Joey walked cautiously down the street that would take him right in front of his brother's favorite hangout. An old mom and pop store that the gang terrorized into getting anything they wanted when they wanted it. Growing ever more fearful he looked up at the tops of the buildings for any sign of his red and blue bodyguard. But he didn't see him. His feet slowed down as they started to take on a mind of their own until they finally stopped. The grocery store was but a few doors away.

Shaking, he looked around undecidedly. He knew that Spider-man was going to protect him, but suppose he had more important things to do than rescue a dumb ol' 8 year old right now? All his hero said was to go about doing what he wanted to do today and not to hide from his brother. But now he wasn't so sure it was such a good idea to go looking for trouble.

He turned around ready to flee and smacked right into his half brother.

"So squirt. Where ya been hiding? You squealed to pop that I broke your arm when I wasn't even there."

"I didn't! Honest I didn't Vinny. I told him I hurt it playing basketball" Joey cried out.

"Since when does dork play basketball?" snarled one of the gang members as he smacked his right fist into his left hand for emphasis.

"Pop didn't buy it cause you're too stupid to even lie good." Vinny said glaring at his little brother. "You did it on purpose din't you? You knew pop would figure it out."

"Leave me alone, Vinny!" shouted Joey

"Or what? You gonna hit me with your broken arm?"

"No. Spider-man's gonna get you," the boy said defiantly.

Looking around at his fellow hoodlums Vinny laughed, "Didja hear that? Baby brother is gonna sic the webhead on us."

"Wha? You gonna page him on his beeper?" another teen joked.

"He's a friend of mine and he said he was gonna fix you." Joey said, fear deep in his voice as he started tofeet that he had been abandoned.

"Oh he did, did he?"

"Yes he did." Came a voice from above.

As the startled gang looked up, there was Spider-man clinging to the wall of the building they had cornered Joey against.

"Hey, we're not doing nothin'. I'm allowed to talk to my own brother if I want," shouted Vinny.

"Well I don't like the way you are talking to him. Sounded a bit threatening to me."

"Who me? Threaten my own kid brother?" Vinny faked a smile as he put his arm around Joey.

Feeling braver with his hero there, the boy flung his brother's arm off of him and yelled, "Yeah you were threatening me. And if you lay a hand on me Spider-man is going to punch your lights out."

Tilting his head at the youngster's bravado, Pete said, "You're doing pretty well on your own, kid. Sure you still need me?" And with that he somersaulted down and stood between the siblings. Now that Vinny was standing face to face he saw that he was several inches taller than the superhero. With the height advantage and his cronies behind him, overconfidence overtook the bully and he took a swing at Spider-man.

The wall crawler just grabbed the fist in midair and held fast.

"Now where did you get the moronic notion that you could even come close to hitting me?" Spider-man said. He then turned towards the other thugs, "and what are you hanging around for?"

The others took one look at Spider-man still holding Vinny's fist and scattered in all directions. Pete then turned his attention back to the older brother. "Now, what should I do with you?"

Vinny pulled his hand away, glared at his little brother. After what seemed like an eternity, he started to walk away.

"Hold it" demanded Spidey. "If I ever find out that you've laid a finger on this kid, you'd better start running, because I'm going to be on you like a bear after honey. Got it?"

The teen glared at Spider-man, barely nodded an acknowledgement then left.

"Hey, you were great!!" cried Joey. I never saw you, but you were right there all along just like you promised."

"Glad I could help. I don't think he will bother you anymore, Sport," and with that, he mussed the boy's hair and took off into the sky.

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Peter had swung above Joey's neighborhoodmultiple times over the next several weeks, staying out of sight but spotting the boy periodically. Watching him for a few minutes each time, he was satisfied that Vinny took his warning seriously. But he would continue to check in from time to time to make sure the older brother didn't renege.

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Joey had been staying out of Vinny's way ever since the incident with Spider-man. He didn't want to give his brother any reason to change his mind and start beating up on him again. But now that he didn't have to worry about his own safety, he started to fear that something bad was going to happen to the teen. He just wished Vin would leave the gang. They were going to get him into trouble.

To confirm his suspicions, as he lay awake in bed, he heard his brother talking with his friends outside one night. The window was cracked open just a little bit as it was always too hot in the apartment. Joey crawled out of bed and over to the window. Even though the room was dark and two stories up, he didn't want any movement to catch Vinny's attention. They were talking softly, but had enough booze in them that they were actually louder than they realized. The boy didn't hear all of the conversation, but enough to scare him. He waited until they dispersed before going back to bed. He didn't get any sleep that night.

Joey was dressed and out the door as dawn broke. He had been thinking about what needed to be done all night and fretted about it being the right thing to do. In the end, he had no other alternative. He headed straight for the car.