Chapter 8:

"You shouldn't have hit him so hard, Mat."

"Well I told you he would have a problem with working with her."

"You never told me exactly what that problem was though. Besides, there was no choice."

Peter's eyes fluttered open, and he realized that he was lying on one of the couches. Around him stood several members of his new team, Hulkling and Stature. He could also tell that he was still wearing his mask. He got up uneasily as he issued a low growl.

"where is she," he muttered.

"In the other room," said Daredevil sharply. "And you will not attack any members of your team again if you wish to stay."

"Just let me snap her neck again," Peter spat aggressively, "she'll survive it."

"Spider-man!" Wasp gasped as her hand flew to her mouth, her face showing complete shock. Daredevil, on the other hand, grabbed Peter by the neck and forced him back down.

"Listen well," Daredevil snapped, "Because I'm only going to say this once. In a few minutes, I'm going to call Laura in here. You are going to take your mask off and look her in the face and shake her hand. You do not need to say anything, you do not need to apologize. Understood?"

"I..." Peter began as Daredevil's hand tightened around his throat.

"Understood?" Daredevil repeated angrily. A brief moment of tension lasted between them before Peter spoke.

"Understood," he said in a defeated voice before the pressure around Peter's neck abated. As he got to his feet, Peter could feel the tension build as Daredevil exited the room and returned with the girl. Peter could see a hint of tears raining down her emerald green eyes, which where hidden by long strands of black hair. He exhaled deeply and clenched one hand into a fist as he raised the other, offering it to her. She took it, shaking it gently.

"I am sorry," he heard her mutter as he pulled away. He watched as the other members of his new team watched tensely, Firestar even letting out a sigh of relief when Peter released X-23's hand. He stepped back, to lose their stares.

How dare they, he thought as their eye followed him. I'll bet every one of them would have done the same thing if they where in my position.

"Well," Wasp said, breaking the tension in the air. "That's...not how I wanted to start today. How about we get to the name-giving...?" she offered up, giving Daredevil a quick nod, which was returned. "I'll start. I'm Janet Van Dyme, ex-fashion designer and founding member of the Avengers. I've been an active hero for twelve years. I have the ability to shrink to about half an inch in size, grow wings and fire blasts of bio-electricity."

"How are you able to do that?" Spider-girl asked intently. "Sorry," she said, "always wondered. Are you a mutant or alien or something?"

"No," Wasp replied with a snicker. "I'm not a mutant. I helped develop the Pym particles, which gave Ant-man his powers. There was an accident at the lab one day and...boom! Wings and zapping powers!" She finished with a smile.

"I'm an alien, though," Hulkling remarked as his green skin turned to a more peach flesh colour. "Half Kree, Half Skrull. My Dad, Captain Mar-vel hooked up with a Skrull princess and had an 'illegitimate' offspring. In other words: me, the half Skrull, half Kree child raised as a human. Teddy Altman, by the way."

"Wow," Spider-girl replied as she pulled her mask off, revealing tanned skin. "Almost puts my origin story to shame. I got sucked into some crazy cult who gave me powers along with this wicked tattoo," she paused briefly, exposing her bare skin, so all could see the miniature imprint. "I can run real fast, I'm super-strong and I've got this cool exoskeleton that pops out when I want. See?" As she finished, her skin disappeared underneath a hard bony material. And it was removed seconds later as she continued, "It's bulletproof, knife-proof and all sorts of stuff. I'm Anya, by the way. Anya Corazon, Spider-girl." She finished with a wink, "The world's most dangerous Latina. You're next, handsome." she said as she nodded towards Peter, who sighed as he removed his mask, earning an immediate reaction from Firestar.

"Puny Parker?" She said as she tore of her mask, revealing a familiar face. Although he had never been in the same social circles as Liz Allen, there was no mistaking her face. "What the hell? You're spider-man?"

"You making fun of his size?" Stature said in a low voice. While the ceiling was high enough for everyone else in the room, she was forced to stoop somewhat. And even then her head still came close to brushing the ceiling. "Because there's nothing..."

"It was a high-school nickname some idiot gave me," Peter remarked coolly.

"Kenny was not an idiot!" Liz snapped, "he..."

"I was his tutor," Peter cut in. "Trust me, he's taken one to many hits in football practice. Anyway, I got bit by some sort of genetically altered Spider." He cast an angry glance towards X-23, stopping the words in his mouth. "I decided the best use of my skills would be stopping bad people. That was three years ago."

"And what exactly can you do?" Hulkling asked, "I've heard you shoot some kind of string from your hands..."

"Artificial webbing," Peter replied as he folded his arms. "that I developed myself. I can also cling to walls, articulate my body in ways normal people can't and sense incoming danger."

"So that's how you dodge bullets," Anya smirked, "I tried that once when a knife was thrown at me. Couldn't use my arm right for two weeks." She finished by nudging Stature's hip with her elbow and whispering something softly, causing both girls to giggle slightly.

"Wow," said Liz, "I was in the same class as Spider-man. That's so weird..."

"Look who's talking," Peter replied sharply, indicating towards Liz.

"That's fair," Liz said as she tilted her head to the side slightly. "Turns out I'm a mutant. My Powers manifested last summer, and I spent two months in Weschester learning to control them. You know, not burning buildings down and stuff."

"That's a good thing," Daredevil said as he pulled his mask free from his face. Almost everyone in the room except Peter gasped when they saw that he was blind. "I'd hate to have to find the fire exit in this place. Mathew Murdoch, defence attorney."

"Wait wait wait," Hulkling said as he raised his arms in disbelief, "how the hell can you be blind and fight like you do?" He said, "Even people who can see wouldn't be able to do most of that stuff."

"When I was a lot younger," Daredevil said coarsely, "I got in an accident on my way home from school, some chemicals sprayed into my eyes, rendering me blind. My other senses, however, became heightened. After my father...died, I found a mentor who trained me in the martial arts. I've been cleaning up the streets ever since. Next?" Dead silence followed as everyone looked at the two remaining individuals who had yet to disclose their identities, X-23 and Stature, the latter of whom seemed somewhat smaller than before, being only about a head taller than Peter now.

"Laura?" Daredevil said softly, "anything you wish to..."

"I am X-23. That was the name I was born with. I am a clone of weapon X, known to you as Wolverine." She said in a robotic voice.

"That's it?" Liz remarked, "no radiation, magic or..."

"That is all," X-23 cut in abruptly as she folded her arms across her chest sharply. "And I am finished talking."

"Well," said Wasp uneasily. "Stature, you're up next!" All eyes turned to the formerly seven-foot girl, who now stood at five and a half feet. She wore an expression of extreme nervousness.

"I..um..." Stature began, "I'm Cassandra...Cassie...Lang. I...I just sort of...got my..abilities. One day I just started growing. I don't know why...I mean, I don't think I'm a mutant...my mom's a schoolteacher and my dad worked with the government until he died ten years ago..." Cassie's words trailed off into a series of mumbles until Anya moved closer and draped an arm around her shoulder.

"That sounds awesome!" Anya said with a smile, "We're so gonna rock the superhero world as a team!"

A/N: Yes, I know I changed Cassie's origin story from the original slightly. But I hope you will forgive me in the end. In an upcoming chapter, the teammates are going to be pitted against one another, who should Spidey be paired with?