All The World's A Stage

"A little to the left…oh, that's it," Gwen Stacy said as Liz Allan massaged her aching shoulders. "Thanks, that feels so good," Gwen continued, stretching as she and Liz stood up and walked to the meditation studio's lobby where they'd left their shoes.

"It's fine," Liz said as she and Gwen put their shoes on and left the studio, "but you're more tense than I'd like. Are you sure you're taking care of yourself?"

"I…"

"You're a bad liar, Gwen. What's on your mind?"

"I keep thinking about what the Brothers Grimm did to those people they killed. If I'd stopped the Brothers sooner, those people might still be alive."

"…I thought as much. Don't beat yourself up about it, Gwen-it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, I-"

"And don't go beating yourself up over not being able to get over it, either. Seriously Gwen, you're too hard on yourself. You always have been."

In response, Gwen just laughed and brushed her hair back.

"Don't I know it," she said with a rueful smile. "It's just hard to ignore that feeling, though."

Liz just grasped Gwen's hand as they continued walking towards the subway station. She'd learned that Gwen was also the superhero Spider-Woman, and tried to help Gwen with the stress Gwen experienced trying to balance her superhero career with her civilian life. It was hard going for Gwen, and Liz worried about not just Gwen's physical health, but her mental well-being too.

SPIDER-WOMAN #102

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE

"Checkmate," Philippe Bazin said as he checkmated his first opponent.

"Checkmate," Bazin said again as he checkmated his second opponent.

"Checkmate," Bazin said a third time as he checkmated his third opponent.

"Checkmate," Bazin said as he checkmated his fourth and final opponent.

All four of Bazin's lieutenants squirmed in embarrassment as they stood up from the tables holding their chessboards. Bazin had challenged all of them to play him at once in separate games, and he'd checkmated all of them easily. With his strategic skills, it was easy to see why Philippe Bazin rose to become New York's most powerful crime boss. His study was lined with books on strategy and warfare, including the works of esteemed writers like Clausewitz, Machiavelli and Sun Tzu. His crisp dark suits, immaculately cut goatee and moustache and the cold, hard glint in his eyes only emphasized the intellectual air he carried.

Bazin sat back down at his desk, and his lieutenants gathered in the chairs in front of him. Clasping his hands in front of him, Bazin glared at each of his lieutenants in turn, his eyes narrowing as they shrunk back from his icy gaze.

"How disappointing," Bazin finally said. "I'd expected you all would be trying to broaden your strategic knowledge. Perhaps if you can't, I should replace you with those who will?"

More than one of the lieutenants blanched at that.

"Your lamentable performances today illustrate my point exactly," Bazin said. "Sun Tzu noted that if you know both your enemies and yourself, you will never lose a battle. I know my own capacities, and I know yours is well, so is it so surprising that I checkmated you all?"

"There's a larger strategic goal we're going to pursue?" one of Bazin's lieutenant's ventured, as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Just so," Bazin said, as an uncharacteristic smile made its way onto his face. "Sun Tzu similarly noted the importance of annoying an enemy with a choleric temperament, to say nothing of the importance of avoiding prolonged warfare. Machiavelli spoke of the need to seize fortune, and to act as either the lion or the fox when necessary."

Bazin's lieutenants looked at one another, trying to understand what their boss was getting at.

"Prolonged, low-level warfare between the city's syndicates has gone on long enough," Bazin said, his eyes lighting up as he warmed to his subject. "Crimewave and Cornelius Van Lunt have both tried to improve their station, and the resulting conflicts have led to unnecessary costs and wasted resources. That is why it's time to strike."

"To strike?" one of Bazin's lieutenants asked, his eyebrows raised in astonishment. Bazin was renowned in the underworld for finishing mob wars, not starting them. The idea of Bazin striking at Crimewave and Van Lunt, New York City's other major two crime lords, was almost unfathomable.

"To end the conflicts once and for all," Bazin said. "There will be one ruler, one master, one king...and his subjects will profit thereby."

Most of the other lieutenants smiled and nodded eagerly at Bazin's words, but one of the lieutenants rubbed his chin, thinking about how out of place this all felt to him.

The lieutenant knew that Bazin lived and died by The Art Of War, The Prince and other strategic tomes like that. He'd begun reading those books himself, and he'd noted the emphasis Sun Tzu put on defeating one's enemies without fighting. That was the greatest victory of all, particularly when you could then conquer your opponent after they'd defeated themselves at little cost to yourself.

The boss knows all that, the lieutenant thought to himself, so why's he breaking away from that principle?

He thought of asking Bazin that question, but a chill ran down his spine as he considered the consequences.

He forced himself to join the other lieutenants in smiling and nodding.

"I really appreciate your coming with me, Liz," Gwen said as she and Liz walked into the studio lobby.

"It's fine, really," Liz said, "but don't these live-action movies of cartoons turn out badly?"

"You don't want to get Randy started," Gwen said with a smile, referring to her boyfriend and movie buff Randy Robertson. "But I actually like the script. Who knows-maybe Italian cartoons are easier to adapt than American ones?"

Liz only shrugged. She'd watched a few of the Winx Club cartoons Gwen had binge-watched to prepare for her audition, but she wasn't really an animation fan. For all she could see, it seemed like an animated female Harry Potter ripoff.

"At least they have some higher-calibre talent applying this time," Liz said with a smirk as they approached the soundstage where the auditions were being held.

"Don't jinx it!" Gwen admonished Liz, before they both fell to giggling.

Gwen hugged Liz for luck before she got in line for the auditions. Liz walked to join the other hangers-on who'd come to support many of the actors.

Gwen was auditioning for the role of Stella, the cartoon's main character and leader of the titular club. Since the role of Stella was almost certain to get top billing, there were more actresses trying out for the role than any other. Several of the actresses had dyed their hair to match Stella's blonde mane, and Gwen smiled to herself at her innate advantage. Her blonde hair would give her an edge over most of her competitors, as it would look more natural to the producers. Even if they didn't consciously think it, Gwen knew that the producers would appreciate her naturally blonde hair.

Nearly fifty minutes passed until it was Gwen's turn to audition. As she walked up on stage, she smiled warmly at the producers, giving them a brief show of her perfect white teeth. She saw that at least one of the producers seemed kind of on edge, as if he wasn't impressed by most of the actresses so far. A few of the others looked bored, and at least one of them kept glancing at her watch.

Gwen's hopes rose at that.

"Hello there," one of the producers, who Gwen realized was the casting director, said as Gwen stood up in front of them. "Tell us why you're auditioning for the role of Stella."

"Stella reminds me a lot of myself in a way," Gwen said. "Before she went to Alfea, she was still trying to find her own way in the world, and learning who she really was. Discovering her powers as a fairy and bonding with the rest of the Winx helped her grow as a person. Those are things that really resonated with me. I think my experiences would really help bring Stella to life, especially as she learned to believe in herself."

So far, so good, Gwen thought, as she saw several of the producers wearing pleasantly surprised expressions.

Gwen's confidence carried through in the audition, as she worked flawlessly with the reader reciting Bloom's lines. She felt as though she really was Stella, just as she'd previously felt that she was characters like Desdemona or Dorothy Gale in previous auditions she'd done.

By the time the audition was over and Gwen came back to herself, she saw the pleased smiles a few of the producers bore, and the whispered conversations of the others.

She knew better than to think she had the role sewn up, but as they left the studio Liz could tell her hopes were high.

"And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer," Crimewave, alias Carl Wilkinson, said to Fred Meyers, alias Boomerang, as they sat down.

"Who's Alexander?" Boomerang said, blinking in surprise.

"Alexander the Great, of course," Crimewave said. "Who the hell else do you think it'd be?"

Boomerang merely sipped his beer with a raised eyebrow. Crimewave was known more for his love of nightclub partying more than his love of classical literature, so he wasn't sure what Crimewave was getting at.

"So you're planning to take over the world now?" Boomerang asked. "What, are you going to take over HYDRA or the Secret Empire or something? I think you might need someone more than just me for that."

"Don't be stupid," Crimewave said with a scowl. "I'm talking more about how Alexander decided he'd had enough of having to share turf with the Persian Empire, so he went ahead and destroyed it. See, I've had enough of sharing power with Bazin and Van Lunt. There's only room for one king in this town, and that's going to be me!"

Boomerang took another drink of his beer, wondering where the hell this was coming from. Crimewave was passionate and quick-tempered, but his plans just sounded reckless to Boomerang. As a costumed contract killer, Boomerang usually didn't question his clients, but on this occasion he couldn't resist.

"So I'm supposed to start taking out Bazin's underbosses?" he asked. "All at once? And you want Bazin to know I'm working for you? That's going to cost the full three million, you know-if I'm going to be antagonizing Bazin like that, I'm claiming hazard pay." Boomerang's going rate was up to three million dollars, although with the economy being what it was many costumed killers gave discounts to good customers.

"Fine, fine," Crimewave said, waving his hands dismissively. "Just get to work, and make it quick!"

"What about Van Lunt?" Boomerang asked.

"What about him?" Crimewave said with a shrug. "That fat tub of shit just took over the Rose's operation. He wouldn't be a threat if he had John Gotti helping him!"

"But-" Boomerang started.

"No buts!" Crimewave said, slamming his fist on his desk. "Just get to work!"

Everything sounded wrong here to Boomerang, but he wasn't about to continue arguing with someone who agreed to pay full price.

Shrugging, he got up and left, shaking his head at Crimewave's continued laughter.

Three days later…

Gwen was all smiles as she walked home from her latest Kingsley Cosmetics modeling shoot. For once in her life, everything was going great. She was making good money, her social media network was growing faster than ever, she'd hit every audition she'd made for the summer theatre season, and as far as she knew all her supervillain enemies were in jail. Once she finished and uploaded a couple of social media posts she was working on, she planned to take it easy for the next couple of days.

Gwen was distracted from her pleasant reverie by the unpleasant sound of gunshots and screams coming from the next block. Looking up in alarm, she ran towards the sounds, going against the wave of people running away from it.

Just when I'm feeling good about myself, the old Stacy luck strikes again, Gwen thought, her mood turning foul as she looked for a suitable hiding place. What better time to have some lunatic start causing trouble?

Whoever these guys are, they picked the wrong day to do it, Gwen continued, as she found a suitable alcove well away from where any of the passerby were running.

The change came more easily than ever to Gwen, and she was up the wall of the building and leaping across the roofs towards the gunshots before she even realized it.

The gunmen shooting up the downtown market were ready for the police, and they were ready for any gun-wielding citizens who might try to stop them. What they weren't prepared for was the spectacular Spider-Woman landing in their midst. She struck two of them down immediately with a double shot of her sting blasts, and entangled three more with her webbing when they turned to shoot at her. The sixth gunman managed to get past Spider-Woman's webbing and shoot at her, but she easily ducked and rolled underneath it, coming up in front of the gunman and knocking him senseless with one punch.

Glancing at each of the gunmen in turn, Spider-Woman tried to figure out what they were doing. None of them seemed to have any money or other loot on them, and they weren't dressed in gang colors or any other identifying markers. None of the shops or residences around them seemed to really be worth robbing either.

"What are you doing here?" Spider-Woman demanded, walking up to one of the gunmen she'd trapped in her webbing.

"Kiss me and find out," the man said with a sneer.

Spider-Woman was sorely tempted to do just that, except with her fist instead of her lips. She couldn't imagine what the men could want with this place, but she realized it probably didn't matter.

Shaking her head at their stupidity and cruelty, Spider-Woman climbed up to the roof of a nearby building and returned to where she'd hidden her street clothes.

Ben Reilly jumped in surprise at the shouting of his father Andrew Reilly and the loud crash as something hit the door of Andrew's study. Running out of his bedroom towards his father's study, Ben saw his mother Karen Reilly coming up the stairs, also attracted by Andrew's shouting. They walked together to the door of Andrew's study and pushed it open before they walked in. As they stepped into the room, Ben felt his foot hit something small, sending it skittering across the floor. To his surprise, it was Andrew's cell phone.

"What's wrong, honey?" Karen said, walking towards Andrew's desk as Ben picked up his phone and came to join them.

"It's gone," Andrew said, his face flushed with anger, "all of it."

"All of it?" Karen said in amazement. "And the bank has no idea how?"

"No!" Andrew said, taking several deep breaths. "As near as they can figure, our accounts were probably hacked. Those fucking incompetent-" he forced himself to stop, taking another deep breath.

Ben Reilly looked from one to the other of his parents, unsure what to say. Andrew was furious, and Karen was shaken, at the fact that over $400,000 had somehow disappeared from the family's bank accounts.

"Can't they trace it?" Ben said, putting Andrew's phone back on his desk. "We should call the police-"

"I already have," Andrew said, waving away Ben's suggestion. "They said they'd look into it, but I'm not holding my breath. It's just like the money vanished!"

Ben was shaken at that, and he went back to his room, leaving his parents to discuss what to do next.

The Reillys were a wealthy family, but Ben knew that loss was still going to hurt.

He didn't know why, but it gave him a very, very bad feeling.

One week later…

Gwen was pleased, but not entirely surprised, that she'd gotten a callback to the Winx Club movie audition. She knew she'd done really well at the audition, and she knew she'd do even better at the callback. In between doing some more modeling work, she'd watched several more Winx Club episodes, focusing on everything Stella said and did. Gwen knew that was the key to really inserting herself into the role, seeing things from her character's point of view. From there, she could really make the role her own while still staying true to the character.

Gwen smiled confidently as she looked at her watch. She was making good time on her way to the theater, having made sure to start out early. Anything from traffic jams to subways running behind schedule could make her late, and she was determined not to let it happen. As she approached the subway station, she rehearsed her lines again in her mind, thinking about how her words would combine with her gestures.

She was broken out of her reverie by the sounds of screams and crashes coming from the next block over. Looking in the direction of the sounds, she saw people running from the sounds of the crashes and what looked like…

…a boomerang flying through the air?

Cursing her luck, Gwen looked around for a place she could change costume.

Boomerang laughed as he threw a razor-edged boomerang down at one of the hapless people running away, taking the man's head off in a single stroke. Just like the last time he worked for Crimewave, Boomerang planned to make his killing look like part of a larger random crime. His real target was one of Bazin's primary lieutenants, someone Bazin relied on to take care of a lot of the smaller details of his organization. The lieutenant would be the third of five people Boomerang would kill before fleeing with the wallets and jewelry he scavenged from their bodies.

Boomerang threw another razorang at the lieutenant, but he was surprised as a flash of light seemed to come from out of nowhere and shatter it. Looking around in alarm, Boomerang saw another flash of light coming at him in the form of a green energy blast. Dodging out of the way, he cursed angrily as he recognized the energy blast's source as the spectacular Spider-Woman. Boomerang scowled angrily as he threw yet another razorang at her, remembering all too well how she'd defeated him the last two times they'd fought.

"This is the third time, isn't it?" he said as Spider-Woman shattered his razorang with yet another sting blast and came at him with a swinging kick. "I suppose that makes me one of your rogues now, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does," Spider-Woman said as Boomerang dodged her swinging kick. "And they all end up in jail sooner or later," she continued as she landed on the wall behind Boomerang. Spider-Woman anchored herself to it with her feet as she sprayed a double shot of webbing at him. Unfortunately, Boomerang was a split-second ahead of her, tossing a screamerang as he activated the specialized ear plugs in his helmet. A piercing shriek filled the air as the screamerang lived up to its name. The shriek disoriented Spider-Woman, causing her to shoot her webbing harmlessly off to the side as she reeled from its effects. Boomerang quickly followed up with a shatterang, striking Spider-Woman head-on and knocking her to the ground.

Staggered from the impact, her head spinning with dizziness, Spider-Woman barely managed to roll out of the next shatterang Boomerang threw at her. Boomerang caught his screamerang and started to throw it again, but Spider-Woman got a lucky shot with her webbing and stuck the screamerang to his hand. Boomerang managed to keep the screamerang from activating in his hand, but the screamerang was firmly stuck and his hand was all but useless.

Thinking quickly, Boomerang pulled out a gasarang with his free hand and threw it into the air, filling the area with a thick fog. He lowered his specially-designed visor and breathing filter, which allowed him to see and function normally in the fog, and threw another razorang at Spider-Woman. He would have taken Spider-Woman's head off with his throw, but she heard the razorang coming and managed to roll out of the way. Before Boomerang could react, Spider-Woman traced the angle of the razorang and used it to hit him with a pair of sting blasts. As he staggered from the blast, he managed to throw a razorang to shred the stream of webbing Spider-Woman shot at him. He quickly flew back down to ground level, knowing Spider-Woman would probably expect him to stay elevated.

Boomerang realized Spider-Woman was distracted, still looking up in the air expectantly. Smiling evilly, he threw a heatarang, which exploded into a wave of fire that scorched Spider-Woman when it hit her. Screaming in pain, Spider-Woman rolled on the ground before she came back up, spinning a shield of webbing to protect herself. The shield proved itself immediately, keeping the flames of Boomerang's next two heatarangs from reaching Spider-Woman. She retaliated with a sting blast, and Boomerang yelled in pain when the blast struck his leg as he tried to rise up again.

He landed and stumbled from the impact, and Spider-Woman didn't waste the opportunity. She threw her web shield at Boomerang with one hand and reinforced it with a stream of webbing from the other. The shield collapsed into a glob of smouldering webbing, pushed along by Spider-Woman's webline until it slammed into Boomerang. He cried out in surprise as the glob knocked him flat on his back, and then yelled in pain as some of its still-smouldering flames, the remnants of the heatarangs it had blocked, burned him. Desperately, he tried to retrieve a razorang to cut himself free, but his arms were hopelessly pinned. Kicking in frustration, he was helpless as Spider-Woman came up and knelt down next to his head.

The last thing Boomerang saw before everything went dark was Spider-Woman's fist coming right at him.

Gwen changed back into her street clothes, but she was battered and disheveled from her fight with Boomerang. Glancing at herself in her hand mirror, Gwen groaned inwardly as she realized how bad she looked. She doubted she'd be able to fix her hair or makeup in time, much less conceal her various injuries. She doubted the casting directors would be impressed with how she looked, but then she wondered if she could use the excuse of being caught in a superhero fight. Maybe she could even earn some sympathy that way…

Gwen gasped and held her forehead as she felt a sudden headache. She stumbled, but she managed to grab a nearby streetlight before she collapsed. Cursing her bad luck, Gwen realized she'd probably suffered a concussion from the explosion of Boomerang's shatterang, and the aftereffects of his screamerang lingered in her ears. She realized she was in no shape to be auditioning, and that she needed to rest. Some of the paramedics who were treating the victims of Boomerang's rampage came over to treat her, and she gratefully accepted their help.

The paramedics' treatment eased Gwen's physical pain, but it couldn't ease the stress and aggravation she felt. She would be alright after a few hours, but those were hours she couldn't afford to spare.

Sometimes I think I was just born unlucky, Gwen thought to herself. At least it can't get any worse…

Alistair Darkholme, alias Cornelius Van Lunt, alias the Rose, alias the Chameleon, managed to avoid throwing his smartphone across the room when he learned of Boomerang's defeat. Spider-Woman's interference prevented Boomerang from killing Bazin's lieutenant, keeping Crimewave from getting the upper hand in their war. Before that, she'd prevented several of Bazin's gunmen from shooting up one of Crimewave's most important front businesses.

In his Van Lunt persona, the Chameleon was seemingly neutral in the conflict between Bazin and Crimewave. That was the whole point, of course. Using the 'Winkler' mind control chips, small devices that allowed their user to mentally control whoever the chips were planted on, the Chameleon drove his rival crime lords to go to war with each other.

The Winkler chips were originally meant to be used by the Kingpin in a plot to control various New York city officials, with the Chameleon using his mutant shapeshifting abilities to get close enough to the officials to plant them without anyone noticing. Nobody gave much notice to the waiters, doorkeepers and other low-ranking employees rich people interacted with on a daily basis. That made it easy for the Chameleon to get close to Bazin and Crimewave and plant the chips on them without arousing suspicion. The socialite and club promoter Jonathan Caesar, who also worked for the Chameleon's syndicate, was a useful catspaw to get Bazin and Crimewave into a place where the Chameleon could reach them disguised as a waiter. The Chameleon then had Caesar killed, tying off a loose end.

Unfortunately, Spider-Woman was causing him grief yet again. When he'd first started his syndicate, Spider-Woman had done everything from somehow reveal critical information about his operations to the Heroes For Hire to prevent his costumed assassin Scorpia from killing targets that threatened him. Enough was enough, and the Chameleon was ready to deal with her once and for all.

The only consideration was whether River Verys was going to kill Spider-Woman before he ate her.

(Next Issue: Despite her worries, Gwen learns that she still has a chance of winning the role of Stella. She finds she has many more things to worry about, though, when the manipulated war between Bazin and Crimewave takes on a new level. Even those problems pale in comparison when Gwen is stalked by the murderous spider-monster Tendril! All this and more in Spider-Woman #103: Night Of The Hunter!)