Spider-man: Bad Blood

Mentor to Mentor

Spider-man Narrating/Breaking the 4th Wall
Text/Writing
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Few things brought calm to Matt's soul. These included Foggy, Karen, Peter, going to church and a well-made cup of coffee. Combine that last one with a nice park bench on a sunny day and nothing could ruin it.
 
Besides the ever-increasing sound of a teenager panting while a guy on a segway tried to motivate him. Matt could smell the poor kid's sweat. Was the guy trying to run him dry or something?
 
Matt listened as the kid got closer and closer, Matt could feel shifts in the air and his arms. He could also faintly hear objects rattling inside a container the kid was carrying.
 
'Isn't that a bit much? What kind of trainer tortures their students like that?'
 
Matt would eventually find out as the sounds and smells of intense exercise were getting closer and closer to him.
 
"Come on fanboy! If you wanna become No. 1 then you are going to have to work harder than that!"
 
'Ahh, so a kid is aiming to become the new All Might. How... cute.'
 
Matt took another sip of his coffee. Placing the cup back on the bench, Matt smacked his lips. He could already taste the salt in the sweat that the poor kid was producing.
 
After a minute or two, the student and the mentor were passing by him. Right as they were right in front of him, Matt cocked his head and said, "Don't you think you're pushing him a bit too hard."
 
The two weren't expecting someone to say anything to them. This caused Midoriya to lose his balance, dropping the cold box off his back and tripping forward. Matt reacted quickly and used his cane to catch Midoriya before he hit the ground.
 
Midoriya was in too much shock to say or do anything. It wasn't until Matt pushed the kid back onto his feet that he was able to process what happened.
 
"T-thank you for catching me, sir," Midoriya stated as he bowed in front of Matt.
 
Matt smirked at the kid's mannerisms and said "It's alright, kid. I shouldn't have started you like that."
 
"Young Midoriya, are you okay?" The man on the segway asked his student.
 
"Yeah, I'm alright," Midoriya spoke through his heavy breathing, not being able to properly catch his breath.
 
Matt did what he always did and listened, and he didn't like what he was hearing. In fact, he didn't know for sure what his senses were picking up.
 
'It's like somebody ripped out all of the guy's organs on his left side. It's like his digestive system was completely destroyed. Hell, I can barely feel any muscles movement in him. And yet, he has this weird warmth. No, not warmth, but a flame. There is some sort of flame in this man's heart that is hidden from the world, yet also feels like it is dying.'
 
Matt cocked his head to the side, trying his best to get a better understanding of what he was picking up.
 
"Thank you for catching him and you may be right about us pushing him too much."
 
"I'm sorry. Us?"
 
"I made an exercise regime that I called the 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan.' It's supposed to help him reach the peak physical condition needed before the U.A entrance exam. However, I've been getting that feeling that someone has been pushing himself more than he should be."
 
Midoriya's face flushed in embarrassment as the attention of the two adults turned towards him. Matt couldn't help but smirk, thinking back to Peter's training before the bite. The poor kid threw up so many times trying to prove himself to Matt.
 
"W-w-well you see, I-I just wanted to become the best I can be. And to-to do that I have to work harder than everybody else."
 
Before Toshinori could say anything, Matt spoke, "I understand the feeling. Back in the day, I wanted to prove myself to my sensei. He was all I had at the time so I wanted him to be proud. But here's some advice for you kid, don't work your life away. Even if it's to fulfil a dream, even if you achieve said dream, you might just find it was all for nothing. You need to savour the little things in life and appreciate what familiarity you can, because you may just find yourself at the point of no return. I learnt that the hard way."
 
The mentor and the pupil stared in silence, processing the words of the blind man. Matt smirked, he enjoyed making people that way.
 
Toshinori eventually gathered his thoughts and said, "We appreciate the advice Mr..."
 
"Murdock. My name is Mathew Murdock. Co. founder of the Nelson and Murdock Attorneys at law, a small local law firm."
 
"Ahh, that is good to hear. Well, thank you once more for the advice."
 
"Wait, did you say your name was Matt Murdock."
 
Matt turned his head towards Izuku and replied, "Yes, I am."
 
'Strange. Perhaps the kid of us. Considering we took down Fisk a few times now it shouldn't be a surprise.'
 
Midoriya then asked, "Do you know anybody by the name of Peter Parker?"
 
"As a matter of fact, I do. He's a good friend of mine. I'm assuming you're Izuku Midoriya."
 
"Yes sir."
 
"Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Peter told me quite a number of things about you."
 
Toshinori listened to their conversation, curious about his pupil's friend. If he was being honest, he was anxious about him knowing that he was training Midoriya.
 
Midoriya was now nervous. Peter spoke about Matt a lot, and every time he did, there was a spark in his eyes. A spark that was normally associated with a kid talking about their favourite hero. From the stories Peter told him, Izuku could tell that Peter saw Matt like a brother.
 
"He did?" He asked, doing his best to hide his stuttering.
 
"Yeah, you're a good friend of his and you always defended one another despite being quirkless and that is something I can respect. I myself was bullied for my disability so I understand what the two of you are going through."
 
As Matt said the last part, he used the top of his cane to tap his red-tinted glasses, clueing the two in on his blindness. This they quickly picked up on.
 
Before either of them could say anything else, a vibrating sound came from Matt's trousers along with a robotic voice saying "Peter, Peter Peter." on repeat.
 
Matt smirked with a chuckle as he pulled out his phone and said, "Speak of the devil."
 
He declined the call and explained, "I'll call him back. He'll understand."
 
Toshinori nodded. While he wasn't supportive of the idea of not answering a kid's call, he could tell that the two of them were close. Their friendship was practically radiating off the blind man.
 
"Whelp, it was a pleasure meeting you Mr Murdock, but me and Young Midoriya should probably be heading off now."
 
Midoriya seemed to have suddenly remembered what they were doing before and was already in the process of picking up the broken cooler again.
 
"Right. Let's go!"
 
With determination and pain on his face, Midoriya started running again while Toshinori rode behind him, both saying their respective goodbyes.
 
Matt smiled as he took another sip of his coffee. He pulled out his phone and played the message Peter left him.