Deadpool Syndrome - Spider Soulmates

Chapter 15 - This Is What I Really Call A Party Now

***PETER***

"Aww, is the party over already?" I ask as Dr. Pym reaches us.

"Not exactly," he says, finally cracking a ghost of a smile. "In fact, it's barely gotten started."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Luis says, clapping Scott's shoulder. "You haven't even seen this guy in action yet!"

"I do wanna see what an Ant-Man can do," says Wilson.

"Yeah," Rogers chimes in. "I thought it was what we all came here for."

"And see it you will," Scott assures us, flashing us a thumbs-up for good measure. "I promise. Even if we end up not having to do anything else with that stupid Vulture."

"Speaking of which," Dr. Pym asks, "what'd you kids do to him, anyway?"

The girls exchange glances, then laugh uproariously - especially Wanda. "You wouldn't wanna see the results," she says, "so let's just say they were good for getting Peter out of his feathery clutches."

"And for that," I say, draping my arms over Gwen's and Wanda's shoulders (the former pulls Sue in as well), "I'm forever grateful. Spidey's Angels, everyone!"

"Stop it!" Gwen laughs. "You're embarrassing us!"

"I dunno," Sue says, grinning sheepishly. "I could do with a bit of excessive flattering."

"Really?" asks Wanda.

"Sure, why not?" Sue moves around Gwen so she can punch me in the arm. "This guy's so good at it."

"That's why we love him," Gwen says, "'cause he knows how to respect women."

Pym claps his hands. "All right, let's get back to the van. We're in that big parking garage over there - you wouldn't believe the devil of a time we spent looking for parking."

"You had no problem parking that sweet sporty ride of yours," Luis says, "but our van? Forget it - I had to double-park it!"

"Better hurry up," Rogers says. "We don't want our hosts getting a parking ticket on our account."

Scott matches Rogers' wry look with one of his own. "Believe me, nobody's gonna care about a van double-parked on the top floor. The cops have better things to worry about." He stops and looks around. "Like this kid over there," he says, pointing at a young dude wearing a trenchcoat and ambling on over to the pier.

"Isn't he a little young to be exposing himself to little kids at the park?" Pietro asks.

Loud laughter breaks out all around us, then Scott says, "I dunno so much about him being a pedophile, but as for thieving...look at how his pockets are bulging. I'd say he's lifted a lot of merch already today."

"And with the prices all the touristy bullshit around here goes for," Gwen says, "that's not much of a surprise."

"Then we should go after him and teach him a lesson," Bucky suggests. "Isn't that our superhero job?"

"Nah, looks like the everyday heroes got it covered," I say, pointing to a pair of uniformed officers who are in the process of catching and searching the guy.

"Cool," Gwen says. "I'd hate to see us put them out of a job."

"Of course you would," I say with a small smile. I don't think I've ever really been able to smile when thinking of Gwen's dad before - unless you count laughing, in hindsight, at his "mayor of Tokyo" joke. Maybe it helps to know that, thanks to Doctor Strange, he's alive again in the other San Castiel.