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Peter hummed gently as he perched on the top of a building. The spiders, gathered in a semi-circle around him, skittered off to their respective webs. He took a moment to smile at them, before pulling his hood up. The magnetic mechanism connected to his masquerade-inspired mask clicked into place, ensuring it wouldn’t slip off his head.One hand shot out, and a web connected to an opposite building. Karen’s voice filtered through the tiny speakers in his mask, informing him that all the Avengers were currently on scene. He continued to the invaded area anyways.The spaceship wasn’t particularly advanced, in terms of extraterrestrial technology. It appeared to be a transport ship, if the hordes of gray aliens pouring from it were to be taken seriously. They were large, heavily armed, with seemingly impenetrable skin. Their limbs were seriously freaky, in Peter’s professional opinion, due to the varying number of joints in each appendage.It only took a moment of him observing the Avengers battle to determine their weakness. He wasn’t keen on getting up close and personal with them, so he quickly located their comms.---------Tony had been fighting this new breed of uglies for almost ten minutes when a voice (from someone that was definitely not on his team!) snuck into the very secure Avengers communication line.“Hey guys, sorry for hacking your suit, Mr. Stark,” the high-pitched voice blurted, “but you should try using more electricity against them!”Surprisingly, Natasha backed him up. She had noticed the most results when using her Widow bites, and didn’t hesitate to tell them so. Tony wanted to know who the hell had managed to hack him of all people, but yeah, the murderously inclined aliens in the middle of New York took precedence.After a few troops of said aliens had been taken out, a figure clad in a deep red and blue body suit swung into the fray. Literally. They flipped from the side of a skyscraper, shooting a rope (a web?) from their suit, and gained momentum as it stuck to a different building.Using the same substance, (definitely a web) they wrapped several of the aliens together. An electrical pulse ran through the webbing, and another dozen were down. After just a few more minutes, all the aliens were dead or immobilized, and the spaceship had had enough sense to bolt. The figure ran over to a partially collapsed building, and pulled a slightly disgruntled Hawkeye from the rubble.The rest of the Avengers ran over to the two of them, kicking themselves for not realizing he had gone down in the first place. As they approached, the same voice from earlier greeted them.“Oh, er, hi! That was pretty awesome.” Despite only being able to see the man’s lower face, they could tell he was young. Not to mention how high his voice was. Probably college age, especially if he could hack into Tony fucking Stark’s coding.The white web pattern on the suit that led directly to the spider emblem on his chest shone in the sun. Something in Tony’s head clicked, and he realized that he recognized Queens’ vigilante. He snapped, pointing at the man. “You’re the spider-man! Crime fighting spider?”The spider in question sighed, pushing a few loose brown curls back into his hood. “Why does it always come back to spider-man? It’s so unoriginal, honestly.”Nat smiled, apparently feeling some type of kinship with the little spider-themed hero. Tony was less amused. “Okay, then… what’s the name?”Spider-guy held a finger up, turning his face away slightly. With the dark lenses of the intricate, form-fitting mask, no one was quite sure where his eyes were pointed.“Thanks, Karen. Deploy recon drones S1 through S7, and share all civilian statuses with responding authorities, please.”He turned back to a very affronted Tony. (Tony Stark was not used to being ignored like that.)“And it’s Arachne, thanks for asking!”“Well then, Arachne, want to explain how you got into the comms?”He smirked mischievously, saluted, and swung away. Clint, otherwise undamaged from the battle, just stared at the rubble. “He lifted a big ass slab of concrete like it was a sheet of paper.” Under his breath, he added a small “what the fuck.”---------Peter dove through the window of his apartment, and collapsed onto the couch “Karen,” he gasped between giggles, “please tell me I didn’t say ‘that was pretty awesome’ to the Avengers?”“I can not tell you that. However, I can tell you that they appeared to be amused by your statement.”He shook his head. The first time he actually speaks to them, and he managed to make a fool of himself. He’d been in a few battles alongside them, but never got close enough to really interact with them. Sighing, Peter unfolded both sets of spidery limbs from where they rested against his back.The nanotechnology he used to conceal them under his suit was one of his favorite creations. It allowed him to pull them out at any point, without needing to remove the suit. A layer of fabric separated the spindly limbs from his back, protecting his skin.Peter pressed the center of the spider emblem, and the suit expanded around him, slipping off easily. He left the mask on as he pulled his civilian clothes on, keeping an eye on the status of his drones.“Peter,” his AI said softly, “I recommend eating soon, and going to sleep early. You have an important calculus exam tomorrow morning.” Her maternal tone made him smile. It wasn’t something he had specifically programmed into her, but rather something she had adopted when he reacted positively to it.He didn’t really remember his mother. Or his father, really. There were a few pictures of her and his father around the apartment, along with some of his aunt and uncle. Sometimes he would dream of the explosion that had killed Ben and May, but he didn’t have any clear memories of them, either. That explosion had killed him too, he supposed, but it evidently didn’t stick.As far as the state knew; he lived with a foster guardian named Katherine Hart, a retired journalist. There were all sorts of legal documents and paper trails to prove this, but these kinds of things can be easily faked when you’re a child genius. In reality; Katherine Hart did not exist. Peter lived by himself, with only an advanced AI and a somewhat omnipresent spider god to keep him company in his expertly crafted web of lies. He didn’t mind it too much.--------Several miles away from the now sleeping spider, the Avengers start a file on the mysterious Arachne. He seems to be all over the place, with no obvious motivation. Sometimes he’s catching buses with his bare hands, or fighting rhinoceros men and aliens, but he’s also often seen stopping small crimes, helping get cats down from trees, and lending a hand to anyone who asks.He’s a goddamn enigma, and Tony Stark needs to figure him out.
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The next time the Avengers run into Arachne; they finally get to witness the quips he's become known for. They had been called in to help deal with waves of eight-armed robots, while the spider-guy dealt with the main event. A man named Dr. Otto Octavius, appropriately dubbed ‘Doctor Octopus’ by Arachne, due to the metal arms protruding from his back.By the time they had arrived on scene, he and the doctor were already engulfed in a violent dance. The doc would attack him with his metal arms, and Arachne would use acrobatics and strength to dodge and get his own hits in.“Come on dude,” he teased, “we should just talk about this! Y’know, eight legs to eight legs? Actually, how many do you have? You know that’s way more than octopuses normally have, right? Might wanna get that checked out. Just saying.”Octavius growled at him, unamused. “I am not an octopus, insect. I am the future.”Arachne threw his hands in the air with mock exasperation. “Spiders are arachnids, not insects! Seriously, it’s like, right there in my name.”He pulled a rather ornate knife from his thigh, and threw it into the man's hip with deadly precision. The Avengers knew Arachne was merciful, and they recognized the move as one to disable, not to kill. Still, the knife surprised them. And, as it appeared, Octavius. No one had ever reported seeing him carry weapons, only ever relying on his webs and body.The man stumbled backwards as the knife hit its mark. In his ensuing rage, a spray of blades was thrown from one of the arms. Arachne managed to dodge most of them, but one managed to catch his side.“Shitdamn,” the Spider murmured as a concerning amount of blood poured down his suit. He shot a web at his side, to keep the bleeding to a minimum. “That was not very nice, Doc!”A mass of green plowed into Octavius, leaving him sprawled on the asphalt. The Hulk raised his arms to smash him even further into the road, but a voice distracted him at the last moment.“Hi, Mr. Hulk! Thank you for taking care of the Doc, but he’s out now. Er, can we leave him for SHIELD?”Hulk blinked down at the tiny figure speaking to him. He was red and blue, with a white spider on his chest, but the strangest thing about him was how close he stood to Hulk. Even his own teammates tried not to be too close to him. They were all fragile, and that made them scared of him. The only person that would fight next to him was Thor, but he was a god.But this little man was close enough to crush. The only bit of skin visible, his lower face, showed a genuine smile. He was smiling at the Hulk. This was greatly confusing to him, as he couldn’t remember anyone showing him such a pleasant expression when he wasn’t Banner. Hulk decided he liked Spidey.“No smash,” he agreed easily. “Spidey hurt?” He gestured with a massive green hand at the man’s side.Arachne cocked his head, taking inventory of his injuries. Hulk thought it reminded him of a puppy, even if he wasn’t quite sure what that was.“Yeah, but nothing terrible. I’ll live, I think.” Moving to the doctor, he began to web all the mechanical arms firmly to his back.“Oh. Hulk take Spidey to Avengers?”“Huh, that might actually be a good idea.” Arachne picked up the large man like he weighed nothing, and asked Hulk to hold him, gently. He explained they’d take him back to the Avengers, and then climbed onto the Hulk’s shoulder.Spidey was very nice. He was sitting on Hulk, and trusting him to carry the robot-armed man. Hulk definitely liked Spidey.Most of the Avengers were gathered at the quinjet, just missing Wanda and the super soldiers. The three of them were using their strength and abilities to help with cleaning up rubble and destroyed bots. Nat had gone off in search of the Hulk, and Thor was off-world.A team of SHIELD agents arrived just in time to witness a very peculiar sight. Hulk was calmly walking towards the jet, not stopping to crush any items around him. Their very own spider-man was perched on his shoulder, and the massive rage-monster was cradling Dr. Otto Octavius like a baby. Arachne was chattering excitedly, smiling as Hulk nodded seriously.Tony exchanged a disbelieving look with Clint. Sam was full on staring at the trio. “How the fuck did he domesticate the Hulk?”One of the agents shrugged, but backed up when he came to a stop in front of them. Arachne leapt onto the ground, thanking Hulk as he took the doctor from his hands.The Spider laid Otto gently on the ground, an act which seemingly took absolutely no effort from the stick of a man.“This is Dr. Otto Octavius,” Arachne declared to the agents, “and he is responsible for the octo-bots from today.”“Octo-bots?” Tony asked, incredulous.“That’s what I’m calling them, Mr. Stark! Fits with the octopus vibe. Which, he definitely hates me calling him that, but what can ya do? Anyways, the arms are fused directly to his spine, so he’s gonna be fun to contain.”“...alright. Did he do that to himself?” Arachne just shrugged, before walking back to Hulk.“Spidey hurt.” Hulk gave Tony a pointed look, one that was admittedly quite frightening.“I am? Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.”The injury in question was a (presumably) deep side wound, covered by blood soaked webbing. Tony wouldn’t have hesitated to ask the kid if he needed medical attention, even if he hadn’t been wordlessly threatened. He offered, and Arachne accepted gratefully, though insisted he would do it himself.One of the agents gave him a well stocked first aid kit, and he sank onto the ground, resting his back on the quinjet. Without taking his suit off, Arachne cleaned the cut, bandaging it as he went.Tony watched with even more amazement as the Hulk melted back into Banner, not needing any prompting.The doctor looked completely bewildered. “How the hell did he do that?”“How did who do what?”“The spider-man, Tony, the spider-man. Hulk likes him, and chose to let me out so I could help him.”A SHIELD agent handed him a shirt, pretending she hadn’t been eavesdropping. Bruce pulled it on, still utterly confused. Tony quickly filed that information away, though he wasn’t sure what exactly to do with it. Arachne came back over, fiddling with one of the kits' clasps.“My dry cleaning bill is going t-” He cut himself off with a very dignified squeak, looking eyes with Bruce. “Er, hi Mr- Dr. Banner!”“Hello… Arachne, right?”“Yep! Yes, I mean. I’m sorry, Dr. Banner, it’s just- your work with gamma radiation is so revolutionary! It’s-” He laughed nervously before he could start rambling. Bruce didn’t say anything, just blinked at the Spider. Tony had been right in calling him an enigma. Speaking of the devil, Tony put a hand over his heart, gasping dramatically at the interaction.“You didn’t act like this when you met me! What gives, kid?”“Oh no! Don’t get me wrong Mr. Stark, I was definitely freaking out, but I had time to compose myself and also we were in the middle of a battle. I freaked out when I got home, and y’know what? I think I’m gonna head there now. Thank you for the first aid, bye!”He swung away quickly, leaving a very confused team of heroes behind.
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The Avengers saw him only a handful more times before he revealed his identity. They had been on their way to investigate a horde of massive spiders when a voice had filled the quinjet. Ah, just like their first meeting.“Hey,” the voice said, sounding slightly panicked, “I know you’re headed to the spiders right now, and you’re going to get there before me, so there’s some stuff you gotta keep in mind, ‘kay? This is Arachne, by the way. The spiders don’t mean to be a danger, they’re probably scared out of their wits right now. I don’t think they’re meant to be this big, so that's a hell of an adjustment period. Basically, until I can get there, don’t attack them, just try to gently guide them into an empty area, please.” The last word had been filled with so much pleading, a tone they had never heard from the witty vigilante.They promised to try not to hurt them unless necessary, and the Avengers heard Arachne sign off with a grateful sigh.As it turns out, giant spider herding is not an easy job, and definitely not worth the hazard pay. Several blocks had been evacuated, but just the Avengers were enough to freak them out. They had quickly moved into a protective formation, with the deep blue and red (and oh boy, those colors sure look familiar) spiders in front of the smaller, duller ones. Considering the smallest ones were roughly the size of Great Danes, this was absolutely terrifying.So when Arachne finally made his entrance, the Avengers all let out a breath they hadn’t known they’d been holding. He swung in, dropping a few dozen feet, and landed nimbly on his feet. The defensive stances fell as they caught sight of a familiar red and blue pattern.“Thank you for keeping them safe,” he smiled back at the Avengers. “Stay here for a moment, please?” They nodded, albeit rather hesitantly.Arachne clapped his hands together, and sat down in the middle of the empty road, legs crossed. “Alright kids, group time!”Right under his words, they heard a sharp clicking, a chattering that should not have been coming from a human throat.He looked up to see the Avengers staring at him with confusion and concern on their faces. “Y’know, group time? Like in elementary school when everyone would sit down with their teacher- and actually, that probably isn’t relevant.”That wasn’t at all what they were focused on. Arachne (a rather small man!) had just effectively rendered himself defenseless in front of massive and dangerous creatures. He didn’t seem to care, though, and turned his attention to the spiders again. “Let’s get some background first, and then we can do introductions, yeah?”A few of the spiders made the same chittering noises back at him, but they were far more noticeable without the words over them. Arachne nodded thoughtfully, oblivious to the crisis he was putting the Avengers and assorted SHIELD agents through. Most of the world had come to the conclusion that the spider powers came from the suit, but new evidence seemed to be proving otherwise.Without warning, Arachne stood suddenly, hands clenched at his sides. The back of his suit rippled, and then two sets of spider legs (pretty much identical to the ones belonging to the spiders in front of him) were protruding seamlessly from the suit. One of the spiders came up to him, and Arachne ran a hand over its head.“No, little one, I’m not angry at you. Let me talk to my friends over here real quick, and we’ll get everything sorted, okay?”Seemingly settled, it dipped its head, before wandering back over to its group. Arachne joined the stunned Avengers. He quickly requested that an evacuated open plan building be cleared, and set up as a temporary lab. SHIELD agreed to bring in all the materials he asked for, but Tony Stark, never one to be outdone, decided to split the responsibility with them.Arachne didn’t mention his four extra limbs, so no else brought them up either. He walked off with one of the smaller spiders, muttering something about ‘slings’. The rest of the group stood firm, eying the humans warily.A few minutes later, he returned. There was a new spider clutched protectively in his human arms, and another two in his spidery ones. The spider he had left with was carrying two more on its back. All five of the new spiders were roughly the size of a housecat, which was still far too large for a spider to be.“That’s all fifteen!” Arachne smiled at the declaration, like that wasn’t most people's worst nightmare.“That’s… great, kid. What’s the plan now?” Despite the opaque lenses of his mask, Tony could tell that Arachne was looking directly into his eyes.“First, I work on getting the spiders back to their normal size, and then someone arrests Norman Osborn!” He went on to explain the how and why of his plans. Eventually, someone came to usher him towards the makeshift lab that had been set up for him. The spiders followed obediently after him, like eight-limbed ducklings.Arachne hummed something low, and a few of the spiders set to work on covering the windows in webs. He pulled his backpack from his shoulders, and took a few nondescript metal strips from it.He placed them on the edge of one of the tables. Pulling his hood off, he shook out his auburn curls. He pressed down on the suit’s spider emblem, letting it deflate to pull it off. Underneath, he wore a faded Star Wars shirt, paired with light blue jeans. Normally, he would just wear an undershirt and boxers, but he had known this would be a long day, one he didn’t really want to be in his suit for.Not caring that all the Avengers were in the lobby turned lab with him, Arachne pulled the intricate mask off, setting it down on one of the metal strips. A holo-screen appeared, projected from them. The only thing it displayed, though, was the same spider symbol from his suit. It was waiting for authorization to connect fully.Arachne turned around, deep brown eyes carefully scanning everyone in the building. He ignored the gasps from the Avengers as they took in his painfully young face. ‘Spider-baby’, Clint had whispered. When he spotted the SHIELD agents, he asked for them to wait outside. “No offense,” he promised, “but I don’t know enough about you to trust you.”Thankfully, they respected him. That left just him, the Avengers, and the spiders in the building.“Holy shit,” Tony squeaked, “you are so small.” No one reprimanded him for his language. Arachne just scowled, turning back to the holo-screen.“Alright, Karen, pull up everything we already have on these guys, if you would.”“Of course, Spider Lord.”He groaned at the nickname, while everyone else gaped at the program. Several pages of data, research, and pictures were displayed on the screen. Before he could get too drawn in, Arachne spun around on his heels, facing the other heroes.“Oh my gods, I totally forgot to introduce myself. Sorry! But, uh, yeah. I’m Peter, and this-” he gestured towards the screen, “-is Karen, my AI.”“It is a pleasure to finally meet you all, Peter has told me much about you.”They stared in shock for a moment, before tentatively introducing themselves. JARVIS and FRIDAY had both been positive presences, but after Ultron, most of the Avengers were wary of AIs in general.Peter weaved through the spiders, collecting swabs and samples from their skin. He waved Bruce and Tony over, asking them to help analyze any chemicals from the samples. The others sat on various chairs and sofas the lobby held, while the spiders began their own web on a far wall. Massive spiders make massive webs, but they had to admit it was rather captivating.The spiders had grown a bit more confident, especially the littlest ones. A few crawled over to the Avengers, while more watched Peter and the scientists work.One got a bit too close to Clint. He shrieked, and jumped onto the back of a couch. “Peter! Help me!”Peter turned around, but his concern melted into a grin when he saw the cat-sized spider staring up at the archer. He moved over to them, sweeping her into his arms. “She’s just interested in you, Mr. Hawkeye, sir.”“Make it not interested!”“She. The ones with less vivid colors are girls, and the brighter ones are boys. But yeah, everyone stay away from Hawkeye! He’s very afraid of you. Oh, he’s the one that smells like wood and a forest.”The spiders listened, scurrying off. Peter followed, using his spider limbs to put the spider he was holding into the web.“Peter.” The AI’s tone had gone from pleasant and warm, to low and concerned. The boy focused on the screen, slightly on edge.“I pulled the information I could find from Oscorps databases, but I’m afraid I’ve found something else.” Everyone tensed. Peter ran a hand through his hair, telling her to continue.“The experiment was funded and monitored by Hydra. I have taken the liberty of wiping all information from their servers, and there is a copy of what I pulled in your encrypted archives.”The Avengers froze, eyes flicking to Bucky. There was no emotion on his face. Peter took a deep breath, anxiety written over his features.“Shit. Shit, okay. Thanks Karen. Help me get these babies back to their regular size, then we’ll go pay some Nazis a visit, sounds good?”Karen quickly agreed, and Peter pulled a tablet from his backpack, drafting a formula. Tony stared at the kid, worried at how easily he had taken the news.“Hey, kid, how old are you?”“Fourteen,” he said nonchalantly, not looking up from his equations.That didn’t sit right with any of them. He was so young. It hurt the Avengers that he was already so involved in their world, he didn’t even bat an eye at massive spiders connected to a terrorist organization. No one said anything, because, really, what was there to say?The next hour passed in relative silence, before Clint, Sam, Rhodey, and the super soldiers left for the tower, followed shortly after by Wanda and Vision. That just left Natasha and the scientists with the spiders (including Peter). She would tell anyone who asked that she just didn’t trust the kid. The truth would be far too hard to admit. The little spider had grown on her. She understood fighting at a young age, and she truly did feel a sort of kinship with him.Peter delivered the chemical formula to the spiders, coaxing them with low hums and clicks. They shrank down to the size of an average tarantula, and the smile he gave them was truly blinding. The humans caught sight of two sharp little fangs, and they accidentally stared. Peter’s eyes blew wide, and he clapped a hand over his mouth.“That’s… embarrassing, oh my god I’m so sorry. They usually only come out when I want them to, but y’know… haven’t really eaten today.” He remembered the spider legs hanging comfortably at his sides, and quickly folded them against his back. “I’m sorry.” The last sentence trailed off in a whisper.Bruce furrowed his brow. “What are you apologizing for?”“Er, my mutations usually freak people out? I really didn’t mean to show any of my… less human features, but I got caught up in the whole experimental spider thing.”“Peter, I turn into a giant, bulletproof, green monster on a regular basis, none of us are going to judge you for your mutations. Although, I am definitely interested in learning more.”Peter smiled softly at the three of them. “Thank you.”“Will you come back to the tower with us? Wanda’s cooking tonight, and she is damn good.”“Are you- are you sure, Mr. Stark? I don’t want to intrude or anything!”The billionaire rolled his eyes. “Kid, we want you to come. I want you to come.” He pouted, and Peter laughed.He sent one of his stealthier drones to lead his new spiders to his apartment, and put his mask and hood back in.