"The literal meaning," Peter shrugged, observing Doctor Octopus playfully, completely unafraid of the villain attacking him.
Although the sudden dimensional jump had consumed a significant amount of the power in his body, it didn't drastically affect his combat readiness. If his total storable Temporal Power was set at 100%, after absorbing energy from the collider, it was at 90%. The jump back to his home reality consumed between 40% and 50% (the "hungry" feeling came when the power dropped below half). However, over the last few days, he noticed his Temporal Power was slowly regenerating, recovering about 1% to 2% per day. This was a huge discovery! It meant he didn't need to find another Particle Collider; he just needed time to recover. This current jump only consumed about 20% to 25% of his power, about half of the previous trip.
Through this jump, he also realized something: His true power must have awakened on the second day (US time), right after he arrived in Miles's world. It was the awakening that allowed him to capture the space-time fluctuations of the collider and activate his crossing ability. But back then, he was newly awakened, and his energy was just enough to transport him, leaving him almost powerless except for his Spider-Sense. However, based on his experience with Miles, as long as he retained over 10% of his Temporal Power, he could operate at his peak normal strength. If the energy was higher, like the near-full state he was in after the collider, he could unleash even greater power!
As for whether he'd get stronger if the energy surpassed the previous threshold... Peter wasn't ready to test that theory yet. It could lead to ultimate power, or his ultimate demise.
Furthermore, even if he truly wanted to test his limits, he didn't have enough Temporal Power to absorb. Not every world has a Kingpin, and not every Kingpin builds a collider...
Doctor Octopus was not an opponent to be taken lightly. While he prided himself on his intellect, his fusion with the mechanical tentacles had made him more brutal and obsessive. Noticing the mockery in Peter's tone, Doctor Octopus let out a cruel laugh, sending two mechanical tentacles, one from the left and one from the right, lashing out at Peter.
"I won't kill you. I will capture you and extract the information I want!"
"Is that so?" Peter smiled, pressing his chest while simultaneously pulling the mask from his pocket.
WHOOSH— Like flowing liquid, the nanometal quickly surged out from his chest, covering his limbs and torso. In less than a second, his body and clothes were completely enveloped by the Nanometal Suit. At the same time, his body performed a backward somersault, gracefully dodging the two mechanical tentacles. Peter secured the mask onto his head.
A Spider-Man in a red-and-blue suit now stood before Doctor Octopus.
Doctor Octopus was momentarily stunned: "You are Spider-Man? Then who is that man down there?" He still didn't know that the original Spider-Man was his friend's student, Peter Parker.
"No, wait, wait," Doctor Octopus quickly shook his head, refuting himself. "Your suit is different from his, and yours looks more advanced? Did you just use nanofluid metal? Wow, that's truly impressive technology! Did you emerge from some new specialized lab?"
Doctor Octopus was indeed a brilliant scientist; just witnessing Peter's maneuvers was enough for him to deduce a vast amount of information. While Peter was inwardly amused by the analysis, he also felt a grudging respect for the man.
To be fair, while the male Doctor Octopus was short and stout, completely lacking the appeal of the female version, Peter would definitely choose the male version if forced to pick. The female version was inherently unhinged and incurable. The male version's personality shift was caused by damage to the chip controlling his mechanical arms.
His eventual repentance in the film, choosing to sink into the river with his mistake, showed he wasn't beyond redemption. Furthermore, there was a detail in the movie: Even in his obsessed state, Doctor Octopus was only focused on continuing his research. He never deliberately killed anyone while robbing the bank or when confronting the passengers protecting Spider-Man on the train. This suggested his core nature wasn't evil; he was just driven to madness by his singular goal.
"Want to know? Defeat me, and I'll tell you!" Peter launched himself toward Doctor Octopus, kicking off the rooftop.
Doctor Octopus, realizing Peter wasn't the Spider-Man he needed, lost interest in him. He held no personal animosity toward Spider-Man; he just needed the Tritium element from Harry Osborn to complete his fusion reactor experiment. Harry, believing Spider-Man killed his father (Norman Osborn), offered the Tritium in exchange for Spider-Man. Therefore, Doctor Octopus didn't want a protracted fight with this new, healthy Spider-Man. He wanted to capture the worn-out, unlucky Spider-Man on the train, get what he needed, and return to his experiment.
The disengaged Doctor Octopus blocked Peter's attack with one tentacle while viciously swinging another toward Peter, trying to knock him away.
But Peter wasn't going to let him go so easily. He had seen Madam Octopus fight; she had far more combat experience than this male counterpart, who had only recently become Doctor Octopus. While the core combat relied on the AI within the tentacles, the AI needed time to learn and adapt. Thus, the original version had lower combat proficiency than the female counterpart.
Peter didn't even need his Spider-Sense for such straightforward attacks. He reached out, grabbed the incoming mechanical tentacle, and slammed it down onto the rooftop, using the force to destabilize Doctor Octopus's center of gravity. He shot a web, sticking the tentacle to the roof.
Simultaneously, Peter kicked off the ground, using the momentum to swing around Doctor Octopus, arriving behind him.