[CENTER][h1][color=b22222][b]The Amazing Spider-Man[/b][/color][/h1][b]Peter Benjamin Parker[/b]  |  [b]Mary Jane Watson-Parker[/b][hr][sup][color=b22222][b]"Her slender fingers gathered to her sides
as long thin legs; and all her other parts
were fast absorbed in her abdomen—whence
she vented a fine thread;—and ever since,
Arachne, as a spider, weaves her web." 
~Ovid's [i]Metamorphoses[/i] 6.143-5[/b][/color][/sup][/center]	
	It was a brisk night on top of the roof of the Daily Bugle building. A man wearing a trench coat stood next to the giant letter sign that crowned the headquarters of the multimedia giant. Everyone couple minutes, the man peered down at his watch. If that was not a dead giveaway, then his pacing showed that he was waiting to meet someone on the roof. And obviously, that person whom he had scheduled to meet was running a little late.

	The man walked over to the edge of the roof and gazed at the street and buildings located below. While waiting, he saw a figure decked in a red and blue suit swinging on some sort of ropes from skyscraper to skyscraper. And this figure was approaching towards the Daily Bugle building. With each swing, he came closer and closer. Finally, with one last swing, the colorfully dressed man landed on the roof right next to the man who had been waiting on the roof.

	[color=b22222]“Ben Urich.”[/color] The costumed man addressed the other man.

	“Spider-Man.” Ben Urich said in response, “I suppose you’re here for some leads on the foiled robbery attempt at the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts.”

	[color=b22222]“Wow, Urich. You read my mind.”[/color] Spider-Man joked, [color=b22222]“If I didn’t know better, I might have suspected that you might have telepathy.”[/color]

	“Alas, I do not.” Ben Urich told Spider-Man, “That would, however, make my job way easier.”

	[color=b22222]“So, what can you tell me about those robbers?”[/color]

	“As of right now, I don’t have anything concrete. But I can say that there’s a rumor floating around that the Bialyans were behind it, even though their government adamantly denies any involvement.”

	[color=b22222]“But why would the Bialyans want those Egyptian artifacts? Bialya isn’t even near Egypt.[/color]

	“Well, the territory of modern-day Bialya was inside of the borders of the New Kingdom of Egypt at its peak. Recently, the Queen of Bialya has been canvasing that some of the Egyptian artifacts that are located in museums around the world to be returned to her country for safe keeping.”

	[color=b22222]“Keep me posted if you get any updates about the situation, Urich.”[/color]  Spider-Man then leaped off the building, swinging back the same way from which he had first came. 

[hr]

	Spider-Man landed on the roof of his apartment. Although it would be easier to enter his home through one of the windows, at the same time, it was also riskier, since someone might spot him going inside. Instead, Peter would open up the bathroom skylight and jump down into his apartment. With his spiderlike reflexes, he could perform this feat without making anyone on the floors below suspicious because he would not make a ruckus when he landed.

	This time, Peter noticed that the skylight was fogged up. Even when he opened the window, not only could he see the steam rise up into the night air, but he call also feel the high rush out of it. When he hopped through the open when and landed on the bathroom floor, he found his wife brushing her teeth. MJ had a towel wrapped around her wet hair. She had recently changed into her pajamas after she had gotten out of the shower.

	[color=b22222]“Hi, honey! I hope you left me some hot water.”[/color]

	“If you had gotten home a few minutes sooner, we could have shared the hot water.” MJ teased her husband with a coy smile.

	[color=b22222]“I really don't think 'solo vigilante' and 'on-time' quite go together.”[/color]

	“I bet I could make those skin-tight spandex look fashionable on myself, and still be able to prompt.” MJ joked, since she knew that sometimes some of Peter's superheroics took longer than he might have expected them to have gone.

	[color=b22222]“I can see Jameson's headline right now.”[/color] Peter pulled his wife into an embrace. [color=b22222]"Spider-Woman: Our Newest Hero and A Role Model for Our Daughters."[/color]

	"Isn't there already a Spider-Woman?" MJ asked. "Although I have to admit that he would say that just to spite you."

	[color=b22222]"Um...I'm not sure. I wouldn't be surprised that someone had taken up my gimmick. But I bet you would be the best one. You've already taken out the Chameleon once, and that was without powers! True potential there."[/color]

	“Well, on that note, I’ll leave you to your nice cold shower.” MJ winked at Peter as she exited the bathroom.

	Peter immediately pulled off the long-sleeved shirt portion of his Spider-Man costume. Thank goodness he had a couple spares of his costume. Otherwise he would be constantly throwing his threads into the washer. No one likes a smelly superhero. Sure, it might distract the villains, but no superhero league would ever be making a call to his number with that type of hygiene. He turned the knob on the shower and held his hand under the water. Yep. It definitely will be a cold shower.

	Suddenly, he heard a scream come from their bedroom. He knew that voice. It was no doubt MJ’s. Peter instinctively rushed out of the bathroom and into their bedroom, even though he still had half of his Spider-Man threads on. It is a hero’s greatest fear that somebody in their rogues’ gallery had found out their secret identity and was now breaking into their home and possibly threatening his or her loved ones. And Peter was relieved when he discovered that some masked maniac had not broken into his house. He only found MJ in their bedroom.  She was crouching behind the far side of their bed.

	“Peter.” MJ’s voice wavered because she did not know how he would react to what had just happened. “Don’t freak out.”

	[color=b22222]“What’s wrong?”[/color]

	When Mary Jane crawled out from behind the bed, she revealed to her husband what had happened. Her upper body, all the way down to her waist, was now attached to the body of a giant spider. Her waist had been fused into the cephalothorax. Eight legs now supported her up, while an arachnid abdomen followed behind her. And on her ring finger, where her wedding ring had been, now rested the ancient Egyptian ring that the robbers had tried to steal. A scarab symbol engraved into the ring gave off a dim glow and it eventually faded away until it gave off no more light.