//------------------------------// // Armor Up // Story: Along Came A Spider // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// The Beast allowed a smile to cross his face as he gazed up at the sky to see the sun rising faster than it normally did. From the top of the stadium he could see a majority of the city of Manehatten, most of which was now burning and filled with screams of the ponies within. He chuckled to himself as he leapt off of the open stadium roof and landed in the center of the field, upon the tower that he had constructed over the night. "Time to wake up, my two guests," the Beast said as he smacked the faces of the two ponies that he had ensnared in his webbing, causing them to groan as they slowly lifted their heads. "Because from how fast that sun is moving in the sky it seems that we will be having company within the hour, company that will require my two hostages to make some noise, preferably screams of pain." "If you think I'll help you, you're wrong," Coco spat out with as much courage as she could muster, but the smile that spread across the face of the Beast dispersed the courage. "Of course you'll help me. Because if you don't, I'll kill him," the satyr told Coco as he walked over to the second pony trapped within the webbing, a bloodied stallion wearing a suit that looked very similar to a spider, and smacked him across the face. The stallion woke with a start, groaning wearily as the pain returned. The Beast turned towards Coco and smiled at her once more, happy to see that she was glancing down at the floor with broken eyes. "But even with the two of you hostage, that does not guarantee that the Ambassadors will cease their eventual attack," the Beast continued, knowing that he had completely beaten the will out of the two. "But perhaps when they see the broken hero that I happen to have entangled in my webbing, they will be more willing to listen to my demands." "I'm...not the Spider, you stupid freak," Stonewall spat out as he moved his jaw as best he could despite the pain. "The real Spider...is still out there. He'll stop you." "Really? Because last I saw of that fool, I had snapped his neck and left him to drown in the channel," the Beast replied with a smirk before he motioned to the three creatures that had been standing guard at the bottom of the metal tower. "But even if he did somehow manage to survive, these monsters will be the end of him. I've injected them with the same spider powers that fueled the Spider. He couldn't even defeat me with his powers. How could he hope to best them?" "Otto...you killed him?" Coco asked as terror seeped into her soul, but before the Beast could answer Stonewall cut him off. "This monster thought he did, but Otto survived. I talked with him just yesterday." Stonewall informed her before a blow from the Beast nearly knocked him out again. "If he is alive, and I severely doubt it, then he is also without his spider powers," the Beast finished for Stonewall as he turned towards Coco, who stole as much courage as she could to glare at him. "The formula that I injected him with will have rid him of his spider powers, leaving him as useless as a regular pony. Even if he does come here to save you, he will simply be marching to his death." "Then he'll die fighting you," Coco said, getting the satyr to raise an eyebrow before he smirked. "Because I know Otto, and despite the bluster and arrogance, he's a hero deep down. And since he's a hero, he'll be here to stop you. No matter what you throw at him, he'll make it through." "Your faith in your friend is touching, but unrealistic. My monsters will rip your hero limb from limb and then I will bring down the Ambassadors when they show up," the Beast informed Coco, who spat at his face. The spit hit the mask, getting the Beast to shake his head before he turned his attention back to the stadium entrance. "Why are you even doing this? Revenge? A desire for power?" Coco asked, but for a long time the Beast didn't say anything. "Why? Because I want to show my genius to the world. To show just how far I have come on the path of evolution," the satyr replied with a calm smile. "And simply to create some carnage. That is all I care about." "Huh, you're not like the other kind of villains, are you?" Coco asked. The Beast turned to look at her before he shot a strand of webbing around her mouth, silencing her. "I am done with your prattle. While I have enjoyed distracting myself, dawn has finally shone on my day of triumph," the Beast said with a large smile, before he heard something and he whipped his head towards one of the exits of the stadium to see somepony walking towards them. The pony wore a suit made entirely of metal, a silver metal that shone brilliantly in the sun. The legs were completely armored and a helmet covered his face, but both Coco and the Beast stared at his chest, where a large, black spider drew their attention. "So, you did survive," the Beast said with a smile as he gazed at his armored foe, who came to a stop at the edge of the stadium seats. The armored spider leapt off of the stands and slammed into the ground, shattering the concrete under the weight of his suit. "And you've come packing some heat. But it will not be enough. I know that you do not have your powers anymore. And without them, you are just a pony in armor. And I've dealt with plenty of those before." "And you are nothing more than a villain, albeit one with some incredible powers," Otto replied in a metallic voice as he began to march across the stadium towards the Beast, his presence causing the monsters to snarl as he drew closer. "And I have outsmarted plenty of you." "So you say. But here is my retort," the Beast began before he snapped his fingers and the monsters surrounding the tower lunged towards the armored spider. "Kill him." Otto braced himself as the first of the monsters attacked him, slashing at him with claws colored like crimson. Otto grunted under the force of the blows, but the armor held up and prevented the claws from tearing through him. The armored spider grabbed hold of the monsters head and activated something within the suit, activating a function that caused his armored forearms to slam together at incredible speeds and obliterating the creatures head. "What is this?" the Beast asked with some interest as Otto tossed the body of the monster to the side, before he was attacked by a winged monster that had the limbs of an insect. The monster wrapped itself around Otto and tried to pull him off of the ground, but with the weight of the suit and the spikes that erupted out of the hind hooves to anchor himself it was unable to move him. Otto spun around and grabbed the winged insect, slamming it into the ground before he took aim at the back of the creatures head. His forearm shot forward and crushed the skull of the monster, leaving only one left for the armored spider to deal with. The last monster snarled as it slowly backed away, a warning sense going off in its head about the being before it. "Well, isn't this something incredible," the Beast muttered with some interest as he leaned on the railing, watching as the armored spider clashed with his final monster. Even though it had the strength and speed of Spiderman, the mechanical suit that covered Otto's body was able to keep up with the monster blow for blow. Otto took a heavy hit to the side of the head that staggered him for a moment, before he took a swing himself and crushed the monsters jaw with his blow. "That is quite the suit that you have created!" the Beast called down to Otto, who paid the Beast no mind as he tackled the final monster to the ground. He unleashed blow after blow into the creatures chest, knowing that his suit wasn't going to hold up much longer. With a bellow of rage he slammed his fist right through the head of the creature, causing it to fall over and allow Otto a moment to regain his breath. "If your suit is able to go hoof to hoof with the monsters infused with your power, then it must be quite the scientific marvel," the Beast said with a laugh as Otto began to move towards him, gritting his teeth as he was beginning to feel the weight of the suit on his body. "But I wonder if that suit can save this entire city? Because, even if you manage to deal with me, there are still over five hundred of my creations out there tearing apart this city right now." "Yes, but they are not here now, are they?" Otto asked the Beast, who lost his smile when he heard the tone in Otto's voice. "All of your greatest work is out there in the city, but right now you are alone. And I can't even say that you have a weapon or something here to protect you, because you have made it clear that the only way you can gain power is to steal it." "I find that funny, Doctor Octavius, because from what I heard you have done the same, when you stole the body of the original Spiderman," the Beast replied with a snarl, but Otto smirked beneath his helmet as he continued his march. "But you didn't come here just to call out my tactics. What are you really here for?" "To make you an offer. A challenge, I suppose," Otto said to the Beast, who raised an eyebrow in interest. "You are right in saying that I would have a great deal of trouble defeating your entire army. But I can best you. And you will have trouble conquering the entire world. Unless you have access to the technology that I wield." "What are you asking for, Spiderman?" "Simple: we fight. When I win, you call off your army. If you win, then this suit, along with all of my knowledge, is yours," Otto offered to the Beast, who placed a hand under his chin as he thought about it. "What do you say?" "An interesting offer. But I still say no," the Beast replied before he hurled himself off of the tower and lunged at Otto. Otto anticipated the attack and swung an armored hoof at his foe, but with the reflexes of the Spiderman the Beast was able to propel himself off of Otto's hoof and kick him in the back of the head. Otto roared as he slid across the stadium floor, struggling to remain standing. "Because I know that I can conquer this city and perhaps the world with my army. But you need me to stop my army, as it clear that you cannot!" the Beast roared as he kicked Otto in the chest, denting his chest piece while sending the armored spider skidding backwards. Otto stopped himself before throwing out two more punches at the Beast, who easily dodged them before slamming his face into the helmet of Otto. "Your suit is indeed impressive, but without your spider powers it is only a matter of time before that tin can falls to my might!" the Beast laughed as he grabbed hold of one of Otto's armored limbs, tearing it clean off of his body. Otto snarled as he glanced down at the now armor-less limb, before looking up in time to take a kick to the head that put him down. The beast grabbed one of the rear legs and tore the armor clean off of Otto's body, forcing Otto to backpedal as he tried to get back to his hooves. "I will admit that you definitely have all the characteristics of a hero. You never give up, you always find a way to keep fighting...and you never know when you are beaten!" the Beast reminded Otto as he slammed his fists into the chest piece, tearing it clean off of Otto's chest and exposing the black bodysuit that he was wearing underneath. "But what impresses me even more is that you were able to build a suit like this in such a short period of time," the satyr said as he picked Otto up by throat and hoisted him into the air, where Otto tried to break free by kicking him limbs. "In one night you managed to create a suit that was able to kill the monsters that I infused with your powers. That shows me the true brilliance of you, Otto. If only you had stayed a villain, we may have been able to work together." "We can still work together. You surrender. I throw you in jail. Win-win," Otto choked out with a smirk. The Beast glared in reply before he brought back a fist to finish off Otto, before a cloud of white smoke erupted from the back of the suit and enveloping the both of them within the smoke. The Beast growled as he felt Otto slip free of his grasp, before he looked around with a smirk. "Is this your grand plan, Otto? Hide in the smoke and try and catch me by surprise? I have spider sense, you fool. You cannot-" The Beast was silenced when something slammed into his face and sent him flying out of the smoke and across the field, where he landed on his back and stared up at the sky with some surprise. He sat up and ran a finger across his face, surprised to see that the blow had drawn blood. He then looked up into the smoke to see the shadow of Otto moving towards him...but the pony was at least ten feet in the air. "What in the...?" the Beast asked as Otto emerged from the smoke, striking the villain dumb as he tried to process what he was looking at. Otto had stripped himself free of all of his armor, leaving him in a black body suit with green trimming around it. But the suit was only an after thought as the Beast stared at the four, metal tendrils that were being used like legs to walk the doctor towards the Beast. "My grand plan? You couldn't even begin to comprehend my grand plan," Otto said with a laugh as his metal limbs came to a stop, two of them lifting off the ground to reveal that they each had three clamps on the end of them. "But I will tell you this. It involves you, plenty of blood and a shallow grave that no one will ever find. Now, try and put the rest of the plan together. I'm sure you can do it." "What...are those?" the Beast asked as he gazed with shock at the metal limbs, getting a laugh out of Otto as he held one of the tendrils in his hooves. "These? These are one of the greatest inventions of one of the greatest failures to ever live. A villain that terrorized the whole word and held it hostage at one point," Otto said with a smirk as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and slipped them over his face, a smile spreading across his face as he glare down the Beast. "Some called him evil. Some a genius. But everyone else called me Doctor Octopus."