Doctor Octopus (Part 3)

Metallic tentacles slithered rapidly through the shadows, steel claws suddenly lashing out from every corner of the room. Ben Reilly's suspicions were correct; Doctor Octopus had indeed set a trap for them. This room itself was a massive cage brimming with deadly intent.

Otto seemed to have intentionally made all his new mechanical arms from pure black alloy. In this dimly lit space, they moved like fish in water, appearing and disappearing without a trace. The four Spider-Men relied on their Spider-Sense to anticipate and dodge, using their agile and varied movements to weave through the dense onslaught, though they were clearly struggling.

Even though the four Spider-Men were enhanced individuals, their stamina would eventually run out if they kept dodging like this. If they couldn't get close to Doctor Octopus himself, they would never have a chance to win. Within the time it took to smoke a cigarette, the four of them had narrowed the battle to a radius of about four to five meters around Otto. But as the radius shrank, the resistance from the mechanical arms grew stronger. With every step forward, they faced tentacles attacking several times more densely than before, each one moving with increased speed.

While the other three drew the main attention, Ben Reilly dodged the attacks and quietly circled to the left flank. He leaped off the wall twice, then sprang from a height of over four meters, flying directly towards Otto's head.

Otto didn't even look up, as if he hadn't noticed the threat from above. However, a mechanical arm suddenly shot out from the shadows of the ceiling, striking Ben Reilly hard in the side as he flew past, sending him spinning away.

Kaine rushed to the right flank, attempting to shoot webbing into Otto's blind spot. Otto didn't even blink. One mechanical arm, as if sentient, sprang up to protect its master, its steel claws wrapping tightly around the webbing. The mechanical arm exerted immense force, lifting Kaine off the ground along the strand and slamming him against the wall. Two steel claws then pinned his hands to the wall, one after the other.

At this point, only the original Peter Parker and the clone Gwen remained. Otto, while mentally controlling countless arms to fight them, laughed loudly, "Your struggles are comical and utterly meaningless. I am your creator. I gave you these abilities—even yours, Peter. I helped Osborn launch the Oz Project, and the serum I developed created the original Spider-Man. Facing me, do you think you have even the slightest chance?"

Peter, surprisingly, didn't retort with his usual quips today. He was burning with rage, feeling a hatred for someone he had never experienced before. He took a blow to his back, breaking through to within three steps of Otto, but ultimately couldn't evade a sharp thrust from a mechanical arm attacking from the left, getting hit squarely in the jaw.

Otto controlled another mechanical arm to grab Peter by the waist and back, flinging him violently towards the ceiling and pinning him there by the abdomen, unable to move.

Peter's failed attempt finally created an opportunity for Gwen. She, too, successfully broke through the encirclement, charging to within three steps of Otto. Two tentacles attacked from both sides at different angles, but the girl evaded them with a display of agility that was truly admirable. She spun, her blonde hair flying, and finally reached Otto. She raised her right fist, about to strike, but just as her fist was an inch from Otto's annoying nose, a steel claw seized her wrist.

It was the mechanical arms behind Otto, the four that were initially attached to him, the ones he controlled most skillfully and with the most precise and rapid movements.

The mechanical claws bound Gwen's hands together with irresistible force, lifting her into the air. She tried to kick towards the detestable face in front of her, her toes generating a powerful gust of wind that made Otto tilt his head slightly, but she ultimately missed him by a hair's breadth.

"I implanted the coordinates here in all of your minds," Otto said slowly. "No matter what, you would eventually find your way back here because this is your design, a form of suggestive hypnosis. This ensures that even if you managed to escape, you would ultimately return here, to see me."

Otto grinned, his gaze falling on Gwen, who was dangling before him in the mechanical claws. "You can't escape your father in the end, can you?"

"You're a lunatic," Gwen spat through gritted teeth.

"Great people are often called that, simply because ordinary people cannot understand. But you will understand, after all, you are all my children. Your physical and ability data are already up to standard. The next step is further memory debugging. I will erase your unnecessary memories and keep only the necessary ones. Or perhaps modify your personalities a bit."

Otto paused, his dark green lenses then turning to Peter, who was pinned to the ceiling.

"As for you, the original Spider-Man," he said with a cold laugh, "before you die, I will ensure I extract every last drop of value from you. As repayment for all the trouble you've caused me."

Peter struggled with all his might against the mechanical arm pinning his abdomen to the ceiling. "I'll kill you, Otto."

"I have my doubts."

Otto's gaze returned to Gwen, the dark green lenses reflecting the girl's stubborn face.

"You are my most successful and best creation," Otto said. "I designed you to modify your memory, to make you hate Spider-Man. Then I needed you to get close to him, to destroy his life, to destroy his will, until he was completely disheartened, gave up everything, and then I would end his life."

He let out a heavy snort.

"But unfortunately, an impertinent outsider attacked the laboratory and abducted you before I could proceed with the memory manipulation. He ruined my plan and destroyed my greatest pleasure."

"That was my good fortune," Gwen said coolly.

"Was it? It certainly wasn't for that fellow." Otto asked in a deep voice, "Tell me his name. Who was that person? Who attacked the laboratory? Who took you out of the incubation chamber?"

"I don't know," Gwen replied flatly.

"Lying is not a good habit, your father didn't teach you that," Otto increased the grip of the mechanical claw on her wrist, the powerful grip of the metal structure seeming to produce a faint creak from her fair wrist.

Gwen bit her lip, enduring the pain and remaining silent.

"Let her go!" Peter pounded the mechanical arm holding him, but couldn't budge it at all.

Otto ignored him and continued, "You still want to protect her, that's good. But you'll tell me eventually. You'll tell me his name, his address, and then..."

Otto's pupils contracted, and his body instinctively recoiled backward. A fiery discus cut through the darkness in a spinning arc, leaving a bright, vivid trail as it sliced cleanly through Otto's pride and joy, a mechanical arm, at the waist. Half of the uncontrolled mechanical arm, spewing sparks, fell to the ground, and Gwen, freed from her bonds, regained her liberty.

Otto broke out in a cold sweat. If he hadn't reacted instinctively and dodged just in time, it wouldn't have been just this single metal arm that was severed. He whipped his head around and roared in anger, "Who!?"

Fluorescent lights flickered on, outlining a "V" shaped circuit in the air with pale blue light. The black armor seemed to materialize out of nowhere, floating in the room, with pale blue flames erupting from its back to stabilize it in mid-air.

He extinguished the hovering flames and landed on the ground with a heavy metallic thud.

Otto instinctively took a step back.

"You wanted to see me," the black armor slowly raised its head. "I'm here."