C4: Hit me with your best shot

Claudia had stuck true to her word and stayed out of 'trouble' that night. And the night after. In fact, she hadn't met trouble for two weeks when she went out patrolling. Even when she looked in familiar (and unfamiliar) areas of the city, she stayed out of trouble.

It was almost boring, but the suspense kept her going.

When would she see him again, out and about? When would the opportunity arise?

Classes had been relatively normal, but it was a daring game of cat and mouse. He almost seemed happy to keep her waiting, she would get her chance. She felt like he was just waiting for her wound to heal because when it no longer hurt her, she went out and finally seemed to feel something in the air.

She had a feeling he knew her identity but needed confirmation.

The sneaky little 'knowing looks' in class wasn't enough.

She was running around rooftops, swinging, and flipping about through the air as normal. Feeling free. Like a bird on its hundredth flight.

And then something caught her attention. A deep, familiar tingling alerted her to a presence she knew.

She landed and poised, waiting and ready.

'Two Buildings left.'

She followed her instincts and quietly, crept along the walls and in the shadows, listening intently for any signs of danger.

Finally, she felt it. Heat. Pulsating, warmth inside of her.

He was inside.

She moved to the top of the building and found a large skylight. The Window was open, but she didn't jump straight in. She wasn't a fool.

Apparently, she'd discovered what must have been his secret lab, because Otto was inside, working away on something that made sparks fly from a large, thick, metal beam.

Whatever it was he was creating had his and his claw's immediate attention.

'Good.'

She watched him for a minute or so, admiring the way his hands and claws worked perfectly in sync. How his strong back faced her and she wondered what he looked like underneath that coat. His jumpers and shirts unfortunately gave nothing away.

Once she'd finished ogling him, she stretched herself and gave a little pep talk to prepare herself.

'You're just here to see if he knows you. And if he knows you, then that means you know that he knows you're you. So…class might be tricky. Depending on how this fight ends, you might have to throw him in jail. Or drop out of class.'

She squared her shoulders, relaxed her stance, and took a deep breath.

"Let's go," she whispered before she stepped straight into the open skylight window and dropped down.

She landed with her usual quietness, but Otto apparently had superior senses also. The claws immediately turned to her, their small red lasers pointed at her, and Otto cocked his head as he listened.

"I wondered when you'd be dropping in."

"You've been waiting for me?" She stood up but kept a firm, strong stance so he couldn't catch her by surprise.

"One of you always seems to bother me. Spiderman would probably just reprimand me and at least you prove an actual challenge."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

She didn't miss the little twitch of the top claw and jumped out of the way just as it darted towards her. He wasn't about to make it that easy on her though. Whilst he finished up working with his hands, his claws each went for her, making her dive, jump, and spin away. She didn't have an issue with it, he was just teasing her, and it helped warm her up.

Once he put down his work and turned about, she finally saw that familiar smirk.

She leaped through the air again, this time easily dodging his claws and landing a swift kick to his gut. She slid between his legs and kicked him again, making him stumble forward.

She laughed as the claws missed her, using one of them to propel herself up and stick to a corner of the lab.

He was only slightly winded, but he still turned to her with that smile.

"I have to say, you're fighting is very impressive. If only you used this energy to pay attention in class."

'Confirmation.'

"So, you know?" She cocked her head and almost felt like taking off her mask but decided to keep it on. She could still pull faces at him, and he wouldn't know it.

"It was a little obvious. You have a certain…attitude problem."

"Oh?" She stopped disguising her voice, genuinely curious as to what he saw in her.

But all he did was give her a wider smile. One set of claws removed his glasses, folded them, and put them away neatly in his pocket.

She could see a fire in his eyes, and it lit something within her.

"Let's talk," he said whilst gesturing with two fingers and that haughty smirk. For some reason, this sent a strange thrill through her.

'Damn.'

Without further invitation, she darted straight at him.

Their scuffle seemed to be more like a dance. It was perfectly timed how she avoided his hands and claws and how he ducked and swooped away from her kicks and strikes.

They moved about in a circle and whilst it was definitely energetic, neither seemed to be breathless. In fact, Otto never stopped smiling and even Claudia was enjoying herself.

It felt like…the build-up to something amazing. The anticipation that something exciting and dangerous was about to happen. He wasn't going to do her any serious harm and she didn't really feel like reporting to the police.

She decided to give herself a little boost to overpower him, catching him off guard.

"Lemons."

He only arched a brow and paused as something changed in her posture.

In fact, something began to ripple and bubble around her. Not her suit or her skin…her body. It changed. And grew. And grew. And for once, Otto stopped smiling.

"Good God."

Goliath was an unfortunate side effect that came with her powers.

A being that talked to her, sometimes loudly interrupting her conversations.

She'd learned to control it and allowed it to only come out when called.

They'd agreed Lemons was a good code word since Goliath hated them with a violent passion.

'FINALLY! WE KILL?'

'No, we play.'

'No fun.'

'Listen,' she tried to remain calm and reasonable as she talked to her little 'parasite', 'this guy is our teacher. We kill him, we fail the class. No class, no graduation, and no good job.'

'No good job….no money for chocolate?'

'Exactly. What do you think?

Goliath seemed to contemplate the meal in front of them.

'Not breedable…but brain good!' Goliath hissed excitedly.

'NO. NO, NO, NO. HE'S JUST MY TEACHER. We don't want to do the first one…and I'll think about the second one.'

'Lies.'

'Shut up or I won't get Brownies after this.'

'BROWNIES!' Goliath screeched deep within her, and she had to crack a smile at the excitement she felt.

Otto hadn't moved since the transformation. In fact, he was staring intently at her, as a scientist might to a new discovery of species.

She quite enjoyed the surprise on his face. And who could blame him? Goliath was a little shorter than ten feet tall and covered her entire body. His appearance was dark green, with hints of thick, lime green, bulging veins. The first time she'd shown him to a would-be-burglar, the guy had fainted.

"Hello, Doctor," Goliath growled and stuck his long tongue out, "Pleasure to meet you formally."

"And I take it, you aren't Claudia?"

"WE are Goliath. And WE are bored!"

Goliath's great imposing figure stomped forward, and a hand stretched itself out to impossible length, attempting to grab the doctor.

"Now THIS is entertaining," Otto laughed as he took his turn to duck and dodge, "a worthy opponent. I knew there was something special about you."

"I thought we were lazy," Claudia growled at him, though it came out as Goliath's voice, "and inattentive? Thought we were a KNOW-IT-ALL?!"

"Oh, you're definitely a problematic student, no doubt. I severely underestimated you. But are you a cheat as well?"

"CHEAT?!"

"Do you view this as a fair fight?" Otto harumphed as the claws hoisted him above the ground, trying to get him to the same level as Goliath, "Or were you just trying to impress me?"

With a hissing roar, Goliath had apparently had enough. Both he and Claudia formulated a plan to show Doctor Octavius about a 'fair fight' and that last comment irked her terribly.

Goliath used his limbs and strength to tighten around Otto's claws and pulled them out from under him.

Caught off guard, the Doctor fell first to his feet, and then, tangling the other claws with the last two, Goliath pulled them away and made Otto fall flat on his back.

"My turn," Claudia growled, and Goliath allowed her back in possession of her own body. She dove forward as the thick black substance peeled away from around her and in one dramatic flip, landed over his torso, her legs on either side of him.

She drew back her arm, clenched her fist tight, moved her hips the tiniest amount to get comfortable and-

'Wait.'

Adrenaline was still pumping through her, and her heart was pounding furiously. Goliath was screeching, but she could ignore him when she felt something hard pressed between her legs.

'Oh.'

Otto just smirked at her but was still breathing hard.

And she realised, despite his awareness and her vulnerability, he didn't take the moment to grab her with his now free claws. He in fact looked VERY expectant as to what she wanted.

"Well," she felt movement over her hips and realised he'd actually slipped his hands over her, caressing her up and down, "what are you waiting for?"

Still, she hesitated, and apparently unable to control himself (or give her a stronger hint), he bucked underneath, letting out a sharp, happy gasp.

Claudia, completely unprepared for that, reacted before she could stop herself. She moaned and pushed down against him.

'I TOLD YOU!' Goliath hissed and that seemed to have the same effect as throwing cold water on her.

'What am I doing?!'

Her adrenaline was still pumping through her, but she used it to get her butt moving. She rolled herself off and away from him, immediately sending up a web to catapult herself back up and out of the window.

Without looking back, she leaped back over the buildings and into the night, trying to ignore Goliath's cries of 'TOLD YOU SO' squealing in her mind.

Otto stayed on the floor, watching the sky above him. He almost hoped she'd come back, but logically, knew she wouldn't. His hand reached down to the front of his pants, and he squeezed his hard cock as he smiled.

He'd let her go. For now.