Clone Saga, Part One: Double Identity

Nothing mattered more to Helen Lieber-Stacy than the well-being of her daughter Gwen Stacy. When she heard Gwen's horrified scream, Helen immediately stopped what she was doing and ran into the foyer of the Stacys' townhouse.

Helen found Gwen kneeling on the floor, holding her head as tears streamed down her face and she sobbed hysterically. Kneeling down next to Gwen, Helen hugged Gwen tightly, whispering reassurances to her. Gwen didn't respond, and seemed completely shut off from everything around her.

Helen couldn't fathom what made Gwen have a full on panic attack, until she saw the note lying on the floor next to Gwen.

Helen knew that Gwen was a costumed superhero, the spectacular Spider-Woman. She also knew that fighting crime as Spider-Woman had earned Gwen a list of enemies as long as her arm. One of those enemies in particular terrified Gwen, given everything he'd put her through. He knew Gwen's secret identity as Spider-Woman, and he'd apparently let her know he was out of prison.

BEWARE, BEWARE!

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, JACK O' LANTERN IS COMING FOR YOU!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, GWEN!

SPIDER-WOMAN #107

CLONE SAGA, PART ONE

DOUBLE IDENTITY

Six months earlier…

"First of all, let me assure you that I'm not mad, Dr. Jefferson," Steven Mark Levins told his prison psychiatrist as he stretched comfortably in his chair. "And not in the sense that I'm not angry, but rather that I'm not insane."

Dr. Charles Jefferson frowned at his patient as he took notes. Levins was forty-four years old, but his looks and physique were the envy of many men half his age. His temples had turned a distinguished grey, contrasting with his dark brown hair to make him a silver fox. His expression was thoughtful and inquisitive, as eager to receive as to share information. He almost seemed to radiate energy, which reflected his inner drive and intelligence.

Dr. Jefferson knew better, and was reminded of it whenever he looked into Levins' bright green eyes. Those eyes burned with a look that Dr. Jefferson typically only saw in serial killers and cult leaders, belying his handsome, distinguished appearance and hinting at the twisted monster within. As Jack O' Lantern, Levins reveled in his depravity, openly bragging about the dozens of murders and other crimes he'd committed and saying that he did them because he knew full well he shouldn't.

Dr. Jefferson had years of experience dealing with murderers and sociopaths, but Levins sent a chill down his spine in a way few of his other patients ever did.

"Despite the fact that, when you woke up in your cell, you started raving and screaming about revenge?" he asked Levins, referring to the last time Levins had been arrested as Jack O' Lantern.

"I was merely overwhelmed at the time," Levins said, waving Dr. Jefferson's claim away dismissively. "Yes, overwhelmed…rather like the protagonist of The Telltale Heart."

"…What do you mean?" Dr. Jefferson asked, baffled as to why Levins would refer to the classic Edgar Allan Poe short story.

"Overwhelmed by the sound of her heartbeat, I mean," Levins said, looking at Dr. Jefferson as if it were obvious.

"Whose heartbeat?" Dr. Jefferson said, feeling a growing sense of alarm.

"Spider-Woman's, of course!" Levins said, his expression showing his doubts about Dr. Jefferon's intelligence. "I constantly hear it over and over and over again…is it any wonder I want to end it?"

"You still have a vendetta against Spider-Woman, then?" Dr. Jefferson said. "A woman young enough to be your daughter, who never crossed you until you-"

"It's all the more infuriating because she so wasted her potential," Levins said, ignoring what Dr. Jefferson said. "She had so much rage building up inside her. With her powers and skills, she would have made a wonderful heir to pass my legacy on to. My own nieces and nephews were all coddled brats, you understand."

Dr. Jefferson felt his blood run cold as he heard Levins' words. He wasn't sure what disturbed him more, what Levins was saying or his calm demeanor as he said it.

Levins smiled at Dr. Jefferson, who felt his heart skip a beat as Levins stared into his eyes.

Helen reacted immediately when she saw the note. She called 911 and then sat down next to Gwen, holding her daughter in her arms until the police arrived. When they did, Helen helped Gwen up and took her into the next room so the paramedics could examine her. Gwen had stopped crying, but she was deathly pale and her breathing was quick and shallow.

Helen then returned to the foyer where the police were waiting, so she could talk to them without disturbing Gwen. She explained briefly to the police how Gwen had gotten the mail before reacting when she opened the threatening note.

The two police officers frowned at that.

"Why would Jack O' Lantern be targeting your daughter?" one of the officers asked. "Does he have some sort of grudge against your family?"

"Jack O' Lantern murdered my ex-husband," Helen said, "and he beat my daughter within an inch of her life."

Helen was telling the truth when she told the police about that, but not the entire truth. George Stacy was her ex-husband and Gwen's father, and Gwen had been going to confront him as Spider-Woman. Unfortunately, Jack O' Lantern arrived at the same time, and he nearly killed Spider-Woman in the ensuing fight. The confrontation left Gwen a physical and emotional wreck for a long time afterwards.

"And you don't know why he targeted your ex-husband?" the officer asked. "Any kind of criminal links or activities?"

"One of George's few merits as a husband was that he kept Gwen and I out of all that crap," Helen said. "It didn't keep us from being targeted by criminals more than once, though." Helen shook her head, remembering how she, Gwen's aunt Nancy Stacy and her cousin Jill Stacy had been targeted by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the costumed killer Constrictor for George's anti-mutant bigotry and criminal dealings. Gwen protected her family from those attacks as Spider-Woman, but it was an experience Helen didn't care to repeat.

"Alright, we'll be in touch," the officer said. "We're taking the letter for evidence, and we'll send some people by. We'll also be e-mailing you some resources for security, privacy protection and victims' services. Let us know the instant you hear anything else from this sick bastard."

"Alright, thank you," Helen said, as the paramedics came into the foyer, having left Gwen sleeping in the next room.

"How is she?" Helen asked.

"She's had a really bad shock," one of the paramedics said, "and the last thing she needs is any more stressors right now. Make sure she takes it easy and gets lots of sleep. Self-care activities would help too."

"Gwen does some of that meditation stuff," Helen said.

"That's a good start," the paramedic said. "Make sure she gets out of the house and spends time with friends and family too. Forget anything else right now-work, school, anything like that."

"I'll keep it in mind," Helen said. "Thank you for everything."

Gwen's phone rang soon after the police and paramedics left. Returning to the next room, where Gwen was still sleeping on the couch, Helen saw that her boyfriend Randy Robertson was calling.

Answering it for Gwen, Helen explained what had just happened.

Randy didn't need to be told twice.

When Gwen woke up nearly an hour and a half later, she was comforted by Randy's handsome, reassuring face looking down at her. Leaning down from the chair he was sitting in, he hugged Gwen as she sat up.

"Oh…Randy…" she said, returning his embrace.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty," he said with a grin. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?"

"Randy, I…" Gwen said, before Randy cut her off.

"Your Mom told me the whole thing," he said. "Don't think about anything else just now. All you need to know is that we're here for you."

He lay down next to Gwen on the couch, and she fell asleep in his arms. She always felt warm, safe and protected when Randy held her, and he was glad to see her expression turn peaceful as she slept.

Inwardly, though, he seethed with anger at Jack O' Lantern. He thought about what it would be like to blow the son of a bitch's pumpkin head clean off his shoulders, so that he never threatened Gwen or anyone ever again.

For the moment, though, he knew he had more important things to focus on.

When Peter Parker saw the reports in the Daily Bugle the next day about Jack O' Lantern's threatening notes, he realized he had to act. Gwen wasn't the only person to receive them, as the likes of his niece Kitty Pryde and his nephew Ben Reilly, as well as a number of other people he knew as Steven Mark Levins, received them too.

When he got home from work, he called Gwen to check on her.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked her gently. "Uncle Ben and I were really worried about you."

"I'm doing better now," Gwen said. "I'm worried about Kitty, Ben and everyone else who got threatened. I should-"

"-not worry about them and just focus on taking care of yourself right now," Peter said, making clear he wasn't accepting any other answer from Gwen. "If I find that bastard, I'll deal with him," he said, referring to his own superhero identity as the amazing Spider-Man.

"No, Peter-" Gwen said, before Peter interrupted her.

"Look, I know he's your enemy, but that doesn't mean it's just your job to deal with him. That 8-Ball guy always used to fight Sleepwalker, but you stopped him from killing Captain Watson, remember?" he said, reminding Gwen of an incident where she'd saved New York Police Captain Philip Watson from being murdered by the costumed villain 8-Ball. "If I run into Jack, I'll take him down for you. I owe you that much, at least."

"Peter, I should-" Gwen said, before Peter interrupted her again.

"-just take care of yourself right now, and led the older brother you never had look after it," Peter said with a grin. "I don't appreciate anybody threatening my kid sister, and I'll make them pay."

Even through the phone, Peter could feel Gwen's relief and gratitude.

"Thank you so much, Peter," Gwen said.

"No problem, kiddo," Peter said before hanging up.

Six months earlier…

Dr. Jefferson took a deep breath before he walked into his office and sat down. Steven Mark Levins was already waiting for him, sitting in his chair as comfortably as if he was waiting in a dentist's office. He looked up with an affable smile as Dr. Jefferson sat down across from him, perfectly at ease.

"I hope you weren't too upset by our conversation yesterday, Doctor," Levins said, his smile widening. "I don't usually get the chance to discuss my love of fine literature with anyone, much less my fellow supervillains."

"Actually, I was hoping we could continue the conversation," Dr. Jefferson said, as he felt his heart rate start to increase. "You're obsessed with the works of Edgar Allen Poe, or so I understand. What about them did you find so interesting?"

"The psychology of them, for one," Levins said, as his eyes lit up. "The subtle implications of dread, the unknown, and the supernatural whether it be real or not. Later writers from Lovecraft through to King are too explicit for my tastes, particularly with their full descriptions of the otherworldly monstrosities their protagonists face. I prefer what's more suggested than revealed, rather than monstrosities that have in effect become more mundane with the realities our world has seen," he said, referring to the many strange and bizarre things that had happened over the last ten years, from alien invasions to psychic phenomena being proven real.

"And yet you wore a flaming pumpkin mask," Dr. Jefferson said, his mouth going painfully dry. He poured himself a glass of water as Levins answered.

"Because I play on older, deeper symbolism," Levins said, clearly expecting Dr. Jefferson's rebuttal. "Pumpkins, ghosts, witches, moons, toads, skeletons…so much of it is the same symbolism around Halloween, is it not? The time when the ancients believed demons and evil spirits walked the earth. It was further developed by Gothic literature and later cultural works, to become the Halloween we know and fear today. That's what I'm playing off of, my friend…that same evil, that same wickedness and depravity."

"…And is that what you've tried to nurture in others, and that you deplore others hiding behind their false civility?" Dr. Jefferson said, still feeling his heart beat at a rapid pace.

"Now you get it," Levins said, his smile giving way to laughter. "I play off the same impulses and feelings as the Gothic stories. Poe, of course, is one of the finest examples, but hardly the only one. I find Robert Browning to be almost criminally underrated."

It took Dr. Jefferson a long moment to reply.

"Why…is that?" he asked.

"Consider Porphyria's Lover, for instance," Levins said. "The speaker deals once and for all with the rose-headed young woman who shows so much hypocritical love to the world around her…all without God saying a word," he said, his eyes widening as he warmed to his subject.

Once again, Dr. Jefferson felt his blood run cold.

"Porphyria was the speaker's to do with as he would," Levins continued, "and he did the most logical thing he might do. He throttled her with her own hair, and spent the rest of the evening in the company of her corpse. Porphyria's hair was yellow, but it could as easily have been black or red…and all without God saying a word."

Dr. Jefferson suddenly felt a crippling headache.

Levins smiled widely.

Gwen took in a deep breath as she took in the music from the MP3 player. Her friend Kitty Pryde had the same reactions to Jack O' Lantern being free as she did, and their other friend Liz Osborn insisted on taking them to some meditation sessions to help them de-stress. It was working so far, as Gwen felt a tremendous sense of peace. Comforting images filled her mind, images of Helen, Nancy, Jill, Randy and Peter, Peter's uncle Ben Parker who'd been like a father figure to her, her half-sister Sarah who lived in Hartford but who she kept in regular touch with, Kitty's boyfriend Bruce 'Kong' McFarlane, Liz's husband Harry and other friends and loved ones.

Her mind was as calm and quiet as the soft music filling the room. All her troubles were forgotten, as she focused on the joy she shared with the people in her life.

She was suddenly jolted out of it as her spider-senses suddenly started blaring. Her spider-senses allowed her to track anyone she marked with her pheromones, and they could alert her to when those people were in a situation of particular interest to her. Unfortunately, Jack O' Lantern somehow discovered them after her last encounter with him. Worse, he deliberately triggered them to torture her.

Her spider-senses blared for only a moment, just enough to make her twitch.

That was long enough for her to realize that Jack O' Lantern somehow knew exactly where she was.

She shuddered as her spider-senses blared again, and she twitched violently.

A few people turned to look at her as she tried to calm down.

Her spider-senses suddenly had a much longer burst, leaving her shivering and gasping for breath.

Everyone looked at her with concern, especially Liz and Kitty.

She assured everyone she was alright, that she just needed to relax again, and they resumed their meditation.

Gwen's spider-senses didn't trigger again, but it didn't matter.

Her inner peace was completely shattered.

Despite his encouraging words to Gwen, Spider-Man didn't know how he was going to find Jack O' Lantern. He wasn't a detective, and had no idea how to find someone he hadn't already tagged with a spider-tracer. He had the contact information for Moon Knight, who some people called the White Knight Detective, but Moon Knight was often dealing with problems of his own and may not have time to spare. He wasn't sure who else he could contact, since he didn't know how to reach the likes of Daredevil or Darkhawk and didn't know their civilian identities. He could possibly ask the Heroes For Hire, but they didn't come cheap and usually didn't do pro bono work for people who weren't part of their lower-income communities.

Spider-Man thought about the problem for well over an hour as he did his evening patrol, but his concerns about it vanished when he saw the strange figure ahead of him. The figure was a beautiful young woman with night-black hair dressed in a red and gold costume, swinging on a webline as easily and gracefully as Spider-Man himself. She landed on a rooftop before walking to its edge, looking over the city skyline as Spider-Man swung down to join her.

"Gw…Spider-Woman?" Spider-Man said, remembering to use Gwen's codename when they were in costume and public. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

The young woman turned around to face Spider-Man, and his jaw dropped in shock. She seemed like a dead ringer for Spider-Woman, from the length of her hair to the shape of her frame to the cut of her costume.

"I thought you were going to take it easy," Spider-Man said. "I was going to handle-"

The warning he got from his spider-senses was the only reason Spider-Man managed to dodge the sting blast the dark-haired woman shot at him. She followed up with several more blasts, as Spider-Man repeatedly cartwheeled out of their way. He barely managed to keep ahead of them, as the woman caught him completely off guard. When she briefly let up her attacks, Spider-Man came back to his feet, still confused by what the woman did.

The woman suddenly shot a double blast of webbing at Spider-Man, and this time his confusion kept him from reacting to his spider-senses' warning in time. The woman's webbing tangled his arms, and he was pulled off balance as she tried to pull him towards her.

Spider-Man pulled back, trying to anchor himself in place by using his spider-grip through his feet, but the woman inexorably dragged him forward. That made him even more confused, since as far as he knew Spider-Woman's spider-strength was all but identical to his. The woman tugging him forward felt as though she was twice as strong, and she outmatched him in a tug of war.

Spider-Man decided to take the opposite tactic. Instead of pulling back against the woman, he leapt straight at her, twisting as if to hit her with a lunging tackle. The woman released the webbing and dodged out of the way, as Spider-Man hit the ground in a roll and came back up to his feet. Although his arms were still tangled in the woman's webbing, Spider-Man was more than ready for a fight, particularly given how much his spider-senses were tingling.

"Who are you?" he shouted, shooting a double blast of his own webbing at the woman. "I know you're not Spider-Woman! If you did anything to hurt her-"

The woman answered by firing her sting blasts at him. Spider-Man held up his forearms, letting her sting blasts tear into the webbing that still tangled his arms. He felt the webbing weaken from the blast's impact, and he tore it with a sudden flex of his arms before lunging at the mysterious woman. She leapt away from him and fired her sting blasts at Spider-Man, but he flipped over them and caught her with a double shot of her webbing, yanking her forward before she could anchor herself with her spider-grip.

As he got a closer look at the woman in the evening light, Spider-Man realized she wasn't quite a dead ringer for Spider-Woman. She was slightly taller, her facial structure slightly different, her build slightly different. She and Spider-Woman could have passed for family, though, which left Spider-Man all the more confused.

The woman's hands glowed as she tried to fire her sting blasts at Spider-Man, but he reacted as his spider-senses alerted him. He knocked the woman away with a vicious punch, but she rolled with the blow and was soon up on her feet. She countered by shooting her webs at Spider-Man, and when he leaped into the air to dodge them she struck him with her sting blasts. He cried out in pain as he fell, and she tangled him up in her next shot of webbing.

His limbs caught in the webbing, Spider-Man was unable to stop the woman from swinging him into the air and then slamming him painfully on the rooftop. He anchored himself again through his feet with his spider-grip, and as the woman pulled him forward he shot her in the face with his own webbing. As she stumbled back, trying to get Spider-Man's webbing off her face, he leaped forward, slamming her in the head with his webbed-up forearms and then viciously kicking her.

The woman reeled from Spider-Man's assault, and for a moment he thought he'd won the fight. Only his spider-senses saved him from being killed when the woman suddenly pulled something small and orange out of a concealed neck sheath and threw it at him at nearly point blank range. Recognizing the orange thing as a pumpkin bomb, Spider-Man leaped back before the bomb exploded, but it still released a wave of fire and shrapnel that tore into him. Crying out in pain, Spider-Man fell back and collapsed, his body laced with pain.

The woman took a step towards him, seeming to ready a sting blast to finish him, but she paused. She tilted her head, as if listening for something, before leaping away and webswinging into the night.

Spider-Man lay in a bloody heap for nearly an hour and a half before he recovered enough of his strength to stand up. He'd been too injured to hit the woman with a spider-tracer before she fled, and he knew he'd never catch her now.

Spider-Man was in low spirits as he swung home. His original worry had been just how he was going to track down Jack O' Lantern, but now that was the least of his concerns.

Who was that woman? Spider-Man wondered. How the hell did she get spider-powers? She isn't identical to Gwen, but they look so much alike! Are they related somehow?

How the hell did she get a pumpkin bomb? The Green Goblin and Jack O' Lantern are the only ones who use those kinds of weapons.

Is she tied to Jack O' Lantern?

Did Norman Osborn recover from his injuries somehow?

And what in God's name am I going to tell Gwen? The last thing she needs is another shock like this…

Gwen yawned as she woke up the next morning. Rolling over in bed, she saw that it was just after 6:00 AM. That wasn't too surprising, since she'd gone to bed early to make sure she got plenty of rest.

Throwing back her duvet, Gwen wondered what she should have for breakfast, realizing Jill, Helen and Nancy were probably all still asleep.

The rest of the Stacy family were awakened by Gwen's terrified screams when she saw the large, bloody message somehow painted on the wall of her bedroom.

NOWHERE TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE!

SEE YOU SOON, GWEN!

(Next Issue: Frightened and increasingly unable to cope with her stress, Gwen can barely hold it together as she starts searching for Jack O' Lantern to settle her feud with him once and for all. When her friends Ben Reilly and Kitty Pryde are threatened by Jack's machinations, she's confronted by the mysterious woman who fought Spider-Man, and learns about Jack's shocking plans for the both of them! All this and more in Spider-Woman #108: Clone Saga, Part Two: Heir Apparent!)