The Spider-Squad discussed the threat of the Sinister Six with great solemnity.
And then, they went back to their usual business.
What else were they supposed to do? There wasn't a trace of Otto or his team; no one knew where they were hiding. Peter had tried using divination magic to scout Otto's location, but unfortunately, his skills in the mystic arts were still lacking, and he hadn't found them yet.
Speaking of magic, he also needed to find time to head to Paris to repair the spatial rift he had torn open. That rift was so large that Doctor Strange had been working overtime lately, frequently shooting Peter rather unkind glares.
Peter could only offer a helpless shrug.
In the meantime, he had to figure out what to do for his summer vacation.
"So, what you're saying is, the Fantastic Four wants you to be a nanny?" Gwen was shocked when she heard the news. She looked Peter up and down curiously before asking, "Do you even know how to take care of kids?"
"I don't. Especially considering their daughter, Valeria, is only a little over a year old, and Franklin isn't even four yet. I suspect this might not be a great gig," Gwen teased seriously. "Are they really that short on people? They're actually asking a high schooler to babysit for them?"
Peter shrugged. The reason the Fantastic Four had approached him was largely because he was too obsessed with saving the world; they wanted to give him something else to focus on. Besides, Franklin and Valeria weren't ordinary children; a normal nanny would likely be driven mad by the pair.
At the same time, Invisible Woman, Sue, felt that handing the kids over to Doom whenever something came up was an utterly ridiculous way to operate, so she suggested finding someone more reliable to help out.
"Actually, I think it'll be fine. It might even be interesting. I've heard the Richards children are incredibly brilliant; they should be easier to handle than average kids."
Peter didn't mention the other reason: he didn't know if Franklin's powers had awakened yet. If they hadn't, everything was fine. If they had, Franklin's abilities would be an excellent countermeasure against the Cosmic Cube currently in Kang's possession.
Although Korvac's arrival proved that the Avengers had successfully defeated Kang, the reality of "Reverse the Future" suggested that the future could be changed. Therefore, Peter had to consider every contingency.
"Peter? Hey! Peter!"
Gwen waved her hand in front of Peter's face before he snapped back to reality. She asked him helplessly, "What are you doing now? Thinking about saving the world again?"
"Uh, pretty much."
"Oh my god... can't you think about something else for once? The world doesn't need saving every single day. For example, haven't you been quite free these last couple of days?"
Peter nodded, though he wasn't entirely sure what he should be doing. Perhaps, maybe, possibly...
"I need to give myself a vacation?"
Gwen rolled her eyes at him.
"I highly doubt your current state of mind. What exactly does a 'vacation' mean to you?"
"To be honest, I almost forgot how much fun it is to just swing through New York!"
Gwen was right; Peter didn't have a vacation plan. He quickly found his own way to relax, which was happily swinging on webs high above the city.
Just being a happy little spider.
"The 'Superhuman Criminal Registration Act'? The act sounds good, but it only registers those who have already committed crimes and been caught!"
Jonah Jameson released his usual roar. It was as if he had seen Peter swing past his window, and he couldn't help but start ranting.
"What about the ones who haven't been caught?! How are we supposed to deal with masked vigilantes like Spider-Man, who have zero sense of accountability?"
"I will never support such a hollow piece of legislation! This is burying one's head in the sand! This is whitewashing the truth! It is meaningless! Unless that wall-crawling menace dares to take off his mask and stand before me in the light of day!"
"Sorry, Jonah, that's a bit too far-fetched," Peter said as he slapped a web onto Jameson's face on the giant screen. He then dove toward the streets below, relishing the pure pressure of the wind. Trouble seemed to be brewing down there; several police cars were in pursuit of a large truck.
The criminals inside the truck were speeding along when a strange sound suddenly came from the roof. One man poked his head out with a gun, only to be yanked out entirely and tossed aside, ending up webbed to a nearby wall.
"Hi there. Can you tell me what's going on?"
Spider-Man slipped into the passenger seat. While questioning the driver, he reached over and buckled his seatbelt. The driver was stunned for a moment before quickly pulling out a pistol.
"You have to understand, I haven't seen you ordinary criminals on the streets of New York in a long time. It's not because you don't exist, but because I've been an Avenger, and I've been quite busy lately, you know?"
The driver aimed at Peter and fired rapidly, but before the trigger was even pulled, Peter had pressed down on the handgun and dismantled it entirely. Tossing the barrel parts aside, he continued his monologue.
"Truthfully, looking back, I think you guys are actually kind of cute. I really miss the days before I was an Avenger. At least back then, being Spider-Man was easy and fun..."
Peter continued to chatter away. After the driver took a sharp turn, he unbuckled his seatbelt and reached back for an assault rifle. However, Peter caught the gun with a web first, pulled it over, threw it onto the roof, and plastered it with webbing.
"But then again, sometimes I wonder if you guys think about me too. Sometimes I feel like I'm a pretty decent guy. I tell jokes to everyone, and I tell a lot of people that what you're doing is wrong and you should just find a proper job."
The man desperately pulled a submachine gun from under the dashboard and pointed it at Peter. Peter effortlessly snatched it away, removed the magazine, and handed the empty gun back to him.
The criminal was losing his mind.
Spider-Man, what the hell are you doing?!
"So... uh, can you tell me, have you missed me during these months I haven't been in New York to deal with you?"
"I'll miss your damn head!"
A few minutes later.
The truck sat parked at the side of the road. The criminals were webbed to the side of the vehicle, next to a few sentences written in webbing.
"This reminds me of six months ago, Captain, when that Spider-Man first started out."
The junior officer looked at the truck and the criminals before turning to Captain Stacy. Captain Stacy nodded.
"Yeah. Perhaps back then, Spider-Man was a bit... more relaxed."