Date: Monday, February 14, 2011.

  Loanhattan, New York

  Tyson's phone buzzed as the s lit up with Jubilee's name. When he answered, her eic voice, bursting like sparklers on the Fourth of July, greeted him, "Happy Valentine's Day, Tyson!"

  He could almost visualize her grinning oher end of the line. "Same to you, Jubes," he replied. "Got any big pns?"

  Her ughter was a little too casual as she responded, "Oh, you know, the usual." After a brief pause, a hint of curiosity ced her words, "But what about you, any special pns with a certain someone?"

  Tyson paused, a smile tugging at his lips. "Well, I've got pns with Felicia this evening."

  "No way, so you two are official now?" Jubilee asked, trying but failing to sound nont.

  "Nah, not official. She's not my girlfriend or anything, but we're...close," he expined carefully.

  Jubilee's voice held a mix of teasing and something else Tyson couldn't quite identify. "And what about your hot teacher? Ms. Rushman, was it?"

  "She's not my teacher anymore, the semester ended," Tyson chuckled, the memory of Natasha fshing in his mind. "But yeah, still hot."

  "So, she's just gone?" Jubilee pressed, a hopeful note creeping into her tone.

  "Yup, but we did go on a date before she left," he admitted, pride evident in his void smile.

  "No way, you actually scored a date with your teacher? Look at you!" Jubilee's voice rang brightly with amusement, but Tysoed a twinge of disappoi underlying her words.

  "Just that good, I guess," he quipped back easily.

  Tyson heard a sigh from Jubilee oher end of the phone. Her tohen shifted and became softer as she said, "I miss you, Tyson."

  "Miss you too, Jubes," Tyson responded sincerely. "Listen, I know I said after the school year we’d finally hang out," Tyson began.

  "You're not bag out on me, are you?" Jubilee asked with a faux sternness in her bright voice.

  "Of course not," Tyson quickly assured her, earness seeping into his tone. "I’m w on something big, and I might be able to have it ready befraduation." He paused before adding, "With the Green Goblin behind bars, things are starting to quiet down around here."

  Jubilee's relief alpable evehe phone, and her ughter, as bright and joyful as fireworks, filled Tyson's ear. "Good, because you owe me some serious hangout time."

  Their versation flowed easily after that, but beh the surface, Tyson could sehe unspoken words hanging delicately between them. Jubilee was cautious, not wanting to tip the delicate bahey'd found, temporarily tent with Tyson's friendship for now.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The bell's echo still rang in the air as students flooded the corridors, their voices created a discordant symphony of ughter, chatter, and the occasional shout as friends called out to one another. It was a se of typical high school life, where everyone was ed up in their own little worlds. But that veil of normalcy was shattered in an instant when a thunderous crash resounded.

  The Lizard exploded through the bathroom wall and into the hallway as if it were made of paper rather than brid mortar.

  Screams pierced the previously cheerful atmosphere as panic took hold and students scrambled chaotically in every dire, desperate to put as much distaween themselves and the monstrous intruder as possible.

  Amidst the pandemonium, Peter Parker's voice rang out sharp and urgent, "Gwen, go!" he shouted, log eyes with Gwen Stacy before turning and sprinting not away from, but toward the danger.

  The Lizard was t and fearsome. It swung a massive cwed hand at Peter, who slid uhe blow with an ued agility given his nerdy appearance. In one smooth motion, he fired a web from his wrist, snagging the Lizard's foot and wreng back violently. The creature stumbled, aer seized the opportunity, leaping onto the Lizard's back. But the Lizard moved quickly, violently shaking himself until Peter was flung free. The momentum was so forceful that it seer's backpack skidding off his back, and down the hall.

  In another part of the school, Tyson was hit with a wave of odor that made his senses scream in warning. It was overid with the harsh tang of chemicals and something rahe unmistakable stench of sewage. That bination sparked a memory in Tyson. Those particur chemicals reminded him of the Lizard, that night they'd fought on the bridge. It sent off a warning of danger he could not ighen, as if on cue, distant screams of terror started deeper within the school. Tyson remembered this, a se from his memories where the Lizard had attacked Peter's school.

  "On Valentine's Day? Really?" Tyson muttered under his breath, shaking his head at the vilin's terrible timing.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The massive form of the Lizard pinned Peter against the wall with an almost casual dispy of his prodigious strength. With a guttural roar, he hurled the youhrough a trophy case, the gss aal awards cttering arouer as he crashed through the wall and into a chemistry .

  Their battle became a blur of motion that led them further into the room filled with rows of b benches and chemicals. The relentless Lizard ered Peter o one of the tables. "o hide, Peter," he growled, pressing his massive cwed foot doinning one of the boy's arms. Peter's other hand shot out in desperation, narrowly defleg a lethal swipe from the Lizard's other cw.

  In a desperate twist, Peter's hand shot out, a web zipping to his discarded backpack. He tugged and the bag zoomed into his grasp, even as the Lizard's strength sent him flying through yet another wall.

  The Lizard turo the chemicals arranged on a nearby bench. His rge, clumsy fingers crushed one vial, the liquid falling and mixing with another beaker's tents before he lobbed the votile mixture at the new hole in the wall. The chemicals exploded on ta a small bst.

  The Lizard decred into the hole Peter left in the wall, "All those souls, lost and alone. I save them, I cure them. There's o stop me, Peter…"

  The Lizard's monologue died in his throat as a shoe came rocketing through the hole in the wall, smag him squarely in the face. He reeled back, stunned into momentary silence. Before he could recover, Spider-Man burst through the gap, cd head to toe in his signature red and blue e. Without hesitation, he unched himself at the Lizard.

  The two collided, Spider-Man driven by the o protect the i and save the man hidden within the monster's scaly exterior. The Lizard fought with single-minded determination to cure humanity of its weakness. They grappled and strained, muscles bulging, her willing to yield.

  Tyson shed his unassuming student persona as he rushed through the school, dropping his clothes to reveal the bck spandex underh. He donned his mask and transformed inte. His illusory powers fred to life. Images of Mirage appeared around the school, drawing the attention of the panicked crowd of students, and direg them toward the exits, away from the brawl.

  Gwen's face hardened as she doubled back, striding purposefully through the chaotic school hallway. She hefted a heavy trophy left on the ground after its case was destroyed. Her eyes narrowed with determination as she followed the sounds of battle toward the melee. Rounding a er, she came upon the ongoing csh betweeer, masked as his alter ego Spider-Man and the hulking Lizard.

  The Lizard had Spider-Man pinned against the wall, scaly cws ed around the web-slinger's chest. Spider-Man strained against the monster's viselike grip, muscles bulging, but he could not break free. Seizing the opportunity, Gwen rushed forward and brought the heavy marble trophy base crashing down onto the Lizard's head. The blow staggered the creature, causing its grip on Spider-Man to loosen.

  Spider-Man wasted no time in slipping from the Lizard's grasp. Ehe Lizard rounded on Gwen, shing out with a swipe of its cruel talons. Gwen cried out as the cws raked across her shoulder, tearing her shirt and opening up a long, deep ceration that immediately began gushing blood.

  Before the Lizard could attack again, Spider-Man was on it, unleashing a barrage of punches ao distract the monster from its prey. Gwen stumbled back, g a hand to her freely bleeding shoulder wound, as Spider-Man and the Lizard became a blur of flying fists, cws, and webs. She knew Peter would keep the Lizard occupied, but she needed medical attention fast. Grittieeth against the pain, Gwen hurried off to find help before she lost too much blood. The sounds of the titanic battle echoed behind her as she ran.

  The battle between Spider-Man and the Lizard had raged through the school, leaviation in its wake. Now it surged into the library, but the elderly librarian remained blissfully unaware, cssical music streaming through his headphones and drowning out the sounds of the fierce fight happening just steps away. Spider-Man's spider-sense fred and he gnced up just as the Lizard seized a heavy oak table, lifting it effortlessly over its head. With a guttural roar, the Lizard hurled the table toward the oblivious librarian. Spider-Man acted on instinct, shooting a web-line and snagging the table mid-air. With a jerk of his arm, he swung the table in a wide arc, smming it into the Lizard's torso. The impached the Lizard, sending books flying from shelves as bookcases toppled in a domino effect across the library.

  The library doors burst open and Mirage hurried in, quickly taking in the se. He strode toward the startled librarian, who had finally noticed the bizarre se unfolding around him. Mirage's eyes widened in reition. "It's you again!" he excimed, a hint of amusement g his toe the dangerous situation.

  The elderly librarian adjusted his gsses, giving Mirage a quizzical look. "Well, excelsior!" he excimed. "I do seem to stumble into the a, don't I?" With that, he scurried away, finally keen to the peril he'd nearly faced.

  The massive form of the Lizard crashed into Peter, knog the ed hero into the fines of the breezeeter spun around the hulking monster, reag out a hand to grab hold of the Lizard's thick, scaly tail. With a forceful yank, the appeached from the creature's body, aer stumbled backward, staring in shock at the still-squirming tail he now held. The opaque lenses of his mask widened as he took in the bizarre moment, but there was no time to dwell on the gruesome dismemberment. The Lizard let out a roar of ahe fury overtaking aion of injury. Peter found himself skidding across the tiled floor of the breezeway from the force of the enraged blow, the severed tail now useless in his gloved hands. He looked up just in time to see the hulking form of the Lizard advang, an uling sight as the stump of the severed tail was already twitg with new growth.

  With rapid flicks of his wrists, thick webbing shot forth in a barrage, enveloping the Lizard's bulky body in sticky strands. The creature thrashed and struggled against the sudderaints, but Peter was relentless. He swung around the fines of the breezeway with the agile grace of a circus acrobat, using the architecture to his advantage as he stayed oep ahead of the Lizard's snapping jaws and wildly thrashing limbs. More webbing spiraled outward, stig the Lizard to the walls, floor, and ceiling of the breezeway, limiting his movements.

  Peter's webbing enveloped the Lizard, but the se took an ued turn as Tyson, now disguised as Mirage, entered with his adamantium cws gleaming. Without hesitation, Mirage pluhe cws into the Lizard's chest. "Your limbs grow back, but do yans?" Mirage taunted. His body grew to match the Lizard's formidable size, a tail ripped through the back of his e, and his teeth elongated into sharp points.

  He was a lonely child who found so the wonders of sce spending tless hours engrossed in books on biology and the animals at the zoo, captivated by their forms and behaviors. His passion for herpetology only grew stronger as he aged, leading him to pursue a career iics. He was driven by an unyielding desire to uhe mysteries of life itself. He had many early successes, establishing himself as a brilliant stist. His groundbreaking resear cross-species geics earned him accodes and reition from the stifiunity making him believe he was on the cusp of something truly remarkable. This discovery would ge the world. But then came the act. A b mishap left him disfigured, his right arm severed. It was a tragedy, a turning point that ignited an obsessive desire within him. He became ed with finding a way tee his lost limb, to restore himself to his flory. He delved deeper into his troversial research, his experiments being increasingly reckless and uhical. It eter Parker, the teenage son of his deceased coworkers, who iently provided the missing piece to the formu he had needed. Driven by obsession, he ied himself with the ued serum, a co that regeed his arm but also delivered something far more sihe transformation was agonizing as his body torted and reshaped itself into the monstrous form of the Lizard. He became a creature of primal instincts, ag on impulse. Yet even in his monstrous state, he retained fragments of his former human self. He grappled with the duality of his existeil eventually he gained some trol over the primitive transformation. With his new clear advantages, he now sought to force his "gift" onto others, to elevate humanity to what he saw as a perfected reptilian state. He cocted a pn to spread his formu across New York City, mutating its inhabitants into creatures like himself.

  The Lizard's roars of fury turo gasps of pain as his struggles weakened. Peter's heart raced. "Don't kill him!" he yelled, desperation edging his voice.

  Mirage shot him a wild, reckless grin. "I won't unless he keeps wiggling. Who knows what I'll pierce?" he retorted, "I haven't had anatomy css yet. I'm not one of those sce types like you two are."

  "That's nht," Peter insisted, his moral code g with Mirage's ruthlessly pragmatic approach.

  "What's nht is him attag you in a school full of kids," Mirage snapped back, eyes fshing. "Think about it, Spider-Man. If he came for you here, he must know who you are. Remember what the Green Goblin did when he found out your identity."

  The air crackled with tension, not just from the physical battle, but from the csh of ideologies. The Lizard tio weaken uyson's life-draining touch. With a grunt, Tyson removed his cws, and the wound in the Lizard's chest slowly began to close, but the vilin's strength did not return. His once fearsome form now sagged, barely scious.

  "See. him up some more, and he won't be going anywhere," Tyson said, his voice calmer.

  Despite his uh Mirage's ruthless methods, Peter plied with Tyson's request. More yers of webbing enveloped the Lizard, coing him in a tight, inescapable bind.

  Their teamwork, though fraught with ethical tension, had subdued the formidable threat. As the dust settled, Peter couldn't help but think back to the words of Captain Sta Thanksgiving. Tyson's ruthlessness made Peter resider the plexities of justid the fine liween heroism and vigintism they trod. The heavy silence following the intetle ierced by the wail of sirens, red and blue lights soon flickering through the shattered school windows.

  Tyson turo Peter, "Do you want to get out of here and che Gwen?" he asked, aowledgier's unspoken worry.

  Peter nodded and sprinted away, shedding his Spider-Man guise as he ran. Without another word, Tysoended his hand, uhing his adamantium cws with a metallic shring. With precise sshes, he severed the webs anch the Lizard, careful not to harm the creature inside.

  Tyson grunted as he hoisted the massive webbed form of the Lizard. The creature weighed around half a ton, well within Tyson's siderable lifting capacity, but the awkward bundle of webbing ailian flesh made the load cumbersome to carry. Tyson lumbered toward the bathroom the Lizard had destroyed during his violerance earlier. The Lizard's bulky, ed frame barely fit back down the ragged hole in the ground, but Tyson mao stuff him down into the tunnel before dragging the unscious beast along the old st trail left behind during the Lizard's approach.

  Iermath of the chaos at the school, Peter Parker, now dressed as a regur teenager again spotted Gwen Stacy. She y on a stretcher, injured by the EMTs, at the far end of the crowd of students that had evacuated the building. Her blonde hair was a disheveled mess, and her face ale, but her eyes sed the crowd, clearly looking for Peter.

  "Gwen," Peter called out, his voice was filled with relief at finding his girlfriend, and residual fear from the injuries she sustained during the battle.

  She tur the sound of his voice, and seeing him, her expression softened. "Peter," she sighed, as he rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" was etched into every feature of her face as she looked him over for injuries.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" Peter asked, his eyes searg her injuries. A profound sadness overtook him as he realized she had e to harm while helping him.

  "I am now," Gwen replied, her voice a whisper as Peter stepped closer, his hand finding hers in a gentle grasp.

  They shared a moment of silent closeness. Around them, the school was a se anized chaos as authorities directed shaken students, but for Peter and Gwen, the noise faded away to insignifice.

  "You were brave today," Peter said finally, his voice filled with admiration for her.

  "So were you," Gwen responded affeately.

  — Rogue Rept —

  Tysed the Lizard through the tunnels, following the transformed doctor's sts. The underground ir was accessible through a series of fotten mainteunnels and drainage pipes. The cavernous space opened up into a dimly lit boratory that was a blend of advanced stific equipment and primitive living quarters. The damp walls were covered in algae and bore the marks of the Lizard's cws, while various stific paraphernalia y scattered across workbenches. In one er of the ir, a makeshift bed was led against the wall, prised of ts and old bs. Nearby, shelves lined with vials, beakers, and notes written in a hurried scrawl hi the frantic research ducted here. The air was heavy with the smell of chemicals and damp earth.

  Tyson dropped the web-ed Lizard at the entrance of the b. Eventually, ors reverted to his human form. With Dr. ors now lying vulnerable and human on the ir's floor, Tyson begaiculous task of slig through the thick, adhesive webbing that bound him. The webbing was tough aant, requiring careful and precise cuts to avoid injuring ors.

  As Tyson worked, he thought about his powers of illusion. During the bridge i, he'd tried using them, and they were iive against the hind-brain-driven Lizard. However, he believed that they would still have an impa the human, Dr. ors.

  Finally, as the st strands of webbing fell away, Tyson and ade eye tact. The moment Mirage's mismatched eyes locked with Dr. ors', time seemed to freeze within the dim ir. ors went still, the stist's brilliant intellect briefly surfag. Seizing the opportunity, Mirage delved into the depths of the doctor's fractured psyche, his illusion powers probing and twisting through the maze of ors' mind.

  Tysoled with the ethical implications of what he was attempting. Direct mental manipution skirted the line of free will, even if he had the best of iions. He had do before with the Kingpin, and now he was trying it again with Dr. ors. Should he be using his powers this way? Fisk was ohing, but ors was different. Tampering with another's mind was no small matter, but the doctor's iurmoil left few good options. With each transformation into the Lizard, ors slipped further into madness. If Tyson could bring the doctor's brilliao the fore and overe the serum's madness, perhaps the man could be saved. ors needed an intervention before the reptile ed what remained of the brilliant stist within.

  Having steeled his resolve, Tyso his illusion powers probing deeper into the maze of ors' fractured mind. His as trod dangerously close to the liween morally grey, and dark, but the potential to pull back the brilliant man ors had been was enough for Mirage to plunge ahead. The tendrils of his sciousness slid deeper still, grasping for any shred of the doctor that remained uned.

  Dr. Curt ors found himself sitting on a hospital bed, looking down in astonishment at two fully intact arms. The surroundings were sterile and calm, nothing like the dank underground ir of the Lizard. Nearby stood a doctor holding a clipboard, his professional demeanor was tempered by kindness. "Dr. ors, how are you feeling?" he asked.

  nced around, still adjusting to the surreal enviro. "I'm feeling pretty good," he replied, disbelief c his tone as his mind struggled to recile this new reality.

  The doiled slightly. "Excellent. Your vitals are all normal. I was hoping to ask you some questions," he said reassuringly.

  ors nodded, willing to ehe doctor's questions were dired poignant. "What was your pn for the city?" he asked, his voice steady.

  Dr. Curt ors began to expin the pn that had been twisted by his transformation into the Lizard. "The serum... I developed it tee lost limbs, to heal," ors started, a fervent tone undersg his entions gone wrong. "My goal was to offer this gift to everyoo eliminate physical limitations and weaknesses." He paused, and Tyson glimpsed a flicker of internal flict cross the doctor's face. "But the serum, it's not just about healing. It's about evolving beyond our human straints. I wao release it above the city, to transform everyoo make them stronger, more resilient, like the Lizard."

  The doctor listened patiently, his expressioral. He was a tall young Bck man, with keen mismatched eyes of blue and green, who studied ors ily. When ors finished his fervent speech, the doctor spoke calmly but firmly.

  "I uand you mean well on some level, Dr. ors," he said. "But what you propose would rob tless is of their free will. I advise finding a better path. Work with me to adjust the serum. Retain the regeive properties while eliminating the ive side effects, reduce the influence of the primitive brain and forced transformations."

  ors recoiled slightly, blinking in surprise. The doctor's suggestion rairely ter to his new reptilian purpose. To ge his life's work? Alter the precious serum? Madness!

  Yet as ors turhe idea over in his mind, a sliver of his human intellect peeked through. Adjust the formu to remove the psychosis and monstrous transformations while keeping the regeive bes and strength increases intact. It would be difficult, requiriiculous effort. But was it possible?

  "You... you think the serum could be altered?" ors asked slowly. Curiosity aation colored his gravelly voice. The stist in him stirred, drawn by the challenge of refining his fwed creation into something truly wondrous. For a brief moment, reason struggled against madness within Curt ors' flicted heart.

  used aloud, "There could be a way to refihe serum... to help people without f them into something they're not." The flict within him was evident. The stist felt the pull of his inal, ent to heal. But the seductive power of the Lizard's strength also called to him.

  Tyson, posing as the doctor, seized the opportunity to further guide Dr. ors towards a positive path. "How difficult would it be to synthesize an antidote to the serum you've already been ied with?" he asked.

  ors, now engrossed in the stific aspect of the problem, replied with a renewed sense of purpose. "It wouldn't take long, a few hours at most," he said. His mind already raced with the biochemical processes required for the antidote. The prospect of creating something to teract the Lizard serum seemed to rekihe stist in him, overshadowing the Lizard's destructive nature.

  "That should be the first step," Tyson suggested firmly yet encingly. "You're healthy now, Dr. ors, but we don't want you to revert. You prevent it." He tinued, reinf the pn, "If you want to remaihy and safe, you should first create an antidote for yourself. And afterward, refrain from releasing or using another Lizard serum without my supervision."

  Tyson's words were carefully chosen to instill a sense of responsibility in ors. By framing the antidote's creation as the first step in a new, colborative effort, Tyson offered ors a path away from his dangerous past as. The suggestion to work uyson's supervision provided a structure that could help aintain his focus on using his stific talents food, preventing a repse into his Lizard persona.

  Tysoended his hand toward Dr. ors, "Are you willing to work with me to ensure you remaihy?" he asked sincerely.

  Dr. ors reached out firmly, taking Tyson's proffered hand in his own. The gesture was an acceptance of the path id before him, and his itment to leave behind the dangerous legacy of his alter ego.

  Tysohe doctor through the sterile corridors of the hospital, ors followed in quiet acquiesce. Their footfalls echoed off the tiled walls as they navigated the maze of hallways, the stist trusting in his guide to see him through to the other side. At aor bank, Tyson pressed the call button, the doors sliding open with a soft chime. As they stepped ihe white walls of the elevator cab surrouhem. But as the car desded, an imperceptible shift began. The sterile enviro morphed subtly, taking on the damp textures of weathered brid crete. When the doors finally slid open, the two men emerged not into a hospital lobby but a dimly lit tuhe sewers. ors' secret b.

  Tyson's illusion had melted away so subtly that the transition from hospital to sewer went unnoticed. They emerged into a cluttered b, littered with papers, beakers, and maery. Tyson turo ors with an encing smile. "Here we are, doc. This is your space, for now." azed around the room, mind already spinning ideas to adjust the formu. This squalid b represented his drive to share the lizard serum with humanity, but now it symbolized a ce to tinue his work, taking it in a different dire to improve the world. Tyson's unique powers had brought ors out of his serum-induced madness, and back to a pce where he could innovate. Their handshake had been the first step of a hopeful new partnership. Tyson supp ors' brilliant but unventional researd supervising his progress ensured he didn't fall ba the same path. The stist nodded firmly, rolling up his sleeves. There was work to be done.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The golden light of elegant deliers spilled over the rich mahogany furnishings of the five-star restaurant as evening draped over the city outside. The soft king of silverware, murmur of subdued versations from nearby tables, and occasional delicate ughter filled the air. Tyson raised a gss of deep, rich red wio his lips, the liquid refleg the delier's light. He silently thanked Nat for introdug him to this particur vintage, which had quickly bee his favorite.

  "How are things going at the Armory?" Tyson asked lightly.

  Felicia paused, her ptinum hair casg over her elegant bck dress like a waterfall. Her eyes momentarily darted away as she gathered her thoughts. "I was nervous about going back to Fisk's office," she admitted, fingers absently trag the wine gss stem. "But he rofessionally respectful. He handed over all the dots I needed." She took a breath and tension visibly left her shoulders. "He released me from my debt and directed me to a specialist fuidance. A real businessman-type."

  Felicia's eyes locked bato Tyson's, shining with an unspoken gratitude. "I don’t know how to even begin to repay you, Tyson. You saved me, and my family... and you got me a high-paying job I make a career out of. All in one versation."

  Tyson smiled, "Your pany is more than enough," he replied, the siy in his voimistakable.

  Felicia snorted, but it yful sound, and her eyes sparkled with emotion she didn’t try to hide. "So y," she ented, but her voice softened, "but sweet."

  Her expression ged, a sultry look taking over as she leaned in slightly, her eyes locked onto Tyson's. "Just my pany, huh?" she asked teasingly. Her tone was light but held an undeniable uone of challenge. "You cimed me from the Kingpin. And the only cost is my pany?" Felicia swirled the wine in her gss, the deep red liquid catg the light, a small smile pying on her lips as she admired it.

  Tyson’s smile broadened, kling the skin at the ers of his eyes in a way that veyed amusement ced with a hint of tenderness. “He officially passed you off to me. You’re mine now.” Tyson took on a lighter tone as he tinued, “I imagihe everyday work at the Armory will prove rather mundane pared to the heists he’d sent you on before, no?” His eyes sparked with mischief as he spoke.

  Felicia’s musical ughter rang through the air in response. “Mundane be good sometimes,” she retorted, arg one elegant eyebrow pyfully. “Speaking of which, I’m yours now, am I?” The challenge ione was unmistakable to Tyson's ears.

  Tyson leaned in closer, the twinkle in his eye intensifying as he did so. “Absolutely,” he affirmed fidently. “But don’t fret. I io treat you far better than the Kingpin ever did. I’m quite attuo your desires.”

  Intrigued by his words, Felicia pyed along, leaning forward as well and pitg her voice to a sultry whisper meant only for him. “Oh?”

  Uanding fshed in Tyson’s eyes then, and he reached into his jacket pocket, sliding a mani file folder across the table to rest in front of her. “I uand that there will be an adjustment period. We ’t just dive right in. A little forepy goes a long way,” he said, his voice low and filled with the thrill of the uping adventure he had pnned for them.

  Intrigued, and not just by the suggestive double enteyson eaking in, Felicia opehe file folder, her eyes sing the tents. Her breath caught ihroat as she read, and she looked up to meet Tyson’s gaze once more, excitement mixed with a trace of disbelief evident on her features. “We’re going to hit Oscorp?” she asked, her voice a mixture of shod exhiration at the prospect.

  "Just like our first night together," Tyson replied, a smirk pying on his lips. He knew her well and uood the thrill she found in her escapades.

  Felicia's smile was a fsh of white in the dimly lit restaurant, her approval radiant. "Now that's what I call forepy," she decred, her eyes alight with anticipation. "God, you know me so well."

  Tyson's eyes glinted with a mixture of excitement and steely determination as he reviewed the details of their daring pn, his voice dropping to a spiratorial whisper. "We're not just going in to py cat and mouse with their security," he said, iy etched on his features. "I want to get my hands on Oscorp's most sensitive data."

  Feliodded, a spark of exhiration in her eyes, "So what's the target?" she asked eagerly.

  Tysoensive knowledge of Oscorp now proved useful. He pulled detailed blueprints from the file folder and spread them across the table, tapping locations as he expined. "These are the data servers, likely taining intel on the Goblin and Lizard formus, plus the military projects like glider schematics, and meized armors they've been building to pete with Stark, among other secrets."

  Felicia leaned in, keen eyes sing each blueprint, abs Tyson's every detail. "How do you know all this?" she couldn't resist asking, impressed.

  A wry smile tugged at Tyson's lips. "Let's just say I spent time learning Oscorp's yout, security protocols, and even system work. I didn't just join as an io py security guard. It's time my insider knowledge came in handy."

  Admiration shone in Felicia's eyes. "You've thought of everything," she remarked.

  Tyson admitted, "Not everything. You know there's always a of uability. But we're a good team, Felicia. We handle whatever Oscorp throws at us."

  His fidence was iious, and Felicia found herself nodding in agreement, caught up ihrill of the moment and the exhiration of the adventure ahead. "When do we start?" she asked, ready to dive into this new escapade with him.

  "Soon," Tyson replied, "We'll o prepare, and make sure we have everything we his is Oscorp, after all. They're not going to make it easy for us."

  The pair spent the hour immersed in their pnning, discussing possible entry points, security blind spots, and tingens. Tyson's knowledge of Oscorp's yout, security protocols, and system work came in handy as they prepared.

  Tyson instructed, "Hold on tight", his voice a low rumble. They had decided on a rooftop entry, much as Tyson had wheered Fisk Tower. However, Oscorp's Tower was much rger, and Tyson Felicia with him. So they had settled on a different approach than climbing. Felicia secured her arms around Tyson's waist as he summohe Goblin Glider with an outstretched hand. The device, sleek and ominous, responded with a familiar hum, vibrating with tent power as they mou.

  With the wind battering against them, they asded sharply, the city's panorama falling away beh them. The stark luminesce of the moon highlighted the tours of Oscorp Tower as Tyson and Felicia prepared for their aerial entry. Felicia's eyes sparkled with unspoken thrill, and Tyson could feel the electric pulse of excitement running through them both. The glider carried them with arming speed, and soon they were h atop Oscorp, the world seemingly at their feet. With a deft maysohem on the roof. After dismounting, with a simple gesture, the glider flew off into the night, back from whe came.

  Felicia wasted no time heading directly for the rooftop access door. Within seds, the door clicked open under her nimble fingers. "We're in," she announced, her voice barely more than a breath yet ced with triumph.

  Tyson nodded, fog his tration on cloaking them in illusion. "Time to disappear," he murmured, and they were both enveloped in his veil of illusionary invisibility.

  Felicia, the Bck Cat, led the way navigating the internal maze of Oscorp Tower. Whehey entered security cameras, Felicia tossed a small device that interrupted their video feeds ahe cameras to loop harmless footage o. Their passage was made easier thanks to Tyson's insider knowledge of the camera's locations. He maintaihe cloak of invisibility around them both. Whehey passed security guards, the pair were nothing more than whispers in the air, drifting by ued.

  "This is too easy. It's like cheating," Felicia teased in an exaggerated whisper as they slid past another yawning guard, oblivious to their presence.

  Tyson just grinned invisibly. "Try to tain your disappoi," he whispered back wryly.

  Felicia and Tyson had finally reached their immediate destination. A smile pyed on Felicia's lips as she exhaled softly, fag the new challenge before her. "Looks like it's my turn to shine," she said.

  The hallway was a tangled mess of ser lights, a high-tech obstacle course that would have stopped any ordinary intruder iracks. But Felicia was far from ordinary. She stood poised at the entrance, her silhouette bold against the crisscrossing red lines. Her body was tense, ready for the ing performahat would require equal parts artistry and athleticism.

  Felicia turo look at Tyson. A mischievous glint lit her eyes as she spoke, "Keep your eyes on me," she purred, her voice a sultry whisper that hi the spectacle to e.

  With cat-like grace, Felicia unched herself into the maze of sers. Each twist and arch of her body was executed with fwless trol, her muscles flexing and stretg as she slid into poses that would make a tortionist jealous. She bent backward until her fiips brushed the floor, her spine curving into a perfect semicircle as she slid under a beam set just inches from the ground. The move dispyed shog flexibility ed in an undeniable sensuality, the kind that draws the eye and refuses to let go.

  At the obstacle, she dropped to all fours, movements smooth and liquid as she threaded herself through the web of lights. She held poses that showcased her strength, her form both powerful and hauntingly beautiful. Halfway through she paused, one leg extended in a graceful line behind her, body lowered he floor. She turned her head, seeking out where she kyson watched. Her lips curved in a smile both triumphant and inviting. "Still watg?" she purred, before ung herself forward once more.

  The final stretch was the greatest test, sers spaced haphazardly mere inches apart. But Felicia met the challeh fearless grace, her body moving in ways that defied logid physics. She leaped, twisted, bent, each motion fwlessly executed. Not a single beam was disturbed as she dove through the st obstacle and nded in a crou the far side.

  Chest heaving with exertion, a sheen of sweat glistened on the visible portions of her skin as she rose slowly to her feet. Felicia turo look back through the maze of sers, her expression a mix of exhiration and pride. She had made it through with cat-like skill, her body moving in perfect harmony with the obstacles in her path. The sers had not stood a ce against her fwless athletic artistry.

  Felicia's voice, filled with challenge and encement, floated through the ser-filled corridor. "Your turn."

  "Really?" Tyson asked, letting out an amused, disbelieving ugh that echoed slightly off the metal walls. He stared down the corridor of dang sers, his gaze settling on Felicia's lithe form poised on the far side. Her emerald eyes glinted with mischief as she fshed him a teasing smile.

  "You wouldn't leave your date all by herself, would you?" she called, her voice eg off the etal walls. Though her tone yful, Tysoed the hint of seriousness underlying the challenge.

  He let out an amused, disbelieving ugh. "Really?"

  The inal pn had been for Felicia to tinue alone, her gymnast's skill allowio nimbly evade the security system. But now, hips cocked to the side in an alluring pose, she made it clear she had revised that strategy. This was a test, an opportunity for Tyson to prove he could keep up with her.

  Tysoated. His hulking frame seemed ill-suited for the delicate task ahead. He shot her an incredulous look. "And if I mess up, we'll be sprinting through the rest of this pce."

  "e on, live a little." Felicia mocked.

  The thought of disappointing her, of bag down from her dare, was unbearable. With a resigned exhale, Tyson turned his focus to the plex ser grid, sharp eyes trag the pattern. Though rger and more muscur than his panion, he possessed superhuman agility and cws built for climbing. They would have to be enough.

  Tyson started forward, his movements bearing less resembo fluid ballet and more to powerful athleticism. He approached the first set of sers, croug low to the ground, muscles coiling under his suit before he unched himself into a forward roll, tug in his limbs tightly to avoid the beams.

  Reag a particurly dense cluster, Tyson didn't attempt Felicia's limber weave. Instead, he leaped straight up, his cws digging into the ceiling with a soft thud. Suspended above the sers, he began to traverse the corridor, his arms pulling him forward in a dispy of sheer strength. His body hung downward, a stark trast to Felicia's upward arcs, his form a study in power as he navigated the ser grid from above.

  L himself back down was another challenge. He dangled from one hand, the other reag out to carefully test the air where he knew a ser should be. Finding the gap, he swung forward, releasing his grip at the st moment to nd silently on a narrow clear patch of floor.

  was a high arch of sers, crisscrossing in a way that left no room to stand upright. Tyson tackled it with a cat-like crawl, his baearly ft against the ground, cws gently scraping the floor for tra. He moved steadily underh the lights, his rger frame pacted impossibly tight, tension visible i of his jaw.

  Then came the segment Felicia had backward-behrough. Tyson approached it differently, turning to the side and leaning into a deep, one-handed handstand, his body parallel to the ser. He walked on his hand, his other arm and both legs narrowly avoiding the beams, his muscles quivering with the strain.

  The final stretch was a zigzag of vertical and horizontal sers, aipredictable mess. Tyson faced it head-on, his body ung through the gaps in a series of powerful leaps and bounds, twisting mid-air, a dispy of inhuman agility and precision trol.

  And then, suddenly, he was through, skidding to a stop o Felicia with a wide triumphant grin.

  "Show-off," Felicia teased, though her eyes shoh admiration.

  "Just keeping up with my date," Tyson replied, the adrenaline from the challeill evident in his stand smile. For a moment, they just looked at each other, the thrill of the heist mingling with the tension buildiweehe chemistry alpable as the electric air of the ser-filled hallway they'd just quered together.

  Deep inside Oscorp Tower, a vault stood like a steel sentinel. Feliarrowed her eyes in focus and worked the lock with a finesse born of many a moonlit heist. The tumblers fell into pce eagerly under her skilled touch. Tyson stood a few steps away, keeping a hawk's watch, his ears pricked for the fai stir of trouble.

  With a soft click, the vault yielded to Felicia's expertise. Inside, rows of servers blinked in the dim light, holding more secrets than a spy's diary. Tyson o Felicia and plugged a pact device, courtesy of SHIELD, into the tral server. Ss fred to life, lines of code streaming down them like digital rain.

  "We need specifics," Tyson murmured, his fingers flying over the keypad as he searched. "Goblin and Lizard formus, glider and armor schematics, ons, anything on animal mutations, geigineering, and radiation exposure."

  The download initiated and a thin blue progress bar began ing across the s. They exged a silent look, uanding fshiweehey were almost home free. Felicia's gaze fixed intensely on the small s. "Got it," she breathed softly as the download was pleted. They had acquired the data, but Felicia wasn't fully satisfied. "We're not just data thieves tonight. Let's snag those serums as well."

  With access now grao the tral database server, Felicia was able to easily tap into the security feeds. She deleted the few brief moments where they had been visible, erasing all evidence of their presence. With full access and Tyson's illusions, they had all the time they o be thh in gathering information and removing any trace of their activities.

  " we erase all the data we took?" Tyson asked.

  Felicia's lips curved into a sly smile. "We ," she firmed with a nod. "I wipe it pletely from the tral server and any ected Oscorp puters. That includes scrubbing the chemical formus right from the automated maes that produce them." Her smile faded slightly. "But if they had paper copies or backups off the work, we obviously 't get to those."

  Tyso out a slow breath and nodded, "It's the best we do. Let's try to keep the data out of their hands for as long as possible ahem back as best we ."

  Felicia turned back to the puter sole, her fingers flying over the keys as lines of code fshed across the ss. Tyso watear the b entraense and alert. He strained his ears listening for any sound of approag security personnel, prepared to summon his illusions at a moment's notice while Felicia finished her work.

  After several tension-filled minutes, Felicia entered one final and with a flourish. She disected the stolen data drive from the server and held it up with a satisfied grin.

  "Let's get out of here," she said. Tyson nodded, relief washing over his features as they slipped out of the server vault.

  Afterward, they stealthily made their way toward the b where the experimental serums were produced. Even the most advanced digital locks proved no challenge for Felicia's expert skills. Tyson, meanwhile, was a master of deception, casting illusions that pletely cloaked their movements from the oblivious guards.

  They crept silently into the b where the top-secret serums were developed and stored. Tyson rifled through the refrigerated ste, snatg up vials of glowing liquid and seg them in one of Oscorp's refrigerated transport tainers.

  As they exited to the rooftop uhe cover of night, Oscorp's security remaiirely unaware that anything was amiss. Emerging into the cool night air of the city, Felicia and Tyson shared an exhirated look, the fire of viingling with adventure in their eyes. Tyson summohe Goblin glider and they disappeared into the city's shadowy embrace, two audacious thieves slipping away after a successful night's work.

  Behind the ses

  - In my initial outlihe Lizard and Spider-Man showdoened in March. This ged because there was no way ors was getting out of the school if Tyson aer were both there. Not without plot armor, and IMO the school fight was better than the movie’s climax anyway.

  - In the first draft Tysohe Lizard to the RAFT under SHIELD supervision. Unsatisfied with that version of the chapter, I took Tyson in a morally grey dire.