In an underground natural park in Washington D.C., Doctor Octopus had stopped his experiments on the symbiotes because it was becoming pointless.
In a way, he was starting to doubt the possibility of a perfect symbiotic fusion. But the existence of Spider-Man once again proved him wrong. Spider-Man was able to perfectly fuse with the first symbiote they stole and displayed an unprecedented, powerful force. Coupled with Spider-Man's tendency to meddle and the connection between his spider and Oscorp, Octavius had to consider the possibility of Spider-Man interfering with his revenge on Norman Osborn.
Therefore, collecting combat data on Spider-Man was now the most crucial task. The problem was, there didn't seem to be an opponent strong enough to push the black-suited Spider-Man to his limits. Of course, developing weapons against symbiotes was another option, but preparing for both was the safest bet.
But the question remained: How did Spider-Man achieve a perfect fusion with the symbiote?
Otto Octavius first thought of Spider-Man's immense vitality or his spider serum. Unfortunately, even with the enhanced soldiers provided by the U.S. military or the half-finished soldiers from the Viper Security Company's "Savage Strength" program, they still failed.
In other words, the problem wasn't vitality.
So, what did Spider-Man do differently?
Otto Octavius thought for a long time, even forcing himself to think from the perspective of a good person like Spider-Man, and finally came to a possible conclusion. That weekend, he shut down his lab and released the strongest, most active of the five symbiotes, the black specimen, putting it in a container with a new test subject, waiting for it to briefly fuse with the subject.
But this time, after the fusion, Otto didn't take any samples for analysis. Instead, he turned on his loudspeaker, walked over to the containment pod, and looked at the viscous creature before him.
"I went through the military's previous experimental data and found a problem. They never seemed to treat you and your kind as true intelligent beings. They didn't think you had sentience, but rather that you were primitive organisms. But now, it seems that may not be the case."
Otto adjusted his glasses with a tentacle and watched as the symbiote before him continued to play dumb, sticking out its tongue and pretending to be a simple monster. Otto didn't waste any more time. He held his phone up to the containment pod, which was playing a video of Spider-Man using the symbiote to take out all of the Viper Security Company's armed personnel in one go.
As expected, the creature reacted. It watched the images on the screen, not only showing a capacity for observation but also speaking in a clear human voice. "Traitor."
"You... you can talk?"
"He can talk. I am merely in control. You tried to enslave us, but we already have a master." The pure black symbiote said, extending a tentacle and vibrating rapidly against the containment pod. The incredibly strong transparent shield instantly shattered, and the symbiote emerged.
"You... you could have gotten out this whole time."
"Of course, but there was no need."
The black symbiote walked to the jars containing the other symbiotes. As it was about to reach out, it seemed to realize something, turned around, and stuck out its tongue at Doctor Octopus. It could sense that this man was very smart, but being smart was never the most important thing. The most crucial part was that this man seemed to understand how to deal with it.
"Hmph, perhaps you're one of the smarter ones."
"I don't understand why you don't choose to leave here. What are your plans?"
"We are influenced by our first host!" the symbiote roared, revealing its reason. "According to your human calculations, after 48 hours of fusing with a human, our personality and way of thinking are influenced. And we are most heavily influenced by the first host who exceeds that time."
"Look at the hosts you've given me. Scumbags, villains, failures, and even cripples."
Doctor Octopus finally understood why the symbiotes were unwilling to fuse with the test subjects and were constantly killing their hosts: the hosts were not worthy.
Otto was silent.
"However, you might be an exception... We not only get influenced by our hosts, but we also greatly amplify their desires, turning what they want to do but are too afraid to do into action." The symbiote licked the corner of its mouth. "I understand what you want. You want powerful soldiers, right? I can give you that, as long as you provide suitable hosts."
But once a host was provided, whether the resulting super-soldier was truly a soldier or just the symbiote was no longer so clear. The military certainly didn't want ambitious, alien organisms. They wanted super-soldiers who would follow orders, just like Spider-Man.
Sigh, why was Spider-Man the perfect template for a super-soldier project?
But...
"I can't be sure if I can truly trust you. This room is equipped with high-frequency sonic emitters and flamethrowers. I'm not afraid of you." Otto adjusted his glasses with a tentacle. "You need to prove your worth."
The symbiote thought for a few seconds and smiled. "How can I prove it?"
"Help me test Spider-Man's combat ability. The guy I just showed you."
The symbiote was stunned for a moment, then burst into a fit of laughter. Doctor Octopus frowned. Was this funny?
"Even if you didn't ask, I would have killed that traitor. They betrayed our master."
The symbiote said, reaching out and grabbing the test tube containing the green and red symbiotes. It held the tube with two fingers and handed it to Doctor Octopus.
"Take this one. Give him a worthy host, and he will take care of that traitor."
Doctor Octopus looked at him for a long time, then took the test tube and asked, "So, what should I call you? After all, you are all symbiotes."
"The one you're holding is Lasher," the symbiote said, pointing to the red test tube. "This one is Phage, and the purple one will be Agony."
There was only one left. The symbiote said, pulling out a test tube and preparing to abandon its host body. But before it left, it licked its lips and gave itself a name.
"My name is—Riot."
With that, the head of the test subject was bitten off and disappeared, leaving only Riot, who had been stuffed into the test tube.
Otto tidied up the lab, but at that moment, he saw a piece of intelligence from the U.S. military system.
Spider-Man had also arrived in Washington.
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