Target Practice

"Hey, girlfriend!" Liz Allan greeted Gwen Stacy as she entered Liz's apartment Sunday morning. "Kitty told me all about your getting the Kingsley job!" she continued, wrapping Gwen in a hug before the other woman had a chance to say anything.

"Yeah, I still can't quite believe it myself," Gwen replied as she sat down and took a sip of the tea Liz had poured for her. "Kingsley was pretty weird, though. Just the way he stared at me and the rest of the models was kind of creepy, though…"

"Did he actually do anything?" Liz asked in a frown.

"No, not really," Gwen answered. "He just gives me this really bizarre feeling. And then there's his brother Daniel-the guy's a robot who never seems to say anything. All he does is follow Roderick around, and then stand there and look scary."

"But you're still keeping the job, right?" Liz asked.

"I have to for now," Gwen grimaced as she tried to keep her teacup from shattering under her spider-strength enhanced grip. "Again, Mom really needs the extra cash. She's still going through a hard time because of the divorce with my dad."

"The hearing's on Tuesday, right?" Liz noted as Gwen nodded. "I'll come with you-it sounds like you could use some support."

"You're sure?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Positive," Liz assured her. "What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't help you when you needed it?"

Gwen reached over and hugged Liz.

"You don't know how much that means," Gwen said softly, a smile on her face. "You're a true friend, Liz."

"Hey, I know you need all the help you can get," Liz assured her. "Just please, promise me one thing…"

"What's that?" Gwen asked.

"Take care of yourself," Liz told her. "Don't worry about Harry, Felicia, Marie-Ange, your money, Randy's dance video, classes, anything else. You and your mother come first. I know how much you can let these things get to you."

SPIDER-WOMAN #12

"TARGET PRACTICE"

I sit back and read the newspaper, pleased to see that my little stunt at the Libertine has attracted attention. It's not front page news, of course (the latest round of debates on overturning

Jameson v. Kelly does that, with Jameson predictably wrapping himself in the Bill of Rights and accusing Senator Kelly of running the Constitution through a paper shredder), but being on page six still suggests that it was shocking to most of my fellow diners that night.

After finishing my breakfast, I turn on the television and turn to the business channel, where Norman Osborn is skillfully deflecting questions about the safety of his operations, insisting that the investigations into his supposed illegal chemical dumping are baseless and that he will be vindicated. I can't help but laugh at this, given everything I've heard about Oscorp over the last few years. Even so, Osborn is a master of spewing bullshit and making it seem like sugar-he'd have made a hell of a politician.

It's as I'm thinking this that I boot up the computer and begin writing my first logbook entry:

Entry #1:

The Hover Disc is in perfect working order, as does the voice distorter and other aspects of the pumpkin mask. The Jack O' Lantern equipment provides full disguise capabilities such that the operator is not subject to having his or her true identity compromised.

I find the reaction of my fellow diners to have been extremely pleasing, my frightful appearance as Jack O' Lantern and my unusual behavior leaving them unsure whether to expect a murderous attack or enjoy their meals in peace. I now understand the appeal of functioning as a costumed hero or villain, considering the reaction of ordinary people to my strange costume and outlandish name. My initial suspicions were confirmed in that these citizens, faced with something outside their own familiar experiences, reacted with fear and suspicion.

For myself, I realize that it is very liberating to be able to exercise my own passions to the fullest, ironically using a mask of my own to strip away the masks of others and forcing them to reveal their reactions when they encounter someone entirely different than what they themselves deem acceptable and worthwhile. Such outward images are nothing more than that, hypocritical facades created to hide one's true self.

With Phase One of the testing having been successfully completed, I will now proceed to Phase Two, employing the Jack O' Lantern weaponry in an assault on Osborn Industries. Indeed, in this testing I may force Osborn to reveal any masks he himself wears...

I can't keep myself from chuckling as I save and close the file. Who could have ever guessed how much fun you could have with a mask, and a costume, ironically using costumes and secrets to reveal the truth and strip away the façade?

The Argent Room may not have been the most well-known club in New York, but Kitty Pryde liked it that way. Not liking big parties or loud rave scenes, she found the Argent Room, which featured a number of good-sized rooms that could be booked for parties, much more suited to her tastes. She was fortunate in that her cousin Ben Reilly felt that way too, and she had had little difficulty convincing him to get their parents rent one of the rooms for his birthday. Everyone had already shown up-Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Randy Robertson, Julia Winhill, Kenny Anderson, Bruce "Kong" McFarlane, Mary Jane Watson, and…well, almost everyone had shown up. It would be nice if-

"Hi, Gwen!" Kitty greeted Gwen as she entered the club. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Hey Kitty," Gwen smiled. "Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, it's no problem," Kitty assured her. "We just got started, actually. Benny-"

"Hello, ladies!" a familiar voice interrupted, as Kenny Anderson strolled over to them, a big grin on his face. "This can't possibly be right-two gorgeous women with no one to dance with. Might I humbly offer my services to rectify the situation?"

"Maybe if we find someone who doesn't spend all his time baking-" Gwen began, before Kitty frowned at her and a wounded look crossed Kenny's face. Really, what was the harm in it?

"What the hell, sure," Gwen sighed in mock tones, as Kenny jumped up and down eagerly. "This doesn't mean we're going steady or anything, though."

"Good thing my deposit on the ring was refundable," Kenny laughed as they made their way to the dance floor.

Much to her surprise, Gwen actually enjoyed herself dancing with Kenny, even cracking a smile at his hopelessly inept moves. He didn't so much dance as randomly flail around, apparently not caring that he looked more like he was having a seizure than actually keeping time with the rhythm. After a minute or so, however, he began to slow down and shift his attention to watching Gwen dance. At first annoyed, she soon felt almost…flattered?

The song ended, after which Kenny took a bow in thanks and walked away to talk to Julia, much to Gwen's relief owing to her hunger. Walking over to the buffet table and getting some dinner, Gwen turned around and recoiled in surprise as she almost bumped into Mary Jane Watson, girlfriend of Peter Parker. Gwen had dated Peter a couple of times in her first year of university, and a part of her still found him pretty cute…but they just hadn't clicked, what with his being too into science and her being too into theater.

"Gwen," Mary Jane greeted Gwen cautiously.

"Mary Jane," Gwen replied guardedly. "I didn't know you knew Kitty."

"I don't, really," Mary Jane answered. "I'm friends with her cousin Ben. The Reillys and my family go way back."

"Peter didn't make it tonight?" Gwen asked.

Mary Jane's eyes seemed to twitch at this.

"He couldn't make it," she said, sipping at a glass of punch. "He said he had some sort of work to take care of at the Bugle."

Try as she might, Mary Jane couldn't disguise the frustration in her voice.

"Say, where is this Ben Reilly guy, anyway?" Gwen began. "I've never met him before. Kitty was the one who invited me, and I just wanted to thank him."

"I'll introduce you," Mary Jane offered, as she led Gwen over to where another group of people were conversing. Gwen recognized Liz and Randy, who both greeted her warmly as she came up to them, along with a tall, thin handsome blonde boy in his early twenties with gleaming blue eyes, and an older brown-haired man with a chiseled physique and rakishly handsome looks, whose eyes shone just as brightly as the blonde boy's, except that his were green. The two men were introduced to Gwen as Ben Reilly, the man of the hour whose birthday was being celebrated, and his uncle Steve.

"I thought you were Kitty's uncle," Gwen began as they shook hands.

"I am," Steve grinned. "My sisters married Kitty's and Ben's fathers."

"So how about you?" Randy asked him. "Are you married?"

"Only to my job," Steve rolled his eyes. "Being an engineer at Hammer Labs doesn't leave you a lot of time to socialize. Looks like I'll be the only one with the name Levins for quite a while," he laughed.

Steve was about to say something else, before Mary Jane asked him about his work at Hammer Labs. Liz and Randy moved to follow, eager to listen, before Ben broke away from the group and advanced towards Gwen.

"So, you're Kitty's friend?" Ben asked her. "The one who's helping Randy with his tap film?"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded. "It was no problem-I've been dancing since I was three."

"You definitely looked like it out on the dance floor," Ben grinned. "Is that what you're majoring in?"

"No, I'm in Drama," Gwen replied. "How about you?"

"Medical school," Ben replied. "I'd really like to become a doctor."

"A doctor?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Sure," Ben replied. "I mean, if anything it's getting worse out there. We had enough problems with diseases, disasters and poverty, but now we've got crazed supervillains who are trying to take over the world when they're not trying to blow it up. You'd be surprised how many people get hurt when those psychos try and knock over a bank, set off a bomb or conquer a city or country."

"No, I wouldn't," Gwen said, shifting uncomfortably. "I've seen a lot of damage those costumed people can do."

"That's the thing, though," Ben said in a calmer tone. "As bad as things are now, think how much worse they'd be without the heroes trying to stop them."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"I mean that I couldn't protect myself from the likes of the Red Skull or Doctor Doom," Ben replied. "I couldn't fight back against Doctor Octopus or Firebrand if they tried to kill me. I couldn't keep HYDRA or the Secret Empire from taking over the country or the world if they tried," Ben replied. "We've got all these heroes making an effort to protect us, who put themselves in harm's way time and again, all for nothing. At least soldiers and police officers get pay and benefit packages for doing it!"

Gwen just blinked at him in astonishment.

"And we all have our own parts to play," Ben continued. "I want to be a doctor because I want to help the people who've been hurt by those sick freaks. How about you? Why are you interested in acting?"

"It's just something I really like," Gwen answered, caught somewhat off guard by Ben's little speech, "stepping into different roles, letting different parts of your personality out, stuff like that. I've always been interested in that."

"Yeah, Kitty mentioned how you're in her Drama class," Ben replied. "She also told me about how you're in that documentary Randy's filming for another one of his classes. How'd you get caught up in that?"

"One of Randy's original dancers broke her foot, and Kitty recommended he ask me if I know someone who I could take her place. I offered to do it myself-like I said before, I've been doing it almost since I learned how to walk."

"It sure shows," Ben grinned, as Gwen blushed in spite of herself. "You must have to beat the guys off with a stick."

"I don't need a stick," Gwen said, an edge coming into her voice. "I'm a third-degree blackbelt."

"Cool," Ben grinned without flinching. "Uncle Steve is a sixth-degree blackbelt."

"Did he used to be in the military?" Gwen asked.

"No, he's just always been a fitness buff," Ben laughed. "He's always either working out, watching those stupid horror films, or tinkering in his home workshop. But, really, who is the lucky guy anyway?"

Gwen was caught off guard at this.

"I…don't have a boyfriend," she finally said in embarrassment.

"Come again?" Ben asked in surprise. "You don't have a boyfriend?"

"Well, not right now," Mary Jane fumbled. "It's just that I'm really busy with school and work and everything else-"

"Huh, that's too bad," Ben half-smiled at her. "I-" he began, before a loud crash and screams interrupted him. Gwen and Ben both whirled in alarm to see the rest of the party guests scrambling before a massive hole that had just been blown in the wall, and the strangely garbed man walking through it. Dressed in purple and blue body armor, with large white boomerangs on his forehead, chest and belt, the man grinned widely as he came into the room, a boomerang in each hand.

"Don't any of you move now," the boomerang-wielding man said with a trace of an Australian accent. "This is what you'd call a hostage situation, and these little beauties-" he held up the boomerangs in his hands, "-will take your heads off if you move. So why don't you all be good little boys and girls and sit down, hmmm?"

"Who are you?" Ben finally mustered enough nerve to ask.

"Over here, web-slinger! I doubt you want anything to happen to these nice people!" the man called out to someone in the streets Gwen could not see, before turning back to the partygoers. "What are you, stupid?" he sneered at Ben. "The name's Boomerang, and you're all my insurance."

"I…Insurance?" Gwen heard Liz ask.

"I've got a bet going with a buddy of mine, sweetie," Boomerang smirked. "The first one of us to ice Spider-Man wins a cool-" he suddenly whirled around and tossed one of his boomerangs at the red-and-blue clad figure that was swinging down into the club on a webline.

The figure, instantly recognizable as the Amazing Spider-Man, twisted out of the way but couldn't totally avoid the missile, crying out in pain as it sliced across his back. Gwen was both surprised and horrified by the wounds Spider-Man had suffered, his costume already torn in several places and stained with blood from open cuts and wounds. Even as he fired a webline at Boomerang, Spider-Man was forced to roll out of the way of another missile, which seemed to fly into the room from outside and bury itself in the opposite wall. To Gwen's horror, the object was no bigger than a pencil-in fact, it was a pencil.

It was then that another figure ran into the club, a man clad in black body armor with white boots, gloves and belt, and a white symbol on the front of his mask that reminded Gwen of a bulls-eye.

"Nice touch, Boomerang!" the black-clad man complimented him as he threw another pencil at Spider-Man. "If you can't catch up with him, get him to come to you! Not that it'll help, of course!" he laughed out loud, this time picking up a dinner fork from a nearby table and throwing it at Spider-Man, who just barely ducked in time as the fork flew overhead and buried itself in the wall behind him.

As the black-clad man said this, Boomerang's attention was taken away from the partygoers for a second, prompting them to run for the exits in a blind panic, screaming in terror as they did. Several of the party guests managed to escape before Boomerang noticed, but the villain tossed another boomerang at Spider-Man before reaching down to his belt in one swift motion and tossing yet another boomerang behind him. As the boomerang flew through the air, it emitted a piercing scream, causing the people who were left to collapse, holding their ears in pain.

"Better yet, Bullseye," Boomerang grinned to the black-clad man. "Now we even get an audience to watch us as we work!"

Gwen froze for several seconds, her mind whirling as she tried to figure out what to do. In her mind's eye, she saw herself back in Ben Urich's townhouse, struggling feebly as the Constrictor twisted Phil Urich's head all the way around, breaking his neck like a dry twig.

She tried to move, but she was paralyzed.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kenny paralyzed with fear as a steak knife, thrown by Bullseye, passed by Spider-Man and flew straight towards him. Spider-Man gave a cry of dismay and tried to catch it with his webbing, but Bullseye threw a plate to deflect the webline. Without thinking, Gwen jumped forward and tackled Kenny, knocking him to the floor as the knife flew overhead.

With a shudder, Gwen realized it would have passed right between Kenny's eyes.

Her eyes flaring in rage, Gwen quickly glanced around. For the moment, Bullseye and Boomerang were too caught up in trying to kill Spider-Man to notice what she had done, and most of the other remaining party guests were watching with nervous anticipation or on their hands and knees, trying to overcome the disorienting scream of Boomerang's trick weapon.

It took less than a second for her to disappear.

If there was one thing Spider-Man truly regretted about having been bitten by that genetically engineered spider (besides being the primary target of J. Jonah Jameson's editorials protesting superhero vigilantism, anyway), it was the notoriety that had come with being one of New York's most famous costumed heroes. For years, the Incredible Hulk's reputation as being the strongest man on the planet had made him the target of every tough-guy supervillain out to establish a reputation, which had caused him no end of misery as they deliberately staged accidents, fights and other incidents to draw him out for a battle.

In Spider-Man's case, it had become the same thing. After having been featured in the Daily Bugle for so long and being involved in so many high-profile incidents in New York itself, the web-slinger had become the city's most famous hero, to the point where every two-bit thug with delusions of grandeur thought that he could make a name for himself by becoming "the guy who killed Spider-Man."

It even extended to supervillains, who viewed him as the standard by which most of the city's heroes and villains were judged. Such was the case with Boomerang and Bullseye, who by their own admission had gotten into a bar argument over which one of them was the better marksman, until they had finally decided to settle it by wagering on which of them killed Spider-Man first, the winner getting $100,000 of the other's money and recognition as the best marksman in the supervillain community.

So now, after he had responded to the mayhem the two villains had been causing, Spider-Man had spent the last hour and a half trying to keep Boomerang and Bullseye from killing not only him, but everybody else around them in a fight that had gone halfway across the city. Sweat stung his cuts and wounds, his breathing was starting to run ragged, and he was running low on web-fluid. As he rolled out of the way of the razorang Boomerang threw at him, Bullseye caught him across the back with a thrown glass, causing Spider-Man to cry out in pain and stumble. Grinning like two cats who had just caught a plump and juicy mouse, Boomerang and Bullseye raised their weapons for one final throw.

Right after they threw their weapons, Boomerang and Bullseye were shocked the weapons caught by a pair of thin strands that shot out from the side, entangling and dropping them harmlessly to the ground before they could hit Spider-Man. Whirling around in surprise, they saw a stunning young woman with long dark hair in a red and gold costume, strands of webbing falling from her hands. The two men leered and grinned at her.

"Whoa, baby!" Bullseye grinned, as Boomerang wolf-whistled at her. "So you're this new spider-chick everybody's talking about! You Spider-Man's girlfriend or something?"

"Let him go," Spider-Woman said calmly as she advanced on the two men, her hands glowing with her sting blasts.

"Dreadfully sorry, sweetheart," Boomerang smirked, "but we've got a bet going to see which of us is the better thrower. This is between gentlemen, you know!" he grinned, tossing another boomerang at Spider-Woman that exploded into flames as it roared at her. As Spider-Woman rolled out of the way, she sprayed the flaming boomerang with her webbing, smothering the fires and knocking it to the ground as she fired a sting blast at Bullseye. The black-clad killer cursed and rolled out of the way, as he picked up another glass and flung it at Spider-Woman. The arachnid heroine tried to dodge, but Bullseye lived up to his name as the glass struck her in the shoulder, causing her to stumble and cry out in pain.

"That's pretty sportsmanlike of you, Bullseye!" Spider-Man said mockingly, leaping to his feet as he got a second wind. "Two of you, one of her! Mind if I even the odds?"

Boomerang and Bullseye glanced around first at each other, then at the two heroes around them, and then at the few remaining partygoers, who were now fleeing with the villains distracted. Almost instantly, they sprung into action, Boomerang shifting his attention to Spider-Woman while Bullseye threw a spoon at Spider-Man. The two spiders were virtual mirror images of each other as they sprang out of the way, boomerang and spoon burying themselves in the wall behind them.

Spider-Woman shot a sting blast at the next boomerang her opponent threw at her, which exploded in a flash of light, blinding her as Boomerang followed up with two more boomerangs, which caused her to cry out in pain as they tore into her leg and hip, before crackling with electricity that was conducted into her body as she stumbled from the blow. Boomerang laughed out loud as he followed up with another boomerang that struck a table next to Spider-Woman, releasing tear gas that began to fill the room and caused the young heroine to begin gagging as tears formed in her eyes and her head began to swim.

"Not much of a challenge, really," Boomerang commented with a smile, lowering the specially made boomerang on his forehead over his mouth and nose, which was designed to function as a gas mask. "You're a pretty little thing, sure, but these are the big leagues, girl. You won't go first, though-once Spider-Man finishes with Bullseye, he'll be easy prey. I'll let you see how a real professional does it," he grinned, taking another boomerang from his belt, preparing to turn around and attack Spider-Man while Bullseye had him distracted.

On her hands and knees, Spider-Woman coughed, as she remembered the Constrictor and how easily he had killed Phil Urich.

"Shut up!" she screamed, springing to her feet and tearing the electrorangs out of her body and starting to hold her breath. Boomerang was caught completely off guard as she tagged him with a webline and reeled him in to slam against her fist, staggering back in pain as he deflected her sting blasts with another pair of boomerang throws.

"That's the way you want to play it?" he grinned wickedly. "Fair enough then-Spider-Man can handle Bullseye while I finish with you. Maybe then you'll learn a little respect?"

Bullseye cursed in frustration as Spider-Man easily caught the plates he threw in his webbing, tossing them back in a flail that cost the killer another shot as he was forced to dodge.

"You sure you don't need glasses?" Spider-Man quipped as he leapt forward and tagged Bullseye with a punch to the gut that sent him crashing back into a table. "No wonder you got kicked out of the major leagues!"

"That was Boomerang, you idiot!" Bullseye shouted in anger, only managing to tag Spider-Man in the leg with a piece of table before Spider-Man struck him again. "God, don't you ever shut up?"

"What? And disappoint my public?" Spider-Man grinned, before he saw the tear gas coming towards them from Boomerang's weapon. Using some of what little webbing he had left, Spider-Man sprayed a layer of webbing over the lower part of his face, shielding his mouth and nose from the gas's effects. Being the chemistry expert that he was, Spider-Man had long since modified his webbing to make an effective shield against attacks from different types of gases while still enabling him to breathe freely, something he had learned after his first encounter with Mysterio.

As Bullseye began to cough, hacking and cursing Boomerang at the same time, Spider-Man pressed the attack, pummeling the black-clad killer as he scrambled for anything he could hope to throw. His luck soon ran out, as Spider-Man finally punched him to crash into the wall of the club, where he slumped down unconscious. After reloading in fresh webbing cartridges, it was a simple matter to web Bullseye up for the police he could already hear coming.

Boomerang stepped back as Spider-Woman advanced on him, fire in her eyes, still holding her breath from the tear gas. The screamarang he had thrown had been stifled by webbing, and his razorangs shattered by sting blasts. Looking around desperately, he saw Kitty Pryde and Harry Osborn, still gagging from the effects of the tear gas. Retrieving another boomerang from his belt, the assassin glanced over at them quickly, forcing Spider-Woman's attention to follow them.

"One more step, spider-bitch, and I blow them to kingdom come with this shatterang," he threatened. "I leave nice and slow, and we pick up this little feud some other time, got it?" Jumping into the air, Boomerang activated his boot jets and took to the air, making his way towards the exit as he threw the shatterang behind him anyway, even as he tossed a bladarang at Spider-Woman to distract her.

Whirling around and spraying a double blast of her webbing, Spider-Woman caught the shatterang before it struck her friends, smothering the resulting explosion under several thick layers. As she twisted out of the way of the bladarang, she felt it tear across her back anyway, but gritted away the pain. With Kitty and Harry out of danger, she ran to the hole in the wall and out of the club, taking a breath of fresh air as she saw Boomerang taking to the air. Firing another webline, she caught Boomerang in the back, using her wall-crawling powers and superhuman strength to maintain a firm grip on the ground as Boomerang struggled to escape. The killer pulled out yet another boomerang, but Spider-Woman was faster, striking him dead center in the chest with another sting blast from her free hand, stunning Boomerang as she relentlessly reeled him back down to ground level before wrapping him up in several more layers of webbing and hauling him back into the club.

Spider-Man was waiting for her as she came in and unceremoniously dumped the unconscious Boomerang next to Bullseye. The two spiders stood staring at each other for several moments as the police finally arrived, taking the two unconscious criminals and loading them into the back of a police wagon.

"Well?" Spider-Man asked.

"Well what?" Spider-Woman demanded.

"Who are you, and why are you stealing my moniker?" Spider-Man asked her pointedly.

"I don't see how I could do anything else," she replied coldly.

"What do you mean?" he blinked in surprise.

"I mean exactly what I said," Spider-Woman replied, as her hands suddenly snapped up and sprayed Spider-Man's face full of webbing. Weary after his long battle and in pain from his injuries, Spider-Man couldn't react in time as he was temporarily blinded. It only took him a few seconds to peel the webbing off his mask, but by then Spider-Woman was long gone.

"Which way did she go?" he asked one of the police officers, who had been too stunned by Spider-Woman's actions to react.

"Out the back," the cop shook his head, "but you'll never catch her. She was like the wind."

Even then, Spider-Man realized, the day probably wouldn't be a total loss, as he discreetly took some of Spider-Woman's webbing for chemical analysis, storing it in one of the segments on his belt he kept for just such an occasion. With its special lining, it would preserve the webbing for as long as he needed it to, no matter how soon it might dissolve.

"Well, how does it look?" Ben Parker asked his nephew Peter as he finally emerged from his home laboratory in the basement that night.

"It doesn't make any sense," Peter replied, his brow furrowed in thought.

"What do you mean?" Uncle Ben asked him.

"Her webbing's chemical composition is completely different from mine," Peter replied. "Mine is artificial, made up of chemical compounds that simulate the strength and adhesiveness of real spider-webbing. But hers…it's like the real deal! It's made of biological material, it's got the same tensile strength and ductility of real spider silk, it's adhesive. What I do with science, she does with…well…biology!"

"Like I said before, maybe she's a mutant," Uncle Ben suggested.

"Then why are so many of her powers just like mine?" Peter wondered. "She's just as fast and just as strong, and she has the same wall-crawling abilities that I do."

"Maybe it's a coincidence?" Uncle Ben ventured.

"There's no such thing as a coincidence in science," Peter insisted. "There's no way she could have so many powers similar to my own, even if some of them are different."

"So what's the verdict?" Uncle Ben asked him.

"I don't know yet," Peter said in frustration. "There's something missing here, I just know it, but I'm not sure what it is. And that still doesn't explain exactly who the hell she is, or why she's putting on a costume of her own."

It had been a simple enough matter for Gwen to bind her wounds with webbing and retrieve her street clothes before returning to Kitty and the rest of her friends, explaining that she had gotten separated from them in all the chaos. The party was postponed to next week, with most of the guests taking that Monday off to recover from being exposed to the tear gas. There was little rest for Gwen, however, as she met with Karen Page, her mother's divorce attorney, in preparation for the divorce hearing going on the next day.

The tension in the Third District Courthouse that Tuesday could have been cut with a knife, as George Stacy and his attorney Donald Menken sat down across from Gwen and Karen Page. The two sides stared at one another intently, before the judge came in and swore everyone in.

In contrast to the last few days, Gwen was calm, focused and collected, prepared for the part she had to play in the trial. Everything had been worked out with Karen Page beforehand, from explaining that Helen Stacy was unable to attend due to stress and illness, and explaining George's adultery and abandonment, kicking Helen and Gwen out of the house. She knew full well that Menken would ask for further proof from Helen, and so she and Page had come prepared for the trial with considerable evidence to back them up, in the form of affidavits and testimony from several of the call girls and prostitutes George had cheated on Helen with.

Gwen nearly fell out of her chair, then, when after Karen Page had made her opening arguments, citing a long list of George Stacy's sins and the rationale behind the divorce filing, she heard Menken's opening arguments.

"Your Honor, the plaintiffs clearly have a substantial case against them, and so my client will not argue against it," Menken said in a voice that oozed sincerity. "Indeed, he admits that much of the fault is on his own side, when one considers the deplorable actions taken against his loved ones. Mr. Stacy deeply regrets these acts, and has attempted to rectify his situation by continuing to support them even after his wife's departure. He has continued to financially support his wife after their separation, and continued to pay for his daughter's education. My client fully admits his fault in this divorce, and will readily assent to his marriage's dissolution."

Gwen and Karen Page were both too stunned to react for several seconds, before the hearing continued over the next three days. Gwen and Karen presented their evidence, very little of which was contradicted or even questioned by Menken, leaving them at first confused and uncertain of George and Menken's strategies, or presenting much testimony of their own. Everything seemed to proceed matter-of-factly, with next to no testimony presented on George's side.

That Friday afternoon, it became official. George Stacy was found at fault in the divorce, based on the grounds of adultery and abandonment, and the marriage was annulled. He was ordered by the court to continue paying alimony to Helen Stacy, which he readily agreed to do, even offering a higher sum than was originally stipulated in the judge's decision.

Through it all, Gwen was alternately confused, ecstatic, and suspicious as Karen Page hammered out the final details of the divorce. She couldn't understand why her father simply agreed to the divorce, not even bothering to deny the allegations. Unfortunately, they hadn't really been able to prove any allegations of abuse, as Helen had never been able to work up the nerve to file a police report or even speak to anyone else about the violence, while Gwen simply hadn't been sure how to handle it.

It was only as they were filing out of the courtroom that Gwen and her father met face to face.

"A pity it had to end this way, Gwen," George said, his eyes gleaming. "I had hoped it wouldn't come so far as this, but-"

"Spare me the speech," Gwen said contemptuously. "You just didn't want this to run on too long. Afraid it might drag your name through the mud?"

"Our name, Gwen," George raised an eyebrow. "And I really wish I could have been there for your last birthday-what are you now, eighteen?"

"Nineteen," Gwen commented acidly.

"Oh my, yes, where does the time go?" George sighed. "At least this made the transition a little less painful for us all, what without the questions of child support or custody. You're a young woman now, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Gwen said slowly.

"The postal service is a wonderful thing, isn't it?" George said, before he walked out the door to his waiting limousine.

It was in checking her mail that afternoon that Gwen saw the large, thick envelope from Empire State University, marked with a large URGENT stamp. She couldn't help but start to breathe heavily as she opened it, her hands trembling as she did so.

Dear Ms. Stacy:

It has come to our attention that the payment for your tuition fees in the amount of $4,500 has been cancelled in full, as per an order of the bank of one Mr. George Stacy. We therefore regret to inform you that your tuition fees are now in arrears and you owe an additional $500 in late payment penalties. Should you not provide this money by the 28th of February, all courses will be deleted from your Winter Term schedule, and you will not be allowed to schedule new courses until such time as your outstanding fees are paid.

The letter continued on for another paragraph or so, but Gwen could not read it as she struggled to contain a boiling rage that turned her complexion fiery red . Taking several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself, Gwen inadvertently saw the other piece of mail she had received that day, a notice from her landlady noting that her rent was due by the end of next week.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

The tears came, one at a time, slowly but steadily. Gwen didn't scream or cry, just sat back and let the tears fall.

She couldn't do anything else.

You hate, you scream, you swear,

And still you never reach him…

You curse, you try to scare,

But you can never teach him…

-ABBA, "Elaine"

(Next Issue: As Gwen learns the true depths of her father's plotting, she finds that their effects are worse than she expected. That turns out to be the least of her problems, however, when the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants kidnaps Helen, Aunt Nancy and Jill Stacy, intending to use them to strike at George for his anti-mutant agendas! When Gwen tries to rescue them as Spider-Woman, she learns a stunning truth that turns her entire life upside down! All this and more in  Spider-Woman : Collateral Damage! Guest-starring the Uncanny X-Men!)