Repay kindness with kindness, and vengeance with vengeance!

Sticky pipe walls.
Cold air.
And the stench of rust, sludge, and some unidentified fermenting substance that made Hawk immediately shut down his sense of smell as he walked through.
He wasn’t afraid of heat or cold, but he dreaded foul odors.
Heat and cold he could tolerate, but stench—especially this pervasive kind—was unbearable.
Hawk glanced curiously at the spider spirit leading the way ahead.
“How did you find this place?”
“Followed the lizards.”
Walking in front, perhaps overwhelmed by the smell, Peter’s voice behind the spider mask sounded muffled. “It’s just up ahead. Turn the corner, and we’re there.”
A couple of days ago, while fighting lizard men at school, Peter had noticed several lizards crawling out of the sewer pipes.
So, on Saturday morning, recalling this, Peter decided to explore the sewers out of boredom.
After searching all day, that very morning he truly found Dr. Conners’ temporary base within what could only be described as an underground pipe labyrinth.
Now here they were.
Having found the place, Peter thought Hawk might be interested, so he invited him on a weekend adventure into New York’s underground maze.
Soon after turning the corner, Hawk saw a platform not far ahead.
The platform was strung with haphazardly connected wires, coated in some unknown liquid that stuck them to the walls, powering a few light bulbs that illuminated the cluttered space holding two laptops and assorted lab equipment.
Hawk stepped onto the platform and scanned the surroundings.
“Where’s the video you mentioned?”
“Here.”
Peter approached one of the laptops, typed a few keys, and a video appeared on the screen.
“That blood belongs to Hawk.”
“I should call Hawk…”
“Shhh… no way, he definitely won’t give it to me.”
“Shhh!”
“Oh right, Gwen.”
“I could kidnap Gwen and force Hawk to give me the blood.”
“Shhh…”
“Exactly, kidnap Gwen and make Hawk hand over the blood.”
“Catch her…”

In the video, Dr. Conners appeared disheveled—his clothes filthy, hair damp and hanging limply from sweat. Occasional flickers distorted the image, making him seem deranged as he muttered to himself.
At the end, the seemingly possessed doctor grabbed the last three vials of a regenerative serum and injected them into himself without hesitation.
Then, amid a cacophony of distorted roars, the Lizard Doctor made his grand entrance.
The video ended there.
Hawk’s expression turned strange.
So the reason the Lizard Doctor was targeting Gwen was to capture her and coerce Hawk into surrendering his blood?
Hawk found it hard to grasp Dr. Conners’ twisted logic.
After some thought, he could only explain the doctor’s behavior one way.
“The lizard serum has messed up his brain.”
“Would you give it to him?”
“What?”
Hawk looked at Peter.
Peter asked curiously, “If Conners called you asking for your blood, would you give it to him?”
Hawk frowned slightly at the question.
Would he give it?
He pondered briefly, then nodded, looking at Peter.
“If it’s not much, yes.”
“Why?”
Peter’s eyes widened at Hawk’s answer. “I don’t know much about your blood, but it’s probably the key to Conners becoming the Lizard Doctor. Knowing the outcome, you’d still give him your blood?”
Hawk met Peter’s gaze calmly. “He used my blood to become the Lizard Doctor—that’s on him. But whether to give it when he asks is my choice.”
Peter frowned, shaking his head.
“I don’t get it.”
“You, like me, don’t have parents, but at least yours existed, and you have your Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I’m different—I’m an orphan, always have been. So you can be a superhero, but I can’t. Never will.”
“Why?”
“I’m not as kind as you.”
Hawk smiled faintly.
“Of course, I’m not that evil either, but I live by one rule: favors must be returned, enemies must be repaid.”
“When I was fired from Osborn Industries, though it wasn’t Conners’ doing, he still wrote me a recommendation letter.”
“Though it’s useless now, when he gave it, he asked for nothing in return. So…”
Hawk smiled again, glancing at Peter. “It’s just a vial of blood. It doesn’t cost me anything. If I give it, I give it. What he does with it—whether good or bad—that’s his business. As long as I have a clear conscience.”

Peter nodded thoughtfully at Hawk’s explanation.
Hawk seemed to think of something, looking at Peter. “What, interested in my blood too? If you want, I can give you a vial.”
Peter snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head like a rattle.
“No, no, I don’t want it.”
“All right then.”
Hawk smiled, falling silent as he looked over the platform once more, shaking his head. “That’s why I say Conners’ brain’s been fried by the lizard serum. He could’ve just asked me, but instead, he made it all complicated. Let’s go.”
Now that they knew Conners’ motive—even if it seemed somewhat irrational—considering his mental state in the video, it made some sense.
Madmen find joy in madness.
Just as you’ll never know what a cat is thinking, you can never truly peer into the mind of a lunatic.
So…
Hawk intended to leave.
He still planned to spend the day trying to sell the five trophies he’d collected, but here he was, dragged into this mess.
Peter watched Hawk prepare to leave. “What about this place?”
Hawk thought for a moment.
“Burn it.”
“Burn it?”
“People die like lamps going out. Besides, keeping this stuff around risks another lizard monster popping up. But I don’t care either way. Burn it or not—it’s up to you.”
“…Makes sense.”
Peter considered and nodded.
“All right, this is yours now. I’m heading back—the friendly neighbor of New Yorkers.”
Seeing Peter’s nod, Hawk smiled faintly, then turned, waving without a backward glance before walking away.
Peter glanced around once more after Hawk left, then departed as well.
He needed to find tools to burn this place down.
And just after Hawk and Peter left, a faint red dot flickering on the platform gradually dimmed to darkness.

…