A dark figure hangs from a few silver strands. As the wind blows he rocks back and forth swaying with the gentle breeze. The entire sky behind him is littered with the lights of the city and he appears like a void along the skyline.

He is Ethan Xanthos. It is difficult to believe the chain of events that has lead to his incredible transformation from an average teenager to some call a savior, others a monster, both correct. It was a night like any other in New Attilon City. Far above the ground, in one of the many mile high skyscrapers which etched out a definite skyline across the gray horizon, a young man stared out from his bedroom peering into the conglomeration of lights and signs that made up the streets below.

Meanwhile, half way across the city, his father, John Xanthos, worked diligently. John was a research technician, another lapdog doing painstaking work for Milatech. This was the company which ran New Attilon City. It was well known to all its inhabitants that the city councilmen truly were just paid employees of Alastaire Worthings. Quite possibly the most powerful man alive at the time, Alastaire owned Milatech and therefor owned the city.

John was perfecting a new formula. He called it L.Y.F.E. or Longevity and Youth For the Elderly. This was quite ironic because LYFE literally was supposed to grant life to the person who was injected with the serum. John was the head of a research team developing the serum in order to reverse the aging process and there for save Alastaire Worthings, a powerful but not immortal old man who was in fact dying. This project was extremely secretive, only the few people on the research team and Mr. Burke knew of its existence, even Alastaire himself did not know of it. LYFE although brilliant in design was very dangerous.

It was a serum made up of small robotic machines known as nanites. They were to repair all scarred body tissue and if the subject was already dead, actually run the person's body for them, slowly they would replace the cells of the body and create a never aging, always fit and healthy being. There was one fault in the design, every fuel previously used in the LYFE serum created overwhelming amounts of heat that would literally melt a person from the inside out and create a high pitched frequency that could drive someone insane. Only recently did they find a fuel that seemed to work perfectly.

It was known as the V28. Only one sample existed in the entire universe to their knowledge. They had received it when Milatech acquired Conner's Laboratories of America in a corporate takeover. This substance had been the key the researchers at Milatech had been looking for, for nearly a decade. Finally their goal was realized. All that remained before Alastaire had achieved virtual immortality was a human test subject. Fate, unfortunately, would deliver one far too soon.

Ethan, mesmerized with the lights below, began to wonder through his mind. Should he reveal the dark secret he hid from his father for so long? His mother died long ago, since then he and his father had never kept anything from each other, except for this. When Ethan first experienced the signs of puberty he discovered he was one of the few, blessed, and cursed with being a homo-sapien superior. Ethan had the ability to "feel" his immediate future. It was a strange power that he could barely understand and to be perfectly honest, use. It was like a wave of energy, a sensation that blasted through his being whenever a harmful situation would approach. Technically it is just a manifestation of his limited telepathic powers, to him, it was an extension of his person that he could not comprehend.

His eyes closed on the city scene. Slowly Ethan turned, toward what would be his greatest journey as a man, and the beginning of his journeys as something more. He slipped his warm coat over his tight fitting shirt and shut down the lights in his home. He paced out the door, and toward his father.

While strolling down the streets far below his high-rise home, Ethan took long, deep breaths of the cold night air. Milatech labs were not far from where he was, he had only to endure the frigid gas which burned at his lungs with every breath for another mile or so.

As Ethan round the corner toward 24th street he heard a child cry in the distance. Ethan had always been a "good Samaritan." With every fiber of his being he knew he had to investigate the far off wine. The child definitely was in a back alley near the corner on which he was currently standing. Ethan followed his instincts and walked cautiously into the dark path. To his sides he saw men, women and children sleeping on the naked ground, hugging each other and their garbage bags tightly to retain what little warmth they had.

Ethan felt his heart drop as he stared at the hopeless people, some praying, some stealing, doing whatever they felt fit to survive. In the distance, towards the end of the alley way, Ethan could hear snickering. Curiosity killed the cat. As Ethan walked carefully, as not to draw attention, he neared the end of the alley. He finally pressed up against the cold brick termination of the path. Assuming that his previous beliefs, that someone was being harmed, were untrue, seeing as no one was there, Ethan turned around and began to walk back on his way.

It was at that moment that his brain began to rip apart at the seems. All the synapses blazing at once tearing at the very fiber of his sanity. His vision began to blur into a white haze through which he saw his future. And in this white haze, he saw a fox and a jackal in a pool of blood. With a violent seizure like shake, Ethan gathered himself breaking from the horrific trance. What he saw struck fear in his heart and he began to panic. Ethan began to run when he slammed into a large man. His face had been painted with a red and black paint etching a picture of some feral animal on his face. The man slammed his fists together. He spoke.

"This one'sa guna be fun! Look at'em shiver in his boots. Ya cold boy?"

Snickering from a group of people followed. Another one pushed Ethan from behind. This one was a small blond man who seemed at first puny but at a closer inspection was almost all muscle but with little mass.

"Ya right Fox, he'sa he'sa gonna be easy, and fun!"

Ethan's heart began to race. A tear began to fall from his eye as he was grasped tightly from behind, leaving his arms useless as they were tied.

"So, Jackal, you wanna start wit'em?"

"No, Fox, he'sa he'sa gonna be started by you, yea you!"

"Fine, da' Fox will take care of dis pansy boy!"

Fox slammed his fist into Ethan's defenseless stomach. Blood shot from Ethan's mouth onto Fox's vest.

"Well, well. Looks like da kid culdn't keep'is blood ta'im self!" With that Fox ripped Ethan's shirt off and slammed his fist again into the bleeding jaw.

With extreme jubilation Jackal yelled. "Can I finish him off? Can I? Can I? He'sa, He'sa hurtin' bad, I wanna finish'im off. PLEASE?" Jackal begged as though getting some strange high out of the thought of taking Ethan's life.

"Go 'head Jackal, 'ave your fun" Replied Fox. Jackal took out a simple switch knife and said. "Any last requests?"

Ethan raised his head and said with a strain in his voice. "Please, let my father see me one last time. I beg you. He works for Milatech, just take me there before you" before he could finish his sentence Jackal thrusted the knife into the bare stomach of the boy and pulled it up to his chest.

"Milatech eh? Jackal, lets fa'fil his last wish eh?" They dragged the body slowly out of the alley and hung it on the outer wall of the Milatech building.

It was night and John Xanthos had just clocked out of work. The only thing on his mind was how he could test the LYFE serum without taking someone's life. The answer awaited him at the main door of the Milatech building. As he exited the monolith with grew to the highest clouds in the sky, he casually looked to his side. In the corner of his eye he saw some strange thing.

At closer investigation it would prove to be his son. Tears like a deluge flooded his face. In hysteria he screamed at the top of his lungs his sons name. After he gathered himself he realized that in his office laid the key to his son's second chance at life. He grabbed his son's vapid corpse and dragged it up to his office. With an almost obsessive drive John left a holo-message for his superior.

"Mr. Burke, I have found a test subject. I realize that if this works since we only have one serum we will have to do much work to create another, and find more V28, but I believe it is possible. The first trial will be done Sir. Thank you."

The light stopped glowing and John lifted the syringe to his son's lifeless arm. He slowly pushed in the LYFE serum. As soon as the nanites made contact with the flesh, their programming "kicked-in." Like a microscopic army they began to work diligently to repair the scarred tissue, and run Ethan's body. Flowing through him was a new feeling of life, a rush of power and strength consuming his body.

Three floors above the site of the miraculous recovery of Ethan Xanthos a shadowy figure sits in his chair. He examines the holo-message carefully. Could it be true? Has he secretly discovered that which will save his father-like supervisor? Mr. Burke calls his henchmen to his side as he walks slowly down to the impending site of the re-birth.

"Finally Ethan, your coming to! By Thor* I don't know what I would do with out you?"

*(Thor is the Norse god of thunder as well as a heroic figure of the 20th century. In 2099 he is again revered as a god by the majority of the populace- Jay)

"Dad? Ww- What happened? Am I oka---" In and instant his lungs, his blood and brain begin to burn. Burn with a rage so violent and strong it blasts at his insides like an atom bomb.

"Ethan, Ethan what is it?" John's breath begins to quicken as he realizes the chance that the serum does not work.

Ethan's screams of pain soon become multidimensional, as though more than one voice were shrieking in pain from with in him. At that moment John was strapping Ethan down to the table so he would not slam into something, restraining the boy who was writhing in pain. Although he seemed insane with demonic screams, his wounds were healing and slowly he seemed to be changing back into a healthy 19 year old man.

The door slammed open. "Hello John, so this is the son you always brag about."

"Mr. Burke?!?" John's voice was weary but still in amazement. "I thought you left hours ago!?"

"Please John, now that we know the serum works I have more important matters to deal with than my whereabouts. I need the serum back John, its time for me to extract it from Ethan, I am glad you had your son for more time but…"

"No! You can't! He, he'll die without the serum YOU KNOW THAT!"

"John, he would die for the greater good of Milatech, a martyr of sorts. You should be proud."

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" John screamed defending his son. Burke waved his arm and a silenced gun shot John dead.

"I won't?" A sarcastic Burke replied. "Take the boy, men!" He waved for his henchmen to do his bidding.

At that moment something inside Ethan changed. The site of his father's death let out another demonic scream. "No!!!" His eye's changed, to that of hate. His fists clenched and his muscles burned. With a roar he ripped himself free of the restraints that tied him to the table. With another equally as fierce explosion of sound, a black tar-like liquid escaped from his every poor.

Wrapping around him like an animal trapped in an oil slick, Ethan emerged from the transformation a being covered in a black symbiotic. His eyes white, red veins stretched atop his body and webs covered his back. Burke's eyes filled with immense, paralyzing fear. His hired bodyguards jumped in front of him. They were literally ripped limb from limb by the massive dark beast. Burke ran as the uncontrollable beast ravaged his bodyguards. He locked himself inside a near by closet. The beast chased after him to fulfill its bloodlust.

"Please, please don't hurt me."

The black creature's voice, like that of satan responded. "I WILL AVENGE MY FATHER'S DEATH!" It raised its mighty hand which slowly shifted into a dagger. At that moment it's mind was torn apart. Again, before it all it could see was a white haze, and in that haze a girl being chased by two dogs. Again in a strange whip of it's back, it shook the vision from it's mind.

"You will have to wait BURKE! I promise you , you will not die a happy death." The thing ran from the room and out the window of the building. Burke let out a sigh of relief.

From the being's hand a silver shoot of web flew. It swung around the back alley way where it hearc a young girl scream. Her eyes reflected the terror which pulsed through her. Rage escaped from the being in beating the people below, who terrorized the girl. Throwing them into the cold brick walls. After defeating the thugs the creature looked to the girl, who in turn stared back at it with more fear and hate than she had when she peered into the eyes of those who had assaulted her. The creature screamed.

"WHAT HAVE I BECOME!!!??!?" It ran up the side of the building and with a line of webbing fixed itself to the structure, hanging from a few silver strands. As the wind blows he rocks back and forth, swaying with the gentle breeze. The entire sky behind him is littered with the lights of the city, and he appears like a void along the skyline. Far below him in the alley, two figures lay, lifeless one with the painting of a fox across it's face, the other with the painting of a jackal. On the wall behind them lays the answer to the creatures question, written with it's victim's blood.

'VENOM'

Cast down from the grip of Doom, she felt the cold embrace of Death looming as she screamed her true love's name.

As she plunged into the murky waves of Hellrock's waters, she whispered an Old Norse prayer, one thought lost in time. An answer came in the form of a shock, and she sank further into the abyss.

Then, her limp body rose to the surface as no one took notice, for they were more concerned about casting the polluted island into the dark void of space.

"Foul Mortal! How dare you call yourself by my name! You have no right to it if you give up so easily!" The green clad Goddess grabbed the Death Rake from Tiana's hand and she wept for mercy.

"I have nothing left. My father and Ravage are dead. I wish to join them."

"You are truly pathetic to let your mortal feelings sway you in such a manner. Hela is the Goddess of Death, and therefore controls its embrace. Your prayer has been answered, foul mortal, now stop languishing over petty feelings, and Awaken!"

She jabbed Tiana with the Death Rake as all went black.

A loud gasp for air was heard as she sucked in the stale metallic air left by the adamantium.

She squinted her eyes to see if there were any signs of Doom's minions left to see her, but she only saw the expanse of water all around her, she tried to take flight.

The act did not work as she groaned in pain, the small nanotechnology within her was too busy repairing broken bones from the fall.

As they steadfastly continued their work, her anger was allowed to grow.

"I swear, I will let Doom know Death, and it will be by my hand." She tried once more to lift herself from the waters that almost claimed her life, again to no avail. This time she noticed less pain in this attempt, and she waited while they completed repairs.

He screamed he would return, even as the metal poured over him.

Doom had killed his only unrequited mate, and for that he promised he would return. But, as the liquid adamantium poured over his body and solidified, he questioned that promise.

For him, all became dark and cold.

A myriad of visions past before him, all of the life he led. A child of a broken home, a father who did not care and a mother who was too crazy to care. A military hero, a company puppet, a junkyard rebel, and finally a mutant caused by the very toxins of the island on which he would die.

An interesting life to say the least, he only hoped that he would meet Tiana in the afterlife, as his body shuddered from the intense wave of cold flowing over him. He felt his body begin to revert to normal size, as he slipped into his last sleep.

He managed one last smile as his mind fully returned to him because he could die fully aware.

She tried once more as there was no more pain.

She shot up directly into the air as she smiled with intense satisfaction, but, she would need to allow the nanotechnology to fully repair her body before she attempted to go into space.

Besides, she needed to get something else that could survive re-entry. Fortunately, her job of trashing space junk raked in the occasional reward. She instantly flew to the place where she hid her treasure.

"Sorry, Hela. But Tiana is still here. And I want to save Ravage."

"Who...whoa." Dack's mouth dropped as he turned to see Tiana wearing her rather revealing costume. "I knew you liked Hela but shock. Did you have to wear the costume? Not that I don't mind, but it might get someone else's attention." Dack continued to ramble as Tiana rolled her eyes.

"You are just a normal boy, a body filled with hormones. I suppose I can forgive you this time." She continued to search the room as Dack continued to watch intently.

"You and Ravage haven't been to this place since the whole thing with him started. The Barrio man and I have kept it up for you guys just in case. I take it you'll need it again." Dack questioned, as Tiana grew more frustrated.

"Yes, now where is that re-entry pod I brought back from space." Tiana growled as she began to rip apart the room.

"Hey, we don't have enough creds to fix this place up! You must mean that big old hunk of junk that was in the closet. It's still there." Dack pointed to the only closet Tiana had not looked in yet.

She sighed in extreme relief as she opened the doors to find the pod inside. It was just big enough for Ravage's mutated form to fit in it. She grabbed the pod as it took out the sides of the closet, while Dack placed his hand on his head. Tiana noticed his demeanor.

"I'll pay for the repairs. Have a team of people ready to free Ravage from his adamantium prison." She smiled as she crashed through the window with pod in hand.

Dack shook his head. "Yeah okay, but how am I gonna explain this mess. Wait a minute, did you just say Ravage!"

The depths of space brought a cold chill to her body as she looked for the giant asteroid. A brilliant metallic glitter shined right in eyes. She rushed with the utmost speed to it.

It was nothing but a derelict shuttle long forgotten. She ripped it to shreds in rage as she feelings overwhelmed her. She continued as she found yet another large glare in the dark sky. This time she dared not to raise her hopes, in lieu of another disappointment.

She neared the dazzling spectacle of sunlight dancing off several metallic statues, much like a rough diamond in the deep dark void of space. She whispered a prayer of thanks, as she sped toward the treasure still drifting ever further into the night sky.

She gasped as she saw a myriad of statues, mutroids caught in the grip of terror fleeing from the onslaught of the liquid adamantium. One lone large figure stood out from the rest; one caught with an arm raised in defiance.

She quietly thought to herself on how to separate the statue from the giant asteroid. The only known thing to make adamantium malleable was a strong magnetic force.*

* (In example, Wolverine found that out the hard way from Magneto in X-Men #25 - Karl)

She floated for a moment thinking of another tact. She smiled as she flew to the bottom of the island. The bottom was still all rock and not touched by the hard dense metal. She placed her Death Rake in an upright position, as she began to spin.

As the Death Rake drilled into the rock, Tiana prayed that she would reach her love in time. She stopped a few feet before reaching directly underneath Ravage. She continued to excavate a big enough area to transfer Ravage's body into the pod.

Then, she drilled the hole she made wide enough to fit the pod and her body. She rushed back to the derelict shuttle she had trashed, and hoped she had not damaged the air tanks. Her luck continued to hold, as the air tanks were unscathed.

She checked the gauges to make sure her flight was not in vein.