“Spider-Man!” Doctor Octopus roared, looking up to see the masked vigilante who had knocked him unconscious earlier.
“Do not forget about me, Dr.
Otto,” a second, deeper voice echoed from the shadows.
The older Spider-Man stepped into the light, completely cutting off the villain’s escape route.
Faced with two identical, super-powered threats appearing out of thin air, a cold sweat broke out across Doctor Octopus’s forehead.
He instantly realized he was completely trapped.
“Damn it, how did you two bugs find me!?” he snarled.
He had absolutely no idea he was being tracked until his eyes landed on the glowing radar projection hovering over the younger Peter’s web-shooters.
But it was too late to run, and his eyes burned with a furious, crimson rage as he lunged straight at the older Spider-Man.
After years of bitter battles, his hatred for his original nemesis was far deeper than his anger toward the newcomer.
“Spider-Man!
Why do you always ruin my plans?!” he screamed.
Using one of his massive mechanical tentacles, he ripped a heavy metal plate the size of a door from the wall and hurled it directly at the older hero.
“Because I catch bad guys,” the older Spider-Man replied, his tone turning completely cold.
He threw a devastating punch, shattering the heavy steel plate perfectly in half with a deafening boom and sending the twisted metal flying right back at the doctor.
Doctor Octopus quickly dodged out of the way, intending to counterattack with his mechanical limbs.
But when he tried to move them, he was shocked to find that all four tentacles were completely immobilized.
He whipped his head around and saw that the newly appeared Spider-Man had fired thick strands of webbing, tightly binding his most powerful weapons.
Under the immense pull of Peter’s webs, the mechanical arms were rendered entirely useless.
Before the villain could even process a new way to escape, the older Spider-Man closed the distance, stopping right in front of his face.
“Dr.
Otto, do you know the consequences of doing that?
There were hundreds of innocent civilians on that train!” the older Spider-Man shouted.
Recalling the terrified eyes of the passengers on the runaway train, his anger surged to an unprecedented level.
Fueled by pure rage, he unleashed a blistering flurry of punches directly at Doctor Octopus.
They were simple, brutal strikes without any complicated strategy, but they left the villain completely disoriented.
The heavy, newly forged steel armor Doctor Octopus wore was instantly twisted and deformed, left hanging on by a thread and ready to fall apart at any moment.
Finally, the older hero delivered one last, devastating punch, sending Doctor Octopus flying backward through the air.
The massive impact left a deep dent in the concrete wall of the abandoned pumping station.
Slumped on the floor, Doctor Octopus’s four mechanical tentacles dropped limply beside his unconscious body.
The raw physical strength of this universe’s Spider-Man was simply absurd, delivering massive damage with every left and right hook he threw.
Panting heavily, the older hero pulled off his mask and looked over at Peter.
“That method you mentioned that could restore Dr.
Otto’s normal personality…
Peter nodded, glancing at the back of the villain’s mechanical neck.
“I can only say that the chances of it working are very high.”
Later that night, at exactly 11:00 PM, Dr.
Kurt Connors finally wrapped up his day of exhaustive research.
Dragging his weary body back to his quiet, somewhat deserted home, the fiercely dedicated scientist just wanted to rest.
Unmarried, without a girlfriend, and entirely devoted to his work, he was completely accustomed to living a solitary life.
But today was going to be an incredibly special day.
When Dr.
Connors unlocked his front door, he found his living room unusually lively.
Standing inside were a young man in civilian clothes, a superhero in a Spider-Man suit, and the infamous Doctor Octopus, who was bound tightly in a massive ball of white webbing.
Of the three intruders, Connors only recognized the man in ordinary clothes as his brilliant student, Peter Parker.
“Parker!
You…
what are you doing here?” Dr.
Connors stammered.
He tried his best to remain calm, but his slightly trembling voice completely betrayed his underlying fear and anxiety.
The older Peter Parker, having taken off his suit, had come specifically to seek his mentor’s help.
The younger Peter had explained that in order to restore Doctor Octopus’s normal personality, the neural suppression chip that controlled the mechanical arms needed to be reinstalled.
Few people in the entire world possessed the genius to accomplish this, and Dr.
Connors was one of them.
Realizing this was their best shot, the older Spider-Man had decided to take the massive risk.
“Dr.
Connors, Dr.
Otto needs your help,” the older Peter said, explaining the entire situation truthfully.
Hearing that his old friend had been turned into such a terrifying monster by a tragic accident, Dr.
Connors shook his head in deep sorrow.
He and Otto Octavius had known each other for over twenty years, sharing a bond as close as true friends.
Now that his oldest friend was in trouble, he simply could not ignore it.
“Alright…
I will try my best,” Dr.
Connors agreed.
Otto’s lab computers.
There should be relevant design blueprints on them,” the older Peter said, pulling the heavy computer mainframe out of his bag.
“A smart decision.
With those blueprints, we are basically halfway there,” Dr.
Connors said, immediately pushing his glasses up his nose and getting straight to work.
Time ticked by slowly.
During the long wait, Doctor Octopus finally regained consciousness.
But because his mouth was firmly sealed shut by thick spider silk, he could only stare at the heroes in a state of impotent rage.
Dr.
Connors fully lived up to his brilliant reputation.
After working through the entire night, he successfully managed to recreate a brand new suppression chip using the blueprints from the lab computer.
Completing the final laser welding step, Dr.
Connors turned and handed a tiny, fingernail-sized hexagonal silicon chip to the older Peter.
“Give it a try, it should be fine,” Connors said.
Taking the silicon chip, the older Peter exchanged a hopeful glance with the younger Spider-Man.
He walked up behind the restrained Doctor Octopus and precisely pushed the silicon chip straight into the open slot at the very top of the artificial metal spine.
Doctor Octopus suddenly gasped, his eyes flying wide open.
Inside his unusually cloudy pupils, the terrifying, phantom reflections of countless thrashing tentacles seemed to be waving wildly.
The artificial intelligence desperately tried to entangle the doctor’s soul, but it ultimately could not withstand the physical isolation effect created by the new suppression chip.
Slowly, all the phantom tentacles dissipated and faded away.
The dark haze in Doctor Octopus’s eyes vanished, leaving his pupils completely clear once again.
All of his previous mania, violence, greed, and other negative emotions vanished completely.
“Doctor!
Dr.
Otto!
How are you feeling?” the older Peter asked anxiously, terrified that the villain might go berserk again and harm Dr.
Connors.
Dr.
Otto Octavius blinked slowly, his clear pupils reflecting the image of his former student.
When he finally spoke, his tone was low and slow, carrying a peaceful and calm quality that was completely different from the monster he had been just hours before.
“So quiet,” Dr.
Otto whispered.
“Those voices in my head…
they are all gone.”