Peter entered his home quietly. MJ must have decided that whatever they needed to talk about was too sensitive for Anna to overhear, not that he minded, so she chose to wait for him at the park.
He strolled into the kitchen and took out a box of leftover pizza from the fridge. As he closed the fridge door he chose to ignore the pictures pinned on it. Happy times were long gone now. He walked away form the fridge at the far end of the kitchen with solemn expression on his face. Peter then placed a piece with the kitten on the kitchen counter, greedy little bugger didn't even spare him a glance as it dug into its slice of pizza.
"Greedy little shit, aren't you?" Peter chuckled, he gave the kitten a soft pat and then turned to make his way out the door.
Time to face the music, or whatever. Damn, this is some good day-old pizza…He quickly stuffed the last piece down and tossed the box aside, and left for the abandoned warehouse.
***
A chilly breeze blew past as he walked through the park. Cloudy skies shrouded the moon. Lamp lights illuminated his path, he passed a few kids who were skating down the sidewalk and crossed the road over towards the warehouse at a slow pace.
He ducked low and passed through an opening in the wire fence and paused sharply. His instincts buzzed faintly.
Something's watching me…
Peter's gaze instantly honed in on one of the high, dusty windows of the warehouse. He spotted a silhouette of a hooded figure watching him from there.
Probably just MJ…
Without giving it much thought, he made his way into the warehouse.
It was darker inside, the light from the outside streamed through the windows, brightening up only a select few areas. His footsteps, though light, left some echoes behind as he walked around.
Abandoned construction materials littered the interior of the warehouse, large metal pipes and beams and various objects were spread around him. He spotted her leaning lightly over a yellow metal guardrail not far above him.
"MJ? I'm here. You know I could feel your glare from outside. What do you wanna talk about?" His voice bounced around the empty warehouse. Something was off about her, she seemed a little taller, the hood she wore clung to her form and although Peter couldn't see her clearly, he was sure her hair wasn't always that bright red.
A few moments of silence passed as Peter got a little closer. Suddenly MJ tossed something down at him, Peter caught the object easily.
Well, shit… Oh… fuck… I forgot, I left in on the floor when I ran out… He opened his palm and cursed internally. In his hand was the syringe containing his lizard serum, only it was shattered, the green chemical cocktail that was held inside wasn't there anymore.
"So…" MJ began, her voice sharp, her tone tense, like she was barely keeping her anger at bay. "Wanna tell me what that is?"
A chemical cocktail that turns you into a mean, mindless, mutant reptilian killing machine… He ignored the question, unsure of how to answer it.
"You dropped it," Peter turned to her as he spoke. He could see something glint under her hood. MJ gripped the metal guardrail so hard Peter could hear it creak. His grip tightened on the syringe.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Nicked myself and got some of whatever you have in there on me. Wanna guess what happened?"
"Oh… shit…"
"Yeah, Pete." MJ jumped over the guardrail with ease. She landed in a crouch in front of Peter. Her green, slitted eyes glared at him, hexagonal scales lined the side of her neck and framed her cheeks, her hair, a fiery red, flowed like flames around her face. "Shit."
When she rose, she was a foot taller than Peter. A reptilian tail slithered freely in the air behind her. "Now what the hell was in that thing? Look at me! "
He raised her palm in front of Peter, flexing her clawed fingers as she stepped closer. "I have claws, Peter. A fucking tail too. What the hell did you do to me, Peter?!"
A beat passed.
Peter stared.
MJ growled.
This is…
"Amazing," Peter breathed, catching MJ off guard. "Your perfect."
"I'm what?"
Peter walked around MJ, his eyes glinting with fascination as he scrutinized her form. He didn't want to say he was in awe of her, even though she was at this moment pretty much living proof of what he could have been had the serum worked the first time around.
But the awe was there anyway, sharp and childish and dangerous.
He glanced down at her forearm. The scales there were faint, like a shadowed mosaic under her skin. They weren't the thick, jagged plating the reptilian transformation had produced. Those had been monstrous—hard ridges that cracked when they moved, tails that dragged the spine out of alignment. MJ's changes looked… integrated. Elegant. As if her body had been allowed to learn instead of being forced to obey.
The complete opposite of his.
Partial expression of traits, controlled phenotype, regulatory compliance. The serum works? How? What did I miss the first time?
"Did a reduced serum dosage change its effects? Your mutation is controlled." Peter muttered under his breath. Peter weaved under her tail.
MJ's gaze followed Peter. Her eyes weren't fully human anymore—irises widened, pupils narrowing into a vertical slit that caught and measured him with unsettling precision. They were a muted amber under the fleeting light. Not glowing. Just… keen.
"Are you hungry? Feel any gnawing sensation at the back of your skull that makes you wanna tear my head off? Ravenous hunger consuming your every waking thought? Wanna feed on my flesh and entrails? No? Or maybe stab your claws into my guts?"
"What? No! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Honestly. A lot of things." Came Peter's curt reply.
MJ shook her head incredulously. "Peter!"
"Whoa!" Peter ducked a swipe from MJ. He held up his hands defensively. "Calm down. I just have to make sure it's you in there."
MJ's breathing came in short, sharp gasps. Her new clawed hands trembled as she stared at them—at the scales, at the wrongness of it all.
"Peter, I—" Her voice cracked. "I need you to fix this. Right now. You have to turn me back."
Peter opened his mouth, then closed it. His expression shifted—something flickered across his face that made MJ's stomach drop.
"Peter." Her voice went flat. "You can fix this. Right?"
"I... I don't know if—"
"Don't know?" MJ's voice rose, echoing through the warehouse. "What do you mean you don't know? This is your serum! I don't care where you found it! How you have it! Why you have? Or what the hell you wanted to do with that! You have to know how to reverse it!"
"It's not that simple—"
"Then make it simple!" MJ grabbed him by the shoulders, her enhanced strength surprising them both as she lifted him slightly off the ground. "I have scales, Peter! Claws! A goddamn tail! Make it simple!"
Peter carefully gripped her wrists. "MJ. Put me down."
She did. Roughly.
Peter stumbled back a step, rubbing his shoulders. "Okay. Look. I'll figure something out. But I need you to calm down and—"
"Calm down?" MJ laughed—a sharp, bitter sound. "Calm down. Right. Sure. I'll just—" She froze mid-gesture, her eyes going wide.
The silence stretched.
"MJ?"
"The news," she whispered. "A few weeks ago. That lizard thing that went on a rampage. That killed people." Her eyes locked onto Peter's. "That was you."
Peter's expression went carefully blank.
"Oh my god," MJ took a step back. "Oh, my god. That was you. You did this to yourself first. That's why you had the serum. That's why you knew exactly what questions to ask me." Her breathing quickened. "You turned into that thing. You killed people."
"MJ—"
"I'm going to become that, aren't I?" The words tumbled out faster now, panic creeping into her voice. "I'm going to lose control. I'm going to hurt people. I'm going to—oh god, I'm going to eat someone—"
"You're not—"
"Don't tell me I'm not!" MJ's voice cracked. "You just asked me if I wanted to rip your head off! If I wanted to eat your flesh! That means you wanted to! That means the serum makes you—" She couldn't finish the sentence.
Peter grabbed her by the shoulders—gently this time. "MJ. Look at me."
She did. Her reptilian eyes were wide with terror.
"You're not going to become that," Peter said firmly. "Your transformation is different. Controlled. You got a lower dose than I did. You're not feral. You're still you."
"How do you know?"
"Because if you weren't, you'd have already attacked me. Trust me—when the serum took over, I couldn't think straight. Couldn't control myself. Couldn't even remember who I was." His grip tightened slightly. "But you? You're scared. You're angry. But you're still thinking. That's the difference."
MJ searched his face, looking for the lie. Found none.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
She let out a shaky breath. Then punched him in the chest—a punch that Peter caught mid swing. Her clawed hand held in place firmly by Peter's hand.
"Really?"
"That was supposed to be for being an idiot, but you actually caught it."
"All that workout is paying off." Peter let her hand go.
She punched him again, harder this time, and he easily caught her palm this time too. It still hurt, though.
MJ chuckled lightly at his wince. "And that's for leaving a monster serum on your bedroom floor!"
"Okay, ow, I get it—"
"Do you?" MJ's voice rose again. "Do you get it, Peter? Because I don't think you do! I don't think you understand that you just ruined my life!"
"I didn't mean for this to—"
"I don't care what you meant!" She shoved him back. "I don't care about your intentions or your guilt or whatever self-pitying bullshit is going through your head right now! I care about being turned into a freak!"
Peter's jaw tightened. "You're not a freak."
"I have a tail, Peter!"
"So did I."
"That's not helping!"
A beat of silence.
Then Peter did something unexpected.
He laughed.
Just once—a short, sharp bark of sound that seemed to surprise even him.
MJ stared. "Did you just... laugh?"
"Sorry," Peter rubbed his face. "Sorry, it's just—you punched me. With super strength. While yelling at me about having a tail. And somehow that's the most normal conversation we've had in weeks."
Despite everything, despite the fear and the anger and the scales covering her skin, MJ felt her lips twitch.
"Don't," she warned.
"Don't what?"
"Don't make me laugh right now. I'm trying to be mad at you."
"You should be mad at me."
"I know!" MJ threw her hands up. "But you're making it really hard by being..." She gestured vaguely at him. "Like this."
"Like what?"
"I don't know! Self-aware? Weirdly honest? Not defensive?" She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're actually Peter? Did the serum scramble your brain?"
"Maybe a little."
"Peter."
"Kidding," he held up his hands. "Mostly kidding."
MJ took a breath. Then another. The panic was still there, coiled tight in her chest, but Peter's strange calmness was... oddly grounding.
"Okay," she said finally. "Okay. So. I'm not going to turn into a mindless monster."
"Correct."
"But I still have scales and a tail and claws."
"Also correct."
"And I can't exactly show up to school like this."
"Probably not advisable."
"So what do we do?"
Peter was quiet for a moment. Then: "We synthesize a cure."
MJ blinked. "You can do that?"
"Maybe. If I have the right equipment. And your blood." He tilted his head, studying her again with that unsettling scientific focus. "Your body adapted to the serum instead of being overwhelmed by it. That means your blood should contain stabilizing antibodies. If I can isolate them, create a serum based on that..."
"You can turn me back to normal?"
Peter hesitated. "I can probably create something that lets you control the transformation. Switch it on and off. But reversing it completely..." He shook his head. "I don't know if that's possible. The serum rewrites your DNA. I'd be trying to un-write it. That's... complicated. I'm talking ninety percent chance I might reduce you to liquid biomass complicated. "
MJ's stomach sank. "So I'm stuck like this."
"You're stuck with the ability to be like this. But we can make it so you don't have to be." He paused. "Think of it like... a light switch. Right now, you're stuck with the light on. I can give you a switch to turn it off. But the wiring is permanent."
"That's a terrible metaphor."
"I know. But it's accurate."
MJ looked down at her clawed hands again. A light switch. Control, not cure. It wasn't what she wanted—but it was better than nothing.
"How long will this take?"
"Depends on the equipment. If I had access to a proper lab..." Peter trailed off, then cursed under his breath. "Oscorp. We need Oscorp's equipment."
"You mean break into Oscorp?"
"I mean borrow their equipment for a few hours."
"That's breaking in."
"That's unauthorized borrowing."
"That's definitely breaking in."
"MJ."
"Fine! Yes! Breaking in!" She threw her hands up again. "Why not? I'm already a lizard person. Might as well add corporate espionage to my résumé."
Peter pulled out his phone, tapping quickly. "Do you still have Harry's contact info?"
"Harry?" MJ frowned. "Why do you—oh. Oh no. Peter, we are not dragging Harry into this."
"We're not dragging him anywhere. We just need his credentials."
"His dad runs Oscorp! Do you know what will happen if we get caught using Harry's access codes?"
"We won't get caught."
"You can't promise that."
"I can promise that if we don't do this, you're stuck looking like a rejected Jurassic Park extra for the rest of your life."
MJ glared at him. "Low blow."
"But effective."
She wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him this was insane. Wanted to walk away and pretend none of this had ever happened.
But she couldn't. Because her skin was covered in scales and she had a tail and Peter was right—she needed that lab.
"Fine," she bit out. "But if this goes wrong, I'm blaming you."
"Fair." Peter Shrugged.
MJ pulled out her own phone and typed quickly:
MJ: Hey Harry. Random question. Could you send me your Oscorp lab access info? For a school project.
The response came almost immediately:
Harry: Middle of the night? What kind of school project?
MJ: The urgent kind. Please?
Harry: You're being weird. But fine. Give me five minutes.
MJ showed Peter the screen. "Five minutes."
Peter nodded. Then, more gently: "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." MJ crossed her arms—a gesture made awkward by her tail, which swished behind her irritably. "And Peter? After this is done? After you fix this? We're going to have a very long conversation about what the hell has been going on with you."
"I know."
"I mean it. No more secrets. No more mysterious serums. No more—" she gestured at herself. "—whatever this is."
"I know."
"Good." She turned away, then paused. "And Peter? For what it's worth..." She glanced back at him. "I'm sorry. About whatever happened to you. With the serum. I'm sorry you went through that alone."
Something in Peter's expression cracked—just for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Me too."
Her phone buzzed.
Harry: Access codes attached. You owe me an explanation. And front row seats. Scratch that, I'm thinking backstage passes.
MJ: Deal. Thanks Harry.
She showed Peter the screen again. "Got it. Now what?"
"Now we go to Oscorp." Peter pulled up his hood. "And we hope nobody asks questions."
"When has that ever worked out for us?"
"Fair point."
They left the warehouse together—a boy with cosmic powers and a girl with scales—heading toward one of the most secure buildings in New York City with nothing but stolen credentials and desperate hope.
Behind them, neither noticed the small black kitten that had somehow followed Peter from the house, now perched on a metal beam, watching them go with curious yellow eyes.
The night was far from over.
Chapter End