Fate’s a cruel mistress, isn’t she? For those that are new to the story, I’m Peter Parker, at least in my normal life. In my other life, I’m Spider-Man, crime fighter and all around nice guy. Unless you get me started on whether I’m Team Edward or Team Jacob. Then things get ugly.

Getting back on subject, Curt Connors recently came to me asked for help in finding a permanent cure for the Lizard. I agreed, but Connors got impatient and took a would-be cure before I got to him. It would have worked if he hadn’t missed a key component in the mixture. Needless to say, the Lizard’s back and he’s now roaming the sewers, but not before wounding me pretty badly before he took off.

But don’t worry folks, a good Samaritan in the form of one of students came by to help me… before he revealed that he knows who I am under my mask.

LIZARDS & VENOM

Part III

By Tobias Christopher

She looked down from the ledge of the building she was perched on, overlooking her city…or at least the city that she called home whenever she was in town. It was the only place in the world that she knew she could go to when she needed a good adventure.

“The old stomping grounds.”

Taking a running leap, she extended her grappling hook, attaching it to a nearby building. Swinging her way through the city, she saw dawn was approaching. She loved taking outrageous risks, but working in broad daylight where she could easily be spotted wasn’t one of them.

She decided to head toward her hotel and catch up on some much deserved rest. Come tonight, the Black Cat was going to do the job she’d returned to New York to do.

May Parker was going through her usual Sunday morning preparations like clockwork. Every Sunday for as long as she could remember, she’d get up and make a pot of coffee while she cleaned up for church. When she was ready, she’d make sure the house was in a tidy condition before she left. If someone broke in, she didn’t want them to think she kept a dirty house.

The only changes in her routine came from having neither her husband nor nephew there to accompany her to the Sunday morning service. Her beloved Ben had died long ago, and Peter’s nighttime activities usually meant he’d spend weekend mornings sleeping in. While she had come to accept Peter’s life as the hero Spider-Man, she had yet to accept the fact that Peter wasn’t making time to go to church on a regular basis.

As she headed out the door, she looked over into the yard next door. Rhett Carson, who’d recently moved into the house that previously belonged to the Watson family, was preparing to fix the porch swing that had a broken chain.

“Rhett?” asked May as she approached him.

“Oh, good morning, Ms. Parker,” said Rhett as he stood up from where he was crouched above his tool box. “you look nice this morning.”

“Thank you,” replied May with a smile. “I was just heading to church. Are you not going this morning?”

Rhett sighed as he looked at her. “I– haven’t been in a long time.” Not since the accident and the resulting argument that forced him to leave home. But it was better to not think about such things on such a nice day.

“Would you like to go with me?” asked May.

“I don’t know, it’s been about four years…”

“I won’t pressure you into going,” said May as she put a hand on his, “but if you ever change your mind, I’ll be glad to go with you. Perhaps I’ll see you when I get back.”

As she started walking away, Rhett thought about it. He had been meaning to start going again, but the Hobgoblin pretty much killed any chances of that happening. Then Rhett remembered that May didn’t have anyone to go with, since her nephew was an ignorant creep. “I don’t have any suits or fancy clothes to wear.”

May turned back around. “I think I know how to fix that.”

Across town

Blood loss makes you do crazy things. For starters, instead of swinging away and handling the injuries the Lizard gave to me on my own, I had to let one of my students sneak me back to his place which was a few blocks away. The kid’s good with first aid, I’ll give him that. He could probably give Aunt May pointers on not using antiseptic that burns.

Currently I’m in the Michaels’ garage, letting my spider powers heal the damage. Another twenty minutes and I should be strong enough to go back out and search for the Lizard. Hopefully the Jolly Green Giant hasn’t caused too much damage since I lost him earlier.

But that still leaves the problem of A.J. knowing who I am under the mask. I guess I could find a way to keep him quiet. Maybe I could threaten to tie him to a chair and make him watch a Hannah Montana marathon.

“I brought you something to eat,” said A.J. Michaels nervously as he entered the garage, which was filled with boxes of old family possessions. The rest of the space was cleared out to make room for A.J.’s up and coming band to practice whenever their usual space wasn’t available. “Hope you’re okay with peanut butter and jelly.”

Now that I’m not that woozy anymore I can really tell the kid’s uncomfortable. I don’t think he meant to let on that he knew; it was probably just a slip up since he saw I was hurt.

“Alright, I’m going to be the one to acknowledge the elephant in the room since I’m feeling stronger,” said Spider-Man as he lifted his mask just above his mouth so he could eat. “How do you know who I am?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” said A.J. as he turned a chair backwards and sat down facing the hero. “It started a few years ago after I’d been diagnosed with cancer…”

I was only twelve years old when I was told I had it. As you can guess, I was a wreck. All I had was my dad, who was working then, but he was never home. That left Drew to take care of me, but I could tell he wanted to go out and live his own life. Instead he had to take care of me when I started chemo.

“You need a hobby,” said Drew as he walked into A.J.’s room as the boy was lying in his bed, “to take your mind off of all this.”

“I’m stuck in bed most of the time,” replied A.J. weakly as his brother looked down at him. He could see the chemo was already starting to thin his hair out.

“Maybe you can, I don’t know, start a scrap book,” said Drew as he looked around for some magazines. “How about a Lindsay Lohan scrap book? Mean Girls was a good movie, and I’m sure she’s going to have another dozen hits before the end of the decade.”

“Is that the Daily Bugle?” asked A.J. as he looked at the photo of Spider-Man saving a busload of nuns with the headline ‘Spider-Man Sacrifices Nuns for Satanic Ritual’.

That’s how it started, by scrapbooking Spider-Man’s adventures. And for the most part, it worked. It kept my mind off of my problems. By the time my cancer started going into remission three years later, I’d had three scrapbooks filled with Spider-Man photos and stories… all of them by Peter Parker.

Last year I was told that my cancer hadn’t been cured, but if I kept with my chemo, I’d be clean before I turned 18. By then I was strong enough to not have to go to chemo sessions as much, so I was allowed to go out and have fun again. I was still making scrap books, and knew almost every story by heart. Then one day…

A.J. was walking down the street, wearing a baseball cap since his hair was just then starting to grow back. He was on his way to the newsstand to pick up that day’s edition of the Bugle when he saw Spider-Man fighting a group of bank robbers in broad daylight.

Not wanting to miss a chance to see his hero in action, A.J. quickly raced to the scene, being careful not to tire himself out. He cheered along with the other people along the street as they watched him save the day once again. That’s when A.J. looked up just in time to see a quick flash from under the ledge of a building across the street.

It was a camera. The next day, I saw the photos in the Bugle, taken by Peter Parker. You could have easily said you were standing in the window above the ledge to take the pictures, but I saw the camera under the ledge going off.

Since I was still going through chemo, but was able to be outside and explore again, I started looking through my scrapbooks for more pictures. Some of the locations I checked out and found out that the camera angles at some of the sites would have been impossible for a normal man to climb to get a shot, like a shot from the Empire State Building, taken from a side where there were no windows or access outside.

“A.J., are you alright?” asked Drew as he saw his little brother furiously flipping through the scrapbooks. “I think you’re starting to get a little… obsessed.”

“I’m fine,” replied A.J. as he looked up.

“You must be, you’re not as pale as you were a few weeks ago,” smiled Drew. “Glad to see you’ve been enjoying your time outside.”

I still hadn’t put together two and two, but I was getting there. It wasn’t until I started taking your class this year that it hit me.

A worn out Peter was writing equations on the chalkboard, not realizing it was the wrong one.

“I thought you were writing equations to show us how to make our own batteries,” said Billy as he raised his hand. “That looks like an equation for some kind of super glue.”

Peter’s eyes opened wide as he quickly erased the equation, not realizing A.J. had written it down.

It was the formula for Spider-Man’s web fluid. I did some checking and found out you buy a large quantity of the household chemicals required for it from several stores all over the city every month. But even still, I wasn’t completely sold.

“So, what confirmed your suspicion?”

“Your backpack,” replied A.J. as he showed Spider-Man a picture taken months ago. He pointed at the bag slung over Spidey’s shoulder in the picture. “The same bag you bring to school each day. Peter Parker’s the only person in New York who carries around an old man’s backpack.”

“It was my Uncle Ben’s, and he gave it to me when I was in high school,” replied Spider-Man as he finished the sandwich. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

“This was the only picture taken with the backpack,” said A.J. as he looked at the hero. “I’m not going to tell anyone, I swear. This secret’s too cool to share.”

“Then I don’t have to give the speech about you knowing who I am being dangerous to you and everyone you know,” replied Spider-Man as he stood up. “If anyone ever found out what you know, it could put you and your whole family in danger.”

“I know,” replied A.J. as he looked up at the hero. “Your secret’s safe with me, I promise.”

“Thanks, kid,” said Spider-Man as he stretched, making sure his shoulder was all right to travel. “Take care of yourself, and make sure your homework’s done, because it’s due tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Lizard to hunt down.”

As Spider-Man made sure the coast was clear, he held out his hand and shot a line of webbing before taking off. As A.J. watched him leave, he pulled out his cell phone to make sure Billy was alright.

Rhett tugged at the collar of the suit he’d been given to wear as he exited the church with May after the morning service.

“Thanks for loaning me one of your nephew’s suits,” said Rhett as they walked down the steps. “A bit tight around the collar, though.”

“Why didn’t you say so, sooner?” asked May as she unbuttoned the top of the collar, which was choking Rhett. “You know, it’s amazing, you and Peter are both exactly the same size.”

“So, do I get to meet Peter soon?’ asked Rhett as they waited for the cab.

“Peter comes and goes at odd times, I never know when he’s going to show up,” said May as Rhett’s picture of Peter grew darker by the minute, “but I think you two will get along well.”

“I’m sure we will,” said Rhett as the cab arrived. He opened the door so May could get in first. Because I’m going to give that SOB a piece of my mind…and maybe the Hobgoblin’s fist.

No sign of the Lizard yet, and I’ve been searching for hours. I’ve been in and out of the sewer and scouting out places where the Lizard could be feeding. The only other place he could be is with Billy, and considering the long waits at the emergency room on weekends, he should still be there.

In the meantime, I still have problems with the Vulture and Venom that I need to look into. The Vulture’s been hanging around a posh hotel, but I haven’t had any real time to check into it. Venom’s been a thorn in side for the last two days, and I’ve discovered it’s not Brock under the symbiote.

That means that either the symbiote’s reproduced again or someone’s gotten hold of the sample that’s being held at the ESU lab. It couldn’t hurt to check there until I go see if Billy’s been released yet.

As Spider-Man swung towards the ESU lab, Venom and a mysterious shadowed figure watched.

“Finally…”

“Don’t touch it,” said Billy as he smacked A.J.’s hand as the two walked out of the emergency room.

A.J. playfully raised his finger towards the stitches over Billy’s eyebrow that he’d received earlier. The Lizard’s tail had destroyed the bathroom door at the diner, which Billy was standing outside of when he broke through the wall to escape.

“It’s not so bad,” replied A.J. as Billy scowled. “It’s not the scar that’s got you pissed off, is it?”

“He promised me that it would all be over,” said Billy as they walked along. “I was this close to believing him. Then this happens. I’m an idiot for even thinking I could trust my dad.”

“You’re not an idiot,” said A.J. as he looked at Billy. “You just wanted to trust in your dad again. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

As A.J. and Billy stood there talking, the Lizard was close by, picking up his son’s scent. He saw Billy standing in front of another boy, his primal mind going into a rage as he saw his son leaning in to kiss the other boy. After a few seconds, A.J. and Billy pulled away from each other when a noise came from the alley.

“What was that?” asked A.J. as he looked toward the alley. Billy listened closely, recognizing the sound. He grabbed A.J.’s hand as he realized what was about to happen.

“RUN!”

Billy dragged A.J. away as the Lizard started drooling. He wouldn’t harm his own flesh and blood, but the other one would make a perfect snack.

Spider-Man arrived at the ESU campus, where the piece of the Venom symbiote was being held for testing. After his last brutal fight with Venom, he’d broken off a piece of the symbiote and brought it to the doctors at ESU in the hopes they could find a way to put Venom down for good if he ever returned to town.

Not having security clearance, the hero decided to go in the old fashioned way by sneaking through the window. The sun was beginning to set as Spider-Man found a way into the lab. Eventually he found the vault where the symbiote sample was being stored.

“Alright, just a quick peek to make sure everything’s in order,” said Spider-Man as he started typing in the access code, hoping that it hadn’t changed since he used to intern there. After a few seconds, the code worked and the vault door slowly opened, revealing a foot tall glass cylinder.

Inside the cylinder was a black organism, crawling around, attaching itself to the glass, as if it were trying to find a way out. Upon seeing Spider-Man, the symbiote let out a horrific screech, recognizing the being it hated so much.

“So much for that theory,” said Spider-Man as his spider-sense went off, just as the ceiling above him exploded. Venom swung in, kicking Spider-Man into the wall hard enough to leave a human sized dent.

“We’re ba-ack,” shouted Venom as he rushed towards Spider-Man, who jumped out of the way as Venom ran into the wall.

“If you’re not Brock and his symbiote, and you’re not the sample, what are you?” asked Spider-Man as he sweep-kicked Venom, knocking him to the ground. He grabbed Venom by the legs and used his strength to swing him around, tossing him across the room.

“Allow me to explain,” came a voice from above as several smoke grenades dropped around Spider-Man. As he started coughing from the rising smoke, Spider-Man shot a line of webbing and tried to swing into fresh air but a fist knocked him off the line. “You always seem to fall for my special gas that cancels your spider-sense.”

As he looked up from the ground, Spider-Man saw Mysterio hovering above him.

The Lizard wasted no time in following the scent of his prey as they ran through the streets of New York. He was willing to let them wear themselves out before he struck, thinking the meat would be all the more tender after a good long run.

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” said Billy as he pulled A.J. into a construction site on the waterfront.

“Stop blaming yourself,” replied A.J. as he kept looking behind him. He hadn’t seen the Lizard behind them since they started running, which was what worried him. “We’ll get through this.”

As they made their way through the site, A.J. hoped that Spider-Man was close as well. He was supposed to be searching for the Lizard, so where was he now?

After most of the smoke had cleared, Spider-Man was able to see clearly enough to toss a punch at Mysterio, which went right through him.

“I’m over here!” shouted Mysterio from behind the hero. “Or am I over here?”

Spider-Man looked around, seeing seven Mysterio’s all around him, all laughing and taunting him.

Think, Parker, the real Mysterio’s here somewhere. Use that big nerd brain of yours to–I got it!

Spider-Man shot a strand of webbing past one of the Mysterio’s, hitting the back of the real version as he was heading into the vault.

“You’re after the symbiote, but why?” asked Spider-Man as he yanked the web, pulling the villain back before he could reach the glass container. Before he could get close enough to land a punch, Venom grabbed Spidey from behind and tossed him to the floor.

“Money, why else?” replied Mysterio as he entered the vault and grabbed the container. “There’s a man waiting in Costa Rica, who is willing to pay a handsome amount for this. I just needed to convince you to lead me to it with my Venom robot.”

“Robot?” asked Spider-Man as he flip kicked Venom. “No wonder he keeps spouting the same phrases and doesn’t have the best moves. He is just about as smart as Brock, though.”

Venom went to punch Spider-Man, who caught his fist and flipped him over his shoulder, landing him at Mysterio’s feet. He then shot a strand of webbing and pulled the glass container from Mysterio’s hands.

“I know all your tricks now, bulb head, so why don’t we just skip the big fight so I can move onto the next thing on my docket for tonight?” asked Spider-Man as Mysterio laughed.

“I’ve learned a few new tricks since our last meeting, Spider-Man,” said the villain as he raised his cape, and in a flash of light, exploded into a dozen tinier Mysterios, all of them flying towards the hero.

“Where’s a can of raid when I need it?’ asked Spidey as he started swatting at the tiny versions of the villain buzzing around him. As he was distracted, Venom tackled the hero, causing him to drop the container, which rolled across the floor where Mysterio picked it up.

“I’d love to stay, but I think I’ll let Venom finish this show,” said Mysterio as he started hovering toward the hole in the roof. Spider-Man kicked Venom off and extended a web to follow Mysterio. As he swung toward the ceiling, the tiny Mysterios still followed him.

“Sorry, kids, no autographs tonight,” said Spider-Man as he used his free hand to shoot webbing at the tiny versions, finding they were just holograms.

They must be projected through the Venom robot. I don’t have time to try to rip this things head off. I can’t let Mysterio get away with that symbiote. It’s a good thing I managed to plant a tracer on him during the fight.

As Spider-Man swung after Mysterio, the Venom robot followed on its creator’s orders. As the hero swung after Mysterio, he spotted Venom behind him.

“Great,” said Spider-Man as he tried to stay one step ahead of the robot. He finally spotted Mysterio as he headed toward a construction site. He swung full force into Mysterio, knocking him toward the ground.

“Nice try, Spider-Man,” said Mysterio as a stray blast struck him from behind. “You really didn’t think I wouldn’t notice your spider tracer?”

“You’re just full of tricks, aren’t you?” asked Spider-Man as Venom let go of his web and hurtled toward him. Spider-Man fell backwards, catching Venom with his legs, throwing him through a fence. “Well, don’t worry, once you’re back in prison, you’ll be full of d–”

Spider-Man’s quip was cut off as he heard screaming coming from not too far away.

“Great,” said Spider-Man as he looked up at Mysterio. “Mind if we put this on hold for just a minute while I go rescue some people?”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” said Mysterio as he started hitting Spider-Man with every piece of weaponry he had.

Spider-Man started backflipping out of the line of fire, looking for anything to toss at Mysterio to try to bring him down to ground level. He shot his webbing onto a large piece of lumber, spun it around and let go. The piece of wood hit Mysterio, knocking down to the ground.

“Good, while he’s distracted, I can see who’s in trouble,” said Spider-Man as he realized something large was breathing down his neck. He turned around and looked up to see the Lizard looking down at him. “Aw, fu–”

The Lizard’s massive clawed hand hit Spider-Man, knocking him a good twenty feet. As he landed on his stomach, he tried to pick himself up before seeing the Venom robot standing over him. Mysterio started laughing as he hovered above, while the Lizard closed in from behind.

All three were about to attack, when a whip wrapped around Mysterio’s leg, pulling him down from the sky and on top of the Lizard.

“Sorry, boys,” said the Black Cat as she sat perched on top of pile of steel pipes. “Nobody plays rough with my Spider but me.”

TO BE CONTINUED…