring it's wings and going into the alcove.

Swinging faster, Peter made it in under five minutes and crawled the rest of the way to the opening. The first thing he realized upon entering was the warmth that wasn't there before. The place was toasty even if it was essentially a big spire, but not to an unbearable level- like sitting a good distance from his heater in his… old room. A small fire was crackling cheerfully in a corner and a large pile of chip bags and water bottles was nestled in other various pockets of the area, strategic spots that kept them from being blown away.

"Hey, is anyone here?" Peter called into the homey place. "Yeah, someone is." A feminine voice snarled out. Peter's spider-sensed screamed and he and jumped back as a mid-thickness, ruby-red tail came swinging out from nowhere and almost smacked him in the face. "what are you doing in my Nest?!" the voice snarled, but it sounded strangely shaky. Peter almost got into a fighting stance, but then he realized something- his spider-senses were silent. That one swing had been a warning, but other than that he wasn't in any actual danger.

Looking around, he found his assailant in the top rafters over his head. A girl with bright golden eyes- seriously 14-karat gold colored- was huddled into the darkest corner eyeing him. her hair was… pink…? Was it a result of whatever she was? It was long and wild, used to the whipping winds of being at this altitude, and her skin a tanned olive, a splattering of freckles hit her cheeks and her eyes were slit, like a cat's or…

"Dragon…"

The girl blinked and shifted, her pupils widening a bit as she regarded him closer. "I-I'm sorry?" "You look so cool. Just like a dragon." The girl jerked back almost as if she was slapped before cracking a smile. "Huh. All I get is 'Demon' or 'Monster'. Never a 'cool-looking dragon'." Peter started flailing around as his sacred religion of Nerdism (AN: A true religion- my little brothers founded it and the whole Movie club followed them in weekly sacrifices of vintage comic book readings to a picture of Stan Lee. They had a pyre for him set up in the back yard the day he died.) caught up with him. "Are you the one called Salamander that the thugs of the city are talking about?!" the teen asked excitedly. The girl in question huffed, letting out smoke from her nostrils and mouth as she chuckled. "That's what they're calling me? I just took out a guy who was trying to knife a twelve-year-old for the paper in his pocket." Peter looked at this girl and saw something.

He saw what he had become six months ago- a person helping people by doing what the real heroes didn't deem important enough for them to do.

Only, this girl, this Salamander, was getting rocks thrown at her for it, just because she was…

"Were you born like this?" Peter asked suddenly. The pink-haired girl looked at him before hesitantly nodding. "Yeah, my parents named me END- but my true name is Natsu Dragneel. You?" Peter shook his head, a smile in his voice. "Radioactive Spider bite," a small warmth in his stomach told him to trust this dragon-girl. She was in the same boat- homeless, but helping wherever she could. "And my name's Peter. Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." The girl ahhed and looked to her left awkwardly before standing up. Peter's breath caught in his throat as he beheld the true full form of the person before him.

Wide draconic wings of red and gold spread majestically behind her as her tail curled in front of her legs and displayed the two fins that seemed to help with her flight and balance. Her face wasn't spattered with freckles, Peter realized, but scales. Tiny, sparkly, beautiful ruby-like objects seemed to catch the light and refract it all over her face and the steel rafters. Flames licker her arms and around her legs in small bursts and tongues while her mouth opened slightly in a smile and allowed a little stream of red and gold flames to caress her lips through her sharp canine teeth. Two black horns jutted from her pink locks and curled around her temples like a ram's.

Peter was speechless. Then the shy and stammering teenage boy he truly was at heart came to Spider-Punch him in the face.

"Holy crap you look amazing! I'm seriously wondering where you've been all my life- well, not like I'm insinuating that I'm hitting on you or anything, it's just that you look hot. W-WITH ALL THOSE FLAMES YOU'RE MAKING! Ugh what I mean to say is-!" a laugh puts Peter's thoughts to a screeching halt. It was loud and tenorous, like an acoustic guitar, but with the warmth of a fireplace and the comfort of a cradle.

Natsu was laughing.

Peter looked at his newfound friend and saw her tail slightly wagging behind her and her wings folded to her back. The girl's pink hair was at waste length and impossibly curly.

She wore a dark maroon tank-top and a sleeveless vest with kaki cargo pants over her legs. Her vest had two slits just for her wings. "Peter, you are really one of a kind," Natsu said, rubbing tears of mirth from her golden eyes. Fluttering her wings and alighting in front of her new friend, Natsu holds out a hand and offers it to the teenager. "I think we'll be great partners!" both fourteen-year-olds share a grin, and Peter, in a flash of faith, takes off his mask. Natsu's cheeks pinked as she saw the face of the Wall-Crawler. His youthful face, doe-brown eyes, and unruly hair made him have that boyish charm in spades, but the flames of determination had yet to go out in the seven months he'd been homeless.

His skin had begun to pale and he was pretty thin, but dang he had some muscle. It was proven when he took her smaller hand and shook it firmly.

"Glad to be paired, Salamander."

Natsu flashed a grin and huffed, her golden draconic eyes sparkling in the firelight. "Likewise, Spider-Man."

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ONE YEAR LATER

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"And now to the next story: Spider-Man and his partner in fights on the lower streets of Manhattan. While some still say that this girl is an experiment gone wrong while others say she's a demon summoned from Hell itself, she is known by one name to all: The Salamander. These two are still the topic of debating- are they here to save or destroy? Stay tuned for more at three PM."

Tony stood in front of the TV as he watched rewinds of Spider-Man and his new companion, Salamander. They really were a duo- actually managing to keep damage to a minimum and muggers now thought twice before taking to the streets, but SHIELD wanted to bring them in for questioning. "They have powers, Tony," Steve said as he came in from the kitchen. "They may be doing good now, but what happens when one of them snaps?" the unfrozen soldier points a finger at the girl who is seen eating fire from a burning building while Spider-Man swings in and out carrying people to safety.

"We don't know what those two are capable of."

"So what do you expect us to do?" Tony asked, sipping from a coffee mug as he froze a scene with Spider-Man saving a little girl from falling off an apartment building balcony. "Be honest, Capcicle- how knowledgeable are we about this stuff happening in the city? Be honest, reeeeaaalllllly honest: would we really be partial to going after a mugger if our jobs are only to fight off alien invasions and world-wide terrorists?" Steve was silent, his jaw working in frustration. "Yeah. They're doing what we would probably deem irrelevant. They're taking small-time matters into their own hands."

"And what happens when they think it's all pointless?"

Sam Wilson asks, looking over at Tony with a raised brow. "What happens when they decide that they're done being the good guys?" he lifted a folder and drew out all the papers within, showing SHIELD documents- an assignment. "Fury says we need to get these two contained by any means necessary. Death is the very last resort." Bruce looks back and forth while Thor seems to be not against, but not for the move to take down the two vigilantes.

"I've got a plan to take down Salamander- the word on the street is that her weakness is water- Spider-Man was seen carrying her out of the Hudson after taking down a yacht filled with a gang member meeting- she can't swim. Get her over the Hudson or East, knock her out of the sky, and it's game over."

Bruce started shaking his head. "I'm not having any part of this- we don't even know how old they are!" that makes the team pause for a moment. "What if they're just kids?" Sam shakes his head, the verdict final with Captain America spearheading the decision. "We'll get to that when it comes to it. Right now we concentrate on taking these two down."

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Peter and Natsu were swinging/flying side by side over Nomad Territory as the twilight rush hour began to start; the time when the thugs came out to play. It's been a hard year of fighting gangs and thugs on the streets, trying to find their next meal and just simply surviving day to day, but the two made it happen somehow. "Where do you want to eat before we officially start the rounds?" Natsu asks her friend. Peter hums and looks down at the food Market they pass before answering. "We could just pick up some bread and fruits. The donations from my street performances have been reaching the fifties now. If we get a good amount of bread and canned fruits and veggies we should be okay for a few weeks. If we ration." "Don't forget about the Beef Jerky, Spidey." Natsu reminded as they turned a corner on East 34th.

"yeah, yeah, Salamander, I get it- you love your meats." Natsu grinned and smacked him with her wing tip, making him spin a bit before he righted himself. Natsu could feel the pout her boyfriend was giving her. A few weeks ago on the first anniversary of their partnership, when they busted the gang on the yacht and Peter found out about Natsu's weakness to water, Peter had confessed to having feelings for her in a slip up to get her out of the ensuing panic attack. Natsu, feeling the same, had gladly accepted Peter as her boyfriend and the two were even closer than ever.

Suddenly Peter's spider-senses screamed at him: dodgedodgedodgeDODGE!

"Salamander!" Peter shouted before he dropped down. Natsu had only a moment to dodge and she did, barrel rolling to the side from a crazy blur in a winged outfit and signaling Peter up to the roof of an apartment building. The two stood back to back when they landed, flames licking Natsu's arms and running down her tail in a threatening display as she had it curled around herself and her partner. "What was that?" Natsu asked tersely. "I don't know, but it didn't look friendly." "Think we can talk them down?" "Wouldn't hurt to try." Just then the sound of a small jet came streaking forwards and revealed themselves to be a man clad in red and silver holographic wings and a flight suit.

"Spider-Man and Salamander, I'm gonna have to ask you two to come with me." Natsu's eyes zeroed in on the SHIELD logo on the guy's flightsuit. Tapping Peter's leg and gesturing with her eyes, the teenage spider-hero got the message. "Why? What have we done to call the attention of SHIELD?"

"Your existence." Came a thundering response. No, it was a literal thunder. Storm clouds rolled in out of nowhere and a flash of lightning revealed Thor's arrival. "I am Thor of Asgard and Protector of Midgard. My comrades within the Avengers have been called to bring you in to find out your motives. If you two do not comply we will have to use force."

Natsu and Peter shared a look, having a silent conversation with looks and body language.

With a raised eyebrow Natsu said looks like negotiations have been denied. What now?

A shift in his stance from Peter answered. We take them down- or slow them. Either or is fine.

A smirk played on Natsu's lips, making Peter's shoulders shake in a silent chuckle. First one to bring their opponent down has to cook?

A huff from Peter finalizes. You're on.

With a playful bark of laughter, Natsu slams her fist into her hand and sets off a blast of fire from the impacting punch. "Oh, we'd love to see you try, Thunder Thighs!" Stark's laughter could be heard through Thor's comm. "…I'm not fat, just muscly…" Thor almost whined before Natsu lowered herself to the ground of their apartment building roof. Her wings were flared and her chest began to glow. "Fire Dragon'-!" "THOR-!" "ROOOOOAAAAAARRRR!" a funnel of flames came roaring from Natsu's maw and towards Thor's face before being intercepted by his hammer. "I've heard of Gods slaying dragons," Natsu said as Thor regained his bearings. "I recall the legend of Sigurd slaying Fafnir proving there to be dragon slayers, but I'm a modern-day dragon, Thunder Thighs. And do not meddle in my affairs-." "Salamander, are you really quoting that?!" "Oh, go catch a hawk or something, Spidey! Remember, first one to down doesn't have to cook!"