Part Three

Peter walked back into the lobby of the hotel, his camera full of shots from the various zoos that he had visited across the state. After wasting an entire day, Peter realized he had only gone through a third of the places on the list that Robertson had specified.

The sun was setting outside, covering all of the green fields and palm trees in an orange haze that was both alluring and at the same time tempting.

Once he reached the elevator, he saw a familiar person approach him. "Peter?" Mary Jane said, with a certain degree of shock, "What are you doing here?" She never remembered his name being mentioned.

"Me?" Peter said somewhat awkwardly and smiled, "Oh, I'm here with…Gwen."

"Oh." She said frowning.

Peter leaned in a little, "How about you?"

MJ shrugged, "Just some guy, you don't know him." She was dressed rather nicely, in something that showed off her form but at the same time seemed to be decent, "How do you like Florida so far?"

"Its like New York, but with palm trees and about twenty degrees hotter." He said with a smile. "Plus the beaches don't have hypodermic needles lying all over the ground."

"Heh." She leaned against the wall as they both waited for the elevator to arrive, "So, how is Gwen?" She said with a slight hint of disdain.

Peter shrugged, "She's fine I guess. Maybe a little bored, but otherwise pretty good."

The elevator door opened and Peter gestured with his hand, "Ladies first." He said politely.

They both walked into the elevator and tapped different buttons. "Peter, why are you with Gwen?" She said frankly.

"What?" He said somewhat confused, "What kind of a question is that?" Peter asked defensively.

"She's not your type." MJ responded, "At all."

Peter shook his head, "I think we get along fine." He felt a little pressured but managed to hide whatever apprehension he was feeling. "It's about time I met somebody and she's great. She really is. do you know how lucky I was to end up with her?"

MJ shrugged, "Maybe, but…its Gwen Stacy. She's attracted to anybody that's not part of the "in" crowd; then drops them after a month. You're no different than any of those other guys that she plays mind games with."

"Leave her alone for Christ sakes. You're not one too talk." Peter replied meanly.

The redhead frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what that means." Peter said as his tone became harsh, "I don't know why you're so against me meeting somebody."

"Tiger, I'm trying to help you." She responded, somewhat hurt by Peter's comments but she didn't let it show, just as she never did.

The doors opened as the elevator reached one of the floors and he stepped out, "Well don't. Me and Gwen are just fine and I don't need you going on about how we're not 'meant' for each other. Maybe you should take a nice look at that long list of boyfriends you have before you start telling me what to do about my love life."

"You know for a while, I thought you were different." MJ said, her eyes filling with tears, "Just for a little while."

He stepped out of the elevator and let the door close behind him, whisking MJ away from his presence. He grimaced and leaned against the wall. He looked back on what he said and realized what a jerk he had just been. "Dumb move Pete."

Peter walked through the doorway into his hotel room and made his way to the bedroom. Upon entering he saw Gwen Stacy watching the television. "Hi." He said quietly.

"Hey, Peter." She said, her face suddenly lifting in joy at his presence. She hopped off the bed and embraced him, "I missed you, Pete. This thing you had to do for the Bugle must have been a really big assignment to keep you out all day."

"Yeah." Peter said somewhat guilty that he had left her alone all day long. "Gwen? I need to ask you something and I need to be totally honest with me."

Gwen nodded, "Yeah?"

The Man or the Mask? Peter wondered again. "Do you love me? I mean really love me?"

She smiled and placed her head against his chest, "Peter, there is nobody I would rather be with right now."

"I figured that." Peter said. Why had he done that to Mary Jane? Peter contemplated the question for a moment and realized that something had terrified him. Not so much MJ or Gwen themselves, but what they were making him face. Soon he was going to have to decide one way or another and lashing out at either of them wasn't going to help. He lowered his head and tried to hide the regret from his face.

The Lizard gazed at the hotel from the sewer grate along the edge of the street. He had seen Parker go inside. He hissed and slowly watched the mass of people moving in and out, on their way to the theme parks, the zoos, the comfortable rooms of the hotel.

The hideous reptile decided that's why he would win. Because these humans were used to luxuries, to creature comforts, they could never be as strong as him, as cunning as him, as brutal as him.

Apparently, according to the banners outside the building, there would be a party for all of the students at Midtown High here, tomorrow. That's when he would capture Parker, when the humans were self-absorbed in their fun and games. After that limited doses of his formula would bring the young genius under his control.

With the boy's access to the chemicals and materials that he would need and amazing intellect to support his own, it would only be a matter of time until he refined his formula and it was spread across the face of the world.

The Lizard vanished into the darkness of the sewers and began to plan. Tomorrow would be a day to remember as one of the first steps to realizing his vision.

After days of planning and anticipating, their work was finally paying off. At the hotel pool, a party was already underway. The students of Midtown High were jumping in and out of the water, creating splashes that were both impressive and alluring.

Peter was standing safely away from the water besides Gwen who was chatting up a storm with Liz. His mind was hard at work, trying to dissect what had happened earlier. Why would anybody free alligators from the zoos. If it really was some sort of radical animal rights group, why not the other animals.

"What do you think, Pete?" Gwen asked, breaking Peter out his brooding. "Should she or shouldn't she?"

"Hmm?" Peter asked completely lost.

Gwen frowned, realizing that she had caught her boyfriend off guard and decided to see if she could help him regain his balance, "Should she date Simon."

"Simon?" Peter frowned, "Oh, Simon." Liz nodded, eagerly awaiting his answer. He shrugged, "Go for it."

Liz raised her eyes and nervously asked, "Would he like me?"

Peter nodded confidently, "He's mentioned you from time-to-time."

"Really?"

"Sure." Peter replied. Once he saw that Liz was satisfied he quickly returned to his own thoughts. It was then that he spotted Mary Jane on the other side of the pool. Immediately, he felt guilty.

She stopped for a moment and returned a stare to Peter. There was a cold silence between them, despite the activity all around them. He finally lowered his head ashamed and MJ vanished into the crowd.

Suddenly, Peter's eyes widened. "Danger." The tingling sensation ripped across his brain. He contorted his body just in time to avoid three balloons filled with paint as they zipped by. "Flash." He said angrily standing back up.

People turned to see what all the commotion was about only to see that the balloons had smashed into some of the girls from the cheerleading team and soaked them in blue paint.

"Christ." Said a shocked Flash Thompson among his friends. "Go calm them down." He said over the girls' angry screams. Then an irate Flash approached Peter. "You damn freak, look what you made me do."

Peter grimaced, "I'm not the one who threw it." He took a step forward, "Now why don't you back off?"

The crowd made sounds of approval as each one of them made a more aggressive move to the other.

"Let it go, Peter." Gwen pleaded, "Please, don't do this here." She was obviously worried that her boyfriend was about to receive a pounding of a lifetime from the muscular Flash.

"No." Peter said fiercely, "I'm tired of him and his games."

Flash pushed the young Parker and clenched his fist, ready for a fight, "And then do something, you little punk!"

Peter retaliated with his own shove. Flash stumbled back quite a distance, he found himself stunned at how powerful the former nerd was proving to be. "I'm putting you in your place right now." He raised his fist only to feel something grab a hold of it. "What the?"

The entire crowd shrieked in horror at the sight they saw, as Flash Thompson was raised off the ground. The Lizard menacingly held the jock by his wrist and hissed. "Thompssson." He remarked, recognizing the face.

Already people were beginning to run off in every direction. Gwen tugged at Peter's arm, "Come on!" She said urgently.

"But he'll kill Flash." Peter responded, cursing the fact that he had left his Spider-Man costume in New York. "I can't just leave him." Or could he? Peter suddenly recalled all of the torment that Flash had put him through over the years. This was a punishment that had been long coming and now he had a front row seat. But then he saw the Lizard's cold eyes staring at Flash hungrily and knew what the end result would be if he didn't act. Peter would have to make a choice.