Chapter 14: The Lizard Part 2: Clash Of The Cross-Species
Spider-Man almost gagged when he made the mistake of breathing through his nose. "Twilight, make a note."
"Yes?"
"Nose filter for my mask. Please."
He heard Thorax snicker and ask "The sewers don't smell that bad, do they?"
"They smell like shit, Thorax. You want me to give you a tour," he grumbled.
"Ugh, no thanks."
"Then shut up and tell me where Lizard is."
"Well, thanks to the scanners on the Oscorp Security Towers somehow being able to reach into the sewers-" Twilight began.
"Whoever designed those things must've made a fortune," Spider-Man muttered.
"-we're running scans of the sewers and the city now. And... This can't be right."
"What can't?"
"He's not showing up on the scanners. At all."
"But those towers are linked to every CCTV camera and alarm in the city. Plus they have thermal scanners so-" He facepalmed. "Of course."
"What?"
"Doctor Connors used lizard DNA. And lizards, like most reptiles-"
"-are cold-blooded," Twilight finished. "Which means their body temperature is far lower than humans. Probably low enough that the thermal scanners won't be able to find him."
"And since they don't have cameras or alarms in the sewers, we can't see him or find him." Seeing scratch marks on the side of the wall, he sighed. "Well then, looks like I'm going in blind. Just me and my Spidey-Sense flying by the seat of my pants."
"Fortunately I have a pretty good idea of where he's going," Thorax said. "Keep heading down the tunnel and then take the first left. That tunnel leads to an open area, and something there is using a lot of power."
"Can do." Making sure his right web shooter was set to Impact Webs and his left was set to Electric Webs, he slowly made his way down the tunnel, following Thorax's directions.
And sure enough, he came into-
"Wow. You guys are seeing this, right," he asked.
The entire space had several machines one would expect to see in a scientist's laboratory: beakers and test tubes, Bunsen burners, mixers, cooling units, and plenty of stored chemicals.
And among them were several empty test tubes that he could tell used to have the Cross-Species formula.
Seeing several of the machines hooked up to power lines running through larger main lines on the ceiling, Spider-Man stated "Looks like the good Doctor tapped into the power grid. And all this equipment... Thorax, how long has Connors been out sick?"
"Technically seven days. But according to what I'm reading, they were doing some renovations and classes were laid off for three days. So all in all I'd say anywhere from ten to eleven days," Thorax replied.
"And he stole all of this equipment, set it all up, and tapped into the grid in that time," Twilight asked in amazement and some disbelief. "Gotta give Lizard credit, he works fast."
"Probably doesn't need to sleep as much as humans, assuming he's now running on a reptilian sleep cycle," he replied.
His eyes were then drawn to a machine that he was unfamiliar with; it looked like a fume hood but instead of a large fan and chimney it had four small fans connected to tubes that led to a glass cube. Said glass cube had looked like it was supposed to hold something. Or several small somethings. "What the hell is this thing," he asked.
"Looking it up now," Thorax replied. "Found it. And I don't know half of the stuff this says. Because unlike my two best friends, the only science I'm super-nerdy about is computers. Twilight?"
"It's a matter conversion chamber. It converts liquids to a gas-based form and then transfers it into approved canisters."
Cold shivers went down his spine at that news. "Gas-based form?"
As realization hit all three of them, Thorax was the first to find his voice. "Oh God. If he has enough of that stuff he could turn New York City into the Florida Everglades."
Looking around he spotted a map of New York on a folding table. "You're right on that. According to this map he's planning on unleashing it in Time's Square, blanketing the majority of the island in this stuff. Based on his new notes he's expecting most of the population of Manhattan to be lizard people by the end of the week." Seeing a few other papers of machine diagrams he added "You guys think these would be enough to do it?"
"Not likely," Twilight replied. "They can't contain near enough of the gas-based formula for his projected numbers. Plus according to those notes the formula in gas form only lasts for a few minutes outside of their containers before dissipating."
Picking up another diagram of a different machine, Spider-Man's eyes widened. "Hold on. Is this-?"
"Is this what," Thorax asked.
"It's a chemical cloud launcher. The idea was to use a machine like this to turn a canister full of liquid vaccines and antiviruses into a vapor cloud that would be harmlessly breathed in by the people, thereby negating the need for injections and possible contamination by needles. Theoretically speaking, if this worked you could cure every cancer case in New York in an afternoon, and possibly prevent further cases."
"That sounds cool," Twilight said. "But also terrifying because if some terrorist loaded it with a toxin-"
"-depending on the size of the cloud, anywhere from thousands to millions of people could die and nobody would be able to get away from it in time. In this case though, if we don't stop Lizard we're looking at millions of people getting turned into dinosaurs."
"Wait a second, if he's got that cloud thing then why the hell did he make the grenades," Thorax asked. "Kinda seems pointless."
"Unless he wants to test the new gas formula to make sure it works before he unleashes it for the big event," Twilight replied. "I was reviewing the footage from your fight with Garble and the other mini-lizards. They each had a puncture wound on their neck, so we can assume Lizard's only used the liquid-based form, more than likely the same kind he injected into Garble."
"And it'll probably make for a good distraction too. He throws them, people start turning into reptiles, other people start panicking and the cops come. And while they're all focused on the other lizard people, the big lizard's free to go to Times Square." Seeing fresh scratches going down the one tunnel he took off down it and asked "Thorax, does this tunnel have any exit points before Times Square? Preferably one that has a lot of people."
"I'm only seeing one place that matches that criteria..."
Manehattan Mall was a modest sized three story building just outside of Times Square that sported multiple shops, boutiques, an arcade, and a very large food court with vendors that sold just about every kind of food or cuisine imaginable. Saturdays and Sundays, it wasn't uncommon for the mall to be packed almost to the brim with people catching up on the latest fashion trends, doing their best to beat their friends' high scores, or chowing down on some Thai food.
Or in the case of Spike and his friends, catching up on their favorite comics.
"It's called Manga, thank you very much."
The snarky comment came from a thirteen year old boy with blue hair that ended in yellow tips, a blue t-shirt with a yellow griffon print and yellow cargo shorts, and a pair of sneakers that seemed to be more duct tape than shoe leather. In his hands was a volume of a manga, something called Berserk, and he seemed to be enjoying it.
His friend; a boy about Spike's age with two tone green hair, a light green shirt and blue shorts, simply rolled his eyes and replied "You do know Manga's just another name for Japanese comics, right?"
Gallus nodded. "I know that, Sandbar. But it feels wrong calling them comics, so-"
Spike rolled his eyes, having heard this debate between the two before. So instead he said "Hey, I'm heading down to the food court to get some nachos. You guys want anything?"
"I'm good," Gallus replied.
"Same here," Sandbar echoed.
"Okay then. I'll be back."
A few minutes later he was sitting by the fountain in the Central Plaza, happily enjoying his nachos. The chips were a bit soggy, but they still tasted fine. At the very least they were still better than anything you could buy at Taco Bell.*
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard several loud screams coming from a couple guys running out of the men's bathroom.
The reason why they were running became evident as the Lizard came walking behind them, a large machine strapped to his back and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
Naturally the majority of people reacted like how anyone would if they saw a seven foot tall humanoid lizard with sharp claws walking around them.
Run like hell while screaming at the top of their lungs, praying said lizard man wouldn't kill and/or eat them. Assuming they weren't paralyzed with fear and doing their best not to- You know what? Let's not go there.
Now normally if Spike saw a lizard he'd be all over it and taking pictures. However, considering its size and the fact that it did not look friendly, he decided to ditch his nachos and GTFO.
However before he could turn and run away, the Lizard reached into the duffel bag and pulled out four silver spheres. He pushed a button on each before throwing each in different directions into the crowd.
And one of them landed right next to Spike, who immediately scrambled away from what he assumed to be some sort of explosive.
But before he even got five feet away the spheres opened up and released massive amounts of emerald green gas that covered everything.
The last thing Spike saw before the gas covered him was the Lizard happily grinning.
"Not sure," Sandbar replied. "Maybe Luigi's Pizza ran out of pepperoni again?"
At that moment several people ran by, one of them pointing back towards the central plaza of the mall and screaming "Monster!"
That definitely got their attention. "A monster," Gallus said aloud. "Here in the mall? This is either a stunt to advertise a new horror movie-"
"-or some new supervillain for Spider-Man to take down," Sandbar finished. He looked around and asked "Uh, where's Spike?"
Seeing that their friend was gone, Gallus asked "Didn't he say he was going to get nachos?"
Their eyes widened as they remembered that the food court and the central plaza were in the exact same area. "Oh crap," they muttered in unison.
"You think maybe we should-" Sandbar began only to stop when they heard more screaming, and a bestial roar.
They both shared a worried look and Gallus said "Yeah we should."
And with that, they took off in the direction of the Central Plaza, praying their friend was alright.
Spike wasn't sure what was worse; the gas all around him that smelled like rotten eggs, or the burning sensation in his throat and mouth as it forced its way into his lungs. As it was his eyes were watering just from the smell alone.
A possible contender for a third worst thing was the fact that the gas was so thick that he couldn't see past a few feet in front of him; which really sucked since he was trying to get out of the cloud.
He almost wished he was unconscious though, when he saw what the gas was doing to the people unfortunate enough to be caught in the gas.
Patches of scales of various colors began showing up on their skin. Their fingers and nails started turning into claws. Their eyes and slits became snake-like or their teeth started to look like lizard teeth of various species.
Bottom line; the gas was slowly but surely starting to turn everyone who was stuck in the cloud into reptilian monsters.
Everyone but him, apparently, as he didn't see any scales or claws showing up on his own body nor was he screaming in pain like everyone else.
And he had a pretty good idea why that was, but he didn't want to take any chances. So out of the cloud he tried to ran.
Fortunately the cloud finally thinned out and he was able to breathe clean air again. Just in time too, as he saw Sandbar and Gallus running towards the cloud. "STAY BACK," he coughed out, before gulping in fresh air.
Helping him up, Gallus said "We heard a bunch of people running and screaming about a monster. I'm guessing he caused that huge cloud."
"Yeah," Spike replied. "He used these gas grenades, and the gas started turning people into lizard monsters like him."
"Wait, weren't you in the cloud," Sanbar asked.
Spike nodded. "Yeah."
"Then why aren't you transforming into a monster like... like... like..." The words died in his throat and his eyes widened, as did Gallus's when they saw something behind Spike.
Turning around, Spike saw the gas was slowly dissipating behind him, which was good since that hopefully meant no more lizard people.
Sadly it was also a bad thing, since they could now see at least six people writhing on the ground in pain as the gas did its work, slowly transforming them into reptile people.
As if that wasn't bad enough they now could see the Lizard in all his glory, focusing on Spike with a look of curiosity. "You aren't changing," he hissed. "Why aren't you changing?" Before Spike could move Lizard's tail shot out and wrapped itself around him, binding his arms to his sides and lifting him into the air until he was face-to-face with the reptilian monstrosity. "What exactly are you, little boy?"
Spike struggled all he could, but the grip the Lizard's tail had on him was like steel bands. As it was he was starting to lose feeling in his arms and it was kinda getting hard to breathe.
Fortunately a distraction came when...
WHOOSH!!! CLONG!!!!
...a vending machine came flying out of nowhere and slammed Lizard in the face, sending him stumbling down to the ground and forcing him to release his grip on Spike.
And the thrower, to Spike's surprise, was none other than the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Helping him up, Spider-Man asked "Are you okay?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah. Thank you. I'd ask if I could get your autograph, but now doesn't seem like the right time."
"Maybe later." Seeing the Lizard start to stir, he said "But right now, you and your friends need to get outta here.f"
Spike nodded and the three of them left, with Gallus yelling behind him "Kick his ass, Spidey!"
"Will do, kid." Putting a finger to his earpiece he said "Spike's safe."
"Thank God," Twilight replied.
Lizard slowly got up, shaking the grogginess out of his head, before yelling "ALRIGHT, WHO THREW THAT?!"
"Sorry about that. You looked thirsty and I thought you could use a drink." The glare the Lizard gave him sent chills down his spine. "Okay, not my best joke. But still-"
He stopped when he noticed something moving behind Lizard.
It was the six people who had been caught in the lizard gas, only instead of writhing around in pain they seemed fine. And they were staring intently at Lizard, who gave a sinister smile as he pointed at Spider-Man.**
And all of the Lizardlings flexed their claws and snarled/growled at him. "Oh no."**
"Is he... controlling them," Thorax asked. "How?"
"Not sure, but that would explain why Garble and the Dragon Tails were willingly following him," he replied quietly. As the Lizardlings advanced on him and Lizard grabbed his machine and ran off, he asked "Guys? Options?"
"Take them down fast and pray they don't have any extra abilities like two of the last group," Twilight suggested. "And hope Lizard doesn't get too far before you're done."
"I'm already tracking him on CCTV. Assuming he doesn't get held up by the cops, I'd say he'll get to Time Square in about ten minutes," Thorax said.
"Then let's make this fast," he replied before dodging a swipe from one of the Lizardlings.
Shining Armor looked at the five syringes filled with blue liquid on the table. "You're sure these will work," he asked with concern.
Martha Connors nodded. "It's the same Gene Cleanser we used when we tested the formula on our lab rats, just modified to work with human DNA. It worked then, it'll work now." She proceeded to fill the sixth and seventh syringes, just as her phone went off. Answering it with one hand and putting it on speaker, she said "Martha Connors."
"Hey Mrs. Con- WHOA!" It was Spider-Man, clearly in the middle of fighting something if the animalistic growl and loud CRASH! were anything to go by. "Uh, yeah. I kinda need that cure. Real fast!"
Shining Armor was the one to ask "Did Doctor Connors already infect more people?"
"Down boy!" There was a loud SMACK! before he replied "Unfortunately, yes. I'm currently facing six more of these guys-OOF! Sonofa- Sorry about that. Anyway, we've got bigger problems."
He quickly told them the cliff notes version of Doctor Connors' plan, which led to Shining sighing and asking "Just one day. Just one normal day. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Considering we've had alien invasions, robot almost-apocalypses, and super-villains out the yin-yang; I'd say normal went out the window years ago."
"Sadly, I can't argue that point. I'll have the cure to you in a few minutes."
"Can you make it sooner? PLEASE?!" There was a snarl followed by a loud SMASH! and the call ended.
Handing Shining Armor the syringes she said "One syringe per infected shall do the trick."
"Let's hope so," Shining replied as he carefully picked up the syringes. He then saw her look of apprehension and he added "Don't worry. I've already put a cap on the news outlets and I've told the other officers under me to hold off on lethal force. We'll get your husband back."
"Thank you," she replied with a weak smile. "I'm so sorry about all of this."
"It's fine. Let's just hope Spider-Man can hold him until I get there."
"I've seen him on the news. I'm sure he'll be fine."
She was half right.
Spider-Man had managed to either restrain or knock out three of the Lizardlings with a combination of Impact Webs, Electric Webs, and beaning one in the head with a trash can before webbing him to the ground.
Sadly the other three weren't falling for those tricks. In fact, they seemed to have learned from their fallen comrades and were now doing their best to surround him and gang up on him like a pack of Velociraptors. He'd avoided getting shredded or bitten so far, but he had way too many close calls and WAY too many tail whacks. Seriously, those tails HURT.
One of the Lizardlings tried to bite him again, but he dodged and shoved a fire extinguisher into its mouth. It bit down and started shooting out the contents, some of which went into the beast's throat and left it a coughing mess. Taking advantage of this Spider-Man jumped up and slammed his fist into the monster's head, followed up by a strong kick to the chest that sent it flying headfirst into a wall. Afterwards it slumped down to the ground, out like a light.
Four down, two to go he thought to himself, eyeing the last two that were now looking at each other, unsure of what they should do since this one small human took down four of them without shedding a single drop of blood.
But those thoughts were put on hold as the both of them felt a prick on their neck, feeling something being pushed into their veins. Then they lost all feeling in their bodies as they fell down, slowly reverting back to their human forms.
Spider-Man looked at the two officers that had been behind the Lizardlings, each of them holding a now empty syringe. One was the familiar form of Lieutenant Shining Armor, and the other was an African American man in his early thirties that looked vaguely familiar to him.
Then the officer held out his hand and said "Officer Jefferson Davis."
Now he remembered. Officer Davis was one of the officers that were at the scene the night Uncle Ben died. Shaking himself out of an unwanted flashback, he shook his hand and replied "Spider-Man. But you probably knew that."
He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. My son's a big fan."
"Cool." Looking at Shining he said "Thanks for the save."
He nodded. "No problem, Spidey." He then handed one of the syringes to Spider-Man. "You get the big guy. We'll clean up here."
"Can do," he replied, running out the mall and swinging towards Times Square.
Davis smirked as he injected the cleanser into another Lizardling. "Flying metal bird-men, guys made of sand, and now this."
Shining couldn't help but laugh at that statement. "Welcome to New York City. AKA, the weirdest place on planet Earth."
Davis laughed too. "Well, at least it ain't boring."
Finding the Lizard wasn't that hard. Really, when you're seven foot tall and look like the love child of a crocodile and a man, you're not hard to spot in a crowd.
He was on currently climbing up the side of a tall building at Times Square, no doubt planning on using it as the launching point for the Cross Species Formula. Landing and sticking above him, Spider-Man quipped "First Scorpion and now you. I gotta remember to get my wall-crawling trademarked."
Lizard just growled before jumping up and swiping at him with his right claw, which Spider-Man easily dodged. He then webbed the claw to the building, but Lizard easily ripped free. He then jumped and tried to slash him with both claws, but Spider-Man simply jumped off the building before swinging around and kicking Lizard off. Lizard managed to grab some purchase on the side with his one claw, Spider-Man landing below him. He turned to glare at Spider-Man but then froze, his face morphing from anger to one of fear. Looking down at the ground and then back at Lizard, Spider-Man asked "What's the matter, Doc? Afraid of heights?"
"Sssshut up," Lizard growled, but the sweat on his brow gave it away.
"Don't worry big guy," Spider-Man said, attaching two Web Lines to the building before flipping backwards and pulling the lines taut. "I'll be sure to give you a soft landing!"
And with that he lifted his feet up, the webs shooting him forward like a slingshot. He soared right up and smashed both of his feet into the Lizard's chest, making him lose his grip as the momentum carried both of them up the rest of the building and above it into the open air. Spider-Man then grabbed Lizard and spun, throwing him towards the roof. As he flew Spider-Man shot a Web Line and snagged the cloud launcher on Lizard's back and yanked, the strap snapping as he pulled the machine away from him. Webbing it to the side of the building he then zipped onto the roof, seeing Lizard getting up and shaking off the impact. He then glared at Spider-Man and roared before charging at him. Vaulting over him, he pulled out the syringe and jabbed it right into Lizard's back, injecting the contents into his bloodstream. "There you go, Doc. You should feel much better-URK!"
At that moment Lizard had batted him away with his tail, sending him flying into the nearby billboard. Shaking out the stars he asked "What the hell? I thought that stuff was supposed to cure him?"
"If I'd have to guess, it worked a lot faster on the other six because they were unconscious," Twilight replied. "But he's still conscious-"
"And considering you just threw him around like a volleyball, he's probably really pissed," Thorax added.
"-so it's probably going to take some time before it takes effect," Twilight finished.
Dodging several swipes from Lizard he asked "How long?"
"According to the sensors in your suit, I'd say about five, ten minutes tops," Twilight replied. "Maybe less if you can knock him out or keep him from moving too much."
He dodged another attack from Lizard, this one getting a little too close for comfort. "Yeah, let's go with Option B."
When Lizard tried to lunge at Spider-Man again he ducked and slid underneath him while attaching two Web Lines onto the underside of his jaw. Once he was out from under him he yanked hard, the lines going taut and pulling Lizard into a front flip to ended with him landing on his back, hard. Jumping above him Spider-Man unleashed a barrage of Impact Webs and Web Shots, effectively plastering him to the roof. Then with a quick "Sorry about this Doc" he zipped forward and slammed his fist into Lizard's face and subsequently slammed his head into the roof, hard.
He didn't even try to get back up, instead letting out a groan before slipping into unconsciousness. "Sweet dreams, Lizard."
As he watched the serum went to work, the scales being replaced with human skin, his tail and right arm falling off and dissolving like an Airborne tablet dissolving in water, his face morphing back into his previous human form. Hell, his short brown hair even came back once his head was finished reverting.
His scanners confirmed it, the Gene Cleanser did its work. Doctor Connors was back.
Carefully ripping off the webbing he picked him up and called Shining. "It's done. Lizard's been neutralized."
"Great. I'm here cleaning up at the Mall. By the way, somebody apparently hacked into the mall's security systems and disabled the cameras. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"I think you know the answer to that," he replied as he carefully swung towards ESU, keeping a good grip on Doctor Connors. "Did anybody-"
"As far as the media or anyone else knows, some lizard monster came out of the bathroom and attacked everyone. The people who got infected, including those guys from the Dragon Tail Brotherhood, don't remember anything that happened."
"Guess that's a good thing. What are you gonna do about the Dragon Tails?"
He heard a sigh before Shining said "Technically speaking they weren't acting of their own free will. And since we don't have any evidence of any of their lawbreaking before they became lizards, we technically can't arrest them."
"Well, that's too bad."
"We'll get them eventually, Spidey. Trust me."
Coming up on ESU as the sun started to set, Spider-Man replied "I certainly hope so. You have a good afternoon, Lieutenant."
"You too."
Once he regained consciousness, Spider-Man and Martha both explained what had happened. He immediately was in shock at what happened, especially since he didn't think the formula would do all of this. Fortunately they both assured him that nobody was killed or seriously hurt, and that nobody outside of them and Shining Armor (and Team Spider, not that he needed to know that) knew of Connors' involvement.
"I am so sorry," Curt said, but Spider-Man cut him off.
"You were trying to help people, Doc. You couldn't have known that all of this would've happened."
He sighed. "I... I suppose you're right. What happened to the Chemical Cloud Launcher?"
"It got busted up during the fight. The NYPD are picking up the pieces and sending them to Damage Control."
"Good. Don't want that machine falling into the wrong hands."
Martha nodded before turning to Spider-Man. "Thank you, Spider-Man. We owe you so much."
"You don't owe me anything," he replied. "I'm just happy to help."
"Well," Flash said once he had changed out of his suit "that's taken care of."
"Good job out there," Twilight said while she was scanning the components from Scorpion's device. "How's Doctor Connor's doing?"
"He's still a little out of it. After all, he did end up getting turned into a giant lizard and try to turn the rest of New York into lizards. But I'm sure he'll be fine. At the very least we hopefully won't have to worry about anymore lizard people."
"That's always a plus," Thorax said. He then sighed and looked at the computer he dedicated to Oscorp's data. "Now, if only we had something to speed this up."
Twilight looked at it for a second, before saying "You know considering this is Stark tech, you'd think the computers came with an A.I."
Beep-beep!
A window appeared on the computer in front of them. Thorax read it aloud. "'Wake up Karen?' Who's Karen?"
"Why don't we find out," Flash asked, taking the mouse and clicking on YES.
The screen started running a program, before a new window popped up that read Karen Active.
And then a female voice from the computer said "Hello. I am Karen."
A bit surprised at this, nobody really knew what to say. Until Twilight replied "Uh, hello. Are you an A.I."
"Yes. Mister Stark programmed me into the computers here."
"And you haven't been active or done anything because..." Thorax asked.
"Mister Stark wanted to see how well you could do without me," she replied simply. "I think you did a good job."
Flash shrugged. "Okay then. Do you think you could give Thorax and Twilight a hand?"
"Of course. What do you need me to do?"
"I've got most of the parts to the device scanned," Twilight explained. "But I could use a hand finding out where they came from."
"And I'm sure you're already aware of the data I'm sifting through from Oscorp," Thorax replied.
"Yep." Two of the computer screens lit up; one with Twilight's project and the other with Thorax's data. There were a few beeps and she said "I should be able to find where those components were made and who made the device by tomorrow. The rest of the data for Oscorp will probably take about a week."
They all looked happy at that. "You're a lifesaver," Thorax sighed.
"Really? I don't remember anyone dying."
They all looked surprised at that. "Was that a joke," Twilight asked.
"Stark gives all of his A.I. basic personalities. Says it would be boring otherwise."
Flash would've replied, but then a Crime Alert went off. Thorax was about to check it out, but Karen beat him to the punch. "Jewelry store in Midtown was just robbed. Police are five minutes out."
Already slipping on the suit he said "Well, duty calls." He was about to pull the mask down, before he looked at Twilight and smiled. "Kiss for good luck?"
She rolled her eyes, but still smiled before giving him a quick kiss. "Go get 'em, Tiger."
Pulling the mask down he replied "Got it."
Once he was out the door, Thorax burst out laughing and asked "Tiger? Really?"
Her response was to deliver a swift punch into his stomach. "Shut up."
Shining Armor was at his desk in the precinct, filling out paperwork when there was a knock on the door. Turning he saw his smiling wife Cadance, only he noticed that she seemed especially happy. "Hey honey. What's got you so happy?"
She giggled, before handing Shining a thin white object that he recognized instantly. "A pregnancy test," he asked in confusion. "Why do you-"
It was then that he noticed that the test was positive, and then the pieces fell into place as his face broke out into a grin. "Are you serious?!"
Cadance nodded excitedly. "Yes! I went to the doctor and checked and everything!"
Shining couldn't contain himself, picking up Cadance bridal-style and spinning her around.
And in unison they screamed "WE'RE GONNA BE PARENTS!"
Gallus, Sandbar, and Spike were And Spike had finally told his friends his secret, and why he wasn't turned into a lizard monster like the other people who had been caught in the gas cloud.
"So..." Sandbar tried to say, but he couldn't finish.
"You're a mutant," Gallus said for him.
Spike was quiet for a moment, before replying "Yeah."
He braced himself for it. For the insults, calling him a freak, Sandbar telling him to get the hell out of there.
But instead, Sandbar said "That's cool."
Spike's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
Gallus echoed his opinion. "Yeah, that's pretty awesome."
"Wait, hold on," Spike asked, confused. "You're not freaking out, or calling me a monster, or-"
"Why would we," Gallus asked. "You're our friend. That doesn't change just because you're a mutant."
"Yeah man," Sandbar added. "Friends till the end."
A tear fell from his eye as Spike grabbed both of them in a hug, smiling at that proclamation from the two, constantly saying "Thank you."
Once they manage to pry his arms off of them, Gallus asked "So, what all can you do?"
Spike winced. "It's... not something I can show indoors. How about tomorrow we go somewhere... secluded, so that I can show you?"
"Sounds good to me," Sandbar replied. His mother then called and said dinner was ready, and he yelled down "We'll be down in a minute, mom." Sandbar then looked at Spike and said "Maybe you shouldn't-"
"-tell your mother I'm a mutant because she'll probably make you never talk to me again or go anywhere near me," Spike guessed, rolling his eyes.
He nodded glumly. "Sorry."
"I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't have to be," Gallus said. "Just because you can do things other people can't doesn't make you some kind of freak."
"Amen to that, brother," Sandbar replied, the two exchanging a fistbump.
Spike couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks guys."
Spider-Man had made it to the store, the owner pointing him in the direction that the robbers were running. He saw one of them going into an alley and chased after them.
But when he made it to the alley...
"What the hell?"
The five robbers were all lying on the ground, unconscious and several with bruised faces. All of them had their hands bound together with zip-ties.
But whoever did it was nowhere to be found.
"Looks like somebody beat me to the punch," he muttered. "I wonder who-"
And then he saw it on the wall.
On the wall somebody had spray-painted a spider within a circle, in bright red paint.***
He smiled under his mask. "Well, looks like I got an overzealous fan."
As he swung off, he never noticed the air on the nearby rooftop being to shimmer, before a person seemingly appeared out of thin air.
The person was wearing mostly normal clothes; a pair of black swearpants, a red and black hoodie, and a store-bought Spider-Man mask that had the eye-holes covered with the lenses from a pair of sunglasses.
And in one hand was a can of red spray paint.
He pulled his mask off, revealing an African American teen with brown eyes and short black hair. He smirked as he looked down at his handiwork, before his phone rang and he answered it. "Miles Morales. Oh, hey mom. Don't worry, I'm on my way home now." He paused and then rolled his eyes. "Yes, I remember where it is. Just like when you asked me last week." He smiled and said "Love you too, mom."
Hanging up and pocketing his phone he flipped over the edge of the building, and began crawling down it eerily similar to how Spider-Man did it. Man, I love these powers!
*
I apologize for nothing. I hate Taco Bell.
**For those of you who are confused, allow me to explain.
I was checking the Wikipedia page for The Lizard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_(comics)#Powers_and_abilities and I found this interesting tidbit in his Powers and Abilities section.
The Lizard can mentally communicate and command all reptiles within a mile of himself via limited telepathy.
So no, I didn't just make this up. I did my research.
***This spider, to be exact. https://www.deviantart.com/supermariofan65/art/SM-Into-the-Spider-Verse-Spider-Man-symbol-777982035
So, a few things happened in this chapter. The main one being the conclusion of Lizard.
But we also have:
-Shining getting the news that he's gonna be a proud Papa.
-Team Spider getting Karen to help out in the base.
-We meet Gallus and Sandbar and find out Spike's little "secret"
and lastly
-WE GOT MILES MORALES!!!!!!
So, guess which one is going to be the primary focus for the next chapter?
As always guys, feel free to comment. Your comments help to inspire my chapters.
Equestrian Defender, out!
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Oh wow...did not see that coming.
Also, found some errors:
Unnecessary letter
I think you mean 'her' here.
Somethings that's always been a nitpick of mine with this story is the inconsistent use of Expys. I enjoy it but it bugs me how some characters are an Expy for spiderman characters and the rest are... just the spiderman characters. I get that it's harder to come up with an alternative alter-ego for the different villains and such but when you have Flash as spiderman and Twilight as MJ it seems out of place when Miles Morales shows up as himself.
But like I said this is mostly a nitpick I do still enjoy the story and look forward to what's coming next.
Again, you did a great job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I love how well you are maintaining that careful balance between humor and the serious stuff. I particularly liked how Spidey and the others figured out the Lizard's scheme, Martha came up with the antidote, Sandbar and Gallus taking Spike's being a mutant so well after they found out, the scene after Lizard turned back to Curt and the little continued nods to the PS4 game AND the movies. And, yeah, Twi is shaping up to be a REALLY good mix of Gwen and MJ (albeit will EVENTUALLY become MUCH better equipped to take care of herself [I don't think THAT's much of a spoiler, but I'm keeping it in the "spoilers" section just in case]) and I like how she responded to Thorax teasing her and Flash. And, indeed, I'm definitely looking forward to truly seeing Miles in action.
This was an awesome closure to the Lizard arc. So many cool things happening I don’t even know where to start. Miles Morales is here, Spike shared his secret with his friends and they accept him, and Shining Armor and Cadence are gonna be parents.
And that’s funny. Because a couple days ago, I learned I’m gonna be an uncle.
Looking forward to more of this.
Whoa!
That is a lot to process. Ooooh! But I love everything you just did. 
Also, whew! Thank goodness Spike didn't turn into a mini-Lizard. Now, that would have been EXTRA tragic.
Wow, great chapter here. Not only was the fight between Spidey and the Lizard awesome, we also get a lot of great developments. I am so happy to hear Cadance is pregnant, since I love Flurry Heart, and it is heartwarming to see Sandbar and Gallus accept Spike now that they know he’s a mutant. Oh, and of course the first appearance of Miles Morales. He’s going to be a great here, I just know it.
Okay good chapter... forgot Spike was a mutant in this... what was his mutation again?
9806145
You'll find out soon enough.
9805826
Which part?
Also, thanks for pointing those out. I will fix them momentarily.
9805842
Technically she's more like the Gwen Stacy from Spectacular Spider-Man and the Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man movies, the "Go get 'em, Tiger." was mostly just a reference to MJ. And Sci-Twi is not like MJ, because if she was she'd be constantly playing damsel in distress for Spider-Man to save.
But thanks.
9805869
Like Gallus and Sandbar said, friends till the end.
And hopefully next chapter you'll get to see that.
9805904
Thank you.
Congratulations man! I'm sure you'll do great.
9805930
Thank you.
I wouldn't do anything like that to Spike. Primarily because it's being done in this story.
- Equestria Girls
- Romance
- Adventure
- Drama
Rainbow Dash was once just an ordinary teenage girl going to Canterlot High, but then, one day, she got bitten by a mutated spider and woke up with superpowers beyond her wildest dreams. But what will she do with them? (Flutterdash pairing)Spoiler alert. And I didn't feel like copying that.
Okay, I admit that was a lame pun.
9806006
Miles isn't going to be great. He's going to be Ultimate.
9806149
Okay thought it was something that was explained earlier and I forgot.
or was it mentioned and not explained on what it was.
It's probably something draconic
9806176
That's not fair only the Raimi films used MJ like that.
9806201
And the 90s Animated Series. Though to a somewhat lesser extent.
9806206
Yeah well, that's just a classic trope. The easiest way to raise the stakes is by putting those closest to the hero in danger whether it's intentional or simply coincidental. Point is its a great disservice to her character to say that MJ is just the girl spidey always has to save. That's like saying Gwen Stacey is just that girl spidey always winds up killing.
9806214
Fair point, especially seeing as how MJ wasn't really the damsel in distress in the 2018 video game. My mistake.
Also, don't you mean the girl Green Goblin always ends up killing? Because last I checked, Spider-Man didn't kill Gwen Stacy, he was trying to save her.
9806223
Well admittedly the cause of death was ambiguous but it's often assumed the whiplash from the web stopping her fall killed her. Though it wasn't the only possibility that's the one I usually go with.
9806235
We may never know.
9805842
I maintain Canterlot should be noted to be a suburb of New York, with weird naming conventions, a ridiculously high percentage of vegetarians (look closely at the EG cafeteria scenes), and a horse fetish. Other characters should comment on it.
There's even a reason for all this: They're sitting right on top of the portal to cute horse dimension! Having the people living in the area be a little strange because of that makes a lot of sense.
Karen, huh?
Is she gonna take the Kids? XD
9806289
??
??
9806293
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsVUvt9w8gw
9806298
...
......
.........
............
No. Just... no.
9806303
Yes. Just yes.
i.pinimg.com/736x/73/b7/4f/73b74f8fa9f48aa27cd01b5d8f24b25c.jpg
Welp, will stark make some more costumes? And seriously I need to watch the spider verse, I really pissed Netflix doesn't have it outside of USA, I refuse to see it pirate.
Great story. So Spikes a human. Please tell me he's getting his own hero story. I'm betting his mutant powers are something similar to what TheMysteriousRed did in his Humagon story. Looking forward to the next chapter.
9806176
The Miles part. I didn't think you would go for Miles.
9806459
Well, I do plan to introduce the Iron Spidersometime in the future.
9806523
I think you mean Mutant. And no spoilers.
9806642
Why not? He's tied with Spider-Gwen as my second favorite Spider-Hero.
9806689
It just never crossed my mind.
Though my favorite is definitely Spider-Gwen...and Spider-ham. Because I love cartoons.
Are we going to get a Stan Lee cameo?
9807274
Considering he helped create Spider-Man? Yes.
May he Rest In Peace.
Great chapter. Some kick-ass action. And there's a lot to process here, too! Spike's a mutant. Cadance is pregnant. And Miles is here! Oh and hi, Karen! I like Karen. Congratulations on your trope page, too.
9807556
Thank you. Be sure to thank this guy for making the page. https://www.fimfiction.net/user/248318/SuperSonicHeroes
Miles is here!? Now the fun can begin!
9808574
Oh yeah.
By the way, love the profile pic.
I dont know how i fill about Twi quoting MJ good but wired at the same time.
9810808
I like making references to the source material, what can I say?
9815495
Im not saying urs bad but Twi just dosnt seem like Mj more of a Gawen stacey to me now Sunset she skreams Mj
9815519
Well I was actually trying to have Sci-Twi give off more of a mix of the two characters, since I'm not going to do what most Spider-Man writers do and kill off the love interest. Or have Spider-Man make a deal with the devil to trade his marriage to save his dying aunt.
(puts a bit in a jar labeled One More Day diss)
ONE MORE DAY SUCKS AND I HATE IT AND JOE QUESADA IS! A! HACK!
So Spike didn't transform because the formula reacted differently because he has the X-gene, but it's likely altered his powers to include additional reptilian abilities in addition to his existing fire breath. Same way the unique mutation in the Banner Blood line alters the effect of gamma radiation, or two The Beast caused changed in his mutation by trying to "cure" it. Though it does get the question does exposure to the formula lead to later gene mutation meaning the Dragon Tails might develop powers similar to the unique abilities they had as lizards, is always nice to have a few C-D class villians to be henchmen.
9816790
Guess you'll just have to wait and see.
Really hope Spike gets a huge hero story too.