The unfamiliar young man in front of them stopped. Nightingale and Speedball cautiously approached him. The young man turned and removed the baseball cap on his face. Nightingale, Speedball, and Pietro were momentarily taken aback.
"Peter Parker???"
Nightingale gazed at the young man in front of him, somewhat puzzled. The genius researcher Peter Parker, featured in newspaper reports, was well-known. Everyone recognized his contribution to the research of sky trains and space shuttles, to say the least, he was the primary contributor.
The young man in front of him looked identical to Peter Parker, but also somewhat different. He looked much more mature than Peter and did not resemble a scholar at all, but was more like a street hero, like Daredevil Matt.
Speedball, however, made the connection. He remembered that in the recording Jarvis had played earlier, this young man was called Spiderman. He hesitantly said, "Spiderman is Peter Parker?...Is he proficient in both arts and martial arts?"
"I told you, I am not Spiderman!" the unfamiliar young man irritably waved his hand.
"What's going on? If you're that genius researcher, then why are you mixing with the paraders to attack the cops?"
"I didn't attack the cops!" the young man immediately denied, "On the contrary, I want to find the culprit who attacked the cops, find a solution to this chaos. I want to help them."
Nightingale opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say. He looked at the man opposite him who was speaking earnestly, as if he was not lying. However, the sudden appearance of this young man and his inexplicable association with Peter Parker and Spiderman, made him seem dangerous.
Nightingale hesitated, and a standoff ensued in the street. After a while, the young man in the red jacket turned around and said, "If there's nothing important, I'll be leaving. I don't have time to waste here."
After saying this, he made to leave, but just then, a car turned the corner driving towards them. A group of suit-clad agents got out of it. The man leading them walked up to the unfamiliar young man, flashed his identity card, and said," Homeland Strategic Defense Attack and Logistic Support Bureau Officer Grant Ward, now tasked to investigate the paranormal activity in the Bronx District. Come with us, Peter Parker."
"I am not Peter Parker!" throwing his head aside, the young man stepped back warily gazing at Ward's face.
Like most agents, Ward was expressionless. Seeing the youth's resistance, he extended one hand and gave a slight flick of his index and middle finger. Another suit-clad man stepped forward and took out a small wooden stick from his pocket.
In an instant, alarms ring in the young man's mind, but it was already too late.
"Cage Lock!"
Magic Power surged, shooting out like a bullet along the predetermined path of the magic wand. First, it formed a complex pattern under the young man's feet. Accompanied by a soft buzzing sound, a circular prison made from Magic Power trapped the man inside.
Another female agent stepped forward, closed her ring-clad hand. A portal opened with a "sizzle" sound. The cage floated and went through the portal along with the agents.
After the portal vanished, the three young heroes still remained stunned in their original location. Being the most flamboyant one among them, Robert was the first one to exclaim, "Wow!"
"That was so cool!" he yelled, "Did you see that? He just whipped out this tiny stick, and then he performed a super cool spell! How did he do that?"
"Isn't it just magic?" Pietro said, somewhat scornfully, "Haven't you guys seen my sister use magic? What's such a big deal about this?"
"But your sister is a magician. That's her talent. But did that agent look like a magician to you? He looked more like a mob enforcer, but he was also able to use magic. Does this mean I can too?"
Speedball's mind worked fast, he said, "I heard Doctor Schiller say that all new human inventions are first used on S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Maybe, in the future, everyone could use Magic!"
"Dream on." Pietro rolled his eyes, took off at a fast run, and was out of sight within the blink of an eye.
Looking at his retreating figure, Nightingale sighed softly saying, "Perhaps, the time of Mutants ruling may soon pass. If every ordinary person could master powers as strong as theirs, they would not pose much of a threat anymore."
Meanwhile, on the other side, the young man who looked identical to Peter Parker was taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D interrogation room. He was frantically banging against the bars of his Magic Cage, but it was not something physical strength could open. Either reverse casting or breaking the Array at the foot was required.
It seemed like this young man had landed in an extremely emotional state, forgetting that his genius brain could think logically. Instead, he kept hitting the bars and roaring, like a trapped beast.
Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room opened with a "click". A man wearing a white robe and glasses walked in, with a visible annoyance on his face. He stared at the young man's face and said,
"Which universe's Peter Parker are you? Can't you be more sensible and not add to my troubles at this critical time?"
The young man paused in his furious motions after hearing this. He noticed that the man's tone was more of annoyance than anger, yet it also revealed a hint of familiarity, just like an overworked father berating his misbehaving son.