The afternoon sun dripped through the windows of the small kitchen area, casting a warm glow upon all of those that were within the building. Otto was sitting lazily on the couch with a newspaper in his hooves, while Stonewall was cleaning up the place with a feather duster. And Coco was hard at work trying to prepare a meal for the evening, checking the oven every few seconds to make sure that nothing caught on fire.
Otto took a moment to look away from the paper, tired of reading about the heroic actions of the Spider, to glance over at the table that sat in the center of the room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the numerous pieces of mail that littered it, before his eyes spied something else that made him rise from his seat. He walked over to the table and rummaged through the mail, pulling out a letter of the purest blue.
"What is this?" he asked Coco, who glanced over her shoulder and her eyes went wide. She raced over to the table and snatched the letters out of his hooves, clutching it close to her heart as she glanced around nervously. "Well, now you have me concerned, if that is your reaction. It is not a summons, is it?"
"No, it's nothing like that. This...is from Sapphire Shores," Coco said in a quiet voice, but both Stonewall and Otto gave her a look and Otto motioned for her to continue. "She sent this a few days ago, not long after the fashion show. I'm actually too afraid to open it."
"Why? After seeing your dress and the way you handled yourself during the attack, it is more likely than not a request for more work," Otto said in a casual tone, but Coco's eyes shrunk and she let out a whimper as she clutched the letter closer to her chest. "Oh for the love of...Coco."
Coco lifted her eyes and found that Otto was staring right into hers, causing her to shrink back slightly under his gaze. "Coco, as someone who has been so arrogant of their abilities their entire life, trust me when I say that there is nothing wrong with having some faith in yourself. Learn to accept that you can do great things and that what you do is great. Believing in what you can do, believing in your abilities is not arrogant or cocky. Believe me, I am the expert on arrogant."
"Why...were you so arrogant?" Coco asked, getting a sigh out of Otto as he stared at the wall for a brief moment, not sure whether or not he wished to answer. But then he glanced down at Coco to see that some confidence was starting to form and figured their was no harm.
"Because I knew that deep down I wasn't the best. That there would always be someone better than me. So I acted like I was unbeatable, that I was truly superior to everyone that I've encountered," Otto said with a bitter smirk before he shook his head. "But I was just a fool. A brilliant fool, but a fool none the less. And my lifetime of arrogance hurt so many others. And I am supposed to be better, but in reality I was trash. That's all I am."
"No you're not!" Coco blurted out, causing Otto to raise an eyebrow in surprise at her sudden outburst. Her eyes widened as she realized how loud she had been before she regained control of herself. "I mean, you might have been, but you're totally different here from the pony you've been describing. You've been an irreplaceable help to me...and you've help kept us safe from these monsters."
Otto raised an eyebrow as his eyes narrowed slightly, able to tell that she was hiding something from him. But whatever it was he wouldn't find out as Coco took in a deep breath and lifted the letter, gently tearing the top open and grabbing the letter within. She glanced at her two friends before she pulled the letter out, eyes closed as she unfolded it with shaky hooves.
"Will you just read it already?" Otto said with a bit of an exasperated voice. Coco cracked one of her eyes open and began to read the letter, still trembling at first but as she read more and more her other eye opened and she started to read the letter with wide eyes. Her hooves stopped trembling and when she finished the letter she looked at the both of them, her eyes glazed over as if she was in a dream.
"Well, what does it say?" Stonewall asked, but all Coco could do in reply was stammer out some incoherent words.
"OUT WITH IT!"
"She said that she wants me to do her next line of dresses..." Coco stammered out, as if she couldn't believe that the words were coming out of her mouth. For a long moment both Stonewall and Otto just stared at her in silence before Stonewall let out a cry of victory and pulled the mare into a massive hug, while Otto just nodded at her with a smile across his face.
"Congratulations! All of your work finally paid off!" Stonewall exclaimed as he finally let the mare go, causing Coco to stumble around weakly before she gazed at the smiling face of Otto. A small smile of her own crossed her face and after a moment she giggled to herself, causing Otto to tilt his head slightly.
"What is so funny?"
"I think...that's the first genuine smile I've seen from you since you got here," Coco said with another laugh, getting Otto to raise an eyebrow at her response before he shrugged and kept the smile on his face.
"Consider it my gift to you for reaching your goal," Otto replied, this time getting both Stonewall and Coco to laugh.
"Guess you still have some of that arrogant side in you. Who in the hell gives somepony their best smile when they achieve their dream," Stonewall said with a booming laugh while Coco just smiled up at Otto. She then extended her forearms to him and gave him a questioning look, getting Otto to sigh before he opened his arms as well. Coco's smile grew as she tackled Otto and hugged him, before Stonewall wrapped his arms around the both of them and pulled all three of them into an even tighter hug.
"Alright, time to celebrate!" Coco exclaimed once the hug was broken and she ran over to the oven, reaching inside and pulling out numerous items she had been baking. To the utter surprise of both Otto and Stonewall, none of the items were burned in any way and some of them actually looked edible. "Oh come on you guys, I've been practicing in my spare time!"
"When do you have spare time?" Otto asked as the group sat down and began to eat, with Otto actually telling a few jokes that got the other two laughing. The sun set behind the buildings of the city as they talked, with the talks going long into the night before Coco finally called it.
"Well, this has...been fun," Stonewall said with a look of surprise as he gazed over at Otto, who had a small smile on his face that had not vanished since they had started talking. "Who knew that Doctor Otto Octavius could actually be a charming and talkative pony if he wanted to. Guess we can't judge you solely on how you act, can we?"
"Please, one night of merriment does not change the fact that I hate you all and wish that I could exact my revenge upon the world," Otto said with as much vengeance as he could muster, but the only two only smirked at his response before they rose from the table.
"Well, I'm going to go get started on Sapphire's next line of dresses," Coco said as she stretched out her limbs, smiling at her friends one more time before she headed for the stairs. "I'm not going to rest on my laurels. I'm going to create a dress the likes of which the world will never see again! Maybe one that even Rarity would find amazing!"
"So that is what she is like with confidence, huh? I admit, I actually like her better like this," Otto muttered before he glanced over at Stonewall, who was giving Otto a look that he couldn't read. "What are you staring at? Just because I enjoyed today doesn't mean that I think any better of you."
"You should take your own advice," Stonewall said to Otto. Otto's face lost all of its mirth as he gave the stallion a stern glare, but it didn't seem to bother Stonewall in the least. "About being more confident and believing that what you're doing is great. That you're helping others."
"What, are you implying that helping out at a boutique and making clothes is something that I should believe to be great? That I'm helping others?" Otto asked with a smirk at the foolish words of the stallion, while also causing him to regain an expression that was common to him as Doctor Octopus.
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm talking about the work you do outside of work," Stonewall said with a shrug as he rose and turned towards the stairs, knowing full well that Otto was giving him a suspicious glare from behind his back. The stallion left Otto sitting by himself, leaving him to think long and hard about what Stonewall had said to him. Otto then glanced to his side to see a mirror hanging above the kitchen sink, with the a man that he hadn't seen in a while staring back at him.
"What's the matter? Nothing to say to me?" Otto asked Parker, who replied by crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the doctor. "That is fine, as I have plenty to say to you. Such as why are you there nearly every time I look in a reflective surface, yet you never say anything? Why do you constantly judge me, despite the fact that I have done the best to adhere to the heroic ways that you left within me? And why is it that no matter what form of reality I go to, there is always a Spiderman there to infuriate me?! Answer me, Parker!"
The man in the mirror just continued to stare at Otto, who waited a few moments before he smirked and returned to where his newspaper was. "I do not know why I bother to speak with you. It is clear now that you are just some illusion that my mind has conjured, most likely due to how use I became to having you in my mind. That is the only reason that I could see that you would still be here, or else my mind would have expelled you ages ago. Now then, leave me be so that I can read this in peace."
'You'll fail.' Otto snapped his head around to face Parker, who was now gazing at Otto with a look that Otto had come to loath from the man. 'You'll fail to protect them. To stop this evil. To be Spiderman. That is what you do best. And when you fail, and the world needs the real Spiderman, I'll be there. It's like I told you Otto, you'll never be rid of me.'
Otto's gaze was one of utmost fury as he gazed back at his counterpart in the mirror, but after a moment the image of Parker vanished and left Otto only staring at himself. Yet even though Otto wished to scream at Parker, to let him know how wrong he was, Otto found himself unable to. For the memories that he held within him told him exactly how his efforts as Spiderman would end.
"No...I will not let it be like last time!" Otto roared as he turned towards the stairs and practically threw himself down them to reach the bottom faster. He tore across the boutique and ripped open the door to his workspace, which he slammed shut behind him as he began to work on a formula for better webbing. "I may have failed before, Parker, but I have learned. That is one thing I do better than anyone else. I will show to you that I can..."
But the fire that had ignited within Otto died down as he gazed at the spider suit that was resting on the chair in front of him, reminding him of a time in the subway. When a little girl that he had saved had been in danger and for a brief moment he had been more concerned with his life than hers. And how he had almost failed to act.
'Is he right? Will I truly fail once more?' Otto asked himself before he rested his head in his hooves and let out a sigh. 'Oh Anna, what would you tell me?'
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//; ;\\
The beasts within their cages were designed to be the most dangerous and lethal beasts to have ever been created in all of Equestrian history, but at the moment all they could do was shiver in their cages as a being far more dangerous than them sat in a chair in front of a large chemistry set. He was hard at work creating something, something that he knew would give him the edge. For the time of waiting was over.
"I am sorry, what was that?" the Beast said as he turned towards one of the monsters, the only one that had dared to utter a sound. For a long moment he glared the monster down before he turned back to his set. He reached to the very end of it and pulled out a large vial filled with red liquid, causing a smile to spread beneath the mask as he poured the liquid into a needle. "I was so wrong. I thought that by using these monsters that I would be able to create the greatest lifeform. But I was a fool. I didn't need any of them. I just needed me."
He injected the needle into himself as he said this, before he turned towards a beast that towered over him. All sox of its arms glistened in the dark light that emanated from it's chest, causing a sickly green light to bathe the Beast. He smiled upon his greatest weapon before he reached under the chair and pulled out an item. A blue dress that looked like sapphires.
"I know where he is and my suspicions about him are correct. Go there and put an end to him once and for all," the Beast instructed as he handed the creature the dress. The monster took the dress and examined it for a moment, before placing the dress into the green sphere in the center of its chest. The dress was quickly pulled into its body, before the monster turned and walked away.
"You have played your part, Doctor Octavius. But now I am done with you. And soon, my monster will be done with you as well."