TROUBLE! ━ TASM.

thirteen.

Violet glanced at Gwen before looking around. "You can't love me if I'm a lizard, Peter. I'm gonna get everybody out." She pulled the phone away from her ear, cutting off Peter's complaint before turning to the blonde in front of her.

"You need to go, get everybody out of here. I will handle this, and Peter will, too. I'm not putting your life in danger, Gwen." She stared at her with a hard look, showing that she was more serious than she had ever been in her entire life.

The blonde looked at her in disbelief. "Violet, from what I just heard, you staying here sounds like a suicide mission."

She pressed her lips together, before shrugging. "Make sure they put my name on a building or something, then. Go, Gwen," she urged, shoving the girl towards the door and watching as she rushed out.

A couple moments later, the sound of an alarm blared throughout the entire tower, but Violet stood staring at the timer with a blank expression. She needed to do this, needed to be by Peter's side, even if it meant risking her life.

She never had the best luck, but she prayed that she got it now instead of with a pointless coin toss.

Before she could blink out of her daze, the lights in the room started flickering, and her heart jumped into her throat. In a rush of adrenaline, she grabbed a bunsen burner that was sitting on a nearby table, jumping onto a chair and holding it to one of the sprinkler systems. Catching a whiff of smoke, the sprinklers immediately shot back dry chemical foam, spraying it across the room and locking down the automatic doors.

"Time remaining, one minute." The system seemed to taunt her, reminding her that even in this dire situation, she still had a lesson to learn about her impatience.

The sound of growling hit her ears before the shriek of metal being ripped apart, and she bolted for the dispersement device. After grabbing it, a can of some type of chemical and a bunsen burner, she shoved herself into a closet, holding her breath and standing as still as she could.

Please, don't let me get ripped to shreds by a giant lizard, please, don't let me get ripped to shreds by a giant lizard, please...

Her eyes coated over with tears of pure fright as the frightening monster stomped his way in front of the door she hid behind, his steps seemingly causing the ground to shake with his size. She prayed he was gone by the sound of stuff squeaking, prayed it was a door he was politely stepping out of.

All of her prayers went unanswered when a scaly face suddenly stared right at her, and a hand threw away part of the door like it was nothing. She screamed loudly, a natural reaction she'd never admit to, before holding up her bunsen burner, lighting it before spraying whatever aerosol chemical she had. Just as she planned, it worked as a blowtorch, spraying fire at the face of the monster in front of her.

Seemingly unamused, the Lizard simply held up a muscular hand to hold away the flames that licked so dangerously close to his eyes, using his other hand to grab the device laying at her feet before walking away like nothing had happened.

Violet's heart beat horribly in her chest, almost painful against her rib cage, and she let out loud gasps of the breath that her fright had taken from her.

After a moment, she peered out of the closet, and was met with the bittersweet reveal that the Lizard had gone, leaving her alone.

"Antidote complete." The machine chimed, and she wanted to bash it in with a metal rod more than anything. Controlling her internal anger and deciding to take it out on it later, when things were settled, she snatched the antidote, holding it close as she exited the room. The elevators were shut off with the lockdown, and so she was forced to take the stairs, practically leaping up them as she panted.