The Octopus

I looked out at the city, the countdown still ticking in the corner of my vision. It was coming to an end.

Nobody knew. Not the woman juggling three iced coffees. Not the guy live-streaming his lunch. 

They were all dancing on the edge of a cliff, smiling like the drop didn't exist. 

They were all perfectly happy, almost like a mirror held before my face, laughing at me. I pity them, though, they live in a world where every second could be the second that they die against a cosmic entity or just a man with the power of a million exploding suns, plagued by the darkness within him. Their lives didn't matter, because they were background characters no one gave a fuck about. 

Now, there was a choice for me: to protect them or not.

I can protect them, there's nothing for me to lose. I don't have a secret identity, I don't have a family, and I can't even die. 

The people here were just as same as the humans in my world. They're just as alive. I can't treat them as if they're fictional characters.

I flexed my fingers as the countdown got closer to half a minute. 

I don't know how strong this... Octopus physique is. But I just hope that it'll be enough. It was a platinum-tier skill, after all, I have high expectations. 

Who knew that I'd be looking like Butcher with the super cancer? 

Fifteen seconds.

Ten seconds.

Seven seconds.

And five seconds.

A blue beam burst into the sky, tearing through it. It opened up a portal, one that connects the Chitauri ship to our world. 

[Event Triggered: Battle Of New York!]

[Main Quest Updated! 

Survive the invasion!

Rewards - 1250 XP, Platinum-Tier Item/Skill/Ability/Familiar!

Optional Objective: Save civilians 0/5

Rewards - Title 'Hero', increased reputation with the Avengers.]

I sighed, feeling my nerves getting tense, even though I don't really have them.

I looked at the Save/Load option in the menu. I might screw up, so just to be safe.

Saving...

Saved!

BOOM

"Okay, okay, I'll get to the aliens now," I thought as I began moving.

Above me, the portal widened—stretching like torn muscle—vomiting out drop ships and gliders like pus from a ruptured wound. Fucking gliders again. Always with the gliders. And I can't even reach them yet.

They were here. And they brought numbers.

BOOM.

A car exploded ten feet to my left, one of its doors spinning off like a decapitated limb. It nicked my cheek—hot metal, sizzling skin—and then it healed.

I yanked the mask tighter and sprinted forward. The extra limbs exploded from my back mid-run—eight jet-black tentacles, flexing and twitching like they were eager for blood. They punched into the pavement, slingshotting me forward.

I adjusted my path, making sure I didn't hit the ground with my brain. And then with a nice roll, I landed.

"Optional Objective: Save civilians 0/5."

Fine.

BOOM

Another explosion lit up the street. Could've been a glider bomb. Could've been a railgun round. A hood from a scorched sedan flipped past me. Hope someone's got full coverage.

I snatched a kid out of the path of a crashing speeder, barely avoiding the explosion that followed.

A woman frozen in shock—I wrapped a tentacle around her waist and flung her into an open building, not gently, but alive. Two. A man caught under debris—ripped out. Three.

An alert pinged in the corner of my vision:

[Civilians Saved: 3/5]

A Chitauri warrior landed in front of me with a roar, a blaster aimed straight at my chest.

I moved on instinct.

One tentacle snapped the weapon from his hand. Another wrapped around his throat and slammed him through a wall like he was made of paper. I didn't stop to check if he got back up. The city was a war zone now—lives were seconds from ending.

I spotted a mother cradling her child near a flipped firetruck. Four. Five.

[Optional Objective Complete! Title Unlocked: 'Hero', Reputation with Avengers: Neutral → Friendly]

Great. That's wonderful.

Before I could even enjoy the tiny dopamine rush of a completed side quest, my HUD flared red.

[Hostile Lock Detected]

[Dodge: Successful | +10 XP]

I twisted sideways just in time to let another plasma bolt sear past. It nailed a parking meter behind me, which exploded like it was filled with napalm. Probably was, knowing how weird Earth tech gets when the multiverse leaks.

[10/10 XP » 5/25 XP]

[LEVEL UP!]

From above, one of the Chitauri gliders dove at me, twin cannons already lighting up. I leaped, tentacles slamming into the ground behind me and launching me straight into the air. I twisted mid-flight, wrapped a limb around the glider's edge, and ripped.

It spun out. The pilot screamed. I landed on the chassis, slammed my fist through the engine core, and jumped off as it exploded behind me.

[Enemy Eliminated | +25 XP]

[25/25 XP » 5/40 XP]

[LEVEL UP!]

I landed hard, rolled once, and came up into a sprint.

It is easy to level up quickly when you're at lower levels, huh?

[Threat Detected: Chitauri Heavy-Class Unit][Danger Level: High][Recommended Action: Evade]

Finally. Some decent advice.

I bolted down a side alley just as the thing turned the corner. Seven feet of armor, plasma cannons rotating, glowing chest like a reactor waiting to blow. One look told me I wasn't cracking that open today.

So I didn't try.

My arms lashed the walls and flung me up to the second floor of a blown-out office. Dust and glass everywhere, but at least it gave me a view. The Enforcer stomped past below, scanning. It didn't spot me.

Good.

Didn't need to win. Just needed to survive.

[+10 XP – Tactical Evasion][15/40 XP]

Another glider screamed by, spraying plasma down the avenue like a lawn sprinkler from hell. I dropped flat as the beam cut the air just above me, shattered glass raining like shrapnel.

"Yep. Definitely not built for tanking."

I darted to the next ledge, using the tentacles to whip-sling my way across rooftops. The buildings creaked under the strain, but they held. Barely.

Below, chaos. Fire. Screams. Bodies.

Every second counted.

Of course.

I pivoted mid-air, dropped off a ledge, and broke my fall with a sharp tentacle snap into a nearby billboard. Swung down behind a burning taxi.

A kid. Maybe eight. Crying, crawling out from under a wrecked bike stand.

Too exposed.

I dashed forward, threw an arm around him, and launched both of us behind a concrete barrier just as a bolt melted the air where he'd been.

[Civilian Saved: 6][+25 XP][LEVEL UP!]

I landed safely, the kid still with me. 

"Where are your parents?" I asked him. 

"Wa- waaaaaaaaaaaah!" he began crying, the snot flowing down like a bloody waterfall. 

"Shit," I muttered as I grabbed him, sprinting. I jumped over a car, using the arms to boost myself up. 

I scanned the streets, any sign of a safe shelter? 

I looked around till I found it. A library. 

Got it.

I began sprinting at max speed now, the kid barely being a problem as a result of my increased strength. 

The extra arms handled balance, propulsion, and minor course corrections—hell, they even deflected incoming debris without me needing to think. This body was doing all the work. I was just a consciousness hitching a ride inside a monster built for crowd control and precision murder.

The library loomed ahead, battered but intact. The stone facade scorched. Glass blown out. But the bones were good, and the walls were thick. A shelter, for now.

I barreled through the front steps and shoulder-checked the doors open. The kid clung tighter, his howling finally slowing, probably stunned by the sheer ridiculousness of a human missile crashing through a building like it was made of drywall.

Inside: survivors.

Not many. Maybe a dozen. Huddled between stacks, some bleeding, some praying, some just staring at the ceiling like that was going to save them.

They all looked at me like I was the monster.

Understandable.

The mask. The black limbs writhing behind me. The fact that I had just exploded into their little sanctuary like a demon with parenting skills.

"Found this guy, keep him safe with you guys," I told them.

A woman, her mid-forties, a librarian, probably, ran forward and scooped the kid out of my arms. She nodded at me, terrified, but grateful.

"We-"

I couldn't afford to waste the time. I bolted off, exiting the library like an off-brand Doctor Octopus, though technically, I'm the on-brand octopus.

They were climbing the buildings, and thankfully, so can I. 

I stretched one of my arms towards the building and used my suckers to securely attach myself to its surface.

I scuttled up the wall, the arms gripping steel and stone like they'd been born for it, which, considering the "Platinum-tier" nonsense, they probably had.

The city's skyline was on fire. Helicopters ducked and weaved, trying to avoid gliders that zipped.

between them like metallic wasps. News choppers were getting shot down left and right—their pilots either brave or stupid enough to film humanity's potential extinction event for the evening broadcast.

I reached the rooftop and paused, scanning the chaos below. 

A shadow passed overhead—one of the massive Chitauri Leviathans, those flying whale-things that looked like they'd been designed by H.R. Giger during a particularly bad acid trip. Its armor plating gleamed as it disgorged more troops onto the street below.

[New Objective: Disrupt Chitauri Supply Lines]

[Reward: 500 XP, Skill Enhancement]

"Oh, come on," I muttered. "I'm not taking on that thing."

But the system wasn't asking me to kill it. Just disrupt. I could work with that.

I launched myself across the gap between buildings, whipping out to grab onto fire escapes and window ledges. It made traversal stupidly easy—I was basically a human spider.

Below, a squad of Chitauri warriors had cornered a group of civilians near a subway entrance. 

I dropped like a stone. I landed in the middle of the squad with a wet thud that probably sounded more intimidating than it actually was.

The first warrior turned, raising his weapon. I was already moving.

Two tentacles wrapped around his arms and twisted until something snapped. Another limb grabbed his helmet and introduced it to the pavement at high velocity. The remaining warriors opened fire.

I rolled, using the arms to launch myself sideways as plasma bolts seared the air where I'd been standing. One grazed my shoulder—the wound closed instantly.

The second warrior got too close. I grabbed him with four arms at once and played tug-of-war with his limbs. He lost. Messily.

[Enemy Eliminated x2 | +50 XP]

[50/40 XP » 10/65 XP]

[LEVEL UP!]

The third one was smarter, keeping his distance, but being smart didn't help when I could reach him from twenty feet away. An arm snapped out like a whip, wrapped around his ankle, and yanked him off his feet. His head met the concrete with a satisfying crack.

[Enemy Eliminated | +25 XP]

[35/65 XP]

The civilians—a family of four—stared at me with a mixture of terror and gratitude. The father stepped forward, started to say something, but I was already moving.

"Subway tunnels," I called back. "Stay underground until this is over."

They nodded and disappeared into the station entrance.

[Civilians Saved: 10]

[+50 XP]

[20/90 XP]

[LEVEL UP!]

[New Skill Unlocked: Combat Reflexes] [Passive: +15% dodge chance, +10% counter-attack damage]

The skill integrated immediately, and I felt the difference—my awareness sharpened, the world seemed to slow just a fraction. Every movement, every threat, became clearer.

Just in time.

A plasma bolt from above. I twisted without thinking, the beam missing by inches. Another Chitauri glider, diving straight at me.

This time, I didn't dodge.

I planted my feet and reached up with all eight arms. The glider hit my grip like a net, its momentum carrying us both upward. The pilot struggled, trying to regain control, but I was already wrapping around the vehicle's core systems.

One sharp twist, and something sparked and died.

We started falling, the sudden loss of altitude making me nauseous for a moment.

I jumped off at the last second, the arms cushioning my landing as the glider crashed into a parked car below. The explosion lit up the street like a miniature sun.

[Enemy Eliminated | +35 XP]

[Vehicle Destroyed | +15 XP]

[70/90 XP]

Fuck, this is hard.

I plunged my arms into the ground, lifted off a huge chunk, and threw it at the nearby group of Chitauri.

PEW

I looked at my chest, a huge hole where my heart was supposed to be. But then, it healed back in a second. I looked at the alien who shot it. He was getting away on a glider, lucky bastard.

I launched myself upward, tentacles finding purchase on a fire escape, then a window ledge, then the side of a building. The glider was maybe fifty feet up, banking left toward the main portal. The pilot kept looking back, probably wondering why the human pancake wasn't staying dead.

I reached the rooftop and kept climbing. Twenty stories. Thirty. The city spread out below like a war-torn map, smoke rising from a dozen different fires.

The glider was still climbing, but I was faster.

When I got close enough, I didn't hesitate. One tentacle lashed out, wrapping around the glider's left wing. The pilot's eyes went wide behind his helmet as I used the momentum to swing myself up and land on the vehicle's back.

I drove my fist through the control panel. Sparks flew. The glider started spinning, its anti-grav systems failing. The pilot tried to turn and shoot me, but I was already moving.

Two tentacles wrapped around his throat. Two more grabbed his arms. The remaining four braced against the glider's frame as we spiraled toward the ground.

At the last second, I jumped.

The glider hit a news van and exploded in a ball of green fire. I landed hard on the sidewalk, rolled once, and came up in a crouch.

[Enemy Eliminated | +35 XP]

[Aerial Takedown Bonus | +10 XP]

[90/90 XP]

[LEVEL UP!]

[New Ability Unlocked: Tentacle Slam]

[Active: Devastating ground attack, 3-meter radius, 30-second cooldown]