After Harry Osborn's departure, Stark Tower fell into an unusual silence. The kind of quiet that settles over a place when momentous events are about to unfold.
Tony had originally expected Ben to keep their appointment personally tonight. As one of the few geniuses that Tony actually respected, he took Ben's invitation very seriously indeed.
But instead of Ben showing up, Harry Osborn had arrived as a messenger, and what was even more intriguing was that Ben had specifically asked Harry to leave behind a communication device bearing the distinctive Plumbers symbol.
Of course Tony recognized that logo immediately.
"Could it be that Ben is actually connected to the Plumbers organization?" Tony mused aloud, pinching his chin thoughtfully.
It could be said that on this Earth, he had been the first person to recognize the existence of the mysterious alien organization, and he had also been the first superhero to engage in combat with Ben's extraterrestrial forms.
Of course, the Plumbers hadn't even existed at that time, technically speaking.
"Jarvis, disconnect all external network connections and access the file labeled 'Alien'" Tony instructed, following Ben's security recommendations to the letter.
Jarvis calmly accessed the designated folder, and a series of holographic images projected into the air around Tony's workshop. Several creatures of distinctly different shapes were captured from various angles with remarkable clarity.
First came XLR8, then Heatblast...
Tony had to admit his photography skills were quite impressive. The image of Heatblast descending from the sky looked genuinely spectacular and heroic.
In addition to these two forms that Tony had witnessed personally, the files also contained data on Four Arms and Diamondhead, which had been obtained from internal SHIELD intelligence networks.
Tony had hacked those systems himself, naturally.
Nick Fury—a man whose heart was apparently even darker than his complexion—had promised to share information with Tony, but had deliberately concealed the fact that SHIELD agents had encountered Four Arms and Diamondhead during the incident in New Mexico.
That manipulative spymaster is thoroughly untrustworthy!
But right now, what truly captured Tony's attention was the potential connection between Ben and this alien organization.
There was no point in endless speculation, so he decided to immediately examine the USB drive that Ben had provided.
After plugging it into his secure system, the data loaded immediately.
"Surveillance footage?" Tony said with confusion, then his pupils contracted sharply.
The surveillance video displayed on his screen showed a date stamp of December 16, 1991. That fateful year when everything had changed for the Stark family forever.
"He watched in horror as a masked assassin coldly strangled Howard Stark to death, then turned to his mother and emotionlessly fired several shots into her as she sat helpless in the car."
Finally, the killer raised his head and looked directly at the surveillance camera from below. His eyes, filled with arctic coldness, seemed to be staring at Tony through the machine and across nearly thirty years of time.
The black muzzle of the gun was aimed directly at what felt like Tony's heart.
BANG!
The recorded image shattered as the camera was destroyed.
Tony felt as if he'd been shot himself, his body shaking violently. He gripped the edge of his workbench for support, his face draining of all color.
Tony's breathing became rapid and labored, each breath feeling insufficient.
He felt dizzy, as if he'd lost significant blood. His legs went weak, and he collapsed into his chair.
At this moment, he didn't care at all about the hidden agendas of those so-called aliens or their mysterious organization. He had only one burning desire: to find the murderer who had killed his parents and use his armor's repulsors to obliterate the bastard's head.
"Call Ben Parker immediately," he commanded through gritted teeth.
"Sir, Harry Osborn specifically instructed you not to contact Mr. Parker at this time," Jarvis responded, declining to follow the order immediately.
This forced Tony to pause and consider the implications.
The crucial question was whether SHIELD could be trusted at all.
When Harry had left, he'd specifically mentioned that Ben was currently inside SHIELD headquarters and had strongly advised against immediate contact.
This suggested that Ben himself didn't fully trust the organization.
So Tony remained seated, nervously bouncing his leg with barely contained energy. After several minutes of internal struggle, he stood up and opened a fresh bottle of his most expensive scotch.
Meanwhile, inside SHIELD headquarters, Ben and Nick Fury had concluded their somewhat heated negotiation, and Ben had requested permission to tour the helicarrier.
"I've never even been on a cruise ship in my entire life, but I never imagined I'd get the chance to explore an aircraft carrier," Ben said with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm. "Would it be possible for us to take a guided tour?"
"Absolutely," Nick agreed without hesitation, though he felt compelled to add an important caveat: "But I need to make it clear upfront that not all areas are accessible to visitors. There are numerous sections of this carrier that are classified as restricted zones."
In response, Ben immediately nodded with apparent understanding. "Just like my company. Not every floor is open to the general public."
Nick was pleasantly surprised to find that Ben had suddenly become much more reasonable and cooperative.
Ben explained with a casual shrug: "Come on, I'm being pretty accommodating here. If I had decided to bypass all your security systems and simply appeared in your office unannounced, do you honestly think you wouldn't have had every agent on this ship drawing weapons?"
"Besides, if I genuinely wanted to eliminate you, I could have torn your head off back there."
Nick Fury considered this assessment and found it disturbingly accurate.
Then he remembered Ben's earlier mention of wanting to study the Tesseract. Since SHIELD had secretly restarted the research program and begun developing weapons, progress had been frustratingly slow. If Ben could join the research team, they might achieve some unexpected breakthroughs.
But even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew it was impossible to actually invite Ben to participate in such classified research.
As a veteran intelligence operative, Nick Fury wasn't foolish enough to reveal his true operations to someone he couldn't completely trust.
In his professional assessment, Ben Parker presented two significant problems: first, he couldn't be fully trusted, and second, he couldn't be completely controlled.
Since the Avengers were structured as an alliance rather than a traditional military unit, they lacked substantial binding authority.
Nick couldn't consider himself Ben's direct superior, and he certainly couldn't afford to employ someone with a net worth in the hundreds of billions.
"I'll have the Captain show you around," Nick decided. "Coincidentally, he'll be leading the Avengers in the future anyway."
Delegating superhero matters to superheroes was exactly what Ben had hoped for.
If there was anyone within SHIELD that Ben genuinely wanted to recruit, Steve Rogers was definitely at the top of that list.
This aligned perfectly with what he'd told Peter earlier—Captain America would be an invaluable asset.
Not only that, but Captain America was also a formidable combat unit in his own right.
Setting aside his legendary ability to somehow achieve draws against vastly superior opponents, the current situation was ideal. With Thor reduced to swinging a sledgehammer at construction sites and his actual hammer confiscated by SHIELD, winning over Captain America was equivalent to gaining access to Thor as well.
Under the pretense of joining the Avengers, Ben was executing a two-pronged strategy. On one hand, he'd sent Harry to approach Tony Stark, who wasn't yet an Avengers member, while on the other hand, he was preparing to convince Captain America to question his current allegiances.
Originally, Peter could have handled this diplomatic mission himself, just as Harry was contacting Tony.
But the problem was that Peter was far too naive and honest. He couldn't lie convincingly to save his life. If they threw him into this nest of spies alone, Ben was certain those venomous serpents would devour him completely.
Nick allowing them to operate with relative independence was exactly what Ben wanted.
However, the actual situation wasn't quite as favorable as Ben had initially hoped.
Although Nick Fury had said that Captain America would give them a tour, in reality, no matter where Ben and Peter went, they would occasionally encounter one or two SHIELD agents who just happened to be walking by.
Clearly, they were under surveillance.
But Ben wasn't certain who had ordered this monitoring.
It could be Nick Fury maintaining standard security protocols. It could be Hydra operatives keeping tabs on potential threats. Or it could be spies from some other organization entirely.
Numerous parties would have legitimate interest in Spider-Man's true identity.
Seeing this situation, Ben had to postpone showing Captain America the materials he'd prepared and instead focus on building rapport through casual conversation.
"You know, Captain, when I heard Spider-Man tell me you were still alive, I thought he was having some kind of wishful thinking fantasy."
Hearing this, Captain America smiled with genuine warmth and said, "Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a dream myself."
"That must be incredibly disorienting," Ben said with sympathy.
"It really is. The world is changing at such an incredible pace. My enemies used to be just soldiers with conventional weapons, but now I have to face all kinds of monsters, robots, and technologies I can barely comprehend..." Steve paused, gathering his thoughts. "And the way we live now is so different. You know, the bed they arranged for me is incredibly soft. Sometimes I feel like I'm lying on a cloud and sinking into it. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I'm floating in some ethereal realm."
Perhaps because Steve recognized that Ben and Peter were both relatively young, he relaxed his usual guard and spoke more openly than he typically would with SHIELD personnel.
"Post-traumatic stress?" Ben asked gently.
"Not exactly. I think it's more like an elderly man who feels completely lost after being thrust into an era that doesn't belong to him," Steve said with self-deprecating humor.
Ben could understand this feeling perfectly.
An old man from a bygone era, who struggled with basic modern devices and had to write down notes about every new thing he encountered, suddenly finding himself in a dazzling world of incomprehensible complexity.
"I think you're still very young at heart, Captain. Don't talk like that—I'm actually a big fan," Ben said encouragingly.
On the other side of the helicarrier, Nick Fury, who was monitoring their conversation through surveillance equipment, sneered dismissively. "That's obviously a lie!"
"In the past several years, there have been only a handful of searches related to Captain America in Ben Parker's browsing history, but there have been quite a few searches related to... let's say, other entertainment."
After hearing this revelation, Natasha turned off her communicator with obvious annoyance, then rolled her eyes dramatically and said, "Boss, sometimes there are very good reasons why people don't like you."
"Don't misunderstand my methods. I'm doing this for the security of humanity," Nick Fury responded immediately. "Didn't you notice that he's clearly trying to manipulate the Captain?"
"Maybe he's just trying to find common ground for conversation. Otherwise, it would be pretty rude to just say 'Old man, I'm not interested in your problems at all,'" Hawkeye laughed from his position. "The Captain is going to be their team leader eventually, so there's nothing wrong with building rapport."
Back with Ben and Captain America, Ben could clearly sense that Steve was genuinely struggling with profound confusion about this new world.
He felt lost, isolated, and deeply uncertain about his place in modern society.
All the people he'd known and cared about were long dead, and this prosperous world might not actually need Captain America anymore.
Therefore, when he'd first heard from Nick Fury that Hydra remnants still existed, in addition to righteous anger, Steve had actually felt a measure of relief.
This meant he still had a purpose.
This meant that this relic who had been frozen for seventy years still had some value and relevance in the modern world.