Part Four
"Missster Thompssson." The Lizard hissed and seemed to be gleeful, "I wasssn't exxxpecting you ssso sssoon." He chuckled slightly, "All the better. I'm ssstarving."
Flash's eyes widened, "Please, don't!" He pleaded, "I'll do anything you want."
The Lizard shrugged, "Anything? There'sss hardly anything you can give me." He ran his tongue along his sharp teeth, "Goodbye."
Suddenly, a blur snatched Flash and landed just a few dozen feet away, "Gotcha!" Peter exclaimed as he landed with Flash in his hands, "Get out of here."
"What? Parker?" Flash asked shocked that of all the people here, Peter had been the one to save him, "Why?"
He clenched his fist and rose to his feet. "Go now!" Peter demanded, staring at the hideous and outraged image of the Lizard.
Flash complied immediately and managed to drag a struggling Gwen out of the pool area. She protested but Flash responded with the blunt truth, "Its his funeral! You can't help him!"
Once both were gone, Peter and the Lizard realized they were alone. "Parker." The reptilian monster said methodically, "How good it isss to sssee you again."
"What?"
The Lizard advanced hoping to take his opponent by surprise and quickly incapacitate him. Peter leaped over the monster and landed behind him with all the grace of an Olympic athlete.
"Care to go again?" Peter inquired with a smirk on his face. The Lizard accepted and charged.
I'm trying to figure it out. I don't think I've quite gotten a grip on the whole thing but I'm getting there. You see, I'm like honey, and all of these creeps are like the bees. Its crazy, I know. First, I ran into the Goblin. Then, the Sandman showed up. So, I go to Florida, and just like bees, they follow the honey. I must taste good, because they're coming at me in droves. Screw secret identities, I'm taking this bastard down.
Peter tumbled across the ground. "That guy sure hits hard." He remarked spitting some saliva onto the floor.
The Lizard didn't let up and was all over Peter. First, he kicked the young teenager in the ribs and then swiped him with his tail.
That last blow had been particularly damaging and Peter fell into the pool. Quickly his clothes were drenched, but that was the least of his problems. The Lizard dived into the water and moved at incredible speeds through the pool.
"Ah!" He exclaimed and managed to kick the Lizard in the jaw forcing him to back off. "That's the key; I just need to keep my distance." He felt the Lizard's tail wrap around his torso, "This is going to hurt."
He was dragged under, and within moments he and the Lizard were engaged in deadly combat just below the surface of the water. Despite, Peter's toughest blows, the Lizard's reptilian hide acted like a shield absorbing most of the force directed against him.
Unfortunately, Peter had no such defense and the Lizard's blows hit him with every bit of force that the monster could muster. Peter eventually saw an opening and landed his knee into his foe's gut.
The Lizard lost his hold, and Peter made a swim back to surface, pulling himself out of the pool with ease. Without delay, the reptilian creature emerged from the water and escaped the confines of the rectangular pool.
"Parker, give up." The Lizard was finding that somehow the meek student was proving to be a capable enemy. If he didn't get control of the situation soon, he'd have to kill him.
"Who are you?" Peter demanded, still in fighting form, but weary nevertheless.
Without responding, the Lizard assaulted Peter with a barrage of blows. "Die!" He roared, "Die!"
Peter finally managed to get a hold of his senses and dodged one of the Lizard's fists and exploited a weakness he saw in the monster's stance. Performing a spinning sidekick, his blow hurtled the Lizard straight through one of the walls and into the lobby of the hotel.
Desperate to not lose his advantage, Peter stayed close to his enemy and pressed his attack. The Lizard took blow after blow and stumbled back clumsily. Finally, after a punch slammed across the side of his face, blood dripped from his snout.
The Lizard swiped back at Peter with his massive hand and landed a hit almost instantly. The young fighter fell back a few steps, his head reeling from the impact. The Lizard grabbed Peter by his arms and flung him through the ceiling.
Peter crashed through the layers of building materials, eventually coming to a stop inside one of the hotel rooms. He coughed some blood onto the floor and raised his head to see a man run out of the room in a panic. "Maybe he's got the right idea." Remarked Peter.
The Lizard smashed straight through the floor, throwing Peter against the wall. He groaned under the pain but managed to slowly stand on his own feet.
"You just don't give up." Peter remarked, "So what's up with you? Let me guess, your dad was a man and your mom an iguana. No good?"
The witty remark seemed to put no dent into the Lizard's ego and he charged for Peter, his mouth snapping shut and closed, threatening to slice off any limb that it got a hold of.
Peter rolled out of the way just in time and landed his elbow right into the Lizard' back. The monster fell against the wall and pounded the wall, venting his frustration.
His tail came around again and slammed straight into Peter's chest, sending him through another wall and into another hotel room. "I'm really getting tired of that!" He said angrily. "I really am."
"Get usssed to it." The Lizard replied grabbing Peter by the neck and slamming him into the floor.
Peter clenched his teeth and pushed the Lizard off of him with a great deal of force. He immediately pushed off his hands and soared through the air, only to be caught once again by the Lizard's tale and smashed straight through the floor back down again.
He turned over and took in a few deep breaths and realized how hurt he really was. Peter's insides felt like they were on fire and every one of his muscles screamed in pain. It was then that the Lizard reappeared and wrapped his tail around the young student and picked him off the ground. "At lassst."
Peter groaned under the pain that was rippling through his body, "What the hell are you?"
The Lizard hissed, "The firssst of a new generation, Parker. A generation that ssshall sssweep acrosssss this world to achieve total dominance."
"How do you know me?" Peter asked.
"Becaussse I was onccce one of you. I was onccce inferior." The Lizard seemed to show nothing but utter contempt for humanity, "I wasss the man you onccce called Dr. Curt Connorssss."
Peter frowned, "Connors?" His mouth hung open, "What the hell happened to you?"
The Lizard snickered, "Connorsss was attempting to regain the arm he lossst yearsss ago. He fiddled with reptilian DNA, to regain hisss misssssing arm, not knowing what power he played with. Because of hisss experimentsss and your battle with that sssand creature at the ssschool, a masssssive power surge was created, momentsss after Connorsss injected himssself with the formula. The explosion resssulted in much more potent injury than jussst his arm, forcccing the new regenerative DNA to go to work throughout hisss body, thus creating me. I traveled here, knowing full well that the plentiful alligators and crocodiles would provide me with a great many test subjects."
"Brought a tear to my eye." Peter replied.
"You will help me refine the formula." The Lizard slowly eyed his opponent. His tattered lab coat hung onto his body by strands of fabric. "I have been able to achieve limited sssuccesssess, but with your brain, I could perfect it." The Lizard tapped the side of Peter's skull with his finger. "Together, we could usher in a new age."
Peter clicked his tongue, "Let me think about that one for a second. Help you or kick your ass into next Tuesday." Peter shrugged, "Kick your ass." He managed to raise his legs high enough in order to slam both of them into the Lizard's jaw, forcing him to drop Parker on the floor.
"I've got to be careful." Peter said, landing back on his feet, "This…thing is Dr. Connors." He narrowly dodged another tail swipe, "Of course, don't be so careful that he wipes the floor with me."
Peter slugged the Lizard across the jaw and landed another fist into his ribs. "Just fight him into submission." He murmured, "You can beat this guy, come on!" He hit him again and followed up with an uppercut.
The Lizard soared through a wall, smashing straight through it and landing in the wrecked lobby, and grunted from the cracked ribs he could feel.
Peter leapt through the wall and managed to land a powerful kick mere moment after his arrival. The Lizard swung his arm widely and left himself open. For a second, Peter saw an opening around the Lizard's neck. But he decided to not utilize it, if he hit it too hard, he could kill Connors.
The Lizard was not as kind. He swiped Peter with his arm, sending the young student through another wall, and touched the blood pouring out from the wounds across his face.
He ripped off the remainder of the lab coat and tossed it to the ground. "I've risssked too much, with too little to ssshow." The Lizard gazed at Peter who was struggling to get back on his feet. Instead of attacking once more, the Lizard smashed the front door open and ran off into the street.
He could see people scattering from his presence. The Lizard walked into the middle of the street and saw the night sky cooling down his ravaged body. He realized how wrong and foolhardy it had been to try and kidnap Parker. The boy was more powerful that he had imagined and now he had revealed his existence to a great deal of people.
This was nothing more than a setback. The Lizard assured himself. He opened up a manhole that led down into the sewers and vanished.