PANTHER AND SPIDER
by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, Avengers EMH, or their characters.

Summary: Shinji and Miles face off against some of Iron Man's worst enemies.

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(Avengers Tower, New York)

"I still don't like this idea." Night Panther said as he looked at Stark who was about to begin his experiment.

"You agreed to this. And King T'Challa gave his consent as well." Kid Arachnid said.

"After Starks constant pestering and badgering, not to mention his numerous assurances that nothing bad would happen." Shinji grumbled.

"We did get the rest of the Avengers here for insurance." Miles said.

Shinji looked over at the other Avengers standing around the lab.

Captain America, Black Widow, Wasp, Hawkeye, Kid Arachnid and Night Panther were there, eagerly awaiting for Tony Stark and Hank Pym to commence with the experiment.

"I still have a bad feeling about this." Shinji grumbled.

Tony had finally managed to convince Shinji to let him experiment on the vibranium that Shinji had with him in order to make synthetic vibranium. A substance that could benefit mankind as a whole. While the idea had taken some time to get through to T'Challa, and Shinji was quite convinced that he had the best of intentions, things don't always go the way Stark intended.

The Vibranium had been given to Shinji for safe keeping, as well as to help him create more effective weapons and tools so that The Night Panther would be able to be an even better asset to The Avengers. (Shuri had been a fantastic teacher, and Shinji a great student.)

Tony had given Shinji, as well as T'Challa, every assurance that he would make sure nothing bad would happen while he experimented on the Vibranium. And that he wouldn't use it for weapons.

The rest of the Avengers were there as well to make sure nothing bad happened.

Though Shinji wished that Thor, Hulk, Doc Samson and Ms Marvel were there to help them. The four were away to ensure that The Cube was being repurposed, and that Asgard was still under Odin's rule.

Their last skirmish with Loki and his forces, which included Lorelei, the little sister of Amora the Enchantress, and Skurge the Executioner, along with several Dark Elves, Frost Giants and Trolls, had left Staten Island in ruins. Though Tony and many others joked about it already being ruined, regardless, the entire island would take years to recover.

Black Widow was monitoring the Towers defenses and long-range scanners, when she noticed that something had just appeared on the screen.

"What the..." Natasha gasped in shock. "Where did that come from?"

"What's wrong?" Janet asked.

"There's a ship headed directly to the Tower. The Towers sensors have identified it... it's one of Stark's ships!" she said.

"What?" Tony and Hank said in unison as soon as they heard that.

"An old Mark-1 Quinjet prototype." Widow said.

"Who's flying it?" Captain America asked.

"Unknown." she said.

"What's going on?" Hank asked as he came over to the others.

"One of Iron Man's ships is heading this way." Captain America shouted.

"What?" Tony asked in surprise.

"Well, Tony Starks ships." she said.

"Which ship?" Shinji asked.

"An old Mark-1 Quinjet prototype." she said.

"That's impossible! I had all of those prototypes locked up in a warehouse in upstate New York." Tony said, suddenly concerned.

"Well, it's headed here now!" Widow said.

"How soon?" Shinji asked.

BOOM!

The Avengers were blown back by a forceful energy blast. Cap and Hawkeye were tossed against the far wall, slamming hard and falling to the ground. Black Widow and Wasp were knocked against Hank and Tony, the quartet falling into a heap on the floor. Shinji and Miles were spared the worst of it, the blast knocking them across the room.

The room was quickly illuminated by sunlight as smoke and the smell of hydrogen, ozone and gunpowder filled the lab as seven figures quickly flooded into the room.

The group was lead by a large, red-armored figure with a dome over his head. This was Crimson Dynamo, a Russian scientist named Anton Vanko.

He was followed by a man wearing a black bodysuit with yellow highlights and lining, who looked like he was projecting raw energy itself. This was Living Laser, real name: Arthur Parks.

The third man was wearing a red, yellow and green outfit with a beam-emitter on his chest. This was The Melter, real name Bruno Horgan.

The fourth man was wearing green armor with several saw blades on his arms and body. This was Whirlwind, real name: David Cannon.

The first female of the group, wearing a slightly revealing black leather outfit that made her look like some kind of dominatrix, with a long red ponytail and a whip in her hand, was Whiplash. Real name: Leeann Foreman.

The fifth man was dressed all in black with a purple cape and a white hood, gloves and boots, with a plume of green hair sticking out of his cowl. He carried an energy whip in his right hand. This was Blacklash, real name: Marco Scarlotti.

The second female of the group was an attractive woman with short fire-blond hair dressed in a form-fitting red and black bodysuit with large gauntlets on his arms. This was Firebrand, real name: Amanda Wench.

In Tony Starks Mark-1 Quinjet, the groups 'leader' was sitting in the pilot seat. He was dressed in a purple tunic with a skull and crossbones on the chest, bluish scale-mail armor, a long black cape, and a skull-like helmet with wings projecting from his ears on his head. This was Dreadknight, real name: Bram Velsing.

"Get the Vibranium!" Dreadknight ordered.

"What about the Avengers?" Blacklash asked.

"Later! Fill Up And Let's Go!" Dreadknight shouted once more.

Despite the perfect opportunity before them, the villains quickly gathered up all the canisters and samples in the lab and hightailed it back to the waiting jet.

Night Panther and Kid Arachnid were the first to revive and witness what was going on.

"They're not trying to kill us?" Kid Arachnid asked as the villains began to retreat, leaping from the Tower into the side-door of the jet that was hovering next to the opening.

"They're after the Vibranium!" Night Panther shouted as he jumped to his feet.

The pair raced out after the villains, only to have the jet turn away, intending to escape with haste. The ship began to pull away from the Tower as Miles and Shinji leapt out at it. Miles fired a webline at the tail of the ship, snagging it as it pulled away. Shinji grabbed his ankle and held on tight as the arachnid hero was pulled along behind the jet.

"HANG ON!" Miles shouted.

"NO KIDDING!" Shinji shouted back.

Night Panther held on as tightly as he could as the Stark ship flew through the canyons of the city with amazing speed and agility.

"Swing me towards one of the buildings!" Shinji shouted.

"Are you crazy?" Miles asked.

"Yes! Now Do It!"

Kid Arachnid swung his leg towards one of the buildings, causing Night Panther to run across the smooth glass windows, the special boots he wore giving him traction enough to pick up speed and then push off, flinging him and Kid Arachnid towards the rear of the ship.

(Inside the Ship)

"I can't believe we got away with it!" Whiplash shouted happily.

"Still wish we had taken care of the Avengers! They were helpless and vulnerable!" Whirlwind grumbled at the lost opportunity.

"With Vibranium weapons, we'll do more than take care of The Avengers! The World Will Be Ours!" Living Laser said.

Knock, Knock

"What was that?" Whiplash asked.

"I don't know." Blacklash said.

Knock, Knock, Knock

"Someone's knocking on the door." Firebrand said.

"I'll get it." Whirlwind said as he reached for the door handle.

"DON'T OPEN THAT, YOU IDIOT!" Dreadknight shouted from the cockpit as the door was opened up.

Night Panther and Kid Arachnid flew into the ship, kicking Blacklash and Whirlwind down.

"I can't believe that worked!" Night Panther said.

"Worked for Spider-Man." Kid Arachnid said.

"Alright. You ready to clean house?" Shinji asked.

"Hell, Yeah!" Miles grinned.

"GET THEM!" Crimson Dynamo shouted.

Living Laser powered up his body and flew at the pair. Night Panther pushed Kid Arachnid out of the way as the energy villain flew past them and slammed into the wall behind them. Whirlwind flew at the pair, his body spinning and his blades out. Kid Arachnid leapt over him, shooting his webbing at the mutant and causing them to wrap around him quickly, encasing him in a cocoon. Melter fired at Night Panther, who was quick to dodge the energy blast, which struck Crimson Dynamo in the chest.

"ARGH! YOU IDIOT!" Crimson Dynamo said as his chest plate disintegrated and he fell backwards onto the ground. "My battery is damaged! I can't move!"

Night Panther leapt over the secondary melting blast, twisted in the air and kicked Melter in the head. Firebrand attacked him, trying to fry him in the small space with her flame blasts, only for Kid Arachnid to appear behind her, and push her into Whiplash, knocking them both to the ground. He slammed his hands into the ground, sending a surge of electricity through the metal plates and into Firebrand, knocking her out as she collided with Whiplash, knocking them down next to Whirlwind who was struggling to get free of the webbing.

Night Panther got back up and dashed for the cockpit, where Dreadknight was piloting the ship. Living Laser got in front of him and then lunged at Night Panther, slamming into his body, but then pulled back in fright.

"AHHH! Stay away from me!" Living Laser shouted.

"What was that?" Blacklash asked in confusion.

"It was like... he was trying to absorb me!" Laser said, panicking as he did.

"Good to know!" Night Panther said as he leapt forward and kicked Living Laser in the head, which caused him to destabilize enough to knock him out.

Whiplash and Blacklash grabbed their energy whips and lashed them out at the Panther, only for Kid Arachnid to appear right in front of them, grab both ends of their whips, and glared at them.

"VENOM BLAST!" he shouted as his body charged up and surged electrical energy through the whips and back into the two villains, electrocuting them and dropping them to the ground.

Night Panther ran up to the pilot seat and grabbed Dreadknight by his collar.

"WHAT?!" the evil knight gasped in shock.

"Sorry. But I'll drive!" Night Panther said as he balled up his fist.

PUNCH!

Night Panther pulled Dreadknight out of the pilot seat and dropped him on the ground before slipping into the pilot seat and grabbing the controls.

"How are we doing back there?" Night Panther shouted.

"Just webbing the last of these guys up!" Kid Arachnid shouted back as he webbed up Blacklash and Whiplash.

"Good. I'm taking us back to The Tower." Night Panther said.

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(Avengers Tower)

Captain America and the other Avengers were standing on the landing pad that was on top of the tower, just waiting to see what was going to happen next.

They had received a message from Shinji that he and Miles had taken control of the Mark-1 Quinjet and were heading back to the Tower.

Tony had yet to fully recover, put his armor on, and go chase them down. He was feeling more than a little mortified about the whole thing.

"There they are!" Captain America shouted as he pointed off to the distance.

Black Widow, Wasp, Ant-Man and Hawkeye looked to the horizon and saw the jet heading back towards them.

The jet landed on the pad and opened up the back loading door. The Avengers looked on as Night Panther and Kid Arachnid literally drug eight supervillains, in various stages of consciousness, out of the jet and literally dumped them in front of the hero team.

Night Panther was dragging Dreadknight, Whiplash, Blacklash and Living Laser behind him, while Kid Arachnid was dragging Crimson Dynamo by his boots, with Melter, Whirlwind and Firebrand lying on top of the red armored villain.

"Brought you a gift, Captain." Night Panther said to the super soldier.

"Good job, boys." Captain America said.

"Yeah. Thanks. Ohhhhh... I need to sit down." Kid Arachnid said as he stopped hauling the large armored villain behind him. "He's heavier than he looks."

Black Widow and Wasp noticed that some of the villains were waking up.

"You Freaking Idiot!" Dreadknight hissed.

"It wasn't my fault!" Whirlwind said.

"Yes, It, Was! I can't believe you opened the door!" Blacklash shouted.

"I was curious!" the mutant shouted back.

"We Were In The Middle Of An Escape, In A Ship, In Mid-Air! Who Did You Think It Was? Publishers Clearing House?!" Blacklash grumbled.

The Avengers just looked at each other, shaking their heads at the villains antics.

"Sad." Wasp said.

"Really." Hawkeye said.

"They steal one of Starks jets, attack the Tower using it's stealth-tech, successfully take us out and then steal the Vibranium and almost made a clean getaway." Ant Man said.

"Only to be stopped by the youngest members of our team." Wasp said.

While Black Widow called for SHIELD to come and pick up the eight captured villains, Tony Stark made his way onto the landing pad.

"Good going, guys. Now that we have the Vibranium back, we..." Tony started to say.

"I'm taking the Vibranium back to Wakanda." Night Panther said, shocking Tony.

"What? Why?"

"Eight of your Rogues broke into Avengers Tower, which you assured me was completely secure, bypassed you, us and the rest of the Avengers, after incapacitating nearly all of us, and went right for The Vibranium, which they couldn't have known about, and made an almost clean getaway in a ship that belongs to you." Shinji said.

"From Stark's warehouse." Wasp said.

"I didn't... I don't know how that happened." Stark said.

"How could you not? A bunch of your enemies steal one of your prototype ships from one of your warehouses, and attack your Tower where we were going to be experimenting with King T'Challa's vibranium, on your suggestion and numerous reassurances that nothing would happen!" Shinji argued.

"You say that like it was my fault." Tony replied.

"Oh, I am holding you responsible for this!" Shinji snapped.

"Don't you have security at those warehouses of yours?" Wasp asked Tony.

"Budget cuts." Tony replied with a shrug.

"Bad excuse." Ant Man said.

"Not if it's the truth!" Tony rebutted.

"What about your security system? It's supposed to be top-notch." Wasp asked again.

"And yet someone like T'Challa easily broke into the mansion, hacked my systems... and..." he said before pausing.

"What is it?" Ant-Man asked.

"I... have a very bad feeling about this." he said as he looked at the team.

"What do you mean?" Hank Pym asked.

However, before he could answer, Shinji spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but as of right now, I'm taking all the extra Vibranium back to Wakanda. It's clearly not safe here." Shinji said.

"But my synthetic Vibranium experiment..." Tony started to say.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but my decision is final." Shinji said.

"Your decision?" Tony asked in shock.

"As a citizen of Wakanda, and the personal envoy of King T'Challa himself, any decision to be made in regards to Vibranium from Wakanda, is up to me, in the Kings absence." Shinji explained.

"Shinji, come on! You can't be serious! This was an isolated incident!" Tony pleaded with the young Avenger.

"Isolated? EIGHT of your enemies just attacked us! In One Of Your Jets! To Steal The Vibranium They Couldn't Have Possibly Known About... Unless Someone Told Them About It!" he all but shouted.

"I'm sensing an accusation here." Tony said, trying to gain the upper hand of this conversation.

Shinji sighed as he turned from Tony and the others and pressed the communicator on his wrist.

"General Okoye! Please tell The King that I am returning to Wakanda with the Vibranium he gave me. It's not safe here in America." Shinji said.

("Understood. But you will have to take a detour.") Okoye replied.

"Detour? Has something happened?" Shinji asked.

("A matter of importance. A large shipment of Vibranium has turned up in Northern China. There is an arms deal going on there within 12 hours time. His majesty and I are enroute to intercept the Vibranium. He has requested your assistance in this.")

"Of course, but... this sounds pretty routine. Why bring me in, unless... who is doing the selling and who is doing the buying?" Shinji asked.

("The seller is unknown. But the buyer, as it turns out, is Ulysses S. Klaw.")

Shinji grunted at hearing that. Klaw had been trying to get his hands on as much Vibranium as he could over the years. He had helped M'Baku the Man-Ape take the throne of Wakanda, and made a deal with HYDRA, in order to claim the Vibranium Mound that was in the heart of Wakanda.

Which was odd, since the last Shinji had heard Klaw had been turned into some kind of energy creature in the Vibranium mine and trapped courtesy of Iron Man and Ant Man.

"Understood. I'm on my way." Shinji said and ended the call.

He looked at the Quinjet and then to his best friend.

"Miles, I might need your help on this." Shinji said.

"That much trouble?" Miles asked.

"I hope not, but after this debacle..."

"Gotcha."

Taking Tony's old ship, Shinji and Miles head to Northern China in order to aid his king.

"Why are they taking my ship?" Tony asked as he watched them go.

"Because you can't be trusted with it?" Wasp replied.

"And because the Vibranium was already aboard it." Ant Man said.

"That was low." Tony said with a grimace.

"So was letting as bunch of common thugs steal it." Hawkeye said.

"There was nothing common about these thugs." Captain America said.

"But none of these guys are smart enough to crack my security." Tony said.

"By themselves?" Black Widow asked.

The Avengers looked over at the supervillains.

"Anton Vanko, the Crimson Dynamo, has a Ph.D in physics and electrical engineering." Black Widow said.

"Arthur Parks, the Living Laser, had a Ph.D in physics and laser technology." Hawkeye said.

"Bruno Horgan, the Melter, built his device to loosen the bonding forces between molecules. That takes brains." Ant Man said.

"Bram Velsing, the Dreadknight, was a genius-level engineer." Black Widow said.

"Mark Scarlotti, the Blacklash, was a gifted electrical technician. Used to work for Stark at the Cincinnati branch before he turned to crime." Hawkeye said.

"Leeann Foreman, the Whiplash, used to be a small-time computer hacker before she started dressing up like a dominatrix." Wasp said. "Complete with energy whip."

"Amanda Wench, the Firebrand, has a degree in chemistry and metallurgy. Self-taught, which says something." Black Widow said.

"Only one that doesn't have a brain is Whirlwind." Ant Man said.

"Hey!" Whirlwind shouted.

"Okay, he has a brain, but not a Ph.D in anything." Ant Man retorted.

"Thank you!" the mutant replied.

While SHIELD was toting the captured villains into their transport, Steve noticed that Tony was deep in thought.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Steve asked.

"I'm not sure... but... I'm getting the feeling... I've been set up." Tony replied.

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Authors Notes:

Here's Chapter Two, which is a slightly different direction than I originally intended.

Hope everyone likes this.

Next Chapter: Battle In China.