◉◉◉◉◉
"Stop right there!"
Peter braced against a pair of concrete pillars, firing webs in every direction. Within seconds, a massive cocoon of silk sealed the Lizard inside.
The webbing strained, creaked but held. Not even that scaled brute could tear free easily.
"Stay put," Peter said, panting. "I'll be right back."
He sprinted upstairs. There were still civilians trapped above.
The first thing he saw made him freeze one last terrified worker being whisked away through a shattered window by a black-clad figure.
The [Shadow Ninja].
"Awesome," Peter muttered, eyes wide. "That guy again—seriously, who is he?"
BOOM!
The floor shook violently. Down below, the Lizard thrashed, roaring as his muscles swelled. The webs snapped taut; cracks spidered up the support beams.
Outside, a news drone hovered near the tower, streaming everything live.
"Breaking footage!" the anchor's voice echoed through the feed. "The vigilante known as Spider-Man is currently battling a monstrous reptilian creature inside Oscorp Tower!"
---
Back inside
Peter swung back down and saw the Lizard glaring from within the shredded cocoon, webbing hanging like torn sinew from his claws.
"Spider-Man," the creature hissed. "A lizard's nose never forgets a scent. I'll find you again."
With one savage pull, he ripped the last of the webs and hurled himself through the nearest window.
CRASH! Glass exploded outward as he clawed his way down the side of the tower.
"Oh no you don't," Peter growled, diving after him.
Below, police had surrounded the block.
The moment the Lizard came into view, a dozen rifles opened fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets pinged off scales, useless but the stray rounds were not useless against a swinging Spider-Man.
"Whoa—!" Peter twisted mid-air, instincts flaring. He dropped the chase, flipped, and fired a webline sideways, swinging hard to dodge the spray of lead.
THUD!
The Lizard slammed into the street, cracking asphalt and sending dust everywhere. Officers kept firing until their magazines clicked empty.
When the haze finally cleared nothing.
Only a gaping hole in the pavement.
"Stand down!" someone shouted.
Peter swooped in, landing at the crater's edge. He peered down into the darkness.
"You're not getting away this time," he whispered and dove.
---
The tunnel forked three ways. Peter stopped, breathing hard.
"Great, the world's grossest maze."
He closed his eyes and focused. That buzzing sensation behind his temples, his [Spider-Sense], was faint but there.
Right tunnel.
Nothing.
Center tunnel.
Still nothing.
Left tunnel—zap! That electric jolt flared in his skull.
"Thanks, buddy," he muttered to himself and sprinted left.
---
Parker residence
Lunch was finally over.
Sylas wiped his mouth, pushed back his chair, and murmured, "Excuse me for a minute."
Upstairs, he pulled on his black combat suit and slipped out through the window.
The [Shadow Legion] had already reported the chase route.
"Hold on, Peter," he said, landing by a manhole cover. He gripped the edge and yanked it open only to gag immediately.
"Oh my God—ugh! That smell!"
He nearly lost his lunch. "Why is hero work always disgusting?"
He dropped down anyway.
---
Underground Lab
Peter landed softly in knee-deep water and froze.
Tables. Instruments. Chemical flasks. The place looked like a mobile lab.
"Where are you?" he called quietly.
Then he saw it a leather-bound notebook on a workbench.
He flipped it open. Rows of chemical formulas. Gene sequences. Handwritten by Dr. Curt Connors himself.
"Didn't think you'd follow me this far."
The voice echoed behind him.
Peter spun, stance low, webs primed.
"Relax," the Lizard said, stepping into the dim light. "I was human once. This body, this strength, it came from my serum. The Lizard Serum."
"And it turned you into this," Peter countered, eyes narrowing.
Connor hesitated, then nodded. "Power comes with a price. I can restore lost limbs restore humanity itself! Imagine an entire city healed and strong again!"
Peter quietly slid the notebook behind his back. "Everyone turning into you doesn't sound healed. Sounds like a horror movie."
The Lizard's slit pupils widened. "A single man becomes a monster yes. But if everyone changes? Then monsters become normal… and you become the freak."
Peter smirked under the mask. "Nice philosophy. You can share it with the cops downtown."
He fired a webline, snagging the lab table and flinging it forward.
CRASH!
The Lizard shattered it with one punch.
"You call me a monster," he growled, "but what are you hiding under that mask? A face as ugly as mine?"
"Sorry, can't relate," Peter quipped. "If you had a daughter, she'd totally have a crush on me."
He lunged, landing a clean aerial kick to the side of the creature's head.
The Lizard staggered, then slashed. Peter web-zipped backward just in time.
"You won't have your friends to save you down here," the monster sneered, tail whipping behind him.
The fight space was too narrow for Spider-Man's usual acrobatics.
Every swing was dangerous. Every dodge, inches from disaster.
CRACK!
A tail strike demolished the pipes beside him. Steam hissed, water spraying everywhere.
Peter backed up and hit a metal grate. No way left to retreat.
The Lizard's shadow loomed over him. "Nowhere to run, little spider."
He tore the last rags of his lab coat away, muscles rippling under the dim green light.
"Let's enjoy our alone time."
Peter raised his fists. "You talk too much."
And the sewer echoed with the start of another brutal round.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!