"Hey mom! I’m home!"

Kevin Green arrived home from school on time for once. It had been nearly two weeks since he had moved to New York City. He’s been going to his new school for only two weeks, but he already made more friends than his entire life in Canoga Park.

"Oh, hi Kevin." Kevin’s aunt, Ruth, came into greet her nephew. "Your mother’s not home right now. She got that job she went in for!"

Kevin realized for once he was happy. And it seems everyone he knew was too. Things were going well.

Kevin placed down his stuff and sat on the couch to watch some television. Spending his day in school and his evenings on the streets of New York as the ultra known as Prime was hard work for a thirteen year old.

He flipped on the TV to see the Channel 4 news station come on:

"Welcome to Channel 4 News, home of the Prime-Time News Team; your one stop source for Prime news on Prime time! With Carol Phade. No one knows Prime better than Carol Phade and your one stop source, Channel 4!"

Kevin couldn’t help but giggle. Life had gone well for Prime too, since moving to New York. People didn’t fear him... well, at least not as much. Prime was a celebrity. Everyone from the mayor to David Letterman was talking about him. And they all loved him. He even found himself being mentioned on Saturday Night Live! For once, Kevin thought, being Prime is paying off.

"Yesterday, Prime stopped a group of thugs, after they had robbed New York Federal Bank of more than ten million dollars. The incident marked the fifth appearance of Prime since a group of terrorists attacked tourists at the Statue of Liberty two weeks ago. The mayor once again said he is thankful for Prime’s help and asked that Prime meet with him on a one-on-one basis. Rumor has it the mayor would like to give Prime a paid position at the New York Police Department."

Wow, Kevin thought. That would be really great. Then he could pay for his mom and him to get an apartment of their own.

Kutter sat on the edge of his prison cell bed. He had been there for two weeks, ever since his attempt to siege the Statue of Liberty had failed, thanks to the ultra named Prime*.

(See last issue!)

He had the ultra power of creating energy blades out of his hands, but he dared not use them. Although he could escape, he knew the security guards would quickly shoot him down. Now, every thought of his was dedicated to planning revenge against the ultra who foiled his plan and the plan of his master.

The warden of the prison then walked into the prison hall, leading a new inmate with him. The new prisoner was very tall and big. He was huge, though no match for an ultra-brute like Prime.

"You have a new friend, Kutter." The bald, fat warden smiled. "Meet Butch." His grin then grew much wider as he opened the cell and placed the huge man in it.

Kutter paid no attention to his new cellmate. A few minutes passed by, when the large man sat down on the bed across from Kutter’s. "What are you in here for, pretty boy?" The man asked.

Kutter preferred not to completely give his story, "I kidnapped an old woman... you?"

The man smiled, then responded, as if bragging, "Murder."

The cell was silent again. The large man then broke the silence again, "You’re kinda good lookin... can’t wait to see ya in the showers!"

Kutter looked up to see the man named Butch smiling with a scary smirk. "I should be out soon... in the mean time, I think you should lay your hands off me... or I might just show you what my hands can do!"

Butch was amused. "Oh, I’d love to see what you’re hands can do!"

Kutter stood up and moved up next to the large man. He then showed him his fist.

Right before Butch’s very eyes, it transformed into an energy blast with claws at the end of its fingers. "Now you see what it can do... want a closer look?!"

The large man quickly jumped back, trying to get away from it. "No, no! Leave me alone!"

Kutter then changed his hands back to normal with a simple thought.

Butch tried to calm down. "What are you?!"

"An ultra! One you’d like to stay away from," Kutter sneered.

Suddenly the cell doors opened again. It was the warden, but this time he seemed very different.

"What do you want this time?!" Kutter shouted, not liking the interruption from his thinking.

"Don’t shout at me... I have come to release you."

Kutter looked up with relief, "Master?!"

"That is correct," the mysterious villain responded from within the warden’s body, "It is time to go..."

Kutter jumped up, ready to follow again.

"Bring this oaf with you," he added, looking at the man next to Kutter.

Kutter looked at Butch to see a dumbfound look on his face, "But master?!"

"We saw how well you performed against Prime... we need someone who can match his strength... and I have developed something which can help someone do that... we just need the right subject."

The warden then looked into Butch’s eyes, and he immediately fell into a trance.

The three were then off. Much work was needed to be done the next morning.

Kevin arrived at school and quickly ran to his homeroom class. Everyone took their seat and looked forward.

Mr. McClellan, their homeroom teacher began doing his regular morning chores and checking attendance.

"Psst.." whispered Cory over to Kevin and their friend John who sat in front of him. "Did you hear about Mike Hardaway?!"

John looked over, "No... what?"

"He’s back in the hospital! They say he’s sick pretty bad... that he won’t be back in school forever."

"WOW! Lucky him!" John exclaimed.

"Who’s Mike Hardaway?" Kevin asked, not knowing who the were talking about.

Stephanie, their friend who was sitting behind them, answered, "He’s a boy who hasn’t been to school in almost a month. He’s pretty sick. He has a weird disease that they can’t cure. Something that stops him from walking and making him sick all the time... and it’s NOT funny John!"

John crept low in his chair, seeing that his friend wasn’t amused.

Meanwhile, a group of six men came up to the front entrance of the school.

A security guard came up to see who they were. "Sirs, may I ask what the nature of your visits are?"

"We’re here to visit some students," one responded in an eerie, cynical voice.

"Are you their parents? You will need to go to the officer to get visitor passes."

The man in front of the group then opened up his hand, at which time energy blades grew from his finger tips.

Before the officer could do anything, he stabbed him in the stomach. "No thank you, I’m in a rush."

The six men then made their way through the halls. The men all had guns. They ran into the different classes, firing their weapons into the ceilings. They entered the rooms and ordered the students to go to the auditorium.

Kevin heard the shots. The class quickly panicked. Mr. McClellan told the class to calm down and then opened the door to see what happened, but the class immediately saw him fly back into the room, flung by the shots of a machine gun.

The man with the gun entered the room. "Everyone head to the auditorium now! If we catch you trying to escape, you will be executed on the spot!" He warned with a deep, evil grin.

The class quickly made their way to the auditorium, afraid of what was going to happen to them.

As they were walking, Kevin quickly jumped toward the bathroom. The armed man noticed his disobedience to his orders and ran after him.

Kevin entered the bathroom and ran for a stall.

The man came in after him. He looked around cautiously and then heard a noise from one of the stalls. "Alright kid, come out... I don’t want to have to shoot you."

But he heard no answer. "Suit yourself kid!" He then responded with a round of bullets through the stall door. Then he reached over to open the door.

As he began to open the door, it came flying off, hitting him across the restroom and sending him into the mirror.

Prime stepped out of the stall and took the now startled man by the shirt. "You make me sick!" He commented. He then shoved his head into the ceiling.

Prime then stomped the restroom door open. The kids running through the halls each stopped with relief.

Cory looked up to see his hero, who had become the hero of the whole city since appearing two weeks ago, "PRIME!" he exclaimed with others.

Kutter looked upon his new enemy with a smile. "All going as planned, get ready!" He commanded on a radio to some more of his men in the auditorium.

The other men then fired upon Prime, causing the students to quicken their path into the auditorium.

Prime put out his hand and caught many of the bullets heading toward him. The others were simply absorbed into his Prime-skin.

He then noticed Kutter up ahead. This was their second meeting together and Prime planned on making it their last.

Kutter ran forward toward the auditorium and Prime followed pursuit.

News came across the phone at Channel 4 News headquarters that Prime was fighting some terrorists at a local New York City Junior High School.

Carol Phade quickly gathered her crew of Prime-Time News Team. They headed towards the helicopter on the roof of the building. "Let’s get ready, crew, this is going to be a big story!" she demanded with a smile. She loved when news broke. She had been covering Prime ever since he made his first appearance at a Junior High in Canoga Park*, where she once lived, and then when he fought Maxi-Man in the middle of downtown**. Once Prime made his mark on New York City, she knew she had to come there for a piece of the action. She had developed quite a dedication to covering Prime, but she had developed quite a lust for him as well. She had now devoted her entire to Prime.

(* See Prime: The New Twist #1, **See the Maxi-Man Special #1, *** See Prime: The New Adventures #1)

The helicopter lifted off the ground and headed toward the site, as the camera man prepared to take footage of the scene.

Kutter flew through the doors and into the auditorium. Prime responded by slamming the door down.

He stepped into the room, to find students sitting in the seats, scared to death. Some where crying others were just still. In the center of the auditorium, Kutter and his men stood. Kutter then smiled, "Welcome, Prime... we have a new friend for you!"

A large man then walked forward. He was huge, larger then Prime. His muscles were massive and his veins were visible across his body. He was wearing a large workout suit with a planet logo on his chest.

The large brute then made a loud growing noise, while flexing his muscles. "Meet Planet Class!" Kutter announced, introducing Prime to the large ultra, who once was known as a murderer named Butch.

Planet Class roared and charged toward Prime.

Prime flew upward dodging his attack, he then came from behind and punched Planet Class in the back, but the hit seemed to have little affect on him.

Planet Class turned around and hit Prime with a right-uppercut, sending him flying three feet forward.

The students stood on the edge of their seat, some stood up to get the best view of the battle beforehand.

Prime picked himself up off the ground and then charged into the air toward the mighty giant.

Flying as quick as he did toward him, he punched the him in the torso. This time the combination of speed and strength sent Planet Class flying backwards.

Kutter looked with surprise. Perhaps his new ally would need some help.

He called upon his claws and then jumped on Prime’s back, stabbing him into the neck.

The pain was sharp, as Prime leaned backward and tried to grab Kutter off his back. Planet Class then came over and jabbed Prime in the stomach. Prime was being beat and he knew it. He then heard the voice of the shadowy figure he saw two weeks ago, at the terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty. "Prime, I am giving you one last chance to join me!" It exclaimed.

"Never!" he yelled in response. He noticed Planet Class preparing to make another attack against him. He ducked this time, so that the punch would hit Kutter.

It did, sending Kutter across the room, hitting the wall and going unconscious.

"Now it’s just you and me, Planet Class!" He shouted, then he grabbed the heavy giant toward him and sent a huge blow into his face.

Planet Class fell backward, at which point Prime kicked him to the ground.

He then grabbed the giant and flew up and outside the building, crashing through the roof.

The news crew was quick to get the footage from outside on film.

Prime took Planet Class and flew him into the waters alongside New York City.

He then returned to the building to assure the safety of the students. The police escorted the students outside, where parents were waiting with concern, and they took the terrorists into custody, sending Kutter to prison once again.

Prime walked out of the school, where reporters swarmed around him. His body felt wounded, and he knew he’d have to get out of his Prime-body soon. But when he looked over at the students receiving hugs from their parents, he was happy at a job well done.

The reporters shouted out questions toward him. Carol Phade pushed her way through the crowd, "Prime!" She shouted. Somehow her voice got his attention. He looked over. She saw the tiredness and his eyes. She had so many questions to ask, but all she could think of was, "Can we meet sometime for dinn— I mean for an interview?"

Prime smiled. She was kind of cute. "Sure thing! I’ll contact you!" He answered with a strong proud voice. He felt sure of himself, but inside he was asking himself what was he doing. He was only 13, and she must have been thirty!

Prime flew off into the sky. He had to get home... his Prime-body was growing weaker and his mom was going to be worried sick!

Prime flew down to the ally alongside his house and transformed into Kevin. He threw the goop that once served as his Prime-body into the trash and climbed up toward his bedroom window.

After the ally was empty, a shadowy figure who watched from the corners, took shape. He walked to the dumpster and took the goop from it. He grinned and laughed. "Now, I know your secret... and you will surely die at the hands of Mind Shaper!" The shadowy figure was named Mind Shaper. He was an ultra who could do just that, shape the minds of humans, who were nothing more than animals to him. "Today has become my biggest victory yet! I have created fears in the hearts of the world and unlocked the secrets to destroy my greatest enemy!" he added to himself, before fading back into the darkness.

"This is Carol Phade with a special News 4 Prime-Time News update. Behind me was the site of a Prime’s latest act of heroism in New York City... where Prime saved the students at this Junior High from the same group of terrorists that had attacked the Statue of Liberty just two weeks earlier."

CONTINUED IN ISSUE #3 - TURNING POINT

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Prime: The New Adventures! At long last, this story will be finished! Hey, it only took three years between issue #2 and issue #3 but the good news is issue #3 is up and ready to read. So click here to check it out now!