"Ahhh," he spat blood as they forced him to his knees. His face was smashed with a black eye, a broken nose, and a split lip.
He threw a punch forward, but the Cogman-Wick caught the blow with ease, twisting and forcing him to his knees once again. "Argh."
"This turned out exactly as you expected. It is a success," Cortana said.
"Argh. Yeah, but maybe creating it with a combination of iron, graphene, steel, nickel, and equipping it with heavy weaponry, along with tungsten carbide, titanium, and Inconel protection, was a bad-...."
He felt his vision blur as he was kicked in the face and slammed into the wall.
'Because I had the brilliant idea of making a robot with the strongest and hardest metals on Earth and taking a pill that momentarily weakens me.
I do not even want to think about the damage a Bot would do to me if I made one with Marvel materials.
If this Bot left me like this with the ordinary materials of this Earth, which are much better and stronger than those of my universe, I do not want to know how it will leave me with Marvel's.'
"But look on the bright side. We did not spend millions acquiring those materials since we already had them after largely taking those from Richards' Lab and those you took from Essex Companies. Also, your body is evolving at an amazing rate," Cortana congratulated him when he stood up and the wounds began to heal.
"That.... only makes it worse," he said as he leaned to the right avoiding a punch. With quick footwork he moved away while swinging his arm back, and using a little momentum he threw a powerful punch at Cogman-Wick. "Eat this!"
Clang.
Flush.
Cogman-Wick simply raised his arm, blocking the blow.
The impact created a sound as if two metals had collided, followed by a small wave of wind, but neither Cogman-Wick nor he withdrew their hands.
'That hurt like hell,' he gritted his teeth in pain as numerous bones in his still-outstretched right arm snapped from the impact against the enhanced metal alloys.
He moved his other arm and threw a punch, but the Cogman-Wick easily caught it and proceeded to throw him over his head, slamming him against the metal wall before kicking him in the stomach.
He shuddered as he vomited the contents of his stomach, a mixture of blood and stomach acid.
"My.... Cogman-Wick is such an appropriate name!" he groaned as he was kicked again.
And that was how the training hell began for him.
"Now I understand the anger toward Cogm-...."
"Arck!"
---------------
He found himself sitting in the middle of an empty white room, in a meditative position as he tried to expand and clear his mind.
He had decided to take this training truly seriously.
The near loss of Yuri had caused the blindfold to fall from his eyes, finally waking him up.
Since then, he had been actively trying to train and improve in every possible way, studying and learning subjects he had not taken seriously before, and growing financially through Abstergo while Susan and he made great leaps toward success.
This had led to the creation of the Cogman-Wick, dubbed the Terror Machine, made from a combination of different metals, specifically the strongest, most durable, and most resistant metals on Earth.
It was a complete surprise that these mundane metals proved more resistant than those in his universe.
The robot was a complete success, so much so that it regularly kicked his backside while he began trying to develop his own fighting style, just like Peter 616 with the Way of the Spider. Training also consisted of learning how to use firearms and bladed weapons properly.
Sitting in the middle of the room, he was also trying to exercise his brain.
This was thanks to the dozen books he had read, both thick and thin, on various subjects, but the most predominant one was about the brain, the mind, the spirit and the soul by different authors.
The most outstanding of them was that of Charles Xavier.
He wanted to strengthen his mind but had no idea how or where to start, and he really did not want to talk to Xavier and be constantly analyzed by the old man, so he decided to do the best thing and learn from the books that the famous Professor X loved to write.
"'For many people, the mind and the brain represent the same thing,'" he recited.
"'When we use one word or the other to talk about the same thing, we believe that the organ in our head is what we use to think.
But the truth is that the mind and the brain are actually two completely different but interconnected things. When we think, we do not always form complex sentences or even use words unless we are speaking or writing.'"
"'The mind is separate from, but inseparable from, the brain. The mind also changes the brain.
People choose their actions; their brains do not force them to do anything.
Certainly, there would be no conscious experience without the brain, but experience cannot be reduced to the actions of the brain.'"
As he recited the book word for word, he began to regulate his breathing and gradually clear his mind.
"'The connections in the mind are quite complex, mysterious, and even chaotic. Some connections are quite basic, like what we learn and what we remember, but there are also more abstract connections, including smells, memories, or dreams.
The brain connects situations and things in our environment with reactions, feelings, and ideas, all of which are personal to us.'"
He extended his senses, gradually becoming overwhelmed by his surroundings, as he watched the world around him come to life even with his eyes closed.
He felt a rare and fascinating feeling.
He felt euphoria.
"'The mind is energy, and it generates energy through thought, feelings, and choice; it is our vitality.
Without it, the brain and body would be completely useless.
Together, they form an individual's consciousness. Consciousness manifests as the individual's spirit, which then comes to life as the soul. This is humanity's greatest weapon, something beautiful, fascinating, but equally terrifying.'"
"'Then expand and free your mind.'"
He opened his eyes and found himself floating in a night sky filled with tiny stars, and below him was water reflecting the sky with its stars.
He gazed at the sky in fascination as he descended to the water's surface below. The water rippled as his feet touched the surface; it felt both solid and yet not.
He smiled to himself as he looked around. This was his mind: a vast universe with a magnificent starry sky and a mirror of water beneath.
A pristine universe and an immaculate sea, beautiful but unprotected and vulnerable.
That needed to change.
But before he could begin, a small light flickered in front of him.