By the time Hawk and Gwen arrived on the second floor,
Lizard Dr. had vanished, replaced by Dr. Connors, who had reverted to human form, though the injury on his chest remained and was now irreversible.
Blood seeped from the corner of Dr. Connors's mouth, but he forced a smile as he watched Hawk approach.
"Thank you!"
"…"
Hawk said nothing, only raised an eyebrow as he looked at Dr. Connors.
Gwen, standing nearby, asked with some confusion, "Dr., why did you try to kill me?"
She couldn't understand.
If Dr. Connors was acting because of the Williamsburg Bridge incident, he should have been looking for Spider-Man.
If Dr. Connors was after blood, he should have been looking for Hawk.
So why target her?
Leaning against the wall, Dr. Connors, utterly devoid of strength, chuckled at Gwen's question.
But as his chest heaved, a flush of blood appeared on Dr. Connors's pale face, and with a gasp, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his breathing becoming extremely faint.
On the verge of death, about to close his eyes forever, Dr. Connors uttered his last words:
"I don't know either."
"Perhaps…"
"I was seduced by a demon."
"Yes…"
"…Sorry!"
"Thud!"
As these words were barely spoken, Dr. Connors's one-armed left hand, now completely closed, fell to the floor with a crisp thud.
Dr. Connors was dead!
Seeing this, Hawk withdrew his gaze from Dr. Connors's corpse and said to Spider-Woman, who was standing nearby, "Aren't you leaving?"
Peter, still stunned that a single punch had taken down Dr. Connors, snapped back to reality and looked at Hawk.
"What about you?"
"Spider-Woman killed him. What does that have to do with me, Hawk?"
"I'm not Spider-Woman."
"Then your webs…"
"I'm leaving first."
Peter wasted no words. He turned, shot a web, spun in mid-air, his toes breaking the glass window in the ceiling, and after slipping through the window, he vanished from Hawk and Gwen's sight.
Just then,
Gwen also came to her senses, seemed to recall something, let out a gasp, and then pulled Hawk towards the monitoring room in the downstairs library.
"No, the surveillance."
"Don't worry, it wasn't recorded."
"Ah."
"Where I struck was a blind spot. It only showed Lizard Dr. flying backward; it didn't show who struck him."
Hawk explained with a smile as Gwen pulled him downstairs.
Perhaps this was fate.
He genuinely didn't care about being exposed. He didn't know it was a blind spot when he struck; he only found out afterward.
So, it wasn't his problem.
Perhaps, maybe, God didn't think it was time for him to be exposed yet.
If God existed.
Half an hour later,
New York Police Department personnel carried out Dr. Connors, who was already dead and cold, from the library.
George Stacey, the Captain of the Manhattan 19th Precinct, also arrived at the scene.
"Gwen!"
George, exiting his car, went straight to Gwen and hugged her tightly: "Thank goodness you're alright."
"Dad."
After breaking free from George's embrace, Gwen glanced at Hawk, then pulled Hawk's right hand and said to George, "Hawk protected me."
George then looked at Hawk.
Hawk still greeted him very politely.
"Mr. Stacey."
"Thank you."
Unlike last time when he ignored Hawk, this time George nodded slightly and thanked Hawk.
Hawk smiled and said, "It's what I should do."
George said nothing, his peripheral vision sweeping over Gwen and Hawk, who were standing arm-in-arm in front of him, then he said to Gwen, "Call Helen. She was very worried after the news reported the Lizard attack at Midtown High School."
Gwen then remembered that she had forgotten to call her mother. She gasped, then quickly took out her phone from her pocket and called her mother, Helen.
After Gwen ran off to make the call, George stood beside Hawk, looking at Dr. Connors, who was being placed in a body bag nearby: "So, Lizard Dr. was Dr. Connors. But what was he doing at the school?"
Hawk's heart stirred, but he shook his head expressionlessly: "I don't know."
He was thinking about what Dr. Connors said before he died.
Seduced by a demon.
Good heavens.
What kind of demon could seduce Dr. Connors to ignore Spider-Man, who had fought him on the Williamsburg Bridge, and also Hawk, whose blood seemed very important to him, and instead make his primary target the harmless Gwen?
It made no sense.
Unless this demon wasn't a proper demon.
Hawk thought silently.
Unfortunately…
Dr. Connors was dead. This question, he feared, would never be answered.
Soon,
Gwen, feeling relieved after reporting her safety to her mother, Helen, walked over and naturally linked her arm with Hawk's: "I've reported my safety to Mom."
George's peripheral vision caught his daughter's natural gesture, and the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly. He then decided to leave.
He had to leave. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist shooting Hawk.
Another half an hour passed, and with the departure of the New York Police Department's Queens Precinct and Captain George Stacey of the 19th Precinct, Midtown High School announced that classes were dismissed early today.
The students, who were still reeling from the shock of Spider-Man's battle with Lizard, immediately snapped out of their stunned state upon hearing this decision. After cheering for the school's wisdom, they scattered like wild horses towards the parking lot.
Hawk also shook his head, too lazy to ponder why Dr. Connors would do such a thing.
He was already dead.
Thinking more wouldn't help.
Weekend.
Because it was the weekend, Hawk was holed up in his new apartment, connecting the U.S. female-owned, pre-owned laptop Skye sold him to the hotspot of the U.S. female-owned, pre-owned phone his girlfriend gave him, surfing the internet.
He was taking advantage of the weekend to relax and planned to search online to see if he could sell the five Chitauri soldier trophies he had hidden under his bed.
He had to sell them.
He needed to find a way to make money, otherwise, even if he wanted to attend the graduation dance, he probably wouldn't have enough money to buy a suit.
Although, theoretically, he shouldn't be short on money now.
But…
Even after Spider-Woman was corrupted by Venom, her greatest evil thought was merely buying a discounted suit.
Hawk felt that he was morally inferior to the original Spider-Woman, but at the very least, he shouldn't be too much worse than her.
Just as he was searching for selling channels online,
There was a splat outside the window.
Hawk looked up.
Spider-Woman, whom he had just been thinking about, was clinging to his window, peering inside from the fire escape.
…
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