Hearing what Maguire said next, Aunt May—already shocked—slipped into outright fright. Not just shock, but a thread of fear. The name Hellblood Demon echoed through all of New York, enough to make children cry at night. She'd imagined Maguire might be some kind of superhero, but… powerful, terrifying, ruthless, ferocious—every adjective people pinned on the Hellblood Demon now sat squarely on him. Realizing Maguire was the very devil people whispered about left her speechless.
Garfield and Holland, too, stared at Maguire, bewildered that he'd tell Aunt May something like this.
Maguire said calmly, "May, since you already know, it's best not to tell anyone."
Aunt May, still drowning in shock, nodded blankly.
"And one more thing—our Spider Alliance gained a new member today. You both know him," Maguire added, glancing at Garfield and Holland. "Our classmate, Harry Osborn."
"What? Harry?" the two blurted at once.
Maguire nodded. "Yeah. And he's already arranging construction for our Spider Alliance base. With his resources, it shouldn't take long."
Garfield and Holland traded a look, then leapt up, thrilled. "Awesome—that's so cool! We're going to have a base like Stark Tower, right? Woo! What do we call it, Maguire?"
"We'll talk names after the site passes inspection," Maguire said. They both nodded, still buzzing.
Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ—inside the Triskelion's conference room—Tony Stark, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Red Hulk Ross, and Hulk Banner had gathered.
Fury stood. "We're up to five Avengers. That's enough to justify a proper meeting—to align on missions and goals."
Tony leaned back, unimpressed. "What's there to talk about? The Avengers are strong enough now. Unless it's aliens."
"Aliens aren't out of the question," Fury replied. "And we already have someone right in front of us we need to prepare for."
Everyone frowned. "Who?"
Ross's brow twitched; he'd guessed. A general knows how great powers work: anything that can threaten you either gets recruited—or erased. And the only power that fit the bill was the Hellblood Demon.
"Spider Alliance—especially their leader, the Hellblood Demon, Maguire," Fury said.
Eyes swung toward him. "But the Spider Alliance is our ally, right?" someone asked. "He handles messes we can't. Sure, his methods are… brutal."
Hawkeye and Natasha said nothing; they understood. Banner and Tony looked unconvinced.
Fury continued, "Here's what we do know, from digging around: parents deceased; just an Uncle Ben and Aunt May. We also have reason to suspect Maguire is the shadow behind the Fisk Group." S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reach was scary; their profile on Maguire was almost complete.
"We still haven't found the source of his powers," Fury said. "But we have one conclusion—after every battle he appears in, he's stronger than before."
They weren't idiots. Miss the pattern once, fine. Twice, maybe. A third time, and you weren't protecting Earth—you were guarding a bathroom stall.
"So," Fury said, "with our power leveled up, anything we can control, we handle ourselves—we won't loop in the Spider Alliance. And… be ready. If the Hellblood Demon loses control and starts destroying things, he becomes our most formidable enemy."
Tony snorted. "Got it. Because you can't control him, we have to prepare to fight him."
Even so, Tony thought, as ugly as that sounds, you plan for the worst. If he really goes on a killing spree… could we stop him? A concept for counter-Hellblood gear was already forming in his mind.
Fury wrapped up. "Normally S.H.I.E.L.D. won't interfere with your freedom. We'll call only when needed. Meeting adjourned. Natasha—"
Everyone glanced at Natasha, then filed out, leaving only Fury and her.
"Natasha—" Fury began.
"If Maguire really starts slaughtering and walks the villain's path, I'll oppose him," she said, firm. Then she turned and left.
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