It was Otto who cried out in surprise, having been knocked away. He couldn't believe what had just happened. In their previous encounter at the school, Dr. Lizard had also ambushed him but was easily defeated. Now, Otto's mechanical arms barely blocked Dr. Lizard's attack, and he was sent flying, crashing into a wall, feeling pain all over his body.
Otto, aside from his mechanical arms, had no extraordinary abilities. His mental strength might be slightly stronger, but physically, he wasn't even as strong as Tony Stark. Among ordinary people, he wasn't particularly healthy either. An overweight man with severe nearsightedness who spent all his time in the lab wasn't likely to have time for exercise or fitness. The pain overwhelmed Otto, causing his thoughts to scatter.
Despite undergoing special training arranged by Tony Stark, Otto had never experienced a real extraordinary battle, let alone the sensation of injury or near death. The pain left Otto unable to focus on the fight.
Fortunately, Otto's combat strength came from his mechanical arms, not himself. Even though Otto was incapacitated, the mechanical arms continued to fight.
"Otto, our great superhero Doctor Octopus, so this is all the strength you have?" Dr. Lizard taunted, grinning mockingly at Otto, whose face was contorted in pain.
"Connors! Don't be so arrogant!" Otto, regaining a bit of his fighting spirit, took a deep breath, gritting his teeth to endure the pain. "You've been marked. I advise you to surrender, or the next person to deal with you won't be me!"
"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Dr. Lizard sneered, seemingly indifferent, but his eyes darted around. "Can you call the powerful being who caused the last earthquake to capture me?"
"What powerful being?" Otto asked, confused. He had no knowledge of the previous battle between Peter Parker and the Hulk, as he had been in training at the time. Nobody had informed Otto about it.
Upon hearing Otto's question, Dr. Lizard felt relieved. To him, Otto's ignorance meant that the mysterious powerful being wasn't related to the Avengers, indicating his current safety. Dr. Lizard glanced at his experimental apparatus, where a potion to transform humans into lizard people was still reacting. He decided to kill Otto, then wait for the potion to finish before leaving and transforming some humans into his followers.
With a swish, Dr. Lizard disappeared again, charging towards Otto. Otto still couldn't react in time, seeing only Dr. Lizard's dark green skin and muscular body as the attack came. His mechanical arms instinctively defended, with two attacking and two attempting to withdraw Otto strategically.
The mechanical arms, despite their limited intelligence, assessed that they couldn't defeat Dr. Lizard. The previous display of strength was too great. So, the arms decided to attack Dr. Lizard's head to force him back while the other two tried to retreat with Otto.
However, the gap in strength was greater than the mechanical arms anticipated. Dr. Lizard easily grabbed two of the arms, while his thick tail whipped towards Otto.
Otto watched in horror, unable to react. The remaining arms managed to block part of the attack, but the force still sent Otto flying. He felt like he had been hit by a truck and lost consciousness. Dr. Lizard held onto the mechanical arms, preventing Otto from escaping.
The mechanical arms continued to struggle and attack Dr. Lizard, despite Otto's condition. But they realized the dire situation: this time, Otto was in more danger than during the lab explosion, and the arms couldn't protect his life.
Meanwhile, on the Avengers' aircraft, an alarm sounded. Tony Stark's projection appeared, alerting Peter Parker and the others.
"Otto's in danger. The mechanical arms sent a distress signal. What's happening over there?" Tony asked urgently. He hadn't expected so many issues in capturing Dr. Lizard, resulting in repeated failures.
Before Peter could respond, Pietro and Barry Allen dashed out of the aircraft, heading underground. The official agency members couldn't even see them move.
"You should have killed me last time. Now, you're in this situation," Dr. Lizard taunted, holding the mechanical arms and looking at the bloodied, unconscious Otto. "Too bad you won't get another chance. The new me won't let you off. In hell, watch me build a new world."
With a swish, Dr. Lizard's tail moved to crush Otto, but invisible forces cut into it, causing blood to spurt. In pain, Dr. Lizard retracted his tail, alertly scanning his surroundings.
Suddenly, Dr. Lizard was hit by a force that made him stagger. He couldn't see his attackers or determine their numbers, but the blows kept coming, disorienting him.
"Great, how did he get so injured? We need to get him out quickly. No, even if we get him out, he might not survive. We need the Saiyan over here," Pietro said as he and Barry Allen assessed Otto's injuries, contacting Robert.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lizard finally saw his attackers. Furious and bloodied, he charged at them, but his speed was no match for Pietro and Barry. They easily evaded him, carrying Otto away.
Peter Parker arrived, followed by Johnny Storm and others. The official agency members, seeing the Avengers in action, hesitated to intervene, afraid of escalating the conflict.
"Damned pests! Stop running!" Dr. Lizard roared in frustration, but then he saw Peter Parker.
With a punch, Peter, merged with Venom, sent Dr. Lizard flying. The force of the punch was greater than Barry's attacks combined, severely injuring Dr. Lizard and embedding him into a wall.
"How did I become a healer? So I'm like Piccolo now?" Robert muttered, appearing in the underground space, looking at the bloodied Otto.
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