"Seriously?"
"It worked?"
After finishing his call with Curt Connors, Lucas Kane set his phone down, still a little surprised.
He had originally assumed Connors's regeneration experiment would never succeed.
In this world, after all, there was the infamous "spider incident"—but no confirmed version of Spider-Man yet. Without a proven model of successful genetic enhancement, Connors's research seemed unlikely to break through.
Apparently, Lucas had been wrong.
As he left his bedroom, Lucas replayed the conversation in his head.
Connors had been in a fantastic mood and ended up sharing more details than usual.
Earlier that day, the research team had injected a lab mouse with the lizard serum.
At first, everything went wrong—just like the previous trials.
The mouse's vital signs vanished completely.
Then something unexpected happened.
A few minutes later, the signals returned.
Even more astonishing, the mouse's tail—previously severed during an earlier accident—began regenerating at a visible pace.
The discovery had thrilled Connors.
Lucas just found it fascinating.
For about ten seconds.
Then he stopped thinking about it.
He walked into the living room, sat down at his folding desk, and opened the laptop he'd bought from Skye for five hundred dollars—a "barely used, personal laptop" she'd sworn was a great deal.
Compared to Connors's experiments, Lucas was more curious about something else.
Quantico.
He quickly searched online.
And immediately frowned.
No mention of an attack.
Only a military exercise.
One Washington D.C. newspaper had reported the alarm at Marine Corps Base Quantico, but the official statement denied any intrusion.
According to the base's spokesperson, the alarm had been triggered during a routine drill. Unfortunately, part of a building collapsed during the exercise, killing more than a dozen Marines.
That was the official story.
Lucas leaned back in his chair.
Of course they'd call it a drill.
Quantico was the home of the Marine Corps.
Right next to the Federal Bureau of Investigation training academy.
And practically neighbors with the CIA headquarters in Langley.
There was no chance the military would admit someone had broken in.
Lucas searched further.
Nothing useful surfaced.
There wasn't even a news story that could be connected to the young man Lucas had killed earlier.
Either the body hadn't been found—
Or the victim simply didn't matter enough to make headlines.
Lucas closed the laptop.
Speculation was pointless.
He headed to bed.
The next morning, Lucas woke up to the sound of his phone ringing.
He opened his eyes and immediately saw the photo frame on his nightstand—exactly where he had positioned it.
Then he grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Come downstairs."
The line went dead.
Lucas blinked once.
Then he sat up, pulled on a T-shirt, and walked to the living room window.
When he opened it, he saw Gwen Stacy standing across the street beside a yellow Corolla.
She waved.
Right.
His girlfriend.
Lucas still found that concept a little surreal.
Gwen Stacy was his girlfriend.
He smiled and waved back before hanging up the phone.
A few minutes later, he stepped out of the apartment building and crossed the street.
"So what's up?" Lucas asked.
Gwen tilted her head slightly.
"Are you free tonight?"
"Why?"
"My mom invited you over for dinner."
Lucas froze for half a second.
One phrase flashed through his mind.
Lemon sea bass.
The famous dish from the Stacy household.
He considered the invitation.
Then looked at Gwen's hopeful expression.
"…Sure."
Gwen grinned.
"Great. So what are you doing today?"
Lucas shrugged.
"I was thinking about going to the library."
Gwen just smiled at him.
Silently.
Lucas laughed.
"Okay, okay. I really am going to the library this time."
School started tomorrow.
Senior year.
The final year of high school.
If everything went well, representatives from New York University would soon arrive to confirm scholarship placements.
Lucas claimed he didn't care whether he got into NYU.
But the truth was—
He still wanted it.
Before awakening his Cosmo, his dream had been simple.
Study law.
Become a prosecutor.
Maybe even a judge someday.
And he had spent three years working toward that goal.
Gwen studied him for a moment.
Then she smiled brightly.
"Alright. Let's go."
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"Go where?"
"To the library," she said. "I need to study too."
She tossed her car keys lightly.
"But first we're stopping by Oscorp."
She opened the driver's door and gestured toward the passenger seat.
"Get in."
Lucas didn't hesitate.
He climbed into the car.
He had meant what he said.
Today he really was planning to study.
Balance was important.
Inside his Cosmo, the Phoenix constellation glowed brightly. Streams of gamma energy he had absorbed from Quantico were still circulating through the constellation as the Phoenix continued refining them.
They spent most of the day studying.
After leaving Oscorp, they headed straight to the library.
Lucas buried himself in books.
Gwen did the same.
Lucas wanted NYU.
Gwen planned to attend Berkeley.
Both of them were working toward their futures.
Later that afternoon, Lucas checked out a book he hadn't finished.
When he walked outside, Gwen was already waiting in the car.
Nearby, a man who had rushed into the library for less than a minute returned to his vehicle.
He immediately let out a miserable scream.
A parking ticket was stuck beneath his windshield wiper.
Lucas glanced at it before getting into the passenger seat.
"You didn't get one?" he asked.
Gwen shook her head.
"My dad registered my license plate in the police system."
Lucas nodded slowly.
Ah.
That explained it.