Drowsy, Spider-man opened his eyes. A mist seemed to be over them as he saw through his mask. This was not his home. Where had his victory gone? He waited in confusion. As he stared up thinking, he saw thick steel beams laced over his head and coming down his sides of a large warehouse. No, rather he saw a smooth small white ceiling with an elongated thick special rectangular light. It was cold, but did not smell like an old laboratory, rather the scent of new paint hanged in the air. Only a few emergency lights were on. The rest of the details were shrouded in darkness. Only the emergency lights produced anything useful to see his surroundings.
Tired and weary from negotiating with one of his major enemies, Ock opened the door to his lab and it slammed shut. Spider-Man, was way in the back of his mind as he took off his jacket and threw it on the floor. He sat down in a chair so he could think for a while. He stared into space as he was thinking.
Spider-man looked over at him squinting as some lights were flickered on, dim, and not bright due to Otto's sensitive eyes. He gathered some spit to swallow as his throat was dry. He then asked. "Uh, Dr. Octavuis why am I in this lab? I know some guys jumped me, but how do you fit into the equation. I can't see how you would plan this."
"Leave me alone, Arachnid! I'm trying to plan something that, for once, does not involve you! Stay out of my way, boy, or I'm warning you..." the tentacles were poised at Spidey, ready to attack and unleash their secret weapon on him.
"Stay out of what? In case you hadn't noticed I am tied to this table, albeit a clichéd lab table but what can I do? If you tied me to a sofa and gave me pop-corn that would be different," He jibed.
The menacing metallic limbed man stepped forward to look at Spidey with a look of pure rage in his eyes. Otto was more than just upset from a hard day's work. The tentacles poised themselves for attack again, and then one of them slit Spidey's closest arm. Now you'll stay out of my way. Hethoughtlooking almost as if he were in a trance. He sat back down in his chair and began to think and worry about his plans again.
The siren alerting him of danger in his head squealed, but it was too late as his arm was sliced. It wasn't as deep as he thought it would be. What made him more upset than me?"If you wanted to slice my throat you would have..." He then begin to feel his legs start to get numb.
Dr. Octavius got up out of his chair to see Spider-Man struggling. "I fought so hard to see this moment... and now I'm not even enjoying it," he mumbled and He took Spidey's mask off. "Peter Parker. Funny, I keep forgetting that you and that Arachnid are one and the same." Ock seemed not himself. "No matter. Squirm. Suffer. Die. You'll be out of my way so I can get my darling Rosie back." He returned to his chair and continued to think of a plan. I can't leave anything off the plans, now can I? Hmmm... maybe I can give Chameleon the exact plans, and then send out one of the Sinister Six to retrieve it. Kraven was very stealthy after all...
"Rosie? I think you do have something wrong with you. She died at the demonstration," he stated his words carefully as the numbness spread from his arm to his chest and fingers. He mumbled, "I was able to move my appendages before. Die? Did...was that...a toxin?"
"No, she didn't!" Ock was snapped out of his thinking and he ran closer to Spidey. "How dare you! She is not dead! Chameleon told me so! And now he's after my blasted fusion blueprints so that I can save her life! And no it's not a set up. Any husband can tell the scent of his wife, as one part of his soul. It has even her perfume, rare, albeit but its hers. I have other proof that it is her before you open your mouth to dish out your immature wisecrack to me." Ock loomed over Parker, fuming out his anger.
Peter felt as though an invisible hand was pressing on his lung as he stated trying to take in as much as air as he could, "Before…..that…..why…did….you…have…them…bring…me…here. Why?"
Ock managed to calm himself down enough to answer Spidey's question. "Because I wanted revenge for you hurting my Rosie. That's why. And yes, that was a neurotoxin. So nice of you to notice. I hope you enjoy it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." He paused for a moment, to see what Spidey would do. The tentacles flicker and move around him curious about what a neroutoxion's influence looks like on the human body.
Spidey raised his brows of a confused look, and noticed the thick metallic straps on his arms and legs. "Hurting her..." He struggles to took a breath and continued, " I'm not Superman. I had to save Harry, you and stop the machine. If I…. would have saved her, Harry you and the entire block would have been destroyed…"He continued after taking more shallow breathes, "I had…. to make a choice. I wanted…. to save you all."
"I don't care who you are!" Ock answered Spidey. "And I don't believe you. I know you were capable of saving Rosie. You chose not to save her! Now excuse me!" As Ock left the lab, he accidentally hit a random glass on a table, almost knocking the bottle over.
The invisible giant he thought he felt on his chest squeezed his lungs as he made quick shallow gasps. His eyes stopped blinking and stared upward as a tear ran down his cheek. He loosed the letters, "MJ" before the world turned into glitter and then darkness before his eyes as he took the last breathe before it was too hard to breathe.
Ock left the lab for a minute and then came back holding a glass of water in his hand. He finished drinking it, and then threw it on the floor as the glass exploded everywhere. "Better not let the Arachnid die," he said as he ripped an oxygen mask off the wall and shoved it on Spidey's face. He frantically pushed on the little air bag as Spidey looked as lifeless as a rag doll. "Darn!" he said, among other things, as he saw the annoying Arachnid wasn't reacting right away. Otto ripped off the sleeve of his arm, yanked off the shelf a box of alcohol wipes, hurried and cleaned a spot on Peter's arm. He quickly, grabbed a needle and stuck it into Spidey's arm, hoping that its substance would clear Spidey's airways and let him breathe again.
"Breathe!"
The scientist moved closer and put his ear to Peter's chest trying to hear any heart beat, rather he felt his own beat as fast as a race car. He then stood up. Time was torturing him waiting for Spider-man to show any chance of life. A tentacle took note of the time and informed Otto as he lowered his head. Had it been too late? The anxiety of waiting built up in him like a volcano as the ticking of the clock send waves of remorse through him and heaviness of his actions starting to take its toll on him. He was the Master Planner, who devised this, and yet he doubted it was what he really wanted. The tentacles lowered sensing his emotion. It was over or so he thought.
And then-
Peter started gasping for air, and then opened his eyes and began breathing at a regular pace again. "Excellent. How did you enjoy my neurotoxin?" Ock asked holding blank sheet of blueprint paper as well as his original plans for his fusion machine. He turned and headed to a table nearby. "I hope you enjoyed your suffering," he said, as he got to work.
Spiderman tried to speak again but he could only mouth a few things. The toxin was still in his system, but now his body was doing its job of starting to remove it from his body. If only he could move or talk.
Ock continued working on his plans as quickly as he could with a look of despair on his face as he rubbed his forehead. Maybe I should ask the Arachnid for help... don't know what good he'd do, though...
Peter getting his tongue wet to form some words, but they were only a whisper. "Otto." Images of the person he admired the most flashed before his eyes as the very present one came to mind.
"I did fail." He stated to himself that he had stopped the machine. No, he had not, and she died. "I'm sorry Otto."
The weary scientist looked up from his work at Spidey with intense eyes. "What... did you say?" he asked with a totally shocked expression on his face. "What did you say?" he asked again, so shocked that he had forgotten if he had already asked or not.
He finally started to have some more feeling back into his limbs. It was not rapid, rather slow and the pain moved into some of his organs do to the detoxification process. "I said, I failed. I'm sorry." He spoke up louder and swallowed hard. He blinked a few more times.
Disbelief filled the doctor's soul. He sat at his desk and hung his head low. He looked at Spidey with rage in his eyes. "You're only saying this so I'll help you with the neurotoxin! Well, it won't work!" Rage came out from Otto, and his eyes stood on the paper as he continued on his plans, trying to ignore Spidey, even though he did help him through it. If he did survive, it was vital that he was able to breathe as the poison moved through his body.
Peter sighed. He looked up and spoke, "You're not the only one that loved someone you loved. I lost my Uncle Ben because I wanted revenge on someone who cheated me out of some money...what I'm saying is it's not worth it. And, maybe I can make it up to you. Who is this Chameleon person and why does he want you to do?"
Ock looked up at Spidey with a surprised look on his face. The old Otto seemed to be coming back for a moment. "Yes... I think you might have mentioned something about this uncle of yours before..." Small tears began filling his eyes. "I just can't... I just can't lose her... she's the only woman I've loved..." The tears began to flow down his cheeks, but he didn't want Spidey to notice. He turned around in his chair and wiped the tears off his face with his hands. He cleared his throat and began speaking to Spidey. "Chameleon... is my enemy. He wants my fusion machine, and he's taken Rosie. He wants me to trade my fusion machine plans for Rosie. If there's even one alteration on the plans, he'll call the whole thing off. I have no choice but to copy the plans accurately in order to get my Rosie back. But..." he turned to look at Spidey with a grave expression on his face. "... you remember how deadly that machine was! We can't let him build it! Could you... help... me...?" he asked with an unsure look on his face.
Feeling sensation in his arms, legs and neck, he slowly turned to face Dr. Octavius. "Since she's alive then I can help out. What do you want me to do? Ensure she escapes and he doesn't double-cross you?"
Time ticked away as Ock thought some more. He nodded and said, "I want you to steal back the plans that I will be giving them. Can you do that?"
"Sure. They are yours. I'm not into extortion. He'll be behind bars for sure...unless you decide to peel the flesh from his bones."
Ock nodded at Spidey. "No, no. Let me take care of Chameleon- and if you can, ensure Rosie's safety. Once you get the plans and her, you never let her out of your sight, you got it?"
"Got it. I'd hurry but I am just starting to feel my limbs...got anything to speed up the uh, anti-toxin thing?"
The right top tentacle grabbed the bottle that he had almost knocked over earlier. "Yes, I took a solution from Dr. Connors to clear one of my poisoned rats' veins. I Never gave it back. That was my fault. Here, I'll inject it into you." Ock moved quickly and drew the medicine from the bottle using a needle, cleaned the area, and then inserted it into Spidey's arm. "Wait a few minutes," he said. "That should help." He went back to copying his plans. The earlier one only diluted the poison as much as possible.
"Uh, thanks, I guess." He waits a few minutes as the cold substance feels like ice. He groaned in pain and soon the pain subsided. He tried to lift himself up but fell back on the lab table.
"You'll be a little weak from the toxins, Peter. It's a little side-effect even after they're cleared out of your body. Stay here and rest. I have 2 days left to finish copying this plans." The Master Planner looked up at Peter with a serious face look in his eyes, and noticed the fear in his, "You can trust me, Peter." The left tentacle came around and unlatched the locks on the straps. They pop up with a hiss and fall down and hang from the lab table.
He looked into his eyes. It was almost like having the old Otto back. He smiled. "Sure."
Ock sighed. "I wish things could just go back to the way they were..." he said regretfully. "But we must keep pushing on. I'll show you to one of my spare bedrooms and let you rest while I finish these plans. If you need anything, just ask. You can get whatever you want out of the kitchen. Do you want to change out of those clothes?"
"Would be good. I'd like to uh, appear uh as a student not some lab-experiment-revenge thing. I left my clothes near the construction sight in an alley. Do you think you can find it?"
Ock shrugged. "Why not borrow some of my clothes? I know they'd be a bit big, but they'd work for now."
Peter scrunches his brows low, "Right." He sighed and released them, "I didn't want to inconvenience you anymore. I'll just grab any belts you have for the pants and tie a knot on any shirt that is a bit uh larger than myself."
The Master Planner looked up from his work and cracked a small smile at Peter. "Good... Here, I'll show you where I keep my clothes." Ock got up from his chair, opened the door of his lab, and motioned for Peter to follow him out the door
Peter flexes some fingers, then stretched his arms upwards. Realizing he has some strength, he pushed himself up on the table. He teetered, but manages to ketch his loss of balance.
Ock looked at Spidey. "Oh yeah... the toxin... Nevermind. I'll just grab some clothes for you. Stay here and wait." Swiftly, he left the lab, walked through the hallway and into his drenched in brown color bedroom. He opened up several drawers and grabbed various clothing parts including pants, socks, a shirt, and a belt. He went into his closet and grabbed an old pair of leather sneakers that were too small for him. Maybe these'll fit him.... After he had what he needed, he walked back into the lab and set the pile on the table. "Think you can make it to the bathroom to change? I've got to keep working on these plans." The clothes were old but not in bad shape. Various colors only stuck to the conservative solid colors of red and grey, but it did not matter to him.
"Thank you." He looks around and sees a small bathroom next to the eye-wash sink for chemical issues and a shower.
Ock cracked another rare smile. "You're welcome." He went back to working on his plans, drawing each line as precisely as he could.
Peter took his time and stepped off the lab table and wobbled a bit, but soon took delicate steps to the bathroom. He changed as fast and careful as he could as his body felt like jelly.
The doctor continued working on his plans. "Are you okay in there?" Ock asked almost speaking to no one. He carefully drew up the plans with his expensive-looking pen.
Being careful, Peter tried to walk slow an steady on the floor. His legs feeling like jelly. "Yeah I guess so. I guess the poison still isn't fully out of my system yet." He then sat down on a seat and yawns. "Excuse me...so what do you want me to do?"
Ock responded without looking up from his plans, in a low monotone voice while he concentrated on his plans, "Just relax. Get some sleep."
A smile came over Peter's face. "I don't think I can sleep, so uh, have anything to read?"
A brow rose on Otto as he looked up at Peter for once and paused his work. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like a sedative, Peter? It'll help you relax and get to sleep." He smiled back at Peter, thinking how rare it was that he had smiled. I'm sure the rest of the detox of that is not the pleasant; he'd better off sleeping it off.
Parker rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, I don't need one thanks though." He tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair nervously. With all that he'd been through who wouldn't be on edge? Slowly, he brought his fingers to his chin still wondering what he could do to remedy the situation. Was this Chameleon well armed? Was he a sniper? He head read some reports but not enough to make more than a small article in the Daily Bugle.
Doctor Octavius stared at Peter for a moment and then got up out of his brown leather chair and walked to a counter with needles on it. He looked around and found a needle labeled as a sedative. He had cleaned his arm already with antiseptic. "Just let me give this to you, Peter. It'll help you. You can trust me," Ock said as he poked the needle in Peter's arm and injected him with the sedative. He went back to his desk and sat down again. "Have a good sleep, Peter," he said as he got back to work on his plans.
Peter was going to attempt to dismiss him again; after all he always thought to play the part of the hero. Before he could protest, a scent of alcohol filled his nose and then the needle had made it's impact in his arm. His eyes lowered as his mind started to float away. His muscles loosened, causing his head to slump and arms to hang down on the sides of the chair.
Otto looked up from his work and sees Peter slumping in his chair and within 15 minutes drooling. "Okay, fine. Sheesh, I'll get you on a stupid couch." The professor gets up looking mildly upset, picks Peter up and slings him over his back with care. He exited the lab and goes into the sitting room, which is across from the lab, and softly lays Peter down on an emerald-green loveseat. He waddled angrily back to his lab and goes to finish his work.
Later on, after Spider-Man had rested, Ock walked up to the recovered Spidey who moved from the green loveseat. "Did you rest well?" Ock asked with a small smile. The smile hinted the old Octavius is finally back.