Harry walked into the classroom, rubbing his head in exhaustion. Last night's blackout had been particularly bad. But it was fine, as long as his grades stayed high and his football skills were top notch, nothing else mattered in the end. He sat in his seat … seeing Gwen, April, and Peter all looking at him with concern. "Geez, you guys look like a funeral just took place. What's got you all so glum?"
"Well, you know…stuff." Gwen said awkwardly, making Harry twitch. One of the few things he could remember from prom aside from getting rejected by that bitch Gloria was Gwen catching him in the midst of taking some Greene. Judging by how the other two were looking at him, she hadn't exactly kept that information to herself.
"… She told you guys, didn't she?" He asked with a disappointed sigh.
"Harry, we're worried." April said, but kept it quiet enough nobody could overhear. A small blessing. "You shouldn't need to feel like you should take drugs."
"It's not drugs, it's just an enhancer." Harry clarified. "It's not like heroin or crack, it's just a formula my dad plans on selling to the military."
"Yeah, it's only a concoction of chemicals that radically change your physique that you need to keep ingesting, nothing drug like about that." Peter muttered in a sarcastic manner.
"It's not changing me, it's just…making me a better version of myself. You know, like Captain America. Still one hundred percent human."
"You do know the Red Skull also took the serum, right?" Gwen asked. "And he went completely mad and got his skin melted off his face."
"Well, the red skull was a nazi. He was naturally crazy." Harry countered. "I'm not a nazi, therefore I can't be crazy."
"The things Irma would say." April muttered. "Harry, we're just concerned. I get that it's helping you, but think about the downsides. How much pain you're putting yourself through."
"What downsides? I'm acing my classes and actually get respect around the social hierarchy for once." He responded sternly. "So I get a little sleepy every once in a while, big deal."
"Harry, that's not you getting sleepy, that's you passing out." Gwen said. "You're directly ingesting a chemical cocktail. In the long term, that's going to mess you up on the inside. Your body won't be able to function without it."
"But it helps." With … everything. "It …"
"Seriously man." Pete put a hand on his shoulder. "If you ever feel pressured, just talk to us. We might not be able to help, but we can at least get a burger and complain about how bad life is." He said it with that jokey tone that held sincerity in it.
"Well Pete, that'd be fine, you know, if you were around to do that." Harry narrowed his eyes. That was part of the reason he was taking the Greene to begin with. He couldn't rely on Peter to help him out, and he'd never win old Stormin Norman's respect if he couldn't succeed on his own.
The boy flinched at that. "Look, how about I talk with my boss, tell him a story, and say I can't take pictures tonight. Just you, me and Gwen, like old times. Scouts honor."
"You were never a Boy Scout." Harry deadpanned.
"Does that matter? We promise to be there for you." Gwen pleaded. "So please, let's just hang out for the night. No Greene, all right?"
Harry hesitated. Out of all his friends, Gwen was the only one that hadn't disappointed him in one way or another. He could trust that she cared. Many he didn't need … "Oh Petey." They turned to see Liz Allen walking over to their desk area, luckily cutting off his need for an answer.
"Liz?" Peter gawked his head in confusion, as any nerd would do when a cute girl came up to them. "Do you need help reviewing a piece of material for the test in third period or …"
"A lot of us are heading to Coney Island tomorrow night, and since I'm not dating Flash anymore…"
"Wait, you and Flash broke up?" Peter asked again, being confused.
"Given that he kept flirting with the red head you brought to prom?" She asked with a bit of heat.
"To be fair, she flirted with everyone with a pair of eyes and arms too." April added.
"I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse." Gwen muttered.
"Anyways." Liz shook her head. "I was planning on going alone, but I thought if you didn't have any plans, maybe you'd want to go together?"
The table went particularly silent for a good fifthteen minutes to the point to you could hear a pin drop.
"Well…" Peter trailed off. "Me, Harry and Gwen are hanging out tonight, so that leaves tomorrow open for us to … head out together?"
"If you don't flake." Harry muttered under his breath. He didn't trust Peter's commitments to time or promises anymore.
"Great! I'll meet you after school tomorrow." Liz smiled, hugging the boy for a second. "It's a date."
They watched as Peter nearly fell out of his seat from surprise. "A date?"
"Yep."
"As in the hang out kind, not the fruit kind?"
"I can assume one of Midtown's biggest nerds could figure that out from the context clues provided." Liz smirked.
"I … yeah, a date." Peter nodded. Of course … Peter, the nerd, the unpopular boy with no time management, his most unreliable friend, got two hot dates while Harry got screwed with the only one he managed to score.
"Why do we hang around him?" The Harry in the window asked with a grin. "Just imagine how everyone would flock away if they knew how unfaithful and heartbreaking he really is-"
"OSBORN!" The boy blinked, looking up at the teacher. "Do you care to answer the question?" Question, when did class start? He could see his friends sending him nervous looks.
"Um … the mesopotamian period?" He guessed from the context clues on the board.
"Good work." They nodded, going back to their lecture.
"Phew." Saved again by the Greene. His friends were being paranoid. It's easily the only thing he could rely on now.
"Yeeehaaaaw!" Donnie watched their masked friend flip ecstatically from building to building. "I've got a date! A date tomorrow night!" His fellow nerd kept exclaiming as they set out on patrol. "Oh thank whatever god of spiders that exists!"
"Anansi?" Donnie guessed.
"I'll take it!" He exclaimed. "I'm swinging on hearts and joy!"
"I thought it was buildings and webs?" Mikey asked.
"No it's by sunshine and rainbows." Raph said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Didn't you already have a date with Ms 'wonderful personality'?"
"That was a one time thing set up by our very conniving and chessmastering superminded aunts." Peter countered. "I highly doubt she was impressed by a nerd who flaked out to take pictures of Spider-Man fighting a lunatic goblin man on a giant metal bat."
"I still got the bruises." Leo shuddered.
"Anyways, that was a lucky fluke for me if anything. I'm talking about one of the popular crowd kids, aka the group I basically gave up on trying to be a part of on the first day of junior year.
"The shallow ones that every tv drama in the lair says aren't worth it?" Mikey asked.
"Most of them yes, but Liz is actually nice, and smart enough to dump Flash, so I'm only seeing positives."
"You sure you're not pulling my leg here?" Donnie asked curiously. "A girl, a non nerdy, cheerleader girl came up to YOU, a nerd, no offense obviously, and..asked YOU out first!?"
"April can vouch for me, weirdly enough." They said with mirth. "I have a date!"
"We heard you the first ten times." Raph groaned. "For a guy who talks about secrecy you sure do love shouting out personal information to the whole world."
"For once the world can hear it!" Peter shouted. "Spider-Man has a date with a girl!"
"Wait!" Some guy from the street shouted. "You mean he's not into dudes!? But he flirts with every guy he punches!"
"... I need an online form to check all the rumors about me." They muttered.
"Misfortune aside, it's not impossible!" Donnie shouted in elation! "The hand of my sweet princess April can still be mine!"
"As weird as it sounds, I'm rooting for you man." Raph chuckled. "If there's a girl that can stand Parker's ugly face, then miracles really can happen."
"Last I checked, your pet turtle has more of a chance at dating someone than you." Peter shot back.
"And what does that put you at? Less than last place?" Raph instantly replied.
"Yeowch, burn." The hero winced. "So listen … I'm gonna be busy tonight." The vigilante said. "I'm trying to help Harry with something and I really don't wanna flake."
"Spidey, seriously." Leo said seriously. "We can handle one or two nights without you. You worked solo before we came along."
"Yeah, but that was before I began working with a team, which you guys are used to." Peter said. "And I've hadn't had a day off from being Spidey since the beginning of the past summer."
"That doesn't sound healthy bro." Mikey shook his head.
"I'm superhuman, healthy is as relative to me as durable is to turtles." Spidey shot back. "I'm just making sure I don't miss out on another Goblin or other varied mutated monstrosity that plagues our fine city. Most I have to worry about beyond that is Kraang, Foot, or purple dragons."
"Spidey, think about this logically." Donnie argued. "The Kraang are only threats in their own bases due to how fragile their suits are so we have plenty of prep time, we haven't seen heads or tails of the Goblin since the party, the Foot want us dead so we can just run from them without worrying too much about civilians, and we have gene cleansers for mutates."
"Mutants are still a problem."
"Biggest threat we have is DogPound, and as long as the four of us are around, we can take him." Leo answered. "Seriously dude, one night without you isn't going to make New York blow up, and there's going to be times where we aren't going to be able to reach each other. Take the night off."
"Well … alright." He nodded. "I'll just spend the night with the guys then, making sure Harry stays off the steroids, fix everything without police intervention … yeah, it'll be fine." Spidey shook his head. "No, city rocking explosions."
BOOM
… They all turned to the Oscorp building in the distance, watching as large lights overtook it along with smokestacks. "You know you jinxed it right?" Raph asked. "Or should we ask some sort of judge on who said what?"
"Less time jokey, more time saving." Peter changed directions. "We better hurry before anyone gets too seriously hurt.
"What happened to busy?" Donnie asked.
"Oh sure, I'll just swing on by and watch Harry get the news his dad died cause I wasn't around for a chemical spill or electric explosion." He retorted.
"It's pretty far." Mikey said. "Aren't you the only guy with super speed?"
"True … but this is a good time to test one of my more experimental ideas." There was a bit of mirth in Spidey's voice as he stuck a web to two walls. "All turtles, huddle up together in a nice big hug."
"…No." Raph glared. "There's no way I'm letting you turn me into a living slingshot-"
Thwooop
"DAMN YOU WEB HEAD!" Raph shouted as they were all flung into the air.
"Ah ah ah, you don't want Master Splinter to overhear that language now do we?" It was very rare that Donnie wanted to hit Peter … this was one of those times.
Octavious oversaw the Van De Graff Generators. It was no Cyclotron Generator, but it did it's purpose, and helped with nuclear energy research. Osborn got wind of a 'radioactive spider bite' and wanted to see if it could be replicated with raw radiation and animal DNA when coupled with a live subject. His top idea was a scorpion, the spider's natural predator … but this was still volatile and untested, so it was simply trial runs on the radiation process itself.
Molecular consciousness, nigh indestructible armor, these creations were both fascinatingly groundbreaking … and dangerous. If word got out that Otto was involved …
But he couldn't do anything about it. He was an obedient scientist. He did his job, he did whatever Mr. Osborn asked of him, and Otto got to expand his prowess and keep his head… but it was so illegal… and spider-man was no doubt on the verge of figuring out who was behind all the supervillains.
Not to mention nobody respected him … Oh it would be so much easier if he could just wring Osborn's neck and make him see that Octavious was just as good as-no, no, you're better than that Otto. You don't need to fall into petty violence. Don't be like Baxter and lose every ounce of intergrity.
Just do the job well, keep your head down, and everything will be-
"Sealing Blast Door." The artificial intelligence announced.
"What?" He asked as the door closed, moving over. "Um, excuse me, there's someone in here!"
"Reactor start up initiated." He could hear the hum of machines. They were still untested, uncontained, and he was exposed to the electricity that would be generated.
"No! Someone please! Let me out! I'm still in here!"
"Life detected, Emergency shutdown activated." The failsafe, yes, the failsafe! Thank the stars he- "Override code accepted. Continuing reactor start up."
"Who's out there!? Who turned that key!?" Override code!? That shouldn't be possible! There were so few people to have that! They'd have to be aware someone could be stuck. "Please, I don't wish to hurt anyone! I've done nothing wrong!"
"Five."
"I haven't said anything!"
"Four."
"I've always kept my head down!"
"Three."
"I've been good! I've been good!" He pounded on the doors repeatedly.
"Two."
"I've been a good boy …" He slumped to the ground.
"One."
Was … was being good … the wrong answer?
ZAAAAAP
He couldn't hear his own screams over the electricity overtaking his brain, every neuron of his body firing as he felt the metal of his harness fuse to his flesh. From his heart, to his liver, to his brain, to his arms … his arms … he could feel them. The codes, the wires, the metal, all of it felt natural and interconnected. The machine spoke to his soul, asking for purpose, what they must do to please him. Someone … wanted what was best for Otto …
"...Hey look! There's someone…ah, so much blood…" Unfamiliar voices rang in the air, voices that were faint in comparison to the voices of his arms…his companions…his family…
"Dude, look at his back! It's all gnarly!" What sounded like an ignoramus spoke.
"It looks … fused. The blast must of melted the flesh and metal together. If this was connecting neurons and wires … I can't imagine the damage to the brain." No damage … completion … perfection.
"I'll make sure he gets the best help I can offer." Osborn's voice … Osborn, who was above him … Osborn, who would have the passcode …Osborn….who sought to kill him
"YOU DID THIS!" Otta raised one of his mechanical arms, feeling it move as quick as his very thoughts, more naturally attuned than his organic limbs. "You caused this, didn't you Osborn!? You wanted to silence me, to bury me! Well no more!"
"Cranky victim alert!" Shouted a terrapin of some sort, aiming a blade down at the arm … which bounced off as if it was a dull bat against brick.
"Insolent fool, you cannot harm me with your archaic weaponry!" Otto exclaimed, throwing the turtle into a wall
"Great, cranky nerd!" Another terrapin shouted as it tried running straight at his flesh, only for another of Otto's arms to grab them by the leg and slam them into the ground.
"Whoa, easy their short, sharp, and ambidextrous, we're the good guys here!" Someone clothed in red spandex… the Spider-man, shouted. Of course, Osborn sought to kill him and leave all his dirty work for the so-called hero to find.
"All I see are slow, ignorant, inferior specimens!" He shouted, sending an arm to apprehend the arachnid, only for them to avoid, leaving them open in the air as two more arms cut off their escape routes and tackle them from the box positioned.
"Gah, he's fast for a fat guy." The ignoramus voice, belonging to what Otto assumed to be the stupidest of the terrapins surrounding him, mocked as Otto threw a crate at the moron's head.
"The arms are connected to his neural implant! He's moving as fast as he thinks!" Ah, a fellow intellectual, if still inferior specimen. He simply launched them against the wall.
"Otto … listen." His former employer pleaded. "We can get you the help you need-"
"Doctor Otto Octavious, the weakling, the coward, the spineless lapdog is no more!" He shouted to the world. "From now on, you will bow to the might of… Doctor Octopus!"
"That's a lame name!" He threw a chunk of concrete at the idiotic terrapin.
"Hey now, Doctor. Can I call you Doc Ock for short?" A web was shot at his mouth. "Arachnid to Cephalopod, can we just talk it out instead of the inevitable fight cause you need your medication?"
"Glib!" Otto cut through the webs. "Does not!" And threw the nuisance into the red and blue terrapins attempting to approach him from behind. "Equate! To Clever!" And threw the one dressed in purple into the ceiling. His arms gave him obtuse awareness off his surroundings. It was like having eyes in the back of his head, a function he had never achieved before he became one with them.
"Well for a doctor, you're pretty bad at math." The Spider groaned as they rose. "Not only did you not establish the sanity to arm ratio, you miscounted five of us, four arms." All four of the terrapins jumped at once as the spider-man launched a web right at Otto's chest.
"Do you ever… SHUT UP!?" Otto leapt into the air, using the new found agility his arms granted him to cling to the ceiling, avoiding the fool's feeble attempt at surrounding him.
"Trust us, we've tried SO hard on that front!" The red terrapin shouted, throwing stylized shuriken at Otto, which bounced right off the arms. "Yo Spidey, you mind throwing around spider strength and breaking those things?"
Otto grabbed the approaching arrachnic by the arm, squeezing down as they could almost feel the bones beginning to crack. "I'll get back to you on that one! I apparently shouldn't skip arm day at the gym!" The jabber they spewed was so infuriating.
Using one arm to keep himself anchored above, he used the other two to stop the purple and blue terrapin from approaching, slamming them together into the Spider like Newton cradles. "Keeping going, fools. You continue to wear yourselves down and tire out. My arms are beyond that meager obstacle of physicality!"
"Says the fat guy with metal noodles glued to his skin." The orange attempted to wrap two of his arms up with an extending chain. With a simple movement, he snapped the chain and trapped one arm around the turtle, squeezing them as he attempted to crack the external skeleton from the pressure. "My shell, my shell!"
"Leave my brother alone!" Otto idly smacked the charging red terrapin into the floor, applying pressure.
"You simple minded cretin don't comprehend the situation. I AM in control here, and I will not-!"
BEEP
"An alarm clock?" The blue terrapin asked.
"Well if you're going to make creepy hentai tentacles, you got to add all the latest stuff." The sorry excuse for an arthropod quipped.
"Pardon the interruption, but it seems I must delay your obituaries to another point in the future." Otto grabbed one of the nearby glass cylinders, and smashed in a nearby wall. "For I have places to be, and a whole word to conquer!"
It seems that in his exhilarating epiphany of the world and newfound power, Otto Octavious, or now Doctor Octopus, forgot the meager, but still existent, limitations of his new limbs. Namely a lack of a sufficient powersource. If only he had heeded the words of his companion Baxter Stockman, it would've saved Otto months worth of trouble and discomfort.
The new battery would last only six hours, so he must wait until he can find a replacement … and Otto had a nice idea where to strike. The place that steals all inventions without any of Osborn's charisma to back it up … Tricorp.
Liz found herself rather proud of herself for this one. Sure most of the school was going to gawk and Sally was never going to let her hear the end of it, but right now she didn't care. She was on a date with a guy outside of the 'social circle' and genuinely having a blast. The snark, his smarts, the fact that he honestly was pretty good looking and the mole on his face just scratched something on the cuteness meter.
What had inspired this sudden act of boldness? Was the fact Petey genuinely wanted to help her with school? Was it the fact Flash flirted with a red head one too many times? Was it the fact Liz felt her life was a bit of a rut and needed change? Maybe it was some combination that finally broke something and inspired Liz to act.
She was almost worried he would have to cancel for a bit. He looked like he was really down after the minor chew out from his friends. What that was about she didn't know. Liz always got a weird vibe off of them. April seemed pretty chill if a bit shifty at times, Gwen always looked at Liz like she did some sort of crime, Irma was mildly insane but apparently harmless.
Harry…well to be honest, Liz felt like Harry was a bit of a freak and a little shallow, which was saying a lot given most of her friend group. They way he just 'suddenly' got good at sports and wasted no time throwing his money around to impress the popular crowd just struck her as very… very uncanny. He was in the unpopular group cause he never spent his money in the first place, but suddenly he goes one eighty? Something was off, but everyone, mainly Sally and Kenny, didn't want to say anything in fear of losing limo privileges.
Peter…something about Peter just struck her as more honest. He made no effort to hide his unpopularity, yet still had the spine to stand up to flash when he needed it. He told corny jokes that he knew were hit and miss, and he was no star athlete, being as clumsy as they come, yet never seemed to hesitate when push came to shove.
"Everyone says that Dolphins are a pretty cute animal, but when someone was attacked by a shark once, they rammed with such a hard head and fast speed they actually broke a few teeth." Peter explained, pointing at the creatures jumping out of the water and flipping around at the edge of the pier. "Imagine that coming up to you at thirty seven miles per hour. It'd be like 'brrrrrrrrrrr-Dolphin Punch!"
"Pfffftttt, heh, ha… that's… that's super cheesy." Liz snorted. Month before, she would just rolled her eyes and wrote #lame on her phone… but now she felt… free to laugh at the ridiculousness.
"Well I would have said Dolphin kick, but with the fin it's more of a Dolphin smack attack." He snorted.
"What next, you're gonna tell me that octopuses are also very violent creatures?" She asked with a smirk.
"First off, Octopi. They do not take well to the plural name." Peter grinned. So silly. "Second, not violent, but they're super smart to the point they constantly break out of captivity, and weirdly enough, have bird beaks under those tentacles." He chuckled. "I'm a … doing a bit of a science project on an octopus actually.
"So do you just take up random science projects in your off time?" She asked with a smile.
"Heh, feels like I do more and more lately." Peter nodded with a small laugh., leaning against the wooden post. "But occasionally I can allow myself to take a little break….I really needed this Liz, like you have no idea." Petey chuckled brokenly. "My… Job completely took over my night yesterday and I forgot about hanging out with Harry and Gwen, so I'm in hot water with both… again."
"No problem Petey. I get it, your first job, handling new responsibilities, got to be a handful." Liz nodded in understanding. "I felt the same way when my mom remarried. I suddenly found myself having to look over someone that on paper was family, but took a long time for me to accept."
"Trouble maker?" He asked.
"You have no idea." From detention, to candy stealing, to full on gambling debts. "The point is that I understand what it's like to have a lot of pressure with no time … you haven't been the only one chewed out for flaking." Cheerleading practice was sadly second to the mob threatening to cut off your brother's fingers. "Sometimes there's just no time to make, you have only a split second to make a choice, because if you don't…it feels like your entire world will crumble down."
"Yeah … I know I made the wrong choice once." He sighed. "Felt like it cost me everything … Luckily I still have my Aunt May. I took the job so I could help with the bills … but that means I can't really help people when they need it."
"As long as you help one person, that's what counts in the end, right?" She asked.
"That's… that's exactly what I think." Peter smiled. "You know… my uncle… before he passed. He had this old saying. 'With Great Power, there must also come Great Responsibility'. I didn't know what he meant at the time, you know, being a nerdy highschooler who felt as powerless as they come. But… now I know he tried to make sure I didn't go about the rest of my life being selfish or in my head."
"And here I was thinking a nerd brain didn't go about making that much power." Liz chuckled.
"Even though every super villain running the streets is a science accident?" He asked. "Pretty sure Electro proved science can be wack when it wants to be."
"Ah, do not talk in eighties, it's the one thing stressing your nerdish charm." She shot back.
"Well there goes half my reference humor. You have won this round, young Liz Allen." The boy laughed in a sage-like tone.
"I'm a cheerleader, I know how to win every round." She laughed. "Ah, thanks for this, Petey."
"I'm the one who needs to thank you." He answered back. "If you didn't invite me, I probably would've just been moping at home until I figured out how to fix everything."
"Well, I had yet to properly thank you for what you did at Conor's lab, and this seemed like a good halfway point." She admitted.
"Liz, thanks… really thanks… But you don't have to feel obligated to thank me for.."
"No Petey, thank you." Liz reiterated. "It's more than what happened at Conor's lab. For the first time, I feel like I can do more than just be someone's accessory or personal cheerleader… And I don't have to worry about you looking at other girls every five minutes."
"I am literally not going to get luckier than right now." He nodded. "There is no need to ever push that threshold. Like seriously, this is probably the peak of my highschool experience."
"Oh don't sell yourself so short… literally, you hunch a lot." She stated.
"When you're constantly running around town and leaning in for shots, you develop habits." He waved off.
"The point is that you can afford to splurge a little."
"... So if I pointed at a girl and said she's a seven out of ten?"
"Then you better hope your little nerdy stamina can keep you out of the firing zone." Liz snorted.
"Then it's a good think you're beyond the use of a simple measuring system….gah, that was too corny, wasn't it?" He blushed.
"Nope … just the right amount." She leaned in, puckering her lips and giving him a light peck on his cheek.
"... Wow …" Hah, she totally broke his brain, cute. "That was …" His phone began ringing with the itsy bitsy spider song.
"Let me guess, Spider-Man's on the other end?" She asked.
"Hey, photographer's got to have some secrets, or else every random joe would sell pics to the bugle." He answered the phone. "Peter here, talk to me." There was a pause. "Wait, you're out now, but it's still daylight…okay you got me on that one but still….no, I shouldn't…but then again…"
"If you need to go, go ahead." Liz nodded. "I can always save you a seat on the ferris wheel later."
He looked at her. "What is it with hot women and understanding I need to run out on a job lately?" Petey asked the air.
"We're emotionally mature enough to understand nuance." Liz answered for him. "Not all of us automatically assume there's another girl involved…there isn't, right?"
"Like I said, this is the peak of my highschool experience so far. Totally makes up for all the times Flash locked me up in my locker." He nodded as he got up. "By the way, the kiss was eleven out of ten!" The boy shouted as he ran off.
"You dork." Liz smiled with a shake of the head. This was the most fun date she had been on in years….she could definitely get use to going out with a nerd.
Mikey ran into the building. They just called Peter, so right now it was just the four of them chasing Doctor Octopus (name was good for the rhymes, but claw striker would have been so much more appropriate) into Tricorp. "Why do I remember this place?" Raph asked.
"It's the place Lester Jockman tried breaking into." Donnie said. "Tricorp is a private brain trust playground for the best minds on the planet. Basically you get all the funding you want to go nuts with, and they get all the credit to sell off your invention."
"So a sweatshop for nerds?" Raph asked.
"In a nutshell, yes." Donnie nodded. "And if Doc Ock is intelligent enough to build those arms, if he gets whatever he'd find inside of that place …"
"He'll switch from a dangerous mad man with eight arms to a REALLY dangerous madman with eight arms." Leo summarized as they broke right in. "Seems like stealth is out of the issue for this one." He observed all the tossed desks and broken walls.
There was a man shivering behind a sofa. "Excuse me, did you see an eight armed doctor run in?" Mikey asked politely. "Big, glasses, talks down on everyone while talking about how smart he is?"
"MUTANT!" The guy shouted in horror.
"Yeah, big scary green mutant that's asking nicely." Raph glared. "Now between us and the rampaging cockroach messing around with the building, who would you rather deal with?"
The man's eyes widened, before pointing. "To the vault, he's after the megalo pack. It can contain sustainable amounts of energy for years at a time."
"Of course!" Donnie shouted. "It wasn't an alarm clock during the fight, it was a low power warning! He's trying to get a powersource that won't run out on him."
"So the doc's shopping for batteries, eh?" Leo snickered, running towards the vault. "Then let's tell the good old doctor his warranty has expired!"
"Cheesy one-liners or annoying quips… I'm in hell no matter who I'm stuck with." Raph grumbled.
"Language, Raph." Mikey chuckled as they entered the room. "Freeze Octopus!"
"If it isn't the terrapins." The multi armed man stated, turning to them while looking at a glass case. "And here I thought shinobi mastered the art of silence. Clearly either you or your sensei is too incompetent for that to stick."
"Oh, like we need to actually practice subtly for a guy who thinks Doctor Octopus is a terrifying name." Donnie jumped forward, attempting to knock the battery in the case away.
"It's better than your current strategy." The staff was blocked by an arm as the claw at the end began spinning really really fast. "Before, you were in a open room with space to move, now you're in an enclosed space with limited room to maneuver." He held Donnie down as the spinning blade got closer. "I am curious how long it'll take to crack open those shells."
"Oh, we're breaking out the piñatas already?! I call dibs on the fat giant Squid!" A web shot out, covering Ock's face while a red foot knocked him back, making him let go of Donnie. "Oh, I won a mutant turtle, in mint condition too."
"Spider-Man …" The doctor growled. "I was a bit high on emotion … but it's nice to finally meet the person I worked to kill."
"You mean you were crazy before the zap? Oh wow, maybe you actually got saner being mechanically fused to a pair of arms." They went in, dodging the arms as they constantly nicked at Spidey, who was dodging and moving a lot faster than he normally did.
"From Sandman to Rhino, none of my creations managed to land a blow." That actually got Peter to hesitate long enough to be knocked against the wall. "For all the strength I gave them, I should've focused on increasing their mental capacity."
"You know what they say." Leo ran forward, trying to draw the doctor's attention. "Give a moron a sword, they'll use it as a club."
"Obviously someone with SUPERIOR intellect should've dealt with you pests from the start!" Doc made spinning razor's and blocked both Leo and Raph's sai's. "Though how ANYONE could've lost to moron's such as yourself is beyond me."
"We can't cut them and we clearly don't have the room to dodge!" Raph shouted. "We need an out!"
"I think the doc ordered a good dose of taser webs!" Spidey flicked his hand … with no result. "Shoot, need to reload."
"Reload?" Ock asked. "And here I assumed something as weak, feeble, and uncreative as your webbing could have been nothing but mother nature's mistake."
"Doc, buddy, we know you were an ugly little octo baby, but no need to be hard on yourself." Mikey swung in and kicked the fat man from behind. "That's what our job's supposed to be."
"Haha, nice!" Spidey shouted as he replaced his shooter slot and webbed up the pack thing. "Yo guys, run down on his evil plan?" He asked as he snatched Donnie and moved closer to the exit as the good old doc began chasing them.
"Octy here can't be out to play for long. His giant noodles have a short battery life!" Leo shouted as they followed suit. "That thing can keep his big fat butt up in the air for years."
"Wow, so we're preventing the world's ugliest hot air balloon from being launched. I knew the situation was dire, but geesh, the stakes just went up."
"Would you stop referring to my weight!?" The man shouted as multiple arms tried to stab them.
"Would you prefer I talk about your tacky goggles?!" Peter asked. "I have a long list of other insults!"
Mikey threw down a smoke bomb as they made their way over to the broken window. "Like a turtle do!" He shouted as he kept.
"Name of the game is keep away folks!" Spidey announced as they jumped out of the building. "If it falls into hands of the crazy eight limbed doctor we lose! Whoever holds on longest doesn't contribute for tonight's pizza budget!"
"But you're the only one with money." Donnie stated
"Exactly, I'm trying to save up here!" He tossed the pack over to Mikey. "Good luck, little turtle."
"I WILL POUR OUT THE LIQUIDS FROM THE SKULLS YOU OWN THAT CLEARLY HAVE REPLACED YOUR BRAIN!"
"Sheesh, and I thought Dorkster Fleeman was the most petty scientist we'd ever met." Mikey winced. "Well..aside from Donnie at least."
"HEY!"
Flash was not having a good day. In light of being dumped he sat alone at the faire, eating cotton candy while staring out at the couples walking about. "Stupid prom, stupid bet…" He grumbled as he took another bite of his ball of cotton. Sure, maybe it wasn't smart to flirt with a smoking hot redhead in front of his date… but to his credit… it was a smoking hot redhead… a smoking hot redhead that was going out with PUNY PARKER. If Flash didn't take the time to correct the universe of its blunder, it would've imploded from the sheer insanity of that situation.
So now … he didn't know. How long was it before you moved on? Half the time you dated or something? He was not going to waste math on that. Should he try getting back with Liz like Kong and Gloria always did? Or was this a free ticket to move on to someone else? The MJ girl did make it clear she and Puny Parker were not a thing. She seemed cool and chill enough to hang with the Flash.
Then again it wasn't really clear if she was a wild card … then again again, Flash was too. He'd admit that much at least. "I do not need this before the next game." He groaned. Flash did not need to think this hard. "Yo universe." He said to the sky. "If any of your mystic voodoo signage stuff is ever gonna play out, now would be a good time." Not that he was expecting anything, but it was better than nothing.
"Two girls in my arms, a Spider could get used to this!" A loud yet muffled voice called out into the air, and Flash found himself turning…seeing the one and only AMAZING Spider swinging around, with Gwen Stacy and that Mary Jane girl hanging onto him while some fat guy with metal arms swung at them, letting them off on the ground. "Thank you for flying air Spidey, we appreciate you for your patronage and hope to see you again soon." Saving the day and doing it with style, nice.
One of the metal arms knocked into Spidey, sending him flying into one of those test your strength bells. "Hand over the megalo pack, you pathetic excuse for an arachnid!"
"Sorry, that was not the prize for this game. Here's a stuffed animal instead, and as a consolation I'll throw in a but kicking, just cause I like ya." The super hero threw one off the shelves at the man's face. "While I'm at it, let's play a bonus round of Hit the octopi on the head!"
Flash watched as the two duked it out, Spidey moving around and avoiding the metal arms with style and speed, while constantly tossing out objects at the mad man who blocked it. This was the coolest! How come Puny Parker always got a lead on where to look?
Suddenly a bunch of metal stars came flying out of nowhere, blocked by those arms as out came … four giant turtle men with bandanas and weapons? "Yo Doc, bet you can't aim as well as you insult people." The red turtle smirked with a 'come at me' motion.
"Aim, he can barely walk. Why else would he need four extra arms. He should've called himself Doctor Hippo!" Wait, Spidey was casual with these guys … since when!?
The 'doctor' began throwing stuff like hammers and booths as the turtles and Spidey avoided it … until one almost hit Flash himself. "Woopsie!" Spidey swooped in and pushed him out of the way. "Careful, you're not pretty enough to save twice." Spider-Man saved him!
"Got it Spidey! Now pound this creep!" BEST DAY EVER!
"Now I see it, you're not just stupid, you're weak!" The crazy guy shouted as he wacked Spidey. "You care about these people enough to endanger your own meager lives for them!"
"Uh, duh, that's the whole hero spiel." The one in the orange mask said as they hit the tentacle guy across the head. "For a doctor, you're not that smart."
"And such a simple minded plan as well. 'Run around until he's out of power'." He said, as a tentacle extended out and grabbed-LIZ?! "Unfortunately for you, I have a full hour left to spare …" The end of one tentacle turned to a spinning blade near her head. "Imagine how many people could get hurt in such a time frame. The damage I could cause."
"Fine Ock, you win." The one in the blue mask held out some kind of circular disk thin….and chucked it in the air, sending it towards the ocean. "Go Fetch!"
"NO!" The creep threw Liz in the air, focusing on whatever it was the turtle threw.
"Sorry, we at air Spidey liked to keep our stations clear. Please refrain from splattering teenagers across the pier." And like a Pro, Spidey caught her before she could the ground.
"Yo Liz!" He ran forward. "You good?" They may have broken up, but he still didn't want her to get hurt.
"Yeah… I am… thanks to these guys.." Liz pointed to the group. "Heh… guess this is the second time I owe you."
"No need, like we said earlier, it's what we do." The one in the purple mask nodded. "..Though we should get running before Ock recharges his batteries
"No need." The blue turtle grinned, holding out some small object and tape. "A ninja knows the art of deception."
BOOM
They turned to the flash and smokestack from the other side of the pier. "... How much of a charge was that explosion?" Spidey asked.
"No more than about ten smokebombs worth." The blue one smirked. "If Mikey can survive them, then anybody can."
"Well played. I'll take out the battery, web them up, and make sure the cops find him." Spidey said, before turning to him. "Annnd … you never saw these guys." He pointed to the turtles. "We cool Flash?" Spider-Man knew his name!
"Yeah, of course! Totally, I'm your man on the street, your eyes and ears, your-"
"I get it." Spidey sent a web up. "Nighty night." With a purple smoke bomb, he and the turtles vanished. Spidey worked with a team…AWESOME. Sure, the solo act was amazing, but being the leader of other superheroes was just as cool, if not cooled! Why hasn't Puny Parker taken any pictures of this!? He must be a horrible photographer to keep missing them.
"Oddly enough…only the second weirdest night I've had." Liz mused over the whole thing. Well…as long as she was here, he might as well take his shot.
"Liz, look, about what happened at prom.." He began. "I… look, it's not like the flirting meant anything super serious, and… and I'm sorry."
"We're still broken up Flash, I found someone else." She shook her head. Well, worth a shot. "... We can still be friends though."
"Friends…" Ow… that hurt… really… really hurt. "Yeah… I… I can do… friends…" It hurt so much… was this what it was like to be Puny Parker? It sucked so much.