Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

The wailing of police sirens continued outside.

Inside the warehouse, however, an eerie silence filled the air.

The Bat stared at the man before him, whose face twisted into a grotesque grin. Without a word, the Bat grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

"Cough—Hahaha!!"

The man let out a weak cough but quickly burst into manic laughter.

"Now I finally understand why the Joker in the comics loves playing games with you so much." Despite having his throat firmly clenched by the Bat, he showed no fear—none at all.

Or rather, from the moment he lured the Bat out, he had already accepted his fate.

Grinning wickedly, he leaned his face closer to the Bat.

"Why so serious?"

The Bat abruptly lifted him and slammed him onto the ground.

The violent impact sent waves of pain through his body, forcing him into a fit of coughing. He curled up instinctively, writhing on the floor.

But it wasn't long before he recovered, laughing wildly once again.

"You won't kill me. If you do, you'll become New York's most wanted fugitive." He struggled to turn his body so he could look directly at the Bat.

"Just imagine… the Bat, a wanted criminal in the eyes of the NYPD. That would be quite a spectacle."

It had to be said—he played his hand well.

The police were right outside.

And in this moment, anyone looking in would see nothing but a masked vigilante assaulting an unarmed man.

The term "criminal" wasn't something the Bat cared about, but to let this man have the last laugh?

Impossible.

Still, the situation was far from favorable.

To the authorities, this man was an upstanding citizen. Even if the Bat exposed his crimes, the NYPD wouldn't risk taking on such a troublesome figure without hard evidence.

Hydra had hidden itself well.

Just as the Bat was about to make his next move, he suddenly turned and flicked a Batarang toward the open space of the warehouse.

"No need for such a grand welcome."

A voice rang out, filled with surprise as the Batarang whizzed through the air.

Miles.

"Did you do something? Because there's a whole lot of cops out there looking to arrest you."

Miles stepped forward cautiously, his gaze shifting to the man lying on the ground—Clark Kent.

From any angle, the man on the floor looked like the victim.

To an outsider, it seemed like a superhero had just beaten an innocent civilian.

"Wow, looks like you caught yourself a real big shot." Miles' tone was anything but approving. He was now mere steps away from the Bat.

Then, in an instant, Miles lunged—aiming to restrain the Bat.

But a rookie like him? There was no way he could take the Bat down so easily.

In a flash, the Bat flipped backward twice, creating distance between them.

"Honestly, with reflexes like that, you'd be a beast at whack-a-mole." Miles quipped while rushing forward again.

But the Joker, lying on the ground, was not pleased.

"You damn spider! Why are you interfering in our business?!" His hoarse voice still carried enough rage to be a full-blown roar.

Miles, who had been determined to pull the Bat off a dark path, nearly tripped at those words.

"Hey! Dude, I'm helping you!"

Clearly, Miles was having trouble understanding this guy's logic.

Even after being beaten to this extent, he still didn't want anyone interfering in their fight?

Was this guy a masochist?

"You don't understand what's happening here. I suggest you stay out of it." The Bat landed to the side, his expression cold as he spoke to Miles.

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D.-certified superhero. That gives me every reason to step in."

With that, Spider-Man sprang into action once more, completely ignoring whatever nonsense the masochist on the ground was spewing.

Miles fired his webbing rapidly, trying to restrain the Bat.

But, without exception, every single strand missed its mark.

At this point, Miles was seriously starting to doubt whether the Bat was even human.

How could a normal person react faster than his webs?

"Alright, just admit it—did you take some kind of super-soldier serum? Like Captain America?" Miles refused to believe otherwise. He shot another web and yanked himself forward, using the momentum to launch himself at the Bat.

But again, he missed.

This time, however, Miles seemingly disappeared from both the Bat's and the Joker's line of sight.

The Bat, however, wasn't surprised in the slightest.

He was already prepared for this scenario.

As his mask snapped back into place, his vision shifted—he was no longer seeing the world as normal.

Infrared mode, activated.

Not spotting Miles at first glance, the Bat immediately swung a sweeping kick behind him.

Sure enough, Miles crashed to the ground—but this time, he didn't let go.

He grabbed onto the Bat's ankle with a firm grip.

"Say it with me now—hey!"

As soon as Miles spoke, he unleashed his Venom Strike—his bio-electric shock.

Blue electricity crackled over the Bat's body in an instant.

The problem?

The Bat didn't even flinch.

Without hesitation, he kicked Miles off.

As Miles tumbled backward, he caught a glimpse of something alarming—the Bat's hands were now crackling with the same blue energy.

"Don't tell me you already installed countermeasures against me in your suit."

That was the first thing Miles blurted out as he regained his footing.

He knew the Bat always had contingency plans for other superheroes, but he never expected him to prepare something against him so quickly.

The Bat didn't bother responding to Miles' shock.

Instead, he charged straight at him.

Miles, seeing the electricity dancing in the Bat's hands, knew better than to engage head-on.

He had zero interest in experiencing electroshock therapy firsthand.

The moment he leaped into the air, two Batarangs shot out from the Bat's gauntlet—embedding themselves in his calves.

Then came the surge of electricity.

As his consciousness faded, Miles saw the Bat stepping toward him.

No final words.

No extra movements.

He simply yanked the Batarangs from Miles' legs—then kicked him aside.

After that, Miles remembered nothing.

(End of Chapter)

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