"Jeez?"
Peter sneered, unfazed. In the past, this monster would've sent him scrambling. But not anymore.
With a sharp twist from his waist, Peter hurled Dr. Curt Connors—mid-transformation and mid-struggle—straight at the charging figure of Venom.
Bang!
Venom's hulking arm swung out, smacking Connors to the side like a ragdoll before continuing his charge at Peter.
The clash was immediate.
Peter struck first, but as the blows exchanged, he quickly realized—Venom was stronger. Much stronger. And faster. His reflexes were almost unnatural.
"This can't be happening! " Peter growled, refusing to yield. He lashed out with a vicious claw swipe across Venom's chest, drawing deep slashes—only to watch in horror as the wounds regenerated within seconds.
"Heh… Aren't you a monster too?" Venom snarled.
With terrifying ease, Venom caught Peter's arm, spun him overhead, and slammed him into the rooftop hard enough to fracture the surface beneath them.
Peter gasped. Within moments, he was pinned beneath Venom, caught in a brutal pummeling.
Meanwhile, Connors—still scaly but human in form—had recovered. Though seething over Peter's betrayal, he didn't rejoin the fight. Instead, he staggered toward his launch device. That was his priority. The mass dispersal of the Lizard Serum across New York.
Then—
"Wow, what a party!"
From above, a voice rang out as Jessica Drew soared into view. She flipped midair, then slid into the scene with style, her boots screeching against the gravel rooftop.
"Ugh, my new shoes…" she muttered, inspecting the scuffed soles. "Shouldn't have raced Gwen. We didn't even try to brake."
"Jessica!"
Peter recognized her instantly, despite the mask. He wrapped his arm around Venom's neck, prying open the creature's mouth as its slimy tongue lashed out inches from his face.
"Stop Connors!" Peter shouted. "He wants to turn the whole city into lizard-people! You can't let that happen!"
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "That's Connors? That lizard guy? Is what Jack just said true?"
She glanced back at Peter's mutated form, confused. "And how do you know me? Who even are you?"
There was too much going on. Jessica Drew couldn't make sense of it all. Her eyes darted between the two mutated figures—one hulking and black, the other scaly and yellow-eyed.
The scaly one... was saying he was Peter?
And what was that black sludge clinging to him—was it alive?
"I'm Peter!" the lizard-like figure growled through gritted teeth. "Peter Parker, your classmate! Please—stop Connors!"
"Peter? Oh my god…"
Even with her mask on, Jessica instinctively raised a hand to cover her mouth in shock. Dr. Curt Connors being the Lizard was already a bombshell. But this mutated figure… was her classmate?
Before she could even react further, a familiar voice rang out.
"Jess! Snap out of it!" shouted Gwen Stacy, swinging into the fray with a trail of webbing glinting behind her. "What Peter said—it's true! Connors is trying to gas the whole city!"
She anchored a web-line to the spire of a nearby water tower and launched herself forward like a missile toward Connors, who was busy configuring the dispersal mechanism on his device.
WHAM!
A sharp crack echoed as Gwen nailed Connors with a whip kick to the head. He stumbled, growling in rage.
Before he could retaliate, Gwen zipped away on another webline, twisting gracefully through the air like a dancer mid-performance. Her lithe movements kept her out of Connors' reach, and in mere seconds she had him tangled in webs enhanced with a special adhesive formula—courtesy of Jack Kadere's modifications.
"Why are you stopping me?!" Connors roared, clawing at the webs. But they held firm.
"Well done, G—uh, Ghost-Spider!" Jessica called out, dashing toward the launch device.
As she ran, her fingers reached for the combat straps around her thigh. She spun a set of reinforced silver brass knuckles around her finger and slipped them on with practiced ease.
She threw a hard punch.
Ding! The casing of the launcher dented but didn't break.
"Sturdy thing," Jessica muttered, flexing her knuckles and winding up for another strike.
"Careful!" Gwen called out, sliding down a strand of webbing. "Don't accidentally trigger it!"
She landed beside Jessica and pulled a sleek black cylinder from her utility belt. "Here—Jack gave me this. Said it'd come in handy. Just… don't hold it upside down."
"Don't hold it upside down?" Jessica echoed, raising an eyebrow.
She cautiously held the object sideways and tapped the activation switch.
SZZZTTT—!
A glowing beam of bluish light erupted from one end, extending over a meter. The low hum of magnetic energy resonated as the air sizzled around the plasma blade.
Jessica's eyes widened. "No way…"
She stowed her knuckles and gripped the glowing hilt tightly. With one clean motion, she slashed at the launch device.
SHZZZK!
The casing split cleanly in two, sliced like warm butter. Sparks crackled and a small firework of failed circuitry fizzled out.
"Cool… It is a lightsaber!"
After the excitement wore off, she turned to Gwen with a grin. "Where did Jack even get this thing?"
Gwen shrugged, tilting her head. "He just said… a friend gave it to him."