Peter Stark Oneshots

The Spider Gene: Part 1/2

*** The First Part, Of A Two Part Mini-Series, Going Through Peter Maria Stark's Early Years As He Learns To Live With His Spider Gene Abilities. ***

Age 3 

As young as Peter could remember, loud noises and extreme smells had panicked him. His dad, the great genius, billionaire, philanthropist Dr Anthony Edward Stark, called them 'Sensory Overloads'. At first it was just Tony providing Peter, aged three, with a pair of custom earbuds, not too dissimilar from hearing aids, allowing unnecessary ambient sound to be filter out when activated. This was all after a distraught three year old Peter had run to his dad after school, begging for him to "make it all quiet".

It was scary for Tony and his wife Pepper to deal with at first, all parents would be after hearing that from their young child. After extensive testing, Tony concluded that this sudden changes in his son, were always there and that Peter Stark had been born a genetic mutation, something not present in either Pepper or himself. It seemed to just heighten Peter's senses to begin with, especially sight and smell, however on further examination, his son could climb almost any surface, shoot webs from his wrists and heal himself, amongst others.

Thankfully, most of these other abilities did not cause his son any discomfort, other than greater susceptibility to the cold, but that was nothing Stark Apparel's IHMC, (Integrated Heating Modules for Clothing), couldn't fix. Deeper and more far reaching research was needed into this mutation, not just to increase Peter's quality of life but others too. For now Tony dudded this strange genetic mutation, with no apparent origin, the Spider Gene.

 Age 8 

It took until Peter was eight years old, for Tony to discover the Spider Gene's true cause. Extremisis. An advanced form of genetic manipulation created by Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian, utilizing nanotechnology. It permits the human body the ability to heal from physical and psychological damages. It had to have been still present in Pepper, when Peter was conceived, Tony was sure of it. How it had manifested itself into Peter's Spider Gene, he was less sure of.

He had a few theories, but he knew the evidence needed to prove them was held not in Stark Industries databanks, but Oscorp's. Time and time again had members of the board brought to him plans revolving around Gene Modification, and every time he would shut them down, paraphrasing the same words each time "We are not Oscorp". Genetic modification was far too unethical for SI to be experimenting in, given the reputation and presence on the world stage. But he was Tony Stark, he would stop at nothing to help his little Spider-Son through this, and his PhD in Cybersecurity would definitely be of of use.

He didn't know why he was surprised to be able to obliterate Oscorp's firewall, after all it was Oscorp, but even Tony thought it would take a little longer than that. Though his, or rather JARVIS' digging, Tony found that Oscorp had experimented with Extremisis genes. Though they were not responsible for the so called Spider Gene, their results mentioned that the Extremisis genes were, unsurprisingly, very volatile and often caused other genetic changes.

Age 15 

Peter Maria Stark was extremely bright, especially for his age and his Parents couldn't be prouder of their Spider-Baby. So, in hindsight, Tony really should have been expecting the day Peter started asking, more intelligent and sometimes hard to answer, questions about his abilities and the Spider Gene, and why he could do things others could not. Tony guessed living in Avengers Tower, a whole building full of Earth's Greatest Protectors - who were also Peter's Auntie and Uncles - didn't help matters.

Which was why, much to Pepper's disdain, himself and Peter began (safely) to trial and tests his abilities, to see what he could really do. Its results leading to Tony designing a custom gym for his son to test and improve his abilities in safe environment.

Which was why, much to Tony and Pepper's disdain, Peter became Spider-Man, Queens', (far enough away from his parents in New York), very own vigilante. It was four months into his time as Spider-Man that Tony discovered his secret, immediately telling Pepper and confronting their son. At first they wanted Peter to stop outright, but when Natasha found out, she talked with Peter, then Tony and Pepper, and then all three together, she convinced the parents to let Peter be Spider-Man. On a few conditions. Peter's suit needed a major upgrade, Auntie Nat would train him and Peter had to be home by 11pm on a school night.