Family Reunion

"I'm sorry, kid," the Calvin Klein representative shook her head, "but we've already gotten everything booked. Your portfolio's nice and all, but we're already on a tight schedule as it is."

The response sounded more than a little fishy to Gwen Stacy, although she did her best to keep a calm face as she nodded and thanked the agent for her time. Turning around with a sigh, she headed for the exit, wondering where else she could make inquiries for work.

The Calvin Klein representative's answer was bullshit. Gwen knew it, and she suspected the agent knew it, too. The month of July had just started, and most of the bigger shows did not start for a good three weeks yet. Indeed, Gwen saw a group of other girls, all clutching their portfolios, walking into the building to apply for a job modelling the fashion house's fall collection. Despite her best efforts, Gwen had already missed getting a job modelling any of the summer collections, and she wasn't having any more luck for the fall collections.

I get why I'm having so much trouble getting acting roles, Gwen thought glumly as she made her way down the stairs to the subway station. That fat cow Carol Jannetty has a lot of pull. But what gives about my not being able to find any modelling work? Nobody wants to give me a straight answer-they just dance around the question, or they say that I'm not good enough, or that I don't have enough experience.

Like hell, I don't! Gwen fumed in annoyance as she made her way onto the subway platform. I might only be twenty, but I'm damn good at what I do.

So what gives?

SPIDER-WOMAN #65

"FAMILY REUNION"

"So all the changes were made?" Roderick Kingsley asked into his phone. "And you removed her from the list? Beautiful. Don't worry, your transfer's on its way," Kingsley assured the person on the other end, before he hung up.

While Kingsley was known as the "sneering lizard of the fashion world", particularly with all the sleazy and illegal tactics he was rumored to use to keep Kingsley Cosmetics on top in the fashion world, he hardly cared about that. In addition to all the clout he wielded because of his company, he also had his fingers in many of his competitors' companies, owing to the stock he either controlled or owned outright. He often used that to his advantage, either to strengthen Kingsley Cosmetics, or to settle more personal grudges.

One such grudge was the one he harbored against a little blonde snip by the name of Gwen Stacy. She'd once been one of Kingsley Cosmetics' newest talents, but when she slapped Roderick for groping her, he'd since made very sure she'd never work in this town again.

He'd spoken to every modelling agency in New York, pointing out to them that if they accepted Gwen as a client Kingsley Cosmetics wouldn't be doing business with them anymore. As a shareholder in other companies, he'd been able to use his clout to prevent them from hiring her directly. It all worked so much better than simply trying to smear Gwen, which had been his initial way of getting back at her. Most of Kingsley's contemporaries hated him, so they generally ignored his smears of Gwen.

Of course, when Kingsley backed up his words with his finances and influence, they were more willing to listen.

Thoroughly satisfied with the day's work, Kingsley stood up and went over to his office bar, visions of a whiskey and soda dancing in his head alongside the other ideas he had on how he could make Gwen's life miserable.

When Gwen returned home, she found that she had the place to herself. Her Aunt Nancy Stacy, her mother Helen Stacy and her cousin Jill Stacy had all gone out, so Gwen decided to make the best of it by checking the website she had set up to reach out to any potential siblings she might have had.

Her father, the late and unlamented George Stacy, had been dismayed that he'd had a daughter, rather than a son. One of the reason he had constantly cheated on Gwen's mother Helen was to attempt to have a son. While he had fathered another child, that child had turned out to be Gwen's half-sister Sarah Delevingne. The two half-siblings had recently met, as Sarah's mother had been too afraid of the violent, abusive George to do it until after George's death. Gwen and Sarah had then set up a website and Facebook page to try and reach out to any other potential siblings.

Unfortunately, all they'd gotten in response was people cursing them for being related to the racist, misogynistic and violent George, people who said that even if they were related to George, they didn't want to know, and idiots who just wanted to hit on them. Looking through the website, Gwen could see that it was just more of the same.

Sighing in frustration, she logged out. The site had been up for almost two weeks, and Gwen was about ready to give up and take the site down. She remembered Helen and Nancy talking about how George had apparently had a low sperm count, which accounted for his inability to have more than two children, despite all the affairs and flings he'd had.

Maybe Sarah and I really are the only ones, Gwen thought to herself. If George was shooting blanks all that time, there's not much more to it, is there?

That thought was a little depressing. She'd long wondered if she had any siblings, and while she was happy to have met Sarah and Sarah's mother Kara, Gwen would have liked to meet anyone else who might have been related to her.

Checking her watch, Gwen put those thoughts out of her head as she perked up. She had a very important engagement this evening, and she was more than looking forward to it.

It was a very special occasion, after all.

Gwen was surprised to see that she was the first one to show up at the meeting place. Usually the other person had to wait for her to come, as she was often delayed by her crimefighting responsibilities as the spectacular Spider-Woman. Despite everything Gwen had gone through, the person she was meeting had stuck with her through thick and thin, offering her love and emotional support when she needed it most.

Her boyfriend Randy Robertson wasn't long in arriving, carrying a large bouquet of flowers in his hands. His face brightened along with Gwen's as they recognized each other, and they ran the short distance between them, before tightly embracing one another.

"Happy six-month anniversary, Gwen," Randy grinned, as he gave her the bouquet of flowers.

"Oh, Randy, they're wonderful," Gwen smiled back, as she smelled them. "I got you something, too," she continued, passing the bouquet into one hand as she used the other to reach into her purse. Retrieving a small memory stick, she passed it to Randy.

"Remember how you told me about those Motown songs you like? I downloaded a bunch of them off of ITunes and compiled them for you. I got a few Marvin Gaye songs, some Stevie Wonder music, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops…I think I got about thirty or so on here," she explained.

"That means a lot to me, Gwen," Randy said, a grateful look on his face. "Seriously, you don't even know how much…"

"Maybe not, but I could at least guess," Gwen grinned. "Ready for dinner?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Randy grinned back as they walked down the street towards the Blue Star restaurant.

Randy and Gwen's conversation went back and forth for the next half hour, going from one subject to the next, until Randy asked Gwen one particular question.

"How's the job hunt going?" he asked her.

"…Not good," Gwen shook her head, relieved she hadn't choked on her drink when Randy asked it. "That bitch Carol Jannetty has pretty much screwed me out of any good acting roles, but I really don't understand why I keep getting turned down for modelling work. I mean, it's not like I had much trouble getting work before now…"

"I remember Tom Ferguson telling me about that Jannetty lady," Randy frowned. "She always acted like she owned whatever place she was at, bossing people around, treating them like garbage."

"And she holds grudges pretty well, too," Gwen sighed. "More of the old Stacy luck, of course."

"Well, maybe not," Randy smiled. "Mr. Ferguson also told me about how the Lifetime Network is casting for a new TV movie. Apparently some of the bigwigs at that station hate Jannetty. He knows one of the producers-maybe he could get you an audition?"

"That's another anniversary gift," Gwen smiled gratefully.

"I just wish there was something better than a Lifetime movie," Randy frowned. "They're not exactly high art."

"At this point, I'm not about to complain," Gwen reminded him. "The only other job I've managed to get this summer is a beer commercial."

"Yeah, and for Silver Ice Beer," Randy said in disgust, a sour look crossing his face. "I can't imagine anyone drinking that pee-water."

Gwen laughed along with Randy at that.

Whatever else I have to deal with, she thought to herself, I can always count on Randy to be there when I need him…

The young woman didn't look anything at all like what most people would expect a female Attica Prison inmate to resemble. She was a petite, sexy blonde woman in her early twenties, with bright green eyes, seemingly in her early twenties. Despite her tender years, she carried herself with the knowing, smirking manner of someone who had experienced many of the thrills of life, and was always eager for more.

Janice Olivia Yanizewski (or J. Olivia, as she preferred to be called, given that she hated the name Janice) looked around at the prison officials with an arrogant smile, her expression demonstrating what she thought of them. She hadn't been fazed much, if at all, by her stay in prison, simply seeing it as the latest in a long line of thrills and challenges she'd experienced.

Bored with the conventions of everyday life, J. Olivia had used her family's wealth and connections to push the social envelope. Her bisexual flings, use of methamphetamines and absinthe, her orgies and her raves had all been fun, but they paled in comparison to the thrill J. Olivia had gotten when she'd decided to try her hand at supervillain crime. With the technological gadgets built for her by the Tinkerer, J. Olivia had become the supervillain Joystick, committing her crimes as much for the thrills as any money she could get. Her first bank robbery had been derailed by the crime-fighting Spider-Woman, but J. Olivia hardly cared about that.

As Joystick, J. Olivia had gotten more of a rush than she had in years. Despite being put in Attica Prison for her crimes, including the seven people she'd killed in the robbery, J. Olivia didn't mind it too much. The humiliation she'd been able to inflict on her parents, including her stepfather Oscar Yanizewski, had been an added bonus.

J. Olivia had never known who her real father was-she was the result of an affair between her mother and some unknown man her mother refused to name. J. Olivia had been less than pleased by that, always wanting to know who her true father was.

Seeing the website created by that Gwen Stacy girl had fascinated J. Olivia, who wondered if she might be one of George Stacy's long-lost children. The idea intrigued J. Olivia, but it also enraged her, since Gwen had gotten to know her father, while J. Olivia never did. She was eager to reunite with her long-lost 'sister', particularly as Joystick.

Arranging her release hadn't been too difficult. J. Olivia had participated in a number of orgies with rich and powerful people, and she'd secretly filmed many of their escapades. With the help of her attorney, she had forwarded some of the material to people with pull in the prison system, blackmailing them into pulling the necessary strings to get her freed.

Now, it was just a matter of taking her limousine to the apartment she rented under a false name, and where she hid her spare Joystick equipment.

That's when the family reunion would start.

Kingsley was in a foul mood as he made his way into the country club. It had been a particularly bad day for him. The SEC was sniffing around some of the questionable stock manipulations he'd made against Chanel, his wife hadn't spoken to him ever since she caught him in bed with that tramp Felicia Hardy, and the director of that new Lifetime movie that was filming in New York had told him where he could shove his attempts to talk the director out of letting that blonde hussy Gwen audition for the production.

Roderick's brother Daniel Kingsley followed him in silence as he walked up to the bar and ordered drinks for the two of them. They sat down to join Dr. Gillies, a good friend of theirs who they'd met at one of the more 'select' parties the brothers had been known to attend.

"Hair of the dog, boys?" Dr. Gillies quipped as they sat down. "You look like you could use something hard."

"Don't even get me started, Dougie," Roderick started. "I just want this day to be over and done with."

"Hey, whatever your problems are, they can't be as bad as mine," the doctor shot back, before gesturing at the empty glasses in front of him. "Why do you think I got here so early?"

"So what's eating you, then?" Roderick asked, not particularly interested in listening to Gillies' bitching but looking for something to distract him from his own annoyance.

"You remember that Olivia chick, right? The one who hated being called Janice?" Gillies asked.

"Of course I do," Roderick replied. "Hell of a good screw, was in that one…'party' we had a year or two ago, became some fruit loop supervillain, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Dr. Gillies replied. "Well, it turns out that she took hidden 'pictures' of the party. She e-mailed me some of those pictures this morning, threatening to send them to my wife if I don't bullshit some psychological profile that says she's learned her lessons from now on."

Roderick choked on that for a moment. He hadn't been blackmailed by that Yanizewski chick, but now he was distinctly disturbed at the thought of what those pictures might do to him if they were revealed.

"If those pictures get out," Gillies continued, "I'm a dead man. That little bitch is making us all pull strings to get her released."

"What do you think her game is?" Roderick asked him, as a look of concern crossed Daniel's face.

"Some sort of daddy issues, apparently," Gillies explained. "She's convinced that jackass George Stacy is her father, or something like that."

That made Roderick pause.

"…The hell you say," he muttered, an evil smile crossing his face.

Three days later…

"Thank you so much," Gwen said to Randy, kissing him on the cheek before she opened the door and got out of the car. "Wish me luck!" she continued, before shutting the door.

Randy had been nice enough to give Gwen a ride to the studio, and he would be back to pick her up later that day. Mr. Ferguson had been a sweetheart too, talking to the casting director and getting Gwen an audition. Fortunately, Carol Jannetty's poisonous influence didn't seem to reach here. According to Mr. Ferguson, Jannetty had been acrimoniously fired from the Lifetime network some years back, and she wouldn't have any clout with the producers.

Predictably for a Lifetime movie of the week, most of the actors were either completely unknown, or previously well-known actors who'd long since fallen out of the limelight. Most of them weren't particularly good, at least not compared to Gwen herself.

Taking a deep breath, Gwen was determined to get things right. She had memorized her lines by heart, and she felt as close a connection to the role she was auditioning for as any she'd had before, whether Dorothy or Desdemona. Even if she didn't get the role, she had reconciled herself to it.

This is where I sink or swim, Gwen thought to herself. Don't blow it, Gwen-show everyone here what real acting is like!

The role Gwen was auditioning for was that of a teenage girl who was being cyberbullied by a vengeful ex-boyfriend, who publicly humiliated her after she refused to put out for him.

Reaching within herself, Gwen recalled all of the painful memories she felt of being groped by Roderick Kingsley, of being stalked as Spider-Woman by the electrically charged stalker Supercharger, of nearly having her very identity destroyed by her worst enemy, the madman Jack O' Lantern. She channeled all of that embarrassment, humiliation and despair into the role, bringing a subtle but devastating pain to the audition. Tears blinked at the corners of her eyes as she recalled what her boyfriend had done to her.

Channeling her inner stress and pain had worked wonders for Gwen when she'd first auditioned for the role of Eponine in Les Miserables, and it succeeded here once again. Although Gwen had mostly come to terms with all of those issues, their memories were still painful, and the pain she felt was in many ways sincere.

When she was done, Gwen felt the satisfaction of seeing that several of the people watching her were blinking back tears of their own, including the casting director.

She had just left the stage, and the next person had begun his audition, when a loud explosion blasted open the doors at the far end of the studio. Looking over in alarm with the rest of the actors and producers, Gwen's heart sank as she saw a beautiful young blonde woman, only a few years older than Gwen herself, stride into the studio. The woman was clad in a skintight black bodysuit with gold-colored metallic gauntlets, boots and a matching chest guard, all of which were connected by cables of the matching color. In her hands, the woman held a pair of batons of dark energy, which she eagerly clashed together. As she did, a bolt of energy streaked across the room, blasting a pile of filming equipment to pieces.

What the hell is Joystick doing here? Gwen wondered, looking around for a quick escape so she could change costume. There's nothing here she could rob, is there?

"Hi there!" Joystick smiled widely as she spun her energy batons in her hands. "Joystick's the name, mayhem's the game…most of the time, anyway. I'm actually here to engineer a little family reunion. Is Miss Gwen Stacy in the house?"

Family reunion? Gwen wondered in horror. What in God's name is she talking about?

"That's me," Gwen said, speaking up and stepping forward, out of the crowd. "What the hell do you want, and what do you mean by a family reunion?"

"I meant exactly what I said, sis!" Joystick leered, skipping towards her. "See now, you and I have the same daddy. Remember old George Stacy?"

"George Stacy?" Gwen repeated in amazement. "You mean, he's your…"

"That's right," Joystick smirked. "You're the little sister I never had!"

Gwen reeled at the news, hardly able to believe that she and Joystick could possibly be related.

"What…what do you want?" Gwen stammered, as several of the people behind them ran out of the room, while others kept watching in amazement.

"What, I can't say hello to my little sister?" Joystick asked, a look of mock hurt on her face. "I just wanted to meet you face to face…you know, before I rip your pretty little blonde head off. It's really a shame we're related, you know…"

"What the hell did George do to you?" Gwen shook her head in wonder. "Why are you-"

"I never got to meet George, you dumb skank," Joystick shot back. "Mom always refused to tell me who my father was! You and that Sarah chick got to grow up with him! He was never there for any of the big moments in my life! HOW THE HELL IS THAT FAIR?" she demanded, her voice rising into an angry screech.

For several moments, Gwen was speechless, amazed that Joystick could be deluding herself so much.

"You don't know anything at all about George, do you?" she demanded. "He was a drunk who beat Mom and me black and blue! He was a bigot who sponsored anti-mutant hate groups! He worked for criminals! And you honestly think I'm lucky for knowing that stupid bastard?"

Joystick was silent for a few moments as she took that in. Her eye twitched, and the air became filled with tension.

"You bitch," Joystick said slowly. "You goddamn bitch…all your life, you knew who your father was. You never had to lie about it. And I swear to God…I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" she screamed, swinging her batons at Gwen.

Even with her spider-like reflexes, it was all Gwen could do to duck the attack. Desperately trying to scramble to her feet, Gwen wondered what to do next. To her surprise, she saw a chair flying past her, towards Joystick. It only took Joystick a few seconds to knock the chair away with her batons, but that was all the time Gwen needed as she ran for her life.

Snatching up her tote bag, Gwen managed to escape into the hall, her heart pounding as she frantically looked for somewhere she could hide for the few seconds she needed.

The dressing room she passed was the natural choice.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Joystick shouted in anger at the few people remaining in the studio. "I swear, if that blonde cow doesn't get out here in ten seconds, I'm going to kill each and every-"

"Looking for me?" the spectacular Spider-Woman said mockingly as she swung down towards Joystick, her feet leading in a vicious swing kick. "I know I'm not exactly a blonde, but I would be if I could just figure out what dye to use. Got any recommendations?"

"Oh, I was hoping I'd run into you at some point," Joystick hissed as she rolled out of the way of Spider-Woman's kick. "Payback's a bitch, and so am I!" she snapped, as she slammed her batons together and created a powerful energy bolt. Spider-Woman managed to dodge the first blast, but before she could strike back Joystick fired another bolt that caught her dead on. Both bolts ripped through the production equipment in the studio, blasting Spider-Woman along with them.

Groaning as she struggled to her feet, Spider-Woman fired a sting blast from her hand to deflect yet another of Joystick's energy blasts. With her other hand, she fired another blast, which caught Joystick dead on and knocked her down. Catching Joystick with a webline, Spider-Woman pulled hard, intending to reel Joystick in and knock her out with a punch. Unfortunately, Joystick had recovered more quickly than Spider-Woman anticipated and clobbered the arachnid heroine with her energy batons, leaving Spider-Woman reeling as Joystick caught her with another energy blast and sent her flying into the far wall, knocking over several cameras and pieces of sound equipment.

Spider-Woman's entire body ached as she got to her feet. Looking around for the next attack, she was suddenly blinded as the studio lights began flaring on and off. Her eyes completely dazzled, Spider-Woman couldn't stop from being struck by a mobile camera platform.

"This is even better than I hoped!" Spider-Woman heard Joystick laugh. "I come here to kill my sister, and I get to squish a spider as a bonus! Is this my lucky day, or what?"

Blinking away the spots in front of her eyes, Spider-Woman spun around and fired a sting blast in the direction she heard Joystick's voice from. She heard Joystick leaping through the air, and then spun a webline in the direction she guessed Joystick was jumping. Her intuition was correct-Joystick was at the controls of the studio's lights and camera equipment, using the wires in her gauntlets to control the equipment. There wasn't much there for Joystick to hide behind, so she had to jump through the air.

Swinging the webline, Spider-Woman eventually sent it flying, causing Joystick to crash through some more equipment and crash heavily into the far wall. As her vision cleared, Spider-Woman could see Joystick slumped against the wall, struggling to get to her feet.

Spider-Woman didn't intend to give her the chance, leaping at Joystick and catching her just as the other woman got to her feet. The two women fought for several minutes, exchanging punches, kicks, sting blasts and baton strikes. However, it seemed like Joystick had the advantage, given how Spider-Woman had suffered more injuries during their fight.

"This is where it all ends, honey," Joystick leered as she knocked Spider-Woman down and raised her batons for the killing strike. "And once I finish you off, then I'm going after my sis-"

Joystick was cut short as Spider-Woman caught her square in the face with a blast of webbing. As Joystick stumbled back in surprise, Spider-Woman sprang up, now having her second wind, and proceeded to hit Joystick at point-blank range with a double shot of her sting blasts. Crying out in pain, Joystick was powerless to fight back as Spider-Woman blitzed her with punches and kicks, until she finally passed out.

Finally webbing Joystick up, Spider-Woman hauled her over to the police officers who were now making their way into the studio, even as she quickly dashed past them and out of the studio. Fortunately, no one was in the hallway, giving her the few seconds she needed to nip into the dressing room where she'd hidden her street clothes.

Gwen had managed to hide most of the bruises she'd suffered during the fight, and keep from looking too messed up by the conflict. Checking herself in the mirror, she found she looked disheveled but not too injured, and otherwise looked appropriate for someone who had been running for her life.

Stepping out into the hallway, she was greeted by the police and by several of the movie producers, who all looked at her expectantly as she came up to them. No one seemed particularly pleased to see her.

"You're Gwen Stacy, right?" the casting director glowered at her.

"Yes sir, I am," Gwen nodded. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Luckily for you, no they weren't," the director scowled at Gwen, all of a sudden making her feel very small. "The studio was completely destroyed, and we've lost all our equipment. It's your fault that maniac showed up here, you know! Do you realize how many people could have been killed?"

"But…but how could I know?" Gwen protested, pain in her voice.

"She has a point," one of the producers pointed out.

"No, she doesn't," the casting director replied, his eyes flaring angrily. "She's George Stacy's daughter. Do you know what George Stacy's done?"

Gwen's heart skipped a beat at the thought of what was about to happen.

"George bankrolled those Friends of Humanity bastards," the casting director continued. "They murdered Beautiful Dreamer just because she was a mutant. She never hurt anyone, but they killed her just because she had some extra gene."

The dirty looks and angry glares directed at Gwen turned her stomach.

"And I was abused by him, too," she replied, trying to stay as calm as she could. "He didn't care for my mother and I any more than he did mutants, or people of color, or-"

"Save your sob story for someone who cares," the casting director shot back, in a voice that none of the other people in the room dared to question.

Gwen's cheeks flushed with anger, infuriated at the injustice of it all. A part of her wanted to shout back at the casting director, and call him out for not realizing that she'd suffered at her father's hands too. She restrained herself, though, knowing full well that it wouldn't accomplish anything and would only further damage her reputation…not that it wasn't already screwed, anyway.

Stewing in her fury, she merely turned and left the studio.

Gwen was blinking back tears again, but this time she wasn't acting.

(Next Issue: Having obtained only one acting job so far, and with Roderick Kingsley and Carol Jannetty both sabotaging her career, Gwen becomes increasingly desperate for work. A chance encounter leads Gwen to find work in an area she never would have considered, in about the last place she ever would have expected. While things seem to be looking up for her financially, things take a turn for the worse when her old enemy Polestar returns and goes on a crime spree! All this and more in Spider-Woman #66: Law Of Attraction!)