[Perspective: Peter Parker]
The door to the hotel room clicked shut behind Peter. He let out an exhausted sigh, dropping his backpack onto the floor.
It had been a long day. An incredibly weird day.
He had expected to spend his afternoon trying to figure out how to give MJ the Black Dahlia necklace, maybe grab some gelato, and desperately try to avoid looking like a complete idiot.
Instead, he had ended up getting unsolicited (and highly confusing) dating advice from the viral internet sensation doctor, who apparently was dating Wanda Maximoff.
Peter rubbed his eyes. The Avengers were weird.
He walked past the small kitchenette, heading toward the main bedroom area.
Ned was already there, sitting on the edge of his bed, looking entirely too relaxed for a guy who was currently sharing a room with a superhero experiencing an existential crisis.
"It reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love," Ned said dreamily, staring at the wall as if it were playing a romantic movie. "I had just finished my fruit cobbler..."
Peter opened his mouth to reply, probably to tell Ned that he and Betty had only been 'in love' for approximately seventy two hours, but the words died in his throat.
A shadow detached itself from the darkened corner of the room.
Thwip.
A tiny dart struck Ned square in the neck.
Ned's eyes rolled back into his head. He didn't even have time to finish his sentence about the cobbler before he slumped backward, completely unconscious, hitting the mattress with a heavy thud.
Peter jumped back, his hands instantly raising, his web shooters primed.
A man stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a long black leather trench coat and an eye patch.
"You're a very difficult person to contact, Spider Man," Nick Fury said.
Peter stared at the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., then looked down at his best friend, who was currently drooling on the hotel bedspread.
"You're Nick Fury..." Peter stammered, his brain struggling to process the scene. "...and you just shot Ned!"
"Just a mild tranquilizer," Fury dismissed, waving a hand casually. "He'll be alright. Probably sleep off that cobbler. So good to finally meet you. I saw you at the funeral, but I didn't think that was a good time to exchange numbers."
"No," Peter agreed quickly, lowering his hands slightly but keeping his guard up. "That would have been really inappropriate."
"That's what I just said," Fury noted, stepping further into the room. "The important thing is... you're here. I tried to bring you here, you avoided me, and now you're here. What a coincidence."
Peter frowned, his spider sense tingling faintly in the back of his skull. "Wait... was this a coincidence?"
Fury let out a laugh.
"I used to know everything," Fury said, pacing slowly across the room. "Then I come back five years later... now I know nothing. No intel, no team... and a high school kid is dodging my calls. Here's what I do know: a week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone. Witnesses say that cyclone had a face."
From the bed, Ned let out a loud snore.
Fury ignored it, his single eye fixed on Peter.
"Three days later, a similar event in Morocco..." Fury continued.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Fury stopped pacing.
"Peter? Ned?" Mr. Harrington's voice filtered through the thin wooden door. "Just making the rounds, seeing if anyone needs any emotional counseling. I know Venice can be overwhelming even without the crowds."
Peter panicked, looking from the door to Fury, who was glaring at him expectantly.
"No, we'll be okay, Mr. Harrington!" Peter called out, trying to sound as normal and un traumatized as possible. "We're fine, thank you!"
"Great," Mr. Harrington replied. "Because I'm not qualified to actually... oh, Ned passed out. I'm not really qualified anyway. Good night."
Footsteps retreated down the hallway.
Peter let out a shaky breath, turning back to Fury. "That's my teacher, sorry about that. You were saying..."
"A village was destroyed," Fury resumed, his tone indicating he had zero patience for high school interruptions, "by what may well be another world threatening..."
Knock.
Knock.
"Peter?" Betty's voice whispered through the door. "Are you still awake? Ned isn't answering any of my texts..."
Peter looked at Ned.
"He's asleep, Betty!" Peter hissed toward the door.
"Hmm... already?" Betty sounded disappointed.
"Yeah!" Peter confirmed loudly. "Long day!"
"Okay... goodnight," Betty sighed.
Peter turned back to Fury, offering an apologetic shrug.
"That's why it's imperative..." Fury started again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
"Hey boys!" Mr. Harrington's voice returned. "Just remembered! That canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria. Make sure you don't drink from the tap!"
Fury's eye twitched. He pulled a silenced pistol from his coat, leveling it at the hotel room door.
"Another person touches that door," Fury growled, "you and I are going to attend another funeral!"
Peter held his hands up in frantic surrender. "Okay! Okay! I got it! No more doors!"
Fury lowered the weapon, slipping it back into his coat. He looked at Peter, his expression deadly serious.
"Suit up."
[Boat Ride]
The boat ride through the dark.
Peter sat in the back of the sleek mahogany water taxi, wearing his Spider Man suit, the mask pulled down over his face.
Fury sat across from him, holding a black case. He held it out.
"What is this?" Peter asked, taking the case hesitantly.
"Stark left these for you," Fury said simply.
Peter looked at the case, a heavy lump forming in his throat. Mr. Stark. He traced the smooth edge of the box.
"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown," Fury quoted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the boat's engine.
Peter looked up, confused. "What?"
"Stark said you wouldn't get that because it's not a Star Wars reference," Fury muttered, shaking his head.
They finally reached the base. It was a subterranean bunker hidden beneath one of the grandest palazzos on the Grand Canal, an architectural marvel of hidden technology.
The heavy steel doors hissed open as they approached.
"You can lose the mask," Fury said, not breaking stride as he walked into the brightly lit command center. "Everyone here's seen you without it. You'd only be feigning anonymity and breathing through spandex for no good reason."
Peter hesitated for a second, then reached up and pulled the mask off his head, his messy hair sticking up in every direction.
"Come on," Fury barked, gesturing for him to follow.
"Yeah," Peter mumbled, jogging to keep up.
The command center was a hive of activity. In the center of the room stood a large holographic projection table.
"Over there we have Maria Hill," Fury introduced, pointing to a severe looking woman examining a data pad.
"That is Dimitri." He pointed to a heavily armed man standing by the door. "And this is Mr. Beck."
A man standing by the holotable turned around. He was wearing an incredibly advanced tactical suit that looked like a cross between medieval armor and futuristic tech. He had a green cape draped over his shoulders.
"Mysterio?" Peter asked.
Quentin Beck looked confused. "What?"
"It doesn't matter," Peter said quickly, waving a hand. "It's just what my friends have been calling you. We saw you on the news in Mexico."
"Well, you can call me Quentin," Beck smiled warmly, stepping forward and extending his hand.
Peter took it, shaking firmly.
"You've got a good head on your shoulders, kid," Beck said, his tone full of genuine respect. "I've seen your deeds on the news… you've done a great job handling your neighborhood. We could use someone like you... on my world."
Peter blinked, dropping his hand. "Thanks... I'm sorry... your world?"
"Mr. Beck is from Earth," Fury clarified, stepping up beside the holotable. "Just not ours."
Fury tapped a button on the console. A rotating projection of a multiverse schematic filled the air above the table.
"There are multiple realities, Peter," Fury explained. "This is Earth Dimension 616. He's from Earth 833."
Peter stared at the floating holographic spheres, his scientific mind immediately kicking into overdrive.
PS: I'm sorry, guys, for not uploading chapters over the last four days. It was my birthday, so I took some time off to spend with my family, haha.
PS: We need only 43 more Power Stones for the bonus chapter.
PS: There are 30+ Advance chapters available on the Patreon for those who want to read ahead. www.patreon. com/Drrajnovel