Even though the world was tinted a bright red from the pair of lenses attached to his face...
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The Condemned Spider-Man: Emissary of Hell
- Thread starter Proman
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Chapter 1: Freaky
Proman
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Even though the world was tinted a bright red from the pair of lenses attached to his face, Peter couldn't make out the guards pointing their rifles out in front of him. His chest burned, like heartburn but multiplied by a thousand, and his arms were withstrained to the bed. He could barely move his head down toward them:
"I'm Peter Parker," was what he wanted to say. But he could barely muster the strength in his mouth to move his lips, so instead, he mumbled; "eyah peeker,"
"What did the Doc say?" One of the guards glanced at the other. "He's a peeker?" The other men ignored him while the lead sighed as he gazed at all the life support equipment Peter was now attached to.
"Is this really what we were called down for?" he questioned aloud, "Because the guy mumbles."
"You can't underestimate him. It wasn't too long ago when he'd taken over all tech with his mind."
Peter hadn't done that, it went without saying. But they couldn't have known better, after all. This wasn't exactly Parker's body. No, somehow Peter Parker had ended up in the body of Doctor Octo Octavius. A dying man with a broken body littered with the batterings and wounds that came with years of fighting the Superhuman Spider-Man while being a normal man with robotic limbs.
"And now he's a dying man mumbling to himself. Ten bucks says he can't even make a coherent sentence."
It was only with the tremendous amount of willpower that he'd managed to suck in enough air and push through the sluggish facial muscles to make a final push to say what he'd been attempting for an hour;
"Eyah… Peter Parker."
There was a scramble of noises Peter guessed was the guards discussing things with the doctors surrounding him. The tone alone didn't fill the dying man with much hope, so the genius mind that had defeated Doc Ock defeated, the Green Goblin, and the Jackel over the years of their schemes. He'd outsmarted them, he could think his way out of here.
He just needed more information. The 'how' he got here and if Octo was in his body? That sorta information.
Spider-Man had been around the block enough to know that the obvious answer wasn't always true. It was likely if he was in Octo's body, Octo was in his. But there could be more variables than Peter could grasp from this position. There could easily be a third body in the mix, he could be in Octo, Octo could be in the third body, and that person could be in his.
Or even he's not the real Peter Parker, but a mental copy plugged into Octo's body. But on the off chance that he was wrong and Ock was going around in his body. He needed to know. Peter Parker needed to meet Octo Octavius.
"I need to see Peter Parker," He managed to gasp out. His voice was so foreign to him, even to how he expected Doc Ock's voice to sound. He was used to the over-the-top timbre, the rich, elaborate manner the Doctor usually spoke with. But when the doctor's voice was used with Peter's inflections… well, the now Former Spider-Man was surprised by how different it sounded.
Before he could even try to explain the situation to the guards around him, the nurses on hand to monitor Ock's vitals had injected Peter with some drug that put him to sleep. He struggled against it, the famous willpower of Peter Parker was more than a match for any normal drug, but the condition of Doc Ock's body wasn't well enough to fight off a mild cold never mind pharmaceuticals.
So he was greeted with nothing but a vision of black till he forced himself to open his eyes once more. Some time had passed since the people in the room had changed over as the day passed. But before Peter could even start to cough his way to get some attention one of the nurses tapped the other on the shoulder.
The two of them left without saying a word, even as Peter talk through a very dry mouth. It appeared that the great Doctor was a natural mouth breather. How nice. They did reveal the helpful information that he'd continued saying Peter Parker even in his sleep. So the great Parker will have come in handy after all.
It made talking after a straight hour or so of sleep more difficult as if Peter needed that, so even as he spotted the form of Spider-Man and Captain America standing at his door he couldn't scream or shout the truth of the situation. Spider-Man waved off Captain America as he entered the room, the door sliding shut behind him.
The cameras went off next, leaving the two alone with no observers.
"All right, we're all alone. This is what you wanted?" The imposter questioned. Truthfully, Peter would've preferred one of the many mind readers the Avengers knew in here with them, so them being alone was not what he wanted. "We're all alone. What did you want?"
"Eyah… Pe… ter… Parker," With each word, Peter found the strength to push past the pain that reverbed through the pain in Ock's throat. Past through the sluggish tongue that wanged in his month. "I am Peter Parker."
Spider-Man took his mask off, revealing Peter's own face with a smile that had more right on Norman Osborn's face than anything with the Parker name.
"No," he said, "Now, I am Peter Parker. You? Well, you're Doctor Octo Octavius. I understand that you're going to find it difficult to breathe in that body. The time of your passing grows ever closer after all."
Peter wished he had the strength to roll his eyes at the man who stole his body. 'The time of your passing grows ever closer'? Like really, there was a reason why despite the lack of grey hair on Doc Ock's head for most of their encounters Peter considered the man old. He talked much like an English professor from the 1920s at times.
It was also how Peter knew this was Doc Ock in his body. They had swapped bodies.
"You won't get away with this… guha," Peter found the act of raising his voice to cause a round of coughing so severe that his words became gibberish. "People will r-r-realize… gahahahhahba… p-people will know what you've done. Y-ou can't k-keep the cha-ahhhhh-rade up forever."
"Peter, Peter. I'm disappointed that you haven't noticed. You have all my memories, so logically you should presume that I've gained yours too. I don't need to guess how you'll act. I know everything about you already. I am Peter Parker now, you are Doctor Octo Octavius. You should at least be proud that you've finally gotten a doctorate."
The beginning of the monologue was enough to get Peter's mind racing, searching for the very information Ock had told him he had. There was a lot to go through, things that he never wanted to know. But he figured it out soon enough.
In the last scheme, Doc Ock had Peter use the man's own tech to help defeat him. In a narrative, this would be proof of the character going beyond physical means to defeat their foes, his their brains to become not just a better hero but a better person. But in Peter's life, it meant a weakness for his enemy to exploit as the Doctor used the link to create a backdoor into Peter's mind, slowly using this as a basis to create a body swap-bot.
Something he had going around New York right now.
Something he could control even from this bed, in prison. The man hadn't even needed to leave the Raft to escape. It was genius, it was horrifying. The terror that Doc Ock could cause the world in his body.
If he had all of Peter's memories as well, there was very little Peter could do to prove that he was the Real Spider-Man. Not when Ock could answer all the same questions he could under interrogation. A mind reader could figure it out, he doubted that Ock and internalized being Peter Parker, but the chances of Doc Ock's body surviving long enough for him to convince someone that something was wrong were slim to none. The chances that the person he even convinced could get a telepath was even slimmer.
"I wouldn't worry about your loved ones," Ock spoke once more, his gloating like gasoline to the fire racing through Peter. "I know exactly how to give them the right attention. Especially that redhead of yours."
Something inside of Peter snapped. His heart started to race as his anger at what the Doctor had done raced through his mind. How dare this man, how dare this thief smile about harming MJ. To deceiving not just MJ, but Aunt May, his friends, and colleagues at Horizon Labs. He wasn't just hurting him, he wasn't just damaging Peter Parker. He was going to tear roughshod over everyone and everything he ever cared about.
Peter had seen Doc at his best, seen him at his most moral. Even then the man's motivations were rooted in pettiness and revenge. He couldn't be trusted with the responsibility of being Spider-Man, never mind the more normal aspects of Peter's life.
Octavius smiled widely in the way few of the villains in Peter's life could, he placed the mask back on and walked over to the door.
"So long, Doctor Octavius. I have places to be."
"OCTAVIUS!" Peter yelled, his body struggling against the restraints and medical equipment that held him down. They creaked from the sudden exertion, his body felt like it was about to erupt. But it wasn't anything Parker hadn't dealt with in his life a million times before, pain was just an old friend at this point. Helped him to focus. "I'm not done, not by a long shot! You might know everything I do but that isn't enough to be Spider-Man! You lack the basic human decency. There's a reason I'M PETER PARKER and you're just a thug with too many limbs!"
The fake didn't bother to respond to Peter, merely leaving the room. It was a shame that this medical room was soundproof. Peter had hoped the yell would've gotten Wolvierine's attention or even Cap's. But had better hearing than normal people and either one of them had the contacts and resources to solve the situation very quickly.
But either they were playing it safe out there or neither of the pair heard his yells. What he could give someone else around to have overheard. It would've helped a lot.
Peter felt the sharp pain in his chest before he even leaned back into the bed to think. The rapid beeps from the heart monitors weren't much else but a highlight to the erupting heart attack Ock's body was currently experiencing.
He wasn't sure how long he was out this time. But for a moment he felt the heat of a fire, the flash of a redhead in his vision and then he woke back up in his bed. His hospital bed. For a moment, Peter had hoped this was all just a dream. The reality of the situation was clear to him.
He couldn't afford to try and push this body too hard, Peter was sure Ock's shattered wreck would die if another attack happened. Medical intervention or not, willpower would only go so far as well.
"Think, Parker, think," Typically Peter did his monologuing internally but for the far-out hope that someone noticed, Peter felt that talking in the third person for a bit would be helpful. Even if just to people in the future that wanted to figure out what went wrong. "You have all his memories, you know how to get out of this situation."
"If he's pretending to be you, then Octo has to at least try to act like it for a while. That means he has to interact with the Horizon Labs staff, who are pretty smart in their own right. And a time when he can't be in a suit, so he'd be more vulnerable. The Avengers have got to know me pretty well over the years, they will realize something is wrong eventually, but the things he could do before then…. I have to do something… even if it's taking myself out."
He couldn't afford to sit in this bed and dye. There had to be some way out.
There was a quiet wispy voice coming from nearby.
"Parrrkeer," It went, sending a chill down his shattered spine. "Iss it true? Iss that you?"
The Lizard was right next to him. Peter's mind was a bit too tired, a bit too wound up to figure out how the Lizard was speaking to him through the walls that early he was sure were soundproof. But if he had paid more attention, Parker would've noticed he had been transferred from a medical room back to Ock's Cell.
He was more distracted by the medical equipment surrounding him than the shape of the door into the room.
It certainly helped his confusion that the Lizard was speaking. Sure, the monster had done it many times before. But the last the good Doctor Curt Conners had transferred into the creature he appeared to have lost that feature. Though remained smart and deadly as ever.
Peter wasn't sure if regaining speech was a good sign or a bad one, so he kept his assumptions low here.
"Lizard," Peter took a deep breath, the sensation burning his chest as he did so. "You called me Parker?"
Part of him shouldn't have felt so much relief in a Supervillain like the Lizard figuring out that. But Peter had a lot of respect for Conners, for all the man's faults. The Doctor had helped Spider-Man out for years, despite his personal tragedies. He didn't complain one bit. His issues with the Lizard non-withstanding, Conners was a good man. A very smart one too. Peter hoped that some part of Curt Conners in there was listening into the conversation.
That even if this ended here for him, Conners could bring the truth to the world.
"I overheard you," The Creature explained. "Mosst wouldn't have you but the way thiss cell iss aligned up letss me lissten into the vibrations. The sshouting merely let me know to focuss in on the room."
As much as hope blossomed in Peter's heart, he also found the idea of the Lizard being able to listen into other sections of the Raft pretty concerning.
"I overheard the Doctors talking. You have mere hours to live. So there issn't much time. I had hoped to relieve mysself of a great secret to someone that would take it to their grave. But you've done too much good in this world, Parker. You can break out of here now, go and deal with the imposter before it'ss too late."
"... break out," Parker had already been considering it. Already had a plan in mind for using Octo's resources out in the world. "Yes, I could. But how can I trust you? We've been enemies for a long time Lizard. What good does it go for you to help me out?"
This could be a scheme to get Peter killed in an attempted prison break, to guarantee that there wasn't some last-minute
There was a large period of silence where the Lizard didn't respond. It filled Peter with a great deal of dread, but nothing that he couldn't overcome with a deep breath.
"The cure worked. I am Curt Connerss. I am in control, not the Lizard. I remain here becausse I desserve this prison around me. As much as a cage for me as this body is for me."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"The same way I know that you're not. I've known you and Octaviuss for years. I can tell the difference."
"... I have a plan and I want you in on it."
Peter hadn't needed a lot of brainpower to create a plan to escape. It was very simple, if not mentally draining to execute. He used the link to the Mind-Swap bot, which was still over in the city proper, to find a computer and use Doc Ock's secret bank account to hire the best team to break him out.
… sadly the Fantastic Four were good guys and so unavailable to break out from prison. So he went for the budget option of prison escapes. Which meant Scorpion, Hydro-Man, and the Trapster. Not enough to make a Sinister Six but they had the needed skills when applied together to help him out of here. If they moved quickly enough.
Still, even when they came some forty minutes later, Peter could tell his body was failing fast. Now, he wasn't an accredited medical doctor but he'd been around long enough and he had enough scientific experience in most fields to recognize that one of his organs had failed moments ago. Peter thought it was a kidney, but it could equally be a liver.
Thankfully, the loud ringing of the trio breaking their way into the prison signaled it was time for him to leave. As the most technologically experienced of the supervillains Peter summoned, the Trapster quickly took him out of the iron lung that the prison staff had placed him into and hooked him out to more portable life-support equipment that the man had brought with him.
This all had been one of Octo's plans to escape prison, Peter was merely taking advantage of the knowledge hidden in the man's brain. This of course meant that Ock knew exactly where Peter would head after escaping.
Which meant there was time to flip the script and go somewhere else. But it needed to be a place he could grab equipment.
"So which guys are we letting loose to make Six?" Scorpion asked, referring to the standard number of people Ock typically recruited to the Sinister Six. This did draw Peter's attention away from planning out the scheme running through his head.
"No," Peter growled in response. The action was so fast and so automatic that it hurt his throat. "We've little time, anyone else would slow us down. "
From the cells next to him, the self-proclaimed Spider-Slayer, Alistair Smyth banged on his door. Calling for Octavius to release him as together they could blah, blah, blah. Peter wasn't interested in breaking out that loon. Even if he could be trusted, the man's priorities were always at the extreme end of the spectrum. Killing Ock was an acceptable end to Peter, at least over leaving his body to commit murder and whatever caught the madman's fancy.
Scorpion tried to advocate for the man, mentioning the upgrades he'd received from the man. But Smyth in the past had already proved incapable of not leveling a block in his attempts to kill Spider-Man back when he worked for JJ. He'd only grown more extreme over the years. Smyth was lined up for the needle, a punishment few were given in this day and age due to the number of resurrections Super Villains were having these days. Peter was desperate, just not that much.
But there was one scientist, one supervillain that Peter could see working with at the moment:
"Curt," Peter slowly turned his head to face the Lizard. He was surprised to see him muffled given the earlier conversation, but it made sense as a security precaution to mussel the Lizard. The guy could bite a man in half. "I could use a good man, someone to keep my head straight."
It was as clear a cry for help that Peter could give the man in his condition. Even hinting at the idea he wasn't the real Doc Ock would end with his rescuers giving him the boot.
Curt eyed him, staring deep into the lenses that surrounded Peter's eyes. It made Peter feel very naked, which was probably more attributed to the fact that he was only wearing a pair of pants and not much else than to Conner's lizard stare.
"Come on, he's just ani-" The Trapster's dismissal was cut off at the right moment for drama:
"Yess," Curt nodded his large head, surprising Scorpion enough for the man to scratch the top of his head. "I accept."
Peter's vision went black once more, and the world exploded into an incomprehensible series of noises and lights. They were frankly more frightening than Peter expected, as this wasn't even his first time coming so close to death. There was just something about them this time that took the man off guard.
He could only hope there wasn't anything else that took him off guard.
Peter thought that his chest was on fire. Over the years of being Spider-Man, he'd almost been lit on fire a few times, which given his costume was normally spandex, it wouldn't have ended very well for him. It started to spread up his chest, through his veins, and around his body. The pain was as great as anything else he ever felt, far more rooted in emotion. The worst thing was the laugh, the ever-present laugh in the background of his mind.
It went all the way down to his soul, it was worst than any Goblins. It was like there was a great loss that Peter was made aware of for just a moment only for the information to be pulled back from him. Peter would've finally known what made him complete and that had been taken away from him.
And this made someone happy enough to laugh in sadistic glee. For those few moments, Peter Parker felt more pain than he'd ever felt in his life. In felt far more rage than he ever had in his life.
Thankfully, when Peter opened his eyes it wasn't fire but a mechanical harness that helped breathe a small measure of life back into his body.
"Good, Misster Petrusski," Conner's voice caught Peter's attention, but he was somewhere off in a dark corner of the room. The doctor was talking to Peter Petruski, otherwise known as the Trapster that Peter had hired to break him out of prison. "But be careful to keep the emergency power attached till we are sure of the stability of the primary power source."
It seemed to Peter that the longer Conners talked, the less of that Lizard Lisp came out of his mouth. It would certainly make him easier to understand, so Peter wasn't going to complain. Though he would note it was a bit too convenient for the typical Parker Luck.
"Right, Doc," Petruski replied, glancing up and noticing that Peter, Doc Ock to him, was finally awake. "Oh, great. You're awake! The other Doc didn't know if you would be getting up anytime soon."
Peter took in a slow breath, letting his chest fill up slightly.
He could tell from the room that they'd managed to arrive at one of Ock's remote bases. The current owner of his body would know about it, so there wasn't a lot of time to make a plan and leave before they were attacked by either the man himself or the Avengers that currently worked with Spider-Man.
"How long was I out?" There wasn't a lot of time before it was too late to stop Octavius, even a few short hours gave the man time enough to mess up Peter's life and murder a few other heroes that had come to trust Peter over the years.
"Just under three hours," Conners replied walking into view with a small medical flashlight. He quickly checked Peter's pupils' responsiveness. "We've done what we can to stabilize you. But heavy combat or even just light movement will hurt your time left. Even with the mobile life support unit we've cooked up. P-Octavius, I presume you've got a plan?"
Peter rummaged through the plans Ock had devised in case the brain swap failed. It didn't take more than a few seconds to discard those ideas. Instead, he took note of what he had. The Trapster, Scorpion, the Lizard, and Hydro-Man. These weren't the biggest players in the world, but three out of four could give Peter some trouble by themselves. And while not a very deadly threat, the Trapster wasn't someone you could afford to underestimate.
These elements plus what they had for Doc Ock's equipment for himself to use could be effective enough to work. But the first option he had was to grab the equipment Ock had used in his takeover of the city, it was based on the same stuff used to swap their bodies. If he wanted to undo it, it would be needed.
The little golden bot was still out there too, capable of swapping their bodies. But given this was Ock's plan in the first place. It's possible that he would've made some counter plans to stop Peter from reversing it so simply. Doc Ock might've had an ego the size of the state, but it was mostly deserved after all.
The next place Peter could hit up was Avengers Tower. From there he could just blurt out the truth of the situation. Sure, they weren't likely to listen to him but his insider knowledge of the Avengers would at least get them to consider it and have them on guard for anything sneaker from the bodysnatcher.
But again, Doc Ock had all Peter's knowledge too. So he'd know that Peter would try that. If Peter was in his shoes, or his own shoes rather, and lacked morals, the obvious play would top bring Peter's loved ones to Avengers Tower for 'safe' keeping. That way when Peter did try this he could quickly divert attention to the idea that the purpose of the attack was revenge by way of killing loved ones.
At least that was the plan Doc had in Peter's head. Which means the villain probably thought about this before doing the transfer.
"We need to leave this area as soon as possible," Peter turned his head to the Trapster. "Spider-Man has become aware of most of my bases. We move now to get some equipment from Police One Plaza."
"That would be the firsst place they will suspect you hitting."
Conners's concern about the decision was correct. Peter pivoted his thought process quickly.
"No, your right. Instead, we're going to split up. Doctor Conners, you will be retrieving the equipment that I used to take the city over before. Scorpion and Hydro-Man will accompany you, meanwhile, Trapster and I will hit a different target."
It was important to get that equipment, at least the remains of it. If not to keep it out of Ock's hands alone. It was a key to reverse this process as well, given the same tech had been sued as a bridge to connect Octo to Peter's mind.
It might even work as proof if all else failed.
As Peter used the long tentacles they had attached to the mobile life support unit around his body to sit up, he realized something very important. Doc Ock has a self-destruct built into all of his bases. Well, before leaving the place, Peter thought it would be prudent to remove that bit of trouble.
But he'd keep the signal active, just to keep Doc Ock thinking the advantage was still there. Doctor Octavius was always easier to catch off guard when he thought there was a handy option to deal with Spider-Man already. There was no reason for Peter to signal anything otherwise to the body snatcher.
There was a risk that splitting up their manpower could lead to them being caught by other heroes. But there was so little time left to act that Peter frankly couldn't afford to take his time here.
"Where we hitting boss?" Trapster interjected through Peter's thoughts like a knife through butter.
"Why we're hitting up an old haunt of mine."
You'd think that Peter Parker would've learned to clean up after himself and his enemies. Years of Superherorics, of dealing with enemies that were capable of weaving grand conspiracies like Osborn or cloning him and leading him to question the nature of existence like the Jackel, the times that aliens had taken over the city and that Civil War from a few years back. These things should've taught Spider-Man the follies that leaving things behind even destroyed could bring.
But somehow in his long career cleaning up after himself was never much of an issue. Sure, there was damage from his fights constantly but that was handled fine by the city itself. And with the sort of negative media attention he regularly got, it was better not to stick around. Not to swipe up behind him.
He did help out when disasters happened, building collapses, and car pile-ups. With his strength and speed not helping in those would be stupid. But unless people were trapped in some way Peter typically fled scenes.
This was more than helpful to him at the moment because it meant that he never had the time to empty Doc Ock's old lairs every time he found them, sure he gave their locations to the police but sometimes they were just too far out of the way for the Police to safely get to. He consoled himself with this decision with the knowledge that the man could come back here. That would give his Spider-Man self an advantage in stopping Ock's schemes. Another went into realizing that there were probably booby traps hidden in the liar that could cause problems for anyone stripping it down.
"Trapster," Peter stated with some effort, using one of his tentacles to point toward the door. "If you would stand back, I have to activate the biometric sensors. If you are too close to the doors, then the defenses would activate."
There wasn't any talk back from Trapster, which was normal for how the man interacted with Octo according to his memories but still felt pretty odd for Peter to experience. Typically his rogue gallery found him annoying, but few of them truly respected him. Most just wanted him to die and shut up.
"What is this place anyway?" The hired villain asked, glancing around the dark hallway. The lightbulbs had burst years ago, and the paint was peeling from the nearby walls. The place was far from the pristine condition Ock's memories told him it should be. It was odd, it was dangerous.
"This is an old base of mine," Peter answered, assuming the role of Doc Ock was pretty natural, almost as natural as breathing to be perfectly honest. "I think I was last here… when… I worked with a woman who went by Stunner."
Stunner had been Ock's girlfriend years back, back when he used this facility. The woman used a vr interface combined with a holographic projection to interact with people. To play part hero, part villain. Eventually, she gave up her life(In a metaphorical sense, she was actually in a coma somewhere in the city) so that Doctor Octavius could return from the dead.
There was no reason to give the man any more details and Trapster never asked after them. So they entered the hideout without any ceremony. Thankfully, the lab was in far better condition than the rest of the building, the only issue was a bit of dust that was covering most of the room. Which was less of a real issue and more just a tiny bit gross to Doc Ock's standards.
"Wow, what I wouldn't give for a place like this," Trapster exclaimed. "Sure, a lot of this is years old tech, but old quality is quality all the same. My own stuff isn't so advanced typically."
It was certainly more impressive than the equipment that Peter typically had access to. Well, outside of the Avengers facilities or when the Fantastic Four let him borrow some of their stuff. It put the founding issue he'd been having for most of his life to light given that this was nearly half a decade old by now.
Otherwise, in terms of advance tech, Peter and this… other Peter stood about in the same wheelhouse. Their tech was mainly stuff they could afford to make out of commonly available consumer materials.
Peter spent the next few moments removing the self-destruct and other fail safes Octo had kept around this base. Octavius was smart enough to remotely denote them otherwise. Always someone who looked for the easy way out, especially if it made him look smarter in the process.
"What are we looking for?" Trapster questioned, looking about the darkly lit room with interest. "You never said."
"That's because it would be obvious the second we got here."
And it didn't take long at all for Peter to find what they came for. It was a large ring-shaped device, with a harness that was hang someone up in the middle and an attached helmet that sent shivers down Peter's spine.
"That some VR Rig?"
Peter turned his head slightly so Trapster was in his field of vision better, even as he rose himself up in the air on his arms and started to strap himself into the rig.
"Not wrong in entirely," He replied eventually. "But it lacks the sheer statement of truth machine grants me. Since my body is in such a poor state, this machine will provide the substitute."
Before Trapster responded with another question, the machine turned on. Suddenly Peter's vision was elsewhere, suddenly he wasn't in the ruined body of Doctor Otto Octavius but in a perfect recreation of himself. He was wearing his classical reds and blues. Standing only a few feet away from where the VR Rig was, looking at Doc Ock's body with a frown.
The man wasn't going the last the day, the body already looked dead to Peter.
"Spider-Man!"
Quickly moving around the attack, Peter drew on the memories of Doc Ock and what acting lessons he'd absorbed over the years with MJ.
"No, you fool! It is I, Doctor Octo Octavius!" Peter pointed towards the motionless body in the rig with one hand, while using the other to point towards the Spider Emblem on his holographic chest. "This is merely the form I have internalized to use the machine for. The perfect false body to confuse any interlopers, while preserving the time I have left all in one stroke. Truly Spider-Man would never see it coming."
It also left his body defenseless. The second Ock saw this Holographic body, he'd know where Peter was. But that wasn't too big of a deal, that was why he brought Trapster with him. Not a heavy hitter by any means, but the man was suited to the title he had for himself.
"Prepare booby traps for the area," Peter told him, keeping the mannerisms of Doc Ock best he could. "Spider-Man is aware of this place, he is aware of where my own traps are. So ready your own so that my body will be defended in case the location is assaulted."
Peter worked forward, his holographic hands grabbing a few tools off the desks, the next stage of this hastily put-together plan forming as he continued to take in the materials this lab had.
"What are you going to do then?"
Peter couldn't help the grin that came with his next line:
"Mr. Petruski, I'm a scientist, I'm doing what all great scientists do. I'm creating the future."
Dr. Curt Conners had grown somewhat used to his reptilian body. You tend to when you spend more than a decade on and off transforming into a monster. Though he was never fully comfortable, his limbs always felt off, sometimes too large, sometimes too skinny, and once far too armored to ever feel natural. The way a lizard feels things is remarkably different from a mammal and that alone made a huge problem for Curt to overcome.
This was without getting into the different sizes and shapes his Lizard form had taken over the years.
But that didn't Conners hadn't learn to use the form to his advantage. There were instincts that he'd learned to rely on, to move with and not against. His larger-than-normal size made some of those reactions unmanageable, he couldn't fit in a vent at this size. But it did help him plan the assault on the Police station. First, he sent Hydro-Man through the vents, his liquid form letting him pass through even the smallest gaps.
Then when the liquid villain finally revealed himself in the middle of the station house, Conners leaped from across the nearby rooftop and crashed through a window on the floor above. All the officers on this floor had gone downward to help deal with Hydro-Man. All while this happened, Scorpion went for a frontal assault to the entrance proper of the station. Trying up even more resources down below.
Curt had given them orders to not kill anyone, as had 'Doc Ock. But he knew that villains like them were fickle to orders like that, especially Hydro-Man given his history with mania. So he moved fast, heading right towards the station lockup. The Equipment wasn't that large for his big frame to carry, it was about two suitcases and a cap with wires that they kept open for some reason.
He didn't want to carry something so important so loosely, so he scrounged around the room till he found a case the right size to fit the thing. He managed to carry the entire supply under his left arm easily as he started to make his way out of the room when a young woman with glasses and brown hair stood in front of him, pistol raised towards his face.
"Freeze."
The two of them stared at each other awkwardly. Obviously, the police officer hadn't suspected meeting The Lizard before she revealed herself. She probably expected someone that a gun could've been some threat to.
"Carlie Cooper," Curt tasted the name in his mouth. As always glad to be able to say words that lacked the signature sss sound his lizard mouth would lisp constantly. "What will that do to me?"
To her credit, she didn't blink.
"Could take out an eye," Carlie said. The woman cocked an eyebrow up, studying his body for a moment and finally realizing something about him: "You are oddly composed. I was told that the Lizard and turned into nothing but a beast. Dr. Conners?"
The growl escaped his throat before he could help it. He hadn't wanted to be found out, not like this at least. Part of him wanted to rip and shred this woman, this fool that stated the truth so openly but… that was the Lizard speaking. Not Dr. Curt Conners, and he had an oath: first, do no harm.
"There is something to be said about the difference between bravery and stupidity," Curt finally replied, glancing at the gun in her hands as if she'd brought a Nerf gun to a warzone. "Stand aside, I won't ask a second time."
"I don't think so."
Conner couldn't help but sigh, a noise that sounded far more like a blech from his snout than it did something a human would make. If this had been done around someone more trigger-happy than Cooper, they might've fired their weapon in response to such a minor action as that.
"You don't have a chance."
"I thought you said you weren't asking a second time?"
Connors roared out, rushing forward while using bringing his cargo to the center of his chest to protect them. Cooper fired off a few rounds, as meaningless as the action was, but rather than ram into her, the good doctor crashed right through the wall. The concrete was nothing compared to his strength and durability in this form.
He didn't bother with being considerate to the officer's desks on his way out either. Wood splintered and scattered over the ground as he leaped right out of the floor and down to the streets with the effortlessness that came with being a nine feet tall super lizard-human hybrid.
He glanced up, frowning at Cooper as she peered down at him. Conners didn't linger though, instead, the lizard let out a roar so powerful that it could be heard over the gunfire going on in the building.
"HYDRO! SCORPION! WE LEAVE NOW!"
In and out, a full-on assault against a police station in less than five minutes. The NYPD will not be looking good at this one, Curt was sure of that.
Peter was finding his holographic body to be somewhat unwieldy. Sure the range of motion remained the same, but the general capability of his fine motor movement was only an improvement over being stuck in Octavius's body.
He could see why Stunner had used it as a vehicle for violence rather than anything more constructive. It wasn't impossible, it just required such mental effort that Peter was sure most human beings would never be able to manage it. It was sorta like working a computer mouse that was too sensitive.
Still, he managed to create the items he needed and now Spider-Man waited just where he expected Doc Ock to go. It was hard to consider just how devious the man was capable of being. But he expected the doctor to easily develop a countermeasure to the Ock Bot re-swapping their minds.
It wasn't like it would be hard, some armor on the back of his head would be enough. If Peter could figure that out in a dying body, then Octavius could do so as well. So he spent some time figuring out a counter to the countermeasure.
And a few tricks for the Trapster master to lug around.
The next stop was securing a meeting place, somewhere Octo would be forced to meet with them if he wanted to keep up his identity as Spider-Man intact. He couldn't just run away and not face them, it wasn't in Spider-Man's character and everyone knew that by now. People like JJ might not respect it, but he fully understood that if there was trouble, Spider-Man would be there.
At least in New York, it was pretty hard for Spidey to show up in places like London.
Make a big enough target and Octo would be forced to come. In this case, a Bomb-Scare, sure Octo would know that Peter would never use it, but others would never have guessed this. It would be considered real, and Spider-Man would be the first to respond to the threat.
Even if he was smart enough to bring in Avengers back up, it would only give them a chance to notice more off behavior from him. It wouldn't be something he wanted and as Spider-Man, Peter had defeated much tougher groups without backup before.
So even asking for some backup was a weird choice.
Though Peter knew that he could've been overthinking this sort of rationale in regards to Octavius by more than a bit. But Peter had grown tired of underestimating the man. That's how he got into this mess. Overthinking things could be a problem too, but Peter wasn't alone here. He had backup.
After they had raided the Station, Conners, and the others had met back up with Trapster and Peter, who'd changed the holographic body to be Ock's for now. It was easier for his plans if he remained in this form for the moment, it would give him more time.
"The show's ready to start, Boss." Trapster piped in, having set the cameras up for the broadcast that would take over New York's TVs. It wouldn't even matter if they were old-school analog aerials, with some of the tech they used to create this signal coming from the Doc's takeover of the city prior there wasn't a piece of tech old or new that wouldn't be at least affected.
"Then on the count of three."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Peter wasn't going to comment that that was the inverse of 'on the count of three', it just wasn't worth looking foolish on live TV.
"Good evening New York, as I am sure many of you are aware. I am Doctor Octo Octavius. Master Criminal and soon to be known for the one who achieved that which many of tried before me. Killing Spider-Man. How may I do this when I have failed before? Simple, I have created a bomb."
Peter paused dramatically, something Octo would do many times during his villainous monologs. This also allowed Trapster to turn the camera to the bomb in question. Which was made using the outer casing of an old bomb Octo designed once, but of course, Peter would never do that. It was a different sort of surprise for the Body stealing Octopus to deal with.
"It will take out the entire state… if Spider-Man isn't here to stop us of course. I will detonate it if I even spot a glimmer of an Avenger, a walf of an X-Men. Even the sight of another Spider-themed hero. This is where we end things Spider-Man. Tonight."
"End broadcast."
"That was rather straightforward, boss? Where was the dazzle?"
"Petruski, I'm literally dying. I want to get this done as fast as possible before I'm looking up at Brown."
Author's Note: This is probably one of the smaller bigger stories that I have made. It's not going to be super long in terms of chapters but it does contain the most big chapters I will be making. Big for me anyway. Nothing under 5K words with a few big chapters probably going to break 10k.
To give the concept of the story, it certainly acts as a sorta fix-fic of Superior Spider-Man. Where all the characters will be acting smart. But it also is its own story, a unique enough one for Spider-Man. The title gives it away, but to be clear why. It's a religious aspect for why I am doing part of it. But overall, the story acts far less as a "bashing Superior Spider-Man" than it does "bashing the narrative of current Spider-Man since 07." This isn't about me hating the characters. It's not about me deciding that I know better than Dan Slott. It isn't even me disliking the actual stories within those issues.
I just feel that Spider-Man suffers a lot from having plot overtake character writing in the past decade and a half. This story's characters are overtaking the plot. Also, I have a kofi account, so check that out if you want to support me.
"I'm Peter Parker," was what he wanted to say. But he could barely muster the strength in his mouth to move his lips, so instead, he mumbled; "eyah peeker,"
"What did the Doc say?" One of the guards glanced at the other. "He's a peeker?" The other men ignored him while the lead sighed as he gazed at all the life support equipment Peter was now attached to.
"Is this really what we were called down for?" he questioned aloud, "Because the guy mumbles."
"You can't underestimate him. It wasn't too long ago when he'd taken over all tech with his mind."
Peter hadn't done that, it went without saying. But they couldn't have known better, after all. This wasn't exactly Parker's body. No, somehow Peter Parker had ended up in the body of Doctor Octo Octavius. A dying man with a broken body littered with the batterings and wounds that came with years of fighting the Superhuman Spider-Man while being a normal man with robotic limbs.
"And now he's a dying man mumbling to himself. Ten bucks says he can't even make a coherent sentence."
It was only with the tremendous amount of willpower that he'd managed to suck in enough air and push through the sluggish facial muscles to make a final push to say what he'd been attempting for an hour;
"Eyah… Peter Parker."
There was a scramble of noises Peter guessed was the guards discussing things with the doctors surrounding him. The tone alone didn't fill the dying man with much hope, so the genius mind that had defeated Doc Ock defeated, the Green Goblin, and the Jackel over the years of their schemes. He'd outsmarted them, he could think his way out of here.
He just needed more information. The 'how' he got here and if Octo was in his body? That sorta information.
Spider-Man had been around the block enough to know that the obvious answer wasn't always true. It was likely if he was in Octo's body, Octo was in his. But there could be more variables than Peter could grasp from this position. There could easily be a third body in the mix, he could be in Octo, Octo could be in the third body, and that person could be in his.
Or even he's not the real Peter Parker, but a mental copy plugged into Octo's body. But on the off chance that he was wrong and Ock was going around in his body. He needed to know. Peter Parker needed to meet Octo Octavius.
"I need to see Peter Parker," He managed to gasp out. His voice was so foreign to him, even to how he expected Doc Ock's voice to sound. He was used to the over-the-top timbre, the rich, elaborate manner the Doctor usually spoke with. But when the doctor's voice was used with Peter's inflections… well, the now Former Spider-Man was surprised by how different it sounded.
Before he could even try to explain the situation to the guards around him, the nurses on hand to monitor Ock's vitals had injected Peter with some drug that put him to sleep. He struggled against it, the famous willpower of Peter Parker was more than a match for any normal drug, but the condition of Doc Ock's body wasn't well enough to fight off a mild cold never mind pharmaceuticals.
So he was greeted with nothing but a vision of black till he forced himself to open his eyes once more. Some time had passed since the people in the room had changed over as the day passed. But before Peter could even start to cough his way to get some attention one of the nurses tapped the other on the shoulder.
The two of them left without saying a word, even as Peter talk through a very dry mouth. It appeared that the great Doctor was a natural mouth breather. How nice. They did reveal the helpful information that he'd continued saying Peter Parker even in his sleep. So the great Parker will have come in handy after all.
It made talking after a straight hour or so of sleep more difficult as if Peter needed that, so even as he spotted the form of Spider-Man and Captain America standing at his door he couldn't scream or shout the truth of the situation. Spider-Man waved off Captain America as he entered the room, the door sliding shut behind him.
The cameras went off next, leaving the two alone with no observers.
"All right, we're all alone. This is what you wanted?" The imposter questioned. Truthfully, Peter would've preferred one of the many mind readers the Avengers knew in here with them, so them being alone was not what he wanted. "We're all alone. What did you want?"
"Eyah… Pe… ter… Parker," With each word, Peter found the strength to push past the pain that reverbed through the pain in Ock's throat. Past through the sluggish tongue that wanged in his month. "I am Peter Parker."
Spider-Man took his mask off, revealing Peter's own face with a smile that had more right on Norman Osborn's face than anything with the Parker name.
"No," he said, "Now, I am Peter Parker. You? Well, you're Doctor Octo Octavius. I understand that you're going to find it difficult to breathe in that body. The time of your passing grows ever closer after all."
Peter wished he had the strength to roll his eyes at the man who stole his body. 'The time of your passing grows ever closer'? Like really, there was a reason why despite the lack of grey hair on Doc Ock's head for most of their encounters Peter considered the man old. He talked much like an English professor from the 1920s at times.
It was also how Peter knew this was Doc Ock in his body. They had swapped bodies.
"You won't get away with this… guha," Peter found the act of raising his voice to cause a round of coughing so severe that his words became gibberish. "People will r-r-realize… gahahahhahba… p-people will know what you've done. Y-ou can't k-keep the cha-ahhhhh-rade up forever."
"Peter, Peter. I'm disappointed that you haven't noticed. You have all my memories, so logically you should presume that I've gained yours too. I don't need to guess how you'll act. I know everything about you already. I am Peter Parker now, you are Doctor Octo Octavius. You should at least be proud that you've finally gotten a doctorate."
The beginning of the monologue was enough to get Peter's mind racing, searching for the very information Ock had told him he had. There was a lot to go through, things that he never wanted to know. But he figured it out soon enough.
In the last scheme, Doc Ock had Peter use the man's own tech to help defeat him. In a narrative, this would be proof of the character going beyond physical means to defeat their foes, his their brains to become not just a better hero but a better person. But in Peter's life, it meant a weakness for his enemy to exploit as the Doctor used the link to create a backdoor into Peter's mind, slowly using this as a basis to create a body swap-bot.
Something he had going around New York right now.
Something he could control even from this bed, in prison. The man hadn't even needed to leave the Raft to escape. It was genius, it was horrifying. The terror that Doc Ock could cause the world in his body.
If he had all of Peter's memories as well, there was very little Peter could do to prove that he was the Real Spider-Man. Not when Ock could answer all the same questions he could under interrogation. A mind reader could figure it out, he doubted that Ock and internalized being Peter Parker, but the chances of Doc Ock's body surviving long enough for him to convince someone that something was wrong were slim to none. The chances that the person he even convinced could get a telepath was even slimmer.
"I wouldn't worry about your loved ones," Ock spoke once more, his gloating like gasoline to the fire racing through Peter. "I know exactly how to give them the right attention. Especially that redhead of yours."
Something inside of Peter snapped. His heart started to race as his anger at what the Doctor had done raced through his mind. How dare this man, how dare this thief smile about harming MJ. To deceiving not just MJ, but Aunt May, his friends, and colleagues at Horizon Labs. He wasn't just hurting him, he wasn't just damaging Peter Parker. He was going to tear roughshod over everyone and everything he ever cared about.
Peter had seen Doc at his best, seen him at his most moral. Even then the man's motivations were rooted in pettiness and revenge. He couldn't be trusted with the responsibility of being Spider-Man, never mind the more normal aspects of Peter's life.
Octavius smiled widely in the way few of the villains in Peter's life could, he placed the mask back on and walked over to the door.
"So long, Doctor Octavius. I have places to be."
"OCTAVIUS!" Peter yelled, his body struggling against the restraints and medical equipment that held him down. They creaked from the sudden exertion, his body felt like it was about to erupt. But it wasn't anything Parker hadn't dealt with in his life a million times before, pain was just an old friend at this point. Helped him to focus. "I'm not done, not by a long shot! You might know everything I do but that isn't enough to be Spider-Man! You lack the basic human decency. There's a reason I'M PETER PARKER and you're just a thug with too many limbs!"
The fake didn't bother to respond to Peter, merely leaving the room. It was a shame that this medical room was soundproof. Peter had hoped the yell would've gotten Wolvierine's attention or even Cap's. But had better hearing than normal people and either one of them had the contacts and resources to solve the situation very quickly.
But either they were playing it safe out there or neither of the pair heard his yells. What he could give someone else around to have overheard. It would've helped a lot.
Peter felt the sharp pain in his chest before he even leaned back into the bed to think. The rapid beeps from the heart monitors weren't much else but a highlight to the erupting heart attack Ock's body was currently experiencing.
He wasn't sure how long he was out this time. But for a moment he felt the heat of a fire, the flash of a redhead in his vision and then he woke back up in his bed. His hospital bed. For a moment, Peter had hoped this was all just a dream. The reality of the situation was clear to him.
He couldn't afford to try and push this body too hard, Peter was sure Ock's shattered wreck would die if another attack happened. Medical intervention or not, willpower would only go so far as well.
"Think, Parker, think," Typically Peter did his monologuing internally but for the far-out hope that someone noticed, Peter felt that talking in the third person for a bit would be helpful. Even if just to people in the future that wanted to figure out what went wrong. "You have all his memories, you know how to get out of this situation."
"If he's pretending to be you, then Octo has to at least try to act like it for a while. That means he has to interact with the Horizon Labs staff, who are pretty smart in their own right. And a time when he can't be in a suit, so he'd be more vulnerable. The Avengers have got to know me pretty well over the years, they will realize something is wrong eventually, but the things he could do before then…. I have to do something… even if it's taking myself out."
He couldn't afford to sit in this bed and dye. There had to be some way out.
There was a quiet wispy voice coming from nearby.
"Parrrkeer," It went, sending a chill down his shattered spine. "Iss it true? Iss that you?"
The Lizard was right next to him. Peter's mind was a bit too tired, a bit too wound up to figure out how the Lizard was speaking to him through the walls that early he was sure were soundproof. But if he had paid more attention, Parker would've noticed he had been transferred from a medical room back to Ock's Cell.
He was more distracted by the medical equipment surrounding him than the shape of the door into the room.
It certainly helped his confusion that the Lizard was speaking. Sure, the monster had done it many times before. But the last the good Doctor Curt Conners had transferred into the creature he appeared to have lost that feature. Though remained smart and deadly as ever.
Peter wasn't sure if regaining speech was a good sign or a bad one, so he kept his assumptions low here.
"Lizard," Peter took a deep breath, the sensation burning his chest as he did so. "You called me Parker?"
Part of him shouldn't have felt so much relief in a Supervillain like the Lizard figuring out that. But Peter had a lot of respect for Conners, for all the man's faults. The Doctor had helped Spider-Man out for years, despite his personal tragedies. He didn't complain one bit. His issues with the Lizard non-withstanding, Conners was a good man. A very smart one too. Peter hoped that some part of Curt Conners in there was listening into the conversation.
That even if this ended here for him, Conners could bring the truth to the world.
"I overheard you," The Creature explained. "Mosst wouldn't have you but the way thiss cell iss aligned up letss me lissten into the vibrations. The sshouting merely let me know to focuss in on the room."
As much as hope blossomed in Peter's heart, he also found the idea of the Lizard being able to listen into other sections of the Raft pretty concerning.
"I overheard the Doctors talking. You have mere hours to live. So there issn't much time. I had hoped to relieve mysself of a great secret to someone that would take it to their grave. But you've done too much good in this world, Parker. You can break out of here now, go and deal with the imposter before it'ss too late."
"... break out," Parker had already been considering it. Already had a plan in mind for using Octo's resources out in the world. "Yes, I could. But how can I trust you? We've been enemies for a long time Lizard. What good does it go for you to help me out?"
This could be a scheme to get Peter killed in an attempted prison break, to guarantee that there wasn't some last-minute
There was a large period of silence where the Lizard didn't respond. It filled Peter with a great deal of dread, but nothing that he couldn't overcome with a deep breath.
"The cure worked. I am Curt Connerss. I am in control, not the Lizard. I remain here becausse I desserve this prison around me. As much as a cage for me as this body is for me."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"The same way I know that you're not. I've known you and Octaviuss for years. I can tell the difference."
"... I have a plan and I want you in on it."
Peter hadn't needed a lot of brainpower to create a plan to escape. It was very simple, if not mentally draining to execute. He used the link to the Mind-Swap bot, which was still over in the city proper, to find a computer and use Doc Ock's secret bank account to hire the best team to break him out.
… sadly the Fantastic Four were good guys and so unavailable to break out from prison. So he went for the budget option of prison escapes. Which meant Scorpion, Hydro-Man, and the Trapster. Not enough to make a Sinister Six but they had the needed skills when applied together to help him out of here. If they moved quickly enough.
Still, even when they came some forty minutes later, Peter could tell his body was failing fast. Now, he wasn't an accredited medical doctor but he'd been around long enough and he had enough scientific experience in most fields to recognize that one of his organs had failed moments ago. Peter thought it was a kidney, but it could equally be a liver.
Thankfully, the loud ringing of the trio breaking their way into the prison signaled it was time for him to leave. As the most technologically experienced of the supervillains Peter summoned, the Trapster quickly took him out of the iron lung that the prison staff had placed him into and hooked him out to more portable life-support equipment that the man had brought with him.
This all had been one of Octo's plans to escape prison, Peter was merely taking advantage of the knowledge hidden in the man's brain. This of course meant that Ock knew exactly where Peter would head after escaping.
Which meant there was time to flip the script and go somewhere else. But it needed to be a place he could grab equipment.
"So which guys are we letting loose to make Six?" Scorpion asked, referring to the standard number of people Ock typically recruited to the Sinister Six. This did draw Peter's attention away from planning out the scheme running through his head.
"No," Peter growled in response. The action was so fast and so automatic that it hurt his throat. "We've little time, anyone else would slow us down. "
From the cells next to him, the self-proclaimed Spider-Slayer, Alistair Smyth banged on his door. Calling for Octavius to release him as together they could blah, blah, blah. Peter wasn't interested in breaking out that loon. Even if he could be trusted, the man's priorities were always at the extreme end of the spectrum. Killing Ock was an acceptable end to Peter, at least over leaving his body to commit murder and whatever caught the madman's fancy.
Scorpion tried to advocate for the man, mentioning the upgrades he'd received from the man. But Smyth in the past had already proved incapable of not leveling a block in his attempts to kill Spider-Man back when he worked for JJ. He'd only grown more extreme over the years. Smyth was lined up for the needle, a punishment few were given in this day and age due to the number of resurrections Super Villains were having these days. Peter was desperate, just not that much.
But there was one scientist, one supervillain that Peter could see working with at the moment:
"Curt," Peter slowly turned his head to face the Lizard. He was surprised to see him muffled given the earlier conversation, but it made sense as a security precaution to mussel the Lizard. The guy could bite a man in half. "I could use a good man, someone to keep my head straight."
It was as clear a cry for help that Peter could give the man in his condition. Even hinting at the idea he wasn't the real Doc Ock would end with his rescuers giving him the boot.
Curt eyed him, staring deep into the lenses that surrounded Peter's eyes. It made Peter feel very naked, which was probably more attributed to the fact that he was only wearing a pair of pants and not much else than to Conner's lizard stare.
"Come on, he's just ani-" The Trapster's dismissal was cut off at the right moment for drama:
"Yess," Curt nodded his large head, surprising Scorpion enough for the man to scratch the top of his head. "I accept."
Peter's vision went black once more, and the world exploded into an incomprehensible series of noises and lights. They were frankly more frightening than Peter expected, as this wasn't even his first time coming so close to death. There was just something about them this time that took the man off guard.
He could only hope there wasn't anything else that took him off guard.
Peter thought that his chest was on fire. Over the years of being Spider-Man, he'd almost been lit on fire a few times, which given his costume was normally spandex, it wouldn't have ended very well for him. It started to spread up his chest, through his veins, and around his body. The pain was as great as anything else he ever felt, far more rooted in emotion. The worst thing was the laugh, the ever-present laugh in the background of his mind.
It went all the way down to his soul, it was worst than any Goblins. It was like there was a great loss that Peter was made aware of for just a moment only for the information to be pulled back from him. Peter would've finally known what made him complete and that had been taken away from him.
And this made someone happy enough to laugh in sadistic glee. For those few moments, Peter Parker felt more pain than he'd ever felt in his life. In felt far more rage than he ever had in his life.
Thankfully, when Peter opened his eyes it wasn't fire but a mechanical harness that helped breathe a small measure of life back into his body.
"Good, Misster Petrusski," Conner's voice caught Peter's attention, but he was somewhere off in a dark corner of the room. The doctor was talking to Peter Petruski, otherwise known as the Trapster that Peter had hired to break him out of prison. "But be careful to keep the emergency power attached till we are sure of the stability of the primary power source."
It seemed to Peter that the longer Conners talked, the less of that Lizard Lisp came out of his mouth. It would certainly make him easier to understand, so Peter wasn't going to complain. Though he would note it was a bit too convenient for the typical Parker Luck.
"Right, Doc," Petruski replied, glancing up and noticing that Peter, Doc Ock to him, was finally awake. "Oh, great. You're awake! The other Doc didn't know if you would be getting up anytime soon."
Peter took in a slow breath, letting his chest fill up slightly.
He could tell from the room that they'd managed to arrive at one of Ock's remote bases. The current owner of his body would know about it, so there wasn't a lot of time to make a plan and leave before they were attacked by either the man himself or the Avengers that currently worked with Spider-Man.
"How long was I out?" There wasn't a lot of time before it was too late to stop Octavius, even a few short hours gave the man time enough to mess up Peter's life and murder a few other heroes that had come to trust Peter over the years.
"Just under three hours," Conners replied walking into view with a small medical flashlight. He quickly checked Peter's pupils' responsiveness. "We've done what we can to stabilize you. But heavy combat or even just light movement will hurt your time left. Even with the mobile life support unit we've cooked up. P-Octavius, I presume you've got a plan?"
Peter rummaged through the plans Ock had devised in case the brain swap failed. It didn't take more than a few seconds to discard those ideas. Instead, he took note of what he had. The Trapster, Scorpion, the Lizard, and Hydro-Man. These weren't the biggest players in the world, but three out of four could give Peter some trouble by themselves. And while not a very deadly threat, the Trapster wasn't someone you could afford to underestimate.
These elements plus what they had for Doc Ock's equipment for himself to use could be effective enough to work. But the first option he had was to grab the equipment Ock had used in his takeover of the city, it was based on the same stuff used to swap their bodies. If he wanted to undo it, it would be needed.
The little golden bot was still out there too, capable of swapping their bodies. But given this was Ock's plan in the first place. It's possible that he would've made some counter plans to stop Peter from reversing it so simply. Doc Ock might've had an ego the size of the state, but it was mostly deserved after all.
The next place Peter could hit up was Avengers Tower. From there he could just blurt out the truth of the situation. Sure, they weren't likely to listen to him but his insider knowledge of the Avengers would at least get them to consider it and have them on guard for anything sneaker from the bodysnatcher.
But again, Doc Ock had all Peter's knowledge too. So he'd know that Peter would try that. If Peter was in his shoes, or his own shoes rather, and lacked morals, the obvious play would top bring Peter's loved ones to Avengers Tower for 'safe' keeping. That way when Peter did try this he could quickly divert attention to the idea that the purpose of the attack was revenge by way of killing loved ones.
At least that was the plan Doc had in Peter's head. Which means the villain probably thought about this before doing the transfer.
"We need to leave this area as soon as possible," Peter turned his head to the Trapster. "Spider-Man has become aware of most of my bases. We move now to get some equipment from Police One Plaza."
"That would be the firsst place they will suspect you hitting."
Conners's concern about the decision was correct. Peter pivoted his thought process quickly.
"No, your right. Instead, we're going to split up. Doctor Conners, you will be retrieving the equipment that I used to take the city over before. Scorpion and Hydro-Man will accompany you, meanwhile, Trapster and I will hit a different target."
It was important to get that equipment, at least the remains of it. If not to keep it out of Ock's hands alone. It was a key to reverse this process as well, given the same tech had been sued as a bridge to connect Octo to Peter's mind.
It might even work as proof if all else failed.
As Peter used the long tentacles they had attached to the mobile life support unit around his body to sit up, he realized something very important. Doc Ock has a self-destruct built into all of his bases. Well, before leaving the place, Peter thought it would be prudent to remove that bit of trouble.
But he'd keep the signal active, just to keep Doc Ock thinking the advantage was still there. Doctor Octavius was always easier to catch off guard when he thought there was a handy option to deal with Spider-Man already. There was no reason for Peter to signal anything otherwise to the body snatcher.
There was a risk that splitting up their manpower could lead to them being caught by other heroes. But there was so little time left to act that Peter frankly couldn't afford to take his time here.
"Where we hitting boss?" Trapster interjected through Peter's thoughts like a knife through butter.
"Why we're hitting up an old haunt of mine."
You'd think that Peter Parker would've learned to clean up after himself and his enemies. Years of Superherorics, of dealing with enemies that were capable of weaving grand conspiracies like Osborn or cloning him and leading him to question the nature of existence like the Jackel, the times that aliens had taken over the city and that Civil War from a few years back. These things should've taught Spider-Man the follies that leaving things behind even destroyed could bring.
But somehow in his long career cleaning up after himself was never much of an issue. Sure, there was damage from his fights constantly but that was handled fine by the city itself. And with the sort of negative media attention he regularly got, it was better not to stick around. Not to swipe up behind him.
He did help out when disasters happened, building collapses, and car pile-ups. With his strength and speed not helping in those would be stupid. But unless people were trapped in some way Peter typically fled scenes.
This was more than helpful to him at the moment because it meant that he never had the time to empty Doc Ock's old lairs every time he found them, sure he gave their locations to the police but sometimes they were just too far out of the way for the Police to safely get to. He consoled himself with this decision with the knowledge that the man could come back here. That would give his Spider-Man self an advantage in stopping Ock's schemes. Another went into realizing that there were probably booby traps hidden in the liar that could cause problems for anyone stripping it down.
"Trapster," Peter stated with some effort, using one of his tentacles to point toward the door. "If you would stand back, I have to activate the biometric sensors. If you are too close to the doors, then the defenses would activate."
There wasn't any talk back from Trapster, which was normal for how the man interacted with Octo according to his memories but still felt pretty odd for Peter to experience. Typically his rogue gallery found him annoying, but few of them truly respected him. Most just wanted him to die and shut up.
"What is this place anyway?" The hired villain asked, glancing around the dark hallway. The lightbulbs had burst years ago, and the paint was peeling from the nearby walls. The place was far from the pristine condition Ock's memories told him it should be. It was odd, it was dangerous.
"This is an old base of mine," Peter answered, assuming the role of Doc Ock was pretty natural, almost as natural as breathing to be perfectly honest. "I think I was last here… when… I worked with a woman who went by Stunner."
Stunner had been Ock's girlfriend years back, back when he used this facility. The woman used a vr interface combined with a holographic projection to interact with people. To play part hero, part villain. Eventually, she gave up her life(In a metaphorical sense, she was actually in a coma somewhere in the city) so that Doctor Octavius could return from the dead.
There was no reason to give the man any more details and Trapster never asked after them. So they entered the hideout without any ceremony. Thankfully, the lab was in far better condition than the rest of the building, the only issue was a bit of dust that was covering most of the room. Which was less of a real issue and more just a tiny bit gross to Doc Ock's standards.
"Wow, what I wouldn't give for a place like this," Trapster exclaimed. "Sure, a lot of this is years old tech, but old quality is quality all the same. My own stuff isn't so advanced typically."
It was certainly more impressive than the equipment that Peter typically had access to. Well, outside of the Avengers facilities or when the Fantastic Four let him borrow some of their stuff. It put the founding issue he'd been having for most of his life to light given that this was nearly half a decade old by now.
Otherwise, in terms of advance tech, Peter and this… other Peter stood about in the same wheelhouse. Their tech was mainly stuff they could afford to make out of commonly available consumer materials.
Peter spent the next few moments removing the self-destruct and other fail safes Octo had kept around this base. Octavius was smart enough to remotely denote them otherwise. Always someone who looked for the easy way out, especially if it made him look smarter in the process.
"What are we looking for?" Trapster questioned, looking about the darkly lit room with interest. "You never said."
"That's because it would be obvious the second we got here."
And it didn't take long at all for Peter to find what they came for. It was a large ring-shaped device, with a harness that was hang someone up in the middle and an attached helmet that sent shivers down Peter's spine.
"That some VR Rig?"
Peter turned his head slightly so Trapster was in his field of vision better, even as he rose himself up in the air on his arms and started to strap himself into the rig.
"Not wrong in entirely," He replied eventually. "But it lacks the sheer statement of truth machine grants me. Since my body is in such a poor state, this machine will provide the substitute."
Before Trapster responded with another question, the machine turned on. Suddenly Peter's vision was elsewhere, suddenly he wasn't in the ruined body of Doctor Otto Octavius but in a perfect recreation of himself. He was wearing his classical reds and blues. Standing only a few feet away from where the VR Rig was, looking at Doc Ock's body with a frown.
The man wasn't going the last the day, the body already looked dead to Peter.
"Spider-Man!"
Quickly moving around the attack, Peter drew on the memories of Doc Ock and what acting lessons he'd absorbed over the years with MJ.
"No, you fool! It is I, Doctor Octo Octavius!" Peter pointed towards the motionless body in the rig with one hand, while using the other to point towards the Spider Emblem on his holographic chest. "This is merely the form I have internalized to use the machine for. The perfect false body to confuse any interlopers, while preserving the time I have left all in one stroke. Truly Spider-Man would never see it coming."
It also left his body defenseless. The second Ock saw this Holographic body, he'd know where Peter was. But that wasn't too big of a deal, that was why he brought Trapster with him. Not a heavy hitter by any means, but the man was suited to the title he had for himself.
"Prepare booby traps for the area," Peter told him, keeping the mannerisms of Doc Ock best he could. "Spider-Man is aware of this place, he is aware of where my own traps are. So ready your own so that my body will be defended in case the location is assaulted."
Peter worked forward, his holographic hands grabbing a few tools off the desks, the next stage of this hastily put-together plan forming as he continued to take in the materials this lab had.
"What are you going to do then?"
Peter couldn't help the grin that came with his next line:
"Mr. Petruski, I'm a scientist, I'm doing what all great scientists do. I'm creating the future."
Dr. Curt Conners had grown somewhat used to his reptilian body. You tend to when you spend more than a decade on and off transforming into a monster. Though he was never fully comfortable, his limbs always felt off, sometimes too large, sometimes too skinny, and once far too armored to ever feel natural. The way a lizard feels things is remarkably different from a mammal and that alone made a huge problem for Curt to overcome.
This was without getting into the different sizes and shapes his Lizard form had taken over the years.
But that didn't Conners hadn't learn to use the form to his advantage. There were instincts that he'd learned to rely on, to move with and not against. His larger-than-normal size made some of those reactions unmanageable, he couldn't fit in a vent at this size. But it did help him plan the assault on the Police station. First, he sent Hydro-Man through the vents, his liquid form letting him pass through even the smallest gaps.
Then when the liquid villain finally revealed himself in the middle of the station house, Conners leaped from across the nearby rooftop and crashed through a window on the floor above. All the officers on this floor had gone downward to help deal with Hydro-Man. All while this happened, Scorpion went for a frontal assault to the entrance proper of the station. Trying up even more resources down below.
Curt had given them orders to not kill anyone, as had 'Doc Ock. But he knew that villains like them were fickle to orders like that, especially Hydro-Man given his history with mania. So he moved fast, heading right towards the station lockup. The Equipment wasn't that large for his big frame to carry, it was about two suitcases and a cap with wires that they kept open for some reason.
He didn't want to carry something so important so loosely, so he scrounged around the room till he found a case the right size to fit the thing. He managed to carry the entire supply under his left arm easily as he started to make his way out of the room when a young woman with glasses and brown hair stood in front of him, pistol raised towards his face.
"Freeze."
The two of them stared at each other awkwardly. Obviously, the police officer hadn't suspected meeting The Lizard before she revealed herself. She probably expected someone that a gun could've been some threat to.
"Carlie Cooper," Curt tasted the name in his mouth. As always glad to be able to say words that lacked the signature sss sound his lizard mouth would lisp constantly. "What will that do to me?"
To her credit, she didn't blink.
"Could take out an eye," Carlie said. The woman cocked an eyebrow up, studying his body for a moment and finally realizing something about him: "You are oddly composed. I was told that the Lizard and turned into nothing but a beast. Dr. Conners?"
The growl escaped his throat before he could help it. He hadn't wanted to be found out, not like this at least. Part of him wanted to rip and shred this woman, this fool that stated the truth so openly but… that was the Lizard speaking. Not Dr. Curt Conners, and he had an oath: first, do no harm.
"There is something to be said about the difference between bravery and stupidity," Curt finally replied, glancing at the gun in her hands as if she'd brought a Nerf gun to a warzone. "Stand aside, I won't ask a second time."
"I don't think so."
Conner couldn't help but sigh, a noise that sounded far more like a blech from his snout than it did something a human would make. If this had been done around someone more trigger-happy than Cooper, they might've fired their weapon in response to such a minor action as that.
"You don't have a chance."
"I thought you said you weren't asking a second time?"
Connors roared out, rushing forward while using bringing his cargo to the center of his chest to protect them. Cooper fired off a few rounds, as meaningless as the action was, but rather than ram into her, the good doctor crashed right through the wall. The concrete was nothing compared to his strength and durability in this form.
He didn't bother with being considerate to the officer's desks on his way out either. Wood splintered and scattered over the ground as he leaped right out of the floor and down to the streets with the effortlessness that came with being a nine feet tall super lizard-human hybrid.
He glanced up, frowning at Cooper as she peered down at him. Conners didn't linger though, instead, the lizard let out a roar so powerful that it could be heard over the gunfire going on in the building.
"HYDRO! SCORPION! WE LEAVE NOW!"
In and out, a full-on assault against a police station in less than five minutes. The NYPD will not be looking good at this one, Curt was sure of that.
Peter was finding his holographic body to be somewhat unwieldy. Sure the range of motion remained the same, but the general capability of his fine motor movement was only an improvement over being stuck in Octavius's body.
He could see why Stunner had used it as a vehicle for violence rather than anything more constructive. It wasn't impossible, it just required such mental effort that Peter was sure most human beings would never be able to manage it. It was sorta like working a computer mouse that was too sensitive.
Still, he managed to create the items he needed and now Spider-Man waited just where he expected Doc Ock to go. It was hard to consider just how devious the man was capable of being. But he expected the doctor to easily develop a countermeasure to the Ock Bot re-swapping their minds.
It wasn't like it would be hard, some armor on the back of his head would be enough. If Peter could figure that out in a dying body, then Octavius could do so as well. So he spent some time figuring out a counter to the countermeasure.
And a few tricks for the Trapster master to lug around.
The next stop was securing a meeting place, somewhere Octo would be forced to meet with them if he wanted to keep up his identity as Spider-Man intact. He couldn't just run away and not face them, it wasn't in Spider-Man's character and everyone knew that by now. People like JJ might not respect it, but he fully understood that if there was trouble, Spider-Man would be there.
At least in New York, it was pretty hard for Spidey to show up in places like London.
Make a big enough target and Octo would be forced to come. In this case, a Bomb-Scare, sure Octo would know that Peter would never use it, but others would never have guessed this. It would be considered real, and Spider-Man would be the first to respond to the threat.
Even if he was smart enough to bring in Avengers back up, it would only give them a chance to notice more off behavior from him. It wouldn't be something he wanted and as Spider-Man, Peter had defeated much tougher groups without backup before.
So even asking for some backup was a weird choice.
Though Peter knew that he could've been overthinking this sort of rationale in regards to Octavius by more than a bit. But Peter had grown tired of underestimating the man. That's how he got into this mess. Overthinking things could be a problem too, but Peter wasn't alone here. He had backup.
After they had raided the Station, Conners, and the others had met back up with Trapster and Peter, who'd changed the holographic body to be Ock's for now. It was easier for his plans if he remained in this form for the moment, it would give him more time.
"The show's ready to start, Boss." Trapster piped in, having set the cameras up for the broadcast that would take over New York's TVs. It wouldn't even matter if they were old-school analog aerials, with some of the tech they used to create this signal coming from the Doc's takeover of the city prior there wasn't a piece of tech old or new that wouldn't be at least affected.
"Then on the count of three."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Peter wasn't going to comment that that was the inverse of 'on the count of three', it just wasn't worth looking foolish on live TV.
"Good evening New York, as I am sure many of you are aware. I am Doctor Octo Octavius. Master Criminal and soon to be known for the one who achieved that which many of tried before me. Killing Spider-Man. How may I do this when I have failed before? Simple, I have created a bomb."
Peter paused dramatically, something Octo would do many times during his villainous monologs. This also allowed Trapster to turn the camera to the bomb in question. Which was made using the outer casing of an old bomb Octo designed once, but of course, Peter would never do that. It was a different sort of surprise for the Body stealing Octopus to deal with.
"It will take out the entire state… if Spider-Man isn't here to stop us of course. I will detonate it if I even spot a glimmer of an Avenger, a walf of an X-Men. Even the sight of another Spider-themed hero. This is where we end things Spider-Man. Tonight."
"End broadcast."
"That was rather straightforward, boss? Where was the dazzle?"
"Petruski, I'm literally dying. I want to get this done as fast as possible before I'm looking up at Brown."
Author's Note: This is probably one of the smaller bigger stories that I have made. It's not going to be super long in terms of chapters but it does contain the most big chapters I will be making. Big for me anyway. Nothing under 5K words with a few big chapters probably going to break 10k.
To give the concept of the story, it certainly acts as a sorta fix-fic of Superior Spider-Man. Where all the characters will be acting smart. But it also is its own story, a unique enough one for Spider-Man. The title gives it away, but to be clear why. It's a religious aspect for why I am doing part of it. But overall, the story acts far less as a "bashing Superior Spider-Man" than it does "bashing the narrative of current Spider-Man since 07." This isn't about me hating the characters. It's not about me deciding that I know better than Dan Slott. It isn't even me disliking the actual stories within those issues.
I just feel that Spider-Man suffers a lot from having plot overtake character writing in the past decade and a half. This story's characters are overtaking the plot. Also, I have a kofi account, so check that out if you want to support me.
Alray12
The uneducated one
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Man, I got my hope up when I read "Emissary of hell" on the title.
I was expecting Peter to act like a ham while secretly building a giant robot and other gadget
But this is still a good and interesting read. So watched
I was expecting Peter to act like a ham while secretly building a giant robot and other gadget
But this is still a good and interesting read. So watched
lancelot
Grand High Poobah
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It's impossible for you NOT to know better and write better then Slott compared to the last decade or so. Frankly the only reason I'm going to have a hard time reading this is that 'one more day' and everything after that never happened as far as I'm concerned. It isn't like the writers after Slott were much better, but that could be said for the entire of Marvel.
Proman
Know what you're doing yet?
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Yeah, but it makes me seem ranty to claim otherwise.
Still, Slott has good Spider-Man stories, for instance, he wrote the story for Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time. Big Time. But to me, the guy has more misses than he has hits.
Anyway, I decided to do up this:
In hindsight though, not sure why I drew it lol.
kienlong49
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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We're truly in the darker time line since we're getting soy boy Spiderman. Just be friend Spiderman and best of all twink Spiderman. Jesus Christ, all of those writer should be set in a special hell for what they wrote, starting with ONE MORE DAY.
Shinichi07
Versed in the lewd.
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If you're looking for a two good recent Spider-Man comics that actually feels like Spider-man I'd Recommend "Ben Reilly:Spider-Man-The Humanity Agenda" and "Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt"
Both are written by classic Spidey author J.M. DeMattias and both are set in the clone saga with the first dealing With Ben trying to carve out a life for himself, while the other has Peter having to protect himself and a pregnant MJ from one of Kraven's Allies looking for revenge. All while his powers fluctuate between barely being there and being gone.
Proman
Know what you're doing yet?
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Yeah, it's great to have some content where Ben Reily isn't shat on. Where Slott hasn't turned him evil... for the second time.
It's weird to see the Peter Clone that main's attribute originally was being the more moral/ethical person than Peter.(When they reintroduced him I mean. Peter at the time had gone darker, and edgier due to robot parents. Going around calling himself the Spider and eating Hotdogs on Tables... I am not joking.)
It's weird to see the Peter Clone that main's attribute originally was being the more moral/ethical person than Peter.(When they reintroduced him I mean. Peter at the time had gone darker, and edgier due to robot parents. Going around calling himself the Spider and eating Hotdogs on Tables... I am not joking.)
JaphetSkie
Getting sticky.
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I was expecting The Japanese Spider-Man in all his glory, but this will do.