New York City. Ya gotta love it. It truly seemed to be the greatest city in the world--because only the greatest city had costumed lunatics flying around with deadly abilities. And Electro was no exception.

Electro, alias Max Dillon, was notoriously stupid. After failing miserably at his attempt to become an electrical engineer, being told that he was not smart enough, took a job instead at a power company. When a freak lightning incident changed him into a human battery, he took the name Electro and started his life of crime. The first time Spider-Man and Electro fought Spider-Man was nearly killed Spider-Man was nearly killed when he touched the electrically charged supervillain.But in the end he short-circuited Electro with some rubber gloves and a firehouse. This, of course, not helping Electro's reputation of idiocy. But Electro was a force of nature, and one of Spider-Man's most powerful enemies. He could blow up an entire city block for no reason at all without breaking a sweat.

At at this very moment he was jetting himself upwards with his electric currents, seemingly flying, with bags of stolen loot. He soared over a mass of unsuspecting heads in his green jumpsuit which had yellow bolts of lightning running down them, along with a seemingly ridiculous starfish mask. One of these unsuspecting heads being a mutant-in-denial.

Brie Taylor did not want to be a mutant, and, therefore, she was not a mutant. She merely had...minor episodes which were very out of the ordinary. But she was not a mutant, no. She was not one of those freaks that people ran away from, screaming. And as she looked up she saw a man that just might as well be a mutant. Electro.

Unfortunately, Brie was in one of those wrong place, wrong time situations, as Electro knew the police were gaining, with them a certain friendly neighborhood super hero who he had wished to have brutally murdered for a long time now. So, not necessarily panicking, but more of making a strategic move, Electro knew that he needed a hostage.

Electro was not normally a hostage-taker kind of guy. He just liked blowing things up and incinerating people. But that wouldn't help him escape at the moment. And he saw a tall, black-haired teenage girl with emerald eyes. Needless to say, it was Brie.

He landed on the ground a few feet in front of the girl and pointed a finger at her. "I'll fry you right now if you don't do what I say!" he shouted at her. Brie backed away, gulping. She knew who this guy was. You couldn't be a New Yorker and not know who this guy was. Brie nodded, and the man grinned and told her to move it, which she did. The man told her to climb a nearby fire escape ladder, making her way to the roof, and that if she tried anything funny he'd zap her. Brie was not stupid, and therefore did not try anything funny. She just climbed the ladder.

When she reached the top Electro kept his hand pointed to her back, very close to touching her but not just there yet. Brie felt beads of sweat trickling down her face. This was the first time Brie had even seen a supervillain, and now she was basically dead. A police helicopter jutted by, police cars parked and their officers with their weapons drawn. Electro smiled. All too perfect. He'd push the girl off and run for it--or maybe that was too rash. But had hadn't killed anyone in a while--no, this was not time to murder someone, it was time to escape.

Brie peered over the edge of the rooftop. Whoo, that's high. Okay, she told herself, do not panicking. Panicking will not help the situation. Think...think...

But someone thought for her, and someone acted.

She didn't turn around until she heard the oof! sound, and then the sounds of a brawl. She was afraid to see what had happened, and if she'd be fried to a crisp as soon as she turned around. But she was perfectly safe, because Electro was busy fighting something--it was too fast for her to see clearly what it was. It was just a red-and-blue blur, punching Electro and dodging his deadly blasts of electricity. That's when she found the words to finally speak: "Spider-Man."

Brie blinked several times, trying to remember how her frozen legs worked again. Thinking quickly, Brie grabbed the two bags of stolen loot Electro had put down to fight Spider-Man and ran for the ladder from which she came. Police officers quickly swarmed at the bottom, and when Jillian touched ground she almost bent down and kissed it. The police officers took the bags from her and hurried her over, out of harms way.

Brie knew that Electro had spotted the empty space where his money had been, as she heard him scream out in rage. There was a bright flash of light, and Spider-Man was thrown off the roof, his arms and legs waving in the air. He shot a web, which missed the building he had been aiming for, and crashed on the hood of a police car. He moaned in pain, his body seeming to sizzle. Brie didn't move. She wanted to run in the other direction, but she didn't move.

Then she bent down, trying to catch her breath. The world seemed to spin, and she felt a sharp pain all over her body. She twitched and went on her knees.

No...not here...

She felt as if a million blades protruded from her body, and she felt her limbs quake and her eyes burn, her hair grow, her spine bent. People standing by her grabbed her, asked her if she was okay, while others backed away in fear. Brie stopped shaking after a time, and opened her eyes, seeing the world in black and white.

She could feel all the eyes upon her. All of them...they thought she was a freak...they were scared of her...no! She cried out, but it was heard as a long howl. She stood on four padded paws, looking at the priceless faces that stared down at her. It wasn't everyday that someone changed into a wolf before their very eyes, so she really couldn't blame them.

Something in the back of her mind yelled at her, telling her to jump out and fight. Show them what you can do! the voice snarled. Brie, now in the guise of a beautiful gray wolf, pounced a distance that no normal animal her size could ever jump. She jumped over the heads of the crowd and trotted over to the police car where a moaning super hero lay.

She saw out of the corner of her eye Electro, standing on the rooftop, aiming his hand at the delirious hero resting on the car hood. Brie acted quickly, jumping into the action and grabbing the costumed man, tugging him off the hood of the car, seconds before a blast of light incinerated it. Brie looked at Electro, who looked back. He then suddenly seemed to remember his entire reason for pulling this dramatic act, and he started to run.

Brie used the tip of her nose to nudge Spider-Man, whose mouth had started to form words that described his pain--they were more like groans and grunts rather than words.

"Are you okay, Spider-Man?" she asked.

He looked up, saw that the voice had come from a wolf, and jumped back, crying out. Brie's little wolf ears drooped.

"You--did you just talk?"

She sighed. "Yes." she mumbled.

"What the...jeez. And I thought the Howard the Duck was the last straw!" he then remembered what had just happened. He bent down and patted her head. "Thanks for saving me."

Brie shook herself free. "Don't pet me! I'm not a dog!"

"Uh..."

She growled. "Look, thanks for saving me on the rooftop, but I--"

"Rooftop...? Wait, hold on a second! You're telling me that you're the girl Electro held hostage?"

Brie gave a sad nod. She knew what he was thinking: freak.

"Wow. Sorry, wasn't expecting that..."

"Yeah." Brie had enough of being the center of the freak circus and turned to leave. She ran through the crowd of people, all a lot taller than she, and she took her route down a back alley, pausing once she knew she was finally alone. She sat down, her fluffy tail wagging to and fro. She tried to change her guise.

"Come on!" she yelled out loud. "Change back! Change..." she focused all her energy on her body, telling her mind to change herself back to normal again. That's when someone touched her furry shoulder, startling her. She turned around and nearly bit his hand off.

"Yow! Easy!"

"Spider-Man? What do you want?" Brie snapped.

He looked down at her, unsure of whether to remain standing or crouch to her eye level. He decided to crouch. "I just...never met a talking wolf before. A talking duck, yes, but wolf, no."

"Yeah, well, one more thing checked off your to-do list. Look, I just don't feel comfortable talking to you like this. I'm trying to change back, but--"

"Wait. What do you mean, trying? You can't change back whenever you want?"

Brie suddenly realized she had said to much. She didn't want anyone interested in her, and she didn't want Spider-Man to figure out that something was wrong. She snarled, showing her white, long teeth. "I mean...no, I--what's it to you, anyway?"

"I can't be curious?"

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Then its a good thing cats have nine lives." Spider-Man replied. He batted away the cliched simile. "I could tell something was wrong. You didn't want to change into a wolf, did you? No, don't bother answering. I could tell by your face. Look, if your mutation is progressing, then--"

"What did you just say?" Brie yelled.

Surprised by her tone, Spider-Man answered: "I'm sorry, I just assumed you were a mutant."

"I am not a mutant! I am not!" Brie cried, and she decided to take off down the alleyway, hoping that Spider-Man wouldn't follow.