Spider-Man Season One: Freestyle

6-2: The Old and the New Part 2

I waited quite a while before anyone actually got me from my cell, which was plenty of time to get frustrated again about the fact that I was being held in a cell. I grew bored of watching through my long glass window as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents walked past without even a second glance.

SHIELD. I had heard about them, but only about as much as everyone else knew. They were secret agents who did a bunch of weird stuff no one knew about. They worked with guys like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four sometimes when things really went off the rails. And like all other generic organizations, they loved their acronyms.

Part of me was geeking it for a number of reasons. Another part of me insisted on being realistic, resulting in a round of back and forth thoughts along the lines of:

SHIELD. Wow. I wonder if any of the Avengers are on here too.

Stupid. Of course they're not. They're busy with...whatever it is they do nowadays. And don't forget that you had Doombots after you.

Dude. SHIELD is protecting ME from Doombots. I didn't think I'd do anything this big...at least...not this soon.

And let's hope I'm still not doing anything. Because Doombots.

Eventually, a blonde haired guy with about the most regular face I've ever seen opened my door. I don't mean that as an insult, really; he genuinely had one of the least distinguishable faces I've ever seen. His eyes were a dark enough blue that they didn't accent anything about his hair color or vice versa. He had thin brown eyebrows and an expression that told me he wasn't sure why he was asked to do what he was doing but didn't plan to ask.

He looked at me from the doorway for a moment and seemed unsure of how to begin. Finally he settled for a good old, "Hello."

I gave a small wave. "Howdy."

"I'm Agent Williams. I've...been directed to bring you up to deck for the director."

I nodded as I stood up and stretched.

"I'm also told the director wants you to know that we're currently flying at just over 40,000 feet. In case you're-I'm quoting here-'thinking of trying something dumb'."

"...fair enough."

He seemed content with that, and motioned for me to follow him. I obliged, following him as he turned left out of the doorway. I noticed a few other wide windows, that seemed to be some sort of cell like mine. However, the glass simply reflected everything like a mirror on these. I couldn't even tell if there was anyone inside.

We took a number of turns through hallways with more stuff to see than I could keep track of. Most rooms didn't have any windows to look in from the hall, but even so, there was plenty to look at.  I noticed a med bay, with several large pods that I genuinely hoped I would never end up in. We passed a room guarded by a very large agent. He didn't glance at anyone as they passed. Agent Williams gave him a little wave as we passed. The guy didn't even blink.

My attention caught on some scientists, who I could see through a window with blinds, who stood very nonchalantly as they watched a device that sparked with near blinding amounts of electricity. One guy noticed me watching, and took a step toward the window and reached for the wall, just before the blinds shut tight.

While we walked, I also picked up on Agent Williams continuously looking back at me. I could tell from his face though that it wasn't to check on me; he was geeking out. I knew that expression well: I was doing it at the same time, just under my mask. I couldn't help but smile a bit thinking about it.

Finally, one hallway led us to the biggest space we'd been in yet. The ceiling was easily over 25 feet above. We seemed to have entered from the side, through a doorway that seemed relatively small. The room was a multi-leveled oval, with an upper section composed of a series of thin walkways with rows of monitors that ran around the edges of shape. The lower section was similar, but with a little more space, so that it made most of the inside of the oval, except for a raised walkway that came from one end of the room and ended in a sort of observation platform. This platform sat right in front of one end of the room that was almost entirely a many-plated window.