"Well... that's not bad at all," Peter thought as he stared at the laboratory before his eyes, it had been built in a quarry, but the attention had been scrupulous, whoever had carved in these rocks must have been a true master; on one side there were several cages some even with different metals, surely for every kind of prisoner, human or not, at the top there was a huge chandelier that presented several illuminated stones, all of them presented different shapes, trees, swords, lions and more.

In the centre of the large room built in the quarry were several tables and workbenches, with various instruments on them, some for dissecting and others for the creation and distillation of substances... the thing that attracted his attention most, however, was the wall on the opposite side of the cages, there were carvings all over the wall, which did not seem to have been touched, on it were carved real scenes, something in Peter, something almost natural, urged him to approach it, with Fenris at his side.

With each step that brought him closer to the carvings, his curiosity increased exponentially... when he got close enough he stretched out his hand and ran it over some of the scenes and runes, all the scenes always seemed to depict two individuals, who were involved in different actions... most of which were battle scenes, above each scene there was also a line with two circles at either end.

Suddenly another hand tugged at his "Don't touch it" Cletus ordered with a snarl and exposed teeth.

Peter stared at him with a cold look under his helmet, his sixth sense began to vibrate, "let go my arm... now" Peter growled, and he was joined by the big wolf, whose teeth were still stained from the previous battle.

A grin formed on Cletus's face and he opened his mouth to speak, when he was interrupted by the other man, who had placed several objects on one of the lab tables. "Enough, Cletus" he then turned to Peter. "That wall is very important... and even more so are those carvings, please don't touch them.

Peter grunted shortly before shaking Cletus' hand, he moved away from the wall and continued to explore the large quarry that served as the laboratory; out of the corner of his eye he could see three metal rods with gold detailing forming a triangle on the floor, drawn in blue chalk "mmh... a triangle of communication" Peter thought with curiosity, walked over to it and pulled all three rubies out of the slots "If I can find a good jewellery merchant after I leave these islands I might make some coins" Peter thought.

He turned his head for a moment and saw Cletus and his companion fiddling with the wall, the one whose name Peter didn't know seemed completely adoring of the discovery "That must be what he was looking for" Peter thought as he watched me duo pull out that strange red and black crystal and place it on one of the two circles drawn on the floor, connected by a line "Like the one in the carvings"

Suddenly his spidey-sense began to ring again "MOVE!" Peter shouted as he scrambled out of his position just in time to-

CRONCH!

The floor beneath him gave way and from the crater came a... "Oh shit" a large grey coloured creature emerged from said crater, it had a tail and almost its entire body was covered in some sort of rocky armour "A fucking Shaelmaar" they were rather rare creatures to encounter, mainly because they preferred to live underground... but also because almost anyone who had the misfortune of encountering one, did not live to tell about it.

This one however was different, on the head there seemed to be a kind of black helmet, which seemed to have been fused with the plate protecting the head; Peter stood back as far as he could while he made the blade with runes engraved on it erupt from his forearm.

Fortunately these creatures had a rather important Achilles heel, sight... they were as blind as moles, in fact they relied mostly on the vibrations emitted by all sorts of noises "It just needs a distraction" Peter thought as he watched the creature move wildly as it swung its arms in every direction and destroyed various furniture and objects that were unfortunately close to the destructive creature.

Cletus and his partner had not made a sound, in fact they had merely taken cover, while instead Fenris was preparing to spring into action... he seemed to be just waiting for the perfect moment to act.

"HEY!" Peter shouted in the direction of the creature, who jerked his head towards the sound of his voice "Let's see what you can do you overgrown fucking mole!" he demanded his body forward, shoulders leaning forward and knees slightly bent.

"ROOOAAAARRRR!"

The creature's roar impacted Peter's eardrums, it lunged forward each step made the floor below groan, Peter didn't move an inch "Closer" Peter thought with a narrowing in his eyes, hidden by his helmet; the Shaelmaar was incredibly clumsy, not helped by those all too short hind legs.

When he was close enough Peter ducked to the side and pierced the creature's side with his blade, fortunately the torso part was not as well armoured as the back.

SNIKT!

The creature snarled in pain as red blood, far darker than human blood, poured onto the floor, the cut had gone quite deep and the Shaelmaar seemed to move with more difficulty, Peter had to duck to dodge the creature's arm, which crashed into a work table

CRACK!

Wood splinters flew in every direction, Peter sprinted forward towards the monster's stomach and plunged the blade.

FHGRGH!

The blade plunged in effectively, piercing through the monster's skin like butter, Peter could feel the flesh, muscles and organs tearing as a roar of pain was emitted from the armoured creature and it desperately began to struggle; Peter tried to pull the blade out, but it seemed to get stuck, he gritted his teeth as he increased the force to pull it out as the creature continued to move around the laboratory cavern.

Suddenly Peter managed to pull out the blade, but unfortunately it was sent flying in a random direction of the lab "Shit" Peter thought as he crashed into a wall

TOOOM!

The blow took Peter's breath away, he internally thanked every deity in existence for not breaking any bones, he slowly got back up as he shook his head to recover, he shifted his gaze to the creature, along its short legs ran threads of blood that touched the floor and formed a dark puddle.

Peter growled as he finally stood up and wiped the bloodstained sword with his other arm, he looked around and could see Fenris approaching and stopping behind a pillar, he beckoned to him and then shouted towards the Shaelmaar "THAT'S ALL YOU GOT FUCKING SHELMAAR?!"

The shaelmaar roared and lunged towards him once more, but this time Peter could see the creature's remarkable slowness "Not yet" Peter thought as he waited for the right moment, the closer he got the more Peter could feel adrenaline rising "NOW!"

Fenris lunged and sank his teeth into the wounded stomach of the monster roared in agony as Fenris's teeth opened the wound even more and spilled some of its innards onto the ground; the Shaelmaar raised its front paws to crush the wolf, but Peter sprinted towards it and with a leap sent his fist into the lower part of its mouth.

CRACK!

The teeth of the Shaelmaar's mouth shattered on impact and its head snapped backwards, Peter did not give up turning his body with incredible agility he found himself behind the monster and grabbed the thick armoured neck, Peter pulled back and brought the creature down with him.

In the meantime Fenris had not stopped and continued to rip open the Shaelmaar's stomach, guts, liver, pancreas and other organs which could only be found in a Shaelmaar, were scattered in every direction as the monster tried to get up, but to no avail; Peter raised his arm, while with his other hand he held the monster on the ground.

FHGRGH!

the blade plunged into the monster's mouth, he turned his arm and so did the blade, which created more and more damage "Get the fuck down" Peter thought darkly as Fenris dripped with the creature's dark blood, the Shaelmaar was now merely emitting a few spasms... until it suddenly stopped.

Peter with a grunt drew his blade and let out a sigh of satisfaction, though a grimace of pain formed on his face due to a twinge in his shoulder, he turned his gaze towards Fenris, who had stopped from disembowelling the monster and was now licking the dirt from its fur; Peter let out a few more sighs to regain his strength for a moment "By the way…" he said as he looked around "Thank you for standing there and doing nothing!"

He wasn't particularly annoyed, he was used to doing most of the work... hell, many times other people had taken credit for what Peter had done, after all he had other goals at the time and people he needed to be around... people he had made promises to, a growl came out of his mouth as certain memories flashed through his head "You need to stop fucking around" Peter whispered as he moved and looked for the other two men he had accompanied.

It was strange that they hadn't come out of their hiding places... very strange, Fenris was behind him and with dark blood staining his night-black hair; he finally arrived at the wall on which those strange scenes were carved, he found both men at doing whatever they were doing, Cletus was sitting on his knees in the centre of one of the two circles drawn on the floor, in the other circle there was the red and black crystal, the other man was arranging various objects around the two circles... objects that Peter knew quite well "They want to do a bonding ritual" Peter thought with a grimace under his helmet, these rituals were as complex... as they were dangerous for all involved "And so me too"

The man who was placing the objects noticed Peter's presence "Oh... hello, sorry about before, but I didn't mean to-"

"To risk death and mess up your plan" Peter finished for him as he took a few steps closer and held out his hand towards the man in front of him "I want more money" Peter said gruffly.

Cletus hissed still keeping his eyes closed, his upper body was exposed, he was quite thin and Peter could see a degree of malnutrition "The price is not negotiable... these were the-"

"I don't give a fuck" Peter interrupted him with a final snarl "In the agreements there was no fucking bonding ritual" he had seen the consequences of these rituals "Pay me more... or I'll cut off your heads and shove them up your asses"

The man stared at him for a few moments, then sighed "OK... I can admit to omitting certain details and I guess a few extra coins couldn't hurt anyone" he said as he pulled out some more money and placed it on Peter's hand.

Peter grunted as he put the other money in his saddlebag and walked away from the duo "Hurry up and finish this shit so we can leave" If he had known what was coming next, he would never have said such a thing.

...

"This is definitely unique" Diana said as she stood in front of the colonnade of red light, she had seen the teleporters used by certain Amazons several times... but none of them gave off a red light, the light was so bright that Dana could see the colonnade even when she was still on the boat.

An incredible sense of unease pervaded Diana's body, there was a thought in her mind that was screaming at her not to use this portal... unfortunately it was the only access point available, she had visited the fortress, but every entrance was unusable and she couldn't even use brute force, or she would risk collapsing everything and also kill Cletus.

"I have no choice," Diana said with a sigh before entering the portal, she closed her eyes and waited for several seconds... Normally she would feel dizzy, but thanks to her far more powerful physiognomy she felt no dizziness... she only smelled a strong stench of rotting corpses.

Diana grimaced at the strong stench that invaded her nostrils, she opened her eyes and found herself in a rather dark room "It worked" Diana thought with relief as she walked out of the small, dimly lit room... the spectacle before her was gruesome to say the least, bodies scattered all over the corridor, some bodies were still whole, while others had been completely torn to pieces.

Amidst all the chaos that was the corridor, the one that stood out the most was a kind of luminescent coloured rope "that's the right direction" Diana said as she followed the rope and made sure not to step on the rotting corpses, suddenly a hand touched her ankle covered by the armoured boots, out of instinct she tugged her ankle away and looked down... the spectacle horrified her, the corpse had no part of the head and the now rotten brain was exposed, the lower part was missing and the entrails were spilling out onto the stone floor.

Diana couldn't help but feel pity, she found it inhuman to disrespect someone's death... to force him to become a monster without conscience or personality... to force him to give up a much sought and earned peace "May you finally find peace," Diana said as she drew her sword and with an incredibly fluid movement drove the blade into the skull, the reanimated corpse twitched a few more times and then stopped.

Diana drew the blade and was about to continue when-

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A scream was heard... a scream so loud that Diana thought it would bring the entire structure down... a scream that made the Amazon's skin crawl... a scream that didn't even sound like that of a creature, more like that of a demon herself "Hera give me strength" Diana thought determinedly as she sprinted towards the direction from which the demonic scream had originated.

As she sprinted through the corridors, making sure to follow the luminescent rope, while she had also grasped her shield, she passed a small junction of corridors, Diana could see how large and complex the maze of corridors was... it was unnatural, especially for the size of the fortress seen from the outside.

Diana rounded the corner and could see about ten metres away a large, wide-open door leading into a huge room carved in stone, through which she barely made it-

CRACK!

A blurred figure crashed against the wall that flanked the door, small splinters of stone shot out in different directions and Diana had to parry with her shield to deflect some of them; As she lowered her shield she could see the figure leaning against the wall, she was wearing black armour and a spider emblem on her chest that branched out behind her back, on one of her forearms was a sort of retractable blade that also had strange carvings on it, on the other forearm was a circular shield that seemed to have a spider's web motif, the helmet had two white lenses, although one of them was slightly chipped.

"Not bad little spider" A voice was heard from the opposite side of the room, that voice, she knew it well, she had memorised it for whole days and it haunted her in her nightmares... but it sounded different, it sounded as if two people were talking at the same time, but one of them was not human; Diana turned her gaze and opened her eyes wide at the horrifying spectacle: the body was definitely that of a man, but it seemed to be completely covered in a red and black substance that had a life of its own, tentacles protruded from its shoulders, its hands had long toothless clawsand in the place of his eyes there were two self-propelled lenses similar to those of the other man in black armour.

Cletus turned his head slightly towards the large, wide-open door and his 'eyes' narrowed "You" Cletus hissed towards the woman who had just entered, the tentacles erupting from his shoulders pricked up, even his skin seemed to twitch at the new presence.

Diana raised her sword and pointed it at Cletus "Cletus the madman, you have invaded my island, killed many of my sisters with your group and stolen some of our most priceless treasures... you will hand yourself over and tell me where they are" The tone was authoritative and Diana's pose was rigid and ready for action.

Cletus smiled, exposing his sharp black teeth "What if I don't?" Cletus asked provocatively as his hand reached out and formed a blade.

"I'll make you" Diana said forcefully as she took a few steps forward.

Cletus snarled and sprinted towards her blurry speed, though it was still visible to Diana, the woman moved to the side and managed to efficiently dodge the slash of Cletus' blade, which collided against the floor.

Diana wasted no time and with a limited strike struck the side of Cletus' head, whose head jerked to the side from the force of the blow, the man hissed and moved back a few steps, he touched his head "Mhm... I love a woman who can scratch... especially one with beautiful tits like yours" he said in a voice that bordered on that of an animalistic growl, mixed also with a certain amount of lust, his gaze focused on the woman's gifted chest.

Diana moved with lightning speed and with a precise slash cut the man's face, who snarled in pain, but countered and with the other hand delivered a violent punch against the woman's stomach, which was parried by the shield, creating a thunderous metallic sound.

CLANCK!

Peter was carefully observing the scene, especially the newcomer "Perfect... a fucking Amazon" Peter thought with annoyance as he got up and cracked his neck, the woman, from what Peter could see, was strong and fast... maybe even at her own level and the blows she was dealing were giving Cletus some serious damage.

There shouldn't even have been this fight... , how could he imagine that this symbiote could resurrect a man whose body it had sliced in half.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a certain figure struggling to get out of the room "Oh no, you don't" He raised his arm with his wrist crossbow and shot a dart into the man's knee, who screamed in pain, a grim satisfaction pervaded Peter's body as the other man screamed and ran towards him, not caring about the clash between the Amazon and Cletus, still raging behind him, Peter had to admit he was astonished by the woman... not everyone could face a man fused with a symbiont and still stand up to him.

When he got close enough to the other man, Peter grabbed him by the arm and crashed him violently against a pillar, which made him hiss in pain; he didn't have time to say a word that Peter encircled his throat with one of his hands and lifted him off the ground "You're leaving already?" asked Peter through clenched teeth.

The man struggled to say even a single word and moved desperately to free himself "I-I... n-not... y-you h-have-"

"I don't give a fuck if I hurt your feelings, you fucking " Peter hissed interrupting him "Just tell me what the fuck this symbiont is"

"W-what do you mean?" the man asked more easily, Peter had thankfully lessened the pressure of his grip.

"The one I fought was black... this one is also red."

The man's eyes widened, understanding perfectly who the man in black armour in front of him was "Y-You... You killed their king, their god's most loyal disciple."

Peter stared at the man for a few seconds of silence and then punched him violently in the face, shattering his septum and blood began to ooze from his nose "Answer me" his voice grew much darker and out of the corner of his eye he could swear he saw the shadows move unnaturally

"This s-symbiont was bound to Cletus, but he was almost k-killed and their l-bond was broken" the man replied with pure terror in his tone, before him stood perhaps one of the deadliest men on the entire continent, a man who served for years under a man as powerful as he was insane... or at least had become so over the years "The s-symbiont is-is fused with the one thing that dominates C-Cletus... his s-sympathising thirst for s-blood"

"Does he have any weaknesses?" Peter asked, out of the corner of his eye he could see how the fight was going on, even the woman seemed to have a rather deep cut on her shoulder as a considerable amount of blood gushed from the wound "I tried lightning... but it didn't work"

"t-the fire... I-the fire should take him down, but-but their-bond is strong, it won't be easy-"

he was interrupted by Peter, who with a "light" blow to the side of his head knocked him out, Peter dropped him to the ground like a sack of potatoes and stared at his blade and brought it close to his face "Kenaz" Peter said it in such a low whisper that it was almost incomprehensible; one of the runes engraved on the blade began to glow a deep red and the bards of the blade became as if incandescent and began to emit smoke.

Suddenly a thought invaded his mind like a hurricane "Fenris" his mind panicked, where was his comrade? Was he all right? "If Cletus did something to him" Peter thought gloomily, for a moment his lenses glowed an electric red colour; Peter began to look around, searching for his companion and his gaze fell on a pile of rubble that flanked the wall, in the debris he could see black fur... and blood "No" his mind went completely into a panic as he sprinted towards the wounded wolf and began to move all the debris, behind him the battle continued to rage, but Peter didn't care at the moment.

The scene in front of him made his blood run cold, there was a wound on his side, three claws that had torn through flesh and from which a worrying amount of blood was pouring out, one of his paws was bent abnormally, Peter dabbed at the wounds with his hands and the action made Fenris hiss in pain and open his eyes "Hey. .. you look like shit" Peter joked, though his tone came out more like a choked sound... those wounds were weird, they seemed to rot the flesh around them "Shit, shit, shit..." Peter grunted into his saddlebag and pulled out a strange greenish purple herb, crushed it between his hands still stained with Fenris's blood and rubbed them together, after a few seconds he pressed them against the wound, made sure to cover the deep cuts with the utmost precision "That should help him... but not forever" he turned his head towards the clash, which was turning in Cletus' favour.

He stared at the scene for a few seconds just before he ejected the still glowing blade from his forearm "I'm going to enjoy cutting your balls off and putting them down your throat" Peter thought as he threw himself towards the duo.

Diana could safely say that Cletus was perhaps her first and real threat she had ever faced, he was fast, strong and resilient... and it was all accompanied by his ferocity and insatiable thirst for blood, now she was holding onto one knee and gasping for breath, rivulets of blood trickled from her shoulder and soiled her armour, her face presented with bruises there was a phantom pain on one of her knees.

"Tired beauty?" Cletus asked provocatively, even from her tone one could tell a certain amount of tiredness, her figure also seemed to slouch slightly.

Every blow she dealt with her sword seemed to regenerate, Cletus' 'skin' seemed to have a life of its own; suddenly Cletus stretched out an arm and her hand took the form of an axe; Diana gritted her teeth as she stood up with her sword and shield still in her hands, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the smug form of Cletus, this man had destroyed the life of someone all too dear to her... she would not allow him to win, she would not allow him to take more lives "I will not stop. ... in front of nothing," Diana thought determinedly as she shifted her stance and tensed her body, ready to make any move. Suddenly she noticed out of the corner of her eye the same man she had just entered the room, who had some sort of glowing blade sticking out of his forearm.

ZAK!

The movement was incredibly fluid, the blade completely lacerated Cletus' hand, which fell to the ground emitting a few more small spasms, the man fused with the symbiote instead howled in pain, but before he could take any other action-

POOM!

A violent kick to the stomach sent Cletus flying against the opposite wall of the room.

KRACK!

Cletus slumped against the wall as he held the stump... which, much to Cletus's amazement, did not seem to grow back "Looks like I'll have to deal with a whore and a bug" Cletus bit out angrily as he was struggling to get back up.

Peter stared at him for a few moments, just before turning his head to the side and turning to Diana who had just gotten up and was staring at him warily "Can you still fight?" Peter asked in a voice as cold as ice.

Diana shivered at the tone the man used, it reminded her of the older Amazons when they used to train her in combat... though this had something very different, far more sinister "Yes"

"Then move your fucking ass and help me" Peter said with a snort as he snapped towards Cletus with the red-hot blade still drawn.

Diana stared at him for a few moments of silence and then shook her head and followed suit... though a slight sense of unease gripped her body.

...

"Do we really have to do this?" a guard in armour asked his comrade "Hell I have my own life to run... I certainly don't want to waste this evening guarding a couple of crates."

"Those are the orders" the other man in armour replied with a shrug as he took a sip of his wine "We have to wait for the others to arrive... then we can get the fuck out of here"

"Why the fuck are we the only ones guarding such an important cargo anyway?" the man who had spoken first asked with confusion "If this cargo is so important shouldn't there be dozens of soldiers guarding it? Especially since we are in a terrible district."

The other man stared at him for a moment and then pointed to the space around them "Look around"

the soldier was confused, they were in a precarious condition in an alleyway, the walls ruined and littered with different kinds of filth and the air presented with that distinct halo of rubbish "what do you mean?"

"This district is full of rebels... here former Lord Bruce still has many connections and supporters, if a platoon had just set foot here he and his men would have ambushed us" the older soldier said pragmatically.

"Now that you mention it, it seems logical" nodded the younger soldier as he cast a glance over the crates "Doesn't it make you curious?"

"About the contents of the crate?" asked the more experienced soldier, at the nod of his colleague's head he continued "No, I don't care and it doesn't concern me"

"Yes, but not even a little curiosity? After all, we are risking our lives for these crates"

The senior soldier sighed "No... I've learnt over the years to mind my own business, mindlessness keeps you alive"

"You speak from experience?" the younger asked as he leaned against a low wall.

"Unfortunately yes" said the veteran soldier bitterly.

The young man nodded, made slightly uncomfortable by his comrade's behaviour and looked away to focus on his surroundings, it always made him uncomfortable to be in districts like this, the corruption and criminality were completely corrupting the people and fomenting more and more protests "And I bet that fool will take advantage of it" the young soldier thought with slight discomfort.

The lord of the city was completely disinterested, he prefered spending his tax money on his every little indulgence, from sex, to luxury and every kind of tropical drug that fucked his brain "And it doesn't help that that fat man is also starting to hear voices in his head" the young man thought.

Suddenly he heard a noise... like that of something metallic and heavy crawling against a surface, he stiffened and looked up... darkness surrounded the area; his more experienced companion had already brandished his sword "Be careful kid... we're not alone" he said sharply as he looked around the alley.

The seconds seemed like whole hours as both soldiers looked around looking for any sign of a third presence; The young man began to sweat and tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword "Fuck... do you see something?" he asked with tension in his tone.

"No" said the older one in a much more controlled voice "Make sure you don't leave -"

FOOM!

A thud filled the alleyway and caused the younger one to abruptly turn towards his comrade, who had been knocked forcefully to the ground, his eyes widened at the sight of a figure in black above the older soldier and he wasted no time in pointing his sword towards him "DON'T MOVE!" he ordered with a shout as he stiffened his body and braced himself for every move of the mysterious black figure.

The stranger did not say a word, merely stood up from his crouching position... the young soldier could see how tall his opponent was, he could tower over him and his figure was thick and developed, his armour was light, with a plate in the middle of his chest in the shape of a bat, his armbands were quite thick and his knuckles were covered with metal plates, he had a belt that encircled his waist, with all sorts of tools, he had a kind of helmet, which exposed his well-shaped jaw and had bat-like ears, the man's gaze shifted to the boxes behind the soldier, then back to him.

The young man was growing increasingly nervous at his enemy's silence, especially when he began to walk towards his direction "T-I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!" he shouted again with a sting of fear in his tone.

The young soldier lunged forward and tried to strike the stranger in the stomach with his sword, but the figure ducked to the side and grabbed the wrist of the hand with which he was holding the sword; the soldier could not say a word as a hard blow to the jaw knocked him out and caused him to fall sideways against the ruined wall.

The figure in black looked around for a few moments just before approaching the crates... there were few, too few to be new weapons, they were very ordinary wooden crates, they didn't seem to have any sort of magical lock on them, his eyes narrowed in curiosity as he opened one of the boxes and what he saw in front of him confused him... it was plain food and it seemed to be in very good condition too "Why so much secrecy then?" he thought.

Suddenly he heard a thud behind him and turned his gaze, a few metres from him another figure had landed, also male and with a bow on his shoulders "Already checked?" asked the man as he rose from his crouched position, he had a hood covering his face, allowing only a jaw covered by a well-groomed blond beard to be seen.

"Food" replied the man dressed in black in a hoarse voice "I doubt the men I shot down know anything" he continued in a cold tone.

"Maybe they wanted to raise the morale of the troops... we know some generals are beginning to doubt their lord" said the other man as he walked over and checked the contents "Hell... things like that would be good for us" he commented as he took an apple.

The man in black remained silent for a few moments "We will wait for those who were supposed to take these crates to arrive... one of them will know something."

The blond man under the hood nodded "I'm going to find a good spot where I can help you with my bow" he said as he was starting to climb onto the roof when-

"Remember... don't kill anyone, just hit them in non-lethal places" the man in black ordered in an authoritative tone.

the blond man in the hood nodded with a laugh 'You know Bruce, you always manage to make every challenge interesting... I'll be sure to catch them at the feet and hands' and with that he began to climb and reach a position he had noticed out of the corner of his eye.

Bruce stared at him walking away for a few seconds and then let out a sigh "I'd better find a spot on top too".

...

Peter was tired, his breaths had become heavy and difficult ... He gritted his teeth and shifted his gaze to Cletus, who didn't seem to be doing so well as Peter and the Amazon had made sure to corner him "What is it Cletus? You look tired," said Peter with a smile under his helmet, which had a completely broken lens, allowing the view of one eye, the rest of the armour seemed to have only a few scratches and armour.

Cletus hissed as he leaned against the wall, which ironically was the one with all those strange incisions, one arm had been amputated from the elbow up and his stomach presented a large opening that had spilled some of his internal organs onto the floor "You won't be laughin w-when I will cut off y-your fuckin' head and shove it up the ass of the b-bitch next to you"

Diana narrowed her eyes as she stood a few steps away from Peter, she too had received a couple of blows, mostly to the face, one of her eyes had closed from the swelling and her lip had a nasty cut "It turned out to be more useful than I thought... After all she is an Amazon" Peter thought as he turned to the woman "Let's end it here"

The woman stared at him for a few moments, just before nodding "Make sure you don't kill him... I need the information he can give me"

"I'm not promising you shit" Peter replied with a final grunt, and then sprinted off, although it was difficult due to a pain in his thigh, he was followed closely by the Amazon.

Cletus broke away from the wall and prepared himself for the combined attack of the two, even though every movement sent excruciating stabs of pain throughout his body, Sharp vittles erupted from his chest and flew at great speed towards the duo, Diana used her shield to deflect them, while Peter instead dodged the vittles with extreme skill, Cletus growled and raised his arm still in one piece and stretched his fingers out to form claws, tried to strike Peter, but managed to parry the blow with his retractable shield.

STRHM!

The unbearable sound of scraping metal filled the area; Peter wasted no time and with his retractable forearm blade sliced through Cletus' chest, cutting through several vittles, Cletus roared in pain and tried to bite Peter's head with his long, serrated teeth.

POOM!

A violent blow from Diana jerked Cletus' head backwards and sent it crashing into the wall.

CRACK!

Cracks formed in the rock and Peter gasped from the force of the blow... this woman was strong, stronger than any Amazon he had encountered over the years "Maybe almost as strong as me" Peter thought as he stepped back and swung his blade towards Cletus' face, which sliced through his face.

Cletus hissed and kicked Diana who parried the blow with her shield.

CLANCK!

The metal trembled under the force of the blow and Diana gritted her teeth as she retreated a few paces; Peter sprang forward and grabbed him by the neck before plunging the blade into his eye.

FSGHRM!

The blade came piercing through Cletus's entire head and countered with the back wall, Cletus screamed in agony and tried to pull Peter off, but Diana thrust her sword into his still intact arm; Cletus was flailing like a madman "Stop fucking around" Peter hissed at him as he didn't move an inch.

"Fuck you fucking freak... when I'm done with you, I'm going to fuck your fucking corpse up to-"

"Enough" Diana ordered forcefully as she pulled her lasso out of the golden light "If you won't talk I'll make you" she wrapped Cletus' wrist with her lasso.

"Really? A fucking lazo?" Peter asked curiously, out of the corner of his eye he could see how one of the scenes engraved on the rock was lightening slightly.

Diana did not answer and turned to Cletus 'Tell me who the others were who were with you,' she said in an authoritative tone.

Cletus opened his mouth, probably to send her some insult or curse, but his jaw clenched and his body stiffened, he hissed in pain as a growing burning invaded his wrist... then moved throughout his body "What the fuck is that?"

Diana fixed him with a steely gaze "Answer me"

Cletus gritted his gritted teeth, there was like a strange force urging him to tell the truth "I... I don't know them"

"Their names... that's all I need." Diana continued with her course of action.

"T-Taskmaster..." Cletus opened his eyes wide in surprise, even as the blade stuck in no of them created itches of excruciating pain "There was a-also Deathstroke, and..." Cletus felt as if his entire body was burning.

"Who else?" Diana asked, also noticing out of the corner of her eye one of the incisions that had begun to glow.

"M-Morbius" Cletus spat out of his mouth.

"Who are they? Mercenaries?" Diana asked.

To the woman's surprise, it was Peter who replied "Yes... or at least all of them except Morbius."

Diana stared at him for a moment, wondering internally if she should ask him some more questions, but decided to put it off until later, Diana turned her attention back to Cletus "Do you know who hired you?"

"I-I don't... I never knew," Cletus said with difficulty.

Diana stared at him for a few moments, then sighed "I guess you told me everything I needed to know" After speaking, the woman freed Cletus's wrist from her lasso.

"Finally" Peter said as he abruptly pulled the blade out of Cletus' eyes, causing him to grunt in pain.

Diana drew her sword from Cletus's arm and this dropped him to the ground on her lap as he held the wound to his eye; the woman stared down at him from above, her figure surprisingly imposing for a woman "I, Diana... Amazon warrior, for the crimes committed on my island-"

"Cut the crap" Peter bit back in annoyance as he kicked Cletus' stomach, causing him to lean forward, grabbed him by the head and better exposed his neck "Come on... I feel kind enough to help you"

Diana narrowed her eyes and then sighed, it was useless to argue 'I sentence you to meet my sword... May the gods have mercy on your soul" and with a fluid movement Diana moved her sword.

ZASH!

The movement was so fast that the air seemed to break and the priest's neck was sliced clean off, the head rolled a few steps and then stopped with dull eyes fixed on the two, the symbiote was retreating and dying and the thing could also be implemented on the body separated from the head as it was returning to its normal state "What was that?" asked Diana with a mixture of curiosity and disgust, "Who on earth would want union with such a creature?" the Amazon wondered internally.

"A symbiont, a creature created by-"

SPIDER-SENSE!

The scene engraved on the wall reached an increasingly higher degree of illumination "Shit" Peter thought.

TUMB!

...

"ARACNE!" a powerful and virile voice erupted from the darkness surrounding the goddess, who could not help but smile, she was currently in a lotus position, red spider legs erupted from her back.

Out of the darkness a figure made itself known, it was tall, so tall that it could still tower over her even if she was raised, the male figure was incredibly defined and thick, every muscle screamed pure power, the chest was exposed, leaving several scars visible, the underside was covered in a white robe with golden edges, the man had a beard and well-groomed white hair, his usually blue eyes were now white pupils and small lightning bolts erupted from his figure.

Arachne was not at all intimidated, on the contrary, he did not move an inch and did not even deign to glance at her in recognition, which irritated the man to no small degree, "Arachne... don't you dare ignore me" a deep growl erupted from the god's throat.

"Damn Zeus... you must learn to relax, haven't you tried it with one of your beloved sisters?" asked Arachne defiantly with the usual smile that hardly ever left her.

Zeus narrowed his eyes and a golden lightning bolt formed in one of his hands "No one dares to talk to me like that."

Arachne smiled "I do not belong to your court of sycophants and whores hidden behind a mask of pretended purity"

Arachne could see real white anger erupt from Zeus's figure, as the lightning bolt he held in his hands grew bigger and brighter "You should not have interfered, these were the arrangements... Instead I see your champion helping one of my Amazons on her personal mission... that she had to do herself"

Arachne's smile widened "Are you sure she's just a common amazon? Are you sure she's not something more?"

Zeus growled and with a lightning motion grabbed the goddess by the throat and stared directly into her eyes with his pupils completely white "She must stay out of your affairs... I will not allow you to harm her"

Arachne did not lose her smile even at this moment "Oh... Zeus therefore also has a heart, he is not just a whoremonger"

"No more jokes... and especially no more of this useless crusade of yours" Zeus said forcefully.

For the first time Arachne's smile disappeared "I will not stop... not until every trace of that being is completely annihilated"

"he is dead... you know it and I know it" Zeus said more calmly, although he had not let go of his grip on the goddess' throat.

Arachne hissed as she grasped Zeus' wrist "No, he is still out there and his influence is destroying the world the Father of all has given us... I won't stop at nothing and so won't my champion"

Zeus was silent for several seconds as he stared into her bloodshot red eyes... they were so different from those of hundreds of thousands ago, she herself was no longer the same benevolent goddess she once was "What happened to you? Where is my friend?"

"Don't you dare lecture me" Arachne growled as she tugged on Zeus' grip "You're rotten... just like me"

Zeus remained silent and Arachne could swear she could see some sort of guilt in his eyes "I..." she began, but paused for a moment just before sighing "If you want to keep following a ghost go ahead... but you won't made kill Diana"

Arachne she looked at him with a calculating gaze, contemplating the words of the other Zeus "I will do what is necessary"

Zeus clenched his jaw and turned away "And I will do my duty if she dies" and with that last sentence he disappeared with a white flash.

Arachne stared at the spot in the darkness where Zeus had disappeared and smiled at the last words of her now former long-time friend "We'll see... we'll see if your dear Amazon is up to the challenge"

...

Peter's head was pounding like mad, it was as if a heavy war hammer had crashed into his face "What the fuck was that?" Peter wondered as he got back up, although it was quite difficult as his vision was severely blurred, his armour didn't seem to show any kind of damage except for those caused by Cletus, speaking of Cletus' body, his body seemed to have been reduced to ashes.

"I have no idea," replied the Amazon, who was also recovering from the violent shockwave that had hit the duo.

Peter hissed as he felt a twinge of pain in his wrist, as if it were burning for some reason, but the bracelet looked fine, except for the superficial scratches that had sent away some of the black colouring "Better check it, better be- Holy shit" Peter thought as he removed the bracelet, but froze when he saw what was on his wrist... a tattoo, simple and white in colour, it was a line with two circles on either end "The same as the one on the floor" Peter thought.

Peter shifted his gaze to Diana and could see that on the woman's opposite forearm was the same white tattoo that Peter had, suddenly Peter with his hearing could hear a moan... an animal moan "Fenris" Peter thought alarmed and, after putting the bracelet back on, moved towards the rubble, which had been slightly displaced by the shockwave, the wolf was still alive and didn't seem to have suffered any other injuries "Hey big guy" Peter said as he got quite close to his companion.

The wolf snarled in response, which made Peter smile slightly as he lifted him up and held him in his arms, the man shifted his gaze to the woman, who had also noticed the tattoo "Hey!"

the howl successfully attracted the attention of the Amazon, who froze at the sight of the wolf, stood up slowly and waited several seconds shortly before speaking 'he is wounded' the woman said with what sounded like displeasure in her tone.

"No kidding" Peter commented annoyed and with a movement of his head continued to speak "Behind that pillar is the cunt who hired me, take him with you... I think he will be able to give us an answer about the tattoos" Peter said disinterestedly as he walked towards the exit with the large wolf in his arms, which seemed to almost completely hide Peter's body.

Diana stared at him for a few moments "Wait" she said taking a few steps forward.

Peter ignored her "No" he said in a tense tone.

"I can help him" Diana did not give up.

This made Peter stop abruptly and he turned his head to the side, making his white lens visible "And I should trust an Amazon bitch... give me a single reason why I should do that"

Diana brought her fisted hand to her chest and straightened her posture as much as possible "I swear by the river Styx that I will take care of your mate"

Peter was surprised, not by the promise made, to swear by the River Styx was to give one's soul in a promise... but by the look in the woman's eyes, he could swear he had hardly ever seen anyone who could exude so much honesty "Or almost" Peter thought bitterly, he waited a few seconds for reflection "Good" he said and without hesitation he walked over to the woman and handed him the wolf "You take care of him... I'll take that cock sucker behind the pillar"

Diana nodded and moved to find a suitable area on which to rest the creature, she managed to locate a flat woman, without debris or obstacles that might have bothered the wolf, she placed it gently on the ground and examined Fenris's body; the most visible thing was the three gashes on its side, which seemed to have something on them... like herbs "Well, at least it will make it easier" Diana thought as she slowly joined hands and closed her eyes.

Suddenly the amazon heard a thud and for a moment shifted her gaze to the side, noticing how Peter had knocked the unconscious man to the ground, from what she could see there was a wound on his leg caused by a dart; Diana closed her eyes again and whispered a sentence incomprehensible to Peter "Μεγάλη Igea, σε παρακαλώ δώσε μου την ευκαιρία να σώσω αυτό το αδάμαστο πλάσμα... επιτρέψτε της να περπατήσει ξανά σε αυτή τη γη" Suddenly, the hands began to glow bright yellow, especially the palms.

Peter, meanwhile, had just given a rather powerful slap, which abruptly woke up the poor unfortunate. "Hey... sleeping beauty," Peter said mockingly to the man, who had begun to look around frantically.

"W-Where... w-what?" asked the man still lying on the ground with confusion, his gaze stopping on the decapitated body of Cletus, whose head was only a few steps away from it "Y-You did it... it's i-incredible, you-" His speech was interrupted by Peter, who grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to his face.

"Bravo, I see your fucking smarts didn't go away with the blow I gave you" he let go of him and began to remove the bracelet, out of the corner of his eye he could see how the Amazon had placed her glowing hands on Fenris' hip "I always sucked at healing magic" Peter thought; when he removed the bracelet completely, he showed the man the tattoo "We have a new problem though... what the fuck is this tattoo?" he asked in a rough voice bordering on a snarl.

The other man was completely enraptured by the white tattoo "Y-You..." he looked up at Peter, then moved to the woman "N-Not... D-d-didn't think it would work e-even on us"

Peter was slightly confused by the man's words... but what he felt most was annoyance, she still hadn't answered him; with a lightning quick movement he grabbed one of her hands and-

CRACK!

The man screamed in pain as the use broke from the pressure and punctured the skin leaking out "Now you feel like talking fucking cunt?"

"What are you doing!?" asked the woman behind him in a strained voice.

Peter turned his head to the side "Do you have a fucking problem with this?" he asked defiantly, although he had to admit he found the woman intimidating, his hands were stained with Fenris's blood and his expression was cold as ice.

"There was no need to break his wrist" Diana replied with narrowed eyes.

"This cocksucker did not answer my question," Peter bit, as the other man held his wrist .

"I would have done it!" shouted the man who had hired Peter in response.

Peter narrowed his eyes "Then do it... unless you want me to break your other eye as well"

The man shifted into a sitting position and finally decided to speak "What you have on your wrist is an ancient tattoo that dates back to the realm of giants"

Peter grunted, while Diana's eyes widened slightly as she stroked the wolf's head with one of her hands... which the animal seemed to like quite a bit "It was mainly used between soul mates"

Peter's eyes widened and he remained in an eerie silence for several seconds "What the fuck did you say?" the woman behind him looked equally surprised.

"For the culture of the giants some of their children were destined to unite with someone already predestined... and to ensure this, the two giants were united with this tattoo"

"So it's just a fucking wedding ring?" Peter asked in a rough voice.

The man shook his head "It's not that simple... the bond this ritual creates is deep, so deep that it was said it could even delve into people's very souls and manipulate fate" The man said with slight effort.

Peter growled and grabbed him by the throat "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I-I swear" the man replied with extreme difficulty, air struggling to enter his lungs.

Peter raised his arm and was about to strike him when a hand stopped him, this made him growl and he didn't even bother to look at the woman behind him "Get your fucking hands off me"

"He answered you... no need to hurt him further" Diana replied forcefully as she didn't let go.

"Oh perfect... a fucking champion of justice" Peter commented mockingly.

Diana narrowed her eyes "Leave him alone... he answered you, I can continue"

A silence ensued, in which the two warriors stared into each other's eyes and neither seemed to relent until-

"Fine" Peter said with a grunt as he tugged on Diana's grip and stepped back to check on Fenris.

Diana stared at him moving away for a few seconds and then sighed and focused her attention on the other man who was holding his broken nose and was still sitting on the ground, she crouched at his level and gave him a reassuring smile "Please, talk to me again of this tattoo that he and I share"

The man still seemed frightened, but he decided to answer her "I-I... I mean, the tattoo you have connects you on a very deep level that even transcends the physical plane in a sense, it can't just be undone... and if there's anything that can reverse the process, then I don't know about it"

Dian remained silent as she assimilated all the information "So we can't even go our separate ways?"

"You can...but the consequences would be catastrophic," the man said solemnly.

"This is just a fucking bullshit" Peter commented as he picked up Fenris again, glared at the woman "You better continue your conversation out of this shit hole...or stay here as much as I care" Peter finished with a huff as he walked towards the portal.

Diana stared at him for a few moments as she walked away to then speak to the man with the broken wrist "Can you walk?"

"Y-Yes" the man replied as he stood up.

Diana nodded "Then follow me towards the exit... there I can treat that wrist of yours"

The man remained silent for several moments, and then nodded "After you"

Hi guys, sorry for the delay in publication, I suffered a bad bereavement in the family this month and I had taken a break from writing for a moment to be close to a relative of mine, then if we add to that my reluctance, since I spent several times changing the narrative of this chapter... Well, you can understand the wait.

I'd also like to say I finally corrected the first chapter, thank you for pointing out the mistakes, I apologise to the people who abandoned the story because of my mistakes, I hope you can give me a second chance.

Last thing, I'm planning to do some kind of one shot/short story about Peter Parker and Jean Dewolff as the main couple, nothing serious compared to this story, which if all goes well, should last quite a while.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter... see you guys next time.