The Real Me

Chapter One: Wish You Were Here (Part 4)

Wally frowned as an ominous rumbling, like distant thunder drawing ever closer, filled the air. There was something chilling about the sound as it approached. An evil dredged from the depths of hell itself; the souls of the wicked as they howled in unbearable agony.

He wasn't the only one to hear it. Black Spider hung from the ceiling his head cocked as he spared a quick glance towards the door without taking his eyes off the young sidekick. Hook stared out the window as ghostly light blazed in the darkness beyond. "What the fuck?" He whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Hey, PG-13 here," Kid Flash admonished as he took advantage of the distraction and slammed into the large mercenary and managed to knock him back several steps. He easily avoided the distracted backhand slap Hook half-heartedly threw in his direction

Ms. Martian floated upward as a dark void closed on their location. She had never felt anything like it before. Not on Mars or Earth. There was a vague presence but it was sheathed within an unnatural darkness.

The front door, only partially closed, exploded inward as a fiery specter astride a flaming motorcycle roared through the doorway before twisting to a stop, a fading trail of fire leading away from the building. There was something distinctly feminine about the skeletal apparition. Like the motorcycle her head was covered in eldritch flames.

The creature settled the supernaturally enhanced motorcycle and climbed off the mystical bike as she tugged the ancient chain free. It slid from her shoulder; cracked like a whip as it hit the floor. Her voice was far from feminine, far from human as she proclaimed, "The blood of the Innocent screams out for vengeance," in a layered voice dipped in the misery of hell itself. "The innocent blood you have spilt shall be avenged."

"No spilling of innocent blood here," Kid Flash informed the flaming skeleton.

Hook lashed out, his heavy chain racing toward the leather clad skeleton. Steel chain met mystical chain head on and shattered. The ancient looking chain coiled around what was left of Hook's hardened steel chain and the Spirit of Vengeance jerked pulling the ruthless killer into her grasp. Merciless pits of blackness latched onto Hook's dark eyes.

For the briefest of moments there is a silence, a stillness in the night that seemed sacred. Then Hook screamed; the desperate wail, the cry of a man whose essence, his very soul is being shredded. Torn asunder and dragged into the fiery flames of hell itself.

/ / /

Laura monitored the program's progress as it was downloaded into the computer's hard drive. It wasn't a large file, but it was incredibly sophisticated. As far as Laura could tell, not that she was any sort of computer hacker. She could download a program though which was more than could be said about her companion.

Conan might be a lot of things, computer literate certainly wasn't one of them. He was getting better. He no longer viewed the internet as some sort of scrying device only witches and their ilk had access to. Nor had it taken much effort for him to convert to modern clothes that weren't made from the cured hides of dead animals.

He was currently wearing a pair of black combat style boots that had several modifications, sheathes for a number of small throwing knives, what he had taken to calling his talons, black jeans with form fitted body armor underneath. A sawed off, pump action shotgun containing cartridges filled with a version of Parker's goop that would release and harden on impact, was strapped to his leg.

The man was lethal with any weapon he put his hands on. In a remarkably short time, a few months he had mastered modern firearms. If he was interested in such things he could win just about any marksmen trophy he wanted.

A thick utility belt was strapped tight around his waist. The pouches held a vast assortment of gadgets and other items that would be useful, anything from lock picks to a small amount of plastic explosives and a burner phone along with a credit card under one of his various aliases.

His top was dark grey body armor with black accents that would allow him to fade into the darkness almost at will. It was form fitting and displayed a solid torso that rippled with sleek muscles. His gloves were laced with a light weight titanium alloy that allowed him to punch far above his weight class.

A dark grey, Zorro like cowl covered the top half of his head while leaving his mouth and jaw exposed. The hilt of his bastard sword stuck up over his left shoulder, while a nine millimeter automatic was secured to the small of his back and a pair of foot long, modified Escrima Sticks were strapped to his left thigh. They extended to three feet when held and could be attached through a magnetic field as well as discharge a variable electric shock much like a taser and could also be used much like a magnetic grappling gun.

"The guards are lazier than a pack of Hyperborean curs the morning after too much lotus and a score of well paid whores," he said in a quiet voice filled with disdain. His opinion of the people living in this modern age was well known by now.

Laura couldn't fault him. People for the most part were lazy and found the easiest way to accomplish any task given to them. "Count your blessings they are. In and out without anybody being the wiser. We start stacking bodies in the corridors somebody is bound to notice. No matter how hung over they are."

Conan smiled at the girl. She was a skilled warrior despite her diminutive size much like the man she claimed was her father. In this world she was accounted a child and some of the group sought to shelter her along with the other teenage members despite them having proven their worth numerous times over during their months on this world.

"How much longer?" He asked as he scanned the area again, his ears as alert as his eyes.

Laura shrugged as she watched the thin green bar. "It's almost at ninety percent so not much longer. We've got ten minutes before the guards start their next patrol." Looking upward she sniffed the air. "Looks like someone's impatient," she said. "I'll catch up to you once I'm done here. Acquisition three and four are the farthest from here."

Conan nodded at her instructions before he slipped out of the server room. Laura was a breed of advance human, Homo Saipan Superior. Her senses were vastly superior to his forcing him to believe her claim that someone was headed in their direction. The security system had already been circumvented and would remain so for another half an hour, affording him unfettered movement. Moving about unafraid of detection made his task much easier.

He had no desire to become lazy or sloppy so he slipped from one patch of darkness to another on a whisper soft tread. He entered the room, a lab of some sort… Pryde or Grey might be able to tell him what type. The stairwell door opened and closed at the far end of the hall. He waited a few seconds for the sound to clear then allowed the door he had kept slightly open to shut with a soft click.

The guard radioed in the noise before he moved to investigate the sound. He was cautious as he moved down the corridor, checking the doors as he went. Reaching the second to last door he went to grab the handle only to have the door explode outward as Conan kicked it out. The steel casing shattered under the force of the impact. The door flew off its hinges and slammed into the guard driving him into the opposite wall. Conan grabbed the heavy door and tossed it aside with his left hand, his right snatched the guard and he spun, slammed the young man into the opposite wall. He cinched in a tight sleeper hold and quickly put the guard down.

Laying the man down, he checked the guard's vitals. Killing had always been a way of life for him, you didn't leave enemies behind. This however wasn't his world. Killing in war or to prevent the death of another was acceptable, but this man wasn't a soldier, wasn't his enemy. He was just a man and this wasn't a matter of life and death. Killing him without reason, simply to kill him was a sign of a sick mind.

"George," a concerned voice called over the guard's communication device. A simple two way walkie talkie. "George, came in man. Stop playing around and answer me. Something serious is going down outside."

Conan frowned, pondering the new information. He wondered exactly what Galatea was up to. Her objective had been simple. Cause an external distraction, something to pull the focus away from Wayne Enterprises but she had been radio silent for quite a while now. By Crom, What has that alien done? He pondered silently.

/ / /

Cheshire's pace didn't falter as she continued following Aqualad's heat trail. There was a mission to complete and she wasn't going to allow anything to stop her. Torture wasn't in JL Juniors wheelhouse but it was all she could think of to make a man as tough as Hook scream like that. His anguish filled cries sent a chill coursing down her spine.

The whistling was the only warning she had, not that a Junior Leaguer would ever go for the kill shot, but she pulled up as an arrow embedded itself in the wall mere inches from her face. In a way she was glad it was the blonde archer. Artemis had really blossomed in the years she's been away.

Gas exploded from the arrow and Cheshire crumpled to the roof she was standing on and feigned unconsciousness. Artemis was cocky and over confident, so sure in her gadgetry. Striking quickly and only showing a little mercy, Cheshire quickly gained the upper hand.

"Is this how sisters treat each other in America," a female with a heavy Russian accent asked from a slightly higher spot on the roof.

"Sisters," Artemis muttered softly as Cheshire reacted instantly, driven by instinct and years of training. The poison darts were on their way before the stranger finished speaking. While she might hesitate to use lethal force with her sister no one else was given that same courtesy.

Her darts flew true but the woman simply plucked them out of the air. She was strikingly beautiful; tall and athletic with long red gold hair woven into hundreds of whisper thin braids. Her costume was form fitting; a deep purple so dark it was nearly black with blood red accents that ran up her arms starting at her middle and ring fingers and ending at her shoulders as well as the outside of her legs from her ankles to her hips, all the way to under her arms. Like her costume the Domino mask she wore was the same purple on the outside with a thin strip of red cutting through the center. A black utility belt with a large number of pouches was tightly secured around her waist. She carried a number of weapons; a pair of sais, a Katana, some sort of shock stick, what appeared to be some type of wrist blaster. Cheshire was sure there were other weapons as well.

None of that was what drew Cheshire's attention though. The woman's eyes were like nothing she had ever seen before. She had no pupil to speak of and the vibrant green that should have been her iris swirled with the white sclera. The woman had to be blind, no one should be able to see with eyes like that… Only the way she stood, completely at ease and confident, watching them. A hawk circling its dinner.

"I am Risk," she said.

Cheshire barely got her sai around in time to block the dart Risk flipped back at her. The second she managed to avoid, mostly as it tore through the sleeve of her tunic.

"Jade!" Artemis shouted as she scrambled to her feet.

Cheshire ignored her sister and did the only thing she could think of and attacked. Risk was as good as Cheshire thought moving with an effortless grace as if they were dancing in a ballroom instead of engaging in a life and death battle on a rooftop in the middle of the night. If it was a dance it was clear who was leading and nothing Cheshire threw at her opponent put the Russian off balance.

An arrow flashed over her shoulder, close enough she could feel the fletching on her cheek. It should have taken Risk in the chest but the woman spun at the last moment and caught the tail of the arrow. Cheshire saw the attack coming; tried to throw herself out of the way but couldn't, her momentum carried her into the tip of Artemis' arrow. A powerful electrical surge tore through her body as she slammed into the arrow. The protective body armor she wore under her costume was the only thing that kept her conscious but her muscles turned to jello and her body spasmed as she collapsed to the roof; her head was fuzzy and ached and her thoughts were a jumbled mess that didn't make any sense.

"Little sister wishes to protect her sibling?" There was a note of confusion in Risk's voice. It could have been curiosity, it was so hard for her to think. "Your sister, Jade… She will not be harmed. She has information to questions we have. Once she has provided us with her knowledge return her to you we will."

"I'm not going to let you take her," Artemis vowed. A smile, small and secretive slid across Cheshire's lips. Almost any other time she would have been proud of the determined edge in her sister's voice. Artemis had no clue what she was getting herself into.

Risk smiled at the girl as she strode forward, "This is good. She is your sister," Risk said as she stepped over the prone Cheshire. Confident in the outcome even as Artemis leveled an arrow at her chest. "If you win, your sister… She goes free. If you win."

She darted to the left, fast as anybody Artemis had ever seen that didn't have a Flash, Wonder or Super attached to their name, but she was still able to track and fire all in one smooth motion. Risk moved even faster as she pirouetted in the opposite direction and Artemis cursed herself for such a rookie mistake.

Moving with a desperate speed the young archer plucked another arrow from her quiver but Risk's spinning kick caught her the shoulder and twisted her around. A second kick in the center of her back sent her toward the edge of the building. Her arms flailed as one foot came down on the lip of the roof and the other seemed to hover in space.

Gravity tugged her forward but her fall was brought to an abrupt halt as somebody grabbed the upper limb of her bow. The sudden jolt allowed her to swing around only to find Risk easily holding her in place. Artemis went to pull herself up but Risk must have sensed her movement somehow and altered her position and Artemis stilled.

"Your handler should be beaten for allowing such a poorly trained operative as yourself in the field," Risk informed her. Not angry but more of a clinical assessment. Suddenly she pulled Artemis back onto the roof with no visible strain. "We are done here yes?" It wasn't really a question and Risk wasn't actually waiting for an answer.

Cheshire was getting to her feet. Artemis glared at the woman. She really didn't like her. "You didn't beat me." It must have been the defiance in her voice that caused Risk to grace her with, not really a smile but a smirk.

"Artemis," Cheshire hissed in that annoyingly older sister way she always possessed.

"You can't go with her!" Artemis growled back. Jade may not realize but she had grown in the years they had been apart. "We can take her. Together."

"No. We can't." Cheshire's rebuke was final.

"Jade –"

"It's Cheshire," the assassin bit out. "Jade died a long time ago."

Risk rubbed her thumb over a flat stone she had retrieved from somewhere on her body. "Do not worry young one. Your sister will be returned to you unharmed." With those words a circle of white light encased the pair and Artemis was forced to shield her eyes. When it vanished they were nowhere to be seen.

"You'll always be Jade to me," Artemis whispered into the night as she kept the tears from her eyes.

/ / /

Superboy calling an audible at first contact didn't come as much of a shock to Robin. It was well establish that Superboy had a habit of going off script. That wasn't what caused the young sidekick to hesitate at the rear hatch of the M'gann's bio-ship. Professor Ojo had already unleashed the Infiltrators and was focusing his attention on Superboy, unleashing a powerful optic blast.

Above them a golden disc had opened revealing a mature blonde in her mid twenties. She was tall, trim and athletic with a full figure and sun-kissed nearly white blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her costume, if it could be called that consisted of black platform boots, distress hip hugger blue jeans and a white long sleeve pullover that emphasized her ample bosom. A pair of diamond earrings in the shape of Superman's crest dangled from her ears and a silver medallion hung around her neck. Like her earrings the medallion was fashioned in Superman's crest.

As the golden disc vanished Ojo's optic blast struck Superboy and blasted him into the concrete wall. All the woman did was look at the Fog, nothing more than a glance rarely and the nano-tech vaporized. Robin sucked in a breath, he'd seen that before. Superman did it all the time. She was Kryptonian. A full blooded Kryptonian.

Ojo spotted her and paled at her smile. It was the sort that would make your blood run like ice. He darted for the van but was thrown back when it crumpled under the force of her impact. A loud screech of metal being ripped apart filled the air as she tore the vehicle in half with her bare hands. Ojo fired his optic beam and it struck her head on only she didn't budge. It was nearly as powerful as the blast that struck Superboy. After a few seconds the beam fizzled out and she stood there without so much as a hair out of place.

"That," she began in a darkly ominous voice, "Tickled." With a burst of speed she held Ojo up by his collar.

Robin threw himself from the back of the bio-ship his grappling hook embedding into the concrete wall. He swung around, a pair of Bat-a-rangs flew true. They had little chance of actually hurting her but they could be enough to distract her.

Only she turned, holding Ojo in front of her like a human shield and the Bat-a-rangs sank into his back. "That's gotta hurt," she empathized mildly before tossing him aside as if he was no more important than rubbish to be wiped off the bottom of her shoes.

Robin's foot connected with her jaw, which didn't move, and a quick flip to get out of her immediate reach and he found himself dangling upside down in her powerful grip. Strong fingers pressed in on his thigh. "So Richard…" Robin tried to keep the shock from his face but doubted if he succeeded. "…You don't mind if I call you Richard? Or does everyone call you Dick for short or short –"

Superboy's fist collided with her face, the impact cracked the concrete she was standing on but didn't move her. Not anymore than his foot had or Ojo's optic beam.

"–Dick," she finished as if nothing had happened. Superboy grimaced but pulled his fist back to strike again. The next thing Robin knew he was twisting and turning hundreds of feet over paved roadways, sidewalks and little green oasis; islands of grass and trees in a sea of pavement and concrete.

She caught his second punch and exerted pressure forcing Superboy to his knees as he grit his teeth to keep from hissing in pain. "I almost felt that punch," she told him. "You should be proud," she continued as she looked him over. Her gaze froze on the tattered remains of the House of El crest on his shirt.

Instantly her vision shifted and she looked straight into his DNA. "Kryptonian," she whispered with a gleam in her eyes. "Say good night Gracie," she said just before she snapped her fingers. The explosive force crashed into Superboy like a tsunami a split second before it pulverized the parking garage. The structure crumbled and collapsed upon itself.

Robin managed to maintain his composure in the face of the wanton destruction. It had taken every ounce of his finely honed acrobatic skill to avoid being killed. Disgusted by the Kryptonian's indifferent and casual brutality and her display of raw power he managed to keep his emotions in check. This was hardly the first time he has been seconds from death.

"Tell my associates I've got the key. Tell them I'm going home," she said with Superboy draped over her shoulder. One moment she was there, the next she wasn't and he couldn't even tell what direction she had gone.

/ / /

The impact tremor shook the ground as Nicholas hurled the Behemoth the length of the underground corridor, a good fifty meters before it crashed through the bedrock wall at the opposite end. His fist slammed into the skull of a second Behemoth and the massive creature dropped where it stood. They were powerful beast, but when compared to Nicholas they might well have been plastic Tonka toys.

He was a massive, mountain of a man that stood nearly seven and a half feet tall and weighed close to three thousand pounds of mystically enhanced muscles capable of tearing the tallest skyscrapers out of the bedrock that supported them. That was before either of his transformations. When everything was said and done he could shatter an American sized continent with a single punch. Putting down a Behemoth or a thousand was like asking the Parker twins to steal candy from a baby.

Beside him Namorita, the exotic and beautiful heir apparent to the Atlantean throne was keeping the annoying Strikers off his back. Resplendent in her royal Atlantean armor, her trident spun catching a pair of the genetically engineered creatures in the abdomen. Eldritch energy coursed through their bodies briefly hurling them away.

Leaning casually against a bedrock wall Illyana ignored the chaos swelling around her as she filed her nails to razor sharpness, her red spade tipped tail lashed back and forth lazily, almost like a cat in anticipation of pouncing on some unsuspecting prey. Two tiny, bone horns were partially hidden beneath her golden bangs. They lined up perfectly with the outer edge of her dusky, amber hued snake eyes.

A striker leapt at her, thinking she was an easy target. Nicholas almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. There was a chance; of the three of them, she was the most dangerous. She was the de facto ruler of a hell like dimension she referred to as Limbo and was known as the Dark Chylde. Ancient and powerful magic that also sheltered her mind from all but the most powerful psychic attacks were hers to wield and she possessed a mystical weapon known as her soul sword she could summon whenever she chose.

The Striker was only inches away, its claws ready to slice through her unprotected flesh when a golden disc opened right in its path and it fell through. Another golden disc opened inches in front of a bedrock wall and the Striker slammed into the unyielding surface with the force of runaway racecar. It bounced off the wall as the disc closed up behind it and the creature fell to the ground senseless.

Luck had been on its side. As often as not anything that passed through her stepping disc without her protection had the habit of not coming out again; food for her insatiable demon horde.

That was her mutant power; the ability to travel anywhere through her stepping disc. There was almost no place… No time that was unreachable to her. Before her the entire universe was laid bare.

"This is irksome," Namorita complained as she slammed the butt of her trident into the face of a striker felling the creature before it could touch her. Her training as the heir of Atlantis shone through as a solid front kick sent another striker the length of short hall. "Why transport us here, forcing us to fight our way through this seemingly endless horde."

"Hey," Illyana hissed at the Atlantean Princess. "I told the Colonel there was some sort of interference. That I wouldn't be able to port all the way to the servers. He decided to send you two. Stealthy, neither of you are," she informed them.

"I think I'm pretty stealthy," Nicholas said as he slammed another Behemoth against the wall causing the entire area to shake with the tremor."

"For an ICBM," Illyana said. She stepped forward in front of a thick circular steel door and added, "Maybe," as she raised her hand.

Namorita slammed her fist into the last Behemoth. The creature staggered but didn't fall. She growled deep in her chest as she leapt into the air and slammed her fist into the creature's skull again as she came down and the Behemoth fell to the ground.

Illyana's hand glowed with dark magic and the door seemed to resist her. Her horns blazed with eldritch energy as she drew power from deep inside herself and the doors groaned as they began to twist open. Nicholas stepped forward, wedged his massive hands into the opening she created and pried the doors apart with little strain. She dropped her hand releasing the energy. With a small smile she said, "Thanks. My way would have taken a bit longer."

"Not a problem," Nicholas said as he ducked his way through the open doorway.

Illyana and Namorita followed him inside the room. "Now what?" The blonde warrior asked as she looked around at all the massive servers that reached from floor to ceiling. Each of them was nearly fifteen feet tall. "Ain't much point in planting your girlfriend's program. I don't think they're gonna buy the whole we are quality control running a simple diagnostic program to ensure everything is…"

Nicholas jerked and pulled one of the servers free. Electricity sparked from a jumbled mass of severed wires. He set it aside and then ripped a second one out of its housing as well. He shrugged, almost looking like a boy whose mother caught him with a girlie magazine instead of the powerhouse he is. "You're right. There's no way they were going to believe we didn't do something down here. They would have torn the system apart looking for viruses, worms, spyware and who knows what else. Now we've done something, so we can go," he said as he settled the twin servers on his shoulders.

Illyana scowled as she opened a stepping disc. "You can explain it to Kitty," she told Nicholas.

/ / /

Sarah opened her eyes slowly and took a look around the room she was currently occupying. There was a thin dark screen mounted on the wall in front of her. A pair of cushioned chairs were against the far wall. A standard wooden door was opposite the chairs and a security camera was mounted in the corner above the door. By the head of the bed was a medical monitor displaying her blood pressure, pulse, and a number of other vital statistics she knew nothing about. There were sticky tabs along her chest and ribs, probably monitoring her heart, and an IV was in her forearm. That they had managed to get a needle through her flesh and muscles was mildly impressive and let her know whoever was holding her had means of dealing with mutants and other super humans.

Movement by the head of the bed drew her eye and she frowned as she turned. She hadn't sensed anybody in the room with her but once she saw who, or rather what, was standing next to the bed she understood why. Logan would be so disappointed.

A tall, red android was making notes on a small hand held computer. He glanced at her with the bland expression most machines possess. "I see that you are awake young miss," he said in a mechanical monotone.

Sarah sat up on the bed pulling her legs under her with little concern that she was in some sort of paper thin gown. "Where am I?" She asked shifting her focus, allowing the android to come into a sharper clarity. His programming was extremely elegant.

"I am afraid that I cannot divulge that information," he told her. There was something almost like regret that filtered through his programming. "This location is a highly classified installation. Until we can determine your intentions –"

"Gotcha," she mumbled and grabbed hold of the IV in her arm.

"I do not –" He began.

Sarah pulled the IV out. "Whatever you were pumping into me, I don't need it," she informed him.

His look was almost disapproving as he said, "It was nothing more than simple nutrients. We determined you were extremely malnourished which was preventing you from healing properly."

"So you start pumping me full of liquid goodness," she mumbled. "Thanks, but if you don't mind, I'd prefer to get my nutrients the old fashion way."

Sarah almost thought he was going to shake his head as he inquired, "You would like something to eat?"

"If it's not too big of a hassle…?" She said with a bit of a shrug.

Definite smirk as he asked, "Anything in particular you would care for?"

"Steak and eggs, with some bacon and hash browns," she answered with a gleam in her eyes. It had been a long time since she has had a real meal.

"I'll see what I can whip up in the kitchen," he told her.

He headed toward the door and paused as she said, "You never told me your name… Or asked for mine?"

He turned back, looked at her with those serious machine eyes of his. "You did not ask and I believe that you would offer yours when you felt comfortable enough. I am known as Red Tornado," he told her.

"Sarah Rogers," she replied. "Most people where I'm from know me as Avenger."

/ / /

Author Notes 2:

Figure I'll start to introduce you to some of the characters that have been popping up in the story so far and give you bit of their history, parentage if its pertinent. Not a lot. I prefer letting people form their own theories, draw your own conclusions and then see how close you are as the story unfolds.

A lot of things I leave vague deliberately. One of the things that annoy me reading fanfiction, turns me off of a story almost instantly is when a bunch of strangers get together and in the first couple of paragraphs everyone knows everybody else's deepest, darkest secrets… Their dreams and desires, their fondest wishes and the nightmares that wake them from a sound sleep in a cold sweat.

Characters almost never get the full story, or they jump to the wrong conclusions. And don't forget Bad Guys lie and good tacticians will lay false trails to mislead their enemies, not that you guys are my enemies or that I'm a good tactician. I do however try to treat the characters I'm using as if they are real people, with real motives and objectives. I just hope I do a decent job at it.

Here are a few of the characters introduced so far:

Conan: Pick a media, they're all pretty much the same. Though, I have always considered Conan from the Marvel Universe as a sort of Proto Mutant, the missing link between human and modern mutants. The comics have always shown him achieving feats of strength that no normal human, even one that grew up in the much more physically demanding era of the ancient world, where on average the normal man or woman was a physical match for modern professional athlete. I'm sure I don't have to remind anybody how the marathon got its name. I'm pretty sure, not one hundred percent positive mind you, that either Marvel or Howard, the creator of both Kull and Conan, hinted that Conan is a descendent of Kull or there was some sort of relation or reincarnation.

Laura Kinney: Based off the character introduced in I want to say either Fox's X-Men cartoon or X-Men Evolution. I'm not sure which and I really don't feel like looking it up right now. She is a clone of Wolverine (Col James Howlette) and was raised and trained to be an assassin that broke from her handlers (There's a plot line nobody has ever used before).

Peter Parker: Is it Live?

Ben Reilly: Is it Memorex? Not a huge Spider Man fan, the comics. Liked the character for the most part, but the comics. Anyone remember the definition of insanity…? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. To me that was what it felt like reading Spider Man comics for too long of a stretch. That being said, I wasn't reading the comics when they unveiled which was the real Peter Parker and who the clone was.

Gwen Stacy: Spider Woman. I stumbled upon SpiderGwen a few years ago while researching something else. I have no idea what, but I came upon her and I've been intrigued by the character since then. I don't know a lot about her other than Janet Van Dyne invented her web shooters and for a while she was wanted for the murder of her best friend Peter Parker who had turned himself into some sort of spider mutant similar to Doc Connor's Lizard.

Mary Jane Watson: Spider Girl. In some reality in which Peter and Mary Jane share the same blood type and something happens in which Mary Jane is injured; shooting, gas main explosion, alien attack… What have you? They end up trapped in a room, Nurses Office, chemistry class, hospital visiting a sick relative. This is all based on the premise that they have the same blood type, Peter performs an emergency blood transfusion (And don't give me he's a high school student with no medical training. He's a super genius who invented not just his own web shooters but the chemical formula for the webbing and his own spider traces that he modified so he could use his spider sense to track them. Besides if James Spadar can perform an emergency blood transfusion (The Blacklist), then I'm pretty sure Peter Parker can). It's pretty much lifted straight from the She Hulk origin story but hey, nothing is original anymore.

Rand al'Thor: Is the Wheel of Time's main protagonist. What more do you need to know. I've never actually worked with a character that was this well developed before. (I don't count comic book characters because with very few exceptions they're all pretty much one dimensional and even when there is some sort of growth and character development you're always waiting for the next reboot to wipe everything away. Sort of like when they killed off Bobby (Dallas – Hope I didn't give away my age with that one) for a season but in the final episode it was all oops, just a bad dream wiping out an entire year.) I simply hope that I can capture the essence of the character Jordan created and not carve him up with a chainsaw. Just for full disclosure I haven't read the series since Jordan's death, the final books with Sanderson doing the writing. My brother tells me he wasn't horrible, wrote some characters better but didn't do so well on some of the others. Plus I've never cared for his other work.

Jean Grey: I'm taking her from the point where her and the other X-Men are temporally transported from the past into the modern age. A powerful but burgeoning telekinetic/telepath but no phoenix level power though I think they did something with her in the comics about absorbing psychic energy, something I'm gonna have to research further.

That's it for now. It'll probably be a couple weeks before anything else. Unless I go through and clean up a really old story that I posted more than a decade ago when I stopped writing. I lost the information to the account and had to open this one. Either that or I watched Infinity War the other night, good movie but writers aren't scientist (Not that I am either). Anyway idea for a short story, one chapter 25 to 40 pages. Already have about seven pages written in the last few days. Almost finished with the next chapter for Come as You Are and the Real Me, and just waiting for my brother to finish editing the 2nd Chapter for Wonderwall, the reason why I said a couple of weeks. Anyway, thanks for reading.