[center][img]http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo63/NMShape/coollogo_com-14706267_zps64516cfe.png[/img][/center]
[center][b]Aubrey Adkins[/b][/center]
	I slowly opened my eyes, slightly dazed from whatever had caused me to block out.  Pain permeated through my body and my ears were ringing for some strange reason.  Where was I?  And what the hell just happened?  Last thing I remember was going to that Greek shrine and that so-called ‘Ares’ person tooting his horn about how powerful he was.  But after that, everything blurred together.  I gazed around the trashed building that I found myself in, eventually discovering a hole in the wall.  Upon seeing it, I could feel the pain of the impact against the wall rush through my body.  Well, at least I remember how I got in [i]here[/i].

	Just outside of the hole, I could discern a man decked in a silver and blue costume.  His attention was directed toward a wrecked van.  Did this person throw me through the wall?  No, it couldn’t have been.  If my memory is serving me right, that’s Lost Haven’s most publicly known caped crusader, who was called Icon.  I doubt he had a reason to toss me through a side of a building.  But what was Icon focusing his attention at?  There appeared to be someone crashed down in the wreckage of that van.  While taking a better look at the other man, I could discern that he was wearing Greek styled armor and bearing weapons of the same style.  Where have I seen this guy before?

	Oh God!  I remember now.  That guy was the man who Ares unleashed against me.  He used me like a living battering ram throughout various locations within Lost Haven.  I could now feel my heart racing, my entire body shaking.  I dragged myself across the floor to take refuge behind a desk that happened to escape this nightmare mostly unscathed.  My arachnid legs curled up over the portion of my body that connected my human self with the spider abdomen.  Even though I had no problem breathing through my mask before, now I felt like I was suffocating under it.  Pulling it off, I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

	Then I heard footsteps approaching me, although they came from the opposite direction of the hole that that Greek-garbed man had created while using me as the wrecking ball.  Looking up, I saw a second person dressed in Greek apparel.  However, this time it was Athena, the freaking person who got me in this mess in the first place.

	[color=B22222]“I can’t do this anymore.”[/color]  I complained to the Greek goddess of Wisdom, [color=B22222]”This is way over my head.  Way out of my league.  I wasn’t made to be some superhero.  This can’t be my destiny.”[/color]  However, Athena just shook her head at me.  Then she gracefully walked over towards me and knelt down beside me.

	“All heroes have their trials and tribulations.  What makes them heroes is not their skills or superhuman powers, but their determination to overcome the obstacles placed before them, by any means necessary.  While superhumans may be born, heroes are made.  Did Odysseus not faced many terrors as he strived to return home to his wife and son?  Did I not help orchestra the return of the son of Laertes?  What makes you think I will not give you the same aid?”

	[color=B22222]”Where the hell were you when that guy out there used me as a human battering ram?[/color]  I snapped at her in response to her boastful claim of how helpful she happened to be.

	“Well,” the Greek goddess of Wisdom pondered, “I was taken by surprise by Ares’ trick.  I didn’t anticipate him using a separate entity to empower his champion.  I didn’t want to give him any reasons to interfere.  Anyways, I knew you would be fine because of your healing factor.”  Considering the state that I happened to be in, I was not in the mood to listen to Athena’s ‘excuses’.  There was a man outside of this building who literally just wrecked me and, if Icon had not made his timely appearance, I don’t know what would have happened.

	[color=B22222]“What the heck can I do against that guy?  He has obviously proven that we are in two drastically different leagues.”[/color]

	“Use strategy, of course, the one aspect of war that distinguishes myself from my half-brother, Ares, and makes me far superior to that brute.  If someone is stronger than you, you cannot play to his strengths, but rather attack his weaknesses.  I think we should continue with our plan, as all good plans should be able to adjust and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.  I’ll go alert that metahuman, who you mortals refer to as Eikon, while you get started on your handiwork.”

	[color=B22222]“You mean Icon?”[/color]

	“That what I said, Eikon,” Athena repeated, believing that we said the same name.  After this short exchange about how to pronounce Icon’s name, Athena dissolved into the air, teleporting right beside Icon.

	After taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I picked myself back up, pulled my mask back over my face, and exited out a side door leading to the side of the building that was opposite of where Icon was standing.  Clinging to the wall, I scaled the building and positioned myself on the roof.  The alley space between this building and its neighbor seemed sufficient for my task.

	First, I used my webshooters to create the first strands across the gap between the two buildings.  However, after I laid down the first foundation of this web, I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do next.  The last time I did this, I was in the sewers with an enclosed area, allowing me to throw up webs wherever it seemed right, which resulted in a giant cobweb.  Maybe I was supposed to start at the middle next.

	When I first attempted to approach the center of this webline, I quickly realized how difficult it was continue across these silk strands in a similar fashion as walking across a tightrope.  Even after the first couple steps, I was already using all of my legs and arms to hold on and was hanging upside down.  I still have not quite perfected walking with eight legs in a coordinated manner.  Therefore, I eventually tripped up over myself, causing me to lose my focus and grip and fall to the ground.  However, to my surprise, when I looked up, I saw that somehow, my single line that connected the two buildings was transformed into a ‘Y’ shaped structure with horizontal line stretched out across its top.

	However, when I tried to figure out how this happened, I was a little bit disturbed, if that’s the right way to express my feelings.  Somehow, my hind legs instinctively attached a strand of silk from my spider abdomen onto my webline when I fell from this first structure.  Thank goodness that one metahuman who helped me in the sewers during that weird demon invasion was not here.  I wouldn’t hear the end of this one.

	Well, at least this was a start.	

[hr][center][i](Aubrey is no longer the narrator for the remainder of this post)[/i][/center]
	Once she had left Aubrey, Athena appeared at the side of the blue and silver clad hero better known as Icon.  Invisible and inaudible to Polemos, Athena revealed her presence to the hero of Lost Haven.

	“Don’t be afraid, Eikon.”  Athena began, speaking softly to Icon, “While my attire might seem similar to this man’s garb, I am here as aid and a guide, as I have been to many heroes before you.  We need you to distract this servant of Ares until our trap is ready.  When the time has come, I’ll return to you so that we can spring the trap.”

	Just as suddenly as she had appeared next to the blue marvel, Athena yet again disappeared from sight, teleporting away from her current position to one where she could better observe the action that was about ready to take place.