//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: The Spectacular Spider-Mane // by Failwhale34 //------------------------------// Manehattan Bugle Otto Octavius Awakes From Coma & Leaves Horror In His Wake! Almost four years ago, Doctor Otto Octavius was conducting a Neogenics Demonstration at Oscorp, but something had gone wrong with the experiment and it caused an explosion. While nopony was hurt, Octavius was severely injured and had remained in a comatose state until now. Multiple witnesses say that Otto attacked and murdered multiple doctors and nurses in the Manehattan Hospital, completely unprovoked. One crucial detail is that Octavius was eight limbed. He is armed and dangerous. Citizens are now calling for Octavius' arrest and for the Princesses of Equestria, the Royal Guard and the Bearers Of the Elements Of Harmony to assist and hopefully neutralize this threat. If this wasn’t an abrupt wake-up call, Twilight Sparkle didn’t know what was. Her morning had started quite uneventful and she and Spike been planning on hanging out with the girls. However when she had gone to collect today’s newspaper, the headline had immediately garnered her attention. Otto Octavius, one of her science idols, had awakened from his four year coma and was now causing havoc in Manehattan. And from reading the article over, it was very bad. What had happened to the good doctor? This didn’t at all sound like the the pony she had once idolized. “Maybe all he needs is to turn that frown of his upside down!” Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically. As soon as Twilight has read the article, she quickly went ahead and gathered the girls and had them meet her back at the Golden Oaks Library, since this is really looked serious. “It’s not that simple, Pinkie,” Twilight instantly. “Dr. Octavius murdered innocent ponies. This is something we can’t ignore.” “He sounds pretty scary,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I think this guy could use some rainbow lasers and a butt-kicking,” Rainbow Dash inputted confidently. “Need I remind you that we gave up the elements to the Tree Of Harmony, darling,” Rarity inclined. “Oh…” Rainbow sheepishly mumbled. “Ya know Twi,” Applejack began. “Ya seem to know a great deal ‘bout this Octavius fella." “He was one of my science idols” Twilight put placed her foreleg under her chin, taking a small moment to recall the accident. “It happened about a few months before I first came to Ponyville. I had gone to Manehattan to see a Neogenics Demonstration that was being conducted by Dr. Octavius. It was supposed to introduce us to a new form of science and to be an astounding breakthrough for how we could better modernize Equestria. But..." "But..." Pinkie Pie's voice arose, prompting Twilight to continue. "Something went wrong. Very wrong," Twilight continued solemnly. "Nopony knows what had exactly happened but there was an explosion. Otto took the absorption of the blow. I visited him at the hospital shortly after that and the doctors told me that he was alright, but he was in coma and they weren't sure if Otto would ever wake up. Until now." "But what exactly could've caused him to go so berserk like that?" Rarity questioned. Twilight sighed before looking back the paper. "I don't know. But based on this, it's very serious and the citizens of Manehattan are desperately in need of our help." "And this Octavius fella seems to be an even dangerous threat since he's gone an' killed ponies already," Applejack commented in deep thought for a moment for smiling confidently. "I say we go." "Me too!" Rainbow Dash eagerly added. Pinkie bounced excitedly. "Me three!" Rarity brushed a strand of her mane from her muzzle. "I never been one to hash out violence but I will make an exception if the fate of Equestria is at stake." "If my friends are going in, then I'll go too." Fluttershy said bravely trying to ignore her nervousness. "Then it's settled then," Twilight declared firmly but smiling nonetheless knowing that her friends would be by her side. "We'll head over to the train station to take the next train to Manehattan." "Ooooh, I'm so excited!" Pinkie Pie rubbing her hoofs together ecstatically. "Always wanted to see what the big city was like." Rainbow said, intrigued. "Indeed." Rarity said. "The hustle and bustle of the big city would be great to watch." "And who knows? Maybe we can meet Spider-Mane." Spike said fantasized. Only to snap out of it when he saw all six mares look at him with confused looks. "Who?" They all asked in unison. "Wait, you girls don't know who Spider-Mane is?" Spike asked disbelievingly. "Should we?" Twilight asked, puzzled as the rest of the girls. Spike shook his head as took out a newspaper of his own. "Spider-Mane is like the resident superhero of Manehattan." As the baby dragon said that, he showed them the newspaper, which showed a photo of a young stallion dressed in skin-tight red and blue suit swinging through the city of Manehattan all while hanging onto a strand of webbing. “Oooh! We have our own superhero!” Pinkie said giddily. “He first appeared 4 years ago.” Spike said as Twilight took the paper from the baby dragon’s grasp. “He’s been protecting Manehattan ever since. Maybe if we meet Spider-Mane, we can do a cool team up with him." Twilight was both skeptical and confused. How had she and her friends not heard of this Spider-Mane before? Maybe he had just blended in with everything else going on in Equestria. After all, she and her friends had been busy against threats such as Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord (Who Was Now Reformed) and King Sombra over the last four years. Not to mention her ascension to alicornhood earlier this year. Did Princess Celestia know about him? If so, Twilight would have to remember to ask. "I'm pretty sure we can handle this on our own Spike," Rainbow said smugly. "This isn't the first threat to Equestria that we've faced. We can manage without this Spider-Mane guy." "Not to mention that tacky costume." Rarity commented, gesturing to Spider-Mane's outfit. "Anyway," Applejack began rolling her eyes at Rarity's comment. "I reckon' its best for us ta get ready to head on over ta the big city." "Applejack's right," Twilight agreed. "Let's meet up at the train station when we're all ready to go." "Right!" The five agreed in unison. "I'd really know how you sleep at night, Norman." Otto asked as he stood in the broken office. "I genuinely would like to know." He was standing in the office of Norman Osborn with shards of broken glass on the floor with broken window behind him. "I would like to know when your head hits that pillow, if just for a second, that you realize just how truly evil you really are." He pointed an accusing hoof at the portrait of Norman Osborn, who had a brown coat along with a sharp set of green eyes, with a venomous glare. "I know it was you, Norman. My Neogenic Rocombinator was supposed to work without a hitch. Now, I know there would be some who would say that I miscalculated but no. No!" Otto gritted his teeth as his metallic arms hovered above him. "I never miscalculate. It was you. You tried to have me killed. It's so hard to think. My head hurts. And it's your fault. I trusted you and now look at what I've become. Four years of my life. Stolen from me. Because of you. I thought when joining you, we could better the future of Equestria. But no, you wanted that credit for yourself, so you ran of use for me and tried to destroy me." Otto's arms zoomed in dangerously to Norman's portrait. "You sabotaged my Recombinator and tried to make sure I was all but forgotten. You should've made sure I was dead, Norman. You should've finished the job!" Otto's arms latched onto the portrait and started shredding it to pieces. "Because now, I won't rest until your dead at my hooves!" Otto roared. "For what you've done to my life! I will ruin you, Norman! I promise you that! Because you have no idea what your in for!"