What If Doc Ock Succeeded in His Plan to Take Over the World?
Peter sighed as he walked home in the fall cold. Sometimes he wondered why he was still alive. He had quit being Spider-Man almost a year ago; for fear that Dr. Octopus would find out his identity and hurt Aunt May. His mind went back to when it had all gone wrong, back to that very unordinary New Year's Eve.
"That's strike two, care to try for three?"
"That's a joke, right? I have said it before and I repeat it now. You can't kill me, even if you wanted to, and I know that. So go ahead, drop me again, I know you'll catch me anyways, and even if I go to jail, Master Planner will let me out."
Spidey wanted to drop him and not catch him, but he knew that Tinkerer was right; he couldn't kill anyone, especially someone as weak and pitiful as Tinkerer. He sighed heavily, dropped Tinkerer one last time, catching him just before he hit the ground so that the police could take him in. He spent the rest of the day searching, but to no avail, he couldn't find Master Planner's hideout anywhere. There were none of his super-powered goons to beat it out of, and none of the street contacts had any info, Master Planner had obviously covered his tracks well. While Peter continued his futile search, Captain Stacy was in Homeland Security's headquarters, ready to insert the Master Planner's chip into the computer, when he stopped short and spoke.
"I wanna talk to Gwen"
"This is no time to test me, Captain"
"Stow the threats, I'm not doing anything more until I know she's ok. I talk to her, or you get nothing!"
"Fine!" Otto reached a tentacle out and grabbed Gwen's phone from the main room and brought it over to Gwen. "Speak, girl, to let your father know you are still fine."
"Dad, Please!" she cried into the phone, "Don't do it, whatever it is. This is bigger than you and I!"
"That will be enough, thank you." Octavious turned his attention back to Captain Stacy. "Now, Sir, I suggest that you place that card into the computer, before I get angry and decide to do something rash."
With downcast eyes, Captain Stacy muttered, "Gwen, forgive me, but you mean too much to me to let you die at this madman's hand." He then reached up and placed the card into the computer, giving Master Planner the codes he needed.
Once he had the codes, Octavious controlled the money supply of every country on earth, as well as everything that was done electronically. The codes gave him unlimited access to everything, and his first action was to contact the leaders of each country, reveal his identity, and lay out his demands for each of them. Surrender to him, or he would fire nuclear warheads at their capitals. Within two weeks, he had been handed control of every country on earth. His concerns from before, such as Norman Osborn or Spider-Man were of no consequence now, as neither was currently in a position to hurt him. He would deal with them soon enough, but for now he had other pressing issues. He had given Gwen back to her father as Captain Stacy's reward for his job well done, for after all, although he was evil, he was not a liar. Soon, with the help of Doctor Octopus, Stacy and the police had rounded up the Big Man, as well as the Enforcers. After all, Otto didn't want any super-villains around to possibly take him down. Norman Osborn was with his son in Europe, but he had been easy enough to track down. Arresting him was no easy task, as apparently he had been the Green Goblin. It took the help of all of Otto's second Sinister Six, but with their combined might Osborn had been finally defeated, killed by being impaled on Rhino's horn. Otto had also outlawed all costumed superheroes, and had arrested the Fantastic Four and the X-men. He would have arrested Spider-Man, but Spider-Man had realized that Dr. Octopus had control of all the video camera's in the world, and would have soon guessed his secret identity. Spider-Man had last been seen in early January, so Octavious assumed that whoever was behind the mask had given up his second persona for good.
Peter shuddered at the memories; those last eight months had been terrible. He glanced at his watch, it read 7:45. Fifteen minutes to Otto's curfew, great. Spent too much time with Liz again. I really don't want to get arrested, but I can't very well swing home anymore now can I? Maybe if I walk really fast I can get there in time.Peter put his head down and walking as fast as he could, reached his front door with a minute to spare. He opened the door, and gave Aunt May a big hug as she came sprinting over to him.
"Oh, thank goodness you made it home on time! I was so worried; I couldn't bear to see you in jail!"
"Don't worry Aunt May; I don't want to go there either. Have you heard from Liz? She was supposed to call, but I forgot my phone at home."
"She called twenty minutes ago, she was wondering if you were home yet. I told her I hadn't seen you but of course you would be home by 8:00. She should be calling back anytime."
As Aunt May finished saying this, Peter heard his cell phone ring upstairs in his room. A smile spread across his face and he sprinted up to his room. Aunt May gave a little smile and knew she wouldn't see him 'til almost 10. She liked Liz, but was still a little disappointed that he had chosen Liz over Gwen. Of course, with the way Gwen had withdrawn herself from everyone after her dad had allowed Doctor Octopus to take over the world, she wasn't surprised. May never saw Gwen or her dad anymore, and it saddened her greatly. She gently shook her head and went back to watching TV.
The next day, after school, Peter decided to take a walk around town while he could to clear his head. He turned down Liz's request to go with the gang to the Silver Octopus (because Otto had changed the name of just about every store or restaurant in the world so that they would all be named after him, including the Silver Spoon. Peter hated it, who really wanted to eat at Taco Ock and McDocOck's, or shop at Otto-Mart?). Peter wanted to think about a way to get back to the way things were, a way to change it all back. Gwen was an outcast, and when Harry's dad had been outed as the Green Goblin, Harry had gone insane. There was only one solution, Peter realized. The only one way to remove the curfews, to restore liberty in the U.S. and to the world was for him to take down Doctor Octopus. I'll need to practice again, because having taken eight months off will have made me rusty. I think I'll use the old abandoned Oscorp Warehouse that I caught Uncle Ben's murderer in. It isn't too far from my house. Now to find my suit and web-shooters first, then tomorrow, I'll begin practicing for the showdown. No more will I let Ock rule the world, he needs to be taken down, and now, before he becomes even more powerful. When Peter got home, he rummaged around in the basement until he found the box he was looking for. Good, the suit, my web-shooters, and a box of spare cartridges. Now, I just need to get this stuff up to my room tonight when Aunt May goes to sleep.
Over the next month Peter practiced religiously, "going home" straight after school, and practicing until 7:30 in the old warehouse, then going home to talk to Liz, but he was afraid she was starting to drift farther from him each day. Finally, he felt he was ready to face Doc Ock. He knew that Ock was holed up in Octavious Tower, which was really the old Baxter Building that he had confiscated from Reed Richards. Spidey knew the security was tremendous, and Otto always had his Sinister Six patrolling the grounds after curfew in case someone was stupid enough to try to attack him. Someone like me, Peter thought. He carefully considered how to get into Octavious tower, and reluctantly decided that the only way he could enter without Ock seeing him come out of the same building that Peter Parker entered (because although there was no camera's working in the facility, the ones on the street outside were still operational), was to go through the sewer system. That would also help him avoid detection as he entered the tower. Peter cringed at the thought, but realized it had to be done in order to stop the madness. The world had been terrible since Ock's takeover. Super-villain activity was no more, except for the Doc himself, but street crime had risen 500%! And as long as Doctor Octopus was in charge, Peter knew that super-heroes would continue to be outlawed and street crime would keep on rising. He approached the drain in the middle of the largest room in the old warehouse, and tore off the grate. He steeled himself for the foulness that he would find inside, and quickly entered the pipe. It took him over two hours to find his way, and several peeps out the manholes above him to make sure that he was headed in the right direction, but eventually he found a pipe leading into Octavious tower.
As Pete entered, he was on the lookout for the Sinister Six. He knew that they would be out of shape since they hadn't done anything except be Doc Ock's security since killing the Goblin, so it should be easier to defeat them then it was last Christmas. Still, he wanted to take them out one by one, and without them making radio contact to Otto. He'd prefer to just take Octavious out alone without dealing with the Sinister Six, but if he tried, he knew they'd be called, and he'd have to fight all seven at once, and that he didn't want to do without the symbiote's help. He looked at the special tools he'd gathered over the past month as he'd studied how to defeat each of the Six. Making sure the tools were all there, he went off in search of the first member.
"Mysterio, this is Otto, how is it looking? Any suspicious activity to report?"
"No Doc, and I don't know why you ever think someone would attack this place, it would be sheer madness."
"Then you don't know my enemies very well. If any of them get the chance, they would attack this place first thing; Spider-Man especially, if he decides to un-retire. You are the first line of defense, if you get into a fight, then radio it in as soon as possible. I'll check back with you in one hour. Octopus out."
"Yes, sir." Mysterio turned and stared down the blank hallway. Man, this is the most boring job in the whole world; I stand and look down an empty hallway, night after night. It's almost like the Doc expects Spider-Man to all of a sudden show up and attack us, but he hasn't been seen since January. Oh, well, this job is keeping me out of the joint that Big Man and Hammerhead landed in, so it's a lot better than rotting in there.
From the overhead vent, Spider-Man heard the entire conversation with Octvious. Okay, I've got an hour from now to take out the entire sinister six. That's doable, right? Right.Spidey reached down to his belt and flicked the switch on the first of the tools he had gathered. This one was a radio jamming signal, but it did more than that. It also would prevent Beck from activating any robots to help him, and might even prevent him from creating illusions to hide him, but that last part was unlikely. Spidey removed the grate from the vent, and jumped down to face Mysterio.
"Hey, Misty! It's been a while, hasn't it? Too long for my tastes." Peter started running at full speed toward Mysterio, who hastily tried to contact his fellow Six members and Doc Ock, but to no avail. "Oh, come on, Misty! Did you really think I'd let you sound the alarm? And don't bother trying to call your bots either; they aren't working at the moment."
"Well, you did disable my bots somehow, but you can't stop me from creating an illusion to hide me!" With that Mysterio summoned up the illusion of a thick Jungle to cover his tracks as he tried to run, but Spider-Man had anticipated the move. He closed his eyes and let his spider-sense guide him. He found Mysterio quickly enough, and one spider-powered punch at full strength shattered the fishbowl-like helmet. One much lighter tap later and Quentin Beck was out like a light. Peter grinned under the mask, and webbed Mysterio up tight and good, securing the jammer into the webbing, ensuring that he finally wouldn't escape. Peter sighed as he thought to himself, one down; six to go. Man, this is gonna be a long night.
Spidey crawled up several floors before he found the next member he was looking for. Sandman was obviously bored, as he was constantly shifting the molecules of his body into different shapes. Spidey watched with a kind of abstract fascination as Marko went from being Marko, to a sandcastle, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, to . . . Wow, Spidey thought; I really wish I hadn't seen that. That is so wrong on so many levels. Oh, well, time to spoil his "fun."
"Yoohoo! Sandy! Is this a private party, or can anybody join in?"
"Spider-Man! Not again! Why do you always have to show up and ruin my fun?"
"Seriously, man, if you consider that fun, you need a new hobby." With this Peter swung a punch at Sandman, who buried Peter's fist in his body. Spidey smiled, cracked open the pellet that he had been holding in his hand, and yanked his hand back out as fast as he possibly could, leaving the pellet still in Marko.
Sandman could only mutter, "What the. . .?" before his entire form turned ice. Peter breathed a sigh of relief, he had thought of that while watching Batman fight Clayface on a cartoon a while ago, but it had taken forever to come up with the proper combination of chemicals that would produce the necessary reaction. He had taken the chance that Marko would be too dull to realize why Peter had attacked so quickly, and it had worked. His pulse was racing, but he was finally getting back into the groove, and he was glad that the first two battles had been relatively short.
This time it only took one floor to find who he was looking. "Hey, O'hirn! How's life in the big tower? Did ya miss me?"
The lumbering big man turned slowly and growled, "Spider-Man, I was afraid somebody else had killed you. I'm glad they didn't, because I have wanted this for so long." With this he started to run at his top speed toward Spider-Man. Peter ran toward the Rhino as fast he could as well. When he was within 5 feet, Peter took his hands out from behind his back, revealing a gas specially designed by Norman Osborn to knock Rhino out. By this time, Rhino couldn't slow down, and just muttered, "Oh, Crap!" as Peter sprayed him. His momentum took him into the wall, but he was out long before that. "You should be thankful, Rhino," Spider-Man spoke to the unconscious villain, "I thought I would have to come up with a formula to destroy your suit, but I found this gas hidden away at the Oscorp warehouse I was training in. Lucky me, huh?"
"Lucky you!"
Peter turned at the sound of the voice behind him. A huge hulking cat was at the end of the hall. "Hey, Kraven, I expected to see you next! And, I have this question that I've been dying to know the answer too. Now, tell me honestly, is it hard to find a litter box big enough for you?"
"Spider-Man, I will destroy you, once and for all. I should call the others, but I want this kill all to myself." Kraven sniffed the air and muttered, "Why do you smell so bad? Did you use the sewers to get here?"
"Guilty as charged. Is it that noticeable?"
"With my animal senses, it is about all I can smell!" Kraven roared.
"Well, then, good thing I picked the sewers, wouldn't want you to be at full strength!"
Kraven then charged Spider-Man, and swung hard at his head. Spidey ducked and swept the legs out from under Kraven. Kraven went down hard and Spidey was on top of him in a second, pummeling him as hard as he could. Kraven roared in pain, and flung Spider-Man into the wall. Peter felt the pain as it shot down his back, but ignored it. Kraven charged Spidey and tried to pin him to the wall, but Spider-Man ducked between his legs and pushed him as hard as he could. Kraven's momentum, combined with Peter's shove, slammed his face into the wall. Kraven staggered for a moment, and Peter saw his opportunity. He jumped in and once again started pummeling Kraven as hard and fast as he could. Kraven tried to fight back, but the wall had taken too much out of him. He tried to retreat as Peter pulled something from his belt, what looked like a test tube. A web shot out and caught Kraven's feet as he tried to run, and then Spider-Man had him webbed to the floor.
"Looks like the months off have made you too slow, Kravinoff. You should have practiced with your animals more."
"It's Kraven!" He snarled with all the ferocity he had left, "Kraven, The Hunter!"
"Not for long," Spider-Man replied, as he uncorked the gene cleanser that he had obtained from the ESU laboratory the day Doc Ock had shut it down. He had never known why he took it, but as he forced it down Kraven's throat he was glad he had. "Now you're just plain old Kravinoff again." Spidey crushed Kraven's radio device, and left him behind while Kravinoff screamed cries of pain because of the transformation. That's four down, three to go. Next one is gonna be the trickiest of the Six.
Five floors from the top of the building, Spidey spotted the next member. He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes until Octavious checks in with Mysterio and discovers that someone's infiltrated his fortress. I'm so glad I didn't just try to bust into Ock's office and take him out, that would have been stupid! Probably would have gotten myself nearly killed. This was a much better idea.Peter picked out a vial from his belt and injected it into the web cartridge he had. Then he stepped out to challenge the next member.
"Hey, lightning-butt! Didya miss me?"
"Spider-Man! How did you get up here?"
"I'm gonna say crawl, and hope you believe me. How's it going, Max? You enjoy working for the Octopus? You know, you could be a much better villain on your own. If you want, we could team up on Ock."
"The name is ELECTRO! And the Doc is the only reason I'm anything, I would never betray him!" Electro started firing bolts at Spidey, who dodged them deftly while whispering a silent yes. He had counted on Electro's anger getting the best of him; causing him to forget to radio in to Ock and Vulture for help. Spidey was glad he had worn his rubber suit to this fight, as he jumped toward Electro and began trading punches with him. With the rubber suit, Electro's blasts did no good, as Spidey had made sure it was heat resistant as well as being non-conductive. Finally, Electro started moving slower, and Peter took the opportunity to hit him hard enough to knock him out. When he was sure Dillon was down for the count, Peter sprayed the special nonconductive webbing he had designed to hold Electro down. Wow, I am really out of condition, and I still have two left to go. I really need to finish this up, or I'll never beat Octopus.He checked his belt for his final weapon against Vulture, and was glad to find it safely tucked in place. He knew Vulture wouldn't be in a narrow hall like the rest of the six had been, as it didn't leave him with enough room to maneuver. Peter suspected he'd be in the largest room in the building, located one floor from the top. When the Fantastic Four had been in the building, it had been the one where Richards did his most dangerous experiments. Now it usually served as a banquet room for one of Ock's all too common dinners celebrating his "great accomplishments." Peter glanced at the time once more, there was less than five minutes remaining to take out Vulture. Peter entered the room he thought Toomes would be occupying, and was pleased to find out that he was at the top.
"Hey, Bird-Brain!" Spider-Man called out, "How's it going up there? Having fun?"
"What?" Vulture nearly choked when he realized who was speaking too him. "How did you get up here? The outside is carefully monitored by Octavious himself."
"Well, Vulture, you see, I didn't come from the outside. I actually came from the sewers, which is probably why I smell so bad right now. Oh, yeah, I also took out every member of your team, and have them incapacitated until the police arrive."
"You fool; the police are never going to arrive. They are under Octavious's full control."
"Only until I defeat both him and you. Then they will arrest him, just as they have wanted to do all year."
Toomes screamed and went into a hard dive, going as fast as he can. Spidey ran toward the opposite side of the room making sure Vulture was following. Finally, when Toomes was mere feet away, Spider-Man hit the final button on his belt. All of a sudden, Vulture lost control and crashed into the ground going full speed. Spidey webbed him up, knowing he would be out for hours. Ok, well, I'm glad that worked. I wasn't sure that EMP would be powerful enough. I rigged it last night, and I knew it wouldn't take out Vulture unless he was almost on top of me. If I'd waited another second it would have been too late. He laughed as another thought struck him, I feel like Batman with his utility belt. Except, this stuff took an entire month to come up with, and he has his stuff all the time. Plus, he's a millionaire and, well, I have almost no money at all. Heck, that EMP I made came from parts in the TV and Microwave. Speaking of which, I hope that Aunt May doesn't want a TV dinner tonight.
As he crawled up to the final floor, he saw the time, exactly one hour from when he had entered, and he prepared for the worst. As he jumped out onto the floor, Otto's voice came in clear from the loudspeakers.
"Welcome, Arachnid, I knew I should have paid attention to the security cameras inside my own building, but I was too trusting of Mysterio and those other fools. As they say, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I'll be waiting for you, just go to the end of the hall and turn right. That's where you will find me."
Spider-Man cautiously crept to the room where Doc Ock had said he would be, watching out for any surprises. However, there were none, and when he entered the room, Ock was standing there waiting for him.
"Welcome. Today you shall see just how I rule the world. Then, I shall kill you for trying to defeat me, but, first things first. As you can see the design of this system is quite brilliant."
"You're too humble, Ock"
"Well, you just know me too well, don't you. As I believe you know, there is a chip in my neck that allows me to control my tentacles. About a year ago, I realized that whenever I was in close proximity to an electrical device, I could operate it with my mind. I realized then what astonishing potential was held in my brain. All thoughts of pitiful fights with you and Osborn were lost until my goal of world domination was accomplished, for I knew that if I could succeed in ruling the world, I could easily take both of you. I have done so already for Osborn, for not even he stood a chance against the combined might of my Sinister Six and I. I began developing a server to amplify and control the signals last year, and it was this server that allowed me to take over all of New York. With the help of a certain police captain, provided by a little collateral I obtained, I was able to obtain codes that would extend my domination worldwide. Of course, I realized that I would need more power, and more servers, and so now I have seven complete severs to route the signal, only needing three to keep control over the whole world's network. So to destroy these servers would take you much too long, as I'd have killed you before you finished with even two of them. Now, let's get it over with, I'd rather rule the world than fight you, but you have forced my hand."
All of Octopus's tentacles rushed toward Spidey, and he managed to dodge three, but the fourth caught him across the chin. He realized he was slowing down and leaped for cover behind one of Ock's enormous servers. Ock simply laughed and sent his tentacle down over the server, trying to grab Spider-Man and lift him off the ground. Instead letting it grab him, Spider-Man grabbed the tentacle and yanked with all his might on it. He heard a squealing sound, and then the sweet sound of sheering metal. He smiled grimly as Doctor Octopus cried out in pain and the arm dropped limply to the ground. Spidey took advantage of the distraction and jumped into Ock, tackling him and dragging him to the ground. He got in one good punch that knocked off Ock's glasses before one of Ock's three remaining tentacles picked Peter up and threw him into the nearest wall. Peter groaned in pain, as he realized what was happening. I wasted too much energy on the Six, and now I have almost nothing left. I need to finish this now, and I have an idea.
As Octopus was getting ready to swing another tentacle at him, Spider-Man held up his hands and asked him a question. "Wait," he paused, collected his breath and continued, "What if I joined you? You obviously need better security, and to be quite honest, I don't want you to kill me."
"I'm sorry, Arachnid, but you have troubled me way too long to trust you, because you always have something up your sleeve. So, now, you die." Ock hurled another tentacle at Spidey, who shook his head.
"Fine, but you should have taken the offer."
Only then did Peter reveal where he had been standing, right in front of the generator that powered the entire building. Ock cursed as he realized what was going to happen. As his tentacle slammed into the generator, All the voltage contained inside surged through Otto's tentacles and into his body, almost killing him, and frying the chip that controlled both his arms and held his control over the entire world.
Peter walked over to Octavious's unconscious body and whispered into his ear, "Sorry, Doc, probably no one deserves that, but if anyone ever did, it would be you." Peter walked over and removed his arms, then destroyed them. The he proceeded to methodically disassemble and destroy the equipment that had tormented the world for almost a year. "For what you've done to this world, and to my friends, you deserve to die. Instead, I'm gonna settle for making sure that you are Doctor Octopus no longer."
Spidey walked over to Otto's office, and picked up the phone. "Captain Stacy, please. Yes, I'll hold." Spider-Man waited for what seemed like forever before he heard Stacy pick up the phone. "Hello, Captain Stacy, this is Spider-Man. Otto Octavious has been captured, and his hold on the world is now gone. No, I'm not joking. Why would I joke about that? Oh, I'm the third caller to say that this week, okay. But I'm telling you the truth. I also have his Sinister Six webbed up on some of the different floors. Otto and I are on the top floor, I'll be waiting for you."
By midnight in New York, the world knew of Otto's defeat, and Spider-Man was an international hero by the next morning. Control of the United States was turned back over to the President, and other world leaders soon took back the positions that they had occupied before Octavious's takeover. The curfew was lifted, and both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four were released from prison and allowed to once again resume hero work. The world would still feel the effects of Otto's takeover in the economy and other things for years to come, but things were better now than they had been during any of the time Doctor Octopus was in power. Captain Stacy had been reprimanded for his role in Otto's takeover, but he had somehow avoided jail time. He still had lots of community service, and he paid a large fine, but he was even allowed to keep his job thanks to what the judge called extenuating circumstances, and his bravery in finally taking Doctor Octopus in.
For Peter, he finally was free to do whatever he wanted to as Spider-Man again. No longer did the Daily Bugle decry him as a menace, for Jameson had seen his true bravery in taking down Doctor Octopus. Now that Peter had become Spider-Man again, he had less and less time for Liz. Just a month after Spider-Man's victory, he and Liz had broken up. However, Peter and Gwen were finally speaking again, and she had slowly started to once again become his best friend. Who knows if anything will happen with me and Gwen, Peter thought as he stood on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city on New Year's Eve, but one thing is for sure, the future looks brighter now, both for me and the world, than it ever has. He smiled beneath his mask and swung off toward Time's Square to meet Aunt May, Captain Stacy, and Gwen, and ring in a brand new year.
