As night turned into morning, Gwen Stacy stretched her tired limbs and gave out a small yawn, as she got up from bed and slipped on a dressing gown, before making her way over to the kitchen to get herself some coffee on the go. She felt considerably refreshed after a good night's sleep and her whole mood felt just a bit brighter than before. She was just opening the cupboard to sort out some cereal for breakfast, when her phone started buzzing, the name on the screen saying 'BETTY BRANT'.
"Hmm, I wonder what Betty wants so early in the morning," mused Gwen, as she picked up the phone and answered. "Hello, Betty, what's up?"
As she heard the hurried, almost breathless, answer on the phone, Gwen's eyes widened with shock, her good mood immediately deflated and replaced by one of concern. "What? You're not kidding? A were-wolf? But what about Mr Jameson...? Okay, just stay put, I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as possible."
Ending the call with a sharp jab of her finger, Gwen hastily gathered her stuff, changed into her Spider-Woman outfit, and leapt out through her apartment window. Firing out a series of lines from the web-shooters, Spider-Woman swung across the city as fast as she could, her thoughts racing with the news that Betty had just told her. Once before, Gwen might have been dismissive of the very idea of a real-life were-wolf existing, but she had had some experiences during an expedition to the Savage Land some months ago that had taught her that strange monsters do indeed exist, both on this world and beyond. As fantastic as Betty's story sounded, Gwen was perfectly willing to believe it.
As Spider-Woman caught sight of Memorial Hospital, she landed in a nearby and deserted alleyway, where she changed back into her civilian identity of Gwen Stacy, before she made her way through the sliding doors of the hospital and headed over to the waiting room, where Betty Brant and Ned Leeds were sitting, while Joseph Robertson was in the corner, talking to a police detective.
"Thanks for getting here so quickly, Ms Stacy," said Ned, after Gwen came over to join them. "We figured you'd want to be informed of this, since Jonah was an associate of your Dad's."
"I do appreciate you're calling me, Mr Leeds," said Gwen somberly. "Have the doctors said anything more about Mr Jameson's condition?"
"It's touch and go, Gwen," replied Betty, drying her eyes with a handkerchief. "But the doctor says he has a chance, and the police have posted guards, in case this monster attacks again. Mr Robertson's just giving some details to the detective in charge of the investigation over there."
Gwen glanced over to the attractive detective in the hat and trench-coat, and her eyes widened in surprise as she recognised the woman.
"Jean DeWolff! Great to see you," said Gwen, as she crossed over to the police detective who had worked so closely with her father back before he retired from the force.
"Gwen Stacy! Been a while since I last saw you," grinned Captain Jean DeWolff. "I guess Mr Leeds and Ms Brant have been telling you about this wacko who attacked Mr Jameson last night."
"Yes. Any idea who it could have been?"
Jean shrugged. "Some kind of wild animal from the sounds of it, except this one actually wears clothes. As best as the forensic boys can make out, this creature just burst into Jameson's office and tried to tear the poor guy to shreds. If the staff hadn't walked in when they did, Jameson might have been up in the clouds playing his harp by now. Frankly, I don't know what to make of it, and now I'm having to put up with all kind of crazy theories, space-creatures from Mars, that sort of thing."
The mention of space-creatures suddenly made Gwen realise that someone was missing. "Hey, has Mr Jameson's son been informed? The famous astronaut, he's in town. I saw him at the Bugle yesterday."
Robertson slapped his head in annoyance. "Blast! In all the confusion, I had clean forgot about Jonah's son. He'll have to be informed."
"Why the hell didn't you mention before that Jameson's son is in town?" snapped DeWolff irritably. "Don't you realise that he could be the assailant's next target? You better give me his address and fast!"
Feeling somewhat chastened, Robbie gave the address that he remembered Jonah mentioning shortly after he got back from having lunch with John and his fiancée. As soon as he did so, DeWolff marched straight for the exit, having decided to head over there and speak to the retired astronaut herself.
"Hey, Jean, do you mind if I tag along?" asked Gwen, hurrying close behind. "When I saw Colonel John Jameson yesterday, he seemed in a bad way. He said it was flu, but I got the impression it may have been something more serious."
Jean considered this. "Hmm, perhaps you had better come along then, since John Jameson has met you. Along the way, you can tell me more about his behaviour when you met him."
Jean's 1930's-style roadster drove at top speed towards John Jameson's apartment at the residential brownstones overlooking the Hudson River, and along the way, Gwen recounted in as much detail as she could remember the details of her brief encounter with John, including his strange seizure and the pendant glowing about his neck. By the time Gwen had finished and the car had pulled up by the shady block of buildings, DeWolff was starting to wonder if John Jameson was more involved with this business than anyone realised.
With DeWolff taking the lead, she and Gwen made their way into the building, up the stairs and over to the apartment where John lived. As they came up to the door, they saw a young woman with long blonde hair standing there, ringing the bell in frustration.
"Come on, John, why don't you answer?" the woman muttered to herself, before she noticed Gwen and DeWolff coming up to her. "Oh hi there, if you're looking for John, I'm afraid he doesn't seem to be in."
"So I gather," said DeWolff, as she flashed her police badge at the young woman. "Captain Jean DeWolff, NYPD. Am I to take it you're a friend of Colonel Jameson's?"
"I'm his fiancée, Kristine Saunders," said the woman in a little alarm. "Police? Is John in trouble?"
"His father certainly is," said DeWolff, as she then briefly explained what had happened to John's father, much to Kristine's shock.
"Oh my goodness! I can't take this all in. We were all having lunch just yesterday and everything seemed so fine. Is Jonah going to be okay?"
"We hope so," said Gwen comfortingly. "Excuse me, Miss Saunders, but I passed your fiancée yesterday and he seemed a little on edge. Has he been sick lately?"
"No, but he has been behaving oddly lately," admitted Kristine. "As you said, he has been pretty nervous, but he wouldn't tell me why."
Jean went over to the door and impatiently banged her fist against it, intending to try and force John Jameson to wake up and open up, if he was in. To her surprise, she found that the door was ajar, and as it slid open with a creak, the three of them stepped in to find that the place was indeed deserted, and just a little bit dishevelled. A lamp had been knocked off its side and lay precariously on a small cabinet, an undrunk mug of tea sat cold on a coffee table, and an ash tray had been knocked to the floor, its contents spreed in an unseemly pile.
"Looks like Jameson's son left in a hurry," remarked Jean. "Damn! Our one potential lead, and we've no idea where he's got to!"
"Wait, you can't think that John is mixed up in all this, can you?" said Kristine defensively.
"I'm not saying anything, Miss Saunders," said Jean seriously. "But for all we know, he could end up being this wolf-guy's next target!"
"I think it may already be too late, Jean," said Gwen, who had noticed some unusual scratch-marks on the floor and some of the furniture. "Look at these marks! I'm guessing these belong to our were-wolf friend."
DeWolff swore in a somewhat colourful and very unladylike manner. "Blast Robertson for not mentioning about Jameson's son sooner! Now we have a potential kidnapping to deal with as well as attempted murder! This is all going to look so great in my report!"
Within the hour, another forensics team was combing the apartment for any clues regarding the disappearance of John Jameson, while DeWolff decided to put a worried Kristine Saunders in protective custody at the police station, lest another person involved in the case disappeared or got torn to shreds! As the police car carrying Kristine drove off, Jean turned to Gwen.
"Thanks for helping out, Gwen. But I don't think there's much else you do, so perhaps you ought to head home and get some rest."
"Yeah, I guess so," said Gwen. "Okay, I'll catch you later, Jean. Hope you have luck with finding Colonel Jameson."
With that, Gwen walked away from the apartment and down the streets. But rather than take the route that would lead her back to her apartment, she ducked unseen into an alley and changed into her Spider-Woman outfit. Within seconds, the web-swinger was swinging though the city, intent on conducting a thorough search of her own. Despite what Jean had said, Gwen had no intention of just sitting on the sidelines while a man's life was potentially at risk. Perhaps, if she combed the city herself, she might find some trace of Colonel Jameson or this mysterious Wolf-Man.
But as the hours passed and Spider-Woman swept across more and more parts of New York, her spirits began to droop, as she could find no sign of her quarry. As the masked adventurer stopped to pause by some chimneys on a rooftop, she could see that the evening moon was now shining brightly in the sky above.
"Ah man, I've spent the whole day searching for this furball, and I've come up zilch," thought Spider-Woman glumly. "Maybe I better go on back to my apartment, get some rest, and try again later."
Gwen was just about to call it a night and head home, when suddenly her spider-sense began buzzing. Seconds later, there came a piercing scream from the opposite street, and as Spider-Woman raced over on a web-line, she was startled to see that a woman, with baby in a pram, was being confronted a snarling creature that looked like a wolf!
"Far out! I've found myself a werewolf!" exclaimed Spider-Woman, as she launched herself at the creature and knocked it across the street, giving the woman and her child a chance to escape. Rounding on its attacker, the Wolf-Man gave a bark of anger and leapt forward with a speed that startled Gwen. Luckily, her reflexes kicked in and she ducked down, narrowly avoiding getting slashed by the monster's sharp claws!
"Wow, you are for real, aren't you?" said Spider-Woman, as she again just managed to avoid getting hit by the creature, as it swiped its furry arm at her. "But you don't scare me, you Hammer Movie reject!"
CHOK!
Spider-Woman delivered a powerful karate kick at the savage creature's head, sending it flying straight into a lamppost, which broke and fell to the ground with a loud thud. But to Gwen's disbelief, the monster leapt back to its feet, tore off a large piece off the broken lamppost, and threw it at her like a harpoon!
Spider-Woman leapt into the air, only just preventing herself from getting impaled by the sharp metal as it whizzed by her. Shooting out a web-line, she swung right at the werewolf, her feet colliding with its chest and knocking it off its feet, sending it crashing onto the pavement.
"All right, pal, so you wanna play rough, do you?" cried Spider-Woman, as she delivered a powerful punch to the Wolf-Man's jaw. "That's okey-dokey with me!"
But just as Spider-Woman struck another blow at the werewolf's face, her eyes happened to glance down at the beast's neck, and she froze. Around the fur-covered neck was a pendent with a fiercely glowing stone, one that Gwen Stacy had seen once before.
"Omigosh! But that's..."
THWAM!
Momentarily distracted by this startling revelation, Spider-Woman unwittingly gave her adversary the chance to strike back. Grabbing the masked woman's foot, the Wolf-Man threw its assailant off him, sending Spider-Woman crashing violently through the window of a department store, her fall barely broken by a pair of mannequins placed in the display spot.
"Oof!" groaned Spider-Woman as she struck her head on the hard arm of one of the mannequins, cross with herself for letting her guard down. Dazedly, she stumbled out through the hole left in the shattered window and saw to her dismay, that the Wolf-Man had decided to turn and run, heading straight for a narrow street to lose any pursuers.
Gwen knew she could not just let the werewolf escape, but that last blow on the head had left her too giddy to fight any further. Fortunately, she was wearing Peter's old utility belt beneath her costume, which carried spare web-fluid, a spider-signal light, and, more importantly in this particular moment, spider-shaped tracking devices. Quickly getting out one such spider-tracer and taking aim as best she could, she threw the tracking device right at the Wolf-Man. To her immense relief, the device hit home right on the back of the creature, who failed to notice the little passenger it was now carrying. Then, the werewolf had disappeared completely into the shadows.
Beneath her mask, Gwen sighed, too stunned for words. At least she could track the thing down when she was ready for round two. But what then? After what she had just discovered, Gwen was at a loss as to what the right course of action was.
Stumbling along the street, Gwen realised she was too groggy to work things out at present and resolved to head home. Luckily, her apartment was only a few streets away, and she just able to swing back, before clambering tiredly back through the window and into the living room.
"Oh, I must have hit my head much harder than I thought when I crashed through that window," muttered Gwen, as she pulled off her mask and rubbed a large bruise on her forehead. Not even bothering to take off her costume, she stumbled into her room and fell face-forward onto the soft, comfy bed. The exhausted young hero was fast asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.
So worn-out was she from her battle with the Wolf-Man, that Gwen had failed completely to notice the figure in the shadows on the opposite side of the street, who had given a small gasp upon spotting Spider-Woman clamber into the building.
"I was right!" the figure thought excitedly. "I suspected it, but now I know for certain... Gwen Stacy is the new Spider-Woman!"
TO BE CONTINUED!