How long does it take a building to collapse?
At Quantico, the old Gamma Lab—already weakened since the day of Bruce Banner's accident—lasted less than five seconds after a thunderous blast shook its foundations. The three-story structure folded in on itself, dust pluming high as twisted steel walls rattled like drums.
The Marines of the rapid-response squad, seconds from charging in, froze. Relief washed through their fear. Had they entered earlier, they'd be buried under the rubble.
The captain spat, half dazed.
"Pull back."
His men stared. "What? That's it?"
"You want to dig out a corpse?" He rolled his eyes. "Building's gone. Mission's over."
A jeep screeched to a halt. The colonel who had phoned General Ross jumped out, eyes wide at the smoking wreckage.
"Report!"
The captain saluted weakly. "Unknown intruder. Just one man. Lab collapsed before we engaged."
The colonel blinked. "One? That's insane."
Terrorists had tried before, but always in groups—and never past the gates. Yet this was one man? Soloing Quantico like it was a single-player raid? The thought was absurd.
"Must've been suicide," the captain muttered. "Target was the lab. Never planned to walk out."
The colonel cursed. If he'd known that, he never would have dragged Ross into this. Sighing, he called again to report the intruder's death—
"BOOM!"
The ground shook. Soldiers whipped their heads back to the ruins. From the dust, a shadow rose.
The captain's blood ran cold.
"Enemy alive! Fire!"
"RATATATATA!"
Gunfire thundered as the klaxons wailed again, screeching across the base for the second time that night. Marines who'd just been dismissed looked at each other, baffled—until the gunshots told them the truth.
Another fight had begun.
Atop the rubble, Hawk blurred like a phantom, bullets whistling past. Beneath his feet, the last traces of Gamma Stone dissolved into his cosmos, consumed by the Phoenix within.
He glanced around—at the Marines pouring in, at the tanks rolling forward, at the helicopters lifting into the sky. The hornet's nest was truly awake now.
But Hawk only smiled. His job was done.
The ground cracked under his legs as he bent low. Then—BOOM!
He launched skyward like a shell fired from a cannon, a black streak traced by floodlights as he arced over the wall and vanished into the forest beyond.
"Mission complete," he thought, landing silently among the trees.
Rob fast. Run faster.
Wind at his back, Hawk slipped into the night.
…
(End of Chapter)
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