"Oh, who am I kidding? You all want to be heroes!" The teacher laughed while standing behind the podium, the class erupted in cheers and yells, quirks flew wildly around the room. Kids all around shot off fire or shone brightly, proudly displaying and using the incredible powers they were granted at birth.
Peter Benjamin Parker, a 14-year-old boy hailing from Queens, New York, sat at his desk in Aldera Junior High, his head propped up on his hand. He had moved to Musutafu, Japan once his uncle, Ben Parker, had received a job offer as a salesman at the Detnetrat corporation.
Sadly, his career at the lifestyle support item making company was ended shortly by some petty thug who just robbed a convenience store. Ben had been looking for Peter that day and just so happened to run into the business end of a pistol.
*BANG!!*
That deafening sound of the gun still echoed in the young boy's mind as if he had heard it yesterday. In truth, it had been more than 2 months ago.
And you might be asking, where was Peter at this time? Why had Ben been looking for him, which ultimately led to the man's untimely death?
The easy answer would be at an underground quirk fighting right to get extra cash. But for us to know exactly how and why the young brunette had been there, we'd have to flashback all the way back to good old U.S of A.
But to make a long story short, Peter Parker was the vigilante, Spider-Man. He'd been doing the whole thing for about 2 months now, starting right after his uncle's death.
He'd been born quirkless but someone had the bright idea to make a genetically altered spider which ended up biting him, which hurt a lot, by the way.
A couple of hours later, Peter's quirk factor had been somehow altered by the bite, giving him a brand new quirk he liked to call 'Spider'. It allowed him to stick to walls, sense danger around him, and gave him the proportional strength, speed, and reflexes of a spider. Cool, right?
Well, the thing was, Peter didn't want to be a hero when he discovered his powers. While most would assume anyone young who grew up in this hero infested society would want to go down the path of heroics.
Peter wasn't one of those people. The only time he actually did any hero work it was reluctantly or things he couldn't ignore.
Truth be told, he had always been more interested in science and technology. A career more among the lines of quirkology or support gear had always been up his alley. But to be able to get the things you'd need to study those subjects, you needed money.
So, what better way than to enter illegal, underground wrestling matches in which you could use your new-found abilities to make a quick buck, right? Too bad his career in wrestling in the streets of New York was cut short due to the whole 'Moving to Japan' thing.
Of course, Peter just went ahead and started doing wrestling matches in his new city, but was quickly found out by Ben and May since he has left a flyer advertising his upcoming match on his desk, having fallen asleep before he could hide it from them. An argument broke out, Peter ran away back to do the match and get paid, and came back to the sound of his uncle getting shot.
'With great power, comes great responsibility.'
Those were the man's last words before succumbing to the bullet wound. He died on the street, Peter holding him and crying under the night sky.
Suffice to say, he took those words to heart, said 'Screw a license, I got people to help!', skipped the whole hero school thing and became a vigilante full time. If you didn't count the slight insomnia, nightmares, and scars from near-death experiences, he'd been nailing it.
Most heroes thought of vigilante cases as beneath them, and most underground heroes who actually dealt with vigilantes were few and far between. So he'd been free to swing around the Musutafu streets and help out the little guy, free to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
While there had been some close calls, mostly with that one scarf-wearing hobo-looking guy who had chased him from time to time, it's been smooth sailing so far. Well, as smooth as an illegal hero career could go, anyway.
"Oi! Don't pair me in with these extras, teach! None of their quirks even compare to mine!" A cocky voice rang out from the back of the class, quickly being followed by small crackling sounds, bringing Peter back to reality.
Oh yeah, he was in school. He should've just skipped today to swing around or something, maybe then he shouldn't be anywhere near the school's number one superiority complex having hero candidate, Katsuki Bakugo.
The class erupted at the ash blond's comments, several students starting to complain and yell at the boy, the protest dying down once Bakugo gave a glare to those around him and let off small sparks from his palms.
"Oh, you and Parker are the only ones applying to UA, right? You guys do seem like the best hero candidates we got!" The teacher announced, looking at the career forms the class had submitted a week prior to today.
"Yeah! They're the strongest in our class!"
"Their quirks are awesome!"
"Isn't Parker like number one in our grade? No way he won't get in!"
Feeling a burning look of hatred at the back of his head, Peter nonchalantly turned around to meet the crimson eyes of Bakugo. Apparently, he had this idea that he should be the only one from their school to make it into UA or something. So Peter's sheer existence threw a wrench in his whole plan of being the best.
It felt weird being top of the food chain at school. Once he finally got his powers, he went and got his new quirk registered and started to excel and basically everything, not just studies. And with Japan's huge fascination with strong quirks and heroes, no one around him messed with him. Everyone except Bakugo, of course, but he wasn't very good at it.
Even though he was seen as being at the top, he didn't really like the attention. When he first showed up at the school he planned on staying low key and just getting by. But once quirks started to become a factor in the social hierarchy, the American couldn't lay low even if he tried.
And God as his witness, he tried.
Peter only smiled at the blonde, internally laughing at the rage visibly bubbling up inside the bit before turning back around. He could still feel that piercing glare and hear that animalistic growl the boy was giving him, how a guy like that was her material was a complete mystery to Peter.
Maybe Japan had different views on that type of stuff? They did let a guy like Endeavour become the number 2 hero, and that guy seemed like he sucked as a person.
"Oh, isn't our number 3 student also applying to UA? Is that right, Midoriya?"
The American winced at that sentence, he had only been in this school for less than a month, and he already knew what was about to happen.
"Pffft! Deku?! He's just a quirkless loser! No way he can be a hero!" Bakugo barked out a laugh, everyone in the class laughing along with him. Peter stole a glance at the freckled boy, he looked like he wanted to let the earth swallow him and not spit him back out. He couldn't blame him.
"Dude! How can such a worthless loser even hope to b-" A guy with long fingers began, before being cut off by a certain American.
"What the hell does it matter to you, man? If he wants to be a hero, then let him. He doesn't deserve to be talked down to every day." Peter said, the class going silent at the remark.
Overall, Peter had been the only one to not only not bully Midoriya, but interact with him as if he wasn't garbage. Seeing the way his classmate was treated made him sick, and it made him even sicker how teachers ignored how Bakugo was the main one doing it to not ruin his record.
The tension stayed in the air for a good minute, most taken aback by the act of someone standing up to the quirkless boy. That hateful glare at the back of Peter's head returned even stronger.
He could hear the blonde audibly snarling, it was something disturbing, in his opinion.
The sound of the bell ringing and the teacher awkwardly clearing his throat broke the silence, snapping everyone in the room back to reality. Peter was disgusted by how the man just let the outright harassment of Midoriya slip, even a blind guy could see the burns scars he got from Bakugo!
"A-Anyways, class is dismissed! I hope all of you have a great day!" The man stammered, picking up his things and quickly leaving the room. Peter could only scoff.
'What a joke...' He thought, beginning to rise from his seat and grabbing his backpack, he needed to get swinging as soon as possible.
Wait.
Midoriya, he needed to check on Midoriya. While he wouldn't consider them outright friends, he was kinda cool and crazy smart about quirks.
"Hey, man! You ok?" The brunette walked over to the freckled boy's desk, he flinched at being approached but visibly relaxed at seeing who it was. That was a good sign, right? He knew that people who were abused learning to warm up to new people was good. At least he thought it was.
"O-Oh! Parker-san! Tha-Thank you for that, I really ap-appreciate it." He stuttered, looking down with a small smile on his face.
Baby steps, Parker. Baby steps.
"No problem, man. Let me know if you need anything, alright? I'd stay and chat but I gotta get going, see ya!" He told him, saying the last part in English as he jogged out the classroom and school, heading to an alley down the streets to suit up.
He'd use a phone booth but there weren't any around, and it would've been way too obvious.
It would've been cool, though.
Stepping behind a large dumpster and making sure no one was around, he unzipped his backpack, smiling at the sight of a folded red and blue suit. Well, more like a sweatsuit but he was still proud of it, you know? He had to save money for like a week to buy the materials for it.
Quickly slipping out of his black uniform and throwing his suit on, he took a deep breath and looked at his reflecting in a broken piece of glass laying on the alley
It was the definition of low budget. A red short sleeve hoodie with a black spider spray-painted on the front and back, a long-sleeved blue undershirt, red fingerless gloves along with blue sneakers and grey pants. On each wrist was a metal device made out of scraps, his very own web-shooters. And on his face a red face mask and white goggles.
And all it cost him was 46 bucks, or the yen equivalent to that. He still wasn't good with the new monetary system thing, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that he was ready, ready to swing around while doing whatever a spider can.
What mattered was that he was ready to be Spider-Man again.
What mattered was that he was ready to be a hero.
With a thwip and a yank, he flew off the ground and into the air, wishing to never come down again. The wind blew on his face as adrenaline began to flow in his veins. A grin slowly spreading on his face, being hidden behind his disguise
"WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!" The sound of his excited yelled filled the air of the bustling city of Musutafu, Japan. Spider-Man laughed as he swung off into the city, his smile only growing the longer he was off the ground.
"Oh, thank you, hero! We really need more people like you around!" The old lady said, setting her grocery bags on the ground and pinching the masked boy's cheek. Peter didn't have the heart to tell her he was technically a criminal.
"It's what a do, ma'am! Stay safe out there!" Peter replied, shooting a web and taking off into the air once again, flipping and hollering as he swung away. It's been one of the calmer days for Peter, a couple purse snatches, some ladies he helped cross the street, and even saving an old man's hotdog stand from getting knocked over by a kid on a bike.
Overall, it was a good day. He had taken the time to finish off the homework he still had while he perched on rooftops, looking out for anyone who needed help. He left the bigger things like villains and car chases to the actual heroes, while not being able to lay low at school, he could at least lay low now.
Well, laying relatively low, anyway.
The sun hung high in the sky, there wasn't even a cloud in sight. He sighed like looking at the early April sky. It was a beautiful day, all things considered.
'I just wish you could see it with me, Ben'. He chuckled to himself, hands laying on the edge of the roof while his legs freely dangled in the air. Suddenly, his phone buzzed, bringing him out of his reminiscing. It was a text from his dear Aunt May, the only family he had around.
May: Working late again, stay safe!
May had been working a lot more since Ben's death to provide for the both of them. While detnerat's life insurance policy did give them enough money to make up for paying bills, they still needed money every now and then.
His hands hovered over the keyboard as he typed out a response to his guardian.
Me: Sure thing, May. Don't worry.
Perfect, that gave him more time to swing around town today! Somehow, May hadn't found out him being a vigilante even after finding out about the underground matches. Part of him felt like she knew but didn't talk about it.
The boy's head trailed down to the streets below him, a couple of heroes he didn't recognize stood around doing interviews and interacting with civilians passing by, giving out free autographs and merchandise. An incredibly small part of him wanted to do that, now that he thought about it.
To be able to walk around freely, no one chasing you down when they saw you and just interact with the people you helped? Giving kids high fives and handing out autographs to fans? That sounded like the life a hero should have. But it wasn't one Peter was gonna get either way, anyway.
He'd help out people from the rooftops and alleyways, not sticking around for anyone to even know he was there. Barely getting any recognition outside of being called a criminal by the hardcore hero fans who stayed up to date with vigilante activity, no matter how few and far between they were.
And you know what?
He was ok with that fact, he'd leave the newsworthy stuff and the autograph signing to guys like All Might and Best Jeanist, it was more of their field, after all.
Someone had to be called a menace to give the bigger guys the spotlight. Peter just so happened to be that someone.
As he sighed while looking at the setting sun over the skyline, his Spider-Sense began to blare. He frantically looked around, hopping up from his sitting position and landing in a small crouch, ready to spring away if needed.
Was it that scarf guy? Couldn't be, he didn't come across this part of town and mostly patrolled at night. Random mugger? Maybe, but he had already checked nearby alleys and no one seemed sketchy. Maybe it was a villain attack? But whe-
*BOOM!!!*
An explosion rang out in the distance, smoke and fire rising from a random street that was hidden behind towering office buildings. Peter could faintly hear panicked screams and random orders being barked out.
Villain attack.
It was definitely, positively a villain attack.
But wait, he didn't do villain attacks! He left that to guys like All Might! It'd be way too risky to show up and have people think he was part of it, or even risk getting caught!
*BOOM!!!*
Another explosion, this one larger than the last, the screams from people seemed to grow somehow louder as they broke out into a panicked flee. Peter's body tensed, his legs ready to spring off and send him flying toward the action. His eyes narrowed as he saw the smoke go higher in the sky, flames following not so far behind it.
He couldn't go help! It'd be to- Why was he in the air already?
While Peter was weighing his options, his body decided to just leap toward the action either way, the brunette not even noticing his body already moving before he could think about what to do.
'I'm going, aren't I?' He thought with a sigh, acrobatically swinging through the air toward the fight, bouncing off of fire escapes and the edge of roofs to build up his speed. He couldn't waste time.
He had people to help.
Reaching the burning street, Peter landed on a nearby rooftop, doing his best to stay out of sight for the moment, and was met with a sight that nearly made him curse out loud.
The street was littered with flipped over cars and debris, fire and smoke flowing freely around, donning everything in an ashy, orange light. A bunch of heroes were standing around talking to each other with panicked expressions, civilians were yelling at them to do something.
In the middle of the road, stood a flowing mass of dark green sludge, a pair of eyes and a mouth filled with crooked, yellow teeth swam around it. The mass cackled as it yelled something about the heroes not coming closer, Peter guessed he had a hostage. When his eyes focused on an ash-blonde patch of spiky hair in the sludge, the beating of his heart nearly stopped.
Katsuki Bakugo was being covered by the slime, the villain trying to suffocate him while moving his hands and forcibly activating Bakugo's quirk, shooting explosion around him.
What disturbed him the most wasn't that his classmate was being held captive by a giant sludge monster thingy, what disturbed him the most was the look in his eyes.
Those crimson eyes that were always filled with pride, annoyance, rage, hatred, and pure ferocity...
They looked scared.
They looked as if they needed saving.
'I am so getting arrested for this...'
Shooting a web, the vigilante zipped off of the rooftop and dove straight into the burning scene. He immediately felt the heat in his skin, his goggles being slightly clouded by the ash raining down from the darkened sky above him.
"What the hell?! That's a kid!" A man with thick arms yelled out, Peter was pretty sure he was called 'Death Arms' or something, he wasn't sure.
"Get, out of there!" Another hero whose costume looked like it was made out of wood commanded, The arachnid hero was sure he had seen him take down a villain on his way to school.
"Hey! Who do you think you are, huh?!? Get out of here or I'll kill you right here!" The sludge man gargled, his eyes stopping their roaming over his body and landing on the red and blue clad figure in front of him. Peter felt a chill go down his spine at the voice.
But that didn't matter now, it was showtime!
"I just happened to drop by! Would you be so kind as to let go of that highly irritable young man right there? I get his personality sucks but this is a tidbit too far, isn't it?" The boy joked, already feeling himself relaxing enough as to get the job done. He smiled under his mask at seeing the yellow eyes of the villain narrow in irritation.
Alright, Parker, assess the situation. A bunch of burning stuff around you, more stuff to throw at the guy, that's good. A guy who could make explosions was being held hostage, and then forced to fire off said explosions, that's bad. Pull the guy outta the slime monster, then beat up that slime monster, perfect plan!
He rushed forward, jumping high up into the air and shooting a web at Bakugo's chest. The slime slushed over the spot he was aiming and blocked the shot, the web harmlessly colliding with the liquid.
That wasn't good, but whatever.
"Get the fuck away from me, kid!" The mass yelled at the top of its... he would say lungs but he wasn't sure, and moved the blonde's arm and made him fire off an explosion. The fire grazed the side of the boy, darkening the brightly colored suit and burning off his sleeve. He landed back down in a crouch, putting out small flames on his hoodie while taking a breath.
Alright, this wasn't good at all. He might need to deal with the explosions as soon as possible.
"Do you think I wanna be near you?! You smell awful, man! Hey! I wanna ask, you more of an AXE or an Old Spice guy?! We could go shopping after this whole deal, how does that sound?!" The brunette yelled at the monster, running forward as he shot a web at a stone brick on the ground, swinging it like a flail and flinging it at his opponent. The villain aimed his hostage's arm upward and blasted the projectile to dust.
Peter smirked under the mask, picking up speed in his approach.
All according to plan!
He shot a web directly at the blonde's forearm. The line effortlessly stuck to his sleeve, it was too far away from the villain's main body to cover it fast enough. With the web connecting him to Bakugo, he used most of his strength in his body to yank on the line, sending Bakugo flying out of the sludge with a gross wet sound.
"I d-didn't need your help, dumbass!" The boy barked, his complaints quickly devolving into coughing as the slime in his throat was shot out. Peter could only give a small smile behind his mask. For some reason, he noticed his crimson eyes go wide with shock, what had happened right there? Eh, it was probably nothing.
Alright! Bully secured! Phase one was complete! And now all he needed to do was beat the bad guy up an-
*CRASH!!!*
A hulking figure crashed down in front of the two teens, Bakugo was just starting to get to his feet. Peter's blood ran cold when he saw those blue eyes along with that shining smile be revealed as the curtain of dust and smoke the landing had kicked up started to dissipate into the wind.
The figure's booming laughter rang out through the burning street, the crowd cheered for the man and the heroes only sighed in relief. Peter willed his legs to move, but they wouldn't budge.
"Thank you, young man! I would talk to you about the dangers of vigilantism, but I have a villain to defeat! I will be back with you shortly!" The symbol of peace laughed, cocking his arm back, the limb being primed and ready to let off a devastating attack.
"Detroit Smash!!" All Might shouted, his fist punching the air with incredible force. A blast of wind struck all those near the man, the villain being blown away and into a million pieces of sludge. Peter felt himself hit the ground, being pushed down from the wind pressure.
He was panicking, he needed to get out of there. God, why did he have to show up!? Now he had to run away from the number one hero in Japan!
As the winds from the attack died down, a small rain cloud appeared over the now cleared sky, the downpour falling down to earth and extinguish the flames on the street. Peter stared in shock and amazement at the hero in front of him as he brought a hand up to his face to wipe off the raindrops on his cheek.
Wait.
Wait a minute.
He had a mask covering his face.
So how would he feel the rain on his cheek?
His mask was gone.
An explosion must've burnt it off.
He realized how his lenses weren't there anymore, the strap was limply hanging from behind his neck.
Oh my God.
Panicking, the fact that all the people around him had seen his face dawned on the boy. They knew what he looked like. He needed to go.
Now.
He shot a web at the building he had come from, pulling himself off the ground as quickly as he could. The sounds of people telling him to stay still were lost over the beating of his heart and his panicked breaths.
The boy swung away frantically, gone was the acrobatic and fluid motions of before. His arms burned at how hard he was yanking on each web, trying in vain to leave the scene as fast as possible.
Oh my God.
People saw him.
His face.
Oh my God, what was he gonna do?!
The panicked brunette landed roughly in a building, rolling on the rough ground as he took shaky breaths. The once exciting feeling of doing hero work was completely overtaken by fear and dread. His hands shook as they wiped the soot off of his face, cold sweat stuck to his skin.
He thought he could finally take a breath. He thought he could finally plan his next move and try to figure out where to go. He thought the heroes might have just left him alone.
Like a meteorite, the gigantic form of all might crashed in front of him. His smile ever so present as he looked down on the boy, his towering body casting a shadow over the American.
Peter felt like he couldn't breathe, he needed to get out of there. He needed to do something. Why weren't his legs moving?! He needed to go! God, he felt sick.
Scrambling up to his feet, he shot a web at the hero's eye to try to block his vision long enough to escape. The man easily sidestepped the attack, his blue eyes still looking down at him.
"Please do not resist, young man. You're making this harder than it has to be." He reached forward and grabbed Peter by the hood, holding him up and off the ground as the boy effortlessly thrashed around while taking quick breaths.
"Dude, let me go! Please, man! I gotta get home!" He pleaded, trying to shake off the man's iron grip. All Might only looked at his shaking form in what he assumed was pity.
"I am sorry, but I cannot do that. Stop struggling so I can drop you off at the police station." The man ordered, a small amount of firmness in his voice.
When the words 'Police' reached his ears, Peter's freaked out state somehow went up at least 2 levels. He needed to get out of here, no matter what.
"Let me the hell go!" He shouted, planting his legs on the man's torso and pushing with all the strength that spider gave him.
To his relief and shock, the hero staggered. Peter was roughly dropped to the ground, hitting the floor knees first. He didn't have time to wince at the slight pain. He didn't have time to think about he made the number one flinch or how he escaped his grip.
He needed to go.
The second he rose to his feet, he was running off in the opposite direction All Might had come from. God, why wouldn't his hands stop shaking?! He needed to go! Leaping the rooftop he stood on, he landed on the fire escape of some hero agency and just climbed up, letting his instincts guide his feet.
Sadly, the second he made it up out of the fire escape and onto the roof, he was met with the hero who was chasing him once again. He had his fist cocked back.
He was aiming right at him.
Peter reached a dead end.
It was over.
The man mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' and shot his fist forward at the brunette's face. That hulking limb drawing closer was the last thing Peter saw before the world turned dark.
His eyes slowly fluttered open, taking a good second to adjust to the world around him. Where was he? The walls looked grey and made out of brick, a singular lamp limply hung from the room's ceiling.
Wait, All Might! Holy shit, he punched him in the face! God, he felt like he got ran over at least twice, his whole body ached. Why did he punch him? His hands slowly inched toward his face and touched his cheek, the distinct lack of cloth telling him he didn't have a mask.
Oh.
He got caught saving Bakugo.
Damn it.
"Oh, you're awake, huh?" A voice came from somewhere in the room. Peter sat up, his back popping on the way as his eyes landed on a girl sitting on a bed on the opposite side of the room, which he assumed was a jail cell.
Her crimson eyes were contrasted by her snow-like hair that reached down to her shoulder, her bronze skin shining in the orange light of the setting sun that the window let in. She wore a typical middle school uniform, a pair of white gloves you'd see bugs bunny wear on each of her hands. What stuck out to him the most were the pair of rabbit ears she had.
Wait, did she look familiar? Wasn't there a girl with rabbit ears who fought in the underground fights he did?
'...Tiger bunny?'
She flashed a smirk as she walked over to him and extended a gloved hand, those red eyes of hers piercing Peter's.
"Sup? Name's Rumi Usagiyama, what're you in for?"
Hey! It's me, the author! So I was sitting around the other day trying to get out of writer's block for '1-B's Spider-Man' then I randomly got the idea to write a story about teen Mirko and Peter becoming friends when they get arrested on the same day, and then attend UA together. Cool, right?
Anyway, I wrote this a bit out of boredom and also cause I really like Mirko, what do you guys think? I actually have a bit planned for this story, that is if you guys wanna actually read it. Part of it includes de-aging the big 3 and putting them in 1-A and just having them, Peter and Mirko be a little friend group.
Oh, and I wanted to say that just cause I want to continue this story doesn't mean that I will be dropping my other one. I'm just planning on focusing on this until my writer's block went away, you know? Please let me know if you guys want this to continue!