History

As a young man, Kroft became a businessman in New York. He took a shine to a young woman named April Martinez, who started an affair that her then-boyfriend, John Raymond, knew nothing about. However, she eventually left him, fearing his possessive nature.

Over the next decade, Kroft hit it rich with a gambling business, and began using the "stage name" Deuces Wilde. He also made connections with Doctor Archer , who was researching the human brain. He and Archer began working on a compound called "Vyce", selling the test batches on the street as a new drug.

Year later, he found April again. He began stalking her, then used her and the charity where she worked, Safe Harbour, to launder money from drug-dealing, under the threat that he would burn down Safe Harbour. When the owner of the charity, David Raymond, found out and tried to protest, Kroft had Dr Archer kidnap Raymond. This arrangement was interrupted by the new super-hero, the Web, who became an enemy of Dr Archer and then of Deuces Wilde himself.

However, by this point, Archer's research with Vyce was complete, and Deuces Wilde revealed the real effect they were searching for - properly-formulated Vyce allowed the user a glimpse into the future, and Deuces Wilde had used these, forseen his meeting with the Web and taken the time to prepare a counter-argument: if he goes down, he takes April Martinez and Safe Harbour with him. Stymied, the Web retreats, but has promised that they will met again.