Nick Fury had no intention of dodging.
But he didn't need to, because Jessica's fist never landed on him.
Instead, it smashed the monitor beside him.
Nick Fury calmly looked at Jessica, whose eyes now gleamed with fierce determination.
He had confidence—after all, as Jessica's former superior, he knew her very well.
She might not possess Peter Parker's overwhelming kindness, but she wasn't the type to kill someone she knew without hesitation.
It was precisely because he understood Jessica's mindset that Nick Fury could remain so composed in handling the situation before him.
Jessica slowly withdrew her fist. She genuinely wanted to smash this bald man in front of her.
But if she really did…
Then those clones might never be dealt with completely.
"There's only that one," Nick Fury said calmly, indicating that there was only one cloned Spider-Man in their possession.
"So, where is he?" Jessica suppressed her anger and asked Fury.
Before Nick Fury could even respond, an alarm blared throughout his secret base.
For a moment, Fury looked incredulous.
Especially because the alarm blaring now was an air raid alert.
At this stage, the U.S. Air Force would never take to the skies lightly—let alone attack his secret base.
Nick Fury quickly regained his composure.
Even though one of the screens had just been smashed by Jessica, he had more than one.
In the shortest time possible, he pulled up the source of the alarm.
When the image captured by the air defense system appeared, it wasn't just Nick Fury who was surprised.
Even Jessica and Miles were momentarily at a loss.
Because the aircraft in the image was none other than Bruce's Batwing.
Rewind to when Bruce left New York. As usual, he reverted to his old habits—hacking into the NYPD's communication system.
This move led him to a crucial piece of information:
Mary Jane was missing.
This was a bombshell for all of New York.
It also fueled public outrage toward the NYPD. They couldn't even ensure the safety of a hero's widow in their city.
And they still had no clue where or how she had disappeared.
It was pure incompetence.
But the NYPD had their own frustrations.
The situation had happened too suddenly.
And how could a grown woman simply vanish? Based on Mary Jane's speech at the memorial service, it was clear she was a strong woman.
If she were truly fragile, she wouldn't have done anything reckless at a time like this.
If it were a kidnapping, there should have been a ransom call by now.
But there was nothing.
Besides, what would be the point of kidnapping a Hollywood actress—especially one who was a hero's widow?
It would be utterly pointless.
From Bruce's perspective, this helped him piece things together.
Three people had disappeared—all closely tied to Spider-Man.
Miles was the current Spider-Man.
Jessica was a clone of Peter Parker.
And Mary Jane… well, that went without saying.
She was Peter Parker's wife.
What had happened to them was likely connected to Spider-Man.
But the circumstances surrounding each case were likely different.
Jessica had managed to leave a note.
Miles' situation was unclear, but given his capabilities, if he had been forcibly taken, there should have been a huge commotion.
Yet, there wasn't.
This meant that the person who took Jessica and Miles was likely the same individual.
But whoever took Mary Jane was someone else entirely.
And finding Jessica and Miles might just lead to whoever took Mary Jane.
Finding them was a relatively simple process.
Bruce conducted a nationwide analysis of electricity usage across the U.S.
The country had plenty of places consuming excessive power.
But most of those were long-term high-consumption areas.
However, two locations had experienced sudden spikes in electricity usage.
The first location's spike seemed to coincide with a local gathering, but even so, it was unusual for a gathering to cause only two distinct surges.
The second location was simpler.
It was a town that was always running at near-capacity electricity usage.
But even there, an unusual peak had occurred—followed by a brief blackout.
Clearly, something significant had been used there.
The time difference between the two power surges was only a fraction of a second.
This indicated that whoever took them hadn't traveled physically between locations.
Otherwise, covering that distance of several hundred miles in that timeframe would only have been possible for Thor—if he still had his godly powers.
But Thor was still in New Mexico, fighting alongside Captain America, with no sign of his divine powers returning.
That left only one possibility: someone had successfully replicated Thor's teleportation ability.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised from all angles.
The tech used for urban teleportation wasn't something exclusive to them anymore, which meant this technology didn't belong to either of the individuals involved.
But that didn't mean none of them had access to it.
Take Nick Fury, for example—the man who had built so many secret bases and safe houses.
He was the prime suspect.
By cross-referencing the two locations and running a large-scale analysis, Bruce successfully pinpointed two key sites.
Two locations that had conducted nearly simultaneous operations.
Bruce got lucky.
The first location he checked turned out to be Nick Fury's hideout.
For someone who had long led the resistance against Sentinels, it was surprising that Nick Fury had hidden his secret base right on the border of Sentinel-occupied territory.
As if he wasn't even afraid that one day, the Sentinels might just descend from the sky and obliterate him.
After all, Fury's base was underground in the desert.
And the Sentinels weren't the type to show mercy.
Once they went rogue, it was only a matter of time before they and their enemies became completely irreconcilable.
Back to the present—Nick Fury was genuinely shocked that someone had managed to find this place.
"I have a suggestion—you'd better let him in. Otherwise…" Jessica said nonchalantly, glancing at Fury.
"You don't need to tell me," Fury responded, his gaze fixed on Bruce, who had turned back toward them.
By now, the air raid alarms were blaring louder than ever.
Bruce had already aimed his weapons at Nick Fury's secret base.
He didn't even give Jessica a chance to finish speaking.
The sound of fire-control locking onto a target kept ringing out at that moment.
Bruce was already hovering in place, controlling the Batwing.
The problem was that Nick Fury had managed to stay undetected by any sentinels mainly because there was rarely any noticeable activity around him.
If Bruce fired now, everything would be exposed.
All of Nick Fury's efforts would be in vain.
"I hope the people you took from me are still safe—especially that little guy."
Before Nick Fury could even reach out to Bruce, Bruce's voice had already echoed through the base.
Clearly, Bruce had already hacked into Nick Fury's system ahead of time.
"I think there's some misunderstanding between us," Nick Fury said helplessly.
"You mean taking my assistant from my home without notice and pulling a kid who's just learning how to be a superhero away from his environment?" Bruce's voice was sharp as the Batwing slowly opened two massive missile bays beneath it.
The Batwing had now locked onto the sand in front of it.
Nick Fury was at a loss for words.
He never expected someone usually so composed to act so recklessly in this situation.
By all logic, Bruce shouldn't have reacted this aggressively.
But what was done was done.
Nick Fury might have wanted to explain further, but Bruce had already finished his preparations.
"I'll be seeing you soon."
With those words, all the screens in front of Nick Fury went black, leaving only a giant bat symbol.
For Bruce, Nick Fury's secret base was now completely at his mercy.
If Nick Fury still didn't realize his base had been compromised, he might as well smash his head against the wall in frustration.
"Looks like you have an impressive boss now," Fury muttered.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened to him—after all, even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system had been breached before.
But he had been sure his secret base's security system was at least on par with, if not superior to, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s.
Yet even with all those precautions, it hadn't lasted long.
This was a huge shock for Nick Fury.
Jessica merely smiled and said, "I told you, you should have just let him in. I warned you at the time—you should have given him a heads-up."
Nick Fury said nothing. He simply sat there, calm and silent.
Jessica had indeed warned him, but he hadn't thought it would be a problem.
Did Bruce really abandon everything in New York just to come after him?
Clearly, Fury had no idea who he was dealing with.
The moment the room's doors opened, a black figure lunged at Fury.
Bruce grabbed Fury by the collar and slammed him against the massive screen behind him.
Sparks flew.
"Ugh!" The force of the impact made Fury grunt in pain.
Using his one good eye, Fury barely managed to glance down at Bruce.
"Impressive strength," Fury remarked.
"Tell me, what the hell are you up to?"
Bruce's tone was cold, and Fury had no doubt that this man could kill him right then and there.
"It's nothing—he came to us for help with a situation," Jessica interjected. She wasn't about to let her former boss get strangled by her current one.
"I know. That's exactly what I'm asking about."
Bruce's anger wasn't just about Jessica and the others being taken.
When he hacked into the base's system, he had uncovered far more.
Especially the reason why Fury had brought Jessica and the others here.
"He showed you a video clip—one he intercepted and manipulated. It featured Peter Parker, but he wasn't the only one!"
Jessica and Miles were stunned.
What Fury had told them was completely different.
"How many Spider-Man clones do you have?"
The data Bruce uncovered showed that the number of cloned Spider-Men far exceeded the one that had escaped.
"A hundred? Two hundred? Or an entire army?"
Bruce's words hit like a frigid wind. With each number he spoke, the situation became more terrifying.
Nick Fury remained silent.
He had always known that his actions would eventually be exposed, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
"Just one," Fury finally said.
Jessica could no longer contain her fury.
But Bruce stood between them.
Without hesitation, Bruce threw Fury against the wall.
Fury tried to get back up, but Bruce's boot came crashing down on him.
"You're lying," Bruce growled, grabbing Fury by the collar and lifting him up.
The data in the system made it clear: the resources Fury had could produce an entire army of clones, far more than just one.
Fury reached for a vial, hoping to use it to escape the situation.
But Bruce was faster.
An orange-tinted serum was already injected into Fury's neck.
(End of Chapter)
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