Interview With an Octopus, Part 2: Black Cat

"Why am I here, Otto?" Felicia asked, curious as to why she was summoned here, of all places. The lair of one Doctor Otto Octavius. More specifically, his office.

 

"It's Doctor Octavius to you, Ms. Hardy. And I don't know, you tell me. You came here of your own accord... To tell your story to secure a place in the plan. A plan that gives us that cursed arachnid on a silver platter. If you don't want to join--" Octavius replied, gently tapping the table with one of his tentacles.

 

"Right, no, I get that. I meant, why this office? Don't you think it's a little dull? That it could use more of a lavish touch." She replied, looking around the office.

 

"You have the audacity to come in here and insult my décor!" Octavius answered, growing slightly agitated. His tentacles were ready to attack at a moment's notice. Thankfully, the doctor was able to restrain himself, calming down moments later.

 

"I'm just saying, I've stolen from some of the wealthiest people in New York. There's nothing valuable here." Felicia acknowledged as she readjusted her sitting position.

 

"To you, perhaps... Which, in all honesty, is for the best. To me, it's perfect just the way it is." Octavius remarked, a small smile spreading across his face as he admired his handiwork.

 

After a moment of silence, the doctor spoke up once more.

 

"But enough with the pleasantries . Let's get on with the story." Octavius insisted, looking rather impatient.

 

"If you insist." Felicia simply replied, leaning back in her seat as she began her story.

 

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There it was.. The cat's-eye sapphire, shining brightly in its case. I knew from the moment I saw it that it had to be mine. Unfortunately, it was part of Wilson Fisk's private collection, which meant high security. But you know me, the harder the score, the more thrilling it is to pull it off. I always thought Fisk was more of an art guy. I guess that's mostly due to his wife's influence. Even the Kingpin of Crime can branch out and dabble in other prospective endeavors. I'm sure he won't mind me taking this off his hands. Not that I really care either way. If I'm being honest, he deserves far worse than this.

 

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"Cat's-eye sapphire? Even for you, it's a little on the nose." Otto commented, interrupting the story.

 

"That's rich, coming from you, Doctor Octopus... " She replied in a mocking tone.

 

"I didn't choose my name! Why doesn't anyone understand that?" Octavius lamented, before continuing. "Either way, what does this have to do with the wall-crawler?"

 

"You wanted the whole story, right? Be patient, Otto.. I'm getting to that.."

 

"Again, it's Octavius to you." The doctor muttered, but Felicia ignored him. She then continued her story, skipping over 'irrelevant details'.

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So, there I was... I had successfully exited the compound with the jewel in my hand. I was getting ready to make my great escape off the roof, when my cat sense started tingling. Instinctively, I place the jewel safely inside my backpack.

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"Cat sense? Is this a recent development? I don't recall that being one of your abilities." Octavius asked, curiously.

 

"You know what they say about curiosity and cats, don't you, Doc? I'm not looking to lose any more of my nine lives right now." Felicia replied, noticing Octavius' newfound interest.

 

"Yes, I'm aware... Curiosity killed the cat. Ha ha, so very amusing... He replied sarcastically before continuing his train of thought. "Could you elaborate on this cat sense, nonetheless?"

 

"Sure, I guess... A cat sense. Like how Spider has his sixth sense, I have mine." Felicia paused for dramatic effect. The doctor leaned in, intrigued. "It's called a woman's intuition." Felicia laughed, clearly amused, as she toyed with Doctor Octavius.

 

It's at this point that the doctor lowered his head in disappointment.

 

"Hey, you asked! Now, can you please stop interrupting me?" Felicia insisted, to which the doctor nodded his head.

 

"My apologies. Continue." Octavius apologized, clearly feeling defeated as he went back to writing on his notepad.

 

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I turned around, and sure enough, there he was.

 

"Look who decided to come play. Along came a spider... Here I thought tonight would be all work and no fun." I say with a smile, as I walk towards the hero.

 

"Nice to see you too, Felicia. I wish I could say it was under better circumstances." He replies, taking a few steps back.

 

"That's all you have to say to me? C'mon Spider... I know you love this dance of ours just as much as I do."

 

"I don't make for much of a dance partner. After all, I've been told I have two left feet." Spider jokes, but I could tell something was off.

 

"Is that what the redhead tells you? What's her name again? Michelle?" I lied, knowing full well what her name was. Mary Jane Watson. The good girl ... The perfect one that Spider always ends up with. How could she ever do anything wrong? Unlike me, the bad influence. That's all I'll ever be known as. Unfortunately, even that didn't get much of a response from him.

 

"Mary Jane." He replies, correcting me.

 

"Mary Jane.. Right. Michelle, Mary Jane, close enough. Does she know you're here right now, with me?"

 

"No...-- Well, we're not exactly on speaking terms right now." He says this while looking out at the Manhattan skyline.

 

"Awh, is that why you're so down? You know, I can take your mind off it." I say, trying to console him. I place my hand on the right side of his mask.

 

"Uhhm, I'm sure you could. But as tempting as that is, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. Superhero rep to protect and all.. You get that, right? We don't need to give J Jonah Jameson more ammunition in his webhead manhunt." Spider responds, slightly embarrassed, as he leaps back and up onto an elevated section of the rooftop, now in a crouched position.

 

It looks as though, for once, Spider didn't miss leg day. He fills out that spandex quite nicely.

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"I don't need to hear you objectifying that cursed arachnid! There's no relevance there. Give me the story of how you almost got him, nothing more, nothing less." Octavius interrupted once more, growing increasingly frustrated.

 

"It's important for context." Felicia responded with a huge smirk on her face.

 

"Doubtful, but fine... Continue." Otto sighed, continuing to write on his notepad.

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"You know this won't end well. Going after Fisk like this." He says, warning me, but it falls on deaf ears.

 

" After everything he's done... To you, me, and this city... He's got it coming." I reply, my voice seething with resentment.

 

"This isn't the way, Felicia. Deep down, you know that! I know your history with Fisk is complicated. But this will only make him angry. Are you really willing to risk a war with Wilson Fisk over a sapphire?"

 

"Heavy risk, but the prize... When it's this beautiful? Definitely." I pause for a few seconds before continuing, "Wait, are you worried about me?" I can feel myself getting slightly flustered over the thought.

 

"Is that really so surprising? Of course I am. I've seen firsthand what Fisk is capable of." Part of me gets disappointed when I hear that it's more about Fisk, than me.

 

"Are you saying I haven't?"

 

"No, I'm saying you're playing a dangerous game here, Felicia."

 

"You know as well as I do that I live for the danger."

 

"Yeah. I'm just afraid that this won't end well. Nine lives won't be enough to stop Fisk." He cautioned.

 

"It's cute, knowing that deep down, you do care. But I'll be just fine. I can take care of myself."

 

"A part of me will always care. Even though we're not together anymore, you're still important to me." He sighs. "That's why I can't let you do this. Please, just let me do this the right way!"

 

"How many times do I have to tell you, your way doesn't work ? Fisk, like all your foes, is free by day's end, every single time." I reply, slightly annoyed.

 

"Last chance, Felicia. Hand over the sapphire." He replies, trying his best to sound intimidating, while ignoring my criticism. But everything I've said is true. Whether Spider remains optimistic or not... Unfortunately, it won't stop him from trying to do the right thing .

 

"Oh, this little thing?" I ask, taunting him slightly by holding up the sapphire. "Sorry, but you know that's not happening. It looks like I've got to run. Catch me if you can, Spider." I winked at him, placing the jewel back in the backpack, before running towards the edge of the rooftop.

 

That's when one of our typical rooftop chases began. With him swinging after me as I leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Sometimes, I'd slow down just enough for him to catch up. He'd try to slow me down with his webs. It'd work, momentarily. Thankfully, my claws are sharp enough to cut through the webbing.

 

"You know, you can stop chasing me anytime now!" I say, looking over my shoulder, as I leap into the air, using my whip once more.

 

"I wouldn't have to chase you if you weren't running away!" He responds, thwipping and then tugging on my right foot with a webline. I hit the rooftop hard seconds later.

 

"If you wanted to play rough, you could've just asked!" I grunt, while still trying to recover from the impact of the fall.

 

"I'll be taking this! Yoink!" Spider exclaimed, yanking the backpack containing the sapphire with his webline.

 

"There's the Spider we all know and love." I say, biting my lip. Turning around, I ran towards him.

 

We exchange blows, from punches to kicks. Like usual, he's pulling his punches, but the ones that do land still hurt. Half of the fight is spent performing various acrobatics in an attempt to avoid the other. At one point, I managed to tackle him. My arms were holding his arms down, and my knees were on his chest.

 

He uses his webshooters to try to break free from the pin. But unfortunately for him, luck isn't on his side.

 

"Looks like you're out of webfluid. Talk about unlucky... Better luck next time." I say with a coy smile, leaning my face down, closer to his. I pull his mask up, so only his lips are exposed.

 

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"You're telling me that you had him pinned. You could've killed him right then and there. But you didn't?" Octavius interrupted for the final time.

 

"That's right." Felicia replied, nodding.

 

"Why? How could you possibly let that arachnid live?" Octavius asked, dumbfounded.

 

"Where's the fun in that? If I killed him, the dance would be over. And sorry, but I rather enjoy the dance me and Spider share."

 

"Clearly, this was a mistake. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but you've completely wasted my time. Your shot at getting in is nonexistent."

 

"Kind of figured as much, thanks. I won't lose sleep over not getting into your sad little revenge club."

 

"Why show up if you knew you weren't interested?" Octavius questioned.

 

"I was bored, and I had some time to kill. Also, I was curious to see whose asses Spider will be kicking in a few weeks, whenever this plan of yours comes to fruition. Even if you're only locked up for a couple days... That, and I wanted to see how much I could rile you up. Since you know, I haven't forgotten about the time you punched me in the face... Costed me a tooth. Back when you were masquerading as Spider. The nerve you had doing that... I can't wait to see this Six flop like all the others." Felicia mused before leaving Octavius' office.

 

"This will be an excruciatingly long day." Octavius muttered to himself as the next applicant entered, coming from the waiting room.

 

 

The Doctor's electrifying search continues in INTERVIEW WITH AN OCTOPUS: ELECTRO!

Done