Severing Ties

Summary: Things are looking up for Peter. It had been a few months since Doctor Octavius passed away, and Peter was getting his life on track except for a few things that wouldn't let him be. That's all about to change as someone, somewhere, needs Peter, and he's going to be in for a wild ride.

Chapter 3: Not His Lucky Week

He looked at the large clock tower. And cursed when he saw the time. MJ's fundraiser! he thought. He ran home, put on his suit, and raced to the building where it was being held.

"Who are you?" said a man who looked to be filling the role of 'bouncer.'

"Peter Parker, I'm the escort of Mary Jane Watson," he explained.

"If you were her escort, why didn't you escort her in at three o'clock?" the bouncer inquired dangerously. Men who stood up their girlfriends disgusted him.

"I got carried away in something." You can say that, again, Peter thought to himself.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you in."

Peter let a rush of breath in aggravation. Why'd he always have to get the anal custodians? First that usher, now this bouncer. He shook his head. "Would you please let me in? That's my fiancé in there," he said desperately.

"All the more incentive for me to keep you out. How dare you be late for an event such as this? And leave your fiancé to herself?"

"I'm only a little late!"

"You happen to be two hours late, Mr. Parker. Everything's almost finished. If you'd like, I'll let you stay out here until Miss Watson leaves, then you can escort her home," You little dirtbag, was written on the bouncer's face, even though he didn't say it.

Peter sat down on the steps to a next door apartment building. He put his head in his hands as he tried to think of a way to get out of this one. After awhile, the doors opened, and people poured out.

"Miss Watson, your escort," Boy, this guy's not going to let me live that word down, is he? Peter thought. "got here at five ten. Under the rules and regulations of the property, I was not permitted to let him inside. He's waiting for you," the bouncer informed Mary Jane, while pointing at him.

"Hey, beautiful," Peter greeted sadly.

"Don't 'Hey, beautiful' me, Peter Parker. Where were you?" MJ asked as he stood up.

"Protecting your city." Peter left out the tutoring part. He'd tell her about that when she cooled off.

"For a whole two hours, Pete? I don't believe it," she snapped.

"So I had a prior engagement. It was an accident. Time flew by. Then that bouncer guy wouldn't let me in—"

"A prior engagement? A prior engagement? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Or did it slip your mind?"

"I—"

"No. I'm tired of your excuses. I understand you would be a little late in case something came up. But a whole two hours, Peter! For crying out loud, I looked like a fool in there! I was going to announce our engagement, but how stupid would that look if my fiancé wasn't even there!"

"I'm sorry. I told you this would be difficult," he reminded.

"Your…thing isn't difficult. It's everything else. I can't trust you to be somewhere, even if I give you a half hour time frame. It's like we're going nowhere, Pete," Mary Jane admitted.

"Aw, come on, now. You can't think that. We're getting married, MJ! We're moving in together in a couple weeks. You can't tell me you feel like we're going nowhere."

"I don't feel like it. I know it. I can't do this." MJ shook her head and her lip quivered. "I just can't do this." She looked as though she were about to cry, and she walked away from him.

"Mary Jane!" he called to her, but she didn't turn around. He could hear her sobbing, but knew she didn't want him to comfort her. He shook his head as the bouncer gave him a look that said, quite plainly, You deserved that, you slimeball.

Peter heard the sirens. He ran towards them, which was the opposite way MJ went. He knew his duty, but he was so sorry that he couldn't be there every time MJ needed him to be. He changed into Spider-Man.

He followed them to a jewelry store. Hello, Black Cat. I knew you were too silent for too long, he thought as he saw the feline woman slink into the store. "Hold it, Barbie," he called out.

She let out a snarl. "You, again?" She whipped out a chord that almost hit Spider-Man, but he dodged it right away.

"Yes, me, again. Do you figure that since your outfit doesn't really cover your chest, you could cover it with jewelry? Because if that's your motive, go right ahead and take all the gems you need, hun." He got in a good right hook and grabbed her bag from her hand.

"I'll show you gems," Black Cat growled, and kicked Spider-Man in the supposedly off-limits zone.

He would have laughed if that didn't hurt. He took a deep breath before going after her again. Ow. He used his webbing to wrap her up, but found he kept missing. Finally, he thought enough was enough and he kneed her in the stomach. They fell in a wrestling heap, and Spider-Man was able to web her hands and legs together. She was bound when he stood up.

"Going to have your way with me, now?" Black Cat asked slyly.

"My way with you? The only way you're going is to the big house, hun," Spider-Man answered, thankful she couldn't see his blushing face. The cops showed up and took her away. And Spider-Man sighed in relief. Then his spider-sense went off, again. He followed it.

Gang war, he thought, just what I need. He crawled up the building nearest. Before they could start shooting again, he shot webbing and grabbed all the guns. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play with firearms?" he quipped. And spun out of the way when a shot was fired at him from a gun he didn't get. His reaction was slow, and the bullet nicked his shoulder. "Guess not." He jumped down and knocked the gun out of the guy's reach. They battled in hand-to-hand combat for awhile, before Spider-Man realized that this wasn't going anywhere. He web-swung out of the way as two guys ran into each other, and started wrapping them up all in webbing. He tied them in a line across the street. "Let's hope the cops find you before someone decides to barrel over you." With that, he left for home, unaware of the blood he was loosing.

When he got home, he noticed he was getting dizzy. He felt immense pain in his shoulder. He went to his sink and started cleaning the wound. Peter knew he was going to feel that for the next few days. During the week, Peter felt like he was loosing strength. The wound on his shoulder wasn't getting any better, and his reaction time was getting longer. He noticed he was getting hit more, and his hits weren't causing as much damage. It just isn't my lucky week, he told himself.

(A/N: Yes...My reviewers have proved they're nice. Isn't it time you did, too? [note: you prove you are so by reviewing!!! XD]

Darth Zelda: Yeah, Jackie is a pretty awkward (for lack of a better word) person. Glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing, again.

Charms41: Umm....If you think they're alike, that's okay with me. They weren't meant to be. You'll see they're really different a bit later. Thanks for reviewing!

DiabloDude1: Of course you're nice. You reviewed! XD. Thanks bunches. Rambling is perfectly fine with me. It's entertaining to read it. :-) Here's more, and thanks for leaving a review!

laurajslr: It's going somewhere you'd never expect, I can promise you that. :-) Thanks for reviewing!!!!)