Um, Hi everyone! So sorry about saying nothing on the last chapter upload, I really just wanted to get the chapter out. Uploads will be real slow as I'm in my last year of highschool and I have to focus on that. But I will finish these series of stories, even if it takes awihle, so take care and enjoy the newest chapter.

DECEMBER 26, 2003

"Am I the only one who finds this really weird?" Harry whispered, Mary-Jane stared at him questionably.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The guy who has made our life a living hell for the past few years is now suddenly hanging out with us? I can't be the only one who thinks that this is suspicious." Harry stated, MJ sighed.

"If he was trying something, he would've done it by now." She adds.

"Yeah, but…" Harry was cut off by MJ putting her finger on his lips.

"I know you're worried Har, but Peter doesn't need us to protect him all the time anymore. If he believes Flash can and genuinely wants to change then I'll stick with him." MJ said.

On the other side of the table sat Peter and Flash, with the former helping the latter understand biology.

"So hold on, You're telling me that energy doesn't get destroyed when taken or used, but just transfers into something else?" Flash questioned.

"Yup, that also shows how the Food chain works as it does, it's a flowing stream of energy." Peter explains.

"Ohhh, I get ya." Flash replied. MJ smiled at the sight.

"And besides, they're getting along just fine." MJ observed, Harry sighed.

"I guess you're right." He mumbled. May then made her appearance, entering the kitchen with a plate of cookies.

"Oh wow, thanks May." Peter thanked her.

"Cookies? Score! Thanks Ms. Parker!" Flash exclaimed.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm dear, but there is no need to yell." May said.

"Yeah dude, you almost burst my eardrums." MJ complained. Flash scratched his head sheepishly.

"Sorry." Flash apologized.

"No need to apologize, anyway, do any of you mind if I listen to the news?" She asked.

"Nah not really, thanks for hospitality ma'am." Harry responded. May then turned on the television and went to the news channel.

"At 4:30 pm yesterday, a supervillain attacked newspaper publishing company 'The Daily Bugle', thankfully he was stopped by new vigilante Spider-Man." The news anchor said. May sighed.

"Where are all these people coming from? I swear it's like they all decided to cause trouble for no reason." May said.

"You can say that again." MJ agreed.

"Good thing Spider-Man was there to stop him right?" Flash asked. Peter perked up.

"That is true, he seems to be the only one trying to help. I wish him the best in his endeavors." May noted. Peter smiled a little at the praise he received, which MJ noticed.

"Aww, look at you getting flustered." She whispered.

"Shuddup." He whispered back.

"Breaking News, reports of a Rhinoceros rampaging across the city have been submitted, please stay in your homes and don't leave until the threat is taken care of." The news channel states, all four teenagers looked at the television.

A man, if you could call him one, looked ten feet tall and he was holding a car over his head. He resembled a mix between a rhino and a man, his eyes were a deep amber and most defining feature was the foot long horn on top of his head.

"Holy shit." Harry mumbled astonished, and everyone else was in the same boat.

"What is that thing?" MJ asked, genuinely getting anxious at what she was seeing.

"Huge Rhino dude." Flash expressed.

"Another one?! This will never end will it?" She questioned.

Peter stared onwards at the television, he knew what he had to do.

"Um, guys I gotta check something in my room, so could you give me like twenty minutes tops?" Peter asked.

"Go on ahead, just don't take too long." May said.

"Or else you won't get anymore cookies." Flash added as he was about to grab more, but his hand was slapped away by Harry.

"Not gonna happen, do what you gotta do man." Harry expressed with a smirk, MJ gave him a thumbs up.

Peter then rushed upstairs, closed his bedroom door, put on his costume and leapt out of his window to save the day.

Spider-Man swung towards the area the man had rampaged, he perched himself on a traffic light as he surveyed the were destroyed cars littering the streets and buildings that looked like they were about to fall off their foundations.

"Jeez, looks like a bulldozer went through here." Spider-Man said. He saw a paramedic near an ambulance carrying an injured man inside it. Spider-Man landed next to the paramedic, startling her a bit.

"Jesus! You can't just jump outta the blue like that." She exclaimed, the young hero scratched his head sheepishly.

"S-sorry, but um, can you tell me what happened here ma'am?" He asked. She sighed.

"You didn't read the news? A rhino dude ran through here an hour ago." She answered.

"Where did he go? I'll try my best to stop em." Peter stated, she then pointed to a building with a massive hole going through it.

"Huh, I didn't notice that. Thanks for the help!" He shouted as he sprinted towards the danger, after 30 minutes of searching, a massive explosion was heard. He rushed over and landed in the area.

The location was an Oscorp factory and what exploded was one of their gas tanks, the area was blanketed in smoke. He wandered around the area searching for the Rhino creature.

"Hey! Come on out dude! Jeez, never thought trying to find a giant Rhino dude would be so hard." He joked, suddenly his spider sense rang through his skull. Spider-Man held his head and screamed in pain.

"AHH! The hell!?" He said as he turned to see the most terrifying thing he had ever seen, the creature stood over him, it being ten feet tall was an understatement, it was closer to fifteen. The creature narrowed its eyes, the young hero stumbled back a little.

"Is that a rhino horn or are you just happy to see… I'm so scared, I can't even finish my lame jo-"

"RAGHHHHHHHHHHH!" The creature roared as he smacked Spider-Man into next week, the teen flew through the air and crashed into a wall. The Rhino then turned around and sprinted off to cause destruction somewhere else.

Spider-Man emerged from the hole in the wall his body created.

"Ugh, I think I broke my ribs… and my spine." He winced, he then leapt in the air and gave chase.

"So, you want to go on a date tomorrow? I can't stay away from a beautiful lady like yourself for long you know?" A boy asked, his hair was blonde in color and he had shimmering blue eyes, his face was angular and square shaped, he had a roman shaped nose and he was tall, lean and muscular.

"Oh my god stop! You're making me blush, but yeah absolutely! Thanks for the gift babe." The girl in front of him said.

"Anything for the wonderful person I call girlfriend." He slyly replied, suddenly a device in his pocket started ringing.

"Hold on, gimme a sec." He said as he moved away and from and placed the device to his ear.

"Johnny, there's a massive Rhino man speeding down main street. We need you on it." A woman on the other line answered. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, why do I have to do it? This seems more like Ben's forte, like hello, giant rock dude, giant Rhino dude? It fits Sue." He expressed.

"I would but he is busy with what I and Reid are doing right now, you're the only one who is available, just get on with it please? I promise I'll make it up to you." Sue begged. Johnny sighed.

"Fine." He stated. He then turned to his girlfriend.

"Sorry, I gotta go. Superhero stuff, but I can promise you that I'll bring you that store you always wanted to go to." He said to her.

"I'll count on it, Johnny." She replied. He then smirked, closed his eyes and breathed in.

"FLAME ON!" He declared, his body erupted into flames leaving only a massive four symbol on his chest.

"Human Torch, at your service." He stated before blasting off towards his destination.

"GRAAHHH" Rhino yelled, Spider-Man leapt into the air to avoid the creature's massive fist. He webbed the creature's eyes, Rhino only got more agitated as he couldn't see, he swung blindly and was unfortunately able to smack the teen sending him flying into a brick wall.

"D-damn, this dude is h-horrifically strong, how in the hell am I gonna beat him?" He groaned to himself. The Rhino walked up to the boy, and Spider-Man saw another terrifying image that day. The damn thing was smiling at him.

"Little Pauk." Rhino managed to grumble out. Spider-Man's eyes widened upon realizing who the creature was.

"You, you're the big guy!" He then quickly dodged an overhead slam from Aleksi.

"Ok, this confirms it! Tombstones sending you guys after me! And that means…" He dodged another attack.

"That I…" And another.

"I've been putting everyone in danger." He lamented, Rhino used this to his advantage and tackled the boy, slamming them both through multiple buildings. He then threw the boy, Spider-Man slammed into a car, and slid down onto the ground.

"Tch! Dammit! This bastard's kicking my ass, gotta find a way to knock him out, somehow!" He groaned.

"LITTLE PAUK! WE NOT DONE!" Aleksi yelled with a devilish grin. People in the area began to scream and run away, Aleksi then turned his attention to the screaming people directing his anger at them.

"LITTLE PEOPLE, STOP SCREAMING! GRAHHHHHHH!" He roared, and began to charge towards them, but he was stopped by two web lines attaching to his head and pulling him back, Rhino hissed and kept pushing forward.

"Sonuva… Bitch! I won't let you hurt them… Aleksi!" He shouted out, the civilians watched in anxious awe at the display of strength.

"What are you guys…doing! Run!" Spider-Man shouted through gritted teeth. The civilians quickly listened as they turned tail and ran. Rhino retaliates by swinging his arm forward, catapulting the boy towards him before sending him reeling with a devastating clothesline. The teen crashed into a wall before landing on the cold hard ground.

The boy passed out, leaving him defenseless to the massive adversary standing before him.

"Night Night little Pauk!" He stated, before raising his feet to deliver a thunderous stomp against his fallen opponent aiming to end this bout, and he almost succeeded until…

"No squashed humans on my watch!" Torch yelled as he blasted a column of fire onto the Rhino.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" He shouted as his skin was burned, he attempted to swing at the burning man but his target immediately dodged to the left away from his massive fist. He continued to be bombarded with fire, his eyes darted around to find anything that could be used to get him out of this situation.

"Aww, big guy can't handle a little fire? Maybe you should stay out the-" His sentence was interrupted by being grabbed and slammed into a fire hydrant. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the flames.

"GRAHHHH!" Rhino screamed in pain while holding his hand. Johnny flew away to gain some distance, he clutched his side in pain as the water evaporated from his body.

"Shit, bastard broke a few ribs." He expressed. Then Rhino started sprinting away from the battle, but as Johnny was about to follow, his attention was grabbed by a boy trapped under rubble.

"Crap! Gotta help the kid!" He said to himself before flying his way over, he slung Spider-Man over his shoulders.

"Wait a sec, you're the new guy!" He called out, and he examined the younger boy. His mask lenses were cracked, and rips were all over the colorful suit.

"Damn, you look pretty beat up." He said as he picked the boy up and flung him over his shoulder.

"Don't worry Spidey, we'll fix you up good as new." He stated before blasting off.

Spider-Man's eyes opened, his vision was assaulted with blinding lights, whilst trying to ignore it he looked around his surroundings. He was inside a lab, now he was confused, where was he?

"Hello! Where am I?" He called out, and suddenly the lab door opened, revealing Johnny in casual clothing, the older teen's expression became one of surprise.

"Oh shit, you're awake." Johnny expressed, Spider-Man's eyes widened. He pointed at the blonde teen and began stuttering.

"Y-you, you're Johnny Storm! The Human Torch!" The younger teen exclaimed. Johnny chuckled.

"Nice to know that the new guy's a fan." He said to himself.

"If you're here, then that means I'm in the Baxter building! Are the other members in the fantastic four here!?" Spider-Man asked.

"Nah, they're in some alternate dimension. I couldn't go because I had exams coming up." He explained casually. Spider-Man's jaw dropped to the floor.

"You said that so casually. Like it's mundane." The young here mentioned, still shocked by what he just heard.

"Cuz it is. But enough about that. Me and you, we have a problem to fix." Johnny stated.

"What problem?" Spider-Man asked.

"Oh yeah, you were out. The giant Rhino dude you were fighting is still rampaging across the city. We gotta stop that fast." He explained.

"Oh crap! You didn't beat him?" Spider-Man asked. Johnny nodded.

"Nope, I had to save you, and he got away." He replied.

"Dammit. Alright then, so you got a plan?" Spider-Man questioned.

"Was hoping you could help with that bug eyes." Johnny mentioned while extending his hand. The red and blue wonder grabbed and shook it.

"Well, let's go put this knuckle head back in the zoo shall we?" Spider-Man quipped. Johnny snorted.

"Oh wow, that was bad. Couldn't think of anything better?" Johnny teased. The other boy rolled his eyes.

"Shuddup, I'd like to see you do better."

Aleksi had long since returned to the lab, where many scientists were nursing his wounds. Norman and Tombstone observed him from the glass box on the ceiling.

"Another failure." Tombstone stated, irritated at the predicament. Norman chuckled.

"No, this was his first attempt. I'm sure he'll do better next time." Norman expressed.

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you will provide me with another test subject. Preferably, one who isn't faulty." Norman said, Tombstone suddenly grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him up into the air.

"Faulty? My men are not faulty. Maybe, you should make something that brings actual results, Osborn!" He yelled, Norman laughed.

"How dare you?! Never insult my genius, you don't own me and neither do you have the authority to order me around. Now unhand me you pale bastard." Norman spat.

"Oh really now? And what makes you think I can't kill you right now?" Tombstone hissed.

"Because I'm sure you'd want your precious Janice to not meet an early end would you?" Norman expressed sinisterly.

"What?! How the hell do you… Damn bastard! Stay away from her!" Tombstone roared.

"Oh I will, as long as you watch yourself. Now then, we will send Aleksi again tomorrow. And If he fails, then you will send me another." Norman stated as he turned to leave the glass box. Tombstone's eyes drilled holes into the back of the shorter man's head.

"Tch." Was all he could say in response.

Spider-Man crawled through his bedroom window, he quickly took off his mask and costume.

"Aw shit, I was knocked out wasn't I? How long was I gone?" Peter questioned, he quickly threw on some casual clothing and rushed outside his room. So fast in fact, he almost bumped into MJ.

"Peter!" She nearly shouted as she pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Hi Mary." Peter greeted, and she let him go.

"Where were you?" She whispered.

"At the Baxter building, how long have I been gone?" Peter asked.

"An hour. C'mon everyone's worried. Also, did you just say the Baxter building?"

"Yup. Met the Human Torch." Peter bragged, MJ's eyes widened.

"Johnny fucking Storm?! Dude, you must be joking."

"Nope. Completely serious."

"Wow. L… let's go downstairs before my mind blows." Mary-Jane stated. The two then made their way downstairs.

"Sorry I took so long, I was trying to fix my alarm clock, it just took a bit longer than expected." Peter explained.

"Oh my, it broke again? I'm telling you Peter we need to get a new one." May expressed.

"Is it still broken?" Harry asked.

"Yup."

"Anyway, Pete, could you help me understand moles?" Flash questioned. Peter gave the boy a thumbs up and made his way over.

As Peter sat beside Flash and began explaining. He hoped that the plan that he and Johnny discussed would work.

"Alright, we're gonna lure him to an uninhabited part of the city. Then we're gonna trap him." Spider-Man explained.

"Okay, what are we gonna trap him with? I'm pretty sure he can break out of any rusted metal we put on top of him." Johnny stated.

"Well, I wandered around a bit and found this bad boy." Spider-Man expressed whilst pulling out a gray slimy substance. Johnny looked at the younger teen in confusion.

"The hell's slime gonna do?" Johnny asked.

"Do you not know what this is? It's in your lab." Spider-Man questioned in return.

"Not the smart guy of the team, that's Reid's job, I'm the charismatic one." Johnny boasted, Peter looked at the older teen with a deadpan expression.

"Anyway, here's the plan…"

"Hey, Parker! I asked you a question, man." Flash called out.

"Crap, sorry. What was it again?" Peter replied.

"How do you calculate the number of moles in a solution?" He repeated. As he began to explain, he said to himself…

"Once I take him down, I can only hope to find out what's going on."

DECEMBER 27, 2003

Spider-Man perched himself on a rooftop awaiting the arrival of his partner and adversary. Speaking of partners, he just arrived.

"Sup four eyes, ready to put the Rhinoceros back in the zoo." The Human Torch mocked. He rolled his eyes.

"You're not funny." Spider-Man spat.

"And you aren't either, bug eyes." Johnny retorted smugly, causing Spider-Man to groan.

"Anyway, during your time flying here did you hear anything about the Rhino?" The younger teen asked.

"Nope. Not a thing, think he's gonna make an appearance today?" The older teen asked.

"He has too, whoever he's working for wants me. And since I'm not captured yet, he's probably gonna come back." Spider-Man explained.

"Makes sense." The Human Torch replied. Whilst the two waited, thoughts that Peter had the previous day had come back to his mind.

"Hey, Storm. Do you ever think you're putting people in danger by doing what you do?" Spider-Man asked.

"Huh? The hell brought this on?" Johnny questioned.

"These villains, they're after me, and because they're after me, they destroy everything, hurt everyone and cause a whole lot of chaos just to catch me, so am I doing the right thing by being a vigilante?" Spider-Man asked again. Johnny then put his hand on his chin, placing himself deep in thought.

"Well, sometimes, yeah. Doing what we do is bound to attract attention, but my question for you is this, would the world be much safer without us?" Johnny said, Spider-Man thought about his senior's words.

"No, not necessarily. World-ending events would happen with or without us." The younger teen replied.

"Exactly. We are needed, whether deserved or not. Because we protect the weak, instead of leaving them to defend for themselves. Because that's who we are, Spidey." Johnny explained. The speech entered Spider-Man's body and touched him to his core, he smiled under his mask.

"You know, I didn't expect such words to come from you." Spider-Man expressed.

"Hey, can't a guy on fire deliver some wisdom every now and again?" The Human Torch said. Suddenly, Spider-Man's police scanner came alive.

"The Rhino creature from yesterday has returned, citizens please stay away from the financial district." It explained.

"Hey, c'mon let's go, we got a job to do don't we?" Johnny expressed. Spider-Man nodded in agreement, then the two started swinging and flying into the financial district as fast as they could.

They had a super villain to stop.

Meanwhile, a car was thrown across the street smashing into the side of a building.

"RAGGHHHH!" He screamed, suddenly a web plastered itself over his mouth.

"Heya Mr. Unicornis, we've been lookin for ya!" Spider-Man exclaimed. The Rhino growled, a fireball crashed into the side of his face, which he quickly put out.

"Don't forget about me, big guy!" The Human Torch taunted. The fire only made The Rhino angrier, he swung at Johnny, with blinding speed the hero dodged and landed a flaming tackle right into the giant's stomach.

The hit caused a wad of spit to fly out of the animal like man's mouth. He kneeled over howling in pain, he looked up to see his opponents running away from him.

"C'mon Big guy! I'm sure a weak little hit like that won't put you down for long!" Spider-Man shouted as he swung away. The Rhino got to his feet and started charging towards them.

"Okay, he's following! Where's the building you said we'd go to?!" Johnny asked.

"It's only a few blocks from here! We'll be there in no time!" He replied. As the two teens swung and flew, the behemoth was right on their tail.

"ALEKSI KILL LITTLE PAUK AND OGON'!" Rhino shouted as he picked up a lamp post and threw it at the two like a spear. The two swiftly dodged out of the way.

"Spidey! This is getting a little dangerous!" The Human Torch yelled.

"Just a little while longer!" Spider-Man shouted back, and Rhino started to gain on them, the behemoth prepared himself to leap into the air.

"We're here!" Spider-Man said, his spider-sense began to tingle in the back of his brain.

"MOVE!" He yelled, Johnny used a jet of flames to dodge to the left while Spidey shot out a web and dodged to the right. The Rhino leapt into the air and narrowly missed the two teens before crashing into an abandoned building.

The two heroes land near the building and ready themselves. Spider-Man placed his hands in his pockets and pulled out a container full of the gray slimy substance.

"You ready?" Spider-Man asked, The Human Torch then pulled out another container full of the substance.

"Hell yeah I am, are you?" He asked back.

"More than ever." He replied as they both faced their gigantic foe. The Rhino growled and cracked his neck. He then planted his feet into the ground and began charging towards them, they both dodge as they throw their containers at the giant. The slime splashed over their adversary, it then quickly hardened.

"That's one pair! Now for the next nine!" Spider-Man shouted, the two would repeat the process, with rhino getting slower and slower each time, if he were to attack Johnny would just blast him with flames sending him reeling backwards.

After thirty minutes, they only had one pair left. The Rhino could barely move at this point, but the two couldn't take any chances. As they threw the last containers at him, the giant couldn't move, only struggling to break free of the heap of slime holding him in place.

"We did it!" Spider-Man exclaimed. He extends his hand to high five his flying comrade. Johnny smirks, lands and reciprocates the younger teens' gesture.

"Hell yeah we did! Couldn't have done it without you!" Johnny said. But while the two were busy celebrating, Spider-Man's spider-sense screamed throughout his skull.

"SHIT, DO-" Spider-Man yelled, but he was too late as Rhino smacked Jonny away and tackled the younger hero and smashed them both into the building behind them. The wall of the building was surprisingly sturdy so it only cracked under the supernatural force.

Spider-Man was being crushed against the wall. He could feel his ribs breaking under the massive weight of his opponent.

"Agh! Sonuva!" Spider-Man hissed, he tried slamming his elbow into the man's skull but it had no effect.

"B-bastard! Get offa me!" Spider-Man shouted. Rhino smiled.

"DON'T WORRY LITTLE PUAK! MR. OSCORP WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU!" Rhino exclaimed. Spider-Man's eyes widened at the declaration.

"Mr. Oscorp?" Peter thought, then after thinking for a few more seconds, it all clicked. Clayton was right, Harry's father was behind all of this. Spider-Man then shot out two weblines onto the building he was being pushed against, and with all his might he pulled the building downwards.

"ARGHHHHH!" He screamed, the building began to crack from the monumental strength pulling it down. And after a few seconds the building came crumbling down on top of them both, but as Spider-Man was about to be crushed, Johnny flew in to save the day by removing Peter from the Rhino's horned clutches just in the nick of time. The building smashed into the Rhino, sending up a cloud of dust into the air.

Spider-Man and Human Torch stared down at the remains of the abandoned building.

"Holy shit, you think he survived that?" Johnny asked, concerned. Spider-man stared at the aftermath with his cracked lenses.

"I hope so." He replied equally as worried. Suddenly Aleksi emerged from the rubble, Spider-Man and Johnny landed and readied themselves for battle once again. Rhino stumbled towards them and after taking five steps, he fell to the ground.

The two teens looked at each other, and approached the still behemoth, Johnny kicked him, he didn't move.

"I think he's out." Johnny said

"Is he-"

"Yeah he's alive."

"Oh thank god." Spider-Man stated relieved. Johnny smirked and placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And I've fought a planet eating alien." Johnny complimented.

"Thanks, but I hope that I'll never have to do that ever again though." Spider-Man expressed.

"Dude, you quite literally brought down an entire building on top of the guy, be proud of yourself." Johnny said.

"And because of that, my arms feel like noodles." He stated. Police sirens were then heard throughout the area, Spider-Man decided that this was the time to take his leave.

"Hey, where're you going?" Johnny asked.

"Home, the police don't like me all that much, so I don't really stick around." Spider-Man explained.

"Oh I get ya, but before you go. How about being one of us?" Johnny asked.

"Wait as in…?" Spider-Man questioned.

"Yup, joining the fantastic four, so how about it?" He asked again.

"Oh wow. That would be pretty cool…" Spider-Man mumbled, it would probably be the best option, have a bunch of super friends to count on and save the world on a daily basis, but then he thought about the normal people of the world, who was gonna stop the robberies, the murder, and the crimes that affect the normal people every day? After thinking a little more, he then made his decision.

"But, nah." Spider-Man said. Johnny quirked his eyebrow.

"Come again." He asked.

"Sure I can fight superpowered aliens, but who's gonna fight the crime lords and thieves. When you guys are busy saving the world, people still suffer, and I wanna help put a stop to it." He explained. Johnny stared at the younger teen and smirked.

"I see, I can respect that. Guess I'll see you later then?" Johnny said, Spider-Man nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, see ya Spidey." Johnny said. Spider-Man then leapt into the air and swung away. Johnny watched him swing away and smiled, knowing a new promising hero was out there.

DECEMBER 28, 2003

"C'mon , you can give more than that." Peter begged.

"Excuse me!? The hell do you think this is kid? A charity? FOUR HUNDRED, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!" Jonah yelled.

"Five hundred?"

"Four hundred."

"How about four-fifty?"

"Three hundred is what you're gonna get if you keep pushing me kid." Jonah expressed. Peter sighed.

"Alright, four hundred it is then." Peter said dejectedly. As he turned to leave, he was stopped by Jonah.

"Hold on Parker. I want you to meet someone." Jonah said, as if on cue a young man entered the room. He was average, his hair was black and his eyes were black in color.

"Kid, this is-"

"Nedry Leeds, but you can call me Ned." He said as he extended his hand, Peter shook it.

"Nice to meet you sir." Peter greeted while nodding furiously.

"Nice to meet you too, and don't call me sir, I'm in my twenties." Ned stated.

"Y-yeah sorry." Peter apologized, they then turned to Jonah who had an annoyed look on his face.

"Next time you interrupt me Leeds, I'll have you fired!" Jonah threatened, Ned rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Just say what you gotta say." Ned said.

"Anyway, Parker, this is the guy who writes articles on that god forsaken menace. And since you seem to be the only one who can take pics of the criminal, you'll be partners from now on." Jonah explained.

"Oh, okay."

"Cool."

"Alright then, NOW GET OUT OF MY OFFICE." He yelled. The two then turned to leave. As Ned and Peter walked out, Betty stopped them.

"Ned! How've you been?" She greeted. Ned walked over to the secretary.

"Betty! Life's been great." Ned replied.

"Hey Betty, you two know each other?" They both nodded in unison.

"Yup, we both started working here at around the same time. Oh the old days, I was a charming novice journalist and she was the scaredy cat starting secretary." Ned stated.

"I was the scaredy cat? This is coming from the guy who freaked out about a pigeon being in the office." Betty teased. Ned's eyes widened.

"C'mon Betty, not in front of the new kid." Ned whispered. Peter chuckled at the two's antics.

"Anyway, Peter, I hope to have a very promising partnership." Ned said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I hope so too. But I gotta go." Peter expressed.

"Hm? What for?" Betty asked.

"I've got a date with my girlfriend!" He exclaimed as he sped towards the elevator. Betty and Ned watched the boy leave.

"Young love, ain't nothin like it." Ned said.

"You think we should've told him about us being engaged?" Betty questioned.

"Nah. He'll figure it out eventually." Ned stated.