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Post by cradleman on Aug 8, 2010 19:50:47 GMT -6
yes. don't worry about that. it's all leading to the conclusion of each little group's arc. (the focuses are peter, vicki/blake, and david/zane. peter's the main focus of arc 3, but the other 2 groups each have their own subplots this arc.)
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Post by cradleman on Aug 10, 2010 23:03:40 GMT -6
Issue 11: The Rhino Spider-Man smiled as he saw the robbery taking place. He knew it was wrong to be glad that someone was committing a crime, but he needed money, and he needed something to take his mind off his dreams. He webbed Aunt May’s digital to a building across the street, made sure to zoom it in, and set it on automatic. He swung down just in time to see a man in a strange looking costume walk through the giant hole in the bank wall. He was big and bulky, and his suit was a rough looking gray monstrosity. He also had a sort of helmet with a horn on the top. “So let me guess,” Spidey began, “You’re a unicorn who got hit with nuclear fallout, right?” “You idiot!” the man roared, “I’m a Rhino! Can’t you see my horn?” “Oh! It’s a RHINO horn. I gotcha.” “Will you shut up and get out of my way.” “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. For one thing, that money doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to that bank you just left a gaping hole in. For another thing, I really need the money JJJ will pay me for the pictures.” “What?” “Oh, uh, forget the second part. But that money really does belong to someone else. So I’m asking you nicely to hand it over to those men in suits over there,” Peter waved his hand and pointed at some nearby policeman that had rushed to the scene, “or it’s gonna get ugly.” “Yeah, for you, maybe.” “Ok, Rhino, you asked for it, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Oh, and you do realize how dumb a hat that is right?” The Rhino roared at Spider-Man, so Spidey swung his fist as hard as he could at the villain’s jaw. As his fist impacted the villain, Peter didn’t feel the satisfying crunch of the bad guy’s jaw folding under his power. He did feel a crunch, but it was his hand that was crunching. He grabbed his fist in pain and moaned. That’s NOT supposed to happen! What the heck happened to my spider-strength? I can hit reinforced steel and not break my hand, much less some idiot in a dumb costume. What's going on? “Hey, no one hits the Rhino and gets away with it.” “Of course they don’t.” Peter replied under his breath, the best response he could think up through the pain. “Little man, you are asking for it! Coulda shut your mouth, but you kept opening it, making me mad. Now, I have to kill you!” “No you don’t,” Peter managed through the pain. “We could have a nice conversation, you know. Talk over our differences, settle everything peacefully. No more broken fists, and definitely no killing of any spider-men.” Rhino roared and swung his mighty fist at Spider-Man’s face, but Peter’s spider-sense alerted him just in time. Spidey jerked back out of the way. “Fine, if that’s the way you want it, big man.” He sprayed webbing into Rhino’s eyes to distract him. While the giant tried to tear it from his face, Peter sprayed web ropes that attached to Rhino’s feet. He jerked with all his might in an attempt to topple the Rhino, and nearly got his arms ripped from their sockets. Although Peter was dismayed to see just how little of his spider-strength he had left, he kept up a false bravado to keep his opponent from noticing just how weak he was at the moment. “Geez, how in the world am I losing to the world’s dumbest supervillain?” This remark only angered Rhino and he charged Spider-Man. Peter jumped out of the way, and the Rhino crashed through the wall of the building behind him and kept on going. “Oh, great. Now I need to chase him down.” He leapt up to where his camera was, quickly put it into a secure location in his suit, and swung in the direction of Rhino. He finally caught up with him in Times Square, attempting to rob a jewelry store. Spidey positioned his camera again, and swung down to face him, hoping that he would be able to find some way to stop the big, dumb criminal. “Hey, Dummy. I thought I told you not to steal.” “Well, I told you to shut up! So we’re even. I think” Peter rolled his eyes under his mask and looked around for something he could use in place of his fists. He spotted a sign hanging not too far away and decided to use that to hit Rhino over the head with. He grabbed and tried to rip it from the hooks where it hung, but it held fast. Great, so used to spider-strength, I don’t know what to do when it’s gone. He reached up and lifted it off the hooks, and waited. As the Rhino charged, Spidey stepped to the side and swung the sign into Rhino’s face. It splintered and Peter cried out in pain, his forearms throbbed from the impact. Rhino turned, irritated even more, but yet again unhurt. “You can’t stop me, little man! I’m invincible!” “So, I’m guessing that you don’t know that the guy who said that in Goldeneye died, right?” This time, instead of just charging, Rhino ran in and started swinging away. Peter’s spider sense protected him, and allowed him to avoid the Rhino’s fury. As punch after punch failed to land, the enormous criminal became more and more angry. Spider-Man realized that he couldn’t keep avoiding him forever, and scanned his surroundings for a better object. He finally spotted it in the form of a gigantic electric sign on the front of the Daily Bugle building. If I can get him to charge into that, the electric current should knock him out just long enough to secure him so the cops can take him away. I hope.Spider-Man backflipped away from Rhino and swung across the square towards the Daily Bugle, then positioned himself so that the sign advertising a brand new season of Midnight Moon was behind him. “Hey, stupid! Can’t even hit one little Spider-Man? That’s kind of pathetic, don’t’ you think?” “I’LL KILL YOU! Little creep!” "Honestly, are those the only words you know? If you want to be taken seriously as a supervillain, your rhetoric has got to get some more variety." Rhino roared and charged. Peter jumped as he arrived, shoving Rhino’s head into the sign. The electricity crackled, and he heard Rhino sigh a little. The criminal turned back towards Spidey, and Peter let an “Oh, come on!” escape his lips, but the Rhino sagged forwards, finally defeated. After the Blue Squad, the police’s special squad that handled superpowered criminals, came to pick Rhino up and thanked Spider-Man for his help, Peter jumped up to where he’d hidden his camera; then swung over to Ben’s apartment to sort through pictures. When he got back to the apartment, he realized that all his clothes, as well as the keys to the apartment, were webbed in the alley by the school. He cursed softly, quite annoyed, and swung over towards the school to pick them up. He changed in the alley and walked out to hail a taxi, but he failed to notice in his exhausted state that Brian had been hiding in the alley behind a trash can. He had watched Spider-Man change from superhero back into Peter Parker. “Oh my God, it really was him! I can’t believe it! Peter really is Spider-Man!” When Peter finally got back to Ben’s apartment, he went to the computer and uploaded the photos that he’d taken so he could give JJJ some shots for the front page. He looked for the best ones, or at least ones that his boss would enjoy. His favorite was the shot from the second part of the fight that had zoomed in on him pushing Rhino's face into the electric sign. He grinned, knowing it was too good for Jameson not to run on page one. Besides, the Bugle’s in the background, it’s good publicity! Just then, he heard Ben walk through the door and call out to him. “Hey, man! How’s it going?” “The school day was just about as horrid as it gets. I did take down a superpowered baddie, but I discovered something while fighting him.” “What was it? The tone in your voice suggests something bad.” “When I was fighting him, almost all of my strength was gone. I had enough of it to swing on my web, and my spider-sense seemed to be working ok, but I couldn’t land any punches that would even bother him. Even though I swung with all my might, it barely tickled him. Something’s wrong, and I think it has to do something with the dreams I’m having. It’s like they are draining me physically, taking away my powers. And they just aren’t dreams anymore. Today, I didn’t just see Aunt May, I saw her rotting corpse, standing and talking to me. Like, she was a zombie or something! I screamed in the middle of class. Talk about embarrassing, and Miss Weaver giving me a detention for sleeping didn’t help that in the least. I need help, Ben. Professional help, maybe. Just something, anything! I can’t go on like this.” Exasperatedly, he threw up his hands and walked away from Ben. He turned around and with a pleading voice asked, “What can I do?” Ben thought for a minute, and opened the bottom drawer of the desk Peter had been sitting at. He reached in and took out what looked like a business card. He ran his fingers over it, and smiled. “I think I know a man who can help you.”
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Post by ultrawolf13 on Aug 11, 2010 0:49:14 GMT -6
Great issue yet again! im really geting intrigued now!
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Post by cradleman on Aug 14, 2010 23:07:10 GMT -6
Issue 12: Fear and Hatred Mirage knocked on the door of the room her mom and brother were staying in. She knew that her mom was out talking to the professor, but Blake was inside, avoiding her. Nobody responded, but she heard shuffling inside so she knew that her twin had to be there. “Blake, open the door.” “No!” “Please, Blake? I just wanna talk with you.” “Get away from me, you freak! Just leave me alone!” Vicki’s eyes began to water, she pleaded with Blake to let her in. “Please? Just a couple minutes, I just want to talk it over with you.” “I’m done talking! I told you to leave me alone! I don’t ever want to see you again!” With that he ripped the door open, and bolted past Vicki and out into the woods surrounding Xavier’s estate. “Oh, crap!” Vicki went looking for the professor, finally found him in the study with her mom. Oh, I don’t want my mom to know about Blake, I’ll just get the Professor’s attention this way. PROFESSOR! Professor Xavier winced and responded. *Will you stop yelling your thought’s at me, please? I can hear them already. What happened with your brother?* Um, he, uh, he kind of ran away. Out into the woods, actually. I don’t want my mom to know, but I think he could get hurt out there. *I’ll tell your mom that he is staying in a different room tonight, and I’ll monitor him from in here. If anything happens to him, I’ll be able to send one of the X-men out to help. There’s nothing to worry about, but he needs to deal with his fear and hatred of us on his own. Us trying to act as if we aren’t different isn’t the answer.* Yes, Sir. “Victoria?” That was her mother. “Did you need anything?” “No, I just wanted to know where you and the professor were. See you tomorrow.” As Vicki left the room, the phone rang; it was Ben. Professor Xavier agreed to come to New York and see Peter the next night. Peter attempted to go to bed, but couldn’t fall asleep, his fear of having another nightmare preventing him from getting comfortable enough. He needed to talk to someone, so he pulled out his cell and dialed his best friend. It rang several times, and Peter was afraid it was going to go to voice mail when he finally heard her voice and was able to breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey, Pete, you know it’s almost midnight, right?” “Sorry, MJ, but I needed to talk to someone. I hope you don’t mind.” “Pete, if you need someone to talk to, I’m your girl. What’s on your mind?” “Okay, this is gonna sound a little strange, but ever since Aunt May died, I’ve been having dreams. They started off as just dreams that Aunt May was still alive, but they were so realistic. She’d be waking me up, promising me blueberry pancakes, but when I tried to get down the stairs, I wouldn’t get anywhere, no matter how fast I ran towards her. Eventually she’d start to drift farther away; and soon she would disappear and I’d wake up.” “Peter, that’s terrible! Is there anything specific causing it, you think?” “If it was just that dream I’d say I was just having a tough time dealing with her death, because I am. I feel responsible for not being there. If I’d been there only an hour before, I’d have been able to call for help earlier; I might have been able to save her. But something’s changed, and I don’t think it’s just my guilt over Aunt May’s death anymore. I was sitting in English class today attempting to listen and pay attention, but because of the dreams I’ve been losing lots of sleep, so I drifted off. I had the dream again, but this time Aunt May was basically a zombie! I screamed, and then woke up in class just in time to get a detention. (And that’s where I was after school, btw).” “Do you just want to stay up and talk?” “That would be wonderful. You are the best friend ever!” For the next six hours, Peter sat in his bed and talked with Mary Jane on every topic ranging from the latest music to how season three of Heroes and Villains would end. Finally, at 6:00 AM Peter told MJ to get some sleep, and set out for the Daily Bugle, knowing JJJ would want his pictures for the afternoon edition of the Saturday paper. As Peter entered the Daily Bugle from the bottom floor, he asked the lady at the front if he could see J. Jonah Jameson. “You again? Didn’t I send you away?” “Yeah, but he told me I could freelance.” “Fine, whatever. Use that elevator in the back. It’s the twentieth floor. Hope you can find your way in there.” Peter thanked the evil secretary and got into the elevator. He could have swung up to where the offices were, but with his strength failing, he didn’t want to take the risk of accidentally falling and killing himself. He fingered the flash drive that held his pictures on it, and when the door opened he made a beeline for Betty Brant’s desk. On his way he passed David Harvey, who was hunched over his desk, scribbling furiously, and muttering something to himself, almost too softly to hear. Peter couldn’t make much out, but thought he heard the word “Zane.” Weird. I must be too tired; no way would that reporter care about the creepy kid from my class. He waved at Betty, who opened the door to the officer of the esteemed publisher. “Parker? That you? Where have you been boy? We got a paper to run, can’t do it without pictures of that creep Spider-Man.” “My aunt died, sir. I’ve been kind of dealing with that, sorry about not having any pictures.” “I’ll excuse it, but just this once. Sorry about your aunt, by the way, I didn’t know. Now, what did you come for? This had better be good.” “You know the big guy in a stupid looking suit who robbed the bank and wrecked part of Times Square? I got pictures of him and Spider-Man fighting!” Peter handed the flash drive to Jameson and he looked at the pictures. As Peter had expected, J. Jonah selected the one of him nearly breaking his hand, the one with Spider-Man webbing up Rhino’s eyes, and the best picture in the bunch, the one with Peter shoving Rhino’s face into the electronic billboard. After debating for a minute, they settled on a fair rate, and Peter turned to go get the check from Betty. “Hey, kid.” Peter turned around. “I need better quality shots, so I need you to use a good camera from now on.” “But, I can only use what I’ve got; I just don’t have enough money for a new one.” Jonah shook his hand, and pushed five one-hundred dollar bills into it. “Now you do, spend it wisely. Only the best for my photographers, yessir. And don’t expect any more gifts like that. No sir. Not happening. Never again. Now get out!” As Peter hurried out the door, Jonah smiled sadly. “Poor kid. Better use that money for a camera though. Knowing kids these days he’ll go out and buy a fifty-two inch HDTV and I’ll be out five hundred bucks. Kids.” He snorted and turned back to his work. In the woods surrounding Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, Blake sat alone, angry and upset. He’d been outside all night, and finally released his frustration. “WHY,” he screamed at the top of his lungs into the cool morning air. “WHY? WHY HER?” His fists shook uncontrollably, and he screamed as loud as he could once more. He lowered his voice to a whisper, but repeated the mantra; this time to someone he hoped was listening. “Why God? Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to make my sister a freak? She’s not normal, you know that. So what reason would you have for plaguing her with some sick mutation? WHY?” He turned and punched the tree he was standing next to as hard as he could, waiting for the pain, hoping it would take his mind off the frustration of having a freak for a sister. Only, as his fist contacted the wood of the tree, it didn’t break his hand. In fact, it didn’t hurt him at all. It did, however, cause the tree, a twenty foot pine, to suddenly vibrate and then shatter, spraying wood chips all over Blake and the surrounding ground. Blake looked at his fist and muttered a soft, “Oh, God, no. Not me too! Not me too.” Professor Xavier was getting ready for the drive to New York to visit Peter when he noticed the fluctuations in Blake’s vitals. He concentrated for a moment, and wheeled over to a machine sitting in his study just to check. On the screen were the words: New mutant activity located. Name: Blake Malone. Location: Xavier School for Gifted Children, Westchester, NY.
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 14, 2010 23:17:09 GMT -6
Sweet! This is getting interesting.... Nice title, by the way.
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Post by Frostbite200 on Aug 15, 2010 0:10:16 GMT -6
Cool
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Post by cradleman on Aug 17, 2010 23:02:06 GMT -6
Issue 13: Freak How can this be happening to me? I’m like her! I’m like that nut in the wheelchair! I’m like them all those freaks! I’M a freak! GOD! Blake swung his hand at another tree, hoping something different would happen this time. As a fifth tree shattered under his blow, he gave a sigh of annoyed acceptance. *Would you please stop destroying my trees? There may be a lot of them, but I do like them.* “Augh! What the crap was that?” Blake turned and yelled at the man rolling slowly towards him. “What did you do to me?” *I’m a telepath; I’m projecting my thoughts into your brain. You can hear what I’m thinking.* “Will you please stop that? It’s freakin’ unnerving.” *Your sister said something very similar at first. Still does, actually. Perhaps you two aren’t as dissimilar as you first thought. I will say, you do make much more of a mess than she does.* “Leave me alone, cripple. You don’t know anything about me. Just ‘cause you and me are both freaks doesn’t give you the right to say you know me.” *I know that you’re an angry, irritated, young man. A young adult who just realized he’s become the very thing he hates and despises.* “I said get out of my head!” Blake pointed his fist at Xavier and to his astonishment released a blast in the direction of the crippled man. Xavier quickly rolled backwards, avoiding the killing vibrations. *You could have killed me, unleashing your full power that way! You need training, or you’ll be a danger to all society. I want to help you, but you have to let me!* Blake stood shocked, ashamed to almost have killed the man who was just trying to help. He walked over and set the Professor back upright. “I’m sorry, sir.” He looked at him, and whispered pleadingly, “Help me. Please?” Peter took a cab back to Ben’s apartment, but got out halfway to walk, afraid that he would fall asleep again. He was running on empty now. With every step his feet didn’t want to move and his eyes tried to close. I shouldn’t have stayed awake, but I don’t want to fall asleep again. I just can’t deal with it. I can’t take it any more! He stepped to walk across the street and didn’t notice the car speeding around the corner. He heard the horn and leapt out of the way, his feet missing the car by inches. He sat on the curb and realized just how much of his strength had by sapped since the dreams started. Before Aunt May died, I could leap to the top of a twenty story building with no problem. Now, jumping out of the way of a speeding taxi to save my life, I only made it by inches, and only jumped about four feet. Oh my gosh! My spider-sense! It should have warned me, but it never went off, even though I could have been killed! I’ve got to get to Ben’s as soon as possible, and make sure that I pay attention to everything going on around me. Back at Xavier’s institute, Blake looked apologetically toward his sister. “I’. . .o. . . y” he mumbled, to low for Vicki to actually understand him. *Blake! Where she can hear you!* He gritted his teeth but replied “Yes, Sir. Vicki, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted the way you did. It shouldn’t have mattered if you were different, you’re still my sister and best friend, and I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” She looked at him questioningly and responded. “Thanks, Blake. Of course I forgive you, but why the sudden change of heart?” Blake looked around and saw a chair. Sorry, Prof, I’ll pay you back later. *Don’t you dare!* the professor tried to say, but it was too late. Blake pointed his hand at the chair released the energy his body contained, shattering the chair with unnatural vibrations. “See, Sis, I’m a mutant too. Just found out about an hour ago. Prof here, he wants me to train with his X-men. But I don’t want to do it without you, and if you think we should go back to our old life, and just do the mutant superhero thing on the side, I’m cool with that.” “I. . . I don’t know what to say. Can we have time to think it over, Professor?” *Certainly. Your mom is leaving today; you can go back with her. But if you decide that you want to be a part of the X-men, just call this number.* He reached into his pocket and handed her a card, the same card that both Ben and Nick had received and kept close. *Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an urgent appointment to attend to.* At the Daily Bugle, David was readying for more surveillance when he heard his publisher’s voice. “HARVEY!” He looked up, “Yes, Boss, what is it?” “It’s Mr. Jameson, is what it is, Harvey. But other than that, I want to know what you’ve been doing this whole week. I haven’t gotten a single story from you! Not the robbery by some flying guy with green wings on Monday, and not the Rhino story yesterday! Why am I paying you to be the crime reporter if you don’t report on crime! Can you tell me that, Harvey? WHY?” “Sorry, Boss, I’ve been working on a big story. I think I know who Blackout is. I’ve been trailing this guy the last week; I just know he’s linked to it.” “And have you gotten one single shred of evidence that this man you’ve been following is a supervillain? If you’ve been at this a whole week not doing a single thing that I’m actually paying you for, you’d better have found at least some evidence that trailing him is paying off.” “Well, actually, it’s not a man so much as a kid. And I uh, I haven’t gotten anything so far. He went back to his house four times and I lost him the other two times.” “Harvey, I’m going to say this, and I’m only going to say it once. If you don’t stop following this kid and get back to doing what I pay you to do, YOU . . . ARE . . . FIRED! Let the police do their jobs, and you do yours. Got it?” “Yes, Boss.” Jameson stormed back to his office, and left Harvey seething as he left the building. Sorry, old man, but I know Zane’s Blackout. And I’m going to prove it. After work, he went to his apartment, found his shoulder bag, and pulled out the handgun he’d had stashed there. One way or another, I’m going to prove Zane is Blackout, even if it means holding him at gunpoint ‘til he uses his powers. When Peter got back to Ben’s apartment, he turned on the original Friday the 13th in attempt to keep himself awake. It worked for the first half of the movie, but eventually his eyes tired and he succumbed to the pull of sleep once more. “Peter, dear.” Peter rolled out of his bed and looked at Aunt May. This time, instead of being a skeleton she looked normal, but she had a Jason Voorhees hockey mask over her face and a wicked looking machete in her hand. “You know what they say, don’t you Peter dear? When you die in your dreams, you die in real life. I know you want to join me, just let me kill you now. It will be quick, although quite painful.” “Get away from me!” She ran toward him, swinging the machete wildly. He jumped back, and ran past her towards the open door. He made it out the door and onto the stairs, but she was right behind him. He tried to run down, but the bottom wasn’t getting any closer! He ran faster, still nothing happened. As he ran, he tried to only look straight ahead. But of course, eventually he looked back and saw her one step behind him. She raised the machete, and as she swung it toward his neck he closed his eyes, ready for the end.
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 17, 2010 23:14:17 GMT -6
Cool! I like the side-story with Blake and Abby, and my character's getting pretty cool!
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Post by cradleman on Aug 21, 2010 23:00:28 GMT -6
Issue 14: What's Going On? Although he felt the blade tickle his neck, he didn’t feel any pain. He opened his eyes. Everything was back to normal again. Well, everything except that he couldn’t move. He went to lift his arms, but nothing happened. He tried to move his feet even slightly, but they wouldn’t budge. He tried to scream for help, but his voice came out so weak, it scared him. Oh, no. Even if the dreams don’t kill me, I’m going to die of sheer exhaustion. Peter looked at the clock, trying to will Ben to come home, no matter how impossible it was. Peter sighed, and watched what was on the TV till Ben came home that night, not that he had another choice. On their way home, Vicki and Blake sat almost silent in the backseat. No one had spoken since Blake had revealed to their mother that he too was a mutant. Finally, twenty minutes into the drive, their mother spoke up. “So, both of you are mutants, huh?” Vicki rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mother.” “This isn’t just an illusion you are casting right now, is it? Blake’s whole vibrating things to pieces power?” “No Mom. It’s real. Blake didn’t know until today.” “You don’t plan on telling the neighbors, do you? I don’t think they’ll be as accepting of your problem as I am” “Our problem? Our problem, Mom? You think there’s something wrong with us, don’t you! You’re just like the rest of them. Only you think because you’re our mother, you have to take care of us out of some sort of duty! Well, if that’s the case, don’t even bother, just take us back to Xavier’s school. At least he’ll accept us for who we are. “ “No, I. . .I’m sorry. You’re right. There’s nothing wrong with you.” “The confidence just oozes from your voice, Mom. And don’t bother replying to that.” Vicki quickly turned to her brother, eager to change the subject. “So, now that you are a mutant like me, you’re going to need a codename.” “But I don’t want to fight crime” “I agree! Fighting crime is dangerous! You two need to just act like normal children, and go to school and play sports!” “MOM!” they chorused. “Sorry. Driving now.” “Seriously, Blake. You’ve got these cool powers; you should help out those who aren’t as fortunate as we are.” “Fortunate, that’s an interesting way to put it.” “Blake! We can do incredible, extraordinary things! We should be helping people, not moping because we are different then they are.” Blake sighed softly. “I guess you’re right. So, a name, huh? Well, I must say, the whole mutant powers thing kinda stunned me. How about Stunner?” “Blake, that’s stupid.” “You’re right.” He frowned and his brow furrowed in concentration. “Oh, wait, I got it! It was a shock! Shocker! That’s it!” “Blake, that’s stupider.” “No it’s not! Stupider isn’t a word. The correct phrase is ‘more stupid.’” “Fine, that’s more stupid.” “Doesn’t matter, I’m sticking with it. Shocker. I’M the SHOCKER! YEAH!” At the home of Zane’s foster parents, David walked slowly up the pathway to the front door. He fingered the gun in his bag, knowing he would have to use it in order to get Zane to confess, also realizing that it could mean his death. Just in case he died, he had a sound recorder in his pocket so that everyone would know the truth. He knocked on the door, and waited patiently for someone to come to the door. Zane’s foster father opened the door. “What do you want?” “Is Zane home?” “What’s it to you if he is?” “I’m a reporter, from the Daily Bugle. You might remember I came a couple of weeks ago looking for Zane. I’ve been doing a report on the goth culture of teenage life in modern society. I was asking around the local high school, and some of Zane’s classmates told me that he was into that kind of style and music.” The man grunted and opened the door wider. “He’s not here at the moment, but you are welcome to come in and wait. He should be here by seven; he’s not one to miss a meal.” David thanked the man for his generosity, and walked inside. In Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil was patrolling the streets but listening for the tone that would tell him it was time to get back home to meet Xavier. The Professor had come to Ben only three months ago, and had nearly convinced Ben to join his X-men. However, with Uncle Ben having just died, Ben felt that he couldn’t abandon Peter and Aunt May and decided against it, but did tell the Professor that he would call when the right situation arose. Professor Xavier had been disappointed that Ben wasn’t coming to stay and teach at the School for the Gifted, but had agreed to come that night and see if he could help Peter. Daredevil heard a bell chime; it gave off 6 tones. Six o’clock. I’ve already done enough today, I need to get home and get back to Peter, and make sure that I’m their when Charles arrives. He swung in the direction of his apartment, and only stopped to knock out a mugger on the way there. When he opened the door, he called Peter’s name but heard no response. He walked into the living room and sensed him sitting on the couch and heard the television going. “Hey, man, how did the Bugle like your photos? Get a good rate for them?” He heard no response, and when he got closer to Peter, he realized something was wrong. His heartbeat was abnormally low, and his breathing was shallow. “Peter!” He strained his ears and only his hypersensitive hearing allowed him to catch Peter’s lowly moaned response, “Help me!” Ben pulled out his phone and dialed the mobile number for Xavier. The Professor told him he would be there in five minutes. Ben explained the situation and asked him to hurry, then hung up. Five minutes later, Ben let the telepathic mutant into the apartment to look at Peter. *Son, I’m projecting my thoughts into your brain. All you have to do is think and I’ll hear you. Can you tell me what’s wrong? Don’t try to speak, just think.*
I can’t move. Nothing’s working. I can only barely breathe. And, don’t think that I’m taking this whole paralysis thing lightly, but has anyone ever told you that beaming your thoughts into someone’s brain is a little unnerving? Xavier sighed, then continued *Is this paralysis connected to the nightmares you’ve been having?*
I think so. I wouldn’t have believed it originally, but yesterday I was fighting Rhino. Oh, and you’re telepathic and all so you probably already know this, but I’m Spider-Man. It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. Anywhoo, I thought that the dreams were just guilt over not being able to save my Aunt May from death and from fear of losing someone else close to me, but I noticed while fighting Rhino that I’d lost a lot of my strength. And then today, I nearly got killed when my spider sense didn’t warn me of danger. I suspected that it was the dreams causing me to not get enough sleep, and that’s what was affecting my abilities, but I didn’t have any proof ‘til today. I tried to stay awake until you got here, but eventually I fell asleep again. When I woke up, I was completely drained. It’s maximum effort just to breathe or talk in the softest of whispers. It’s almost difficult to even form coherent thoughts. Please, help me! I don’t want to die!
*I’ll do what I can, Peter. I think I know what’s happening, but to be sure, I have to put you to sleep. I’ll activate the adrenal glands in your body while you are sleeping, and that should give you enough energy to move when this is over. Now just relax, and let me inside your dreams.* Although Peter was uncomfortable with the idea of having to endure yet another nightmare, he would do anything to get rid of them permanently, so he subjected himself to the torture once more. He closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. “Peter, dear.” It was her voice. Again! This guy better know what he’s doing. Peter looked up at Aunt May and nearly choked. She looked even worse than the first time he’d seen her as a rotting corpse. The hair was completely gone, her skull was visible through one of her eye sockets, the side of her mouth was completely rotted away, and the rest of her body looked even worse. “Peter, dear, it’s time for school. Get up, lazy bones. Now give me a hug, and get ready for school.” Peter backed away, trying to avoid her. He yelled out to Xavier, “Come on, man! Get me out of here!” “Now, Peter dear, it’s just not nice to not give your aunt a hug!” She pulled a steak knife out of her pocket. “I guess I’ll have to just teach you a lesson.” She raised the knife and charged at Peter. He sidestepped, grabbed her arm and pulled, feeling a sick popping sound as the arm came off in his hand. “Oh, gross. PROFESSOR!” Peter turned and ran for the door, and then realized Aunt May’s arm was still in his hand. He screamed, threw the arm back at the rest of her, and ran out the door. His eyes flew open, and he ran straight into the TV. “Ow! Oh, crap. Sorry about that Ben. Hey, I can move again!” *For now, yes, you can move. The adrenalin should keep you going for at least a day, and we are going to need all of it.* “Did you find out what’s wrong?” The professor spoke aloud so that both Ben and Peter could hear his reply. “Yes, I know who it is. His name . . . is Nightmare.”
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 21, 2010 23:36:28 GMT -6
"I'm doing a report on emo kids, and your kid is an emo!" "Get the #$^& out of my house!" Lol, I think the word you're looking for is "goth."
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Post by cradleman on Aug 22, 2010 11:50:47 GMT -6
heh, yeah, sure was. but i couldn't remember it when i was writing and forgot to change it. whoops. corrected now.
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Post by Kranstin Kardashian on Aug 22, 2010 11:53:19 GMT -6
You can't just change the story after you've already posted it. It belongs to the world now!
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 23, 2010 20:44:02 GMT -6
So, uh, by the way - I think Blackout's cradleman's character. Why? Because Brian's done barely anything and crade's too egotistical to give himself a minor role. I think that's a good enough reason.
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Post by Frostbite200 on Aug 23, 2010 21:31:09 GMT -6
So, uh, by the way - I think Blackout's cradleman's character. Why? Because Brian's done barely anything and crade's too egotistical to give himself a minor role. I think that's a good enough reason. I think you've got a point there But you can't look past the prospect that Harvey is going crazy over looking for himself
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 23, 2010 22:36:23 GMT -6
.... Well.... I'm not Blackout to my knowledge.... Lol.... That would be a twist, but I still think it's crade.
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Post by Frostbite200 on Aug 24, 2010 0:47:32 GMT -6
.... Well.... I'm not Blackout to my knowledge.... Lol.... That would be a twist, but I still think it's crade. To your knowledge?, your saying Crade would tell you who it was?
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Post by cradleman on Aug 24, 2010 23:00:19 GMT -6
Issue 15: The Final Nightmare “He’s a mutant, an evil one, and his mutation is very unique. He doesn’t feed like you and I. Instead, he feeds off the energy of other powerful people. Usually the people he feeds on are mutants, but because of your immense power, this time he chose you. He senses people who are going through a great turmoil emotionally, and he attacks them. He turns their anguish, their worst fears on them while they sleep. It starts off small so that they don’t notice, but the longer he controls your dreams, the more he can drain you. The nightmares are his specialty, as it’s the fear that feeds him most. In your case, your fear of losing someone else and guilt over your aunt’s death is what caused the nightmares to manifest. The more nightmares you had, the more frightening each was, and the more power he was able to drain from you. Had you fallen asleep even once more before I arrived, it’s quite likely that you would be dead right now.” “So what? He knows that I’m Spider-Man? Cause that would be just flippin perfect! Even if I survive, he can tell the underworld who I am and I’ll never be able to appear as Peter Parker again!” “Actually, he knows nothing about you. He doesn’t even know your name, just your aura, so to speak. He can sense the enormous energy output that he can feed on, and he can sense that your extreme emotional turmoil. He causes you to have nightmares, that power is part of his mutant abilities, but he lets your brain formulate the storyline of the nightmares, so he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on in them.” “Then how can I stop him, how can I defeat him?” “To be honest, I’ve never successfully dealt with him, but you are stronger than any mutant he’s attacked before, and I think that’s an advantage for us. You and Ben need to come with me to my mansion so that we can locate him. Once we discover his location, we will be ready to face him.” The Professor added a not encouraging, “I hope.” As they journeyed back to Westchester, Zane was approaching his house. As he opened the door, he spotted David on the couch. He recognized him as the man that had been following him all week, so he bolted. David got up from the couch and ran after him, trying to keep him in sight. They ran for blocks, but Zane managed to stay several feet ahead of David the whole time. Suddenly, he turned and ran into a dark alley, where the only light was at the very end. As David ran inside, he realized it was another dead end, and yet again Zane was no where to be found. He pulled the gun from the bag he was carrying, and waved it around. “SHOW YOURSELF, ZANE! I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” David heard Zane’s voice speak, but couldn’t see him. “You don’t know me, you can’t know me! I’ve seen you following me every day. I’m not like you, so leave me alone!” “I may not be able to see you in the dark, Zane, but I’m pretty sure that if I start firing, at least one bullet will hit its target. Now show yourself for who you really are, Blackout!” “Blackout? You think I’M Blackout?” David heard a strange sound, and realized that Zane had started laughing. Zane tried to stop, but he just couldn’t help it. He managed to get out “That’s the funniest thing you’ve said all week! Granted, just about the only thing you’ve said all week, but still, definitely the funniest. Now put the gun away and I’ll show myself.” “I don’t trust you!” “And I don’t want to get shot!” “Fine!” David put the gun into his waistband, but made sure that he could draw and fire if it was needed. “Now show yourself.” In front of David, the darkness started to move. It seemed as if the darkness itself was moving over towards the lone light at the end of the alley. David watched the beam of light, noticed a shadow moving full into the beam. It was in the shape of a man, but it seemed to come from no one. Just then, it rippled and began to materialize, and soon, Zane was standing in the beam of light. “Now you know. I ain’t Blackout; I’m just a mutant kid with the power to turn into a stupid shadow. Happy?” “But if you aren’t Blackout, who is?” Zane shrugged his shoulders, muttered “Beats me” and walked away, leaving David with no answers, only a week spent wasted on a wild goose chase. Back at the Xavier Institute, Xavier showed the two superheroes the machine that had detected Blake’s manifestation of mutant abilities earlier that day. “This, gentlemen, is called Cerebro. It’s a machine that picks up on the use of mutant abilities, and also gives an alert to me whenever a new mutant manifests his abilities. Using this, I can track down Nightmare, and attempt to defeat him.” Xavier reached down and picked up a helmet-shaped object that he placed carefully on his head. Cerebro whirred and beeped, and the map of the world on the screen slowly zoomed onto New York. Xavier concentrated again, and it zoomed farther, revealing a location near the waterfront. The Professor opened his eyes and removed the device. “He’s near the pier, located in one of the abandoned warehouses out there. If we want to catch him before he drains Peter completely, we need to leave now. Have either of you ever ridden in a supersonic jet before?” The professor smiled and led the way toward his private plane. On the plane, Professor Xavier explained what was needed to achieve victory. “He’s not like any other mutant. He has no real fighting ability because of his mutation. He’s slow and lumbering and would be easily defeated by any halfway decent superhero in a fight. At least, he would be, except that he can generate an impenetrable force shield around him. Because of the shield, the only way to defeat him is to do it psychically. Peter, if you can defeat him psychically, the force field will drop and we’ll be able to capture him. When we get there, I’ll put you to sleep, and then put you and him on the same plane psychically. I could actually do this from the mansion, but if you defeat him, I’ll need to be near him to capture him. If you can’t overpower him in the psychic plane, he’ll win. He’ll drain you completely and it will be over. I would do it myself if I could, but his force shield blocks me from attacking him psychically. However, he’s connected to you through your dreams, and that connection will allow you to battle him. I’m not going to lie to you Peter, this is life or death, and there’s a good chance it will be the latter. I’ve tried this twice before, and each time, he won. I honestly don’t know what method you’ll need to use to defeat him, but whatever you do, do it quickly.” As the plane touched down in the water, the Professor concentrated and pointed at the nearest warehouse. “He’s in that one. We’ll take the boat over to the pier.” Once they reached the pier, they took a slow walk towards the warehouse that Professor Xavier had pointed out. Peter and Ben had changed into costume on the plane, just as a precaution to prevent Nightmare from learning their identities. As they entered the building, they saw him over on the other side. He was a hulking giant, but it looked as if he wasn’t put together quite right. His right arm was huge, about as big around as a cannon, while the other arm was smaller than most normal people. His legs were misshapen and bowed greatly. The first thought that sprung to Peter’s mind was that Nightmare looked like Mr. Hyde in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen right in the middle of changing, but like he was stuck there and couldn’t finish the transformation. His face was a pale green, and he had what looked like fins in place of ears. Now that they were facing each other, Peter closed his eyes and waited. He felt a cold come over him and suddenly he knew he was in a different plane. He was in a psychic construct of the warehouse, which he was sure that Xavier had placed him in to give him plenty of space when fighting Nightmare. He heard a sound behind him and turned to face Nightmare for the first, and final, time. “YOU! I know you! I have fed on your aura. I see that the wheelchair bound psychic has brought me another meal for finishing off. He thinks that you can defeat me here, but if the other two he brought failed, why should you be any different?” “Because, Nighty, I’m not a mutant. I’m Spider-Man! Now prepare to get your rather hideous butt kicked.” “You think that because I’m weak and slow in the physical world that I’m weak and slow here? This is my mind! My domain! I rule this place, and I can do whatever I want. I can feel the fear emanating from you right now, and it’s sweet. It’s like nectar from the flowers of the Gods. Now stand there and let me drain you!”
“Sorry, bud, but I won’t be defeated that easy.” Spider-Man jumped towards Nightmare, intent on delivering his most powerful blow, only to miss by a mile, as Nightmare had sprinted across the room in seconds. “You really are pathetic. But you’ll be fun to defeat.” Nightmare’s disgusting face twisted into an evil grin. He sprinted at Peter, and caught him full in the chest, throwing him into the nearest wall. Peter groaned and hit the buttons of his web-shooters, then realized there were no web-shooters in the psychic plane. “Oh, crap!” Nightmare laughed and swung, smashing Spider-Man’s face into the wall. He grabbed Spidey’s arm and flung him across the room, then ran and caught him and smashed him into the ground. Inside the actual warehouse, Xavier monitored the psychic battle intently, wishing he could help Peter. He kept Ben updated by projecting the images from Peter’s mind into Ben’s. “Hey, why do you call yourself Nightmare? Looked into the mirror to many times?” Nightmare clobbered him again, and Peter came up laughing and spitting up blood. “Okay, I realize that was lame, but give me a break. You ARE trying to drain me of all my energy, so I don’t have my best stuff tonight.” Nightmare came down on top of his head, smashing his face into the ground again. Peter came up and jumped away, and realized something. Hey, when I made the joke and laughed, he still hit me as hard as he could, but it didn’t hurt as much. When I let go of some of my fear, he lost power! When I noticed the largest drops in my power before, it was after the nightmares started, and each freaked me out of my wits. I bet if I can somehow banish my fear, I’ll be able to def. . . Peter was too busy thinking to avoid Nightmare’s roundhouse kick to the head and was sent sprawling. I’ll be able to defeat him, Peter finished the thought. He stood up and spoke. “You lose, Nightmare.” “What do you mean, I lose? I’m destroying you! You are no match for me.” “NO! When I’m afraid, I’m no match for you. When I let my fears of losing everyone close to me overwhelm me, I’m no match for you! When I fear for my life, I’m no match for you! But what if I’m not afraid of you? What then?” “You can’t not be afraid of me! I’M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE! I am FEAR ITSELF!”
Nightmare’s form shifted into zombie Aunt May. “She’s not real! I know that! You can’t defeat me that way. That way just makes me stronger; it makes me want to defeat you so much more! You just feed off fear, you aren’t fear. You’re just a sick, deformed freak that needs to be put out of his misery. Now hit me, because I’m not afraid of you!” Nightmare shifted back to his normal form, roared, and swung with all his might, but this time, Spider-Man caught the punch, and twisted Nightmare’s arm. Nightmare screamed in pain and his fiery eyes pierced Peter. “How can you be doing this to me?”
“Told ya I wasn’t afraid.” Peter turned and hurled Nightmare into the wall then sprinted over and beat him again and again and again. The more Peter beat him, the stronger he grew, until he heard Nightmare mutter something. “What did you say?” “I said, you win. This round, at least. But I’ll be back, mark my words, I’ll be back.” And with those words, he vanished. Peter woke up to the sound of Ben shouting joyously, and he saw the Professor raise his fist in victory. Xavier aimed a psychic blast at Nightmare, who, now that he didn’t have the energy to power his shield, was trying to get away. Nightmare felt the blast and fought back briefly, but without the fear to feed on, he was powerless and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Two hours later, the Professor had Nightmare securely locked in a cell underneath his mansion, and Peter and Ben were safely in the apartment. Peter went to open the door to his room and looked back at Ben. “Ben, thanks for everything today. Without you, I’d be dead.” Ben smiled, “I’d do anything for family.” “I’m glad I still have family.” “Me too. Now have a good nights sleep, and don’t wake up tomorrow for anything.” “No chance of that happening. Not a chance in the world.” Peter stepped into his room, lay down on his bed, and had the most restful night of sleep in his life, completely unaware that his life would soon be changed drastically. Many miles away, in his secret hideout, Spider-Man’s most deadly foe spoke softly to himself. “So, Spider-man is Peter Parker, eh? This shall prove most useful information indeed. If I am to defeat Spider-Man, all I have to do is to destroy Peter Parker’s life. This should be fun; it should be most fun, indeed.” He laughed wickedly and walked to the exit. The darkness obscuring Blackout’s face receded as he left the hideout, revealing a wicked grin on the face of Brian Millar.
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Post by spideyfan914 on Aug 25, 2010 0:19:28 GMT -6
Told ya so!
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Post by Frostbite200 on Aug 30, 2010 22:24:24 GMT -6
Finally read it.
Great Issue, this has been what I've been waiting for, it's been slow getting started but this one was a lot of fun!
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Post by cradleman on Aug 30, 2010 22:28:22 GMT -6
glad you like it. The next one is gonna be a little ways off. I'm hoping for it to be an epic showdown with Peter and Blackout, and i've got the supporting characters for where i want em next arc. it should be a lot of fun, so i'm gonna sit down and plan everything out before i start writing it. expect Arc 4 to start sometime in January.
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