The Lizard—hulking, terrifying, and freakishly enormous—locked his reptilian eyes onto me. His massive tail swept behind him, knog a nearby street sign clear out of the ground, metal screeg as it flew across the road.

  "Uh, did he… grow?" I muttered to Ghost-Spider, who was crouched beside me, web-shooters aimed and ready.

  "Yeah, definitely bigger than st time," she replied, barely audible. "I'll go for his legs. You… do your ice thing?"

  I nodded, summoning a thin yer of ice over my fists and pnting my feet. My mind was already reag out, ready to invade his mind and shut him down, but then something, or rather, someone, caught my eye.

  In the crowd, I noticed a woman transf into a cop. It was chaos and no oiced her transformation. It was Mystique.

  Of course. Mago's spies. No matter how many fuckers I kill, another one pops up. They just couldn't let me be. I took a deep breath, letting go of the mental power I'd been gathering. If Mago's creatg, I couldn't risk using my full strength. Who knows, they might even have some more mutants hidden among the crowd. I don't want to reveal my full power and bring them to my doors just yet. I just wanted a few months of quiet, away from fights, enemies, and all the other madness.

  "Alright, Aron," I muttered to myself. "Id telekinesis only. Keep it simple."

  The Lizard roared, his jaws snapping as he lunged fhost-Spider shot out a web, snagging his leg and yanking hard, but it barely slowed him down. He sshed at her with cws like small swords, f her to leap out of the way and swing up onto a nearby mppost. She gnced down at me. "Anytime you want to jump in, ice-mask!"

  "On it!" I lifted my hands, and with a swift motio a bst of ice shooting out, coating the street beh the Lizard in a slick yer of frost. His footing faltered, cws scraping against the ice, but his sheer weight kept him banced as he turned his yellow-eyed gre toward me.

  "ry," he hissed, his voice a guttural snarl, before he charged again.

  This time, I threw up a telekiic barrier just in time. He smmed into it with a heavy thud, but the impact sent a painful tremor through my body. Holding the barrier and my power back against a creature this strong took far more focus than I liked.

  "Hey, Lizard!" I called, hoping to distract him as I sent shards of ice spiraling toward his arms and legs, trying to pin him down. The ice shattered on impact, barely slowing him, but at least it kept him from lunging at Ghost-Spider as she swung ba, firing webs at his face.

  But the Lizard just tore through the sticky webbing, snarling louder. "You two think you stop me? I'm strohan ever!"

  Out of the er of my eye, I caught Mystique watg, her expression unreadable, though I could sense her i in every move I made. I ched my jaw, refog on the Lizard.

  This time, I swept my hand up, pulling ks of ice from the ground and f them into massive boulders in mid-air. With a push, I sent them hurtling toward the Lizard. He mao swipe at one, shattering it, but another hit him square in the chest, f him back a few steps.

  Ghost-Spider zipped back down, darting close and using her agility to stay just out of his reach, slingihat tangled up his legs, slowing him down just enough. She looked at me, nodding. "We might actually pull this off."

  "YOU BUGS!!" The Lizard roared, his tail whipping toward her, but I grabbed it mid-swing with my telekinesis, holding it just enough fhost-Spider to dodge. She threw a few pu his side, each hit making a solid thud.

  But the Lizard lunged forward, his jaws snapping inches from my face. He was too freaking fast for his size. I threw myself backward, summoning a thick wall of ice between us just in time. His cws scraped against it, leaving deep gouges, but I held firm, bag up to gain some distance.

  "Careful there!" Ghost-Spider shouted. She swung down, nding beside me, breathing hard but still grinning. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

  I kept my gaze locked on the Lizard, feeling the strain in my muscles from holding the ice wall. I could sense Mystique in the crowd, watg. Every instinct screamed to unleash my full power ahis quickly, but I couldn't afford to tip my hand, not with Mago's eyes on me. Instead, I gritted my teeth and gave Ghost-Spider a quiod. "Yeah. A simple one."

  The Lizard snarled, smashing through the ice barrier with his fist. I staggered back, and Ghost-Spider darted in, webbing up his arms with rapid shots. The webbing slowed him, but I k wouldn't hold for long. His muscles bulged, and the fibers stretched to their breaking point.

  "Pin him down!" I shouted, lunging forward. I jured thick ice tendrils from the ground, snaking them around his legs and anch him to the spot. With a swift twist of my hand, I reinforced the ice with telekiic force, log him ihe Lizard roared, thrashing against the restraints, but they held—barely.

  "Go! Punch him with full power," I yelled. But I know she won't use her full power because Lizard's head will split open if she uses her full power and she isn't a killer.

  Ghost-Spider swung in, kig off a nearby building to nd a punch squarely on his jaw. I k. She held back. He flinched but didn't go down. Instead, his eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. He let out a guttural ugh, the sound vibrating through the air. "I WILL BREAK YOUR BONES AND TURN YOU TWO INTO LIZARDS."

  The Lizard broke free from the id webbing, shattering them like gss. He rushed forward, cws swiping. I barely had time to react, throwing up a telekiic shield as his cws crashed against it. The force sent me skidding back, boots scraping against the pavement.

  "Aron!" Ghost-Spider's voice cut through the chaos. I gnced over, seeing her webbing up a chemical ister that had been knocked loose in the fight. The Lizard's eyes followed her movements. He was eyeing the chemical isters scattered across the street.

  "He's going for the chemicals! We 't let him get hem!" I focused my power, sending a wave of icy spikes shooting up from the ground, creating a barrier between the Lizard and the isters. He snarled, smming his fists against the ice, crag it but not breaking through.

  Ghost-Spider swung over to me, nding lightly on her feet. "He just won't stay down."

  "Yeah, noticed that," I said as I froze him again. "I think I o get serious."

  "Wait! Serious?" She gave me a shocked look. "You were holding back?"

  I nodded. "Yes. Look around. Too many people. It's like they are watg a show. These clueless insane people are even rec without a care of their lives. If I use my real strength, someone might get hurt."

  "Sooo..." She poi the Lizard, who was trying to break free from the ice. "What do we do?"

  "Sigh!" I sighed and took a deep breath. "Not we. I'll finish it. You stay back."

  The Lizard broke free and ran toward the chemical isters. I extended my arm toward him and used telekinesis once again but on a rger scale this time. This time I wasn't holding back. I raised my other hand and lifted the Lizard into the air. He roared, thrashing against the telekiic grip, but it held strong. I ched my fist, crushing his limbs with telekiic force. His bones cracked and blood sprayed. I felt no remorse. A monster like him deserved to die.

  I ripped apart his limbs and tail. Green blood spttered everywhere. The Lizard screamed in pain.

  "Don't kill him!" Ghost Spider yelled.

  "Why? He's a fug monster. I am just killing a monster," I said. "No one will care if I kill this monster."

  "It's nht."

  "It's very right," I muttered.

  I crushed the Lizard's head and internal ans with my telekinesis. He stopped moving and his green blood started leaking. I dropped his body on the ground.

  "Phew, finally."

  Ghost Spider's eyes were wide as she stared at me. "You didn't have to kill him."

  I shrugged. "He's a monster. What do you expect me to do?"

  She shook her head. "I don't know but... this is too much. With your power, you could have knocked him out or something."

  "Then what? The cops or Shield will put him in a cell and what's the guarahat he won't escape? What if he escapes and creates more chaos? ime someone might die. This is the easiest way to hahe situation." I said as I looked around. There were too many cops. Gotta get out of here.

  "I know you are right but... this is..." She trailed off.

  "Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Even if that goes against our moral code. Every choice people like us make has sequehere is no correct choice, only the ohat is best for everyo that moment. No one has the time to debate every possible oute. That's why we have to choose the choice that seems right. How many times have you captured the vilins only for them to escape and cause more havoc?"

  "...A lot of times," she said.

  "Yeah, exactly." I took a deep breath. "I'm not telling you to kill every bad person, just be ready to make the hardest decisiohe time es. You 't save everyone. Sometimes, we have to make the hardest choices so that others live."

  I could tell from her expression that she didn't like it, but at the same time, she uood what I was saying.

  The cops were already surrounding us. So, I grabbed her and teleported out of that area and appeared on top of a building, far away from there.

  "Well, ime, try not to hold bauch. We could have defeated him, had you used your full strength," With that, I teleported bato the car.

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