Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Spectacular Characters, Marvel Characters, or any of the Disney properties… I just do this for fun :)
CONNORS' RESIDENCE
During the breezy early Tuesday morning, Gwen laid awake on a quite thin mattress in the guest bedroom. Mary Jane wasn't far, sleeping on the mattress above. Unlike Gwen though, Mary Jane was sound asleep, on the Day-bed. 'How did Mary Jane do it? Is she always this laid back?'
Gwen felt quite uncomfortable, sleeping anywhere but in her own soft bed. Familiarity made it easier to sleep. Not like she didn't get glimpses of rest, but for most of the night, she was restless.
'It's weird we haven't seen Billy all day or all night. Did something happen to him?—Mrs. Connors didn't seem this protective of Billy before. Who knows, it's their business—who am I to bud in?'
Her eyelids drooped down, as the drowsiness kicked in, as she laid on her side, about to get some much-needed rest—
BAM!
It startled her, when suddenly something distantly rattled from below. Her restlessness worsened, hearing the unsettling noises grow boisterously. 'HOLY—WHAT WAS THAT?!'
Her gut told her to stay in the room. Yet her curiosity told her otherwise. So she tippy-toed out of the room, and onto the creaky hallway floor. Her ear tracked those chilling sounds all the way to the dark hallway of the dingy basement. She took a deep breath, before entering the hallway. 'Are there no lights here? I should've brought a flashlight'
A few steps later, the blonde felt the basement door, so she put her ear to the basement door. Everything was quiet. 'Maybe I'm just hearing things—I shouldn't be down here anyways…'
Those thoughts changed when the sounds of growling, as the basement door violently shook. It startled her, making her stomach turn inside out. 'OH-MY—HOLY SH-'
She quickly stepped back, and babbled to herself, "Oh-my-god–oh-my-god–oh-my-god—what's in there?!"
Suddenly the constant disturbing noises went silent. Gwen heavily huffed and puffed, with her heart nearly pumping out of her chest. Without another thought, she wandered away from the door.
Till, suddenly, she heard the door eerily creak open. She turned to see nothing in the hallway's darkness. Unaware, something pierced out of the darkness. Bold-glowing eyes with pupils resembling a reptile. Those striking eyes darted around, with its snout sniffing, and its mouth snarling. Then its eyes locked onto Gwen, which instinctually she booked it. Instantly, on its two hind legs, it powerfully lunged toward her, ready to pounce on its next meal.
Before it could, an urgent Curt Connors burst in there, and tackled the creature. He held a large syringe and urgently stabbed it in its neck.
The biologist quickly checked on the panicked teen, "Are you hurt?"
She anxiously shook her head, wheezing.
Slowly in his arms, the creature bloodcurdlingly transformed. It twisted, jerked, twitched in his arms, till it reverted to his beloved son, Billy.
Billy lowly uttered, "Dad, it happened again…"
'WHA- OH MY GOSH! THAT WAS BILLY?! HE-HE'S—How could this happen?!'
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Gwen-"
She frantically interrogated, "What happened to Billy, Dr. Connors? What'd you do to him?!"
"I did what I needed, to help Billy live his life"
He hurried his son back into the basement. In disbelief, she followed them down the stairs of that dingy place.
She called for his attention, "Dr. Connors!"
He ignored her, occupied with his son. He gently lowered his son on a cushioned table and injected an IV into the boy's right arm.
Curtis passively ordered, "Can you please hand me that vial?"
"Not handing you anything till you tell me what's going on with Billy…please"
Curtis gulped, "Alright—alright, I'll tell you. Promise me, Gwen don't tell this to anyone. Understood?"
Gwen assuringly nodded in response, as she handed him the vial.
Curt told himself, "Alright, here it goes-"
With total transparency, leaving New York was perfect for Martha and Curtis. A chance to start fresh, and leave the past behind. Especially after all the Lizard madness, creepy co-workers, and supervillain science experiments. The worst thing was that the madness didn't stay outside of their former lab, it was in it, erupting from it. Nearly every freak of the week that terrorized New York City erupted out of that ESU lab. And that guilt lingered with Martha and Curtis. So Florida was their life raft.
When they arrived in Florida, Billy paid more attention to his father's experiments, knowing that he'd have to do this someday. And they're starting from scratch, so they had no "trustworthy" interns. So Billy stepped up to the plate.
Especially on one fateful Friday night, Billy was stuck, waiting for his father to finish his work. He'd gotten bored with playing the same educational games on the computer with all the entertaining sites blocked by his parents. The young Billy would rather die.
So he checked on his father's work, and what he could do to kill time.
He approached his dad and asked, "Dad, what do you need help with?"
Curtis rejected, "No Billy."
"C'mon, I've seen you do these long enough. I can help," the boy insisted.
"Billy, not now. Almost done here, just please touch nothing"
"C'mon Dad… please. I can do it. I know you're tired"
He was right, Curtis was absolutely running on fumes at that moment.
"Fine… remember to grab the-"
"I know Dad, I've seen you do this a hundred times"
From the corner of his eye, there was a green serum labeled P. Billy had grown familiar with that serum, so he confidently grabbed it and mixed it with sodium and barium. Just like his father did it.
"See, I did it," the boy smiled at his dad.
Still, his dad had this worrisome look on his face. There was always something to worry about in the back of his head. Suddenly, some strange sizzling started. 'This is normal, right?'
Growling louder and louder, which caused the young Billy's confident demeanor to collapse. Especially when he looked down and saw the full label of the green serum, Peroxides.
The boy quickly admitted, "Ohnononono! I messed up, Dad! Real bad!"
"Wait, what-"
BOOM!
The blast blew the father and son viciously away. It took Curtis a minute to get off the floor, unable to fully process what happened. There was no time for it, once he caught sight of the treacherous flames surrounding them, and they kept growing.
He called out for his son, "BILLY!"
His vision had become hazy, with the hot sweat in his eyes. But through the sweat and blood seeping into his eyes, he could vividly see his son's body, with his blood staining the floor.
"Oh god, Billy!"
He quickly picked him up and ran out of the building. Sure wasn't careful though, as he stumbled on some glass, with no doubt that some of it was in his leg. However, his sight was nearly nonexistent, especially when blinking stung.
But that couldn't stop him from making it to the nearby clinic.
The father helplessly cried out, once he entered, "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP MY SON!"
He barely could walk or see, so his voice was all that he could use.
"We must get this kid to a bed, NOW!" one nurse emphasized, rolling out the stretcher.
And Curtis let go of Billy's body as the nurses took him away on a stretcher. He couldn't see a thing, yet he felt his son's blood on his fingertips. That's when tears fell down his cheek.
"Sir, we need to get you to a bed too," another nurse urged, as they moved him to a hospital bed.
Not long after, his distraught wife, Martha Connors arrived at the clinic. Paranoia rushed to her head, especially after getting a call like that. She suspected and expected the worst, with her eyes watering up. Yet there was no time to cry…. Not for her. Not yet.
Till one surgeon sat her down and told her the unfortunate news. They'd have to amputate Billy's right arm and left leg.
She couldn't fight the tears back anymore. Tears broke through her barriers, as she couldn't imagine the horror Billy will face. Face the problems his father faced, losing his limb, and trying to adjust to it. And Billy… he's just a kid. He was their kid.
"Mrs. Connors, if we don't do this procedure, it will lead to infection, and eventually death. Unfortunately, it's our best option," the surgeon insisted.
She subtly nodded, through the heavy tears trickling from her eyes.
The afternoon after, Curtis woke up in his hospital bed… with his eyes, no longer covered with that blinding sweat. And the first thing he saw was his wife in the room, sitting by his side. Her face stood emotionless, with this blank stare, with no more tears left to cry. Those remaining tears dried on her face.
Martha lowly mentioned, "Um… Billy is still in surgery. The doctor said it'd be another several hour s."
Curtis confessed as he got up from the hospital bed, "This…was… all… my… fault."
"What do you mean?"
"I let him pour something in… and he messed up…"
"You let him do your work?"
"It was for a sec-"
"That's why he's in here!" Martha shouted. "Yeah… yeah it was… he lost an arm and a leg for it, CURT!"
His heart dropped to the floor and shattered.
'I need to get out of here! '
He immediately paged for a nurse, leaving his wife stunned.
"Curt, what are you doing?!"
"I can't stay here. I can't be in a hospital bed"
"So what? You're not going to stay with your son?!"
"Martha, there is no use for me here. Don't you get it?"
"No, I don't get it Curt. And so won't he?"
He sighed to himself, with his lip quivering, "Please, I need to be discharged now!"
The nurse assured, "I'll get right on it." .
He turned to Martha, who he could barely look at… especially with her eyes welling up.
"I'm sorry," he mouthed, before he gave a small peck on her cheek.
She had to leave, in utter shock about this behavior. What kind of father would leave their son while he's in surgery? A son who is in a need of support, and needs the love of a father, and a mother. That's what ran through Curtis's head when he exited that hospital hours after.
A month later, there he was, in the new basement, he built himself. It wasn't super structurally sound, but it got the job done, being his personal lab. He persistently worked on something that could give Billy his old life back. This was the only solution that his mind could wrap around. Not prosthetics. Not another robot arm. He couldn't stand to see his son Billy use prosthetics and rely on physical therapy for more than a year. So he did something that made sense, since it worked on him for a time… before chaos happened. He persistently recreated his infamous lizard serum, but tweaking it through the dilution of the reptilian DNA, meanwhile mixing it with human DNA. A perfect balance… for his son.
Suddenly, Martha walked in on him. It'd been the longest time since he'd seen her. Although he knew she stopped by sometimes to pick up clothes for Billy.
She confronted, "This is what you've been doing the whole time, Curt?! Instead of visiting your son… you're-"
He reasoned, "Trying to cure our son."
"That is not a cure for this, Curt—remember what it did to you?!"
"This serum is going to do what's intended… give people their lives back… this can give it back to our son. All of it"
She took a step back, stunned after hearing this reasoning.
"Martha, you must let me do this. Do this for Billy… I know what it's like to miss a part of myself… And I know he'll be feeling that too," he confessed.
And her eyes welled up again. She was as desperate as he was, hating to see their son constantly struggling without his limbs.
"You're sure this could work?…"
"On my life"
Nearly a week later, after Martha had to do a lot of convincing to the hospital, to bring him home. Even claiming they'd find their own physical therapist.
So they discharged Billy and brought him home. But right as they arrived, Martha immediately blindfolded Billy, and brought him down to the basement, in his wheelchair. Curtis already prepped all the tools he'd need, in case the serum goes south. But he didn't want to think about that.
So he approached his son with the syringe, and inserted the serum into Billy's right arm, or what's left of it. Not long after, he took another one and injected it into an area above his left leg. And he could tell his son wasn't a fan of the shots, with the little grimace on his face. Curtis had the same face, which was filled with doubt. Especially once he saw the monstrous transformation occur.
What if he created another cannibalistic monster?
What if he loses his son in all of this?
What if he wasted an entire month on this?
What if his marriage explodes because of this?
What if it works as intended?
The doubts in his head were gone once he saw his son's limbs regrow before his eyes. He cautiously stepped closer to him, before he embraced his boy. His touch felt very human–with it responding even faster than expected.
Even with this success, the worry lingered with Martha. For the next couple weeks, that worry would grow, as the Lizard DNA would slowly change Billy. It started small, with reptilian scales growing on his back. Automatically alarmed, Martha believing the gene cleanser was the only way to prevent further transformation. But Curtis disagreed, so he created a treatment to subdue the potent reptilian DNA. Then the next day, those scales relievingly disappeared. Slowly, after several treatments, Billy's reptilian side slowly grew immune to it. But Curtis never considered using the gene cleanser, believing they'll pull through. However, Martha didn't have the same belief, so she contacted the greatest mind she trusted about their lizard problem, in Gwen Stacy.
As they were treating Billy, now, the biologist confessed, "We planned on telling you during lunch—that's the main reason we invited you here."
Her eyes bulged out of her skull, as she froze, "Wait what?!"
"We needed you… and Peter… to help us with Billy. It's accelerating so quickly. You're the only ones that can help us do both"
Gwen rolled her eyes in disbelief and sat down to process of this. 'This was all a trap?! All of this—Makes sense why Mrs. Connors kept insisting me to come here… I can leave—Me and Mary Jane can literally run away from all of this…MADNESS'
Then her eyes settled on the young boy knocked out on the operating table.
'But what good would that do for Billy?… I can't just leave him here–we can save him for good'
Not long after, a startled Martha Connors found them down there.
She noticed Gwen standing next to her son's laying body, with this blank, haunted stare. It reminded her of how she was more than a month ago.
The mother's voice trembled, "Gwen–I can explain-"
"I already told her everything honey"
"Dr. Connors did… and we gotta work quick Mrs. Connors, before it's too late," Gwen urged.
"We're going to need all the help we can get"
"You think we can get Peter here?"
"Don't know. He's probably with his girlfriend. But I can give him a call"
Once she dialed him up, it went straight to Peter's voicemail: 'Hey it's Peter, I'm probably busy at the moment… but I promise to call you back if I ever get the time… so you know what to do!'
Just then, from below, they distantly heard a frantic Mary Jane, calling out Gwen's name. "UH-GWEN, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Martha asked, "What about your friend? Can she help?"
"Uh-actually–let me get her," Gwen stepped out, and searched for her friend.
"MARY JANE, WE'RE DOWN HERE," Gwen yelled.
"Thank god you're okay, Gwen. I know they're your mentors and all, but this place gives me the creeps," Mary Jane expressed.
"I know. But right now we need your help."
"Help with what?"
Gwen quickly led her inside the basement.
"Mary Jane, meet Billy"
Mary Jane's jaw dropped after what she'd just seen. She didn't know where to begin. The poor boy, lying there, asleep on the stretcher, with an IV in him.
Mary Jane immediately offered, "How can I help?"
…
DREAMING - THE MOTEL
Sometimes early in the morning, it's good to start off small, and focus on the simple things. Liz had that belief, laying on her side and observed her sleeping boyfriend. Peter was still handsome, even with his eye bags, small bruises and bumps on his face. Sure, they all were noticeable, but didn't worsen his beauty. To Liz, it enhanced it. Also didn't hurt that he had such a chiseled frame, underneath that suit.
Liz whispered to herself, "Never noticed there's a bruise there…"
Peter smiled as he rubbed his eyes, "That's a weird way to say good morning. But good morning to you too, babe."
She giggled before giving him a good morning kiss on the lips.
"Don't worry… no matter how many bruises you get–You're still the cutest guy at school"
"Sounds like a stretch. But thanks for feeding my ego, babe"
"Anything for you, Mr. Parker"
Instantly, he pulled her in closer. His fingers lovingly combed her hair behind her ear, before fiercely locking lips. Liz quickly pulled away and quickly rose off him. She ravishingly took off her oversized top, revealing her prized possessions. A small grin grew on Peter's face at the sight of this.
She seductively teased, "Like what you see?"
He instantly nodded, with that goofy grin stuck on his face. She smiled before she went down on him and passionately smooched his lips and-
BRRING-RING-RING-RING! RING-RING-RING-RING! BRRING-RING-RING-RING!
Her phone erratically vibrated and sounded on the table next to her.
Liz drowsily requested, "Petey, can you get the phone for me, please-"
She rolled over to feel nobody next to her, and her heart sank. 'Petey c'mon–he said he'd be back in the morning–ugh! Is he okay? He said it was supposed to be quick!'
Without looking, her hand sloppily grabbed her phone, and she checked who it was. 'INCOMING CALL FROM MAY PARKER.' The instant she saw her name, she flusteredly sprung up from her bed and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hello! Good Morning Elizabeth—sorry to bother you this early, but is Peter okay? He hasn't been answering any of my messages or calls"
"Oh, he's-um—sleeping in right now. He was not feeling too great last night"
"Is it serious? Does he need a doctor?"
"Don't think so. He just needs some rest"
"Okay then. Had me worried there—Please let me know once he gets better, Elizabeth"
"I will"
"Thank you, Elizabeth… You've been really good to him"
"Anything for Petey"
"Of course. Keep me updated, okay?"
"Okay, bye-bye…"
'Phew, that didn't go that bad!'
The brunette was about to dial up her boyfriend again, till she noticed the 16 times she already called, last night. Nonetheless, she gave it one more try. Instantly, it played Peter's voicemail: 'Hey it's Peter, I'm probably busy at the moment… but I promise to call you back if I ever get the time… so you know what to do!'
She rolled in eyes in disbelief, hearing that same voicemail for the 17th time in 12 hours.
'Ohmygod, ohmygod ohmygod—What're you doing to me Peter?! You're killing me! Please don't tell me he's dea—don't even think about that Lizzy… What're you thinking–he's not—he's Spider-Man'
The instant she sat down, to wrap her head around this, a loud knock sounded on the door.
'KNOCK-KNOCK'
'Please be Petey, please be Petey… so I don't gotta keep worrying on my vacation!'
Instead, Sally Avril's familiar voice sounded through the door, "Lizzy, you in there?"
"Just a minute Sal!"
Liz urgently closed all the blinds, and windows. She grabbed extra pillows, shoved it underneath the blanket. Liz knew she had to be convincing, so she grabbed one of his hoodies, and covered one pillow with it. Placing it on its side, so it appeared as if Peter was actually resting.
"Huh, that works," she told herself.
Her friend spat, "Ugh please don't tell me you two were doing what I think you're doing-"
"I'm not-I mean–We're not, Sal!"
"Well, hurry up! They're already eating breakfast, which you can pass on, since nothing is vegan–what a disgrace by the way—but after that, we're FINALLY gonna go to Disneyworld! For once, some actual fun!"
A second later, Liz weaved out through the small gap she gave herself through the door.
"Alright, let's go Sally"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, your make-up looks so… rushed, Lizzy!"
"I just woke up Sal. It's fine–Nobody's gonna care-"
"Also Parker's not going?"
"Petey isn't. Turns out being at the beach did a number on him last night, so he's not feeling too well. Gotta let him rest"
"Hmmm–hope the geek gets better. Guess he's missing out, and you're stuck with me the whole time!"
"Yup…"
Sally beamed, "It's gonna be a blast!"
Liz passively sighed, "Totally…"
Meanwhile, for the past ten minutes, as everyone was out the door, ready to start their glorious adventure, the reclusive Harry Osborn controlled his patrolling OsDrone from his room. He made sure that his tweaks on the drone worked. First, it had to be as quiet as a mouse, as it patrolled around the skies. Second, that the experimental cloaking mechanism worked, making the drone absolutely invisible.
His first test for the drone was to scout for Peter in his room. His curiosity got the best of him, so for the past ten minutes, that drone locked onto that one window of Peter and Liz's room. It saw everything. From Liz moving around in the bed to her answering her phone. But it bewildered him since he only spotted Liz, not Peter.
Harry questioned, while reviewing the footage, "Where's Pete?"
…
SHIELD
Peter's memory kept wandering back to the last thing Fury told him, "So you, Peter Parker, are gonna paying for the sins of your father and your mother."
Just then, Peter frantically woke up in his cell with a splitting headache, without a clue how long he knocked out. His face felt sticky, with his spandex suit smelling somewhat fried. And he felt absolutely fried, like he fought with Electro, but worse.
Not long after, he felt someone gazing him down, so he gazed up to see a blonde-haired man in a unique uniform, in front of his cell. He defensively sprung his fists up, at the sight of the man.
The man advised, "I'd keep away from touching that force-field, son. It electrocutes-"
Peter spat, "I know. I've had firsthand experience with it. Anyway-Who are you?"
"Fury told me to watch on you in the meantime"
"That doesn't answer my question, WHO ARE YOU?"
"It's classified"
"Like everything here—Why's everything here classified?!"
"It's a secret government agency, Peter. That's usually how it works"
"But it seems like everyone knows my name just fine… even though I have the mask on"
"That happens when nearly everyone knows about your parent's history, with this agency"
"What's Hydra? That's the last thing I remember hearing on my parent's audio file… so what was it? Bet you know more than I do"
"Where do I even start—well, I remember back in 45, we were taking down a Hydra plane-"
"1945? It's 2010 now… But you barely look a day over 27!"
"That's what happens when you're in ice for decades"
"DECADES?!"
"Six decades actually—That's what the doctors told me a couple days ago," the soldier admitted. "Anyways, Hydra were the bullies—out to hurt everyone who went against them. Made sense since they're a faction of the Nazi regime, during World War II," he explained.
'Why would my parents do this?! Now my legacy is filled with Nazis!'
"And by the end of the war, Hydra threw a Hail Mary and wanted more harm. So I had to deter a Hydra plane away from the US. But it had to be submerged… which I submerged"
"Was that your only option?"
"It was the only option I saw, where it protected the people and country I loved so… I had no regrets"
"Bet you lost alot, sir. Might be too personal, but were you married?"
"No. But I found the love of my life during the war… My Peggy," he lingered. "It's a part of the job, son, of protecting people," he confessed.
"I get it, more than you ever know"
"Actually, I've seen it, from the footage Fury got of you. It's truly Spectacular… you've done alot of good in New York City"
"You been?"
"Born and raised in Brooklyn. You?"
"Queens—got the best sandwiches in the city"
"It's been a while since I had a good sandwich"
"Maybe I can take you sometime… you know, when I'm not behind a cell"
"Truly wishful thinking, Peter"
"You seem like a good person to hang around sir"
"Circumstances aside, you seem like an amazing kid. Not fair that Fury's taking it all on you, even though I get his resentment—it shouldn't be towards you though. You didn't make those choses, and shouldn't have to pay for them either. I'm gonna have a word with Fury about this"
"Thank you, sir"
"Please, call me Steve, Peter"
"Then thank you… Steve"
Through the security cameras, Nick Fury diligently watched their interactions, with visible doubt on his scarred face. If the soldier proclaimed as "Captain America" questioned the super-spy's judgment, something was off.
…
CONNORS' RESIDENCE
Back in the Connors' basement lab, as Curt and Martha continued their several hours of work to cure Billy's condition, the young women took a break from handling experimental vials, and spent their time with Billy. The girls barely realized that this basement was the boy's room. But it made sense, considering all the clutter that was in this basement, was something expected of a 12-year-old boy's room. With a plethora of animated films shoved into the shelves while his toys set on his makeshift desk.
One toy, of a particular wall-crawler, caught their eye.
Gwen observed, "Didn't know they sold Spider-Man toys."
Billy commented, "Yeah-no, it was custom made. My dad got it made for me before we moved."
Mary Jane acknowledged, "Wow, you loved Spider-Man that much, huh?"
"Who doesn't? He saves a bunch of people, like my dad, get's the pretty girl, and got a sick costume!"
"He definitely does"
"That's why I'm bummed out we moved, cuz I wouldn't be able to see him swing around. I just clips of it, on the internet"
"You know Billy, we have a friend that takes pictures of Spidey. Maybe once you get outta here, he could get you an autograph"
"You'd think he'd do that for me?!"
"It's Spider-Man, he'd do anything for you!"
"LET'S GO!"
Billy had this gleeful, excited smile on his face, which was contagious to the two teenagers, who smiled with him. Through all the smiles, and excitement, Gwen noticed the boy's right hand tremble. Hastily, as the redhead calmed him down, the blonde injected one of the last vials of Billy's treatment into his IV.
Martha called her over, "Gwen, we need you over here… please!"
MJ gave her an assuring nod, before turning her attention back on Billy, who was fidgeting with his action figure.
Billy questioned, "So…why are you here? Both of you… we usually don't get much visitors, especially girls."
Mary Jane explained, "Won't lie to you, it's cuz we're going to DisneyWorld for a school retreat."
Billy raved, "I love DisneyWorld! Everything about it is such an escape!"
"That's awesome! We were actually supposed to go today!"
"Awe man, what changed?"
"I guess, I wanted to hang you, buddy," she smiled.
She patted him on his head, which a small smirk grew on his face. Then they goofed off, playing with his collection of action figures.
Martha commented, "She's really good with him. It's been a while since Billy smiled like that!"
She glared at her husband, to see a frown on his face, as he focused back on his work.
Several minutes later, they finished filling up the vials of more treatment. So they had some time to step back and 'tolerate' each other's company.
Curtis asked, "So Gwen… any college you're committed to yet?"
"Nothing yet… Still mulling my many options," she softly admitted, twiddling her thumbs.
"Not considering Empire State?"
"Oh, I'm considering. But must admit, it's not the same without you guys," Gwen confessed. "And not to be rude, but Dr. Warren… gives me the creeps," she added.
"Gwen… that's not very nice," Martha chucked.
"But he's certainly not the best mentor to have," Curtis admitted.
"Don't worry, I already had the best mentor… my dad"
"How is he these days?"
"Still busy at the precinct… especially in his area where there's always something up… most days recently where he's been coming home real late. He always tells me not to worry, but I can't help it. That's my dad"
"Your dad always seemed like a good one. Always doing plenty for the city"
"He is… that's why I want to stay close by"
"Ah okay–but do you have alot of schools taking you overseas?"
"Yep. It's crazy, I even got accepted to Oxford!"
"Wow, the one in London?"
"Yep. It's an awesome opportunity… that I have given little thought to"
"Why not?"
"It's just hard leaving my dad. It was already hard for me to leave this trip, but he insisted I take a break"
"Fathers, oh how very insistent they are"
Martha sharply glared at Billy's father, with discontent, and worry.
Their downtime could only last for so long, till Mary Jane alarmingly yelled, "GWEN, COME QUICK!"
Suddenly panic flooded the atmosphere of the room once they heard MJ's scream.
They rushed over to her and noticed the massive lizard scales quickly growing on the child's neck. They checked his hands, which developed reptilian-like claws.
Gwen heart broke at the sight of it.
The redhead restlessly stammered, stringing her words together, "IdontknowwhatIdid—we'rejustplayingaroundandhestartedtwitching–Itriedinjectingmoreofthatstuffbutnothing'sworking!"
"It's nothing you did, Mary Jane"
Billy screamed, "MOM! Something's wrong with my eyes!"
Martha moved closer to comfort her son, "Stop rubbing your eyes, honey! And show me Billy!"
And he opened his eyes and showed her. Instantly her heart shattered from what she saw, with cold shivers sent down her spine.
"CURT!"
Curtis's heart raced out of his chest. Chills were sporadic in his arms. And he just stood frozen, in utter shock, with pain and guilt burned in his eyes. He thought he perfected it. From the amount of hours devoted to the exact calculations, to the exact amount of conducted electricity to apply to the serum. Yet… the same result, shattered Curtis's heart in every single way.
Now the only solution that made sense to the desperate Curtis Connors was his failsafe, the wretched gene cleanser. He unwillingly made it to ease his wife's worries. But he never thought he'd want to use it since it would undo every single hour invested with that new serum. At that moment, however, it was hard to pick against it.
He could tell Billy's condition had gotten so severe. So far gone, this crusade they've spent nearly the whole day on, was useless.
Every single second, he saw another scale appear.
Every single second, he saw his son disappear.
Every single second, he saw the monstrous creature slowly erupt out of his son.
Without another thought, the anxious father frantically ran over and grabbed the gene cleanser.
"BILLY OPEN YOUR MOUTH, NOW!"
He hurried it over to his son, with the cleanser, ready to pour it down his throat. As he was about to undo everything, to save his son, by pouring the gene cleanser into his mouth, he felt some resistance. Billy's monstrous arm gripped that vial away from his mouth. Curtis tried pushing back, but it wouldn't give. He felt the power of the lizard erupt in full force on his prosthetic arm.
"Dad…" Billy gulped. "It's happening," he warned.
'You must be kidding me–You can't do this to me–You can't. You can't do this to him! Dear God…'
But the father persisted, spilling drops of the cleanser into his mouth. The creature winced before viciously lashing out. Sending Curtis flying, with his prosthetic arm ripped off.
All the startled ladies stepped back in horror, as the monstrous creature slowly burst out of the boy's skin.
First was the enormous tail, emerged out of his rear.
His neck repeatedly twitched… left–right–left, as if it snapped and reformed itself. His mouth filled with massive razor-sharp teeth, erupting out of his gums.
His hands grew large, with its visceral claws.
His feet were unrecognizable, covered in reptilian skin and toes with the sharpest of nails. But those piercing reptilian eyes… sent chills down their spines. They didn't even know if that was their son under all that reptilian skin. In fact, the little boy, Martha, Curtis, Gwen, and even Mary Jane, all knew… was no more. Now, before them, was a reptilian-humanoid beast. THE LIZARD.
The father muttered in horror, "What have I done…"
TO BE CONTINUED…