Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Multiverse

At that time, Dr. Lizard had already become Carnage's subordinate, helping him create lizard soldiers to serve his dark reign.

Dr. Mendel, who had been found by Dr. Lizard, thought he was going to die.

But to his surprise, Dr. Lizard hid him away and secretly gave him materials to conduct research.

Recently, that research had finally yielded some results.

He had witnessed with his own eyes as Dr. Lizard merged with a revitalized black substance and gained unparalleled power!

With just a few punches, he brought down an entire building!

However, after merging with the black substance, Dr. Lizard—who had still been somewhat rational before—underwent a drastic change in personality, becoming someone even Mendel could barely recognize.

He still remembered overhearing Dr. Lizard say not long ago that if his experiment succeeded, he would defeat Carnage and save everyone. But only a day or two had passed, and now he had turned into this…

"Connors, how dare you attack the district under my protection?!"

A sudden voice echoed from the sky.

The next moment, a streak of brilliant blue lightning descended from above, striking straight at the mutated Dr. Lizard.

Crackle—

Faced with an attack powerful enough to reduce an ordinary person to ashes, the mutated Dr. Lizard did not dodge. Instead, he simply raised both hands.

From his hands and body, black matter surged forth in the direction of the lightning.

This black matter seemed to form an insulating shield, blocking the lightning in front of him.

The electricity either vanished upon contact or scattered into crackling sparks.

Dr. Mendel, witnessing this shocking scene, scrambled away in terror.

Fortunately, neither of the combatants had the time to pay him any attention.

Boom!

A figure descended from the sky.

The newcomer was a lean Black man wearing a sleek, all-black bodysuit with a lightning emblem emblazoned on his chest.

If one ignored his skin tone, facial features, and the color scheme of his suit, his appearance did bear a certain resemblance to the Flash from DC Comics.

—In fact, his design was indeed inspired by the Flash's comic book appearances. After all, DC's Flash was quite popular in this world—especially since this world had no Marvel!

This man was none other than the great hero protecting this district, the one people respectfully called the "Second-in-Command"—Electro-Man, Max Dillon!

That's right, not Electro, but Electro-Man!

After all, he was a hero now.

"It's Electro-Man! He's back!"

"Uncle Electro-Man, hurry up and beat them!"

Some frightened civilians, hiding behind the defensive line set up by resistance fighters, cheered upon seeing Electro-Man arrive.

The mutated Dr. Lizard retracted the black substance from his hands and smirked coldly. "Max, looks like you're quite popular."

But Electro-Man looked at him in shock. "Kurt Connors, it's only been a few days, and you've swollen up like a balloon! Did your master beat you up?"

The mutated Dr. Lizard's expression darkened instantly.

He glared viciously at Electro-Man. "Max! Hand over your genes, and I'll spare you and these people. Otherwise, I'll have them all slaughtered!"

Electro-Man's eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth. "You want my genes? Then come take them yourself. What do they have to do with this?"

"Hahaha!" The mutated Dr. Lizard burst into laughter. "Pathetic Max!"

"What did you say?" Electro-Man asked.

The mutated Dr. Lizard raised his voice. "Do you really think they made you their 'Second-in-Command' out of admiration?"

"That's none of your business!" Electro-Man retorted, but there was already a slight tremor in his voice.

He wasn't an idiot—far from it.

After all, he was the one who designed the city's entire electrical grid, bringing immense profits to Oscorp. He was a super-engineer.

Sure, his emotional intelligence was a bit low, and he had his personality flaws.

But he knew why those people respected him.

So what?

He had earned their respect with his abilities!

They needed him!

Sometimes, Electro-Man thought that this dark world wasn't so bad after all.

Because in the darkness, light shines even brighter.

In the old world, he was nothing.

He had designed the entire city's electrical system, but his superiors took all the credit. All he got was a bonus to keep his mouth shut. And if he dared to speak out, they threatened to fire him.

But what could he do?

In an era of severe systemic injustice, a powerless Black man making his way into a giant corporation like Oscorp was bound to face unimaginable suppression.

He had no real friends.

Not even a single person to wish him a happy birthday.

But now, things were different.

Thousands of people were alive because of him.

He relished this feeling of being needed—he thrived on it.

And for that alone, he was willing to risk his life to protect them!

"Hahaha, then why don't we ask them ourselves?" The mutated Dr. Lizard suddenly leaped away, landing dozens of meters away.

"Damn it!" Electro-Man immediately gave chase.

Boom!

The massive figure of the mutated Dr. Lizard crashed down in front of the resistance fighters' defensive line.

Bullets rained down on him, but his tough scales deflected them effortlessly!

Only high-caliber rifle rounds managed to leave any marks on his body.

But his regeneration was terrifying. One by one, the rifle bullets were squeezed out of his flesh and dropped to the ground.

He marched forward, unfazed, straight into the hail of gunfire.

The sight was like something out of a nightmare—a demonic figure walking through a storm of bullets.

The resistance fighters were so stunned they forgot to reload. Their fingers kept pulling on empty triggers as they watched in horror while he stepped into their defensive line.

The mutated Dr. Lizard stopped in front of a bearded leader, a disturbingly human-like smile appearing on his grotesque reptilian face. "Lafayette, why don't you make the choice?"

Lafayette trembled. "C-Choice? What choice?"

The mutated Dr. Lizard grabbed his skull with one hand, lifting him off the ground. "Either Max comes with me, or I kill everyone here and take him anyway."

Behind him, Electro-Man had been rushing forward at full speed, but upon hearing those words, his pace involuntarily slowed.

Lafayette stammered, "Can… Can I try to convince Max?"

"Of course," the mutated Dr. Lizard grinned. "Max, did you hear that?"

With that, he turned around, holding Lafayette so that he faced Electro-Man.

"M-Max…" Lafayette's face turned even paler upon seeing Electro-Man.

He had thought Max was still far away—only to realize he was already standing much closer than expected!

(End of Chapter)

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