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Chapter 32 - Chapter 32

 Inside the Helicarrier, the Avengers—apart from Thor, who had returned to Asgard with Loki—were once again reunited. Even though they had just come through a brutal battle, another crisis now weighed heavily on their shoulders.

 They were all seated around a large planning table in the war room, tension written across their faces. It was no surprise as one of the very items responsible for the chaos they'd just endured was now missing—snatched away by a mysterious figure whose motives were unknown. That alone was enough to make them sit on the edge of their seats.

 While everyone was lost in thought, wondering what the stranger could possibly want to do with those powerful objects, the man they were waiting for finally entered the room.

"Hello, Avengers. It's good to see you're all in one piece. Despite the fierce battle and some inevitable civilian casualties, you all did a good job defending Earth."

Fury paused, then his tone hardened.

"Loki is no longer a threat to us as he's being now held in Asgard. That's one concern off our plate."

"But do any of you care to explain to me where the Tesseract and the scepter are?"

"Sir… both items are no longer in our possession." said Cap.

Fury narrowed his one eye. "Where are they? Did Thor take them to Asgard?"

"No, They're not with him... someone else took them."

Fury's tone sharpened. "Who?"

Steve looked to his side. "I think it's best Natasha explains it. She was the last one to have contact with them."

Fury's gaze turned to Natasha, wich was seating beside Cap.

"Sir... both items—the Tesseract and the scepter—were stolen by an unknown being." she said quietly.

A vein popped on Fury's forehead.

"Stolen? Great. Just what I needed—another godamn problem."

He stepped forward, glaring at her.

"How did you let someone steal it from right under your nose, Agent Romanoff? All those years of training and experience were just for show?"

"With all due respect, sir, there was nothing I could've done. The one who stole them appeared out of nowhere and immobilized me instantly. It all happened just a few moments after I closed the portal."

"You couldn't fight back or even trie to hold him until back up come?"

"I didn't even had a chance to put a fight sir. He was too fast, if he hadn't paused to take the items, I wouldn't have even known who was the thief."

Fury's expression changed. Natasha—the Black Widow, one of his best agents—hadn't even been able to react?

"Describe him. We need a detailed profile if we're going to track him down. We can't let those items fall into the wrong hands."

Tony interjected, arms crossed. "Not that your hands are exactly the right ones for them either."

"Now's not the time for one of your jokes, Stark," Fury snapped.

"If we catch the thief, I'll consider letting you examine them. But first, we need to find that thief."

Tony shrugged. "Fine, fine, even though I don't want to agree with you, you're right—whoever that guy is, he's got some serious power."

"Before coming back here, I had Jarvis gather surveillance footage from cameras near the battlefield. Maybe we'll get a clearer view of this mystery man."

"Wait." said Fury

"You're telling me he was also fighting the aliens?"

"Not just fighting them." Tony said.

"He straight-up killed a Leviathan. With his bare hands."

"Two, actually," Cap added.

"There's also one he trapped in webs between a few buildings too."

 Fury's jaw tightened. The kind of strength needed to bring down one of those beasts was on par with the Hulk. And now someone like that had both the Tesseract and the scpeter.

"Jarvis, stream the footage."

"Right away, sir."

 The first video showed the moment the figure entered the battlefield. The camera trembled as he landed atop a descending Leviathan's skull, smashing it with a single, bone-crushing impact.

 Another video showed him in an alley fighting a group of Chitauri. Or rather, playing with them. His movements were fluid and sharp—like a martial artist crossed with a predator, his every move seemed as if it were calculated to be the most efficient as possible.

Then he was hit.

A Chitauri energy blast struck him directly.

"Why'd he let himself get hit?" Clint muttered.

"Just now he was moving like he had eyes in the back of his head..."

"Maybe he got cocky." Natasha offered.

"He didn't seem to be taking them seriously."

Bruce squinted.

"No... look at how he's standing. I think he wanted to get hit, it looks as if he's testing something."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, the green guy's right. That thief could've dodged that chitari's attack with ease."

"But why does it looks like he didn't liked it though?"

The figure's body language changed after the hit, and then in a blink of an eye he disappeared.

The camera barely caught the blur as he instantly appeared before a chitauri, punching the Chitauri who had fired the blast, caving in its chest in an instant.

The room fell silent as they watched the rest of the footage.

"Tell me that it isn't just me that think Natasha was lucky to be alive right now..." Hawkeye said, he was chocked seeing the chitauri group being destroyed in a grousome way by the man.

"I also think that way, I'm lucky he didn't want to silence me..."

 Jarvis continued to show fotage of the figure fighting through New York, killing chitauri soldiers, trapping a leviathan in webs before killing it and also gathering some of the aliens technology.

"Sir this is all the fotage I could gather from this strange figure"

"Thank you Jarvis"

Tony turned to Fury. "So? Can you track him?"

Fury had been silent during all the time the footage was being show, but now he spoke with certainty.

"I know who that thief is."

"You know him?" Cap, Clint, Bruce, and Tony asked in unison.

"Yes, that person was a vigilante, someone who helped civilians in New York a few years ago, he went by the name Spiderman but his real name was in fact Peter Parker."

Tony frowned. "How didn't I know about this guy?"

Fury crossed his arms. "Because while he was risking his life helping people, you were busy partying with Hollywood starlets."

"Okay, fair, but after I came back from Afghanistan, why didn't I hear about him?"

Fury paused. "Something happened to his family, after that, he disappeared from our radar."

"What happened?" Clint asked.

"They died. Remember that so-called mutant terrorist attack in New York two years ago?"

"The one with the elites caught in the blast? What's that got to do with this?"

"That wasn't a terrorist attack. That was Norman Osborn. He used military-grade equipment his company built for the government to kill the board members of his company that were attending the party.

"Wait, didn't Norman also die in that attack?" Tony asked confused.

Fury shook his head.

"He did, but it wasn't because of the attack, it was because of something else, I will arrive there later."

"That day Peter was also at that party with his family. They were invited by Harry, who was Peter's friend."

"Norman was crazy? How could he attack the place where his son was?"

"Exactly because of that he thought no one would suspect him. With the equipment his company had made he easily killed the board members. But fate played a cruel joke—Peter's family and Harry were also killed."

"They were killed in front of him, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Peter who saw his beloved ones disapear from this world entered an enraged frenzy."

"He didn't even bother to hide his identity he just launched himself at the disguised Norman, after a fierce battle, Peter killed him..."

"At that time people thought he was a rogue mutant and also the culprit of the terrorist attack. Some politicians in charge also thought it was a good idea to put the blame on him."

"Not only they could take a bite out of Osborn Industries, they could also inflame the anti-mutant moviment, a win win situation for them."

"Not only his family and friend were killed before him, he was also blamed for the attack... It's no surprise that he vanished without a trace." said Natasha

"Well that is true, but a few months ago one of our hidden sensors in his old house was activated."

"So when I saw the footage, I hoped he had returned to protect people again..."

Fury's expression darkened.

"But he didn't save anyone. Instead, he stole two of the most dangerous objects on Earth."

 Hearing Peter's tragic story, the Avengers couldn't help but fall silent, wondering what they would do if they were in his shoes.

 Bruce in particular was the most affected, his mind wandered thinking about one of his loved ones dying in front of him without being able to do anything to stop it, and this is something that had almost happened to him... remembering the scene an inexplicable rage arose within him.

But before the situation could get out of hand, a hand touched his shoulder.

The person who put his hand on his shoulder was Captain America.

Cap stood beside him.

"I know what it's like to lose people you care about. During the war, I lost friends—brothers. I made it through because I had people to lean on. But I don't think Peter has anyone left. If he did, maybe he wouldn't have done this. Maybe we can be that support."

"Touching speech, Cap," Tony said. "But if he doesn't have anyone, I doubt he wants anything to do with us."

 They were dealing with a ticking time bomb. A man who had lost everything and been blamed for it.

"I hate to bring more bad news," Tony added, "but do you all remember what the scepter does? It can control minds... and mess with emotions."

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Clint muttered. "If he wasn't planning something before, he might now. That thing messes with your head."

Everyone nodded grimly.

"Then we have no time to waste," Fury said. "Dr. Banner, can you track the Tesseract like before?"

"Without the scepter as a guide, it'll be harder... but not impossible. If we use the same parameters, we might be able to locate it."

"Good. Stark, assist him. Also check security cameras for a trail."

"Cap, Natasha, Clint—I want you three to visit Peter's old home. Find anything that might help us reach him. Something that can calm him down or earn his trust."

Fury looked across the room.

"Let's hope we're not too late..."

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