Out of Reach Part Two

After being unable to break into a new type of bank vault, Doctor Octopus has kidnapped the inventor, a young man named Brigham Fontaine. In doing so, he has learned that the youth was actually inspired by Otto Octavius and as such has kidnapped the young man and brought him back to his hideout at Pier 75. He demands that Brigham reveal how to break into the vault. Unfortunately, Fontaine doesn’t think there is any way to actually break into the vaults, thinking that he built them too well. Otto isn’t convinced and demands that the youth figure it out, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t. Thinking it over, Brigham explains that the vault operates on the opposite of Newton’s Third Law in that it is built with electro-magnets that compensate for anything trying to force the vault open. Otto suggests that it would take a great deal of power to counteract the magnets and the two being brainstorming on solutions. Bringham eventually concludes that a chemically based counterforce using liquified magnetic alloys would be able to counteract the magnets in the vault. The process of coming up with a solution excites Brigham. When he asks how they will get the materials needed Otto responds with a sinister grin.

Moments later, Doctor Octopus brings Brigham along with him as he breaks into an army research center. While Doctor Octopus deals with the guards, Brigham has the scientists bring him everything he needs. About an hour later, Spider-Man arrives on the scene to stop his old foe. When the web-slinger attempts to stop them from fleeing, Doctor Octopus tosses a magnetic device created by Brigham at the web-slinger. When he catches it, the device activates and causes the web-head to have to evade chunks of metal that begin flying at him. Once Spider-Man has deactivated the device, Doctor Octopus and Brigham are long gone. Spider-Man confirms that this is a magno-converter device and when the scientists tell him that it requires a lot of energy to operate for any period of time, he gets directions to the nearest power plant figuring that’s where he’ll find Doc Ock next.

By this time, Doctor Octopus has brought Brigham to another one of his hideouts in an abandoned water and power access tunnel. He tells the youth that they’ll be able to work here uninterrupted. By this point, Bringham figures that Doctor Octopus is going to kill him once he is done. When Otto asks why he would think that, Fontaine figures it’s because he has a genius that rivals that of the great Doctor Octopus. This makes Doctor Octopus start laughing over Bringham’s audacity. However the laughter angers the young man who kicks Otto in an effort to make him stop. This angers Otto who is about to strike back when the boy tells him how everyone used to laugh at him: his parents, the kids at school, even his teachers, all because he was different. This hits home for Otto Octavius who experienced the same thing while growing up.[1] Seeing the boy is in tears, Otto simply tells the boy to get to work and walks away.

Hours later, Brigham has finished working on the device — a harness — when Spider-Man arrives on the scene. Unfortunately, before he can get Bringham to safety, Doctor Octopus returns and attacks the web-slinger. As the two fight, Bringham Fontaine decides to make a run for it. Seeing this, both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus order the youth to stop. However, before either one of them can go after the boy a generator that was damaged in the battle explodes, causing parts of the tunnel to collapse. Trapped, Brigham wonders how he is going to get out until he remembers that he is still wearing his magnetic harness. While Spider-Man is freeing himself from the rubble, Brigham uses his device to punch his own opening to freedom, but the recoil from using the device knocks him out. Doctor Octopus then finds the boy and after a moments hesitation check to make sure he’s still alive. That’s when Spider-Man catches up, prompting Octavius to take the harness and flee, leaving Spider-Man with the boy. With the remaining tunnel starting to collapse, Spider-Man has no choice but to flee the opposite way with Fontaine. Once they are out of danger, Brigham asks what happened to Doctor Octopus, but Spider-Man tells the boy not to worry about it and swings away as authorities arrive on the scene.

Later, Peter Parker has dinner with Mary Jane, but he can’t get his mind off the fact that Doctor Octopus got away, or how there was something wrong with Brigham, but he can’t quite put his finger on what it could be. At that same moment, back at his hideout at Pier 75, Doctor Octopus answers a knock on his hideout’s door and is surprised that Bringham Fontaine has come back.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, Mary Jane Watson, Brigham Fontaine

Continuity Notes

1. For more on the abuse that Otto Octavius endured as a child check out Spider-Man Unlimited #2, 18, or Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #9, take your pick.