Wearing the teal-green metallic suit, with her explosive hair tied up by a band—the familiar attire immediately gave away her identity. It was Doctor Olivia "Liv" Octavius, Madam Octopus!
Peter looked at her with keen interest: "Madam Octopus, I thought you had escaped." Madam Octopus fluttered her eyelids at Peter: "Liv. Call me Liv. All my friends do."
Peter was skeptical: "Are we friends?"
"Of course! I'd love to be your friend. Don't you want to be friends with me?" Madam Octopus took a step closer.
Peter just watched her performance. His Spider-Sense gave no warning. Although he didn't know why, it was clear Madam Octopus held no hostility toward him now. Even if she did, with his current power level, she wouldn't be able to capture him. He might even be able to subdue her.
"Alright, Liv," Peter said. "We can talk about friendship later. For now, tell me your purpose. Otherwise, my real friend will be back soon." Peter gave a pointed gesture toward the street below.
Hearing this, Madam Octopus immediately became more serious. She clearly didn't want to encounter Miles or at least didn't want Miles to know she had met Peter. However, her voice was still laced with uncontrollable fanaticism, and her eyes, fixed on Peter, looked as if she wanted to devour him whole!
Madam Octopus explained: "After the battle, I was about to leave. But I made a quick stop at the data repository, intending to retrieve all the experiment logs. Guess what I found?"
"Hmm?" Peter reluctantly played the straight man.
Madam Octopus was satisfied with Peter's response: "I discovered that the collider only connected to five parallel universe signals! Yet, six different Spider-People showed up! And you, you are the Spider-Person who came here without being connected to the collider! Am I right?"
"Furthermore, by analyzing the experimental data, I found a huge flaw in the experiment: while it can use genetic code to find counterparts in parallel universes, those counterparts cannot adapt to the environment of this universe. Within five days at the longest, the counterpart will be crushed by this universe's forces and perish through annihilation."
"And you!" Madam Octopus moved a few steps closer to Peter, stopping about two meters away to maintain a safe distance. She then slowly circled Peter, exclaiming: "And you directly shatter my conclusion! You are a miracle! Or there is another possibility..."
Peter's eye twitched. He was shocked that Madam Octopus had deduced this much. She truly deserved her reputation as a genius super-villain!
This time, Peter did not interrupt, silently waiting for her conclusion. Madam Octopus took Peter's silence as confirmation and became even more excited: "So, you possess the ability to travel freely between parallel universes, don't you?"
Peter shrugged: "What if I do, and what if I don't? Do I owe you an explanation?"
"No, no, no," Madam Octopus waved her hands frantically. "I only ask: Can you take me with you?"
"Huh?" Peter's face registered a huge question mark. He couldn't believe his charm was great enough to make the parallel counterpart of Doctor Octopus fall for him or surrender to him. That was too fantastical.
Madam Octopus continued: "I am willing to follow you! I only wish to explore other parallel universes with you and discover all the unknowns!" Her eyes were burning with pure, unadulterated passion for the "Parallel Dimensions" field of science.
Honestly, Peter was tempted! Though Madam Octopus seemed a bit unhinged. She was, after all, the parallel counterpart of Doctor Octopus! In essence, the female version of Doctor Octopus!
And what kind of person was Doctor Octopus? He was a brilliant nuclear physicist specializing in atomic energy. He invented the mechanical tentacles—each capable of lifting eight tons. They were easy to operate, fully radiation-proof, powerful, and incredibly precise. His inventions brought him global fame, allowing him to conduct countless groundbreaking experiments and write new theories. It wasn't until a lab accident involving a ruptured pipe and radiation leakage that he nearly died. Otto survived, but his four tentacles fused to his body. The mechanical intelligence in the tentacles also influenced his mind, twisting his thoughts from his original self into a biased, arrogant personality, transforming him into a super-villain. His very first fight was so challenging that it made Spider-Man question his own life and almost gave up being Spider-Man altogether.
It was the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four who convinced Spider-Man to gather the courage to challenge Doctor Octopus again. After several battles, Spider-Man finally achieved a victory. This illustrates just how formidable Doctor Octopus's combat abilities were.
Even after Spider-Man defeated him, Doctor Octopus remained one of his most persistent foes. Furthermore, in the Superior Spider-Man storyline, he invented a machine to swap minds with others, successfully transferring his consciousness into Spider-Man's body to become the Superior Spider-Man, even going on to found Parker Industries. In the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, he was a gene mutation specialist who created the formulas for Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, and the Lizard, and later created clones like Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider) and the second Green Goblin (Harry Osborn), even controlling the Avengers in that world, making him a major super-BOSS. In another universe, he collaborated with villains like the Red Skull, Doctor Doom, and Alistair Smythe to fight heroes including Spider-Man, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Cat, and Storm of the X-Men.
All of this underscored his limitless potential. But simultaneously, it highlighted his extreme danger!
Peter (Earth-616) ran through countless scenarios in his mind. Although this "Madam Octopus" differed from all the Doctor Octavius variants he knew—her gender alone was unique—she was still a Doctor Octopus. Her genius, talent, and potential were first-rate, but her ambition and danger were equally extreme! He could not afford to interact too closely with her, much less accept her offer of allegiance, until he had sufficient ability to control her.
What if she, like her Superior Spider-Man counterpart, could invent a mind-swapping machine? He definitely didn't want a gender swap!