CHAPTER I

"UNLIKELY ENCOUNTER"

The last few weeks had been nothing short of depressing for the Enchantress known as Amora. The recent announcement of Thor's engagement to Jane Foster had thrown her world into complete and utter chaos. For over a millennia she'd fought hard to gain the son of Odin's love and affection, but alas every attempt she made had ended in complete failure.

She'd always been smitten with him, unfortunately for her though, he was as far too thickheaded. When the all-father fist called upon her for an assignment involving him, she saw that as a great opportunity to have him all to herself. The mission was simple, go to Midgard and eliminate Jane Foster, a woman whom Odin saw as a mere distraction to his favorite son. A chance to have the prince and wipe out her competition, she couldn't agree fast enough.

With her minion Skurge the Execution at her beck and call, the mission should've been no problem at all. He was infatuated with her and do whatever it was she asked of him. While he took care of Jane, she would find the prince in his human disguise and seduce him. That should've been it... but then things went wrong.

Skurge banished Jane Foster to another dimension, but then he betrayed her. All so he could finally have the prince's hammer all to himself. A hammer he couldn't even lift. How dare he! He returned Jane Foster to the mortal realm and as punishment for his treachery she was going to turn him into a tree, had it not be for Thor she would've succeeded entirely.

That left her alone to combat the son of Odin. She tried to turn his hammer into a deadly serpent, but alas her magic had no effect on it. But what of her beauty? Thor's will was stronger. She had failed and by Thor's awesome power, she and Skuge were banished form Midgard and sent back to Asgard. Odin was not pleased, in fact he was furious. His rage over his son's love of the mortal woman was too great. She and Skuge both were exiled from Asgard.

Since then she'd been an on and off again ally and antagonist to the Prince and his friends. They'd worked together when battling against the world-ender, Surtur, even if it was only for her own self-interests, and she'd even given aid to Asgard against the evil Egyptian god Seth's legions. Yet he still wouldn't look at her, and with Skurge gone she was now all alone.

She needed to clear her head, so she decided to take a trip through Midgard, or more specifically, New York City. Not wanting to be immediately noticed she donned a human disguise like the prince used to. She tied her long blonde hair up, and wore a plain white t-shirt under a sleeveless brown jacket, complete with a green skirt and matching high-heel boots. It was the most casual thing she could think of.

As she walked through the crowded city streets she still couldn't get the thought of Thor with that woman out of her mind. To think that she, a goddess, would be rebuffed in favor of an average mortal. That stung, it really did. Just what was she supposed to do now?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a bump to her arm. One of these annoying mortals had actually bumped into her. She detested mortals, not all of them, but a vast majority of them she couldn't stand. She was about to turn her most fiercest glare upon the poor fool who dared to touch her, but paused when he began to apologize for his mistake. She was still annoyed but at least he had the courtesy to apologize.

Upon closer inspection of the man she noticed he was much shorter than her and had a very familiar set of hazel eyes. Where had she seen those eyes before? She took in more of his appearance and saw he was much more toned than the average mortal and had a head of wavy brown hair. It took a moment, but then it all finally clicked in her mind. This man... "Peter Parker?"

The man himself quickly ceased his rapid fire apology and gazed at the mysterious woman who apparently knew his name. Did he know her? Looking at her now she was quite beautiful and staring at him with the greenest pair of eyes he'd ever scene. Something about her felt familiar, almost as if... he gasped. "I-It's you."

The Enchantress. Oh he remembered her quite well, the first time they met she used her powers of enchantment on him and made him her champion in a bid to take the Asgardian throne. Had it not been for Thor's timely intervention she would've succeeded entirely.

She giggled at his reaction. He was no longer the same teenaged boy she manipulated so long ago, he looked much more handsome and confident. "So you still recognize me, even with a disguise, impressive for a mortal."

Peter became tense. Was she here to try and manipulate him again? If so then she definitely chose a good time to try. Here was out of costume and out in the open.

Seeing his tenseness, the Asgardian deiced to put his mind at ease. "I'm not here for you if that's what you're worried about. Come, let us walk and talk."

Seeing no other choice than to accompany her, Peter agreed, though he was still pretty warry. "So, what brings you back to New York? I haven't seen you in... let's just say a while."

"I just felt like taking a walk was all." she answered, though that was only partially true. She just wanted to get away from everything and get lost for a while. Maybe plot some revenge on the side to try and fill the void in her heart. "What about you? Why aren't you swinging out and about?"

"Crime rates been pretty low as of late with all my baddies locked up on Striker's island. The most action I've had all week is the occasional mugger, and a cat stuck up a tree." he half-joked. He was surprised this also got a giggle out of the goddess. She actually had a nice laugh when she wasn't trying to use it to antagonize him or the Avengers.

"Sounds to me things are going pretty well for you." she commented, though her voice lost some of it's cheer. Had Amora been paying more attention she would've seen the affect her comment had on the hero.

"Honestly things haven't been all that great." Peter admitted. He didn't know why he was telling her that, but just felt as if he had to.

That confused the Enchantress. "What do you mean? You're enemies can no longer trouble you and common thugs aren't even a threat."

"Have you read the paper recently?" Peter questioned. A quirking of the blonde's eyebrow pretty much answered that question. "I guess not. Recently someone I... know got married."

That struck a cord with the woman. She'd been in Peter mind before and seen everything it had to offer. His sudden demeanor change could only be caused by one of two things. "I take it this person you know is that Mary-Jane woman."

Peter looked surprised for a moment before remember the Enchantress had entered his mind in the past. She knew who he was out of costume so it was only natural she knew who he was close to. That and she could've just read his thoughts if she forgot. "Yep."

"I remember seeing her inside your mind. You were quite taken with her, I dare say in love. What happened?" she asked curiously.

"A lot of things." the hero sighed. "In the end I had to push her away. Time and time again my life, my world, nearly got her killed. Despite that we still tried to make it work. On and off we went until finally something had to give. I broke things off, no matter how much I still loved her I kept her at arms length. Eventually she found someone else like I knew she would, but..."

"It still hurt to see her in the arms of another man." Amora finished for him. It would appear the two had something in common. "I know how that feels. I recently discovered that Thor and the Foster woman are engaged to be wed."

Peter's eyes widened at what the Enchantress's just revealed. He knew Thor and Jane were engaged, so he and the rest of the Avengers threw a party to celebrate the news. It had been a good time and helped him to take his mind off his own love life for a while. It was only now that he remembered that the Enchantress was very enamored with Thor. For over a millennia she tried and failed to conquer the heart of the son of Odin. The news must've been devastating to her.

He felt warry again. "You're not going to try anything are you?"

"Honestly? I don't know." she said truthfully. Her heart was broken and she didn't know what to do. Revenge would make her feel better, but only for so long. After that, then what? Her heart would still ache. "My chest hurts every time I think of them together, and all I can do is stand aside and watch as the two of them lock eyes and profess their love. I hate this feeling. I hate her for taking my place! I hate both of them!"

The young hero began to grow worried as the woman next him went from depressed to enraged in the span of no time at all. She was clenching and unclenching her fists in a way that made him nervous. He needed to find a way to calm her down before someone got hurt.

"Think Parker." he mentally scolded himself. There had to be something he could do before the goddess did something dangerous. His eyes frantically scanned the streets until his eyes settled on something that gave him a good idea. "Hey? Why don't I help you take your mind off things. I know a place that makes a great pizza."

Amora's rage seemed to fizzle somewhat at Peter's words, but didn't exactly fade. She was curious though about what he was offering her. "What is this pizza that you speak of?"

His eyes seemed to almost pop out of their sockets. "You've never heard of pizza?" he asked in complete disbelief. Who had never heard of pizza? It was a world famous dish.

Enchantress tilted her head. "No. Is it some sort of weapon?"

Peter chuckled a bit before shaking his head. "No, it's nothing like that. Follow me."

She humored the mortal and indeed follow him. As they drew closer to their destination, a delightful smell caught her attention. It wasn't like anything back in Asgard and certainly like nothing found in the land of the frost giants. "What is aroma?"

"That my dear Enchantress, is the smell of pizza." Peter replied before arriving in front of Joe's pizza. The first thing the enchantress noticed about the small building were the pictures in the window. Round circles decorated with meat and cheese that were labeled as pizza's. So these were what was giving off that mouth-watering scent. She was feeling quite eager now. Peter held the door open for her as the bell rang and she was again hit with a blast of hot and ready pies, only this time much stronger. "Welcome to Joe's pizza. Ladies first."

She could only smile at the hero as she entered the establishment. "Such a gentleman."

Peter's own smiled widened. "It's how I was raised to be."

TO BE CONTINUED...