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

back here to get some shut-eye. But after about two hours of sleep, Deb woke me up, and told me to get ready for the presentation. I couldn't stop her from knocking on Doctor Conners' door, and in the end, she went down to the front desk to get the key. The first thing she did when she saw the mess was call the cops, and as usual in a big city, where there's cops, there's news, and where there's news, there's news-hounds-- the press. It took exactly twenty minutes for the whole scene to become a circus, with dozens of reporters sticking their microphones into my face. I really wanted to keep the situation out of the news, but I couldn't prevent it. Now, I'll have to figure out a cover story for what happened to Doc Conners, since we certainly can't let it out that he transforms into a towering lizard monster. Of course, this is assuming I find the Doc...

Peter put on his pajamas, and tucked himself into bed.

"I might as well make use of this time," he decided. "After a quick nap, the police should be done in the Doc's room, and then Spiderman can give it the once-over."

Chapter Twelve

At the public library, Alexis Darling was sitting at a computer, searching for articles on Doctor Kurt Conners and Neogenics. After hours of searching the world wide web, she found a few interesting works -- one Scientific American article, published by Doctor Conners himself on the subject, and a newspaper article from the Daily Bugle about the basics of Neogenics, written by freelancer Peter Parker, whom Alexis remembered as the young man on the news this morning. These two articles were a great help in understanding what exactly Kurt Conners is studying.

So Neogenics is a theoretical science involving the splicing of the DNA of a living being, and combining it with a different being, in order to recreate the traits of one in another species. Could Neogenics be what created that giant reptile? If so, then Conners and the monster are somehow connected, since Conners is the authority on Neogenics. Conners could have even created the monster, and it wants revenge? Sorta like in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

...

Alexis frowned, and printed out the two articles she read, for future reference.

I distinctly remember Spiderman calling the monster "Doc"

, right before I passed out in the fight last night. So, that means Spiderman knows the monster, and that he wasn't always a monster. Once upon a time, he was a human being... a scientist. Maybe Conners and the monster were partners, working on Neogenics, when some kind of accident transformed him into a reptile. Conners works in New York City, at ESU, and that's Spiderman's territory. So Spiderman fought the monster before. And maybe, just maybe, Spiderman came to Philadelphia because Conners came here, and he wanted to protect him. That must be it! Sherlock Holmes, eat your heart out!!

Alexis grinned, and hurried out of the library. Once outside, she hid in an empty alleyway, and pulled out her morpher.

"Its Morphin Time! Purple Ranger Power!!"

In a blinding cascade of purple light, Alexis Darling was once again transformed into the high-flying Purple Power Ranger. Her ankle wings immediately began to flap, and she was soon airborne, heading back to the UPenn campus.

I need some evidence of my hypothesis_ she reasoned, _and the best place to look for it is in Doctor Conners' hotel room. Maybe I can find a clue as to where the monster would have taken him!

After about five minutes of flight, the Purple Ranger descended from the higher altitudes, and landed on the sidewalk just outside the Penn Tower Hotel. She saw a few yards of the sidewalk surrounded by rubber cones, with police tape sectioning it off. There was one officer on duty, protecting the area. As soon as the Purple Ranger landed, he gasped audibly, and attracted the attention of the people on the street. This was the third time this mysterious warrior was seen in Philadelphia, and its the first time she appeared in broad daylight. A crowd began to form as the Purple Ranger walked over to the sectioned off area.

"Excuse me, officer," she said, "why is this area off limits?"

"Um, this is the spot right below the room Doctor Conners was abducted from," the officer explained, "There's some glass and stuff here, and we're cutting it off so we can check for any fingerprints, blood, or anything else that would give us some information about the kidnapper."

"Oh," she said, her wings flapping once again. She hovered over the area sectioned off, and studied it without touching it.

This is really strange,

she thought, why would so much glass be down here? If the reptile monster broke into Conners' room through the window, the glass would all be inside the hotel room, not on the street!

Alexis frowned in confusion, and then floated higher into the sky. She flew through the window of Conners' room, and landed on the carpet right in front of the window. She knelt on the ground, and felt around.

"No glass..." she whispered. Her head swung around when the door to the room opened, and a figure walked in.

"Spiderman?!" she said in surprise, standing up. She could tell that he too was surprised to see her, even though his mask hid his face.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, closing the door behind him and leaning against the wall, "Why are

you here anyway?"

"Just looking for that monster we were fighting last night," she remarked, "I thought maybe he returned to his room."

Spiderman stiffened slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Conners is the reptile monster," Alexis said, "and you knew it."

"What gave you that idea?" Spiderman asked. He was shocked that this mysterious superheroine figured out what the New York Police never did learn.

"Well, I did a little research on Neogenics. Although there aren't any documented experiments that have actually worked, its possible that Conners secretly made the process work, and managed to combine the DNA of a reptile with a human being, making the monster we fought last night. At first, I thought it was a former associate of Conners who was transformed into the monster, hungry for revenge. But one thing doesn't fit into that scenario-- the window. If the monster broke into this room to kidnap Conners, then the majority of the glass would be inside the room. However, all the glass is outside, on the sidewalk below. That can only mean one thing -- the monster didn't break in. He broke out. Conners transformed into the monster, and broke out of this room through the window."

"But, why are you so convinced the monster is human?" Spiderman asked.

"Well, last night, I heard you call him 'Doc'

. That convinced me that he was at one time a human being, and it also shows that you knew that. You've fought this monster before."

"Nice detective work," Spiderman said, "I'm impressed."

Alexis beamed under her helmet. From what the police officer had said about Spiderman, he was a premier superhero. And she, a relatively new superheroine, was actually being complimented by him.

"I was hoping I could find Conners and change him back before the media got involved," Spiderman continued, "I came to Philadelphia because I wanted to keep an eye on him. It was only a few weeks ago that he first became the Lizard, and I wanted to make sure it was completely out of his system. I guess it's not."

Spiderman went into the closet, and pulled out Conners' suitcase. He opened it, and quickly found a small medication pouch. He unzipped it, and looked inside.

"Damn," he muttered, pulling out a small vial. It was broken, and there were only a few drops of liquid inside it.

"What is that?" Alexis asked.

"It's the serum that Conners developed to keep his Lizard half under control. Just in case he felt he was transforming again, he needed to swallow an ounce of this formula to prevent the transformation. Somehow, the vial shattered, probably during the flight over. Without this potion, there is no way I can turn Lizard back into Conners."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Alexis eagerly.

Spiderman shook his head, and walked to the window. "No. Thanks for the offer, but I work alone. You're new to this job, Purple Knight. You may be able to stop a few car accidents, but this is a whole different ballgame. The Lizard is dangerous."

Alexis glared angrily at Spiderman. She then grabbed his arm right before he could leap out of the window.

"First, I'm the Purple Ranger

, not the Purple Knight. Second, I'm not new at this. I've fought magical creatures the size of mountains, and I've even fought aliens from alternate dimensions. I've done much more than stop car accidents. Third, you need me. You may be an expert in New York, but Philly is my

turf. I've lived here almost all my life, and I can help you find Conners."

Spiderman remained silent for a few moments. "I... I guess you're right. Sorry about that."

"No problem," said the Purple Ranger. "So, what's the plan?"

Spiderman rubbed his chin. "I guess what we need to do is find Lizard, restrain him somehow, and transport him back to New York, so I can whip up another vial of that serum to transform him into Kurt Conners.

"Are you serious?" asked Alexis.

"Yes," said Spiderman, slightly peeved. "Why? Do you have a better idea?"

"Yes. Why don't we go to New York right now? You can make the potion, and then bring it back. That way, we won't need to deal with transporting Lizard there."

"But, it'll take hours to get to New York. We have to capture Lizard first, so he can't hurt anyone!"

"What would you say if I told you I can get you to New York in twenty minutes?"

Spiderman stared at her for a moment. "How?"

"I'll show you," she said, grabbing Spiderman's wrist and leading him to the window. She carried him into the air, and up to the roof of the Penn Tower Hotel. She set him down on his feet, and then landed beside him.

"Well, what're you going to show me?" he asked, folding his arms.

"The Eaglezord," she said, grinning beneath her helmet. She raised her arm to the sun. "Eaglezord... power up!"

Spiderman stared as he saw a large flash of purple light. Then, a gargantuan machine, elegantly designed as a bald eagle, descended from the heavens. It was purple and silver, with eyes of gold. The beak opened slowly, and the Purple Ranger once again took Spiderman's hand.

"All aboard!" she said, as the two young heroes sailed