You May Now Kill The Bride

Randy Robertson bore down on the last player between him and the opposing net. Sweat poured down on his face as he considered whether to take the shot with an opposing player still blocking his way, especially since he had two more coming up behind him.

The opposing player in front of Randy gave him the answer. The opposing player mistimed his charge, allowing Randy to quickly sidestep him and jump up for the dunk.

All three of the opposing players around Randy cursed as he scored, none too pleased that they were now down by seven points.

"Nothing but net!" Randy said as he came back to high-five his teammates. He turned around to regard his opponents, a wide smile crossing his face.

"What was that you were saying about this being your house?" Randy said, as several of his teammates threw taunts of their own at the opposing team.

The opponent who'd tried to block Randy gestured to Randy to bring it before he charged, his dribbling hands moving almost as fast as his feet.

Sitting on the sidelines, Gwen Stacy cheered Randy as he stole the ball and passed to one of his teammates. Gwen was very proud of Randy, not just for the fifteen points he'd scored so far, but also for the role he'd played in organizing this charity tournament. The tournament was a fundraiser for lower-income New York neighborhoods damaged by costumed supervillains. The supervillains that infested New York like a plague were infamous for the economic damage their criminal activities caused, and lower-income neighborhoods often had a harder time recovering from supervillain rampages.

Gwen was all too familiar with what supervillains could do. She was one of those rare costumed individuals who actually tried to stop crimes rather than commit them, in her heroic identity as the spectacular Spider-Woman. In nearly two and a half years of fighting crime, Gwen had defeated dozens of supervillains, but not before they'd shown just why charitable activities like this tournament were badly needed.

Gwen helped Randy with things like promoting the tournament over social media, preparing refreshments for the players and gathering donations, but this was Randy's show. He said he was following in the proud tradition of players like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, but in Gwen's mind none of those former basketball greats compared to hm.

That wasn't the only place where Randy stood out for Gwen. There were plenty of cute guys to admire at the tournament, but none of them could match Randy.

Randy said that Gwen's smile made his heart pound.

Seeing Randy on the court, the muscles of his perfectly sculpted figure rippling as he played his heart out, Gwen suddenly realized what Randy felt when she smiled at him.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-WOMAN #98

YOU MAY NOW KILL THE BRIDE

"Thanks for coming with me today, Gwen," Liz Allen said to Gwen as they left the bridal shop. "I would have been lost without you."

"It's fine, really," Gwen said with a smile. "And don't sell yourself short-you would have found what you were looking for on your own."

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about how much time I would have wasted in those first two shops," Liz said. "You know these things a lot better than I do."

"Which brings me to the next thing we need to think about," Gwen said. "You still need to think about your accessories. Remember the old rhyme about something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue?"

Liz thought about that for several minutes as the girls descended the steps into the subway station.

"Well, I have these sapphire earrings I got for my sixteenth birthday, so that's something blue," Liz said, indicating her ears. "And Harry got me a bracelet for our one-year anniversary, so that's something new. For something old, I could wear the crucifix I got from my Grandma when I was five…I don't know what to borrow, though."

"That's easy," Gwen said as they passed through the turnstiles and walked onto the subway platform. "We're the same shoe size, right?"

"Shoe size?" Liz asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, shoe size," Gwen said. "You can borrow my Manolos, the ones I got from Grandpa Lieber."

"But Gwen, those shoes are your favorites!" Liz said. "I couldn't-"

"Yes you can," Gwen said. "I'd be honored if you did."

"Gwen, really, I couldn't-" Liz said, before Gwen interrupted her again.

"Liz, you've been my best friend ever since we were little," Gwen said. "You helped me deal with a lot of problems growing up, and you made me realize I had to take a long, hard look at myself in the mirror. And where would Harry be without you?" she continued, referring to Liz's fiancé Harry Osborn.

Liz thought about that for a minute as they waited for the subway.

"Remember what Harry and I used to say about you having the patience of a saint in putting up with our crap?" Gwen said. "After everything you've done for us, it's the least I can do."

Liz sighed in mock resignation.

"You're not going to let this go until I give in, are you?" Liz said, a smile playing about her lips.

"Nope," Gwen said, returning Liz's smile.

"Alright, fine," Liz said, smiling gratefully.

Gwen and Liz were silent for another few minutes until the subway arrived. When they boarded and sat down, Liz spoke again.

"Does this mean I can borrow some of your Converse whenever I want?" Liz asked.

"Only if I get to borrow some of yours," Gwen shot back.

They both began giggling at that.

Yancy Street was widely known as New York City's figurative "ass crack", based on what tended to come out of it. It was a hive of crime, drug abuse, urban decay and violence, a place abandoned long ago by all the law-abiding people who could afford to do so. The few that remained lived in fear of the violent thugs, drug manufacturers and other criminals who made up most of Yancy Street's population.

Even the hardened criminals of Yancy Street feared some of their neighbors, however. Many of New York's supervillains used Yancy Street as a hiding place or a base of operations. The most infamous was probably the Tomorrow Legion, the infamous supervillain crime syndicate founded by Jack O'Lantern, but there were many others.

One of those villains was what looked like a man, perpetually wrapped in a trenchcoat, a wide-brimmed hat, and scarfs and gloves that covered almost his entire face. The clothes were ragged, which was to be expected. What made them unusual was the burn marks all over them, as if they'd been subjected to a great heat at some point. What was even more unusual was that they completely covered the man despite the warm early May weather. Anyone who watched the man as he skulked along Yancy Street might have wondered why he dressed the way he did.

They wouldn't have wanted to know, however.

The man used to be known as Harvey Russell Broxtel. Now, after the accident that had given him the ability to generate and control fire, he was more commonly known as the monstrosity Firebrand. Originally a violent psychopath even before he got his superpowers, Firebrand seemed to become even more unhinged and destructive after he got them. His destructive sprees led him to battle Spider-Woman multiple times. Firebrand had won their last battle, leaving Spider-Woman for dead along with the fourteen people he'd murdered. For the last several weeks since that battle, Firebrand had been hiding out in Yancy Street with the same homeless people he always hated.

When Firebrand had first gotten his powers, he would have been enraged at being forced to live in the gutter with people he considered pitiful nobodies, going on destructive rampages without thinking about the consequences. Now, though, he had defeated Spider-Woman as part of a greater plan that several of Spider-Woman's enemies participated. With careful planning, he had more success against her than he ever did on his own.

So now Firebrand was taking the time to think…

…and to let his rage build and build, until it finally exploded.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself?" Gwen said to Randy as they drove home from the Public Enemy concert.

"My cheering and singing along with the crowd didn't tip you off?" Randy said with an amused smile. "Of course I enjoyed myself, Gwen!"

"I'm glad," Gwen said, looking out the window of Randy's car before she turned back to him. "It's been too long since it was just the two of us."

"Tell me about it," Randy said, scratching his head. "It's like we've both been busier than ever these days. Are you sure you've got everything under control? You're not pushing yourself too hard?" he continued, a concerned expression on his face. Gwen used to have problems balancing all the things she had to deal with in her life, especially having to fight crime as Spider-Woman. She constantly suffered from stress because of it, and she cut back the time she was spending as Spider-Woman to focus on her own needs.

"No," Gwen said, shaking her head. "But I wonder if I should start patrolling more again. I've just been lucky that I haven't really had to suit up lately. I keep wondering whether-"

"No you don't," Randy interrupted her. "You've had problems with your career, your grades and your money ever since you started fighting crime, remember? If the supervillains have been taking the last few months off, what's the harm in your doing it?"

"It's not so much that they've been taking time off," Gwen said, a wry smile crossing her face, "but that most of them are still in jail. In fact-" she suddenly fell silent as her spider-senses triggered.

"What's wrong?" Randy asked, alarmed at the sudden tension on Gwen's face.

"I need to get to Liz's place," Gwen said. "I think something's wrong…"

Randy didn't need to be told twice. Gwen had told him how her spider-senses gave her the ability to track anyone she marked with her pheromones, as well as to be alerted when they were in dangerous situations that she might take an interest in. From everything Gwen had told her, her spider-senses were never wrong.

Randy pulled into an alley, and Gwen quickly got out, taking her trusty tote bag with her.

It took Gwen less than a minute to make the change, and soon she was swinging off towards Liz and Harry's place.

Randy followed as quickly as he could in his car, but the good mood he was feeling was replaced with a rising anxiety.

Part of his anxiety was worry about what might be happening to Randy and Liz.

But another part came from his dismay at seeing Gwen in costume again…

…and that was a bigger part of his anxiety than he cared to admit.

When Spider-Woman arrived at Harry and Liz's apartment building, she wasn't surprised to see the fire department there. What did surprise her, though, was seeing only a single fire truck. There were no ambulances, no police cars, or anything to suggest any supervillains or other criminals attack Harry or Liz.

Landing on the roof of a building across the street from Harry and Liz's apartment complex, Spider-Woman quickly came down to the street and came up to the firefighters. The firefighters looked as if they were getting ready to leave, packing up their equipment and climbing aboard the truck.

"What happened here?" Spider-Woman asked, walking up to the truck before the firemen could start it.

"Nothing to worry about," one of the firemen said. "Just a dumpster fire that flared up a bit too much."

"Who started it?" Spider-Woman asked in concern. She suddenly remembered that her old enemy Firebrand was still on the loose, even though it had been several weeks since her last battle with him.

"Who knows?" another fireman said. "Probably some derelict or punk kid out for a good time. All he ended up doing was raising the landlord's premiums," he continued, gesturing at Liz and Harry's building, which had several burn marks along the wall where the dumpster was placed. "Nothing that won't be fixed," the fireman continued.

"We appreciate your trying to help tonight, kid, but there's nothing for you to do," the first fireman said, before he started the fire truck. "Stuff like this happens every now and again-nothing to worry about," he continued, as the truck began to pull away.

Shaking her head in surprise, Spider-Woman climbed back to where she'd hidden the web-sack containing her street clothes. Changing back into her street clothes, Gwen then came back down to the streets to wait for Randy to arrive.

Gwen frowned as she considered the incident. She didn't think Firebrand was involved here, especially since he would never have settled for simply starting a dumpster fire. He would have tried to burn Liz and Harry's entire building down, if not the whole block. There was no sign of any other supervillain's involvement either, or the firemen would have noticed it.

Gwen was still worried, though. She doubted her spider-senses would have gone off if this was just a random dumpster fire. Liz had to have been targeted, or Gwen would never have known about it.

If it wasn't Firebrand, then it was somebody else with a grudge against Liz…

…or, more likely, against Harry due to his father Norman Osborn's crimes.

Either way, Gwen was far from reassured.

"…That's some dope work, bro," the gangbanger said with a smirk as he handed Firebrand the bag of cash. "Worth every dead president we're giving ya."

"And two hours of your computer time," Firebrand said, gesturing towards the computers the dealers used to track their supplies, shipping routes and customers.

"A'ight, like we agreed," the gangbanger said, as he turned to confer with some of his buddies.

Firebrand did well not to laugh as he walked over to one of the computers and sat down. He still had the image inducer Will O' the Wisp bought from Mysterio, which let him walk around in public as an ordinary-looking person in places where the hobo attire he normally used as a disguise was too conspicuous. That, combined with using computers to cyberstalk Liz through her social media accounts and websites like public directories, made it all too easy for him to go where he wanted and find whatever information he needed.

Ever since he'd gone into hiding after his last battle with Spider-Woman, Firebrand found a new-and very lucrative-use for his flame powers. Meth dealers used heating equipment like hot plates in the chemical work they did to synthesize their product. Firebrand became exceptionally skilled at controlling the volume and temperature of his flames. He could raise the temperature just enough to cook the meth products while significantly reducing the risk of a chemical explosion.

Cooking meth also created a lot of toxic chemicals as a byproduct. Firebrand became an expert in incinerating the toxic byproducts, destroying the evidence much more safely for the meth dealers than if they had to do it themselves. Since Firebrand began living on Yancy Street, it was easy for him to find meth dealers who needed his services.

Firebrand knew the meth dealers assumed he'd calmed down and become more rational, given that he'd approached them offering his services instead of trying to burn Yancy Street to the ground. His calm, approachable demeanor was nothing like his previous manic behavior.

Firebrand only smiled to himself at their stupidity.

He hated the meth dealers and the rest of the lowlifes that he was forced to associate with, and he would have enjoyed watching them scream and die as he burned them alive.

It was just that he had other targets right now-targets that he would release his rage on when the time was right.

He was like a volcano, with the pressure slowly building up. When he exploded, the fire and death would come.

All he needed was patience.

"I'm really glad you could come back this year, Gwen," Scott Fox said as Gwen picked up her prop broom. "Those pictures you put up of our work on your website have really helped our sales."

"No problem," Gwen said with a smile. "I really enjoyed myself last year. I'm just curious, though-why was the convention moved to May?"

"It was originally supposed to be moved back to February, but there were a lot of scheduling problems," Scott explained. "Everything worked out, though."

Gwen was glad it did. Last year, she'd appeared at the New York Comic Con as a cosplay model for Imagic-Nation Costumes, a costume and design company that catered to geek culture. Gwen was hesitant about appearing at something she really wasn't familiar with. Fortunately, everyone she'd met was very nice and welcoming, especially when it was clear Gwen wasn't entirely familiar with geek culture. She corresponded with several of the peoples she met at the Comic Con on Twitter and Instagram, and they were some of her most avid followers on social media. Better still, they were some of her most respectful, calling out and shaming lewd commenters and creepers for her.

Now, on the third and final day of the New York Comic Con, Gwen was about to join her fellow models for Imagic-Nation's final show of the day. Gwen was dressed as Arche Klaine from Tales of Phantasia, who became one of her favorite characters to perform as. Not only did Gwen like Arche's design, she was charmed by Arche's bubbly, enthusiastic personality. Scott said that was because it matched Gwen's own personality, although Gwen wasn't so sure.

The show was everything the Imagic-Nation crew hoped it would be, and Gwen felt a surge of pride at the admiring looks the convention goers gave her and the other models. The last three days had been some of the most fun work Gwen had in a long time. She wasn't particularly enthused by anime, video games or any other part of geek culture, only studying what she needed to get into character. Gwen's fun came from interacting with the convention goers, seeing how much passion many of them put into their fandom.

Once the show ended, Gwen and the other models came down to pose for pictures with many of the convention goers. The first several convention goers were as charming as everyone else Gwen had interacted with. A few of them were fans of her Fire Hearts-Fire Passion social media network, and she was flattered to autograph the printed out photos they'd brought with them.

Unfortunately, the next convention goer was significantly less charming. Gwen did her best not to cringe at the stench of the man's body odor or the stains on his shirt, but those didn't bother her as much as the look in his eyes.

"Can I get a picture?" the man asked, a wide smile crossing his face.

"S…sure," Gwen said, forcing herself to smile as she posed with her broom prop. "Have you got a camera?"

"My friend does," the man said, as he walked up to Gwen. Looking past him, Gwen could see the man's friend with a camera phone in hand, but she turned her attention back to the man himself when it was clear he wasn't moving to stand next to her.

Gwen learned the hard way how fast someone the man's size could move as he reached out and pulled her in. He kissed her hard on the lips, holding her in one place with one hand while the other moved to grope her rear end.

For a few seconds, Gwen was too stunned to react, but then memories of Roderick Kingsley came flashing back to her. Flexing her arms, she broke free of the man's grip and shoved him back, spitting in disgust as the man fell flat on his bottom.

"What's your problem?" Gwen shouted as she turned red with anger. "Don't you ever touch me again, you pervert!"

"What, I can't show how much I love you?" the man said, turning red with anger himself as he got to his feet. "I love Arche, and I love you!"

"No you don't!" Gwen said in disgust, as several other people gathered around her and the man. "You're just a fat pervert who isn't man enough to get with a woman!"

"What's going on here?" Scott asked as he pushed his way through the crowd, accompanied by two large men who served as convention security.

"This fat pig groped and kissed me," Gwen said, wiping her lips with disgust. "Just out of nowhere! He asked if he could have a picture, then he just grabbed me and…" she trailed off, too disgusted to speak any further.

"Get him out of here!" Scott said, glancing from side to side at the security guards. Both men nodded and immediately grabbed the man who groped Gwen, hauling him away.

"You little bitch!" the man shouted at Gwen as he was dragged away. "You hypocritical little bitch! You just lead us on, don't you! After everything we do for you…"

Gwen covered her ears after that, too disgusted to listen any further. She flinched as someone put their hand on her shoulder, but as she stood up she saw it was only Scott.

"You okay?" Scott asked gently.

"Yeah…I'll be alright," Gwen said, relieved at the support of Scott and the rest of the convention goers around her.

"I'm really sorry about that," Scott said. "Assholes like him make the rest of us look bad."

Gwen nodded in appreciation at that as she hugged herself.

Her good mood was gone, replaced with painful memories of Roderick Kingsley and the electrical supervillain Supercharger.

While most Empire State University students took the summer off, Liz wasn't one of them. As a Nursing student, she was taking some summer courses to get the extra credits she needed. University students often dealt with a lot of stress, but as Liz learned the grind was often harder for Nursing students due to the high-stress situations nurses were expected to respond to and the kind of work that was required. She hadn't taken a full course load in the Spring semester. Liz wanted to both to avoid the isolation and burnout she'd seen in other students and to make room for her part-time job.

Today, Liz's courses had her analyzing blood samples at the Empire State University hospital. She was working in the lab when she heard a loud explosion. Looking up in surprise, Liz felt a thrill of horror as the fire alarm began blaring. Stopping only to properly seal and store her samples Liz quickly joined several of the other students, staff and patients in exiting the building.

Liz took several deep breaths as she ran outside with several other people, wondering what started the fire. Hospitals were full of potential fire hazards, from oxygen tanks and other specialized equipment to alcohol-based sanitizers to overworked electrical equipment and sockets. Looking up at the building, she saw that the west wing where she was working was blazing with fire. She shuddered, realizing how close she'd been to the flames.

The fire department soon arrived, and the firefighters began fighting the blaze. Despite all their efforts, they couldn't get the fire out. No matter what the firemen did, the fire kept burning for almost two hours, completely destroying the west wing and damaging much of the central one. By the time the fire was out, it had claimed four lives, including two of the firemen trying to fight it.

Liz shook her head in disbelief. She didn't know much about fires, but she couldn't understand how the fire had blazed for so long.

Shaking her head, she turned to leave when she saw Gwen coming up to her.

"Gwen!" Liz said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked, alarm crossing her face.

"Yeah, thank God," Liz said. "But what are you doing here?"

"I…had to take care of some registration stuff for next semester," Gwen lied, not wanting to alarm Liz. "I would have come sooner, but I didn't know you were here today."

"Serves me right for taking some summer courses, I guess," Liz said, shrugging sadly. "Did you want to get some coffee?"

"Sure," Gwen said with a smile.

Gwen was relieved that Liz was alright, but she was also very worried.

She was visiting Marie-Ange Colbert at Riker's Island when her spider-senses were triggered. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to leave right away, since Marie-Ange needed to talk to someone about everything she heard from the female inmates she was counseling. Marie-Ange was very upset, and Gwen couldn't stomach leaving her before she was feeling better. Once Gwen was able to leave, she tried to web-swing to Empire State as quickly as she could as Spider-Woman. Unfortunately, she'd been further delayed when she had to stop an attempted hostage-taking.

Although Gwen's spider-senses stopped tingling after a few minutes, she knew Liz was still in potential danger.

This was the second fire in as many weeks that was too close to Liz for Gwen's comfort.

Gwen didn't want the third time to become the charm.

Three weeks later…

"You look gorgeous, Liz," Kitty Pryde said, sighing in admiration as Liz admired herself in the mirror. "I'm so jealous."

"How could I not?" Liz said, beaming from the admiration she got from Kitty, Gwen and Gwen's cousin Jill Stacy. "Besides, you all look pretty good yourselves," she pointed out, indicating the golden dresses the other girls were wearing as her bridesmaids.

"When is that anything new?" Jill said, before the girls giggled.

"Seriously, I'd have gone crazy without you all," Liz said. "Especially you, Gwen."

"I thought you said you'd be lost without me," Gwen said, returning Liz's smile. "Which one is it?"

Gwen spent most of the last three weeks helping Liz plan various elements of her wedding, ranging from the floral arrangements to the outfits that the bridesmaids and groomsmen would wear to the venue where the reception would take place to the church where Liz and Harry would be married. Harry bowed out of the planning himself, saying that he wanted Liz to create the perfect ceremony, one she would remember for the rest of her life. Liz felt somewhat overwhelmed by all the resources and choices available. Now though, they were about to have their wedding rehearsal, to work out all the details before the big day.

"You're sure it was okay for Harry to pass everything off to you?" Gwen asked, a doubtful expression crossing her face.

"I asked him to, actually," Liz said. "I kept going on about the perfect fairy-tale wedding, and then I realized I bit off more than I could chew…at least until my fairy godmother came to help me out," she finished with a grin.

"Come on, it's fun," Gwen said. "Besides, I could use the practice for if I ever get married…"

Liz laughed at that, before she glanced off to the side, her expression suddenly wistful.

"What's wrong?" Kitty asked, suddenly worried.

"I just remember my Dad and Tammy," Liz said. "I wish they could be here …"

Gwen, Jill and Kitty exchanged glances and frowned sympathetically. They remembered how Liz's father had been killed in a bank robbery when she was little and her sister Tammy had died in a molten metal accident at her job.

"They're with you in spirit," Kitty assured Liz, before the music started in the main room of the church they had booked.

Gwen glanced around as she and the other bridesmaids took their positions behind Liz. Harry looked resplendent in his tuxedo. His groomsmen, including Kitty's girlfriend Bruce "Kong McFarlane", Randy and some of Harry's other friends, were just as handsome. The ceremony was surprisingly modest, with only a few of Liz and Harry's close relatives attending. The party would be somewhat larger at the actual ceremony, but not by much. Liz and Harry didn't want a big, extravagant wedding. They were happy with an intimate but classy affair with their closest friends and family.

Liz was halfway down the aisle, being walked by her uncle, when Gwen felt her spider-senses tingle. This time the danger wasn't just affecting Liz, but everyone else in the room she had marked with her pheromones. The front of the church exploded into flames, and as Gwen whirled around with the rest of the wedding party she saw her worst fears confirmed.

Firebrand looked every bit the flaming monstrosity his reputation marked him as. He was clad in a bizarre suit of red and yellow metal plates that were melted into his skin, giving him a jagged, uneven look. Perhaps most disturbing was the mask that covered his face, a mask that had eyeholes and a mouth melted into them by Firebrand's intense heat. The holes constantly opened and closed, reshaped by Firebrand's flames.

"Isn't this a happy scene?" Firebrand asked, looking around as the wedding partiers screamed and tried to run from him. "So why wasn't I invited, Liz? Why didn't you invite me? Oh, I know-it's because you're a goddamn two-timing slut! Here's where you get yours, you fucking cunt!" he screamed, as he seemed to explode in a fireball that radiated around him. The fireball consumed the nearest church pews, reducing them to charred stumps in an instant. Fortunately, the pews were empty, with the wedding partiers sitting up front. The partiers had a head start as they tried to run, but some of them passed out from the heat, while others screamed as the flames began to lash them.

Gwen felt her heart pounding as she ran back into Liz's dressing room where she left her tote bag. She hated to leave the rest of the wedding party, but she knew she had to suit up immediately.

She didn't need much time to make the change, but she didn't know how much time she had to spare.

People were screaming and trying to run all around, but he ignored them as he slowly advanced on Liz. Murder was in his eyes as his hands glowed brightly with flames. A couple of Harry's groomsmen bravely tried to stop Firebrand, but he easily struck them down with fiery blasts as he moved relentlessly forward. Firebrand conjured a fireball, ready to throw it at Liz, before he found himself coughing and spluttering as Harry sprayed him with a fire extinguisher.

Firebrand's rage easily reignited his fires, though, and he conjured a second fireball as he shifted his gaze to Harry. He was about to throw it, when something struck him from behind and knocked him off balance. Firebrand tossed his fireball harmlessly off to the side in surprise before he whirled around to see who had attacked him.

If Firebrand was enraged, he was now almost insane with fury as he saw the red and gold figure of the spectacular Spider-Woman staring back at him, her hands glowing with the sting blasts she'd attacked him with. Screaming in anger, he unleashed a focused wave of fire, one that would have incinerated Spider-Woman if she hadn't dodged in time. The wave of fire almost disintegrated the wall of the church that Firebrand pointed it at, and his anger continued to fuel his flames as he shot a flurry of fireballs at Spider-Woman.

Spider-Woman dodged frantically, continually blocking Firebrand's flames with her webbing and occasionally countering with shots of her sting blasts. As she expected, Firebrand's hatred of her drew his attention away from the wedding guests, allowing them to escape. She could only hope she hadn't been too late to keep any of them from being too badly hurt, and cursed herself for not anticipating this. Apparently Firebrand had gotten smarter about how he used his flames, stalking Liz with random fires before he finally revealed himself. Even if his initial fires hadn't made Liz afraid, his burning the church certainly did.

"You know, maybe I won't kill Liz right away," Firebrand said as he threw yet another fireball at Spider-Woman. "Maybe I'll make her watch you die first, and show all you bitches what happens when you piss me off!" he shouted, before he suddenly stretched the fireball into a whip that he lashed Spider-Woman with. Spider-Woman screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, and she quickly spun a web dome as Firebrand brought a pillar of fire down on her. Spider-Woman's webbing shielded her from much of Firebrand's flames, but she was burned all over as the remainder of the flames burned through her web dome and burned her.

Rolling around the next fire whip Firebrand tried to lash her with, Spider-Woman fired a pair of sting blasts to distract Firebrand before she caught him with a webline. Spinning around with all her strength, Spider-Woman hurled Firebrand into the holy water font, drenching him and temporarily snuffing out his fires. Spider-Woman pressed the attack, breaking off a piece of the stone font and viciously beating Firebrand with it as a thick cloud of steam filled the air. The fiery metal in Firebrand's skin kept him from being knocked senseless by the blow, and he soon reignited his fires. He cast a heavy wave of fire at Spider-Woman almost at point-blank range, and only the web shield Spider-Woman managed to weave saved her from being instantly killed by the blast. She flew back before crashing against a pillar and slumping to the ground.

Spider-Woman felt faint, and it took all of her strength to stagger to her feet. She knew she couldn't last much longer, and knew that another hit from Firebrand would kill her. She shook her head against the dizziness she felt from all the heat around her, and she barely managed to avoid the next fire whip Firebrand cast at her.

Instinct took over as Spider-Woman cast her arms up past Firebrand and unleashed a stream of webbing. She realized she couldn't beat Firebrand by simply attacking him head-on, so she caught the damaged ceiling with her webbing. As Spider-Woman pulled on the webbing, the damaged ceiling gave way, bringing a flurry of debris down on Firebrand.

Firebrand expected that, remembering how Spider-Woman had defeated him before with that tactic. He leapt to dodge out of the way, but Spider-Woman expected that, remembering how he'd tried it before. She also realized that he was probably expecting the sting blasts she shot at him before, so she tripped him up with her webbing instead. Firebrand screamed as the rubble came crashing down on him, and he lay on his knees for a few seconds.

Those were a few seconds he didn't have. As Firebrand slowly emerged from the debris, Spider-Woman relentlessly blasted him with her sting blasts. She fired almost a dozen in succession, blasting Firebrand over and over and over until he finally collapsed.

Her entire body aching abominably, Spider-Woman staggered back to Liz's change room, where she'd left her bridesmaid's dress. Somehow, she managed to change back into it, putting the scorched remains of her Spider-Woman costume into her tote bag, before she staggered out a nearby hole in the wall.

Finally, Gwen passed out from exhaustion, her body throbbing in pain from its burns.

Gwen felt a dull ache as she regained consciousness, although it wasn't nearly as bad as the burns she'd felt when she first collapsed. Glancing around, she saw that she was in a hospital, covered in bandages to treat her injuries. She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness forced her to lay back down.

"Oh, Gwen!" Liz said from off to the side, as Liz turned to look at her. "Thank God you're awake!"

"How…how are you?" Gwen asked, talking slowly to save her strength.

"I'm alright," Liz said. "I had to get treated for smoke inhalation, but I wasn't hurt. I even managed to save your shoes," she said, raising one of her feet. Liz was still wearing Gwen's Manolos, and to Gwen's surprise they were still intact.

"Was anybody…" Gwen asked, and the tears in Liz's eyes confirmed it.

"A couple of Harry's cousins and my aunt and uncle all…died," Liz said, "and a few other people were really hurt. I hope they'll be alright. Most of them haven't woken up yet."

"Woken…up?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Liz said. "You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days? What about our friends?" Gwen asked, desperation replacing exhaustion on her face.

"Randy and Harry had some minor burns, but they'll be okay," Liz said. "Jill had to be treated for smoke inhalation. Everybody else wasn't hurt."

"Good," Gwen said with a sigh, as her eyes began to close.

"You get some rest, okay?" Liz said. "I'll be back to see you later," she continued, clasping Gwen's hand before she stood up to leave.

Gwen was sound asleep when Liz left her hospital room, but Liz stayed in the hallway outside for several long minutes, thinking about what she'd just seen.

She saw how Gwen's injuries were worse than most of their friends, who had all been standing farthest away from Firebrand when he'd struck. That sight made her think back to a couple of incidents from more than two years ago, the first time she had been threatened by Firebrand and when she'd been kidnapped by Marie-Ange Colbert, then known as Tarot.

Both times, Liz had run into Gwen after she'd been saved. Both times, Gwen had been badly hurt, but she showed a remarkable ability to come back from those wounds without even any scars. Gwen had explained to Liz how she'd been injured, but Liz hadn't been entirely convinced either time.

She'd also heard how Spider-Woman had somehow showed up just in time to defend her and the rest of the wedding party from Firebrand.

Liz sank into a nearby chair, unable to stand as she thought about the implications.

(Next Issue: Liz's wedding plans are postponed, but they're the last thing on her mind as she ponders the implications of what she's seen about Gwen. Liz's wedding plans are also the last thing on Gwen's mind, as she finds herself having to fight a revenge-crazed Supercharger! All this and more in Spider-Woman #99: Stalking Charges!)