Natural Selection
Hey everyone I'm back again with a new chapter! Shoutout to IsraelYabuki from Wattpad for his assistance and aid. Now on to the Chapter!
It was late at night in New York City as some burglars were breaking into a bakery.
"Alright take all the cash from the register but don't eat nothing. Mrs. M's my great Auntie." One of the goons said.
You jump down from another building, and leaned against the door.
"So, stealing from the piggy bank, but not going for the cookie jar? Nephew of the year idiots." Turning around the three of them saw you.
"Spider-Man? Get him!" The leader orders.
"Are those the best words you can come up with?" You ask as you leap out as the criminals come after you.
As one swings a crowbar, you dodge causing him to break a hole in the glass window.
"Hey! You gonna pay for that?" You ask as you uppercut the thug in the chin, when a flash went off.
"Come on guys, at least try to put some effort in." As the second goon charges in, you fire a web in the goons face, blinding him, you turn him around, then you fire another web inside the bakery and pull out a pie hitting the goon in the face.
"Pie in the face? Classic." You chuckle.
When the last guy tries to make a run for it, you fire a web that hits his back, you yank him back and punch him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold, you then web up the thugs for good measure.
"Hope you learn your lesson in the slammer." You said as another flash goes off.
Looking up, you see your camera attached to one of your webs.
"Hopefully one of those will be good." You said, crawling up and taking down the camera. You then crawl onto the roof of the building and grab a spare backpack filled with spare clothes and shoes. "Well, time to drop these off at the zoo for tomorrow's event." You say yourself as you swing off to the Bronx Zoo. You arrive at the zoo and it was already closed down for the night. You managed to sneak your way to the polar bear enclosure area, and managed to find a good hiding spot in the trees for your spare backpack, even webbing it up for good measure.
"Right now that that's all done, time to get home." You say as you web zip out of there.
Meanwhile at the Conners residence, Curt just finished brushing his teeth and turned off the faucet. He then wiped the moisture off the mirror and looked at his lab coat in the reflection.
"Curt?" Martha asked from the bedroom.
"Uh, yeah. Right there, hun." Curt called. He walked over to his lab coat and pulled out his injector with the Lizard formula in it. He rolled down his shirt sleeve and injected himself with the formula, causing him to kneel and groan, his pupils slit for a second before returning to normal. He put the injector back in his lab coat pocket, and headed off to bed.
You managed to make it back home in time with about 30 seconds to spare. After changing clothes, you open the door and enter the house and see Aunt May at the table with several envelopes, and you didn't need to be Albert Einstein levels of smart to know that those envelopes contain bills.
"Aunt May, I'm home." You say you walk over to Aunt May and see her flipping through the bills. You place your hands on her shoulders. "Don't stress out Aunt May, okay? I know you've been struggling for a bit… but we'll pull through this. I promise." You say as you head upstairs, Aunt May looks at where you were standing, looking concerned.
Meanwhile at Doctor Conners home, Curt and Martha open the door to see Billy fast asleep on his bed with a book about lizards on his chest.
"He's reading about lizards?" Curt asks.
"He wanted to know about those new skinks at the lab." Martha yawns. "He is a Conners."
"Come on, lets go to bed." Curt said.
You were laying on your bed, looking at the photos you took. 2 of the photos looked good. Lucky for you, you were at the bakery several hours before the robbery took place, to find the perfect spot, since the camera flashes bounce off reflective surfaces.
"At least 2 photos are good enough for the Bugle." You say to yourself.
Back at the Conners Residence, Curt was tossing and turning in his sleep as he started to sweat before waking up groaning in pain. His groaning even woke up Martha.
"Curt what is it?" Martha asks before Curt let out a scream as tendrils burst out of his right stump and regenerated his right arm.
Panting heavily, Curt looks at himself in the mirror before smiling. "I don't believe it."
Turning around, Martha saw her husband had his right arm back.
"I don't believe it." Martha gasps before hugging him.
"It worked, it really worked." Curt smiles.
"What worked? Curt, tell me you didn't used that lizard DNA formula." Martha said.
"Some lizards regenerate lost limbs." Curt said.
"And some lizards stick to walls and eat raw meat that doesn't mean you risk your life—"
"Martha look at the results." Curt interrupts. "Don't you see what this means? To me? To the world? We can literally heal millions!"
"Mom? Dad?" Looking to the door, they saw Billy woke up.
"Hey partner!" Curt smiles picking his son up.
"Whoa dad! Your arm?" Billy smiles.
Smiling Curt hugged his family, happier than he's ever been.
Later at Midtown High, the bell rings, meaning that school is done for the day. You walk out and then feel your spider-sense tingling, that meant one thing to you: Flash and Kenny. You act like you bend down to tie your shoe, and you hear a water balloon burst off to the side. You look at the water splash on the ground, then you'll look up and see Flash and Kenny with water balloons.
'This shit again?' You groan in your mind as you look up and see the 2 jocks in the window with a bucket of water balloons.
"Dude, you missed." Kenny laughed.
"Tsk. Dumb luck. Jerks lousy with it. Hey, Puny Parker!" Flash shouted as he threw 5 more balloons.
You dodged all the balloons with the grace of a dancer. Other students were asking questions and whispered to each other.
"Whoa. Check out, Parker." Randy said surprised.
"Is that the best you got?" You asked Flash, who was getting irritated, threw 2 balloons at you, you caught both balloons without popping them, and threw one back at Flash, hitting him in the face with such force, he was knocked to the ground, completely soaked. People started laughing. You start walking and once you were in a different position, with Kenny in view, you threw the last balloon, knocking Kenny on his ass, completely soaked too.
"Nice try, Flash. But if this is you and Kenny's idea of trying to make a fool out of me, then you're all washed up along with your boyfriend… literally." You said. "Now dry up and stop fooling around will ya?" You walk away and meet up with Gwen at the entryway.
"What was that? I thought you just gonna stand there and take it." Gwen asks.
"Did you really think I was going to continue to let myself get bullied by that asshole?" You asked.
"Language!" Gwen said as she smacked your arm.
"Hey! You know it's true." You said as you rubbed your arm as you both walked over to the bus stop, a bus pulled up and you both board. While on the bus, you secretly slip on your web shooters.
A little while later, you and Gwen arrive at ESU and enter the lab, you saw Eddie cleaning up the mess you made with Electro.
"About time. The Conners are due back any minute. Here bro, still got cleaning to do." Eddie said as he tossed you his broom.
"Save it for later kids. First we celebrate." Curt said pushing in a cart with cake on it.
"Ooh cake." Gwen smiles.
"Chocolate." Billy and Martha said smiling.
"All right. I'm all for free food." You smile.
"What's the occasion?" Eddie asks when Curt shakes his hand shocking him. "Y-Your arm? Your right arm?"
Shocked, a big smile forms on all their faces. And while you may be smiling on the outside, on the inside you were secretly freaking out.
"And I thought me hitting Flash and Kenny with water balloons was gonna be the big thing today." You smile keeping up the facade.
"Wait Flash Thompson and Kenny Kong?" Eddie asks interested.
"Oh yeah. Threw their water balloons right back at them." Gwen nods.
Hours later, as you all celebrated, Eddie and Curt were arm wrestling and Eddie won.
"Yeah!" Eddie cheers before realzing what happened. "Oops uh sorry sir."
"What are you kidding? Do you know how thrilled I am to lose in arm wrestling?" Curt smiles.
"Hey Doc I just wanted to ask, how did you get your right arm back?" You asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"I used in an experimental bio formula. Genetically altered lizard DNA." Curt answered proudly.
"Lizard DNA?" You asked looking alarmed, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone else.
"Pete, what's wrong?" Gwen asked.
"Am I the only one that's actually concerned about that?" You asked.
"What do you mean?" Curt asked confused.
"Doc… it's great you've got your arm back and all, but don't you think injecting yourself with Lizard DNA into your body is a little too risky? I mean, what if it causes some serious side effects?" You asked.
"I appreciate your concern, Peter, and even my wife is worried about me doing this as well." Curt confessed. "But I need to do this with my arm back, I can finally hold my boy in both arms like I did before."
"Doc, I personally feel like this is a very bad idea. Injecting yourself with that serum is going to cause some serious problems down the line." You said sounding serious.
"Bro, this is huge. Doc's lizard formula is the cure for every lost limb and amputation in the world. We are talking guaranteed Noble Prize." Eddie smiles.
"Hang on Eddie, I actually agree with Peter. Bad enough my husband used himself as a guinea-." Martha said when she noticed something up with Curt's neck. "Billy, Uh, Eddie installed Space Wackos 2 on the office computer if you wanna play."
"Wackos? Wicked!" Billy smiles running to the office.
"If you're gonna crank the volume close the door please." Martha said as Billy closed it before turning to her husband with a glare. "Curt, take off your shirt."
"What are you kidding? It's freezing in here." Curt said but Martha kept glaring at him telling him to do it. "Okay."
Standing up, Curt took off his lab coat and shirt revealing something up with his skin. His upper back and right arm were covered in… lizard scales.
"Oh crap. Please tell me those are not what I think they are?" You say.
"What?" Kurt asks looking at us.
Almost immediately, the party was over as you and the others got to work, but the scales on Curt started to expand, and some were even on his face.
"Lizard DNA is more primitive than human, and the reptilian part of your brain is growing." Martha said as Curt started to cringe in pain.
"It's growing. I'm regressing. I can feel the change." Curt growls as his eyes slit.
"Curt, please, you need to keep a clear head." Martha said worried.
"No, you need to hurry. I'm losing control." Curt growls as he clutched his head in pain.
Looking at this, you cringed, seeing what was happening to him.
"The formula creates new reptile sequences faster than I can ID them. I don't know how we'll ever knock them all down." Eddy said.
"Wait everyone, I have a crazy idea." You say, getting everyone's attention. "What if we work from the other end. Instead of focusing on reptile, we go for a human DNA filter that can knock out the lizard DNA? Just like a noise filter on a cellphone."
"Yeah, nice try bro, but-" Eddie began before being interrupted by Martha.
"No, wait! That could work, a gene cleanser." Martha said.
"Yes. Yes, of course. Ah, I should have seen it before. My notes, they'll have all the data we need." Curt growled.
"So it can remove any non-human DNA." Gwen realized.
However, through the corner of your eye, you noticed Billy listening in.
Making you way to the back, you saw Billy on the computer.
"Billy, how much did you hear?" You asked.
"I don't wanna talk about that." Billy said.
"Then what do you wanna talk about?" You ask.
"Is my dad gonna be okay? I don't wanna lose him." Billy asks worried.
Frowning, you put a hand on his shoulder. "Billy, I lost my uncle not too long ago. I'm not gonna let you or your mom go through the same experience I went through."
"Your promise?" Billy asks.
"I swear on my life, you're not losing your dad." You say to Billy, just as both of you heard Curt groan in agony.
Peeking outside, both you and Billy looked in horror to see Curt start to grow claws.
"Curt." Martha said worried as she embraced him.
"I've made…a terrible mistake." Curt said before letting out a scream as his body grew bumps on his back, sprouted a lizard tail, his skull caved in and he grew a snout with razor sharp teeth.
You were shocked to see Curt turned into the Lizard!
'Well, this just went from bad to worst.' You thought to yourself.
"Curt…Curt do you recognize me?" Martha asks when the Lizard lets out a roar and starts trashing the place. Eddie then jumped onto the Lizards back.
"Doc please we just wanna-!" Eddie said before the lizard grabbed him and threw him at you and Billy.
Acting fast, you push Billy out of the way, just as Eddie crashes into you.
Roaring the Lizard leaps through the window and into the city.
Groaning, Eddie gets up before Gwen and Martha help you up.
"You guys work in the Cleanser. I'll follow the Doc and if I find him I'll call!" Eddie said as he ran out the door.
You start heading for the door too, before Gwen grabs your arm.
"Where are you going?" Gwen asked.
"I'm going out to find Dr. Connors! If word of this incident reaches the wrong people, it's not going to end well for Curt or his family!" You say as you break free of Gwen's grip and run out the door.
Martha looks at Gwen, and noticed she was about to cry. She walks up to Gwen and puts her hands on Gwen's shoulders.
"What's wrong Gwen?" Martha asks.
"I'm worried Martha. I mean, I know Peter means well, but… what if he actually gets himself killed out there unlike like last time? I can't bear the thought of losing him for good!" Gwen said, with tears starting to run down her face.
"I understand how you feel Gwen." Martha said. "Believe me. I wish he wouldn't be so reckless, but all we can do is try and create an antidote and pray he stays alive long enough to stall my husband. If I know Peter, he might surprise us."
"I hope you're right Martha… I don't wanna go through what happened last time… not again." Gwen said as she broke down in tears as Martha hugged her.
Almost immediately after you left the lab, you run down an alley and change into Spider-Man.
Firing a web, you swing off to find the Lizard.
"I got to get to the subway now!" You say to yourself. As you swing around you notice a lot of smashed cars and people running out of the subway.
"It is time to round up a Koopa." You joke to yourself as you jump down and swing into the subway station, just in time to see the Lizard about to chop down a civilian. You quickly shoot a web at the Lizard and yanking him away.
"Hey! You're not allowed to eat in the subway station!" You said as you threw the lizard at a ticket booth. The Lizard recovers and throws the booth at you. You dodge it, but the debris starts falling towards Eddie, but you fired a web net above him, catching the debris. You swing towards the lizard, grabbing him, and webbing him to the wall.
"Hello? Doc? Ya in there?" You ask. The Lizard breaks his head free from the webbing and start snapping his teeth at you. "Guess the doctor is taking a backseat." You say as you jump to the ceiling.
The Lizard breaks free and lunges at you, you jump out of the way and fire a web, but the lizard lunges at you again, this time, managing to tackle you. You fire two webs at the stone columns and you mange to kick the Lizard off of you. You then slingshot yourself back at the Lizard, who was now on the steel beams above the tracks, but he swipes your way with his tail, and you land on one of the lower beams. You look up and see the Lizard prepared to strike your hand with his tail again, but you let go of the beam and land on the tracks.
"Got to be careful of the third rail." You say to yourself, then you look at your left hand, glad you didn't get hit there, unlike the original.
You look up and see the Lizard crawling on the ceiling. "Hey that's my trademark ability!" You snapped. You look behind you to see a train approaching. You jump up and stick to a metal beam above you. You look around and the Lizard swings around and kicks you in the side, sending you flying into a stone pillar. You land on the ground with a thud as a train arrives.
Eddie, who was still there, saw the Lizard was still on the roof of the train, and ran inside the train before it starts to leave the station.
"Next Stop the Bronx!" Said the announcer.
"Yep, It's official. I'm going to be feeling that in the-, oh shit!" You said as you see the train departing, with Lizard still on top. You fire a web at the train, getting pulled along. You pull yourself in and kick the Lizard in the chest.
You tried to throw a punch at him, but the Lizard smacks you away with his tail, causing you to almost tumble off the train, but you stick to the side.
You look outside and see Eddie and a few passengers. You then start slipping on the walls and windows a bit, before crawling back on top of the train, and you saw the Lizard charge at you, you lean back, dodging his tail swipe. You then spring kick him in the face. He swings a tail at you, but you catch it, then you swing around and land on his back, trying to wrap his tail around him, but he flings you off and you groan, before he starts hitting you in the back three times, the third one punching you through the ceiling, where you were laying on the ground, groaning.
You can finally gather your bearings and noticed the Lizard terrorizing the other passengers. You lunged at the lizard, knocking both him and you out the window. You web zip under the train, but the Lizard, who was already above you, tried to push your head down to the ground, but you punch him, causing him to let go of you and you crawl back up to the roof. See the Lizard crawl back onto the roof and start charging at you, but you jump up and land on his back, trying to restrain him. You noticed a steel beam coming up, so you jumped up and the Lizard gets hit in the head. He recovers and charges at you, hitting you with his tail, knocking you off the train. You recover and web zip back onto the train, just in times to notice a low steel beam coming at you. You lean back and stand on the wall, dodging it. Get back onto the roof only to notice the lizard was gone.
"Where did the rejected Geico mascot go?" You ask. But before you could even think of anything else, your Spider-Sense went off as the Lizard ripped a hole in the compartment under you and swings a left hook knocking you into the air.
Flying backwards, you tumble to the ground as the Lizard escapes on the train.
"Well, time to get to the lab. I'm sure Martha and Gwen have that gene cleanser finished now." You say.
Back the lab, Martha and Gwen had just finished up making the cleanser.
"We're done?" Gwen asks.
"I think so. It all squares with Curt's research, but there's only one way to test it and since Curt's…hide is so thick we'll have to somehow get him to drink it." Martha said.
"Pardon me for asking the obvious, but who forgot to put their pet Lizard monster on a leash?
Gwen and Martha looked up and saw you, hanging upside down by a web.
"Spider-Man? What are you doing here?" Gwen asked.
"Uh, an oversized gecko came rampaging out of this lab and you're asking me why I'm here?" You asked.
"Spider-Man, you have to take us to that lizard monster that's rampaging the city! He's is my husband, Dr. Curt Conners! Please, he needs our help!" Martha pleaded.
"I can help out, but you two need to stay here." You say as you shoot a web, taking a vile of the Cleanser. "In the meantime, I'll try to stop the Lizard from causing trouble and hopefully keep people from getting injured."
The phone rang and Martha put it on speaker.
"Hello?" Martha asks.
"It's me. He's at the Bronx Zoo." Eddie said.
"Tell your friend to stay clear I'll see what I can do." You say as you were about to leave.
"Wait!" Gwen said, getting your attention. "Can you also keep Peter safe? He's out there chasing that monster and I'm worried about him!"
"Hey, saving people is my specialty, so don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't get himself killed, Miss Stacy. Now, stay here and get everything ready for when your hubby comes back Mrs. Connors. I got a Jurassic Doc to catch." You say as you web zip out of there.
"Was that who I think it was?" Eddie asks.
"Our friendly neighborhood hero." Martha said. "Gwen I'm going to get everything ready. Can you watch Billy?"
"Sure." Gwen said, but when she entered the office, she saw Billy was gone. "Oh no."
At the Bronx Zoo, Eddie was waiting patiently when, you leap in behind him.
"Hey." Spider-Man said startling him.
"Whoa." Eddie said.
"I get that a lot. Where is Jurassic man?" You ask.
"In there." Eddie points to the World of Reptiles exhibit.
"Of course. Among his own brethren." You said slowly making his way. "Be careful and if the Lizard sees you, run like Hell itself is chasing you."
"Okay." Eddie nods.
Slowly making your way into the reptile house. "Man, feels like a sauna in this place, and I left swimsuit back in my old dimension." You say to yourself as you crawl along the wall.
You continued until you saw a large enclosure with looked like the lizard, but knew it could just be an alligator. You jumped into the enclosure and looked around.
"Hmm. Now where is the lizard of the hour?" You ask when your spider-sense went off.
You look behind you just in time to see the Lizard whack you to the ground.
"Come and get me Bowser!" You taunt.
You lunge forward to deliver a punch, but the Lizard whacks you into the pool, then jumps after you, wrapping you in a tight embrace and dragging you deep into the water. You tried to break free, but Lizard has a pretty strong hold on you. You were very close to losing consciousness, until an alligator came to attack the Lizard, forcing him to let go of you. You quickly swim back to the surface, you then swim back to shore, coughing to get the water out of your mouth. You look around and see Eddie in the enclosure, approaching you.
"Thought I told you to stay put." You cough.
You're complaining?" Eddie asked.
"Not really Mr. Brock. But we need a new strategy." You say as you both look out and see the Lizard fighting an alligator. "Doesn't look like the doctor wants to take his meds. Not when he's busy playing around with his family in the warm waters. Wait a minute." You say looking at Eddie. "I have an idea!" You and Eddie go to the polar bear enclosure. "The Lizard was fine in the mock swamp because it was heated. But we dunk him into the polar bear enclosure, since he is cold blooded, will slow him down."
"Right. Slow enough for someone to force a little gene cleanser down his throat." Eddie said, catching on to your plan. "But first you need to get in here with live lizard bait."
"Wait, are you actually going to-"
"My choice. Try to stop me." Eddie said.
"All right. But if you get injured, don't say I didn't warn you." You say as you then jump into the enclosure. "First to make sure the bears don't come out." You start webbing up the cave entrances. Then, you jump out of the enclosure, just in time to hear Eddie scream. You look and see him being chased by the Lizard.
"Hey Gekko!" You shouted, getting the Lizard's attention.
The Lizard charges in and swings his tail, hitting you to the ground before grabbing you, and sending you flying back and crashing into a tree where your backpack was.
You open your backpack, and quickly take off your spider suit, and putting on you civilian clothes and shoes. And just as you're finished putting on your clothes, web shooters, and putting the vile in your pocket, you see Billy, who arrived on his skateboard, trying to distract the Lizard.
"Shit Billy, why now?" You mutter to yourself. You jumped out from the tree, without any of them noticing you, can you quickly get into position, in time to see the Lizard pick up Billy with his tail.
"You don't have to be the Lizard. You're still my dad." Billy said. The Lizard opens his mouth to go in for a big bite.
You knew, now it was now or never.
"DOCTOR!!!" You shouted, getting his and Billy's attention. You charged in and tackled the Lizard, causing him to let go of Billy, knocking both the Lizard and yourself over the railing, down into the polar bear closure, and right into the pool of cold water.
Eddie runs over to the enclosure, then looks Billy. "Did you skateboard here?" He asked.
"I took a cab. Duh." Billy answered.
They both look down into the enclosure , and Eddie was shocked to see you get launched out of the pool by the Lizard.
"Peter?!" Eddie asked shocked.
You roll on your back, and you looked up and see Billy and Eddie, looking shocked to see you.
"Hey guys!" You answered, the lizard then lunged at you, but you roll of to the side, then you lunged at the lizard, tackling him to the ground.
"Is this what people in Florida do in their free time?" You ask, but the lizard that throws you off, and pins you down.
You hold him back by his neck with one arm, keeping him from chomping down on your face, his left arm pinning you down, and you try keeping his right arm from slicing you open. The lizard roars in your face, and you gag at the smell of his breath,
"Two words Doc: Breath Mints! I don't think your wife finds smelly lizard breath attractive!" You say, gagging a bit.
But then the Lizard did something you didn't account for…
His right claws extended.
"Extendable claws?!" You asked in disbelief. The Lizard starts to lower his right claw, you try to push it away, but he still lowers it. "Please god no." You say with a hint of fear. You try to hold him back, but the Lizard managed to lower his right arm enough to cut your chest. You scream in pain, but still try to hold him back.
"Peter!" Eddie called out sounding worried and panicked.
You punch the lizard in the face, causing him to let you go and stumble backwards. You get up and tackled the lizard down
"Yo Billy! Toss me your board!" You yell.
Nodding, Billy throws his skateboard to you, and you use it to keep the Lizard from chomping down on you, you then pull out the gene cleanser.
"Time to take your meds Doc." You say, as you pop open the vile and pour it down lizard's throat, just as the last of the cleanser went down his throat, the Lizard whacks you off with his tail causing you to hit the wall.
You look up to see the Lizard was about to finish you off, when he started to mutate back into Curt Conners but he no longer had a right arm again.
"Ugh what happened?" Curt asks as he looks around, then notices you, laying on your back, with five fresh claw marks on your chest, oozing blood.
Took Curt a couple of seconds to put the pieces together, and then he became mortified, realizing what he had done.
"Oh no… Peter… what… What have I done?" He asked in shock.
You groan from the pain, now that the adrenaline was gone. You look up at Eddie. "Eddie call Martha, and while you're at it, try to find a way to get us out of here!" You hollered.
Eddie took out his phone, and dialed up Martha.
Back at the lab, Martha and Gwen were cleaning up the lab, when the phone went off. Martha went over and answered.
"Hello?" Martha said.
"Doctor, it's Eddie! Listen, there's good news and bad news." Eddie said.
"What's the good news?" Martha asked.
"Well, Peter's administered the gene cleanser to the Lizard." Eddie answered.
"That's good to hear, but… what's the bad news?" Martha asked, fearing what she was about to hear.
"Unfortunately, Peter got hurt in the process." Eddie confessed. "He threw himself at the mercy of the Lizard when it almost got Billy, and now he's got claw marks on part of his body."
"What?! oh no! Quick, get Peter back to the lab so we can treat his injuries and bring back my husband too. But first, I gotta know… did the gene cleanser work?" Martha asked.
"…Yeah. Curt's OK. We're bringing him home too." Eddie said.
Thanks. See you when you get back to the lab." Martha said as she hung up. "That reckless boy. What was he thinking?"
20 minutes later, the doors to the lab burst open, and Gwen and Martha were greeted with quite a sight.
Eddie and Curt were helping you in. But that wasn't the biggest eyecatcher.
The biggest eyecatcher was you were soaking wet, your shirt was ripped and bloody, and you were looking a little pale.
"PETER!!!" Gwen shrieked as she ran up to you.
"Will you please keep quiet? I'm in enough pain already." You groan as Eddie and Curt help you over to a table.
You sit down on the table and take your shirt off, but the injuries hurt even more when trying to take it off, you then lay down the table, groaning in pain. Martha ran over and checked is injures.
"Gwen, get me the disinfectant and some bandages!" Martha said. Gwen nodded and rushed off, coming back with and an armful of bandages, a couple bottles of disinfectant, and a rag. After cleaning up some of the blood, Martha applied some disinfectant to the rag and pressed it against your wound.
And it hurt, a lot.
You roared in pain, gripping the edges of the table to keep yourself in place. Gwen looked at Eddie.
"What happened to Peter?! Also how did you all get back here?" Gwen demanded.
"Parker battled the Lizard and got slashed in the process. As for how we got back, we took a couple of cabs." Eddie answered.
"None of you told the cab drivers about this?" Gwen asked.
"No. Peter simply told them "don't ask"." Eddie said.
After Martha cleaned up your wounds, she covered your your claw marks with bandages.
"Peter, what were you even thinking?!" Martha demanded.
"Martha, can you save your scolding for when I'm not in constant pain?" You asked.
Curt placed his left hand on Martha's shoulder. "Honey, Peter has already been through enough today." Curt said.
Martha looked at her husband, then looked back to you and sighed. "Fine, i'll save my lecture for another time." She said, but gave you a look that says "this doesn't mean you're off the hook".
The tension was broken by the sound of a phone going off, everyone looked at the direction the sound was coming from… your backpack.
You looked at the time, and your eyes widened.
It was 10:50P.M.
"Great." You groaned, getting everyone's attention. "I missed curfew. How I can explain this to Aunt May?"
You try to sit up, but the pain from your injuries forces you to lay back down.
"Peter!" Gwen gasped, and ran over to help you up. Martha looked over to Curt and Eddie.
"Curt, Eddie, I'll take Peter home. Keep an eye on Billy." Martha said as she went over and helped you.
"I'm going with you." Gwen said also helping you up.
As you were being escorted out of the lab, you could only think about was how were you going to explain your injuries to Aunt May.
Back home, Aunt May was busy cleaning the kitchen, after she put your dinner in the fridge. She was growing worried, you were fifty minutes late and you weren't answering her calls. She goes to the living room and sits down on the couch waiting for you to come back.
Then the doorbell rings and she goes to answer, hoping that it was you. But when she answered the door, she saw Martha and Gwen helping you. You were shirtless with your chest bandaged up with a tiny bit of blood on the bandages, and looking a little pale.
"PETER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Aunt May shrieked.
"Can you please keep it down Aunt May? I don't want you waking up the entire neighborhood." You groan as you try to stay standing.
"Mrs. Parker I'll explain. But first, we need to get Peter to his room." Martha said.
Aunt May helped guide you to your room, with Martha and Gwen helping keep you from falling over. Once all four of you got to your bedroom, Martha and Gwen help lay you down on your bed. You still groan as you try to sit up, but Gwen gently pushes you back down.
"Oh no, you don't mister. You're staying here in your bed until your injuries have fully healed." Martha said sternly.
"Come on-" you tried to argue, but then, Gwen gave you the infamous "Look" and you knew that look leaves no room for an argument. "Fine." You groan. Gwen, Martha and Aunt May then leave your room. You rest your head against the pillow, and soon enough, you fell asleep.
Back downstairs Martha and Gwen were explaining to Aunt May what happened to you.
"Mrs. Parker, you have no idea how lucky you are,to have such a brave, yet rambunctious nephew." Martha said.
"It's both a blessing and a curse." Aunt May said as she rested her head in her hands. "But what I want to know is… why was he all bloodied and bandaged up like that? Just what is my poor little Peter getting himself into?"
Martha and Gwen looked at each other before Gwen spoke up. "Let's just say he had to fight off a wild animal that almost hurt Billy when Dr. Connors was… under the weather."
"Oh my goodness! My poor Peter! Why does he do this to himself, why does he keep getting into danger?" Aunt May asked as she looked like she was about to cry. Martha hugged Aunt May, and so did Gwen.
"I always wondered that myself. It's like something drives him to help others, even if it means abandoning his own safety." Martha said. "I wish he'd be more careful as well… and yet… if it wasn't for your nephew, my little Billy wouldn't have made it out alive."
"He's really changed a lot since the accident. I just hope he'll take better care of himself." Gwen said with clear worry in her voice.
"Me too. While I'm horrified he risked his life again… i'm also relieved that you brought my Peter home. I can't thank you two enough for bringing my boy home." Aunt May smiled with tears in her eyes.
"It was our pleasure, Mrs Parker." Martha said. "Anyways, you have a nice night and god bless that heroic nephew." "
If you ever need anything, let me know, and I'll come by in a jiffy." Gwen said as she and Martha stood up.
"Thank you. Both of you." Aunt May said as Gwen and Martha left to go home. Aunt May then makes her way to her room to get ready for bed, but stops by your room. She quietly peeks in and sees you sleeping.
"Oh Peter… why do you always do these things?" Aunt May asks herself as she closes the door and goes to bed.
Three days later, and thanks to your healing factor, you fully recovered from your Lizard injuries. Even Aunt May was surprised. As you were in the bathroom examining your healed chest, your phone rings. You pick up your phone and see the caller was Gwen, and so you answer.
"Hey Gwen." You greet.
"Hey Pete, can you stop by the lab?" Gwen asked.
"Why? Is something wrong?" You asked.
"It's Martha." Gwen answered.
"Let me guess… she still wants to scold me for what I did that night?" You asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes." Gwen said simply.
You sigh, knowing that even though you didn't take any pictures of her husband for the Bugle, she still wanted to lecture you for your recklessness.
"Tell her I'm coming." You say as you hung up, knowing either way, you were not getting out of this with receiving an earful from Martha. You exit the bathroom, put your shirt on, and walked downstairs and saw Aunt May in the kitchen cleaning dishes. She saw you walking towards the front door.
"Peter, where are you going?" Aunt May asked.
"To ESU. Martha wants to talk to me about something. Don't worry, I'll be back in a bit." You answered as you walk out the door.
You arrive at ESU, secretly dreading what was going to happen. Sure, you didn't have any photos for the Daily Bugle, but still… there was still a chance you could lose your internship for your reckless bravery. You take a deep breath and enter the Conner's lab and lo and behold, there was Martha, Curt, Gwen, Eddie, and Billy.
"Did you want to speak with me Martha?" You asked nervously.
"Peter…" Martha said in a tone that sounded like she was trying to be calm, but also a hint of anger and concern. "You do know what you did 3 days ago, right?"
"I ran off, tackled your reptilian hubby into a Polar Bear enclosure, wrestled him, get cut along my chest, and finally force fed him a gene cleanser." You say, recapping what you did that night.
"Peter… why? Why did you do something so reckless and dangerous?!" Martha asked, about to break down into tears. "Why do you put your life at risk? Why??"
"If I didn't do something, then you and Billy would suffer the tragedy of losing a husband and father, or worst for you Martha, losing both your husband AND your son! I lost my uncle, I wasn't going to let you and your son suffer the same experience!!!" You snapped.
Everyone was shocked by what you just said, especially Martha and Billy.
"We understand Peter." Gwen said with sympathy in her voice. "Believe me, we all feel sorry for the fact you lost your beloved uncle."
"I'm sure your Uncle would be immensely proud of you for doing the right thing." Eddie added. "But I don't think he would want to see his only nephew kick the bucket at such an early age."
He's right Peter." Curt said. "You shouldn't have to put yourself into the jaws of the monster just to try to save everyone. But all in all… I thank you for saving me and reuniting me with my wife and son."
"I don't know what I'd do without my dad. I wish you didn't have to lose your uncle, but thank you so much for bringing my dad back, you're like a brother to me." Billy said to you.
"That's right. You have way too much to lose if you had died out there trying to save Curt. you have a loving aunt who would be lost without you, friends who cherish you and as Billy put it… an older brother figure to look up to. But at the same time… I cannot find the words to show how grateful I am to have my Curt home once more." Martha said with tears flowing from her eyes as she hugged you tightly. "Thank you, Peter Parker… you're a real hero."
"You're welcome, Martha. And… I'm sorry I ran off like that." You say, patting Martha's back. After Martha broke her embrace, Gwen asked you a question.
"Why did you do that? I mean, where was Spider-Man?" Gwen demanded.
"I told him to stall Connors until I could get to the zoo. He swung on ahead to try and slow him down. As soon as I arrived, I looked for Spider-Man, saw him recovering in the trees, so I signaled him to let me take it from there." You answered.
Everyone was surprised by your answer. Then Eddie spoke up.
"You actually asked Spidey for help?" Eddie asked.
"I had to. It took team effort. but, I also told him before I got there… that if I were to fail, then he should give Conners the serum. But luckily, it didn't come to that." You said.
"Are you kidding me?!" Gwen asked in disbelief. "You should've left this to Spider-Man, he's a superhero for a reason and you're just… you."
"I know, Gwen, but you have to understand… Spider-Man's human too… albeit a superhuman, but a human nonetheless." You say as you look at Gwen. "But either way, we still work together, even though he was against putting me in harm's way."
"While that was very stupid of you to get hurt like that bro… still I'm glad you help save Dr. Connors." Eddie said.
"Yeah, but stop scaring us like that." She said looking worried.
"While I can't make any promises, I'll try to keep my dangerous shenanigans to a minimum." You say. Then you turn to Curt Conners.
"Curt there's something I wanted to ask you to do." You say, knowing what you were going to ask was going to be questionable to everyone in the room.
"What is it you wanted to ask?" Curt asked.
"Listen, I know how much you want to get your right arm back. And I know this will sound outrageous. But I think it would be best… for you to destroy all your lizard research." You said.
The room went silent. So silent in fact, you could hear the buzzing of a fly and everyone looked at you like you grew an extra head. Gwen and Eddie started blinking in surprise, Martha closed her eyes, and held Billy close to her. Curt on the other hand looked shocked.
"What? B-But why?" Curt asked shocked that you would suggest he do such a thing.
"Why would you suggest something so extreme, Peter?" Martha asked, wanting to know too.
"Think about it. Everyone saw the Lizard trampling around the city, I believe it's only a matter of time before an investigation is conducted, and if we don't act now, the wrong people will find out about this." You explained.
"Care to explain?" Curt asked.
"Worst case scenario, you might end up getting blackmailed and forced to work for some of the worst criminals in the city. They have ways of finding out, so you're only best bet is destroy any and all traces of your lizard research, Doc." You reasoned.
"You know… I think you have a point." Martha said catching on to what you are saying, then turned to her husband. "Curt, do what he says."
"But, Martha…" Curt started before Martha cut him off.
"I don't care if you don't have a right arm anymore! I fell in love with you for who you are, and I still love you. Billy loves you too. Please, do as Peter says." Martha pleaded.
"I… I just… can't I just hide my research?" Curt asked.
"As I stated before, people have their ways of stealing information from you, so you're better off, destroying any and all traces of your lizard research. Do it for those that matter… your wife… your son… and yourself." You say to Curt.
Curt looked at his wife and son, feeling conflicted about destroying his limb regrowing formula research, before he finally decided.
"Alright, if you say so Peter." Curt said.
For the next hour, you and the others spent that time destroying all digital and hard copies of Curt's lizard research. You look at Curt, and saw he had a sad look on his face. You knew he was upset about having to destroy his research. You place a hand on Curt's shoulder.
"Don't worry Doc. You and your family should be safe now." You say as you then turned to Martha. "Will I still keep my internship?"
"Yes, you will still have your internship. But after what happened three days ago, I suggest you take a little break from it." Martha suggested.
"Are you sure that's necessary?" You asked sounding unsure.
"I insist." Martha said with a tone that left no room for argument.
"All right, if you're insist." You say as you left the building.
'All right. Although I'm taking a break, at least I still have the internship.' You thought, but then another thought crossed your mind.
How are you going to get your suit and gear back from the zoo?
'Shit! With all that was going on, I completely forgot about it! I just hope it's still in the same spot. I left it.' You thought as you try think this through.
When you got back home, you immediately went back up to your room, thinking on how to get your suit and gear back from the zoo. You reach under your bed and take out the blueprints for the web shooters and and formula for web fluid. You also find a pair of red shoes from under your bed. Then you go and look in your closet and saw a red zipper hoodie. You also find a box on the floor, you open it and find some sort of red ski mask, a pair of red and black fingerless gloves and a set of black goggles with white lenses. Then you go to your drawers and find a blue sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and a pair of red socks.
"I can make this work." You said to yourself as you got to work.
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