After finally herding all the Robins back into the house, Shiller barely had time to breathe before Sharkdog Jeff stirred up trouble again. Driving back to the asylum from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Shiller happened to pass by Central Park and saw a shark fin gliding across the calm surface of a lake in Central Park.
The foolish humans nearby decided to scream and run away. Shiller was puzzled: Don't you guys remember this is just a pond? How could there be any sharks here?!
But then he thought, well, this is New York, where anything is possible, so he could understand.
He walked to the shore and shouted into the water, "Jeff! Jeff! Come up!!"
The shark fin wobbled and floated towards him, and then with a roar, a blue Sharkdog jumped up and unleashed a whirlwater skill, successfully splashing all the water onto Shiller.
Shiller tried to block it with his arms, but couldn't avoid getting his clothes wet. He flicked Jeff's forehead with a finger, but Jeff didn't feel a thing and continued to grinned with his tongue out.
Since his clothes were already wet, Shiller simply picked Jeff up and left. Those little short legs were still paddling in the air. Unfortunately, like a seal, Jeff had no neck and couldn't be hung up. Being held by the waist rendered him powerless, no matter how much he paddled.
Just as Shiller returned, he saw Pikachu, another creature that couldn't be hung up. While heading to the bathroom to find a towel, he looked back and asked, "Why are you back? Did the Guardians of the Galaxy finally kick you out?"
"Nah," Pikachu replied grumpily, "I've long stopped working with them, I have my own business."
"Running wild out there every day." Shiller shook his head, took a thick bath towel from the bathroom, and began drying Jeff off. Jeff seemed to think it was a game and started kicking at the towel with his little legs.
"Oh, hey, Jeff! Don't do that, bad dog!"
The scariest part was when Shiller's previously raised little black cat, the Cosmic Beast Tolik, also heard the commotion and charged into the bathroom. At this moment, Jeff was turning his head towards the door, and Tolik saw his sharp teeth, immediately activating his dinosaur spine form, and with a chomp, swallowed Jeff.
"Oh my god, Tolik, spit it out!" Shiller immediately grabbed the cat, shook his neck, and said, "Spit it out, bad cat!"
"Haha," Pikachu was still gloating nearby, "Now you know who's the least troublesome?"
While coaxing Tolik to spit, Shiller said, "Don't think I don't know, where did the New York cheesecake that Wanda sent me and put in the fridge go?"
"I don't know, I'm just a bad mouse. Burp!"
In Queens District, at Spider Man's base, Peter took the takeout from Miles, who was removing his gloves. Polaris stood nearby looking puzzled and said, "Why are you wearing gloves? And kitchen rubber gloves at that?"
"Because I don't want to dirty the food with spider silk," Miles shrugged and said, "Someone questioned this when I delivered takeout before, so since then, if I need to swing around with food, I'll wear gloves."
"You're very conscientious," Polaris praised.
"But in reality, it's just psychological comfort because my spider silk launcher is worn outside the gloves." Miles walked over to unpack the takeout.
Polaris also sat on the couch, opened a can of soda, looked around the room, and said, "This place seems to have some history, how did you find it?"
"It's always been my base," Peter said, "Since I started being Spider Man, I've been preparing equipment and collecting information here, and now it's passed on to Miles. But I still come back occasionally to make some gadgets."
"I get it, a man's personal space huh."
"It's not what you think, Gwen knows about this place too, she comes sometimes."
"What for? Cleaning?"
"What's up with you, Lorna?" Peter said with some confusion, looking at Polaris, "Did someone say something to you? Are you upset about something?"
"You asked me who to invite for the wedding, I thought you were the traditional type," Polaris said, "Marriage is a traditional symbol, isn't it?"
"It's proof of our love!" Peter muttered a bit discontentedly but knew they were at odds on this topic, so he bypassed it.
Miles glanced between the two, shook his head, and said, "I only know love and marriage are the games of the rich. I just hope this action's pay can help me cover next month's rent."
"I don't have much money either," Polaris said, "Luckily, I can still go back to school to live, thanks to the Professor."
They took out the fried chicken takeout, Miles rubbed his hands and said, "This is the best fried chicken we have in our area, Big Mac's fried chicken is top-notch, you guys haven't had it before, come and try it."
Peter glanced at Polaris but couldn't see what's on her mind, so he opened the package anyway, and the golden crispy fried chicken appeared before him. Thus, they put the previous topic aside, opened their sodas, and dug in.
"Too bad there's no beer," Polaris sighed, "A few cans of cold beer would be a gourmet feast now."
"That's not gonna happen," Peter said, "We still have to learn the basics of piloting a spaceship later and discuss the teammate issues. If we're drunk, none of that can happen."
"Okay, okay," Polaris waved her hand. As she looked up and drank, Peter vaguely saw a hint of gloom on her face.
So he tried to speak like Doctor Schiller, saying, "We have plenty of time tonight, no need to rush. We can talk about the teammate selection while we eat."
"Who do you want to pick?" Miles asked, holding a wing.
"I think we can just pick one more," Peter said, "On the way back, I read the Milky Way travel guide part about piloting spaceships. Most manual control systems on spaceships can run with three people; the other one can handle other tasks. The spaceship isn't big, five people would be too crowded."
"All right, you're the boss, you call the shots."
"I'm thinking of finding a Robin," Peter said, "Our team lacks a strategist, so I was thinking of getting Tim. What do you guys think?"
"If you want a Robin, I've got a candidate," Polaris said, "The last survivors after the multiverse war's big bang included someone calling himself Jason Todd, the Arkham Knight."
"I think I've heard you mention him," Peter said, "You were blown to bits back then, yet he managed to survive, and you two even went to the Dream Dimension together. This guy's willpower is amazing."
"Why don't you say that surviving without a body is also impressive?" Polaris instinctively said, but quickly fell silent, realizing her reaction was a bit much.
"I've never denied that, ma'am. I just meant, his body being just an ordinary human, surviving such an explosion is indeed remarkable. As for you living in a spiritual state without a physical body, it's beyond my comprehension, so I can't comment."
"So you think he's good?" Miles said, taking a bite of his chicken leg, "Then let's choose him."
"Why?" Peter looked at Miles and asked.
"It's easier to talk to someone we know," Miles answered simply, "If we find someone none of us know, the atmosphere will be awkward, and we don't have much time to get used to each other."
Peter found this reasonable and said, "Okay, Lorna, can you contact him?"
Polaris wiped her mouth, got up to get her phone. As she turned her back, Miles gave Peter a look. Peter took out his phone and started sending a text.
"Who are you notifying?" Polaris' voice came from Peter's phone. He sharply threw the phone away, and Miles darted up to the ceiling.
"Sorry, just kidding," Polaris waved reassuringly at them.
Miles swallowed, Peter took a deep breath, turned back to Polaris and said, "Lorna, I think we need to talk."
Polaris ignored him, so he continued, "I believe there's something off about your mental state, and if you insist on not communicating, I'll have to tell the psychiatrist..."
"Okay, but I'm not discussing it at your playground."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Follow me."
Ten minutes later, they arrived at a quiet, secluded bar. They sat at the bar and ordered some drinks. Miles seemed to be drinking cocktails for the first time, and kept poking the ice with the straw.
Peter and Polaris appeared much more experienced. Polaris sat sideways, one elbow propped on the bar, playing with her hair; Peter added a few more ice cubes to his drink and took a sip.
"I'm not sure how to say this, but... um... Quicksilver proposed to me."
Peter nearly spat out his drink, looking at Polaris, "And you're not satisfied with me mentioning marriage..."
"First of all, I'm not dissatisfied; secondly, just because he proposed doesn't mean I have to marry him, right?"
"Isn't that contradictory? I mean, you seem upset about getting married, so you're mad at me for mentioning marriage, but then you say you're not upset, which is illogical."
"Humans are contradictory," Polaris said, "I have no resentment towards you, and I can understand why you say such things, because you're a married man, and your marriage seems very happy."
"Is there something wrong with that? I know many marriages are unhappy, and the reasons for an unhappy marriage may not even lie with the married couple, but I can't be a liar just to appease most people. The relationship between Gwen and I has always been great, and I enjoy using marriage to metaphorically compare to certain things, which are usually positive."
"Like what?"
"Like your relationship status, I am really worried that if you were to get married, it would be a huge mess. You know you guys are mutants; I don't mean any offense, but your father is Magneto, and the escalations in power conflicts are way too high, I'm worried for New York."
"You're assuming too much. First of all, I may not get married, and we might not fight at the wedding, and my father might not interfere. Even if he did, we may not destroy the entire New York."
Peter looked at her, speechless, and finally commented, "You're quite optimistic."
"Alright, seriously, he proposed to me."
"And what about you? What do you think?"
"I got really angry, so I had a huge fight with him."
"Uh, you don't want to get married, right?" Peter chose his words carefully and said, "That guy chose the wrong time, not considering your feelings, which really isn't right."
"It's not that, I'm not angry about that," Polaris said, "I know he loves me a lot and wants to start a family with me. Honestly, I love him too, but..."
"But what?"
"I don't know, do you think I'm a lot like Wanda?"