Hailstorm (part 2)
Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus have nursed a bitter rivalry for almost a decade, ever since Peter Parker managed to prevent the doctor from turning on his rebuilt reactor, and saved his life by consequence. They both despise each other, but as a once in a lifetime storm rips through New York City, they find themselves in a position to finally air their unspoken grievances. Spider-Man and Doc Ock centric, 4k words.
Chapter summary: a recounting of what happened to Doctor Otto Octavius during his time at Ravencroft.
Here’s the link if you’d prefer to read on AO3 instead:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/71884721/chapters/187114981
TW: medical gaslighting and abuse, graphic injury.
EARTH 1364B.
The Ravencroft Institute.
April 7th, 2004
It had been ten days since Doctor Octavius had been admitted to the Ravencroft Institute, though he hadn’t experienced much of that time.
He’d surrendered himself to the mercy of the law, but soon after turning himself in, he’d fallen ill. He’d become dizzy, confused and feverish, and passed out in his holding cell. He’d been airlifted to Ravencroft in Westchester, and there he’d finally received treatment for the injuries that had been festering since his accident.
The surgeons had cut open the metal girdle that had been fused around his abdomen. Their tools had dug into his burned flesh, excising the charred remains of his skin along with scoops of the melted, gangrenous subcutaneous tissue beneath it. He had managed to avoid septic shock, but not infection, and they’d had to cut out a great deal of inflamed, seeping pus-filled fat and muscle before affixing the new skin over it with titanium staples.
Supposedly, Otto was lucky to be alive.
He didn’t feel very lucky.
