Snake In The Grass

"So who do you think I look more like as a redhead?" Gwen Stacy asked her mother Helen as they sat eating lunch. "Do I look more like Amy Adams, or Isla Fisher?" she continued, as her normally blonde hair took on a bright red color. As the spectacular Spider-Woman, Gwen had a wide variety of unusual superhuman powers, one of which was her ability to change the color of her hair and eyes at will. When she assumed her costumed identity, Gwen turned her hair jet-black as a means of heightening her disguise.

"Somewhere in between," Helen replied with a smile.

"Come on, I need a better answer than that," Gwen grinned.

"I'm serious, though," Helen replied. "You could probably ask a dozen people, and half of them would say you look like Adams and the other half say you look like Fisher."

"You're a mother, you have to say that," Gwen rolled her eyes.

"What does that mean?" Helen asked, as they finished their lunch and put their dishes in the dishwasher.

"It means you're just trying to give whatever answer would make me feel better," Gwen replied.

"Please," Helen rolled her eyes. "Like I need to resort to that."

The Stacys both laughed at this, but in fact Gwen did feel better.

It had been over a week since her battle with Gregor Shapanka, the first Blizzard, who had gained the powers to control ice and cold due to Gwen's interference as Spider-Woman. Gwen still felt guilty about that, as well as her failure to catch the superhuman assassin Black Mamba. Both villains had the potential to cause all kinds of chaos, and Gwen considered it her fault.

Those were the problems in her costumed life, but she had other headaches to deal with in her personal life, too. Things were still tense between her and her boyfriend Randy Robertson over her being a costumed superheroine, and her audition for a major role in an upcoming TV show was being overseen by Mrs. Jannetty, a TV producer who had a serious grudge against Gwen.

With all that going on, Gwen was grateful for her mother's support.

It made her problems so much easier to deal with.

SPIDER-WOMAN #62

"SNAKE IN THE GRASS"

About an hour later, Gwen found herself walking through Central Park, waiting to meet Randy. They hadn't seen each other in almost a week, as Randy had been tied up with his work at the HABQ-FM radio station and his preparations for some sort of family event. Gwen herself had been tied up with other auditions for some more acting and modelling work, spending most of her time either preparing for or participating in them. She could only hope the good work she'd done with Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics and the productions she'd appeared in over the last year or so would help her get some additional work, as she wanted to build up some more cash to pay her tuition when she returned to school in the fall.

I got a good vibe from Richard Banks, at least, she thought, referring to the director of the Shakespeare In The Park production of Othello that she had auditioned for with Randy. Maybe I should ask Derrick Deja or Tom Ferguson what else they-

The call from Randy broke Gwen out of her reverie, and her response was an eager cry of delight as she saw him approaching. They ran forward and quickly embraced, Randy hugging Gwen tightly before he released her. Gwen had a delighted look on her face, her eyes lit up with pleasure, while Randy expressed his own pleasure with a more reserved, satisfied smile.

"Hey sweetie," Randy greeted Gwen. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright," Gwen replied, although Randy caught the way her eyes flickered when she said that. "Lots of auditions to do. How about you?"

"I've been preparing for this year's big family reunion," Randy replied, as they set off down the path. "We're actually having it here in New York this year. Mom is so excited!"

"I'm sure you'll have a great time," Gwen assured him.

"Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come," Randy said.

Gwen stopped in her tracks, a pensive look on her face as he said that.

"What's wrong?" Randy asked in concern, turning back around to look at her.

"...Maybe I shouldn't go," Gwen shook her head. "It's family-only, right?"

"Not really," Randy blinked. "A lot of guys bring their girlfriends to our gatherings. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, but..." Gwen frowned.

"What is it?" Randy asked, more gently this time.

"Your parents don't seem all that fond of me," Gwen noted. "I'd rather not cause any problems by coming."

She was staring away from him now, unable to look him in the eyes.

"Come on, Gwen..." he tried to reassure her. "It won't be..."

"I..." Gwen didn't seem convinced, a nervous look in her eyes.

"Really, it won't be a problem," Randy smiled reassuringly. "It won't-I promise."

Gwen smiled weakly, as they resumed their walk.

Several minutes of walking later, the couple found themselves in the clearing where many of the Shakespeare In The Park stages were being set up. Walking through the pavilion, it wasn't long before Gwen and Randy found the stage where Richard Banks' production of Othello was setting up. They could see Banks off to the side, talking to someone who was obviously a representative of the Shakespeare In The Park festival.

Knowing better than to bother Banks, Gwen and Randy instead walked over to a bulletin board near the stage. Several notices were tacked onto it, including one that provided the official cast list. To their delight, Randy and Gwen saw that they had been respectively cast as Othello and Desdemona respectively.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Randy smirked as they turned to leave and get some coffee.

Gwen only nodded and smiled back, but her smile was more tentative than Randy's.

Although she didn't mention it, she was still thinking of the frigid reception she'd gotten from Randy's parents, not to mention the unpleasant memories Black Mamba's illusion of Randy had conjured for her when the illusion had accused her of letting him down when she allowed her murderous archenemy Jack O' Lantern to somehow find out her true identity and putting everyone she knew in danger.

It took all of her acting skills to look Randy in the eye while they were having coffee.

"How did it go?" Tanya Sealy asked Davis Lawfers as he removed his gear.

"Like clockwork," Davis assured her. "Glenn never knew what hit him," he smirked. Maxwell Glenn was the man that Lawfers had been assigned to kill in his guise as Copperhead, one of the costumed assassins who formed the Serpent Society. Tanya was another one of the group's members, able to charm and then slowly strangle her victims with the Darkforce energies she could control as Black Mamba.

"I take it Sunset Bain's been one of our best customers for a while, hasn't he?" Tanya asked, as they emerged from Davis's quarters. It wasn't long before they found themselves in the dining hall of the Society's headquarters, where the dishes they had ordered were waiting for them.

"You never answered my question," Tanya reminded Davis as they gathered up their meals and sat down at one of the tables.

"Sorry," Davis shook his head. "I was just thinking about another assignment we've got coming up. But yeah, Bain's been coming to us for years now. She's pretty paranoid about competition, and she didn't like the way Glenn Technologies was muscling in on her sales territory."

"I take it we're probably cheaper than going after Glenn Technologies' stock, bribing some officials, filing lawsuits, or any of that other stuff," Tanya pointed out with a smirk.

"Pretty much," Davis laughed.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, before Davis spoke up again.

"I've got another mission you might be interested in," he told Tanya. "It should be pretty straightforward."

"Nice," Tanya smiled. "I was getting pretty bored. Most of the missions I've gotten so far since I snuffed Horace Green has been pretty penny-ante stuff. I mean, I know I'm still a rookie, but-"

"We just wanted you to get some more experience under your belt before sending you on more high-risk stuff," Davis reminded her. "Don't worry, though-I think you're ready for your first solo mission."

"Seriously?" Tanya brightened at that. "Where's it at?"

"Back in New York," Davis said, placing his elbows on the table and linking his hands. "It's another Bain job-there's this securities investigator that's building up evidence to try and charge her with insider trading."

"So I ice the investigator?" Tanya asked with a grin. "I can do that. Just point me at-"

"No, the job is to ice his kids," Davis shook his head. "The investigator's divorced, and his ex-wife has custody of the kids. If we kill the investigator, that'll be too easy to trace back to Bain and she'll probably get more heat on her. Those kids are the investigator's life, and killing them will pretty much fuck with his head. He'll lose it, and the investigation will pretty much stop dead. That'll give Bain's operatives a chance to destroy the evidence against her before the SEC can put another investigator on the case."

"You want me to kill a couple of kids?" Tanya's eyebrows were raised. "Just how old are they?"

"Seven and nine," Davis replied, frowning. "Why do you ask? Do you not want to do it?"

"I was just curious," Tanya shrugged matter-of-factly. "Of course I'll do it."

"That's my girl," Davis only smiled, stroking Tanya's cheek.

Tanya grinned back at him in return.

Three days later...

Playing Desdemona in the debut performance of Richard Banks' production of Othello, Gwen could feel a keen sense of sympathy for her character.

My high school English teacher used to say that Desdemona's name was derived from a Greek name that apparently meant 'unfortunate' or 'unlucky'...and I definitely know what that's like, she thought to herself as she performed.

And Desdemona was always a step behind in everything, Gwen continued. She couldn't keep up with Iago's plotting, or Othello's suspicions, and she ended up paying the price. She couldn't stop Othello from killing her and damning himself...

Desdemona didn't know what to do, and neither do I...Gwen continued.

Even if she had wanted to, Gwen wouldn't have been able to keep her emotions from showing as she played the role. Indeed, she didn't feel she was playing the role of Desdemona so much as she was Desdemona, becoming one with her character.

Randy's feelings, however, were quite different.

Why was Othello so suspicious? he wondered. Iago played him like a fiddle, and he didn't believe Desdemona's pleas, never even gave her a chance to explain herself, and she still defended him even while she was dying.

So why am I still giving Gwen grief? he wondered. If I was the one with spider-powers, I'd probably have ended up putting on some funny costume and fighting crime, especially if I went through the same crap Gwen did. As for Jack O' Lantern knowing who she is...I mean, he probably did some supervillain trick to find it out, something that Gwen would never have expected.

I shouldn't be worrying about this shit, he realized. It's all happened, I can't change it, and Gwen's trying to do the right thing anyway. The last thing she needs is me giving her the third degree for something she wants to do. For all the times she's stuck her neck on the line to protect her friends, she deserves better, he thought.

This is where I start showing it, he realized.

It took all of Randy's considerable acting skills to keep up the suspicious, short-tempered persona he was depicting as Othello without revealing what he was really thinking.

Diminutive Roderick Kingsley was many things to many people. To his rivals in the fashion industry, he was known as the "sneering lizard of the fashion world," for the dirty and underhanded tactics he was rumored to use against his competition. To his many loyal customers, he was a paragon of style and fashion. To the organizers of New York's Shakespeare In The Park festival, he was a patron of the arts, not only sponsoring the festival but also providing costumes to many of its actors at cut-rate discounts.

To the actors and producers themselves, Kingsley was just another customer, walking through the festival grounds accompanied by his hulking younger brother Daniel, who also served as his bodyguard. In truth, Kingsley wasn't particularly interested in the arts, and only came to the festival to see what his sponsorship dollars were going to and to humor his wife Rebecca, who still had a lot of friends at these festivals and went to catch up with them.

"Remember how you always used to joke about Rebecca becoming famous playing Lady Macbeth, and how it suited her?" Roderick smirked at Daniel, who merely rolled his eyes. "Lord knows it suits her," he continued, as Daniel only smirked in reply.

"Speaking of someone who could pass for Lady Macbeth," Daniel noted, blinking in surprise as he looked over the pavilion and saw a familiar sight. "Guess who's playing Desdemona in that production of Othello," he pointed out at the stage they were passing by.

"What do you mean?" Roderick asked, running to catch up with Daniel as he advanced towards the stage. By the time Roderick caught up with him, Daniel was pointing at the stage again, and this time Roderick saw who he was pointing at-Gwen Stacy, the little blonde minx who'd previously done some modelling work for Kingsley Cosmetics.

Roderick's eyes narrowed as he recalled the excellent work Gwen had done, and how she'd reacted to his sexual propositions. Gwen had slapped him so hard she'd broken his nose, and his subsequent attempts to get her blacklisted from the industry hadn't worked particularly well. She'd landed a couple of major jobs with Roderick's rival Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics, and Roderick had no doubt that she'd played an essential role in Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics racking up as many sales as it did.

Now, the little brat was acting in a show that Roderick was sponsoring through his company. The idea made Roderick seethe with anger, particularly since Gwen was helping his competition beat him.

"Come on, Daniel," Roderick ordered his brother, who followed him as Roderick turned around and stormed away.

"I'm through playing around," Roderick muttered to Daniel as they walked. "Believe you me, that little tramp is going to suffer by the time I'm done with her!"

Daniel said nothing, only taking note of the angry light in Roderick's eyes. He'd seen that look in his brother's eyes before, and it had never boded well for whoever Roderick was thinking about.

One week later...

Gwen felt a sense of frustration as she put on her Spider-Woman costume and prepared to go out on patrol.

One of Gwen's powers was her ability to mark other people with pheromones that she could then use to track them. All she had to do was concentrate, and her spider-senses would lead her to them. Usually Gwen's spider-senses only activated when she wanted them to, but on other occasions they'd activated at times when someone Gwen had marked with her pheromones was in a situation that would be of interest to her. She could even use this ability to track her supervillain enemies. As Spider-Woman, Gwen's spider-senses had helped her locate and defeat the likes of Will O' The Wisp and Moonstone as they were hatching their evil plans.

Unfortunately, when Gwen had confronted Black Mamba, she hadn't thought to mark the serpentine killer with her pheromones. Even now, several weeks later, Gwen was still kicking herself for her stupidity, knowing that Black Mamba could and probably was still running amuck out there and killing innocent people.

For now, all Gwen could do was go out on patrol as Spider-Woman and hope that she somehow managed to track Black Mamba down. Besides, it was just as likely that another one of her old enemies, or even some new supervillain, could start causing trouble, and in that case Gwen was determined to be ready.

As Spider-Woman, Gwen had only swung a few blocks when her spider-senses activated. Much to her surprise, they were directing her towards the apartment complex where her friends Harry Osborn and Liz Allan were living. Liz had moved in with Harry after Harry had sold what was left of Osborn Industries and put his father Norman's ugly legacy behind him. Harry was happier than he'd ever been, but Spider-Woman couldn't help but wonder if anyone with a grudge against Norman Osborn would try to take some sort of revenge on Harry.

Nodding to herself in determination, Spider-Woman redoubled her speed.

With the image-inducing device disguising her, Black Mamba looked for all the world like just another ordinary New Yorker who'd stepped into her apartment building. The Serpent Society's reconnaissance had paid off, and she knew when the Winden children and their nanny would be heading out to the movies. She also knew that, at almost the same time, Harry Osborn and his girlfriend would be heading out as well. Tracking them had been pitifully easy-their Twitter and Facebook accounts were open to the public, and they hadn't been silent about what they were planning to do today. The fact that their schedules required them to leave almost at the same time was icing on the cake.

The plan was perfect, too-make the crime seem as though the goal was to rob Harry Osborn, and kill the Winden kids in the crossfire. Several other people would be in the foyer as well, and they would have to die too...not that Black Mamba felt particularly bad about that, of course.

The Winden kids and their nanny were stepping into the foyer down one corridor, and Harry Osborn and his girlfriend were emerging from the elevator. All at once, Black Mamba released the Darkforce energies within her, reaching out and connecting with the minds of her victims. She had been practicing with her powers, and now found herself able to entrance multiple targets at once.

The eight people in the foyer were soon under her spell, as the Darkforce began taking the shape of their most cherished loved ones. It wouldn't be long now before they were snuffed out completely, strangled by the images of the beings they cared more for than any others in the world.

Black Mamba was lucky that her practice with her powers extended to being aware of what was going on around her. Her eyes snapped open as she saw the red-and-gold clad figure of the spectacular Spider-Woman charge into the foyer of the apartment building. Spider-Woman stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Black Mamba, and the trails of Darkforce energy connecting her to her victims.

"I might have known you'd be behind this," Spider-Woman said calmly, her hands glowing with the energy of her sting blasts. "Somebody wants revenge on Harry Osborn that badly?"

"Naturally," Black Mamba purred, smiling wickedly at Spider-Woman. The plan was working oh so well-everyone naturally assumed that Harry would be the target.

"And what about the rest of these people?" Spider-Woman demanded, her anger rising.

"Collateral damage, of course," Black Mamba shrugged. "What did you expect?"

"You're not going to-" Spider-Woman started as she prepared to attack, but Black Mamba wagged a finger in reproach.

"...Ah-ah-ah," Black Mamba smirked at Spider-Woman. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, the psychic backlash from harming me would shatter these good peoples' minds beyond repair. I win either way, my dear. Why do you think I was chosen for this little mission?"

Spider-Woman stood silently for a moment. She wondered if Black Mamba was lying, or at least stretching the truth, but she didn't dare risk hurting these people.

But then, she realized, they're all going to be as good as dead anyway if I just stand here.

Unless...

Keeping her hands at her sides, Spider-Woman slowly advanced on Black Mamba, making no move to attack. Black Mamba began to back up in alarm, not knowing what Spider-Woman was trying to do.

She's trying to throw me off and make me lose my concentration, Black Mamba realized. Like that's really going to work!

Lashing out with her powers, Black Mamba connected with Spider-Woman herself, as the Darkforce began to take shape.

There Randy was again, angrily accusing Spider-Woman of putting him and everyone else she cared about in danger. Now her family-her mother Helen Stacy, her Aunt Nancy and her cousin Jill-were adding their voices to the cacophony of people accusing her.

Instead of giving in to despair, though, Spider-Woman only felt a rising anger.

Liars, she accused them calmly. That's all you are, isn't it? Lies that you try and get people to believe, so you let them kill you?

Well, BELIEVE THIS! Spider-Woman shouted mentally as she shot her sting blasts at the Darkforce apparitions, shattering them.

Spider-Woman felt a brief mental shock as the Darkforce was disrupted, but if anything the shock was worse for Black Mamba, who cried out in pain and stumbled backward. Vaguely sensing the rest of Black Mamba's victims through their mental connections to the serpentine killer, Spider-Woman realized that they were confused and surprised, breaking out of the stupor that Black Mamba had lured them into with her powers.

Spider-Woman smiled as she realized her gambit had paid off. By becoming part of Black Mamba's mental link herself and attacking Black Mamba through it, Spider-Woman knew it would be more likely that Black Mamba would lose her concentration and free the victims herself. She wasn't sure if Black Mamba had been telling the truth about shattering her victims' minds if she attacked Mamba from the outside, but it didn't really matter. Black Mamba was staggering now, reeling from the psychic backlash Spider-Woman had inflicted on her.

Eagerly, Spider-Woman charged in, entangling Black Mamba with her webbing and beating the serpentine killer into submission. Black Mamba could barely fight back, but Spider-Woman didn't let up the assault until the serpentine killer was unconscious.

On a practical level, Spider-Woman had beaten Black Mamba unconscious because knew she didn't dare let Black Mamba use her hypnotic powers on the police to escape.

On a more emotional level, though, Spider-Woman had to admit that beating Black Mamba unconscious took a tremendous weight off her shoulders.

It hadn't taken long for Black Mamba's victims to come to their senses after that, or to call the police and have them take Black Mamba away. Spider-Woman was able to sleep soundly that night, feeling more than a little satisfaction at finally bringing justice to Horace Green and the other people Black Mamba had been able to kill because of Spider-Woman's initial failure.

Gwen approached the next day with more than a little trepidation, however. Today was the callback for the casting of the new TV show An Officer And A Mutant, which Gwen had auditioned for. It was a new TV series about a police detective who was also a mutant and who used his powers in law enforcement, and was likely to become a huge hit. The series was likely to make stars out of its cast, and Gwen had eagerly auditioned.

Unfortunately, one of the show's producers was a woman named Carol Jannetty, who Gwen had already had some unpleasant run-ins with. Mrs. Jannetty had come away from those run-ins with a serious grudge against Gwen, and the younger woman realized that she probably wouldn't be called back. To her surprise, though, Gwen had in fact received a callback audition, and it was with a mixture of hope and trepidation that she turned up at the studio that afternoon after the day's performances of Othello were over.

Mrs. Jannetty was there with several of the other show staff, although Gwen couldn't tell what the larger woman was thinking. Nor could she tell what the other staff were thinking. To Gwen's surprise, most of them were rather impassive.

"You're...Gwen Stacy, right?" the casting director asked Gwen once she'd introduced herself. "Thank you for coming. We were wondering if you'd be willing to do a couple more readings."

"Of course!" Gwen said brightly. "I'd be more than happy to. What would-"

"I'm not sure about this, Douglas," Mrs. Jannetty interrupted, shaking her head.

"...What do you mean, Carol?" the casting director blinked in surprise.

"I mean that this girl clearly doesn't have what it takes," Mrs. Jannetty explained. "It's clear that she needs more lessons."

"...More lessons?" Gwen repeated, somewhat astonished at Mrs. Jannetty's claim. Looking at the casting director and the rest of the show staff, Gwen could see they didn't really agree with Mrs. Jannetty's claims. Gwen could recall how impressed they were after her initial auditions, which she knew she nailed.

"You heard me," Mrs. Jannetty frowned. "Besides, I think these roles are out of your depth, young lady. We need someone with actual talent to fulfill them, not someone who thinks she can just get by with her good looks. That's the problem with too many actresses these days."

Gwen's temper flared at that.

"That's bullshit!" Gwen shouted. "I hit all of these auditions perfectly, and everyone here knows it! You just wouldn't know good acting if it bit you in your oversized ass! Or maybe you're just jealous that my face doesn't look like a horse's rear end?!"

Gwen instantly regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth. The casting director and the rest of the show staff all looked angry at her insults, even if they might have been inclined to defend her before.

"Young lady, I suggest you work very long and hard on your attitude before you try auditioning anywhere else," the casting director said coldly to Gwen. "Until then, you'd do well not to waste anyone's time," he finished, gesturing towards the door.

As Gwen slowly walked out, mentally reproaching herself for her stupidity, her gaze happened to meet Mrs. Jannetty's.

The older woman smiled like a crocodile, the look on her face telling Gwen everything she needed to know.

And I fell for it hook, line and sinker, Gwen thought to herself. A generous helping of the old Stacy luck, aided by a dash of the new Stacy idiocy, and I've lost another great role.

Why me, Lord? Gwen finished as she emerged from the building and walked to the bus stop.

She had been feeling great yesterday after finally defeating Black Mamba, but today Gwen felt deflated all over again.

John F. Kennedy International Airport was one of the busiest airports on Earth. On a daily basis, it welcomed travelers of every race, nation and color from the four corners of the globe.

Sarah and Kara Delevingne were two of those travelers, waiting for their luggage after they'd gotten off their flight from Hartford. Like many people who arrived in New York for the first time, Sarah seemed ill at ease and somewhat intimidated by the sheer size and variety of the city. Her mother Kara knew better-she had grown up in New York, and she could tell when newcomers were overwhelmed by her birthplace, and when they had other things on their minds.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kara asked Sarah once more, as the luggage started to emerge onto the carousel.

"Yeah, I do," Sarah nodded, as much to remind herself as anyone else. "I can't put it off forever, Mom-I need to do this."

"They're going to be complete strangers to us, you know," Kara reminded her. "How do you think they'll react when we give them the news?"

"I don't know," Sarah shook her head, "but how could I not at least try to reach out to them? Besides, they'll understand, I know it!"

"You don't seem too convinced," Kara pointed out, as she and her daughter retrieved their luggage.

"Yeah, but we have to at least try," Sarah reminded her mother. "We've come this far, haven't we?"

"You're right," Kara sighed. "I just don't know what I'm going to say to this Helen person, especially."

"I'm telling you, they'll understand," Sarah insisted. "Especially why we left New York in the first place."

"If you say so," Kara sighed again. "You've got all the contact information?"

"Yes I do," Sarah nodded. "Gwen and Helen are living with George's sister Nancy Stacy. It wasn't too hard to find them."

"Your generation gets this social media stuff much better than mine ever will," Kara smiled at that.

Mother and daughter laughed as they left the airport and prepared to hail a cab to the hotel they had booked for their New York visit.

(Next Issue: Gwen attends Randy Robertson's family reunion with him, even as Randy resolves to be more supportive of her superhero career. Things take a direction Gwen and her family never expected, however, when the mysterious Sarah and Kara Delevingne reveal the shocking truth about who they are. As Gwen reels from the revelations the Delevingnes give her, she must struggle as Spider-Woman to stop Boomerang from committing a gruesome murder! All this and more in Spider-Woman #63: Family Matters!)