Author's Note: Hola true believers! I wanna thanks all of you guys for following and favoriting and reviewing! It means so much to me! Anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter than all of the others. I thought of this one more as a filler rather than the start of a whole new Saga (like Doc Ock) Because fillers are sometimes awesome too (lolz). Anyway, sorry for taking so long to upload, but i have been so busy with so many things. I'm writing 2 other stories with this that are original ideas of mine called "Abyss: Lunar Vigilant" which is book one of a series i plan on writing. And i have also started on my new book titled "Owin" about a little boy who finds an Android/Robot prototype in the woods banged up and damaged. The boy hangs out with him and teaches him basically how to be "human", giving him the name Owin. But he has no idea that his new friend is a military project that escaped, and is extremely dangerous is provoked. It's all a work in progress. :D Anyway, enjoy the chapter guys! EXCELSIOR!

Chapter 9: Hide and Seek

"Haha, come on Peter. Move your slow butt!" Gwen shouted as she ran across the sand. She had on a white bikini with a see through, tiny scarf fluttering around her waist. She ran fast, keeping a good distance between her and Peter, who was ironically wearing red and blue swim trunks.

"Get back over here, you thief!" Peter shouted. He followed Gwen into a small woods area, away from Aunt Mays hawk eyes, and tacked her onto the ground. Before he could say anything, Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He felt the passion behind every contact between their lips. She felt his love behind his warm hands trailing down her body. Suddenly, there was a crack behind some of the trees, and Peter grabbed Gwen and pulled her up behind him as he aimed his hands.

"Who's there!? Come out, now!" Peter shouted. The footsteps grew closer and closer. And then. AND THEN!

"Hi. I'm Flint. Can you play with me?" said the tiny boy that came out of the shadows. Gwen laughed when Peter tensed up and then lowered his guard.

"Yeah, a real threat Peter." Gwen said mockingly. She knelt down to meet the boys eyes and smiled, holding out her hand kindly. They boy had short brown hair, a green striped shirt, and a pair of grey shorts on. Combined with some freckles and brown eyes and he was the most adorable thing you'd ever seen.

"Of course we will. Where are your parents, Flint? I don't think it's very safe for you to be running through these woods alone." Gwen said. Flint smiled and started giggling.

"Nah, it's cool. I do it all the time. I know this place like the back of my hand, see!" The boy said. Before Peter and Gwen knew it, he jumped and kicked the sand everywhere, blinding them. After coughing and allowing for the sand to clear, the little boy was gone.

"Whoa, the kid sure is fast." Peter said, stretching his arms over his head. Gwen nodded and then called out to the boy, but there was no answer, only an echo of laughter. They started walking back to where Aunt May was tanning, but the trees in the forest seemed to go on forever and the sand grew heavier and heavier to walk through. Then Flint's voice echoed through the woods again.

"If you wanna get out, you've gotta find meeee! Reach the end of the castle and you'll win a prize!" Flint said. Peter and Gwen turned and low and behold… there was a giant sand castle in their way where just a few seconds ago there had been nothing but a path through the woods. Gwen started walking forward without a second though, but then Peter grabbed onto her arm.

"DAH, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you seriously going to go in the giant creepy sand castle with the voice of a tiny creepy child laughing all around!?" Peter asked, waving his hands around like a maniac.

"Yep."

"WHAAAAT!? Have you not seen the horror movies!? He's gonna kill us with his monster puppets or something!" Peter shouted. Gwen laughed and shook her head.

"Well, are your arachnid senses tingling?"

"It's… Spider-Senses. Preferably, Spidey-Sense. And no they are not, but still I-"

"Well then there's nothing to worry about, is there? Maybe he's a good type of super powered person. You know like Captain America or Iron Man." Gwen said as she started walking. Peter's jaw was to the ground.

"First of all, Captain America almost turned my face into scrambled eggs! And secondly, Iron Man doesn't HAVE super powers. And third, WHAT ABOUT ME!" Peter shouted. By the time he looked her way, Gwen was already making her way into the castle. He sighed and then quickly ran after her, only to have a large wall of sand spank him right in the face and block him out.

"Oh no! Gwen! Gwen, can you hear me! Gwen! GWEN!"


[One Day Earlier]

"So Harry, now that you're out of the hospital, we should celebrate!" Peter said with a jolly smile. It had been two months since Dr. Octavius had gone on his rampage and luckily things had quieted down for Peter (and Spider-Man). A lot of people were worried about who would take over Otto's work, but luckily his more than capable assistant Carolyn Trainor. She spoke to the press and told them that the actions of Doc Ock were NOT the actions of the intelligent man Otto Octavius. She swore that there had been some sort of sabotage with the arm machines and promised that she would get to the bottom of this tragedy. There was still no word on the missing girl, and her family hadn't been heard from either. That was something Peter intended on looking into, even if he wasn't a detective. But… even super heroes needed some time off.

"That would be awesome! We could go to the beach!" Gwen exclaimed, throwing her fist up into the air. Harry laughed but held his hand up.

"That's all well and good but I still feel a bit iffy guys. But the beach sounds great, and I think you guys should go." Harry said. He smiled at Gwen, and she mouthed the words 'thank you' to him. Peter hadn't need it, he was too busy cheering in the background and screaming to Aunt May the good news.

"I'll just talk with my dad and get him to get you guys a private jet there. He should have no problem with it." Harry said. Peter's jaw dropped and there was a girly scream that came from his lungs. When Harry and Gwen glared at him, he sat back down and started writing down the things they needed, very, very quietly.


[Now]

"I'm coming Gwen. I'm, ouch! I'm coming! GAH!" Peter tried climbing the sand but it seemed like he was going nowhere. Then a large fist sped into his face, knocking him back to the ground.

"I don't think so. I have a better game for you and me!" Flint said. He formulated himself into a large, buff, brute of a man. Peter felt threatened, but his Spider-Senses weren't tingling at all. But… with the sight of Flint's arm turning into a large hammer and the other a giant lance, he figured he could use his own judgment for now.

"Tag, you're IT!" Flint shouted as he slammed his hammer-fist onto the ground. Peter leaped to the side and web zipped onto a tree. He climbed to the top as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. A large storm of sand launched into him and stuck him to the ground.

"GAH! There's sand in my mouth! Nooooooo!"


Gwen walked carefully inside of the intricately designed sand castle. She hadn't noticed, but walking behind her was the little boy. Whenever she turned around, there was been a block of sand in his place, and so she started to suspect something was following her.

Guess I'll have to trick the trickster Gwen thought to herself. She tripped on the sand and acted as though she had been injured.

"Ow, ow, ow. That stings." She said to herself. She rubbed her knee and sat up on the wall. After a short while, the sand manifested itself into the small boy once again.

"A-a-are you okay?" Flint said nervously. Gwen looked up and smiled, then held her hand out.

"Yep, I'm fine. I just wanted you to come out from hiding. This is a really nice place you have here." Gwen commented. Flint blushed and then put his hands in his short's pockets.

"Ah shucks, thank you. It took me a while to master… whatever this is." Flint said. He pulled his hands out of his pocket and looked at them as they started to slowly degrade and then solidify once again. Gwen took his hands and winked at him.

"I think it's a beautiful power. You know, me and Pete, we're from New York. There's a lot of super powered people in New York. Don't ask me why, cuz I have no idea. So we came here on vacation to get away from all of the bad people." Gwen said. Flint flinched a bit when he heard the words bad people, but the reassurance in Gwen's eyes made him stay.

"And it looks like we did just that. You're not a bad person, are you Flint?" Gwen asked kindly. Flint shook his head happily and then smiled back at her.

I like her. She's nice. Flint thought to himself. He held his hand out towards one of the walls and the sand came down quickly. Once it did, Peter was standing there with sand all over his hair and body. He was even spitting some out of his mouth. Flint walked up to him slowly, not bothering to jump back when Pete put up some karate hands.

"I'm really sorry if I inconvenience you with my games. It's just that I never have anyone to play with. Ever since the man dropped me off here… I've been alone." Flint said. Peter crouched down to get within eye's view of the kid and smile. He patted Flint on the head gently.

"Nah, it's cool. I've had worse. Besides…" Peter stood up and turned around to the beautiful scene of the clearing woods. At the very end, the horizon could be seen, sun and ocean together. Peter threw his hands up above his head.

"I had a lot of fun today. Thanks to you, Flint." Peter said. Flint's eyes glimmered with happiness. Gwen walked up to Peter and then faced Flint. Something had to be cleared up.

"Flint. You said that you've been lonely here ever since that man put you here. Do you have any idea who this man could be?" Gwen asked. Peter raised an eye brow, not sure what they were talking about, but then Flint started to talk.

"I don't know his name. At least, he never told me. I think they were using code names or something. And they all had suits on so that I wouldn't hurt them. Even though… I never wanted to hurt anybody. The only thing I remember was being taken from what I guess was my home. There were a lot of lights, a lot of people saying complicated math and science stuff." Flint said. Gwen was already at the brink of tears, and Peter was getting angry that someone could do this to a kid.

"It took about a month or two before I was able to be me again. The doctor guys kept telling me to just try and imagine my body coming out of the sand. Eventually my body did, and there was so much sand. Sand everywhere. It took a few weeks for me to be able to walk and talk again. And it took a few years for me to smile again. Today is the first time I've smiled since I was… well…normal."

"Wait, how old are you, Flint?" Gwen asked. Flint tried counting on his fingers, but then he shook his head.

"I'm not really sure. The main guy, I think they were calling him Jack or Jackal or… something like that. But, he told the people that when I came back, I wouldn't be the same. That I would be an entirely new being. Age wouldn't matter, health wouldn't matter, nothing would matter."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"I don't eat. I don't sleep. I never get sick. I never get injured. I can grow…" Sand rushed onto Flint's body and made him look older, stronger, and more mature.

"I can shrink" The sand dispersed and he looked even younger than he was the first time.

"And… I can just be still." He said. He closed his eyes and instantly his entire body disintegrated into nothing but grains of sand. After a few seconds he came back with a frown on his face.

"I would give anything just to be normal again…" Flint whispered. Gwen put her arms around him and cradled him softly. When she looked over to Peter, she already knew he had no problem with what she was about to suggest. Well… maybe just one thing. He looked down at his shorts and then sighed. He pulled it open with his thumb and cringed.

"Uuuuugggghh… ok… Flint… get in…" Peter said hesitantly. Flint looked up, confused.

"What?"

"We're gonna take you home with us. Maybe get you some new clothes, some friends, I don't know. But I can't have my aunt seeing me coming out with a small child and just say 'hey, we're taking him with us' So… do your sand thing."

"YAY!-"

"JUST DON'T MOVE AROUND TOO MUCH! OR PULL ANYTHING!" Peter shouted. Gwen laughed and once Flint shrunk down to a reasonable sand size, Peter and Gwen made their way back to where Harry's jet was waiting for them. It was Harry who set this whole thing up, so maybe he knew something about this island that he had send them to.


[Halfway to New York]

"Stop moving so much…" Peter whispered under his breath. Aunt May looked behind her and saw Gwen hop off of Peter and try and look innocent while Peter kept adjusting his shorts. She gave them a look and then went back to reading her paper.

"I don't want any hanky panky back there. I'm too young to have nieces and nephews already Peter." She said.

"AAHH, Aunt May, It's not like that!" Peter shouted. Gwen laughed, and they had a long, awkward flight home.