I had an awesome person help me come up with this idea! HUGE SHOUT-OUT to Mesmes7777!
I'm not sure how far the two of us will take this story- but the initial (possibly one-shot) chapter is out!
That being said: I/We own nothing but the plot, all other characters belong respectively to the DC and Marvel Comic's creators.
On with Da FIC!
DC-Arachnid
Being the New Guy Sucked.
Yep. That was what he was going with.
Double Parker (a story for another day) aka Arachnid (Seriously, he was going to have to talk to Diana about changing his hero name. It didn't roll off the tongue…) was sitting on the ceiling of the Watch Tower watching the "seasoned heroes" get distributed into different teams by Aqualad. And seriously? Did Aqualad forget he was there?!
A bouncy ball of webbing on a thin strand of it (think web-yo-yo) answered his question: yes, yes Aqualad did forget him.
Huffing into the metal of his mask Peter, yes that was his actual name. In this universe, he was well liked enough to get a cool nick-name by the local jocks. Yes, he actually went to school… again.
Peter was mentally, well- now- 49 years old. Ages ago, Peter had gone up against Morlun, and although he had won; he had lost. Peter had died at the tender age of thirty-five, leaving behind the love of his life, friends, allies and teammates and enemies.
Peter hadn't automatically remembered what had happened to him. In all honesty, he had forgotten; but his weekly sessions with Kent Nelson and now Zatarra/Fate had allowed him to integrate his former memories of life as an Avenger to life again as a kid with a kick-butt 'Mom' and a 'Dad' that rocked the espionage business.
Mom, aka Diana, aka Wonder Woman, the Princess of Themyscera (-a place that he Still hadn't been to see, but he'd met his 'Grandmother'.) had been off doing her thing this morning. Seriously- if this 'Light' was SO bad, why hadn't she allowed him to help?! It wasn't like he hadn't saved the day before, or even risked his life… well, here.
But Wonder Woman/Mom had forbade (yep she used the word FORBID) him to get involved, which, yes although he had been eight, he still could have done Something! Even Michael Morales the future Spider-Man had decided to don the spandex when he was eleven!
But no, even Steve Trevor aka Dad had put his foot down and agreed with Diana.
So here he was, Peter 'Double Parker' Parker. Hero of now TWO Universes, left behind.
Well, he did do as Diana had asked; he did show up to meet the team and get sorted into groups… He had been missed however in the sorting. So, being the forgotten hero he was, Arachnid- (Seriously this name change was going to happen immediately… He was going to be Spider-Man again. Black Spider had Nothing on him!) went to his locker and changed into his classic standard red and blue with black webs. He had been wearing his black uniform with pale-grey block spider on it (Venom-style), seriously he had to wear it when working with Steve during training sessions… that man was sneaky, and good at it- kinda like Hawkeye and Black Widow.
Finally changed into back into his classic colors, sans the metal mask that covered his nose and mouth; which was weird, but something that Steve insisted on.
Seriously, if Steve Trevor weren't his adoptive father- he could have been a healthier this universe version of HIS original Universe's Steven Rogers prior to the Super Soldier Serum. Similar Looks, body-type (minus the serum additive), mind-set, manners, ideals… It was pretty spooky.
It took the re-dubbed Spider-Man all of a minute to get into the database and change his codename. And it only took another minute for him to direct the Zetabeam to New York where he could begin his patrol.
"Does your mother know you're out this late?"
He'd used that line earlier on some goons and it had worked famously. He hadn't had this much fun since he found out that he didn't have to worry about being out of web-fluid anymore. He still had created his web-shooters and had re/designed the formula, (Thanks Dad/Richard Parker); but thanks to his integrated prior knowledge he'd made his formula into something more versatile. Now, he could make web-blasts, web-balls, and so many other things that he hadn't even thought of yet. But he now had biological webs to fall back on. During one of his sessions he'd acquainted himself with his inner spider, which was HUGE, and after giving it a big hug, he and his inner spider played a round of Gin-Rummy where, since because he was still meditating in the outer world, he was able to learn from his inner spider all that he could do, and of course there was Still More to learn…
It was the voice repeating the line he'd used earlier that made him start, since his spider-sense didn't go off.
"What is it with Hawkes creeping up on people?!" Spider-Man demanded, he recognized the voice of one of the original members of the Young Justice team (Yep, he was the geek that watched recordings of his prior, former and soon-to-be teammates' training sessions.).
"You didn't answer my question."
"As you probably already know, she's off saving the world, another world for that matter…"
"And you decided to sneak out on a school-night?"
Spidey scoffed at his older rooftop companion. "Please, like you weren't out against Batman's orders on different occasions."
The scoff he got in return made him grin.
"Besides, I was odd man out of the team when Aqualad was setting them up. So I decided to do what needed to be done and started my chores…! See Dad- I took out the trash!" Spidey declared mockling-proud as he gestured to the city-scape where he had gleefully and mockingly taunted different goons, rapists, burglers, muggers and minions while beating them up and leaving them webbed to different buildings and lamp-posts with photographic evidence in some cases (the webbing pointing out various ATM and traffic-signal cameras) for the police.
Nightwing laughed. It was an honest laugh, this kid- Arachnid, had a sense of humor that reminded him of a mix between he and the original Kid-Flash.
"Arachn-"
"Nope, sorry. Not my name anymore… It doesn't roll off the tongue as well as it should when you're shouting it…" Spidey grinned behind his full face mask. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!"
The way he said it, honestly made Nightwing believe it. He'd been watching the kid most of the night.
Aqualad had called him up, honestly upset. He had forgotten that Arachn- Sorry, Spider-Man had climbed to the ceiling to get a good look of the affairs. He was a head shorter than the other members of the team, and had apparently stayed there, waiting to be acknowledged. Something Aqualad had forgotten to do; the other teammates where chastened as well, they'd liked the wall-crawler and when several of the girls had asked how the spider-clad teen was doing on the other team/s it drew concerns.
This teenager had managed to get the attraction of most of the girls on the team, something that Kid Flash had failed to do; and from observing him all night, the kid was unaware of his natural charisma, despite his unfortunate choice of uniform.
So, Nightwing had taken the Zetabeam to the Watchtower and from there tracked the teen's movements.
The footsteps on the ceiling had made him grin.
The rest of the afternoon and into the late evening; Nightwing tracked the Spider-Teen around New York, and he was fast. His webs were more proficient than Batman's grappling guns; and apparently, the web-lines dissolved after an hour. Which was good because this had been Spider-Man's third patrol of this sector of the city and had they not been able to do what they did, well- it could have been considered graffiti.
But there was something about this teenaged hero that made Nightwing cautious. He didn't make the mistakes that other rookie heroes did. His moves were controlled, and not in the "I've been trained to fight like this" way; more like, "I've been doing this all my life and don't you dare steal my moves" kind of way. He knew how to keep the civilians out of the way and out of the line of fire; he made sure to keep the bad guy's attention solely on him. It was like someone had decided to cross the blood-lines of Superman, the Flash and Batman and make him a hero.
"You ready to head back now?" Nightwing asked as he angled his body in the direction of the nearest Zetabeam.
Spider-Man shook his head, "I've got one more lap of patrol to do and then one last place to check. You can be my side-kick tonight if you want Birdseed-Brains…"
It was an original insult that drew a grin from Nightwing.
Spider-Man leapt off of his gargoyle perch before Nightwing could banter back.
The last lap of patrol took another hour, they'd ended up redirecting a kid who had run-away, back home. They were given a bag of the Mom's gooey double chocolate pecan fudge brownies. Spider-Man gave the kid some advice that Nightwing couldn't hear, but saw it pull a warm grin and a hug from the kid.
"So, where are we headed 'Boss'?" Nightwing teased.
Spider-Man looped into the city across from Central Park. He landed lightly half a block away and walked towards an old abandoned mansion.
He knocked on the wrought iron gate, then rang the bell and then pushed the gates open and walked in.
A shotgun met Spider-Man's nose when he opened the front door.
"Who are you?!" Demanded a British voice rusty from disuse.
"Hey, I knocked and Rang the Bell!" Spider-Man acted almost outraged; but he had a grin in his voice. "I'm Spider-Man, this is Nightwing. Where is he?"
The man behind the shotgun which obviously didn't phase Spider-Man in the slightest, jerked backwards. "How did…" He shook his head, lowering the gun, "Back room."
"How long has he been like this?" Spider-Man questioned the gun wielding man who, now upon inspection, was the Butler.
"Since Mister Rhodes was killed in action three months ago."
"Where's your kitchen?" That question startled both Nightwing and the Butler.
"To the right, down the hall, second on the left."
Spider-Man nodded and left them.
"I can't keep calling you 'the Butler' what's your name?" Nightwing asked.
"Jarvis, Edwin Jarvis."
"Do you have any idea what he's doing?" Nightwing asked.
"Sir, I haven't the slightest, this is the first time I've met Spider-Man."
"What is this place?"
"This is the Maria Stark foundation Manse. Anthony Stark was adopted and raised by the Late Master and Missus until Mister Howard Stark died when Anthony was eight and Maria Stark when Anthony was twenty-three."
"Harsh."
"Mister Stark is now thirty and has only recently lost his closest and dearest friend, Mister James Rhodes."
There was a yell and a roar of "Come Back Here You BRAT!"
That was when they heard the off-pitch yodeling of Spider-Man: "On Top of Spaghetti! All Covered with Cheese! I Lost my Poor Meatball when Tony Stark Sneezed! It Rolled off of the Table! And Then Hit the Floor! Alas my Poor Meatball-!"
"THAT'S NOT HOW IT GOES!"
Then Spider-Man ran out full tilt into the Foyer where he slid to a stop beside Nightwing and Jarvis.
"What did you do?" Jarvis asked, his British accent was heavy as he asked.
"I got him motivated." Spider-Man said; both Jarvis and Nightwing could hear the smirking grin in his voice.
Tony Stark came storming out of the back of the house coated, dripping and slipping in spaghetti noodles and sauce.
Although Nightwing could clearly see the exhaustion and sadness lingering on Tony's face, he could also see the spark of life that Spider-Man had re-kindled. Nightwing knew this man, he had had some minor dealings with Wayne Enterprises.
"You are one Strange little bug…"
"For your information: Spider's aren't Bugs…. They're arachnids!"
Spider-Man then used his webs to 'pants' Tony Stark and made sure that he and Nightwing made a break for it.
"That was what you had to do?! You had to 'Pants' Tony freakin' Stark?!"
"Nah, that was just an added bonus. I got to get him off his rear end by lighting a fire under his butt!"
"How did you even know about him?"
"I heard Things on Patrol."
"Things."
"Yes, Things."
"What kind of Things?"
"Just Things."
"Are you going to give me a straight answer?"
"Maybe. What color underwear doesn't Superman wear?" Spider-Man asked before he thwipped away.
The sudden-ness of that odd question stunned Nightwing just enough that Spider-Man was able to get to the Zetabeam and make it teleport him to Massachusetts while it would teleport Nightwing into Gotham.
Having completed his big chores, he headed home so he could finish his other chores. Diana and Steve had a rather large house close to the city's Zetabeam, but still they did have some neighbors, so some appearances had to be kept. As soon as he landed in his backyard, he pulled out the clothes that were left there for just this reason. He pulled off his gloves, mask and booties, then pulled on a sweatshirt, gym-pants, and slip-on shoes.
"That you, son?" Steve asked.
"Yeah Dad!" Peter called back, "Just finishing up my chores! I've been collecting the trash!"
"Did you put it away?"
"Just finished!"
"Then come in and have some Chinese!"
Peter clanged the trash lids as he did so.
"How was it?" Steve asked Peter as he handed over the Kung Pao Chicken.
"I met the team, got along pretty well, waited for my assignment, wasn't assigned, decided to clean up some of the trash in New York."
"Am I going to hear from Batman or Aqualad about today?"
"I was supposed to be graded?"
Mesmes7777 and I look forward to hearing what you say about this! I don't know how far we'll take this fic, But I hope you've enjoyed it so far!
Thanks for reading! JoWashington