At the top of a building near the Freedom Tower, Arthur and Jean watched the confrontation on the top floor through high-precision binoculars.
Arthur sighed when he saw that her surprise attack had failed.
Jean frowned, her mind working quickly.
"The Lizard… he dodged as if he had the same danger sense as Gwen."
"That's not possible," Arthur denied immediately.
Jean turned to Arthur, intrigued.
She had seen Gwen demonstrate that gift before. Gwen had naturally dodged one of Jean's surprise attacks with almost superhuman ease.
"Only Gwen has that ability," Arthur replied, shaking his head. "As far as I know, it's unique to her."
Jean pressed her lips together. "Then how did the Lizard…?"
Cortana's voice echoed through the communicator in their ears:
[It was most likely the result of pure survival instinct. When any organism faces an imminent threat, a primitive reflex occurs. We can call it a 'preservation instinct.']
[However, the chance of this happening with such precision is extremely low…]
Jean nodded, still thoughtful.
"Gwen's spider-sense works all the time, like an active premonition…"
"Exactly," Arthur said. "And that's why I'm confident she can handle this."
Jean smiled. "You trust her that much?"
"I do," Arthur replied calmly.
---
At the top of the Freedom Tower
The Lizard turned his predatory eyes to the blue vial in Gwen's hand.
"So that's it… you managed to create an antidote."
"Bingo," Gwen said, spinning the vial between her fingers as if it were a dagger.
She raised an eyebrow beneath the mask.
"And since you figured it out, I'll reward you with a little jab. Just… stand still for a moment, okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, she lunged at him.
The Lizard roared and charged with his claws, but Gwen dodged with precision—spinning, leaping, counterattacking with kicks and webs. Still, the Lizard was faster and far stronger.
"What the hell happened to you?" she asked, barely avoiding a claw that scraped the floor like a blade.
"I evolved," he growled. "I am now the new dominant life form. You can't stop me!"
The Lizard twisted his body and struck Gwen with his tail, hurling her into a metal wall. She was back on her feet before the dust even settled.
"Spider-Woman, you're weakening," the Lizard mocked.
"Or you're fooling yourself again, Peter," she shot back instantly.
He laughed, his eyes trembling with arrogance.
"You're no longer my opponent. Who can stop me now?"
Gwen didn't answer.
She simply launched herself at him again, like a swift shadow. The fight continued relentlessly—walls shattering, beams twisting, metal tearing under claws and punches.
Then the Lizard stepped back. He pulled the dispersal device from his back and placed it on the ground.
"Enough games. You will be the last obstacle before the rise of a new era for humanity!"
He charged savagely. Now that he no longer had to worry about the equipment on his back, his movements became even deadlier. His claws were now wrapped in the green glow of his venom.
Gwen was forced to move even faster, her senses almost screaming with every attack that tore through the air just inches from her body.
The Lizard spat a burst of corrosive saliva, melting part of the structure beside Gwen.
"Hey!! That was disgusting! Even transformed, you could at least keep a minimum of manners, you know?"
The Lizard growled and rushed to attack again—but stopped for a moment.
Gwen cracked her neck. Her movements changed.
There was something different about her stance.
"Spider-Woman… what are you doing?"
She smiled beneath the mask.
"Adapting to my suit."
"What?" His eyes widened. Only now did he notice that Spider-Woman's uniform looked slightly different.
"Designed with help from someone very close to me," she said. "I adapted to it during the fight. Now… I'm ready."
The Lizard screamed, consumed by fury.
"Whatever! You're going to die either way! DIE, SPIDER-WOMAN!!"
He charged, his feet cracking the ground with the impact.
Gwen simply leapt gracefully to the side, as if she could foresee every step.
"What's happening…?" the Lizard murmured. "She's different."
Gwen turned, the eyes of her mask glowing against the lightning in the background.
"You didn't get stronger, Peter. I just stopped holding back. Now I'm serious. And if you don't want to come back willingly… then I'll make you come back by force," she said, striking the classic Spider pose.
The Lizard roared and tried to bite her, but Gwen ducked, twisted her body, and delivered a brutal hook straight to his chin.
BOOM!
The Lizard's body was launched several meters into the air. Gwen didn't waste time—she jumped up after him, fired a web, grabbed his leg, and violently slammed him back into the tower floor.
"This is for every person you killed and every person you almost turned into a monster," she said as she began punching the Lizard's face, showing no mercy now.
Her goal was, at the very least, to knock him unconscious.
---
Stairwell to the rooftop — moments before the rain began
George led a small group of well-trained police officers. All were armed with 12-gauge shotguns, their eyes heavy with tension. The metallic smell of the weapons, mixed with nervous sweat, hung in the air.
"Go up first," George ordered with restrained authority.
"Take the high ground and spread out. When I give the order… shoot."
But as the first men reached the top of the stairs and caught sight of what was happening on the rooftop, they stopped.
They froze completely.
Annoyed, George pushed forward behind them.
"What are you waiting for? Move!"
And then he saw it.
There, beneath the gray, threatening sky, Spider-Woman was dismantling the Lizard with furious blows.
The monster that once inspired terror was now a cowering creature, incapable of defending itself against her fury.
"This is… this is madness," one of the officers murmured.
Later, when interviewed, the description was straightforward:
"We went up expecting to find a monster… but the monster was getting beaten like a rat."
George, who had always criticized Spider-Woman out loud, swallowed hard. For the first time, he felt something close to respect.
Respect—or perhaps fear.
Gwen, however, heard nothing around her anymore.
The world had faded away—only she and Peter remained. She knelt beside the Lizard, panting. The rain began to fall in heavy drops.
"Peter…" she murmured, pulling out the syringe with the cure.
"…I tried every way I could to convince you with words…"
And with a firm motion, she injected the serum into his arm.
The monster groaned softly, but then something unexpected happened.
In an act of pure insanity, the Lizard screamed, raised his own left arm, and tore it off.
With a wet crack, blood exploded into the air.
A second later, a new arm began to grow.
"I already told you," the creature hissed, with a twisted smile of pain and rage.
"I am the perfect evolution. You can't stop me."
Gwen fell silent. The look in her eyes changed.
She truly could no longer hesitate.
---
Freedom Tower rooftop
"No matter what you do," Gwen said, her voice hoarse, her eyes lit like lightning,
"I will take you down again."
The Lizard smiled—a crooked, animalistic smile.
"It's too late, Spider-Woman…"
At that moment, the sound of the rain intensified. Thunder cracked in the distance.
Cortana warned Gwen immediately, her voice alarmed through the communicator:
[Gwen, it's raining. If Peter is following the old plan…]
She froze.
Her expression changed, regret flooding her eyes.
"That's it… the disperser. I should have—damn it, I hesitated again…"
Connors shouted from the stairs:
"STOP PETER NOW! HE'S GOING TO RELEASE THE SERUM!"
George, who had heard everything, appeared running right behind him.
"Cortana! Adjust the web shooters' exit mode!"
Gwen raised both arms; the launchers synchronized. Dense, interwoven webs shot out in a combined blast, wrapping the Lizard like a living net.
At the same time, George raised the 12-gauge shotgun and fired. The blast exploded, hitting the monster square in the chest.
But nothing stopped him.
The Lizard laughed, a grotesque, triumphant sound.
"EVOLUTION BEGINS NOW!!"
And with a powerful gesture, he activated the device.
"…"
Nothing happened.
"That was very anticlimactic…" Gwen murmured.
"No, no, no, no, no!! NO!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!" the Lizard roared as he tried again to activate the equipment, failing miserably.
"So… how about we end this before it gets even more embarrassing?" Gwen said.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" he roared in response.
"Whoa, easy there—I didn't do anything!" Gwen replied immediately, shaking her head.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" he roared even more crazed.
"I already told you th—" Gwen tried to respond, but didn't have time.
The Lizard attacked her immediately, no longer caring about anything else.
She dodged the attack and immediately countered with a flying kick straight to his head.
"GAAAAH!" he screamed in pain as he slammed into the wall.
"This ends here, Peter…" she said as she approached.
She then plunged a needle straight into the monster's chest.
The scream was deafening.
"NOOO!!! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE OLD PETER!!"
But his body began to shrink rapidly. His claws receded. His eyes became human again.
It was the end of the Lizard.
Gwen stood up, chest heaving, as she looked at the dispersal device.
"Cortana, what happened to this thing?"
[I'm sorry for not informing you earlier. Arthur tampered with that device, rendering it completely useless.]
"That's what I thought…" she sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.
That was the only plausible explanation for the device's failure.
After casting one last glance at George and the approaching officers, she leapt from the building.
(End of chapter)