The wreckage of Oscorp's lab resembled a battlefield—shattered glass littered the floor, tables upended, and the acrid reek of burning chemicals seared my throat. Sparks sputtered from a crushed console. Everyone else had fled. Students, guards, even the janitor.
All that was left was me and the monster.
Connors—no, not Connors anymore. The thing in front of me wasn't human. Huge. Scales gleamed like wet armor plates under the dim lights. Claws dragged deep grooves into the concrete. His yellow eyes locked on me with a hunger that froze my blood.
And that's when I moved.
I dove for my backpack in the corner, yanking it open with frantic fingers. The homemade mask slid on first—black fabric snug against my face. Tactical pants—on. Gloves—tight. Combat boots—laced, slammed down. The bomber jacket zipped over the padded shirt. Piece by piece, Peter Parker burned away until only the other me remained—the one who could stand here.
Spider-Man.
I jumped back as his tail smashed down, the shockwave rattling through my boots. Before I could think, my wrists snapped forward and—
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!
Organic silk burst from the spinnerets in my arms, white streams sticking to Connors' scaled forearm and yanking it hard to the ground. He roared and spun with reptilian fury, but I darted sideways, circling him and spraying more lines in rapid-fire bursts.
"Stay… down!" I growled, teeth clenched, as I wound him tighter and tighter.
The webs poured out in a flood, coating his chest, legs, throat—every inch I could pin. The sound was constant. The straining rip of my body forcing out silk faster than it was meant to. My wrists ached. Tendons screamed. Spinnerets burned raw. I could feel it in my gut, too—like my body was chewing through every stored ounce of protein, stripping me down to nothing just to keep up with the demand.
Layer after layer sealed him in. The Lizard writhed, but the silk pinned him, a prehistoric fossil under glass. My webs made a gleaming cocoon across the flickering lab lights.
By the time I was done, my entire body was shaking. My arms burned like I'd done a thousand push-ups back-to-back. Sweat ran down my temple under the mask.
Inside the dome, Connors slammed and clawed, each hit making the webbing tremble like an earthquake in slow motion. The sound of his roar shook me to my core.
I staggered, clutching my side, my stomach twisting with a hollow ache. Reality hit hard: I was running on empty. Protein and sugars—gone.
If I didn't end this fast—or find a sandwich the size of a Buick—I was going to collapse before Connors did.
And the silk was already tearing under his claws. He wouldn't stay down for long.
Inside the cocoon, the Lizard went berserk. Each slam rattled the foundation of the lab, the walls trembling like they might collapse. The steel cables of my webbing stretched, strained, and vibrated under the assault. His claws raked and shredded, gouging deep trenches into the sticky white layers. His tail hammered from inside like a wrecking ball, the dome buckling outward with every strike.
Then came the sound—like metal being ripped apart by sheer force.
RRRRRIIIIIPPP!
The web prison exploded. Strands snapped like gunshots, whipping across the lab. White silk fluttered down through the smoke and dust. The Lizard tore himself free, roaring so loud the glass in the overhead lights shattered.
He was even bigger than he'd looked before. Muscles rippled beneath scaled armor. Veins bulged. His massive chest heaved with rage. His yellow eyes burned as they locked onto me.
"Alright, Connors…" I muttered through the mask, fists curling tight. "Round two."
He lunged.
The sheer speed caught me off guard—something that massive shouldn't move like that. One second, he was across the room, the next, his claws were slashing where my head had been. I twisted, spider-sense shrieking, and his talons carved into the floor, slicing through tile and concrete like butter.
I aimed and fired a web at the ceiling, then swung upward, lifting myself clear of the floor.
CRACK!
His tail whipped up, obliterating a workstation. Sparks cascaded as monitors erupted, circuits exploding into fire and smoke.
"Ever heard of OSHA safety standards?" I quipped, perched on a steel beam overhead.
The only response was a roar that rattled my ribs. Then, he jumped.
His claws slammed into the beam. The whole structure groaned. One swipe nearly gutted me. I threw myself into a roll, sprawling to the floor. The beam collapsed behind me with a shriek of metal.
I hit the ground, and before I could regain balance, he was there.
The Lizard's maw gaped, jagged teeth ready to shear bone. He lunged. Jaws snapped inches from my face. The force popped the air. I shoved my forearm up. Only the thick jacket fabric saved me. His bite clamped down—crushing pressure threatened to snap bone. Pain shot through my arm.
"Bad idea—bad idea—bad idea!" I grunted, firing a web into his eye. The silk splattered, buying me the second I needed. He roared and thrashed, tearing at the sticky mess, and I wrenched myself free.
But the damage was done. My arm was numb, tingling, maybe worse. He was stronger than anything I'd ever fought—stronger than anything I'd even imagined.
And he wasn't done.
The Lizard slammed forward, claws out, his roar echoing through the ruined lab.
He charged, claws raking across the floor. I dove under his swipe and slashed out with my own claws. They tore across the scales of his chest, leaving long gashes. He shrieked, rearing back. Even as I watched, the wounds began to close and bubble.
"Great. Healing factor. Because why not?"
The wail of sirens cut through the chaos, followed by the blinding strobe of red and blue lights spilling through the shattered windows. NYPD had arrived. Normally, that'd be a relief. Tonight? It was a death sentence if they came in here.
I shot a web across the mangled doors, yanking them shut and sealing them with layer after layer of silk. "Hold it!" I shouted over the din, flipping sideways as the Lizard's tail carved a crater in the concrete where I'd been standing a second earlier.
Heavy boots thundered up outside, and a voice barked, "Open up! NYPD!"
"Not this time!" I yelled back. My chest heaved with adrenaline, but I forced my voice steady. "It's me—Spider-Man! And if you value your lives, you need to stay the hell out of here!"
There was a pause, a muffled exchange of voices. Then another officer called out, more hesitantly: "Spider-Man? You're telling us to stand down?"
"Yes! Listen to me!" I dodged as the Lizard ripped through a workbench, metal shrieking. "This isn't some mugger with a gun—this thing will tear through you like paper! The best help you can give me right now is keeping civilians back and sealing this block off."
The cops went quiet for a beat, then one muttered, "He's got point, this is his wheelhouse."
The Lizard bellowed, slamming into chemical tanks. Metal shrieked. One ruptured, hissing green vapor into the air. The lab was becoming a death trap.
I gritted my teeth, launching another webline to pull myself up into the rafters. "Trust me on this one, NYPD! If you come through those doors, you're just giving him more targets. Let me handle this before half the precinct ends up on a slab!"
Behind the barricade, I heard the commanding officer shout: "Alright, pull back! Block off the perimeter. No one goes in till Spider-Man says so!"
For once, the system actually worked in my favor. Good. Because one wrong move in here, and it wouldn't matter how many badges walked in—none of them would walk out.
I leapt and drove both feet into his chest. He crashed through a wall, concrete chunks raining down. He got up, tail lashing fast—caught me in the ribs, sent me flying.
Pain exploded through my side. I tumbled through the wreckage of a workstation. Sparks danced over me. For a second, everything blurred. My vision swam. He was too strong. Stronger than anything I'd ever faced.
But this was my job now, wasn't it? Heroes don't get to tap out when things get ugly.
I dug claws into the floor, pulled up. Blood trickled down my chin. He lunged, jaws wide, saliva dripping. I dove low, slashed at his leg—he stumbled, bellowing, crashing into a support column.
The ceiling groaned ominously. The whole building was seconds from coming down.
"Alright, big guy," I muttered. "Time to take this outside."
I hurled a line of webbing at his chest and yanked with everything I had, trying to pull him toward the hole in the wall. He fought, clawing the ground, tail thrashing wildly, resisting every step. I kept dragging, bracing myself for a final push. If this place were to collapse, it would be deadly for everyone nearby.
With a last desperate heave, I leapt onto his back, arm around his neck, and crashed us both through the wall. Suddenly, we were outside, tumbling across Oscorp's courtyard.
The cops screamed, weapons drawn, as the Lizard roared and thrashed. He threw me off, sending me skidding across the asphalt, and then charged through a line of squad cars like they were made of cardboard. Officers dove for cover as vehicles flipped and alarms blared.
I lunged at him again, claws out. We collided in a tangle of scales and fists, smashing into the hood of a cruiser. Metal crumpled beneath us. He swung at me, but this time I caught his arm, twisting hard until I heard the joint crack. He screamed, and I drove my claws into his side.
His tail whipped around again, faster than a wrecking ball—but this time, I was ready. I planted my feet, grabbed hold, and pulled with everything I had.
The sound that followed was sickening. A wet, tearing snap echoed through the lab as the Lizard shrieked in pain. In my hands, I was left clutching a severed, twitching tail. Green blood sprayed across the floor, sizzling where it mixed with spilled chemicals.
Connor staggered back, his roars rattling the walls. For the briefest heartbeat, his eyes locked on me—and there was something there. Not rage. Not hunger. Something deeper. Something raw.
Fear.
"Connors…" I whispered, the word tasting heavier than any quip.
And then he was gone. He spun, leaping through the breach in the wall, smashing through the Oscorp fence, vanishing into the shadows of the city with a final roar that faded into the night.
I was left standing there, the tail still writhing in my hands. My stomach turned, but my mind raced faster than my nerves could keep up. A reptile's biology. Regenerative tissue. The same serum he used to regrow what he'd lost… mutating him into what I just fought.
Which meant this—this tail—wasn't just grotesque. It was a blueprint. A sample I could use. Maybe even the key to reversing whatever went wrong.
The cops edged closer, weapons still drawn but eyes wide with shock.
"What the hell was that thing?!" one officer barked.
I tightened my grip on the tail and shook my head. "Not a thing. A person. Dr. Curt Connors. He wasn't supposed to be like this." My voice wavered, but I forced it steady. "He's sick. And if you see him again, don't shoot. Don't chase. Just report it through the Emergency Web."
They exchanged glances, unsure, but no one argued. Maybe they saw I wasn't joking. Maybe they just didn't want to.
I stepped back into the wreckage, tucking the severed tail into a web cocoon, sealing it tight so I could carry it. My pulse thundered in my ears.
This wasn't just a fight. This wasn't just another criminal to stop. This was a cure waiting to be made.
If I could map the DNA structure, isolate the serum's effect, counteract the cross-species gene splicing that twisted Connors' cells… maybe I could give him back his humanity.