A man, dressed simply in a tight black shirt and trousers, had just finished a run and was taking a break on a wooden bench by the roadside. He took in the surrounding scenery and the crowds, revealing a sense of solitude and isolation. Just as he was lost in thought, a still-warm hamburger was handed to him, and a voice echoed in front of him.
"It seems you've recovered well recently."
The man looked up, only to be met with a swarthy face. Nick Fury, wearing his signature black trench coat and a black eye mask, shook his right hand, which was holding a burger to the man. In his left hand, he also held a burger, a large bite taken from it, leaving a large gaping hole.
"It's okay. I feel like I've almost recovered." The man took the burger Nick handed over. "This doesn't seem to be healthy food."
"There's nothing I can do. Sometimes it's good to have something to eat." Nick finished the burger in his hand in a few bites, took out the tissue he had asked for when buying the burger from his windbreaker pocket, wiped his hands and mouth, and sat down on the bench side by side with the man.
"That's the truth." The man smiled and asked while eating, "What happened?"
"Just a little trouble." Nick said softly.
"Do you need my help?" The man finished the hamburger in a few bites, took the unopened tissue bag handed to him by Nick, and asked.
"That's why I'm here," Nick replied bluntly. "There's an underground organization called the Hand. They specialize in illegal activities, and they're involved in almost every profitable business in the mainstream underworld. SHIELD is at war with them."
"When I first woke up and began to come into contact with this future world, I thought it would be a beautiful, ideal, and peaceful world. But after looking at history, I found that I was wrong. Now I don't know what else I can do, and those people don't seem to need me anymore." The man stood up from the chair.
"This world will never be at peace. All we can do is try to stabilize it." Nick waved his hand. Natasha Romanoff, dressed in combat fatigues, approached, holding a round shield. Nick, also rising from his chair, took the round shield from Agent Natasha and returned it to its former owner.
"I thought you only found me but not it." The man stroked the shield that he had lost and found, feeling a little emotional.
"This is Howard's work," Nick said. Anything related to Howard's work, even if it was just a random piece of paper, couldn't be thrown away casually.
"Let's go." The man held the shield in his hand and waved it twice with nostalgia. Then he looked at Nick and continued, "Tell me more about the Hand on the way."
"Of course, Captain," Nick nodded, motioning for Steve Rogers to follow him.
…
"Peter Parker?"
A woman stopped Peter, who was in casual clothes and on a date with Gwen. It had been a long time since the Osborn Industries incident for the two of them to have a private date like this.
"I am." Peter looked blankly at the capable woman standing in front of him, who made him feel a sense of oppression. Especially the several burly men mixed in the crowd behind her, who were vaguely detected by Spider-Man using his spider sense and were directly found. After all, their attention was too focused on him.
"Can we find a place?" Agent Hill looked around.
"Who are you?" Gwen stood up and protected Peter like a mother hen, which made Peter feel very embarrassed. He felt that Gwen had changed a lot in recent times. Although she was still gentle, considerate and understanding to him as before, she seemed to be getting more and more aggressive.
"Ms. Stacy? Don't worry, we mean no harm." Agent Hill glanced at Gwen and smiled. Then he pointed in a direction and said to Peter and the others, "There's a cafe over there. Let's talk there."
Gwen and Peter looked at each other in bewilderment as they watched the strange woman turn and walk away without the slightest concern that they wouldn't catch up.
"I certainly didn't sense any malice from her." Peter scratched his head. Ultimately, the two followed, confident in their own abilities. Well, mainly in the quietness resting within Gwen.
"Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Father is Richard Parker, mother is Mary Parker." Agent Hill's sharp remarks made Peter, who followed in, stiffen all over.
"You must be mistaken, I'm not Spider-Man." Peter denied with forced calmness.
"We are S.H.I.E.L.D. You may not have heard of this name, but I believe Miss Stacy next to you must know it. After all, she has been working and studying in Hebron for a long time. We will not get a person's information wrong, especially since your disguise is really not perfect." Agent Hill did not care about Peter's denial. She knew very well what the purpose of her visit was, which was to recruit Peter to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., even if the job was short-term.
"I have indeed heard of the name of this organization. My mentor, Dr. Tilda Johnson, told me a little bit about it." Gwen nodded.
"This is my ID. Of course, it's not very reliable. We have IDs from many departments. Show them if needed." Agent Hill looked at Peter, whose expression was still changing, and smiled. "Don't worry, we don't mean to expose your identity. It's just that your sudden appearance last time disrupted an operation planned by our SHIELD. We feel that we can't let you get away. At least not until the problem is resolved."
"A group of people that night?" Peter remembered that he had the misfortune of getting involved in a fight between two parties some time ago. He thought it could be resolved quickly, but those masked and knife-wielding men almost stabbed him several times.
"Those are ninjas from the Hand, an underground organization that runs all kinds of illegal businesses. We want to take it down, but it's clear that it possesses some mysterious power. This power has caused us at S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot of trouble." Agent Hill briefly talked about the two parties that night.
"What do you want us to do?" Gwen held Peter's hand and looked at Hill.
"We want Peter to join us, or at least not show up suddenly like before and disrupt our overall plan." Hill looked at Peter, who was still hesitant, and released the authority given to her by her superiors. "Of course, if Peter joins, we will provide a certain amount of financial subsidies, as well as some information about Richard and his wife."