LOUD MOUTH → PETER PARKER ✓

Chapter Sixteen: Return to Oscorp

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍: RETURN TO OSCORP

"Connors is trying to spread the serum to the entire city, just like he said―make a world without weakness. Which, I guess would be pretty great if it didn't mean every one would turn into giant lizard things." Callie rambled as she and Gwen walked quickly through the Oscorp building. Outside, the sky had grown dark, and the Lizard was out on the streets of New York causing havoc. Police helicopters swarmed the sky with spotlights, searching over the roads and tops of buildings.

Gwen suddenly turned into the lab and walked to the back. Machines whirred to life as she came closer and slid her key card through the antidote-created machine to turn it on. Callie had no idea what it was, honestly, but she stared at it as it lit up like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Gwen pressed a few buttons and searched through the files for a few moments while Callie walked to the window, looking down to the streets below. Sirens were wailing from every corner. She saw upturned cars and people scrambling to get somewhere safe. Panic seized her chest.

"Okay, it's making the antidote, but it's going to take a while." Gwen said.

Callie turned around nervously. "How long is a while?" she peered over at the small screen aside the device. Ten minutes was a while to wait. Callie paced in front of the device, willing time to go by faster. There were still people inside the Oscorp building, but most were getting the idea that it was time to leave. Every once in a while Callie saw someone rush by, most likely trying to get home before things got too bad. For a while she thought that was the right thing to do.

Gwen's phone rang and she picked it up. "Hi!" she said, panicked. Callie walked close enough to hear Peter's voice on the other end.

"Hey, hey, where are you?"

"We're at Oscorp." Gwen said quickly. "Callie's with me."

"What? Callie?"

"I didn't give her much of a choice, if that's any consolation!" Callie yelled, loudly enough to be heard.

"You have to get out of there right now, okay?" Peter continued, his voice quick and serious.

"The antidote is cooking." Gwen said. Calling glanced at the screen―nine minutes left. They still had a while.

"No, Connors is on the way." Peter said urgently. "He's coming to you right now, he needs the dispersement device. He's going to infect the whole city."

"There's eight minutes left." Gwen said, shaking her head. She and Callie both knew they had no other option but to wait.

"You're going to wait there for eight minutes after what I just told you?" Peter asked. "People are going to die, you need to get out of there right now. That-that is an order!"

Callie suddenly grabbed the phone from Gwen, frustrated. "Screw your orders. This isn't just about you anymore. It's about all of us. It's about the city. It's about the entire world, Peter. We have eight minutes left―we're not leaving now."

"Wait, Callie―"

"I'll see you later." Callie hung up the phone, her heart hammering in her chest. She looked up at Gwen, who looked somewhat taken aback. "Can you get everyone out of the building?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, do it." Callie said. She went and picked up the epée. "Go."

Gwen went over to a small panel in the corner of the room, typed in a few numbers, and pulled a level down. All of a sudden, yellow lights started flashing from every corner of the room and an alarm blared. More people started flooding the hallways, evacuating the building.

Gwen looked to the Ganali dispersement device, then the timer, and then back and Callie. "And now we wait."

Callie nodded, breathing in deeply. She sat down on the floor with the epée close at her side. She took out her phone and scrolled through the news app, looking to see if she could find anything about what was going on. "Oh my god," she breathed. "They're evacuating every body south of 54th street. We're south of 54th street!" Callie yelled, burying her face in her hands. "And to think, I thought the worst thing in my life was going to be the SAT's."

Suddenly, a video feed appeared at the top of Callie's news app. She clicked on it and saw it was being shot from a new helicopter―from the side of the Oscorp building.

"Well, Paul, if I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it." the news anchor said. "I won't venture to say exactly what it is that is crawling up the north side of the Oscorp tower, but clearly it is not human and it is very very strong."

The feed showed the Lizard scaling the side of the building. As Callie watched, it punched a whole through the glass window of the building and climb inside. At the same moment, she heard the sound of shattering glass, and the entire building shook with it.

Gwen and Callie met panicked eyes as the sirens got louder and the lights flickered on and off, throwing them into momentary darkness. "It's here." Callie murmured.

Gwen acted with incredible speed. She grabbed a Bunsen burner-like device and stood up on one of the tables, putting the flame close to a small white sensor on the ceiling. They reacted almost immediately, a dozen small jets of fresh oxygen filling the room. The lights went out and a door with a biohazard symbol on the side sealed the room closed.

Callie and Gwen stood in silence for a moment in the dark, room, panting and watching the door in terror. A small voice from the timer spoke. "Time remaining: one minute."

Something hit the biohazard door and it cracked. Gwen grabbed Callie's hand and pulled her away. The two ran into a small side door, Gwen pulling the Ganali device with her, and enclosed themselves in a small room with a small vent as their only means of looking out. Another hit came, and then the sound of bending metal, and Callie and Gwen heard the low growl of the lizard.

They both pressed their backs against the wall, merely a foot away from the vented window. They watched as the Lizard made its way inside and walked slowly across the room, every step causing the whole room to shake. Callie felt like if she were to shake any more, her knees would give out from under her and she'd collapse. Gwen gripped her hand, shaking just as much as she was.

The Lizard walked by the door, close enough that Callie could see the reflection of each individual scale on it's back. It suddenly stopped, and Callie saw it turn its head, as though sniffing the air. Oh god, it could smell them.

With one hand on the Ganali device and the other attached to Gwen's Callie backed even further into the room. As carefully as she could, she let go out both and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Gwen was too terrified to question what she was doing as she turned it on. Callie scrolled through her message until she found her mom's name. With her hands shaking violently, Callie typed out a small message: I love you.

The Lizard suddenly appeared in front of the vent, staring at them. Callie dropped her phone as both her and Gwen screamed. It ripped the vent off, and Gwen used the small Bunsen burner and a can of hairspray to send a jet of flame at the Lizard. It seemed to to bother him―he pulled the Ganali device out of Callie's grasp and walked away with it, not bothering to attack them. He didn't need to―his plan was now one step closer to being complete.

Callie and Gwen looked at each other, terrified. Callie silently asked if it was safe to move, and Gwen nodded, slowly peering out of the doorway. Callie followed and saw the the room was empty.

And from the opposite corner, a robotic voice spoke. "Antidote complete."