I'm in Marvel 11

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***

Turning around, I saw a woman with aristocratic beauty, with long, dark hair and pale skin. Her grey eyes were cold, though, her lips curved in a welcoming smile. 

- I see you are indeed surprised to see me alive and well Gerdochka. That's your name now, isn't it? - asked the stranger, looking at my companion with a strange look. For a few seconds I could not understand what attracted me in this moment, until I realised what it was. It's the way one looks at one's property.

- Ahem, ahem!" I coughed, trying to attract attention.

- Oh, where are my manners?! - exaggeratedly upset exclaimed the woman. - My name is Natalie Essex! It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Smith. I'm amazed at your designs, and at such a young age. Oh, if only.

- Essex... Essex... Are you by any chance the head of Essex Corporation? - I asked this strange lady, glancing round at Gerda. What's going on with the girl now is completely atypical for her.

I was also interested in Natalie's strange emotions. It was as if they were too orderly and barely perceptible. In fact, I'd never seen anything like that in humans before. Focusing on the woman, I tried to figure out who she was. I'm not Gerda with her miraculous eyes, but I'm no stranger to the world. And by the looks of it, the lady's a mutant. Telepathic at the very least. And her body's kind of weird.

- That's right. Я...

- It can't be," Gerda, shaking, interrupted the woman. - You couldn't have survived! It is impossible!

- Oh, indeed! You tore me apart with such force that everything within fifty metres was covered with blood," Essex said with a nostalgic smile. - You have amazing telekinesis. I've only seen it in a few mutants.

- Am I disturbing you ladies? - I intervened in this strange conversation.

- You are," Essex agreed, turning her gaze back to me. - Now be kind enough to forget what you heard and take a walk until we can talk.

At that moment her grey eyes turned red and a conspicuous red diamond appeared on her forehead. And that's when I realised who it was. It's Sinister, Sinister, or Sinister. Or if you take the gender correction, is it Sinister? Sinister? Yeah, that sucks. For all I knew, it was an unkillable plague. Plus, judging by the heated Moonstone jewellery, that thing wanted to telepathically assault me.

- Didn't your mum and dad teach you when you were a kid that prying into other people's heads was inappropriate? - I asked her, smiling sweetly. 

- How curious," Zlidnya said, eyeing me carefully. - I apologise for my behaviour. What can I do, living with barbarians, I picked up some bad habits from them. 

She didn't abandon her attempts to probe my brain. She just made them less obvious. Well, well, let's see what you can do. But just as I was about to lay siege to the mutant by smashing destruction into her mind, Gerda's aura swelled. She wants to fight right here?!

- If I couldn't do it last time, I'll do it now! - With a crazed look, the girl hissed.

Speaking of which, none of the guests paid any attention to us at all. Is that the work of the pale grebe, too?

- Well, what are you so Gerdochka! - With false sadness asked Sinister. - We met after all these years, and you want to kill me? Shame on you, my dear!

- You c**t! - said Gerda in a completely un-aristocratic manner. - After all you've done, you dare to ask?!

The girl's telekinetic tentacles had already filled everything around her, gradually closing around Essex. But she showed no sign of concern at all. Yeah, maybe we can defeat the villain with the Moonstone, but it won't change anything, because the main thing for Zlidnya has always been clones. And there's probably a whole bunch of copies of her out there somewhere. And I'd hate to turn this evening into a slaughter.

- Gerda-Gerda! It was all for your own good! - Essex said angrily, waving her hands in the air. But apparently she had had enough of the game, and the woman continued in a serious tone. - We can fight like savage savages, of course, but a lot of people will be hurt. You probably wouldn't care about them, but what about Mr Smith's mother?

This struck Gerda like a gush of cold water. She instantly reduced the activity of her power, but she did not cease to look at Essex with undisguised hatred.

- 'That's good,' said the woman contentedly. - Picking herself to pieces was entertaining, but not enough to do it again.

- You two have an interesting relationship," I said grimly when Natalie stopped talking.

- What can you do? There's no progress without sacrifice," the woman said with exaggerated sadness, shaking her head for effect. - But I'm not angry with Gerdochka. After all, she is still too young and not always able to realise what is best for her. I wish I could chat with you a little longer. It's so hard being a business man. It takes up so much time that even a few bodies, hehe, don't always help. Well, all the best my darlings. I hope we can talk again in the future. Especially you, Garion. Or is it still better to call you Gerda?

Essex, without waiting for us to say goodbye, smiled smugly, and with a glance of interested eyes at me, strode off in the direction of most of the guests.

- Yeah, I'd tear her apart, too, if I had the chance," I said, looking after the mutant. - Gerda, is there anything you want to tell me? Gerda?

But the girl, did not hear, biting her lip and clenched her fists to white, continuing to look in the direction of the departed. I even had to shake the girl by the shoulder. Only after that her gaze became meaningful and cleared a little from the uncomprehending hatred.

- Ah, I... I'm fine," the girl said, but I didn't really believe her. - 'I'm sorry, I'm the reason she's paying attention to you now...'

- It's okay. I'm not a bad guy either, and I can fight back if I need to.

- If only it were that easy..." said Gerda, lost in thought.

I never saw Essex again. After chatting a little longer with the guests, we waited until the end of the evening and, saying good-bye, went home with our mothers. Gerda, by the looks of it, barely waited for the event to end. Yeah, I don't like this situation. I'm not ready to stand up to Sinister yet. She's not always something even the strongest He-Men can deal with. On the other hand, I have Light, which she knows nothing about, and protection against telepathy. The latter was one of the mutant's greatest weapons. So we'll see who's who. That problem aside, the evening went well. Relationships with some important people were established, now it should all be used. 

From the next day I decided to speed up and started doing two things at the same time. The first was the company's business, of which there were many so far. The second was to replenish the number of my supporters, who were brought to me by those who had already been recruited. Pluto's ability to create doppelgangers helped. I simply copied myself and sent the clone to a business meeting, and recruited people myself. At the same time just downloaded information on the preservation of experience, from which I had to allocate energy and on this. But the result was worth it.

Having connected new devices to the sarcophagus, I started to structure the experience of my subordinates with the help of supercomputers. It was not an easy job, because I had to sift out all sorts of nonsense like teenage crushes, phobias and other rubbish from the valuable information, but the result was worth it. Since at this point all of those recruited were hard workers with different specialities, we managed to put together an ultimatum build. And the reader, and the reaper, and the player. I, rubbing my hands with impatience, downloaded these knowledge bases to my boys and girls. As a result, even on the first tests, they showed themselves perfectly. It was only necessary to give people time to adapt. All this was done quite quickly, just a week after the raut.

But apart from strengthening my fighters, I had a lot of other things to do. The university, the company that had just announced itself and the need to deal with the girls. I was able to see Gerda a couple of times, and then I could talk to her on the phone. The girl said that everything was fine, though she was sick because she had eaten a lot of ice-cream, and that she had not dried her hair and had gone out into the cold wind. I, of course, did not believe it and decided to find out everything in person. But not until after I'd had a fight with Aki.

Except I didn't really know what to do with the Japanese woman. Probably, such a lot of things even helped, at the expense of which I was distracted from various thoughts. And one of them was: How do I feel about this girl? Her confession was a surprise that turned our relationship upside down. Before that, it was simple and straightforward. This is my bro, who is very easy to communicate with and interesting to do outdoor activities with. What am I supposed to tell her? And you have to tell her, because it would be at least ugly to keep silent.

In the end, I decided not to rack my brains and just tell her how I feel. To do this, I had to catch her by the arm and almost forcefully lead her to the neighbourhood of a small park under the envious gazes of other ladies. She wanted to break free at first, but I, deciding not to postpone the conversation any longer, asked her not to resist. Apparently I had a rather eloquent face at that moment, from which Aki stopped trying to escape. But after my words, the girl got nervous and followed me with a wooden gait. It was even funny since I hadn't seen her like that until now. 

- Aki, I... Man, it's harder to express my thoughts than I thought," I said, scratching the back of my head. - I've always had fun with you. Sometimes it pissed me off, though, when you dragged me to the wrong place and we ended up getting hurt. 

- Pfft," the girl snorted, trying not to laugh. I guess she remembered one of our mothers' scoldings, when we were nearly belted.

- But even then it was fun, at least until the reprimand. And then you went home. Even though I thought you were just an annoying kid that I would only hang out with because there was no alternative, you still managed to win a place in my heart. Then you arrived and I found out you were a girl. It was very unexpected. It didn't change things for me as much as it did after you told me. 

I fell silent, gathering my strength, and Aki tensed in anticipation of my next words.

- And then you told me you were getting married. I was shocked. I felt something I'd never felt before. Like something very precious was going to be taken away from me. Your reasoning and the kiss only confused me more. After that, I wanted to make sense of what I was feeling.....

- И?! - Aki said impatiently, moving closer.

- Yes! Stop stalling! - I was encouraged from the side.

- I'm very easy with you," I said, taking the girl by the shoulders and hovering over her. - I want you to always be with me. I love your spontaneity and that infectious smile. Your bright hair and your burning eyes. Everything about you. And I don't want you to marry anyone else.

- Oh brother, that's love," a female voice commented.

- So... So what now? - Aki asked hopefully, looking me straight in the eyes.

- And now I answer you, to what ended our last conversation," I answered her, pulling her to me by the waist.

Immediately, I kissed Aki. This time it wasn't as passionate as the first time, but it was just as satisfying. The taste of the girl tasted of citrus with something sharp. Perhaps it was the sensation of her energy that I identified as the flavour. But nevertheless, it was a combination I enjoyed.

We broke away from each other, according to my internal clock after half a minute. Aki was all red, but eerily satisfied. 

- And yes, I love you, Aki. Will you be my girlfriend?

- Of course! - The girl was indignant, elbowing her in the side. - What kind of stupid question is that?! And anyway, you won't get rid of me so easily now!

- Well, yes, indeed, - I said with a smile.

- Why her and not me?! - I heard my soul cry out.

Aki and I turned sideways at the same time, where two attractive girls were sitting on a bench, one of whom was now standing with an indignant face. Was she the one who was shouting? The second, with brown hair sat holding a phone pointed at us.

A Japanese policeman. On the third day, Sighted Eye noticed that the barn was missing one wall. Although in my defence, I didn't sense any danger or supernatural forces from them, so I didn't react. But I'll have to be more careful next time.

- Don't worry sis, there'll be a holiday on your street too," Aki said happily, her fangs showing as she smiled.

- I hope so," the screaming blonde muttered sadly, sitting down on the bench.

- Congratulations to you... Aki yes? - said the girl with the phone.

- Aha! 

- Eh, young man, don't you need another girl? Or preferably two? - asked the blonde girl, with feigned hope.

- I would love to, but I have to deal with the first girl completely! All right, we're off. Have a good day, and we're off! - I quickly said, and with Aki in tow, I headed off in the direction of the training building.

In the end, after making out in a secluded corner, we had to part ways for a while. After one last kiss, the girl went home on the wings of love, and I went to the temporary headquarters of my company. A skyscraper in Manhattan was already under construction for this purpose, but it would be ready only in a couple of months. It was built so quickly because of some innovative assembly method. Once on site, I was immersed in the bureaucracy. Most of it was routine, which unfortunately still had to be done. Eventually after spending a few hours on the matter, I headed home.

And in the mansion I met my mum, who was watching a video on the computer with interest. And the voice that was heard sounded suspiciously like mine.

- ...I'll answer you, to how our last conversation ended.

- Ah, my favourite moment! - Mum exclaimed, pretending not to notice my arrival.

- "And mine!" repeated Lin, floating through the air.

- What's that?

- It's a video son," replied Mum, barely able to keep from laughing. - Didn't you know what it was?

- That's not what I asked,' I said angrily to this radish. - What is this video?

- It's called "Love Confession"! It's already got half a million views in a couple of hours! - said Mum proudly. - You're going to be popular so soon.

Not wanting to listen to this woman's banter, I came closer and watched the video. If at first I didn't realise how it could have appeared, now everything was in its place. It was that chestnut girl. I'd seen the phone in her hands, but I hadn't thought about the fact that she'd filmed us. I was too busy being in love. If I'd met her, I'd have said something nice. Or not even a few. Oh, yeah. That's just great. Now a lot of people have seen my confession. But there's nothing to do.

The next day when I met Aki, I found out that she had seen the video too. Instead of sympathising, she laughed and slapped me on the back. But thanks to the girl, I was able to relax a bit and decided to wave it off. At the same time, remembering that Aki wanted to go on a date for once, I suggested the event to her. She didn't think long and agreed.

And after class, the girl decided to go to work with me. She argued that she was interested. I did not refuse. On the spot, we met some company employees staring at us. And something tells me they were watching last night's videos. We calmly walked to my office, as if we had to, and then I called the PR people. I told them to take advantage of the incident and spin it to the company's advantage. Girls and guys actively nodded their heads and started to fulfil the assignment. And I began to sort out the documentation, talking to Aki. And then, out of the blue, I got a call from Gerda. Or so I thought, looking at the name of the contact.

- Hello, Gerda? Is something wrong?

- Yes, something's wrong," a familiar female voice answered, and I recognised the girl's mother. - Hello Kyle, it's Victoria.

- Hello, Miss Wright. I recognise you.

- Could you come and see us? There's something wrong with my girl and I'd really like to talk to you," Victoria said in a cold voice.

- 'Yes all right,' I replied without thinking for long. - I'll be there in half an hour.

- I'll be waiting.

Finishing the call, I turned my gaze to Aki, who was showing her interest.

- It was Gerda's mum. Something had happened to our friend and Miss Wright had asked me to come and see her.

- Well, I'll see you to-morrow, then? - Aki asked a little sadly.

- Yeah. Should I tell her to take you? - I asked, hugging the girl.

- No, I'll get there myself," she said, shaking her head.

After making peace for a minute, we moved away from each other with a sad sigh and, leaving the building, went in different directions. The girl went home, and I got in the car and drove to the Wrights'. Luckily we didn't hit any traffic and were able to get there fairly quickly. At the place I was escorted to the landlady. She was sitting in a small office and frowning reading some papers. As soon as I entered, Victoria put the paper aside and looked at me.

- Hello again, Kyle," the woman greeted me. And judging by her emotions, she was extremely angry. Very interesting. At me?

- Hello, Miss Wright. So what happened?

- Gerda hasn't been herself since that night. She seemed fine at first, but then a couple of days later she just locked herself in her room and wouldn't come out. Said it was a cold. Except I know her well enough to believe that excuse. Something happened that day, and I want to know what. Did you hurt my little girl? - the woman asked, barely concealing her anger.

And in the next moment, I felt like... Space shuddered? It was hard to realise and explain. And in that moment, Victoria's power began to be felt. Is she a mutant, too? What a number. Although I can see why I didn't expose her sooner. We didn't see each other often, and the woman herself didn't actively use her power, so I guess I didn't spot her before.

- First of all, let's not jump to conclusions," I told her calmly, deploying an aura of terror to cool Victoria down. - I have a suspicion about Gerda's behaviour, but I have something to do with it.

- What is it? - The slightly pale woman asked, concentrating her power around herself. Apparently she had decided to protect herself just in case.

- During the dinner party, we ran into a woman. She called herself Natalie Essex," I said, and the woman frowned when she heard Zlidny's first and last name. - There was a strange conversation after that, in which both mentioned some past time during which Gerda had wanted to kill Essex, but had failed. The woman left us afterwards, but her friend wasn't herself. I tried to find out what was the matter, but got nothing. Over the next few days Gerda said everything was fine and she was just sick. So if I was to blame, it was for asking her to be my date.

- Natalie Essex, head of Essex Corp? - The frowning woman asked. I nodded. - If it's like I think it is, then...''

She fell silent, turning her head and looking out the window. After sitting like that for a minute, Gerda's mum perked up and continued:

- 'I'm sorry Kyle,' Victoria said sincerely. - Gerda is the only person close to me. When she started acting like that, it scared me. After the adoption, Gerda had to be taken to specialists for a long time because her psyche was broken. Attempts to find out what had happened to her led nowhere, as the little girl never spoke a word about the past. She would often wake up at night screaming, which made me try to be with her at that time. It took a lot of time and effort to get the girl to calm down. And then Gerda made friends with you and became more cheerful and happy. A person who is slightly acquainted with her will not notice it, but to me such a change of mood was clearly visible. 

I can see why she thought it was me. There was no other reason why Gerda should be in such a state. And so, suddenly a silly boy said something wrong and hello. Maybe if I were a parent myself, I'd think along the same lines.

- It's all right, I can understand how you feel. But I think it's time we had a talk with Gerda.

- Yes! Let's not waste any time! - Victoria said and stood up abruptly and walked out of the office. I followed her and half a minute later we were at the door to Gerda's room. Turning to me, the woman whispered. - Something is happening to her. Right now Gerda feels subtly like you. And yet different at the same time. It's hard to say for sure, since my power is only partially sensory.

- By the way, what is your power? Am I correct in assuming you're a mutant?

- Yes. I can control space. What'd you get me with? Empathy or something?

- No. It's short for aura of terror.

- And naturally that's just part of your power? 

- Yeah, why would you say that?

- In space, you feel like you're a lot tougher than normal people. Even mutants, with few exceptions, are more malleable. Gerda, like I said, is a bit like you. So I thought of a few powers. Are you able to bestow your power?

- 'Sort of,' I said, without going into detail. - Well, let me try to talk to her. 

- Okay," the woman agreed. It was obvious to the untrained eye that she was worried.

I went to the door and started knocking, trying to feel what was going on with the girl. And I didn't like her state of mind.

- Gerda! It's me, Kyle! Can I come in?!

- K-Kyle? Wh-what are you doing here? - I heard a girl's weak voice.

- I came to save you. What else? Shall I come in?

- No! I-I'm sick! I don't want to make you sick! Come back later!

- I know what you're sick with," he said glumly. - Fine, whatever, but I'm going in. 

- Don't even think about it Kyle!

- Miss Wright, is it okay if I break your door down a little? - asked the woman.

- Please. Just help my little girl.

- I'll do my best.

Increasing the force, I pushed on the door and, after waiting for the crunch, stepped inside. It was dark inside because of the tightly drawn curtains. I'd been in the girl's room before, and nothing had changed since last time. The room was furnished in a minimalist style with her favourite black and yellow colours. The girl herself found herself on the bed, wrapped tightly in a blanket. Even her face was barely visible. As I closed the door, I slowly moved closer to Gerda, which made her crawl away from me in the opposite direction until she was resting against the headboard.

- Well, hello mate. Why are you scaring your mum?

- Go away Kyle, I don't want you to see me like this. Not you," the girl said barely audibly, trying to wrap herself even tighter. Not much more, though.

- And why is that? - I asked her, sitting down on the bed.

- It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore.

- What kind of fatalism is this?

- Why did you come? - Gerda answered question to question, blazing with a mixture of emotions.

- To save you, of course. How could I leave you?

- Do you remember what you said about not being able to save someone who doesn't want to be saved? Well, that's me. 

- Where's the Gerda who held everyone from students to teachers in her fist?

- She never existed," said the girl, shaking her head. - It's just a mask.

- I realised that a long time ago. What's the matter with you and Essex? I'm not asking out of idle curiosity. You're my mate, remember? And I'm here to help you.

- Just not with her. What does it matter if she's immortal? - Gerda asked with despair in her voice.

I sped up for a brief moment and partially ripped off the girl's fabric defence. She only squeaked when I was already looking at her face. And there was a lot to see. Gerda's face was partially covered with black feathers. The hand with which she was trying to grab the blanket, besides feathers, had not long, but very sharp black claws. That's an interesting Distortion.

- She's a beauty, isn't she? - Gerda was the first to break the silence, smiling unhappily.

- Let's just say there's something interesting about it, but I prefer your usual image," I said diplomatically. - Why didn't you call me right away? I warned you about the Distortion! I didn't think you'd do something so stupid!

- At first I wanted to do that, but she persuaded me not to do it," she said, lowering her head.

- And She is your double?

- Yes. She promised that I would have enough power to destroy Essex. She wasn't lying, I could feel it, so don't help me. This is exactly what I crave.

- So this is what you want? - I asked.

- Yes! - Gerda answered eagerly. 

- Then why aren't you still Warped?

- Wh-what? What do you mean? - The girl asked confused. 

- That this is not your true wish.

- Rubbish! I-I wish to be done with my past! 

- Perhaps," he agreed with her. - But not at the cost of the Distortion. Otherwise, you would have turned long ago.

- W-but what about...? - the girl began, looking at the feathered hand.

- You're still resisting. That's why you haven't fully transformed. Warping isn't some sort of sluggish disease. Oh, no. It progresses quite rapidly under certain conditions. And for you to accept it, it should have gone away in no time. Which means what?

- What?" her friend asked, leaning forward a little.

- That you've been waiting for someone to come and help you. You long to be rescued. Like by Prince Charming, like in a fairy tale," he told her with a smile, pointing to himself. 

- Pfft," the girl snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. But she couldn't hide the tears of hope. I could smell the emotion in such close proximity.

- Okay, jokes aside," I said seriously. - You want to tell me what you and Essex have in common?

- Nothing much except pain and lies and the hatred they engendered. I'd rather not talk about the past. It's--it's very hard. But if you want me to, I'll--

- And show you? - I interrupted her when an interesting thought occurred to me. If Gerda's so uncomfortable even remembering it, I'd better do something else.

- What?

- Tell me Gerda, do you believe me?

- Yes...," replied the confused girl.

- Then how about showing me your past so that I can understand? I have a special device with which you can see it.

- Is that possible? - she asked in surprise.

- It is possible. What is it? Are you ready to trust me with your past? - I asked carefully, looking into her eyes.

- Yes," Gerda answered after a few seconds. It was as if she had found the answer to her questions in my eyes, and then she immediately agreed. - I will trust you.

- Good! Let's do this first! - I said cheerfully and picked up the girl's weightless body in my arms. She squeaked sweetly, once again destroying the image of the ice queen. The pajamas with bees also helped. - And now it's time for us to do a little travelling!

At that very moment, I teleported us to my lab. After explaining what was going on, I put the girl in the sarcophagus and instructed the computer to copy all the memories of Essex. There were a lot of them, but in ten minutes everything was ready. In general, the memories obtained in this way a little reminiscent of what was in Harry Potter, namely a substance of white colour, representing something between liquid and gas. I repent, I purposely refined the memory extractor for similarity.

After that, I opened the sarcophagus and helped Gerda out. I put a special device on my head, which looked like a helmet, but was used for viewing memories. Having loaded into it the received memory of the girl, and having told her to wait a little, has switched on a shuffle. Well, let's see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

***

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