I’m Not Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter 64: Halftime (Patreon)

When George saw Spider-Woman leap toward him, he handed her the inhibitor.

Gwen checked it. It was the same kind she'd used at noon. So did that mean Peter was somewhere nearby, too?

Before she could think about it, her spider-sense flared.

She tackled George to the ground just as a car bumper came flying at them.

"Oh, come on! Get out of here!" she shouted.

George understood that there was nothing more he could do in the middle of this fight. As he prepared to withdraw, he said, "Good luck, Spider-Woman."

"I'll do my best... I think, George."

"You know my name?"

But before he got an answer, Spider-Woman darted away, leaving him scratching his head.

Gwen was about to swing upward for a better view, then circle around and deliver the inhibitor to the Lizard. She launched herself into the air, turned toward the monster, and pressed her web-shooter.

Pfft.

A tiny dribble of webbing came out.

"Oh, damn it! Aaaaaah!"

Gwen dropped straight out of the sky.

...

Several officers at the rear were firing to draw the Lizard's attention and buy George and Spider-Woman more time. Unfortunately, the tactic had the opposite effect. The creature ignored Spider-Woman and charged right at the officers in the back.

George watched the beast bear down on him, his heart practically in his throat. He stumbled and fell to the pavement.

At the last possible moment, a metal canister struck the Lizard in the head and clattered to the ground.

Peter grabbed George and hauled him upright. The Lizard peered down at the little object by its foot, then stomped on it.

BANG!

A cloud of white gas erupted, billowing into the monster's eyes. It roared in pain.

"Raaagh!"

"Wait, that's..." George recognized the canister as Peter pulled him away.

"Tear gas. I grabbed it from your trunk," Peter explained.

"What?!"

"You left your keys in the ignition."

"That's not what I... Never mind! Run! Split up!"

They sprinted in different directions.

Blinded by the stinging gas, the Lizard blundered around without any clear target. Its sheer size made every pounding step terrifying, especially when you happened to be the one it was chasing.

The monster shook its head and forced its aching eyes open. In the swirl of colors before it, two moving figures were fleeing through the traffic jam.

It scrambled up the side of a nearby building. Its enormous strength let it climb the wall as easily as if it were running along flat ground. Then it bounded across the facade on all fours and hurled itself at the two fleeing figures.

If that much weight landed on a person, there wouldn't be much left of them.

Peter slid desperately into the gap between two cars. The Lizard smashed down onto one of the vehicles, crushing half of it flat. It opened its cavernous mouth and roared in Peter's face.

"Rooooar!"

"Hey, has anyone ever told you your breath stinks?"

Peter swung his backpack and flung it straight into the creature's open mouth.

"Rrrgh... cough, cough!"

Something seemed to catch in its throat. The Lizard toppled backward, clawing frantically at its mouth and neck.

...

"Ugh..."

Gwen dragged herself up from the roof of a car. Her vision had briefly gone black, and every part of her body felt as though it was about to fall apart.

She checked the inhibitor syringe in her hand, then glanced at her web-shooters. The left one was empty. The right still had a little fluid.

"Damn it. Should I have put a warning alarm on these things? Oh, no!"

She fired her remaining webbing and swung toward the Lizard. While it was busy trying to dislodge the backpack from its throat, she rushed in, punched it in the head, and drove the syringe into its neck.

"Raaagh!"

She'd barely injected half the dose when the monster thrashed hard enough to throw her off. It broke away and fled again.

Gwen got up to chase it, but after a few steps, the pain caught up with her. The long, relentless fight had left her panting and aching everywhere. She had no choice but to bend over with her hands on her knees and struggle to catch her breath.

"Are you okay, Spider-Woman?" someone asked.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine..."

After a couple of deep breaths, she began to feel a little better. She glanced at her dwindling web supply. Continuing the pursuit didn't look realistic anymore.

"Thanks, Peter."

Peter blinked, feigning surprise. "Uh, you know who I am, Spider-Woman?"

"Oh! Sure I do. You're great! Keep it up!" Realizing she'd nearly given herself away, Gwen rushed through the words. "See you!"

She shot another web and swung away as fast as she could.

Peter watched her go and finally let out a breath. When he turned around, he spotted the syringe on the ground, still half full of inhibitor.

"Could that be a problem if she only managed to inject half of it?"

Scratching his head, he carefully picked it up. He'd dispose of it properly as medical waste later.

"Peter! Are you okay?!"

Once the Lizard and Spider-Woman had both disappeared, George hurried over.

"George! Over here! I'm fine!" Peter called, waving to him.

George rushed up to the filthy boy and pulled him into a crushing hug.

"Oh, thank God. You're safe. Thank God..."

"It's over for the moment, George."

"Yes. Yes, it is. Whew..."

George finally allowed himself to relax. He didn't even want to think about what he would have done if something had happened to the kid.

Peter looked toward the direction Spider-Woman had swung away and shrugged.

...

"Ughhh... Why is being a superhero so exhausting?"

Gwen climbed back through the window, aching from head to toe. She peeled off her mask and collapsed face-first onto her bed.

Some time later, her bedroom door opened.

Peter had come to ask whether she wanted to eat out with everyone else. The fight had delayed them so much that there was no time left to cook. But when he stepped inside, he saw that Gwen hadn't even changed out of her costume. She was sprawled on the bed, completely worn out.

He smiled.

"All right. Get some rest, superhero."

Peter closed the door behind him. Then, after a moment's thought, he went back to his own room, fetched the master key, and locked Gwen's bedroom door from the outside.

He had just slipped the key into his pocket when Mary Jane walked up.

"Where's Gwen? Isn't she coming with us?"

"Uh, maybe she hasn't come back yet?"

Mary Jane frowned. She went straight to Gwen's door, tried the handle several times, and then knocked.

"Gwen?"

"She's not in there," Peter said. "I'll try contacting her later."

"Fine. She'd better not waste your time. I don't want us having to go look for her halfway through dinner."

"Wow, you actually care about her?" Peter teased.

"She's a decent enough drummer," Mary Jane replied.

Truthfully, she didn't much like the girl who was always showing off in front of Peter. At least Gwen hardly had any chances to spend time alone with him these days.

Mary Jane kept an eye on her during band practice. And whenever Gwen wasn't there, Mary Jane bombarded Peter with texts to make sure the two of them weren't together.

Naturally, she'd been texting Peter's decoy number all along.