Jesus Christ. I've been dreading this, but I guess apologies are in order.

When was the last time I updated? 2 weeks ago? 3? Whatever, point is, it's been a long time. The only reason I'm not begging for you guys to forgive me is that unlike last time I went dark, I've actually got a good reason this time around.

School has been kicking my ass lately. Summer is only a few months away, and my teachers are taking every chance they can get to pile work on me. Between that, driving school, and everything else I have to deal with, I haven't had any time to myself.

The good news is that I am now on Spring break. 1 week of just me time. I'll try to release a few extra chapters to make up for the time I've been gone, but after this week is over, I have no idea what my update schedule will be like.

For now, let's just worry about the current chapter.

Oh, and my apologies for the distinct lack of jokes last chapter. Puns and jokes just aren't my strong suit. You want sass and sarcastic comments, I'm your guy. But I'm not good at coming up with jokes, which is why there aren't that many.

"Okay, let's hear it then." Peter sat down in front of Spinner, who was now free from the webs that had tied him down. He had more than a few questions running through his mind, but for now, it'd be better to just let Spinner talk. There wouldn't be much time before Ms. Joke wondered where he went, so this had to be fast.

"Okay, I would first like to say that I am sorry, and that I-"

"Spinner." Peter cut off the lizard-man.

"Right, sorry. It all started after you left."

Kurogiri's Bar, The Previous Day:

The day was...boring. Normally, there wasn't much to do in the first place, but that had become the norm, so it was easy to deal with.

What did Toga do before Peter showed up over a month ago? She killed people...right? Honestly, it was hard to remember. She had started to look forward to his visits so much that she hadn't even considered leaving the bar unless she had to. Now that Peter wasn't coming, she had no idea what to do.

It didn't help that she knew he wouldn't be coming for at least another week.

"Big Sis Maaaag! I'm booooored!" Toga whined, not moving from the table she was sprawled on top of.

"Yeah, me too little sis. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the kid's shitty jokes and cheesy stories." Magne raised a glass to emphasize her sentiment, as though she were toasting an old friend.

"Really you two? He's been gone a day and you're already acting as if he's been gone for a month." Dabi smirked at the two of them from his corner of the bar.

"Oh be quiet Dabi. We both know you miss him just as much as we do. And what about you Spinner? You've been pretty quiet." Magne glanced across the bar, where Spinner was cleaning his...sword...club...thing.

Spinner stopped wiping his rag down his weapon and sighed.

"I'm worried about him. He's spending the next week with one of the false heroes. I have faith in Peter, but what if he's corrupted? What if she changes his ideals or turns him against us?"

The bar's occupants stared for a second, faces blank, before they burst out laughing. Even Dabi couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Are you serious right now fanboy?"

"There's no way that would ever happen. Peter's too good a kid for that."

"Yeah! Have some faith lizard-man!"

Spinner ducked his head, embarrassed by their laughter. He tried to find something to get their attention off of him.
"S-so, where's Shigaraki? I haven't seen him all morning."

"Who knows? He never tells us anything. Probably something involving business or a way to inflate his massive ego." Magne scoffed.

"Why is he always so proud anyway? I'm pretty sure we've all beaten him up at some point. Why is he so mean to us?" Toga sulked, melting further into the table she was laying on.

As the others continued to complain about their self-appointed leader, Spinner remained silent, returning to cleaning his huge weapon. He couldn't help the nagging feeling in his mind.

What if? What if Peter was changed? What if the hero he was interning with changed him? There were just too many possibilities. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in Peter, it was that he had too much belief in the power of the false heroes' lies.

"Ah, screw it." Spinner made his decision. He lifted his weapon and placed it on his back, securing the strap around the handle. Rising from his chair, the scaled man walked towards the bar's exit.

"Oi, where are you going?"

"Out." He replied curtly, making it clear that he wouldn't be answering any more questions.

"I'm sorry Peter. I can't take any chances with this one. I...I need to be sure. How could I call myself a follower of the great Stain if I don't even try to keep you from the dark side. Please don't hate me for this."

Climbing to the roof of the bar, Spinner made his way to the hero agency he knew Peter would be at. He would stake it out, and when Peter left, he would monitor him. The plan was perfect. As long as he stayed out of sight, there was no way he would be caught.

Present:

"...Or so I thought. I guess I forgot about your spider sense." Spinner ducked his head down, not wanting to meet his friend's eyes.

"So...this whole thing started because you were afraid I'd abandon my morals?" Peter clarified.

"Yes. People of stronger will have been swayed by these liars. I had to know that the same wouldn't happen to you. I am sorry. I didn't mean to betray your trust, I simply wished to...be sure."

Peter felt a bit conflicted. On the one hand, it was kind of frustrating that Spinner thought he'd be turned so easily. On the other, it was understandable. Toga mentioned before that they had been betrayed in the past, so of course Spinner would want to make sure the same wouldn't happen now.

At the same time though, something about it was just so funny. Peter couldn't help it. He started laughing.

"H-hey! What's so funny!?" Spinner shouted, feeling even more embarrassed. This was the second time he'd been laughed at and it was starting to get to him.

"I'm sorry man, but it is pretty funny. Look, you've got nothing to worry about, I promise. Even if they were a false hero, they wouldn't get me on their side. Besides, Ms. Joke isn't like that. So far, she's been pretty cool actually. She even prioritized civilian safety instead of doing what would get her the most credit."

"Yes...I saw." Spinner sounded like he didn't want to admit that the green-haired woman had done something actually heroic. He would tip his hat to her for this single moment of heroism, but he wouldn't allow her to know.

"Oh, right. Let me get you out of there." Peter stood up and ripped the webs off of Spinner, freeing him from his prison.

"Thanks." Spinner rolled his shoulders around a few times to loosen them.

"So, what are you gonna do now? Go home?"

"...No. I may have lied about my reasons for being here. It's...possible, that I also came to watch you because I was...bored." Spinner admitted.

"...What?"

"Hey, the bar is boring, alright! There's nothing to do there! I would have brought Toga with me, but she'd probably try to stab anybody who comes near you." Peter said nothing, though he did agree with Spinner's statement.

"You're staying here then?"

"Believe it or not, watching you walk around and occasionally fight a criminal or two is more entertaining than sitting at the bar. I nearly intervened myself until their reasoning became clear."

Peter was confused for a moment. Their reasoning?

"Do you mean the criminals I just took out?" Peter inquired.

"Of course. I entertained the possibility of their robbery of this store being due to desperation, but that clearly isn't the case. Their clothes are fancy, they're wearing watches, and they had that 'look' about them. There is no special reason behind this, they're just criminals for the sake of being criminals." Spinner explained.

Never let it be said that the L.O.V. stood up for each and every lawbreaker. Sure, the majority of them were likely produced through this disgusting society's flaws, but that wasn't always the case. Sometimes, there were people who just decided to be criminals. There wasn't always a story there.

"Well, I won't tell you to leave. You've done a pretty good job of staying hidden so far, just don't try to attack anybody, alright. Stay in the shadows, don't draw attention to yourself." Peter stuck out his hand in a friendly gesture. Spinner smiled and grabbed the boy's hand, shaking it lightly.

"Of course. Nobody will even know I'm here."

By now, it was getting late. The sky was growing darker and street lights were turning on. Peter probably wouldn't be patrolling much longer before Ms. Joke called the day.

Breaking off the handshake, Peter walked over to the edge of the roof, ready to finish his patrol and head back to the agency.

That's when it happened.

A prick in his skull. Much fiercer than the warnings he had received when Spinner was stalking him.

Peter stopped walking, his head slightly aching from the intensity of the spider sense.

"Peter? What's wrong?" Spinner reached a hand out for his friend, confused by his sudden stop.

All of a sudden, the intensity of the spider sense grew, sending waves through Peter's body. For just a split-second, he had a clear image in his mind of what was about to happen.

SPINNER!" Peter whirled around, catching the scaled man off guard. "GET DOWN N-"

Peter's warning was cut off by a loud explosion only a few blocks away. It wasn't close enough to harm either of them, but the shockwave shook the building they were on and the noise devastated Peter's eardrums. He fell to his knees, clutching his ears through his mask.

"...TER! PETER! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" A voice penetrated through the ringing in Peter's ears, helping to bring him to his senses.

Shaking his head to clear the ringing, Peter woozily raised his head, finding himself greeted by the concerned face of Spinner.

"Ugh. Yeah, I'm good." Peter shakily placed a hand on the ground, pushing himself off the ground. He lost his balance and took a few uneasy steps to keep himself from falling over, coming dangerously close to the side of the building. He very nearly fell off before Spinner's tail shot forwards and wrapped around his arm.

"Thanks man." Peter shot him a thumbs up, regaining his balance and walking away from the building's edge.

From their position, the two of them could clearly see the site of the explosion. Several buildings had been caught up in the blast and there were dozens of people running for their lives from the fires that had started.

What concerned Peter the most though, was something else entirely.

There were 3 giant creatures lumbering through the smoke. One had wings, one had many eyes, and the third was missing the top half of its face. The one thing they all had in common was their clearly exposed brains.

Peter remembered the USJ. The monster that had very nearly killed him and his entire class. What had Shigaraki called it again?

"Nomu." Spinner spat the word out as if it disgusted him. "Shigaraki, what the hell have you done?"

20 Minutes Earlier:

"Why the hell am I here?" Stain growled. "I have a busy day planned."

The hero killer considered himself a fairly smart person. He wasn't a fool who randomly attacked any hero he saw, he planned his attacks. Every assault was carefully laid out in detail back at his homebase. Any detail that was helpful for taking down his targets was included.

That was to say nothing about all his daring escapes, his on the fly thinking, and his innate ability to predict nearly every possible outcome before they happened.

And yet…

And yet, when some scrawny little man showed up out of nowhere and said that he wanted to talk, Stain was thrown off. The only people who wanted to "talk" were the foolish heroes who believed they could handle him on their own.

Obviously, those heroes ended up dead soon after.

Where was he now? A bar? The scrawny man was here, as was the mist man who was with him. Aside from those two, there was a disgustingly scarred man, a young looking brat, a masculine woman, and some kind of ninja wannabe.

Stain subtly shifted his hands towards his knives. This could very well be an ambush from other villains. He needed to be ready to fight off a sudden attack. Immediately, plans began to run through his mind.

He'd throw two knives each at the scarred man and masculine woman. The young brat was closest, so he could slice her with his sword immediately after. He'd use his momentum to deliver a kick to the ninja before stabbing him in the throat. Finally, he'd impale the scrawny man's leg and use him as a hostage to force the mist man to teleport him out.

The plan running through his mind, Stain waited for the scrawny man to set him off.

But, he didn't. Instead, he began talking. Explaining in great detail how he was the mastermind behind the UA attack a month ago and how he wanted to recruit him.

So he was one of those. Well, maybe he could humor the fool before he crippled him.

"So then, you attacked UA, and now you want me to join your band of idiots. Is that about right?" Stain chuckled.

"That's pretty much the gist of it. You're pretty much a pro when it comes to being evil."

Evil, huh? Ridding this world of the scum, the fakes, the liars made him evil? This man-child had no idea what he was talking about.

"And what exactly are you after then? Where do I come into this?" Stain was running out of patience. He wanted to be out of this place as soon as he possibly could.

"Well, we'd like to kill All Might eventually, but I suppose it'd be nice if I could also destroy everything I don't like."

That's it. Now Stain was pissed. This idiot wasn't a visionary like himself. He was simply a street-level criminal who saw All Might as something to be killed.

Stain reached for his knives once again, ready to end this man's life.

"It's ridiculous that you actually had my attention for a moment there. People like you, they're the ones I hate the most."

"Excuse me." The man-child bristled, clearly angry.

"Bloodlust without conviction is meaningless. There's not a chance in hell I'd team up with a temper-tantrum-throwing child like you."

The knives were out now. Stain prepared himself for a fight, ready to put his plan from earlier into action.

"Whoa, whoa now! There's no need to be so aggressive Mr. Stainy."

Stain twitched. What had the young brat just called him? Stainy?

Alright then. She could die first.

"Listen, don't listen to this idiot. He's terrible at sales pitches. Allow us to introduce ourselves." The masculine woman stood up and walked over. Instead of attacking like Stain expected, she extended her hand, leaving herself completely vulnerable. "The name's Magne."

Stain stared down at her hand, unsure of what to expect.

"I'm Toga!" The annoying brat shouted.

"Dabi." The scarred man grunted.

The ninja remained silent. He wasn't even paying attention, focusing more on the dust on his table instead.

Things seemed alright for now.

Stain returned one knife to its sheath as a show of good faith, but kept the other in his hand to show he still didn't trust them fully.

Magne seemed to accept that he wouldn't be accepting her hand and walked back to her chair.

"You see, we're aiming to change society. This unjust world, where the strong are celebrated and the weak are pushed into the ground. We want to get rid of the so-called heroes and rise up."

Hmm, interesting. Perhaps they did have some interesting thoughts.

"But, like this guy said, we do plan to eventually kill All Might. The guy's a filthy hypocrite and a scourge to people like us. Always preaching about how he helps everybody when really he's just like all the other false heroes." Dabi broke in.

...Never mind, they were all fools.

They were all idiots to believe that All Might was just like the other heroes.

"Oh, and we've got a few more members who aren't here right now!" Toga excitedly spoke up. "One of them is like your biggest fanboy ever. He always preaches your messages and he even dresses like you. He gets angry whenever we do something you wouldn't like."

Oh? That was interesting. Maybe there was hope for that one member, but the rest were a lost cause.

"And the other one is Spider-Man."

…

"...What?" Stain growled.

No. No, that was impossible.

Stain didn't live under a rock. Of course, when Spider-Man appeared on television and told the world his story, Stain was there to see it. Hearing his words, Stain wasn't convinced at first. It could have just been lies.

But...he got the feeling.

The same feeling All Might gave him, that he truly was a sincere hero, that he wasn't some fake. It may have been foolish to believe so easily, but something about the boy gave Stain the idea that he was genuine, a true hero.

And so he decided Spider-Man was this world's second true hero, the second hero to be allowed to kill him.

But now this? He was helping these morons?

"Toga, shut up. That boy didn't join us." Shigaraki growled.

"Oh come on Shiggy! He's practically a member already." Toga argued.

"He hasn't gone on missions with us, he refuses to kill, he catches criminals, and he won't tell us how to break into UA. He is not part of the League." Shigaraki rasped, seemingly becoming angrier after every word.

This was an interesting situation. Who was Stain supposed to believe? The girl who didn't seem to be all there, or the man-child who invited him in the first place?
For now, Stain would continue to think of Spider-Man in the way that he had before. If something happened to prove him wrong, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him just like any other false hero.

For the first time in a while, Stain spoke once again.

"You're pathetic. In this world, the word hero has lost its meaning, in this disgusting society filled with fakes and shams. They, along with criminals who aimlessly throw their weight around, are all targets of my purge. That includes you."

Instantly, the criminals' guards went up. Toga drew a pair of knives, Magne pulled a large beam from underneath her chair, Dabi raised both his hands, and Shigaraki tensed his muscles.

"I will give you this however. The one thing we have in common is destroying the status quo. I see in you a warped seed of conviction. When my work is done, I'll deal with you. It may not yet be too late. For now, we're done here. Send me back to Hosu. I have a job to do there."

Stain had a hit planned for today. If he missed it because of this pointless meeting, heads would roll.

Before anybody could argue, the mist man stepped out from behind the bar counter and wordlessly opened a portal. Apparently, he saw the wisdom in releasing the hero killer as soon as possible.

Stain walked through the swirling mass and emerged on a rooftop.
"So this is Hosu. Livelier than I thought it'd be." Shigaraki emerged from behind Stain, having followed him through the portal for some reason. Stain just ignored him.

"I will reform this town. But in order to accomplish that, more sacrifices are needed. 'Hero' is a title reserved for those who are selfless, who perform truly great feats. Too many are undeserving, nothing more than money-worshippers playing hero. Until this society wakes up...until it corrects itself and purges these fakes...I will continue my work." Stain leapt off the building, heading off to his prepared ambush location.

"Though I must admit, the Spider-Man intrigues me. I'll have to look into him." Stain thought to himself.

"...All that high and mighty talking, but he's just a chump."

"You should not be too hard on him Shigaraki. The cities he has appeared in have all seen drops in crime rate, likely due to increased hero awareness." Kurogiri corrected.

"Oh, well that's wonderful! He's doing great at putting a stop to heroism. He's no hero killer, he's a hero breeder. Kurogiri...bring out the Nomu. Let him go on his rampage, I'll start some chaos of my own. Let's see who can cause more destruction."

Present:

"Spinner, what's going on?" Peter turned to his friend, trying to find an answer to this situation.

"That son of a bitch. He released Nomus on the city." Spinner was so angry his scales were beginning to take on a faint red tinge.

"Shigaraki did this!?" Peter shouted.

"He's the only one with Nomus. It couldn't have been anyone else. Peter...what do we do? The great Stain wouldn't approve of bringing civilians into the fight, but I can't go down and help. I'm a known criminal."

Peter stared down at the chaos. Every second he spent up here, the Nomus destroyed another building, or started another fire, or killed another person. He needed to move quickly.

"Stay on the rooftops. Try to get the Nomus' attention and lead them away from the people on the streets. When heroes show up, leave it to them and come find me. I'll be staying with Ms. Joke and making my way over to deal with whoever you've got with you. Good luck."

Peter turned and jumped off the building, landing in front of the tied up criminals from before.

"Peter, what was that? What's going on?" Ms. Joke ran over. She looked like she was out of breath. Most likely, she'd been trying to find him.
"There was an explosion about 6 blocks that way. The Nomu that attacked UA...there are 3 of them now. They caused the explosion. We need to get over there now!"

"3!? Oh god. Alright, let's go. Lead the way."

Peter was about to swing ahead, but he caught himself. Going ahead was okay before, but now, the situation called for as many heroes as possible, as soon as possible.

Peter grabbed Ms. Jokes arms and threw them over his shoulders.

"What're you-"

"No time! Just hang on!" Peter cut off the pro hero's startled question. He took a flying leap and began swinging towards the explosion. Ms. Joke yelled in fright at the sudden takeoff, but quieted down rather quickly.

It only took about a minute to reach the explosion site. People were running all over the place, which only made the chaos worse. Thankfully, the 3 Nomus seemed more concerned with destroying the nearby buildings than attacking the people.

Peter caught a green flash in the corner of his eye. He saw Spinner crouched on top of a nearby building, staring down at the Nomus. He withdrew 3 knives from his belt, throwing one at each of the Nomus, scoring a hit on each of their exposed brains.

The massive beasts bellowed loudly, turning their attention to their attacker. Spinner fled from the scene, prompting the Nomus to follow him.

"Help the people, I'm going after them."

"What!? Peter, no! You can't fight them by yourself!" Joke protested.

"And you can't fight them at all. You're a good hero, but you just can't fight these things. I promise I'll be okay, please just help these people." Peter took off his mask and stared his caretaker in the eyes. His face showed no fear, no hesitance, just determination.

"...Okay. You better not die." Ms. Joke relented, running into the crowd to provide the terrified civilians with assistance.

Peter looked down the street, barely catching sight of the retreating Nomus before they turned a corner and disappeared.

"This is not how I expected this day to go." Peter groaned, sprinting down the street before taking a massive leap and swinging after the huge monsters.

Well, here's my return. I'll try my best to give multiple chapters in the next few days, but I make no promises. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Thanks for reading and remember to leave a review.

Aren signing off.