Sting Of Rejection

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" Helen Stacy said, shaking her sleeping daughter's shoulder.

Gwen Stacy merely yawned out loud and turned over, her long blonde hair seeming to cover her completely, before Helen shook her again.

"Come on, it's time to get up," Helen continued insistently.

Mumbling under her breath, Gwen finally sat up, rubbing her eyes with one hand as she used her other hand to brush her hair back.

"Maybe you should be calling me Rapunzel," Gwen mumbled with a half-smile. "But why are you bugging me to get up, especially this early?"

"Because it's not early," Helen pointed out to her, picking up Gwen's clock radio. "It's just after 10:30," she continued, as Gwen turned to look at the radio.

"Oh, no!" Gwen groaned, falling back onto her bed. "I'm going to miss at least two classes today, and-"

"It's Saturday, remember?" Helen reminded Gwen. "You don't have any classes today."

Gwen gave a sigh of relief as she got out of bed.

I don't believe it, she thought to herself. The old Stacy luck actually went easy on me for once!

SPIDER-WOMAN #88

STING OF REJECTION

It didn't take Gwen long to shower or get dressed, and before long she was in the kitchen of the Stacy home to get a late breakfast.

"Thanks for saving some of this for me," Gwen said to Helen, before taking another bite of ham.

"It's no problem, sweetie," Helen assured her. "But are you sure you're all right? Did you hurt yourself at all?" she continued, concern in her voice. Helen had good reason to be worried, given how Gwen risked her life in her superhero identity as the spectacular Spider-Woman.

Helen's fears were confirmed when she saw Gwen's shoulders slump.

"…What happened?" Helen asked with concern.

Gwen explained about her recent battle with her old enemy Polestar, the magnetic supervillain obsessed with humiliating and killing his family. As Spider-Woman, Gwen had managed to defeat Polestar, but she hadn't been able to stop Polestar from killing his brother.

"So that's the problem?" Helen asked gently. "You feel guilty about not being able to stop this Polestar guy from killing his brother?"

"…That's partly it," Gwen nodded. "But I've been thinking about how I let my grades at school fall off because I was too stupid to listen to what everyone's been telling me about not pushing myself so hard. You, Aunt Nancy, my girlfriends, other people I know…and did I ever listen to any of you? No, I didn't!" Gwen continued, her voice becoming more pained as she spoke.

Helen only reached out and grasped her daughter's hands.

"And you still haven't fully recovered from everything you've tried to do, which is why you slept so late this morning," Helen sighed. "But you're going to try to take it easier?"

"Yeah, and focus on my schoolwork," Gwen said after taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I don't know if I'll be able to help out much with the bills-"

"Don't worry about that," Helen interrupted her. "Nancy and I will take care of that. All you need to do is take care of yourself."

"Thanks, Mom," Gwen smiled. "I'm sorry about all this, it's just…"

"I know," Helen assured her. "Just take care of yourself for now."

This is just what I needed, Gwen thought to herself that evening, as she lit the last candle. Everyone was so right…Mom…Aunt Nancy…Liz…Randy…Uncle Ben…

Putting the lighter down on the bathroom counter, Gwen picked up her phone and made sure that the music app was set to the right album. She wasn't sure why her Aunt Nancy Stacy liked Enya so much, but Nancy had insisted that Gwen give it a try.

As the first song started, Gwen couldn't suppress a giggle. The music was quiet, but it had a playful, almost whimsical quality to it, meshing well with the vocals.

Removing her robe, Gwen stepped into the bathtub and sat down, relishing the wonderful warm feeling of the water and the tickle of the bubbles all around her. Laying back, she breathed in and let the wonderful scent of the lavender fill her nostrils, even as the music filled her ears.

"From Bissau to Palau, in the shade of Avalon…from Fiji to Tiree and the Isles of Ebony…from Peru to Cebu hear the power of Babylon…from Bali to Cali, far beneath the Coral Sea…" Gwen sang softly to herself in time with the vocals.

As the first song finished and the second one started, Gwen realized just how much she needed this. Even just spending the day doing her homework and the housekeeping had left her exhausted, and she realized that she was probably going straight to bed once this was done.

Her physical wounds from her last confrontation with Polestar had healed, but her guilt over her failure to prevent Polestar from killing his brother, her frustrations regarding her problems with her boyfriend Randy Robertson's parents, the feeling that she was neglecting her responsibilities as Spider-Woman and the realization that she was missing out on potential acting and modelling work were all taking their toll on her.

For now, though, Gwen knew that she could relax, safe in the knowledge that the worst of her problems were over for the time being.

"So, what do you think?" Will O' the Wisp asked Scorpia as she tried out her new equipment. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes…" Scorpia leered frightfully as she lashed out with her tail, the sharpened blade stopping just short of Will O' the Wisp's face. "Even better than my old one…"

"Well, I asked the Tinkerer to make a few improvements," the Wisp grinned, not flinching in the least from Scorpia's tail. "Your new tail's got longer range, a variable stinger to let you inject different kinds of poisons and drugs, and special shielding to keep it from getting damaged by Spider-Woman's sting blasts the way it did the first time."

Scorpia just spat on the floor, her good mood vanishing as she recalled her defeat at Spider-Woman's hands. As Elaine Coll, she had been hired by an up-and-coming mob boss who called himself the Rose to be his supervillain enforcer. The Rose had arranged for her to gain superhuman powers and equipment based on a scorpion, including a deadly mechanical, slashing claws and superhuman strength. As Scorpia, Coll had gone on a murderous rampage, crossing paths with Spider-Woman. Although Scorpia had won their first battle, Spider-Woman's victory in a later battle had led to Scorpia's arrest.

Ever since, Scorpia had been eager to get revenge on the little bitch, and so she'd eagerly accepted Will O' the Wisp's offers of teaming up with some of Spider-Woman's other enemies.

"Take it easy," the Wisp chuckled, brushing back a lock of his shoulder-length golden hair. "Save your hatred for our mutual girlfriend," he snickered.

In response, Scorpia merely cracked her tail like a whip, an evil smile crossing her face, before she came back with Will O' the Wisp into the main room of the Wisp's hideout.

Two other figures were waiting for them. One was a grisly-looking thing clad in what looked like a jagged suit of yellow and red metal plates, which were in fact melted into its skin. His eyes glowed with a fiery rage, which meshed perfectly with his fire-manipulating powers and his supervillain name of Firebrand.

The other was a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair, clad in gold body armor with a silver helmet, gloves and boots. Commonly referred to as Moonstone, she was as cold and impassive as her name, glancing from one to the other of her fellow villains silently.

Will O' the Wisp only smiled inwardly, as his eyes glowed brightly. During his last stay in prison, he had spent a great deal of time theorizing about the extent of his hypnotic powers. He had discovered that, while he couldn't outright control peoples' minds, he could persuade them to agree with whatever he suggested. The lights he subtly emitted from his eyes had allowed him to do everything from persuade hotel managers and store owners to give him goods and services for free, allowing him to get almost anything he needed, to persuade Spider-Woman's other enemies to follow his lead.

"Why does she get to go first?" Firebrand demanded, an aura of flame surrounding him as his anger started to rise. The other villains stepped back instinctively, knowing that Firebrand's flames became more intense with his rage.

"Jealous, burnout?" Scorpia smirked. "At least I've actually beaten Spider-Woman in a fight!"

Firebrand started to glow brightly, and began to advance on Scorpia, before a bright flash blinded the both of them. As Firebrand and Scorpia regained their sight, they saw that Will O' the Wisp had stepped between them, his eyes glowing brightly.

"Stop it, both of you!" the Wisp exclaimed, looking from Firebrand to Scorpia and back as his eyes glowed brightly. "Spider-Woman's the one we want to kill, not each other!"

Scorpia and Firebrand relaxed, but their own eyes were still flashing in anger.

"Think of Spider-Woman screaming in agony as she's burned alive," Will O' the Wisp encouraged them. "Think of her ripped to pieces, or dying on the inside from a toxic poison," he continued. "She's crossed us all…and if she dies, we all benefit."

The two villains calmed somewhat, as Moonstone looked on impassively.

The Wisp is a self-fulfilling prophecy, Moonstone thought to herself. So determined to prove that he's not a second-rate criminal, that he can aspire to better than that, he's stepped up his game and actively trying to find new uses for his powers, and act on the advice Jack O' Lantern gave him. It's really quite admirable-but at the same time, he's so confident of his own abilities that he doesn't consider the possibility of deception.

Moonstone had not been affected at all by Will O' the Wisp's hypnotic eye lights. Her helmet shielded her from the lights, the specialized filters it generated giving her perfect vision regardless of the light and shielding her from being blinded or hypnotized. However, she'd since gone along with pretending to be manipulated by the Wisp. In part, she was impressed by the way he'd first tried to hypnotize her when they'd met in the Bar With No Name. She hadn't kept her guard up around him, thinking him to be a harmless loser.

Now that she'd learned better, Moonstone was intrigued about the 'thought experiment' Will O' the Wisp was pursuing and had decided to continue participating. So far, aside from creating a psychological profile of Spider-Woman to help the Wisp's planning, she hadn't been asked to do much. For now, all she had to do was observe the psychological interplay between the other villains.

Among other things.

"How is it?" Marie-Ange Colbert asked Gwen as she sipped the tea.

"It feels wonderful," Gwen sighed once she'd had a drink. "I wasn't sure why you wanted it for Christmas before now, but…"

"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Marie-Ange smiled. "I really appreciate your getting it for me, though."

"No worries," Gwen assured her. "Where'd you get the teapot and the cups? Your parents?"

"Yeah, they're pretty much the only…" Marie-Ange trailed off, as Gwen frowned sympathetically.

"But you're doing well, though?" Gwen asked, hoping to change the subject. "How are your Psychology studies coming?"

"Wonderfully," Marie-Ange smiled. "I should be getting my degree in a couple of years-and I've already been able to help some of my fellow inmates," she continued.

"With your training?" Gwen asked curiously.

"In part," Marie-Ange nodded, "but also because I've been where a lot of the people I've worked with are. Women and mutants have their own…"

"I can imagine," Gwen assured her. "Tell me about it…"

Gwen and Marie-Ange conversed for several minutes, as they continued sipping at their tea.

"How about you, though?" Marie-Ange asked her. "How are you doing, Gwen?"

"…I've been having a hard time lately," Gwen admitted. "I've tried to take on too many things at once, and ignoring peoples' advice to relax. Not anymore, though."

"Well, I'm glad you haven't forgotten me," Marie-Ange smiled at Gwen, before winking briefly. "Maybe I can help you…"

"How?" Gwen asked curiously.

"Take the cup in your left hand, and spin it anteclockwise three times," Marie-Ange nodded at Gwen.

Gwen just looked askance at Marie-Ange.

"Come on, humor me," Marie-Ange chuckled.

Shrugging, Gwen spun her teacup the way Marie-Ange indicated, before turning it over onto her saucer. There wasn't much tea left in the cup, and when Gwen turned it over again all that was left was a series of tea leaves sticking to the inside.

"That's how you do it," Marie-Ange nodded approvingly. "May I?"

Blinking in surprise, Gwen pushed the saucer and her cup towards Marie-Ange, who bent over to take a closer look into the cup.

Gwen was startled to see a shadow pass over Marie-Ange's face as she glanced over the tea leaves.

"…What are you doing?" Gwen finally couldn't help but ask.

"Reading the tea leaves," Marie-Ange explained without looking up. "This isn't good…"

"What is it?" Gwen asked in alarm. "What are you-"

"Look at the patterns in the leaves," Marie-Ange explained. "See those ones there? What do they look like?"

"A…scimitar?" Gwen asked in confusion. "And what's that? Is that a-"

"…a scorpion," Marie-Ange frowned. "What's your sign?"

"My what?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Your zodiac sign," Marie-Ange replied.

"Scorpio," Gwen replied. "Is that supposed to be-"

"These signs indicate violence and strife, involving someone who's a Scorpio, or a scorpion," Marie-Ange frowned. "Do you know anyone like that? Someone who's a Scorpio, or who has a pet scorpion?"

Gwen just stared back at Marie-Ange in disbelief.

"Whoever this person is, they're going to threaten you, Gwen," Marie-Ange said, agitation in her voice. "And it's going to happen soon."

Gwen just stared blankly at Marie-Ange.

"What's this all about?" Gwen finally asked.

"I'm doing a tea leaf reading," Marie-Ange explained. "I thought I could find some encouraging signs in your future, something that could help. But this…"

"What else do you see?" Gwen asked urgently.

"An hourglass…imminent danger," Marie-Ange continued, her eyes turning back down to the cup. "Bad luck from a downward pointing triangle…nails denoting malice and hate…what could this all mean?"

Gwen was wondering that herself, her stomach tying itself in knots as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"I…I'm so sorry, Gwen," Marie-Ange said as she finally looked up. "I never meant-"

"It's OK," Gwen assured her. "Whatever it is, now that I know about it I can deal with it."

"…Alright," Marie-Ange said, as they stood up. "Please take care, though…and be careful, alright?"

"Of course," Gwen nodded as she hugged Marie-Ange, before the guards came to escort Marie-Ange back to her cell.

Gwen managed to keep up a brave face to keep Marie-Ange from getting any more worried, but her own insides were churning.

And here I was trying to relax, she thought to herself.

What next?

Scorpia laughed maniacally as she lashed her tail around her in a wide arc, easily deflecting the bullets the security guards shot at her. Her tail suddenly stiffened and and coiled up behind her as she fired a powerful energy bolt, blasting one of the guards dead on the spot. The second guard tried to line up another shot, but Scorpia's tail lunged forward and coiled around him, bringing him towards its owner.

Scorpia's laughter continued as she lashed out with her claws, ripping the guard's throat out.

The last guard turned to flee, realizing he was outmatched. He didn't get far, as Scorpia's tail easily dropped the corpse of the second guard and lunged towards him. The tail's stinger scythed down towards him, and the guard closed his eyes, expecting to be ripped in two.

He felt a stinging pain in his arm, but that suddenly faded as Scorpia's tail withdrew. The guard felt nothing unusual for a few seconds, until he began shrieking in agony at the burning sensation flooding through his body.

The guard suddenly fell to his knees, vomiting as the biotoxin Scorpia's tail had injected him with continued its insidious work. Finally, he collapsed on the road, completely paralyzed as his nervous system shut down.

Finally, he was no longer breathing.

Scorpia didn't pay the dying guard any attention. Grabbing the handles of the armored car's doors, she suddenly flexed her arms, ripping the doors right off their hinges with her incredible superhuman strength.

Scorpia's eyes lit up as she tossed the doors aside and saw the large bags of cash awaiting her in the car.

She began laughing again as she gathered up her loot and used her tail to spring away.

Will O' the Wisp slipped away through the New York power grid, pleased with how well things were progressing.

Along with all the other improvements the Wisp had gotten the Tinkerer to add to Scorpia's tail, the tail also had a miniature transmitter broadcasting a homing signal that the Wisp could follow in the same way as he could Polestar's magnetism. Now, he was able to monitor Scorpia's progress, including knowing where she would be committing the robberies she was planning to get Spider-Woman's attention. He wanted to observe Spider-Woman's fighting, so he could get an idea of how well his little plan was progressing.

That was the lesser prize, of course.

The real advantage was finally realizing what that device in Spider-Woman's back was. It was a homing device, broadcasting a location signal that gave away Spider-Woman's location at any time. He didn't know who had actually put it there (although if Will O' the Wisp had to hazard a guess, it would have been Jack O' Lantern), or how it had gotten there, but that hardly mattered. The Wisp knew he could follow those signals, and get an idea of where Spider-Woman was at any given time.

The Wisp had originally toyed with the idea of following Spider-Woman back to her civilian home and trying to figure out her identity. However, he'd realized that he'd probably be noticed in such a setting before he could finally pin her down. So far, he'd managed to avoid notice by hiding out in public areas where there was a lot of chaos going on, and otherwise maintaining a humanoid form when he was out in public. Even lurking too obviously in a particular neighborhood might give him away.

Still, he had determined that she probably attended Empire State University, which made sense given her age.

While the Wisp couldn't hope to pick Spider-Woman's civilian identity out from the thousands of other students at ESU, there were other ways he could use the knowledge.

Gwen had been sorely shaken from the results of the tea leaf reading Tarot had done for her. Any dismay she felt at that reading, however, paled in comparison to the pain she felt when she read about the results of Scorpia's robbery spree that evening. Despite her best efforts, Gwen had trouble keeping her mind on her homework that night, along with trouble paying attention in class the next day.

Well, at least I understand one part of the reading, Gwen thought to herself as she tried to stay focus on Professor Huddleston's English lecture that Monday. It only makes sense that a scorpion sign would have to do with Scorpia, and the danger she poses. I just wish that…

"Are you alright, Gwen?" Professor Huddleston's voice broke in on her thoughts.

"…What?" Gwen asked in puzzlement, as she suddenly came back to reality. "Oh!" she exclaimed, looking around her in surprise at the rest of the class staring at her.

"You were mumbling under your breath," Professor Huddleston told her. "Did you have something to add?"

"Add?" Gwen said in surprise. "Add to what?"

"…To our discussion of how Mary Shelley's Romanticism contrasted with her husband Percy's, of course," Professor Huddleston frowned.

"…I'm sorry," Gwen said in embarrassment. "I had something else on my mind," she continued, wincing at Professor Huddleston's scowl.

Nice going, Gwen thought to herself. You couldn't stay focused just for one day? Really?

She redoubled her efforts to focus on Professor Huddleston's lecture, looking down again at the notes she'd taken from the most recent class readings.

At the back of her mind, though, she knew what she would be doing that night.

Swinging through downtown Manhattan that evening, Spider-Woman tried to recall everything she could about her past encounters with Scorpia. Scorpia had easily crushed Spider-Woman in their first battle, but their second one had ended in a draw. Spider-Woman had triumphed in their third battle, one that ended in Scorpia's arrest, but Spider-Woman had been lucky to get out of it alive. Spider-Woman had managed to damage Scorpia's mechanical tail with her sting blasts before electrocuting Scorpia and finally managing to take her down.

I doubt it'll be that easy this time, Spider-Woman thought to herself. If anything-

Spider-Woman dismissed those thoughts as she heard the screams up ahead. Along with the screams, she was sure she heard a maniacal laughter, one which she recognized as Scorpia's.

Well, that was certainly convenient, Spider-Woman thought to herself as she picked up speed.

Now for the hard part…

Scorpia cackled out loud as she tore through the hotel ballroom. She'd been having fun during all the robberies she'd committed over the last few days, but none so much as tonight. The party tonight was to celebrate the recovery of the long-lost La Fontaine diamond collection, named for the French noble family who'd originally owned them. Tonight was the latest in a series of galas held by the La Fontaine family's descendants, who were celebrating the diamonds' discovery and return.

Aside from the rich payoff Scorpia expected to get from the diamonds themselves, she particularly enjoyed killing these rich snobs. She'd liked and respected the Rose, the wealthy and mysterious crime lord who'd originally gotten Scorpia her superpowers, but so many of the rest of them looked down on people like her.

That had been one of the things Scorpia's parents had hated about the people her parents had often worked for over the years. As their daughter Elaine, Scorpia had inherited their loathing, and now she enjoyed hurting these bastards even more than her other victims.

She lashed out with her tail, ripping into the arm of one of the hotel guests as she injected him with toxins.

The man screamed in agony, but his cry was drowned out by Spider-Woman's enraged scream of Scorpia's name as she leapt into the ballroom. Scorpia had been expecting Spider-Woman's arrival, and easily dodged the first sting blasts Spider-Woman fired at her. Scorpia countered with a series of laser blasts from her tail, but Spider-Woman easily dodged them as well, entangling Scorpia's tail in her webbing. As Scorpia tried to pull her tail back, Spider-Woman suddenly released her webbing, causing Scorpia to tumble back off balance. Spider-Woman quickly followed, flipping into the air and slamming Scorpia in the chest and face with a vicious double kick.

Scorpia didn't seem to feel the blows, laughing madly as her eyes fixed on Spider-Woman.

"I knew you'd come back, my little pretty!" Scorpia cackled as her tailed ripped through Spider-Woman's webbing. "They always come back!" she continued, leaping forward and slashing Spider-Woman with her clawed gauntlets. Spider-Woman cried out and fell back, her arms and ribs suddenly bleeding, but she struck Scorpia in the face with a double shot of her sting blasts, preventing Scorpia from following up her attack. She sprang off to the side, spraying twin lines of webbing from her hands to entangle Scorpia's arms and legs.

Scorpia struggled to break free, as Spider-Woman struck her again with her sting blasts. Scorpia was far from finished, however, and recovered more quickly than Spider-Woman expected. Quickly lining up a shot with her tail, Scorpia blasted Spider-Woman with a powerful bolt of energy, staggering the younger woman. Scorpia quickly followed up by slashing Spider-Woman with her tail, injecting the same toxic venom she had into her previous victims.

Spider-Woman fell to her knees, screaming in agony as Scorpia tore herself free of Spider-Woman's webbing. Striding forward, Scorpia lashed out with her tail, wrapping it around Spider-Woman's waist and picking her up into the air. Scorpia's eyes narrowed as she considered her arachnid foe, who was now ghastly pale, her stomach heaving as she struggled to break free.

"Well, this is a disappointment," Scorpia sneered. "You've definitely lost a step, honey-where's that fighter I used to know? If this is all you've got left, I might as well finish it here and now," she continued, extending her tail so its blade pointed at Spider-Woman's eyes. The tail's blade glowed as Scorpia prepared to fire.

Desperately, Spider-Woman twisted around, bringing the part of Scorpia's tail wrapped around her in the path of Scorpia's blast. A bright flash tore through the room, blinding Scorpia. Startled, she let up her grip on her tail and Spider-Woman managed to slip free. Angrily, Scorpia began scything her tail all around, determined to keep Spider-Woman or anyone else who might try to stop her at bay. The reinforcements the Tinkerer had equipped her new tail with lived up to their hype, as her tail was not damaged from blasting itself. However, it couldn't prevent Spider-Woman from repeatedly blasting Scorpia from different angles with her sting blasts. In the several seconds it took Scorpia to regain her sight, she was aching all over from the blasts.

Livid with anger, Scorpia whirled around, looking for Spider-Woman. The younger woman's hacking gave the game away, and Scorpia soon turned to face her. Murder was in her eyes as she stared at Spider-Woman, who stared determinedly back Scorpia despite her trembling limbs and hacking coughs.

"That's my girl," Scorpia smiled, the unpleasant leer on her face complementing the hateful look in her eyes. "Not that it really helps you-that poison is painful, isn't it? You might be able to last longer because of your powers, but the toxin's still going to kill you. So I think I'll just..."

Scorpia never finished her sentence, as Spider-Woman sprang at her. Caught off guard, Scorpia couldn't react in time to keep Spider-Woman from kicking her in the face. Scorpia brought her tail back around for another poisoned slash, determined to finish Spider-Woman off, but Spider-Woman shot her webbing and caught the tail. Gasping with the effort, Spider-Woman twisted the tail around, so that its toxic spike tore into Scorpia's face.

Scorpia howled in agony as the poison began flowing through her system. Sinking to her knees, she struck back at Spider-Woman again with an energy blast from her tail. Spider-Woman was faster, catching a nearby table with her webbing and flinging it at Scorpia. Scorpia's energy blast split the table, but both ends were still attached to Spider-Woman's webbing. Swinging them like flails, Spider-Woman struck Scorpia once with each table end, and then a third time with both of them until Scorpia fell unconscious.

Finally, exhausted by the effort, Spider-Woman fell to her hands and knees. Her insides were on fire from the poison, and she realized she needed medical attention.

Desperately, she crawled towards the ballroom doors, where she could see paramedics coming up and into the room.

Watching the battle from within the ballroom's circuitry, Will O' the Wisp was bemused at Spider-Woman's victory. He realized that the paramedics would likely be able to treat her poisoning, and she wouldn't need too long to heal. However, he also knew that putting more of an emotional burden on Spider-Woman by keeping her out of action would only benefit his plan, as well as making sure she suffered some more.

Passing through the electrical cables beneath the floor, Will O' the Wisp surreptitiously reached a hand up and took control of the unconscious Scorpia's tail. With pinpoint accuracy, he animated the tail to fire another energy blast at Spider-Woman.

Spider-Woman's agonized cry was sweet music to the Wisp's ears, as was the sound of her unconscious body slumping to the ground.

Satisfied with his day's work, the Wisp slipped back into the ballroom's electrical system and quickly left the hotel.

He had a lot to think about in implementing the next part of his plan.

When Spider-Woman regained consciousness, she found herself lying in a hospital bed, her injuries bandaged and an IV attached to her arm. To her horror, she found that her costume had been removed, replaced with a hospital gown. Sitting up and glancing all around her, she saw her costume hanging from a peg on the wall. To her relief, she saw that she was still wearing her facemask, and her hair was still black.

Sighing with relief, she forced herself out of bed, before grasping the bed as she staggered. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the IV out of her arm and marched over to her costume, changing back into it and tossing the hospital gown onto the bed. Finally, she turned towards the window, pulling it open before she heard an exclamation behind her.

"What are you doing out of bed?" the voice said in alarm, as Spider-Woman turned to see a nurse standing in the doorway to her hospital room and staring askance at her. "You're in no shape to-"

"Am I going to die?" Spider-Woman asked bluntly, remembering the poison she'd been injected with.

"No, but you're still very sick," the nurse frowned. "You've been unconscious for the last eight hours, and you shouldn't be-"

Spider-Woman didn't reply as she climbed out the window and up the outside wall of the hospital. She had a splitting headache, and her body shook all over as she made her way to the roof, but all she could think of was her family and how they were probably worried sick about her.

So much for my trying to take things easy, Spider-Woman thought to herself as she started webswinging home. I get my fortune told and it indicates bad luck, as if that's any big surprise, I lose my focus in class and get Professor Huddleston angry at me, I'm stupid enough to let myself get poisoned by Scorpia and dragged off to the hospital, I've probably made Randy and my family worry about me, and I'm probably going to miss classes tomorrow while I recover from my fight with Scorpia, she concluded.

All that I need now is to- Spider-Woman's train of thought was suddenly broken, as she lost her grip on her webline. She managed to catch herself against the wall of a building, standing there for several seconds, before she lost her grip again and fell into a large mound of dirty snow piled up against the building.

The snowbank cushioned Spider-Woman's fall, so she wasn't really hurt. However, she was now dripping with grime and muck as she emerged from the snowbank, and climbed the wall again to resume her webswinging.

Like I said, all I need now is to end up smelling like a landfill, and it's a perfect end to a perfect day, she thought to herself in frustration, as she came into her neighborhood.

(Next Issue: Gwen manages to recover in body from her fight with Scorpia, but as she is still wounded in spirit as she tries to get her studies back on track. Things go from bad to worse for Gwen as her relationship with Randy comes to a head over his parents' dislike of her, and Will O' the Wisp's plan to destroy her continues when he sends Firebrand on a killing spree! All this and more in Spider-Woman #89: Can't Stand The Heat!)