"No problem, I'm willing to join DC!"
Beck was on the verge of tears, accepting Anton's offer without a second thought.
He held Anton's hand tightly, feeling that he had finally found the benefactor he'd been waiting for his whole life, his face alight with excitement.
"By the way, I heard you have a team," Anton said with a casual smile. "Why not bring them along to our crew? Our special effects department could use your technical support right now."
"No problem," Beck answered decisively, without a moment's hesitation.
They continued talking about aspirations, plans, and financial matters. Anton made sure to discuss the benefits and development opportunities awaiting Beck at DC, leaving nothing vague.
By the end, Beck was so eager that he practically ran back to Stark Industries to hand in his resignation, while Anton watched him leave with a satisfied smile.
With the addition of a special effects wizard like Quentin Beck—Mysterio—the DC company was now a formidable force in the industry.
Anton could finally move forward with full confidence on his movie projects. "Cyborg," "Superman," and "Batman: The Dark Knight" now had the added quality assurance that Beck's expertise brought.
His involvement would also significantly shorten post-production time, getting these films into theaters sooner than expected.
As Anton glanced up at the sky, he considered heading home. Just as he walked out of the building, he saw Eddie and Phil pulling out of the underground parking lot in the Daily Bugle's interview car.
Even though Eddie was now the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, he still preferred to be out on the front lines when something big happened. Phil, of course, was always right behind him.
"It's late. What's up?" Anton asked, seeing the urgency on their faces.
"Anton!" Eddie slammed the brakes and called out with excitement. "There's an incident at Oscorp. A lizard man is causing chaos in the building, and Spider-Man is fighting him!"
Phil, sitting in the passenger seat, added, "The whole city knows about it by now. All our competitors have rushed over to cover the story. The Bugle can't miss this."
"What? A lizard fighting Spider-Man?" Anton paused, piecing it together. He immediately realized what was happening. Dr. Connors must have transformed!
This was Spider-Man's first big battle.
"Want to come along?" Eddie offered as Venom extended a few tendrils from his shoulder, reaching over to pull the car door open for Anton.
Anton nodded, understanding Venom's gesture. "No time for questions—let's go!"
…
Inside the Oscorp building, Peter Parker—now Spider-Man—was in an intense battle with the Lizard, who was wreaking havoc in every direction.
"Dr. Connors!" Peter shouted, his voice thick with concern. He watched helplessly as his mentor-turned-monster rampaged through the lab.
Connors' transformation had unleashed his deepest, darkest urges, filling him with rage and a desire to destroy everything in sight.
Peter knew that the serum had twisted Connors' mind, instilling in him a disdain for humanity and a newfound obsession with lizard genes.
During the fight, Connors even declared his intent to turn all humans into lizard-like creatures, believing it to be the next step in evolution.
"You're insane, Professor!" Peter yelled, his heart breaking.
He had once admired Connors as a kind, learned man, but now that man was gone.
"I shouldn't have helped you with this experiment. This is all my fault, and I have to make it right," Peter murmured in anguish, then steeled himself, charging forward to bring Connors down.
The problem was that, in his new form, Connors was more powerful than Peter, who was still new to his abilities. All Peter could do was rely on his web shooters and his heightened reflexes to stay ahead in this deadly dance, fighting guerrilla-style to wear Connors down.
But he underestimated Connors. With a powerful swipe, Connors grabbed the web Peter had fired and yanked hard, flinging Peter out the window.
The glass shattered around him as Peter hurtled through the air. He twisted his body in midair, ignoring the pain, and quickly shot a web to catch the building's glass exterior, stopping his descent.
"Whoa!" Peter exhaled, catching his breath as he clung to the side of the building, heart racing from his close call.
Suddenly, a blinding searchlight fell over him—a police helicopter hovered above.
"Don't shoot! It's Spider-Man!" Peter heard an officer shout over the noise.
The police may have been wary of Spider-Man, but in this moment, they recognized him as an ally.
"The Lizard is still inside, around the 30th floor!" an officer on the ground directed the helicopter crew as they searched for Connors.
Then, to everyone's shock, Connors burst through a window thirty stories up and plunged toward the ground. Using his claws, he gripped the building's surface to slow his fall, digging deep grooves into the glass and concrete.
Peter, watching from below, felt his stomach drop as Connors landed with an earth-shaking crash, sending debris flying in all directions.
The impact left a crater in the ground, with cracks like spider-webbing across the street and nearby flowerbeds uprooted by the force.
The police recovered from their shock and unleashed a hail of bullets at Connors, their machine guns flaring in the night. But as the dust settled, Connors had vanished, leaving only the devastation in his wake.
"Where is he?!" an officer shouted, bewildered.
Peter, still clinging to the side of the building, narrowed his eyes, scanning the area. Connors was somewhere close by, biding his time.
Meanwhile, Anton had just arrived on the scene, witnessing Connors' dramatic escape and the futile efforts of the police to contain him.
Glancing up, he spotted Spider-Man, attached to the building's wall, deep in thought.
But something else caught Anton's eye—the area of the building that had sustained the worst damage wasn't the cracked wall where Connors had made his escape.
It was the floors near the "Limb Regeneration Technology" lab. The fight between Spider-Man and the Lizard had torn through those three floors, gutting the entire lab space.
"Damn it!" Anton swore under his breath, his jaw clenching as he realized the extent of the destruction.
The equipment for his "Cyborg" film shoot had been stored on one of those floors. Cameras, props, and countless irreplaceable pieces of set design—probably all gone. The delay this would cause, and the costs to replace everything, filled him with frustration.
"This was supposed to be Spidey's fight for glory," he muttered, grinding his teeth. "Guess I'll have to step in now."
In a flash, Anton slipped into a dark alley, transformed into Batman, found an entrance to the sewers, and disappeared into the shadows in pursuit of the Lizard.
"Um…?" Eddie and Phil exchanged a puzzled look, unsure what had just happened.
But they had a hunch that the Lizard had made a very dangerous enemy in Anton. They couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Lizard, hoping he wouldn't meet too terrible a fate at the hands of Batman.
….
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