It Begins
The first thing Otto noticed when he came to was the sky above him. It was a black midnight sky, dotted with a million stars, and decorated with a few dark masses of clouds. The next thing he noticed was the ground he lay upon. It was cold and wet from a light coating of mildew, and when he dug his fingers into its surface, he soon realised he was laying on a soft layer of grass and dirt. In a normal situation, he would’ve felt relaxed in a place like this. It was quiet here. He couldn’t even hear cars or any sign of sound, except for the soft chirpings of crickets in the night air. But this was not a normal situation. The memories of the other universe and the chaos that had happened were freshly engraved upon his mind, a mind that he now could control thanks to Peter's help. For a moment he enjoyed the silence of his own mind without the control of his actuators plaguing it, but the moment didn’t last long before another thought entered his mind. ‘Where is Norman?’. Otto bolted up right suddenly and began rapidly scanning the area around him; even his actuators moved about looking around him.
“Osborn.” Otto mumbled out loud to himself, as he scanned around himself. But there was no sign of him, just trees surrounding the small grassy clearing he had found himself in. He got onto his knees and, with the help of his actuators, stumbled up to his feet, shouting out into the darkness around him. “NORMAN WHERE ARE YOU?”. Panic began to set in his gut as he spun around rapidly taking in his surroundings in search of Norman.
The travel between the universe left him tired and worn down, so when he ran about the small clearing, calling Norman’s name, he stumbled about, almost falling down again if his metallic armatures weren’t there to help support his weight. He hated relying on them, especially after what they put him through, but he had bigger problems right now. He needed to find Norman. He ran around for what felt like hours. Eventually he gave up on physically running, and instead used his extra arms, ripping through trees, and toppling over rock and stone just to find Norman. But still, even after all his efforts, there was no sign of the man. Eventually, his desperate look led him to a road. There he forced himself to calm down. Otto lowered himself to his feet again, letting his arms go limp at his sides. There was no hope in trying to find Norman this way. If he wasn’t in the clearing he found himself in, then there was no way he would find him now, and chasing blindly through darkened woods wouldn’t help either. Otto hung his head tiredly and gave a long, drawn out, sigh. He was tired, and confused, and he was acting reckless. The thing he really needs to do right now, is get his bearings. Otto looked up and down the street, only to find the faint glow of a neon sign that read ‘Dennys’, just a few hundred meters down the road.
“Well… it’s a start.” He mumbled to himself. As if his words were a command his stomach rumbled, and he felt the slight jab of hunger in his stomach. When was the last time he ate? He couldn’t say himself, but he could definitely feel it had been a while since he had. Though the Dennys wouldn’t be his first choice on a regular occasion, it seems to be his only choice right now.
It was a small restaurant that clearly didn’t see much in the way of visitors, much less late night customers, so Otto wasn’t entirely surprised to see one of the staff sleeping soundly on a stool leaning on a wall to the left of the entrance. They were a young kid, no older than sixteen, so Otto couldn’t entirely blame them for sleeping on a late-night shift, when there’s nothing to do but wait for customers. That didn’t stop him from getting annoyed by the teens' laziness though, as they didn’t even stir upon his entrance despite the ringing of the front door's bell. On instinct he thought to push the stool from beneath them, giving them a real scare awake so they could get to serving him, but his returned better judgement pushed down that thought. Instead, he tucked his actuators as neatly behind his back as he could, so as to not scare the young teen, and placed a hand on their shoulder, gently shaking them awake.
“Excuse me?” Otto began quietly, though there was a note of slight annoyance to his tone.
“Ngk- wah?” The teen bumbled, confused from being awakened so suddenly
“Are you a waiter of some kind?” He asked plainly. “I would like to order coffee, but it seems you’re the only one here to ask so…” Otto trailed off, waiting for the teen to process his words and give him a response.
The teen blinked a few times, before they realised they worked for the restaurant they were in. “Oh right.” The teen squeaked, quickly getting up off their sleeping perch, forcing themselves awake by pure will. “I um- I’ll get that um- just take a seat wherever and I’ll get that coffee for you sir!” With that, the young teenager quickly scampered off to the kitchen, leaving Otto to his own devices
Otto rolled his eyes and made his way across the diner to the seat furthest from the entrance in the corner of the diner on the edge of a wide window that looked out at the front of the store. It was a small booth designed for a small family of four, but for Otto it was an excellent seat that would allow his arms to stretch while also giving him the opportunity to look outside, just in case the familiar face of Norman Osborn crossed his field of view, though his confidence of ever finding him again grew dimmer by the minute. While he waited for his coffee, he picked up the menu that stood upright in the napkin holder on his table and began to look through it. If he was going to be here, he may as well eat here too after all.
The teenager returned from the kitchen holding an empty cup and a pot of steaming coffee. They placed the cup in front of Otto and filled it with coffee. “Did you want to order anything else, sir?” The teen asked, placing the coffee pot and pulling out a notebook in the pocket of their uniform.
Otto told the teenager his order, some bacon eggs and toast. Nothing too big or special, but something to fill the tank that wouldn’t hurt what little he had in the wallet he had on him. After he was done ordering, the teenager nodded and picked the coffee pot back up. “Leave that here.” Otto instructed. “I’ve had a long night, and if I’m going to go further into it I’m going to need the whole pot.” He continued. The teen gave him a nervous smile, and quietly obliged, slinking away back into the kitchen to get Otto’s order underway.
Once the teenager was out of sight, Otto took a deep breath in then slowly let it out as he slumped back down into his seat. For the first time since he woke up, he let himself relax for a moment. As he did this, the light pitter patter of rain on the window next to him caught his attention, and he soon found himself staring out onto the open road beyond the small diner. ‘Where are you Norman?’ he thought to himself, as the pitter of rain began to come down harder and harder. It was during this time of silence that Otto let his mind wander his thoughts. He hadn’t had much time to think since he got zapped out then back into his universe, heck he hadn’t even had time to think outside of the unusual experience, not since the accident that took away any normal life he had before… and left him a puppet to the will of his own creation. For the first time since the accident with his experiment he could finally begin to process it all. To process what he’d done, to process what he had become… and to process his loss.
Rosalie Octavius, his Rosie, his wife, his whole world was dead… and the weight of guilt began to unfurl its load upon him, weighing down on him just how much it was his fault for her death. He had a duty to her, to protect her, and he couldn’t even do that when she needed him most. Because of his ignorance and pride, he couldn’t see the issues with his machine that even Peter Parker, a child, could see. And because of his failure he failed to honour her memory and became a monster who terrorized New York for his own selfish endeavor.
“Oh god…” He said quietly as his breath began to shake. He cupped his hands over his face and leaned onto his elbows as he slumped over the table. “Rosie, what have I done?” He looked to his side, just as one of his actuators came up to greet him, opening itself up to him as if it was staring at him, casting a faint crimson glow upon his face. “What have we done?” He asked himself in a hushed voice, looking towards his now wordless appendage in despair and hatred towards the things he was once so proud of. His thoughts were quickly diminished with the sounds of footsteps interrupting him. He quickly composed himself once again, sitting upright in his seat, as to look more together than his emotions were truly like at this moment.
“Thank you…” Otto squinted slightly to look at the name tag pinned to their uniform. “Kasey?”
“No problem, sir.” They said in a cheerful manner, though it clearly sounded forced as they smiled. “Is there anything else you would like for me to help you with?”
“No, that will be all.” Otto said, with a dismissive wave. Adjusting his plate so he could commence eating.
“Right…” The teen trailed off as their eyes trailed down to the actuator that still peaked above the table to look at Otto.
“It's rude to stare.” Otto said plainly, feeling annoyed at the continued presence of them still being there.
“Oh, sorry, it's just… What are those things?”
The actuator turned its focus towards the teen and rose higher to meet above their eyes, making the teen step back in shock, ready to throw down their flight or fight response at the sudden movement of the strange machinery.
“None of your business.” Otto said bluntly, cutting off a piece of his bacon. “You can leave now.”
Otto didn’t need to tell them twice, as the teens flight instinct kicked in, and already had them making their swift escape back to the comforts of the kitchen where they had come from, leaving Otto to eat his meal in complete peace once again. Well… almost complete peace.
Halfway through his meal, someone else entered the diner. Otto couldn’t get a good look of them from where he sat, but he definitely could hear them. First thing to catch Otto’s attention was their entrance, which was borderline brutal upon the door, as its opening and closing was so quick and fast it rattled the windows of the diner. Otto could faintly hear the teenager's voice following this loud entrance, no doubt drabbling off their staff standard ‘Welcome to Dennys, please take a seat’ procedure. The reply to the teen was what really started to get Otto attention though. Not only was it clearly a man's voice and was clearly in some type of exasperated distress as he talked, but it also sounded familiar, like he’d heard that voice somewhere before, and recently too. Otto couldn’t hear their whole conversation, but the more he heard the other man speak, the more and more it started to sound like someone he’s heard speak before, in fact it was a nearing on a perfect fit. But it couldn’t be who he was thinking of, right? Before Otto could contemplate this thought further, the voice of the man began to increase expeditiously. Otto came up halfway out of his seat to investigate the voice's origin, while still allowing escape to go back to minding his own business if his instinct was wrong.
At the entrance he saw a man, about five foot seven, with messy dirty blond hair, that looked matted and tangled from the rain. His back was turned so he couldn’t be sure, but that voice… it was too similar for it not to be, right?
“Otto Octavius! Tall, about yay high.” The man began to throw his hands about him in a manic manner, vaguely gesturing the height before continuing. “He has beautiful, dark, curly hair. Might be wearing a turtleneck and a dark pair of sunglasses!” The man continues, agitated with each moment he wasn’t getting an answer.
The teenager put a menu in front of his face, like it was his shield against the loud man's deranged ramblings. “L-like him?” They put up a shaky hand and slowly pointed over to where Otto stood.
At last, the man slowly turned around, confirming Otto’s wishful thinking in an instant. From his piercing blue eyes to his sharp, long features it was exactly the man wished was there. There before him was the face of his lost friend, the face of Norman Osborn.
The two stared at each other in minor shock for a moment before Otto broke the silence. A light smile creaked onto his face. “Norman?” Otto began, before suddenly being interrupted by the other.
“Otto!” Norman cheered, a clear breath of relief exiting with the sound of Otto’s name.
Without a second thought, Norman quickly came up to Otto and held him in a tight embrace. Not only did Norman look like a wet dog in this state, but he smelled like one too. Still, that didn’t deter Otto, as after a moment to process the surprise hug, Otto warmly returned it, with an added pat on Norman’s upper shoulder, in a small attempt to comfort the distressed man, as his own wave of relief rushed over him all at once. Otto pulled away slowly, holding Norman by the shoulders and gripping them slightly, which seemed to sadden Norman for a moment before Otto began to speak again.
“Where have you been, Norman, what happened to you?” Otto questioned, wasting no time in simple pleasantries when he’s been an anxiety filled mess over this man for most of the night.
“I up in a strange clearing in the woods.” He began, vaguely pointing his hands to the woods outside. “I went looking for you but ended up getting lost myself.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down to the ground for a moment, like getting lost was something of an embarrassment to him. “Then a kind man found me and offered a ride to the closest place with a bus line that goes through it.” A weak, nervous, smile began to form across his face and his gaze glided to the ground again. “I-I didn’t know whether or not to trust him- who knows what kind of people are out here…” He trailed off momentarily, before readjusting his focus again and looking back into Otto’s eyes “But I’m glad I did! Oh, I’m so glad I did, because now I’m here. Now I’m here with you, my old friend.”
Norman was clearly stressed and confused. If his frantic, and desperate words weren’t a dead giveaway of this fact, then his shaking hands were. Otto took Norman’s hands into his own, rubbing the back of them with his thumb. “I know, I’m glad you’re here too.” He smiled softly, though his eyebrows furrowed into a show of sadness at his friend’s condition. It was at this moment he noticed the shaken teenager that still hid behind the menu just behind Norman. They were staring at them, a look of uncertain confusion and weary disposition shown through what little of their face they dared to show. “Do you know what buses come through here?”