Disclaimer: Sorry, forgot to add this little thing in the first chapter. I don't any of the characters, except for the characters that my brother made up-that belongs to him. OK, continue.

'What a headache,' thought Peter as he slowly walked inside the building of the Daily Bugle. The force of the kick from last night still made his ears ring, and his backache. After that encounter with the "Black Cat" last night, he had swung into his apartment and called MJ. He knew he had just met this Black Cat character, but ever since MJ's near death experiences, he called her just to make sure she was safe. Then he called Aunt May for the same reason. Not only that, but he stood up late (again) writing his paper on the curves of quickest descent for Dr. Connors. Peter had handed in all of his papers days late, and he knew that he needed to hand this one in on time if he wanted to pull his grade up. But because of that, he got to class late. Fortunately, he didn't miss class-like many times before-but he was still a whole 50 minutes late, and the class was going to be over in 10. Even handing in his paper on time didn't erase the grim expression on his professor's face. Now, to make matters worse, he had a huge headache, he was heading for another day at the Bugle with Jonah, and he didn't bring an umbrella-which meant he was getting soaked right now as the rain poured down. 'This is gonna be another long day.'

Peter sighed and walked toward the desk of one of his best friends at the Bugle: Betty Brant. Her short, black hair hung around her moon-shaped face. She was wearing a white blouse with a simple black skirt.

"Hi, Betty," said Peter with a slight smile.

"Hey, Pete," she said as she looked up and smiled widely. She noticed Peter looked really horrible-he had dark circles under his eyes, and his usual upbeat attitude seemed to be nonexistent. His navy blue long-sleeved shirt and loose-fitting jeans had some stains, and he was soaked to the skin. "Are you feeling OK?"

"Yeah," said Peter, "Nothing a little Advil can't cure."

"So, who did Spidey face off yesterday?" asked Betty as she stopped typing and looked up at Peter's confused face.

"He just had an encounter with the Scorpion."

"The Scorpion, huh?" asked Betty as she leaned against her chair. "The police think that he's working for the Kingpin."

"The Kingpin?" asked Peter with a quizzical look.

"The most powerful crime lord in NYC," said Robbie Robertson as he walked toward them. Robbie Robertson was another of Peter's best friends at the Bugle. He was slightly chubby, but what he didn't have in looks, he made up in personality. He was really considerate of others and very supportive of Spiderman.

"He hires other people to do his dirty work for him. I'm surprised you haven't heard of him," said Robbie as he folded his arms across his chest. "Have you been living under a rock, Peter?"

"I've just been...really busy lately."

"There's that same excuse again. God, Peter, what do you do all the time? Swing around the city like Spiderman?" asked Betty as she rolled her eyes.

Peter had to smile at that comment. "No, but..."

"Anyway," interrupted Betty, "Remember the Rhino?" Peter nodded. How could I forget? thought Peter grimly-remembering the stitches on his chest that he had acquired after the battle two weeks ago. "Well, he's one of them. They think that the Scorpion was working for the Kingpin too."

"Don't forget the Sandman," added Robbie, "Remember that attack on Spidey at the gas station a year ago? That was a pretty rough one."

"Wow...I really have been living under a rock. All of those guys were working for this Kingpin?" asked Peter. Robbie nodded.

"The police got a confession out of the Rhino two days ago, but he still won't admit who the Kingpin is. They didn't get one from the Scorpion because they just got him, and you know what happened with the Sandman."

Peter slightly nodded. He remembered how close to death he was during that battle a year ago. He was lying face down on the floor, blood was in his mouth, there were cuts on his chest, arms, and legs, and fire surrounded him everywhere. He remembered that the battle had occurred right before a huge thunderstorm. The Sandman was so bent on destroying him that he failed to notice that there was a cable ahead of him. Peter recalled screaming at him to stop, but he wasn't listening. He stepped on it, and what made it worse was that a lightning bolt hit him at the same time. The heat from both was enough to turn him into a glass statue. Peter had never felt such a feeling of helplessness and despair since the day the Green Goblin died-what made it worse was that he couldn't tell anyone about the incident at the time because MJ didn't know his secret. And finally, of course, to make the misery complete, Jonah came up with another article claiming that Spiderman was somehow supporting the Sandman.

"Well, it doesn't matter who the Kingpin is," interrupted Robbie as Peter snapped out of his memory, "because the authorities won't look for him. They're too afraid, and honestly, who can blame them? If you tried to threaten the Kingpin, he'd send his minions out to hunt you down, and trust me-it wouldn't take long. It's like the Molintinas, you know? Everyone knew they were part of the Italian mafia and people knew what they were doing, but the police didn't get them until they were at they're weakest. That's the same thing they'll do with the Kingpin. By that time, though, someone else will replace him, and the cycle will start over again."

Peter nodded-even though he wasn't listening. Instead, he was deep in thought. Could there be a connection between the Kingpin and the Black Cat? She did say that she 'didn't want to fight me...' "

Suddenly, they all heard a loud shout.

"PARKER!"

"Oh great," he muttered as his lips turned into a small scowl.

"Good luck," whispered Betty with a wink.

"You need it," said Robbie.

"Thanks," replied Peter as he strolled past them and walked into Jonah's office.

"Where are the pics?" asked Jameson gruffly as Peter sat down on a chair across from him. Jonah lit another thick cigar and blew the smoke into the air. Peter had gotten used to the smell by now. Peter noticed, though, that the usual alertness and stubbornness in the journalist seemed to be replaced by fatigue. He realized that MJ's quick decision must have caused some bitterness and turmoil in the Jameson household. For a second, Peter felt slightly sorry for Jameson-just for a second, though.

"Well?!? I don't have all day, Parker!" he barked.

Peter quickly handed JJ pics of his recent encounter with the Scorpion.

"This is all crap. What did you do? Pose for them?" asked Jameson as he angrily placed the pics on his desk.

'Actually,' thought Peter, 'I do that everyday.' Instead, Peter just kept his lips shut as he heard Jameson drone on.

"I'll give you $50."

"$50?!?" exclaimed Peter. Even for Jameson, that was way too low. "Mr. Jameson, that's-"

"All you've given me lately is crap these days, Parker. All these pics of ordinary robbers and bank heists-"

"Mr. Jameson, the Scorpion isn't an ordinary robber. He is a little-"

"He's not as bad as Dr. Octopus or that Green Goblin freak. Whatever happened to those guys?"

"Mr. Jameson, Dr. Octopus is under arrest right now, and the Green Goblin disappeared-"

"Not only are these pics crap, but they look they've been shot from the same place. You can't do that. An expert photographer is supposed to take pics from different angles."

"But, Mr. Jameson-"

"No buts," said Jameson angrily as he quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled on the voucher. "Here you go. Now scram."

Peter wasn't going to back down so easily. "Mr. Jameson, I'm getting married in two months. Couldn't you-"

"Aw," said Jameson bitterly, "would the young groom like a little flowers to go with his pay check?" Peter noted that Jameson's tone was a lot harsher than normal. 'If that's even possible,' thought Peter.

"Mr. Jameson, please, could I at least have $250?"

"I don't have time for this Parker. Besides, you'll get paid again this week. My son's coming to the Planetarium again on Sunday."

"But Mr. Jameson-"

"Fine. I'll give you $150 for your nagging-Now leave before I lower it by half." Jameson grabbed the voucher out of Peter's hands, quickly scribbled on it, and handed the slip of paper back. Then he waved at Peter to tell him that he was dismissed while he grabbed the phone with the other hand.

Peter angrily stormed out of the office with his voucher in hand. 'At this rate, I'm going to marry MJ by the age of 50,' he thought bitterly as he walked toward Betty's desk. Robbie looked up at Peter and saw his dismayed expression.

Betty looked at the voucher and whistled slightly. "Wow, Jameson must have been tough on you today."

"Yeah," replied Peter bitterly.

"Don't worry, Pete. Jameson's had a couple of bad months ever since his son's wedding," said Robbie as he patted Peter on the back. That's when Peter remembered the comment that Jameson had made: "Aw, would the young groom like a little flowers to go with his pay check?" Peter groaned: Jameson knew who his fiancée was. He was going to avoid telling him, but it apparently leaked out.

"What's wrong?" asked Betty as she turned to see Peter cover his face with his hand.

"Remember my engagement?" Betty and Robbie nodded.

"Well...I didn't tell anyone who my fiancée was..."

Betty's jaw dropped. Robbie looked at Peter with surprise.

"Don't tell me it's-"

Peter slowly nodded before Robbie finished his question.

"God, Peter," said Betty-shock written all over her face.

"But, it's not like I forced her into it...She-"

"No, no, I know you wouldn't do anything like that. But I just feel bad because Jameson's gonna give you a hell of a time," said Betty.

"Yeah..." replied Peter with dread. He didn't notice Betty and Robbie exchange quick smiles at each other. Betty handed Peter his check. Peter looked at it and started to hand it back to Betty.

"Uh, Betty-I don't know if you didn't notice, but the check says $1500. Jameson would never give me that much."

Betty put a finger to her lips and smiled as her eyes tinkled mischievously.

"It's our way of saying congrats to you, Pete. We're glad that you've finally met the right girl," replied Robbie.

Peter shook his head. As much as he wanted it-as much as he needed it-he just couldn't accept it. He tried handing it back to Betty, who placed her hands in front of the check. He did the same with Robbie, who crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Don't worry. I've done it several times-he won't notice," said Betty.

Peter shook his head. "No, I really don't-I mean-"

"Peter," said Betty firmly, "You either take it, or I'm going to do a little shopping this weekend, and the first thing on my 'to-buy' list is a stick to beat you with if you try to hand that check back one more time." Peter smiled.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Robbie said, "Oh, and Peter-"

He turned to see Robbie hand him an umbrella. "You might need that."

"Thanks again," said Peter as he grabbed the umbrella and headed out. And although he knew he shouldn't be celebrating after meeting the Black Cat, he couldn't help but feel a little more optimistic as he walked out of the headquarters of the Daily Bugle.