"Not good, not good, not good—!"
Peter Parker muttered under his breath as he swung between skyscrapers, firing webs as fast as his wrists could manage.
Behind him, something massive clawed its way up the side of a building.
The Lizard.
Eight feet of muscle and scales, tearing through concrete like it was nothing, gaining on him with terrifying speed.
Down below, people had already gathered, staring up at the chaos unfolding overhead.
From their perspective, it looked unreal—two figures racing across the skyline like gravity didn't exist.
This mess had started a few days ago.
After landing an internship at Oscorp, Peter had met Dr. Curt Connors—a brilliant scientist working on regenerative biology.
What Peter hadn't expected was the connection.
Connors had once worked with his father.
And when Peter realized that, he handed over a set of his father's old equations—something Connors had been struggling to solve for years.
It worked.
Too well.
Cornered by corporate pressure and desperate for results, Connors tested the serum on himself.
And turned into this.
"Running won't save you, insect!"
The Lizard roared, voice guttural and distorted.
He slammed his claws into the wall, ripping out a massive chunk of concrete and hurling it straight at Peter.
Peter's spider-sense screamed.
He yanked his webline hard, swinging out of the way just in time—
—but his eyes widened as the chunk of debris plummeted toward the street below.
"Crap!"
He stopped mid-swing, firing webs rapidly.
One. Two. Three—
The falling slab jerked to a halt, suspended just above the crowd.
People scattered beneath it, screaming.
"Okay… okay, nobody panic," Peter muttered, trying to keep it steady.
"Got you."
The voice came from behind him.
Too late.
A massive weight slammed into his back, driving him into the ground.
The Lizard pinned him, claws digging into his suit.
Fabric tore.
Skin followed.
Three deep gashes ripped across Peter's torso as the creature's other claw lunged toward his face.
Peter caught it—barely.
Their arms trembled as he struggled to hold it back.
The Lizard was stronger. Much stronger.
The claw inched closer.
Closer.
His vision blurred—
And then—
The pressure eased.
For a split second, the Lizard faltered.
The serum.
It was wearing off.
Peter didn't hesitate.
He drove his knee upward, knocking the creature off balance, then fired a webline and launched himself back into the air.
He didn't stop swinging until the distance between them was measured in blocks.
Behind him, police sirens began to wail.
The Lizard stood in the street, breathing heavily, watching Spider-Man disappear into the skyline.
Then something caught his eye.
On the ground nearby—
A badge.
Peter's Oscorp ID.
The Lizard picked it up, eyes narrowing.
"…Peter Parker."
His grip tightened.
"So you're the one."
He pocketed it.
And moments later, slipped into the sewers before the police arrived.
That night, Peter climbed through his bedroom window, barely holding himself together.
He peeled off his suit, wincing as dried blood stuck to fabric.
In the mirror, the damage was clear.
Three long, jagged wounds stretched from his chest down toward his abdomen.
"Yeah… that's gonna leave a mark," he muttered.
The pain throbbed with every movement.
And strangely—
It reminded him of Noah.
The way Noah trained… pushing his body to the point of breaking, over and over again.
Doesn't that guy feel pain?
Peter exhaled, then reached for his phone.
There was only one person he could think of.
Across the city, in a newly purchased villa—
Noah was lying on his bed, one arm around Camila, just about to enjoy a quiet evening.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Spider-Man.
"…Seriously?" he muttered.
He gently blocked Camila from leaning in for a kiss and picked up the call.
"Yeah?" Noah said flatly. "You know what time it is?"
On the other end, Peter didn't waste time.
"I messed up," he said. "I helped create something… and now it's out of control."
He quickly explained everything—Connors, the serum, the transformation.
And then—
"Can you help me?"
Noah listened, expression unreadable.
Then he glanced down at Camila, who was watching him with amused curiosity.
"…You want help?" Noah said at last. "Then step one—find him. You know where he is?"
"…Not exactly," Peter admitted. "But I know where he lives. I can start there."
Noah sighed.
"My time's limited," he said. "Track him down first. Then call me."
And he hung up.
Peter stared at his phone.
"…Fair."
He clenched his jaw slightly, ignoring the pain.
Can't let this get worse.
Tomorrow.
He'd find Connors.
Fix this.
Somehow.
The next morning—
Noah stood in front of a mirror, examining the faint scars still visible across his body.
His mutation instability had left its mark overnight.
He let out a quiet breath.
"Yeah… I should probably take it easy for a bit."
A pause.
"…Maybe stop getting distracted, too."
His phone rang again.
He glanced down.
Director's Daughter.
Noah smiled slightly and answered.
"Gwen? Shouldn't you be in class right now?"
Her voice came through—tense.
"Noah, something's wrong. There's… there's a giant lizard in the school. It's searching for someone."
A crash echoed faintly through the call.
Noah's expression sharpened instantly.
"Where are you?"
"In the library. Everyone's hiding here."
"I'm on my way," he said. "Stay put. Two minutes."
He didn't hang up.
Instead, he moved.
The world blurred.
Air shattered around him as Noah accelerated, his body cutting through the city at impossible speed.
The phone remained in his hand, protected, the line still open.
"Just keep talking," he said calmly. "I've got you."
Inside Midtown High's library—
Students huddled together, fear thick in the air.
Then—
CRASH.
The doors exploded inward.
A massive claw tore through reinforced wood like paper.
Silence fell.
A scaled head pushed through the opening, eyes scanning the room.
Searching.