Hell Hath No Fury Like A Villain Scorned

Her sleep had been restless and fitful, her nightmares plagued with grinning, flaming pumpkin heads, ghoulish laughter, leering skeletons, demonic bats, screaming ghosts and other horrifying sights. Waking up the next morning hardly brought any more relief, as the laughter continued to echo at the back of her mind.

Slowly getting up out of bed with a groan, Gwen Stacy walked into the bathroom, rubbing her forehead as she tried to organize her thoughts. Turning on the light, Gwen looked into the mirror and briefly gasped at her appearance. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all last night, the pained expression on her face dovetailing with the haunted look in her bloodshot eyes and the paleness of her complexion.

It had all started last night, when the psychopathic Jack O' Lantern, arguably the most deadly of the many villains that Gwen had fought as the spectacular Spider-Woman, had called her last night. The pumpkin-headed killer had taunted her about the fact that he somehow always knew where she was, the fact that he could strike her or her loved ones at any time, the fact that he had every intention of going on a rampage and the fact that she'd somehow been foolish enough to let him discover her secret identity.

Now, Gwen felt on edge, expecting Jack O' Lantern to strike at any moment. She felt like she should be out patrolling for him, to track him down and bring him to justice, but for some reason she couldn't use her spider-senses to track him down with the pheromones she'd marked him with. Gwen had also reminded herself that she had other responsibilities, both to herself and her loved ones, and that obsessing over what Jack O' Lantern might or might not do would be allowing him to win.

Of course, Gwen could tell herself all that.

But the memories of the horrifying crimes Jack O' Lantern had committed continued to echo on her memory, as did that same sick, twisted laughter, the laughter of a damned soul who knew what he was and who reveled in what he could do.

Wherever Gwen went, and whatever she did, she knew that Jack O' Lantern knew where she was.

Putting her head in her hands again, Gwen suddenly began breathing heavily before she managed to calm herself down and begin breathing normally.

SPIDER-WOMAN #48

"HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A SUPERVILLAIN SCORNED"

Gwen managed to keep up a brave face during the day's classes, somehow able to concentrate on her studies. She was also fortunate to have something else to occupy her mind later that afternoon after her last class was done, meeting her mutant friend Kitty Pryde for lattes at the Coffee Bean.

Gwen hadn't even been waiting in line for two minutes before Kitty came in to join her, taking her place in line behind Gwen.

"Hi Gwen," Kitty greeted Gwen, hugging her briefly. "How's it going?"

"Pretty well," Gwen lied, summoning all her acting skills to keep calm despite her churning insides. "How about you?"

"Same old, same old," Kitty lied in turn, although Gwen caught the way Kitty's eyes flickered. The more experienced actress by far, Gwen could tell that Kitty was very upset about something. She suspected that it was something to do either with Kitty being a mutant, or more likely because of something to do with Jack O' Lantern, whose true identity was that of Steven Mark Levins, Kitty's uncle and brother to her mother. "So, what's up?"

"I need your advice on something to do with mutant rights," Gwen explained before they came up to the counter and placed their orders. As they got their coffee and walked over to a table to sit down, Gwen noticed that Kitty had flinched at Gwen's words, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Kitty preferred to downplay her mutant heritage, having refused to join both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants when they'd tried to recruit her, and was otherwise uninterested in using her mutant phasing powers except whenever it was convenient for her.

"...I'm not so sure I'm the best person to ask," Kitty finally muttered.

"I know how you feel," Gwen replied sympathetically, "but I'm kind of in a bind as to what to do. You know Marie-Ange Colbert?"

"Wasn't she that Tarot character?" Kitty frowned, trying to recall.

"She used to be," Gwen replied, emphasizing Marie-Ange's former costumed alter ego. "But ever since Spider-Woman stopped her, she's been in jail. She's a mutant, and that's why I was hoping you could give me some advice."

Kitty only sighed, not entirely comfortable with talking about mutant issues.

"What's the issue, anyway?" she asked. "I mean, didn't she try to kidnap you, and Liz, and a bunch of other people?"

"It's...complicated," Gwen said, before she recounted Marie-Ange's story to Kitty. Gwen told Kitty about the bullying Marie-Ange had experienced at Midtown High, her subsequent attempts to use her mutant powers to get revenge on the people she thought had hurt her, Gwen's subsequent visits to Marie-Ange in prison and the abuse the other female prisoners were subjecting Marie-Ange to. Kitty sat in silence through all of it, only raising her eyebrows at the end when she heard what Marie-Ange had been suffering.

"So why are you asking me about this?" Kitty wondered. "You think Marie-Ange is being abused because she's a mutant?"

"Not just her, but the other mutants, too," Gwen explained. "It's because of what mutant terrorists like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants have been doing. I want to help Marie-Ange, Kitty. She's trying to turn her life around, and she doesn't deserve what those other inmates are doing to her! But...I don't know what I can do to help her. I figured that, since you were a mutant, you might have some kind of a suggestion..."

"You're asking the wrong person," Kitty shook her head. "Maybe the X-Men or some other activist group could help you, but I think you're wasting your time. Do you really think a lot of people are going to care about a bunch of convicted felons?" she pointed out.

Gwen frowned at that. Instinctively, she knew that Kitty was right, recalling how her friends Harry Osborn and Liz Allan had been ready to leave Marie-Ange to rot in jail. Even so, thinking about what Marie-Ange was going through made Gwen feel the same way she always did whenever she saw people suffering at the hands of supervillains. She obviously couldn't deal with the situation as Spider-Woman, but she still felt like she had to do something...

"Thanks, Kitty," Gwen frowned. "I hope I didn't put you on the spot with this-I just thought you might be able to help me," she said.

"It's cool," Kitty reassured her. "But like I said, I try to stay out of all that stuff."

"How are things going for you, though?" Gwen asked, concern returning to her face as she remembered the harassment Kitty had endured after being outed as a mutant by the Daily Globe when Jack O' Lantern had been exposed as her uncle.

"Not so bad," Kitty shrugged. "Mom's doing a lot better, and so's Aunt Karen. I should probably thank J. Jonah Jameson if I ever meet him-after he wrote that editorial attacking the people who were harassing me, a lot of them started criticizing him instead. Most people seem like they've forgotten about it, thank God."

"Well, you let me know if anything like that happens again, alright?" Gwen told her. "Remember what I said about how those bigots might try to hurt you? Anybody who tries that is going to have a pretty unpleasant day," she grinned widely.

Kitty just laughed at that.

"So what do you think you can do about it?" Gwen's boyfriend Randy Robertson asked her that evening after she'd recounted her conversation with Kitty. I mean, it's not like you can bust their heads as Spider-Woman or anything like that."

"Do you know anyone who might be able to help?" Gwen asked. "I mean, I want to do something, I'm just not sure how..."

"Hmm..." Randy frowned as he thought the matter over. "Maybe I could talk to the Boys Outta Brooklyn, and see if they know anything, but otherwise I'm not really sure myself. I mean, I don't know how many people are going to rally in support of convicted felons like Tarot."

"She's trying to turn things around," Gwen insisted. "And the reason people like her are suffering in prison is because they're mutants. Don't black inmates have to deal with the same kind of thing too?"

"Yeah, they do," Randy muttered, remembering everything he'd heard and read about racism in the prison system. "But even then, black inmates have had to resort to acts like the Attica Prison riots back in the '70s if they want to...what?" he asked in surprise, seeing Gwen's face light up.

"I take it those riots got a lot of attention, didn't they?" she asked him.

"Well, yeah," Randy nodded.

"Well then, maybe that's what we need!" Gwen said, as the idea continued to form in her mind. "Maybe media attention could help Tarot and the other mutant prisoners! Would the Boys Outta Brooklyn be willing to do something like that?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask," Randy shrugged. "Were you thinking of asking anyone else?"

"I know a few people at the Daily Bugle," Gwen replied, recalling what Kitty had told her about how J. Jonah Jameson's editorials in the newspaper had helped divert attention from her after she was outed as a mutant and a relative of Jack O' Lantern. "Kitty says Jameson's always been in favor of mutant rights-maybe he could do something?"

"Grandpa Joe would always talk about how Jameson fought against segregation back in the '60s," Randy nodded. "Actually, that's probably a really good idea."

"Thanks," she grinned, smiling that perfect smile that made Randy's heart race.

"Say, what are you doing this Saturday?" he asked her.

"I didn't have anything planned," Gwen answered. "What did you have in mind?"

"My parents are in town, and they invited us to lunch," Randy explained. "They're really interested in meeting you."

A smile briefly crossed Gwen's face, and she was about to answer that she'd be happy to join him, but then she suddenly remembered Jack O' Lantern's threats, and paled at the thought.

"...What's wrong?" he asked her, although a sick feeling was already welling up in his stomach.

"Jack O' Lantern called me last night," Gwen replied, as she began to shudder involuntarily. "He...he said..."

"...What did he say?" Randy asked gently, trying not to force her.

"He said he was watching me," Gwen replied, swallowing hard as she forced herself to continue. "He said that he'd always know where I was, and that he was going to..." she trailed off, before steeling herself to continue, "....hurt the people I care about. I can't...I shouldn't..."

Randy recoiled in horror, his mind a whirl of emotions as he tried to think of what to say. A part of him felt sympathy for Gwen and her obvious distress and wanted to reassure her, but he also felt a surge of anger at the way Gwen had put everyone around her in danger by becoming the enemy of a psychotic monster like Jack O' Lantern. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hug her or yell at her, and if he was right to be angry at her or if he ought to be ashamed of himself. Randy also pointedly reminded himself of all the times Gwwn had actually used her spider-powers to protect and save the people she cared about, ranging from Kitty Pryde to Liz Allan to her family.

"You..." he wasn't sure what to say. "You can't let him get to you, Gwen..."

"But what if...what if he..." she stammered, now shaking involuntarily.

"This is just what he wants you to think," Randy continued, as much to convince himself as Gwen. "If you spend all your time looking over your shoulder..."

Gwen took a deep breath, pointedly reminding herself of what she'd realized at the end of that horrible night when she'd finally defeated Jack O' Lantern, that he'd win a small victory if he kept forcing her to worry about what he could do to her, whether by revealing her secret identity, hurting someone she cared about or anything else. There was nothing she would be able to do about it, and so there was no sense in worrying.

She kept telling herself that, but at the same time Jack O' Lantern's sickening laughter continued to echo at the back of her mind.

Randy hugged Gwen tightly, although the sympathy he felt for her was marred by the anger and disgust he felt at Gwen's endangering herself and the people around her with her crimefighting.

He tried not to feel it, tried to remind himself that Gwen had been able to do a lot of good with her powers and that he might have been doing the same thing if he was in her shoes, but he couldn't help himself.

He might have been forty-three years old, but Steven Mark Levins was the envy of men half his age. His body was trim and powerfully muscled, reflecting his peak physical condition and immense physical strength. The thick, dark hair on his head was showing the first signs of silver, but it only accented his chiseled, handsome features and the gleam of his dark eyes.

Those eyes kept Levins from looking like a Hollywood leading man-they were the eyes of a serial killer or a cult leader, emanating a powerful charisma or a frightening sadism as their owner desired. Levins' eyes had sealed his reputation both as one of the most terrifying supervillains in New York, and also as one of the most handsome. In the tradition of other notorious convicted murderers, Levins had received love letters from women enamored with his destructive tendencies, and he greatly enjoyed the attention.

The enjoyment Levins had felt from that, of course, paled in comparison to the enjoyment he felt as the terrifying Jack O' Lantern. He had created the supervillain identity as a way of unleashing his darkest fantasies and desires, a way to hurt and terrify innocent people the way he'd always dreamed of. Any money he made from his criminal activities was a bonus-what he truly reveled in was the looks of fear he inspired in his victims, and even some of his fellow criminals, when he did what he did. There was no underlying abuse or source of grief that made Jack O' Lantern commit his crimes-he did them because it was fun, because he was evil, and because he knew it was wrong.

Of course, his crimes had led him to be opposed by a costumed hero. From the day he'd first battled the spectacular Spider-Woman, who he'd later discovered was his niece's friend Gwen Stacy, he'd felt a poisonous hate for her, a hatred borne of the fact that she was trying to interfere with his "fun", the fact that she was using her powers to help and protect Jack O' Lantern's prey and the fact that she represented everything he hated about heroes and the people they protected. Ever since she'd defeated him and sent him to prison, he'd vowed to get revenge on Spider-Woman if he ever escaped. Now, having finally escaped from jail thanks to the Spot, Jack O' Lantern was ready. Making his way to a hidden base he had set up in case he was ever arrested, Jack O' Lantern had reestablished himself and was now proceeding with those plans.

One of Jack O' Lantern's earliest activities had been to attack a charity function being held at New York's Plaza Hotel in an attempt to rob and hold for ransom the wealthy people attending the function. Naturally, Spider-Woman had tried to stop him, but Jack O' Lantern had planned for that...

As she used her wall-crawling abilities to land on the side of one of the pillars in the room, Spider-Woman wasn't sure what horrified her more, Jack O' Lantern's words or the increasingly frenzied tone in which he was speaking.

"Why?" she shouted in anger, springing into the air as Jack O' Lantern came towards her and catching him right in his pumpkin face with a vicious uppercut, before spinning another webline and swinging away, as the partygoers down below broke free of their fear and began to scream.

"Because I know I'm not supposed to," Jack O' Lantern seemed to grin despite the blow. "Because I'm the bad guy. Because I'm evil!" To emphasize the point, he reached into his belt and tossed almost a dozen boomerang bats at Spider-Woman, who tried to dodge frantically. They seemed to home in on her, despite her best efforts to avoid them. She destroyed several with her sting blasts, and smashed a few more, but the rest tore her across her body. Several sliced her limbs and torso, even as one stung her painfully in the back.

Those boomerang bats had each contained a microscopic homing device, which Jack had intended for Spider-Woman or any other meddling hero who tried to interfere with his fun. The homing device emitted a signal that broadcast the movements and location of anything it was attached to, compiling the data over days, weeks and even months so that Jack O' Lantern could get a better idea of what the person was doing and where they were going.

Ever since Spider-Woman had been stung by the boomerang bat, the tiny tracking device had remained lodged in her back and given Jack O' Lantern a complete rundown of her movements for months at a time. As Steven Mark Levins, Jack O' Lantern had heard about how his niece Kitty Pryde had been sharing an apartment with one Gwen Stacy. When he'd seen how much time Spider-Woman had been spending at that apartment, constantly spending the night there and returning there as if it was her home, Jack O' Lantern realized that she had to be Gwen.

Now that he'd finally gotten out of prison, Jack O' Lantern was ready to put that knowledge to good use. He'd noticed how emotional and hot-blooded Gwen often was, something that often came through as Spider-Woman, and also knew full well that he probably elicited stronger emotional reactions from her than any of her other enemies. After all, he'd killed her father and very nearly murdered her aunt when he'd taken those hostages at the Stark Enterprises office building, and he saw the way she fought him in comparison to some of her other enemies. It stood to reason that, when he'd escaped from prison, Gwen would hear about it and react appropriately.

Hence the threatening phone call he'd made, a phone call meant to terrify Gwen and let her know that he was watching her. Jack O' Lantern knew full well that Gwen would react with a combination of anger, fear and panic, constantly looking over her shoulder as she tried to figure out how he learned her secret identity. The additional bit about how he would strike at her loved ones would only increase her anger and worry.

In truth, though, Jack O' Lantern didn't plan to do anything for a little while yet. He wanted to make Gwen sweat first, to make her worry and stress build up, and then he'd be ready for the next part of his plan.

Of course, there was always the possibility that some other villain might end up killing Spider-Woman before he was ready for the next part of the plan. That wasn't really a concern, though. While ruining and killing Spider-Woman would be immensely satisfying, Jack O' Lantern would be quite happy to move on to other projects.

After all, he was the visionary who had originally conceived the Tomorrow Legion, and could easily revive it and make it stronger than ever after the failures of pretenders to the throne like Doctor Octopus and Moonstone...

Jack O' Lantern burst into laughter, that hysterical, insane laughter, at the thought of it.

"I see she never lost her taste for the finer things in life," Jackson Arvad observed as he glanced through the latest record the other man had given him. "So she's having dinner at the Libertine on Sunday?"

"My bots are never wrong, Mr. Arvad," the other man assured him smugly. His nondescript appearance belied his dangerous reputation as the Fixer, one of the continent's most formidably criminal technologists. Many of the deadly weapons now marketed on the black market to criminal syndicates, terrorists and other nefarious organizations by companies like Roxxon, Baintronics and Hammer Industries had sprung from his devious and extremely fertile mind.

Along with designing weapons for criminals and terrorists, the Fixer had also begun branching out into other fields. One of those fields was information gathering and sharing, for which he'd developed an elaborate "bot" program that allowed him to gather information from everything from bank databases to telephone records to websites. He could even scour the Outsider Network, a communications network analogous to the Internet, that was almost impossible for law enforcement to track and was used by criminal organizations ranging from terrorist groups to child pornographers, for information if he needed to. He had begun selling his services as an information broker to supervillains who had specific information they wanted him to gather. It had been a tremendous source of profit for the Fixer, as he was universally known in the criminal underworld for never sharing information or designs with people that his customers didn't want him to.

Today's customer was a man with shoulder-length blonde hair and entirely white eyes, clad in what looked like a green bodysuit with a golden starburst on the chest. Jackson Arvad was more commonly known as Will O' the Wisp, a supervillain who'd gained the ability to control the molecules in his body and convert them into pure energy. His original efforts at robbery and sabotage had been defeated by Spider-Woman, and he'd been imprisoned at Riker's Island until he'd escaped in the elaborate jailbreak orchestrated by the Spot. Now, he was planning to murder his wife Maureen for leaving him and having an affair with a rival coworker of his from Roxxon, after he'd neglected her in his determined efforts to be promoted. He'd originally paid the Fixer to gather information on what Maureen was doing and where she was living since she'd left him, and then to gather any information he could find on what Maureen's future plans were.

The Libertine was a high-class restaurant that catered to the New York elite-businesspeople, politicians, film and theater stars. While its prices were high, it also boasted some of the very finest cuisine in the entire city, prepared by five-star chefs gathered from the four corners of the world. Maureen had loved it when Jackson took her to the Libertine, bought her expensive designer clothes or shoes, or otherwise pampered her. Getting the money to pamper Maureen was in fact one of the reasons why Jackson had worked for the long hours he did, and repeatedly screwed his coworkers out of promotions and pay raises they sought.

Those efforts had instead led to him becoming a bankrupted freak of nature and caused Maureen to leave him for Hugh Jones, a former coworker that Jackson had stepped on to become the team leader on the research project that had turned him into Will O' the Wisp in the first place.

The Wisp's eyes glowed brightly again as he read the Fixer's report, his entire body glowing.

"Are you alright?" the Fixer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's none of your damn business," the Wisp replied with an angry scowl, as he reached into the bag he was carrying on his shoulder. Taking out a block of hundred-dollar bills, he tossed the money onto the Fixer's desk and turned to leave. Transforming into a brilliant ball of golden light, the Wisp phased right through the wall of the Fixer's lab and soon disappeared.

The Fixer simply stared at the wall that the Wisp passed through and sipped his coffee, a bemused look on his face.

Gwen was decidedly ill at ease as she walked into the From East To West restaurant with Randy that Saturday, thinking that she was putting Randy's parents at a terrible risk by meeting them for lunch. Randy, however, had reminded her that they weren't necessarily in any more danger than any of Gwen's other loved ones, and that she couldn't let her fear of what Jack might do take over her life.

Gwen knew that Randy was right, but she was also perceptive enough to notice the anger and worry that still occasionally crossed his face whenever he brought the subject up, try as he might to hide it.

Isaiah and Louise Robertson were already waiting for them at the table they'd reserved. They stood up to greet Randy and Gwen, hugging their son tightly and welcoming Gwen with heartfelt handshakes. They didn't have long to wait before a server came and took their orders, bringing them some water as well.

"It's so nice to see you again, honey," Louise Robertson said warmly once the server had left. "How's the school year going?"

"Pretty well," Randy assured her. "Studying for midterms has been a real grind, though."

"How about work?" Isaiah asked. "Are they treating you alright over there?"

"Of course they are," Randy nodded. "I'm thinking about quitting, though-there's a position opening up at HABQ-FM, and Derrick Deja says he might be able to get me the inside track there."

"That's great!" Gwen said brightly. "What would you be doing there?"

"Probably helping with sorting the records, preparing news bulletins for their Better In the Dark show, stuff like that," Randy grinned. "It'll pay better than the warehouse, too."

"Obviously," Isaiah nodded. "How about you, Gwen? Where are you working?"

"I'm...not working right now," Gwen said, slightly awkwardly. "I wanted to concentrate on my studies this semester."

Isaiah and Louise both seemed to frown for a moment. Gwen winced inwardly, wondering if she'd just said the wrong thing.

"And what are you studying?" Louise asked.

"Drama," Gwen replied. "I'm hoping to become an actress, or a model!" she continued.

"An...actress?" Louise rubbed her chin. "And why's that?"

"I've always loved the thrill of performing," Gwen explained, her eyes lighting up. "I really enjoy stepping into new roles and entertaining the audience. Every role is something different, so I'm always trying or doing something new!"

"So what kinds of roles have you gotten?" Louise asked.

"Well, I've done some commercials for Kingsley Cosmetics," Gwen replied, "and I also starred in Derrick Deja's production of The Wiz. I was also one of the dancers in the tap video Randy did last year for one of his classes, and I'm going to be doing a photoshoot for a new line of socks that Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics is going to produce."

"A...new line of socks?" Isaiah intervened, a disapproving tone in his voice.

"Well...yeah," Gwen replied, caught somewhat off guard as Randy stared in confusion at his father. "I wear them for the photoshoot, and-"

"So you're using your looks to sell them," Isaiah frowned, as Louise followed suit.

"Well...I..." Gwen trailed off, not sure where this was going. She looked back at Randy, who only blinked at his parents in surprise.

"It's not a big deal, Dad," Randy tried to intervene.

"It doesn't bother you?" Louise raised an eyebrow.

"No," Randy blinked in surprise as Gwen's stomach turned in a knot. "Why would it?"

Isaiah and Louise looked at one another, the looks of disapproval on their faces all too clear. Louise was about to say something else, but the waiter arrived with their food. They ate in silence for about a minute, before Louise spoke up again.

"So, is that what you're planning to do for a career?" Louise asked Gwen, more pointedly this time. "Being an actress or a model?"

"Yes..." Gwen trailed off, now on edge and wondering where Louise was going with this.

"Is that really a steady career, though?" Louise asked her pointedly. "How much of a living are you going to make from that?"

"It's not about the money!" Gwen replied, more heatedly than she'd intended to. "It's something I love to do!"

Randy's parents both frowned at this, even as Randy looked from them to Gwen and back. They ate in an awkward silence for several minutes, before Isaiah spoke again.

"Well, that's certainly interesting to hear," Isaiah said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I'm glad you were able to join us for lunch, Randy. It was so nice to see you again."

"I'm really happy to see you too," Randy replied, doing his best to smile despite how awkward he was feeling. "How long are you going to be in town?"

"A few more days," Louise smiled back. "Maybe we can go to dinner again, or catch a play, or something? You know, just the three of us."

Gwen knew what that meant, and sat in silence as Isaiah and Louise paid the check and said goodbye to Randy, giving him another hug on the way.

"Listen, Gwen..." Randy trailed off as he approached her, trying to figure out what to say. "I..."

"...You don't need to say anything," Gwen muttered to him as she put on her jacket. "It's alright."

"No, it isn't," Randy insisted, grabbing her by the arm as she tried to walk past him. "I'm sorry about what Mom and Dad said. I never expected them to-"

"I just said, it's alright!" Gwen insisted, knocking his hand away. "Look, you don't need to defend your parents-they're just concerned about you, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Randy trailed off again, not sure of what to say.

"It's not that bad, Randy," Gwen replied again, her face now turning red as she tried to keep her rising anger and frustration under control. "Now, please...will you just drop it?"

Randy winced as he saw Gwen shaking again, being uncomfortably reminded of the way she'd reacted after Jack O' Lantern had been threatening her.

"Here, let me walk you-" he tried to put his arm around Gwen.

In response, Gwen just marched out of the restaurant without waiting for Randy, not looking back as she turned and continued up the sidewalk.

J. Jonah Jameson never seemed to change. For almost sixty years, he had sported the same military crew cut, worn the same toothbrush moustache, smoked the same thick cigars and dressed in the same kind of rumpled but well-tailored suits that were his trademark. About all that seemed to change about him was his hair, which had become a solid iron gray, and his voice, which had become louder and more expressive even despite his being over 81 years old.

As publisher, editor-in-chief, owner and sole stockholder of the Daily Bugle, Jameson had made a name for himself over the years with his passionate fights on behalf of causes ranging from desegregation and the civil rights movement to smaller government to battles against political corruption and organized crime to his opposition to Communism to his passionate support of mutant rights. For the last ten years, he had also been known as one of the fiercest critics of masked superheroes, opposing what he considered their unaccountable vigilantism and claiming that they should be registered and held accountable if they were going to hide their identities when they fought crime.

Today Jameson was meeting in his office with a man barely a third his age, who was now advocating a cause that Jameson himself had apparently long been calling for. The young Hispanic man was named Vincent Gonzalez, who had first become famous for organizing an online hate campaign against Spider-Woman after his sister had been murdered by one of Spider-Woman's enemies, the electrically-charged stalker who called himself Supercharger. From there, he had developed his hate campaign into a larger advocacy group, Citizens for a Mask-Free City. Intrigued by Gonzalez's request for a meeting, Jameson had decided to humor him and meet him in his office.

"Alright kid," Jameson began before Vincent had even sat down in his chair, lighting up a cigar as he did so, "just what do you think you can do for me?"

"We're kindred spirits, Mr. Jameson," Vincent explained, caught somewhat off-guard by Jameson's bluntness. "My organization wants to see this city as free of superheroes as you do."

"You do, huh?" Jameson replied, raising an eyebrow as he blew a cloud of smoke into the air. "And what do you think these heroes should do?"

"We...think that they should be registered with the government, like you've been calling for in your editorials," Vincent said, warming to his subject as he saw Jameson's eyes light up. "Just like the mutants, and everyone else with superpowers!"

"You do realize that I spearheaded Jameson v. Kelly, right?" Jameson pointed out, before taking another drag on his cigar. "The case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and got the Mutant Registration Act declared unconstitutional?"

"Of course I did," Vincent lied, just barely managing to avoid stammering nervously. "That's something some of Citizens For A Mask-Free New York have proposed, although I don't agree with it myself. That's one of our policies that I think, in fact, we should be reviewing," he lied again.

"Fair enough," Jameson nodded. "I'm always up for a healthy debate. Now then, how can the Bugle help you?"

"It's how we can help each other, Mr. Jameson," Vincent smiled. "We can provide additional voices and weight to your own anti-superhero campaign. Our press releases, combined with your editorials, will help open the public's eyes to the danger these superheroes face!"

Jameson thought on that for several minutes, finishing and then stubbing out his cigar as Vincent awaited his response.

"I have to admit, I'm interested," Jameson finished. "Tell you what-if you can bring me something good in the next day or two, especially if it's about Spider-Man or Spider-Woman, I'll give it top billing! Like you said, I want those masked freaks off the streets just as much as you do!"

"Much appreciated, Mr. Jameson," Vincent replied, shaking hands with Jameson as he rose up and left the office.

Jameson remained sitting alone in his office for several minutes, lighting and smoking his next cigar before he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Wagner, get in here!" he ordered the person on the other end, before hanging up. Several seconds passed before a flash of black and red light seemed to come out of nowhere, along with a loud BAMF sound. Emerging from the light was a bizarre-looking man with midnight blue skin, pointed elfin ears, strangely shaped three-finger hands, three-toed feet and a pointed tail protruding from the back of his pants.

First hired by the Daily Bugle because his teleporting powers allowed him to quickly ferry documents around the building and transport staff members where they needed to be, the mutant Kurt Wagner had worked his way up from being a lowly office boy to the newspaper's political editor through his hard work and journalistic skills. He had been promoted to his new position last year after breaking a story that revealed how Senator Robert Kelly had been accepting campaign contributions from anti-mutant hate groups, and he was eager to build on his past success.

"Yes, Mr. Jameson?" Wagner asked.

"What's the status of the new Kelly story?" Jameson demanded, referring to a new investigation Jameson had the Bugle launch about Senator Kelly's attempts to revive his failing chances at reelection by advocating a new Superhuman Registration Act that would go over and above the old Mutant Registration Act. Kelly hoped to capitalize on the widespread public anger people were feeling about the seemingly endless cycle of supervillains being defeated and arrested, only to escape and cause more suffering before being arrested and escaping to start the whole process all over again.

"We're still working on it," Wagner replied.

"You do that," Jameson nodded. "In the meantime, get somebody investigating Citizens For A Mask-Free America. They want to bring back registration."

Saying that word to a mutant like Wagner had exactly the effect Jameson expected. Wagner's golden eyes flared angrily, and he teleported away to carry out Jameson's directions.

Jameson only smirked to himself. If Vincent Gonzalez and his little troupe of mask-haters really did support registering all superhumans, then Jameson would crush them. Apparently Vincent hadn't read his editorials carefully enough-Jameson had consistently supported registration, but only registration of those individuals, superpowered or not, who wanted to act as superheroes. If other mutants and super-powered people didn't want to fight or commit crimes, then Jameson didn't consider it any of his business what they did.

That said, there was nothing that said Jameson couldn't make good use of any extra publicity the group would be able to drum up, particularly if it furthered the cause of superhero registration...

If any of Jameson's longtime friends or employees had been in the room when he smiled, they would have recognized the particular smile on Jameson's face as one that never boded well for whoever it was that Jameson was thinking about.

The next day was a bright Sunday afternoon, the sun reflecting brilliantly off the snow that continued to cover New York like a blanket. It was surprisingly warm out, and once she'd completed her homework Gwen decided to do some webswinging as Spider-Woman, needing both to clear her head and to get out of the house in case Randy decided to call her.

She was still extremely upset over what had happened at lunch yesterday with Randy's parents, particularly after the way she'd already been bluntly threatened by Ben Reilly's father Andrew during the brief time that she'd been dating him. Gwen couldn't figure out why, but she instinctively saw just how much Randy's parents disliked her. Her mind was whirling with the thoughts of what it might mean for her relationship with Randy, and what she could possibly do about it, if anything.

That wasn't the only thing on her mind, of course.

Maybe it's for the best, she realized briefly. If Randy and his parents don't get too close to me, then maybe Jack O' Lantern won't hurt them...but then what about Mom and the rest of my family? Shouldn't I be worried about them, too? And why aren't I?

Guilt and shame now joined frustration in her mind.

But I love Randy, she continued, a sudden burst of anger in her mind as she thought of it. I can't push him away from me because of that sick freak Jack O' Lantern! And why shouldn't I be able to enjoy my relationship with him? she realized. After everything I've been through, I deserve it!

She was distracted from her reverie in mid-swing as she saw a bright flash of light and the sounds of an explosion out of the corner of her eye. Whirling around in alarm, she saw the trail of a ball of light entering into the lavish Libertine Restaurant, as well as distant screams. She also felt her spider-senses tingling, realizing that someone she had marked with her special tracking pheromones was in an urgent situation that she knew she would be interested in.

Landing expertly on the building she was swinging on, the spectacular Spider-Woman spun another web and swung back in the direction of the Libertine, determined to put an end to whatever trouble was going on there. She had an idea of who was behind it, and she was more than eager for another round with him.

Maureen Daniels-Arvad was having the time of her life. Previously, she'd been the husband of one Jackson Arvad, a prominent Roxxon scientist who'd become known both for his scientific brilliance and his ruthlessness in office politics, outmaneuvering his colleagues to get the promotions and research grants they sought. More particularly, he was also known for his obsessive work ethic and his willingness to leave Maureen sitting at home alone in the evenings while he worked on his latest projects. While Maureen had appreciated the extra money Jackson was making, she had become increasingly frustrated with his willingness to leave her alone on short notice, his bad temper and his infuriatingly self-righteous attitude.

Jackson's refusal to accompany her on a date in favor of a proton acceleration experiment, one that had caused the deaths of several of his coworkers, had been the last straw for Maureen. She had finally divorced and left him for Hugh Jones, a coworker that Jackson had gotten demoted and kicked out of his department after coveting his position. To her disgust, Jackson had insisted on suing Roxxon for false termination despite the fact that the accident was his fault, and he'd bankrupted himself when he'd lost his lawsuits and when the families of the people he'd killed had sued him for damages.

Today, though, none of that mattered to Maureen. Today was her birthday, and Hugh was taking her to lunch at the Libertine Restaurant to celebrate. One of the reasons Maureen had originally stuck with Jackson despite his constantly blowing her off was because of how he'd occasionally spoiled her with the extra money he was making, but eventually even that couldn't convince her to stay with him.

"How is it?" Hugh asked her as she sipped her wine. Once again, he'd reflected on how lucky he was, getting Jackson Arvad's ex-wife and his old position at Roxxon back after he'd been screwed over by Jackson, while Jackson himself was now a bankrupted, disgraced criminal.

"It's wonderful," Maureen sighed. "I really love the book, too," she grinned, referring to the copy of the Prose Eddathat Hugh had gotten her as a gift. Maureen loved mythology and folk-tales, and the legends recounted by the Prose Edda, a book first published in Iceland in the 1220s, were among her favorites.

"Nothing's too good for you," Hugh smiled back. "In fact...how long have we been dating now?" he asked her. "A year? Nine months?"

"Ten, actually," Maureen corrected him. "Why do you ask?"

"Because there's something I want to ask you," Hugh said, reaching into his pocket. "I want to ask you...will you marry me?" he asked her, opening the case he had retrieved and displaying the diamond ring within it.

Maureen was struck speechless for a moment, nearly overwhelmed with joy. She had been wondering if Hugh would ever ask her to do it, and now that he finally had she wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh, Hugh," she finally breathed. "I...I..."

Maureen never got to finish her sentence, as a loud shattering sound and a flash of light caught the attention of everyone in the dining area. People looked up and screamed at the bright ball of golden light that had broken into the restaurant. They looked on, stunned, as the golden sphere gradually changed its shape and color until it resembled a man clad in a green bodysuit with a yellow starburst on the chest, a man with pure white eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair. Random motes of golden light danced around him, giving him a vaguely otherworldly appearance.

Maureen fell back with a scream and Hugh shouted in alarm, both of them recognizing the man as Jackson Arvad, Maureen's vindictive ex-husband, but more commonly known as the supervillain Will O' the Wisp.

"Well now, isn't this a touching ceremony?" he said mockingly, noting the wedding band Hugh had dropped on the table. "And to think-if I hadn't gotten here in time, I would have missed it!" he sneered, as he began to emanate a bright golden light. The screaming and panicking people all around him, except for Hugh and Maureen, were suddenly frozen, hypnotized by the light into a trance.

"J-J-Jackson..." Maureen gasped as she got to her feet. "P-please, don't..."

"Damn you, Arvad!" Hugh shouted as he charged at Will O' the Wisp with his steak knife. Turning to look at him with a grin, Will O' the Wisp shifted the molecules of his body, letting Hugh's knife pass through him harmlessly. As Hugh withdrew the knife, the Wisp solidified himself once again and threw a vicious punch, smashing Hugh in the face and sending him flying back to crash on the table. Rolling off the table, Hugh slumped to the floor as Maureen screamed again. As Hugh staggered to his feet, the Wisp released another bright light, hypnotizing Hugh and paralyzing him on the spot.

"He really loves you, doesn't he?" the Wisp glared at Maureen, who was now paralyzed with fear even without the Wisp's hypnosis. "Love makes men do stupid things. I know that better than anyone, you stupid two-timing bitch!" he shouted, his voice rising in anger.

Maureen tried to say something, anything, but before she or the Wisp could say anything else the Wisp collapsed to the ground, struck down from behind by what looked like a blast of greenish energy. As the Wisp collapsed, Maureen saw another person entering the restaurant through the hole the Wisp had smashed, a younger woman with the long dark hair and the distinctive red and gold costume of the spectacular Spider-Woman.

"Run!" Spider-Woman shouted at Maureen, and she prepared to do just that, but the Wisp recovered faster than either of them expected. Shifting back into a glowing ball of light, he emitted another hypnotic light that caught Maureen dead on and paralyzed her, as well. Rising up into the air, he dodged around Spider-Woman's next sting blast and rushed down at her, forcing her to dodge his charging attack.

"It's you! It's always you!" the Wisp shouted in a rage at Spider-Woman, weaving between the paralyzed restaurant customers so Spider-Woman couldn't get a clear shot at him. "But not this time!" he shouted in a rage, as he began emitting another bright light.

To Spider-Woman's horror, many of the customers in the restaurant reacted to the Wisp's hypnotic command and began attacking her as a group. Some of them slashed at her with steak knives, others wielded plates or chairs. Spider-Woman was completely surrounded, and couldn't stop some of them from injuring her as she began subduing her attackers with her webbing. She didn't dare physically fight back, and by the time it ended Spider-Woman was marked with several bloody cuts and bruises from their attacks.

Gasping in pain, Spider-Woman tried to focus her spider-senses to find the Wisp, but she was too late as a bright light flooded the room. The Wisp had taken over the room's electrical system, and had commanded all the lights in the room to flash brightly, dazzling Spider-Woman and leaving her blinded. Blinking her eyes to try and dispel the colored spots dancing in her vision, Spider-Woman couldn't react in time as the Wisp emerged from the electrical system and slammed her head on, making his molecules as hard and dense as stone. Sent flying through the air to crash headlong on a table, Spider-Woman just barely dodged the Wisp's next charge, rolling off the table and coming to her feet. As the Wisp turned around for another charge, Spider-Woman shot a double blast of her energy stings, disrupting his charge and forcing him back to his human form. Groaning in pain, the Wisp staggered as Spider-Woman blasted him again with one hand and used the other to entangle him in webbing.

"I think you said something about it not being this time?" Spider-Woman pointed out calmly.

In response, the Wisp simply phased through her webbing and came at Spider-Woman again, this time flashing his hypnotic lights in an attempt to paralyze her. Knowing what was coming, Spider-Woman shielded her eyes, but that was all the opportunity the Wisp needed before he charged in, and phased partway through her. He then solidified the molecules that were still outside his body, reforming his arms. One of the arms lashed out at Spider-Woman, grabbing her neck and choking her, while the other began repeatedly punching her in the face, strengthened by the Wisp to his maximum density and strength.

Gasping for breath, Spider-Woman staggered as she tried to block the punches, but the Wisp stayed with her, pressing the assault. She shifted one hand to trying to take the Wisp's hand off her windpipe, while using the other to block the Wisp's punches, but to her horror she found that at his maximum density the Wisp was stronger than she was. Dizzied from the strangulation and the punches, Spider-Woman's strength faded and it was all she could do to stand. Seizing the opportunity, the Wisp fully resumed his human form, picked up the staggering Spider-Woman and brutally threw her into the far wall. Slamming into the wall with a sickening crash, Spider-Woman slumped to the floor as the Wisp laughed out loud.

Turning back to the people he had hypnotized, the Wisp looked around until he saw Maureen and Hugh. Focusing his powers, he ordered them to approach him, each of them carrying a steak knife in his or her hand.

The Wisp had Maureen and Hugh face one another, and begin their grim work as he watched eagerly.

Spider-Woman's entire body was throbbing with pain as she regained consciousness several minutes later. She had to grab the wall with her spider-grip as she staggered to her feet, as the wave of dizziness that came over her nearly caused her to collapse once again. Hearing the horrified screams and shouts, she slowly made her way over to where the restaurant customers were still tangled in her webbing.

They weren't what made Spider-Woman want to collapse in horror all over again, though. The sight that sent chills down Spider-Woman's spine was the corpses of Maureen Daniels-Arvad and Hugh Jones, each of whom had killed the other by slashing each others' throats with their steak knives. For several long moments, Spider-Woman couldn't hear the angry, accusing shouts coming from the people who were still entangled in her webbing.

"This is all your fault!"

"You let them die!"

"What kind of hero are you?"

Looking up and around, Spider-Woman felt sick, realizing just what her failure today had cost these two innocent people.

"Where's Will O' the Wisp?" she asked in horror.

"He's gone, no thanks to you!" one of the customers shouted.

"That Vincent Gonzalez guy was right about you!" another of the customers shouted. "You're just as bad as the criminals!"

"Here, let me get that off of you," Spider-Woman breathed as she stepped towards one of the entangled customers.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" the man yelled, recoiling from her touch. "You're going to pay for this, you bitch!"

Consumed with guilt and anger at herself, Spider-Woman only felt like she could obey. Trying to hold back her tears, she slowly turned and left, the peoples' accusing shouts and cries following her out.

In the nearly fifteen months since she'd become Spider-Woman, Gwen had learned how to use her acting skills to keep her inner emotions from showing. She managed to conceal her injuries, keep up with her homework and eat dinner with her family, but her mind was filled with thoughts of the whole disastrous weekend.

When Monday morning came, the point was brutally driven home by the Daily Bugle's headline, which read SPIDER-WOMAN CAUGHT IN HER OWN WEB, displaying the angry people who were photographed still entangled in her webbing. It further described the entire murderous incident, including Spider-Woman's failure to stop Will O' the Wisp, culminating in a quote from Vincent Gonzalez.

"This just shows what kind of a hero Spider-Woman really is," Gonzalez was quoted as saying. "She let these innocent people be killed on her watch! She's no better than the Wisp!"

Gwen felt sick to her stomach, to the point where it was all she could do to avoid going to vomit in the sink.

She managed to keep a straight face, but she felt a piercing migraine growing inside her head.

She tried to remind herself, over and over again, of the good she'd done as Spider-Woman, but Vincent Gonzalez's words continued to echo in her mind and more than ever she wondered if he was right.

(Next Issue: Gwen tries to somehow patch things up with Randy, even as she confides in her mother about her problems. Even as she does this, she tries to get her modelling career back on track by appearing in Desiree Vaughn-Pope's new ad campaign. Unfortunately, Gwen's biggest problems may be yet to come, as Jack O' Lantern prepares to take things to the next level in his elaborate revenge plot on Spider-Woman! All this and more in Spider-Woman #49: A Day In The Life!)