She was proud of what she had accomplished in science.
Being only a first-year student, getting noticed by Dr. Connors, one of the country’s most renowned scientists, and being chosen as her assistant was certainly something to be proud of.
However, the unexpected request to come to the laboratory late that evening caught her off guard.
They sometimes stayed late to work, but Gwen had never been called in outside their usual hours.
Though, she could probably guess why.
“Sorry for calling you in so late, Gwen,” the doctor apologized as the girl entered the laboratory.
“I looked over the formula you proposed, and I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. This could be a breakthrough!”
Gwen might have had doubts about her future as a hero, but there was one thing she had never doubted: she wanted to devote herself to science.
Dr. Cornelia Connors was studying lizard genes and whether they could be introduced into the human body to transfer their ability to regenerate lost limbs.
Unfortunately, the research had produced almost no results.
The project had already reached a dead end before Gwen joined it.
The university administration was beginning to question whether it was worth continuing to fund such an expensive study that had yielded practically nothing.
Then one spider bite changed everything.
Gwen herself had become the successful result of combining spider and human genes.
After studying her own blood, she had managed to derive a similar formula, this time combining human and lizard genetics.
“Don’t worry about it, Dr. Connors. Have you already prepared the serum?”
“No, of course not.” The woman waved her only hand.
“The formula is your achievement. I wouldn’t dare start without you.”
Gwen couldn’t suppress her happy smile or the faint blush that spread across her cheeks.
She wasn’t normally a shy girl, but damn, Cornelia Connors had just acknowledged her contribution.
That meant a lot.
“Then shall we begin?” Gwen was eager to get started.
With the formula already prepared, the work didn’t take long.
Before long, they had their first test batch of serum.
There were a couple of lizards in the laboratory that they could use to obtain DNA samples, as well as several mice for testing the finished serum.
Unfortunately, the poor rodents had to have their limbs amputated.
Neither of them found animal experimentation pleasant, but when the choice was between sacrificing a dozen mice and potentially helping thousands of people who had lost limbs, the decision was obvious.
Of course, things didn’t go smoothly.
The first attempt was a complete failure.
The mouse showed absolutely no reaction to the serum and underwent no visible changes.
The second was the same.
Only the third showed any noticeable result, but the growth that appeared looked nothing like a normal leg.
The fourth showed significant progress.
A fully formed mouse leg had grown back, but it was too weak to function properly.
It was only on the fifth attempt that they finally found the correct dosage.
The test subject developed a fully functional limb and happily scurried around its cage.
“Amazing! Sensational! We did it!” Cornelia looked like a child on Christmas morning.
“This is unquestionably a breakthrough. Now we can move on to human trials and…”
“Dr. Connors?!” Gwen exclaimed in disbelief.
“What about long-term observation? There’s no guarantee that further mutations won’t occur.”
The fact that Gwen had to remind her of such basic safety procedures was rather alarming.
Cornelia Connors had always been an outstanding professional.
“Yes, you’re right. What was I thinking?” The woman looked embarrassed.
“Forgive me, Gwen. I think I got a little carried away.”
Connors awkwardly wrapped her healthy hand around the stump of her missing arm.
Gwen’s expression softened.
Cornelia was undeniably an attractive woman.
She was tall and beautiful, with blonde hair, delicate features, and a warm smile.
Even approaching her forties and spending years in the laboratory had done little to diminish her appearance.
Unfortunately, her missing arm ruined everything.
No man wanted an injured woman as his wife.
Add to that the fact that, despite all her achievements, Dr. Connors wasn’t particularly wealthy, and you had a woman with very little hope for a happy personal life.
Successfully developing the serum could be her ticket to happiness.
If they achieved a successful result, the two of them could become incredibly wealthy.
Having her arm restored, along with the money, might even make men overlook Cornelia’s age.
For a woman approaching forty, finding a husband was practically impossible.
Money, however, had a way of making exceptions to many rules.
That was simply how the world worked.
“It’s all right, Doctor. I think we’re both a little excited,” Gwen said reassuringly.
Even though she was calmer than her supervisor, her heart was still pounding with excitement.
How could it not?
They were standing on the threshold of a major scientific breakthrough.
“Then I think we can call it a night.” Connors seemed to have regained her composure, but the happy sparkle hadn’t left her gray eyes.
“We’ll continue tomorrow. I’ve kept you here long enough tonight. You can go home. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”
“Let me help…”
“No need.” Cornelia waved her off with a warm smile.
“Cleaning will help clear my head. I’ve always found washing test tubes surprisingly meditative.”
“Then, see you tomorrow?” Gwen asked hesitantly.
She felt a little awkward leaving everything to the doctor.
Normally, she was the one who handled the cleanup.
“See you tomorrow, Gwen,” Connors said with one final smile.
Deciding not to make a fuss, Stacy finally left the laboratory.
Perhaps Cornelia really did need some time alone to calm down and get her thoughts in order.
Sam
The day I spent with Amanda had been pretty fun.
We hadn’t done anything particularly exciting.
We simply stayed home and watched movies, but honestly, that was exactly what I needed.
A little rest would do me good, and having pleasant company made it even better.
Feeling refreshed, I sat down at my computer in my room.
Entertainment was all well and good, but I needed to stay informed.
I made a point of keeping track of all the characters I remembered, just in case something important happened.
Stark, for example, had already been held captive in Afghanistan for several weeks, and there had been no news about her.
That wasn’t surprising.
Building a high-tech suit under those conditions couldn’t exactly be easy.
Part of me was worried that things might not play out the way I expected, but not only did I have no way of intervening, doing so would also be incredibly foolish.
Being captured by terrorists was an important step in Stark’s development as a hero.
If someone rescued her, there was a very real possibility that Iron Man would never appear.
Of the villains I knew about, Rhino, Shocker, and Scorpia were the most active.
Those formidable women had been pulling off some very high-profile crimes, and so far, nobody had managed to catch them.
Of course, I couldn’t ignore Fisk either.
Despite having no superpowers, she could very well become one of my most dangerous future enemies.
For now, however, her reputation was absolutely spotless.
If I hadn’t been suspicious of her because of what I knew about the Marvel canon, I probably wouldn’t have suspected her of anything either.
There was no sign of the future Queen of Crime in New York.
Rumors about her certainly existed, but nothing more than the sort of rumors that followed any powerful businesswoman.
Whoever was handling her public relations was doing an incredible job.
Though, obviously, it wasn’t just about her PR team.
I still remembered that scene from the Daredevil series where a thug mentioned Fisk’s name to the protagonist and chose to impale his own eye on an iron rod rather than deal with the consequences of talking.
I had very little idea how to deal with her.
The series about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t particularly helpful either.
If I remembered correctly, Fisk only started making her move after the Chitauri attack, and there was no sign of that happening here yet.
I could beat the hell out of some of her ordinary thugs, of course, but she probably had more of them than she knew what to do with, and there was little chance they knew anything important.
Next was Osborn, and the internet turned out to be surprisingly useful there.
Business publications were increasingly reporting on the growing conflict between Norma and the company’s board of directors.
Apparently, several of the company’s recent projects had been spectacularly expensive failures.
The shareholders were furious, and there was even talk of removing Osborn from her position.
Of course, these were still just rumors, and the company was doing everything it could to deny them.
But I knew the Green Goblin’s appearance was getting closer.
I’d actually considered suggesting that Penny do something for Oscorp.
It could solve their financial problems and might even prevent a very dangerous villain from appearing.
We were both acquainted with Mrs. Osborn, and she seemed to like us.
With that woman, though, it was hard to say anything for certain.
Still, there shouldn’t have been any problem offering her one of Parker’s inventions.
In the end, I abandoned the idea.
There was no guarantee we’d be able to save Oscorp, and giving the Goblin one of Parker’s inventions might actually make her even more dangerous.
As for Octavius and Connors, there was surprisingly little information available about either of them.
That wasn’t particularly surprising.
They were scientists, not socialites.
Finding their scientific papers wasn’t difficult, but they were way beyond my level of expertise.
My phone chimed with a new message, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Penny: We haven’t seen each other for only one day, and I already miss you.
[image]
I whistled when I saw what Parker had attached to the message.
It was a selfie of her standing in front of a mirror wearing nothing but some rather attractive lingerie.
I didn’t even know she owned something like that.
She wasn’t usually this bold, but I suppose distance had a way of giving people courage.
Penny and I hadn’t had sex yet, although we’d been getting pretty handsy with each other.
Thinking about it now, I realized that we had both been trying to act like the stronger sex.
I didn’t want to rush her, and she didn’t want to rush me.
Penny’s shyness had also played a significant role.
I had a feeling that would change soon.
Good sex was an excellent way to relieve stress, and we were going to have plenty of stress coming our way.
Well, for now, I supposed I should return the favor, right?
GwenThe Next Morning
Gwen arrived at the university early the next morning, still in high spirits.
She hadn’t been able to sleep all night.
She was too eager to continue the research.
Thankfully, her enhanced physiology meant that a sleepless night wasn’t a problem.
“Dr. Connors, are you here?” she asked as she opened the door to the laboratory.
Her only answer was silence.
That was strange.
Cornelia never left the laboratory unlocked when it was empty, even if she only intended to step away for a short while.
A sharp sense of danger suddenly pierced through her, although she couldn’t quite understand where it was coming from.
The obvious disorder inside the laboratory only made the feeling worse.
She stepped inside and noticed the cages containing the mice they had tested the previous day.
Then she froze in shock.
The first two mice, which had shown no reaction to the serum initially, were now covered in scales.
They were clearly dead.
The third and fourth were still alive, but they looked more like hideous lizards than mice.
The fifth was nowhere to be seen.
The bars of its cage had been torn apart, as though the animal had escaped on its own.
The sense of danger screamed inside her again.
Trusting her instincts, she suddenly jumped aside.
Something disgusting flew past her.
It was probably what remained of the fifth test subject.
There was no way anyone could have recognized a mouse in that creature.
Completely covered in scales and roughly the size of a small dog, it looked more like a miniature dinosaur.
After its first attack missed, the creature slammed into the wall with its entire body.
It barely seemed to notice.
Landing on the floor, it quickly spun around and bared a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Gwen’s body seemed to move on its own.
Before she could even process what she was doing, she lunged forward and brought her foot down on the monster’s head.
One blow crushed its skull against the floor.
Her white sneaker was quickly stained with blood, and some of it splattered onto her jeans.
She didn’t care.
What if the creature had already done something to Dr. Connors?
Gwen looked around but couldn’t find any sign that Cornelia had been injured.
Then she noticed something else.
Something she hadn’t seen when she first entered the laboratory.
There were claw marks on the floor, on several of the tables, and across the walls.
They were far too large to have been made by the creature she had just killed.
The conversation she’d had with Dr. Connors the previous evening immediately came back to her.
Her mentor’s impatience.
The excitement shining in her eyes.
A terrible realization began to take shape in Gwen’s mind.
“Oh, God.”