Ultimate Spider-man is owned by Marvel and Disney and I make no money off this use of their characters.

Of all the things this show goes out of it's way to ignore race is right up there with romance.

It is a rather ethnically diverse cast with Ava, Luke and Sam out numbering Peter and Danny. But the show never touches on that fact. Very rarely the show makes mention that Ava is a girl and then it feel like the viewer shouldn't hold that fact against her.

I feel really bad for Luke because he just there like the token black guy from a 90's sitcom. Because I think he really is just there to be the team's token black guy.

I don't know what Sam is. His name makes me think European but to me he looks just like a kid from India I knew back in high school.

Anyway this fanfic will be about all those unconformable things like ethnicity, racism and challenging them.

Oh right on last teeny tinny little thing.

I normal don't ask for much from my readers but for a review if you feel like it but now I'm asking for a bit more.

I started a Spider/Tiger community here at and it's a really lacking right now. I put mine and some other Peter/Ava fanfics I like into it but I don't want it to just the ones I thought were good.

So it's an open invitation all of you to join as Staff and add the Peter/Ava fanfics you like into the community.

It is my hope that if I add the fics I like and you add the fics you like and someone else adds the fics they like then will have a broader view.

I'm not online all the time but I'll welcome any and all who want to join.

Also I'm looking for an avatar picture to use for our Spider/Tiger community. Something that in one look let's a view know this is the Peter/Ava community even before they start reading.

Thank you.

Tiger Princess

by Slayzer

-Midtown High-

Students paused along the hallway to check out the bulletin for the High School new theatrical production. After the disaster with the Spider-man musical the school was doing something a little more mundane. Midtown High was doing a production of Snow White.

Ava Ayala paused to read the bulletin as found memories of watching her and her mother's favorite Disney movie replayed in Ava's mind. One of Ava's most treasured photographs was of her as a little girl dressed as Snow White on her mother's arm ready for trick-or-treating one Halloween a lifetime ago.

The little girl in Ava who still wanted to be a princess reached from the audition times. Before the more rationale part of Ava could stop her a snide laugh cut her off. Just behind Ava and to her right was Midtown High's own queen bee and her hornet's nest of a court, well looking at them they were more W.A.S.P then bees. The queen and her court but better know as Nicole and her sycophants.

Nicole was from that brand of upper middle class that worshiped and tried to imitate the stars of tabloid sleaze. The result was that a girl who would have been pretty otherwise spent a lot of money to look fake and trashy. The half dozen girls behind Nicole seemed be cut from the same overpriced synthetic and garish cloth.

"Something funny?" Ava asked with a bit of threat in her voice.

"It just looked like you were reaching for an audition slip." Nicole said as she walked over to the bulletin and made a show of reading it. "I mean the play is called 'Snow White' so I don't think your qualified for the lead roll. Now if we're doing a play called 'Dirt Brown' then you'd be a shoe in."

The not even thinly veiled racist joke drew roaring laughter from Nicole's court.

Ava wondered how much trouble she'd get in if she thrashed Nicole without using her Tiger powers but quickly discarded the impulse. Her father raised his daughter to be far better then that.

Nicole stopped as if suddenly noticing for the first time that she said something vile and racist.

"Oh not that there's anything wrong with the color brown. I mean brown is so earthy and..." Nicole paused from moment as the smirk returned to her face. "... cheap."

Nicole and her copies laughed like hyenas, all soulless and bloodthirsty. "It's just that when people hear the word 'Princess' they picture a of a woman with refined White Anglo-Saxon Protestant breeding. So what the play needs is a W.A.S.P me and not a B.P.R.C like you."

Ava wasn't going to take the bait but one of Nicole's 'friends' asked for her. "What's a B.P.R.C?"

Nicole's smile grew even more coldblooded. "Brown Puerto-Rican Catholic." She even said that like they were swearwords as if being that was something Ava should be ashamed of.

Ava got right in Nicole's face. "And damn proud of it!"

(A/N I needed to give Ava a religion to make the for letter color, race and creed acronym work so I went with Catholic. Religion like race and gender seems to be another verboten topic of the show)

Not that those few things that could be taken in at a glace told the life story of Ava Ayala or anyone else on the planet. She had some of the best grades in the whole school, a gifted athlete as well and oh yes, a freaking superhero! Ava would not be any of those things if she let the paper thin opinions of bigots like Nicole stop her.

Ava then ripped an audition sheet right off the bulletin board and headed for class.

Through the next two classes all Ava could think about was what Nicole said to her. A small part of Ava wanted to audition and get the role of Snow White just to show Nicole up. A larger part of Ava wanted to role of Snow White because she'd like the idea of getting dressed up in a big fancy gown and playing a princess. A very tiny part of her was afraid that Nicole was right and that the color of Ava's skin made her unacceptable as a fairytale princess.

-Lunch Room-

Ava sat with her food untouched and off to the side with the audition sheet right in front of her.

A tray of food hit the table on the other side of Ava as Mary Jane took a seat. "Want some free advice?"

Ava smiled for the first today. "When have you ever charged for your advice or kept it to yourself?"

For being a friend of a friend Ava liked Mary Jane. The redhead had the personalty of an arrow in flight, straight a head and not for lacking impact when she got there.

M.J shrugged helplessly but returned Ava's smile. "Go for the audition and put that snob Nicole in her place."

"You think I have a chance?"

"Ava your gorgeous, graceful and more then smart enough to remember every line in a playbook. There is nothing stopping you."

Danny, Luke and Sam brought sat their trays around the table. The guys like M.J had already heard all about Ava's run in with Nicole.

Luke pointed a fork at Ava as he talked. "You are going to try out for the part aren't you and put that little wannabe princess in her place."

Sam took a seat next to M.J. "Really you think Ava can fool everyone by dressing up pretending to be someone else?" Sam smirked as he made a joke only the 'Team' would get.

"Life and the arts mirror each other and the soul." Danny said before dropping his fortune cookie routine. "You should so totally do it."

The best thing for the negative venom from people like Nicole was to draw some strength from your friends. That little part of Ava that was afraid that Nicole was right disappeared with her friend encouragements.

Peter arriving a little later then the others sat his tray down next to Ava and was seemingly unaware of the topic of conversation. "What's going on guys?"

M.J passed the Snow White audition sheet to Peter. "What do you think Parker?"

Peter looked at the flier then at M.J and smiled. "Thinking of switching your aspirations from journalism to acting? Mary Jane I think you would be perfect for the role of Snow White."

Ava tried not to looked hurt at what was a misunderstanding but M.J caught the look in her eyes that Peter missed. "No I'm not trying out but Ava is thinking of going for the role of Snow White."

"Well then..." Peter put his fork still loaded with food back down on his plate as he searched for the right words. "... That could be problematic. I mean Ava's not really cut out for that role."

There was a shift in air pressure as the whole table gasped and looked at Peter as if he just grew a second head. This confused the young man greatly. "Did I say something wrong?"

Ava dumped her untouched tray of food on Peter's back and stormed off. Luckily for Peter the food only hit his blue outer shirt leaving his white t-shirt still clean. Peter pulled off his messy blue shirt and glared at Ava's quickly retreating back. "The hell was that all about?"

M.J got in Peter's face. "How could you say that to Ava, especially after what happened today!?"

"Did something happened to Ava?" Peter asked his genuine concern for Ava's well being erasing any doubt in his friends that he knew anything about this morning.

They had forgotten that Peter Parker was so far down the grapevine at Midtown High that gossip would never reached him if M.J didn't keep him in the loop.

They quickly filled Peter in on what happened between Ava and Nicole. Peter went a few shades paler now understating how Ava took his words.

"Damn it, right now Ava must think I'm worst kind of person." Peter said as he got to his feet to go after Ava.

"What should Ava think after you said that? And what did you mean by she's not really cut out for the role?" Luke asked coldly.

"I only meant that she has other responsibilities that come before school plays." Peter couldn't say what he meant with M.J in earshot but his teammates did pick up on it.

That seemed to be vague enough that Mary Jane didn't catch on but the guys got his meaning. If anyone knew about the hangups balancing a normal life with being a superhero it was Peter Parker.

-Midtown High Hallway-

Ava hadn't felt this angry since the first time she put on the White Tiger talisman after her father's death. The feeling of wild beast raging about in her chest and making her blood boil with every breath.

"Ava hold up a moment." Peter called out behind her.

Ava just ignored him.

Peter then grabbed her wrist while using a little Spidey strength so she couldn't pull free. She lost her balanced and fell backwards into Peter's waiting arms as he caught her. Ava would have enjoyed that feeling of his strong arms around her and his chest behind her head if she wasn't so pissed.

"I only meant that you can't play being a fake princess because your a real life superhero." Peter whispered softly in Ava's ear.

Ava turned to face Peter as he let her go and kept on talking. "I didn't know anything about the whole Nicole situation. But you should know me well enough by now to know I don't think like that."

That little bit of commonsense soothed all of Ava's anger. She had been more hurt by Nicole's words then she thought. Then when Peter seemed to agree with Nicole she just lost it. Ava noticed Peter's white t-shirt as the scene of her dumping her lunch on him replayed.

"I may have overreacted a little." Ava said in a statement that was as close to an apology as she ever got.

Peter smiled that carefree smile of that seemed to say there was nothing to forgive. "Well maybe I did deserved that for just being such an insensitive jerk."

Ava found herself smiling again as Peter had a way of getting her to smile despite herself. "A jerk maybe but I would never say your insensitive Parker."

"So are you still going to tryout for the role of Snow White?"

"You still think it's a bad idea?"

Peter shrugged. "There are a lot of times that being Spider-man meant leaving my responsibilities as Peter Parker unfilled. I just don't want to see you reach for this and then have it blow up in your face at the last moment."

"I didn't know you cared so much but I'm a big girl and I'll be fine." Ava had thrown the 'you cared so much' out there as bait for one of Peter's comebacks.

Peter didn't take it and Ava found herself blushing a little.

Peter asked Ava an honest hard question. "Are you going for the role just because Nicole said you couldn't?"

Ava thought about it for a movement and rechecked her motivations. It wasn't about Nicole as Ava would never let anything people like that said have sway over her. Ava just wanted to cut lose a little instead of grinding away on the books every night. To do something fun and a little frivolous like playing a princess.

"I'm doing this for me." Ava said resolutely.

"Then go to the audition and knock them dead Tiger."

-end-

Okay so this wasn't very funny or romantic.

I was just thinking about people like Nicole in this fanfic. The kind of person who thinks those who are different must be lesser and not to be associated with.

I can't help but think that kind of mentality is a really problematic.

And how do people get to such a twisted logic that they believe tearing down someone's else dignity it adds to their own self-esteem.

I fear for our shared human sense of compassion in this day and age.

Well anyway please leave me a review. Did you like it? Hate it? I should get off my soapbox and stop acting like I know anything about anything. Whatever it is drop me a line and thank you for reading.