Space.

It's a big place.

Most of it is uninteresting and empty. Only a tiny, miniscule amount contains something of interest - stars, gas clouds, asteroids or planets. Some planets are simply balls of lifeless rock, dead and uninhabited. But a few, not many, hold life. Tiny miracles on small rocks in a big space.

Earth is one of those planets. Life on Earth is many and varied, with some areas holding only the merest mention of life whilst other areas teem with it. New York City, on the Eastern coast of the United States of America is one such area. A city crawling with lights, sounds and people.

New York city is also the home of Rick Roe, the Elastic Man.

Right now, Elastic Man was lying on his back looking up into the night sky trying to will his arms or legs back into life. This position wasn't voluntary. He'd just been fighting a new supervillain to the area. Sure, the man had knocked him down and got away. But he'd stopped the crime, ensured people hadn't been badly injured and was still alive. That was something.

Now he just needed to get up and back to his other job.

Rick had been on his break at Milo's when he'd heard the alarm sound at the convenience store across from the diner. He'd also heard shouts coming from the vicinity just moments before. Deciding to investigate, Rick had slipped out the back, changed form into Elastic Man and, with a long stretch of his legs, left the alley way in one step, crossed the street with another and been at the doorway to the store a moment later.

Inside, a tall, costumed man was facing off against a short, fat unshaven man with a shotgun in his hands. A young woman, either the daughter of the short fat man or his wife (Elastic Man wasn't sure), stood behind the fat man with the shotgun looking shocked and frightened. The costumed man was making his way to the cash register whilst the man with the shotgun was trying to drive him away.

The fat man yelled some harsh words at the costumed man but the taller man just laughed. He pointed a gloved finger at the fat man and suddenly a blast of cold air hit the shotgun. Ice began to form around the barrel and then quickly spread up to the arms of the man. The fat man, the owner of the store, cried out in pain.

That was enough. Elastic Man stepped forward.

"Stop what you're doing before you hurt someone, Popsicle!" he called out.

The costumed man spun round, his ice powers no longer freezing the owner.

"Who're you?" asked the man in the costume. "And it ain't Popsicle. 'Name's IcePac. No 'k', okay".

Now that Elastic Man was inside he could see that the costumed man was wearing a white and black armoured suit and a white domino mask. He didn't look like any superhero Elastic Man knew and his actions indicated he was more likely a villain. Elastic Man explained the situation.

"I'm your friendly, flexible Elastic Man. Maybe you've heard of me?" Elastic Man asked, though it was clear that the man had never seen him before. Not many had. "I'm here to stop you. Now walk away from the money and out of here", he added.

"No plastic dude in a skin-tight outfit's gonna stop me!" IcePac threatened and moved towards the cash register.

He'd had his first warning, now it was time to act. There was a ‘boing’ as Elastic Man's fist shot out and stretched across the store punching the villain in the chest. IcePac stumbled backwards a little, but not enough to stun him.

"That was a warning..." began Elastic Man but IcePac turned, pointed at him and fire a blast of coldness at him. The cold bit into him and hurt - really hurt! Elastic Man's metabolism relied on his fluid, plastic-like nature and cold blast had frozen him, reducing his flexibility.

Whilst still reeling from the blast, IcePac turned on the storeowner and threatened him again.

"Get me the money jackass or I'll freeze you and your lady friend right where you stand!" he shouted.

Suddenly a blue arm stretched out, wrapped tightly around the costumed thug and pulled the villain away from the storeowners and flung him out through the store window.

"No you won't, blizzard breath!" exclaimed Elastic Man, wincing as his frostbitten arm creaked a little. Flexing his limbs to get the feeling back into them, Elastic Man strode off out of the window. His right fist formed into a large rubber mallet as he stood on the sidewalk looking for IcePac.

"Hey, Stretcho! Over here, dumb ass", a voice came from above him.

The villain known as IcePac was flying up above him, standing on top of a hovering platform of ice. With a laugh, the cold-hearted criminal dived towards him; his arms extended in front, he blasted Elastic Man with another flurry of ice.

This blast was significantly more powerful than the last. It drove Elastic Man into the ground, freezing his whole body and knocking him down. Looking up, Elastic man could not move and was at IcePac's mercy.

Thankfully, just then the shrill call of a police siren cut through the night air as New York's finest began to heed the store's echoing alarm. Cursing Elastic Man, and vowing to take his revenge on the flexible hero, IcePac flew off.

Leaving Elastic Man on the floor.

He needed to get up, get away before the police came and back to his job at Milo's Diner before Milo realised that one of his server's had taken a longer break than allowed. But right now all he could do was lie there, waiting for his body to thaw out and reform itself, whilst looking up into the night sky and the stars and space beyond.