Law Of Attraction

"I'm glad you were able to come with me," Randy Robertson told Gwen Stacy as they made their way down the street towards the Harlem church. "Believe me, it means a lot."

"It's my pleasure," Gwen assured him. "So, he's really the actual King of Wakanda?"

"That's right," Randy grinned. "His Royal Highness, King T'Challa IV, heir to the Panther Totem and the Royal House of Wakange. He's going to be addressing the United Nations, but whenever he comes to New York he also makes a point of speaking at some of the venues the black community have set up."

"So what's Wakanda like?" Gwen asked. "Does T'Challa actually make all the decisions and tell people what to do?"

"No, he doesn't," Randy shook his head. "T'Challa's kind of a constitutional monarch, sort of like most of the kings and queens in Europe. All of the general decisions on things like taxes and laws are actually made by an elected prime minister and a parliament. As the Black Panther, T'Challa's both a symbol of the nation and a symbolic protector."

"So he's like Wakanda's answer to Captain America?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"He's much more than that," Randy shook his head. "If anything, Captain America is almost this country's answer to the Black Panther."

Gwen just blinked at him in surprise.

"What do you…" she trailed off.

"Before it was colonized by Europe, Africa was made up of a whole bunch of different kingdoms and independent countries-Kongo, Buganda, Loango, the Songhai and Mali Empires, Mapunguwe, and so on," Randy said, passion in his voice as he warmed to his subject. "Most of these countries were eventually colonized by Europe, and in the end only Ethiopia and Wakanda managed to keep their independence. In Wakanda's case, it had to do with the Black Panther, who was the warrior-king of Wakanda."

"What made him so strong?" Gwen asked curiously.

"According to legend, the Wakange tribe was suffering under the predations of its neighbors and almost enslaved, when its chief made a deal with Bast, the animal god of the panthers. He promised that the Wakange would worship Bast if he gave them the power of the Totem of the Panther to protect them. The pact was sealed, and the Wakange chief was given the mantle of the Black Panther, along with the fighting skills and superhuman abilities that came with it."

"How long ago was this?" Gwen blinked in surprise, not entirely sure what to make of the story.

"Possibly in the eighth or ninth century," Randy shrugged. "No one's really sure. In any case, once the Black Panther had received Bast's support, and saved the Wakange from their enemies, they founded the Kingdom of Wakanda. Since then, every new person to inherit the Wakandan throne also inherits the power of the Panther Totem, and has protected Wakanda from everything from invasions by other African countries to European colonizers to supernatural horrors and demons. The Panther has done the same thing for Wakanda that Captain America does for us, for over a thousand years before Captain America was ever created."

"Wow," Gwen said in amazement. "So what's Wakanda like now?"

"It's one of the wealthiest countries in Africa," Randy continued, "but that's still not a whole lot compared to Europe or North America. Most people can afford to put food on the table, and get the basic necessities of life, but not much more than that. Most Wakandans still can't afford a lot of the things we take for granted."

"That's too bad," Gwen frowned sympathetically.

"Without the Black Panther, things would be a lot worse," Randy pointed out to her. "T'Challa's been king for only about four years, and he's already had to fight the likes of Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, the Mandarin, Magneto, the Secret Empire, the Supermacists, the Soul Strangler, Baron Macabre and Moses Magnum. And his father had to fight all the African dictators who wanted to invade and loot Wakanda-Mobutu, Mugabe, Gaddafi, Siad Barre, Idi Amin…"

"…Wow," Gwen said in amazement. She had no idea who most of the people Randy was talking about actually were, but she was moved by the intensity and passion in his voice.

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

"Why did you ask me to come?" Gwen asked curiously. "Wouldn't your family-"

"We've already heard T'Challa speak a few times," Randy explained. "I thought you might be interested in hearing him."

Gwen only blinked in surprise. She had to admit that she wasn't particularly interested, and had only come with Randy because it was clear to her how much it meant to him.

What would T'Challa be talking about, anyway?

SPIDER-WOMAN #66

"LAW OF ATTRACTION"

"Are you alright?" Randy asked Gwen as they entered into the church. "You seem kind of down."

"It's nothing," Gwen assured him. "I'm just tired, that's all."

Randy just frowned.

"It's a testament to your acting skills that I almost believed that," Randy said, his eyes narrowing. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

"I..." Gwen hesitated. "I…just haven't had much luck getting work. That fat bitch Carol Jannetty ruined any chance I might have at getting any good acting parts, and that Lifetime movie audition was ruined by Joystick showing up. Joystick! Can you believe it?" she said, frustration evident in your voice.

"Yeah, I can," Randy assured her. "Don't worry, things will pick up."

Gwen tried to smile at that, but her discouragement was evident as they sat down in the pews.

It wasn't long before King T'Challa appeared on stage, to the warm and appreciative reception of the crowd. Gwen was immediately struck by the impressive feeling he radiated. It was the first time she had ever seen him, but Gwen already recognized T'Challa as a fierce warrior, a wise statesman, an insightful philosopher and a brilliant scientist all at once. The Black Panther was every inch a king, a man who not only personified the proud mantle he had inherited but brought it to entirely new horizons.

When T'Challa spoke, he conveyed a powerful energy that carried into his audience, and Gwen was soon as entranced as the rest of the crowd, hanging on his every word. T'Challa was drawing a parallel between the oppression and suffering black people had experienced in Africa and what they had endured in North America, and how far they had come after overcoming those difficulties. They were still confronted with serious problems, of course, but they could overcome these, too.

The fire in T'Challa's words clearly meant a great deal to the crowd, who hung on his every word. Looking at Randy, Gwen saw the intensity on his face, and understood just why he admired T'Challa so much.

Hearing T'Challa speak also reminded Gwen of everything she herself had to deal with, both in her personal life and in her superhero identity as the spectacular Spider-Woman. She'd grown up in a broken home; she'd had to deal with anger issues stemming from her home life; she'd nearly driven herself crazy trying to juggle her responsibilities to her family, her schoolwork, her money problems and her career as a superhero; she'd been sexually harassed by would-be employer Roderick Kingsley; she'd had to endure a public hate campaign launched against her by Vincent Gonzalez; she'd nearly gotten herself killed as Spider-Woman fighting a seemingly endless parade of psychopathic supervillains; she'd nearly lost her very identity to the psychological tortures her archenemy Jack O' Lantern had put her through.

Compared to all that, the problems she was having finding work were positively minor, so why did she feel like giving up?

What good would that have done me, or anyone? Gwen thought to herself. Come on, Gwen-you've overcome worse.

You beat all that, and you can beat this too!

Out of the corner of his eye, Randy looked at Gwen, who seemed to be hanging on T'Challa's every word. No doubt she was, but Randy also noted the fire in Gwen's eyes, the way her fists were clenched and the determined look on her face.

Smiling to himself in satisfaction, he returned to listening to T'Challa's speech.

"You look like you've cheered up," Randy grinned at Gwen as they left the church once the speech was over.

"What…oh!" Gwen exclaimed, as Randy had startled her out of her reverie. "Yeah, I do feel a lot better," she smiled.

"And why's that?" Randy asked, knowing what her answer would be.

"Hearing T'Challa talk reminded me of all the problems I've had, and how I've overcome them," Gwen explained. "I mean, it's obviously not the same thing people in the black community have had to deal with, but-"

"-but it still applies to you anyway, doesn't it?" Randy smirked.

"Yeah, it does," Gwen said in surprise. "How did you…"

"Remember The Wiz?" Randy grinned, reminding Gwen of the play they'd appeared in together.

"You mean…so that's why you…" Gwen slowly realized.

Randy just grinned back at her.

"Oh Randy," Gwen hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much…"

"Anytime, kiddo," Randy reassured her.

It's not so bad, Gwen reminded herself the next day. This won't be the most fun work in the world, but at least it'll be a steady paycheck. Besides, I can probably just work any rehearsals and things like that around my schedule…

Given that her efforts at finding new acting and modelling work had been so unsuccessful over the last several weeks, Gwen had decided to go to see if she could get a summer job working at a clothing store, a restaurant or somewhere else like that. She had been fired from her last waitressing job back when she was still living with Kitty Pryde, but that was because she was trying to balance her day job, her schoolwork, her superhero activities and her acting and modelling careers all at once. Now, with more free time and less strain on her finances, Gwen figured she would have a much easier time coming in to work on time.

The first hour was fairly straightforward, as Gwen went to various stores and shopping centres and submitted the application forms she'd downloaded off the Internet. Gwen was in the food court, having just finished eating the lunch she had gotten at a vegetarian place her friend Liz Allan had recommended to her, when she heard someone tugging at her pant leg.

Turning around in surprise, Gwen looked down to see a little girl with reddish-brown hair, who looked like she was about half Gwen's age. The girl had a fearful look on her face, and the redness of her eyes indicated that she'd been crying.

"Robin, it's…Oh no…" the little girl gasped. "You're not my sister!" Tears formed in her eyes again, as she seemed ready to cry all over again.

"Who's Robin, sweetie?" Gwen asked softly, as she reached out and took the girl's hands in her own. Her gentle manner seemed to put the girl at ease, as she hiccupped briefly and blinked away her tears.

"Robin's my sister," the girl explained, speaking more calmly this time. "She looks a lot like you."

"Were you shopping here with Robin?" Gwen asked. "Did you get lost?"

"Yeah, I did," the girl replied. "Robin and I got caught up in this big crowd, and then we got separated. By the time the crowd broke up, I couldn't find her. That's when I started looking. We were going to have some lunch, so I thought that this is where she'd be."

"She's probably looking for you right now," Gwen said. "Would you like me to help you find her?" she continued.

"You'd do that?" the girl brightened.

"Sure I would," Gwen smiled reassuringly. "What's your name?"

"Tiffany," the girl replied. "What's yours?"

"Gwen," Gwen replied. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Tiffany smiled.

"Here, come on up," Gwen said as she picked Tiffany up and turned the girl around. Soon, Tiffany was sitting on Gwen's shoulders, giggling as Gwen dutifully carried her around.

"Just watch the hair, okay?" Gwen asked with a half-smile, as Tiffany grabbed her head to avoid falling.

"Why don't we try looking in at the security desk?" Gwen asked Tiffany, once they'd searched the food court. "Maybe Robin already reported you missing. We can check in on the other stores on the way, too."

"That's a good idea," Tiffany agreed. "Giddyap, Gwen!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Gwen replied, as the both of them started giggling.

They had been walking for nearly ten minutes when they heard someone calling out Tiffany's name. Glancing over, Gwen was surprised to see a young woman about her age, and whose hair was a remarkably close shade to her own, running towards them with a look of relief on her face. Tiffany gave a cry of recognition, so Gwen immediately came over to meet the other woman. It wasn't long before the other woman had reached out and taken Tiffany off of Gwen's shoulders, hugging her tightly before setting her down.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Robin asked Tiffany, hugging her tightly.

"Yeah, I am," Tiffany assured her. "This nice Gwen girl helped me find you!"

"I can't thank you enough," Robin said as she stood up and turned to face Gwen. "Tiffany is my kid sister. I was worried sick about what happened to her."

"Don't worry, it's my pleasure," Gwen assured her. "You two are going to be alright?"

"Yeah, we will now," Robin nodded, before a strange look crossed her face.

"…What?" Gwen asked as she and Tiffany looked at Robin curiously.

"I could swear I know you from somewhere," Robin muttered. "Wait…I know! You won that Spring Break beauty pageant down in Fort Lauderdale a few months ago, didn't you?"

"That's right," Gwen grinned. "I-"

"And you also did that Lina Inverse cosplay job at the comic convention," Robin continued. "Yeah, I remember you now. You got really rave reviews!"

"…I did?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"You didn't know?" Robin blinked. "All the websites mentioned how well you played the role."

"What websites?" Gwen asked in confusion.

"…I take it you don't follow the anime scene much," Robin realized. "A lot of the websites that covered the convention mentioned the exhibit you were part of, and they commented on how well you did the role of Lina Inverse. My cousin's really into that stuff. You're an actress, right?"

"Yeah, and a model," Gwen nodded, "but I haven't had much luck finding work lately. I actually came to the mall to apply for some summer jobs."

"Well, before you do that, how about I introduce you to Scott? He and some friends have started their own custom commission cosplay company. They're going to make costumes to order for people who want to cosplay at conventions and the like, but who don't have the time or the skill to make their own costumes. They're looking for some models to help with their new product launch. Is that something you'd be interested in?"

"Of course I am," Gwen grinned eagerly. "I have to admit, I don't know much about this anime culture stuff, but…"

"I'm sure Scott and his friends will tell you everything you need to know," Robin assured her. Reaching into her purse, she took out a packet of business cards and handed one to Gwen. "Here's his company website. If you e-mail them and tell them I sent you, I'm sure they'd be happy to set something up."

"Hey, thanks a lot!" Gwen said brightly.

"No, thank you," Robin replied, in all seriousness. "You helped me find Tiffany. This is the least of what I owe you."

The three girls shook hands one last time before leaving, Gwen having an extra spring in her step.

First Randy cheers me up, and now this, she thought to herself.

Things are looking up!

He used to be known as Thomas Duffy, but he never used that name anymore. Looking at him now, it was hard to believe that he had ever been human. He looked like some sort of gruesome cross between a robot and a human, with mechanical and cybernetic parts interspersed in a hideous combination of flesh and metal. For all that, the cyborg creature had long ago become used to his condition, and indeed had come to enjoy it. The magnetic powers he could command, and the criminal career he'd used them for as the supervillain Polestar, were far more worthwhile to him than the pathetic life he'd used to live a second-rate lab technician for Hammer Labs.

Although he'd been defeated by the spectacular Spider-Woman more than once, Polestar had nonetheless made a reputation for himself by attacking high-profile events like the televised Spring Break party at Fire Island last year. His murderous exploits were a major reason why he'd been selected as one of a large group of supervillains the Kingpin had managed to get released from prison.

Now, sitting and listening to one of the Kingpin's top lieutenants, Polestar was eager to return the favor.

"So, what exactly is this going to accomplish?" Polestar asked once Fancy Dan had laid out the activities he was going to perform. "I can get why you want me to break into the police station and magnetize some of their computers. But why do you want me to rob these banks in particular? I mean, why can't I hit a jewelry store or something?" His voice was discordant and electrically scrambled, making his disturbing appearance all the more unnerving.

"They're diversions," Fancy Dan explained. As one of the Enforcers who ran the day-to-day affairs of the Kingpin's syndicate, he was in charge of internal affairs and administration. "Long story short, the Kingpin has everything planned. What you're doing will work in conjunction with the rest of the villains…and then this city will really suffer," he grinned wickedly.

"Fair enough," Polestar shrugged. "I just wanted to know for bragging rights."

Dan's smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a suspicious glare.

"What do you mean, 'bragging rights'?" he demanded.

"Something to improve my stature with," Polestar shot back, as if it should be obvious. "A nice dash of humiliation for my family."

"Just watch who you open your mouth to," Dan warned him. "If you fuck things up…"

"I know how to do my job," Polestar said, not the least bit intimidated. "Of course, if you end up messing with me…"

"You have family, don't you?" Dan replied, his eyes narrowing. "You-"

"Weren't you listening?" Polestar scoffed as he pushed his chair back and stood up. "What makes you think I give a rat's ass about my family?"

Laughing to himself, he marched out of Dan's office and slammed the door behind him, leaving Dan blinking in surprise.

The offices of Imagic-Nation Costumes were very different from the offices of the fashion houses that Gwen typically worked for. Instead of pictures of models and past works, the walls were covered with pictures from various anime, video game and movie franchises. Gwen recognized a few, such as the comic book character Superman or Cinderella, but most of them were utterly lost on her. Comic books and action figures competed for shelf and desk space with design and sewing supplies, large display cases were filled with a wide variety of collector's merchandise, a large room was filled with a foosball table, a big screen TV and several video game systems, smartphones were scattered on desks and ringing at random.

Looking around as she walked through the office, Gwen couldn't help but feel how weird this all seemed to her. In comparison to the professional-looking offices at places like Calvin Klein or Kingsley Cosmetics, the entire place seemed like a disorganized mess. Nor did she find the décor particularly appealing, given how unfamiliar she was with what Scott had called 'geek culture' and how Imagic-Nation Costumes catered to that market.

"Hi, there!" Gwen heard a voice behind her. Turning around, she saw a tall man, perhaps a few years older than her, smiling warmly as he held out a hand in greeting.

"Hello," Gwen smiled back as she shook his hand. "Are you Scott?"

"I sure am," he grinned. "And you must be Gwen. You're right on time."

"Where is everybody?" Gwen wondered. "Are you the only one here?"

"A lot of people have today off," Scott explained. "The rest of them are in our back studios getting the photoshoot ready. Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

They turned and walked down another hallway, although Scott noticed Gwen trailing behind him, still looking around at everything in the offices.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"…Huh?" Gwen asked, slightly startled. "Yeah, I'm fine…I'm just…" she trailed off.

"Let me guess," Scott replied with a half-smile. "You're not used to geek culture, are you?"

"Well…" Gwen trailed off in embarrassment. "I was never really into a lot of this stuff. I only got invited to work at that comic book convention because one of the people who worked there was also on a Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics set."

"Really?" Scott asked in surprise. "So you don't watch anime, or anything like that?"

"…Not really," Gwen was forced to admit. "I've never really paid attention to comics, or anime, or fantasy games or whatever. To be honest, I..." she said, before she managed to stop herself.

"You what?" Scott asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I always found it kind of weird," Gwen forced herself to say, kicking herself for letting her mouth sink another good modelling job.

"That's all?" Scott asked in surprise. "Hey, it's no big deal."

"…What?" Gwen was caught off guard by his response.

"I get where you're coming from, really," Scott assured her. "Some people in this subculture really do take things way too seriously. They're the ones who make the rest of us look like a bunch of antisocial weirdos. I mean, look how people who like Star Trek or Doctor Who are usually presented in movies or TV shows."

Gwen thought back to most of the people she'd met at the convention. They'd seemed weird at first, but most of them had been quite friendly and accommodating, and were quite willing to explain some of the ins and outs of their fandoms to her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm just not used to it, is all."

"Like I said, it's no big deal," Scott assured her. "Besides, you're actually kind of doing us a favor here."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"You won that Spring Break pageant, remember? That's going to be a great marketing hook," he smiled.

Gwen just laughed with him.

Whatever feelings of weirdness Gwen felt soon disappeared once the photoshoot had begun. Gwen was amazed by the level of detail and craftsmanship that Scott and his designers had put into the outfits that they had her model, the love they had for the characters coming through in their work.

Gwen also realized that there was something she very much shared with the cosplayers Imagic-Nation catered to, namely the joy she felt in performing a new role, whether on stage or in front of a camera. As she put on each new costume, she embraced every new role and made it her own.

One moment she was Lina Inverse again, the next she was Princess Peach. One moment she was Supergirl, the next she was Deedlit. One moment she was Belldandy, the next she was Wonder Woman.

The cheque Scott gave her at the end of the session was icing on the cake, as far as Gwen was concerned. She had genuinely enjoyed herself in the photoshoot, and hadn't had that much fun since she'd performed with Randy in the Shakespeare In The Park version of Othello.

Who knows, Gwen though to herself as she waited for the bus in the late afternoon, maybe this could be a new venue for me.

I guess this is it, Gwen thought to herself the next day as she looked at the selenite tower in the display case. The crystal was certainly lovely to look at, although Gwen couldn't quite fathom why it would have the magic powers practitioners claimed that it did.

Shrugging to herself-she wasn't the one who was going to be using it, after all-Gwen open the case and picked up the tower, before adding it to the collection of stones she had gathered. Along with the selenite, Gwen had also picked up a rose quartz, a moonstone and a carnelian. According to the materials she had looked at on the Internet, the crystals promoted things like mental clarity, diminishing negative experiences, feminine energy, psychic abilities and self-esteem.

"You're a new practitioner?" the cashier, a brown-haired woman in her late thirties, asked Gwen as she walked up to the counter. "Or are you preparing a new altar?"

"Huh?" Gwen asked in surprise. "Oh…no, these aren't for me," she shook her head. "I'm getting them for a friend. She's the one who needs them."

"That's very kind of you," the woman replied as she entered Gwen's purchases into the register. "Is she a new practitioner?" the woman continued once she'd given Gwen the price.

"Not exactly," Gwen shook her head, as she took some bills out of her wallet to pay. "She's…got her own path to follow."

"And you've done a lot to help her realize it," the woman smiled at Gwen, handing over her change, "in many different ways," she continued, her eyes twinkling.

Gwen wondered what the woman meant by that, as she left the New Age shop.

Lost in thought, Gwen walked towards the bus stop. Her nose wrinkled a bit as she how heavily it had rained night. The streets were still filled with the distinct smell that filled the air, but fortunately the sky had cleared up quite a bit.

She hoped that Marie-Ange Colbert would like the gifts she was bringing. The last time Gwen had visited, Marie-Ange had alluded to how she was reconnecting with Wicca as a way to empower herself and also begin to make amends for her past sins. Unfortunately, it was hard for her to acquire all the materials she wanted, even though they would be very useful to her.

Gwen was eager to help Marie-Ange in any way she could. As the mutant Tarot, Marie-Ange had originally tried to use her superhuman powers to get revenge on the people who'd tormented her, but Gwen had stopped her as Spider-Woman. Out of sympathy for Marie-Ange, and out of guilt for not doing more to help her in high school, Gwen had begun regularly visiting Tarot in prison. She wanted to get Marie-Ange the crystals as a sort of birthday gift-even if Gwen had no idea when Tarot's birthday actually was, it would hopefully be a nice gesture. The crystals clearly meant a lot to Marie-Ange, and if they made her happy Gwen was happy to help her get them.

The screams and crashes coming from up the street jolted Gwen out of her thoughts. Looking towards where she heard the racket coming from, Gwen saw bolts of energy and shards of metal flying everywhere. People were running for their lives, many of them stumbling out of the bank where the ruckus was clearly happening.

Gwen's mood immediately changed, as her eyes flashed. Instead of running towards the chaos, she glanced around for some place to hide. The alley a little further down the street, back past the New Age shop, was entirely deserted.

Changing costume had become such a routine for Gwen by now, she hardly realized she was doing it.

Polestar laughed to himself at how easy it was. All it took was a blast of concentrated magnetism to scramble the bank's alarms, and the phones of many of the people calling for help, to cut off most of the attempts to call for help. Next came bursts of electromagnetic energy to knock out the security guards and other do-gooders who tried to stop him. Finally, he scrambled the electronic lock on the bank vault and yanked it open. In between, just for kicks, he flung computers, chairs, an old man's wheelchair, and other objects at the hapless people remaining in the bank.

It was at times like this that Polestar truly felt full of life, far more than he ever had in his previous pathetic life as Thomas Duffy. Far from being the nobody who was life's shitbucket, who'd always come in second best, who never caught the breaks, Polestar was something else entirely.

Look at them run! Polestar thought to himself as he laughed out loud. All of them! And now, he continued, as he gazed into the vault, for the money. Concentrating with his powers, Polestar ripped many of the safety deposit boxes out of the very walls of the vault, luring them towards him. Prizes were already apparent in many of the boxes, ranging from cash to jewelry to priceless antiques to deeds and stock options.

And to think, Polestar thought with a smirk, I'm making more in ten minutes than I ever made in ten years!

The cries of relief alerted Polestar, and he immediately relinquished control of the safety deposit boxes. Whirling around, he threw up a magnetic shield to deflect the sting blast that was being fired at him, and stared hatefully at the red- and yellow-clad figure that had entered into the bank.

"You, again?! Why is it always you?!" Polestar shouted, his good mood gone in an instant, as he fired a bolt of electricity at Spider-Woman.

"Damned if I know," Spider-Woman shot back as she sprang over the bolt and shot a double webline at Polestar. "We just keep running into each other, don't we?"

Sneering, Polestar simply brought over a metal computer to block the webbing. Thrusting the magnetism outward, he sent it flying at Spider-Woman, forcing her to dodge. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to avoid the device entirely and it clipped her in the leg, knocking her off balance. Landing on her hands and then twisting around to get to her feet, Spider-Woman was unable to avoid the large metal filing cabinet that went flying at her. The thing slammed into her with a crash, before another energy blast from Polestar slammed her back against it.

Polestar would have loved to crush Spider-Woman at that moment, but he knew that the Kingpin was counting on him to destroy many of the computers at police headquarters. Gathering up the safety deposit boxes, he turned to flee, his glance constantly flicking back and forth to Spider-Woman and the exit to ensure he wouldn't be caught off guard.

Sure enough, Spider-Woman recovered and leapt after him, swinging from a ceiling webline. Scowling, Polestar dodged her blow before taking some more of the metal debris from the bank and sending it flying at the bank staff and customers who were still in the main room. Forced to turn and protect the bystanders, Spider-Woman was forced to let Polestar fly out through the bank's front doors. He was soon out in the streets, the safety deposit boxes orbiting around him like the moons of a planet.

It wasn't long before streaks of webbing came flying up at him, snagging the safety deposit boxes and pulling them out of orbit. Stopping in his tracks, Polestar was forced to concentrate his magnetism on pulling them back. He was soon caught in a tug of war with Spider-Woman as she, anchored by her spider-grip and superhuman strength, began pulling the boxes back towards the ground. Struggling to keep his grip on them, Polestar was sent flying through the air as Spider-Woman suddenly let go and he fell off balance. Caught off guard, struggling to keep his grip on the deposit boxes, Polestar couldn't stop himself from being zapped by Spider-Woman's sting blasts. A loud crackling sound began to fill the air as Polestar's magnetism was disrupted, and he nearly lost his grip on the boxes altogether.

Out of patience, Polestar placed the boxes on the roof of a nearby building so he could concentrate on Spider-Woman. Spreading out his powers, he tore shards off the metal streetlamps, signs and sewer gratings around the area, sharpening them into long metal points that flew off in random directions. Some of them were directed at Spider-Woman, while others were aimed at several of the hapless, fleeing bystanders.

Racing forward, Spider-Woman caught several of the blades and points with her webbing before they connected with their victims, but as Polestar expected they struck Spider-Woman herself, tearing long bleeding wounds into her. Crying out in pain, Spider-Woman struck at the blades as they spun around for another attack, shattering them with her sting blasts.

Polestar had expected the injuries to slow Spider-Woman down, but all they did was make her angry. With terrifying speed, Spider-Woman sprang into the air and fired a webline at Polestar. While he dodged the first one and deflect the next one with an energy bolt, that left him open to yet another sting blast that disrupted his magnetism once more.

Staggering from the blast, Polestar couldn't react in time to avoid the webbing that Spider-Woman shot at him. Dragging him down towards her, she drove her fist into Polestar's face, leaving him too injured to move.

"And to think," Polestar rasped to Spider-Woman, in between gasping at his pain, "I'm still leading a more fulfilling life than you," he finished with a sneer.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Spider-Woman replied, her eyes narrowing. Several of the policemen, who had finally heard about the battle from bystanders whose phones hadn't been scrambled, were approaching with the special power-dampening restraints they used to bind supervillain criminals, and Spider-Woman eagerly left Polestar to them.

The police had also been accompanied by emergency crews, who were already treating many of the people injured in Polestar's rampage. After telling the police about the safety deposit boxes, which were still on the roof, Spider-Woman gratefully accepted some treatment from the paramedics herself.

It wasn't long before the police had recovered the safety deposit boxes and hauled Polestar away, even as Spider-Woman rested her aching body. Looking around, she saw that a number of people had been badly injured in Polestar's rampage, although thankfully none of them had been killed. Even as she sat on the bench waiting for her strength to return, several of the people came up to Spider-Woman, eagerly thanking her for helping them.

Spider-Woman's pain faded at that, replaced by the warm, reassuring feeling of the good she had done here today.

"Are you alright, Gwen?" Marie-Ange Colbert asked Gwen as she sat down. "What happened to you?"

"I was doing some shopping before I came down here, and this supervillain named Polestar did a bank robbery," Gwen explained, wincing as she sat down. "I got caught in it, unfortunately. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"If you say so," Marie-Ange said doubtfully. "So, why are you here?"

"See for yourself," Gwen grinned as a prison guard brought Marie-Ange the package, which Gwen had given the guards for inspection. Her smile grew wider as Marie-Ange opened the package and gasped at the crystals contained within it.

"Oh, Gwen, they're wonderful!" Marie-Ange said excitedly. "These are going to help me so much! You don't know how much this means to me…"

"It's my pleasure," Gwen assured her. "Consider it a birthday present!"

"My birthday isn't until November," Marie-Ange said, "but this is just…oh, it's wonderful!"

"I'm so glad you like them," Gwen assured her. "Happy birthday!"

The guards were nice enough to allow the two women to hug, after which Gwen left the prison.

Gwen was quite pleased as she waited for the bus, recalling everything that had happened over the last few days.

I feel great, she thought to herself. I got a reminder of what I'm capable of, I got a great photoshoot, I got to capture Polestar, I got to cheer up Marie-Age, I got-

Gwen was jolted out of her reverie by the wave of water that suddenly splashed over her as the car zoomed through the puddle on the road. Dripping wet and blinking in shock, it took Gwen a few seconds to realize what had happened, and how everyone else on the street was staring at her.

I got a reminder that I'm Gwen Stacy, she thought to herself with a sigh. Oh well, it's nothing that a change of clothes and a shower won't cure…

Her mood brightened again as the bus approached.

(Next Issue: After her initial failures to find work, Gwen suddenly finds herself being offered new job opportunities. In addition to using her skills as a model and actress, Gwen is even invited to become a dancer and waitress at a new swinging retro club. But what will happen when Roderick Kingsley tries to ruin Gwen's ambitions once again? All this and more in Spider-Woman #67: Go Go Retro!)