Peter Parker looked at the flattened suit of Spider-Man in his closet.

It was darker red and far darker blue than it had been in the past.

This was because these fabrics were firmer and less easy to tear than the others of it's kind.

He had looked for firmer fabrics because of his encounter four months ago.

Four months ago he had battled the Sandman, he had battled a new person who used the powers of the Green Goblin, and he had battled a creature that had taken all the powers of himself by means of an alien symbionite.

The Sandman was a convicted murderer of his own uncle, the person with the Green Goblin's powers had once been his best friend, and the alien symbionite had once attached itself to him, Spider-Man.

But none of these opponents compared to the one they called 'Constrictoro'.

A creature that was crystal from flesh to bone marrow had attacked right afterward.

Constrictoro had told Spider-Man he had taken control of his power, but Spider-Man believed his brain, once crystalized, had still lost all humanity it had left.

Spider-Man had killed him, but the mere memory still weakened Peter Parker.

The memory of what he had done, how he had tortured him, and how Spider-Man had strived to destroy him.

This kind of effort, this kind of madness, this kind of mortal fear was what made Peter Parker ever grateful for the time he now had to simply fight normal, New York crimes.

Mentally and physically, this encounter had left him scarred.

There was a reason why he had grown sideburns, there was a reason why he wished co-workers at the Daily Bugle would stop bringing up the time Chicago was nearly taken over.

There was a reason for all of it.

He folded the suit and tucked it carefully under a sweatshirt, making sure it was completely hidden in case his aunt, May Parker, payed a visit.

Recent events hadn't all been grave, however.

Months ago, he had proposed to a women named Mary Jane Watson, called 'MJ' by most.

Now, plans were being made for their wedding, and a date had been set long ago.

A wedding date which was strikingly close.

Peter had much to be grateful for. He only wished he could believe it would remain that way.

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Dr. Curtis Connors panned threw lists, paged threw documents, and scrolled threw records.

His twelve years of study was now put to a race.

He had gotten a rare decease in both kidneys. A decease which produced enough bacteria to cause rapid decay.

No doctor could find a replacement for him. So he had to build one of his own.

Threw his advanced studies, he might be able to make a near clone of his own kidney by filling in the missing DNA with that of an animals.

He had quickly gathered various reptile DNA, these were the only things that could possibly patch in what was missing.

There was no further time for research. He could be dying in a few days.

Gathering the information he had together, he brought in his team and made it real.

----------------------------

Curt Connors woke in his own medical chair.

He looked inquiringly at one of his staff.

"Doctor," He said, smiling so Curt would know the results even before he spoke, "It was successful. Your life will only be the first one saved thanks to your research."

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Four months ago, a power outage had darkened an entire small town near Chicago.

This was said by Spider-Man himself to be caused by Constrictoro in a last stand which lead to the crystal man's death.

The destruction of the electrical station was too great for the company to wish to repair.

It was torn down for safety reasons quickly.

The only ones besides workers who could be seen were the paparazzi. Photographing the wide field that had once been woods.

What no one had done, though, was dig.

No one had followed the trail of where the fire caused by the energy station had gone.

No one had searched for what had happened to the melted crystal that was once Constrictoro.

No one had looked by the first living tree and under it to find a large portion of underground soil that the crystals had taken the form of.

Not even Spider-Man had fully understood what Constrictoro had meant when he said "I have taken control of it."

No one had done any of these things, but Constrictoro himself.

Four months ago, he had quickly flowed threw the surface of the fire scorched earth, where none would disturb him, and quickly taken hold of dirt he could reach.

And for four months, he rested.

Re-firming, re-gaining form, and fully recovering.

For he was that melted crystal, and as long as those crystals were around, he would always be them. And he would always be able to control them.

He now dug out of the earth and reshaped himself. Cracking his solid crystals until they gave him the form he once had. The form of Constrictoro.

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Peter Parker looked at the cover of the Daily Bugle.

"Constrictoro returns to settle old score with Spider-Man"

After the great shock and understanding of what had happened, he felt disgust the Daily Bugle would take something as dangerous as Constrictoro being sighted again and seeming to head for New York and use it just to make more money.

Not that it surprised him, he just wished the paper he worked for would draw the line once in a while. At least one time.

Either way, he remembered with deep regret what Constrictoro had done to Chicago and thought firmly to himself:

"But I will not let him enter New York City."