BROKEN THREAD

The famous psychiatrist Simon Froda reclined comfortably in his leather armchair while a man in a "Spiderman" costume took a position on Simon's bed to the left. The room was lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace. Simon likes the warmth that the fireplace offers.

"To begin with, tell me your first and last name!?" Simon started the assessment.

"Peter Parker, but I'm better known as Spiderman!" said the man somewhat listlessly.

"Spiderman?!" Simon looked at him with suspicion in his voice.

"Yes! Spiderman!" repeated the man louder.

"Are you sure that's your name?" Simon still didn't believe what he heard.

"Of course, I'm sure! I know my name!" the man looked at Simon angrily.

"Your profile says Emislav Valka," notes Simon, reading from the files.

The man waves his hand as if to shoo away flies.

"That's my fake name!" he said shortly.

"Emislav Valka is your fake name?!" Simon seemed surprised.

"Great idea, isn't it?!" the man smiled.

At least Simon thought he was smiling since he couldn't see his face under the mask. But it sounded like Spiderman smiled, even though he had no idea what it sounded like when someone smiled. In any case, Simon would laugh if he were in a man's place, which is impossible because he is more of a Batman fan.

"I needed a name to hide my identity!" continued Emislav. "And that's how I came up with Emislav! With a name like that, no one will think I'm Spiderman!

"You are right!" remarked Simon

"So, you admit that it was a brilliant idea!?" his voice sounded joyous.

"I can think of a few more comparisons with the word "genius idea!" Simon said mockingly. "But, you know why police brought you to the evaluation?!"

"Police brought me here for nothing, I tell you!" Emislav starts flapping his hands in the air. "They think I want to kill myself! I don't know from where they got this stupidity from!?"

"Maybe because you threw yourself off the roof of the building?" remarked Simon significantly.

"That's nothing unusual for me!" explained Emislav. "I always throw myself from the roofs of buildings! That's my way of traveling. Today, my thread broke, and I fell into the car."

"Which then hit another car and thus started a chain reaction! For God's sake, six people ended up injured!" remarks Simon harshly.

"Not that I did it on purpose!" Emislav defends himself. "How often have I fallen onto someone's car from the roof? How much?"

Simon got lost in the papers and then nodded to Spiderman.

"According to my knowledge, this is your first time!" his voice sounded without emotions.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Emislav" First time! And immediately there was a big problem! And do you know how many crimes I have prevented?"

"I don't know that information!" Simon shrugged his shoulders, turning his eyes to the fireplace.

"Exactly! But you would have had the correct number if I hadn't stopped them!"

"That's absurd! It doesn't make any sense!" Simon protested. "You cannot say you prevented a crime that did not happen!"

"I can, and you are proof of that!" said Emislav quickly, the light shining from his eyes.

"How can I be your proof for that claim?!"

"You know, since you started asking questions, I've already wanted to kill you three times!" he said in a severe voice. "But I restrained those urges, and, as you can see, I didn't kill you! So, I prevented a possible crime before it could happen! Which is essentially the meaning of the police and protection in general!"

"Do my questions bother you so much?!"

"Actually, it has nothing to do with you, doctor!" he said in frustration. "It's all the fault of that public pressure!"

"I understand," muttered Simon. "Pressure, you say."

"Yes!! Because I'm a superhero! Everyone has these expectations; they think I'm God! It's not easy being a superhero these days!" complained Emislav.

"And to settle down and start a family? Giving up that superhero role!?"

"That is out of the question! As my aunt said: 'With great power comes great responsibility!'"

"Aunt?! You mean uncle!?" Simon corrected him. "Your uncle said that in the movie!"

"He just quoted my aunt! But that's less important! Anyway, people perceive things as they see them!"

"What do you mean by that?" Simon looked at him thoughtfully.

"They think it's easy for me! And they don't know every day I have to choose who to rush to help first! Should you save a bus full of models or some bishop choking on a chicken drumstick!? And then, when I decide to keep the models safe, people blame me for not saving the fat glutton!"

"I see, that upsets you!?"

"How could it not, doctor? I'm not Superman, so I could stop the planet, turn it back, and turn back time! They have a completely wrong image of me! And when some so-called experts make my profile, which I have nothing to do with, I look bad! And they don't even know me! They don't see my true face!" Emislav spread his hand to the air.

"Because you wear a mask." Simon interrupted him.

"Stop, doctor, don't mess with my brain with those sketchy phrases! I know all about it, how every man has his mask, and how that mask controls our lives..."

"Actually, I didn't think of that at all!" Simon interrupted him. "People can't see your face because you wear a mask! You have a mask on your face!"

Emislav looked at him, completely confused, and then he nodded slowly with his head.

"Yes, you are right! But it doesn't work without it! All or nothing!"

"Let's settle this once and for all. You know you're not Spiderman, at least not really." Simon said seriously.

Emislav got up from the bed and glared at Simon with a Chuck Norris look.

"You think that I'm not Spiderman!?"

"You are aware that he does not exist! That he is a product of someone's imagination!" Simon draws a magazine from the desk drawer and shows the man the front page. There was a picture of Spiderman on it.

Emislav was silent for a moment and then nodded.

"At least I have an imagination, unlike some!"

"That was supposed to refer to me!?" asked Simun

"You certainly wouldn't mind! That suit you are wearing should be prohibited! What a restlessness you have!"

Simon also got up from the armchair.

"At least all the wheels in my head are working correctly, and I'm not imagining that I'm Spiderman and then I fall from the roof!" Simon yells, frustrated.

"That happened only once!" howled Emislav, throwing himself out the window.

Only ten seconds later, Simon leaned through the broken window, but Emislav was nowhere to be found.

"Is it possible that he is real!?" said Simon in amazement. "But how…"