Spider-Man: Marvel Knight

Chapter 5-Otto Octavius, Doctor Octopus

Peter woke up refreshed. Was it from last night? He really didn't know. The experience certainly gave him a different outlook on things. A lot of things. Something in him hoped that it was all part of a dream. Then again, another part of him wanted it to stay in reality. All last night did was prove that Peter still had some nostalgia for his old friend. Their tension was almost completely gone.
He had to give all the credit to MJ though. She could help anyone in any situation. Only someone as sweet as her could get two old friends to make up.
Peter still felt anxious about a lot of things. Between Norman and hearing the news that Otto might be the culprit behind the breakout, especially it coming from Jameson's mouth, really dug into him.
He walked downstairs to the kitchen where Harry, Liz, and MJ were eating breakfast.
"Morning, tiger," MJ said, eating a spoonful of cinnamon toast crunch.
"Morning," Peter responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Where's Gwen this morning?"
"Sleeping in today," Liz said. She poured herself a cup of coffee. "Coffee?" she asked him, sliding him a mug.
Peter shook his head. "No, I'm good." He looked at his watch and saw the time. 8:00. "Hey, I think I'm gonna go into Oscorp this morning and do some work." He needed something to get his mind off of everything that was going on.
MJ looked at him and grinned. "No patrol this morning? I'm so proud. You might be growing up after all."
Peter chuckled. "Thanks for that...no I just uh, I just need something to take my mind off of some stuff. I had a rough day at the Bugle yesterday."
Liz and MJ looked at him concerned. "Are you okay?" Liz asked. MJ held his hand in hers.
Peter nodded. "I'm fine. I just need something to keep me busy for a while."
Harry nodded and patted his friend's back. "I'll drop you off," he said. "I was thinking of doing some patrol this morning. Let's take my car."
Pete agreed with a nod and squeezed MJ's hand. "Peter, is everything alright?" she asked.
He kissed her forehead. "Everything's fine, MJ. Work is just stressing me out. I'm gonna go get dressed." Peter ran upstairs to put on a polo shirt and a blazer. Harry was waiting at the door with his keys when he came back down. "Which one of your cars are we taking today?" Peter asked as he and Harry headed out the door.
Liz looked at MJ with an eyebrow raised. "What do you think that was about?" she asked.
MJ pushed her hair behind her ear. "I don't know. I guess work is stressful." She thought about what Peter had said about Norman. Was there something else that had happened?
All MJ ever wanted was Peter to be happy. What would he do to accomplish this was the real question.

Harry and Peter drove to Oscorp taking their time. The first five minutes were silent between them. Finally, Harry had enough and broke the ice. "Okay, enough with the work stress bullshit. What happened yesterday?"
Peter looked towards his window and shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it," he said.
Harry turned to him with an eyebrow raised, making sure that he was still keeping one eye on the road. "Um, your gonna talk about it. Me, your best friend, told you to do it, and obviously you did it." Peter turned to his friend and frowned. "Come on, man," Harry said. "Tell me."
Peter sighed and began to speak. "Yesterday, when we went to the Raft, your dad talked about who broke in."
Harry hesitantly nodded. This was still hard news when it came to his dad. "Okay."
"When you dropped me off at the Bugle, Jameson had heard the rumor as well."
Harry glanced over at Peter. "What rumor is that, Peter?"
Peter hesitated for a moment. After a deep breath, he spoke. "They said that Otto was behind the break in."
Harry's eyes went wide when he heard those words. His heart sank a little as well. "Well you know that they have to be lying, right?"
"Harry..." Peter started, "Think of everything that has happened. What if Otto did get brain damage during the fight with Kurt? We haven't seen him in almost a month and a half. What if it's true?"
Harry shook his head. "Peter, there is no way, okay? There is no reason for him to do this. The doctor said that there was no brain damage that the wire did. He's okay. Otto would never do this."
"What if you're wrong, Harry?" Peter asked, snapping. "What if..." He winced in pain for a second. Harry noticed Peter running his head.
Harry shook his head. "Dude, you have got to stop stressing over this crap. What you need to do is take a day off from being Spider-Man if you're gonna get freaking aneurisms from this."
Peter shook his head. "I can't, Harry. I promised Gwen that I would teach her spider powers tonight. I'm sorry but I have to be Spider-Man today. New York needs him."
They finally pulled into Oscorp's long drop off drive through. Peter exited the vehicle. He looked back at Harry. "Everything's gonna be okay with one day without Spidey," Harry said. "Listen, take one day off. Today, just work around in Oscorp and do nerdy Peter Parker stuff. Tonight, you can teach Gwen how to be a superhero, no problem, but today just relax."
Peter nodded. "I guess it could help. I'll see you later." He walked into Oscorp and closed the doors behind him. Harry gave his friend one more glance. Peter was going through a lot now. His whole life, he was able to get through stuff easily, but Spider-Man was weighing him down, the Bugle was weighing him down, Oscorp was weighing him down, his guilt was weighing him down, and now this was weighing him down. Then, he drove off.
Peter walked past the front desk. "Morning, Mr. Parker," one of the workers greeted.
"Morning," he responded with a forced smile. He went to the elevator and walked in. After he pressed the top floor button, he waited for the doors to close and began to bang his head on the side of the elevator. "My life sucks," he mumbled to himself.
Finally, he reached the top floor and the doors opened. He walked to the pharmaceuticals lab and opened the doors. Peter set his things on one of the counters and turned on the light. He jumped as he saw the man in a trench coat standing in the middle of the room.
"Hello, Peter," he said.
Peter let out a sigh of relief. It was Otto. "Otto, thank God it's only you." He chuckled. Wait a minute, why was he here? Why was he just back all of a sudden? "I didn't realize you had come out of sick leave."
Otto grinned. "Oh, I'm fit as a fiddle," he said. "How's everything going on in your life?"
Peter began taking his stuff out of his brief case. He cautiously watched Otto from the corner of his eye. "Oh, work, work, and Spider-Man. What else?"
His mentor chuckled. "Ah. Spider-Man... Almost forgot about your alter-ego. How's superheroing going for you nowadays. It's been a rough couple of months I'm guessing."
Peter chuckled nervously. "Same old same old. I'm currently on a case."
Otto smirked at this answer. "Oh, sounds exciting. What case is that?"
Peter went over to the electronics box to turn on all of the machines, watching Otto all the while, his senses still up. "Well, someone broke into the Raft and sort of 'let loose' some of my more...wild criminals."
Dr. Octavius glanced over at Peter and adjusted his glasses. "How unorthodox of them, Peter."
Pete looked at Otto with an eyebrow raised. "Why are you here? Everything okay, doc?"
Otto smiled. "Never better, Pete. Never better." He walked up close to Peter. "I hope you're doing the same."
"Never better, doc," Peter responded, obviously still cautious. "Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask you. How's Kurt doing. Is he out of detox yet?"
His mentor cocked his head. "I actually wanted to bring that up, Peter. Kurt isn't...doing well at all," he said, lying through his teeth. "He's become more and more unstable. I've hired some people to come and help him with his problems. I just wanted to run that by you."
Peter nodded at this strange news. "Okay, well...um, thanks for telling me, then."
Otto nodded and grinned. "No problem. I'll see you, Pete," he said while slapping Peter's arm. "I'll see you later, then. Hopefully, I'll be ready to come back to work full blast in the future."
Pete nodded. Otto was too calm right now. "That'd be great, doc. Me and Harry get bored in here easily, so we could use some company."
Otto walked to the door and stopped. He turned towards Peter. "Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry to hear about those criminals who got out. It's probably best that you lay low for a few days, hmm?"
Peter looked at Otto, obviously confused as to why he was so interested in this now. "Um, sure, doc. That actually might be a good idea. I've been stressed out over a lot lately, so a little break never hurt anyone."
Octavius smiled. "Happy to help." He walked out and entered the elevator. Deep in his mind, the voices told him to be prepared for a fight. Hopefully, Peter would not stand in his way. Severe consequences were not what he wanted for Peter.
Pete was confused by what just happened. Otto was acting weird. Not scientist weird, but just weird. He tried to shrug off the news that Norman had told him. Maybe Otto was just acting strange for a weird reason.
All Peter needed to have on his mind was his work and tonight. He would finally try and help Gwen discover her powers at full blast... and it scared the hell out of him because of everything that was going on.
"No stress, Peter...relax..."