He's a Good Person, I'm Not

Michael had already been in the room when Gwen entered. He had activated the suit's optical camouflage to hide in the darkness, along with two spells that muffled sound and affected cognition, ensuring no one would notice him.

He heard everything and saw everything. The only reason he hadn't acted until now was that he wanted to observe the clones' performance and gather as much combat data as possible.

Otto's cunning little eyes cautiously surveyed the intruder from behind his dark green lenses. The figure in the black armor had appeared silently, like a metallic phantom. Every cell in his body screamed a warning about the danger this person posed, and he felt cold sweat trickle down his spine.

However, the mechanical arms spread throughout the room, all under his control, clearly gave him a great deal of confidence. Coupled with the fact that he had just defeated four Spider-Men without taking a scratch, such a record could easily lead to overconfidence.

"It's you, huh?" Otto suppressed all his unease, projecting as much dominance as possible. "The one who dares to steal what belongs to Doctor Octavius?"

Michael had no intention of engaging in idle chatter. He unleashed a pulse beam with a swift palm strike. Doctor Octopus was startled, but his reaction was not slow. A metal arm swung out just as the beam hit, deflecting the pulse impact aside.

The speed of his reaction was unexpected. Either it was a fluke, or Otto's reflexes had also surpassed normal human limits. It was likely that the mechanical arms, which interacted with his nervous system, were in turn enhancing his reflexes. This was also within reason; otherwise, even with four immensely strong mechanical arms, it would be difficult for Doctor Octopus to fight Spider-Man to a standstill with normal human reflexes.

"Be careful!" Gwen suddenly shouted.

Steel tentacles moved rapidly along the ground, unexpectedly climbing onto Michael's ankles. Before the armor could charge another pulse cannon, two mechanical arms wrapped around his leg armor, followed by three to five more steel tentacles that ensnared the suit's hands and upper body.

Michael glanced at Gwen. The clone girl's eyes were filled with concern.

"Arm and leg armor are restrained," Sherry reminded him. "Power output is insufficient to damage enemy components."

"I know," Michael replied calmly.

He opened his fingers, chanted a spell, and the stored magical data was rapidly accessed. The suit's energy flowed into his body, converging into a flame-colored magic circle in the center of his palms.

Sparks flew, magic surged, and golden arcs of light flashed at speeds too fast to see. A piercing sound of metal cutting echoed through the space as all the tentacles wrapped around Michael snapped.

"No..." Otto's eyes widened in shock. "How is this possible?"

The auxiliary thruster ports on both sides of the suit's back opened, and flames for short-range propulsion erupted, the black armor moving like thunder. Otto pushed his brain to its limit, releasing nerve signals as widely as possible. All the mechanical arms that received the command shot forward like madmen, attempting to intercept the enemy attacking their master.

Michael's figure was like an arrow released from a bow, unable to turn back or be stopped. The mechanical arms stabbed forward like countless venomous snakes, all easily severed by his magically imbued short sword. He broke through the defense line in 0.7 seconds and reached Otto, leaving behind a ground littered with sparking, severed tentacles.

Otto retreated nervously. The remaining three arms connected to his back shot out simultaneously, like a desperate last stand. Michael changed his direction of propulsion, the thrusters spitting fire to the side, pushing the armored figure sideways to dodge two arms. The last mechanical arm, its tip carrying a spinning saw blade, chopped down fiercely. Michael deflected it with a diagonal slash, cleanly severing it.

Otto had nowhere left to retreat, and nothing left to protect him. Michael reached out with his left hand, pressing his palm firmly onto the back of Otto's neck. Visible blue arcs of electricity erupted from his palm, the current surging rapidly into his spine, electrocuting him into a high-pitched scream.

All the mechanical arms ceased their operation, like electric toys with their batteries removed. The Spider-Men bound by the arms also regained their freedom. Peter forcefully threw off the metal arm pressed against his stomach and dropped down.

Otto lay on the ground in pain, his four mechanical arms attached to his back (including the two already broken) hanging limply on the ground. Smoke billowed from him, and he groaned, murmuring incoherently, "Wh-what did you do?"

"I performed a detailed X-ray scan of your spinal cord, analyzed the mechanical structures integrated with your nervous system, and the principle by which you remotely control these arms with your brain," Michael said calmly, standing beside him. "Then, I used precisely controlled 50,000-volt current to selectively burn out your critical circuits, disrupting your neural interface mechanism."

Michael stepped back two paces and moved aside. "Now, he's yours."

Otto painfully raised his head and saw the four Spider-Men slowly surrounding him, their gazes as if they could devour him alive.

"Let's get this straight," Kaine stepped forward, his right fist shooting out. "I'm taking the first hit!"

His black fist slammed hard into Otto's right cheek, twisting his mouth and sending saliva flying.

"My turn!"

Ben Reilly delivered a flying kick to Otto's jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. Peter leaped forward, pinning him with his knees to his chest and abdomen, making it difficult for him to breathe, and then began raining blows down on his face with alternating fists.

"You're a madman, a pervert, a psycho!" Peter's fists were smeared with blood. "I told you I'd kill you, Otto!"

Otto couldn't speak. His dark green lenses had shattered with the first punch, followed by his nasal bridge, and then the sound of cracking bone came from below his left eye. Several of his teeth were broken, mixed with blood, choking him.

If Peter hadn't subconsciously held back, the first punch would have been enough to smash Otto's head into a pulp.

Otto was beaten until he was on the verge of death, until Michael grabbed Peter's fist as he raised it again, stopping him from swinging.

Peter glared at Otto resentfully. "But what he did... he cloned so many of me, he even tried to use Gwen to destroy me. If you lock him up in prison, he'll get out eventually, he'll come for me again, he'll hurt the people I care about..."

"I know, he probably deserves to die. But it shouldn't be you who does it," Michael said calmly.

Peter bit his lip, stared at Otto for a long moment, then finally let go of him, loosening his clenched fist.

"You're... right," Peter stood up, still glaring at Otto. "But I'm just so unwilling to accept this."

Otto's face was covered in blood, his eyes, nose, and throat burning. But he smiled, a hoarse, muffled chuckle escaping him.

"I knew it, Peter. I always knew you were a good kid, you wouldn't kill me, of course," he laughed. "But what can you do to me? Everything I did was permitted. The CIA recruited me, they'll smooth everything over, and this time I won't even have to go to jail. In a while, I can go back to my old ways and continue this plan. Oh, next time I might even come up with a plan better than cloning Gwen. You better be prepared..."

"I think you might be misunderstanding something, Doctor Octavius," Michael interrupted him coldly. "I said it shouldn't be Peter who does it, because he's a good person, and he's a child. But from another perspective..."

He raised his palm and pointed at Otto, whose arrogant smile gradually froze.

"...I am not."

With a flash of light, a pulse beam was released, blasting open Otto's chest. Doctor Octopus's eyes widened, his expression one of disbelief, as he took his last breath.