Hammerhead - Part 2

Peter was so preoccupied with his hand that his pain deafened out his Spider Sense. As such, he took a punch to the gut from his foe. He's knocked back hard into the brick wall. Owww, that hurt, Peter thought, struggling to get up. He then perceives the metallic sheen of his foe. I wonder if that's part of his Quirk...

When he least expected it, he felt his Spider Sense go off. Peter squat down, narrowly escaping a punch from Hammerhead, who had broken the bricks of the place where his head was a moment ago. In a reflex, Peter punched the man's belly, which makes him lose his breath for a moment. Acting on instinct, Peter put his hands to the wall, using it as a springboard to kick his foe in the face. He lands on target and the man backs up a few steps.

Standing under the only light in the alley, a slightly old street pole, Hammerhead regained his footing. His nose was red and crooked. Blood dripped from his face as he raised his fists. Peter's theory was confirmed: he had a steel forehead and knuckles, but that's it.

Peter then walks over to the man too, but with his arms down, prepared more to dodge than to hit. "I'll erase your existence, punk..." said Hammerhead, malice dripping from his words.

The man quickly tries a flurry of punches at Peter, but he couldn't land once, further infuriating him. Because of his spider sense, Peter could tell exactly where the blow would come from and, along with his improved agility, easily dodge and deflect. Down, right, left, no matter where the blow came from, he could avoid them.

In a burst of fury, the criminal throws himself in the direction of the boy, in an attempt to grab him. However, sensing such an approach, Peter gets ready to counter. He brings his hands back, prepared to support himself with the wall.

"I'll bet this isn't steel!" He muttered cheekily. And just as Hammerhead takes a swipe at the boy, Peter leaned back and, using all his strength, kicks him up right between the legs.

Hammerhead's eyes widen in shock, all the breath seemed to leave his body at once as he collapsed to his knees. His hands gripped below his belt as he looked up at the boy, "Y-Ya dirty, sonova-"

"Language!" Peter calls as he threw a punch to the gangster's jaw, knocking him out.

With the last man down for the count, Peter rushed over to the old man, slowly helping him to his feet. "Are you okay?" The boy asks, putting a hand on his shoulder. The man seemed to recognize Peter's voice, and soon composed himself when he realized he was speaking to a child.

"Everything's fine now," He went on.

The old man looked into the boy's glasses covered eyes in gratitude, "Thank you for saving me, these were bad men. But I'm afraid you only put off the inevitable."

Peter was confused, "What do you mean?"

"It's not like the cartoons, young man," he said. "Just because you beat up one villain, doesn't mean the problem is solved. Hammerhead was bad news, but men like him are just foot soldiers for someone much worse..."

The old man noticed Peter's wrists, "You're bleeding." He takes out a towel from his apron and using scissor-like fingers, cuts it in half and wraps the strips around his wrists.

Peter nods in thanks, and looks down at Hammerhead, "Who's his boss?"

The old man shook his head, "That I don't know, but they must have plans for this place if they're trying to scare us all out." Peter looked outside the alleyway thoughtfully. A few people were walking around now, one of them was a small family with little girl. The mother and father looked around nervously as the child seemed to regard everything with innocent wonder. The boy made a decision.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to check in on this place now and then," said Peter.

The old man chuckled, "What? You gonna be our friendly neighborhood super hero?"

Peter shrugged, "Something like that, I guess." He had succeeded. Whatever this was, a robbery, a shakedown or whatever, Peter helped. For a brief moment, he had been a hero. And it felt good.

The old man looks down at the unconscious thugs, "So, what should we do with them?"

Peter grins mischievously, "I might have an idea..."

Shortly afterwards, two police cars were parked in front of the alley. The three criminals were wrapped up in webs and hanging from the streetlight. A sticky note reading "Arrest Me!" was attached to the blonde Russian's head. A policeman was obtaining a report from the the old man, who described what he had happened. Two others were debating how to get the criminals down while 2 professional heroes combed the area.

"So what do we know about these guys?" One of the heroes, Shang-Chi asked. He wore a red martial arts gi and surveyed the scene. His associate sat above on the fire escape, keeping to the shadows. It was the Blind Hero, Daredevil.

"The two in the tracksuits are just muscle," he said. "Part of a gang that works freelance. But the other guy is Hammerhead. Used to be a low level enforcer for Tombstone, but rumor has it he's switched bosses."

"Think he's working for You-Know-Who?" The Martial Arts Hero pondered.

"It's definitely possible," Daredevil replied. "Apparently they were here collecting some kind of tax, using scare tactics on civilians. This has his scent all over."

He suddenly looks over, as if detecting something. Daredevil jumps down and lands in front of a broken crate. Using a bit of splintered wood, he scrapes up a bit of a sticky substance. He sniffs it, as if analyzing when the webs suddenly dissolves. "Interesting..." he muttered.

"So what happened then?" Shang-Chi asked impatiently. He knew a guy like Hammerhead wouldn't let himself be caught so easily.

"It seems we have a new watchman," Daredevil noted, standing back up. "I just hope he's in the right headspace. The world doesn't need another Frank Castle."

"You're telling me..." Shang-Chi replied, as the two walked back over to the police cars.