Welcome back true believers! We once again find ourselves in the thick of a thrilling Spider-Man adventure. In the last chapter, we found that the Sinister Six were now the Sinister Eight. What are these villainous villains plotting…villainously. Read and find out.

Chapter 6: Night on the Town

Pete and Mary Jane were exiting the Silver Spoon. They walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop to head home. Pete couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. How could I have agreed to meet up with Gwen tonight! He scolded himself, The Sinister Six are on the loose, not to mention this new Hobgoblin. Just being close to Gwen puts her in danger. That's it, tonight I'll tell her that we can't be seen.

"Tiger."

I'll leave a note saying that it's just too dangerous to be seen with me.

"Tiger?"

I would have liked to be friends, but my life is full of danger and-

"PETER!"

"What?" He stopped in his tracks and looked around wildly. His eyes finally landed on the red-head next to him.

"You ok, Tiger?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine" he replied. "Just thinking, that's all."

They started to walk again. Without looking at him, Mary Jane asked, "You're worried about Gwen aren't you?"

Pete just gave a sigh. "After her reaction, I'm afraid that Gwen is going to be in over her head."

"Don't worry Tiger," said Mary Jane placing her hand on his shoulder. "Gwen's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Pete scoffed before saying, "Just like when she was taken by the Master Planner?"

This statement seemed to offset Mary Jane's faith in her friend. "Ok, you make a good point. But remember, she's a police captain's daughter. She's use to this sort of thing."

This brought a smile to Pete's face. "Yeah…I guess you're right." He sighed again, "It just bothers me to think that Gwen wants to see a guy who dresses up in a mask to swing across the New York sky line."

"You sound like you don't trust the web-head," said a skeptical Mary Jane.

"It's not that I don't trust him. (How can I not trust me?) It's just that the guy wears a mask for a reason." Mary Jane noticed how serious his voice got as she listened. "We all know that he wears a mask to protect himself from his enemies, but do we ever think about who else he protects with that mask? His family, his friends, everyone he cares about…it's called a secret identity for a reason."

Mary Jane stopped right in front of Pete making him stop as well. "I understand Spider-Man is trying to protect the people he cares about, but who protects him?" The question caught Pete off guard. He just stared at Mary Jane as she continued, "Just because he wants to keep his identity a secret doesn't mean no one can know. He could tell a couple his close friends," she added with a smile.

Pete's face became very grim. "The last time someone found out who Spider-Man was, Gwen almost died."

Mary Jane's eyes widened with shock. Pete looked at her and realized, "Did I just say that out loud?" Mary Jane nodded her still shocked head. Pete ran past her saying, "I've got to go!" He ran for another three blocks then stopped to catch his breath. How could I have been so stupid? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of police sirens. Moving into the nearby alley, Pete became Spider-Man and swung off to help the police and help get his mind off of his current idiocy.

Tears fell from her eyes as she got into the cab. She couldn't remember giving the driver the address, but somehow she ended up back at her house. She paid and thanked the driver and then entered the house. Gwen didn't call for her dad; she knew he was not home yet. She climbed the stairs to her room, tears still streaming down her face. How did this happen? she thought. In five minutes, the best day she had in a while turned into the worst day. As she came off the elevator, Gwen realized she had just lost one of her best friends. Gwen fell onto her bed and cried into her pillow, ignoring the world around her.

Gwen lifted her head from her pillow to see her room almost pitch black. The sun had long since set and the homes outside her window were full of light. She got up from her bed and turned on the lights. She snapped her eyes shut from the brightness. As she slowly opened them, allowing them to adjust to the light, she thought back to when she got home. Must have fallen asleep. She looked at her cell phone and saw she had five missed calls and three messages. She was terrified that any number of the calls were from Harry. Much to her relief and confusion, they were all from Mary Jane. She dialed her friend's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mary Jane, it's me," she said with a dry throat.

"Gwen! Where have you been? I've trying to get a hold of you for an hour," said a worried Mary Jane.

"Sorry, I fell asleep after I got home from…," tears started to well up in Gwen's eyes again.

"Gwen, are you ok?" asked Mary Jane.

"No…" Tears streaming down her face, she said, "I broke up with Harry."

This was all MJ needed to hear. "I'm on my way."

Twenty minutes later, a winded Mary Jane entered the Stacy household. She gave Gwen a hug as soon as she opened the door. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Gwen released Mary Jane and closed the door. They went to Gwen's room and she told Mary Jane all about what happened after she left the Spoon. Mary Jane just wanted to comfort Gwen, but she wasn't really sure how. Captain Stacy came home to a crying Gwen. It took both girls a good half an hour to get George calm and not file assault charges against Harry. This actually helped ease Gwen's troubled mind.

George offered to take Mary Jane home after dinner, so Gwen was currently home alone. She was getting ready for bed when a knock at her window made her jump. A red and blue clad arm came into view and dropped a note on the window sill. Realizing who it was, she ran to the window and grasped the note.

Meet me out back.

That was all is said. Closing her window, she ran to the back door. Once outside, she looked around trying to find the webbed wonder. The back yard was a decent size for two people. There was a large tree for shade during the upcoming summer months. A small patio set just under the tree. Gwen slowly took a step forward, not really sure where to go.

"Getting warmer," said a voice. She smiled and took another step forward.

"Getting warmer." Gwen continued to walk slowly towards the tree.

"Getting warmer."

"Getting hot."

"Hotter." Gwen was now right between the tree and the patio set.

"You're red hot." Gwen pretended to take another step forward, when she quickly bent down to look under the Patio table.

"And now you're ice," said the web slinger as he lowered himself from the shadows of the tree. "You were so close too."

Gwen giggled as she got up and looked at her invited visitor. She couldn't help but stare at him in his costume. She noticed how much of his upper body it showed. She could see his muscles etched in the red and blue. A bit of pink appeared on Gwen's face as a blush. Spider-Man just starred in confusion, not being able to see her bush in the dark. "Are you ok?"

Blinking quickly, Gwen realized what she was doing, deepening her blush from pink to red. This time, the wall crawler did notice and gave a small smile under his mask.

"Yes," she answer too quickly "I-I mean yes, I'm ok. I was just surprised to see you. I didn't think you'd show," she replied shyly.

"I never turn down an invitation by a beautiful lady." To Spidey's surprise, Gwen looked away, trying to hide the smile and darkening blush.

"Would like to come in?" she asked, looking back at him. "It's a little chilly out tonight."

"I don't know, Ms. Stacy. I-"

"Gwen," she interrupted him. "Call me Gwen."

"Ok, Gwen. I really shouldn't," he sadly said. "There a lot of people who want to hurt me. I would hate to see you hurt because of me." He was about to shoot a web line, but Gwen's hand reached his wrist first.

"Please, I just need to get something," she stated. Knowing it was against his better judgment, he nodded his head.

"OK. But just for a minute." Gwen nodded. "Go to the house and turn off the back lights and kitchen lights, but leave the door unlocked." Turning around with a nod, she calmly walked to the outside door and closed it. Immediately, the light that lit the back yard turned off. Then, he saw the light in the kitchen go out. Spidey dropped from his perch and carefully, but quickly, made his way into the Stacy residence. Even though he had been there hundreds of times, as Peter Parker of course, he seemed very tense now. He found that Gwen had taken the liberty of closing all the curtains and blinds in the house for him. It made him feel happy and worried at the same time. Spidey made his way to the living room, but found no one. He jumped to the second floor and perched himself on the railing. He noticed Gwen coming out of her room. It wasn't till now that Spidey was able to get a good look at her.

There were a couple of dark rings under her eyes as though she hadn't slept well. Her eyes themselves were red and puffy as though she had just been crying. Spider-Man felt a bit of anger collecting in himself. He wanted to beat down whoever did this to her.

"What happened?" he asked.

Gwen must have realized she still looked upset. "It's nothing really…That's actually not true. " She could feel herself beginning to cry again. "I…I broke up with my boyfriend today," she choked out.

At that moment in time, Spidey felt like he had been by twenty Rhinos. They broke up?…They BROKE UP! YES! Wait! I can't be happy. Gwen's crying this is horrible. The crying, not the breakup. I have to do something. His thoughts were interrupted by an added weight on him. He looked to see Gwens face buried in his chest. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She looked up to see two large white eyes staring back.

"You look like you could use some rest." His voice was full of concern. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

"It's not that I'm upset about the breakup," she sniffled. "I'm upset that I probably lost one of my best friends."

An idea suddenly came to Spidey. He probably shouldn't, but he could never say no to a crying Gwen. "I have idea that will take your mind off this whole thing." Gwen looked at him puzzled. "Do have a hood or a mask of some kind?"

Gwen thought about it and then went into her room. She looked through her closet until she found a shopping bag. Spidey came in and took a seat on the wall. Gwen removed a read spandex outfit with yellow gloves and boots. There was a white shape in the middle encased by yellow. She pulled out a small mask and a wig of black hair.

"This was what I was going to where on Halloween," she said.

"Don't you think you'd look kind of funny in that?" asked Spidey.

"This coming from the guy on the wall," replied a slightly irritated Gwen.

"Good point," he said. "Being quiet."

Gwen left the room with the costume. While she was changing, Spidey looked around the room. I wonder where all those news paper clippings she had the other day wen,t he thought. When Gwen came back into the room, if Spidey was not wearing a mask, his jaw would have hit the floor. The costume fit her perfectly. She should wear that all the time.

Gwen was starting to feel uncomfortable being starred at. "Is it really that bad?"

"What?" said Spidey, coming back to reality. "No, you look fantastic. Ever thought about becoming a sidekick?"

That made Gwen laugh. "Ok, now that I got all dolled up, what's your idea?"

Spidey leapt across the room to the wall where the bedroom window was. "Hope you're not afraid of heights," he said as he opened the window and put his hand out for Gwen.

She walked over with anticipation, then she realized something. "Wait! My dad" she said shocked. "What will I tell him? He just dropped off Mary Jane. He'll be back any second." Just then, Gwen's cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey honey, how are you feeling?" asked George Stacy.

"I'm fine dad, I'm…" she looked at Spider-Man behind her mask. "Feeling a lot better."

"I'm glad to hear it," was heard on the other end of the phone. Spidey stepped next to Gwen so he could listen. "I have some bad news. I got a call from the station; I need to go in for a while. I hope you don't mind," he said sounding remorseful. "Also I'm going to see about getting Harry arrested."

Note to self: never get on George Stacy's bad side, thought Spidey.

"Dad, please don't," plead Gwen. "I'm fine and I understand."

"Ok, don't wait up for me," said George, "and try to take your mind off of Harry for a while, ok?"

"Don't worry, Dad," said Gwen with a smirk. "I've already got that covered," she said while looking at Spider-Man.

"Ok, I love you."

"Love you to, Dad," she said. She hung up the phone and then looked to the webbed wonder.

"Well, that was convenient," said the web slinger as he resumed his position on the window sill. Gwen took his hand. He helped her out of the window and onto the roof. After turning off the lights and closing the window, the two costume clad teens headed for the big city.

This was truly a sight to behold; the city as she had never seen it before. Everyone below looked like dots. The cars looked as though they were just toys. The wind felt great as it blasted Gwens' face. Is this what felt like to be Spider-Man? The feeling of freedom, having no boundaries, no worries?

"You do this a lot?" she managed to ask over the wind while holding onto her hero.

More then you know. "Yeah," he said as they turned on another building. "But this is only part of it. You need spider powers to really get the feeling."

"What do you mean?" she asked. Without warning, Spidey let go of his web line, causing them to drop. Gwen instinctively tightened her grip. She knew Spider-Man wouldn't do anything that would get them killed…would he? Spider-Man reached out his arm and grabbed a flag pole causing the both of them to spin around it a couple of times before he landed on it and crouched down and leapt off into the air and web lined for a nearby building. After landing, Spidey was carrying Gwen in his arms, bridal style. He looked at her to see her face was blue from forgetting to breath. Spidey put her down as she regained her regular breathing pattern.

"Is that what you meant by needing spider powers?" she asked, a bit shaken.

"That?" he said dismissively. "That was just a warm up. This is the real thing." With that, he jumped off the building. Gwen ran to the edge to see him doing flips and swinging around the tops of buildings. Gwen lost sight of him as he flew over a nearby building. She looked around trying to find him. Behind her, Spidey lowered himself on a web line. Gwen slowly backed up, still looking for the web slinger.

"Peek-A-Boo!"

"Aaahhh!" She screamed as she jumped and turned around to a chuckling Spider-Man.

"That wasn't funny," said Gwen sternly.

"Oh, come on," said Spidey as he finished his amusement, "You have to admit that was funny." She just looked at him and crossed her arms across her chest. She continued to stare at him until he flipped over and landed right in front of her annoyed. "I don't believe it. You're giving me, Spider-Man, the LOOK!"

"You brought it on yourself," she simply said. "Besides, how do you know about it?"

"Your pal, Parker, told me about it," replied the Spider. "He failed to mention how potent it is, though."

"Well, now you know my super power," she said smiling.

"Tell you what; you stop Rhino with that thing and I'll be your sidekick," said Spidey. That made Gwen laugh out loud. Spidey couldn't help but smile. She composed herself, whipping a tear from her face. She looked out on the city, taking in the view. Spidey stood beside her.

"How do you do it?" she asked, taking a seat on the roof's edge.

"Do what?" he asked, attaching himself to the building itself.

"This hero thing," Gwen answered, looking down at him. "How can you look the worst people in the eye and then be able to act like everything is fine? When we were swinging, I felt like nothing could bring me down. It was if all my troubles were wiped away." She smiled as she remembered the feeling, then frowned. "Then, after we landed, it felt like all my troubles came back."

"As much as the Jolly Jameson wants you to believe, I'm not doing this for kicks," he said solemnly. "I do it because it have to."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked puzzled. "Is this way you became Spider-Man?"

"No," answered Spidey, as he took a seat next to Gwen. "I became Spider-Man to make some money." Embarrassed, he continued, "I went to the Venue downtown to try to make a few bucks in a wrestling match. I took the guy out in no time flat, but when it came time for the manager to pay me, he said I had to sign a contract with him. What was the point of putting on a mask if I had to sign a contract? So I told the guy no. He then told me 'Sorry kid, not my problem.' I got the elevator and pressed the button. Suddenly, I heard the manger. 'Stop him! He stole my money!' The crook was headed right for me…" He dropped his head in shame. "I let him run right by me into the elevator." Gwen just looked at him with shock on her face. "I watched as the elevator door closed. The crook smiled at me. The manager looked at me and said, 'You let him get away with my money!' I just looked at him and said, 'Not my problem.'"

Gwen just looked at him in shock. Her moth moved, but nothing came out. Suddenly, out of nowhere she shouted, "What were you thinking? You just let the guy get away? What's wrong with you? Do even know if the guy got away?"

Spider-Man looked her straight in the eye. Even with his mask on, Gwen knew he had a serious look on his face. "He did not get away. I promise you that," he hissed.

She didn't dare break eye contact. Gwen now understood why criminals were afraid of him. Against her better judgment, she asked, "How do you know?"

Spider-Man blinked a couple of time and then looked back down at the streets below. He sighed deeply, "Because I'm the one that caught him." Before Gwen could ask, he continued, "After I left the Venue I went home. On my way, I saw a bunch of police cars in front of a house. You probably know the place. It was Parker's house." Gwen took a small gasp of air, placing a hand over her mouth. "I wasn't friends or anything with Pete, but I knew the family. I overheard one of the cops say that the killer was being chased down. I didn't know what happened, but if it involved someone getting hurt, I wanted the guy first." There was anger in Spideys' voice. "I knew the car, so I followed it. I caused the guy to crash and hid in an abandoned warehouse. I followed the guy. He tried to fight, but I was too quick. I had him. I tried to pin him against a window, but it broke. A spot light was on us. I could he the fear in his eyes. I ripped of his mask…and I felt like I should have died."

It took all the energy Spidey had to finish his story. Closing his eyes, he continued. "It was the crook from the Venue. He was the one that killed Ben Parker. All for some lousy car." He pounded his hand into the roof, making gravel fly. Gwen just stayed motionless; she was not sure of what to do next. Spidey slowly lifted his head and looked out onto the roof tops. "That's when I learned that with great power comes great responsibly. I have the power to protect people." He looked at Gwen. "That means it's my responsibility to protect them so no one else will lose someone they love."

Gwen didn't know what to say. At first she wanted to shout at him, berate him. But after looking at his reaction to the memories, she felt he must have berated himself enough. She got up and moved next him and placed her hand on his. He looked at her. "I've never got to thank you for saving me all those times. Thanks." Gwen could tell that his expression softened.

"It was my pleasure to help such a lovely lady," he said, making Gwen blush. Suddenly, his spider sense went off. He grabbed Gwen and dived off the building. Gwen was not sure what was going on until she heard the explosion. She looked back to see a cloud of green smoke where they had been sitting. Spidey shot a web line for the nearest building, trying to make his way to a safe place for Gwen. His spider sense alerted him of yet another attack that was coming. He quickly changed direction as two pumpkin blades came whizzing past.

Gwen was looking around, but was not able to find the attacker. She looked down to see a large roof top. "Down there!" she shouted, pointing to the roof.

Spidey saw the roof. "Got it!" He began to descend when a pumpkin blade cut his web line, sending Spidey and Gwen falling the last two feet to the roof. Spidey shot a new web line to a neighboring building. It slowed their fall, but not enough for a smooth landing. Spidey made sure to take the brunt of the landing. After a few seconds, Gwen began to get up from where she lay. She saw that she was wrapped in Spider-Man's arms. She shook him, trying to wake him up. It didn't take too long for the masked hero to come around.

"What happened?" she asked, helping Spider-Man to his feet.

All he did was look up and point. "Him."

What will happen to our hero, will he defeat his foe while protecting the girl? Or will he face certain DOOM! What will happen? What? What? WHAT?

Heck if I know. Be on the lookout for the next Chapter, don't forget to review. Thanks.

A/N: I just wanted to thank all who have read this story and thank again all those who have reviewed it. This being one of my first solo stories really makes me feel like I'm doing something right. I just wanted to wish all who read this a very Merry Christmas, and to those who don't celebrate Christmas Happy Holidays.