Chapter 4: The Glory of Subterranea.
DAY 2/ 11:30 PM
Franklin, Susan and Clark all laughed hysterically as Catman reared back his fist before winding it up in a comical fashion and letting it fly into the face of the Pelican. Clark could barely believe how much he was actually enjoying the terribly cheesy one liners and the poorly choreographed fight scenes; and yet the more Franklin laughed at them the more Clark started to feel a strange nostalgic sensation come over him.
Clark looked over to Franklin and saw him throw his head into his mothers lap while he laughed at the way The Pelican cried out "Waaaah, waaah waaah!" Suddenly, Lois popped into Clarks mind as he wondered how much she must have been missing him; probably as much as he missed his whole existence in the universe he was born in. And seeing Franklin so happy, with a loving family all around him, made Clark realize something.
His whole life, and even more so since he became Superman; he was afraid to have this. The happy mother, the laughing child. Clark had tried to keep himself from wanting this kind of life; but he couldn't help himself. He had tried to not fall in love with Lois; tried and failed. And now that he was sitting there, listening to this happy family; having powers, but not having them get in the way of being a family... Clark had to admit that it was something he had always wanted for himself.
"Great Scott! Release my young companion you dastardly fiend!" Catman called out as Franklin Richards gasped in excitement. His head raising instantly off his mothers lap as he glared towards the television screen with worry.
"Oh no! Save him Catman! Don't let the Pelican win!" Franklin shouted with mild worry and anger mixed into his voice as Clark and Susan exchanged smiles while they enjoyed Franklins encouraging words.
"Okay Mister loud face; its almost your bedtime now." Susan said as she leaned closer to the television and turned the volume down so that her voice would carry better. "You've almost watched two hours of Catman now; and the only reason you got so much was because we have a guest who has never seen it." As Susan spoke, Clark watched as the look of joy on Franklins face turned to one of utter disappointment.
"But Mom!" Franklin shouted as his gaze quickly turned from one of disappointment to one of fierce determination; "I can't just leave when Mr. Superman hasn't seen the way Catman saves his sidekick Cardinal-Kid; it's important!" There was a look of anguish in Franklin's eyes that surprised Clark and Susan as they both looked towards him.
"Okay little man; but once you finish the episode you go straight to bed!" Susan said as she began to lay down the law for the young boy, she then looked over to Clark with an even sterner expression. "Let me know once the show is over."
Clark smiled brightly as he nodded his head. "Yes Ma'am!" Clark said as he looked down to Franky with a serious look on his face. "Don't you go getting me into trouble now." Clark said as Franky looked over to him with a great big smile on his face.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that." Franky said as he began to wink at Clark as he did. Clark couldn't help but laugh slightly at Franklins playful attitude. "Now watch closely! Catman has to time his catch perfectly!" Clark and Franklin then watched as Cardinal-Kid launched a Cat-rope up into the air as he fell, Catman catching hold of the line as he instantly began pull Cardinal-Kid to safety. "You see!" Franklin said in excitement as he looked over to Clark with a told-you-so expression on his face. "You should know how to do stuff like that."
DAY 3/ 6:00 AM
Clark and Franklin had both fallen asleep while watching the adventures of Catman; and Clark had used his Superman cape as a blanket for them both. The opening theme song replayed over and over as the main menu for the video cycled through its predetermined track.
Susan entered the room, expecting to find them both awake and watching the very last episodes on the video; which was exactly what would happen every time Johnny watched the show with Franklin. Yet instead, she found that Clark Kent was sleeping, and hovering almost four feet above the couch, and curled up on Clarks chest, his arms dangling off of either side of Clark; was Franklin.
Susan smiled brightly as she watched her son roll himself into a ball on Clarks chest before he curled himself up in a blanket. Susan turned around and began to close the door; glad to see that Ben and Reed were both being proven so very wrong the more that Superman stayed with them.
The door clicked shut, waking Clark as he looked down to his chest and saw the young Richards sleeping blissfully. Clark smiled wide, brushing a hand over Franklins blonde hair and yawning lightly before he closed his eyes again. As Clark began to drift back to sleep, his body began to instinctively hover back down to the couch below him. Clark was asleep again before his head hit the pillow.
Yet if Clark had decided in that moment that it was time to rise; he would have been shocked to see that while he slowly drifted back to the couch; young Franklin stayed hovering in the air; the red blanket wrapped around him as the edges of the blanket flopped over Franklin's side.
Over the next few minutes; Franklin began to descend as well, slowly shifting through the air before coming back to his resting place on Clark's chest.
DAY 3/ 8AM
Clark was sleeping heavily as he lay on the corner of the couch; his back pressed up against the very corner of the bed while his left arm dangled over the edge; Franklin still curled up on his chest. There were strange noises in the background that disturbed Clarks dreams, and before long, the strange noises were nudging him awake.
Clark began to move about, wondering what the strange commotion was as the noises began to grow louder and clearer. Clark reached up to rub at his eyes, and when he did he accidentally woke Franklin. "What time is it?" Franklin asked in a groggy voice before the door to the room burst open and the Thing came flying through; breaking the door off its hinges as it splintered into a thousand pieces.
Clark shot himself to his feet, causing Franklin to fall to the ground with a loud thump. Clark looked down at Ben and Franklin as they both lay on the ground before him. "What's going on?" Clark asked as he looked to Ben with confusion.
"Uhg." Ben said in a dazed voice as he tried to center his vision. "Wuz a s'prise attack. Damn Rock-Golems!" Ben said as he rose to his feet. "They got the jump on us, almost sounded like one of em called Mole Man der King."
Clark looked at Ben with bewilderment; and before he could stop himself he asked "What's a Mole-Man?" Franklin looked over to Superman with a sad look on his face.
"Where's mommy and daddy?" Franklin said as he looked up at Clark with great worry. Clark turned his head and began to listen for the faintest sound of Reed or Susan Richards.
"You two, stay here!" Clark said calmly as he quickly sped through the Baxter Building. As he made his way from room to room, Clark could see the piles and piles of rubble that were scattered about every room.
As Clark searched the rooms, he was soon attacked by a single giant rock man that almost resembled Ben Grimm, except for being red and block-like. Clark looked at the creature with a cross look, and the creature responded in kind. Casting a furious roar into the air as it charged towards Clark with ill intent in its eyes. It only took one well placed left hook to send the creature going flying through the window and towards the bay. Strangely though there were no other creatures that came to its defense. Clark decided that he had to continue searching and find his hosts.
It wasn't until Clark found his way to the master bedroom that he found the only clue as to what had happened while he slept. There was a letter, written on a piece of scrap paper.
"Dear the remains of the Fantastic Four:
If you have found this, then know that your leader, and her pitiful man-champion; have been bested by the superior intellect of the mighty Mole-Man! I have taken my dear Susan and will make her my Queen. And with your Johnny Storm not there to assist in an attempt at rescue, my plans will surely go unspoiled this time.
Good day Mr. Thing. If you try to follow; you will find that the army of Rock Golems you were so quick to spurn have become some of my greatest allies! You shall never see the Richards again!
Sincerely, MM".
Clark read through the message as he gave the words a perplexed look. Who, or what was a Mole-Man; and how dis he manage to kidnap two of the Fantastic Four? Clark quickly scooped up the letter and sped his way back to the room he had left Franklin and Ben in.
"What'd you find?" Ben asked as Clark suddenly appeared back in the room. Clark reached out and handed Ben the note as he quickly read it. "Oh no. Not again." Ben said with mild worry and agitation in his voice.
"Again? You mean this has happened before?" Clark asked as he looked towards Franklin with a confused look on his face; the boy returned his look of confusion.
"Wheres Mommy and Daddy?" Franklin asked as the tone in his voice began to change from confusion to one of worry and sadness.
"Don't you worry none Franky." Ben said as he crumpled up the note and tossed it away. "Your old Uncle Ben will save the day!" Ben said as he turned to Superman; the look on his face turning to one of absolute resolve. "I need help on this. And I don't know how much longer Johnny, Pete and Coulson will be, so looks like you're all I gots." Ben said as the look of resolve turned to the same look of mistrust and agitation that he had given Clark the night before.
Although the animosity Clark felt coming his way almost felt unwarranted, Clark knew that at the moment there were more pressing matters to deal with. So Clark nodded his head and then turned to Franklin. "Your Uncle Ben is right Franklin; we will bring your parents back home. Come on, I'll take you to Dragon-Man so you can wait until we all get back."
Ben gave Clark an appreciative look as he nodded his head towards him. With delicate care, Clark scooped the young, upset child into his arms as the boy started to cry into his shoulder. "I want my mommy." Franklin sobbed as Clark looked down at him with a look of deep sorrow.
In a blur, Clark had taken Franklin to the private living quarters of DragonMan. Franklin wouldn't stop crying as Clark handed the crying child to the hulking beast; whose own face now showed equal concern for the small child. "Franklin." Clark began as he knelt down in front of him. "I will bring your parents back to you." As Clark spoke Franklins face became wet from tears. Clark reached up to Franklins face and wiped some tears away. "I promise." He spoke with determination, yet with a lightness to his voice that seemed to calm Franklin.
Clark smiled at the sight of Franklin calming down, and looked over to DragonMan with a look intense determination; he would not allow another child to loose his parents while he had something to say about it.
In a moment Clark had blurred out of the room and appeared back before Ben. "Let's go save that boys parents." Clark said as Ben clasped his fists together.
"It's clobberin' time." Ben said with gusto as he began to follow the debris field through the house; trailing it to the Rock Golem's point of entry. Clark followed close behind, he knew that he could speed ahead to uncover this plot on his own; but he wanted to take this opportunity to find the source of Ben Grimm's anger that had been displayed towards him the other day.
The two followed the trail of destruction through the building; Clark was shocked that he hadn't heard any of the commotion, and wondered how he hadn't woken up during the conflict that must have occurred. The trail led the two down the building to the very base of the building, located in the fifth level of the basement..
Ben and Clark examined the giant hole in the ground, pieces of odd shaped red rocks were scattered across the room. "What is this stuff?" Clark asked in a confused tone as he examined the red rocks.
"Pieces of a rock golem." Ben said as he picked up one of the pieces and crumbled it in his hand. "Looks like someone already clobbered this chump." Ben said as he tossed the remnants away. "Its still fresh too. They cant be too far ahead. C'mon!"
The two jumped into the hole, head first, as Ben's determination and raw spirit began to embolden Superman. The hole led into a tunnel system that went on a sharp incline and led deeper into the earth, until the tunnel came to a plummeting drop. Ben looked over to Superman with a grin of anticipation before he jumped down the pit and began to free-fall deep into the core of the Earth. It didn't take long for Superman to start flying after him as the two began to sink into the heart of the world. Before Superman had caught up to Ben he could hear him laughing to himself lightly as they descended; clearly Ben enjoyed the adventure aspect of this, but Clark was still worried about this 'Mole-Man' and what he might do to the Richards family! Superman didn't want to have another child go through the pain of growing up without his parents; not while he could do something about it.
Ben crashed into the hard ground, causing it to tremble and quake beneath him; Superman began to rear up on his position and as he did he could see Ben looking back up at him with his grin still etched into his stone covered face. As Superman slowed his descent and came to a rest beside Ben Grimm, he asked him a question that was beginning to puzzle him. "So you say we are going up against Rock-Golems?"
"Dats right." Ben said slightly annoyed as he looked back at Superman, half knowing what was coming next.
"So they're just big pieces of living rock?" As Superman spoke the look on Bens face turned to one of mild irritation and anger.
"I see wut yer gittin at fellah. I ain't no Golem; now drop it before I show you d'difference between rocks and me." A solid rock fist began to clench as Ben turned to Superman and shook his fist at him. "I get enuf a dat crap from the media; and Johnny. Don't need it during my down time." Ben said with a chuckle as Superman did his best to not bring up the subject again.
"If this is what you consider down-time; I can't imagine what you do for fun." Superman said as he looked over to Ben with a smile, trying to ease the tension that was quickly brewing between the two; yet Ben did not seem to have any interest in making amends. The two continued on down the tunnel with an awkward tension slowly mounting. Suddenly, Superman couldn't take any more of it. "Okay, that's far enough. Stop!" Superman said in a determined voice as Ben turned on his spot and looked at Superman with the annoyed look still on his face. "What is your problem with me? You have been aggressive towards me since I arrived here."
"You really tink dis is da best time to be askin' dat ques-chin?" Ben said as he turned and gave Superman a disbelieving look. "You r'member dat Reed and Susie is in trouble?
"You can walk and talk can't you? I want to help, and I don't think we'll be able to do this unless we work together." A grunt of anger came out of Ben as he continued to walk down the tunnel.
"You tink we need ta work t'gedder? Lemme tell ya some-tin bucko; you was able ta take down d'Avengers by your lil' lonesome. Pretty sure you could'a had this fixed by now and had Reed and Sussie home to Franky. But you haven't; instead you an me is having a lovely talk about 'us' while walking down a dark and depressin' tunnel." Ben suddenly stopped and turned to face Superman, pointing a large stone finger towards him"What's my problem wit you? You don't do enough; you could have stopped d'Avengers before the fight b'came what it was, but instead you let things play out; the way your letting things play out now. And I don't like it." Ben lowered his finger and turned around; feeling that his point had been won.
There was a long silence as Superman and Ben continued to walk the dark tunnel. Clark knew that Ben had a point, and he was trying to find the best way to put what he was thinking into words. "I didn't come at the Avengers. I didn't throw the first punch; and I certainly didn't come to this universe looking for trouble. They attacked me, and I did my best to keep them from hurting me; or anyone else." Superman glared at Ben, he couldn't believe how much resentment Ben had built up towards him. "Now when it comes to our current situation; could I have just barreled through all of the rock and just tore my way into the place where Sue and Reed are and just taken them back? Sure; but I can't find them with my Super-vision; which means that there must be lead pockets throughout these tunnels. Now I could just go making holes all throughout the inner crust of the Earth, but that may have serious negative consequences for anyone hoping to live on Earth within the foreseeable future."
Ben turned back to Superman with an irritated look on his face. "Jus' keep yer yap shut fer now. Da whole underground can hear da racket yer makin'." As Ben turned away, Superman felt that he had made his point; though he only wished that he had never been put into the position that he had to fight the Avengers. "Sides;" Ben quickly added; "I nev'r axed fer yer help. You shudda jus' stayed back and babysat Franky."
"Quiet!" Superman called out as he reached over and placed his hand over Bens mouth.
"Da hell is wrong wit you?" Ben said in anger as Superman pulled him to the ground by his shoulder. Without saying a word, Superman put a finger to his lips to signal Ben to remain silent; before pointing down a small corridor indicating that he had seen something. Before long Ben could see that the Rock Golems were just ahead, and they seemed to be arguing among themselves. The angry look on Bens face turned to one of intrigue and anticipation. "It's clobberin' time!" Ben whispered as he readied himself to strike; yet before he could he felt Superman tugging on his shoulder again. "You friggin' kiddin' me?" The anger in his voice was barely muffled as Ben tried to pull his arm free from Supermans grip. "What're you tryin' ta pull?" Ben said as his voice became gritty and gravely.
"We should watch them. Find out where they took Susan and Reed. Then you can clobber them to your hearts content." Superman said with a grin as Ben crossed his arms.
"T-t; no reason we can't clobber 'em and then find out where Susie and Reed is." Ben said with disappointment as Superman gave him a disbelieving look. "What?" Ben asked confused as Superman looked at him with mild annoyance.
"Really? They seem to have come into the Baxter Building with nothing but hostility on their minds; how do we know that we attack and they don't decide to use Reed and Sue as human shields?" Ben seemed to contemplate Supermans reasoning before he grunted in an annoyed defeat.
"M'kay then Mr. Perfect. How do you t'ink we should go bout it?" Ben stated as he looked to Superman for a new plan. The Man of Steel looked around, after a moment he could find nothing that would give him inspiration; until that is he looked back to Ben Grimm.
"You know." Superman began, "We could try to dress you up in some of these rocks around here and make you look like," before Superman could finish, Ben interjected with a held-back anger.
"Don't even say it. I a'int a Rock Golem, and no way'z in hell am I dressin' up like one." Ben argued as his pride forced him to maintain that he was indeed, not a Rock Golem.
"It's a great plan." Superman began as he attempted to persuade the angry rock man. "You pretend to be one of them. Act like I'm your prisoner; and when they come to investigate we have the element of surprise on our side."
"I got an element for ya. Right here!" The rock-like fist of Ben Grimm began to ball up as he gave Superman a death glare.
"We don't have the time for this." Clark began as he knelt over and picked up a handful of rocks off the ground. "Now put your arms; I'm gonna have to make these rocks powdery enough that they give your skin a temporary dye." Superman clapped a couple of stones together, and afterwards his hands were covered in the red-like powdery debris. Superman went to apply the powder to Ben; who scowled at him the whole time. "Come on Ben... for Franky."
Ben looked up to Superman and the scowl turned to a look that Clark had seen many times before on many peoples faces; it was the look of determination; the look that said he would do anything to get that boy his parents back. "Powder me up fly-boy."
Several dozen Rock-Golems were busy working away as they gathered different jewels and metals from deep within the Earth. It was more than a simple hobby, or a way to pass the time for the Golems; mining for precious stone and gems was the single greatest desire the Rock-Golems had.
Some people theorized that it was because the Rock-Golems were nothing but mere rock; and the gems and metal proved that they had the potential to become so much more. Yet for others, they held onto the belief that the Rock-Golems simply enjoyed shiny things.
One of the Golems found a large diamond and began to chant in a raspy, excited voice. Some of the other Golems began to move in closer as other began to dig tirelessly in hopes of finding their own precious gem. One of the Golems who had moved in on the one with diamond began to reach out for the gem, but the Golem who had found it swung its large fist around and knocked back the other Golem. At this point the others began to attack the Golem who had reached for the gem that didn't belong to him. If one thing would not be tolerated in the Rock-Golem society, it was the stealing of precious stones.
As the fighting began to lessen; Ben Grimm began to approach, his skin now covered in a fine powder of red rock colouring. Ben cleared his voice and tossed Superman to the ground in front of him. Superman had his hands and his feet bound for dramatic effect. ""Greetinz!" Ben declared. "I got a nudder prisoner fer de great king Mole M'n."
"Mole-Man is not our king!" One of the Rock-Golems said as he jumped forward, the anger in his voice the only indication that his mood had altered. "He is the holder of the great diamond the Gol. He has the greatest gem in Subterranea; that makes him the one with greatest honor. We follow the shine; not the man."
The Rock-Golems began to refocus themselves on their work. Ben and Superman exchanged confused looks as the workers seemed to have forgotten all about them.
"Uh, yah. So where do I put this prisoner then? I wanna start lookin for mah own shinnies." Ben said with a tone of unsteadiness. He thought that these Rock-Golems would be easy to fool; but this was too easy for his liking.
"Prisoners go in Mole-Hole. Down that way." The Rock-Golem said as he pointed down a nearby corridor. "Why you not know this?" One of the Golems questioned as it approached Ben Grimm and began to analyse the texture on his face. Ben began to get slightly nervous before his brain came in for a last minute save.
"I forgot. I always forget things when I see shinnies." Ben said as the other Rock Golems all began to nod their heads in agreement.
With that, Ben picked Superman up and began to lead him down the corridor that had been pointed out to them earlier. "That was easy." Superman said as he broke the bonds that held him. "Now all we have to do is find the Richards and take care of this Mole-Man person.
The two continued to descend the tunnel, as they did Clark thought it best to familiarize himself with the enemy he may have to face in the near future. "So; tell me about this Mole-Man; what exactly does he look like?" No sooner than Clark had finished speaking, the two could hear the sound of a distant shout that was growing closer and closer. The two watched as a small man wearing a strange green outfit with a cape and large sun-glasses came tumbling to their feet.
"He looks like that." Ben said as he pointed down towards Mole-Man; who seemed to be slightly bruised and beaten already. "C'm'ere you." Ben said as he grabbed hold of Mole-Mans cape and held him up off the ground.
"Un-hand me you brute!" Mole-Man said frantically as he began to fight against Bens grip. "No one can defeat the invincible Mole-Man!" With that, Ben used him palm to smack Mole-Man on the top of his head; rendering him dazed.
As Ben held the Mole-Man, Susan and Reed Richards began to emerge from the tunnel, coming from the direction that Mole-Man had come from. Susan and Reed were both smiling as they approached. "Ben!" Susan began; "Why do you look just like a Rock-Golem?" Ben looked back at Clark with a look of pure contempt.
"Don't matter. How'd you take care o' Mole-M'n so fast?" Ben asked as he looked to Reed; who shook his head and indicated that Sue was the one to defeat Mole-Man.
"What do you mean how?" Susan asked, half insulted. "It's the friggin' Mole-Man. I had him dealt with five minutes after I woke up; I've been trying to get him to tell us the way out. But now that we found you; I guess we don't need him to be our tour-guide anymore." Susan said as her and Reed stepped over Mole-Man and began to leave the area with Superman and Ben.
"You think I will be defeated by you so easily my love?" Mole-Man said as he began to come to and raised a diamond out of his pocket. "Rock-Golems! Do the bidding of the shiney! Destroy these interlopers!"
At first there was nothing that darkness that surrounded them. "Prepare yourselves." Superman warned the others moments before Rock-Golems started to appear in the shadows. At first there were only a few of them; but before the group knew it there were seemingly hundreds of them all swarmed around them. The group stood there, unsure of what would come next; but all of them knowing that they weren't going to surrender to these hunks of living rock.
"This is too bad." Reed said with disappointment in his voice. "Of all the people that the Rock-Golems could have imprinted on as their King; they chose Mole-Man."
This was when Superman remembered what it was the Rock-Golems had told him and Ben before, the Golems didn't view Mole-Man as their King, he simply had the biggest, shiniest diamond. A wide grin came over Clarks face as he quickly looked around; he found a nice hunk of coal that was easily the size of his head. "What are you doing?" Reed Richards asked, but before another word could be said Superman had used his tremendous strength to crush and condense the large chunk of stone into a diamond that was now as big as Clarks fist. Clark held the diamond above his head as the Rock-Golems all looked at him in awe and amazement.
"Now; go get it!" Superman pulled his arm back and gave the diamond a good throw down the corridor, past the Mole-Man. This caused the Rock-Golems to chase after the diamond, causing Mole-Man to be carried away by the horde of Golems that now charged down the tunnel. Superman turned back to the others as Sue looked at him with a light frown on her face. "What's wrong?" Superman asked as Sue looked up to him and grinned.
"You know, diamonds are a girls best friend." Reed and Ben both looked over to her and sighed. "What?" Sue asked with a giggle. "I'm just saying. Now, let me get back to my baby-boy."
Day 3/ 10:45 AM
"Mommy!" Franklin shouted with glee as he ran into his mothers arms; her smile brightening up the room and she hoisted her little man into the air and swing him around before embracing him in a big hug. "I missed you Mommy! Why did you leave like that?" Franklin said, the worry still etching its way through his voice.
"I'm sorry Franklin; I promise I wont let it happen again." Susan said as she gave Franklin a great big kiss on his cheek.
"I could hear that big slobbery one from over here." The voice of Johnny Storm cut in from across the room as the returned heroes turned to greet him. "So; anyone mind explaining to me why I came home to a small child who was left alone with a dragon-shaped man-bot?" The Richards's took several minutes to explain what had transpired during the morning; and afterwards Johnny could barely contain his laughter.
"Haha, I knew it. Ben, have I not always told you that you're the next stage of evolution for those Rock-Golems? You should be their king!" Johnny began to laugh hysterically as a mischievous smile appeared on Bens face.
"Don't you know nothin' hot-head? Golems don't gots kings; they worship who ever has the biggest shiniest stone... Idiot." In retort; Johnny Storm threw a small ball of fire into Bens face; causing Ben to begin chasing after him.
Clark watched on and smiled as Ben and Johnny continued to squabble, and though he may not have been able to see it; Franklin Richards was looking up at Superman with a smile on his face; thinking to himself how cool it was that Superman had saved his parents.
Day 3/ 11:00 AM
Coulson and Peter Parker stood outside of a small apartment building in Montreal, Quebec. It had been a while since Peter had been to Canada; yet even when the weather wasn't covering him in a mountain of snow, he somehow felt that there was still a cold presence lingering over him. "So... he's here?" Peter asked, his voice not doing well to hide the fear that was building up inside his gut.
"We don't have to do this Pete. We can just leave now. He'll never know we were here." Coulson tried to place a hand onto Parker's shoulder; but Peter just looked over at Coulson with a weak smile.
"He knows we're here." Peter said in a low tone. "If his Spidey-Sense is anything like mine, he knows someone is here for him." The two walked up to the intercom system as Coulson began to scroll through the different names in the data-base.
"Here he is." Coulson said as his finger pointed to a single name on the prompter; 'Richard Fitzpatrick'. Peter began to tear up at the sight of his fathers name and mothers maiden name in bold capital letter on the intercom. "Are you ready?" Peter looked over to Coulson; the anticipation clear in his face.
"He's my brother Phil. It doesn't matter if I'm ready; I'm bringing him home."
To Be Continuted in... "Spider-Man: Shadow of the Spider"
((AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks for waiting everyone. I wont lie though I did kind of start rushing through it near the end, which you may be able to notice. Sorry about that, but I really just want to push this story forward as I am very excited for what comes next. On that note, you can expect to see the Peter confront Ben Reilly, who is now going by the alias of Richard Fitzpatrick. You can expect for some character revelations that I always wanted to see in the main marvel continuity. You can expect several direct references to the Clone Wars saga; and a modified version of the fate of Ben Reilly that a lot of fans speculated towards.
On the Superman front however, you can expect the next chapter of Superman and the Family Fantastic to be up with the final chapter of Shadow of the Spider; and I don't expect that to be more than two chapters. The next chapter will focus on Superman and Johnny Storm; who both discover that they share a similar interest; something that just happens to net them in a very negative place. Thanks for reading :)! ))