Marvel: The Enlightened One#31+32: The Quantico Solo Run, The Speedrun

The next morning.

Hawk got dressed, went down to the motel's front desk, and pulled thirty dollars from his pocket.

"One more night, please."

"Room key."

"Here."

Hawk handed over the key.

The clerk glanced at the room number, updated the booking, and handed the key back.

Hawk took it, said a quick "thanks," and walked out of the motel.

A short while later, he was there.

Not at the Quantico base itself, but on a mountain trail right next to it.

Hawk wasn't worried about his morning run attracting any unwanted attention.

He wasn't the only one out. Several other residents from Quantico Town were also jogging along the same path.

Hawk kept a steady pace behind a group of runners, blending in perfectly.

Soon, the trail came to a sharp bend.

Hawk saw the group ahead of him disappear around the corner. He glanced back, the next group of runners was still a ways behind. Without a moment's hesitation, he accelerated.

With a nearly silent whoosh, he shot off the trail and into the woods. By the time the next group of joggers rounded the bend, Hawk was gone.

The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the forest.

...

It was late afternoon when Hawk finally returned to the motel.

Back in his room, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

He smoothed it out.

On it was a simple, hand-drawn map of the inside of the Quantico Military Base.

Barracks.

Admin buildings.

Motor pool.

Airstrip.

And...

The abandoned lab. Hawk had spent the entire morning getting the lay of the land. He'd spent the afternoon scouting the surrounding forest, mapping out three separate exfiltration routes.

He hadn't decided which route he would take yet.

But it didn't matter.

Having options was enough. He would adapt on the fly once the job was done.

Hawk studied the map one last time, his eyes tracing the symbols only he could understand. Then, he methodically tore the paper into tiny, irretrievable pieces and threw them in the trash.

Soon, the sun began to set.

Hawk went back down to the front desk, returned his key, and checked out of the motel.

It was a motel, after all. The clerk had seen people check in with a date and check out ten minutes later.

An early checkout didn't even raise an eyebrow.

After leaving, Hawk found a nearby pizza place, ordered a pie, and sat by the window to eat.

Never go into battle on an empty stomach.

It would be a pathetic way to go—getting caught because he ran out of energy halfway through a fight or was too weak to escape.

...

Night fell completely.

Fed and ready, Hawk moved under the cover of darkness. He became a phantom in the woods, his speed so great that he was on the verge of creating sonic booms with every step. Soon, he arrived at the base's perimeter fence, a chain-link barrier topped with high-voltage wire.

He didn't rush in. He looked up, his eyes scanning the tall guard towers.

On top of each tower, a powerful searchlight cut through the darkness, sweeping slowly across a predetermined path.

As the beam swung toward him, Hawk pressed himself into the shadow of a large tree, his black hoodie blending into the night.

The baseball cap was out. He'd already worn it this morning—too risky.

But the black hoodie was perfect.

He'd found it in the trunk of the taxi before he'd sent it to its watery grave.

Soon, the searchlight passed.

The next second, Hawk moved. He exploded from behind the tree, his right knee bending as the ground beneath his foot compressed. He launched himself upwards like a silent projectile, soaring effortlessly over the fence that was meant to be impassable, and landed softly inside the base.

Now that he was in, the hard part was over.

All that was left was to find the lab, get the goods, and get out.

One minute later.

He saw it. The abandoned lab, surrounded by a temporary corrugated metal wall. The only entrance was guarded by two soldiers.

Hawk stopped about a half-mile out, using a stray shipping container for cover. He watched the two guards.

"Hah..."

"Time to go."

Hawk closed his eyes, exhaled a slow, steady breath, and then opened them, his gaze locked on his target.

The next second.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The grass beneath his feet ripped apart as a sonic boom thundered through the night. Hawk shot forward like a cannonball.

The two soldiers on guard duty were laughing and talking, expecting another uneventful night.

Until—

They caught a blur of motion out of the corner of their eyes. A split second later, the sound of the sonic boom hit them like a physical blow.

Thump.

Thump.

The two soldiers didn't even have time to cry out. Their eyes rolled back in their heads, and they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Hawk still hadn't used lethal force. He had knocked them out in an instant and was already inside the metal perimeter.

The next second.

"SHIT!"

"WHO'S THERE?"

"..."

After slipping through a gap in the fence, Hawk saw them. Standing in front of the dilapidated lab building—its outer walls still scarred from the original explosion—were two more soldiers. His brow furrowed.

Seriously?

Was this necessary?

They already had guards at the outer gate, why put two more inside?

He had only been able to see the outside of the perimeter during his recon.

The two soldiers, after a moment of shock at his sudden appearance, reacted.

The next second, they raised their rifles.

"CONTACT!"

"SOUND THE ALARM!"

"WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!"

In an instant, a piercing alarm shattered the night's silence, blaring across the entire Quantico base.

The moment the soldiers pulled their triggers, Hawk's figure vanished.

He reappeared a split second later, directly in front of them.

The soldiers outside hadn't pulled their triggers. They got to live.

These two...

Hawk's expression was a mask of cold fury. His right fist lashed out at the two stunned soldiers before him.

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

"BEEP!"

"BEEP!"

"BEEP!"

The moment the piercing alarm blared across the Quantico military base, every soldier—whether on duty, in the barracks, or on leave in town—froze, their faces a mask of pure shock.

The next second, reality kicked in.

"Holy shit!"

"Battle stations!"

"We're under attack!"

"Jesus Christ, what's happening?"

"Did the Japanese attack again? Wait, this is Quantico, not Pearl Harbor."

For a moment, there was chaos. But these were Marines. They snapped into combat readiness in an instant.

This was Quantico, after all—home of the United States Marine Corps. The FBI Academy and CIA headquarters were right down the road.

Less than three seconds after the alarm sounded, the first soldier was on the scene. Then a second, a third...

"GO, GO, GO!"

"What's the target?"

"The old gamma lab!"

"Fuck!"

A lieutenant colonel, hearing the location of the attack, swore viciously. He threw on his fatigues, grabbed his phone, and started running.

The call connected instantly.

"Yes!" a deep, gravelly voice answered.

"GENERAL, THE GAMMA LAB HAS BEEN BREACHED."

"..."

On the other end of the line, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who had just left the Pentagon and gotten into his car, went rigid.

What did he just hear?

The gamma lab has been breached?

How is that possible? The lab is on the Marine base at Quantico. Who the hell could get in there?

Still reeling from the news, General Ross's voice was sharp.

"Say that again. What's been breached?"

"The gamma lab, sir."

"Shit!"

Ross's heart sank.

"What's the situation?"

"The Quick Reaction Force is on-site. I'm on my way now."

"..."

General Ross took a deep breath, loosened his tie, and slapped the back of the driver's seat. "QUANTICO. NOW!"

The driver nodded and slammed his foot on the gas, peeling out right in front of two stunned Capitol police officers.

The two cops just stared at each other, speechless.

...

Meanwhile, back at the base, the Quick Reaction Force had arrived at the fenced-off perimeter of the gamma lab.

From inside, they could hear a series of thunderous crashes. A moment later, a group of panicked, terrified scientists burst out of the entrance.

The soldiers immediately swarmed them, grabbing them and pulling them to safety.

"What's going on in there? How many intruders? What do they want?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything!"

"ONE! There's only one! He's after the gamma stones!"

"..."

The Quick Reaction Force Captain stared at the scientist who had spoken.

The other soldiers looked at him in disbelief.

"Did you just say... one?"

"Yes, just one."

The scientist's face was still pale with terror. "He's not human. He shattered a concrete wall with a single punch. Bullets don't even touch him. All the guards who shot at him... they're dead."

The soldiers exchanged stunned looks.

Just then, another soldier, leaning on a scientist for support, his leg clearly broken, spoke up. "He's telling the truth. There's only one of them."

The Captain's attention immediately snapped to him.

"Soldier, report."

"It's just like he said. One intruder. He seems to be after the gamma stones. Our bullets couldn't hit him. He killed every soldier who opened fire on him, almost instantly."

"What about you?"

"Weren't you listening?"

The injured soldier, on the verge of a breakdown, screamed at the Captain, "He killed every soldier who shot at him!"

The truth was, he had shot at him too.

But—

The moment he'd pulled the trigger, his rifle had jammed.

And for that reason, and that reason alone, Hawk had spared his life, shattering his leg instead and taking him out of the fight.

The other soldiers and armed scientists in the lab had not been so lucky.

Just as Hawk had predicted:

Once the valve of killing was opened, it was no longer a choice. It was just a matter of numbers.

But he was still holding back.

By now, Hawk had reached the basement of the gamma lab.

The first thing he saw was the gaping hole that had been dug into the floor.

Thump.

Hawk, still in his hoodie and mask, leaped down into the pit.

At the bottom, a rough-hewn tunnel stretched out before him. Pickaxes and shovels lay scattered on the ground.

How primitive.

No, wait.

This was probably intentional. The military is not a monolith.

Hawk thought to himself, his eyes scanning the walls of the tunnel.

There they were.

The walls were made of the same strange, dark stone he had seen in Dr. Connors's lab.

Just then, a phoenix cry echoed through his Cosmo, and a message was delivered to him. "Devour."

"So I just need to let you absorb it?"

"That simplifies things."

Hawk processed the new information.

He had thought he would have to play miner and dig out all these stones himself.

But...

All he had to do was place his hands on the walls, burn his Cosmo, and let the Phoenix constellation within him absorb the Gammanium stored inside.

This was perfect!

A wide grin spread across Hawk's face. He was about to begin.

But just as he raised his hands, his gaze snapped back to the hole he had just jumped through.

He threw a punch at the ceiling, a blast of pure force shooting from his fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The entrance to the basement collapsed, sending a cloud of dust and debris raining down into the tunnel.

The shockwave washed over him, but he stood firm, unaffected.

He just didn't want to be disturbed.

There. Now I can work in peace.

Without another moment's hesitation, Hawk placed his hands on the tunnel walls.

The next second, he unleashed his Cosmo.

BOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOM!