Peter woke up the next morning to bad news: Captain America and the others couldn't return for now. A group of supervillains calling themselves the Masters of Evil suddenly appeared in Southeast Asia and engaged the Avengers in guerrilla warfare. These entirely undocumented supervillains, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, caused immense destruction. It seemed unlikely the Avengers would be back anytime soon.
This was quite a coincidence, as Luke Cage had only escaped a few days ago, and the success of the experiment suggested that the U.S. military's human experimentation project was advancing rapidly, perhaps even reaching a crucial final stage. At such a time, the Avengers were unable to return, making it hard not to draw connections.
The test tube Felicia gave him indicated that Hydra had likely infiltrated the U.S. military's Super Soldier Program. Hydra first leveraged the Soviet Union's power to develop the Super Soldier Serum used by the Winter Soldier, and then, after the Soviet Union collapsed, they used legitimate and flawless methods to transfer Soviet research findings to the United States for continued research. This organization, rather than being called Hydra, might as well be called a parasite, growing its strength by latching onto other nations; without others, it would be utterly useless.
But the current problem was that the Avengers once again didn't have time to deal with this, so the matter fell to Peter. And Peter? He wasn't entirely without help. Black Cat knew some things but had no direction for investigation in New York, while Matt and his friends likely had a direction but didn't know many details.
He needed to gather all these people. Only through collaboration could they find the hidden illegal experimenters and Hydra operatives. So Peter sent Matt a message, hoping to find a place for all participants to gather. Matt quickly replied that he would pick a spot. Peter wondered how a blind man could read his texts and reply so quickly.
As for S.H.I.E.L.D....
In this matter, S.H.I.E.L.D. was the least trustworthy. Peter suspected that Cindy reporting this would only accelerate the tension on Hydra's side, so it was better not to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. Until Hydra was uprooted, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s role might be actively detrimental.
And when Hydra was uprooted, S.H.I.E.L.D. would probably cease to exist anyway.
The X-Men were also problematic; Spider-Man seeking out the X-Men might draw unwanted attention. In contrast, Daredevil and his crew, being involved in smaller-scale activities, were less likely to be noticed.
Additionally, there was Felicia; she definitely knew more. For instance, how was she so certain that the U.S. military was currently conducting a Super Soldier Serum project and that it had reached a point where she needed to stop it? Though it sounded strange, Peter was indeed curious why Black Cat was now trying to stop all of this.
There had to be a reason, right? Hopefully, Felicia would share more information today.
Looking at the surprisingly unexpected meeting location Matt had replied with, Peter put away his phone and went downstairs. Uncle Ben and Aunt May were already waiting at the dining table, discussing the news of the past few days. New York seemed to have become less peaceful recently. The Avengers' busy overseas missions and Kingpin's imprisonment had caused a surge in ordinary crime rates in New York. In this area, which S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers overlooked, everything was getting worse.
"Doesn't sound good. How are things at the F.E.A.S.T. center, Aunt May?"
"The number of people seeking help has clearly increased recently; more and more people are becoming homeless." Aunt May's brow furrowed with worry. It was clear that New York's current situation was indeed grim. Peter could only reassure her that "things will get better" while finishing his breakfast, then headed off to school.
Midtown School of Science and Technology in late September was as ordinary as ever. After homecoming, the entire school had temporarily returned to its usual atmosphere. No one paid attention to the hidden talents within the school; after all, it was just a public high school.
Peter put his backpack away as usual and returned to his seat. Cindy was already in her seat, as always. As soon as Peter sat down, he heard her ask, "Why were you out so late last night?"
Now Peter somewhat understood Black Cat's mood yesterday.
"I received top-secret intel that needed to be handled." After giving Cindy a vague answer, Peter remembered something and added, "Don't tell S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. I suspect S.H.I.E.L.D.... S.H.I.E.L.D. might not be safe either."
"I understand."
Without needing much explanation, Cindy nodded in agreement and added, "If you need anything, I'm always available."
"Thanks."
Next was figuring out how to contact Felicia. After all, there was no detective agency activity planned for today, and since they weren't in the same grade, Peter had no idea what her class schedule was. Unexpectedly, this problem turned out to be unusually... simple.
"Heh heh, you know what? That senior girl yesterday, Felicia Hardy, she's on the school basketball team."
Harry was truly Harry; he immediately provided Peter with useful information. Peter gave him a strange look and asked, "How do you know that so clearly?"
"I asked Liz. You could ask Cindy... er, even if she doesn't know, you could ask Gwen or MJ."
Peter gave Harry another strange look, but he now knew where to find Felicia after school.
At the gym after school, Felicia, warming up, greeted a not-so-unexpected visitor. She saw Peter Parker not far away, apologized to her teammates, and then jogged over to Peter.
"Need any help, little man? Jessica's homework is too hard for you?"
"Perhaps. After all, who would have thought the killer was the detective?" Peter smiled meaningfully, looking at Felicia, who just smiled back without speaking. He then extended an invitation: "I'm having, uh, a masquerade ball, and some like-minded friends will be attending. I can't find any friends to go with, so, can I invite you?"
"Hmm, can't find anyone?"
Felicia looked deeply at Peter, then smiled: "Sure, but you'll have to tell me where it is. Let's exchange contact info, kiddo."
I'm not much younger than you, Peter grumbled inwardly as he exchanged numbers with Felicia, then sent her the meeting location for the evening: the rooftop of the F.E.A.S.T. building in Manhattan.