Welcome back to A Song Of Spiders And Dragons. Last time, as Mister Negative was taken away, Spider-Man engaged in what had to be the most awkward text conversation in history with MJ over the whole partner thing, while Ember and Flame had the same one with Spyro and Cynder, though notably less awkward. And what makes it worse for Peter Parker? He was doing this in a group chat between all six of them. Yikes. But, with Mister Negative headed for The Raft, what could possibly be next? Well, it's about time we start finding out.

(Our scene picks up the day after Mister Negative was hauled away to prison, and true to their words, Spyro, Cynder, and Spider-Man meet up at Octavius Industries. Only when they arrive, Doctor Octavius is nowhere to be found, though there is a bottle of liquor on one of the tables, and the news is playing on a nearby TV)

Spyro: This is weird, Doctor Octavius is usually the first one in and last one out.

Cynder: Where is he?

Spider-Man: Doc?

(And just like that, Doctor Octavius enters the scene)

Octavius: Parker! Spyro! Cynder!

(At the mention of their names, the trio turn around and see Doctor Octavius is indeed present, and wearing a strange green suit)

Octavius: (As he grabs a couple coffee cups) Just in time to celebrate!

Spyro: Wait, Doc, what are we celebrating?

Spider-Man: (Looking around) And where are the arms?

(And then, almost like something out of a nightmare, the arms show up, straight off of Doctor Octavius' back. and they're no longer the human looking ones he had designed previously, they look more like demonic claw machines now.)

Cynder: (Just plain freaked out) Okay... that's new. How the heck did you do this?

Octavius: Intracranial Neural Network. (As one of the arms grabs the liquor bottle, brings it over, and pours some into the coffee cups) Reactions speeds under one nanosecond. That's faster than signals travel in the brain itself, let alone to an external prosthesis!

Spider-Man: This is... amazing...

Spyro: And kind of terrifying if I'm being honest.

Octavius: Design may need some work, but we did it! Nobody can take this away from us! Your work on the neural web was the key to this achievement.

Cynder: But that's never been tested! There's so much we just don't know!

Octavius: It works beautifully! (Gestures to a tablet with his real hands rather than the prostheses) Just take a look!

(Sure enough, that's exactly what Spider-Man starts off doing. And he doesn't like what he sees, at all. He hands it off to Spyro, who gets the same dire look on his face. Cynder views it next, and the reaction is similar. All of them see the data, and nobody has a positive reaction to this)

Spider-Man: This is bad...

Spyro: Bad's an understatement, Peter.

Cynder: We've got to warn Doctor Octavius, now.

Spyro: Doctor, we found a potential problem.

Octavius: Everything's got problems if you look closely enough, Peter. But fortune favors the bold.

(And then things get worse, as Doctor Octavius reveals he's got two more prostheses on his back, just below the first two, now using them to hold himself up above the scene)

Octavius: It's time to show the world what we've done.

Cynder: Doctor Octavius, the neural web isn't isolating motor neurons. This thing could easily be affecting other parts of your brain! Mood, inhibitions, any of it! We need to do more testing before this thing goes public.

Octavius: (Snapping) We've done enough testing! For the first time in my life, I don't feel like a failure! I feel like myself again!

Spider-Man: Otto, you were never a failure. This could permanently damage your mind. Please, we need to work this out.

Octavius: (Seemingly returning to himself) Right... that's... that's a perfectly fair point. (Powers down the arms by turning off the neural link) I guess I just got really excited there.

Spyro: This is still revolutionary. It's just in an early stage still.

Cynder: We're closer than we've ever been, Doc. We just can't rush in prematurely.

Spider-Man: We'll get there

Octavius: Right. I'll keep at it. I'll see what bugs I can work out. You know what? This has been quite the day for all of us. Why don't you three take some time off?

Spider-Man: Are you sure you're okay?

Octavius: I feel better than I've felt in years. Thank you, all of you. For everything.

(Sensing something is off kilter, but not sure of what exactly, the trio hesitantly departs, leaving Doctor Octavius to himself as the newscast continues)

News Presenter: We now take you live to Grand Central Terminal, where Mayor Osborn is about to address the media

Osborn: Martin Li is behind bars. When I make a promise to this city, I keep it. The people of New York will soon make a decision that will change the course of this city forever.

(But as Osborn talks, something changes in Doctor Octavius. He turns the neural like to his arms back on, as rage fills his eyes)

Osborn: So when you're casting your votes, remember everything I've done for this city. We are all safer now than we've ever been.

Octavius: LIAR!

(And with that, Doctor Octavius sends one of his arms flying into the TV, smashing it in rage.)

Octavius: You have no idea what you're in for...

(And on that ominous line, our tale ends for today)

And that looks like a perfect place to wrap up for today. I think it's becoming pretty clear what comes next now that Mister Negative is off the table. Something is not right here. I don't honestly think Doctor Octavius is going to work out any bugs in the system any time soon. At least, not in the arms, that is. What exactly do I mean? Tune in next time to start finding out. Same time... same channel!