Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 99: Stalking Charges

He usually left his victims in despair or shock, when he didn't just leave them dead. Most of them weren't able or willing to face him at his various murder trials, although it didn't matter since he always pleaded guilty anyway. While other criminals on trial expressed remorse or insisted they were innocent, he was all smiles. His smile was especially ghastly, given that it came from reshaping the mouth hole in the half-melted slag that covered his face. That same red and orange slag covered the rest of his body in a broken, jagged pattern. While the power-dampening shackles around his wrists prevented him from using his flamethrowing powers, everyone else in the courtroom could see how he fantasized about burning them alive when he looked at them.

His name was originally Harvey Russell Broxtel, but he was now better known by his supervillain codename of Firebrand.

Gwen Stacy knew about Firebrand's murderous flaming rampages better than anyone else. In her superhero identity as the spectacular Spider-Woman, she'd repeatedly battled Firebrand. While Gwen won most of her battles against Firebrand, those battles left her seriously injured and dozens of innocent bystanders dead by the time they were over. Gwen's latest fight with Firebrand came when he attacked the wedding rehearsal of her friends Harry Osborn and Liz Allan. Gwen defeated Firebrand, but not before he'd killed four people and hospitalized several others including Gwen herself. The injuries Gwen suffered during the battle were the worst yet, and she'd been asleep for two days before she'd finally woken up.

Gwen was the only victim of Firebrand's rampage who wasn't too injured or too upset to attend the trial. She'd also helped Liz, Harry and a few of the other victims with their impact statements, and she'd volunteered to read them in court. She'd justified doing it as a way to spare her friends and their families the pain of having to see Firebrand in court, and that was true.

It wasn't the only reason Gwen wanted to do it, though.

She needed to see Firebrand put away with her own eyes.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-WOMAN #99

STALKING CHARGES

Firebrand's trial lasted most of the morning, and most of that time consisted of Gwen and others reading their victim impact statements. A part of Gwen came to regret doing that, since Firebrand smirked all through their readings. When her turn came, she shuddered at the way Firebrand leered at her. It reminded her all too much of Supercharger, another one of her enemies who had a twisted crush on her as Spider-Woman. He'd gotten electrical superpowers to murder her critics, but when she expressed her disgust and horror at what he'd done he became just as eager to kill her too.

Once Gwen finished reading the statements her friends prepared, she left the witness box and returned to sit in the gallery. As she did, Firebrand stood up, pushing his lawyer away when he tried to stop him.

"I thought I recognized you," Firebrand said as Gwen passed by his desk. "Long time no see, Gwen," he continued, finishing in a crackling raspy voice.

"I have nothing to say to you," Gwen said without looking at him.

"Really?" Firebrand said, as Gwen turned to sit on one of the gallery benches. "Wondering what might have been between us? Or are you still the same cocktease you were in high school?"

Gwen's eyes flared with anger and she turned around, her fists cocked to attack Firebrand, before she forced herself to calm down.

"Maybe I missed the boat going after Liz Allan," Firebrand said, his leering smile growing even wider. "Is that why you're here? Are you jealous…or are you guilty?"

"Order!" the judge shouted, slamming his gavel to emphasize his point. The bailiffs quickly came up and forced Firebrand to sit back down, before Gwen sat down again.