Chapter 18

Happy New Year! Hope everyone has been having a wonderful start to 2023 sure this chapter will hopefully put some smiles on faces :) Not much to say this time really so let's get into the story.

Trying to get a chapter out every month is definitely a contender for my New Years resolution i'll say that hahaha. If everything goes to plan this chapter should come out on January 31st 2023, it's taking ages to write for a few reasons like the research for this chapter took a fuck ton of time like i really underestimated how in-depth i'd need to know the park to write these scenes in it and admittedly i spent a good few days on the Harry Potter fic

If you enjoy my writing and Harry Potter then you might like my other fanfic called Tribulations which should be posted a few days after this chapter if everything goes to plan so yeah if you like it let me know what you think. Heads up though it is a slight Harry Potter x My Hero Academia crossover as i use the quirk Decay.

If you enjoy todays chapter a review would be greatly appreciated especially any constructive criticism, thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

UPDATE 1/2/23: So sorry everyone but i was in such a rush to get the chapter out before February that i forgot to reply to the reviews from the last chapter, something which this update will resolve :)

Spectacular Webhead 11: Wonderful to see you again! Thank you for the review and i'm glad you enjoyed it, thought Garfield would be a fun addition sure and i'm glad he put a smile on your face :)

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named: Not your actual name, your name begins with Bufa but for some dang reason i just cannot write your name on this site so yeah from now on this will be your title here till I figure it out lol. Anyway onto your review! Thank you very much for the review, i'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

In regards to whether or not I plan to update this month, I really really tried hard to and i managed to for most of my readers but for those in later timezones i apologise if it was February 1st when it was posted.

"Spectacular" = Speech

'Spectacular' = Thoughts

"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote

*BANG* = Important Noise?

-Flashback- = Flashback setting

"I love you" = Written words

{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date

Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.

Swinging through the Orlando skyline Spider-man sorely missed his beloved New York skyscrappers, don't get him wrong there were some tall buildings here aswell but there were also some small ones and dang if their presence wasn't noticeable.

On the flight over he'd done a bit of digging into who this Florida Unlimited could be, after all in this day and age everyone had a webpage right? Wrong. It was like they didn't exist, whatever they were they had no socials and no web presence, Peter would think he was imaginging them if not for an image he'd stumbled upon, a family photo.

Now the family was completely normal, it was a mother and her two sons infront of a convenience store all holding ice cream cones, presumably taken by the father. But sitting there stuck to the window was an ad for Florida Unlimited Catering, something which had immediately caught his eye as it proved that someone was advertising for Florida Unlimited, atleast locally! He just needed to inspect locally then.

And true to his thoughts he'd kept his eyes peeled as they'd been driving around the past few days, there were quite a few posters and such up for Florida Unlimited. He'd taken a picture of one of the flyers in the resort and rang the number on a payphone pretending to be a customer.

-Flashback to a few mintues prior-

"Eh yeah this is Vinny man we got a problem, my sisters wedding, she doesn't like the hotels food, we need some new caterers man can you hook us up?" Spider-man said in probably the worst italian accent you've ever heard but sure it worked.

"A grand you say? Ugh, man you're breaking my balls here! 900 dollars and you can enjoy the open bar." 'Vinny' haggled as he got way into the bit before shaking his head and jotting down the address to deliver the cheque too that the secretary was telling him.

"Thanks man, like I'a owe ya one."

-Flashback ends-

Swinging around one of Orlando's taller buildings, Spider-man made his way onto a new street that was nearby Florida unlimited or atleast where his phone said it would be.

"There it is..." Spider-man said as he layed eyes on the building that looked like any other non-descript building except for the billboard naming the company that sat on the buildings roof.

Sitting accross from the sign, Spider-man kept watch on the roof until he was sure there was no patrol up there before switching hiding places from where he was to up on top of the sign. Now that he was on top of the sign Spider-man noticed the L shape of the roof and was given a much easier view into the back lot of building where workers seemed to be unloading truckloads of something, something that looked suspiciously like the boxes of weapons he and Daredevil had seen at the construction site back in New York.

Scanning the roof to double check no-one would be surprising him, Spider-man jumped down before crawling over to the edge of the roof to peek over and get a closer look at the workers unloading the trucks containing the crates of potential weapons.

*CRASH*

The sound of crates crashing to the ground and gunfire suddenly burst to life in the late night Florida air as workers dropped everything to begin shooting at something further into the building. On that note though, Spider-man was kinda right: Those crates didn't contain weapons but he'd bet those blocks of white powder that fell out weren't spices.

If his goal was to remain unshaken for the night then he'd definitely failed as right after he'd noticed the blocks of cocaine, he'd naturally gotten ready in an instant to go help them with whatever they were shooting at or to help whoever was being shot at... he just wanted no one dead he knew that.

Right as he was about to swing into the building though the cause for the gunfire and chaos made itself known, large swarming tendrils that swept around the armed guards firing at it as the tendrils tried to escape, tendrils...of sand?

"Marko?" Spider-man thought with a little bit of hope rising within him, last he'd seen Flint Marko, aka 'The Sandman', he'd turned over a new leaf and had been saving a bunch of people from an oil tanker but it had seemed to sadly have taken his life.

'What's he doing alive...and down here? Don't tell me he's up to his old tricks?' Spider-man thought to himself as he watched the tendrils of sand retreat off into the night from the Florida Unlimited Catering building.

"Better get to the bottom of this." Spider-man whispered to himself before he started swinging in the same direction as the sand, making a mental note to drop a tip to local PD about Florida Unlimited's illegal actions before he headed back to New York.

Spider-man followed the sand for about ten minutes till they reached a quiet part of main street at this hour of the night.

*FWOOSH*

The sand began to coallesce and swirl together in the air as the the rough shape of a man clutching his head began to form.

"Rahhhhh!" The man made of out of sand who began to take on colour roared out into the night in pain as Spider-man landed nearby and began walking up cautiously towards the man.

"Marko, are you okay? It's me, Spider-man, can you hear me?" Spider-man asked concerned for his enemy? friend?...frienemy?

"Y-You ain't putting me back there, I ain't going back there!" Sandman roared deranged now that he'd fully formed, creating a large sand mace that he slammed down in Spider-mans previous position.

"Woah, easy there, we were on the same side last time remember?" Spider-man said as he landed from his backflip he'd used to avoid Sandmans mace before he ducked to avoid the sand hammer that was swung at his head and ultimately dented the traffic light he'd been standing beside.

"Stay away from me! I just wanna see my girl!" Sandman shouted with clouded over eyes as he swung at invisible ghosts, occassionally getting close to Spider-man causing him to dodge frantically.

'What am I going to do? If he keeps going at this rate he'll wreck the whole street before he tires himself out, if only there was a way to force him to focus on something else...' Spider-man thought to himself as he scanned the street for something that he could use to keep Sandman occupied but that wouldn't cause too much damage.

'Wait a second...that just might work!' Peter thought with a stroke of brilliance as he spotted something off on the footpath which could be what he was looking for.

"Hey Sandman, over here!" Spider-man hollered as he threw a metal trashcan at and through the upper torso of Sandman, effectively getting his attention who shot towards him like would only for him to be be surprised.

*BRING-SPLASH*

The sound of metal bending and rushing water filled the night sky as the fire hydrant shot Sandman and blasted him into a wall from the water pressure forcing himself to focus on reforming himself till he calmed down.

Spider-man stood there watching as the haze over his eyes slowly started to eb away and a sense of clarity began to return to Sandmans eyes. Whatever he was going to say to Spider-man though would have to wait as he let his control go right as a police car pulled up, the officers training their guns on him as he let the wet sand start running down the drains rather than continuously reform.

"No! Marko wait!" Spider-man called out right as the pair of Orlando officers turned their guns from the strange sight of the melting Sandman to the guy in spandex who was already swinging away. Tonight hadn't been a total bust, he'd gotten confirmation that Florida Unlimited was connected to Kingpin in some way and that Sandman was alive, he just needed to get more info in the following nights and hopefully track down Sandman and interrogate him on where he was and why he was acting so strange.

Spider-man was swinging down one of the Orlando streets on the way back to the resort when he spotted something damning in a nearby shop display which was filled with TV's.

"That's right my fellow Floridians, just moments ago, New Yorks vigilante known as Spider-man was seen engaging in a confrontation with the notorious Sandman right here in Orlando." The news presenter said as they showed footage of his small tussle with Sandman, particularly the scene of him throwing the trashcan through Marko to get his attention for the fire hydrant.

"Fuck...guess the cats out of the bag now, Daredevil's going to be so pissed." Spider-man whispered to himself with a wince as he remember the whole covert nature of this assignment.

"Now as you might be wondering dear listeners, why is the masked vigilante and one of his rogue gallery here so far from New York? Our experts here at the station believe Spider-man to have tracked Sandman down here for some unknown purpose, but whilst that is unknown, what is known however, is the track record of this vigilante who just a couple of months ago killed the Green Goblin in cold blood. We here at Orlando News Network (ONN) urge the public to be wary of this criminal posing as a hero and to report any sightings of his to the police." The news presenter finished before the TV's all switched to the weather report for tomorrow.

'Great, the cats definitely out of the bag now. Daredevils going to be at his whits end trying to deal with the crime in New York when they hear there's no Spider-man around at the moment.' Spider-man thought to himself as he swung his way towards the resort again.

It didn't take him long to reach the resort thankfully, landing on the roof Spider-man began his descent down into the courtyard where he'd make his way to his and Flash's room. Atleast that's where he was heading until he heard some noises of a slight struggle that drew his attention.

"...Why are you resisting? You said...could touch you more starting... if..." Spider-man faintly heard an impatient and angry male voice nearby as he looked around quickly for the cause before the quiet whispers of a female voice joined the males.

"...only said it...being so...saying...about you!" An indignant but quiet female voice whispered back.

"Well if...you'd let ...touch your...!" Spider-man heard the male voice whisper harshly right as he attached two webs to a nearby lamp post which he pulled himself too in order to get a birds eye view of the courtyard, a decision that would pay off for him as he spotted a bunch of shadows in one of the corners.

"..-ne" Spider-man heard before the unmistakeable sound of making out cut through the night air a few seconds before Spider-man found himself behind the couple shadowed in the darkness where he coughed to get their attention so he could see if anyone needed his help after that conversation he'd partially overheard.

"What the fuck are you doing here murderer?" The angry male voice, now identified as Harry Osborn, said as he reluctantly removed his hand from under the top of the girl he was previously arguing with, particularly from her breast.

'Harry! How could he cheat on Gwen...maybe this is my chance?' Spider-man thought hopefully and as he would soon find out, naively.

"H-huh, S-Spider-man?" The unmistakable voice of one shocked and embarassed Gwen Stacy came from the young woman who's breast Osborn had been holding as he made out with her, a bright red blush on her face as she turned around unknownly breaking Spider-mans heart as he took a quiet step back.

'N-no, Gwen wouldn't do that...no.' Peter thought to himself with tears building in his eyes below the mask of Spider-man whilst outside his suit his emotions were hidden from the world which didn't care if the hero had any.

" , i-it's a surprise to run into you here, is everything okay?" Spider-man kicked himself mentally for stuttering but in his defense what he'd just seen had kinda thrown him off his game!
Meanwhile Spider-man didn't know what he was hoping for, on one hand he didn't want to think his best friend could ever do anything like that to abuse Gwen but on the other hand the thought of Gwen willingly doing something like that broke his heart so he was gonna ask her.

"...Y-yeah everything's okay, I'll see you tomorrow Harry." Gwen said embarassed as she walked off in a hurry back towards the lobby of the hotel with a blush on her face, Harry following after giving Spider-man a glare and the middle finger.

Spider-man on the otherhand was still in shock at what he had seen and now had tears fighting to escape his eyes under the mask so he quickly made his way back to his and Flashs room where he changed silently, even if Flash had of been awake there was no way he would of heard the change of his outfit.

The one thing he would have heard though was Peters crying as he replayed the events he'd just seen in the courtyard with Gwen and Harry.

'How could she let him touch her? What happened to breaking up with him?...is she leading me on?' Peter thought to himself as he quietly cried himself to sleep, unaware that his crying was bore witness to by an unexpected spectator in the form of a silent Flash Thompson who lay with his back to Peter, a silent frown on his face as he heard the saddness in the crys of Peter Parker.

llllllllll

Peter dragged himself out of the shower in the morning, bags around his eyes whilst he rubbed his hair with his towel as an annoyed Flash stood waiting at the bathroom door tapping his foot with his arms crossed.

Not a word was said between the two as Flash pointed at the clock getting no reaction from Peter which got a scoff from Flash who just brushed past him and went in for his own shower.

Peter meanwhile just sat at the end of his bed drying his hair before putting his shoes on with a sigh and waiting for Flash to get ready.

"Oi Parker what are you doing, first you hog the shower for 30 minutes then you don't even go down yourself? Now we're both gonna be late idiot." Flash remarked as he threw on his shoes and the two made their way out of their room.

"...Just wanted more rest, didn't sleep well last night." Peter said with an exaggerated yawn that gave Flash pause as he thought back to the events of last night and Peters crys.

"...Fair enough." Flash said before he an awkward silence descended upon the two young men who were now in the lift going down to the lobby where the rest of their group was hopefully still waiting for them.

*DING*

"Finally, Flash, took you long enough man!" Kenny called out from the Osborn group to Flash when he saw him step out of the elevator with Peter.

"I told you Kong, a certain someone" Flash said with a pointed glare at Peter as they got close. "Was hogging the shower."

"Let's just get to the park already, Sally and me have been itching to see some of these rides!" Rand said uncharacteristicly exicted as Sally bounced on her feet beside him, geez the last time Sally had seen him this excited was the Fall Formal.

With that the group headed off to the park, Gwen sending nervous glances back towards Peter every now and then when Harry wasn't looking whilst MJ chatted quietly to him.

"You okay Tiger? You look exhausted." MJ said slightly concerned for her friend who looked like he'd been up all night counting sheep to no avail.

"...Yeah MJ just...had a nightmare that's all, kept me up most of the night you know?" Peter said as he let out an awkward but allieviating laugh that seemed to reassure MJ well enough that she let the subject go.

The Midtown cubed's, aka 3's, group soon made their way through the entrance to Universal Studios Florida as they scanned their tickets for admittence to the park through the electronic gates, MJ taking pictures the whole time.

Thankfully the park didn't seem too busy in Peters eyes, honestly it looked pretty quiet all things considered like Peter would estmate maybe a ten-to-twenty minute wait for each ride given by the crowds of people walking around now. Obviously that could change and given by the lovely weather in the clear blue sky that Peter saw as he looked up it would most likely at some point in the day.

"So this is Production Central eh?" Glory said with a smile on her face as she walked arm linked with Kongs into the first area of the park.

"Seems to be." Liz replied with a shrug of her shoulders and a small smile as she made her way in followed by Rand and Sally who both eagerly followed her to the Despicaple Me ride alongside everyone else.

It seemed to be the unaminious rule that the group was gonna stick together for the day in the park something which Peter was finding utterly soul crushing the longer he had to be around Gwen after what he saw the previous night. Try as hard as he might he couldn't get the image of Harry having his hand on her breast and making out with her out of his mind, he'd been up nearly all night crying and doubting Gwen's affections.

Usually when that happened he had the card she left him in the hospital but he didn't bring it with him to Florida for fear of loosing it and now after seeing something so serious between the two, it really made Peter wonder if she was ever going to break up with Harry like they'd planned?

Either way, it really made it uncomfortable for him to be around her at the moment and that was just some of his feelings in regards to the park so the soonest chance Peter saw to split off from the group, the better.

The wait didn't last long and soon they were going through Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a ride that acted as if it turned it's participants into minions and followed them through a zany adventure.

"That was so much fun, they're adorable!" Sally squealed as she came out from the ride chuffed with herself, Rand in a similar state as the couple chatted with Liz about how great the ride was.

"That was awesome! What did you think Glory?" Kong simply asked his girlfriend who was laughing.

"Sally's right, they are adorable!" Glory agreed with a laugh and smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around her sides and walked back to MJ who she began chatting to so Kong turned towards Flash who looked a bit down which caused Kong to give him a knowing look.

"It's okay Flash, i'm sad too they shut down Shreks 4D aswell." Kong said as he rest a hand on Flash's shoulder and gave him an understanding look prompting Flash to get flustered and brush his hand away.

"W-what, gah no Kong, it's nothing just hungry dude." Flash said as a smile that was obviously fake to anyone else should they have looked fixed itself onto his face which seemed to satisfy Kong as he turned back around and began walking up beside Hobbie.

"See Gwen, we can come here whenever you want-" Harry continued gloating out of earshot as he guided Gwen towards the next ride whilst she nodded her head and smiled, an undiscernable look in her eyes.

Peter meanwhile stayed near the back of the group lost in his thoughts as they walked over to Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket and began waiting in line for it aswell.

The wait was a bit longer than the last one as it was more of a traditional steel rollarcoaster compared to the last one but they were on it in no time flat and zooming down the track. Too soon and they were done and on their way towards the next ride, Transformers The Ride 3D.

Similar to Despicable Me Minion Mayhem this ride had the franchise fame to gather quite the crowd but thankfully as Peter had observed earlier the park was relatively quiet at the moment so they were soon on the ride helping Optimus Prime take on the threat of the Decepticons. After all, Freedom, is the right of all sentient beings.

Following that amazing ride pretty much everyone decided it was time to head to the next area, New York. Home sweet home.

As soon as they entered the area everyone was entranced by the stage show being put on infront of their very eyes that thankfully seemed to have just started, of course this was the Blues Brothers.

'That's one of Uncle Bens favourite movies...' Peter remembered fondly as he stood alongside the rest of the crowd watching the two actors recreate iconic song and dance routines from the cult classic movie.

"Why are they recreating the scene from Drake and Josh?" Kong asked stupidly which got a face plant from Glory and a laugh from everyone else who couldn't help but find his answer comical if not a bit painful.

The stage show ended to thunderous applause from the crowd, it even managed to put a small smile on Peters face as it distracted him from his thoughts for awhile just like the rides do.

"Oh babe didn't you say your dad makes a cameo on this ride?" Sally asked excitedly up to Rand who looked proud at the attention he was getting from not only his girlfriend but the rest of the group too as they all walked over to...Race Through New York Starring Jamesson.

The second Peter saw that sign with the picture of Jonah standing beside it, the proverbial lightbulb went off in his head.

"Eh you know what guys, i'm just gonna wait out here, i put up with Jolly Jonah enough on a daily basis, I really don't need to go on a ride dedicated to him." Peter insisted as he mentally crossed his fingers. 'Please buy it, come on, come on...'

"...If you're sure Parker, you're lose" Rand said as he walked in to where the queue started followed by the popular crowd whilst Harry barely spared him a glance. Gwen and MJ on the otherhand sent him understanding looks, both having been on the other side of his rants about his boss on a number of occassions.

'Plus they're smart enough to imagine who else probably features on this ride...and I doubt he gets a good representation...' Peter thought to himself as he waved goodbye to the last off the group as they entered the building where the queue started for the ride.

"Finally." Peter sighed in relief as he had a look around at the New York area designed to look like classic 1940's/1950's New York and decided he wasn't gonna waste his chance to split off from the group.

Walking away from the Race Through New York Starring Jamesson ride Peter saw a ride that he'd been dreaming of since he was a kid, Revenge of the Mummy starring the cinematic icon Brendan Fraser.

'Gosh I still remember staying up that Halloween when I was eight with Uncle Ben watching horror specials of the Simspons and Futurama when The Mummy came on and we watched it together...I was so scared of Imhotep at first until the cat scared him.' Peter thought to himself as he walked inside and marvelled at the decour of the building, it really felt like he'd been transported to an Egyptian temple.

Peter almost felt it was a shame that there was no queue as he couldn't stop and appreciate it but when he looked back and saw a massvie amount of people fill the queue behind him out of nowhere when he got to the front alongside a handful of people he was suddenly glad.

Stepping onto the Revenge of the Mummy ride and sitting down beside some nondescript dude, Peter pulled the bar down and got himself comfy and got ready to enjoy the ride. The ride which began momentarily and featured a so called new Mummy installment where Brendan Fraser was the only cast member to not believe in The Mummy's curse and the ride is him coming to terms with the reality that it's real.

Peter loved every second of it and when he walked out it was with a big smile on his face that vanished near instantly when he turned to talk about the experience with someone only for there to be no-one which only got worse when he turned and saw the sign for Race Through New York Starring Jamesson which reminded him of the group he was avoiding.

Thankfully it didn't look like they'd finished with that ride yet as Peter didn't see them outside and he hadn't seen them inside on the way out in line so they were probably just on the ride now, if he got away to the next area now he be off scott free!

With that in mind, Peter thought back to the young man from the airport when they'd arrived and he vanished with the quickness like lightning dissapeared, aka he booked it out of New York towards the San Francisco area.

Walking around the San Francisco Bay Peter caught a performance by The Beat Builders, a percussion group who put on quite a performance much to the applause of the families around him, especially one kid though infront of Peter.

"Daddy, Daddy, look! Tha Builders r makin da music with da tools!" A kid of about 3 or 4 happily cheered happily as he clutched his fathers hand with one hand and pointed at the musicians with his stubby little fingers on the other. Overall, it was very adorable but to be honest Peter couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the kid.

'Uncle Ben should've been here with me for this...we should be going on these rides together' Peter thought to himself sadly as the other cause for his dour mood entered his thoughts as he thought back to the Vacation Jar, the Parker family's all purpose spare change swear jar that they had been using to save for a trip down to Orlando since Peter was 6.

They'd never managed to save quite enough to go, always having to use the jar for bills or food during the harder times but the dream to go together was always there and they'd talk about it constantly coming up to summer in hopes that that summer would finally be the year.

'These people don't know how lucky they have it...' Peter thought to himself sadly with a frown as he turned away from the musicians and walked down the San Franscico Bay streets watching the few happy families that were there that early in the day as the kids ran happily around the peer looking at the bay whilst the parents looked on in joy. Peter wanted that, he wanted to be that happy but he just felt that he'd lost his chance to have it and it was something that ate away at him the more he walked around.

Deciding to distract himself, Peter headed for the Fast and Furious Supercharge ride, the main attraction of the San Francisco area which was thankfully very quiet as Peter once again beat the queues.

Sadly this was once again a shame as he walked into a garage with some really sweet looking cars that Peter would've loved a longer look at but as he could see more people coming up behind him that option was sadly out of the picture. Reaching the top Peter got into the party bus cart and began the dark ride adventure that made the individual feel like they'd stepped into the role of one of the family.

Walking out Peter was once again torn, the rides take his mind off Uncle Ben and Gwen whilst he's on them but when he's off them their abscence is ever more pronounced and gosh dang did it hurt.

Peter sighed and looked around, there wasn't anything else to do in San Francisco so he headed for the next area but here he was gonna do something sneaky. Technically the next area was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, no doubt the area Gwen was most excited for as she loved JK Rowling and her books, but Peter was going to skip that area and come back to it later as it had a connecting train to the next park, Islands of Adventure.

Ultimately, this meant that the next area Peter was heading to was...Springfield.

'Well this is freaky.' Peter remarked to himself in his mind as he gazed at the families walking into the real life krusty burger for lunch before shaking his head and walking away further into the Springfield area.

"Doh." Peter said with a chuckle as he looked up at the replica Lard Lad holding it's giant donut.

Passing by The Simpsons ride which had a bit of a queue at the moment, Peter heard some sniffling and looked to the side at the section dubbed Krustyland Carnival Games, particularly a squirt gun race.

"Come on Sarah let me win one!" A young black haired boy sniffled from his seat behind the squirt gun that he was having trouble aiming whilst his companion, a young red haired girl and presumably Sarah seemed to having no trouble aiming hers like a pro.

"No way Ed! Not my fault you suck!" Sarah said angrily as the bell dinged before she cheered again, receiving her prize, a Marge plush that she rubbed in his face before she ran off proclaiming she was gonna go to mom all the while Ed sat there upset.

"Hey, kid you okay?" Peter asked concerned for the kid as his heroic spirit couldn't just let it go seeing someone upset.

"Yeah mister, i'm just useless...my sister beat me 6 times in a row and got all the prizes..." Ed explained sadly which tugged at Peters heartstrings, he may be having a rough day himself but he couldn't resist not helping someone.

"Excuse me, i'll pay for one round" Peter spoke up as he passed over the money to the uninterested park worker but before the round started Peter turned to the kid who was looking at him like christmas had come early. "Hey kid, why don't you take this gun that your sister had and i'll take that one you had."

"Okay mister." Ed as he obiediently switched places with Peter and the two began racing. As Peter expected Ed was less than stellar with his aim but he'd asked to switch places with him for a reason, it now gave him an excuse to have even worse aim! So when the buzzer finally went off for Ed who was cheering and going crazy with joy in his seat as the park worker passed him a Santa's Little Helper Plush, Peter turned to him and spoke.

"Have a fun day kid" Peter said before walking over to The Simpsons ride who's queue was alot smaller now as Peter got in line and began waiting. Waiting that only lasted about 5 mintues before he was on the ride and escaping Sideshow Bob and his dasterdly plans for Krustyland. Overall it was an enjoyable ride, Peter just wishes he had someone to share it with and thinking on it he could've had MJ but she seemed to be hanging out with Glory a good bit today and being around her still would've meant staying with Gwen if the stick together plan was still being followed.

"So say some gangsta is dissing your fly girl, you just give him one of these." a voice that sounded alot like Liz said with a laugh as she recreated the dance that Moe from the Simpsons does minus the triple shooting double barrel shotgun at the end.

Naturally Peter ducked behind a crowd when he heard this as he poked his head around and double checked on who exactly was there and low and behold, making their way past him and was Glory, MJ, Sally and Liz all laughing away.

"So Rand, Kenny and Hobbie are over checking out Hollywood?" MJ asked curiously which got a nod from Glory as her and Liz finally stopped laughing once they'd entered the building but that was the last Peter heard as they went out of sight and earshot.

'What happened to sticking together! Did they just split up after I left?!' Peter thought slightly panicked before he calmed himself down and began to think a bit more rationally.

'Well I'm not going to that area then and Woody Woodpeckers Kidzone is being refurbished at the moment so that just leaves The Wizard World of Harry Potter...' Peter thought to himself as he snuck away as quietly as he could whilst he headed for the last location in Universal Studios Florida that he was interested in before he'd take the Hogwarts Express ride to Island Adventure where he'd be far away from any of his classmates.

It didn't take Peter long to backtrack up towards The Wizarding World of Harry Potter area and he was soon walking by a triple decker, purple, London bus known as the Knight Bus before he stepped through the 'Hidden entrance' and onto Diagon Alley.

'Wow it's just like i'd pictured in the books!' Peter thought to himself in amazement as he looked around, eyes bouncing from storefront to storefront as he thought back to reading the books as they came out and waiting in line late night with Gwen, Harry and Uncle Ben to get a copy of 'The Order of the Phoenix' opening night.

One thing that certainly caught Peter's eye was the dragon perched ontop of what could only be Gringotts bank as it breathed fire! Was it wrong to hope for an eventual dragon villain, 'cause like how totally awesome would that be?

Shaking his head to wipe away the thoughts that he would likely come to regret in the future Peter spotted something whimsical that put a smile on face, a shop with cylindar windows and an animated red headed man with a lifted top hat design...Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

Having a stroll inside Peter couldn't help but feel conflicted, on one hand this place was amazing and it felt very warm walking through the shelves that looked to have been plucked straight from the books and movies but on the other hand Peter knew Gwen would love this place too and that just made him think of her.

Looking to his left Peter let out a snort at what he saw as he remembered this scene from the movie, Amortentia...the love potions. Picking up one of the little heart shaped pink bottles Peter looked at it closely with a wistful look.

'...If only love was so easy.' Peter thought sadly as he spotted his own reflection in the bottle before sighing and putting it back, deciding to have a look at the Hogwarts robes in the back, last time he'd checked he was a Gryffindor and he might aswell see what the robe looked like.

"Oh gosh it's so silky, gotta remind myself to come back here before we leave..." A voice that was unmistakeably Gwen's said which froze Peter in his tracks as he looked infront of him to see Gwen with her back to him as she picked up a robe with her house on it, Ravenclaw for those curious.

Quietly stepping back as softly as he could so as to not make a sound Peter decided that he'd faced enough things head on recently, today was his day to be a coward for once and it was with this mindset that got him out the door of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and back onto the streets of Diagon Alley.

'Shit, shit, shit i need to hide, now!' Peter thought to himself urgently as he looked around in a panic, Gwen could come out at any moment and he didn't know where the fuck Harry was so the sooner he got off these streets the better.

A burst of flame from the dragon perched on Gringotts roof drew his attention and Peter knew where to go, the Harry Potter and Escape from Gringotts ride. Walking into the bank Peter looked around in awe at the animatronic goblin tellers that sat doing their jobs as they lined the walls whilst he walked far up the queue and hoped Gwen didn't walk in those doors.

'Oh fuck, maybe this wasn't such a good idea...i'm fucking trapped now.' Peter thought shocked from his place now in the middle of the queue after more people had arrived after him.

Peter just had to stand there for the 10 minutes and pray to god that no one he knew walked through those doors and well it looked like someone was looking out for him because no one did, so with a butterfly filled stomach Peter got onto the steel rollarcoaster dark ride.

The ride saw Peter race through Gringotts meeting all sorts of characters and monsters from the Harry Potter franchise as they raced through dark twists and turns. Stepping out into the light Peters eyes stung a bit from the light but he couldn't let himself be in good spirits no matter how much he'd enjoyed the ride at the time 'cause he couldn't risk being spotted by Gwen or Harry if they were still nearby. He hadn't seen them in the line on the way out so keeping an eye out as he walked Peter made his way towards the replica Kings Cross station which housed the Hogwarts Express ride.

It didn't take him long to reach the replica Kings Cross and thankfully there weren't many people there at the moment and most importantly, no Gwen or Harry. So with all that in mind Peter made his way through platform 9 and three quarters and got a booth to himself as he sat down and the ride began to take him away from his troubles and to the next park, Islands of Adventure.

As he sat there watching the window play scenes from the the british countryside as well as featuring characters like Hedwig and Hagrid in the flying motorcycle flying by, Peter couldn't help but let out a sigh and feel down.

Everytime he saw Gwen he couldn't help but think back to last night and it was just eating away at him, but he just didn't have the strength to face her at the moment. He was still dealing with the crushing guilt of being at Universal Studios Florida without Uncle Ben alongside the responsibilty of investigating Florida Unlimited and Sandman, Gwen problems were the proverbial cherry on top.

Stepping off the ride into Hogsmeade Peter's dour mood was briefly broken as he was struck in shock at the replica Hogwarts before him.

'This is amazing, they really did go all out huh Uncle Ben?...' Peter thought alone as families walked past him without a care for the sad stranger staring up at the castle.

Wandering around Hogsmeade, the most enjoyed of which was the shop Honeydukes where Peter spoilt himself to a chocolate frog that he was currently munching on as he waited in line for Hagrids Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure. Thankfully it wasn't a long wait and he was soon riding on it but it seems like that last encounter with Gwen had really bothered him as he wasn't feeling as much joy from the ride as he had the previous ones.

'Of course that could be the ride itself.' Peter thought to himself with a deadpan as he walked away towards the signature attraction of Hogsmeade, Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey which was actually located within the replica of Hogwarts castle itself.

Inside was another instance where Peter was dissapointed that the queue was so short as he walked inside the hallways and classrooms of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry but as there was a massive amount of people walking up behind him he decided to be thankful for his chance.

The ride itself was a dark ride that featured a multitude of characters, magical creatures and scenes from the books and films which as a fan of both was quite enjoyable to Peter. It actually made him crack a smile too which proved that the Hagrid ride really just hadn't been for him.

With a whir the ride finished all too soon in Peters opinion as he stepped back out into the sunshine and made his way towards the next area, The Lost Continent.

There wasn't much to see really at The Lost Continent but Peter did find The Mystic Fountain located in Sinbads bazar, an interactive fountain that interacted with guests. Peter didn't interact with it himself as he was busy heading towards the special effects show Poseidons Fury but he did watch one guest do the immoral sin of trying to bring politics into a theme park, thankfully they were splashed for it by the fountain as it proclaimed "Be gone".

Peter sat down into his seat in Poseidons Fury and began to watch the admiteddly impressive stage show, but throughout the whole thing there was one nagging thought going through his head.

'...Mysterio would love this.'

The special effects show ended to applause from everyone in the audience including Peter before they all walked back out, most going over to the restaurant Mythos but as he wasn't feeling like eating yet Peter decided to skip Lunch and just wait till dinner.

Since he wasn't going over to Mythos there really wasn't anything left to do in The Lost Continent so Peter found himself lost in thoughts of Uncle Ben and Gwen again and unknowingly made his way to the next area where he nearly fainted when he found himself dead center in the middle of Seuss Landing.

Little known fact, and by little known he meant only known by Uncle Ben, Aunt May and Eddie but Peter had a huge phobia that stemmed from The Cat In The Hat. He'd watched it one day with Eddie as a young kid and had been traumatised by the movie but Eddie had been so engrosed in the movie he hadn't realised, Aunt May hadn't checked on them till the movie was half way over but by that time it was too late, his fear of was cemented.

Moving swiftly, all thoughts of Gwen and Uncle Ben forgotten, Peter rushed his way through Seuss Landing as he dodged and weaved through crowds of families and people that made their way infront of him all the while Peter was trying not to panic too much.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Peter was out of that area and walking by the Pharohs lighthouse on his way to the next area which he actually did know about, DC Super Hero Island.

This island was a dream come true for any comic book fan, the place was covered with characters from the DC comics like Batman, Robin, Superman, WonderWoman, Flash, Harley Quinn, Joker, Black Canary and Zatana just to name a few.

Making his way towards the first ride Peter saw that the line was once again nonexistant and thanked his lucky stars as he walked up to The Man of Steel coaster most notable for it's size and distinctive blue track.

Getting onto the ride Peter was whisked away down the track as General Zodd tried to run experiments on the passengers to turn them all into Krptonians, Peter loved it sure there were even 7 inversions on the ride, it reminded Peter of some of his more daring flips as Spider-man.

Stepping off Peter made his way over to the next ride which was very close by, Sinestro's Fear Fall, a spaceshock ride that had park guests launched up and down the drop tower as he used your fear to power his ring. It was good for a thrill but dang the stop after falling so fast really hurt his back and neck...

'Note to self: Never catch someone falling with my webs' Peter thought to himself on the second fast plunge downward towards the pavement followed by a sudden stop.

Getting off that ride Peter was making his way towards the next ride, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, all the while his mind was focused on solidifying the whole don't catch people with his webs thing to memory, it just felt important for some reason, he didn't know why.

Once again the line began with Peter as he walked in and found himself head of the queue, taking his place at the front of the ride, unaware to the eyes following him just a few seats down. This was one of the rides Peter had been looking forward to the most, whilst he was a big Harry Potter fan like Gwen, DC was where his fandom heart truly belonged, something about Dick Grayson had always resonated with him.

Oblivious to the person who seemed to notice him, Peter enjoyed the ride as he helped Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson) take on the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Penguin, Posion Ivy, Clayface among others in an exhilirating adventure through Gotham.

The ride ended way too soon for Peters liking but his good spirits vanished almost as fast as they rose for the simple fact that the more excited he got, the more he wanted to share that excitement with the people he cared about and that was either impossible now in the case of Uncle Ben or complicated and painful in the case of Gwen.

With a sad sigh, Peter made his way over to the last ride in the DC Super Hero Island area, Speed Force Accelatron unaware to the eyes still watching him. Speed Force Accelatron was a teacup based ride where the faster you spin the more energy you create to defeat Braniac and stop him from taking over the world.

"Well atleast it's different..." Peter mumbled to himself dejectedly as this time he just couldn't shake the noticeable abscene of everyone he cared about and the thoughts of Gwen and Uncle Ben.

Stepping off the teacup ride a bit shakily, Peter made his way over to a nearby bench where he sat down and just stared at his shoes rather than head straight to the next area, Toon Lagoon.

'What's the point, i'm still going to be alone even if i check my phone...which probably has like 50 missed calls and texts from an angry Gwen i still can't even look at her at the moment.' Peter thought to himself sadly with a sigh before he felt the bench dip a bit as someone sit beside him.

"Okay, what's up Parker?" Flash asked seriously in a tone Peter hadn't heard since the hospital when he'd given Peter a much needed reality check although he looked about as happy as Peter did.

Peter was left speechless for many reasons as he was left floundering and wondering if he should just bolt, he didn't know what to do for heavens sake! But isn't it funny, sometimes when we don't know what to do, we take a leap and if we're lucky, someone grabs that arm.

"...Me and my Uncle Ben used to dream about coming here, it was our ideal vacation like the one we were always saving for you know? It's just...bittersweet to be here without him." Peter explained as the words just poured out of his mouth whilst Flash just sat there beside him and listened, occassionally nodding his head.

"...And then to top it off as your probably aware Spider-man ,who's in Florida chasing Sandman, stopped by to tell me something...as a favour, saying it's him paying me back for that whole Venom thing" Peter continued down-trodden, slightly pausing as he tried to think of what to tell Flash without revealing that he was Spider-man.

"So what did Spidey tell you?" Flash asked curiously as he looked over at Peter who sighed and seemed to sink in on himself.

"...He saw Gwen and Harry making out and getting to second base..." Peter finally said the words that had been bothering him the whole day whilst Flash could only wince in sympathy.

"That's rough buddy, I can see why you were up crying all night if you're as in love with the she-geek as you appear to be." Flash said sympathetically unaware that Peters eyes were wide open in panic.

"...You were awake last night?" Peter asked fearfully thinking about when he came into the room in his Spider-man suit and got out of it crying, it'd been a blur cause of his emotions but he didn't think he'd seen Flash move.

"Yeah, heard your crying behind me as you snuck in, didn't turn around though felt like i owed you one after being a bit harsh on the beach the other day." Flash explained himself before he sighed himself. "I wasn't getting much sleep anyway."

"...Everything okay Flash?" Peter asked cautiouslly as he continued to explore new waters with the young man who he had a conflicted past with.

"...I miss Sha-Shawn, I wish she could've come on the trip too, she really deserves a break from all the stress she's under." Flash revealed after a moments pause of his own as if he too finally realised how odd their current situation was.

"Why didn't you ask Harry, I'm sure if you asked he would've said yes." Peter said carefully in confusion as to why he hadn't thought of that.

"That's what I thought but when i asked him he said...

-Flashback-

It was a normal afternoon in Midtown cubed high and Flash was on his way up to Harry Osborn who was putting things away into his locker before he headed home for the day.

"Hey Osborn." Flash spoke getting Harry's attention as he closed his locker over slightly to look at Flash with a bored look on his face. "Ehm I know we haven't been on the best of terms but about that Orlando trip, I was wondering if Sha-Shawn could go too, she's been under alot of stress recently and the trip could be really good for her like she can take my place if needs be."

Harry just chuckled at him and shook his head smiling before looking over at Flash and putting his hand on Flash's shoulder.

"Too late sportstar, tickets are already booked with your name. Maybe next time you'll come a bit sooner eh?" Harry said with a swarmy smile on his face before patting Flash's shoulders and walking away.

Flash was so dissapointed for Sha-Shawn that he didn't even notice the disrespect until Harry had walked away.

"Hey!" Flash let out a loud yell once the disrespect finally sunk in causing him to clench his fists but because he was so dissapointed about Sha-Shawn not getting to go he just deflated and walked away

-Flashback end-

"- I think it's revenge for speaking up about Osborn being on that Globulin Green stuff but i'm just torn up about Sha-Shawn like she babysits her younger sisters all the time, has a job and does tons around the house like she needs a break and i just hoped she could get one you know?" Flash said sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Flash, I hope things get easier for her but i'm sure they will with you beside her" Peter said reassuringly as his heroic spirit flared to life as he once again saw someone in need of help which seemed to cheer Flash up.

"Thanks Parker, she means alot to me so i appreciate it. And for what's it worth, i'm sorry about your Uncle but i'm sure he's with you today at every moment and in regards to the Stacy...all i can really say is talk to her, if she really loves you, she'll be there when you need her most." Flash said wistfully as he looked up into the sky whilst Peter raised his head and felt like a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders from Flash's words.

"...Thank you Flash, I think I really needed to hear that." Peter said after taking a moment before his shoulder was punched by Flash.

"No problem Parker, someone's gotta knock some sense into you every now and then after all but you tell anyone that mushy stuff and i'll deny it." Flash said with a laugh, semi-serious as he stood up whilst Peter chuckled as he stood up too and began walking alongside Flash towards Toon Lagoon chatting away.

And that's how Peter and Flash spent the rest of the day, going on the rides together such as Dudley Doo Wrights Ripsaw Falls at the Toon Lagoon area, or Skull Island: Reign of Kong or even the rides set in the huge Jurassic Park area.

Peter would have to say Flash made for surprisingly enjoyable company after their heart to heart and they both had a ton of fun plus now that Peter had someone who knew the situation he was feeling, Peter felt free-er so to speak. It was nice to have someone to rant and rave about the rides with and judging by the equally excited rants from Flash he'd been feeling much the same as Peter had all day so they'd both helped each other alot today.

Of course all good things must come to an end and so as the night was drawing to a close the laughing duo grabbed a water taxi back to their resort, one of the perks of Loews Royal Pacific Resort.

Stepping off the water taxi Peter and Flash made their way up to the lobby which lead off to the Orchid Court Lounge, a sushi bar where they'd all planned to eat dinner that night and also where Gwen stood waiting for Peter as she gave him 'The Look'.

"Good luck Parker and it was fun hanging out with you, thanks for everything" Flash laughed as he patted Peter on the back before heading off to sit with Rand, Kenny and Hobbie at the sushi bar.

"Sooooo..." Peter began as he trailed off unsure of what to say as 'The Look' intensified.

"Don't you 'Sooooo' me! Why were you avoiding us all today?" Gwen asked indignantly and a bit hurt which made Peter wince.

"...Look remember the Vacation Jar we used to have in my house?" Peter began as he saw Gwen's look of confusion turn to remberence.

"Yeah you'd always throw your pennies in it, you said it was for you and Uncle Ben's dream vacation...Oh god Peter, it wasn't?" Gwen said horrifed as the realisation finally sat in for her.

"Yeah, it was to go here so it's just been a bit rough for me today you know?" Peter said awkwardly as he hoped she wouldn't ask anymore details, he wasn't completely lying to her, Uncle Ben had been one of the reasons he'd been feeling so terrible and avoiding everyone today but what he'd seen last night was also a factor, just one that he thought was something for another day.

Flash's words resounded throughout his head and he promised himself he would talk to her about it, he would just wait until he was ready and knew what to say. Afterall it wasn't something to bring up without thinking it through first.

"I'm so sorry Peter, I shouldn't have pressured you to tell me, i was just worried about you and felt that i'd- well i was worried you felt on your own" Gwen explained sadly.

'Kinda did for most of it' Peter thought to himself simply whilst he outloud he said "I had Flash didn't I?"

"Yeah how did that happen?" Gwen asked conspiratorial as her and Peter walked over to take their seats at the sushi bar.

"You'd never believe me if I told you." Peter said with a chuckle as he watched Gwen sit down beside him, MJ on his left, Gwen on his right and Harry on her right. It still hurt to look at her and the thought of those two from last night still repeated itself in his head but so too did Flash's words: 'If she really loves you, she'll be there when you need her most'. And it was those words that helped get him through the night and back out as Spider-man to do his Friendly Neighbourhood duties.

We've finally hit 100k! I'm one of i think 9 stories to have hit that benchmark in one sole story on this site so i'm pretty chuffed, thank you for all the support and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)