Avengers and the Hunting Spider

Part One

Chapter- 2

Was this how he, Tony Stark, yes the Tony Stark, wanted to spend his weekend? Absolutely not. Why was he even here again? An agent nearly bumped into him then walked away apologizing profusely.

Oh yeah. SHIELD forced him and his team to investigate the break-in at Oscorp.

He silently thought of all the things he'd rather be doing than this. Hanging out with Pepper Potts. Hanging out with his Science Bros, Bruce Banner. Even bugging Happy sounded better than this. The list went on. The sooner this was over with, the sooner he could go back home to Avenger's tower.

SHIELD had already talked with the only witness, daughter of the police captain, Gwen Stacy. She hadn't seen much, besides a physical appearance, outfit, and the strange web-like restraints. He- according to Gwen's description Tony was pretty sure he was male at least- didn't match any known criminal that was for sure. Or maybe there were never witnesses, but Tony didn't want to jump to conclusions... Yet. Maybe that was why they need the Avengers. To find out who this is and stop him.

"What was stolen?" Natasha aka Black Widow asked.

"An experimental space-goop, for lack of better terms. Also called V 252, it was going to be added as a new element, if they could stabilize it that is," Phil Coulson answered coming from behind the group. He'd been looking for any trace of anything that could be used to trace the criminal.

They all nodded, Bruce and Tony both shared a look. "Can I have some of the data and research they got from it?" Tony asked.

"Maybe, I'll have to talk to Norman Osborn. The owner of this lab. I'll see what I can do though," he got out his phone and walked away.

"I am curious as to what these 'webs' Stacy described are. Are they even organic? Hmm," Bruce frowned in thought.

The usual speed of Tony Stark's mind, if possible, increased. "But why leave her alive?" Tony mumbled.

Not sure if he heard right, Clint asked, "What?"

"Adjust your hearing aid, Barton. I said, why keep the girl alive? Why not kill her? I mean as soon as she was able she called the cops."

Natasha frowned in thought. "Maybe he wanted to keep her alive? Let's keep her under guard and maybe bring her to the tower once in a while to keep her safe until we've found out who this is."

.oO0Oo.

Peter Parker- or SM62 as his files said- was in pain. He was currently trying to nurse his shredded side. Messy stitches that laced across his inflamed side, no matter how much they pulled and stung, did their job to stop the bleeding. For the most part. The rest of the vital liquid continually seeped through his fingers. He wasn't too worried though, it should stop bleeding soon. He'd have been dead long before this if not for his healing factor. Even with that, thanks to the lack of much food and rest it would take a few days to heal entirely. Of course, most of his other minor scratches and bruises would be gone within twenty-four hours.

His mind, sometime during the near decade of imprisonment, had just began blocking out the punishments Peter was given for disobeying. They ranged from simply beating him, experimenting, to trying out new weapons designed to take down Captain America or the Hulk.

This time one had a blaster, designed to incapacitate one of the more powerful Avengers. This one was more painful than a gunshot wound, he knew from experience. Not all his victims went without a fight.

And he hadn't been expecting it. His spidey-sense had activated too late. The one with the blaster had gotten a lucky hit on his side. They'd stitched him up- they couldn't have him dying while he was still useful- and then took him back to his cell. They weren't gentle nor did they care if they messed up his stitches, they'd thrown the tiny teen to the hard floor.

He silently cried through the pain- because he didn't dare make a noise- tears trailing down his face and his breathing grew quicker and more shallow as he tried not to break down entirely. When the panic faded he felt even more exhausted than he had initially, breathing heavily.

Carefully, he curled into as much of a ball as he could. As if to protect him from the cold concrete floor which he was laying on and the monsters outside his door. His cell was small and made of the cold which seemed to leach his strength, not even a bed was in the small room. The cold helped to dull the pain but replaced it with a numb feeling.

He sighed and tried not to fall asleep as his eyes grew heavier. The nightmares were sometimes worse than just being awake, but it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice.

As much as he tried, the needed to heal. That, coupled with blood loss, and lack of good food he was slowly being dragged down into the darkness. He finally gave up fighting and slipped into the unfeeling darkness.

.oO0Oo.

Next day

Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers were walking outside in civilian clothes. Hardly anyone noticed them in the crowded streets of New York, Manhattan. Well, Steve had his shield strapped across his back but that was normal. Besides the occasional double take no one noticed, or rather they were just used to seeing superheroes.

Their attention was quickly captured by a large explosion that shook the ground. Several car alarms went off and a few people screamed and started running past the three.

They exchanged a look and the two assassins and solider took off. Running against the crowd in the direction of the chaos.

In the street was a creature Who's skin was an oily black and seemed to be moving, it had eight giant legs coming from it's back. They'd be needing backup for this! Clint's hand automatically went to his ear and began requesting backup from the rest of the team (Only Tony answered. War Machine and Falcon were currently working on some project in SHIELD. Bucky was who knows where at the moment, though he'd be back before dinner).

A Crash and a scream brought their attention to what tentacle number 7 was doing; pulling the top part of a shop off and throwing it.

Springing into action Steve quickly grabbed the two children who had been staring, paralyzed. He got a good distance away, out of the 'danger zone' and set them down. He pulled his half-mask down and reached for the shield and swung it towards the creature.

Steve, or as he was called in uniform Captain America, watched it equal parts shock and horror as a tendril shot out and threw it back. He grabbed it but was thrown backwards with the force.

The others were having similar luck and were just trying to bash it backwards until the Tony got here with a weapon to take it down. That was until Black Widow let out a pained cry, the creature was wrapped around her middle and squeezing tightly. One arm was free of the bone-crushing squeeze and she aimed her wrist at the creature and shot into its skin with her electric darts.

It screeched, released Black Widow, and started convulsing.

"Electricity messes with it!" Black Widow yelled through the coms.

Clint and Widow started hitting it with everything they had while dunking, diving, and dodging every sloppy hit. Steve, recognizing he wasn't helpful in this part of the situation, started getting all the civilians out of the way.

There was a whoosh of repulsers then the sound of metal hitting the concrete next to Clint. He was perched on the top of a building the creature hadn't managed to destroy. His purple hearing aids shone in the afternoon sunlight. Tony's helmet came up revealing the face of an exhausted mechanic. "So, what is it?" Tony asked skipping straight to the point.

"I'm not sure," Clint said.

"Well what am I supposed to work with here?" Tony asked, exasperated.

"Stark!" A sharp voice barked over the coms, one he recognized as Widow.

"Yeah, Nat? Got any better info than bird-brain?" Huff from bird-brain that went ignored.

"Electricity seems to make it lose its hold on the host."

"I already knew the electricity thing so I- Wait! Host?! It's a symbiote?!"

"Yep, when I hit a tentacle, for a moment it separated and I saw human flesh. Whoever they are is needed to keep its shape," she said sounding annoyed.

"Okay, get the human neutralize the symbiote. Let's do this. Oh, and Cap, I got you a new toy," he said, smirking. His metal mask went back down to shield his face and he took off.

Tony flew over Steve who was heading back. "Need a lift?" Tony asked flipping onto his back and gliding besides him.

Steve rolled his eyes but allowed Tony to pick him up and zoomed towards the symbiote. He set them down a few yards from the nearest tentacle.

"Here, Capsicle, take this," With that he threw something at Steve who caught it instinctively. He opened his hands and there were two metallic gloves.

"What do they do?" Steve questioned.

"Put them on and press the button," Tony answered then salutes and takes off. He shot a modified repulser at the creature.

Steve looked at the gloves skeptically and put them on and hit the red button. His fingers tingled and the hair on the back of his neck rose. Electric gloves. Of course.

He flexed his hands and ran towards the symbiote. He drew back his fist and punched with his superhuman strength. Thousands of volts of electricity went through its body with all of their combined work. The venom seemed to break apart then converge again, over and over again.

Tony suddenly gasped over the coms. He flew forwards, past Natasha and Steve, at the symbiote. He saw something they hadn't. They all shouted out in surprised for him to stop just as he barreled through it. When he came out the back he was holding someone.

The Symbiote, suddenly without host, collapsed to the ground like a puddle of oil. It started writhing and making inhuman screeching noises as it tried to regain a form. Iron man turned to stare as he laid down the host.

"We need to contain it!" He yelled.

"But with what?!" Clint asked, though he had to yell over the noise.

"Anything! It's probably weakened enough we can contain it until we get a proper container," Tony yelled back.

Natasha walked forwards with a clear plastic water bottle in hand. As it lunged at her she scooped it into the bottle and capped it.

"Let's get going," she said. The screeching was slightly muffled so they could hear themselves think now. "And bring him."

They all glanced at the man they'd saved and Clint's eyes widened, the others having similar shocked reactions. Along the mans spine were four metal arms, mirroring the ones the symbiote had created. The man himself didn't look too eccentric. Black greasy hair, pale slightly grey skin, and some interesting goggles. He didn't look too far from a hobo. That was if there was a red skull with tentacles around it on the shoulder of his black suit.

.oO0Oo.

Back at Avengers Tower Natasha gave Tony and Bruce the Symbiote to contain in the labs. Gwen was sitting in the main room watching the news. The teen would be going home soon with a ride thanks to Happy. Natasha on the other hand went to see their newly identified Otto Octavious.

She strode in and sat down at one of the two tables. The room was painted a dark grey and thanks to the there being only one florescent light it was dark and gave off a vibe of impending doom. Natasha rather liked it, she was in her element here. She could make anyone talk. The light was centered on a man who was sitting in the chair across from her. His arms (including the metal ones) were handcuffed to the table and floor. His head bent down and he was barely moving.

"Hello, Doctor Otto Octavious. My name is Black Widow. Things will be easier if you tell us who gave you the symbiote," she said, getting right to the point.

"HYDRA," Octavious spat. "It was supposed to be a new element to build things like armor and weapons. Lighter than a feather and stronger than titanium. But it turned out to be a life form of sorts. I, caught unawares, was forcefully bonded with it."

Natasha blinked in slight surprise at his exact answer. "Can you tell me who gave it to you?" Natasha was trying to choose her words carefully and slowly. The man obviously ranted often, and when one rants they tend to let things slip.

"The one they call the Hunting Spider retrieved it and brought it to me. Certainly a strange but powerful one," Otto said.

"Can you tell us anything more?"

"Unfortunately no. I know nothing more. If I did I'd be perfectly fine with letting you handle my revenge for me. I'm a scientist, Black Widow, I have more important things to do than dirty my hands," the man said, shrugging as if he honestly didn't care either way.

Natasha nodded and stood without another word. She left through the single door and started heading back towards the rest of her team. All the way she was thinking about three things. Who was this 'Hunting Spider'? And how did HYDRA come across him? How dangerous was he?

.oO0Oo.

Word: 2,400

Sorry if anything's OOC.

Thank you to all who Followed, Favorited, or Reviewed!

~Reviews~

cabrara1234: Tom Holland is actually what I imagine in this ('cause he's my favorite). Sorry, I really should have clarified that. Like I said, this is my first time writing something where there are multiple versions. I fixed it on the first chapter.

Sherlockian445: You are too nice :D