A Turkish kebab shop a few blocks away from Stark Tower.
Tony and Fury each held a kebab they'd only taken half a bite out of, and both fell into silence.
With Stark Tower destroyed, it had almost ended up like Oscorp Tower, nothing but an empty shell.
No, at least Oscorp Tower still had plenty of facilities inside that hadn't been burned clean, and its ceiling hadn't been blown open.
Anyway, to make the conversation easier, Tony and Fury picked the nearest place to eat, had the food served, and then cleared the whole shop.
Only, the taste of this food was… something else.
Even a dog would turn its nose up at it.
Fury tossed the kebab in his hand aside, then glanced at Natasha, who was tilting her head back and going glug glug glug to rehydrate, before speaking.
"You're saying the Flame Man who showed up at Stark Industries claimed he was a 'Sheriff of the Tiangong Association'?"
"That's what he said." Tony grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth, then took a drink to rinse the taste away.
Even now, he still hadn't taken off his armor. With Stark Tower gone, there was basically nothing left of his workshop.
The Mark IV still needed mechanical assistance to put on and take off.
"As for anything beyond that, shouldn't you be asking Norman Osborn?" Tony said, pulling up several photos.
"The Lizard in Williamsburg, the Dinosaur Man that attacked Midtown High, and tonight's monster…"
Each photo was more terrifying than the last.
"Biotech is Osborn's specialty. Stark used to do military manufacturing, and now we've switched to energy sales," Tony said, wearing a face that clearly read: what does this have to do with me?
Then he casually flicked his phone and added, "I've already decided I'm going to demand compensation from Osborn."
He was rich, sure, but that didn't mean he wanted to be the sucker paying for everything.
"I'm afraid he can't compensate you at all," Fury said, shaking his head.
Something this big had happened, so as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, he'd already investigated Osborn thoroughly.
But Oscorp was already wobbling on the edge.
"Norman Osborn was this close to being kicked off the board," Fury said with a sigh.
"And now all the blame has been dumped on a researcher named Curt Connors."
Fury wasn't lamenting Oscorp's decline.
He was lamenting the fact that Connors was missing, and the research results had vanished with him.
Research that dangerous should obviously be stored by S.H.I.E.L.D., shouldn't it?
Locking dangerous things inside S.H.I.E.L.D. was like keeping talismans in Sector Thirteen.
One word: safe.
In Fury's view, everything should be in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands, and every organization should be under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supervision.
Otherwise, it was a threat.
He'd never heard of this so-called Tiangong Association before, but that didn't stop him from treating it as a hypothetical enemy.
"No matter what this so-called Tiangong Association has done, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we'll end up as enemies," Fury said.
He looked at Tony Stark, privately suspecting the Flame Man might not be an Earth lifeform at all, but an alien.
As for Tiangong Association, he planned to go back and check the records the Skrulls had left behind.
But he didn't tell Tony any of that.
Instead, he said, "No matter what, we're on the same side right now. I want us to be more transparent with intelligence."
"Of course," Tony said, nodding sincerely, while saying absolutely nothing about the Quick Flash Star he'd seen before.
Put these two together and you'd get at least eight hundred schemes between them. Not a single sentence either of them said could be trusted.
After a while, the two went their separate ways.
Tony ultimately didn't join the Avengers, mainly because Nick Fury and his superiors still hadn't worked things out. Whether the Avengers could even be formed was still up in the air.
"We're heading back. Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton," Fury said, flicking his black trench coat as he boarded the Quinjet.
Natasha, who had finally recovered from dehydration, felt much better now.
Back when she'd been stuck in the ventilation duct, the Flame Man charging into Stark Tower had nearly steamed her dry. Even her underwear had been soaked.
Watching Fury leave, Tony lowered his head and thought for a moment.
No matter what, at least one thing that bald black guy said felt right. Tony needed to be ready to make an enemy of this "Tiangong Association."
"If that Flame Man becomes my enemy, how the hell am I supposed to deal with him?" Tony thought.
"JARVIS, update the files."
Night.
Bant returned to Queens with the Gene Variator Dongwu had left behind.
By then, Peter was already at the dining table with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, waiting for him to come home.
"Today was really dangerous. Thank god you two are alright!" Aunt May only truly relaxed after seeing him with her own eyes.
Her wrinkled hand wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes as she hugged him tightly.
She meant the attack at school earlier today.
"Spider-Man saved me and Peter," Bant said. He and Peter had already matched their stories.
"Then it looks like he really is a good person," Uncle Ben said.
Spider-Man had only appeared a few days ago, and most online and mainstream media coverage of him was still negative.
But Bant's single sentence completely flipped Uncle Ben and Aunt May's impression of Spider-Man.
"I hope you and Peter can learn from him and use your strength to help those who need help," Uncle Ben emphasized.
But Aunt May wasn't happy and immediately shot back, "Helping people is fine. Learning from him and fighting monsters is not. It's too dangerous!"
She pulled Bant down to sit with them.
The whole family ate dinner together.
Afterward, Bant helped wash the dishes, while Uncle Ben sat on the couch reading the newspaper, still trying to find a job using that old-fashioned method.
Back in the bedroom, Peter followed him in.
He'd basically pieced together what happened from the news already, and now he came to ask for the details.
"Connors has been turned back," Bant said.
Peter immediately let out a breath of relief.
Then he flopped onto Bant's bed and said, "School probably won't have classes for days. So, you wanna go be Spider-Man with me?"
"No. I've got something tomorrow," Bant said, then remembered something and added, "Oh right, remember to find Connors when you get time. He's planning to give you his camera equipment."
Peter used to have his own camera, but Connors had destroyed it. Now Connors planned to give Peter his own gear.
Even though it had been down in the sewer, the equipment was still top-tier.
"That's awesome!" Peter lit up.
"Now I can take photos of Spider-Man again!"
A little later, Bant heard Aunt May calling from downstairs.
"Xiao Ban, Peter, Mary Jane's here!"
"She's probably here for you," Peter said, at least self-aware enough to know.
Still, he went downstairs with Bant, said a quick hello, and then left.
Mary Jane looked the same as always, fiery red hair, dimples at the corners of her mouth that made her look especially pretty.
"I saw your bedroom light on," she said awkwardly, fingers nervously twisting at the hem of her clothes.
"Are you alright?"
Even though Bant had already told her over the phone that he was safe, Mary Jane still couldn't stop herself from coming over to make sure he wasn't hurt.
"I'm fine," Bant said, repeating the same explanation as before.
"That's good. I just wanted to ask…" Mary Jane stammered.
For some reason, she suddenly felt the atmosphere turn a little awkward.
"Then I'll… head back…"
"Not coming up to my room for a bit?" Bant said.
After all, his place was pretty big.
/-\
~ PLEASE! don't forget to leave a REVIEW!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally.)
/-\
~# Keep the chapters coming - Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 50 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter