"I'll kick your ass, Spider-Girl!" Doc Ock shouted, his metal appendages rearing back.
"Oh, it's Spider-Man now," Spider-Man told him, perched on top of a street lamp.
The doctor seemed to deflate, confused.
"What? Wouldn't the natural next step here be Spider-Woman?"
"I mean, yeah. I guess. But I'm not a woman. I'm a man. Hence, Spider-Man."
Doc Ock decided he wanted to kill Spider-Man more than he wanted to have a conversation, so naturally, he attacked. Spider-Man leapt up from his lamp post and swung around, landing atop a fountain.
"You really had to attack me in a park?" he said, perhaps because the author forgot to mention they were in a park.
"Shut up!" Doc Ock's tentacles grappled towards the hero at amazing speeds. Unfortunately for him, Spider-Man's speed was even more amazing, and he managed to dodge.
"You may be a man now, Spider," the doctor hissed, "but you fight like a boy!"
Spider-Man grinned as he dodged another attack.
"I didn't expect this to go so well," he shouted. "Do you think the rest of the Sinister Six will be this respectful?"
"I'll inform them of your change in title," Doc Ock assured, batting away a shot web. "After all, I myself once went through the same thing as you."
"You're trans?" Spider-Man exclaimed, shocked by this.
"Yes!" He grinned, and extended his arms. "I was born a mere human, burdened by the great mind trapped within, and transitioned to a powerful scientist ā the peak of human evolution! It was only by conducting the physical changes necessary to reflect this that I could reach my potential!" He gestured at his arms. "A superior body reflects a superior mind, Spider-Man. So I understand."
With this, he managed to land a hit, though it didn't keep Spider-Man down long.
"I don't think you understood the question," Spidey muttered with a shake of his head. "I meant transgender, Doc."
"Ah. Yes, I'm... what is it? Transgender. I'm that, too." Doc Ock pushed up his goggles, looking awfully self-important. "Though I really think my previous example ā"
"Wait, you are? For real?"
Spider-Man stopped fighting for a moment from shock and stared at the doctor.
"Yes." A nod. "I invented an efficient method of hormone replacement thirty years ago. Far more efficient than those primitive injections," he spat. "But the damn FDA wouldn't administer it."
"I'm really surprised by this," Spider-Man could only say. "I... damn. This is actually really inspiring, Doctor."
Doc Ock looked personally offended. He swung at the hero, outraged.
"You're inspired by a simple fact of my biology, rather than my glorious actuators? You brat!"
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