"You're insane, Peter… you can't do this!" Gwen roared.
Injecting that unfinished serum into people all over the world and turning them into reptilian creatures like him wasn't just irresponsible. It was madness in its purest form.
Gwen knew that better than anyone.
Oscorp's internal documents were clear: there were only three vials of that experimental serum. Three. Not one more.
Peter had used one on himself, transforming into the abomination standing before her. The other two remained under Oscorp's custody, protected by security systems bordering on paranoid.
Even if he somehow managed to steal them—which was already extremely unlikely—it would only allow for two more transformations. Two ruined lives. Nothing more.
There was no "new era." Only delusion.
"No, Spider-Woman… I can, and I will do this," he said.
"But before that…" he continued, tilting his head slightly as his fanged smile widened, "…I need to get rid of you."
As he spoke, the Lizard opened his mouth unnaturally wide. A putrid, suffocating stench immediately spread through the area, mixing with the smell of rust, damp earth, and accumulated garbage.
Gwen frowned at once, suppressing a grimace of disgust.
"Did you know, Spider-Woman," the creature went on in an almost didactic tone, "that the saliva of Komodo dragons contains a toxin capable of paralyzing their prey's nervous system?"
He took a step forward, his claws scraping against the broken concrete.
"Unfortunately… you won't live to see the birth of the new evolutionary era."
As he said this, the Lizard extended his long, rough tongue and slowly dragged it across his sharp claws. A viscous sheen coated them—saliva mixed with venom, ready to kill.
Gwen didn't waste a second.
With a sharp flick of her wrist, she fired a web straight at the creature's face, sealing his mouth before he could say another word.
"Before becoming a 'god of the new world,'" she taunted, holding her stance firm, "I suggest you brush your teeth first. Humanity definitely doesn't need a god with bad breath."
The webbing sealed completely, and the Lizard let out a series of strange, muffled, furious sounds as he struggled to tear it away.
"What…?" Gwen murmured, narrowing her eyes.
That was when she realized it.
The web was… melting.
White strands began to darken, bubble, and dissolve, slowly corroded by the creature's acidic saliva.
"Your end… is inevitable…" the Lizard mocked, his distorted voice partially escaping as the web disintegrated.
Gwen sighed, cracking her neck.
"Looks like I'll have to be more violent."
The Lizard didn't wait another second. He lunged forward, charging at an absurd speed, crossing the distance between them in an instant.
Thanks to her spider-sense, Gwen dodged each attack at the very last second. Claws passed mere inches from her face, tearing through the air where she had been moments before.
In return, her counterattacks landed cleanly.
The Lizard's body regenerated rapidly—muscles knitting back together, scales realigning… but the pain was real. And it was piling up.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!" he roared, completely consumed by rage.
Before he could charge again, Gwen circled behind him, trying to grab his tail to immobilize him.
In a fast, violent motion, the Lizard twisted his body and lashed out with his tail, striking Gwen squarely in the head. The impact was sharp and brutal.
"Did you forget I can control my tail, Spider-Woman?"
Gwen staggered, her vision blurring for a moment as the world spun around the shattered playground equipment and broken lampposts of the park.
"Hahahaha!! THIS IS THE END FOR YOU, SPIDER-WOMAN!!"
The Lizard raised his venom-coated claws and lunged forward, ready to deliver the final blow.
But then…
A chill ran down his spine.
He leaped sideways at the last possible second.
BOOOM!
A sword was embedded in the ground exactly where he had been standing, cracking the concrete around it.
"What is this?!" he snarled, turning—only to sense danger again and leap once more.
Now six swords were embedded in the ground around him, forming a deadly circle.
Gwen, finally regaining her focus, widened her eyes as she realized who had entered the fight.
Arthur.
Without wasting time, she resumed her assault. Now the Lizard was facing two opponents at once, quickly being pressured from all sides.
Realizing his situation was only getting worse, the Lizard began frantically searching for an escape route.
Then he saw it.
A manhole.
With a brutal punch to the ground, he kicked up a cloud of dust and debris, sprinted toward the manhole, tore the cover off with raw strength, and vanished into the sewers below.
"Huh?! Where did he go!?"
The dust made everything hard to see. When it finally settled, there was no sign of the Lizard.
Gwen rushed to the spot and saw the open manhole.
Nearby, a pool of green blood spread across the cracked pavement.
Apparently, he had been struck by the swords before fleeing.
"Damn it!" Gwen shouted angrily.
She was about to jump into the manhole when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Unless you want to spend days smelling like sewage," Arthur said calmly as he held her back, "I wouldn't recommend going down there."
"But… what about Peter?!" Gwen turned to face him, staring at him through her mask.
"Don't worry," Arthur replied evenly. "Sooner or later, he'll show up again."
Gwen sighed, the tension finally easing. She leaned her head against his chest, exhausted.
"You're right… thank you for helping me."
Arthur gently ran his hand through her hair.
"Don't worry," he said in a low, protective tone. "I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."
---xXx---
Inside the car, the silence was heavy, broken only by the distant sound of New York's nighttime traffic and the soft hum of the engine still running. Gwen was already seated in the passenger seat when she raised her hands and slowly removed her mask. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and for a moment she simply stared ahead, trying to organize the chaotic thoughts racing through her mind.
"Peter escaped through the sewers…" she finally said, her voice low and full of frustration.
Arthur, in the seat beside her, nodded subtly, his eyes alert but calm.
"I saw," he replied. "New York's sewer system is massive and incredibly complex. Miles upon miles of interconnected tunnels… finding him down there right now would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Gwen nodded silently, tilting her head slightly. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had faded, she could clearly see how reckless it would have been to jump into the manhole. In her current state, it could have been fatal.
She took a deep breath and massaged her forehead before continuing.
"Peter… he's become something completely different because of that mutation." Her voice trembled. "He doesn't listen anymore. He doesn't want to hear anything I say." Gwen squeezed her eyes shut. "And on top of that… he said he wants to turn everyone in the world into lizards like him. It's insane. It doesn't make sense. There's no way he can actually do something like that."
She let out a heavy sigh, as if that confession had drained what little energy she had left.
Then, a clear and calm female voice echoed inside the car.
[No. In fact, it is perfectly possible for Peter Parker to do that.]
Gwen's eyes widened instantly.
"What?"
She turned abruptly, confusion written all over her face. The statement sounded far too absurd to be real. For a few seconds, her mind simply refused to accept the possibility.
"How is that… possible?" Gwen murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. "Wait… you don't mean that—"
"Exactly that," Arthur finished before she could complete the sentence.
The laptop resting on the center console lit up, projecting Cortana's holographic image. Behind her, a large panel filled with data, charts, and constantly shifting genetic sequences appeared.
[One of the genes used by Dr. Connors in the development of this serum was extracted from a very ancient species of lizard], Cortana explained. [This species possessed an extraordinary regenerative capacity, far beyond what we see in modern reptiles.]
The data rearranged itself, highlighting specific sequences.
[Because of this, if certain conditions are met, even a single vial of the serum can be used as a base to create dozens, hundreds… or even thousands of new doses.]
A chill ran down Gwen's spine.
In other words, as long as the right conditions existed, even a single remaining drop of that serum could be replicated indefinitely by someone with the necessary knowledge.
"Then…" Gwen swallowed hard. "How does he plan to spread it?" she murmured, almost afraid of the answer.
"Gas," Arthur answered immediately, his voice firm. "He plans to convert the entire serum into a gaseous form."
Gwen blinked, her heart racing.
"Cortana, show her."
The projection behind the AI shifted once more.
[Oscorp has recently developed a technology capable of delivering medication through gases], Cortana explained. [The primary advantage of this method is extremely precise dosage control, as well as maximizing the compound's effects.]
Arthur crossed his arms.
"I'm certain Peter knows about this technology. And everything suggests that he intends to use it."
Gwen's expression changed completely. Disbelief gave way to fear.
"I need to find Peter immediately," she said urgently, already leaning forward to open the car door.
If she didn't stop him… maybe this really would be the end of humanity.
Before she could get out, a firm hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Easy, Gwen," Arthur said in a low but authoritative tone, enough to make her stop.
She turned to him, her eyes shining.
"Arthur, I have to stop him now. If he succeeds… the entire world could be destroyed."
Despite the gravity of the situation, Arthur—and Cortana as well—remained surprisingly calm.
"Gwen, if you go after him now, you'll only be wasting time," Arthur replied patiently. "You won't be able to find him at this moment."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"We already know Peter's true objective: Oscorp. So instead of chasing him blindly, all we need to do is wait for him to show up there."
Arthur's words finally began to sink in. Gwen took a deep breath, forcing herself to think more clearly.
Searching for Peter now would be pointless.
"Then let's go to Oscorp immediately," she suggested.
"No," Arthur replied, shaking his head. "Peter is probably looking for a place to rest. And we're going to do the same."
Gwen frowned.
"But my attacks barely affected him…"
"They did," Arthur said firmly. "I'm certain he's physically exhausted because of the accelerated regeneration. Even if you didn't notice it, my swords wounded him. One of the main reasons he fled was exhaustion."
Arthur raised his hand and gently placed it on Gwen's head in a reassuring gesture.
"You don't need to worry. Cortana already has access to the city's surveillance cameras. She'll monitor everything."
Gwen closed her eyes for a moment, finally feeling the full weight of exhaustion settle onto her shoulders.
"Okay…" she murmured.
She sighed tiredly and nodded slowly, accepting that—for now—that was the only rational choice.
"Let's go home, and I want you to tell me everything about Saeko's match," Gwen said.
---
(End of Chapter)