Clap, clap, clap, clap—
When Ada Wong landed safely on the ground, the crowd burst into applause. Ada was a hero. She had jumped from the fifth floor with a child in her arms and, even more incredibly, managed to hook herself onto the lower floor's security bars with a pair of handcuffs. She had done the impossible—and pulled it off perfectly.
And of course, this moment had been caught on camera by reporters, not to mention countless bystanders who recorded it on their phones. Overnight, Ada went viral.
Naturally, some doubters popped up online questioning why she used handcuffs instead of just grabbing the bars with her hands. Wasn't that overcomplicating things?
But physics enthusiasts quickly shut that down. They calculated the combined weight of Ada and the child, the falling speed, and the resulting impact force. They explained that if she had tried to grab the bars barehanded, her fingers would have snapped under the force. Using handcuffs, however, allowed her to absorb 100 percent of the impact safely without risking her hands slipping or breaking.
This expert breakdown won over even more keyboard scientists, and soon people were sharing formulas and physics models to back it up. The internet reached a consensus: not only was this policewoman brave, but she was also extremely smart.
Of course, that kind of survival instinct wasn't something Ada was born with. It was honed through countless life-or-death battles in the bioterrorism-ridden world she came from.
Back in Gotham, her former colleagues were beaming with pride. Ada proved once again that no matter where she went, she was still the best cop around. Some did feel a bit of regret though. If she had stayed in Gotham, she might've already been promoted to Commissioner by now. Instead, she had chosen to start over as a rookie patrol officer in New York. What a waste of talent.
Meanwhile, inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Director Nick Fury was reading over Ada's file, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Worked in Gotham City, completed FBI special agent training, now a beat cop in New York… and she's only been out of school for a little over six months? That's almost scary levels of competence."
"Should I approach her, Director?" Agent Phil Coulson could tell Nick was impressed.
Nick gave it some thought and nodded. "Let her join the next field test. See if she can compete with the other candidates."
If Ada passed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s recruitment challenge, she would officially become an agent.
With Elsa away at Genius X Academy, the couple finally had their house to themselves, free to… work on expanding the family, shall we say. Their energy didn't run out after just one round either, and afterward, Liu A'dou finally brought up his movie project.
Ada rolled her eyes. "You know how to make movies now?"
"Of course not. But that's why I'll hire a director," Liu A'dou said confidently, already halfway into planning the production.
Ada leaned on his chest. "Sounds fine to me. I've got a police training exercise coming up soon anyway. I might be gone for a while." She looked up. "So, who's playing the lead?"
"Elsa, of course. The whole script is tailor-made for her. I'm going to make her a superstar," Liu A'dou replied.
Ada sighed at her husband's usual wild ideas, barely able to keep up. "And she agreed to this?"
"I'm the Pope. She doesn't really have a choice," Liu A'dou joked. "But seriously, I think she'll agree. Don't let her icy exterior fool you. She's lonely and wants friends. I noticed it during our wedding. She's eager to fit in. I hope making this movie will help her open up and make more friends."
Ada actually agreed with that. Some people put on a cold front not because they didn't care, but because they didn't know how to reach out. Sometimes, they just needed someone to pull them out of their shell.
And so, a few days later, the couple went their separate ways—Liu A'dou flying to a small European country to start his movie project, and Ada heading to her police training exercise.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York branch was hidden beneath an unremarkable garbage processing plant. Only a select few knew that underneath lay a massive training facility, the agency's second largest source of agents after the Washington headquarters. Some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s finest, including Spider-Man and Mockingbird, had trained there.
Now, Ada stood among a group of elite candidates—FBI agents, Marine Corps veterans, CIA operatives, and Air Force specialists—all competing for the same spot. Only one would earn the right to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
It didn't feel like a police training exercise at all. When Ada Wong arrived at the site, she realized this was a massive warehouse workshop. The people already there were a random mix of all kinds.
Everyone was wearing their respective uniforms, and compared to their military camouflage or Air Force attire, Ada's police uniform looked laughably non-threatening. One glance at the ranks pinned on their uniforms confirmed that the Air Force major present was probably the highest-ranking officer in the group.
"Looks like everyone's here," the Air Force major announced. "I'm guessing we were all tricked into coming here without knowing what's actually going on."
"Tch, can't be anything important if even some beat cop got invited." That sarcastic jab came from the FBI representative.
Ada ignored him completely. Aside from the FBI guy, the others didn't seem to have any problem with her. In fact, the Air Force major seemed rather taken with her looks, secretly vowing to keep an eye on this beauty no matter what happened next.
Classic Air Force Casanova.
"Hello, everyone." A voice suddenly echoed from the far end of the workshop. The group turned their heads to see none other than Spider-Man.
Apparently, this selection was being hosted by Spider-Man himself. Having followed in his parents' footsteps, Spider-Man had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and had since become one of its more enthusiastic agents. Another reason was that, as a high school student, he had plenty of spare time, making him one of the more available agents in the organization.
"Spider-Man?" The group had already heard rumors that this was a S.H.I.E.L.D. recruitment test, but none expected Spider-Man to be the one running it.
"Today's evaluation is pretty straightforward," Spider-Man announced. "We're starting with a written exam. Follow me."
He led them to a corner where individual desks had been set up, with exam papers already placed on each desk.
"You'll have one hour to complete the exam," Spider-Man added, holding up what was clearly a toy digital watch. "Starting… now."
"…"
Everyone took their seats only to realize there was a problem—there were no pens. There were fifteen candidates, but only two had brought pens with them.
"Spider-Man, we don't have any pens," someone pointed out.
"Not my problem," Spider-Man shrugged. "You've got fifty-eight minutes left."
So the real challenge had already begun. This wasn't just a simple test.
Ada sighed to herself, wondering why she had gotten involved in such a ridiculous competition. But since she was already here, she wasn't about to let anyone look down on her. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a tube of lipstick and started writing with that.
After all, she was a woman who had once kissed an RPG launcher. There was no way she'd go anywhere without lipstick.
The men weren't so lucky. Some resourceful ones started rummaging through the trash, breaking open batteries and mixing the powder with water to make makeshift ink.
The rest followed suit, but Spider-Man silently noted that those copycats were probably as good as disqualified. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't looking for followers—they wanted people who could think for themselves.
Sure enough, after the first round, only five candidates advanced. The rest were eliminated on the spot.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s selection process was brutal.