'Where could he be?' thought MJ as she walked out of the theater. She had finally gotten a role in another Broadway play, and she was excited. Peter told her that he would definitely show up, but now, the audition was over, and he still wasn't there. 'Unless Spiderman got in the way again.' She sighed. She knew that this was the way life was going to be. No matter what, Peter would always place his duty as Spiderman first. And although she loved Peter with all her heart, she just wished that Spiderman didn't get in the way so many times. She was about to walk away when she heard a familiar voice: "Hey, beautiful." She turned to see Peter walking towards her-he looked a little tired and his only suit was a little wrinkled, but the smile that she had come to love was still plastered onto his face. She grinned and placed her arms around him.

"Sorry I couldn't make it," he said as he embraced her, "but the Scorpion was robbing a store downtown." She was only wearing a pair of jeans and her tan coat was open to reveal an ordinary red T-shirt that matched the color of her hair, but to Peter, she looked drop-dead gorgeous.

"It's OK," she replied as she hugged back.

"So, did you get the part?" asked Peter as they let go.

She nodded.

"I knew you would!" beamed Peter as he looked into her twinkling eyes.

"The play's on this Saturday," she replied as they started walking down the street. Peter's arm gently lay on her waist while she snuggled beside him. "You're coming, right?"

"Of course," replied Peter, "I planned it all out: After the play, we could have a dinner at your favorite restaurant. Then we could go to my apartment and spend some time together-I rented some of your favorite videos-"

MJ laughed. It was amazing how Peter could make such a big deal out of something so small. It was just another role in another play. But then again, that was Peter: he had always made her feel special and important-even if she didn't feel that way about herself. It was one of the things that she had come to love about him.

"Tiger, it's just another play."

"No, it isn't: you're starring in it. Besides, I owe it to you."

MJ looked up at him and smiled again. "If you want to, but really, Peter don't kill yourself over this. You have a lot of other important things to do-"

"Nothing's more important than you, MJ."

MJ couldn't help it. She stopped in front of him and leaned toward him. She placed her hand on the back of his head and kissed him. Whenever and wherever they kissed, it was always breath-taking and exhilarating at the same time. It was exciting and terrifying. It made her feel warm all over, but at the same time, it sent chills up her spine. The world seemed to stop, and everything seemed so peaceful, so-And that was when Peter abruptly pulled back. He looked behind him and glanced around.

"Peter?" whispered MJ. She was worried-she didn't know what was going on. The blissful look on his face from a few seconds ago suddenly turned to a look of suspicion and caution.

"MJ, I have to go."

MJ was confused. What was going on?

"Peter-" she repeated.

"Something's wrong, MJ." That's when she knew that it had to do with Peter's alter ego: Spiderman. Peter looked back at her to see her head hanging down, and he knew that she was disappointed. After all, he hadn't been there for her when she needed him: he had missed her first acting gig, he hadn't seen her for almost two whole years, and now, he had missed her second audition. Peter was just so frustrated. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be there for her all the time because of his other life as Spiderman. But he just couldn't afford to risk it. He couldn't afford to not be Spiderman because New York needed him, and he owed it: he owed it to Uncle Ben. After all, it was because of him that Uncle Ben had died violently-and he just couldn't let another innocent person die when he knew that he could do something to prevent that from happening. He held her chin up and looked into her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.

"I'll make it up to you-I promise," he whispered. He was relieved to see a smile slowly creep onto her face as she nodded slightly. With that, MJ saw him run off in the opposite direction. She sighed and walked away with her head down and her hands tucked into her pockets.

'Great, just what I need,' thought Peter bitterly as he swung through the night sky of NYC. 'It's bad enough I'm putting MJ through this.' He flipped and crouched onto the edge of the roof top. 'Well-it seems like nothing's going on here-' Peter turned to hear the sound of loud alarms ringing from a nearby building.

'Me and my big mouth,' thought Peter as he released another web strand. He swung toward the scene of the crime. He finally landed on top of-'The American Museum of Natural History?' he thought, 'Unless someone's a science geek doing a research paper, I don't know why someone would want to even come here.' He saw a woman in a tight black costume run below him, and he spotted a large sack in her right hand.

'Ah-ha,' thought Peter as he swung after her. When he was right above her, he let go of the web strand and curled himself into a ball.

'Great,' thought Felicia Harding as she looked behind her, 'Got past the guards. Now, if I just don't run into-' She looked ahead and skidded to a stop as she saw a familiar man in red and blue.

"Spiderman," grunted Felicia.

"The one and only," replied the hero as he stood in front of her.

"Butt out," said the woman as she breezed past him. Before she could leave, though, he placed a firm grip on her left arm. Felicia turned around and stared at his hand. She narrowed her eyes and looked up at his white eyepieces.

"Miss, just-"

Before he could continue, she stuck out her fist and landed a hard roundhouse right on his chest. The impact sent him flying five feet.

'Ow,' thought Peter as he slowly got up. He saw her take out a black metal device. It released a cable, and it looked like she was about to escape, but Peter quickly pushed himself against the tree and jumped high into the air. The cable was about to pull the woman up, but Peter stuck his right foot out, and the metal device flew out of her hand.

'What the hell?' she thought as she saw the device fall a few feet in front of her. She turned to see the red and blue hero land a few feet to her right. She lifted her left hand and thrust it forward, but this time, Peter was ready, and he grabbed it. She let go of the bag in her right hand and thrust it at him, but he grabbed it again.

"I don't want to fight you," said Felicia angrily. In fact, she had admired Spiderman for his brave deeds-before this little incident.

"Yeah, that punch that sent me flying five feet gave me that impression," retorted Spiderman through clenched teeth. If Felicia could see under the hero's mask, she would have seen sweat pouring over the hero's head as he, too, struggled against the woman's attempts to break free.

"You don't understand."

"Understand what? What is there to understand? You're stealing-plain and simple."

"I don't have time for this." Even with Peter's spider sense, he couldn't avoid the kick that the woman sent toward his chest. It sent Peter soaring through the air until he hit a large old tree trunk with such force that the tree split in half. Felicia quickly snatched the bag, and with her other hand, she clutched the metal device.

"A word to the wise," said the woman as she glanced at the hero leaning against what remained of the trunk, "Don't mess with the Black Cat." She pushed a red button, which unleashed a steel hook hanging on a sturdy piece of wire. It wrapped around a branch, and she pushed off from the ground and soared through the air.