CH: 148 - Killing Doctor Octopus
{Chapter: 148 - Killing Doctor Octopus}
The smoke cleared slowly, curling into ghostly wisps in the air as the sound of metal scraping concrete faded. A sudden gust of wind swept the battlefield. Then—a flash of green light spiraled around Aiden's body like ribbons of drake green light intertwining. As his battle suit materialized across his frame, piece by piece: sleek green armor with glowing red accents across the chest.
He stood tall now—calm, composed, dangerous. Almost inhuman.
Across from him stood the infamous Otto Octavius—Doctor Octopus—his four mechanical appendages twitching in agitation, their pincers clamping in rhythmic frustration. The scientist's signature green trench coat was torn, revealing the armored harness welded into his spine. His thick goggles reflected Aiden's armored form.
Octavius took a step back. "What… What are you?" His voice trembled—not in fear, but in awe.
Aiden rolled his neck slowly, the cracking of his bones echoing unnaturally loud. "Who am I? If you're still breathing when this is over…" A green slit of light narrowing like a hawk's eye. "…you'll figure it out."
Then he was gone—just a flicker in the air.
Before Doctor Octopus could brace himself, Aiden surged forward like a meteor. Two of Otto's metal limbs shot out, seeking to skewer him mid-charge.
CLANG!
But Aiden didn't dodge.
He caught both tentacles mid-swing, the impact sending tremors through the asphalt beneath them. Otto's eyes widened in disbelief—no one ever just caught his arms. Not even Spider-Man.
"You're fast," Otto snarled. "But you're not invincible."
Aiden's voice was low and calm, almost cruelly collected. "Neither are you."
His palms ignited with fire—blue-hot, living flames that danced with unnatural grace. Within seconds, the flames had spread across the captured tentacles, warping metal and bubbling circuits with a hiss of agony. The black-hot steel screamed as it twisted under the heat.
"Impossible!" Doctor Octopus yanked back, trying to retract his limbs, but they remained frozen in Aiden's iron grip. "These arms can crush concrete!"
Aiden tightened his grip. "Then they'll make good scrap."
Otto grunted in frustration and launched the other two tentacles from behind to sweep Aiden off his feet—but Aiden didn't even flinch. He let the strikes land, using the momentum to pivot and slam Doctor Octopus into the ground with bone-jarring force.
The villain coughed and rolled over, disoriented. He's letting me hit him? Just to make a point?!
Aiden wasn't done. With the two burning limbs now slag, he let go and spread his arms. The winds around him howled suddenly as if the wind itself recognized his dominance. Flames shot up once more, and the wind wrapped around his body like a divine cloak.
He whispered a word in an ancient tongue. The fire roared.
Within seconds, the remaining tentacles were ablaze. Otto shrieked and desperately activated the emergency detachment. Two of his limbs glowed a toxic green before disassembling with a hiss, detaching from his harness. Sparks flew, and hydraulic fluid sizzled against the scorched pavement.
Smoke rising from his back, Otto began to retreat in desperation, stumbling like a wounded animal. His pride and calculations were gone—now he just wanted to survive.
The crowd, having taken cover nearby, began to peek out from behind broken cars and building corners.
"Did he just… take down Doctor Octopus?"
"Yo, what's his name?"
"Bro, that was insane! He just melted those arms like they were plastic!"
Aiden turned slightly, catching the voices but not acknowledging them. His mask dimmed. "You think I'll just let him run?"
His tone was casual—too casual for someone who had just incinerated cutting-edge tech like it was made of paper.
Doctor Octopus limped away, pushing through smoke and debris, but before he could vanish into the alley, the ground beneath him erupted. A vault-shaped hard light barrier, dark green materialized around him. Otto screamed as he bounced back, sealed inside what looked like a bank locker container.
"No… No!" He pounded against the walls with his fists. "What is this?!"
Aiden raised his hand and whispered, "Come."
The vault floated through the air like it weighed nothing, crashing to the ground with the thunder of a falling stone. The impact left a shallow crater in the broken concrete.
Inside, Doctor Octopus seethed, panting, looking for any opening.
The vault door began to creak open.
"Caution!" someone in the crowd screamed.
Doctor Octopus emerged like a beast on instinct, using what remained of his strength to surge forward with the remnants of his mechanical limbs.
Aiden didn't blink.
Tang!
Two long knives—twin Tang blades—manifested in his hands like extensions of his reality ring. Sleek, curved, sharp enough to sing through air. In one fluid motion, he slashed downward.
SHING!
The first tentacle clattered to the floor. Then the next.
With precise, brutal elegance, Aiden carved through the remaining limbs like a chef slicing vegetables. Sparks flew. Steel shrieked. In seconds, Otto stood disarmed, his body trembling from the energy draining out of his exo-harness.
The crackling hum of energy faded as the final pulse within the safe dissappeared.
Then— BOOM!
Without warning, a searing blast of radiant energy erupted, incandescent like a laser beam. It surged forward with wild ferocity, scorching through the remains of the damaged laboratory. Dust, glass, and twisted steel scattered in its wake. The sheer force of the beam carved trenches into the walls and ruptured the floor tiles beneath.
But Aiden didn't flinch.
He didn't dodge.
He walked.
The jagged knife in his left hand shimmered, morphing with his will—its edge folding in on itself, transforming into a gleaming, curved dark green shield made of hard light, It hissed against the beam like ice to fire.
Step by step, he advanced—slow, deliberate, terrifying.
From across the wreckage, Doctor Otto Octavius, better known to the terrified populace as Doctor Octopus, bared his teeth in a panic. Sweat streaked down his forehead, dripping onto the chest plate of his combat harness. His mechanical limbs flailed erratically, two of them bracing the ground as if he could push the city away.
"Go to hell, go to hell, DIE!"
He howled like a madman, forcing every ounce of energy into the blaster rig on his belt. The light beam thickened, flickering at its edges. The smell of melting steel and ozone filled the air.
But it wasn't enough.
Not against him.
Aiden moved through the energy like a living blade through fog.
His eyes were locked onto Otto's.
Cold.
Merciless.
Unshakeable.
"Do you know what the worst part is, Octavius?" Aiden's voice was like stone dragged across metal—low, grinding, absolute. "You're not even the worst of them. But you're loud… messy… and your ego blinds you."
Then came the sound.
SHING!
The shield folded away.
A twin pair of dark green daggers back morphed into Aiden's hands.
He lunged.
One clean swing—and a pair of metal tentacles were severed in a spray of sparks. A second swing and the central power core on Otto's back erupted, causing a miniature explosion that hurled debris everywhere and dug a small crater beneath him.
Otto screamed—high-pitched, pitiful.
Then silence.
Aiden stood over him, calm as a grave.
"In your next life," Aiden whispered, "don't f*** people in front of me."
His blades crossed.
Then—fwssshk.
Doctor Octopus's head hit the ground, bounced once, and rolled to a stop beside his own smoldering metal limbs.
Dead silence.
An awful, terrifying stillness spread across the battlefield like a contagion. People froze—eyes wide, mouths agape. The scene was surreal: A headless supervillain corpse twitching next to an unconscious Spider-Man… and the man who'd just done it standing tall, without a scratch on him.
Aiden looked down at his suit.
Not a single drop of blood.
Perfect.
He exhaled slowly, then turned away. "Did you finish your coffee?" he asked over his shoulder.
From across the scorched plaza, Pepper Potts stood near the shattered entrance of a destroyed cafe, her face pale, her hands shaking ever so slightly.
She hadn't drunk the coffee at all, but at that moment, she just… nodded.
Aiden approached, slipping one arm gently around her waist. "Let's get out of here."
With a whisper of wind, together they rose into the sky, leaving behind only the smell of burning and scorched flesh.
Below them lay Doctor Octopus's broken body, and the bloodied—but still breathing—form of Spider-Kid.
---
For several long seconds, the crowd that had gathered said nothing.
Then someone finally murmured: "Did anyone else… see that? He just—killed him. One swing. Head gone."
Another voice, trembling but awestruck: "It was like… watching a horror movie and a kung fu flick at the same time."
"This guy… he saved Spider-Man," said an older woman, clutching her grandson's hand. "That monster nearly killed him."
"And he didn't run. He walked through the damn beam! What kind of tech was that?"
"Maybe it wasn't tech…"
"Maybe it was magic…"
"He's not a regular hero," someone else said.
"He's something different."
They didn't know his name.
But they would remember him.
---
Back in the sky, aboard Aiden's cloaked in enegry toward the island base, silence lingered between him and Pepper.
Then Aiden broke it: "Were you frightened?"
Pepper hesitated, staring out the window.
"…A little bit," she admitted.
"Why?" he asked, glancing sideways. "You knew he was a super criminal. You knew I wouldn't hurt you."
"I know," she replied, her voice small. "I know you wouldn't… but it's just— I don't think I've ever seen someone get beheaded before my eyes. I've seen chaos. I've been near explosions. I've dealt with StarkTech malfunctions. And his enemies ringing my home bell. But what you did…"
She turned toward him, face calm but eyes still recovering.
"It was surgical. And brutal. Like it wasn't your first time."
Aiden chuckled softly. "It wasn't."
That should've made her more uneasy. But for some reason, it didn't. Maybe because she saw something else behind his eyes: not bloodlust… but purpose.
"Well," Pepper said, trying to breathe, "I am glad you didn't let him take Spider-Man. Or me."
Aiden looked forward again, his tone unreadable.
"Killing Doctor Octopus was nothing. Just cleanup. He didn't have any true power—just machinery and a twisted sense of genius. I didn't do it to be a hero, Pepper. I did it because people like him think the world's their chessboard. And today, I knocked the king off the damn table."
He grinned.
"Besides," he added, "you're the only one whose opinion I care about."
That made her smile.
Just a little.
---
Later, as they returned to the island and Aiden debriefed with Blink—teleporter, strategist, quiet friend—Pepper excused herself, retreating to her room, finally letting the reality of what happened sink in.
*****
You can support me by joining my Patreon and get upto 60 chapters in advance.
patreon.com/Eden_Translation