"Long time no see, Doctor. Do you really love the bottom of the river so much? Or are you a new species, a giant freshwater octopus?"
"Shut up, Spider-Man!"
Doctor Octopus, who had been enhanced and possessed by the "Consume" symbiote, angrily extended his alloy tentacles toward Spider-Man. Otto Octavius was feeling an unparalleled sense of "freedom" at this moment. He looked at his limbs, which he could move again, with a happy smile, then extended his hand toward Spider-Man and made a choking gesture. The mechanical tentacles behind him followed suit, aiming directly for Spider-Man's neck.
But Consume couldn't enhance the host's agility.
"I have to say, Doctor, if you have to use your hands to control each of your tentacles, why don't you just turn your limbs into tentacles?"
Nimbly dodging Doctor Octopus's tentacle attacks, Spider-Man quickly approached him and shot a web at his face. "Or did you discover a new math formula, where four plus four equals four? In that case, we might as well get rid of the four plus four!"
But Doctor Octopus quickly found a new way to use his limbs. For example, he could use his hands instead of his mechanical tentacles to rip the web off his face. This didn't stop Spider-Man from getting in front of him and punching him in the face.
However, even with Venom fused to him, Peter's punch to Doctor Octopus's face still made a dull thud. Peter couldn't help but shake his hand and instinctively asked, "Why does hitting you feel like hitting a horror movie monster? Is your face made of titanium alloy, too?"
"I am invincible!"
Doctor Octopus, whose will had been amplified by the symbiote, roared and used his mechanical tentacles to sweep at Peter and send him flying. Peter, quick-witted, used a web to grab the remaining purple container, threw it to Agent Ward, who had just rushed in, and was then slammed into a wall by the mechanical tentacles.
"Don't worry about me, get the symbiote out of here!" Peter hugged Doctor Octopus's tentacles without a care in the world. "Don't worry, this isn't my first time fighting an octopus. Last time, neither of us had a symbiote."
Ward immediately nodded, ready to return to the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine. But as he held the container, he glanced at the storage room and felt confused. Weren't there supposed to be four symbiotes? Even with the one on Doctor Octopus, there were only three. Where did the other one go?
He didn't have time to think about it. Ward was the first to leave the lab, leaving Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man to continue their fight. Spider-Man held on to Doctor Octopus's tentacles. This time was different from the last. Doctor Octopus, with the symbiote on him, was much tougher. Peter was about to throw Doctor Octopus and his tentacles, but an unexpected thing happened. The tentacles burst with a huge amount of energy, and in turn, threw Spider-Man out.
Peter was shocked. He was almost certain that Doctor Octopus didn't have such powerful strength before. While his own strength was no match for the Doctor's tentacles back then, he didn't have the Venom symbiote on him. Now, his strength had been greatly enhanced by Venom.
"It looks like your new friend can not only enhance you, but also your tentacles. Or did it just enhance your tentacles?"
Peter, who had just pulled himself off the wall, shrugged and asked about the whereabouts of the last symbiote. "So, Doctor, it seems you're one friend short. What are they trying to do?"
What are they trying to do?
The question seemed to awaken Otto instantly. His four tentacles began to dangerously and meaninglessly flail around. Amidst this flailing, a tentacle "accidentally" triggered a device, and a violent sound wave appeared, causing both Venom and the Consume symbiote on Doctor Octopus to enter a state of severe molecular instability. Venom, unable to withstand the high-intensity sound waves, immediately retreated into Peter's body. After a moment of helpless disorientation, Peter looked at the pained Doctor and chose to…
...amplify the sound.
Anyway, Venom was already hiding inside his body. And if Consume retreated into Doctor Octopus's body, it would be like catching a turtle in a jar, making it easier to catch. Peter, braving the sound waves, walked over to an empty container, picked it up, and approached Doctor Octopus. At this moment, Consume was already shaking and in immense pain. Seeing the container in Peter's hand, it hesitated, but Peter simply grabbed the symbiote from Doctor Octopus's body and pulled it off little by little, forcibly removing Consume.
Under the sound wave's vibrations, the symbiotic relationship between the symbiote and the host became quite unstable, so Consume was indeed pulled off Doctor Octopus bit by bit and sealed in the container. Peter then turned off the sonic emitter and used his webs to tie up Doctor Octopus.
"That's surprising, Doctor. I thought you would put up a good fight."
Peter looked at the super-villain who could be considered Spider-Man's arch-nemesis in any universe and asked with a hint of confusion, "Why did you surrender so easily? Did something I say have anything to do with it?"
"Of course, Spider-Man. No matter what, I am still an Earthling." Otto Octavius gasped for air, looking at Peter. "You must notify the Avengers. These symbiotes could be related to an alien invasion, and the Avengers must be prepared!"
Huh?
You're a little behind on the news.
"We already know about this, Doctor. It was very brave of you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good." Peter said, scratching the back of his head helplessly. Doctor Octopus was shocked for a moment, looking at Spider-Man in disbelief. "You already knew?"
"Yeah. After all, I already have a symbiote friend, and he's a good guy. We also caught a symbiote, and we even know why these symbiotes came to Earth. The Avengers are already dealing with it. The only problem now is, where did the symbiote that you lost go? Can you tell us, Doctor?"
Doctor Octopus just stood there in a daze, completely unable to comprehend what had happened, so Peter could only sigh helplessly.
"So, what's that saying? Hmm... Thanks for your help, Doctor."