Tohka Yatogami's: Marvel Journey

"Miss, there's a strong energy reaction ahead."

As Tohka advanced, Jarvis's voice sounded again. Actually, even without him saying anything, Tohka could feel a huge suction force. At that moment, her armor began to destabilize.

"I know, looks like I can't use you anymore." The strength of this armor had its limits, so Tohka retracted it. But soon after, she looked downward—without needing Nick Fury to tell her, she could already sense the massive energy below.

She was curious about what was going on down there: "Heh... let's see who's stirring up this nonsense."

Letting out a cold laugh, Tohka didn't hesitate any longer. Gathering all her strength, she dove downward and entered a massive pipe. Fortunately, whoever picked the location had some sense—at least they didn't choose a sewer line. Tohka didn't smell any of that disgusting stench. If she had, she might've seriously considered turning back.

Following her instincts forward, the tunnel around her grew darker and darker. But even without any lighting, Tohka wouldn't get lost—because at the end of the tunnel, she could clearly see a bright flame. She knew that must be her destination.

"What is this..."

Upon entering, Tohka was stunned by the sight before her. Inside this sewer tunnel, a massive sphere of fire was burning slowly. She could feel the immense energy radiating from it, a force even stronger than Tony's reactor. But because of that, the thing was clearly in a state of unstable eruption.

"I think I've seen this somewhere before."

Staring blankly at the situation in front of her, Tohka suddenly recalled the first Spider-Man movie she'd seen. There had been a villain in it who caused a similar incident.

But while she was spacing out, from the corner of the room, another figure slowly appeared. He looked human—but several massive tentacles extended from his back. Yet these mechanical tentacles didn't look out of place at all—instead, they fit his body perfectly.

This person then quietly came up behind Tohka, and a tentacle suddenly shot out, grabbing the unprepared Tohka and slamming her hard against the wall.

"Ugh."

Attacked without warning, Tohka couldn't react in time. She felt an immense force pressing her against the wall, smashing a huge dent into it. Fortunately, thanks to her spirit armor, such a simple attack didn't hurt her.

"I know you. You're Doctor Otto."

At that moment, Tohka finally got a good look at the person in front of her. Sure enough, it was Doctor Octopus—the exact person she had just thought of. There was no mistaking those iconic tentacles.

"Well, looks like this young lady still remembers me."

Smirking coldly at Tohka, whom he now held in his grasp, Doc Ock wasn't in any rush to finish her off. In his mind, no one could escape his claws once caught.

Besides, his main focus was the energy core in front of him—he had no interest in anyone else. In fact, he figured his great experiment deserved a witness:

"So it's just you who came? Tch, I thought Spider-Man would show up. Never expected it'd be you—Miss Stark. Well, perfect. You can witness this—my great experiment."

"Wait, so that whole bunch of Venoms outside—that was you?"

Feeling the force of Doctor Octopus's grip, Tohka didn't rush to break free. Since he was so confident, she didn't mind playing along for a bit.

"That's right, and I should thank you, Miss. If you hadn't been careless, and didn't bother to come back and check, I never would've been able to pick up that original symbiote."

Okay, hearing that made Tohka want to slap herself.

This was such a mess.

She didn't expect this guy had deployed an army of Venoms to stall the other superheroes.

And worse, he had staged the whole battle near the concert venue.

That meant even Iron Man couldn't use any high-powered weapons.

"But I thought you were a physicist? That thing's a biology-based entity—how did you manage this?"

Okay, Tohka couldn't help but complain here. The difference between disciplines was huge. But in the Marvel world, both heroes and villains were all geniuses, often multitasking like crazy.

"Hmph, that's none of your concern. Watch carefully. This will be the greatest invention of the century—

Even Tony Stark's arc reactor can't compare."

Hearing Tohka's jab, Doc Ock sneered proudly.

Then he grabbed Tohka with one hand, used two tentacles to brace himself in the air, and used the last free hand to rapidly operate the device in front of him. Clearly, he was preparing to officially activate his machine.

Then, the previously stable fireball suddenly turned violent. A massive wave of energy surged outward, followed by an intense suction force.

Doc Ock quickly used two of his tentacles to anchor himself to the floor, preventing himself from being pulled in.

"So, this is your goal? That thing looks like it's going out of control."

Even while being held, Tohka calmly stared at him.

She might not understand the science, but even she could tell something was going wrong.

"No, that's impossible!"

Sure enough, Doc Ock was becoming unhinged—no, deranged.

Upon hearing Tohka's comment, he shook his head frantically.

Then redirected his tentacles back to the control panel, muttering:

"No, no, it's this one… and this one... and this too. My formula is perfect—it can't be wrong!"

As Doc Ock continued to operate the device, the suction around them grew even stronger—

Even the metal panels in the ducts were being ripped off.

Two of his tentacles stabbed into the floor with such force they cracked it open.

"Cut it out. You've already failed. Keep going like this, and not just you—the entire city of New York is going down with you."

At that moment, the restrained Tohka suddenly spoke up—