Chapter 4: A new enemy emerges
"Officers," Otto held up his hands and plastered on his politest smile, "I swear to you, whatever it is you're investigating, I'm innocent."
"Otto," Norman gave him a quick warning, letting him know that this was one of those serious situations.
Otto couldn't stop smiling though, especially when he caught Ada trying desperately not to smirk herself.
"Doctor Octavius, Mr. Osborn has assured us you are the best," Detective Sheridan approached the long table Otto was still sitting at and reached over with his empty hand, "it's an honor to meet with you."
"We heard about your assistance with the Markus Mayers case and hope you can lend your expertise with this," Detective Holland waited for his colleague to stop shaking the Doctor's hand before he took it himself.
Otto had already noticed the small folder one carried, whilst the other held a shoebox under his arm. The last police investigation he had helped on had brought similar items, so he knew what to do.
"Gentleman," the claws moved out around him and reached forward for the items, "if you'll allow me?"
Both men hesitated and Holland looked visibly frightened, but Otto was used to it.
He didn't see that Ada saw though and on instinct, she moved around to his side, standing beside him in what she hoped was a defiant stance.
Both men gave the folder and box to Otto, though he passed the latter on to Ada whilst he quickly flipped through the pages.
"We've been searching for a killer for two months now. He calls himself 'The Male Mantis' and the name has been leaked to the press, though they're not aware of all the details. He's killed four people so far, that we know of. We believe he's been spotted over the city some nights, evading police and even Spiderman's capture," Holland explained and tucked his hands casually into his pants pockets.
"We've had a couple of hits on who it might be, but nothing solid. We can't make any arrests until we're certain," Sheridan turned to Norman, "thank you for allowing us back into the building and pooling your resources, Mr. Osborn."
"No problem at all, it's the least I can do."
Whilst they conversed, Ada had opened the box and was handling a small, rounded metal ball, covered in various buttons and lights. She was careful not to press any of course, but it was evident others had handled it before her.
Her attention was caught as Otto flicked to the last piece of paper in the folder, a large, photocopied picture of a crime scene photo.
"May I see?" She asked and offered him the ball. He took it but shook his head before placing his hands on the open folder.
"I don't think it will settle with you," he looked very serious and grim, "this guy is…I believe you'd say 'messed up'."
"I did read the book about Execution when I was fourteen. Didn't give me nightmares."
Reluctantly, he slid the file over to her and they swapped attentions.
She read the facts and had to admit, it did make her feel a little queasy to know there was a true evil out there in her city.
'The Male Mantis', would stalk, kidnap, rape, and then kill his victims. But that wasn't the most depraved part. Every one had been found with chunks of flesh or even limbs missing. And the sick bastard would write to the police and tell them exactly what he did with them.
"A genius who eats people," Otto sounded disgusted and dejected, thinking about the abuse of power, "some people don't deserve such titles when they do monstrous acts such as this."
"It's very Jack the Ripper."
He held out the small item and observed it with a critical eye.
"Miss Daly. Ideas and theories on what this could be?"
"Without reading over the notes…could be an EMP."
"Could be. Good eye."
Ada looked back at Detective Holland.
"Has anyone been playing with this before us or-"
"No no, we kept it in that box," he held his hands up, evidently not wanting to even touch it now.
"I'm sure a cardboard box is a perfectly safe place for an unknown item that's been engineered for some form of destruction," Otto did not sound too impressed and continued to scrutinise the ball, "we can test it out and then deconstruct it. With your permission, if you're finished with it, of course?"
"Of course," Holland put his hand out again for the Doctor to take, "thank you again for your help and service."
Otto noticed that not only did he still look at him in fear, but they seemed to be actively ignoring Ada. That irked him, somewhat.
Without realising it, one of the claws gestured at the man and then, pointed at an oblivious Ada.
"And you too, Miss Daly."
She looked up to see a hand stretched out before her and shook it with surprise.
"I'll make sure to email ahead and let you know what Doctor Octavius discovers."
The two men left with Norman, all three leaving the lab with jokes and laughter.
But Otto was still observing the ball with fascination and held out his hand for Ada to give back the file.
"Do you want me to put it out on the desk so we can both see it?"
He nodded and she was sure, had she asked him if he wanted his nipples pierced, he still would have nodded.
She handed him the one sheet with the information about the machine they had gathered and quickly slipped the rest out, placing them on the table in front of them.
The tables in question had reminded her of her old science class desks, with little utility cupboards underneath. Whilst he was perusing, she opened one of the cupboards underneath and pulled out her notepad and pen.
They spent hours perusing over the files together, hesitantly looking at some of the crime scene photos and discussing 'the ball', the specifics of the crime, and then finally, the name itself.
"First Spiderman, now Mantis. What's next, the human ant?"
"I doubt they'd be much of a threat," Ada began to jot down a few key ideas and experiments she wanted to try, "mantis however is interesting. They always were fascinating creatures."
"Good thing mantids cannot fly."
"Actually, you're wrong there. And the police report does state this one was spotted 'flying' as well."
Otto didn't realise he was glaring at Ada, but he couldn't help it if he felt his ire rise a little.
"I beg your pardon?"
She glimpsed at one of the documents and pointed it out to him.
"There. 'Spotted flying over'-"
"No," he stopped her, placing his hand on the same sheet of paper to draw her attention back to him, "the other part."
She looked back into his eyes and saw that glare he was so fond of. She wondered if she could slip food into the conversation?
"Well, not completely wrong. Some species do not have the ability to fly, despite having wings."
This did not soften his glare.
"I was under the assumption that due to the weight difference; they simply could not fly?"
Ada couldn't help herself.
She quickly placed her hands over her tired eyes, groaned, and then let out a laugh.
"Doctor Octavius, please, I'm begging you don't make me list the different species that can and cannot fly by weight and gender," she let her hands fall and shook her head despairingly, "you don't like being wrong, do you?"
Ok, he would admit it. She had him there.
"Guilty," he held up his hands, but would not stop the fight, "but I do like evidence to back up-"
"Alright, alright!" She smirked and held up her hand, pointing to one finger, "One example is the Chinese Mantis. Both sexes can fly. There IS a weight difference between males and female,s and due to that, females can only fly for shorter periods of time," she held up her second finger, "there ARE species where the female cannot use her wings at all. Please don't ask me to name them."
"Why?"
"Because I can't remember the name."
He couldn't help but laugh at that. And he knew she did have a good argument.
"Alright, I admit…I was mistaken."
"Oh," Ada looked surprised by his confession, "that sounded painful."
Despite himself, he cringed.
"It actually was."
They both laughed and then continued to converse about the subject, but something played on Otto's mind.
When was the last time he had such a good banter with another individual? He hadn't poked fun at himself for a long time. It actually felt pretty good.
"There is one thing I don't understand. I'm not sure where he gets the eating from? That's a female trait," she jotted another note down and Otto picked up a corner sheet.
"Well, all his victims were female. To be specific-"
"Two elderly females in suburbia, a trans prostitute found in the park and…a fifteen-year-old. He'd grabbed her on her way to school," the last one didn't settle well with Ada and he could see how disturbed she was at seeing the body of someone so young die in a horrible way.
"You know, I hate to sound like a psychologist, but it may be something in his mind."
"Like…I don't know…he was punished for being more feminine than the other boys in his childhood, so he himself grew an unhealthy obsession and eventual hatred towards women?" She threw one out and he rolled it over in his mind for a bit.
"Good theory. But we're not here to study this man's emotional or psychological mind," he pointed towards the ball, now resting between them on her table, "we're here to study his technical brain and what he has created."
A small alarm went off on Otto's wristwatch and he clicked the button to turn it off.
"Well, looks like we're getting some overtime in," he sighed and rubbed at his face, feeling his exhaustion already.
This didn't escape Ada's attention.
"I will make you a deal," she said with a sly grin when he gave her a questioning look, "I will start on the experiments tonight, type it all up for you to read tomorrow morning like a good assistant without a word of umbrage IF," she drifted off and he took the cue.
"If?"
"You know that bakery about a block away?"
He chuckled. Of course, he knew it. He'd bought a box from there a week before and Ada had eaten five of them before he had taken the last three for himself.
He grinned straight back at her.
"Let me guess: the baker's dozen?"
"Oh yes," she greedily clasped her hands together and rubbed her palms, "twelve utterly delicious doughnuts in a variety of colours, flavours, and textures."
"Do I get to have one?"
"Of course," she gave him a pitying look, but she could see the amusement in his eyes, "you can have the hazelnut filling."
"Is that because you don't like it?"
She shrugged and looked down back at the paper, trying to appear innocent.
Since that was apparently the end of the conversation, Otto got up from his chair and realised for the first time that he'd actually sat at her workstation rather than his own. He moved back over to his desk and tidied the few items he had out away before taking his leather folder and jacket and looking around him.
"Did you need me to stay with you for a while?" He wasn't sure what he was offering, but he almost hoped she'd say yes.
"No, I got this. You go home and rest," she seemed to be making more and more notes as she shifted papers around her, "I got this."
He hesitated for a moment before moving towards the doors. He would go home, cook himself some food, read a book and then go to bed. He wished he could stay and talk some more, but-
"Doctor Octavius."
He turned back when she called, and she was giving him a very vulnerable look.
"I mean to say, thank you."
"For what?"
"For listening to me earlier. And…well, not being repulsed by my scars. I've had friends ask me to cover up in the past and some were visibly upset by my looks."
He hated that. He knew those looks. Fear. Ignorance. Disgust.
"They don't sound like very good friends."
"No, they weren't."
He decided to take a chance.
"Well, if it helps…you have one friend who would not ask that of you."
She smiled and understood him straight away.
"It's nice to know I do have a friend like that."
"Goodnight, Miss Daly."
"Goodnight, Doctor."
He turned away, making his way to the elevator and smiling all the while.
He hadn't had a friend for a while. And he quite liked it.
He could almost hear Rosie singing 'I get by with a little help from my friends,' as he left.
Meanwhile, Ada had picked up the small ball again and despite her logical mind screaming at her not to, she hesitantly pressed one of the small buttons on it. It lit up a small red light that blinked rapidly for a few moments before she clicked it again and it stopped.
She hurriedly put it down and wiped her hands nervously on her legs.
"That was stupid. Ok, no more trying and testing. Let's see what you can do."
Ada moved around, gathering the sheets and the equipment she'd need for the experiment. What she didn't notice was the small light flashing again. How could she have possibly known that she'd set off the homing beacon?