Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 106: The Art Of War

Some of the people who looked at Philippe Bazin thought he looked like a philosophy professor, owing to his intellectual air, his calm, even voice and the thoughtful look in his eyes. Other people thought he looked more like the Devil, owing to his perfectly trimmed goatee, sharp tailored suits and his stoic, often cold demeanor. Both views were accurate in their own way, as Bazin was the intellectual leader of the most powerful crime syndicate in New York. He'd survived the wars that had toppled rivals such as the Kingpin, Silvermane, the Green Goblin and the Tomorrow Legion, and was known for finishing wars rather than starting them.

Bazin was not known for his reckless actions, but nothing else described his initiating a war with his rival crime boss Carl Wilkinson, alias Crimewave. He only realized how out of character he'd been acting when one of his lieutenants confronted him about it. When he finally considered what he'd been doing, Bazin realized something was seriously wrong and determined to find out what it was.

To do that, he'd visited physician Dr. Jonas Harrow. Harrow was known in the criminal profession for providing high-quality medical care for criminals, including supervillains, and their loved ones. Even the hardened criminals who employed him considered his fees extortionate, but they paid anyway. Dr. Harrow was second to none not only in conventional medicine, but also in detecting and treating psychic damage, magical curses, unusual science-related ailments, and other medical ailments that started appearing ever since the Fantastic Four's fateful space voyage.

Dr. Harrow subjected Bazin to a variety of tests, and now he was meeting with Bazin in his office to present his diagnosis. His short-cropped hair, beady eyes, coke-bottle eyeglasses, bushy moustache and unshaven stubble all made him somewhat unpleasant to look at, and Bazin wanted to get this meeting over with as soon as possible.

"You were right to come to me," Dr. Harrow said as he turned his computer monitor around to show Bazin. "There's a foreign entity in your body, one that's been connected to your nervous system."

Bazin was calm as he answered, but Dr. Harrow clearly saw the smouldering rage in his eyes.

"What is it doing?" he asked. "Has it had a negative impact on my health?"

"It's nothing harmful or fatal," Dr. Harrow said, "but damned if I know what exactly it does. You'd need to get someone like the Tinkerer or the Fixer to look at it-I'm not an engineer."

"Can you remove it?" Bazin asked. "Harmlessly?"

"Easily," Harrow said.

"Then do it," Bazin said.

Dr. Harrow dealt with some of the most dangerous people in America on a regular basis. He was hardened enough to rarely feel fear.

Despite that, he was very, very relieved not to be the object of the seething rage he felt emanating from Bazin.

SPIDER-WOMAN #106

THE ART OF WAR

Entry #4:

Pre-production on my masterpiece is nearly complete. My new accoutrements are well in progress, and the deuteragonist is growing rapidly. Malus reports she has the combined traits of both the star and the monster, and the Fixer reports that the educational devices she will need is fully operational.

All that I need now is to wait. Once everything is complete, Gwen Stacy's worst nightmare will come to pass.

She will regret ever being born, but she will be born again.

Through her new, truer self.

I can scarcely hold in my laughter long enough to put down my pen.

Once my laughter starts, it reaches new heights.