Disclaimer: The concept of Spider-Man and the character of Doc Ock are the rightful property of Marvel and Columbia Pictures, and I am in no way affiliated with them. All recognisable characters and settings are being used for non-profit fanfic purposes only.

Copyright: The characters of Kate Goldin and Roc are copyright to me. Any similarity with already existing characters is coincidental.

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A drowned body usually floats for a time before waterlog causes it to sink, but when a drowned body is fused with a heavy amount of solid metal, floating isn't much of an option. A strong current, however, will keep even the heaviest burden from sinking, and will carry a load until it sees fit to let it rest.

That night, the river was carrying an unusual victim. The recently claimed body of Doctor Otto Octavius drifted with a peaceful grace through the dark water, hated, discarded, and alone. It was mere minutes after the disaster. Lungs filled with water no longer tried to breathe. His eyes stared, wide and open, but no longer saw. His oxygen-starved heart had slowed to the faintest flutter. The four terrible symbiotic arms gleamed and twirled slowly around him, and for a moment it seemed like they were still moving, but it was merely the water's current, waving the metallic tentacles like seaweed. There was terrible irony in such a watery death, for although this octopus had been returned to water, it most certainly had not saved his life. This octopus needed air to live, and his mechanical arms needed his life-force to exist.

So, what was to be done? It had seemed that the arms' energy had flickered out along with the doctor's as he drowned. But what had seemed to be permanent was in fact no more than temporary shock at the doctor's sudden lack in energy output. The arms were tough, even if the human body they were attached to was weak. They had been designed to be tough. And now, they would revive their human host just as they had revived him before.

The arms did not try to move, so as to not waste precious energy. But the lenses, the single 'eye' at the centre of each claw, began to flicker, the light slowly strengthening to a bright, gleaming red. Then, with a rattling twitch, a jolt of electricity was sent pulsing through Otto's nervous system, willing his heart to continue beating. The arms would continue with this for as long as they could. Now all they needed was some oxygen…

In the strong current of the wide, dark river, Doctor Ock's apparently lifeless form travelled quickly, and did not slow until about a mile downstream from the site of Doc Ock's 'death'. And it was at this point that the river finally gave up its grisly dance partner, and pushed the body up onto a wide, muddy river bank. But, unfortunately for the striving metal tentacles, Otto was laying face-down in the shallows. So it was stalemate now; the arms would not have the energy to move Otto unless Otto moved first, and with his face still submerged, water continued to flow freely into the man's lungs. And so he just lay there as the sun began to rise, in a waterlogged heap, with his mechanical appendages sprawled limply around him, unable to manage anything more than the occasional spasmodic twitch as they jolted Otto's weary heart into action. Waiting for opportunity to present itself.

And opportunity did indeed present itself eventually, but in a very unusual form.

It seemed that only a moment ago Otto had been losing himself to the icy coldness of water, giving in to the enveloping darkness. But now, he found himself faced with the sudden and compulsive urge to breathe.

His back arched as one last pulse of life-giving electricity jolted through his veins. Doctor Ock gasped, and immediately started to choke, retching seemingly endless amounts of water from his lungs. And as the convulsive choking continued, so did the doctor regain consciousness, and begin to become aware of what was going on around him.

The main thing being that someone – or something – was tugging viciously at his trenchcoat, and slowly but surely dragging him out of the water.

The tugging did not stop until Otto was completely clear of the water. Either side of him, the four metal tentacles remained limp and unmoving. Still spluttering water, Doctor Ock allowed himself to be rolled onto his back, at which point he finally opened his eyes.

His vision blurred and swam so much that Otto nearly shut them again, but he continued to stare nonetheless, for his saviour was looming over him.

A disturbingly bird-shaped saviour.

Not possible, said a rational voice inside Doctor Ock's head. Surely no bird in existence has the physical or mental capability to drag a fully-grown human out of a river.

Not to mention a fully-grown human with four solid metal arms attached to him, another rational voice added.

Otto blinked, trying to clear his vision. The figure was still there, and it was still bird-shaped. Wordlessly, Otto tried to raise his right arm, but then the figure uttered a soft squawk and suddenly moved away. For a moment a vast feathered wing filled Otto's vision, and then it was gone, leaving only the sound of something large and winged swooping up into the air and away from him. Soon the sound was gone too.

This really was all too much to take in at once, and so for a time Doctor Ock stayed where he was, contemplating, while allowing his breathing to calm and his vision to clear. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Apparently not. And now he had woken to find himself being dragged to safety by a worryingly powerful animal. Hmm.

Carefully, Doctor Ock sat up, and it was at that point that he realised his extra arms were moving too. Like rearing snakes the mechanical tentacles rose up, hissing and snapping and waving in triumph. And as Otto gazed up at them, any sense of rebellion that he might have felt before was now gone, replaced by the simple feeling of triumph; the triumph of still being alive.

A cold smile spread across the Doctor's face, and he looked around. Ok, so he was sitting in the mud with seaweed in his hair, but the morning sun was shining pleasantly – its heat already starting to dry Otto's soaked clothes – and he was alive, so altogether things were going very well.

After a while Otto looked down at his trenchcoat, of which his was currently only half wearing, due to his saviour's insistent tugging at it. And the creature in question must have been armed with fearsome talons, for a pocket on the inside of the coat had been almost completely torn off…

The contented smile on Doctor Ock's face vanished abruptly as he realised with a sickening lurch that the ruined pocket had contained something which was now almost certainly gone. Something from a past life, something very precious to him.

Rosie's necklace. The only thing left to remember his wife by…taken.

A forgotten memory suddenly resurfaced and flashed though the doctor's unhinged mind:

Was keeping it safe for her….meant to take it to the jewellers because the chain's fastener was broken….Gone! Stolen!!

So now everything made sense. The accursed mangy vulture had not pulled him from the water to save him, but to rob him!!

With an angry roar and a sudden surge of strength, Doctor Ock lurched to his feet. Then, with a heavy metallic thump that shook the ground around him, the two lower tentacles thrust themselves into the muddy ground, pulling Ock upright and lifting him into the air.

With his teeth clenched, Doc Ock grinned evilly, clenching his hands into fists as he felt his power return to him. He would have his revenge on the wretched creature that dared to steal from the great Doctor Octopus!!

Suddenly though, Otto's evil expression changed to one of surprised discomfort. Looking down, the doctor shook his left leg.

A small silvery fish dropped from his trouser-leg, then flip-flopped down the bank and into the water, where it swam gratefully away.

Briefly glancing around in a suddenly self-conscious manner, Otto cleared his throat and adjusted his collar, before stalking away, off in search of a new lair…

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Notes: Ah, to be a fish trapped inside Doc Ock's trousers, eh? Ahem. Well, I hope this has been sufficiently interesting for y'all, because I'll be updating it whether you like it or not! Heh heh. If you're thinking 'this is just like any other Doc Ock fic', then please bear with me, because it's going to get unusual very quickly. Also, I can never work out if Otto's wife is called 'Rosie' or 'Rosalie', so I'm sorry if I got it wrong.