The Amazing Spider-Man: Spiders of Two Worlds

Chapter 8

"Why did you have us retreat!?" Olivia questioned angrily. "We could have taken them!"

"Because more police were going to be there any moment," Otto explained as they both entered the old warehouse.

"So? We could have used that to our advantage," Olivia explained. "We could have held one of them hostage or something."

"Or an even bigger fight could have ensued, and our prizes might have been damaged," Otto countered. "We couldn't take that chance."

"You mean YOU couldn't take that chance," Olivia accused. "I can't believe you; I thought that you and I might be equals, but you clearly don't have the stones to do what needs to be done."

"On the contrary," Otto challenged, his tentacles inching him closer to her. "I don't think it's me who's the problem."

"What are you talking about?" Olivia questioned, not backing down but rising closer to Otto as well.

"I heard how you were talking to her," Otto explained, "you called her by her real name, not Spider-Woman, and how you really tried to drive that home to her. It worked at first, but now, I'm beginning to wonder if she's the only one taking this too personally."

"What I say or do to Gwen is my business," Olivia sneered.

"Careful, my friend," Otto warned. "Your history with her cannot supersede our primary goal."

"You're telling me that you wouldn't take out your own web-themed pest if you got the opportunity?" Olivia asked.

"Of course I would," Otto assured her, "but never at the expense of achieving my goals."

"We can take them both down AND get what we want," Olivia insisted. "If that is something that is not feasible to you, then maybe you're not as worthy of our namesake as I believed."

Otto then shot one of his mechanical arms at her in a rage, but one of Olivia's reacted quickly, deflecting it. Another one of hers shot at him, but a second of his grabbed that one, using it to toss her to the across the room. Olivia's tentacles caught her however, ensuring she didn't so much as hit the ground. She then came after Otto angrily, the longer reach of her arms giving her the advantage. Eventually, she was able to pick him up and toss him aside as well.

Not about to be outdone, Otto quickly recovered and renewed his attack. Mechanical arms were soon flying all over the room, with both deflecting the other's while attempting to subdue their opponent with their own. They tossed each other across the room a couple more times, though neither could truly land a serious blow.

Finally, Otto's patience with the situation had reached its limit.

"ENOUGH!" he screamed. "This petty fight is pointless and will only prevent either of us from getting what we want!"

Taking a moment to settle herself, Olivia relented as well.

"You're right," she said, "so let's figure out our next step. They have two of the four shards now, so we need to get them back, but how?"

"Think about it: besides their powers, what is it that our two arachnid friends have in common?" Otto questioned.

Olivia pondered the question for a moment.

"They fight to protect others," she finally answered, "even before themselves."

"Exactly," Otto replied, "and that is where our advantage lies."

----

Peter slipped in through the window to his apartment, with Gwen coming in right behind him. As soon as he removed his mask, he could smell the familiar scent of hot chocolate. He made his way towards the kitchen, observing as Mary Jane appeared to be putting the finishing touches on a couple cups of the stuff, stirring intently.