Nirvana was not just bricks, code, and ambition.
It needed a soul.
Brendon King knew that if this place became only a haven for brilliant minds, it would calcify into another ivory tower. And he refused to build another cage for the world's best and brightest.
So he laid down a second pillar: humanitarian service.
No quotas. No obligations. Purely voluntary. But available to anyone who wanted to take what they had learned and turn it outward.
Aunt May's Army
Aunt May dove in with a quiet ferocity that startled even Alicia. Within a week, she had rallied half her neighborhood, a third of FEAST's volunteers, and a loose circle of nurses, teachers, and food-service workers who wanted to "help the kids help the world."
They organized meal prep in the Central Hall, drew up rosters for first-aid stations, and built out outreach programs that Brendon hadn't even imagined yet: mobile clinics, soup kitchen extensions, community tutoring.
May didn't just take the offer. She multiplied it.
And in her wake, Nirvana began to hum with a softer rhythm.
Peter's First Steps
One Saturday morning, May showed up at Peter Parker's apartment with her trademark brisk smile.
"Up. Both of you. Shoes. You too, Michelle."
"Wait, what?" Peter blinked, still half-asleep.
"You're coming with me," May said, tugging at his sleeve. "Nirvana needs hands, and you three have perfectly good ones."
Ned groaned. "But it's Saturday—"
"No buts. Let's go."
That afternoon, Peter, Ned, and MJ found themselves in Nirvana's gardens, sleeves rolled up, dirt under their nails. They planted saplings alongside university students, carried crates with volunteers, and handed out meals to younger kids tagging along with their parents.
Brendon passed by once, overseeing the unloading of medical supplies. He paused long enough to offer them water bottles and a nod.
"Thanks for helping," he said simply, voice warm but steady.
Peter blinked. Something in the way the older teen carried himself—focused, steady, like he'd already lived two lifetimes—struck him.
MJ caught the look and nudged him. "Crush already?"
Peter sputtered. Ned nearly dropped a shovel laughing.
But none of them forgot the moment.
Gwen Stacy's Choice
Meanwhile, Gwen Stacy was unraveling her own decision.
Oscorp had been suffocating her for months — the bureaucracy, the secrets, the way her work was twisted into products for profit rather than progress. Brendon's Nirvana offered something else: freedom to build, to grow, to serve.
She didn't hesitate. She resigned from Oscorp quietly, despite her father's raised eyebrows, and walked into Nirvana's Central Hall with a small box of belongings and a sharp grin.
"I hear you need an intern," she told Alicia.
Alicia arched an eyebrow. "You know this isn't glamorous, right? It's spreadsheets, budgeting, keeping Brendon from accidentally collapsing from overwork."
"Sounds like fun." Gwen smirked.
It was more than fun. Within days, she and Alicia developed a rhythm—jokes traded across desks, late-night brainstorming sessions over grant structures, even the occasional petty argument about which brand of coffee the community should stock.
And in the middle of it, Gwen found herself stealing glances at Brendon.
It wasn't just his intelligence—though that radiated off him in ways most people didn't notice. It was the way he listened. The way he walked the compound as if the weight of it was personal, not just managerial. The quiet conviction, threaded with something she couldn't name.
She leaned against a railing one evening, watching him speak with Marcus Hale about logistics. Alicia caught her look and smirked knowingly.
"What?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing," Alicia replied, amused. "You'll figure it out."
A Blooming Friendship
For Peter, Ned, MJ, and now Gwen, Nirvana was no longer just a name. It was a place where they laughed, sweated, and carried boxes side by side. A place where ideas mattered, but so did planting trees and serving food.
And under Aunt May's watchful eye, a bond began to form — fragile, but real.
For Brendon, it was exactly as he had hoped. Not recruits. Not soldiers. Just kids finding each other, in a world that would soon test them more than they knew.