Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 58: Snake Charmer

Gwen Stacy was wreathed in smiles as she entered her Aunt Nancy's townhouse, glad to put final exams behind her. There was a spring in her step as she walked upstairs and lay down on her bed, eager for a nap after all her hard work. She knew she'd aced her final exams, a far cry from last year when she'd failed most of her midterms because of the exhaustion she'd suffered trying to juggle school, her waitressing job, her acting and modelling career and her superhero career as the spectacular Spider-Woman. Gwen had been lucky not to end up on academic probation after that semester, and it was only after she'd moved back in with her family and been let go from her job at the coffee shop that she'd improved her grades.

Nodding off in the warm spring sun as it shone in through her window, Gwen still couldn't entirely believe how much things had changed for her over the last several months. She had a hunk of a boyfriend who treated her like a princess in Randy Robertson, her mother Helen was in perfect mental health, she had a number of choice acting and modelling jobs to apply for, her other friends like Kitty Pryde and Harry Osborn had overcome their own problems, she'd recently won a Spring Break beauty pageant that had earned her a substantial number of fans, and she'd been able to use the prize money from the pageant to pay off both the back taxes her mother had been stuck with and a fair amount of Aunt Nancy's property taxes.

Smiling to herself, Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out the I-Pod Helen and Nancy had insisted she buy with some of her winnings. Putting the headphones in her ears, she set the I-Pod to play her favorite Jonas Brothers song and closed her eyes, reflecting on how well things were going for her.

SPIDER-WOMAN #58

"SNAKE CHARMER"

Tanya Sealy was the first to admit that her costume didn't leave much to the imagination. The black leotard was made of flexible Kevlar that allowed its wearer to bend and twist as necessary, meshing well with her flipping, kicking fighting style. Her gloves and boots were knee- and elbow-length, made of light hardened steel alloy painted emerald green and decorated in serpentine patterns. The costume was topped off with a green tiara she wore on her head, which was crafted to resemble a serpent wrapping itself around her head, its own head staring intensely at the viewer.

The fact that the costume was revealing didn't particularly bother Tanya. Her past career as a call girl and exotic dancer made her used to such outfits. Nor was she upset by her new career, that of joining the Serpent Society, a group of snake-themed costumed supervillains, as an assassin. In her old jobs, she'd killed more than one john who'd tried to get violent. She was also quite comfortable with the other members of the Serpent Society. Many of the male members had been some of her best and most respectful customers in her call girl days, and the female members of the Society had been nothing but welcoming and supportive.

Even the superpowers the Society had arranged to get her, powers that duplicated those of the now-dead assassin whose costumed identity she was taking up, didn't bother her. And yet, for all that, Tanya Sealy, codename Black Mamba, still felt nervous and on edge as she went over the details of her first assignment, pacing her quarters endlessly as she thought the matter over in her head. Jumping at the knock on her door, she marched over and pressed the button that opened the door.

Standing in the doorway was a slim, nondescript man with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, a look of concern on his face. Without a word, Tanya turned back and resumed her pacing, as the man followed her into her living quarters.

"How are you holding up?" Davis Lawfers, better known by his supervillain moniker as Copperhead, asked her. Davis was the Serpent Society member who'd recruited Tanya to replace the first Black Mamba, who'd been killed last year during a failed mission. He'd been disgusted by the abuse Tanya had been suffering from her clients, and had recruited her to the Society to try and provide a better life for her.