A large group of high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. officials, including Level 8 and some Level 7 agents, stood before Nick Fury's desk. Fury's confidant, Agent Sitwell, who was responsible for direct communication between other agents and Fury, was reporting on the current situation. This bald agent would later be pulled out of his car and thrown away by the Winter Soldier, but for now, he was just an ordinary bald guy.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. teams have sealed off Roosevelt Island. No one can enter or leave. We've reviewed the footage and verified the identities of the agents who were turned into symbiotes, but..."
Nick Fury sighed in frustration. "If the Pentagon would just hand over their experimental data, we'd know where that thing came from."
The atmosphere in the office instantly became tense. Sitwell said nervously, "Director, the Pentagon said... well... the Pentagon said..."
Maria Hill, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Deputy Director and the only Level 9 agent, took over. "The Pentagon said that all the symbiotes have escaped from the research facility at the bottom of the Hudson River. They don't have any research materials to give S.H.I.E.L.D. and are refusing to cooperate with our investigation."
Everyone heard Nick Fury's helpless sigh. He covered his one eye with his hand and, after a few seconds of silence, began calling out names.
"Hill, Barton, Sitwell, and Coulson, stay behind."
The others left with a sense of relief. After the door was closed, everyone waited outside, listening to Nick Fury's furious outburst from inside.
"We are S.H.I.E.L.D.! There is nothing we can't investigate! The Pentagon tells us to back off, and we back off?! When the hell did S.H.I.E.L.D. become like this?!"
Hearing Nick Fury's roaring, both the people being scolded in the office and those listening outside felt that something big was wrong. But Nick Fury's outburst was far from over.
"Last month, the housing information for our newly recruited superhumans was leaked, and we still haven't figured out what went wrong! And this month, the damn Pentagon can just piss all over S.H.I.E.L.D.?! Is every single S.H.I.E.L.D. division a damn failure?! Every single S.H.I.E.L.D. branch a damn failure?! The source of the Pentagon's Soviet super-soldier serum and how Jim Hammond ended up in Southeast Asia—no one has been able to submit a report on any of it!"
"You're all failures! Useless! MI6 graduates!"
"Sir, isn't that a little harsh..."
"Harsh your mother's head!"
Amidst the sound of what was likely a vase shattering, there was a moment of silence before Nick Fury's voice suddenly appeared in the hallway. "What are you all still doing here?! Get the hell out!"
A large group of prominent intelligence heads scattered. After confirming no one was listening outside, Nick Fury painfully held his head and began assigning tasks.
"Hill, immediately prepare to negotiate with the Pentagon. If they start making any protests, sanctions, or any other nonsense, shut them down."
"Barton, get your team ready. If the clowns the Pentagon has been recruiting try to interfere, you handle them. Hit them hard!"
"Sitwell, interface with all national intelligence agencies within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s framework. Notify all intelligence cells embedded in foreign intelligence departments to steal any information they can get their hands on."
Fury gestured wearily as he spoke. After everyone had left, only Agent Coulson remained.
"Coulson, your 'Bus' team is to stop all current missions immediately. Get your people ready to analyze what's special about this damned son of a bitch and if we can find them."
Coulson nodded repeatedly, his hands in front of him. "No problem, sir. Just one thing: we don't have a sample. They took all the samples with them when they escaped."
"We do. We have Spider-Man," Fury sighed. "Figure out a way to persuade him and Agent Silk to join this operation. It shouldn't be too difficult."
"Understood, sir."
Peter Parker was thinking about the recent battle.
Most of the agents controlled by Whiplash weren't dead, except for the one he possessed and the two agents he absorbed into his body to use as bullets. The others were unharmed.
Regardless, Nick Fury was undoubtedly furious. The Pentagon's experimental creature had possessed a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and caused a ruckus at the Triskelion. Nick Fury would not stand for it. Even though he knew that the current S.H.I.E.L.D. was full of HYDRA agents and a host of other problems, he couldn't tolerate this.
But this had nothing to do with Peter for now. The other side didn't know his real identity, but they would definitely find out that Spider-Man was active in New York. There was no doubt that he would eventually run into the symbiote named Whiplash in New York.
The only thing that left him confused and on high alert was that Whiplash hadn't been released by Doctor Octopus's control method; it seemed to have escaped on its own. Did that mean the other three symbiotes had also escaped? If so, based on the name Whiplash, the other three should be Riot, Agony, and Phage. In the original 616 comic universe, they were Venom's children, but here, they were clearly not, just the same species. There was a high probability that they were looking for the symbiote dragon Grendel, which Thor had knocked unconscious with his hammer. But the problem was, not only did they not know where Grendel was in some corner of Northern Europe, but there was no such thing as a mutual attraction between symbiotes. How were they supposed to find it?
Most likely, they would come up empty-handed and then show up in New York to fight him.
After thinking all the way back, he finally returned to the lounge, handing an ice cream cone he brought back from the dilapidated cafeteria to Cindy. The ice cream came from the automated ice cream machine, which, fortunately, hadn't been damaged in the battle.
"Free cold drinks from S.H.I.E.L.D. The S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria has free, unlimited food. I was wondering if the Hulk came to eat here, they would go bankrupt."
"Normally, if an Avenger comes to freeload, we'd have Stark pay for it."
Phil Coulson smiled as he walked into the lounge, looking at the two Spider-Men inside. "Change of plans. I'm taking you back to New York."