Screams from the audience, in combination with the narrations of Deadpool, shook the stadium in anticipation of the match. But neither of the boys seemed to hear what was going on around them. Both were extremely fixated on each other; it wasn't just them fighting physically, but with philosophies and worldviews. It would be true a struggle of opposites.

Finally, silence reigned when Emma Frost lowered her arm, indicating the start of the fight. Robbie wasted no time and started moving towards his opponent. He wasn't running, but walking with purpose; he would do more than win without the demon's power. He would win only using the skills taught to him by another hero.

Raising his fists close to his face, Peter identified the standard boxing position, the boy's preferred fighting style. But Peter had an advantage with his agility, and crouched a little to get in position.

Getting close enough, Robbie tried to start the contest with a straight right in the direction of Parker's face. One thing Peter was sure of, Reyes was both a wall and a damage machine. He could easily be placed as one of the strongest and most resilient students, and who didn't have a Quirk focused on these attributes, as Amadeus and Luke did.

However, he lost out on agility, likely because he didn't usually need it. The brunette had seen his opponent go from obstacle to obstacle with his chains and reach enormous speeds with the car, but he wasn't as agile as Peter.

Predicting the punch through his Spider Sense, Peter quickly rotates his torso to deflect the fist. Even if he took just a few shots from Reyes, it was game over. The boy was too strong, even for his increased resilience. Other blows soon followed; hooks, jabs, but Peter dodged everything, until the Latino tried a more risky maneuver. He attempted to grab Parker, which caused the boy to leap up to a height higher than his opponent, doing a backflip and landing unharmed. The audience went crazy over the acrobatics.

"Don't dodge, Araña!" Reyes said, looking annoyed.

"What should I do then? Let you beat me into unconsciousness?" Peter quipped back. He knew it was risky to use sarcasm in the fight, but he couldn't help it, it was innate. "No thanks, Night Nurse is already tired of seeing me in the infirmary."

Reyes surged forward again and tried to hit his opponent. But everything seemed to be in vain, Peter was too agile and seemed to know when the blow is coming. This made it difficult to set up traps, but Reyes had something in mind.

In the middle of several blows that didn't seem to follow any logical sequence, Reyes tried to connect a straight with his left arm to Peter's face. It made him deflect to the side, tilting his body to Robbie's right, and that's where the trap was sprung. With his arm still extended, preventing Peter from quickly returning to his right with the risk of a blow, Reyes sends a kick to his opponent's side, and Peter noticed.

Using the momentum of his preliminary deviation, Peter used the strength of his legs and jumped to his left, rolling his body in mid-air in a trajectory over Reyes' leg. But staying in the air for even a measly second would prove to be his downfall.

In a quick movement, Robbie conjured a chain that quickly launched forward, coiling around Peter's torso. It throws him behind his caster, Peter lands on the ground hard, rolling a few feet across the arena.

"*Cof* *cof* Finally decided to use the chains, I see," Peter said, coughing a little from the impact as he began to get up.

"How I beat you doesn't matter, as long as I don't use the flames," Reyes replied, approaching the boy. "Speaking of, where are your webs, Araña?"

"My webs?" Peter acted confused, "Oh! You mean these webs!?" In that same instant, he extends his fist towards Reyes' face, the white substance and a spurt of blood punctures from his wrist and shoots at his opponent. It soon solidifies and covers Robbie's face.

While the boy was startled by the sudden move, and tries to get it off his face. Peter rushed the short distance that separated them and jumps close to him. He gives Reyes a double kick to the chest, causing him to be knocked over, falling to his back on the floor. Peter also falls, but uses his arms as a spring and quickly pushed off the ground and lands on his feet, hoping his plan had worked.

Due to his innate abilities, Reyes' body already emitted a greater amount of heat. This made the web on his face melt and come out much easier. He then stands up and glared at his opponent with fury in his eyes. This fight wouldn't be so easy.


After his fight and the visit with Night Nurse, Amadeus returned to the area reserved for his class. He gets close to his friends as the battle was underway.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" The tall boy asked his group of friends sitting next to each other; Flash, Pietro, Laura and Sam.

"'Sup Big A? Congrats on your victory!" Pietro greeted, using the boy's nickname. "You didn't miss anything, it just started."

"Yes, congratulations Amadeus," Laura said. The girl had her legs stretched across Flash's lap, Amadeus decided not to question it.

"Thanks! My next match is against Wanda, any tips?" The boy asked Flash, nudging his shoulder.

"Keep your hand off," Flash said, not looking him in the eye, focused on the fight below. "As long as you don't create things for her to use, you'll be fine."

"Sure..." he said, moving forward and sitting behind the quartet. "So, who do you think will win this?"

"Ah, come on! Reyes has it easy!" Said Sam, still thinking he could guess the winners. "He can launch all those chains from nothing, it'll be an easy fight against Parker!"

"Don't being an idiot!" Flash snapped, still not looking. "Things don't just come out of nowhere, Quirks are part of our body too. And Quirks that 'create things out of nothing' are the most dangerous because of the damage they can do to the body."

"Like you and Reyes," Laura noted, receiving a nod from the boy. "You create an absurd amount of mass from your own bodies, while I produce a specific quantity and Tandy evokes things from elsewhere..."

"That's why my armor's so protected. That way I can maintain a number of cells that I'm used to without having to leave certain parts of my body vulnerable," the boy exemplifies.

"Wait! Is your goo... cells?" Pietro asked, as if he'd discovered something incredible.

"What did you think it was? Black gelatin!?!?" Flash retorts, done with the sprinter's stupidity.

"Can we get back to the fight?" Amadeus asked, having enjoyed the calm Flash, even for a few seconds.


Peter, seeing Reyes's withering look at him, knew his plan to irritate the boy so he'd use his powers more had worked. It seemed crazy to many; Robbie was already dangerous with just his fists. Until now, he and his chains were an invincible pair, or an invincible group in this case, since he usually invoked more than one.

But Peter wasn't like most, his goal was no longer to beat Reyes, but to save him. Save him from that toxic mindset he had about his own Quirk. Peter had a plan to do so, it definitely wasn't a perfect plan, but it was better than nothing.

Seeing Reyes get up and starting to walk towards him, he could perceive the chain that arose from his back, surrounding him in a protective way. With an imminent attack, Peter would have a chance to try his theory. If he was right, he'd be able to enact his plan, but if he was wrong, it would end quickly.

Just as predicted, with a simple flick of his wrist, Reyes threw the chain towards Parker. The iron chain slithered and stretched like a snake through the air. Seeing and feeling the approach of the object through his Spider Sense and pressing the wound on his arm, Peter ran towards the chain to gain momentum and jump.

He rolled sideways in the air as he passed over the outstretched object. In the midst of his trajectory in the air, Peter's theory proves to be true. When it didn't find its target in the place where it was previously, the chain would retract back to Reyes' body. The boy looked irritably at Peter as the brunette returned to the ground after his jump.

"Come on, you didn't think I was going to fight without both of us using our trademarks, did you?" Peter grinned, pointing at his arm and then at the opponent, indicating the web and chains.

"..." Without saying anything, Robbie clenched his fists. Two more chains emerged from his back and prostate beside him, like snakes obeying their master.

"Okay, no comments, cool." Peter added. But before he could say more, Reyes' attack began. His theory confirmed that Reyes' control of his chains still focused on them performing a specific task, and if they didn't reach their target, they would return. So Peter went back to his initial strategy; dodging.

With each approaching chain, thanks to his innate ability to foresee danger, his agility and his reflexes, Peter was doing quite well. With each chain that approached, he stopped, deflected, and did whatever it took to keep himself from getting captured. At this point in the championship, Reyes probably wouldn't stop himself from simply throwing Peter off the field.

With all this, Reyes had to be smarter, so he set a trap. Peter deflected another chain, after landing to observe his opponent; and the boy didn't look well. He was breathing hard, turning pale and looked a little stooped. Perhaps this was some consequence of the continued use of his Quirk, but that little distraction was the moment for Reyes to act.

He mentally commands two chains to go towards Peter from opposite places, one from the left and the other from the right. With the distraction he had when he realized the effects of Robbie's Quirk on himself, Peter knew he wouldn't be able to deflect, so he moved on to another strategy.

He shot a web in Robbie's direction, aiming to blind him, confusing him enough for the chains to miss him. But little did he know that this was exactly what the Latino wanted. At the moment of the shot, the two chains turn around, missing Peter and moving away from him, returning to Reyes. But the web, which should've hit Robbie's face, is quickly gripped by the boy.

While still connected to Peter's arm, Reyes pulls hard, bringing his opponent towards him quickly. Due to the speed, Peter didn't have time to do anything. Robbie throws a punch into his stomach. The brunette hits the other boy's arm hard, with his strength and resistance. In spite of his enhanced resistance, Peter was hurt, he fell to his back on the floor, unable to breathe due to the impact on the stomach and back.

"Don't get up…" Reyes said breathlessly, moving away from Peter.

The boy's rational side wanted to follow that advice. With the impacts on his stomach and back, Peter was barely able to breathe properly. He felt dizzy and bewildered, but glad that he hadn't hit his head on the ground, otherwise the situation would be much worse.

But if Peter was one thing, it was stubborn. He didn't know when to quit and he knew what it was like to be beaten, so this wasn't a new situation. He was lying on the floor, tired and bruised, it had happened more times than he could remember. But this time things were different, for the first time he fought with more equality against his opponent and his goal was different than it had been. So he rolled over onto his stomach and starts to get up.

Moving back a little from the fallen boy, Reyes walks a few feet to get a tactical advantage if Peter decided to get up and continue to fight. He hoped it wouldn't last much longer, he'd felt the consequences of his Quirk building up in his body. Unlike people who took part of their powers from a 'parallel dimension' like Tyrone or Tandy, Reyes' power was closer to Laura or Flash. His body even produced the material for the chains.

Reyes converted his body's minerals into an extremely resistant material to damage and heat, but that would have consequences. Obviously he'd trained and his body adapted to have a much larger mineral reserve, but with excessive use his body became deficient. He was able to convert minerals to chains almost instantly, but the reverse process took longer. So if he continued to create more and more chains, his body would eventually run out and he wouldn't have the strength to control the chains he'd already created.

With the amount of deviations from Peter, and Reyes trying to respond with more chains faster, he already felt his body becoming deficient in minerals. His skin was paler, he trembled slightly and felt palpitations in his chest. A voice inside his head told him to use his other power and interrupt those weaknesses for a while, but he shook his head, pushing that thought away.

The boy heard the audience making more noise and looked back, seeing Parker standing up and facing him.

"You are quite stubborn, aren't you?" Reyes was already annoyed by the brunette's persistence.

"First, yeah, I am. It's part of my charm," Peter said, putting his hand on his chest and taking a deep breath. "Second, I won't give up until you use your other power! Third... Nah, it's just those two."

"How dare you try to make me use that demonic power!? I already told you, I will defeat you and prove to the world I can be a hero without HIS power," Robbie says angrily.

"You keep talking about that power being demonic..." Peter puts himself in a fighting position, "It doesn't exist; Quirks are part of everyone! That's your power, not some Spirit's!"

"Shut up!" Reyes immediately summons two chains that come out of his back and launched at high speed towards Peter.

But instead of standing still and waiting for the moment to dodge, Peter starts running towards his opponent. He quickly dodged the chains he saw in his direction, jumping one, then lowering and sliding on the ground to pass the other. And as he slides across the floor, he extends both fists, launching a web from each. This opens a new hole in his other wrist and drills open the clot in his other. The two webs fly out and quickly attach themselves to Robbie's foot, keeping him in place.

When the boy stops to look down, Peter shot another web across his face. Surprised and irritated, Reyes raised an arm to remove it, but this proved to be a mistake. Running the last few feet, Peter began to shoot more and more web from his wrists, keeping the boy's arm from moving.

Soon after, Peter starts running around Reyes, keeping as close as possible. His arms secreted more and more web, tying his opponent into a sort of cocoon. Starting with the legs, Peter quickly covered them with the white web, preventing their movement. Robbie tried to invoke a chain to do something, but Peter quickly grabs it and wraps it around the boy's torso, quickly covering it with the web too, fastening it tightly together to the body of its creator.

Before long, Peter steps back to admire at his handiwork. This was something he'd trained at during the two weeks before the festival; a web cocoon. Since the webs were connected to his sweat, he first moved a lot to be able to perspire. With that, the accumulated web was enough to become a net, which when being wrapped around the target, managed to restrict even very strong people like Reyes.

Even with his Quirk's innate abilities, Peter had tested it out to be sure. His web was extremely strong and resistant to heat, but it was still flammable if it came into direct contact with fire. This meant that Robbie could only be freed by using his powers inherited from the Spirit. He'd have to embrace his power and become the Ghost Rider.

"Okay, I don't think you're going anywhere now..." Peter tells his opponent. He might've had bleeding arms and open wounds, but he still had time to talk in the middle of the fight. This was his chance to tell him everything he'd been ignoring. "I know you can hear me in there!"

"Mmmph!!!" A muffled growl could be heard from inside the cocoon, it twitches in an attempt to break free. Peter knew that the fight wouldn't end until either one of them quit, or stepped outside the arena. With Reyes struggling inside the web cocoon, he had some time until the boy was free, and he intended to use the full amount.

"Everything you think you know about your Spirit is wrong!" Yelled Peter. "Ghost Rider told me! The more you suppress your fire, the more power you're giving it. You need to release your flames to keep control!!"

Robbie still struggled from within the cocoon, the words being ignored.

"You keep talking about your Quirk being demonic, it doesn't exist!" Peter said. "You can have any religion you want, but saying that these powers are by nature good or bad doesn't make sense!"

"Tyrone takes his powers from a dimension fueled by fear and hopelessness! Does that sound like an evil power?" He blinked, "...Ok, maybe a little, but it doesn't matter! What matters is what he does with that power! And he's here, learning to use this power so he can help people, to be a hero!"

Every time he spoke, he could see the shape attached to the cocoon struggling more and more to free himself.

"We all want to be heroes here, trying to use our Quirks to save and protect, no matter what each of us can do! But we're all doing our best, exhausting ourselves day after day, and you refuse to use part of your power!!!"

Peter became more incensed, desperate for his words to get through. "Did you know, until last year, I had no idea I even had a Quirk!? Can you imagine how many years I spent wishing I could help others with a power of my own!?"

He glared through the now cracked lens of his mask, "We're all struggling, trying to do our best, even those of us not in the Hero's Course!! And you're leaving this incredible power out of it! This power isn't a curse, it's a gift!! You can help so many people with it!!"

"You might not like what the Spirit represents, but it has nothing to do with your Uncle now! That power is yours!!! It's a part of you, so make it 100% yours!! Use it!!!! BECOME THE HERO YOU WANT TO BE!!!!"

From within the cocoon, Robbie's eyes widened at Peter's last desperate shout.

"...the hero you want to be..."

His eyes seemed to glaze over as if lost in a moment long past. After a moment, Peter thought he saw a spark flare up from within the cocoon. Suddenly, it explodes in a column of orange fire.

More than a column, a real explosion of flames had occurred in that place. The cocoon was quickly pulverized and everyone, even the heroes who were standing outside the stadium, can see and feel the heat from the huge column of flames. It was like a fire geyser, which had a single starting point; Robbie Reyes.

The boy felt all his weaknesses disappearing. Not as if he was healing or something, but the fire masked any feeling of injury or deficiency in the body. After using the power it would all come back soon and he would start to feel the effects again, but this gave him a momentary advantage.

The amount of flames decreased until it focused only on the boy; his arms and head were on fire, but the boy had never felt more alive. What's more, the dark voice of his Uncle was no longer trying to take him over. With that, Reyes took a deep breath, finishing the last part of his transformation. He raised his head and his skin begins to come apart, as if it were soot coming from somewhere, and underneath it was possible to see the white bone.

But unlike his predecessor, who had a normal human skull when he transformed, Reyes's form was slightly different. Rather than being a skull covered in fire, the fire seemed to be concentrated inside the skull, which looked like a mixture of skull and motorcycle helmet. Because of the shape, fire escaped through openings in the head, through his eyes and through the openings where the cheeks should have been.

Peter shielded his masked face from the flames, completely awestruck by the raw power his opponent displayed. Incredible, he thought. "I hope you know the trouble you're in now, Araña," the boy said, smiling defiantly at his opponent

"I'd expect no less..." Peter responded, crouching slightly and leaving his arms outstretched, ready to launch webs. But still, he was badly bruised and had dried blood stuck to his forearm.

From the audience, Jonathan Blaze had stepped away from the wall and leaned forward to gaze upon this new development. The boy had finally embraced his true power, thus saving his own soul. He smiled with a mix of pride and relief, "There ya go, kid..."

Peter used the opportunity at the end of Reyes' transformation for a final approximation. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to win, but it was all worth it, and he wouldn't go down without a fight. He shot two webs at the ground to either side of Reyes. Ignoring the pain in his forearms, Peter used the webs on the ground as a kind of slingshot, launching himself in the air towards the boy on fire. One last, desperate attack.

But something the two didn't know, was that after keeping his power under wraps for so long, Robbie had unleashed an incredible amount of flames. But something else had been built up without escape and was now about to be released; the other part of the Ghost Rider's power.

Flying through the air, Peter prepared to throw a punch, with all the strength he had left. But when Reyes looked up, those cavities in the skull had nothing but fire inside. And when their eyes meet, an explosion occurred.

Nobody could say how it happened, but an explosion and a cloud of smoke appeared amongst the boys and spread until it covered them. For a moment, nothing happened. But soon, it was possible to see a body thrown out of the smoke. It falls to the ground outside the arena.

Soon the smoke died down, kneeling in the same place was Robbie, crouched with one hand on the arena floor. He was breathing hard, but still barely inside the field. He raised his head to see Parker unconscious and over the barrier.

"'The Spider' is out of bounds!! Roberto Reyes is the winner!!!" Announced Emma Frost, as the crowd went crazy.

But Reyes paid no attention to any of this, he just watched the unconscious boy being carried off by a floating stretcher, likely towards the infirmary. The boy had just one thought in his head; What have I done?

.

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Barber's Chair

• Another intense battle! The plot line goes back to MHA with our hero losing the fight, but winning the war. Still, it seems there was a cost to the outcome still to be explored.

• A bit more explanation is given to Quirks and how they work in this universe.