Six Months Ago

“We can’t do this anymore.”

Mary Jane Watson-Parker stood inside of the apartment she shared with her husband Peter, just staring out the window. Peter was behind her, wearing his Spider-Man costume, holding his red mask with the black webbing in his hands.

“MJ, what are you saying?” asked Peter, afraid to go near her. Here he was, one of New York City’s most powerful heroes, and he was afraid to touch his wife for fear of shattering her further. “If this about me giving up being Spider-Man-”

“We’ve already been down this road, Tiger, and it always leads back to the same place,” said Mary Jane, still not facing him. The cool winds of that October evening were blowing in, causing her long red hair to flow gently off of her shoulder. “You can’t give up being Spider-Man anymore than the Kingpin can give up Twinkies.”

Peter knew he had the perfect woman if she could casually joke about the people who were constantly trying to kill him. He stared down at the mask in his hands, holding it tight. “I have a responsibility to this city, but I also have a responsibility to you,” said Peter softly, slowly making his way towards her. “I love you, but I can’t just turn my back on the city.”

“I know,” said Mary Jane, trying to show bravery in the decision she was making. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Peter. You’re always trying to do the right thing, no matter how much it hurts.”

“I lose no matter what decision I make,” said Peter. “I give up being Spider-Man, lives could be lost. I give up on us, and… my life is lost.”

Mary Jane slowly turned to face him. She took her hands in his, letting his mask fall to the floor as she rested her head on his shoulder. Peter just held her, closing his eyes, never wanting to let her go. The police scanner next to the bed suddenly started reporting a shootout uptown, which was quickly turning into a police chase.

“Go,” whispered Mary Jane, silently wishing he wouldn’t.

She let go of him and watched Peter go towards with the window after picking up his mask.

“Will you be here when I get back?”

Peter didn’t hear her answer as he slipped his mask on and shot a line of webbing out of the window before swinging off to save lives that were being put in jeopardy by a high speed chase. By the time Peter had returned hours later, Mary Jane was already gone, her bags having been packed and taken with her.

LAST DANCE WITH MARY JANE

By Tobias Christopher

Six Months Later
An abandoned church just outside of L.A.

An altar that was covered in dust and cobwebs, with several old unlit candles surrounding it, sat undisturbed as the rest of the rundown church was being cleaned up. Soon, a man wearing a brown robe with his face hidden under the cloak walked up to the altar and looked at it.

“18 years we’ve waited,” the man said to no one in particular. “Soon, my master, you will rise again. We have found the boy after years of searching. This time, your return is assured.”

Across town

Mary Jane, holding a kitana blade in her hands, stood in the middle of a burning room, facing off against a man holding two deadly sai in his hands. The two circled around, each waiting for the other to make their move.

“You can’t win this battle,” the man said as he eyed Mary Jane, sizing her up. “Do you honestly think that you can stop my plans now?”

“I stopped your plans the minute I found the first child,” replied Mary Jane as the two finally clashed their weapons against each other. “You’ll never get them to come to your side, they know what’s right.”

The kitana blocked the man’s sai as she struck back, finally disarming the man. The sai fell from his hands, landing in the fire.

“What are you going to do now, kill me?” asked the man as Mary Jane held the kitana towards him.

Just as she was about to reply, a man was seen in the window behind them, eating a sandwich.

“Cut!” the director shouted as a bell rang. “The prop guy’s in the shot!”

Mary Jane lowered the prop sword, as she started laughing with her opponent.

“That’s the third time,” said Mary Jane as the two headed to the catering table while the set was remade for another shoot. “You’d think they’d learn to eat their lunch somewhere else.”

“I think that was our best take yet,” said Nick Hammond, a dashing actor in his late twenties. “I was almost convinced you were ready to take my head off.”

“If you flubbed your lines one more time, believe me, I would have,” said Mary Jane jokingly as she put some food on her plate. “I can’t believe we’re already into our second month of filming.”

“I can’t believe a beautiful girl like you is still alone,” replied Nick as Mary Jane looked down at her plate.

“I told you, me and my husband are just… separated,” replied Mary Jane as she headed toward her chair, which had her named on the back of it. “I’m still a married woman.”

“A married woman all alone in Hollywood,” said Nick as he sat down next to her. “I’m not suggesting we hop into bed together, I just… want to get to know you outside of work. It doesn’t even have to be a real date, just… two friends hanging out.”

Nick flashed her a charming smile, which the young actor had been known for. Hammond had been on the Hollywood scene since he was a young child, starring in the cheesy 80’s sitcom ‘Full House of 1000 Corpses’.

“Fine, one dinner,” said Mary Jane, giving into the man’s smile. “But that’s it, just two friends getting to know each other outside of work.”

“Has anyone seen Riley?” asked the director as he walked past. “Dammit, that kid’s never on time. We’re supposed to be shooting the fight scene between Billy and the Hitler clone this afternoon.”

“He’s probably in his dressing room,” replied Nick as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“He’s just shy, this is his first film, too,” said Mary Jane. “He’s not used to all of this attention.”

Riley Alexander had been mainly a star of commercials and small plays who had landed the role of Billy in the Micheal Bay produced ‘Family Circus’. Of the four children casted to star in the movie, Riley had been the least seen on the set, only showing up to film his scenes before heading back to his dressing room to avoid contact.

“Someone go see if he’s there, we’re ahead of schedule and I’d like to keep it that way,” said the man. “The faster we get this film done, the less time Micheal Bay has to interfere with the script. We’ve already lost twelve of our sets thanks to him wanting to add more explosions.”

Seventeen year old Riley Alexander sat in front of his mirror in the dressing room. He looked at his dyed blonde hair in the mirror, having had to change colors for the role. He missed his darker hair, but when this was over he could let it grow back.

“Just another few weeks,” Riley told himself as he looked into the mirror. “Then you’ll be free from all of this.”

A knock came at the door as Riley turned his head towards it.

“You’re needed on set,” the stage hand said.

“I’ll be right there,” replied Riley as he tried to focus so he could get into character. He stood up and took out his cell phone, calling his guardian who was supposed to be on set with him. “It’s Riley, where are you?”

{I’m in traffic, honey,} the woman said, lying as she stood in an office somewhere. {I’ll be there shortly.}

The woman hung up and looked at the man sitting behind the desk. “What if he tries to run?”

“He won’t run as long as he has his loving guardian with him,” replied the man sitting behind the desk, hidden in shadow. “I want him brought here as soon as possible. I don’t want to take any chances on losing Riley again. Not when we’re so close to the ceremony.”

That night, Nick had arrived at Mary Jane’s apartment complex to pick her up in his sports car. Having dressed in a formal suit, Nick’s jaw dropped when he saw Mary Jane walking out in a casual outfit. He was mainly surprised at how good she looked in something so non-formal.

“Where would you like to go?” asked Nick, hoping she’d pick one of the fancier restaraunts he was accustomed to. “Nothing is out of the question.”

“Well, there is a place that I hear serves the best chili dogs in town,” replied Mary Jane as she looked over at him. “That’s not out of the question for a big star like you, is it?”

Chili dogs? I’m dressed for restaurants where the food is higher than a mortgage payment, Nick thought to himself. He put on a fake smile and looked back at her “Just point me in the right direction.”

“I already got you another audition lined up,” said Riley’s guardian, an older woman in her 50’s, as they walked along the street. “How would you feel about playing Spider-Man? You’re already one of the top contenders, you just need to go in and audition.”

“I don’t want to do movies anymore,” replied Riley as he looked down at his sneakers. “I don’t want to commercials, or plays, or anything. I’ve got enough money saved up, so when I turn 18 in a few weeks… I’m moving to the country where I can be alone.”

“Are you crazy? You’re one of the most sought after child actors in Hollywood,” replied Helen as she looked at him. “Everyone’s asking to work with you based on the plays you’ve been in. Why, just this morning I got a call from Tom Cruise. He’s doing a ‘Color of Money’ remake with him in Paul Newman’s role, and he wants you to play the role he had in the original.”

“I don’t care, Helen,” replied Riley as he looked up at her. “I love acting, but it’s just not something I want to do for the rest of my life. It never was, I just did it so I could make money to get out of this town.”

As the two talked, a van was approaching with two masked men behind the wheel. Helen looked over her shoulder and realized that she wasn’t being trusted to bring Riley to where he was supposed to be.

“What do you say we discuss this over dinner?” asked Helen as she tried to get Riley to walk faster. “I know this nice little place that–”

“I’m not really hungry, I just want to go home and get some sleep,” replied Riley as he looked down. “In a few weeks, after this movie’s done filming I can finally get the hell out of L.A. and live a normal life.”

The young man looked up in just enough time to see two men in masks heading for him.

“Helen, run!” shouted Riley as he started running.

“You idiots, you’re ruining everything!” the woman said as the two men gave chase.

Mary Jane and Nick were sitting in a retro 50’s diner, sharing a meal together. Nick didn’t want to admit it, but he was actually having fun.

“You know, I thought I had you all figured out,” said Nick as he looked at his chili dog. “Here you are, this beautiful, elegant, up and coming actress. I thought you’d be into the Hollywood night life, going to parties, eating at fancy restaurants, wanting to hang out with all the major movie stars. I never figured you to be the type who’s just happy eating chili dogs and going to basketball games.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” replied Mary Jane as she took a sip of her soda. “Being a star’s always been my dream, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up the things I like for it.”

“Do you mind if I ask why you and husband separated?” asked Nick, unsure if he should be asking something so personal.

“Peter’s always been career focused,” said Mary Jane with a sigh. “He’s been working the same job since he was in high school, and for a while I was fine with it. We’d gotten married and were ready to start a whole new life together; we were even expecting a child. But we lost the baby due to complications, and although Peter was there, he just seemed to focus more on his job than on me after that. It’s like he didn’t want to face what had happened so he just buried himself in work. It got to the point where we both needed time apart, so I came out here.”

“I’m sorry to hear about you losing your child,” said Nick as he put a hand on Mary Jane’s to comfort her. “I can’t even begin to imagine what that kind of thing does to a person. So, have you talked to Peter since moving out here?”

“No,” replied Mary Jane. “We only seem to ever communicate through our aunts these days. I’m not even sure if Peter even watches the entertainment news to see if I’m doing anything.”

Nick could see in Mary Jane’s features that she still loved her husband, even though the guy sounded like he didn’t even care that his marriage was over. Smiling, he took a drink of his own soda before putting it down.

“Well, you’ve got a great future in this town, I can tell,” replied Nick as he thought for a second. “You know, they’re holding casting calls for the Spider-Man movie. I’m going to audition for the role, and maybe you’d like to try going in for Spidey’s love interest.”

“How are they making a Spider-Man movie? No one knows his secret identity,” said Mary Jane, laughing to herself at that comment.

“From what I hear, the writers are just making up a back-story for him,” replied Nick as he pulled out a piece of paper. “They’re looking for a male aged 16 – 30 with a strong build and is able to do a lot physical stunts. Once they cast that role, they’re going to work on the rest of the cast.”

The last thing I want to do is audition to play the role that I already had in real life, thought Mary Jane. “I’ll think about it.”

“Hey, isn’t that Riley?” asked Nick as he looked out the window and saw their co-star running past.

“Yeah, and those are guys with guns,” replied Mary Jane as she saw the guys in masks chasing him. “We have to help him.”

“Are you crazy?” asked Nick as Mary Jane stood up. “Those guys could be killers!”

“Which is why I’m going to help Riley,” replied Mary Jane as she looked at him. “Stay here if you want, but I’m not letting anyone hurt that kid.”

Running out of the diner, Mary Jane quickly followed after the men who were chasing Riley. Nick just sat there, wondering if he should help Mary Jane or let her do this on her own. Sighing to himself, Nick rushed after, hoping this wouldn’t with the headline ‘Three movie stars killed in violent shooting’.

Riley found himself cornered in an alley, with a large fence blocking him. There was no way to climb it as he looked back, seeing the two men enter the alley.

“Just come with us, kid, and you won’t get hurt,” the first man said. “Just make this easy on yourself.”

“I’ll make it easy on you,” said Mary Jane as she entered the alley behind them. “Leave my friend alone and you get to keep all your body parts.”

“Shoot this bitch!” shouted the first gunman.

“Oh, HELL no,” said Mary Jane with a raised eyebrow. She quickly held out her taser and shot the other man in the chest, shocking him until he hit the ground. Mary Jane Watson-Parker had faced down the likes of the Chameleon, Hydro-Man and other villains; and had been trained in self defense by Captain America himself. Two would-be gunmen didn’t scare her in the slightest bit.

The other man held up his gun, just in time for Mary Jane to kick it out of his hands, before doing another spin kick to his face, knocking the man back into the wall. She grabbed him by the collar and gave him a more menacing look than anything Wolverine ever had.

“Now, what did you call me?” asked Mary Jane as the man wet himself.

Nick arrived seconds later, followed by the police. Mary Jane had an arm around a crying Riley. The other gunman was on the ground, having been punched unconscious by Mary Jane.

“Let’s take Riley back to my place,” said Mary Jane as she walked the boy past Nick. Before he walked away, he looked back at the scene they were leaving with a nervous grin before he followed her back to his car.

Riley was asleep in Mary Jane’s bed as she closed the door, returning to the living room of her one bedroom apartment, but not before having gotten something out of her dresser. Nick was sitting on her couch, waiting.

“He has no idea why those men were after him,” said Mary Jane as she sat down on the couch next to Nick. “Who would want to kidnap a seventeen year old kid?”

“He’s pretty well known,” replied Nick as he looked over at her. “He’s had a small cult following since his first commercial, and his popularity grew with every play he did. It could be some obsessed fan.”

“Maybe,” said Mary Jane, unsure of what to make of the situation. “For right now I think its best that we keep a close on eye him.”

“Don’t you think that this is a matter for the police?” asked Nick with a raised eyebrow.

“If you’re right and it is an obsessed fan, the police wouldn’t be able to help,” answered Mary Jane, knowing from experience just how far some fans will go. “We’ll just watch over him until we know what’s going on. We’ve been working with Riley for two months. Him and the other kids…they’re like family.”

“And what about me?” asked Nick as he got closer. “Am I…like family?”

He was about to go in for a kiss when a loud pounding came at the door. It came crashing down and as three masked men came running. Two more came crashing through the window.

“Where’s the boy?” asked one of the men. Nick stood up and was about to point to the bedroom when Mary Jane looked at the men surrounding them.

“You want him? You have to go through us,” replied Mary Jane with an angered look in her eye.

“Excuse me?” asked Nick as he carefully eyed the open door.

One of the men came charging forward as Mary Jane grabbed him by the shirt before kneeing him roughly in the groin. She grabbed the back of his shirt and sent him flying into two others. Another man came rushing forward as Mary Jane did a roundhouse kick, sending him twirling to the ground. The last standing man grabbed her from behind as Nick stood back, unsure of what to do.

“What are you going to do now?” asked the thug holding his arm around Mary Jane’s throat. “You can’t kick me like this.”

“No, but I can do this,” replied Mary Jane as she held her wrist up. On it was one of Peter’s modified web slingers. Pressing her index fingers to the pressure point, a stream of mace shot out into the man’s eyes. He immediately let her go as she kicked him onto the glass table in the living room, shattering it.

The final two men stood up and came at her at once, but she held out her hands, shooting mace from her web slingers, blinding them both. She took advantage of the distraction to grab them both and ram their heads together, knocking them unconscious.

Nick looked around at the unconscious masked men lying all around. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m someone you don’t want to screw with when a friend’s in trouble,” replied Mary Jane as she went to check on Riley.

“And police are still questioning the attackers who broke into Mary Jane Watson-Parker’s apartment, as well as the ones who attacked young actor Riley Alexander. Both Watson-Parker and Alexander are both set to star in the Micheal Bay produced ‘Family Circus’, which is set for release this fall. In other news, casting is about to be underway for the Spider-Man movie–”

Aunt May turned off the news as she watched from her New York apartment. Part of her immediately wanted to call Peter and tell him what she’d just seen, but another part of her knew that Peter had enough worries in his life as it was.

“I want to stay with her,” Riley told his guardian. “Just for a while.”

“Riley, I’m your guardian, I should have some say in this-” Helen started to say as Riley stopped her.

“You adopted me from the orphanage, you helped me with my career, and you’ve taken care of me since I was twelve,” replied Riley as he looked at her. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done. But I feel safe with Mary Jane. I feel like if I’m around her, nothing bad can get me. Please, just let me do this.”

“Hey, Riley, we’re playing basketball in the back lot,” said Riley’s co-star, who was playing Jeffy. “Want to play before they need us on set?”

“Sure,” Riley said as he hugged Helen. “I’ll call you later, alright?”

Riley ran off as Helen dialed her cell phone.

“We have a problem.”

“This is unacceptable,” said the man as he sat behind his desk. “Each day we don’t have Riley, the less time we have to prepare.”

“We’ll get him, sir, that’s why you hired me, remember?”

“Yes, and you were right there,” replied the man angrily, “and you let that…woman intervene.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” said the man. “I want Riley brought here no less than 48 hours before the ceremony. If the woman intervenes again, we will kill her. And you. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Nick as he stood there. “The boy will be brought to you. Our master will be revived.”

To Be Continued… in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man!

The Following Preview Has Been Approved For All Audiences

20th Century Fox
Channel Surf Productions

Patrick Stewart voiceover:
There is an ancient prophecy that tells of four powerful children. They will decide the fate of mankind, for whichever side they fall on. The side of good… or the side of evil.

“Thel,” Sean Connery said as he sat at a desk. In front of him stood Thel [Mary Jane Watson-Parker]. He laid a file out in front of her. “You and Bill must find these children before the Fear United Council of Killing does.”

“What’s so special about these kids?” asked Thel.

A vicious gang surrounded Dolly (Chloe Moretz). The ground started shaking as several undead spirits rose from the ground and howled as they flew to defend her.

Billy (Riley Alexander) was making crudely drawn animated characters on his notepad as they started springing to life, to the horror of his classmates surrounding him.

Jeffy (Justin Bieber) held out his hand and fired several red dotted lines to fend off his attackers.

A young toddler (P.J.) was using superstrength to lift up a car while sucking on his pacifier.

“If the Council gets these children, the world could be thrown into peril,” said Connery.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Bill (Jared Padalecki) as he tossed Mary Jane a loaded assault rifle. “Let’s go pick up the kids.”

“The Council must have these children,” said Micheal Gambon as he marched down a long hallway in his headquarters. “We will control the world, and remake it in our own image.”

Nick Hammond, Ray Park, Jet Li, and Neil Patrick Harris suited up with their various guns and martial arts weapons.

“A war is coming,” said Connery.

“Can it wait until after naptime?” asked Billy as he held a sleeping P.J. in his arms.

A montage of scenes play out with Poison‘s ‘Nothin’ But A Good Time’ playing in the background; Thel and Nick clashing swords; Bill leaping through a lobby firing a semi-automatic at armed henchmen; Jeffy riding through the city on a red dot slide; Billy’s drawings coming to life to comfort a crying Dolly; Thel and Bill sharing a kiss; Dolly slapping Jeffy upside the head.

Several armed guards find themselves trapped in a room with P.J.

“It’s just a baby,” the guard laughed. “We can handle this.”

Cut to the guards being tossed through the walls, doors and glass windows.

Bill and Thel are walking away from an exploding building. Thel is holding a sleeping P.J. with the other kids walking behind them.

“I do love our family outings,” said Bill as he looked over at Thel.

THE FAMILY CIRCUS
A MICHEAL BAY PRODUCTION

Micheal Gambon was sitting in the middle of a burning building, looking up at Dolly.

“Who? Who destroyed my beautiful empire?”

Dolly tilted her head and smiled.

“Not me,” she said as several vengeful spirits flew at him.

The Family’s coming to dinner
THIS THANKSGIVING