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 the 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! Now I see why he only offered two, that guy could be a whole 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 normal, 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 said something else, but as I'm not going to spend much time with them, I'll put him down as Mr 2.
«All right, let's go. - Although maybe the fact that they sent Creel isn't such a bad thing. I already have an idea on 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 have to get out of town, which we've already done. Now at every third diner I ask to stop and order something. And this hungry guy who was sent with Creel also gets a burger and drinks so much soda 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 better submit and you'll be rewarded! Do you know what's best, Creel?
«It's better to obey.
«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 was suddenly much faster and you couldn't do anything, and you didn't use your powers because there was no threat to my life and there was no point in revealing yourself. Do you understand me?
«I do.
«Good, now let's play this out. And be kind enough to 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 there was a dark-haired guy lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He had 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 travelled, the less they asked 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, and I knew right away that I had to get out of here. "Here comes the adventure," I thought as I left 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! - his body suddenly began to grow fur, 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. I don't know how I would have realised something was wrong without it. As I dodged his claws, I began to take full form - acceleration alone won't get me out of here.
«Ha! I knew you were a warrior!
«What are you talking about? Warrior, warrior! What does that 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 the 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, because I don't want any witnesses. There's a construction site right next door, so we'll go there.
«Hey, kitty, let's go for a walk!
«Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! - I don't like that red light in his eyes.
I don't think he likes to be called that, so he's running like hell. I wish I could dodge his swings at this speed! I run around, 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 fly off into the deep end right into the middle of the foundation. While I was recovering, the cat managed to run up, and I barely dodged his paws. I could barely dodge his paws, but no, just 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 his claws right through my heart, but I found the rebar and, without thinking, 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?
And so we're running at each other as suddenly two glowing cards fly in from the left and explode. I'm thrown back and I'm unconscious, but I catch sight 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 turn a cougar into a wolf?
«Take them, we'll deal with it at the base.