36: Chapter 36 First Official Mission

Winter break ended, and the new semester began.

Peter and Felicia had completely made their relationship public. Harry Osborn tortured him with jealous glares every day, but Peter didn't care at all. The two of them would make eyes at each other in class all day, leaving their classmates stunned.

Besides that, Peter finally went to take his driving test. Although he was only fifteen and it only counted as practice, he was still pretty happy to be able to touch the steering wheel.

After school, Peter arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Underground Base. Natasha Romanoff was sitting in the conference room with two folders in front of her.

"You caught a drug lord and recorded it?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

Peter threw his bag on the table. "In my defense, I didn't know Daves was going to trade with Marcel. I just happened to pass by and decided to drop in and say hello."

"Didn't think about calling the police?"

"I was afraid Daves would run."

"And the recording?"

"Evidence. In case Fury tries to welch on the deal."

"And dragging your girlfriend into it, too?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"...I admit, that part was for fun." Peter chuckled.

Natasha rubbed her temples. "Fury is very angry about what you pulled. He demoted the technician who helped you identify John Travis."

"So Fury... is furious?"

"Shut up." Natasha slapped one of the folders onto the table. "Didn't you want a mission? Fury thinks you're ready. Take it."

Peter opened the file. Several children had gone missing in the West Bronx, mostly runaways or children from poor families. The targets were between 12 and 16 years old, mostly girls.

"Are you coming with me?" Peter asked.

"No, this is your solo mission."

"Meaning you'll be watching from behind, making sure I don't mess it up?"

"Find the children, save them, detain all involved personnel, and then call S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you understand?"

"Can I use any method?"

"Within reason. You are not allowed to post it online."

Peter put away the documents and took off his jacket. He ripped off his shirt, revealing the unactivated suit underneath. He put on his mask and pressed the Arc Reactor on his chest. Black nano-Webbing spread rapidly, covering his entire body.

"I didn't expect you to have cracked Stark's technology." A flash of surprise crossed Natasha's eyes.

"I finished it last December."

"He won't be happy if he finds out."

"Will he sue me?"

"No, he'll just have a breakdown because a fifteen-year-old kid spent a month cracking his technology."

"I stole a Hammer drone reactor; it was a huge help."

Natasha stopped wasting words and turned to leave.

Peter rushed to the Bronx. Night had fallen, and the city's dark corners were coming to life. He stopped a robbery on the way, but didn't dare to delay.

He arrived at the eight blocks where the missing persons cases were frequent. The place was dilapidated, and the residents looked wary. Peter activated night vision mode and moved between the rooftops.

He heard all sorts of sounds. The cursing of a father beating his son, the weeping of a mother, the screams of a boy.

Peter had intended to stay out of it, but the screams became increasingly piercing. When the father chased out the door with a belt, Peter finally couldn't hold back anymore.

He leaped down from the heights and landed between the two.

"Hey!" Peter shouted.

The man turned his head, and Peter casually punched him in the stomach. The man lost his breath instantly and fell to the ground, dry heaving.

"I will bring him back," Peter promised the mother, then rushed into the alley to track the fleeing boy.

He found the boy deep in the park, but a white van had already sped away. The kidnappers had succeeded.

Peter jumped onto a utility pole and followed closely in the shadows. The van drove around the city for over an hour and finally stopped in front of a building in Hunts Point disguised as a warehouse.

The garage door opened, and Peter saw fully armed men in black inside. This was definitely not an ordinary kidnapping case.

The building was three stories high, with all its windows painted black. Peter climbed onto the roof but couldn't find a suitable ventilation duct. He climbed down the wall and found a women's restroom window that smelled of urine and cleaning supplies.

He spread a thin layer of Webbing over the glass, applied force with his palm, and slowly pressurized it. The glass shattered silently, the shards firmly stuck to the Webbing. He pulled off the web and snuck in silently.

Ten minutes later, a woman wearing high heels walked in. She was blonde with blue eyes and looked exhausted.

Peter flashed out from a stall, sealed her mouth with a handful of Webbing, grabbed her by the throat with one hand, and lifted her into the air.

"Tell me everything you know. If you lie, I'll know. Do you understand?"

The woman struggled in terror. Peter's eyes turned cold; he grabbed the marble sink with his other hand and applied force, instantly turning the hard stone into dust.

"I can kill you without hesitation. Speak!"

The woman stopped struggling and nodded desperately. Peter threw her into the stall and used a solvent to dissolve the Webbing.

"What is this place?" Peter lowered his voice.

"I... I don't know! We were hired by a big company, just to do testing!"

"Testing children?"

The woman turned pale.

"I didn't know! We were just perfecting the formula! When I found out the truth, I didn't want to do it anymore! But they threatened my family!"

"Tell me everything, and I will stop them. Tonight, I will let all the children escape, including forced scientists like you."

"You can't save them!" the woman suddenly broke down and cried. "Because you can't save the dead! They're all dead!"

Peter's pupils constricted.

All the children... were dead?

"Monsters." He gritted his teeth.

"We really are." The woman did not deny it.

A strong sense of guilt welled up in Peter's heart. If he had discovered this a day earlier, he could have saved one more child. He thought of the mother who had been promised that her boy would be brought back. At least he could save one tonight.

"Tell me everything." He softened his tone.

The woman was named Betty Cooper. She and other geneticists from top universities had been recruited to replicate a genetic enhancement formula. They succeeded two months ago, and then the children were sent over.

"They made us inject the children with the formula, trying to make them superhuman. But... something went wrong. They all died."

"Why didn't you resist?"

"Because they threatened all of us."

Peter took a deep breath. "How many guards are in the building?"

"Ten on each floor, thirty in the Underground Room."

"What's in the Underground Room?"

"Gas chambers. The formula has to be transmitted through the air. The children... are in there."

"Betty, I need you to help me. I need you to get the experimental files as evidence. Help me, and you're helping yourself."

Betty hesitated for a long time, and finally, a flash of determination crossed her eyes. "I'll do it!"

Peter kicked open the stall door. "Let's go, save that child."

They snuck into the laboratory, and Peter downloaded the building blueprints into his Scanning Adapter. They split up; Betty went to the data center, and Peter headed to the Underground Room.

In the hallway, three guards had their backs to him. Peter leaped up, kicked the one in the middle, punched the guy on the right in the face with his left fist, and shattered the last man's nose with his right knee.

He stuck the three of them firmly to the wall with super-strong Webbing. His phone rang; it was Natasha.

"Isn't this a stealth mission?" Natasha's voice came through.

"It's now become a speed-run-the-Underground Room mission." Peter said as he used Webbing to take down two more guards and rushed into the elevator.

"Spider, do you have anything you want to explain?"

"Tell the Director he should have sent people when the children first started going missing. Someone is using children for mutation experiments. The scientists were forced. There is only one child alive right now, and I will never let him die."

"You should have waited for backup."

"No, opportunity waits for no one. Sorry, Black Widow, I'm not the kind of person who sits by and watches children get killed. Bring people to my location, don't hurt the scientists, beat up the guards as much as you want."

"Fine. Don't die."

"I promise."

The elevator door opened, and before the two guards could react, Peter dragged them in and gave them a beating. When the door opened again, only Peter walked out.

He made his way to the end of the Underground Room; the door lock was a digital keypad. He pulled out the Osborn decoder he had confiscated from Rhino and stuck it on the lock. A few seconds later, the door opened.

The room was full of instruments and screens. In the central glass chamber, a boy lay unconscious, covered in tubes.

A veteran wearing full armor and a mechanical right arm stood on a high platform, roaring at a group of scientists.

"When will it be ready?!"

"Just... just wait a few more seconds, the success rate can be increased by 12%..." a skinny scientist said, trembling.

"12%? I want results! Start the experiment immediately! Do you want to taste the fate of your predecessor?"

"Yes! Charles, start the equipment! Experiment No. 32 begins!"

"Wait!"

Peter shouted and emerged from the shadows. Everyone looked at him in shock.

"Nice weather today, isn't it?" Peter greeted them awkwardly.

"Spider-Man?!" the veteran roared. "Fire! Kill him!"

The guards snapped out of it and fired wildly. Peter had his Spider-Sense fully activated, dodging the bullets easily and heading straight for the glass chamber.

"I bet you can't hit me!" he taunted.

The guards were drawn to him, bullets pouring out. Peter dodged flexibly, and the bullets shattered the glass chamber.

"Thanks! I was just worrying about how to open this thing!" Peter laughed and jumped onto the wall.

But he didn't pay attention to the angle of the shots. A bullet pierced a nearby pipe, and green toxic gas spewed out, instantly enveloping Peter.

His vision blurred, and he lost his sense of balance. Peter fell to the ground like a fly.

"Idiots! You've killed us all!" Dr. Langer shouted as he led people to flee.

Peter was dizzy. The toxic gas was leaking and would kill the child.

He forced himself to stand up, his vision doubling. He raised his trembling hand, shot out Webbing, and plugged the leaking pipe tightly.

"Impressive." The veteran's voice came from the high platform.

Peter looked up, barely able to focus.

"You didn't run away like a coward." The veteran laughed. "People who inhale that gas die in seconds, yet you survived. You are very valuable to my employer."

"Sorry, I'm not anyone's asset, and definitely not the asset of a child killer." Peter spat.

"Sacrifice is necessary." The veteran took off his armor, revealing muscles even more exaggerated than Thor's.

"I'll give you a chance, Spider-Man. Join me, and we will save the World together."

"Not interested." Peter gasped for air.

"Then I'll extract the secrets from your corpse!" The veteran's right arm turned into a huge metal blade, slashing straight down.

Peter didn't have time to mess around with him. He raised his hand, fired a Repulsor Cannon blast, and blew the veteran's metal arm into pieces.

The veteran swung his severed limb, only to find he couldn't hurt Peter at all.

"How is it possible..."

Peter shot a strand of Webbing to seal his mouth, grabbed him by the collar, slammed him hard against the wall, and fixed him firmly with Webbing.

"It's simple," Peter turned around and walked toward the waking boy, "I am Spider-Man."

He carried the boy on his back and walked into the elevator.

Back on the surface, red and blue police lights were flashing. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents were arresting the scientists and guards. Nick Fury stood at the front, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"I thought we wouldn't see each other again." Peter smiled weakly. The effects of the toxic gas were kicking back in.

"I didn't expect it either. 32 children were kidnapped for experiments, and we were completely unaware."

"31." Peter handed the boy to a female Agent. "His original family isn't very happy; remember to beat up his dad after returning."

The female Agent looked at Fury, who sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Are you here to fire me?" Peter leaned against a utility pole.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't wait for backup."

"You did what you had to do. The intelligence was wrong; it's not your fault." Fury rubbed his eyes. "I'm here to congratulate you on your first successful mission."

"Talk to Betty Cooper, the blonde one. She has all the experimental files. It's a good starting point."

Fury nodded. "You look like you're about to collapse."

"I inhaled some toxic gas. My blood is special; I won't die, but I need to sleep."

"You need a Doctor."

"You'll draw my blood while I sleep. No thanks. Call Susan Storm; she knows my blood data best. Call her now."

"Fine. Anything else?"

"Get me another combat suit, a female one. Don't ask why."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Fury sighed.

"Yeah, you..." Peter didn't finish his sentence; his legs went limp, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Fury's anxious shouting came through the helmet, but Peter didn't care anymore. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dark abyss.