"Sergeant, tell me more about the enemy."
Jeremy was new to the unit. You could tell because his uniform was crisp and clean and buttoned at the wrists. No rolled-up sleeves for the newbie. Besides having a sharp neat uniform, Jeremy was clean-shaven and bright-eyed.
Sergeant Bradshaw was obviously not new. He was unshaven, his ragged uniform had sleeves rolled up above his scarred tattooed biceps, and he had a grizzled look in his dark eyes.
"You ask a wise question, son. To know the enemy is to know how to defeat the enemy."
He put an unlit match in his mouth. It bobbed up and down as he spoke.
"The enemy may not match us in physical strength but the enemy knows how to attack us. The enemy attacks us in our minds and in our hearts."
Jeremy lit up as he snapped his fingers. "Like the Green Goblin in 'Spider-Man.' When Norman Osborne wanted to go after Peter Parker, the Green Goblin said, 'Attack the heart.'"
With a small grin, Bradshaw nodded. "'Spider-Man' is a very inspirational film. Each of us must develop the spirit of Spider-Man if we are to resist the enemy and defeat the enemy."
Jeremy shivered a little. He had always heard the enemy spoken of as some horrible creature.
Another recruit spoke up. "Is the enemy ourselves?"
"No," the sergeant said flatly. "But if we master ourselves, the enemy has no power. And we must master ourselves because the enemy has the power to completely weaken a man."
There was loud squelching from the radio, and Jeremy jumped a little. The sergeant turned up the volume on the set. Jeremy heard a freakishly high shrill voice; he found it absolutely chilling.
A scout ran up, and he looked quite panicked.
"Sergeant! The enemy is upon us!"
Jeremy saw shadowy figures moving stealthily. Bradshaw ran to meet the approaching figures.
Jeremy heard the trampling of feet mixed with screams. He heard the high shrill voices screeching at the men in the camp. He heard Bradshaw groan in the darkness, watched him fall under the light of a searchlight.
Though unable to swing away on a strong web, Jeremy stood his ground, just as Spider-Man would.
Four tall thin silhouettes moved toward him. When the creatures stepped into the light, they waved long lustrous hair of gold and red, brown and black. Their eyes were bright and ice cold, piercing and enticing. When those eyes focused on Jeremy, he went weak all over.
As Jeremy lay curled up on the ground, the tallest and most beautiful of the creatures looked down on him.
With pleading eyes, Jeremy looked up at the dreaded enemy.
The scourge of the galaxy.
The most cunning and devious of all lifeforms in the universe.
Woman.