-Chapter 5-
Armed and Dangerous
A week passed after the Vulture incident. At Oscorp, Norman had gathered some of his workers and scientists to discuss recent events, and their ongoing project. Behind Norman were monitors depicting footage of Spider-Man.
"Nick Fury has given Oscorp two weeks to prove we can perfect the OZ formula, or we are going to lose the contract to Alchemax," he informed the others. "Given how much we've invested in this research, losing the contract could bankrupt Oscorp. Due to recent events, I believe Spider-Man relates to our problem in some way."
He turned to one of the scientists. "Dr. Stromm, care to report your findings?"
Dr. Stromm cleared his throat.
"As we have seen, Spider-Man possesses all the attributes our project hopes to create.," he began. "My current hypothesis is that he possesses augmented spider DNA in his system, either as a result of Neogenics or an X-gene. An analysis of his blood may very well be the key to perfecting OZ."
"I could modify my Hunter Killer prototypes to track this unique DNA signature and capture Spider-Man," another man cut in. "Once he's in custody we can extract as much DNA as we need to complete our work."
"Then that's what we'll do," Norman decided. "Get on it, Smythe."
The next day found Spider-Man in costume, setting up his camera as he talked to May on the phone.
"I might be a bit late, Aunt May," he reported. "If I wanna get paid this week, I need to find Spider-Man and come up with some photos for Mr. Jameson."
"Alright, just be careful out there," May told him. "This city is becoming more and more dangerous by the day."
"'Careful' is my middle name. Never forgave Dad for that."
They shared a laugh. With that, he hung up, looking over the city.
"Things have been quiet lately, so I'm gonna have to settle for some aerial acrobatics."
He stood up before jumping off the roof, swinging around and pulling off multiple flips and dives as he did. After a while, he felt as though he had enough photos.
"That should do it for now. now to head to the Bugle, collect my money, and get our bills paid."
He was about to remove his costume when his spider-sense went off. He stiffened, looking around.
"Spider-sense going crazy…" he sighed. "A guy can't even sling a few webs in peace anymore."
Spider-Man looked up and saw a car-sized red robot with crab legs and thrusters flying towards him.
"Huh, killer robots?" he mused. "Thought that'd be at least year two, but whatever."
He jumped out of the way as the bot landed, its optics falling on him.
"Spider-Man detected," it said. "Engage."
The robot fired some kind of energy blast at him, forcing Spider-Man to leap out of the way.
"Yikes!" he exclaimed. "This thing means business!"
He took off swinging with the robot in hot pursuit, circling around multiple buildings. Spidey eventually managed to get around it, snagging it with a webline before landing a solid kick to its back, sending it spiraling.
"Gotta strike while the robot's hot!"
He shot two web lines and slingshot himself right at the robot. He climbed onto its head, smashing it right in the eye. It flew around wildly as Peter kept punching away.
"C'mon, you hunk of junk! Go down!"
Eventually, they crashed down on a building, Spider-Man jumping off. He rapped his knuckles against its head.
"Any last words before I put you in the scrap yard?" he got no response. "I thought not. Well, that was fun."
He swung off to where he put his camera.
"Good thing this was still going. Jameson's gonna love this. Also nice to know that I'm still capable of handling whatever this city can throw at me."
He retrieved his camera before looking back at the robot. After a minute, he went back to the robot's remains, prying off a piece of its chassis.
"Better get Peni on this. Find out who sent this toaster after me."
After receiving his paycheck, Peter called Peni over. The two headed for Peter's makeshift lab, an old workshed in his backyard. As Peter explained the situation with the robot, they examined the robot piece he retrieved under the microscope.
"Hmmm…" Peni said at last. "If you ask me, Pete, this has Oscorp's name written all over it."
"How do you figure that, Peni?" Peter questioned.
Peni stepped aside so he could get a look. "Because it literally has Oscorp's name written all over it."
Peter took a look. Indeed, the fragment possessed Oscorp's logo, with a serial number underneath.
"Oh… right," he remarked. "But why would Oscorp send a giant killer robot after me?"
Peni shrugged. "Search me."
"Any idea who made this thing?"
Peni looked it over a second time.
"My guess? Spencer Smythe. He's the head of Oscorp's cybernetics division. I've seen tech like this in his lab. He called them S-Bots."
"Any reason this Smythe guy wants to blast me into oblivion?"
"Maybe he reads the Bugle?"
Peter sighed. "That's just what I need. A mad scientist and a Jameson fanboy."
"Take it easy, Pete," Peni soothed. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I'll ask around the office, see if I can find out anything."
Peter nodded. "Thanks."
The next day found Peter, Peni, Harry, and Gwen taking the train to Greenwich.
"So… this Dr. Octavius used to work for Oscorp?"
Harry nodded. "He and my dad were college chums. They worked together on a lot of projects until the mid-eighties."
"What changed?" Peni questioned.
"Dad only said they had 'creative differences.'"
Peni raised an eyebrow. "Meaning he wouldn't bend to your dad and got sacked."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Still, he's done some pretty impressive work," Peter remarked, pulling his camera out of his pocket. "I've read up on him. Otto Octavius has made a lot of advances in bionics and prosthetics. Nowadays, it seems he's gotten into nuclear physics."
"Let me guess," Gwen spoke up, "Looking into him for some Bugle work?"
"It's not Spider-Man related, but I figure J.J. will still pay a pretty penny for photos of Dr. Octavius' project," Peter replied.
They eventually disembarked the train, heading for a building marked Octavius Industries where a crowd was gathered. They were led inside, where an older man with brown hair and glasses stood before them, donned in a green and yellow bodysuit. Next to him stood a woman with frizzy black hair and a boy a few years older than Peter who resembled a younger version of the man.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my family and I would like to welcome you this afternoon," he greeted. "But first, before we start, has anyone lost a large roll of twenty-dollar bills in a rubber band? Because we found the rubber band."
Everyone started laughing at the joke.
"Now, as many of you may know, I'm Dr. Otto Octavius," he introduced before gesturing to the woman and boy with him. "This is my wife Olivia, and son Arthur."
"Just call me Liv," said Olivia. "Everyone does. We'd like to thank you all for coming."
"We're proud to present a new fusion-based energy source," Otto chimed in. "Safe, renewable, and cheap energy for everyone. Guaranteeing cheap, renewable power for everyone on Earth."
"Now, let us introduce Dad's assistants." Arthur added.
He went over to an object covered with a tarp. With a flourish, he yanked it off, revealing a harness with four robotic tentacle arms. The arms were composed of a black polymer, and at the ends of each one were two sets of four sharp claws, the larger of which were tipped yellow. Peter immediately snapped a photo.
"One for J.J." he muttered.
"These four appendages are based on my neural interface prosthetics," Otto exclaimed as he put on the harness. "They respond as quickly as any limb, and can handle manipulation of sustained fusion."
As they watched, Otto clamped the harness on. The back of it extended up his spine, wires gently puncturing his skin and interfacing with it as everyone winced. As the doctor focused, the tentacles began moving, the claws spreading and moving to his mental command.
"Now that is cool." Harry admitted.
"These smart arms link directly to my nervous system and respond to an intra-cranial neural network," Otto went on. "Neuro-transmission speeds under one nanosecond, faster than signals travel inside the brain, let alone to an external prosthesis. Perfect for handling fusion reaction in an environment no human hand could enter."
Peni raised her hand.
"Excuse me, Dr. Octavius," she began. "But if the AI of those arms is as advanced as you say... wouldn't that make you vulnerable to them?"
"How right you are," Otto turned, pointing to a small chip at the base of his skull. "Which is why I installed this neural inhibitor chip to protect my higher brain functions. It means I maintain control of these arms, instead of them controlling me."
Peni took that in, nodding.
"Now, on to the main event. Give me the blue light, Liv."
The room was bathed in blue light as several workers brought in a device which was undoubtedly a fusion reactor. Otto went over to it, picking up several materials with his arms.
"Precious tritium is the fuel that keeps this project going. There's only twenty-five pounds of it on the whole planet. And I owe thanks to Norman Osborn and Oscorp Industries for providing it."
A small flash of irritation crossed his features at the mention of Norman's name, but he quickly hid it. Nonetheless, he inserted the tritium into the reactor, putting on a pair of dark goggles.
"Ladies and gentlemen… fasten your seatbelts."
He pressed a few buttons and the device powered on. The tritium glowed as Arthur overlooked the computer, before a small fireball appeared in the midst of the reactor.
"Dad... we have a successful fusion reaction." he reported.
The crowd applauded, Peter taking multiple pictures as Otto looked over the fireball
"The power of the sun... in the palm of my hand."
Peter then happened to glance down to see a paperclip inch forward a bit before flying into the machine. The lights did the same... and all of a sudden, numerous items and jewelry were yanked into the reactor.
"Keep calm!" Otto insisted. "It's only a sudden spike! It'll soon stabilize!"
"Otto…" Liv began. "Otto, something's wrong! The power levels keep rising!"
"It's under control... I can maintain-"
An alarm went off, the paneling being yanked off the walls. They all backed away as Peni leaned over to Peter.
"Boy, I sure wish Spider-Man was in the neighborhood right now." she whispered.
"Right," Peter nodded. "I'll, uh... just go see if I can find him."
He disappeared into the crowd, ducking into the bathroom as the situation escalated
"We have a containment breach!" Arthur cried.
A massive surge of energy blasted outward, slicing into the ceiling.
"Dad, we need to turn the reactor off RIGHT NOW!"
"It'll stabilize!" Otto stubbornly insisted. "It's under control!"
"That idiot…" Harry hissed. "He's gonna kill us all!"
At that moment, some lab equipment came flying toward their backs. Spider-Man came swinging in, tackling them out of the way
"Spider-Man!" Peni cried.
"All of you, get outta here!" Spider-Man ordered.
"But what about Peter?!" Gwen demanded. "Where'd he-?!"
"Already safe! Now it's your turn! Go!"
Peni grabbed Gwen and Harry's hands, yanking them out as Spider-Man made for the reactor, only to be stopped by one of Otto's tentacles.
"Doctor, it's out of control!" Spidey yelled. "We need to pull the plug!"
"I designed this equipment! I can handle it!"
"Can't take that chance!" Spider-Man leapt for the plug.
"No!" Otto swatted him away before he reached it, slamming him into the wall.
"Otto, enough!" Liv shouted. "Spider-Man's right! We need to shut the reactor down!"
At that very moment, the equipment began to shudder and spark. Olivia barely had time to scream before she was hit by the feedback. Otto whirled around, seeing her getting hit and falling, and his eyes widened as he removed his goggles.
"LIV!" he screamed.
"MOM!" Arthur shouted at the same time.
The mini-sun in the reactor surged again, hitting Otto right in the back. The harness sparked and jolted, the inhibitor chip at the top bursting as he convulsed. Seeing this, Spider-Man got to his feet and ran to the wall, grabbing the reactor's power cords and yanking with all his might. The cords being pulled out caused the reactor to fluctuate one last time before the reaction imploded on itself, leaving nothing but twisted metal and destruction. With that, Spider-Man ran over to the downed Otto and Liv, Arthur right by them. He immediately began dressing their wounds with webbing before turning to address their son, as well as anyone else left in the room.
"Somebody call 911!" he ordered.
Later, first responders arrived on the scene, taking Liv and Otto.
"Are they gonna be okay?" Arthur pleaded. "Please, they have to be okay!"
One of the cops took him aside, trying to keep him out of the path of the EMTs. Off to the side, Peter watched, joined by his friends. Peni sighed.
"Brought down by his own hubris," she muttered. "If the doc had just listened and shut down that stupid reactor…"
"At least they're alive," Peter pointed out. "The last thing anyone wants is Arthur left an orphan."
"Yeah…" Gwen agreed. "Hey Peter, where'd you go? You just disappeared when Spider-Man showed up."
Peter began to sweat at that.
"Does that really mean anything?" Harry asked.
"Just saying it's a bit fishy, don't you think?" Gwen pointed out.
Peni thought quickly.
"He went out to get help. Who do you think called Spider-Man in the first place?"
Gwen blinked. "You can get in contact with him?"
"Yeah," Peter agreed, playing along. "It's part of the reason I'm able to get such good photos of him for the Bugle, especially when the city's quiet."
"Huh…" Gwen turned it over in her mind. "I... guess that makes sense."
"Speaking of which, I gotta get these photos to the Bugle. Jameson's gonna blow his stack if I don't make the deadline."
He went off at that. Once he was out of sight, he sighed, wiping his brow in relief.
"Close one."
At the Bugle, Jonah looked over the pictures of the reactor.
"They're crap," he listed off. "Crap, crap, mega crap."
"Seriously?" Peter questioned. "I worked hard to get these photos."
"There was an explosion, Parker! A massive reactor goes out of control in downtown New York, and we don't have photos! Spider-Man was there, and you got nothing!"
Peter was about to object when a voice behind him did it for him.
"Hey!"
He turned to see Whitney at the door.
"Back off, J.J.," she ordered.
"Nobody's talking to you, Chang." Jonah snapped.
"I don't care. Give the kid a break."
Another reporter, this one a few years older than Peter with blonde hair, peeked his head in at that.
"Seriously, Jonah," he said. "It was complete chaos at Octavius Industries. Peter was lucky to get out alive, much less take the photos he could."
Jonah seemed to sputter for a moment before just grumbling and snatching the photos from Peter.
"...Glad ya ain't dead, kid." he conceded. "But next time, I want photos of Spider-Man! Got it?!"
"Uh… sure." Peter nodded. "Got it."
"Good."
Jonah stalked into his office, slamming the door.
"Okay, seriously," Peter sighed. "How is it that anyone who knows him can actually stand to be around him?"
"Yeah, J.J.'s a hardass, but he's not so bad once you get to know him," Whitney replied.
"He's got a soft spot... deep down." the other reporter added.
"Like Marianas Trench deep, or Dante's ninth circle deep?" Peter asked.
A moment of silence followed as they thought.
"Honestly... I'm not sure myself," Whitney said. "What's your verdict, Eddie?"
"Not sure," Eddie answered. "Still digging."
At the hospital, Arthur spoke with the doctor over his parents' condition.
"Unfortunately son, your mother sustained severe injuries," the doctor told him. "She's still alive, but she's comatose right now and... it's too soon to say when she'll come out."
Arthur looked down at that. "And… my dad?"
"His harness took the brunt of the blast and was fused to his body. We're prepping him for surgery right now to remove it."
-X-
Meanwhile, Otto was in surgery, where the doctors were preparing to begin their work. One surgeon pointed to X-rays on the computer, depicting Otto's spine.
"As you can see, molten metal penetrated the spinal cavity and fused the vertebrae at multiple points, including the lamina and roof of the spinal column," he explained. "We won't know the extent of the damage until we get in there, so I suggest we cut off these mechanical arms, slice up the harness, and if need be, consider a laminectomy."
He brought up a circular saw, turning to the other surgeons. "So... anybody here take shop class?"
The doctors shared a giggle as the head surgeon began to make the first cut. Unbeknownst to the doctors, one of the arms was beginning to move right behind him. It grabbed the circular saw, yanking it from his grip. They had just enough time to turn in shock as the saw was thrown down and the arm slapped the doctor, sending him through the door. All of a sudden, the other arms sprung to life and began attacking everyone. The room was utter pandemonium as the surgeons were tossed and smashed about, the lights and equipment being demolished. The commotion and screaming reached the ears of those outside. Arthur's eyes widened at the sound.
"Dad…?" he let out.
-X-
Otto began to stir as the last of the surgeons fell. The bandage covering his eyes was removed, and as he was roused, he took in the horrible sight of a room full of corpses.
"No…" he let out. "What happened?"
He began to hyperventilate as he saw the mechanical arms slowly moving on his back.
"You…" he managed. "No… shut down now!"
He got no response. In a panic, Otto got up and stumbled out into the waiting room. The arms wrapped around him, one grabbing a trench coat from a nearby coat rack. Otto took it without thinking, putting it on and buttoning it to cover the arms. Arthur perked, running over to him.
"Dad! What are you doing? You need to-"
"Arthur, where's your mother?" Otto cut in. "What happened? I don't…"
"The reactor went haywire," Arthur replied. "Mom's in a coma, and your harness is... fused to you."
Otto took that in, before another question suddenly popped into his head.
"And the equipment?"
"What? Why would you-"
"Answer the question!" Otto ordered. "What happened to the equipment?!"
Arthur recoiled before responding.
"Oscorp repossessed most of it after the explosion, citing safety violations. In Mr. Osborn's words, you couldn't be trusted with it anymore."
Otto gaped for a minute, before scowling in rage.
"Norman…" he hissed. "That thieving, double-crossing bastard! He took everything away from me! Again!"
The arms beneath his coat began to ripple, agitated by his rising anger. Arthur saw the movement and let out a startled gasp, backing away.
"Well, he won't do it a third time." Otto vowed.
He began to storm off. Seeing the top of the harness, and the burnt-out chip at the top, Arthur put two and two together.
"Dad, the inhibitor chip is fried!" he exclaimed. "The tentacles are taking over! You gotta-!"
One arm shot out, slamming into the wall an inch from Arthur's head.
"Go stay with your mother, Arthur," Otto ordered. "I have business to tend to."
With that, Otto stormed out of the hospital, leaving Arthur alone.
At Oscorp, Norman was ranting and raving at Smythe.
"You gave me your word that your Hunter-Killers would be able to contain Spider-Man! So why is it he destroyed the robot without even trying, Spencer?!"
"In all fairness, it was just a prototype," Smythe defended.
"I don't care!" Norman roared. "I want Spider-Man captured! If he's not delivered to Oscorp within the week, I will ruin you, Smythe! You'll never work in this town again!"
At that very moment, a robotic tentacle smashed through the window, heading right for Norman. He barely dodged it, getting sliced by one of the claws as he fell to the ground, covering his head against the rain of shattered glass. Their owner dropped down, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses as he glared. Norman slowly rose to his feet, gaping at the figure before him.
"Otto…?"
"You remember me?" Otto questioned. "Surprising. I thought you would have just tossed me out and forgotten all about me."
He began to advance. "Now... we need to have a talk, Norman. About how you repossessed my company's assets!"
Norman backed up slightly.
"I was in the right!" he insisted. "Your fusion reactor was going haywire, and you refused to turn it off in a room full of people! If Spider-Man hadn't intervened, you would have killed dozens! Including my son, and yours!"
"It's not just the reactor!" Otto slammed a tentacle before Norman, preventing him from making a break for it. "You never appreciated my genius, Norman! You just stood atop it and called yourself a giant! And you have no room to lecture me on safety and code violations! Or have you forgotten what you did to Martin Li back in '86?!"
"That was an accident!" Norman objected.
Sadly, that was the wrong thing to say. Otto's temper flared at that.
"So whenever your experiments go wrong or malfunction, it's perfectly alright?!"
Norman sputtered. "That's not what I-"
"Save it! I'm done listening to your excuses!"
He was about to lash out again, but a webline caught the tentacle before he could.
"Hold it!"
All eyes turned to see Spider-Man in the rafters, having fired the web.
"Spider-Man?" Norman exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"This crazy tentacle guy goes on a warpath, tearing up a hospital and most of the Financial District, and you're asking me what I'm doing here?"
"This doesn't concern you, 'hero'," Otto spat.
"I get that a lot," Spider-Man replied casually. "Look, Doc, I don't wanna hurt you, but I will if I have to. So what do you say you just calm down, call off your arms, and we can-"
He was forced to dodge a lashing tentacle before he could even finish the offer.
"If you insist on standing against me, then you will share the same fate as Osborn!" Otto declared.
"Harsh, doc," Spider-Man remarked. "Come on, you're a cephalopod, I'm an arthropod, can't we just hug it out?"
Otto mulled on that.
"Alright," he decided.
Two arms shot out at Spider-Man, wrapping around him and crushing him. He yanked the wall-crawler forward.
"Tell me, how much is Norman paying you to protect him?" Otto demanded.
"What makes you think I'm working for him?" Spider-Man managed, his voice strained.
"Why else would you break in here and risk your life to save his sorry ass?!"
"Aside from being a decent human being?"
Otto responded by slamming him into a wall repeatedly. When he finished, Spidey was just barely conscious.
"Know this: I'm only sparing your life because you saved mine," he informed him. "But next time, I will not show you mercy."
He then tossed Spidey out the window. With that, he lashed out with a tentacle, grabbing Norman.
"Now, you and I have unfinished business."
With Norman in hand, he stomped off.
At Peter's lab in Queens, Peni was studying some of Peter's project designs in his notebook, looking over a proto-utility belt when the door opened.
"Peni…"
Peni perked, spinning around to see a battered Peter leaning against the wall. His mask was in his hand, and it was clear he could barely stand up.
"Peter?!" Peni ran over, catching him as he collapsed. "Oh my God, what happened?!"
"Otto…" Peter wheezed. "He attacked Norman. I tried to stop him, but…"
Peni helped him up, getting him into a chair.
"Damn…" she cursed. "Dr. Octavius is such a good man. Why would he jump right to trying to kill Mr. Osborn?"
She perked. "Unless…"
"The reactor incident also fried his arms' inhibition chip?" Peter suggested.
"Making him more susceptible to suggestion," Peni concluded.
"He's not himself…" Peter tried to stand, but his entire body protested the action.
"Whoa, whoa, Pete," Peni held up his hands. "You're in no condition to go after him."
"I don't have a choice," Peter insisted. "He's gonna kill Norman. If I don't, who will?"
Peni conceded the point. "Just... just be careful, okay? And be smart about it."
"I'll try." Peter nodded.
At the Daily Bugle, Jonah was looking over pictures of Otto rampaging through the city, taken by Eddie.
"So... a guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs," he mused. "What're the odds? Now... what're we gonna call this guy?"
"Dr. Octopus?" Eddie suggested.
"No, that's crap."
"Science Squid?"
"Crap!"
"Dr. Strange?"
"That's pretty good... but it's already been taken." Jonah perked. "Wait, I got it! Dr. Octopus."
Eddie rolled his eyes. "I like it."
"Of course you do," Jonah remarked. "Tomorrow's front page: New Villain in Town: Doc Ock."
"J.J., this is serious," Eddie insisted. "He broke into Oscorp and kidnapped Norman Osborn. Eyewitnesses have reported he wiped the floor with Spider-Man while he was at it."
"He beat Spider-Man? Well... maybe he's not so much a villain after all."
Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Nobody likes a winner," Jonah insisted. "The people are our market, and the people want their heroes to fail. Makes them feel better about themselves."
"Them? Or you?"
"I don't pay you for your opinion, Brock. I pay you for news! Put a spin on this: Doc Ock: the man who beat Spider-Man."
"All you've done since Spider-Man first appeared is try to make him look bad," Eddie snapped. "He's trying to help people, not hurt them. What you're doing is slander!"
"It is not! I resent that!" Jonah objected. "Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel."
Eddie sighed in exasperation before storming out, sitting at his desk. He turned to Whitney.
"I'd say trying to reason with J.J. is like talking to a brick wall... but then I remembered one thing," he said flatly. "Brick walls don't talk back or insult you for not sharing their opinion."
Meanwhile, Arthur sat sullenly by his mother in her hospital room. She was wrapped in bandages and casts, hooked up to an IV and a breathing machine. As he held her hand, hoping for any reaction, he heard someone gently rapping on the window. He jumped when he saw it was Spider-Man, then carefully opened the window.
"Spider-Man?" Arthur asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you," Spider-Man replied. "It's about your dad."
"He's not a bad guy. He's just... confused."
"I know. And I want to help him before he hurts someone."
Arthur stepped back, allowing Spider-Man to enter. Spidey looked at the comatose Olivia, sighing before turning to him.
"First of all, I want to tell you I'm sorry about what happened. I tried to stop the reactor before anyone got hurt, but... I guess I just wasn't fast enough."
Spider-Man nodded, taking a deep breath.
"Look... I know this isn't gonna be easy for you to hear, but your dad just broke into Oscorp and kidnapped Norman Osborn. I need to find him and stop him before he does something he'll regret."
Arthur took that in, sitting down with a sigh.
"Is there any place you know of he could've taken him?" Spidey asked gently. "Anywhere at all?"
Arthur thought for several minutes, before standing up.
"There's an old warehouse he owns on the East River. Nobody knows about it but me, him... and Mom. It's the most likely place he'll be."
"Thanks," Spider-Man nodded. "I promise I'll do what I can to help him."
With that, he jumped out the window, swinging into the night.
At the warehouse in question, Otto threw Norman into an old crate, smashing it to splinters. He pulled himself up, shaking out the cobwebs.
"If you're expecting an apology, Otto, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you."
"I don't want an apology. I want the truth to come out!" Otto held up a camera phone as he snatched Norman up again, clearly recording. "You stole my company, Norman. My ideas. Everything you have is built on lies. LIES!"
"You want the truth?" Norman asked, defiant. "Fine. The truth is, you were only ever worth a damn when you worked for me. The truth is you could never accept that I'm better than you! You're a failure, Otto! And you always will be!"
Otto let out a furious roar, tossing Norman to the ground and preparing to impale him, only for a webline to catch it.
"That's enough of that, Ock!"
Otto scowled to see Spider-Man at the window.
"You again?!" he shouted. "How did you find this place?!"
"Arthur's worried about you," Spider-Man informed him. "He wants you to come home. Get help."
"The only help I need is ensuring that Norman Osborn pays for his crimes!"
He lashed out at Spider-Man, forcing him on the defensive. Norman took the chance to slip away.
"Why do you insist on getting in my way?!" Otto ranted. "Osborn is a cheap, greedy, hypocritical, thieving piece of filth, and New York would be better off without him!"
"I don't pick and choose who I save!" Spider-Man shot back. "With great power comes great responsibility!"
"Then you will die a fool!"
Otto shot his arms out at Spidey, forcing him to leap over them. Before he could reach Otto, two of his arms shot out and grabbed him by the wrists, flinging him out of the warehouse. He shot a webline and swung through a window back inside, colliding hard with Ock.
"Otto, please!" Spider-Man pleaded. "Your inhibitor chip was fried! Those arms have turned you into something you're not! Don't listen to them!"
Otto just snarled in response.
"What happened to the man you were?!" Spidey went on. "The man who spoke of intelligence as a gift to be used for the good of mankind?! A privilege?!"
Otto hesitated for a few moments, the dawn of reason seeming to return to his eyes for that brief instant before he shook his head.
"Even geniuses make mistakes from time to time."
"And what about your family?!"
Otto stopped mid-attack. Seizing the opportunity, Spider-Man kept going.
"Your wife is in a coma. The doctors aren't sure when or if she'll wake up. Your son needs you, Doctor."
Otto backed away, realizing what he was doing.
"Arthur... Liv…"
"You have people who need you, Doctor," Spider-Man insisted. "Don't throw all that away for revenge."
The tentacles waved around, seemingly resisting, before Otto focused with all his might, forcing them still.
"You're right…" he admitted. "I can't do that to my son. I won't become a monster."
Later, Peter and Peni watched the news, the report depicting Otto being taken into custody and sent to the Raft. Thinking of Arthur, Peter sighed.
"Spider-Man saved the day again, but he had to split up a family in the process. Pen... was it worth it?"
"If you hadn't, things would have been worse," Peni pointed out. "He could have killed Norman, and been sent away for life. Then Arthur really would have lost his father."
She patted his back. "It's gonna be okay, Pete. The doc will be kept in custody until they can find a way to safely remove the harness. Then he can go back to his family."
"I hope so," Peter remarked.
In his cell at the Raft, Otto was sitting quietly and reflecting on what led to this. Unbeknownst to himself or the guards outside his cell, his restrained tentacles flexed slightly, flashing red...
Author's Note:
And thus, my version of Doctor Octopus is introduced.
His wife, Olivia Octavius, is taken from Into the Spider-Verse, and his son Arthur is based on Otto's own depiction in the 2017 cartoon.
Please R&R. Until next time!