At the Winking Frog bar near the docks one particular man there was happy. He had just been paid a great deal of money for a single night of work. The work had its risk and he even received a good beat down from Spider-Woman but he had come out the other end with his head held up high.

His name was Roman Montague and right now he felt like he was completely untouchable. He was Italian in origin although he had lived in New York the majority of his life. He was a well-built man with short brown hair and an eye for the ladies. A few of the women in the bar had been treated to some drinks and he wasn't ashamed to tell everyone that he had recently come into money.

Normally this would be a one way ticket to being robbed but not one person in the bar dared to steal from Roman. They knew who he was and what he was capable of so they knew better than to try and steal from him. He was known for having a violent temper and he could more or less explode with very little to no provocation. Thankfully today he was in a good mood so there was little chance of him losing his temper.

On this particular day Roman had two women to his side as he sat at a table. In front of him was a large glass of beer that he had already drunk several pints of. His senses had been dulled and his wits were beginning to leave him. He had yet to boast about how he came into this money but a few drinks would soon change his mind. If there were to be any policemen around they would have more than enough evidence to convict him simply by recording his confession.

"Are you ladies having a good time?" asked Roman as he looked at the two women sitting either side of him. "If not I'm sure a few more drinks might change your mind." This made the women giggle and there didn't seem to be much that could be done to spoil anyone's mood. "After we're finished here why don't we head over to my place and we can get to know each other a little better?"

Suddenly a relatively small man came to the table rudely interrupting the group. This somewhat annoyed Roman but rather than attacking the man for his interruption he was allowing it to pass by since he was in a good mood. But the man wasn't leaving and this made Roman's curiosity grow. He took a sip of his beer before putting the glass down and looking over to the man.

"Is there something that I can help you with or are you just here to annoy me?" asked Roman in a voice that didn't hide his annoyance. The man looked a bit shaken and it seemed that he had seen a ghost.

"T-there's someone outside to see you," replied the man as he stuttered a little. It was obvious that he was terrified but Roman wasn't sure if he was terrified of him or of something else.

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy."

"I'm afraid it can't. She said that if I didn't bring you out she would come in herself and drag you out."

Roman was surprised to hear that the person that wanted to see him was a woman. He began to suspect that it might be an ex-lover of his since he had a fair few scattered around the city. It was entirely plausible in his mind that one of these ex-lovers might want to speak to him. Maybe it was about him being the father of their child and they would want some kind of financial support. If that was the case he would tell them to take a very long walk off a short pier.

"Whoever it is tell them that I'm busy," said Roman as he finished off his glass of beer. "And if I see you back here again I'm going to smash this glass right in that pretty face of yours."

"But Roman believe me you don't want to say no," replied the man as the fear grew in his voice. Roman looked at the man and saw the absolute fear in his eyes. This made the professional thief think that there might be something very wrong happening and this woman really did need to see him.

"Fine I'll go but if this is some kind of prank I'm putting a bullet in the back of your head." He didn't like thinking that he was admitting defeat but just from looking at the man he could see that there was definitely something off.

Before Roman went anywhere he made sure that he had his handgun on his person so if things began to go south at least he would have some form of protection. He kissed both the women at his side before getting up from where he was sitting. As he stood to his feet he staggered for a moment, the amount of alcohol that he had consumed had made him a little uneasy on his feet. It took him mere moments to get his bearings back before he walked out of the bar.

The moment that Roman stepped outside he couldn't see anyone waiting for him and at first he thought that it had all be a joke after all. That was until a pair of very large hands grabbed him and lifted him up in the air. At the time he had been carrying his gun but in the surprise of suddenly being lifted up he dropped it and it struck the ground hard. In moments his world had been turned upside down as he was face to face with the enlarged face of Spider-Woman. Her face was still covered by her mask so he couldn't see what she looked like but it didn't make the experience any less traumatic for him.

"Roman Montague is it?" asked Spider-Woman in a relatively loud and terrifying voice. She saw Roman nodding in terror. She was holding him from under his arms and it was almost like picking up a very small child but she knew that he was a full grown man and that she was the one who had been enlarged. "Tell me what you did with the Van Dyne Particles that you stole last night and I might let you go."

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Roman trying to act innocent when Spider-Woman knew better.

"Don't you dare lie to me, believe me I'm not in the mood to be lied to right now!" She was making herself seem a lot angrier and terrifying than she actually was. She had decided to use her size to her advantage in this case and it was working very well. "I admit if I were to drop you from this height most likely you wouldn't die. Instead you would break some bones in that body of yours and believe me it will hurt. Lie to me again and you'll end up on the pavement the fast way and then we'll keep doing that until you talk. Now spill your guts or else you'll be seeing them."

"Ok I'll talk." It had been easier than Spider-Woman had been expecting and she could hear the terror in Roman's voice.

"I'm all ears."

"We were hired by some scientist. I don't know why she wanted them but she hired us to steal them and that was that. Please I don't know any more than that." He thought that he was face to face with the devil and he could feel a warm feeling around his crotch area as he was urinating himself.

"Where is she?" Her voice was very loud and sharp. It was all a part of her fear tactic that was working like a charm.

"At one of the warehouses at the dock. I can't remember which one exactly but definitely in one of them. Now please let me go." He was speaking more out of hope than making an actual demand.

There was a few moments of silence as Spider-Woman stood there like a statue. Roman was waiting for what she was going to do next and if he could see under her mask he would have seen her smiling. Her face would look like that of a happy woman and it had an innocence side to it.

"Thank you very much Roman," said Spider-Woman with a lot of warmth and happiness in her voice. It was the complete opposite of what she had been like just a few short moments ago. "You have a good day now and stick around until the police show up." This caused his eyes to widen as she used her webbing to wrap him up. No sooner had he been completely wrapped up she placed him down on the ground. "Bye now." She waved at him as she webslinged away. He was doing everything he could to break out of the webbing but it was too strong for him. All he could do now was wait for someone to break him out but it seemed that the only people who would be doing that was the police.

Although Spider-Woman's search had now been narrowed down to the docks it didn't mean that she was in the clear. There were a lot of warehouses in the docks and it would be difficult for her to search them all. She hoped that her Spider-Sense would help her with her search but even then she thought that it would be a good long while before she actually found what she was looking for.

One thing that she did have going for her was that the warehouses were relatively close to her location since the bar had been near the docks as well. It would not take her long to travel there and even with her increased size it would only make the trip that little bit quicker for her. She was actually beginning to get the hang of being a sixteen and a half foot giant. At first it had been completely alien to her but now she was beginning to get used to her extraordinary height. She admitted to herself that being a giant did have its advantages but it certainly had its disadvantages as well.

One thing that Spider-Woman could feel was the gnawing hunger in her belly. She had tried to stick with the more important things but her hunger had been increasing steadily and it was almost unbearable now. She wanted to go and search the warehouses but her body demanded that she have something to eat first. With some reluctance she began her search for some food but she did have one problem. She had no money to buy any food and she was too big to go home and actually eat any of her own so she had to find some way of satisfying her hunger for free. This was something that she knew would be very difficult but she had very little choice in the matter.

For the moment Spider-Woman moved away from the docks and more into the city so that her search could truly begin but as usual all she could see was buildings and cars all on the ground. This was disappointing for her but eventually she did see a hot dog vendor who just standing there waiting for a customer. In her better judgement she thought that going down there was not a good idea but her hunger drove her down.

The Hot Dog Vender himself was standing there minding his own business when he saw a large shadow appear right behind him. He slowly turned around and he was very shocked when he saw that he was having to look up to the towering figure of Spider-Woman. Many of the people walking passed were either frozen in fear and curiosity while others quickly moved away. He stood there in disbelief at the giant woman before him and she tried to wave down at him to show that she wasn't a threat. Spider-Woman knew that she had to be very careful so that she didn't terrify the poor man.

"Hi there I know this might sound like I'm being cheap but is there any chance that I can have a hot dog and I'll pay you later?" asked Spider-Woman in a very pleasant voice. She was doing everything that she could to not seem threatening. "Maybe a can of soda as well if you have one?"

"Y-yeah sure whatever you want," replied the Hot Dog Vendor with much fear in his voice. He thought that if he didn't do what she wanted she would harm him and steal all of his money. He believed that she had murdered Peter Parker thanks to the campaign by J. Jonah Jameson.

"Thanks you're a star." She kept her pleasant voice so that seem like a gentle person. In truth she was anyway but at this size she needed to remind people of that. She could also hear her stomach growling as it demanded food.

The man gave her a nice warm hotdog that she ate in only two bites. It had been a foot long hotdog but to her it was only around four inches in length. She thought that it would take the edge off of her hunger but she discovered that it hadn't even made a dent. She wanted to leave but her hunger forced her to have another hotdog, then another, then another. He wanted to stop her from eating but he knew that there was nothing that he could do to stop the giant woman from eating all the hotdogs that she wanted.

Within a few short minutes Spider-Woman had eaten her fill and she felt a lot better. It was only then that she realised that she had eaten all of the hotdogs that the vendor had to offer along with several cans of soda.

"Y-you ate everything," said the Hot Dog Vendor as he realised that he had just lost a lot of money in food. He stared up at her as she lowered the bottom half of her mask so that her mouth was covered as well.

"I'm so sorry," replied Spider-Woman as she realised just what she had done. After such a growth spurt her body had demanded more calories than she had expected and once she started eating she discovered that she couldn't stop. "I'm promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

"Please just leave." There was some sorrow in his voice as he realised that he might not be able to make his rent that month.

"I will pay you back, I promise." With that she shot a line of her webbing and swung away. She hated what she had done and she thought that she was no better than the thieves that she fought against. She did know that she had enough money tucked away to pay the hotdog vendor back although she wouldn't be able to access her money until she shrank back to her normal size. She also knew that she was lucky that no police showed up or else she would be in even more trouble.

With her hunger now satisfied thought that she should resume her search for the warehouse and this person who had hired the thieves to steal the Van Dyne Particles. She knew that it might not lead her to shrinking to normal but she wanted to make sure that they hadn't fallen into the wrong hands. She was still very tempted in contacting Doctor Janet Van Dyne of the Avengers but she still thought that they would try and arrest her for how she supposedly murdered Peter Parker.

No matter what good she did Spider-Woman didn't think that people would stop believing that she was a murder. They had no idea that it was the serum that Peter used to turn himself into the Lizard that killed him. She could tell the press that bit of information but the last thing she wanted was to tarnish the memory of her former best friend. He had transformed himself into that monster because he was trying to be like her. Although she didn't pull the trigger she still felt like she was responsible for his death and it seemed that no matter how many bad guys she put away she would never make up for it.

Unfortunately Spider-Woman's trip to the docks were once again interrupted when she heard someone else who needed her assistance. This time it wasn't someone being robbed or carjacked. Instead it was the somewhat quiet sobbing of a young child. She knew that she had something important that she had to be dealing with but she could not ignore the cries of a small child she couldn't call herself a hero or even a human being for that matter. She just hoped that it wasn't what she feared.

Spider-Woman was able to track the crying to just outside of an apartment building. For the moment there seemed to be no one around but just before she torched down on the ground she spotted what seemed to be a child no older than ten. This girl had blonde hair much like Spider-Woman's and for the moment she was sitting on a step and crying to herself. At first the girl didn't see Spider-Woman land on the ground just a few feet ahead of her but when she took a step towards her the girl spotted her. This caught the girl by surprise and she jerked a little at the sudden shock of seeing a giant Spider-Woman.

"Please don't be afraid I'm not going to hurt you," said Spider-Woman in the calmest voice that she could use. The last thing she wanted to do was scare an already vulnerable looking child. She then squatted down so that she could at least look smaller and less threatening. "Tell me what the matter is."

"I," replied the girl not sure exactly what she was going to say. She still couldn't get over the fact that there was a giant Spider-Woman right in front of her. Despite hearing that she was a villain the girl couldn't help but feel a little better knowing that the costumed vigilante wanted to hear her problem. "I had other kids ripping on me for being short." She had to fight back more tears as she was saying this.

"You shouldn't let it get to you."

"That's easy for you to say, you're a giant. Me I'll be short for the rest of my life." She gave out a sigh and looked up at Spider-Woman again. "How did you get so tall anyway?" Her fear of Spider-Woman had been subsiding and now she was left with some sorrow but also curiosity.

"Oh I just drunk a lot of milk." This was a little white lie just so that she didn't have to delve into the details of how she grew and that she was looking for the people responsible. "Anyway you might not be short all your life. I know a girl who was short for years but she had a really big growth spurt and now she's over six feet tall and captain of the girl's high school basketball team." She rubbed the girl on the head. "Even if you do remain short it isn't a bad thing, there have been a lot of great people in history who were below average height. The only thing you can do is not let the bully's get to you, if you let them get to you it means you're letting them win."

"But they're bigger than me."

"That might be true but are they more intelligent than you? Are they as kind as you and above all of they better than you?"

"No they're not." There was a bit more confidence in her voice. It seemed that what Spider-Woman was saying to her was actually getting through.

"See. If you keep letting them win they will never leave you alone. Just because they're bigger than you doesn't mean they have the right to pick on people smaller than they are. Remember that you are better than they are and I promise you everything will turn out alright for you."

"Thanks Spider-Woman." There was a small smile on the girl's face as she wiped away her tears. "I'm Kelly by the way."

"That's a nice name Kelly. I would tell you mine but I do have a secret identity and everything."

"Oh I see." There was a slightly disappointed tone in her voice that did make Spider-Woman a little guilty.

"But maybe you can have a quick peek." For a brief moment Spider-Woman lifted up her mask so that Kelly. This brought an even bigger smile to Kelly's face as she could see what Spider-Woman actually looked like. This only lasted a few moments before she lowered her mask once again. "I think you can keep that secret."

"Sure thing Spider-Woman."

"That's great Kelly." She then looked at her wrist as if she were wearing a watch. "Oh look at the time, sorry Kelly but I've got a big problem that I have to deal with." She then stood up to her full height. "If I find out that those bullies are still giving you trouble I will be having a serious talk with them." She then shot out a line of webbing onto a nearby building. "Gotta run and stay brave Kelly."

With that Spider-Woman web-slinged away as Kelly got up and looked towards where the heroine was travelling. She still couldn't believe that Spider-Woman had actually come to her and given her advice. She couldn't see why people hated her so much, the enlarged superheroine had come to her aid when she needed it most and in a way saved her. All she could do was try and take Spider-Woman's advice to heart and use it to improve her own way of life.

Spider-Woman herself continued make her way towards the warehouses at the dock. She knew that she would have to search through each one before she found the one that contained what she wanted. She knew that there was a fair few warehouses situated at the docks and any one of them could contain the person that she was looking for and the stolen Van Dyne Particles.

Meanwhile inside her warehouse Doctor Rita DeMara had no idea that Spider-Woman was on her way to her. Instead she just carried on her work and after all night of manipulating the Van Dyne Particles to recreate her own she was ready for testing. Rather than using a live test subject for this test she decided to use a small piece of wood that was barely an inch long. She did feel tired but she wasn't prepared to go to sleep until she knew that everything was working with the compound.

Rita had also renamed them to DeMara Particles and she saw this as another way of undermining her competitor and prove that she was truly the mastermind behind the science of size manipulation. More than once she had gotten very close to cracking the code but Doctor Janet Van Dyne had beaten her every time. This only increased her contempt towards her rival.

To perform this test Rita and her hired muscle were on the warehouse floor itself rather than inside the lab. This was just so if there was anything unforeseen the rest of her lab would not be damaged. She could feel her heart racing as she placed the small piece of wood on the ground and then poured only one drop of her DeMara Particles on it and she waited to see what happened next. If this was a failure it would be like her entire life's work had been for naught.

Moments after pouring the drop of DeMara Particles on the wood there seemed to be no change. The wood itself didn't change size at all and this made her feel very disappointed. Rita went to give a shout of frustration but suddenly she noticed something different about the wood. She watched as it began to glow and then she watched it stretch and expand. A huge smile appeared on her face as she realised that it had worked and already she could tell that it was expanded different to the way that it should have. The Van Dyne Particles that she had been given were relatively weak meaning a subject could not change size that much. Already with this wood it had expanded until it was over a foot in length and it was still growing.

Rita had to take a step back as she saw the piece of wood continue to grow and with every inch it grew her satisfaction grew along with it. It had already expanded more than twenty times its normal size and it was still going. By the time it had stopped the wood now stretched from one side of the warehouse to the other. Rita looked down at the wood and then looked at the compound that was still in her hand. She began to imagine all the different ways she could use it to her own benefit. Unlike Doctor Janet Van Dyne, Rita wanted to use the compound for her own gain rather than helping others. It was one reason why she had seemed to fail so many times.

Rita had no idea that Spider-Woman was on her way and would most likely take everything that she held dear. Rita had already decided that she was going to die before she allowed anyone to take the compound away from her. In her own mind she thought that she was the one that deserved and that Doctor Van Dyne had stolen it away from her. Her years that she had lost she blamed on the good doctor rather than blaming herself. Rita was fixated on upstaging Doctor Van Dyne and showing to the world just which of the two was the superior one.

Not too far outside of the warehouse Spider-Woman had arrived in the area but rather than going straight to Rita's warehouse she went to explore some of the others around the docks. Unfortunately for her she didn't know which was the right warehouse and so was forced to check every single one of them. This would be a time consuming exercise and the fact that she was still stuck at her giant size meant that sneaking around was going to be difficult. She did appreciate the strength and perception advantages that she got from her size but stealth was one thing that a giant couldn't do with ease.

Over the next couple of hours Spider-Woman checked each warehouse one by one but so far she had found nothing out of the ordinary. The warehouses she checked was filled with different items such as car parts, toys, food, amongst other consumables. With every failed search Spider-Woman felt that her chances of shrinking down to normal were dwindling. She had even gone to the point where she imagined her life if she was stuck at her current height. She could see herself getting married and the groom having to use a ladder to reach up to her. She even imagined herself trying to fit into a car with no luck.

These were all just silly thoughts that went through Spider-Woman's head which she soon dispelled immediately. She knew that she wouldn't achieve anything if she just stood around daydreaming and feeling sorry for herself. She continued her search and so far she had kept herself hidden from everyone around the docks. Despite her size her spider powers allowed her to sneak around.

Eventually Spider-Woman did find herself clinging onto the ceiling of a warehouse that was of some interest. She looked down from her vantage point and could see a group of thugs beneath her who were making some kind of deal. They were exchanging money for several bags of powder that she knew wasn't kitty litter. All the thugs were armed and she knew exactly what was going on. Most people would have ignored the thugs and simply carried on with their search but for Spider-Woman this was something that she couldn't do. Any one of these thugs could go on to do something that she knew that she'd regret if she didn't stop them there and then.

Rather than just jumping down and fighting all of the thugs head on Spider-Woman knew that she had to play it smart. Her size would also have its disadvantages since it made her a bigger target. She was going to have to disarm the thugs before she could launch an attack but despite everything she still had surprise on her side.

With the silence of a house spider Spider-Woman crawled along the ceiling and observed everything within the warehouse. She could count around half a dozen thugs each armed with automatic guns. This would be very different from dealing with guys with simple handguns and she knew that even with her agility and if she were her normal size the chances of victory against so many heavily armed thugs would be slim.

Spider-Woman could also hear them discussing more business that any district attorney would jump at to use in a court of law. Fortunately for the thugs there were no distract attorneys present but instead they had one enlarged superheroine that wasn't going to let them get away. All she needed was a little time and a bit of luck to get what she wanted, it seemed that everything was going to be alright.

Suddenly Spider-Woman heard something that sent a shiver down her spine. It was the playing of a song that she recognised as the ringtone from her phone. She felt it vibrating underneath her costume and unfortunately the ringtone itself was very loud and suddenly the thugs stopped talking and looked straight up at her. Almost instantly she realised that she had been found out and she only had a few moments to decide whether to fight or to flee before bullets began to come her way fast.

"Hey guys," said Spider-Woman who was still clinging to the ceiling. "That's not sherbet you're selling there is it?"