Not a Spider, But a Dragon

Peter Parker's POV

Every breath I took felt like thousands of needles piercing through my lungs. The cold hard concrete underneath me did nothing to dull the pain coursing through my veins. A monstrous reminder of the ordeal I had just endured because of my foolishness. I was dying and I knew it.

"No, No, No. You can't die, Peter!" I could feel Gwen hugging my body and crying. Hoping that somehow I could survive this ordeal.

But unfortunately, it was too late. I could feel it. There was no way I could survive today.

I could already hear police sirens nearing where we were. After what had happened, there was simply no way that the police would not come to check the situation.

"Gwen, go! I can't survive but you still have to live your entire life. You must escape." I tried to persuade Gwen to leave me and escape.

"Peter?" Gwen tried to interject but upon seeing my stubborn look, she finally relented.

Hesitantly, she let go of body and started to move away from me. Even as she was leaving, Gwen constantly looked back at me.

Watching her leaving back, I couldn't help but reminisce about the foolishness which had put me into this situation.

Gwen and I, we were always together in the Midtown High. She often used to protect me from bullies who always ganged up on a shy nerd like me. As the daughter of a police officer, she had inherited a strong sense of justice.

As such, I was the first one to learn when Gwen gained her spider powers. When she decided to become a vigilante to fight crime, I supported her.

It was me who designed her Spider-Woman suit and developed her web shooters. Whenever she came back injured after a night of patrol, it was me who provided her first aid.

Yet, I often felt helpless. More than often, she came back injured and I could do nothing except provide her first aid and hear about her worries.

I could still remember the day when she came back crying, broken because she could not save a person. It was at that time I felt true helplessness.

Gwen was breaking under the mantle of Spider-Woman, yet I could do nothing. I wanted to share her burden. However, I had no powers.

But then I saw hope. When I saw Dr. Connors' research papers, under whom I interned, I realised that maybe there was a way for me to obtain powers.

So I stole Dr. Connors' research papers in a bid of desperation and using it, I made the lizard serum. Unfortunately, it seems that fate had another plans for me.

The lizard serum I had created was truly revolutionary but unfortunately it was not perfect. The serum was just too powerful for me to use without any consequences. It transformed me into a monstrous being who could not even control himself.

It was fortunate that Gwen was nearby. Otherwise if I had killed anyone in that state, I would never have forgiven myself even if I survived.

Upon seeing my monstrous form, Gwen engaged me so that I could not hurt anyone. Our fight had been truly a great one.

My monstrous lizard form had such strength that it could easily defeat Gwen if she was hit by even a few of my attacks. But it was Gwen's spider sense which helped her win the fight.

Because of her spider sense, I was not able to even touch her. In the end, Gwen took advantage of my berserk state and caused me to crash into a construction site, leading to me being crushed by the debris.

After I was crushed under the debris, the injuries I suffered caused me to revert to my human form. But unfortunately, it was too late. The injuries were simply too severe, making my survival impossible.

I remember Gwen's face when she discovered who I was. The shock, the despair….. It was too much for her.

I don't know if she will ever be able to overcome the guilt. I just hope that she has a good life.

Prick!

A sudden prickling sensation pulled me back to reality. I looked down to see an injection embedded into my side. Its contents whatever they might be had already been introduced into my system.

"Do you want to live?" A voice echoes around me. Was I hallucinating?

"Do you want to live?" The voice sounds once again as a figure suddenly materialised before me.

He was wearing a web themed black suit similar to that of my initial sketches of Gwen's suit which Gwen had later redesigned.

It was clear from his voice that he was a man. He was wearing a red clock around his suit pinned by an eye shaped brooch. Honestly, he looked like some sort of a wizard.

"Don't worry about the injection. It will stabilize your condition for a few hours." He reassured me. "Now I ask you again, do you want to live?" He asked once again.

"Who doesn't want to live in this world?" I replied weakly, my voice barely a whisper.

"I can give you another chance at life. Not only can I save your life, I can also give you such powers which will make the power of your lizard form look like that of a real lizard." The Spider Wizard offered me another chance at life with powers greater than I had ever imagined.

"What is the catch?" I asked knowing that there was nothing free this world.

"The chance of success of the procedure is not 100% and it is very likely that you won't be able to initially control your newly obtained powers. You can think of this whole procedure as a sort of experiment for me." The man explain his reasoning for providing me with this chance.

"Why?" I asked my voice raspy. "Why give me out of all people this power? I have already caused so much damage…. How can I be worthy of them?"

Although I was not able to control myself in that lizard form, I clearly remembered what kind of monster I had become. I didn't want to become that kind of monster again. As such, I didn't think myself worthy of such powers.

"With Great Power comes Great Responsibility," the man quoted the very words that have been my guiding principle throughout my entire life. Something my Uncle Ben had taught me since childhood.

"No one knows this better than Peter Parker in this world or any other one."

I was surprised by his weird answer but before I could it respond, a wave of sleepiness washed over me.

As my eyes began to close, the Spider Wizard suddenly removed his mask. The last thing I saw before darkness engulfed my vision was a face I recognised all too well, it was my own face- the face of Peter Parker.

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Hello, my dear readers! This is the first time I am seriously writing a story. I hope you all like it!

Also, English is not my first language. So, there might be a few grammatical errors although they should not hopefully interfere much with the story.

If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m /DragonsEye