Covering the panel from Rob’s eyes, the teenager was hastily typing the long code on the keyboard nearby. The latter was located on the nearest shelf, connected to what seemed to be an old and broken computer. The screen was black with a layer of dust, showing no signs of reaction, despite the visible cables attached to it. Multiple similar devices were lying all over the place in a barely orderly manner, covering all the space on racks. However, the computers were not the only electronic here – different types of kitchen pieces of equipment were mixed with various others, meant for cleaning, watching, or even security. Not that it was surprising as the place had a currently turned sign – “Cheap Electronics. Repair. Buyout.”

“Finally… Stupid code!”

The teenager cursed, directing Robert’s attention from the stacked place to the door that led to the small room for the staff at the back of the shop. Or at least it was supposed to be, as another passage opened, creating a set of stairs to the basement.

“Nice place. How do you keep it safe?” Rob asked, acknowledging the well-hidden secret door. In fact, they walked in through the very same room, using a window after the kid disabled the alarm. There was not a trace of anything pointing that there was something underneath. Moreover, it seemed the method of opening a way to hide out demanded the door to be closed, adding another safety measure.

“Well… I don’t?” Shrugged the teenager before pausing for a few seconds, “Wait. Do you think that it was me who built the place? Are you a strong but dumb type? The shop is older than me… I just rented it for a year… If I made something like that, I would also use a biometric scanner – not just a code.”

“Heh... Rented?” Rob repeated in bewilderment.

“Yes! Hurry up,” the teenager nodded in confirmation, hastily walking into the basement and making Robert follow him at once.

The hide-out appeared to be not that big, providing a basic level of comfort. The main room had several pieces of old furniture, including a wooden bed. A tiny kitchen took its place in a distant corner, while another was occupied by a huge table with two screens and a set of computers. The far wall had a metal hatch with emergency exit marking, while two other doors led to a bathroom and a small workshop with different equipment. However, otherwise, the hideout was empty, having almost nothing inside apart from the most basic necessities.

“I would say make you comfortable, but this shitty place isn’t meant for that…”

“How did you rent it? I guess there is no freely available advertising to look at,” Robert asked, trying to find a spot to sit. The dusty floor didn’t look attractive enough, while the bed didn’t have a chance to survive his relaxed weight.

“Criminals, how else? The men you were asking for… After my brother was killed by Demonologist, I used his savings to rent the place, preparing to take revenge. Paid for a whole year in advance in case of emergency… And it looks like a good decision – I spent almost all my money on the tech, on information, and on this place. At least I was clever enough to buy a console. Wanna play something?”

“I don’t play,” Robert declined, shaking his head. Looking at his body, he glanced toward the bathroom, thinking about cleaning himself for the first time in who-know how long.

“Wanna eat? I can order pizza – I’ve written down the number of the one around the corner that always works,” the teenager offered again, making Rob frown, “hey, they do a real tasty shit, I guarantee!”

“I don’t eat… And I don’t drink,” this time it took an effort to speak in the same calm tone. His current metallic physique might seem to be powerful, but the cost was huge. No pain, no sense of taste and smell, while any touch was felt dulled. Rob was basically deprived of little pleasures, not speaking about something like sex. Obviously, with his perfect control, he was able to do it, but it would hardly bring any enjoyment to the process.

Once I joked about being a Dildo of Consequences… only to turn into such a dildo – metallic and senseless.

“And how do you spend your time then?” The teenager continued to satisfy his curiosity.

“Killing and trying to survive in the deep shit that constantly surrounds me… I am going to shower,” Robert replied, already heading toward the bathroom.

“That really sucks… Wait, don’t break the bathtub!”

Robert wasn’t listening, already shutting the door. Still, his thoughts were spinning around this realization, suddenly confirming that the moniker Golem fit him perfectly. A metallic humanoid creature with barely any sense that couldn’t fit in with a normal life, made solely for the battlefields or specific tasks. Just an empty shell with no clear goal to live. Instrument of war that has neither other use, nor knowledge and skills to anything else, apart from killing.

Nope, that’s not true, Robert. Now you do have one – to save the city with all its residents from the destruction!

Despite sounding like pretentious stupidity from a newbie superhero in puberty, Robert once again used it as a foundation to move forward, repeating the cycles of violence in an attempt to achieve it. Finally to save someone, as all his previous experience revolved around the killing and nothing else. To prove that he could be better than just a mighty murderer. To do something good for others.

Firming his resolve to continue this road until the end, Rob carefully stepped inside the bathtub. Luckily, it was made from metal, having the same old age as the other furniture. That granted the item enough toughness and durability to withstand the time and Robert’s decreased weight. The shower itself didn’t provide him with any sensation of cleansing. At this point, Rob felt that the amount of blood he spilled would be permanently glued to him. However, the running water still eased his gloomy mood.

Therefore, when he stepped outside of the bathroom with a light smile on his face and a strengthened desire to do something good, he missed the fact of the teenager’s absence. It wasn’t surprising as his attention was glued to the huge device with quite a clear purpose lying right in the center of the room, counting down the final numbers on the little screen. It was so comically similar to the movie-like bombs that Rob’s mind took another second to overcome a wave of disbelief. The next moment the explosion raged inside, trying to obliterate Robert. Barely covering himself with a pitch-black armor, Rob had one thought.

A little piece of shit!

It took several cycles of violence against the superheroic team to calm down, confirming that Robert had huge anger issues. Still, Rob managed to clear his mind in the end, repeating the escape. This time he directly went to the hideout… Obviously, not for the first time, but he got there with the teenager while avoiding being noticed by CSA or police.

“How did you know about my place? I thought they would not leak its location after demanding such an insane price,” the kid repeatedly continued to ask during their journey to the shop, wondering who the traitor was or if it was just a hack into servers.

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“I have a foresight,” Robert replied, being quite fed up with the teenager at this point.

“Oh, I thought you could manipulate metal, no? Then what does it tell you?” Not stopping his questioning session, the kid went directly into the basement, “And while we are speaking, maybe let’s play? I can order pizza – I know…,” he wanted to say more, but Rob interrupted him.

“It tells that you need to keep quiet until I ask you, or you will be hurt. Badly. Are we clear?” Adding a metal to his tone, Robert warned.

“Hey, man, don’t need to threaten a fifteen-year-old kid,” the fake Gray Lion wanted to retort, but after a single step from a pitch-black figure toward him, he closed his mouth.

“You aren’t fifteen… Okay, sit on the bed, and don’t touch anything. I know you’ve hidden a bomb here. It won’t kill me, but you have no chance of surviving the blast. Don’t be stupid, answer my questions and you can leave the place safely,” Robert warned again. At first, he might have thought of keeping the teenager as a valuable source of information, but the slippery young villain used any chance to get away. Rob simply couldn’t trust him, especially after multiple restarts because of the teenager’s actions. So, the best way was to release the kid. Even if he betrayed Robert, nothing would happen that couldn’t be fixed with a restart.

“Those criminals you know – can anyone help me deal with Demonologist? Or do you have any other plans to kill him, apart from that you’ve already used and failed?... And I know about the Broom – doesn’t work on him. So, any ideas? Treat me as if I had an amnesia,” Rob spoke, towering above the teenager.

“And do you have an amnesia? That sucks… But I am not a help desk to answer…”

“Do it or I’ll break all your limbs!” Robert almost shouted.

“Calm down, man, I just joked… You know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I also want to kill that fucker for what he has done with my brother… Unfortunately, no, nobody is going to help me… or you with that. Those criminals are in most cases ordinary humans and quite rarely use any supers in their actions. You know – no one wants to cause attention from CSA with all its firepower from them and the military, when they organize a fraud call center, manipulate the stocks of some companies, or “forcefully” lobby the needed decisions from a local major through unconventional means. There were too many ways for them to make money, and the powers are often in no need,” the teenager explained with a smirk.

“And what about telepathic intrusions? Manipulative abilities? Prediction and other similar powers without a direct combat usage?” No hiding his doubts, Rob decided to clarify.

“Those are under the constant monitoring… Again, it’s too costly to be caught using supers in any criminal activity. Like multiplies the punishment tenfold. Makes harder to bribe the judge. So, only a really HUGE amount of money can lead to it. And people with such money just wouldn’t want to mess with Demonologist, gaining nothing from his death… Don’t make any futile hopes – nobody wants to oppose CSA directly. And those who do are either rotting in prison, dead, or living like hermits somewhere in the deepest hole. The risks are just not worth it in the end – the current level of technology makes it hard to get away after the crime… I think the last classic and more importantly SUCCESSFUL bank robbery was like at least thirty years ago.”

“What about villains?”

“Villains – yeah… It’s just a word for any criminal with powers. Literally ANY! You stole candy from a kid while having the ability to fart with rainbow – you will be labeled as a dangerous villain on par with a mass murderer with hundreds of lives taken… Those hypocrites in CSA… You know, my older brother once was a hero… A protégé of one of the most powerful superheroes in the world – Demonologist,” the kid grimaced with a narrow smile, hiding the pain, “He was so proud about it. Was speaking like for the whole week after being acknowledged.”

“What happened?”

“He messed up once… There was a case of domestic violence… and Mike… Well, we both have a history with our father. It was personal – the bastard was constantly beating us both. No one cared as he was human, and not a super… So, Mike… he just hit the guy once… slapped him in half-strength to show how it is to get a punch in the face from someone stronger… And the guy just felt dead – blood clot in the brain or something like that. However, for CSA superhero’s reputation was everything. Mike was kicked out and put under a bigger screening, which ruined him in the end. Such disregarding after the same attitude from our lovely dad was just too hard for him to handle.”

“Didn’t Demonologist oppose such a decision? It was pure coincidence without any ill intent to actually kill,” Robert was surprised.

“That bastard only made a long speech about the necessity of the responsibility for his actions… and other shit that was fed by CSA. He even didn’t call Mike once after the expulsion. Absolute silence – the jerk was scared about his precious reputation more than the fate of his former protégé.”

“I assume it didn’t end at this point?”

“Not at all… We both got our powers simultaneously, which is, worth mentioning, rarer than a chance of being struck by lightning… So, when my brother decided to vent his accumulated anger from a ruined life… and it was actually ruined – nobody wanted to hire him with such a mark… Mike decided to interfere in Demonologist’s arrest mission to show how a single mistake can destroy all previous good deeds. Obviously, you can’t expect to do something against that fucker… Beaten almost to a pulp, he managed to escape only because of a stroke of stupid luck and the other guy, who was the main target for the bastard. Feeling weak as a kitten but wishing for revenge, he searched the way… and found it.”

“And what was that? Your second plan? Or was it something different?” Rob asked again, noticing the tension in the teenager.

“Yes, kind of… maybe you weren’t joking about having a foresight. You are correct. One group made a laboratory and tried to create an artificial way to infuse omicron particles to give powers to whomever they wanted… They failed but found a secondary effect of the serum – empowering the existing ability. So, Mike worked for them to get a dose – the thing is too costly to create with a tiny chance to make it correctly. And after getting it, he went to take long-awaited revenge…”

“Which never happened because Demonologist had killed him?”

“Yep,” the teenager nodded, biting his lower lip, “The bastard deserves the justice… He destroyed my brother's life, leading to his death. He destroyed mine – when the brother was kicked out and labeled as untrusty, I was sent into a special orphanage for supers… Do you know how awful it was?”

“Actually, I may know. Never met my parents and was raised in one,” Robert nodded, diving into his memories from a distant childhood.

“I guess, we have another thing in common… So, it was completely logical for me to run away and try to take revenge. It took time, a lot of preparations… and I mean really A LOT… But in the end, the shit didn’t do anything. Demonologist wiped the floor with me and my lionesses, not even using higher levels of transformation,” clenching his fist, the teenager suppressed his anger.

“Did you use that serum? What was the effect?” Robert asked, finally seeing a light in the tunnel.

“Yep… And the effect wasn’t the one I expected… I was caught and you saved me. The end. Anything else? I am hungry, man,” switching his tone as if pressing a button, the kid smiled brightly as if he wasn’t speaking about the death of his brother a minute earlier.

I guessed not only I have a rough life…

“Write down the contacts of the criminal groups you know, and you are free to go,” Robert nodded.

“Oh, do you have a pen and piece of paper?... Okay, I admit that it was stupid to ask. I’ll search for it – I think I had it somewhere here… And, please, don’t expect good handwriting,” going to the entrance and diving into the closet, the teenager turned around, showing his broken arm that was bandaged by medics, “I am left-handed.”

Robert only closed his eyes in response, thinking about his next course of action, while trying to ignore the annoying kid. He could spend several time loops talking with criminals to see if he could get anything useful in his situation. Otherwise, empowering serum might be a good shot for him. It might even grant him new abilities or strengthen his steel – anything to give him a chance to survive the nuclear blast if he wasn’t fast enough to get out. And knowing his luck, Rob wasn’t going to bet that he could succeed from the first try. His circumstances didn’t provide him with a chance to die just to find another piece of the puzzle.

Okay, let’s do it… What was that?

Reacting to the weird sound, Rob opened his eyes only to see how the teenager was already pushing the button to create a passage out from the hideout. For a second Robert hesitated if he wanted to stop the kid from escaping but the need for information pushed him on his feet. However, the teenager was already summoning two lionesses, sending the gray-colored predators toward Robert. The problem was that their task seemed to be just stalling time. Moreover, one of them was carrying a charged bomb right inside its maw, gently holding it with its sharp teeth. Rob had a mere moment to cover himself with black armor before the powerful explosion ran off inside the basement, collapsing the ceiling and burying him once again.

That little dork!