Blinded by the Light

"Come on, Harry!" Gwen Stacy insisted, knocking on the door to Harry Osborn's apartment for the seventh time. "I know you're in there, so will you just let me in already?"

She had been knocking on Harry's door for almost ten minutes, having gone down to his place at Liz's request to try and find out where Harry had been disappearing to, and why he no longer seemed to be attending classes. All Liz had been able to tell her was that Harry just blew her off when she called, telling her he had no time to meet with her. Hurt and angry, Liz had taken up Gwen's offer to try and talk to Harry and see what was going on.

Finally, Harry flung the door open in considerable irritation, an ugly look on his face as he glared at Gwen.

"What the hell do you want?" he finally demanded. "I have-"

"-a girlfriend who's been a saint in putting up with your bullshit," Gwen said calmly but firmly, struggling to keep her own temper in check. "Look, whatever it is, you owe Liz an explanation, at least."

Harry paused for a moment, his expression softening briefly.

"Fine, then get in here," he finally muttered, letting Gwen in and slamming the door behind her.

SPIDER-WOMAN #9

"BLINDED BY THE LIGHT"

"So what the hell do you want?" Harry demanded as he sat down in a chair, gesturing for Gwen to sit down across from him.

"Look, Harry, Liz is worried sick about you," Gwen said, once again trying to keep her temper under control. "You haven't contacted her since before Christmas. So what's so important that you drop off the face of the earth and don't even contact your girlfriend?"

"What business is it of yours?" Harry sneered, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Because Liz is my friend!" Gwen snapped, unable to keep an edge from creeping into her voice. "Harry, she was kidnapped by a fucking supervillain last week! Why the hell didn't you return her calls? You're her boyfriend, for God's sake!"

Even as she spoke, Gwen winced inwardly-this wasn't going the way she had hoped at all.

Harry turned pale, before he became crimson with anger, sitting in silence for a moment.

"You have no goddamn idea what I'm going through, Gwen!" Harry finally shouted at her. "I have enough shit to put up with without getting the third degree from you, of all people!"

"Well, can't we help you?" Gwen asked, fighting to keep control of her voice. "What's the problem, anyway? If it's your father, then I know-"

"Don't even start, Gwen," Harry spat in disgust. "Little Miss Ice Queen finally feeling guilty about her subjects?"

Now it was Gwen's turn to go pale.

"Wh…what?" she fumbled. "Harry…If it is about your father, then I-"

"No, you don't!" Harry shouted at her. "You think you know, Little Miss Perfect? You think you know what it's like to have that bastard yelling at you day after day after day, telling you you're a disgrace to the family name, threatening to throw you out on the street if you don't shape up? You think you know, with your perfect hair, perfect looks, perfect clothes, perfect fucking life?"

"Oh, and you know what I'm going through?" Gwen finally lost her temper. "You're not the only one who's had to put up with these problems, Harry! And some of us don't just run and hide from them like a fucking coward! How about trying to find enough money to stay in school? How about trying to find a bloody job? How about trying to keep your mother from losing her mind? You ever have to put up with that?" she shouted right back.

"I know enough to keep to my own goddamn business!" Harry shot back. "What's with you, anyway? Always too good for everyone in high school, and now all of a sudden you want to be friends? What the hell did Liz ever see in you, anyway?"

Gwen froze, a lump in her throat.

"Harry-"

"Are you even here about Liz to begin with?" Harry said mockingly. "How the hell do I know you're not just here for yourself? Feeling guilty about how you treated the peasants? Running for help from your own little problems? Does Princess have her own little daddy issues to deal with?" he burst out laughing.

Livid with rage, Gwen charged forward and immediately slammed Harry into the wall, with fire in her eyes. Her face was a mask of rage as she raised her fists to-

Oh God…what am I doing…?

Memories of debris flying everywhere in her first battle with Blizzard, the bruised and broken face of the Brothers Grimm, and people fleeing in terror from her battle with Polestar flooded through her mind.

Horrified, she released Harry, who slumped down to the ground.

"Harry…I…I…" she began.

"Just go, Gwen," he glared up at her.

"But…I…" Gwen shook her head.

"JUST GO!" he shouted.

Half in shock, half in confusion, Gwen did just that, reeling at how everything could have gone so wrong.

As a rule, George Stacy tended to dislike superhumans, particularly mutants, although more and more he had come to appreciate that they had certain uses. Some people, such as the man with the long blonde hair, golden eyes, and what resembled a green bodysuit with a gold starburst on the front, had the combination of talents and disposition that could be put to good use, if the price was right.

Sitting in his office that evening with his strange new guest, Stacy sipped at his wine as he mulled over how best to approach the man seated in the chair opposite him.

"So then, Mister…" he began.

"Will O' the Wisp," the blonde man opposite him said haughtily, taking a drink of mineral water as his eyes narrowed. "Such would be the preferred term by which you may address me."

Something about the man, whatever it was, made George want to reach out and punch the Wisp in the face. He forced himself to keep his temper in check, however, as he knew better than to risk angering Norman Osborn, who had asked him to carry out this matter on Osborn's behalf.

"Will o' the Wisp," Stacy finally agreed. "The Friends of Humanity, who I have worked with in the past, have many contacts in the superhuman criminal underworld. They referred me to you and your unique machine-manipulating abilities, and implied that you would do work for hire."

"Quite so," Will o' the Wisp nodded. "I have moved beyond simple larceny and now aspire to use my talents towards more productive and lucrative ends. Ever since my previous encounter with the costumed vigilante known as Spider-Woman, I have come to appreciate the values of subtlety and stealth."

"And that would include industrial sabotage, I'm sure," Stacy noted dryly.

"Naturally," the Wisp smirked. "For what reasons did you wish to engage my services, then?"

"A friend of mine wishes to deal with some of his competition," Stacy explained. "The Roxxon Oil Company-" he stopped short as he noticed the Wisp's eyes flaring dangerously.

"Is something the matter?" Stacy asked.

"Not in the least," the Wisp replied, a wicked smile crossing his face. "You were saying?"

"The Roxxon Oil Company is going to have a major group of investors visiting their New York operations two days from now," Stacy resumed his speech. "You must infiltrate the building's machinery and use your control of it to cause as much mayhem as you can in the investors' presence. Cause some industrial accidents, make their safety measures look negligent, perhaps cause the injuries or deaths of some of the workers to prompt some lawsuits against the company."

"This, I presume, is a means to change the investors' minds about becoming involved with Roxxon?" the Wisp smirked once more.

That smug, self-assured smile again made Stacy want to punch him, and again George was forced to restrain his temper.

"Think what you wish," Stacy snorted, refusing to admit that the Wisp was correct and that the sabotage was meant to persuade the investors to reconsider Roxxon and instead take their business to Oscorp. "Your fee is, as I understand it, $100,000, with forty percent as a down payment and the remaining sixty percent upon successful completion of the assignment?"

"I have changed my mind," the Wisp said in an insolent tone, his smile becoming all the wider. "Sixty percent as a down payment, and forty percent upon completion of the assignment."

George's face flushed with anger.

"What are you-" he began, his eyes flaring dangerously.

"Such an action will of course guarantee my silence in the matter," the Wisp continued to smile, not budging an inch. "One would think that secrecy would be a priority, n'est-ce pas?" he laughed.

As much as George wanted to strangle the arrogant Wisp, he again fought to keep his temper under control, knowing that if he did not he would only be angering Norman Osborn, an infinitely worse proposition than having to endure the Wisp's attitude.

"…Very well," George conceded. "But we will revoke payment in full if you fail," he warned. "And I would not recommend double-crossing my client, considering his very short temper and his remarkable capacity for devising creative punishments."

"I see no reason to do so," the Wisp snorted, "considering that I will not fail. By your leave, then…" he said as he stood up and resumed the form of a brightly glowing ball of light, which flew towards the window of Stacy's office and phased right through the window, before taking off into the night.

Dressed as Spider-Woman, Gwen swung across the New York rooftops later that night. Anxious for a distraction from the day's disaster with Harry, she had eagerly set out in the hopes that she would find something else to occupy her mind, which was whirling with concern about what she would tell Liz.

I let them both down, she realized grimly as she swung through the Bronx. I couldn't help Harry…and what the hell am I going to tell Liz? Spider-Woman wondered in shame as she paused for a moment against the side of a textile factory. I can't…

All of a sudden, Spider-Woman froze in place as she felt that same pulling urge come at her once again, the same feeling she had come to dub her "spider-senses", only this time less urgently than it normally did. She slowly turned her head, scanning the night horizon to get a better feel for the intuition, before she fired a webline and sprung off in the direction of a Roxxon factory on the edge of the East River.

Ever since her powers had begun to develop, Gwen had begun researching spiders to get a better understanding of her abilities. While she had expected to retain some of the skills spiders possessed, she was astonished at just how much she seemed to borrow from them.

In addition to her incredible speed and agility, and her ability to climb on walls and produce her own webbing, Gwen also read about the natural camouflage abilities some spiders possessed, altering the colors of their bodies to blend in with their surroundings. With her ability to change the color of her hair at will, heightening her disguise when she was in costume, Gwen seemed in effect to be camouflaging herself. Similarly, her ability to dissolve adhesives seemed to come from the special secretions spiders released to keep from getting caught in their own webs.

Most intriguing had been what Gwen had learned about the "spider-senses" arachnids possessed. Apparently there were multiple kinds. Some spiders possessed an almost psychic ability to sense danger when it threatened them, and react accordingly. Other spiders, however, secreted special pheromones that allowed them to "imprint" people they considered important, and then use the pheromones they marked their targets with to track them using a second type of spider-sense.

For weeks now, ever since she had become Spider-Woman, Gwen realized she must have been unconsciously releasing her pheromones onto people she considered important, and then using those abilities to trace them when she felt it necessary. She had marked people like Liz and Harry, and when the need had arisen she had used her spider-senses to trace them, such as when they had been abducted by the Brothers Grimm.

As Spider-Woman swung down to the roof of the Roxxon factory, she was puzzled as to why her spider-senses would react the way they had, more as a warning than a sense of urgency. Walking over and peering into the darkened factory through the skylight, she realized all too well what her spider-senses had been trying to alert her to.

A glowing ball of light was floating through the middle of the factory, seeming to stop before each machine in turn and orbiting around to survey it from every angle. As it passed through the machines, they flared to life briefly, before falling inert as soon as the ball of light emerged.

There was only one being she could have marked with her pheromones who had such abilities, and she could tell right away he was up to no good. Tearing open the skylight, she dropped into the factory building as the ball of light suddenly recoiled in surprise. As it shimmered and expanded into a human form, Spider-Woman was confronted with the unwelcome sight of the Will O' the Wisp.

"Spider-Woman!" the Wisp spat in distaste. "How on Earth did you foresee my presence here?"

"It must have been your charming personality, I'm sure," Spider-Woman spat sarcastically, as she leapt out of the way of the charged energy missile the Wisp transformed himself into, bouncing off one of the machines before firing a sting blast at the Wisp, who dodged it and then suddenly focused his light once again in a powerful blinding burst. Blinded, Spider-Woman was slammed head-on by the Wisp as he became a hardened ball of light once again, before he reformed his arms and began strangling her. As she struggled to break free, the Wisp flew into the air faster than she could react and then flung her to fall crashing into one of the machines and then land painfully on the floor, his added speed increasing the force of his throw.

As she staggered to her feet, Spider-Woman suddenly remembered how she had defeated Will O' the Wisp last time, and began focusing on her spider-senses to try and find him. Her eyes still closed by the light, Spider-Woman suddenly felt the Wisp coming at her again and jumped straight over him, firing a double sting blast below her that shorted the Wisp out and returned him to his human form as he collapsed in a heap. The bright light throughout the factory vanished as Spider-Woman managed to open her eyes and release a stream of webbing at the Wisp, who changed back to a ball of light and pulled against Spider-Woman's webbing, managing to enter into one of the machines. The machine came to life with a loud squeal, as many of the cranes in the room suddenly began swinging at Spider-Woman, forcing her to dodge and jump frantically to avoid being struck.

"After our initial encounter, I had hoped to do battle with you once more!" the Wisp taunted Spider-Woman, as his head emerged from the machine. "It will be most gratifying to be able to exact an appropriate revenge upon you along with the lucrative salary I shall be receiving for my assignment!" he gloated, before he suddenly emerged from the machine as Spider-Woman fired a sting blast at it.

"You insult my intelligence, child!" the Wisp smirked, as he began flashing like a strobe light, stunning Spider-Woman long enough for a crane to finally strike her and send her flying. "Did you honestly think I would fall for the same tactic a second time?"

Once again focusing her homing senses, Spider-Woman spun a webline in the air as she flew back and came forward, flying towards Will O' the Wisp with a devastating swing kick. As he dove out of the way, he ceased flashing his strobe lights and became a hardened ball of energy once more, charging at Spider-Woman from behind and forcing her to drop her webbing. Unfortunately, this was exactly what Spider-Woman had expected, using one hand to spin a web between two machines to bounce off of even as she used her other hand to snag the Wisp with a webline. Coming down and landing on the side of a machine just above the floor, she swung the webline attached to the Wisp like a flail, slamming him hard into the ground.

As the Wisp regained his human form in a daze, Spider-Woman began webbing him up again. Will O' the Wisp tried to escape by phasing into another machine, but Spider-Woman struck it with a sting blast before he could enter more than halfway, shorting the Wisp out and leaving him reeling and writhing in pain on the floor before he finally fell unconscious.

As Spider-Woman applied a double layer of webbing to secure the Wisp for the police, she was aware of footsteps behind her. Turning around, she raised an eyebrow to see a pair of Roxxon security guards advancing on her, their pistols drawn.

"Are you going to attack me?" she asked warily, her arms tense at her sides.

"No way, honey," one of the guards shook his head. "That bastard hypnotized us and forced us to let him into the main factory. We owe you big time, taking him out like that. When the cops get here, we'll vouch for you, if you're going to stay till then."

The other guard came over and inspected the downed Wisp more closely, kneeling down to get a good look at his face.

"Son of a bitch, is that Jackson Arvad?" the guard wondered, as his companion came over to see for himself.

"You know him?" Spider-Woman asked in surprise.

"He used to work here," one of the guards said in disgust. "Guy was a total asshole, fucked his coworkers over to get promoted, finally caused an accident that killed a bunch of people after he skimped on the safety measures. Guess he got superhuman powers out of it."

"What a fucking waste," the other guard spat in disgust, before going back into the lobby to await the police.

"Thanks again, kid," the other guard said to Spider-Woman as she spun a webline and began climbing it towards the broken skylight. "There's no telling what kind of shit this bastard would have pulled if you hadn't stopped him."

"He mentioned something about an 'assignment'," Spider-Woman told the guard as she continued ascending the webline. "I don't know what he meant, though…"

"Whatever it was, it can't be good," the guard muttered, before his partner came back into the factory accompanied by several police officers. As they began taking the unconscious Will O' the Wisp into custody, Spider-Woman made her way back through the skylight and swung off into the night.

Over the next couple of nights, Gwen followed the news attentively, hoping for something, anything, on Marie-Ange Colbert. When she had spoken to the police after returning to Empire State University and changing back into her street clothes, Gwen had suggested that Marie-Ange might have been responsible for the abductions, given how most of the people she had kidnapped were related to her in some way.

Finally giving up in frustration, she went for her Monday afternoon meeting with her mother, Jill and Aunt Nancy, her mind whirling with what could have happened to Marie-Ange. From everything Gwen could tell, Marie-Ange had simply vanished off the face of the earth.

Reaching Aunt Nancy's house, Gwen was surprised to find no one to greet her. Walking through the house, she finally found her mother Helen Stacy sitting upstairs watching TV by herself. She slowly turned around at Gwen's greeting, and gestured her to sit down and join her on the couch, hugging her daughter tightly.

"Where are Jill and Aunt Nancy?" Gwen asked.

"They went out shopping," Helen answered.

"You didn't want to go?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Oh, you know how it is," Helen smiled. "I just like my quiet time."

"But…" Gwen trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Helen asked her curiously.

"When was the last time you went out?" Gwen asked. "I mean, you're always here, even when Aunt Nancy's at work and Jill is in school."

"Well, there's no real need to do it," Helen said after a moment. "Besides, someone has to look after the house while they're out, right?"

"No...Mom…" Gwen tried to find the right words. "You can't just spend all your time cooped up in this house. It isn't healthy."

"Well, I don't like going out by myself," Helen frowned, as she turned and looked out the window. "I mean, it was nice when I went out with your father, but since then…I don't know."

"Mom?" Gwen asked.

"He was always the hit of the party," Helen said wistfully, ignoring Gwen. "We used to have so much fun when we were dating, before he got all caught up in his work. I suppose I can't blame him for needing some of those girls to relieve his stress…"

Gwen stared at her mother in blank amazement.

"You can't blame him?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, you know how stressful that type of work can be," Helen said, her voice beginning to quaver. "It's no wonder he could get so angry…"

"But…Mom…" Gwen tried to continue, stunned.

"It's alright, Gwen, it's okay," Helen said, shaking her head. "Your father works very hard for his money. I just wish I could see him again, I miss him so much…" she sighed, looking out the window before falling silent.

All Gwen could do was sit with her mother, her arms around Helen's shoulders.

Gwen stormed back into her apartment later that evening, her face set in a mask of anger. Booting up her laptop, she typed out an e-mail to Karen Page, her mother's divorce attorney.

Dear Ms. Page:

You have my permission to begin the divorce proceedings for my mother. I apologize for not responding to you before now, but I've had to deal with a number of other pressing matters. Please let me know as soon as you have filed the legal papers, and keep me informed of the proceedings.

Above all else, I would ask that you proceed with the case, irrespective of whatever threats or maneuvers George Stacy and his counsel may carry out.

I cannot stress this urgently enough.

Sincerely,

Gwen Stacy.

Tears formed in Gwen's eyes as she clicked the SEND icon.

All this power, she thought morosely as she fired a webline to retrieve a can of fruit juice from a shelf on the far wall of her apartment, and exactly how does it help me again…?

(Next Issue: Gwen tries to salvage her relationship with Liz and Harry, even as Harry disappears altogether and she resumes helping Randy Robertson with his documentary and continues the search for Marie-Ange Colbert. George Stacy also proves to be a very busy man, as he responds both to his wife's divorce filings and engages the services of the deadly assassin known as the Constrictor! All this and more in Spider-Woman #10: Snake Eyes!)