Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 49: A Day In The Life

Gwen Stacy yawned wearily as she woke up, rubbing her eyes as she took a deep breath to get out of bed. Her sleep last night hadn't gotten much better. In between dreaming about her failure to stop Will O' the Wisp from murdering his ex-wife and her new husband, Gwen had dreamt about the problems she'd run into in her relationship with her boyfriend Randy Robertson and his family. Those dreams were also interspersed with images of the monster who'd begun the nightmares in the first place, the psychopathic costumed killer who called himself Jack O' Lantern.

Gwen showered and dressed before coming downstairs to eat breakfast with the rest of her family. She was upbeat as she talked about school with her cousin Jill Stacy, talked with her Aunt Nancy about what she would cook for dinner, and talked to her mother Helen about their plans for the evening. From there, she made her way to the subway station and then to Empire State University, where she began the day's classes.

Everything seemed normal on the outside for Gwen, and for the most part she felt quite normal as well, thinking about her grades, her relationship with Randy, her friendships with Liz Allan, Kitty Pryde and the rest of her friends, and what she could expect with the new modeling job she got with Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics.

Try as she might, however, Gwen could never quite forget about Jack O' Lantern. Somehow he always knew where she was, following her every movement and her every action.

She was determined not to let it prevent her from living her life, but it continued to stick with her.

Steven Mark Levins woke up with a serene smile, eagerly embracing the new day that lay before him. Ever since he'd escaped from prison in the massive jailbreak organized by the Green Goblin and the Spot, Levins felt as if he had a new lease on life. Thrilled by the opportunity to return to the slaughter, torture and murder that had given his life meaning in the first place, he'd been diligently preparing for his return to supervillainy.

Now, in the hidden backup lair he'd constructed in case he was ever captured, Levins carefully reviewed his agenda for the next several days. He had a lot of preparations to make before he would be ready to proceed to the next step of his plan to ruin the life of Gwen Stacy, alias the spectacular Spider-Woman, and retake his place as head of the Tomorrow Legion supervillain cartel.

Levins wasn't sure if he'd ever been happier in all his life. More than anything, he felt like he was free, free to embrace the truth of who he was, free to resume his destructive, killing ways. The only thing that undermined his bliss was the thought of Spider-Woman, with whom he'd repeatedly clashed as Jack O' Lantern. Spider-Woman was the reason Levins had originally been arrested and sent to prison, and before that she'd continually interfered with his fun.

For all that Levins was sincerely enjoying himself, he couldn't quite shake his thought of Spider-Woman, and the boiling rage it stirred within him.

SPIDER-WOMAN

"A DAY IN THE LIFE"

"Hey, sweetie!" Helen Stacy greeted her daughter as Gwen came home later that afternoon. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good, Mom," Gwen smiled, although the smile was too strained for Helen's liking.

"…What's wrong, honey?" Helen asked, immediately concerned.

Gwen opened her mouth to speak briefly, and then seemed to think better of it. To Helen, it seemed like she was trying to decide whether to say anything or not, until it was clear Gwen came to a decision.

"It has to do with my being Spider-Woman," Gwen said, as she took off her jacket and boots and sat down with Helen on the couch. She then told Helen about her failure to stop Will O' the Wisp from murdering his ex-wife and her new husband, the vitriolic criticism Vincent Gonzalez had thrown at her after the Wisp's murders, and the harassing phone call she'd gotten from Jack O' Lantern, warning her that he always knew where she was and that he could strike at any of her loved ones.