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***
-It's your own fault, mate.
Puffing and puffing, Pete and I dragged the new bed up to the first floor of the Parker house. A lot of people are gonna ask: "Hey, Shawn. But why didn't you order home delivery?" and I easily answer that question by showing a picture of Uncle Ben humming Hava Nagila.
The damn piece of furniture has already sucked us dry. Not only did we have to tie it to the roof of the car, but we had to hold on to it the whole way.
Now we, tired, angry and sweaty, were almost pushing the damn bed through the door. One last careful tug and the damned bar bed fell to the floor with a rumble.
Wiping my wet forehead, I sat down right where I stood, feeling my body stiffen painfully, especially my hands, unused to such strain. My fingers felt like wood, but, thankfully, they recovered quickly. Even Pete, with all his superpowers, puffed tiredly, settling down beside me.
-It's your own fault, of course. As if that's a reason to throw tantrums.....
-Hysterics? I thought she'd beat the shit out of you.
-Don't exaggerate.
-Sean, she threw a hydrant at you!
-Sweethearts quarrel.
-She threw it from the third floor.
-She loves you when she hits you.
-Tried to rip off your mask. -Pete tried a different tactic and my friend succeeded. -Tore your hat.
-"Bitch," I get to my feet, staring at nothing in disbelief, "you're right. She's definitely out of line.
-It's interesting how you prioritise things.
-Don't joke about it, old chap. My girlfriend tried to kill me!
-I didn't say that. -What's going to happen next?
-What happens next time? -What happens next time? An angry, resentful woman with superpowers! Anything could happen.
-I think you keep talking about your clothes?!
Squinting suspiciously, Parker rested his chin on his knee, pressing his leg closer to his chest.
-We've got to stop her, old chap. Protect the city, save the innocents....
-" Pete yawned contagiously and slid to his side, making himself comfortable on the floor, "it's no big deal. You'll make up later, when it cools down.
-If only it were that easy," I stopped playing and fell back onto the bed, ignoring Parker's outraged hiss of warning.
-Don't be dramatic, Gwen will come to her senses and-
-No, old chap. She'd rather sever all ties than give up her ideals.
-You're overreacting again. -And you're the one who screwed up. No one asked you to gesture.
-Huh," I grinned, leaving Pete's comment unanswered. If that was harsh, then it's better we never work together again," the princess got really angry and took offence. Her father said that Gwen is just furious and I may not even try to contact her yet.
-Her dad? You don't think he did it on purpose?
-Not at all, on the contrary, -Recalling our phone conversation with George, I realised that the old "bobby" and himself in shock from the next sharp mood swings in his daughter and planned to blame all this shit on me, but when he found out that the problem arose between us, the man, not hiding his disappointment, groaned into the phone, -He now and himself on tiptoe at home. My advice, Pete, don't get a girlfriend with superpowers.
-Oh, Sean, - Parker sat closer and patted me on the shoulder, -not all superheroines are like that, because I haven't changed.
-...
-...
-Ha-ha-ha!
Our laughter attracted the attention of the rest of the house, and a happy couple of older Parkers showed up on the doorstep. Uncle Ben was hugging his embarrassed wife around the waist while Aunt May looked round the room, paying particular attention to the bed.
-I told you. Good hard work will wash away all problems.
-Okay, okay, you were right, -Giving her husband a kiss, the woman dragged him behind her into the bedroom, going round and round the bed, -Oh, should we have bought such a big one? Why did we need it?
-Hehehe...
-Get lost, you arsehole.
Pete punched me in the shoulder, and under Uncle Ben's mocking gaze, I let my friend lead me out of the room.
-Come on, you little brats, take a walk for a while," he was clearly test-driving a new purchase, so the generous Benjamin handed us each twenty greenbacks as he sent us out the door, "There's beer in the fridge so I don't see you tonight.
Whispering in the end, the man closed the door, leaving his unsuspecting wife alone.
-You're a good old man. -You're a good old man.
-Well, Parker.
***
Empty beer cans crumpled into balloons and took flight, taking turns in the improvised ring.We sat on the railway bridge, throwing rubbish into a small spider web basket Peter had created in a couple of minutes of hard work. It was crooked and looked more like a seed packet than a normal ring, but it was better than nothing.
-So you'll wait it out?
-Yeah, we should let it cool down.
-Oh, man. I think you're making a mistake.
-My young padawan, let me teach you something important," my friend's feigned sighs and eye-rolling were habitually left out of my perception, "if the young lady is sulking, you don't even have to try. Let her unwind, run around in a colourful suit, look at life in the dark alleys that hides behind beautiful signs and politicians' speeches....
Staring spellbound at the cars, passers-by and pieces of rubbish running under my feet, I felt a growing tension in my head. The world was slowly losing its colours, pushing me to make another speech, ignoring the inopportune occasion and bad mood.
-Let her see all that filth and lust lurking in the shadows-.
For a moment I thought I had the mask back on my face, but I knew for a fact that it was resting in my pocket right now.
"In my pocket, though...".
My hand fluttered along the jacket, probing every corner, trying to find the cherished object, and it was only after a long five seconds that I found it. Soft, cool fabric, causing a pleasant tingling sensation in the pads of my fingers. Lately, I'd begun to notice that I sometimes spent long periods of time just rubbing the fabric of the mask, listening to my sensations, feeling the Qi resonate with the power in the Ancient's gift.
-And when she realizes that ideals alone can't save New York... When the shit from the streets reaches her throat and it's hard for her to breathe and speak... I'll be back," the obsession broke, and I saw all the colours again, and the noises of the big city came into sharp focus, "yeah, then I'll come back and we'll talk.
-Fuck, man. It was kind of creepy," a new crumpled can went flying, matching our hit count, "but when you go to make up, you better buy some flowers and don't wear a mask or you'll get hit in the face again.
-I didn't get punched in the face by her.
-Yeah, right.
-You look like you're gonna stand up to MJ when she wants to punch you. -Yeah, right.
-Haha, MJ's not like that, we have a great relationship, she's not going to give me a hard time, and I'm not going to tell her anything. -Great plan.
That's a great plan, it's just--
-Come on. We both know it's the best thing to do.
-Oh, please, call me when she finds out and you're making these arguments," I grab Parker's shoulders and turn him to face me, shaking the bewildered friend pleadingly, "please! Please! Please!
-L-l-l-l-l-l-a-a-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no.
With barely audible words, Pete broke free of my grip, crawling onto the nearest beam, where he comfortably perched upside down.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, just quietly drinking beer and thinking about our own things. Worries, worries, and other teenage joys filled our brains, preventing us from thinking productively.
-Do you think... Is she really going to be mad?
-М?
-Am-Jay," Pete returned to his seat, hanging his head so that his fringes covered his eyes, "I don't want to put her in danger... I'm doing the right thing.
-From a logical point of view, that is, from our point of view," I pointed my fingers at us and clapped my friend on the shoulder encouragingly, "you're a handsome man. But from a woman's point of view, you'll be a rare goat.
-What do you mean?
-Let's face it, it's easier this way.
-So this is how it's gonna work? -So this is how it's gonna work?
At my questioning look, Parker rose from his seat, waving his arms and raising his voice.
-Whenever there's a breakdown, we're going to sit in the middle of nowhere, drinking beer and complaining about our girlfriends?
-Yeah," I leaned back nonchalantly, letting my arm hang loosely over the precipice, "that's right.
-No wonder the women are so hard on us.
-Hallelujah, old chap.
I saluted the sad Pete with the jar, feeling the first notes of intoxication creeping into my mind, and smiled tiredly. I hated to admit it, but the only best way out of all the circumstances was to wait it out.
***
-Shawn, mein Freund! -Shawn, mein Freund! How glad I am to see you here, I was afraid you wouldn't come on the first day, and that would have been an unpleasant circumstance!
Otto Octavius swooped down on me like a kite and quickly took me by the shoulders, pushing me insistently towards his office. The teacher responsible for our first lesson, who had no time to say anything, remained only silently watching us, flapping his eyes and lips. The other students were also surprised, but did not say anything.
-Doc, what's wrong? Is something wrong?
-Of course, mein Freund, of course! -Of course! You don't know how hard it is to find an assistant with a good classification! Oh, poor Herman, he was such a bright young man, but the crooked path and circumstances are sometimes stronger than we are.-Ehm, yes, that's quite accurate," I smiled awkwardly and hastily almost ran after Otto, pushing passers-by along the way and I think I even saw Pete in one of the corridors.
But when we reached our destination, Otto tossed the keys to the lab onto the table, where the creative chaos was already in full swing. In general, the whole lab was a mad scientist's lair. Apparently, it was Schultz who kept order in this place, and with his disappearance, Octavius' workplace began to fall into disrepair.
Sir, this place looks a little--
-Dirty? Ya-ya, I've heard from other visitors," Octavius waved his hand languidly and walked around the mountains of bionic prosthetics of varying degrees of damage, "I don't care. They don't understand my creative genius.
-Oh, there's dried pizza in here. -Oh.
-It happens, Herr Sullivan. -It happens a lot.
We continued to pick our way through the debris of various devices. I bet some of them would be worth a lot to the feds, and Otto just scattered them like useless junk.
-Didn't you have an assistant? Clara, wasn't it?
-Yeah, the only ray of light in my sad life," Doc clasped his hands to his heart and twirled round and round, raising his amorous eyes to the sky, "but now she's gone to her mother's in Washington, D.C. She's got termites or something. Clara's helping to get rid of them-
"Yeah, I know what kind of termites she can get rid of."
An image popped into my head of the doctor's girlfriend with her Rambo-esque battle colouring, armed with guns and other gadgets, snapping the neck of some next enemy of America and the UN Security Council with her bare hands.
"I wonder what she was summoned for? Octavius is an extremely important character, his research could change a lot of things in the world. He needs constant supervision. They wouldn't call off his personal nanny for nothing. Although... Maybe I'm lying and that sweetest woman is actually helping her mother right now."
Sometimes it's better to believe in good things. Although, whatever Clara was doing, as long as it didn't harm the doctor or innocent people, I didn't care about the rest.
-Oh, finally. I'll be honest, Mein Freund, you'll have to work hard to get rid of everything here. Your work begins today, but first I wanted to show you something!
As we made our way through the thicket, we came to a small open space and my attention to the surrounding reality was lost.
I was staring at the device, a unit suspended on hooks, covered with a muddy oilcloth.
Through it I could guess a silhouette and general shapes, enough to realise- Octavius had succeeded.
-"My creation is finally complete. Please, Sean, admire and applaud!
And I gave in to the moment. I opened my mouth and watched the film fall, pulled off by the professor's slight movement. My palms began to flap languidly on their own as I couldn't tear my gaze away.
Four identical tentacles dangled from the ceiling. Huge four-toed claws rested on metal stands, tightly wrapped in oiled paper.
All the limbs were attached to a huge steel spine that stood on a pedestal in the centre of the structure. There were ribs coming off of it, probably holding the operator in place. Hundreds of needles, wires, open areas with microcircuits sticking out... But I felt in my gut that if I carefully tucked it all away inside, these ghastly processes would work seamlessly, displaying their full power.
-You finished them, Doc. -You finished them. Holy shit.
-Ha-ha-ha-ha, your reaction is even better than I expected, and it warms my calloused heart.
With his arms at his sides and his chest puffed out, Otto stepped closer, admiring his creation. The scent of metal and grease wafted to his nose. There was a solemn silence in the lab, and we were both enjoying the moment, though I confess I could hardly control myself. I wanted to feel everything, touch everything, see the drawings and specifications. And, apparently, my impatience and excitement did not go unnoticed. Octavius gestured me toward the computer next to me, offering me the opportunity to examine his masterpiece for myself.
-Thanks, Doc.
-Ha-ha, no problem, mein Freund. I may have made it myself, but your little nudge... Um," Otto snapped his fingers, remembering the comparison, and sat down on a nearby table, "as they say. Pebble. Ya. Like a tiny pebble that served as the avalanche's collapse....
There was a piercing squeak in my head. The pain was growing, and familiar images flashed before my eyes that I couldn't make out. Whether it was a few seconds or a couple of hours, I couldn't tell how long it lasted, but the Qi directed at my head eased the discomfort.
Without noticing it, I habitually grasped the mask in my pocket, which I had foolishly started carrying around with me....
"Wait. I left it at home on purpose... I'm not an idiot to bring such a compromise to the university."
Before I could finish my thought, I was forced back to reality, as Doc had finished his speech and was clearly waiting for me. God bless Qi and the man who invented its use. Without this magical energy, I certainly wouldn't be able to respond to questions properly or have any dialogue at all.I only hoped Otto had put my sluggishness down to excitement, or it would have been awkward.
Gradually, I came to my senses, and the Qi circulating through my veins only helped me to do so. The energy flowing through my veins was energising and invigorating, allowing me to get involved in the study of the prosthetics.
Well, what can I say? Otto's a genius, the kind of person that cultists and other bullies of Asian history say is born once every thousand years. Many people often say that I'm a clever kid, think of Pete or Norman Osborne and his "great inventions" as a genius... But when I took a quick glance at Otto's schematics, drawings, calculations and notes, I felt like a monkey who had found the Hadron Collider.
The elegance of solutions, simplicity of layout and incredibly accurate calculations that allowed to create a new mixture of metals that gave flexibility, lightness and strength to the structure. I did not call the tentacles a masterpiece for nothing, and the longer I read about Otto's work, the more I became convinced of it. And the professor himself was happy to tell me the controversial points, which greatly threw me off my mood. With huge money, reputation, and government interest behind him, Octavius was very different from his classic image, and no matter how much I tried to come to terms with it, he still threw me off.
-Connects directly to the nervous system! Fantastic!
At one point, I was starting to insert doctor's words myself.
Mild insanity, check. German, check. Laboratory with equipment decades ahead of the world, check.
All we have to do is yell "Heil Hydra" and go invade Poland.
-You're right, Shawn. You're right, Sean," Otto smiled as he caressingly ran his palm over the metal segments, his thoughts swirling in his mind, "and soon we'll finally conduct the first tests!
-Great... What?
***
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