A Spider's Big Four
Chapter 05
Clothes Make The Hero!
"Morning, scarf man." Peter greeted the man as he walked into the classroom, momentarily pausing when seeing how there were now only four desks in front of the podium. "Man, you really expelled them? I thought you'd take it back or something."
Aizawa was standing at the podium while writing something; Peter went to the back of the room and started to put his backpack in his locker.
"I only teach those with potential, Parker; the 16 students that were here simply did not have any," Aizawa stated, barely looking up from his place at the podium.
"Does that mean you can see how amazing I am?"
Sadly, the only response he got was an annoyed grunt.
Yeesh, couldn't the guy be more talkative?
Suddenly, his spider-sense buzzed just in time for him to catch what looked to be a plastic card thrown his way.
Peter's eyes went to his hand to see that he had caught what seemed to be a student ID with his info; didn't he already have one of these?
"Uh, is this a gift card for my birthday? It's not until October 12th, man." The boy commented, turning the card in his hand while looking to see what made it different from his last one.
Flipping it back to the front, his eyes landed on some golden words below where it said he was a hero course student.
His eyes widened as he read the words: Full Access to Support Studio.
No way.
No freaking way!
"Y-You're serious? I get to use the support studio? But I'm not even in that course!" A few excited laughs escaped him, the boy continued to read the words over and over as if they would disappear.
"Powerloader, the head of the support department, read the designs for your costume that needed to be submitted before the school year started; after getting through the five pages of notes and sketches, he went straight to Nezu and did that." Aizawa nodded his head toward the card.
Full access to UA's support workshop? That's absolutely insane! The only place that had better support-making would be something like I-Island!
Finally, he could make the things he always dreamed of making without having to dumpster dive behind support companies or take apart random things he found on the street while walking home!
Finally! Finally, he had an actual budget!
"This is a privilege, Parker; there have only been six hero course students to be given that type of benefit, do not waste it."
"Oh, I won't! No way I'll go back to getting parts from Dogabah beach or let someone else make my gear!" Peter laughed with glee; he pocketed the new ID and looking down at his web-shooters.
He may not be able to make the MK.2 models anymore, but he'll make the MK.3 models! And who knows what other stuff he could make?
Oh! What about a bat signal? Or a sword! What about... metal spider legs from his back or an AI that controlled his suit!
Alright, maybe not the last two.
Those seemed way too overkill.
"You... made your gear from trash?" The voice of Aizawa snapped him out of his thoughts, Peter looked up from his wrists to sad the man looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah? Didn't really have money to make them out of anything else, didn't Nezu say I made them myself?" The boy stood from his spot kneeling in front of his locker, and went to his seat.
He was pretty sure Aizawa was there for that part.
"Yes, but I thought you had better materials; that's impressive, Parker." The man said, looking back down and containing to write.
Did... did he get a compliment?
From scarf man?
Before Peter could say anything, the large door opened, and in walked his three classmates.
It's still weird to think how they were the only ones left.
"Good morning!" Togata called out, Amajiki close beside him and Hado behind. "Wow, you really did expel them..."
"That's what I said! He started being all gloomy and talked about potential and stuff, you know?" Peter commented.
"Hey, hey, you look super happy right now! Did something happen? Wait! Is it your birthday?" Hado sat beside him, leaning toward him and asking him question after question.
"Yeah... you s-seem to be in a good mood..." Amajiki mumbled from his spit beside Togata, there was a small hint of curiousness in his voice.
"Yeah! Scarf man-" "Do not call me that during school hours" "-just gave me a new ID that gives me full access to the support studio! I can finally make my own gear!"
"Wait, really? That's amazing! Did you make support items before?" The blonde spoke, walking back from putting his backpack away and sitting in his seat; seeing this, Hado and Amajiki went to do the same.
"Yeah, it's what these are." Peter held up his wrist and knocked on the web shooter with his knuckles. "They're made of stuff I found dumpster diving behind support companies, but now, I can make them even better!"
"That's support gear? I thought they were regular bracelets cause they looked fashionable."
Hearing this, Peter leaned forward in his seat with a smile. "I know, right? I think the silver really pops, you kn-"
As Peter began to talk, Aizawa cleared his throat and brought the teens' attention back to him just as the bell rang.
Talk about timing, huh?
"If you four are done, then I suggest we get started with class."
Oh, right! UA was also a regular school!
Lame.
He hoped they do something cool today.
"I am here! To teach!"
A hulking mass of red, white, and blue burst through the door, a small wind being created from the speed of his arrival.
Looking up, Peter couldn't help but let his eyes widen at what he was seeing.
All Might, the number one hero, standing in his classroom while wearing what looked to be his silver age costume.
"Woah! It's All Might! I wonder what he's doing here?" Hado sat up in her seat, looking at the man with wide eyes.
"No way! It really is him!" Togata yelled, pumping his fist in the air in excitement; beside him, Amajiki even seemed taken aback by the arrival.
"Why, I am a teacher here! And I..." The hero began before trailing off as his blue eyes scanned over the four students. "Uh, Aizawa? Where are the other students?"
"Expelled. They didn't show any potential; these four are the ones who did."
There was silence for a couple since while the hero looked between Aizawa and the teens before he cleared his throat.
"Ok... Well, I suppose I trust your judgment! Now, I hope you kids are excited for your first session of heroics training!"
Heroics training? Sweet!
In a blur of movement, All Might shot his hand forward and held a card with the words 'Battle' written in red letters.
Battle training? Even better!
"Battle training! A hero must know how to fight in order to protect others, so that is what we will be doing today! Oh, and we cannot forget this part!"
Suddenly, their respective lockers in the back of the room opened up with a hiss of smoke for what must have been dramatic effect. Slowly, a platform holding what looked to be a suitcase slid out of the compartments.
When did they get those in there? They opened them this morning!
"Costumes!" All Might's booming voice reached his ears, Peter's eyes widened at the words.
Costumes?
Like, the ones they designed?
No freaking way!
"Clothes make the hero, as they say! So, how about you all get changed and meet me at ground beta! Do not keep me waiting, young heroes!" The man laughed loudly before rocketing out of the room and kicking up a cloud of dust.
With a small click, his web-shooters fell to the ground just as he reached into the silver and shiny suitcase to bring out the MK.2 models the support company had made.
Instead of being a silver bracelet that had a carousel system, it was now a dark black that only held four cartridges at a time.
As he held the devices in his hands, he turned them and inspected every detail they had, smiling at how the support company had followed his designs to the letter.
These new models even came with some new features! Not only were they way more durable and would effectively remove the chance of getting jammed, but he also made it so they made a small clicking sound when out of fluid!
Now he wouldn't have to rush into fights blind on how much web he had!
Oh, and that was only the web-shooters! Let him get to the costume!
A form-fitting red and blue suit with a black webbing pattern going over the red parts along with a few additional black lines on the red and a small black spider in the front of his chest, and a red one on his back. He wore red boots with specialized soles and red gloves that got thinner around his fingertips but still gave some padding when he would throw a punch.
Covering his face was a red ski mask with that same webbing pattern and his new goggles that kept the old design but added stuff like night and infrared vision.
On his waist was a red belt with a couple of pouches in which he carried medical supplies, his phone, and his camera in case he saw something cool on patrol.
While designing it, Peter tried to look back on how he could improve his old one. And one look at the scars on his body told him what he needed to fix.
He couldn't be a hero while wearing a cloth costume.
He had an excuse not to have any sort of protection or armor before, but not anymore.
Lightweight and flexible armor was on the front of his forearms, thighs, and shins while keeping the parts of the suit's design they covered going along with being able to be taken off should he need to.
To top it off was a bulletproof vest made out of the same material as the rest of the armor and kept the parts of the design it was over going; in theory, it should help him out with things like knives and low calibers.
Peter had requested for it to be made out of that newly invented material from I-Island that was as strong as kevlar but as flexible as cloth, but that was too expensive.
It was fine, he guessed. It didn't affect his movement too much.
Wait, speaking of.
Where was his vest?
"Uh, have you guys seen my vest? I swore I left it here." Peter asked the two other people in the changing room with him, Togata and Amajiki.
Suddenly, his missing vest was pushed in front of his chest by a soft-looking hand.
Wait.
If Togata and Amajiki were on the other side of the room...
Peter looked to the side slowly to see Hado hovering a few inches on the ground while smiling and holding out his shirt.
"Hado! What are you doing in our changing rooms?!" Peter snatched the vest from her, widening his lenses in surprise and putting the vest on.
"Aizawa-Sensei said I could be here with you guys since there's no girls left! It got lonely and stuff, so I'm here!" Hado laughed, dropping back down to the ground and looking into his suitcase. "Ooh, cool jacket, does it have to do with your quirk?."
"Yeah, she's been here for like two minutes! You've must've been spacing out or something." Togata informed, laughing while putting on his flowing red cape. Amajiki gave a silent nodded as he tightened his carrier vest.
So much for that sixth sense, huh?
Part of him wanted to freak out about a girl just being in their changing rooms.
Another part of him wanted to know why Amajiki and Togata didn't even care.
But another, bigger part of him just didn't have it in him to care.
Peter just rolled his eyes, his lenses mimicking the motion, and grabbed the jacket and the one-strap backpack left in the suitcase.
Kinda crazy how spacious that thing was!
When designing the jacket, Peter wanted it to be mostly cosmetic but ended up adding small, nigh-unnoticeable pockets on the inside where he could store even more web cartridges and small gadgets.
Also, it was super comfy! Who knew that heroes made their costumes from such soft materials? He should ask Powerloader if he can make a blanket with this stuff.
The jacket was hooded, had long sleeves, and a zipper; it was the same red and blue but had small variations along with white accents and a big white spider on the front and back. Peter had modeled the look over a design for his suit that he scrapped, it felt advanced and sporty if you asked him.
"Woah, I can barely recognize you, Parker-Kun! Those lenses make you look kinda scary!" Hado chirped while lazily floating around him; he had almost forgotten she was in their locker room
His lenses frowned at that.
They did? He thought Nezu said they made him look approachable!
"I think they look cool! His suit has a whole tactical look!" Togata said, walking over to the two with Amajiki close behind. "He even has a vest like Tamaki!"
Peter tightened his vest as he grabbed the backpack, it was a simple black with a small red version of the spider on his chest at around the bottom left. He had made it to store bigger types of stuff and additional supplies, also cause he thought backpacks were cool.
"It's bulletproof, or at least it should be. I don't wanna get shot too much, you know? It still weak at some parts, though."
"Seems practical..." Amajiki muttered, Peter smiled at him from behind his mask.
"I prefer more simple stuff!" The bluenette laughed, doing a quick loop around the room before coming back to where she was. Peter got a look at her suit, quickly realizing how form fitting it was and turning away while putting on the backpack.
Yeah he uh, wasn't gonna look at that.
"I wish I could get more protection on my suit! The only reason it doesn't fall off me when I use my quirk is cause it's made out of my hair!"
Peter narrowed his eyes at what he said, did that mean that Togata's quirk was some sort of phasing thing?
If they were fighting each other today, that'd be good to know.
"Uh, sh-shouldn't we go? All Might must be w-waiting for us." The indigo-haired teen spoke, pulling his hood over his head.
Wait, he was right! They had stuff to do!
Yo! Uh, quick author's note about the suit to paint a clearer picture! Sorry for doing this mid-chapter!
So, it's basically the Stark suit but form-fitting instead of skintight, with aspects from the Night Monkey suit like the additional armor, boots, belt, and goggles, but these ones look like the one from the PS4 classic suit lenses and only have one strap going around.
Also, the web-shooters are the same! Cause I think the Stark suit is the best suit.
Oh, and the parts from the Night Monkey suit that covers the Stark suit will continue the Stark suit's design.
As for colors, it's the saw as the civil war prototype suit, so a slightly darker blue along with more noticeable webbing, so like the webbing is the same black as the black accents on the red.
The symbol on the chest will be the one from the PS4 classic suit, while the one on the back will stay the same as the Stark suit.
The jacket will have the exact same design as the Advanced suit from the PS4 game, while the backpack will have the front symbol in red on the lower left part.
And like I said, the materials used are both lightweight and durable, so they don't cut his movement or anything!
One last thing, I'm not gonna give him any nanotech ironman level stuff, so yeah.
Sorry for the interruption; let's get back to it!
Was... was All Might reading a 'How To Teach For Dummies' book?
His lenses squinted at the man as the group of teens walked into the observation room, watching how the hero was hunched over reading the book.
No way, he was!
As Peter looked around, he couldn't help but note how incredibly big the observation room was; it was empty outside from the command panel at the front and dark with only the big screen above the panel giving light.
It must've been designed to house a full class of 20, right?
As they stopped in front of the man, All Might perked up and pocketed the book behind him before anyone could see it.
Anyone except, Peter, that is.
"Oh! Uh, hello, students! You all look amazing, like real heroes!" All Might boomed, Peter and Amajiki winced at the volume for different reasons while Togata and Hado bounced up and down in excitement."Now, does anyone have any questions?"
Hado raised her hand almost immediately, with Peter leaning in beside her. "I think he means about the exercise." Her hand went down.
While the girl pouted and hit Peter in the shoulder with the force of an angry two-week-old puppy, Amajiki timidly raised his hand.
"W-What exactly will we b-be doing? You only said combat training but d-didn't specify."
Wait, he was right!
They didn't even know what they were doing!
All Might began to open his mouth to answer before Peter's spider-sense buzzed lightly, everyone watching as a floor tile beside their teacher open up with a hiss.
A white-furred animal with a scar going down one of his beady eyes popped out of the hole with a visible grin.
Was that... Nezu?
Peter didn't know if he should be worried about the principal being here or the fact that there were secret tunnels around the school.
Was that even legal?
It didn't feel like it.
"Why, hello!" With a bit of effort, the chimera scurried out of the hole and onto the floor, standing in front of the students next to All Might. "I could be a dog, a mouse, or even a bear! But another thing I am is Nezu! Principal of this fine school!"
Silence rang out around the room as everyone simply stared at the creature with varying levels of confusion.
A silence that was broken by a squeal
"Oh my gosh, he's so cute! His fur looks super soft!" Hado giggled at the animal, Peter noticing how All Might adopted a mortified expression.
Surprisingly, Nezu only gave a good-hearted laugh at the comment before he started to climb up All Might and sat on his shoulder.
Wait, can he just do that?
And they let him?
Man, having an animal be your boss sure would be weird.
"Why, thank you, miss Hado! I do enjoy a fair amount of brushing! Now, I bet you five have questions as to my presence, correct?"
Silence once again as everyone looked at each other.
"Uh, kinda? No offense sir, but you really scare me."
Peter would remember the high-pitched laughed that Nezu gave off in his nightmares.
And by the way All Might shuddered, the guy was on the same boat as him.
That rat was freaking terrifying.
Peter was at least 60% sure that he was some sort of cryptid passing off as a quirked animal to hide his supernatural and eldritch origins.
"Short answer is that I got curious as to what the four students that Aizawa didn't expel are like! I already know you, mister Parker, but I do not know your classmates!"
Sighing, Peter ignored the looks that Togata and Amajiki gave him, he would explain it to them later.
Probably.
"Also, I want to see how All Might will do as a first-time teacher! But judging by the 'How to teach for dummies' book he's been reading all day, it is good that I am here!" The creature giggled, casually playing with one of All Might's bangs by whipping it back and forth. "But ignore my presence, I will be here to help out if I need to!"
Yeah, Peter didn't know how to feel about the principal sitting in on his first exercise.
All Might looked confused for a second before he cleared his throat and put on a forced smile.
"W-Well... Alright! Originally, we were going to do five matches of 2-on-2 heroes vs villains fight where the heroes would try to find and capture a bomb the villains were protecting teams would be assigned randomly to give students a feel for working with others that they didn't know well but uh..."
All Might paused as he looked over the four teens, Nezu kept playing with his hard bang but he didn't seem to mind too much.
"How well do you four know each other, exactly?" He asked, prompting a small chuckle from Nezu.
The students looked at each other for one second before responding.
"Eh..."
"We're friends!"
"Kinda? Not that well."
"We're best friends!"
Peter raised an eyebrow at Togata's and Hado's responses, he didn't know about all of them being best friends but whatever.
"Huh, that certainly does mess things up for me!" A booming laugh echoed across the room, Peter could see the small panic in the man's blue eyes.
He didn't know why but that shade of blue looked familiar to him.
"Alright, give me one moment!" All Might grabbed Nezu in his massive hand and looked around as if not knowing what to do with him, the man quickly shrugged and just gave him to Hado.
The girl grabbed a hold of Nezu in both arms and began to gently stroke the fur on his head while the principal playfully kicked his feet in the air.
"Watch me exit and return, like a hero!" In a blur of movement, a red white, and blue streak rocketed past them and out the door all while kicking up a strong wing.
Peter looked over at Hado who was still stroking Nezu's fur happily. Suddenly, the animal squirmed out of the girl's grasp and landed on the tiled floor.
Walking over to a tile in front of where All Might stood, he tapped his foot in a rhythmic pattern. Quickly, the tile rose up from the ground with a hiss, revealing a steaming teapot, five teacups on a small wooden table, and a wooden cabinet.
What?
"Anyone want tea?" Nezu asked, already pouring himself a cup from a brand Peter didn't recognize.
He wasn't much of a tea guy.
"Oh, oh! Do you have jasmine?" Hado walked forward to the table and sat down on the floor just as Nezu began pouring it.
"Me and Tamaki will take green tea if it's alright!" The blonde teen sat on the opposite side of Hado with Amajiki in tow.
Peter was... confused as to what to do, to say the least. He wasn't too into tea, and he also wasn't sure if just having tea time with the principal as All Might sets stuff up was a good idea.
But on the other hand, it felt rude to just stand there. So reluctantly, he went and sat down next to Hado as Nezu handed her a cup.
"Are you drinking any, Parker-Kun?" Hado asked from beside him, taking a sip of the drink as Peter took off his mask and goggles and put them on his lap. "Your hair is super messy!"
A hand unconsciously ran itself through his hair at the comment, the boy rolling his shoulder. "I'm... not that knowledge on tea, you know? Never been my thing a-"
Before he could even finish that sentence, a cup with the same drink that Hado had was placed in front of him; He looked from the girl to see the principal giving him a small smile.
"Well, we can't have that! Here, try jasmine tea that miss Hado has been drinking; it is rather exquisite if you ask me!"
"Yeah, what he said! It's great and helps out with energy and stuff!"
Eyeing the cup over for a second, Peter grabbed the china and brought it up to his lips.
It was one of the sweetest things he had ever tasted, it was smooth and silky as it touched his tongue along with having the smallest taste of honey and a fragrant scent.
Man, it was amazing!
No wonder Japanese people liked it so much!
He should've given it a try a while ago!
"Woah! This is great! I think I'll try to buy some later, thanks." Peter gave a small chuckle, sipping the tea again and savoring the taste.
Hado said something about energy, right?
Yeah, he should be thankful for that little effect.
He hasn't gotten more than five hours of sleep in the past 3 months, part of him feels like the only thing keeping him from collapsing due to sleep exhaustion has to be his enhanced biology.
Maybe, it's more of a theory if anything that he hasn't met any other people bitten by genetically altered spiders to compare notes with.
This was the last class, right? Maybe he could try and catch some sleep after school was up.
"No problem! It should help you look less tired and stuff all the time!" Hado laughed from beside him, he only raised an eyebrow at her.
"Huh?"
Did she read his mind or something?
She put her cup down and stretched where she sat. "Oh, it's just that you always look super tired all the time, you know? With your eye bags and all so it might help out."
Wait, he looked tired? As in, other people could tell?
That... made him a bit self-conscious.
"I... guess I am." Peter finished his cup, quickly grabbing the mask and goggles on his lap and putting them on again, covering his features.
Hidden by the goggles, his eyes trailed to the side, and saw how Hado had adopted what looked to be a guilty expression, her mouth opened as if to say something but stopping herself.
Sighing, Peter unconsciously traced the scars on his forearm under his costumes still being able to feel the few that weren't covered up by the armor.
Lately, the action of tracing his scars when idle had become a bit of a habit, it helped him calm down every now and then.
Either way, he felt guilty for making Hado feel guilty and all, he'd have to say something when he got the chance.
His spider-sense buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts just as the door or the observation room slammed opened and rattled the china on the table.
"I am back... with a plan for the class!" All Might boomed, moving from one side of the room to the next in less than a second. The teens quickly got up from the floor and stood where they were before as Nezu tapped a tile a certain way and made the table, cabinet, and tea sink into the floor again.
Peter wondered how many of those hidden tile things were around the school.
"I am sorry for taking so long, students! But, here's what's gonna happen!" Pressing a button on a remote Peter wasn't sure where the man had been keeping it, a holographic screen appeared before them.
It was a cartoon of a 10 story building, with what looked to be a woman on one of the floors next to people dressed in old-time robber outfits, All Might stood smiling at the bottom of the building.
"We shall do... hostage rescue! You shall be separated into two teams of 2, heroes and villains! Heroes will have to either safely rescue the hostage and bring them to a safe zone outside or capture the villains inside the building while the villains have to either capture the heroes or protect the hostage until time runs out!"
You know what? He could do that! Peter had done some hostage rescues in the past when civilians got caught in the middle of a robbery, and he was well suited for fighting in the enclosed space of a building.
As for the teamwork thing, Peter didn't have too much experience with that but all of his classmates seem to be good to work with.
At least he was pretty sure.
"Let's see, uh..." The man's eyes darted from one teen to the next and back as he cupped his chin, Al the while Nezu climbed up to his shoulder again. "Young Parker will be with young Hado on the hero team, and young Togata will be with Amajiki on the villain team!"
Hado? He can work with that!
The girl walked ever so closer to him at the announcement.
Beside him, Amajiki breathed a sigh of relief and started to lean on Togata, earning a laugh from the taller boy.
"Now, go down to the testing site and get ready! The villains will have 10 minutes to prepare, then you may begin!"
The four teens nodded, beginning to jog out of the room and into the testing site.
Once gone, All Might looked at Nezu with a serious expression.
"Sir, why are you really here? Shouldn't you already know what they are capable of?"
Nezu laughed lightly, tapping the man on the shoulder and making him turn to face the screen where the teens were shown.
"Mister Parker shows promise, but that does not make me ignore the potential threat he could possess with his respective abilities. I suppose I wanted to see what he could do first hand and act accordingly, I may not even act at all!"
Silence fell over the room as the two watched the screen, a smile broke on Nezu's face.
"If things go according to plan, then I believe we could see the birth of something truly sensational, Toshinori."
All Might's sunken eyes narrowed on Peter as he watched the screen, the boy simply hoping up to a lamppost and hanging upside down off of it.
"I suppose I agree..."
And that's a chapter done! Peter getting access to the support workshop, costumes, and a different battle trial! Woo.
Speaking of costumes, those of you that read 'The Rabbit and The Spider' (which is probably most of you) are already familiar with the suit that Peter is wearing! I needed to give him a more practical and field-ready suit for it to make sense in the world of MHA, and the Night Monkey suit is just what I needed!
Instead of the bomb exercise, we are getting a good old-fashioned dummy hostage rescue! Not only did I want to switch things up this time around, but it also would make sense in the story for them to keep the same exercise given the size of the class.
I am planning on developing the Nejire/Peter relationship next chapter, so I hope you guys are excited about that! With this being the first time they do hero stuff together, we'll get more interactions between them!
Also, I laid the seeds (Is that an expression? Idk) for All Might offering Peter OFA! Given how we are in pre-canon right now, All Might's limit is at around 6 hours so he's not gonna be in too much of a hurry to give OFA away.
And Nezu joining Midnight in the UA teachers that scare him! Cause why not?
Next chapter we'll finish off the battle trial, I am super excited to get started on that!
Off-topic, but I always feel like I say the word 'He' when writing too much, is that a thing that happens when writing or just me? Idk man.
Like always, thanks for reading, and see ya next time!