If Scott Summers was being entirely honest with himself, the reunited X-Men's first official field deployment had been a tactical disaster.
They had dropped into Madripoor to dismantle Weapon X, only to walk blindly into a trap set by Nathaniel Essex. Stripped of their mutations by a hybridized Leech suppression field, the entire roster had been incapacitated in under three minutes. It was a humiliating reality check. If Spider-Man hadn't been immune to the mutant-specific dampening field, the X-Men would currently be strapped to operating tables in a black-site laboratory.
Now, with Beast's Quinjet sitting at the bottom of Madripoor harbor, S.H.I.E.L.D. was sending a heavy transport to extract them in the morning. Peter had a three-day window before his aunt and uncle returned to Queens, giving him just enough time to get back without blowing his cover.
Down in the S.H.I.E.L.D. temporary holding facility, the X-Men established a rotating guard detail for the captured Weapon X mercenaries. Daken, Deadpool, Sabretooth, Omega Red, Lady Deathstrike, and Domino were locked inside a reinforced, transparent polymer cell, completely stripped of their gear.
Scott stood outside the glass, his arms crossed. Emma Frost stood beside him, her pristine white coat draped over her shoulders.
"How did you know?" Scott asked, not taking his eyes off Sabretooth. "When Essex tried to shut down Spider-Man's brain, how did you know he was going to fail?"
"On the day he brought you back to the Westchester estate, I took the liberty of briefly observing him," Emma replied smoothly, making absolutely no apology for her psychic intrusion. "I barely brushed the surface of his mind. The boy is protected by something ancient. A vastly more powerful presence anchors his consciousness."
Scott frowned, turning his head to look at her. "When does the academy merger begin?"
"The moment we return to New York," Emma said. She tilted her head, her blue eyes locking onto his visor. "But this battle demonstrated a severe tactical vulnerability, Scott. Essex specifically targeted our mutant biology to neutralize us. We are exceptionally passive against non-mutant threats. Perhaps keeping Spider-Man as a close ally would be mutually beneficial."
The next morning, Peter and the X-Men stood on the edge of the cratered bunker, staring up at the sky.
The air rippled. The massive optical camouflage panels of an airborne fortress deactivated, revealing a gargantuan C-17 Globemaster III transport plane bearing the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle crest. It featured a heavily modified dorsal docking rig designed specifically for Quinjet tethering. The heavy transport slowly descended onto the tarmac, the jet wash kicking up clouds of concrete dust.
The hydraulic rear ramp lowered. A man in a sharp, tailored suit and dark sunglasses walked down to the asphalt.
Phil Coulson offered a warm, professional smile and extended his hand toward Cyclops. "Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. It is genuinely good to see the X-Men operating again, Mr. Summers. It makes my job of ensuring global security significantly easier."
"A pleasure, Agent Coulson," Scott said, shaking his hand with a firm, military grip. "Our objective hasn't changed. We are still fighting for a world where mutants and humans can coexist."
As Scott and Coulson led the group up the ramp, Peter hung back, his eyes scanning the interior of the Globemaster.
He recognized the faces instantly.
Jemma Simmons. Leo Fitz. Skye.
Peter's stomach dropped. His fourth-wall MCU knowledge slammed into the forefront of his mind. This was Coulson's elite, deniable-operations team. Which meant Peter was standing in the middle of a major chronological crossroads.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had explicitly come to Madripoor to retrieve Essex's gene-editing device. Fortunately, Scott had blasted the mainframe into microscopic slag before the transport arrived, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. with nothing but useless scrap metal. But Peter had a different problem.
His suit's optical lenses had recorded the entire battle. Under the Avengers' data-sharing agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D., Peter was technically obligated to hand over his combat measurement.
But Peter knew the truth. He knew exactly what was currently festering inside the global intelligence agency. HYDRA. He didn't know exactly when the S.H.I.E.L.D. collapse was scheduled to happen in this universe, but handing over high-resolution combat footage of the X-Men and his newly stabilized bio-electric powers to a compromised agency was suicide. He silently resolved to keep his servers locked down.
"Oh my God, it actually is him. An Avenger!"
Peter blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. A young woman with an enthusiastic British accent rushed up to him. Jemma Simmons practically vibrated with excitement.
Before Peter could wave, a young man with a thick Scottish brogue flanked him on the other side.
"Is your primary ability the result of a targeted genetic mutation or a localized radioactive catalyst?" Simmons asked rapidly, holding up a data pad.
"Can I see the mechanical schematics for your web-shooters?" Leo Fitz demanded, leaning uncomfortably close to Peter's wrists. "I've been analyzing the tensile strength of your polymer webbing, and the pressure-valve regulation must be astronomical."
"Uh," Peter stepped back, overwhelmed by the sudden barrage of science. "Later? I promise."
Fitz immediately pulled a pen from his pocket and started taking frantic notes on his palm. A few yards away, Skye leaned against a server rack. She didn't say a word. She just watched Peter with the quiet, careful patience of a hacker gathering data before executing a command.
"Alright, that's enough," Coulson said, stepping between Peter and the scientists. He made a gentle shooing motion. "Give the Avenger some space, guys. Simmons, Fitz, go check the cargo restraints."
The two scientists groaned but reluctantly retreated toward the cockpit.
Coulson turned back to Peter, offering an apologetic smile. "Forgive them. We don't often get to transport a genuine superhero on this plane."
"I was pretty excited to see you, too," Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck. He lowered his voice. "I read the Avengers' restricted files, Agent Coulson. They said you died during the Battle of New York."
"I was dead for approximately three seconds," Coulson replied smoothly, not dropping his pleasant demeanor. "Then I stood back up. When you see Captain Rogers, please tell him I'm doing fine."
Coulson picked up a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. tablet from a nearby terminal. His smile faded into strict professionalism. "I actually need you to deliver a message to the Avengers."
He handed the tablet to Peter. A grainy, high-contrast image filled the screen. It was the flaming android that had fought Bobby Drake over the docks.
"We have confirmed the asset's identity," Coulson said quietly. "That is Jim Hammond. The original Human Torch. A member of the Howling Commandos."
Peter stared at the screen, genuinely shocked. "Are you sure? He's from World War II. He should be dead, or at least ninety years old."
"Jim Hammond is a synthetic being," Coulson corrected. "Biological lifespans do not apply to him. The real question is how he ended up in Madripoor. The official historical record states he was shot down by HYDRA anti-aircraft fire over Europe on the eve of victory. That is a lie."
Coulson clasped his hands behind his back. "The truth is that the Soviet army was days away from taking Berlin. Western Front Command wanted the glory of ending the war. They gave Hammond a classified, unilateral order: breach the bunker and kill Adolf Hitler."
Peter looked up from the tablet, his eyes wide under his mask. "Did he?"
"He succeeded," Coulson nodded grimly. "Hitler's body was found burned to an absolute crisp. But Hammond sustained catastrophic damage during the assault. He fell at the bunker. His synthetic body was secretly repatriated to the United States... and then it was stolen from a secure vault."
Coulson held Peter's gaze. The implication hung heavy in the pressurized cabin.
Only one organization had the resources to steal an android from a secure U.S. military vault and the scientific capability to modify it. HYDRA. And HYDRA had handed that android directly to Nathaniel Essex.
Peter tightened his grip on the tablet. He understood exactly what Coulson was asking him to do.
"I'll pass it along," Peter said.
PS: In Marvel Comics continuity, Jim Hammond actually did kill Adolf Hitler! In What If? #4 (1977) and later cemented in main canon via The Invaders, the original Human Torch stormed the Fuhrer's bunker in the final days of WWII. Hitler attempted to use a bomb to kill them both, but Hammond's flames incinerated him first, leaving his body burned beyond recognition—which perfectly explains why the history books claim Hitler took his own life and had his body burned!