Amazing Justice: Mr. Adamantium

The Fix

I'm inside my room in Black Manta's headquarters, contemplating about everything. How did it all go so wrong so fast? I'd say I have no one to blame but myself. Except it's getting harder to remember who myself is. Thanks to this glamour charm, everyone thinks I'm Mister Adamantium, professional assassin and trusted member of Black Manta's team. But I'm one of the few people this charm doesn't affect. Whenever I take off my mask and look in the mirror, it's the only reminder that I'm Peter Parker. What was I thinking? I was only trying to cover for Artemis because I knew that she and Wally had something special together. I knew they left the whole superhero thing just to be normal together, and I wanted them to be happy. I can't have that. A normal life, that is. Not since I got bitten by that spider. I thought I could have that normal life with Gwen, but Osborn reminded me that I can't. The minute I stumbled into that meeting with Nightwing, I couldn't say no if it meant Artemis could still be with Wally. I'm so frustrated that I hit the mirror that I'm looking at, and it smashes, breaking. I then hear Manta say, "Adamantium, report to Kaldur'ahm's Quarters at once."

And that's what I do, putting my mask back on. Once I make it to Kaldur's room, I see the catatonic Kaldur with his father, and an unfamiliar stranger. "What's up boss?" I asked. "Adamantium, this is Psimon," Manta introduced, "he can psychically fix my son's mind and undo the damage that the Martian witch did." Uh-oh. Just play along. "He can do that?" I asked. "Indeed my friend," replied Psimon, "I'll dig around and root his entire life back together. By the time I'm done, I'll know Kaldur'ahm better than he knows himself."

 "Perfect," I replied with no emotion. Yeah, totally perfect. That is, if you don't mind Psimon learning all of Kaldur's secrets! Including the one about Aqualad and I being double agents for The Team and the Justice League! Like I said, how did it go so wrong so fast? "When can you begin?" Manta asked. "I need to focus, set my own mental house in order before I enter his ruins," replied Psimon. "Stay with them until the process is complete," ordered Manta, "my son did not speak of his feelings, but he cares for you as a brother, Thomas." I spoke emotionlessly, "I don't speak about my feelings either. Not with words." Manta nodded and said, "your actions define you. I respect that. So you'll be glad to know I will take action against the Martian witch that did this to our beloved Kaldur'ahm." Great. Now I'll have to rescue Miss Martian too... Long distance, no less.

A few minutes later, Psimon was finished meditating. "Alright, I'm ready," he said, "Let's see what the weather's like in there..." I gotta do something, ASAP! Or else we're both toast! On a stick! So I threw one of my deadly darts into Psimon's neck. He didn't notice, thank God. "The Martian really did a number on you Kaldur," he said, "believe me, I know how it feels. But, fear not. We'll have you up and running in... No... Time..." That's when the drugging started to work. "Something's... Wrong..." he slurred, "my mind... Clouding over..." He started to mentally attack, giving me a whopper headache. "You!" Psimon snapped, telepathically picking me up and striking me to a wall. Come on, knock out ugly! He kept on pushing me into walls, saying, "You drugged me! But why?!?!?!?? Psimon says reveal your secrets!" I'm forced to reveal who I really am. "Spider-Man!" he telepathically said, "you're Spider-Man and the drug... An invention of Stark's... Iron Man's... A single dose... Simulates catatonia... For weeks! But you... Miscalculated... How quickly... It takes..." But thankfully, he was out, letting me go. That's when Manta and his men barged in. "What happened?!?!?!" Manta asked. Play dumb, Parker. "I'm not sure," I lied, "he just went... Berserk. Is it possible Miss Martian left some telepathic virus in Kaldur's mind?" I hope he buys it. "If she did, then any telepath we might employ might suffer the same fate," he said. He bought it! "There's still one telepath who can help," I said, "Miss Martian herself. It's our only recourse. Send me to the mainland. I'll bring back the martian and we'll force her to cure Kaldur." 

"Yes," said Manta, "yes of course. But she's dangerous. Kaldur would never forgive me if I sent you to face her alone." I said, "I'll take a squad of troopers." But Manta said, "No. You'll take Deathstroke."