After sending Spider Man in, the agent closed the conference room door. He had barely taken two steps before running into Bruce and Selina.
"Agent." Bruce called out, "There's something I'd like to discuss with you."
The agent stopped in his tracks and looked at him. Bruce glanced around and said, "This isn't the place to talk, let's go outside."
The three of them left the Recovery Alliance Headquarters, went out through the side door, and gathered under a tree in the courtyard. In a lowered voice, Bruce asked, "What's the situation inside?"
The agent gave him a "Why should I tell you?" look.
"I can promise not to cause trouble at the wedding." Bruce said.
The agent squinted. Bruce continued, "What I mean is, if any chaos breaks out at the wedding, I can help resolve it..."
The agent kept staring at him. Bruce hesitated and said, "Any unexpected scenarios at the wedding, I can handle them..."
The agent still didn't speak. Bruce let out a long sigh, "Just tell me what you want me to do."
The agent stepped closer and whispered a few words in Bruce's ear. Bruce's eyes widened instantly, "What did you say? You all are going to..."
He seemed so taken aback by the plan that he couldn't say another word for a while. Selina kept turning her head; a plan that even surprised Bruce must be astonishing.
Bruce's expression shifted for a long time before he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I agree with your plan."
"Luther and Stark are at each other's throats," the agent finally spoke, "Stark accuses Luther of kidnapping, which Luther denies. Luther accuses Potts of intentional harm, which Potts denies."
"Luther's defense is to pin everything on Wayne Enterprises, trying to use Wayne Enterprises' subsequent headhunting actions to prove this was a premeditated conspiracy against Stark Group. Whereas Potts' defense is that she's a victim without that kind of power."
"Thomas is also present, and to defend himself, he disclosed the reason for his meeting with Pepper Potts, which is that Potts wanted him to headhunt for Stark Group, even providing a list as evidence. This led to another argument between Stark and Potts..."
"You're brave enough to put Spider Man and Iron Man together; aren't you afraid they'll start fighting again?" Selina seemed a bit overwhelmed.
"Thor is also in there." The agent said, "But they all know this has nothing to do with Spider Man; he's just a formality."
"I doubt it," Bruce said, "If it's just a formality, Thomas would suffice. I'm sure they think Spider Man is young and impetuous, easily provoked into losing his composure, and if he does something irrational here, Wayne Enterprises would be at fault."
Selina nodded as she knew Bruce was right. In the current situation, Luther Group and Stark Group are bound to be mutually destructive, and Wayne Enterprises could take advantage of the situation. But clearly, someone doesn't want them to grow bigger and also wants Wayne Enterprises to be dragged down.
Alternatively, both Luther Group and Stark Group hope to drag Wayne Enterprises down as well. Otherwise, once they've weakened, Wayne Enterprises would dominate. Besides, Nick Fury wouldn't want to see any one side too powerful, which is why he agreed to have Spider Man come.
Bruce and Selina, of course, stood on Wayne Enterprises' side, and they wanted to pull Spider Man out of this. Hence, Bruce said, "If you want me to follow your plan, you'll have to do me a favor."
At Forward York University, Peter was in his office looking over student assignments. The assignments were handed in quite well today, but perhaps because the topic was a bit challenging, the drawings were all over the place, and nothing stood out, leaving him with a headache.
Peter took off his glasses and rubbed his brow, suddenly feeling a sense of weightlessness. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar place that looked like a basement.
Peter was full of question marks. Was he still dreaming? Or did he suddenly fall asleep? Maybe he had graded too many assignments and went crazy?
Suddenly, a green figure appeared in front of him. Loki waved and said, "It's me."
"Loki?" Peter asked with some confusion, "What are you up to?"
Loki, however, seemed surprised at his reaction and said, "Look carefully, I'm Loki. Aren't you afraid of me?"
"I've never been afraid of you before, so why start now?" Peter said, having never feared Loki when he was the Amazing Spiderman.
Spider Man actually has some restraint over mages. His Spider-sense allows him to foresee all the spells a mage wants to cast on him, and his speed is fast enough to easily dodge them. Once he's close to the mage, the mage has no power to resist.
And what Peter meant by now, is that he is also a mage now. Although he's a late bloomer, with magic, it's all about numbers. Once the numbers are high enough, technique isn't that important. Like now, Peter can teleport at any time, so he's naturally not afraid of Loki.
"Alright, it seems I can't scare you," Loki turned his head and looked to the side; Selina walked out.
"Don't misunderstand, Peter, I'm not here to kidnap you," Selina said, "Or let's say we're only pretending to kidnap you."
"What are you guys up to?" Peter asked, a bit curious. He didn't believe Selina would conspire with Loki to harm him; it made no sense. He had no enmity with the two of them. Even if Loki had the potential for mischief, Selina wouldn't do something so foolish.
Selina briefly described the situation in the Rebirth Alliance meeting room, then said, "Dealing with a teenager like Spider-Man, even if you try to calm him down, he might act impulsively. At this point, the only option is to find a more urgent event to distract him and prevent him from being caught in the Rebirth Alliance."
"So that's how it is," Peter said. "So you kidnapped me to make Spider-Man come and save me. But how are you going to get the message in? Everyone there is their man."
"We have someone in mind," Selina crossed her arms and smiled.
"But actually, I have a few questions," Selina said, "Just think of it as me being curious. Where were you during the civil war?"
"Right here," Peter said, "I'm a local, where else would I go?"
"Didn't you try to stop them?"
"I did, but couldn't stop them," Peter spread his hands and said.
"I suspect it's not that simple," Selina sized him up and asked, "Didn't you participate in the civil war?"
"I did," Peter nodded, "I was the one who brought back the World Tree sapling."
"Is that all?" Selina continued to press, "With your personality, you wouldn't just wait until the end to make a decisive move. You must have done something else, right?"
"I injured Doctor Strange," Peter finally admitted, "He's still recuperating, so he hasn't come out."
Selina had a look of realization. Loki, standing nearby, was also hearing about this for the first time and was somewhat surprised. But he thought about it; Doctor Strange had always been a troublemaker, claiming to be above worldly matters, which was completely contrary to reality. Not to mention the early Illuminati's actions, he participated in many major events later, so retreating from worldly affairs was impossible.
Now it seems he may not be unwilling to come out but unable to. Marvel's mages have to live on borrowed time; being injured is dangerous, because if creditors come knocking, it could be big trouble.
"I didn't want to," Peter said. "I was mediating between the two sides, but he insisted on provoking and attacking me. I got a bit heated. But from an effectiveness standpoint, it was a good thing."
"How so?" Selina asked.
"Actually, before this, they didn't know I could use magic. More accurately, they thought I was just an ordinary person without spider abilities. So when I kept mediating, no one listened to me. But accidentally injuring Doctor Strange made them calm down a bit."
Selina showed an understanding expression. This Peter Parker seemed very mature, more so than Bruce. He should have already passed the age where gaining superpowers makes you want to show off everywhere.
Without spider abilities, he returned to ordinary life, teaching at school and living a stable life. When the civil war broke out, he immediately went to mediate. But having been away from the superhero system for too long, neither side listened to him. When Doctor Strange actively provoked, he showed a little skill, which completely stunned them.
Real men keep their talents hidden. If others had known Peter could use magic in advance, the effect wouldn't have been as good. No one expected him to strike Doctor Strange in one blow, which intimidated them all. Otherwise, Peter might not even have had time to fetch the World Tree sapling.
"Let's not talk about this anymore; it's not something to be proud of," Peter waved his hand. "How is it going over at the Rebirth Alliance?"
The Rebirth Alliance's meeting room door suddenly opened. An agent walked in, and everyone stopped arguing to look at him.
"Peter Parker has been kidnapped."
He said just this sentence and then left. Iron Man raised his hand without catching anything. Nick Fury's face changed, and Thor looked puzzled.
Spider-Man jumped out of his seat immediately: "Wait! What do you mean Peter's been kidnapped?!"
His voice was a bit hoarse, obviously from shouting earlier. He could argue, but there were too many experts here, from Pepper to Luther, none of them easily provoked. With everyone intensifying conflicts, he couldn't escape, like a fish caught in a whirlpool, only able to go with the flow.
But the agent's words snapped him awake. The advantage of this universe's Bruce Wayne is that it is the opposite of interests, completely different from this group of old foxes.
Logically speaking, to maintain Wayne Enterprises' interests, he should stay until all the blame is shifted onto someone else. The kidnapping case would still be resolved by the Rebirth Alliance. Moreover, Spider-Man is aware of Peter's strength and knows he's not easily hurt.
But he wouldn't care about all this. This group and that group, none of it mattered; he had to go rescue his friend.
Peter was not just his friend, not only the teacher who gave him superpowers but also a benefactor who saved his life multiple times, now his university professor too. Upon hearing of his kidnapping, Spider-Man jumped up immediately.
He swept through the venue like a gust of wind, chasing the agent and running out. Nick sighed, knowing this farce couldn't continue. Just as he was about to speak, someone with a face identical to Spider-Man walked in.
Those blue eyes scanned the room, raised an eyebrow, and showed some contemptuous playful expression: "Don't rush. Didn't you say I was involved in this case? Let's have a proper discussion then."
Thomas sat down, and everyone else stood up.