CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 043: GWEN VS. THE LIZARD! TRANSFORMERS IN ACTION!

Stepping out of the hospital doors, Lorien knew this so-called "ordinary world" was becoming less and less connected to him.

It started with Stephen.

Even if he’d only shown a fraction of his abilities, once the arrow left the bow, there was no taking it back. Once you hit "1," it inevitably leads to 1.2, 1.3, 1.4... and on it goes. Only staying at zero could mean a true zero.

And now, Lorien was already at "1."

Still, it didn’t bother him. The same rule applied—if you’re strong enough, you do only what you want to do, and no one can force you otherwise.

He wasn’t in the mood to drive anymore, so he simply told his Ferrari, Jetfire, to navigate him home.

When the car rolled into the underground garage and Lorien opened the door to get out, a breaking news alert popped up on his phone.

[The Evil Lizard and an unidentified scientific device have appeared on the roof of Oscorp Tower. No superheroes are currently on the scene. The NYPD has been dispatched. Please stay tuned for updates!]

[Breaking! Spider-Woman has arrived at the roof of Oscorp Tower and is engaged in battle with the Lizard!]

"Huh..."

Lorien exhaled slowly. He knew exactly what this was about—Dr. Lizard’s Genetic Diffuser device.

So that’s why Gwen hadn’t shown up these past few days. She’d been investigating the Lizard.

Lorien had already been in a bad mood today. Now that he knew his... little spider was about to get into a fight, his mood soured even further.

"Jetfire."

He slipped his phone back into his pocket, shook his head, and walked toward the elevator.

"Go cut it down."

"Yes, boss."

The elevator doors closed, taking Lorien back up to his room. He turned on the TV, switching to the live helicopter broadcast covering the battle at Oscorp Tower.

...

Meanwhile, inside an empty, driverless Ferrari, Jetfire was racing toward the Oscorp building. The Northern Building wasn’t far from Oscorp—barely over ten kilometers—so within moments, a blazing red supercar was tearing through the city streets like a surge of living fire.

...

Above Oscorp Tower, the Lizard bared its teeth in a wide grin, leering at Spider-Gwen.

"I’ve already confirmed it—Scarlet Witch and the entire Avengers team are overseas, and Iron Man is in another state. He won’t make it here for at least half an hour."

"So now it’s just you, a little bug, trying to stop me?"

Gwen, dressed in her Spider-Gwen suit, stood atop a cold storage unit. With her hood up, she spoke calmly.

"Mr. Lizard, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time."

"?" Dr. Lizard froze, clearly caught off guard. Why would she be waiting for him? Wasn’t she here to stop him?

Gwen continued, "If I just told Lorien outright that I’m Spider-Woman, it would make me look like I haven’t accomplished anything. I need to prove myself first, so that when I reveal who I am, I can face him with my head held high—

"Not as just plain Gwen."

"He’s got Scarlet Witch, one of the world’s top superheroes, by his side. Gwen isn’t enough... it has to be Spider-Woman."

Before Dr. Lizard could even process her words, Gwen struck first. She fired webs to either side, yanked hard, and launched herself like a cannonball, foot aimed straight at him.

Caught off guard, Dr. Lizard could only throw up his arms to block.

Bang!

Her kick slammed into his forearms with a dull thud, forcing him back several steps. He swung his arm in retaliation—only to find she had vanished.

He twisted his head and saw her sprinting toward the genetic modification launcher.

"Stinking bug!"

Roaring in anger, Dr. Lizard lunged after her.

Reaching the launcher, Gwen quickly realized it could only be shut down with a password—or destroyed by brute force.

Since she didn’t know the code, her only option was to web it up and drag it toward the edge of the roof before smashing it to pieces.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But Dr. Lizard was already on her, his massive hand swinging straight for her head.

Gwen ducked low, tugged on her webline, and dodged aside. Planting her foot on a nearby machine, she kicked off with all her strength, twisting in midair to deliver a snapping roundhouse to the top of his head.

Thud!

The blow staggered him, and Gwen immediately fired more webbing, binding his limbs before dashing back to the launcher to try and move it.

It was unbelievably heavy—she could shift it only a few centimeters each second, and the edge of the building was still meters away. That meant she’d need at least two or three minutes to get it in position.

"Phew... I’m gonna be drenched in sweat after this," she muttered.

Sliding under another swipe from Dr. Lizard, she fired a web to a nearby machine, swung herself up, and used the momentum to kick at him again.

Spider-Gwen clearly understood how to use acceleration better than most versions of Spider-Man.

But Dr. Lizard’s physical toughness was no joke.

Bang!

Her twin-footed kick sent him sprawling—but only to the ground, not out of the fight.

Gwen sighed. "Can’t you just die on your own? You’re so annoying."

If her fangirls were here, a chorus of "I’ll die, I’ll die, I’ll die" would probably have erupted at that line. Unfortunately, her opponent was the mentally unhinged Dr. Lizard.

She watched him get back up, clapped the dust from her hands, and sighed again.

"Looks like I’ll have to knock you out first... but what if the launcher’s timer runs out?"

The thought made her head throb.

That’s when she heard it—the deep, flawless roar of a supercar engine approaching fast.

She froze for a moment, listening.

"That sound... it’s kind of like Lorien’s car."