“Why did you betray me?!”
Even with his face heavily transformed by the lizard mutation, everyone present could still feel Colonel Johnson’s pain and shock.
He had never imagined that one of his own lizard-men would betray him.
“You shouldn’t have given in to the evil inside you, Johnson.”
Bob Eagle’s face showed a flicker of regret as he withdrew his hand from Colonel Johnson’s chest, where he had plunged it moments earlier. Rolling to the side, he managed to save Peter Parker from suffocation, handing him over to George Stacy.
Colonel Johnson’s pierced chest quickly healed, returning to normal. His regenerative abilities were far superior to those of an average lizard-man.
“Evil? I am evil, Bob!” Johnson roared furiously, lunging toward Bob Eagle. “You should have aimed for my head!”
Bob Eagle let out a roar of his own.
“I don’t want to kill you, Johnson.”
The two had spent time together recovering in the New York Veterans Hospital, both betrayed by their superiors and comrades, forging a bond of shared suffering.
“But I want to kill you, Bob!”
Colonel Johnson lashed out, his claw slashing across Bob Eagle’s face, ripping flesh apart and sending him flying.
Bob roared in response, tackling Johnson, and the two massive creatures engaged in a brutal fight.
Unlike the calculated battle with Peter Parker, this was a savage, animalistic brawl. Neither tried to dodge the other’s blows. Their sharp claws tore into each other, flinging blood and scales everywhere. It was a scene of unrelenting violence and carnage.
The primal roars stirred a deep-seated fear in everyone around, a fear that came from the instinctive terror of facing apex predators.
Their immense strength far exceeded that of any ordinary human. Their claws could easily shred steel. No bulletproof vest could protect a person from their deadly claws.
“Raaaargh!”
Colonel Johnson suddenly sank his teeth into Bob Eagle’s shoulder, his sharp fangs piercing through the thick scales and muscle, reaching the artery. Pinning Bob against a police car, Johnson began to drink his fellow lizard-man’s blood.
Bob screamed in agony, desperately clawing at Johnson’s head, tearing away chunks of flesh and scales. But Johnson held firm, biting down harder in an attempt to drain Bob of enough blood to kill him.
Although lizard-men possessed incredible regenerative abilities, they were highly dependent on their circulatory systems. The rapid healing of wounds required massive amounts of energy and oxygen, both delivered through their blood. If a lizard-man lost too much blood, their healing ability would weaken dramatically.
Rip!
With a violent yank, Bob tore Johnson off his body, losing a significant amount of flesh in the process.
He roared in fury and grabbed the nearby police car, swinging it like a weapon and smashing it into Johnson, sending him flying.
“Delicious… Your blood is sweet, Bob. I can feel new strength surging through me!” Colonel Johnson sneered as he stood up, his long, forked tongue licking the blood off his snout. His wounds were healing faster than ever.
He was growing stronger, and in a twisted way, he almost felt grateful for Bob’s betrayal. Without it, he might never have discovered this new potential.
Meanwhile, Phil Coulson rang the doorbell at Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion. He had scheduled this meeting with Tony Stark’s secretary, Pepper Potts, weeks ago, but despite waiting at Stark Industries’ headquarters every day, he had never been granted a meeting.
Fed up with the delays, he decided to go directly to Tony’s home.
Pepper Potts opened the door.
“Hello, Agent Phil Coulson,” she said, immediately recognizing the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by his signature bald head.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Stark has been very busy lately and hasn’t been able to make time for visitors. He hasn’t left his lab in seven days now,” Pepper explained as they walked into the living room.
She poured Coulson a cup of coffee.
“I’m used to waiting by now,” Coulson said with a wry smile, taking a sip of the coffee.
“Miss Potts, I believe you should see this.”
Suddenly, J.A.R.V.I.S.’s voice echoed through the living room, and the television automatically turned on, displaying a live broadcast from CNN.
The screen showed New York City, where the police were engaged in a desperate firefight against a group of monstrous lizard-like creatures. These lizard-men were not only highly skilled in using weapons, but they were also incredibly powerful.
The police were being overrun, with officers either gunned down or torn apart by the lizard-men.
The CNN camera focused on two lizard-men locked in a brutal struggle. One, covered in black scales, was clearly winning, close to killing the other.
The next moment, a CNN anchor appeared on screen.
“This is Louise Lane, reporting live from the scene. The brave NYPD officers are being slaughtered, and the only reinforcement on the scene is another lizard-man. I want to know: Where is our military? Why are they allowing these monsters to slaughter our heroes and endanger the lives of our citizens?”
Pepper gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. Coulson accidentally knocked over his coffee in shock, wincing as the hot liquid scalded his skin.
“The internet is buzzing with references to Mr. Stark’s recent press conference,” J.A.R.V.I.S. continued in its emotionless voice.
“How… how is this possible? So many lizard-men, where did they come from?” Coulson fumbled for his phone, hastily trying to contact Director Nick Fury. If these creatures were allowed to rampage through New York City, the entire city would become a living nightmare.
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from the mansion’s underground lab. A few seconds later, the distinct sound of something breaking the sound barrier followed, as if something had just shot through the entire building and into the sky.
Coulson instinctively drew his gun and stepped in front of Pepper to protect her, scanning the area for threats.
Pepper’s phone rang abruptly. She saw that it was Tony calling and quickly answered.
“Tony! What just happened? Was there an accident in the lab? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
She fired off a barrage of questions in her concern.
“I’m fine, Pepper. Stay inside the mansion and don’t leave. Let the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent keep you safe.”
Tony’s voice came through the phone.
“Where are you, Tony? What are you doing?”
Before she could finish, the call ended. Without wasting any time, Pepper used her fingerprint to unlock the door to the underground lab and hurriedly descended the stairs.
Inside the lab was a scene of chaos. Pieces of failed armor modules, discarded scrap, and unfinished prototypes were scattered everywhere. A line of ten or so power armor frames stood along the wall, but one was missing from the middle.
A massive hole had been blasted through the ceiling, allowing her to see the sky above. Clearly, Tony had left in a hurry, shooting straight through the roof.
“What on earth is he working on?” Coulson muttered, picking up a piece of leftover scrap, his expression grave. The piece of metal was black and composed of tiny metallic particles, which seemed to move subtly as if they were alive.
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