The next morning the superheroes awoke from an unpleasant sleep. None of them slept very well last night, knowing they were basically captives in space. There was a knock at the door at about eleven thirty. A tall, skinny lady was holding a tray of food and a newspaper. Her skin was a light purple. She had long, straight black hair that was tucked behind pointy elf ears, and she had a long, thin tail like a lion's. She was also wearing an odd-looking necklace. The jewel was a diamond, and it blinked red. "Heroes of Earth, I have your breakfast." She smiled. She had a weird accent, almost Russian. Spider-Man figured English wasn't her native language. He scratched his butt and walked over. He stared at the large tray of pancakes.
"Thanks, I thought you'd serve weird alien food or something." "Our chef is the best in the Galdron Galaxy. He can cook any food from any planet. Oh, and I have your planet's newspaper. Since you are all mostly from the city 'New York', I took a paper from there." Spider-Man took the paper along with the tray. "Thanks. The Daily Bugle is a...uh...good paper." She smiled again. "Why do they call your city 'New' York? Isn't it very old?" He laughed. "My name is Abba. I will be your server once we reach The House of Heroes." "Cool. Hey, Abba. What happens if we don't win a challenge?" She glared at him. "I can not discuss the rules, Spider-Man." And she walked away.
"Who was that dame?" Wolverine asked as Spider-Man handed the pancakes around. "Our server. Abba." "She was pretty hot. Except she was purple. And she had elf ears. And she had a tail." Johnny Storm added. Spider-Man threw a pancake on his head. "Well, when do we reach this planet we are supposed to live on?" Dare Devil asked. "I don't know. I think they'll make an announcement." Captain America said. Then a crackled sound came from the loudspeaker. "Attention all heroes. We will land at the House of Heroes in one hour." Then came a different voice. "Mader dabba heroens. Daben mos landro suto Housa o Heroens en One Blargton."
They all stared at each other, amazed at what they had heard. Captain America laughed and said, "Wow, I want to learn how to speak that language." "Isn't it odd that we never heard of any of these things before? I mean, we're supposed to be the only planet with life." Dare Devil said. "Well, I guess we aren't anymore, Dare Devil." Spider-Man starred out the small window. "Guys, look! The moon! Except it's...blue..." He moaned. "That's not the moon, stupid. It's a planet. We passed the moon Two Blargtons ago!" Said a famine voice. It was Abba again. "Bargtons?" "It means hours in Jarbarn." "Jarbarn?" She rolled her eyes. "There are two main languages in space, Human and Jarbarn." "What about Spanish, French, all that?" Wolverine asked. She nodded. "Those are Human, no? There are no creatures on the ship that speak Spanish or French." "So...all planets besides Earth speak Jarbarn?" She nodded. "Wow...that's weird."
"So, what are you doing here Abba?" Spider-Man asked. "I am supposed to serve you. What is it that you want?" "Uh...nothing, at the moment." He said. "Hey, Abba, can we take a walk?" "Heroes are not supposed to be allowed out of their Holding Room." "Come on, this bites. We're the heroes, aren't we? We should decide." She nodded. "Yes. Come, please." She led him out of the room. "So, Spider-Man, huh? Odd name." "Yeah. Thanks." "Ooh no, I meant odd as in original." He laughed as he passed Holding Room 12. "Sure. I got it from my powers. They are that of a spider." "Spider?" "Earth insect." "Oh."
"So Abba, what's you're story?" "I am from Planet Wooznick. I grew up as most Morlans do." "Morlans?" "My people. She said, looking down at her feet. Spider-Man looked down, too. Her feet were two large purple paws. He shook his head and looked again. "Woah!" He mumbled. "So...uh...how did you get a job here?" "Job? No, not a job. I must work here. I do not receive any pay for this. I must serve the Heroes." "Why?" She pointed to her necklace that was blinking red. "I was taken from my planet when I was fifteen of age. This necklace can inject a poison if I do not serve the Heroes." "That's terrible!" "It is the way of the planets in this galaxy, Spider-Man those who are not 'pure' are sent off to do 'dirty work'." "What does 'pure' mean?" Spider-Man asked intently. "It means that when a child is born, the ruler of the planet examines her. If she is perfect, she is allowed to live on the planet. If not, she is sent away." "So, what 'imperfect' about you. You seem 'pure' to me." "It is my tail," She said. "It is five inches longer than it should be." Spider-Man was shocked. How horrible!
Almost as if she could read the expression under Spider-Man's mask, she said, "Nothing can be done, Spider-Man. All servants are 'imperfect' here. Even the chef." She stopped moving. "Spider-Man, nothing can be done to free the servants here. You must focus on your tasks in the tournament, do you understand?" He didn't move. What kind of galaxy was this? 'Imperfect' people as Servants? It's crazy!
"I will not forget about you," He said. "I will do something." And he left her, marching back on his own towards the Hall of Heroes. He barged through the large double doors. "Headmistress! What kind of games are you pulling?" She stood up from her throne. "What do you mean?" "Taking little girls for servants? That's insane! It's cruel!" She gave an evil smile. "I want to know exactly what you're doing!" She just smiled. "You will find out in time. We did not kidnap them, Spider-Man. We were given them. It's the way of this galaxy. We needed servants, that is all." "Yeah, but making them wear a poisonous necklace?" She raised an eyebrow. "Spider-Man. You will be facing terrible challenges soon enough. Do not worry about the servants. They are only peasants from their planet. Now, go back to you're holding room. Or, would you like Wane to help you?" He looked at the enormous bodyguard standing next to her. "No. I'm good."