Chapter 7

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***

Everything was settled, the tests were done, and my things were packed. All that's left is to figure out how to get rid of the babysitters, and the problems won't be long in coming. In fact, the plan is to travel for a month and, if nothing bad happens to me, to go to a temple in New York - I'll ask for training at Kamar Taj.

Waking up in the morning, I was ready to hit the road. My guards were due to arrive at 12:00. Oh! There's the doorbell. Well, let's see who my father sent me. Okay... Now, this is unexpected! I can see why he only offered two men. This guy could be a SEAL team. I know I'm the sole heir and all, but I'm not going to a Third World country. Why the hell did they put Carl Creel on me? At least the other one's ordinary, or they'd have given me Ward to complete the collection. Although Garrett probably won't let him go. After all, he's his protégé and doggie in one.

- Hello, Mr Pierce, we're in charge of your security now. - He went on to say something else, but as I'm not going to spend much time with them, I'll put him down as Mr 2.

- All right, then. Let's go. - although maybe sending Creel isn't such a bad thing. I already have an idea how to get rid of them.

We've been on the road for an hour and a half, and I'm still waiting for the right time to ditch them. First we need to get out of town. And we've already done that. Now at every third diner, I ask them to stop and order something. And this hungry guy, who was sent with Creel, is also eating a burger and drinking a soda so much that I envy his bladder. But nothing in this world is invincible - at the fifth stop he decided to run to the loo. It's time for our show to begin. I hope they didn't change the words in the future and it all works out.

- Creel, I'm sorry, but I need this.

- What?

- Obedience will be rewarded. - He's getting nervous. -You know it's better to obey! - He tries to get to me, but a few bursts of acceleration and I calmly dodge. -You'd better comply and you'll be rewarded! Do you know what's best, Creel?

- It's better to obey.

- That's right, and now you'll forget what I just told you and remember how I ran away from you and you tried to catch me, but I got faster and you couldn't do anything, and you didn't use your abilities because there was no threat to my life and there was no reason for you to reveal yourself. Do you understand me?

- I do.

- Good, now let's play this out. And do me a favour and discreetly prevent Number 2 or whatever his name is from informing your father about this for at least two more hours, and then accidentally find this note in the back under the seat. You got it?

- Yeah. Creel will be happy to comply.

- Then let's go.

Having played this spectacle for the cameras by the roadside, I set off along the motorway in search of a hitchhiker. Finding a blind spot where I could sit down and the cameras wouldn't pay attention to the car's possible slowdown, I was able to catch a hitchhiker. Sitting in the back seat, I buttoned my jacket all the way up and pulled my cap on tight. When I got to the city, I took a taxi and went to the safe house where I had thoughtfully moved my belongings. There was $100,000 in cash, a pistol, an assault rifle, a suit from the first Iron Man case, and a brand new silver Yamaha YZF-R1 - I had to get around on something.

Six months later.

Hydra Base underground level in one of the rooms on the floor in a pool of blood lay a dark-haired guy. There are two bullet holes in his back. Some parts of his body showed clear signs of an animal attack.

- Well, who ordered me, huh? - asked the man with the slight grey hair and the stupid glasses.

- Which one of these kids thought he was the smartest? You don't have to answer, I'll find out myself. Unlike them, I know that patience is the highest virtue.

How did this happen to me, you ask? Well, it started at a bar in Akron.

***

I've been travelling around for a few weeks now, and the idea of travelling doesn't seem that interesting anymore. The only thing that made it boring was the bars. I don't know why, but the further I go, the less they ask me my age, I mean, I look 18-19, but they only let me drink from 21. In the previous bars I could at least increase my psychology by messing with their brains and making them think I was old enough to drink, but there was no interest. Sitting in the bar for an hour and tired of drinking alcohol, because I can drink it like juice - it doesn't make me drunk - I suddenly notice an unusual person, that is, he looked like an Indian. But my intuition scrapes my skull and says: "Something is not right here". To be sure of my feelings, I went to a far corner and did a partial transformation. It won't give me a lot of points in my intuition, but I'll feel the danger right away. For some reason, this dubious-looking guy turned around and looked in my direction - I immediately felt the need to get out. "Here come the adventures" - I thought, leaving the bar. And, of course, he followed me. Well, how could he not? Turning into the alley behind the bar, I wait for my new admirer.

- So, what do you want from me?

- Are you a warrior?

- What? You mean, do I know how to fight?

- You have a strange odour - it's like the smell of warriors, but there can't be two warriors. How did you get the Blessing? Answer me!

- Whoa! Easy, easy, easy. I don't know what you're talking about. What warrior? What Blessing?

- You don't fool me. I can smell it. Fight! - hair began to grow all over his body, his limbs began to lengthen, and his face took on a cat-like shape.

- What the hell is that. - To say I was surprised is an understatement.

I didn't have time to think any further - my intuition trumpeted danger. How would I have realised without it that something was wrong, I don't know? As I dodged his claws, I began to take full form - I couldn't get out of here on acceleration alone.

- Ha! I knew you were a warrior!

- Yeah, what are you talking about? Warrior, warrior? What's that supposed to mean, huh?

- Only the most worthy can become a warrior, it's the highest honour. And only a warrior can save the world. You don't deserve that blessing!

That didn't make any fucking sense. Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't dodge his claws forever. Full transformation eats up some of my stamina, and I can only keep fighting at full strength for an hour or 30 minutes if I don't remove the acceleration. But given its speed and the marks its claws leave on the concrete, I don't want to do that. I'll have to knock him out or run if that doesn't work. I just need to get him away from the bar first, cos I don't want any witnesses. There's a construction site near here, so we'll go there.

- Hey, kitty, let's go for a walk.

- Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! - I don't like that red light in his eyes.

I don't think he likes to be called that. He's so fast. I should be able to dodge his swings at this speed. I sprint, jumping up five metres, flying through the fence, but the kitty, apparently, doesn't care at all: he just made a hole in the net.

I jumped on him and cut his face with my claws: I shattered his nose and managed to hit his left eye a bit, right up to the moment when he threw me off and crashed into me with his feet. I go flying into the deep end right into the middle of the foundation. While I was recovering, the cat came running up and I barely dodged his paws. But no, just from his paws - I noticed it when I broke the distance: I had a pretty good hole in my side. He took advantage of my hesitation and was about to claw at my heart, but I found a rebar and without thinking I put it between his ribs. He howled so much that I even thought it was a strange wolf, not a lynx or a puma.

And there we were... Standing in the middle of the construction site, claw marks everywhere - mostly his, but a couple of mine, too - and we looked at each other: he had a broken mouth and a damaged left eye, and I had a hole, a bunch of cuts of different depths, and a torn ear. And now it's either him or me. And that's where Plan B and the escape went, please tell me?

So we're running at each other, and suddenly two glowing cards fly in from the left and explode. I'm thrown back, and as I'm losing consciousness, I catch a glimpse of two figures.

- Philly, look, Thomas has found a brother.

- Don't call me that, Lebo, and where the hell is Schultz?

- Don't be so cold, Fili! And what are we gonna do about this kid? Wait, he's a kid, maybe it's his son. Who'd he sleep with to make a cougar into a wolf?

- Take them, we'll deal with it at the base.

*** 

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