The week was extremely boring, but then, on Friday, excitement came. Some heavily-armed thugs and the Shocker, who had been broken out of jail on Wednesday had tried to rob the city's largest bank, but the Young X-Men stopped them. When the thugs were questioned, they said they were working for the Kingpin.

*X*

"Is it time to hire an assassin, boss?" Fedora asked the Kingpin, nervously.

"Yes, dear Fedora, it is time." The Kingpin said, looking out his window on the city, a city that if all went according to plan, would be his.

"I'll go call Bullseye" Fedora said, prepared to leave the room.

"I already hired Bullseye to deal with another pest in Hell's Kitchen." The Kingpin said. "Another costumed pest who calls himself Daredevil, the Man without Fear. I suspect he is really courageous, or surprisingly moronic."

"Then who should I hire, boss?" Fedora asked nervously.
"I have faith you'll find an adequate assassin." Kingpin said.

"Yes, sir." Fedora said, leaving the room.

*X*

An hour passed before Fedora re-entered the room.

"Have you found an assassin?" Kingpin asked, looking up from the large tome he was reading.

"Yes sir." Fedora said. "I called some of my contacts, and found a reasonable assassin, guaranteed to kill the Spider-Man.
"What can he do?" the Kingpin asked.
"She's a mutant, going by the codename X-23. She has two retractable claws on each hand, a healing factor, a retractable claw on each foot, training in numerous martial arts, and she is a trained acrobat." Fedora said. "And she's an expert tracker."

"How much will it cost to hire her?" The Kingpin asked.

"It's not cheap, boss. Not cheap at all." Fedora said, nervously.

"How much?" Kingpin said, annoyed.

"Anywhere from a million to five million." Fedora said.

"We can easily afford that." Kingpin said, chuckling. "How can we contact her?"
"There's a man named Revolver, who lives in a motel. You have to knock on the door, and when he asks who it is, you have to say 'The shadows cover me, for I am the shadows'." Fedora said. "He lets you in, and then you tell him who you need to…disappear. Then, he'll call in X-23 who will come visit you. She'll tell you how much it costs to get the person eliminated, and, assuming you can afford it, she'll go after him."
"Excellent." Kingpin said. "Go pay a visit to Revolver, Fedora." Kingpin said.

Fedora left the room.

*X*

Two hours passed before Fedora returned. "The deed is done, boss. Revolver said X-23 will arrive tomorrow. By any luck, the Spider-Man will be dead on Saturday night."

*X*

Saturday

Peter left the school early in the morning, after eating a bowl of cereal. On his back was a backpack Sam loaned him, which Peter stuffed his spider-costume into. By eleven AM, Peter was at his Aunt May's house. By one PM, the new couch was in, and the old couch was sold to one of Aunt May's neighbors.
Because of his aunt's insistence, Peter spent the entire day at the house, telling his Aunt May about life at the school. He was careful to not mention the Young X-Men, the last thing his Aunt needed was to be worried about the missions he went on, and when she asked about his limp, he made up a story about him banging his knee against a wall. At seven, he said goodbye to his Aunt, and began heading back to the academy.

*X*

Fedora entered the Kingpin's office, and he wasn't alone. Alongside him was a girl with black hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a black bodysuit with X-23 written on it's chest, in big, white letters.

"The assassin, I presume?" Kingpin asked Fedora, setting his large book down on the table.

"Yes sir." Fedora answered.
"Do you have an item with the Spider-Man's scent on it?" X-23 said. "If I have his scent, tracking him down will be very easy."

"Yes." Kingpin said, taking out an item from a small box. It appeared to be a red rag with a spider-web pattern. "A piece of his costume that was torn off during a battle yesterday." Kingpin set the rag down on the desk, and X-23 picked it up. She sniffed the rag several times before getting a surprised look on her face.

"What is it?" Kingpin asked.

"I've encountered this scent before." X-23 said. "I'll be able to find the…Spider-Man…very quickly."

"How much will it cost?" the Kingpin asked.

X-23 thought for a moment. "Two million." X-23 then exited the room.

*X*

Peter stopped to rest on a tall building. The building had a small brick room on top of it, with a elevator. Peter leaned on the exterior of the brick room, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them once more, a girl stood in front of him. She had long, black hair, and eyes as green as an emerald. She wore a black bodysuit with X-23 written on its chest, in big, white letters. Peter immediately sensed danger.

"Hello Peter." The girl said.

"Laura? Is that you?" Peter asked.
"Yes. It's a shame we have to meet under these circumstances." X-23 said.

"What circumstances?" Peter asked, taking a couple steps away from the exterior of the brick room.

Two claws popped out of each of X-23's hands. Peter took a few more steps backwards. "The Kingpin has hired me to kill you." X-23 said.

"Ah." Peter said. "Well…I have to get going now. Maybe you can kill me another time." Peter dived off the rooftop, firing a web at another building. He can began swinging, heading back towards the school. A year ago, he saw what Laura…X-23 could do, and it wasn't pretty.

X-23 sighed, and began jumping across the rooftops, determined to complete her job as soon as possible.