The Astonishing Spider-Man & Talon

by Forget the hyphen

During a guilt-ridden exile, Peter Parker meets a girl named Laura Kinney who's troubles mimic his own. Maybe the two can help each other move past their problems, make each other better, and maybe find something lost; But in his ever-changing world that is never easy, there will be new enemies and new responsibilities, but with Laura at his side, he won't be alone. OwnUniverse!

7. Chapter 7: The First Night

They were all gathered in the living room now, sitting down quietly as they listened to what Laura had to say.

"A-a what now?" Peter asked, completely dumbfounded by the revelation bequeathed to him by the raven-haired girl.

"You're a mutant," she stated once again.

"No-no, see…I get that part…the thing that I don't understand is, what's a mutant?" he asked Laura, unfamiliar with the term she had just given him.

"A mutant is someone born with a special gene that gives them powers. I am one of them. You are too," she flatly explained which should've cleared things up but had the adverse effect of just confusing him even more because what she said didn't make any sense to him – at all.

"I clearly remember telling you I got my powers from a genetically engineered spider," he reminded her with a furrowed brow and a finger pointed right at her. He was not born with powers, he was bestowed – given powers by the spider which altered his body.

Expecting him to say this though, Laura turned her gaze to Reed who was all too happy to explain to him what she meant – and what happened to him.

"The thing is Peter, these new developments are because of the spider," Reed stated, backing what Laura said while also reaffirming the notion that Peter staunchly believed.

"What?" Peter exclaimed in utter confusion at the fact that two pieces of contradictory information could co-exist.

"This gene that gives you your powers-"

"The x-gene," Laura stated as Reed was blanking on the term.

"-The x-gene - Thank You, Laura, is something that you've always had but you've never developed powers because it was damaged," Reed said as Peter observed his blood. The pad displayed three blood samples: one from years ago, one he gave Reed six months ago, and the one he gave Reed now.

He looked at it, completely understanding what was displayed, but baffled at the same time.

"You suffer from a chromosomal deletion syndrome on your twenty-third chromosome, where the gene is set on," Reed stated at the same pace Peter was reading the results.

"I don't understand though, shouldn't I look like Jason Voorhees if I'm missing a couple of genes?" he asked the world-renowned scientist. It should go without saying, that having such a syndrome should and would have grave detrimental effects but to his knowledge, he had no such disability due to this.

"Like you already don't?" Johnny joked, earning an unamused glare from both Peter and Laura.

"That's the thing Peter, you don't have any damage when it comes to normal standards, but when it comes to the development of powers, you were never supposed to get any, but that all changed when the spider bit you. As you know, it rewrote your DNA alongside changing your physiology. This includes adding the genes you were missing alongside the necessary proteins your body couldn't generate because of your syndrome," Reed said to Peter's wonder.

"That makes sense, but if I had this the whole time, why did I get these powers now and not when the spider came in and did the stuff," Peter asked Reed, knowing that these new powers really would've come in handy in the past.

"From what the data displays, combined with what Laura has told me, the X-gene activates under a variety of different circumstances, usually in puberty, sometimes randomly, sometimes…when there's great trauma or a great presence of emotions," Reed had paused, turning his attention from his datapad and onto the young boy who has experienced more than most people and as such, lost more than most as well.

"You said that you developed these powers last night…can you tell us...what transpired before you went to bed?" He hesitantly asked Peter, wishing there was another way to find out why without having to pry the teen.

"...I...I made a promise," Peter hesitantly declared to all the members of the four who only needed that brief statement to understand what he meant.

"That promise Peter, the resolve that came with it must've been a catalyst to the activation of your x-gene. Did you happen to pass out after making it?" Reed asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Peter responded in surprise.

"That's because your body was in the process of generating the proteins you needed to activate your X-gene, and because of the multiple powers you've now acquired, it would've taken too much energy for you to stay conscious while developing them," Reed clarified towards Peter which made sense as to why he passed out yesterday although that wasn't a prevalent thing within his mind. "On the topic of your new powers though…" Reed said, shifting his tone and topic of the conversation to a more exciting one, "Because your x-gene was activated thanks to the spider, all of your new powers complement your old ones. Your faster optical nerves – which I've taken the pleasure to dub 'accelerated vision,' allows you to process things much faster than the regular person, so it makes it seem that everything moves in slow motion, which is perfect for your spider-sense. Alongside that however, you can see clearly while moving at fast rates and see other objects moving at the same speed with just as much clarity," Reed stated matter of factually which prompted Peter to ponder what he just said.

His spider-sense was already handy as it is, its only weakness, him not being fast enough to react to it, was practically annihilated with these new eyes of his.

He was excited to learn more about his newfound powers.

Reed noticed the excitement that was in his eyes and delightfully fed it.

"Those fangs of yours also produce a non-lethal paralyzing poison that can instantly neutralize anyone who doesn't have an enhanced immune system and even then, depending on the strength of them, you can still paralyze them or slow them to give you an edge," Peter liked the sound of that. "We've already touched upon your strength so I won't go over that, but I guess the one thing you really want to know about are those stingers of yours?" Reed asked with a smirk and Peter nodded.

"Well Peter, this is only a guess but I hypothesize that those stingers of yours are your original mutant abilities – the powers you were supposed to receive hence the stark difference to the rest of your powers. With the reasoning as to why you have them out of the way, we can now get to the fun part about them: because of your bone density, your stingers can easily pierce through anything that isn't adamantium or vibranium-"

"-Or my skin," Ben added.

"Or Ben's skin, I don't know why you would ever need to do that but that is also another one of the few things you can't cut through," Reed added with minor amusement.

"Who knows, maybe Doom will pull that body-snatching thing again and rampage through Ben's body? Or the Wizard will mind control him again, or he'll-" Johnny said as he listed off all the times Ben has been mind-controlled.

"Enough Torch!" Ben interrupted, not a fan of remembering the times he didn't have autonomy over his own body.

Johnny let out a laugh at this.

"It's not funny when you're the one getting mind-controlled now is it?" Johnny asked as he was getting payback for earlier.

Ben scowled.

"When Ben gets mind-controlled again I'll just hit him really hard, ole Yancy street style," Peter said mockingly.

"You better," Ben said with a smile but then he paused as he registered Peter's words.

"Wait…'When I get mind-controlled again?'" he asked him, his brow furrowing deeper within his literal stone face.

"What?" Peter asked as he put his hand in the air, "It's going to happen again. I just hope they make you wear a ballet dress while doing it," he said, unable to contain his laughter.

"With a pretty pink tutu, it'll make you look cuter than you already do," Johnny added as he laughed with Peter.

"Why I oughta-" Ben frustratingly said as he got up from his seat to walk towards the two teens only to be stopped by Sue who was holding back her own laughs.

"Th-they're only joking Ben," She said as she tried defending the boys.

He grumbled when he placed himself back into his spot.

"...unruly children…" he mumbled to himself.

After settling down and having Reed say what he had to say Peter turned his attention to Laura who was simply standing there observing the whole interaction.

Not wanting her to be left out or feel like she didn't belong, he decided to go and ask questions he had about mutants.

"So I'm a mutant now," he said as he looked at Laura who did the same.

"Yes," she simply said.

"What does that mean?" Peter asked Laura.

"It means that you now belong to a class of people who are hated and feared by the few that know of them," she stated to his surprise.

That doesn't sound so good.

"There is a place for us, an Institute; It is run by a man named Charles Xavier," Reed perked up at that.

"Charles Xavier?" Reed asked her with a raised brow. "If I'm not mistaken he wrote a paper about the development of a special gene within humans, but if I recall, it was widely refuted," Reed recalled to the girl who – along with Peter, were living proof that the controversial paper was indeed true.

"I have been there only a week, so I don't know much, but from what I have been told, Charles Xavier has dedicated his life towards the goal of having Mutants and Humans live together in harmony while safeguarding them from evil mutants," she declared all that she knew about the man she recently met, to the group and the boy she had just associated herself with.

"Evil mutants?" Peter asked with a raised brow.

"That is what I have been told, outside of that, I know nothing," she admitted which left the group of superheroes with more questions than answers at the mention of a possible threat.

"This sounds like Transformers," Johnny inputted which caused Peter to turn to him with perplexation plastered all over his face, "What? Two sides of a secret race of people, one aiming to protect humanity while the other wants to do evil things," Johnny explained his reasoning to his friend who didn't respond which prompted him to continue.

"What? You made me watch those movies Pete," Johnny defensively added.

"Yeah and for the entire time you ogled at Megan Fox," Peter retorted, recalling the days when they watched that movie franchise.

"Can you blame me? She's hot," Johnny proclaimed passionately, forgetting that there were others in the room or just not caring.

"Johnny, you know there's a place on the innernet' fer' that type of stuff," Ben disappointedly shook his head.

"I know," Johnny stated with a playful smirk.

The younger Storm most definitely reminded Laura of Drake.

That was a bad thing.

"So let me get this straight," Peter said, turning his attention to her.

"I'm a mutant, someone born with a gene that gives me powers?" he asked her which prompted her to nod.

"And people are going to unjustly judge me?" she nodded much to his growing dread.

"And I'm going to guess that these 'evil mutants' want to kill me?" He inquired, wondering if new powers brought on new enemies.

"I can only assume so given your alignment," she rationally answered.

"Is there anything good that comes with being a mutant outside the powers?" Peter asked her, as so far, all he's only received was a whole lot of bad news.

She thought about the current situation and the possible future ones.

"No."

He let out a sigh, leaning as far back as he possibly could on the couch he sat on, unsurprised by the pattern his mutant powers followed.

"Of course, it can't be as easy as getting new powers," he ranted to no one which amused Johnny greatly.

"What can I say? Your life is just destined to suck Pete," Peter looked at Johnny, once again unamused by his comment.

"You don't say anything," Peter replied, knowing what he was just told and not needing a reminder.

"Anything else I missed?" he asked Laura, wondering if there was anything else that would make his life harder.

"The institute."

"Ah yes, The Institute," Peter said as he leaned back on the couch once again. "I'm guessing it's full of superpowered teenagers too?" he asked in a mocking tone, expecting a far different answer than the one she would give.

she nodded.

"No way!" he said with disbelief as both he and Johnny immediately sat up.

"All this time I thought we were the only super teens," Johnny said as he looked at Peter. Them being the only teenagers in this weird world of theirs was what brought the two together, even if they didn't like it at the time. "Now you're telling us that there's a school full of superpowered teenagers like us?" Johnny asked with surprise.

She nodded.

Sue and Reed perked up at that.

"Ain't this a revolting development," Ben said with surprise.

"And you didn't invite us?" Johnny asked as he looked at Peter. "I mean, I get not inviting him, but me as well?" Johnny said as he pointed at himself.

"You two did not meet the requirements and you still don't," she stated fiercely at Johnny.

He put his hands in the air, "Who cares? I'm part of the world's greatest team, plus I'm Johnny Storm, That should be the only requirement I need," He said with pride.

They all looked at him again with a deadpan expression.

---

Peter and Laura bid farewell to the Fantastic Four, they all said their goodbyes and Peter told Johnny that he'd see him tomorrow.

Dark clouds overlooked the city now as it was about to rain again, although not as violent as yesterday. He was perched silently on a rooftop with Laura standing beside him, his white lenses reflecting the streets below as he was still processing all of this.

She looked at him, noting that he was unusually silent for once.

"So I'm a mutant," he asked her once again while he pondered his thoughts.

"Yes," she simply responded.

"I don't feel like a mutant," Peter noted, turning to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" How does one feel like a mutant?

"I don't feel any different, Outside my new powers it's practically the same thing with a different name. The situation isn't different either as people are still going to hate me. It's like doing those DNA tests and finding out your family's history. You think it's going to be a big deal, but it's nothing more than a fun fact," Peter explained his view to the girl who was beginning to understand it.

"Who said things have to be different?" Laura replied, casting a new light on his perspective.

"You…you actually have a good point," Peter thought as he dwelled upon her words.

Just because he was a mutant doesn't mean things have to be different. He's still Peter Parker, still Spider-Man, that's all that really matters.

He got up from his perched position and stood up tall.

"I take it that we'll go hunting for that 'thing' now," Laura said, watching him gaze out into the gray horizon. "Yeah, let's hope that's going to be the only thing we'll have to deal with today. I don't want more bank robberies that'll distract us from a rampaging Dino," Peter said, not wanting his attention split and more people to get hurt.

"You left me to handle that," Laura fiercely snapped, none too pleased being left behind as he and Storm dealt with crime.

Understanding her frustration, he nervously scratched the back of his head as he apologized, "Yeah…Sorry about that, force of habit. I'm not really used to team-ups like these," Most of the time, team-ups ended when the bad guy retreated, but then again, most of the time, the people he was teaming up with didn't immediately find out who he was, nor did he trust them as much as he trusted her.

"Do not do that again. I am here to help, not be left behind waiting," she passionately declined, looking into his white lenses with firm resolve.

"Well then, let's get started, shall we? You got a mask on you?" Peter eagerly asked, smiling underneath his mask at her drive.

"No," she bitterly admitted. Logan had thwarted her attempts.

Peter sighed, "Well… you're lucky it's dark," he said to her, looking at the cloudy atmosphere which grew darker by the second.

It would provide some cover at least.

"You got a uniform at least?"

She nodded and proceeded to take off her pink sweater which caught Peter off guard.

"What are you-"

"-This is what I will wear," she said to him, unveiling her chosen attire which consisted of a black sports bra, and long blank arm warmers. Her onyx attire which contrasted against her skin was a good outfit but…

He thought his uniform showed off his body.

She couldn't see it, but he was really pink underneath his mask, and finding himself relieved that he thought ahead to cover his eyes.

He has spent too much time with Johnny.

Yea, he'd pin these thoughts on him and not on the fact that she was extremely attractive.

"Is there a problem?" she asked him, wondering why he was just looking at her.

"N-no... It's just…just…where are you going to put that?" he asked, pointing at the shoulderless sweater which was now in her grasp.

"In your bag. Where else would I put it?" She told him, putting her gaze onto the blue backpack that was planted beside his feet.

"G-good point," Peter said, quickly grabbing his back and opening it up as he berated himself for not thinking about using his bag as storage for her stuff.

"You have your phone on you?" he asked her, telling her that it was best to put the device in his bag as well to avoid damaging it while they went out and did activities they both looked forward doing.

"Alright, so you know the rules?" Peter asked her after webbing his bag on the wall closest to them.

"Always call you Spider-Man," Laura reiterated the one rule she had been told by the superhero she was going to be spending the night with.

"You remembered the hyphen! Good, now for rule two of this superhero gig," Peter said which prompted her to listen keenly, hoping that it wasn't another stupid rule. "At the sound of sirens, cries for help, or just anything that could possibly endanger people, we drop everything we're doing to go and help, Capeesh?" he said with underlying conviction in his jovial voice.

She nodded, internalizing what he said.

That was a good rule.

"We're gonna go back to where we initially found that 'thing' and see if you can track where it came from. If we're lucky, it'll lead us to some mad scientist or one-note villain," Peter shrugged, expecting it to be the usual schtick.

receiving another silent nod from her, Peter smiled.

"Alright Claw-Girl!" he said with a laugh as he walked to the edge of the building, "Try and keep up!" he cockily challenged her, letting the primordial force of gravity pull his body off the rooftop.

Laura tilted her head.

"Claw-Girl?" she thought as she followed him off the rooftop.

Chapter 7: The First Night

Peter smiled at the feeling of the smooth wind on his face. He ran on the cluttered New York rooftops he could traverse with his eyes closed. He did flips and tricks over small objects, parkouring with his spider-like flair, just like he used to – just like he does now.

He leaped between the gaps of buildings with the thought of leaving Laura behind crossing his mind much later than it should have.

Did he leave her behind?

He looked behind him only to be left surprised at the sight of the girl who was in toe with him despite his head start.

This impressed Peter greatly.

"You're fast," he pointed out with amazement at her speed.

"I'm faster," she confidently stated which caused him to grin.

"Really? Let's test that," Peter had upped his speed, immediately finding himself multiple buildings away in a matter of seconds. Lading on a building a couple blocks away, Peter expected Laura to be a lengthy distance behind him but left surprised once again, the girl was still next to him, even in the same crouched position he was after landing on their new building.

"If this is a test, you should know I have done harder obstacles with ease when I was merely a child," Laura hadn't even broken a sweat from the upping of the pace they went at.

She was unimpressed.

Fortunately, Peter was far from going his fastest.

"Well, lucky for you, we're just getting started," Peter said with a grin, starting and taking their rooftop race to new speeds. While it was childish, she would entertain him for the sole fact that if she didn't, she would be left behind again.

She would admit that it did take effort to keep up with him.

They ran for minutes without either of them tiring or showing signs of exhaustion. Laura ran with no style or added flair – unlike Peter, choosing to conserve her energy by not doing extravagant and pointless tricks.

Though she did partake in their race more than she herself knew, pushing herself to overtake him instead of simply choosing to remain in toe. The thought of losing to him was what pushed her to go faster and while she wouldn't say it, she was impressed with Peter's speed.

"You might be fast, but how long can ya last!" he yelled in the air above her, overtaking her with a simple bound that carried him over multiple buildings.

"Twenty-four hours at maximum efficiency before tiring," she matter-of-factly stated, overtaking him the moment he landed.

"What are your powers again?" Peter asked, catching up with her and choosing to remain in toe – an act she did as well.

"Enhanced speed, senses, agility, reflexes, stamina, immune system, a regenerative healing factor, and my claws," she listed off her abilities which a good portion she oddly shared with him.

"I heard nothing about enhanced aggression and soul-piercing glares?" he joked with a laugh that carried no scorn but genuine amusement.

"I heard nothing about your brain damage earlier," She retorted flatly, which caused him to chuckle.

"You cracked a funny," he declared with amazement.

"I wasn't joking," Laura flatly stated which caused him to genuinely laugh due to her delivery.

The corner of her lips slightly curled.

"You can be real mean, you know that Claw-Girl?" he said in a mock hurt tone.

She scowled at that, "Do not call me 'Claw-Girl,'" Laura aggressively demanded.

"What else am I gonna call you? 'Snikety-Snikt?" Peter asked her as that name rolled off the tongue automatically.

He paused for a moment and widened his eyes behind his lenses.

"Oooh! That's a good one," Peter said with overwhelming joy which contrasted with the expression that appeared on his partner's face.

"Do not call me that! Ever!" Laura instantly snapped, displaying her great displeasure at the name given to her.

"Alright, alright, sheesh…how about…'Claw…Woman?'" Peter recommended in an actual attempt to create a name that wouldn't be bad.

It was a shame it was.

"No," Laura would not be called that either. "Do you just use the simplest of nouns when it comes to naming things?" she said as she noticed a trend: Spider-Man, Spider-Signal, Web-Shooter, Claw-Girl.

He stared at her for a good second before simply saying, "Yes."

"That is lazy."

"Hey, I'd like to see you come up with a name," Peter argued, not liking the criticism he was getting.

Spider-Man was a fantastic name, not a lazy one.

The girl took him up on his challenge.

"...Claw…" Laura voiced the name she would give herself though it was a failed attempt which Peter made sure to rub in.

"Oh. 'Claw,' that's…that's really creative and original and it doesn't use the simplest of nouns either," Peter mockingly said much to her dismay. "Thankfully you can't use it though because there's someone else with poor taste in names," he added which piqued her interest.

"Someone else's name is 'Claw?'" she asked as she was curious as to who would name themselves that.

"Yeah, he's this one note supervillain who has a supersonic megaphone as a hand but he spells it with a 'k' for some reason," Peter said, recalling the so-called "Master of Sound."

She let out an annoyed sigh and tried again.

"Fang."

"You don't even have fangs," Peter commented, pushing her volatile and easily raised annoyance further.

"And you're not even a man yet your name is 'Spider-Man,'" she irritably retorted, turning her gaze away from him.

"That… hurt…" Peter pouted.

"I do not need a stupid name, just call me 'X-23,'" she angrily requested, giving up on her futile attempts to come up with a 'superhero name.'

"No," Peter simply replied, however, not accepting her request and causing her gaze to fall on him once again.

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes at his response.

"Why?" Why wouldn't he call her 'X-23?'

"We're heroes, not different variants of fridges. You think people are gonna look up at the sky and say 'Hey look, it's X-23!' No – That's dumb. You gotta have a name that inspires hope, that brings safety and smiles when people hear it and it's gotta ring a couple bells too. More importantly though, it's gotta be something you want, and be honest here, do you really want to be called 'X-23?" Peter asked her with passion, not too fond of the name 'X-23.'

And with her bittered delivery every time she said that 'name,' he knew Laura wasn't fond of it either.

Laura paused her speech for a moment and thought about it, her gaze on the ground as she trailed behind the boy….

"No," she declared with emotion in her infliction which was rare when it came to her.

But she could not remain stoic for 'X-23' was a name she did not want to be called.

That was the name of a weapon.

"Then I'm not gonna call you 'X-23.' I'll stick with 'Claw-Girl' until you find a name for yourself, alright?" he warmly told with such sincerity that she was found gazing at the masked boy for a prolonged period of time.

"...Alright," She said softly as she looked forward, smiling inwardly.

This was nice.

However…

"Do not call me 'Snikety-Snikt," she added fiercely, not wanting him to refer to her with that dreaded name.

"Alright…. " Peter too eagerly agreed, though, that was for a reason…

"...Snikety-Snikt," he added with a laugh before speeding up to avoid the repercussions that he would face. Laura let out an audible growl, convincing him that he had made the right move but just as he was far enough, right when no one was around…

The girl let out a faint smile before catching up with him.

They made it to the location of their first encounter smoothly – without any interruption.

They backtracked their steps from the street they battled on and onto the rooftops which the girl had deciphered to be the ones the monster they battled traveled on before their encounter.

Using her enhanced senses – her enhanced nose, Laura sniffed the air, looking for the creature's scent as Peter searched his mind.

They had arrived here uninterrupted.

Something was off.

Crime was supposed to be at an all-time high and yet he's only stopped two today, That was less than a good day which averaged seven. Either the Kingpin was taking a holiday or he saw today's broadcast.

Whatever the case was, it would make today's task simpler than it already was.

"What is it, Scoob?" Peter asked, noticing how Laura had locked onto the creature's scent like a bloodhound, but more appealing – more alluring.

"The scent seems to have come from that direction," Laura pointed in the direction the scent came from.

"You know with that nose of yours you remind me of one of my friends. He goes by the name 'Daredevil,' he can also track things with his nose," Peter said, drawing a comparison between the two who not just had enhanced senses, but also left him to do most of the talking.

"Mine is better," she confidently declared, which Peter backed up.

"You don't have to tell me that. Ole' DD can only track fresh scents. The fact that you can track it when it's a day old is amazing," he said, repeatedly finding himself wowed by Laura's capabilities.

"I can clearly track scents that are utmost a week old," She factually informed him which blew him away.

"Can I give you a call when I'm fighting The Chameleon?" Peter jokingly asked the girl.

"The Chameleon?" She raised a brow, unfamiliar with the name.

"Yeah, he's a supervillain I've had the pain of facing," Peter grumbled, recalling the countless sour memories he had of the villain who left him feeling stupid.

"He sounds stupid," Laura commented with the utmost belief.

"He is stupid. He has no powers. His whole gimmick is that he carries around a whole bunch of face masks that resemble real people and impersonates them. It's the absolute worst 'cause when he runs away he'll put on a different mask and blend in with a crowd and it's just a big pain – plus, he's just a weirdo," Peter commented with great displeasure.

"Should he be such a bother, then yes," Laura answered, taking his joke seriously and offering her service wholeheartedly which took him off guard.

"Wait-no, I was-I was joking," Peter tried to clarify to her but it was fruitless.

"I was not," Laura affirmed, informing the boy that she would aid him should he call upon her.

Her brief answer left Peter happy, not just uplifted but…warm…

He liked being with Laura.

"Now come, we have a Lizard to hunt," Laura brought them back to the task at hand, though what she had said left Peter focused on something else…

"Lizard…" he said out loud. "...The Lizard!" he abruptly exclaimed, causing her to look at him questioningly, "That's what we'll call it! You know, You're not bad at this."

She gave him a deadpan look.

"We are not calling it 'The Lizard.'"

They started calling it 'The Lizard.'

The two teens ran at a modest pace as Laura took point – guiding the both of them to the place which they hoped to be The Lizard's origins. The giant reptile's vile stench was easy to follow, however, what interested her was the constant that no matter how many turns they made, or how far they went, it was intertwined with two other scents.

Scents which belonged to the woman and the child Peter had saved yesterday.

It was following them before the events of last night.

She looked at him as he continued to run on the rooftops, prompting him to return her gaze.

"What is it?" Peter asked, noticing that she wanted to say something.

"The woman and the child you saved yesterday, The Lizard was after them," She firmly briefed the boy who began searching his mind to recall the signs that backed her statement.

"...Their car was singled out from the accident last night…" Peter recalled how the vehicle the family occupied was singled out from the rest, "And I'm so glad that you're calling it 'The Lizard.'"

"Did they mention anything? And I am only calling it that lazy name because we have no other term for it," Peter chuckled before seriousness returned to his being.

"The lady mentioned something about her husband but…" Peter said off the top of his head, vividly remembering the woman pleading about her husband but he interrupted her before she could say anymore.

"There was no one there yesterday that had their scents on them," Laura recalled the various scents that were there yesterday. If her husband was indeed on the scene then there should've been a scent that had traces of the two in it.

But there wasn't.

"That's odd," Peter thought.

There should've been someone who had the woman's scent on them, she said her husband was there….

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…

"No one but The Lizards," Peter exclaimed as his brain started to connect the dots which Laura hadn't yet.

"What are you implying?" She asked upon noticing that the boy had stumbled upon information she hadn't yet.

"Their car was singled out. The Lizard was only interested in the two, and all the woman said was 'my husband!' while looking at The Lizard," Peter informed Laura who was beginning to follow his thought process.

"The husband is The Lizard," Laura came to the same conclusion Peter had but it was still strange to her. That mutated creature was once a person? It would certainly explain why it targeted the two but the thought was preposterous in her mind.

"It's either that or we stumbled upon a new breed of reptile or shapeshifting aliens, and I'm willing to place my bet on the first one," Peter rationalized.

"But how? And why?" Laura questioned the blanks in their shared hypothesis.

"I don't know, maybe he was bitten by a genetically engineered Lizard?" Peter quipped with a tiny chuckle, though his joke had adverse effects on the girl whose brain had noticed that both the boy and The Lizard had similar powers, though the overgrown alligator took that to new extents…

"Maybe…" Laura responded in a low tone. She looked at Peter who ran beside her, Spider-Man was someone who dealt with everything – whose absence allowed for the arrival of a massive crime wave. He was powerful, their tests proved that, excelling in every category short of energy projection, like her – like The Lizard. The Lizard had shown to have almost all of his powers save for his spider-sense but what it lacked in a precognition-multi-purpose-sense it had redeemed itself with almost instantaneous regeneration.

"We need to hurry, it's already dark and it could be on the move," Laura urged, noticing that the clouds had gotten significantly darker, and rain already started to drizzle.

"Grab on, I'll swing, you'll be my GPS," Peter sped up past her, reaching the edge of the building first and jumping off the building, Laura did the same, wrapping her arms around his neck as gravity pulled them down. This was still new to her, the wind, the speed, the height – the amount her life was placed into the boy's hands, but with each swing, with each word he spoke, she grew more and more comfortable.

She did notice he was going slow for her, however.

"Do not go slow for me," she demanded, tightening her hold on him by wrapping her legs around his body.

"You sure?" Peter asked, but he received a nod.

"I am sure," she reaffirmed her request.

"Well then hold on tight! David Icke, We're coming for you!" he said out loud causing Laura to look at him with confusion. "What? Ever heard of the Lizard People Conspiracy," he asked her as he started to swing down the streets of New York at a much faster pace.

"I do not concern myself with ludicrous works of fiction," she was unfamiliar with the 'lizard people conspiracy,' but it already sounded stupid.

"Ludicrous? You belong to a secret race of super-powered people and are currently soaring through the skies with a teenage boy dressed in red and blue spandex with spider-powers on a mission to find a possibly mutated husband and you think the possibility that dragon-like, green-skinned aliens that can shapeshift, who could very well be living among us, is ludicrous?" he asked the girl with an abnormal amount of passion which she didn't reciprocate.

"Yes," she flatly responded.

"I'll remember that when the world is going to be invaded by shape-shifting aliens, and when that happens, I will give you a fat 'I told you so,'" he promised the girl who rolled her eyes.

"Don't forget your tinfoil hat when doing so," she retorted with her flat voice which caused him to genuinely laugh, and though it lightened her mood, she would make sure that they kept on track and remained as serious as they possibly could be.

"Now go faster," she staunchly demanded.

---

They followed the stench at swift speeds she knew could go faster but didn't for her sake. She did not protest at this speed though – it allowed her to adjust on her own without forcefully having to which was peaceful. The pendulum motion, the speed, the wind, the proximity she had with the boy who she trusted to be her means of transportation was still new to her – foreign to her, but with each passing second she spent in the air, and every irritable question the boy gave her which inquired if they were close or not, Laura grew comfortable.

Her stoic face had increasingly become a relaxed one, but as the stench grew, as they reached the house that reeked of it, her face hardened, as did her voice while her mind and body prepared itself for conflict.

"That's the house," Laura pointed at a townhouse which from afar was pristine but upon closer inspection, upon noticing the scuffle marks and shattered glass and detecting the various scents which carried blood, the clean visage was shattered.

Peter ceased his swing, slowing himself and letting go at the lowest point, stepping foot on the ground once more as Laura dismounted him, observing every aspect of the home and the contents inside it. The multiple scents it radiated informed her that the mother and child from yesterday were inside, while there were another three which carried the scent of blood which she hadn't recognized, The Lizards scent which told her it was not here, and another which vaguely carried it but smelt like a human.

Peter's assumptions were quickly proving to be correct.

He took point this time, asking if anyone was home like he was selling cookies as if he was a boy scout but as she expected, he got no response. So they did it her way, and they broke in through a window. The home looked like it had been a victim of a hurricane, its furniture and decorations wildly thrown all over the place – destroyed.

It was eerily quiet, the absence of life but the clear presence of it according to Laura putting the both of them on guard. The overwhelming stench of the house they were in prevented her from pinpointing who was in the home and where…

Their footsteps unavoidably creaked the damaged wooden floor they walked on, alerting all who laid dormant in the house that there were unwelcome intruders.

In an instant, the moment they turned a corner which Peter blindly didn't check, Laura caught a glimpse of a woman, and then a flash, and then before she knew it, she was on the ground, tackled by the boy who was given a heads up by his sixth sense.

She gazed at him instantaneously, analyzing him if he was hurt which he wasn't due to her relief. That relief turned to easily flared-up anger. She growled, the seething of her claws following the animalistic rage as she stared down the blonde-haired woman with the smoking gun.

She was shaking, her hand trembling, her heart rate increasing by the second when she caught the terrifying glimpse of the girl dressed in obsidian sportswear.

"You're out of bullets," Laura nearly snarled, her glare making the woman shrink within her own skin and back away as Laura entered the room she was in.

All of that ceased though when her eyes widened at the contrasting boy who adorned colors of red and blue.

"But you're in luck," Peter said lightheartedly, chiming in and peering his head through the door as soon as Laura uttered her menacing statement.

"Oh my god…" The woman was left speechless, lowering her emptied weapon to the ground and her jaw as she gawked at the hero who had saved both her and her child yesterday, "It-it really was you…"

"Well of course, who else did you think I was?" Peter rhetorically asked with his friendly voice, stepping beside Laura who was very clearly displeased by being shot at.

"I see you've met my trusty sidekick," he snickered, walking past Laura who hardened her gaze upon hearing that word.

She was an expert at everything, martial arts, stealth, assassination, and battle tactics to name a few.

She would not be reduced to the role of sidekick.

There was a moment of silence in the room the three occupied, a silence which informed the woman who wanted to say so much that they knew or at least had some idea as to what happened.

"I think you can figure out why we're here," Peter said to her, sharing the same thought process she had, "...That 'thing' was your husband wasn't it?" he hesitantly and gently asked the woman.

She slowly nodded

"He-they…" she tried to tell them but couldn't muster the words, The overwhelming memories and emotions that brought her into turmoil yesterday, which kept her in turmoil today, taking hold of her once more but the teenage hero's soothing voice took her out before she was overwhelmed.

"Hey…it's alright, Why don't we sit down somewhere, and then you can tell us," he encouraged the woman who brought them to the only place in the house that didn't appear ransacked. The woman sat in the living room now as the teenage duo stood, Peter patiently and Laura with patience that was thinning, waiting for the woman to give them the information they so desperately needed.

She started her informative speech slowly, searching her mind and speaking her words carefully to not break down and voice out a jumbled-out, incoherent mess. Her husband is a man named 'Curt Connors.' While he was in the army, he lost his dominant arm years ago which hindered his life in ways only those who live with a missing limb could possibly understand.

"It was the reason why he went back to school…he wanted to make it his life's work – his purpose to not only get it back but to give others their lost limbs too," The woman continued, telling them that he studied lizards, admiring and wanting to give human abilities their regenerative capabilities and succeeded in the initial trials, "But after…after the accident, the…the university had deemed human testing to be too dangerous and effectively shut the project down," The woman struggled against the emotions which refused to be held back as she continued her story.

The Doctor had rectified his initial formula – made it do more, presented it to the University he worked at but they fired him for even pursuing it, but someone else had come to give him the resources he needed…

The woman looked away with great fear upon even mentioning the man who had come to give Curt his second chance which intrigued the two greatly.

"Who was it?" Peter asked with concern.

"He didn't give us a name… all he said was that he was interested in Curts's work and that he would support it…" she fearfully said, her voice shaking – breaking, in utter fear at the man who came into their lives with a warm smile however her words – her lies, did not please Laura.

She did not like getting shot at.

She did not like liars.

Nor did she have time for them.

"Name!" Laura roared, not giving the woman any more time to spew her lies which simmered her blood. Her blunt and aggressive approach caused the woman to whimper and shriek – something Peter was not too fond of.

"Hey, be gentle alright," he snapped, pointing past Laura and taking her gaze to the tiny boy who was peeping his head into the room.

Her gaze frightened him, causing the boy to yelp and retreat back to where he came from.

"We're here to help, not scare them," Peter gently lectured the slender girl who slowly recognized her mistake, her black strands obscuring the anger that crossed her face.

Anger which was placed onto herself…

"I never met him, it was only Curt who did but…but I've heard his people call him 'The Kingpin' once," The woman said in a low and fearful tone which made Peter's blood run cold and instantly whip his head, the woman's way in utter disbelief, "He gave Curt the money, the resources – everything he needed under one condition…" Peter didn't like where this was going.

Doctor Connors didn't know his employer was a crime lord, using the front he put up to all to bring the man to work for him – and accomplish his dreams under the condition that the serum would do more than bestow gifts of regeneration but enhance the human physique, to give power to those who are helpless. He pitched it as if he wanted to aid not just those who were missing limbs but who had broken bodies which would be given strength, but after more encounters with his employer – more cracks in the front he put up which the naive and optimistic Doctor witnessed, he slowly came to the realization of the grave mistake he made.

He had just dealt a deal with the devil, and when that came to light, his employer unveiled his horns and tail in a show of unfeeling force which subjugated The Doctor to fulfill his project which his employer…

"Wanted to weaponize," Laura finished the woman's story with her bittered voice.

The woman nodded in confirmation.

"Why didn't you just run?" Peter obliviously asked.

"Run? You can't run from the Kingpin, his criminal organization covers the entire country. The only thing Curt could've done was fight. When the next visit of The Kingpin's men happened yesterday, Curt made sure that we made it out safely before…before…he injected the serum into himself…" The woman said with so much pain – so much anguish in her voice, on her face, that Peter's heart ached more than it already did upon realizing that the Kingpin was at fault for the trauma this family had faced.

That he was the fault as to why this was all happening.

"We were driving for god knows how long. After a while, we stopped, and I tried calling him but nothing happened…I got worried, so despite his pleas for us to never come back, I did. That was when I saw him….I-I immediately drove off but he chased after us. The crash happened shortly after…and I'm pretty sure you know the rest…both you and her saved us," The woman finished, the tears she was holding back welling in her eyes as she graciously thanked the two who she shot at it.

It only lasted a second though.

"Is he still…" She weakly asked, hope, love, reluctance, and hesitation all in her voice which pained Peter to his core, knowing that the answer she wanted was not the one he could give.

"He is," Peter said softly which caused her to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey ...We'll fix this okay," he tried to console her, however, she angrily spat and bitterly spat, "How? You're just a kid!" she roared through tears of despair but Peter Parker grinned.

"A kid with spider-powers who just so happens to be really good at science," He said with an uplifting confidant tone which caused the woman to freeze, getting what he was implying

Hope returned to her eyes.

"You-You think you can create a cure? He-he has a lab upstairs," she asked with hope in her voice.

"If you still have his notes, then maybe," Peter reassured her, seeing the formula and how it affected his body was the first in learning how to reverse what happened, and eagerly hearing what he said, the woman guided the two to the Doctors personal lab – courtesy of The Kingpin.

Laura watched how he interacted with the woman, how he uplifted her and gave her hope.

Maybe she wasn't much of the expert she thought she was.

The woman brought them to Curt's lab where Peter looked at his notes with fascination, "This...this is amazing…" he said as he ogled at them, "He made it so that reversing it could be possible," Peter observed the notes, completely understanding the intentional way it rewrote the man's body.

"Can…can you make a cure?" she hopefully asked the teen who turned to her with excitement and confidence.

"Can I?" he rhetorically asked with excitement as he looked at the notes, "I'm pretty sure I can," Peter stated, looking at the tools of his disposal which caused the woman to almost collapse before running to her son to tell him the overlaying news.

Leaving the two alone.

Laura simply walked towards him, noticing how the confidence he put up fell when the woman left.

"Can you really make a cure?" she asked him as the skills required to do such a thing, with the equipment before them, was next to impossible for even the smartest of people.

"Yeah, but it'll take time…" Peter said as he started to set up the professional-grade lab equipment.

"How much time?"

"Two hours – possibly three," he said, brewing up the concoction he would make inside his head.

"We won't have that long," she looked out at the abyss which hovered above them. Lizards preferred the dark. It would only be a matter of time until it came looking for its family again – if it wasn't already.

"What are you getting at?" Peter narrowed his eyes, his voice displaying his displeasure at her train of thought.

"We might have to kill it," she flatly stated, which caused Peter to drop everything he was doing and passionately snap at her.

"No," he firmly said to her, "We don't kill people. We save them," he adamantly declared with powerful emotions – with conviction.

"Not everyone can be saved. You heard what she said – He's a monster," she declared, recalling his bestial actions.

"No, he's not. He's still a person and he's still in there Laura. If he wasn't, I doubt he'd be chasing after his family. He just needs a hand," Peter rationalized, staunchly declining her statement.

"If he is, he'd want us to kill him before he harms his family or anyone else," she stated with even more drive in her voice, not liking his naïve thinking.

"Then we don't let him harm his family or anyone else," Peter replied, not backing down from the girl who was getting in his face.

"It is not that simple!" She yelled, "You don't know what it's like…being a monster…" Laura trailed off, her gaze falling to the side as sadness quickly replaced the anger in her voice. Peter paused, taking a breath and vividly replaying what she told him in his mind.

"I know what it's like to lose someone important…" he confessed to her with the same sorrow that was found on her face, grabbing her doubtful and anxious gaze.

"Do you?" Peter asked her softly, genuine emotion seeping his every word, his tone pleading her to see things his way.

She paused for a moment, wondering if she should even acknowledge the question, but then she thought about it…

And then she lowered her gaze, not wanting to see the reaction he might have to her answer.

"I…I do…" she crossed her arms – holding herself.

Peter gazed at her, before turning away from her and saying, "You know…I was responsible for losing the ones I care about…" he confessed to the girl who looked at him with wide emerald eyes behind her loose strands of black hair.

"I...I was too…" she admitted, sharing a gaze that exposed the pain both she and him felt.

"...I don't think I have to explain to you how much it hurts then," Laura nodded.

He didn't need to explain that pain.

She felt it every single day.

The cold numbness which was left in the absence and departure of those who warmed it…the want to be with them and the heart-wrenching realization that she never would…

Peter Parker felt that pain too.

"Laura…would you…as someone who has suffered the loss of losing someone you care about, willingly inflict that pain onto someone else?" he asked her with the utmost emotion in his voice which reached the girl's well-guarded core effortlessly.

"...N-No…" she said as she shook her head, giving her answer in a gentle voice as she recalled her own pain.

She did not want to give anyone what she carried.

If anything…she wanted to prevent that pain from ever existing.

Peter let out a small smile at this.

He knew she'd say that.

"Doc Connors may be a monster, and he may have already killed people, and he may be too far gone, but he's still that boy's father. Still that woman's husband. Still a person, meaning he's still worth saving," Peter said with soft conviction which the girl internalized, her stance on the Doctor quickly shifting.

"How...How sure are you that you can cure him?" she asked with uncertainty.

"I can create a serum that can reverse the mutation in his cells, reversing the transformation," he told her with hope.

"And what about the mental faculties?" Those were just as important as the physical body and surely transforming oneself into an out-of-control reptile would affect the mind just as much as the body.

Peter didn't say anything at first.

"I…I don't know…but Laura, if there was even the slightest chance that you could have prevented the person you lost, would you have taken it?" Peter answered her question with one of his own, not shying away from the fact that he didn't know what would happen to the doctor outside the physical transformation.

"Yes," Laura declared in a heartbeat.

They both turned their attention to the child who suddenly ran in the room, "Can you really save dad Spider-Man?" the boy asked with hope in his eyes as he looked at the hero.

"I can and I will," Peter displayed his faux confidence once more.

He has to.

The boy smiled widely at this.

Laura looked at the boy who longed for his father's return, and she saw a girl who longed for her mother.

She was suggesting that they should kill his father.

She suggested inflicting the same pain that was done to her…

Maybe Logan was right…maybe the only thing she does know how to do is to kill…

She looked at Peter who started mixing chemicals together as the boy eagerly watched. The amount of time they had to create a cure was completely unknown, but she knew that they had little time. Anything short of a genius wouldn't cut it, but Peter had an IQ of two hundred and fifty…if anyone could do it…he could.

Even if he were to revert the transformation there were too many things that could go wrong, Yes, Connor's wouldn't be The Lizard anymore but what of the damage that it could have possibly caused to his mind? There were too many questions, too many unknowns, and judging from his response, Peter knew these things as well, but he was still creating a cure because he hoped that everything would turn out fine.

She had killed her mother.

She had caused enough pain in one life.

And while she may find it hard, she would believe in the hope Peter held in both herself and in Connors.

"And I will help."

She moved next to Peter, scanning the doctor's notes with her green eyes which surprised both Peter and the boy.

The boy's smile grew larger.

"You said that you could create a serum that could reverse the transformation. To do that, you need the original serum first," Laura stated to Peter who was stunned at her actions. While not as well versed as Parker was in science, she was no idiot.

She could still be classified as an expert.

Peter was still flabbergasted.

"I will work on that, while you work on the necessary compounds to create the cleanser," she set herself up to do just as she had said.

"Y-Yeah…Alright, I'll get on that," Peter excitedly agreed with her plan, completely motivated by Laura's assistance which warmed and honored him, "I didn't know you knew science," Peter said with astonishment.

"I know enough," she simply said.

"Wow…Spider-Man, your sidekick's awesome," the boy said much to her annoyance.

She was not his sidekick.

Peter let out a small laugh.

"She's not my sidekick," Peter said, which caused her to move her gaze onto him, eagerly anticipating what she was to him along with the boy.

"She's my partner," he declared with a smile.

"Partner," Laura ought.

She liked that.

"And she is pretty awesome. I'm glad I have her with me," Peter said sincerely as he gave her a small glance which she reciprocated. She would have never imagined herself to be complimented in such a childish way, nor did she ever imagine being touched so severely by such a compliment.

She was glad to have Peter with her too.

---

It took them an hour to create the cleanser with her aid. The way Peter went about things was simply ingenious as his approach saved them countless hours though, his genius was only a second trait which greatly increased her favor of him, the first being the way he treated the bow whose name is "Billy."

He had noticed how the young boy had a yearning gaze to help them and so Peter had offered him a chance too despite the boy's lack of knowledge in science. For the entirety that he allowed him to help, he explained every little thing in minute detail, but in a simplified way that the child could understand.

It was sweet.

It had strengthened her already positive opinion of him greatly.

The three of them stood in front of three vials full of the same compound. Connors had an excess amount of equipment and material which allowed them to create multiple serums – which was her idea, as a precaution should anything go awry. All that was left to do now was to drop a tiny pellet that was currently inside each of their hands inside a respective vial, and if it turned green, then they succeeded in creating a cure.

Peter counted to 'three' and at the same time, they all dropped the pellets into a respective vial.

They watched with anticipation as the pellets instantly dissolved…

…turning the compounds green.

"We did it!" he exclaimed to Billy who got off his stool to hug the leg of Peter.

They did it.

He let out a nervous chuckle, gazing at Laura who looked on at the sight before her gently – fondly.

He was so glad he had her with him.

When Billy pulled out from hugging him, Peter simply bent down and raised his hand up to the boy, "Give me a science five," he gently said to Billy who immediately high-fived him. He turned to Laura who still retained the softer expression and did the same gesture, reiterating the words "Science five?"

He watched with amusement as her expression instantly changed into that of a flat glare.

She would tolerate his childish antics, not take part in them.

"Science five?" Billy said as he looked at her with a smile.

She looked at it for many seconds before slowly bending down to the boy's level and reciprocating both the childish gesture which was allowed due to the boy's age, and the smile he gave her with a faint one of her own.

"Oh come on!" Peter exclaimed with disbelief causing the boy to let out an innocent laugh.

Laura could feel her heart be uplifted at the display of unbridled optimism and awe the boy had for the two who would save his father.

This was what being a hero felt like…

…to have people look up to you, not in fear, but with joy.

She liked this.

Her nose caught a whiff of a familiar scent and she immediately put the boy behind her guarding him and releasing her claws which grabbed Peter's attention.

"It's here," she stated, and Peter nodded, sealing the compound with a cork before putting it inside his utility belt underneath his costume.

The mother "Martha," immediately escorted her son to the safest place in the house as the two teen heroes rushed to face the monstrous doctor and cure him – returning him to humanity and his family.

"Where's Lizzy?" he asked her as they bolted out the door.

"Two blocks west, closing in on us from the rooftops," she said, pinpointing the rampantly increasing pace the mutated doctor approached them at.

"Let's meet him head-on shall we?'' Peter said as he immediately jumped in the air and started to swing towards the creature.

He saw its monstrous green figure running on the rooftops on all fours but it ceased as the boy's familiar and hostile accent entered its two nostrils. It detected him, but fortunately for Peter, it couldn't locate Peter before he crashed into it with a powerful swing which sent the creature forcefully crashing into the streets below as Peter landed next to Laura who just arrived.

"Aye Rango!" Peter pointed at the creature who was slowly getting up, "Remember us?" Peter said as he watched The Lizard slowly get up on its two powerful legs but he was left speechless and Laura surprised at its visage.

"...Oh my God…"

It was eight feet tall now, prehistoric spikes decorating its tail which went up his spine and ended at the top of his head. Its talons which could maul vehicles and tear people to shreds were much longer now, with the jaw Peter blew off the previous day being fully reconstructed, the lower teeth now being too large to be housed inside its mouth.

"...zilla…" Peter finished as he was left speechless...

For about two seconds.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who got upgrades," Peter madly declared, clenching his fists and getting into his fight pose.

She did the same, this would not be as easy as she suspected.

While manufacturing the cure Peter came up with a 'plan.' That 'plan' was to find a way to dump the vial down the Lizard's mouth, which wasn't really a plan until she recommended that they cause an efficient amount of pain that would cause The Lizard to slow down and give them a brief moment to dump the cure down its throat without interruption, for if they missed even a drop of it, there could be vast and irreversible consequences.

They must also cure him with all appendages intact or else the limbs might not grow back.

The sound of its animalistic roar was the bell that initiated the fight.

The Lizard ran at them on all fours, leaving a trail of cracks in the street that couldn't handle its power.

Laura was going to play defensive until she could create a complete threat assessment on The Lizard's new form. It would stand to reason that there could be possible enhancements that she wanted to know about before making her move.

Peter had a different idea.

He recklessly went to immediately challenge The Lizard without knowing what it could do now.

He ran towards The Lizard and swiftly dodged its telegraphed punch and moved in closer to get a hit in but the Lizard dodged that as well. It went to strike him with its other hand but Peter dodged that, it didn't relent though, as it spun around and whipped its tail at him at lightning speeds.

Lightning speeds weren't new to him though and he dodged the attack but like the previous ones before it, The Lizard was too fast and spun around once again, thrusting its head towards him in an attempt to bite him. He managed to back away before swiftly webbing up its jaw and going between its legs, forcing it to land on its back.

Finally given a chance to attack, Peter took it and aimed to slam into the Lizard's body, but as he jumped in order to do this it quickly got up and grabbed him by the neck before jumping high into the air. It held on to his neck as tightly as it could and let out a hateful roar before viciously slamming his body down into the street below, using its momentum, its strength, and body weight to completely shatter the street and sink Spider-Man into a deep creator.

"Not a good start," Peter thought as he felt his body create a distinct imprint in the road.

The Lizard roared in his face once more where he couldn't help but tell a joke upon smelling its breath, "Can you say halitosis?"

It punched him in the face, cracking his right lens.

"...I'll take that as a no," Peter said through the pain.

The Lizard got significantly stronger and faster too

Laura let out an angry roar, abandoning her threat analysis to go assist Peter who was in a vulnerable position. As she charged at The Lizard, it let go of Peter and spun around quickly in an attempt to backhand her but she swiftly dodged it, digging her claws deep into its arms and slicing through it and down to its torso like butter. It tried striking her with its other arm but she rolled underneath it, gracefully going into a handstand where she used her foot claws to tear through its left popliteus causing it to slightly fall.

She then jumped on its back and stabbed it repeatedly causing it to howl in pain and move away from Peter's body in an attempt to get her off of itself – what she intended. "Note to self: never get on her bad side," Peter thought as he got up to assist her as soon as The Lizard left him.

The Lizard was spinning around, trying to reach behind its back to grab the girl who shredded his insides, waiting for Peter to strike him and he did. His fist collided with its prehistoric face, allowing Laura to safely leap off as it was left skidding meters away.

"Ya like that? Cause I sure did!" Peter yelled at the scaly monstrosity that was once a man – and would be soon, but before that, he would be his punching bag. Laura gracefully landed next to Peter, observing how the damage they inflicted had hastily been undone in a matter of seconds.

"It got stronger," she simply stated to Peter as she referenced its strength, speed, and regenerative power.

"What makes you say that?" Peter sarcastically asked her.

She wasn't amused.

"Its healing capabilities have increased greatly. Everything I've inflicted on it is quickly becoming healed. We must bleed it out in order to negate its healing factor so we can tire it and end this," Laura simply explained, ignoring his sarcasm and explaining the plan.

"Alright, so what we did last time basically. I hold it off while you do the snikting," Peter said as he understood what she was saying.

"Yes," Laura simply replied as she was confident with her abilities to bleed the Lizard out.

Peter was glad at that. While he would love to use his stingers they would utterly destroy his web-shooters alongside the cartridges that are full of webbing. Both of which cost him an extreme amount of money.

He took a small step forward and in response to this, The Lizard let out a growl.

"Oh, what's wrong Lizzy? Scared? Is it muscles? Or the pretty mask," He taunted, causing Laura to give him a deadpan expression but to her surprise, The Lizard roared in pure hatred at his antics and Peter immediately fired a web line at its mouth and ran towards it.

"Got ya. Sorry, what was that? He asked as he yanked the line with all his might causing the Lizard to forcefully move towards him.

"I couldn't hear you over this!" He yelled, hitting the scaly monster right in the face and causing it to stagger back.

Somehow he had agitated The Lizard allowing for an opening.

Upon hitting the eight-foot monster Peter didn't waste the opportunity to hit it again. It tried sweeping him with its right hand but he simply dodged it and webbed the hand right to its face as it tried freeing its mouth. He ran at it again, and it tried hitting him with its free arm but he batted it away and once again punched it in its face with a little more force than last time so that it would twist, allowing for him to web its other hand to its back.

But as its body twisted the Lizard decided to go with it and spun its body around, whipping its tail at Peter who just barely dodged it after webbing its arm.

"Hey, gimme a hand," Peter tried to yell for an assist but Laura was already steps ahead of him as she ran past him and took advantage of the plenty of openings Peter had given her. She swiftly decapitated its right arm as it was webbed to its mouth causing the Lizard to let out a mighty muffled agonizing roar.

Laura didn't waste time, digging her claws deep into its side and tearing chunks of meat out as she drove them through its body, but not going to allow this any further, the Lizard turned around to face the girl who dared to rip its appendage with a one-track mind on destroying her.

She had gotten a couple more attacks in but It simply took them, glaring at her as it focused on tearing its dangling arm off, growling fiercely in the process.

She let out a scowl, its regenerative capabilities were stronger than she thought, for immediately after decapitating its right arm, the wound closed up and just like before, all of the wounds she had inflicted were instantly regenerating.

The Lizard threw its dismembered arm at her and in response to this she simply clawed through it but that left her open to an attack from its tail.

It never came though.

"Uh, uh, uhhh, Lizzy, you seem to have forgotten that she isn't alone," Peter said as he caught its tail which surprised Laura. She looked at the scene for a brief second before running towards Peter, slicing its tail off in the process and causing the Lizard to once again roar in pain.

Peter took a couple of steps back, the force he used to hold the Lizard causing him to stagger back at its severance and be disgusted by its wild flailing despite it being severed.

"Ugh! Disgusting," he said, batting The Lizard with its tail as hard as he could, causing it to stagger back more, and even further when Peter hit him with a left hook. Planning on sending the creature flying, he pulled his arm back during its dazed state, planning on hitting it with as much force he could possibly muster.

However, The Lizard had spun around and hit him with its fully grown right arm, which he saw coming by the way. Arguably the worst and best part about his accelerated vision. He could see things go slow which was cool, it wasn't cool when all he could do was try his best to move out of the way only for him to ultimately know he was still going to get hit.

Immediately after it did this, just as she was reacting to it, The Lizard used its speed to grab Laura by the face and slam her to the ground before tackling Peter who was still staggering back from its attack.

They crashed onto the ground and the Lizard immediately grabbed his wrists forcefully, using its might to crush his web-shooters.

This frustrated Peter greatly.

"These don't grow on trees," Peter yelled, using both his legs to propel the creature high into the air.

Peter looked at his web-shooters which were now completely busted and then back to Laura who was glaring at the monster. She underestimated its healing capabilities greatly, the fact that it could heal a full appendage in a matter of seconds was beyond what even she could do.

"I don't think it's bleeding out," Peter observed as it was growing back its tail at a rapid pace.

"By the time I inflict a wound another one heals. The decapitation of its limbs slows its healing factor but it is still too fast for me to cause enough damage in order to overwhelm it," Laura said as her glare on the creature never wavered. It only changed when she heard an almost familiar sound come from beside her.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing you're not the only one who can 'snikt' things," Peter said with a smirk, withdrawing his stingers, "Although I think for me it's more like a 'schlikt.'"

"You think it'll be enough?" He asked Laura hoping that it would indeed push the odds in their favor.

"It would be more than enough," Laura said, playing the multiple scenarios where both she and Peter used their claws to deal with The Lizard.

They all ended in their favor.

The Lizard was glaring at them as its tail was rapidly regenerating back.

"That's good, now before we actually do this, could you give me some pointers on how to use these? If you haven't noticed, I'm more of a 'thwip, thwip' kinda guy," Peter asked, not really an experienced stabber.

"Go for deep gashes and slashes, and be quick about it too. I'll try to decapitate its right arm while you do its tail. After that, our main priority should be to inflict as many wounds as possible," Laura planned out.

He let out a sigh.

"This is gonna be bloody isn't it?" he asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," she simply replied.

"I'm going to have to take a long shower after this," Peter said with dread.

"Yes."

"Do you know how expensive the water bill is?" he asked with a chuckle.

"No, but you can tell me about it when we are done with this," Laura said with a smirk before turning her attention to the eight-foot monster in front of them.

"Well then partner, let's get this dance started shall we?" Peter said as he took the lead, Laura followed suit, letting out a roar as they charged at the monster in front of them.

The Lizard roared back as it lunged at them.

"Try something new already," Peter said, lunging at The Lizard as well, meeting him head-on. He impaled both his stingers through its collar bone and out its back before having the both of them tumble to the ground.

While he was told that he could cut through most things with ease, he was still surprised at the fact as to how effortlessly he pierced through the Lizard's thick hide though when they landed on the street, he found great difficulty when trying to pull them out which allowed The Lizard to get a hit in. It followed this up by wrapping its tail around his body and slamming him into the pavement – once again, creating an imprint of his body on the road.

He was really hoping that this wouldn't be a trend.

The Lizard turned its attention to Laura entering combat with her before she could come to Peter's aid – again. She let it have the first strike like she did before and dodged it seamlessly before countering. She knew that she was outmatched in every physical category so she opted to fight smart which was something the Lizard couldn't do. It savagely and brainlessly attacked her with everything at its disposal and she weaved through its attacks, delivering deep gashes in retaliation.

The Lizard's speed was ramping though, and soon its attacks would just barely graze her, but its time had run out.

"Let's try this again!" Peter yelled from behind the creature, thrusting both his stingers deep into its back, getting blood all over his costume.

Peter wasn't squeamish when it came to blood, his own or others. He's been covered with both multiple times and the mental scarring and fortitude needed was already there. He was used to it. What he wasn't used to was stabbing people but he was learning how to quickly. He backflipped off the Lizard's body as it tried sweeping at him and with its focus on him, Laura managed to deliver a massive gash to its side.

Peter followed this up by trying to do something risky. He jumped over the Lizard's body and did a twirl, delivering a deep diagonal gash down its chest, cutting it open with ease.

He was starting to like his stingers.

While not the best strategist, Peter knew that by having one person cover the front while another covered the back would quickly overwhelm the Lizard.

Laura kept up with her offense as Peter was starting to find his. With each attack, she noticed how the wounds started healing slower and slower and the creature's speed as well. Peter was following her advice, going for deep gashes and slashes, and whilst the first couple were not as deep as she preferred, but he would rectify that as he got more comfortable using them. They took turns with The Lizard's attention and Laura had found that Peter's speed and up-close style of fighting had complimented hers.

She had already analyzed the way he fought, allowing her to maneuver around him without any complications. He was very instinctual, with everything he did seemingly coming up on the fly and taking advantage of his enhanced and superior body.

Peter was surprised as to how well this was going, but then again, every time they fought together they did kick The Lizard's ass. Laura was fast, and she knew what she was doing, hitting vital parts that would hinder the Lizard even more. Laura had even managed to decapitate the Lizard's right arm with ease which gave him an opening to do the same to its tail. They continued on with their assault, noticing that with the decapitation of both its added appendages alongside the wounds they delivered, the healing factor was slowing down tremendously and so was its speed. It was so slow in fact that Peter started adding more flair with his dodges and attacks which did not surprise the girl found herself slightly amused.

"When do you want to end this little dance of ours?" Peter asked as both he and Laura attacked The Lizard at the same time.

"Now would be good," she replied, noticing that it wouldn't be able to compete with their efforts in curing it.

"Am I that bad?" Peter said with mock insecurity.

"End this and I'll tell you," Laura said as she sent a deep gash behind its knees causing it to fall on them.

Peter let out a shrug as he stood in front of the Lizard, "You heard the lady Lizzy," Peter said, sucker-punching it and sending it on its back. "She wants it over and as the eligible bachelor that I am, I gotta comply," he said as he grabbed the cure and popped the cover out.

"Saw 'aw'" Peter said with a smirk, preventing The Lizard from closing its jaw with one hand while he used the other to dump the compound both he and Laura created down its mouth. He flipped off its body as it started to spasm on the ground.

He gave a little glance at the sight and turned his attention to Laura.

"So how did I do?" he said with a smirk, crossing his arms.

"Not bad," she replied with a smirk of her own.

"Not bad?" he offendedly reiterated.

"It would have been better if you hadn't run off ahead to immediately and recklessly deal with it on your own," she commented as she gazed at his white lenses.

"Well, look, when you have a sixth sense that predicts danger you can get away with recklessness," Peter said back.

"Explain the craters in the street then?" she rhetorically asked.

"That was me warming up," Peter simply dismissed.

She raised a brow in complete skepticism.

"Okay look, maybe that was me being a bit dumb-"

"-A bit?"

"-but it all worked out, right?" Peter asked happily as he turned to look at the now-cured Doctor Connors who was behind them.

He didn't see a cured Doctor Connors.

"It all worked out, right?" It took him a little while and a whole lot of blinks to register what he was seeing.

He saw a barely standing dinosaur letting out growls as its throat expanded. The wounds they had delivered were slowly healing as it seemingly prioritized its arm and tail.

"It didn't work out…" Peter said with shock as he took steps away from it. Laura did the same, unsheathing her claws immediately and watching on as the bloat in the throat of the creature got larger and larger.

"Hey…Hey…Hey… Lizzy, you know I was joking when I said try something new, right?" Peter asked the creature as it eventually regurgitated a green liquid.

It threw up the contents of the cure.

"Oh that's not good…," Peter said as he watched it glare at them, all of its wounds now fully healed, "... Oh that's really not good."

He turned his attention to Laura, "We made spares right?" he worryingly asked her, while his spider-sense blared what he already knew.

"Yes…" Laura said as The Lizard was slowly walking towards them.

"You don't happen to have one on you do you?" he asked her hopefully.

"No."

"%&*#," was all Peter could say.

The Lizard instantly dashed at the two with Peter managing to dodge it thanks to his sixth sense and powers, however, Laura wasn't so lucky as she was grabbed by the abdomen, its talons piercing her body before she was viciously thrown down the street.

With her out of the way, The Lizard focused its attention on Peter whose gaze was on Laura with extreme worry.

He turned his attention to the creature who had just tossed the girl he cared about and just as it was going to attack him, he grit his teeth in anger before meeting it head-on instead of dodging the attack.

"You're really starting to tick me off, you know that?" Peter frustratingly said, clashing with the eight-foot reptile. It hissed in his face as it tried attacking but Peter dodged it and landed a hit of his own which caused it to stagger back. "And I can tell I've ticked you off too. Is it because I took off your jaw?" Peter taunted as it relentlessly went to attack him.

He angrily batted the attack away.

"Well guess what? I'm going to do it again!" Peter angrily yelled, using all the might he could muster to punch its jaw. A loud 'thud' could be hurt as his fist came in contact with The Lizard's mouth. The hit shattered some of its teeth but it didn't take off its jaw, the most it did was recoil its head.

Peter swore that if it could smirk, it would, as in that moment it retaliated with a punch that knocked all the wind out of him. It then turned around to meet Laura who was running at it. She managed to dodge its first initial hit just barely and land a deep gash but before she could even react, it punched her right in her stomach, shattering almost all of her ribs before delivering a punch to the face that had the same intensity that it had hit Peter with.

She didn't have superhuman durability though.

A loud 'thud' could be heard on impact.

But it was overshadowed by a sharp snap.

The sound of her neck snapping….

The dazed Peter watched in shock as her body lifelessly fell to the ground.

His blood-curdling scream followed the silence.

"LAURA!" He yelled in utter panic, frantically hitting the creature who felled her in a desperate attempt to reach her side. His blood ran cold, his heart threatened to burst due to its uncontrolled beats which were only increased by the panic thoughts that ran through his mind.

Memories he made of the girl flashed throughout his mind.

Her face, her looks, her voice….

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO…." he urgently pleaded that what transpired was not real, coping in his mind that she was alright, that she would heal – that she was alive but a giant hand prevented him from reaching her limp body.

"LAURA!" he yelled again, ignoring the creature's attacks, its roars, and its existence as everything in his being was focused on the body which was so full of life.

so full of beauty.

It hit him with all its might over and over, leaving him completely dazed though the numbness he felt at the sight of Laura mitigated all of it.

It whipped his body across the street as if he was a stone getting skipped.

He kept his eyes on her lifeless body though.

The sky was blue now.

He was on a bridge….no…he was on a street….it was dark…

There was Laura…Gwen…Laura…Gwen…

There were primal red eyes glaring at him, yellow ones maliciously laughing…

There was a snap…

…it was his fault….

It was his fault….

He could feel something heavy land on him.

He could see that malicious smile as he felt himself getting beaten.

He could hear laughter.

"She's dead Spider-Man, the girl you love is dead! and there's nothing you or any other costume interloper can do to bring her back. But don't worry, you won't be long apart!"

He deserved this.

"That is what you get for being weak!"

He's such an idiot.

He never learns.

How many people had to die because of him?

Captain Stacy.

Gwen.

Laura…

She had nothing to do with this. She wasn't someone who supported him, she wasn't anyone he knew, she was just someone who was minding their own business until he had roped her into this mess of his.

This couldn't be real.

This had to be a dream, some nightmare.

Why did the people he cared about always have to die? Why couldn't he be the one who died instead? He deserved it, he got his uncle killed, he got Gwen killed, he got Laura killed…how much longer did Aunt May have?

He's such an idiot, he never learns.

Everyone who gets close just dies.

Past the blood, past the pain, past The Lizard, he could see Laura.

She was standing, her neck still twisted as she faced him.

She was letting out growls and snarls and all he could do was succumb to the overwhelming sadness which had sunk his heart to new depths.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he madly muttered with tears staining his face, ignoring The Lizard's attacks on his soon-to-be corpse.

He didn't want her to die, he never thought she'd die, she was super like him.

She was different…

… she was different…

Her neck unnaturally cracked as it seemingly undid the damage that had been done to her.

He could see blood-red eyes full of rage.

She had every right to be angry at him.

He failed her…he failed everyone…

His eyes widened when The Lizard stopped beating on him to face the aberration of the girl it could also see.

"...what…?" he weakly said.

He could feel his heart start beating faster, feel hope return to his body, causing his sunken heart and breathing to pick up pace as he gazed at her bloodshot eyes.

She was dead, her neck snapped, she was supposed to be dead, she was supposed to…

"I heal quickly."

His eyes widened underneath his damaged mask.

She was different.

She was alive.

She was…

She unsheathed her claws and from her mouth came the most vicious howl he's ever heard.

"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"