Somebody's Watching Me

It all happened too quickly for Gwen Stacy to consciously register.

Riding home on the subway with her cousin Jill Stacy and her friend Kitty Pryde, Gwen had suddenly felt her spider-senses trigger. They reacted whenever someone Gwen had marked with her pheromones was in a situation of particular interest to her, usually some sort of threat. Gwen could also voluntarily activate them to track someone who carried her pheromones.

Looking up in alarm, Gwen tried to determine what had set off her spider-senses when the subway train jumped off its tracks.

Horrified screams combined with bloodcurdling metallic screeches as the train began plowing through the station, leaving chaos in its wake.

SPIDER-WOMAN #91

SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME

Before she realized what she was doing, Gwen had instinctively sprung up onto the wall of the train, using her wall-crawling abilities to hold herself in place. Glancing around frantically, she tried to find Kitty or Jill, hoping to catch them, but Gwen couldn't make them out in the mass of tumbling bodies all around her. Desperately, she grabbed onto anyone she could with her hands, hoping that she would be able to keep a secure grip on the wall with her feet through her boots.

The subway train ripped through the station for nearly a minute before it finally settled to a stop. For a long moment, silence filled the air, as the dust and debris from the crash finally began to settle.

Gwen had managed to keep from being flung around by the train's crash, as had the people she had managed to catch. All four of the people Gwen had caught, as well as everyone around her, were too shaken to notice Gwen come back to ground level, gently setting the people she was carrying on the ground. Examining the people she'd caught briefly to see that they were alright, Gwen came up again, her heart pounding as she looked around.

The air was filled with the screams and cries of the dying and wounded, adding to the horror of the scene around Gwen. The subway station looked like a war zone, with people wounded and dying as they lay pinned under debris or slashed by chunks of metal. Blood ran freely over the pavement, and splattered the wreckage all around them.

Her blood running cold, Gwen turned back into the subway train to look for Jill and Kitty. All she could see were wounded passengers, some of them pinned under debris. Kneeling down, Gwen used her spider-strength to wrench some of the debris away, before helping the wounded people crawl free. She repeated her actions as she crawled the length of the subway car, kicking the doors open so that the passengers could help each other get out of the car.

Gwen came across more than one corpse as she canvassed the subway car, although the fact that most of the passengers were alive was some small relief. She felt herself growing sick with worry, as she still couldn't find Kitty or Jill…

…until she found her worst fear at the front of the car.

Jill lay unconscious under a pile of debris, her right arm weirdly splayed behind her as blood oozed from her side.

Gwen had flung the debris aside in an instant, and was soon at Jill's side checking for injuries.

Screaming for help from the paramedics and emergency workers who were now treating the passengers, Gwen wasn't sure what made her feel worse, Jill's injuries or the fact that she hadn't seen Kitty yet.

When the subway train had begun to derail, Kitty Pryde had reacted without thinking. Her phasing powers had activated instinctively, carrying her through the wall of the subway train to fall back through the air before she caught herself.

Kitty lay there in the air for several seconds as she tried to get her bearings. When she did, she nearly fell over again as she found herself hovering in the air, a side effect of her phasing powers. Still not quite believing what she was doing, she took a step, and then another, before she found herself walking on air as easily as if she were on the solid ground.

Kitty's surprise at this new aspect of her mutant powers was short-lived, however, as she quickly ran back to the destruction in the subway station. She nearly retched at the horrific scene, before she glanced around, looking for Jill and Gwen.

She didn't get far before she came across two older women lying amidst the wreckage. One of the women breathed heavily, trying to drag herself over the debris in front of her. The other one cursed and pushed, trying unsuccessfully to free her trapped leg.

Kitty's first instinct was to walk past them and keep going, hoping that she would find Jill or Gwen, but she hesitated. She had always considered her phasing power to be useless, having never been able to think of what she could use it for. She had never been interested in using them to fight or commit crime either, having rejected both the X-Men and the Acolytes of Magneto when they'd invited her to join them.

Now, however, Kitty found herself kneeling down, and grabbing the trapped woman. Planting her feet firmly, Kitty began pulling, as she activated her phasing power again. Kitty could extend her phasing abilities to anything and anyone she touched, and she did so now as the woman's trapped leg simply passed through the debris. The woman slowly struggled to her feet as Kitty helped the other woman up, letting the older woman lean on her as she slowly led the older woman through the debris.

As Kitty turned the woman she was helping over to a paramedic and turned back to help the woman whose leg she had freed from the debris, she noted that no one seemed to have noticed that she was using her mutant powers.

Then again, she realized that they probably had bigger things on their minds.

Once she had gone back to help the woman she'd freed from the debris and helped her over to the paramedics, Kitty resumed her efforts. She helped some people get out from the debris, and others take the most direct route to the paramedics now helping the wounded.

She was horrified by the carnage she saw all around her, but that was nothing compared to the pain she felt as she saw an unconscious Jill being wheeled away on a stretcher, a devastated Gwen looking on.

Gwen started as Kitty touched her shoulder, before turning to face her.

The two women stared at one another briefly, before they hugged, tears forming in their eyes.

"Don't give me that shit!" John Gamelin shouted at the police detective. "You know damn well somebody's been messing around in here!"

The detective's eyes flared at Gamelin's tone, but he forced himself to calm down. Pissing off a Roxxon executive who was good friends with the police commissioner wouldn't do his career any favors, particularly not when Gamelin was known for how willing he was to use his pull.

"Mr. Gamelin, there's no evidence of any break-ins," the detective replied patiently. "We have no fingerprints, no footprints, no signs of forced entry, nothing! Your alarms haven't registered anything, and neither have your security cameras. We've looked-"

"Well, look again!" Gamelin shouted, his voice going up another octave.

"That would be the fourth time we've looked at your footage," the detective continued, trying desperately to keep his temper, "and it's all clean. There's nothing on it. And your alarms haven't registered anything either!"

"So then why was all the food in my fridge spread all over the table when I got home?" Gamelin demanded. "And why were all the books in my library rearranged? Why were all the other things I described happening?"

"They weren't like that when we arrived," the detective reminded him. "There's been no evidence that anything at all was out of place."

"It was all like that, I swear!" Gamelin insisted, a vein in his temple throbbing. "Somebody came in here before you arrived-"

"And rearranged everything properly, while you were here?" the police detective asked, somehow managing not to sound too incredulous as he felt.

"I know it happened!" Gamelin said heatedly. "Just this afternoon!"

"Mr. Gamelin…" the detective replied, trying to figure out how to phrase it without setting the old man off. "There's absolutely no evidence of-"

"I don't care what you do, God damn it!" Gamelin shouted, his voice rising again. "Just find out who the hell's causing this, and arrest them!"

The detective would have dismissed Gamelin's call as just a prank, except for the terror in Gamelin's eyes. The old man was genuinely frightened, despite the fact that there didn't seem to be any evidence at all that anyone else had been in his penthouse but him.

The detective wracked his brains again, trying to decide if Gamelin was starting to suffer from premature senility…

…or if there was something else entirely at work here, something beyond his ability to figure out.

Either way, it was not a comforting realization.

Gwen sat with Kitty in the hospital where Jill had been taken, as they waited for Gwen's aunt Nancy Stacy and her mother Helen Lieber-Stacy to arrive. Jill had suffered a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and several cracked ribs, in addition to the concussion that had knocked her unconscious. She was now in the emergency room along with many of the other victims of the crash, and was apparently being prepped for treatment.

For Gwen, it was an uncomfortable reminder of other times they had come to the hospital. On one occasion, she had come to support her friend Julia Winhill when Julia's housemate Rick Sheridan had been hospitalized after a supervillain rampage. On another occasion, Gwen had come to support her boyfriend Randy Robertson when his parents had been nearly killed in a bombing. Jill's injuries were not as bad as Rick's or Randy's parents' had been, but the wait was just as unpleasant for Gwen as it was on the previous occasions.

In fact, the wait almost seemed worse, as Gwen was sure that Kitty would have collapsed without her support. Kitty was an inch taller than Gwen, but she seemed so small in Gwen's arms, with her arms wrapped around herself and her head bowed.

Gwen could tell that something was very, very wrong with Kitty, and she had a pretty good idea what it was. She also knew how bad an idea it was to keep these sorts of things bottled up without talking about them, as well.

"…Kitty?" Gwen asked gently, turning Kitty's head to face her.

"…It's all…" Kitty mumbled to herself, so quietly that Gwen could barely hear her. "…Me…because of…" she continued.

Gwen immediately knew what Kitty was talking about.

"This isn't your fault, Kitty," Gwen tried to comfort her, staring intently into Kitty's eyes. "Don't blame yourself for this-it was an accident…"

"…How can you say that?" Kitty replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "The Brotherhood caused that crash. I just know it…"

Gwen frowned as she tried to recall the powers of the members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants she had fought as the spectacular Spider-Woman, most notably Avalanche, Pyro, Spiral and Super Sabre. She realized that Spiral might have caused the subway train to crash with her bizarre magical powers, but that didn't prove the Brotherhood was actually involved.

"You don't know that," Gwen tried to point out to her. "Any number of things could have caused this. How can you be sure it wasn't just an accident?"

"Maybe it was Jack O' Lantern," Kitty muttered as she looked away again.

Gwen visibly flinched at that suggestion. The maniacal Jack O' Lantern was likely the most dangerous supervillain she had ever fought as Spider-Woman. Jack O' Lantern, alias Steven Mark Levins, was Kitty's uncle, and had abducted her as part of a plan to try and destroy Gwen's very sense of self. Although Gwen had saved Kitty and defeated Jack O' Lantern, the experience had not been a pleasant one for either of them.

That would explain a lot, Gwen thought to herself, remembering how her spider-senses had activated just before the train crash. She also remembered the other times that her spider-senses had gone off, and the accidents that seemed to happen to her over and over again.

So he's watching me somehow, Gwen thought, and making all these things happen. That's all I need right now…

Gwen shook her head, reminding herself that Kitty was more important.

"There's no proof of that, either," Gwen reminded Kitty. "And if he had gotten loose somehow, don't you think it'd be all over the news?"

Kitty gave a long sigh before she sat up straight. To Gwen's relief, Kitty seemed to cheer up a little, although she was still pale.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be having the doctors look at you too?" Gwen asked in concern. "You might be suffering from shock."

"No, I'm fine…" Kitty shook her head. "How about you? Are-"

"I'm fine," Gwen assured her. "It's just that you look so pale. You should be getting some rest."

Kitty blinked in surprise at that.

"But what about Jill?" Kitty asked in surprise. "I can't just leave you and her!" she protested.

"You need to take care of yourself, too," Gwen reminded her. "I've learned that the hard way, believe me."

Kitty glanced off to the side, and she almost moved to stand up, but she soon sat down again, a guilty look on her face.

"It's okay, Kitty," Gwen assured her. "Really."

"…Can I at least wait until your mom and aunt get here?" Kitty asked.

Gwen only smiled as she drew Kitty in for a hug.

Harry Osborn sighed as he stepped into his apartment building, weary after the long day. After classes had let out for the day, he had gone to visit Gwen and Jill in the hospital. His girlfriend Liz Allan hadn't been able to go with him, being tied up almost until evening with her own schoolwork and study groups. Liz had said the group was meeting for dinner, and wouldn't be back until later.

Harry was so tired, he was lucky not to run into the man coming towards him in the hall.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Harry said in dismay. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine," the man assured him. "You look like you've seen a ghost, though," he half-grinned.

"What? No, I was just startled," Harry shook his head. "Sorry to bother you," he continued, as he began to step past the man.

"Come on, it's no big deal," the man assured him, grasping Harry's shoulder. "You seem pretty worked up-you wanna grab a beer? I've got the Rangers game set to record."

After seeing what had happened to Jill, Gwen and Kitty, Harry realized he could probably use a good, stiff drink. While he preferred baseball, he certainly didn't dislike hockey, either.

"Sure, I'd love to," he grinned. "You new here?"

"Yeah," the man grinned. "My name's Donny. What's yours?"

"Harry," Harry smiled back, as Donny led him down the hall towards his apartment.

If Harry hadn't been leading the way, he might have seen the murderously angry look that flashed through Donny's eyes for a second, before Donny regained his cheerful smile.

"Two weeks, and everything will be ready on my end," Laura Fortune assured Donny as he came into the apartment they shared. "How about you?"

"Well, the doctor says he's on schedule," Donny replied, "but you know these scientist types. He gets caught up in some cuckoo experiment, it could be another month before he's ready."

"I thought this guy was different," Laura replied. "I mean, wasn't he the guy who-"

"For Gargan and O'Hirn? Course he was," Donny said. "Why do you think I picked him?"

"Yeah, and how much did he charge those guys?" Laura asked. "Word is that Coll's boss had to cough up something like six or seven million. Where are we getting that kind of money?"

"From where we need to," Donny reminded her. "You think Big Mike is the only one who the Osborns owe?"

"So why don't they just get somebody to shoot him?" Laura asked curiously.

"You think old man Osborn gave a shit about collateral damage?" Donny said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "And for that matter, do you think he made it swift and quick? Fuck no-he made sure his victims knew it was coming. He made sure they suffered before they went."

"It won't be the same if Osborn junior just gets shot," Donny continued. "He has to know what this is coming from."

If Laura was at all bothered with what Donny was saying, she did not show it.

John Gamelin's hands trembled as he double-checked the locks on the brownstone's windows and doors. Nodding in satisfaction, he double-checked the security alarms before he finally sat down in his den, lighting a cigar as he tried to calm his nerves.

The brownstone belonged to Gamelin's cousin, who was often out of town on business. The cousin had allowed Gamelin to stay at the brownstone a few times when his penthouse was unavailable, most notably after it had been robbed by the supervillain who called himself the Flying Tiger. The Tiger had caused a significant amount of damage to the building, and Gamelin had needed to crash with his cousin while the place was being repaired.

Now, Gamelin was hiding out here while the police monitored his own home, in case whoever was meddling with the place came back. The police had set up several different surveillance devices, including some specially designed to track people entering the building with superhuman powers, and guaranteed that if Gamelin's stalker came back, they would find him.

Puffing on the cigar helped Gamelin's nerves calm somewhat, as he turned on the TV and set about looking for a good movie to watch.

Hondo, maybe? Gamelin thought to himself as he scrolled through the options.

All of a sudden, the TV began flickering with golden static, before it shut off altogether.

Gamelin leapt to his feet in alarm, before glancing all around him as the room's lights began flashing madly.

He knew he should run, but he was paralyzed by terror.

His terror increased all the more as a glowing sphere emerged from one of the light fixtures. The sphere floated down to floor level, before coalescing into a glowing human form. The thing was clad in what looked like a green bodysuit with a golden starburst on the chest, with shoulder-length golden hair and blank white eyes.

Gamelin began trembling violently as he recognized the figure before him.

Everyone who worked in the upper echelons of Roxxon knew the figure. He used to be known as Jackson Arvad, a research scientist known as much for his cutthroat office politics as his scientific brilliance. His colleagues had hated him as much as he hated them, and when his obsession with advancing his career had led to a catastrophic accident, it was easy for Roxxon to fire him. He had lost almost everything he had suing his former employers, but the same accident that led to his firing had also given him some amazing new gifts, gifts that brought a new identity with them.

Will O' the Wisp stared at John Gamelin, a terrifying leer crossing his face.

"Long time no see, Johnny," the Wisp greeted his old colleague. "The wife finally convince you to take a little time off?"

"Jackson…how…how did you…" Gamelin stammered, shaking with fear.

"Get into your apartment, or track you down?" the Wisp smirked. "The first part was easy, Johnny. Remember how I can control electrical devices and travel through power lines? I could get into your apartment any time I felt like it," he laughed. "The hardest part was deciding what to muck with first. I had so many choices I wasn't even sure where to begin! You were so easy to hypnotize so you'd clean up all the stuff I rearranged. And when I saw the look on that detective's face…"

"You…were…there?" Gamelin asked in horror.

"Of course I was, you moron," the Wisp said, his smile turning to a hateful glare. "How the hell do you think I knew where to find you after you left? I heard you phoning your cousin and your wife…and I remembered how you and your cousin invited some of the other senior managers over here to watch the Super Bowl back in '03," he continued. "I saw the address in the e-mail you sent David."

"Jesus, Jackson…please…" Gamelin stammered.

"I suppose I could say something witty right now, the way Freddy Krueger or Doctor Lecter would," the Wisp said as he reached out and grasped Gamelin's neck.

"But I won't," as he broke the older man's neck with a quick, brutal twist.

Will O' the Wisp laughed as Gamelin's corpse slumped down at his feet. He thought back to the open, active robberies he'd used to commit with his abilities, before he'd come to fully appreciate what he could do with them. He could go anywhere, follow anyone, do almost anything, watching his victims' reactions all the while.

It had been easy to practice on Gamelin, slowly driving the old man crazy. Spider-Woman was more of a challenge. While the Wisp could determine roughly where she was by using the mysterious tracking signal she always emitted (and the Wisp figured that the signal was likely due to some trick of Jack O' Lantern's-who else could it have been?) but determining her exact identity was more difficult. Still, there was more than one way to squash a spider, and so the Wisp had been harassing Spider-Woman by causing random accidents and mayhem at venues she frequented.

This was just the final phase of a plan the Wisp had enacted for revenge against the web-slinging little ginch. He had originally thought of gathering together several of Spider-Woman's other enemies and attacking her as a team, but Jack O' Lantern had advised him that the villains would probably all get in each other's way. Instead, Jack had advised the Wisp to try and use each team member's abilities as efficiently as possible, so that they complemented each other.

The Wisp had gathered Polestar, Firebrand, Scorpia and Moonstone to help him in his plan, and they'd all played their parts. Spider-Woman was likely stressed and exhausted from all the battles she'd had to fight against the villains the Wisp had recruited, and even moreso with the chaos he'd been causing in her personal life.

Now, with Spider-Woman pushed to the breaking point…

Will O' the Wisp found himself laughing again, the same maniacal laugh that could have come from Jack O' Lantern.

The Wisp found that he liked that analogy.

In a rare bit of good fortune, Gwen had been able to get excused from her studies for a few days because of the subway accident. She was glad for the relief, realizing that she probably wouldn't have been able to focus with everything that was going on.

What is it? Gwen wondered in frustration. Why does this always happen? People tell me I need to take more time for myself and focus on my studies, so I do that…but then a bunch of my old enemies start appearing again. Polestar murders his sister, Firebrand and Scorpia go on killing sprees, and now apparently Jack O' Lantern's back! He's stalking me just like he did before, and he made that subway train crash. He killed a bunch of people, and Jill was nearly one of them.

So who's next?

Mom?

Aunt Nancy?

Randy?

Shuddering, Gwen forced herself to calm down.

You don't know for sure that it's Jack O' Lantern, Gwen reminded herself. It could be any one of your enemies you've marked with your pheromones…and if that's the case, then you can track them.

Knowing who to track was another matter entirely, though.

How do I find that out? Gwen wondered. I doubt Peter can help me, she thought, referring to Peter Parker, better known as the amazing Spider-Man. The Heroes For Hire wouldn't be any help either, and neither would Randy or any of my other friends or family.

That was when a thought crossed her mind.

Marie-Ange's readings always seem accurate, Gwen realized. Marie-Ange Colbert was originally the supervillain Tarot until Gwen had defeated her as Spider-Woman. Marie-Ange had been imprisoned for her crimes, but Gwen had made an effort to keep in touch with her, and they had been close friends ever since.

She might be able to help me, but I won't have any way to pay her back, Gwen realized guiltily, recalling that she was flat broke.

Maybe I can make it up to her later somehow, Gwen thought, as she moved to change costume.

Webswinging on her way to the harbor launch that took visitors to Riker's Island Penitentiary, Spider-Woman tried to consider what to ask Marie-Ange when she arrived.

Should I ask for another tea leaf reading? Spider-Woman wondered. That seemed like it was the start of all this-maybe it can tell me if Jack O' Lantern is behind this. Marie-Ange might be able to get the image of a pumpkin or something like that…

Spider-Woman was startled from her reverie as her spider-senses began tingling. Glancing around in alarm, she heard the sound of a booming expression coming from below. Landing on a rooftop and glancing down towards the ground, she saw that the underground power lines beneath the pavement and many of the streetlights had somehow exploded, causing several of the nearby buildings and vehicles to catch fire. To make matters worse, a subway train was approaching on a nearby bridge. The bridge had already been damaged by the explosions, and even from her perch Spider-Woman could hear the weakened bridge start to crack under the strain.

Quickly hiding the web-sack containing her tote bag and street clothes on the roof, Spider-Woman leapt down, landing on the side of the subway bridge. Her heart pounded as she began spinning a wall of webbing from the side of the bridge to the street below, hoping that her plan would work. As the bridge began to break down, the subway train derailed, landing on Spider-Woman's webbing. Spider-Woman quickly came around and caught the train as it began to slow down, caught in her webbing. Pushing up against the train with all of her strength, Spider-Woman sprayed her webbing again, this time wrapping the subway train so that it became completely ensnared.

It took several long, painful minutes, but Spider-Woman soon had the subway train securely stopped and trapped in her web. Taking several deep breaths, Spider-Woman climbed down her webbing to the ground, glancing around at the flames to see where she was most needed.

Spider-Woman's fatigue made her less alert than she would have been, and she was caught completely by surprise when she was slammed from behind. Landing face-first on the ground, Spider-Woman struggled to her feet, her hands glowing with her sting blasts.

A large golden sphere floated in front of her, one that coalesced into the unwelcome sight of Will O' the Wisp.

It all made sense to Spider-Woman then, especially all the random chaos she'd been experiencing over the last several days. Will O' the Wisp's powers included his ability to control electrical devices, and everything she'd gone through had something to do with machines of some kind. Glancing from side to side, she saw the chaos the Wisp had created. People screamed in pain from their injuries, fires burned among the wreckage, and random livewires sparked and twitched all around them.

"A lot more elaborate than a bank robbery, isn't it?" Will O' the Wisp smirked as Spider-Woman shifted her glare to look back at him. "That's the problem with my profession-too many costumed criminals think small."

"And you really think you're any better?" Spider-Woman asked sarcastically.

"Of course I am," the Wisp replied, a hateful smirk still on his face. "Case in point," he continued, as he caught Spider-Woman in the face with a booming punch before she could react. As Spider-Woman flew backward, Will O' the Wisp shifted into a golden sphere and flew after her.

Crying out in pain as she crashed into some burning wreckage, Spider-Woman sprang back to her feet. She managed to catch herself before she slammed into the Wisp's spherical form, striking it with her sting blasts before rolling out of the way of the Wisp's next lunge.

Even as she fired her sting blasts again, Spider-Woman knew she was in serious trouble. Wearied from the effort of catching the subway train, battered from the Wisp's surprise attacks, worn down from the efforts of her previous battles, and strained from worrying about everyone from Jill to Firebrand's victims, Spider-Woman wasn't sure how long she could last. The cries of the Wisp's victims echoed all around her as she tried to keep her focus on the Wisp, who just laughed and emitted a bright burst of light. Spider-Woman managed to close her eyes in time to avoid being blinded, but when she opened them again to attack the Wisp was gone.

Cursing her luck, Spider-Woman began focusing on her spider-senses, hoping to get a fix on the Wisp's location. The tingling was all the warning she got as several nearby power cables suddenly lunged towards her, rising up like snakes and lashing out towards her.

Leaping through the air, Spider-Woman managed to avoid most of the cables, although she took a nasty lash across the back before she came down. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Spider-Woman sprayed webbing with one hand to entangle the cables coming at her for another strike. With her other hand, Spider-Woman fired a sting blast at the cables, closing her eyes as they exploded in a flash of light.

Will O' the Wisp emerged from the wires, shouting and cursing angrily, before he lunged at Spider-Woman once again. She retaliated with her sting blasts, forcing the Wisp to dodge before slipping back into a nearby power line. Spider-Woman glanced around, expecting an attack from any direction, but she was surprised at the electrical explosion she heard from off to the left. A series of wires had sprung up, lashing at a man trying to free his friend from some debris.

Leaping forward, Spider-Woman restrained the wires with her webbing and struck them with a sting blast. Landing next to the man trying to free his friend, Spider-Woman wrenched the debris apart with her superhuman strength, allowing the man to pull his friend free. The two bystanders quickly scrambled to safety, but in her efforts to help them Spider-Woman had left herself vulnerable. Will O' the Wisp emerged from the wires and grabbed Spider-Woman from behind. One of his arms wrapped around her throat, while the other pinned her own arms to her side. He had shifted to his maximum density now, and in this form he was stronger than she was.

"Resourceful as always," Will O' the Wisp sneered as Spider-Woman struggled to break free. "Too bad it's not enough. I've been looking forward to this for a long time, you little whore," he continued as he began to squeeze Spider-Woman's windpipe.

For a moment Spider-Woman thought that she was finished. Run down from the events of the past several days, she was at a loss as to what to do.

Then, an image of Jill lying unconscious in the hospital flashed through her mind.

Almost instinctively, Spider-Woman twisted around in Will O' the Wisp's grip. Instead of trying to break free from the Wisp's superior grip, Spider-Woman merely jumped straight up, startling the Wisp enough into loosening his grip on her. Backflipping through the air, Spider-Woman entangled the Wisp with a spray of webbing, before hitting him with a long stream of sting blasts.

Now Will O' the Wisp was the one reeling, as Spider-Woman continued to fire at him relentlessly. Stung and injured by her relentless attack, he tried to generate a flash of light to blind Spider-Woman. She saw it coming, and quickly closed her eyes before resuming her blasts. The Wisp managed to shift back into a sphere of light, intending to flee, but Spider-Woman had gotten her second wind and blasted him yet again. As he shifted back into his human form, Spider-Woman sprang forward, kicking him in the face and sending him flying back to crash into a broken pillar of debris.

That was for Jill, Spider-Woman thought to herself, as Will O' the Wisp slumped down unconscious and she left him for the approaching police officers.

And for everyone else, she concluded, wincing at the pain in her back.

Wearily, she turned to help the emergency crews help deal with the chaos caused by Will O' the Wisp's rampage. She helped douse the flames and bring the people trapped in the subway train to ground level, but her thoughts were a million miles away.

She thought of Jill, still unconscious in the hospital.

It was all she thought about as she returned home several hours later.

When she returned home, Gwen treated her injuries and got something to eat. Although she had managed to defeat Will O' the Wisp, she was more exhausted than happy about it. Her mind still whirled from everything that had happened over the last few weeks, especially Kitty and Jill.

Gwen was so worn out, she had not even noticed that her mother Helen Lieber-Stacy and her Aunt Nancy Stacy were missing. She simply dozed off, too tired to do anything else.

Later that evening, Gwen was jolted awake by the sound of the front door slamming. Looking up in alarm, Gwen came into the foyer warily, only to be greeted by Nancy and Helen. Gwen barely noticed them, however, surprised as she was by Jill's presence. Jill's arm was in a cast and she walked slowly, but her eyes shone brightly as she greeted Gwen with a smile.

"Jill? Oh, thank God!" Gwen exclaimed as she came forward. She opened her arms as if to hug Jill, before stopping as she remembered Jill's broken arm.

"How did you get out of the hospital?" Jill asked in surprise. "They let you go?"

"Of course they did," Nancy interjected. "Didn't you get the message we left for you?"

"…What?" Gwen asked in surprise. "No, I never even thought to check."

"You look like you should be worrying more about yourself," Jill added. "You look really pale…"

"I'm just exhausted," Gwen replied, shaking her head sadly. "I'm still kind of shaken up from the crash," she continued. "I feel better already now that I know you're going to be alright, though!" she said with renewed energy.

Gwen was still tired from her battle with Will O' the Wisp, but she felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Hugging Jill carefully, Gwen felt a tremendous sense of relief, glad that something good had come out of all the chaos she'd dealt with over the last few weeks.

(Next Issue: Gwen quickly recovers from the ordeals Will O' the Wisp put her through, and soon things are going better for her than they have in a long time. Meanwhile, Gwen's friends Harry Osborn and Liz Allan prepare to make a decision that will change their lives forever. Unfortunately, they may not live long enough to make that choice when they are targeted by the Squid and Ms. Fortune, a pair of murderous supervillains with murder on their minds! All this and more in Spider-Woman #92: Love And Hate!)