Orphic | Spider-Man

TWENTY

IT WAS THURSDAY and Otto still wasn't happy. 
      Octavia was on the news again. Well, the new superhero with eight mechanical tentacles, now known as Eight by members of the Mambas who were taken into police custody, was on the TV. Coming in through her bedroom window and falling was also not the best idea. And if her getting stitches in her left eyebrow wasn't enough, Otto insisted that anything and everything Octavia does goes through the bodyguard she was now blessed with, and everything is reported from said bodyguard to Otto. 
      Luckily, the bodyguard only lasted one day, Wednesday, after Octavia drove him nuts and gave Otto the cold hard truth: she was helping Spider-Man. However, Otto then crowned himself his daughter's bodyguard. Helping Spider-Man didn't last as she thought it would, but that wasn't going to stop Octavia from getting to the bottom of things with Vibrant and their CEO, Charles Cockholder Sr., who now had a surprise role in the Manhattan Mambas. 
      Charles Sr. must've escaped before the news vans could erupt at the warehouse along with the police, and lucky for him, the cameras didn't capture his face. He was a powerful man, and working with the Mambas could bring down Vibrant. Either he successfully sneaked out his face away from the cameras, or he got someone at The Daily Bugle to pull some strings for him. Octavia's mind swirled with all these questions, thoughts, and theories, but she had to put them away for the day, as it was Thursday, and she was accompanying Otto to Oscorp today to check out the new inventions he'd been working on for months, just to get her walking again. If there was one really good thing about today, it was that Peter Parker was with her as well. So for today, Otto wasn't going to be breathing down her neck, but Octavia caught him whispering to Peter when the boy showed up at their penthouse this morning to accompany Octavia. 

      Peter told the school he was taking a sick day, but told May that he was going to school. Octavia didn't question if Peter would be in trouble, she was just happy to have him. 
      When the car was parked in the parking lot outside of Oscorp, Peter and Otto helped Octavia into her wheelchair. 
      "I'm fine, you guys," she told them once she was situated. 
      "You have no upper arm strength," Peter told her with a smirk. 
      "Well, then I'll get some, but when you have four robotic tentacles attached to you, who needs exercise?" 
      "Actuators." Otto said. "Not tentacles." 
      Octavia gave him a look. "So why'd you design them like tentacles if you're going to call them actu. . .whatever that word was." She waved her hand at her father. 
      "Octavia Octavius not knowing a word? Earth shattering." Peter chuckled. Octavia swatted at him as he grabbed the handles of her wheelchair. 
      "Peter, I can push myself," Octavia told him. 
      "Show me those bulging biceps and maybe I might." Peter retorted. Octavia smacked him on the forearm over her shoulder as Peter pushed her forward. 
      "Do you have the actuators on?" Otto asked. 
      "Yes, my waist trainer is on." Octavia smiled up at him. Otto playfully rolled his eyes as Octavia chuckled. "Peter thinks they're very cool." 
      Otto looked over at Peter as they continued walking. "Perhaps we can try next spring on that internship. What do you say, son?" 
      Octavia's heart dropped hearing those words, even though Otto had spoken the sentence cheerfully. 
      With the same happy tone, Peter smiled and replied, "That sounds great, Doc." 
      Octavia looked between the two of them, then looked up at Peter, "Wh-why isn't the internship still happening? What happened?" 
      Peter looked to Otto, then down at Octavia. "I. . .got busy, Vee. We all get a little busy--" 
      "Peter, you're never busy, you play Lego: Star Wars and watch Indiana Jones. What happened to the intern--" 
      "I'll explain later, Vee," Peter shrugged. He obviously wasn't, she could see it in his face.
      "Wait, wait, wait, stop!" Octavia grabbed at the wheels, prompting Peter to run into the back of her wheelchair. 
      Otto furrowed his brows down at her. "Octavia, darling--" 
      "Why aren't you interning this spring?" Octavia demanded, her eyes full with worry. "Peter, tell me now--" 
      "Octavia," Otto gently took her shoulders, and turned them back forwards. "Peter, let's get her inside, the actuators respond to her emotions." 
      "Of course, Doc--"