Ant-Man & Spider-Man: Earth's Mightiest Scientists
is a Ant-Man/Spider-Man crossover fic by DominoSquare.
After Spider-Man’s dispute with the Fantastic Four, Hank Pym, known throughout the superhero world as Ant-Man, saw something in the young hero and offered to be his mentor. How will Peter Parker grow and develop under the shrinking superhero?
‘’Ant-Man & Spider-Man: Earth's Mightiest Scientists’’ contains the following tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: As in canon, Peter briefly quits as Spider-Man after his first battle with Doctor Octopus, but a pep talk the Human Torch gave his school inspires Peter to get back into action.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In most Spider-Man and Marvel iterations, Hank Pym and Peter Parker hardly have any interactions. In this fic, the former serves as a mentor to the latter.
- Ant Assault: Ant-Man is introduced leading an army of ants to take on Spider Man, riding one as his noble steed.
- Attention Whore: As in canon, Clayton Cole becomes Clash to be noticed, whether as a hero or a villain.
- Broken Pedestal: Peter Parker’s argument with the Fantastic Four left him with more than a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, to say the least.
- Chekhov's Gun: At one point Clash managed to acquire Pandora's Box, which he later uses to stop a rampaging Thor and Loki and break Thor out of Loki's influence.
- Demoted to Extra: With his job with Hank providing a new means of financial support, Peter never starts working for the Daily Bugle.
- Deus ex Machina: After a brainwashed Thor kills or cripples the FF and Spider-Man while under Loki's influence, he begs Odin to undo the events of his rampage even if that means sacrificing Thor's own place as a citizen of Asgard.
- The Fashionista: Janet swiftly starts devising new costumes for herself, and even offers to create a new costume for Peter.
- Hates My Secret Identity: Peter is frustrated that Aunt May thinks Spider-Man is a public nuisance who should go to jail, although her opinion of the wall-crawler improves as he spends more time as part of the "Tiny Trio".
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite Spider-Man's assistance, Janet van Dyne's father still dies in events that lead to her adopting the identity of the Wasp.
- Living Emotional Crutch: While Hank is not explicitly aware of it, being a mentor to Peter is encouraging him to adopt a more positive view, potentially avoiding his darker mental issues in canon.
- Mad Scientist: Egghead and Doctor Octopus maintain their status as this.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Clash is genuinely regretful when his actions result in a woman becoming deaf.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Basically applies, as Peter and Hank are facing each other's enemies now that they are fighting together, including Egghead and Doctor Octopus.
- Trauma Conga Line: Peter’s Uncle Ben dies, forcing him to become the man of the house. After a loud argument, he loses a lot of respect for the Fantastic Four. J. Jonah Jameson constantly subjects him to a smear campaign, and even his Aunt May thinks Spider-Man is a public menace. To say Parker isn’t in good spirits is putting it mildly.
- World-Healing Wave: After Thor is freed of his brainwashing by Loki, he appeals to Odin to use the power of Asgard to undo these events, undoing all the damage he did to Earth and erasing the memory of these events from everyone else.
