Following the directions she had gotten out of the crooked receptionist at 'United Western Studios', an increasingly anxious Gwen was making her way to the hills on her bike as fast as possible, though she was slowed down somewhat by some heavy traffic along the way. Eventually though, the Rose's vila had come into view, but by now, the time on Gwen's watch read 2:15pm, leaving her just 45 minutes to get in there and locate the Rose, Teresa and the bomb. Things were cutting far too fine for her liking.

Pulling up on the road running directly alongside the bottom of the small cliff that the house was perched on top of, Gwen got off her bike, hid the vehicle behind one of the large boulders, and quickly changed into her Spider-Woman costume. Thanks to her superhuman agility and wall-crawling powers, it took her no time at all to scale the steep and jagged rock face, and she was soon sneaking her way along the driveway at the front of the vila. As she grew nearer, she heard the whirring noise of helicopter blades, and as she ducked out of sight, she saw a copter lift up through an open hatch in the roof of the garage and fly its way downtown.

Satisfied that she had not been seen by whoever was in that copter, Spider-Woman came out of hiding and made her way over to the outer wall of the building. Crawling her way right up to the top, she peered over the top of the roof and gazed down onto the main courtyard, where she could see two of the Rose's goons patrolling the area, each man carrying a submachine gun in his hand, oblivious to the intruder hiding just above their heads.

"Gotta time this just right," thought Spider-Woman, her whole body feeling tense for action.

She waited for the exact moment when both gunmen had their backs turned to her, and when they finally did oblige her, she leapt down into the courtyard and landed directly behind the two goons.

THUNK!

Before either man had a chance to think or react, Spider-Woman bashed their heads together, and they both collapsed to the ground, quite out cold.

Just as the web-slinger had swiftly disarmed and webbed up the two unconscious thugs, her spider-sense buzzed urgently, and she ducked to the side, just narrowly getting smashed to pieces by Man Mountain Marko's massive fists!

"I don't know how ya found this place, toots!" he said as he threw his fists at Spider-Woman, who dodged and leapt about the place. "But this is one party ya gonna regret gatecrashing!"

"Oh, a party is it?" said Spider-Woman, as she delivered a strong punch to Marko's rock-hard jaw. "Well, I've always been a great dancer at parties. Let's see how well you can move!"

With a savage cry, Marko began lashing out with his feet, trying to stomp the masked girl into submission, But again, Spider-Man jumped clear, and all he managed to do was to knock off the head of a nearby and unfortunate statue!

KRASK!

Resorting to his fists again, Marko threw a massive punch, but Spider-Man rolled out of the way in time, and the only thing Marko achieved was to create a large pothole in the ground.

"Can'tcha stay still!" complained Marko, as he again sent a strong kick at Spider-Woman's direction.

"And let you smear me all over this lovely vila? As if!" retorted the girl, as she landed on Marko's back and fired her webbing into his eyes at point-blank range.

THWIP!

Now blinded, Marko wailed and tried to pull the web of his eyes, and as he did so, Spider-Woman seized her chance. Jumping off the bulking figure, she grabbed hold of him and lifted him up in the air, giving a pained grunt as she did so, her muscles straining at having to keep the huge man aloft with his massive weight. Gathering all her strength, Spider-Woman threw Marko right across the courtyard, sending him smashing through various walls of the house, and landing him right by the terrace swimming pool on the other side.

Bounding her way through the corridor that Marko had unwittingly created, Spider-Woman emerged on the terrace and saw a gagged Teresa tied to a chair, her eyes wide with relief as she saw that rescue was on hand. But before the web-spinner could even think of freeing the young Parker woman, Marko was already struggling to his feet and had finally managed to tear the webbing off his face. With an almost inhuman roar, he lunged forward with his outstretched hands, his sole intention now being to crush Spider-Woman's head to pulp.

But the human-arachnid's skill and strength once again came to her aid. Thrusting out her own hands, she managed to grab hold of Marko's wrists and hold him back. The two combatants were now locked in a wrestling match, and from her position, the observing Teresa feared that Marko's strength would prove too much for Spider-Woman. But then, just as it seemed that Marko was getting the upper hand, Spider-Woman suddenly tossed him to the side and sent him falling right into the pool!

SPLASH!

Water was sent flying all over the place as Marko landed in the pool with a very loud 'sploosh', and he thrashed about in panic, creating waves all around him.

"Help!" he spluttered almost pleadingly, as he splashed and flapped his arms pathetically in the water. "Fer pity's sake, get me out! I can't swim!"

If Teresa had not been gagged, she would have howled with laughter at this, and she watched in amusement as Spider-Woman extracted the panting Marko from the pool, delivered a strong knockout punch just to be on the safe side, then secured the brute with so much webbing that even he with all his strength would have trouble breaking free when he woke up. Once she was certain that there was no-one else around to fight, Spider-Woman hurried over to Teresa and set about freeing her from her bonds.

"Thanks, Spidey!" breathed Teresa gratefully, as her gag was removed and the last of the ropes that had been binding her fell to the ground. "You sure have a habit of turning up to save this particular damsel in distress."

"Think nothing of it," said Spider-Woman, who was greatly relieved to find that Teresa had not been physically harmed by the Rose and his men. "But where are the other bad guys?"

"They've gone downtown in a copter to plant the bomb on a building near to the one that the President is holding his address," replied Teresa as she massaged her sore wrists, which felt like they were full of pins-and-needles. "They're planning to detonate it just after the President begins his speech. They're going to level the entire city, just to prove how tough they are!"

"Did they say which building?"

"No, but the Rose did say it was a brand new building."

"Okay, you call the police and tell them about the bomb, and also have them send some men over here to pick up Marko and his buddies," instructed Spider-Woman.

"But they may not believe me!" protested Teresa. "They'll think it's a hoax."

"But at least they'll get the President out of there," said Spider-Woman. "In the meantime, I'll get after the Rose and the bomb."

"But you'll never get there in time, the copter had too good a head-start. The President's speech starts at three and it's already 2:30."

Thinking fast, Spider-Woman glanced over the view from the terrace and her eyes lit up as she spotted a nearby airfield, about ten minutes away she guessed, if she ran there with all her speed.

"There may still be time," she said. "Anyway, it's worth a try."

With that, Spider-Woman departed with all speed, while Teresa hurriedly got out her mobile and began to call the police.

From his position on the rooftop of a recently-built office-block, the Rose surveyed the Westin Bonaventure Hotel where the address was taking place. He glanced at his watch. It was now reading 2:40pm. The time of the deadline has almost passed, and it was now seemingly certain that the government was not going to pay up.

So be it. They had their chance, and chose not to take him seriously. Now they would have to pay the price for their foolishness.

He crossed over to Johnston and Varley, who were disguised as rooftop maintenance men and were finishing preparing the bomb, which had been placed next to a junction box.

"It's all set, boss," reported Johnston, as he finished setting the timer. "It'll detonate at 15:05."

"Good," said the Rose. "The copter will be returning to pick us up from the roof at 15:00. That should give us plenty of time to get clear of the blast radius. We can observe the fireworks from a safe distance."

Varley gulped. "You really intend to go through with this?"

"Believe me, Mr Varley," said the Rose with a casual shrug, "I do not wish to do this, but I will if they force me to!"

"Do you want to run that by me again, miss?" said Bill Newman, manager of the Coast Helicopter Service, as he regarded the costumed woman who had so abruptly turned up and was now facing him in his office, asking for a helicopter to take her to the city straightaway.

"It's a stunt to publicise a new film, like the sort Tom Cruise does," said Spider-Woman calmly. She had managed to get to the airfield okay, and was now trying to convince Newman to get her a ride. But she could not disclose her real reason for needing to get into the middle of L.A., since there was no way to tell how the CHS manager might react if he heard there was an atomic bomb about to explode. So she had come up with a cover story in which her purpose was to promote an action film, a claim that was backed up by her costume, which Newman clearly thought had come out of a Hollywood wardrobe.

"So you're going to dive out of the copter, without a parachute and land on top of a building with an airbag?" repeated Bill.

"Yeah, that's right," said Spider-Woman. "Um, the only thing is, I'll have to pay you later."

Bill smiled and started to lead his masked visitor out of the office. "Don't worry about it. It's on me. I'll get someone to take you up."

Newman was as good as his word, and within minutes, a helicopter was lifting itself high up in the air, with Spider-Woman sitting next to the pilot, who worked to get to Los Angeles as fast as he knew how. Soon, huge skyscrapers came into view below them, and as the minutes marched painfully by, Spider-Woman scoured the city with her eyes. As the clock on the dashboard came ever closer to 3:00pm, she finally spotted the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, the place that the news said was where the President's address was taking place. Almost right next to it, standing tall and imposing, was an rectangular office building, on the roof of which could be seen three figures, who were waiting eagerly as a second and familiar-looking copter was coming down to pick them up.

"That's the one," said Spider-Woman to the pilot, as she pointed at the building. "Can you get me in a bit closer?"

"Sorry, miss," said the pilot apologetically. "If I get caught within a thousand feet of that building, the FAA will pull my licence."

"Okay then. In that case, I'll get off right here."

Opening the door, Spider-Woman stepped out, balanced herself on the copter's landing skid. Then, after taking a deep breath, she jumped off and plunged herself downwards, with the flabbergasted pilot looking on in amazement at the daring stunt he had been warned his passenger would be attempting.

Luckily, the wind was going in a direction favourable to her, and Spider-Woman dived towards the office block like a fast-moving missile. Once she was close enough, she fired out a stream of webs above her, which she used to form a parachute that slowed her descent.

Down below, the short countdown of the bomb was well underway and the Rose was just getting himself ready to board the landing copter to make his escape, when he heard Varley yell in astounded alarm:

"Hey, what's that?"

Spinning around, the Rose saw what his men had: The figure of a masked woman with a blue hoodie jacket dropping through the air towards them fast on a parachute!

"Don't just stand there, you fools!" snapped the Rose. "Stop her!"

Snapping to attention like soldiers, Johnston and Varley whipped out their guns and opened fire at their fast approaching attacker.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Bullets were sent flying across the air, but missed their target which swayed about in the sky, and Spider-Woman, managing to keep hold of her web-parachute with one hand, fired off a load of webs with the web-shooter on her other wrist. Unlike the bullets, the sticky balls of web did hit their target and enveloped the two mens' gun hands, blocking the barrels and stopping any more rounds from being fired.

"This is most alarming," the Rose thought worriedly to himself. "My men are no match for that masked amazon. It may be prudent for me to proceed with a tactical retreat."

While the Rose was quickly boarding the copter, Spider-Woman had already landed on the roof and gone straight on the attack.

WHAMM!

Before either Johnston or Varley could gather their wits, they were both sent straight to dreamland thanks to strong blows to the jaw delivered by Spider-Woman. As both men crumpled down at her feet, Spider-Woman whirled to face the Rose, but the criminal mastermind was already taking off in his helicopter, which moved at neck-breaking speed away from the building. For a split-second, Spider-Woman was about to give chase, but she stopped herself, as she remembered she had a far more imminent danger to deal with. It was more important that she find the bomb, before it was too late!

Quickly searching the roof, she soon spotted the doomsday machine placed next to the junction box. As she raced over to it, she saw with dread that the bomb's countdown clock registered just thirty seconds left before the whole thing would explode! Crossing over to the main control box for the bomb, she pulled off the lid and carefully checked the wires inside, trying to trace the one which would send the signal for detonation...

25 seconds... 24... 23...

Beneath Spider-Woman's mask and gloves, sweat poured over her brow and hands, as she worked desperately to trace the wiring, trying hard to keep her fingers from trembling. If she pulled out the wrong one, it could cause the bomb to blow immediately.

18... 17... 16...

At first, Spider-Woman thought she had found the correct wire, but she realised her mistake in time and went back over the complex circuits. She had to find the right one, she had to! Too much was at stake. Too many lives were depending on her!

10... 9... 8...

There! That has to be the correct one!

5... 4...

Knowing full well that there would be no second go with this if she had got it wrong, Spider-Woman yanked the wire out of the socket and held her breath.

Nothing happened. Glancing down at the clock, her heart leapt with joy as she saw that the countdown had stopped with just two seconds to spare!

"Burrrutthhhher!" breathed Spider-Woman, sinking down to the ground in exhausted relief. "If I never have to go through something like that again, it'll be too soon!"

From his helicopter high up, the Rose gave a growl of annoyance, as he saw that the bomb had not detonated and the city laid out before him had not been reduced to a nuclear wasteland. Everything had gone wrong. His operations in Los Angeles would have to be closed down, he had lost several of his most loyal men to the authorities, and he had not made one single bit of profit from this failed enterprise. And it was all the fault of that meddling Spider-Woman. All in all, things had proved most dissatisfying.

"Gah, that girl got lucky," muttered LeBeau, the helicopter pilot. "What I'd give to have another shot at her..."

"Relax, LeBeau," said the Rose assuringly, as the copter sped them away from Los Angeles. "If I had my way, we'll be meeting Spider-Woman again..."

"Tired?" asked Teresa Parker a few days later at the hotel pool, as she watched Gwen Stacy, who was slumped out on a deckchair by the hotel pool.

"No. Exhausted!" replied Gwen with a weary smile. "Boy, after all the excitement of helping to track down a stolen nuclear bomb, you'd think that attending a Science Conference would be a breeze in comparison. Was pretty good though, I have to say."

"At least you can put your feet up for the rest of the week before we have to head home," smiled Teresa, as she sipped the cocktail in her glass. "I'd say we've both more than earned some R&R after all our hard work. And I don't mind telling you, I felt like my hair was going to turn white when the clock hit three. I was sure relived when I realised the bomb hadn't blown the city up."

"Me too," said Gwen. "And I was even more glad when Agent Sitwell arrived to take the bomb off everyone's hands. Not to mention the call from Jean saying that Carla is recovering. Of course, she, along with Craig and Ted, will have to stand trial for stealing the plutonium, but I'd lay odds that they'll get a suspended sentence considering the circumstances."

"That's good to hear," said Teresa. "I get the impression that those three have learnt their lesson. And in a strange way, I'm a bit grateful. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have gotten this new gig in New York."

"Yeah, what is this new job anyway?" asked Gwen.

"Well, the 'Brooklyn Banner' had read the exclusive I did for the 'Weekly Examiner', about Spider-Woman diffusing the bomb and saving California. And they were so impressed that they asked me to work for them as a full-time journalist. And I've decided to say yes."

"So you're going to live in NY now?" asked Gwen hopefully, having come to really like this young woman who had dropped out of the blue so suddenly when all this had first started.

Teresa nodded. "I reckon I've spent long enough travelling the world and obsessing over finding my lost family. I have, after all, found my Aunt, and it's high time I settled down a bit in one place and concentrated on building my own life. I need to look ahead to life in the future, not go over the dead past."

"I know exactly what you mean," said Gwen. "I'm glad so much of this has worked out for the best, though I'm still bummed that Spider-Woman wasn't able to catch the Rose."

"Well she did stop all of Los Angeles getting blown to bits," pointed out Teresa. "And she captured all those goons, including big guy Marko and the Prowler, and she saved my neck three times over. I'd say that counts as a good enough win to me."

"Guess you're right," admitted Gwen with an affectionate smile. "You know, I'm real glad that you came to New York, Teresa. You've been a great help and a great pal. And for what it's worth, I think Peter would have been proud to have had you as a sister."

"Thanks, Gwen," Teresa Parker smiled back at her, glad to have found such a good friend in Gwen Stacy. "That means a lot. I just wish I had the chance to thank Spider-Woman properly, let her know how much I appreciate her saving my bacon and how terrific I think she is."

"Don't worry," said Gwen with a wink. "I have a feeling that somewhere out there, she already knows."

THE END... FOR NOW!