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

we can hunt down the Lizard. Hopefully, we can clear up this whole mess by sundown. It'll be much harder to find him at night, and nighttime is when lizards go on the hunt."

The Purple Ranger cringed at the thought. "We'll teleport to the Eaglezord," she said, holding out her hand. Spiderman took her hand, and Alexis guided their teleport to the cockpit of the Eaglezord.

Chapter Fourteen

"Okay," said the Purple Ranger, glancing down at Philadelphia from the vantage point of the top of the Penn Tower Hotel, "how do we find the Lizard?"

"That's a good question," Spiderman replied, shaking his head, "Philadelphia is a big city, and he's been out of sight for twelve hours. He could be anywhere! I should've tabbed him with a Spider-tracer last night, before he got away. Then our job would be much easier today."

"You've fought him before," Alexis noted, turning around to face her partner. "Where does the Lizard usually go? You said he hunts in the night ttime, so what does he do during the day?"

"I'd think he'd hide out," said Spiderman, tapping his chin, "especially since he was wounded. But that just makes him even harder to track down."

"Too bad we don't have police dogs," Alexis commented. "They'd be able to track down his scent easily enough. He reeked!"

"Scent!" Spiderman cried, snapping his fingers. "That's it! Follow me!"

With that, Spiderman stepped off the side, and crawled to the ground. The Alexis shrugged and leaped into the air, allowing her Mercury wings to slow her descent. She hovered right beside Spiderman, and kept up with him as both grew closer to the ground below.

"So you have an idea?" Alexis asked.

"Last night, when we fought him, you mentioned that he stank," Spiderman recounted. "That was the smell of the sewers. Lizard must've hid in the sewer! Its a perfect way to get across town without being spotted."

"How do you know what the sewer smells like?" Alexis asked, dreading the answer.

"Because the last time I fought the Lizard, that's where he established his hideout. I'll bet that's what he's doing this time around."

Then, Spiderman leaped to the street once he was close enough. He glanced around the busy streets, being sure not to be seen by any passersby. Then, he spotted what he was looking for-- a manhole.

"Come on," he said, walking towards the street. He knelt on the asphalt, and ran his fingers over the manhole cover. "Do you see this?" he asked, pointing at the manhole. Alexis noticed deep claw marks on the sides of the iron.

"The Lizard must've pried the cover off. So this is his point of entry."

"You got it," said Spiderman, gripping the cover on both sides. He pulled the circular piece of metal out, revealing a dark hole in the street.

Alexis frowned beneath her helmet. "So we're going into the sewers?" she asked apprehensively.

Spiderman nodded, and let his legs dangle in the dark hole. "Hey, its a dirty job, but someone has to do it!"

With that, Spiderman leapt into the all-consuming darkness.

Alexis waited a few moments, and then followed. "Wow," she said, looking through the darkness. "Even my helmet's night vision function can cut through this pea-soup."

"That's not a problem," said Spiderman. Suddenly, the chamber was filled with a pale yellow light, exuding from Spiderman's waist.

"A belt-buckle flashlight?" Alexis marveled, "You're certainly equipped."

"Like I said, this isn't my first trip to the dark underbelly of a big city," he said, stepping forward into a tunnel. "Let's try this way first."

"Why this way?" Alexis asked, following him.

"Because this is west, which is in the direction of High Rise South, where we fought him last night. If he had already established a base before he attacked us, then it would be in this direction."

After walking in silence for a few minutes, a question popped into the Purple Ranger's head. "How do we know when we get close?"

"My Spider-sense will warn me," he responded.

"Spider-sense?"

"Yeah. Its a sixth sense, alerting me that I'm in danger. Its like a tingling feeling in the back of my head. Hasn't let me down yet."

Suddenly, that self-same tingle began in Spiderman's head. He stopped in his tracks as a flash of light momentarily clouded his vision. That light quickly faded, and Spiderman's eyes widened behind his mask. Quickly, he spun around, and tackled the Purple Ranger to the ground. At the same time, a blur of green streaked above their heads, and landed a few feet away. Both heroes scrambled to their feet as a ferocious roar shook the underground tunnels. The Lizard has found its prey.

"Stay sharp, Purple," Spiderman warned, leaping out of the way of a deadly swing of Lizard's mighty tail, "There isn't a whole lot of room to maneuver."

"You telling me!" she gasped flipping as Lizard slashed at her waist. She somersaulted into the air, and plowed her heel into the Lizard's head. She then pushed off the Lizard, flipping backwards and landing on her feet. The Lizard was stunned by this attack, but he recovered quickly, and shook his head clear. Spiderman took advantage of Lizard's momentary distraction by wrapping the latter's feet in webbing. The Lizard fell to the ground once again, and Spiderman proceeded to web his claws and arms to limit mobility.

"I'll hold 'im!" Spiderman yelled, "You give him the antidote!"

"I'm on it!" Alexis answered, the test tube appearing in her hand in a flash of purple light. She ran to the monster, uncorking the bottle along the way. Once she reached Lizard, Spiderman held its snout open while she poured the contents of the tube into its mouth. But before he could drink the entire dosage, the Lizard clamped his jaws shut, forcing Spiderman to let go. Then it swung its head around, smacking away the test tube. Alexis watched helplessly as the glass tube crashed into the nearby wall, shattering into tiny glass shards while spilling the remaining potion into the waters of the sewers. She turned back around, and was caught by surprise when Lizard grabbed her by the neck with both clawed hands. She struggled against him, and Spiderman leapt onto his back, trying to force the monster to release her. Finally, Lizard tossed Alexis through the wall with all his might, and shook Spiderman off. Spiderman also crashed into a concrete wall, and fought to stay conscious. He saw the Lizard hold his head, and quake slightly.

Is the potion finally taking its effect?

he thought dazedly, trying to rise to his feet. But the Lizard quickly recovered, and surveyed his situation. Spiderman was staggering on his feet, and the Purple Ranger hadn't moved since she crashed through the wall. The Lizard turned to Spiderman, his reptilian eyes narrowed.

"Do not toy with me, Spiderman," he rumbled, "I am by far your superior in all aspects."

With that, Lizard ran off into the tunnel. Spiderman quickly reached into his belt, and tossed a small metallic spider at Lizard. The spider caught the tail of the torn lab coat Lizard was wearing. Spiderman smiled, and leaned against the wall to recover his balance.

Was it my imagination, or did the Lizard's voice soften a bit?

he thought. It sounded more like Doc Conners. And why didn't he just kill me? The Lizard hates me enough. Could the potion have somehow unlocked some of Doc Conners' personality? The dose we gave wasn't enough to transform him completely, but it did have an effect.

Spiderman stood up, and jogged over to the hole in the wall where the Purple Ranger was thrown earlier. He glanced inside the hole, and saw her lying unmoving amidst a pile of concrete chunks. He quickly knelt beside her, and began digging her out of the concrete prison. Once he freed her, he moved to remove her helmet. But he hesitated.

She has a secret identity, and I don't have the right to compromise it. But, what if she's not breathing? How can I help her?

Spiderman gently shook Alexis by grabbing onto her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay, Purple?"

Alexis stirred, and her eyes opened beneath her helmet. "What hit me?" she whispered.

"The wall," Spiderman responded, standing up. "Do you think you can walk?"

"No problem," she said, slowly rising to her feet. "Where's the Lizard? Did he get away?"

"Yes and no," Spiderman answered, pulling out a small device from his belt. It looked like a calculator with a large screen.

"What's that?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Its a tracking device. After the Lizard tossed you through the wall, he threw me into another wall. Then, he retreated. I couldn't follow him, so I tagged him with one of my Spider-tracers. Now we can follow him, no matter where he goes."

"Great!" said Alexis. "So let's get going! I'm ready for round two!"

"Not yet, Partner," said Spiderman, taking the second tube of formula from his belt. "We already gave Lizard some of this potion, but he broke loose before he swallowed the whole dosage. About how much did he ingest?"

"I'd say... a little more than half the tube," Alexis recalled. "Why? Did it have an effect?"

"I think it did. It took a few minutes, but his voice was less raspy then before, and for some reason, after both of us were stunned, he didn't decide to finish us off. He just warned me to lay off. Now Lizard has no mercy, so its hard for me to believe he didn't kill me when he had a chance. Unless somehow, part of Doc Conners was able to assert itself, and restrain Lizard's animal instincts. So the potion did something. But I doubt it'll be enough to completely reverse the transformation."

"So what's our next step?" asked Alexis, sitting down on a large concrete chunk.

Spiderman paced along the ground, rubbing his chin. "We have another tube of the chemical," he said, staring at the tube in his hand, "This this approximately twice the amount he has ingested so far. I originally planned on giving him one full dosage of potion. If we give him the rest of this tube, he'd have ingested one and a half doses, and that may be dangerous. So we have to make sure to give him only half the tube. We need to divide the rest of it."

"Then we need another test tube," said Alexis "Come on, let's get outta this place."

"Good idea," said Spiderman, as the two heroes hurried out of the sewers.