"That was dangerous," Spider-Woman remarked, hanging upside down from the shattered ceiling. "Didn't your family teach you that you don't attack someone from behind?"
She cast a quick glance toward the broken windows in the background. If she hadn't dodged by a fraction of a second, that block of concrete would have crushed her along with the wall, ending everything right then and there.
The Lizard growled, his tail swaying restlessly.
"I'll say this one last time…" His voice echoed deep and heavy through the ruined space. "HAND OVER THAT BRIEFCASE!"
Spider-Woman released her web and landed lightly on the ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact. Her eyes, hidden behind the mask, remained alert to every movement of the creature.
She knew very well she couldn't give in.
If she handed over the serum, there would be no chance left to bring Peter back to normal.
But at the same time, it was impossible to leave safely while carrying that briefcase. The Lizard blocked her escape route, and even if she managed to flee, producing an antidote in time while being relentlessly pursued by him would be nearly impossible.
"All right…" she said, straightening her posture. "Then let's settle this the simple way."
She lifted the briefcase slightly.
"We fight. The winner keeps it."
The Lizard's expression hardened instantly.
He had spoken arrogantly, but that didn't mean he truly believed he could defeat her easily. The night before, he had nearly been beaten unconscious. And now, even stronger, he knew Spider-Woman was no ordinary opponent.
As he assessed the situation, his forked tongue slowly slid out of his mouth, rippling through the air.
"Spider-Woman…" he said, a strange smile forming. "You want to protect these people, right?"
She frowned.
"That's literally my job," she replied dryly. "Why ask that now?"
"It's nothing." His smile widened, taking on a cruel edge. "I just want to make a deal with you."
Before she could react, the Lizard abruptly turned and sprinted toward the shattered windows.
For a moment, Spider-Woman was confused.
"He's trying to run…?"
[Stay alert!] Cortana's voice rang in her ear. [Your father is entering Oscorp with a group of police officers!]
Gwen's expression changed immediately.
Everything made sense.
When the Lizard had stuck out his tongue, he hadn't been taunting her—he was detecting the heat of human bodies. He knew exactly where the people below were.
"Stop!" she shouted, firing a web. "I have a way to turn you back to normal!"
But the Lizard was absurdly fast.
She struggled to keep up, leaping over debris as he charged forward without looking back. In seconds, he reached the window and hurled himself through it with full force.
CRASH!
The glass exploded into thousands of fragments.
Below, several people who had just approached the Oscorp building flinched at the sudden sound of shattering glass. When they looked up, all they saw were gleaming shards raining down from the dark sky.
And right behind them, a massive shadow was falling.
"GET OUT OF HERE!!!" George Stacy's roar echoed through the area.
The command was instantaneous. The people scattered on pure reflex, running in all directions.
The Lizard hit the ground with enough force to form a small crater. Dust and smoke rose, completely obscuring the impact point.
The police spread out, immediately raising their weapons and aiming toward the center of the cloud.
Then, a silhouette began to emerge.
The Lizard stepped out of the dust slowly, lifting his imposing body. His eyes swept over the people around him, filled with satisfaction.
"Peter…?" a trembling voice spoke up. "Is that you, Peter?"
Among those present was Dr. Curt Connors. Upon recognizing that monstrous figure, his heart tightened.
"Are you all right, Peter?" Connors asked.
"Dr. Connors…" the Lizard replied with an eerie calm. "I feel great now. I've never felt this good in my entire life."
He spread his arms.
"As you can see, our experiment was a success."
Connors swallowed hard.
"Believe me," Peter continued. "You can recover your arm too with this serum."
Curt Connors had been a military doctor who fought on the front lines. He had lost his arm in combat, and it was that very loss that drove him into obsessive research on limb regeneration.
Looking at Peter now, he understood.
The lizard gene had completely overtaken his mind.
"Peter…" Connors asked carefully. "Why did you come to Oscorp?"
The Lizard smiled coldly.
"I think you already know the answer, Dr. Connors."
George stepped forward, about to speak, when something fell from the sky.
"Stay away from him!" Spider-Woman shouted as she landed lightly on the ground.
"Spider-Woman?" George looked up, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Taking advantage of the brief distraction, the Lizard moved.
In the blink of an eye, he grabbed Connors and pulled him close. His sharp claws pressed against the doctor's neck, opening a small cut. Blood began to trickle down slowly.
The Lizard looked at the wound… and licked the blood with pleasure.
Weapons were raised immediately.
"Release Dr. Connors now, Peter Parker!" George ordered, his voice tense.
The Lizard laughed.
"Uncle George…" he said disdainfully. "Remember to say hello to Gwen. I'll look for her when I'm done with this."
George's face hardened.
He didn't fully understand the meaning behind those words, but one thing was certain: it was a very bad sign.
Gwen felt the impact of those words as well, but she wasn't foolish enough to reveal her identity at that moment.
"Spider-Woman…" the Lizard said, turning to her. "You're smart. You already know why I took Dr. Connors hostage."
Gwen tightened her grip on the briefcase strap.
"Let Dr. Connors go," she said firmly. "And I'll hand this over right now."
"Ah…" the Lizard smiled. "Excellent."
He tilted his head.
"And don't even think about trying to trick me. How many people here could you really save?"
Those words hit everyone like a punch to the gut.
"Don't worry," he continued. "I'll keep my end of the deal."
"…All right."
The Lizard threw Connors aside. Gwen immediately lunged forward, managing to catch him before he hit the ground hard.
"You can't give him the serum…" Connors murmured, breathless. "I know what he'll do."
"I know too, Dr. Connors," Gwen replied quietly. "But right now… I have no choice."
She slowly stood up.
"He's already lost his humanity."
If she didn't hand over the briefcase, the Lizard would truly kill everyone there.
"Spider-Woman," he said, extending his hand. "It's time to keep your promise."
She hurled the briefcase toward him.
The Lizard caught it effortlessly in midair and, in the same instant, bolted toward the alley he had come from, vanishing into the darkness.
George watched the direction of his escape and clenched his teeth.
"Fire at him!"
Gunshots rang out immediately.
The bullets struck the Lizard's back but ricocheted or sank in without any visible effect.
"It's useless…" Connors murmured. "His defense is extremely high. And even when injured, he regenerates almost instantly."
George took a deep breath… and then noticed something wrong.
"Where's Spider-Woman?"
---xXx---
On a rusted platform in the heart of the sewers, the constant sound of running water and the putrid stench of waste dominated the environment. There, isolated from the world, the Lizard stood panting heavily, the briefcase clutched firmly in his claws.
He stared at it for a few seconds, his eyes glowing with almost religious satisfaction.
"Finally…" he murmured, his voice thick with excitement. "At last, I can complete the process of evolution."
His scaly fingers slid to the latches of the briefcase. With a sharp motion, he flipped it open.
What he found inside made his expression change instantly.
The gleam in his eyes vanished, replaced by pure, savage fury.
"DAMN YOU, SPIDER-WOMAN!!!"
The scream echoed through the sewer tunnels, startling rats and making the water vibrate around him.
"YOU DECEIVED ME!!!"
The briefcase was completely empty.
No vials. No serum. Nothing.
The realization hit like a delayed blow, and his rage exploded out of control. The Lizard hurled the briefcase against the wall with all his strength, warping the metal as it collided with a deafening crash.
"AAARGH!"
He roared, slamming his fists into the walls, driving his claws into the concrete as if he wanted to tear the world itself apart. Hatred boiled in his chest, mixed with frustration and humiliation.
Minutes passed before his breathing finally began to slow.
The fury hadn't disappeared—it had merely transformed.
His eyes narrowed, now cold and calculating.
"Spider-Woman…" he murmured, a twisted smile slowly forming. "Your effort is still pointless. You're only delaying the inevitable…"
He lifted his head.
"I know the formula and the preparation method. I can still replicate the serum."
His tail swayed slowly behind him.
"No matter how long it takes…" his voice dropped to a low, threatening growl. "I WILL BRING EVOLUTION TO THIS WORLD!"
---xXx---
Outside, in stark contrast to the dark sewers, the lights of New York shone brilliantly. Clinging to the outer wall of a building dozens of meters above the ground, Gwen remained calmly perched, watching the city breathe beneath her.
In her hands, two small glass vials reflected the urban glow.
She smiled faintly.
"I can't believe you fell for that, Peter…"
The night wind lightly tousled her hair as she recalled the exact moment when everything was decided.
When the Lizard had leapt from the building, Gwen hadn't reacted immediately—not out of hesitation, but because in that instant she understood his plan. As she plunged from the third floor, her heart racing, she made a decision in a fraction of a second.
With precise movements, she removed the two vials from the briefcase and webbed them onto a nearby metal pole before she even landed.
It was a risky plan.
The chance of failure was enormous.
But she simply couldn't allow him to get his hands on both serums.
Considering Peter's intelligence, Gwen was fully certain he would eventually find a way to replicate the serum. However, this bought something extremely valuable:
Time.
Enough time for Arthur and Cortana to develop a definitive cure.
"Time to head home…" she murmured, firing her web and vanishing among the buildings.
---xXx---
At Arthur's house, the atmosphere was silent, broken only by the soft hum of electronic systems.
Cortana stood near him, projecting holographic data as she reported the entire situation with impeccable precision.
Arthur listened attentively while still adjusting his Tempad.
When the report ended, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Looks like Gwen is becoming more and more proficient in combat," he remarked with a faint, proud smile.
He looked up.
"Cortana, did you collect all the data from tonight's battle?"
[Yes.]
[I created a new database specifically for Gwen's next suit, just as you instructed.]
[The data from this battle is already being processed and integrated.]
"And what about the name?" Arthur asked.
[I'll leave that honor to you.]
"Hm…"
Arthur brought a hand to his chin, thoughtful, a playful gleam appearing in his eyes.
"Tony calls his armors 'Mark,' doesn't he?"
He smiled.
"Then we'll call it the ARACHNE-SUIT."
Cortana nodded, and immediately a detailed holographic projection of the suit—identical to Gwen's current one—formed in the air, slowly rotating.
[This is the initial prototype.]
[If you have any new ideas, just tell me and I'll integrate them for optimization.]
Arthur examined every detail closely.
"Very good," he said, satisfied. "I'm done here. Let's go to the workshop—we have more work to do."
He turned away.
"Let me know as soon as Gwen arrives."
[Understood.]
---xXx---
It didn't take long.
As soon as Gwen arrived, she went straight to Arthur's workshop.
The moment she stepped through the door, she froze completely.
"Wow…"
Even though she had been there before, the sight always amazed her.
Arthur's creations filled the entire space: advanced machines, complex circuits, futuristic prototypes… and mixed in with all of it, objects that looked as though they'd been pulled straight out of a fantasy world.
Golden decorations, clearly made of real gold, adorned the walls. Swords, wands, unknown artifacts—all radiating a fantastical aura.
"So cool~," she commented, impressed.
"Everything's ready," Arthur's voice sounded behind her. "Shall we get to work?"
Gwen quickly turned and blinked in surprise.
Arthur was wearing a white lab coat.
"Since when do you have that?" she asked.
"Since always," he replied with a shrug. "I just don't usually wear it."
He extended his hand.
"The serum."
"Oh, right." Gwen nodded and handed over the two vials. "Here you go."
Arthur took the serums and immediately walked over to the workbench.
"Biochemistry isn't exactly my field of expertise…" he commented as he began organizing the equipment. "But with Cortana's help, it shouldn't take long to develop a cure."
(End of Chapter)