Spider-Man SI

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***

Coming back to reality was hard. For here I had a numb body and a terrible headache. So I woke up slowly and reluctantly. I wanted to stay a little longer in my cosy world. In which no one bothered me, no one pestered me with all sorts of household chores, no one complained about the hard feline lot in the captivity of the spider. No insolent requests for help with my studies. where one-armed sadists didn't demand lectures. A world where it was just me and my little schizophrenia.

- 'Hey! Why are you calling me names?' - said an offended female voice in my head.

- 'I'm kidding.' - I reassure her.

- 'Are you sure?' - she asks with scepticism in her voice. - 'I looked it up, by the way.... You have multiple cerebral vascular ruptures. No brain tissue abnormalities yet, haven't tested everything yet. There's also significant blood loss from nosebleeds. Vascular damage to the eyeballs. Rupture of the left tympanic membrane, as a result of sudden pressure swings. General exhaustion of the body. Critical deficiency of a number of vitamins, minerals, trace elements. Also...'

- 'Wait C! I don't need you to list all of that for me! I've already realised that it's not going to be that easy for me. I'd rather you enlighten me, how did you know about my ailments? It's not like you have a body...'

- 'That's right. That's why at this moment in time, as a basis for my personality, I'm using some parts of your brain.'

- 'You mean you just tapped into my nervous system?'

- 'Not only that. You see, my parent, Venom, left you in a great hurry at one time. As a result, there were a small number of his cells left in your body, as well as some of your cells and tissues that he had time to optimise for his needs. You know that yourself, you've been testing yourself up and down.'

- 'Yeah. I have. So you've subjugated what's left of him?'

- 'Not completely yet.' - Cee said modestly. - 'Only somewhere on the order of seventeen and a half per cent. I've already started the recovery processes, but it's a drop in the bucket. There's almost no natural reserves left in the body.'

- 'Okay, I'll leave you to it. You can play. And I'll provide you with building materials.'

The short mental conversation didn't take long. But in that time, I was finally awake. I felt like I was horizontal, my head resting on something warm. Hmm.

- Hi. - I breathed in the familiar scent of Gwen's perfume.

- You're awake...' the girl said tiredly.

- I'm sorry. I probably made you worried.... - with sincere remorse pronounced.

- Yes, a little...

After listening to Stacy's short story about what happened after I 'passed out', I almost forcibly put the girl to bed. I couldn't bear to see the bags under her eyes. Gwen stayed up all night, and practically until noon, sitting next to my shameless carcass. Why shameless? Oh, well.

- Hello, hello girl! I'd like five, no, ten of the biggest pizzas you've got. Toppings? Anything you want, as long as it's edible! Address.

I hung up the phone, thought for a moment and dialled the number on my mobile phone again. I ordered more vitamins from the pharmacy, and all sorts of nutritional supplements that athletes eat. I could use all that stuff now. It turns out that when the brain is working at almost extreme load, it requires a lot of nutrients in return. Having warned the employees of the exhibition centre about it, I returned to our apartment. By the way, Felicia bought it, according to Gwen, especially for my exhibition. To me, it's too expensive and unnecessary, but what can I say now.....

So, what else is there? Oh, yes! Having checked Emma Frost's condition, I'm satisfied she's fine. What do you mean, fine? She's just lucky that I put some less potent substances in Gwen's armoury, including hallucinogens. Tandem with the sleeping pills, the mixture could have had quite a detrimental effect on the Queen's health. I injected her with a hallucinogen neutraliser and waited for her to wake up.

I had a lot to think about. Where was I? Yeah, that I'm shameless. Emma told Gwen almost the whole truth. It did take some extreme methods to get her out of her own mind, but more on that later. And if I was not what I am, it is very likely that now would be in heaven, or under the earth, it is already as luck would have it. If I were a normal person, I'd be dead very quickly, but if I were, I'm not even sure I'd be able to accelerate my brain to such a degree. Because even with my powers, I can't do that.....

The only thing the White Queen was wrong about was that I couldn't stop the processes that were going on under my thick frontal bone. I could stop and not expose myself to unnecessary risks, but I didn't want to. That's why I consider myself unconscionable. Gwen was worried about me and I was a callous bastard indulging in an experiment.

Let's start with the fact that I didn't expect to meet Emma Frost yesterday. Well, once I did, I thought it was a stupid idea to run away from my own party. And I didn't think the girl would just run off like that! I admit it was the biggest mistake I ever made. I thought I had learnt to stop the superficial reading of my thoughts with Dardevil's help, and Frost wouldn't go any deeper.

But she did.

I didn't stand a chance against her. I'll be honest, I was pretty scared. I hadn't felt so helpless in a long time. All my pathetic attempts to learn how to resist telepaths, to keep shields on my mind, and everything else were in vain. It wasn't for nothing that Daredevil had originally warned me that telepathy and methods of countering it were not his forte. That he was no good at it. Although his teacher, Stick, he could have given me a lot. But go find him.

Anyway, just when I thought it was the end and the fiasco, this happened. Cee came to my rescue. Well, if you call her by her full name, it's Isis. That's what they called the goddess of health in ancient Egypt. In my case, it was the name chosen by the daughter of the infamous Venom. I can't tell you about it in two words, but I'll try.

So, Venom, who in this universe, let me remind you, is not a space alien, but perhaps the crown of my father's genius, at one time wanted to take possession of my priceless carcass. He failed, and the creature hurriedly left my body. As Cee correctly pointed out, her father left some of his true body in me. These are not cells in the scientific sense, for the symbiote is a protoplasmic creature. It does not divide into cells, though it is composed of their elements. In fact, the structure of the symbiont my father created has all the elements of an ordinary cell, but no plasma membrane. If you oversimplify and go for complete primitivism, then Venom is essentially nothing but living water.

Mm-mm.

I'm getting carried away again. That's not even the point!

My father didn't just create an innovative cancer drug. Oh, no! He created so much more! A new kind of life! And not just some kind of sheep that we've learnt to clone at most. but intelligent life! And like any living thing, it's capable of reproduction. In the original universe, Venom spawned Karnage, Toxin and the rest of his kind. Something similar happened in my case.

Venom spent almost his entire existence in a flask, in a state close to anabiosis. Therefore, we can say that he was quite young and inexperienced when we met him. He simply did not realise that he could reproduce in this way. Most of this is our theory, because we don't know much about her parent. Isis inherited some incoherent bits of Venom's memory, but we didn't get much out of the madman's ramblings.

So in his haste, he left me with something akin to the germ of a new symbiote. And I am not talking about a particle of his protoplasmic body, because it was his particles that remained in my blood, but not the matrix for a new organism. The symbiote laid the mental structure of consciousness of the new individual of its species. And it is the presence of such a structure that is the biggest proof of my father's genius. How he managed to achieve such a thing I can't even imagine!

Without a physical embryo, of course, this structure simply could not develop into a full-fledged organism. Or rather, it was not so rigidly bound to the presence of a material body, but it still needed it. Then what about C, you ask?

That's an interesting question. But unfortunately, I can only guess. According to Isis, there are some pretty much immutable tenets in her mind. If you've read Isaac Asimov, you know about the three laws of robotics. Something similar was built into the symbiotes. And that's what allowed Cee to form as a complete individual. When she sensed my fear, my powerlessness, the directive to avoid harm to the host came up. She didn't have time to understand the situation, only to determine the extent of the threat and its direction.

C didn't think of anything better than to run my brain at full speed. Surprisingly, it worked.

- Mr Parker! - Someone knocked on the door.

Rising from the couch, I walked across the room, opened the door, and stepped outside. Letting outsiders into the apartment, and showing a bound Emma would be foolish.

- Here are your orders. - a woman at the exhibition centre informed me in a subservient manner. My jaw dropped. Thinking about how much money Felicia had spent on this useless centre made me want to cry.

- Thank you. - and I nod to the three guys who actually delivered my orders. - Put it on the table. Here's the money.

The couriers thanked me profusely for the tip and left. The employee tried to look into our apartment with obvious interest on her pretty face. No, she didn't want to know what we were doing there. It was obvious from her sly eyes that she had already formed her opinion and only wanted to confirm it. What on earth could two pretty girls and a young chap be doing? Is that a question that requires a direct answer? I think my haggard look convinced her even more of her own conclusions.

- You are dismissed, thank you! - I had to send the girl off like that, for she did her best to ignore my glances. It was a bit rude, but it was her own fault.

The pizza was really big, and quite tasty. Although it couldn't compare to the homemade deliciousness that my aunt sometimes spoils us with!

So, what happened next?

Nothing much, really. Emma had been banished and it was time to get acquainted. It is clear that a newborn human child is not born with a ready baggage of knowledge and skills. Its path to becoming a person is long and thorny. And so it would be with Cee, if it weren't for a couple of things.

First. Isis is a symbiote, not a human, and therefore the timeframe needed for her to grow up and form a personality is somewhat different from that of us. They can be compared to living nanocomputers. For they can easily think in a different time frame. As far as we can, Cee and I have tested its intellectual capabilities, and in my opinion it beats the latest computers I know of in terms of computing power by a significant margin. Well, unless an AI like Stark's Jarvis can match Isis.

This entails the fact that they can process information in the form of history, sociology, literature, etc. etc. faster. Which means they can mature faster.

The second factor, however, is that my brain was working faster when I met her. I was thinking pretty fast. I was thinking pretty fast. In less than 24 hours, my internal calendar had rewound a little over four months! (Author's note: For the sceptics, Xavier-level telepaths are capable of such tricks even with other people's minds, without any apparent harm to themselves.)

We had enough time to fully form Isis' mind, to get to know her, and to do some experiments, mostly concerning her abilities. And though she had no body of her own at that time, I was truly glad that the will of chance had given me such a loyal ally as Si. And I have full confidence in her loyalty. And again, I have more than one reason for that. There are several. The most obvious and, perhaps, the most important is that she has not gone mad like her parent from so many years in the flask, and that I personally had the opportunity to participate in the 'upbringing' of the girl. Since she could only access my knowledge and memories in general, I tried to instil in her universal values, morals, taboos and other aspects. I was the one who showed and explained why this or that was considered good or evil respectively.

Hmmm... something after the pizza pulled me into painfully philosophical topics. Meanwhile, Emma Frost is slowly coming round.

Oh, by the way!

On my head, I made my symbiote into a nightmarish, creepy, scary, colossal....

Ste-ma-girl. To make a long story short.

Symbiotes have no gender as a concept, they don't need a mate to reproduce. But they can position themselves as male or female if they wish. And Cee has clearly defined herself as a girl.

- 'Fragile and vulnerable! And all-hearing!' - sounded clearly in my head.

And as a member of the fair sex, she created a mental image of herself.

Do I need to specify what colour Isis' hair is?

- Good morning. - I say to a waking Emma.

- K-ha... whatever you say, handsome. - I hear a husky voice answering me.

I hum hummed and took a plastic disposable cup of water and handed it to the girl. Reaching out and taking the glass, she hesitated slightly. Seemed to have only just realised that I'd untied her.

- Aren't you afraid I'll run away? - asks after a taste of the life-saving moisture.

- Nope. You can leave if you want. The door's unlocked. - I smile.

- Can I get cleaned up? - After hesitating a bit and looking at the door, she said.

- The bathroom's that way. - I nod my head. - Shall I order you some clothes?

- Something light-coloured. - she throws, a little angrily. Probably pitying the bloodstained dress.

- Of course.

Emma wasn't gone long. But I had time to order her clothes, and to think about the conversation I was about to have. Gwen was still asleep, as far as I knew my girlfriend, it was hard to wake her up now. So we could talk calmly, as long as we didn't overreact.

- Shall we talk? - she asked glumly, as soon as she came out of the bathroom.

- Hmm...' I suddenly had a stupid idea, and the prepared phrase froze on my tongue. Instead, I say something else. - I want to offer you a job!

- Um... - the girl is lost, apparently she didn't expect that from me either. - I'm already earning good money, you know!

- Pfft! Money is only a resource! I'm offering you more than that!

- Let me guess. You give seminars on how to take over the world. And you need an assistant? Flip slides?

- Why are you so obsessed with this idea? I think you're too white to be the Dark Lord. I want to offer you a really interesting job. You've wanted to be a teacher since you were a little girl. So, please! I'll find you some students. I've already got one in mind. I need to raise my little sister to be a human being!

- That was a childhood fantasy!!! - The girl's overreacting emotionally. - How do you know?

- Well, you've shown me half my life yourself. My brains almost boiled while I was realising such a huge amount of information....

- Emma lowered her head. - ...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.....

Wow! Wow! The Queen is still capable of such genuine emotion?! Maybe I was right to trust this impulse and start with this topic. Although it's too early to judge.

- Come on, it's all right. - I wanted to be cruel and punish Frost in some way. I wanted to be angry with her, scowl and curse at her... But, I couldn't help it. If I really hadn't seen her childhood, I could be a bastard to her. - So, what's up? What do you think of my offer? Admit it, you want to teach the kids some sense, don't you?!

- No! - She shook her head stubbornly. - I have a goal. To reach the highest heights in the world. I don't want to be a teacher!

- Did your father win? - I asked quietly. - Remember, he's the one who wanted this fate for you. despising your own dreams!

- He had nothing to do with it! This is my decision! It's my decision!

- All right, well. - I feel like I need to back off. - Let's revisit this conversation later. In the meantime, think about it, weigh the pros and cons. Just remember my offer.

- This is ridiculous... you're a psycho... a bloody psycho.... how did I not realise before? What if it's contagious? ... why did I go into his head...' the girl mumbled quietly under her breath. I guess I was a little overdoing it after all....

- Look,' I interjected gently, 'I've certainly enjoyed my time with you. But don't you think it's time to say goodbye?

- Huh?' she gave me a hazy look.

- I'm trying to tactfully suggest that it's time for you to go home.

- You don't have much tact. - Is she trying to be funny? It's coming round! - Just like your girlfriend with her 'manners.'

- Oh! Sorry! I should have apologised for Gwen's actions a long time ago. - I mean it sincerely. - She went a little overboard with the precautions....

- Yeah, right... By the way, where's your other girlfriend? Felicia? It's strange that she left you in such a state...

- She had some urgent work to do. And she's not my girlfriend. - I scratch my head in puzzlement. - What makes you think that?

- Have you forgotten who I am?' Emma touches my temple with her index finger.

- Ha ha! Nice try to knock me off my game! I'll admit it. I just don't understand why.

- Oh! I'm always amazed at how stupid you men can be about these things!

- All right, all right! - I'm inwardly perplexed. Felicia and I are just mates! I think Gwen's been electrocuting Emma too many times and it's taking its toll. Why else would she start talking rubbish? - If you say so! But let's shake hands and say goodbye.

- You're just gonna let me go?

- Of course! I'll even call a taxi!

- Tact is really a problem. If you remember, I haven't got my clothes yet. Wearing a bloody dress in public is extravagant, but not my type!

As if just waiting for these words, there was a knock at the door. As it turned out, a moment later, it was the same curious girl, and the courier from the clothing boutique. The man kept his face brick-like, but did not look me in the eye. The girl was smiling broadly. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, which, combined with her red hair, looked very kawaii.

I've got this eavesdropper on my head....

I glumly paid the salesman and picked up the bag of things, but halfway to the door I was stopped by an insolent girl.

- Mr Parker, will there be any other wishes? - she asked me ingratiatingly.

- Not yet, thank you. - I dropped it sparingly.

- Can I get you some cold drinks? For you and your ladies? - Oh, what a pussy! What does she want from me? Wait! Don't tell me she's-- No, no.

- Drinks? - I was about to tell the insolent one to go away, but suddenly my empathy kicked in again. The redheaded girl had a fun vibe. So genuine, almost childlike. She seemed to enjoy mocking me! No, I get it! People are different, the girl plays the role of an insolent and clingy, with strange sexual proclivities. If it wasn't for empathy, I wouldn't have suspected a thing. That's when my paranoia kicked in. - Tell me, do you happen to have Russian roots? - I asked the girl in the forehead.

- Oh! How did you guess? It's not an accent, is it? Everyone tells me that there is no accent! - The redhead's tone became somehow pitiful.

- No, no! You don't really have an accent. I think I just got my finger in the sky. - The paranoia screamed in agony, kicked her legs, and let out a big stream of foam from her mouth. - Let me guess your name, too! Natalia?

- Oh! It's a very common name in my homeland. - smiled the girl.

- Am I wrong? - I was a little relieved.

- Ha-ha! No, you are exactly right! My name is Natasha, Natalia Romanova.

- Erm... nice to meet you... or something....

My mind was racing frantically, searching for answers to a bunch of questions. What the Hulk is the Black Widow doing here? What does she want with me? Did Fury send her?! But why? Why would she do that? Doesn't she trust me? And I wondered why she was being so nice. There's no way Fury, with her job and life experience, could be so nice to a guy she doesn't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She told me all this stuff about my dad and I fell for it. and I just fell for it, and I fell for it.

- 'Hey, boss, keep your voice down! Calm down, you can't be nervous! Not now!'

Xie's slightly frightened voice sobered me up, but not completely. I had to take a deep breath and slowly exhale. That's it. I think I'm feeling better....

Really, why did I panic? If I thought about it a little better, it wasn't a big deal. Why am I so sure Natasha's not here for me? She wouldn't give me her real name. Fury wouldn't make such a big mistake. Unless there's a sniper out there somewhere and he's got me in his sights. Then it's open and shut, yeah. Ah, I guess a certain amount of narcissism has gone to my head. I mean, why did I think the Widow was after me in the first place? Because I thought the universe revolved around me, my favourite!

- Tell me, Natalia. How long have you worked here? - I wanted badly enough to switch to Russian. But my paranoia hasn't let me go yet. So I didn't want to give away my little S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets.

- No, I don't. I just got a new job. Last week. It's a good, clean job. It pays well. - the girl said nonchalantly.

On the emotional spectrum, however, she was beginning to sound suspicious. Apparently she doesn't like my questions. Well, her intuition is working, but somehow wrong. She senses a suspicious person at once, but to get a job in the exhibition centre under her real name is so easy! Maybe it's not her real name. There's no way of knowing.

Well, I won't ask her any more questions. It's pretty clear she's infiltrating this place for a purpose. I need to find out from Felicia what upcoming exhibitions are scheduled... already at our place. Eh... how can you spend money so recklessly?! And I made her the CFO!

- That's right. Well, I'm glad you like it here! You'll have to excuse me, but they're waiting for me out there...' I nodded doomedly at the door. Talking to Emma had been difficult for me personally. It was like unloading several carriages. And it wasn't over yet. The most important problem we have to solve is still to be solved.

- Of course, of course. - The widow gave me a sly twinkle in her eye. - By the way, Mr Parker. - taking a step, she pressed against me with her whole body and in a special voice said. - If anything... I wouldn't mind being second... or third.....

Leaving my morally raped and not ready for such a carcass in peace, Romanova left my society at last.

- The clothes are here. - I handed a bulky paper bag to Emma.

- What's in here? - The telepath wrinkles her nose.

- Miss Marvel knows him. - I shrug. - I asked the consultant to pick out a couple of outfits. By the way, I was thinking, white is clearly not the right colour for the future tyrant. So why is that? Maybe it's a subconscious desire.

- Pfft! No way! White is the best colour for me! - and after glaring at me like I was an idiot, Emma disappeared into the bathroom or dressing room.

While I finished the rest of my pizza, polished it off with mineral water and checked on Gwen. The girl was snoozing sweetly. She was sleeping soundly, as I'd assumed, but she was tired of being around me. As soon as I sat down beside her, she woke up. The great power of love, it would seem! But after a minute it turned out that it was the phone ringing.

I don't get it, why didn't I hear it? Hey! I can't hear anything! What's going on?

- 'Take it easy boss!' - Cee cheerfully responded to my cry for help. - 'Remember when I said you had a ruptured left eardrum? Turns out the right one isn't all right either! 'But don't worry, I'll fix it soon!'

M-mother! Soon when?!

'Why are you so nervous? You've already repaired it! No thanks to you...'

- ... aha... aha... aha... okay... of course... - I heard Gwen mumbling sleepily and calmed down.

Something really nerves are shaky. I need to take some sedatives, I'll just find a drinker and go! Get my nervous system back on track, yeah.

- Good... aaahhh... morning! - while I was thinking over the candidate of the fellow on... um... taking medication, Gwen finished, and now wrapped her arms around me, seemed to fall asleep again.

- Good. Erm... day. - I move the girl onto my lap and wake her insistently. - You awake? - I ask after a dozen minutes.

- I'm not sure. - Stacey smiles.

- Then we'll have to do it again!

After another couple of minutes, she pulls away from me with visible regret.

- I'm sorry. I have to go.

- Is something wrong? - I'm worried.

- Dad. He wants to talk. At least I'm going to have dinner with him for once.

- Yeah. - I'm a deep thinker. - Family's sacred. Go.

As I stood up and picked up my purse, Gwen suddenly perked up.

- Where's that one?! - The last word was emphasised so strongly that it wasn't hard to guess who she was talking about. - Don't tell me you let her go!? Pete, you're the one who always said telepaths were dangerous. And she just proved it!

- Gwen, I know what I'm doing. - I'm adding coldness to my voice.

- ... - gaining air in her chest, and already opening her mouth Stacey still held back. - Okay. - The girl finally said as coldly as she could and walked out with a quick step.

What had just happened? What had she taken offence at? I don't get it! What did I say? Well, a little barked at her, so what's the big deal?

Women.

- Here I am! How do you like my outfit? - Emma twirled round cheerfully. Oh, my! Trying on a new outfit and immediately her mood lifted! Maybe she could learn to do that for herself.

- It's stunning. - I mumble back without even looking up at Frost. What's there to see? More white rags that were obviously chosen on a 'what's more revealing' basis.

- Oh! Why are you so glum? Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?

- I'm fine. What took you so long to get dressed? It's been half an hour.

- I didn't want to interrupt your snotty mating games. Bleh!

- Oh,' I make a hand-face gesture. - Look, I got you some clothes. Let's just say goodbye, shall we?

- I really wanted to stay in your company sir! - sarcastically replies the telepath. - Only we still have one unfinished question. Don't you think?

- I do, I do. How about this? You stay out of my life, and I'll stay out of yours. You know some of my secrets, and I know some of yours. We can make life difficult for each other. But why would we fight?

Emma didn't answer for a long time. Judging by the range of emotions I could sense, she was thinking hard about the proposal.

- I think it's reasonable. - She finally said it, but in such a sour tone that even I felt my cheekbones flush.

It's understandable; it's unpleasant to realise that a man who's been digging up your dirty laundry is going to live next door, and you can't do anything about it. I was in exactly the same situation. You could say Emma and I were in the same boat, even though we were at different ends of it. I'd feel a lot better if she was gone, too. Like they say, dead men don't talk. But I wasn't sure if I could beat her. After all, she's a powerful telepath, and I'm on the verge of exhaustion, both mentally and physically. The best thing to do was to break up relatively peacefully.

And I didn't want to kill her... I didn't want to kill her, that's all!

- Here comes the ladoosh.

BANG!

Something exploded violently outside, interrupting me half-heartedly. Jumping up from the sofa, I ran to the window, but saw nothing. And the sound was coming from the other side. Remembering that I had seen another window, I jumped out of the room. It turned out to be just right, and allowed me to see the mayhem in all its beauty.

- Listen,' I turned to the frightened Emma standing next to me, 'I have a question. Can you take control of the robot?

- Y-you, don't tell me you want to interfere!

Looking at the telepath, I shrugged.

- I don't want to, but I have to go. - I shifted my gaze back to the street, sighing heavily.

A big, shining steel robot, looking like a centaur or a spider, was raging right under the window of the exhibition centre.

- And why would you do that? What are you heroes doing risking your lives?! - the girl throws angrily.

- Hey, no need to call names here! I'm not a hero!

- Oh, really?' Emma asks sarcastically. - Then why?

- Don't you get it? That damn robot is dangerously close to my property! It could easily blow up this exhibition centre! Turn it into rubble! Do you know how much money I paid for it?!

I yelled my rant as I went back to my room and pulled on my gear. Unfortunately, C didn't yet have the functionality of Venom. And she couldn't turn into a comfortable, stylish suit yet. It's a shame, of course, but we'll learn.

The robot under the window is a cheeky one, by the looks of it! I really need to finish it quickly, or it will really mess up the facade of the building, and then what? Hire people to pay them to fix it, rebuild the bloody property!

- I'm off, you keep your head down and go home. See you later! - I jumped out of the window and flew towards the scene of the massacre.

And I'm not exaggerating, there was a real massacre going on outside! Not the traditional two sides of the confrontation, but three. The robot was clearly on the side of universal evil. I've never seen a positive robot. Although if the trend does not change, then soon I will be able to record the first dozen defeated iron. It feels like someone is purposefully sitting somewhere in the lab, and riveting them, periodically letting them out into the city for a walk. Well, how else to explain the fact that each new 'lumberjack' I met is an order of magnitude stronger and smarter than the previous one!? Certainly not mysticism.

So, the robot was on the dark side of the force, although I can't imagine what lured him there. Well, it wasn't biscuits, was it?

The role of the good guys was again expectedly played by the cops, and a SWAT team. It's understandable here - they're paid for it.

And the third party, personally, I was even more worried than the robot! For this side, was unclear what kind of belonging. Although...., yes. The man who had caused more destruction than the robot and the cops combined, clearly represented Chaos itself. And it was...

- What the fuck are you doing?! - I had to interrupt my musings.

I barely had time to catch the grenade launched by the Chaosist with my web. I jerk it towards the iron man. But time passes, the projectile fails to reach the target a couple of metres away and explodes in mid-air. As a result, the robot is practically unharmed, only a couple of scratches on the body added. And it barely swayed from the blast wave. Its six spider-like arms must have given it a firm grip on the surface.

- Bro! - shouts the Chaos Man, and rushes towards me, arms spread wide.

- Yaoi will not pass! - I shout and punch him in the head with my foot. Something distinctly crunched.

I cross myself and take a quick look at the scene. The cops didn't go forward, not even the SWAT team. They were more pulling people away from the scene, and driving away idle curious gawkers. And there are such people with suicidal tendencies! Meanwhile, the robot was actively pretending that he had nothing to do with it, just passing by. He was running away. He was fleeing the scene with all his six legs!

- Fuck! It hurts! - just a minute later, the Chaos Man came to life. - Bro, what are you doing?! Not happy to see me?! I missed you so much!?

- You... that... stay back! - I said threateningly. - I'm not one of those guys!

- Oh, no! Bro! Don't you just love a man's big hug?! - Deadpool cries out in a pained voice.

- Imagine that! I'm even allergic to kisses on the cheek!

- NO!!! - the talkative mercenary's pain-filled voice echoes through half the town. But then Deadpool finally notices the robot's strategic retreat, and... - HEY! Damn bucket of bolts! Where do you think you're going?! Hold it right there!

In a lightning-fast movement, the mercenary immediately emptied a clip into the robot spider's back. It didn't do any visible damage, apparently it was armoured.

Sighing heavily, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I had a headache. Why had I reacted so violently to the mercenary? What kind of nonsense had I just shouted? Could it be contagious? Or is Deadpool spreading a powerful aura of madness around him? Ha! It's entirely possible! I'm even inclined to seriously believe it! With a twitch, I imagined I was throwing all that nastiness off myself. It seemed to help a little.

With my foot, I tossed the hilt of my katana and caught it in mid-air. My 'bro' dropped one of his. I swung it a couple of times to try it out. It's pretty good. I'm not a master of kendo or any other kind of swordsmanship, but I know how to use a sword. By the way, I have such a small dream to learn how to handle cold weapons, but so far somehow not fate. I don't have enough time, and I haven't found a suitable teacher. True, I did not really and did not look for, but that's another story ...

In any case, it'll be easier to swing this kind of iron than bare fists. I guess.

I grabbed the corner of the nearest building with a spider's web and pulled myself off the ground.

The mercenary and the robot didn't get far. But at least they've moved away from the exhibition centre, which is good! Deadpool was firing his shotgun randomly at the robot. I've never seen him use that weapon before. Ah! Now I see. There's a policeman lying there. Poor bastard! Doing a quick check, I made sure the policeman was okay...hmmm...pardon the pun. After dragging him away from the epicentre of the fight, I finally decided to get involved.

- ...but a bucket on legs! - shouted Poole as he dodged the robot's manipulative legs.

- Listen! I decided to make small talk. What's the big deal? It's just a fight. Pfft! I must have fallen under the influence of the terrible 'aura of Chaos' that the mercenary generates. However, such clever thoughts in my head will appear much later, now I do not think about such things! - Why did you get into a fight with that robot in the first place? Are you switching camps?

- Huh? What you sayin', bro?! - shouted Poole, dangling from one of his paws.

- I think maybe you've decided to quit being a mercenary. And become a hero? - and make sure the robot doesn't give in, you bastard!

- Bro! That's a fucking awesome idea! - With joy, the mercenary loosened his grip, and the robot spider threw the annoying enemy off his paw with another swing.

After watching the red-suited carcass slowly slide down the cracked wall of the building, I turned back to the robot. There's no use in poking it with a sword. We need to find the vulnerabilities.

'Try the joints on the legs. They look pretty fragile.' - Isis advised.

'No point.' - I mentally replied.

'- How would you know?'

'- I tell you. This isn't the first time I've encountered robots like this. It's almost certain that they are assembled by the same person, well, or organisation. There's a lot of similarities. 'So trust me, the 'joints' of this under-centaur are super strong! I won't even try it!'

'Okay, okay, I won't distract you. Have fun, just not for long. You're contraindicated for prolonged exertion anytime soon.' - Cee recited in a nerdy doctor's voice, and fell silent.

The internal dialogue actually almost didn't bother me at all....

Oh... you... w....

I barely had time to dodge a new pair of paw-manipulators that came out from under the hull on the robot's tentative back. If it weren't for his gut, then... well, it's understandable, really.