Chapter 12 — The Doktor
The alley was quieter now.
Most of the large-scale fighting had shifted toward the rift center.
Peter Weiss stared at Adrian like he was trying to reconcile two incompatible spreadsheets.
Adrian crossed his arms.
“Lots of things have happened lately,” he said evenly. “I’m fine. I’ll fill you in later.”
Peter blinked twice.
“…You’d better.”
Adrian tilted his head.
“But I should be asking you the same thing. Did S-Class lower their standards? Or what?”
Peter gasped dramatically.
“Excuse you?”
He adjusted his glasses.
“Rank reflects influence and record. Not just how flashy you look in a fight.”
He tapped his chest lightly.
“S-Class means I can destabilize a country alone.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“You?”
Peter smiled.
“With enough time and enough clones? Absolutely.”
His tone wasn’t arrogant.
It was factual.
“I don’t need to punch through buildings. Infrastructure collapses in much more elegant ways.”
Samantha’s worms shifted slightly at that.
Peter continued.
“Also, healing logistics, battlefield sustainability, strategic biology. I scale.”
He paused.
“Rank ten.”
Adrian smirked.
“Unbelievable.”
Peter’s eyes narrowed playfully.
“Speaking of unbelievable — why didn’t I see you on any of the new S-Class listings?”
Adrian replied flatly:
“Take a guess.”
Peter looked at him.
Then at Samantha.
Then back at him.
“…Understandable.”
Samantha tried very hard not to laugh.
Peter leaned slightly toward Samantha.
“So. Is this your girlfriend?”
Samantha froze.
Adrian sighed.
Peter continued casually:
“I mean, based on what I’m seeing? Demon aesthetics? Soul-devouring tentacles? I can see the pattern.”
Samantha’s face went visibly red.
She gripped her own wrist tightly.
Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“She’s in the same school. She’s smart. We’re partners.”
Peter repeated slowly:
“Partners.”
He turned to Samantha.
“You’re lucky you haven’t seen his bad side. Back in high school this guy was basically Napoleon with a GPA.”
Adrian shot him a look.
Peter grinned.
“I’m glad we hung out before he evolved.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Join our group.”
Peter blinked.
“…What group?”
“Vigilante.”
Peter didn’t even hesitate.
“Sure.”
Samantha looked surprised.
“That fast?”
Peter shrugged.
“I don’t really mess with the mainstream hero spotlight. Too political.”
He gestured vaguely upward where Spark was still visible in flashes of gold.
“I just like saving people.”
He leaned closer.
“And fortunately, the public hero description of my power is… incomplete.”
Adrian’s lips curved slightly.
Good.
They glanced back toward the sky.
The rift was shrinking.
Nanotech robots were corralling the final wave.
Spark was stabilizing the remaining void distortion.
Peter checked his watch.
“Well.”
He gestured casually.
“School’s basically done for today.”
He pointed at Adrian and Samantha.
“You two shouldn’t be seen.”
Then to himself.
“And I shouldn’t be seen standing around not helping.”
He smiled behind his glasses.
“I’ll take you to my lab.”
Adrian frowned.
“Hero Corp underground?”
Peter shook his head.
“Better.”
He pointed down.
“Intercity tunnel system. Dug it myself.”
Samantha blinked.
“…The officials don’t know?”
Peter grinned.
“They know a lot.”
He turned and began walking toward a seemingly ordinary drainage grate.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“They don’t know everything.”
The tunnel sloped downward for nearly half a kilometer.
Reinforced walls.
Hand-built sections.
Occasional carved-out chambers where other Peters were seen moving supplies.
Samantha’s eyes widened slightly.
At the end—
A massive underground lab.
Fluorescent white lighting.
Rows of operating tables.
Equipment.
Screens.
And Peters.
Everywhere.
One Peter was calmly cutting open his own abdomen while another took notes.
“Any discomfort?”
“Minor neural delay. Increase the regenerative factor by point-two.”
Another Peter was merging two clones together like liquid flesh.
Elsewhere, three Peters argued about cellular density thresholds.
Adrian stared.
“How many?”
Peter answered from beside him.
“About ten thousand cells so far.”
He tapped his temple.
“Cloning isn’t the core ability. Biological awareness and manipulation is.”
He pointed toward a wall filled with serum vials.
“I can enhance my strength. Healing. Immunity. Metabolic efficiency.”
Samantha stepped closer to one of the self-surgeries.
“He’s awake.”
Peter shrugged.
“Pain is useful data.”
He continued casually.
“I only submit weaker serums to Medical School projects. Enough to ace everything. Nothing suspicious.”
Samantha was absorbed, watching multiple Peters coordinate like a distributed brain.
Meanwhile—
Adrian stood beside one version of Peter slightly removed from the others.
The tone shifted.
Quieter.
Adrian spoke briefly.
About dying.
About the gray expanse.
About the line.
About Lucifer.
About the contract.
He didn’t elaborate.
Just facts.
Peter listened.
When Adrian finished—
Peter exhaled slowly.
“…I thought I was the messed-up one.”
Silence.
Then Peter asked casually:
“So what happens if you die again?”
Adrian frowned slightly.
“I haven’t thought about it.”
Peter leaned against a table.
“If your power originates from Hell — like a Sin Warden — or hers as an independent contractor… then your soul is probably bound there.”
Samantha turned slightly at that.
Peter continued:
“You’d return to Hell.”
Adrian nodded.
“That’s what happened.”
Peter tilted his head.
“Yeah. But last time Lucifer sent you back.”
He looked at him more seriously now.
“What if he doesn’t this time?”
The lab felt quieter.
Adrian didn’t answer.
Peter paced slowly.
“How do demons get here?”
“Rifts,” Samantha said.
“Exactly,” Peter replied.
He looked back at Adrian.
“You’re a Sin.”
He tapped the air between them.
“You might be able to open one.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Peter continued thoughtfully:
“If your soul is bound to Infinite Hell, and rifts are dimensional tears… maybe you can create your own.”
A pause.
“And close it at will.”
Adrian considered that.
Not as a fantasy.
As a contingency plan.
Peter smiled slightly.
“See? This is why I like hanging out with you.”
He gestured around at the lab.
“Everyone else freaks out at existential implications.”
He adjusted his glasses again.
“You start planning.”
Peter leaned back against one of the stainless steel tables, arms crossed.
“Though,” he said casually, “I have to admit something.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“I was wrong earlier.”
“Oh?”
Peter nodded toward him.
“You’re not S-Class material right now.”
Samantha blinked.
Peter continued calmly:
“You’re low A-Class at best.”
Adrian stared at him flatly.
“Excuse me?”
Peter raised a finger.
“Thirty seconds.”
He pointed at Adrian’s chest.
“Thirty seconds to transform.”
He let the number hang in the air.
“That’s embarrassingly long.”
Samantha winced slightly.
Peter continued:
“You could be shot by a random civilian with a handgun before you even finish rearranging your organs.”
Adrian shrugged.
“I’d probably come back.”
Peter’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Probably.”
He stepped closer.
“And how long would you be out?”
Silence.
“An hour? A day? A week?”
Peter tapped his temple.
“God knows how long it would take you to claw your way back from Hell without Lucifer personally escorting you.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because that was true.
Peter turned to Samantha.
“You?”
“Ten seconds,” she replied quietly.
Peter nodded once.
Then looked back at Adrian.
“See?”
He spread his hands.
“Hierarchy-wise, sure. You’re Pride. Big title. Scary wings eventually.”
He tilted his head.
“But in reality? You have more weaknesses than her.”
He pointed toward Samantha’s shoulder.
“She has range.”
He tapped Adrian’s armor.
“You don’t.”
He walked in a slow circle around Adrian.
“You’re close-combat dependent.”
“You burn stamina.”
“You leak energy.”
He stopped in front of him.
“You’re powerful.”
A beat.
“But inefficient.”
Adrian didn’t flinch.
Peter’s tone softened slightly — not gentler, just analytical.
“I can probably improve it.”
Samantha looked between them.
Peter continued:
“You should come here once a week.”
He gestured at the lab.
“I’ve studied monsters.”
He smirked.
“I’ve never studied a Demon up close before.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Peter grinned.
“Obviously.”
Then more seriously:
“You want to climb, right?”
A pause.
“Then optimize.”
Adrian gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
That was agreement.
They exited through the tunnel system.
By the time they reached the surface, the sky had cleared.
The rift was gone.
Emergency vehicles remained.
News drones hovered.
Hero Corp had already taken control of the narrative.
Spark was nowhere visible.
Professional.
Contained.
Samantha walked beside Adrian quietly.
After a few seconds, she asked:
“Are you mad?”
“At Peter?”
She nodded.
“He’s kind of a jerk.”
Adrian smirked faintly.
“No.”
He adjusted his sleeve.
“He was too polite when you first met him.”
Samantha looked confused.
Adrian continued:
“That wasn’t the real Peter.”
He glanced back toward the hidden tunnel entrance.
“This was.”
There was something almost nostalgic in his tone.
For the first time since Hollowford—
Adrian looked like someone who remembered who he used to be.
And didn’t completely hate it.
