Nick Fury

Peter Parker was a bit off his game.

It wasn't just because the person he was looking for had suddenly appeared before him, but also because he once again understood what it meant to have the plot you knew be completely useless.

In the more well-known comic universe, Silk's story was mainly related to the Spider-Verse. To put it briefly, to avoid being hunted by the villain Morlun, Cindy was hidden in a facility for ten years before being released by Spider-Man, who had learned of her situation.

This had absolutely nothing to do with the current Cindy Moon joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and becoming an agent.

"Young people these days don't know how to handle things properly. They get superpowers and don't tell the government, get reported, and then trained by professionals to master their abilities."

Nick Fury walked over, holding a wine glass, seemingly with no intention of drinking it. Peter glanced at Cindy for a moment, not because the girl was attractive, but because, as far as he knew, when Spider-Man and Silk met, their hormones would quickly ignite.

But in reality, there was no reaction. Peter shrugged; it was probably for the best.

"They just put on a circus costume and rush out to fight petty thugs, completely unconcerned about being riddled with bullets."

"Actually," Peter retorted, "I was trained, and I wasn't at a disadvantage just now. Sorry, Cindy, no offense intended."

Cindy had already sat down in a corner, her reaction unreadable. Nick Fury, however, had no intention of letting him off the hook.

"Tsk, you think you're pretty hot stuff, huh? You took down a locksmith, an internationally renowned assassin, and... a whole swarm of spiders in half a month."

Peter hadn't even realized he'd experienced so much in just half a month until Fury mentioned it. After he finished speaking, Fury lost interest.

"Listen, you might think you're not bad, but you're actually still a long way off," Fury continued to grumble. "Take that spider-monster you dealt with this morning, for example. Did you know there was a live spider hidden inside the corpse of one of them?"

"?!"

"See? You're new to this line of work and don't know a lot of things. The Avengers... they think highly of you, but they always have their own business..."

Peter knew what Nick Fury was getting at.

"I'm guessing you're going to offer me a S.H.I.E.L.D. gym membership discount card, but I'm afraid I don't have time to sign up for your gym membership."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. can make you better, do things the Avengers can't help you with, and turn you into... Ultimate Spider-Man."

The offer was actually quite good, really. S.H.I.E.L.D. could provide him with sufficient equipment support, backup, and a more flexible communication network than the Avengers. If it weren't for the fact that many of the events happening in this universe didn't align with the MCU, he would have seriously considered it.

But now, unless Peter could rule out the possibility of S.H.I.E.L.D. being as riddled with Hydra as it was in the movies, he couldn't join.

"I'll pass. I'm still used to working alone. Even the Avengers just ask me to look after their place," Peter said, then came up with a lame excuse. "Besides, I had a dream. I dreamt I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and was eaten by a sh—"

He didn't finish the word "shark" because he saw Nick Fury shaking his head. Instantly, he felt his eyelid twitch.

Great, not only was the comic plot off, but the movie plot was too.

Wait, if you know S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated by Hydra, why aren't you reacting at all? Are you intentionally keeping those Hydra agents around to scam Hydra's funding?

"Eaten by a shark."

Hearing Peter change his words, Fury took a drink as if to calm his nerves. "Alright, you can accept this offer anytime. I'll leave you a number. Oh, right, regarding your multiversal travel, you'll be selected as an intern at the Baxter Building. You can meet up with Silk there then."

...Is that it?

"Can I ask you a question?"

Peter suddenly spoke. Fury put down his wine glass and started packing up, nodding as he did.

"What happened to your eye? Is that something I can ask about?"

Fury opened his mouth, seemingly taken aback.

"It was blinded by someone. It was a simple, incredibly simple hostage rescue mission. We had already completed the mission and rescued the target."

Nick Fury was telling a story Peter had never heard before. "Then, a man appeared. He killed all my agents, my protectee, and blinded one of my eyes. I still don't know who that guy was or what he looked like. I only know he had a metal arm, and the Soviets called him the Winter Soldier."

Was Fury telling the truth? Peter, who was already skeptical, frowned. If Fury was telling the truth, it meant the story of the Captain Marvel movie never happened, and the Skrulls hadn't infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D...

As Peter Parker pondered the plot, he heard Nick Fury's final piece of advice before leaving.

"Watch out for people with metal arms. Be careful of the Winter Soldier, Peter Parker."

"Your parents died by his hand."

"?! Wait, what did you say?!"

Nick Fury had already pushed open the door, walked onto the helipad, and boarded the helicopter to leave.

Peter, who had just received this completely unexpected news, was stunned for a moment before realizing something: Nick Fury had left without taking Cindy with him.

"He didn't take you with him."

Cindy nodded, still sitting on the sofa, pulled out a book, and replied without looking up, "Fury said we'll have some cooperation later. We can get acquainted first."

"He, uh... how did you join S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Cindy looked up at Peter.

"My parents found out I had superpowers and called the police. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up."

...So you were the positive example Nick Fury mentioned just now.

Peter sat down on a sofa not far from her, rubbing his hands. "I heard Madame Web say earlier that you could sense me? Is that true?"

"Mhm, you can't?" Cindy glanced at Peter and confirmed he couldn't. "So you didn't notice the spider-swarm still had survivors. I can sense you, your distance, your location, even the strength of your life force. Those tens of seconds you were electrocuted by high voltage were very obvious."

"Sorry."

Cindy looked up at him again.

"Why apologize?"

"Uh, for causing you trouble?"

Peter didn't know what was funny about that, but Cindy actually laughed. She closed her book and explained a little: "It doesn't really affect my life, it's just like... knowing where your phone is at all times. It's the spider-swarm that's truly disgusting, breeding constantly."

"Okay, my turn to ask questions." Cindy interrupted Peter's next topic. "I've watched a lot of your fight footage and learned a lot about your fighting style. After I attacked you just now, according to your usual behavior, you should have shot webs at me. Why did you throw a stool?"

"My web-shooters are broken, I can't shoot webs."

Then Peter saw confusion on Cindy's face.

"So not only can you not sense where I am, you can't even shoot webs yourself?"

She could shoot webs herself, but unlike the Tobey Maguire version, she didn't shoot them from her wrists. In fact, she produced webs from her fingertips.

Additionally, her suit was made on the spot with her webs. It took only a few seconds to create, and she could change into it before a fight.

Some readers expressed discomfort seeing Fury, so it has been changed to Fury.