Chapter 17: Heroes in Action

No one could naturally block Connors’ movements, nor did anyone anticipate that he would appear so brazenly on the streets of New York in broad daylight.

"What? The National Guard can't deploy? Are you kidding me? There is a monster out there that seems completely immune to small arms fire, and he’s frantically creating biochemical bombs! What do you mean I'm joking? All of Manhattan knows about this now; how could you think I’m joking? Can't you just look at social media? Hello? Hello!"

George Stacy, the New York City Police Commissioner, slumped into his chair. The situation had completely spiraled beyond the control of ordinary police, and the military seemed utterly unwilling to believe what was already common knowledge across New York. The liaison officer had been chatting with him with a smile, insisting that social media was perfectly peaceful and that the only news was a new single from the band Beast.

Clearly, the National Guard did not care about what was happening in Manhattan. Perhaps someone had blocked the flow of information, ensuring that what every New Yorker knew remained unknown to anyone outside the epicenter.

"Commissioner, those citizens who turned into lizard-men have spread to three or four blocks away. The situation is hard to contain; our squad alone can't handle this."

"First, recall the officers who are resting, then mobilize the police forces from Brooklyn and Queens to come over. We..."

George was just beginning to issue orders when his desk phone rang. In such moments, the sound of the phone was particularly irritating, as only a few of his superiors knew that private line.

"Who is this? If you aren't here to provide reinforcements, please make it brief. Reinforcements? The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division?"

Before George could even ask a question, the caller hung up. He looked at his deputy, and they stared at each other until the deputy broke the silence.

"Are we still proceeding with the mobilization?"

"Forget it. You saw that giant lizard-man; our weapons are completely ineffective against him. I just received a call—an official agency intends to reinforce us. Tell the squad currently conducting the blockade to retreat immediately."

"Will there really be reinforcements?"

"Who knows? But those lizard-men are clearly beyond what we can handle."

The deputy didn't know who George had spoken to or what had been said, but at least the New York police wouldn't have to fight lizard-men with their M4s anymore.

"By the way, are there any casualties so far?"

He would rather not ask, but being mentally prepared was better than burying his head in the sand. However, the deputy’s answer was unexpected.

"According to the field inspector’s report, only a few officers sustained minor injuries. Those citizens who turned into lizard-men don't seem to have any interest in using lethal force."

"Really?"

"Yes. They accidentally stepped on stones while running away, and since some are a bit older, two suffered fractures. Those are the only confirmed casualties. Of course, some people are missing; I suspect they turned into lizard-men."

Just as Commissioner George was remarking on the unbelievable casualty count, the reinforcements mentioned by the mysterious caller arrived in Manhattan. The NYPD had received orders to establish a defensive line in areas not yet infected by the mutagen, using live ammunition to push back the lizard-men. Comfortingly, the creatures showed little aggression. When attacked, they immediately scattered and fled, showing none of the viciousness one might expect—they were far less menacing than they looked.

"I always thought something like this would only happen fifty years ago."

"Agent Grant, we are about to face the first Level C emergency in fifty years. You’d be better off not being so slack."

A large number of armored vehicles bearing the SHIELD insignia arrived at the scene. Massive armed forces cordoned off the blocks where the lizard-men had appeared, and squads of SHIELD tactical agents poured out of the vehicles.

"Tactical team ready. Operation Viking Storm begins."

Soon, heavily armed agents carrying specialized weapons moved into the neighborhoods affected by Dr. Connors’ biochemical mutagen. They quickly encountered the victims.

"I always thought lizard-men were just a fringe conspiracy theory."

"Well, you’re seeing one today. Do not use lethal force; they were originally citizens. We need to contain them."

"Copy that."

The black-clad tactical agents moved into action. The pulse weapons in their hands began to emit a heart-wrenching hum, and the hollow barrels sparked with bright electric arcs. As one agent pulled the trigger, a powerful beam of energy shot out, striking a lizard-man who was rubbing against a car. The creature began to convulse, then stiffened and fell to the ground, its tail twitching frantically before it even detached from the body.

The surrounding agents gathered to inspect their first result: the lizard-man lying on the ground, and a severed tail that seemed to have a mind of its own.

"My god, I never thought a human-lizard tail would be this disgusting. Look at the raw flesh near the stump—it's still wriggling."

"Shut it. I’d rather never see this again."

Once SHIELD intervened, the situation in Manhattan began to stabilize. The number of rampaging lizard-men decreased rapidly, and they no longer posed a threat to ordinary people. The tactical teams pushed forward, containing the lizard-men with minimal resistance. Although the creatures moved in packs and showed some intrusive behavior, they lacked genuine aggression, which was not consistent with the intelligence SHIELD had initially received.

—

"Lynn, the news seems to have been cut off."

Jessica wanted to keep watching the news to see how things were progressing, but the police had clearly implemented information control, cutting off all live feeds and recalling the reporters who had entered the incident area.

Lynn was in the yard, digging a hole, intending to rebury the bones Jessica had dug up. Jessica poked her head out and called to Lynn in the yard.

"Aren't you going to take a look?"

"I’m busy putting your friend back, the one you dug up. Either come over and help, or go check the kitchen and see if it needs cleaning."

"Fine, I'll go check."

Jessica turned off the TV. The appliances in the house were still mostly intact, though they would inevitably need to be replaced later; for now, they were functional enough for Lynn.

"Hmm, aggression levels effectively weakened. Using iguana genes was indeed a massive mistake. Combining salamander and partial mammalian gene expression with some modifications effectively resolves the issue of excessive aggression. However, the morphological changes caused by this mutagen are irreconcilable; it requires very specific and accidental human genetic compatibility to yield a successful sample. All in all, it’s a worthless technology. Connors’ use of mutagens—an uncontrollable method in medical treatment—to achieve limb regeneration is far too unstable. Still, if it were to be further refined, it might have some value. As a first-generation product, it’s barely passable. All that remains is to destroy the remaining experimental data from Oscorp. Luckily, someone else is doing that for me."

Lynn muttered to himself while digging, too lost in his thoughts to notice Jessica had returned to his side with a shovel.

"Lynn? What are you doing?"

"Hm? Is the kitchen okay?"

"I checked. The house's appliances are quite old; the water heater smells like rust. I think we should just get new ones."

"Go ahead. While you're at it, find a renovation company to come over and patch up those bullet holes. Before that, get to work—let’s put the former owner you dug up back where he belongs."

"Yeah! You got it."

Jessica clearly had no objections; it seemed that under Lynn’s influence, her personality had shifted significantly, and she was on a path entirely different from the one she had been on before. With her help, Lynn quickly dug a two-meter-deep pit. The young woman’s superhuman strength was truly useful in such moments.

Lynn tossed the remains of the house's former owner—whoever he had been—into the hole piece by piece.

"Goodnight, unknown sir."

The final skull hit the other bones with a crisp, hollow sound.

—

Bang!

Connors’ massive body collided with the Oscorp building. He had exhausted all his biochemical mutagen bombs; there were none left. The giant atomizer remained strapped to his shoulder. After securing the device, injecting the mutagen, connecting the power, and waiting, Connors turned around to find a familiar figure standing behind him.

"Doctor, you don't have to do this. There’s still time to turn back. Let me put the antidote into that atomizer, and we can find a way to fix this."

"Peter, you really did come. I must thank you for your suggestion; it was very useful. It solved the bottleneck I had been facing..."

Before Connors could continue his grand speech, Peter cut him off.

"Wait, you can talk? I thought you’d turned into a Komodo dragon. Put that thing down; we don't need to communicate in this state, okay? Turn back into a human, let’s swing away from here, grab a cup of coffee, and solve this slowly. It’s not too late, Connors."

As he spoke, he shook the antidote in his hand.

"No! Shut up!"

Bang!

Connors swung a fist at Peter. When Peter dodged, he didn't stop, waving his massive claws and using his tail to tear apart the rooftop air conditioning units and exhaust pipes. Yet, none of this alleviated his anger; a nameless fire burned fiercely in his heart.

"What do you know, Peter? What could you possibly know? This is something I spent my entire life completing, and Oscorp just told me to get out! A bunch of sycophants with no morals, no integrity, sitting in chairs looking like humans, deciding in a few sentences to steal my work and kick me to the curb. I won't accept it. I will make Oscorp pay. A company without any humanity or morality shouldn't exist. Today, I’m going to make it disappear!"

Connors’ assault didn't slow down despite Peter’s attempts at conversation. It seemed that Spider-Man’s opponents were all somewhat immune to his talk-no-jutsu.

"But what you're doing is hurting innocent people! Curt, don't you realize that? You've dragged so many people who have nothing to do with Oscorp into this! You can't just become a terrorist because of Oscorp. You didn't even try to appeal, did you? Maybe a prosecutor could have handled this?"

Peter’s words seemed logical, but Connors’ neural pathways had clearly altered after he tested the drug on himself in a fit of excitement. He didn't care about Peter’s reasoning; perhaps there were other ways to solve the problem, but none of that mattered now.

"Hurt them? I shared my life’s work with them, freed them from the burden of illness, from torture and suffering, allowed them to think with carefree minds, and completed a perfect, necessary evolution. What did I do wrong? You’re still a kid, Peter. You wouldn't understand!"

"I just don't think running around naked in the street as a giant lizard, licking people and cars with your tongue to catch flies and cockroaches, counts as a gift."

After a few rounds of maneuvering, Peter finally got behind Connors. He nimbly climbed onto Connors’ body, his web-shooters firing at full blast. A large amount of webbing quickly bonded Connors’ body to the concrete roof. When Connors swung his arm to brush Peter off, he dodged quickly, and the webs pinned Connors’ left arm behind his back.

Before Connors could break free, he felt a massive force hit his feet. He lost his balance in an instant and crashed heavily to the ground, sending debris flying. Then, a massive amount of webbing wrapped around him completely.

The high-tensile webbing pinned him to the ground. Peter finally had a moment to look at the giant atomizer Connors had prepared.

"Alright, let's see how to deactivate this thing... Red here, blue here, press the knob, done."

With a few quick operations, Peter paused the mixing process, ejected the mutagen Connors had injected, and inserted the reverse-transcription antidote he had concocted using the notes he’d taken from Connors’ lab before the mutagen had twisted the doctor's mind.