Chapter 13: Insanity Eyes Part 1

When I was a kid—
I used to fantasize about getting caught in some dire crisis… Yeah, something like terrorists taking over the school, and I alone outwitting them and saving the day.
Haven’t you ever had childish fantasies like that?
As for me… no, that doesn’t matter.
It’s just that boys tend to admire those kinds of situations, even just a little.
…Well, I’m a girl now, though.
Lately, it feels like my mind’s getting dragged along by my body. Acting girly doesn’t feel strange anymore, and even I get excited when I see a good-looking guy.
I was never like this when I was little… why is that?
Is it puberty? For me?

But anyway—
This whole fantasy of danger striking close to home, like at school, is pretty typical.

A desk flew over my head.
It crashed into the whiteboard behind me, the sound of destruction piercing my ears.
That was close.

Honestly, people who’ve lived peaceful lives are the ones who daydream about these extraordinary things happening in familiar places.
…Anyone who’s spent their life covered in blood would only see these intrusions of chaos into their peaceful days as a nuisance—not something to admire.

I curled up under a desk, coming to that conclusion.

Quietly, I poked my head out to take a look.

There it was—a lizard-man, his face twisted in rage.
His whole body covered in green scales, with a reptilian face.
Bulging muscles that promised overwhelming power, a massive, towering body.
He had to be well over two meters tall.

I knew exactly who he was.
A villain named “Lizard.”

This was the science lab.
Hiding behind a large, side-by-side desk, I held my breath.

To be honest, with just that level of strength, my body—enhanced by superhuman serum—could match him evenly.
And given the gap in combat skills, normally, I could easily take him down.

But right now, I had no suit, and my classmates were evacuating outside the school.
If I started a fight here, things would obviously get way more complicated.

“Come out, you little brat! I’ll rip you to pieces!”

Lizard roared, his voice booming.

Hmm… his whole body looks like a lizard… like a bipedal reptile.
Which means his mouth and throat shouldn’t be like a human’s.

How on earth is he able to speak?

Another desk flew through the air.
Thankfully, it landed far from where I was hiding, so I stayed put and continued to hold my breath.

Why was I in this mess?
Why was a villain rampaging through our school?
I pressed my fingers to my temple, trying to remember.

I first noticed it earlier this month.

At Midtown High, there’s this elective program called the “Advanced Class,” where students get to choose specialized courses in their second year based on what they’re interested in.

I was taking biology.
The teacher’s name was Curt Connors.
A man in his late thirties, apparently a researcher at Oscorp.

Oscorp… a globally renowned weapons manufacturer in this world.
They don’t just make powerful weapons—they also dabble in gene modification and body enhancement drugs.

Personally, I don’t think too highly of genetic enhancement drugs…
Well, I’m in no position to talk, though.

Anyway, it seems Oscorp’s been struggling lately.
That’s because their CEO, Norman Osborn, got arrested.
He took his own company’s enhancement drug, developed a violent split personality, and went on a killing spree.

His villain alias was “Green Goblin.”
Dressed in a green protector suit, flying on an Oscorp-made glider, and throwing Oscorp-manufactured bombs—he was a classic villain.

This all happened a few months ago—before I even entered Midtown High.
He was defeated by Spider-Man and is now locked up in prison.

Since then, Oscorp’s stock price has plummeted, and trust in their enhancement drugs hit rock bottom.
On top of that, people have started avoiding Oscorp’s weapons, saying, “There are too many unknown risks.”

They used to supply the military, but now they’re getting dropped from contracts left and right.

And so, Curt Connors, an Oscorp researcher, found himself without a lab after it was shut down, and is currently working as a temporary teacher at Midtown High.

Although technically, he’s still with Oscorp.
His research was focused on genome enhancement drugs—specifically, incorporating reptilian genes into humans.

With what happened to Norman, the lab’s been indefinitely frozen—no, maybe they’ll never let anyone touch genome enhancement again.

That anxiety was eating away at him.

For Curt Connors, researching genome enhancement drugs wasn’t “just” a job to make money.

First off, he had no right arm.
Apparently, he used to be a military doctor, and he lost his right arm during the war.

Anyway, from what I heard, his goal was to gain a reptile’s regenerative abilities through genome enhancement drugs and regrow his arm.
Also, something about advancing human evolution.

That was Curt Connors.

When I first heard his name, I thought, “Huh? I feel like I’ve heard that before.”
It must have been from my memories of my previous life.

I wracked my brain over it but couldn’t come to any conclusion.

Still, if I knew his name, then surely, probably, whether he was a hero or a villain… he had to be one or the other.

In the end, my curiosity got the better of me, and I chose “Biology” for my Advanced Class.

There were other options… but thinking about my future, none of them really mattered to me.
After all, I’d just continue being a villain and killing people, so learning about economics or whatever was pointless.

Curt Connors was a bit gloomy, but a kind teacher.
Biology class… to be honest, was easy for me.

My classmates who took the same class were constantly struggling.

Ah, Peter seemed to be doing fine, though.
…Flash looked like he was having a rough time.

I mean, it made sense for Peter to be taking biology.
After all, he became Spider-Man thanks to a genetically modified spider.
Wanting to study the origins of his own powers was perfectly reasonable.

But Flash… it was a mystery why he was taking biology.
…Apparently, he’d been acting strangely lately.
He’d stopped bullying Peter, and he didn’t bother me as much either.
Though sometimes he’d sneak glances my way, which was annoying.

…It’s probably just my imagination if I think he chose biology because I did.

Anyway, until the incident happened, Mr. Curt Connors had been a good teacher.
I’d even concluded that “the reason I remembered his name must’ve been because he was a good guy.”

Reality proved otherwise.

Just yesterday, when Mr. Connors came to biology class, he looked… abnormal.

I could tell he was unusually agitated.
More than usual.

And then Mr. Connors spoke to me.

“What do you think about genetic modification?”

…Why me?
Apparently, it was because I was doing “too well” in his class.

It seemed like Mr. Connors had mistaken me for a gifted scientist or something.

That’s right—it was a mistake.
I was just someone whose thinking ability had been artificially enhanced by a fake superhuman serum, with a good memory, nothing more.

Anyway, I answered, “I’m against genetic modification.”
Because I knew all too well the risks of body modification.

…Yeah, remembering how dozens of children died in the process of creating a ‘finished product’ like me, there was no way I could approve of enhancement drugs.

I still remember how crushed Mr. Connors looked when I said that.

And then the very next day, during class, he injected himself with the genome enhancement drug he had created.

He stabbed the syringe into his side… and right away, the right arm that should’ve been gone grew back.

Up to that point, my classmates were shocked but not afraid.

But when his whole body became covered in scales, his muscles swelled, his lab coat tore apart, and he transformed into a giant lizard-faced man—

—that’s when the screaming and shouting broke out.

That’s when I remembered that Curt Connors was the villain known as “Lizard.”

We fled the classroom.
Emergency sirens blared throughout the school, and Midtown High descended into utter chaos.

I had made it outside, but then I remembered Peter, who had gotten separated from us… and then I remembered there was no need to worry about him.

He was probably in the middle of changing—no, transforming into Spider-Man.
If not, there was no way that justice-obsessed, responsibility-driven Peter would abandon the girl he’d been running away with and just vanish.

Well, that’s why there’s no need to worry about Spider-Man.
That’s what I thought as I joined the class rep for roll call… and discovered that not only Peter, but Flash was missing too.

I was shocked… and turned back toward the school building.
A chair came crashing down from a window, causing the evacuating students below to scream.

Looking through the classroom window where the chair had fallen, I could clearly see Flash with my enhanced eyesight.

The moment I saw him, I was already running.
Ignoring my classmates calling after me, I headed up to the second floor where Flash was.

And when I got there—
Flash was there, collapsed in fear, hiding behind the staircase, holding his breath.

Mr. Connors—no, Lizard—had one hand on the staircase and was steadily moving towards Flash.

I…

…No, Flash.
He was the jerk who bullied Peter.
No matter what happens to someone like him, there’s no reason for me to help.
No matter what I do here, there’s nothing for me to gain.

That’s what I told myself as I came to a conclusion—

—and dropped a desk right onto Lizard’s head.

…He staggered slightly, but, as expected, didn’t have a scratch and stared straight at me.

Flash looked at me with a stunned expression…

“Run!”

If I hadn’t shouted that, he probably would’ve stayed frozen for a while longer.

With a frightened face and unsteady steps, Flash scrambled down to the first floor.

Lizard didn’t chase after him—he kept his eyes on me.

From there on, my memory’s fuzzy.

All I remember is running and eventually hiding in the science lab where I am now.

“Don’t mock me! Genome enhancement drugs are the greatest! They are the awakening of a new humanity! Are you mocking me too?!”

Thrashing around in a rage—
Mr. Connors… no, the villain Lizard, was completely out of control, clearly no longer sane, lashing out, trying to kill me.

He smashed through the window glass, destroyed the doors, and now Lizard stood in front of me.

“Fools trapped by shallow, do-gooder ideals and petty common sense are holding back the evolution of mankind! Those weeds must be uprooted!”

I’m probably still not in his reptilian line of sight.

But it’s only a matter of time.

I sighed.
Maybe… I shouldn’t have saved Flash after all.

Soon, I’d be found.
And when that happened, escape would be impossible.
If I resisted and fought… my superhuman nature would be exposed.
Even if my identity as the villain Red Cap didn’t come to light, it’d still cause no end of trouble.

But if I didn’t fight—I’d die.

I grabbed a ballpoint pen.
Compared to my usual knife, it felt awfully unreliable.
Most likely, it wouldn’t pierce Lizard’s scale-covered skin.

So, I’d go for the one place where his skin wasn’t thick—his eyes.
Stab it into his eye, send the damage directly to his brain.
Right now, that was my only viable counterattack.

I shed the persona of “Michelle Jane” and switched over to “Red Cap.”
I gripped the pen with killing intent.
My breathing turned deep and heavy.
Then, I held my breath.

Come.
I’ll kill you.

Lizard stepped into the classroom, standing right in front of the desk I was hiding under—

Crash!

A loud crash of shattering glass rang out.

Then, a flash of red appeared in my vision.

That flash smashed through the window, landing horizontally against the classroom wall.

“Spider-Man!?”

Lizard cried out in shock, his eyes tracking the red figure.

I instinctively dropped my pen, completely mesmerized by the sight, frozen in place.

Spider-Man turned toward me—

“Run! Hurry!”

Ah.

“You’re not getting away!”

Lizard’s large hand, tipped with razor-sharp claws, shot toward me.
But Spider-Man’s web shot out, intercepting it.
The clawed arm, tangled in webs, stopped just in front of me.

“Your fight’s with me, Lizard!”

Spider-Man yanked with all his strength, forcing Lizard to turn and face him.
Lizard’s eyes gleamed sharply, irritated by the interference.

“Out of my way!”

Lizard swung his arm, sending beakers flying and shattering off desks.

I ducked under the desk, dodging the flying debris, and cautiously peeked out.

The water faucet had been destroyed, water gushing from the desk.

“Why do you reject evolution!? Genome enhancement is a miracle that will remake humanity into a superior species! You too gained the powers of a spider—aren’t you part of this new breed, Spider-Man!?”

“I never signed up to stop being human!”

Using his web-shooter, Spider-Man yanked a clock off the wall and hurled it at Lizard.

It wouldn’t do much damage, but the goal wasn’t to attack.
The clock slammed into Lizard’s face, momentarily blinding him. In that instant, Spider-Man leapt into action.

Kicking off the walls like a triangle jump, he caught Lizard’s neck between his legs, locking him in a forced head-scissors hold.

“You bastard!”

And then, without pause, Spider-Man slammed his fists down on Lizard’s head several times.
But it seemed like the hits didn’t do much damage.

Lizard rammed his body into the wall, forcibly slamming Spider-Man off.

“Looks like you want to make me really angry!”

“I’m the one who’s angry here!”

Spider-Man—Peter—was furious, a rare sight since he hardly ever showed his anger.

The reason was obvious—his precious everyday life was being destroyed.
I understood that feeling.

…Well, maybe because he wasn’t calm, but unlike before, Peter was yelling in his own voice without even trying to hide it.

I moved stealthily, making sure Lizard didn’t notice, crawling toward the classroom entrance.

“Shaaaah!!”

A vicious, reptilian hiss rang out as Lizard’s powerful tail swung through the air.

The desk I had been hiding behind was demolished, and a half-broken chair flew straight toward Spider-Man.

Relying on his spider-sense, Spider-Man dodged while simultaneously wrapping a web around Lizard’s neck.

“Let go!”

Lizard tried to rip the webs apart with his claws, but Spider-Man jumped, spinning sideways.
Instead, Lizard’s own arm got tangled in the web, completely restricting his movement.

“Over here!”

Spider-Man, with his enhanced strength, yanked Lizard, slamming him straight into the window.
His massive body, easily over 100 kilograms, shattered the glass and tumbled into the courtyard.
Spider-Man immediately leapt out after him.

I left my hiding spot, running toward the window they had fallen through.

Leaning out, I could see both of them below, facing each other in the courtyard—
—on the complete opposite side from where the other students were evacuating.