New York. Home of some of the most dedicated, hardworking people on the planet.

Too bad all of them are super-powered psychos who want me dead. Like this new Hobgoblin who managed to make off with one of my masks (and those things aren’t cheap) and the Vulture, who’s hiding out in some hotel.

All this, plus I’m trying to prevent the Lizard from taking over Curt Connor’s body again while trying to reunite him with his estranged son. Oh, yeah, and then there’s Venom. Speaking of which—

LIZARDS & VENOM

Part II

By Tobias Christopher

Venom’s fist flew towards Spider-Man’s face, who grabbed it with his hand to stop the blow. Venom laughed and yanked his arm back, with Spidey still holding on. Letting go and shooting a line of webbing, Spider-Man swung back around and kicked Venom off the building he was hanging from. The villain shot his own line of webbing and followed Spider-Man as they started a chase over the streets of New York.

The rain was coming down hard and fast as Spider-Man tried staying one step ahead of Venom, who was quickly catching up.

“We are Venom!” shouted Venom as he grabbed Spider-Man before he could shoot another line of webbing. Carrying the hero under his arm, he swung off in the opposite direction. “You can not escape us!”

“Sorry, I’m not the kind of guy who goes home with you before the date’s over,” said Spider-Man as he shot webbing into Venom’s eyes. “Buy me dinner and take me to a movie first, and we’ll talk.”

Breaking loose from Venom’s grip, Spider-Man shot another line of webbing and swung back around, kicking Venom off his line. The villain plummeted toward the ground as Spider-Man followed him, knowing that a fall like that wouldn’t harm Venom in the least.

Flash was sitting on the edge of his bed, unable to sleep. It was one of those nights where the urge to drink was causing him to be restless. He realized that just sitting around thinking about drowning his sorrows in alcohol wasn’t helping. Getting dressed and not caring that it was raining out, Flash headed out the door, just needing to get out of the apartment for a night.

Billy and A.J. were sitting together on the couch, with A.J.’s arm draped around him as the two watched ‘Chasing Amy’ with a bowl of popcorn between them.

“Have I thanked you today?” asked Billy as he looked at the screen.

“I keep telling you that it’s all b.s.,” replied A.J. as he took a handful of popcorn. “I’d like to think that you’re with me because, you know, you actually like me.”

“You’re the reason I don’t change into the Lizard,” said Billy as he took some popcorn for himself. “And I do like you.”

“Just not enough to commit.”

“We’re friends who occasionally fool around. That’s the best thing anyone could want,” replied Billy as he focused on the movie. “No one gets hurt and we can pretty much see anyone we want.”

“So, are you seeing anyone else?”

“No. Are you?”

“No. So if neither of us are seeing anyone, why can’t we—”

Billy put his hand over A.J.’s mouth. “You know why. You’re the reason I don’t change. Whenever I get angry or feel like the change is coming, you’re there for me. Just being near you calms me down. But…one day you might not be around to stop it from happening, then what? What happens if I end up hurting you because of our feelings for each other? I don’t want to get into a relationship because I don’t want the Lizard to kill you when he eventually comes out. When my dad changes, it was always me and my mom he went after because he loved us, and…I won’t let that happen to you. We’re friends, let’s leave it at that.”

A.J. remained silent as Billy laid his head on his shoulder as the movie continued.

The rain continued to pound the pavement as Spider-Man landed to search for Venom. Finding nothing in the driving rain, not even a crack in the pavement, Spider-Man took off, swinging back towards his apartment.

Alright, Parker, think. If it’s Brock in the costume, then why is he attacking? I thought he’d turned over a new leaf, or at the least, he doesn’t have any real reason to come after me these days. But if it’s not Brock in there, then who is it? And why is the symbiote able to set off my spider-sense?

Arriving back at his apartment, Peter removed his mask once he got inside and closed the window. After removing his costume, Peter grabbed a towel from the bathroom to dry off as he sat down in front of his computer.

If Brock’s back in town, it won’t take any more than a few minutes to track him down. Then I’ll just pay him a little visit and…

The search results came up as Peter read the headline from a Eureapean newspaper, with pictures by—

“Eddie Brock,” said Peter as he read the article. “These pictures were recently taken in Europe for a small paper. Brock must be freelancing overseas. If these pictures were taken not even a few days ago, then that must mean that—”

A lightning strike hit just outside the apartment, causing the power to go off in the building. Peter stood up and went to the nightstand for a flashlight.

I think I can pretty much write Brock off as being behind this Venom, Peter thought as he turned on the flashlight and headed toward the living room. And assuming he still has the symbiote with him, that only leaves one clue to finding the Venom that attacked me. But with the rain coming down this hard, I don’t want to risk running into Venom again or else I’ll literally be fighting blind. One of these days I’ll have to find a way to make the eyes in my mask waterproof.

Flash found himself downtown, just looking for a place to get out of the rain. He soon discovered he’d wandered into a club. The place didn’t look too bad, but he definitely didn’t want to stay too long, given his addiction. After deciding to stay away from the bar, he sat down and smiled at a woman who was eyeing him.

After a few minutes of flirting from across the room, she motioned for Flash to come join her. The man smiled and walked over, ready to strike up a conversation.

“Hi, my name’s Flash,” said the man with a smile as the woman blushed, giggling a little.

“My name’s Eve,” the woman said in a deep baritone voice, just as she raised her head, giving Flash a good look at her Adam’s apple.

Flash took a deep breath and stepped back. “You know what, I just realized that I have to be up early for work and… gotta go.”

Flash quickly made his way toward a door, not realizing it wasn’t an exit. As he walked through, the door slammed right into the waiter, knocking him to the floor.

“Sorry, buddy,” said Flash as he saw that the waiter on the floor was Drew.

A.J. and Billy fell asleep on the couch, with A.J.’s arm around Billy’s shoulder as the two slept. As they sat there, Billy started whimpering as he had another nightmare about the Lizard. A.J. opened his eyes and pulled Billy closer, gently rubbing his shoulder to comfort him.

“It’s alright,” A.J. whispered. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

After a few minutes, Billy stopped whimpering and actually smiled as he slept. A.J. closed his eyes and fell back to sleep himself.

Peter sat on the living room couch, finally going over the rest of Doc Connor’s notes. He had them all laid out on the coffee table, using what little light he had to go over the papers.

“It looks like the Doc was right about the formula,” said Peter as he looked over the last few lines. “This actually does seem to be a credible cure for the Lizard DNA. Everything but this last line of code…there’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

Peter sat back at the lights came back on, noticing how close to dawn it was. He started yawning and decided to head to bed for a few hours, then hit the notes again to see what it was that was bothering him so much.

Come on, Parker, you’re a science nerd. There’s just one line of code that’s bugging me and if I could figure out what it is, I can tell the doc that his cure’s legit. Maybe a few hours of sleep is what I need. Then I’ll wake up, have some eggs and orange juice and–

Peter quickly ran out of the bedroom and back to the living room. He picked up the notes and put his brain to worker harder than he ever had.

“Oh my God, I have to warn Connors,” said Peter as he picked up the phone, dialing Connor’s number, but didn’t get an answer. “C’mon, Curt, pick up.”

Connors had fallen asleep in his lab. He’d been working on getting the cure together for Billy so he could use it the second Peter gave his o.k.

Peter grabbed his still soaking wet costume and cringed at the squishy sound it made as he put his boots on. For a brief second he remembered he had a black costume hanging in the closet. Then he remembered that costume brings nothing but bad luck and finished getting dressed before jumping out the window.

Flash and Drew were sitting outside of Drew’s house as the sun was rising. Drew had his arms wrapped around his legs, ashamed. Flash had done everything but carry Drew out of the bar to get him to leave, only succeeding after the place had closed just a short while earlier.

“You’ve been working in a bar?” asked Flash as he looked at his student. “You’re only 17.”

“Fake ID,” replied Drew with a forced smile.

“And the bruises you’ve been getting?”

“Bar fights,” said Drew as he looked down at his feet. “I’m able to hold my own, but sometimes things get a bit too rough. Look, I needed the money for A.J. We couldn’t afford his chemo, and between the tips I make nightly—”

“How do you make that much money in tips nightly?”

“Horny old women and a pair of tight pants—”

“Stop right there,” said Flash, not wanting to picture it. “Look, Drew, I know you want to help your brother, but I can’t let you go back to that place. You’re lucky that a few bruises are all that you got out of it.”

“You going to rat me out to my dad?” asked Drew.

“No,” replied Flash as he sighed. “No, I’m not. But I want you to promise me that you’re not going back to that bar. We’ll…find other ways to help you earn money.”

“Well, I am kind of freelancing for the Bugle,” said Drew as he looked up at Flash. “It doesn’t pay as much as waiting tables, but if I get really good at it, I could make money, right?”

“You know, Peter Parker used to freelance with the Bugle, that’s how he got his start,” said Flash as he had a thought. “In fact, he might be able to talk them into giving you an actual job.”

“Really?” asked Drew with a real smile this time. “That’d be great!”

Just then, the door opened and Billy walked out. Drew immediately pounded his fists together as A.J. got between them.

“Billy spent the night,” said A.J. as he gave Billy room to exit. “Don’t be a dick, Drew, it’s too early.”

“I’ll see you later,” said Billy as he quickly rushed off.

“What are you doing here?” asked A.J. as Flash looked at Drew.

“Just making sure things are alright,” replied Flash as he mussed Drew’s hair. “Stay out of trouble. I’ll see you in class on Monday.”

Flash walked away as Drew entered the house, falling onto the couch.

“Things might be tight for a little while, A.J.; I’m giving up my night job.”

Spider-Man was swinging through the city, looking for any sign of Connors.

He didn’t answer his phone or his cell phone and I’ve checked half the places he could possibly be. Maybe he’s been at his apartment all along and was just ignoring the phone. I just hope I find him before—

Spider-Man landed on the roof of Connor’s apartment building, just as the doctor exited from the other side, where he hailed a cab and drove away. Meanwhile, Spider-Man crawled down to the window to get a good look inside.

“Come on, Doc,” said Spider-Man as he looked inside the window. “Nothing. I knew I should have planted a spider-tracer on him when I had the chance.”

After stopping home for a change of clothes and a shower, Billy headed to the coffee shop. He ordered a cup of coffee and a doughnut as he waited for his father to arrive. After a few minutes, Curt Connors walked through the door and sat down across from his son.

“It’s good to see you again,” said Connors as the waitress came over. “Just an orange juice, please.”

“I’m not coming home to live with you,” said Billy as he took a drink of his coffee. “I love living with the Lambrights. They treat me like I’m a normal guy, not some…freak.”

“You’re not a freak, son,” said Connors as he looked across the table, “and when I get the okay for this cure, you’ll never have to worry about the Lizard again.”

“You keep saying that, but it’s been an empty promise for years,” said Billy as the waitress sat the orange juice on the table. “But each time, the Lizard comes back, bigger and nastier each time. I’m just…tired of this. And now I have to live with the fact that I could change any day now.”

“The cure is real this time, I promise you,” said Connors as he took a small sip of his orange juice. “Please, just believe in me, one last time.”

“I–I don’t know if I can,” replied Billy, his voice shaking a bit.

Connors took a long drink of his orange juice before setting the empty glass on the table. He reached across the table and took Billy’s hand. “Then don’t do it for yourself. You want a chance to live a normal life and be with the person you love most, don’t you? Then trust me…for your boyfriend,” said Connors, not caring about his son’s preference.

For a moment, Billy was shocked, but then he saw the acceptance in his father’s face and almost gave in. “How did you—”

“Give your old man some credit,” said Connors as he felt something in his stomach, but decided to ignore it. “I’ve seen the way you two act around each other at school when I’ve come to see you. It’s the same way your mother and I used to—”

“Don’t talk about Mom.”

“Sorry,” said Connors as the pain in his stomach grew. “The point is, I love you, Billy. No matter what, and I just want a chance to fix the mistake that I made, starting with curing you of this monster.”

“One chance, that’s all you get,” said Billy as he saw the pained look on his father’s face. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I just need to use the restroom,” said Connors as he stood up. “I guess that orange juice didn’t agree with me.”

Billy just sat there, his hands wrapped around his cup of coffee. He hoped he wasn’t setting himself up for disappoint again.

Spider-Man swung over the city, continuing to try Connor’s phone, which was still shut off.

I should have seen this sooner. Connor’s cure is close, but he miscalculated on something very simple and missed a key ingredient: Folic acid. Normally something like that wouldn’t be that big of a deal if we were talking about a cure that was meant for something like cancer, where chemo or drugs could do the rest of the legwork and finish off the disease, but there are no other alternatives for something like the Lizard’s mutation.

The human body needs folic acid to repair or synthesize DNA, which in this case, is a very bad thing. If Connors had introduced folic acid as a part of the equation when he took the cure, it would have helped to override the lizard DNA by repairing his human DNA completely and make him normal again.

But now, if Connors takes anything with folic acid, and if there’s any trace of the Lizard’s DNA anywhere in his body, it’s going to home right in on it and start to repair those cells and trigger the mutation process. I just hope I can get to the doc and warn him before it’s too late.

Connors stood in front of the sink in the bathroom, splashing water on his face. The pain in his body was getting to be too much for him.

“What’s happening to me?” asked Connors as he looked into the mirror and saw his eyes turning yellow. “No. NO!”

Billy, tired of waiting, walked toward the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Dad?”

As Spider-Man got closer to the restaurant, his spider-sense suddenly started going off as he heard screams coming from below. He headed toward the restaurant, kicking the door open and landing inside.

“Where’s the emergency?” asked Spider-Man as he looked at the waitress. “And can I get one jelly filled doughnut for the road, please?”

“Back here!” a man shouted as Spider-Man rushed toward the back and saw Billy Connors laying on the floor of the men’s room. A hole had been smashed through the back wall, with torn pieces of Connor’s clothing all around.

“Spider-Man?” asked Billy as he opened his eyes. “My dad…he’s changed again.”

“Get this kid checked out to make sure the Lizard didn’t hurt him,” said Spider-Man as he rushed through the giant hole in the wall and looked around. “He couldn’t have gotten far unless he’s already hit the sewers.”

Looking around, he saw no open manhole covers, so he jumped onto the wall of the coffee shop and climbed to the roof. Getting a running start, he started leaping from rooftop to rooftop, hoping to follow the Lizard’s trail before someone got hurt.

Not being able to sleep, Drew lay in his bed, listening to the police scanner. If there was a crime he knew that Spider-Man would be headed toward, he’d grab his camera and try to be there as well.

{Attention all units, a mime has been spotted climbing a belltower with a rifle, please be advised–}

“It’s always the quiet ones,” said A.J. as he tied his shoes while sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Where are you going?” asked Drew as he found himself finally getting tired.

“Picking up my guitar; I left it at the band’s rehearsal space Friday,” replied A.J. as he grabbed his jacket. “Then I might go see a movie or something. You want to come?”

“No, I’m going to get some sleep, then maybe go out and try to some pictures of Spider-Man to sell to the Bugle,” said Drew as he laid his head back against the pillow.

“Alright, see you later, bro,” said A.J. as he walked out of the room.

Spider-Man had finally picked up the Lizard’s trail, seeing him running through the back alleys as he searched for an entrance into the sewers. Swinging down, Spider-Man kicked the Lizard in the back, knocking him onto his stomach. Quickly landing on his feet, Spider-Man wasted no time pinning him down with as much webbing as he could before the Lizard could figure out what was going on.

“Do yourself a favor, Connors, and stay down,” said the hero as he carefully walked toward his former mentor. “I know you’re in there, somewhere, so we’re just going to take you back to the—”

The Lizard started struggling as Spider-Man shot more webbing until the Lizard had no way of breaking free. Realizing he was out of webbing, Spider-Man pulled out some more cartridges from his belt.

“Well, this was easy,” said Spider-Man as his spider-sense went off. He turned around, seeing Venom standing right behind him. Spidey shook his head and sighed. “Of course.”

“You cannot escape us!” shouted Venom as Spider-Man went for his mid-section, but then found himself being backhanded by the villain, flying across the alley. Getting up, he picked up a nearby manhole cover and flung it at Venom as the villain was charging, sending him flying back into a dumpster. Spider-Man looked down at the Lizard, who was still trying to break free.

“Don’t worry Doc, I’ll finish this up and we’ll be on our way to—” Spider-Man was cut off just as Venom struck him with a large metal pole. “Seriously? Being stronger than a pack of elephants isn’t enough?”

“We are Venom!” shouted Venom as he brought the pole down again, this time Spider-Man catching it in his hand.

“Dude, I already know your name,” said Spider-Man as he used his strength to push back the pole. He then picked up Venom over his head and tossed him into the dumpster again, using the pole to seal the lock, twisting it into place. “There, that ought to hold—”

Spider-Man turned around and saw the Lizard had broken free of the webbing. Heading toward the wall so he could climb and do another search from the rooftops, his spider-sense went off as the Lizard’s tail swiped at him, knocking Spider-Man onto the ground. Trying to use his web shooters, the hero realized he was completely out of webbing, just as the Lizard was on top of him, fangs bared.

“You’re in a real bad mood today. Someone hasn’t had their Jimmy Dean breakfast this morning,” said Spider-Man as he managed to kick the Lizard off of him. Standing up, he reached for his web cartridge refills, hoping to have enough time to refill. He turned around, just in time for the Lizard’s clawed hand to stab into his right shoulder. The Lizard’s other hand dug into Spider-Man’s left side, causing him even more pain as he struggled against the Lizard.

Feeling the pain of the wounds, Spider-Man punched the Lizard with his good arm, only to be back handed into a pile of garbage. As he was hit, the Lizard’s claw in his left side ripped out of him like a band-aid being pulled off quickly. Getting up, holding his bleeding shoulder, he saw the Lizard escaping into the sewer, where he’d conveniently pulled the manhole cover from earlier to fend off Venom.

“Great,” said Spider-Man as he then realized that the dumpster that he’d trapped Venom in had been torn open. “This city really needs to invest in some Adamantium.”

Stumbling out of the garbage, the loss of blood was causing him to feel dizzy. He fell forward, just in time for A.J. to pass by the alley. Seeing Spider-Man wounded, he quickly ran to his side.

“Mr, Parker, are you all right?” asked A.J. as he tried to help the hero up.

“No, I’m—wait, what did you just call me?” asked Spider-Man in a shocked voice.

TO BE CONTINUED…