Following those clear signs of danger, I instinctively take MJ's hand and I head towards his car as I drag her with me through the crowd of people fleeing that area.
Upon arriving at her car, the first thing I do is grab my backpack while MJ sits in the driver's seat, however, when she realizes that I wasn't going to leave with her, MJ immediately tries to get out of the car.
Before she can get out of the car again, I position myself in front of the door to stop her and tell her to go home without me, because I have to stay to take some pictures for the Daily Bugle, but MJ still insists on staying to help me.
Knowing MJ's character, she will never leave at this rate, so with a serious expression that hides my deep sorrow for what I'm about to say to her, I explain to her that if she joins me, she would just be a burden to me.
"If you really want to help me, go home MJ." I say to her.
After those words that left MJ stunned, I walk away from the car and, after mixing in the crowd of people who are running away, I head to a deserted street to take off my clothes and wear the mask and the web-shooters.
Once I leave my backpack with my clothes in a safe place, I quickly head to the source of those screams that I had heard and, from the roof of a building, I see the humanoid reptile that the police had lost in the sewers lifting a car over their head.
From that roof, I jump in their direction after firing a web, then I hit the machine that they have lifted with both feet, making it fall behind them and, thus, preventing them from throwing it at the people who are running away.
When I then land in front of that being to whom I have made to lose the balance for a moment, I can finally see clearly their appearance and I must admit they are not wearing a costume as I assumed.
'They look like one of those CGI monsters that you see in a bad horror movie, however this one here is real...'
The being who is covered by green scales wears shreds of clothes, their mouth is full of sharp teeth and their eyes, whose pupil is vertical, are yellow.
"I never imagined in my life that I would meet the famous sewer alligator monster, when I was a kid the urban legend about you was one of my favorites. Can we take a selfie together?"
The moment the being that is towering over me sees me, they immediately rush in my direction, ready to cut me with their claws of their hands, which are stretched out towards my chest.
With the help of my reflexes and my spider-sense, I back enough to not get hit and then, using their arms as a prop, I jump and then punch him in the face. Unfortunately, the strength I put into that test fist that would have knocked out a man with above-average endurance is only enough to make him waver for a moment.
"I see, you're not a photo guy, after all you don't want proof of your existence like other urban legends, but can you at least give me an autograph?" I ask while we're face to face.
After a roar, the being catches me and they throw me against the wall that is to our right, however, before my body can crash into it, I shoot two webs to a pole and a tree that are respectively on my right and on my left.
While I am in the air, I pull both webs at once and reverse the direction of my flight to return from that being, whom I hit with a double kick in the chest, making them fall.
After that kick I jump back to create some distance between me and that being, since after a few seconds they are back on their feet, as if nothing has changed except the increase of their anger towards me.
"All you had to do was say no, you don't have to be so grumpy. I bet your colleague Sasquatch is not as obnoxious and haughty as you..." I say as they run in my direction on all fours.
When they are a few steps away from me, the being jumps and prepares to hit me in the descending phase of that leap, however rather than back off or move away from them, I went towards him while he was still in midair and, As soon as I found myself under his body, I jumped to punch him directly under his snout.
My fist, in which I put a little more force than usual, makes them return to the point where they jumped, back against the road. The impact of the fall and my punch seem to be enough to make him groan in pain before they get back on their feet.
"Damn...spider...because...of...you...problems" The being tells me, with a growl after every word.
"So you can talk?! You're a mutant or you're-"
"No...talk...now...you... Die...!"
When the being finishes speaking, they return to the attack, and although I shoot cobwebs at their legs to slow his advance, they avoid them as they start moving on all fours again.
As soon as they are near me again, we start fighting again and this time it seems that the being is using their brain a little more than before, in all senses. The moment both our arms are locked from the other and vice versa, my spider-sense is activated in time to warn me of the imminent lowering of the head of the being.
Since I can't defend myself now, the being is going to try to bite me in the area of the right shoulder, however I am not the only one who cannot use the arms now. Before they can open their jaws, I head-butt them, then I try to replicate on him one of the judo techniques I had seen in an online video this morning during lunch break.
Since I cannot defend myself now, the being is going to try to bite me in the area of the right shoulder, however I am not the only one who cannot use his own arms to defend himself. Before they can open their jaws, I head-butt them, then I try to replicate on him one of the judo techniques I had seen in an online video this morning during lunch break.
Since the being is now unbalanced forward, I take the opportunity to place my right foot between his legs and his left foot in the area of their pelvis.
With speed and strength, I pull them towards me and later I drop backwards, then, using my right leg as a "catapult", along with the imbalance caused by my back fall, I am able to throw the being behind me.
Afterwards to the impact of that move of mine, I go away again from him and, taking advantage of that moment in which they are out of action, I look around to see if there are any injured person or someone who needs help.
There is no one from both categories around, the people who are still around me are either locked in shops or bars nearby or hidden somewhere.
While I keep my gaze fixed on the being who is slowly rising, I nod to that group of hidden people to leave and evacuate the area while I keep them occupied.
"You did use that serum, didn't you? If I'm right, then let me help you. I don't know why you used it, but you need to know that what you're convinced is the solution to your problems, it's gonna kill you real soon if we don't do something."
"Spider...source...problems...dead... Spider...problems...disappear...!" The being screams.
As soon as they try to scratch me with their left hand claws, I grab their arm and drag it down in a right direction, and then I hit them with my right knee on the left side of their abdomen.
Before they can use their right hand to hit me, I climb up and position myself behind his back, legs around his belly while my left arm is wrapped around his neck. While I put pressure with those two grips on his body, I force him to arch his back and, at the same time, I hit them being careful not to overdo it with the strength that I put in each hit.
"From what you say, it seems like it's not the first time I've caused you problems, but I'd remember someone like you if I'd met you before. You certainly don't go unnoticed. What's your name? Maybe I remember you before you became...who you are now, whatever you are."
Unfortunately, in addition to receiving a growl in response to my words, they manage to get rid of me before either my intuition or my spider-sense can warn me.
Suddenly, from the back area of the pelvis of the being, which was still covered by shreds of a pair of trousers, emerges a reptilian tail almost as long as me and wider than my leg that suddenly wraps around my chest.
When I sense that they are about to start crushing me with it, I immediately block both their arms and bring them back, towards me, to inflict such pain on them that it makes them give up that idea. After a few minutes of stalemate in which we both try not to give in, in the end I win, but not in the way I hoped because they threw me away, to the top of a building on our left.
I don't have time to shoot even a spider web before my body crashes into the wall of the building, however, I have succeeded in clinging to that same wall, thus avoiding falling to the ground from that height.
Nevertheless, they probably injured themselves in the process.
For some reason, they ignored the fact that I was clinging to their arms and their right arm and shoulder, which were in the opposite direction to where I was thrown, moved in a theoretically unnatural way.
When my gaze goes on him, I notice that that arm is limp along the right side of being, and although this confirms my theory, it also raises a question.
'Why did he give up their arm with such carelessness? I don't think he went into that berserk state like Oliver or Liam, indeed it seems he was aware that it would happen but he didn't care...'
"I didn't think you'd take it that way just because I asked your name. What are you gonna do, my friend? Are you going to keep fighting like that, or are you going to give up and wait for law enforcement to arrive with me? If you cooperate, I guarantee you-"
While I'm talking to them, the being decides to reject both my proposals and to choose the third option, to run away from me and start to trigger panic again on the streets of New York.
"Obviously the part of the chase could not be missing... I have to remember to improve the resistance of webs when I have time, so I can trap even bad guys like those..." I whisper bored as I jump off the wall of the building I was on.
It's only a matter of time before I reach him, because even if they want to hide, the screams of the civilians who were in the area where they moved help me locate them. When I'm about to swoop in on them, the being uproot from the ground a traffic light with their only working arm and, with it, they try to hit me.
Although their hit hits me successfully, I still manage to parry in time with my arms and, after that, I grab that traffic light, I pull it to get closer to being and finally I hit them with a kick in the upper chest area, by their necks.
"We can avoid destroying the city further, okay? Other super idiots are already doing it under the guise of saving people, and I don't want to be associated with them."
After saying those words, I remove the pole from their hands and hit them at the knees with it then, when I feel that they are going to hit me with the sharp claws of their left hand, I move abruptly towards their right.
Since his right arm is broken, he has created a blind spot where he can't do anything without lowering his defenses further, however, all of a sudden, I see the being smiling at me.
When that creepy smile where I see those sharp teeth of theirs appears, my spider-sense activates and, although I prepare for an imminent danger, I don't expect in the slightest to be hit by his powerful right hook.
Although I try to protect myself, the surprise effect of that hook has breached my defenses and I end up making a small flight and a few bounces on the road until my body collides with the side of a car.
As soon as I recover, I only have time to see the being move their right arm as if it is brand new before they rush towards me to keep that advantage in the fight in their favor.
Before their claws can pierce my skull, I roll to the left and get up with a back flip, then I keep dodging those razor-sharp nails of theirs several times, until the being can catch me by the neck with their tail.
To prevent my possible response to that grip, the being uses both his hands to hold my arms along my hips, while the grip of their tail on my neck gradually tightens.
The moment I try to free myself from that vise, something hits the back of being. They suddenly turn in the direction from which the stone started and taking advantage of their brief distraction, I can kick them in the area of their throat, strong enough to free me from their grip.
When I move away from being, my gaze moves in the direction of the person who threw them a water bottle and, as soon as I realize that Mj is responsible for this, I feel my heart lose a beat, then it suddenly resumes to beat very quickly.
Irritated with the culprit who helped escape their prey, the being that until recently was focused on me, shifts their attention to the Redhead, whom immediately begins to run in the opposite direction to ours as soon as their eyes lay on her.
At the same time as MJ's escape, the being immediately begins to chase her and they manage with their claws to graze the bag of MJ, however their run towards MJ stops immediately after that. My reaction time was shorter than theirs, also, by adding the use of my webs to move, I have a distinct speed advantage over that being.
That advantage is used to be able to hit them on the side during the descent of one of my webs swings, and the impact of my attack sends the body of the being crashing against the wall of a building that was to their left.
"Quick! Hold on to me!" I tell MJ as I try to mask my voice so she doesn't recognize me.
Ignoring the being who is already recovering from the blow, I move from that area quickly with the help of my webs as soon as MJ clings to my neck and I try to create as much distance as possible between us and the being.
"You know, my job is to keep civilians safe, and if you get that big guy mad, you make my job a lot harder, young lady. What were you doing there instead of running away like everyone else?"
"I came to help your friend Peter, the guy who takes your pictures. I saw that you were struggling, and I thought maybe it was better to help you than have him take his last pictures of you."
'She seems to think Spider-Man knows me well. Why does she have that belief?'
"I doubt he'd rather you end up in dangerous situations like that. Next time avoid doing stupid things like that and go home like Peter said." I say, and as soon as I see a police car coming our way, I go to them.
Once I have left MJ to their care, I prepare to return immediately to the humanoid reptile to move it to a place where they would not cause much damage and to give the police time to secure the area.
As soon as I shoot the first web towards a streetlight to lift me off the ground, I hear MJ screaming behind me.
"Hey! Not only did you interrupt the date but now you're leaving without even thanking me for saving you?!"
That exclamation makes me relax a moment, especially now that I know that they will prevent her from following me, however, that kind of verse that the being makes as they leap towards me, immediately erases that brief relief that I was feeling.
Before they can catch me, I shoot a web down to change my trajectory, then, while I'm still in midair, I shoot webs on their legs. Even if they get rid of them almost immediately, the being ends up falling face down on the road since they could not use their legs while they landed.
The moment they finish freeing his legs from the webs, the being turns to where they thought I was, however, during that movement, I have already moved behind them.
Before they can sense my presence, I grab their tail then, when they are about to turn towards me, I slide under their legs without dropping their tail, making them fall again.
Thanks to this, their back is forced to absorb for the umpteenth time another damage and unlike the past times, it seems that the being is taking longer to get up.
Before they can crush me again with their tail, I immediately let it go and then I try to completely immobilize the being with the webs, however I realize now that I have finished both cartridges of web-shooters.
"Fortunately" I'm used to unpleasant surprises like this and I have time to load at least the right web-shooter before being lashes out at me.
'I wish I had cartridges with infinite web fluid.'
At some point, during the fierce fight that has just resumed between me and the being, their right arm that was about to hit me with an elbow collapsed suddenly.
'I thought they regenerated that arm... Maybe they don't have a complete regenerative healing factor or they actually used one of those serums and they're starting to suffer side effects'
The being stops suddenly and, after giving a look full of worry and fear towards that arm, they back a few steps and then start to run away, avoiding the webs that I shot to slow him down while I start chasing them.
With difficulty I succeed in preventing their escape into the town centre, however, despite my attempts to limit their retreat, the being manages to find what they were looking for, a way to stop my pursuit.
In a corner of the street they find a parked car with a terrified mother who starts hugging her son as soon as she sees the being go in their direction.
With the right web-shooter I shoot a web towards the machine, to move it from there, while with the left one, which I reloaded before starting to chase them, I shoot several webs to stop it or at least slow it down enough to precede them.
Despite my attempts, the being arrives at the car, opens its roof like a can of tuna and, with their tail, they take the mother and son. After throwing the woman and her son into the air in different directions, the humanoid reptile runs away in their opposite direction.
Despite the speed with which I saved the mother and child from crashing to the ground, I can not stop the being from escaping, I only have time to see them dive into the sea and subsequently disappear into its depths.
P.O.V. Curtis Connors
"Fuck!" I exclaim as I hit my left fist on the sewer ground where I woke up.
Unlike the first time I managed for a while to maintain a minimum of control of that being in which I turned, however that monster inside me is indomitable.
I begin to tremble at the thought of what would have happened if that woman and her child had not been saved.
"If only Spider-Man..."
At the thought of that damned spider, my fierce anger surmounts the terror I was feeling, completely pervading my body which begins to tremble. That damn "super hero" is living proof that Richard Parker, even though he's dead, remains a better scientist than I am.
'Not only did his existence drag me into this situation but now he also wants to get in my way, that bastard destroyed my new-'
"No... calm down, Curt, you need to be lucid and not lose control. Now I have to go to the laboratory and, taking into account what happened, make some changes to the serum formula. I can't show that I've lost my arm again or they'll doubt my usefulness. I absolutely have to find the solution to my problem that Richard has hidden, so I won't have side effects like Spider-Man." I whisper as I get off the ground.
With my left hand pressing on my right shoulder, I walk towards the exit of the sewers where the beast had hidden while I reflect on how to proceed.
"I doubt that a scrupulous and reserved man like Richard hid the missing piece of his research in some document as they told me, it will probably be impossible to find given how paranoid he was about his research. The only one who can know anything more is Spider-Man, since it is clear that he is the result of Richard's research. I'd have to catch him to figure out what's missing from my formula, but how..."
All of a sudden, I get a throbbing pain in my head that makes me collapse to the ground, and as I groan from the pain, in my head I see several segments of today's events, which involve that red-haired girl.
'From their behavior it seems that they knew each other and on the girl's purse there was a pin with the logo of a high school that was in that area. Maybe I could... No! I'm getting carried away again by my unstable thoughts, I have to hurry up and go to the lab. Now!'