Chapter Six

The clock reached 7:53 A.M. Anna was out cold from last night's happenings. Normaly, she's required to be up and dressed by 6:30, but Doc Ock felt so sorry for her that he let her sleep in.

The alarm sounded again warning her of graduation. Anna fluttered her eyes open and glanced at the clock. After seeing that she only had seven minutes to get to school, she threw back the covers. Anna leaped out of bed and began throwing her clothes on. She ran to her dresser, grabbed her hair brush, and madly brushed her hair. After adding a little mouse for body, Anna dashed into the bathroom. The girl squirted toothpaste on her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth vigorously.

As she watched herself in the mirror, she noticed a patterned rise in her shirt over her abdominals. She lifted her shirt curisouly to uncover her stomach now plated with long strips of iron. Anna stared at this a little while before rinsing her mouth out. "That's a little weird." she said to herself. Anna glanced back at the clock now giving her five minutes to get to school.

She raced down the stairs and grabbed an apple from the kitchen. "Anna, I'm glad you're up." Doc Ock called from his position at the table with Rosie. "I need to have a talk with you." he stated getting up and setting a hand on her shoulder.

Anna looked at him anxiously. "I don't have time right now, Dad. I have five minutes to get to school and get my robe out of my locker! I so got up later than I thought I would-" she panicked.

Doc Ock nodded trying to sit back down when Rosie hit him with a rolled up newspaper. He stood back up; he would have been content just to let his daughter figure it out on her own, now that he realized how hard it would be to tell her, but Rosie was forcing his hand. "I'll drive you there." Otto offered as his tentacle reached over to the counter and grabbed his keys.

"Ok, but we need to go now!" Anna exclaimed running out of the door slipping on her coat. Ott followed uncertainly.

"Good luck." Rosie said giving him a thumbs-up from the kitchen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A ways down the road, they had gotten in a traffic jam. No car was moving and the clock hit eight. Anna hit her head on the dashboard frustratedly.

Doc Ock noticed her actions and looked over at her, "I'm going to write a note for you." he said.

"The school doesn't accept any notes that aren't a good excuse like, 'I broke my leg.' anymore. Unless they're a doctor's note." Anna said.

"Well, I'm a doctor. Therefore, the note counts." Doc Ock declared smiling at her.

Anna smiled back at him, "You rock."

"Sure, I rock, now anyway," he rushed along." we need to have a talk."

"Is it about the pizza incident? Because, I did not mean to shove that pizza in Brittney's face. I slipped." Anna defended.

"No, you aren't in trouble. It has no conern of you, I mean...it does, but it's not about...er...I-I took notes. Just a moment." Doc Ock said taking a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket(yes, he does wear other clothes), and began looking it over. "You've-I've- you know about my appendages right?" he began realizing that his notes weren't going to help him.

Anna glanced at the metal arms ou her father's back. "Yah..." she said a little suspiciously.

"You did, good. Anyway, you know that they are connected to my spinal cord and, well, maybe a metiphore will help:

"There once were two chefs and an gingerbread cookie. Chef #1 made the gingerbread cookie and was proud of it. When he wasn't looking, Chef #2, a meaner one, snuck in and iced it without Chef #1 knowing; which, when Chef #1 found out, made him feel bad because he didn't guard his bakery well enough."

Watch it, Otto. The tentacles warned not liking where he was going.

"And so that lookie looked a little different. Chef #1 still loved the gingerbread cookie. Nothing was wrong with it, it just was a little more unique than all the other cookies. It was the same cookie, but it tasted a little different and the icing couldn't come off, because it was sticky. Do you see what I'm saying?" he asked hoping that he wouldn't have to tell it to her face.

"I need a little more than gingerbread cookies to go on." Anna said.

"Right...um...I'm Chef #1, my appendages are Chef #2, and you're the cookie. Is it clearer now?" Doc Ock asked mentally crossing his fingers.

"I think so, but I'm still confused. Your ten- I mean, your appendages,(Doc Ock didn't like to reffer to them as tentacles for it supported the lies printed about him in the Daily Bugle.) hacked in and mutated your t-RNA code to give me...what? This metal band around my waist?" she guessed.

"Ever wanted to grow up and be just like your dad?" Doc Ock asked.

"Not really." she answered.

"Well..." Doc Ock shrugged with an absent smile.

Anna realized what he meant. "What?" she said unable to believe it. "I'm gonna have tentacles out my back!"

"Not tentacles, Anna. But...yes. The good part is those voices you hear are caused by them. You aren't skitsofranic as you had probably thought." Anna frowned at him. "Remember Chef #1? He felt very bad about it." Doc Ock defended frowning back. "And I've lived with them longer than you have. I can help you with coping with them." he offered.

"Oh great! That'll be fun. 'What did you do at school today?' "Oh, I killed five people. That's three more than yesterday.'" Anna mocked angrily.

"Really Anna, I can! I know what'll happen if you do it wrong, and I'm learning what will happen if you do it right. Like for instance: #1- Don't take their advice seriously without consulting someone else who is trustworthy. #2- Accept them and move on. #3- Don't bring them up in conversation; people seem to fear you. #4- Control them; don't let them control you. And #5- Don't throw cars at people. Throwing cars doesn't help anyone."

"Like I would really throw a car at someone. I'm not strong enough. Plus, why would I?" she asked.

"Trust me, when the oppurtunity comes, you'll be tempted." Doc Ock said as they arrived at the school grounds. He wrote a note and handed it to her as she was getting out of the car. "Chef #1 tried every way to get the icing off." he added.

"But Chef #1 didn't have time to try it all, because the cookie got eaten alive by all of the other cookies." Anna said slamming the door and wlaking into the building.

Doc Ock sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Right now, I want to throw a car on Chef #1."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside the building, Anna dressed into her graduation robe. She put the hat on as Otto's rules ran through her head. (Even though she swore she wouldn't think about them.) "I'm gonna be fine, I'm gonna be fine..." she chanted to herself as she went into the beautifully decorated gym ready for the graduation although this morning was only a practice. No one notcied the band around her waist because her robe was so large that not even her feet were visable.

Everyone looked towards her, "Anna's here. That's grand. Now we can begin practice right." the principal said. He had always liked Anna since the first day of knowing her, and it had creeped her out ever since.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Warbutton. I have a note." Anna said running up to the principal.

"We don't accept excuse notes anymore, Anna," he said.

"Don't worry, this is a doctor's note." she said handing it to him.

Mr. Warbutton slipped his glasses on to read it, "'Please excuse Anna Octavious for being absent for the beginning of her graduation practice. She had a very hard and painful night for personal matters not to be mentioned. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Dr. Otto Octavious.' You got Doc Ock to sign this?" he asked folding it up. "Dear, a simple tardy would have been better than risking your life."

"I didn't. A doctor signed it." she said.

"I know that, but-"

"My dad signed it. Octavious is a very common name. So is Otto." she explained. "And as you well know, doctors are everywhere."

"Ok, I guess. Now, we need to get going again with the practice so get in line Anna." he urged.

Anna stepped in the slowly moving line as it moved forward as another person went forward every few seconds. They're not gonna come, they're not gonna come, they're not gonna come... She repeated in her mind nervously. Her turn came and she walked forward still running that thought through her head. She got up on the stage and back down. Anna smiled releaved that the tentacles didn't shoot out. Maybe she could do this without becoming the topic of discussion for years to come.

XXX

That night, the real graduation was starting. The popular group of girls were standing outside gossiping about who-knows-what. Each one of their ghair was up in some million dollar fashion. Most of the other girls, including Anna, simply combled and maybe streaked it with pleach to make it more colorful. Anna had a few pink streaks in it to match her lip gloss. She was standing inside with her friend. The cold gusty wind was constantly blowing in chilling the air. Supposedly, the heaters were on, but they weren't doing a very good job.

Lilaine, her best friend, was messing with her hair. "This is so exciting, Anna, I can't wait to get to highschool. Then I'll be driving in a year. Imagine that! This'll be so cool. What do you think?"

"I've waited for this day my whole life. It's gonna be so exciting." Anna answered.

"Yup. You're gonna have to find something else to look forward to." Lilaine siad. Anna nodded but her mind was elsewhere. "Something wrong Anna?" Lilaine asked.

"Well, yah." she replied fingering her fingers. (weird)

"What is it?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" Anna asked.

"Sure, if it's about that crush on Brad, I already know." Lilaine said.

"No, it's way bigger than a crush." she said. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone! Not your mom, not your little sister, not to any of your friends, don't even write it in your diary!" Anna warned.

"Ok, I won't. Is it really that bad?" Lilaine asked confused by how secretive her friend was being.

"Mm hm..." she replied. "You see, I was late today because-" Anna was cut off by her parents walking up to her.

"Hey Anna," Rosie greeted. "Hi Lilaine. Are you two ready for tonight?" she asked.

"Can't wait." Lilaine said.

"Me neither." Anna answered. An announcer began talking into a microphone up on the stage.

"Oh, it's starting. Anna, do you want me to hold your coat?" Doc Ock asked.

"Sure." Anna replied. Doc Ock grabbed Anna's coat from her arms with one of his tentacles adn began walking after Rosie who had already entered the gym.

As soon as Lilaine was sure that Otto was out of hearing range, she began whispering. "Man, Anna, you're dad's weird. Doesn't it make you uncomfortable that he's been convicted of murder?" she asked.

"No, he's turned around. He hasn't broken the law lately, and you shouldn't say so." Anna defended her father suprisingly.

"I'm sorry." Lilaine said disturbed by her friend's sudden outburst. They walked to the back room and got in line. "You know, you've been jumpy ever since you got here. Something's up, and I need to know." she said.

Anna was about to tell her when one of the helpers gave her her cue to began walking. She made it to the stage fine and stood along with all of the graduates before her. Anna smiled proudly. Maybe she could do this. Maybe she could enjoy the night. Lilaine came and stood by her happy to seen Anna smiling for the first time that day.

Anna had been asked to come up with a song and sing it for the audience. She would have turned it down if it wasn't worth one hundred points. It came time for her to sing it so she grabbed a microphone and stepped in front of the class. Of course, she was nervous she whe went up there. Everyone went quiet waiting for her to begin. She glanced over at her parents holding hands and watching her proudly; this gave her a little more courage. She ran it through her mind and found the melody. Anna opened her mouth to sing, but just then four metal tentacles, like her father's, shot out of her back. Everyone gasped and her classmates jumped back.

Anna Octavious fainted and fell face forward on the stage. Doc Ock stood up on his bottom tentacles and walked hastily onto the stage. He picked her up in one tentacle bringing her close to him and propping her head up with his arm. His actions raised more ruccas than Anna sprouting tentacles and fainting. Doc Ock got down form the stage and began walking out of the gym.

Cell phones, coats, purses, and more flew through the air hitting him for the people were trying to protect Anna. Doc Ock spoke soothingly to his daughter as he wlaked down the aisle disregarding the people's offensive comments and actions. Rosie ran out after the two as several mothers attempted to hold her back.

Lilaine shook her head absently. She couldn't believe what just happened. She was almost sure that she was dreaming, but not even in her dreams did she expect this.