Underground Subway Ruins.
Dr. Connors had reverted to his human form, but his eyes remained cold and reptilian as he stared at his laptop screen.
He was refining the serum.
The first batch had flaws. It made him unstable. And the antidote—the Regression Serum—was a glaring weakness.
My regeneration is nearly perfect, Connors thought. Unless they vaporize me completely, I will return.
He realized something about the Spider-Man equation.
"Peter Parker didn't give me all the data."
Connors' voice trembled with rage. He had treated Peter like a nephew. But Peter had held back the Key—the specific genetic sequence hidden in the Parker DNA that made cross-species mutation stable.
"The vigilante swinging above New York... the Ghost Spider... she must have succeeded where I failed."
Connors connected the dots.
Gwen Stacy. His intern. She had access. She was the Ghost Spider.
And Peter... he was the key.
"Find Peter Parker. Find the notebook. Find the Ghost Spider."
Connors injected the new, potent serum.
A guttural roar echoed through the abandoned tunnels as the transformation took hold.
Midtown High.
Gwen walked down the hallway with Hannah, heading to Chemistry class.
BOOM.
A massive explosion rocked the building.
The bathroom wall shattered.
Students screamed as a hulking green monstrosity crawled onto the ceiling, hissing.
"Run! Everyone run!" Gwen shouted, her face pale.
She recognized him instantly. The Lizard.
She scanned the crowd for Vincent but couldn't see him.
As chaos erupted, Gwen ducked into a janitor's closet. She pulled her Ghost Spider suit out of her backpack.
Time to be a hero.
Classroom 3B.
Vincent was asleep at his desk.
He was exhausted. To break the 10 Million Desire Point threshold, he had spent Sunday "training" with Jessica Jones, then spent the night "wrestling" with Gwen. Even his enhanced body had limits.
The explosion woke him up.
He blinked, looking around the empty classroom.
Only one other person remained.
Peter Parker.
Peter was sitting at his desk, wearing headphones, scribbling furiously in a notebook.
Vincent frowned. His Hydro-Kinesis flared.
Peter's blood flow was abnormal. It was racing—dozens of times faster than a normal human. It wasn't the steady, rhythmic flow of a super-soldier like Cap. It was chaotic, predatory.
He's not normal.
Vincent stood up.
Peter sensed the movement. He looked at Vincent with dark, hollow eyes, then grabbed his bag and sprinted out of the room.
Vincent followed at a leisurely pace.
The hallway was a war zone. Lockers were smashed. Pipes were bursting.
Gwen—Ghost Spider—was engaging the Lizard.
She was fast. Her agility was off the charts. She webbed the Lizard's eyes, kicked him in the jaw, and flipped off the walls.
But her attacks were like raindrops on a tank. The Lizard healed instantly and swiped at her with claws that could slice through steel.
Vincent assessed the situation.
Physical attacks are useless. I need to reveal a card.
He didn't want to use the Ice-Ice Fruit (Logia) in front of Gwen yet. It would link him too directly to the "Ice Demon."
Hydro-Kinesis it is.
He sensed another presence approaching rapidly.
Peter?
The blood signature was getting closer. And it felt... wrong.
The Library.
The fight spilled into the library. Bookshelves toppled like dominos.
Gwen landed on a table, breathing hard.
"Vincent! Get out of here!" she screamed, spotting him in the doorway.
The Lizard turned, his amber eyes locking onto Vincent.
"Tsk, tsk. Gwen. I know it's you," the Lizard hissed. "And this... must be the boyfriend."
Connors lunged. He moved with terrifying speed, claws extended for a kill shot.
Vincent didn't flinch.
He raised his hands. They glowed with a soft white aura (Mana).
CRASH!
The fire suppression pipes overhead burst open.
But the water didn't fall. It coiled.
A massive water dragon formed in mid-air, intercepting the Lizard.
SLAM!
The water dragon smashed Connors into the wall with the force of a hydraulic press. Then, it wrapped around him, forming a pressurized Water Prison.
Gwen stared, her jaw dropping beneath her mask.
Vincent? He can control water?
Kung Fu doesn't do that!
Vincent tightened his grip. He was about to crush the Lizard's lungs.
Suddenly, a shadow blurred past.
It wasn't human.
It looked like a boy, but six spider-legs erupted from his back. His eyes were multiple, glowing red.
The Spider-Beast.
The creature moved faster than the eye could follow. It slashed the Water Prison apart, grabbed the Lizard, and smashed through the library window.
The two monsters vanished, scaling the wall and disappearing over the roof.
Vincent stood there, water dripping from his hands.
That wasn't Spider-Man, Vincent thought grimly. That was a monster.
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