Vibes

Riding a taxi to the airport, Peter Parker tells Mary Jane about how there might be a scientific basis for “vibes”, pointing out various ways that animals in nature seemingly follow “vibes” to perform various tasks. When they arrive at JFK Interionatal Airport, Mary Jane finally gets Peter to stop talking, saying that they have to say their goodbyes at the departures drop-off zone since Peter won’t be able to join her at the gate. Peter really doesn’t want her to go, but Mary Jane needs to head back to Los Angeles because she was offered a big-time gig. Peter’s afraid to let her go given what happened last time she left, but Mary Jane assures Peter that she’ll be back this time and says “see ya, tiger.” as she leaves to catch her flight.[1]

Later that day, Peter decides to try and get his mind off things by burying himself in his work as Spider-Man. However, he can’t stop thinking about how Mary Jane’s audition is going. At that moment in Beverly Hills, Mary Jane arrives at Baramount Pictures. However, when she announces that she is there to see John Parson for the role in the film, the secretary tells her to hold on a moment and runs into the next office.[2] she overhears the secretary argue with the new director about how John was fired and nobody told Mary Jane that her role was given to another actress. As the two argue over who should break the news to her, Mary Jane decides to leave when she hears the new director say he doesn’t want to work with some “bimbo” supermodel with delusions of grandeur.

Back in New York, Spider-Man tries to pass the time before he can call Mary Jane to find out how the audition went but it proves to be a quiet night. He ends up finding two police officers on a stakeout and when he learns they are trying to nab a bicycle thief, Spider-Man decides to stick around and help since he has nothing better to do. Back in California, Mary Jane walks along the pier thinking about what just happened. She can’t believe that the studio fired John Parson without telling her or her agent and hearing how she is viewed by others hurts bad enough she doesn’t know how to tell Peter what happened. At that moment, in New York, Spider-Man checks the time and goes off to call Mary Jane where the cops can’t hear him. He gets the voice mail and leaves her a message. After he is done, his spider-sense goes off so loudly it hurts alerting him of a kid down on the street. Hearing Spider-Man’s scream, the kid reaches into his coat as though he is carrying a gun. Since the boy can’t be older than 12, Spider-Man decides to keep a closer eye on him. Sure enough, this turns out to be the bike thief and when he begins trying to cut the chains on the bikes left out by the cops, he takes his gun out of his pocket and places it on the sidewalk.

That’s when the cops spot the boy and come rushing out of their car to arrest the boy. The boy grabs his gun, but thankfully Spider-Man fires a web-line at the gun and yanks the boy out of the line of fire before someone gets hurt. Spider-Man lets the boy make a run for it, warning the cops to let him handle it before they make things worse. Spider-Man chases the boy down and finds him on a nearby rooftop trying to pull the webbing off his gun. Instead of attacking the boy, Spider-Man calmly approaches him and tries talking. Sure enough, the boy is just scared of getting into trouble and is willing to talk. Learning that the gun belongs to the boy’s father, Spider-Man agrees that his father will be angry when he finds out, but it’ll be better than finding out his son was killed in a shootout with the police over some bicycles. He learns that the boy decided to rob bikes because the kids at school make fun of him for being a nobody and this was his way of proving them wrong. Spider-Man can relate to how the boy feels and points out that what he’s been doing could land him in a lot of trouble and would only prove his bullies right. That he doesn’t need a gone to prove that he’s a bigger person and to do that he needs to stand on his own two feet and never let his detractors doubt him.

Back in California, Mary Jane returns to her hotel and orders a drink from the bar. The bartender, a fan of her work, sees that she hasn’t eaten anything all day and gets her a bowl of miso soup as well. That’s when she remembers she forgot to call Peter back. Rushing back up to her room, Mary Jane calls him and hiding her tears, she tells Peter that even though she got the part she turned it down because the pay was bad and it didn’t feel right. Peter tells her that it’ll just make her more wanted in Hollywood. When she asks how his night went, Peter looks down at the boy being reunited with his father and says his night couldn’t be better.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson

Continuity Notes

1. Peter is referring to the period when he and Mary Jane were separated. That happened from Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001 until Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #50.

2. Mary Jane introduces herself as Mary Jane Watson-Parker. That’s because at the time of this story she was married to Peter Parker. However, soon after this, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As a result, she and Peter are a common-law couple in this new timeline. As a result, Mary Jane would only introduce herself as Mary Jane Watson.