The "Ultimate Marvel" RPG Season VI IC Thread

[Matt Murdock]

Okay... Now I'm getting angry. This is the second hit he's got on me, and I haven't got any really good shots in... At least not yet.

I placed my hands on the hood and pushed against it to get myself up, turning to the Spider-deuce.

"Nice... But if you're going to be Spider-Man, try an uppercut to the chin. Like SO!"

I did just that. An uppercut so hard that he went straight into the air before his body U-turned before falling, to which I followed up with a spin-kick that sent him careening back into an approaching police cruiser's windshield before he touched the ground. It was quite the funny sight...

"There. Two for two, pal..."

​

Queens, New York

Spider-Man rose to his feet silently, staring the original down. Part of him, the part wearing the mask, really, wanted to say something like, "I'm Spider-Man, and here's how I can prove it," or, "only the real Spider-Man could do this." But he didn't. Instead, he stuck his wrists out and fired two webs from his wrists.

Thwip!

They hit their marks perfectly, wrapping around the surprised Ricochet's ankles. With a heave, the so-called hero was on his back, sprawled out as his ankles remained bound. Under his mask, the impostor felt a sadistic grin spread across his face as his eyebrows lifted up and his gaze narrowed. He was enjoying this.

He held the webbing firmly in his grasp and began spinning around, sending Ricochet spinning with him, like a tether ball, and all Spider-Man had to do was let go. Surely, Ricochet would produce a disk to cut the webbing, Spider-Man thought, and, as such, released the web after a few mere seconds. Parker went flying, slamming so hard into a lightpost that the metal itself curved around his frame.

Spider-Man fired a webline out to a nearby pile of garbage and pulled a chunk of brick from within the pile. Within seconds, it was in his grasp. He took several deliberate steps over to Ricochet, who was still pulling himself up by the wreckage of the pole. Spider-Man, once getting close to the hero, wrapped his hand around his collar with his free hand and heaved him to his feet. Without hesitation, he slammed the brick across Ricochet's jawline, crushing the stone into fragments.

"Guh..." Ricochet said as his body slumped to the ground.

Part of Spider-Man wanted him to walk away. Swing to assured safety.

Yet he didn't. Instead, he delivered a swift kick to Ricochet's abodmen.

No doubt that the hero would come at him as strongly as he could. But, as far as Spider-Man was concerned, that couldn't be too strong at all. Ricochet likely had a concussion and some internal trauma.

"Come on." Spider-Man said condescendingly. "What else ya got? I bet you think you're still a match for me."

The tone of Spider-Man's voice seemed to say, "and I'd like to see you try to be," as he spat his words.

 

[Venom160]

edit.

 

[Gallagher]

6 MONTHS LATER

Project X was a complete success. A team of loyal individuals that followed orders blindly, quickly and often violently. The team consisted of Victor Creed, codenamed Sabretooth, Agent Zero aka Maverick, the beautiful and deadly Silver Fox and finally, the man who was once known as Logan his name and memories taken from him. He was now Wolverine.

The experiments where hellish, at night you could still hear him screaming from the vivid nightmares they caused, damaging his psyche irrepairably. His skeleton coated in an unbreakable metal, three adamantium claws imbedded into both forearms. The perfect killing machine.

Their training was intensive, gruelling and harsh like the procedures Wolverine himself underwent. Today they embarked on their first mission. It would be a mission that ended in bloodshed.


"Target's name is Wilson, first name Wade. Orders are to eliminate on sight. He has information vital to keeping our organization secure." A monotone voice echoed through the ear-pieces of each team member giving the soldiers their strict instructions, they would follow them to the letter, they knew nothing else.

The helicopter fluttered over the Canadian forests, en route to its destination: The holiday home of the man they were sent to assassinate, the man who'd been tasked with bringing in the mutant Logan just months prior.

Chapter II: Consequences

The home of Wade Wilson was a modest villa in the Canadian wilderness, he spent his free time fornicating with easy women and drinking expensive liquor, the government contracts where few and far between but when he got one, they payed handsomely, allowing him his life of luxury.

Hours later the house would be burnt to the ground.

As for now the team had landed, a few miles south and treked through the trees to arrive at the modest home-away-from-home without alerting anyone to their presence. Sabretooth led the way followed by Logan and Maverick with Silver Fox bringing up the rear, they advanced in formation up to the front door. With an explosive charge they'd breached the sanctuary of one Wade Wilson, all manner of stealth was thrown out of the window, just how the Wolverine liked it.

 

[Venom160]

The minutes tick agonizingly slow as I stare down the crossbow. My body literally vibrating as it awaits the slightest tingle of spider sense.

Ok Anton time to put that genius brain to work cause this situation isn't getting any better. Now in those senseless comics the hero would be able to swipe the gun (or in this case crossbow) out of the way and take out the villain in one punch. But this chick, this Kate Bishop, is fast. surprisingly fast for a normal person. I doubt I would have enough time to move before the crossbow turns me into a gorgeous Nick Fury lookalike...

As I was busy with my whole inner monologue Kate does the one thing that I didn't expect. She lowered the crossbow and.......laugh.

Alright I give where the bad place is that Kutcher dukee gonna pop out at? That way I'll know where to start swinging.

Kate flciks a switch on the side of the bow and it starts to fold up, compacting itself until is what skinny enough to fit into the gun holster on her hip.

"I'm impressed. Nobodies been able to get this close before. Let alone break a bow. By the way you owe me two grand. Those bows aren't cheap."

For the first time in my short second life I had nothing to say. Just a second ago this hottie was gonna shish kabob my head and now shes relaxed and cracking jokes like nothings wrong. I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I miss Osborn. I get control of myself and focus on Kate who is picking up the shattered bow at my feet.

"Sorry I left my wad of cash at home."

She ignores my comment and starts to head back to the large house that sits before us. I was so busy dodging arrows that I didn't realize where in Westchester I was.

"Whoa the X-mansion isn't far from here."

Kate lets out a laugh but she doesn't break stride.

"The X-men's place? Yeah its about twenty minutes that way."

She jerks her head to the west as I follow her.

"So what bring the recently deceased Tarantula to my neck of the woods?"

I stop in my tracks as she enters the house. After noticing that I wasn't following she stopped aswell.

"You knew I was dead?"

"Ofcourse Jameson got on all the news stations preaching about how 'we lost a true hero and that all these would-be vigilantes should follow his example!'."

I was stunned. I heard Kitty say something about Jameson doing some memorial in the Bugle but I didn't know about the new stations.

"Not to mention that I like keeping tabs on all of the Big Apple's heroes sense I left SHIELD. I guess you can call it an unhealthy hobby."

She turns from me and heads deeper into the mansion forcing me to finally follow. Now I have never been to the X-mansion personally but I still have memories of Peter's visits so I have a good idea how big the place was. This place sadly puts them to shame. I finally catch sight of Kate again as I find her in a huge room that could only be described as an armory. I mean the amount of weapons in this room would cause the Punisher to need to clean out his shorts.

"Whoa. Is this all yours?"

"Nah all the "manhood enhancers" all belonged to my dad. My weaponry is over here."

I follow my gaze to a small corner of the room that was filled with dozens of various bows, crossbows, and various swords & blades.

"Wow....."

My attention wanders over to a certain blade that looks strangely.....alien.

"Cool."

Kate grins at my reaction as she places the shattered bow on a small counter.

"So are you gonna tell me why your all the way out here? I doubt it was for that little bit of "fun" outside."

"Oh uh yeah.....I...uh I mean we kinda need your help."

She finally turns away from her bow.

"I'm listening......"

A few minutes pass as I explaine the situation.

"Wow you actually got Teddy to join in on this! He vowed never to do anything for SHIELD again."

I shrug slightly and look away from her purple eyes.

"Well that really wasn't me. That was Fury's doing."

He face darkens as she turns back to her bow.

"Ah..."

Silence settles on the room.

"So when are we leaving?"

I jerk my head up and gaze in surprise at Kate.

"You still want to help?!"

She lets out a laugh.

"Hey if Teddys' there I'm there. He's like a brother to me. Just let me slip into something more comfortable."

She quietly slips into a small room tucked away on the far side of the armory room.

Minutes pass and I finally look over to the room.

"So uh.....you got a hero name?"

"I've kicked around some ideas in the past. She-Hawkeye, She-Hawk, The Archeress, Bow Master."

Wow and I thought my name was bad.

"So what are you calling yourself now?"

"Call me Huntress."

The darkness breaks and Kate falls to the floor retching slightly. I quickly shake off the mild nausea and the cold feeling.

"Heh guess you do get used to it."

Tandy grins over at us from the couch.

[BLACKOUT]"Told ya!"[/BLACKOUT]

Kate recovers and gets to her feet glaring.

"I told you it'd be bumpy."

She goes for her crossbow but stops when Ted walks out of the bathroom. The anger quickly fades as she lets out a excited giggle.

"Teddy!"

She covers the distance in two large strides and wraps her arms around his neck.

"It's so good to see you!"

Ted laughs and returns the hug.

"Its' good to see you to Katie."

"Katie?"

"Shut up."

As the introductions go around I stealthily head into my room and change into some comfortable clothes. I stop at the door and look down to my holo-watch.

Should I activate it? Could these guys handle my appearance? You know what screw it they're staying at my place so they'll have to deal.

I quietly join my teammates as they seem to be getting along, none of them reacts to my looks.

Huh I could get used to this....

The talking settles down and eyes start to turn to me. Forge looks at the others than follows suit.

"So whats the plan boss?"

The plan?

"Plan?"

Kate lets out a laugh and shakes her head.

"You brought us all together and you don't have a plan?"

"Pfft ofcourse I have a plan!"

The room is dead quiet save for my frantic heartbeat. A grin spreads across Forge's face.

"Well?"

I get to my feet and pace.

"Forge how long would it take to integrate police scanners into those mini comms you have?"

Forge shrugs.

"Two, three hours tops. I'll have to make some more comm links for everyone."

I nod and pace alittle faster, a plan starts to come together.

"Do it. Menace won't be lying low. If he pulls anything we'll know courtesy of the NYPD."

Forge gets off the couch and heads over to the mini work bench that was once my kitchen table.

"Cloak, Dagger you two happen to know any "less than law abiding" contacts that could help us out? You know see if Menace has been hiring any muscle."

Tandy and Ty exchange glances.

[BLACKOUT]"We know a few people that might be useful."[/BLACKOUT]

"What about us?"

I shift my gaze to Ted and Kate.

"We start hitting up the shadiest places in town and start shaking down creeps."

Oddly enough Kate seems ecstatic by the prospect.

"Sweet."

I nod my head and grin pleased with myself.

"Alright we have a plan. Lets...."

My stomach lets out a growl as the sun finally disappears below the horizon.

"....start tomorrow. Whos' in the mood for pizza? Forge is buying."

 

[Venom160]

The darkness breaks and Kate falls to the floor retching slightly. I quickly shake off the mild nausea and the cold feeling.

"Heh guess you do get used to it."

Tandy grins over at us from the couch.

[BLACKOUT]"Told ya!"[/BLACKOUT]

Kate recovers and gets to her feet glaring.

"I told you it'd be bumpy."

She goes for her crossbow but stops when Ted walks out of the bathroom. The anger quickly fades as she lets out a excited giggle.

"Teddy!"

She covers the distance in two large strides and wraps her arms around his neck.

"It's so good to see you!"

Ted laughs and returns the hug.

"Its' good to see you to Katie."

"Katie?"

"Shut up."

As the introductions go around I stealthily head into my room and change into some comfortable clothes. I stop at the door and look down to my holo-watch.

Should I activate it? Could these guys handle my appearance? You know what screw it they're staying at my place so they'll have to deal.

I quietly join my teammates as they seem to be getting along, none of them reacts to my looks.

Huh I could get used to this....

The talking settles down and eyes start to turn to me. Forge looks at the others than follows suit.

"So whats the plan boss?"

The plan?

"Plan?"

Kate lets out a laugh and shakes her head.

"You brought us all together and you don't have a plan?"

"Pfft ofcourse I have a plan!"

The room is dead quiet save for my frantic heartbeat. A grin spreads across Forge's face.

"Well?"

I get to my feet and pace.

"Forge how long would it take to integrate police scanners into those mini comms you have?"

Forge shrugs.

"Two, three hours tops. I'll have to make some more comm links for everyone."

I nod and pace alittle faster, a plan starts to come together.

"Do it. Menace won't be lying low. If he pulls anything we'll know courtesy of the NYPD."

Forge gets off the couch and heads over to the mini work bench that was once my kitchen table.

"Cloak, Dagger you two happen to know any "less than law abiding" contacts that could help us out? You know see if Menace has been hiring any muscle."

Tandy and Ty exchange glances.

[BLACKOUT]"We know a few people that might be useful."[/BLACKOUT]

"What about us?"

I shift my gaze to Ted and Kate.

"We start hitting up the shadiest places in town and start shaking down creeps."

Oddly enough Kate seems ecstatic by the prospect.

"Sweet."

I nod my head and grin pleased with myself.

"Alright we have a plan. Lets...."

My stomach lets out a growl as the sun finally disappears below the horizon.

"....start tomorrow. Whos' in the mood for pizza? Forge is buying."

"Well sucks!"

I shift uncomfortably in this web hammock. Forge lets out a annoyed grumble as he hunches over the small comm links.

"Oh will you just shut up already."

"No I will not. How the bad place did this happen? How the bad place did I get kicked out of my own bedroom!"

"Because you crumble at the slightest glimpse of puppy dog eyes."

"Hmph I still think Dagger pulled somekind of mind voodoo."

Forge finally looks away from the open comm and looks over at me, his annoyance clear even through the goggles.

"Anton what the bad place did you expect to happen? Me, Tandy, Ty, Ted, and Kate to all squeeze in that one spare room? Please."

"A guy can dream right?"

"No matter how impossible the dream was."

Silence settles over the room again as my eyes roam to the vacant extremely comfortable couch.

"Don't even think about it. I already called the couch."

I curse under my breath and stare at the ceiling.

"Well if stuck up here I might aswell get my ipod to listen to."

I quickly bounce out of the hammock and ricochet off the wall landing gracefully infront of my bedroom door. I don't bother knocking and just walk in.

[BLACKOUT]"AHHH!"[/BLACKOUT]

"Anton get the **** out!"

I lunge out of the room in total shock. Forge is there in seconds, a gun barrel protruding out of his watch.

"Anton what happened?!"

"They....they....."

Before I can spit out the words Tandy opens the door with one of my sheets wrapped around her.

[BLACKOUT]"Knock next time!"[/BLACKOUT]

She slams the door leaving me staring at the door in shock.

"Did you know that they were..."

"Not at all. You?"

"Hadn't a clue."

Laughter finally helps the shock wear off as I turn my attention towards the guest room. Kates' standing in the door frame with her arms crossed across her chest and shaking her head.

"Honestly if this is who we got leading this crew we're pretty much screwed."

 

[Blacklight]

I nod quickly and raise my arms.

"Try not to move too much....."

The green aura envelops me as I raise into the air. Similar green auras surround the others and bring them up to my level.

"Now hold on!"

I don't wait for a response as we speed off toward the large pillar of smoke that slowly rises into the sky.

Moments later, we arrived at the explosion site, whetre Hellion released his telekinetic hold on the team to allow us to search for Pete. Mimic was right, it was some type of farm, but it was hard to tell with all the smoke and fire and debris. That fire needs to be stopped before it spreads to the city and civilians.

"Mimic, you and Toad need to end that fire! Use Pyro's fire control to reduce it to a cinder. Toad use your slime to put it out fro there. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah..."

"Bloody bad place..."

While they do that, we need to do recon to find Piotr. Best if we split up. We'll be able to cover more ground...

"Alex and Hellion, you guys look west. Gambit you take the south, and Kitty and I will take the nortn and eas--"

"No need, mon ami. Ol' Gambit gone and found 'im."

"Where?"

"He right there, passed out like it was Mardi Gras or somethin'..."

Mimic did say he was unconcious, which means he didn't lie. That's good. I need to know I can trust the Brotherhood to have our backs in situations like this, because if Magneto hadn't been keeping them all on short leashes, we'd might not be so lucky.

Rushing over to Colossus' unmoving body, still shifted into his metallic form, Kitty and myself tried to reccussitate him so that we could bring him back home with us.

"C'mon, Pete. Get up. We need you!"

"Colossus, are you alright?"

After a few nudges from Kitty, his metallic eyes started opening, and his face was of one filled with panic.

"No..."

"Pete, are you okay?"

"NNNOOOO!!! Why did you come for me!? WHY!?!"

"Because we need you, Colossus. The Professor--"

"NO! You can't take me away! I'M SO CLOSE!!"

Then our metal-skinned compatriot did something we never saw coming. He attacked us... Staring with a punch to the chest that sent me flying into a nearby tree, before landing in the snow. Kitty, then phased through his punches, running and taking cover behind Gambit, who was already prepped with his cards and staff, and the rest of the team forming up on him. Meanwhile I clicked the dial on my visor to a higher release setting so my blasts would have more impact, knowing full well that any lower setting would only ricochet off his skin...

"Colossus, stop! That's an order..."

"No! Leave Russia! Leave me ALONE!!!"

"Alex, Gambit now!"

My brother then released a pulse blast that managed to make Pete stagger, whilst Gambit tossed a full hand of cards that when they collided with the optic blast I just released, it resulted in an explosion that knocked Colossus down, and hard. This was our chance to contain him...

"Hellion, use your telekinesis to contain him! Do it NOW!!!"

 

[Blacklight]

Queens, New York

Spider-Man rose to his feet silently, staring the original down. Part of him, the part wearing the mask, really, wanted to say something like, "I'm Spider-Man, and here's how I can prove it," or, "only the real Spider-Man could do this." But he didn't. Instead, he stuck his wrists out and fired two webs from his wrists.

Thwip!

They hit their marks perfectly, wrapping around the surprised Ricochet's ankles. With a heave, the so-called hero was on his back, sprawled out as his ankles remained bound. Under his mask, the impostor felt a sadistic grin spread across his face as his eyebrows lifted up and his gaze narrowed. He was enjoying this.

He held the webbing firmly in his grasp and began spinning around, sending Ricochet spinning with him, like a tether ball, and all Spider-Man had to do was let go. Surely, Ricochet would produce a disk to cut the webbing, Spider-Man thought, and, as such, released the web after a few mere seconds. Parker went flying, slamming so hard into a lightpost that the metal itself curved around his frame.

Spider-Man fired a webline out to a nearby pile of garbage and pulled a chunk of brick from within the pile. Within seconds, it was in his grasp. He took several deliberate steps over to Ricochet, who was still pulling himself up by the wreckage of the pole. Spider-Man, once getting close to the hero, wrapped his hand around his collar with his free hand and heaved him to his feet. Without hesitation, he slammed the brick across Ricochet's jawline, crushing the stone into fragments.

"Guh..." Ricochet said as his body slumped to the ground.

Part of Spider-Man wanted him to walk away. Swing to assured safety.

Yet he didn't. Instead, he delivered a swift kick to Ricochet's abodmen.

No doubt that the hero would come at him as strongly as he could. But, as far as Spider-Man was concerned, that couldn't be too strong at all. Ricochet likely had a concussion and some internal trauma.

"Come on." Spider-Man said condescendingly. "What else ya got? I bet you think you're still a match for me."

The tone of Spider-Man's voice seemed to say, "and I'd like to see you try to be," as he spat his words.

I stood up from the ground, but as I did, I started thinking... This guy is good. He's got the powers down. He's got the voice... My voice. But there's one thing he doesn't have...

The willpower.

This imposter will never know what it feels like, defending the lives of citizens because of the sense of responsibility my Uncle Ben instilled within me. He won't know that while he's fighting me, he doesn't think about getting through it to come home to a loving Aunt, or even a beautiful girlfriend that understand him, love him with all thier heart as he does them, he thinks the world of, and he would die for protecting... He doesn't know what truly makes me, or rather made me Spider-Man, and it's that reason that I know he's not Spider-Man, and never will be... No matter how much he can lift or how much webbing he can sling.

It's that reason that I'm going to get up, and when this is all said and done, I will be the one walking away from this fight when it's finished...

Now, time to get to it, Parker. Time to prove who the real Spider-Man is, no matter which costume you're wearing...

"Ugh... You're right about one thing... I do still think that I'm a match for you, because you're just a nobody. You're a pretender..."

I looked straight through the faker's lenses, feeling the heat in his stare as he looked back at me filled with rage.

Time to strike a chord...

"You try to be someone else so you can feel special, because deep down, you can't accept who you really are. You have no sense of identity, so what do you do? You put on a pair of tights and parade around as me to cope with the fact that you can't stand yourself..."

He stood there, as if in a trance, and then it was my oppurtunity to strike back.

I leapt at the doppelganger and landed with my feet planting themselves on his shoulders, and I crouched down to hit him fast and hard with a flurry of jabs, before jumping off his shoulders and kicking him in the head. I landed on the asphalt gently, and rushed at the faux Spidey yet again, this time grabbing his arm and spinning on my heel to use the momentum to launch him into the air, where he flew until he abruptly hit a street light, causing him to fall yet again.

"...and frankly, I find it and you quite pathetic."

 

[Matt Murdock]

I stood up from the ground, but as I did, I started thinking... This guy is good. He's got the powers down. He's got the voice... My voice. But there's one thing he doesn't have...

The willpower.

This imposter will never know what it feels like, defending the lives of citizens because of the sense of responsibility my Uncle Ben instilled within me. He won't know that while he's fighting me, he doesn't think about getting through it to come home to a loving Aunt, or even a beautiful girlfriend that understand him, love him with all thier heart as he does them, he thinks the world of, and he would die for protecting... He doesn't know what truly makes me, or rather made me Spider-Man, and it's that reason that I know he's not Spider-Man, and never will be... No matter how much he can lift or how much webbing he can sling.

It's that reason that I'm going to get up, and when this is all said and done, I will be the one walking away from this fight when it's finished...

Now, time to get to it, Parker. Time to prove who the real Spider-Man is, no matter which costume you're wearing...

"Ugh... You're right about one thing... I do still think that I'm a match for you, because you're just a nobody. You're a pretender..."

I looked straight through the faker's lenses, feeling the heat in his stare as he looked back at me filled with rage.

Time to strike a chord...

"You try to be someone else so you can feel special, because deep down, you can't accept who you really are. You have no sense of identity, so what do you do? You put on a pair of tights and parade around as me to cope with the fact that you can't stand yourself..."

He stood there, as if in a trance, and then it was my oppurtunity to strike back.

I leapt at the doppelganger and landed with my feet planting themselves on his shoulders, and I crouched down to hit him fast and hard with a flurry of jabs, before jumping off his shoulders and kicking him in the head. I landed on the asphalt gently, and rushed at the faux Spidey yet again, this time grabbing his arm and spinning on my heel to use the momentum to launch him into the air, where he flew until he abruptly hit a street light, causing him to fall yet again.

"...and frankly, I find it and you quite pathetic."

​

Queens, New York

Spider-Man stood up slowly, staring straight at the hunched form of Ricochet. Every bone in his body urged him on to pummel the hero standing before him, to tear each tendon and shatter each muscle until Ricochet couldn't fight anymore.

In his gut, in the pit of his stomach, Spider-Man knew he could do it; knew he could make Peter Parker ache, make him suffer, make him yearn for the sweet release that only death could bring.

Spider-Man didn't move, though. He simply stared at Ricochet, unwavering, unharmed.

"I thought you said you were a match for me." Spider-Man growled, eager to start pushing buttons. "Mary Jane hits harder than you."

 

[Blacklight]

Queens, New York

Spider-Man stood up slowly, staring straight at the hunched form of Ricochet. Every bone in his body urged him on to pummel the hero standing before him, to tear each tendon and shatter each muscle until Ricochet couldn't fight anymore.

In his gut, in the pit of his stomach, Spider-Man knew he could do it; knew he could make Peter Parker ache, make him suffer, make him yearn for the sweet release that only death could bring.

Spider-Man didn't move, though. He simply stared at Ricochet, unwavering, unharmed.

"I thought you said you were a match for me." Spider-Man growled, eager to start pushing buttons. "Mary Jane hits harder than you."

How... How DARE he bring her into this!

Okay, to be honest, I had no intention of not pulling back my punches for this fight, but now...

Now it's personal...

"Really? Is that so?..." I remarked as I winded up my fist, ready to let it all out...

When that spider bit me, one of the powers I got was superstrength. Now, when I originally started out, I didn't exactly know how much I could lift. However, when Harry fully went insane and tried to kill me after he made me believe MJ was pregnant, and that I killed the baby out of rage when I was bonded to the Venom Suit (long story...), I decided to test out how powerful I really was, and I found out that I could lift a semi long enough to smash him with it... and figuring that a Semi-truck probably weighs about, oh I don't know... 8 tons? That's about 8 tons of pressure my arm can withstand without too much strain, which means this imposter's about to get 16,000 lbs. of hurt straight in the face...

After winding up and charging at the phony, I let my fist fly forward with all the power I could muster, and when it made contact with his masked cheek, there was a small shockwave from the sheer force of the collision, and that same force had caused the fake Spider-Man to fly straight back at least over 100 yards...

Heh. Talk about field goals...

His body skidded on the pavement near the end of his trip, and his body kept hitting the asphalt in a series of excuciatingly painful flips until he stopped near the beginning of a 4-way intersection. I then lept and ran across a series of windows on a few buildings near where he was, looking down at him with a fury I only reserve for a villain the likes of Osborn or Octavius...

Like I said, now it's personal.

"...I sincerely doubt that."

 

[Venom160]

Moments later, we arrived at the explosion site, whetre Hellion released his telekinetic hold on the team to allow us to search for Pete. Mimic was right, it was some type of farm, but it was hard to tell with all the smoke and fire and debris. That fire needs to be stopped before it spreads to the city and civilians.

"Mimic, you and Toad need to end that fire! Use Pyro's fire control to reduce it to a cinder. Toad use your slime to put it out fro there. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah..."

"Bloody bad place..."

While they do that, we need to do recon to find Piotr. Best if we split up. We'll be able to cover more ground...

"Alex and Hellion, you guys look west. Gambit you take the south, and Kitty and I will take the nortn and eas--"

"No need, mon ami. Ol' Gambit gone and found 'im."

"Where?"

"He right there, passed out like it was Mardi Gras or somethin'..."

Mimic did say he was unconcious, which means he didn't lie. That's good. I need to know I can trust the Brotherhood to have our backs in situations like this, because if Magneto hadn't been keeping them all on short leashes, we'd might not be so lucky.

Rushing over to Colossus' unmoving body, still shifted into his metallic form, Kitty and myself tried to reccussitate him so that we could bring him back home with us.

"C'mon, Pete. Get up. We need you!"

"Colossus, are you alright?"

After a few nudges from Kitty, his metallic eyes started opening, and his face was of one filled with panic.

"No..."

"Pete, are you okay?"

"NNNOOOO!!! Why did you come for me!? WHY!?!"

"Because we need you, Colossus. The Professor--"

"NO! You can't take me away! I'M SO CLOSE!!"

Then our metal-skinned compatriot did something we never saw coming. He attacked us... Staring with a punch to the chest that sent me flying into a nearby tree, before landing in the snow. Kitty, then phased through his punches, running and taking cover behind Gambit, who was already prepped with his cards and staff, and the rest of the team forming up on him. Meanwhile I clicked the dial on my visor to a higher release setting so my blasts would have more impact, knowing full well that any lower setting would only ricochet off his skin...

"Colossus, stop! That's an order..."

"No! Leave Russia! Leave me ALONE!!!"

"Alex, Gambit now!"

My brother then released a pulse blast that managed to make Pete stagger, whilst Gambit tossed a full hand of cards that when they collided with the optic blast I just released, it resulted in an explosion that knocked Colossus down, and hard. This was our chance to contain him...

"Hellion, use your telekinesis to contain him! Do it NOW!!!"

I lash out feeling my telekinesis envelope Colossus' form. The mental fatigue starts to creep over me making it harder to keep my concentration. With a grunt I lift Colossus into the air.

"You think this can stop me?!"

Colossus slams his fists against the kinetic barrier sending a wave of pain through my body.

"AH!"

My knees buckle and I crumple on the floor.

"Cyke whatever your ****ing plan is do it now! I can't many more hits like tha AHHHH!"

 

[Venom160]

The man known by few as Erik Lehnsherr has faced some of the toughest heroes this world has to offer and hasn't flinched by their might. Yet when confronted by a green haired beauty his imposing presence falters.

What is it that could bring forth these kinds of emotions?

Magneto thinks to himself.

It can't simply be a physical attraction. It's something more than that....

Eric pushes these thoughts to the back of his mind as he follows his team into the cavernous arena that is the Danger Room. Unbeknown to the team Magneto uses his powers to work the back up controls, bypassing the voice activation controls and activating a subtle illusion.

"Now like I said before with this alliance we must learn to work as a team..."

As Magneto talks he continues to magnetically manipulating the controls putting together a training program that he feels could be what is waiting for them in the coming war. Finally ready he activates the program causing the wall behind him to explode with a thunderous roar. He takes in the stunned expressions as Charles Xavier levitates through the destroyed wall surrounded by mutants and Sentinels.

"ATTACK!"

Eric hovers above the carnage as the X-men, Brotherhood, and Academy members try and fight off the horde of mutant attackers. An emotion that can only be described as pride bubbles in his chest as he watches Lorna lift an impressive number of attackers and fling them across the room. Overall they're holding their own very well but Magneto can see that it'll just be a matter of time before they're overrun. He turns his attention to Pyro who has been cornered.

"Pyro get out of there!"

Pyro lets out an irritated grunt as he continues to fight.

"What do you think I'm trying to do!"

Anger flares in Magneto as he watches the mutants finally overpower Pyro.

"Halt program."

At his words the battle stops, the attackers freezing in their tracks. Magneto slowly lowers down to where Pyro is still hidden beneath the pile of enemies. All eyes are on him as he reaches through the holographic bodies and jerk Pyro to his feet.

"Do think this is a game?"

"I tried I......"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

Magneto roughly drops Pyro and turns to the group.

"You all are still running on your mentor's mind set! You were pulling your punches! Try to disable your enemies when you should have been dispatching them permanently!"

Pyro glares and squares his shoulders.

"I'm not killing anyone....."

Magneto couldn't help but feel some respect for this young man. Not many people are brave enough to stand up to him. Moving faster than the young mutant anticipated Magneto lifts his hand and Pyro's body looks up. Magneto raises his hand and Pyro lifts into the air.

"Do you think thats going to stop your enemy?"

 

[Venom160]

"Well sucks!"

I shift uncomfortably in this web hammock. Forge lets out a annoyed grumble as he hunches over the small comm links.

"Oh will you just shut up already."

"No I will not. How the bad place did this happen? How the bad place did I get kicked out of my own bedroom!"

"Because you crumble at the slightest glimpse of puppy dog eyes."

"Hmph I still think Dagger pulled somekind of mind voodoo."

Forge finally looks away from the open comm and looks over at me, his annoyance clear even through the goggles.

"Anton what the bad place did you expect to happen? Me, Tandy, Ty, Ted, and Kate to all squeeze in that one spare room? Please."

"A guy can dream right?"

"No matter how impossible the dream was."

Silence settles over the room again as my eyes roam to the vacant extremely comfortable couch.

"Don't even think about it. I already called the couch."

I curse under my breath and stare at the ceiling.

"Well if stuck up here I might aswell get my ipod to listen to."

I quickly bounce out of the hammock and ricochet off the wall landing gracefully infront of my bedroom door. I don't bother knocking and just walk in.

[BLACKOUT]"AHHH!"[/BLACKOUT]

"Anton get the **** out!"

I lunge out of the room in total shock. Forge is there in seconds, a gun barrel protruding out of his watch.

"Anton what happened?!"

"They....they....."

Before I can spit out the words Tandy opens the door with one of my sheets wrapped around her.

[BLACKOUT]"Knock next time!"[/BLACKOUT]

She slams the door leaving me staring at the door in shock.

"Did you know that they were..."

"Not at all. You?"

"Hadn't a clue."

Laughter finally helps the shock wear off as I turn my attention towards the guest room. Kates' standing in the door frame with her arms crossed across her chest and shaking her head.

"Honestly if this is who we got leading this crew we're pretty much screwed."

The next day in a dilapidated little dive in bad place's Kitchen.

I can't help but smile and prop my legs on the table as bodies and arrow fly around the room.

"You know I'm really starting to enjoy this time together....."

Kate's grin widens as she throws a creep onto a table and breaks his nose.

"I know isn't it fun?"

"Though I do wonder why.....wooohooo!"

My spider sense blares sending me flying out of the chair just as a punk smashes head first into it.

"Dammit Hulkling I was getting comfortable!"

Hulkling rolls his eyes as he takes out acouple people with a bar stool.

"Well shouldn't you be helping? I mean you are the leader of this sideshow....."

"And that what I was doing. I was overseeing my teammates getting the job done."

The look on Hulkling's face is priceless.

"Alright alright."

I fire a webline and snag a creep seconds before he can shank Hulkling in the back.

"Yoink."

With a quick tug the creep flies into my fist and crumples to the floor.

"Happy?"

"Mildly."

Kate fires acouple impact arrows taking out two escaping skinheads.

"This place seems to be a bust. I know another bar a couple blocks from here that also doubles as a crack house. Maybe someone there would know somehing..."

Before Kate can finish her sentence something collides with her temple sending her tumbling over a table.

"Kate!"

A Ted checks on Kate as I trace the trajectory of the object back to the front door.

"What the bad place do you three think your doing?"

 

[Eddie Brock]

THE SENSATIONAL
SPIDER-WOMAN

"Eli! Can you please get the baby?" I call out frustratedly as I quickly gather my things. I glance anxiously at the clock. 2:23. I have seven minutes to get fifteen blocks down to the Moondance Diner for my shift. May is crying, I can't find my phone, and I have no clue where Eli is. Just another typical day. "Eli!"

The bathroom door swings open, and Eli pokes his head out. "Yes?" he responds obliviously.

"The baby," I answer simply.

He pauses for a moment and listens. Upon hearing May's screams, he looks back at me. "Right." His head disappears from sight, the bathroom door closes, and I hear the sound of the toilet flushing. After quickly washing his hands, Eli reemerges, waves once at me, and darts into May's bedroom.

Suddenly, I spot my phone on the kitchen table. Snatching it up rapidly, I fly out the door and down the hallway. I tap my foot impatiently as I wait for the elevator to arrive. When it does, I slip in and frantically push the button for the ground floor. The elevator is empty, so I breathe a sigh of relief. My brief moment of peace is interrupted by the elevator's ding. The doors slide open, and I'm gone in a flash.

I scan both sides of the street. Not a taxi in sight. That's just great. I can't find a taxi in New York City. What are the odds? With no time to waste, I decide to begin my journey on foot. I'm walking briskly down the street, keeping my eyes open for a taxi. There are none. I make a sharp right and turn down the next street. To my delight, I see a familiar yellow vehicle idling at the corner. I quicken my pace, praying that no one beats me to it.

To my disbelief and disappointment, I see a man in a long overcoat jogging up to the taxi. He throws open the door, steps in, and slams the door shut. Right before my eyes, the taxi pulls away from the curb slowly and merges into traffic. I let my head sink down in defeat. Just then, my Spider-Sense buzzes, and a car whizzes down the street. It sideswipes the taxi I lost, smashing the driver's sideview mirror. In the next instant, I hear the squealing of tires behind me. Turning, I see a police cruiser in hot pursuit. The siren blares as he races past me.

I check my phone. 2:27. I'm going to be late anyway. What the bad place, right? Ducking into an alleyway, I stash my crappy uniform and apron. Pulling the crimson fabric down over my face, I inhale deeply. Man, this feels good. I missed this.

​

 

[Venom160]

The next day in a dilapidated little dive in bad place's Kitchen.

I can't help but smile and prop my legs on the table as bodies and arrow fly around the room.

"You know I'm really starting to enjoy this time together....."

Kate's grin widens as she throws a creep onto a table and breaks his nose.

"I know isn't it fun?"

"Though I do wonder why.....wooohooo!"

My spider sense blares sending me flying out of the chair just as a punk smashes head first into it.

"Dammit Hulkling I was getting comfortable!"

Hulkling rolls his eyes as he takes out acouple people with a bar stool.

"Well shouldn't you be helping? I mean you are the leader of this sideshow....."

"And that what I was doing. I was overseeing my teammates getting the job done."

The look on Hulkling's face is priceless.

"Alright alright."

I fire a webline and snag a creep seconds before he can shank Hulkling in the back.

"Yoink."

With a quick tug the creep flies into my fist and crumples to the floor.

"Happy?"

"Mildly."

Kate fires acouple impact arrows taking out two escaping skinheads.

"This place seems to be a bust. I know another bar a couple blocks from here that also doubles as a crack house. Maybe someone there would know somehing..."

Before Kate can finish her sentence something collides with her temple sending her tumbling over a table.

"Kate!"

A Ted checks on Kate as I trace the trajectory of the object back to the front door.

"What the bad place do you three think your doing?"

Oh my god its........who the **** is that?

"Don't make me repeat myself."

I reluctantly tear my eyes from the new arrival and look over to the laid out Kate. The somewhat bloodied rock laying nearby.

He beamed her in the head with a rock? What the bad place?

"We're looking for someone/"

He doesn't say anything for a moment as he stares me down.

"This someone must be very dangerous to warrant this kind of brutality."

Kate lets out a pained grunt and slowly gets to her feet.

"They attacked us first!"

"No excuse. These men are scum that is true but they're easy to incapacitate. There was no need for the brute force you were all displaying."

Now this guys is lecturing us? What the....

"Well if you don't like it you can fu..."

"Kate..."

I can feel Kate's glare burn into the back of my head.

"Who are you?"

"Names Iron Fist. Who were you looking for?"

"Calls himself Menace. Skinny Goblin lookin dude riding a glider and sporting high tech weaponry."

Iron Fist goes silent.

"Never heard of him."

Great.

"But I have heard rumblings that meeting has gone down between acouple low level crime bosses and a newcomer. Word is it's gonna be big."

This isn't good. If this newcomer is infact Menace than it seems he trying to assemble some backup.

"Who are the crime bosses?"

"Acouple nobodies with delusions of grandeur. Goes by the names of The Crime Master and Mr. Negative."

"Pfft real original."

Iron Fist seems to be ignoring Kate and addresses me directly.

"Crime Master isn't a real threat. He has alot of muscle but no real brains to really lead it. But Negative, he has potential. He has the resources and the intelligence to really do some damage if he has a chance to expand."

"And if it was Menace they were meeting with...."

"If this Menace is able to unite these forces.......I'm sure I don't need spell it out for you."

Silence settles on the ruined bar.

"What do we do Tarantula?"

"We go after Crime Master and Mr. Negative...."

"No."

Three sets of eye fall on Iron Fist.

"I'll deal with them. You keep looking for your Menace. If this is what I fear it is I'll be in touch."

Before any of us can really agree Iron Fist turns as heads out the door.

One more thing...."

He stops at the door and turns back to us.

"If I see more of this..."

He gestures towards the beaten men on the floor.

"You'll have to answer to me."

 

[Eddie Brock]

THE SENSATIONAL
SPIDER-WOMAN​

"Jessica, can I talk to you for a minute?" Rosie asks from behind the counter as I hang my coat up. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I hope she's not mad.

I follow Rosie through the door to the kitchen, far from where the customers can hear us. Despite the hustle and bustle going on back here, Rosie comes to a stop and turns to look at me. Her arms folded, she asks, "Is there something wrong, honey?" She calls everyone "honey."

"No," I respond simply after a moment of thought. I try my best to portray innocence on my face. I'm not sure if it's working.

"Well, honey, it's just that this isn't the first time that you've been late," she explains softly. Unfolding her arms, she puts a hand on my shoulder. "Is everything okay at home?" she asks with genuine concern.

Laughing slightly, I reply, "Yes, everything's fine."

She looks me dead in the eyes. "You're sure? 'Cause it's not easy having a baby. Lord knows I learned that the hard way."

"Rosie, I'm fine," I assure her. I scratch the back of my neck as I add, "I'm sorry for being late. Again. I'm really trying my best."

"I know you are, honey," Rosie responds understandingly. "You're a good, reliable worker - when you show up. Now, go on out there. There's been a young lady waiting to have her order taken for 'bout six or seven minutes now."

Nodding, I turn and leave the kitchen. I smile to myself as I wonder what Jonah would say under the same circumstances. God help me, I actually miss Jonah. I quickly banish those thoughts from my mind before I depress myself. That's not my life anymore.

As I leave the kitchen, I see the girl Rosie was talking about. She's sitting in the farthermost booth in the diner with her back to me. All I can see is her strawberry-blonde hair. Grabbing a notepad and a pen, I make my way to her booth.

"Good afternoon," I announce cheerfully as I approach her. She turns to look at me, and I have the strangest sense of deja vu. I squint slightly to try and figure out why. "I'm sorry, but...do I know you?" I ask.

"I don't think so," she replies with a nervous laugh.

I shake my head and say, "Nevermind. What can I get you?" But even as she talks, I find myself examining her. I swear, there's something familiar about her. I just don't know what.

 

[Venom160]

Silence lingers as we stare at Logan. My face pales when I catch something horrifying in Logan's eyes, something familiar.

Oh god......

A growl echoes through the lab sending a shockwave through the team. My gaze shifts uneasily to Ali. Kurt has taken a protective stance in front of her.

"Kurt!"

Kurt jerks his head toward me.

"Protect her no matter what! If this goes bad just get her the bad place outta here."

Ali's anger is clear as her powers react to her rage. Her glare burning a hole through me.

Let her be mad. I'd rather her be angry with me and safe than losing her.....

"Come now guys. You're among friends."

My body tenses up as Ororo steps towards the voice.

"Hank."

Hank slowly emerges from the shadows.

"Yes my love. It's me."

A grin spreads across his face as Ororo takes another step.

"Ro don't!"

With a loud roar Hank lunges.

"No!"

I move forward and collide into Hank knocking him out of the air. Hank lets out a disturbing laugh as we land hard on the ground.

"Poor Warren always ready to protect our family...."

Pain surges through my stomach as Hank plunges his claws in and rips my stomach open.

 

[Venom160]

Oh my god its........who the **** is that?

"Don't make me repeat myself."

I reluctantly tear my eyes from the new arrival and look over to the laid out Kate. The somewhat bloodied rock laying nearby.

He beamed her in the head with a rock? What the bad place?

"We're looking for someone/"

He doesn't say anything for a moment as he stares me down.

"This someone must be very dangerous to warrant this kind of brutality."

Kate lets out a pained grunt and slowly gets to her feet.

"They attacked us first!"

"No excuse. These men are scum that is true but they're easy to incapacitate. There was no need for the brute force you were all displaying."

Now this guys is lecturing us? What the....

"Well if you don't like it you can fu..."

"Kate..."

I can feel Kate's glare burn into the back of my head.

"Who are you?"

"Names Iron Fist. Who were you looking for?"

"Calls himself Menace. Skinny Goblin lookin dude riding a glider and sporting high tech weaponry."

Iron Fist goes silent.

"Never heard of him."

Great.

"But I have heard rumblings that meeting has gone down between acouple low level crime bosses and a newcomer. Word is it's gonna be big."

This isn't good. If this newcomer is infact Menace than it seems he trying to assemble some backup.

"Who are the crime bosses?"

"Acouple nobodies with delusions of grandeur. Goes by the names of The Crime Master and Mr. Negative."

"Pfft real original."

Iron Fist seems to be ignoring Kate and addresses me directly.

"Crime Master isn't a real threat. He has alot of muscle but no real brains to really lead it. But Negative, he has potential. He has the resources and the intelligence to really do some damage if he has a chance to expand."

"And if it was Menace they were meeting with...."

"If this Menace is able to unite these forces.......I'm sure I don't need spell it out for you."

Silence settles on the ruined bar.

"What do we do Tarantula?"

"We go after Crime Master and Mr. Negative...."

"No."

Three sets of eye fall on Iron Fist.

"I'll deal with them. You keep looking for your Menace. If this is what I fear it is I'll be in touch."

Before any of us can really agree Iron Fist turns as heads out the door.

One more thing...."

He stops at the door and turns back to us.

"If I see more of this..."

He gestures towards the beaten men on the floor.

"You'll have to answer to me."

Later that day.....

"Let me get this straight..."

Forge glares at me after I've told the team what has happened.

"....this Iron Fist guy, who you've never heard of, told you all this information and said he looked into it. And you actually believed him?!"

"Had no reason not to."

What if hes' working for Menace! What if hes' told him that we're hunting him! Worse yet what if he follow you three back here? For all we know Menace could be preparing to attack us right now."

I let out a tired sigh as the pretend to not listen.

"First of all Menace already knew where I live. Second Cloak and Dagger has heard of Iron Fist and hes' definitely a hero. The problem is you don't trust anyone."

"And you trust too much...."

I shake my head and let the topic drop. Its' been a rough day and we're all pretty irritable. All except Tandy, the woman seems to exude contentedness.

[BLACKOUT]"Aw Anton who is this cutey?"[/BLACKOUT]

I jump off the wall and wander over to where Tandy sat flipping through a small photo album thats mostly filled pictures that Jess has sent me. I can't help but smile as I see May's grinning face.

"Thats my niece May."

Ty moves closer to Tandy to see the picture.

"Shes' beautiful T."

My smile widens with pride.

"Yeah thats my Delilah. I just wish I got to see her and my sister more. I....I really miss them."

"Aw do you need a hug?"

I hear Ted snicker from the kitchen.

"Don't make me find a rock....."

 

[Eddie Brock]

THE SENSATIONAL
SPIDER-WOMAN

My shift at the diner wraps up, and I say goodnight to Rosie. Heading outside, I see the setting sun - its orange rays fighting valiantly against the approaching night sky. I wonder for a moment if I have time to visit Anton. It's been a while since I've seen him, and I'm already out of the apartment. No sense in making another trip later. Besides, I might catch him before he orders pizza for dinner or something.

Taking out my cell phone, I dial home. The phone rings three times before Eli answers. I can hear May cooing in the background.

"'Lo?"

"Eli, I just got off work, and I'm going to swing by Anton's," I explain over the noisy city street. "Think you can handle the extra babysitting time?"

"Sure. May's no problem," Eli replies. "We're having some quality father-daughter bonding time." May giggles.

Smiling, I say, "Well, I certainly don't want to interrupt that." I pause as I hear the television in the background. After listening for a few moments, I ask, "Are you watching Die Hard?"

Eli stammers. "No," he finally answers hurriedly. "Course not."

"Oh my God! You are! You're watching Die Hard in front of the baby!"

"No, I'm not!" Eli responds defensively. I hear him searching for the remote. After a moment, the television quiets down. "Well," he begins, "not anymore, anyway."

Shaking my head, I explain, "I won't be long. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"No promises."

***

I knock on Anton's door. Listening, I hear more than one voice on the other side. It doesn't sound like the television. Ignoring it, I wait for the door to open.
​

 

[Venom160]

THE SENSATIONAL
SPIDER-WOMAN

My shift at the diner wraps up, and I say goodnight to Rosie. Heading outside, I see the setting sun - its orange rays fighting valiantly against the approaching night sky. I wonder for a moment if I have time to visit Anton. It's been a while since I've seen him, and I'm already out of the apartment. No sense in making another trip later. Besides, I might catch him before he orders pizza for dinner or something.

Taking out my cell phone, I dial home. The phone rings three times before Eli answers. I can hear May cooing in the background.

"'Lo?"

"Eli, I just got off work, and I'm going to swing by Anton's," I explain over the noisy city street. "Think you can handle the extra babysitting time?"

"Sure. May's no problem," Eli replies. "We're having some quality father-daughter bonding time." May giggles.

Smiling, I say, "Well, I certainly don't want to interrupt that." I pause as I hear the television in the background. After listening for a few moments, I ask, "Are you watching Die Hard?"

Eli stammers. "No," he finally answers hurriedly. "Course not."

"Oh my God! You are! You're watching Die Hard in front of the baby!"

"No, I'm not!" Eli responds defensively. I hear him searching for the remote. After a moment, the television quiets down. "Well," he begins, "not anymore, anyway."

Shaking my head, I explain, "I won't be long. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"No promises."

***

I knock on Anton's door. Listening, I hear more than one voice on the other side. It doesn't sound like the television. Ignoring it, I wait for the door to open.
​

Forge and Kate move faster than I expect as Forge aims his watchgun and Kate draws her crossbow.

"Whoa calm down you two! Damn it can't be Menace. He wouldn't knock on the door...he'd be coming through the wall."

I throw a quick grin at Kate whos reluctantly putting the crossbow back in it's holster.

"Jumpy aren't we?"

Kate mumbles some threats as I activate my holowatch and make sure my team/room mates look relatively normal. Satisfied with the level of normalness I reach out and open the door.

 

[Noon]

Eric hovers above the carnage as the X-men, Brotherhood, and Academy members try and fight off the horde of mutant attackers. An emotion that can only be described as pride bubbles in his chest as he watches Lorna lift an impressive number of attackers and fling them across the room. Overall they're holding their own very well but Magneto can see that it'll just be a matter of time before they're overrun. He turns his attention to Pyro who has been cornered.

"Pyro get out of there!"

Pyro lets out an irritated grunt as he continues to fight.

"What do you think I'm trying to do!"

Anger flares in Magneto as he watches the mutants finally overpower Pyro.

"Halt program."

At his words the battle stops, the attackers freezing in their tracks. Magneto slowly lowers down to where Pyro is still hidden beneath the pile of enemies. All eyes are on him as he reaches through the holographic bodies and jerk Pyro to his feet.

"Do think this is a game?"

"I tried I......"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

Magneto roughly drops Pyro and turns to the group.

"You all are still running on your mentor's mind set! You were pulling your punches! Try to disable your enemies when you should have been dispatching them permanently!"

Pyro glares and squares his shoulders.

"I'm not killing anyone....."

Magneto couldn't help but feel some respect for this young man. Not many people are brave enough to stand up to him. Moving faster than the young mutant anticipated Magneto lifts his hand and Pyro's body looks up. Magneto raises his hand and Pyro lifts into the air.

"Do you think thats going to stop your enemy?"

The danger room session is taxing on my powers and my body. Emma never trained us in such intense combat scenarios. The academy was meant to be a peaceful group, we weren't trained to fight. I try and scatter the masses of enemies charging us by flinging them away, but many more take their place.

I hear shouting from behind me, Pyro and Magneto I think. What he heck are they doing?

"Halt program."

The holographic enemies freeze suddenly, and only now with them stopped in mid air do I notice the one swiping inches from my neck. If the program hadn't stopped, I would be out. I'm definitely not ready for this, but are any of us?

Magneto and Pyro are still fighting and I have to say I agree with Pyro.

"I'm not killing anyone....."

Anger bubbles up in me when Magneto lifts him into the air, fury on his face.

"Magneto, stop this!" I send out a pulse of magnetic energy to shake his grip on Pyro.

"You want us to be a team, but you are the one who fights us. We're not your brotherhood, we choose to live peacefully. Now we have to fight, but that doesn't mean we have to give up what we believe in."

I can't believe I'm lecturing Magneto, but it all just came out. I try to hold his steely gaze as he stares me down, taking in my words.
​

 

[Venom160]

The danger room session is taxing on my powers and my body. Emma never trained us in such intense combat scenarios. The academy was meant to be a peaceful group, we weren't trained to fight. I try and scatter the masses of enemies charging us by flinging them away, but many more take their place.

I hear shouting from behind me, Pyro and Magneto I think. What he heck are they doing?

"Halt program."

The holographic enemies freeze suddenly, and only now with them stopped in mid air do I notice the one swiping inches from my neck. If the program hadn't stopped, I would be out. I'm definitely not ready for this, but are any of us?

Magneto and Pyro are still fighting and I have to say I agree with Pyro.

"I'm not killing anyone....."

Anger bubbles up in me when Magneto lifts him into the air, fury on his face.

"Magneto, stop this!" I send out a pulse of magnetic energy to shake his grip on Pyro.

"You want us to be a team, but you are the one who fights us. We're not your brotherhood, we choose to live peacefully. Now we have to fight, but that doesn't mean we have to give up what we believe in."

I can't believe I'm lecturing Magneto, but it all just came out. I try to hold his steely gaze as he stares me down, taking in my words.
​

Pride continues to grow for this young mutant as Magneto stares down Polaris.

"I simply do not want to see any of you die. These mutants will not hesitate to kill you, if I'm not mistaken your pretty little neck was almost eviscerated had I not stopped the program."

The look on Lorna's face proves Eric right. A sneer spreads across his face as he turns to address the all the young mutants before him.

"Time to get with the program my children. This isn't another skirmish that the X-men just barely survive. This is war. You can't show mercy because your enemies WILL NOT show it to you!"

He turns his gaze back to Lorna making sure to get his point across.

"You must be prepared to shed blood."

 

[Venom160]

Silence lingers as we stare at Logan. My face pales when I catch something horrifying in Logan's eyes, something familiar.

Oh god......

A growl echoes through the lab sending a shockwave through the team. My gaze shifts uneasily to Ali. Kurt has taken a protective stance in front of her.

"Kurt!"

Kurt jerks his head toward me.

"Protect her no matter what! If this goes bad just get her the bad place outta here."

Ali's anger is clear as her powers react to her rage. Her glare burning a hole through me.

Let her be mad. I'd rather her be angry with me and safe than losing her.....

"Come now guys. You're among friends."

My body tenses up as Ororo steps towards the voice.

"Hank."

Hank slowly emerges from the shadows.

"Yes my love. It's me."

A grin spreads across his face as Ororo takes another step.

"Ro don't!"

With a loud roar Hank lunges.

"No!"

I move forward and collide into Hank knocking him out of the air. Hank lets out a disturbing laugh as we land hard on the ground.

"Poor Warren always ready to protect our family...."

Pain surges through my stomach as Hank plunges his claws in and rips my stomach open.

Doctors claim that when the human body suffers a severe life-threatening injury that the body goes into shock dulling the pain. Let me tell you from personal experience that that is total ********. Theres is no numbing of pain, you experience every excruciating moment until action is taken or you simply die. Needless to say dieing for me is not an option so I'm forced to feel my innards splatter on the cold steel floor.

"Warren!"

Hank laughs maniacally as he jumps off me and lunges at Storm.

"Hank stop!"

Storm summons a gust of hurricane force winds that yank Hank right out of the air and sends him flying toward a wall.

"Please...."

Hank twists his body planting his his hands and feet against the wall his claws digging into the wall.

"You gotta do better than that."

Hank shifts his gaze to Ali and Kurt.

"No..."

I cough up blood on the flooe choking off my words. Hank simply smiles.

"Yes."

Hank pushes off the wall flying toward Ali and Kurt.

"No! ALI!"

 

[Eddie Brock]

Forge and Kate move faster than I expect as Forge aims his watchgun and Kate draws her crossbow.

"Whoa calm down you two! Damn it can't be Menace. He wouldn't knock on the door...he'd be coming through the wall."

I throw a quick grin at Kate whos reluctantly putting the crossbow back in it's holster.

"Jumpy aren't we?"

Kate mumbles some threats as I activate my holowatch and make sure my team/room mates look relatively normal. Satisfied with the level of normalness I reach out and open the door.

My smile at Anton is only transitory as I look over his shoulder. Seeing the colorful group assembled, I ask simply, "This isn't a bad time or anything, is it?"

 

[Venom160]

My smile at Anton is only transitory as I look over his shoulder. Seeing the colorful group assembled, I ask simply, "This isn't a bad time or anything, is it?"

The happiness on my face is clear as I step aside.

"Of course not come on in sis."

I close the door behind her and glare at Forge who reluctantly deactivates his watch-gun.

 

[Matt Murdock]

How... How DARE he bring her into this!

Okay, to be honest, I had no intention of not pulling back my punches for this fight, but now...

Now it's personal...

"Really? Is that so?..." I remarked as I winded up my fist, ready to let it all out...

When that spider bit me, one of the powers I got was superstrength. Now, when I originally started out, I didn't exactly know how much I could lift. However, when Harry fully went insane and tried to kill me after he made me believe MJ was pregnant, and that I killed the baby out of rage when I was bonded to the Venom Suit (long story...), I decided to test out how powerful I really was, and I found out that I could lift a semi long enough to smash him with it... and figuring that a Semi-truck probably weighs about, oh I don't know... 8 tons? That's about 8 tons of pressure my arm can withstand without too much strain, which means this imposter's about to get 16,000 lbs. of hurt straight in the face...

After winding up and charging at the phony, I let my fist fly forward with all the power I could muster, and when it made contact with his masked cheek, there was a small shockwave from the sheer force of the collision, and that same force had caused the fake Spider-Man to fly straight back at least over 100 yards...

Heh. Talk about field goals...

His body skidded on the pavement near the end of his trip, and his body kept hitting the asphalt in a series of excuciatingly painful flips until he stopped near the beginning of a 4-way intersection. I then lept and ran across a series of windows on a few buildings near where he was, looking down at him with a fury I only reserve for a villain the likes of Osborn or Octavius...

Like I said, now it's personal.

"...I sincerely doubt that."

​

Queens, New York

Spider-Man got up and cracked his spine. The sirens were coming. He didn't have time for this.

The impostor made his way to Ricochet, who seemed all too eager to brawl. The latter cocked a fist and threw his arm forward. Spider-Man snatched it out of the air with ease and slid his grasp to Ricochet's forearm.

"Enjoy your hospital bill."

SNAP!

The bones in the hero's arm broke easily and he cried out in agony.

Spider-Man thrust his boot hard into Ricochet's calf.

CRACK!

With a heave, he spun Ricochet around by his broken arm, surely dislocating his shoulder.

Ricochet slammed into a brick wall and fell to the ground, trying to push himself up.

Spider-Man made his way to the huddled frame of the boy and slammed his boot into Ricochet's ribcage time after time after time.

He smiled proudly behind the mask as blood dripped out of the corner of Ricochet's mouth.

A sporting goods store was across the street. Spider-Man smashed the front window with a brick and snatched a baseball bat with a web. Ricochet, half staggering placed his hand on the ground to push himself up.

WHAM!

Spider-Man was certain that every bone in the hero's hand had cracked.

"You're tough." Spider-Man conceded as Ricochet leaned against the wall, panting. "I'll give you that."

Spider-Man wound up the bat over his right shoulder.

"But I'm better."

He threw the bat forward with all of his might, sending it slamming into the side of Ricochet's head. It would be enough to kill a man who didn't have the proportional strength of a spider.

Spider-Man watched as a pair of teeth shot out of Ricochet's face and onto the pavement as the blue-garbed hero fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Home run."