Midtown School of Science and Technology.
Down in the unseen sewer tunnels beneath it, a towering monster was crawling forward with difficulty.
"Survival of the fittest..."
"Urgh..."
"Humans were meant to evolve into something better, bigger, stronger, just like me..."
"I'm saving them!"
"No one can stop me, urrgh..."
"Not even you, Peter Parker!"
No one knew how long the creature had been crawling through the stench, but when the locator it had planted in advance let out a pleasant beep, the monster realized it had reached its destination. With a furious roar, it slammed a fist straight up at the ceiling above.
Crash!
The solid floor shattered on impact. A huge hole opened up, and a heavy toilet dropped straight down into the darkness below.
Roar!
Inside the crowded school building, a huge, unidentifiable roar suddenly burst out from the bathroom. Its piercing force instantly cut through the noise of conversation around it.
"What was that?"
"What's happening?"
As the students looked at one another in confusion, a series of thunderous crashes followed one after another, and the ground began to shake violently.
Boom!
The sounds were getting closer and closer. In the hallway, a thick wall was suddenly blasted apart, and dense smoke and dust billowed outward at once. A massive figure over two meters tall loomed in the haze.
In the distance, Peter who had been quietly joking around with Gwen, suddenly jolted and instinctively looked over.
As the dust cleared, Dr. Connors in his giant Lizard form came clearly into view.
The enormous school building descended into chaos the instant Connors appeared. Students flooded toward the exits like mad, and screams rang out without end.
In the middle of the confusion, Connors's eyes scanned back and forth. The moment he saw Peter, his pupils shrank, and his huge body charged over without hesitation.
"Go. Get out of here!"
Peter had fought the Lizard down in the sewers once before, but the danger he felt then was nowhere near as intense as it was now.
The moment he realized Connors was coming for him, Peter shoved his bag into Gwen's hands without hesitation.
"Gwen, there's a phone in the side pocket of the bag. Call him!"
Even though he had never actually seen Fenris fight, the sense of danger Fenris gave off far exceeded the raging Lizard in front of him.
Peter knew that on his own, there was no way he could stop the Lizard. But if Fenris was willing to come, then there was a real chance they could capture Connors alive and get him to Oscorp for the antidote.
"I can hold this monster off for a while. Tell him to hurry and help me!"
Watching Gwen hesitate as she backed away, Peter Parker grabbed the backpack holding his suit and charged straight toward Connors against the fleeing crowd.
"Peter, humanity as it is now is incomplete. Flawed. Why are you so determined to stop me?"
Seeing Peter suit up and rush him, Connors roared, his huge claw slashing viciously toward him.
"Oh? So you actually think you're some kind of perfect life-form?"
Peter moved with incredible agility, and Connors's heavy, overpowering attacks could not touch him at all.
The broad hallway was actually too narrow for Connors in his current state, greatly limiting what he could do.
"Look at yourself!"
"Being bald would be one thing, but now you've got no clothes either. And unless I'm mistaken, you're never finding a female lizard at this rate."
Peter Parker did everything he could to stall for time.
"Seriously, I can't believe you've got that much nerve. If you mean that hairless tail hanging off your butt..."
As he spoke, Peter kept weaving around the Lizard in constant motion.
Soon, Connors was wrapped up tight in layers and layers of webbing.
Peter moved over him like a human spider, scrambling up and down his body while several thick strands of web pinned him firmly to the ceiling.
"Peter, I used to admire you. But now all I can say is that you're far too ignorant and selfish."
Those layers of web could not restrain the powerful Lizard for long. Before long, the bindings were torn apart.
"You possess extraordinary power too, and yet you're afraid. You're terrified!"
"You want to hoard that power for yourself instead of sharing it with the world. Is that really the kind of outcome your father wanted to see?"
Roar!
After tearing free from the annoying webs once again, Connors suddenly exploded forward at just the right moment and slammed Peter to the ground before he could dodge away.
Boom!
The two of them crashed violently through the doors of the library.
Between rows of bookshelves, the Lizard raised one huge claw high, gathered all his strength, and smashed it viciously down at Peter.
"You smell bad enough already. Did your mouth have to smell that bad too?"
"You seriously crawl up out of the sewer or something?"
Pinned down and unable to escape, Peter lay sprawled on the ground, drained after taking several crushing blows in a row.
"Peter, shut up!"
By now Connors had nearly lost all reason. Both claws spread wide, then slashed mercilessly down toward the irritating little spider beneath him.
"Let Peter go!"
At that moment, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out behind them.
"Gwen? Why are you here?"
Recognizing Gwen's voice, Peter instinctively twisted his head to look.
He saw Gwen holding two large glass containers, each filled with some kind of liquid.
Seeing Peter clearly losing ground, she immediately shouted to draw the Lizard's attention.
The moment Connors turned toward her, she hurled both glass containers.
"Peter, move!"
Taking advantage of the Lizard's distraction, Peter Parker fired out a strand of web and escaped, while the two glass bottles smashed into the floor not far from the Lizard.
Hisssss.
A violent reaction was triggered, and thick white smoke poured out at once, instantly obscuring the Lizard's vision.
"The power of knowledge!" Gwen declared, full of pride.
"It's dangerous here. Why did you come back?"
Peter Parker rushed over to Gwen, pulled off his mask, and started gasping for breath. "What about the phone? Did you call?"
"If I hadn't come, you would've gotten hurt again, just like last time."
"The call went through, but nobody said anything on the other end."
Gwen's eyes were full of worry as she looked at how battered Peter looked now.
The sight of him showing up on her bedroom balcony last time, covered in blood, was still vivid in her memory even now.
Peter Parker, however, had no time to say much more to her.
"There's no time now. You need to go. I can handle him."
"You..."
Seeing that Gwen still wanted to stay, Peter grit his teeth, scooped her up, and threw her out from the upper floor.
The next instant, strong webbing shot out and formed into a pair of powerful hands in midair, catching Gwen securely and lowering her safely to the ground.
"Peter Parker, you stay right there!"
The smoke had finally begun to clear. Seeing this, Dr. Connors thought Peter was trying to escape and immediately charged over in huge strides.
"Gwen, don't come back!"
Peter's attention was still completely fixed on Gwen. Before he had even finished speaking, the Lizard was already upon him from the side.
There was no time to dodge. Peter took the kick head-on and was sent flying hard across the room.
"Peter, if you hadn't given me that decay-rate algorithm, I wouldn't be what I am today. But you really should not have tried to stop me."
"Goodbye, Peter."
Looking at Peter lying on the floor, baring his teeth in pain, Connors let out a sigh and raised his claw once more.
Peter clenched his teeth and curled up, preparing to endure the blow.
"You really talk too much."
Just as the Lizard's giant claw was about to come down, a tremendous force suddenly exploded into his lower back without warning.
Boom!
The several-ton Lizard body was struck so hard that it bent into the shape of a reversed bow. The overwhelming force hurled him through several thick walls in succession before he finally came to a stop.
"Tch. Looking like that is a public menace."
Fenris had appeared before Peter Parker without him even noticing. Looking at the stunned young man, Fenris bared his teeth in a slight grin.
"I'm glad you didn't throw away my card."