Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 24: Gangster's Paradise

Philippe Bazin was not amused.

Perhaps the most restrained of New York's four major crime bosses, Bazin preferred to operate under the radar, not arousing the wrath of the New York Police Department or the city's superheroes unless he had to. He preferred to operate with a steel fist wrapped in a velvet glove-not seeking out conflict with his rivals or the authorities, but ready to mercilessly crush his foes if provoked. It had been a very effective policy, particularly in maintaining his position against repeated attacks by the Kingpin, to say nothing of the various up-and-coming sharks he had destroyed over the years.

Today, however, Bazin's lieutenants were treated to a rare display of emotion from their boss. From his impeccably trimmed moustache and beard to the dark but crisp and expensive suits he preferred to dress in, Bazin's appearance normally matched his quiet but intense demeanor. Today, however, an angry dark-red pallor flushed his cheeks, and there was an unmistakable edge in his voice.

"That impetuous fool!" Bazin shouted, slamming his fist against his desk when he heard the report describing how the Maggia had been responsible for tipping off the police to his lucrative child pornography ring. Forced to temporarily shut down his depraved operations while his men moved everything to a new location, Bazin had taken considerable heat from several of his customers, who were deathly afraid of being linked to the sickening "business" if the police discovered it. Some of them were considering jumping ship to other suppliers, despite whatever assurances Bazin had tried to give them.

"How far have the police gotten?" Bazin demanded his lieutenants, leaning back in his chair and tapping his fingers against each other irritably.

"Not very, Mr. Bazin," one of his henchmen assured him. "We got the signal out in enough time, and Mr. Alfonse is confident that we can resume operations within a couple of weeks."

"See that you do," Bazin ordered. "In the meantime, I should like to have a word with George Stacy about the Maggia's role in the Judge Baylor assassination, to say nothing of the bribes they've been paying assorted members of the DEA." Recruited to help Bazin's syndicate launder its money, George Stacy had been an invaluable aid both for his financial acumen and the intelligence he'd passed on to Bazin.

"Also," he ordered, "I want contact with Boomerang, Sabertooth and the Constrictor. Tell them they won't be attacking immediately, but that they'll be receiving their orders within the week. And pass the word on to our underbosses-things are going to be getting very ugly very fast."

Bazin's henchmen looked at each other uneasily.

Their boss ignored them, simply picking up one of the pawns on the chessboard in front of him and staring at it intently, his eyes narrowing.

Philippe Bazin never started wars.

He finished them.

SPIDER-WOMAN #24

"GANGSTER'S PARADISE"

Gwen Stacy waved to her friends as they pulled away in Harry Osborn's car, her face wreathed in a bright smile. After her aborted vacation at Fire Island, and all the other stresses she'd endured over the last several months, the five days she'd spent on the camping trip with her friends had been just what she'd needed. Rested and renewed, she rang the doorbell to her Aunt Nancy's townhouse with a bounce in her step that had been missing for far too long.

It was with a wordless squeal of joy that Gwen hugged her cousin Jill when she answered the door, before helping Gwen carry her luggage into the house. Aunt Nancy and Gwen's mother Helen Stacy came out to see what was going on, and before long the four women were sharing tea and sandwiches as they chatted over a late lunch.