Mightierdandasword: No he wasn't. In the comics, the movie and Fox cartoon he had brown hair trust me on this. In the MTV cartoon he was blond but he was never done with red hair I looked it up.

Lord Destroyer: Don't worry those that I haven't shown will eventually show up, plus a few more too.

Stone Quillian: Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus will show up after mutants are exposed to the world, and Carnage during that time too.

Kaliann: Thanks, although if I could get paid for this that would be great but no chance there unfortunately and I'm glad you like Peter and Rogue.

J. Erich Jay: Damn well I can't catch everything, but I will have them back and meet the others too. Max and Spidey will have a showdown later on. He won't expose his secret identity just Spider-Man to the world. Kelly is still going to be a jerk, and I'm not sure of using Flash again.

Red Witch: Thanks for that, and as for Peter it is kind of a no brainer for him huh?

The Uncanny R-Man: Yep this is a major chapter that will change the life of Peter forever.

Slickboy444: Well to be fair she did know Peter was seeing someone it just was more real seeing it in person. Oh yeah it will be intense all right.

Mark C: They'll show up again later on, and Electro will be the least of his worries soon enough.

And thanks to: Episodic, ldypebsaby, psychobunny410, X-Over, Sweegy, Hazelle, Star Lin, Ivan Alias, Sparky Genocide, Jaguar, Joseph McKinley, Stoneman85

SPIDER-X

CHAPTER 40: HERO

Hobie Brown was your typical African American high school student, well mostly. He was in the attic of his house or as he liked to think of it, his lab. See for years he was interested in a few things, one was the martial arts, which he was glad he just attained his brown-belt status and the other was building things. He remembered when he took apart the blender as a kid and actually put it back together. In fact his mom had said it worked even better then ever.

The attic had a window on the side of the roof that sometimes he liked to open and get onto the roof and look at the constellations. There were boxes and an old armoire, there were a few old tables he used to work on or to leave his equipment on too. Currently he had a few new things, one was a set of climbing claws, a pair of shock absorption boats that when finished should made him jump a couple of stories...if he could get them working. The last one was something that shot out these pellets. He used them to help his mom clean the windows with strangely enough.

He liked working up here, plus it was usually quiet anyways. His mom worked a lot ever since his dad died a few years ago. He was told it was a robbery gone wrong in a connivance store. The guy holding the place up opened fired blindly and his dad was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He looked over at a table with a few pin-ups. They were articles of the mysterious 'Spider-Man' as the papers were now calling him.

Some claimed he was just a new urban myth but he knew better...cause he had seen him.

TWO WEEKS EARLIER

He had been walking along the streets of uptown Bayville that night. He had tried to get a few parts he needed for his inventions, especially the one his little brother had broken, but it wasn't on purpose so he wasn't mad. Then he heard it, someone yelling for help. He looked around but he had gotten to the electronic shop just as it was about to close up and it was late out, plus this was the business district so it was dead at this time of night.

He didn't see a payphone nearby so he ran with the bag under his arm to the sounds. He found an alley with a couple that had taken a wrong turn. There were several guys in obvious gang clothing with matching tattoos on them. That was also when one of them noticed him. "Hey kid beat it!"

Hobie didn't know what got into him, but he couldn't stand by and let this happen. Maybe it was because this was wrong, or maybe...if someone had stepped in his father would still be alive this day. "Hell no! Leave them alone!" He shouted out.

They just looked at him like he was nuts then they all laughed at him and a few of them came over to him. He put down his bag and got into a fighting position, the only problem was a few of them had weapons like a baseball bat and a chain. He gulped and tried not to show just how afraid he was inside. He was thinking that this wasn't the best idea he had when it happened.

He showed up.

"Can anyone join in or is this an invite only party?" Hobie looked up and he couldn't believe what he had seen. He heard the rumors but that's all he thought they were but it was him really him. Spider-Man! He watched as he fought the gang like they were nothing to him, he threw them around like rag dolls and leaped over them so high and graceful that he thought it was inhuman. He even stuck to the walls and shot out webs. It was over in matter of minutes and just as he was there he was suddenly gone.

Him and the two other people that the gang had been harassing just started at the scene. The gang members were all tied up in webs all over the place. "That...that was him...that was really him wasn't it?" The guy asked him. Hobie couldn't answer all he could do was just nod.

PRESENT

Ever since that day Hobie had been following this Spider-Man. He was elusive to say the least but the truth was...he admired him. He went out there and made the streets a safer place to be, he only wished someone like him had been around earlier...then maybe his dad could have been saved. He wondered who the guy was under that mask, how he did what he did. He also thought about why someone would to that...there was only one answer he could come up with.

He must have lost someone too.

It just 'felt' right to him, why else would someone go out there? If he were after fame then he wouldn't hide himself from the world. No this was a more personal thing he thought. He looked at the black outline of a figure with the headline. 'Does he exist?' but he knew the answer to that. He looked at the picture and was envious of him. He had the courage and the strength to do what he felt should be done, that there needed to be someone out there to look out for people.

LATER THAT DAY

It was after school and Peter was walking in the downtown district of Bayville with a few of the others. Rogue was next to him with her arm linked in his, while Peter was still carrying his school bag over the other shoulder. Jean had her arm in Scott's too and Kitty was also with them between the couples. Evan was at the skate part as usual and Kurt was of course spending time with Amanda. Peter grinned thinking of his German friend.

Kurt was a good guy and he was happy that he had found someone that looked past the blue fur to the person inside. Then he had to stifle a yawn, it had been a long day and he was kind of tired, not to mention Logan wanted to do a DR session of course later that night. Even though he was thankful for the training, which was getting the hang off, it really left him sometimes too tired to go out as Spider-Man.

Rogue noticed this and sighed. "Ya didn't get enough sleep again didn't ya?"

Peter shrugged. "I had a late night, in fact I was so tired when I got back I didn't even change out of the suit."

"So you like slept in it the whole night?" Kitty asked him with a hint of a smile on her face. She had to admit having Peter go out at night did make life a little more interesting from time to time, although she had her fill of it with the Sirens. After that run-in with that Bullseye guy she really didn't feel like going out and running into something like him again.

Plus she and the girls had gotten together in the park once after Peter told him his reasons for doing what he did and they all agreed that they really didn't go out for the right reasons. Sure they had helped people but Peter did it like it was a duty of his, like he held the weight off the world on his shoulders and took it seriously, they...well for the most part it was for the thrill of it.

"Yeah well I also slept in." Peter continued. "By the way whichever one of you sent Spyder for that wake up call of hers, is so going to get it later on, when I find out who." There were a few laughs at that, half the mansion had heard her wake him up and not to mention Peter got a small heart attack from it.

"Well you were running late." Scott said with a smile hoping that the five bucks he paid Spyder for that and to keep her mouth shut would hold.

"No kidding." Peter muttered and ran a hand though his hair. "I had to skip breakfast and didn't even had time to change out of the suit."

Now everyone of them were looking and staring at him. "You mean it's under all that?" Jean asked pointing to Peter's clothing. He was wearing a long shirt today and with the jeans she couldn't tell. "Isn't that too risky?"

Peter just shrugged. "Hey if it works for Superman why not Spider-Man?" He said while making sure not too loudly. Rogue rolled her eyes at the comment. "What?" He asked seeing it, but she just shook her head although he did see a little smile there. He loved it when she smiled even those little ones that just seemed to make her seem even more beautiful.

"So what's with the bag?" Kitty asked Peter.

"Oh I wanted to get a few 'supplies'." Which was a code word for the stuff I use to make my Spider-Man gear. "Mr. McCoy and I wanted to try some new stuff, and a few new combinations of chemicals so I figured I might as well keep this, besides it makes carrying all of it less of a hassle."

"Well what was that you were showing Dr. Connor's after class?" Kitty asked him. She had been meaning to ask him but she had met Lance in the hall and...well...she got distracted.

"He wanted to see my web shooters. He was kind of impressed that I made the original ones without any help and wanted to see them."

"Ya got those in there too?" Rogue asked surprised. "What are ya plannin' on changin' if there's trouble?"

Peter laughed. "Oh no way, I mean this suit itches at times and since I've been wearing it for nearly twenty-four hours it's starting to chaff a little. I tell you, you don't hear about that in the comic books. I mean when's the last time you heard Superman complain that his tights are itching or riding up on him."

"It rides up on ya?" Rogue asked him. She figured it was just like the uniforms they wore and he didn't have any problems with it.

"Uh...well...ya." Peter said a little embarrassed on exactly where it rides up on.

"Oh my God!" Kitty suddenly shouted. They all looked at her then to where she was looking at and all their eyes widened. In the distance they could see an apartment building on fire. Without another word they all ran to the scene, none of them knew for sure why, they didn't want to just show up and use their powers but sometimes their gifts could be used without anyone knowing.

When they got to the scene they could see the top of the first two floors were on fire, a few fire trucks were trying to fight off the blaze, police had cornered off the area and paramedics were working on the people that had been brought out.

There were a lot of people, including a few local news vans also reporting on the fire. "God I hope everyone got out safely." Jean said looking at the fire.

"Please ma'am you can't go in there!" They turned to see a few officers trying to hold back a woman with some black smears on her face. She obviously had been in the fire and looked like she was trying to get back in.

"You don't understand! Please my daughter is still in there! Please! She's all I got left in this world!" The others could see tears streaming down her face looking at the building. The mutants weren't the only ones seeing his.

A camera crew was on her too capturing the scene as the reporter callously just told them to keep shooting. At the mansion Aunt May had been trying to take some time out in the living room and had seen this live report on the news. Her heart went out to the woman, and soon as others walked in and saw the scene they too couldn't seem to turn away. Xavier had felt the feelings that were strongly coming from the living room and went to see if something was wrong. Soon after one of the students had started telling what was going on nearly everyone was watching the heart-wrenching scene. Jamie was the first to speak. "Can't we do anything? I mean shouldn't we do something?"

Xavier had to admit that he too wished they could, but he couldn't figure out how and not expose mutants to the world, Ororo was out for the day visiting her sister and giving her a personal update on Evan so there was no way he could call her back in time to make a sudden 'miracle' rainstorm. Bobby would be too hard to explain the sudden appearance of ice, Amara couldn't control the fire, his mind was racing for ideas then it happened...

Hobie was in his attic fixing up a few things when his little brother called down to him, saying something was on the news. He rolled his eyes and walked down the stairs sighing and walked into the den and looked on the TV. There was a fire and it showed a woman crying out to save her kid. The scene was a tragic one and he wasn't sure if the kid was going to live but then it happened...

While Peter and the others were watching he had to do something he couldn't just stand here and watch some kid die. "Jean...is the kid still alive?" Peter asked hopefully.

Jean placed her fingertips to her temples and scanned the building. Then she found it, someone was up there on the top floor, she could feel the child's thoughts and the terror she was feeling. 'I want my mommy! Where is she? Please! I don't want to die!' It was almost too much for her. "Oh God she's still up there, we have to do something?"

"Like what none of us can get close." Kitty said looking in horror at the scene.

Rogue hugged herself as she looked on helplessly. "Peter what are we-Peter?" When she turned to face him he was gone. Somebody yelled something out and suddenly everyone was looking up and that's when it happen...

Eddie Brock had heard about the fire and decided to get a few pictures. He arrived on the scene and took a few pictures of the building, of the streets and even of the mother. Then he heard a noise of a few of the people and when he looked up he grinned and aimed his camera when it finally happened.

Peter had gone into an alley at breakneck speed and when he was sure it was empty he jumped and climbed up to the top of one of the buildings, mainly the one with a billboard on it and quickly shed his clothes, grabbed his shooters, and his mask and gloves in the bag since he also wanted to show Dr. Connors how the rest of the suit worked like the reflective surfaces of the 'eyes'.

The jumped out over the street and shot out a web-line to get over the building. He ignored the shouts and he knew that this was going to change everything. That now Spider-Man would no longer be an urban myth, that the people would see that he was real. That and in the back of his mind he had to worry about Xavier. He knew he was trying to keep the existence of mutants secret but he couldn't stand aside on this, he just hoped Xavier would understand.

He smashed through one of the windows. The fire was all over the place and it was hard to see. "Hey kid you in here? Yell out for me!" He shouted on the top of his lungs but wasn't sure if he could hear her replay he wasn't sure if she was still awake. "Please God don't let her die in this." Then he thought of something. 'JEAN!' He thought as loud as he could.

'Peter what is it?'

'Where's the kid? I can't find the kid!'

He waited what seemed like minutes but it was really just seconds until Jean came back. 'In a closet I think in front of you...Peter...she's loosing consciousness.' He wasted no time and jumped over a fallen beam on fire and tried to get into the room it looked like a bedroom but he wasn't sure with all the damage. He saw a closet and opened it and found a little girl with dark hair, she was in the fetal position and wasn't moving.

He quickly picked her up into his arms and he felt her moan and move, to him that was a good sign that she was still alive. He was going to go out the way he came but suddenly his spider sense kicked into overdrive. "Crap!" He held the kid close and jumped out the window in the room, feeling a few new cuts on his shoulder as he cleared the building as the roof collapsed.

He fired his webbing and managed to land on the ground without falling. Everyone was in so shock that the officers forgot about the mother as she ran over to him and took her little girl from his arms. The little girl opened her eyes and saw her mother. "M...mommy?" She asked weakly this only sending the mother into tears.

She had lost her husband two years ago and now she had been afraid that she was going to lose her little girl, she was the only thing she had in this world that had kept her joining after his death and this man had just saved her. "Thank you, thank you for saving her." She told him and Peter smiled under his mask and could feel the his own tears at seeing the mother and her child together.

"Hey who are you?"

"How do you do that?"

"Are you that Spider guy?" Peter suddenly found himself surrounded by reporters.

"Uh...the name is Spider-Man, and I got to go now." He coughed a few times from the smoke he inhaled. "I think there's a kitten stuck in a tree somewhere." He jumped up into the air the reporters still shouted questions.

After Peter had made sure he was out of sight he double backed and got changed and walked out of the alley coughing a little. "Peter!" He turned to see his friends running over to him. Rogue was the first to him and was trying to decide on hugging him carefully or slap him for worrying her like that, when he just took off like that.

"Sorry about that guys." He said seriously. "I know you guys want to keep the fact that there are people out there with powers, but...I just couldn't sit by." He looked to Scott. "Sorry man...I know this complicates things...but if I had to do it all over again I would."

Scott nodded. "Yeah well...I can't exactly blame you...I'm glad she's safe." He looked over his shoulder at the paramedics looking over the girl with her mother close by. "But you're right...this does complicate things."

At the mansion when it showed Peter going into that burning building May felt like time had stopped, she was terrified but when he came out of that window she was never more relieved and when it showed the mother and her child and how the mother publicly said that she was thankful that he had showed up May was never more proud.

Xavier had breathed a sigh of relief and wheeled himself out of the room. He knew this might cause problems, but the thing was he couldn't blame Peter, he had done the right thing. Charles was wondering how this would all play out, and he thought back to awhile ago when Peter had made a point about showing how people with powers could do good in this world. He just hoped that Peter's idea would work out and wouldn't backfire. He also hoped that Peter was alright, and would have Hank look at him after that.

Hobie had seen it. Spider-Man had gone into that flaming building and had actually saved that little girl. He just sat there with his little brother who went on and on about how cool that was. Robbie was just watching to replay of the footage and then he got up and went to the attic. That was the kind of thing the world needed he was sure of it.

People to stand up to those that would harm others and save those in trouble. In short...the world needed Heroes. People that others could look up to, that made the world a safer place that made you feel like there was someone looking out for you. He looked at the collage of his Spider-Man clippings and then another thought hit him. Maybe it was also they were here to show you what you can accomplish as well...what you could be.

He looked over at the climbing gloves and went over and then placed the wrist devices that launched the pellets. 'If I replace the pellets with a gas...then they could really be useful.' He thought and also about combining them. 'Maybe there is a way I can be more like him.' He thought and went to work.

THAT NIGHT

When Peter had gotten back everyone had swarmed him and Hank had to pull everyone aside to look at him. The scraps on his left shoulder wasn't that bad and just a patch on it was all it needed. May had come in and without another word hugged him close, they hadn't said anything while she just hugged him. Xavier seemed strange to Peter he didn't seem mad, disappointed or anything but he did seem deep in thought.

Now it was later that night and he was putting on the Spider-Man suit, well his spare one since the other one wasn't in top shape. There was a knock on his door. "Come in."

He was pleased to see it was Rogue. "Y'all are not going out again?" She said in both surprise and in a little frustration. She couldn't believe he was going out again after the day he had.

Peter shrugged. "I'm only going out for an hour, I can't take how everyone is crowding around me, I just need to get some fresh air, don't worry I don't plan on staying out longer then an hour, so don't worry." He said smiling to her hoping to take away her worry.

It didn't really work. She walked up to him and he saw the look in her eyes. "Ah do worry."

Peter's face fell a little. "I'm sorry about that, I don't want to I just-"He was cut off and she placed a gloved finger to his lips.

"Ah know." She said quietly and helped him pull on the mask, when she finished she leaned in and kissed his mouth though the mask. Peter was surprised by this but went with it, he knew this was as close as they would ever get and wrapped his arms around her waist. To Rogue she wished she didn't need the mask to keep Peter safe from her skin, but she accepted that this was it for her, so she wanted to make the most of it.

Deep down she sadly knew this was the only kind of kiss she would ever have but she enjoyed it as much as she could. She pulled back and looked at him. "Go do wat ya do sugar."

"Thanks Rogue." He said and went to balcony and turned and nodded to her and leaped into the night. She leaned against the frame and watched him go as she touched her lips and smiled a little. Out of all the guys in the world, she never thought she would fall for a hero.

NEXT UP CHAPTER 41: THE GIFT

Peter seeks out a way to help out Rogue and Norman Osborn makes his appearance along with something else the fans might recognize. As well as a prelude to my own version of the Symbiote.