Marvel Comics 1000 Addendum

Disclaimer: "We need to get back to the archives."

Chapter 9: Date Night!

A fancy restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

"Man, I never imagined that I would get to ever eat in a place like this." The Wisconsin-accented man sitting at the table smiled at his companion. He was a muscular powerhouse, nearly seven feet tall. His balding head was covered by a black bandanna, and his long brown hair was tied into a ponytail. His normally long and wild beard was neatly trimmed. He wore a brown suit with a white shirt and yellow tie. His clothes had to be custom-fitted due to his size.

David Landers smiled at the woman sitting across from him at the table. She was staring at the glass of wine.

"I agree. Long way from the bar and grill back home in Amarillo." The woman agreed, her voice showing a Texan brogue. Like David, she was tall and muscular, but the red dress she wore showed that she was quite curvaceous. Her complexion showed her African-American and Choctaw heritage. Her dark red wavy hair fell over one of her dark brown eyes, making her look more alluring in Dave's eyes.

When the Terrigen Clouds went over the Earth, David Landers and Jennifer Swann's lives were changed forever. Landers was once an office worker in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Swann was a mechanic in Amarillo, Texas. The Mists revealed their Inhuman heritage and they underwent Terrigenesis. Landers, who was a skinny twig of a man, found himself turned into a man whose muscles made professional bodybuilders jealous. Jennifer found herself with powers like the X-Man Colossus, the ability to transform her skin into metal.

The two would end up being recruited to a...new government agency by a mysterious woman, where they became essentially superhuman police officers. Landers became known as the Mastodon, and Swann was codenamed Chrome.

"Well, quite a bit of the food looks appetizing." Landers smiled, looking at the menu. "I especially want to try their soup special."

"Why not have some of everything. We can afford it." Jennifer suggested. "And considering your appetite..."

"Yeah, that's kind of the only downside of my powers." Dave recalled. "It's worth it, though. As a kid, I always wanted to be Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"I didn't want to be Colossus." Jennifer sighed. "I just wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps. Be an engineer, like him." She shook her head. "But those stupid mists made me into a freak."

"You're not a freak, you're unique." David smiled.

"That's what the therapist likes to say to me." Jennifer rolled her eyes. "But my powers aren't even that original."

"Eh, there's only so many superpowers out there." Dave said. "There's bound to be overlap. I have the basic super-strength/durability set. That's hardly original." He went back to his menu. "...do I want the Gruyere cheese? I think I'll try that..."

"Dave, it's just..." Jennifer sighed. "I never wanted these powers. I don't feel...human anymore."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I don't think you quite do." Jennifer shook her head. "It's just..." She looked at her arm. "I get scared that one day, I'll turn to metal...and I'll never change back."

Dave put a hand on her own. "Hon, I do understand. When I first emerged from the Terrigen Mists, I felt like a freak, too. I mean, look at me." He held out his arms. "I'm big, I'm hairy, I have to get all my clothes custom-made now, thank God the paychecks at our new job are very generous..."

"Yeah, but you still look human." Jennifer pointed out. "Bigger and more muscular, but still human."

"That doesn't mean I don't get strange looks and people thinking I'm a freak." Dave countered. "It does stink sometimes. But here's how I look at it. Being human...it's not about not having any sort of superpower. It's like Keiko said. Being human ain't about what's in your DNA."

Jennifer frowned at him. "You do know she is into me, right?"

"Well, that's not exactly..." Dave waved his hand as he tried to find the word he was looking for. "Unobvious."

"She needs to get it through her thick head." Jennifer grumbled.

"Would help if you told her you were straight." Dave shrugged.

"Like that would help." Jennifer rolled her eyes.

"I think it would. Keiko's a lot of things, but she's not a jerk. Hell, you consider her a friend."

"Yeah, that's true." Jennifer admitted. "I do like her, and I know we'd have each other's backs in a bar brawl, but still..."

"You're afraid it would hurt your friendship with Keiko." Dave deduced.

"...yes." She admitted. "I never had many friends growing up." Jennifer sighed. "I never really felt that I fit in anywhere. I mean, I'm three things that America has shown over its history that it does not like very much: I'm Black, I'm Choctaw, and I'm a woman."

"Well, this American adores ya." Dave smiled, holding up his glass of water like he was making a toast. This made Jen smile.

"Thanks, Dave."

"You're welcome." He looked over at the menu again. "Yeah, I think I'll try a little bit of everything." He sighed. "Man, I hate that we got banned from that Chinese buffet. The fried shrimp they have there was so good..."

"They banned you because you were going to eat them out of business." Jennifer laughed.

"To be fair, I have a big appetite. They thought I was bad, Keiko would have been a nightmare for them." Dave agreed, laughing himself.

Jennifer wiped a tear from her eye. "Thanks for cheering me up, Dave."

"No problem, babe." The large man smiled. "I just want you to know that you're not alone. And you're not a monster. You're still human. It ain't what's in the DNA. It's what's in here." He put his hand over his heart. He then heard a beeping.

"Oh, no..." Jennifer groaned.

"Always on duty." Dave pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. "We got a call."

"Is it that thing in Nevada?" Jennifer recalled. "I thought the others had that handled."

"Naw, it's something else." Dave told her. "Something involving an incident in...Huh." The Mastodon blinked. "...Clairton."

"Clairton? As in Clairton, West Virginia?" Jennifer repeated in shock.

"I thought the same thing." Dave agreed. "The place is practically a ghost town now."

"Yes, ever since practically the entire town was massacred by aliens from outer space many years ago." Jennifer recalled. "What could possibly be there now?" [Author's Note: In Rom #49-50 (December 1983-January 1984)]

"I have no idea." Dave admitted as he got up. "It's a shame this came up, really. I was hoping to try some of that Gruyere cheese..."

"We'll get some McDonalds on the way." Jennifer reassured as she got up and kissed Dave's cheek. "Besides, it's not that surprising. Clairton had weird stuff going on before the town's inhabitants were slaughtered." She smirked. "And it's part of the job."

"Yeah." Dave agreed. "I'm sure we can handle it..."

1986 – The New Universe debuts.