Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Spider-Man and all related characters are the property of Marvel Comics, a division of the Disney Corporation. Ergo, no profit is being made off this story and it is being written solely for entertainment purposes.
It was night when Justin Hammer sat at his desk in his office at one of his New York facilities, looking to see Blacklash, Blizzard, Whirlwind, and a blonde woman in a black bodysuit with a red mask calling herself Hypnotia walking into his office. Hammer Industries had one of the laboratories that the Lizard broke into and Hammer was angry that someone did that. He was also worried that an investigation could lead into police discoveries some of Hammer's own illegal activities.
"I had to bribe two police officers to get this information," Hammer stated. "Recently, it seems that someone broke into labs all over the city, searching for chemicals and equipment. They suspect that it's the Lizard who committed these thefts."
"What's that gotta do with us?" Blacklash asked. "You usually hire us to go after one of your competitors."
"I want you to look into them," Hammer replied. "Those two I bribed were, of course, corrupt, but several aren't, including the lead detective on the case and this could cause the police to look into stuff I don't want them to look into, plus I don't like having stuff being stolen from me."
"Just you doing the stealing, huh?" Whirlwind asked sardonically.
Hammer glared at Whirlwind. "Yes. If he should get a clue and bust them, then I'm looking at prison time and you will probably be thrown back into jail, too. Starks' also reportedly here, so that means that Iron Man will get involved, too."
"So where do we start?" Blizzard asked.
"Since the Lizard likes the sewers, that would be a good place to start," Hammer replied. "There also other labs he's yet to strike at, but probably will. I want Connors found and I want him dead."
A thought came to Whirlwind. "And if Iron Man should get involved as well, like you suspect?" he asked.
Hammer smiled. Getting rid of Iron Man was a dream for Hammer for years. "I'll pay you to kill him, too. Money or upgrades, whichever you want. Either way, you'd be doing me and yourselves a favor, given the history most of you have with him yourselves." He then smiled. "So, do we have a deal?"
"Yeah," Blizzard replied.
Retirement
Chapter 2: Mexican Standoff
By Anicomicgeek
Rated T for Violence and Language
It was late when Spider-Man swung by the Parker house. He'd searched through sections of the city, looking for a sign of Curt, but there was no sign of him anywhere where Peter checked. Slipping into a bedroom, Spider-Man took off his mask, revealing Peter Parker's face. He walked over to a bed, then plopped down on it.
"Peter?" a voice called out.
"Huh?" Peter moaned. Looking up, he saw Mary Jane Watson-Parker standing in the doorway, covered by a towel. "Oh, hi, M.J. Sorry I'm late."
"You didn't find Connors, I take it?" Mary Jane asked. She then walked to the bed and sat down.
Peter sighed, then replied, "No, I didn't. I looked everywhere I could so far, but I couldn't find him; only signs of him having broken into various labs." He then got up, then took off the costume, leaving only an undershirt and a pair of boxers. "Johnny caught me and talked to me."
"What'd he have to say?" Mary Jane asked.
"He said I should get back in the costume full time, go back to being a hero," Peter replied as he sat back down on the bed.
Mary Jane became worried and a little bothered. "Peter—"
"I told him it was only temporary and that once I was done, I'm retiring for good," Peter added. "He brought up Reed and Susan, trying to tell me I could be Spider-Man and have a family, then said I was needed more than I knew."
"Are you thinking about . . . going back to being Spider-Man?" Mary Jane asked. "Please be honest."
"No," Peter lied.
Mary Jane didn't believe it. "You are."
"I have a daughter now. The temptation is there, yeah, but I'm resisting it. I put in my years, but they're over now." He then smiled. "You and May are my life now. Spider-Man is only back for a short time. Once I find Dr. Connors, he's gone for good."
"I'm just worried." Then Mary Jane remembered something. "Oh, TriCorp called. They wanna see you for an interview tomorrow."
"'Tomorrow?'" Peter asked. "I-I'm not sure I can make it there. I might have to reschedule for later. I'm pretty busy right—"
Mary Jane got annoyed. "Peter! You said you wanted to work there and like you said, Spider-Man is only temporary!"
"I know."
"Then go! The world won't end because you're not Spider-Man, you know."
Peter sighed. "You're right, of course."
"So you're going?"
"Yeah, I'm going tomorrow." Then he smiled. "I love you, you know."
Mary Jane smiled. "I love you, too."
Peter leaned in and kissed Mary Jane, deeply and full of passion and she returned the kiss as they leaned into the bed.
***S***
It was early morning when Iron Man landed in a penthouse of the building Tony Stark had bought, not having found the Lizard, but he did also investigate the sights of the robberies and it did seem to support Lamont's claims that the Lizard wasn't involved with anyone else. Taking off the Iron Man armor, Tony began to review security footage of the robbery in a laboratory set up in the penthouse. Helping him was the computer system HOMER—short for Heuristically Operative Matrix Emulation Rostrum.
"What is it that you hope to learn from this?" HOMER asked.
"Connors's MO," Tony replied. "Pull up any information you can about Curt Connors. I wanna learn about him before I deal with him."
"Yes, sir," HOMER said. Shortly, information began to show up on the computer screens. "Dr. Curtis Connors is a native of Florida. While serving as a field medic, his right arm was mutilated by shrapnel and doctors were forced to amputate it. This sparked his research into reptile DNA, studying how lizards were able to regenerate lost limbs."
"I know about that," Tony said. "He was hoping to figure out how to give humans a similar healing factor."
"Yes," HOMER said. "When he thought he'd figured it out, he injected himself with a serum, which did regenerate his lost arm, but at the cost of mutating him into the creature call the Lizard. Whenever he's turned to normal, he loses the arm, but he is prone into going into periods where he does become the Lizard."
"I know," Tony replied. "And from what I'm reading, it's suspected that Connors and the Lizard are separate personalities in the same body."
"Shall I contact Force Works?"
"No, I'm sure I can handle the Lizard and whoever Hammer hired, but do have them on standby, just in case. Meanwhile, I've got to figure where find Connors before anyone else does."
"You expect that someone might go to Connors or that Connors might strike again?" HOMER asked.
"Maybe. It doesn't hurt to be prepared for either case in any event."
"Shall I prepare any special armors for you?"
"No." Tony then shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I won't be needing them for this. However, since Hammer was hit, I am pretty sure he's gonna hire someone to deal with Connors."
"Shall I prepare a list of possible people he'll hire?"
"Yeah, though I already know a lot of the people he's hired before and will likely hire again."
HOMER then printed out a list of super villains' names. Grabbing the paper, Tony began to look them over, studying them. He did recognize most of the name from either news reports about other heroes or from his own experiences with some of them.
Tony looked up. "Pull up information about those I have not fought yet."
"On it, sir."
Tony looked as more information came up on the screens; he had to be prepared for anything.
***S***
It was later in the morning when Peter, dressed in a suit, walked into the TriCorp Research Center. He slept late and had to webswing as Spider-Man, but it made it on-time. He still worried about Curt, but right now, he had to try to put it in the back on his mind as focus on the job interview at hand. A woman of Asian descent stood in the lobby just as Peter walked in.
Looking around the lobby, Peter began to feel astonished about the idea of working at the building. It looks good so far, Peter thought. This is where I should be, where I hopefully will be.
"Peter Parker?" the woman asked.
"Yes?" Peter asked.
"I'm Terry Kwan," the woman replied. "I spoke to your wife on the phone. I'm sorry that I missed you."
"I was busy with something," Peter said.
"Sorry to call you in on such short notice, but we were interested in meeting you," Terry stated. "We've read some of your college papers. Liking the place so far?"
"Oh, yeah," Peter replied.
"You were highly recommended by a former employee of ours," Terry said.
This got Peter's attention. "Oh?"
"Curt Connors was the one who suggested you."
Peter was taken aback by this. "H-he w-worked here?"
"Yes, but we had to let him go. He kept showing up later and later for work, then just stopped coming in period. From what we understand, his personal life was currently troubled."
Peter groaned. Great, he thought miserably. Suddenly, with this new piece of information, he began to think about what could happen now. Chances are he could go after this place next At least it's a possible lead into helping me find him.
"Are you okay?" Terry asked.
"Y-yeah," Peter lied. "Sorry, I was just thinking about family."
"Oh?"
"I have a wife and newborn daughter at home." Peter smiled. "They and my aunt are my whole world, my life."
"Well, congratulations on the baby."
"Thanks."
"Ready to start the tour?"
Peter smiled. "Yeah, I am." So far, everything at TriCorp looked promising. Peter knew that he'd enjoy working there and felt it'd be the great job he had. He just hoped that things wouldn't take a turn for the worse.
***S***
Neil Garrett tramped into the forensics lab, a coffee cup in one hand. He was already in a bad mood after being told about the Lizard's recent burglaries at various laboratories and that meant he'd have to work with others on the case. The fact he'd been up woken up by a call from Carlie Cooper about his last visit didn't help, nor did the fact he had to deal with a throng of reporters. Walking into the lab, Garrett saw Carlie there, waiting for him and also drinking coffee.
"Why'd you wake me up for?" Garrett asked, rubbing his eyes. "You said you had something about those scales?"
"I did find DNA in them," Carlie replied. "So I ran some tests on them and I thought you might like to know the results."
"Let me guess," Garrett said. "Connors's DNA."
"Yes," Carlie replied. "Among other people's."
"Oh?" Garrett asked. "What are you talking about?"
Carlie walked over to a computer, then pulled a picture up, showing DNA test results. "This is from earlier test on Connors's DNA," she stated. She then pulled out a couple more images involving DNA tests. "These are from other tests. There's a combination of human and reptile DNA not unlike Connors's in these samples."
"Well, you did say that you suspect Connors's was doing work on genetics again," Garrett muttered, feeling dread well up in him. "So they're probably from some of his experiments. Long shot, I hope, but test them against any other DNA samples we have and keep me updated."
"Lamont came by earlier. He was looking for you."
""Yeah, he thinks Connors is behind the recent lab thefts," Garrett grumbled. "The Captain said to cooperate with him."
"You'd listen to you," a voice called out. Garrett spun around to see William Lamont walk in.
"This is my case," Garrett stated.
"And it looks like your case is related to my case," Lamont said. "Like it or not, the captain told us both to cooperate and we're on the same trail."
"Fine," Garrett muttered. "But you're buying coffee."
***S***
Peter's tour of TriCorp had finished and he was amazed by what he saw on the place. Terry has told him of the history of TriCorp—how a man named Quentin Chase III set it up with the foundation with a trust fund that was set up—and about how the complex was set up. It had everything any scientist could want and then some, including restaurants, a health club, a library, and a movie theater. Peter knew he'd like it here if he got the job.
But in the back of his head, Peter kept thinking about his dilemma about his family and being Spider-Man, and the whereabouts of Curt Connors. He knew Terry may have noticed that he was distracted, but he couldn't help it. He just hoped she wrote it off as being amazed about the place.
"Are you okay?" Terry asked.
"Yeah, I-I was just amazed by this place is all," Peter replied, trying his best to sound astounded and hide the thoughts in his head. He smiled. "Sorry. It's just . . . so much to take in. I feel like I'm in Santa's workshop or Willie Wonka's factory or something."
Terry smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. We all felt the same way when we started to work here, too. Let me show you to the team you'd be working with before you sit down with Doctor Twaki."
"Team?" Peter asked, confused.
"We do encourage independent research, but grouping some of our researchers with diverse fields of study into cells can and has produced some rather astonishing results in the past. Ready to see the team?"
Peter shrugged. "As ready as I'm gonna be." Just then, Peter's spider-sense went off. Not long thereafter, an alarm sounded and immediately, he was dreading what they meant. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Terry replied, concerned. Seeing a guard run by, she asked, "What's going on?"
"Someone broke into a lab," the guard replied. "Just stay here. We're on it."
A lab? Peter thought. What are the chances that Dr. Connors would be here right now? He sighed. I should check it out, because given my luck, it probably is Dr. Connors. "Stay here."
"Where are you going?" Terry asked.
"To get some help," Peter replied as he ran. "It could be part of the rash of lab thefts."
Suddenly, seven guards ran down a corridor, guns ready. They turned and ran into a lab to see a figure rummaging throughout shelves and tables, looking for something. Approaching carefully, the guard pointed their guns at the figure. Then they looked to see something that caught them by surprise.
The figure had a tail.
Turning to face the guards, the figure revealing itself—the Lizard. Hissing, the Lizard whipped his tail around and sent two guards crashing over tables and the third sliding into a wall. The Lizard turned around to look at the guards, growling. The guards began to fire, but with each shot, the Lizard would just recover and heal.
Despite all of this, the Curt Connors persona remained in control.
"Leave me alone!" Curt yelled. "This doesn't concern any of you!" He then backhanded a guard, knocking him down.
"Oh, I don't know," a voice called out. "I think it concerns me, Doctor."
Curt spun around to see Spider-Man standing behind him. "You?" Curt hissed. "So . . . you're not dead after all, Spider-Man."
"So it is true," Spider-Man said. "What happened to your family?"
"That doesn't concern you!" Curt roared, then lunged at Spider-Man tackling him out of a window.
On the fall down, Curt held a viselike grip on Spider-Man. Hoping to break free, Spider-Man fired a webline and caught a building, causing the line to snap taunt and the Lizard's grip to go slack. Seeing the Lizard fall, Spider-Man fired another webline, causing the Lizard on his back and stopping his fall.
"Okay, Doctor, calm down," Spider-Man said sympathetically, "and tell me what's going on. I'm trying to help you here. Where is your family?"
"It's all my fault!" Curt began. "What happened to them is all my fault, my mess to clean up."
"Doctor?" Spider-Man asked, concerned. "What's your fault?"
"It doesn't concern you," Curt said, then used his claw to sever the line.
"No!" Spider-Man yelled and let go of the webline, firing another one to swing down and catch Curt, but it wasn't needed. Curt landed on the roof on a parked car, smashing the roof in and causing the car alarm to go off, but Curt wasn't hurt. Leaping off the car, Curt began to walk towards a manhole, but a blast tore through the air and slammed into him, sending into a wall of a building.
"Sorry, Doctor, but you're not going anywhere expect to a jail cell," a voice called out. Looking both Curt and Spider-Man saw the source of the voice—Iron Man, hovering in the air, repulsors ready to fire again.
"Iron Man, what brings you here?" Spider-Man asked, swinging onto the wall and clinging to it.
"Connors is wanted for the disappearance of his family," Iron Man replied, "and for breaking into several labs, including one of my boss's. By the way, it's good to see you're back and you've got this handled, Spider-Man."
"It's only temporary," Spider-Man stated. "I was concerned for Connors. I'll handle it."
"Leave me alone, both of you!" Curt yelled. "It's my fault what happened to my family and it's me who got to make things right." Then he tried to run for the manhole again
Again, Iron Man stopped him, this time by flying towards him and catching him, then slamming him into a wall. "Sorry, Doctor, but you're a criminal," Iron Man stated, "and thus, you're coming with me. You need to pay for your crimes."
Spider-Man leapt off the wall, then fired a webline and swung down, catching Iron Man by surprise and kicking him off Curt. Firing a blob of webbing, Spider-Man managed to cover up Iron Man's visor, effectively blinding him. However, Iron Man managed to grab the webbing and rip it off, clearing his sight.
Iron Man then raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast. But Spider-Man was able to leap to the side in time, barely avoiding the blast.
Great, Parker, just great, Spider-Man thought sardonically. All you did was just make him mad. I was really hoping to avoid a hero-versus-hero match. Well, if it keeps him off Dr. Connors for a while and gives me a chance to go after him later without interruptions, I'll take it.
Iron Man fired another blast and again, Spider-Man barely managed to avoid it. Spider-Man then fired webbing at Iron Man's repulsor, cogging it, but Iron Man raised the other repulsor and fired, and Spider-Man still managed to avoid the blast and leapt over to Curt, getting between him and Iron Man.
"Listen, Spider-Man, friend of yours or not, Connors has gone off the deep end and he has to be stopped," Iron Man stated. "Don't get in my way or you will regret it."
"Sorry, Iron Man, but that's not gonna happen," Spider-Man retorted, fingers hovering over the trigger of his web-shooters. "Let me go after him. I know him."
"You should've done that earlier," Iron Man stated, ripping the webbing off the clogged repulsor. "Just where were you, anyway? This could've been avoided if you'd been out, doing your job. But no, you decided to go god knows where, leaving the city to descend into—"
"As I told Johnny Storm, I retired," Spider-Man said. "My reasons for doing so are personal, as in none of your business, Shellhead."
"You have an obligation to this city!" Iron Man yelled. "You have to do the right thing and help me stop Connors before someone gets killed!"
"I put in my years and now my 'obligation' is over!" Spider-Man yelled back. "Once Connors's family is found, I'll hanging the tights back up!"
"No, your duty is not over, so you either stop him or if you really believe it is over, then get out of the way so I can."
"Sorry, I can't do that." Spider-Man then fired webbing again at Iron Man, but Iron Man canceled it out with a repulsor blast.
Nearby, four figures, clad in trench coats, walked towards the building, noticing the chaos going on. Guards were running around, people were running from the building, and sirens could be heard approaching as Iron Man and Spider-Man resumed their fight. One of the figures noticing Curt again walking towards a manhole and took out two specialized whips, then pressed a buttons, causing the whips to cackle with energy. The figure swung and cracking the whip, causing Curt to step back.
"Huh?" Iron Man and turned to face the figures. Then he looked at the whips. "I knew Hammer was gonna try something."
The figure wielding the whips then took off his trench coat, revealing himself to be Blacklash. The other figures followed suit, revealing themselves to be Blizzard, Hypnotia, and Whirlwind. Blacklash then cracked his whips again, causing Curt to step back. Blacklash then swung one of his whip and wrapped around Curt's neck. Curt grabbed the whip, trying to free himself, but his neck and hands were burning.
"Three for the price of one," Blacklash chortled. "The Lizard, Iron Man, and the no longer-missing Spider-Man." He then tried to pull Curt towards him. "Hammer's paying good money to bring you your hide, Connors."
Iron Man then fired his repulsor and struck Blacklash, causing him to stagger and his whip's grip on Curt to go slack, letting go of him. Iron Man then flew towards Blacklash and tackled him. Blizzard then brought his hands up, preparing to fire, but Iron Man fired his repulsor, sending him staggering, too.
Spider-Man noticed Whirlwind spinning around, picking up stuff and blowing them around, sending then crashing into stuff and other buildings. Firing webbing, Spider-Man managed to get lucky and snagged one of Whirlwind's legs, causing him to wrap himself up in webbing and stop. Spider-Man's spider-sense then went off and he quickly dodged, managing to avoid a freeze blast.
Turning, Spider-Man found Blizzard preparing to fire another freeze blast. Firing a webline, Spider-Man swung around and kicked Blizzard into a wall. Blizzard spun around and prepared to fire again, but Spider-Man fired webbing and stuck Blizzard's arm to the wall. Blizzard then raised up his other hand to fire a blast, but Spider-Man again fired webbing and stuck the other arm onto the wall.
Iron Man avoided one of Blacklash's whips, then fired a repulsor blast, sending Blacklash into a car. Blacklash got up and looked to see a police car speeding up, then smiled and walked over to the car, whips ready. As he noticed the car turn to avoiding hitting him, Blacklash lashed out at the police car with his whip, slicing through the chassis and sending the police car flying into the air.
Iron Man leapt and up and fired his jetboots, going after the police car and catching it. He safely set it down onto the ground and looked to see that the officers were injured, but otherwise okay. Then he got up and flew back towards Blacklash, but Blacklash swung his whip and struck Iron Man in the back, sending him crashing onto the ground.
Hypnotia noticed Curt running a manhole and smiled as her eyes glowed yellow. "That's right," she said. "Listen to me. Obey me."
Curt clutched his head and groaned, falling onto his knees. "No!" he roared. "Leave me alone! Get out of my head!"
"No," Hypnotia said. "Kill Iron Man and Spider-Man. You know you want to."
"Leave me alone!" Curt groaned.
"Do it!" Hypnotia said.
Curt got up, then ran towards Spider-Man with the intend to kill him, but this set off Spider-Man's spider sense and he leapt into the air, barely being missed by Curt's claws. Kicking Curt in the back Spider-Man sent him crashing through a window. However, Curt spun around and leapt out of the window.
"Dr. Connors, why are you acting like this?" Spider-Man asked, concerned about Curt's sudden change in behavior. "Curt?" He then noticed that Curt's eyes suddenly looked glazed over as if he wasn't in control.
***S***
At the Parker house, Mary Jane was sitting on the couch, nursing baby May and watching the TV. She knew that Peter wanted the job at the TriCorp complex and hoped that he did get it for the sake of their family. The money it'd bring in and would them support May through her life as much as they'd want. She smiled at the thought of giving May what her and Peter didn't have.
Just then, Peter's aunt and the baby's namesake, May Parker, walked into the room. "I take it Peter's at his interview?" she asked.
"Yes," Mary Jane replied. "It's been his dream to have a job like this and it'd help us in raising little May."
Aunt May smiled. "Uncle Ben and I always wished we could've been able to give Peter more than we had and working at a place like that was always Peter's dream," she said. "After the grant proposal fell through, I really hope he's gets this job."
"So do I," Mary Jane said.
Suddenly, a news flash appeared on the screen. Mary Jane began to get worried about what it was about.
A reporter appeared on the screen. "This just in: a fight between superpowers has reportedly broken out at the TriCorp Research Complex," the reporter said. "The battle involves Blacklash, Whirlwind, Blizzard, the Lizard, a blond woman in a black suit, Iron Man, and amazingly, the thought-missing Spider-Man. Police are arriving on the scene, but it seems to do doing nothing to stop the villains involved."
Mary Jane and Aunt May felt her hearts sink as the news cut to footage from a helicopter over the screen, showing the battle, including the Lizard fighting Spider-Man.
"Peter's down there!" Aunt May said. "I-I gotta get ahold of him, make sure he's okay!" With that, she raced to the phone, hoping to get ahold of Peter.
"Peter, please don't get yourself killed," Mary Jane whispered worriedly.
***S***
Spider-Man managed to kick the Lizard off him, then fired webbing at Curt, hoping that it'd keep him occupied for a few moments. But it didn't work and Curt freed himself. Spider-Man sidestepped as Curt lunged at him. Spider-Man then to see Hypnotia speaking and her eyes glowing.
Okay, I think she's got Doctor Connors under mind control, Spider-Man thought. Now let's shut her up and free Dr. Connors.
"Kill the Spider-Man," Hypnotia whispered. "Gut him like a fi—"
Spider-Man fired webbing at Hypnotia's mouth, then fired webbing and wrapped her up in it. "Okay, lady, it's quiet time now," Spider-Man quipped.
Now freed from Hypnotia's control, Curt shook his head, groaning and his eyes once again showing his personality. "What happened?" he asked.
"It's okay now," Spider-Man said. "Now where are Martha and Billy, Dr. Connors?"
"Safe," Curt replied. "That's all you need to know."
"Bull," Spider-Man said. "They're missing and the police suspect that you did something that got them kidnapped or killed. Now, could you please tell me where they are?"
"No," Curt replied. "What happened as my fault. They're my responsibility."
"What did happen?" Spider-Man asked.
Blizzard managed to touch the webbing that bound him to the wall and freeze it, making it brittle. Then he struggled against the webbing and thanks to the newly-induced brittleness of the webbing, broke free. Blizzard then looked to see Curt tried to go after the manhole and firing a freeze blast at Curt, causing Curt to stagger and shudder from the cold. Blizzard saw this and fired another blast.
Spider-Man turned to see Blizzard. "What are you doing?" he angrily asked.
Blizzard smiled and start to fire a continuous blast at Curt. "If I recall science, lizard are cold-blooded and react to the temperature. If I freeze him, then he'll go to sleep and if I turn him into an ice cube, he'll be a Lizard-sicle and die."
Spider-Man lunged at Blizzard and punched him in the stomach, then followed through with an uppercut to his jaw, causing Blizzard to stop the blast. Spider-Man then grabbed Blizzard and flung him into a wall and fired webbing, causing him to stick to the wall. As Blizzard tried to freeze the webbing again, Spider-Man grabbed his gloves and tore them off, disabling the costume's ability to freeze stuff.
"Now, Dr. Connors, where were we?" Spider-Man asked as he turned around to see Curt. But he saw Curt's tail and tail of the coat as he entered the recently-opened manhole. Taking out a spider tracer, he flung it at Curt and it stuck itself on the coat. "Sorry, Doctor, but you do need help."
Iron Man fired his repulsors at Blacklash, causing him to stagger. Blacklash, however, smiled and swung one of his whips, wrapping it around Iron Man's neck, but Iron Man's armor protected him to the worst of the effects. Cracking his other whip, Blacklash, managed to damage the shoulder section of Iron Man's armor and causing Iron Man to collapse onto his knees.
"I've always wanted this, Iron Man," Blacklash grinned. "You kneeling before me before you die, and Hammer will pay me good money to kill you." Blacklash then lashed out with his whip again, striking Iron Man in the chest.
"So Hammer did hire you," Iron Man groaned. Static started to appear on his HUD.
"Sir, I'm not sure that our armor can take much more of this," HOMER interjected. "I would advise in ending the battle quickly before—"
"You don't say," Iron Man groaned sarcastically. Then he grabbed the whip around his neck and slowly rose up. "You're not gonna win, Scarlotti."
"What are you gonna do?" Blacklash asked, amused.
Iron Man pulled on the whip, causing Blacklash to fly towards him and the whip's grasp on him to loose. Iron Man then punched Blacklash, causing him to fall onto the ground and to let go off his whips. Iron Man then pulled his whip off the neck and stomp on the handle, destroying it.
Grabbing the surviving whip, Blacklash smiled and said, "I'm not done yet."
"Yes, you are," Iron Man said as he fired a repulsor blast, knocking the whip out of his hand. Then he fired another repulsor blast at the whip, destroying it. Looking around, he asked, "Where did Connors go?"
"He escaped during the fight," Spider-Man replied, "but don't worry—I managed to put a tracer on him. I should be able to find him, though."
"Good," Iron Man said. "I have to go back to base for repairs to my armor, but I will be back to find him and when I do, I will turn him in."
Spider-Man sighed as Iron Man flew off, then looked around to see the damage the battle caused. Windows are broken, cars were smashed and their car alarms were blaring, and the pavements and walls were cracked and, in some areas, had holes broke into them. Seeing police cars pull up, Spider-Man leapt into the air and fired a webline.
"I should change and get back to Terry, make sure she's okay," he said to himself as he swung off.
"Peter?" Terry asked as she walked out of the building. "Peter, where are you? Are you okay?" She looked around, but she couldn't find Peter anywhere. Seeing a police officer, she asked, "Have you see a man with brown hair, wearing a suit anywhere?"
"Could you be more specific?" the officer asked.
"Terry?" a voice called out.
Terry turned to see Peter walking around. "Peter!" she said and ran over to him. "I'm glad you're okay. D-did you get help?"
"Well—" Peter began.
A balding man in a suit walked over to them and asked, "Terry, are you okay?"
Terry nodded and said, "Yes, Doctor Twaki, I'm fine." Gesturing to Peter, she added, "This is Peter Parker." Gesturing to the man, she said, "Peter, this is Dr. Ted Twaki, the director of TriCorp."
"So you're the young man that Dr. Connors recommended," Ted said, holding his hand out.
That's the man from Connors answering machine, Peter thought. Taking Ted's hand, he shook it and said, "A pleasure, sir. I-I'm sorry about what happened."
"It wasn't your fault," Ted stated. "Where were you when all of this was going on?"
"I was trying to get help, so I tried to flag down a superhero," Peter replied nervously. "I think it backfired. I didn't expect this." Then Peter slapped himself in the forehead. Oh, crap.
"I see," Ted said. "Well, Peter, this might be a bad time to tell you this, but . . ."
I'm not gonna get it, Peter thought, feeling defeated. Well, that was one of the best job I could've gotten, and I blew it big time
". . . but this could set us back for a little while as we repair the facility," Ted finished. "There was some damage done to the equipment and the building. We will stay in touch, though, Mr. Parker."
Meaning "Sorry, son, but we're not hiring you," Peter thought. Then he cell phone rang. Answering it, he said, "Yes, Peter here."
"Peter!" Mary Jane yelled from the other end, sounding worried. "Thank God! Aunt May and I have been trying to call you! Are you okay?"
"Outside of losing track of Dr. Connors and not getting the job, yeah, I'm fine," Peter replied, feeling dejected.
Mary Jane gave a sigh of relief, then said, "I'm so glad you're okay." Then she gave another sigh. "I was so worried about you."
Peter smiled and said, "I know."
"I'm sorry you didn't get the job," Mary Jane said sympathetically. "I knew how much you were looking forward to it."
"It would've been nice," Peter said, shoulders slumped in defeat. "It would've meant more money for the family."
"So what now?" Mary Jane asked.
"I'm gonna go swing by the house and get changed into something casual before going back out. Then I'm going after Dr. Connors. I put a spider tracer on him during the battle, so I should be able to find him. By the way, where is Aunt May?"
"On the couch. After a while of not getting ahold of you, I asked her to take a break and that I'd call you."
"Well, tell her I'm safe and okay. I'll see you later, M.J. Love you."
"Love you, too," Mary Jane said, concerned creeping back into her voice.
***S***
Somewhere in the sewers, Curt ran into a tunnel, his healing factor having already healed most of the injuries he suffered. Slipping into another tunnel, he began to calm down and slow himself down, walking and letting himself feel what he felt about his recent outing—defeat and exhaustion. As he made his way to an old pumping station, which hasn't been used by the city for years, he began to curse himself for his recent actions.
If I haven't did what I did to help them, then I wouldn't have to do this, he thought. But then that'd mean losing my family. All of this is because I couldn't accept reality, couldn't come to terms with their cancer. I should've tried, but I didn't. The path to hell is paved with good intention, no matter if you're the one having the good intentions or, in some case, the one's who'd benefit most.
Curt entered the pumping station. Curt figured that'd be a good place to hide, to rest during his outings to the outside. Sitting in the middle of the room was the makeshift lab he'd set up.
Curt slumped on the floor, resting. He turned to see two Lizard-like creatures similar to him walk out. One of them was a young boy, wearing torn pajamas and the other was distinctly a woman also wearing torn clothes. A pang of guilt hit Curt as they walked up to him.
Curt closed his eyes, feeling tears well up. "I failed again," he whispered.
"Curt," the female creature said.
"I tried to cure you both," Curt said, "but in my efforts to save your lives, I didn't think to consider that any version of my original serum would still mutate anyone into a Lizard-like creature like me. I should've term to come to terms with what was going on." He balled his hand up into a fist and slammed it onto the floor. "Instead, I turned you both into freaks."
The two creatures hugged Curt.
"I'll fix this," Curt whispered. "I'll fix us all."
To Be Continued . . .