The "Heroes vs. Villains: Marvel RPG” - Season V

[Charlie No-One]

The message immediatley runs through my radar. I can tell that it isn't an attacker... the pulse hasn't skipped the nervous beat of a waiting assassin. No. It's something else. I think whoever called to me really is a victim looking for help. And if it isn't... may god have mercy on them. Because I certainly won't.

I fire my club upwards, towards the direction of the voice, and swing up, landing on a set of stairs leading to the upper half of the factory. Reeling in my line, I place one club back in my holster... but leave the other out. Can't be too careful. Especially if I'm really dealing with the bastards that killed that innocent little girl and pinned it on Logan.

I walk upwards, slowly, following the patterns of the breathing. I can already tell the victim is female. Of slender build. Significantly active in muscle tone. Can't exactly tell the height, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I don't leave this place until I've helped at least someone tonight.

I stop, looking over as I see a woman curled up in the darkness. Beneath my cowl, my eyes close, making sure I'm not walking into some sort of trap. It isn't. It's her. I've found the victim. Or the alleged victim...

I hold out a hand.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you.", I state, still on edge as I try to scan the rest of the area.

I'm paranoid as all hell. "Man Without Fear"... What a joke.

"What is your name?"

(IC: Mystique)

“My name is Raven and I have done something very bad. I killed two people. The first was Yuriko Oyama, owner of this company. The next was that little girl, Rose. I don’t feel bad though. Truth be told, I liked it. That wasn’t the only thing I did though….” Raven stuttered. Her flesh was tingly. She had done enough killing these last few days; she hoped this man was prepared.

 

[Batman]

The shotgun blast rung out like he had expected, like he had feared. Everything went slow, time itself seeming to stop. He expected the smell of gunpowder, then a flash of pain, then nothing. The smell came first. It was sulfur. His eyes snapped open to see a blast of fire impact the Hunter's shotgun, knocking it away. Spider-Man, George Stacy, Ben Parker, and Kraven the Hunter looked to the Ghost Rider, who stood with his still-smoking shotgun drawn. "Not yet. The Tribulations have not started."

Behind him, Ghost Rider heard a voice. Husky, feral, and changed, but still unquestionably hers. "And who are you to decree it thus, Ghost Rider? You no longer have a place in Mephisto's realms, and the rules have changed since the last time we were freed."

He spund with all his hellborn speed, and found his gun pointed at the pale, ghostly face of Karen Suthers. She smirked, revealing the smallest of ivory fangs. With one pale hand, she slowly, almost daintily, turned his weapon away. "You must not have been paying attention, Rider. The Tribulations had already started. With that little intervention of yours, things have changed. Now it's my turn."

Coldness ripped into his chest. He hadn't even seen her move, didn't see her draw the sword, didn't see her drive it into his chest. Spider-Man watched as the point of a hideously long sword tore out of Ghost Rider's back, flames spilling out of the wound like torch fire. Coldness spread throughout Ghost Rider's body, and he recognized what the blade was coated in. Soul toxin, like wildfire, spread its way through his body. The cold of the grave gripped his limbs, made him slow, dulled his senses. Brutally, she kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying through the air. Embers of fire trailed after him, flickering in the night sky then dying. He landed with a thud next to Spider-Man. Kraven, Ben Parker, and George Stacy all stood, eyes raptly focused on the pale, ghostly white woman who had attacked Ghost Rider.

The Rider's face was emotionless. But if one could decipher the feelings of the Rider, one could sense an overwhelming happiness, an overwhelming determination. The being inside Karen Suther's body, the being that had perverted it and controlled it since that dark night in Truth or Consequences, thought that it had killed her. Thought that Karen and her innocent soul were no longer important, if they even existed at all. But Ghost Rider had heard her as the demon attacked. A voice so small calling it a whisper would be generous. A voice that had given him all he would need to drive back the Necropotence.

"Save him, Ghost Rider."

Spider-Man could only watch as The Rider fell too his feet, a victim of the brutal kick that had been cast by an unindentifiable figure in the distance. He didn't recognise it as a loved one of his. He only recognised it as evil. And that was enough to surge new life into the radioactively charged muscles that boomed within Peter Parker's arms.

"THAT. IS. IT!"

With a tug at both of the corpses that latched onto him, Spider-Man drove them both off with a mighty heave, sending them flying deeper into the graveyard. Turning to the figure in the distance, Peter pointed straight at her with an unfathomed hatred for what the being had done to the people he had held dear.

"You are one seriously twisted fruit loop, lady! Tribulations or not, these people were supposed to rest in peace! REST. IN. PEACE! Not pieces!", Spider-Man angrily shot at the being.

"It is not your place to question me, mortal.", The being countered.

"But it is his place, demon."

Spider-Man looked up as The Ghost Rider rose to his feet, unsheathing a burning chain that wrapped around his torso as if it were a whip.

"You had chosen Peter Parker because of both his humanly purity and his fraility to your influences. But what you underestimated was the will that guided him. And the power that guides thyself."

"If what you tell is indeed true, than the Tribulations shall cease immediately. Spider-Man has bested your influence, and so have I. Tonight, you answer for your crimes, follower of the Necropotence. Tonight, you answer to VENGEANCE."

Spider-Man stared as The Ghost Rider violently flung his burning chain at the demon. As they began battle, Peter turned around, his spider-sense blazing even bolder before. Spider-Man flipped into the air, landing on the undead Kraven's shoulders and wrapping his legs around the Hunter's throat. Immediately, Spider-Man began drumming his hands on Kraven's skull.

"Betcha' just love this.", Spider-Man quipped, as Kraven struggled to free himself of the webslinger's annoyingly painful attack.

"I SHALL SUCK YOUR BONES DRY AND MOUNT YOUR HEAD ON MY MANTLE!", Kraven yelled.

"Aww shucks. I love you too, big guy.", Spider-Man answered, bending forward and looking at Kraven's face, upside down. "Strictly plutonically, of course."

Before Kraven could grab Peter by the skull, Spider-Man flipped backwards, kicking off of the Hunter, sending him into a nearby gravestone. His own, ironically. But by the time Kraven would look back, the last thing his captor would see would be the flying foot of Spider-Man, as he swung towards the demon at an incredible speed. "And since you're really determined to be the next Kraven The Hunter, let me fill you in on how me and Jungle boy always spent our days. With tough lovin'."

Pulling down on his fresh webline, Spider-Man swung right through the corpse in an explosion of dust and bones. Sticking to Kraven's headstone, Spider-Man looked back, watching the skeleton sink back into the ground.

"Spidey three, Zombies zilch. I love this game.", Spider-Man stated.

But beneath all of the jokes, Peter remained shocked to the core. This would remain with him for times to come. He was sure of it. The day he had to cross a line he'd never thought possible. Of course, it wasn't as if he had another choice. It was either them, or his soul. And as much as Peter hated to face the fact... His soul may have been all that he had left.

Spider-Man backflipped, staying alert. He didn't see Captain Stacy or his Uncle Ben. An eyebrow arched on Peter's face, as he looked back.

"Uh... Marco?"

Spider-Man's eyes widened, as his spider-sense widly blared. He looked around, trying to see where the corpses were no doubt coming from. But nothing. It was then that Spider-Man felt a tug at his feet. Peter looked down, horrified, as both corpses shot up from the ground, clutching at Peter's legs.

"GAH!", Spider-Man yelped, trying to break free.

"Come with us, Pete. It's much better on the other side.", Ben stated.

Spider-Man ignored his words, shooting a webline up at a nearby tree, and pulling with all of his might. But the more he pulled, the harder it became, as he began to sink into the ground. This isn't happening! This can't be happening! And it definatley shouldn't be happening!

"Don't fight it, Peter.", Captain Stacy responded, grasping at Peter's kneecap. "Embrace your failures."

Spider-Man pulled even harder, hearing that.

"You want me to talk about failures?! Fine! I'll talk!", Spider-Man yelled, angrily. "It's pretty obvious, here, that you're the ones who's going to fail! You may have been able to fool me at first, but I know fully well that what's happening couldn't possibly be the work of the people I loved! You want to try and pass as the people that made me who I am today?! THEN LET ME LIVE MY LIFE! LET ME LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!"

Spider-Man tugged even harder, finally breaking free of the corpses' individual arms as they shattered among Peter's tug.

"LET ME LEARN THAT WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY!", Spider-Man screamed, spinning and firing two weblines at both.

Pulling them in the opposite directions, Spider-Man watched as they slammed into eachother, and crumbled among the impact. As both corpses sank into the Earth, like the others had, Spider-Man dropped to his knees, breathing hard, and quietly.

Never once did he ever think he would have to give that lecture to the man that originally instilled it in him. But it was time that both the demons and Peter himself remembered that important lesson.

Sure, He had let that thug run past him at the television studio, way back when. And it resulted in the death of his uncle, and the birth of a life that tonight, literally plagued him. And sure, he had invented the webbing that made Doctor Octopus' mechanical arms spiral out of control, hitting that debris and causing the death of George Stacy. But if there was one thing his opposers probably didn't count on, it was the fact that Peter had forgiven himself long ago for those grave mistakes. He just hadn't realised it yet.

Spider-Man stood tall, and stood high, as he realised that no more came to face him. He had won.

But there was still the Rider to deal with.

 

[Batman]

(IC: Mystique)

“My name is Raven and I have done something very bad. I killed two people. The first was Yuriko Oyama, owner of this company. The next was that little girl, Rose. I don’t feel bad though. Truth be told, I liked it. That wasn’t the only thing I did though….” Raven stuttered. Her flesh was tingly. She had done enough killing these last few days; she hoped this man was prepared.

My eyes immediatley lock onto her confession. For a moment, I think she's confused. Bewildered by what's happened to her. Then I hear her pulse. Steady. Truthful. My grip on both billy clubs tighten as I realise who I'm looking down upon: The guilty.

"Say it again."

She looks up at me.

"What?"

I grit my teeth, angrily.

"Tell me what you just told me again."

She stands, almost questioning of me.

"M-My name is Raven an-"

I immediately lash forward, wrapping my cord around her neck and spinning behind her, tugging at the cord even harder.

"Darkholme. As in Mystique? Is that it? IS IT?!"

I read up on her case during my investigation of Logan's trial. Not much there. But enough to get me riled up at the possibility that she was responsible for all of this. For the murder of the little girl. For Logan's incarceration. For the torture I've had to endure throughout this trial, praying for both of them.

Court is in session.

"Gnnn...Ghhk... Y... Yes... It is..."

I pull back both of my clubs. Her breath shortens by the minute. I should stop. But the moment I think of the fact that a little girl is dead, the fact that the girl's parents will never see her again, and the fact that I'm looking at their daughter's unremorseful killer makes it harder to let go. Damn it.

I pull a tape recorder from a slot inside my holster. It's what I use on every case to gather confessions. I'm not leaving this place until Mystique's is the latest. Shoving my knee into her back, it tightens the grip on the club's cord even further.

"Testify.", I growl, holding it up to her face.

She can't even talk. I've taken it far enough.

Letting go of the cord, I shove my knee further, throwing her into a nearby railing as she coughs. But I never find my anger growing to a cease. It's only fueled as the meaningless trial I just witnessed plays through my mind, once again.

"TESTIFY.", I say, louder, holding the tape recorder above her. "Remind me of the evil you've done, and the unforgiveable damage you've caused. Because you cannot, and will not hide them from me. Or from justice."

I've sensed Mystique's pain. Felt her fear. Tasted her hatred.

But her remorse isn't there.

I'll fill that gap by any means nessacary.

 

[Charlie No-One]

This man obviously isn’t prepared. Pity…

Coughing, Mystique stood up and pushed the tape recorder out of Daredevil’s hands. It slid onto the ground. She crushed it under her foot. The pain around her neck started to subside.

“You didn’t let me finish. I kidnapped an X-Men. You know her as Jean Grey. She was part of a plan to destroy the human race. It went wrong and she betrayed me and went with Doom as Dark Phoenix. He held most of her power. In a final act between us, she tried to erase my x-gene. She may have power, but she didn’t have enough. She couldn’t do it. I changed into my human form to trick her. The last thing I needed was to be disintegrated,” Mystique revealed nonchalantly, switching back into her blue default form. She honestly didn’t care what this man was going to do or what her thought. What was he going to do? It was almost impossible for him to arrest her. All she had to do was switch shapes; look like someone else. Sure, he would know who she really was, but the police, judge, or jury wouldn’t. She picked up a gun on her desk and pointed it at Daredevil.

“I don’t have the time or energy to fight you nor do I care about this flawed idea of mutant supremacy anymore. You will find all the evidence you need to free your friend on that desk over there,” Daredevil grunted. Why was she doing this? Just giving herself up like this? By her heart beat and breathing rate, he could tell that she wasn’t lying about her exhaustion. This woman was in no shape for a fight, but she was acting like she was free to go. She was heavily mistaken.

Mystique cocked her gun. The hero moved towards her. Without thinking, she pulled the trigger. A dart went straight into his shoulder. He fluttered towards the ground. Raven placed the tranquilizer beside his body. She had failed miserably today, but there was always tomorrow. Not looking back, she walked out of her office for the last time.

 

[Venom160]

I jerk my hand away and was as the suit calms back down. I look up at Kaine.

"Brother... you have no idea what I've become."

Before I can say anything Jackel's shreiking laughter fills the room again.

"Oh this is great! I didnt know you could stoop so low Kaine. Now back to buisness....."

He presses his claw harder into Gwen's neck finally drawing blood.

"Pick up the syringe Ben!"

"No Ben don't do it!"

"Shut up!"

"Ben I......."

"The hell with this!"

The Jackel's hand jerks to the right cutting Gwen's throat.

"No!"

Jackel pushes Gwen toward me and makes a run for. I catch her and gently lay her down.

"No god no not again!"

I gently press on her neck trying to stop the bleeding but its no use, the damn blood won't stop!

It only takes minutes for her life to slip away.

"Im so sorry Gwen."

I sit there for a few minutes and just holed her hand. Tears start to well up as her body slowly starts to dissolve into dust.

"JACKEL!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I wipe my eyes and look up at Kaine.

"Lets get this son of a bi*ch."

 

[Feature]

IC Kaine
Season V - Epilogue

"The hell with this!"

Those words uttered, the Jackal cuts Gwen's throat and thrusts her at Ben Reilly, who tries in vain to stop the bleeding.

"He's getting away, you fool!" The symbiote shouts at Kaine.

But Kaine is no longer listening. He is no longer thinking about the symbiote or the Jackal, or anything else but the woman who lies dying on the floor. It is a scene he has seen over again a million times in his head since that day on the bridge... and yet, it's a scene he has never truly seen.

For he was not on that bridge, despite what his memories tell him. Those memories are fake. As is the tragedy of this moment. The woman on the ground is not Gwen Stacy. This fact is reinforced by the sight of her turning to dust in Ben's arms.

"I'm so sorry Gwen."

As Ben says a teary goodbye to this creature, Kaine can manage no such emotion. He simply kneels and sifts his fingers through the dust.

"Is this all we are?" He quietly wonders. "Is this the only fate we are deserving of? Dust on a warehouse floor..."

"Let's get this son of a bi*ch." Ben says, his anger overshadowing his bravery. His lower lip trembles as tears slide down his cheeks.

These two men... these two creatures... Only they could truly understand one another. Only they could know what the other has had to endure simply to begin living. There were so many things Kaine wanted to tell him. About May. About the symbiote. About the two years of darkness. But that would have to wait. As would his own questions.

As Kaine and Ben sped out into the darkness in search of Miles Warren, Kaine couldn't help but wonder. He wondered why they bothered. He wondered what they had done to deserve God's wrath. He wondered if he would ever be anything more than dust on a warehouse floor.

 

[Venom160]

IC Kaine
Season V - Epilogue

"The hell with this!"

Those words uttered, the Jackal cuts Gwen's throat and thrusts her at Ben Reilly, who tries in vain to stop the bleeding.

"He's getting away, you fool!" The symbiote shouts at Kaine.

But Kaine is no longer listening. He is no longer thinking about the symbiote or the Jackal, or anything else but the woman who lies dying on the floor. It is a scene he has seen over again a million times in his head since that day on the bridge... and yet, it's a scene he has never truly seen.

For he was not on that bridge, despite what his memories tell him. Those memories are fake. As is the tragedy of this moment. The woman on the ground is not Gwen Stacy. This fact is reinforced by the sight of her turning to dust in Ben's arms.

"I'm so sorry Gwen."

As Ben says a teary goodbye to this creature, Kaine can manage no such emotion. He simply kneels and sifts his fingers through the dust.

"Is this all we are?" He quietly wonders. "Is this the only fate we are deserving of? Dust on a warehouse floor..."

"Let's get this son of a bi*ch." Ben says, his anger overshadowing his bravery. His lower lip trembles as tears slide down his cheeks.

These two men... these two creatures... Only they could truly understand one another. Only they could know what the other has had to endure simply to begin living. There were so many things Kaine wanted to tell him. About May. About the symbiote. About the two years of darkness. But that would have to wait. As would his own questions.

As Kaine and Ben sped out into the darkness in search of Miles Warren, Kaine couldn't help but wonder. He wondered why they bothered. He wondered what they had done to deserve God's wrath. He wondered if he would ever be anything more than dust on a warehouse floor.

We spend the rest of the night searching for the vile creature that was once known as Miles Warren but we couldnt find him. We find ourselfs standing ontop of a stone gargoyle head overlooking the city. Kaine says something along the line of "I'll talk to you later" and than leaves. I don't even register that hes' gone. My head feels really heavy as my mind replays Gwen's death over and over, watching the life slip away from those beutiful eyes. I fight back the tears as I look down at the Scarlet Spider mask in my hand, I never put it back on after leaving the warehouse cause it was covered in Gwen's blood.

I feel rage starting to build at the sight of the mask as if that alone was the symbol of all the pain and suffering that Peter, Kaine, and myself have endured.

"No more."

I let go and watch as the wind takes the mask. From now on theres' one less spider in this city.............


The End.


Next.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

Spider-Man could only watch as The Rider fell too his feet, a victim of the brutal kick that had been cast by an unindentifiable figure in the distance. He didn't recognise it as a loved one of his. He only recognised it as evil. And that was enough to surge new life into the radioactively charged muscles that boomed within Peter Parker's arms.

"THAT. IS. IT!"

With a tug at both of the corpses that latched onto him, Spider-Man drove them both off with a mighty heave, sending them flying deeper into the graveyard. Turning to the figure in the distance, Peter pointed straight at her with an unfathomed hatred for what the being had done to the people he had held dear.

"You are one seriously twisted fruit loop, lady! Tribulations or not, these people were supposed to rest in peace! REST. IN. PEACE! Not pieces!", Spider-Man angrily shot at the being.

"It is not your place to question me, mortal.", The being countered.

"But it is his place, demon."

Spider-Man looked up as The Ghost Rider rose to his feet, unsheathing a burning chain that wrapped around his torso as if it were a whip.

"You had chosen Peter Parker because of both his humanly purity and his fraility to your influences. But what you underestimated was the will that guided him. And the power that guides thyself."

"If what you tell is indeed true, than the Tribulations shall cease immediately. Spider-Man has bested your influence, and so have I. Tonight, you answer for your crimes, follower of the Necropotence. Tonight, you answer to VENGEANCE."

Spider-Man stared as The Ghost Rider violently flung his burning chain at the demon. As they began battle, Peter turned around, his spider-sense blazing even bolder before. Spider-Man flipped into the air, landing on the undead Kraven's shoulders and wrapping his legs around the Hunter's throat. Immediately, Spider-Man began drumming his hands on Kraven's skull.

"Betcha' just love this.", Spider-Man quipped, as Kraven struggled to free himself of the webslinger's annoyingly painful attack.

"I SHALL SUCK YOUR BONES DRY AND MOUNT YOUR HEAD ON MY MANTLE!", Kraven yelled.

"Aww shucks. I love you too, big guy.", Spider-Man answered, bending forward and looking at Kraven's face, upside down. "Strictly plutonically, of course."

Before Kraven could grab Peter by the skull, Spider-Man flipped backwards, kicking off of the Hunter, sending him into a nearby gravestone. His own, ironically. But by the time Kraven would look back, the last thing his captor would see would be the flying foot of Spider-Man, as he swung towards the demon at an incredible speed. "And since you're really determined to be the next Kraven The Hunter, let me fill you in on how me and Jungle boy always spent our days. With tough lovin'."

Pulling down on his fresh webline, Spider-Man swung right through the corpse in an explosion of dust and bones. Sticking to Kraven's headstone, Spider-Man looked back, watching the skeleton sink back into the ground.

"Spidey three, Zombies zilch. I love this game.", Spider-Man stated.

But beneath all of the jokes, Peter remained shocked to the core. This would remain with him for times to come. He was sure of it. The day he had to cross a line he'd never thought possible. Of course, it wasn't as if he had another choice. It was either them, or his soul. And as much as Peter hated to face the fact... His soul may have been all that he had left.

Spider-Man backflipped, staying alert. He didn't see Captain Stacy or his Uncle Ben. An eyebrow arched on Peter's face, as he looked back.

"Uh... Marco?"

Spider-Man's eyes widened, as his spider-sense widly blared. He looked around, trying to see where the corpses were no doubt coming from. But nothing. It was then that Spider-Man felt a tug at his feet. Peter looked down, horrified, as both corpses shot up from the ground, clutching at Peter's legs.

"GAH!", Spider-Man yelped, trying to break free.

"Come with us, Pete. It's much better on the other side.", Ben stated.

Spider-Man ignored his words, shooting a webline up at a nearby tree, and pulling with all of his might. But the more he pulled, the harder it became, as he began to sink into the ground. This isn't happening! This can't be happening! And it definatley shouldn't be happening!

"Don't fight it, Peter.", Captain Stacy responded, grasping at Peter's kneecap. "Embrace your failures."

Spider-Man pulled even harder, hearing that.

"You want me to talk about failures?! Fine! I'll talk!", Spider-Man yelled, angrily. "It's pretty obvious, here, that you're the ones who's going to fail! You may have been able to fool me at first, but I know fully well that what's happening couldn't possibly be the work of the people I loved! You want to try and pass as the people that made me who I am today?! THEN LET ME LIVE MY LIFE! LET ME LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!"

Spider-Man tugged even harder, finally breaking free of the corpses' individual arms as they shattered among Peter's tug.

"LET ME LEARN THAT WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY!", Spider-Man screamed, spinning and firing two weblines at both.

Pulling them in the opposite directions, Spider-Man watched as they slammed into each other, and crumbled among the impact. As both corpses sank into the Earth, like the others had, Spider-Man dropped to his knees, breathing hard, and quietly.

Never once did he ever think he would have to give that lecture to the man that originally instilled it in him. But it was time that both the demons and Peter himself remembered that important lesson.

Sure, He had let that thug run past him at the television studio, way back when. And it resulted in the death of his uncle, and the birth of a life that tonight, literally plagued him. And sure, he had invented the webbing that made Doctor Octopus' mechanical arms spiral out of control, hitting that debris and causing the death of George Stacy. But if there was one thing his opposers probably didn't count on, it was the fact that Peter had forgiven himself long ago for those grave mistakes. He just hadn't realised it yet.

Spider-Man stood tall, and stood high, as he realised that no more came to face him. He had won.

But there was still the Rider to deal with.

IC: GHOST RIDER

Her voice was mocking him. He could feel it. Laughter, thick with sarcasm and hate as she danced around him. Spider-Man had left, a blur of red and blue as he fought the lesser manifestations of the Necropotence. Now, it was simply him and her, as he knew it must be. She leapt from headstone to headstone, each jump graceful and magnificent. Dark fire burned the air in her wake. However, no matter how quickly she moved, his eyes made of hellborn fire would always follow. She made her next attack, leaping off a headstone directly at him, her movements little more than blur, even to his eyes. Her sword cut deep into his body, ripping into his side and forcing a torrent of dark orange fire out. Before he could grab her, again she was gone, mocking him with her movements, with her own blasphemous existence.

"What's the matter, Rider? You're so slow all of a sudden." A forked tongue darted through pointed teeth at she laughed at her own macabre sense of humor. She stood still on the gravestone of Roxanne Blaze. The fire around Ghost Rider's head, the flames from his wounds, all changed color to a brillaint white. Air wavered and burned around him. His signature chain moved as if alive, entwining itself around his arms. He knelt down and plunged his hands deep into the cold earth of the cemetary, in one smooth motion. She cocked an eyebrow at the strange manuver, but she did not sense the Ghost Rider's attack.

Snakelike, the chains chewed through the earth of dead men. Brushed aside and burned was the old cold dirt, as fire surrounded the chains. She leapt in again, suddenly, her sword dark with evil flame that coruscated around it. The blade stopped two centimeters from Ghost Rider's hellish countenance.

It had been a flash of motion, two silver-hot wires moved with a will born of the pits itself. Through both of her shoulders they had shot, impaling with such force that vile and corrupted blood shot out of the wounds. The ground sizzled and died where the blood touched it. She had not even time to scream as the chains turned in, impaling her through the stomach before entering the ground again. Slowly, inexorably, she was pulled away and down, until spread eagled she rested upon the ground. She struggled against the chains for a few moments more, until cruelly barbed spikes shot from them. She howled in beastial agony against the indescribable pain.

Ghost Rider strode forward, hellfire chains gripped in his black-gloved hands. "You have been judged, as you sought to judge. You have been weighed, and found wanting. The sentence will be passed. The judgment is vengeance."

"WAIT! Don't you want to know, Rider? Why we're here?" Her voice carried a note of terror, and she had forced it to sound like Karen's real voice. Ghost Rider was not swayed by her voice.

"My duty is clear. My anger righteous. My powers incomparable. As victor, I have claim to one answer, honest and true. The name of the one who hired you. The one who contacted Mephisto. The one who sentenced an entire city to its death."

Truth is anathema to demonkind. To speak the truth is to know a burning sensation not unlike if one were to drink pipe cleaner. The truth is fatal to lower forms of demons, and still painful beyond reason for all but Mephisto.

"Ezekiel."

"Answer given, punishment now recieved. Burn, with all your kind, and tell Mephisto that one day his vengeance too will come."

Pebbles and clods of earth rose skyward. The ground itself grew thick with ozone, with the feeling of electricity. Cracks, great rents in the ground itself appeared, spreading out like an X from the center of her back, until a great circle was formed. With a scream that would shatter the souls of normal men, it vanished in a cataclysmic explosion of heat and force. Whirling with chaotic force, a portal to hell itself opened beneath her. She could feel the fires of her infernal home burn her skin, and crimson lightning crossed the sky. From the bodies of Spider-Man's loved ones came lights, orange and glowing. They were, in a matter of moments, sucked into the whirling, writhing gateway. She howled in pain as a bright blue light ripped itself from her body and flew skyward, gone in an instant. Then, in the next, the chains that held her and bond her to the physical world receeded, and she was sucked screaming bloody murder into the mouth of hell itself. With a roar, the ground closed up, swalloing the burning gate. The Ghost Rider stood motionless for a moment, before again collapsing. Spider-Man rushed over and caught him a moment before he hit the ground.

Ghost Rider stared into the white eyes of Spider-Man. "Ezekiel," he said, his voice a whisper. Then did he change, shrinking, muscle, skin, and hair covering his face, until the shocked and disgusted Spider-Man found himself holding an unconscious and bleeding Johnny Blaze.

 

[Red]

IC:

Rkyers Island Penitentiary, 8 miles off the coast of New York

Rkyers housed some of the world’s most dangerous men; thieves, rapists, murders. They had done unspeakable things with their lives, but no one in the prison was more despised, more feared than the “mutant child killer”, Wolverine.

A prison officer ran his baton along the bars of Logan’s cage and startled the X-man instinctively tried to pop his claws but the adamantium restraints around his hands wouldn't let him.

“You’ve got a visitor mutie” said the prison officer unlocking the cage door.

“What?” asked Wolverine.

“You heard me” replied the guard. Logan couldn’t make sense of this. He had refused every visitor request, It would only hurt anyone he had left to see him like his. Who would have the power to get into the prison without his approval: Professor X? Kurt? Rogue? Logan didn’t know who he was going to see, but he did know he tell them to leave.

The guard led Logan through the bowels of the prison and into a visitor room. In the corner of the room there stood a tall, well built figure concealed in a brown overcoat and hat. The figure lowered his head to avoid revealing his identity until the guard had left the room.

“5 minutes” grunted the prison guard as he slammed the door behind him.

The figure tilted up the rim of hat of his hat revealing a familiar eye patch across his left eye.

“Fury” growled Wolverine.

“Hello Logan” a grin tugged at SHEILD director’s mouth.

“What are doing here?”

”Take a seat, I came to give you the good news” Fury motioned to the seat at the table. Refusing to move Logan’s eyes tightened and he exchanged a glance with Fury. “That mystique really did a number on you” said Fury breaking the silence.

Logan raised an eyebrow and turned back to Fury “Mystique?”

“Didn’t you hear? Turn’s out she was behind all the trouble you’ve been in recently. Murdock’s in the court right now over turning your conviction. You could be outta here as early as tomorrow.”

“It’s finally over” Logan muttered under his breath. Murdock had done it, he had cleared his name. But after everything that had happened how could his life go back to how it was?“Fess up Fury what’s this about? You wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble jus to give me a news report.”

Fury flashed a smile “To the point as always Logan, I have an offer for you. I want you to lead up S.H.E.I.L.D’s black ops division."

“So ya want me ta be what, an agent of S.H.E.I.L.D?”

“Got it in one.”

“Why me?”

“Because it’s like you always say Logan you’re the best at what you do an’ the best is want I need. It’s a different world were livin’ in, I mean Stark’s President for god’s sake an’ I don’t know who I can trust, I need someone to watch my back. An' in return I'll give you a chance to start over, to be someone again. A person. Maybe get that honour of yours back too. So whats it to be Logan do we have a deal?”

 

[Electro UK]

A year on from the horrific invasion of The Mad Titan, Thanos, and the Marvel Universe is in no better of a state than previously. War has broken out. Instead of resting, the heroes faught on, losing countless more in battle. Friendships were broken, enemies had returned, there was much to mourn for.

As the war finally subsided, things did not get better. The brave heroes returned to world very different. They were feared an hated. Some believed to be betrayed by others. New leadership has been found, but at what price?

The super human relations are slipping, heroes are becoming enemies, friends are killing each other.

The Marvel heroes are about to meet a very new and different enemy...

Each other.

The End.​

 

[Electro UK]

Bumping this shizzle to save it biatch.