Family Matters

"So how long has your family been doing these reunions?" Gwen Stacy asked her boyfriend Randy Robertson as they walked down the street.

"Probably at least three generations, or so my Dad says," Randy replied as they turned the corner and approached the community centre. "Mom really had to pull to get them to hold the reunion in New York this year. She loves these get-togethers, but she's sick of always having to travel."

"And you guys have the whole community centre booked?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"And the outdoor terrace," Randy grinned. "There're actually a lot of us out there-we're probably going to have about 200 people showing up."

"That many?" Gwen asked in amazement.

"Well, some of us also bring friends of the family, whoever we're dating, or what have you," Randy explained. "I actually met Reginald Vel Johnson at the last gathering we had in New York a few years ago. He's friends with one of my aunts."

"…Wow," Gwen said in surprise as they opened the door to the community centre.

It didn't take the couple long to be greeted by several of Randy's relatives, including his parents Isaiah and Louise Robertson, who were serving as greeters.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so glad to see you!" Louise hugged her son tightly as he greeted her. "Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"No, traffic was pretty light," Randy assured her. "We had a pretty easy time finding parking, too."

"Glad you could make it, Randy," Isaiah gave his son a fist-bump as soon as Louise had released him. "Your cousins just arrived from Boston-I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see you!"

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson," Gwen spoke up, bowing briefly as she smiled politely. "It's so nice to see you again!"

Isaiah and Louise both stiffened for a moment, before they turned their backs on Gwen and Randy and hastily walked off, Isaiah going to greet some more new arrivals while Louise quickly marched off in response to someone calling her name.

Randy looked awkwardly back at Gwen, who just smiled reassuringly at him.

Gwen was smiling, but getting the cold shoulder from Randy's parents still pained her.

SPIDER-WOMAN #63

"FAMILY MATTERS"

Gwen found that the reunion was everything Randy had told her it would be. The Robertson clan was just as large as he claimed, and everyone was very friendly. It wasn't long before Gwen was chatting with some of Randy's cousins, who regaled her with stories about their efforts to start a web design company that would develop websites and networking information for a lot of the smaller businesses in the New York area.

While Gwen was genuinely enjoying herself, she had to admit that the whole situation felt a little weird to her. Out of all the other party guests, she'd seen maybe two other white people, while almost everyone else was, of course, black.

It was the first time Gwen realized she stood out from the crowd, even as something else crossed her mind.

…Is this what it's been like for Randy? Gwen wondered an hour later, as she was heading to get some punch. Feeling like you stand out from everybody else? Even Kitty Pryde could blend in if she never used her mutant powers…

Gwen was still mulling it over as she got a glass of punch. She was turning to leave when she managed to catch herself and avoid bumping into an old woman approaching the table.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am!" Gwen apologized, more than a little embarrassed and relieved that she hadn't spilled her punch. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," the old woman assured her as she adjusted her glasses. "How many times have I told you kids, you're only as old as you feel?"

"…Pardon?" Gwen asked in surprise, wondering who this woman was.

"Don't tell me you forgot…oh my," the old woman blinked in surprise as she finally got a good look at Gwen. "Well, you're obviously not one of my grandkids," she smiled. "Miss Gwen, I take it?"

"…Yes, I am," Gwen said in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I've heard quite a bit about you," the old woman smiled. "I'm Randy's grandmother, Martha Robertson."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Robertson," Gwen smiled politely.

"And it's very nice to meet you too, sweetie," Martha smiled back. "Has Randy been treating you right?"

"…Of course he has," Gwen said in surprise. "He treats me like a princess, and-"

"I should hope so," Martha huffed as she adjusted her glasses. "I always made sure my boys gave women the respect they deserved, and if Isaiah hadn't done the same thing with the grandchildren, I'd be giving him a good talking-to right about now!"

Gwen hesitated, not quite sure how to react.

"Are you okay, Gwen?" Martha asked. "You seem kind of tense."

"It's nothing, really," Gwen assured her, smiling to make the point. "It was really nice to meet you," she continued as she turned to leave.

Martha was having none of it, though.

"Hold it right there, young lady," she said sternly in a tone that showed she was used to being obeyed. Almost without thinking about it, Gwen turned right back around to face Martha, not entirely sure what to do.

"I…" Gwen trailed off.

"I've been around the block a few times in my life, and I've seen through better liars than you," Martha pointed out to her. "Let me guess-you're upset about the way Isaiah and Louise treat you, aren't you?"

Gwen looked guiltily off to the side. She didn't want to say anything, but her expression was clear as glass to the perceptive Martha.

"Believe me, I've heard what they've had to say about you," Martha resumed speaking, "but I've also heard what Randy has to say about you. You make him really happy-he reminds me of what my dear departed Joe used to say about me. That's what really counts with me, Gwen."

Gwen felt her spirits lift at that.

"But…" she began.

"Don't worry about Isaiah and Louise," Martha waved away Gwen's concern. "They had a hard time supporting themselves when they first got married, and they don't want their own kids to go through the same problems. And I have to admit they're both pretty conservative," she sighed, alluding to the problems Randy's parents had had with Gwen wanting to be an actress and a model.

"I can understand where they're coming from, actually," Gwen admitted. "I had to move back in with my family because I couldn't make enough money for the rent on my own."

"That's because you're also in school full-time," Martha waved the objection away. "Randy only makes it on his own because he shares his rent with three other people," Martha reminded her.

Whatever tension Gwen had felt a minute ago was gone now, as she returned the gaze of the smiling older woman.

"Thank you, Mrs. Robertson," she replied, bowing briefly.

"It was my pleasure, honey," Martha nodded. "I saw you in that production of The Wiz you did with Randy last year. If you keep up that kind of spirit, you're going to go far, trust me!" she grinned.

Gwen returned her smile as the two women hugged warmly.

"Did you have a good time?" Randy asked Gwen as they left that evening.

"Oh yeah, I enjoyed myself," Gwen smiled. "The food was delicious!"

"We've actually got quite the list of family recipes," Randy replied. "I keep telling Grandma that we should publish a cookbook or something like that, but she won't hear of it."

Gwen just chuckled at that.

"What's so funny?" Randy asked in surprise.

"You're talking about Mrs. Robertson, right? Her first name's Martha?"

"…How did you know that?" Harry blinked.

"I met her today," Gwen explained. "She's a really sweet lady."

"She sure is," Randy nodded, "but more than that she's a fighter. She was always right there backing up Grandpa Joe during everything that went on in the '60s…" he trailed off.

They walked in silence for a moment, before Gwen spoke up again.

"Randy?" she started.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you ever feel…I don't know how to put this…kind of weird whenever you're with the rest of us? Like you stand out, somehow?" Gwen asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Randy raised an eyebrow, even though he already suspected he knew what Gwen was talking about.

"I was probably one of the only white people in the whole gathering, and it felt really strange," Gwen admitted. "I mean, I know I shouldn't worry about it, but…is that what it's like for you sometimes, when you're with me, Kitty and the others?"

They walked in silence for a few moments, as Randy weighed what she said.

"Yeah, it is," he said calmly. "That's something a lot of white people don't always get-they think that their experience is just the default. When they end up in a situation where they're in the minority, a lot of the time they end up feeling pretty awkward, like they aren't quite sure what to say or do, or they're afraid of offending someone."

"And you go through that a lot?" Gwen asked hesitantly.

"I sure do," Randy continued. "Sometimes I even feel like I have to be on guard, especially if I don't know how some people can react. Even Kitty doesn't always have to worry about it-I mean, all she has to do to blend in is just not use her mutant powers," he pointed out.

They walked in silence for several minutes, as Gwen mulled over what Randy had told her.

And they have to deal with this every day, Gwen realized. I mean, I only stand out because I put on a Halloween costume and go out fighting crime. I can just hide it whenever I want.

So what am I supposed to say to him? Gwen wondered.

"I…I'm sorry to hear it," Gwen frowned, kicking herself inwardly for not being able to think of anything better.

"You're aware of it," Randy pointed out to her. "That's more than most people ever are."

They resumed walking in silence, as Gwen continued to think over what Randy had told her.

He used to be known as Fred Myers, a promising up-and-coming pitcher who'd been known not only for having a very low Earned Run Average, but also a remarkably high batting average for a pitcher. He'd been nicknamed the 'Comeback Kid' for his ability to lead the teams he played for to dramatic come-from-behind victories. The nickname also referred to his Australian heritage and the boomerangs he had grown up practicing his throwing skills with.

Of course, all that was before he'd been caught not only using steroids, but also betting on his own baseball games and having some of his sports groupies killed after they'd had sex with some of his teammates. Other professional athletes had done all these things, but very few of them had ever been repeatedly busted for each of the offenses. Any one of them would have been enough to get him blacklisted from the game, but in combination they not only got Myers banned for life but also arrested for murder.

Not that Fred particularly cared-he found that he'd gotten more of a rush out of the sex and violence he'd partaken in than any of the three pennants or two World Series he'd won while playing baseball. Nor had his criminal activities caused him to lose any of his fans among the criminal class. They'd seen his potential, including his viciousness in the occasional fights he'd gotten into in bars or even on the baseball field, and some of his fans in prison had connections. They'd provided him with the specialized equipment and body armor that he used to create the identity of Boomerang for himself. Now known as the 'Comeback Killer' in a twist on his original nickname, Boomerang was widely known and respected as a supervillain assassin who was quite willing to kill anyone anywhere if the price was right.

For the first few years of his career, Boomerang had not been ranked among the best of the supervillains who sold their services as hired killers. In the last year or two, however, his reputation had skyrocketed based on a long string of successful contracts, especially during his work for Philippe Bazin during a war between the New York crimelords last year. His fees had increased along with that, and Myers was enjoying the good life more than ever even in prison.

That good life was evident in the three-piece suit that Myers came dressed in for his appointment, as well as the contented smile on his face. He wasn't entirely sure who wanted to hire him, but with the ease with which his potential client had been able to track him down after his escape from prison Myers knew that the guy clearly had a lot of pull. They were meeting in an upscale office, which further reinforced to Myers just how powerful the client was.

Greeted by a pair of large, powerfully built goons in suits, Myers was led into the inner office, where a man was sitting behind a desk. Myers raised his eyebrows as he immediately recognized the client.

New York City's other crimelords, most notably Philippe Bazin and the late Silvermane, were known for dressing in refined, high-class attire such as Armani or Gucci. The man waiting for Fred Myers behind the desk was entirely different, dressing in American Apparel and Tommy Hilfiger fashions. He also stood out with his long ponytail, Converse shoes and the jacket he typically carried slung over his shoulder, all of which marked him out as an upscale young professional with a taste for the very latest in youthful trends. Following in the trend of many young mutants who adopted descriptive codenames for themselves, whether or not they fought or committed crimes, the man had even adopted a codename for himself.

Carl Wilkinson, or Crimewave as he preferred to call himself, eagerly shook Boomerang's hand before they sat down.

"So nice to see you, Boomerang," Crimewave smirked, resting his elbows on his desk and putting his chin in his hands. "How was the fugitive life?"

"Nothing too special," Boomerang shrugged, recalling how Crimewave preferred to use codenames when dealing with his supervillain employees. "I finally got the chance to start spending some of the money I'd made over the last year or so."

"That was how I found you, you know," Crimewave smirked. "I was the one who sold you so many of your aliases, remember?"

"Cute," Boomerang frowned, less than pleased with the revelation. "Anyway, just want is it you want with me?"

"You mean besides the fact that I want to hire you?" Crimewave rolled his eyes. "What else would I be willing to shell out three million dollars for? And don't answer my girlfriends-I don't need to pay for them," he continued, that smirk returning to his lips.

"So who's the target?" Boomerang asked, annoyed by the smug tone in Crimewave's voice and the smirk on his face.

"My ex-girlfriend Lily Hollister," Crimewave replied. "The bitch got her hands on some files that could really hurt me if they fell into the wrong hands. She wants $10 million, or she's turning them over to the FBI and the cops."

"So why do you need me?" Boomerang asked skeptically. "Just steal the files back!"

"Lily's got a photographic memory," Crimewave explained. "She's read all my files, and she said that if the electronic copies disappear, then she's just going to spill everything to the authorities verbally. Once you kill her, I can get my hackers to delete the files."

"And you can't just send some of your guys?" Boomerang asked.

"Oh, she knows how to defend herself," Crimewave shook his head. "That's why I need a specialist, somebody like you," he pointed out.

"Fair enough, then," Myers nodded, as they stood up and shook hands.

Three million bucks…Myers thought to himself as he left the office.

It used to be that I couldn't even pull a million for a job…I'm moving up in the world…

"You're sure you want to do this?" Kara Delevingne asked her daughter Sarah as they approached the Stacys' townhouse.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Sarah repeated herself. "I need to do this, Mom, especially with George being gone and everything. I have to try and meet them, get to know them!"

"I…" Kara just trailed off, shaking her head as they came up the front steps. "There's no getting around it, is there?"

Sarah didn't answer, instead taking a deep breath as she rang the doorbell.

Gwen couldn't imagine who would be at the door, figuring that it was probably just some salesman or someone who had the wrong house.

Opening it up, she found that the visitors were a pair of women. One was a middle-aged strawberry-blonde woman with a reserved manner, who didn't seem entirely comfortable to be there. The other one was a younger woman with blonde hair and bright blue eyes who seemed about Gwen's age. For a moment, Gwen was caught off guard, wondering if she was looking into a mirror.

"Hi there!" the younger woman greeted Gwen brightly. "I take it you're Gwen Stacy?"

"Yeah, I am," Gwen said calmly. "Who might you be? And how do you know my name?" she asked, now slightly wary.

"My name's Sarah, and this is my mom Kara," the younger woman replied. "And I…" she trailed off.

"You're…" Gwen began.

"I'm…" Sarah hesitated again.

"Who are you?" Gwen repeated herself, now slightly agitated.

Sarah finally took a deep breath, as if to muster her courage.

"…I'm your sister," Sarah finally managed to say.

Time seemed to stop for Gwen, as her heart skipped a beat. She was about to protest, saying that she'd never had a sister, but then she was struck at how much Sarah looked like her.

"I…" Gwen trailed off.

"You…should probably come in," she finally managed to say.

"You really do look so much like Gwen," Helen Stacy said to Sarah as she poured some more coffee. Gwen had called her mother Helen, her Aunt Nancy and cousin Jill to meet their houseguests, and had briefly explained who they were. Soon, all six women were having coffee as they invited Kara and Sarah to tell their story.

"If you're my sister, does that mean that George Stacy was your father?" Gwen asked, referring to the man who'd fathered her with Helen.

"Yeah, he was," Kara nodded. "I take it you both know about all the affairs George had with other women?"

The looks on the Stacy women's faces answered Kara's question for them.

"Well, I was one of the women he had a relationship with," Kara explained. "I was the daughter of a business acquaintance of his, and he impressed me with all his money and sweet talk. When I ended up pregnant, he seemed eager at first, but then he turned violent when he learned that I was going to have a daughter. He kept screaming about how he wanted a son…" Kara shuddered.

The Stacy women all looked at one another, recognizing George's ugly temper and even uglier misogyny in what Kara was telling her.

"I didn't want that psycho anywhere near my daughter, so my father helped me move out to live with some relatives in Hartford," she explained. "Dad didn't realize what I'd done until it was too late, and he wasn't really able to do much to get even with George," she explained. "I gave birth to Sarah out in Hartford, and we've lived there since then."

All six women sat in silence for a minute as they let that sink in.

"…So how come you're coming out to meet us now?" Gwen asked.

"To be honest…we were afraid of George," Sarah explained. "We had no idea how he'd react if we tried to go after him for child support or something like that. And then we heard he was murdered by a supervillain. After that we weren't really sure how to react, and then finally we heard about the rest of his family. And then…well…"

Sarah trailed off, looking back to her mother for support. As Kara nodded encouragingly, she continued.

"…I just wanted to meet you all," Sarah said slowly. "To say…I don't know…"

Gwen looked around at the rest of her family, before she spoke for all of them.

"I think we all understand what you want to say," Gwen assured Sarah and Kara.

The Stacy women invited their guests to stay for dinner, during which they all told one another about what was going on in their lives. Sarah was apparently studying to be a pediatrician at medical school, while Kara worked as an engineer for Spectorgraphics, the computer software company owned by New York businessman Marc Spector.

The Stacys and their guests spent the rest of the evening talking, up until Sarah and Kara prepared to leave.

It was while Kara was gathering her jacket that she ran into Helen in the hallway.

The two women stared at each other for a long time, before Kara finally spoke.

"Helen…" Kara trailed off.

"It all happened a long time ago," Helen shook her head. "And it was George's fault, not yours."

"Thank you," Kara said sincerely, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The Stacys and the Delevingnes spent most of the next day together, doing some shopping before introducing Kara and Sarah to Gwen's Grandpa Lieber, who was delighted to meet them. They'd then gone out for dinner, before finally rounding out the evening by going to a late showing of Indiana Jones And The Temple Of The Crystal Skull.

Sarah, Nancy and Kara went to go hold their seats and Jill and Sarah were in line at the snack bar. Gwen had needed to go to the washroom, but she intended to join Jill and Sarah in line as soon as she was done.

I still can't help but feel a little weird about all this, Gwen thought to herself as she washed her hands. I never thought I'd actually have a sister! And if I never knew about Sarah until just now, what if there are more of us out there?

That was when she recalled something she'd heard Helen tell Nancy-namely, that her father George had a low sperm count. Apparently it was the reason George had always had so little success. While George had made very sure that his doctor kept it a secret, he couldn't prevent himself from spilling the beans to Helen during one of his angry, drunken rants.

It serves him right that he only ever had daughters, Gwen thought with a half-smirk as she emerged from the washroom. I can just imagine how humiliating it was-

Gwen's train of thought was interrupted by a loud, piercing scream that seemed to cut right through her. Covering her ears in pain, Gwen sank to her knees, as many of the other people in the theatre lobby did the same thing. Steeling herself against the shriek still filling the air, Gwen crawled forward and looked up as she tried to determine what the cause of the scream was.

To her surprise, Gwen noticed that it was a white boomerang flying through the air, emitting the piercing scream. The boomerang landed in the hand of a man standing at the far end of the lobby. He was dressed in purple and blue body armor, with boomerangs on his chest, back, hips, boots and even his forehead. The man looked around with a smirk, satisfied that none of the people in the lobby were able to move. He pulled another boomerang from his belt, seemingly searching for someone.

For a moment, Gwen didn't recognize him, but then the memory of Boomerang came back to her. She'd fought the costumed killer over a year ago at Ben Reilly's birthday party, when he and a rival assassin named Bullseye had made a bet over which of them would kill Spider-Man first. The two killers had very nearly killed Spider-Man before Gwen interfered as Spider-Woman, defeating Boomerang while Spider-Man took care of Bullseye.

The rest of the people in the lobby were still incapacitated by the screaming boomerang Boomerang had thrown, but Gwen determinedly rose up on her hands and knees. Crawling as quickly as she could, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, Gwen swiftly made her way into a nearby empty theatre, which was being cleaned by the theatre employees. The employees had fled to call the police when they'd heard their screams, and Gwen had the place to herself.

She needed less than a minute to make the change.

Crimewave had sent scouts to tail Lily Hollister as she went out that night, and they'd kept on her track right up until she'd reached the theatre. They'd waited until she was waiting in line at the snack bar, before calling in Boomerang to do his thing. Having Lily Hollister killed at her apartment late at night would probably have raised the suspicions of the police, Crimewave's rival crime lords or a superhero like Moon Knight or Daredevil, so Crimewave had gone with the time-honored technique of having her death seem like the casualty a random supervillain robbery. It became that much more difficult to prove that the supervillain had killed a specific target, and indeed Boomerang intended to kill several people to make it look that way.

He let his bladarang go for the killing throw, but he was shocked as an energy blast came in from the side and shattered it. Looking around in alarm, Boomerang was confronted with the sight of the spectacular Spider-Woman swinging towards him on a webline. Activating his boot jets, Boomerang quickly sprang out of the way of Spider-Woman's swing kick, and cut through her webline with another bladarang. With practiced ease, Spider-Woman quickly righted herself and landed on her feet as Boomerang's weapon returned to him.

Spider-Woman and Boomerang stared at one another with mutual loathing, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"It's been a long time, sweetheart," Boomerang sneered, the tone in his voice showing that he had neither forgotten nor forgiven his past battle with Spider-Woman. "Are you really that eager to die?"

"Don't tell me you forgot who won the last time out?" Spider-Woman shot back.

"I didn't have a fee for you, kid," Boomerang replied calmly, "but now I bet there are a lot of people who'd be happy to pay for your pretty little head on their mantle. And I always make sure to collect."

In reply, Spider-Woman merely sprang into the air and shot her sting blasts at him. Boomerang easily dodged her first attack and tossed the bladarang in his hand at her. Spider-Woman spun a webline and easily dodged it, swinging first to one side and then to the other to dodge the bladarang as it came back. With her free hand, she caught Boomerang dead-on with a sting blast, causing him to drop his weapon. She then swung back, building momentum as she prepared to come back at him with another swing kick.

Unfortunately, she was blinded by the flash of light emitted by Boomerang's next weapon, and her kick went wide of the mark. Boomerang's bladarang cut through her webline and she began to fall. Twisting to right herself, Spider-Woman's eyes were still dazzled by the flasharang and she didn't see the next boomerang coming at her. The shatterang exploded as it hit Spider-Woman, cutting her all over with shrapnel. Crying out in pain, she landed heavily on the ground, as blood poured from her injuries.

Boomerang laughed out loud as he lowered a protective visor around his face. With his free hand, he tossed yet another boomerang, one which released tear gas throughout the lobby. Many of the people still present in the lobby, who had recovered from the screamarang and were now trying to flee, wheezed and gagged at the tear gas and sank back to the ground, too sick to move.

Spider-Woman was fortunate, in that the lenses in her mask shielded her eyes from the gas and she was careful to keep her mouth shut. While she was starting to inhale the gas through her nose, she determinedly ignored the irritation she felt and shot another webline at Boomerang.

Unfortunately, Boomerang saw her coming and dodged both the first webline, and the second one Spider-Woman shot at him. He charged toward Spider-Woman, who shattered the bladarang he threw with a sting blast. Boomerang had anticipated that, though, and it was then that the second boomerang he threw exploded into a burst of flame as it struck Spider-Woman, burning her all over. Spider-Woman stubbornly refused to give up, however, zapping Boomerang with another sting blast.

Scowling, Boomerang spun around and tossed another pair of bladarangs, which Spider-Woman caught with her webbing. Unfortunately, while she was doing that Boomerang tossed yet another bladarang, which Spider-Woman managed to dodge. She tossed the bladarangs she'd snagged with her webbing back at Boomerang, but he easily dodged it as he looked past her with a wicked smile. Whirling around in alarm, Spider-Woman saw Boomerang's returning bladarang slice through a young blonde woman's neck with pinpoint accuracy, before it slammed into an older man's chest and stuck there. The young woman was killed almost instantly, while the old man gasped as his life's blood poured from the gaping wound in his chest.

"Now see what you made me do?" Boomerang addressed Spider-Woman mockingly. "I just wanted this to be a simple robbery, and now look at what happened! How do you like having that on your conscience, little girl?"

Spider-Woman's only response was to leap into the air and swing at Boomerang, coming at him with another kick. Boomerang tossed another heatarang at her, but she simply blew it up with a sting blast she shot from her free hand. Boomerang tried another screamarang, but Spider-Woman blasted that one as well. Boomerang tried to reach for another weapon, but Spider-Woman caught him square in the chest with a vicious double swing kick. Letting go of her webline, Spider-Woman began to drop to the ground, but she snagged the reeling Boomerang with a webline and dragged him down with her. As she landed on the floor, she reeled Boomerang in and gave him a vicious punch in the face. The blow shattered his mask, and caused Boomerang to cough and gag at the tear gas still in the air.

Weakly, he raised his hands in surrender, before Spider-Woman hit him again in the stomach and began tying him up with her webbing. The police and emergency crews were finally emerging into the theatre, treating many of the people who had fallen victim to the tear gas Boomerang had sprayed around the place.

To Spider-Woman's immense relief, she saw that Jill and Sarah were unhurt, aside from the irritation to their eyes and noses that they'd suffered. That was little consolation, however, when Spider-Woman heard the paramedics say that both the young blonde woman and the older man hit by Boomerang's bladarang were dead. Several other people had suffered cuts or burns from the aftereffects of Boomerang's weapons, and the paramedics were already hard at work treating them.

Shaking her head sadly, and cursing herself for letting two innocent people get killed, Spider-Woman quickly snuck away to where she'd hidden her street clothes.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sarah asked Gwen when they'd finally returned home that evening. "I can't believe you got caught by both boomerangs," she continued, referring to the burns and cuts Gwen had suffered.

"It's not the first time it's happened," Gwen said sadly. "I heard in my Criminology class about how a lot of people have gotten hurt more than once in these supervillain battles. Lucky me," she frowned.

"…Is this what it's like living in New York?" Sarah asked, still slightly incredulous. "How do you stomach all these costumed psychos running around?"

"Don't you have them in Hartford?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Of course we do," Sarah nodded, "but not this many of them. How do you put up with it? Why don't you leave?"

"This is our hometown," Gwen replied. "Leaving New York would be like leaving a part of myself behind. I love my city, even if it can be a crime-ridden hellhole sometimes…"

"I just hate to see you hurt, is all," Sarah pointed out. "After all, we're sisters, right?"

Gwen smiled at that, as the two women hugged.

At the same time, though, guilt continued to stir at the back of her mind about the two people Boomerang had killed during his robbery attempt.

Crimewave was a thoroughly satisfied customer.

Boomerang may have been defeated, but he'd stuck fast to his story claiming that he was just there to rob the theatre and the theatregoers. There would no doubt be some police suspicion about the fact that one of the people Boomerang had killed was Crimewave's ex-girlfriend Lily Hollister. That didn't bother Crimewave too much, though, since hackers had already erased the data from Lily's computer and his break-in artists had already looted the backup copies of the files Lily kept on a memory stick at her apartment. Even if the police, or a detective superhero like Moon Knight, had tried to find some connection, Crimewave had already destroyed all the evidence.

He had already instructed his accountants to wire Boomerang's $3 million fee to his Cayman Islands bank account as payment. While the price might have been steep, Crimewave knew he'd saved about $7 million by not paying Lily's blackmail.

Besides, $10 million is too much to spend on any woman! Crimewave thought to himself with a laugh.

(Next Issue: Gwen renews her search for more acting and modelling work. While her efforts are successful, she finds herself questioning the roles more and more. Her feelings on the matter pale, however, in comparison to her emotions when the Stacys and the Delevingnes try to reach out to any other potential children of George Stacy. All this and more in Spider-Woman #64: Children Of The World!)