Marvel: The Enlightened One#43+44: Prelude to the Lizard, The Monster That Creates Monsters

Hawk and Gwen exchanged a few more words.

Their voices carried no tension, expressions perfectly at ease. They walked side-by-side toward the main hallway, leaving a trail of stunned silence in their wake.

Behind them, Mary Jane's jaw was on the floor.

Holy shit. What the hell did I miss this summer?

Peter was just as dumbfounded.

He felt like he understood what was happening, but at the same time, he felt like he understood nothing at all.

Harry, on the other hand, just saw an opportunity. He turned to Mary Jane, a charming smile on his face.

He remembered her as Peter's neighbor from back before he'd left for the UK. He'd seen her around whenever he came to visit Peter.

He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Mary Jane. Long time no see."

"...Hey, Harry." Mary Jane turned, gave him a distracted glance, and then immediately looked back at Peter. "Peter, did you know about this?"

Harry froze.

Wait, that's not the right reaction.

Is that how you greet an old friend you haven't seen in years? A little cold, don't you think?

Peter was just as taken aback. He met Mary Jane's intense, searching gaze.

"Know about what?"

"Gwen and Hawk!!"

Mary Jane was practically vibrating with the need to gossip, struggling to keep her voice down. "Aren't you, like, Hawk's only friend at this school? You have to know something. When did this happen?"

Peter was completely lost.

"Since when am I Hawk's onl—"

"Ugh, forget it. You're useless."

Mary Jane, frustrated by his cluelessness, gave up. She was going to get the scoop, one way or another.

The next second, her face lit up.

"Oh my God!" Mary Jane shrieked as recognition finally dawned. She rushed over and threw her arms around the still-gloomy Harry. "Harry! When did you get back?"

Harry's face lit up.

He smiled as she pulled away, ready to catch up. But Mary Jane just gave him another quick hug. "I have to go right now, I'll talk to you later, bye!"

Clearly, at this moment, catching up with an old friend from overseas was nowhere near as important as getting the dirt on her best friend and the school's number one ice king.

With that, Mary Jane spun around and took off at a jog, chasing after Gwen, who was about to disappear into the lounge.

Obviously, she wasn't about to go interrogate Hawk.

And so—

For the rest of the morning, Mary Jane followed Gwen around like a lost puppy.

Her plea was simple and relentless.

"Please, just tell me. A little more. The details. I'm begging you, Gwen."

"..."

Since it was the first day of the new semester, the schedule was relaxed. No actual classes.

Students were busy picking up their new schedules or meeting with their guidance counselors for last-minute advice.

Which meant Gwen was stuck dealing with Mary Jane's relentless pestering all morning.

Finally. On their way to the cafeteria, Gwen looked at her friend, who was still giving her the most pathetic, desperate puppy-dog eyes, and she broke.

Gwen sighed.

"Seriously, is it really that weird that Hawk and I are together?"

"Yes!"

"Why? We've sat next to each other in physics since ninth grade. We have the same counselor."

"Gwen, please. It's Hawk!!"

"So?"

"You really don't know what people say about him?"

"What?"

Now it was Gwen's turn to be curious.

Mary Jane looked around, then lowered her voice. "Everyone says he's either a complete, hopeless straight arrow, or he's... you know... gay."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous."

An image flashed in her mind—of Hawk, at the waterfall in Maryland, standing in the water wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

Gay?

He's straight as a nightstick.

Wait...

What am I thinking?

Gwen shook her head, mentally batting away the image of the police baton. She looked at Mary Jane, her expression serious. "He's not gay."

Mary Jane paused, then a sly, knowing look crossed her face.

She wiggled her eyebrows.

"So, I take it you've... sampled the goods?"

"..." Gwen froze. She looked at Mary Jane's lewd, knowing smirk and took a deep breath.

The next second, she turned and walked away without another word.

Her mind is in the gutter.

Mary Jane watched her walk away, then hurried to catch up.

"I'm sorry, Gwen! Forgive me!"

...

By the time Hawk got to the cafeteria, Mary Jane was still trying to pry information out of Gwen.

But Gwen was ignoring her completely.

Finally, seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Mary Jane sighed, then spotted Harry walking in with Peter. Her eyes lit up. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll just ask Peter."

With that, she grabbed her tray and, before Gwen could stop her, ran over to their table.

By the time Hawk sat down with his tray across from Gwen, Mary Jane was already gone.

"Mary Jane done eating already?"

"Apparently, she figured she wasn't going to get any gossip out of me, so she went to interrogate Peter."

Gwen glanced over at Mary Jane, who was now pulling up a chair at Peter's table, and shook her head in exasperation.

Hawk looked confused. "What does Peter have to do with anything?"

Gwen shrugged.

"Probably because you two were seen together in the old gym last semester. Now everyone thinks he's your friend."

"...Right."

Hawk just laughed. He didn't bother to correct her. He just picked up his burger and started eating.

Gwen had already finished her lunch. She sat with her arms folded on the table, watching him.

"By the way, did you call Dr. Connors to thank him?"

"Yeah, I did."

Hawk nodded, swallowing a bite of his burger. "He said he had some kind of breakthrough with his experiment. He sounded really happy."

Gwen blinked. "A breakthrough?"

"No way..."

"..."

<><><><><><><><>

"What's wrong?"

"You know I was at the lab yesterday morning, right?"

"Yeah."

Hawk nodded. It had been right before they'd gone to the library. He had assumed she was just there to clear her summer work schedule with Dr. Connors.

But now?

"Is there a problem with the experiment?"

"Not with the experiment, but with the investors. You know Dr. Connors's project is a joint venture between Oscorp and the military, right?"

"You mentioned that."

"The military pulled their funding."

Gwen leaned in, lowering her voice. "And his research has been going on for almost two years with no results. The board at Oscorp is starting to get impatient."

Capital is a fickle beast.

It will back you, fund you, and give you everything you need based on the promises you make.

But if you fail to deliver the expected results, they will abandon you without a second thought.

Cutting losses is the first lesson in the corporate playbook.

And Dr. Connors's regeneration project was a prime example.

To make matters worse, the military had already pulled out last month, citing budget cuts.

They had said it was temporary, that they would reinvest once the next fiscal year's budget was approved, and had told Oscorp to just hold on.

But—

Things at Oscorp weren't exactly stable either.

Rumor was that Norman Osborn, who had been secluded in his mansion for the past year battling a mysterious illness, was on his last legs. His time was running out.

And it wasn't just an empty rumor.

The fact that Harry Osborn had returned from the UK this summer and was now being integrated into the company's affairs—with the help of Norman's own executive assistant, Felicia Hardy—was a clear signal.

The Osborn family might hold a majority stake in the company, but in this era of a dying king and a rising prince, there were always those looking to profit from the chaos of a changing of the guard.

And a new king always lights a few fires to announce his reign.

So, someone had proposed "streamlining" the research division, cutting any labs that weren't producing profitable results.

Dr. Connors's lab was first on the chopping block.

The military might have promised to restore funding once the Pentagon's next budget was approved, but who could guarantee that?

The Department of Defense wasn't exactly known for its reliability.

...

"They've downsized the lab."

"They laid off five researchers."

"And I was supposed to be on that list."

"I saw Dr. Connors at the lab, and he didn't seem happy. That's why I was so surprised when you said he sounded excited on the phone."

Gwen finished explaining the situation.

Hawk wasn't really invested in whether the experiment succeeded or not. He just listened, and when she was done, he shrugged. "Well, that's what he said on the phone. Who knows if it'll actually work."

Gwen nodded. "I hope it does."

The two of them continued their small talk.

But the conversation was over as quickly as it had begun. After Hawk finished his burger, they both stood up and cleared their trays.

The subject of Dr. Connors’s lab was closed.

Others could move on, but Dr. Connors himself could not—

...

—Because at that very moment, Dr. Connors was living the reality of being abandoned by his investors.

He stared at the man standing in his office, the man who had just delivered the board's latest decision.

"Have you made your decision, Doctor?"

"I don't understand."

"Doctor, I think you do."

The man, a handsome, middle-aged executive in a tailored suit, smiled a warm, friendly smile. "The military has pulled its funding. They used the word 'temporarily,' but we both know what that means... The board's initial recommendation was to suspend all funding to your lab. But, Doctor, your latest results have bought you a reprieve. But only a reprieve."

Dr. Connors's latest breakthrough—a single lab mouse that had successfully regenerated a limb—had given the board a glimmer of hope.

But only a glimmer.

Dr. Connors frowned.

"So what is the board's decision?"

"Human trials."

"WHAT??"

Dr. Connors's eyes went wide. "I have only just extracted a potentially viable serum from that one mutated mouse. It hasn't even been properly tested yet. To move to human trials now is reckless. Besides, where would we even find volunteers?"

The executive shrugged. "The military hospitals are full of potential subjects. We'll just tell them it's a new vaccine."

He said it so casually...

After all, it was standard procedure.

Running human trials overseas cost money. But if you used your own underclass for experiments, you didn't have to pay them a dime.

Bottom line:

Are the poor even people?

No...

Capital chases profit. It demands maximum return for minimum cost.

But Dr. Connors was horrified. "I won't do it."

"Time is not on our side, Doctor. You're running out of it. We all are."

"...We?"

"You don't need to know the details. You just need to know that the board is doing this for your own good. We'll have someone else handle the... logistics. If it fails, you can just plead ignorance."

"I'm not here to negotiate with you, Doctor."

"This is a notification."

With that, the executive turned and walked out of Dr. Connors's lab.

The rumor among the higher-ups was that Norman Osborn didn't have long. And Connors's regeneration project had been started for one reason: to find a cure for Norman's illness.

The executive hadn't been lying. By pushing for human trials, they weren't just helping Dr. Connors; they were helping themselves.

After all, a new king means a new court.

Who knew what Harry Osborn would do once he took over?

Everyone knows capitalism craves stability. Only in a stable environment can it reliably generate profit.

But Dr. Connors was not a capitalist. He was a scientist.

After the executive left, he sat down heavily in his office chair.

And he didn't move for a very long time...