Several days had passed since the incident with the Wolf-Man, and Gwen was starting to properly get used to her new dual identity as Spider-Woman. The twenty year old girl was really getting into the thrill of being a superhero, and it gave her a good feeling too, being able to help people in need. But she was also learning just how much harder it made normal life too, as finding time to study for her ESU classes in-between heroics was tougher than she had expected. Quite how Peter had managed to cope with balancing this sort of thing about in life she had no idea.
Gwen was determined not to let her studies slip, so she did as much time at home as possible preparing for her classes, though this did have the knock-on effect of her having to cut-down on the time she spent socialising with her friends. Most people seemed okay with this, assuming that she was still grieving over Peter. But Gwen missed hanging out with those closest to her, and sometimes it tore her up the way she had to keep bailing on them whenever she needed to dash off as Spider-Woman. She wished she could have at least one person to confide in, to tell them her secret, so she would not feel so alone. But the one person she had confided in was Harry, and he ended up becoming a supervillain as an indirect consequence. So now Gwen was reluctant to tell anyone the secret of her new identity as a superhero, lest anyone else in her life get hurt because of her.
Gwen thought she would have to get used to feeling so isolated in life, but one evening, a chain of events began that at the end would change that. She had been sitting in a chair at her apartment, quietly reading some textbooks concerning bio-chemistry, when she got an urgent call from Mary Jane Watson.
"Hey, MJ. What's up this time?" asked Gwen absent-mindedly.
"Gwen, something's happened outside my apartment," MJ said, her voice quivering. "A girl was murdered on the streets, and... and I saw who did it!"
Gwen bolted upright in her chair, taken aback by the terrified tone of Mary Jane's voice on the other end of the line.
"What? Are you okay? You're not in danger are you?"
"Not yet, but I'm frightened half out of my skull! Could you get over here please? I need a friend right now."
"Of course, MJ, I'll be there as quickly as I can," promised Gwen soothingly.
As Gwen hung up the phone, she quickly changed into her Spider-Woman suit, and within seconds, she was web-swinging her way to Mary Jane's apartment as fast as she could. As she made her way high up above the streets, Gwen's mind raced over the trouble that Mary Jane was in. The best thing that MJ should do would be to go to the police, but being the daughter of a Police Captain, Gwen had heard too many tales of witnesses too terrified to speak out, afraid that if they did, they would be the next victim. It was very likely that MJ was feeling the same way, and if that was the case, Gwen knew it would be up to her to persuade her friend otherwise.
As Spider-Woman rounded the block, she spotted Mary Jane's apartment just ahead. As the young web-swinger landed discreetly on top of the roof and glanced down at the street below, she quickly saw that Mary Jane was not exaggerating. A young girl with copper-coloured hair, apparently no older than Gwen was, laid lifeless on the pavement, her dead body being examined by a forensic scientist, while various police officers were busy trying to hold back the crowd of onlookers that had gathered. And from a glance, Spider-Woman could immediately tell that the drama must have all happened right in front of Mary Jane's window.
Quickly changing back into her everyday identity of Gwen Stacy, college student, the blonde girl hurried into the building and made her way down the stairs to Mary Jane's front door. As Gwen knocked, a frightened voice came from the other side:
"Who is it? I'll call the police if you..."
"Relax, MJ. It's me, Gwen."
Slowly and cautiously, Mary Jane opened the door a little and peered around. Upon seeing the identity of her visitor, she sighed in relief, undid the door latch and embraced Gwen, sobbing in relief.
"Oh Gwen, thank God you're here!" Mary Jane choked. "I've been scared it might have been... the guy who killed that girl!"
"Hey, take it easy, Mary Jane," said Gwen soothingly, as she gently led the scared redhead back into the apartment and shut the door behind them. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened?"
Mary Jane sat down in a chair, her shoulders slumped and her face terribly pale. "I didn't want to involve you, Gwen, but I didn't know who else to turn to. I was just looking out of my window, watching the sunset, and... and I saw this girl get killed. And I saw who did it."
"Then why haven't you told the police already?" asked Gwen, though she suspected she knew the answer to that.
Mary Jane shook her head, almost frenziedly. "No! Gwen... I don't dare! Just when he finished with her, the murderer turned and saw me. He knows I watched the whole thing! If I speak out, he'll kill me. I don't dare tell anyone!"
Gwen put a comforting hand on Mary Jane's shoulder and spoke in a gentle, but firm voice. "Look MJ, I get you're scared. But what makes you think he won't come after you anyway? He almost certainly will, cause he won't want to risk anyone identifying him. And even if he doesn't try to get you, what if he decides to kill someone else? Do you really think you'll be able to live with yourself? If you don't speak now, you'll regret it, sooner or later, and for the rest of your life."
There was a moment of quiet contemplation. Then Mary Jane gave a small amused smile. "Girl, you just misquoted Humphrey Bogart there, you realise that?"
"Yeah, I guess I just did," chuckled Gwen.
Mary Jane sighed, then got to her feet. "You're right, Gwen. I'll go to the police and tell them everything."
"Attagirl," said Gwen approvingly. "And I'll come along with you, just in case the killer is still hanging around here."
Frustratingly, the police had just gone by the time the two girls had exited the building, so Gwen called a taxi cab over to get them to Police headquarters as fast as possible. At first, the drive went swimmingly, but then, Gwen's spider-sense began buzzing, warning of imminent danger. The next second, something appeared right in front of the cab. At first, it looked like a bird, but as the object came flying closer, the shocked driver and passengers could see that it was a bald-headed man, dressed in some kind of green flying suit with wings.
"Omigosh! Gwen, that's him! That's the killer!" shrieked Mary Jane.
Gwen immediately recognised the fast approaching figure from the papers. It was the nefarious Vulture!
"Quick, mister, take this next turn!" Gwen said urgently to the taxi driver.
The driver did not need telling twice. He swerved the cab down a side-street, just narrowly managing to avoid colliding with the sinister figure with wings that swooped right past where the taxi had been a mere second ago. Gwen glanced back through the rear window and saw to her dismay that the Vulture was back on their tail and catching up fast.
On the verge of panic, the driver took one corner too fast and collided with some dustbins, the lid of one jamming up one of the wheels and causing the cab to come to a violent screeching halt. Luckily, no-one had been hurt, but now they were a sitting duck for the fast-approaching Vulture.
"Everyone out now!" snapped Gwen. "We'll split up and try to lose him!"
All three occupants of the cab leapt out and dashed in opposite directions. However, Gwen grimly knew that it would not do any good. As she ducked down one street and hid in the shadows, she could already see the Vulture flying in the other direction, right after Mary Jane. But the distraction had given Gwen the chance to change into her spider-outfit under the cover of darkness, and within seconds, Spider-Woman was in hot pursuit of the flying killer about to bear down on Mary Jane. Before the Vulture could strike his next victim down, Spider-Woman was upon him!
"Not so fast, pal!" called Spider-Woman as she swung over and socked the Vulture's jaw with her fist. "You're not going to do anymore killing tonight!"
Momentarily dazed, the Vulture swerved out of control, giving a frightened Mary Jane the chance to duck down a street and disappear from sight.
"Spider-Woman!" snarled the Vulture, as he recovered himself. "You accursed meddler! Now I've lost sight of my prey!"
With a savage cry, the Vulture shot towards Spider-Woman like a rocket, but the masked heroine was just able to leap clear over the Vulture's head. As she did so, Gwen fired a glob of webbing at the Vulture's eyes, blinding him and causing him to smash into a wall!
CRASH!
"Fella, I don't know why you've taken to committing murder," said Spider-Woman, as she landed onto the side of a building and adhered herself to the wall. "But I'll be damned if I let you get away with it!"
With a hideous cackle, the Vulture recovered himself and began tearing at the webbing around his eyes. As he did so, Gwen was startled to see that his hands were more like sharp claws, which he used to rip the webbing off like it was made of tissue paper!
"What the heck?!" Spider-Woman thought to herself. "I thought this guy was just an old man wearing a fancy costume. But he seems more like some kind of mutated being like the Wolf-Man!"
With another shriek of rage, the Vulture grabbed hold of one of the concrete entrance stairs of one of the buildings, and effortlessly tore off some of the stonework with his bare hands. Then, with surprising speed, he began chucking the stone blocks right at Spider-Woman, who used her own superhuman reflexes to dodge clear and avoid getting struck down.
"Wretched child!" hissed the Vulture, an evil glint in his eyes. "I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The Vulture prepared himself to launch another attack, when there suddenly came the sound of approaching police sirens. Turning his head around, the Vulture was frustrated to see that a load of police cars were speeding towards them, having been altered by the various residents who had been watching the fight through their windows.
"Bah! You win this round, Spider-Woman!" said the Vulture, as he began to fly away, deciding that he did not want to have to face the police and Spider-Woman at the same time. "But I'll be back to get you!"
As the Vulture vanished into the distance, Spider-Woman breathed a sigh of relief. She felt out of her depth and knew she had to work out just how the Vulture had gained these strange new powers of strength and speed, if she was going to stand any chance of defeating him. But first, she had to find Mary Jane, before the Vulture did. Firing a web-line, Spider-Woman swung off, just before the police arrived, and headed down the street she had spotted MJ running down.
Fortunately, Gwen soon caught sight of Mary Jane, running frantically for her very life. Swopping downwards, Spider-Woman grabbed hold of the terrified redhead, who gave a loud cry of alarm as she found herself lifted off the ground.
"Hey, relax, miss," said Spider-Woman, as she carried Mary Jane in the direction towards Police Headquarters. "I don't bite, promise!"
"Just put me down right now!" demanded Mary Jane, her temper overriding her feeling of terror.
"I will. I just want to make sure that we put some distance between us and that flying lunatic, Miss...?"
"Watson. Mary Jane Watson," replied Mary Jane as they landed a short distance from the Police Station.
"Nice to meet you," said Spider-Woman. "I'm..."
"I know who you are, I do watch the news on the telly you know," said Mary Jane, taking a deep breath as she pulled herself together. "Look, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I'm a little tired of costumed characters crashing into my life."
"Talking of which, what's with the birdbrain chasing you?" asked Spider-Woman, feigning ignorance.
"I saw him commit a murder earlier tonight. A young girl who he just struck down, right outside my apartment. I was on my way to the police with a friend of mine to report it, when he appeared again and chased us. I think my friend and the driver got away okay, but I am worried about them."
"Don't fret, I'll go and see if I can find them," said Spider-Woman. "In the meantime, you better head into the police station and tell them what you've seen. Believe me, that's the safest place for you right now."
After escorting Mary Jane over to the station, where they found that the breathless taxi driver had gotten there first via a short cut he knew, Spider-Woman went off to 'search' for Gwen Stacy. About half-an-hour later, Gwen arrived at the station, and was soon talking to Jean DeWolff in the Captain's office, while Mary Jane gave her statement to one of the sergeants.
"I tell you, Jean, it was like something out of a nightmare," continued Gwen, as she finished recounting her version of events to DeWolff. "If it hadn't been for Spider-Woman, then this Vulture creep would have killed Mary Jane, just as he did that other girl."
"You did the right thing coaxing Ms Watson into coming forward with her statement, Gwen, and I've enough witnesses of the fight to confirm the identity of the killer," said Jean solemnly. "The only problem is that the one person who could have committed this murder... couldn't have done it!"
TO BE CONTINUED!