From the desk of Jasper Sitwell

Dear Ms. Sable,

I'd like to thank you personally for agreeing to host our newest Survivor competition in your home country of Symkaria.

As you are well aware based on our recent correspondence, a few years ago I was assigned by SHIELD to host a series of four Survivor-style competitions in an attempt to rehabilitate groups of super criminals (as well as giving us the opportunity to observe and study them in various environments). Of the four previous winners in the four competitions, which featured two seperate groups of the Masters of Evil, the Serpent Society, and members of the Frightful Four and Sinister Six, all four villains have since returned to their criminal lifestyles. My supervisors now feel that it would be best to refocus our efforts not on criminals, but on heroes. We are pleased you are willing to host our competition in Symkaria, as we did not want to reuse any of our previous locations in the Savage Land, Deviant Lemuria, Sky-Island, or Monster Island.

I've reviewed what is known about your recent mercenary activities in the United States and I know you must be aware of our current political situation. Several months ago, Iron Man spearheaded the enforcement of the new Super Human Registration Act, requiring all those within our borders to register with the new Fifty State Initiative, a super-powered military program determined to put a team of trained super heroes in each state. Failure to register means jail; we simply can't ignore the vast numbers of super-powered individuals within our country's borders any longer. Since the implementation of the SHRA, the Initiative has had a rocky go, what with alien invasions and changes in the government's power structure, but at its heart, it remains the same. We still seek to properly train and police our country's super-powered civilians.

We have been training new recruits in the Initiative ever since the SHRA was enacted. These recruits have ranged from heroes to former villains; time travelers to magic wielders to mutants. It has given many heroes an opportunity to use their talents for good. We are currently in the process of selecting the sixteen recruits, eight men and eight women, who will be competing in this competition. It has been decided that this will be primarily an exercise in training, but the winner of the competition will have one million dollars donated to the charity of their choice, and will be offered the command of one of the new Initiative teams, should they so desire it. We have several suprises in store for the contestants, and several "guest stars" lined up to aid in the training and competition. The premise of the series will remain the same. Competitions will regularly be held for rewards and immunity, and one contestant will be voted off every three days and sent back for training at the United States camp. In addition, we appreciate your willingness to provide your Wild Pack mercenaries for a few of the competitions. We will, of course, pay the agreed upon sum.

I will be in Symkaria in the next few days to officially present the contestants to you, and to discuss further logistics of the competition. As always, feel free to Email or call regarding any questions or concerns.

Sincerely, Jasper Sitwell