SHIELD, New York Branch.
Nick Fury stood in the lobby of the New York branch, watching with his single right eye as the staff replaced the long string of words that made up the original Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division with the simple words "SHIELD." He smiled with satisfaction.
Ever since the Hulk incident, Agent Coulson had suggested to him that SHIELD's name should be simpler and easier to remember.
Knowing Agent Coulson's suggestion, Nick immediately adopted it. He had actually long disliked those ridiculously long words. The current SHIELD was good; the name was easy to remember and sounded powerful.
This was his second day at the New York branch. Too many things had happened recently: the Hulk incident, the mutant incident, Stark's genius disappearance, and so on... With so many events occurring, the few guys at the New York branch couldn't handle it anymore. He had to come in person to take charge.
After admiring SHIELD's new name, Nick picked up a newly submitted report and began to read it. The title of the report was—
Final Summary of the New York Mutant Incident!
Yes, as one of the world's most powerful regulatory bodies, SHIELD would not let mutants go unchecked. SHIELD had never stopped monitoring mutants for a moment.
He skimmed through the summary in the report, shook his head, and then threw the report directly into the trash can, before yelling in a certain direction.
"Who wrote this report? Tell him to go back and write a presentable one. Otherwise, he can go home and raise pigs!"
"Yes, yes, Director..." A somewhat scrawny man stepped forward and replied weakly.
Seeing the man's appearance, Nick snorted, then ignored him and went into his private office, staring blankly at the bustling New York outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
New York wasn't peaceful lately. Various incidents were constantly emerging, while Washington was very quiet, not even a single thief was seen.
Thinking of his visit to Professor X at the X-Mansion in Westchester County last night, Nick frowned slightly.
Yes, SHIELD had always been monitoring mutants, and as the leader of the mutant community, Professor X's X-Men were naturally important subjects of SHIELD's surveillance. In fact, SHIELD even had some deep ties with the X-Men.
Unfortunately, due to some reasons later on, SHIELD had no choice but to monitor the X-Men just like other mutants.
Despite this, Nick Fury still maintained close contact with Professor X to keep abreast of the mutant community.
Thinking of the Ron that Professor X mentioned, who possessed mental abilities similar to his own, Nick Fury felt a terrible headache.
'Ron, full name Ron Brunnstad, from Queens, New York, 18 years old, currently attending Empire State University in New York. Possesses telepathy and telekinesis. His abilities are very powerful, other information is temporarily unknown...'
This information was given to him by Professor X. Nick hadn't yet had time to have SHIELD agents investigate, so the data was scarce.
The two sentences of information quickly flashed through his mind, and Nick immediately felt his head ache even more.
He clearly felt that the world had become more complex. During this period, all sorts of strange people, strange events, and strange phenomena were emerging like a geyser, non-stop!
"The Avengers Initiative can't be delayed any longer. It must proceed immediately. To hell with the Security Council! This is SHIELD, and I call the shots!"
Nick cursed under his breath, then finally made up his mind to push forward with the plan he had long conceived. No one, absolutely no one, could stop him!
In this increasingly complex world, SHIELD needed a team that could handle these matters!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Just as Nick had made up his mind, there was a knock on his office door.
"Come in!" Hearing the knock, Nick quickly resumed his usual demeanor and told the person to enter.
The person who entered was a tall, dark-haired beauty named Maria Hill, a Level 9 SHIELD agent and Nick Fury's most capable subordinate. She had been dispatched by Nick to the New York branch the day after the Hulk incident, arriving much earlier than him.
Hill came in carrying a stack of files. After reaching Nick, she handed him the top file.
"Director, we have a lead on the Black-Clad Man incident from last time!"
After handing over the files, Hill's face showed a triumphant smile, clearly very satisfied with the results in the report.
However, Nick picked up the report and then put it back down, not intending to look at it.
Firstly, he knew that Hill had certainly thoroughly studied the report and could perfectly convey all the most important information to him.
Secondly, the mutant report he had just read had irritated him so much. The things written in it were absolute garbage, so he didn't want to see any more reports now; it was simply torture!
After putting down the report, Nick said, "Hill, just tell me the contents of the report directly."
"Alright, Director." Hill showed no dissatisfaction. As the person who had been with Nick the longest in SHIELD, she understood why Nick was like this.
Hill organized her thoughts, then began to fully relay the events described in the report to Nick.
"We found clues from the guy in the red Daredevil suit who was rescued by the Black-Clad Man, and from the masked hero named Spider-Man who has been frequently appearing in New York recently. After investigation and tracking by agents, we have confirmed that Spider-Man is the person in the Daredevil suit."
"Then the agents continued their tracking and investigation of Spider-Man, finding that Spider-Man's appearances and disappearances were all in Queens. After simulated contact and extensive investigation, agents have now confirmed Spider-Man's identity."
"Spider-Man's name is Peter Parker, 18 years old. His parents were originally with the CIA and died in an accident over a decade ago. Peter Parker lived with his uncle and aunt since childhood, but since he's in college now, he has moved out and lives alone. As for the identity of the Black-Clad Man..."
At this point, Hill paused, her expression becoming somewhat complex.
"What about the Black-Clad Man's identity? Hill, don't dally, tell me quickly." Nick saw Hill's expression and was somewhat displeased with her behavior, urging her on.
He knew that Agent Hill had always been his capable assistant, and normally, Hill wouldn't act like this.
Hill also realized her slight loss of composure, and resumed her usual demeanor, saying,
"We have confirmed ninety percent of the Black-Clad Man's identity. His real name should be Ron Brunnstad. He is a friend and classmate of Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Besides the telekinetic abilities he displayed when fighting the Hulk and Abomination that day, he also possesses mind control abilities, because our agents have all fallen into a coma without even making contact with him, and they haven't woken up yet..."
"Ron Brunnstad?" Nick's brows furrowed deeply, somewhat surprised by this result.
He hadn't expected that the Black-Clad Man he had been searching for was actually the powerful individual Professor X had described as having mind control abilities no weaker than his own.
In that case, from the current situation, the Black-Clad Man's danger level was probably no longer what it once was.
The danger level of this guy, whom ordinary people called Skywalker and SHIELD called the Black-Clad Man, could now be elevated to Professor X's level!
"What should we do about this Black-Clad Man?"
Nick sighed, falling into deep thought.
After a long while, Nick finally spoke.
"Hill, go call Natasha. We have too few capable hands..."