Peter Parker was lying under a shady tree with his wife, Mary Jane, as they enjoyed a picnic in the park. It was a nice, sunny day in the spring as they laughed and remembered the good times they’d shared. It was like they’d forgotten all the terror and tragedy they’d been through over the course of the last few years as they enjoyed a single afternoon together.

“I’m sorry we lost so much time,” said Peter as he looked into his wife’s eyes. “I should have been a better husband. A better partner.”

“Peter, it’s not you,” replied Mary Jane as she touched his hand. “You’re living in two different worlds: yours and Spider-Man’s…but I can only live in one.”

“Then I’ll—” Peter started to say as Mary Jane stopped him.

“You can’t give up the other life, you’ve tried it before and it always comes back, no matter what you do,” said Mary Jane sadly. “I see that now.”

“But you’re supposed to be my entire world,” proclaimed Peter as he kissed her. “You’re supposed to be my reason for everything, not Spider-Man.”

Clouds started to form overhead, making everything darker. Peter looked up and saw the sky darkening just as rain started to fall. He looked back to Mary Jane, who had disappeared. He started to panic as he got up, just in time to be surrounded by virtually every foe he had ever faced, everyone from the Green Goblin to the Hypno Hustler to the burglar who had shot his Uncle Ben.

“You can’t escape us, Spider-Man,” said the Green Goblin as the group of villains converged on him. “You’re married to all of us!”

Just as they were about to strike, Peter sat up in his bed, seeing he was in his apartment. He looked over to see the alarm clock reading 1 a.m and he lay back down as he took a deep breath. “Married to the Green Goblin? That is a nightmare!”

WHERE’S A HOSTESS FRUIT PIE WHEN YOU NEED ONE?

By Tobias Christopher

The next day Peter was sitting in the employee lounge at the high school where he was teaching science. Flash was sitting across from him as Peter explained most of his newest nightmare, everything except the part about the supervillains attacking. Flash was one of the few people in Peter’s life that didn’t know he was Spider-Man, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“I’ve been having these dreams ever since Mary Jane left me,” said Peter as his spoon played around with the mashed potatoes that he’d gotten from the cafeteria. At least he assumed they were potatoes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” asked Flash as he ate what looked like meatloaf, although he doubted there was any meat in it. “Tried asking her to come back?

“I haven’t talked to her since…that night,” replied Peter with a sigh. “I always thought about calling her, but the one time I tried I got her voicemail. Besides, she’s making her dream come true now; she’s got a part in a blockbuster movie and will probably get more roles after that.”

“I hear that the Family Circus is already generating Oscar buzz,” said Flash, “but you should still try to talk to her. Maybe go out to L.A. and see her face to face.”

“I can’t afford a plane ticket,” said Peter as he stopped playing with his food.

“Dude, who needs a plane?” asked Flash with a smile. “Spring Break is next week. I say we find a car and take a cross country trip to L.A. Two buddies on the road, seeing America the old fashioned way!”

“I don’t know,” said Peter reluctantly. “It seems kind of—”

“Insane?” asked Flash. “Well, it is. That’s why we should do it!”

A.J. was laying in his hospital bed, feeling slightly better than he had been even with stitches in his side from where a water pipe had impaled him. As the young candystriper/nurse came in to give bring his lunch, A.J. sat up, still wincing from the pain his side was giving him. The nurse was only about two years older than her patient.

“I want to see my friend Billy,” said A.J. as he looked at the nurse. “I’m leaving this afternoon and I want to see him before I go.”

“Billy Connors?” asked the nurse. “They transported him to County General a few days ago.”

“Why?” asked A.J. nervously, wondering why he couldn’t stay there.

“They’re staff is more equipped to care for comatose patients than we are,” replied the nurse as she sat the tray in front of him.

“He’s going to wake up,” said A.J. in a confidant tone. “And when he does, he’s going to wonder where his friends and family are. I have to get out there to see him.”

“For now, focus on getting better,” the nurse told him. She’d been growing fond of the young man since he’d been awake, and wondered what the chances were of getting a date with him. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Yeah,” replied A.J. “Another chance to fix what I screwed up.”

“L.A.?” asked Aunt May as she pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

“I thought you’d be against something like that,” said Peter as he was offered a cookie.

“Why would I?” asked Aunt May as she put the cookies onto a plate. “Why, with Ben back, he could easily take care of your…nighttime activities if you asked him nicely. And Rhett’s such a good boy that I could always ask him over when Ben’s away playing with his friends.*”

(*See the Defenders, another fine Marvel Omega title – TC)

“So, this Rhett, how much do you know about him?” asked Peter. Both him and Ben had felt that something was off about this guy, which made the decision of Ben moving into Peter’s old room all the more easy.

“Rhett’s a college student at ESU,” replied the older woman. “He’s been fixing up the house next door.”

“Uh huh,” said Peter as he finished his cookie. It’s a good thing Ben’s going to be around. I want to know more about this guy and what his interest in Aunt May is.

“You want me to what?” asked Drew as he walked with Flash to the hospital. Today was the day Drew’s brother A.J. was being released, having been impaled on a water pipe nearly two weeks earlier*.

(Amazing Spider-Man *9 – TC)

“I want you to apartment sit for me while I’m out of town,” replied Flash. “It’s a lot closer to the hospital than your house is, and I figured you and A.J. could crash there.”

“That’s awfully nice of you, but—” said Drew as he tried to think of an excuse. The truth was, with his father having left them, they wouldn’t be able to stay in the house too much longer unless some real money started coming in to help pay the rent. “I need to talk it over with my brother first.”

After leaving Aunt May’s, Peter changed into costume in a nearby alley. Spider-Man soon emerged for his nightly rounds as he took swung through the neighborhood, headed toward the city.

As he swung past the houses, he felt a warm breeze suddenly hitting him which was almost strong enough to knock him off of his webline. When he heard the screaming of people running away, coupled with his spider-sense, he knew there was trouble not too far away.

“Run, you fools! Run from MAXINE POWER!” A woman in a blue pantsuit shouted. Her hair resembled a giant red afro, and In her hands was an oversized hair dryer. “No one is a match for my supersonic hair dryer!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Spider-Man as he swung toward her.

The villainess saw him and aimed her giant hair dryer at him, knocking the hero away. “Even insignificant insects will be blown away by my power!” Maxine Power shouted with a shrieking laugh. “Now to turn my supersonic hair dryer up to full blast and really heat things up!”

“Where’s a hostess fruit pie to distract the villain when I need it?” asked Spider-Man.

As Maxine Power got closer with her supersonic hair dryer, the Black Cat struck her from behind. “Wow, that’s the worst bad hair day I’ve ever seen?” said the Cat as the villain aimed her hair dryer. The Black Cat merely yawned as her bad luck powers caused the hair dryer to short out in the woman’s hands. Before she could run, Spider-Man trapped her in a net of webbing, leaving her for the police.

“Someone who takes on Venom regularly couldn’t handle… this?” asked Black Cat as she looked at Spider-Man with a smirk.

“I’m having an off day,” replied Spider-Man, before adding under his breath. “Yeah, that’s it.”

Night had fallen over the city as Spider-Man and Black Cat were in Central Park thwarting a gang that was terrorizing people who were passing through.

“You’re leaving town already?” asked Spider-Man as he tossed one of the gang members toward Black Cat.

She caught him and tossed him into a trash barrel. “I told you, I’m looking to find some kid my father produced behind my mother’s back,” replied Black Cat as she leaped over two of the gang members before sweep kicking to the ground. “I think I found a lead.”

“Yeah, well, I might be heading out, too,” said Spider-Man as he webbed the next two gang members to a park bench. “I’m thinking about going to L.A. to patch things up with…her.”

“L.A.?” asked Black Cat as she punched the last of the gang members to the ground. “That’s actually where I’m headed. Maybe we’ll share the same flight.”

“Hardly,” said Spider-Man as he heard the police sirens coming. The two costumed figures ran to get out of sight before the cops arrived. “I’m not even sure how I’m getting there. A plane ticket’s not within my budget. Flash said we should travel cross country, but we don’t even have a car.”

“I can get you a car,” replied Black Cat as they made it out of the park and onto a nearby rooftop.

“You mean steal a car?” asked Spider-Man as he looked at her.

“Who needs to steal a car? I get them for free from every company that pays for my security company’s services,” replied Black Cat as they started darting across the rooftops, looking for their next adventure. “The ones I don’t sell are just gathering dust in a storage space since I rarely drive.”

“And you’re just going to let us borrow one?” asked Spider-Man suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

“Honestly, are you ever going to trust me?” asked Black Cat.

Spider-Man just gave her a blank stare. “So, what’s the catch?”

“The catch, my dear Spider?” replied Black Cat innocently. “The catch is—”

“This is it,” said Drew as he opened the door to Flash’s apartment. He helped A.J. to the couch as they looked around. “This place is ours for the next two weeks!”

“And you’re honestly going to stay here and take care of me until I’m better?” asked A.J. as he lay back against the couch.

“Well, I do have to earn a paycheck for us to live off of,” said Drew as he looked out the window. “So I was thinking of getting a private nurse.”

“We can’t afford that,” said A.J., feeling his side hurting him.

“Well, it turns out the hospital has volunteers for these sort of things,” said Drew. He’d noticed the hot nurse who’d been eying his brother for the past week. “So I signed you up for one. She’ll be by later this afternoon.”

“Do I really need a nurse?” asked A.J. as he tried to sit up and winced.

“Until you can move without feeling like someone’s stabbing you,” replied Drew as he sat down in the chair next to the couch, turning on the television.

Flash laughed as he looked at the cherry red Mustang sitting in front of him. “No way in hell, Pete! No way in hell!”

Felicia was sitting in the driver’s seat as Peter stood outside of it, his packed bags in hand. Peter had been spending the last hour explaining to Flash that Felicia had offered them her car, as long as she could join them.

“Come on, Flash, it’s the only transportation we’ve got,” said Peter as he tossed his bag into the trunk. “Felicia’s paying for the hotel once we get to L.A. All we have to do is pay for the gas and meals along the way.”

“That’s the problem, Pete!” replied Flash reluctantly. “You do know she’s a career criminal, right? She’s stolen money, and jewels, and—”

“Your heart?”

“Not funny, Parker.”

“Look, girls, you can stand here and argue all day, but I’m headed to L.A. with or without you,” said Felicia as she looked up at the two men. “So, what’s it going to be?”

“Come on, Flash, this is our chance to get out of this city for a week,” pleaded Peter. “It might be my only chance to reconcile with Mary Jane. Don’t make me give you the puppy dog eyes.”

“You wouldn’t,” replied Flash as Peter made a sad face as his eyes got large. Peter had been using the same technique to get Flash to continue his A.A. meetings, attend Aunt May’s Canasta tournament, and attend a recent Spice Girls reunion concert. Flash caved after a few seconds and tossed his bag into the trunk. “You’re a bastard, Peter Parker.”

“You know you love me,” said Peter as he hopped into the front seat. Flash got into the back as Felicia rolled her eyes. She wondered if Peter was going to L.A. to reconcile with his wife, or telling MJ that he was leaving her for Flash.

“Alright, boys, next stop, L.A.!” said Felicia as she stepped on the gas and tore out of the parking lot.

What adventures will Peter Parker and friends find on the open road? Come back next issue to find out!