Chapter 90: The War of the Good (Part 2)

Although the lizard-man tried to flee, Peter couldn’t let the monster go—if it reached the surface, its sheer size would surely throw New York into chaos.

The lizard-man had just turned to run back when Peter struggled to his feet and scrambled up the wall, chasing the monster.

Peter had an excellent sense of direction; after days wandering the sewers, he remembered the routes clearly, and he estimated that this lizard-man wasn’t running randomly—he was heading deliberately toward one destination.

Where was he going? What did he intend to do there? What was really going on?

Then Peter remembered: among the biological tissue samples he’d seen at the reservoir inspection point, there had been a lizard’s tail. Could this monster be the creation of that mad scientist?

The lizard-man ran ahead; Peter chased behind. Perhaps the scientist hadn’t understood the dimensions of the sewers—his creation was simply too large, forcing the monster to keep his head lowered. Though the sewer ceilings reached over ten meters high, in narrower passages the lizard-man could only move forward bent over.

This gave Peter a perfect chance to delay him: as the lizard-man struggled to move, Peter shot a web strand in front of its legs, but the monster, seemingly still possessing some intelligence, avoided tripping by curling up and leaping over the web.

Peter devised another plan: he wrapped a strand of web around the lizard-man’s neck, hoping to use momentum to pull him down—but the lizard-man wasn’t fooled. As soon as the web touched him, he yanked the strand and flung Spider-Man away.

This time, Spider-Man learned: he rolled upon landing and immediately stood up again. He realized he had almost no experience fighting monsters of this size—after all, no thief or robber was four or five meters tall.

Besides its claws, the lizard-man’s most dangerous weapon was its massive tail: one sweep sent Peter crashing into the wall. Spider-Man, caught off guard by this unexpected maneuver, took a brutal horizontal blow.

Fortunately, his stamina was high and his recovery rapid; soon, he was back on the lizard-man’s trail.

Peter realized: to defeat this monster, he’d have to lure it above ground. Though the sewers hindered the giant creature, they also left Spider-Man with no room to maneuver—the entire space was filled by the monster’s bulk; he couldn’t even use webs to encircle it.

As the monster’s direction became clearer, Peter noticed: it was heading straight for Stark Tower.

Peter knew this route well—he’d taken it countless times after exploring the sewers on his way to internships.

Peter didn’t understand what the monster wanted, but he knew he couldn’t let it reach the surface and storm into Stark Tower. Stark was in terrible shape—maybe still drunk and unconscious. If he couldn’t pilot the armor, hundreds of employees inside the tower would be in grave danger.

As Peter thought this, the monster realized: moving through the sewers was slower than running on the surface. At the nearest manhole cover, it leapt upward with all its strength.

Without regard for the manhole’s size, the lizard-man smashed through the pavement and burst out onto the street; Peter followed close behind.

A monster suddenly emerging from underground threw the street into chaos: the dozen cars behind slammed on their brakes and collided in a chain reaction, erupting in violent explosions.

Spider-Man wanted to rush to rescue people, but he watched the giant monster trampling cars and sprinting toward Stark Tower. With no other choice, he pressed his wrist communicator and shouted: “Mr. Stark!!! Mr. Stark!!! Are you there?! Wake up!! A lizard monster is heading your way!! Wake up!!!”

The communicator received no response. Peter cursed under his breath and dialed Steve. “Captain! Get over here and organize traffic! A monster just ran past—on the main road east of Stark Tower! People need rescue here!!”

He was about to call Shiler when he saw the lizard-man leap forward and land directly in the parking lot surrounding Stark Tower.

Peter had no choice but to rush after it. His web shot straight onto the glass wall of another Stark Tower building, and he swung down, kicking the lizard-man in the neck.

The giant monster staggered but used its tail to regain balance.

It reached out to grab Spider-Man, but Stark Tower consisted of five or six interconnected buildings arranged in a ring—giving Peter maximum mobility.

Seeing the lizard-man reach out, Peter fired another web, swinging past its side, then spun back and stuck a second strand to its arm, aiming to yank it down.

The lizard-man swung its arm hard, snapping the web, then charged into the interior of Stark Tower.

The tower’s interior was complex, but due to its immense size, each floor had high ceilings—allowing the lizard-man to move freely.

Though Stark hadn’t answered Peter’s earlier call, JARVIS was awake. Hearing a monster was approaching, JARVIS immediately activated security protocols: evacuating most staff and deploying every available defensive measure, effectively slowing the lizard-man’s advance.

But the security protocols required Stark’s personal authorization. Without it, many permanently sealed safety doors couldn’t close, and many large-scale weapons couldn’t be deployed. The lizard-man’s progress was slowed—but not stopped.

Spider-Man also realized he lacked powerful offensive tools. During the chase inside the tower, he’d knocked the lizard-man down several times and tripped it with webs—but the beast was too durable. Peter’s punches only made it shake its head.

This monster seemed to possess extraordinary regenerative abilities. Peter severed one segment of its tail with falling shards of glass, hoping to cripple it by removing the tail—without it, balance would be far harder.

Before Peter could act further, the lizard-man’s tail regrew at lightning speed.

Peter swung from the ceiling on his webs, trying to distract the monster with words, hoping to draw its attention away from climbing upward.

“Hey, big guy! Where’d you buy your super glue? Look here—your spider dad’s gonna kick your ass, just like this!”

Peter swung down again, aiming a kick at the lizard-man’s chest—but the monster had learned. As Peter swung toward him, it sidestepped, grabbed Peter’s foot, spun him around several times, then hurled him away.

Peter crashed through a stack of desks and flew out through the floor-to-ceiling window.

Fortunately, he rolled mid-air, shot a web to the wall, swung back through a broken window, and kicked the lizard-man in the back.

Though Peter had learned many combat techniques from Steve, he was still barely better than swinging wild punches—he’d learned to use webs to enhance mobility and leverage gravity and momentum to amplify force.

This tactic couldn’t fully subdue the lizard-man, but it did slow him effectively: Peter’s strength was great enough that each kick made the monster stagger; a follow-up punch left it dazed for several seconds.

They chased each other upward, floor by floor, disrupting each other’s movements—until finally, the lizard-man reached the upper floors of Stark Tower. Spider-Man shouted helplessly: “JARVIS! How long until Mr. Stark wakes up? Can you hurry?!”

“I’m initiating emergency awakening protocols...”

“What emergency awa—”

Before Peter finished speaking, a deafening roar erupted from within Stark Tower.

It was a rock music player, at least 120 decibels—the sonic wave knocked both Spider-Man and the lizard-man off their feet.

“Is this your emergency awakening method?!?! Couldn’t you just give him headphones?! This is indiscriminate assault!!!!” Peter screamed, but his voice was swallowed by the deafening music.

JARVIS turned up his own volume: “Mr. Stark HATES noise!!!! This is the most effective way to sober him up!!!!”

No sooner had JARVIS finished than a suit of armor flew through the shattered window. Stark was screaming: “Enough!!! Turn it off!!! I’m awake!!!”

When the music stopped, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the lizard-man all felt their skulls ringing.

Still suffering from tinnitus, Spider-Man shouted: “JARVIS!!! I have to say—this is your most effective weapon yet!!!”

Stark had no time for banter—he was destroying his own building. He charged at full power and rammed the lizard-man clean out of Stark Tower.

The height was immense—if the lizard-man fell, unless it grew wings, it would be crushed into pulp.

But the monster had decent balance: mid-air, it whipped its tail, striking Iron Man’s armor, then rolled and clung to the window ledge. With a powerful arm pull, it leapt back up and landed squarely back in the center of the battlefield.

Stark, clearly still groggy from his hangover, was knocked down by the lizard-man’s blow and took a long time to rise.

Spider-Man kept harassing the lizard-man while Stark connected to his comm and began formulating a plan.

“Listen—we drive it to the roof. Then I’ll use another suit to ambush it and knock it off the roof. It can’t fly, right?”

“No—if it could, it would’ve flown away already. But its rapid regeneration is a problem. Even if it falls, it might not die.”

“But it won’t be able to move.”

They acted immediately. Peter and Stark weaved through the building, both moving with incredible agility. Stark controlled the tower’s internal weaponry and, with his repulsors, chased the lizard-man to the roof.

On the roof, Stark stood at the building’s edge, firing continuous shells at the lizard-man. The monster ignored Spider-Man’s constant harassment and charged straight at Stark.

Stark feigned an opening, lowering his flight altitude. The lizard-man leapt up, grabbing Iron Man’s armor. Stark used the momentum to carry it over the roof’s edge—they began plummeting together.

Stark had planned to lure the monster to the edge, then use another suit to knock it off—but the monster moved too fast, seizing Iron Man’s suit outright.

The lizard-man’s strength was immense; the armor soon caught fire. Stark shouted inside: “JARVIS! Discharge!”

“Sir, I cannot discharge now. If the suit fails, you’ll die from this height.”

They fell rapidly; the wind howled past Stark’s ears. “Discharge now! Destroy the suit! Eject me! Someone will catch me!”

JARVIS paused for a second. Then the entire suit erupted in violent electricity. The lizard-man, wracked with pain, released his grip. The suit exploded in a flash of lightning; the cockpit ejected. Stark was thrown free, falling naked through the air.

It wasn’t the height that saved Stark—it was the time it took to fall. A web swung in; Spider-Man caught him mid-air.

Soon, the wreckage of the exploded suit and the lizard-man crashed to the ground.

Amid the rising dust, Spider-Man lowered Stark. It had been a hair’s breadth—falling from that height, even God couldn’t have saved him.

Quickly, the dust and smoke cleared. The giant monster lay in a crater, its limbs shattered, its internal organs likely reduced to pulp.

Yet its superhuman regeneration still worked: within a few breaths, twisted bones began realigning. Spider-Man said: “God! It’s healing even this?! This is a medical miracle!!”

Stark squinted: “It truly is a medical miracle...”

“We need to subdue it fast. If it recovers, we’re done for.”

Spider-Man stepped forward—but another suit flew in. Stark, armored, blocked him. “This regeneration consumes energy. His reserves are nearly gone. Let’s see his true face.”

Stark’s tone suggested something deeper. Spider-Man was confused: What was the lizard-man’s true face? A giant lizard?

Peter said: “A few days ago, I found experiments in the sewers. This monster must be his creation. We catch it—and then we find the mastermind behind it.”

As Peter explained to Stark how he’d discovered the traces in the sewers and encountered the monster, he glanced into the crater—and noticed the creature’s size was shrinking. In moments, it had reduced to human proportions.

Then its green skin and reptilian features began fading. Peter’s eyes widened: lying in the crater was a middle-aged man with gray hair.

“Dr. Connors!”

Peter was utterly stunned. He stammered: “How... how could it be...? What happened to him? How could this monster be Dr. Connors?!!!”

“I said this rapid regeneration looked familiar,” Stark said, raising his helmet. He walked into the crater; Peter followed.

Peter spoke incoherently: “There must be some mistake... Was he framed? How could he be the monster? Dr. Connors was a great teacher—he helped me so much, I...”

Stark was silent. His face beneath the mask was haggard, like a man just waking from a binge.

The man on the ground stirred. Peter didn’t hesitate—he rushed forward to help him up.

Fortunately, despite falling from such a height, the lizard-man’s rapid regeneration had healed most of his wounds, allowing him to revert to human form.

Dr. Connors rolled over by his own strength. Blood coated his head; his clothes were soaked through. He turned to Stark, voice low: “I was so close... just a little closer... cough... I could’ve judged you, devil...”

Stark didn’t mock him as he usually did to his enemies. He simply stared at Connors in silence.

Peter couldn’t accept what he saw. He was breaking down: “What is going on?! What’s happening between you two?! Dr. Connors, why...? There must be some mistake, right?!”

“Peter. Peter Parker,” Dr. Connors closed his eyes, voice exhausted. “Spider-Man... you destroyed...”

He stopped. Whether from weakness or unwillingness, he said no more.

“Yes, I’m Peter... Doctor, can you tell me what happened?”

Dr. Connors’s strength was completely spent. A frail researcher, he couldn’t even sit up.

He lay in the center of the crater, voice dry: “I told you this story before... but you didn’t listen...”

“I was a captain. I served with a combat unit in the war. Though only a field medic, I held my position for sixty-three straight hours under the heaviest artillery fire...”

“I lost one arm... and nearly all my comrades...”

“We followed orders. We held our ground. A squad of thirty-two—only six survived. I lost an arm. Others lost legs. But we all came home...”

“Compensation... oh, yes... there was compensation. They examined us, hospitalized us for a while, gave us a sum of money—and then... nothing more.”

“No one cared about the difficulties of living as a disabled man. No one cared that after giving up an arm, I couldn’t even open a can...”

“No one cared about the pitying glances others gave me... or their impatience when I couldn’t lift things...”

“I just wanted to change all this. Just wanted to change all this...”

Peter felt suffocated. Complex emotions surged in his chest. He pulled off his mask and breathed deeply.

His eyes were red-rimmed, and he said, “You’ve already changed everything! We were so close to success—that serum really worked...”

“Yes, just a little short... I thought it was just a little, but then I realized, that little bit might be a wall we could never cross...”

Dr. Connors’s throat moved more and more slowly as he said, “We were driven out like rats, and no one cared how much this research could change the lives of these societal outcasts...”

“Even if I’d succeeded by just one minute, I’d still have been thrown out.”

He turned his head, his dull eyes fixed on Stark, and said, “Driven out by devils who care only for profit and self-interest...”

“No, it’s not like that, it’s not like that!” Peter knelt beside him half-bent and said, “There’s a misunderstanding—I think I can...”

Peter’s voice cut off. He took a deep breath, then covered his face. His breathing began to shake uncontrollably. When he realized Dr. Connors was slipping into unconsciousness, he truly broke down.

“No, wait... Dr. Connors! Dr. Connors! Hold on, we’ll save you...”

Peter didn’t even know how he’d said those words—he’d only ten minutes ago wanted to destroy this monster.

The truth was now clear: Stark had bowed to military pressure and terminated the medical technology collaboration, leaving Dr. Connors’s super-recovery serum project unfinished.

That was why it became this giant lizard monster, seeking revenge against Stark.

Peter suddenly realized: if this lizard monster was Dr. Connors, then the base he’d destroyed—wasn’t that the very site where Dr. Connors had conducted his final research?

Was it because he destroyed that base that the serum failed? That turned Dr. Connors into this monster?

A suffocating sensation engulfed Peter. Why? Why? He’d only wanted to do good!

This crushing helplessness was a pain Peter had never felt before.

Dr. Connors had been a good man—he and his comrades had sacrificed themselves for their country, and even after being treated unjustly, he still threw himself into research, hoping to use his brilliance to improve the lives of these people.

But Mr. Stark was also a good man. The error in ending the medical project wasn’t entirely his. He’d defeated the lizard monster and saved the others in New York.

Peter believed he was a good man too—he’d acted immediately when he saw a potential danger.

Now Dr. Connors lay in the deep pit, drenched in blood, alive or dead unknown; Stark stood silent, as if treating this whole scene as punishment for confronting his own sin, suffering terribly.

Peter felt immense pain—worse than when the sharp blade had cut through his chest.

The teacher who had guided him through his studies, and the mentor who had given him his suit and protection and taught him everything—they were now turned against each other.

Peter didn’t know who to help. It was as if he held a double-edged sword, stabbing both of them in the chest at once—his tears had nearly soaked the collar of his spider suit.

Peter stood up. Before him lay another sunset. In a daze, he remembered what Shi Le had told him: there was no black, no white—only a hazy, indistinct fog.

This was the true face of the world. He could not, as he’d imagined, forever stand on the side of justice.

Now he finally understood: the most tragic thing in this world was not a good man being defeated by a bad one—it was a good man being defeated by another good man.

This war between good men had no winner.