Marvel: The Journey

A few days later, in the morning,

In Flushing Meadows Park, New York City,

Under a couple of trees, among the bushes that surrounded the root of the trunk, two people, hiding in them, were whispering among themselves.

"Are you sure we are at the right place? Tony? Hmm?", asked one of the men who was cleaning the lens of the camera strung from his neck along with a couple of other equipments lying around him.

"Tony? What do you say?"

He asked again but upon getting no response from Tony, he grew irritated and asked, "What the fuck are you doing?"

He turned around only to find Tony lying on the grass, using his camera to zoom in on the woman jogging along the pavement in yoga pants.

"You fucking retard!", The man kicked Tony's shin in anger and disgust.

"Owww!", Tony yelped in pain but he quickly covered his mouth to muffle himself and turned around.

"What the fuck, Jeff? The fuck is wrong with you?!", Tony asked angrily while massaging his shin.

Jeff scrunched up his nose in disgust and fired back, "What's wrong with ME?! What's wrong with YOU?! We are here to capture photos of Starlance and Storm's date. This is the tip we got after spending twelve thousand dollars! Twelve thousand dollars! Do you have any idea how much groveling and begging I had to do to even get someone to spill the beans? Nobody, I mean, NOBODY, was even willing to accept the fucking money! And, now, instead of doing the job you are meant to do, you are taking photos of random women!"

"Calm down, Jeff!", Tony said and sat up straight, "We don't even know if they are coming here. I mean, we could have wasted the twelve thousand dollars. Besides, I am taking the photos for recreational purposes!"

"Recreational purposes, my ass!" Jeff snarled and replied, "Most of your recreational purposes are performed in the toilet!'

"Hmph!", Tony scoffed and said while adjusting his camera, "I don't care. I will take photos of whatever I want until you show me the lovebirds."

"How about now?"

"Huh? What did yo-?", Tony was about to reply until he looked in the direction Jeff was pointing excitedly.

"Lo and behold! Starlance and Storm in the Flesh! The lovebirds were caught smooching in the park! Won't that make a clickbait title? Don't you think so, Tony?", Jeff asked while dollar signs appeared in his eyes.

Tony couldn't be bothered to reply because he was already taking pictures. Of the couple. Not the woman in yoga pants.

---

Val was walking beside Storm while wearing a casual shirt and trousers and also carrying three baskets full of food, cutlery in one hand, and blankets and other stuff in the other.

 Although the women around him had their eyes as wide as saucers while staring at him, he only had his eyes on Storm.

'Holy shit!', He thought while staring at her, 'She looks so goddamn hot in that white dress. Her hair matches with it. Her jewellery too. She looks like a piece of art. And..'

His eyes trailed to the back of her dress and he thought, 'The way this dress accentuates her curves..'

He gulped and tore his eyes away from her back. He had to look somewhere else otherwise he wouldn't be able to think straight.

"Val?" Storm called out to him.

"Yes?" Val replied and quickly suppressed the dirty thoughts in his mind.

"How about we sit under that tree?", Storm asked while pointing at a big tree, "What do you think?"

Val gazed at the tree she was referring to and nodded, saying, "Yeah, of course."

Upon reaching the tree, Val snapped his fingers, forming an invisible barrier that made them invisible to the rest of the world and also prevented anybody from entering it.

---

In the bushes,

"No!"

"Where did they go?!"

"At least we managed to capture some photos."

"B-But, I wanted the money shot! Starlance and Storm kissing!"

---

Val smiled, listening to the paparazzi crying and kicking the ground for not being able to capture photos. He didn't want anyone interrupting this date like the last time when the paparazzi were just outside the restaurant.

He didn't want Storm to feel pressured to date someone like him. The popularity. The paparazzi. The comments. He didn't want her to think that she wasn't deserving of him or that she wasn't worth it.

That's why he did what he did.

Storm turned around and noticed that the people around them who had been secretly following were walking away while cursing in frustration.

Confused by their reaction, Storm looked at Val.

Without waiting for her to ask him, Val smiled and explained, "I just made us invisible to the world. I don't want anybody to disturb us when we are spending quality time together."

"Oh!", Storm was pleasantly surprised and said while smiling happily, "That's so thoughtful of you!"

She walked toward him and kissed him on the cheek. Pulling back from his face, she bit her lip priding herself on making the famous Starlance blush, and teased him, "It's your reward!"

"Thank you!", Val replied happily and teased her back, "If I can get you to do that again, then I should be more thoughtful."

A faint blush crept up Storm's cheeks and she replied, "You don't have to, neccessarily, be more thoughtful for me to kiss you."

"Damn!", Val exhaled to calm himself down and shook his head laughing in delight.

Setting up the blankets and everything on the cut grass under the shade, Val asked Storm, "Ready for our second date?"