Tony rubbed his forehead. "That's… not what I meant."
Peter gave a little wave. "Uh, hi everyone."
Tony's eye twitched. Oh, so we're playing it this way?
That "I want to strangle you" look was impossible to hide—
and right now, Tony really wanted to strangle Peter.
Peter pretended not to notice.
He wasn't stupid.
From the meeting with Tony earlier to what he'd just witnessed between the two teams, Peter had pieced things together:
This wasn't just about the Sokovia Accords anymore.
Cap's team wanted to get something done.
Tony's team didn't believe them—or didn't care. They just wanted to bring them in.
Cap's side thought the mission was urgent and refused to wait.
And that's how you get a civil war.
Heroes against heroes.
If you took it too seriously, you'd just end up caught in the middle, making enemies on both sides.
So Peter decided to relax. Treat it like a warm-up match.
Besides, he hadn't lied—
he liked Iron Man, sure,
but he was also a Captain America fan.
His school played Cap's videos all the time:
In P.E., Cap encouraging students to stay active.
In detention, Cap delivering those painfully sincere lectures about making good choices.
Cap had become a kind of… moral mascot for a lot of people.
Especially for kids like Peter.
And honestly, it made sense.
Ever since the early 2000s, powered people had been popping up, and world-shaking events happened every other year:
Hulk and Abomination brawling through city streets, fighting the army.
Thor battling the Destroyer, leveling an entire town.
Loki leading the Chitauri invasion of New York—ending only after a nuke was launched.
Ultron causing the fall of Sokovia.
Every one of those events had chipped away at people's sense of safety.
The public needed a symbol.
The Avengers as a whole weren't enough—
Tony was too distant, Rhodey was military property, Natasha and Clint lacked the right public image.
Cap, though—he was perfect:
A decorated war hero, positive image, government-friendly, easy to present as the people's champion.
Compared to these "old friends" of each other, Peter was just an outsider—
the new kid.
Fine. He'd treat this as a trial run.
Neither side was going to fight to kill, so he might as well test himself against the pros.
While Peter was thinking, Tony and Cap were at it again.
Tony's voice was sharp. "Are you seriously dragging Clint into this? And Wanda? She was fine where she was! I've been working my ass off to keep this team from falling apart!"
Cap's tone was cool. "The moment you signed that agreement, the team was already split."
Tony's jaw clenched. Anger wouldn't fix this, and he knew it.
He took a deep breath. "Enough. Hand over Barnes. Come with us—now. Otherwise the next people who show up will be special forces, and they won't care about playing nice."
Then his voice softened. "…Please."
He didn't want to lose an eight-year friendship. They'd fought side-by-side against the Chitauri, risked their lives together. Real friends were rare for Tony, and Steve was one of them.
He didn't want to see Steve walk down the wrong path.
Just then, Falcon's Redwing drone spotted their real goal—
the Quinjet.
Sam relayed the intel to Steve.
Steve's lips curved in a slight smile.
Part of this conversation had been genuine—he really had tried to reach Tony.
The other part? Just stalling for time.
Now, with the Quinjet located, there was no reason to stall any longer.
Steve lifted his web-bound hands above his head—
FWIP!
An arrow shot from the distance—Hawkeye's.
It zipped between Steve's wrists, slicing through the webbing.
He was free.
Peter's brow furrowed. A strange tingle hit the back of his mind.
Where…?
"The shield!"
He glanced down—
and found himself face-to-face with a person no bigger than an ant, standing right on top of the shield.
"…What the fu—"
Scott Lang was equally shocked. His plan had been to sneak in unnoticed. He didn't expect Peter's senses to be this sharp.
Of course, Scott didn't know Peter's Spider-Sense had actually gotten better recently—
a little gift from his run-in with the Shadow Spider-Man.
It used to fail him nine times out of ten. Now it failed only seven times out of ten.
"Hey, you on Cap's side too?" Peter asked casually.
"I—I'm a dirty little trick, kid!" Scott said quickly, grabbing the edge of the shield and suddenly growing full-size.
Peter jerked back, startled. This was his first time seeing someone instantly grow like that.
"This is the 'dirt'? What are you, a ghost or something?" Peter gripped the shield with one hand and caught Scott's kicking foot with the other.
Which left Scott in a ridiculous position:
One hand braced on the shield, one foot trapped in Peter's grip, back facing the ground, half his body dangling.
Cap: "…"
Tony: "…"
Are you two sure you're not here for comedy relief?
"Ahem—total accident. Uh, Pajama Kid—mind putting me down?"
Peter's grip tightened slightly, a polite-but-not-really smile on his face. "It's Spider-Man. Not Pajama Kid."
"Okay, okay—Spider-Man. Mr. Spider-Man. Just… let me down, yeah? This is really embarrassing."
"Fine. You're down."
And Peter tossed him aside.
—End of chapter—
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