Lincoln made sure no one was around and changed clothes, after he put on the mask, he used his web to swing around the mall, looking for people trapped inside the stores or between and even under the debris that were around, he found a family inside a store. - "Look mommy! It's Spider-man" -The five years old girl yelled when Spider-man moved away a massive stone that blocked the way and helped them get out. - "Thanks a lot Spider-man, you saved my family." -The man said taking Spider-man's hand and shaking it.

- "That's why I'm here sir." -Spider-man told him, then the man took his five years old daughter and his wife was carrying their six months old baby and left. Then Spider-man heard someone yelling from under some debris.

- "Please! PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" -Spider-man arrived at the place and found a teenage boy about his age with a leg trapped under a big rock, too big for the boy to move it by himself, but it was nothing for Spider-man, he just picked up the stone and threw it a few feet away, he helped the boy to get up but he couldn't walk.

- "Listen pal, I still have to look around for people trapped here, I'm going to do something that you won't like and it will hurt you a bit, but it will help you a little to walk, are you ok with it?" -He asked the boy.

- "Oh! Ok, just be careful, please." -The boy said holding on to Spider-man's shoulder and he nodded, then, Spider-man used his web to cover the boy's leg in a cast-like thing, the boy felt a lot of pain, it was very tight, but it helped to hold the bleeding and gave the boy's leg enough support to at least walk, limping, but the boy could move. - "Thank you, Spider-man. I'm your fan." -The boy said and made an effort to walk, leaving the place.

- "You're welcome buddy." -Spider-man told him and went to find more people, under the mask, Lincoln had a big smile, he liked to have fans.

- "HELP! COUGH! COUGH! HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" -Spider-man heard a familiar girl's voice coming from another store that seemed to be on fire, he landed on the store's roof and looked inside it through a very big hole on it.

- "Stella!" -Spider-man said without thinking.

Said girl was against the wall, wearing her burping burger uniform, looking at the fire that was spreading around her, when she heard her name, she looked up. - "SPIDER-MAN!" -The girl yelled and smiled widely. Spider-man didn't lose any time, he shot his web at her and lifted her through the hole and carried her bridal style out of there.

- "What happened?" -He asked her.

- "I don't know!" -The girl said crying. - "I was doing my chores at work when suddenly, something exploded in the kitchen, sniff, my boss and some friends were there!" -She buried her face on his chest and cried even more. Spider-man landed close to the exit and left the girl on the floor.

- "Get out of here. I'll go back and check if I can do something for your friends." -he told her and the girl sniffed again, a very sad expression on her face, she nodded and went to the exit.

Spider-man went back to the store where he found Stella and got in, avoiding the fire he got in the kitchen but… There was nothing he could do, he felt awful, sad and disgusted, like if he would puke, two boys and another girl around his age, and a middle aged man, all of them dead, he snapped out of it shaking his head, he took the bodies out of the store, so they wouldn't burn. - "That's the least I can do, sorry." -he said to the bodies, as if they could hear him, he sniffed and went away to look for more people. - "The hardest thing is to know that I can't save them all, but I can try to save most of them." -he told himself and kept looking around. He found Fiona inside the restrooms with her boss and her boss's son, along five more people and helped them.

- "You're better than Ace Savvy." -The boy told him before his mom took him out of the building.

Spider-man checked the places where were the explosions and he found Rusty trapped under some debris, he helped him and asked him what had happened, the boy gave him almost the same answer as Stella, when Spider-man asked him if there was someone else in the store, the boy answered that fortunately he was the only one working in the store at the moment, Spider-man sighed in relief. At another store, he found Liam, and another three kids, and in the last one, he found Chandler, and another family of five, they too gave him pretty similar answers, they were just working, and suddenly, something exploded at the store's back stage.

In the end, Spiderman saved 60 people, and recovered 15 bodies.

When he was sure that there was no one else to help, he went back to his first position between the debris, and changed back to Lincoln.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside the mall, the emergency services were gathered helping people with first aid and taking them to the nearest hospital, the firemen were trying to suffocate the fire, and the police was doing their best to stop people from trying to get in there, looking for their relatives and friends. Suddenly, people started to come out of the building, a family with two little kids, a boy limping, a brunette girl, etc., etc.

Among all the people waiting outside, was a beautiful blond woman, crying and praying, along her were five girls from five to twelve years old, looking straight at the mall, waiting for someone, beside them was another woman, giving support to her fifteen years old daughter, they saw people coming out of the building, lots of people, they recognized a few of them, but no one was the one they were waiting for.

- "STELLA!" -Jordan called for her friend when she saw her approaching.

- "JORDAN!" -Stella went to her and both girls held hands, Stella was still crying.

- "What happened?" -Jordan asked her and Stella told her the same thing she told Spider-man.

- "Did… Ahm… Did you see Lincoln in there?" -Jordan asked her worried.

- "LINCOLN'S IN THERE?!" -Stella asked back stunned, getting worried too, she then realized that Lincoln's mother and sisters were there, and she fell to the ground, crying even more. Jordan held her but fell with her, she started to cry too. That made all Lincoln's sisters cry.

After what seemed like hours, the fire was under control and the last people that was saved was leaving the building, the last one of them, was a fifteen years old boy wearing an orange polo and blue jeans, what got all people's attention about him, was his naturally white hair, a fireman was helping him to walk and put him a breathing mask, the boy had some blood on his face due to a little cut on his forehead and was covered in dust, he smiled when he spotted his family and friends and they ran to him.

- "LINCOLN!" -His mom yelled and pulled him in a bone crushing hug and kissed him all over his face. "Don't, smooch, you, smooch, ever, smooch, scare, smooch, me, smooch, like, smooch, that, smooch, again! smooch, smooch, smooch." -She said between kisses.

- "I'm sorry mom." -He said accepting all the kisses, but feeling very embarrassed because Jordan and Stella, two of the most beautiful girls at school, were looking all that.

- "Your son is very brave Mrs. We found him walking to the exit, just like the others, he didn't seem scared or anything." -The fireman said.

- "Weren't you trapped behind some debris?" -Lisa asked him.

- "Yeah, I was trapped, but I was fine, I was waiting for help when suddenly, Spider-man appeared and lifted the debris like if they were of paper and helped me to get out." -

- Really?! Spider-man helped you!" -Lana asked him getting excited.

- "Yeah." -Lincoln answered sheepishly.

- "Interesting! No one saw Spider-man arriving at the building from outside." -Lisa pointed out and Lincoln gulped.

- "Maybe he got in from behind." -Lana said.

- "Or he arrived while all of us were running like crazy out of the building." -Lola said next.

- "Or maybe, he was already in the building when the explosions happened." -Lisa pointed out again.

- "Are you insinuating that Spider-man planted the bombs?!" -Lucy asked her getting angry.

- "Nothing like that sister. I'm just saying that maybe, the one behind the Spider-man's mask, was already in the mall when the explosions occurred." -Lisa said seriously, making everyone gasp.

- "That… that could mean that someone that came out recently is… is Spider-man." -Lana said looking around at the people that was getting first aid.

- "That's exactly what I'm saying." -Lisa said looking at Lincoln intently, and he just looked away from her, avoiding eye contact.

- "Well, I don't care if Spider-man was already here or that he arrived after the explosions, I'm just glad that he helped all that people and my boy here." -Rita said kissing Lincoln again.

- "Yeah, you're right mom." -Lola said, kissing Lincoln too.

- "Can we go home now mommy?" -Lily asked her pulling her pants. - "I'm hungy." -

- "Just a little more time, sweetheart, the paramedics have to check on Lincoln before we can go." -

The paramedics checked on Lincoln and found nothing wrong with him, just the cut on his forehead, they cleaned his face and the wound and patched it with a band-aid. - "Now we can go home." -Rita said and thanked the paramedics, taking Lincoln's hand. - "Please, give us a minute."- She told her daughters and took Lincoln with her.

- "W… What's going on mom?" -Lincoln asked her confused.

- "I want you to invite those two girls to have dinner with us tonight." -She told him.

- "W… What?! Why?" -

- "They were very worried for you, both of them, too worried for being common friends Lincoln. Pretty sure they want to check if you're really fine, like me, and you all deserve to laugh a little, after all that has happened."-

- Uh… I don't know mom; wouldn't they prefer to be with their families?" -

- Uhmm… Maybe you're right." -Rita said thinking, and Lincoln sighed in relief. - "Then we have to invite their families too." -Rita said with a big smile.

- "WHAT?!" -Lincoln was astonished.

- "Yeah! It's a good idea. They'll need some relaxing time and a very good dinner to overpass these bitter moments, as much as us." -She said looking at the girls, all of them were getting along, trying to smile and get over the disaster. - "Go ahead and invite them Lincoln. I'll call your father and tell him to bring enough food for all of us." -

- "Ahm… Mom, I don't think it's a good idea and…" -Lincoln tried to protest but his mom was already calling his dad at the restaurant.

- "Nonsense, go ahead and invite them, NOW!" -She told him and looked at him using "the stare" on him. He gulped and went to the girls while his mom talked to his dad.

- "What's up Lincoln? What did mom tell you?" -Lana asked him, when he approached them, taking Lily from Jordan's arms.

- "Sigh… she told me to invite you and your families to have dinner with us tonight, to overpass all this mess a little faster." -He said straightly, looking at Jordan and Stella. - "Personally, I think it's a bad idea, 'cause I think you want to be alone with your families, but I guess my mom has other ideas, so, what do you say girls?" -He was sincere all the time.

- "Well… Ahm… I… I don't…." -Jordan hesitated.

- "I think it's a wonderful idea young man." -Jordan's mom interrupted her. - "A good dinner, maybe a little party with friends will be very helpful." -She said while taking her phone and calling her husband. - "I'll tell my husband right away." -Jordan tried to protest but her mom was already on the phone. Then, all the youngsters turned to Stella, expecting her answer. Said girl looked at all of them, and straight at Lincoln and Jordan's eyes.

- "Sigh… I'll call my mom to ask her what does she think about it." -Stella took her phone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Loud House, 6:30 PM, Lincoln and Lynn were helping to put the table and the secondary table for their little party, they were expecting some guests, he was wearing more formal clothes, a white long sleeves shirt, black coat and pants and a striped black and white tie, Lynn, to her disgust, was wearing a red dress. Their dad was fixing the final details to dinner, his wife, Luna and Luan were helping him, all of them wearing formal clothes like. Lucy, Lola and Lana were decorating the house a little, Lisa was reading a book while Lily played some videogame.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Lincoln attended.

- "Hi! Welcome to our house." -He greeted his guests smiling, and then he gulped.

- "Hi Lincoln." -Jordan greeted him back, her blush was evident to everyone, she was wearing her brand-new dress. They were looking at each other smiling.

- "Ahem! May we come in?" -Jordan's dad asked, breaking the moment, his wife nudged at him.

- "Yeah! Yeah! I'm sorry, please come in." -He invited them in and moved away to let them get in.

Once they were in the house, Lily stopped what she was doing and went straight to Jordan to greet her.

- "JORDAN!" -The girl yelled happily and said teen lifted the little girl and hugged her tightly, both of them laughing.

- "Hi Lily, how are you?" -She asked her.

- "Really fine, I'm playing a videogame, do you wanna play?" -

- "Yes, of course." -Jordan went to the couch, with Lily on her arms, looking at her parents, who nodded at her, and then to Lincoln, who nodded as well.

- "Hi again young man." -Jordan's mom greeted Lincoln happily. - "How are you feeling?" -

- "I'm fine Mrs., I just have some scratches and bruises, nothing to be worried about." -Lincoln assured her.

- "So… You were in the mall when the explosions happened, right?" -Jordan's dad asked him.

- "Ahm… yes." -Lincoln answered him hesitating.

- "Did you see Spider-man there?" -He asked again.

- "Uh! Yes… He saved me." -Lincoln answered.

- "Pfft… Yeah! Right! Playing the hero after causing the explosions." -The man said without hesitation.

- "What?!" -Lincoln asked back, very offended. - "Spider-man saved a lot of people there. How can you accuse him like that? Without any proof?!" -

- "I don't need any proof kid. It's pretty obvious he caused the explosions. No one, I mean no one saw him arrive at the building after the explosions, that means he was there before them." -

- "But that doesn't mean he caused them." -Lincoln said, anger growing inside him.

- "The explosions happened in places very inaccessible for common people kid, just employees have complete access to them." -

- "See! It could have been a mad employee!" -Lincoln said, he was clearly angry.

- "Or someone that can swing between buildings and slip away easily into them." -The man counter attacked.

- "Slip away?! Really?! Have you seen his outfit?! How can ANYONE, slip away without being noticed, dressed like that?!" -Lincoln asked back and the man fell silent.

- "He has a point there, honey." -Jordan's mom said. Lincoln and Jordan's dad were looking at each other straight in the eyes, then, suddenly, the man smirked.

- "What's your name kid?" -He asked him.

- "L… Lincoln Loud." -The boy answered him, hesitating again.

- "Well, Lincoln Loud, I am James Jonah Jameson, nice to meet you." -The man extended his hand to Lincoln and the boy took it; they shook hands. - "You're a very smart kid and I like that." -The man said and smiled at him. - "But I still think Spider-man caused the explosions, and I'll keep that until someone proves me wrong, ok?" -He said tightening his grip on Lincoln's hand. The boy tightened his grip as well and looked at the man, still defying him.

- "You'll be proved wrong. I'm sure of it." -Lincoln said more calmly. - "Would you like something to drink?" -He asked them after he and James released each other's hands.

- "Yes, I'd like a whiskey please, neat." -James answered him.

- "Ok, and for you ma'am?" -He asked Jordan's mom.

- "Oh! I'd like an appletini, please." -

- "Very well then, and you Jordan? Do you want something to drink?" –

- "A root beer will be good Lincoln, thank you." -

- "On it." -Lincoln went to the improvised bar and prepared the drinks. - "Here they are." -He took the drinks to his guests.

- Thank you, young man." -James thanked to Lincoln and stared at his drink. - "Now I'm worried that someone as young as you knows how to prepare this kind of drinks." -He said mischievously.

- "Oh! Don't you worry. I learned it to help dad at his restaurant, when he installed a bar, we couldn't find a bartender as fast as we'd liked to, so, all my older sisters and I, learned to prepare drinks, just in case it was needed, that's all." -Lincoln explained and then the doorbell rang again. - "Excuse me." -He went to the door. - "Hi, Welcome to our house." -He greeted his new guests.

- "Hi Lincoln." -Stella greeted him with a sad expression, her parents and little sister behind her.

- "Hi Stella. How are you?" -He asked her seriously, at this point, Stella knows that her coworkers died and she was very disturbed.

She didn't say anything, just threw herself at him and hugged him, crying silently, he led her in, her parents walked silently behind them.

Lincoln sat Stella on the couch carefully and sat beside her, to his luck, Jordan was at the other side, he was holding Stella's hand, Jordan noticed it and gulped.

- "Hey! George! How are you?! What are you doing here?" -James greeted Stella's dad as if they were old friends.

- "Oh! Great! What are you doing here Jameson?" -Stella's dad asked back, grinding his teeth in disgust.

- "This lovely family invited us to have a little party to get over the awful moments we had early today. You may not know it, but my wife and daughter were at the mall today. Where were you? ah?" -James attacked.

- "I was doing my job Jameson, we were invited here for the same reason, you may not know it, but my daughter was there as well, and she went through a very awful moment." -George countered.

- "Yeah! Yeah! Ok, sorry. So, anything to say to the press, Captain Stacy?" -James asked again.

- "Not yet Jameson, not yet." -George Stacy answered nonchalantly.

- "Really, nothing! Not even to finally accuse Spider-man for this?" -James said and Lincoln cringed.

- "That's just speculation Jameson, we can't accuse him because no one saw him planting the bombs or anything like that, but I don't discard the idea of him being responsible." -George said and Lincoln felt relieved at first, but cringed again when Stella's dad said that Spider-man was still a suspect.

- "Well, we finally agree in something, at least partially. Spider-man is a threat." -Lincoln was about to say something but…

- "SPIDER-MAN SAVED MY LIFE!" -Stella snapped, a mad expression on her face and tears on her eyes, she scared everyone there. - "He… He… HE SAVED ME AND TRIED TO SAVE MY FRIENDS! But… but it was too late… sniff… too late for them… but… I… I'm… I'm sure that if there was a chance to help them, he would've done it, without hesitation." -Stella said between sobs, then she curled on the couch, resting her head on her knees and crying silently.

Lincoln didn't lose any time and hugged her, comforting her, Jordan went to them and did the same. Both, Lincoln and Jordan did their best to comfort her, in front of everyone else, making both male adults to gulp, and the women gave them small and tender smiles. After a few minutes, Stella calmed down, and without hesitation, gave a little kiss on the cheek to each one of her friends. - "Thank you, guys." -She whispered to them and they nodded at her.

- "You better keep your opinions for yourself for a while Jameson." -George said bitterly, and for the first time in a long time, the man gulped and nodded, keeping himself quiet.

Stella's little sister went to Lincoln, the boy looked at the seven years old and greeted her with a smile. - "Are you Stella's boyfriend?" -The girl asked him with such childish innocence that everyone there awed and smiled, even Lincoln smiled, but he was blushing too.

- "Ahm… what's your name little one?" -He asked her smiling.

- "Gwendolyn, but everyone calls me Gwen." -

- "Well Gwen, the truth is that I'm not your sister's boyfriend, not like I didn't try to be, but I messed it so bad that I almost lose your sister's friendship in the process, along with my other friends." -Lincoln answered honestly, remembering the mess he and his friends got in a few years back.

- "Too bad, you're incredibly cute." -The girl said innocently, making everyone smile again, and Lincoln blushed even more.

The doorbell rang again and Lincoln rushed to the door before he'd get embarrassed again. He opened the door to find Sam and her family at the other side.

- "Hi Lincoln, may we come in?" -She asked him.

- "Oh! Hi Sam, sure, please, come in." -Lincoln let them get in, looking at his sister's "friend" - "She's really beautiful. Too bad she's older than me and I'm not 'her type'" -he thought, a kinky smirk spread on his face.

Luna immediately went to greet her guests, she seemed very happy with Sam there. - "Hey roomie! Are you ready for moving day?" -She asked her enthusiastically.

- "Yeah! Sure! I just have a few more details to fix and I'll be ready to move to New

York." -She answered her happily.

Lincoln was a little confused and went to Luan. - "Ahm… it's not like I don't want Sam here, but why did Luna invite her?" -he asked her.

- "Mom said that each one of us could invite someone today but Sam was the only one that accepted it. Didn't you invite Clyde?" -She asked him and Lincoln sighed. - "Oh! Sorry Linc, I forgot it." -She apologized.

- "Nah! It's ok Luan, Clyde and I just split. We're still friends, but we're not best friends anymore. Sigh… No more Clincoln McLoud." -Lincoln said sadly.

- "I'm sorry little bro, but these things happen. Not like it happens to you two, but it happens." -Luan said putting a hand on his shoulder and he nodded. - "I better go and offer some snacks to our guests." -Luan went to the kitchen.

Lincoln turned to the viewer. - "You see, when Lori moved out, Clyde lost it, it's like he really expected Lori to accept him and his affection, but, as expected, that didn't happen, he was on his knees, begging her to not leave. It was a really awkward and embarrassing moment. After she left, I tried to comfort him, but he just snapped and even tried to punch me, he blamed us for letting her go. Things didn't go as he planned them and he just lost it." -He sat beside Jordan, who was still comforting Stella. - "She's so caring." -He thought happily.

After Sam arrived and introduced herself and her family to the other guests, Pop-Pop and Mirtle arrived a little after and then, Lynn senior asked everyone to come to have a good dinner and share a good talk with friends.

The night went smoothly, Jordan's dad didn't mention Spider-man again, just to avoid more conflicts. Everyone over sixteen sat at a table and everyone under sixteen sat at the secondary table, where the main topic was, obviously, Spider-man. Gwen got along nicely with the twins and Lily was all over Lincoln all the time, making all girls to giggle.

When dinner was over, they took a moment to watch the news, they talked about Royal Woods mall, they mentioned the explosions and the casualties, they felt sad for them, but to everyone's surprise, when they mentioned Spider-man, they showed some interviews of the people he saved, all of them calling him a hero. Jordan's dad huffed at that but kept his opinions for himself.

They kept chatting for a while then and made each other smile and laugh. Even Stella's mood improved a little.

Pop-Pop went to Lincoln, who was dealing with Lily's enthusiasm. - "Your mom told me that you were trapped at the mall when the bombs exploded, and that you were very brave all the time." -Pop-Pop said ruffling Lincoln's hair. The boy laughed at that.

- "It was nothing, I was trapped, unable to move, I just sat there keeping myself as calm as I could, waiting for help, that's all." -

- "Your mom also told me that the spider-guy helped you." -

- "Yeah! It was incredible! Spider-man lifted the debris as if they were nothing and I could leave walking." -

- "Awesome! I don't know what to think about that guy, I mean, the daily says that he should be stopped and arrested, but people say that he's a hero, he goes around the city, helping people in need, a friend told me that he saved her baby grandchild from a fire in her daughter's apartment. He has to be very brave if he got in an apartment on fire to save a baby."-

Lincoln remembered that time, he was swinging around town when he spotted a building on fire and went to it. He saw a woman trying desperately to get in the building yelling that her baby was still inside, but the firemen were stopping her. Lincoln heard the baby crying and knew exactly in which window get in. It took him a few seconds to find the baby, he grabbed him and calmed him a little, then his spider-sense triggered, something bad was going to happen very soon. He covered himself and the baby and there was an explosion, outside, the woman yelled desperately. Then, Spider-man jumped out the building, with the baby safe and sound in his arms.

- "Here's your baby." -He said happily to the woman, who took the baby with a wide smile.

- "God bless you Spider-man!" -the woman said kissing her baby. Lincoln felt really good then.

After a couple of hours, all the guests thanked the Loud family for their hospitality and left.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At a totally dark room, an figure with darker intentions was watching the Royal Woods mall broadcast.

- "Damn you Spider-man! You just ruined everything. No one understands my pain, and I'm going to make sure that everyone in this city knows my pain, and I mean, everyone! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME LORI?!" -Clyde McBride said bitterly, madness all over his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: I know what you're going to say, Clyde isn't capable of such things, and you may be right, but he's completely obsessed with Lori, it's not a crush as you may think, the kid is actually obsessed with her, to the point of wishing and wanting that bad things happen to Bobby. And that isn't right at all.

And well, best friends becoming foes isn't new, in comics and cartoons, it happens very often.