10/16/2006

With the darklight generator put out of commission -- and with it, the big
      black sphere -- Spider-Man and Black Cat head off from Team B's cleanup 
      activities, heading for the warden's office, the place Doc Ock's been 
      using as his personal headquarters for the past three weeks.  When they 
      arrive, it's empty of the Octopus, though scattered papers, electronics, 
      and a small, smashed mechanical creation show that he's been here 
      recently.  Plus, Spider-Man's danger sense, always alert to Octavius's 
      presence, is screaming at him. But down which of the nearby branching 
      corridors did the tentacled terror flee?  A moment's listening with 
      super-keen hearing reveals the distinctive noise of metal-on-metal, the 
      signature >chnk chnk chnk chnk< that marks the sound of tentacle-powered 
      locomotion.

Oh, light.  Spidey ditches the goggles.  He makes his way through the halls,
      actually mostly crawling on the ceiling. He's got a few new tricks to 
      throw at Otto, tonight.  "He's around here somewhere," he murmurs to 
      himself.

No longer needing the goggles, The Black Cat draws them up, but keeps hold of
      them, not one to want to throw away things. She prowls forth, quiet and 
      with intent, keeping an eye out for things, but also trusting her 
      partner's keen senses to warn of danger.. Reaching the corridors, she 
      lets her eyes scan the area once again, at least until she hears that 
      tell-tale sound. The Cat draws her eyes closed in a prolonged blink, 
      making use of her lenses now to further scope out the Doc's location. 
      "I'm sure he is," she notes in turn, just hearing him. She then speaks up 
      a bit more." "It's over, Ock. Why don't you come on out. Maybe I'll make 
      things a -little- easier for you if you just give up." Not that she 
      expects it. Hell, come on out weapons blazing. Give her an excuse to cut 
      loose...

The sound of Ock's tentacles, coming from down the corridor to their left,
      stops, and all-too-familiar voice carries toward the two heroes. "Give 
      up?" His laugh echoes, bouncing off the stark walls. "Give /up/? I've 
      already triumphed, you little fool!" There's a SCREERRK of a metal door 
      being torn off its hinges, and then the sound of him retreating, with a 
      mocking challenge. "Come after me -- if you want to die!"

"Ock, Ock, Ock," Spidey calls as he crawls across the ceiling. "This
      song-and-dance again? C'mon, why not just give up and save us both a bit 
      of time? I promise I'll lay off the fat jokes," he calls out.  "Well, 
      maybe a few, but then I can't help myself."  He does slow as he takes the 
      tunnel, narrowing his eyes in consideration.

The_Black_Cat smirks.. "I knew you'd wanna do this the hard way.." She's quick
      to follow after, her expression becoming more serious.. She so expects 
      some crazy trap or ambush somewhere up ahead and does what she can to 
      keep a look out.. "Hope your senses are keen, Spider."

A short way down the corridor lies a crumpled metal door with a sign on it:
      Laundry. A mere few yards from there gapes an open stairwell, and the two 
      get a glimpse of green from Ock's uniform and goggles -- and a flash of 
      that mad shark's grin -- before he vanishes downwards into the shadows. 
      "Your quips, Spider-Man, remain uninspiringly tiresome. But, please, /do/ 
      come down. Ceasing that chattering tongue of yours would only sweeten my 
      victory. Likewise for /you/, dear Cat."

"He's planning on mixing our colors with our whites," The Spider says.
      "Dastardly, Otto. But we'll break up this little shindig you have going 
      on like you break scales when you step on them."  He pauses, slipping 
      through the doors. "Oh, right, no fat jokes."

The_Black_Cat skips on laughing for the time being. Seems the closer she gets,
      the more intent she is on getting this over with. For the moment, she 
      actually lets Spidey take the lead, though stays not far behind. She's 
      got plenty of faith in him when it comes to fending for himself, and 
      tactically, given his talents, it seems the better choice, even if part 
      of her is practically screaming on the inside to just run headlong after 
      Otto.

The prison laundry is a long room with concrete floors, walls, and ceiling, and
      the space is filled with rows of industrial-sized machines -- washers, 
      driers, presses -- and big cloth bags filled with, well, dirty laundry.  
      It's a big prison after all.  Pipes of various sizes run along the length 
      of the ceiling, and the air has a thick, warm, steamy quality. Octavius 
      waits out of view behind one of the big washers while Spider-Man's comes 
      down to the bottom of the stairs. "And you, Spider-Man? What are /you/ 
      except yet another idiot solving problems with his fists?" The sneer is 
      audible if not visible. Once Spider's reached the bottom of the stairs, 
      Doctor Octopus uses a tentacle to smash a pipe nearby the wall-crawler, 
      sending a jet of scalding-hot steam his way.

"Don't sell me so short, Otto. I use my kicks too. Webbing on occasion..." he
      starts.  The steam spills out and Spidey puts his arms in front of his 
      face as if blocking a punch.  Steam doesn't seem to go through his outfit 
      as it use to, he hops back a step. "See, this is the point a lesser hero 
      would make a joke about getting me steamed.  I'm not going to do that 
      though, it's beneath me."

The_Black_Cat keeps her eyes on that tentacle as it sneaks into sight.
      Pinpointing where the pipe was struck gives her somewhat of a line to 
      follow. While Spidey's protecting himself, she takes her own chance and 
      suddenly darts in after, making her way quickly to where she 
      expects/hopes to find Otto hiding, claws out. "How about we just skip the 
      small talk..."

"/Microorganisms/ aren't beneath you, you, you annoying arachnid." Octavius
      retreats slowly, going from one spot of cover to the next, his arms 
      wrenching more pipes from the ceiling, filling more of the space with hot 
      steam as he makes his way toward the far end of the room and his 
      well-planned escape route. Between this and his barbed banter with 
      Spider-Man, he's quite distracted, not taking note of the Black Cat.

With the steam covering, Spider-man tries the camo-feature of his new suit,
      blending into the background a bit as he gets closer. Of course, he can't 
      help but call out "Otto, talk like that will make me think you just don't 
      like me anymore. I'm hurt. Maybe we should take some councilling," before 
      he blends into the background and make his way toward The Good (Evil) 
      Doctor.

The_Black_Cat keeps on going, though it seems she's managed to put herself
      ahead of the blasting steam. She still feels it not far behind. The 
      thermal imaging  does pick up the heated steam, but it also manages to 
      make out the retreating form of the doctor.. Getting a sense of where 
      he's headed, she goes ahead more quickly to plot an intercept course.. 
      She quietly counts down to herself, then makes a dash for the chutes, 
      racing for the space in-between and timing it so that she can come up 
      just as Otto gets close. She makes herself airborn, a nicely outstretched 
      leg prone to catch him with a flying kick to his face! "I think what you 
      need is a little tough love!"

"/Like/ you, you--" Octavius catches the Cat's leap out of the proverbial corner
      of his eye -- in this case, the sensor of one tentacle -- a bare second 
      before her foot was set to connect. He jerks away, lashing out a metal 
      arm in reflexive counter-attack as he catches the kick solidly in one 
      shoulder, stumbling back and crashing into the next washer. "You little 
      /beast/," he snarls, sending another arm whipping her way. "I'll flay the 
      flesh from your bones!"

He pinpoints in on the voice.  Crawling forward a few steps, suit regaining the
      red and blue color as he fires off a few webs at the many metal arms he 
      can see.  "Otto, I thought we had the talk about your terrible bedside 
      manner already. Don't make me revisit the subject!"

'Damn,' Cat thinks. The Doc does appear to have eyes in the back of his head,
      so to speak. She feels the satisfying impact of her foot crashing down 
      into Ock's shoulder, only to be forced to bring her arms up, crossing 
      them as the Doc's tentacle slams into her in turn. Her effort to block 
      holds off from taking a more serious shot, but there's not very much 
      separating her flesh from his metal. She doesn't have time to complain 
      about soreness as she's pushed back hard! As her back slides against the 
      ground, she quickly curls both arms back and plants her hands to use the 
      momentum, kicking her legs up and arching to draw up into a brief 
      handstand before pushing her hands off the ground, bringing her legs back 
      down to touch the ground. She brings her head up quick, eyes wide as she 
      sees another arm speeding her way. Again she flips back into another back 
      handspring to hopefully dodge the menacing arm and put some more distance 
      between her and the doctor!

Holding onto his shoulder, Octavius backs up, his free arms tearing the
      Spider's webbing as quickly as it connects. He comes up short in a corner 
      made by the concrete wall and the tall metal behemoth that is the 
      industrial-sized washing mashine. "Do your worst," he sneers, and braces 
      two arms against the floor as the other two reach back, tearing a large 
      chunk of the huge appliance, metal ripping like paper under the power of 
      the adamantium claws. He flings the jagged metal Cat's way, then hauls 
      the rest of the washer completely off the floor to throw it at 
      Spider-Man. "Whatever happens, /whatever/ transpires, Otto Octavius is 
      victorious here!"

The Webbed one does one of those low, crouching ducks to avoid the hunks of
      metal.  He leaps forward to give Otto a bit of a special-delivery punch 
      if he gets close enough.  "Is this the part where you tell us your 
      masterful scheme?" he quips. "I hope so. Do I have time to get popcorn?"

The_Black_Cat lands once again, this time taking a rather low pose of her own,
      keeping one arm up and ready.. her eyes follow those two tentacles that 
      reach up, staring narrowly at Octavius.. As he goes to chuck the heavy 
      metal her way, the Cat actually starts dashing forward, only to be forced 
      to detour, planting a foot and diving off to the side a ways, just 
      missing the appliance as it comes crashing down behind and to the side of 
      her. The tentacles are still a problem, but with two of them bracing and 
      the other two busy chucking things at Spidey, she takes her chance to try 
      and get in close, pushing up and rushing the doctor. Much as she'd love 
      to tear at him with her claws, what little restraint she still has causes 
      her to ball her fingers into fists. She's a step or two behind Spidey as 
      he goes to punch Otto, herself prepping up a combination of blows to help 
      'encourage' Otto to call it a day.

Dr. Octavius sneers, swiftly bringing up one of the bracing arms to meet
      Spider-Man's punch, claws grabbing at the web-slinger's offensive fist. 
      If successful, he'll see about flinging Spidey as hard as possible into 
      the pipe-strewn ceiling -- and with great relish, it must be said. "Don't 
      take me for a fool. You haven't a hope of comprehending me. You never 
      have. Nngh!" The grunted exclamation is due to the Black Cat catching him 
      in the face with a solid punch, cracking the left lens of his goggles and 
      snapping his head back. In fury, he lashes out at her with lightning-fast 
      and brutally-striking tentacles, three of them one after the other, each 
      one quick as thought. "Your death's been long overdue, Cat!"

Well Otto manages to stall the Spider's forward momentum, but his arms don't
      actually connect.  Instead, Spider-Man stands in the Gold and Red suit 
      that Tony's made for him. The three nodule-legs crossed and holding off 
      the grabbing tentacle. "Would you believe I had appendage envy?" he asks, 
      then goes for another punch.

The_Black_Cat, putting herself at great risk, stays up close, aiming to throw
      another hard fist for the doc's solar plexus, the servos in her suit 
      working  to help her grind the blow in with as much effort as it allows 
      her, if she has the time. In a flash, she's forced to be defensive once 
      more, ducking and parrying, forced to back off. She actually nearly 
      punches at one of the tentacles as it barely shoots past, but she ends up 
      taking her eyes off of Otto, giving one of his limbs the opportunity to 
      slam into her chest. Again she's thrown back, only this time she's not 
      nearly as quick to spring to her feet, the harsh impact leaving her 
      sprawled against the ground and struggling to roll back up, let alone get 
      back the breath knocked out of her. She felt that one.

One brown eye, partially revealed behind the shattered lens, widens visibly at
      the sight of Spider-Man's new outfit and, in particular, his new 
      appendages. Later, Dr. Octavius will take a deep (if bitter) satisfaction 
      in the fact that his nemesis has chosen (in Otto's mind) to mimic him. 
      Clearly, Spider-Man feels the need to be more like Octopus in order to 
      defeat him. It's only natural. But such musings are for another time. 
      Right /now/, surprise gives way to rage. "How /dare/ you!" he snarls, and 
      concentrates his entire attack, all four limbs, on the Iron Spider, 
      adamantium limbs flying at him from all sides, again and again, never 
      letting up for a moment. The Black Cat is /quite/ forgotten.

For once, Spider-man has enough limbs to keep up.  He lets two of the nodules
      deflect the lower, one hand shoving a tentacle away and the other hand 
      webbing the end, actually trying to use the momentum to launch himself 
      into Otto. No quips this time, he's just trying to knock Otto out, or get 
      as much of his attention off the fallen Black Cat.

The_Black_Cat doesn't have much time to take in the scene before her.. Perhaps
      she missed the part about Spider getting a new outfit, though frankly 
      she's more focused on breathing, getting in a good strong one before  
      getting steady again. She sees Otto once more focused on his nemesis. 
      With those extra limbs keeping his own busy, it's now or never. Her form 
      flexes as it's pushed into motion, drowning out the ache in her chest and 
      arms as her legs bring her charging in once more, rearing her fist back. 
      With clenched teeth she lunges in hard for Ottos' side and lets fly with 
      a right hook aimed for the madman's face. Jaw, temple.. She's not picky, 
      as long as she takes him out!

Though Spidey may now match Octavius in the number of limbs, the atomic madman
      is more than adroit at using the extra appendages which are, in a way no 
      one's ever quite been able to explain, as much a part of himself as the 
      ones he was born with. Even so, the web-slinger's new additions are 
      giving the not-so-good doctor some trouble, and in the back of his mind 
      he's already planning upgrades to counteract this development. But as 
      focussed as he is on the Spider, he completely fails to notice the Black 
      Cat's punch until it's too late. THOK! "Unnh!" Right to the jaw! His head 
      snaps backward, just in time to collide with a Spidery fist. POW!

And with that, the Octopus is out, slumping to the floor in a heap of suddenly
      limp metal tentacles, the tails of his dark green coat tangling around 
      one leg.

As the Mad Doctor falls, Spider-Man stands up straight again, though watches
      those arms, just in case.  "Well, Otto, it's back to jail you go.  You 
      didn't even get to madly rant out your insane scheme. Guess we'll have to 
      find that out in interrogation." He looks over to Cat, "You okay?"

The_Black_Cat put so much into her own punch that she nearly loses her footing
      after the fact.. She stumbles, but manages to recover, planting her hands 
      out to catch against something.. She knows it's over now, so she finally 
      relaxes... Though this gives her a quick reminder of her pain. She turns 
      around and looks Spidey's way, taking a breath and smiling, trying to 
      shake it off. "I'll live.. Heh.. Aren't you looking sharp... Might wanna 
      web him up while you can." She takes a moment, then brings a hand down to 
      her chest, pressing down on a spot along the leather and feeling a small 
      button click as she speaks up. "This is Cat... Yeah, we're okay. Had some 
      dirty laundry to pick up... Yeah, we got him, laundry room."

Not a twitch from Otto's amazing arms. Or from the doctor himself, who's
      breathing shallowly but is otherwise quite unconscious.

Spider-Man hmms, "Dirty Laundry. Darn, I should've thought of that one."  He
      nudges Otto over and goes to help relieve him of his harness if he can.  
      And, when that's done, the good doctor gets a hefty coating of webs.

Cat finally relaxes some, looking over as Spider goes about taking care of the
      rest, hoping that he doesn't forget to immobolize those tentacles. They 
      do have a habit of acting on their own. She leans back, sighing a bit as 
      she stares up at the broken pipes. "I've been wanting to do that for so 
      long."

Spider-Man bends down to heft the Doc to his shoulder. "Well, let's get him to
      his nice, comfy cell.  I hear bread and water make for a great diet." He 
      starts out, "Mmm, besides, I'm ready to get home."

The_Black_Cat grins a bit. Nice of Parker to leave those heavy tentacles for
      her to carry. She goes to grab onto the webbing holding them, though 
      hesitates a moment, feeling another wave of pain in her chest momentarily 
      before continueing, toughing it out. "I'll bet."

Spider-Man looks over and fires off a web to help drag the harness along.
      "Admit it, you kind of want to put them on and wear them out."

Otto Octavius, hefted like a sack of grain. Oh, the indignity.

The_Black_Cat shakes her head, smirking at the idea.. "Well, maybe if they
      weren't so homicidally inclined.. No, I don't want any more to do with 
      these things than I have to."

"C'mon, you could start a fashion statement." The Spider quips, laughing a bit.
       "Well, I guess we'll just have to have the team destroy them, won't we?"

The_Black_Cat shakes her head once more, but can't stop from smiling. He always
      knows how to bring that out of her. "Too tacky for my taste... Yeah, good 
      riddance, I say."

"It's obvious he's got little taste. Look, he wears this green and the old-man
      sunglasses. Not like my wonderful fashion sense."  He grins behind his 
      mask, "Well, let's rejoin the group..."

The_Black_Cat just nods at this point, ready to get back, quite frankly.. She
      finally feels that she got some of her own back on Otto, but she dreads 
      waking up tomorrow.