Gwen's finger hovered unconsciously above the quantum communicator.
This was a neat little gadget Peter and Tony had put together before Peter departed. Powered by the Tesseract—the Space Stone—they could make instant video calls even with Peter millions of light-years away in deep space.
She knew Peter would have a solution in a heartbeat. That guy could debate the UN politicians into existential crises, or simply trace the signal back through the network, haul out the shadow puppeteers, and beat them into a pulp.
No matter how complex the problem, in his hands, it always became ridiculously simple.
Yet her finger hovering over the quantum device refused to press down.
She didn't want Peter to serve as her safety net every single time something went wrong.
Peter was gentle, impossibly strong, and would never grow impatient clean up her messes. But that wasn't what Gwen wanted. She had zero desire to live as an accessory in Peter's shadow.
Peter was already exhausted carrying the weight of this planet on his shoulders. What she needed to do was step up while he was off Earth, serving as a rock-solid rear guard—not remaining locked in a high tower, playing the helpless princess waiting for her hero to rescue her.
With that thought, Gwen pulled the quantum communicator back completely.
"Enough."
The moment Gwen spoke, the chaotic room fell dead silent.
Tony looked over at her in surprise: "Lady Spider, are you ready to ring up Peter to fix this mess?"
"No." Gwen raised her head, her tone resolute and unyielding. "I think we need to handle this problem ourselves."
Natasha stared at her, slightly taken aback: "Are you sure?"
"Completely."
"So what's the play?" Hawkeye's face was written all over with skepticism and curiosity.
Gwen walked up to the central conference table, sliding the printed UN resolution right into the middle. "They want the Avengers deployed globally? Then we give them exactly what they want."
"The timing is far too clean. Peter just left Earth, and the UN passed this mandate at breakneck speed—there is guaranteed to be a puppet master behind this."
"Right now, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the open, and they've already seized the moral high ground through the media. If we flat-out refuse under these conditions, we'll only give them a free pass to brand us as outlaws."
A smile of genuine approval surfaced on Captain America's face: "Keep going, kid."
"My plan is simple: We agree to the global deployment, but we do not hand over our operational independence."
As she spoke, she reached into her jacket and pulled out several miniature spider-drones.
This was an idea she had cooked up after seeing the nanotech drones in Superior Spider-Man's universe. Upon returning, she had gathered the materials and built a batch herself.
"We can carry these when dispatched to different nations to handle crisis events. The spider-drones will secretly record mission footage from start to finish. The moment any of us faces false criminal allegations, this footage will serve as ironclad evidence to flip the narrative!"
"Not a bad thought at all," Tony complimented genuinely.
"That's just the baseline!" Gwen offered a soft smile, not letting the praise go to her head. "The single most important factor is that we must trust each other implicitly. Effective today, I propose a Highest-Priority Mutual Trust Protocol within the Avengers."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "That name sounds like something Peter would relentlessly roast."
"Then feel free to give it a flashier name," Gwen retorted effortlessly.
The exchange made Hawkeye let out a low whistle: "Getting real Peter vibes from her now."
Gwen clapped her hands, drawing everyone's focus back to business:
"First: If anyone encounters an anomalous incident, immediately initiate contact on the primary team channel."
"Second: If any member goes dark for more than six hours, nearby personnel are strictly forbidden from acting alone. We wait and launch a coordinated rescue team!"
"Third: Any evidence suggesting a teammate committed a crime is automatically treated as fabricated perjury. Every single person in this room was handpicked by Peter. Trust each other's character."
Listening to this, Tony couldn't help but raise his eyebrows higher: "Sounds like you're already assuming someone is going to impersonate us to commit crimes... or try to take us off the board."
"Precisely," Gwen admitted directly. "This whole thing moved too fast. The European governments spoke with identical talking points as if they had rehearsed it for weeks. That level of efficiency reminds me of a very specific entity."
Steve's brow furrowed tightly: "You suspect Hydra's remnants?"
Gwen nodded: "High probability. Even if it isn't Hydra, it's an organization operating on the exact same playbook."
Hawkeye tilted his chin: "I think she's onto something."
Steve spoke with a deep, grounded voice: "Kid, I completely back your play."
Tony stared at Gwen for a few long seconds before breaking into a sudden smile: "Alright then, Lady Spider. You've convinced me."
Gwen was caught off guard: "None of you are objecting?"
Her previously clear, concise delivery suddenly stuttered a little: "I... I thought you guys would just view me as Peter's girlfriend..."
Hawkeye chuckled: "Come on, you're Ghost-Spider."
Banner added warmly: "Every single person in this room has had their life saved by you at least once. How could any of us view you as just someone else's shadow?"
Taking a sip of his soda, Tony smiled: "More importantly, if we don't give you face, that petty guy will definitely hold a grudge when he gets back~"
With that, Tony turned to the group: "So... show of hands?"
He was the first to raise his hand.
Natasha raised hers: "Passed."
Cap raised his: "Passed."
Banner raised his: "Passed."
Hawkeye raised his: "Passed."
Every single person present raised their hand: "Passed."
Unanimous approval!
Following the Avengers' formal acceptance of the UN Global Accountability Agreement, the team dispersed across various sectors of the world.
And not long after they arrived at their designated international stations—
Tony, who remained behind to guard America and oversee the mass production of the Iron Man armors, received an urgent alert from JARVIS:
"Sir, multiple reports have just emerged across Europe alleging Avengers members attacking government officials."
A strange smile surfaced on Tony's face: "Who's on the list?"
"Captain America allegedly ambushed a British MI6 convoy in London."
"Mr. Barton was spotted in the skies above Paris, destroying three French military drones."
"Ms. Romanoff reportedly assassinated a high-ranking Russian cabinet minister."
"And Ms. Stacy has caused massive civil disruption in Germany."
Gazing at the video feeds displaying the "Avengers" causing rampant destruction across Europe, Tony let out a scoff: "Talk about a full villain squad!"
However, as he continued watching, his smile abruptly froze.
Through closer frame-by-frame analysis of the video feeds, he realized the situation was far more sinister than he had anticipated.
These weren't merely crude physical disguises—the impostors appearing in the footage actually possessed the signature combat abilities and powers of each respective hero!
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