Well, Sora mused, if he was going to stay for a while, he needed somewhere to live...and even though a dirty alley where strange dealings happen on a daily basis wasn't the ideal choice, he had somehow managed to sleep through the night-but he woke up with the plan that he needed to ask someone if he could stay with them for awhile...awkward thing to ask a stranger, but Sora doubted that the apartment managers would accept his currency: munny.

"Hey, can I-?"

"Get lost, kid!"

"Do you mind-?"

"Watch it, jerk!"

"I was wondering-?"

"Move it, brat!"

Wow. He was quickly learning that this city spat out nothing but assholes. He expected some people to react to his question like that, but not when he only got a few friggin words out! If no one was going to let him finish his sentence-much less stay at their home-, he figured it was time to do the inevitable: get a job to rent an apartment. He'd camp out in the alley until he got the money. It wasn't exactly a great way of living, but Sora couldn't think of anything else. If he wasn't so curious to know about Spider-man, he would've bolted back to Destiny Islands hours ago.

Half an hour after wandering around the streets looking for an available job, Sora hid behind another alley, summoned his Keyblade and contacted Donald from his Gummi Ship.

"Hey, Donald. I'm gonna be staying a little longer than I first thought."

"What? Why?" Donald sounded unusually calm. Maybe he wasn't surprised by Sora's decision.

"Well, something unexpected happened and I want to find out more about it. So could you do me a favor and tell Kairi and Riku what I just said?"

"Fine. How long will you be gone?"

"Two or three weeks-"

"What?"

"Tops, Donald! Two or three weeks tops. It may be shorter. It just depends."

"Sora, you haven't found any Heartless, have you?"

"Wha-No! Of course not! I just need to find out about something."

"Is it important?"

"It is to me."

"So it isn't."

"Hey!"

"It's a joke! Jeez..." Sora heard him rubbing his feathery forehead with his hands. "I'll tell em', I promise. Just lemme sleep in a little longer."

"Sleep in? It's noon!"

"Exactly." There was a click and the line went dead. Sora rolled his eyes. For all he knew, Donald wouldn't bring the news to his island friends until the next day.

But at least he got it out of the way. Now it was time to look for a job...he wanted to do something that he was good at, or at least something he knew how to do. Unfortunately, the only talent he possessed was fighting, and he doubted that people would pay to see a boy smash things with an oversized key.

Sora passed a newspaper stand-it was hard to ignore since the front cover of all the papers said in bold print: "Spider-Man in action: Photos Wanted!" Back tracking as soon as the words he had read slapped the full meaning on his brain, he put his hands on the glass covering the newspapers to make sure he read right. His heart leaped with excitement. A job opportunity! And better still, another chance to know Spider-Man! This was going to be easier than he thought.

Sure he knew how to operate a camera. Kairi taught him how one boring summer day. But, he realized, this photo thing lead to another downside: he didn't have a camera to use. He could buy one, except that brought up the whole money problem again. Maybe he could ask Kairi about borrowing her's?

Oh, well, he'd work it out later. He had to get this job before anyone else could take it. The paper said that it was published by The Daily Bugle in Manhattan, so now he just had to look for that building. Sora looked at the skyscraper that the newspaper stand stood in front of. At the top of both sides of the building, giant letters proudly displayed "The Daily Bugle".

Well, that was easy.

His anticipation mounting with each step he took toward the building, Sora pushed into its revolving door. What greeted him were glass windows, the smell of ink, and a desk with a woman talking on a dial phone next to an elevator. When Sora approached her, she stopped chatting and observed Sora with a steady brown gaze.

"I'm here for the job of taking Spider-Man's pictures." Sora explained. The woman nodded toward the elevator.

"Talk with Mr. Jameson on the top floor." She said robotically.

Sora stepped into the elevator, but before the doors could slide closed, a hand hastily got in the way and prevent them from closing.

"Sorry, sorry! Just in a bit of a hurry." The elevator doors slid back open, and the owner of the hand was revealed as a boy. He looked like he was barely older than Sora, probably by a few months, and he had somewhat ruffled brown hair, huge brown eyes that were currently burning with anger and awkwardness, and he was wearing a blue shirt over a grey sweatshirt and brown pants. As soon as he made eye contact with Sora, the Keyblade Master thought he detected shock in his gaze, but it reverted to its previous stature so quickly that he figured he must've imagined it.

"No problem." Sora stepped aside, and the boy stood to the left of him, looking at anything that wasn't Sora. The awkwardness of being in a small enclosed space with someone who looked really pissed off and trying to avoid meeting his eyes started to get to Sora, and he asked, "So, what's your name?"

"What?" The boy snapped out of his stupor and gave Sora a questioning glance.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, er, I'm Peter. Peter Parker." Peter stuck out his hand and Sora shook it. The original hostility in his eyes was replaced with friendliness, but there was something about his voice that sounded somewhat guarded, like he was blocking a negative emotion.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sora." He took his hand back, and Peter asked, "What do you want to see Jameson for?"

"Well, I heard that there was a job opening for someone who could take pictures of Spider-Man-,"

"Ugh, you too?" Peter facepalmed himself, his eyes squeezed shut in frustration. Sora regarded him, half confusedly, half angrily from his chagrined outburst.

"Well, what's wrong with that? Are you trying to get the job too?"

"No, no..." Peter rubbed a hand across his hair and looked at Sora apologetically. "Sorry, it's just that I was the one who came up with the idea in the first place. I offered Jameson pictures of Spider-Man, he kicked me out, and spontaneously decided to steal my idea. At the very least, he should pay me for giving him that plan."

Sora lost his initial guard and put his hands behind his head in a relaxed gesture. "Oh, that's alright. If that's the case, I can understand why you'd wanna-," He paused as he realized what Peter had mentioned before. "-Wait a minute, you've taken pictures of Spider-Man?"

Peter looked embarassed. "Well, no, but we met before so-,"

"You've met him?"

"Why else would I offer photos?" He pointed out, then looked a little suspicious as he asked, "Why are you interested in Spider-Man?"

Not catching Peter's edge, Sora explained, "Well, he's a superhero, and that's one thing-but I just think it would be kinda neat to know him. I ran into him(or he ran into me) at one point, and I thought he was a jerk. He was incredibly cocky and acted like a smart-ass-,"

Peter looked slightly offended as he said, "Well, he normally only acts like that to his enemies. Did he think you were one?"

Sora stared at him strangely. "Er, yeah, how did you know that?"

"I've known him long enough." Peter stated simply.

Sora shrugged it off and continued, "Well, after he realized I wasn't with these two thugs that robbed a jewelry store, he let me go and swung away on strings. While I was still thinking that he was a jerk, the thought of a "jerk" stopping a robbery was out of the question. He's got to be some kind of hero! It would be amazing to get to know him; fight crime with him, talk to him, maybe even find out who's behind the mask! And taking pictures of Spider-Man would be the perfect chance to do it." Sora knew he was acting like a little kid at a comic book store, but he didn't care. Saying the idea out loud sounded even more exciting than it sounded in his head.

Peter avoided his eyes again. "Well, I don't think he would want you to find out who he is." He sounded gravely serious.

Sora deflated. "Why not?"

Peter looked him in the eyes, some kind of intense soberness glowing deep within. "He wears a mask for a very good reason. Heroes like Spider-Man will always have enemies. As long as he does, someone will always want to find out who he is. If they do, they may try to threaten Spider-Man by...hurting the ones that he loves."

Sora stiffened. Suddenly he regreted even thinking about finding the man behind the mask.

"He wouldn't even tell me who he was, but he trusted me enough to explain why he wears a mask. I've sworn with my life that if I ever found out, I wouldn't tell a soul. Not even my closest friends. For now, I think it's best that his true identity remains a mystery."

The Keyblade Master felt awful. Memories of how he felt when Kairi was kidnapped by his enemies were flooding him, and all the terror, fear, and sadness he had felt was overflowing his heart at a dizzying rate. He promised himself that he would protect her and she still got taken from him in the end, and it had been all his fault. If he'd just fought back harder...

So Spider-Man had people he cared about too. In that case, Sora understood why he would want to remain an enigma. No one deserved to have someone they loved stolen from them-or worse, killed.

Sensing that he had struck an uncomfortable chord with Sora, Peter added quickly, "But he doesn't mind if you help him-as long as you don't think of him as a jerk. Believe me, he's got enough of those folks on his tail already."

Sora perked up a little bit, but one thing was still bothering him.

"Why are you telling me all this? If Spider-Man wants you to keep his reasons a secret, why share it with me of all people?"

Peter smiled warmly. "You seem like a person that he and I can trust. I can't explain it, but I know that you won't betray him in any way."

Sora sighed with relief, then smirked a little bit. "I wonder why he doesn't mind having pictures taken of himself if he doesn't want people to know who he is?"

"Well, just because his identity is a secret doesn't mean he doesn't want to be known as a hero. Besides, he knows that I need the money."

Sora was about to ask why he needed it when the elevator suddenly stopped and the door slid open.

"That was the longest elevator trip ever." Sora mused.

"Actually we've already reached our floor then traveled back down again seven times without realizing." Peter chuckled.

Sora joined in his laughter before the two stepped into the room. There were glass windows on one side that showed an incredible view of the beautiful city, and six desks on each side of the room were distributed so proportionately that if one were to move a desk an inch out of line the whole place would look disfigured. At least two people sat at each desk, typing on a laptop busily. In the back of the room, there was an office separated from the rest of the site, and inside a brown haired woman was talking to a middle aged man, who was gesticulating furiously about who knows what.

"That would be Jameson." Peter said dully, eyes focused on the man. Sora could tell just by the way the man was moving and the halfheartedness in Pete's voice that he would be hard to get along with. Peter already made him sound like a jerk when he informed Sora about the stolen photos idea, but he didn't feel glad that he was right.

The man practically broke down the office door as he opened it, exclaiming in a scratchy voice, "Where're my Spider-Man pictures? I advertise the offer to all of Manhattan and no one will file me with a decent one!"

"Blood pressure, Mr. Jameson." The brown haired girl said warningly. Before he could say something more, Peter suddenly spoke up,

"Jameson, if you're so desperate to get those pictures, why not hire the guy who offered them to you in the first place?"

Everyone paused their work and stared at the two newcomers. Sora noticed that most of them kept staring at his spiky hair.

"You again? And you brought a wanna-be anime kid to support you? I figured you were broke, but a lawyer from Georgia would've accepted less bucks than him." Jameson, who upon closer inspection had black hair with flecks of white starting to grow around his forehead, a black toothbrush mustache, and a white shirt underneath a brown vest with a red tie, and brown pants, snapped.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded, blood boiling. Screw calling him a jerk. This guy was an absolute asshole.

"GREAT comeback, kid." Jameson sneered. "Miss Brant, get this kid a hair brush and throw in a decent set of clothes." He told the brown haired woman.

'It's not hard to imagine why few people want to give YOU pictures of Spider-Man', Sora thought, frowning. Maybe this job wasn't such a good idea after all. Besides, Peter said that he needed the money, and he had a gut feeling that Peter needed it for more than finding a temporary home.

"Look, I'm the one who came up with that idea, so-!" Peter began, but Jameson seemed very keen on keeping the upper hand.

"So what! Actions speak louder than words-ya wanna get paid for 'your' idea?" He emphasized the word "your" with extreme skepticism, "Then actually TAKE the damn pictures!"

Peter looked like he was about to say something more, but then he looked thoughtful, and suddenly a bit of a smile played on his face. "Fine. I'll take the pictures."

"Goody. I expect them in three days or less, but if anyone gets a picture before you, you're outta luck. Goodbye, there's the door." Jameson stamped back into his office, but not before turning to Sora, who was about to ask Peter something. "What're you waiting for, 2012? Get out."

Sora 'hmphed' and followed Peter back to the elevator, but not before sticking his tongue out childishly at Jameson over his shoulder. "That didn't go very well."

Peter looked at him in confusion. "Why didn't you talk to him about the pictures? I thought you wanted this job too."

Sora shrugged. "You told me you needed the money, and I figured that you need it more than I do. Besides, I'll find Spider-Man some other way."

"How do you know?"

Sora smiled. "I can't explain it, I just do." He repeated part of Peter's words from earlier.

Peter chuckled good naturedly. "Touche. My aunt and I are having some problems with bills, and photography is the only thing I'm good at. Well, that and science, but the lab job I have is more like Volunteer work. It was stupid of me to think that Jolly Jameson would give me money for coming up with the idea, but at least now I know that I can easily get those pictures since I know Spider-Man so well. Why did you think you needed the money?"

Here it was again. People would ask where Sora came from or why he was there or something along those lines, and he had to come up with a half assed excuse. Not one of his favorite parts for visiting new worlds.

"Well, I'm new here and I need a place to stay, but I don't have any money for an apartment or hotel, so..." Well at least that was part of the truth. That whole "from another world" detail didn't need to be used.

Peter was astonished. "Wha-and you think I need the money more than you do? Dude, not having a home to return to isn't exactly a small reason for money!"

Sora held up his hands in front of him. "Hey, I'm only staying for a bit, and I did bring money, but I don't think that this place would accept the currency..."

"What type of money is it? Where did you come from anyway?"

Sora gulped nervously. He wished that for once he wouldn't have to answer the million dollar question. "Well, it's, uh...Munny."

Peter quirked an eyebrow. "I know it's money, but what type? Is it yen? Pounds?" For a humorous touch, he added, "Gold Galleons?"

Sora didn't notice his joking demeanor, and answered with, "Just Munny. And, well, I'm from an island. We have a weird sort of currency...er, if you don't mind, can I just keep it at that?" He really didn't feel good about lying, especially to someone like Peter who proved himself to be very kind, but of course he had no choice. World order and all that crap.

Peter stared at him suspiciously for a few heartbeats, then he shrugged and decided to let it go. If Sora had secrets that he didn't want to share, he would respect that. He'd already decided that he liked Sora since he was very nice and his childish personality was amusing, so he was once again sticking with his gut saying that whatever secrets Sora possessed, they weren't malicious.

After all, Peter had secrets too, and it would be hypocritical to force Sora to spill without revealing his own.

Peter suddenly smiled brightly and bumped his fist into his palm. "I got it! If you're only staying for a bit, I know where you can stay. It can't be with me since Aunt May can't afford to feed an extra mouth right now, but I've got a friend-rich, I might add-who'd be more than willing to help a guy out. Only problem is that I don't know if his dad, Mr. Osborn, will be as welcoming."

Despite the edge of worry in Peter's last sentence, Sora still felt cheered up. He'd made a new friend, possibly had the opportunity to fight alongside Spider-Man, and now he(probably) had a place to stay. He always got involved in some pretty neat stuff, but this certainly took the cake-especially in the luck department.

"I'll take you there now. His building is right around the block anyway." The elevator door opened, and Peter grabbed Sora's hand before he took out of the Daily Bugle and pointed at a building that was, as he said, right around the block. It was taller than the Daily Bugle, which was saying something, and was cylinder shaped.

"Norman Osborn prefers to stay in his one of his work buildings, so his Penthouse is right above all the action. Thank God today's a saturday. You won't have to deal with the sickening anticipation of waiting for Stormin' Norman to come home. He's normally checking up stuff on the computer during weekends."

After taking yet another elevator ride, this time in the Osborn building as Peter called it, they arrived on the top floor. Sora stared around the room in amazement. The living room alone was big enough to house a party of one hundred, ancient statues surrounded a couch in the middle of the place, unique masks were evenly attached to some of the white walls, and seemingly endless other doors leading into other rooms. The best detail was the the window leading out to a deck, perfect for viewing the city while getting some fresh air.

"When you said your friend was rich, you certainly weren't kidding." Sora chortled. Peter grinned and called, "Harry!" His voice echoed like he was inside a cave.

Out of one of the doors, a boy entered, stretching one of his arms. He had short, ruffly red hair, almond shaped green eyes, wore a green vest over a white shirt, and cacki pants.

"Hey, Pete," The boy, Sora assumed he was Harry, greeted. "What's up? You should've called first so you wouldn't have found me when I was trying to sleep off the-," He spotted Sora and blinked. "I'm sorry, who're you?"

"I'm Sora." The teen grinned, holding out his hand. Harry shook it, smiling a little. "Harry." He introduced. "I'm guessing you're a friend of Peter's?"

"Pretty much." Said boy nodded. "Listen, Harry, do you mind if we both ask you a small favor?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure, anything you want."

"Is it okay if Sora stays with you for a couple of days?"

Harry's eyes widened. "You call that a small favor?"

Sora sighed apologetically. "Yeah, I know that it sounds weird letting a complete stranger stay in your home-but really, it's only for a while, and I promise that I won't be too disruptive or anything. Please?"

Harry laughed a little bit. "Relax, Sora, any friend of Peter's is a friend of mine. Hell, it was starting to get a little lonely without anyone here-y'know, except Dad, but he's so busy I have to talk to myself. I end up having the most interesting conversations." He said jokingly.

Sora laughed, then Peter stated in embarrasment, "Yeah, sorry about not coming too often Harry. I've been kinda busy..."

"Say no more." Harry dismissed, waving his hand. "As I said, it'll be neat having another guy in the house. Thing is, I'm not sure if Dad-,"

"Harry, Peter, Stranger, get over here." A formal voice called from the deck.

"Oh, speak of the devil..." Harry groaned.

A man was sitting on a chair in the deck. He had red hair like Harry's, only combed back neatly, he wore a stereotypical work suit-black all over with a red tie, and almond green eyes. But while Harry's eyes were wide and slightly humorous, his were cold and steely. His long chin was resting against his neatly folded hands as he stared at Sora steadily.

"I couldn't help overhearing..." He stated.

"Er, hello, you must be Mr. Osborn." Sora said awkwardly. "I'm really sorry to ask but-,"

Norman smirked. "Don't you dare apologize, young man. I never do." He stood up and towered over Sora, almost menacingly. "So you're a friend of Peter's?" He asked.

Sora nodded, feeling uncomfortable. "Y-Yeah. See, I don't have a place to stay and i-it's only for a few days but is it okay if I just...well, stay here for a bit? I promise you won't see me or hear me or-," He didn't know why he was rambling so much. All he knew was that Norman Osborn was intimidating and he couldn't bring himself to act proper like he supposed he should be.

Harry stepped into the conversation even as Sora continued to talk. "Dad, he'll be fine. I could look after him, anyway. Tell him what he shouldn't do or touch and stuff like that." He tried to sound confident, but everytime he looked his father in the eye, his voice got an annoying quiver that just wouldn't go away.

Sora ceased chattering when Norman calmly held up his hand. "It's fine."

"Wow, that was quick-er I mean, really? Why so fast with the decision making?" Sora asked.

Norman gripped Sora's shoulder firmly. "You're a friend of Peter's. If a boy like him thinks that someone like you could be beneficial to any sort of thing for his future, then I know he made a good choice."

Sora nervously took Norman's hand off his shoulder as he pointed out, "Harry thinks I'm good too." Seriously, why was this man talking about Peter like he was his son instead of Harry?

Norman leered at Harry, who shifted fearfully under his gaze. "Yes, but unlike my son, Peter is a genius, and making excellent progress. You're now part of that progress."

Sora decided right then and there that he did NOT like Norman, especially after he noticed Harry's dejected look from the corner of his eye.

"Well, thank you, sir." Sora said, hoping he succeeded in masking his disdain with politeness. "I guess I'll go and find a room..."

Norman nodded and returned to the chair, pondering about other cruel things, Sora thought.

Peter, bless him, decided to break the tension. "Well, maybe Harry and I should show you around like suggested. With the hundreds of rooms in this place, that alone could fill up a whole day."

Perking up a little, Harry smirked and pointed to a room in the far corner. "You can sleep in there, Sora. It's one of our guest rooms."

Sometime in the middle of the tour, Peter asked Sora and Harry, "Ya wanna come with me to my lab job tomorrow? I guarantee it'll be interesting."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Pass. You know I can never understand that science crap."

Sora shrugged. "Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do, and exploring the city'll give me more chances to meet Spider-Man!" Excitement surged through him again.

Harry laughed. "You wanna meet Spider-Man? Lemme guess, that's why you came to visit in the first place?"

Sora nodded without any shame.

"Well, all I can say is good luck with that-you're gonna need a lot of it. Many people have come to Manhattan to see him, and they could barely catch a glimpse of him 'flying' across the city. Best chance would be to coincidentally get involved in some kind of crime, and you'd be lucky to survive the experience."

Sora smiled to himself knowingly. "Don't worry, I'm actually pretty confident that I could live through more than one."

Harry shrugged. "Your funeral."

"Well, you never know." Peter pointed out. "I gotta take pictures of him, and that means I'll need most of Sora's share of luck for that."

For the rest of the day, until it was time for Peter to return home, the three new friends just sat on the couch, talking away, and not knowing what strange adventures would meet them in the future.