June had come and gone, and with the ending of classes, Peter could focus solely on training for the M.A entrance exam. His grades were above average, and he was more than confident in his ability to ace the written portion. The gym was nearing completion and Iron Man was quite impressed with the boy's progress.

Once in a while, he would bring Peter over to Stark Industries to run tests on his development. Along with a bit of sparring with the Iron Legion androids, Tony would have the boy run obstacle courses to monitor which aspects of Peter's training needed revision.

In addition to all of this, Peter would stay out most evenings in Forest Hills. He started keeping a set of "evening clothes" in one of the refurbished lockers. Including the mask he appropriated from the Russian thug, Peter would wear a black hoodie and matching sweatpants, thin gloves, plus his usual red sneakers.

With these nightly patrols, Peter improved his wall crawling and began to actively investigate what the Tracksuit "Bros" were doing. Peter would watch from above, take notes, and follow them to the warehouse which seemed to be the meeting spot for them.

They mostly spoke to each other in Russian, so it was hard for Peter to understand what they were saying. He even downloaded a translator app on his phone to help him spy on them. Most of the time it was nothing, the tracksuits would hang out, play cards, drink and talk about random topics. But every now and one name would come up in conversation: "Kingpin." Whenever he heard that, Peter made sure to write down everything, translating it later.

On one such night, Peter was preparing to go out to Fogwell's Gym when his Uncle insisted on going with him on the bus instead. Peter was a bit apprehensive, keeping this new part of his life a secret from his Aunt and Uncle wasn't ideal.

Ever since he began patrolling, Peter had become a bit more private, naturally not wanting to let his surrogate parents in on those particular activities. But Ben had begun to suspect something and Peter guessed he was taking this opportunity to try and get some answers.

"Peter, I want you to know, your Aunt May and I support what you're doing," his uncle began. "You're working so hard to achieve your dream, and you have a real chance of making it happen!"

"I'm sensing a 'but' here..." Peter said hesitantly.

"But..." Ben added reluctantly. "It's like we never see you anymore. You're always gone, we haven't talked in a while, it's like you're becoming a different person. You shirk your chores, you hole yourself up in your room, you come home with bruises. Don't think we haven't noticed them, your Aunt is getting worried."

"I'm not starting any fights," Peter said. Which was admittedly true, the last time he got into a scrap with the tracksuits, he was jumped by three of them who tried to sneak up on the boy. Even with his Spider Sense warning the boy, he still wasn't used to fighting multiple opponents at once and took a few shots.

Uncle Ben sighed, "Pete look, you're changing. I know, I went through the same thing at your age."

"Uh, no. Not exactly..." Peter muttered.

"I don't mean with your quirk," Ben replied. "Peter... these are the years when a man changes into the person he's gonna be the rest of his life. Just be careful who you change into. That guy, Flash Thompson, I know how he used to pick on you..."

"Thanks for that reminder..." Peter quipped sarcastically.

"I'm just saying, if he tries to do so again, you might be tempted to even the score," Ben went on. "But just because now you can possibly beat him up, doesn't give you the right to. Remember, with great power, the must also come great responsibility, do you understand?"

Peter looked at his Uncle, a bit exasperated, "Are you worried just because I have a Quirk now, that I'm going to turn into some kind of villain? You don't need to worry about me, okay? Yes, something's different, but I'll figure it out."

"Ok, ok," Ben held up his hands. "I don't mean to lecture and I'm not trying to preach. I know I'm not your father..."

Peter could see the somewhat hurt expression on the man's face. "I'm sorry," he said. "Look, I'm just feeling the pressure of everything. It's a lot, and there are things I'm still trying to figure out, but I will."

Uncle Ben nods, "I understand. Just know that if you're having trouble, you can always talk to me. I'm here for you..."

Peter gave a small smile, "I know." The bus begins to slow down and the boy stood up to leave, "Here's my stop."

"Right, just try not to be out too late," said his uncle. "Your Aunt worries..."

Peter nodded, "I'll try." And he began to walk down the isle towards the door, but paused to turn back towards his Uncle. "You know, for what it's worth, you are a good father," the boy said.

This brought a genuine smile to the older man's face, "See you later, champ."


Peter did his usual training at the gym, removing more stacks of the old floorboards outside for disposal. The new ones had all been carefully installed by the boy, with this task giving him better control of his increased strength and learning to hold back so he didn't break the boards when hammering.

Once all of that was done, Peter put on his "evening clothes" from the locker room and prepared to head out. When suddenly, a voice stops him in his tracks, "Out for a bit of snooping?"

Peter froze, whipping his head around in the direction of the voice. "W-who's there!?" From out of the shadows, a figure in red emerged inside the boxing ring. Peter's eyes widened, it was Daredevil.

"Whoa..." The boy says quietly.

"Aren't you a little young for this kind of business?" The horned hero asked, a slight tone of amusement in his voice.

"Um, it's... kind of a long story," the boy replied nervously. "What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to meet Stark's new protégé, and to see how my gym's coming along," said Daredevil, leaning back against the ring ropes. "Imagine my surprise to find the kid fixing it up is the same guy who's webbing up Tracksuits. You do know what you're doing is technically illegal, right?"

"Well I only fought some guys once, and-," Peter stopped. "Wait, what do you mean, your gym?"

"Tony mentioned he was fixing this place up as a favor to someone, right? Well, that was me," Daredevil shrugged. "I used to come to this place all the time as a kid, broke my heart when it shut down. Now that I have a bit of money saved up, I'm reopening it as a youth center."

"Wow, I didn't know you used to hang out here," Peter was enraptured by learning new details of the otherwise low profile hero.

"See that guy?" Daredevil indicated an old boxing poster that still hung up on a wall. "His name was Jack Murdock, he's a boxer that used to train here."

The name rang a bell in the boy's head, "I think I've heard of him. My Uncle used to watch his fights on tv."

"Mmhmm, he was a big name for a while," the hero seemed to speak almost with an air of pride. "Let's just say I was his biggest fan growing up, and when he died, it's like most of the neighborhood died with him. I want to change that, make Hell's Kitchen a safer place where families can live together in peace."

Peter looked on in admiration, "No wonder you made this place your stomping grounds."

"Which brings me over to you," Daredevil flipped over the ring ropes and landed on the floor. "It's Peter, right? Parker?" The boy nodded in response. "Your presence over in Forest Hills isn't exactly going unnoticed. Messing with the Tracksuits sends a pretty big message."

Peter folded his arms, leaning back against the wall. Of all the things he had planned for this night, talking shop with a ranked hero wasn't one of them. "What's with those guys anyway? They keep crawling out of the woodwork," he said.

"Yeah, Hawkeye used to deal with them all the time," Daredevil replied, sitting on a corner stool. "The Tracksuits are muscle for hire, and their gang's over a hundred strong within the city. But they're not important." The horned hero became serious, "The real problem is their new boss."

"Right, I heard him come up a few times when I was spying on them," said Peter. "They only called him by a nickname: 'The Kingpin'."

Daredevil nodded, "His real name's Wilson Fisk. Real piece of work, that one. Businessman, blackmailer, and all around scumbag."

"If he's that bad, why has nobody taken him down yet?" Asked Peter.

"He's got his fingers in too many pockets," the hero replied. "Enough people high up owe him favors, and he's bribed or threatened anyone else who could get in his way. Believe me, I've been after this guy for years, but I could never make anything stick."

Peter sympathized with the hero's dilemma, "Well, I mean, I've been taking notes and listening in on some of their meetings. Do you think that'd help?"

Daredevil shook his head, "Not unless you bugged the place, even then it'd probably be inadmissible in court. What you have, it's just the say-so of some kid, no offense. Besides, these guys wouldn't give up Fisk. You said that they never spoke his name during their meetings, right?"

Peter reluctantly nodded.

"There you have it then," the man in red continued. "Even to each other, they don't name the boss. Either they're too loyal or too scared of what he'd do to them."

"So what? I'm supposed to let them keep running around while this Fisk guy works whatever plan he's cooking up?" Asked an incredulous Peter.

"Well really, you shouldn't be fighting crime without a license," Daredevil replied sternly.

"I'm not fighting crime really, I'm... snooping with style," Peter retorts.

"Regardless, you'd better watch your back," said the hero. "This kind of world is something you shouldn't be dealing with, you're not ready for it yet. If you're serious about being a hero like I think you are, you should let one of us pros handle things from here on out."

Peter was taken aback, "You serious?"

"You've been embarrassing Fisk within this own private circles," Daredevil went on, standing up. "Right now, the only reason he hasn't done anything to retaliate is because this is a rare occasion where he knows nothing about you. But I guarantee if you keep this up, Kingpin will find some way to strike back. He'll figure out who you are, where you live, and what can hurt you."

"But the people-" Peter was cut off.

"I promise I'll keep a close eye on Forest Hills. If Kingpin's making a move, then I will personally be there to stop it from happening. But for your own safety, you need to stop," Daredevil said firmly. "Do you understand?"

The boy looked away, not altogether pleased, "Yeah, I get it..."

"You said you've got notebooks on the Tracksuit's meetings? Where are they?" Asked the hero.

Peter sighed and unzipped his backpack, "Notebook, actually. But here." He tossed it over to Daredevil, who caught it without looking.

The hero was about to leave, but he paused, as if sensing the disappointment in Peter. "Look, I'm not trying to undermine what you've been doing," he said. "Honestly, you're pretty good at this. But if a kid with potential like you had gotten killed on my watch, I'd never be able to forgive myself. And I don't think Tony would either."

The mention of his hero rocked Peter a bit. This was a valid point Daredevil was making. He didn't want to fail Mr. Stark, and he didn't want to make things more complicated than they already were. The horned hero went out through the window, leaving Peter alone with his thoughts.

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Barber's Chair

• Well, he said the thing. I think we all know what happens next...

• Bit of a reinterpretation here, Peter started out as a masked wrestler in the comics. So having him spend time working on the ring like this felt reminiscent.

• Direct confrontation with Daredevil. We learn a bit more about the criminal world Peter's stumbled upon, as well as some of the laws in place regarding vigilantes. Daredevil's points were valid about how dangerous it is, but plenty disappointing for Peter to hear all of it.