Spiderman Oneshots

Loophole (4)

"I'm going out for the night, see you tomorrow," Louis said, pushing some items into a bag then shouldering it.

Peter made a noise of acknowledgement, not looking away from the fine details of the prototype he was constructing. "Bye Aragorn. Have a good time."

Peter could just hear his roommate's smirk. "Oh, I'm sure I will." The door closed.

The minute he finished his work, Peter got his things ready for patrol. It was a rare event when he got the place to himself so he was going to make the most of not having to change in some shady alleyway for once. Escaping through a window already suited up was much easier.

It was a quiet night, so once he'd made sure the streets were safe Peter followed his senses to a main street where there was a mixture of panic and delight concerning the giant iridescent bubbles that were floating close to the ground, bouncing off the road and buildings. He quickly spotted a familiar figure perched on a building overlooking the chaos, and swung over there.

"What are you doing, exactly?"

Merlin looked up at Spider-Man with a sunny smile. "Having a good time."

"This isn't exactly heroic behaviour." Peter glanced down at the street, not sure what he should do about the situation.

"And I never said I was a hero." Merlin's concentration didn't waver as they gestured a hand, and one of the larger bubbles went through a small and extremely excited child, containing her within it and making her scream with joy. Her parents looked much less impressed. Peter sighed.

It had been a week since their first encounter, and despite meeting a couple of times since then he still hadn't figured Merlin out. He knew they had a wide range of powers, including teleportation, illusions like these bubbles, and, seemingly randomly, the ability to turn into a snake at will. He didn't think they were a villain but they weren't exactly a hero either. More chaotic neutral, allegiance depending on the day and their mood.

There had been no sightings or reports of any heroic behaviour by Merlin apart from when they were keeping Spider-Man company. Peter would be tempted to think Merlin only came out to spend time with him but there was a distinct lack of hero-worship or even respect in the vigilante(?)'s behaviour. Peter just counted himself lucky that Merlin wasn't using their substantial power for anything worse than some occasional mischief. He gazed down at the street again. At least the children were having fun.

The police radio Peter kept with him crackled, and Peter tuned into reports of an armed robbery in the neighbourhood. "I need to go deal with that," he told Merlin. "You coming?"

"I suppose I could," Merlin got to their feet at a leisurely pace and stretched luxuriously. Peter was already three rooftops away and shooting another web by the time they finished and teleported to the roof just ahead of him.

"That feels like cheating," Peter complained as he swung quickly between buildings, Merlin always a little in front of him. When they arrived at the scene Peter was breathing heavily and Merlin hadn't even broken a sweat. They were smirking.

Merlin wasn't great at following instructions exactly as they were told, but Peter reluctantly had to admit they did help diffuse the situation by distracting the robbers with illusions long enough for Spider-Man to deal with them. Merlin then turned into a snake before the police arrived and Peter had to refrain from flinching as they coiled around his ankle.

Unsure what he was meant to do with his new snakey passenger, Peter carefully swung up to a nearby roof where to his relief Merlin turned back into a person. "Let's get food," they announced. "I'm craving hotdogs. With mustard."