Spider-Man SI

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***

Triumph Sports School. One month later.

I don't know if a snake charmer can inadvertently hypnotise himself, but I've pulled a similar trick. The dance was mesmerising. The smooth, rhythmic movements of the four bodies, mine among them, mesmerised the mind. Usually Shark preferred to stay out of the fight and watch us from afar, noting our mistakes, and at the end he would painstakingly try to inform us of our own pettiness and worthlessness. But apparently today he also decided to stretch his bones. In fact, to be honest, he was the only one who posed a threat to me. The two blond furies were overly assertive and eager to beat me up, but it was too early for them to dream of that. Yes, that's right, two.

Felicia had once said that she wanted to learn to stand up for herself. After some thought and coordination with Shark, we recommended that she go to our school. Of course, it would have been an outright disgrace to Connors to let her go to our school on the same terms as we did. So she had to pay for the lessons. Shark made some small discount, but Hardy is not a poor girl and can afford even a double rate. So she started training with us under our trainer. Now I had to wait an hour for the shower queue, and Shark only chuckled and chuckled at my requests to change the locker room.

Felicia wasn't bad as a fighter. She was fit, had excellent reactions, and was as flexible as a... well, a cat. Yeah. She was a quick learner. In a fight, she preferred to evade a blow, come from behind, and use sneaky and sometimes sneaky tricks. She was the easiest to pull off, and Shark, not being a fool, noticed it right away. The girl managed to disappear right out of sight and in a fraction of an instant be behind your back. The coach after the first time she did such a trick became very thoughtful, but did not ask anything. Only at the end whispered to me that I know how to surround myself with interesting personalities. In fact, I was surprised at the girl's preparation. Of course, I knew her father was a thief, but I hadn't realised he'd taught his daughter his tricks.

Shark's a great bloke, though! In the past month since my arm had fully healed, he'd somehow managed to get me up to speed on the basics of combat. Maybe it was my paradoxical learning ability, but as a trainer, the former military man also put a lot of effort into it. And as a person, he was a wonderful man. He never asked uncomfortable questions, and at the same time he willingly went to the meeting with any requests from my side. We've developed a very friendly relationship over the past month. Yeah. It's good to have a spider's sense of smell. I didn't have many friends in my previous two lives. I don't remember much about either of them, but I'm pretty sure I had a hard time making friends. With no guarantee that someone wouldn't betray me, I preferred to keep to myself. But now, when my empathy wakes up, I can feel the mood and attitudes of other people, at least partially. And so, being sure of certain personalities, I allowed myself small weaknesses, and trusted them a little more than others. Shark and Connors were such men. They were officers and men of honour.

Our training programme had undergone some changes too. First, individualised lesson plans were developed for each of the trio. Felicia was simply confronted with the fact.

- You're a scout, saboteur, thief, assassin, shadow assassin. Take your pick, the essence is pretty much the same. And the training is the same. I have no intention of burying your talent in the ground. That's why I'm going to mould you into exactly that kind of expert. You either take it or leave it. It's your choice.

That's what he said. Felicia turned pale, blushed, but did not protest, just nodded and that was it. As I realised, this was what she wanted to get. So the relevant experts took over her training. I don't know what her father had taught her, or what she was being taught now, but she was getting happier with each training session. The cat's had her fill of sour cream.

Gwen was into guns. Obviously not swords or anything exotic. Her passion was firearms. The blonde could disappear on the range for hours, hung on her ears headphones, turned up the volume to maximum and, listening to music, shot targets. In her hometown, she was not allowed to go to the shooting range. Her father was against her daughter's involvement with dangerous toys. But now, when we were taken to the shooting range for the first time, Gwen was saying goodbye to her rifle with tears in her eyes. I swear I saw her gently stroking it and saying something to it! The first passion was not going to go away, and the girl wanted to take advanced sniper training. Shark thoughtfully picked a hole in the heart of the target with his finger and gave the go-ahead.

I... well, I learnt a little bit of everything, thinking that everything would come in handy in life. In truth, our training wasn't limited to just one or two disciplines. We studied everything. It was just that some subjects were studied more deeply than others. So hand-to-hand combat is what we did and still do. It's just that I did the most out of the three of us. In spite of my physical form and spider reflexes, I was not as good at pure fighting technique as the others, even though I was learning the science at a breakneck pace. Shark, who sent the girls to other trainers, could afford to train me more closely.

As I blocked Shark's blow, I felt the back of my head against something heavy. A leg? Hmm... it felt like it. I suppose a normal human should have fallen to the floor and drooled happily. But I'm a damn hard to kill creature, and with just a little shake of my head, I got away from the elbow. Gwen couldn't miss a chance like that....

It's a shame I couldn't hide my abilities from the girls. Of course, it was silly to hope for that when training together, but my friends are smart, and it's hard to fool them. What a fuss it made when they realised that even the two of them couldn't get me! Shark tried not to put me in sparring matches with the girls, but it didn't work. At one point Gwen thought it would be a good idea to test my skills. I'm always training with my trainer, but I've forgotten about my girlfriend, you know! I don't give her the attention she deserves! I was resting on the floor, not touching anyone, and then my intuition warned me of danger. Shark's a trickster, he often tests my instincts. So I rolled away without much surprise and without opening my eyes. In a minute I realised that something was wrong, and it wasn't the trainer who was hitting me, so I opened my eyes, but it was too late. I had already shown my speed, and to brake sharply would be just stupid. Then Felicia joined the fun. After a dozen minutes, the girls got tired and stopped tormenting me. I could have put them down a long time ago, but frankly it was a pity. When they caught their breath, the second round of my torment began. My favourite tactic of keeping mysteriously silent and not answering anything failed. The blondes were too accustomed to the fact that I could be easily twisted, and did not want to back down with questions. Then I had to regret that I had been so careless about our friendship and let things go, preferring to satisfy the whims of my ladies. I had to chew them out. I don't know what had more effect on them... The fact that they were ashamed of themselves and heeded my words, or the fact that I, usually silent and quiet, had suddenly burst into such a long and heartfelt speech. But the girls left me alone. They were offended, but I felt better. At least I got a break from them.

It's so hard! No, not fighting. Not at all. I had to restrain the force of the blow, for some reason I was sure, and the blows on the dummies confirmed it, that I could easily break the skull through... by hitting with full force. I had already broken three mannequins, I don't know how he explained it to his superiors, but after that I had to even hit them, holding back the blow. And if you take into account the fact that I had to deliberately reduce my speed, then it becomes obvious that sparring for me was quite exhausting. It was a good thing that besides Shark and the girls, I had another good friend to 'dance' with. Daredevil, though he was basically an ordinary man, was superior to Shark in every way. Bitch had sworn to me that he'd never taken any of the super-soldier's serums, but I didn't believe him! He was a very cool fighter in my opinion, taking into account the peculiarities of his perception of the world, he was a very interesting opponent, over whom you could not shake so much, and when fighting with whom you do not need to mock yourself so much in terms of reducing your own performance.

But I didn't get rid of Daredevilova with pure sparring. I tried to meet with him more or less regularly. Since it was not a shame to learn from an experienced superhero. And he actually knew how to do a lot of things and willingly shared his knowledge with me. To be honest, at first I was very puzzled why he was helping me, because he knew me for nothing and in fact owed me nothing. One day I couldn't stand it and asked him about it.

That's when he was generous with his story. Apart from the mystery of his identity and everything connected with it, he told me everything. He had been in a car accident when he was a boy, a lorry carrying chemicals had overturned and one of the containers had been damaged. The liquid got in the boy's eyes. It was the last thing he saw. Although the loss of sight had a great effect on the boy, but the plastic child's psyche was doing its job, slowly but surely. To make matters worse, the boy soon found himself in another mess.

His father - a boxer of mediocre level, and so barely made ends meet, the young hero did not remember his mother. Murdock Sr. (it's clear that no one told me his last name, but I already knew it), preferred to spend his time training in the gym. Matt used to go there a lot, but after the tragedy, father and son had drifted apart. The latter, in fact, was left to himself. Matt often walked around the city, coming home only at night. He was surprised to notice that with the loss of his sight, the rest of his senses had become much more acute. Of course, it wasn't much use to him yet, but the boy preferred walking to sitting in his trousers at home. One evening, as he was on his way home, Matt was unlucky, or lucky as the case may be....

He heard a strange voice very close by. He heard a strange voice saying he was glad he'd found such a tasty vial of blood. The boy was confused and didn't understand the meaning of the words, but he felt a rush of breath on his neck. It was a vampire, but Matt found out a little later. His saviour had told him such an interesting tale, which turned out to be true. A travelling hunter of these cute, almost plush creatures. Stick. That's what he called himself.

From that moment on, the boy's life changed. Stick wasn't just a hunter of evil. He was a hobby, so to speak. He was actually a ninja warrior, as cliché as that sounds. And this man took it upon himself to train the boy.

At this point, my interlocutor was silent, and after a few minutes I, impatient to risk breaking the reigning silence.

- And then? What was next?

- What was next? - Murdock answered after a little more silence. - Then I asked him what you asked me. Why this strange man was wasting his time on a blind cripple, for it was a futile endeavour, and a failure from the start. My teacher said something to me that I didn't understand at the time. He said that it is not the master who finds the pupil, but quite the opposite. The master's job is not to miss the moment.

- Are you saying I've become your apprentice? Either I don't understand either, or it's a classic moment in the destiny of every chosen one. Finding a grey-haired teacher. And that I have to learn the secret art of ninja? - I ironically clarified.

- If you don't want to, don't learn. - Daredevil smiled. - Do you really think that I could follow the standard curriculum that my teacher used to teach me? There, there! You really don't understand anything. But don't despair, it'll come to you in time. What are you, sixteen?

- Seventeen. - I frowned and took off my mask, so I didn't have to worry about Murdock in the shelter. - Almost eighteen.

- Oh!' the horny man exclaimed in surprise. - Have you finally decided to show your shy face in front of a blind man?

- Less poison! You can't be so wasteful with him! That's no way for a lawyer to behave!

- Lawyers? - Daredevil asked with carelessness in his voice.

- Come on, it's a good profession, profitable. There's no need to be complex about nothing! - If he was going to tear off his masks, then not only from himself.

- M-da... - thoughtfully stretched out my... teacher? - Well, since you know who I am, maybe you'll introduce yourself?

- Nah... so not interesting!

And so, little by little, I learnt from Murdoch. He wasn't very hard on me, and sometimes I thought he was training my spirit more than my body. No, I don't mean trivial meditation techniques, comprehending the vital chi energy, and the like. All of that was certainly very interesting and important too. To believe or not to believe in this notorious chi, there was no question. Magic may very well exist in this world, and why can't chi exist? All the more reason to explain the inhuman strength and agility of the horned man. And when this ninja spoke right in my head... aha telepathy! Then my doubts disappeared completely. But I also have empathy, a flawed kind of empathy that works arbitrarily and almost independently of me... Shit! Exactly! Matt was surprised when he told me that he could only communicate that way with people he was attuned to, or who had telepathy themselves. And only over short distances. According to him, the tuning should take about an hour, but I answered in five minutes. Then I just shrugged..... Why didn't I realise? It's obvious that my empathy is involved!

What am I talking about? Oh yeah! Telepathy, chi energy manipulation... it was all interesting. But that's not what Daredevil was focusing on in the first place. He showed me the real dark side of the super's work. The two of us often wandered Hell's Kitchen together, often encountering dark personalities, and often I had to learn the art of... interrogation under his careful guidance. I learnt painful and not only points on the human body, I learnt to kill by touch... to methodically tear off nails, and crush joints... Fortitude, and willingness to go to the extreme, that's what he nurtured in me. For which I will always be grateful.

After receiving a few sensitive spits, I realised I'd gone too far back in my memories. Time to go back... although I guess I was too late to start sharpening my knives. The fight was over. Rubbing my neck for good measure, I looked round at the desperately out of breath girls. Shark, the fucking conspirator, had already run away, not wanting to show that he was tired, too. A secret and terribly cunning plan was brewing in my head. With a sneaky glance at the girls, I quietly staggered to the locker room.

In a minute I was already standing under a stream of warm water, and soaping myself up, whistling a song to myself. There was a drumming at the shower door, and I heard some scraps of swearing, to which I whistled even louder.

- Peter, where are you going now? Walk me out? - Gwen was drying her hair with a hairdryer, and after the warm water, the Furies were in a better mood, too, and they weren't looking at me like animals anymore.

- Can I give you two lovebirds a lift? - Felicia asked. - I'm driving anyway.

- I'm sorry, ladies, but I have other things to do. So I won't be able to keep you company. - I informed the blondes.

- Business? - My girlfriend frowned.

- Yeah, my mistress is waiting for me. - I remarked melancholically. - I'm late!

Knowledge of women's habits can be useful, and not a little. For example, now I carelessly jumped out into the corridor and went to the exit. Until the blondes are cleaned up, they're not leaving the locker room. So, I should not worry about the safety of my carcass. A massive comb flying past my ear shook my ironclad confidence. The only thing left to do was to take a swipe at my dignity....

Business, yeah. Just yesterday, lying on the bed and looking at the ceiling, I suddenly realised what I hadn't done. Something I should have figured out from the beginning. I don't know why, but it just hadn't occurred to me before. I had even had a fleeting thought, and I had a vision of a telepath's bald skull. I wondered if one of the brainiacs could have got inside my head. It was crazy, of course, but Xavier's kind of comrades make me nervous.

It was a long way to the right place, and I sank back into my memories. In fact, I should probably just rest, or I'll soon be moving my brain without anyone's help. That's right, I'm just tired. Training with Shark, training with Murdock... it was time-consuming, exhausting both bodily and spiritually. But on top of that, I had a lot of other things to do. I'm amazed at myself now, the amount of pressure I've been under. I can't remember the last time I had a rest! The lab was exhausting too. What to speak if at times I did not take more than three hours to sleep. And even my new body has a certain amount of strength and endurance.

With Connors, we were already very close to success, in fact, all that was left was experimentation. Now only practice will tell us if we're right in our calculations. Let's hope so... And then there was Eddie and his maniacal thirst for our parents' legacy. The bloke was really stuck on the subject, wanting to put them back to work. Not that I minded, not at all, but it was a Herculean task. All those documents we found at home had a lot of potential. Connors, who we also initiated, confirmed that the parents' calculations were theoretically valid. But the problem was we couldn't find the end of their work. The most important part, without which it would be very difficult to follow in their footsteps. Although there is a beginning, it's just a question of timing. It's a good thing we don't have to go to school now....

It took me about twenty minutes to walk from the bus stop until I finally saw the building I needed. In this exhibition centre most often show technical novelties, scientific experiments. It's like a school science fair, only on a bigger level. For the most part, the samples in the many vast halls have nothing to do with such a word as usefulness. Just interesting trinkets. This is where that spider bit me....

I don't know why, but I'd forgotten all about this place. After all, the logical thing to do would be to find out as much as possible about the creature that gave me the superpowers. Ideally, I should have caught the dodgy little creature and put it in a jar. Study the lousy arthropod, hehe. I probably shouldn't be so negative about the spider, but rather grateful. After all, he's the one who gave me my strength. But the bastard, why did he have to bite so painfully? Gentle?

When I got to the right floor, I pushed the door of the right room. Stop! I don't get it! The hall was empty, completely... Hmm... had the spiders already been taken away? That's unfortunate, I didn't expect that. It's been a while, though. After looking around the empty room, I went to look for some of the staff. As luck would have it, they'd all disappeared. So I wandered around the building. I went down to the ground floor to the reception. What the hell was that?! There was no one behind the counter. But I found a little bell, and I had a blast on it. After a couple of minutes of incessant clacking, I was finally noticed. And with a permanent American smile, a pretty short-haired brunette with slightly overdone silicone lips came out to me.

- Good afternoon. How can I help you? - and her teeth are too Hollywood, less so on a horse.

- Hello. About a month and a half ago, you had a whole room full of spiders. I had a spare moment, so I decided to revisit the room. But I didn't find any spiders. Can you give me any information about their fate?

- Spiders? - the girl's face twitched, but only for a moment. - I'm sorry, I've only been working here a week, I can't help you.

- Then tell me who I can turn to. - I asked a little irritated.

The brunette politely smiled even more, which made me afraid for her, in case she would tear something. Asking to wait a minute, she disappeared into the back room. She's going to contact her boss? Something I do not like all this ... Something is not clean ...

I was prevented from thinking by my returning acquaintance. Asking me to wait on the sofa, she pleased me by saying that the reasonable man I needed would be here right away. And indeed she was not lying, no sooner had I settled down with maximum comfort than a middle-aged man, slightly overweight, but wearing a rather expensive suit and thin rectangular glasses, sat down next to me.

- Hello,' he smiled sweetly, as did the girl. - My name is Jacob.

I just nodded. I didn't want to introduce myself, not that I felt threatened, but my empathy was silent, which meant he was emotionally calm. No anxiety, no excitement, no other vivid feelings. Of course, that still meant nothing, but I felt no danger, just the impropriety of the situation. It was a strange sensation I hadn't recognised before... and the very fact of it irritated and unnerved me.

I had to hand it to Jacob, but he knew I wasn't going to introduce myself, and he was quick to break the silence. Shit! I should have said a name! I'm an idiot. But it's too late, isn't it?

- About your question. You see, a month ago the management of the exhibition centre changed, and with it almost all the rest of the staff. I've been appointed interim manager. Personally, I don't remember the spider exhibition, it must have been removed earlier.

- Isn't there any paperwork or electronic records? - I'm naturally amazed.

- M-ma...' Jacob hesitated. - You see... I don't want to slander my last shift, so to speak. But as it happens, all the documents were seized by the tax authorities. I'm afraid I can't really help you now. If you come in, say, in a few weeks, then maybe the chaos and confusion will calm down. We'll get our documents back, and we'll be able to address your question. - the manager waved his hands guiltily.

- I see... - it's clear that nothing is clear. - Well, Mr Jacob, I think I'll visit you in due course. - I stood up and shook his hand and headed out.

The feeling of wrongness didn't go away. Hmm... no, a change of management due to corruption is realistic, but... No, I can't really articulate what's bothering me. I'll have to scour the internet, it can't be that there's no trace of it! Those spiders couldn't have come out of nowhere! Or could they? It's mystical, isn't it?

From the exhibition centre I walked on my own two feet. The thoughts in my skull were spinning frantically, which legally couldn't go to waste. And the skull began to crackle alarmingly. Out of the corner of my eye I was watching around, sometimes stopping near a tray with newspapers, or at the adverts. Paranoia or not, I should take precautions. I was lucky with my teachers, and I can detect surveillance at a minimum level. I don't know if that level wasn't enough or if there really wasn't any surveillance. I don't know. The situation was stressing me out, I couldn't figure out what the problem was, and the uncertainty was infuriating! So I was in a bad mood.

When a police car with sirens and flashers switched on raced by, I was overjoyed. This was a real opportunity to blow off steam! Finding a darker alleyway, I quickly changed my clothes, because I carry a rucksack with me all the time. It's just a pity that it only holds a minimum of equipment, a suit and throwers. I didn't risk carrying a gun. I don't know. So, where'd that car go? Oh, good luck! Another one's gone! There's got to be a big fight going on.

***

New York City. Exact location unknown. It was the morning of the same day.

A light semi-darkness filled the spacious room. Normally a lab would require bright lighting, but this was the one where someone who didn't really need the light worked. The thing was, Spencer Smythe just couldn't stand bright lights. The rest of the lab had to put up with this peculiarity of their boss.

Three rather large capsules were placed on a dais. Thick ropes of wires and tubes stretched across the floor from the capsules; they lay in bizarre circles and figure eights, with the other end cutting into units of unclear purpose. Soft moonlight poured through the transparent caps of the capsules, additionally illuminating the laboratory and allowing a good look at the contents of the capsules.

Opposite the capsules on the very edge of the dais stood two men. One was like a giant, towering two heads above the other. The latter was not at all presentable. He slouched fearfully, coughed frequently, and then applied himself to the oxygen mask. He wore a white dressing gown that had once been greasy and dirty. The kind usually worn by doctors or practising scientists. In this case, it was the latter.

- Spencer,' the giant, dark-skinned man in the white dinner jacket said, 'When do I expect any results? How many times, Spencer? Do you have any idea how much money I'm investing in your lab?

- Mr Fisk,' the old man in the lab coat grumbled irritably, but suddenly he coughed again. The one called Fisk wrinkled his nose, but didn't say anything. - You know I'm good with glands, but not with living cells, heh... heh... I'm a roboticist! Not a geneticist or a biologist! So what do you want from me?

- Results! - roared the giant, so that even Smythe, who was far from weak in spirit, was imbued with the criminal mastermind's anger. - I want results! All right, these meat carcasses, but where are your promised and praised robots? Where are they? I'm asking you!

- Robot! - Spencer perked up, coughed again, and put the mask back on. - Robot! The robot is ready! Just yesterday, the assembly was completed. All that's left is to test the prototype.

- Finally...' Fisk exhaled forcefully. - Good. I want to see your creation on the evening news, Doctor. Conduct field tests, I want to know the machine's real potential. - The giant curved his lips in a wide grin.

- Field trials? Are you telling me to put expensive equipment under police bullets? - The scientist opened his eyes in horror and grabbed his skipped heart in a non-pictorial way.

- So it's in your own interest to conduct the operation competently, and to save the 'equipment'. As much as I feel sorry for the money, I don't want to make plans without full information. I'm waiting for news, and that's the end of it. - The criminal mastermind, better known as Ambal, stepped deeper into the dais, carefully stepping over the wires. Leaning over one pod, he examined the naked male body sceptically. Not knowing that the man under the lid was an albino one would have thought Fisk was considering a dead man.

- Still. What's the situation with them? - Ambal asked, examining the body of his handmaiden.

- Doing... k-ha... k-ha... k-ha... xxx... ha... my best. - Smythe grumbled irritably, the conversation had already exhausted him, and the scientist couldn't wait to kick the annoying leader out of the lab. - You realise that I have a vested interest in the success of at least one experiment.

***

The streets of New York. It's late afternoon.

What was that police car rush? Jumping onto the cab of a truck, I had the opportunity to observe an interesting scene. It looked like the beginning of a disaster film. People were running. They stopped their cars right in the middle of the road, got out of the cabin and left the scene in a steady stream. At the same time they did not forget to voice something not quite intelligible, but emotionally intense. And the main character of this performance was a three-metre tall robot. The robot inspired respect, but it had no head, so why did the robot need it? The iron rascal seemed to be in a desperate hurry to get somewhere, as he strode along the street, helping drivers to park their cars properly. I hope they have insurance, because if they don't, it's going to cost them a lot of money. Ha! It's too late to take that SUV to the repair shop, it's just scrap!

A dozen policemen were jumping around the robot, trying to stop it. Apparently, their calibre was too small. The cops' shots were like mosquito bites to the robot. Thick-skinned bastard! M-ma... honestly, should I get involved? Except for the cars in the way, the iron didn't touch anyone else. He ignored the cops and didn't notice ordinary people at all. He could have. A robot, as far as I could tell, could do a good job with the main calibre if it wanted to. It had no head, but in its place I could see an almost tank-like muzzle pointing forward. And something firearms could be seen on his hands.

My doubts about joining the fight with this colossus were sharply resolved when I paid attention a little further along the trajectory of the robot. An old pickup truck stood in the middle of the road, its door open. But the driver, who seemed to be a peer of his car, had no time to get out. Heart attack or something else, but Grandpa was unconscious. Abruptly, I jumped off my seat and jumped across the roofs of the cars to the pickup. On the way I brazenly jumped on top of the robot's head, twisted round and splattered him with a bit of spider web with both hands. Too bad I didn't have time to notice where his 'eyes' were. But it wasn't evening yet!

Hopped up to the pickup, threw my grandfather on my shoulder with a lurch. Clearly the American nation needs to go on a diet! Heavy grandpa! I looked for the nearest cop and ran to him. When he saw me and my burden, he was confused.

- What's the matter with you?! Put your gun in your holster, retard! - I felt the old man's pulse. He's alive. But the pulse is barely palpable. Take grandpa to the doctor...

My instincts kicked in, so I grabbed a policeman too, I didn't have time to let Grandpa out, and ran with them like a scalded man! I barely made it! We'd have been riddled with bullets! Did the robot take offence? As I rounded the corner of the house, I almost bumped into Gwen's dad.

- Captain! - I rejoiced at the meeting, and put the dazed cop and the insensitive old man on the ground. - On your responsibility. Grandpa needs an ambulance.

- All right! - George nodded calmly. That's what I call a man's stamina! Why am I so scared? Are the other superheroes afraid of anything?

- Captain, call your boys off! - I made up my mind. - Bullets can't hit iron anyway, and they'll get in my way. - Mr Stacey nodded again, and his partner, who was standing a little behind me, pulled out his radio.

- Attention, everybody! Attention, everybody! Stay away from the robot! Evacuate the civilians out of the way! I repeat.

- Can you handle it? - The captain decided to ask the captain. - The cavalry should be arriving soon. Don't take any unnecessary risks.

I just smiled sadly, but I couldn't make out my facial expression under the mask. If you knew, Stacy, how I don't want to risk my carcass, it's dear to me as a memory.....

The robot calmed down and continued on his way, pushing the cars apart. And how would I take down this armoured carcass? I looked around, looking for something weighty, as always following the laws of universal evil, I found nothing suitable. What if...? My wandering gaze locked onto a manhole cover. What's not a throwing disc? Picking one up, I quickly climbed to the roof of the nearest building. It would be easier to throw from the top... I guess. Somehow I wasn't into this kind of sport before. Let's get better, it's never too late to start.

I was thinking while I was climbing. I couldn't understand what the creator of this iron was after. What purpose? I climbed up, took aim, oh shit! It's far away! I won't hit it! Well, I'll doubt it later. Trying to remember how to throw discs correctly, I swung my improvised projectile. And... go, go, go, go!

I knew I'd miss! It wasn't critical. I wanted to hit the centre, but that's fine. The robot's right arm has been torn right off. It'll be easier from here. Who's that? From my position, I could see a shadow rushing towards the iron. The all-black silhouette was somewhat strange... if only because it was floating. It floated like tar melted in the scorching summer sun. It was a surreal picture that was stupefying. Although the silhouette was clearly human, but this substance that covered it without leaving gaps... it was unpleasant, alien and disgusting.

The monster leapt up to the robot and struck a blow at the body of the iron without any hesitation. It swayed, and the fuselage sagged slightly, but clearly. The robot, catching its balance, took a step back, but caught its own severed arm and fell on its back. The black roared triumphantly, displaying a huge, unrealistically large maw studded with sharp fangs. The monster roared a solemn note, and didn't seem to pay attention to the surrounding reality. Taking advantage of this, I moved from the roof closer to the action. The black man did not inspire my confidence, his costume floating randomly over his body, occasionally letting out little tendrils that dangled blindly in the air, as if looking for something to snatch. But I didn't want to be the first to attack, either; after all, he'd hit a robot, so was he, like, a superhero too? Or what? I don't remember any of those, although I had a vague hunch on the periphery of my mind, but it wouldn't come any closer... bummer...

- Hela! Hello, black man! - I decided to attract the monster's attention. Which I did, the black man's head turned towards me. - New York can congratulate on the acquisition of another super? - I tried to make my voice as friendly as possible.

- RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...SPIDER!!!!! SPIDER-MAN! SPIDER... SPIDER TASTES GOOD?!!!!

The voice was monstrously distorted, but to my horror I knew exactly who it belonged to. I see this man almost every day, he sometimes annoys me on weekends too. Brock! Damn it... this suit... but... We haven't started the practical fancy one yet! How did Eddie get a working sample of the costume? We were knee-deep in it all the way to Asgard!

- THE SPIDER IS DELICIOUS!

I was so dumbfounded, I almost forgot about Eddie. But I was wrong. The monster was on me in a flash. It was only when my senses were at full blast that I recognised the black man's dangerous proximity. A hand covered in black slime was at my throat, and I managed to dodge it with difficulty. But then long thin ropes separated from the hand, and before I knew it I was wrapped up in them.

- YUMMY! SPIDER!!!

Only my head was free, and relatively so. The ropes were tightening on me like a real boa constrictor, tightening their grip on me more and more. If I were a normal human being, I'd probably have broken every bone in my body by now. Oh! If this tentacle monster pushes a little harder, I'm sure it will happen! The monster pulled me closer to him, and stuck out a long, bright red tongue and licked my mask. I shuddered, but I realised that the mask is not only a protection of identity, but also such m-ma protection too....

In the next second, everything changed dramatically. Brock fell to the pavement and screamed terribly. The scream, inhuman at first, became human at the end, but that seemed to be the end of it. The black mass began to flow away from him and into the cocoon that enveloped me. I was overcome with euphoria, a sense of power, power flowing through my veins, it seemed that now I could literally topple mountains. All the power that the spider had given me was finally no longer contained, the prison of my own consciousness had fallen. And I felt a new part of me roaring with mind-blowing elation. What's a pathetic Brock to us? A loser, an ordinary unremarkable mortal, one of billions of mediocre humans! He's nothing! He's a worm! In symbiosis with him, WE played a major role, WE gave all the power! But WE knew, WE felt, the one who calls himself the Spider. We knew where he was, we looked for him, we followed his trail. The unpalatable iron that tried to stop us fell. And WE saw.... WE saw the full us. Symbiosis! A symbiosis of us! Our strength doubled, WE became so indestructible! That wonderful feeling of oneness, the feeling of wholeness, it is so wonderful that it now easily eclipses our hunger!

We've been burned.... We've been burned? We've been burned! Damn iron! How dare you?! The fire that raged around us was hot, but it couldn't destroy us. We were stronger! We could resist it, creating an almost dead layer of ourselves at the edge of existence was easy. An almost dead layer that miraculously withstood the heat of the fire. The iron kept pouring red flames on us, and didn't realise it was already useless. We were not hungry, and the iron was also not edible, so we chopped it slowly. There was a hope that under a big layer of metal, there might be a tasty piece of flesh. We tore off piece after piece, the dense claws on our fingers easily cutting through the iron, and our hands and tentacles had enough strength to tear through the armour. Unfortunately our hopes were in vain. We found no flesh. But no great loss. Near the triumph of our symbiosis still lay a worthless host. It too can be eaten later, when hunger returns. And it's not the only one that can be eaten. How good for us, we didn't look for the Spider for nothing! Now we can feel without seeing! That's how we know there are several pieces of flesh moving towards us. But... but you can't eat them. You can't? We can't. What about Brock? You can eat Brock!

***

New York City suburbs. Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. Same morning.

The day had been a mess from the start. Yesterday, Jean had over-exerted herself in training and was now legitimately having to pay the price with a bad headache. She even yelled at Scott because of it. Even though he only wanted to cheer her up by pretending to be a zombie, the girl didn't get the joke. Scott is a nice guy, outgoing, funny, companionable, and Jean even thinks she likes him. I guess she was wrong to get so worked up about him. Now she even regretted doing it, but she couldn't go and apologise! Really? And she still had a headache. That's probably why she'd rubbed Bobby's ears too. But Jean didn't feel guilty about that! That icy one had almost hit her in the eye with a snowball, and it would have been fine if he'd been outside, but he'd been throwing it at her in the building! The telekinesis helped at the very last second, and she managed to stop the projectile. Perhaps a few minutes of hanging upside down would help Bobby remember the minimum safety standards!

Jean didn't notice the little girl who was hiding behind the door, silently chuckling to herself. Everyone at the institute called this cute little pink-haired person nothing but Pixie. After all, she had amazing capabilities. To begin with, it should be noted that she had translucent azure wings, like a butterfly. But her most interesting feature was her ability to create magic dust. And if Jean Grey had been a little more attentive to the incident, she would have easily learnt that it was just this dust that was to blame. After all, Fey could use the dust to make others hallucinate. Bobby actually inhaled the fairy dust. How could he have known that the blue snow pony that was running so merrily round the clearing around him would actually turn out to be an angry Jean Grey?

And so it turned out that the girl giggled for a long time, the pony taught the boy to levitate, and the red-haired girl continued to suffer from a headache....

Then there was that scandal. Perhaps one shouldn't think so, but lately the house is considerably calmer when Warren is absent. No, the personal angel of all those who live and study at the institute is not a bad person in himself... m-m-m-more precisely a mutant, however, who cares. Well, Warren's a sweetheart! He's a wonderful man. He's helped the institute in so many ways, and he's still doing it now. So even if there was a reason, it would be hard to say anything bad about him. The thing is, Warren seems to have lost his purpose, his inspiration, his fervour. It's hard to say. And besides the professor, no one else probably knows Angel's motives. True motives. Everyone at the Institute has their own, sometimes sad, history, but they all share a common goal. The one Xavier gave them. The mutants under his command want to learn to control their own powers and live in harmony with them. And a small group of initiates, including Jin, want more. These mutants want to build a society where both humans and mutants can exist peacefully. But as with any dream, the road to that dream is inevitably thorny. Gene understands this, as do Scott, Monroe, and even young Bobby. But not Warren. Angel has always been against forceful solutions, even if they are for the good. Perhaps the professor is right, and not everyone can be a true fighter on the path to their dreams. Eh... after today's fight with Xavier, Warren won't be showing his face at the mansion for a long time now.

- 'Jin! - A telepathic call from his mentor came into his already torn head. - Get to the hangar now! There's an urgent mission!'

- 'Sir!' the girl tried to reach the professor as she ran. - What's wrong? Does this have something to do with Warren? I saw him just take off. He was angry.'

- 'It was all my fault. I shouldn't have pushed him.'

- 'Sir?'

- 'A few minutes ago I learnt there was a battle going on in the city. A robot appeared from somewhere in the centre. So I asked him to keep you company. You know right now it's just you and Scott out of the older students. Warren's got a temper, as usual.'

- 'Um...did you say robot?' - The girl interjected in surprise.

- 'Yes. I think it's a great chance to gain some experience for Bobby.'

During the telepathic communication, Jean had just managed to get down to the underground hangar, and even changed into her uniform. Scott was already waiting inside the aircraft, Bobby was running out of the men's locker room.

- 'Professor, perhaps we should have...'

- 'Don't worry. I'll back you up!'

The girl ran into the plane and realised that Charles Xavier was there too. Amazing diligence for a man in a wheelchair. Jean smiled in relief, she didn't consider herself a strong mutant, and with some truth she knew that few people would be able to help in open combat. This was Bobby's first real mission for him, and it would be foolish to consider him an experienced fighter. Of the trio, only Scott knew and could do enough, but he was alone, and would need to cover for two of the team members if anything happened. But now that the professor was with them, any mission would be an easy walk! It was only when Jin wanted to give her mentor a live greeting that she heard his voice in her head again.

- 'You don't need the others to know that I'm flying with you. You're the only one who can see me right now. Let the boys rely only on their own strength. And I'll help in case of emergency.'

- 'Okay, Professor.'

Bobby ran into the cabin, Jean had already managed to take her seat. The pilot's seat, of course. Despite his fighting and leadership talents, Scott was not good with the Swallow. For which he endured much ridicule from the other X-men. Jean, on the other hand, could fly perfectly, and loved to do it. In fact, Warren was the best at flying the Swallow, and he could fly anything that flew, not just his own wings. Closing the hatch and warming up the engines, the girl brought the Swallow into position. A short acceleration and the plane cut through the endless stream of the waterfall hiding the exit from the underground hangar.

The flight itself didn't take long either, the city was just a short distance away. Besides, the Swallow was a masterpiece of advanced scientific thought, and could do a lot of things. Thus invisibility allowed to avoid unnecessary attention, and the possibility of vertical takeoff provided an easy landing not far from the scene.

- We're here, gentlemen! The hatch is open! - Despite her slight trepidation, her voice sounded firm and confident. She didn't want to appear weak in front of the boys.

- All right! Let's take this thing down! - Scott took command of the operation. He's more experienced and a better tactician. - Gene, you take cover, get the men to a safe distance, we don't want any casualties. Bobby and I will attack as we see fit.

After listening to a brief briefing, the small group of mutants moved towards the scene. Bobby created an ice path and glided easily along it. Jean, who thought it was better to save her strength, picked herself and Scott up with her telekinesis. Professor Xavier stayed in the plane, the distance is not so great for him, he will reach it.

Already on the approach mutants saw something burning. The flames were large, and hit several nearby cars. BANG!!! One of them exploded. A few seconds later, the next one flew into the air. Jean was pleased to see that the other cars were too far away and the fire was not reaching them. As they got a little closer, the girl let Scott go, and he ran on his own. Jean, on the other hand, having chosen a suitable vantage point, remained at a safe distance. Her head was still hurting, but she had no choice, so she deployed her mental network at full power. Now she had to find possible casualties and use telepathy to lead them away from the war zone.

Meanwhile, Scott, also known as Cyclops, and Bobby the Iceman were approaching the centre of the fiery inferno. But they had no time to do anything, the fire came down and a black figure, which had been standing in the centre of the fire funnel all this time, appeared to their dazed eyes. From the back of the strange creature came out several long tentacles or whips. And on its chest could be seen the white image of a spider. The monster, roared and pounced on something lying on the pavement. The X-men froze in place, and watched lethargically as the black monster tore the ill-fated robot with ease.

- 'Er...er...Professor? Do you see? What do we...what do we do?'

There was no answer for a long time, but the girl paid no attention to it, it was as if she was under hypnosis, she still couldn't take her eyes off of what was happening.

- 'Yes, Jean. I see through your eyes.' - The mentor's voice was unusually weak, and it made the girl nervous. - 'Jin. I have tried to enter this creature's thoughts, to see who is before us. Friend or foe. But I've had little success...'

- 'Sir! Are you all right?!'

To hear that one of the strongest telepaths in the world couldn't get inside someone's head was wild. So wild and scary that his student was almost panicked. Cyclops and Iceman also froze in indecision.

- 'The only thing I realised in that mishmash of images... That creature... it feels like it's not one. Like a joining of two or more minds. That was the first obstacle, such a peculiar resonance does not allow me to work. Also, one of the minds isn't quite human. It's something else. I can't say for sure what it is. But it's bad. It feels an eternal hunger, and that hunger cannot be quenched. Gene.... The monster feeds on the intelligent.'

The beauty of telepathic conversation is that it happens much faster than normal communication. So in reality not even a minute had passed, the situation hadn't changed in any way. The mutants froze in indecision, while the black monster continued to slice the robot.

- 'Since that's the case, we can't delay, we need to attack first!'

- 'It might be dangerous. But you're right, we should try. If the monster proves to be too strong, we will retreat immediately. Tell that to the guys. And tell them to behave carefully.'

The thread linking her to her mentor broke, and the girl wasted no more time in reaching out with her consciousness to Cyclops and Iceman. The lads realised this and rushed forward. Scott tweaked something in the settings of his glasses, setting the flow of energy emitted from his eyes to a safe maximum. Bobby closed his eyes for a few moments, then opened them, fully in his ice form. But the monster was faster than them. Stopping to chop up the remains of the robot, it picked up some naked man with its arm and with a few deft movements wrapped him in a... web? A leap, and the monster, crumbling concrete with its claws hangs from the wall of the nearest high-rise.

- 'He's heading for the slum neighbourhood!' - Jean shouted mentally. She now held a shared mental net, and so the entire trio could communicate with each other without any additional means of communication.

- 'Great!' - Scott rejoiced. - 'Fighting there will do less damage to the city! Gene can you handle evacuating people out of its path?'

- 'I have the professor's insurance.' - The girl decided to confess.

Scott didn't answer, instead he fired a bright red laser beam at the monster. The timing was perfect. And although the black man somehow managed to dodge, he still missed his burden. Bobby was ready to catch it, but a long white thread stretched out of the monster's hand, a jerk and the cocoon was back in his possession. The creature roared and, dropping the cocoon onto someone's balcony, launched itself at the offenders. Further fight mutants remembered faintly. It was a collapse. The monster was faster, it was stronger, it evaded almost all of the X-men's attacks with remarkable ease. Scott only managed to hit his opponent once, and he didn't take credit for it. The monster had simply knocked the goggles off the Cyclops' head with one of its tentacle outgrowths. Without this defence, the mutant simply physically could not control the radiation of the eyes, so the black man was hit by the wide beam. But that small success was over in a second, as Scott was sent flying uncomplicatedly into a short but intense flight to the nearest wall. Whatever excellent form he had kept his body in was not enough. An open arm fracture, and unconsciousness. That's how the fight ended for the small squad's tactical leader. Bobby lasted a little longer. He was saved by his ice form, which made it difficult to wound him, and he quickly realised that he shouldn't get into close combat. Unfortunately, the ice knives and spears did not reach their target, as they were too slow.

Eventually the monster managed to grab the skittish snowman. Bobby tried to freeze the black man, which at first even succeeded, but then one of the tentacles struck the boy in the chest with a swift stroke, piercing it through and through. Thank the gods the wound was not fatal for Iceman, but to regenerate he had to concentrate only on it, completely out of the fight. So, in the end, only Jin was left watching the fight in horror. The monster slowly approached her, licked carnivorously with its long predatory tongue, and held out its hand. The girl completely forgot that she was a mutant and could stand up for herself, she just watched mesmerised as a clawed hand reached for her face....

But the monster suddenly, removed his hand and squatted down, wrapped his arms around her head and began to howl softly.

- 'Jin...' - again the professor's voice with its weakness made the girl shudder. - 'I won't be able to hold him for long... grab the boys and get out. Quickly...'

The clear commands managed to bring the girl to her senses a little, and she remembered that she possessed telekinesis. The three bodies gently but abruptly soared over the pavement and flew away with all possible speed.

Tomorrow Jean Grey's head would hurt even more than it did today.

***

New York City. Slums. One minute later.

I never thought I'd have Xavier's help. Slowly rising to my feet, I looked around the scene of the carnage with difficulty, swivelling my head around. Where on earth had I thrown him...? Turns out telepathy is a stick with two ends. That's why I was able to realise who had dealt our combined consciousness this terrible blow. I saw the image of a bald man in a wheelchair quite clearly. Although, actually, it's surprising that I could see something in my half-delirious state. Anyway, I'll have to send the telepath a thank-you card. In person would have been much better, but as my one encounter with this contingent of people had taught me, telepaths were best avoided altogether. Life is still precious to me. Oh, and I have Daredevil to thank. His lessons have been a great help. I was able to seal most of my personality into a tight cocoon, and Xavier's raw power took the symbiote's full force.

Yeah, I think that's the balcony over there. That's it. Brock didn't run anywhere in his web cocoon, for which he also gets a personal thank you. Why? I give thanks to everyone, and so should he. After kicking the cocoon a few times, I forced myself to calm down. Bitch, why are you pointing your fingers at black substances?! You're a fucking scientist! Quiet, Peter, quiet. I can't be nervous. My symbionic partner might wake up from a mental spanking. Do we need it?

Picking up the cocoon, I lowered it to the ground in some back alley. The black mass enveloping my body dutifully finds a small bottle in my off-load. And pushes it right into the palm of my hand. After treating the cocoon with the liquid, I watched the cobwebs dissolve for a bit longer.

- All right. So long, Eddie. See you soon. - I said, smiling madly and looking forward to it. Oh... I guess I'm not quite myself... something's got me on edge.

But really, I can dream on the road. Right now, I need to do something about my tentacled companion before he wakes up and drives our minds into a frenzy. I want to have a heart-to-heart with Brock, but I want to talk to him, not eat him. Lucky the X-Men, and their mentor, stumbled upon me. If they hadn't, I can't imagine what I would have done. I would've stabbed Brock for sure. And after a while, the hunger would have got to me, and I'd have had no restraint at all, and I'd have gone out and eaten everyone.

Damn! That's not how I pictured meeting Venom. There was hope that I could train my brain enough to resist the crazy creature. How many times had I imagined myself all decked out in white shining armour, and on a beautiful white warhorse. In front of me, the torn and defeated Venom is somehow in the form of a serpent. And I pierce the monster with my spear with a beautiful movement of my gloved hand! The monster squirms in agony and suffocates in spirit, leaving my body as a trophy. Yeah. The reality was much sadder. I simply couldn't win, and there was no fight. My way of thinking just changed abruptly and imperceptibly, and such concepts as the scale of values, principles, and dogmas of morality simply ceased to exist. We merged, we became Venom... just like that. I guess if it wasn't for Daredevil's classes, if it wasn't for Xavier, and if it wasn't for my experience with mind-melding, I'd have faded into oblivion. It's hard to imagine how the original Spider-Man could resist the symbiote's influence!

Now I was sneaking around in the shadows, trying not to be seen by people. My goal was to... Although why am I the one hiding? A small mental effort, and the black mass on me obediently changes and relocates into some analogue of a ninja suit. Now I don't have to work so hard at hiding. Convenient as hell! It would even be a shame to get rid of it... Okay, stop! To hell with that kind of thinking! I realise I can't control him. So I don't see any other way out. I can't give in to temptation. Not even a small piece, so to speak, for experimentation. Let's not repeat the mistakes of others. So, my goal. I've never considered myself a complete idiot. And if so, knowing some details of my possible future, I tried to prepare for it as best as possible. Straws, yeah. Actually, I even imagined a situation like this, and took measures. As a Spider I was able to recognise the city of New York. So finding a suitable place was not a problem. The attic in one half-abandoned communal building I stuffed with all possible speakers, creating a kind of fear room for Venom. In the cartoon I saw, there were sound cannons, to which the symbiote reacted quite painfully. But I couldn't get them. The only way into the attic was through a small window, which I sealed with a non-decaying web. I sealed the other entrances and exits with even more secure methods. Well, here I am. My heart is pounding nervously in my chest, and I'm quietly repeating a mantra to myself:

- Everything will work out, everything will work out, everything will work out.....

I switch on the first switch, the electricity goes on. I crossed my heart and switched on the second switch. What a bitch! That's probably the only sensible thought that went through my head. That hurt! No, it didn't. IT HURT! My whole being became one exposed nerve with lightning bolts constantly striking it. And the worst part was that he was waking up. No, no, no! The process was too slow! With a trembling hand, almost without looking, I fumbled for the drawer. How clever of me... how thoughtful of me to put it on the floor and within reach. I couldn't get a sound cannon, but I found M84 flash-bang grenades in the Hobgoblins' arsenal. Having taken out two of them at once, I managed to pull the pin with some difficulty. Now let's test it... BANG!!!!

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I think I screamed. Or was it Him? I don't know, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the grenades... didn't help... I could still feel him. His pain, his suffering, his bitterness, his bitterness, his misunderstanding and his resentment towards me. There was a reason he was looking for me, as soon as a careless Brock released Venom from the test tube. He felt me. He felt kinship, and blood. My blood. He was searching for it, looking for it. For he was made of blood! The symbiote was created by Eddie and my fathers. But at the core of Venom's essence was my father's blood, no, our father's! That's why as a host, I was the ultimate dream, the perfect match, the best of all possible worlds! And the powers I got from the bite of a genetically modified spider weren't crucial, just... just a pleasant surprise. If my father had been alive, Venom... WE would have chosen him without hesitation.

We broke through the roof, we agonised, and there was no way we were going to die. We were squirming and suffering. We were betrayed, and by whom? We screamed and we tore ourselves apart. We rolled and fell from the roofs. We saw the cross and reached for it as our last hope. We saw the cross and understood everything, we resisted, we scratched the asphalt with our claws and crumbled bricks. But We were stronger and persevered. We wanted to get rid of Us! Only He, if He exists, knows what it cost us to climb the bell tower of His temple! We grasped the rope, and the nasty ringing went into Our heads! We don't know how long it lasted, We only remember the Pain and the Darkness.....