"Harry is dead!"
"..."
A few days later, in the afternoon, Hawk was busy tidying up a corner of the backyard garden under Gwen's direction when Peter, dressed in a red and blue spider suit, swung in, startling Gwen.
But before Gwen could recover, Peter took off his mask and spoke in a low voice.
Hawk froze upon hearing the news from Peter.
Beside him, Gwen, who had just been scared by Peter and hadn't yet reacted, became even more stunned after hearing the news.
For a while.
It was only then that Gwen came back to her senses, looking at Peter, who sat on the corridor floor after saying this sentence.
Peter, with his head in his hands, seemed very sad and distressed.
Gwen blinked, walked to Hawk's side, and looked at Peter's appearance. She asked Hawk softly: "What's going on?"
Hawk replied.
"It's about that day I went to Osborn Industries."
"...Oh."
Gwen recalled, then cautiously said to Peter, who was holding his head in his hands: "Peter, is it because of your blood?"
Peter looked up at Gwen and nodded.
Once again, things were different from the original storyline.
In the original story, Peter didn't give Harry his blood, which caused Harry to turn into the Little Green Demon and ultimately die tragically at Peter's hand.
But this time, Peter gave it.
The result...
Harry still died.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, then looked at Peter, feeling a bit puzzled.
"It shouldn't be. Didn't you tell Harry before that your blood might be his poison?"
"I did."
"And then?"
"Harry called me yesterday. He was very happy and said it worked."
"Wait a minute."
Hawk interrupted Peter, quickly looking at him: "Harry injected it yesterday?"
Peter nodded.
"Yes, he injected it yesterday afternoon and said it was a success."
"And then he died this morning?"
"Yes."
"Then what does that have to do with you?"
Hawk, hearing the time difference, couldn't help but shake his head, looking at the guilty-faced Peter: "If Harry had died immediately after the injection, you might feel guilty. But Harry died a day after the injection. Why do you hold yourself responsible?"
Peter, sitting on the corridor floor with his head in his hands, was stunned by this.
He looked up, his eyes unblinking, staring at Hawk.
Hawk shrugged.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"But... if it wasn't because of the serum, then how did Harry die?"
"You're asking me?"
Hawk found it somewhat amusing and glanced at Peter, then asked curiously: "Who discovered Harry's body?"
Peter stood up from the floor.
"Felicia."
"The assistant?"
"Yes."
Peter nodded: "Felicia also lives at the manor. She saw Harry hadn't come downstairs this morning, so she asked the maids to call him. The maids opened the door and found Harry dead in his bed."
Hawk caught a key term.
"Dead?"
"I didn't ask for details. I was going to call Harry to check on his recovery, but Felicia answered the phone. She advised me not to speak out about this for now. But I was too confused, so I thought of you."
"Indeed, it shouldn't be said."
Gwen, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, said to Peter: "Harry had just inherited Osborn Industries and stabilized Osborn's stock price. If news of Harry's death got out now, it would be a huge blow to the company."
And such a blow would not be an ordinary one.
As is widely known.
The Osborn family carries a hereditary disease that even modern medicine struggles to identify, and the Osborn family has been notoriously thin.
Harry's grandfather had only three children, but it was Norman Osborn who truly made the Osborn name great.
Norman Osborn had only Harry as a son.
But...
Harry had not married and had no offspring.
With Harry's death, it remains uncertain whether Osborn Industries will continue to bear the Osborn name.
Just as expected.
Three days later.
After the news of Harry Osborn's sudden death due to illness was reported, the stock price of Osborn Biotechnology plummeted like it was falling off a cliff.
But with three days of preparation, the series of statements from Osborn Biotechnology managed to stabilize the downward trend somewhat.
Although the decline continued, it wasn't a precipitous drop.
Meanwhile.
Harry Osborn's funeral was held in the Osborn family cemetery.
As friends of Harry in life, Hawk and Gwen received invitations from Felicia and attended the funeral at the Osborn family cemetery located at the back of Osborn Manor.
This funeral was hosted by Felicia.
Because Felicia is Norman Osborn's adopted daughter.
This matter was only revealed by the ever-resourceful media yesterday, along with a rumor that Harry Osborn had left a will saying if anything happened to him, all his assets would be inherited by Felicia.
"That's not a rumor."
"It's true."
Peter, standing with Hawk and Gwen at the funeral, said in a low voice: "I know about it."
Gwen glanced at Peter.
Peter explained: "After Norman Osborn's death, Harry was in a really bad mood and he told me he didn't trust anyone at Osborn, always feeling like someone was out to get him, so the first thing he did was make a will and the beneficiary was Felicia."
Gwen whispered: "So, Felicia really is Harry's sister?"
Peter nodded: "Yes, she was adopted by Norman since childhood, but it wasn't made public. Harry told me that before and asked me not to tell anyone."
Gwen nodded knowingly and looked over at Hawk.
Hawk's attention was elsewhere.
Gwen followed Hawk's gaze, looking to the coffin where the final farewell ceremony was taking place, and nudged Hawk.
"Hawk?"
"Huh? Oh."
Hawk snapped back, looking at Gwen: "What's up?"
Gwen blinked.
"What are you looking at?"
"The coffin."
Hawk didn't hide it.
He thought back to when he came to Osborne Manor a few days ago and smelled a familiar scent.
At that time, he followed the scent, passed through the annex, saw the Osborne Clan cemetery, and didn't look further.
Because he had already found the source of that familiar scent.
Norman Osborn's grave.
At the time, he thought the scent was connected to Norman Osborn's death.
But now.
The scent of death appeared again when he came to attend this funeral.
And this time, the scent wasn't emanating from Norman Osborn's grave, but from the coffin containing Harry Osborn's body.
Hawk pondered, looking at Peter.
"Did they find out Harry's cause of death?"
"Yeah."
Peter nodded, saying softly: "Retrovirus proliferation, it's the Osborne family's genetic disease. Felicia mentioned that afternoon after injecting the serum, he did seem to recover, but then..."
After these days, Peter was no longer as guilty as before.
Because Harry didn't die from Peter's blood.
His blood really did cure Harry.
That's a fact.
As for why the disease suddenly relapsed and progressed so rapidly, that's something science currently can't explain.
At this moment.
Mary, who hadn't spoken, reminded the two: "The farewell begins."
Hawk and Peter looked over, joining the guests standing from their seats, preparing to see Harry one last time.
Harry, dressed in a black suit, eyes closed, lay in the coffin as if asleep.
But...
As Hawk approached the coffin, he glanced at Harry, and when his gaze fell on the wisp of black aura between Harry's brows, he finally realized why the scent of death felt familiar.
It wasn't Norman Osborn.
It was Mephisto!
Back on the African Prairie, after killing Demon Hulk, there was a wisp of the scent of death in Mephisto's projection left behind.
But because several months had passed and the scent was indeed faint, he hadn't recalled it immediately.
Now...
As Hawk looked at the black aura between Harry's brows, he finally understood.
This wasn't the scent of death.
This was clearly a demon's aura.
Hawk thought but didn't reveal his realization, following Peter in front of him, taking one last look at Harry before moving off to the side.
Half an hour later.
With Harry's coffin closed and buried, the funeral was declared over.
Hawk and Gwen, along with Peter and Mary, chose not to stay for the after-party but to return home.
As it was getting late.
Hawk and Gwen first dropped Peter and Mary off at the Queens subway station, then drove towards Manhattan.
As Gwen watched Hawk drive into Manhattan, she spoke, looking at Hawk: "Alright, tell me."
Hawk smiled, glancing at Gwen: "You noticed my expression?"
Gwen shrugged: "Please, if I didn't know you, how could I have found you alone in Maryland? What did you discover?"
Hawk smiled slightly, not hiding anything.
"A demon."
"What?"
"I suspect the Osborne family genetic disease isn't a disease, but a demon."
"..."
Gwen was initially stunned, then seemed to realize something, and said thoughtfully: "Peter mentioned earlier that Harry's disease was indeed cured at first, but then relapsed quickly. If what you say is true, it does sound like a demon noticed it and decided to strike hard."
Hawk shrugged.
...