MCIM Ch. 152

"An experiment? Oscorp?"

When those words connected in Mario's mind, alarm bells started ringing. If he'd had anime-style hair, a single strand would've stood straight up in warning.

Is the plot starting already?

Peter jumped to his feet, panic written all over his face as he tried to leave, but Mario grabbed his arm.

"I'm about to be late. Dr. Octavius' experiment is dangerous. I have to get there and help."

"You think running is faster than my driving?"

Peter stopped struggling. Even though he was wearing his suit under his clothes, getting a ride beat swinging between buildings. Only an idiot would choose the harder route when a car was available.

After climbing into Mario's car, his eyes went wide. "I've never seen this car before. What model is it?"

"Where's the Oscorp laboratory?"

Peter immediately marked the location on the projected map interface, Greenwich, New York.

This car had been fully modified by Tony. Aside from its appearance, it had completely transcended the concept of a normal automobile. It was basically a small Transformer.

Peter watched Mario sitting in the driver's seat, hands nowhere near the steering wheel, yet the car automatically headed toward their destination. His eyes couldn't take it all in fast enough.

"Is it electric?"

Not hearing the usual engine roar, he guessed it ran on electricity or some new energy source.

Mario pocketed his phone and smiled at Peter. "The latest tech from Stark Industries. It just looks like a car."

"Looks like? What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Mario's smile widened as he spoke to the car. "ANNA, find a suitable location. Activate stealth mode. Engage flight capability."

"Understood."

Peter's eyes bulged as the car turned into an empty alley on its own and activated stealth mode.

For Tony at this point in his career, this kind of tech was child's play.

Floating in the air, weaving between skyscrapers with dense crowds of people below them completely oblivious to their presence, Peter couldn't believe his eyes.

"Optical camouflage? No, no... this is even more advanced stealth technology. And the car's power system..."

If someone like Mario had seen this, he might've just turned into a walking "holy shit" machine. But for a guy like Peter, this technology was completely shattering his understanding of physics.

Seeing Peter's worldview collapse in real-time brought Mario pleasure.

"Where is Stark Industries? Why have I never heard of it? A company like this couldn't possibly be unknown. Do you think I'd have a chance to intern at Stark?"

Peter wanted to reach out and touch the car's controls, but he was afraid of pressing something he shouldn't. His cautious demeanor made him look rather endearing.

Mario looked at Peter seriously. "Stark Industries isn't suitable for you."

Because it's not my company.

"My offer still stands. You can join my company. It doesn't have a name yet, but it'll be the best place for you."

In the comics, Peter had founded Parker Industries, a giant corporation that rivaled Stark Industries. The movie version of Peter might be perpetually broke, but Mario believed he had the same potential. Even if he didn't, at worst Mario would only lose some money.

Peter hesitated. He'd only seen Mario's car so far, but the technology it contained was already enough to study for years.

Mario waved his hand. "There's no rush. Let's go watch Dr. Octavius' experiment first. Even though it'll fail, the birth of Doctor Octopus is still worth witnessing."

Peter didn't respond to Mario's prediction, because according to his own calculations, he'd also concluded that the experiment would fail. But last night, Otto hadn't listened to his warnings at all. That had made Peter doubt his own math. Now, with Mario being so certain about the failure, he felt reassured that he'd been right all along.

Soon, the two of them arrived at Oscorp's laboratory via the flying car and disembarked in a secluded spot.

Perhaps because Mario and Peter had been delayed at the university, by the time they arrived, Otto had already donned the mechanical arms. Four metallic tentacles waved about aggressively, displaying their power to the gathered crowd.

Standing at the very back, Mario couldn't help but mutter, "With that look, nobody would believe he isn't a villain."

In the movie, Otto was fundamentally a good person, just somewhat extreme in his ambitions. Combined with the AI in the mechanical arms constantly whispering suggestions in his mind, that combination had led to the birth of the supervillain Doctor Octopus.

He gazed at Otto, but he had no intention of intervening now. If he did, not only would Otto fail to be grateful, he'd probably resent him for sabotaging his life's work.

Just like in the movie, when Spider-Man pulled the plug and saved Otto's life, the man had blamed Peter for everything that went wrong afterward.

Hearing Mario's muttering, Peter asked in confusion, "A villain? You mean Dr. Octavius? He is a wonderful person. He's kind, approachable, and patiently explains concepts to anyone who asks questions. How could he possibly be a villain?"

Mario smiled but said nothing.

I hope you still think that when he's hanging you upside-down and whipping you with those tentacles.

At that moment, a voice called out from within the crowd.

"Peter, you're a bit late. Hurry over here!"

The speaker was Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn, who was also destined to become Spider-Man's enemy, the second Green Goblin.

Even villains have legacy successors these days. The competition's getting intense.

"Let's go over together!" Peter said.

Mario gently shook his head. "No. You go ahead. Oh, my name's Mario, by the way."

He patted Peter on the shoulder, then turned to look at Harry and nodded with a polite smile.

Like hell I'm standing up front when everything's about to explode. If it weren't overkill, I'd build myself an obsidian bunker just to be safe.

Peter nodded. "Alright. After the experiment is over, I'll come find you and introduce you to Dr. Octavius."

With that, he walked to the front of the crowd and stood beside Harry, whose face carried excited anticipation.

"Peter, the experiment's about to begin. This is an achievement even my father never accomplished."

---

The experiment began.

Otto controlled the mechanical arms behind him and approached the central apparatus. The controlled nuclear fusion device bore a striking resemblance to the quantum tunnel the Avengers had used for time travel.

"My brain directly controls these artificially intelligent mechanical arms through neural connections," he explained while making the tentacles perform various movements for the audience.

"By transmitting commands through nano-neural wiring, I can use the mechanical arms to control the fusion reaction even under extremely dangerous conditions."

At that moment, a blonde woman in a business suit among the crowd asked seriously, "Since these mechanical arms possess such advanced artificial intelligence, won't you end up being controlled by them instead?"

Hearing this, Otto said with inexplicable confidence, "Excellent question."

He smiled, turned around to expose his back, and pointed to a thumb-sized component at the base of his neck. "That's why I invented this inhibitor chip to protect my brain. It allows me to control the mechanical arms, rather than letting them control me."

Seeing the glowing chip on Otto's exposed back, Mario had to use every ounce of professional training to keep from laughing out loud.

Holy shit, his engineering logic is insane. Why wouldn't you properly protect something that critical? It's just exposed to the air, and a bit of electromagnetic interference could destroy it... wait...

Suddenly, realization dawned on him. This might be the overpowering will of the Marvel universe itself at work.

Just like Obadiah, when he wore the Iron Monger suit, the power transmission cables were exposed outside the armor plating, and he'd thought there was nothing wrong with that design choice. It made him wonder whether the engineers who designed that suit were actually undercover agents planted by Tony.

"Now the real show begins," Otto said to an assistant. "Activate the primary systems."

Mario pulled out his phone, preparing to record the birth of Doctor Octopus.

Otto walked up to the fusion device's control panel and tapped several commands on the console. A metal platform rose from the floor beside him, bearing a sealed test tube on its circular surface. He used the mechanical arms to remove the tritium element inside and placed it at the center of the containment field. Powerful magnetic forces caused the golden tritium sample to levitate in midair.

"The most critical component of this experiment is the extremely rare tritium element. There are only twelve kilograms of it in the entire world, so I'm deeply grateful for Mr. Osborn's generous sponsorship."

At the front of the crowd, Harry stood with his arms folded. "I'm more than happy to pay for progress."

The experiment continued. After positioning the tritium, Otto's expression became intensely focused. But when he turned to accept protective goggles from his wife, a tenderness that could melt hearts appeared in his eyes. The couple exchanged a smile. After donning the goggles, he addressed the crowd:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please secure yourselves."

He reached out and pressed a button on the control panel. Beams of high-energy light lanced toward the tritium, which began expanding at extreme speed.

In the blink of an eye, a fireball the size of a human head materialized at the center of the device, replacing the original tritium sample. The blazing sphere resembled a miniature sun, illuminating Otto's face with warm orange light.

An assistant monitoring the data broke into a smile. "Nuclear fusion reaction successfully achieved."

A heartfelt smile spread across Otto's face, and everyone present burst into applause. Even Peter smiled at this moment.

Only Mario, standing at the back of the crowd, held up his phone and silently watched the scene unfold with the grim certainty of someone who knew exactly what came next.

Otto used the mechanical claws to continuously regulate the fusion reaction, gazing obsessively at the fireball with an almost religious fervor.

"The power of the sun... in the palm of my hand."

Here we go.

The moment the thought crossed Mario's mind, powerful magnetic forces erupted from the artificial sun. Every piece of metal in the laboratory began trembling, then sliding, then flying toward the containment field. He stepped several paces to the side, clearing the doorway so panicked visitors could escape more easily when shit inevitably hit the fan.

The next moment, the magnetic field intensified dramatically. Metal accessories people were wearing ripped free and shot toward the fireball like bullets.

But Otto still insisted, "Don't worry, it's just a power fluctuation. It'll stabilize momentarily."

Those words were like planting a death flag. Because in the very next instant, the metal apparatus designed to suppress the fusion reaction was dragged toward the containment field by overwhelming magnetic force, twisting and warping as it was pulled into the fireball.

However, there were still clear-headed people in the crowd. The woman who'd questioned Otto earlier stepped forward urgently. "Everyone, evacuate immediately!"

Otto's assistant looked at the critical warnings flashing across his equipment. "The containment shield has ruptured!"

A fiery red arc of electricity burst from the fireball, carving a deep smoking gouge into the stone wall with casual ease, like a whip made of lightning.

Panic erupted instantly as people rushed for the exit in a chaotic stampede.

Harry shouted above the noise, "Shut it down! Shut it down now!"

Otto stared at the out-of-control fusion reaction, all earlier confidence evaporated from his features. Hearing Harry's order, he shouted back defensively, "I can control it! It will stabilize!"

But worried about everyone's safety, Harry immediately retorted with all the authority his family name carried, "I'm in charge here! I'm paying for this, I make the decisions!"

However, he was so focused on commanding Otto that he failed to notice a heavy metal cart racing toward him from behind, pulled by the magnetic forces. Just as it was about to slam into him and crush him against the wall, a red-and-blue figure appeared and shoved him aside, saving his life at the last second.

When he realized it was Spider-Man who had rescued him, he said bitterly, "I still won't forgive you."

But after that outburst, he did nothing to interfere, because he knew that if the experiment was to be stopped and everyone kept safe, they would have to rely on Spider-Man.

When Otto saw the web-slinger, he immediately demanded, "What are you trying to do?"

"Pull the plug!"

"No!"

Seeing Spider-Man rush toward the power supply, Otto instantly controlled the metal claws and struck him, sending Spider-Man flying. The impact hurled him through a concrete wall; even with his enhanced physiology, he nearly lost consciousness from the blow. At that moment, the metal security doors burst apart under magnetic stress, and the glass panels above them shattered, flying outward at incredible speed like deadly shrapnel.

A woman's scream cut through the chaos, snapping Otto back to his senses. He turned toward the source of the sound, but it was already too late.

A sharp shard of glass sliced through the air and cut across his wife's body. Blood bloomed across her white blouse.

"Rosie!!!"

Before he could reach her, the inhibitor chip on the back of his neck erupted in a shower of sparks, destroyed by the electromagnetic forces generated by the runaway fusion reaction.

His eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

Seizing the opportunity, Spider-Man yanked out the main power supply with desperate strength. The fireball formed by the tritium vanished in an instant, winking out of existence as if it had never been. The immense magnetic forces and attraction in the area disappeared immediately, leaving nothing behind but destruction, and one man's shattered dreams lying in the wreckage.