I got into my DeLorean in my noir suit, intending to keep the name the Dark Knight for good, I wasn't about to let such a badass name go to waste. The car arrived in the secret alley, and I pulled out, and several moments later, as soon as I was far enough from the alley, I pulled to the curb, and deactivated the car's cloaking, surprising the people that were walking on the sidewalk.

I lowered my window, and said "Hey fellow folks of the polluted but beautiful city of New York! How's it going?"

"He's talking to me!" One of the guys said.

"Yes, I am." I said, smiling, not that they could see it. "Your day just got one hundred percent better, right? But then again, I'm not that famous yet, so probably not."

"No, it totally did!" A girl that looked vaguely familiar said, walking up to the car. "Can I get an autograph?"

"I'm already that famous, huh?" I said to myself. "Sure, here." I got a pen out of my suit, and a paper from a notepad that I totally didn't place there for this very purpose. I signed with 'Karma, AKA Spider-Man, the Dark Knight' Then I gave her the paper, and said "That does the job?"

"Perfectly! I didn't know you actually used Karma, I thought that was a one time thing."

"It was." I said. "But then my allies started calling me Karma, so it stuck. What's your name?"

"Jean, Jean Gray." Well, fuck.

I blinked two times, then I realized I had to say something "I know a Jean Gray from some other universes, I guess you're the version in this universe. But I have some things to do now, talk to you later?"

"There's other universes, which have me, and I'm your friend there? That's so cool! Here, I will give you my number."

She started reaching into her bag, and I said "No need to give me your phone number, just answer when you receive a call from me. And your other versions aren't friends with me, their friends with the other versions of me. But please keep this to yourself."

"Of course, you have a family you need to keep safe. But how will you contact me when you don't have my number?"

"I will get it." I said casually. "I have friends in high places, so it won't be a problem. But don't worry, I won't stalk you, but my daughter might, sorry about that, she always goes crazy over things like that."

"It's not a problem! I probably won't even know that she did, and she's just a kid, probably younger than me. I get it."

"Thanks!" I said. I stretched my hand out in a handshake. "Till next time?" I asked.

She shook my hand. "Till next time."

I nodded, and revved my engine as I left, rolling my window up.

"So," Sexi's voice came on, "that was Jean, huh? Nice girl, very forward, and not scared at all."

I groaned. "Why did I know you were totally listening in?"

"Because I'm your daughter." She said, as if the reason was obvious. "You knew that I was listening in, so you mentioned me, telling me that you would rather I didn't check her background, but that it would be ok if I did. Oh, and apparently, she goes to Midtown, has been going for the last two years, she's a junior like you, but she's not in the Level II advanced classes, she's in Level I. I think watching her meet both sides will be fun, what do you think?"

"I think," I said "this is one of those pains in your ass, that you are somehow fine with, but I would rather it not be a pain."

"That's another way of putting it." She said. "Have fun at coffee."

I heard six heartbeats following me from the rooftops, six heartbeats that I recognized. "Sexi," I said "whatever happens at the coffee shop, don't tell the others, or have them come to me, I got this, even though I don't know which direction this is going towards yet."

"I won't send assistance unless you clearly need it." She said.

"Look at the rooftops, sunshine. I have more than enough security."

After a moment, she said "Oh, I get it. Ok, I won't call for help, unless all seven of you are overwhelmed. That works?"

"Perfectly." I said. "Thanks sunshine, wish me luck."

"Luck." She said. "Stay safe, and I'm pretty sure that at this rate, we'll seriously have an army at our house, that we'll need to fit in The Home."

"Don't worry, we have space, and we're all enjoying the freakshow, even Aunt May. I know there's a limit, but you gotta admit, the fact that the house is nearly filled to the brim is awesome, right?"

"Yeah. Now get to your coffee shop, and enjoy your cold brew."

"You got it, sunshine." I said, then I revved my engine, going at sixty mph.

I smirked. The heartbeats had picked up their speed too.

I got to the coffee shop, and stopped on the curb right in front of the entrance to the Starbucks, and got out of my car, fixing my coat as I got out. I walked in, and the store immediately became quiet. I spread my hands out, and said "What, I'm not Tony Stark, y'all. I'm not going to kill y'all, I don't bite, I just wanted some cold brew!" I shook my head in mock disappointment. "The perils of being a celebrity." One of the teenagers that were in the cafe laughed, and I said "See! He gets the vibe! I didn't do nothing, and y'all be staring at me like I done a crime!" I winked, and said "Don't worry, I am just joking around, I'm a human under this mask y'know, a human with a beautiful daughter, and an awesome family. I can do dad jokes too, if you don't believe it."

"Are you for real?" The teenager who laughed before asked.

"No, I'm not for real, I'm Dad." I said, and the crowd laughed at that. I walked up to the bar, and said "A cold brew, two sugars, and whipped cream on top." One of the teenagers laughed quietly at that, and I turned to face her, and blinked. "Not that whipped cream, kid. Like I said, I got a daughter, and she would be aghast if I was cheating on her mom, not that I would do it anyway."

I heard the barista quietly place a cyanide pill in my drink, and then give it to me. "A cold brew with two sugars, and whipped cream on top, for..."

"The Dark Knight." I said. "One of my many names. Vengeance, Karma, Spider-Man, Night, Dark Knight, all of them awesome."

"For the Dark Knight, then. It is free for you."

"I'm not that type of guy, I save y'all from things like HYDRA, or SHIELD," at that her fingers twitched, revealing to me that she was SHIELD. "To see y'all safe, in coffee shops, or on the streets. Not to get awesome coffee for free. By the way," I looked at the barista's nametag. "Michelle, how's working for SHIELD going for you?"

"Sir?" She said, acting confused. The atmosphere in the cafe went dark again.

"I heard you drop the cyanide pill in my drink, Michelle. But you forgot to mention it to me. Do you know what I did, to deserve the Director's wrath?"

"No, sir." She said.

"No need to call me sir. Just call me Karma, you were doing your job, and I respect that. What I did to get Fury on my ass, was that when he hunted to find out who was under the mask, he couldn't find out who was under. I kept my family safe from him, and he doesn't like that. You know, he killed my parents? For nothing, other than going against his wishes to put SHIELD in control of the world by force. The reason he hates me is because I'm exposing his secrets, the names of the people he killed, the people he wants to kill. Here, let's talk to your boss." I pressed a button on my wristpad, and after two moments, Fury's voice came on.

"Agent, is this line secure?"

I nodded, so she said "Yes, sir."

"Was the cyanide pill successful?" He asked.

"I don't know, Nicholas." I said. "I haven't drunk my awesome coffee yet, but according to the cyanide pill I ate several days ago as a test, it shouldn't work. Here, let's try again." I deactivated the lower half of my mask, and in one gulp, I drank the whole thing, then crushed the cup. "It's a failure, sorry, Nick. I'm coming out, let's talk on the seats outside."

"What are you aiming at, Spider?" He said, sounding angry.

"Well, the cancellation of Project Oversight would be good, amongst many others." I turned to the crowd. "Project Oversight, y'all, is a project looking to add several more Helicarriers to the sky, and orbit the world, being the 'Oversight' over the world, and controlling the world by force. They even have a hit list, for people that are a potential danger, that they will kill when the Helicarriers are in the sky. Let's look at one of the names, shall we? Doctor Stephen Strange. The best neurosurgeon in the city, and possibly the world as well. Pray tell, what has this honorable man, with an honorable profession, done to deserve death? By the way Strange, if you're somehow watching this, know that I have placed protection over you, they can't hurt you. So what do you say, Nicholas? You wanna come in front of the cafe, and talk to me, man to man, or will you run away?"

"I'm waiting for you." He said.

"That's what I thought." I turned to Michelle. "I've sent the payment, and a tip on top, for every person working at this cafe, you included. Thanks for the coffee." I turned to the crowd. "y'all should come and watch and record and share, and let your friends and families know that this is happening. I'm not doing this to talk to Fury, I'm doing this to explain to y'all, why I don't trust Fury. No danger will come to you guys, I swear on my daughter's life."

I went outside, and found Fury sitting outside, in all his trench coated disgust. He didn't deserve to wear those beauties, he was soiling the fashion. "Nicholas." I said simply, but placing a good amount of venom in my tone.

"Karma." He said, just as simply, but not being able to put the same amount of venom as me.

I sat down, and the people from inside came out, all holding their phones out, and taking videos. Nick glared at them and said "No video evidence."

"Uh-Uh." I said. "You guys can take videos all you want, I want the world to know why I'm going against SHIELD."

He glared at me, then gave up. "What did you want to talk about, Spider?"

"Well, see, Nicholas, I wanted to talk to you about people you've killed, and people on your hit list, and Project Oversight, and your dealings with HYDRA and several mercenaries, and your attempts at recreating the Super Soldier, which failed when the new Soldier, whose parents you killed so as to have full control over his blood, turned out to have impenetrable skin. But first, we will talk about people you've killed. First up, The Cages. Care to tell the world who they were, and why you killed them, Nicholas?"

"I'm not the only one keeping secrets, Rogers. You want to explain to your fan base why I called you that?" He shot back.

"Oh, because that is so much more important than the people you've killed." I said, but I was honestly happy he brought that up. "What he's talking about, folks, by the way Nicky, they're not my fan base, they're the people of my city, whom I refuse to let you control. But back to point, yes, my grandfather was Steve Rogers, but that doesn't mean anything, does it? His children were kidnapped by HYDRA and KGB as children, and SHIELD doesn't know where they are, and won't. Now, about the Cages?"

"The Cages were two of my greatest agents, who were also scientists. They were killed by the Zodiac."

"Ahh, well done. You said everything, but none of the incriminating things. Let me tell you guys those parts. I went through SHIELD'S database, folks, and guess what I found!? I found out that SHIELD knew about the attack from Zodiac was coming weeks before it happened, and in preparation, they sent the Cage's son, Luke Cage, with them, in anticipation that the Cages would inject their son with the Super Soldier Serum SHIELD had them develop, and throw him off the plane that they were on, knowing that he would survive the fall because of the serum. See, the thing is, if you work for Fury, and you're a vital piece to the organization, you better not have any morals, or they kill you. It's what happened to the Cages, to the Parkers, to my parents! He knew that Luke's parents would not let SHIELD be in control of an army of Super Soldiers, and as such, he prepared for it. But there was one tiny problem, wasn't there?" His eyebrow twitched. "Yes, there was a problem. This version of the Serum made Luke more powerful than my grandfather, and his skin was impenetrable! So, they had to say bye to the idea of a Super Soldier army." By now, the crowd was covering the whole street, filled with people, and one in about every ten people was a SHIELD agent. "Nice crowd we got here, right? But moving on, next point, your hit list. Why do you have children on your hit list? I'll admit, the logic behind killing one such as the Fantastic Four is there, but it's faulty. Like, I get the reasoning, but no one hurts my family, neither are they bad people. But killing kids, whose parents you killed before him, just doesn't make sense. Explain, Nicholas. Why did I find Peter and Teresa Parker on your hit list?" I turned to the crowd. "This could be any of us, folks. When I found out they were on the list, I investigated into them, and found out that they did nothing to deserve death, except for being smart, and ahead of their classes, this could just as well have been any one of us! A child of ours, who has a gift, be it his brains, or his acrobatic skills, or the fact that he trained at several dojos, and therefore has a whole lot of fighting skill! My kid could be the best in the basketball team, and they would target her!" I turned back to Fury, and said "By the way, I know which people in the crowd are your agents."

"Do you now?" He challenged. "Go on, pull five of them put of the crowd."

I didn't even get up, just used my webs to pull them to me. "That good for you, Nickster? Now, answer the question. Why do you have children on your hit list?"

"If you knew these five were agents," he said "Then you know ten percent of the people are my agents, and that you're surrounded, and outnumbered, and outmatched."

"Ahh, you're wrong about that outmatched part, Nickelodeon. It's a new season, the winter is almost over, it's coming to a close. It's a new season, a new start, and it will start with your ass in the dust."

Five minutes ago, The Parker (and everyone else's) Residence

Everyone was sitting around, in the living room, just hanging around, when Tess said "Let's watch the news! Then we can see Peter get the dark cup of cold brew!"

She turned the TV on, and it failed for a moment, before working. Tess switched to the news channel, and then there were pictures of The Dark Knight getting out of his car, leaning against the bar, joking around with the crowd. But every now and then, the TV turned to static, and Nat turned to Sexi, raising an eyebrow, and said "Sexi, the real news, please."

Sexi shrunk into herself, and said "Dad said not to show you guys. He talked to me like five minutes ago, and he said not to let you guys know, and I know that he's safe, trust me."

Nat spoke in Russian "Sexi, you know what your dad said about my raised eyebrows, and my eyebrows are very raised right now."

Sexi shrunk in even more. "He has a security feature, or several of them, he's fine. Dad told me not to let y'all know, or let y'all come to help him, he had it under control."

Aunt Nari looked at Sexi, and said "You're not letting us know, the TV is. It's fine, he will have to explain when he comes back anyways, and it would be easier for him this way."

"Fine, but let me tell you, it's way better than it looks, and I'm not telling you what's actually going on, that ruins the dramatic effect." The TV fixed, and everyone collectively gasped.

"He's on some sort of drugs." Bobbi said. "Like to be sitting there casually, Fury right across him, Fury's the one that's tense, not Peter. This is crazy, he's playing with fire. I need some of that bar."

"This, people," Sexi said "is going to turn out to have an ending none of y'all will expect. Just wait, this is one of the few things that are better than Avatar."

"Well, if it was an episode of Avatar," Shuri said "or the newly released show, 'Spider-fam' what would the name of this episode be?"

"One Cold Brew, Two Trench Coats, And Twelve Strong Arms." Sexi said immediately, and they all looked at her in questioning. "Just wait, this is awesome!"

They all turned to the TV, and watched in silence. When he started talking about himself in third person, Nat said "He is planning for years ahead every single day, goddamn."

"Just shush!" Sexi said "This is that one episode that will change the entire season, and y'all don't know how! Let me watch my show in peace!"

When he mentioned the seasons, Maria said "That was an obvious message, in a hidden place, for someone. I don't know who that was for, and I'm pretty sure no one does."

"The Arms begin their work." Sexi said solemnly. "They have been given the signal, and they are the shadows in the light, doing their work."

"She's on the same stuff as her dad." Bobbi said "You can't honestly say that they don't do drugs, they're so crazy. 'We all have wings.' 'The shadows in the light.'"

"Just shut up!" Sexi said. "This is the most important part, the crazyy as fuck reveal! I don't know how he just makes his life be like a show, but this will have y'all jumping out of your chairs!"

"As if we weren't already going crazy enough to be standing up." Tess said, from where she was standing. Sexi glared at her, and she said "God, ok! I'll shut up."

Starbucks, current time

The moment I mentioned a new season, I heard my... security features drop from the rooftops, and take care of the agents quietly, one by one, discreetly, with none being the wiser. I smirked, and said "Fury, why do you have kids on your hit list? They're not the only ones, but the most well known ones. Care to explain why our children are in danger from you?"

"I need to make sure that no people with smarts enough to control the world stay alive, Karma. I have to ensure that no acrobatic person decides to put his skills to bad use, and starts raging at the world, and putting it in danger, like what you're doing."

"Oh, and I am the one that's shooting children, right?" He didn't have an answer to that. "That's what I thought, Director." I turned to the crowd. "Y'all agree with me? Y'all think that Fury is the threat here?" Eighty percent of the people nodded, but ten percent looked unsure, and the other ten shook their head.

"You're not the law, Spider." Fury said. "You can't say that I need to be taken out, and you sure as hell can't. You're just a person trying to save the world, but you're destroying it instead. You're putting the law in your hands, you're making yourself the judge, jury, and executioner. You have done nothing to deserve trust, you just deserve mistrust, and the guillotine."

"I'm not the jury here, or the judge. I'm just the prosecuting attorney, and the executioner. The people are the jury, and any of you here care to give him your thoughts, what the jury has decided?" I turned to the crowd.

The kid who I did the dad joke to took a deep breath, then said "I got a friend, he's good with the computers. And I know that you are targeting him, he is practically unmatched, and he even hacked the list The Dark Knight was talking about, and found his name on it. I can say for myself, for my family, for my friend, for my friend's family, for the world, for everyone else on that list, for everyone else who knows someone on that list, that I agree with Karma. May you get your Vengeance, Director."

"There's my man!" I said, and gave him a fist, which he bumped. "What's your name, kid?"

"Miles, Miles Morales."

Woah, that's a big name right there. I put a hand on his shoulder, and said "Well then, Miles, let me tell you, Ganke is a good friend to have, the best type. He may be a little bit extra sometimes, but he's a good friend. I'm going to keep y'all safe to the best of my ability, all of y'all, even Aaron. Copy that?"

"Copy that." He said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"14."

"That's nice, Miles." I turned back to Fury. "What now? You want to discuss Project Oversight, or your dealings with HYDRA and several mercenaries?"

"I think this meeting is over." He said, getting up from his chair. "And I think that you can't do anything to stop me, I have agents all over."

"Oh, really?" I asked. "Look around, Fury. Your agents are all gone from the crowd, you'll probably find them on the rooftops, either dead, or knocked out. Some people thought they owed me a favor, which they just paid, big time. C'mon out, Soldiers."

Immediately, the six heartbeats jumped off the rooftop that was the Starbucks building, and landed behind me, in the badass superhero landing, heads faced downward, all at once, but quietly. They had masks on, so you couldn't know who they were. Fury looked at them, and immediately he drew his gun, which he meant to point at Miles, but before he could, he found his arm with the gun on the floor, sliced off. I put my stinger to his chin, and made my voice as deep as possible, and said "You were going to use a kid as a hostage, Director. That's never acceptable. How's your hand feeling?"

"It's not feeling." He said.

"That's how I like it, when you pull nasty shit." I turned to Miles. "You good, Kid?"

Miles took a deep breath. "I saw that coming." He said "I stepped forward, and said what I thought, knowing this might happen. But I trusted you, so I did it anyway. Thank you, Karma."

"It's what I do." I said, then turned to the security features. "How's it going Soldiers? Y'all didn't owe me nothing, but thank you anyways."

"We owe you a lot, Karma." The leader said, a man with a deep European accent. "You removed the control, and gave us our souls back, we are in your debt."

"You're my responsibility, same as the rest of the world. No one soul is too small, no one man needs to die," I turned to Fury, and bared my fangs "unless he deserves it."

"Don't kill him yet." Miles said. "Let him go to his Triskellion, without an arm, and bleeding out from his stump of an arm, with people sending looks at him all the while. Not for me, not because he aimed his gun at me, but because he targeted my friend, and other people's friends and families. I'm sure a whole bunch of people will throw trash at him, and that's fine, isn't it, Dark Knight?"

"Oh, it's more than fine, let me just remove his weapons, don't want him to pull out another gun." I took all of his weapons and gadgets, even his eye patch. "This beauty has a good amount of information." I said, handing it to Miles. "Give it to Ganke, let him have some fun digging the info, and revealing it to the world." I turned to Fury, and removed my stinger from his chin. "You can go die now." He stepped back immediately, not wanting to stay any closer to my stinger, he already felt pain with those once, and he clearly didn't want it again. I turned to the crowd. "Y'all can start punching him." Then I turned to the Soldiers. "Well, this puts an end to your previous chapters of your lives, right?"

"Yes, Karma." The leader confirmed. "We are Winter Soldiers no more."

Back at the Parkers (and everyone else's) residence

Everyone was already standing on their toes, not sure what was going to happen next. The moment the leader said they were Winter Soldiers no more, everyone jumped up, and Gwen and Tess fell from where they were watching on the ceiling. "What the actual fuck!" They all screamed.

Nat, Maria, Sharon, and Bobbi all screamed "You're telling us that Peter has the six greatest assassins ever alive, to join him! They were so good at their job, their stories were only passed around between agents as a myth!"

"Yes!" Sexi shouted. "I knew he knew exactly how it would play out, minus that Kid! He just played SHIELD, and Fury is slinking away, with people throwing trash at him! Get 'em, Dad!"

"Who the fuck is his supplier, I need some of that stuff." Bobbi said.

"Smart man." Uncle Al and Uncle Ben both said.

"I will be honest," Maria said "when he sent them the message, it should have been obvious. Winter is over and all that, we should have seen it. We're bad agents."

"No, he's just that good." Nat countered. "It seemed like a message, because he let it. He could have sent the message more discreetly, but it was also a form of intimidation, that Fury didn't know what he was talking about. But who was that kid, and why did Peter know him so well that he knew his friends name, as well as Aaron, whoever that is."

"Aaron is his uncle, and I don't have anything special about him, other than his uncle is a suited robber, known as the Prowler, but no one knows his identity. Let's just wait for Dad to come back, and get ready for the new additions."

"True." Aunt May said, and they got to work.

Starbucks

We watched as Fury started running away, hobbling because his balance was messed up, what with a lost arm. I put a hand on Miles' shoulder, and said "Good job, Kid. I'd rather you weren't in danger, Miles, but I'm not surprised. Well thought out. You knew that it would happen, and you did it anyways, that was brave of you."

"How do you know me?" He asked. "Like actually, how do you know me? You know me through me, I think. I know you may have ran into Uncle Aaron, but the way you talked to me, you knew me through me."

I sighed, and gave him a comm unit, and said "Kid, put this on. I don't want people hearing what I'm about to tell you."

He put it on his ear, and I said quietly. "There's a multiverse, Kid. And in a good amount of those universes, you get bit by a spider, and you take the mantle after I die. If you need anything, come to Peter Parker's place, and I will help you however I can. It's an honor, Miles. You're going to be better than me, and I can't wait till we can swing in the skies together, or the day that I watch from my resting place, and you swing, and sit at the top of the Empire State Building, and kiss your girl from up there, and so much more. But keep this to yourself, until you get bit. I'm not doing anything to stop the bite from happening, unless you ask me to. The skies are going to be waiting for you, Arachnid Kid. You just have to be patient, and you'll be in the skies before you know it. When you get bit, you can tell Ganke and your parents, just keep this to yourself for now, and if you need help coming to terms with what I'm telling you, my home is always open for you, I'm probably even going to leave my lab for you in my will, and at least one of my cars."

"I understand." He said. "This stays between us, and whoever you trust, and I can tell people I trust when I do the rites of passage in a way, and get bit. Thank you for trusting me, I will probably come over sometime, Peter. But how will I contact you?"

"Just send a text to my number, it's saved to your phone. I've already secured your phone, so no one can hack it, except Ganke, possibly." I smirked, and said "I think we should call it the bite of passage, what do you think?"

"Weird, but accurate." He took the comm off, and handed it to me, then with a handshake, he left.

I turned to the Soldiers, and deactivated my private mode. "So, what are we calling y'all?"

"Not the Summer Soldiers, for sure." The leader said.

I laughed. "What's your name?"

"Josef."

"Well then, Josef, what do you say we all head to my place?"

He looked at the rest of his soldiers, then finding no objection, he turned back to me, and said "I don't see a reason why not."

"That's the spirit, but don't move for a second while my nanobots cover you and take us home." I said.

They nodded, and the nanobots covered and cloaked them, and then we headed homeward.

We were going to have a very difficult conversation about Bucky and Tony when we got home.