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| Issue #10 April 2006 |
"Slayers" Written by Groble |
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****NOTE THIS ISSUE TAKE PLACE BEFORE FANTASTIC FOUR #1*****(Dynamic Doug)
The Slayers metal leg, hung in the air, every painful heartbeat echoed in Spiderman's ears as the glare of the midday sun beat down on his winded body. It began to look like the crushing blow would never come, but a deafening crack of high tension wires took that hope away as the leg came speeding down. A figure dashed into view just in time, striding across the costumed hero on the floor and planting his feet firmly on either side. The figures identity was hidden a mere silhouette against the blinding sun.
The leg came smashing down and for the first time in years Peter Parker; the man behind the mask, feared that this really could be the end. His eyes stung as tears began to well up behind the lenses of his red and blue mask, he shut them tight preparing for the inevitable end that came to consume himself and the stranger now standing over him. But the crushing blow never came, no deafening crunch was heard, the only sound was a sharp exhale of breath. Before he had a chance to open his eyes and see what had just happened a hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him across the street.
“Peter? Oh God! Peter are you okay?” came a concerned and familiar voice. Gradually he opened his eyes and the face of a white haired woman swam into view, crouching over him. Her own mask pulled up slightly to reveal her deep soulful eyes; eyes that he’d found himself lost in on more than a few occasions.
“ Felicia? What are you… how am I still….” The words refused to come out, his chest ached and his heart still raced. With a gentle hand she titled his head slightly to the side where an unforgettable scene was still frozen in time. The leg of the slayer was stuck prone mere feet form the ground, held in place by a man many regarded as a C-lister in the hero community, but you couldn’t argue that when you needed him Luke Cage delivered the goods. His knotted muscles bulged beneath his unbreakable skin, as gradually he pushed the slayer back, forcing its enormous weight off balance till it eased over and crashed into the sidewalk, the powerless leg falling easily to the feet of a true hero.
“Sweet Christmas!” Smiled Spiderman as he eased himself back onto his feet.
“Are you okay Pe…Spidey?” asked The Black Cat as she pulled her own mask back down over her face.
“All the better for seeing you guys. Hey Luke nice save but I gotta ask man where’s the tiara?”
“Don’t make me regret saving you, ya bug-eyed freak. Don’t suppose you have any idea what’s going on?” Inquired the burly man as he dusted himself off and clapped a firm hand on Spiderman's arm.
“Giant spider robots show up and all of a sudden it’s my fault? You’re probably right, but we’ll place the blame after we save that school” with that he leapt onto the nearest wall before springing out into the air and swinging off down the street towards the school with Luke Cage and Black Cat in tow.
****
His current target stood unaffected by the second volley of plasma, which had only moments before impacted harmlessly on its thick metal hide, the great pistons on its metal legs bursting once more into life as it rotated round to target the hovering figure of Iron Man, his red and yellow armour glinting in the sun light. A hatch began to open on the front of the spider slayer and taking it as some kind of weakness, the iron avenger let loose with a pin point accurate blast of electricity from the generators mounted in the palms of his armoured gauntlet, sparks leapt across the robotic casing but did little more than blacken the metallic armour. With the hatch now fully open the barrel of some form of energy weapon began to extend from within, a mass of protruding wires and metal piping glowing with raw electrical energy.
The weapon kicked into a high-pitched hum, and the sensors in his armoured suit called out to warn him of the charging weaponry. Disengaging his thrusters just in time, Iron Man dropped heavily to the ground as a focused laser blast buzzed past him and burnt a hole in the building behind. Debris cascaded down to the street below bouncing off his armour like raindrops on a turtle’s shell. Without warning the ground shook once more as a precursor to the approach of yet another sentinel, he was given little time to worry about this new development as another red hot stream of amplified light came crashing down inches from his position. He needed to act fast, with none of his weapons working against them and another slayer approaching it seemed he was fast running out of time. He leapt once more into the air preferring the manoeuvrability of aerial combat against his grounded foes. More beams cut through the air as he darted though the skywards, all the while trying to formulate some kind of plan. The building across the street shuddered with an ear blistering creak as its metal girders began to twist.
The building already scorched by the laser beam suddenly erupted outwards, shards of glass and chunks of concrete filled the sky as the spider slayer continued to plough through, turning as it did to face the glimmering armoured figure darting through the sky. Their sights were now locked on him, and under normal circumstances he would have seen these as fair odds, but something was different, they’d adapted to his weaponry, and the burn marks on his armour showed they had also adapted to his tactics. The property damage was already high, he would never normally risk endanger lives and the city by attempting something like this but right now his options were limited, the second slayer had already begun to ready its weaponry and he doubted he could dodge them both forever.
Electricity crackled along his arms, the air around him snapped and buzzed as he charged up for a desperate attack, his palms glowed as he held them outstretched towards his initial target. Five more agonising seconds later and he was ready to let loose with a huge ball of plasma energy, at the same time the laser cannon kicked into action once more, sending another deadly volley at him. His shielding took the brunt of the attack, but the impact left a blackened sphere on his once gleaming shell as his arms jerked backwards causing him to lose his aim. The plasma energy sailed wide missing the slayer entirely, but this was Iron Man’s plan all along as the apartment block exploded above the slayer. Brick dust leapt into the air, the top corner creaked and groaned as its supports fell to the street below, with a final crack, it slid into the open air and careered downwards to the come crashing down upon the spider slayer, but not before it’s laser cannon kicked out one final burst of light.
Iron Man strafed to the side just in time as the slayers final volley roared past impacting instead on it’s own robotic clone, now climbing free of the debris which had once been the corner of a magnificent office block. The laser burnt through the top joint of the robots front leg causing it to buckle under the strain of its own weight. Seeing his opponent off balance he decided to take his chance. Many wires protruded from the rubble of the building, cascading across the spider slayers glistening body. Inside his golden armour Iron Man's systems kicked into overdrive, accessing city files, scouring maps and cross referencing them with the files of various electrical companies until he found what he needed. Beneath this very street lay a main power line for the greater Manhattan area, a blast of his plasma cannon in the centre of the street uncovered his goal, darting down to the ground next to it , he began the task of tearing the large cable free from the ground and heaving it up into the air. The sky filled with crackling energy as the street light along the road buzzed and hummed into life adding their subtle glow to the blistering midday sun.
The spider slayer was now stable although unable to move, it sent blast after blast of its powerful laser towards Iron Man who hovered steadily closer with a dangerous new weapon in his arsenal. As he neared great bursts of electricity leapt between the cable and the spider slayer trying desperately to escape to the earth below. When the cable was a mere foot from the slayers metallic hide a permanent chain of electricity leapt the tiny gap and connected fully with the robot. The laser fire stopped, and The Avenger Hurled the cable with all his might towards the sparking slayer, which exploded with such ferocity that he was thrown backwards through the air and crashed into the rubble where the original slayer now lay in pieces.
****
Time was running out, the school was mere feet away and the spider slayers had already encircled it and in their way stood three stoic heroes.
“So how we gunna play this bug boy” grinned Luke Cage, his firm jaw already set ready for the task that lay ahead.
“I was thinking you take the 4 on the left I’ll take the 4 on the right and The Black Cat here could cross our path a couple of times for good luck.”
“Isn’t that meant to be bad luck?”
“You know I’ve never been clear on the whole good luck, bad luck, black cat situation but..”
“Seriously, is this the right time for this.” Scolded Felicia as she crouched low ready to pounce on the nearest target.
“The way I see it this could be our only chance for such a discussion.” Smiled Spidey as he began to spray a layer of webbing over his fists.
“Well aren’t you just a ray of sunshine.” Came a voice from behind them, the all spun round to see the flame enshrouded figure of Johnny Storm hovering just above the car park. “Now enough chit chat, how about you watch the master deal with these things...” as before he sent a flurry of burning missiles hurtling towards the nearest slayer, but unlike last time, they simply fizzled out on impact in a harmless puff of smoke.
“Real masterful matchstick” grinned Spidey as the slayers continued to thunder towards them, and the hopefully now empty school.
“I don’t understand it, they burnt right through them last time.”
“It would seem these things have built in adaptive shielding, every time we take one down they seem to learn from it and adapt accordingly.” Informed Iron Man as he gravitated towards the group from further up the street.
“So what’s the plan? We do have a plan right?” asked Luke Cage as he picked a fallen metal bar up from the street and tested its weight in his hands.
“Well err…”
“How about we stop talking and start acting..” yelled Black Cat as she dove onto the leg of the nearest Robot, her extended claws scoring good holds on the riveted outer shell.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Smiled the Torch as he took off once more to circle the oncoming attack. But before he could even attempt to choose a target one of the furthest Spider Slayers erupted in sparks and crashed to the ground as a large metal lamp post crashed through it, taking chunks of circuitry with it.
“Hey Johnny!” came a gravely call from the street below, “check me out. It’s Spear Throwing Time! Catchy huh?”
“What took you so long? I’ve known continental drift faster than you.”
“Hey girls how about we save the name calling for later, along with the hair braiding and teddy bears picnic, if you haven’t noticed there’s a school to save.” Yelled Luke Cage as he charged the freshly wrecked shell of the spider slayer still trying to move forward despite laying on its side in the car park.
“It’s no wonder they don’t let second stringers like that in the Avengers, guy doesn’t know how to kick back and enjoy himself.” Came the Thing's reply as he hurled himself against the metal leg of a spider slayer that came crashing down on a nearby car. The leg creaked and buckled slightly but the slayer continued on undaunted.
“Thanks for coming Ben, we could use a heavy weight like you around.” Welcomed Spiderman as he leapt up onto the top of the slayers now buckled leg.
“Hey no worries, I needed to invite you to the poker game anyway.”
The metallic armour of the spider slayer suddenly began to glow, bolts of electricity licked across its surface towards Spiderman. Suddenly a great burst of energy sprang forth from the robot, impacting directly on his chest and sending him souring into the air. Spidey spun through the air, flipping over and over his legs and arms flailing as he desperately tried to find a target to latch onto with his webbing. The world suddenly stopped spinning, as two blazing hands grabbed hold of his legs. The two of them flew thought the sky with him dangling underneath like a crash test dummy.
“If we make it out of this you’re paying for the beers” joked the Human Torch as he laid his friend down on the ground before taking off in hopes of finding a way of taking down these metal giants.
Suddenly Luke Cage came hurtling through the air and collided with the main entrance of the school. The doors smashed inwards and shattered glass flew through the air, cascading across the car park in a glittering shower of diamonds. Bricks blasted inwards as the concrete slab roof sagged dangerously under the lack of support. Luke pulled himself up and dusted off the brick dust and shards of glass, his unbreakable skin bore no scratched yet his clothes were torn to shreds. The roof gave one final creak before collapsing back down on top of him burying him beneath more tonnes of rubble and lingering clouds of dust.
Behind the gathering cloud of rubble loomed the stark silhouette of yet another spider slayer apparently coming out of nowhere, it was already dangerously close and with no sure sign that the school had been fully evacuated Spiderman sprung once more into action. He leapt with a single bound onto the schools low rooftop and sprinted across its many classrooms to the side where the lumbering metal menace was now punching its way through the roof with its cumbersome metal limbs. His spider sense buzzed with a vigorous energy as he neared the slayer, not warning him of the danger it presented, but telling him of something else. He stopped dead, the slayer continued onwards another leg smashing through the roof into the classroom beneath, as it lifted its third leg up into the air an eerie silence fell upon the scene, and then from beneath him inside the school he heard it, a high pitched scream; someone was still trapped inside the school.
“Johnny!” Yelled Spiderman at the top of his voice as the Human Torch blasted by overhead. At the sound of his name he paused in mid-air and looked downwards.
“Johnny there’s someone still trapped inside, I need you to make me an entrance and then keep “Killbot 9000” busy.”
“Anything for you Webs!” he grinned as a ball of fire impacted with the roof, sending rubble tumbling inside before he zipped off towards the nearby slayer which seemed to be producing some form of flame-thrower from within it’s armour.
“Good luck!” yelled Spidey as he dove through the settling brick dust into the gloom of the classroom below.
“Luck? This guy’s planning on fighting fire with fire.”
****
Meanwhile on the other side of the school the Black Cat had swiftly scaled the large metallic limb of one of the slayers and was now hanging upside down by her legs from a cable that connected the leg to the main armoured body. An explosion from nearby signalled, the human torch finishing the fire fight between himself and the spider slayer in his favour.
“Lets hope these bad luck powers work on you big boy” she smiled as she pounded her fists onto a large bolt that seemed to hinge the leg to the body.
Her hair flapped about wildly as the pistons on the leg expelled a burst of air driving it upwards. Another hiss signalled the legs speedy decent to the ground once more, but the black cat continued to pound and pull at the metal bolt in hopes it would slip free or buckle. The leg crashed into the ground, causing her to lose the tenuous grip she had found with her legs. She fell downwards but stretched out her clawed hands to desperately find something to slow her decent. Once more they caught onto the riveted metal of the slayers gigantic robot leg scoring great gashes down the side as she decelerated gradually to the ground where she landed with an agile back flip. The pistons in the leg hissed one more but instead of driving it up into the air again, the long tear down the side of the limb grew and stretched open, twisting free from the rest of the slayer. Cable snapped and the appendage swung erratically round, hurling in a devastating arc towards the ground, towards the Black Cat. She realised too late and was hit square in the chest by the swinging mass and thrown backwards, spinning through the windscreen of a car where she lay unconscious.
The monstrosity stopped its attempts to move and instead directed its attention to the scene above; Iron Man was hovering at high altitude trying desperately to avoid the energy beams coming from two spider slayers on the ground. His attention was focused entirely in the opposite direction, and as if sensing this very weakness the slayers shell began to withdraw to reveal a beam cannon of it's very own that immediately pulsed with crackling energy. The energy beam burst forward straight for its target but impacted just short, as a flaming figure hurtled in front of it, there was a blinding flash of light followed by darkness as the flames were extinguished and a blacked figure fell rapidly to earth with a crash as he smashed through the remains of the main entrance roof.
Isolated and with no sign of immediate backup Iron Man decided that it was time for a tactical retreat.
“Ben we can't win this one on our own, gather up the wounded and pull back to safety.” echoed the voice from inside his own robotic suit as he dived beneath two further beams of energy which criss-crossed the sky leaving behind a smell of burnt kerosene.
Beneath him on the ground the Thing had already fallen back from his failed assault on a spider slayers steel foot and was heading towards the entry way to gather up the fallen body of Johnny Storm. Despite how much he grated on his nerves Johnny was like a brother to him and if he didn't pull through there would but serious hell to pay. Another limb impacted in front of him, it's pointed metal foot sending wide cracks along the black tarmac of the car park.
“aww hell! get outta ma goddam way.” came the guttural snarl of the thing and as if in reply a thick jet of flame scorched down towards him. As the flame subsided the blacked rock form of the Thing could still be seen marching forwards.
“You just made me angry tin can and the Hulk ain't got nothin' on me”
Swinging his enormous boulder fists upwards in a deadly two handed upper cut, he pounded the leg of the slayer, it shuddered in response and gave a deafening screech as it lurched to the side, but it quickly regained it's balance. From nearby staggered the spider slayer the black cat had just been fighting it's tattered leg giving it an uneasy stride which caused it to topple erratically towards it's metallic brethren. The two machines collided in a shower of sparks and a gush of expelled air. Oil spilled forth from ruptured pipes and was immediately set ablaze cascading downwards in a burning waterfall of flame. The ruined slayers began to fall downwards, their shadows looming ominously over the Thing.
“aww crap” where the last words he said as the two entangled machines came thundering down on top of him.
With the rest of the resistance dealt with the remaining slayers turned their attention to Iron Man. Unable to out-manoeuvre the sudden barrage of laser, plasma and flame that hurtled towards him he diverted all available power to his shield generators. As the arsenal impacted with him his suits generators stuttered and stalled, with his energy depleted Iron Man came thundering down towards the school, he crashed into the bottom of an already wrecked wall causing the remaining mass to topple forward in one great sheet of bricks to pin him beneath them.
****
All was dark inside the crumbling building, brick dust rained down from the ceiling with each thundering tirade that marked a footfall of the gigantic robots outside. His spider sense buzzed as he picked his was through the once colourful corridors, examples of the students work hung in tatters from the walls, as the lights flickered further down the corridor; humming with energy and sending bursts of sparks falling to the floor.
A deafening crash marked the collapse of the roofing behind him in the corridor a grey cloud of fallen cement rocketed down the corridor to coat the back of his costume in a heavy grey powder as it continued to rush past him. Suddenly an eerie stillness fell upon the scene, as the last scraps of dust floated to the ground with a gravely patter, out of the silence a sharp metallic scrapping could be heard, it was rhythmic and continued as yet another metal leg punched its way through the outer shell of the building. As the deafening crash died down once more the scrapping could be heard again, this must be the person he had come to find. With his spider sense guiding him he crept on down the corridor.
Lockers lay crumpled on the floor as light fittings swung erratically from the ceiling. To his left lay a door, collapsed inwards and buckled from it's frame. Again his head rang to indicate that this was the place he was looking for. He inched inside as another rain of dust fell from the ceiling, a muffled cough came from the far edge of the room, beneath a stack of desks.
“Hey is anyone here?” yelled Spiderman
The scrapping ceased and the desks shifted a little and from in between the legs of two fallen chairs appeared a small head, it's mid length brown hair was thick with dust and blood. He opened his mouth to reply but all that came out was a weakened croak, but the movement was enough to confirm Spiderman's suspicions and he was next to the pile in an instant, ripping desks free and hurling them aside as he dug the child out. Once more a cloud of dust and debris came crashing down around them as outside a spider slayer continued it's approach, the dark silhouette of it's legs visible through the blacked windows.
“Lets get you out of here” said Spidey as he lifted the child up into his arms and began to inch back towards the door. Suddenly the crack of steel cable was heard again as the robotic killing machine outside the window raised it's metallic leg. A deathly quite fell once more before a screech of pistons and gears signalled the lowering of the solid steel appendage. Shafts of daylight broke forth into the gloom as the metal leg punched it's way into the room, the roof heaved and creaked as the leg impacted with the pile of desks where the child had been mere moments before. The doorway creaked and collapsed. The whole room shuddered as great cracks appeared racing along the plastered walls. Sparks hissed out from sockets and switches. The only way out was the hole currently occupied my a monstrous leg. The pneumatics hissed once more to signal the raising of the legs. In one fluid movement Spiderman swung the child onto his back, joining the hands together round his neck with a burst of webbing while leaping up onto the metal leg. It raced upwards taking it's two passengers with it and when it reached the peak of its ascent Spiderman leapt free, casting a webline to a nearby building and swinging skilfully down to the street below. He eased the child off his back and lowered him to the ground as newly arrived paramedics rushed to help him. There were now fewer slayers to deal with and the school lay in ruin but the fight was still far from over and he leapt back into the fray as the young boy croaked out a thank you.
****
Spiderman swung easily over the ruinous corpse of the school, robotic limbs lay scattered about along with the fallen bodies of his allies. As he leapt into the car park his spider sense screamed out once more, but it was too late, he was tired, wounded and mentally exhausted, the warning came just too late he landed in an uneasy run staggering towards a nearby car, but the air was cut asunder by a great metal appendage that struck him squarely in the chest and send him rocketing backwards towards the school, crashing though the broken brickwork.
The school was collapsing around them bricks and debris crashed down on the fallen heroes as they lay exhausted in the wreckage, yet still their enemies remained, although the number of slayers had diminished greatly many more still advanced on the school and with many of their powers and tactics rendered useless by the adaptive shielding of these monsters things looked bleak.
Spiderman lifted his head up from the broken school desk he had just been thrown through, silhouetted against the now waning sun was yet another of the spider slayers, its shimmering metal armour blinding him as he arched his head to face his oncoming doom. A pile of bricks shifted next to him as Johnny Storm regained consciousness and tried to move, but other movements had caught his eye. Pinned beneath the remains of the east wall, struggling to free himself and right in the path of the latest incoming slayer lay Iron Man, the glowing lights of his armour significantly dimmed, with many of it's metallic panels either missing or dented. With his last ounces of strength Spiderman pulled himself up from the desk, staggering towards the collapsed wall with the Slayer getting ever closer.
His spider sense pulsed in his skull warning him of his imminent demise, but it was his duty as a hero, his responsibility as a person to at least try and save his fallen comrade, who had once more slipped in unconsciousness. He braced himself against the wall, his arm muscles tensing and knotting, as he poured every last measure of energy he could muster into this vital task. The shadow loomed over him, and as it blocked out the light of the sun, so too did it block out the light of hope. He was spent and with a grunt of submission he slumped to the floor awaiting the crushing blow of the robots metal foot.
And he continued to wait, the deadly appendage hovering ominously mere feet from stealing his last breaths.
The final blow did not come, no gears buzzed, no pneumatics hissed, and no more thundering footfalls could be heard. The only sound was the distant sirens of emergency vehicles. Stunned Spiderman looked about looking for answers as to why the deadly onslaught has miraculously stopped, but he didn’t have to look for long because descending towards him came a familiar sight. A smile of welcome relief cracked across his masked face as the fantasticar touched down amidst the rubble.
“I assume we have you to thank reed old pal?” coughed Spidey as he lay back on the collapsed wall.
“I would have arrived sooner but creating a multi-frequency radio pulse emitter, that would not only jam the incoming radio signals but render these fascinating machines inoperative, from scratch is no five minute job, as I’m sure you can understand.”
“Of course and one day I’m sure you’ll show me how?”
“It would be my pleasure, but right now the well being of my friends is my first concern.” but Spiderman had already stopped paying attention, for the distant sound of sirens had already begun to get alarmingly closer. He cast a look about the strewn wreckage, but the wreckage that had once held the prone figure of the Black Cat was already empty.
Pulling himself to his feet and dusting off the chips of broken brick, he began to stagger out to the street.
“Well I’d love to stay and shoot the breeze with you guys but New York’s finest are on the way and we don’t always see eye to eye.”
“Are you sure we can’t offer you a….” but before Mr Fantastic could even finish the offer Spiderman had gone.
****
The sun was once more falling low in the sky as he scaled the side of his building, costume tattered from the days of constant fighting, barely holding together and revealing in its many holes: electrical burns and numerous criss-cross slashes on his weary skin. Quietly sliding the sash window open and heaving himself inside, he dropped to floor beneath the window. Every fibre of his being ached and throbbed with the constant pounding of his heartbeat which reverberated in his skull, pounding behind his stinging eyes.
Pulling his mask, or at least what was left of it off and tossing it on to the floor beside him, he began to crawl to the bed, their bed, or at least it had been up until recently. He glanced to the answering machine, no messages waited for him, something he wasn’t sure he was happy or sad about. He stood up, grasping the back of a nearby chair for support, slowly he peeled the top half of his costume off, grimacing as he stretched his arms above his head, and dropping the tattered remains to the floor. He lightly touched his chest and instantly recoiled from the pain. His broken rib from the encounter with the shocker and his crew had now been joined by a couple of friends, friends who would need medical attention. But that could wait till morning.
He tore the rest of his costume off throwing it idly onto the chair and began putting on the pyjamas that still lay untouched on his bed from 3 nights ago, sleep had been the last thing on his mind, but now with the dizzying sickness of sleep deprivation bearing down on him, he sank into the soft comfort of his bed. But sleep did not come easily. His mind raced, retracing the actions of the past few days. It was all too convenient, all too well planned, all linked? Could it be true that there was someone behind all these events controlling the villains, but to what aim?
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of his own stomach rumbling. It had been many days since he'd last slept and almost the same since he had last eaten. He needed energy if he was to heal properly. He reached over to the phone on his bedside table and hit speed dial 4.
“Hey Joe's pizza, home of Joe's 29 minute guarantee, what can I get ya?” came the reply from the other end
“Can I get a 12 inch with the works?”
“Yeah no problem, can I take your name and address?”
“Parker…..”
“Hey Mr Parker it’s been a while, we thought you started going to dominos.”
“Would I do that to you Mr Aziz?”
“Never doubted it, we’ll get that to ya ASAP Mr Parker.”
“Thanks!” he said replacing the phone before rolling back onto his side and staring up at the ceiling. His eyes sagged and he began to doze off, when he was roused form his sleep by the doorbell.
“Wow Joe's' delivery time gets shorter every month. COMING!”
He forced himself out of bed and staggered towards the door, dragging his bare feet along the wood floor as he went, picking up his wallet as he passed it on the table. He reached the door and grasped the handle, pausing to compose himself before turning it and pulling the door open. A familiar figure stood in the hallway, his black leather coat providing the visible aura of secrecy he gave off, his eye patch suggesting the gun on his belt wasn’t just for show.
“Hi Peter. You going to invite me in?”
