High above the streets and far enough from the chaos they had left behind, Spider-Man landed atop one of the tallest rooftops in the area. The city wind rolled across the concrete as he finally reached for his mask, peeling it halfway off with the exhausted relief of someone clocking out after a long shift. He was already preparing to strip off the suit and disappear back into the life of an ordinary teenager.
A web shot from his wrist, snagging his backpack from where he'd left it earlier and yanking it neatly into his arm. The moment his fingers wrapped around the strap, his spider-sense flared violently in the back of his skull.
Someone was above him.
Which made absolutely no sense considering he was already standing on one of the highest buildings around.
Peter's head snapped upward on instinct, only to catch sight of a figure descending from the night sky itself. Panic immediately kicked in. He hurriedly pulled his mask back down over his face, abandoning the idea of changing entirely as he concealed himself before the stranger could get a clearer look.
Shazam hovered as he descended, though inwardly his thoughts were elsewhere. 'I suspected it earlier, but he's really just a kid around the same age as me.' He'd only caught a brief glimpse beneath the mask, but it had been enough—helped by the nearby signboard light casting across the rooftop.
"What the f—!? You followed me?" Spider-Man blurted out the second Shazam landed nearby. He yanked the mask fully into place while instinctively dropping into a guarded stance, though there was still an undertone of embarrassment buried beneath the tension. He looked exactly like a teenager whose parents had almost walked in on him doing something incredibly private. Except this time, it was Shazam who had nearly seen the face behind Spider-Man.
"We weren't exactly done talking before you swung off like a bat straight outta hell," Shazam replied casually. Then he smirked slightly. "Or… well, a spider in your case."
"Normally when people end conversations, they go their separate ways until they meet again," Spider-Man shot back almost immediately. "They don't stalk the other person across rooftops like some creep hoping to sneak a peek under their mask."
For someone so used to handling things alone while swinging high above the city, Shazam's approach came off way too aggressive. Not hostile exactly, but definitely invasive. The whole thing felt less like a superhero encounter and more like a girl realizing some random guy from a party had followed her halfway home after a mixer.
"Well, I did see your face, but it's not exactly a big deal." Shazam spoke casually while raising both hands dramatically in front of himself like he was unveiling some grand announcement. "It's not like I'm gonna sketch your face and hand it over to the papers with giant bold letters saying, 'BEHOLD THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK OF THE BUG HERO!'" He even gestured quotation marks at the last part for emphasis.
"No big deal!?" Spider-Man repeated incredulously.
"You might be fine showing your face around, but some of us actually prefer to keep that a secr—" Peter abruptly cut himself off as another part of the sentence finally registered in his head. "Wait… did you just call me a 'bug hero?'"
"A bug hero, yeah. Because you're a spider." Shazam answered plainly as if the logic was completely self-explanatory. He casually took a seat on a nearby rooftop vent beside him, posture relaxed and unbothered.
Spider-Man stared at him for a second, visibly thrown off. "That's just profiling… I think." He honestly wasn't sure how to respond because there wasn't even a hint of mockery in Shazam's voice. The guy sounded completely sincere. "My powers may be based on spiders, but I am not a bug hero, got it? Mr. All-Big-And-Strong."
"Sure, my bad." Shazam lifted both hands in surrender. "I'm just glad to know you're actually a dude under that mask. That thing from earlier had me skeptical for a second."
Spider-Man narrowed his eyes behind the mask before realization slowly hit him. "And that's why you followed me."
"I had questions," Shazam replied with an easy shrug. "And your answers were either vague or completely nonexistent. So… here I am."
Spider-Man folded his arms loosely as he studied him for a moment. "How come I've never heard of you before? No pictures, no reports, nothing. And trust me, a guy flying around with a lightning bolt on his chest definitely attracts attention."
"Oh, that's because I literally haven't been around," Shazam answered. "I only got active a few weeks ago. Honestly, with that news chopper hovering around earlier, this is probably the first time anyone's seeing me on TV."
'At least in this world anyway,' he silently added to himself, the thought briefly pulling him back to memories of the life he'd left behind.
Spider-Man's posture eased slightly after a moment of silence. "You probably shouldn't have turned that thing into ashes," he admitted honestly. "But… I guess I should still say thanks for helping out."
"Okay…" Shazam turned his head to look directly at him. "Then say it."
"Say what?" Spider-Man asked, confusion slipping into his voice.
"'Thank you for lending a hand,'" Shazam quoted while gesturing toward him. "The whole thing."
"But I literally just—"
Shazam suddenly burst into laughter. "I'm kidding."
Spider-Man stared at him blankly, the expression underneath the mask obvious enough that anyone could tell he was probably raising an eyebrow.
"I'm glad I could help," Shazam said more genuinely this time, the laughter fading into a grin. Then he leaned back slightly against the vent. "So… why don't you tell me more about our sticky friend?"
Spider-Man paused for a second, left wondering whether that had been another jab aimed at him or if that was simply how Shazam's sense of humor worked.
Spider-Man chose to let the earlier comment slide and simply explain what little he knew, though honestly, it wasn't much. None of it really answered anything or shed light on what that creature truly was. He had barely begun before Shazam suddenly chipped in from beside him.
"And something tells me it would've killed a whole lot of people just for the fun of it."
Spider-Man glanced at him. "What makes you say that?"
"Come on, you felt it too," Shazam replied casually, though there was an underlying seriousness beneath his tone. "Call it experience, but killing was part of its nature. The thing enjoyed it." His gaze drifted downward slightly as he spoke, his voice sounding quieter. "And when you're dealing with a monster that revels in slaughtering innocent people, sometimes putting it down becomes the only choice left. Otherwise, every body that piles up afterward starts feeling like something you could've prevented."
He sounded like someone speaking from personal experience rather than theory.
Spider-Man didn't immediately know how to respond to that. Still, the look in Shazam's eyes told him enough. There was no cruelty there. No bloodlust. If anything, he looked like someone carrying the weight of choices he'd already been forced to make before. Someone who genuinely wanted to protect people and hated innocent lives being lost.
That realization made Spider-Man ease up a little more, and eventually he answered the question Shazam had asked earlier.
"I came across what looked like some guy hiding in the shadows while I was wandering through the sewers underneath the mall," Spider-Man explained. "I figured maybe he needed help or something, so I called out while getting closer." He shook his head faintly beneath the mask. "Then he stepped into the light and suddenly this average-sized dude turned into… that ugly nightmare with enough teeth to swallow me whole."
"It roared like I'd seriously pissed it off and came straight at me. Since I wasn't exactly interested in becoming monster chow, and because I couldn't just let it loose near civilians, we fought." He gestured vaguely toward the city around them. "Eventually the fight spilled into the mall and… well, here we are."
Shazam listened closely, though by the end of it he clearly had more questions than answers. Out of all of them, one stood out the most.
"What were you doing in the sewers?" he asked, trying—only somewhat successfully—not to sound judgmental. His curiosity still leaked through.
"Tracking an evasive giant lizard," Spider-Man answered casually, like that was somehow a completely normal sentence.
Shazam blinked once before nodding. "Cool." He first remarked. "Then again, that explains the stench."
Before either of them could continue, the sound of something descending rapidly through the air drew both their attention upward. A second later, Iron Man landed on the rooftop with fluid ease even with mecha-suit, his metal boots clanking softly against the concrete.
"Look at you two getting all buddy-buddy," he remarked. Judging by the tone alone, he'd clearly been listening in on at least part of their conversation.
"Thought you weren't joining the party," Shazam replied.
"Well, considering I'm technically responsible for you right now, letting you run off alone to confront an unknown threat without understanding your full capabilities would be pretty irresponsible of me, wouldn't it?" Iron Man shot back smoothly.
"Iron Man!" Spider-Man blurted out before he could stop himself, excitement immediately slipping into his voice.
The second it happened, Peter mentally winced. 'Stay cool, Peter. Play it cool.'
Still, calming himself down was easier said than done. Standing in front of Iron Man was completely different from just seeing him on TV or during Avengers missions online. Tony Stark was one of the people Peter admired most—not just because of the armor or genius-level tech, but because he was a normal man who chose to dedicate his life, wealth, and intelligence toward helping others.
To Peter, Iron Man represented the idea that someone didn't need powers to become extraordinary.
And beyond that, he was one of the co-captains of the Avengers themselves. A team of legendary heroes risking their lives to save the world while Spider-Man handled things solo down at street level.
"You know Iron Man?" Spider-Man asked Shazam, though the words had barely left his mouth before another realization suddenly hit him because of the exchange between the two. His head snapped toward Shazam.
"Wait… are you an Avenger?"
"Well…" Shazam awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, clearly unsure how to answer that. Eventually he just turned toward Iron Man as though passing the responsibility of answering over to him.
"With the Avengers," Iron Man clarified. "Not officially an Avenger."
Iron Man's gaze shifted away from the neighborhood hero dressed in red and blue and settled directly on the kid inhabiting the body of a grown man.
"Was that monster one of them?" he asked Shazam, his tone immediately more serious.
Shazam understood the implication right away. He folded his arms loosely before answering, "I don't know. Could be."
Spider-Man's head turned between the two almost immediately. "Wait… one of what?" he asked, clearly feeling left out of a conversation that both of them already seemed partially in on. Whatever they were talking about, he was obviously missing context.
"We'll discuss it later," Iron Man replied smoothly, completely sidestepping the question and unintentionally making Spider-Man even more curious.
The boosters beneath Iron Man's boots and along his arms flared to life, lifting him slightly off the rooftop. Before taking off fully, he looked toward Shazam again. "Don't stay out too late."
The comment made Spider-Man blink beneath the mask, unsure whether that had been some kind of inside joke or Tony Stark genuinely talking to him like a teenager with a curfew. Honestly, with these two, it was hard to tell.
Then Peter's eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, shoot!"
Aunt May.
Dinner.
He was definitely late.
Without wasting another second, he immediately started peeling off parts of his suit to change back into normal clothes. At this point, Shazam had already seen his face anyway. It was awkward, sure, and still mildly horrifying to think about, but there wasn't exactly anything he could do to undo it now.
"I still wanna know what you two were talking about," Peter admitted while hurriedly changing. "But I seriously have to go."
Even if Shazam knew what he looked like beneath the mask, he didn't know his actual name, where he lived, or anything personal beyond that. At least that was enough to calm Peter's paranoia a little.
"Some other time then," Shazam replied easily, the tone of his voice carrying the subtle suggestion of friendship.
It was weird when Peter thought about it. They'd skipped past the normal introductions entirely and jumped straight into Shazam accidentally discovering his identity. Yet somehow, after fighting side by side and talking like this on a rooftop afterward, they already felt somewhere between acquaintances and actual friends.
"Sure," Spider-Man replied.
He fired a web upward, snagging his backpack and yanking it into his arms once more before stuffing his suit and mask inside as quickly as possible. Once everything was packed away, he stepped backward toward the edge of the rooftop.
"See you around, stranger."
With that, he leapt off the building without hesitation. Shazam watched as Spider-Man swung between the towering buildings of the city with effortless momentum, weaving through rooftops and disappearing deeper into the glowing maze of New York.
"Cool," Shazam muttered under his breath, unable to hide the faint grin tugging at his face.
A second later, lightning crackled around his body before he blasted upward into the night sky himself, heading straight for Avengers Tower.