Darkness And Light

To Kitty Pryde, the hatred between them was palpable.

One of them was a monster, a twisted maniac who had donned his nightmarish costume to indulge his darkest and most sadistic desires. There was no underlying trauma, no sense of injustice, no cycle of abuse or mistreatment that had made him a mass-murdering psychopath. He committed his crimes because he knew he should not, because they were wrong, because he was evil. That same depraved compulsion had caused him to develop a crazed obsession with his nemesis for daring to interfere with his hellish "fun". This obsession had driven him to try and destroy his nemesis's very identity, to the point of making her his heir, the very thing she hated most in all the world.

He was Jack O' Lantern.

The other one was Jack's nemesis, the courageous young woman who had originally been compelled to use her strange superhuman gifts out of a combination of anger and compassion. The latter motivation had eventually won out, as the young woman came to terms with her inner demons and continued to fight for what she believed was right, to defend the innocent who needed her protection from monsters like Jack. She might have preferred to never have to deal with Jack again, but she was compelled to fight him not only for what he had tried to do to her, and more importantly for all the victims he had murdered. A part of her still blamed herself for his crimes, and she saw it as her duty to bring him to justice and stop him from spilling any more blood.

She was Spider-Woman.

Stuck in an iron cage hanging from the ceiling, unable to phase free because of the ghost grabber she was trapped in, Kitty Pryde could only watch helplessly at the scene below her. She felt paralyzed by fear, fear of the monstrous pumpkin-headed monster who'd kidnapped her and fear for Spider-Woman, who now confronted the monster.

"You…YOU!" Jack O' Lantern screamed, completely mad with rage. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he continued, leaping on his hover disc in one quick motion and charging at Spider-Woman.

"Alright, you bastard," Spider-Woman shot back as she charged at Jack O' Lantern in turn, "let's party!"

SPIDER-WOMAN #55

"DARKNESS AND LIGHT"

A pair of concentrated blasts from the blasters on Jack's wrists cut through the air as he fired at Spider-Woman. The arachnid heroine rolled forward to dodge them and came up near Jack O' Lantern, firing her own bioelectric sting blasts at him. The pumpkin-headed madman pulled back on his hover disc in time to dodge them, before striking once again with his wrist blasters. This time, he didn't miss and caught Spider-Woman dead on. Spider-Woman didn't stay down long, however, springing right back up and releasing a double blast of webbing at Jack O' Lantern. He dodged Spider-Woman's webbing, but Spider-Woman immediately blasted at him with a sting blast, catching him square in the leg and knocking him off balance. Spider-Woman quickly followed up her advantage, leaping into the air and spinning a webline. As Jack O' Lantern tried to strike back, Spider-Woman swung forward and caught Jack O' Lantern in the face and chest with a vicious swing kick. Jack O' Lantern went flying backwards before crashing into the wall of the abandoned subway station where they were fighting, bouncing off as he dodged Spider-Woman's next sting blasts.

Jack O' Lantern was far from finished, however, flinging a pair of pumpkin bombs from his utility belt at Spider-Woman. One of the bombs exploded as Spider-Woman dodged, filling the air with a thick, cloying smoke. As Spider-Woman gasped and coughed, the other pumpkin grenade exploded in a gout of flame that scorched the web-slinging heroine and left her off balance. Jack O' Lantern quickly flew in and grabbed Spider-Woman by the hand, spinning her around with his hover disc and sending her flying to crash heavily into the far wall.

Dancing skeletons, screaming bats, cackling witches, drooling spiders and shrieking pumpkins danced at the edges of Jack O' Lantern's vision as he sent Spider-Woman flying. He heard their cries goading him on, reminded him of what he was and who he most sought to kill. Images of his victims flooded through his head, the thoughts of all the dozens of people he'd murdered. He could have done much more, so, so much more, if not for the young woman he now sought to kill.

Spider-Woman was young enough to be Jack O' Lantern's daughter, and ironically she was one of the few people of her generation that Jack didn't think had been completely ruined and spoiled by their coddling parents. Her fire and passion had intrigued him at first, as had the fact that she had very nearly hurt many innocent people with her recklessness early in her career. Jack could only imagine how much destruction she might have caused if she'd given full reign to her anger and hate, and her sheer wasted potential infuriated him. Spider-Woman would have made a worthy heir, particularly once she'd added Jack O' Lantern's equipment to her own natural spider powers. Now, however, she was the hero to his villain, fighting to defend his prey and ruin his fun. She represented everything-everything!-he hated in the world.

The skeletons, the witches, the bats and the pumpkins all screamed at Jack, reminding him that he had to kill Spider-Woman.

He heard their shrieks in his mind, and redoubled his efforts.

Jack O' Lantern cried out in pain as he smashed into the wall, but he bounced right back, firing his wrist blasters at Spider-Woman and forcing her to dodge. Reaching into his belt, he threw a flock of boomerang bats at Spider-Woman, which darted at her with frightening speed. Some of the bats slashed at Spider-Woman with their razor-edged wings, while others began emanating a piercing scream. Disoriented from the bats' cry, Spider-Woman was unable to defend herself properly and was slashed all over by the bats before she was struck by Jack O' Lantern's wrist blasters. Lashing out with her sting blasts, she destroyed several of the boomerang bats that were screaming. Catching several more with her webbing, she swung them at the next pumpkin bomb Jack threw at her, causing it to explode in razor-edged shrapnel.

Most of the shrapnel that would have cut Spider-Woman was instead caught in the webbing she still carried in her hands, and she followed up the opening the grenade left her. Forcing Jack O' Lantern to dodge, Spider-Woman caught him with a webline and dragged him forward. Leaping into the air, Spider-Woman caught him in the face with another devastating jump kick, before coming down behind him. Quickly whipping around, she fired her sting blasts once again, blasting Jack O' Lantern and knocking him off balance.

Spider-Woman's heart was pounding as she released her sting blasts. Although her body might have ached from the injuries Jack O' Lantern inflicted on her, she hardly felt the pain. Her mind was filled with the thoughts of all the victims Jack O' Lantern had claimed, not just the people he'd murdered directly but all of the others whose lives had been ruined by the trauma of losing their loved ones. The thought of everything Jack O' Lantern had done to them kept her moving forward, determined to succeed. She'd beaten Jack O' Lantern once before, during that horrible night when Jack had first inflicted the Tomorrow Legion on New York City, and she knew she could do it again.

Once, she might simply have wanted revenge on Jack O' Lantern for everything he'd put her through, wanting to simply pour out her rage on him. That was before she'd realized what she had been doing, and how many people she'd either hurt or come so close to hurting, both her loved ones as Gwen and innocent bystanders as Spider-Woman. Her mother Helen, her Grandpa Lieber, her boyfriend Randy Robertson, Aunt Nancy, cousin Jill, Ben and Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Kitty Pryde, Ben Reilly, Bruce "Kong" McFarlane, Mark Raxton, her friends and famly reminded her that she was not alone and gave her the strength to keep fighting.

They were the ones she was struggling for, and she knew that if she didn't stop Jack O' Lantern that Kitty would only be the first one of them to suffer.

She was determined not to let them down.

One of the sting blasts struck Jack O' Lantern's hover disc and caused it to list badly to one side, even as the other caught him square in the back. Screaming angrily, Jack O' Lantern whirled around and released yet another weapon. This one was a ghost grabber, a wrapper of transparent, adhesive film shaped to look like a ghost. The ghost grabber wrapped around Spider-Woman and pulled her off her feet. As she struggled to break free, the ghost grabber suddenly glowed with electrical energy, zapping Spider-Woman and making her cry out in pain. Before she could recover, Spider-Woman felt herself suddenly spinning around as Jack O' Lantern picked up the ghost grabber and spun her around in the air. Releasing the grabber, Spider-Woman flew and crashed heavily into the far wall as Kitty screamed in terror.

Spider-Woman slumped to the ground, but it didn't take her long to tear a large hole in the ghost grabber and tear herself free. Jack O' Lantern fired his wrist blasters at her as she escaped the ghost grabber, and she quickly backflipped out of the way. As Spider-Woman flipped through the air, she managed another sting blast with one of her hands. Jack O' Lantern tried to dodge it, but the blast made direct contact with his hover disc, causing it to explode. Caught by surprise, Jack O' Lantern gave a cry of surprise as he landed awkwardly on the ground, rolling to the ground before he could get to his feet.

He was up in an instant, firing his wrist blasters at Spider-Woman, but at first she wasn't moving to attack. Instead, she sprang into the air, spinning a series of weblines that she used to swing around the room. First she dodged Jack O' Lantern's wrist blasters, and then she dodged his explosive pumpkin bombs. Jack then flung a ghost grabber at her, but it became entangled in some of the weblines Spider-Woman was using to leap around the room, always one step ahead of Jack.

Steven Mark Levins had, by all accounts, had a pleasant childhood. Martin and Phyllis Levins were loving parents, and his sisters Karen and Danielle (who often preferred to go by her middle name of Jennifer) were vibrant and full of life. The idyllic life the Levins clan had enjoyed was briefly overcast when Martin had had an affair, but he'd realized just what a fool he'd been and made a point of reconciling with his wife, remorseful that he'd ever broken her trust. When they had families of their own, Karen and Danielle shared the same love they'd experienced growing up with Martin, Phyllis and their brother Steven.

And yet, for all the love the Levins family shared, they had never been aware of the cancer in their midst. Steven Mark Levins had always felt a deep, poisonous hatred of his family and everyone else around him. He abhorred the way other people would occasionally express dislike or hatred of someone else, and desire to retaliate or take revenge on them, but never actually act on it. He'd seen the dark sides people occasionally manifested, like the moment of lust his father had demonstrated when he'd had his affair. They expressed these desires, desires so similar to Levins's own dreams of making everyone around him suffer, but they hid it all behind a mask of civilized niceties that concealed what they really thought and wanted.

Levins desired so much to unleash his latent fantasies. He dreamed of the looks of terror in an innocent victim's eyes, fantasized about the screams of fear and pain people cried under torture, envisioned the rivers of blood that he could spill with his actions. For all this, he did not act on his fantasies immediately, because he knew that other people would try to stop him, for all that he would indulge his dark side.

He knew this, and it enraged him.

Finally, he saw how he could reveal his inner self, his true self-by donning a mask. Steven Mark Levins saw the rise of costumed supervillains, and so he decided to become one himself to let out his most sadistic, depraved fantasies. With his knowledge of engineering and biochemistry, he developed his superhuman powers and equipment, fashioning the identity of Jack O' Lantern for himself. He chose his identity in honor of his birthday, the day when evil was openly celebrated and was said to most frequently walk the Earth-October 31, Halloween.

Jack O' Lantern finally got lucky with one of his pumpkin bombs, one that exploded and burned Spider-Woman with its flames. Spider-Woman fell several feet before she caught one of her weblines, but Jack O' Lantern quickly followed up with another pumpkin bomb that exploded into shrapnel and slashed her all over. Her entire body throbbed with agony from the blast, but moved quickly to dodge the next flock of boomerang bats that Jack sent after her. Their progress was hindered by the weblines between them and Spider-Woman, and she took advantage of it to destroy them with her sting blasts.

Jack O' Lantern tried to line up a shot with his wrist blasters again, but Spider-Woman frustratingly leaped from one webline to the next, always one step ahead of him. Finally, she knocked him off balance with a sting blast of her own and came down at him in yet another vicious swing kick. Jack O' Lantern went sprawling on the ground as Spider-Woman came down to join him, and soon the two enemies were caught in a vicious hand to hand battle.

Gwen Stacy had grown up in an abusive, broken home, helpless to prevent her drunken, abusive father George from treating Gwen her mother Helen like a punching bag or constantly cheating on Helen with an endless number of flings and affairs. George had openly told Gwen to her face that he'd always wanted a son, never a daughter, lamenting the fact that he would never be able to have the child he always wanted, instead of the one he actually got. Finally, he kicked Helen and Gwen out of the house when Gwen was 17, continuing to pay Gwen's tuition only to keep up appearances.

Gwen had felt a keen sense of anger growing up, berating herself for not being able to do anything to protect Helen from George's abuse. She felt completely helpless, wishing that she could do something, anything, to help her mother. Her guilt and frustration led her to withdraw into her shell, making herself look available and be unobtainable. She was the alpha queen in high school, dating all of the most eligible boys, being the centre of attention at every dance and party, participating in the cheerleading squad, all while never letting anyone get too close and keeping a healthy distance between her and them. Only a select few, like Liz Allan and Kitty Pryde, came to understand what she was truly like underneath it all.

Through it all, Gwen had never forgotten her father's abuse, and her anger continued to simmer at the back of her mind. When her spider-powers began to manifest, she saw how George had actively campaigned against mutants and superheroes. Thinking that she was a mutant, she saw the perfect opportunity to spite him. Fashioning the identity of Spider-Woman for herself, she began fighting crime as a superheroine. She recalled how powerless she'd initially felt when she saw her mother being abused by her father, and the rage she felt at seeing people who used their power to inflict pain and suffering on others.

Her anger very nearly caused many of those same innocent people to be hurt, however, until she realized what she was doing. Gwen also came to realize just how many of her own friends and family she was hurting with her angry attitude. Now, Gwen continued to act as Spider-Woman, but she was no longer the angry, embittered child she was all those months ago.

Jack O' Lantern and Spider-Woman were fighting in close quarters now. They traded not only punches and kicks, but energy blasts as well. Jack O' Lantern zapped Spider-Woman with his wrist blasters even as Spider-Woman struck right back with her sting blasts. One moment Jack had knocked Spider-Woman off balance with a vicious kick to the stomach and followed up slashing her all over with his claws, the next Spider-Woman had blasted Jack O' Lantern with a double shot of her sting blasts and flung him into the wall.

Spider-Woman and Jack O' Lantern could both feel the hatred they felt for one another, a hatred that seemed almost tangible in the air around them. More than that, though, Spider-Woman could sense Jack O' Lantern's boiling rage. He was now screaming incoherently, driven almost to the point of madness by his desire to kill her.

"How much time and effort did you put into this?" Spider-Woman asked Jack O' Lantern, grinning in spite of her pain and her increasing fatigue. "Now, it's all gone to waste," she continued, spinning on one foot as she used the other to kick Jack O' Lantern square in his pumpkin-headed face.

"DAMN YOU!" Jack O' Lantern shrieked, stumbling back before he regained his balance. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he continued, firing his wrist blasters at Spider-Woman.

"What's the matter?" Spider-Woman shot back, dodging his wrist blasters and striking back with a double shot of her sting blasts. "Upset that I wouldn't submit to whatever you had planned for me? Angry that you're dealing with someone who can actually stand up to you? Mad that I won't beg and plead?" she continued, charging in as Jack O' Lantern fell off balance. She pounded him mercilessly as she got her second wind, memories of not only what Jack had done to her but to all of his other victims passing through her mind.

Jack O' Lantern buckled under Spider-Woman's relentless assault. He tried to get some breathing space to fire off another pumpkin bomb, fire his wrist blasters, use a ghost grabber, anything at all, but Spider-Woman didn't give him the opportunity. A rising sense of frustration combined with his anger as he finally managed to break away from Spider-Woman. He didn't waste the opportunity, blasting Spider-Woman with his wrist blasters and striking her with a pair of pumpkin bombs, one explosive and the other shrapnel. Spider-Woman screamed and stumbled backwards, her momentum broken.

Jack O' Lantern cackled triumphantly, readying the killing throw, but then Spider-Woman managed to catch herself. Faster than Jack O' Lantern reacted, Spider-Woman released a stream of webbing, entangling the pumpkin-headed lunatic. She then suddenly pulled Jack O' Lantern towards her, releasing the web strands as she did so and striking him head on with yet another double sting blast. As Jack O' Lantern staggered, barely able to stand, Spider-Woman charged in one last time, putting everything she had left into a vicious combination of punches and kicks that finally left Jack O' Lantern sprawled unconscious on the ground.

Elation and exhaustion filled Spider-Woman at the same time as her adrenaline faded. Her entire body ached with the pain of all of her burns, cuts and bruises, and she was still bleeding from many of her wounds. A part of her wanted to collapse and fall asleep right then and there, but the sense of joy and relief she felt helped her stay standing.

After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Spider-Woman sprang up to the iron cage that Kitty was still trapped in. It didn't take long for Spider-Woman to forcibly yank the cage door open, nor for her to rip a hole in the ghost grabber that Kitty was still trapped in. As Kitty freed herself from the grabber, she grabbed onto Spider-Woman, who helped lower her back down to the ground. As soon as the two women were back on solid ground, Kitty reached out and hugged Spider-Woman tightly, tears in her eyes as she mumbled her thanks. Spider-Woman merely hugged her back, muttering soothing reassurances into Kitty's ear in reply. Finally, they broke off and stared at one another, before looking at the unconscious form of Jack O' Lantern.

"Is he…" Kitty asked slowly.

"He won't be hurting anyone for a very long time," Spider-Woman assured her. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Kitty nodded. "I just hope this doesn't have to become a habit," she smiled sadly.

"What do you mean?" Spider-Woman asked in confusion.

"Remember how you saved me and my boyfriend Kong from Avalanche?" Kitty reminded her. "I never thanked you properly for that."

"Don't worry about it," Spider-Woman reassured her. "Come on, we should probably try and find a way out of here," she continued, going over to the unconscious Jack O' Lantern. Wrapping the pumpkin-headed monster in a net of webbing, she flung him over her shoulder and slowly headed for the exit with Kitty in tow.

Getting back to street level and carrying Jack O' Lantern to a police station was a wearying journey for Spider-Woman and Kitty, but neither woman was inclined to complain. They were strengthened by the sense of relief and joy they shared, relief at being free from the monster and knowing that he was going to face justice for all of his crimes. The police gave Kitty a ride home, although not until she'd shared one final hug and thanks with Spider-Woman.

When Steven Mark Levins regained consciousness, he found himself in a holding cell in the Raft at Riker's Island, awaiting trial. His wrists and ankles were both shackled, and he had been fitted with a set of the special power-dampening restraints that kept supervillains from using their powers to escape from jail. Looking around in surprise, he recalled how he had been defeated by Spider-Woman, all his best-laid plans falling into ruin.

Levins screamed out his rage at what Spider-Woman had done to him, shrieking like a madman and shuddering violently.

His mind filled with images of screaming vampires being burned at the stake, dancing skeletons being consumed in flame, pleading witches being torn apart by bats, ghosts flickering in and out of sight in all sorts of bizarre colors, demonically grinning pumpkins shattering before reassembling themselves, and maiden-headed spiders that bit the heads off screaming victims.

The other images faded in and out, but the maiden-headed spiders were always there. In between devouring their victims, they looked directly at Levins, staring intently at his mind's eye.

The spiders were gruesome enough by themselves, but their heads caught Levins' attention. One moment, the heads were perfect representations of Spider-Woman's head, complete with her mask and long black hair. The next moment, the spiders' heads were representative of Gwen Stacy's head, with her unmasked face and long blonde hair. The visions stared at him mockingly, tormenting Levins and driving him into an even deeper rage.

Rage, Levins thought to himself.

Revenge.

"REVENGE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, in a voice that sent chills down the spines of the guards and even many of the other inmates.

Awake or asleep, he saw the maiden-headed spiders, every moment of every day and night. They filled him with hatred, made him determined to destroy anything and everything that gave their lives meaning.

The thought of doing so made him happy, filled him with hysterical laughter.

He laughed a lot in prison.

Satisfied that the police would take care of Kitty, Spider-Woman was left to web-swing home and change out of her costume. Just like the last time she had fought Jack O' Lantern, she was covered with muck and dried blood, and Gwen needed a long shower to clean herself up. After that she took a long, relaxing bath and treated her many injuries. She was in serious pain from all of her cuts, burns and bruises, but she knew she would heal in time.

As fatigued as Gwen was, she hardly felt it. Rather, she felt a powerful sense of joy at defeating Jack O' Lantern and bringing justice to all of the people he had hurt. Along with that, she also felt a strong sense of relief that the nightmare she'd been subjected to over the last several weeks was finally over, and that she could finally relax. Perhaps most of all, though, she felt a sense of triumph, realizing that she'd overcome the most dangerous enemy she'd ever faced. Jack O' Lantern had tried to break her, to destroy her very identity using her old inner demons, but all of his efforts had failed.

Once again, Gwen found herself sitting on the balcony of her Aunt Nancy's townhouse, looking out over the city at night the same way she had when she'd first defeated Jack O' Lantern. Back then, she had reflected on why she continued to fight crime as Spider-Woman, and everything she'd been able to accomplish as a superheroine. Now she found herself thinking about how much things had changed for her since her powers had first manifested.

Gwen recalled how angry she'd used to be when her superhuman powers had first manifested, and the way she used to lash out at those around her. It seemed like so long ago now, and looking back on it she could hardly believe she was ever like that. The very idea of it was abhorrent to her, and she could only shake her head at how foolish she'd been. She'd forgotten about all the people who cared for her, and all the positive things she'd done even in the early days.

Gwen could only wonder what had happened to that angry young woman. Even thinking about her abusive home life and everything she'd experienced no longer filled her with anger, just sadness. Of course she'd suffered at the hands of people like George Stacy and Roderick Kingsley, but she'd also benefited from the love and friendship of people like her mother, Aunt Nancy, Randy and many more, all of whom reminded her that she was not alone and never had been alone to begin with. That was the thing she had forgotten, that her loved ones had to reminder her of, and that had ultimately caused Jack O' Lantern's attempts to destroy her to fail.

That realization made Gwen feel as though a tremendous weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

I might have had problems growing up, but those problems don't define who I am, she thought to herself. It's funny how being Spider-Woman helped me realize that…

That thought stayed with her as she went back inside, bringing her no small measure of comfort as she got ready for bed.

(Next Issue: With Jack O' Lantern behind bars, Gwen accompanies Randy and the rest of her friends to Daytona Beach with a clear conscience. Fun in the sun proves to be just what Gwen has been looking for after all of the problems she's had to endure, and she has the time of her life! All this and more in Spider-Woman #56: Girls Just Want To Have Fun!)