11700/An Octopus in need

An Octopus in need
Date of Scene:	30 June 2020
Location:	Bellevue Hospital - Lower Manhattan
Synopsis:	Doctor Octopus, on the run from Foot soldiers after an attack, gets emergency treatment from an unlikely source, and ends up pointing Beast in the right direction to learn about the shadowy war going on in New York
Cast of Characters:	Sandra Billings, Doctor Octopus, Shredder, Beast

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Sandra Billings has posed:
It's been a long, long day. Sandy is coming off her shift at the ER with a tired look on her face. She has changed out of her blood soaked scrubs into a pair of jeans and a simple button down white shirt under a black windbreaker. As the doors to the employee exit swishes open, she is tapping away at her phone.

<< Hey Hank! I'd love to meet you for lunch tomorrow. <3 See you later, Blue. >>

After she sends it, she fishes her hand into her pocket to look for her bus pass to make sure it's there. She's missed her bus twice this week due to being forgetful. As she takes in a deep breath of the crisp New York evening air, she listens to the sounds of her city around her. The honking of cars in the distance, the flickers of lights of billboards a few blocks away, the hum of subways beneath her feet.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
And then, the alleyway next to her explodes.

Or rather, a number of extremely heavy objects are flung out into the street like they were nothing, including a dumpster, and *CRASH* against a wall on the other side of the street. Moments later, two metallic tentacles snake out of it, almost like supporting pillars. Then the man those tentacles are attached to comes out into the open, suspended in midair by those two, followed by two more attached to the sides of the alleyway.

Sandra can easily tell the man is in a bad way... and bleeding from multiple lacerations and cuts. His brown overcoat is soaked in blood, and he's heading right for the hospital... and diverts slightly when he spots Sandra.

Sandra may or may not recognize him as Doctor Octopus, a man who has been on the news quite a bit over the last few months having been involved in some serious gang warfare.

Sandra Billings has posed:
At the sound of the dumpster colliding across the street, Sandy gives a visible flinch as she throws her hands up to cover her in instinct. Her eyes track towards the dumpster, then to the alley that she stands before as the sight of the super villain comes pouring out like a metal squid.

".. Oh shit."

As she takes a few quick steps back, she holds her hands out in front of her, eyes wide like saucers. She notices his injuries, but at the moment she is more curious as to who gave them to him. Is something going to come out of the alley?

"Uh.. D.. don't hurt me please..." He can't anyways, but she isn't going to tell him that.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
There's a pained groan as the man 'walks' up to Sandra, the tentacles supporting his weight at the waist as he dips towards her, "Do as I say, and I won't need to hurt you, girl." From this range, Sandra can easily see her reflection in the safety goggles he wears. Then, one tentacle moves to wrap around her waist, effortlessly picking her up even as the others move to 'walk' up the side of the hospital.

"Find me a nice empty room inside here. You're going to patch me up." Doctor Octopus sneers as he races along the wall, metal straining under the weight.

Sandra Billings has posed:
There is a loud yelp as Sandy is snagged about the waist and hefted upwards into the air. As she dangles in mid-air, she clutches at her face, breathing heavily at the rush of the world leaving her from down below. "T-Th.. fifth floor, second window.. th--that is my office."

Swallowing tightly, she glances downwards to the ground below, then back upwards to the window that they are approaching. Taking in a deep breath, she bites on her bottom lip.

"What happened to you?"

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Otto wastes no time in moving towards the window described, using his actual hands to open the window, before easing himself and Sandra herself into the room... then using a tentacle to close the window again.

"Yet another fight with the cretins who pretend they own this city. I've been fighting them for months, but I was ambushed on the way to one of my labs." Otto grunts, putting Sandra down. "I require medical aid. Give it to me, and I won't out your abilities to the staff here." Otto grunts as he sits down in a chair.

Shredder has posed:
    Karai, Shredder's own granddaughter, appears in the alley after they return inside. Cool and collected, she stops and crouches, wiping a finger in a drop of blood. "He's here," she says, looking up at the hospital. "Needs medical attention I imagine."
    Another ninja drops next to her. "Should we go up after him?" he asks.
    "No, It would require too much stealth and too much time to find him. Send the mousers." A few minutes later, a car pulls up to the alley, splashing in a wet pothole before coming to a stop. A japanese man exits, and opens the trunk. A large silver case hisses open, revealing several of the small but deadly robots. A button is pressed on the interior of the case, and at once, green lights illuminate the interior of the trunk as the mousers come to life.

Sandra Billings has posed:
"I could crush your windpipe before you even open your mouth to say a single word." Sandy says once she is put down. "Maybe the best way of getting help from someone isn't to half-ass threaten them. I'm not going to take shit from a d-lister. Not after a sixteen hour shift of patching kids up because they want to shoot each other over the color of what jacket they wear on the street. Sit your ass down on the bed there." She points with her finger. "Keep your thingies to yourself. Take your shirt off. Let me get a look at what's wrong."

There is a loud sigh from the normally upbeat and exciteable ER Nurse. "I'm gonna need another coffee. Geezus Christ, I can't have one fucking normnal day." She trots over to the door and locks it, then grabs her lapcoat off the back of it to slide it on . She's not getting blood on her new shirt after all. Heading to the cabinet, she opens it up to take out a pair of gloves, tugging them on. From there, she takes out a large box filled with cleaning supplies, gauze, and the such.

"Okay, so, you got jumped. What happened?"

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"Interesting. I don't recognize you, so I assume you have no interest in being outed to the public. I have numerous cuts from shurikens along my arms and two on my legs. The cretins are fond of using old tactics." Otto grunts as he sits on the bed. He's wearing no shirt underneath that overcoat, so it's easy to simply shrug it off... and for Sandra to see the apparatus/harness that is the central control hub for Otto's tentacles, surrounding his lower chest.

"They're likely chasing me down, thinking that because I'm wounded I'll be easy to track, but these people are only good at information manipulation. They have no mind for strategy."

The cuts and lacerations are easy to see. There are three on his right arm, two on his left. They're fairly deep and very definitely could be from actual shurikens from their patterns. The two at his right leg are at his foreleg.

Sandra Billings has posed:
"By all means, go ahead and tell the public that the fat girl you kidnapped was 'heavy'. I'm sure that will stick." Sandy says as she makes her way back over towards him. "You know those things in your body is most likely going to kill you. Your blood stream is going to be filled with pollutants caused by .. you know what? I don't even care."

"You got attacked by a blender or something? Geezus, Otto, and yes, I know alll about you. I read your stuff in college. If you weren't a weirdo who picks fights with kids in spandex, I'd probably be all over the moon with you." Once she surveys the damage, she lets out a sigh. "Okay, I gotta stitch you up. When was the last time you got a tetanus shot?" Taking her phone out of her pocket as it vibrates, she holds up a finger to him. "Hang tight, gotta let my husband know I'm working overtime, /again/. I'm gonna miss my bus, you know that right? Soon as I'm done with you, I want at least ten bucks so I can get a cab and maybe a 'thank you'. "

<< Hey Hank. Just got kidnapped by Doc Ock. Seriously. My day sucks. I'm in my office patching him up. Going to be late. Don't wait up. :) >>

She literally put a :) at the end of her text. Flipping the phone on to the counter, she kneels in front of him so that she can take some antiseptic wipes and start applying them to the worst of the cuts. "Well, you're in luck. If they break in here, they are gonna get hit by a tank. I'm invincible and I can throw a semi over my shoulder. I just want to be left alone and do my job. That's why I don't run around with a cape on."

Shredder has posed:
    The mousers come to life, unfolding as they exit their case, hopping on their two legs onto the ground with the single green rectangular light shining in front of them.

    "Make sure they are coordinated, when you find him, they all attack at once. He only has so many tentacles. They are re-inforced, it will likely take a few bites to get through those blasted things." The controller nods, and takes the headset and places it over his eyes as he sits back down in the car. The mousers burst into action, racing to the air conditioner. They tear through the metal cowling, and begin to file in through the whole into the ventilation ductwork.

Beast has posed:
Knowing that Sandy's supposed to get off of work around this time and wanting to surprise her, Hank McCoy has gotten himself dressed rather nicely and picked up a potted flowering plant to give as a gift. The blue mutant strolls down the street in the direction of the hospital, hoping to catch his new friend before she gets too far from the building.

Then the scent of blood and trash hit his superhuman nasal receptors. The furry blue fellow pauses, looking further up to take in the dumpster and detritus that had been tossed, the smell of blood in the air, the people on the street looking confused or scared.

Something's gone terribly wrong here and Beast is going to find out what it is! The superhero moves quickly, about to start asking question of the bystanders when his phone vibrates. He looks at it, frowns, then drops it in his pocket before he sprints towards the banks of windows on the side of the building, leaping many feet into the air before grasping a ledge and easily pulling himself up. From there he brings up his legs to the ledge and jumps up again. Using his claws, the ledges and his impressive strength Beast is able to quickly climb the hospital as he looks for Sandy's office.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"I'm not a fool. They're directly linked to my biochemical makeup and designed for me. The spinal fusion from the accident made sure there will never be any rejection issues." Otto glances to Sandra, "I've done all the tests."

As the wipe starts it's work, Otto grimaces, but does not complain, "It will likely take them a few minutes to find me. Just do it quickly so I don't bleed out on my way back to my safehouse."

Sandra Billings has posed:
"If you say so. Just don't come crying to me when you get like super-cancer or something." Sandy says as she finishes cleaning the blood away from the wounds. "I'm not an Oncologist anyways. They're across town in their own building." She takes the bloody gauze and tucks it into her lapcoat, then fishes out some 'glue' from the box.

"Well, since you want to get this over with, I'll just .. glue you together, but you probably need to get proper sutures. This is a quick dry compound. It won't hurt, but try not to tear it apart, okay? If you do that, you'll be fine."

With that, she pinches the flaps of skin together, dabbing the glue along the wounded seams, trying to prevent more blood from gushing out. She will quickly lay a large gauzed bandage over it, then tapes it down. She moves quickly and efficiently as she works. Muscle memory. Practiced.

"So, who exactly attacked you? Why would they anyways?"

Shredder has posed:
    As Beast climbs the outside, the mousers filter through the hospital, up and around through the ductwork. The first floor is checked, nothing. Second floor, nothing. Thirt floor, nothing. Fourth floor, nothing. Outside, Karai waits, stone still, not speaking, not impatient. She just waits.

Beast has posed:
The blue PhD quickly reaches his destination, his incredibly athletic nature almost making it look easy to anyone who might be watching. As he arrives at the window he watches the scene inside for a few seconds to see what sort of intervention might be required on his part. Rather surprised, he recognizes a man from the news. A super villain and a fellow scientist. It's strange how often those two things can go hand in hand. Quietly, Beast opens the window, trying to creep into the office, keeping his head swiveling from side to side to attempt to avoid allowing the tentacles to get the drop on him. "And how are we this afternoon?" he asks the room. "No need to get up, I'd hate to see anyone perish due to lack of necessary medical treatment."

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Otto has no quarrel with Beast, and makes no move to stop him from entering. He knows the mutant well enough to know there's no possible way he'd be in league with the Foot clan. "Just don't make any sudden movements, and we'll be just fine." Otto notes to Henry, those safety goggles watching the blue furred man. "I have a bunch of idiots following me, trying to finish the job. No doubt they're searching this hospital right now, looking for me."

"If you don't want to get involved in this city's underworld civil war, I suggest you turn around and leave." Otto continues, utterly serious.

Then, he glances to Sandra, "I already have my issues. Cancer isn't even remotely a factor in my physiology."

Sandra Billings has posed:
"Well, remember when I was texting my husband? I was actually texting him. He's my.." Sandy says as she pauses, glancing past Otto over towards Hank as she gives him a smile. "Are we at the boyfriend stage yet? Coffee buddy? I don't know if this is the appropriate place to discuss this."

As she seals another wound and slaps on one more bandage, she tightens it down. "Hey, um.. honeybuns." She calls over to Hank. "Can you hand me a new pair of gloves? These are soaked in blood and I need my suture kit. I can't glue this last one together. I need to stitch it."

Shredder has posed:
    The mousers reach the fifth floor. One of them spots through the vent one of the tentacles. Immediately, throughout the floor, the other mousers come running. While they aren't the noisiest of robots, those with fine hearing might pick up the sound. Something running overhead, gathering themselves for the attack.

Beast has posed:
"I'll wait until you're finished, Doctor," Beast tells Octavius rather seriously as he moves to lean up against the wall next to the window, looking surprisingly relaxed, all things considered. "As long as you're being treated and conducting yourself in a peaceful manner there's no need for us to have any sort of dispute. However, you did kidnap this young lady and you'll need to answer for that at some point."

Looking at Sandy the Beast smiles faintly, "It would please me to be your boyfriend." He moves slowly towards the gloves and suture kits, picking them up and returning them to the medical professional.

"Your thesis on thermonuclear energy generation has a number of practical applications, Doctor..." McCoy's ears perk up. He hears something. Something above them. "I'm afraid you're about to be ambushed. Would you be so kind as to step outside? Wouldn't want anyone in the hospital getting hurt."

Sandra Billings has posed:
As she takes the kit from Hank, Sandy stares into his eyes for a moment. She takes a pair of gloves out of the box after working the bloodied ones off and turning them inside out. She tucks them into a plastic baggie, along with the piece of gauze from earlier. She leans forward, pressing a small kiss to Hank's lips as her hand slips forward, subtly tucking the bag into his coat pocket, then gives it a light pat. As she leans back, she gives him a slow nod of her head, then plucks up the suture kit.

At the warning sign, she freezes, then gives a visible frown. "We came through the window." She says as he makes her way to the door to unlock it. "Look, I don't.. do this stuff. I'm getting the hell out of here and warning my staff so they can get to safety. Hank..." She swallows tightly, then heads out into the hallway, reaching out to grab the fire alarm across the hall.

WOOOP! WHOOOOP! WHOOOOP! Lights begin to flash.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
One of his tentacles becomes active and is pointed at the obvious entry points; the door, and the vents.

Seeing the bot in the vent through the camera, Otto visually sneers even as he looks at Henry, "They're persistant, I'll give them that." Then, without warning, one of the tentacles suddenly shoots into the vent, trying to literally impale the mouser inside, smashing open the grate in the process.

Shredder has posed:
    The piercing tentacle seems to trigger an explosion as one mouser is snagged, seven more burst through the ceiling tiles. Powerful jaws snap at Otto, two going for the man himself while the other five snap to try to capture the tentacles. While they are small, the little jaws they sport can chew through just about any standard material if they are left unchecked.

Beast has posed:
"Stay safe, Sandy. Get everyone out, if you can," Hank says, smiling faintly still after their kiss.

The noise of the alarm causes him to wince, his enhanced perceptions making sensitive to the loud noise.

Then there's the other loud noise as Doc Ock starts putting his tentacles through the walls. It's turning into a mess already.

Luckily, Beast is used to operating in chaotic surroundings. As the mousers burst through into the room Hank darts towards the nearest robot and attempts to grab it, intent on launching it through the window so as to minimize the number of explosions indoors.

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Otto was expecting it with Henry's warning, and Otto is almost heading for the window on three tentacles -the fourth just smashing open the window itself- as he heads out of the room, already on the side of the hospital again as he heads for the rooftop.

At least there, he has clear lines of sight to start trashing the new machines the Foot clan are sending at him.

Shredder has posed:
    Individually, a mouser poses a very small level of threat, so as Beast snags the toy-sized robot, it has little defense as it's chucked out the window, falling on the ground next to Karai. She narrows her eyes, and looks up, watching as Ottoa and Beast make their way to the outside of the building. Several mousers though snag a ride on those metal tentacles as the other supervillain exits, and they start chewing. The re-inforced tentacles are not in immediate danger, but the hydraulics pound away, chewing on the support system for Octavius. As for Beast, despite the attack, they leave him alone, it seems their target is very specific. They aren't interested in mass damage, only damage to their target, but the destroyed ceiling might indicate they aren't going to tiptoe around collateral.

Beast has posed:
Once Otto's out the window Beast pursues. Maybe not so much to catch the other genius as to prevent him from doing unnecessary damage to the structure and any people inside. Seeing as how the tiny robots aren't trying to mess with him he's going to mostly let them do their thing as long as they aren't going to kill anybody. "You know, Doctor," calls Hank as he clings to the outside of the building, using his claws to hold him in place, "If you were to agree to surrender to me I'd happily help you smash these little nuisances. Then we could take a stroll to the police station where you could turn yourself in and receive additional medical treatment. A win-win situation for everyone."

Doctor Octopus has posed:
Once Otto is on the rooftop edge and gets over it, he starts to use the tentacles to all at once begin to rip each mouser off each tentacle in turn. Easily done, since Otto can 'feel' where they're biting... and the remains of each machine are tossed off the rooftop, save one.

He's going to study that one later. "I do not require your assistance to fight my own battles, McCoy." Otto replies with a sneer, moving onto all four tentacles again in a combat pose as he waits for more mousers that are no doubt coming.

Shredder has posed:
    Over the edge hop another dozen mousers, like ansts they swarm, each swing of the tentacles being used as an opening for others as they rotate and evade some smashes as a group, but naturally, they don't all get missed, and one by one, they are swatted. They aren't completely fragile, though, as several times they come back for more punishment, chomps biting down fiercely as they try to reach Dock Ock.

Beast has posed:
Still clinging to the outside of the wall, Hank will shrug those broad shoulders of his and say, "Can't blame me for trying to do things as easily as possible." He watches almost casually, as he watches Octavius fight the encroaching swarm of metal monstrosities. "Vicious little buggers, aren't they? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some to take a closer look at after this."

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"Your 'as easily as possible' comes with a price tag." Otto sneers back at Henry as he suddenly bring up all four tentacles, and starts to use them in a whirlwind motion around himself. Instead of smashing them one at a time, he seems to be creating a damage shield of titanium that expands outwards, pushing the little annoyances away.

Slowly but surely, he manages to push the machines off the roof... or destroy them with a swat as they try to find ways through the sudden maelstrom.

Within moments, he has a reprieve, and he looks to Henry with a raised brow, "playing babysitter, now?"

Beast has posed:
"I just want to make nobody gets hurt," Hank tells the nuclear physicist as he watches the battle, appraising the current tactics used to smash the various little biters. Using his claws, Beast is able to climb to a higher vantage point so he doesn't miss any of the action. "Your apparatus is impressive, Doctor. It looks like you don't need my help after all. I still wouldn't mind getting you some medical treatment, however."

Doctor Octopus has posed:
The tentacles are pulled in, then. Retracted into the back of the harness until the tentacles themselves are merely six foot poles sticking up into the air. "You believe me naive enough to allow you to tranq me? I've been fighting a war for a while, now, McCoy. If I stop to get treatment from you, the Foot will find me again."

Beast has posed:
"If someone was going to drug you it wouldn't be me. That's rather unethical," Beast is crouched low, in case Otto were to lash out at him. "What are you doing in the middle of a war, anyway? You should be in a lab somewhere. I mean, I'd be in a lab somewhere if I weren't coming here for a visit."

"What is this Foot that you're worried about?" Hank asks curiously. "If they're a threat maybe the authorities should be informed."

Doctor Octopus has posed:
There's a long moment of Otto studying Henry. Even with the safety goggles on, Henry can tell the Doctor is assessing the situation. "The foot have control of a good portion of the authorities in this city, via various methods. They have infiltrated most of the law enforcement, and use that information to consolidate control of the underworld of this city."

One hand comes up, and makes a fist as Otto continues, "Most of the gangs of this city are terrified of them. With good reason. I'm one of the few who resist their enforcers. I have for months, now. I refuse to bow to their archaic ideas, and they hunt me relentlessly for it."

Beast has posed:
There's a long look of consideration from Hank before he speaks again, "If they're so successful at this it makes sense that I haven't heard about it. I'm sure you've been gathering proof, can you provide me with it? I may be able to call in help."

"If you work with me we might be able to put a stop to them," says Beast, though he's frowning now. "I can understand you wanting to avoid going through official channel with them having been corrupted, but are you doing this all alone? Do you have anyone helping you?"

Doctor Octopus has posed:
"I haven't had any reason to gather proof; I command the Octoboys and my own intellect, and those whom answer to the Foot have no interest in rocking the boat, so to speak. The best thing I could do is offer you intelligence to find your own proof." Otto informs Henry. "If you wish to learn more yourself, I can offer you places to find that proof. I have too much to do with the war to go and find one of them."

Then, Otto grunts in pain as he starts to head for the edge of the rooftop. "New York is in the middle of an underworld civil war. If you stay out of it, I can't guarantee you this city will remain worth living in. I can tell you right now that I have no interest in living in a Foot controlled city." He looks back over his shoulder to Henry, "The war goes on, even without your intervention." One of his tentacles points to a broken mouser, "as you can see."

Without another word, Otto jumps off the roof. The sounds of metal penetrating brick and metal can be heard as Otto uses his tentacles to head off into the night.