A New Beginning
Chapter Seven: Dangers in the City
7:03 am, next day...
Curt was woken up again by someone knocking on his door. He thought it was Octavius again, but when he opened the door, he was surprised to find Rosie standing there.
"Oh, god, Curt, I'm glad you're home... have you seen Otto anywhere? He's gone! I haven't seen him since he ran out of the apartment last night!"
Curt said, "Alright, come in. I need to talk to you..." He hated to go back on his word after telling Octavius he wouldn't tell Rosie, but she had to know...
Rosie entered the apartment and said, "You've seen him? Oh, Curt, where is he!? Do you know?"
Curt sighed and said, "Rosie, I haven't seen him since last night, either. Take a seat."
Rosie did so, and Curt sat down beside her and started, "Some of this may be hard to hear, but I think you deserve to know... from what he told me, during the explosion, Otto was exposed to very high levels of radiation. The actuators he developed? You know of them?"
Rosie nodded, thinking she only had a very bad feeling about this.
"They're fused to him. He'll never be able to remove them. And I have to tell you this so you're prepared for the worst..." here, he hesitated, "Considering the amount of radiation he was exposed to... Rosie, there's a very likely chance that Otto Octavius may not survive the next 48 hours."
Rosie put her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob. "W-Why didn't he tell me!?"
Curt didn't say anything for a few seconds, but finally: "I think he's going after Norman Osborn. He said something about having to clear his name... I think he intends on doing so, and... I think he's going to kill Osborn."
Rosie said, "We have to find him! Talk him out of it!! We have to get him some help!"
Curt said, "I do agree with you..." he walked over to the window and looked out over the city, "...but this is New York... 8 million people, and we're looking for one..."
--
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Octavius was perched on a rooftop, looking down at the figure of Norman Osborn, standing in front of the ruins of what had been his lab.
You're going to pay for what you've done to me, Osborn... he thought. But not just yet... first, I have to prove to the world what you've done...
He turned around to walk away, when he saw the strangest thing standing behind him. It was a man in red and blue spandex, of all things...
Spider-man? I thought he was another urban legend...
"Don't do it, Octavius!" Spider-man said. "I know what you're thinking..."
"Back away, Spider-man." Octavius growled. "This is none of your concern."
Spider-man took a step forward. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I can't allow you to attack an innocent man-"
At that, Octavius screamed at him, "INNOCENT!? HE RUINED MY LIFE!!"
Spider-man said, "O.K, seriously? That still doesn't entail you to-"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" Octavius shouted, grabbing Spidey by the leg and throwing him into a brick wall.
Spidey stood up and said, "Aw, what was that for, Doc? See, now you've done it." With that, he launched himself at Octavius, only to find himself batted away, landing flat on his back on the rooftop.
He stood up and said, in a more serious tone, "Doctor Octavius, I'm warning you, I will put you down hard if you do that-"
He did not get to finish his sentence before getting whacked in the head with a tentacle, moving so fast as to be only a blur. He was not able to defend himself as Octavius proceeded to smash him into the rooftop, hitting him again and again and again until the hero laid nearly unconscious before him.
Octavius picked him up with a tentacle and brought him close.
"You dare to threaten me, wallcrawler? You don't know who you're dealing with!!"
With that, he threw Spider-man from the rooftop, watching as he hit the ground. Suddenly, he fell to the rooftop on his hands and knees, suddenly feeling like he was burning up. The rooftop started to spin, and he clutched his head to stop the vertigo. It seemed like every noise in the city was suddenly audible, and the fresh assault on his mind suddenly had him falling from the rooftop, scrambling to catch himself. He managed to grab hold of a flagpole, and he found himself dangling 4 stories up, looking down at the people below who were pointing up at him. He managed to reach the ground and ran into a nearby side street. Once he knew he was out of sight, he fell to the ground, unable to stand.
The last thing he saw was a man standing over top of him, reaching toward him, before lapsing into unconsciousness...
--
When he awoke, he found himself lying in the man's apartment, a cold towel over his forehead. He tried to sit up, but only felt dizzy. The next thing he noticed was that he no longer had his shirt on.
"H-Hello?" He called out.
From somewhere in the apartment, came a response.
"Ah, you're awake. That's good..."
The man stepped into view, and it was then Octavius realized that he knew who the man was...
"Mendel Stromm?" he said, in disbelief.
Stromm nodded and said, "Yes... are you alright? I'm sorry I had to remove your shirt, but you were burning up. What happened to you, Otto?"
The only thing Octavius could think to say was, "How did you know where I was at?"
Stromm took hold of Octavius' wrist to check his pulse, and replied, "You collapsed outside my apartment. I had only come outside for a moment, and you were just... there. You look like you've been through hell. I couldn't let you just stay there... I have standards to keep, you know."
Octavius looked up at the ceiling and said, "Standards? What do you mean?"
Stromm said, "Well, aside from being Osborn's former assistant, I was also the chief medical attendant on his staff... wait... you were caught in the explosion that destroyed his laboratory, weren't you?"
Octavius nodded, but did not say anything.
"You probably have radiation poisoning... how close were you to the explosion?"
Octavius thought on that, and said, "Closer than I'd ever like to be again... I'd say a distance of 20 feet..."
Stromm just nodded and said, "That's dangerously close..." He put his hand to Octavius' forehead and said, "Well, you're not burning up anymore, at least..."
Octavius looked away and said, "How long was I out?"
Stromm replied, "I'd say about 3 days. You weren't responding to any of my attempts to wake you up. I thought you had slipped into a coma..."
At that, Octavius looked up at him and said, "3 days!? Are you serious?"
Stromm nodded and said, "I wish I wasn't..."
"Do the police know I'm here!?" Octavius said, looking over at the window.
Stromm nodded slowly and said, "Yes, unfortunately. They're waiting outside for you... I told them they can't come in without a warrant, and they just told me they'd wait until you came outside before they arrested you..." Here, he leaned down and whispered, "I know you're innocent. Osborn planned the explosion at Quest to eliminate his main competition, then he decided to pin it on you. I saw the plans on his desk one day. That's why I really got fired in the first place... look, I have a way I can get you out of here without them noticing... but you're really in no shape to go anywhere right now."
Octavius shook his head and said, "I'm fine. I can do just fine on my own..." He tried to stand up, but fell to the floor as the feeling of vertigo came back. He growled and slammed his fist on the floor.
Stromm said, "As I said, you're in no shape to go anywhere." He lifted Octavius off the floor and put him back on the couch. "I see you're still just as hardheaded as you were when I worked there..."
Octavius shook his head and rolled over, his back towards Stromm.
"This... is... humiliating..."
At that, Stromm couldn't help but laugh.
"Yep... still the same Otto Octavius you were when I left... at least we know the radiation hasn't affected your mind..."
Octavius looked back at Stromm, a somewhat annoyed look on his face.
"Shut up. Seriously, I've got a headache, and you're making it worse." He grabbed a pillow from the back of the couch he was on and put it over his head, in the hope that Stromm would just leave him alone.
Stromm took the hint and left the room, turning the lights off as he did.
Octavius laid there in the darkness for close to a half-hour, listening to the sounds of the city, when all of a sudden, he heard what sounded strangely like someone trying to pick a lock...
What!? Tell me they're not trying to pick the door lock!!
All of a sudden, the door to the apartment swung open, and two cops stood in the doorway, unaware that Octavius had ducked behind the couch before they got in, and was now watching them...
"He should be in here..." one of the cops whispered.
"He is, somewhere..." the other cop said, "It's just a matter of finding him and getting him out of here before Stromm wakes up... it should be easy... last I knew, Ock was out like a light..."
Ock? Is that what they're calling me now? Octavius thought, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah... let's just make this quick..."
In that instant, Octavius knew there was only one way to escape...
With a tentacle, he quietly reached for a big metal brick that Stromm kept on his desk as a paperweight and, with a quick motion, hurled it at the cop, striking him in the head and knocking him unconscious on impact.
The other cop drew his weapon and said, "Come out, Octavius! I know you're there!!"
Suddenly, Octavius emerged from behind the couch and, fighting the dizziness that threatened to consume him, ran past the cop, shoving him facefirst into the doorframe. He ran from the apartment, out into the pouring rain. Climbing a building to escape, he made sure the cop didn't see where he'd gone. He kept running on all 4 tentacles until he was far into the city. Finally, he stopped in front of a building in the East Village; the building Curt had told him about.
I can hide here for the night... I can't let them find me!
He snuck into the building and fell to the floor, the symptoms of the radiation poisoning threatening to consume him again. He laid there thinking, How did I let this happen!? How!? It wasn't supposed to end up like this...
--
By this time, Rosie had been staying at Curt's house for 2 days, in the hopes that they would find out what had happened to Octavius. So far, their efforts had uncovered nothing; Curt had searched every hospital in the city, to no avail. He had checked the city morgue as well, turning up nothing.
That night, Curt had returned home to find Rosie pacing the floor endlessly. When she saw him come in, she said in a panicked voice, "Curt, give me the news! Have you found out anything!?"
Curt shook his head sadly.
"No, Rosie, he hasn't turned up anywhere. Either he's still alive, or they just haven't found him yet."
Rosie said, "Oh, he must still be alive! I can't bear the thought of losing him like this! He has to turn up somewhere!"
Curt was silent a moment before saying, "You love him, don't you?"
It was several seconds before Rosie said, "Yes... I suppose I do. I've never been as attracted to any man as I am with him. He's the quiet type, but that somehow makes him all the more charming. He's not at all like any other man I've ever seen. There's something different about him, and, oh, I don't know, I just..." here, her voice broke and a tear slipped down her cheek, "...I don't want to lose him. He means everything to me."
Curt looked away for a moment before putting his hand on her shoulder and wiping the tear from her cheek.
"Don't worry, we'll find him... I promise."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Curt walked over to answer it and found Peter Parker standing in the doorway.
Curt looked at Rosie, then back to Peter.
"Did you find out anything?"
Peter nodded.
"As a matter of fact, I did. Apparently, someone saw Doctor Octavius running over the rooftops about 20 minutes ago... said he was heading East. The guy who told me said he didn't look too well... looked like he was doing everything to stay conscious..."
Curt was stricken with fear at this.
"No... it must be the radiation... do you have any idea where he might be headed?"
Peter shrugged and said, "Looked like he was heading towards the East Village..."
Curt was silent for a moment before he said, "I think I know where he's going... I'll be back soon."
He grabbed his coat and ran from the building...
--
Octavius was rudely awakened by a boom of thunder that shook the windows of the building he had fallen asleep in. Getting shakily to his feet, he walked over to the window, looking at the storm that had broken over the city. Putting one hand against the windowpane to steady himself, he thought on his situation.
Osborn implicated me in two explosions I didn't commit, I'm one of New York's most wanted men, I can't turn to anyone for help, and I'm most likely dying of radiation poisoning. Is there anything I missed?
Oh, right... I now have 4 freakish mechanical tentacles fused to my body... how could I forget?
He looked over his shoulder at the tentacle that seemed to be... looking at him?
What? Is it... staring at me?
Then suddenly, something unimaginable happened...
Does it make you uncomfortable?
Octavius shook his head, sure he must have been hearing things.
Then it spoke again...
Why are you shaking your head like this?
Octavius looked up in horror at the tentacle. Suddenly, he felt a surge of panic...
"OH, DEAR GOD! I'M LOSING MY MIND!!"
--
Only half a block away, 2 off-duty cops were walking out of a cafe in which they had just had lunch. They didn't really expect any trouble at this time.
Then they heard the sound of a screaming man, coming from a building that was supposed to be abandoned. Looking at each other, the two cops took off in the direction of the building...
--
Meanwhile, Curt was running towards the building in the East Village that he had mentioned to Octavius 6 months ago. Little did he know the situation he would walk into...
--
Father! Why are you screaming?
Octavius tried to block out the voice of the tentacles, but no matter what he did, he could still hear it...
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! YOU CAN'T BE REAL!!" he screamed, trying to shut the voice up.
What is happening to you? Why are you panicking?
Octavius fell to the floor, clutching his head, still screaming.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO MEEEEEEEEEEE!"
So lost in that moment of panic was he, that he didn't see the two cops kick the door down.
The two cops just stared at him, stunned. This was the man they were supposed to be looking for!!
Finally, Octavius noticed the cops' presence. He stopped screaming and looked up at them.
"No..." He whispered. They weren't supposed to find him!
The two cops walked up to him and looked down at him. What were they supposed to do? He was obviously not well, but this was the man who had allegedly blown up 2 buildings in New York! They stood there for a minute before making their decision. One of the cops kneeled beside him and handcuffed him, while the other cop looked him over to see if there was anything physically wrong with him. Finally, they got him to his feet, just as Curtis Connors ran into the building...
Curt was horrified at what he saw...
"WHAT are you doing to him!?"
One of the cops looked at him strangely.
"We're... taking him into custody. That's what we've been ordered to do."
Curt looked frantically at both of the cops, then at Octavius. Strangely, he couldn't bring himself to look at Curt.
"W-What are you going to do with him?" Curt asked, slightly stuttering.
The cop shrugged and said, "Put him in jail, pending trial. Same thing we do to everyone else."
Curt was stunned.
"You don't understand! He shouldn't be put in prison! He needs a doctor! He's got radiation poisoning, which will be fatal if he doesn't get help! Moreover, he's innocent! He'd never maliciously destroy someone else's company!"
The two cops looked at Octavius. He didn't exactly look like the type who would firebomb a business. Yet, they had orders to follow...
Curt continued, "Look, if you're that concerned about it, at least get him some medical attention, then you can put him in prison if he hasn't already been proven innocent!"
The two cops looked at each other, then back at Curt. One of them spoke, "Alright, if it'll make you happy, we'll get him help, alright? He does look like he needs it..."
Then, Octavius spoke up.
"I-It was Osborn... he's the one who blew up... he blew up Quest, not me... f-find him, Curt... make him confess..."
Then, he crumpled to the floor, the gravity of the situation proving too much for him in his current state. Curt ran over to him and said, "Otto! Otto, wake up! My God, wake up!!" He stepped back and said, "My God... how could this happen?"
One of the cops looked at Curt sympathetically and said, "We'll get him help. I promise."
Curt just walked out of the building, too shocked to speak. The two cops managed to carry him out to their transport, putting him in the back. One of the cops got in the back with him, while the other got up front and got them headed towards the nearest hospital.
The cop watching over Octavius looked down at him.
The blond man's right... he thought, solemnly. He doesn't look like the type of man who would do something so horrific... but you never really know...
--
Curt finally got back to his apartment to find Rosie sitting on the couch. She looked up at him, noticed the look on his face, and ran up to him.
"Curt, you must know something! Did they find him!?"
Curt nodded sadly, but did not respond.
Rosie was shocked. "I-Is he..."
Curt shook his head.
"No, Rosie, he's alive... but he might not be for long, by the looks of it..."
Rosie gasped. "You saw him!?"
Curt nodded and looked down at the floor.
"I did... the cops found him first... they're taking him to get help, but... they still believe he's responsible for the bombings."
Rosie just shook her head and said, "How could this happen!?"
Curt looked at the floor and said, "I... I don't know..."
--
By this time, Octavius was in the security ward at Midtown Hospital. He had not yet woken up from the incident in the East Village. He was being carefully monitored; he had been hooked up to a machine that recorded his vital signs, and there was a doctor in the room as well. The doctor in charge of him, a rather short man named Victor Stone, was sitting in the room, waiting for him to wake up; he didn't have anyone else to tend to for the moment.
He was sitting in his chair, reading that day's paper, when Octavius awoke suddenly, crying out, his hand reaching out for an unknown object. Stone approached the bed carefully, lest he make any sudden movements that could set him off further.
"Doctor Octavius! Are you alright?" Stone said, looking down at him.
Octavius opened his eyes and looked up at Stone, visibly confused.
"Why do you ask such questions?" Octavius replied, turning away from Stone, who was now confused as well.
Stone shook his head and said, "Never mind. How are you feeling? We've been waiting for you to wake up..."
Octavius did not respond.
Stone raised an eyebrow and said, "Look, I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on with you." After Octavius still did not respond, Stone picked up a clipboard off the table beside the bed, looked it over, and said, "Alright, I'll read you the report, and you tell me if it's right. According to what this says, you got caught in an explosion 3 days ago, set off by an exploding nuclear reactor. You were exposed to extremely high levels of radiation, which is causing whatever's wrong with you. When you were brought in several hours ago, you had a fever of 103, and a number of wounds to the face and neck, presumably by flying debris in the explosion. And the, um, device you used to handle radioactive material is fused to you. It is said that you are responsible for 2 explosions-"
Octavius cut him off and snarled, "That's a lie. I didn't cause any explosion!! Osborn told you this, didn't he!?"
Stone took a step back and said, "No, that's just what the report says-"
Octavius cut him off again, getting out of the bed and advancing towards Stone, his tentacles writhing in the air behind him. "But you got the report from the cops, who got it from Osborn! That man's trying to destroy me, and you people are allied with him!!"
Stone backed into a corner to distance himself from the infuriated Doctor.
"I-I'm not allied with anyone! I'm just t-telling you what the report says!!"
Octavius snatched the clipboard from Stone's hand and looked it over, before hurling it through a window.
"You people think I'm losing my mind!!" he shouted, his eyes burning with rage. "How could you think this!? I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!!"
Stone looked around the room frantically, noticing the racing heart rate on the telemetry.
"Please, Doctor! Calm down before you kill yourself!!" he said, backed into the corner as far as he could go.
"DO NOT PRESUME TO COMMAND ME!!" Octavius snarled, ripping the electrodes from his chest, still advancing on Stone. "No one tells me what to do!! NO ONE!!"
At that moment, Stone ran for the door, to escape before something bad happened.
Octavius ran out the door after him, to find a way out of the hospital. He found a window and headed for it, shattering it, leaping out before someone could catch him. He hit the ground on all 4 tentacles, not noticing the rain pouring down on him. He then ran off, before anyone could make a move to catch him...
--
Meanwhile, Curt was on his way to the very place Octavius had just escaped from. He heard the sound of breaking glass, then looked up and saw the most shocking image: it was Octavius himself, having jumped out the window, landing on all 4 of the actuators, only a few yards away from him. Before Curt could react, Octavius had already started down the street.
Curt called out, "Otto! What are you doing!?", but it was no use. Octavius either didn't hear him, or for some reason, just chose not to respond.
"My God..." Curt said, leaning against a wall, shocked by what he had just seen. "What's happened to you?"
--
Octavius had gotten only a few blocks away from the hospital and had ducked into a side street, when he once again began to feel the effects of the radiation poisoning. He leaned against the wall to steady himself, but he had felt worse then ever before. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!" he shouted. With every second, the pounding in his skull intensified, until he found himself lying on the ground, clawing at his head to stop the pain. His vision started to fade to red, and his mind was on hyperdrive, every conceivable nightmarish image flashing through his consciousness. He felt as if his entire body was on fire, as if he was being burned alive. He cried out, hoping the pain would stop.
"Oh, God, just take me now!!" he screamed. "Just make it stop! Make this pain stop!! TAKE ME NOW!!"
And then a strange thing happened. It was like suddenly, someone had flipped a switch, and he found himself looking up at the sky, breathing heavily, sprawled out on the concrete. As quickly as it had came, the pain was gone. It was like it had never been there.
It was like he had never been affected by the radiation in the first place...
"I... I am... it's gone." he said, not making a move to get up. "The radiation poisoning... gone... but how?"
Well, I'm not going to lie here in the rain... he thought. I still have my revenge to enact, after all...
With that, he got to his feet and climbed up the building with all 4 tentacles.
I may be recovered from this, somehow... he thought. But what's going to help Osborn, when this is all said and done?
-To be continued...
--
(A/N: When I had this end scene in mind, I was reminded of the scene in "Doctor Octopus: Year One", when all of a sudden, the radiation poisoning that had been afflicting Octavius just seemed to suddenly... evaporate, so to speak. I may not pull it off as stylishly as it was done in above-mentioned storyline, but that's kind of what I had in mind. BTW, the voice of the tentacles? That was meant to be a one-time thing. He's not in his right mind at the moment, so he could easily be hearing things.)
