This is dedicated to: HiddenInMoonlight and WandaMaximoff for requesting a fluffy one-shot and accidentally succeeding XD I figured we all need some fluffy cuteness to level out the heavy angst I've been dwelling into in my stories.

Sooooo...TADA! Enjoy some Web Warrior fluff!

If there was one thing that could be said for New York, it was that it definitely kept you on your toes. It was never some close-to-the-chest secret that New York harbored an unhealthy amount of villains, nor that those villains could be a bit...well, weird. In fact, it was such a natural part of the cities biology that was basic New Yorker knowledge at this point. There was a section about it in the tourist pamphlets' and everything.

Given that, it was incredibly hard to come across things that could startle, or even surprise Peter. He's about seen it all, from the Octopus to the Goblin, to the Beetle.

However, that said, he definitely wasn't expecting to come across a group of middle-aged hoo-yahs wearing flashy, overly bedazzled rave outfits near Broadway. It was a decent sized group, full of bright colors and lots of exposed flesh. Several of them had gaudy bags swung over their shoulders and were throwing glitter bombs through the air, painting the streets and buildings in bright sequence. From the slurring, shouting, grumbling mess of voices, one name came off clearly. We are the Rave-engers! it was both highly inappropriate, hilarious, and definitely new.

"Hey, looks like we're late for the party," Peter said, stopping on a flagpole jutting from a building wall, just across the raving party-goers. The rest of his Web Warriors team stopped next to him, crouched in a similar fashion, observing the disturbing scene before them.

At first glance, there was nothing particularly threatening about this newly distinguished group. Were they heroes? Over-glorified party animals? Sparkly Avengers cosplayers? He wasn't too sure.

Whatever they were, they didn't seem to be challenging the law and authority of the NYPD. Well, depending on what he considered "challenging." Their clothes weren't quite public appropriate - it honestly looked as though someone had intended to put them in a washer, missed it completely, and their entire wardrobe was thrown into a meat-grinder instead. Oh, and he couldn't forget their rancorous threats of dooming the whole world in a never-ending rave party and their apparent plan to rule the country through a newly established and very flashy monarchy. Could forget that.

Also, Peter was pretty sure they were high.

He couldn't really distinguish right off the bat which narcotive it could be, but if there was some fancy-schmancy new drug on the streets, it told him he needed to hunt down some drug dealers before the Skin-ister Six became a thing too.

Given the situation as a whole, the proper police authorities would usually be able to put an end to this tyranny pretty quickly, so there was no real reason to get involved. At least, that's what anyone else might say.

Not Peter. That's not the way he rolled. Besides, those glitter bombs looked rather intense and it's been a slow Saturday anyway.

"Some party," MJ commented dryly, hanging upside down from a single strand of her symbiote on the same pole Peter was perched on. "I know I'm kind of new to this whole web-slinging hero thing, but do you normally get such...weird villains? Are they even villains? They look drunk."

"Wouldn't be the first drunk party we've had to bust up," Ben said, glaring at the exploding glitter bombs in particular distaste. "But I'll admit this is a lot more...sparkly, then what I'm used to."

Near him, Miles giggled. "Never thought I'd see the day that I get to hear Scarlet say 'sparkly' in his deadpan. Today feels special."

"Yeah, gotta love Scarlet's deadpan," Peter agreed, half-listening as he peered skeptically at the ravers. They didn't seem to be causing too much harm yet. Of anything, they just seemed to be partial to public nudity. While any other day Peter would swing down there without hesitation and break up the party, he was hesitant today.

The media's been up his back lately about him getting involved in the little things. Things like littering and aggressive protests that the police could handle with little-to-no difficulty. While normally Peter would shrug off the media's backlash, this time it was different. His superiors, namely Fury and Tony, have been urging him to back off a little bit too. Give the police something to work for, they said. It's their job too, they said.

Given the fact that they knew Peter, they anticipated his argument. He insisted he wasn't really getting in the way. If anything, he was just making their jobs easier. But Fury threatened to make him officially join the NYPD if he kept arguing, holding it over his head that he basically did their job for them at this point, which shut Peter down real quick, cause, no thanks. Joining the NYPD meant revealed identities and his mask was his friend. Besides, he's had far too many close encounters with the authorities to be comfortable working among them. Just being in close proximity brought up old memories of man-hunts and being chased and shot at. Not exactly the highlight of his career as a hero. Besides, bullet wounds hurt like crap. So, yeah - okay. He got the message. Backing off he did.

"Cho, how far away are the authorities?" he asked.

"Two vehicles were just dispatched to handle the situation," Cho answered. "You wanna get involved, Spidey?"

Peter peered at the party-goers more skeptically, rubbing his chin. "Errrmmm...I think it'd be better if we just watched the situation for now. If things get too riled up we'll step in."

A combined shrug rolled among the group. "If you say so," Flash said, rather stiffly. He leaned back roughly against the wall, folding his arms tightly. "But if its alcohol involved, I don't think it'll take too much time for things to get worse." He was glowering at the Rave-engers now, and Peter winced.

Flash just recently confided in him about his past relationship with his dad. Long, terrible story short, violence and alcohol were not unfamiliar to Flash, and this knowledge only made Peter want to put a stop to the Rave-engers even more.

But Nick Fury's voice kept resonating in his head. Back off and let the police do their job. Get involved if things get too out of hand. Wasn't it the police who were supposed to get involved when things got too out of hand? Waiting for the authorities to arrive before anything bad happened didn't sit well with him and his morale. He'd rather have the law-breakers subdued right now rather than wait for the police to give him the go-ahead. But he figured that fell under the "vigilante" vendetta the media often pegged him with.

Which, he supposed there was some truth and logic behind it. Technically, he couldn't just swing down there and start shooting webs and knocking heads - that'd fall under assault. Nor could he attempt to arrest them for public nudity - however intense it was - because he didn't have that kind of authority. The Rave-engers had definitely put him in a tight spot. The only thing he could - maybe - peg as threatening were the glitter bombs. But even then, they were thrown up high in the air, so they didn't really pose a danger. Glitter in the eye on the other hand...

Besides, the citizens were hardly thrown off by the Rave-engers either. The streets had clearly thinned since the group's arrival, but the remaining citizens still taking the streets simply rolled their eyes, nonplussed about New York's newest disappointments, and veered around the threats of rave monarchy and glitter to continue their day. As if it were just a normal New York afternoon.

A good number of people had stopped to video the Rave-engers though, because, of course. The internet just had to see this.

Peter settled back on the pole with a huff. "Ugh, why can't we just go down there and web em' all up," he complained aloud. "I guess we'll have to wait and see if things get aggressive. Then we can step in."

"Isn't stepping in a part of being a vigilante?" MJ inquired, flipping herself upright so she was crouched like him.

"Says the wannabe-reporter," Peter teased. "Technically, under SHIELD jurisdiction were not so much, you know, vigilantes, as we are semi-agents in training. Heroes of SHIELD, and all that."

"Semi-agents in training," she repeated, unimpressed. "Yeah, that's certainly a way of putting it." She sighed nonetheless and got to her feet, perfectly poised on the thin beam as she leaned against the building wall. Little knives grew and shrank from her fingertips in boredom. "Still, isn't there anything we can do yet. I know technically we don't have legal authority to arrest people, but I'm pretty sure wearing nothing but a thong in public is illegal."

Peter grimaced, rubbing a hand over his lenses as if to scrub away that image. "Yeah, if that guy doesn't get some clothes on soon, I'm suing him for mental trauma."

"Speaking of mental trauma," Amadeus piped up, gesturing to Miles, "Are we sure Kid Arachnid should be here? I mean, he's just a kid, and that's way too much skin for any youth to see."

"Kid?" Miles sputtered, standing up vertically on the wall. "Dude, you're not much older than I am!"

"In terms of physical age or mental maturity? Cause I wasn't the one who giggled when Scarlet said 'sparkly'."

"Hey, Spidey agreed with me!"

Amadeus planted his hands on his hips. "Spider-Man is hardly the ideal role model in terms of maturity."

"Hey, I'm not immature, you are."

Amadeus pointed at him. "See? See what I mean?"

"Well, I think you all are being kind of irritating, so maybe you should all head back." Ben griped.

Peter, in turn, gasped, holding his hands over his mouth aghast. "He said immature, not irritating. That hurt, Scarlet. That really hurt."

Ben didn't look necessarily apologetic, but Peter liked to think that he was sorry deep, deep down in his heart. But he was pulled from their meaningless bickering as two cop cars turned the corner and pulled against the curb. Three cops stepped out onto the street, and Peter relaxed.

Finally, time to get a move on this thing. He's done his time waiting, now it was just a matter of making sure everything gets cleared up smoothly. He silenced the ongoing argument of who was the most mature in the group with a quick gesture, and they all redirected their focus on the former subject at hand. They watched silently as the cops approached the large group, singling one partier out as the leader, before urging them all to head home and stop their shenanigans or face arrest.

Everything seemed to be going fine and dandy, and for a moment Peter didn't think he actually needed to step in. That is until the leader-dude yelled something, it sounded suspiciously like "Kill the popo" and his group of bedazzled partiers surged forward on his call.

"Uh-oh, there it is!" Peter announced, already leaping forward, hearing the simultaneous thwip of his own troops as they followed close behind. He landed next to the cops just as the first partiers were swarming over them, and quickly yanked them off. When they didn't stop, he resroted to thwipping a few away, buying the cops enough time to stumble back and get some space.

No sooner did Peter get them clear though, was he slammed in the back by someone else and tackled to the ground, football style. Peter grabbed the hands scratching at his mask, and tossed the woman to the side, only to be instantly tackled by a man and another woman, both wearing matching glittery Captain America tops.

"Holy shiz," he said, webbing them in the face to squeeze out of their tight holds. "Calm down a little, there's plenty of Spidey to go around. Stop. Stahhhp!" He pried off the hands strangling his costume and backed up to get some room.

"Argh, get off me you little-" Flash yelled, pushing three other partiers off of him and webbed them to the wall, just in time to avoid another fist thrown his way. "Jeez, what's wrong with these people?"

Ben dodged an attempted-tackle from a man dressed in a glitzy pair of Hawkeye shorts, and when his friend rushed to attack him as well, Ben shot his barbs out in front of the man's face and he backed off wearily. "I don't know," he growled. "My guess is some sort of drug."

"That, or they're just a really dedicated Rave group," MJ commented as she brought down a guy 3X her size, who was actually wearing a very fashionable Black Widow skirt, and secured his arms behind his back.

And a dedicated bunch they were. The dwindling numbers didn't let up their attacks, despite witnessing their comrades continuously meeting the other end of a web. If anything, it seemed to spur them on even more. Thankfully, the cops weren't just standing by and watching either. They joined the fray, holding back struggling Ravers - Ravians? Ravi? - and secured them with the cuffs they had on hand.

"Heads up!" Miles warned, and no sooner than he did, did a huge burst of glitter explode near Amadeus, who jumped with a start and flew for the safety of the air. As more glitter bombs sailed around their heads, Amadeus worked on knocking them away by shooting them into abandoned alleyways and open dumpsters. Some poor garbage-truck worker was in for quite a surprise.

But Amadeus was one guy, and there were a LOT of glitter bombs.

One slipped by him.

"Oh - wait, no - Scarlet look out!"

BOOM!

Through the resulting glittering mushroom cloud, Scarlet stumbled out. He stared blankly, covered head-to-toe in a bright cast of sparkling pink and silver glitter. He coughed, and a cloud of sparkles puffed from his mask.

"Iron Spider!"

"Sorry. Sorry."

Peter wasn't expecting this to take so long. To be honest, it was beginning to border on embarrassing. "Alright guys," he called, eluding another couples' attack and webbing them together. "C'mon let's get this wrapped up. Non-violent, please. They're not in their right minds."

The police officer standing nearby him nodded, "Agreed. The longer they're out here the more danger they pose to everybody else." She looked toward her two fellow-officers. "Come on, apprehend them and cuff as many as you can. Miller, call for backup so we can get them all back to the station." Her comrades nodded on her orders and hurried into action.

Peter stared for a second, somewhat startled. That was unexpected. Usually, the police ignored him completely or threatened him with his own arrest. Never had they, dare-he-say, actually agreed with him.

His stupor jarred as his spider-sense tingled and he dodged an attempted punch to the face, humming in appreciation when the officer from earlier quickly apprehended the attacker. Maybe working with the cops wasn't so bad.

With the Web Warriors assisting, and the cops working smooth and efficiently, it was easy getting the rest of the group rounded up and immobilized. The Rave-engers was a large group, so whatever this drug was it must've been dosed in a large, outspread quantity to infect so many people at the same time. Peter definitely needed to take his teams on a scouting trip to figure out where its source was.

Once they were done, and more officers were called and on their way to help with the hung-over and exhausted glitter group, the Web Warriors clapped each other on the back and prepared to leave. Peter made sure to commend Ben for his glittery, costume upgrade, of which Ben responded by threatening to make him a pin-cushion. Same ol', same ol'.

The remaining officers positioned themselves around the Rave-engers, to keep them in line, and Peter, being the wonderful team leader he was, decided congratulations were in order all around.

He approached them cautiously, giving a little wave when they spotted him coming.

"Hi," he said, stopping a few feet away. "Just, you know, wanted to say thanks. Working with you guys was great, a lot nicer than fighting you at least. I mean, for me personally, I don't really know about you guys so, uh - but yeah. Yeah, so...go team."

The officer who had taken charge earlier smiled at him kindly, "It was nice working with you, Spider-Man," she said, holding out a hand to him. "Maybe we can make it a habit in the future."

Peter accepted her offered handshake in pleasant surprise. "I suppose I wouldn't mind, Officer..." he waited for her to elaborate.

"Paddin. Officer Jacque Paddin."

"I suppose I wouldn't mind future team-ups Officer Paddin," Peter said, beaming back. But it took a second to realize that she couldn't see it, and he quickly dropped the handshake to give her a hearty thumbs up instead. She chuckled.

The officer behind her scowled, glaring at Peter with a scoff.

"Nice working with him?" He repeated disdainfully. "Yeah right! He only waited until we were being attacked before he helped! He couldn't have at least got most of them subdued with his stupid team before we got here?"

Peter's enthusiasm fizzled and burst with an ostentatious pop!

"I - uh -"

The guy took the liberty of a step forward, sneering this time. "If you're not going to get involved, then don't! It's bad enough that you think you can take the law in your own hands, you don't need to make us look stupid too! We don't need you saving us, we can handle ourselves!"

"Valek." Officer Paddin warned.

He took another step forward, coming chest to chest with Peter. The officer was a good head taller than him and made good use of the extra height. He poked a finger at Peter, hitting him in the chest, "You're lucky our department retracted our orders to bring you in, otherwise this wouldn't be so nice and dandy. And don't think for a second that this will be a regular thing. We all know you're not a hero. You're just some stupid idiot running around and endangering the people who are actually trying to do their job! Jameson can spout a lot of junk, but I know you're nothing but a no-good, stupid-ass vigilante who only makes things worse!" Peter flinched with each word spat at him.

Nothing he wasn't used to, but, admittedly, it's been a while since he's experienced it so up close and personal. Valek, whoever this guy was, looked like he legitimately hated Peter's guts. Like he wouldn't think twice about zapping him with a taser and hauling him back to the NYPD in his webs. It was one thing see it from a villain, it was another to see it from a person he's never even associated with.

It kind of hurt, to be honest. He didn't know what he did to offend Valek, but it must've been something bad.

"And you know what," Valek continued grittily. Peter saw his finger inch toward his gun, and his spider-sense tingled. "I don't think Chief would even mind if I-" A hand suddenly shot forward and gripped Valek's wrist, just as it closed around the guns' stock.

Flash tightened his hold on Valek's hand, voice dark. "Drop the gun."

He did.

The next thing Peter knew, Miles was standing in front of him, arms crossed, Ben stood to his left, MJ to his right, and Cho next to Flash. They crowded around him, stiff and tense. Flash let go of Valek and the cop stumbled away.

"You - that's - that's assault on an officer!" Valek spat, holding his wrist as if he'd been stung.

"No, it's not," Amadeus said, arms crossing tightly over his chest, groaning metallically where it rubbed against his armor. "He didn't do anything wrong, and neither did Spider-Man!"

Valek's face flushed. "He's a menace! A vigilante, and so are all of you!"

"Actually, we're semi-SHIELD agents in training," MJ corrected him, taking a step forward. "And he just helped you take care of those druggies. You would've been mobbed by them if he hadn't pulled you away in time."

"And you know what," Miles added after her, "Spider-Man has been getting so much crap for helping you guys lately. He thought he'd just step back and give you some room like you guys wanted! He had us wait till you guys arrived so we could help you if you needed it!"

"Besides," Amadeus instantly picked up after him, "We're all aware that we have no legal right to interfere, and we know we have no legal authority to arrest anyone either! So how can you possibly blame him for that?"

Valek's gaze hopped between them, face getting redder. "You - he - he's - we'd be better off if he didn't interfere. If NONE of you interfered!"

"Listen here, punk," Ben said, stepping directly in front of Valek, blocking his view of Peter. Which was kind of hard, because Valek was a good head taller than him too. "You're lucky you have someone like Spider-Man willing to deal with the crap you and this city put him through! You should be thanking him for all the people he's saved, and the times he's helped you, the so-called police, when you were in a tight spot." He poked a glittery pink finger into Valek's chest, glaring heatedly up at him, "Don't start accusing him because you couldn't anticipate when a mob was going to charge you!"

Ben looked two seconds away from shesh-ka-bobbing the officer, so Peter hurried forward, softly grabbing him by the shoulder to pull him back. He allowed Peter to step back in front of him but kept his arms crossed as he glared at Valek over Peter's shoulder. On the other side, Officer Paddin pulled Valek back as well.

"Get a hold of yourself," she hissed at him. "They're not vigilantes, they're under the jurisdiction of SHIELD. Get back to the car or the Chief will hear about this."

Valek stood glued in his steps for a moment longer, glaring icily at all of them, before stepping back and stomping toward the car. Officer Paddin kept watch of him until the door vehicle door slammed shut and slumped in the seat, gripping the steering wheel hard.

She turned back to Peter, "Sorry about that. Some of the officers at the station are still kind of, you know, hung up on the past."

Peter looked back at her, smiling weakly even though she still couldn't see it. "Hey, no problem. I get that all the time."

"Well, nonetheless, you shouldn't have to," she looked to the rest of his team, seemed to give them a once-over, then smiled and nodded at them. "Pleasure to meet you all. Hope we'll see you around soon." With that, she rejoined her remaining officers.

Peter liked her.

But even though Valek was gone, he could still detect running fumes in his teammate's demeanor. As odd as that was, it also warmed his heart a little. His team always teased him about the media attitude towards him, but they've never stood up for him. It...it was nice.

He smiled lightly, with-holding the urge to wrap them all in a hug. "Come on, guys," he said instead, catching their attention by swinging up into the air, "Let's get out of here." Still grumbling under their breath, they did the same. They swung a few blocks away, a decent distance from the Rave-engers just as more cops were arriving on the scene.

"The nerve of that guy!" MJ was rattling off as soon as her feet touched the roof of the building they stopped on. It instantly morphed into an agitated pace as she walked a wide circle on the building. "You helped him. You helped him, and he has the audacity to get mad at you about it? Ugh! That's so - so -"

"Stupid." Miles supplied. "Idiotic? Unfair?"

"Dumb," Amadeus agreed, folding his arms and glaring over the building edge as if to pin-point Valek again.

"Exactly!"

Flash was up, pacing with MJ. "See, I saw this all the time! I always said Spider-Man was treated bad. I said it, and nobody listened and it's all because of Jameson!"

"I know," MJ said, "I mean, I still want to work with the Bugle and all, but that's so I can fix this. That's so unfair!"

"Yeah, well, we showed him what was what." Ben nodded firmly. How he managed to look so serious covered in glitter, Peter couldn't fathom. But it worked. It definitely worked.

They all nodded with him in affirmation, and Peter's heart warmed again. He was getting all the warm-fuzzies over here.

He sat cross-legged on the building ledge, trying to find the words to convey his appreciation. His emotions swelled however and every sentence he thought of felt mushy and gooey. Like cookies straight out of the oven. Sweet, but easily broken. Let it never be said that he wasn't the sentimental type.

He tried anyway. "That was - you guys - I mean - well," he scratched the back of his head, suddenly flustered. "Thanks guys. That was - that was really nice of you to do. Standing up for me, that is...I - I really appreciate it. "

MJ paused her angry pacing to look at him. Her tensed shoulders relaxed when she saw his head ducking, embarrassed, and she punched him lightly in the arm. "Hey, it was no biggie. Besides, now that I'm here, you can be sure that none of that is ever happening again." She said the last bit so serious Peter didn't doubt her at all.

"Pshh, they can try," Miles said, sitting on the ground with his back propped against the ledge wall. "Only if they're gonna fight me."

Peter smiled again, picking at the ledge surface. While he tried to avoid confrontation with people all-together, Jameson supporters or not, it was reassuring to know that someone was watching his back.

Speaking of watching peoples' back, he really didn't want the Skin-ister Six to become a thing. He jumped back to his feet, teetering on the building edge. "So, who wants to go bust up a drug ring?"


Just a few days later the NYPD was unanimously tipped off about a drug exchange about to go off.

Rumors had it that it was for a powerful new drug, the same one that infected a group of partiers earlier that week. The finest of the finest that the New York Police Department had to offer was on the task of bringing it down.

But when they found the location, a crumbling building in lower New York, the drug exchange had already been intercepted. All the goons were tied up in the middle of a dark parking lot, stuck together in white, black, and red webbing. A note was taped to the drug dealers head.

In blue marker, it read: Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Web Warriors :)

But beneath the drug dealer, there was another note. It was scribbled on hastily, but the message was no less clear: See what he did? Spider-Man is a hero. Not a vigilante. Fight us if you think otherwise. Written and signed by five different distinguishing signatures.

Officer Paddin smiled at it, already saving a picture to show Valek.

This was fun to write. Scarlet was glittery and I got to write about the Rave-engers. This week was a great week.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed a bit of fluff and some protective!Web Warriors. Nobody messes with their Spidey. Also, I really like Officer Paddin. :] Valek is a stupid lil' twerp.

Once again, you can thank WandaMaximoff and HiddenInMoonlight for this one-shot! It was fun and I wouldn't mind writing some more. :D I'm a sucker for protective!anybody toward Spidey.

That boy needs all the love 3

Also, chapter 3 of my original short-story "Inmates: X-227" has been posted as well! Hope you guys enjoy! :3

- OfficialUSMWriter/Mystery_Name out!