Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 78: X Marks The Spot

Gwen Stacy had gotten used to being catcalled long ago, and so she did her best to ignore the cheers and whistles as she passed by the construction site. She'd always had mixed emotions about it-while she often took pride in how good she looked, and how she could be the hottest guest at any social function, she was sickened by how crude and juvenile some of the catcalls could be.

Even then, though, she couldn't help but wonder how many other women would attract as much attention as she did while wearing a flannel shirt, a thick jacket, blue jeans and black Converse high-top sneakers. She wasn't exactly dressed to kill, given that it was a windy day in late October, but even so Gwen could still get admiring glances from men and jealous ones from women. Despite her annoyance at how juvenile the catcalls could get, Gwen couldn't help but feel a certain pride at how good she could look, no matter what the weather was like.

I could be dressed like a firefighter or a construction worker, Gwen thought to herself with a smile, and I'd still have guys drooling over me...

...but then I'd also get the catcalls, she thought to herself with a frown.

I like the attention, I really do, Gwen continued, but why do some of these guys have to act so crude about it?

SPIDER-WOMAN #78

"X MARKS THE SPOT"

The young man cursed inwardly as he made his way through the bus terminal, realizing that everyone was staring at him. Emotions ranging from concern at the troubled look on his face to admiration at his intense, handsome features crossed the faces of everyone whose glance he caught. It was a vicious cycle, he knew-his emotions made his strides determined and purposeful, and attracted other people's attention to him. That only made him more aggravated, which only heightened his magnetism.

Taking a deep breath, he turned his powers back in on himself, trying to make himself inconspicuous, or at least normal-looking, but that effort only made him continue to look intense and focused, such that people continued to pay attention to him even after the effects of his powers wore off.

The young man shook his head as he came up to the counter, taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"Where to, son?" the older man behind the counter asked.

"One pass to New York," the young man replied, making as if to hand over his credit card.

"Billy Collins, huh?" the older man asked as he glanced at the man's credit card. "You hoping to star on Broadway or something?" he joked, as he began to scan the card.

The young man's eyes flashed for a moment, as he dared to focus his powers.

To everyone and everything around him, it seemed as though the booth attendant had scanned in his credit card, and simply printed out his ticket. Of course, that was what he wanted them to think, when in fact he'd scrambled the perceptions of everyone around him and simply gotten the machine to print out a free ticket.

The young man hated stealing from the bus company, and hated himself even more for doing it, but he was already taking a dreadful risk by having a credit card in the first place. The less of an electronic trail he left, the better. Simply using his powers, despite his best efforts to keep them in check, was practically like using a cell phone to broadcast where he was. All anyone tracking the phone's user had to do was check which cell towers the signals were bouncing off of, and they could get a good idea of where the person had been.

He'd managed to get around that problem by using burner phones and Internet terminals at public libraries and Internet cafes, but even then he knew he was still leaving an electronic trail for his pursuers.