The Terran Rangers/Spiderman Volume 4:, Heather Ray [well read books .TXT] 📗

its first target. Spiderman was back on his feet, although he was obviously still dazed.

"Doc!" he called. "You've gotta re-assert yourself! Regain control!"

"Stop your banter," Lizard answered in a deep voice. "You're my mortal enemy, Spiderman! Because of you, my plan to improve the imperfections of mankind was foiled! Now, you're going to pay."

The Lizard knocked Spiderman over with his tail, but then his head swiveled around when he heard the sound of a gunshot. He saw three men, wearing navy blue uniforms and holding pistols.

"This is the Philadelphia Police!" one of them shouted. "FREEZE!"

The Lizard roared, and the three officer's froze with fear. The Lizard leapt at them, and his claws cut deeply into the thigh of one of the officers. The officer screamed in pain as his blood stained the grass. "Harry!" yelled one of the other officers, pointing his gun shakily at the monster. He fired a single shot, striking the monster in the tail. The Lizard howled, and turned to the one who shot him, bloodlust in his eyes. But the officer kept his gun aimed, and the Lizard decided not to attack. Instead, he leapt off the wounded officer, and ran off into the night. The two policemen turned their attention to Spiderman, who once again was on his feet.

"Spiderman?" asked one officer, lowering his gun. "What are you doing in Philly?"

"I get around," he answered, walking towards him. "Will your partner be okay?"

The two cops turned to the other officer, who was now unconscious on the grass.

"We'd better get him to the UPenn Hospital," said one, and they hurried to their downed partner. Spiderman immediately shot a vine of webbing, and went in the direction Lizard had fled.

I should probably see if the Purple Knight is okay, but I can't let the Lizard get away!

Spiderman thought, sailing through the cold night air. He's more powerful than ever! He could kill tons of innocent people!

Chapter Nine

Inside High Rise South, Alexis regained consciousness, and found herself in unusual surroundings.

"Wha--?" she gasped, looking around. "Where am I?"

She then remembered being tossed into the apartment building by the seven foot tall green monster.

"Good thing his claws couldn't penetrate my shield," she thought thankfully, touching her golden chestplate She was surprised to feel gashes in the golden metal. The Lizard's claws left some dents.

"Well, they'll vanish when I morph again," she reasoned, standing up. She walked through the hole she crashed through earlier, and looked around. Both Spiderman and the Lizard were gone, but she saw two police officers standing over something. She ran over to see for herself.

"What happened?" she said, startling the two officers. They both turned around, pointing their pistols at her. She backed away in surprise.

"Hey," said one of them, "you're that Purple Knight I read about in the paper, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," she said, relieved that the officers lowered their pistols. She looked down at the third officer, who was lying unconscious on the grass. She cringed at the huge wound on his thigh.

Looks like something from Jurassic Park,

she thought, her hands on her hips. The Lizard has left his mark. But there's no way I'll be able to find him tonight. Hopefully, Spiderman is on its trail. Right now, this guy's life in on the line.

The Purple Ranger gently lifted the wounded officer, and her ankle wings began to flap.

"I'm taking him to the hospital on 30th street," she told the other officers. "He needs medical attention immediately."

"Thanks, Purple Knight," the officers called as she lifted into the air.

"That's Purple Ranger," she said, smiling beneath her helmet. "And by the way, did either of you happen to see a guy in red and blue spandex?"

"You mean Spiderman?" asked the one officer.

"Yeah," she said, somewhat surprised. "How did you know his name?"

"He's in the newspapers all the time back in New York," the officer explained, "I was just transferred to Philadelphia last month. Before that, I was a NYC cop, and I saw Spiderman all the time. He always left crooks wrapped in webbing for us to take in. Sure made life easier."

"Thanks for the info," the Purple Ranger said, taking off into the night. She flew as quickly as her wings could carry her to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, only a block away from the Penn Tower Hotel. While she flew, she was immersed in thought.

So, Spiderman is from New York, eh? Why is he in Philadelphia though? There must be a reason why he came here. And, it almost seemed as if Spiderman knew that big monster was coming. He did call it "Doc"

. What's the connection...?

Alexis frowned, and yawned under her purple and white helmet.

Well, I'll be able to think more clearly after a good night's sleep,

she decided.

Chapter Ten

Alexis woke up to the sound of a baby crying. She sighed and threw on her robe. She glanced out her window, and squinted to lessen the glare of reflected sunlight pouring through her room. As she suspected, it had snowed last night, and at least three inches of white powder covered the city. She rubbed her eyes and walked into the living room, where her sister Denise was feeding young Johnathan his bottle. The television was on in front of her, and the news was running.

"Morning, Denise," Alexis yawned.

"You slept pretty late," commented Denise with a grin. "When did you get back from the movies? I didn't hear you get in, and you weren't here when I got back."

"I guess it was about... one or so," said Alexis, scratching her head, "Dawn and I went to grab a bite before we came back."

"Oh," said Denise, turning back to the television. Alexis sat down on the carpet and watched the screen also.

"What's going on?"

"Well, some famous scientist vanished last night."

"Really?" asked Alexis in surprise, "You're kidding."

"No, I'm serious. Doctor Conners is a professor teaching at Eastern State University, in New York City. He was supposed to meet with the President of UPenn this morning to discuss possible financial aid for his research on Neogenics, but he never showed up. The Doctor is missing, and his hotel room at Penn Towers was trashed. The Police have no leads."

Alexis' eyes widened, and she moved closer to the screen. Two teenagers, a blonde woman with glasses, and a tall brunette man with hazel eyes were answering questions.

^Miss Whitman, Mister Parker,^

said the reporter, ^did either of you hear anything last night?^

^Not a sound,^

said the woman. ^It's so strange...^

^Me neither,^

said the man. ^Doctor Conners was just... gone when Deb and I went to check on him this morning.^

^Thank you for your time,^

the reporter said. He then turned back to the camera. ^The most mysterious thing about this late-night abduction is the manner of the kidnapping. The door was locked securely, and the only sign of forced entry was the shattered window. However, Doctor Conners' room was on the eighteenth floor of the hotel, so it would be most difficult for the kidnapper to get in. The Police are baffled. More as it develops...^

"Kinda freaky, eh?" asked Denise, shaking her head. "Nothing like this has ever happened around here before. How could anyone possibly get into that hotel room and kidnap Doctor Conners without making the slightest sound?"

"That's a good question," said Alexis, standing up, "I'm going to get dressed, and then I'm going to the library to do some research for a project. Do you need anything from the store?"

"No. Have fun, Sis," called Denise, as Alexis disappeared into her bedroom. She quickly threw on jeans, a purple turtleneck sweater, and snowboots.

No one could've kidnapped Doctor Conners from that hotel room,

Alexis thought, combing through her carrot-red hair. No one human, at least. But I'm willing to bet that the reptile monster could've done it. But why? I think I need to learn a bit more about Neogenics. After all, that's Conners' claim to fame, and it may be the key to unlocking this mystery.

With that, Alexis grabbed her coat, and hurried to the city library.

Chapter Eleven

"Finally," said Peter Parker, closing and locking his hotel room door, "the reporters are gone."

Peter sighed deeply, and took off his sweater, revealing the red and blue form-fitting costume of Spiderman beneath it.

I spent all last night searching for the Lizard, but I couldn't find a trace of him! I'm not too familiar with the layout of Philly, so I'm at a definite disadvantage, since I'm on the hunting end. There are too many places he can be. My best bet is to search the Doc's room, and see if there are any clues there. Hopefully, he'll have some of that serum with him, to transform him back into a human being. Doc Conners has always been pretty cautious. But I can't go into his room until the police leave, and that won't be for several hours. They're still investigating the crime scene.

Peter covered his mouth as a prolonged yawn escaped him.

I'm dead tired. After hours of web-slinging through the snow, I finally came