By the Light of the Jack O' Lantern

Gwen Stacy realized that it was pretty much done after going over her bank book one last time. The money she had received from the Kingsley modeling job had been almost entirely spent on paying her delinquent tuition fees, and she simply didn't have anything left to pay the rent on her apartment. While that upcoming audition of A Streetcar Named Desire (which had been pushed back once again, this time into March) might get her some additional money, there was no guarantee she would be cast...and besides, it probably wouldn't be enough anyway.

Gwen had spent most of last night going over the want ads in the Daily Bugle, knowing that any acting or modeling work she'd be able to get would only be temporary. She had previously worked waiting tables in high school to help Aunt Nancy pay the bills after Nancy had taken Helen and Gwen in, and although the pay hadn't been that great, it was at least steady and more reliable than acting or modeling. Having already circled a few different places, she intended to go out after school the next day and begin filling out some application forms.

And in any case, this is probably a rite of passage for aspiring actresses in New York City, she thought to herself in amusement as a wry smile played across her face.

There was one other thing she intended to do over her free periods during the middle of the next day, namely taking Kitty Pryde out to lunch as thanks for helping her contact the X-Men after the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had kidnapped the rest of her family.

She owed Kitty that much, at the very least.

SPIDER-WOMAN #14

"BY THE LIGHT OF THE JACK O'LANTERN"

That evening...

Normally, George Stacy was not known for his cool temper or easygoing manner. People tended to step carefully around him, very much afraid of setting him off. Today was even worse, after having received more telephone calls and e-mails from the press that he could count, all related to his alleged connections to the Friends of Humanity and their anti-mutant hate agenda, which had been exposed by the claims the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had made on the video they released to the media when they kidnapped his sister, wife and niece. His seething temper threatened to boil over as he loudly slammed the door to Norman Osborn's office and sat down in front of Osborn's desk, even as Osborn himself looked up from his computer and leaned back in his chair.

"You're certainly popular today," Osborn noted calmly as George opened his briefcase and retrieved a sheaf of documents.

"They can't prove anything," George muttered as he set the papers down. "Now, what did you want to do as far as-"

"Are you quite sure about that?" Osborn interrupted him.

George suddenly stopped and looked up at Norman, fixing him with a piercing glare.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, his voice calm and cold.

"I mean that I can't have the press looking too closely at one of my associates," Osborn told him pointedly. "Ben Urich was the only one investigating the allegations of our waste dumping. How much more attention are you going to be getting as a result of the Brotherhood's little announcement?"

"Who the hell would believe them?" George shot back, his eyes flaring.

"People who bear us a grudge and would be quite happy to find any excuse to defame us or pry more closely into our affairs," Osborn reminded him, remaining as stoic and calm as ever. "That type of attention doesn't do my business interests any favors."

"My business interests?" George began, as his voice began to rise. "Don't you mean our business interests?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Osborn said without blinking. "We all have our own stakes in whatever matter we involve ourselves in."

"Goddamn it Norman, if you sell me out-" George replied, his voice rising.

"I have no intention of doing anything of the sort at the present time," Osborn replied, folding his arms and coming forward. "All I'm doing is reminding you of the circumstances we're facing right now."

George stared at Osborn for several minutes, before he finally spoke again, his voice full of menace.

"You'd better hope they don't dig too deep," George reminded Osborn. "After all, you know and I know that we both know a lot, right?"

"You know that I know that we know what's important," Osborn said cryptically, a smile crossing his face. "I know that you know that we both know we don't get too deeply tied into one another's affairs. I know and you know that's just common sense, right?"

"And when one of us knows something the other doesn't want them to know, that puts us both in an interesting position," George replied, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Hence, what I'd like to know is what you intend to do about this situation," Osborn finally said, ending the game.

"Deny having anything to do with the Friends, and ensure that any transactions I have with them are kept 'off the books', as they say," George responded. "Denounce the Brotherhood's accusations of slander."

"And the Friends won't mind?" Osborn asked, slight skepticism apparent in his voice.

"They're well aware of their status with the government," George assured him. "Acts of terrorism don't do much to bolster one's public image, after all."

"Quite so," Osborn nodded. "What I don't understand, though, is why you would even risk everything you've built by associating with those bigots."

George blinked in surprise at this.

"Damn it Norman, don't tell me you sympathize with those mutie freaks-"

"I don't," Osborn stated, "not in the least. The activities of the Friends of Humanity, however, in some respects do more harm than good in that their recklessness and willingness to attack those they claim to defend but that do not agree with their morals arouses considerable hostility...hostility that might damage other interests and agendas. They provoke backlashes that more careful and subtle activities, like those of the good Senator Robert Kelly, do not."

George paused at this, his anger soon disappearing.

"They sicken me, Norman," George answered calmly. "They're freaks, monsters, a disease. Mutants are a perversion of nature. That's why I support the Friends of Humanity-mutants don't know their place in society, they don't realize where they belong. They don't listen when you tell them what to-"

"You do understand my point, don't you?" Osborn interrupted. "That you risk everything you have built up with this rash anti-mutant obsession? That some battles are...more important than others?"

Norman Osborn's eyes flashed at this.

"I know what I'm doing, Norman," George said curtly, "and I've got it under control. So why don't you mind your own fucking business?"

Few people would have dared to speak to Norman Osborn in such a fashion, and anyone who knew his business reputation would have expected him to crush the offender in a suitably devastating manner.

Instead, Osborn merely raised an eyebrow.

Both men knew that Norman Osborn was very proud of his reputation as "the Miracle Worker", the man who had rescued Osborn Industries from bankruptcy in the most spectacular manner, and was very diligent in protecting it.

Both men also knew that rebuilding OsCorp had gotten Osborn heavily involved with the likes of Crimewave, Phillippe Bazin, the Maggia, and the Kingpin...or in other words the four major crime cartels in New York City, at least before the Green Goblin had come along.

Neither man cared to make the association publicly known.

This knowledge was at the forefront of both their minds as they resumed their normal business.

It was just before noon when Gwen made her way to Kitty's dormitory, expecting to see her old friend and take her out for dinner as a surprise. Instead, much to her surprise and concern she saw the police and campus security standing out front talking to a sobbing Kitty, as several students milled around in small groups, muttering to themselves and watching the scene.

Gwen broke into a run and caught up with Kitty just as the police and security guards headed into the dormitory. She reached out and tapped Kitty on the shoulder, briefly forgetting about Kitty's phasing powers, before her hand passed right through Kitty's body. The young mutant turned around to face Gwen, who was shocked at the red eyes and tear-streaked face she encountered.

"...Kitty?" Gwen asked in shock. "What happened here?"

"Why the hell should you care?" Kitty spat back at her.

Gwen simply stared back at her.

"...Isn't it my job to snap at you?" she tried to joke, cracking a weak smile.

"I...I'm sorry Gwen," Kitty said sadly, hugging Gwen. "They...they just..."

"They what?" Gwen asked, although she already had a sick feeling she knew what had happened.

Wordlessly, Kitty led Gwen back into the dormitory and led her up to the room she occupied on the second floor. Kitty pointed into the room and turned away, unable to even look within anymore, as Gwen simply stared, aghast.

Everything inside was a wreck-the TV and computer had been smashed, books and posters ripped apart, family pictures shattered, clothing and bedding shredded with knives...and then there was the graffiti sprayed across the walls in blood-red paint.

MUTIE GO HOME!

GENETIC FREAK!

BRING BACK THE PRISON CAMPS!

There were several symbols also sprayed on the walls that Gwen didn't recognize, but she knew enough of Kitty's reaction to see that they were the mutant equivalent of the swastika. Just as the Nazis had used-and still used-the swastika as a symbol of their hatred of the Jews, these symbols were a symbol of the hatred of mutants.

"How...how could they possibly do this?" Gwen asked in amazement. "Didn't any of the other students-"

"There was a big party last night," Kitty explained dully as she came up behind Gwen. "Everyone took part, and they all shared the same keg. Turns out the beer was spiked with rohypnol."

"Come again?" Gwen asked in confusion.

"The date-rape drug," Kitty responded. "It knocks you out. Everybody passed out, and whoever did this broke into my room. They probably stole the RA's master key to get in-she says she can't find it."

"They went to all that effort just to trash your room?" Gwen asked, baffled by the sheer lunacy of the thought.

"Anti-mutant activists pull this sort of thing all the time," Kitty said flatly. "This isn't even the first time-" she closed her eyes in shame.

Gwen's eyes flared wickedly as she took the room in one last time, before turning away to look at Kitty.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked Kitty gently. "Are you going to find another room?"

"The hell I am!" Kitty shouted angrily. "You think I'd spend another minute here?"

"So where are you-" Gwen began.

"I don't know, and right now I don't really care," Kitty scowled, her face a mask of rage. "All I know is that...oh God..." tears formed in her eyes again.

Gwen had heard enough.

"I know what you can do," she told Kitty. "You make pretty good money at the Daily Bugle, don't you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kitty snapped.

"I'm getting kicked out of my old place since I can't keep up with the rent, and I'm going looking for a new apartment anyway," Gwen told her. "And I'm also going to be getting a job that pays more regularly than just acting or modeling. Why don't we split the rent on a place?"

The frown vanished from Kitty's face, but she seemed rather uncertain.

"But...what if they come after me again?" she mumbled.

"They can try," Gwen said determinedly.

"What?" Kitty asked in surprise.

"Emphasis on the word try," Gwen repeated tersely. "I don't particularly appreciate bullies picking on people who can't fight back. After all, if they're so tough they're more than welcome to try their luck with someone who can stand up to them."

Kitty blinked in surprise.

Gwen just smiled wickedly.

Slowly, Kitty began to smile herself, as she hugged Gwen.

Edna Muggins had seen it all before. Young people with their crazy dreams of making it big on Broadway, or being discovered by some big-shot producer. Most of them never made it, and usually ended up going into some other profession once they smartened up, but enough of them hit the big time that the rest kept coming. More than a few of them had rented a place in her building, so she recognized the two young women who had knocked on her door that afternoon right away. She noted how the blonde was the one who did all the talking, as the brown-haired girl sat and watched them in silence.

"Yeah, I'm the manager," Mrs. Muggins told Gwen and Kitty as they sat in her office. "My husband Barney is the super, and we co-own this place."

"So you have room?" Gwen asked.

"We always do," Mrs. Muggins nodded. "You've got enough for the first month's rent?"

Gwen frowned, closing her eyes and silently cursing herself. How could she have been so stupid as to forget-

"Yes, we've got it," Kitty broke in, as Gwen looked at her in surprise.

"Fair enough, then," Mrs. Muggins nodded. "Just remember you're on your own when it comes to bringing your stuff over. Barney isn't going to help you with that."

"Do you have any other rules?" Gwen asked.

"No pets, no loud parties, no harassing the other tenants, and no squatters," Mrs. Muggins said flatly. "Too many people your age think they can sneak an extra friend over for the night. That sort of thing doesn't happen on my watch, ladies, so you'd better be sure you remember it."

Gwen and Kitty both nodded.

"Rent's due the last day of the month, laundry's in the basement, you can plug your Internet connections into our building line," Mrs. Muggins continued, having memorized these details long ago. She stood up and led the two girls out of her office with a gesture to show them around the building and let them pick the room they desired.

None of the apartments were particularly big or even all that comfortable, but Kitty and Gwen had pretty much expected that to begin with, given their rather limited finances. They finally settled on a room on the top floor, Gwen essentially making the decision for Kitty, who didn't seem to particularly care where they stayed. For Gwen, the skylight in her bedroom was exactly what she had been looking for.

"There's one thing you should know," Kitty said slowly to Mrs. Muggins as they returned to her office to sign the lease and contract. "I was driven out of my last place by...um..."

"What?" Mrs. Muggins asked suspiciously.

Kitty was reluctant to say anything.

"Anti-mutant bigots," Gwen said bluntly. "And if you have a problem with that, then we're taking our business elsewhere."

To their surprise, Mrs. Muggins just shrugged.

"Believe me, I've seen it all. You don't spend four decades of your life in New York without getting used to a lot of weird things and a lot of even weirder people. With everything that goes on in this town nowadays, racist vandals are the least of a property owner's problems," she finished resignedly.

Gwen and Kitty only blinked in surprise.

"We'll need some help bringing our stuff over," Kitty said to Gwen as they left the building that evening. "I'll see about getting Ben to lend us a hand. Do you think Randy might be able to?"

Gwen frowned.

"I kind of hate to ask him, since he's basically paying my way on that date we've got later this week," she replied. "I don't want to seem like I'm sponging off him."

"Don't worry about it," Kitty reassured her. "He's our mutual friend, and he'll be happy to help. Besides, what better way to show off just how strong he is?" she chuckled, as Gwen blushed.

"Yeah, I guess..." she trailed off.

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

"You know I don't have any more money," Gwen reminded her. "You can't be saying you'll be paying the first month's rent all by yourself!"

"Well, yeah," Kitty said in surprise. "What's wrong with-"

"The deal was for each of us to pay half, right?" Gwen insisted. "I can't just leave you hanging!"

"Seriously, Gwen..." Kitty shook her head.

"No!" Gwen insisted. "Once I get a full-time job, I'm paying you back every cent I owe."

"If you insist," Kitty said, half-smiling in amusement. "Where are you going, anyway?"

"A couple of different places," Gwen replied. "There's a few things I've got to weigh-the hours, the pay, the part of town, stuff like that."

Kitty nodded.

"Mind if I tag along?" she asked.

"By all means," Gwen smiled.

"Alright kid, you're hired," the heavyset man told Gwen as she and Kitty sat in the man's office. "Your uniform comes out of your first paycheck, and you'll have to refit it yourself. Twenty-five hours a week, different nights based on the schedule. All you need to do is basic serving duties. We'll have your uniform ready tomorrow, and you can start on Wednesday or Thursday once you get it refitted. Anything else?"

Gwen shook her head.

"You're not here looking for a position too, are you?" the man asked Kitty, who shook her head.

"Alright, now hit the road," he said brusquely, as he opened an accounting ledger and began looking over the figures, waving the two girls away with his hand.

"So this was the best place, huh?" Kitty asked Gwen as they headed back into the main room of the Empire State Coffee House. Kitty hadn't particularly liked the place, thinking its attempts to invoke New York history and heritage were overdone, but Gwen knew it was still her best deal when pay, flexible scheduling, and proximity to her home and school were taken into account.

"You bet," Gwen said, looking around as they headed for the door. "Too bad the Coffee Bean wasn't hiring."

"And have Flash Thompson leering at you every evening?" Kitty grimaced. "I'd rather get a job bagging groceries."

They both laughed at this.

"Tell you what," Gwen finished. "You can crash at my place tonight and tomorrow, after I stop by the coffee shop to pick up my uniform, we start moving our stuff over to the apartment? We'll get the guys to help out."

"Sure thing," Kitty agreed. "And Gwen?"

"Yeah?" Gwen asked.

"...Thanks," Kitty finished.

Gwen only smiled back, feeling a lot better than she had in a long time.

There was one more thing Gwen intended to do before returning to her old apartment, namely to stop by the bank and check on her mother's account to make sure that the first of George's alimony checks had been deposited properly. Kitty had returned to the dorm to see what she could salvage from the wreckage. They had been fortunate enough to run into Randy Robertson on the way, and so Gwen didn't worry about accompanying Kitty back, knowing she'd be in good hands.

It was while standing in line at the bank, double-checking the paperwork Aunt Nancy had helped her fill out, that Gwen heard the strange humming sound. As she looked up, she saw that the rest of the customers and staff in the bank expressed similar confusion, until they saw the nightmare enter the bank.

Laughing out loud at the panicked cries and shouts of the other people in the bank, Jack O' Lantern stood in all his horrific glory, from the ghastly, flaming pumpkin that served as his head to the chest plate covered in what looked like tiny skulls, to the bats, frogs, shrunken heads and other strange knickknacks hanging from his belt, to his gloves and boots, which were painted to resemble hideous skeletal limbs.

"I'm sure you good people worked hard for your money," the pumpkin-headed freak sniggered. "Mind if I teach you a lesson in the ultimate futility of it?"

"W...what do you want?" one of the bank tellers asked nervously.

"What do you think, genius?" Jack O' Lantern seemed to roll his eyes, tapping his foot impatiently as he crossed his arms. "I want all the money in the vault! It's better off with me than hypocrites like you."

"Hypocrites?" one of the customers asked in surprise.

"No more questions!" Jack shouted, uncrossing his arms and raising a clenched fist. He began laughing once again as he fired a deadly wrist blast at the man's feet, causing him to jump in fear and fall flat on his back. As the customers began screaming in panic, several of them began running for the doors.

Not wanting to leave in case Jack O' Lantern, whoever he was, had attacked someone, Gwen now took the opportunity to slip out the front door with several other customers.

"Hypocrites, hypocrites...oh such hypocrites,"

Jack lamented, as he hovered in the air while waiting for the bankers to open the vault. "So many people waste their lives sweating blood for their money, becoming obsessed with using it to try and get ahead in life...only to squander it on the latest obsessions, trends or baubles...when you don't become obsessed with the money itself. It becomes as much of a prison as this vault," he philosophized, even as he casually tossed a pumpkin-shaped grenade at the bankers' feet, causing them to jump and scream in terror.

"You're pretty tough picking on someone who can't fight back," Jack heard a feminine voice behind him. Turning around lazily, he saw the red and gold costume, stunning figure, and long dark hair of the spectacular Spider-Woman standing before him, her hands glowing with the energy of her sting blasts.

"Oh, goody!" Jack giggled, as he rose into the air and tossed a pair of pumpkin grenades, one in each hand, down in opposite directions at the bystanders who remained frozen in place by fear. "Now I have an archenemy to call my own! And so fast, too!" he laughed, as Spider-Woman blew one grenade apart with a sting blast and caught the other one with a webline and threw it off to the side, where it exploded in a burst of flame and shrapnel. Jack immediately charged at Spider-Woman, laughing like a crazed hyena and firing his wrist blasters as his arachnid nemesis dodged frantically.

With his hover disc, Jack O' Lantern had the advantage of mobility, and for every blast he fired at Spider-Woman, he aimed another blast at one of the panicking bystanders, which Spider-Woman barely managed to deflect with a sting blast or a webline.

"Such a waste of talent," Jack O' Lantern chided Spider-Woman, shaking his head in disapproval as she pulled an elderly lady out of the direction of his latest blast. Spider-Woman spun around to absorb the shock and gently put the woman on the ground, catching the next pumpkin bomb Jack threw at her with a webline and threw it at the vault door, blowing a large jagged hole in the door as it made contact.

Cackling evilly, Jack flew down to ground level and pulled a small ghost from his belt. Pushing a button on it, the plastic ghost stretched out to an improbable length and wrapped itself around the waist of a man who had been hiding behind a fallen desk, too frightened to try and escape. At the push of a second button, the ghost-grabber reeled itself in, dragging the hapless man into Jack O' Lantern's arms. Holding the man in an iron grip with one arm, Jack flexed his free hand, and burst out laughing again as the bone-shaped fingers of his glove extended into wickedly sharp talons, which he held right next to the man's throat. He then rode his hover disc into the vault, as Spider-Woman followed him into the vault in mounting horror.

"As I was saying, you are wasting your talents, my dear," Jack lectured Spider-Woman matter-of-factly, not seeming to care that he was holding a terrified man's life in his hands. "You put your efforts towards protecting unworthy sorts such as this one, who piously proclaim themselves to be caring, decent people when they're just as greedy and selfish as anyone else living in this pathetic burg."

Spider-Woman felt her anger rising, disgusted at Jack's ravings and infuriated at what he was doing to the poor man trapped in his arms. Jack's claws had scratched long red lines across his throat, and the man had apparently wet himself out of sheer terror, something she couldn't blame him for. She took several deep breaths, knowing full well the disastrous consequences of losing her temper.

"My my, did I hit a nerve?" Jack chuckled. "Why are you doing this, anyway? I mean, at least I have a good reason for what I do...what's your excuse?"

Spider-Woman only stared back at him, frustrated by her inability to do anything without Jack hurting the hostage, until they both heard the police sirens outside and the officers running in through the front door.

"Oh dear, it seems that we have company," Jack sighed, as he tossed his hostage at Spider-Woman and immediately flew out of the vault. From one hand, he tossed a collection of pumpkin bombs tied together back into the vault, even as he tossed another single bomb into the mob of police gathering beneath him. One of the police officers shot the grenade with his gun, causing it to explode and release a sickly green gas that spread with alarming speed, causing the officers to fall into a deep sleep as they breathed it in.

Back in the vault, Spider-Woman was moving too fast for her rational mind to keep up, instinct taking over as she quickly caught the hostage and ran into the corner, gently setting him down before turning around and spinning a wall of webbing in an attempt to shield herself and him from the massive explosion that ripped through the vault. It was enough-barely-to block the flames, but the rest of the vault and all the money inside it was shredded by the explosion. Kneeling in front of the hostage to shield him with her body, only Spider-Woman's wall-crawling powers allowed her to keep her grip on the floor and prevent herself from being blown on top of him by the sheer force of the blast

Spider-Woman stumbled out of the wrecked vault, carrying the hostage over her shoulder. The poor man was in shock, barely aware of where he was or what was going on as Spider-Woman gently put him down on the ground before making for the exit, where she saw that many of the civilians who had been in the bank had stayed to watch from the outside, and were now being treated by paramedics, one of whom was advancing on her.

"Save it," she said curtly. "There are people in there who need treatment a hell of a lot more than I do," she finished, before taking to the air and leaving, stopping only to retrieve her street clothes and bag where she had hidden them out of sight so she could find a place to change back.

Spider-Woman was fuming, outraged at her inability to stop Jack O' Lantern. The vault had been destroyed, any number of people could have been killed by Jack's reckless attacks, and the pumpkin-headed maniac had escaped. As she landed in an alley and changed back into her street clothes, she found herself taking another deep breath to calm down, even as she continued to feel a keen sense of frustration. It was only a short walk from where she landed to the campus of Empire State University, where she soon found Kitty and Randy leaving the dormitory with the few belongings they had managed to gather.

"What happened to you, Gwen?" Randy asked in concern.

"Just my luck that when I go to do some banking for my mother, the bank gets robbed by a supervillain," Gwen said ruefully. "Don't worry about me, I'm alright."

"If you say so," Randy frowned. "Are you guys heading back to Gwen's apartment?"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded. "We can have dinner there, if you guys don't mind frozen waffles."

"Ah, the joys of being a broke student," sighed Randy as the three of them set off down the street.

Detective Jason Phillip Macendale surveyed the destroyed vault in the bank later that evening, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he considered the effects of the robbery on his long-term projects. While things hadn't turned out the way he would have expected, in some respects it would probably be better this way. Now, if only he could-

"Another day, another crazed psychopath," he heard a husky female voice behind him. Turning around, Macendale saw Detective Cecilia Perez, a fellow member of the NYPD Superhuman Activities Unit, coming to join him in the vault. "First he tries to rob the vault, and then he blows it up. What do you think he was after?"

"The hell would I know?" Macendale snapped back at her. "All of these masked freaks are crazy. What have they got to hide, anyway?"

Perez scowled at Macendale, before reminding herself that it was her own fault for attempting to make civilized conversation with one of the biggest assholes on the force. That said, he seemed to actually have a point, given the eyewitness accounts of Jack O' Lantern's ravings. They could at least be thankful for Spider-Woman's presence, which probably saved at least a few lives today.

That realization sent chills down Detective Perez's spine.

...Just how many people would this Jack O' Lantern character have hurt if she hadn't shown up?

She was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice the look of seething rage on Detective Macendale's face.

The next day after class, Gwen returned to her apartment, to find Kitty waiting for her with Ben Reilly. Apparently her landlady had already let them in-this was the day Gwen had to leave, after all.

"Where's Randy?" Kitty asked, as Ben raised an eyebrow.

"He's just parking the car," Gwen replied, as she opened the refrigerator and began taking out its contents, passing some bananas to Kitty and Ben. "He'll be right up," she finished. Less than a minute, they all heard Randy's footsteps in the hall as he opened the door and walked into the apartment.

"Hi Randy," Gwen greeted him with a smile and handed him some bananas of his own. "Thanks so much for this."

"Hey, it's no problem," Randy smiled. "Not too often I get to use my ride at this time of year anyway. With the roads the way they are, it's usually faster to just take the subway...Hey, Kitty!" he greeted her, before stopping at Ben Reilly.

"You're...Ben, right?" Randy asked him.

"Don't you remember?" Ben replied with a half-cocked smile. "I was the guy whose birthday party you went to a couple of weeks ago, remember?"

"I'm just so bad with names," Randy groaned, smacking his face in embarrassment. "I mean, I know every guy who won an Oscar for best director, and yet I can't remember the name of a guy I meet two weeks ago."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Ben shook his head. "You here to help with the move too?"

"Two lovely ladies in need of assistance?" Randy grinned. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't offer my aid?"

A stiff silence followed, as Ben raised his eyebrow again and gave Randy a look that had Gwen and Kitty looking at the two boys, then at each other, nervously.

"Here, let's get-" Gwen began.

"-started, or else we'll be here all night," Kitty continued reflexively.

Much to the girls' relief, the two boys broke off their mutual stare and began gathering up Gwen's belongings, although they continued to glance at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

Gwen felt slightly sick, wondering if she and Kitty had inadvertently made a huge mistake in bringing the two boys into the same room.

Entry #3:

The combat effectiveness of my equipment has been confirmed against a bona fide superhero, and I can see that the time invested in my training was well spent. With Phase Three complete, I'm ready to pursue my larger initiatives. The coming function will serve as the perfect opportunity to set everything in motion. So far, everything's lining up the way I expected.

Now I even have an enemy in Spider-Woman, the hero to my villain. Who does she think she is, intruding on my fun like that? All that effort, blood and sweat...and for what? To protect a bunch of self-pitying mindless drones who've let themselves be trapped in boxes of their own making? Oh my yes, she claims to be defending the innocent and protecting the weak...but then I see the look on her face.

What's she hiding, behind that mask? Why did she get so angry when I called those hostages greedy and foolish? There's something else to her, something she's trying to conceal, just as with Daredevil, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Sleepwalker, Darkhawk, and all the rest of them. Their masks are hiding their true motives, the real reasons they do these things.

Self-centered hypocrites, every one of them. It'll be interesting to see which of them I run into in my future activities...

In any event, the time for tests is over. Now the REAL fun begins...

Leaning back in my chair, I close the file and look at the pumpkin helmet on the shelf next to me. I feel disgust, anger, and hate. It's all the more ironic that I need an actual physical mask to reveal the masks all the rest of them wear.

That said, I realize it's all part of the fun.

So much the better.

(Next Issue: Gwen's new living arrangements are soon put to the test as an army of insane supervillains and criminals descends on New York City! As she struggles to protect the people of New York, she encounters an old enemy in Blizzard, who has become caught up in the massive wave of insanity spreading across the city! But what will Spider-Woman do when their battle takes a truly shocking turn? All this and more in Spider-Woman #15: Cold Comfort!)