[center][img]http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i374/bensundeitestutho/AmazingSpider-Man_zpsa31f5c36.png[/img][/center]
	Rain drops splattered against the glass windows on the triangular roof of warehouse that was located within the turf controlled by Silvermane.  A figure, shrouded by both the darkness of the night and the torrents of rain, climbed up the side of the building and sneaked up to these windows.  This thief placed a device that almost seemed like a mathematical compass.  After turning the knob on the device until there was a click, the robber pulled off the equipment off the window, resulting in a cleanly cut hole that could allow a single person to comfortably fit through it.  Once a line of rope was firmly attached to the roof, the masked figure descended into the dark warehouse.

	Crates filled the room.  It was no secret that SIlvermane was not getting any younger as each day passed.  Therefore, the leader of one of the Maggia crime families had used his ill-gotten fortune to find some means of extending his life, if not even to make him immortal.  Herbert Landon’s research was one attempt to achieve this ever-youthfulness.  However, due to the intervention of Spider-Man and the X-Men, along with Landon’s ulterior against mutants, this opportunity dried up before Silvermane could reap any rewards from it.  However, this Maggia crime lord was not stupid enough to keep all his eggs in one basket.  This warehouse, along with others spaced out within his criminal territory, housed other possible alternatives.

	After carefully searching the room for a few minutes, the figure finally found the crate that he, or she, was looking for.  Taking a crowbar, the thief pulled open the top off the wooden crate, which created an echoing crackle.  However, since there were not any personnel around at this time of night, no one could hear the noise.  Even if someone did hear what the robber was doing, that guard would have arrived too late in that room to do any good.  

From the bottom of the crate, the figure pulled out an orange and yellow, egg-shaped gem that almost fit perfectly in the palm of the thief’s hand.  After stashing the valuable item inside a small, protective bag, the thief returned to the robe which was used to safely land on the floor of the warehouse.  Once the robber was back on the roof of the building, this individual pulled out a small handheld communication device.

“Professor, I have retrieved the stone.”  The thief spoke into the device with a feminine voice, “I will return to base as soon as possible.”

[hr]
[b][center]In a Hospital Elsewhere[/center][/b]
	Herbert Landon laid in his hospital bed.  Half of his body, which was mutated by the chemical that he had designed to destroy mutants, was covered with bandages.  Due to the experimental nature of these chemicals, the doctors were at lost for how they could help this man of business and science.  All they could do was ease the pain and allow his ‘injured’ side to heal.

	However, his body was not the only part of Landon that was hurting.  His ego was, too.  After his accident and the incident involving it, Roxxon, in an attempt to distance themselves from this mess, discontinued Landon’s research and fired him.  His credentials as both a scientist and a businessman were ruined in one fell swoop.  Scarred beyond repair, Landon had lost all of his dreams in a single day.

	Landon heard the click of his hospital room’s door.  Peering over, he saw a man wearing a white, doctor’s coat, who had messy brown hair and a mustache.

	“I thought you doctors did not have any clue on how to cure.”  Landon, as he rolled over away from the man, chided the him, assuming that he was just another doctor who was attempting to help him.

	“I’m not [b]that[/b] type of doctor.”  The man responded to the injured and mutated man.  “I have a proposition for you, Mr. Landon.”

	“And who are you?”

	“My name is Doctor Miles Warren.  Specialty, genetics.  I have formed a little, well, social circle of like-minded scientists and bright minds.”  Miles Warren pulled out a small business card that had ‘Intelligencia’ printed on its front, flashed the card in front of Landon, and then placed it on the side table next to Landon’s bed.  “It’s a little group where we collaboration with one another so that we can reach achievements that none of us could have ever imagined doing alone.”

	Miles Warren then turned to leave.  However, before he exited the hospital room, he turned back towards Landon to get one last word in.  “Why don’t you consider this offer while you get better.  Then, once you’re out of here, just let me know if you’re in.”

[hider=Please Red][b][center]Spider-Man will return in Season 2[/center][/b][/hider]