Fatal Attraction

"Cut!" Zane Richardson, alias Erg, exclaimed once he'd uttered his final lines. "We get all that?"

"You bet," Calvin nodded, as he shut off the camera. "Looks like we're done!"

"Alright, people!" Zane nodded. "Looks like that's a wrap. Thanks for all your hard work-go get something to eat, and then we'll settle the final details!" he exclaimed to his cast and crew.

As an aspiring film director, Zane Richardson took inspiration from many of the giants of his profession. Like Stanley Kubrick, Richardson was very fussy and precise over things like camera angles and emoting, being willing to shoot multiple takes over and over if anything seemed out of place. Like Martin Scorsese, he included all kinds of subtle references that only fellow cinema buffs could pick up on. Like Woody Allen, he appeared in his own productions, in this case as the main character.

Gwen Stacy took a deep breath, needing a few moments before she could follow Zane off the set. The film was about a young man, played by Zane, coming out as a mutant to his family, and Gwen had played the sister of Zane's character. The production had been demanding, particularly since Zane had insisted on shooting every scene in chronological order. Now that it had ended, Gwen felt a sudden exhaustion, as she was no longer able to keep the energy up.

Despite it all, she felt an immense satisfaction.

It was the satisfaction of a job well done, the satisfaction that came whenever she realized that she'd contributed to a high quality production.

SPIDER-WOMAN #87

"FATAL ATTRACTION"

"Thanks a lot, Gwen," Zane told her once most of the cast and crew had left. "Jonathan Caesar was right-you are terrific."

Gwen only smiled gratefully. Jonathan Caesar had been one of the investors in the Gloom Room A Go-Go nightclub she'd gotten a job at last year, and Gwen had gotten to know him well. Caesar also invested in independent films, and he'd managed to get Gwen a couple of acting jobs. This one with Zane had worked out better than the first one with the late April Reese, and Gwen found Zane much easier to work with.

"What did you expect? We had a good director," Gwen grinned. "Seriously-you could be right up there with Kubrick or Spielberg!"

Zane just laughed.

"I think that's shooting a little high at this point," he shook his head. "How about you, Gwen? I could see people comparing you to Katherine Hepburn or Maureen O'Hara!"

Now it was Gwen's turn to shake her head. Hepburn and O'Hara were some of her inspirations as an actress, but as much as she took pride in her talents she couldn't see herself on their level.

About the only way I could compare myself to O'Hara is that we were both assumed to be too attractive to perform serious roles, Gwen thought to herself, the mention of O'Hara reminding her of the frustrations O'Hara had run into being taken seriously as an actress because of her beauty.

She laughed it off, though, knowing that Zane was just complimenting her. And she had to admit-being compared to some of her heroes really meant a lot.

"You know how to make a girl feel good about herself," Gwen giggled. "But I definitely have a long way to go yet before I'm on their level."

"So what did you have in mind for your next production?" Zane asked her.

Gwen frowned, realizing that was a good question. As much as she'd enjoyed working with Zane, the money wasn't all that great. She was going to need better-paying work if she wanted to pay her fair share of her university tuition. It would also have to be something that would give her enough time to manage her schoolwork and even moreso her fighting crime in her superhero identity as the spectacular Spider-Woman.

"…I still need to think about that," Gwen sighed. "The Winter semester at Empire State starts tomorrow, so I won't have as much time for a full-length project."

"Hey, you'll figure it out," Zane assured her. "Here's looking at you, kid," he winked.

Gwen just giggled again, her mood brightening immediately.

Given how many different things Gwen had done over the holidays, the first day of the Winter 2009 semester at Empire State University was almost relaxing. The first day was exclusively dedicated to reviewing the course syllabuses, and the professors didn't give any assignments. That was fine for Gwen, particularly given that her mind was more occupied with how she was going to help defray the costs of tuition for this year. While there hadn't been a tuition increase this year, the various special fees had increased instead.

Helping Mom and Aunt Nancy with the bills is going to pretty much eat up everything I had left from working at the Gloom Room and at the Macy's display, Gwen realized with a sigh once her last class was done for the day. I really should have followed up with Desiree Vaughn-Pope sooner, she continued, thinking of the modelling magnate she'd done some excellent work with in the past, or maybe that Rebecca Kingsley lady.

Then again, I probably didn't have time, she realized after a moment. With everything I had going on, including studying for finals…

That made Gwen realize she'd never checked on what her final grades actually were for the classes she'd taken last semester.

Making her way to the nearest library and computer lab, Gwen sat down at one of the terminals and logged into her profile in TigerTracks. Named for the ESU Tigers, the school's football team, TigerTracks was the system Empire State University used to help students enroll in courses, fill out forms, sign up for programs and view their grades.

It wasn't long before Gwen saw her final grades, but she soon wished she hadn't.

The A-minus she'd gotten on her Drama course was to be expected, but the B-minuses and C-pluses she got in her other courses were not.

Gwen was stunned-how could her grades be sinking again, especially since she'd done so good last year?

Was it my finals? Gwen thought. But then again, what wasn't it? In between dealing with Felicia turning into Mayhem, supporting Randy after his parents nearly got killed in that Harlem bombing, helping out Nate Grey, the problems on April Reese's picture, supervillains like Scorpia and that sick freak Tendril…not to mention my messed-up schedule.

Gwen realized that might have been the biggest problem of all. She wondered how many times she'd come into class distracted by something else she'd had to deal with earlier in the day, or how many times she'd taken time away from her homework to tend to something else, thinking that she could get to it later. If her schedule had been more compact, Gwen would have focused more on her studies, but with the way it had been it was easy for her to get distracted.

…So much for any more modelling work for the time being, Gwen thought, groaning inwardly. I really need to focus on my schoolwork more-I paid enough attention to Drama and Women's Studies, but how much effort did I put into the rest of them?

Looks like the old Stacy luck decided to get off to an early start this year, she thought sardonically.

"You understand what you need to do, then?" Will O' the Wisp asked.

"Of course I do," the cybernetic monstrosity sneered at him. "You're lucky that I agreed to postpone it this long. If I'd known I had to wait-"

Will O' the Wisp reminded himself to keep calm at Polestar's insolent manner, knowing that it was all part of the plan. Of course he had to keep Polestar properly motivated-and as it stood, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose by letting Polestar shoot his mouth off.

"Patience, my friend," the Wisp replied, his eyes glowing brightly. "Just think of how much more intense your family's shame and humiliation will be when you do all that damage! Everyone who's affected will blame Charles and Katie as much as you, you know!"

Polestar seemed mollified at that, as a satisfied smirk crossed his face.

Will O' the Wisp did well not to return it. Polestar and Moonstone thought they were equal partners in their little plot, of course, but they were little more than dupes. Each of them had something to contribute, each of them had strengths that the Wisp could exploit, but it was all at his direction.

Whatever it took to make the spectacular Spider-Woman suffer, before finally killing her once and for all.

That was where Polestar's talents came in. The cybernetic villain's ability to control magnetism and magnetic fields offered some intriguing possibilities, possibilities that the Wisp had become more aware of as he'd researched and thought more about what his ability to control the electromagnetic particles that made up his body.

Once Polestar had left their meeting at the Bar With No Name, the Wisp ordered himself a bottle of champagne.

He had some more thinking to do.

"I really appreciate this, Mom," Randy Robertson smiled gratefully, before taking another sip of coffee.

"It's alright, baby," Louise Robertson assured her son. "Are you sure you don't want you or your father to be there?"

"…I don't think Dad's quite ready yet," Randy shook his head. "Besides, it'd probably work better if it was just the two of you."

"If that's what you want," Louise nodded. "So has Gwen picked a place?"

"No, she wanted you to do that," Randy explained.

"Alright then," Louise nodded. "I'll think about where to meet her."

"You don't know how much this means to me," Randy said, as he finished his coffee.

Louise poured Randy another cup, before pouring one for herself.

Louise and her husband Isaiah had never liked Gwen, mostly for her career choices as an actress and a model. Given how difficult it could be for actresses to find steady work, Louise and Isaiah were concerned that Randy would have to support Gwen a lot of the time, without her contributing equally. They were also less than comfortable with the idea of their potential daughter in law exploiting her looks to sell products and clothing.

Still, Louise had been struck by how passionately Randy had stuck up for Gwen, even when Louise had mistakenly assumed Gwen was cheating on him. She had begun to realize that she may have misjudged Gwen, and had agreed to her son's request to meet Gwen one on one so they could get to know each other better.

Two days later…

Louise Robertson sighed contentedly as she sat down at her table. She'd always liked the Argent Room restaurant-it had always had a mixed clientele. It didn't compare to the restaurants she usually liked to go to, but those places had primarily black clienteles and she didn't want to make Gwen feel too out of place. Louise had felt that way more than once when she was younger. While things were better now, it wasn't an experience she wanted to put anyone else through.

Checking her watch-she had never been all that comfortable with the newfangled smartphones Randy and Gwen's generation used-Louise saw that she was a good twenty minutes early for her lunch date with Gwen. That was good, since it gave her some time to mentally prepare what she wanted to ask the younger woman.

Life had always been good for Charles Duffy. He was the local boy who made right, going from being the star running back at his high school to dominating the NCAA when he played for Columbia University to building his own successful merger and acquisition firm. He was an increasingly well-known name on Wall Street, despite only being in his late thirties, and Strongest Link Mergers and Acquisitions was trading high despite the currently fragile economy.

Charles had just completed the biggest deal of his career, a merger between ClarkeTech and Cross Technologies, and he was ready to celebrate. Relaxing in a private room at the fancy Libertine restaurant, surrounded by executives from ClarkeTech and Cross Technologies, Charles revelled in the moment, soaking up all the adulation around him.

Hence it was all the more shocking when the streak of electricity blasted through the window and exploded among the diners. Screams and crashes filled the air as people reeled from the blast, their hair standing on end and large shards of glass protruding from their arms, chests and faces.

Metal chandeliers came crashing down on the hapless diners, even as metal knives and forks suddenly rose up and brutally slashed them. The diners, many of them covered in their own and each other's blood, tried to flee into the main dining area, followed by the energy blasts and metal shrapnel.

Charles sat in silence for several seconds, stunned at what had just happened. He could only look from one side to the other before he looked up again.

He saw his brother Thomas, and the monstrosity of flesh and metal he'd become.

He started to scream.

Gwen sighed as she emerged from the subway station. The start-of-semester lineups at the Empire State University bookstores were even worse than usual this year, and Gwen had been stuck spending almost half an hour in line after her last class of the day. The subways were almost as bad, as she'd missed her first train and had to take a later one.

Checking her watch, Gwen was relieved to see that she would be just in time for her meeting with Louise Robertson.

Thank God something's going right today, Gwen thought as she quickened her pace. Hopefully if things work out with Randy's mom, then…

As she crossed one street, Gwen happened to notice the screams and flashes of light coming from the Libertine restaurant further down the block. People appeared to be fleeing the scene, and police cars were already present.

Gwen's heart sank as she realized what that meant.

Why did I not see this coming? Gwen thought to herself as she glanced around, looking for a place where she could change costume.

"…T-tommy," Charles stammered fearfully as he stared at Polestar, at the thing that used to be his brother. "Look…all you have to do is name your sum, and…"

A chill ran down his spine as Polestar just laughed.

"It's tempting, Chuck, it really is," Polestar hissed in his crackling, electrical voice. "But it's not like I need your charity, you know?"

"Tom…please…for the love of God…" Charles stammered, before Polestar cast an energy blast at his feet.

"Yeah, that's what was missing," Polestar laughed as Charles turned to run. "Come on, Charlie!" the magnetic villain cackled as he pursued Charles into the dining hall. "Don't tell me you don't regret not spending more quality time with me!"

Polestar amplified his power once he was in the main dining hall. Electrical bolts flew everywhere, torn out of the wires in the walls, metal utensils tore at their victims, and chandeliers were bent and twisted into long spikes and blades that slashed anyone within reach. The police had arrived, and were shooting at Polestar, but he easily stopped the bullets and sent them flying back at their shooters.

Polestar's laughter at all the carnage around him was cut short by the energy bolt he sensed coming at him. Whirling around, he threw up an energy barrier that stopped the blast short. An angry glare crossed his face as he saw his old enemy, the spectacular Spider-Woman, facing him with a determined look on her face.

"I take it you forgot who won last time?" Polestar sneered, as he gestured with his arms. "Or do you need a little reminder?" he continued, flinging his arms towards Spider-Woman. A wave of sharpened knives flew at Spider-Woman, many of them already dripping with the blood of their victims.

Polestar had expected Spider-Woman to jump over the knives before striking at him, but to his surprise she simply tangled many of the knives up in a wave of webbing. Tossing the webbing aside, Spider-Woman sprang through the gap she had opened and caught Polestar head-on with a flying kick. As the magnetic villain reeled, grunting in pain from the blow, Spider-Woman caught him with a webline and reeled him in for a vicious punch. She followed the punch up with another blow, and then a sting blast that Polestar didn't have time to absorb. Staggering back from Spider-Woman's assault, Polestar raised an energy barrier between them. It was enough to slow Spider-Woman down, before Polestar channeled a wave of energy at her from a nearby broken light fixture.

Now it was Spider-Woman's turn to stagger, stunned by Polestar's sudden attack. Polestar followed up with a pair of chandeliers reshaped into vicious scythes, which he used to tear into Spider-Woman mercilessly. The arachnid heroine staggered again, bleeding from her newest wounds, before she entangled the chandeliers with her webbing and flung them at Polestar. Forced to focus his magnetism to drive the chandeliers away, Polestar couldn't stop Spider-Woman from striking him again with her sting blasts.

Rising into the air and flying back, Polestar tingled uncomfortably all over from Spider-Woman's sting blasts. Her sting blasts were hurting more than her physical blows, as his magnetic fields slowed them and reduced their impact. Predictably, Spider-Woman fired another set of sting blasts at Polestar, but he generated another energy field to absorb them. As he had in their previous battle, Polestar channeled the energy into another blast at Spider-Woman, and she dodged once again. To Polestar's surprise, Spider-Woman didn't charge at him the way she had in their last battle. Instead, she fired her weblines towards Polestar, who easily dodged them.

"Your aim is off, Spider-Woman," Polestar smiled mockingly at his younger opponent. "Maybe you-" he stopped short at seeing her wicked smile.

The stone tiles Spider-Woman pulled from the ceiling with her webbing came crashing down on Polestar, knocking him to the floor. Spider-Woman shot another sting blast at him, but Polestar anticipated the attack and absorbed it into an energy barrier. Focusing his power down into the floor, Polestar focused once again, raising the metal pipes and plumbing into a series of wickedly edged blades.

Caught by surprise, Spider-Woman couldn't avoid being gashed by several of the blades. Collapsing to the floor, Spider-Woman rolled over and caught sight of a gruesome scene, that of Charles Duffy, Polestar's brother, impaled by a long metal spike.

Forcing herself to her feet, Spider-Woman stared daggers at Polestar, who merely cackled.

"That's another one you failed at," the magnetic killer sneered mockingly. "You know, you've really been losing a step lately, haven't you? Remember when you actually had a chance of beating me?"

Spider-Woman didn't reply, except to charge at Polestar, shooting a line of webbing at him.

Polestar didn't dodge it this time, instead raising a barrier of bladed metal to slash the webbing to pieces. Spider-Woman easily blasted the barrier open with a sting blast, and Polestar readied himself for Spider-Woman's charge, but this time Spider-Woman caught him with a webline and pulled him off balance. As Polestar stumbled in surprise, Spider-Woman continued firing her webbing, further entangling her opponent. Struggling to break free and unable to repel the webbing with his magnetism, Polestar was helpless to react when Spider-Woman held on to the last webline she shot at him. Turning around, she sent Polestar flying into the far wall, which he struck with a sickening thud.

Finally, Polestar slumped down, too battered to continue.

Spider-Woman herself was gasping with the effort, her hands on her knees as she tried to keep from falling. She could hear the cheers that the few diners who'd stayed to watch the fight were directing at her, but she didn't give them a thought.

She gazed back to see the impaled form of Charles Duffy, his eyes staring lifelessly back at hers.

All Spider-Woman could do was put her face in her hand.

Lurking within the electrical system of the Libertine restaurant, Will O' the Wisp had watched the entire battle attentively. He'd been able to locate Polestar by following Polestar's magnetic energy trails, and now he was eager to see how the first part of his plans fared.

So far, everything had gone as he'd expected. The look of dismay on Spider-Woman's face was a welcome sight, and he could tell she wouldn't fully recover mentally from this for a while.

The other thing he noticed was what truly caught him by surprise, though.

The Wisp had detected a tiny device in Spider-Woman's back, one emitting strange computer signals.

What is that thing? Will O' the Wisp wondered as he passed out of the Libertine's wiring and into the New York power grid. Some sort of communication device? Is someone monitoring her? Tracking her? Does she even know about it?

And what kind of possibilities does it offer? the Wisp wondered, as he continued traveling through the electrical grid.

Louise looked at her watch again, this time with an annoyed sigh. Gwen was almost forty minutes late for their meeting. Louise was silent as she got up from her table, but her annoyed expression spoke volumes.

As Louise made her way to the bus stop, her phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw that Gwen was on the other end.

Sighing, Louise opened the phone and answered Gwen's call.

"Hello, Gwen," Louise said coolly.

"Mrs. Robertson, I'm so sorry, but I won't be able to make it," Gwen explained, a tremor in her voice. "Something came up-I needed to take care of an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" Louise asked, concern replacing her irritation.

"It's…personal," Gwen tried to explain, her voice shaking. "I can't…"

"That's one thing I've noticed about you, child," Louise explained, irritation coming back into her voice. "You sure do seem to have a lot of secrets, but you can never seem to even try to account for them. Now, I could forgive your missing our meeting if you could tell me even a little bit about what happened, or if you'd been able to let me know sooner, but if you won't even try to trust me about what's happening, why should I trust you?"

"Mrs. Robertson…" Gwen tried to plead on the other end.

"And here I misjudged you," Louise interrupted her harshly. "It looks like I was right the first time," she continued, before hanging up.

Turning off her smartphone's telephone app, Gwen sat down dejectedly on a nearby bench. After she'd defeated Polestar, she'd needed several minutes to recover from the grueling fight, and to get some first aid from the paramedics. She hadn't been in any shape to contact Louise before now, even if she had desperately wanted to.

Groaning in frustration, Gwen put her face in her hands.

The old Stacy luck's back, she thought. I blew my grades from last semester, I'm just about flat broke, I won't have time to get any more work for a while, I screwed things up with my boyfriend's family again, and I couldn't stop Polestar from killing his brother.

How could things get any worse? Gwen wondered.

"It's about time these two psychos got shipped off to Ravencroft," one of the Guardsmen grumbled to the other as they watched the prisoners being loaded onto the boat leading off Riker's Island. "I'm surprised they were never sent there to start with."

"Come on, you know those bleeding-heart prisoners' rights types," the other Guardsman replied, shaking his head. "They have kittens every time one of these people even sneezes."

The Guardsmen had good reason to be disgusted at the two prisoners they were set to be escorting. One looked like he was clad in a suit of burned and cracked red and gold body armor, the plates melted directly into his skin. His facemask looked as if it was made of cracked and broken metal plates, resembling a face seen through a broken mirror. The creature's reputation was every bit as gruesome as his appearance. Once named Harvey Russell Broxtel, but better known as Firebrand, he was known for his deadly flamethrowing abilities and his violent, unstable personality.

The other prisoner looked more conventional, a tall woman with shoulder-length brown hair. Her reputation was no less dangerous than her companion's, although she would have been easier to recognize if she'd been clad in her green body armor, clawed gauntlets, and vicious slashing tail. Elaine Coll was more commonly known as Scorpia, and had gotten her name from the scorpion-like abilities she'd used as a mob assassin for the crimelord known as the Rose.

Unusually, Firebrand was keeping sullenly silent, not screaming at his captors or anyone else as he so often did. Scorpia looked as if she was bored out of her mind, her attempts at conversation with Firebrand and her captors being rebuffed. They were securely locked in computer-locked holding cells, prevented by the power-restraining shackles they were wearing from using their abilities to escape. Anyone who tried to free them would quickly be confronted by the Guardsmen, who had become quite skilled at using their powered armor to even the odds against superpowered criminals.

The boat trip from Riker's Island Prison to the mainland proceeded smoothly, as it so often did. The transportation van was awaiting them at the dock, and the confidential route out of the city had been programmed into the van's computers. All that remained was for the Guardsmen to load the prisoners' cells into the back, and then they'd be on their way.

The Guardsmen had just loaded the prisoners into the back of the van when disaster struck. A bright golden glow seemed to manifest almost out of nowhere, shining brilliantly before the Guardsmen could react. The armored warriors were dazzled before they could raise their weapons, and the crew of the fan suffered a similar fate when they came running back to see what was going on.

Inside the van, Scorpia and Firebrand were pounding on the doors to their holding cells, struggling to escape, alarmed by the ruckus outside. They fell back in surprise as the van door opened and they saw the golden light emanating from a large sphere. All around the sphere, the Guardsmen and the van crew were standing passively, looking as if they were in a trance.

Scorpia's and Firebrand's expressions turned from surprise to recognition as the golden sphere coalesced into the form of Will O' the Wisp. The golden-hued villain smiled at them wickedly as he reached for the locking mechanisms of their holding cells. To Scorpia's and Firebrand's surprise, the Wisp's hands seemed to plunge right into the locking mechanisms, causing them to glow brightly. A loud beeping and clicking sound followed, before the cells' doors swung open.

Scorpia and Firebrand slowly stepped forward, eyeing the Wisp mistrustfully, but the Wisp was all smiles as his eyes glowed brightly. Once again he reached forward, phasing his hands into the two villains' power-restraining shackles. The shackles fizzled and sparked before they burned out, their locking mechanisms opening easily as they fell from the villains' wrists.

As the Wisp gestured with his head, still smiling, Scorpia and Firebrand followed him in leaping out of the van. As Scorpia and Will O' the Wisp moved to a safe distance, Firebrand generated a wave of fire that set about consuming the entranced Guardsmen and support staff. The flamethrowing monstrosity smiled wickedly, the heat emanating from his face reshaping his metal mask into a ghoulish smile.

Finally, Firebrand gestured with his hands, snuffing out the flames and leaving half a dozen charred corpses behind, before he ran to join Scorpia and Will O' the Wisp. The Wisp led them down several more alleys, before they stopped.

"What's your game, Wisp?" Firebrand demanded, his flames rising up around him again. "If you expect me to stick with you, you can-"

"Not even for the chance to burn Spider-Woman alive?" the Wisp asked with a smirk.

Firebrand eased off his hostile stance, as his flames dimmed. Intrigue replaced anger on his face.

"Burn…Spider-Woman?" he asked curiously.

"Not just you and I, of course," the Wisp smiled. "All of us…plus a few friends," he continued, nodding to Scorpia as she listened attentively.

"…Not that I object to your idea," she said, raising an eyebrow, "but I need a new set of equipment. I mean, I need to make myself presentable!"

"So we pay the Tinkerer to make you a new set," the Wisp replied easily. "The man's known for his quick work, isn't he?"

Now Scorpia and Firebrand were both smiling.

Will O' the Wisp smiled wickedly to himself once he'd given Firebrand and Scorpia their instructions. They'd parted ways before the Wisp had put on his street clothes again, trotting along as easily as any casual passerby.

That's the beauty of this scheme, he thought to himself. An unstable lunatic like Firebrand would just try to kill me if I tried proposing something to him, and so would Moonstone, for that matter. And if I brainwash them, they'll just be out for my blood, so what's the point of all that?

He thought of the fascinating insights he'd gained while reading about the effects of light on the central nervous system, and how many different purposes it could be used for.

It was something he'd thought about a lot.

There's a difference between brainwashing someone and getting them to indulge themselves in a way that suits me, he grinned.

Jack O' Lantern, you magnificent bastard, the Wisp continued. You were so right about using every team member's talents more effectively. Polestar may have been defeated, but he was just the opening gambit to soften Spider-Woman up. She had to expend the most effort in defeating him first, and the carnage he caused with his magnetic powers…

Scorpia will mess with Spider-Woman's head with her twisted come-ons…Firebrand will burn her out both physically and emotionally when they fight…Moonstone provided the psychological profile for Spider-Woman, and she'll likely kill the exhausted Spider-Woman…and then there are the possibilities that device Spider-Woman carries offers…

…and even if they all fail, I can always finish the job.

Will O' the Wisp burst out laughing hysterically, causing several of the other people in the street to stare at him in surprise.

He calmed himself immediately and resumed his walk, before a disturbing thought came over him.

That laugh just sounded like something Jack O' Lantern would have done, he realized.

So much the better, he concluded, an evil smile crossing his face.

(Next Issue: Gwen tries to buckle down and focus on her grades, even as she tries to patch things up with Louise Robertson. Randy is stuck trying to mediate between them, even as he wonders how he can keep Gwen's secret identity without lying to Louise. Gwen soon finds she has bigger problems when Scorpia goes on a violent robbery spree, eager to resume her enmity with Spider-Woman! All this and more in Spider-Woman #88: Sting Of Rejection!)