The Amazing Deku
Disclaimer: I don't own Spider-Man or My Hero Academia.
Zirnitra: Ah. It feels so good to be out of his mind. I haven't left since we touched down on that damn desert.
Kei: Good. Now set me free!
Zirnitra: Not until we see that movie.
Ambros: So here's the deal; ever since the announcement of Two Heroes, we decided on a better way to introduce the Iron Spider, in the form of a man with bendy fingers. As for the blood red and sorrow blue? That will be settled in this arc.
Chapter 14: Midoriya Interview
Where am I? It's just some white, depressing void. I'm hanging upside down from something using my webs. My costume is gone though… Hmm. It must be a dream.
I release my control and land inside a store. Oh no, it's that store! And… and there I am, letting him go.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? You could have taken that guy apart, and now he's getting away!" Please don't remind me.
"But he didn't take anything." Go after him. Please, do something me!
But I don't. All I can do is stand there and watch, as Akaigan runs away. For how long? Who knows. He just keeps running and running. Everything goes dark, blacker than the night it happened.
He returns again, and there stands Ochako. No. Please don't! Leave her alone!
I don't care if this is a dream; I'm gonna save her this time! Get away from my friend!
BANG.
No… not again. He fired, and I couldn't do anything. AGAIN.
He's gone now, but she remains. I reach down to touch her hand, to help her. I feel nothing from her. No warmth, no pulse, not even her skin.
Not until she grabs my arm, and lifts her cadaver of a head up, those dead eyes of her locking onto my own as she speaks through a mouth filled with the crimson fuel of life. "Deku, it's okay. It's not your fault."
Those words echo through the confines of my mind as she repeats it over and over. "It's not your fault."
Uraraka, I- "Not your fault." Wait.
"Your fault." It keeps repeating this now. "Your fault. Yourfault. YOUR FAULT! Your fault! YOUR. FAULT."
Her body melts down into a single point, shrinking down until she's a tiny orb in my fingers. It looks like a spider. But wait, it's not just any spider; it's the same one that bit me and turned my life into this endless carnival of mayhem. Can this dream get any more traumatizing?
Well, with the noise behind me, I can say with solace that it will. I turn around and see what I can only describe as ink moving, but more like it's rising up over top of me. Are those eyes? What the heck is this?!
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Izuku suddenly shakes in his sleep, eyelids bursting open with a sudden shout. He sits up quickly, breathing heavily as he tries to make sense of that dream. Turning his head to the right he looks at his bedroom dresser where his alarm sits. As his eyes register to the light he gets a good look at the time, where he discovers the current time is 7:32.
He gives out a sigh of defeat, glad that he's out of that nightmare of a sleep. As he does his senses begin to inform him of his situation; his bed sheets are drenched, soaked in their inner fabric by what he hopes is his sweat and only his sweat. Not that he remembers any other dream last night.
Then again, thinking about it. why does he remember that dream more? He doesn't really recall dreams being so vivid, or tormenting. "Your fault…"
He gets up from his red and blue All Might apparel bed before hitting the shower, taking the time to freshen up for the day and get rid of yesterday's dirt. He needs to pretty quick; his meeting – he doesn't have the guts to consider it a date – with Momo is pretty important and he has to look nice for her. She seems on edge for some reason.
After taking the time to clean up Izuku enters the living room. He carries a backpack while dressed in jean shorts that have the white flush on the right leg's legging and a red shirt that reads 'Leopard' in katakana. He also sports those familiar scarlet shoes with olive laces that he loves to wear.
In the living room, he glances at the person in front of him, his mother sitting in the living room with a tempered expression on her face. The woman turns an eye to her nervous child, her hand guiding him forth.
Her motherly voice speaks out to him. "Izuku," she says, the moment he steps in front of her. "This will be a long interview. Do you have any plans for the day?"
He takes a breath relaxing with the knowledge that she only intends to have a small chat with him. "Actually, I'm going to go meet Momo. Is that okay?"
"Of course it is." Hearing her name brings a smile upon the 40-year-old's face, as he expects. His mom really likes Momo, and it's not because she's rich. As far as he knows anyway.
He walks over to her and wraps his arms around her for a hug, one that lasts for a long while. "Izuku, be careful out there." With these last words of care ringing in his ears, Izuku makes his exit, slipping through the front door.
Leaving behind his home, the sensational teenager smiles as he makes his way through the city as if that hug has released something heavy from his body. As he does, he checks his backpack wondering why he brought it. There's no need to act as Spider-Man except when there's trouble, but lately, there are more heroes around. Even as he crosses the sidewalk he spots a hero with a group of others out on patrol.
His smile widens upon seeing him up close, the hero clad like a proud samurai in cobalt blue, gray gauntlets that reflect his determination, and red-orange flames that billow gracefully from his boots, shoulders, arms, and facial hair; this is the No.2 hero of Japan, the Flame Hero Endeavor.
'Wow… he's even cooler in person!' Izuku says in his mind with the inflection of a squeal as he gleefully examines the hero closest to rivaling All Might. Despite running into Kamui Woods, Mount Lady, and Death Arms – or rather because of – seeing Endeavor leaves a deeper imprint on him.
The fire hero stops before a crosswalk. He turns to his wards saying, "Keep a sharp eye out. I don't want any cases unresolved by the time tomorrow arrives," before gesturing to two of them to two different directions. "In addition, if you see Spider-Man, let me know immediately. I'll bring him in."
Once he hears that he stops dead in his tracks, eye twitching as he fearfully turns around to make his exit. He mutters, "I guess he didn't get the memo," before walking slightly faster than usual.
Refocusing on his task, er, plan for the day, he heads for Musutafu Mall, a glass wall epicenter of collection for shoppers, mall rats, and people who just want to hang out. Passing by people and entering underneath the monolithic doors that put UA to shame. Izuku passes into the food court and checks around.
He notices a lot of people eating and talking with one another. Some of them he recognizes including his classmate Hitomi Yatsu before he catches the object of his desire sitting at a table. She wears a cloth over her head with her hair tied up into a ponytail and pointy sunglasses to mask her appearance. Otherwise, she wears a white blouse feathered over her cleavage, a violet skirt that reaches the middle of her thighs, and black heel boots that mimic the Zettai Ryouiki style.
"Momo," he calls out, going up to meet her as she sits awaiting him. "Thank goodness I'm on time for once."
"You're actually 1.9 seconds late," she says, turning her head around with a scowl. "Would you like to order?"
"Of course!" he says to her as he takes a seat. "I guess I could get some ramen-"
"Izuku," her words interrupt his process, "do you remember anything interesting happening to you lately?"
"Interesting?" It's a weird thing to ask he thinks. He tells her a numerous amount of content that befalls him as Izuku and Spider-Man. If there's anything interesting she would have known by now.
Although, there have been new updates that he hasn't been able to talk about since she's been avoiding him. "There actually is something important I wanted to tell you; I met All Might."
He watches her turn her head around to give him a strange look, and this surprises him. He expected her to be amazed about him meeting his idol, or worried that he would take him in. Hell, he was even expecting her to be at least shocked. But her expression reads of one in the know, like she had a feeling this would happen.
"And, what did he say?"
"He wanted to offer me an opportunity to be a hero." From those words he gains the sight of seeing her react as he was expecting, giving an expression of bewilderment and relief.
"He did?" She then gives a sigh of relief to the side, whatever was affecting her bad mood gone with the knowledge he just presented. "What exactly did he say?"
"I can take this dual admission thing and become a hero by the time I graduate."
"Dual admission?" She pauses to think about. "It sounds like what they do in college, allow a student to earn credits from one school while attending another."
He did not think about that; she really is smart to give it that kind of description. He starts to muse. "Going off on that, if I take this course then I can become a hero by earning credits from UA High or another school and still attend a normal high school. But then that entails the question of what exactly the trials I will take will be. Is someone going to be watching me all the time?"
As he murmurs, the general populace surrounding them become unfortunate victims afflicted with having to hear his nonsensical words. Within seconds they start to depart, walking as far away from our emerald protagonist as possible.
"Izuku, you might want to stop," she tells him, the only one with a two-yard radius still next to him. He stops and stares at her, as she asks another question, those apple cheeks of hers making him think there's more to this. "So, is there anything else that happened that you want to talk about?"
"Hm?" He takes the moment to think further. And as his mind thinks back to what else happened that day, his head performs the tomato impression. "Oh. Well, there was this thing with Mount Lady."
"Did you enjoy it?!" she asks quickly and forcefully.
It's weird. How she knows that is a question he asks himself. "Well, I wouldn't say that I did. She kind of… I don't wanna talk about it." He doesn't. She came on to him so quickly and forcefully. As beautiful as she is, that incident was scarier to him at the time than it was hot. She's nothing like sophisticated Mandalay.
"I see." The green-haired spider throws his head back in shock when he hears the tone in her voice. She's horribly angry for some reason. "Nevermind then. I'm getting food. You're paying by the way."
"Eh?" She then storms off to grab her meals. "EHHHH?!"
Back Home…
It's nine o' clock now. With Inko, she exits the bathroom just as the bell rings. Rushing forth to the front door she reaches the intercom for those outside the apartment complex. "Hello?"
"Please do me the courtesy and open your door, because I AM HERE!" Flabbergasted, the woman releases the button flailing her arms about like an inflatable tube man.
"UWAH! SORRY!" She opens the door quickly, and there he stands on the other side.
Dressed in a yellow suit as opposed to his hero costume, the number 1 hero steps inside the home giving a pleasant look at his surroundings. He notes the tea placed out, the formal attire Inko is wearing, the overall cleanliness of the living room; the atmosphere is ready for him.
Taking in a sigh with the relaxing knowledge that he won't have to do hero work today, he takes off his shoes. "Thanks for having me, uh…"
"I-Inazuma! No, I mean…Parrot! No, damn it!" Inko flails abut with her words failing to remain calm. How can she? All Might stands right before her. "I'm Inko!"
All Might smiles a bit at her response. 'Well, at least I know where he gets it from.' "Hello, Inko."
"WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A SEAT?!" she screams, pointing to the chair in the dining room. He graciously accepts, taking a seat facing the front door hallway, while Inko nervously sits in front of him.
The slightly overweight mother deeply inhales and exhales to release her stress, before turning an eye to him. Now calmer, she says, "Thanks for coming to see me."
"It's the least I could do; I can't exactly make your son into a hero without permission." All Might lowers his chin onto a fist.
"Well, Izuku has always liked heroes. Even when he found out about being Quirkless, he never gave up." She chuckles before wiping away some tears coming out of her left eye. "I always blamed myself for being unable to pursue his dream, and Hisashi only made things worse."
"Hisashi?"
She looks down at her finger, and the ring still on her left hand's ring finger. "Izuku's father, my ex. He left us as soon as he…" She stops at that. "Like he expected more and was disappointed. We've not seen him for ten years. I don't even know if he's alive."
"He just left you?"
Inko shakes in her seat, remembering everything he said in the folds of her memories. More tears form in her eyes, a liquid that is quickly absorbed by All Might placing a tissue to her eyes, saying with comfort, "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't bring it up anymore. But, thanks for telling me a bit about the young boy."
"Why do you want him to do this?" she asks, ready to get to the main point of this meeting. "I often felt guilty for him being denied his dream, but whenever I think about him being a hero… it scares me."
Inko clenches her hands tightly. "I know about USJ and the Villain Alliance. This is the first time criminals have assaulted a hero school, and it's because of you. Am I right?"
All Might sighs, leaving her to believe he understands just how deeply those words mean. She is right. "If they're going to kill you, they'll do whatever it takes to…" She sighs through this beat. "I've already lost someone who meant so much to me. I don't want to lose him too."
He reaches out touching her hand with his. "Mrs. Midoriya, there's no need to worry-"
"Is there?!" She shouts this suddenly, leaving her hand under his. "Is there no need to worry?! I've spent the last 11 years not preparing for that day to come, and unlike the other parents who have come to terms with that, I just found out he has powers! How can I trust that he'll be okay so easily?!"
"Because I'll be there!" he replies. Not bothering to smile this time or keep that extreme expression of his, All Might gets up from his seat. "Because I've seen his actions! I've spoken to the people he's helped." He takes out his phone and presses buttons to view videos, each one detailing various people out on the streets.
"His crouching is kind of creepy." This comes from a local housewife.
"Gotta admit; he did great for a vigilante. Why isn't he a hero?" This is spoken by a woman with purple hair and long earlobes.
"Fuck that nerd." This comes from Kacchan.
"A spider? Kind of scary, isn't it? Wouldn't he be better off as a villain?" A teen smiles as he stares ahead, his messy blue hair covering everything but his disturbing grin betraying his words.
"I really hope he's young because he has those tights and that tight little-" A woman is cut short from speaking; she has black hair that reaches her waist with light blue eyes wearing a fashionable yet sexy dress.
A girl stands tall looking forward with a smile. "I'm glad you're doing this because I just want him to know my gratitude. Thank you, Spider-Man."
A familiar family appears this time. The father speaks, "Thank you so much for saving my daughter."
The next comes from a guy completely dressed in red with white eyes on his mask. "Oh, I never met this ripoff spider. I just wanted a cameo in this fanfic."
The last one shows Momo in a chair within the halls of UA. "This is about Spider-Man. I just want you to tell me what you think about him."
"I know why you're interviewing me. It means you know who he is," she says, eyes delivering much confidence as she stares unwaveringly at All Might holding the phone. "Spider-Man is just a boy wearing a mask to look after the little guy. If you want to know about him then ask about the person behind the disguise, because he is, and always has been, a decent, caring person."
As the video ends, Inko places a hand over her heart. She gives a bright, warm smile of pure honesty and hope, one Yagi sees that dot a little twinge in his heart. From those graceful lips, she speaks, "Momo… you're so supportive of Izuku."
She looks down at herself, at her arms, and sighs, that lovely goddess reverting to a frowning muse. "Still, Izuku…" She inhales deeply before turning to Yagi. "Izuku never manifested a Quirk growing up, but then all of a sudden this spider bite opens this door for him, and between then and now he never stopped idolizing you. If he can give this up he'll be safer. He'll stop putting himself in danger. He will-"
"He won't." She raises her head looking upon the muscular hero, his smile no longer present. He continues saying, "Izuku has already made a name for himself as Spider-Man. And because of his actions, he already has enemies."
Inko's normally marble-like eyes go plain with horror upon hearing that. "The Shie Hassaikai already have him in their sights for interfering that time, and the Society of Assassins will want payback for the deafness of their member."
"Eh?"
"When your son fought in this mission earlier this week, he damaged the member Choukaku's Hearing Module. Because his Quirk allows him to absorb sound waves and release them, he needs modulators to keep from overloading his eardrums. The damage he caused increased the input, and his eardrums exploded. He'll never hear without that gear again."
Inko looks up at her guest, asking, "What makes you think he'll come back?"
"Just last night he was sprung from prison." He notes her hand gripping tighter. "Even if he hangs up the mask, they'll still look for him. They will still seek his life."
Her side of the table starts to dampen. All Might sighs seeing her anguish, before stating, "That's why I'm here. I want to save him from that horrible fate, to make sure he becomes a proper, amazing hero. If I'm there, I will do everything I can."
Her face rises, turning to face him. Before long, she asks, "If I agree to this, will you do me one favor?"
…
Back at the mall, Momo and Izuku walk out the mansion-like shopping center side by side. The former hails a scowl across her mouth, while the latter is unfortunately bummed as he checks his desolate wallet.
Walking down the streets, the green-haired spider checks his disgruntled friend. 'The entire time we talked, she felt as if she didn't care. This didn't feel anything like a date at all; hell, it's not even like how they usually hang out. He must have done something wrong.
"Momo, is something wrong?"
"Leave it alone Izuku," she replies.
"Oh come on."
"Forget it, Deku." This sounds more forceful, almost threatening. Upon recognition, Izuku backs off turning away quietly. "I'm sorry if I seem sour, but it has nothing to do with you. Just, leave me to myself."
"Oh… okay." With that, he stops fully in his tracks. "Is… can I-"
"I'll talk to you after the Sports Festival, okay?" she tells him, walking away further away from him.
Left behind in the crowd of unfamiliar faces, Izuku watches as his rich friend disappears into the crowd. What exactly happened? She only turns like this when he mentioned that kiss with Mount Lady. Is she jealous or something?
The boy then straightens himself when his hair stands on the ends of his body. Something's approaching him. Is it a threat? He turns around to look around for whoever it could be. His tense thoughts disappear when someone screams out to him from behind.
"HEY, MIDORIYA!"
He quickly turns around with the speed of a cheetah, coming face to face with the person who screamed out his name. All up in his face is a strangely beautiful girl his age, skin as fair as his friend Momo, with canary yellow eyes that have pupils in the shape of crosshairs. He jumps away in shock returning to the tomato impression and gets a better look at her; she wears a sleeveless shirt with an emerald color scheme not unlike his own with black lines running down it, baggy pants the shade of wood varnish, and black boots that could squash an ant hill. She also has these strange goggles atop her head that resemble those from the steampunk genre.
"Who are you?" he asks this girl, who seems to be wildly unaware of the gap between them that seems to be shrinking with each second. She's not even embarrassed either; this girl continues to sport this shameless grin.
"The name's Mei Hatsume, and I've been meaning to get a good look at you," she says to him with a gleeful tone.
"Oh, uh…" Izuku stammers, taking in a deep breath as he tries to get over this extra forward girl. Back to normal, he asks, "How do you know me?"
"I saw your fight at Dagobah Beach with that explosion guy wit Jirou." Hearing that, something instinctively shatters in his mind. This girl he's never met before saw him fighting? She saw and heard them? And so did Jirou?!
"So then…"
"I know!" He groans inwardly at her not so secret assessment. He even has to raise his hands and lower them for her to get the picture. "Oh, right. You're trying to keep it a secret. Let's walk and talk!"
She then takes his right arm and guides him away, only because he's letting her. As she does her hands travel along his arm, before poking his abdomen. "Ooh. You're well built for a lanky looking fella. Are you wearing clothes that are a size larger?"
An eyebrow raises on his face at her statement. She's a lot more observant than she looks; no one else has noticed that he wears a size larger to throw off suspicions. Putting that aside, he asks her, "What exactly brings you to visit me?"
In a whisper, to his gratefulness, she says, "I saw your fight and heard that those strings of yours aren't organic. So that means they're an invention you made, allow with something to shoot them out with. I want to see it!"
That's a surprise. She simply wants to check out his web shooters. As much as he'd like to talk about it, he can't in such a public area less someone he doesn't want to ends up eavesdropping. So to that, he says, "Let's go somewhere private then."
"Okay! I know just the place!" Hatsume takes him away to a certain location she knows about, the two fully unaware of the two people following after them in the shadows.
Elsewhere…
"This has been a rather lovely morning," says the suit-wearing hero All Might as he takes a sip of her tea.
"Yes, it has…" she says, smiling nervously as she looks down at her cup as she refills.
The heroic He-Man places the cup down on its plate before getting up from his seat. "Where's your bathroom?"
"Behind you, to the right." All Might gets himself up and moves towards the bathroom using her instructions.
As he does, he passes by Izuku's room which is much closer to the room and has the door open just enough to leave an eavesdropping peak. Curious, he enters the room to give himself a good look at the room of his soon-to-be protege.
Inko on her end wipes her table while keeping an eye down the hall. Not noticing, she knocks over a teacup and instinctively bends down to grab it, before placing it back on the table. 'Wait, why did I do that? How did I do that?' To her, that was a strange movement. She could have just used her Quirk to catch it, but instead, she caught it before it hit the floor. She's never been able to move that quick before either.
While bent over, her eyes catch the sight of smoke. The emerald mother places her cup on the table and glances down the hall where she gets a full view of it. It's coming from the bathroom. "Oh no!"
Not properly giving herself the time to think it over clearly, as she's wont to overreact to things, Inko grabs the fire extinguisher from underneath the sink and rushes for Izuku's bedroom where the smoke is coming from. She rushes into the room brandishing it, aiming the nozzle out to fire rapidly across the room.
As the smoke clears up, she sees the sputtering hand movements of someone inside the room. "All Might! I'm sorry, but I saw smoke and thought there was a fir-EHHHH?!"
To his horror, there All Might stands, as Toshinori Yagi the deflated human. Inko continues shouting, "WHO ARE YOU?! AN IMPOSTOR?! YOU PRETENDED TO BE ALL MIGHT THIS WHOLE TIME?!"
Sweat dripping down his face, he says, "I am All Might."
"NO, YOU'RE NOT!"
"I am."
"YOU'RE BLEEDING!" As she says, blood can be seen dripping down his mouth. In his right hand only half covered in foam is a picture. Spread across the image are a younger and thinner Inko, her son at a toddler age, and a mysterious third person. The picture is also bent by his own fingers.
Zirnitra: Well, that's over. Took a while, but we're back to action. And just in time for Marvel's Spider-Man. Thanks to that game we've settled out the suit issue:
Homemade suit – Original green and black costume made from stuff at home and stores.
Vigilante Suit – The true suit created by Momo upon supporting him.
Hero Suit – A brand new red/blue suit made with technology to replace his Vigilante costume.
Black Suit – Something that he shares with multiple people, eventually.
? - His greatest suit with the best protection.
? - The upgrade to his Hero Tech suit that improves his abilities.
? - No description
Zirnitra: Next chapter, Izuku and Mei have a friendly chat and All Might learns something he shouldn't have about the spider boy from Inko. But before that, the Dekuverse needs some writing.