Spiderman Oneshots

Imaginary friend

The first time Tony Stark appeared in Peter Parker's bedroom was when they were both six years old.

Peter, understandably, was freaked out by the boy who manifested from thin air and stepped out of his wardrobe (that was what Peter had insisted on calling the item of furniture ever since Ben read him the Chronicles of Narnia) with an awed expression. He dropped the notebook he'd been planning code for a game in and scrambled to his feet. He was in his pyjamas. It was 8pm, which meant it was past his bedtime and Ben would be disappointed if he knew he was still awake. That meant he couldn't call for his uncle or aunt without getting in trouble.

"Who are you?" He asked instead. The strange boy was busy looking around himself, but his eyes snapped to Peter's when he spoke and he beamed.

"It worked!" The mysterious boy said delightedly. "I made a time machine and it worked!"

Peter's jaw dropped. This boy was from the future? So cool! "That's awesome! Can I see it!"

"Sure," the boy said, and held out a hand to show Peter a metal cube almost the size of his head. Just as Peter moved forwards, the box beeped, then the boy flickered and was gone. Peter stayed awake until it was almost midnight, but the boy didn't return.

Almost a month passed. Peter had convinced himself that the boy had been a dream, so he was surprised when he stepped out of Peter's wardrobe just after May had said goodnight, tucked him in and turned off the light.

"Was that your mom?" Wardrobe Boy asked. "She seems really nice."

Peter, who was fed up of having to explain his living situation to children at school who didn't understand, and who couldn't always stop himself from crying when he talked about his parents, and who maybe just wanted to pretend he was in a normal family with this boy who probably wasn't even real, just said, "yeah, she is really nice."

The boy was quiet for a second, then he perked up and held out his cube. It had been expanded. "It wasn't working properly last time but now I can choose when I go back," he explained. "Do you want to play with me?"

Peter's eyes glittered, and he quietly closed the door to his room. "Yes," he said eagerly. "What do you want to play?"

"I'm a pirate," the boy said confidently. "My name is Captain Anthon- no, Captain Ant! My superpower is that I can shrink," he declared. "You can be my first mate. What's your name going to be?"

Peter thought for a moment. "Patch," he said. "My job is to patch up our ship when it gets damaged after kraken fights, and my superpower is controlling metal."

"Welcome to the crew, Patch!" Captain Ant jumped up onto Peter's bed and peered over the edge like it was a boat. "I think I can see treasure down there! Can you make it come up here using your power?"

Peter squinted in concentration, delighted at the confidence of his new playmate. "It's too far away." They took turns diving off the edge of the bed to get close enough to the treasure, and having to scramble back up because they couldn't hold their breath long enough. "Oh no!" Peter yelled. "Sharks!"

"I'll turn myself massive and fight them whilst you keep diving!"

Peter paused. "I thought you could shrink?"

"And grow, obviously. If you can change molecular density to shrink you can grow as well."

"Right, of course," Peter nodded, then dove off his bed again whilst Ant acted out a dramatic battle against evil sharks with laser eyes. Peter had just reached the treasure when- "Shhhh!"

Ant stopped wrestling Peter's pillows. "What?" He whispered.

Peter was listening carefully. There was the telltale loudening of the TV as the door to the lounge opened, then footsteps along the hall. Peter quickly pushed Ant into the wardrobe again, did his best to tidy his messy bed in two seconds flat then tucked himself under the covers just as the line of light from the hallway widened and May appeared in the door. Peter made a show of blinking drowsily at her.