It seemed like weeks since Dr. Connors had transformed into the monstrosity called the Lizard, although it's only been somewhere over seventy-two hours. Like any good little nerd, Peter Parker had his egghead buried in a textbook trying to learn whatever he could. Okay, maybe any good little nerd with spider powers but how many of those were around these days? Only one if Peter counted himself! He had tried to convince Connors to help him find a cure for his mutation, but it had seemed pretty obvious that the Lizard was more intent on tearing Spider-Man apart that night. He wasn't going to leave Connors to that fate, not after everything he, as Spider-Man, had endured. So here he was, studying a book on reptilian DNA and anatomy, but he understandably had more questions than answers. He leaned back in his chair, sighing in frustration.
I'm not getting anywhere with this. I need another lead if I'm going to save Dr. Connors from himself. A sudden knock on his apartment door brought him out of his thought process. "Come in, it's open."
The doors opened and Mr. Ditchovich's daughter Ursula popped her head through the crease. "Hi, Pete; you've got a phone call; it's some guy named Ned."
Peter got out of bed and headed into the hallway to where the phone was resting off it's hook. He found it kind of strange for Ned Leeds to be calling his home. They'd only just met the other day and he wasn't sure they'd established a friendship to where they call each other at their home.
"Ned?" Parker spoke into the receiver.
"Hey Parker, I'm down at the Bugle. Listen, I got something you might want to check out. It might hold some clues as to the whereabouts of your teacher."
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."
Peter hung the phone up before returning to his apartment. Normally, he'd head downstairs, hop on his scooter and ride down the city streets to the Daily Bugle. But the blasted thing was out of gas, so Peter did the next best thing.
As he started getting into his costume, the police scanner on Peter's dresser blared to ever-so annoying life. As always, the scanner was keyed into only the direst of situations and by listening to it, Peter would be on the case.
Part of him thought the Lizard was on another topside rampage; imagine his surprise when it was a report of some nutcase in a costume. According to the report, the guy was holding the police at bay in a major standoff on 5th. Avenue. Peter didn't waste any time pulling on his mask and bounding out the window to the source of the chaos.
Several squad cars converged on the anarchy on 5th. Avenue, where several other vehicles were either overturned or ablaze. Or both! The boys in blue took cover behind a couple of the cars, all the while one car was literally sailing through the air. Coming out of hiding, the police opened fire on the rather large humanoid arachnid that at one time had been Mac Gargan. But no longer was he totally human, and no longer would he tolerate the interference of the New York Police Department. Gargan was on the assault for one reason, and he pointed and aimed his massive cybernetic tail and fired a blood red laser blast at the hapless police. The blast impacted one of the cars and their followed a huge explosion, leaving several cops wounded and others more severely.
"I don't have the time or patience to deal with you peons!" he shouted. "I want that damned bug and I mean right now!"
"Ask and you shall receive!" said a familiar voice. Gargan turned to find Spider-Man clinging on top of a street light. "So what exactly are you supposed be?"
Gargan extended a super sharp blade on either forearm. "Call me Scorpion!"
The man called Scorpion lunged wildly at Spider-Man, who immediately leapt out of harm's way onto the far wall. The psychopathic arachnid-themed man tore that same street light out of the ground and hurled it at the web slinger. But his aim was kind of off and the post was headed for a group of civilians. Spider-Man created a web net that snagged the post in midair, giving the people some time to get out of the way. Before he could react further, Spider-Man spotted Scorpion scaling up the side of a building toward the roof.
Why? To lure him was the only answer, and Spider-Man followed. At least there wouldn't be any innocent people to get caught in the way.
Coupled with the usual insanity of another busy day, the Daily Bugle was buzzing about the chaos from downtown. Meanwhile, Robbie Robertson had been trying to reach Mr. Jameson for the past 24 hours. Robbie had known Jonah for years and not once had Jameson ever not been in the building. It was uncharacteristic at best on Jameson's part. Robbie asked Betty to check with Mrs. Jameson to see if the boss was home; since when would Jameson want to be home? Betty soon received a call on her desk and answered; after that she was handing it over to Robbie.
"Robbie, it's the boss; he wants to talk to you."
"Hello, this is Robbie Robertson at the Daily Bugle." Robbie suddenly pulled away when Jameson's voice boomed out of the receiver.
"Robbie, its Jonah! What's the situation at the building?"
"The usual: everybody's running at a frenetic pace," Robbie quickly answered. "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm away on business," Jameson answered. "You're in charge until I get back."
"What're you talking about, Jonah," Robbie asked in protest. "There's another costumed maniac running loose in the city and Spider-Man's going after him."
"Good, maybe the new guy will take that webbed wacko down a peg," Jameson blurted. "I gotta go." Robbie looked at Betty dumbfounded. "Since when is Jonah so secretive?"
Spider-Man stuck to the surface of a water silo that stood atop the building he'd just climbed. There was no sign of the lunatic newcomer that was once Mac Gargan, now known as the Scorpion. As Spider-Man scanned the area, his spider-sense blared to life and he leapt off of the silo, miniscule seconds before the Scorpion drove his clawed fist into the wood. Spider-Man landed several feet from the silo, while the Scorpion impacted into the ground below.
"Okay, bug boy," Spider-Man acknowledged his new found foe. "What did I ever do to you to tick you off?"
"You humiliated me you little piece of crap!" Scorpion spat out. "You made me look like a damn fool!" Scorpion whipped his massive cyber-tail at Spider-Man, who dodged the oncoming. blow.
"Really?! Was that before or after you put on that god-awful outfit?" Spider-Man clung to a far wall. "Then again, I've seen guys wearing skin-tight rhinoceros costumes so I guess it's not all that bad."
"SHUT UP!"
The Scorpion leapt toward his wisecracking foe with a faster speed than Spider-Man had predicted. He still managed to dodge his attacker, fired two web lines and snagged his armored back. Scorpion still was able to use the sickle end on his tail to cut through the lines, and the momentum sent Spider-Man to the ground. At that point, the web-slinger knew that this Scorpion guy really meant business and cracking jokes was just pissing him off more.
Scorpion landed on the ground across from Spider-Man and pointed the tail end toward him. The tail fired a rapid stream of laser blasts, one after the other at him. The ever-agile web-slinger dodged and weaved in between shots, then fired a web line at the tail. The Scorpion proved not only too fast, but strong. He quickly whipped his tail upwards into the air, taking Spider-Man with it.
Spider-Man thought, Okay, this isn't good!
With Spider-Man at his mercy, the Scorpion swung his tail wildly until the web-slinger was literally catapulted off the roof of the building. Below, there was a gasp as a crowd of spectators' watched Spider-Man soar off the roof.
The quick-thinking wall-crawler fired a web-line that snagged another wall to save himself from turning into a red and blue smear on the street. He swung directly over the gasping crowd as he swung around the building to the other side. Atop the roof, the Scorpion waited for his foe to reveal himself, and he didn't see Spider-Man soaring right at him from behind.
"Hey ugly!"
The Scorpion turned around to receive two feet in his face from Spider-Man, the blow sending him over the edge. Not to be outdone, the Scorpion snagged one of the web heads' legs and brought him down along the way.
The crowd gave yet another gasp as the arachnid pair slammed into the side of the building and stuck to it. The Scorpion extended his blades and swiped madly at Spider-Man, who dodged and weaved to avoid the blows.
Spider-Man blocked one of the blades, then the other, and then flip kicked the Scorpion in the face. Still, the Scorpion proved relentless as he swiped at him again with his cyber-tail.
Meanwhile at an undisclosed location, J. Jonah Jameson and Professor Stillwell were watching the live video feed from the lab where the Scorpion was created. Jameson in particular cringed at every blow that was delivered between the two.
"C'mon, Gargan! He's making you look like a damn fool."
"You are aware that he can't hear you through the television." Stillwell commented.
"Hey, I get more than enough lip from my people at the Bugle," Jameson snapped back. "I don't need it from you too, Stillwell!" Jameson pulled away from Stillwell and pulled on his coat. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" asked Stillwell.
"Where do you think?" Jameson snapped again. "I wanna be there when Gargan unmasks the bug."
"Are you insane, Jameson," Stillwell exclaimed. "Those two are tearing into each other and people could be seriously hurt; if they aren't already."
"Yeah, well violence sell papers and I want a front row seat for the grand unmasking and humiliation of Spider-Man."
Professor Stillwell admittedly never knew J. Jonah Jameson all that well; only by his unscrupulous reputation as the Editor-in-Chief for the Daily Bugle. Granted, Stillwell knew that Jameson was Spider-Mans' biggest critic. It just never really occurred to him how far Jameson would go to ruin Spider-Man.
Spider-Man continued with hard punches to the Scorpions' face until the far larger arachnid head butted him away. The Scorpion snagged him around his waist with his cyber-tail and lifted him high. Then he slammed the wall-crawler hard into the brick wall of the building, front to back, before attempting to fling him away.
Spider-Man returned the favor from earlier in the fight, snagging the Scorpion with a web-line and practically ripping him off of the wall. The momentum carried both foes through the air, until Spider-Man used a new web-line to anchor himself. The Scorpion didn't have that same luxury, as his own momentum carriee all the way down toward the street, crashing onto the roof of a parked SUV. Spider-Man clung to a wall, watching as the Scorpion rolled off the destroyed car onto the street.
"Okay, seriously pal," he said with renewed vigor. "It's pretty obvious you've got a grudge you wanna settle. But let's go somewhere else where it's just you and me."
"I could care less about them!" Scorpion shouted. "I've got a job to do, and if they're in the way, that's their problem."
The Scorpion aimed and fired his laser blasts at Spider-Man, who managed to dodge the attack. However, the debris caused by the blast was sent hurtling toward the on-looking crowd.
Spider-Man had to act quickly; he fashioned a web net above the group of people to protect them. The debris fell harmlessly into the net, giving the group time to evacuate. Before he could react further, Spider-Man had a titanium tail wrapped around his arms and chest. The Scorpion took advantage of the distraction and yanked Spider-Man into the air. With his arms pinned against his sides, Spider-Man couldn't swing away, and that's how the Scorpion wanted things to be.
The Scorpion whipped Spider-Man from side to side, into one wall and then into another. This went on for several minutes until Spider-Man was almost unconscious, and then the Scorpion slammed the defenseless hero into the street. With Spider-Man laid out on the street, the Scorpion felt an air of satisfaction as he sauntered over and dragged the hero upright by his neck.
"Not so tough now, are you," Scorpion gloated to the near unconscious hero. "Now it's your turn to be humiliated."
Holding the defenseless hero by his neck, the Scorpion reared his free arm back and extended one razor sharp blade. He was licking his chops at the opportunity presented before him.
Just as the Scorpion was ready to deliver the killing blow, he suddenly began to convulse and dropped Spider-Man to the ground. The Scorpion grasped his torso in excruciating pain, as if an Alien Chest Buster was preparing to emerge from within. He staggered back from the just now recovering Spider-Man, who caught a glimpse of his foes' apparent chest pain. The Scorpion doubled over onto his knees, saliva protruding from his mouth.
"What's happening!?" Gargan, not Scorpion, wondered aloud.
He glimpsed his gloved hands and saw that they seemed to be becoming sharper than normal. Gargan shifted to the side and saw his reflection in a car window, and it didn't look right in the least. His teeth were becoming hideously jagged and his eyes were split down the center and turned a sickly yellow. Gargan's skin started changing to a pale white color and he backed away from the sight of what he'd become.
"What've they done to me!?" He wondered aloud again. "They tricked me into this; they didn't say this would happen!" Spider-Man could hear him plain as day and slowly approached the Scorpion.
"Who, Scorpion?" He asked. "Who did this to you?"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The Scorpion wildly swung his tail at Spider-Man, who had no time to evade and was sent crashing into a store window.
"Okay, that hurt," The web-slinger sat up and noticed the store owner, his face had shocked expression. "Sorry, my bad!"
Spider-Man picked himself up off the floor, shook his head to clear it and bounded back out into the open area. When he got there, he saw no sign of the Scorpion. He was long gone.
Spider-Man surveyed the damage done earlier by the Scorpion, where several police officers tended to the wounded. Seeing as there wasn't much he could do at the moment, he leapt into the air and swung off into the distance.
Just moments after he had disappeared, the vehicle driven by J. Jonah Jameson arrived at the crime scene. Jameson stepped out and surveyed the damage himself, realizing that maybe, just maybe, he'd made a mistake. And that he might be too proud to admit it.
Peter landed on the top the roof of the Daily Bugle, where he removed his mask and sat down. It amazed him of how many villains he'd battled over the year since the day that spider had bit him. Now there were two more new psychos added to his Rogue's Gallery in the span of three days. What's the world coming to?
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Peter told himself. "Where do all these guys come from?"