Chapter 45: Chapter 29: The Fool IV

Duncan stood just outside of a rather unique crowd. The young man had been handed a black mask by his friend Peter, which covered his entire head. The boy's friend, Peter, was standing next to him, concealing his identity fully by donning a red mask in addition to a red and blue hoodie.

A strange assembly of muscular men and women is gathered around a caged ring in front of Duncan. The crowd was cheering loudly at the fighters in the middle of the ring, fighting until one of them got knocked out.

This is an underground fight club.

"Tell me, why are we here again?" Duncan asked in disbelief.

"Come on, man, it’s gonna be fine." Peter said casually. "You just watch."

"But why?!"

"Look, you told me to think about what I’m going to do." Peter continued. "And I’m here to do that, to see how capable I am."

"No, that’s not what I meant." Duncan quickly countered. "This… this is a bad idea."

"We’re wearing masks; don’t worry about it."

"Your uncle and aunt are going to kill you."

"They won’t find out." Peter stated. "It’s fine, man. I’m the one who’ll be in the ring, not you."

"Pete—"

"Shhhh!" Peter quickly shut Duncan up. "Don’t call me by my name!"

"Alright, alright… Spider-Man." Duncan raised his hand in surrender. "We should get out of here before you get killed."

"Trust me, I won’t." Peter argued. "Look, just give this to me once, okay? I really want to know what it feels like to not be me, to be different."

"There are tons of ways you can do that, Spider-Man." Duncan said. "This is not a good way."

The entire room rang with the announcement of the upcoming combat, which came from the ring. First, the announcer introduced a veteran fighting in the ring. A door on the side of the cage was used by the man to enter the ring. He was enormous, with a well-built body and a height that dwarfed Peter's.

"And from the other side of the ring comes a newcomer!" the announcer yelled. "A masked man with the agility of a tarantula, standing five feet and ten inches tall and weighing 167 pounds, here comes... Spider-Man!" 

The cheers from the audience grew louder, and Peter could only look at Duncan, shrugging as he leaped towards the cage, climbing it like a true spider before landing perfectly on the other side of the veteran.

Seeing this, Duncan could only curse, annoyed at Peter’s stubbornness.

The crowd continued to cheer loudly for the ring, already entertained by Peter’s gimmick of being a "spider". Duncan could see the veteran fighter trash talking Peter, and the boy countered with some trash-talking of his own.

Soon enough, the bell rang, and the fight began.

The veteran fighter charged first towards Peter, relying on his size and brute strength to overpower his opponent. However, as the veteran fighter drew near, Peter leaped upward, completely evading the man as he collided with the corner posts.

When the veteran fighter's head struck the aforementioned post, the audience let out a loud gasp, which was followed by a round of cheering for Spider-Man.

After falling to the ground once more, Peter turned to face the veteran, and once the veteran turned around, Peter launched his fist to his face, instantly knocking the veteran down towards the post.

The crowd saw the jab and instantly screamed. Spider-Man could already knock out a man like this after only a minute of fighting, and they were certainly entertained.

The veteran fighter continued to lay against the post, seemingly dazed at what had just happened to him. The crowd then started to count to three, shouting to their hearts’ content.

"Three! Two! One!"

And then the bell rang again, signifying the end of the game. It was probably the fastest match of the night, if not ever, in this underground fight club. Peter then climbed the ropes, raising his hand toward the crowd and hyping it up.

Duncan, who looked half amused and half tired, caught Peter's eye. 

—

Duncan was now standing at the entrance of the gym, waiting for Peter to finish trying to feel the clout he just got from these bloodthirsty men and women of the crowd.

When he came, Duncan could sense the boy's intense happiness, and he could bet that Peter couldn’t stop smiling behind that mask.

"Alright, let’s go." Duncan said to him.

"Wait, dude, the money!" Peter said so excitedly.

"No, no, no." Duncan chuckled. "You died the second you walked into that fucking office."

"Come on, seriously? I didn’t bring you here to make this hard for me!" Peter protested.

"Then why’d you bring me here?!"

"Because I trust you!"

Duncan went quiet. "If you trust me, then don’t enter that room. Men losing in a fight and men losing money are entirely different things."

"Alright, let’s split the money." Peter said flatly, making Duncan facepalm.

"Okay, you know what? Fine, let’s use this experience as a lesson for you." Duncan said, shaking his head. "Go ahead, ask for the money."

"Thank you!" Peter finally sighed. "Seriously, I’ll be fine, man. It’s not a big deal."

Peter walked towards the fight club office without a second thought, seemingly confident in his ability to stop anything if things went wrong. Duncan, meanwhile, just waited near the entrance, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

A minute went by, and there was nothing. The office was still quiet, while the match in the ring was still going.

But suddenly, Duncan could hear a gunshot as the office door opened, and Peter was running away from the office.

"Run!" Peter shouted to Duncan.

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Seeing this predictable outcome, Duncan sighed before opening the door of the entrance, and he bolted off as soon as Peter reached his location.

Both of them ran through a small corridor located under the streets of New York. Behind them were the guards, chasing them, their guns pointing at the two boys. At first they were going to the exit of the corridor, but that thought was quickly forgotten when both of them saw that there were guards there protecting the doors, so they had to detour.

Peter had never faced this kind of situation before. Bullets were flying everywhere, hitting the concrete around him, but he still kept calm, even though in his heart he was a bit afraid.

"You should’ve fucking listened to me!" Duncan cursed loudly, turning left and trying to navigate through these labyrinthine, underground corridors.

"Well, I didn’t think that they would have guns!" Peter refuted.

"It’s an underground fighting ring!" Duncan pointed out. "Of course they’re going to have guns!"

Seeing that this place is a literal maze, Duncan could only quickly think of another way out. While still running, he saw he was approaching a door that led to a room, with a "maintenance" label strung above it.

Seeing this, Duncan quickly entered the room, also pulling Peter from his hoodie.

The boy quickly locked the door and dropped a shelf in front of it, halting it.

"What are you doing?!" Peter yelled. "We’re trapped here!"

"Shut up!" Duncan yelled back. Without a second thought, Duncan took out his sling-ring and quickly made a portal towards a random alleyway in New York.

"What the—"

"Get in!" Duncan yelled, pushing Peter towards it. Duncan could hear men behind them forcing the door open, gunshots echoed throughout the place as they tried to unlock the door, but once the portal was closed, they didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Duncan just sat against the wall of an alleyway that is honestly pretty nasty, and Peter sat opposite of him.

"Wizard…" Peter murmured, still a bit shocked. "W-What just happened?"

"You’re being an idiot, that’s what." Duncan grumbled, putting his sling ring back in his pocket. "Peter, you have to understand that you’re not invincible. Just because you’ve been bitten by a strange spider, doesn’t mean that you can eat up bullets all you want."

"I’m sorry, man... I didn’t know that—"

"Sorry isn’t enough; you have to think clearly." Duncan stated. "What if those men knew your identity and decided to raid your home? Your aunt and your uncle could be killed because you’re so careless."

"Yeah…" Peter murmured. "We shouldn’t have come..."

"You think?" Duncan said sarcastically. "You’re drunk on your own power, Peter. I told you to think about what to do with your thing, but this isn’t it, man."

Peter just nodded, seemingly in deep thought. A lot of regret filled his mind right now, and he seemed to just want to go home right now.

In an instant, Duncan could hear chains breaking in his head, a sign of ranking up.

Hearing this, Duncan just stood up from the ground, offering his hand to the boy. "I’m sorry too, I should’ve dragged you away from there as soon as you told me we’re in an underground fighting ring. Come on, let’s get out of here."

"Can you portal me to my room?" Peter asked, chuckling awkwardly.

Duncan raised his brow. "Yeah, no."

—

After a long walk through the streets of New York, Peter, wearing a white shirt, finally arrived at his uncle’s apartment. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to get scolded all night. He had been gone for a long time, it was almost midnight, so both of them should certainly know that he had been gone.

As he was about to knock the door, it suddenly opened by itself, revealing a rather panicked aunt May.

“Ben, I’m gonna go to the—” May stopped as she saw who was standing in front of the door. “Peter!”

May hugged her nephew tightly, releasing her worries that had been stacking since she knew that Peter was ‘missing’.

“Where have you been?!” She asked loudly.

“I-I’ve been—”

Before he could answer that, May pulled him to the apartment, closing the door. She then led him to the sofa, where Peter would sit down.

There, Ben also walked towards him, shaking his head.

“Let’s hear it.” Said May. “Peter, what is with you these past few weeks? You got into a fight, you rarely talked to us, and now you came home in the middle of the night.”

“I-I just… I don’t know… I have a lot in my mind.”

“Then tell us, Peter.” Ben said. “Is this about that fight? Are you angry at us?”

“No, no.” Peter shook his head. “I’m just… frustrated with my life…”

Ben sighed. He knelt in front of Peter, touching his shoulder gently. “Peter, I know your feelings. I’ve been there, trust me. These are the years when a boy changes into a man that he’s going to be his whole life, and if you feel that you’re dissatisfied with yourself, then that’s a good thing, it means that you know your shortcomings, you know that you’re not the best version of yourself. You feel frustrated that nothing changes, and it’s okay, it’s normal. But you have to be careful who you change into. What you’re doing right now is not healthy.”

 Ben just squeezed Peter’s shoulder and smiled. “You're a smart kid, Peter, you always are, just like your dad. I’m sure you’ll be a great man in the future. But, always remember this: With great power, comes great responsibility. Use this big brain of yours to do good, to be a man that contributes to society. That’s the man I want to see you become.”

Hearing this, Peter just smiled softly, his eyes cloudy. “I’m sorry that I worried you.”

“It’s okay, Peter.” Said Ben, hugging him as he patted his back. “It’s okay.”

===

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The Fool - [III] Dual Mind: You can summon two personas at once.

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