Not So Friendly Anymore

The early morning light barely penetrated the fortified walls of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier as Maria Hill stood alone in her office, her eyes locked on the holographic screens floating before her. The information displayed was grim: a list of dead villains, each name crossed out with a red line, their images fading into the background as if to signify their erasure from the world. She scrolled through the data, her mind struggling to grasp the enormity of the situation. Spider-Man had become a force of reckoning, a lethal vigilante executing criminals without hesitation.

Maria's fingers tightened around the edge of her desk as she considered her next move. She had seen heroes fall before, consumed by the very darkness they fought against, but this was different. Spider-Man had always been a thorn in her side, a vigilante who operated outside the law, refusing to play by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rules. From the beginning, Maria had harbored a deep distrust of him. He was unpredictable, uncontrollable, and worst of all, he didn't respect authority. Now, he was something else entirely, something dangerous.

She couldn't allow this to continue. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to act. Spider-Man needed to be brought in, dead or alive. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sharp beep of an incoming call. She glanced at the screen, recognizing the communication as an internal one. Maria sighed, knowing it was time to give the order.

She activated the communication link, her voice steady but laced with urgency. "This is Director Hill. Prepare to initiate Protocol Sigma. We're issuing a global manhunt for Spider-Man. This ends now."

Before she could finish, a voice cut through the line, authoritative and familiar. "Belay that order, Director."

Maria's heart skipped a beat. She turned, and her eyes widened in disbelief as a figure stepped out of the shadows of her office. It was Nick Fury, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the man she had thought was dead. His one good eye locked onto hers, full of purpose and unyielding strength.

"Nick..." Maria whispered, her voice faltering for the first time in years. "How—"

"There's no time for that," Fury said, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. "We have more pressing matters."

Maria stepped back, her mind reeling from his sudden appearance. "Pressing matters? Nick, Spider-Man is on a killing spree. We need to stop him before more bodies hit the ground."

Fury walked closer, his demeanor as imposing as ever. "You're not wrong about the danger, Hill. But you're going about this all wrong. You don't understand the full picture."

"Then enlighten me," she snapped, her frustration bubbling over. "Because from where I'm standing, Spider-Man is a threat to everything S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for."

Fury's gaze hardened. "And what does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for now? You think you're doing the right thing, but you're about to make a mistake that could cost more than you realize. You're not just hunting Spider-Man. You're hunting Peter Parker."

Maria's blood ran cold at the name. "Parker? As in—"

Fury stepped closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper, the weight of his words pressing down on her like a physical force. "As in my grandson. The son of Mary Parker. My daughter."

Maria staggered back, her eyes wide with shock. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. The world around her seemed to tilt on its axis, her mind reeling with the enormity of what Fury had just revealed. Peter Parker, the young man she had seen as nothing but a rogue vigilante, was Nick Fury's grandson. The son of Mary Parker, the woman who had mentored her, trained her, and molded her into the leader she was today.

"No... no, that can't be," Maria stammered, shaking her head as if to ward off the truth. "He he's Spider-Man. He's... dangerous."

Fury's eye blazed with fury, his voice rising to a thunderous roar that made Maria flinch. "DANGEROUS? YOU THINK YOU KNOW DANGER? YOU DONT KNOW A DAMN THING Hill! YOU WERE ABOUT TO PUT A KILL ORDER ON MY GRANDSON! MY GRANDSON! MARY'S SON! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO DO?

Maria recoiled as if she'd been slapped, her heart pounding in her chest. The disdain she had felt for Spider-Man, the orders she was about to give, all of it came crashing down on her with the force of a tidal wave. She had always prided herself on being level-headed, on making the right calls under pressure, but this... this was something else entirely. She had been ready to kill the son of the woman she had looked up to, the grandson of the man who had given her a chance when no one else would.

"Nick... I didn't know," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I didn't know he was... your grandson. I didn't know he was Mary's son."

Fury's face twisted with anger and something deeper, something that cut her to the bone. "You didn't know because you never bothered to look beyond the mask! You saw what you wanted to see, a vigilante who didn't follow your rules. But he's more than that, Maria. He's family. My family."

Maria felt a wave of nausea wash over her as she realized the full extent of what she had been about to do. How many times had she pushed Peter, berated him, treated him as an outsider, an annoyance? How many times had she dismissed him as nothing more than a loose cannon, a threat that needed to be neutralized? And now... now she was staring down the barrel of a mistake that could never be undone.

"Nick, I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice choked with guilt. "I didn't know... I didn't mean to—"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Hill!" Fury snapped, his voice like a whip. "You were about to sign his death warrant. Mary would be ashamed of you. Hell, I'm ashamed of you."

Maria flinched as if she'd been slapped. She had faced down threats from across the galaxy, had made life-and-death decisions without blinking an eye, but this... this cut deeper than anything she had ever faced. The weight of Fury's words crushed her, the reality of what she had been about to do settling over her like a suffocating blanket.

"I never knew..." Maria murmured, her voice barely audible. "I didn't know he was your grandson... Mary's son. I've treated him so poorly. I've been so wrong..."

Fury's glare didn't soften. If anything, it grew harsher, as if he could see right through her. "You should have known. You should have seen the good in him, the potential. But instead, you saw what you wanted to see, a threat. And now, you're going to have to live with that."

Maria's knees felt weak, and she gripped the edge of her desk for support, her mind racing with the implications of what Fury had revealed. She had been so focused on the mission, on maintaining control, that she had lost sight of the human element, the people behind the masks. She had failed, not just as a leader, but as a person.

"What do I do now, Nick?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "How do I fix this?"

Fury's gaze softened, just a fraction, as he let out a heavy sigh. "You're going to call off the hunt. And then you're going to think long and hard about what kind of leader you want to be. Peter's gone down a dark path, but he's not beyond saving. We'll find a way to bring him back, but not like this. Not by treating him like a criminal."

Maria nodded, her mind still reeling, but a new determination settling in. She had made a grave mistake, but she would do everything in her power to make it right. She owed that much to Mary, to Nick, and most of all, to Peter.

"I'll call off the hunt," she said, her voice steadier now. "And I'll find a way to help him, to bring him back."

Fury nodded, the tension in the room easing just slightly. "Good. Because if you don't... you'll have me to answer to."

Maria swallowed hard, knowing that was no idle threat. She watched as Fury turned to leave, his form blending back into the shadows as quickly as he had appeared. But his words, his anger, his disappointment, they lingered, hanging in the air like a storm cloud.

As the door slid shut behind him, Maria slumped into her chair, the enormity of what she had been about to do settling over her like a crushing weight. She had been so close to making an unforgivable mistake, one that could have shattered everything she had worked for, everything she believed in.

But now... now she had a chance to make things right. She would find Peter, she would help him, and she would make sure that the legacy of Mary Parker was honored, not destroyed.

---

Deep within the hidden recesses of Parker Industries, Peter Parker sat in a secluded chamber known as "The Spider's Web." It was a high-tech command center, outfitted with the latest in surveillance and tactical planning technology. Screens lined the walls, each displaying live feeds of the city, security footage, and data streams that fed Peter real-time information on criminal activities and the movements of the city's heroes.

Peter's mind was a storm of thoughts as he reviewed the reports. His list of targets had grown shorter, but new obstacles were emerging. It wasn't just the villains he had to contend with anymore; the heroes had begun to organize against him, their moral objections to his methods driving them to protect the criminals he sought to eradicate.

His attention was drawn to a particular report, intelligence indicating that a group of heroes had taken up residence at the Raft, the high-security prison where supervillains were held. The Raft had become a fortress, not just to keep the criminals inside but now to shield them from Peter's wrath. This was a direct challenge, one that Peter knew he couldn't ignore.

Peter leaned forward, his hands resting on the edge of the table as he began to strategize. The Raft was heavily guarded, not only by state of the art security systems but by some of the most powerful heroes in the world. But Peter was no longer the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who held back against his opponents. He was prepared to do whatever it took to achieve his goals, and that meant planning for every possible confrontation.

He pulled up the profiles of the heroes currently stationed at the Raft, each one accompanied by a detailed contingency plan he had devised.

Iron Man (Tony Stark): Tony was perhaps the most formidable threat, with his advanced technology and strategic mind. Peter knew that a direct confrontation with Iron Man would be a battle of attrition, one he might not win if it came down to sheer firepower. Instead, Peter had developed a more insidious plan. He had hacked into Stark Industries' systems months ago, embedding a virus deep within the code that controlled Tony's arc reactor. With a single command, Peter could activate the virus, sending a surge of energy into the reactor that would disrupt its function and trigger a massive heart attack.

It was a brutal tactic, one that made Peter pause for a moment, but only for a moment. He justified it to himself: Tony had chosen to protect those who threatened the city; he was no longer a friend , he never was since the civil war.

Captain America (Steve Rogers): Steve was the moral backbone of the superhero community, and Peter knew that a direct fight with him would be difficult, not just physically but emotionally. Steve had always been a symbol of what Peter once aspired to be, noble, selfless, unwavering in his principles. But Peter wasn't the same person anymore. His plan for Steve was designed to exploit the Captain's unwavering loyalty and sense of duty. Peter had secretly gathered intel on Steve's close associates, particularly Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. If it came to a confrontation, Peter had a file of damning evidence that linked Bucky to new crimes, something Steve would never be able to ignore. It was a distraction, one that would pull Steve away long enough for Peter to achieve his goals at the Raft.

Underhanded and dirty, but if it must be done, so be it.

Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff): Natasha was a master spy, and Peter respected her skills. But he also knew her weaknesses, her need for redemption, her dark past that she was constantly trying to atone for. Peter had access to classified files from S.H.I.E.L.D., including records of missions that Natasha had buried deep in her conscience. His plan was to exploit these memories, to use them as leverage to break her resolve. He had a psychological profile on her that pinpointed exactly which buttons to push. If it came down to it, Peter was ready to deploy a series of subliminal messages and hacked communications that would make Natasha doubt herself at a critical moment, weakening her mentally and emotionally.

He never wanted it to come this and deep down the part of him that still felt for her didn't want to do this, but she made her choice, and so he.

Peter leaned back in his chair, the weight of his decisions pressing down on him. He knew that going after the Raft would mean crossing a line, one that would forever separate him from the heroes he once fought alongside. But he had already crossed so many lines; what was one more?

He brought up the live feed of the Raft, watching as the heroes patrolled the perimeter, their vigilance a clear indication that they expected him to make a move. Peter's eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to let them stop him. Not when he was this close to his goal.

His fingers danced over the keyboard as he began to initiate the protocols for his plan. He activated the virus embedded in Stark's arc reactor, setting a timer that would give him just enough time to reach the Raft before the chaos began. He sent out the fake intel on Bucky Barnes, knowing that Steve would take the bait and leave his post. He also already hacked into Natasha's comms in order to use her past against her.

Peter took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. He wasn't the man he used to be. The city needed him to be something else, something darker, something willing to do what was necessary.

As he suited up, the black tendrils of his suit wrapping around him like a second skin, Peter's mind was clear. He was ready to do whatever it took to protect the city. Even if it meant taking down the very people he once called friends.

Thanks for reading everyone

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