Chapter 52: Face it Tiger

This morning began for me with Mary Jane breaking into my house. Not that it was anything out of the ordinary, I gave her a duplicate key a long time ago, but she doesn't usually do it so noisily. Besides, because of our busy schedules of the past few weeks, we only see each other in the mornings and sometimes late at night, and not every day. M.J. knew that I had a new, very important project, but, to my surprise, was not eager to get the details out ahead of time, preferring to spend our time together on other activities.

"Peter!" M.J. jumped unceremoniously onto my bed, and exclaimed, "You've got to see this! You won't believe it, it's so cool!"

Cheerfully waving her phone around, the girl made me watch a tape of Tony Stark's appearance at the diner, which quickly got their band's song on everyone's radar. After sincerely congratulating MJ on the achievement, I still got her out of bed.

After eating breakfast with what we found in the fridge, we headed off to class. There were several important events scheduled for today, after which I felt like I wouldn't have much time for school. So I decided to show up to class while I could, which made MJ unspeakably happy.

By the time we got on the bus, she had time to tell me about all the important events at school and the progress of their band in my absence. They had, after all, started working on a new song in a style close to their past. Well, I'm not going to stop them this time, maybe it will work out.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" MJ elbowed me as we got on the school bus, "It's the first time we've been to school together in two weeks and you're all over your phone! Did you even hear what I said?"

- I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I hug her shoulders in a conciliatory way and show her my phone screen, "it's not as interesting as the song tigers, but..."

"Hey!" the elbow poke repeatedly, "it's not about tigers, it's "Face it Tiger!""

After expressing her playful displeasure, she finally turns her gaze to her smartphone screen.

"Is that Harry's mom?" Mary Jane wonders as she puts on the wireless earpiece I handed her.

"Yes, this is a live broadcast..." I explain.

As the bus drives to the school, we have time to listen to Norma's statement.

"It went pretty well," I summed up when Osborne's speech ended and the broadcast was drowned out by the noise from the guest journalists.

"Wait," M.J. exclaims, glancing over at me in shock, "did she say Parker Industries?"

"Yeah, I think I heard that, too," I smile back.

"Don't play dumb! What does that mean? Why does the new company Osborne have your last name in the name?"

"Probably because it's my company, not Osborne."

"Are you serious right now?" I'm just nodding back, "so this is where you've been for the last two weeks... damn, this is amazing... wait, the cure for cancer is the project you've been working on?"

"I'm still working on it, but there are already significant results," I never told her about Wanda having cancer.

Not that I was hiding it, because Mary Jane already knew about my connection to Venom, Spiderwoman, Deadpool, and some incidents, like Connors turning into Reptile and that kidnapping. She just didn't ask me exactly what I'd been up to these past few days, and I was in no hurry to explain it in detail.

In the physics lab, where we had our first class, an unexpected encounter occurred. Thompson's suspension had come to an end a week ago, which I had, to be honest, completely forgotten. But Audrey, to my surprise, is acting cool, or rather, she's just pretending that Mary Jane and I don't exist. It's not that I don't like this state of affairs.

"Did Thompson give you any trouble while I was away?" I ask anxiously, leaning surreptitiously toward Mary Jane.

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Looking back at Sarastee, M.J. replies in a whisper:

"Not really, we've talked and dealt with everything, she won't cause any more trouble," Mary Jane tells me with a satisfied half-smile.

I have a new look at my girlfriend; how, I wonder, did she manage to tame Thompson?

By the middle of class, boredom makes me sleepy. Sarasti is telling the class about the four fundamental interactions, and it takes a lot of effort to keep me awake to her measured voice.

Suddenly the teacher's speech stops halfway through, which helps me get over the drowsiness for a few seconds. I notice that MJ next to me is practically asleep with her head in her arms. Sarasti, on the other hand, is standing at the blackboard, frozen like a statue, staring from behind her thin glasses at a single dot on the wall that connects to the hallway. The dot appears to be moving.

My waking consciousness quickly concludes that such extreme drowsiness obviously cannot be natural, and immediately, in confirmation of my thoughts, the other students begin to fall asleep on their desks.

Some kind of soporific gas!

I try to get up, but my legs do not want to obey me, I fall to my knees. What a strong effect the gas has, but why wasn't there an odor or any other indication? Shit.

That leaves me with one last resort. I hit my forearm, activating the Lizard serum injection. The effects of the unknown drug make it hard to think straight, but I still realize I need to ventilate the room and fire a projectile of compressed webbing through the window, shattering it.

The serum is about to work, I just need a few minutes head start. To last, to stay awake...

"Stay awake!" With all my might, I jam a pencil into my left palm. The pain creates the right stimulus for my brain to stay awake for a while longer.

The doors to the classroom swing open with the thump of heavy army boots. Several women in gas masks and uniforms suspiciously resembling those of S.I.T. operatives with assault rifles scattered around the perimeter of the room, taking me in their sights. At this point, it's just me and Sarasti who remain awake. Except that while I have to cling desperately to reality, the teacher opposite is frozen as if she doesn't even need to breathe, watching the intruders closely.

Finally I feel the signs of the serum working, the drowsiness gradually receding, the strength returning to my muscles, but I'm in no hurry to show it. I continue, like Sarasti, to watch the enemy in silence.

There's no identification on the uniform. So not S.H.I.E.L.D. They mark their weapons and armor, despite all the conspiracy. I can't believe Hydra...

I don't want them shooting because Mary Jane and the other students are here. Two women run up to me with the intention of taking me into custody, one of them holding a collar of a familiar configuration. The same kind they use at Ice Box. So they're sure I have some kind of ability... and I never checked to see if the collars block the Lizard serum, but I'm not about to start a massacre in class.

Damn it. I'll have to take my chances and let them get me. I can't jeopardize MJ's life; I'd rather rely on the formula's resistance to the overwhelming collar. It was designed for the X-Gen, so I don't know how it affects the lizard-human hybrid I am now.

But I wasn't the only one the attackers paid attention to. Apparently, having considered the teacher, resistant to sleepy gas, too strange and dangerous, their commander with a pair of short gestures gave the order to the soldier standing nearby.

She obediently raised her assault rifle and pulled the trigger.

***

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