Chapter 19
Howdy everyone! Hope you're all doing fantastic sure it's been a busy 2 months for me and i'm so sorry for the delay it took to get this out but my chapters just are taking ages to produce like our last two chapters were 11k and 10k (9750 or something to be precise) instead of the usual 5k and this one is 13,620 there's just so much I want to write! I also took the time to re-read over the arc so i knew where the tone stood for my plans for this chapter which took a while to plan out and I hope you enjoy this chapter because of it.
So I need to address the elephant in the room, my Harry Potter x My Hero Academia crossover Tribulations is up and just wow guys the reception on that has been incredible and i just had to say for anyone who crossed over from here, thank you so much for giving it a try :) In regards to updates this story is still my main though and will be receiving primary focus for the foreseable future but the next chapter for Tribulations does have about 4,400 words already wrote so it's progressing rapidly and i'm working on it the second i post this chapter so it will be the next thing posted, which means the April chapter for this story may be later or postponed to May.
Onto the reviews Ladies and Gentleman! This is one of my favourite parts, I love hearing the feedback :)
Bufa Mic: Thank you for the review and I think your name should appear finally! You've been a fantastic reviewer and it's taken ages to get your name to show up, apparently this site doesn't like things that appear as links, I should've remembered that but it's fixed now I hope.
Anyway in regards to where the chapter is, here it is 2 months late, sorry about that there's just alot to cram into these Florida chapters that it takes a ton of research to write and whilst re-reading the arc i realised that the plot hadn't really moved too much in some aspects so i hope to fix that here.
Darth-Strike45: Thank you so much for the review, that's really nice to hear that you're enjoying it :) But to hear it's a bit like "Fighting Crime Spinning Webs" is a freaking massive compliment sure that's what inspired me to write this so thanks so much :D
Harry's a tricky one, i've no endgame for him yet so who knows what he'll do.
Good eye btw ;)
Superflash123: Thank you for the review and tip! Can barely walk at the moment though for medical reasons so that avenue's kinda crossed off till i recover a bit more.
"Spectacular" = Speech
'Spectacular' = Thoughts
"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote
*BANG* = Important Noise?
-Flashback- = Flashback setting
"I love you" = Written words
{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date
Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.
Climbing out of a manhole in one of the alleyways in central Orlando, Spider-man realised he had a very moldy banana peel on his head which he noticed with wide eyes.
"Ew." Spider-man groaned in disgust as he picked up the banana peel with two fingers and threw it to the side before climbing up the rest of the way out of the sewers where he'd last seen Marko heading after the fire hydrant incident before he swung out of the alleyway and onto main street.
Swinging down the main street of Orlando Spider-man kept his eyes out for Flint Marko, aka Sandman, who'd escaped from him recently after fleeing from the company he was investigating then attacking him when he tried to helped.
'I don't know what's going on but Marko looked like he needs help.' Spider-man thought to himself as he searched for the wayward man through the alleyways and streets of Orlando who'd been absent from the sewers and now seemed to be absent from the streets too.
'Where is he? Don't tell me he was captured again? i'll check my last guess before I break in to Florida Unlimited.' Spider-man decided as he made his way towards Cocoa beach, after all if Marko was worried about being captured then it may be the most obvious place to hide to but it was also where he was the strongest.
Reaching the beach relatively fast, Spider-man let out a sigh of relief at who he saw standing under the moonlight watching the waves crash onto the beach infront of him.
"Marko!" Spider-man called out as he ran up beside Sandman who was standing there in his iconic green striped shirt and brown pants, a melancholy look on his face as he gazed out at the crashing waves smashing into the sandy beach.
"...Hey Spider-man." Sandman said quietly as he stared out at the abyss that was the dark ocean, the ocassional red light of a buoy shinning like a beacon in the darkness.
"Marko... are you okay? What's going on, I thought you were dead?" Spider-man asked carefully as he rememberd the rage Sandman had been in when he'd attacked him and shot towards him like Mr Fantastic had before he'd been hit by the water from the fire hydrant.
"So did I." Sandman sighed before he continued. "Last thing I remember was helping all those workers and just barely making it out alive when some guys jumped me and fucking hoovered me up, next thing I know i'm in a vat being experimented on for months."
"...I'm so sorry, i-if I had known you were alive I would've co-." Spider-man whispered regretfully to Sandman who waved him off and shook his head before he said something that Spider-man would always remember even if he didn't immedietly agree with them.
"Sometimes bad things happen despite our best efforts, they aren't always failures in life, sometimes it's just life." Sandman said sadly as he revealed one of the truths of the world to Spider-man which caused his eyes to widen in shock as he heard something so brutally honest that went against what he believed.
"But if I had just tried harder then I could've saved you! With great power comes great responsibility and my responsibility is to save everyone, ...something that I keep failing at." Spider-man protested vehemently before finishing with a quiet whisper before he sighed and looked up at Marko before he could say something.
"Do you know anything about the people who abducted you? I've been investigating Florida Unlimited for awhile now and all i've discovered so far is that they have no internet presence, they're involved in shady companies back in New York, they seem to be involved in the drug trade and human trafficking/ experimentation based on what happened to you." Spider-man explained as he layed out the situation bluntly to distract from the previous topic, something that Sandman noticed but didn't comment on.
"...I'll say it to you but I ain't saying it to the cops. There was this scientist guy they kept bringing in, pale skin, black hair and just real sickly looking but i overheard him telling the rest of the workers who were experimenting on me that 'Kingpin doesn't tolerate failures'." Sandman explained which got a serious look from Spider-man.
"So it is Kingpin...do you think this scientist might know something about him?" Spider-man asked which got a bewildered look from Sandman, his mouth slightly parted and eyebrows furrowed as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Oi, you're not thinking of going after Kingpin are you?! You've heard what happens to people who go after him haven't you?" Sandman asked incredulously before he continued speaking in a serious manner. "He's nothing like Tombstone man, he's a myth to most for a reason: The thought of someone that foul lurking in the darkness is too horrifying an idea for them."
"...It's my responsibility." Spider-man said firmly which got Sandman to put his head in his hands and groan at the stubborness of his...frienemy? It worked for now.
"Did you hear anything else about this scientist?" Spider-man asked Sandman as he tried to find out as much about the new lead as possible, Daredevil would be interested in this scientist aswell so it was best they had enough info to build a profile on.
"...You're not gonna drop this? Fine, fuck you. The workers called him Dr.M but honestly between my screams and the time i spent unconcious while they tried experimenting on me i really didn't hear too much so can we just drop it Spidey?" Sandman said reluctantly whilst Spider-man pinched his chin in thought at Sandmans words.
'So Dr.M, M is likely an initial we'll need to search for ' Spider-man thought to himself as he realised that their best chance at finding this Dr.M might just be whilst he was still in Florida, atleast thanks to Sandman he knew that Dr.M would be centered around Florida Unlimited as that's where he escaped from so that's where he was headed.
*BRING*
Atleast, that's where he was heading had his alarm not gone off to remind him to get back to the resort, he'd just have to head there after visiting the Connors tomorrow. Waving goodbye to Marko, Spider-man shot two webs to either points of far away objects and flung himself into the air and off the beach before he began swinging the rest of the way towards the resort and a good nights sleep.
llllll
Peter smiled as the group consisting of him, Gwen, Harry and MJ walked around the Kennedy Space Center, mainly The Rocket Garden as the first area known as the Heros and Legends Exhibit was currently under renovation. The New York Museum had a new Heros and Legends Exhibit that was based on this first area and part of the revenue from it was going into funding the renovation costs for the original here in Orlando.
It was a sunny day and after getting a lead on this Dr.M, Peter felt like he was on top of the world, him and Daredevil might actually be a step ahead of this criminal master mind who'd ruined so many lives.
Walking beneath the rockets that had been used to send Americans like John Jamesson and sattelites into space Peter couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in his country for their tenacity and teamwork in such a monumental endevour. Humanity had joined together and fought back against the natural law of gravity itself and ascended into the heavens above in an amazing display of the ingenuity that would go on to inspire to millions more around the world.
Walking to the end of the garden with both MJ and Peter pausing to take some pictures, the group enjoyed the sun shinning down on them, which made Peter understand why Harry had arranged for his lawyer stuff to take place over the phone later in the day.
Peter and his friends made their way to the line for the bus tour which would take them to the next couple of areas whilst going past a couple of landmarks on the since they were there as early as could be, bar a walk through The Rocket Garden, they were quick to get onto the bus and get seats on the right side which was apparently notoriously better for views of the landmarks.
MJ let Peter have the window seat this time as this was more his and Gwen's areas of expertise what with all the science whilst Harry took the window seat in the seats infront of Peter and MJ leaving Gwen with the aisle.
The bus started and soon they were travelling through the expansive launch sites seeing landmarks such as the absolutely massive vehicle assembly building that was designed to build four rockets at once, the Space X launch site known as Launch Complex 39A until they made it to the Apollo and Saturn 5 Center.
"Can you guys believe it? These are the actual consoles used for the Apollo launches!" Peter geeked out heavily as they walked into the first attraction, The Firing Room Theatre which allows you to relive the launch of the first crewed mission to orbit the moon by NASA.
"No way! I knew they were used in the 1968 launches, but were they used for Apollo 11 aswell?" Gwen geeked out just as heavily as her and Peter chatted and gazed around the room in wonder whilst MJ watched on with a smile, Harry beside her looking on with a snear.
The experience didn't last too long but it was very enjoyable for those with an interest in the Apollo era of space travel, felt like a blast to the past for Peter back to when Aunt May and Uncle Ben would've been young.
Walking out of the attraction brought the group to the centerpiece of the Apollo and Saturn 5 Center, a restored saturn 5 launch vehicle, the largest rocket ever built as they wandered around at the different exhibits.
'This is amazing! There's so much here, wait- is that the first American Astronaut Alan Shephard's space suit!' Peter thought to himself in shock giddily as he vanished from the group with his camera to go get a picture of the legendary piece of not only American memorbilia but Space memorbilia aswell.
*CLICK*
'That is so cool, I so need to get my picture taken with this suit! Maybe Gwen could take it?' Peter thought to himself before contemplating who could take the picture for him and looking for Gwen when she sprung to mind.
Want to know something about the universe? It loves irony. So of course whilst Peter was looking around through the somewhat busy crowd for Gwens telltale blonde hair, Peter in his distracted state managed to bump into a certain someone.
"Who scuffed my shoe, I swear if they don't apo- oh Petey." Liz said angrily before finishing coldly once she saw exactly who it was and to say she looked nonplussed would be an understatement, there was barely a hint of emotion on her face.
"Hey Liz...Look about last time I don't know what i did but i'm so sor-" Whatever Peter was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of a third person.
"Hey Peter have you seen Alan Shephard's space suit, it's amazing!" Gwen interrupted Peter as she joined the conversation excitedly and obliviously, unaware of who Peter was talking to.
Liz didn't stay to hear another word, just turned and left walking off and if Peter strained his ears he swore he could hear Sally speaking in the crowd that had just swallowed Liz.
"We get up early, take a shuttle bus to avoid them and still bump into those geeks what the fuck?!" Sally ranted from somewhere infront of them as her voice trailed off whilst Gwen turned a slightly worried look towards Peter.
"I didn't just interrupt you and Liz there did i?" Gwen asked nervously as she looked at Peter who sighed before replying.
"Yeah you did, I need to talk to her about something." Peter said a bit awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck before shaking his head and continuing, not noticing the slightly panicked look in Gwens eyes. "But yeah the suit, it's amazing right I was just thinking that! Could you take my picture infront of it actually?"
"H-huh, yeah of course no problem! This to prove to Aunt May that your having fun?" Gwen stumbled before regaining herself and finishing with a joke as she smiled at Peter unaware of the hateful look being sent her way from somewhere within the crowd.
*CLICK*
"Hardy har har, yes and no if you must know. It's for my own collection and that." Peter said with a laugh as he took back his camera, smiling at the photo as Harry and MJ walked up to them and they all walked off to see the rest of the exhibits.
These exhibits included the Apollo 14 command module, an unused lunar module and another theatre that simulates the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Finishing up in the Apollo and Saturn 5 Center, the group made their way over to the next area known as Space Shuttle Atlantis which was quite notable due to it's life-sized space shuttle stack of two gigantic rocket boosters and it's orange external tank that marked the areas entrance.
Walking into Space Shuttle Atlantis, Peter and his friends were greeted with a quick presentation video projected onto the entrance of the exhibit celebrating the achievements of the Atlantis shuttle.
'Wow...that's incredible.' Peter thought to himself in awe as the exhibit entrance lifted once the video ended to reveal a real Atlantis shuttle with it's payload doors open for the guests to see right infront of them.
"So this is what John Jamesson used up in orbit...it's amazing." Gwen whispered as MJ and Peter both took pictures of it, nodding their agreement whilst Harry simply grunted as he glared at it from his spot beside Gwen.
"Oscorp helped fund that launch you know, heck we devolped most of it's newer tech and systems" Harry complained which succesfully got the attention redirected towards him as Gwen and the rest turned their eyes to him.
"That's really cool Harry, do you know more about it?" Gwen asked him curiously whilst Harry internally panicked for a second as he tried to think of an answer before something his dad had mentioned popped into his head.
"Not much but I know we're focusing on space travel for the future, something about Tesseract energy from what i overheard my dad mention before he...you know." Harry said a bit awkwardly which got understanding looks from the rest, even if Peter's was half filled with guilt.
Peter and the gang spent the next while chatting about space travel and what Tesseract energy could be whilst admiring the Hubble Telescope replica alongside having a few go's in the Astronaut Training Simulators where there were some shocking results.
They hadn't had to get their licences yet given they lived in the middle of New York but if this was anything to go by then the best drivers out of them would be Gwen, MJ, Peter and then Harry in last.
"You go girl!" MJ cheered as she high fived Gwen who looked a bit sheepish whilst Peter clapped beside a downtrodden Harry who didn't seem too pleased to be the worst driver.
"Thanks MJ, it just felt natural to me...probably has something to do with all those hours playng GTA San Andreas." Gwen said as she pinched the bottom of her chin in a way that seemed to familiar to Peter but he couldn't put a finger on it due to being shocked like Harry and MJ.
"So is no-one else gonna point out the irony in the police captain's daughter playing a fuck ton of GTA San Andreas?" MJ said as she began laughing her ass off which Peter and even Harry eventually joined in on much to Gwen's delight.
The group then headed towards Space Shuttle Atlantis' main attraction, The Shuttle Launch Experience and thankfully didn't have to wait too long in the queue to get to the front where they got to experience what veteran Astronauts describe as the next best thing to an actual shuttle launch.
After the exciting experience in the Shuttle simulator Peter and the group found themselves reminded to take solace in the joys of life when they were presented with the Forever Remembered exhibit which memorilaised the 14 courageous astronauts who had lost their lives in the orbiters Challenger and Columbia.
Peter wasn't a religious man but he hoped these brave souls had all found peace wherever they were now alongside their families that were left behind to carry on their spirit.
The group soon found themselves in the next mission zone, namely the Nasa Now and Next exhibit which focused on showcasing the current missions into space and upcoming travels into exploring deep space such as the approaching mission to Mars.
The area featured a few interactive exhibits and an IMAX theatre which showcased a video detailing modern space stations like the international space station which had apparently been revamped thanks to funding from Oscorp, something which made Harry puff his chest out a bit more.
"Now everyone if you will take a look at the screen what you will see is the plans for the Marvel series of rockets as created by Reed Richards and funded by Stark Industries among other financiers. These rockets will be humanities first step forward into deep space and are currently in production as we speak, we live in exciting times people!" A tour guide said before another video came on detailing the very thing he'd just said, much to the awe of everyone present, particularly Peter and Gwen who shot each other excited glances as they nearly bounced in their seats at the scientific implications.
MJ updated her story as they walked out alongside a selfie whilst Harry grumbled about the the Marvel rockets, particularly about Stark Industries, guess someone didn't like his companies competitors. All the while however Peter and Gwen were gushing about the implications of the Marvel rockets and the logistics behind them.
"Oh my god just imagine if the test flight works, we could set foot on Mars within this decade, heck we could visit Pluto if we wanted!" Gwen rambled to Peter as they got in line for the bus which would take them to the main event of the Kennedy Space Center, a rocket launch.
"With those capabilities we'd be able to leave our solar system entirely probably, just imagine how much greater the chance of running into sentient life is! It'd be so cool like I wonder if ET's out there..." Peter ended with a joke and a smile on the outside that made Gwen laugh whilst she nodded her head but inwardly Peter couldn't get the idea of what else might be out there out of his head, after all his only experience with aliens was...
'Venom...I really hope i've seen the last of it but knowing my luck?... Damn thing's probably under my pillow back in New York.' Peter thought to himself with a sigh as he realised he really ought to go searching for that black slime before it became an issue again.
Stepping onto the bus Peter let MJ have the window seat this time which she appreciated with a smile as she sat down whilst Peter sat down behind Gwen, Harry once again at the window.
Peter and Gwen spent the entire trip continuing their chat as Harry spent it scrolling through his phone looking up scandals about Stark Industries and texting his mom alongside the Oscorp Board of Directors, seems like he wasn't about too keen on letting Stark Industries beat Oscorp at something.
"Alright if y'all just calmly take a step outside the bus and enter the safety zone marked by the fence there we can get this show on the road. According to my timer we have 5 minutes until the launch so we should be right on time." The bus driver said as everyone got off politely, saying thank you as they did so.
Peter had a look around as he stepped off to the side after getting off the bus and was momentarily distracted when the jaws of the rest of the men and a few of the women nearly dropped at the woman who got off the bus a few people after him, her chest easily the size of watermellons as she flaunted a super model like body.
This mystery woman seemed to revel in the attention, especially Harry's dumbstruck look when she winked at him. Peter meanwhile had already tore his eyes away from the women and was working calibrating something on his camera for the launch whilst MJ was talking to Gwen in a hushed whisper as Harry tried subtly chatting up the supposed super model despite the fact Gwen was infront of him.
"Okay everyone, gather-round. The launch will be taking off in 2 minutes and we don't want to miss it now do we?" The tour guide said with a chuckle as everyone got ready, a few like Peter setting up cameras whilst some like MJ started setting up their phones for the best shot they could get as Harry ,not so discreetly, stared at the supposed super models breasts all the while Gwen subtly looked between Harry and Peter, unknown thoughts racing through her head.
*5*
The countdown could be heard over the loudspeakers nearby as everyone got excited, this was just like in the movies!
*4*
*3*
The countdown got even lower, you could hear a pin drop it was so silent with the group, the only sound coming from the loudspeakers as they counted down the time remaining until the feat of human engineering would ascend into the heavens above.
*2*
*1*
*CLICK*
The sound and sight of the rockets thrusters igniting would be one of the more unforgettable moments of the holiday as Peter bore witness to the raw power that allowed humanity to escape the ever encompasing force of nature that was gravity, his camera snapping shut as he took a shot of it's ascent.
Peter and his friends watched the rocket rise higher into the sky with it's payload, a new satellite for starlink which would increase humanity's access to the internet, another revolutionary invention yet instead of raw power like the rockets, it was a power of wisdom that collected information for everyone to access.
The rocket launch ended much too soon if you were to ask the people in attendence as they got back onto the bus, alot of people slowing their walks, including Harry, so that they could watch the supposed super models ass as she walked ahead of them onto the bus.
Two people who didn't even think to do that however were Peter and Gwen who were excitidely chatting with MJ about the rocket launch as they got onto the bus, Gwen shooting 'The Look' back at Harry briefly when he caught her eye which caused him to wince a bit and slightly hurry up.
MJ once again sat down at the window seat as she focused on posting her rocket pic alongside the quick selfie she took of her, Peter, Gwen and a reluctant Harry who barely moved into frame now that they were all sitting in the same seats as last time.
"So can we join the rest at Universals Volcano Bay now? We can still get a few hours in at the water park if we go soon." Harry said as he tried to be subtle in using the reflection of the window to look at the supposed super models breasts who was now sitting infront of him whilst Gwen slightly glared at him.
"No, did you forget? Today we're going to see Doctor Connors at their lab, in fact what time is it-...oh my god we're supposed to be there in ten mintues! I'd better text Doctor Connors we're going to be late." Gwen said as she began typing away on her phone whilst Harry let out a quiet groan of annoyance that Peter swore only he heard but he must've been hearing things right?
llllll
Peter and his friends made it to a relatively nondescript green bricked building down a backalley, the only remarkable thing about it being the white sign stuck to the wall that read "Doctors Curt & Martha Connors, Biologists, Biochemists and Biogeneticists".
Standing outside the door, Peter, Gwen, Harry and MJ all looked at each other to decide who'd go knock on the door to get their attention, Gwen hadn't received a text back when she texted about being late so the mood was unknown.
"They don't know me so i'm just gonna take myself out of this ring, okay? Okay." MJ said with a smile as she stepped back whilst Harry had a flash of brilliance in his mind, steal someone elses idea.
"That takes me out too, sorry you two but you did used to work for them." Harry said with a shrug as he took a step back away from everyone.
Gwen and Peter both looked at Harry and MJ flabbergasted before looking at eachother then waving their hands in denial.
"Oh no, they hate me! Remember the you know what's, they fired me, they love you like they could never hate you." Peter argued which caused Gwen to flounder until eventually her shoulders sagged and she gave Peter the stink eye.
"Fine..." Gwen replied as she walked up the small steps used as a porch to press the doorbell and thus began the groups prompt wait for someone to answer the door and it wasn't long before a curious Martha Connors openned the door, an expression which turned to joy when she saw Gwen.
"Gwen! You made it!" Martha exclaimed happily as she beckoned the group into the lab which whilst big, was nowhere near the size of their last lab at ESU back in New York. The new lab was an L shape with rooms inside.
"Doctor Connors, it's so great to see to see you again, how's Billy?" Gwen asked as everyone entered the lab, everyone but her having a glance around the room as she and Martha talked.
'It's a bit...dustier than their last lab.' Peter thought to himself as he noticed quite alot of rust on the one machine nearby that had clearly seen better days.
"Billy is doing...alright, it's been a tough move on all of us but he's finding it especially hard." Martha said with a slight pause as her face adopted a frown.
"I'm sorry to hear that, is he here today? Maybe I can have a word with him, see if he'll speak to me?" Gwen offered near instantly showcasing her caring nature that Peter fell for which got a smile from Martha as she nodded.
"Yeah, he's in the office doing his homework, i'll tell him you're here soon." Martha said before she turned to Peter with a weird look in her eyes. "I'm glad you made it too Peter...Now these must be those infamous friends of yours, Harry and Mary-Jane if i'm not mistaken right?"
"Got it in one" MJ said with a wink and smile as she stuck her hip out a bit and rested one of her hands on her waist which got a small laugh out of Martha.
"Yes Gwen has said you're a flirt, so you must be Harry right?" Martha said as she turned to face Harry who looked to be bored and distracted if the vacant look on his face was anything to go by.
"H-huh, y-yeah." Harry stuttered as he was caught daydreaming, something which everyone noticed but decided to give him the grace of ignoring.
"Anywho, you can all have a look around the lab just be careful not to touch anything except you Gwen, Kurt and I actually have some guests visiting at the moment and they'd very much so like to meet you after all the praise we've sung about you." Martha explained which got Gwen to blush in embarassment whilst Peter smiled that Gwen was getting some recognition, something that MJ was also happy about all the while Harry looked like he couldn't care less.
Gwen and Martha walked into one large room, presumeably where Kurt and the guests were waiting to see Gwen whilst Peter, MJ and Harry looked around the lab.
"This place is a fucking garbage heap, it should be condemed." Peter heard Harry say as he got further away from him whilst Peter explored further into the lab, eager to see more science.
'...I can't believe the two responsible for designing the spider that gave me my powers would ever fall on such hard times, they seemed larger than life.' Peter thought to himself as he reached a desk that had a blackboard behind it filled with a complex formula and explaination that Peter got engrossed deciphering.
'This, this is-' "Genius isn't it?" A somewhat sickly voice interrupted Peters thoughts as his spider sense flared and caused him to jump, turning around to see a pale black haired man in a labcoat who was only slightly taller than him that was standing there reaching out for his shoulder but his eyes were focused on examining the board and Peter and could hear a geniunely interested tone of voice coming from the man.
"Y-yes, if true it would offer a whole new concept to animal heirarchy, particularly in wolves other than the common Alpha/ Beta idea who's own founder is trying to remind people it's been dissproven to this day." Peter said very awkwardly once the random guy stood behind him turned his blue eyes towards him and not wanting to risk his secret was about to move away when right then was stopped by a shout.
"Michael! Peter!" Curt shouted as he waved his arm for them to see whilst he walked over, a big smile on his face which froze Peter in his tracks.
"Hello Curt, I see this Mrs. Stacy isn't the only capable young mind you've brought before us today." The sickly looking stranger complimented Peter before he and Curt began discussing something whilst Peter got distracted by something eating away at the edge of his thoughts.
'...Why'd this guy set off my spider-sense? He looks so sickly it's as if a breeze could knock him over...not that he'd know based on that pale skin although i guess it's a nice contrast to his black hair...why is that familar?' Peter thought to himself as he examined the presumed scientist who was previously talking with him.
Taking a moment to delve into his memories Peter ignored the outside world as he tried to drag up the knowledge that was just out of reach as to why this strangers description seemed familiar. Finally after a few moments it was as if a lightbulb went of within his head as the answer came to him 'That's how Marko described Dr.M!'.
With this realization firmly in mind Peter was dragged from his thoughts and what he realised was that he'd been more distracted than he'd thought!
"Doctor Connors! Where is the man who was just here?" Peter asked Curt hastily which got a confused but serious look from him which kinda surprised Peter.
"He just left, you can catch up to him if you leave now." Curt Connors said with unexpected resolution as Peter nodded and ran through the lab, passing Harry who was on the phone to someone, most likely that lawyer stuff he had due today and MJ who was examining one of the animal tanks as he ran out the door and jumped over the porch.
Running up the alleyway Peter saw no one as he tried to get an idea as to where the potential Dr.M had gone, something which continued as he ran out onto the path, dodging people who sent him glares for his rude entrance onto the busy sidewalk as they walked past all the while Peter looked left and right for Dr.M.
'Damn it! Which way did he go? No there's no time I gotta change quic-' Whatever Peter was thinking ground to a halt through raw primal fear whilst it seemed as if time itself had slowed down to a crawl as Peter watched with shock as the unmistakeable face of Norman Osborn walked past Peter in the crowd, a smirk crossing his face as he glanced at Peter before dissapearing into the crowd of pedestrians.
Peter reacted nearly a second later but as he's learnt from his many fights, especially the ones with the Green Goblin...sometimes a second late is too late. Peter got an experience of this as he turned around following where the supposedly dead Norman had just vanished only to see him nowhere in sight...wait, down the road! Peter would swear he glimpsed someone with Normans hair colour walking into an alleyway!
Quickly manuvering his way through the pedestrians Peter made his way to the alley and with his senses on high alert followed where the supposed dead Norman went, his mission to look for Dr.M completely forgotten in light of this new situation.
'...Oh fuck me, I forgot to change! what do I do if it is him? Guess it's play dumb and just say I was checking for Harry's sake which wouldn't be a total lie if i'm honest.' Peter thought to himself as he got deeper and deeper into the alleyway, his spider-sense tingling as if something, or someone, was stalking him like a predator but no matter where he searched he couldn't spot anyone, especially not Norman. The longer he spent in the alleyway though the more there was something unnatural about it, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"What the...?" Peter whispered confused as he gazed down at the one piece of rubbish in the otherwise unnaturally spotless alleyway, a rubber Joker mask, it's green hair and pale white skin standing out against the grey concrete. As Peter looked around he realised that the cleanlieness of the alleyway was what was unnatural about the alleyway, only for the one piece of trash to be a rather high quality mask of the Joker of all characters whilst searching for Norman, it was more than a little unnerving if Peter was honest.
Peter spent about ten minutes searching the alleyway and the area but no matter how hard he searched he couldn't spot any hint of Norman aside from the Joker mask, a mask that Peter checked thoroughly for bugs and trackers before putting in his bag and heading back to the Connor's lab, something was going on, he just didn't know what.
llllll
"Any luck Peter?" Curt greeted Peter as he returned to the lab, MJ sending the two a confused look as they walked deeper into the lab whilst Harry looked curious but shrugged and went back to his phone call.
"None sadly...he'd dissapeared by the time i got to the sidewalk." Peter replied dejectedly before turned to Curt to see if he knew more about the man he'd called Micheal.
"Doctor Connors, you called him Micheal, do you know that man? What can you tell me about him? Peter asked curiously to which Curt sighed before scratching the side of his head.
"Not much I'm afraid. Me and Martha were in need of an assistant so we put out an ad and well he was the only one who applied, didn't hurt that he knew his stuff and would em...work off the books so to speak so we only knew him by his first name, Michael." Curt explained with a frown which got one in turn from Peter as he thought about the situation.
'Why would someone supposedly working for Kingpin need to worry about money, what could they be doing that requires them get an extra job?' Peter thought to himself concerned, a well funded villain usually meant a dangerous villain.
"Oh he did mention something else in passing!" Curt exclaimed quietly in realisation as something popped into his mind. "He's moving to New York soon, today was actually his last day he was just in to pick up his paycheck before he left..."
'Damn, there goes that plan of trailing him next time he showed up here.' Peter thought with a sigh before realising that Doctor Connors had been extremely forthcoming with information about his assistant which was a bit odd, usually only Captain Stacy took Peter that seriously.
"Dr. Connors, I don't mean to be rude but why the sudden trust, we don't exactly have the best track record?" Peter asked bluntly which momentarily shocked Curt but was replaced by a look of understanding.
"About that Peter, I actually have to tha-" Curt was saying earnestly before he was interrupted by his wife, three scientists and Gwen exiting one of the rooms chatting excitedly.
" your insights are incredible, your proposal about the intelligence of octopi contained some very out of the box thinking." Susan Test, a tall red head with straight hair, glasses, labcoat and a shirt with a star said.
"I have to agree, the suggestion that the Lusca of Carribbean myth is in fact just an undiscovered species of giant octopus using the blue holes as a hunting ground are certainly worth further investigation." Mary Test, Susan Test's twin and another tall red head but with wavy hair and a moon shirt said. Together they made up the Test sisters, famous twin sisters who were excelling in the field of genetics, with a focus on radiation and mutagens.
"Bah! Yoooou two may be very intelligent but you cannot truly appreciate the brilliance of 's genius, her diagram of an invention designed to enhance the intelligence of the common rat is marvelous!" A rather dimunitive orange haired man in a labcoat said with a high voice, a young man more commonly known as the boy genius Dexter, barely 26 years old and already making waves in the science scene, ignoring the look the two Test sisters sent each other.
'Wasn't he one of the nominee's in last years Nobel Prize for Physics alongside that rival of his Mandark?' Peter thought to himself as he found himself distracted from Curt by the sight of the other big names in the science field who seemed to be thrilled with Gwen who was looking a bit overwhelmed but very excited from the attention.
The three scientists, four if you included Martha Connors, were all promising to write Gwen further with the potential for recomendation letters from all three of them to the college of her choice which would do wonders for her acceptance rate. All the while Martha was deflecting some of the more difficult questions for Gwen that she was too busy to answer because she was answering one for another scientist.
The group of five split with the three scientists exiting the lab whilst Martha and Gwen walked over to Peter and Curt, Martha saying something to Gwen who was breathing into her hands which caused her to smile shakily before it looked as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as they reached where Peter and Curt were standing.
"Sorry I left half way through Gwen, but I'm sure my wonderful wife more than made up for my absence." Curt said with a smile as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his non-robotic hand whilst Marta moved over to stand by him.
"Doctor Connors you two helped plenty, honestly the two of you organising this for me is just...i'm touched, thank you." Gwen said overcome for words but passionately to the married scientists as they both smiled at her, Martha was opening her mouth to say something when she was interrupted though.
"Mind if we join in?" Came MJ's usual seductive voice as she strolled over alongside Harry now that the extra scientists had left.
"The more the merrier!" Was Curt's reply as he waved Peter and Gwens friends over not wanting to be rude whilst Martha closed her mouth and seemed to pause unnoticed by the others, as if she decided to wait for a better time.
"So girl spill! Those scientists were going gaga over you from what I was overhearing." MJ raved excited for her friend, an excitement which Peter matched as he waited to hear the details.
"Doctor Connors set up an interview for me with some of their distingushed peers and...I think it went really well." Gwen said with a pause before a shy smile lit up her face which got Peter and MJ cheering.
"That's awesome Gwen, congrats!" Peter congratulated the woman he loved whilst she blushed at his praise before MJ cut in with her own two cents.
"Told you you had it in you girl." MJ said supportively as she smiled at Gwen who continued blushing from all the attention she was receiving especially when Harry walked over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"That's my incredible girlfriend for you, had those scientists eating from the palm of her hand." Harry said proudly whilst Peter could only look on in silent and invisible heartbreak until they were interrupted by the sounds of running feet.
"Gwen!" A young missle came rushing out of no where and slowed down infront of Gwen before crashing into her middle and hugging her where the figure was revealed to be the innocent form of Billy Connors.
"Billy!" Gwen exclaimed in joy as she shrugged Harry off to hug the boy who she hadn't seen in months and who could really do with seeing a friendly face right about now.
"HowareyouareyouhereforlonghaveyoureadthenewestBatgirl?" Billy's mouth ran a mile a minute as he asked question after question whilst almost everyone else looked on with a smile on their face as they watched a boy be reuinted with a girl who might aswell be his big sister for how much he'd grown to care for her.
"Wow, slow down Billy I can't understand a word you're saying." Gwen said with a laugh as she looked down at the boy who seemed to be in much happier mood now that he'd spotted her.
Gwen and Billy chatted away whilst Curt and Martha looked on with smiles on their faces before the sound of Peter's belly rumbling resounded throughout the lab which caused Billy, Gwen and MJ to laugh whilst Harry just looked bored as Martha sent Curt a look.
"Hey we were thinking if you four don't have plans for tonight, we'd love to have you all over for dinner so what do you say?" Curt offered the invitation to the four young adults who looked between each other.
"Doctor Connors, are you sure we wouldn't be imposing? There are four of us after all..." Gwen said hesitantly as she looked at the two scientists opening their home to them.
"It's no problem Gwen, we planned to invite you all over from the beginning anyway." Martha Connors waved away Gwens concerns which eased the expressions of Peter and his friends.
"What do you think guys?" Gwen asked shyly as Billy shot her the puppy dog eyes that whilst no where near the level of 'The Look', was still rather formidable.
"Sounds like a plan to me." MJ agreed with her, Peter and Harry soon voicing their agreement aswell even if Harry's was a bit forced.
"Alright, we'd love to take you up on that offer!" Gwen Said happily to Curt and Martha Connors who smiled back at her in response but it was their sons response which was more memorable in Peter's opinion as he watched the little guy cheer like he'd just gotten a day off school.
lllll
"This food is delicious Doctor Connors." MJ said after she'd finished swallowing some chicken that nearly caused her to moan from her spot on Peter's left at the dining table in the Connors house.
"That's all thanks to my husband, he cooked the chicken to perfection." Martha complimented her husband from her spot on the end of the table and on the otherside of MJ.
"Bah! It'd be nothing without that delicious gravy you made Honey." Curt fired back from the head of the table, and Peter's right, which got a smile from his loving wife as the dull sound of cutlery meeting plates resounded throughout the room.
"Gwen do you want me to show you the newest Batgirl after dinner?" Billy asked excitedly from's his mom's left and beside Gwen on her right, which ultimately left them both across from MJ.
"That'd be great Billy, I can't wait." Gwen said with a smile before she took a bite of some chicken and potatoes, a content sigh escaping her mouth once she'd finished swallowing her food. "This really is divine Doctor Connors, my dad's no slouch in the kitchen but he'd be hard pressed to beat this."
The two Connors adults seemed to preen at this, looks like they were quite proud of their cooking ability if you asked Peter after which Peter's eyes wandered the room they'd found themselves in, his eyes setting on a photo of Curt, Martha and Eddie Brock on the latters first day at ESU lab.
'You know Eddie did tell me a story about how he walked in on Dr. Connors trying to cook bolognese once near the start of his study program hahaha, said it looked like the flying spaghetti monster but tasted amazing...' Peter thought to himself with a silent laugh before his mood turned somber as he began pushing the food around on his plate, taking the occasional small bite whilst his thoughts turned to his seemingly lost brother.
'Eddie...did I really hurt you that badly that you'd want to kill me? That'd you'd hurt Gwen? ...Aunt May?' Peter thought quietly as conversation continued around the table without him, something about the beach if what he heard MJ say was right.
"So Peter what was your favourite thing about Orlando so far?" Martha asked awkwardly as the eyes of the table turned towards Peter, dragging him from his thoughts as he shook slightly his head to re-orientate himself.
"Sorry my em...,favourite thing about Orlando?" Peter asked hesitantly as he tested the waters to see if he'd heard the question right, when he saw Martha nod though his mind flashed through memories of the freedom of surfing, meeting Felicia on the beach that day, finding out Marko was alive and surprisingly hanging out with Flash at Universal.
"Probably the rides at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure if I was being honest" Peter said awkwardly as he decided to omit how much he enjoyed the surfing, he didn't need anyone paying anymore attention to his supposed skills on a surfboard than was necessary
"Yeah right, it was probably meeting that white haired babe..." Harry whispered so quietly that only those around him heard it, Curt just looked confused for a second before going back to his food whilst Peter blushed a bit at the reminder of Felicia in her swimsuit but it was the very quiet thud and wince on Harry's face that gave Peter an idea as to Gwen's reaction.
"Phew, i'm stuffed!" Curt said with a happy sigh after awhile as he put his knife and fork beside each other on the bottom of the plate before he reached over for the glass beside him that was filled with water so he could take a drink.
"Me too, gee I should probably get started on the clean up. Gwen could you give me a hand please?" Martha asked Gwen kindly as she sent Curt an almost indistingiushable look when he opened his mouth to offer his help before she stood up and collected Billy's plate alongside her own which didn't seem to annoy Gwen that much if her reaction was anything to go by.
"Yeah that's no problem Dr. Connors." Gwen said once the question had registered in her brain as she stood up and collected both her and Harry's plate before following Martha into the kitchen where, aside from one more trip back into the dinning room to collect the rest of the places, they stayed for a while presumably cleaning the plates if the sounds were anything to go by whilst conversation continued in the dinning room.
"You have a lovely home here Doctor Connors." MJ complimented kindly from her spot beside Peter whilst Curt smiled at her words as Billy ran upstairs to his room, likely to go looking for the Batgirl issue he intended to show Gwen.
"Thank you Mary-Jane, this place is actually my old house from when i was a kid...probably about the only luxury we can afford right now." Kurt informed before finishing his sentence a bit dejectedly.
"I'm sure things will get better for you soon Doctor Connors, you deserve it." Peter said reassuringly to one of his former bosses which got a thankful smile from the man until Harry decided to make his two cents known to the world.
"Why don't you try co-author a paper with back in New York then, it might raise your esteem?" Harry said offhandly and in his usual fashion was the only one unaware to the dark look that flashed across Curts eyes at the mention of Dr. Warren.
"A man of Warren's caliber surely wouldn't be interested in working with us, of that I can assure you." Curt said quite confidently which at first glance seemed to finish the conversation then and there as Martha came back into the room.
" 's, where's Gwen?" MJ asked curiously and a bit hardly when she saw Martha return alone as she sat back down at her spot at the end of the table, a glass of what could only be whiskey in her hand.
"Oh Billy's just showing her the newest Batgirl comic, they'll be finishing soon though as it's nearly his bedtime and you all probably want to get back to the resort for a good nights sleep yourselves" Martha said with a smile as she took a sip from her drink.
"Yeah we'd better get going actually now that you mention it, we've a long day planned tomorrow at Universal's Volcano Bay Water Theme Park." Harry said as he stood up and prompted Peter and MJ to get up whilst they took their time headless to his attempts to rush them.
"Gwen?" Peter asked concerned as Harry, MJ and him walked into the hallway followed by Curt and Martha Connors where Gwen was standing looking distracted into space before Peter's words dragged her back to reality.
"Huh? Oh sorry guys i was just...thinking about the new Batgirl, emotional issue." Gwen said distractedly, her eyes slightly wide at being caught off caught before a suitable excuse popped into her head.
"If you say so." Harry said placatingly as he walked out the front door and down the path towards where the limo had been parked for the better part of a few hours.
Peter watched Gwen sigh before she and the rest of the group bid farewell to Curt and Martha Connors for the night. Peter waved at the happy couple as he was getting into the limo, a wave which was reciprocated with a wave from Curt who was being held on his left by his quietly smiling wife.
And so Peter and his friends left the Connors that night as they want back inside their home unaware to the waning moon that was obscured by the dark clouds as the night was plunged into darkness.
lllll
The clock struck 3am, the devils hour, the most cursed hour and all was silent in the Connors household, the only sounds being the gentle breathing of Billy from his Batman and Flash themed room or the soft breathing of Martha and the quiet snoring of Curt in the master bedroom.
Downstairs however things weren't as still as a circular black disk was placed on the backdoor window, a red laser running the circumfrance of the disk that cut the glass silently as the disk was pulled backwards with the cut-free glass attached.
A black leather gloved hand and arm quietly entered through the hole in the glass and unlocked the door before retreating as the door was opened and a thin dark figure silently entered the Connor's house.
The thin figure walked with nary a sound as they crept through the kitchen and up the stairs, slowly walking past innocent photos and memories of happier times as this figure with unknown intent drew closer to the vulnerable Connor family.
It was with silent footsteps that the dark thin figure stepped past Billy's bedroom door slowly as if daring him to open it whilst the figure headed further down the hallway towards the master bedroom and its blissfully unaware inhabitants.
The door pushed open slowly and silently, the thin figures slightly darker shadow outlined itself against the regular darkness as he stood there in the doorframe gazing into the room and at the sleeping couple with intense piercing blue eyes.
Curt was laying on his back as he snored quietly on the left side of the bed, his left hand dangling off the side of it whilst standing beside the bed looking down at Curt was the sickly thin male figure.
Pulling out a syringe filled with a dark green bubbling fluid that had electricity arking off of it at intervals, the thin figure reached over with his free hand to raise Curts arm and upon finding a vein, used the syringe to inject the dark green bubbling fluid into him.
Sweat began to build on Curts brow as his blood began pumping furiously, his heart thumping violently in his chest until his eyes flashed open as pain erupted in his veins like liquid metal. Curts eyes darted around the empty room as he tried look for the cause of the sudden pain but he saw nothing that would indicate an answer.
"Ahhh!" Curt screamed in agony as he arched his back in pain, waking Martha who was in shock trying to figure out what was going on and could only watch as Curt fell out of bed.
"Curt! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Martha called out to her husband now that she'd been dragged from her shock and stupor as she watched with horrified eyes as her husband stood up right in time for the clouds to part from the moon and allow its radiance to enter through the window Curt was standing infront of and Marta wished it didn't.
What Martha saw was one of her worst nightmares come true, the dark green scales of a reptile growing on her husbands body, a tail bursting forth from behind him all the while Martha could just watch on helplessly.
"Curt...no!" Martha whispered heartbroken as she was helpless to stop her husband's mouth and nose from audibly snapping and mutating before her eyes into a vicious snout filled with teeth, a visage that was soon complete by the claws that grew on his hands before the transformation stopped and Curt Connors was no more, only the Lizard remained in that room.
The Lizard took a glance around the room, sniffed the air and had one look at Martha before roaring and smashing straight through the window infront of him onto the street below where he ran off into the night leaving beyond a shell shocked wife who was sitting on her bed with tears running her face as she stared at the hole her husband's alter ego had just left from.
*THUD*
The sound of a thud from outside her partially open bedroom door reminded Martha who else might've seen that incident and so she got up to go investigate the noise rather rapidly, taking her phone with her from its spot on the bedside locker. Low and behold, Billy was sat there on the floor with tears in his eyes and a pained expression upon his face as he no doubt saw what had happened to his father who was once again the Lizard.
Martha realised immedietly what the best course of action was as she sat their hugging Billy whilst the two cried for their lost family member.
Moving through her contacts lists Martha made her way down the list until she got to a specific one that she hit ring on:
"Gwen."
llllll
The lobby of Loews Royal Pacific Resort was quiet, the only sound being the late night receptionist as he sat behind the counter typing away on the computer, most likely updating one of the reservations or something of the sort, a cup of steaming coffee sitting beside him.
The silence of the dimly lit lobby was broken by the sound of the elevator dinging and its doors opening to let Peter step out in a hurry, panic in his eyes as they darted around the near empty lobby for a head of blonde or red hair that just weren't there.
*DING*
The elevator dinged once again as the door opened behind Peter to let out a yawning Harry Osborn who looked like he'd rather be in bed than down in the lobby.
"Harry! Do you know where Gwen and MJ are? Gwen texted me saying we all need to meet in the lobby ASAP." Peter asked confused and a little bit worried, after all Gwen wouldn't joke about something serious but what could've happened?
"Don't know, got the same text as you Pete." Harry said nonchalantly as he went and sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby without a care in the world.
*DING*
The elevator dinged one last time and as the doors opened up this time two beautiful young women rushed out, one very panicked blonde and a worried looking redhead which immedietly set off redflags in Peters mind.
"Gwen, MJ, what's going on?" Peter asked the two girls as they ran up to him and Harry, concern in his voice as he subconsciously looked them up and down to check them for any injuries, mentally sighing when they appeared fine physically.
"Pete it happened again, Dr. Connors, he's...transformed." Gwen explained simply which caused Peters eyes to go wide as he heard the horrendous news that had befallen , his next thought going straight to the last time Doctor Connors had transformed into the Lizard and the damage he'd nearly done...he needed to find him fast.
"Martha needs our help to make another gene cleanser, we need to meet her at the lab urgently!" Gwen said hurriedly hoping to express how serious the situation before them and Peter didn't need to be told twice so as Gwen, Harry and MJ ran outside and towards the limo he paused and started jogging in the opposite direction much to the other groups confusion.
"You guys get to the lab, i'll look for Spider-man and tell him the situation! I might have an idea where he is!" Peter called out over his shoulder as he ran past them, Gwen looked furious that he was bailing again before she gave a reluctant nod after he explained himself whilst Harry ironically looked murderous at Peter's words all the while MJ just watched on concerned about the whole situation.
Turning the corner Peter ran down an alleyway and like usual, was swinging out of it dressed as Spider-man in less than a minute as he was on his way to the Connors lab for more info and the gene cleanser he'd actually need to subdue the Lizard.
It took about 20 minutes for him to reach the Connor's lab but as he landed silently on the dark roof, the only light coming from the triangular skylight infront of him and the lights below in the lab where Spider-man could hear voices.
"Martha we got here as soon as we could, where do you keep your chemicals?" Gwen said quick to the point once she was let in the door alongside Harry and MJ by Martha Connors who was standing there beside her son.
"The chemicals are in that room there, here's the key. I'll finish setting up the equipment we'll need." Martha said as she pointed to a room beside the office with a a big fancy lock on the door before she handed Gwen the key and took a glance around. "Where's Peter?"
"He left-" "He bailed on you to go look for that murderer Spider-man." Gwen began sadly before she was rudely interrupted by Harry's snarling voice.
"Ignoring Eula there Mr. I Will Have Vengence, Dr. Connors where is your husband heading? I need to keep people out of the way." Spider-man said as he slowly lowered himself upside down into the room where he started by responding to Harry who could only stand there stupified therefore ensuring he wouldn't interrupt him, Spider-man then turned to Martha Connors and asked the pressing question to which Martha paused before responding.
"...Given our situation and the unknown effects of the serum Curt injected himself with the first time around, he's been paranoid of this happening again despite the gene cleanser so he installed a tracking chip in his neck in case of this very scenario...I just didn't want to think we'd ever need to use it." Martha lamented before she went into the office, leaving Billy standing near Gwen until Martha came back out with a laptop that she quickly logged into, multiple beeps coming from it as it triangulated Curt Connors, now the Lizards, location.
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP, BEEP BEEP*
"Found him...he's made it to Kissimmee Florida, it's just 30 minutes southeast outside Orlando." Martha informed Spider-man who nodded now that he was standing looking at her and was about to swing up and out the skylight in pursuit of the Lizard before Gwen called out to him.
"Wait! You'll need the gene cleanser before you go or it'll be a useless trip!" Gwen reprimended in astonishment which gave Spider-man pause as his thoughts raced.
'Leave it to Gwen to point out when i'm about to do something stupid, but i can't just leave the Lizard to his own devices whilst we create it it'll take too long!' Spider-man thought to himself conflicted before he decided on his next course of action as he turned back towards Martha.
"Where exactly in Kissimmee is he, is there a low population density?" Spider-man asked Martha who double checked her laptop, typing in instructions as it zoomed in even further on the Lizards locations before she gasped painfully, a hand going to cover her mouth that didn't last long before she continued replying.
"I don't know whether to be relieved or cry that it's practically zero, according to this he's reached the headwaters of The Everglades so there shouldn't be anyone nearby at this time of night but it'll be nearly impossible to find him in that enviroment." Martha said with more tears building in her eyes that she refused to let drop right now.
"...I promise i'll find him." Spider-man assured Martha which got a thankful look from her before he continued. "Can you make me a waterproof tracker, maybe an old phone or something on a small pipe would work?"
Martha simply nodded and went off to one of the benches to go work on it, kissing her son Billy on the head as she ran by whilst Spider-man turned to Gwen.
"Do you need any help?"
Gwen simply looked relieved that she'd actually have help this time after Peter bailed on her last time and kinda this time before she nodded and then encouraged Billy to go over to MJ whilst she and Spider-man worked on the gene cleanser.
That was how the lab spent the next while anxiously watching the clock tick down every mintue, Spider-man and Gwen working back to back, MJ minding Billy whilst Martha worked on a waterproof tracker all the while Harry grumbled about being used for a ride until finally one voice could be heard shouting victoriously.
"Done!" Gwen shouted loudly as her and Spider-man finished the gene cleanser, Gwen prepping four vials of the gene cleanser, two of which he then pocketed whilst Martha came over with a small pipe in hand with a phone flextaped to it, it's screen on what appeared to be a very detailed tracking software.
"This will take you to Curt, exercise extreme caution doing this though Spider-man, there won't be any artic enclosure this time to take advantage of." Martha warned as she passed Spider-man the tracker which he attached to his back with webs before he saluted the group and zipped up to roof where he began swinging off in the direction of Kissimmee.
It took Spider-man longer than he would've liked to make it Kissimmee but thankfully when he reached the small town there was nothing to indicate the Lizard had been there, namely no injured people which allowed Spider-man to let out a breath he'd been unconciously holding before he took the tracker off his back.
The trackers screeen depicted a small green arrow which was pointed in the same direction he pointed the tracker, a red dot marked the Lizards location as he explored the swamp just outside of town.
lllll
The gentle sound of water swaying was heard in the swamp that night as Spider-man waded deeper and deeper into the moonlit Everglade headwaters, his Spider-sense on high alert for any Alligators or the Lizard who might fancy him a cross between a midnight and a morning snack.
'Man this swamp is massive, without this tracker I wouldn't have a clue where to even begin...maybe I should make my own trackers, would hopefully stop me loosing people like the Chameleon and Mysterio, something to work on when I get back to New York i guess.' Spider-man thought to himself to as he brainstormed ways to improve his crimefighting as he kept his eyes open for any movement whilst he was waist deep in water, occassionally sparing a glance at the tracker which thanks to Martha's adjustments was waterproof as it lead him in the direction of the Lizard.
"Grrrrrr!..." The unmistakeable growl of a very big reptile could be heard coming from somewhere around Spider-man which gave him immediate pause, his Spider-sense flaring to life as he tried to jump up and out of the way like usual only to forget the enviroment, namely the water he was waist deep in that restrcting his movements.
Spider-man still managed to get the side just barely in time thanks to his Spider-sense letting him have ample warning to avoid having his throat ripped out by the jaws of the Lizard who burst out of the water with his jaws wide open, catching only air and more water as he crashed back into the water.
Spider-man seeing an opportunity to get the upperhand on the Lizard, took it and started webbing up the Lizards arms before pulling back, therefore pulling the Lizards arms behind his back as he roared in outrage and tried to break free.
"How do you like that Scaley! Improved tensile strength, perfect for people like you and Kraven." Spider-man taunted mockingly only for this to end in pain as the Lizard showcased his enhanced strength by managing to toss Spider-man forward, over his head and into a rotten tree stump with a burst of strength before he charged after the masked vigilante.
Pushing himself up onto the top of the rotten tree stump right as the Lizard wrapped his jaws around the middle of the stump right where Spider-mans mid-section was a section ago.
Spider-man watched as the Lizard crushed the rotten tree stump into splinters as he jumped off back onto another rotten tree stump, already wishing this wasn't the last one nearby but it seems like the Parker luck struck again.
Deciding to try keep the this new stump intact for aslong as possible, Spider-man shot a series of webs at the Lizards snout in order to reduce the likelihood of him being you know bitten in half.
"What's wrong, you're like that lizard from Tangled if he didn't get his Snickers, Pascal right?" Spider-man joked as he jumped down and got close to the Lizard before he could use his claws to rip his snout free resulting in him instead using said claws to attack Spider-man who was dodging as much as he could given the terrain.
Sadly he was so focused on the claws of the Lizard and making sure he didn't free his very deadly jaws that he completely forgot about another weapon in the Lizards arsenal: His tail.
Said tail had just come swinging around as the Lizard turned, the tail hitting Spider-man square in the chest and sending him flying back into the remaining rotten stump which collapsed on impact.
"Oh what the hell, did someone get the license plate of the truck that hit me?" Spider-man said deliriously as he began patting himself to make sure he was okay only to start panicking when he patted his waist and heard a cracking noise.
Opening his suit quickly Spider-man saw what he feared, one of the two gene cleansers he brought with him was shattered 'This fight just got alot more precarious' Spider-man thought to himself.
Whilst this whole exchange took maybe 3 seconds it was still 3 seconds too many as Spider-man heard the triumphant roar of the Lizard as he removed the webs binding his jaw shut therefore freeing his most powerful weapon which seemed to be smiling knowingly as he looked towards where Spider-man was keeping the gene cleansers.
'...Is it just me, or is he happy that the vial broke?' Spider-man thought to himself concerned as he watched the Lizard charge him, once again causing him to begin dodging the Lizards vicious claws alongside the occassional tail swipe or bite something which would have been impossible without his spider-sense giving him a much needed leg up in the fight.
As the moonlit sky began to brighten Spider-man began to tire quite rapidly, the lack of sleep and exhaustion from not only fighting the lizard, but fighting the Lizard in it's idle habitat was taking its toll on him.
A toll that would soon be paid in blood as his spider-sense warned him of an attack he was too slow to fully dodge, a slash to the shoulder which was now bleeding into the alligator infested waters of the Everglades...'I'm SO fucked.' Spider-man thought to himself with a wince before his eyes widened as the next thing he knew was a scaley reptillian tail smacking him brutally in the face and sending him flying off his feet onto his back about 5 feet away, a huge splash resounding out from his landing.
Dazed and confused as he floated on the water Spider-man could only watch as the Lizard walked over menacingly with a look Peter couldn't place in its eyes, atleast that was until he felt it reach for the vial in his suit.
'You intelligent son of a bitch!' Spider-man thought still very dazed as he realised what the look in the Lizards eyes was, Intelligence. The Lizard knew it was important, how important he thought it was was yet to be seen but Spider-man didn't want to take the chance.
Spider-man tried to shoot a web at the vial when the Lizard had taken it out, a last ditch attempt to get the vial back but failed as in his confused and wobbly state, he'd missed the shot and had to watch as the Lizard seemed to smile at him and laugh in a deep bellowly sort of way before crushing it within his grasp.
Using his legs to push off the Lizard and get some distance, Spider-man got back on his back and glared at the Lizard with clenched fists as his thoughts raced behind the mask, the occassional pant of exhaustion coming from his mouth.
'He broke the gene cleansers, even if I was to somehow subdue him briefly I can't transform him back to Doctor Connors without them and all these late nights are really starting to catch up to me, I can barely keep my eyes open...I can't believe i'm even entertaining the idea of this!' Peter thought to himself furiously as only one real avenue presented itself to him no matter how much he hated it: A retreat.
Watching as the Lizard charged him, Spider-man took out one of his web cartridges quickly and got all his focus ready to not only dodge but spring his plan into motion, he'd likely only have one shot at this.
The Lizard decided to go for the kill with it's jaws which suited Spider-man perfectly as he dodged to the left, snapping the web cartridge in two with his hands which exploded with webs as it was pointed at the Lizards eyes which were now covered in a massive amount of webs from the snapped cartridge.
The Lizard went splashing blindly into the swamp water whilst Spider-man let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding before he used the violent splashing from the Lizard trying to free it's eyes, roaring in outrage as the morning sun barely began to rise over the horizon, as cover to mask his movements whilst he retreated from the swamp to fight another day.
lllll
The sun was just barely in the sky and the air was tense inside the lab of doctors Curt and Martha Connors, Gwen sat beside MJ on some chairs under the skylight as they waited for news from Spider-man, both of them trying desperately not to fall asleep whilst Billy slept in one of the chairs in the office all the while Martha kept watch on him, determined to protect the last bit of family she had.
Harry on the other hand was asleep at one of the desks further back in the room, his occasional snore serving to get multiple glares from Gwen and MJ.
Thankfully their suspenseful wait was over as Spider-man hopped down from the skylight causing both young women to jump a bit in their chairs from the surprise of his sudden appearance.
"Spider-man!/Spider-man!" Gwen and MJ whispered in shock before MJ looked at Gwen, pointed at the Connors office and went to go get Martha who soon joined Gwen and MJ in gathering near Spider-man to find out what happened and more importantly, where was Curt?
"Are you okay?" MJ asked concerned when she saw the gash on Spider-mans shoulder which had thankfully stopped bleeding.
"I'll be fine, i've had worse." Spider-man reassured honestly but exhausted as he waved off MJ's concerns.
"What happened?" Gwen asked worriedly as she thought about the implications of not seeing Doctor Connors there with Spider-man.
"He led me into the swamp like you said Doctor Connors where he ambushed me before we started fighting, it was rough but he managed to get a few lucky blows in, one of which broke the first gene cleanser whilst he knew to retrieve and destroy the second!." Spider-man explained which got a gasp from the three girls as they realised the implications.
"That would imply intelligence..." Gwen hypothesised the same thing Spider-man did, a harrowing thought and something that would make future encounters that much more difficult.
"Spider-man, where's my husband?" Martha asked Spider-man as she began to dread the answer.
"...I'm so sorry, but he's still there. I need to rethink my approach and get some rest before i can hope to beat him in that enviroment right now." Spider-man explained sadly which resulted in many different emotions crossing Martha's face: Anger, fear, saddness, understanding and finally, acceptance.
No further words needed to be said between the two at that moment so Martha simply nodded towards Spider-man and was on her way to head back to Billy when another voice cut through the silence.
"Well I'm not surprised, Spider-man abandons another father when they're in need the most, fucking no surprise there!" Harry ranted from his spot now standing up from the chair and desk he'd been sleeping on.
"Ha-Osborn look I don't have the energy to discuss this with you now, we can discuss this some other time." Spider-man said simply before zipping back up through the skylight and towards the resort.
lllll
Peter had just finished getting into his normal clothes in the alleyway he'd run into initially that night when his phone buzzed as a text came in that he checked on his way in to the lobby and towards his room.
"Hey Peter, not sure where you ended up but thanks for getting Spider-man, he didn't manage to save Doctor Connors yet but he's trying again later so again thank you for getting him on the case so promptly, Martha really appreciates it and I do to." Was what the text from Gwen read as he got into the elevator and headed towards his and Flashs room.
'Just wish I could've saved him already...' Peter thought dejectedly as he opened the door to his and Flashs room, Flash laying on his back with the sheets all the over the place as he snored quietly whilst Peter headed towards the bathroom for a very, very much needed shower.
10 minutes later a sleepy and clean Peter now free from the murky and slimy swamp water that he'd been immersed in prior, crawled into bed and lay there on his back glaring up at the ceiling as he tried to think of what went wrong.
'Initially I fail them by taking photos of Doctor Connors the first time, damaging a ton of my relationships and now I fail them a second time by failing to save Doctor Connors but it was just so hard in that terrain, I need a way to subdue him completely the second he's out of the water like a sand trap would be perfect...' Peter thought to himself as a lightbulb went off inside his head and he had an epiphany, he knew exactly what to do.
Dudes and Dudettes, this was the longest chapter we've had so far so i really hope it makes up for the delay sure it took an absolute mountain of time to get this done but it's finally done and I hope it lived up to the hype :)