Chapter 18

It's funny. When I originally came up with the idea for this story, I always imagined the climax taking place in a train yard. Now they're in the Empire State Building. Even when I try to plan things out, they always end up taking their own direction anyway.

This chapter is a bit short, but . . . Cliffhangers are so fun ;)

For a few seconds, the only sounds were of battle in the floors below them and the dripping of blood from one of them.

"A 'funny story?'" Adrian repeated, frowning. "This doesn't sound like something even Spider-Man would joke about."

Peter dipped his head in silent agreement. That had indeed been the case for such a long time. But, was it still? He felt like he could laugh right now. He wasn't sure if it would end up sounding hysterical though. "It's just really complicated. Can we please continue this conversation after we get rid of the huge symbiote army?"

"It looks like we have plenty of time right now." Adrian spread his arms to gesture to the dark, quiet room they were in. "I'm supposed to babysit you for the rest of this mission. I—I would like to know who exactly I'm protecting."

A pained look entered Adrian's eyes, the same kind of hurt Peter had seen in them when he had begun to convince Adrian that Octavius was the bad guy. How funny it was that the tables were about to turn. Yet . . . that implied that Adrian would try to convince Peter that Octavius was the bad guy, and Peter already knew that. His not-so-brief foray into the mind of Otto Octavius didn't change anything.

But didn't it? Peter had seen all of Octavius's reasons, all of his plots, all of his dreams . . .

(Who was he anymore? Who did he refer to?)

"I'm still me," he said, although it was more of a reassurance for Adrian than it was a true statement for himself. "I'm still Peter, the kid who trusted you enough to show you the dorky face behind Spider-Man's mask." He mentally asked his symbiote to uncover his face. It took his remaining cloth mask with it. "It's just . . . I'm also the—the—Well . . ." His mouth was suddenly quite dry, but he swallowed and finished in a rush, "I'm Otto Octavius's clone."

Adrian blinked at him. "How is that possible? I mean, I don't know everything about your life, but . . . don't you have family? I know you once had parents. How—?"

"My parents were Octavius's lab assistants when he—when he made me. They took me and raised me as their own." Peter realized that was the first time he admitted that out loud. It didn't feel like the first time though, because now he remembered being the one to tell himself that; he remembered being Octavius, visiting his clone—

Peter clenched both fists, even as the action made his shredded arm feel like it was on fire.

"So that's why Doc Ock was always so obsessed with you?"

"Not really. We only found out several months ago. And actually, this was the first time he's kidnapped me since then."

"And he was trying to mind control you to make you just like him?" Adrian deduced, looking repulsed. Peter hunched his shoulders in a halfhearted shrug.

"Kind of, yeah."

"So right now, I'm looking into a young version of the face of Doctor Octopus."

Peter swallowed again. Now he realized why the team had stopped calling Octavius by his villain name; it dehumanized him (which him, though?). "Pretty much."

Adrian stared at him intently for a long moment. It was times like this, with his dark eyes unblinking, that his bird side showed. Peter began to feel uncomfortable under his scrutiny by the time Adrian spoke again.

"Even working for him, I rarely saw his face. Honestly, I can hardly imagine him our age. But I can see the resemblance now that I'm looking for it."

"Yeah, I know." Peter wished he had pockets to stuff his hands into. But then the movement would probably hurt his arm more.

"I'm so sorry," Adrian said as mournfully as if he were at a funeral.

Peter couldn't help but feel a little offended by that. Maybe a few weeks ago he wouldn't have minded people feeling sorry for him, but now was not the time. His connection to Octavius had helped them come up with a pretty neat solution, after all, even if it had come at the expense of a few days (Peter was still having a hard time wrapping his head around that).

"I guess your friends didn't tell me because they thought I'd be upset or something." Adrian finally looked away. "I can't really blame them. If I wanted to hurt Doc Ock before, I really want to kill him now."

"We don't kill," Peter reminded him firmly. "We never kill."

Adrian looked at him again. "But Pete, now he's really crossed the line! I know Doc Ock! He's never going to stop hunting you!"

"We'll just lock him up, then! I'm not going to become a murderer!"

"I know you're forgiving, but you can't possibly be this forgiving! You don't have to be the one to do it!" Something dark shone in Adrian's eyes.

"You don't want to go down that path," Peter said solemnly.

"Maybe not," Adrian relented. "Sorry, I got carried away. It's just . . ." He released a long sigh. "Do you ever feel a desire to do what's wrong, even when you know what's right?"

Peter nodded, relieved that Adrian was seeing reason. "Everybody does. For me it was . . . it was the man who killed my uncle." A familiar weight squeezed at his heart, but it grounded him. This was a pure Peter Parker emotion. "I almost lost it, and I still hurt him pretty badly, but he's in prison right now, not six feet under."

"How do you control the hatred? Even towards someone like Doc Ock?" Adrian asked curiously.

"I don't really hate him that much," Peter said with a shrug.

Adrian's eyes narrowed immediately. "You can't possibly mean that."

"I—well—uh—" It took Peter far too long to realize what he had just said. He didn't despise Octavius with all of his heart right now? No . . . no he didn't.

"Are you saying that because you're Spider-Man?" Adrian continued before Peter could come up with a good reply. "Or are you saying it because your Doctor Octopus?"

The words nearly hit Peter like a physical blow. Despite the fact that he had been wondering the same thing a few seconds ago, Adrian saying the question out loud made his blood simmer. Or maybe it was just frustration because Peter still wasn't sure of the answer. He really didn't know, and his throbbing arm made it hard to think. His intermittent tensing made the pain spike to new levels. "I told you; I'm still Peter Parker."

"You're certainly not acting like the Peter I know!"

Those words hurt worse. "You said it yourself! I just spent days with Octavius before I woke up to this! Cut me a little slack!"

His shouts didn't echo in the room, but they seemed to hang in the air. A large boom shook the entire building. Peter's anxiety grew as he wondered how his friends were doing. Adrian returned to scrutinizing him silently for several uneasy seconds.

"You're calling him Octavius. You used to always call him Doc Ock."

Yet again Adrian addressed something that had just gone through Peter's head. But this time the answer was easier. "He is still human. I'm still human. You don't call me Spider-Man all the time."

Adrian continued to stare at him. Peter realized that, of all the types of distrust he had faced over the years, this was an entirely new type. Usually it was mostly the older, more experienced heroes who didn't fully trust him. Or it was the wariness of misguided mutants. But now it was the same kind of distrust he always saw in his fellow heroes when they were forced to work with a known villain.

He wasn't a villain now, right? Maybe he felt a little funny in the head, but he certainly didn't feel the temptation to commit any crimes or monologue his plans. Peter opened his mouth to say as much. The words never came out of his mouth though. He was too distracted by Octavius's urgent voice in his head.

Peter! I need help! Norman and his goons are after me! I won't be able to evade them for much longer!

"Octavius is in trouble," Peter muttered. His symbiote pushed his mask back over his head. He asked it to allow at least this one piece of Spider-Man to show.

Adrian's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "How do you know that?"

Peter knew this was not going to go over well, but now there really was no room for arguing. If Norm—Goblin got a hold of Octavius, the transmitter would be crushed into a worthless pulp. "Our symbiotes' mental link is still functional," he explained even as he sent a message in his head: The team isn't anywhere around? I'm not exactly in prime fighting shape.

Hulk just rejoined the fray, and he collapsed one of the floors. Your team has been separated and Norman caught sight of me. It's a race to the top that I can't hope to win.

"You mean he's still been talking in your head all this time?!" Adrian exclaimed.

Peter sighed. It was already getting hard to keep track of the two conversations. Octavius's urgent sense of emotions was now a constant background right next to his slightly tingling spider sense. The building shook again and a furious roar sounded from somewhere. The look Adrian was giving him might have also been contributing to his spider sense.

"What? No, we can choose when we talk to each other," he said aloud. And then to Octavius, I can try to make it over to, but I'll only have one arm to swing. I won't be nearly fast enough.

"You're talking back to him?" Now Adrian's tone shifted from angry to shocked. "You're just having a pleasant conversation with him?"

Peter, you're forgetting, Octavius said chidingly. What is one arm when you currently have access to extra appendages via your symbiote?

Oh, right. Well— Peter didn't like the idea of having to use those arms again, but he really didn't like the idea of letting the Goblin win. You're not being very sensitive. I'm literally bleeding out here. How am I supposed to keep Goblin away from you? And when he was done sending that mental message, he finally focused on what Adrian had said. "Pleasant conversation? You couldn't be farther from the truth."

I don't enjoy putting either of us into such danger, Octavius said regretfully. But don't be a fool, boy! I'm not asking you to act as bait while you're disabled! I will hide the transmitter somewhere safe for you to retrieve it while I lure Norman away.

The selflessness of such a statement from such a selfish person struck Peter so much that he forgot to respond silently. "Are you serious?!"

"What are you talking about?" Adrian asked. "Of course I'm serious."

You know I don't joke, Peter.

Peter blushed. "Sorry, I was—"

"You were talking to him," Adrian interrupted. "You need to block him out. Stop listening to him. He's probably filling your head with lies and false promises."

"It's not like that! Octavius is asking for help—"

"He's asking for you to risk your life if he wants you to go out there and fight!"

"But he's not!" Peter's anxiety was mounting, although he was now sure some of it was coming from Octavius. He began heading towards the door. "No one is one-sided! Not even Octavius! He's—he's willing to risk his own life to give me a chance to—"

Adrian grabbed his good arm and rushed to block his path. "You're confused right now. I'm not letting him manipulate you. That's all he ever does."

"Will you stop interrupting me!" An image of the transmitter hidden under a broken desk flashed in his mind's eye, and Peter knew exactly where it was. He took a calming breath. He had to get Adrian to understand. "I get that you're just trying to help me, and I appreciate it, but this is one of those times where we need to be heroes regardless of what we want. N—Goblin is about to win if we don't move now. The team is split up, and if no one gets the transmitter working then we're all sunk and—"

"You can't trust anything he tells you!" Adrian insisted. "It's probably another trap! I'm not letting you go!"

Peter couldn't believe Adrian was giving him so much trouble. It usually didn't take him this long to convince people to work with him. And then he realized it usually didn't take Spider-Man this long to be convincing, and he had already admitted he didn't feel like Spider-Man right now. And then his arm seized with pain again. And then Octavius's voice rung in his head, Hurry! And he knew that it was up to him, and Spider-Man or not he had to do this, had to save the day—

"What are you doing?!"

And the next thing he knew, Adrian was being held in the air by four long, red tentacles.

"Peter! Put me down!" Adrian morphed into his bird form, trying to snap at the tentacles, but they were out of his beak's reach. "This is Octavius controlling you!"

"No," Peter said quietly. "It isn't. Not really."

Octavius's voice had gone silent in his head. Peter knew that, just like it had been for most of his life, any decisions he made now would be his own.

He webbed Adrian to the wall and ran out to get the transmitter, to save the day, to save his friends. And, whether it was a cause or consequence of his actions, to save Octavius.