the Watchers shortly before the events of Ultimatum. Rick's mother believes her son is a mutant, and confides in her neighbor, May Parker. Aunt May then asks Peter, Bobby and Johnny to "suit up" and go talk to Rick. When they confront him he is startled and accidentally uses his powers to teleport himself and Spider-Man to a restaurant in Ann Arbor. They eventually teleport back to New York. Rick claims that he is not a mutant and that he was given his powers by a "floating eye". At this point Johnny Storm, realizing what had happened, tells Rick that he is the herald the Watchers chose. Rick teleports himself and the others to Project Pegasus in Wyoming, where they find the Serpent Squad in the middle of a heist to steal the Serpent Crown. They fight until Wendel Vaughn, the project leader, and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents arrive to help. After they teleport back home, Rick names himself Nova and leaves in search of his purpose. Tainted Love (#9–14) Published: April 2010 – November 2010 Creative Team: Bendis / Lafuente Plot outline: In Brooklyn, the Bombshells appear and attack a truck full of money. Soon after, Spider-Woman appears and attempts to stop them, but gets shot out of the sky by the villains. Moments later, the Human Torch shows up and surrounds the thieves in fire, to which Spider-Woman beats them up. After the police arrive Spider-Woman runs away, and is pursued by the Human Torch, who asks ger out on a date. Meanwhile, Peter is pushed into the bathroom by Gwen, where Mary Jane and Kitty Pryde cut his hair as they believe he needs a haircut. A girl from their school walks in on them, and says how Kitty does not belong at the school, as she is a mutant. At home, Peter finds out that Johnny made out with his clone, and is uncomfortable due to his relation to her. The next day, middle of class, Kitty is approached by government agents who try to bait her into using her powers so that they can arrest her. Peter tells her to run away as Kong attacks the agents to help her. Kitty saves him by phasing them through the floors of the school, ending up in the sewers before fleeing. At a parent conference in the gym, the principal tries to explain that the situation is also the