A New Beginning
Chapter Five: Breaking Point
The next day, at Osborn Industries...
By this time in the day, Octavius was in the middle of planning an experiment that he had been working on for almost 2 years. If it was successful, it would bring about a new source of energy for the world. He had been lucky to have Osborn not disturb him yet that day.
Unfortunately, good things don't last...
Osborn entered the lab and walked over to Octavius.
"Good morning Doctor..."
Octavius did not answer as he continued working.
Osborn rolled his eyes and said, "Shall I call you Doctor Octopus?"
"I don't have time for insults." Octavius growled as he finally looked up from the paper he had been working out a calculation on. "What do you want?"
Osborn leaned against the table and said, "Did you hear about the explosion at Quest Research last night?"
Octavius rolled his eyes and said, "I saw the explosion. I was standing there as the building collapsed." He put his hand to the gash the falling brick had left. "I guess I may have gotten a little too close..."
Osborn smirked at that, but Octavius didn't see it.
"That's bad to hear..." he said.
"Oh, save it." Octavius shot back. "I know you're anything but sincere when you say such things. Get out of my sight."
Osborn did not respond as he left the room.
He was at the scene? Perfect... he's playing right into my plan... Osborn thought as he went back to his office.
Octavius worked on his project for several more minutes, then decided to go to lunch. He walked out of the building, only to find that it was raining. Lightning was flashing in the sky, the thunder rattling the windows of every building in NYC.
And to think Curt's not actually supposed to show up for another hour or so... guess I'll have to walk...
--
2:07 pm...
"Hey, Otto, did you hear what happened last night?" Curt said when Octavius walked into the diner.
Octavius took a seat across from him and said, "You mean the explosion at Quest? I saw it. I was hit with a falling brick when the building collapsed."
Curt whistled and said, "Wow... you were that close?"
Octavius nodded and said, "I was only a block away when the explosion itself occurred. I had run over to see what happened... got too close. The falling brick knocked me unconscious, apparently, since the next thing I remembered was Rosie standing over me..."
Curt just looked at him, wide-eyed.
"Sounds like you had one hell of a night..."
"You haven't the slightest idea..." Octavius muttered, looking out the window at the storm raging outside.
The two were silent for a moment, before Curt said, "So, I was wondering if you and Rosie would like to come over for dinner tonight? We haven't done that in a while."
"Sorry, Curt..." Octavius said, his expression apologetic. "I've got to work late tonight. I'm just about finished with my project, and I'm hoping to test it in a few weeks..."
"I understand completely." Curt said, nodding. "We'll try again another night, then."
"Sounds great." Octavius said, picking up his menu.
Just then, Norman Osborn walked into the cafe...
"Oh, no..." Octavius said, in a near-whisper. "What's he doing here!?"
Osborn walked up to the counter and said to the man working the register, "Hello, my name is Norman Osborn. This may seem like a stupid question, but have you seen Otto Octavius anywhere?"
Osborn's back was to him, so Octavius stood up and started waving his arms to get the attention of the man at the counter, shaking his head to tell the man to say no.
The man took the hint and said, "No, he's not here..."
Osborn narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh, he's not, is he?" Suddenly, he turned around, just as Octavius ducked under the table. Osborn didn't see him, and he walked out of the restaurant.
"Alright..." Curt said, sounding amused. "Mind telling me why you're trying to avoid Osborn?"
Octavius got back in his seat and said, "Because the man's driving me insane! He will not leave me alone! I'm one step away from throwing him from a rooftop somewhere..."
It took Curt everything he had not to crack up laughing, but he hid his amusement well.
"If you say so..."
Suddenly, Osborn re-entered the cafe and spotted Octavius.
"I thought you were here..." Osborn said, a smirk on his face.
Octavius put his head to the table and said, "Just when I thought I had avoided him..." He looked back at Osborn and growled, "What do you want? Can't I get away from you anywhere?"
Osborn took a seat and said, "I just wanted to talk to you about this project of yours." He picked up a fork off the table and began balancing it on his middle finger. "Fission, eh? Is that the basis of your project? I know you've been working on it for a while, but I never really knew the specifics of your project..."
Octavius did not answer.
Osborn raised an eyebrow, before saying, "Alright, apparently you don't want to talk. Any particular reason for this?"
At this, Octavius stood up out of his chair and walked towards the door. Osborn followed him and said, "Come on, you're going to have to tell me eventually..." He then put his hand to Octavius' shoulder to try and turn him around.
Suddenly, Octavius snarled, turned around, and belted Osborn in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. The entire restaurant went silent.
"Don't touch me, Osborn!! When will you understand that I DESPISE YOU!?"
Osborn got up off the floor, put his hand to his split lip, and said, "You're going to regret that..." He lunged forward and grabbed Octavius by the collar of his coat, pinning him against the wall.
Big mistake.
Without warning, Octavius punched Osborn again, breaking his grip on his coat and knocking him back a few steps. But Octavius had had it, and he pressed his attack further, grabbing Osborn by his shirt and driving his knee into Osborn's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Somewhere in the background, Curt said, "Otto, what are you doing!?" But the shout went unheard, and Osborn got to his feet, out for blood now.
Octavius was not about to give him that chance. He grabbed Osborn by the collar of his shirt again and yanked him off balance, sending Osborn crashing into a wall, his head hitting the plaster with a loud 'thunk!'
Osborn fell to the ground, conscious but stunned, and said, "Alright, you win, Doctor. You don't want to talk..." With that, he got rather shakily to his feet and walked out of the restaurant, thoroughly humiliated.
I'm not going to let him get away with this... Osborn thought. But I can't just let him go... I'm still in need of his assistance... this is proving to be harder than I thought...
Octavius glared at him as he left, then looked around the room at the stunned people who had been watching the fight. He shook his head and left the diner, still infuriated.
Curt followed him out and said, "Whoa... what happened back there!? I've never seen you like this!"
Octavius shook his head and said, "I don't want to talk about it."
Curt was silent a moment before saying, "But... what made you do something like that?"
Octavius looked back at Curt and said, in a tone that clearly implied barely contained rage, "I TOLD YOU I don't want to talk about it!! Why can't you just respect that and stop asking questions!?" With those words, he began walking faster, trying to get away from the situation. He really didn't want to talk to Curt right now...
Curt just stood there, stunned. He had never seen that side of Octavius before... it frightened him somewhat.
He just shook his head and turned around, heading back to his own place of work, hoping he'd be able to talk to Octavius later, to find out what this was all about...
--
4:53 pm...
Octavius stormed into his apartment a few hours later, still angry over what happened in the diner that day. He threw his coat in the chair and walked into the bedroom, noticing that Rosie had left a note on his bed. He picked it up and read it:
I'm sorry for what happened today. Curt told me about the incident at the restaurant... I do hope we can talk about it later. We'd both like to know what's bugging you. I'll be back late tonight, I've got some work to do at the University tonight. I'll talk to you then. -Love, Rosie
Octavius picked up a pencil and wrote his own note:
I won't be home until later, either. I'm only here now to grab something, then I'm going back to work. I've got to complete my project soon. -O.O
He left the note on her bed, walked out into the living room, and put his coat back on. He picked up a black notebook from the table and looked through it to make sure it was the right one. Sure enough, the schematics for the final part of his life's work were sketched on the first few pages. It was the final component necessary for his project, which was a small-scale nuclear reactor. He knew that, if all went well, it would provide a new source of energy for mankind.
My greatest creation... my magnum opus. Soon, it will become reality...
He smiled at the thought, slipped the notebook into his jacket, and walked from the building, back into the now weakening rainstorm.
After this project is completed, he thought, I'll never have to deal with the likes of Norman Osborn again. He thinks I'm going to help him out by completing this project... he's got another thing coming.
With that thought in mind, he headed back towards Osborn Industries... unaware of what he'd soon be facing when he got there...
-To be continued...