Chapter Five: Unexpected Disappearance

One week later...

By now, the news of the incident had spread throughout the city. To the majority of New Yorkers, it was no big deal; someone was murdered every day. Most of the people in the city had already forgotten the incident.

But Otto Octavius would never forget what had happened.

The funeral was a few days after the murder. That was sheer hell for him; surrounded by his friend's family, he had felt horribly out of place. But he simply couldn't bring himself to not go. The eulogy he had given had spurred the people in attendance to tears; he himself did not remember much of what he had said.

The last week had been a blur; he had been going about his daily routine in a distracted haze; he had not done any work on his experiment that entire time. For the most part, he had locked himself in his bedroom with the lights off. He had barely slept, either; any time he'd fall asleep, images of his friend's death had haunted his dreams. Twice now, he had woken up screaming, because of what he'd seen in his dreams. He had not spoken ten words since the funeral; he had only come out of his room a few times.

Finally, one night, Rosie entered his room, hoping to get him to talk.

She opened the door quietly and found him sitting on the edge of his bed, his head resting on his folded hands, staring at the wall. The cold stare on his face worried her; she had never seen him in this dark of a mood before, not even during the whole fiasco with Osborn two years ago.

She walked over to his bed, taking a seat beside him.

"Care to talk to me?" she said, concerned. "You've barely said a word to me the last week."

No response.

She sighed and said, "Will you please talk to me? You're scaring me, acting like this."

Still no response. He hadn't even looked over at her to acknowledge her presence in the room.

She put her arm around his shoulder and said, "Please, Otto, just talk to me. You're really worrying me."

"There's no need to be worried about me." Octavius said, in a bitter tone of voice. "I'm not the one who was shot down in cold blood."

"I know, but eventually you'll have to move on." she said carefully. She really didn't want to set him off; he already looked on the verge of a psychotic break as it was. "He was my friend, too, but we'll just have to continue with our lives."

"But he was the first real friend I ever had." he replied, finally looking over at her. "And I watched him die. He was killed because of a situation I got him involved in. How would you like to live with that?

At that, she fell silent. He obviously believed he was responsible for his friend's death, and she had no words that were adequate.

"I mean, if I hadn't asked him to come to Moscow with me to find you, he'd never have been involved in that situation." he continued, his head in his hands. "He would still be alive now."

"You are not responsible for his death." Rosie said, trying to console him. "The Chameleon pulled the trigger. He is the one responsible."

No response.

"Why don't you come out here and have something to eat?" she said. "You've barely eaten anything in the last week."

Once again, he did not respond.

Finally, Rosie gave up trying. She stood up and walked towards the door saying, "Well, I'll be here if you want to talk." She shut the door, leaving Octavius in the room, lost in his own dark thoughts...

xxx

11:47 pm...

Meanwhile, the mastermind of the plan sat in his office, talking to one of his subordinates about the next step.

"Let me go over the situation again." he said as he put his feet up on the desk, leaning back in his chair. "So far, I've sent two of my mercenaries after the target. One of them is actually out in the field now, awaiting my orders, and the other is dead. But the death of the lizard-man has severely broken up our target. From what I've seen, he'll be out of it for a while. I am entrusting you to the task of eliminating him before he snaps out of his current state."

The subordinate, a tall, built man with black hair and a thug-like countenance, said, "I understand completely. I still remember the time we met in that prison in Moscow. He seemed really hard-headed. I can see why you think this is the best time to strike."

"Good." the mastermind said as he took his feet off of the desk and took a drink of his cognac. "Go there now. And if you come across his wife... you know what to do."

The thug-like man who, in the criminal world was known only as Kraven, walked out of the room, already looking forward to the task at hand...

xxx

Midnight...

Back at Octavius' lab, Rosie was determined to try and get him to talk. She walked up to his room, a plate of food in hand, and knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?"

No response. Of course.

She opened the door and walked in. What she saw, she wanted to believe was the light playing tricks on her.

Octavius was not there.

She dropped the plate and ran over to the bed, noticing a note, in his handwriting, left on the blankets.

I'm going after the man responsible. Don't try to find me.

-Doctor Octopus

Rosie dropped the note and sat on the edge of the bed, in shock. She didn't think he was serious when he said he was going to kill the man responsible!

At that moment, she knew only one thing: that, if he tried to go after the mastermind, he was going to get himself killed. And she couldn't bear losing him!

She ran out of the room and over to the phone. She had to tell someone! But who?

xxx

12:03 am...

By this time, Carolyn Trainer had turned in for the night. It had been a long day for her, and she was already sound asleep.

Needless to say, when the phone rang beside her bed, she was not amused.

She fumbled blindly on her nightstand for the phone, swearing badly when she knocked the lamp off the table, and finally found the phone.

"Yes, this is Carolyn Trainer speaking. Who's this? And why the hell are you calling after midnight?"

She was rather surprised to hear Rosie Octavius on the other line, and even more surprised to hear that she was on the verge of panic.

"Carolyn, has Otto been over there at any point in the last hour?"

"No, he has not." Carolyn replied, grabbing the lamp off of the floor and turning it on, still half-asleep. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he's gone!" Rosie said, trying to stay calm. "He left a note on his bed saying he was going to find the man responsible for Curt's death, and not to find him!"

"He did what!"

"Exactly what I said!" Rosie said, pacing the floor. "He's going to get himself killed out there!"

"Did he give you any indication of what he's planning?" Carolyn asked, getting up and pulling her coat and boots on, prepared to head over there as soon as she got off the phone.

"No, he didn't! I-I'm really worried about him; I think he's completely gone over the edge!"

"I'll be right over. We'll talk about this there." she replied, hanging up the phone, running for the door.

xxx

Meanwhile, only a few blocks away, Octavius was standing atop a rooftop, thinking up a course of action. He hadn't the slightest idea who was behind the plan, behind the attempts on his life. But he knew that whomever it was, they knew him well enough to ping his other identity. They must have been watching him for quite some time; years, perhaps?

No matter what they knew, nothing was going to protect the mastermind when Octavius found him.

Whoever this mastermind is, he's gone too far this time.

The thought of his friend's broken body crossed his mind, and his fists clenched at the mere thought of it.

He looked forward to tearing the man apart, piece by piece.

He hated to worry Rosie like this, but she just didn't understand his need for vengeance; she didn't know how much Curt's death had really affected him. He had already been pushed towards the edge by the constant thought of someone hunting him down, of being marked for death, and never knowing if or when it was going to come.

And now he'd been pushed over that edge, and there was no coming back from it. Not until the man responsible was six feet under.

I've already killed someone once. I'm already marked as a murderer in the eyes of those who know me. What is one more going to do?

He looked up at the night sky, the thick clouds blocking out the moon.

I don't care who this mastermind is. he thought, a hard scowl crossing his face. When I find him, not even God Himself will hold me back.

He's taken it upon himself to wage a war against the man named Otto Octavius...

...but what's going to protect him against the wrath of Doctor Octopus?