Ethan and Peter both instinctively moved to pursue the fleeing Lizard, but Margaret Connors stepped in front of them, her voice pleading through choked sobs.
"Please… let him go. Don't hurt him. He didn't mean to do any of this."
She looked like she was on the verge of breaking down. Her face was pale, her hands trembling, her breath shallow. Peter turned to Ethan, his expression conflicted. They exchanged a glance and slowly lowered their guard.
They couldn't leave Margaret and her son like this—not after what just happened. Even though the Lizard had vanished into the night, Ethan and Peter knew that his lair would likely be somewhere beneath the city. The sewers, the subways… that was Connors' territory now. Hard to find, but not impossible.
Later, they brought Margaret and her son back to the Connors' house. They sat them down, offered water, and gave them time to calm down. The boy clung to his mother, still visibly shaken. Margaret's hands were wrapped tightly around the cup, and her eyes stared blankly into the distance.
Neither Peter nor Ethan spoke at first. The truth was heavy—Dr. Curt Connors, the man who had inspired them both in different ways, was now the creature they had just fought.
After a moment, Peter broke the silence.
"Mrs. Connors… what happened? Why did Dr. Connors become that… that thing?"
Ethan leaned forward slightly, his arms crossed. He had the same question gnawing at his mind. The transformation, the strength, the primal savagery—none of it was natural. And it wasn't just an accident.
Margaret finally spoke, her voice low and cracked.
"It was that damn machine. Kurt called it the New Genetic Recombination System. That… that was the beginning."
She paused to gather herself, then continued.
"He became obsessed—completely immersed in the work. The animal trials were successful beyond his wildest dreams. He actually regrew a mouse's severed limb in minutes. That kind of breakthrough—it made him believe anything was possible."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. He remembered that trial. He'd seen the same mouse in Connors' lab, regenerating limbs like some kind of miracle.
Margaret went on.
"He said if we could splice lizard DNA into human genomes properly, we could cure everything—limb loss, degenerative disease, even certain cancers. He… he truly believed he could heal the world. So, without telling anyone… he tested it on himself."
"He injected himself?" Peter asked in disbelief.
Margaret nodded slowly, her hands gripping the cup tighter.
"He used the recombination system on himself. At first, it worked. His arm—his right arm—it grew back. You should've seen him… he was happier than I'd ever seen him in years."
"But it didn't last. Not even a week passed before he started changing—scales, claws, his voice deepening. Then… he wasn't himself anymore."
Her voice broke. She covered her face and sobbed.
"I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't call the police. I was terrified they'd shoot him on sight. And despite how he looks… he never tried to hurt us. Never."
Ethan lowered his eyes. It was the same tragic thread he'd heard before—a man of brilliance consumed by his ambition. And now the city was in danger because of it.
After a moment, Ethan asked quietly, "Then… what about the people he's been kidnapping? Why would he take them?"
Margaret hesitated, then wiped her eyes and spoke.
"He kept saying his experiment wasn't complete. That he needed more samples, more data, more… time. I think… I think he took those people to keep experimenting—trying to perfect the process."
Peter stood and looked toward Ethan. "Then whatever he took from the lab earlier—that must've been part of the recombination system. If he's trying to improve the serum, he's getting closer to making more lizard-hybrids."
"I don't want to see a city full of mutants by morning," Ethan said grimly. "We need to stop him. Now."
They both nodded in agreement. Whatever Connors had become, he was still a threat to innocent lives. And there was no telling how many people he had taken already.
They reassured Margaret and her son one last time, then quietly slipped out of the house. The nearest manhole cover was just down the block.
"If he wanted to disappear quickly," Peter muttered, scanning the ground, "he'd head underground. Fastest way to lose anyone in this part of the city."
Sure enough, near the grate, they found signs—massive clawed footprints and deep drag marks from a long tail, partially smeared by water and grime. It was clear where Connors had gone.
Ethan and Peter dropped into the sewer.
The stench hit them immediately, and the narrow stone tunnels echoed every drop of water, every step they took. They walked deeper, their eyes scanning every wall, every pipe. Soon, they reached a flooded junction—an intersection of wide tunnels with no dry footing. Several drainage channels diverged into the darkness ahead.
Ethan looked around. "We have no choice. We pick one and go in."
Peter activated a small drone from his belt and let it fly into one of the side passages.
"We'll find him," Peter said.
Ethan nodded, his voice low. "Before it's too late."
"In addition to the smaller tunnels, which are too narrow for the Lizard to pass through, there are three main sewer lines wide enough to accommodate his size," Ethan said, crouching beside the edge of the drainage canal and examining the paths that branched off ahead.
Peter joined him, scanning the sewer map on his handheld display. "Looks like we're down to a guessing game. We pick one and see if it leads anywhere. If not, we double back and try the next."
"If two are a bust, the third's our last shot," Ethan agreed with a nod. "There's not much else we can do."
Just as Ethan prepared to enter the leftmost tunnel, Peter suddenly held up a hand to stop him. His expression was uncharacteristically serious.
"Wait… one more thing," Peter said, hesitating slightly. "If we find him… please don't kill him."
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "You want me to spare the Lizard?"
Peter nodded. "Yes. I've read through Dr. Connors' research notes. Based on what we know, his transformation—while extreme—is still rooted in genetic instability. There's a chance the effects can be reversed."
Ethan paused, listening closely.
"If we recover the original recombination data and use the correct counter-sequence with the stabilizer serum, we may be able to force a genetic regression," Peter added. "Connors still has a family. His son. His wife. If there's even a chance we can bring him back, we owe it to them to try."
Ethan remained silent for a moment. Deep down, he had already been conflicted about what to do. He wasn't a killer, but in a life-or-death situation, hesitation could be fatal. Still, Peter's words rang true. If the Lizard could be cured…
"I understand," Ethan finally said. "If there's a way to bring him back… I'll give it a shot."
With that matter settled, they split up and each chose a tunnel based on intuition. Ethan entered the right-hand passage, his boots splashing through rapidly flowing water. The deeper he moved into the tunnel, the slower the current became, allowing him to advance more easily.
"The Lizard's body mass isn't exactly subtle," Ethan muttered to himself, eyes scanning the walls and floor. "He's gotta leave a trail."
Sure enough, the further he went, the more visible the signs became—deep claw marks gouged into the slime-covered concrete, long tail drags scored across the grime. Clear indicators that the Lizard had come this way.
"I must've picked the right one on the first try," Ethan said, a grim smile tugging at his lips.
Venom's voice growled inside his head. "Then move faster. We can't let that freak complete his next phase."
After several more minutes of navigating the tunnel, the water thinned to a shallow stream. Up ahead, a rusted steel grate blocked the exit.
Ethan crept forward, crouching low behind the barrier and peering through the gaps.
Beyond it lay a massive circular chamber—a drainage nexus. A ring of water flowed around the perimeter like a moat, surrounding a raised central platform connected only by a narrow catwalk. In the center, under a harsh industrial light, Dr. Connors—now fully transformed into the Lizard—was hunched over a cluttered worktable.
Nearby, surrounded by high-tech lab equipment, stood a large cylindrical device that resembled a weaponized delivery system—something between a high-powered dispersal cannon and a focused emitter. But instead of a muzzle, it had a rotating apparatus with a small, dish-like node—a genetic modulator.
"Looks like a targeted recombination projector," Ethan murmured. "Must be designed to fire doses of the recombinant serum… probably without physical injection."
To the right, lining the far wall, were several crude holding cells. Through the bars, Ethan spotted multiple captives—likely the ones reported missing from the city over the past few days. Some looked unconscious; others stared out, wide-eyed, likely sedated.
"He's going to use them… test the serum on live subjects," Ethan realized.
His suspicions were confirmed as he saw the Lizard press a sequence of buttons on a control panel. One of the cages began to creak open.
"He's not waiting anymore," Venom growled. "We move now."
Without hesitation, Ethan extended his claws, slicing clean through the rusted grate. It collapsed inward with a sharp clatter. In a blur, he launched himself forward, bursting from the tunnel like a shadow.
He hit the ground running.
The time for waiting was over.
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