Spider-Man SI

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***

Kayden peered at me from the bowels of a large cardboard box. She'd climbed in when she realised I wasn't their enemy. She was clutching some kind of worn notebook in her hands. The girl now looked a lot like an abandoned puppy. Laura and Cameron climbed onto the lid of a bin. The first looked at me with a completely indifferent face, with only a slight interest in her emotions. The second continued to wrap herself in her dressing gown, shivering faintly. Tatiana was sitting near the tank, on a pile of cartons, with her back leaning against the wall of some building. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she stared dully at the asphalt in front of her.

They were all very different, and it was not at all clear at first glance how they had all come together. I tried once more to recall the story I had only recently heard. First Kayden had saved her teacher, on a tip from her dad. Then they both found Laura through the words of the same dead dad. The meeting took place at the Brazil Hotel, they found X-23 in the room over a client's corpse. Looks like we just missed each other. And finally, they saved Tatiana.

All of this raises questions, yes.

- You said there were two possibilities. - interrupting my musings, the blonde hurried me along.

- Oh, yeah. I just have one small point of clarification. Tell Cayden, your father, what was he before he died?

- Um... a cop... Just why would you want to know?

Now that clears things up!

- Just curiosity. All right, let's get to it! The first option is simple. There are people, or rather not really people, not the point... ahem... so, there are intelligent ones who will gladly agree to help you. All you have to do is ask!

- Don't you get it? The cops can't help us! - Cayden almost spits.

- I'm not talking about them.

- Then what kind of um... intelligent Samaritans are these, ready to help the first person they see? - the teacher asks ironically.

- Oh! Not just anyone! Only mutants. I think, if in the company of three mutants, will be one person, they will turn a blind eye. - It's my turn to be ironic.

- Some kind of cult?

- Ha ha, never thought of them from that perspective! - I laugh heartily. - In principle, similar, but, in fact, no. There is a kind of school for mutants. A private school specialising in teaching people with the X gene.

- Gen X?

- In short, it's the thing that gives you powers. That's not what this is about. The founder of the school and all its teachers are mutants, as far as I know, they genuinely empathise with their fellow humans. Helping them to come to terms with their abilities and live in harmony with them. In addition, the teachers, and the older students of this school, act as a power squad. They can help you with controlling your powers, and if necessary, they can 'talk' to Daddy Zebra.

- But? - Cameron asked.

- Objectively speaking there are no buts. It's almost perfect for you.

Frankly, I had no desire to get involved with those girls. Well, there's X-23... and that's about it. If I had met them under different circumstances, I would have helped. But to get involved in an obscure game, who knows who, on what conditions? No way!

The whole thing with Cayden's dead father bringing the girls together and then bringing them to my attention. I don't rule out that it's really the ghost of the girl's father. But it could very well be an illusion conjured up by someone telepathic, or maybe a mage.

It seems to me the most sensible thing to do would be to put the blame on someone else. Xavier's school is really ideal.

- You say that in such a tone of voice that there must be a 'but'. - the woman objected. - And you're painting a very attractive picture.

What kind of suspicious teachers have gone!?

- This is purely my attitude towards this school. Very subjective and possibly biased. In my opinion, the idea of the founder of the school is very good, but the implementation suffers. But all my knowledge about them is taken from unreliable sources, so I have no moral right to judge them.

- Well, then voice the second option. So you have something to choose from.

- Well... as an alternative, I can solve your problem myself. - I grumble unhappily.

- Something tells me that you want to get rid of us, not to burden yourself with unnecessary troubles.

- If I wanted to, I'd have been out of here a long time ago. Don't get me wrong. I believe Xavier's school can help you much more effectively. They already have a system in place. They've got places to put you, clothes to wear and food to feed you. Plus, some of you might be able to find, um... relatives there.

Laura started drilling a hole in me as soon as I mentioned the bald telepath's name. What is it with her? Does she know about the school? There's something oddly emotional going on, I can't make it out. But it doesn't look like she's excited to see Wolverine. Shit! That's not the reaction I was hoping for!

- What are you talking about?' Kayden asked, noticing our staring game.

- I'm... in favour of the second option. - Laura said slowly.

- Well, if we're voting. - interrupted the oppressive silence, Cameron. - I'm in favour of option one. It looks much more attractive.

- I don't know,' Kayden said, but suddenly she turned white, staring behind me. When I turned around, however, I didn't see anything. - Option two, option two! - she finished abruptly.

We all turned our heads towards the last girl. Come on, come on! Say you're in favour of the first option! It'll be fifty-fifty, and then I'll get out of it somehow!

- Huh? - Tatiana raised her head. - I'm not going to hang out with you guys anymore! All I want to do now is to go home, get some sleep and find out that everything that happened was a nightmare!

- Tatiana, you can't go home! - Kayden tried to object.

- Thank you for your help,' the girl shook her head, 'but I'm going home.

And the girl ran off. Kayden tried to stop her, but to no avail. I, on the other hand, didn't do anything about it. Who knows what kind of family Tatiana has? Maybe they'll be okay with their daughter being a mutant!

Yes...

I had a hard time believing it myself. In any case, I don't think the girl could be persuaded now, and dissuaded from returning home. If her family couldn't accept the new reality... well, that would be a lesson to the girl. A very cruel lesson.

- Well,' Cameron said, after the passions had died down. - The vote is two to one. The second option, oddly enough, won. Our fate is in your hands, hero. But we still haven't heard what you plan to do about it.

- I feel like a winner in the presidential race. - I'll admit it. - Obviously, your biggest problem is Papa Zebra. Let me start with him. I need all the information we can get on him. From what he looks like to where he hangs out most often.

As I listened half-heartedly to Laura's brief speech, I frantically considered my next steps.

How much I'd hoped to go with the flow! It's a pity that most of the time things turn out this way and not the other way round! Who would have thought that that little joke on Emma Frost would suddenly turn out like that? I remember almost jokingly offering her a job as a teacher, and it wasn't long before the number of possible students nearly doubled!

- Thank you. - I thanked Laura. - I'll try to deal with this scoundrel. Here you go. - I hand Cameron a cheap disposable phone. - It's got my friend's phone number on it.

- Hey! Are you leaving us?

- Baby, I'm looking at an angry Kayden. - I'm not dragging you with me to meet your enemy. I'm giving you my phone number just in case. A friend will pick you up in about an hour and help you get settled in.

- All right. - said the former teacher. - Only... I realise it's impudence on our part... but hurry up your friend, okay?

- Sure!

***

- He screwed us. - the blonde-haired, green-eyed girl just wouldn't let up.

- Calm down, Kayden. - Cameron Palmer told her. - It hasn't even been an hour and you're already panicking.

- I'm telling you, he just left. - the girl was stubborn. - There is no 'friend'.

- Oh.

- No-one's coming for us. Daddy's guys will find us before a miracle happens.

Cayden was really just whining to keep quiet. The girl, among other things, had a very interesting characteristic. She could talk for days on end, annoying everyone around her, or she could stay silent for even longer periods of time without needing to talk at all. These periods of 'activity' and 'passivity' alternated at random. Not long after she ran away from home, Kayden was able to activate her power. As always, it happened by accident, at a critical moment, when she was accosted by a trio of stoned guys. She'd been wandering aimlessly around the state for about four months, feeling absolutely no need to socialise. But now she was nervous, and she just wanted to talk.

- Well, you agreed to accept his help. Why are you whining now?!

- My... father... he told me to do it. - The girl's mood sank even lower, as it always did when she remembered him.

Laura was the first to raise the alarm. Somehow she'd been able to detect that someone was approaching their hideout. Even pinpointed the exact number of visitors. Cameron and Kayden were wary of the visitors. The blonde tried diligently to conjure up that feeling with which she could freeze time. Each time she was afraid she would fail, especially since it had been a long time since she had done it.

Finally, people came into the light from the dark alley. Just as Laura had said, there were two of them.

A man. Tall, and statuesque. The clothes made it hard to get a good look at his figure, but Cameron noted with an edge of her eye that he was quite athletically built. Her ex-husband was a long way from such appetising proportions. And the man's rough, brutal face made him even more attractive to the former teacher's eyes.

If any of the fugitives were savvy, they'd obviously immediately notice a bunch of signs that made it crystal clear the man was a retired military man. Laura alone could smell the faint odour of gunpowder and gun grease coming from him.

The woman beside him looked quite small. She was older than her companion. Her hair was completely covered in grey, though you couldn't tell from her face that she was old. If the woman deigned to dye her hair, the maximum she could be given was about forty years old.

The woman stopped not far from Laura who had stepped out a little ahead of her. The man accompanying her preferred to stand a little behind the lady.

- Hello. - she said. - Our mutual acquaintance sent me to help you.

- If you'll excuse us, we'd like to make sure. - The wariness, dulled by the fact that Spider's friend was a woman, was gone, but not completely.

- Of course. - The lady smiled softly.

Cameron took out her phone and dialled the number stored in her memory. The woman ostentatiously opened a small, delicately blue clutch in the tone of her blouse and took out a playing mobile phone.

- Excuse me. - The former teacher smiled slightly guiltily. - In our situation, you have to be suspicious.

- I understand, don't worry Cameron. I've been briefed, so I'm thoroughly familiarised with your situation.

- That's very good.

- Mae. Mae Parker. - the woman introduced herself. - This young man's name is David - he and his friends will take care of your security. What's up? Can we go?

- I think so.

- Can't we wait a little longer? - The blonde girl cut in.

- Kayden, she's not coming back. - Cameron shook her head.

- Please! Just ten more minutes!

- Babe, we're all hungry, and I'm freezing, and I have a headache and a stomachache. In case you've forgotten, I've just lost a lot of blood. I just need to get warm and eat something normal, not a bad hamburger.

- Okay...' the blonde gave in reluctantly.

A few minutes later their small group was at the cars. They were two large tinted SUVs. Another two tough men were waiting for them near the vehicles.

The cars moved off. One by one, they turned around and sped away from the Bronx.

Suddenly, the second car slowed down and Kayden jumped out.

- Pull over, David. - May Parker asked, but the driver was already stopping the car. - It's Tatiana, isn't it? - Asked the grey-haired woman Cameron.

A brunette with curly hair was walking down the pavement, unable to see anything in front of her. The girl was sobbing, covering her eyes with her palms. She didn't resist at all when Kayden caught her arm and sat her next to her in the car.

- Yeah. Is it okay if she comes with us?

- Don't worry, I was counting on that.

The cars started up again. This time there was nothing to block their way, and they sped out of the Bronx borough. It was a long drive, a little over an hour. As a result, the little procession arrived almost at the other end of the huge city.

- This is a private clinic, isn't it? - The teacher asked, noticing the sign on the gate of the estate they had just entered.

She thought she had heard the name in passing. Until six months ago, when Cameron had been living a happy life and not even thinking about the impending blackout, there had been a lot of press coverage of the clinic, mostly specialising in cosmetology. There were rumours that a popular singer had plastic surgery here.

- You're right. - Mei agreed. - As far as I'm concerned, a medical examination would be a good idea. Especially for you.

- But it's very expensive. Don't think I'm complaining, I really don't feel well, but couldn't you go to a less expensive hospital?

- You could have. - Mei smiled. - But then confidentiality would have been out of the question. Lately, as far as I know, they've been looking after that aspect of customer service here.

- I don't think Zebra Daddy has the resources to monitor every hospital in town. - said the teacher uncertainly.

- Maybe he does, but is it worth the risk? And, Cameron, you left your flat in a hurry. You didn't have any identification on you, did you?

- No.

- See, if we'd gone to a regular hospital, there'd be a lot of bureaucracy involved. Here it's all about money.

***

- The mansion is quite old, you might even say antique. - with an Italian accent, a man who looked Italian. - But it's not of any architectural or cultural value. The last renovation was about five years ago, and to be honest, it was rather cosmetic.

Surprisingly, the estate agency provided us with a very sensible employee. He did not embellish the reality, and honestly answered all the questions without any crookedness.

- It's not a big deal. - I assure him.

- I understand you're more interested in the land than the building?

- That's correct. - I nod. - You got that right.

- Hmm... well, then I can only assure you that all the utilities are in place. Electricity, water, gas, sewerage and so on. There won't be any problems with that during construction. Otherwise, I'm just repeating what I told you at the agency. The place is quite secluded, neighbours will not look in the windows. A small forest, or rather even a park, is attached to the plot from the east. Next to it there is a tiny pond. Behind the house, on that side is also a small apple orchard, but you understand, neglected. Would you like to see it?

- Let's go for a walk, I'd like to see it for myself.

- Sure. - smiled a man in an expensive Italian suit, he had already realised what we were going to buy.

My uncle and I came to this decision at the agency, where we were offered this estate as one of the options. It appealed to us immediately. But we were not lazy and drove almost to the very north of Westchester County to look at our future purchase.

How did it all come together so quickly?

Well... I just decided to take the problem in stride and approach it with all the scope I could muster.

Putting the responsibility for the three mutant girls on the shoulders of Xavier and his company didn't work. Laura for some reason did not want to meet with her genetic original, if I may say so, Wolverine. And the others, too, were reluctant. So, no luck.

So I decided to start implementing my idea. A trivial one, but an ambitious one. It's time for Xavier's school to give up its monopoly on the education of young mutants. I'm going to create my own black-jack-and-slut school... well, you know what I mean!

Looking ahead, at the time, I had little idea how much trouble I'd be facing!

Things didn't go well from the start. Felicia was busy and could only help me on the phone. Gwen had a dry excuse that she had family stuff going on. And I'm not family, am I? No, it's understandable that she's pouting, but just what is it this time?! Connors was a different kind of specialist, so it didn't make sense to bring him in at this stage. Even Shark shooed me away, saying he was a bit busy! Well, at least I agreed to ask my friends and comrades for help. After some thought, I decided it would be foolish to send these objectively menacing-looking guys to take care of Laura and Co. for the time being. Their most gossipy gopnik will be scared, will be met in a dark alley! And let's not even talk about the girls.

Although...

That sentence itself sounds stupid!

'Protect X-23'!

Ha!

She'll 'protect' anyone! She's a Logan clone! She's been trained in the art of killing since she was a child, from the cradle. If she wanted to, she could have handled this situation with Daddy Zebra herself. With one elegant swipe of his claws! But the girl didn't want to, or couldn't.

I'll deal with that later.

I didn't want to send the ex-military alone. I needed a trustworthy face. Going with them myself as Peter Parker or any other person was frankly stupid. Not to forget the Rossoma family's marvellous sense of smell. Laura would have found me under any disguise, and I hadn't learnt to change my scent yet. There weren't many other candidates. Well, I can't send Deadpool down there. Let him break Murdock's psyche, at least he's an adult, he should be able to handle it, and children are not to blame!

As I pondered what I should do, I found myself at home. Petra was absent again, but my aunt and uncle were at home. Sis had gone for a walk with the Night Serpent. Eh! Poor chap! Petra's a long way from Poole, but she's got a way with the brain, too!

I didn't want to get Uncle Ben or Aunt May involved, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I wasn't going to, like the original Spiderman, hide this part of my life from the people closest to me. The path to making that decision took me a decent amount of time. But eventually, it became obvious that lying to them was beyond me.

My family listened and took my idea of school seriously. Perhaps the most convincing of its necessity was my own example. My aunt jokingly confessed that she was tired of throwing out of the house stones, with the help of which Petra learns to control her power. Well, and finding all sorts of precious stones! So she'd better let her litter at school! Hehehe! Uncle also approved of the idea, pathetically proclaiming that he would share this responsibility with me.

Auntie asked me to take the girls and take care of them for now. In the company, of course, of Shark's friends. Seeing three muscular guys with military, if not outright bandit looks, the family gave me a promising look. It became clear that a frank conversation could not be avoided.

Of course, I was a little worried about sending her after the girls. Not much could happen. But for starters, she had a serious escort. I was already convinced of the professionalism of Shark's friends, and these guys were just from the dozen that helped to free Felicia from her imprisonment in the Ambal skyscraper. They could easily deal with a small crowd, and if you remember the arsenal that they usually carry in their SUVs! I reckon the three of them could handle a serious street gang.

And to top it off. Neither my aunt nor uncle could be considered ordinary people now. I just couldn't help but make sure they were safe. After Gwen and Felicia, they were the second to be exposed to the super soldier serum. It's a separate story how I did the full course of treatment without telling them the details. I had to lie about the super vitamins I'd gotten from Connors, which were perfect for the elderly. They'd already noticed the weirdness. Increased strength, stamina, agility. Uncle's knee has stopped aching, Auntie no longer complains about her back. I was able to calculate their serum, so it doesn't peak immediately. All in all, everyone is happy, and everyone is happy! And I'm less worried about them now.

After seeing my aunt off, and after a little brainstorming, I came to the conclusion that Papa Zebra wasn't going anywhere. Looking for him now was pointless. It's the middle of the day for regular people. Drug pimps, on the other hand, were just getting some sleep. According to Laura, the man usually shows up at his club closer to the evening, and where he lives, she does not know. That's why I decided to look for a site for the school. Felicia recommended a good estate agency, and just an hour later, my uncle and I were there.

- What do you think? - I asked my uncle, having asked the realtor to wait by the helicopter the agency had provided.

- I've never built a school before. - Ben smiled. - That's why I can't judge how suitable this plot of land is for us.

- But you have a lot of life experience. - I objected.

- I don't know,' he scratched his head. - Isn't it a bit far from the city?

- You understand, it's a forced measure.

In this particular issue decided not to abandon the experience of X-men, and organise a base somewhere outside the city, away from prying eyes. Children can't be locked up in some underground bases and bunkers. They need freedom and fresh air.

- They'll have to go to regular school, won't they? Or are you planning a fully autonomous school?

- That would be ideal. Alas, it's not possible at the initial stages. But we can't send them to a regular school. There's a good chance the unpleasant situation with Tatiana will happen again. Someone will definitely not be able to keep their powers in check. Or just want to show off to their classmates. Having the power to save a friend from a probable danger, for example, from under the wheels of a car. There could be a lot of situations and a thousand reasons in which ordinary people, find out that one of our charges mutant. You know, I'm worried about Petra.

- She's a smart girl... but I worry too. - Uncle Ben confessed. - So this school will only be for people like her? For mutants?

- No. I said firmly. - It's not just for them. The world is full of people, and... not people with unusual abilities. I hope everyone can find a place here. Even more! I want borders to disappear. So that mobs of aggressive people, like in the Middle Ages, don't chase schoolgirls just because they can turn into animals. So that ordinary people could learn to live in peace with the extraordinary, and vice versa.

Uncle Ben looked at me as if he'd just seen me for the first time. It was only after a while that he was able to answer.

And I was a little taken aback by my own words. As I voiced my thoughts aloud, I realised what I had set out to do. It's not enough for me to just build a school. In fact, I want to fight discrimination... one of its facets.

- I think that's a worthy goal. But it won't be easy to achieve. Even one life won't be enough.

- I know. I smile easily. - That's why I need you and your aunt. You're born educators, and you've raised this boy.

- Flatterer!

- All right, shall we go? I've got a lot of things to do.