The ground trembled under the Sentinel's footsteps. Each impact of its fists against the floor sent sparks and shards of stone flying.
Danny staggered back, his breathing ragged, chi burning inside him but being consumed fast. His fist, wrapped in golden light, barely blocked the next blow.
The Sentinel, now adapted, moved with precision—anticipating every motion of Iron Fist. It no longer merely mimicked; it learned, corrected, improved.
"Come on…" Danny growled through his teeth, trying to use the enemy's momentum to twist and break its guard, but the machine adjusted before the strike even left his arm. A metallic claw seized his forearm and slammed him into a column.
A few meters away, Daredevil and Elektra were surrounded.
Their bodies were a map of cuts, sweat, and blood—desperate, stealing every second of pause to catch a breath. The shadows of the Hand's ninjas multiplied, descending like a massive dark wave to overwhelm the two heroes.
And amid all that chaos, Gorgon's voice rang out with infuriating calm.
"You know what's most amusing about human choice, heroes?" he said, walking among the corpses with his hands behind his back. "Everyone believes they make them themselves. That their will matters. That every decision has weight."
He stopped beside a fallen ninja and flipped the body with the tip of his sword's sheath.
"But the true choices, the great ones," he continued, watching the ongoing battle, "were made centuries ago—by unseen hands. By those who understood that control isn't imposed… it's suggested."
Gorgon smiled, spinning his blade as he watched the Sentinel crush Danny into the floor.
"Do you really think the great turns of history were born from chance?" he asked, his voice echoing through the shattered temple walls. "No… they were whispered. Guided."
He walked slowly among the corpses as they were swallowed by shadow.
"Take Cristobal Colon , for example. A sailor who wanted to reach India and ended up 'discovering' an entire continent. Accident?" He shook his head. "The maps, the currents, the stars that guided him—all arranged so that he arrived exactly where we wanted him to. The Hand knew those shores long before any European dreamed of them."
Daredevil raised his head, exhausted from the relentless fight.
"You're… insane…"
"Insane?" Gorgon repeated, almost amused. "What about the wars that forged empires? Napoleon thought ambition brought him to power. Hitler believed destiny chose him. Men love to think they chose. But they were just pieces—inspired. Directed."
He took another step forward, leaning slightly.
"A 'forgotten' book here. A 'mistaken' messenger there. A plague erupting just when it should. The Hand doesn't need armies to change the course of the world. It only needs patience."
At the back, the Sentinel lifted Danny by the neck, the hero's chi flickering weakly in his hand.
"Free will is an illusion," Gorgon whispered. "Every important choice was made centuries before you were born. The paths you could take were built by us."
================================================================
"Hey, scrap metal!" Peter's voice echoed from above as he flipped through the air. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
The machine turned its head, sensors locking on the new incoming target.
A second later, a beam of violet light surged forward, tearing through hundreds of ninjas and slamming into the Sentinel with full force.
The impact sent it skidding several meters, scraping against the stone floor.
Elektra and Daredevil took the chance to breathe. She wiped blood from her face with the back of her glove, while he, barely standing, lifted his baton.
"Took you long enough…" Matt panted.
"A hero never arrives late, Daredevil—nor early," said Spidey, stroking an imaginary beard, "but precisely when he means to."
Jewel rolled her eyes with a faint smile at the comment, not taking her eyes off the machine already getting back up.
The Sentinel planted its hands on the floor, servomotors vibrating. Its metallic voice resonated, modulated and mechanical.
"NEW TARGETS DETECTED.ANALYZING: SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH, ENHANCED REFLEXES, INCREASED AGILITY.RECONFIGURING COMBAT PARAMETERS."
Peter approached Danny, helping him up.
"Man, you look like you went through an industrial blender."
"No…" Danny groaned. "Worse. That thing learns. Don't repeat anything twice."
The Sentinel straightened. Its red eyes glowed, locking on the three heroes.
"ADAPTIVE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED."
Without warning, it lunged at them.
Jessica intercepted, slamming it down with a direct hit to the torso. Peter used the momentum, launching webs to pin down its arms, and Danny channeled his chi, unleashing a brilliant punch into the center of the metallic chest.
The explosion was deafening.
The Sentinel's body sank several meters into the floor.
For a moment, silence.
Peter exhaled. "That's it? That wasn't so hard."
From the hole in the ground, a red beam pierced through the dust.
"COMBINED STRATEGY DETECTED: STRENGTH, IMMOBILIZATION, DIRECT KINETIC ENERGY.COUNTERMEASURE GENERATED."
The machine shot forward at high speed, its structure constantly shifting, seeking the perfect form to eliminate its attackers.
Peter reacted, firing webs; Danny launched another powerful strike; Jewel charged once again.
The Sentinel released an electromagnetic shockwave. The webs disintegrated, Danny's punch was blocked by a new retractable shield emerging from its arm. When Jessica leapt, the Sentinel met her midair, twisting its body and throwing her against a wall.
"Okay, my bad, I raised the flag this time. Sorry! You good, Jewel?" Peter shouted.
"I'm fine," she grunted, shaking off the dust. "I just… hate robots."
Danny dashed back into the fight, his movements now unpredictable, leaping between columns.
"Spider-Man, distract it! I'll break it from the inside!"
Spidey nodded, firing a barrage of sticky webs into the Sentinel's face.
"Hey, Megatron! How do you feel about a little visual confusion?"
The Sentinel tore the webs away with a snap.
"DISTRACTION PATTERN INEFFECTIVE. COMBAT PRIORITY: HIGH."
Its right arm morphed, unfolding into an energy cannon. A purple beam tore through the air, shattering columns and forcing Peter to dodge with frantic jumps.
Jessica charged again, ripping chunks of stone from the ground and hurling them at the robot.
The Sentinel didn't move—just aimed and fired, blasting the debris apart, not expecting a martial artist to burst through the rubble.
Danny channeled his chi into both fists, and in a golden flash, unleashed a barrage of strikes on the same point of the metal torso.
The Sentinel staggered, smoke rising from its chest.
"STRUCTURAL DAMAGE: 18%. ANALYZING UNKNOWN ENERGY SOURCE… REPLICATING."
Strange runes formed on its chest, glowing the same golden color as Danny's fist.
"Impossible…" Danny whispered, eyes widening in disbelief.
"CHI DETECTED. PARTIAL COPY COMPLETED."
The Sentinel raised its arm and released a punch wrapped in golden energy identical to Iron Fist's, sending him flying across the temple.
Jessica and Peter barely managed to cover themselves.
Elektra and Daredevil, bloodied but standing, watched the scene in disbelief.
"What the hell have these lunatics created?" Matt muttered.
Spider-Man leapt forward, web after web cutting through the air toward the robot. "We have to take it down before it's too late!"
The webs stuck to the Sentinel's arms, pulling hard to unbalance it.
Jewel didn't waste a second—she charged and landed a punch that dented the metallic chest.
The impact was brutal. The Sentinel staggered back a step.
Peter seized the chance, firing another wave of webs, binding the robot's legs.
"Now, Jewel! Knock it down!"
Jewel rammed it again, driving her shoulder with full force. The Sentinel's joints screeched—one plate came loose—a weakness.
"LOCALIZED DAMAGE. STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY REDUCED TO 85%. SOURCE: BLUNT FORCE."
"It's working!" Peter shouted. "Keep it up!"
But the second time, the machine wasn't the same.
The plates on its arms opened, revealing retractable blades that sliced the webs midair. Then, a burst of energy blasted Jewel backward.
"PATTERN DETECTED: IMMOBILIZATION AND DIRECT ATTACK. COUNTERMEASURE ACTIVATED."
Peter landed on a wall, firing another web line. The Sentinel raised its hand—thin metallic filaments shot out, cutting the web before it could reach.
"COMPOSITION DETECTED: HIGH-ADHESION SYNTHETIC POLYMER. SOLUTION: MICRO-CUT WITH TUNGSTEN FILAMENT."
Peter frowned behind the mask. "Okay… that's impressive."
Then a sharp tingle crawled up his neck—his Spider-Sense. A clear warning. He jumped aside just as the Sentinel struck where he'd been.
Then another warning. And another. Too many.
The air vibrated with faint waves. The Sentinel had released something—tiny frequencies, tremors through walls and floor.
"EXTRASENSORY SENSOR DETECTED. COUNTERMEASURE: VIBRATIONAL SATURATION. EXPECTED RESULT: ALERT SYSTEM DISORIENTATION."
Peter's Spider-Sense went wild, screaming danger from everywhere. He moved blindly, dodging imaginary threats, relying purely on instinct.
The Sentinel took advantage.
Peter jumped, expecting a strike—but too late. A metallic kick hit him square in the ribs, slamming him into a column.
"Spider!" Jewel shouted, charging back in.
"WEAKNESS EXPLOITED: SENSORIAL SATURATION EFFECTIVE. EFFICIENCY: 90%."
Jewel roared and tackled the Sentinel, but the robot rotated its torso, blocking the hit and redirecting the force back, hurling her into a wall.
"Jewel," Peter coughed, struggling to his feet. "This thing's learning faster than before."
"Then we improvise," Jewel spat blood, smirking. "Let's make it unpredictable."
Peter fired webs in random directions while Jewel alternated quick, short hits. For a moment, it worked—the Sentinel hesitated, recalculating.
But its system adapted.
The joints shifted, plates closed over open cracks. Where there'd been weakness, there was now armor. It had self-repaired again.
"REPEATED UNCONSCIOUS PATTERN DETECTED. LEARNING COMPLETE. ADAPTATION: DYNAMIC ARMOR ACTIVATED."
A new appendage emerged from its back, jointed like a spear tipped with pincers. With one motion, it grabbed Peter by the waist and slammed him into the ground.
Jewel leapt at it, but the Sentinel spun, striking her with the same limb.
Peter could barely breathe, his mask torn, his web-shooter sparking.
"This thing… is terrifying," he muttered.
The Sentinel watched them, red eyes pulsing, its mechanical voice echoing.
"FINAL ASSESSMENT: DECREASING COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS. THREAT LEVEL: STABLE. RECOMMENDATION: PROCEED WITH NEUTRALIZATION."
Peter clenched his teeth. "Well…" he said, forcing himself up, "I've always hated exams."
The Sentinel locked onto Spider-Man, cannon humming as it charged. The violet glow reflected on Peter's cracked mask as he breathed heavily but stayed calm.
"Come on…" he murmured. "Just a little closer."
"PROCEEDING WITH TERMINATION."
Right before the shot, Peter pressed the device on his wrist.
A sphere of light burst around him, forming a hexagonal energy shield. The beam struck, rebounding in a shockwave that forced the Sentinel back while the field made contact with the spear-arm, sending a surge through its body.
The robot's lights flickered, its voice glitching.
"INTERFERENCE DETECTED… SYSTEM COMPROMISED."
Electric discharge coursed through its frame. Sparks flew, servos trembled… and then, from the ceiling, a black substance with white patterns dropped onto it.
As it happened, Jewel landed beside Spidey, exchanging a quick glance.
"It worked," she said, exhaling.
"Yup… right on time," Peter replied with a half-smile. "Definitely not something I wanna go through again."
The black material spread, covering the Sentinel's body.
It tried to analyze it, its mechanical voice stuttering.
"CONTAMINATION DETECTED. ANALYZING COMPOUND… ERROR. ERROR. COUNTERMEASURE… NOT AVAILABLE."
The internal lights shut off. Then, white lines began spreading across the black surface, forming symmetrical patterns. Its eyes glowed with a bright green light.
The Sentinel straightened—but now it was different.
The design was cleaner, deadlier, the joints reinforced, the edges sharpened, and a black-and-white hourglass symbol glowed on its chest.
"INTEGRATION COMPLETE. SENTINEL UNIT 04 NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF UPGRADE."
Peter and Jewel exchanged a quick glance; she nodded.
"Finally, part two of the plan."
"And without getting our heads blown off—a miracle," Peter joked.
From a distance, Gorgon watched, frowning.
His voice cut through the air, brimming with fury.
"What the hell did you do? What is that?"
The Sentinel turned toward him, and Upgrade's voice echoed from within, mocking.
"What we did was take control away from you, third-rate philosopher. And now, your cheesy villain monologue… ends here."
The robot—now possessed by Upgrade—flexed its fists, armor plates shifting as green energy coursed through its frame.
"So, Gorgon… get ready, because I'm about to kick your fancy ass."
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Hey everyone, hope you're doing great!
This chapter took me a bit longer than expected—my cat decided to sneak into my room, and apparently the little furball had fleas, so yeah, I had some unwanted guests in my bed. Spent the whole week spraying poison around... at least I caught it early!
I also finished late; if I missed anything, please let me know so I can correct it.
Anyway, after our heroes got absolutely wrecked, they managed to make the Sentinel drop its guard—just enough for it not to notice the black goo hanging right above. Next chapter, we'll see the final battle between the heroes and Gorgon. Hope you enjoy it :)
See you in the next one!