Oh no.
The moment Peter realized something was wrong, he tried to get off the ring, but his opponent had already anticipated it. Every path was blocked, and a barrage of fists rained down on him.
"Sissy! Useless! Can you even fight!"
"The kid's just weak!"
"I'll smear shit all over your face!"
The audience that had been cheering and flattering him moments ago turned instantly. A storm of insults and roars crashed down, throwing Peter completely off balance.
He could only curl up on the ground, desperately shielding his head as the lead-weighted punches pounded into his body.
Before losing consciousness, he saw a figure leap from the crowd. A short stick cut through the air with a sharp whistle, intercepting the blows and shielding him.
Then everything went dark.
When Peter opened his eyes again, he found himself in what looked like an underground room.
A man in a red suit stood with his back to him, sorting through his equipment.
Peter's entire body ached, but compared to before he passed out, he felt much better. After all, he was Spider-Man. His mutated body gave him a certain level of self-healing. If it had been anyone else, they would already be in an emergency room.
Even so, despite having these new amazing powers, he was still inexperienced. From the moment he gained his abilities until now, he had never seriously considered how to develop them. The current Peter and the future Spider-Man tempered by countless battles were completely different.
Because of that, the underground boxing ring owner had only needed to tamper slightly with his daily water to bring him down.
"You're lucky," Daredevil said. "That boss went easy on you. He only used laxatives and anesthetics. If he had been more ruthless and gotten you hooked on drugs, your life would be over."
Only then did Peter understand, and a chill ran through him.
Before entering Hell's Kitchen, he had prepared himself mentally countless times, reminding himself this was not a place for games.
But it was clear that Spider-Man, a kid from a poor family who had never truly faced the darker side of society, had never imagined something like this could happen.
Getting caught off guard was inevitable.
"Hey, I remember a whistle and a cane," Peter said. "You saved me, right?"
"It wasn't just me," Daredevil replied, though he clearly had no intention of explaining further. He simply said, "Since you're awake, leave. Don't come back. Hell's Kitchen isn't a place for kids to play around."
"I'm not a kid. I'm Spider-Man."
"Alright, alright. You're Spider-Man." Daredevil let out a short laugh. In the next instant, his weapon cut through the air and stopped right beside Peter's cheek.
It was fast. Too fast.
So fast that Peter did not react at all, and even his Spider-Sense failed to trigger.
Although Matt was an ordinary human, he had trained under Stick for years. His skills had reached the peak of human capability, comparable to Batman. That was far beyond what the current Spider-Man could match.
Peter stared at the cane hovering beside his face as a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
Only then did he truly understand the gap between them.
The arrogance that had grown after gaining his powers collapsed in an instant.
"If you can walk, then leave," Daredevil said as he withdrew his cane.
"Hey." Peter swallowed. He was still just a kid, and his curiosity about Daredevil briefly overshadowed his anger toward the underground ring.
"What was that move just now? Can you teach me?"
"Of course not." Daredevil refused without hesitation. "It's dangerous. Didn't I tell you to leave Hell's Kitchen and stay away? Why would you want to learn something like that?"
"I want to get stronger," Peter said, clenching his fist. "Then I'll go back and teach that boss a lesson."
The moment he finished speaking, the pain in his body flared, forcing him to suck in a breath.
Daredevil almost laughed in disbelief at such a naïve idea.
"Teach him a lesson, and then what? Make him apologize to you in front of everyone? Have him read out a written guarantee? Do you want me to borrow a school broadcast room so he can publicly repent? Or should I find you a priest so he can perform penance?"
"Don't be stupid," Daredevil said coldly. "This is Hell's Kitchen. Your childish logic doesn't work here."
"Leave now, before the owner of this place comes back. Otherwise, he'll skin you alive."
"W-What? Skin me alive..?" Peter froze. "This isn't your place? We're in someone else's place right now? Oh my god. If we get caught, he'll skin us alive? Who is he? Some kind of ogre?"
Before Daredevil could answer, the door was pushed open.
Peter's eyes widened, and he instinctively shifted into a defensive stance.
"How disappointing."
Lance Prescott pushed the door open. The irritation on his face had not yet faded as he looked at Daredevil with clear dissatisfaction.
"So that's how you see me? An ogre?"
"More or less," Daredevil replied without hesitation.
"Fine. Venue rental fee. Ten thousand dollars."
Lance decided to play the villain to the end, extending a hand toward each of them.
Daredevil ignored him completely.
Peter, however, was still far too innocent.
"…Huh?"
It was only when Lance stepped closer that Peter finally recognized him.
"Sir!" Peter's eyes lit up. "Do you remember me? We met before."
"Trying to get familiar won't reduce what you owe," Lance said flatly. Then, seeing the boy's shoulders droop, he let out a quiet laugh.
"Heh~ Of course I remember. Let me think. What are you calling yourself now? Right. Spider-Boy. Not a bad name."
"Uh.. It's Spider-Man.." Peter's face flushed bright red.
When he had come up with the name, he had not thought much of it. Even when people in Hell's Kitchen used it, he felt nothing. But hearing Lance say it made an inexplicable sense of embarrassment surge up.
"Sir…" he muttered. "Don't do that…"
Lance raised both hands to show he meant no harm, then turned to Daredevil.
"I really don't understand you. You have your own territory, yet you insist on using mine," Lance said. "And you promised everything would be cleaned up before I got back. Is this what you call handled?"
Daredevil was silent for a moment, then smoothly changed the subject.
"You're angry. Why? Who provoked you?"
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