Extreme Measures

For a long time, the spectacular Spider-Woman had reason to curse her luck. Whether it was being fired from her waitressing job for constantly showing up late because of her superheroing, having her boyfriends' parents consider her a gold-digger or a tramp, being sexually harassed by a modeling employer, or nearly ending up on academic probation because she couldn't spare enough time for studying, Spider-Woman had dealt with all kinds of problems in her civilian and costumed lives.

She'd never had to deal with something quite like this before. Following a powerful, familiar burst of psychic energy that she'd recognized but couldn't quite place, and the cries of pain and distress, she'd had the distinct displeasure of running into three members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Spider-Woman had fought the mutant supremacist terrorists Avalanche and Spiral before, although she was unfamiliar with the third member of the group.

Not that Spider-Woman particularly cared-all she knew right now was that she was badly outnumbered and she couldn't imagine how she'd be able to protect all of the bystanders trapped by the large earth barriers Avalanche had raised to pen them in. Even if she went for one of the mutants, the other two would be able to go after the hostages…and if she tried to stop them, she'd leave herself wide open for an attack from the others.

Of course, if she did nothing, then the mutants would kill all the bystanders.

Nothing in life is ever easy, is it? Spider-Woman thought to herself as she charged forward.

SPIDER-WOMAN #79

"EXTREME MEASURES"

Spider-Woman fired her sting blasts at Spiral, but Avalanche easily raised an earthen barrier up between her and the six-armed Spiral and the blasts shattered harmlessly against it. Spiral sprung into the air, tossing a series of knives at Spider-Woman, but the agile arachnid easily dodged them all.

It was then that Spider-Woman learned what Super Sabre's mutant powers were, as he came racing up behind her and slashed her with a wickedly edged knife as she came down from her last dodge. Falling off balance, she sprayed her webbing all around her in a desperate attempt to keep Super Sabre at bay, even as she could feel blood sliding down her back from the gash that had been torn between her shoulder blades.

Most of Spider-Woman's webbing was snagged on the wave of earth Avalanche was raising around her, threatening to engulf her in a mess of pavement and web goo. Springing up into the air and running down the slope of the earth wave, Spider-Woman fired a series of strands of webbing all around her, intending to trip Super Sabre up before he could take another run at her. Avalanche fired another wave of earth at her, but she sprang into the air and easily landed on top of it, firing her sting blasts and forcing Avalanche to retreat.

It was then that Spider-Woman fell to her knees, her body wracked with pain, as Spiral's loud cackling filled the air. Looking to her right, Spider-Woman could see Spiral dancing madly, waving her arms as she manipulated the magical energies that her mutant powers enabled her to control. Some of those energies could disrupt a victim's nervous system, paralyzing them and leaving them unable to fight back.

Gritting her teeth, Spider-Woman tried to force herself to her feet and strike back. She'd defeated Spiral once before that way, overcoming the six-armed sorceress's magic with sheer determination and entangling Spiral's arms with her webbing. Unfortunately, this time Spider-Woman didn't have that luxury. Avalanche pulled the wave of earth Spider-Woman was standing on towards him, throwing her off balance and causing her to land on the ground in a heap. To make matters worse, she heard Super Sabre hopping towards her. Unfortunately, he'd seen her spraying her webbing around, and instead of continuing to run he'd simply jumped over her web strands.

He'd only been slowed down a bit, and he still held that dagger, running red with Spider-Woman's blood, in his hand.

The young man cursed, wondering what he could possibly do to save Spider-Woman. Unfortunately, anything he did try to do would probably end up crippling or killing many of the people still penned in by Avalanche's earthworks.

Maybe if I do it to myself…he thought, sickened by the realization that the Brotherhood was doing all this because of him.

It was his powers, his curse, that the Brotherhood was after, and that they'd somehow tracked here.

Maybe, if I get out of here, they'll leave these people alone, he thought.

He was a coward, a goddamned coward, but he also knew that he had to do something, anything.

The loud explosion at the far end, behind Spiral and Avalanche, briefly raised his hopes.

Then his heart sank again.

Super Sabre, Spiral and Avalanche looked up in alarm as part of the raised concrete barrier Avalanche had raised was smashed open. The sight behind it was one they had been expecting, and were none too pleased to see, that of the Apache X-Man Warpath. The tall man charged forward, using his superhuman strength to pound right through the wave of earth that Avalanche cast at him. Stomping his foot, Warpath used his immense superhuman strength to cause a shockwave that knocked Super Sabre off balance. He staggered as Spiral began a magical dance to attack his nervous system, but she was forced to stop as a bolt of electricity streaked towards her. Dodging hastily, Spiral hissed and spat hatred at Thunderbird, the younger Apache X-Man, who had charged in through the hole his brother older brother had smashed in Avalanche's barrier.

Avalanche had turned to attack Thunderbird, but with Spiral no longer dancing Spider-Woman had recovered from her spell. Leaping to her feet, she fired a double shot from her sting blasts at Avalanche, catching him in the back and causing him to cry out in pain.

It wasn't long before Spiral, Avalanche and Super Sabre sprang back to their feet, ready for another round with the heroes. However, the bright flash of light behind them caught all of their attention, as did the confused mumblings and cries of the people who'd been around the flash of light when it occurred.

Spiral began a rapid, frenzied dance, and Spider-Woman and the X-Men prepared to strike back in response. To the heroes' astonishment, however, the Brotherhood members simply vanished altogether, as Spiral's magic teleported them away.

"Damn it!" Warpath cursed. "Johnny, radio Cyke and the others and tell them that Nate disappeared," he told his younger brother.

"I'm on it!" Thunderbird, alias Johnny Proudstar, said, typing on his wrist communicator as Spider-Woman came up to Warpath.

"What's going on?" Spider-Woman asked. "Who's this Nate person? Is he one of those Brotherhood guys?"

"No, he isn't," Warpath said brusquely. "He's…look, I don't have time for this!"

"Yes you do," Spider-Woman insisted, grabbing his arm as he turned to leave. "They put all of these people in danger."

"Yes, they did," Warpath continued, pulling his arm out of her grip. "That's because they were chasing a mutant, a really powerful one, who they want to-"

"We've got to go, Jimmy!" Thunderbird called back at his older brother, as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Spider-Woman protested to the two men, running after them as the people trapped in the earthworks began to follow her. "You can't just leave-"

"We wouldn't," Warpath, alias James Proudstar, frowned back at her, "but time's a factor here. If we don't keep up with the Brotherhood, they could hurt a hell of a lot more people," he continued, as Thunderbird grabbed onto his arm.

Flexing his powerful leg muscles, Warpath leapt off into the distance, carrying Thunderbird with him.

The police had arrived by then, and several of them were speaking to the bystanders who had emerged from the hole Warpath had punched in the earthen barriers Avalanche had raised to trap them.

Soon, Spider-Woman was surrounded by police and bystanders, all of whom were looking at her curiously.

"What the hell's going on, kid?" one of the senior officers asked her, a sour look on his face.

Briefly, Spider-Woman repeated what Warpath had told her.

"…And what, exactly, does that mean?"

Spider-Woman tried to shrug helplessly, but then she cried out in pain at the gash Super Sabre had torn in her back.

Immediately, two of the officers moved to support her, as one of the bystanders, a doctor by the looks of him, reached into his bag and pulled out a first aid kit.

It wasn't long before Spider-Woman was feeling better physically.

Mentally, however, she was more worried than ever.

In all the commotion, no one had noticed Super Sabre's dagger, still spattered with Spider-Woman's blood. Super Sabre had dropped it when Warpath's shockwave knocked him off balance, and he hadn't had time to retrieve it before Spiral had teleported him away. Nor did anyone in the crowd notice it as they were filing out of the asphalt prison Avalanche had trapped them in.

No one, except the one figure who picked the knife up and quickly hid it in his jacket in one smooth, quick move.

Coward…he thought to himself as he made his way through the streets several miles away.

She risked her life to protect me-again-and I ran like a goddamn coward, he realized.

There was so much he could have done to help Spider-Woman…

...But then I would have just made things worse, he realized.

…Just like before, he realized.

I couldn't control it, and…then…

It took every ounce of control he had to keep his powers from exploding with grief.

It wasn't just the Proudstars, Dr. Fanon read from the text message. Spider-Woman was involved in the matter too.

Dr. Fanon was less than pleased to hear that. He still had some distinctly sour memories of Spider-Woman's previous interference with his plans. It had been a year and a half since Dr. Fanon had last crossed paths with Spider-Woman, but he hadn't forgotten, much less forgiven, the web-slinging little brat interfering with his plans.

How long does Spiral think it will take to trace him? Dr. Fanon texted back.

She has no idea, the text message replied after several moments.

Damn it all, Dr. Fanon realized. He could be halfway to New Jersey before Spiral gets a good enough fix on his location.

That didn't please Dr. Fanon one bit as he got off the elevator and marched into the hotel room he was staying at.

His skin, and even his clothes, seemed to ripple and shimmer as he resumed the form of the dark blue-skinned Mystique, the mutant shapeshifter who led the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Her clothes, made of unstable molecules and specially made to respond to her mental commands, could shapeshift along with her. It all made for a nearly perfect disguise, allowing Mystique to hide and move about in plain sight. Along with the requisite fake IDs that she had become so skilled at forging, she could go anywhere, be anyone, and access almost any kind of information she needed.

Still, she was growing weary of the chase.

The rewards they would gain if they could bring him over to their side were immense, which of course was the reason why the X-Men were trying to protect him.

There were other reasons, of course.

That made Mystique laugh, considering that it was those same reasons which were the whole reason that he was running in the first place.

River Verys couldn't believe how fucking dumb those cops were. Laughing to himself as he shut the door to his apartment and lay back down on the couch, River put his feet up on the coffee table, and unpaused The Hills Have Eyes, which was playing on his TV.

As he resumed watching the movie, he couldn't help but continue giggling at their idiocy. Hadn't they bothered to check his police record, the long string of arrests for armed robbery, B&E, stalking and assault? Hadn't they checked the long series of exchanges he'd had with April Reese over Flickr, calling her movies out for the pretentious dog shit that they were? Hadn't they bothered to check that he exclusively used the .38 caliber that had blown April's brains all over her apartment? Granted, they'd probably checked the fingerprints on April's video equipment-but that was why he'd worn gloves in the first place!

Christ, you'd think the posters would be enough of a giveaway, River smirked, as his eyes flicked over to the posters of movies like Hellraiser, The Hills Have Eyes, the Saw and Hostel series tacked up on the walls, sharing space with the porno portraits and the obscene photographs.

That's what real art is supposed to be, you know? River thought to himself. And to think, if Mom hadn't gone schizo I never would have gotten the chance to understand it. Mr. Moore showed me all sorts of cool shit…

River had liked the foster homes he'd grown up in-he'd been able to take care of himself, not that he'd ever usually needed to-and in the midst of it all he'd learned everything he needed to get ahead in life.

Now there was just the thought of what he was going to do next.

After all, he'd learned the hard way more than once that police cases weren't always handled by the same dumbfucks they were originally assigned to.

Drawing the bloody knife out of his jacket, River thought it over briefly.

"No luck?" Jean Grey asked Rogue and Angel as they made their way into the townhouse they were renting.

"'Fraid not, hon," Rogue shook her head sadly. "Even with Wolverine's sniffer, there ain't much I was capable of doin'," she shrugged. Borrowing Wolverine's superior sense of smell and combining it with her own innate power of flight, Rogue had been working alongside the Angel in an attempt to track their quarry down. Unfortunately, it seemed as though he'd gone completely to ground, as neither Rogue's borrowed senses nor their own abilities to scan the city from the sky had helped them locate him.

"Any word from Cyclops?" Jean asked.

"He's still got the others out on patrol," Angel explained. Cyclops had anticipated that the Brotherhood would be spread out to try and find the young man more quickly, and they'd also be committing crimes to distract the city's superhero community. He'd deployed Wolverine, the Proudstar brothers and some of the other X-Men to try and intercept them, but aside from the Proudstars' encounter with Super Sabre, Avalanche and Spiral, there hadn't been anything so far.

Angel and Rogue lacked Jean's telepathic powers, but they didn't need such abilities to know just how much pain Jean was in.

"We'll find him, you know," Angel tried to reassure her.

"…He thinks he's responsible," Jean murmured after a moment. "He's probably terrified, hating himself, feeling like he's all alone."

So why doesn't he let us help him? Angel thought to himself. He was familiar with Jean's story about her cousin's hostility towards trying to be recruited for any particular causes, but he still felt that the kid was making a serious mistake.

Then again, how many of us haven't had anger problems to work through? Angel realized.

It's not as though we always made the smartest decisions when we were starting out either…

The next day…

Getting up from the desk as her last class ended for the day, Gwen tentatively stretched her back, hoping that the nasty gash Super Sabre had torn into her yesterday was still healing. Fortunately, although her back was still sore, it was still much better than before.

Gwen wasn't too worried about her injuries. They tended to heal quickly once she'd gotten a chance to get some rest, and the doctor who had treated her yesterday after her encounter with the Brotherhood had already dealt with the worst of it. She found herself far more worried about this Nathaniel Grey person the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was searching for. Whatever the reason that the Brotherhood was after him, it couldn't be good. The presence of Thunderbird and Warpath also clearly indicated that the X-Men were in town as well.

As Spider-Woman, Gwen had teamed up with the X-Men to rescue her Aunt Nancy, her mother Helen and her cousin Jill Stacy from the Brotherhood over a year and a half ago when the mutant terrorists had kidnapped them. She'd been able to establish contact with them by getting her mutant friend Kitty Pryde to provide her with the X-Men's contact information, which Kitty had received when the X-Men tried to recruit her. Now, she found herself wondering if she should contact the X-Men again, and offer her assistance as Spider-Woman.

Then again, that might not be a good idea. She had other issues to worry about, like where her next paycheck would be coming from owing to April Reese's murder and the fact that the Gloom Room A Go-Go was still closed. While Gwen typically contributed to the Stacy household through housework and errands rather than money, she had still been chipping in to help with things like her tuition and the groceries, and she hated the thought of not being able to do it. Her mother Helen had been right about using the time to unwind and catch up with her personal issues, but Gwen was still uncomfortable about it.

And then there were the issues she was having with her boyfriend Randy Robertson. She felt very guilty about the way she'd ogled that young man at the Fright Night party, particularly when Randy had already done more for her than she could have ever asked…but there was just something about the way he carried himself, the intense and troubled look in his eyes, the feeling that he carried some sort of painful burden that he kept trapped within his heart, heartfelt secrets that no one…

All of it enhanced his presence, magnified it as his presence magnified those feelings in turn…

Walking across the Empire State quad, Gwen suddenly froze as she realized the implications.

It was almost like I couldn't stop myself, Gwen realized. Does that mean that he was the Nathaniel Grey person the Brotherhood is after? Does he have superpowers?

That realization made her spider-senses activate, the sense that allowed her to track anyone that she marked with the special chemical pheromones she could emit. When her powers had first manifested, Gwen had unconsciously begun marking many of the people who she felt some sort of emotional connection to, whether as friends or as enemies, with her pheromones. She'd later learned to project her pheromones at will, marking people with them if she felt that it was necessary.

Gwen had also learned to activate her spider-senses at will, using them to track someone when she needed to. However, her spider-senses could also activate by themselves, alerting her to something happening to someone that she would take an interest in. That was clearly happening now, and judging by how intensely she was feeling them, the situation was clearly a very important one.

Glancing around as she resumed her walk, Gwen blinked in surprise as she saw the young man walking ahead of her. The intense look on his face only heightened the presence he radiated. In spite of herself, Gwen felt herself quickening her pace as he turned around.

To her amazement, he was staring straight at her.

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Gwen could feel her heart pounding.

They walked more slowly towards one another, seeing nothing but each other.

Finally, they stared intently at one another, wondering what to say.

"You…" Gwen began.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you again," the young man said calmly.

"You…know me?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"I know a lot of things," the young man replied. "I saw you at the Fright Night party…"

"…and I saw you when you confronted the Brotherhood…Spider-Woman."

Stunned, Gwen staggered back for a moment, until she managed to catch herself.

"…We need to talk," she realized.

"Your name's Nathaniel Grey, right?" Gwen asked the young man as they sat down in the Coffee Bean.

"Yes I am, but I prefer to be called Nate," Nate nodded solemnly. "And your name's Gwen Stacy, alias Spider-Woman."

Gwen flinched at that, less than comfortable with having it mentioned in a public place.

"How do you know all that?" she asked.

"Because I'm a mutant," Nate explained. "I have…powers," he continued, as it became his turn to flinch. "Lots of different powers."

"Like your ability to read minds, I take it?" Gwen asked. "That's because you're related to that Jean Grey person, aren't you?"

Nate flinched again at that.

"...I suppose mind reading is one of my powers," he said reluctantly, "among other things…"

For a moment Gwen thought she saw tears form in his eyes, but soon realized it was nothing.

"…Other things?" Gwen asked. "Is that why the Brotherhood are after you?"

"It's why they've put so many people at risk," Nate explained. "It's why I've had to steal from bus companies and restaurants to try and keep moving without leaving a paper trail. It's why you ended up having to fight them while I escaped like a goddamn coward."

"Putting on a costume and fighting crime is something I chose to do," Gwen frowned. "How is any of that your fault?"

"It's my fault because I'm the one they're after," Nate said, wrapping both his hands around his coffee cup. "And they'll keep chasing me until…oh God, I don't even know!"

"So why are you still running?" Gwen asked curiously. "Get the police to help you! Fight the Brotherhood! Contact the X-Men! Anything!" she continued urgently.

"No!" Nate exclaimed! "No, I can't!"

Gwen just blinked at him in astonishment.

"But aren't the X-Men meant to help mutants in trouble?" Gwen asked. "And isn't Jean family?"

Nate only shuddered, and the very air around him seemed to shimmer briefly. Gwen was startled by the look of guilt and pain on his face, and the tears that seemed to appear in his eyes once again.

"I…can't…" he stammered, his voice barely a whisper now.

"And you can't fight the Brotherhood?" Gwen asked, feeling an intense sorrow for the young man. "Why don't you-"

"…Because it'll end up like-" Nate stammered.

"What do you-" Gwen began, before her vision went blank.

Everything around Gwen was blurry and indistinct, the scene reminiscent of a badly faded movie or the air being filled with a thick haze.

Looking around in alarm, she saw what looked like a rural family acreage. A middle-aged couple was eating supper at a table, a teenage girl was texting on her phone…

…and then a young man she recognized as Nate Grey came down the stairs, holding his head in agony.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Gwen heard the woman, Elaine Grey by name, ask as she rose up and walked over towards her son.

Everything changed in that moment, as the electrical devices around Nate roared to life. Elaine, her husband Edward and their daughter Chelsea burst out screaming, holding their heads in agony as their minds echoed with shouts, screams and sights, their memories ripped right out of their minds and then thrown back in at random. Furniture flew everywhere, cracks appeared in the windows, blowing holes in the house and everything within it.

Nate himself was thrown clear of the blast, and he emerged unharmed…

…physically, at least.

His family's screams were with him the whole time.

Gwen's vision returned to normal as Nate broke off the mental connection, but the memories he'd shared with her felt as real to Gwen as if she'd experienced them herself.

She felt a painful sadness and remorse for Nate at that moment, as she realized the shame he was experiencing over what had happened…

…and the fear he felt at his inability to control his powers.

"I…I wish I knew what to say," Gwen said slowly, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're scared, aren't you? You don't want to hurt anyone, but-"

"I never asked for any of this!" Nate exclaimed, trying to keep his voice level. "I already killed my family, and the Brotherhood wants to make me kill all these other people, but all I can do is run like a fucking coward because if I use my powers I'm going to hurt someone and I don't know what to do anymore…" he trailed off.

"Why don't you ask the X-Men for help?" Gwen asked him, sorrow and sympathy in her voice. "Jean's family, isn't she?"

"How the hell am I supposed to look her in the eye and tell her I murdered all my family members, huh?" Nate demanded. "And the X-Men are just going to try to use me like a weapon the same way the Brotherhood did. Even if they don't, they're just going to turn me over to the cops. I could live with that, if the government wasn't just going to use me like a tool too!"

From what she knew of the X-Men, Gwen thought that Nate was totally wrong. Nate's powers had flared out of control, and only the types of anti-mutant bigots who used to harass Kitty Pryde would think he was a murderer.

She doubted that Nate would believe her if she said anything, thought. He seemed like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and she could almost sense the power coming off him more intensely than ever.

Louise Robertson sighed wearily as she walked into the Coffee Bean, eager for a pick-me-up after the exhausting meeting with the Wakandan representative. Serving on the committee to establish a scholarship for Wakandan exchange students had been considerably more difficult than she had expected, and Louise was spending a lot more time on Empire State University's campus than she would have preferred.

She knew how happy it would make so many of her friends and family, especially her son Randy, however, and she knew in the end that it was all worth it.

Her mood instantly changed when she saw Gwen sitting and sipping coffee with some brown-haired white boy. Gwen's hands were intimately wrapped around her date's, and the intense look they were sharing reflected all too clearly how they felt about each other.

Louise seethed with rage at the two-timing little whore. She and Randy's father Isaiah had never liked Gwen, disapproving of the way she flaunted herself as an actress and a model and the fact that Randy would probably have to support her if they ever tried to form a family. Gwen had already broken Randy's heart once before-what else could have upset him so much after his meeting with her a couple of weeks ago?-and now she was doing it again.

For a moment, Louise wondered if this was the same guy Gwen had been seeing the first time.

No, probably not-why would she settle for cheating on Randy with just one guy?

Louise thought of confronting Gwen, but she soon thought better of it, realizing that it would be all she could do to keep from strangling the little hussy.

Livid with anger, she stormed out, determined to have a word with Randy about what his girlfriend was doing behind his back.

Gwen broke her train of thought off in surprise, realizing that Nate could probably read it. Surprisingly, however, he didn't seem to react. The look of despair on his face was all too clear, as his powers radiated outwards and continued to draw the attention of many of the people surrounding him. Likely he was too caught up in his own distress to realize what Gwen was thinking.

The intense sympathy she felt for Nate was replaced for a moment by confusion, as several of the other Coffee Bean patrons looked out the windows, muttering to one another in confusion and panic. Through the windows, Gwen, Nate and the other patrons could see people running across the quad in panic, as fires burned in random places. More disturbingly, they were chased by what looked like wolves and hawks made entirely of fire.

"Oh God," Nate gasped in horror as they took in what was happening. "It has to be the Brotherhood. We have to-"

"Not you," Gwen interrupted him, grabbing his arm to prevent him from doing anything rash. "Me. Whatever's happening, I can handle it."

"But...I can't just leave-" Nate stammered, his expression a combination of guilt and relief.

"You still need to get the hang of your superpowers, remember?" Gwen pointed out to him. "I've got it covered."

"You…" Nate trailed off.

Gwen just smiled and winked reassuringly at him, before joining the bustle of people running for the exits.

As he made his way into the bathroom to find a place he could teleport-that was something he at least had enough control to do, if he didn't overtax himself-Nate knew that Gwen wasn't running from the Brotherhood.

As her mind had so clearly indicated to him, she was just looking for a place to hide for the few seconds she needed.

It wasn't long before Spider-Woman found the source of the trouble. Clad in red and orange body armor decorated with burning flames, the slim blond man didn't seem particularly imposing at first glance, but the fires emerging from his hands and the flame animals dancing all around him made it perfectly clear. Although Spider-Woman had never meet him in person, she recalled her family telling her about a Brotherhood member who called himself 'Pyro'.

Firing her sting blasts as she swung down towards him, Spider-Woman hoped that she could take him down quickly before he could do anything. Unfortunately, the experienced Pyro had seen some of the bystanders pointing hopefully up at her, and he'd sprung out of the way of her attacks, building up a thick wall of smoke to absorb the blasts.

"Well now, if I haven't gotten the belle of the ball!" Pyro grinned wickedly as the flaming wolves and firebirds charged at Spider-Woman. "If I have to have one of the local heroes for a dance partner, I'm quite glad it's you!" he continued, directing his flaming creatures to surround Spider-Woman.

A disgusted look crossed Spider-Woman's face as she leapt over the wolves and sprayed streams of webbing all around her, smothering and dispersing several of the birds. The wolves coalesced into a larger flaming hellhound that charged at Spider-Woman as she landed, forcing her to roll out of the way and fire her sting blasts at the monstrous creature. While her blasts dimmed the creature's flames and staggered its attack, it still managed to nearly plow through her and she was badly scorched as she rolled out of the way once again.

Cursing in pain, Spider-Woman kept rolling until she came up at Pyro and fired her webbing at him once again, but the fiery hellhound charged in to block it. The monstrous thing then exploded in a fireball that forced Spider-Woman to try and backflip out of range, but even that didn't prevent her from being burned again. Crying out in pain, she sprayed a wave of webbing to keep the flames at bay. Springing up over it again, she charged at Pyro, but was forced to stop short as he generated a dome of fire around himself.

As Spider-Woman stopped short, the dome suddenly seemed to come down until it began to surround her. She thought briefly of leaping out of the flames, but then the dome sealed up around her and began shrinking down towards her.

"It's a pity I have to do this, my darling, but business is business," she heard Pyro say mockingly from the other side of the fire dome. "Somehow I doubt whether you and most of the other long-underwear types really understand what it is we're fighting for here-the kind of world where mutants won't have to live in fear!"

Spider-Woman wasn't listening to Pyro's speech, spinning a domed shield of webbing all around her before she sprang into the air again, breaking through the dome before Pyro could react. The webbing was burning, but before it could get through Spider-Woman tossed the flaming mass at Pyro, forcing him to dodge. As Spider-Woman landed, she caught Pyro with another webline and tossed him back into the mass of burning webbing. As she suspected, Pyro absorbed the flames before they could burn him, but he was still entangled in the pile of webbing, struggling and cursing as he tried to burn himself free.

Spider-Woman didn't waste the opportunity, striking him with a series of sting blasts one after another. Pyro cried out in pain as he tried to dodge the blows, but he was hopelessly trapped, absorbing one blast after another until he finally collapsed and fell back into the half-burned glob of webbing.

Striding up to him, Spider-Woman was surprised to see that he was still conscious, although he was clearly in no position to continue the fight.

"Beautiful and badass," Pyro smiled weakly as Spider-Woman looked down at him. "Pity we're on different sides of the law-a man'd be damn lucky to have a lovely like you by his side."

Disgustedly, Spider-Woman merely webbed his mouth shut before further binding him. It wasn't long before the police arrived, eager to take the beaten and exhausted Pyro away. To her relief, she saw that the emergency crews were already tending to the wounded and had doused the fires that Pyro had started. Better still, she noted that no one seemed to have been killed by Pyro's rampage.

The thought of Nate Grey's plight filled her mind once more, as she returned to where she'd hidden her street clothes.

This isn't over, Gwen thought to herself.

You're not alone in this-whatever it takes, I'm going to help you.

She felt a stab of guilt as she realized what that could easily entail.

And I'm going to square things with Randy, too, she realized.

It's the least he deserves, Gwen continued, with fire in her eyes.

(Next Issue: Gwen tries to reconnect with Nate Grey, and convince him to let the X-Men help him. They turn out to need all the help they can get, as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants closes in for another kidnapping attempt! Gwen's efforts to help Nate turn out to have disastrous consequences, as Louise Robertson presents Randy with the supposed evidence of Gwen's cheating! Meanwhile, the investigation into April Reese's murder continues, as River Verys begins planning his next move! All this and more in Spider-Woman #80: Shades Of Grey! Guest-starring the Uncanny X-Men!)