Issue #00

Getting Lost
by Gary Jones

Sue Storm

Sue Storm left the party and walked to her bedroom at the top floor of Four Freedom Plaza, the magnificent Manhattan skyscraper that had been a gift from Alyssa Moy, the computer wiz whose company was currently attempting a takeover of Microsoft.

The party was in celebration of Sue�s eighteenth birthday but all the fun had drained out of her when Reed and Alyssa had picked HER party to announce their engagement, Sue angrily tore of the little black dress she had bought for the party, as she slammed her bedroom door closed, and flung it into the corner of the room as she collapsed in tears on her bed.

Her mind drifted back to the day, three years ago, when her Dad had taken her and her younger brother Johnny to watch the launching of a new design of space shuttle that could cut the journey time from the Earth to the Moon, to only hours instead of days.

Her Father was a well respected surgeon and while he was engrossed in conversation with another surgeon, a weird guy by the name of Steven Strange, she and her brother snuck away for a closer look at the experimental craft.

It had been an impressive sight from the observation lounge but the Freedom Flight, which the ship had been dubbed in to the hope that it would help mankind to the freedom of the stars, was truly a magnificent sight up close, Sue often thought back to that day and wondered if it was just bad security or an act of fate that had enabled her and Johnny to sneak onboard for a closer look at the ship�s controls.

Ben Grimm had been Reed Richards collage room-mate and the pair had kept in close contact over the years, so when Reed offered him the chance to pilot the Freedom Flight into space for the first time, he had jumped at it.

Ben had become world famous as a daredevil test pilot and his reputation had been firmly cemented when he leapt from his plane to the shredded cockpit of Air Force One in time to land the plane safely and save the lives of the President and most of those onboard.

Somehow, perhaps again it was fate, the FF launched with Sue and her brother onboard and only pure luck and the new G-Force buffers Reed had designed into the ship prevent the two Storm youngsters from dying, crushed by the massive pressure of travelling seven miles per second.

Something however went wrong.

A strange object passing through the solar system bombarded the Freedom Flight with more cosmic radiation that the ship�s shields could handle and Ben Grimm barely managed to engage to autopilot to return them to Earth before he passed out.

The ship crashed on a small deserted island, miraculously all four onboard found themselves alive but forever changed, as the cosmic radiation had altered their body chemistries and given them fantastic powers.

Sue shook slightly as she remembered her brother�s anguished cries as his body altered into a huge man shaped pile of craggy orange stone, Johnny had always been so proud of his looks, spending more time in the bathroom than she ever could.

In her minds eye she saw again Reed begin to fade in and out of sight and how Ben�s body had been reduced to the consistency of taffy and she remembered her own horror as she caught fire but didn�t burn.

The flame raged out of her ability to control and only the quick thinking of her brother, who used his new stone body to cover the other two, saving them from what she now called her nova burst.

For some crazy reason the four of them vowed to use their new powers in defence of mankind as the Fantastic Four.

She was only 15 at the time and her brother was a year younger, so for a long time she could only be a part time member of the team, she was now eighteen, out of high school and had chosen not to go on to collage, much to her father�s disappointment, and work full time as a member of the Four.

She had always harboured a crush on Reed, he was handsome, smart and was far more generous with the money his inventions brought in than he should have been, which often left them short of operating funds, that�s why when an old flame of Reed�s, Alyssa Moy, came back into his life with the offer of a headquarters and funding, she was really excited.

Sue tried to like Alyssa but as it became more and more obvious that she and Reed were falling in love, Sue really began to dislike her, and now they had to choose her party to spoil with their news, like it couldn�t wait to the next day.

�Hey matchstick you ok?� the friendly face of Ben Grimm appeared through the opening door �you looked pretty upset�..whoa sorry about that,� Ben stretched his eyes out of their sockets and round to the back of his head as he caught sight of Sue, who had only been wearing the smallest of black g-strings under her dress �its ok Ben you can come in,� Sue pulled one of the white sheets from her bed and wrapped it around herself �I�m a little more decent now� �you looked pretty damn decent the last time I looked,� Ben replied as his eyes snapped back into place as he entered �but I�m guessing that I�m not the guy you wanted to hear that from,� Ben sat down on the edge of the bed where Sue was now sitting in the centre, blanket wrapped around her and sitting cross legged.

Sue brushed her straw coloured blonde hair from her eyes and looked at the friendly face of Ben Grimm �I like Reed ok!� Sue said looking down �and I know its not rational to blame Alyssa for me and him not hooking up but right now I really hate that�� �whoa down a bit hothead,� Ben Grimm threw his hands up �I know for a fact that Reed considers you one of his closest friends but he�s twenty years older than you, he just doesn�t look at you that way,� Ben�s voice was kind and Sue while she didn�t want to hear it she could also see the truth in his words �I know, your right of course but�� �Still hurts right,� Ben smiled and ruffled Sue�s hair as he stood up to leave �but trust me when I say that the hurt does go away, I never thought I�d get over Alicia until I hooked up with Carol� �the head of security at NASA,� Sue said with surprise �the very same,� Ben�s head said with a smile as it disappeared though the door two seconds after his body.

Sue got up from the bed, letting the sheet fall from her body as she did so, and walked into the bathroom that was attached to her room and turned on the shower, letting it run until the temperature was just how she liked it, when it was she slipped off her panties and went to step inside, just as she did so a shimmering portal, purple in colour, formed where the shower door had been, instead of walking into a shower Sue found herself in a barren desert landscape, one with a chilling breeze �why do I always have to be kidnapped when I am butt naked,� she threw her arms into the air and shouted with frustration and anger �FLAME ON!.�

Phoenix

The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning � Salem Centre - Westchester County� New York

Deep in the grounds of the Xavier Estate, in a small clearing that was hidden from those in the main house stood a small chapel, it was in this small building that the body of Piotr Nikolayevich Rasputin lay in state, waiting for the hearse to arrive that would take the X-Man�s body to the crematorium.

�I really can�t believe he�s gone Professor,� Kitty Pryde fought back the tears that were building, she had been crying all day and she was determined to remember Peter, as his friends called him, in their happiest time together �he had become so withdrawn since his sister died, so when he learnt that her essence, her soul if you will, was trapped in limbo, he raced to rescue her, would that he had come to the X-Men for help, we may have found a solution that did not require his sacrifice,� Professor Xavier and Kitty Pryde stood in the advanced medical bay that was located in one of the underground level of the Mansion, sitting across from them on a bed being examined by Dr. Henry McCoy was Peter�s younger sister Illyana �its so strange to see her as a teenager again Professor when the last memories I have of her are as a dying old woman.�

Across the room Illyana watched the Professor and her friend Kitty deep in conversation, probably about her or her brother, she thought.

Her life had been a strange one, kidnapped from her home in Russia on the Ust-Ordynski Collective and then snatched away to limbo, finally escaping to discover that while eight years has passed for her only moments had passed on Earth since she vanished, the reason her brother did not come to save her was that he had only just discovered that she was missing.

Then oddly she remembered dying, her frequent use of her mutant powers, which she and others had thought were teleportation disks but were in fact portals through time, had left the cells of her body saturated with temporal energy, she was literally aging to death.

The greatest minds of the superhero community, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Henry McCoy and Reed Richards who actually managed to persuade Dr. Doom to assist, desperately searched for a cure, someway to bleed off the excess energy.

It was Doom who came up with the idea to use his Time Platform to drain off the energy, dispersing it throughout the time stream, the only problem was getting Illyana to Latveria.

Dr. Doom had been forced out of his country when it was invaded and occupied by the forces of the demon Blackheart and while the mystical wards which protected Castle Doom were still in place they would have to fight their way through Blackheart�s demon hordes to reach it.

Illyana heard the plans and did not want her friends and family to sacrifice themselves so that she could live, even Dr. Doom was beginning to show signs of developing a soul and how could she let him give up a chance to become the man he should have been, the chance to be a better man.

When the heroes arrived to take Illyana to the Pogo Plane, the fastest available vessel, she had used the last of her strength to transport herself to a time in her life when she lived in Limbo and there her body crumbled into ash.

It was year later that Wanda Maximoff, the mutant mystic of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sensed a great pain emanating from Limbo and she was able to receive one word �PIOTR� and given the circles that she moved in she guessed that this would mean the X-Man Colossus.

She secretly contacted Colossus and together they managed to find a natural portal to the realm of Limbo, where to their horror they discovered a Teenage Illyana, cured of her aging illness but being tortured by the demonic denizens of Limbo in the name of their master a high demon named S�YM.

Demons like deals that will gain them the souls of the innocent so Colossus and the Scarlet Witch struck a deal, Illyana for the soul of Colossus.

They tricked S�YM however and after he had freed Illyana and returned her to Earth the demon tried to take Colossus soul but instead of going into his possession was cast, through an enchantment of the Witch�s, to a far better place, somewhere some might call heaven.

The Scarlet Witch returned the X-Man�s body to the Mansion and left swiftly to rejoin her Father Magneto in his plans for mutant domination.

�Well Dr. McCoy how am I,� Illyana asked as she pulled the warm pale green hospital robe around herself �Well Ms. Rasputin I am happy to say that you are a perfectly healthy 19 year old,� the Beast replied, his face upside down as he hung by his feet from a heating pipe� �there is no sign of your previous temporal decay and whatever means the demons used to recreate you apparently left you 100% human, you no longer possess the mutant gene.�

A few minutes later Kitty had taken Illyana to her room for a change of clothes, while Professor Xavier had stayed with Beast to discuss the results of the medical �no mutant gene at all, how can you be so sure this is truly Illyana, after all we do only have the word of the Scarlet Witch to what really happened,� Xavier sipped his green tea while Beast poured himself a cup with his feet �her DNA, with the sole exception of the lack of mutant gene, conforms exactly to Illyana Rasputin and both she and Peter�s body contain the trace energies that are associated with travel to Limbo,� Henry now sipped his tea, again using his feet to hold the cup �there is no doubt in my mind that the young woman that I have just examined is Illyana Rasputin.�

�I can�t believe that you saved all my old clothes,� Illyana said with joy in her voice �it�s the professor you should thank,� Kitty replied sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Illyana change into a simple yellow summer dress �you should see what he keeps in the attic, I�ve never known such a hoarder, you�d never guess it by looking at the man,� Kitty and Illyana both laughed, it was something that made Kitty remember her time with Illyana on the New mutants �I miss Peter so much, I am SO happy to have my best friend back but damn that man why didn�t he ask the Professor or Cyclops for help,� Kitty wiped a tear from the corner of her eye �then I could have the two people I love most with me, instead of just one,� Illyana finished putting on her dress and sat down next to her friend �Peter was always bull headed and he probably didn�t want to risk your lives in what should have been a suicide mission for all involved,� she took one of Kitty�s hands in her own and stood �now lets both go and say thank you to my brother for giving me back my life.�

The pair of young women had just entered the clearing that contained the small chapel when it burst into flames, the explosion sent both flying backward, and then the flames that engulfed the chapel seemingly began to take on a shape of their own, forming themselves into the shape of a bird �was it an eagle� Kitty momentarily thought to herself but then she realised �it�s a phoenix�, she grabbed Illyana�s hand and pulled her to her feet �we�d better go and get the Professor,� Illyana however would not move �but my brother�s in there, what is that bird doing to him,� she said fighting back the tears �I don�t know but I�m betting the Professor will be able to figure it out.�

The advantage of having the world�s most powerful telepath as your headmaster is that the instant anything goes wrong help arrives seconds afterward, help in this case in the form of the Uncanny X-Men, Professor X, the Beast, Jean Grey, Cyclops and the man called Maverick.

�Jean you were once used as a template for the Phoenix Force, can you get any impressions for its mind,� Professor Xavier rubbed his temples, the strain of trying to probe the consciousness of the cosmic entity showing on his face �I can feel its mind growing at an incredible rate, like its going from infancy to adulthood in minutes,� the same strain was showing on Jean�s face as well �well all I want to know,� Maverick asked as he removed the safety from his gun �is what the hell does it want with the body of the ruskie, doesn�t this thing usually go for chicks,� he pointed at Jean then looked at Illyana who was crying while being comforted in Kitty�s arms �for the snowflakes sake, it better not be anything bad� �I think my dear Mr. North that your question about what the Phoenix Force wants with the body of our departed colleague is about to be answered,� Beast said as he pointed in the direction of the burning chapel, where the assembled team could just begin to make out the form of a person emerging from the flames.

The X-Men all looked open mouthed at the figure that now stood before them, the shining living metal body of Colossus had been reformed into a female body of living steel, which was slowing turning to flesh, when the woman had completely turned to flesh Maverick was the first to speak �is it just me or does that look exactly like Jean, except for the hair being a different shade and all,� Maverick was playing with the safety of his gun as he talked �how can this even be possible� �the Phoenix Force is capable of restructuring matter on the molecular level, I would surmise that it was simply more familiar with this shape,� there was a matter of fact way about the Professor as he spoke �how can you just stand there and say all that like this was some kind of science experiment, that thing has defiled the body of my Brother,� Illyana was full of rage and looked as if she was about to attack the Phoenix Force with her bare hands �the thing ain�t acting hostile kid,� Maverick rested a hand on Illyana�s shoulder �I don�t think it means any harm� �but its used my brother and taken all I had left of him away,� she pounded her fists on the yellow armour of Maverick and he stood still and let her burn out her rage.

�This is the judgement of the Living Tribunal,� all the X-Men present stopped and stared at the head that had materialized over the head of the Phoenix, it shimmered like a hologram �for the destruction of the D�Bari star system and the death of those who lived there, the entity known as the Phoenix Force has been sentenced to live the span of a human lifetime on the planet Earth,� the voice of the Living Tribunal sounded in the heads of all those present �Illyana Rasputin,� the uncovered of the Tribunal�s three faces turned toward the young blonde Russian girl �the Phoenix Force was corrupted before by the desires of the form it had taken, the body of your brother was chosen because it was devoid of spirit, the Phoenix Force will now have to learn what it means to be human� �but what if it goes bad again, we barely survived it last time, I barely survived it last time,� Jean pulled away from her husband and moved closer to the Tribunal �I demand that you stop it from accessing it powers so that we can be safe,� there were tears in Jean�s eyes as she remembered the large portion of her life that had been stolen as the Phoenix Force lived her life for her �no purpose would be served by completely sealing off the Phoenix Force from its abilities,� the Tribunal looked into the tear filled eyes of the Earth woman �however your concerns are justified and I hereby limit the amount of power the Phoenix Force may draw upon,� with those words the image of the Living Tribunal faded from sight.

�Well now that he�s finished talking would someone mind getting me some clothes, I think I�m about your size,� Phoenix said as she looked at Jean, the surrounding X-Men were stunned by its ability to speak �what? I�ve been around pretty much since the dawn of time, do you really think it takes me long to pick up a language,� Jean took a step toward the Phoenix, not completely sure on what she or it would do next.

Suddenly the space behind the Phoenix cracked open and a massive purple coloured energy portal began to pull the Phoenix in �I can�t stop myself being pulled in at this reduced power level,� Phoenix shot an accusing glance toward Jean, who despite a moment hesitation was now using her telekinetic powers to help resist the pull of the portal, it was all for nothing however as Phoenix was pulled through the portal.

Her flesh turned back to steel and the flaming phoenix raptor manifested around her body, only to be caught in a pair of huge grey arms �what is it with this place and flaming naked chicks,� Phoenix was set gently to the ground and she quickly turned around to see a young woman whose body was covered in flame up to her neck and the grey man �I don�t know how I got here but if it keeps spitting out babes like the two of you ol� Joe Fixit is going to be one happy guy.�

Joe Fixit

Your name is Mr. Joe Fixit but to the world press you are still known as the Incredible Hulk.

It was the day that the Gamma Reactor would be brought online and for Dr. Robert Bruce Banner it was the day he had been working toward all his life.

If it was a success the Gamma Reactor could provide enough energy to power all of California with far less harmful radioactive waste than current nuclear reactors but all parties present had not figured on the interference of the international terrorist group known as Hydra.

Hydra planned to detonate the new reactor in an attack that would wipe out a massive portion of North America but the group had reckoned without the courage of one of the US Marines assigned to guard the facility, with no thought for his own life, only that of others, he dived for the communications console and managed to send out a brief cry for help before he was gunned down.

That small signal was received not by the military but by an unlikely selection of heroes, Tony Stark quickly donned his high tech armour to become War Machine, Harry Cleese decided to end his exile from the world of men and took back the name he had not used in an age, that of the Prince of Power Hercules and Dr. Henry Pym and his lovely wife and assistant Janet used the amazing chemicals they had discovered to alter their size and become the Ant-Man and Wasp.

The four heroes soon had the forces of Hydra on the run but the count down to destroy the reactor had already begun, the only way left to shutdown the reactor was the enter the chamber that was located just outside of the central core but it would mean death for whoever entered.

Dr. Banner decided that no-one else should die for his creation so he sacrificed himself.

But Banner didn�t die instead every time the sun went down he would transform into a monstrous grey beast, the Avengers, as War Machine, Hercules, Ant-Man and Wasp has taken to calling themselves, tried everything they could to help Banner rid himself of the alter ego that had started to call itself Hulk, but only succeeded in altering the transformation so he became the grey monster whenever he was angry.

Hydra attacked again and using newly developed Gamma powered weapons tried to take Hulk and use him as a weapon but the weapons had no effect on Hulk and only served to drive him away into hiding.

For years it appeared that the Hulk had simply vanished of the face of the Earth but as the Avengers would later discover the Gamma weapons did have an effect but not on the Hulk physically, they had altered the chemical balance in his mind.

Slowly the Hulk began to form an intelligence of his own, using memories of the gangster movies that Bruce Banner loved to watch, and was spending less and less time as Banner.

The Hulk eventually ended up in Las Vegas where he fell into the employ of a mafia boss, working for him as muscle, the Don was so impressed by the Hulk he used his influence to create an identity for his new employee that of Mr. Joe Fixit.

Of course no matter how low a profile he kept, a seven foot tall hulking grey man would eventually end up being reported and the Avengers, after a lengthy fight managed to capture Fixit.

The team was horrified by Fixit; the kindly Bruce Banner had been replaced by a gangster personality that had the emotional maturity of an adolescent.

The Avengers federal liaison, Henry Gyrich, convinced the government that Fixit should not be thrown in prison but rather that his strength could be better utilised if he was offered a deal, all charges would be dropped if he would agree to serve his term as a member of the Avengers.

Fixit sat at the opposite side of the A shaped table to the other members of the team, the roster now consisted of a newly revived Captain America, War Machine whose Mansion home was used as the team�s base, Carol Barton the Olympic archer turned superhero known as Hawkeye and Hercules choice of replacement on the team the Norse God Thor.

Carol Barton couldn�t believe what she was hearing from the mouths of Thor and War Machine who were both freely throwing insults at Fixit over his lack of intelligence compared to Bruce Banner, Captain America was desperately trying to get them both to stop but while there was no man who could formulate battle field tactics better than him, he was sorely lacking in people skills �and Gyrich insisted that cap be in charge,� Carol whispered to herself, mere moments before Fixit had launched himself across the table and grabbed hold of War Machine, pinning the armoured man to the wall by his throat �next time you consider throwing an insult at me shell-head,� there was a cracking noise coming from War Machine�s armour �just remember that oh so intelligent Banner isn�t crushing the life out of you right now but the dumb as nails Hulk� �release the armoured one now foul troll or taste the power of Mjolnir,� Thor raised the hammer that contained enchantments from All-Father Odin up to Fixit�s eye level �you and your magic mallet there don�t frighten me goldilocks, why don�t you run off and eat some of the bear�s porridge,� Fixit was nearly snarling and was now ignoring completely the frantic pleas of War Machine that he could not breathe �it seems I must show you some respect foul beast,� energy crackled around Thor�s hammer before being released as a massive bolt of mystic lightning.

The force of the blast made Fixit release his grip on War Machine, who was instantly attended to by the Avengers butler Jarvis �that is it you jumped up nut job,� Fixit pulled himself up from the ground where he had impacted after hitting one of the adamantium reinforced walls of the meeting room �the next time you put me down you better make sure that I don�t get back up,� Fixit ripped off his shirt and purple jacket and began to stalk toward Thor who was swinging Mjolnir, ready to fend off the attack that he knew was coming �this stops NOW,� the red, white and blue star shaped shield of Captain America embedded itself in the floor between the two men, who instantly removed their gaze from each other to the star-spangled Avenger �if you have problem with the treatment you are getting from the other members of this team Mr. Fixit you come to me or Gyrich,� Cap stabbed his finger in Fixit�s direction �you do not attack your team-mates, do I make myself clear� �as crystal flag boy,� Fixit held his rage back, Cap might be a stuck up and overgrown boy scout but Fixit did respect him, even if it was grudgingly �I�m outta here,� Fixit stormed out of the meeting room �I�ll go talk to him Cap, you deal with the other two,� Hawkeye headed out of the room, leaving Captain America to talk to the remaining Avengers �now you two lets have a discussion on how to treat team-mate with courtesy and respect,� Cap pulled his shield from the floor and slung it around his shoulders �I have been accused of not being a people person, maybe that is true but you two will listen to me or I will use the technique Drill Sergeant Fury used on me in boot camp.�

�Hey Joe wait up,� Carol had to jog just to keep up with Fixit whose huge strides moved him at quite a pace �why bother just so you can rag on me too,� Fixit stopped and stiffened slightly �sorry, uncalled for,� he said as he stomped off again �Joe Fixit actually apologising, has Christmas come around already,� she joked as she caught up with him �look give me fifteen minutes to get out of costume and meet me at the gates, I think you could do with some fresh air and female company,� Fixit nodded his agreement and watched as Carol disappeared around the corner of the hallway �oh! And you might want to put another shirt on,� she called as she went to her room.

Fixit waited by the gates to the Avengers Mansion, occasionally signing an autograph for those brave enough to approach him �do you have anything in your wardrobe except those purple suits,� Carol joked as she walked up to Fixit, she was a good six feet tall but the gamma powered Fixit still towered over her �not many colours go with grey skin,� he replied as he signed his final autograph �and they are all hand tailored for me,� Fixit opened the lapel of his jacket to show the maker label, on viewing it Carol in a surprised voice exclaimed �how can you afford to get them made there, I know the Avengers pay a stipend but I don�t get that much,� a broad grin grew on Fixit�s face �I charge it all to Stark�s personal checking account� �you don�t, that�s awful,� Carol couldn�t help but laugh at the revelation �how did you find out the account details, I would have thought Tony�s computer security was top notch� �he came home one night drunk as a mattress with some floozy and left his wallet on the meeting table, I just accidentally wrote down the details,� Fixit shrugged his shoulders and tried to put an innocent look on his face �well I think for that act of carelessness we should let Mr. Stark treat us to a slap up meal then,� Carol grabbed hold of one of Fixit�s huge hands and pulled his through the gates and out into the city.

After a slap-up meal, generously but unknowingly paid for by Tony Stark, the pair of Avengers found themselves walking past a Manhattan bank when the alarms suddenly started to blare and customers began to stream through the glass doors.

Inside a young female teller was sobbing by the body of the bank�s manager, whose head was lying five feet away from his neck �from the look of that wound I would say that his head was teleported off,� Carol said as she kneeled down beside the body �haw haw just how many teleported off heads have you seen,� chortled Fixit mockingly �actually this would be my third,� Carol said as she threw him a smile, enjoying the look of surprise on his face �you�re quite right it was a teleporter who killed him,� Carol managed at the last second to move out the way of the grabbing arms of a man who appeared out of a black portal �they called me the Spot, my dear,� the man whose top half was sticking out of a black portal disk was clothed in a white costume that was dotted with black dots �and you my nubile new acquaintance will get to take a ride with me back to my hideaway where we can get to know each other better,� the Spot reached out lecherously for Carol only to be met instead by the huge grey fist of Fixit �keep your hands off my lady.�

Within thirty minutes a special security unit from the super-human prison known as the Vault had arrived to take the Spot into custody �so I�m your lady am I?,� Carol leaned on the bank�s outside wall and smiled at Fixit �just a figure of speech,� Fixit replied �I swear Mr. Fixit that you are blushing,� she teased as she walked up to Fixit and placed two hands on his chest, as soon as they were there however Fixit was pulled through a glowing purple portal.

All those present turned their gaze toward the Spot who also had a surprised look on his face too �don�t look at me�; he said �that wasn�t one of mine.�

Peter Parker

With great power must come great responsibility, it is that saying that comes to the front of Peter Parker�s mind every time he remembers his late Uncle Ben, what would he think of Peter now though if he could see him chocking the life out of the Crime Lord known as Hammerhead due to the flat plate of adamantium that had been used to repair his skull after an accident �the next time the Kingpin asks you to pay him tribute, you had better pay him,� Hammerhead began to gasp for air as soon as he was dropped to the floor of his office, finger shaped bruises formed on his neck �the next time the Kingpin might ask me to rough you up a little.�

It was five years ago when young Peter Parker was attending an experiment in radioactivity at Empire State University that he was bitten by a spider that had become irradiated by straying to close to the experimental equipment.

He went to bed with a fever that night, only to awake the following morning with strange new abilities, he had the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider, as well as he would later discover an uncanny sixth sense that warned him of danger �if I got all these powers from a spider� Peter thought �perhaps I can walk on walls as well�, it was sound reasoning but wall-crawling as it turned out was not among his new powers.

He had never been that physical preferring to spend his time in the pages of a good book, a straight A student; he was often teased by the school bully, a jock called Flash Thompson, a couple of days after he gained his new powers his patience finally snapped and with one blow Thompson lay spread out of the floor of the hallway with blood gushing from his nose, the other kids all cheered his name, this time not in jest but in adulation and the girl Peter had always liked, Gwen Stacy, cheered the loudest of all.

That night Peter couldn�t sleep, his mind was in knots, all the time he had put in to being a better student had gained him nothing, not friends, he couldn�t even get the girl he fancied to pay any attention to him, but with one blow, one swift outburst of violence, he had gained everything that he had desired at school.

When he saw an advert in a local newspaper that a major wrestling federation was looking for new talent and were going to hold an event to see if people had what it took, that fact that it was also going to be televised formed the plan in Peter�s mind.

He designed a simple masked costume with a mask, he would use his new powers to go through all comers and then unmask himself live on television, doing that would gain him all the attention that he had ever wanted.

The only flaw in the plan was how he was going to sneak out of the house past his Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

As it turned out it was not as difficult as Peter thought it was going to be.

Their next door neighbour was a huge wrestling fan and as it happened had an extra ticket, so asked it Peter would care to come with him and his daughter Mary Jane to the event.

When at the arena Peter snuck away and registered himself to fight under the name of the Human Spider and when later he easily took down all the other hopefuls in the ring and the professional wrestlers he was declared the winner of the event, however for some reason he never removed the mask as he had intended.

As he was walking to the office of the organiser of the event to claim his prize money and contract he witnessed a man with a gun robbing the owner of the stadium of all the gate receipts, not wanting to risk his life when it was just becoming what he wanted he let the thief rush past him to freedom.

The wrestling federation owner also saw what had happened and because Peter had not stopped the thief, which he could have easily done, he tore up the contract Peter was to sign in front of Peter�s horrified eyes.

More than a little angry at this turn of events Peter made his way back to Mary Jane and her father and explained his absence by saying that he had suddenly gotten a bout of diarrhoea, he also said that he was really upset about missing the event, the anger on his face convincing them that his lie was true.

Peter was silent throughout the drive home and was stunned when he saw the police cars surrounding his home, he ran from the car only to find his path blocked by an officer who broke some awful news to him.

His Uncle Ben and Aunt May had been shot dead by a burglar and that while they had managed to corner him in one of the old warehouses a short distance from Peter�s home, he was managing to hold off the police from capturing him.

Peter ran from the people who tried to comfort him, determined to extract his own revenge on the person who had taken the last two members of his family from him.

Using his new abilities it was child�s play to sneak past the police cordon and enter the warehouse, unseen by all.

From the darkness Peter observed the man who had killed the last members of his family and when the police searchlight illuminated his face, Peter was horrified to discover that it was the man he allowed to escape earlier because he didn�t want to mess up his life, his in action had cost him the lives of the two people he cared about the most.

The police entered the warehouse when the man they were after had stopped throwing obscenities at them, what they found when they were inside was a young man with blood covering his hands, the thief they were after had his face battered beyond repair.

Peter offered no resistance as the police dragged him away to a cell for the night; the case would light up the television and newspapers more than any murder before it.

The case of a young superhuman who had in a fit of anger battered an armed man to death, with the current rise in enhanced human hatred the extenuating circumstances of the case would not even be considered by the court.

As circumstances would turn out the case would never make it that far, all due to a payoff by a man called Wilson Fisk, who also ran all of the crime in New York as the Kingpin of Crime.

The Kingpin arranged for all the evidence against Peter to disappear and during this time Peter saw all his remaining faith in the system vanish, as lawyers and police officers accepted payoffs, people he had before believed to be incorruptible.

Under the guidance of Fisk, Peter found himself encouraged to explore the limits of his powers and was given the best education that money could buy, every day Peter was bound more tightly to the desires of the kingpin.

Five years later Peter Parker was the top ranked operative in the Kingpin�s criminal organisation; his real name was not known to anyone but Fisk, to all the others he was know only as the Stalker.

�Was there any trouble with Hammerhead my boy?,� asked Fisk as Stalker entered his penthouse office �a couple of his boys tried to get a little rowdy but when I put their heads through a wall they quietened down a little,� beneath the black mask he wore Stalker had an evil grin on his face.

Peter had never understood why the Kingpin made him wear the costume when he went out on �business,� it was completely black and covered him from head to foot except for the white eye pieces and the small white spider motif in the centre of his chest, all the white in the costume could be morphed into the black however for when maximum stealth was needed.

Peter gave a brief report on what had occurred that night and left to his apartment one floor below, it was decked out like a palace and after a shower and a change of clothes, he slumped down in the leather armchair in front of the big screen TV Peter thought to himself how lucky he was to be working for the Kingpin.

Peter flicked the on button on the remote control and when the screen flickered to life he was greeted to an image of a red haired beauty in a skimpy blue bikini frolicking through the surf on a white sand beach �quite the beauty isn�t she my boy,� Peter whirled out of the armchair as the voice of Wilson Fisk boomed in his apartment �I believe you knew her,� the Kingpin smiled but Peter like many others thought that a smile on the Kingpin�s face usually meant bad new for someone, they would never tell him that however, they valued their lives far too much for that �she lived next door to me when I was still living in Queens,� Peter turned and looked lustfully at the woman who was advertising a new home waxing product �I must say that she has filled out a little since then� �perhaps you would like to pay the lady a visit, it would take moments for me to find out her address,� the Kingpin offered.

Wilson Fisk left Peter apartment to get the address for the young man with another large smile on his face, he had learned long ago that if you wanted people to remain loyal you had to give them something in return every now and then, what was this woman anyway to him, let Peter have his fun with her.

Now dressed again as Stalker Peter leapt through the rooftops of the city, Fisk had told him that the red haired woman was being put up by the advertising company in one of Manhattan�s best hotels.

Stalker sat on top of hotel and looked down to the pavement and wished that he had gotten wall crawling as part of his spider-power package, he didn�t really want to risk his life with the Kingpin�s latest gift �web shooters� he had called them but apart from breaking into the hotel through the roof access way he had no other choice.

Stalker double tapped the palm of his right hand with his two middle fingers and watched as a thin thread of  an unknown long-chain polymer fly out from the nozzle, it had adjustable settings so the �web� could be made into other things like a net or rope, it was the rope setting he wanted now.

With the web secured on the roof Stalker climbed down to the balcony of the red haired beauty�s room, the intentions on his mind were definitely not for the best.

�God I so need to get some sleep,� Mary Jane Watson walked out of the en-suite bathroom, her long red locks wrapped in a white towel and her firm nubile body was wrapped in a white towelling robe that stretched tight across her bosom, the usual bounce in her step had been worn away by a heavy days shoot, there wasn�t a muscle in her body that didn�t ache from having to pose all day �and people say this job is easy,� MJ took a mineral water from the honour bar and began to walk toward the bedroom when the glass double doors that led to the balcony exploded inward, she tried to scream as the black clad figure burst in but her mouth was quickly covered by a sticky substance, like a spiders web she would later tell police, she turned to run for the door but a blow to the back of her head made her slump to the floor unconscious.

Mary Jane tried to move when she woke but found that she couldn�t move anything but her legs, she forced her eyes to open, even though the pain at the back of her head complained about even that simple act, she was now in the bedroom and fastened to the wall by the same substance that covered her mouth, she had also been stripped of her towel and robe.

Peter stared at the body of the woman tied up in front of him, usually he liked it when they struggled and screamed but he had taken to much of a risk kicking the balcony doors in, he couldn�t risk anymore noise, the Kingpin would not want any undue attention brought to one of his operatives �ah! What the hell, I�ve been wanting to try a little bondage,� he leapt from the bed where he had been sitting to stand in front of MJ, who immediately began to kick at him with her legs, and he let them strike him to show her that she couldn�t hurt him.

�Now I wont lie to you bitch,� Peter said as he grasped MJ by her throat �this is going to hurt a lot,� he forced her legs apart with his free hand and moved in-between them �so you might as well struggle a lot, I enjoy it when they fight,� MJ could only stare into the white eye pieces of this man�s mask as he moved closer to her, she felt helpless, she couldn�t even scream because of the web covering her mouth.

�I�m going to enjoy this�, Peter thought was he reached for the invisible waist band of his costume but found to his displeasure that Mary Jane�s eyes were now focused behind him �you better damn look at me bitch while this is happening,� he screamed at the terrified young woman but as he raised his free hand from his waist to strike her face he felt a massive force pulling him backward, he managed to turn and saw a large glowing portal, purple in colour �like Aunt May�s kitchen� he thought as it pulled at him.

Peter fired a web to anchor himself against the pull and managed to prevent himself from going any further toward it �see you later you bastard,� Peter heard MJ cry out from behind him, it had been an hour since he had webbed up her mouth and it had now dissolved, he felt the soles of her feet against his back and MJ kicked out with all her strength.

Mary Jane�s kick combined with the pull of the portal caused Peter to lose his grip on the web and he went head first through the portal which snapped shut as soon as he was inside �I hope you burn in your own hell you $%&*er,� she cried before she began to scream out for help.

�I am going to kill that bitch,� Stalker screamed as he landed face first into a sand dune �you know I don�t expect to hear that kind of language from Spider-Man,� Stalker pulled his head from the sand as he heard the woman voice, perhaps if he was lucky he thought it was MJ who had got pulled inside the portal with him �so you wearing a symbiote there or what,� Stalker looked at the young blonde in front of him with horror, not because every part of her body below her neck was on fire but because he recognised her as Susan Richards, a member of the Terrific Three, whose younger brother he had murdered for the Kingpin because of a very large unpaid gambling debt.

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