"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Now please… try to enjoy the remainder of your show."

The patrons at the New York City movie premiere gazed upon the poised form of the man clad in purple and dark blue with expressions ranging from fear and anxiety to wonder and befuddled amusement. A sparking mass of electricity crackled and sizzled from the dark gloves of the man and the witnesses had watched as it leapt from his hands just moments before and struck the armed security guard watching over the assorted stars, producers, and directors that had been invited to the gala.

The Eel smiled underneath his mask as the people turned in their seats and gaped at him. He recognized quite a few of them. His favorite model - Mary Jane Watson-Parker - wasn't here. She had passed away in a plane crash a few months ago.* But there were quite a few hot ladies in the audience he did recognize. It was a shame he had to rob all of them. If he had shown up as Edward Lavell he might have even been able to land a date with one of them. After all, he wasn't a bad looking guy. And J-Lo had proven to everyone that the hot chicks wanted down-to-earth guys.

[* It happened in M2K's Amazing Spider-Man #2 - Dino]

Not that being the Eel was down-to-earth. But he had a way of keeping that particular secret safe from most of the women he'd dated. By the time they found out he was a super-criminal… he'd already managed to hop in the sack with them. And what good were chicks after that?

"Um, excuse me?" said a voice at the Eel's back and he immediately whipped his body around and fired a double shot of electricity from his hands. A kid stood in the doorway leading to the lobby of the theater with a black leather jumpsuit fitted snugly to his skinny frame. The electricity struck the kid standing in the doorway of the theater with enough force to fry his eyeballs out of his sockets and the Eel pulled back. Smoke rose from the charred doorway but when it cleared the kid was standing there as if nothing had happened.

Smoke rose from the kid's hair and he smiled. "Hmm… tickles."

It was then that the Eel noticed the stylized yellow lightning bolt slicing through the white B centered on the kid's chest, and the lightning-shaped lines traveling up the kid's arms and legs. It was then that the Eel noticed the white belt with the yellow lightning bolt for a buckle. It was then that the Eel groaned and leapt to the side as the kid splayed his hand and an arc of electricity leapt from his gloveless fingers. The Eel barely dodged the first strike but the second came just as quickly. The Eel had nowhere to go and the blast struck him full in the chest. The insulation in his outfit saved his life but the blast was too much for even his suit to take. The Eel collapsed to the ground and twitched as he fell into unconsciousness.

Bolt clapped his hands together sharply three times as if dusting himself off and then looked up from the unconscious form of the Eel. The people who were attending the big-budget premiere were all staring at him with wide-eyed wonder. Then they began to applaud, and Bolt grinned sheepishly as - one after the other - the movie stars, producers and studio executives all got to their feet. He backed away from them and out the door as the crowd cheered and pleaded for an encore. Once he was out, he turned on his heels and pushed through the double doors of the nearest exit.

Sirens leapt up at him through the still night air and Chris Bradley ducked into the alley and out of sight, snatching up the trenchcoat he'd left on top of a dumpster. He felt bad about covering up the new costume Spider-Woman had given him with the dingy coat. Of course, as quick as the girl got the outfit for him, she had to be financially well off. He doubted a spot of dirt would be much of a problem. The costume was a lot like the one he had worn while hanging with Maverick. The sleeves were longer and the logo was different, but Chris liked it a lot.

He emerged from the alley just as the police were pulling up to the front entrance of the building. Some of the people who had been in the theater were milling around outside - obviously searching for Bolt - but none of them paid any attention to the kid in the ratty trenchcoat slipping away through the crowd.

Bolt glanced up to the billboard displaying the title of the movie premiere the assorted stars and movie bigwigs had been attending.

"Blade II - Enter Buffy… yuck. I should have just let the Eel shut that thing down," said Bolt as he began to walk down the street in the direction of downtown. The night sky was crisp and clear and Bolt couldn't help but smile. As much as the whole idea of a team-up had seemed silly to him the other day, it felt really good having a place in the world again. He still needed a place to live. But Ricochet and Turbo had said they were working on that right now.

"Are you sure this is legal?" muttered Ricochet as he peered over the shoulder of Mickey Muashi.

The armor of Turbo glittered in the moonlight as Mickey turned to regard Ricochet with an annoyed expression. "Just lift when I tell you… and stop asking so many questions."

"Fine… fine. But if we get busted by Nova or something, I'm blaming you," said Ricochet as he hunched down beside Turbo. Turbo flicked her fingers over a keypad built into the skylight on the roof of the warehouse that had once served as the New Warriors' base of operations. The lock popped with an audible click.

"Ok. Lift it up," said Turbo and Ricochet heaved the skylight back on its hinges. A sharp squealing filled the air and both Turbo and Ricochet winced.

"We are so gonna get busted," said Ricochet as he pushed the skylight window into a resting position against the roof.

Turbo activated the turbines on her legs and lifted into the air. "Just follow me, Rico. I used to be a New Warrior… so it's cool if we use this place. Trust me."

"Whatever you say," he replied, dropping into the darkness after Turbo. She watched the young man land with cat-like grace on the ground. She found herself in awe of his agility and speed. When battling the Super-Skrull,* it was often Ricochet that had been able to get in the shot that distracted the Skrull and allowed the others to make their moves.

[*See the last 2 issues -- Dino]

Turbo flicked the switches lining the far wall of the complex and the light fixtures sprang to life. Light flooded the room and Ricochet audibly exhaled.

"Wow, I can't believe it," said Ricochet as he and Turbo looked on the dingy, dust-covered room sitting in front of them. Turbo opened her mouth to defend the place when Ricochet cut her off.

"This place rocks!" said Ricochet as he danced from one corner of the room to another.

"Are you kidding? Look at how dusty the place is? Half of the furniture is covered up with drop-cloths and most of the high-tech equipment has been removed," muttered Turbo as she made her own examination of the space.

"Yeah, but who cares? It's ours now! We can throw whatever we want in here. This place is going to be the bomb when we're through with it!" said Ricochet as he started lifting sheets from the furniture.

"What are you doing? Stop that," said Turbo and Ricochet looked up at her with a puzzled expression.

"What? I thought you said this place was ours."

Turbo clasped her hands behind her back and wrung her fingers together. "It is. But we should explore the rest of the place before we start messing with anything."

Ricochet let go of the sheet and narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure it's cool if the team stays here, Turbo?"

"I'm sure. Let's just look at what the rest of the base has to offer." She began moving towards the other areas of the complex. After a moment, she looked to see if Ricochet was following and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he was. Despite all her confidence, she wasn't exactly sure how the old Warriors would feel about her team staying here. But for now… what harm could a little exploring do?

"Do you have any idea how Jameson might react to our proposal, Dearborn?" asked one of the two men sitting across from Arthur Dearborn in the Roxxon company limousine as it maneuvered its way through downtown New York.

They had both been sweating bullets since the limousine had picked them up after the company meeting. Dearborn and his associates had been chosen to convince the Daily Bugle to cover the debut of Roxxon Oil's new energy source. It was their objective to get the best press they could out of Jameson… a front-page exclusive if possible.

The two associates planted in leather across from Dearborn knew the success of their objective might decide their continued employment. The cool demeanor of Arthur Dearborn was only unnerving them more than they already were.

Dearborn at least knew that his job wasn't dependent on the success of this latest endeavor. He knew he was only placed here because of his exemplary work in the public relations field of Roxxon Industries in the past. Roxxon couldn't afford to lose Dearborn for any reason. His loyalties to the company were too strong.

"Mr. Ferguson… Derrick. Try to relax. Jameson has agreed to hear us out. All we've got to do is go in there and calmly explain the reasoning behind our request. I'm sure Mr. Jameson is a fairly amicable fellow. He'll see that his paper can only benefit from having Roxxon on the cover," said Dearborn in a soothing tone of voice. It struck him as fairly ironic that he would be in this position. In the past Arthur Dearborn would have crumbled in a pressure situation. It wasn't often that he was needed to help others through a difficult trial. He had come a long way over the years.

"I suppose you're right, Arthur. But…" started Ferguson, but suddenly the car took a wild lurch to the right and all three men were pressed into a corner of the car.

The car jolted up an inclined ramp and Dearborn peered outside the tinted window. "We appear to be entering a parking garage."

"A parking garage? But we can't be at the Daily Bugle yet… can we?" said Ferguson.

Dearborn regarded him with an icy cool stare. "No, Mr. Ferguson. I'm afraid not."

"Then what…?" started Ferguson but he was interrupted by the sudden halt of the vehicle. The driver opened the driver side door and lumbered out. Dearborn watched him glance towards the back of the vehicle and then scuttle off into the dark.

Dearborn frowned and cautiously opened the door leading out into the parking garage. "Well, I suppose this is where we get out."

He stepped out into the dimly lit parking garage and the two associates followed. They looked around at the empty lot and then back to their car. Dearborn was just about to suggest that one of them drive the rest of the way to the Bugle when suddenly a ringing chord issued through the garage.

Six men emerged from the darkness and slowly approached the three businessmen standing by the idling limo. The two associates near Dearborn gasped as they saw the crowbar clutched in the hand of the thug leading the pack. The other members of the group held bats or knives. The lead thug clanged his crowbar on the ground and the sound emanated through the parking lot again.

"I take it you gentlemen are from Armor Oil?" said Dearborn in a calm and relaxed tone of voice. The thugs said nothing in reply and continued to approach. "I see that your employer is willing to stoop to assault and battery to stop the progress on the Molten Heart III."

The two associates watched from behind Dearborn as the thugs continued to soundlessly approach. The lead thug was focused on Dearborn, but the other five were grinning and stalking towards the two men behind him. They knew easy pickings when they saw them. So it wasn't a surprise that only the lead thug saw the eyes of Arthur Dearborn begin to glow.

The lead thug paused in mid-step, and was about to cry out to his buddies when a shadow passed over his vision.

"Now you boys play nice," said a feminine voice from above as Spider-Woman crashed into the lead thug and sent him sprawling to the ground. She bounded back up into the air as the next two punks in line took swings at her with their bats.

Spider-Woman shot a strand of psi-webbing, bonding the bats together in mid-swing. Then she descended amidst the two men as they struggled to pull the bats apart.

"Not too swift on the uptake, eh boys?" said Spider-Woman and then swung her leg around in a powerful roundhouse that sent the two men flying.

She glanced behind her as the fourth man tried to stab her from behind. She leapt up onto one hand and lifted her legs into the air to avoid the swipe, firing a venom-blast into the chest of the thug.

"Four down… two to go!"

The last two punks jumped for her at the same time. Spider-Woman jumped into the air and the thugs crashed into the ground together. Twisting her body in mid-leap, she webbed the two remaining thugs firmly to the ground.

"Done and done," she said, landing gracefully on the concrete floor of the parking lot. She turned her attention to Dearborn and the other two men who were scuttling off.

"Hey, where are they going?" said Spider-Woman as she approached Dearborn with her hands on her hips.

Dearborn smiled and she immediately felt a firm sense of distrust creep through her. This was a man adept at using a big fake smile and telling people what they wanted to hear to get what he wanted.

"Just looking for service so they can call the police. You know how cell-phones are."

"Riiiiight… well, I saw your limo here pull into the parking garage and since it's been deserted for weeks I figured something shady was probably going down," said Spider-Woman as she passed her eyes briefly over the limo.

Dearborn shuffled his feet but continued to smile. "I really appreciate the help…?"

"Spider-Woman," she finished, and then poked a thumb in the direction of the unconscious men splayed on the ground behind her. "What was all this about, anyway?"

The smile on Dearborn's face grew wider and Spider-Woman had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm afraid I couldn't be of much help to you, Spider-Woman. Anything I know is privileged information reserved for employees within the company I work for. But I do appreciate the help. Perhaps if you give me your address we could arrange some sort of compensation?"

"Oh, give me a break!" she said, turning and stomping off into the darkness.

Dearborn turned to observe his associates, who now seemed to have found a signal for their cellular phones. A shifting of motion behind him caused him to look back to the unconscious thugs and he frowned.

There had been six men poised to attack Dearborn and the other company men when they had exited the limousine. Dearborn was as sure of it as anything he had ever been sure of in his life. But there were only five men lying webbed to the concrete ground of the parking lot now. One of them was missing. Dearborn narrowed his eyes and the strange light shimmered from them once more.

When Manny Kowalski opened his eyes a shooting pain tore through his head and slammed down his upper back. But the pain didn't affect him nearly as much as the world around him. It made him want to vomit. Manny clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes. He counted to ten and then opened them again. The scene was the same. The entire world was upside down.

"Hiya, Manny!" said a chipper voice from below and Manny finally understood where he was. He and his crew had been ready to beat on some high-society types because they'd been paid real nice to do so. It had looked like an easy job until Spider-Woman dropped down and started pounding on everybody. The broad had busted him once before on a payroll job. Manny was not pleased to see her again.

Spider-Woman dropped from a thread of psi-web and dangled right in front of the tied up and hanging form of Manny Kowalski. She was certain there was a lot more to this than met the eye and she was determined to find out. Manny was a big-time squealer. She'd get it out of him eventually.

"Maaaannnnyyyy… why don't you tell me about this job. Beating up on innocent suits doesn't seem your style. I'm dying to hear who hired you and why," said Spider-Woman as she spun Manny around and around on the psi-web. Manny clamped his teeth together and struggled not to lose his supper. Soon he was singing like a bird.

"A helicopter! You never told me you had a freakin' helicopter!" screeched Ricochet.

"I honestly can't believe it's still here. The Warriors removed most of the high-tech equipment in the complex," replied Turbo as Rico clambered into the pilot seat.

He pushed a few buttons on the panel in front of him but nothing happened. "Well, we're the New Warriors now. If we can get this sucker running, we are in business… the world is our oyster! Um, I don't suppose you know anything about fixing these things?"

Turbo shrugged her shoulders. "Nope."

Ricochet crossed his arms and peered at the controls thoughtfully. "Well, I'm pretty handy. But for something like this we're gonna need a Mr. Wizard. Fortunately, I know just the guy…"

"Not at all, sir... I just feel I should be handling the Molten Heart project, not babysitting some junior executives on a public relations jaunt…" said Arthur Dearborn into the cellular phone pressed tightly to his ear. The limousine - equipped with a new driver - had just pulled out of the parking lot of the Daily Bugle building and Arthur Dearborn was not in a friendly mood.

"What? No, Jameson was not interested in the exclusive we had for him. I believe his words, minus expletives, were - I don't hand out free advertising and call it news! - Yes, that's right." Dearborn's associates sat quietly across from him and didn't say a word. "Again, I feel my talents would be better utilized on the Molten Heart… that's all. I've done a lot of the development work, and you know I could protect it better than anyone… Yes?" Dearborn sighed. "Yes sir! Good evening to you too."

He flicked the cellular phone closed with as much force as he could muster. His face was beet-red and his eyes smoldered. Derrick Ferguson cleared his throat audibly and Dearborn's head snapped up and regarded him with mounting vehemence.

"Um… Mr. Dearborn? I thought you said Jameson would be happy to print the article for Roxxon if we just presented our case to him. He didn't seem cooperative at all," said Ferguson.

Dearborn slumped in his seat and pressed a hand to his face. "Oh, shut up, Ferguson."

Eddie McDonough leaned against a lamppost and watched as Johnny Gallo fiddled with the lock to the waterfront warehouse Johnny claimed was the former headquarters of the New Warriors. He had picked Eddie up from class and filled him in on what had been going down on their way to the complex that Ricochet had called "the Crash Pad". It seemed like Johnny was caught up in yet another super-hero jaunt with a bunch of super-powered goofballs, and wanted to drag Eddie into the middle of it one more time.

"You're gonna love this, man. The 'Pad is tight," said Johnny and Eddie rolled his eyes. He had noticed that Johnny had brought along his bookbag and he could see the rumpled mess of the Ricochet costume within. Eddie rubbed his bent, palsied arm uncertainly. He was hesitant about all this. It wasn't like he regretted his time as a Slinger, wearing the Hornet armor. But he definitely wasn't anxious to jump back into the hardships of being a costumed adventurer.

The lock finally popped and Ricochet opened the front door. Eddie peered inside and immediately noticed the Asian woman with the tight bodysuit and strange silver armor rising from one of the covered couches.

"Eddie, this is Turbo. Turbo… Eddie," said Ricochet and Eddie nodded in the direction of the Asian girl.

Turbo returned the nod and Eddie immediately sensed the unease she felt at having him there. Seemed like he wasn't the only one apprehensive about the whole thing. Not that he could blame her. He wouldn't want non-team members or strangers invading his space like this either. But Johnny always did things his own way. No matter how rash or even stupid. Eddie could hardly believe Johnny had already unmasked in front of this chick.

"C'mon, Eddie. It's this way," said Johnny and Eddie cautiously followed his friend toward one walled-off portion of the warehouse. Johnny pushed through the door and a chill wind hit Eddie in the face. He blinked momentarily and then his vision cleared. He dropped his bookbag.

"Ta-Da!" said Johnny and spread his arms out like an Olympic gymnast who had just finished a perfect dismount.

Eddie scratched at his eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding me, Rico."

"Hey, would I kid?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"Serious as a heart attack, man. This sucker is going to be like our Batmobile… and I know that only you got the kung-fu to get it moving again," said Johnny as he clapped a hand on Eddie's back and began moving toward a cluttered workbench in the corner. "What do you say, Eddie?"

"I don't know anything about helicopters!"

"Details, Eddie… details. You know high-tech. I know combustion engines." He walked back towards Eddie with a large book in his hands. "Together we'll have the War-chopper running as smooth as silk."

"War-chopper?"

"War-chopper," repeated Johnny and then slammed the heavy book down on the ground between them. A cloud of dust rose from the floor at the impact. "Besides… we got the manual."

Bolt had received the call from Turbo early that morning saying the new headquarters was open for business. He had already been downtown -- he'd crashed in a halfway house last night, though he wouldn't tell his teammates that -- and it took him less than an hour to arrive in front of the base. The Crash Pad looked more beautiful to him than any waterfront warehouse had business looking. It looked uncared for, to tell the truth -- boards were still clamped onto the windows and the place probably needed a fresh coat of paint or something. But for a guy who'd been living on the streets for months now… it looked great.

"Halt, evildoer!" said a voice from above and Bolt immediately whirled, electricity charging through his body. He had been dreading this. The time when some self-righteous hero would recognize that he had been one of Apocalypse's Pale Riders and come gunning for him.

Spider-Woman dropped into his field of vision and Bolt nearly screamed.

"Kidding… kidding. Try to unclench sometime, Bolt. You got a guilty conscious or something?"

Bolt regarded Mattie Franklin with an annoyed expression as she climbed the steps leading to the Crash Pad and stopped beside him. "Sneaking up on somebody with my powers is a good way to get fried."

Spider-Woman smiled and stuck her tongue out at Bolt. "I'll take my chances. Hey, is the rest of the gang in there?"

Bolt shrugged. "Don't know… I just got here myself."

She clapped her hands and then grabbed Bolt by the arm. "Let's hope they are, 'cause I think I've just nailed down our very first mission."

"And what would that be?" said Bolt as he was dragged into the building.

Spider-Woman grinned mischievously and Bolt didn't like the look of it at all. "You ever heard of Roxxon Oil?"

First letter this issue is from the question man, Jason Trenner.

Amazing issue. I wonder where Intelligensia has appeared before. If she's anywhere near as old as Supreme Intelligence... how did she avoid getting eaten along with the rest of the Skrull Homeworld. I also wonder how she could hide anything she'd done from the Supreme Intelliegence. On the Questions...

The Intelligensia was first introduced in Marvel's latest Captain Marvel series. I decided to retroactively introduce her, just cause she's cool.

I don't want to step on the toes of anyone who might want to come along and detail the secret origin of the Intelligensia, but I would guess that she just wasn't on the Skrull Homeworld when Galactus consumed it. I would also guess she hides what she does from the Supreme Intelligence the same way the SI hides what he's doing from everybody else... she's smart and careful.

1) Since the Turbo armor can detect Dire Wraiths... can it detect Skrulls (they have the same genetic background)?

I'm quickly learning that the Turbo armor comes with a bundle of plot bombs. Going out on a limb, however, I'm going to say 'no'. There's enough genetic drift between Skrulls and Wraiths to make them separate species to the armor's sensors.

2) When will a member of the team tell Spiderwoman to shut up about Spiderman?

LOL. Hopefully never. I like Mattie just like she is...

3) Will the team fight the Warwear War Machine armor?

No plans for such a match-up. And I'm pretty sure the Warwear armor is lost in the timestream or some such anyway.

4) Can you please have the team fight Dracula?

Nah, there are other heroes out there that are better suited to fight the Count.

5) Is there any chance of Slapstick joining the team?

Now there's an idea... maybe a guest-appearance at least...

6)Is there any chance of the team trying to stop a Scourge from making a super villain massacre?

That sounds like a plot more suited to Mike's Thunderbolts. We'll hopefully be dealing with more 'real world' problems in this book.

Besides, it's already been done.

7) What exactly are the New Warriors going to do that no one else will?

Change the world, of course.

8) Will Iceman make a guest appearance?

No plans just now. Look for Bobby in his own series, though, and some recent issues of Defenders.

9) Will Rage be part of the team?

Not on my watch. At least one more member of the old guard will play an important role in this book by issue #6, though.

10) Will that one ratman (did he have a name?) that tried to kill Hornet try again?

I don't remember the ratman's name either (though I know who you're talking about). That's something that should be addressed in the future -- particularly since, with this issue, Eddie McDonough's a part of the book's cast -- but Mike and I don't have any plans for it just yet.

11) Is Spider-Man going to show up? And how fast will he leave after dealing with an obsessed fan-girl?

No Spider-Man before #6, for sure. After that... who can tell, especially with ASM-scribe Mike Exner scripting this series. I sure wouldn't mind seeing it.

12) Will the team battle the Omnivore?

Not likely, since I don't know who the Omnivore is. :-)

It Never ends!

One day it will, if we are patient and pure of heart.

Thanks for the letter, Jason.

Next letter is from our co-EiC and cult leader, Dino Pollard. Dino writes all sorts of stuff here at M2K. He also just picked up the writing duties on Scarlet Spider at the granddaddy of Marvel fanfic sites, MV1.

Nothing against Russ and Mike, but I couldn't get into this story-arc. It's not because it was bad, far from it. It's because I'm just not that big a fan of the space stuff. But, that's just my pet peeve. This was a pretty good issue - regardless of if you like the space stuff or not. The best thing about this series is the character interactions - although some of the dialogue seemed a little clichéd to me. Again, I'm reaching here. I'm enjoying this book, and the fact that it's a new take on the Warriors helps since I never read anything New Warriors in the past. I'm hoping that Hornet will be returning to the superhero game, though. He and Ricochet are what made Slingers great.

All the cliched dialogue is Mike's fault. Everything you liked was all me. :-)

Nah, actually I'm the big sappy guy, so any dialogue you didn't like was probably me.

As for Hornet, he's back in this issue -- if out of costume. Stay tuned for more Eddie as the series progresses.

Thanks for reading Dino.

Next and last letter is from Derrick Ferguson. Derrick writes nothing for M2K (a situation that continues to boggle me), but he does write Justice Squadron for DC Legends, and the kick-ass Dillon & the Voice of Odin for Frontier Publications. Check 'em out.

I've been catching up on some stories and/or series I've been meaning to read for AGES now and I was wondering what happened to that NEW WARRIORS you and [Mike] were doing at MARVEL2000? I'm not a NEW WARRIORS fan by any means (Gary Dreslinski over at AVENGERS2000 asked me if I wanted to take over writing that series there and I ran away from my keyboard screaming) and I never really liked any of the characters with the exception of Nova, but you guys really seemed to have something going there with the first two issues. Dumping the old team and putting together a whole new one was a good idea and the members you picked were an odd group, to say the least, but they DID catch my attention (especially Super Skrull... I'll read just about anything that has Super Skrull in it) and that's the main thing. So what happened to the rest of the story?

As you can see, the story didn't go anywhere. This series just fell victim to the increasingly hectic schedules of its plotter and scripter.

Glad you liked the Super Skrull's appearance. He's a favorite of mine too, though if I remember right, it was Mike's idea to use him for the opening arc.

As for the new team... well, I was a huge fan of the early Nicieza run on New Warriors. The thing is, because Nicieza and Bagley did so much and developed the characters so well, no one's ever been able to recapture that flavor and energy with a similar grouping. It's the same thing that, IMO, happened to DC's New Teen Titans series after George Perez left. So what we're trying to do here is recreate the feel of those early NW issues, with all new characters. Hopefully we're doing all right so far...

Thanks for writing Derrick. Now how about putting together a Master of Kung-Fu prop for M2K? :-)