Spiderverse File: Curt Connors (The Lizard) E.5775

The following was written across a few pages from Jumping Spider's recovered journal pages. They were found among the Lizard's personal effects within his 'nest' in the New York waterworks.  - Earth 5775

I had discovered within our logs that the Neogenic Recombinator had been used late one night while I was leaping around the city as Salticidae. The reason the machine had been used was a mystery though, as my colleague had left no notes in its regard. Using the recombinator necessitated two trained people for safety, but those precautions I presumed had been thrown to the wind. Though I knew he had been avoiding me for nearly two months, I had to speak with Curt about it. My decision to give him his space, though well-intentioned may not have been the most prudent choice. Unfortunately he didn't come in for work that week, so I sought him out at his home.

His wife and son were gone, and even from the outside I could see it was in shambles: The shrubs and lawn, normally so neatly trimmed were overgrown and the large front windows of the home were broken. I worried about my friend's safety and was (by that point) not surprised to find the door not only unlocked but also ajar. As I moved inside I realized the interior of the home was in even worse shape than outside. Broken glass, torn curtains, raw bits of meat were strewn about the main floor and I faintly heard noises coming from Curt's home lab in the basement. I thought about knocking on the door at the top of the stairs but my 'Farley Feeling' was telling me to use stealth instead. I quietly pushed the door open and climbed onto the descending ceiling of the stairwell and moved downward.

Curt was there alright, pouring over notes, and then, when he wasn't finding what he wanted he would crumple them angrily and throw them aside. A few beakers which hadn't been smashed were filled with green liquid next to a centrifuge. Curt himself was nude and grubby-looking. His hair was a mess and he was shaking. I dropped to the floor some distance behind him and called out to him. He spun around and it was then that I noticed he had two arms! Of course I asked about this and he gave a strange, uncomfortably wide smile. He asked me if I remembered his pet project, and of course I did - He had been working on that, off and on for nearly a decade. Curt wanted to use reptilian DNA sequencing to regrow limbs in humans. It wasn't so farfetched but so far the science couldn't quite prove this dream a reality. He said it worked, but there was a cost. I was more interested in finding out why he had used himself as the guinea pig, and why now, with so much going on. His smile faded and he slumped back against his desk. He told me that although he was happy for my new-found powers, and ability to help people, it only made him feel more useless. According to him he had failed his wife, his child, his work had seemingly hit a dead-end and then on top of all that his best friend had a new, exciting life and he had (excuse me) fucked things up with me when we slept together. He didn't know who he was anymore or how to feel good about himself again. I assured him that we were as good as we'd ever been, and was eager to explore this new side of our relationship with him. He brightened a little at that but then shook his head. Apparently he had other ideas. 

He explained that he wanted to be able to do what I could do, or at least, be powerful enough to join me: fighting crime, helping to make the world a better place, not just from within a lab but, out in the streets too. He felt that I was so far beyond him and desperately wanted us to be equals again. Despite my affirmations that I would always see him as my equal, and in many ways my greater, he waved it aside. Then his body shuddered and he gripped his newly-grown arm. I moved towards him but he screamed for me to leave, that it wasn't safe. He said that in his bid for power he took one too many shortcuts. I couldn't get more information than that from him as his body began to grow, and tear. I could hear his muscle fibers popping, it was truly awful. The arm wasn't the only new limb as a monstrous tail began to form at the base of his spine, his skin began to speckle and then change color to green and form scales. I backed away as his height increased dramatically. The recombinator and the use of lizard genetics had given his arm back, but at a terribly price. The Lizard creature that was once my best friend attacked suddenly and without hesitation. I called his name, I tried not to fight back but this monster did not seem to have any semblance of my colleague left inside. I scrambled up the stairs and out of the house, Curt chasing me, literally biting at my heels. He was larger than me, stronger even, but my analytical mind versus that of a craven beast gave me an edge. Our battle spilled onto a nearby street, crowded with people and the reptile licked his chops hungrily. Not a good look. I grabbed Curt, getting severely slashed in the process and leapt high into the air, before crashing down hard on top of him into the asphalt. He seemed dazed by that so I got a few more good hits on him. He shook it off though and tore open a manhole cover and descended into the city waterways. I had no choice but to follow.

That first fight, culminating down there in the dark and wet was the fiercest of my life, and though it nearly killed me to do it, I defeated my friend. He was out cold but breathing. I was able to get him to a super-powered holding cell within the Oscorp building while I figured out my next steps.

Using his research, and chemicals he had already created, I was able to make a serum to revert him back into his one-armed human self. The effects however... are not permanent. He hasn't quite been himself since that time - He is more volatile, aggressive sometimes to the point of violence, but then he seems to realize this and brings himself under control. There is heightened security around the lab now, of course, and it was only my threat of resignation that allows Curt to still be there, in a limited capacity. I've attempted to talk with him about us, if there even is an 'us' and though I can see he wants to try, he's too concerned about my safety to allow a future in his mind, at least until we find a cure. His worry is that there isn't one, and perhaps against all reason, I refuse to accept that. It's only a matter of time until he becomes the Lizard again, and I hope I'm strong enough to stop him when it comes to that. In the meantime, I will do what I can to save my beloved friend.