55: Chapter 55 The Avengers Assemble 1

May passed peacefully. Peter and the girls missed Jean a lot, but Jean texted whenever she got the chance, and according to her, she was having a pretty good time at the Mutant School.

He and Felicia also went over the night they got drunk with Jean. The two reached a consensus that the alcohol had played too big of a part that night, and there absolutely must not be a next time. Peter admitted he felt a slight sense of disappointment when he heard this.

They also talked about Felicia's bisexuality. For some reason, she thought Peter would make a big deal out of it, but he didn't.

Peter's casual acceptance brought them a step closer, which was good. He didn't want her leaving him for another woman for some weird reason... Then again, famous female lesbian villains in the Marvel Universe seemed to be few and far between.

Life continued its routine. The first thing Peter had to do was repair the Web-Shooters destroyed by Magneto.

He learned his lesson this time, replacing everything with titanium alloy and other anti-magnetic metals. If Magneto dared to escape from the hole Fury kept him locked in, he would definitely make him regret being born.

Next, he rebuilt the EMP Gun. This thing was practically a holy relic against tech-dependent villains, making it indispensable in the long run.

While maintaining his equipment, Peter discovered Magneto's blood on his Web-Shooters and Bronze Brass Knuckles. The fresh Mutant blood gave him an idea.

He created a hidden folder at the root of his system, naming it "Mutant-Spider". Inside, he wrote down a new theory: Could he inject himself with new abilities?

From Jessica Drew's blood, he had already discovered that abilities encoded at the genetic level could be absorbed.

Since Susan Storm had said his blood would adapt to any foreign invader and extract useful genetic structures, theoretically, he could acquire any Mutant's ability.

Peter scraped Magneto's blood off his equipment and put it into a test tube labeled "M".

For the next month, he studied how those geneticists had injected Jessica with radiation gas.

Regrettably, he couldn't access the data on Susan Storm's computer without exposing his intentions, so this line of inquiry was temporarily put on hold.

Other than that, life went quite smoothly. The semester finally ended, and Peter naturally got perfect scores in all his classes. Under his frantic tutoring, Felicia and Mary Jane also achieved excellent grades.

Now Peter had plenty of free time. He told Uncle Ben and Aunt May that he was extending his working hours, but in reality, he spent a lot of time at the Baxter Building inventing things with the Fantastic Four, and the rest of his time patrolling full-time.

Spider-Man had now become his full-time job. People posted his whereabouts on Twitter all day long, and there were even websites dedicated to tracking him.

Because of this, he had to be extra careful to avoid locations where Peter Parker might appear, such as the Baxter Building or Queens. He also cleaned up a few drug deals and gang hideouts along the way.

However, there was another thing that took up a lot of his time, and that was David's training.

That bastard trained him to death, sometimes without even knowing why they were training, just because "it was in the manual." Although Peter complained, he had to admit that David was a good teacher, especially when it came to discipline.

At this moment, Peter was standing on the training mat, trying hard to suppress the urge to beat the idiot in front of him to a pulp.

"What's wrong, Parker? Can't handle this level of intensity?!" David threw a high roundhouse kick at Peter's head, which he lazily dodged.

"Yeah, after all, my opponent is the S.H.I.E.L.D.-renowned Agent David. I'm so scared." Peter rolled his eyes.

"If you spent as much time training as you do bickering, you might barely pass as a second-rate superhero!"

"If you pulled your head out of your ass, you might barely pass as a normal person." Peter smiled as he threw a punch that hit David's shoulder, forcing him back a few steps.

"Not bad, kid." David spat.

"Thanks, asshole."

"With a mouth that foul, do you use it to kiss your girlfriend too?"

"Yeah, and your mom too."

"You little punk—" David roared and rushed forward. Peter grabbed one of his arms, threw him over his shoulder onto the mat, then stepped on his chest and smiled, "I win."

"Agent David, from the moment you started bickering with him, you had already lost." A familiar voice came over.

Nick Fury stood at the doorway, looking exhausted. He nodded at Peter. "I've noticed this kid's smart mouth is on par with Wilson's."

"You're right." David groaned. Peter stepped back and pulled him up. David saluted Fury. "Officer."

Fury returned the salute. "At ease." He turned to Peter, looking at his casual stance. "Has no one taught you to respect your superiors?"

"They have. But my instructor also said respect has to be earned." Peter smirked.

"You are really annoying." David grit his teeth.

"Thank you."

A corner of Fury's mouth twitched, but he quickly wiped the smile away and said to David, "I need to borrow the room."

"Yes, Officer." David left quickly.

Fury pulled out a file and handed it to Peter. "Do you remember why I recruited you in the first place?"

Peter nodded. "The Avengers Initiative. Looks like I'm being drafted?" He flipped open the folder, which contained detailed profiles of his future teammates: Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk. A few people were missing; S.H.I.E.L.D. probably hadn't factored in Thor or their own Agents yet.

Peter said, "Wow, these are some heavy hitters. Are you sure Stark can handle teamwork?"

"You're questioning someone else's teamwork skills?"

"Fair enough. But when push comes to shove, the Captain and I will get along. Stark, though... he's a wild card."

"Agreed, but time is running out."

"What about the Fantastic Four?" Peter asked curiously. "I know Reed and Susan aren't keen, but Johnny should be interested."

"We evaluated him, but his sister insisted on keeping him from becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. asset." Fury looked like he had a headache, probably finally realizing how dangerous Susan Storm could be.

"What about Ben?"

Fury sighed. "He flatly refused. Said he already has a team and doesn't want to be used as a government tool." He gestured for Peter to flip to the last few pages, which showed the Tesseract. "This is the Tesseract. S.H.I.E.L.D. was hoping it would solve the energy crisis for good. But last night, it was stolen."

And so, the curtain rose.

—

Two hours later.

After Fury's briefing, Peter quickly got ready. He told Uncle Ben and Aunt May that he would be staying in the lab for a few days, claiming Reed's experiments were too demanding. To the Fantastic Four, he told the truth: S.H.I.E.L.D. had given Spider-Man a new mission.

David flew a S.H.I.E.L.D. private jet to pick him up from the top of a skyscraper in Queens. The jet took off and headed into international waters.

Peter sat in the back cabin fully geared up. His suit hadn't undergone major changes, keeping its basic design. Looking at the helmet in his hands, he suddenly asked, "David, does everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. know my real identity?"

"What?"

"I mean, does everyone know who I am?"

"No, only a few core members know. Agent Romanoff, Director Fury, and me."

"What about the other Avengers?"

"No, your identity isn't in their briefings. To them, you're just an 'extremely valuable asset.'"

"Good." Peter put on the helmet, snapped the buckle shut, and activated the voice changer. His voice instantly deepened. "Because I really don't want to hear them making a big deal out of my age."

"A voice changer?"

"Don't want people guessing who I am, right?"

"That's true."

Peter walked outside the cockpit and looked at the Helicarrier gradually approaching in the distance. "Damn, that thing is huge. David... do you think I'm ready?"

"No."

Peter rolled eyes. "But I don't think anyone is ready for this mess either. Let's go, hopefully we can help Fury find his 'giant battery.'"

Landing on the Helicarrier, Peter quickly walked out. Just like in the movies, people were bustling about like at a normal military Base. At a glance, he spotted a man who looked completely out of place—wearing a gray suit with a purple undershirt.

"Hello, Dr. Banner." Peter walked over to greet him.

Banner looked up and blinked. "Ah, do we know each other?"

"Spider-Man. I'm a huge fan." Peter extended his hand.

Bruce shook it hesitantly. "Really? A fan?"

"I've studied your work on using gamma radiation to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. It's incredible." Peter nodded. "My abilities share a similar origin. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, gaining spider-like agility, strength, and the ability to crawl walls. And... we've actually met."

"Met? I don't recall..."

"Not you, the 'other guy.' In Harlem. The big green one."

"Oh, I—I'm so sorry—"

"Sorry for what? You were trying to stop the Abomination. Honestly, it was because of you that I decided to become a superhero."

"You decided to be a hero because of that?" Bruce was surprised.

"Yeah. I thought if I didn't help you stop that monster, more people would get hurt. Then everything just fell into place after that."

"So this is Spider-Man?" a voice came.

"Yes," another voice replied.

Peter turned around to see Natasha and Captain America walking over. He grinned. "Nat!" He hopped over and gave her a big hug. "I missed you so much!"

"Spidey, I see you're still... as lively as ever." Natasha sighed helplessly, though a smile played at the corner of her lips.

"Of course! How could you leave me all alone with that bastard Agent back then? He's absolutely awful!"

"Excuse me?" Captain America looked bewildered.

"I used to be his liaison," Black Widow explained, "but I was reassigned, so I found him a suitable replacement."

"You didn't just find a replacement! You found me a boring old fossil!" Peter turned to Captain America. "Oh, hello, Captain! It's great to meet you!"

"Likewise, Spider-Man." Steve shook his hand stiffly. The man's arms were pure muscle. Steve turned to Bruce. "Dr. Banner."

The two shook hands. "They told me you'd be coming. I didn't believe it."

Steve smiled. "They told me you could find the Tesseract."

"Is that the only thing you care about?"

"It's the only thing I care about."

"You guys might want to step inside. It's going to get a little hard to breathe in a minute," Natasha warned.

Everyone looked around. The Helicarrier began to vibrate, and crew members ran out wearing gas masks to secure the deck equipment.

"Is this a submarine?" Captain America asked.

Peter watched as the two walked to the edge, witnessing the Helicarrier's engines roar as the turbines churned the seawater, lifting the massive vessel out of the ocean amidst howling winds.

Heading inside, Natasha led the way. Peter watched the Agents bustling around, finding it hard to believe that these people were all highly trained killing machines. They entered the bridge, seeing people busy at their terminals with Fury standing behind the command console.

"We're ready, Officer," a female Agent down at a terminal called out.

"Good. Let's go invisible." Fury nodded. The screens showed the ship's systems beginning to reflect the sky, blending the entire Helicarrier into the background.

Steve walked up to Fury, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and handed it to him. Fury smirked, then turned to Bruce: "Dr. Banner, thank you for coming."

"Thank you for the polite invitation," Bruce replied. "So, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get the Tesseract back, you're free to go."

"How are you guys coming along with that?"

Fury pointed to an Agent, whom Peter immediately recognized as Coulson. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops... if it's connected to a satellite, it's our eyes and ears."

"We're still going to be too late," Natasha said, looking at Clint Barton's face on the screen.

"You need to narrow the search. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce asked, quickly diving into the technical details with Fury.

Peter watched from the side. He had watched this movie hundreds of times and knew the lines and plot by heart. He also knew how to change it. But this event was too major; he couldn't change too much. The World needed the Avengers, the Chitauri had to invade, and they had to stop them. Sighing, he really hated this feeling of not being able to do anything.

Natasha took Bruce to the lab, leaving Peter and Steve behind. Fury turned to Peter: "Are you ready?"

Peter nodded. "Of course. What are your thoughts on Loki?"

"Wasn't it in the file?"

"It was, but I want to know your take. You've met him, what kind of guy is he?"

Fury thought for a moment. "Arrogant as hell."

Peter chuckled. "Don't they all tend to be?"

S.H.I.E.L.D. finally locked onto Loki in Germany. Peter knew what was about to happen. He, Captain America, and Natasha boarded the Quinjet, arriving ten minutes later.

The jet quickly arrived in German airspace, hovering above the museum where Loki was last seen. They saw Loki looking down at the crowd like a ruler.

"Go!" Captain America shouted, opening the hatch and jumping out.

"Natasha, cover us!" Peter shouted, jumping out right after the Captain.