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1) This material is not used for monetary profit in any manner.  It is
done solely for enjoyment purposes, and as homage to the great stories
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2)  All  the  characters,  events,  and locations portrayed within are
recognized as property of Marvel Comics Group should they so wish.
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                            THE TWELVE #3

                          "Games Of Chance"

                         WRITER: Samy Merchi
                       EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Kingbob

   "Times  like this, I feel like all the %&£@ I've gone thru is worth
it."
   The Legionnaire's words amused his companion.  Alice Schwartz moved
alongside  Janos Quested with an almost ethereally light pace, a cold,
haunting  smile  dancing on her lips.  "Isn't she a bit young for you,
baby?" she asked, her eyes watching the focus of Janos' attention.
   A slight chuckle was Janos' answer, along with turning to glance at
Alice.   "My dearest Alice - who _isn't_ too young for us?" he replied
in his flippant manner, his eyes returning to the young blonde tending
to the Wheel of Fortune.
   The casino was crowded.  There were people everywhere, enjoying the
entertainment  of  Atlantic  City to the fullest.  Men, women, old and
young,  but  all having one thing in common.  They were rich.  And one
of  the  privileges  of  being  rich  was  spending  money in the most
ludicrous pastimes.  Such as games of chance.
   And  there  was certainly a wide variety of such games being played
at  the  casino.   From  the  more  obvious ones - like roulette and a
number  of  card  games - to the more oblivious ones.  Certainly there
were  games  of  chance being played that people usually didn't see as
such.   Before  this  night  was  over, some people would have changed
their opinion.
   "I'm  bored,  Janos", Alice complained, eyeing around, her behavior
starting  to  show  signs of her impatient and straightforward nature.
She  wasn't one for hide and seek.  And this masquerade started to get
on her nerves.  "Find anything yet?"
   The  skinny  european  shook  his  head.   "Not  a trace.  I..." he
started,  only  to  be  interrupted  by  the  vibrational alarm of the
scanner  unit  on  his  wrist.  "Hold on." Janos glanced at his wrist,
then  his  eyes went upwards from it towards the direction the scanner
pointed in.  Back towards the direction his eyes had spent quite a lot
of  time in just seconds ago.  "It's her!" he exclaimed quietly to his
fellow Legionnaire.
   Alice's  brow furrowed curiously, but her mind worked as fast as it
always did.  "The blonde tending the roulette?" she whispered, letting
her  eyes stray over the crowd in a routine glance to see if they were
attracting any attention.
   "Yeah!   Shame  wasting a looker like her", Janos replied in return
but with a cold certainty that left no doubt that he intended to carry
out his orders nonetheless.  "So, what's the plan?" His eyes turned to
watch Alice, waiting for how to carry this out.  "You want me to whack
her now?"
   "Mmmmmm..."  Alice mused non-committally as she thought out various
alternatives.  "You like her, don't you?" she commented absently, then
turned to meet Janos' eyes with her own - cold, playful, teasing.
   A  few  moments  of confusion passed in the male Legionnaire's head
before  he  shrugged.  "Sure.  What's there not to like?  Doesn't mean
I'm not going to do my job."
   Alice  chuckled with her cold amusement, letting her eyes study her
teammate.   "Relax,  baby.   I'm  not  accusing  you of anything." She
paused  and  turned her head back towards the blonde.  "Just follow my
lead  and we'll have a bit of fun along the way..." her lips whispered
eerily.   Then  she  blinked  a  few  times,  lifting  her hand to her
forehead  in confusion, looking around like having been just awakened.
"Where...?"
   Recognizing  the  effect  of  Alice  having  left  her  host  body,
confirmed  by  the  disappearance of the odd choker around the woman's
neck,  Janos  stepped  away  from  the  woman Alice had inhabited mere
seconds  ago,  disappearing  into the crowd, fading into it and making
his way slowly towards the Wheel of Fortune...

   "Nicely played, Ms Hardy."
   "Why  thank  you, Mr Barton.  It just seems that those who cross me
tend to have a stroke of bad luck."
   Clint  smirked  and  shook  his  head  with  no  little  amount  of
amusement, as his eyes rested upon the face of the woman opposite him.
A  gorgeous  lady  in no more than her mid-twenties, possibly, Felicia
Hardy  had  a  mane of bright white hair, as white as the purest snow,
and  it  most  certainly  caught  her  a  certain amount of attention.
Almost  as  much  as  her  daringly cut black evening gown, showing an
amount  of  cleavage  that  some  people might find hard to believe as
decent.
   Moving  her  fingers  around  the  pile of playing chips playfully,
almost  like  a  cat  playing  with  a ball of string, Felicia glanced
towards  the  young  girl running the roulette.  "I hope I haven't won
too much already?" she grinned.
   Jennifer  Stavros was not one to be easily disturbed.  She had been
taught  to con and bluff before she knew how to read.  It was hardly a
problem for her to keep up a polite smile for all these idiots she had
to  put  up  with  in this stupid job.  "Of course not, Ms Hardy", she
smiled  with fake warmth, not that anyone would notice the difference.
"I  hope  your  winning streak will keep going all night." She glanced
coyly  over  to  Clint  Barton when he wasn't looking, teasing Felicia
with the suggestiveness in her eyes.
   Not  that  Jennifer  wouldn't have minded being in Felicia's place.
She  had had her eye on Clint for several weeks now, since she started
working  here,  but  the  handsome  hunk barely seemed to know she was
alive.   With  all  his  attention  on  that slut Hardy!  Inside Jenny
boiled  with  rage,  but  as  usual kept everything skillfully inside.
"Place your bets", she called out and watched Felicia stake a huge sum
of money onto the number 13, then lean back on her chair and stretch a
bit  with  a  catlike  yawn.  o O (Now I've got you, you _bitch_!) she
thought  and watched if anyone else was in on the game.  No other bets
were placed, so she put the Wheel of Fortune in motion, a slight black
glow starting to manifest in her hand under the table...
   Jennifer  blinked.   Then  as  if  from  nowhere,  a  black  choker
materialized  around  her  neck.   It  was adorned by a stone over her
throat that looked like a skull-like visage, signifying the appearance
of Malice as she took over Jenny's body.
   "Excuse me...  I'm not feeling so well..." Malice said and put on a
sick appearance on Jennifer's face, starting to turn to leave from the
table  while the roulette spun around, the little ball bouncing around
in it wildly.
   Both people in the table, Clint and Felicia, narrowed their eyes at
the  back  of  Jennifer's  body as it started moving away.  "You okay,
Jenny?"  Clint  asked,  standing  up  from  the table with a concerned
expression  that  would  have  made the young girl's heart skip a beat
were she able to see it from under Malice's influence.
   Jenny  didn't  hear Clint's words.  Then again, neither did Malice.
She  had  already  disappeared  into  the  crowd by the time Clint had
spoken,  and  was  quickly  making  her  way  to the other side of the
casino,  glancing  to  her  side to make sure Janos was following her.
Following her upstairs to the hotel's upper floors, where was the room
of the girl named Jennifer Stavros.
   While Malice left, the roulette started by Jennifer started slowing
down.   Gradually,  the  ball  in  it  became  more  and more visible,
starting to bounce and rattle as the wheel slowed down, finally ending
up  stopping  onto  a  number.   The wheel kept slowly turning around,
losing  its  momentum  while  Felicia stood up to look for the winning
number.
   "Thirteen",  she smiled wickedly.  "Looks like tonight will be full
of bad luck...for some."

   "Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..."  Alice  moaned against Janos' lips, enjoying the
kiss to the fullest.  Not having a body of her own, she had learned to
enjoy using other peoples' bodies instead.  And with pleasure.
   They  were  in  a  hotel  room  which  Jennifer Stavros used as her
quarters, provided to her by her employer Norman Osborn.  Entrance had
hardly  been  a  problem  since Alice was in the body of the very same
woman.   The  keys  had  simply  been  in her pocket.  And now, it was
playtime  before  getting to work.  There was little regret in Alice's
mind  over having to kill this little girl who had so much evil inside
her.   So  much  like  herself.  But a job was a job, and Alice had no
intentions  of not carrying out her orders.  She had been doing it for
a long time.  She would keep doing it for a long time.
   CRASH!
   The  suite's door flew in, as if propelled by an explosion, and hit
the  wall opposite it, startling both Janos and Alice, who nonetheless
quickly  took  cover  behind  a  couch, their ages-old combat reflexes
kicking in, though Alice was slowed down by her inexperienced body.
   In  walked  a young man who looked to be in his early or mid teens,
wearing  a  classy  black  suit and with a cocky arrogance dusting his
hands  as he stepped in, seemingly having smashed the door in.  "Knock
knock", he said, his eyes locking onto Alice and Janos.  "I assume you
two  are  Legionnaires.   My name is Roberto Da Costa, and I am one of
your  targets."  He  smirked  and  took a step towards them, his hands
clenching into fists.  "Come and get me."
   Sam,  Moonstar and Shaman waited outside the door.  Both youngsters
would  have  wanted  to  take  the point and walk into the room first,
Moonstar  out  of anger and vengeance, Sam because he didn't want this
young boy to endanger his life.  But Shaman had convinced them that it
was important for some reason that Bobby be the one to take the point.
   Janos  was  fast.   He stood up and started spinning around so fast
that  his outline faded from sight, replaced by a vague gray blur.  As
his  spinning  quickly  reached a climax, a hail of small shuriken and
other little blades and sharp objects started raining from his body in
Roberto's general direction, filling the air.
   Roberto was faster.  The young soccer star dropped to the floor and
rolled quickly forward to the couch Janos and Alice were behind.  With
a quick motion, he sprung forward.  Had he not been wearing one of the
magical  headbands  provided by Shaman, he would be seen as completely
pitch black, absorbing the light in the room and using it to power his
superhuman  strength.   His powerful fingers sank into the material of
the  couch as he sprang forward, keeping the couch in front of himself
as a cover as he rammed towards the wall.
   Janos,  having  been  surprised by the young Brazilian's speed, was
taken off-guard and was caught between the wall and the ramming couch.
Roberto  felt  feral  pleasure  rush  thru him, hearing bones snap and
crackle  like  twigs, like was done to his beloved Juliana.  Blood was
rushing  in  his  ears,  and  the mad adrenaline high of vengeance was
driving  him  crazy,  as he drove the couch and the Legionnaire's body
thru the wall.
   He was stopped dead in his tracks.  A black choker materialized out
of  nowhere  around  his  neck,  and at the same time disappeared from
Jennifer's  neck.   "That's enough out of you", came a malicious voice
from Roberto's lips.
   At  that  point  Shaman  made  his  move.   "Now, Samuel", he said,
stepping  into  the  room  with Moonstar and Sam.  The tall blonde boy
nodded  hesitantly  and  ran over to Jennifer, glancing her over.  "Y'
all  right,  miss?"  he  asked,  and  as  Jenny replied with a groggy,
confused nod, he quickly put his arms around her, scooping her up.
   A  huge  blast rocked the room, like the blast off of a rocket - or
Cannonball.   It  was followed by a crash as Sam blasted thru the wall
and  into  the  night skies, carrying Jenny out of the battle scene as
had  been  Shaman's  plan.   Now  there  were  two  less  people to be
concerned about.

   Angelo  Espinosa was a good man.  Really.  He was just caught up in
very bad situations.
   Like  this one.  He was in a dark alley with two other people.  One
of them was dead, shot in the chest.  The corpse lay at Angelo's feet,
watching  him  with its eyes still open.  The sirens of several police
cars  were  closing in.  And of course Angelo had a smoking gun in his
hand.  But he really is a good man.  Honest.

   "Mr Osborn?"
   Norman  Osborn  was a busy man.  He was used to having his thinking
interrupted.   That  however didn't mean he liked it.  He looked up to
see  one of the casino's security people at the door.  "Yes?" he asked
coldly,  letting  the  man  know  that  he  did  not  appreciate  this
interruption.
   "Uhmm..."  the man started hesitantly, considering a hasty retreat,
but  decided  against it, knowing that Osborn would only be more angry
if  he  was  going  to  say  'It  was  nothing'.  "There seems to be a
disturbance  in  the  hotel  Ms  Stavros  is  staying at...  Involving
her..."
   Osborn  perked an ear, his eyes narrowing at this piece of news and
he quickly rose from his seat, clicking a button on the remote control
he took from his desk and one of the walls slid aside to reveal dozens
of  security  monitors.   "Where?"  he  simply  asked, desiring a more
accurate location fix.
   "Ms  Stavros' quarters", the man quickly replied, remaining quietly
at the door, not making a move.
   With  a  nod,  Osborn  pushed a button on the remote and one of the
monitors switched to represent a view of Jennifer Stavros' hotel room.
"Who  is  handling  the  situation?" he asked, his eyes focused on the
events on the monitor.
   "Mr Barton and Ms Hardy."
   "You  may  leave",  Osborn  replied  and took off the mute function
after  the  security man had left, starting to follow the scene unfold
before his eyes.

   Roberto  let  out  a  cold  laugh  as  he turned towards Shaman and
Moonstar.   "This  boy has a -delicious- psyche!" he grinned, his eyes
twinkling  with  wicked pleasure.  "If he weren't a man, I would never
want to leave this body!"
   "But  you  will, Malice", Shaman said firmly as he stepped forward.
"You  and the Legion have claimed enough lives tonight." He started to
reach at the medicine pouch at his belt, but a quick *thunk* was heard
and he found his sleeve be nailed into the wall with an arrow.
   Both  Moonstar  and  Shaman  looked quickly behind them to notice a
newcomer  at  the  doorway.   "Sorry,  buddy",  said the man clad in a
purple-and-black  outfit.   "Can't  let  you  reach for a gun." With a
motion  almost  faster  than the eye could see, he had already readied
another  arrow  and  was sighting between all the three targets in the
room  -  Shaman,  Moonstar  and Roberto.  "In case you hadn't guessed,
you're under arrest for destroying private property."
   "And  the  kidnapping  of  Jennifer  Stavros."  The voice came from
behind  Roberto,  and  he  spun around to face the new enemy.  A woman
with  a  flowing  stark  white  mane  was  crouched on the windowsill,
looking  into  the  apartment,  clad  in a tight black spandex costume
enhanced by white fur around the collar, wrists and calves.
   With  soft, catlike motions, she dropped from the windowsill to the
floor,  and  stood up, starting to walk towards Roberto.  "How rude of
us  not  to  introduce  ourselves",  she  purred  and  took  a pair of
handcuffs from a secret pocket on her waist.  "I am..."
   She  was  interrupted by Roberto, who at the sight of the handcuffs
charged  towards  her.   With  a  quick leap she flipped over Roberto,
landing  behind  him  and  extending  her leg between his legs, easily
tripped him down.
   At this, all hell broke loose.  Dani quickly took a dagger from her
belt  and  flung it towards the archer.  There was a ricocheting sound
as  the  dagger  met  an  arrow in midair, and was knocked off course.
Dani  didn't lose an instant, though.  She leapt at the man, but while
she was in air, the unbelievably fast archer had already drawn another
arrow and let it fly at her.
   "We  don't  have  time  for this", Shaman said as he tugged himself
free  of  the  arrow,  tearing his sleeve.  o O (The moment has passed
already.   Now  it  is  up to Roberto to expel Malice), he thought and
cursed the bad luck that had sent these interlopers.

   "Beautiful, is it not?"
   Selene stood in front of the altars inside a huge temple looking as
if  it had been built by Roman architects some two thousand years ago.
Nonetheless,  this  was  here  and  now.  But the resemblance to Roman
architecture  was no fluke.  This was Nova Roma, a remnant colony that
had  no  contact  with the modern world, having remained as it was for
over  two  thousand  years  since Roman explorers had founded it to be
their home away from home.
   The  Roman  explorers  had  made  their  way  across  the dangerous
Atlantic  ocean  in  search  for something they had no idea they would
find, looking for myths and legends that would make them famous.  They
were  aware  of  the  risks.   They  were  also  aware of the possible
rewards.   And  that  is what made them undertake the journey they had
taken,  which had eventually led to them landing on the shores of what
would one day be Brazil.
   Making their way inland almost across the whole continent, they had
finally  settled  in  one  place, and set up a colony there.  A colony
that  would  have  no  contact  with  people  outside  it for over two
thousand  years.  A colony by the name of Nova Roma.  And by that name
it was still known, when Selene stood in one of the city's temples.
   "Yes,  Mother", Amara replied obediently, watching the three people
tied  onto the altars in front of Selene.  She was quite fond of these
events and attended them whenever they were held.  She listened to the
crowd  chanting in front of Selene and a wicked smile came to her lips
at  the  thought of one day being in her Mother's stead, to be the one
so  revered.   To hold so much power over people.  Then she could have
Darkchilde executed at her own leisure.  Or perhaps imprisonment would
be  better,  so  she could enjoy torturing her every day over and over
again...
   The  chanting started to reach a crescendo, and Amara found herself
looking  around  the  room  cautiously,  her  paranoia sometimes being
useful  in  searching  out  any  possible threats.  She walked quietly
around  the  room,  coming  up  to one of Selene's personal guard, the
soldiers under her command.  She pointed out a person in the middle of
the chanting crowd.  "I don't like how he is watching my mother.  Take
him  outside and have him flogged", she said coldly, then proceeded on
her way, climbing up a flight of stairs to check the balconies.
   Selene  smiled  as  the  chanting reached a climax, and raising her
hands  upwards,  fire  struck  upwards from the lava pits and braziers
surrounding  the  altars, immolating the altars and herself in flames,
concealing her from the audience who let out a roar of astonishment at
this  sight,  not  seeing  it too often because these events were held
only four times in a year.
   In  the  concealment of the flames, Selene slowly walked to each of
the  people  tied  to  the  altars,  and  placed  her hands onto them.
Horrible  screams  came from the victims' lips, to be forever silenced
when  the  air  was sucked from their lungs the same way Selene sucked
the  very  life  force out of them, leaving them but dried husks to be
consumed  by  the  flames  which seemed to leave her unharmed.  As the
flames  died down minutes later, Selene stood there at the altars once
more,  seeming  stronger  and more vital than before the process.  And
the  people  who  had  been tied onto the altars were now nothing more
than ashes.
   Upstairs on the balconies, Amara's eyes narrowed with evil pleasure
at  the  screams  heard  from  the flames, knowing that her Mother was
enjoying herself.
   Something caught Amara's attention.
   An archer, at the edge of the balcony, concealing himself among the
curtains?   She  started  rushing  towards  the archer, and a flare of
bright white hot flames heralded her transformation into a creature of
living  magma,  running  towards  the man.  "ASSASSIN!" she called out
viciously, and pointed her hand towards the archer.
   A blast of lava burned thru several innocent bystanders on the way,
but  Amara  gave little heed to them, seeing them as a small sacrifice
if it meant saving her Mother's life.  The white hot lava blast caught
the  archer  and incinerated him alive with a horrible scream, but not
before the arrow took flight.
   There  was  a unified gasp of surprise from the crowd at the arrow,
and  Amara  leaned  over  the  railing  of the balcony to see what had
happened,  a  cold  fear  over  her Mother's fate gripping what little
heart she had.
   Selene  was  standing at the altars still, having just finished the
sacrifice.   An arrow was protruding from her chest, exactly where her
heart  was.   She gripped the arrow, and ripped it out, then tossed it
on the ground, striding away and seemingly unharmed.
   The  crowd silently watched in awe as Selene exited thru one of the
doors  behind  the  altars,  and Amara smiled at the crowd's reaction.
One  day  she would be like that, she thought and shook her head, then
started  towards  the  corpse she had burned, a smell of charred flesh
filling her nostrils as she approached it.
   Amara  crouched beside the corpse and looked at it with the glee of
a little child who had burned a cricket with a magnifying glass.  Then
her  eyes  caught  on something.  The necklace the archer was wearing.
Her hand grabbed it and snapped it from around the corpse's neck.
   Unmistakable.
   The  assassin  was a member of the house of Senator Marcus Domitius
Gallio.   A  sworn  enemy  of  Amara's  beloved father Lucius Antonius
Aquilla.   She grinned and held the necklace close to her chest as she
stood  up,  kicking  the  corpse  once.   She  would enjoy questioning
Senator  Gallio about this.  She would certainly like to eliminate her
father's  staunchest  foe...   "Politics  is a Game of Chance, Senator
Gallio..."  she  grinned  to  herself.  "And I am afraid you have just
lost."

   "ARRRGH!"
   Kitty  Pryde  woke  up  in the middle of her sleep, sitting up, her
hands  going to her forehead in pain, her whole body shuddering at the
horrible migraine attack.
   She gasped for breath a few times, and as her head started to clear
up,  she  hoped that her parents hadn't heard her cry or woken up from
it.   She  bit  her  lip as she tried to push the pounding in her head
back some, so she could get back to sleep, but in vain.
   "This  is  just great", she muttered to herself and started getting
up from her bet, putting on a long t-shirt that covered her up enough.
She  started  sneaking  downstairs in the quiet house, glancing around
and  being  careful  not  to  awaken  anyone.   Her  step  was  almost
ethereally light, almost as if she didn't touch the floor at all.
   In  a  few  minutes, she had gotten down the stairs to the kitchen,
and  gotten  herself a glass of water and some aspirin.  She swallowed
the  aspirin,  washing  it down with the water and then leaned back on
the chair.
   "What  the...?" she exclaimed as the back of the chair seemed to be
gone.   She  didn't  realize until seeing it come out the front of her
chest,  that  she  had  leaned -thru- the back of the chair!  And even
when she realized it, she couldn't believe it.
   Kitty  blinked  a  few times, and wondered if she was still asleep.
She  stood up and glanced around, reaching for the glass of water, but
her  hand  went  thru it.  She shook her head in disbelief and decided
this  was  a  dream, starting to head back upstairs, too astonished to
even realize that the headache was gone.

   The sirens were approaching fast, and Angelo had the smoking gun in
his  hand.   With  a  cool, level head, he glanced to both ends of the
alley,  only  to  see  police cars pull up on both sides.  "Great", he
muttered  cynically  and  let  his  eyes  roam around for any possible
escape routes.
   "Looks  like  the  end  of  the  line,  Angelo",  the girl with him
commented,  keeping  her  feelings  buried deep down as she glanced to
both sides for the cops.
   With  a  frown,  Angelo  shook  his head.  "Don't give up just yet,
chica",  he  replied and quickly went over to a manhole cover, lifting
it  out  of place.  "Inside!  Quickly!" he said and grabbed her wrist,
yanking  her  down  to  the  manhole.   She  started climbing down the
ladder,  and  Angelo followed her as the cops broke into a run towards
them, telling them to stop.
   Fat  chance.   Angelo Espinosa wasn't one to just lie down and die.
Enough  people  got  killed in the 'Hood without giving up, no need to
add  to  that  number if he could help it.  He climbed down the ladder
quickly,  dropping  the  last  few  feet  and grabbed the girl's wrist
again,  starting to run down the tunnel and hoping they could lose the
cops in this maze.
   "You  always  manage  to  get  into trouble, don't you Angelo?" she
commented  sarcastically amidst running.  They ran for several minutes
until  they  thought they had lost their pursuers.  As they huddled up
in  a  side tunnel, listening for any sounds of pursuit, she looked up
at  Angelo  affectionately.   "You  know,  it's times like this that I
realize I love you the most", she grinned.
   "Love's  a  Game  of  Chance, chica.  I'm a losing card.  You'll be
better off without me", he said flatly.
   "I'm not going anywhere."
   "I am."
   "..."
   "Look,  chica..."  Angelo  broke  the  silence,  stroking her hair.
"Livin'  with  a  fugitive ain't the kind of life that you deserve.  I
don't want you to get in trouble because of me."
   "..."
   "If it means anything, Tores - I loved you too.  That's why I'm not
takin'  you down with me." With that, Angelo Espinosa disappeared into
the  shadows  of  the  sewers, leaving a heartbroken young girl alone,
sniffling.

   The  arrow  had  a  heavy, blunt, metallic tip and as it hit Dani's
forehead,  it  felt like a sledge hammer.  Everything went black for a
moment  and  she  dropped  to  the floor, stunned.  "Sorry about that,
babe,  but  I  don't  have  a fancy for having my eyes clawed out", he
smiled while readying another arrow.  "I'm called Hawkeye.  My partner
over  there  calls  herself the Black Cat.  We're official security in
this place.  So you just lie there and I'll..."
   "Enough!" Shaman exclaimed and flung a handful of red mist from his
medicine  pouch  into  the room.  "There is no time for this.  Riptide
will  awaken  soon  and we must be away before that." The mist started
coalescing  around  Hawkeye  and  Black  Cat, and turned them off like
light switches.
   As  Black  Cat  slumped to the ground, Malice took advantage of the
situation,  and  her  fist started descending down on her.  It missed.
Barely.   Smashing  into  the  floor  beside the unconscious catwoman,
Malice  stared  at  her  fist  for  a  while,  not  believing that had
happened.  How could she not hit a prone target??
   That's  when  Malice  felt  her mind being torn at.  She had made a
fatal  mistake.   You  see,  Malice  searches  out  the dark side of a
person,  the evil that everyone has in them.  The negative feelings of
jealousy,  hatred,  pettiness  and so on.  She inhabits those parts of
our  psyche, confident that no one will want to deal with that part of
themselves, and stay out of it, leaving Malice in control.  She brings
the dark side to the surface and lives there, knowing that people will
just  let her do as she pleases with their bodies rather than confront
their own evil sides.
   And  with  Roberto  Da  Costa that was a mistake.  His dark side is
much  more  powerful than most peoples'.  You could almost say it's an
independent  being.  An independent being who doesn't like sharing its
living  space of the negative emotions with anyone.  Plain and simple.
Malice was an unwanted visitor.
   Roberto's hand went to his throat, gripping the choker there.  With
a swift yank, he snapped it off and tossed it as far away as he could.
Out  the  window.   He  slumped down to his knees of the exertion, and
braced himself on his hands as he took a few breaths.
   "That  was  some  gutsy hand you played, 'Berto", Dani commented as
she  started  clearing  her  head  and getting up from the floor.  She
leaned  back  onto  a  wall  to  support  herself as she tried to calm
herself down.
   The grin on Roberto's face widened slightly as he looked up at Dani
and  stood  up.  "Life is a Game of Chance, menina", he smiled.  "A Da
Costa only plays to win."
   Shaman  glanced around and sighed slightly at the chaos.  "This did
not  go  well",  he  said.   "Let us at least hope that Samuel has our
newest  recruit  safely  at  the meeting point." With that, he threw a
handful  of  powder  into the air and once more the familiar dust ring
started slowly falling downwards around the trio, taking them away.

                              NEXT ISSUE

In  our  ferocious  fraught-filled fourth issue, we will keep watching
developments  in  Nova Roma, and Amara's attempt to bring down Senator
Gallio.   Did  Darkchilde  have  anything  to  do  with  the attempted
assassination  of  Selene?   Meanwhile,  the  Twelve  try  to convince
Roulette  why  she should join them while Angelo Espinosa runs for his
life  in  the streets of Los Angeles.  And we'll have First Glances at
the Brothers Proudstar, and also - the man, the mutant, the Empath!