Chapter 37

Nina woke up after a nice rest. She showered and ate breakfast outside. She made her to the F.E.A.S.T. building for her volunteering. After she was done helping, she would go out and see if there was any movement on Hydra. This continued for several days. During that time, she met up with Peter a few times and saw him occasionally at the center with May.

Nina was on her way to check up on Maya as it has been come time. Hopefully, her arm was doing better and she might be able to get something form Fisk.

Nina activated her stealth, and enter her apartment. She saw Maya washing dishes with both her hands which was a good sign. Nina reveled herself and the lower part of her mask retracted. Before she could say anything, a knife came hurling at her. Nina's reflexes kicked in and she caught the knife.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Ah…sorry," she apologized and moved her hands in sign language instinctively. Nina saw this and concluded it was her preferred method of communication. It would explain her vocal fluctuations.

No problem. Nina replied in sign language.

Are you ready? Nina asked. Maya was impressed with her and replied saying she was but there was a problem. Fisk had tightened his security and move information all around. It would be too difficult to gather the information. There have been reports from the Daily Bugle suggesting Fisk isn't all that clean.

Maya explained another plan. She heard that the fake Spider-Man took the drive and betrayed Fisk but that this could work for them. While Spider-Man fights the fake one, Maya can gather information on Fisk during the announcement of Fisk becoming the Commissioner of Finance.

Nina quickly caught on as Maya continued to explain. It was an impressive plan.

Nice job. I will tell him the plan. Nina responded back and smiled at her. She quickly felt and flew upwards.

Nina called the number Spider-Man gave her and a familiar voice answered.

"Hello?" Peter answered.

"…" Nina crossed her arms. She was sure she heard this voice before.

"Change of plan, we need to meet." Nina spoke.

"Okay, where?"

"Top of Empire State building?" Nina asked.

"I'll be there,"

As Nina quickly arrived, she thought of how similar Peter's voice and Spider-Man's voice were. She thought of Peter and his baggy clothes. Either he was hiding his muscular build, or he was just average. Nina kept on making a list of similarities and trying to make an excuse for them. As she was making a list, Spider-Man arrived.

"Phew, sorry it takes a while to climb up here," he said.

Nina started to explain the new plan to him. Essentially, he would have to do this solo. It works better this way since this would prove to the world that there was a fake Spider-Man in front of all the cameras. Maya would join in later and destroy the USB in front of Osborn. This way, Fisk losses his blackmail and Spider-Man is redeemed.

"That…sounds pretty doable. Who came up with this?"

"Maya. I have to say that I underestimated her," Nina replied.

"Whoa, coming from you…" He tried to make a joke but stopped when he saw her snapped her head to him.

"So, where do you fit?" He asked.

"Nowhere, it's up to you now." Nina flew upwards slightly. "-Until next time" Nina waved as her took off.

"Wait!" Spider-Man attempted to stop her but failed. "Aw man…" Spider-Man jumped off the building and swung off to the distance.

Nina thought this might be better for her. Helping Spider-Man with this wasn't going as well as she hoped in terms of establishing herself as a hero. There was a podcast launched by a famous reporter who just hated Spider-Man and started to bad mouth her as well since they had been seen together. While its not what she wanted, it's still letting people know about her.

Nina went to another building and looked at her left forearm. A map displayed with several yellow dots indicating the positions of the homeless people she tagged. She didn't see anything off until she zoomed out. One yellow dot was several miles north. Before she could get more information, the yellow dot disappeared.

"V, give me a count of the total tags issued vs tags that are pinging,"

"Right away…. 72 tags issued and 65 pinging,"

"7 missing…" She pondered. The only way to disrupt the signal was with equal or more advanced technology which shouldn't be the case. The only other way was if the tag was destroyed.

"Show me the last known routes of those missing"

"Tracing…" V showed the last know pings from several days and immediately Nina noticed that they all ended up at the same location. Van Cortlandt Park. V displayed a satellite image which just should a large green meadow. Nothing commercial.

Nina traveled to the location and activated her stealth. When she arrived, she found nothing. She hovered over the last known pings but didn't see anything. She switched to several visions on her helmet, but no evidence was found. V couldn't detect anything either.

"Okay…let's review" Nina said out loud to V after several minutes. "There's no tires, no weird energy signals, no tracks, not even animals are near here…so either the tags magically disappeared here or something else is at play"

"This is the last known location. It is possible that the tag was destroyed, however either burning it at a high temperature or a massive electrical disruption." V stated.

"There's no signs of anything burning or any electrical damage residue. If there's something here, its underground." Nina thought out loud. She would have to wait for it to happen again. She needed evidence. She could just use the ship to blast a hole there, but it would raise so many questions. She had to make everything look legit before making a move. While she felt bad about waiting for another person, but she resolved herself to make sure that the next one will be the last.

Nina asked V to alert her if anything leaves the vicinity of the city. In the meantime, she started to become more vigilant on the movements of the tags.

Several days passed as she watched day and night. She would only take breaks when she had to go to the shelter or meet with Peter. She saw on the newspaper from the shelter that Spider-Man was redeemed and the fake, now called Blood Spider, and Fisk were arrested. Fisk was released shortly after, however.

Several weeks passed and it the day finally arrived. One tag finally exited the city vicinity. She quickly started to fly towards the direction. She caught up to a white van exiting the highway towards the park. The van stopped while it was still on the road and waiting. Nina activated her stealth to remain hidden.

Several minutes passed and Nina's stealth was about to wear off when the van started to move again. It entered the highway and went back to the city. Nina didn't follow but instead focus on the location when the van parked. She flew slowly towards it. Her helmet started to show a structural weakness on the area where it was parked.

She mentally cursed at herself for not checking the roads. She tightened her fist and struck at area. She repeatedly hit the pavement which revealed a metal hatch door that quickly gave in from the brutal attacks from Nina. Once that hatch fell, she could see a red lights further down. She knew she lost the element of surprise but there seemed little choice.

As she reached a hallway where several arms individuals started to fire at her. The bullets just bounced off with some hitting the attacks. Nina closed the distance and easily disposed of them. As she continued, she wondered what was occurring here to warrant this level of secrecy. The walls of the hallway and the hatch door were not normal design.

As she cleared the first floor, which were full of armed men. There was an elevator that she forced open and proceeded to the next floor to clear. She continued to do this while also looking for information on what exactly was going here. She still hasn't seen any homeless people as she proceeded.

Her answer came at the fifth floor. The men here had advanced weaponry that shot blue energy bolts. V detected that they contained remnant energy from the Space stone. She was careful not to take hits, since even if that energy had weaken, it could still damage the suit. She kicked the last door open where men started to fire a mixture of bullets and Space stone bolts. She dodged and gracefully took care of them. She looked around and took a deep breath to calm herself. This level seemed to focus on experimenting on people. The glass looking containment rooms were a quick indication. She went to a nearby terminal and asked V to access it.

V was quick to bypass security measures and displayed video recording. She saw a program called SP//G-1 that seemed to be some gas. The video showed the people inhaling it and quickly died from either monstrous mutations or from poison. The video ends after flames engulfed the room to sanitize it. She instructed V to start a download when someone hit her from behind.

"Can't let you do that darlin" a voice said behind her. She was pushed to the far side of the wall and made a small dent.

Nina lunged towards the attacker when she was stopped mid air suddenly.

"tsk tsk-can't have you doing that now," the attacker said as he held his right arm out and flicked his fingers upwards to the wall. Nina was suddenly lunged upwards to the ceiling. The attacker didn't stop there and flung her down. The attacker continued to do this until Nina stopped moving. He let off control and Nina dropped down.

The attacker slowly approached but Nina only needed a small-time frame. She called her daggers and threw one at him. He tried to stop the dagger only for it to continue its path and directly hit his head. The dagger plunged into his skull, and he dropped to the floor.

A mutant. Nina concluded as she looked at him more closely. So many questions surfaced but she put them to the side. She went back to the terminal only to find it destroyed. She looked around and noticed that all the terminals had been crushed. She glanced back at the man.

Nina recalled her dagger and continued to the last floor. She was more alert now. If there was one mutant, there could be more ahead. There were several blast doors blocking her path but with her daggers, she could easily cut through them. When she cut the last door, she saw a large open lab with more terminals. What caught her eye were the five people at the end. Behind them was a large blue sphere can seem to be contained.

"Stall her!" A man with a coat said as he was frantically typing into the terminal.

A large man started to run towards Nina while two others maneuvered to the sides. Nina didn't waste time and quickly decapitated the large man and threw the daggers at the two when she was done. The daggers moved too quickly for them to react in time and were quickly stabbed. The dagger exited their bodies and turned around to Nina.

Nina turned her sights to the remaining two near the terminal. The man was still typing while a woman stared intensely at Nina.

"It's done…" The man said as he stopped typing. Suddenly the blue sphere started to rotate slowly.

Nina threw her dagger but stopped when it hit some sort of force field. The women had her hands extended and fell on one knee. Blood start to drip from her nose and her eyes became bloodshot. She was desperately trying to stop the dagger. Nina rotated her body and threw the last dagger. Whatever force field she was generating, was quickly destroyed as the second dagger hit her heart and exited her body. The man at the terminal looked at the woman indifferently and smiled at Nina.

"Hail Hydra," he whispered. Nina was alert from V that the energy emitting from the sphere is highly unstable.

The orb spun so fast that from Nina's perspective it looked like it stood still. Blue bolts of energy shot from the sphere. The man smiled before the sphere exploded violently. The man's skin immediately burned away, and the rest of the body disintegrated. Nina's suit activated an emergency shield surrounded Nina on its own detecting the danger. Nina herself crossed her arms to brace as the explosion reach her.

From the outside, it sounded like a hundred thunderclaps suddenly appeared. Blue lightning erupted from the ground as the force of the explosion ruptured the ground. Seismic waves were so strong that it could be felt hundreds of miles away. The surrounding rocks melted from the sheer heat emitted. Debris shot everywhere and trees further away were uprooted. Nina was among the debris. Her body hit multiple trees before finally stopping miles from the site. Steam rose from her suit caused by the heat. Nina laid motionless as silence filled the air.

…

Peter was doing his daily patrol of the city. He was in high spirits since everything had finally been resolved. He handed the USB drive Maya gave him to Yuri hoping that it would be enough to put Fisk behind bars. He tried contacting Ivy but it seemed like she was doing her own thing. He was hoping he would see her again. He was in Harlem when the shockwave of a blast hit him. It was strong but nothing he never experienced before. He corrected and landed on top of a building. He looked at the direction of where it came from to see blue lights fading and smoke starting to rise. Car alarms sounded all around him when the sound suddenly came. It was like a freak thunderstorm came. It only lasted a few seconds before a strange silence filled the air. Peter acted quickly and traveled to the source.

As he traveled, debris from the sky started to fall. Chucks of metal and rock rained down the closer he got. He managed to web most of it and redirect others away from crowded areas. He heard on his police scanner a report of a person seen crashing into the Bronx Forest near the Botanical Garden. He changed direction to see if he was needed. He was first on the seen and saw a trail debris everywhere. They all traveled the same direction and he feared that maybe a person was hit by one of them. He swung on the trees and noticed a body. When he arrived, he was shocked to see it was Ivy. He barely recognized her as her suit was black and chucks of it looked to be torn off. She was face down and Peter carefully turned her over revealing her helmet looked in no better condition. He saw enough to immediately recognize Nina.

…

Nina slowly opened her eyes. Pain resonated when she tried to move her body. She looked at her surroundings. Health monitors were all around her with information on her body. She felt something grabbing her right hand and slowly lifted her head to see. To her surprise, Spider-Man held her hand with his head resting on the bed she was on. She tried to get up but grunted when aches around her body told her no. The sound and movement woke up Peter up.

"N-Ivy!" He said excitingly.

"Where…am…I?" Nina asked.

"Avenger's tower. Mr. Stark arrived shortly after I did. He transported you here when your suit suddenly started to close up the open sections."

Nina didn't speak as she was trying to recall what happened. V spoke insider her helmet and displayed the events that occurred.

"What were you doing? What happened?" He asked.

"…" Nina didn't answer as video played inside her helmet.

"Help me up," Nina spoke.

"I don't think that's a good idea,"

"Ah, sleeping beauty finally woke up from her sleep I see," A new voice spoke, and Nina saw Tony entering the room.

"I think this makes us even. You know with me saving you and all?"

"Thank you…" Nina responded.

An awkward silence filled the room as Tony wasn't expecting that response.

"Cool suit by the way. Hard to get reading from it but I worked around it," Tony said as he approached a monitor.

"Listen," Tony paused to look at the monitor and swipe at some displays. "We're gonna need you to explain what happened."

"We?" Nina asked.

At that moment, members of the Avengers came to the room followed by SHIELD members.

"Ivy, right? Mind telling us what happened?" Natasha spoke. Her arms remained at her side suggesting she didn't quite trust Nina.

"Help me up," Nina asked again at Peter and this time she forcibly moved her body making Peter assist her. She struggled to stand and used Peter as a support. Nina took a few breaths before speaking again.

"I was investigating kidnappings that led me to Van Cortlandt Park." Nina paused and thought how to proceed.

"And?" Nina looked at the new voice and saw Nick Fury standing there.

"It would be better to show you," Nina said as she started to type into her left forearm display.

"My name is Nina Kowalski," Nina deactivated her helmet to show her face. It still had cuts and bruises. "My parents were scientist and were part of a shady organization. When my parents refused to comply with an order…they were disposed of. I made it my life's mission to track them down and make them pay. The trail led me here"

Nina displayed the number of homeless individuals in FEAST and the trend of common folks just disappearing.

"I started volunteering here because they did the same thing in Poland. It's easy to kidnap people when no ones looking for them. I placed trackers on them and eventually found my way to their base," Nina finished explaining and pushed a button to start the video footage recorded from her helmet.

Everyone watched the footage of Nina forcing the door open and clearing floors. The video showed Nina's fighting techniques and how easily she disposed of enemies. When it got to the fight with the first mutant she encountered, everyone looked a bit taken aback. Much like her when she encountered the mutant. Peter grimaced slightly at the sight of Nina beheading the mutant. Everyone else continued watching as Nina moved to the last floor. When the man in the terminal came into view, Nina paused the footage.

"This is where it happened. I should've been quicker but what he said next made me pause," Nina resumed the video and the rest saw how she took care of the remaining people. When Nina threw the dagger to finish off the woman, the man had finished and turned around.

"Hail Hydra" Nina increased the volume so that he's whispered could be heard. What came next was the explosion and Nina ended the recording when it hit her.

"Hydra? Aren't they your old buddies Cap?" Tony said.

"As far as I knew, they should have been taken care of," Steve said as he looked at Nick Fury.

"They're suppose to be gone." Fury replied.

"I mean, its quite possible for a small group to survive. It also looks like they've been very careful in hiding." Natasha spoke.

"Did you find out what they were doing there?" Steve asked Nina. Nina frowned and slightly lowered her head. She displayed what video information V was able to grab before she was interrupted.

"They were experimenting on what made me and you," Nina said confirming what everyone else thought. The strength she had was almost like Steve maybe even stronger. The video ended with the individual inside the cell burned to death.

"And this happened to you?" Fury asked.

"I assumed so. I don't remember a lot. I was very young. I do remember my parents taking me away from place. They hid me so no one could find me,"

"Where'd you get the suit?" Tony asked.

"Parents had the designs. I finished,"

"Everything that was discussed here stays between us. Am I clear?" Fury looked at everyone menacingly. "We need to get see if this was their only location," Fury said and exited the room.

"Thanks for the info. You going to be okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Nina nodded. "Is it okay for me leave?"

"I don't think you're in any condition to move," Natasha spoke.

"I'll be fine," Nina replied. "Besides, this guy is my ride." Nina motioned her head to Peter. Everyone turned their eyes on him. He had refused to leave her side since they brought her here.

"I'll come find you if we need you," Natasha said as she exited the room.

"Do you guys need my address?" Nina asked faking innocence now that Natasha wasn't there. She would have seen right through if she was.

"Trust me, they probably already know your first crush at high school by now," Tony spoke. Nina let a small chuckle. Doing so made her ribs hurt.

Steve and Tony asked a few more questions before showing her and Peter the way out. They were at Avenger's tower to Nina's surprise. Peter knelt so Nina could get on his back. Peter webbed his way to her apartment's building roof. They didn't exchange words during the ride back. When Peter gently landed, Nina slowly sat down at the edge of the building.

"You saw, didn't you?" Nina asked.

"Uh? Saw what?" He tried to lie but just came out too obvious. He sighed and nodded.

"If it wasn't for your reaction to seeing my face, I wouldn't have known it was you…Peter."

Peter's eyes widen and tried to speak but Nina interrupted him by showing a video of him calling her name when he found her.

"You wanna know I knew? It's funny actually because you're the only guy who I see the most. And you also disappear sometimes. I can't believe I didn't recognize your voice right away." Nina chuckled at how she ignored her instincts.

Peter lowered his head and sat next to her. He didn't know what to say. Usually, he would be saying something funny to lighten the mood, but nothing came to mind. He sat next to Nina instead. They both sat in silence until Nina spoke again.

"I better get some rest," She got up made her way to the roof exit door.

"Can I come here tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"…I'd like that" Nina spoke before turning the handle.

Nina retracted her suit and limped her way back to her apartment. When she finally arrived, she began to undress in the bathroom to inspect her injuries. She had multiple bruises and a couple burns. Her cleaned herself with a wet towel and proceeded to treat herself. She could have used the ship's healing pod, but it would make it extremely suspicious if she just recovered the next day. Once she was done, she headed to bed and knocked out shortly after.