The sledge hammer struck the beam for the final time. Jacob was sweating hard. As one of the few men skilled in this kind of labor, Jacob volunteered to help with the bridge. He had no idea it was going to be so hot though. It was the third post he had struck into the river floor. He was not eve making good time, as almost everyone else working had sent many more into the river floor.

Jacob flopped over onto what was currently the bridge. He was exhausted by the heat. He was still tired from all that had happened the night before. Chelsea came up to him with some bread. She tore it in half, and handed one half to Jacob. Jacob took it eagerly and bit into it.
“I was thinking about something.” Chelsea said.
“Some people would say that thinking is dangerous.” Jacob said.
“That actually was what I was thinking of.” Chelsea said. She nibbled on the bread.
“Do we have any jam?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, want me to go get some?” She said.
“Yeah, but tell me what you were thinking first.” Jacob said.
“Well, Devioun has always had a larger army, and he has been alive for many many ages, but he has not had a great deal of success.” Chelsea said quietly. The sound on hammers striking wood were almost drowning her out.
“Yes, your point?” Jacob asked, and took another bite out of the somewhat stale bread.
“The Melendians think, and I do not just mean about war, but everything. We are creative, and we learn from mistakes, but Devioun has lived forever and does not learn from mistakes, because he has no one to learn from, he is the smartest man there. He has made it to where Sulfirians can not think.” She continued on.
“Huh.” Jacob uttered. He blinked for a moment, and looked off at one of the food wagons.
“You do not see it do you?” She said.
“No not really. I think Melendians just have better generals, can you get the jam now?”
Chelsea glared at him, but sighed and got up. Jacob looked out into the quiet river. It was the kind of day that Jacob liked. Sunny and warm, and birds could be heard singing. Had it not been for the work that had to be done, Jacob would be thoroughly enjoying it.
Chelsea returned with the Jam. It was kept in a large glass jar, and the jam had a slightly salty taste, probably to help preserve it, but it never tasted as good as fresh jam. It helped with the stale bread nonetheless.

The men that were not working on the frame for the bridge were working on the cutting down of trees. Not one man did not have a large task ahead of him. No man would be comfortable that day. Chelsea finished her bread, and put the lid back on the jar. Jacob finished his bread as well, and got back up. Chelsea started taking bread to various men. She had been wanting to help with the bridge construction that day, but her father would not allow it. Jacob picked back up the hammer. It felt even heavier than when he had set it down. His muscles screamed in pain, but he ignored them as he wen to drive in his forth post.

James was walking around instructing people. The doctor was furious with him, but James continued on anyway. Jacob had not seen much of his father. His father had not been in exactly the most talkative of moods. He was always absent minded, like he was not really there. Jacob struck the beam down. Two other men were holding it in place. Finally Jacob broke down into the earth, and the post started holding itself in place. Jacob continued to hit it with all of his might.

Suddenly he heard another bird. He was startled by the deep call of what sounded like a large bird. A raptor of some sort he thought. He looked into the trees, but did not see anything immediately. James was suddenly looking around. Jacob knew he heard it. Jacob suddenly smashed the post down harder, and then tossed aside the hammer.
“Someone take over, I am going to go take a break.” He said, and headed for James. A larger man picked up the sledge hammer, and took over where he left off.

Jacob approached James, who was looking off into the trees.
“What do you see?” Jacob asked.
“An emberling.” James replied.
“Wow an emberling?” Jacob asked, now excited. He looked up into the tree and saw a large gray bird, it looked down at the soldiers with fierce eyes. Jacob looked at it for a few minutes as it chattered. It looked like it was hunting something. Just as Jacob expected, it was, and swooped down in a flash. It pulled up and flew away with what appeared to be a mouse in its talons.

Emberlings were a gray bird that made their nests in old burned out locations, such as a burned away house or tree. It was considered to be wrong to remove ashes that an emberling had taken. It was also due to their strange hiding spots that they were so hard to spot. One could not easily find them among the ashes, and one did not normally find a burned out area.

The silence was chilling. It seemed like everyone had stopped at once. Everyone was looking at one another. A man could have sneezed, and everyone would have known it. It was not just the men who were silent, it was every animal, even the river seemed quiet. Jacob looked into the forest, and then at the river. Nothing appeared to be wrong, and yet everything felt wrong.

Then it all became clear. Jacob tapped James' shoulder. “Get your weapons.” Jacob muttered, and ran for his tent.






Kevin heard the horn blast. Within seconds he saw men rushing down upon him, they were dressed in green. Kevin leaped up, and reached for his knife. The first man charged him with a mace, and Kevin ducked his first blow. The man then took another swing at Kevin, and this time Kevin stepped out, then lunged in with his knife, and dispatched the man quickly.
The next man leaped at him, so Kevin threw the knife into his chest. The man collapsed upon the ground, dead in an instant. Kevin plucked his knife back out of the man
“They just do not make evil barbaric henchmen like they used to, do they?” He asked the dead man, and then ran towards James who was dealing with a few dozen soldiers.

He took out a man from behind. Two men looked at him. They pulled out swords.
“Now look men, let us work out our differences, and may I persuade you to join us?” Kevin laughed nervously. The men ran after him, so Kevin fled in the opposite direction. He hoped to catch them in the traffic.
Suddenly one of them dropped to the earth, and another followed quickly. Kevin saw it was Chelsea shooting them. Kevin ran towards her.
“Glad to see you darling!” He shouted, and cut the throat of a man approaching her from behind. She nodded at him.
“Call me darling, and you will be joining these men.” She said grimly, and shot down two men with one draw. Kevin raised his eyebrows, and then went back to the fight.





James kicked over two men, and stabbed another two. This impressed Jacob greatly, who so far had only taken down a half dozen drones himself.
“These men are terrible fighters, no more than peasants with swords!” James yelled. Jacob shouted “Yes” in agreement, and ran another man through. Despite being untrained, unorganized thugs, the men were relentless, and in very large numbers. Jacob moved closer to James, and took at two more quickly.
“For the dragon!” A man behind him shouted, Jacob had no time to turn around, and so only flipping his blade around, and felt the man land on his sword, the man turned to ash within seconds, and so Jacob swung it around to deal with another assailant.

The new oncoming drones ran clear of the two of them, it appeared to be clear to these men that Jacob and James were too much for them to take. Jacob was dearly missing his armor. He was vulnerable without his armor, and so he was having to be far more careful than he would otherwise be. Suddenly a recognizable figure stepped out of the forest. It was the youthful Herald. He was glaring straight at Jacob. In one hand was a sword, in the other was a staff. The staff was pure black, and so was the sword. The Sword was also recognizable. It looked like the plant blades that Lady Rune had wielded.

Jacob was unsure of his willingness to go and face this man in combat. Jacob was defenseless, and James was not armored either.
“Is the bridge crossable yet?” Jacob yelled at him.
“Not quite! Too rough!, only the wagons could get over the gaps!” James yelled while dealing with one stray soldier.
“We can not hold this location!.” Jacob yelled.
“The ford can be crossed!” James yelled.
It was too late Herald was getting closer with each Melendian he slayed. They did not explode in splintered plants like Lady rune's blades did though, and So Jacob decided they were not the same.
“Jacob, Your days are numbered!” Herald shouted as he saw the space between himself and Jacob was not filled. Jacob got into a fighting stance, and prepared for the worst.
“No Jacob, not here, pull him in!” James shouted, Jacob nodded, and ran after James up into the opposite forest.






Kevin realized they were outnumbered greatly. He shook his head, and looked at a nearby wagon. It had oil in it. Kevin grinned, and ran for it. He saw explosives and oils, and they were exactly what he needed. He grabbed a small barrel of fire powder, and and a bottle of oil. He ran back for Chelsea who was having a hard time keeping the men off of her long enough to breath.
“I found something that will help us.” Kevin said. “What are your gloves made of?
“Leather!” She yelled.
“That is great!” Kevin said, and snatched them out of her pocket.
“Hey!” Chelsea yelled, but dare not stray from the fight.
“I hope you know where to buy more, because these will be no good.” He said. He started pouring oil all around himself.
“Give them back, those are expensive!” She roared.
“More expensive than your life?” He yelled, and put them on, they squeezed his hands tightly. He hoped they would not tear on him. The pain of wearing them was enough, but what he was about to do was going to make that seem like a joke.

He opened his canteen, and poured the water out on his gloves till they were soaked. He them turned to face the oncoming army. It was going to be difficult,but his plan was almost complete.
“Go away infidels, flee from this land, and do not come here again, for I am death, and I have come to take you!” He yelled. A lot of men stared at him, some became uneasy, but most charged him.
“Of great, now we are gonna die for sure!” Chelsea said.
“Nope.” Kevin grinned, and tossed a lit lighter upon the oils.
“I call upon the fires to aid me!, I shall end your miserable, sinful lives!” Kevin yelled, and the flames explodes in a circle around him and Chelsea. She shrieked, and glared at him. He was already pouring oil on his gloves. He covered the barrel in the oil, and rolled it through the flames. The few skeptics that were starting to encroach upon him. The barrel exploded, and the rocks upon the ground flew into the air. Men were falling down around him, and many men started screaming in terror and running away. Kevin took a deep breath and vaulted over the flames, and reached his arms down into the flames to ignite the gloves. He hands screamed in pain, and he punched several still standing men with the gloves, at the sight of his burning hands the rest of the men took off screaming. He had driven them back. He ran out into the open, and all the men were yelling things like “Devil, and a cursed spirit. “ He ripped off the gloves as he saw the men in full retreat.






Jacob knew they were in more defensible position, but he also knew something was wrong. Men were shouting and screaming, but the clanging of weapons had died down greatly. Jacob listened, but did not hear anyone coming.
“What happened?” Jacob asked.
“I have no idea.” James replied, and looked down below. No one could be seen. Herald was not hunting them, and the attacking army was no longer attacking.

Suddenly he heard shouting from another direction. He suddenly he was now on the wrong side of the valley.
“Run.” Jacob said, and started sprinting down the hill. James suddenly put a hand in front of him, but only a moment before herald leaped out wielding his sword. James countered Herald, but Jacob was surprised that he had nearly been tricked into his own death.

With a scream he realized he was not out of trouble, upon the hill were three monsters, two rock covered men, and a gombrah. The gombrah knocked over a a tree, and plowed its way down the hill. The rock monsters weaved their way towards Jacob. James glanced at Jacob.
“Run for the camp, and lead them from here!” James yelled.
“Not without you!” Jacob yelled back and turned to strike Herald.
Herald countered his blow, and then kicked James feet out form under him. Jacob thought James was about to die, when suddenly Herald toppled over and let out a cry of pain. Jacob looked at him and saw an arrow was embedded in his shoulder. Jacob started to kill him, but stopped and turned to face the monsters.
“Never fear! The guy with burned hands, and not prepared to fight is here!” The familiarly annoying voice of Kevin echoed out.
“Kevin distract the gombrah!” the voice of Chelsea screamed. She sounded frantic. The two rock monsters got even closer to Jacob. Jacob ducked as one leaped at him, and then tried to stab the second one.
“I do not like being the bait, can someone else please be this ugly's dinner!?” Kevin yelled while waving a stick at the irritated but rather stupid gombrah. Jacob saw a huge chunk of rock flew of the second rock monster. The monster turned around and punched at him, but instead struck the tree, and cracked, and splintered it.
James was still laying on the ground. Jacob realized he was unconscious, but it did not stop Jacob from fighting.
A blow to the head however left him blacked out.






Kevin watched as Jacob fell in a heap. The rock monsters were not as dumb as the Gombrah he was fighting. They were more organized, and were less distractable. He scowled, and broke from the gombrah. The first rock monster stomped on Jacob's back. Kevin worried he was now too late, but he lunged ahead at the rock monster. His weight toppled over the beast. He quickly got off just as the gombrah reached him. The gombrah leaped upon the rock monster, and they all toppled over. Kevin ran over to Jacob, and propped him against a tree, and then tried to refocus on luring the beasts away.
Arrows were whizzing around him at the gombrah. It seemed to not be too bothered by the projectiles.

The second rock beast chased after him. He ducked as it repeatedly pounded its fist at him. He fell to the earth, and tried to scramble away. He reach for a fallen blade just as the monster got close. With in a flash he lunged the blade into the beast's eye slit, and the suddenly it seemed like the monster exploded in flames, and he was knocked away.

The beast was gone, and so was the sword, but he didn't care, he picked up his knife and went after the other two. However all he saw was a dead pile of rocks, and the gombrah was going after Chelsea.
He ran at the beast and jabbed it with his knife, and Chelsea kept shooting it.

“Ok ugly you are going to have to die.” Kevin said. “It is unfortunate, because I think we were really starting to bond.” He pulled out his knife, and stabbed it in the leg. It shrieked, and tried to hit him, but he ducked.
“Quit flirting with the stupid thing!” Chelsea yelled.
“Darling, I do believe that you are struggling with this gentleman as well.” Kevin shouted at her. He ducked as an arrow whizzed by his head.
“You were lucky that time you bone head!” Chelsea shrieked.
“Yes my dear!” Kevin said, and with one last stab he knew he severed something important; the gombrah shrieked, and fell to the earth in a heap.

“Herald got away.” Chelsea said.
“How? I thought you agreed to keep him down!” Kevin said.
“I did not have the heart to shoot him while he was in retreat.” Chelsea said. Kevin glared at her.
“This is why women are not welcome in war.” Kevin said.
“Because I showed mercy?” Chelsea asked.
“Because you were weak.” Kevin replied angrily. “Do you have anymore water?” He asked as the pain in his hands were returning.
“Yes, here.” Chelsea said, and pulled out her canteen. She unscrewed the lid, and poured cool water over his burning blistered hands. The water was like a small relief as the pain returned. He thought to himself that this was not really any better than being dead, because he still was in pain, and he could still die, in some battle in the future.
“Your burns are extensive. You may have damaged deep into your hand.” Chelsea sighed. “We need to get this wrapped up.”
“Lets get them back to camp.” Kevin said.
“Yes.” Chelsea smiled.

Chapter 1




“Come on and hurry up!” he called to his brother. Their parents were away. Dexter did not understand it much, but the thought of them being gone for once pleased him. He had only reached adulthood a couple weeks before. His parents rarely noticed him. They never really cared about him.
His brother was another story. His brother had the odder name along with being the weirder of the two of them. Dexter was not sure where they got the name, but they named him Krazor, Krazor Zipadelli.

That of coarse made him Dexter Zipadelli. Krazor came around the corner with two duffel bags in hand. Dexter grabbed him by the chin.
“You have two cuts on your cheek.” Dexter said.
“Dad was angry.” Krazor said. Dexter nodded. Krazor did not have to say anything more.
“All the more reason to get you out of here.” Deter said. He looked at the old place. It looked as if it had not been updated since the seventies. The house was little more than a trailer, but it had been all Dexter had ever known. Krazor walked out the door, and Dexter looked around for a few provisions. He only had few hundred on him. It would be enough for him to survive for a little while, but he was going to have to get a new job in a new city if he was going to make a break like the one he was making.

Krazor sat out waiting in the truck. The truck was a gift from his grandfather. Dexter knew it did not have A/C but he was grateful for it regardless. He walked out the door with a small sack full of food. They were going to have to buy an ice chest. He opened the door of the truck and tossed the food in the back. He looked over at Krazor. Krazor was only fourteen, but he looked older. Dexter reached over and started the engine when he saw his parents car pull up and stop behind him. Dexter got out of the truck to face them. His father looked at Dexter with deep hateful eyes.
“Where do you think you are going?” He snarled.
“Where do you think? I am tired of this place.” Dexter said.
“Here you are safe.” he said.
“What about Krazor? I saw the cuts.” Dexter said. His father ran to him and covered his mouth.
“Do not think I cannot beat you boy.” he said. “Now we do not want the neighbors hearing anything do we?”
Dexter pulled away,and walked back to the truck. Just as he opened the door he heard a gun click. Dexter turned around to face his father. The 9mm pistol was facing right at Dexter's face.  Dexter smiled and sat down.
“You of all people should know that will not do any good.” Dexter said. With that final remark he shut the door and started the engine again. Krazor looked at Dexter with wide eyes. Dexter took a deep breath,and turned the car around, and out on to the grass. He drove out onto the city street. Dexter heard the terrible ring of gunfire. Dexter drove away speedily. Krazor covered his ears.

Dexter thought back to that moment he had with his father. Had it not been for his freakishness, maybe their father and mother would have cared about him, or at least his brother. Dexter looked at Krazor's face. His father knew how to hurt both Dexter and Krazor. Krazor and Dexter were both freakish super humans. His parents were too, but their powers were dormant, and never flourished. Krazor and Dexter had the same power. They could resist any form of heavy force. Specificity anything with great speed. Krazor could be hurt by a knife just like any other kid, but if you tried to stab him hard it would just be deflected, if not bounced off. Bullets bounced, and so did large objects, but Dexter was not sure what the breaking point of the power was though. Krazor looked out the window longingly. He went to school, but he was specificly instructed to only talk to his teachers. Dexter had the same problem. It was impossible for Dexter to discern when someone wanted to be his friend. He had been influenced to not trust anyone.

“So we are free now?” Krazor asked.
Dexter looked at the intersection ahead, and stopped. “I guess. I hope they don't file kidnapping against me.” Dexter said.
“But I can choose to live with you right?” Krazor asked.
“If they find me to be an unsuitable caretaker, no. I have somewhat of a plan though.” Dexter said. He turned onto the road. “I know someone who said you can get into this super human camp. I looked it up, and it looks pretty legit.”
“Me? What about you?” Krazor asked.
Dexter shook his head. “I will figure out something, but this would be a good place for you to hang out with people like you.” Dexter said. Krazor looked away.
“I don't want you to leave me.” he said.
“I don't want to leave you either.” Dexter said. “But I need a chance to look for a job, and a place for us to stay. It will be for two weeks, please just until I can get a job.” Dexter said pleadingly.
“Fine.” Krazor said. “Just remember me.”
“Like I would forget.” Dexter said. He decided to change the mood. “Want some ice cream?” He asked.
Krazor's face lit up a little. “Sure!” He said.
“We will stop over some place and get us some.” He said. The city streets were old and worn down. The massive road received more traffic than the ignorant city planners expected. Krazor pulled out the old laptop at his side. It was actually only a few years old. Krazor pulled it out and started typing something. Dexter tried to focus on the road, but Krazor was actually interesting him quite a bit.

Suddenly Krazor's face went white.
“What is it?” Dexter asked.
“The security cam shows the car is gone.” Krazor said.
“Hey wait how did you do that? We do not even have a security camera!” Dexter said.
“Oh shush, I made one. I also made this program to monitor.” He said. Dexter was about to argue with him when he looked at the cuts. Dexter shook his head. Dexter could not count how many times he wished he knew what they were up to. Krazor had just found a way to do it.
“How many of those things do you have anyway?” He asked.
“Three, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one on the patio.” He said.
“And you sure the car is not there?” Dexter asked.
“Absolutely.” Krazor said.
“Then we are in for much more than I thought.” He said.
Dexter turned down a side street. He could not escape by the main roads. His father would be too smart for the escape by quickest rout trick. Dexter took side roads whenever he could. It was a grueling task trying to keep all the roads straight, but Krazor was looking through his files to gain an idea where they were.

Finally Krazor popped his head up. He clicked on a map, and enlarged it.
“Turn left ahead.” Krazor said.
“Got you.” Dexter said.
“We are going to head for I-30 and then head east right?” Krazor asked.
“How did you know it was east of here?” Dexter asked.
“I used a web search.” Krazor said simply. Dexter focused on where he was headed next.
“Look I will get you that ice-cream in Taylor OK?” Dexter asked.
“Sure, I understand.” Krazor said.
Dexter turned around and speed down a road. His panic increased.
“What are you doing?” Krazor asked suddenly.
“Change of plans.” Dexter said. “This truck is bugged, I need you to climb into the back and find it.”
“But that is illegal!” Krazor said. “And we do not know when.... wait a minute.” Krazor said.
“What?” Dexter asked looking back at him as Krazor climbed into the back seat.
“Find your phone.” Krazor said.
“Why?” Dexter asked
“Just do it.” Krazor asked.
Dexter fished it out of his jacket, and looked at it. Krazor snatched it.
“Hey give that back.” Dexter said while reaching for it.
“This is the bug.” He said. “They have it set up to where they can track us.” Krazor said while showing him a GPS signal.
“Lovely. Then toss it out the window, it is not that important.” Dexter said.
Krazor rolled down his window and flung it. “There, and I do not even have a phone.” Krazor said.
“But we were too late, here they come.” Dexter said. He quickly turned down a side street, and then zipped into an alley. Their parents went beyond them, and Dexter stopped, and backed up. He then turned around to go down the street.
“We have to get out to the fastest roads. We can not keep them like this.” Dexter said.
“Ok turn right.” Krazor said.
“Got you.” Dexter said as he made a sharp right turn, and saw a major road ahead. He went as fast as the speed limits allowed. He did not see his parents yet, and so he was sure they were far behind. He turned onto the major road, only to see his parents' car ahead. Dexter looked at Krazor. Krazor shook his head.
“We have the advantage.” Dexter said, “so lets use it.”
“Got you, the next major road leads to I-30” Krazor said.
“Good.” Dexter said, and got over one lane.
“Turn left.” Krazor said.
“Now you tell me.” Dexter said, while getting back over.

He did a sharp turn across the intersection and into traffic. He had no other choice. His parents car slowed as they crossed the intersection, but did not manage to turn left in time. Dexter speed away.
“Do not ever do that again.” Krazor said.
“Alright, I will refrain from doing so in the future.” Dexter said with a nervous chuckle, and leaned over into the steering wheel for half a second.
“Dude you are really scaring me.” Krazor said.
Dexter ran a hand through his hair.
They turned onto I-30 and looked down. Their parents still did not find them, but Dexter was going as fast as was legal just in case.
“You still up for ice-cream?” Dexter asked.



Chapter 2


Maurice Edgar lifted his gun. The building ahead was abandoned and old. He tightened his helmet down just to be sure. He looked around at his squad of three. One did not hold a gun, but the other was holding a heavy assault rifle. It took less than thirty seconds for Maurice to realize that they building was heavily occupied. That was why his team was sent in.
They were after all, the very best.

“This is Jackal Lead to Jackal one and two. Do you copy?” Maurice barked into his headset.
“Jackal one, copy.” The man without a gun said. He was a thin wiry man. His dark brown skin set him apart from the rest.
“This is Jackal two, copy.” The other man yelled. He was the shortest of all of them, and thinnest.
Maurice was no slim man, he was built more like a body builder than anything.
“This is a simple hostage situation, so don't screw up.” Maurice barked. His voice rough.
“Rodger sir.” Jackal two said. Maurice ran in first, followed by his two men. Maurice signaled for the other two to head down the hall, and Maurice started checking for hidden gunners.

It had started two days before. A simple scouting mission went terribly wrong when Jackal two misinterpreted someone. Jackal three was quite ticked over the situation, and this lead to a group of terrorists grabbing a little girl. Maurice still was clueless as to how the series of events transpired as Jackal one and two had different accounts.

Of course they both had real names. Victor Thompson was Jackal two and Maurice's best friend. The two had been on countless mission long before this one, and rarely had they failed. Jackal three was really a new member to their squad as their general felt Maurice was needing more men. His name Was Philips Dobson. He was a soldier who despite his abilities loved his gun.

They all had insane abilities. No one knew where they came from, but it had been a phenomenon going on for at least a century. Victor had extreme powers, and a cunning counter to his kind-hearted nature. He projected a form of red energy. To see it in action was a sight in of itself as it looked like a red smoke, but bullets bounced off of it.
Their General however feared the negative of his abilities would eventually come to haunt them all. So far no one had learned it, but the energy when exposed to fire created violent explosions equivalent to one ton of TNT. The power seemed to also be unlimited, but Victor refrained from using too much in fear of what it could do.

Philips though was unable to create anything, but he could manipulate water. Maurice rounded the corner and noticed the entire place looked like it had not received any form of care for decades. The floors were cracked, and the cement chipped. The smell of mildew was strong. He looked around the corner, and then made his move. No one appeared, and Maurice felt nervous. The entire thing stank of ambush.

As if to answer the thoughts in his head a masked man jumped out and fired at Maurice, but Maurice dropped to his feet, and fired a dead on shot into the man's exposed chest.
“Prepare for live fire.” Maurice barked into his headset.
“Rodger.” Both replied. Maurice looked over the man to confirm he was dead. The bullet wound penetrated the man's chest, and was probably lodged in his heart. Maurice walked forward at the door across. He reached down for a grenade. He could see two  shadows at the door, and threw the grenade.

The explosion blasted out the door, and tore through the two men. Maurice saw them struggling in pain, one died quickly, but the other was dying more slowly. Maurice shot him to be sure. He saw the stairs and ran for them. Victor ran up behind him, and so did Philip.

“Ok men lets get this done. That door is the only one unchecked.” Maurice said.
“Rodger,” They both said.
Maurice walked up to the door, and kicked it down. He saw no one in the room, but there was a bomb across it.
“It's a trap, lets get out of here now.” Victor yelled.
No one waited as they scrambled back down the stairs. Maurice followed behind the rest of them. His gun was at his side as they ran, but just as they were rounding the last corner Maurice noticed a closed door. He hesitated, but picked up his gun and kicked it open. Two men opened fire on him, but he ducked, and took them both down almost simultaneously. These men were new, and Maurice was far to good at what he did to let them take him down. The girl was sitting on the floor tied up.
“Jackal lead where are you?” Victor's voice cried out into the radio.
“Get the Chopper ready I found the hostage.” Maurice yelled.
“Rodger.” He said.

Maurice dropped to his knees and removed the gag. She screamed something in another language. Maurice couldn't tell what she was talking about, but it was frantic. He untied her from the wall, and then picked her up.

Then came the deafening roar.

All he could see for thee second was smoke, bricks, and fire. He flipped over, and got to his feet. The girl had been tossed from his arms in the explosion.  She was laying against the wall  in a bloody heap. Maurice screamed, and ran to her side. He quickly ripped off his glove and placed it on her forehead. She gasped, and he sighed. Suddenly he was filled with agony as he saw his own skin crack and bleed, but her body was healing very quickly. Within seconds the only blood left were dried onto her skin. He was hurting bad himself, but he would heal soon enough.

That was his power. The ability to absorb the pain and injuries of others. He picked her up and ran out of the building. He noticed his headset was damaged, and he was not receiving anything. He made it out of the building and out onto the dry streets to see the chopper ready, and so he hopped in and shut the door. Phillip was piloting as Victor dropped to his knees and started talking to the girl. Victor sat up and looked at Maurice and frowned.
“You look bad.” He said.
“I will get through. Get us back to base where we can deal with this properly.” Maurice said.
Philips nodded and started speeding up the chopper, and it lifted off. Maurice sat back and sighed.

“Tell me why I should spare you?” Lady Rune said.
“Because I have learned. I can go on and do better this time!” He said. “I can get close enough to kill him.”
“That was actually a very good response. I expected much less from the likes of you.” She said.
“So you will let me live?” He asked pleadingly looking up at her. She twirled the knife a couple times. Then smiled at him sweetly.
“Indeed it was a good response, and that means you are quite intelligent.” She said. Then she scowled again, the leaned over and drove the knife into his neck.
”But it was far too good. We can not have anyone manipulating the system.” She said to him as he collapsed altogether. The blood that escaped from his neck was minor. He was already dead, and the blood was cutting itself off. She pulled out the knife, and wiped it on his clothing.

She turned to the guard in the doorway. He acted unfazed by what happened, but she knew he was shaken up. All mortals got shaken up by death; it scared them and reminded them of their own mortality. She on the other hand, being immortal, had no care for the man at all.

“Burn him. We do not want anyone catching on.” She said.
“Lady, if I may?” He asked.
“You have permission to speak.” Lady Rune said impatiently.
“We might attract too much attention if we burn him here.” He said.
“Take the body, cut it up, and burn it in the fireplace.” She said.
“But,” he started.
“Do you wish to join him? I can find a new guard.” She said.
His eyes widened, and he pulled out a knife, and walked over to the body. He gagged at he cut it. She walked out of the room. She would watch it, but she had no interest in staying. She had other men waiting. She also had to come up with another plan. The fools working under her were failing at every turn.

Jacob was standing at the massive wooden door. It had carvings in it, and on of them was a symbol showing three broken swords crossed. It was the symbol of the Nithcur. Inside the center of it though was an iron symbol of a fist holding back a roaring lion; the Lion Tamer symbol. Jacob noticed the door was ajar, so he pushed it open. Inside was a large hallway leading on for what seemed to be forever. On the right were shields with their owner’s name underneath them. Jacob walked along careful to check every room along the way. With every step he became more nervous. He knew something was wrong, but it didn’t seem like an intruder.

More like this was a trap.

Suddenly a small round object flew in through one of the windows. He didn’t waste time to see what it was. He knew what it was. It was called a deathfruit.

Suddenly the small object tore open exploding in fire and smoke. He was unharmed, but he had to find the person because the next attack he might not be so lucky. He reached for a deathfruit on his hip and plucked it off. He may need it soon.
He crept slowly through the dark shadowy hallways looking for his attacker. He peeked into several rooms cautiously. Nothing was moving, and Jacob could hear his own heart beating rapidly. His feet clacked on the cold stone floor.

Suddenly an arrow struck a panel next to him. He jumped away into a room and pulled out his sword. A shadow approached the doorway, and then he saw the shadowy figure of a man, and he was prepping another arrow.

Jacob quickly pulled out a deathfruit, and yanked the pin on it. He threw it just before the man fired. Jacob quickly hopped out the open window, and found himself out in the cool air again. While running in the moonlight he tried to stay out of the view of the windows. Another arrow shot out the window in front of him, but he stopped before being hit by it. He turned back and tossed his last deathfruit threw the window on the other side. After the explosion he jumped back inside as quickly as he could, but the man stood facing him with his bow. Jacob rammed himself at the man with his sword raised. The sword cracked his bow, and knocked the man over with his momentum. The man punched his sword away.

They both rolled over quickly and reached for their weapons, Jacob quickly grabbed his sword and swung it upward at the now standing figure, but it stopped half-way as he heard a familiar clang. The man pulled back his sword and swung down again, but Jacob blocked his blow easily. Jacob jumped up onto his feet, and still being on the defense blocked a couple more swings by the man. Jacob kept swinging but the man was getting faster and fancier with his moves.

Jacob pulled out and ran into another room with only a small window; it was the darkest room in the building. The room he was in was the weapons room. It had all kinds of weapons lining the wall. The man searched for him in the dark, but it was just as hard for Jacob to see the man as it was for the man to see him. Finally Jacob spotted a movement, so he leaped forward sword first. The man turned and swatted his sword away, but Jacob reached with his other hand and punched him. Jacob drove him into a wall where they both were unable to use their swords, and were unable to fight effectively. Finally the man pushed Jacob off of him and swung his sword down at Jacob’s arm, but Jacob repositioned for it to hit his shield. Jacob then broke from the fight again to get back out in the light. Jacob ran down the hall, but then quickly ducked into a room, and out another window.

By now he had figured out who he was fighting, and for some odd reason he knew it had to be Martin. Nobody else he’d seen had that much skill. Jacob knew how to fire a bow, but he left his at home thinking that this was just mere sword training. Jacob knew instinctively that he was supposed to fight and not flee. He ran as fast as he could toward the entrance. He finally had a plan.

He reentered and saw that Martin had been waiting for him with his new bow. Jacob realized his mistake of entering the weapons room just when the man fired his arrow. Jacob jumped away, and heard the arrow whizz by. He pushed back up and ran for the wall. He snatched up one of the decorative shields, and held it front of himself. They were large and better capable of handling a barrage of arrows than his small shield. Martin fired arrow after arrow as Jacob inched closer while moving the shield in time with Martin’s shots. Finally Martin reached for one, but came up empty, so Jacob ran forward yelling.
He shoved the shield into the man’s fighting arm, and pinned him to the wall. Jacob started groping for the man’s sword, but he could not find it. He punched the guy in the chest repeatedly, and then repositioned to take a swing at Martin’s face, but saw something glimmer on the floor.

“Enough, young man it is over.” Martin grunted. Jacob pulled back and saw to his wonder that Martin’s sword was broken, and in pieces on the floor. Martin looked down at them, and laughed.
“Come on boy we need to find the torches, I stuck them outside.” Martin said. He was getting up and straightening his helmet, and armor. They both walked slowly out to the well, and that is when Jacob noticed Martin was limping a little. They both grabbed the metal torches, and Martin struck his against metal. Sparks flew and then the torch lit, and using the first torch they lit the second.

Jacob split from Martin and started lighting the front rooms, and Martin lit the back ones. Jacob first walked into the library and lit the three torches, and noted that this room had been unscathed, but the dinning room across from it wasn’t so lucky, chairs were torn apart and knocked over. The table was charred, and the room still smelled like sulfur. Jacob left the room, and realized that he still had his visor down, so he lifted it, and was able to breath easier. He walked into another room and lit its torches, and continued to observe the damage.





Jacob set his torch out in the holder near the well, and walked back inside. Things were quiet now, and as he walked through the hall he felt somewhat proud of himself, but at the same time he felt nervous. He walked all the way to the back room. It was highly decorative unlike many of the other rooms. He noted the sculptures lining wall depicting many monsters both real and myth. Some of them were wolves, and others were large long necked dragons that walked around on massive legs. He carefully examined the monster on two meaty bird like legs, and had a small flat head, but Jacob could only look at it is gut which at first glance it looked like a big gaping hole, but upon closer examination he realized it had teeth and a tongue .

“That is a Gombrah; not a fun thing to run into.” Martin said.
“Good thing no one ever will.” Jacob said.
“Ah, but how do you know it is not real?” Martin asked.
“Look at it.” Jacob said “It is nothing but a hunter’s tale.”
“I disagree, but that is not important right now.” Martin said.

Jacob turned away from the figurines. Martin was sitting at the middle of the table in the back facing the door. He had a grimace upon his face that made Jacob concerned as he proceeded to walk up to the table.
“You have been a good student Jacob, but I can not tutor you any more. You see we all must strive to be the best, and here at this school I have taught you what I know, and not only have you learned how to fight; you also learned how to beat your master.” He said. Jacob took it all in, but he felt a bit bored as he felt like this was unnecessary. He did not interrupt him though.
“You must understand that now you must move on. There is nothing left to learn here.” Martin said.
“Jacob I must tell you that unlike most Nithcur I never have found any joy in the art of killing.” He said quietly. “So I am going to ask you, when would it be appropriate for you kill?”
Jacob widened. He was taken by surprise with this question. He stood there for a minute and contemplated the question.
“Not to sound rude, but I do not think there is a clear cut answer.” Jacob said reluctantly.
“It is not rude at all; you see I never could come up with a good answer,” He replied. “But I want you to at least give me something.”
“I will tell you when to never do it. You never do it for pride or honor, and never for revenge, but I would mostly only ever kill to protect the innocent from those who harm them.” Jacob replied firmly. Martin turned around, and looked hard at Jacob. Jacob stared back ready for him to yell about the answer.

Instead he turned around, and grabbed a box.
“Here you go.” Martin said while handing him the box. Jacob flipped the latch, and gazed inside. Inside was the broken sword pieced back together inside the holder. Jacob smiled.
“It is yours, just as I received the broken sword from my instructor. Now we must handle the most important thing.” He said, and then walked out from behind the table. He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a metal medallion, and it had a round dragon head on it, and behind the dragon’s head was a sword.

“I name you Jacob the Dragon Slayer.” Martin said. With that he slid the circular medallion onto a chain and placed it around Jacob’s neck. “You are now part of the Nithcur.” He said while wincing.
“Are you ok, Sir?” Jacob asked, but before Martin could reply, he collapsed.

__.....__


Jacob pulled the armor off of Martin quickly. He checked for holes, but unfortunately could not find any. Then he saw the blood around his hip. Jacob ripped the part of the armor off, and saw it was dented and torn.

Martin was unconscious, and Jacob worked feverishly to find the source of the blood. He saw a small puncture wound. He looked around for a cloth he could patch it with. He opened a drawer on a nearby desk then slammed it. He remembered they carried basic medical supplies in the dressing room. He got up and ran to the dressing room. It was a small room just large enough for a person to stand in and for a few cabinets. He quickly pulled out two large strips of white cloth. He ran back to Martin, and then wrapped his leg tightly in them.

He had learned all of this in his training. Martin always stressed that if he got injured he would need to know how to keep himself alive. He hated learning it, but was now glad he knew how. He Kneeled over Martin, and wondered why he would not let him know what was wrong. He checked the pulse again, and it was still strong, but Jacob needed to get a doctor. He picked up Martin and moved him to out into the master bedroom, and gently laid him on his bed. After he made sure Martin was still alive he ran out to his horse.

Surefoot was waiting for him as he quickly ran out to him. He hopped up onto Surefoot, and with a quick double pat Surefoot charged out and into the open. His horse carried him out to the old abandoned street, and then through the alley. He urged his horse through the streets, and finally he saw the lights of the festival again. He took the long way around, and his horse gained speed through the empty streets.

He made his way around the festival until he arrived at the small street with an even smaller house. Above the house was the sign that said Ron’s Heals. He got down and tied his horse to the stake. He then took the knocking stick from it is holder beside the door, and whacked it against the door. A young man stepped out.

“Are you Ron? I need you to see a badly injured man.” Jacob said.
“I am not Ron; he is away attending to a patient.” He said. “But I am his trainee, and I know a bit about wounds. Can you tell me where he is injured?”
“He has a wound on his left hip. It is a small wound, but it was bleeding hard. I have it wrapped up now.” Jacob replied.
“Is the patient conscious?” He asked while grabbing a bag.
“No.” Jacob replied.
“What caused the wound?” He asked as they both headed out their horses.
Jacob hopped up onto his horse. “I do not know, but I think it was a deathfruit.”
“Wait, was he in a fight?” The man inquired.

Jacob started to explain as they rode out to Martin.







Jacob was picking up the items strewn around the dinning room. He was waiting for the trainee doctor to come back out. After he wiped the smoke off the table he heard the door open, and the man walk in the room.

“Well he does not look too bad.” The young man said. “I removed a couple small fragments, and stitched him up.” He showed Jacob the fragment, which were tiny shreds of metal. “Pour this cleanser on his wound four times a day to keep it from swelling, but I think he will be fine.”
“Thank you.” Jacob said.
“No problem. Oh he is awake, and he wants to see you.” The man said just before leaving.
Jacob turned to enter the room. It smelled of disinfectants, but Jacob overcame the stench, and entered anyway. Martin was sitting against his headboard.
“Come in. I want to thank you.” Martin said. “I hadn’t realized how bad my leg was.”
“It is alright, the doctor confirmed you were hit by a deathfruit. Are you ok?” Jacob replied.
“My leg hurt, but I will be alright. There is one other thing I wanted you to know.” He said. “Some people are going to need proof that you are Nithcur. Always wear that necklace, and always keep the sword with you.” He said.
“And that will convince them?” Jacob said.
“Some, but others may need to see your skill as well.” He said. “You need to go home.”
“Yes sir.” Jacob replied. Jacob turned, and left the room




“You are ready.” The man on the ridge said to himself. He looked at the small brick house that Jacob called home. “You have joined the ranks of the Nithcur, and that is an amazing feat.” He bit a chunk out of his sandwich.

He stood up and brushed off his cloak. It was a large black cloak that covered his body. It looked as though here were part of the shadows. He tugged on the twisted metal that looked to be his face. It didn’t budge; it never did. He walked back to his horse.

“Jacob, you will learn who you really are.” He said, and got up on his horse, and rode away.

Jacob now sixteen was outside sharpening his sword against the smooth stone. He had been working at this for hours. He had neglected it, and Martin was complaining. A boy named Caleb had come to watch him. He stared intently as Jacob slid the sword carefully across the smooth surface.

Caleb was about ten, and had messy light brown hair. He was Jacob’s brother by adoption. When Jacob and his mom escaped North-point village of the region of Nikrook they went and rented a small country house in the region of Lookook. Jacob’s Mom had taught Jacob how to ride the horse, so Jacob usually rode to town and got things. Eventually they had a large farm going, and Swift had a colt named Surefoot. Jacob owned Surefoot, and loved him.

Everything was normal until one day Jacob came down with the flu, and his Mom had to take care of him, take care of the farm, and run items down to town, so that she could sell goods to a marketer. His Mom had met Caleb who was trying to sell an old beat up cart, and seeing how they’d always needed a cart, she offered to pay a small fee to rent it before the harvest. He would only accept if he could stay with his cart. Not wanting to argue she let him help her, but one thing led to another, and not only was she renting the cart from him she was paying for his services running the vegetables to town as well.

A week later Jacob was back up on his feet and helping with the farm, but Caleb became a more effective way of transporting the vegetables and wheat. Jacob was also relived to no longer have to ride to town for sales. And since finding Caleb they’d found an in-town Marketer that would consistently buy their vegetables. Everyone was happy, and everything was calm.

Things changed a year later. A terrible storm was blowing through, and Caleb showed up unexpectedly. He wanted to come in out of the rain. Of coarse Jacob’s mom let him, but it took no time at all for her to ask why he wasn’t with his parents. He said they had died long ago, and that is why he had been selling the cart, and even running services for them. Little more was said before she put Caleb to bed. She came out that night to Jacob who was watching the last few lightning strikes before the storm disappeared forever. She asked him what he’d thought about Caleb living with them. It was a question he knew she was going to ask, and he’d already made up his mind that he liked Caleb, so he told her that he wouldn’t mind it.

That was that, Caleb accepted living with them, and to this day Caleb helped with everything. Jacob enjoyed having him around. Jacob bounced ideas off of him, and often needed his help with personal hobbies. Caleb on the other hand was not normal in his choice of hobbies. He loved explosives. This they learned shortly after they had bought some fire powder. Caleb got into it and burned a pile of it. He was burned by the explosion, but he was so thrilled by it he kept trying to get into it. His mom long gave up on keeping him out of it, and instead focused on him using it safely, and on his own time.

Today though they had nothing but free time; as the fields had been harvested, and they had finished selling everything, and Jacob was training with an old Nithcur known as Martin the Lion Tamer. Nithcurs were hard to find because they were the elite soldiers of Melendy. This one had greeted everyone in his village as he was opening a school. Martin met Jacob’s mother, and after talking with her apparently offered free lessons to Jacob.

So here they were, Jacob was preparing for his lesson that evening, and Caleb was watching him. Jacob looked over and saw that Caleb was holding the hunters knife he bought him. Caleb had already learned how to take down a small animal with one. Jacob used to see Caleb running through the fields chasing rabbits that plagued them badly. They had to eat the rabbits though, and Jacob had never liked rabbit.

Jacob picked up his sword and looked it over. There wasn’t a way to get it any sharper, so he slid it into his scabbard. Caleb got up and ran back to the house. Jacob slowly lagged behind. The fields had turned brown for the coming winter when the ground got cool, and the winds were starting too cool down from the blistering heat of summer and autumn. His mom was waiting at the door of their small home. The home it self was run down and old, but his mom still kept it tidy. Unlike in the north where they used to live homes here were made of brick instead of a hardened mud. He walked inside the dark home.

Inside did not look run down at all. The brick walls had tapestries on them, and the wood floors were swept of any dirt from the outside. It was a small area, in the corner was a table with three chairs around it, and in the back of the hut was a fire roaring, and above it looked to be one of his mom’s stews. The aroma filled the house, and made Jacob hungry.

“The food will be ready soon. Caleb can you go get me some sweet apples from downstairs, I thought I would make a pie.” His mom said while cleaning up some more things before dinner. Jacob walked upstairs for he was going to remove his workman’s cloths and don his warrior suit for his lesson tonight. His room was shared with Caleb, who for all his help in the field could not seem to pick up anything in the house, so his side of the room was a wreck.

While Jacob was putting on his silvery armor he was listening to his brother and mother talking.
Jacob always loved his armor. It was custom made for him by a blacksmith. He’d never learned exactly why the blacksmith had done it, but on his market day Jacob used to ride down into town, and he always liked stopping by the blacksmith and seeing him work. Eventually the blacksmith asked him why he hung around, and Jacob said because he wanted armor. He was young at the time so He didn’t think about how silly that sounded. The Blacksmith laughed and then asked Jacob what he should start with. Jacob had replied “a shield,” and so the blacksmith the next time Jacob arrived at his shop gave Jacob a shield. It was a small shield in reality. It was a sword fighter’s shield, but at the time it was huge for Jacob. Later Jacob stopped by and was given arm plates, and so it continued as Jacob received his helmet, his chest plate, leg plates, and one thing Jacob had never expected his leather under-armor. All of it too large for Jacob, but all of it Jacob had later grown into.

Now Jacob stood in his armor, it was light and easy to move in. The blacksmith he learned made light armors out of stronger metals. He could walk in it almost as easy as his work cloths. He shield was even smaller than most sword fighters shields, because he needed that hand free the grab other weapons.

He went to his dresser and pulled a drawer open. His brother did not know where kept them, but Jacob had locked the second drawer down, and made it to where you had to reach around the top drawer to access. Inside were a bunch of small round objects called deathfruits. They contained a large about of fire powder, and had small metal pellets inside. Jacob had those, and the dummies. Dummies were like traditional deathfruits, but without the pellets. That was the kind that martin used for training, so Jacob grabbed three and clipped them to his belt.

On top was a sword. It was a single handed sword. It was around two and a half feet long. It was completely straight, and had no real design to Only this that made it interesting was that it had nothing to distinguish it. Other students had all chosen very fancy and elegant swords, but Jacob had chosen something that looked like it could kill. Jacob slipped the sword into the scabbard. He strapped that to his belt as well.

He jump down to the floor below, and landed with a thud.
“Hey Jacob the food is ready.” His mom said, and then she looked him over. “I see you are ready for tonight.”
“Yes, I am going to run down there after dinner.” Jacob said, and readjusted his sword.
“Alright, I and Caleb will put the chickens away later then.” She replied.
“Thank you.” Jacob said “I am already going to be late as it is.”
“Then eat!” His mom motioned to the table

The meal was as good as it had smelled, and the pie had been even better. Jacob was getting prepared to go down when he saw that his Mom and Caleb were going down to the chicken pen to feed them and get them back in their cages. He watched them for a minute before setting out down the dirt road. It was an old chicken hut like everything they owned, but it did its job.

The road leading up to their home was trampled grass and dirt. It was a very ugly road, but it was the only way to get to the stables. The thing Jacob hated was that unlike most farmers they’d chosen to live outside the city. This meant they saved money traveling out of the city every day to work, but it also meant that the stables were a distance away. Luckily there was an old stable that farmers kept for there work horses, and this meant that Jacob didn’t have to go all the way to town.

Jacob reached the stable which a man was guarding. He was little old, and Jacob knew the man was no match for him, but he clearly was taking his post seriously. This was good if he was going to protect that stable from horse thieves.
“What happened to Jake Jones?” Jacob asked.
“He is taking the day off, so I am working his shift, the pay is good you know.” He said. “My name is Frank Hensley.”
“Glad to meet you, my name is Jacob.” Jacob said holding out an armored palm. The man reached out his hand and clapped it down on Jacob’s hand, and held it firmly before letting go. “Good to meet you too.” He said. “I guess you have come here for your horse, and may I ask what horse you own?”
“I own Surefoot.” Jacob said.
“Ah, one of the half-breeds.” Frank replied.
“You know about him?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, gave me fits while feeding him, and not much better when it came to his water” Frank growled.
“That is him.” Jacob said while the man was unlocking the gate to the stable. Inside it smelled horrible to Jacob. Unlike others he knew Jacob never liked the smell of a horse. It was a dirty smell that one had to get used to. He walked past several horses of all sizes and markings. The man led him to two horses, his mother’s horse Swift, and to the right Surefoot. Surefoot was a larger horse like the southern breeds, but his build and his shaping made him look like a northern horse. He was all white except for a large black patch around his eye. The man prepped the horse to be ridden, and Jacob glanced over at Swift. Swift was getting old, and wasn’t as fast as other younger northern breeds.

The horse was ready and Jacob mounted him, and then they clapped their hands again, and he rode out of the stable. Surefoot for being large was one of the fastest horses he had ever seen. He let Surefoot run as though they were being chased. Jacob never liked going that fast, but his horse did. After a few minutes the horse settled down and they both relaxed.

The sun was setting and it would soon be nightfall on their land. Jacob saw the rolling brown fields, and took in the view. The sky shown a brilliant orange as the sun set on the flat lands of Melendy. Up in North Melendy in the region of Nikrook he and his mom watched the sun set over the mountains, but now he lived in the region of Lookook, and it was flat. He heard that Nikrook was the only region like it, and that all the rest of Melendy was flat, but he still longed to see those mountains again.

It was night as Jacob entered the village filled with small huts. Everything at first seem as Jacob always knew, but something had changed. He could see lights in the middle of the city. It was off of his path, but he headed there anyway. As he approached the light He could here sounds of music, and laughter. When he arrived he realized what he was hearing and seeing.

Before him was the yearly festival of freedom. Jacob never quite understood it. It had to do with the battle that freed Melendy. Jacob just never knew why it was a three day event. His mom never attended it, but they all celebrated it at home. He had forgotten it was almost that time of year. He let his eyes adjust to the bright light, and then moved forward.

As he rode in he saw several events happening. The thing he saw first were two men on a platform fighting with sword dripping and sparking fire. He knew he was supposed to be impressed, but he found himself snickering at the poor job on the two famous fire swords. He looked at them for a fleeting moment, and then turned his attention to the fireworks display. It was impressive he thought how that could achieve all of those colors. He noticed that some people were startled by his armor. He nodded at them, and rode on to the large dance in the center of the village.

He arrived at the dance, and looked at the thirteen pillars with fire at the top of them. The pillar stood in a huge circle in the middle of the city square. The dancers were mostly clothed in skin tight blue or red clothes, but some were wearing street cloths. The performance was impressive by some, but others who joined the dance were clumsy. He noticed on each of the thirteen pillars were a man trying to keep the fires lit. The band on the far side was playing a well known battle song.

All of it was great, but not what Jacob rode into town for.

Jacob rode out of the festivities, and into a darker corner of the village. The street could only easily be accessed by alleys as the street ended way off to the south which was the only way to enter it. Jacob rode into the alley and came out on the poorly lit street. The houses were all old, and most were abandoned, but Jacob was going further. He came out to a road leaving town, and took it. It was the road that led him to the training grounds.

It had been a week since his last session. Longest period of waiting Jacob had ever had. Jacob had been training for the past few years, and had gotten quite skilled. The thing he dreamed of was to become one of the Nithcur. A Nithcur was an elite soldier that was highest rank of warrior in the military. Nithcurs were both master fighters, and great strategists. They usually held rights to lead armies off to battle, and were well paid by the King, or Council.

Thinking of that reminded Jacob that there was no king anymore. He had heard it from several men, but When Jacob was an infant the King was said to either have been killed by Devioun, or driven away by him. No one but the Council knew exactly what happened.

Jacob looked up at the shadows that lay ahead. Off on a hill stood a dark ruin; it was part of an old castle, and all that remained was the tower, and a smaller stone building connected to it. He breathed deeply as he approached the building. He arrived at an iron gate which always stood open. Martin had always said “If the gate were closed it would not stop an intruder, but would stop any help.” He rode his horse in and noticed that none of the lamps were lit. Jacob found this unusual, so he checked the area with caution.

Something was wrong, he could feel it. Everything was neatly put away; arrows taken off the board and put away. Not once had Jacob come to these grounds to find things put away. He rode his horse into the personal stable of Martin. He then noticed everything was neat and tidy in there as well. Jacob got off his horse quickly and ran toward the door.

Felicia put out the dying fire. She pulled her brown hair off her shoulders, and put a few more dishes back in the cabinets. She was in her mid twenties, and looked younger. The place was filthy from the dirt that came off the streets. Not that the place was that clean anyway. There was only so much one could do with dirt floors.

She set down her rag and looked at the chair. Her eight year old son, Jacob, lay draped in it. He had blond hair, and was blue eyed. His long hand clutched the blanket the blanket that was keeping him warm. He was not quite asleep, but he was close enough to be in an uncomfortable position. She touched his shoulder, and told him to go to his bed. He nodded, and went without protest. She watched as he drug his feet off to his bed.

Felicia dumped her water bucket out the door. The dirt street had at least twenty houses just on their side of the street. She felt privileged to own the home. She pulled the window garden inside to protect it from thieves.

She looked over the house, and realized here was nothing more she could do. This revelation made her relax. She walked into her room and changed into her nightgown. It was worn thin, but she loved it regardless. She heard a noise out side her bedroom, so she decided to go outside to see what it was. After exiting the bedroom it did not take her any time to realize who made the noise.

Jacob was standing on a chair holding a wooden sword when she entered his room. He leaped into bed upon seeing her. He hid under the covers when she approached. She reached down and tickled his ribs, and he giggled his way out from under the covers.
“What are you doing up?” She asked him.
“I was a warrior.” Jacob replied.
“Oh you were? Did you slay any gombrahs?” She asked.
“What are gombrahs?” Jacob asked with confusion. Felicia shook her head. “Maybe some other time.” She said. He pouted, but did not protest. She stood up and walked away.
“Can’t you tell me a story?” Jacob asked. She looked at him, and sighed.
“Sure.” She said. “What do you want?” She asked.
“I want a story about Sulfire.” He said.
She knelt against his bed. “Sulfire? Why there?” She asked with surprise.
“Because James told me it is ruled by a dragon.” Jacob said. Felicia laughed.
“No silly. It is ruled by The Dragon, he is a terrible man named Devioun.” She said.
“James said it was a guy who turned himself into a dragon.” Jacob said.
“No, James was wrong.” Felicia said. Jacob sat there thinking about this new knowledge.

Felicia sat down and thought about what to say. She then thought of a story Jacob might like.
“How about the story of Allan Nithcur?” Felicia said. Jacob nodded. “Well then, a long long time ago…”
“How long ago?” Jacob asked.
“What do you mean?” She suddenly asked with surprise.
“Was Dr. McCarthy around? He is really old.” Jacob said. Felicia stuttered, and then regained her composure.
“No silly, we are talking dozens of ages ago.” Felicia said.
“What is and age?” Jacob asked.
“An age is forty years.” His mom replied.
“Well then were his parents around? I bet they were 20 ages old.” Jacob said.
“No one lives that long.” Felicia said.
“James said the dragon did.” Jacob argued.
“Devioun is special.” Felicia said. “I guess I will go if you do not want to hear the story.”
“No! Please finish it.” Jacob pleaded. Felicia smiled and continued.
“Well over 40 ages ago, a man named Allan Nithcur owned a farm.” Felicia said.
“What did he grow?” Jacob asked.
“Will you quit interrupting?” Felicia asked him with annoyance. Jacob sat back and shut up.
“Ok, now Allan had owned a farm here in Melendy. He was told by Sulfirian soldiers he had to leave the farm. He fought them for the farm and won. The General of the Sulfirians was furious though, so he sent more troops. By this time his neighbors ran to help him, and they fought off the soldiers.” Felicia said. James snuggled into his bed to listen.
“That was when all his neighbors gathered together, and with him leading the army, went and took down all of the Sulfirians and drove them out of the city for good.” She said.
“Did Allen dance afterward?” Jacob asked, and Felicia stared at him.
“No, they decided it was time to move on. They wanted to free the other cities too.” She said.
“Oh, so they killed all the Sulfirians in Melendy.” Jacob said.
“You can say that yes.” Felicia agreed. “Then they celebrated for ten days when the Sulfirians were driven out.”
“I wish I had driven them out.” Jacob said.
“Oh it got worse.” Felicia said.
“It did?” Jacob asked with surprise, and tipped hid head over the side of the bed, so that he was looking at her upside down.
“Oh yes, much much worse. Devioun heard about these cities being taken away, and so he sent an army out to fight us.” She said.
“Was the battle really big?” Jacob asked.
“Very much so, Devioun sent his biggest army, and worse he came himself.” She said. “The army was so huge that it was impossible to see where it ended.” She said. Jacob sat there contemplating just how big that was. His eyes were really wide.
“Devioun would have won if Allan hadn’t cheated.” She said.
“He cheated?” Jacob asked in surprise.
“Oh yes. It was considered a terrible cheat.” She said. “He covered the fields all in fire powder.”
Jacob’s eyes were huge.
“When the army arrived, Nithcur had the sky filled with flaming arrows, and they blew up the entire field. After that the armies charged, and Devioun’s was weakened badly. Worse, his troops had to run around the flaming tar and woodchips.” Felicia said.
“I bet they won really easy then.” Jacob said. Felicia shook her head.
“No, quite the opposite, they nearly lost. Devioun started swinging his terrible sword called ash, and it burned up anyone whom it touched.” She said.
Jacob was just staring at that point. Felicia smiled.
“Nithcur took out his mighty sword. Unlike the red sword Devioun carried, it was smothered in blue flames, and was called Stonespark.” She said. “Nithcur started mowing down droves of enemies, and after a while they quit attacking him, and instead just ran by him and attacked other men. He made his way to Devioun.”
Jacob started squirming.
“The two fought very hard, but in a few minutes Nithcur overtook Devioun, and he acted like a coward and ran away.” Felicia said. Jacob giggled. “And that was when the armies of Devioun retreated back to Sulfire.”
Jacob gave her a hug. “Good night.” He said.
“You get some sleep, or you will be so tired that you can’t do anything tomorrow.” She said, and returned the hug.
“I will beat up and kill Devioun when I grow up, I will become just like Nithcur.” Jacob said.
“You are going to become a Nithcur?” She asked with a smile.
“Yes!” Jacob said.
“They are elite warriors.” She said.
“I know. I will become the best one ever.” He said. Felicia smiled.
She left him to his thoughts. She saw that she had left the curtains open, and went to them. She walked to the window and looked out to the sky.
“If only you knew.” She said, and drew them shut.





Northpoint village was quiet as Jacob sat on the dirt road with his friend James sitting next to him. He was a year older, and had much darker hair. They were waiting for dinner, and Jacob’s mom had cast them both out of the small house so she could work.

“Want to go see farmer Ben’s new chickens?” James asked.
“Nope.” Jacob replied.
“I heard that he got white chickens.” James said.
“That is nonsense; all chickens are brown.” Jacob replied.
James started picking up small rocks out of the ground, and threw them out at the other huts across the pathway. Another boy ran by their house, and stepped in Jacobs circles. Jacob who was furious went back to work making them again, but James got up.
“I am going to go see farmer Ben’s chickens.” He said.
“Okay.” Jacob said brushing some dirt off of his clothes.

They both got up and started running down the old dirt road. They were towards the middle of town, so it was going to take them a few minutes to get to farmer Ben’s field; his field was out beyond the old bridge. They came up to a bend that lead them through the town market. James took the lead and started running down towards the market.

The market was different from the rest of the town. When you arrived at the market you would see that there were bricks instead of dirt to walk on, and everything and everyone got louder. People having conversations would be walking from stand to stand, mothers would be carrying sacks of vegetables while dragging their screaming kids, but nothing was as loud as the stall-keepers.

Stall-keepers often were yelling as loud as they could to get potential customers. Every stand was competing against another, and every stand seemed to have the loudest person yelling for them. They kept displays up all the time, and were always sweeping the space around their stalls, so they had clean and tidy spaces, but the middle of the walkway was covered in patches and blotches of dirt and mud.

James ran slightly ahead of Jacob. They ran by people wheeling carts full of vegetables, and furs. James jumped and hopped on crates as they tore through the market. They turned down a smaller street to avoid the main street hustle. Jacob then took the lead and ran between houses with clothes hanging between them, and out into an open field. They ran through the field till they could see the brook.

The brook had long been said to be the deepest in the land. Some had drowned because they thought that just because it was narrow that it was shallow. James and Jacob walked around to the bridge, and crossed there. The roads lead them all the way to the farm of farmer Ben.

Farmer Ben was considered a crazy man, and most children stayed away from him. The farmhouse was a small and old place. The wood was so old that it was starting to rot in areas. The fence the surrounded the old place was equally old, and truly unfit to contain the sheep. Jacob could see the chicken coop from where they were, but it was empty.
“I do not see any chickens.” Jacob said disappointedly.
“Dennis said they were here.” said James.
“I do not see them though.” Jacob said.
Jacob ran toward the other edge of the farm, but before the he reached the edge he heard the city’s horn.






Felicia walked down to the market to buy some potatoes. She was almost relived when she saw the two boys had run off. Not that she wanted to be rid of them, but Jacob was always trying to help, and had a tendency to get in her way. She usually sent him out while she was prepping a meal. She was also glad to see he had made friends with the neighbor’s kid. She always worried about his tendencies to be a hermit.

She was preparing a potato soup, but she had run out of potatoes, and that was why she had to go get some. She loved going down to the market, and was usually glad to have an excuse to go down there. Many women had never paid much attention to her because she was an outsider. She never quite fit in to the lifestyle they lived, but she did try her best. She and Jacob had moved to this small village only two years before, but she and Jacob had become friends with their next door neighbors, so in some way it had somehow balanced.

Their neighbors at least had been kind to them from the beginning. They had been the ones to help them get the house they had needed. Felicia was poor compared to her old lifestyle when she first moved to Northpoint, and most of the rental homes had been taken, so her only choice was to buy one outright. She had only half the money needed, so in exchange for some labor help their neighbors agreed to help the buy the next door home. As it turned out the whole line of work had turned out to be something that she knew about, carpentry. Her father had been a carpenter, and before she had married she used to watch him during any free time she got. Her father had even shown her a couple of time how to saw wood and to use a sanded paper to scrape the splinters free. They helped her through all of this, and while others were cold to her, she knew she could depend on them.

She had finally reached the market. When she had moved here she was still recovering from the loss of her husband William. William had gone off into the war against Sulfire, but it was not two months after he’d left her that they brought back his sword saying he’d been killed in a hail of boulders.

“Hello, my lady!” She heard a man call to her. He was trying to sell furs. She sometimes liked looking at such things, but she needed to go get potatoes not furs. She headed down to a vegetable stand and started looking at the potatoes. The stall-keeper was talking to everyone but her. She ignored his rudeness and grabbed ten large potatoes. Suddenly he did notice her.

“Hello, how may I help you, my lady?” He said.
“I would like to buy these potatoes.” She said.
“Just a second here and we’ll see.” He replied.
He grabbed the sack of potatoes from her hand and set them on a scale. He brought them back.
“Five gold coins.” The man said, and she paid him. She took the potatoes and started heading back to her house.

She got near her house and saw that her neighbors had left. She set the potatoes on the counter and grabbed a large iron pot out of the corner. She grabbed a rod and used it to put the pot on a hook above the fire. She had added the water and seasonings earlier, so the pot was almost too heavy. She tossed three potatoes in the pot to boil. He job was almost done; she still had to clean up after the mess she had made earlier.

She heard the city’s horn blast. She dropped everything she had and ran outside. She saw men already scrambling. The horn blasted again.
“Jacob!” She said hoarsely.



The horn was unbelievably loud. Jacob and James charged from the farm back towards the market. Jacob looked around and saw red covered men gathering in the distance near the surrounding woods.
“What is going on!?” Jacob yelled.
“Attackers!” James said. Jacob decided that the horn was about the men gathering then.

The scrambled across the field, and Jacob could hear a bunch of smaller horns being blasted by the red armored people. He ran into the alley and out into the street.

Jacob ran through the panicked streets. James took a turn, and Jacob couldn’t see him. He suddenly realized he was separated from James, and was trying to find him. He was lost in the market, and was nearly run over by stall-keepers who had packed up and were trying to get out. There were spooked horses and other large beasts running through the streets unguarded.
“James!” His yell was drowned out. He hopped onto a crate and yelled again. People were yelling and screaming. He tried to get out of the way of another cart, but his shirt caught on a corner, and tore. He ran quickly for another safe spot.

Suddenly soldiers with their swords drawn ran through the streets. They were in leather armor with light blue metal plating, and each carrying a metal shield with the eight point star of Melendy.

The soldiers were running towards something, but Jacob was just trying not to get trampled. He ran down another street only to see the cavalry heading his way, so ducked back out. He was trying to get home, and still looking for James. He was scared, but he kept trying anyway.

Finally he spotted James, but they were on opposite side of the street. James spotted him through the madness as well.

They both could not get to each other.





Felicia spotted her son trying to get to the other side of the street. She ran through the crazed crowd trying to get to their individual homes. She pushed through stands that had been abandoned in an attempt to escape. Her son spotted her, and ran toward her. Just before they reached each other a policeman riding on a horse rode between them, but after that they embraced each other.

“What is going on?” He yelled in her ear. Despite being loud she could barely tell what he’d said.
“We will be safe.” She assured him, but wasn’t so sure herself.
The policemen were out directing people to their homes. Felicia was trying to find her way. Normally she could figure out how to get somewhere, but with everything and everyone in a state of terror she was a bit turned around.

“Hey!” she yelled at an officer. He stopped and turned to her.
“I need to find the stable; can you help me?” She yelled.
“Ma’am please we advise you to head home.” He replied
“I have a horse, a fast horse; please point me to the stable.” She pleaded.
He started to argue, but then he pointed of toward the heart of the chaos. “Better hurry that side of town is pretty much destroyed Ma’am.” She barely caught that last part as she was tearing through the streets with her son. He was weaving better than she was so they only held hands.

They were running down a street when the started hearing rumbles. At first she could not figure out where it was coming from, but then a giant fireball flew overhead and landed off to her left somewhere rumbling as it hit the ground. The city was being bombarded, and she was still with Jacob trying to get to the stables.

They got to a clearing, and what they saw wasn’t pretty. It appeared that the enemy was attacking the city plaza. Jacob pointed, and she almost cried in relief, the stables were still standing. She however noted that the gate keeper was no longer there. She and Jacob ran to the gate, with a little caution she lifted and dropped Jacob over the tall gate, and he promptly opened it for her. She ran in and saw all the horses bucking and kicking, but she was looking for her horse.

She found her horse which was strangely calm compared to the others, but she still seemed anxious. The horse was a perfect white, and was a small horse. Her name was Swift. Felicia’s husband had bought the horse long ago, but it had taken a long time to tame her. She was a wild horse of the north, and as such she had roamed the plains. Northern horses were highly sought after.

She entered, and Swift nearly raised onto her hind legs before Felicia calmed her.
After reassuring her everything was fine she put the blanket on and then the saddle. After fastening the saddle she proceeded to put on the bridle. A small chunk of rock tore the roof open. Jacob screamed, and clung to her leg.

She put Jacob up first, and then rose upon the horse herself with Jacob behind her. After unfastening the horse she made a noise in her ear and they rode the horse out. The city was still being bombarded, but now there was little left, rocky mud homes had been demolished by the flaming boulders, and the hay roofs had been burned down.

In one direction she saw the Melendian army fighting the soldiers in black and red. She gasped at how few there were left. The black and red army she knew very well. It was the Sulfirians, and they were already riding the red banner in. She quickly turned the horse around, and took off in the other direction. There was little left of the Melendians anywhere; only a house or two stood standing. The site horrified her, and yet didn’t surprise her either. The Sulfirian’s king, Lord Devioun, had burned down cities before, so there was little to be surprised about.

She rode down from the village hill to a little bridge, and quickly crossed it. She saw that the fields ahead were not clear, but filled with siege weapons and cavalry of Sulfire. She knew there was little she could do, but either wait them out, or charge them and hope she made it through alive.

She charged at them.

Her horse ran over the rolling field, but for her speed Felicia wondered how she was going to slip out of the wall of horses ahead. The catapults still launching their flaming boulders above her head; she rode down at the wall, and that was when the charged at her. She turned her horse to the right, and some of the men jumped out of line; exactly what she wanted. She turned around and some of the men went around her, and turned around in pursuit. She took a sharp right again and found herself out of the ring of soldiers. She charged her horse toward the war machines.

She thought she was in the home stretch until she saw a man standing in front of her. He was not any man though; he was Lord Devioun. She stopped her horse, but the other men were not pursuing anymore. She was in a trap.

“Enough men!" She is mine!” He yelled. She was close enough to see his young face. He looked no older than 18, but anyone who knew anything about him knew he was very much older. His long fine blond hair was lashing around in the wind, and he had terribly dark eyes. His armor was a simple and rounded in shape, but not many gaps in it, and it was painted in black with red design much like the rest of his army.
“Do you surrender?” He yelled.
“Never!” She roared back, but she did not waist time she charged her horse forward, and tried to go way around. He then pulled out a sword; A red glowing sword. He held it high above his head, and then he stuck the ground beneath him.

At first nothing happened, but then she realized the earth beneath her was rumbling. She urged her now extremely frightened horse, but her horse reared and tried to buck her off. Devioun drew his sword out, and from the hole left the earth started cracking everywhere. She saw the land quaking and shaking beneath them, and the land tore it is self apart before her very eyes. She urged her horse once more, and this time the horse bolted forward so quickly that she nearly fell off. The horse in its terrified state jumped over loose rocks, and dodged the ever changing landscape. Jacob clung to her back tighter than ever. Felicia reached her arm around to hold Jacob, and pulled him around in front of her. The rumbling was quieting, but she now heard arrows whizzing by her head as she now was headed for the forest, but worse she turned to see Devon’s War dogs perusing them. They were small grey and white beasts, but they were as fast as any horse and as ferocious as lions.

She was nearing the forest, but the dogs were gaining on them. She looked for anything on her saddle that she could hit them with, but could not find anything. Finally she reached the forest edge, but the dogs did not break pursuit. What did happen though was she realized they were going to get out of there. She knew these lands, and so she carefully guided the horse down to lower ground. The dogs were still pursuing, but they had lost ground. She headed lower still down near the river.

As she neared the waters edge she looked for the perfect place to cross. Suddenly the dogs popped out of the trees very close, so she just pulled her horse out into the water. The horse resisted for a second, but then charged into the water and made her way for the other side. It was not a difficult task for them, but the water was rushing fast enough that the dogs were being carried away. She got out on the other side with her ankles damp, but she saw the dogs break pursuit and run back to their master. Jacob was still safely in front. She turned the horse, and headed south.

THE NEW BEGINNING


Dr. Otto Octavius was working on debugging his arms code. He was so close to having every minute control fixed. Peter's Glue worked perfectly to get his arms linked to the harness. and the epoxy applied.

Ok uploading again. He walked over to the arms, upload 87% complete. He started to get the arms in their slots, he looked back at the screen, complete. He grinned and turned back to his arms. They were all ready for showing off, his life was going to get easier again. He sighed with relief, then turned around to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Norman Osborn was holding the gun.

“Hello Otto, I'm sure you know what I'm here for.” Norman said Smiling that horrible sickly grin of his.
“Surly you would at least let me have the arms, I've given you over $3,000,000.” Octavius said.
“Oh, I don't need the money, I wanted to destroy you.” Osborn said. “If I needed money I would have dealt with someone who had it. Those arms however would be perfect for my needs.”
“You can't take them!” Octavius said.
“Oh I can, and I will. Whats more you will help me, if you want to live.” Norman said.
He waved the gun over at the arms, then pointed it back at Otto.
“Hurry up,” He said.
Otto got to work on it he started charging up the arms. He was feverishly trying to come up with a way to kill Osborn, but nothing came to him. The arms were almost done charging, he had to come up with something fast.
“I'm growing highly impatient, if you want to live, get those up and running now.” Norman said. Then pulled on the trigger, the bullet went into the mount where his arms were resting.
The arms were done charging, he had run out of time.
“Ok Norman, stand on the platform and the arms will attach to you.” he said.
Norman walked up and stood on the platform. It had suddenly jolted the doctors memory on what to do. He looked down at a lever next to his desk and pulled it.
“What are you doing!!!” Norman screamed.
“Killing you!” Octavius Yelled with hate.

The next events happened very quickly, the lever that Octavius pulled emitted a high pitch sonic blast, the octopus and squid tank shattered. And the wall of water collapsed on Norman.
Otto braced himself for impact. The water hit hard and nearly pulled him off his feet, but he managed to stay standing. Glass and water was everywhere, Otto walked over to his arms, they still stood in perfect condition. He looked around for Norman, he was laying in the ground in bad shape, from the looks of him he was dead.
He did it, he stopped Norman Osborn! The Monster wasn't that strong after all.

Octavius thought about what had just happened, how he was bullied his whole life, how everyone was watching him, waiting for him to make a mistake. Then holding him under their thumbs the second he did. How his wife theft him because he was getting old, how Norman haunted his every living moment. Everyone hated him, he knew this, and they would pay, he would take power.

Norman was right, the arms were what he needed, he could get back at everyone with them.
He stood in the harness, and strapped it on. The arms came to life, whirled around him and danced like snakes. He stood there and turned to Norman.
“You were the first of many to feel my wrath. Now the whole world will know that I am a man to be reckoned with.” he said.
His arms pulled him up in the air, then started plowing machinery out of his way.
He plowed his out the lab, calling out:
“I will not be afraid of anyone again!!!”
__.....__

“So Parker, you decide to come early like me, good idea.” Cletus said.
“Well if you think it's a good idea maybe I should start planning on 15 minutes late.” Peter said.
“You really hate me don't you.” Cletus said.
They walked up the steps and on into the building. When they got in Peter said:
“No, I just hate that you don't value life at all.”
“Maybe you should look around, we are the most wasteful beings on the planet. We have no respect for the earth, and we have managed to unbalance the ecosystem beyond repair.” Cletus said.

“First of all, you and I both know that global warming isn't happening, it's over, two carbon emissions are to small an amount to effect the overall temperature of the earth. With a constant same temperature sun yes it would but, the earth moves in and out. The temperatures are falling again anyway. But thats not the point, killing is wrong, and you are a killer in spirit.” Peter said vehemently.

“Oh someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” Cletus said with a scowl.
“Stop changing the subject, your wrong, killing mankind off will do nothing but destroy, and think about how many lives would be ruined.” Peter said still angry.

Cletus started to say something but suddenly they both heard a high pitch noise, along with the sound of the worlds largest glass breaking. Next they heard shouting and stomping. It was coming from Octavius's lab. Peter ran towards the at Pet double doors which had water gushing through the cracks. Suddenly both doors came off their hinges, flying out at him. He ducked, and they just barely missed him. Peter looked up and saw Dr. Otto Octavius wearing his arms.
“Kassia!!!!” Octavius yelled with murder in his eyes.
Cletus ran out the door, he was sprinting toward his car. As much as peter hated to admit it, he had to distract Octavius long enough for Cletus to get away.
“Don't do it.” Peter yelled at Octavius.
Octavius turned to him, and scowled.
“You are nothing, so I will deal with you accordingly.” He said.
And with that one of Octavius's arm whipped around and hit Peter in the gut. Peter went flying end over end across the room and through the glass doors on the other side where he smacked into a set of large Plexiglas containers. The last thing he remembered before he passed out were two tiny stings in his arm.


__.....__

Dr. Curt Connors was driving in his car when he came up to his lab. It was surrounded by ambulances, fire trucks, police, and the media. Curt got out of his car, but he couldn't get anywhere because of the onslaught of reporters.
They were yelling questions at him, of course he had no idea what was going on, he just got here. But then one lunged out and said:

“How does the Dr. Octopus crisis affect your research?” the short brown haired lady said.
He brushed by not saying anything, until he got to the lab's lawn where he saw yellow police tape.
“What have they done.” he muttered.
A police officer came up to him, she started to tell him to stay back, but he showed his ID so she let him through. He walked across the lawn and saw several heavy containers and machinery laying around. The lawn itself was bad, but what was really surprising was a mid-sized SUV caught in a tree, dangling dangerously.
A young male Officer walked up to him, and stared at his missing arm for a minute; something Connors had gotten used to over the years. No matter how hard you try if people have something wrong with them it usually gets noticed first.

“So what is going on? I don't like being in the dark about whats going on.” Connors said.
“Well I don't have a lot of Info, but as far as we know Dr. Octavius started tearing through here on his arm gadgets. We had fourteen calls about a Dr. Octopus” The cop said.
“So any reason he did this?” Connors said.
“We were kind of hoping you knew.”
“Great I have no clue, so how many were hurt.”
“Well hurt we have a lot of, about 36 the last time I checked, 27 of them are critical, and 20 people are dead.” the cop said.
“Wow, can I talk to any of my guys who were at the scene?” Connors said.
“Well we have one, his name is Peter Parker.” the cop said.

Connors wasn't surprised that Peter would be there. As clumsy as he was Connors always got the feeling that Peter could handle himself. He walked up the steps which were crumbled up. They stepped in and Connors saw damaged tile leading to what used to be a door. Peter was sitting on a chair next to Betty Brant on the far side of the room. Connors after looking at the mess in the main hall walked over to Peter.

“Hey Peter, I hear you caught up in this mess.” Connors said, then looked at all the large cuts and bruises, Peter was not in good condition. He continued “Are you all right? Has anybody looked you over?”
“Yeah I've been checked on bye the paramedics, but I told them this was nothing I couldn't handle and they went on to people who really need help.” Peter said. “I mean all I have are a couple of broken ribs and a few bad scrapes, there are some people here who are on the verge of dying.
“What happened? I mean was it Octavius, or is something else going on?” Connors said.

Peter sighed and looked at the floor, then looked back up at Curt.
“You know you are the eighth person to ask me was it Octavius.” He said. “ Yes it was him, and he did go crazy. Me and Cletus were arguing about something when we came in, and then we heard the glass fish tank in Octavius's lab shatter. Then he plowed through those doors.” He pointed at the wrecked door frame. “He started to go after Cletus, I tried yelling at him to buy Cletus some time. He quickly tossed me through those doors” Pointing at the spider-lab. “I really don't know about anything after that.”

“Did you get the spiders dealt with?” Connors suddenly concerned, and looking around on the floors.
“Yeah me and a couple of other guys got them rounded up, but we lost Octavius's gene-poison spiders, they got really squashed.” Peter said.
“That's not good.” Connors said, hen turned to Betty.”Do you know anything?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I was caught in traffic, by the time I got here the police were just arriving.”
Connors sighed then said, “Well if you guys don't mind I'm gonna check around.”

He turned around and headed for Octavius's lab, or what was left of it. From what he could see the entire place was a wreck, the stench was bad with a dead squid. The good thing was that the water drained out fairly well. He guessed the Octavius was right in putting big drains in case something bad happened.

The police were everywhere, that same cop seemed to be doing a lot to maintain the peace outside. Connors looked over the mounting place for the arms, and saw some damage, like it had been charged too much to fast. Then he looked at the middle of the mount, and saw a bullet.
“Hey come over and see this.” He said.

A female cop ran over to him and looked.
“Looks like a 9mm round.” she said.
“Yeah, but it's weird for it to be here.” He said.
“Your right, I'll look into it.” She said.
“Could he have been threatened?” Connors asked.
“Yes, and this honestly looks like a stray round, lets see if there are more in this room..” The cop said.

She then walked of and showed it to some other cop. Connors contemplated the implications of Octavius being threatened. He was concerned, was someone using him? Or was it something else?

__.....__


A LAND OCTOPUS


The next day Peter sat on his bed, he was not doing so well. He was not really sick, but he was feeling a little dizzy and he felt a little off-balance. Connors had given him the week of because off injuries, and they were not going to be able to do much anyway. Gwen had come over and asked how he was doing, she also brought a pound cake.
After she had left things got lonely. He had watched television, but all that was on was the Doc Ock coverage.

He got up out of bed, and walked to the kitchen, he walked faster than usual. He was feeling really weird, but thought he might just be hungry. He grabbed a microwavable pizza a stuck it in. While he waited he turned on the TV, more Doc Ock speculation. Do these people have a life?
“This just in, an actor known as Quintin Beck has announced his plan for dealing with “Doc Ock”.
The screen changed to an image of the famous actor, who had Brown hair and eyes. He was tall and was wearing a green shirt.

“I believe that the cops are not doing their job, and as a result I am currently devising a suit capable of stopping this mad man.” Quintin Beck said.
“this man wants to take our freedom and our safety, we will not let him. And we the people have a right to defend ourselves.” he said
A reporter asked him a question that could not be heard.
“Yes, I Believe that the cops are inadequate. Go ask them how many super-villains they have taken down.” he said, then turned back to the camera.
“If we want our homes to be safe we need a hero, I am that hero. End of discussion.” He said, and then walked out of view of the camera.
Peter contemplated his words. No the Police were doing the best they could, and this Quintin Beck could just be blowing hot air. It always annoyed him when people started acting like experts on subjects they have no clue about.

Peter walked back into the kitchen his food was ready, so he sat back down to eat., Thinking that this was going to be a long day.

__.....__

Dr. Octavius was Knocking cars out of the way, sometimes throwing them, but only when he felt like it. Arnold Thompson was around here somewhere, just hiding in all this wreckage. Who would he take down first, Arnold or these pesky cops. On suddenly shot at him from behind, pesky cops win. He grabbed a car and threw it at the cop who shot at him. A couple more shot at him, so he tossed cars at them.

He got bored and went back to whacking cars aside looking for that Thompson guy.
Then he saw the little guy running down an ally. So Octavius just stomped through the ally. The little rat start hiding again, back whacking cars, he thought that this was going to be a long day.

__.....__


Capt. Stacy stood there ordering his officers to cease fire, and to relocate.
How they were going to get this guy was beyond him, but he was going to try his best. He already lost three Officers to this lunatic.
“Sir, we have a problem, He seems to be chasing one particular guy.” One of his younger Officers said.
He contemplated this, and thought of something. He picked up his radio.
“Sneak up and find the guy he is chasing, and bring him back.” he called out.
He saw two of his officers sneak though the cars and rubble. One thing Doc Ock provided was cover. The SWAT team still haven't arrived, they were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago.

He grabbed his gun and pointed it at Doc Ock. If he had to he would shoot this guy down. His guys were getting close to the place were Doc Ock was searching. If he tried he might be able to get off a sneak shot, but he also saw what happened when you miss.

“We got the man he's chasing, he is frightened.” One of his guys said.
Doc Ock tossed around some more cars, and his guys kept getting closer to the squad cars. He was starting to wonder if he was going to make it out alive, and if so at the expense of how many?
The officers got back with a man in their grasp.
“Get in the car, and drive fast I'll deal with this Ock.” Said Capt. Stacy.
“Ok sir.” an officer said.
As they drove off, he grabbed a shotgun out of his car. He headed closer to where Doc Ock was, he was now within 50ft. He then raised the gun and fired, missed darn it. He kept pumping and shooting. The second hit him in the arm, the sixth hit him as well but in the leg. He tossed that gun aside, and pulled out his .22 pistol. Doc Ock was heading for him, but he was bleeding. He pulled up his gun and fired, and got him the chest. Doc Ock raised a car to receive the next blow. He then just dropped it on Capt. Stacy who was only saved by the cars still good tires.

While trying to get out from under the car he heard Doc Ock leave. He sighed looked around seeing no Doc Ock and all the damage, and went to help someone get out of their overturned car.

__.....__

Try as he might Dr. Octavius was having a hard time with his poker face. He was shot in three places, an arm a leg, and his chest. He would have to add that cop to his list of people who would pay for wronging him. There were things about these arms that he would have never guessed would happen, such as being able to cling to buildings, or lift cars. He always believed in doing this in the most dramatic way.

He got up and walked to another building, he was going home.

__.....__

Two

Peter was laying down on his bed feeling much better, he had been through one of the worst sick spell in his life, but he was pulling through now. It felt like his muscles had tightened, and he still had a migraine though. He rolled over, the agony spread through his body.

He decided it was time to take some Ibuprofen. He sat up, and screamed in pain. The pain, the pain, it was so bad. He got up still in pain, this time he was dizzy and not seeing straight, even with the glasses. He reached for the wall and propped himself against the wall, then he realized his hand was stuck to the wall. He yanked against the wall, and the paint ripped off the wall.

Stunned, Peter sat down staring at his hand, no glue so there must be another explanation. He grabbed his bed and felt it stick there to, but he noticed it was a bit a claw like sensation. He stood back up, the pain wasn't as bad as it was before, more background ache than a true pain. Then headed for his lab kit.

He pulled out his magnifying glass and looked at his hand for anything, he saw tiny hairs with hooks in them. He studied them for a while, they looked weird. He thought about clinging to something, and they stood up; he wanted to release, they laid down. He took of his socks, then looked for a stud in the wall, and he started clinging to wall with his hand. Then put a foot on the wall, then the other, he was clinging to the wall! He climbed higher, the started on the ceiling, he was more cautious than ever. It was thrilling! He was now on the ceiling! Then he dropped onto the floor, and wondered why was this happening?

He thought about his DNA, was he some kind of freaky mutant who during a shock, suddenly started having bug powers? He had a theory that people can activate parts of their DNA, that made them live older, but clinging to the ceiling? He suddenly realized he was starving, so he went to get some food out of the fridge. He opened the door, and when he let go of the door handle parts of it fell to the floor. He stared in amazement. And looked at his hand, he didn't look that different, other than if you look really closely.

He grabbed the pieces, and started setting them on the counter; then grabbed his jacket, he was going to talk to somebody who would help him.

__.....__

“Doc Ock,” Dr. Octavius thought, yes he sorta liked the name, it had a nice ring to it.
He got to his makeshift generator, and turned it on, the lights were on and he booted up his computer. He had to make some adjustments in the arms, defense against bullets, and faster reflexes were top on his list. He also thought about making them longer, because he wasn't sure that 10 ft. Would get the job done. Maybe 20 ft., that would help with larger objects.

He sat down and read the news on his computer, he was dodging the real question. The question that was bugging him all this time. Why did he do it? There it was, he killed several people, destroyed a lot of property, and wrecked lives. Did they matter? Honestly he had always been told to care for other people, but why? It didn't affect him, he affected him. That was why he did it, others don't matter, he did. He was all that mattered.

He read a headline saying that he was mentally ill. He wasn't crazy! How could they call him that. What he was, was smart. The world told him it was every man for himself, and that was all he was doing. He looked up the name of the writer, then added it to his hit list. He was low priority, but
Nonetheless this guy was sick, and had to be taken care of.

He turned on his blow torch and got to work on the new composite for the arms, bulletproof was key to stopping that cop.

__.....__

Harry was sitting at his desk working on a modified version of his glove, the battery life on this thing was weak, so he was now concentrating his energy on a better battery. He had come up with away of holding electricity in a non-solid environment, now he just had to miniaturize it.

He realized he hadn't blinked in a while so he sat back for a minute and thought about what he was going to do next. Suddenly someone knocked on his door. He got up slowly, putting something in their drawers, then walked to the door. He opened it up to Peter.“Hey Pete, anything wrong?” he asked. Peter looked just a little worried, and that made him wonder why.
“Yeah, I'm having something weird happen, could I come in?” Peter said looking around.
“Yeah, sorry.” Harry said motioning Peter inside.
“Sorry about the mess, I was working on something.” Harry said.
“Thats ok, I am a slob myself.” Peter said.
Harry walked into his kitchen which was three times larger than Peter's. It was much nicer apartment, he thought for a minute.
“So what's the problem, girlfriend maybe?” Harry said sipping a soda.
“No, and this is sort of awkward.” he paused. “it would probably be better if I can just show you”
Harry raised eyebrow, then motioned to continue. Peter then took off his shoes and socks. Then he took one look at the wall, and jumped up the wall. The jump was an impressive four ft., but the fact that he clung to a wall shocked Harry into dropping his soda all over the floor.
“Ha, ha ...” He stammered, “... How were uh, did you do that?” Harry said still shocked, and unaware of the soda getting all over the floor.
“I don't know, my hands do have tiny hairs on them which seem to have something to do with my ability to cling to walls.” Peter said jumping back down.
“But the jumping, that was like a flea.” Harry said.
“Maybe we do some studies with real lab equipment.” Peter said.
“Yeah, Alan could have helped me, but I'll have to get to the genetics lab myself.” Harry said.
“Can we get there soon?” Peter asked.
“Yes, just give me a minute to clean this mess up.” Harry said pointing at the floor.

Harry got paper towels, and started cleaning up the soda. Peter was feeling stronger than ever. But what could have caused this? His abilities didn't come into existence until today. Why was that? Yesterday he had been knocked across the room, was it trauma? Who knew?

“Ok Pete, lets go.” Harry said while holding his keys.
They stepped outside and walked into an elevator, then Harry pressed the down button.
When they got out, Peter noticed that Harry was thinking to hard to realize Peter was still there. He got like that sometimes, usually when he is onto something. The irony is that back in high school Harry was a grade behind, and Peter was one ahead. Now harry was right up there with Peter in the scientific field, but he was into physics were as Peter was into genetics.

Harry was pulling out of the parking lot. He was only ten blocks from Oscorp, so he was able to go any time he liked. Peter was placing his hand against a window, then pulling away. The sensation was really weird.

He saw Harry pull into Oscorp, he still wasn't talking. Peter always felt uncomfortable with no one talking. Harry kept glancing at Peter out of the corner of his eye, which didn't make Peter feel anymore comfortable. Now Harry was pulling into his designated parking spot.

Harry and Peter got out of the car, still not talking. Harry was typing something that resembled a PDA, Then folded it into his pocket. Harry now walked into an elevator, and motioned Peter to follow him. Once they were in Harry turned to Peter.
“I think that you must understand we have to keep this a secret, so we need to cover your face.” Harry said. Then he pulled a red ski mask out his pocket.
“Here put this on, and when I open the elevator I want you to stay hidden till I can make sure nobody is here.” Harry said, Peter noticed he looked worried. The elevator door opened, and Harry stepped out, Looked around then motioned Peter up at the ceiling. Peter jumped up, and crawled up the wall. He wondered if he looked as dorky as he thought he did. Harry was scanning the area to make sure that nobody was around. Luckily nobody was, Harry came back to him.
“I've got to disable the elevator first.” Harry said.
“Cool, how do you do that?” Peter asked.
“Watch,” Harry replied.
He pulled out his PDA thingy, then typed something into it.
“There, now we are safe.” Harry said.
“What is that thingy?” Peter asked.
“Something I have worked on for a long time. It cost me a lot of grades, but it controls the electronics and security in this building.” Harry replied.
“Cool,” Peter said.

They both headed toward the Plexiglas-glass chamber in the center of the room. Peter was bouncing up and down which seemed to be annoying Harry. Harry punched some more command into his PDA. He hated the way Harry was acting like he was showing off. The real issue was that he couldn't help it, he was feeling the need to jump up and down.
Harry looked up and down between the displays on his PDA and the ones in the lab.
“Ok, get inside, take off your shirt. If the sensor is going to measure your vital signs the shirt has to go.” Harry said.
“Ok,” Peter said.
He headed in and started bouncing some more. Suddenly he thought himself rather funny for this one.
“I'm The amazing Grasshopper-man!” He said leaping in the air.
Harry lifted his eyebrow and headed back to work. Peter thought he was too serious.
Suddenly a Bright blue light shined from the ceiling. Peter looked at it for a minute wondering what it was. He started getting bored in the empty container. He started thinking that his must be what it feels like to be a hamster when Harry got on a microphone.
“Ok there seems to be something wrong, it can't decide weather or not you're human.” Harry said.
“That's bad isn't it?” Peter shouted.
“Yes that very bad. I checked it against myself, it came back that I was human.” Harry said.
“What do you think is causing this?” Peter shouted.
“Your DNA has been severely altered.” Harry said.
“That also couldn't be good.” Peter said.
“You clearly aren't taking this seriously. This deadly bad, you could have as little as ten minutes before you fall over and die.” Harry replied.
“Wouldn't I be feeling worse if I was dying?” Peter asked.
“Not necessarily. According to this you have an average pulse of 80 Bpm.”
“Oh, that is bad.” Peter said. “Can I get out now?”
“Yes,” Harry replied.

Peter put back on his shirt and walked back out of the container. He felt a lot less imprisoned out here than in that ugly blank room. He turned to Harry who seemed to be shutting things down.
“I need to know what caused this. These things don't happen on their own; are you testing any kind of DNA altering device at your lab.” Harry said giving him a stern look.
“No... but there is a DNA altering Spider that got crushed when I was tossed through the glass doors.”
“Could it be causing this?” Harry asked.
“Well we've only tested it on fish so far, with deadly results. Their DNA got vastly altered, and if they hadn't died of shock they would have continued to mutate.” Peter said.
“We need to get a sample, and make an antidote fast.” Harry said.
“We have an antidote that would stop the mutation, but not revert it. That still doesn't save them from dying of shock.” Peter said.
“Get it, is it safe for you? I need to know Peter.” Harry said, he was getting very upset. Peter wasn't feeling much better.
“No, it's never been tested on humans, nor has anybody ever been bitten by the spider.” Peter said.

Harry set down his PDA ran his fingers through his hair
“There has got to be something, I mean we can't just let you die. Get Dr. Connors he would know, right?” Harry said in frustration.
“If I could sneak into the lab, maybe I could get a sample and test it on myself. Getting Connors into this would be bad, as good as the man is he would probably want run some more test on me, and I don't want that.” Peter said.
“Get the antidote. I'll get some better testing supplies. Meet me back here at ten, how does that sound?” Harry said.
“I can do that, but make it eleven just so I can wait till everybody is gone.” Peter said.
Harry looked up at the monitor. Then picked up his PDA and walked away. Harry was like that one minute he was talking his head off, next he was in another world.

Peter straightened his shirt and bounced toward the elevator, he realized he would get caught, so he bounced into another room that had a window, opened it and started to crawl down the side of the building, it was an exhilarating experience. No one else in the world could do anything like this, and here he was doing it like he was born to crawl up and down walls. He saw that the traffic was fairly light, he decided he was getting pretty close to the ground and just hopped down. He barely missed pouncing on an elderly lady, but at the last second she moved so thankfully she wasn't harmed.

He saw startled glances from just about everyone, he just decided to hail a cab. Nobody was stopping, so he walked across the street. He thought to himself that this was just so crazy. Nobody in the world could have this problem, but he did. He was a freak and nobody had answers for how to deal with it. Now he could die in 24 hrs. Or less, if he could survive it would be a miracle. He decided to call Dr. Connors. He heard the phone ring, then he heard Connors pick it up.
“Hello this is OcCon labs how may I help you.” Connors voice came over the phone.
“Hey, what are you doing answering the phone?” Peter said.
“Betty got a headache from all the different Police calls so I took over and sent here home.” Connors said.
“Oh, well do we have any updates?” Peter said.
“Yeah there was a report that a police officer was able to shoot him but Octavius got away.” Connors said.
“Well, hope they catch him, but there was another reason I called. Is there any documentation on the Orverd Spider?” Peter asked.
“Well I don't know; it was Octavius's project, I generally kept out of his way. Why do you ask?” Connors said.
“It's nothing to serious, but I was sorta curious about it earlier, and I did accidentally kill it.” Peter said.
“Well you could come here and look it up. I'm sure that Octavius had something on it.” Connors said.
“Well I guess I could look it up, thanks.” Peter said.
“Glad I could help, sorta.” Connors said.
“Talk to you later.” Connors said.
“Bye,” Peter said.
He heard Connors hang up, so peter folded up his cell-phone. Peter was noticing that it was lovely day, the air was cool and crisp, and feeling of fall was just kicking in. Of coarse he never handled the cold well, even in forty degree weather he was chilled. Today it was probably in the 70s. He walked toward OcCon Labs.

He was starting to be able to see the lab. He always loved seeing that place, he felt like he belonged there. He got up to the building and saw the once magnificent lawn that now resembled an abandoned dump. The cars were still there, including the one that was perched precariously in a tree. He went through the torn up remains of a door. He saw Cletus sitting Betty's desk.

Cletus looked up and glared at him. Then went back to work on sorting through messy documents. Connors was sweeping behind the desk at the moment.
“Hey Peter, I see your doing better.” Connors said.
“I guess I couldn't wait to get back to work.” Peter said.
“Well that'll have to wait. I still haven't gotten the door unjammed, and Octavius's lab is a wreck.” Connors said. “But you can look up the documents on that spider, Cletus will show you the bins to look in.” He continued.
“Thanks.” Said Peter.
Cletus got up from his desk, and being careful to not step on harmful debris he walked into the back room. Peter could see that they got the auxiliary generator going because the back room lights were on. Cletus went to a stack of bins, in each bin were folders.
“Ok, here are the transactions, lab note press releases, and history of anything to do with this lab. If you can find anything in this mess you'll be lucky. I'm currently talking to Dr. Connors about getting a server for all this.” Cletus said.
“Well I'm sure it'll hold something for me.” Peter said.

Cletus shrugged and left, and Peter got to work. He first noted that everything was done by a dating system, not alphabetically. This meant more work. He started in the first bin, which had a press release about the opening of OcCon Labs, and some early notes by Octavius on his arms. A couple bins later he came across some documents on a Lizard DNA project being headed by Connors. In the eighth bin he found a lab notes written by Octavius showing a breakthrough in his brain reading headset. Peter started noticing that Octavius had clean handwriting whereas Connors looked like a foreign language. Twelve bins later he came across something on the spider, it was some old lab journal. Peter set three more bins on the table nearby, and he started looking through several more bins. He came across three more sets of lab notes by Dr. Pym, but they were illegible. He noticed that in recent years Octavius's handwriting was also getting harder to read. He grabbed the journal and started reading.

Oct 22 1997

I have a batch of spiders dubbed the Orverd spider. It is a dark brown and it has beautiful yellow lines running down it's bac, . It has an aggressive personality, the notable thing is that it makes very little use of it's webbing. It sends it's pray into shock before eating it, and it does this by injecting a powerful venom into the creature.

What surprises me is that the venom seems to break down the DNA of it's prey. I'll have to run some tests, but first indication is that this spider can alter DNA, and if so this could help us revamp the entire medical industry.

Oct 23 1997

Ran some tests on it, first we got a sample of the venom. The second step involved injecting it in a fish. We chose the fish because it has a simple genetic structure. So far so good, the results will really come into play tomorrow.

Oct 24 1997

The fish died 10:24.3 hours after the initial injection. It clearly died of shock, I'm doing an analysis of it now. It looked like the venom broke down the DNA. Mr. Pym is going to see about what happened during the breaking down of DNA.

Oct 24 1997 second post.

Pym has discovered something amazing, he found a strand of intact DNA. In further investigation it showed that it was part fish part spider. The structure of the DNA has changed. Maybe Pym can find out more later.

Oct 24 1997 final post

Pym has found more DNA that matches the one strand, he believes that we have found the ultimate weapon. I have a theory that the spider is capable of completely altering one's DNA, and maybe they could become superhuman. We are trying to come up with an antidote, one that will stop the genetic change and at the same time, save the life of the victim.

Oct 26 1997

Not much has happened, we tried several other fish and they came back with the same results. The fish die shortly after their DNA changes. We have nothing to go on, so Pym proposes that we start looking on a molecular level for change. I think that everything is only happening on a genetic level.

Nov 1 1997

We have promising signs from the latest fish. It has revealed that the change is happening by removing a molecule then replacing it with its own. It's the first part that is killing the fish.
I have a theory that if the fish lives through the first stage, the second stage will really take over and then we can save the fish.
Nov 25 1997
Haven't written much, Pym is just stupid. He thinks that we can mutate other creatures to do this same thing. It of coarse won't work, and even if it did why? I can think of hundreds of things that are better use for my time.

Nov 26 1997

I'm doing my first rat test, but now I have no real help as Pym was fired for spouting stupidity again. I have no real expectations here, so whatever happens won't really surprise me.

Nov 27 1997

I take that back, the whole thing surprised me. First the rat had no signs of anything happening, but after about 16 hours the rat seemed sluggish. Further on it suddenly started spasming, and it kept it up for about ten minutes. After that it got up and started squeaking loudly, it clearly was in pain. After that it went to sleep, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results.

Nov 28 1997

So far it's seems to be Ok, but I had to move it to a reinforced chamber as it kept cracking the one it had. It is clearly stronger, plus it seems to be able to stick to walls. Time will tell if it survives.

Dec 3 1997

IT DIED!! No warning really, it just died, how could this happen? It is incredibly stiff, hard as a rock. It has been getting tougher every day, This is a dead end project. Maybe I should just quit.



Apr 5 2003

Found this project in a back room somewhere, haven't cared much about it. Thinking about reviving it. My arms are not working out very well so maybe.

Apr 10 2003

Well I have another rat, and the spiders have multiplied. This time is for real.


Apr 18 2003

The rat is still alive.

Apr 20 2003
The serum seems to have worked. The rat hasn't died yet.

May 5 2003

The project has been cut, our investors want results so I'll give them results. My $200 artificial leg should do the trick.


Peter sat up, he was thinking hard.
“How am I going to get that serum. The lab notes in the back were saying that 10cc was the dose for a rat. How would that add up for me?” he muttered.
He got up and saw that he had been reading doc's journal and lab notes for an hour. It was now five o clock, and he hadn't even gotten home yet.

He got back out, and saw that Cletus was smashing the phone against the desk. And Connors seemed to have gotten help cleaning up. There were three people working on sweeping. Connors put his broom aside and walked to Peter.

“Hey was it interesting?” Connors asked.
“Yeah, but not very informative.” Peter said.
“How so?” Connors said with a quizzical expression.
“Is there any info on where the spiders came from?” Peter asked.
“It should have been in there.” Connors said.
“It wasn't, no statements showing contact with any group.” Peter said.
“Thats weird. I'll put Betty on it when she gets back. I'm going to have to show every contract when our investors get here.” Connors said.
Peter nodded his head.
“Can I look around in there.” He said pointing at Octavius's old lab.
“Yeah sure, the police said there is nothing to be gained from in there.” Connors said.
“Thanks.” Peter said.

He walked into the next room. It was cold and damp, and it smelled like rotting fish. Peter covered his nose with his shirt and continued. Without the power the place was incredibly dark, unlike the rest of the lab. He scanned the desk for anything of importance. He finally just headed up the platform, and found himself in a worse environment than before. The smell was ten times worse up on the balcony than below.

He looked through the drawers, nothing, nothing, and more nothing. Doubtful that he had something peter pressed on, he looked on shelfs, and in nooks. The safe had already been broken into. He sat on the desk wondering what to do next, suddenly it popped open a drawer
In the back. He looked through it and found another journal, he tucked it in his pocket. It was an uncomfortable fit, but he had to have the journal. He saw a wall of serums, non of them were taken. He looked through them looking for the orverd spider. He found one saying T, APR,11,03, he plucked it up and stuck it in his other pocket.

He walked down the balcony, and out of the room. He headed for the door, while telling Dr. Connors goodbye. He looked down at his pockets, and hailed a cab.

__.....__


Octavius sat on his bench, he needed a new alloy. He was going to have to steal some Adamantium, but where do you get something like that? He grabbed some tools and started piecing his new extended arms together. He still felt horrible from the shots, he removed most of the bullets himself. It was the most painful thing he had ever done. He thought about that cop, Captain Stacy was currently high on his list of people in need of killing. He pulled out another cigar and lit it. He wished he had his arms up and operating, they could do any trivial task while he was doing important work.

He got up and started pacing, who would he hit after he got his arms working? He would have to think this through, maybe Cletus would be the best choice, he's harmless and a wimp. The type of guy that the fly swats he thought. Yes he would be a perfect choice.


__.....__

Peter got his backpack and headed out the door. It was ten, and if he wanted to be there on time he would have to hurry. He started walking down the street trying to hail a cab, he hated tuesdays. Finally one stopped, and he hopped in. As the cab was headed toward Oscorp he looked at the journal. So far it had nothing but various notes on his arms, but this still said that it was 1995, so he had a ways to go. The cab pulled up, and Peter paid him. When he got off he saw Harry waiting just outside.

“Hey Pete, were not going to work on things here.” Harry said.
“Why?” Peter asked.
“I'm going to take you back to my apartment, it'll be safer there.” Harry said.
“Ok, but couldn't you call me?” Peter said.
“I tried, but you didn't pick up.” Harry said.
“Oh, well let's go to your place.” Peter said.

They walked over to Harry's car, then he and Peter left for Harry's apartment.
Again the ride was quiet, and when they got there they still weren't talking.

Harry opened his door and ushered Peter in. Then Harry turned to him.
“I looked over your new DNA, and it was weird. It is slightly longer than normal human DNA, and it seems to be a fusion of human and spider DNA.” Harry said.

“That would match up with what I've been reading, but how did you learn so much?” Peter asked.
“Well there is this guy who is socially clueless, but he is a genetic genius. He thinks that there are thousands of mutants roaming on our streets.” Harry said.
“One of those, Ok.” Peter said while rolling his eyes.
“Well he thinks there is also a Neanderthal with metal bones living in the apartment next to him.” Harry continued.
“Well, according to Dr. Octavius's research, this DNA altering spider called the orverd spider kills it's pray by wrecking the DNA and sending it into shock. It feeds on insects, but it's venom is lethal to larger creatures as well.” Peter said. “And, the more complex the DNA the slower the kill.” Peter finished.
“So you should be fine, right?” Harry said.
“No, but the last cure he made had one test, and it was successful.” Peter replied.
“Do you have it?” Harry asked.
“Yes.” Peter said, then he pulled out the tube, and tossed to Harry. “But there is a catch, the measurement was for a rat, and it was 10cc. We need to convert that to my body weight.
“well the average weight of a rat is 10 oz. So we need your weight.” Harry said.
“160lbs.” Peter said.
“Well we ought to measure you again, just to be sure. I have a very accurate scale that I brought from my lab.” Harry said.
“Ok, lets do it.”
Harry led Peter to a floor scale hooked up to a bunch of wires, and the wired led to a computer. Peter stood on the scale, and Harry looked at the display and laghed.

“Peter, I think you gained some weight.” Harry said.
Peter jump over and looked at the screen, and it said 185lbs.
“How did that happen?” Peter stammered.
“Your muscles although don't look harder, they are denser.” Harry said.
“Well let's go run the numbers.” Peter said.
“Ok,” Harry said.

They walked over to Harry's other computer. Harry started crunching the numbers, but Peter looked around on his shelf. Mostly comic books, but there were a few novels too. Then Harry said something.
“I've run the numbers on paper and the computer, and the dosage I should give you is the whole bottle, but we need a source of alpha rays.” Harry said.
“For what?” Peter said trying to rack his brain for something in the lab notes.
“You need to be hit with them after taking the formula, it causes the formula to activate.” Harry said.
“Ok, what do you propose?” Peter asked.
“Don't know, if it was gamma rays I could ask Dr. Banner, but he only specializes in that anti Gamma ray project of his.” Harry said.
“We could try using Dr. Octavius's old ray blaster. It was supposed to blast an object with gamma rays, but it has the ability for alpha and beta rays as well.” Peter said.
“You'll have to do that yourself because if you get caught in there you could make an excuse, but if I got caught in there I would be arrested.” Harry said.
“So what I do is: get inside without getting caught, then blast myself with radiation, drink a prototype formula for getting rid of a rare venom, and to top it all off I got to get back home without dieing. Does this sound like a direct-to-video movie to you too?” Peter said.
“Well when you put it that way, yeah it does.” Harry said while scratching the back of his neck.
He then sat down in his chair. Peter started looking at the time.
“Well If I'm going to do this I better get it done now.” Peter said.
“Good luck.” Harry said.
“Bye.” Peter said, and headed for the door.

He got outside and the air was clean and crisp still. Why was it that on his worst days the weather was so good? He walked down the steps and out onto the street. He headed for OcCon Labs, his stride was faster than normal, but he was in a hurry.
He got up to the Lab, he saw that it was strangely creepy at night, but he pressed on anyway.
He walked in the broken door, the front desk area was cleaned up tremendously since the last time he was here. He started crawling up the wall, and looked down. There was security guard on patrol. Peter crawled quickly across the ceiling not looking back. He was now in Dr. Octavius's wing, he headed for the back, and dropped to the ground. He kept feeling funny about this place, maybe he was sorta freaked out about sneaking into his bosses laboratory.

He headed into a room with the Danger Radiation sign on it. There it was, A large machine that resembled a X-ray in a Hospital. He saw a bed underneath the machine. He walked over to a panel behind the lead wall, then pulled out the lab notes, 20 times the daily sun dosage. Peter looked at it in confusion, maybe the guy had something on it in this room.

He looked up at the panel, it had a few dials and switches. But to the left there were preset buttons. One was 20x next to a sun, so he pressed that one, and set it to start in five minutes. One thing he had to thank Octavius about was idiot proofing these things.

A red light turned on in the room. The door automatically locked. He set everything on a table and took off his shirt. One minute till the machine would turn on. Then suddenly it turned on, he felt nothing at all. He sat there thinking about how he was going to tell Gwen about all this.
It turned off. He quickly got off the bed, and headed for the table. He checked the numbers again, and harry was right, so opened the tube and drank the whole bottle.

Nothing happened, nothing at all. He put back on his shirt assuming this was the last of it.


__.....__


When octopii roamed the earth.


Peter walked out of the room, and jumped to the ceiling. He started to crawl out when he saw a dark figure walking below. It was wearing a brown trench coat, had a hat on as well.

“Hey what are you doing in here.” he heard the guard cry out from the far side of the room. The figure turned and walked to him.
“Freeze.” The guard yelled, but the figure kept walking to him. Then suddenly the trench coat flew off, and four mechanical arms struck the guard.
“I don't take orders!” Dr. Octavius yelled.
Dr. Octavius stomped into another room, leaving the guard on the floor. Peter dropped to the floor, and headed to him. He was unconscious, but very alive. Peter ran towards the door that Dr. Octavius went into. In there Octavius was quickly going the through bins. Peter thought that he may be able to stop Octavius. He tip-toed toward and hid behind a computer terminal.

Octavius seemed to have found something as he was looking through a document in his hands. Peter sneezed.
“Who's there?” Octavius said whipping his tentacles through the air. Peter suddenly felt something telling him he was in danger. Suddenly he though he didn't see it, he knew a tentacle going to hit him from the side. He ducked, then turned to sprint out the door. He gots out ok, but he heard Dr. Octavius stomping after him. He made it to the front desk when he felt something inside him screaming to get out of the way. He jumped to the side, and heard a
desk fly past his head. He ran for the door, and stepped outside. He jumped off the porch and onto the wall. As he climbed up he heard Octavius smash the door frame. He got on top of the roof, and looked down. What he saw below was Dr. Octavius looking around through the bushes. Octavius then stomped off in one direction, while Peter ran away in the other.

Peter was about three rooftops away when he finally sat down. He was wondering what the heck happened back there. He heard something stomping below him, it was Dr. Octavius. He Stopped through the ally, and onto the other street. He hopped on rooftops bounding toward Dr. Octavius. The man went under a bridge, and didn't appear on the other side.

Peter jumped off the building, some people stared again, but he ran too fast to get noticed much. Dr. Octavius wasn't under the bridge, so Peter left wondering if he had made a mistake by not fighting Dr. Octavius.


__.....__


“What do you mean, he got away?” Harry yelled. “You didn't go after him? Man, you have all these powers, and you hide!!!”
“I was trying not to get into a fight. I don't want to become some freak who fights the bad guy.”
Peter spat back.
“So you just let a mass murderer get away? I would use these Powers to fight people like him!” Harry said.
“WELL YOU DON'T HAVE THEM, SO SHUT UP!!!” Peter yelled.
Harry started to say something, but decided to keep his mouth shut. Peter went and sat in a dark corner.
“Do you really think I could take him on?” Peter asked.
“Yes.” Harry said.
“Why?” Peter said.
“Because, you have the ability to jump twelve feet in the air, cling to walls, and from all indications you can probably lift cars.” Harry said.
“I'm just not sure I want to live my life as a freak. I was thinking I could become a basketball player.” Peter said.

Harry got up, and paced; Peter kept sitting.
“I helped you get out of this predicament, now all you can think about is how to make a profit off of it.” Harry said coldly.
“I am thinking about using my powers to gain money yes, but that is not what this is about.” Peter said.
“This is all it's about.” Harry spat.
“Oh, so you think you could do better than me.” Peter yelled.
“I think you could at least take on Dr. Octavius. I have no problem with making money with your powers, but I think you could also just happen to help out the officers every now and then.” Harry said.
“Look Harry It's cold, I probably could take him in better conditions, but in 30 degree weather, there is no way.” Peter said.
“I'll give you that.” Harry said.
“Then could we please stop fighting?” Peter said.
“Yes, but remember I believe that if have an ability or Power you should use it responsibly, not just wast it on basketball.” Harry said.
Peter sighed, this had been a long hard day, and he wished it would just be over.


__.....__