Your support gives me strength! Power Stones are cool, but your follow hits different—it keeps me going! XD
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Chapter Twenty-Six — The Fight with Peter Parker
Rain fell like cold dust, scratching the faces of the metal containers. Danby Alley looked like a small arena curved between rusted walls, a single streetlamp pouring a dim light over it. The moisture made sounds echo as if from far away, yet every movement here carried weight, and each step left its mark on metal and air.
Daniel stood steady before the row of containers, a black bandage over his eye wrapping him in an aura of mystery. His senses — those gifted to him by the Lee Sin mold — hummed like radar discs: the sound of rain, water skittering across metal, the faint thump of a heart meters away. He planted his feet like one setting the foundations of waves before storming the sea.
Before him stood Peter Parker, with the strength of Spider-Man, though he did not yet bear his web-shooters; only his body — strong and supple — and the spider-sense sharp within him. Peter said, "So are we going to stand here all night or what?" Daniel answered with a smirk, "If I start the fight, it will end at the start. You should begin."
The opening clash was a dance of fast strikes. Peter lunged like a quick hedgehog: a punch here, a slap there, trying to find a weak point in the defense. Daniel received the blows as one who reads a rhythm; not every hit hurt him, but each registered in his body as information. He turned his elbow and answered with a short blow to Peter's chest — the force of the impact pulled from the joints and ran down to his feet — yet Peter did not fall.
"Alright," Peter said, springing back lightly. "You should know I only gained these powers recently."
Daniel only replied with a quick smile before unleashing his first technique: Q — a concentrated bolt of energy, like a bright white arrow. It sliced through the air with a soft whistle, surprising Peter, and struck the side of a container behind him. The impact sparked; metal and paint met to form a small wave of chi. Although Peter dodged it by way of his spider-sense, he was utterly taken aback and asked, "What… hey, what was that?" Daniel laughed, "Haven't you seen a superpower before?" Naturally, Daniel knew Peter had never seen anything like it.
The fight returned to brutal hand-to-hand again: blows aimed at the ribs, kicks driving into the abdomen, the back slamming against corrugated steel, grips clutching at one another's features as if trying to read a text inked on skin. Peter threw blow after blow, each precise and sustained by unrelenting speed. Daniel absorbed them then redistributed the momentum: an arm bends, his hips rotate, a leg hurls the opponent with a simpler, deeper plan — he used accumulated muscular force instead of lightning-quick flinches.
"You're heavier than I expected," Peter said with a smile, then added with teasing between breaths, "Do you take stabilization classes or are you born this way?"
Daniel replied, planting his heel on the side of a container to change angle: "Training, and sometimes old energy." He then executed an unexpected move — a lateral step, W: a brief superior motion that created a small dome of energy around his body, a field push that upset balance somewhat. The dome was a fixed shield; even the air around it contracted.
The move made Peter misjudge for a moment, and Daniel seized the chance, striking with his enhanced fist. Peter took the blow in the gut; he howled, but with his agility he pulled back, keeping his distance from Daniel.
Midway through the battle the banter flowed — no truce, only language that covered pain:
"You look like you've got a magic ring under that coat," Peter said as he flipped through the air and landed lightly.
"A ring? If I had one, it would be gold, not a piece of cloth wrapped round my hand," Daniel shot back.
Peter advanced on Daniel once more. He tried to gather his strength and launched a concentrated burst of physical power; every muscle in his body worked like an intensified replica. He drove his shoulder with everything he had, trying to break Daniel's guard once and for all. Daniel met the assault without giving ground; instead he planted his foot on a slippery surface and struck in a sudden snatch — a second Q, highly focused: this time it hit Peter's body directly, striking his chest in particular.
Peter felt an odd pain in his chest and retreated five full steps. Just as he was about to toss off another sarcastic quip, he was stunned to see Daniel closing in as if laws of physics and gravity did not apply — as though an attractive force existed between them. This was the other half of the Q skill.
Daniel attacked the chest again and then followed with other quick blows augmented by chi. Then:
Daniel doubled down on his assault in a precise sequence: a grip to the ribcage that forced the air out, a strike directed at the shoulder to unbalance Peter, then a concentrated kick to the thigh that weakened his stance. With every blow Daniel used a portion of his energy, weaving waves of chi through his muscles to add weight to the impacts. Peter tried to resist and flee but could not; the accumulation of injuries and fatigue began to show: his movements lost some of their finesse, his reaction time lagged by fractions of a second.
Peter crashed to the ground with a long exhale, his eyes shining with a blend of pain and respect. His body curled on the pavement, every muscle trembling as it strove to hold together.
The moment held silent for a few seconds; the rain fell as if watching, the containers licking the sounds of the clash. Daniel then approached with slow steps, raised his hand and placed it on Peter's chest to check his breathing, then shifted his body to the side with a gentle force to ensure the aggression had stopped.
Daniel stood over him, breathing slowly as one who has finished a long musical phrase: "It's over."
Peter lay on the road for a moment, then lifted his head and smiled a tired smile that felt like a soul's small surrender after an honorable loss: "Excellent… what a splendid loss. Now you won't let me be a hero."
Daniel helped him up with a calm hand, his voice half playful, half serious: "Although you're an idiot who talks too much and not wholly ready, you might be a hero. I'll advise you on anything, but you must hide your identity from others; wear a mask or something when you operate."
Peter answered, "Really…" He was a little surprised that he had actually been defeated.
Daniel asked him, "What exactly is your power?"
Peter replied, "I don't really know. If you asked me how the whole mess started… I'd tell you it began with one bite. It was an ordinary day, or so I thought. I went to Oscorp on a school trip and — as usual — I couldn't just let things go as others wanted. I slipped into a research wing they were trying to hide, a unit working on a project my father had ties to… genetically altered spiders.
I wasn't supposed to be there, but my curiosity was stronger. I saw hundreds of spiders suspended in webs within a light field, tubes labeled with strange experiment names. One of them — I don't even know its number — slipped from the web and fell onto my hand. Before I could pull it away, it bit my neck.
After that the changes began… At first I thought I was sick: fever, tremors, slight hallucinations. But when I woke the next day I realized something else was happening. My body became lighter… faster… stronger. I could see things before they moved, feel every vibration around me. My hands, my skin, my muscles… they all started acting like they knew what to do without me thinking.
And from there everything began…"
Daniel really did not know which iteration of Spider-Man this was; at first his uncle was older and when he saw the sandman figure in the thief's vehicle he concluded automatically this was the first version, then seeing Peter himself he found him somewhat young and noticed he did not shoot webs from his body, and that his aunt was, say, close to thirty. Daniel was surprised by this and revised his conclusion to think it was the third version of Spider-Man, the one who later joined the Avengers; now Peter told him he had gained his power like the second version of Spider-Man did in the film The Amazing Spider-Man.
Suddenly Daniel saw a message from Luna telling him about a new main mission: [Save Spider-Man from death and fight alongside him against Green Goblin — Norman Osborn — and The Lizard — Dr. Curt Connors]
(haaaa)
Daniel's mouth opened automatically at the message, completely astonished, and before he could ask Luna about it, he found Peter speaking to him: "Uncle Daniel, are you really listening? Where are you now?"
Daniel looked at Peter with more sympathy than Peter suspected, and said as he placed his hand on his shoulder, "Kid, you've got a rough future; you must be stronger."
Then Daniel added, "Go back to your uncle and aunt now; they must be worried about your delay."
Peter remembered his uncle and aunt and hurriedly adjusted his clothes, then said to Daniel as he ran off, "I don't understand much of what you say, but thanks for the advice."
Daniel looked at this new main mission, then at the mission hierarchy above it, and said to himself: (I should finish my first mission first.)
And then Daniel opened the message that appeared after defeating Spider-Man.