S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
"Still no word from Spider-Man?"
Harry entered Nick Fury's office, asking as soon as he stepped through the door.
Nick Fury, reviewing some files, looked up at Harry and shook his head.
"Nothing. It's like he's vanished into thin air. Our agents haven't found a single trace of him."
Harry frowned. "It's been three days. If nothing happened to him, he should've come back by now."
"Yes, he'd usually be seen swinging around at night, but there hasn't been a single clue for the past three days."
Nick Fury rubbed his temples. "What's going on with Stark?" he asked, changing the subject.
Harry nodded. "He's fine, no injuries. We've got eyes on him constantly, making sure he doesn't get kidnapped again."
"That's not the main concern."
Nick Fury stood and walked to the window, his one eye flickering with concern.
"HYDRA hasn't been completely wiped out, and we still haven't found that strange spinal column. That's what worries me the most."
"Is HYDRA really that terrifying?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is the world's top intelligence agency. Shouldn't we be able to handle a dying HYDRA?"
Fury explained Harry's doubt. "You don't understand. HYDRA back in the day was the world's nightmare. If they've resurfaced, it's because they're planning something even bigger. Stark is part of that plan, and it's possible your father might be involved in this mess as well."
"What?"
Harry gasped, instinctively clenching his fists, taking a deep breath to calm his emotions.
He wasn't the naive kid he used to be.
He needed to change.
Recklessness and anger would be fatal weaknesses.
"So Spider-Man is one of their targets too? He hasn't come back since that time... maybe they've already—"
"Harry, what you should be worrying about is them."
Fury cut Harry off mid-sentence.
Looking out at the neon lights of the city, his tone became oddly cryptic.
"Spider-Man doesn't die easily. The ones who mess with that guy are the ones in trouble."
Harry sighed deeply. "Spider-Man might not die, but Charlie isn't the same. He's disappeared again, and I have to keep lying to Uncle Ben."
"Off on another trip?" Fury asked.
"How'd you—fine, just next time you investigate someone around me, at least give me a heads-up."
With that, Harry turned to leave.
"Don't go after Charlie. He's my only friend," Harry warned.
Fury remained composed. "You said the same thing about Spider-Man."
"New friends need a little extra charm to build a bond."
"Who taught you that?"
"Charlie."
"Charlie..."
Fury thought for a moment, then asked the question that had been bothering him.
"Have you ever considered—"
"No. He is who he is. He doesn't say, I don't ask. That's the respect friends owe each other."
"Friends..."
Fury, usually stern, allowed a small smile to form.
"I have a friend like that too, but she's always too busy."
Harry wasn't interested in Fury's life story. He walked straight out of the office.
The elevator doors opened, and Harry was surprised to see Steve standing there.
"We've met," he said as he stepped inside, pressing the button for the ground floor.
Steve smiled. "Yes, my apologies for that."
"It's fine. It's all in the past."
As the elevator descended, the two stood in silence for a moment.
Harry glanced at the shield in Steve's hand and broke the quiet. "Got a mission?"
Steve nodded. "Yeah, dealing with a troublesome individual."
"Need my help?"
"No, I can handle it."
"Beep~"
The elevator doors opened, and Steve waved. "I'm off."
"Goodbye."
As Harry exited the elevator, he watched Steve's hurried figure disappear down the hall, frowning slightly.
"Something feels off about him today."
He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and pulled out his phone to call Pepper.
"This is Harry Osborn. When can we sign the contract—"
...
Sometime later, at a secret underground base.
"Clank, clank."
As the rusted metal door slowly lifted, Steve stepped into the dimly lit corridor.
At the end of the hallway lay a large laboratory.
Inside the lab were rows of advanced instruments and equipment. The most prominent feature was a massive glass container filled with pale blue nutrient fluid.
"Bubbling~"
Small bubbles rose from the bottom of the container, where a brain floated gently, connected to various machines that began emitting alarm signals.
"What's happening?" Steve asked the bald man next to him.
The bald man didn't seem bothered by Steve's presence, his eyes glued to the computer screen. His face showed growing astonishment.
"Spider-Man's brain activity is increasing. It matches the data you provided last time. If all goes well, we may witness his resurrection soon."
His voice trembled, face flushed with excitement.
"Mr. List, calm down."
Steve frowned, watching the brain's increasing activity with a mix of expectation and anxiety.
Noticing Steve's unease, List smiled. "Don't worry. We've divided his body into dozens of parts, stored in separate experimental facilities. Even if he revives, he won't have the ability to move."
Steve took a deep breath. "I understand. If his cells remain active, could we extract his regenerative factor?"
List's confidence grew. "Absolutely. This is my area of expertise. Once we have those regenerative factors, our soldiers will become the world's most terrifying force. World domination can begin ahead of schedule."
"Excellent."
The thought of what was to come made a hint of ambition flicker in Steve's eyes.
"Spider-Man, thank you for helping me achieve my goal ahead of time."
At that moment, he no longer hid the sinister smile spreading across his face.
In the dim light, his shadow seemed to stretch into the form of writhing, menacing tentacles, creeping throughout the lab.
No one knew what he had sacrificed to climb from an ordinary soldier to where he was today.
His best friend, the woman he loved—they had both given their lives and freedom for this grand mission.
That had been his choice, and he had no regrets.
Looking at the brain floating in the glass container, Steve's smile turned into disdain.
"A superhero? What a joke. The world is a place where only the strong survive. Showing pity to the weak is no different from suicide."
"To possess such power and yet be bound by the morals of ordinary people is the path of a loser."
"You chose to become Spider-Man, but I chose to possess the ultimate power in the world. The outcome was decided from the very beginning."
He didn't know why he was speaking to a brain, but deep down, he knew he was right.
He never saw himself as the villain of this story.
But soon, reality would show him who the true protagonist was.
"Steve, something terrible has happened!"
Suddenly, List received an urgent message and leapt to his feet.
"The Spider-Man samples stored in the other facilities have escaped!" he exclaimed.
"What?!"
Steve was horrified. "Escaped? You've got to be kidding me!"