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Chapter 31 - Octopus

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***

Secret lab project "Power of the Sun".

Two years ago.

Dr Otto Octavius.

From an early age, Otto Gunther Octavius was an intelligent child. At times, the boy's intellectual abilities came at him in a bad way.

Although Otto himself believed that many of his sorrows were due to the limitations of his peers, as well as many adults.

Including his alcoholic father.

Young Octavius, despite all the adversity, walked towards his goal through every obstacle that came his way.

His family had no money to pay for his studies, but Otto passed every exam and managed to pass on the budget. Because of this, Octavius realised one thing, to have everything, you have to be the first, the best.

Because of this, Otto failed to develop decent social skills, but he didn't consider it a flaw. People were only a hindrance in reaching the top.

Octavius became the youngest graduate of the University of New York, got a science degree and in his nineteen got a job as an employee in a small research laboratory. Unfortunately, due to his difficult character, Otto didn't stay long elsewhere.

These limited idiots do not appreciate my genius, Octavius liked to repeat.

In that laboratory, among four colleagues, he worked for twenty years, striving to develop his project, the creation of a perpetual energy source, based on the combination of different types of energy radiations. It was long and painstaking work, degenerate colleagues allowed themselves to laugh at his work, every year sponsors became less and less, the last to lose faith were the representatives of the Hardy Foundation, but he would remember it to them, to all of them!

Otto was about to conduct the tests himself, with the help of his additional project - tentacle-manipulators, allowing him to conduct all operations alone.

But as a sign from above, the day before the fateful experiment, she appeared.

- Dr Otto Octavius? - asked a pretty, short, brown-haired woman.

- Is that me, miss?

- Doctor. Davies. Rosalyn Davies. I have an offer for you from my employer.

- What kind of offer?

Now Otto was ready to grasp at any straw. His pride couldn't let 20 years of work go to waste.

- My employer is prepared to provide you with a private laboratory with a small staff of employees who will obey you unconditionally, plus unlimited resources for the realisation of your project. The only requirement is that the project will be sold to one particular company, and you will get the regalia of the creator of an inexhaustible source of energy and all the patents. Wouldn't you agree?

The offer sounded like a deal with the devil. Too good to be true. But Otto had no choice. Vanity won out.

- I accept.

Otto didn't fail.

He didn't know who he should be grateful to for the chance, but the mysterious employer didn't cheat. For seven months he worked in the private lab provided, the brainless assistants doing exactly as he said. By a twist of fate, some of them were Otto's former colleagues.

Oh, with what joy he humiliated the brainless degenerates who had literally recently laughed at his creation.

And he defeated them. He always did.

- So, is today the day? - The shawl asked in anticipation.

- Yes," Octavius replied softly.

He hadn't realised how quickly it had started between him and Rosie, ahem...Dr Davies. But a month ago he'd dared to ask her out and she'd said yes. That day Otto rightly regarded as the day of another great conquest.

- Are you ready? - the woman touched his hand, weightlessly.

- Was Caesar ready? The answer, of course, was yes.

The manipulator tentacles had finished attaching themselves to Otto's body.

- I've never liked these things," Rosalyn grinned slightly, "they look too dangerous.

- But they're the ones that will keep the experiment running safely.

- Why not get your lab technicians involved?

- And trust these donkeys to run the reaction? There's no way I'm taking that risk.

Davis just sighed. In her months of work, Rosie had realised that there was nothing she could do about Otto's temper, so she accepted him as he was.

- Are we ready?

- Everyone's just waiting for you.

- Our mystery sponsor?

- He'll be there behind armoured tinted glass.

- So unconvinced of success? - Otto chuckled. He wasn't nervous.

There was too much at stake.

- Like any rich man, he likes to overreact.

- Then it was worth demonstrating that his nervousness was unnecessary, Otto Octavius justified the resources spent on him.

The scientists made their way to the test site. The assistants took their seats. Rosie stood at the main console.

What surprised Otto more was the presence of silent guys in dark green paramilitary uniforms. Until today, he hadn't seen any of them here.

Unwillingly, Otto's gaze darted to the observation deck on the first floor. From that room he had an excellent view of everything going on at the range. The only entrance and exit was guarded by the same two guys in uniform.

"There must be a dozen of them guarding him inside," thought Otto with a smile.

- Ladies and gentlemen, today you will witness the birth of a new type of energy, the discovery of which will secure our place in history. Without further ado, let's begin.

The scientist's manipulators began to activate the mechanisms of the apparatus.

The device was a dome-shaped column with a core in the centre. Energy was stored in the core. The types of radiation themselves came in and were converted by tubes connected on four sides.

The process has begun.

Using his tentacles, Dr Octavius adjusted the flow of incoming energy.

An energy sphere began to form in the centre of the mechanism.

After a few seconds, small objects in the room began to fly up. The staff watched mesmerised, until a second later, heavy metal tables bolted to the floor flew upwards. Even some people began to be pulled off the ground.

- It's all right! The gravitational anomaly is temporary, the process is stabilising! - Otto shouted with conviction, reaching for the levers with his manipulators.

- Dr Octavius, the experiment must be stopped, immediately - shouted Herman Orn, the second man in the laboratory after Otto.

He had been sent from the organisation of the mysterious employer. He hadn't interfered in Octavius' affairs until now, but Otto couldn't order him around.

- No! Everything is under control!

Without listening to Octavius, Orn rushed to the main console, but a sudden impulse threw him back to the far side of the room.

- Otto, you've got to stop! - Rosalyn shouted. Setting up the backup equipment to cut off the power.

- I said no! - A tentacle smashed the control panel.

Dr Davies fell to the floor. And the room shook with another energy surge.

The ion field travelled through Otto's body, overloading his nervous system. The last thing Octavius saw before he lost consciousness was Rosalyn lying on the floor.

There was an explosion.

Same place.

Norman Osborne.

Norman had high hopes for Project Power. The discovery of a new source of energy would attract him many new clients, including those from the military sphere.

To play out this Gambit Ozborn spent a large amount of resources. His collaborator, Rosalyn Davies, suggested Otto Octavius, with his ambitious research.

Octavius didn't like Osborne. Perhaps it was their similarities. Both were scientists with unbridled ambition, geniuses from dysfunctional families. Only Octavius was an arrogant prideful man who wouldn't accept defeat. Norman was a strategist, a cold-blooded manager, he understood that sometimes a small loss is the only way to avoid a crushing defeat.

That's why he agreed to the gamble.

Over seven months of work and here he is.

Hooking up with Oscorp's private security detail, he positioned himself on the observation deck. At the door, two soldiers were being briefed by the head of the Chopovs, Romman Brawl, part time head of his security detail.

To Octavius's credit, he held himself with dignity. He did not show a single muscle of excitement, or maybe he did not feel it at all. Herman Orn, who had been sent by Norman himself, was not happy with Otto, as he noted in his weekly reports.

Now Osborne understood why.

Herman was an indecisive petty scientist whose research was insignificant compared to his ego and annoying sense of superiority over others. He was a great bargaining chip. Someone who couldn't be pitied, which was why Norman had chosen him to be his little spy.

A pawn.

Octavius, on the other hand, spread an aura of confidence, knew what he wanted. Funny, but by nature, this unassuming chub was a leader. Osborne even believed he'd succeed.

He shouldn't have.

It began in the standard way. The reaction proceeded as expected, right down to the instability of the device. The room Ozborn was in had been designed to withstand such overloads, so Norman watched in cold blood as his investment burned up because of the hubris of one arrogant scientist.

There was an explosion.

A pall of smoke enveloped the test site.

- Switch on the exhaust," Norman ordered sternly.

Brawl obeyed the chief's orders.

A cleansing sound filled the room, getting rid of the combustible smoke.

After the procedure, the observers saw a picture of utter devastation: pieces of equipment lying everywhere, a crater in the centre of the room, and bodies scattered all over the room.

After making sure that the reaction was over, Norman entered the firing range. He was immediately surrounded by three guards. The only ones left in one piece.

- Pmo-help me!

There was a muffled shriek from the far wall.

With a nod, Norman ordered a check.

The one crying for help was the miraculously surviving Herman Orn. The scientist was dragged to Osborne.

- I can congratulate you, Dr Orn, you have once again survived.

- Dr Osborne!

- Don't try to suck up to me, I'm the Director here.

Norman had a clear division. In the business world he was Mr Osborne, among scientists he was Dr Osborne, and when the two professional spheres were mixed, he was addressed as Director Oscorp.

- I'm sorry, Director," the man bowed his head.

At this time, the guards continued their inspection of the room.

- Herman-Herman-Herman-Herman, you are so eager to prove your usefulness, hungry for recognition and promotion, but when I entrust you with an important project, I find myself on the ruins! - In the end, Norman couldn't contain his rage.

- It's Octavius! Orn's speech was interrupted by Osborn grabbing him by the throat.

- I will not tolerate excuses. Have the honour to admit failure like a man.

- Director Osborne!

The extortion of the surviving scientist was interrupted by a shout from one of the soldiers.

The released Orn fell to his knees, grabbed his throat and coughed.

Stepping over the corpses, Norman approached the centre of the crater.

- What's wrong?

- He's alive.

To confirm the soldier's words, the body of Otto Octavius began to convulse.

- Borrow! - the head of security went to the chief, "call in a sweep team. Dr Octavius to our recovery centre.

- Grif?

- Top secret," Norman's gaze involuntarily locked on the body of Dr Rosalyn Davies, pierced by a piece of rebar.

"For a grey lab mouse, she was good in bed. Too bad." A thought flashed through Osborne's mind as he looked into Rosie's lifeless eyes.

- Orn!

The scientist was brought in by a third guard.

- You will go with Dr Octavius, report on his condition, I'm sure he will serve us well. This is your last chance.

Without waiting for a reply, Norman turned towards the exit.

Now Ozbourne had to solve the question of closing the financial debts. After all, he had

had invested an inordinate amount of resources in this project.

"You shouldn't accept a woman's proposal right after sex."

Nothing.

Small losses.

They're solvable.

But where to find sponsors with huge amounts of money in record time?

***

Roofs. Our day.

Spider-Man.

Yes. That's exactly what Cat asked for as a favour for his help.

So there's no need to overthink it.

At first, of course, I thought of refusing, but I considered it too rude, after all, the girl helped me in a difficult situation, and dinner is not a big price to pay.

Besides, what's the big deal about eating with a costumed partner? In the evening. Candlelight. With champagne.

Okay, I hear you.

- Have a seat, Spidey.

Felicia was sitting gracefully on the plaid with her legs tucked under her.

- Would you do the honours? - the girl handed me a bottle of champagne.

I took the vessel and carefully uncorked it. Unfortunately, the liquid had other plans.

With a plume of foam, the jet flew out of the bottle and hit the Cat.

- Yeah, you did good," the blonde laughed at me, not looking upset.

The girl ran her hand across her chest, wiping away the sticky drops, and then licked her finger.

- Mmm, this drink isn't bad," the thief said with a slight moan of pleasure.

Needless to say, how hot it looked?

- Is there nothing left in there? - Cat asked, interrupting my stupor.

- А? Yes! There's more," I rushed to the flutes, trying not to look at Hardy.

Pouring the rest of the champagne into glasses, I give one of the vessels to Felicia. The girl accepts it with a smile, lightly stroking my palm with her fingers.

How does this girl manage to make everything so hot!

I sit down on the other end of the plaid, leaving as much distance between us as the small piece of fabric allowed.

With a slight hum, Cat starts rummaging through the picnic basket.

- Here you go," the blonde handed me a sandwich.

Taking the food, I lift my mask up to my nose and taste the dish.

- It's delicious.

- Thank you. I made them myself. A toast, to us! - Hardy raised her glass.

- Um, yes, to us," the glasses clink together.

I take a sip, as does Cat.

- Oh," Felicia collapses on top of me with a slight shriek.

Rolling off the plaid, I find myself pinned to the roof by the blonde, who, in a riding position, pins my hands to the roof.

- I think the champagne's gone to my head," she says excitedly, kissing me sharply.

***

Oscorp Recovery Centre.

Our days.

Herman Orn.

Two years have passed since the catastrophic ordeal. All this time Herman felt a ligature hanging around his neck, unknown but tangible. The director had clearly made it clear that Orn no longer had the right to make a mistake.

He was faithfully carrying out the task assigned to him and keeping an eye on the arrogant idiot who had put him in this situation.

Octavius had fallen into a coma.

The once brilliant scientist, whose giftedness was recognised even by Herman, had become a drooling piece of meat. Well, it's only fitting. Octavius' own design, his tentacles, due to the passage of electromagnetic radiation and the reactor explosion, were implanted in his body and became inseparable. What better proof of the scientist's total collapse?

- Like Dr Octopus today? - That was the derogatory nickname Orn had decided to bestow on his foe.

- No change," replied the nurse.

Suddenly, the beeping of equipment began to sound from the room.

- What's going on?

- The patient is experiencing an increased spike in brain activity.

Hitherto inactive tentacles began to rampage around the room with an eerie scrambling sound.

- The spikes are increasing.

- Sedate him, stat!

Several medics rushed into the room, but were immediately thrown back by the metal tentacles.

- What's going on? - Otto, who had woken up, said quietly.

- Dr Octavius, can you hear me? - came Herman's voice from the speakers.

- Orn? What's wrong? Where am I? And what the hell happened to my eyes? - while groping his face, Otto stumbled over the working glasses from his manipulators.

- 'You were in a coma, Doctor,' Herman grumbled at Octavius' tone. - 'The experiment failed, your body was damaged. The mechanism grew into your body, the same thing happened to your eyes," the scientist tried to clarify the situation.

- No, I couldn't have miscalculated," Otto whispered disbelievingly. - You're lying!

Armed guards burst into the room.

- All right, Octopus, stop your rampage, or we'll calm you down, - said the pumped-up head of the squad.

- Octopus?! Well, if that's the way you want it, you pathetic degenerates, then Dr Otto Octavius will be done with you!