#WarriorDamselInDistress

"Ugh, man.. Navigating my way around this city on my own is going to be a pain in the butt. Thank goodness for map apps though. If they didn't exist, I'd have still been swinging around hopelessly trying to find my way home."

Back at the apartment complex he and his family lived in, Izuku was currently riding the twelve-story building's elevator to the top floor. Which was where his family's suite was located.

Exhausted from this whole day, especially this evening, Izuku groaned tiredly as he leaned back against the elevator wall. He rubbed his eyes as he felt like crashing right then and there. Of course, his parents wouldn't approve of that, so he waited till he got home before paying dreamland a visit. He checked his phone for the time. "10 o'clock.. And mom should be calling right abooout.."

Izuku smirked when his mom's caller ID popped on the screen, the device vibrating in his hand. "Hey, Mom." He answered casually, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Oh, baby. Thank goodness you answered! Where are you? Are you almost home? Do you need your father to come pick you up somewhere? Please tell me that you're not lost! I can't go through these emotions again!" The poor women immediately started freaking, Izuku telling that she's nearly in tears.

Before putting his mom's worries at ease, Izuku had to chuckle at her pointless raving. "Mom! Mom! Relax! I'm fine." He stifled. "Actually, I'm coming up the elevator now. I just passed the 5th floor. So, I'll be there shortly. Don't worry." He smiled, hoping she'd settle.

"Oh, geez.. Well, that's a huge relief." Inko sighed, stifling an awkward giggle as her heart settled.

"Clearly." Izuku smirked. "Look, I'll see you in a minute, okay? My phone is about to die here, so I'll be cutting off any second."

"Okay, sweetie. The door will be unlocked, so you can just walk right in."

"Thanks, Mom. See you in a bit."

"See you, baby."

Keeping the call short, Izuku hung up and put his phone away. Sure, he could always charge it using his bio-electricity. But, he needed a break from using his powers. He was much too drained. Plus, he wanted to enjoy this alone time while he had it, the elevator music being somewhat relaxing.

What came with this lonesome time however, was the chance to reflect on the day. In his case though, he could only think of one thing. Something that had joined the list of his worst failures.

"I'm so sorry.." He frowned, Sweet Justice and its owners on his mind. "If only I had stayed inside to help them.. Maybe things would've ended differently. I don't know.." He then thought about the girls, sighing as he still felt bad for how he reacted earlier. Even if it was earned. "I hope they're okay.. I may have apologized, but I must've sounded like a total jerk to them, especially to Karen. I need to apologize to her directly when I get the chance."

Ding!

Arriving on his floor, Izuku walked out the elevator and trekked down a long hall, passing a dozen neighboring suites before getting to his own. As Inko said, he entered the apartment as the door was unlocked, fixing that once inside as he locked it behind him.

"I'm home!" Izuku announced as he slipped off his shoes, glad to be home.

Stepping out the kitchen while holding a sleeping Eri, Inko came up to Izuku and gave him a one-armed hug. One that he eagerly returned. "Hey, my boy. I'm so glad that you're home all right." She softly spoke.

"I told you I'd be okay, mom." Izuku grinned, giving Eri's cheek a gentle finger brush as he watched her sleep. Her cute little head resting on her mama's shoulder as she sucked on her pacifier. "You just get her to sleep?"

"No, she was already sleeping a few minutes ago. But when I... overreacted during our call, I may have accidentally woken her up." Inko bashfully replied, blushing at her mishap. "Thankfully, she's an easy child to soothe. So getting her to sleep again wasn't difficult."

"Yeah, that sounds like Eri. Good thing I wasn't here yet when she was crying, or else I'd have taken her from you and put her back to bed myself." Izuku teased, getting a soft giggle out his mother.

"That I believe." Inko replied, lightly patting Eri's back as the tot grasped her shirt and nuzzled.

Izuku looked around for the other resident of the Midoriya apartment, AKA his father, but couldn't see him in either the kitchen or living room. "..Is dad home?"

"In the room, sleeping. Turns out your father had a very... exciting first day at work." Inko stifled. "And judging by how exhausted you look, you did as well. You and your new friends have a little too much fun today?" She questioned with a quirked brow.

"Heh, like you wouldn't believe." Izuku answered, trying to focus on today's positives as to not show any sorrow.

"Look at you. Your first day at a new school within a new country, and you're already making new friends. I knew that I had nothing to worry about." The woman said as she touched Izuku's cheek, proud of her child for trying to adjust to their new life.

"Well, these people are pretty cool. So, they help make things easy." Izuku smiled, looking passed the negatives.

"I'm happy to hear that. Oh, and I never got to say this earlier, but if they do anything to mess with you in anyway. There will be hell to pay." Inko playfully warned, causing Izuku to sweatdrop as he didn't doubt that.

"I'll let them know.." He silently gulped.

"Please do." Inko giggled. "Anyway, I know I said that we'd talk more in depth about your day when you got home. But, seeing as you can use a good rest yourself. I suppose it can wait."

"Thanks." Izuku expressed genuine gratitude at that. "My bed has been calling to me all day."

"I can tell. All right, how about you go wash up while I put your sister down in her crib and heat up the Katsudon I saved you. Can't have you falling asleep on an empty stomach, now can I?" Inko chuckled, moving to get her task done immediately.

At the mention of his favorite food, Izuku's face lit up like a christmas tree, his body instantly moving to get a shower ready. "You're the best, mom!" He shouted in a whisper, giving Inko's cheek a kiss when swerving around her.

"Yes, yes, I know." Inko smirked, not needing the reminder.

After half an hour had passed, Izuku was ready to hit the hay as he entered his room with a yawn, patting his belly as his mom's Katsudon hit the right spot.

"Oh, that was so good." He sighed happily. "Honestly, it baffles me that mom isn't a world famous chef by now. She'd be a bigger bread winner than dad if she was." He complimented the chef, groaning in relief when falling back on his bed.

Now, he wished he could enjoy the current bliss for a little while longer. Or hell, maybe even sleep. But when his earlier guilt crept its way back when Sweet Justice entered his thoughts once more, and the pain the owners suffered upon its destruction, it wasn't happening.

"It's all my fault.." He muttered in annoyance. "I really shouldn't have left them to deal with it on their own. I should've taken their exercise results as a sign of what might happen. But, no. Like an idiot, I just had to go and be a lone wolf. We were supposed to be a team, and for a good few minutes... I completely abandoned the idea. Am I even ready to be apart of a team? Much less help guide one? It's obvious the situation proved too much for Diana. I mean, fighting robots while also trying to reel in girls who are all kinds of reckless.. I imagine it couldn't have been easy for her. And what was that all about anyway? Those robots shouldn't have been allowed to destroy Sweet Justice in the first place if it wasn't permitted by the owners. That's just... all sorts of wrong.. Something sketchy is up, that's for sure, but where to start looking to find the culprit, or culprits.. I got no idea.." Clearly, there's more stressing issues on the poor boy's mind than he realized, having difficulty in making sense of it all as he sighed in defeat. "Okay. Ease up there, Spider-Man.. Or else you may just give yourself another sleepless night. And that's the last thing you need right now.. This crap can be sorted out tomorrow." Forcing these awful thoughts on the back burner, Izuku groaned as he got into bed properly, getting nice and cozy under the covers after setting an alarm on his phone. Since, you know, he kinda wrecked his alarm clock. Then, off to sleep he went.

Vrrrrr! Vrrrrr! Vrrrrr! Vrrrrr!

About an hour into his slumber, Izuku awoke to the sound of his phone vibrating, blinking tiredly in confusion as he watched the device move around ever so slightly on the nightstand. "Now who... haaaaw... could that be?" He yawned, turning to lay on his back before answering the late night call, not bothering to check the ID. "Hello?" He acknowledged, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Bestie?"

Izuku gasped, instantly recognizing the voice. He woke up fully, sitting up rather quickly. "Barbara?"

"Oh, thank God, it is you."

"Well, yeah, of course it's me. I did give you my number." Izuku stifled, remembering how him and Babs exchanged phone numbers during their time at the pier. "What? You thought I gave you a fake one?"

"...Maybe. A-Anyway! That's not important. Listen, bestie, I know it's late, and a school night. And I understand that all you probably want to do right now is sleep, but believe me when I say that I wouldn't be calling you like this if we didn't have a REAL major issue on our hands. And I mean majorly major!" The redhead said urgently.

Worried, Izuku looked at his phone for a moment before replying. "What's going on, Babs?" He asked, taking the matter seriously.

Barbara sighed heavily before answering. "She's gone, Izuku.. Diana's... gone."

In horror, Izuku's eyes widened, his heart stopping as dread fueled him at that moment. "W-W-Wha... What do you mean g-gone? Like... d-dead gone?" He asked in shock, the news unbelievable considering how short a time it's been since he last saw the Amazon.

"What? Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! No, not DEAD gone. I mean, she's out of Metropolis gone! That's it!" The redhead chuckled nervously. "S-Sorry, I could see why that's confusing."

"Ah, geez, Barbara." Izuku exclaimed. "You almost had me waking up my family here!" He whisper shouted.

"I said sorry.."

Relaxing, Izuku breathed before continuing the conversation. "It's fine. Now, what do you mean she's out of Metropolis? What happened?"

"Remember earlier when you left to head home?"

"Yeah?" Izuku replied curiously.

"Well, shortly after you left... Diana's MOM showed up to take her back home. No joke, bestie, this woman was HUUGE! Like, final boss level huge! Okay, maybe not that huge, but she was pretty dang tall, and had these crazy strong muscles on her! Heck, her thighs alone looked like they could crush a freaking bould-!"

"Okay, okay, hold up! She took her back to Themyscira? Wasn't Diana already allowed to be in Man's world by her mother? Why the sudden change of heart?" Okay, now, he's very confused.

"Believe it or not, Diana didn't actually have her mother's permission. She, technically, ran away."

After hearing that bombshell, Izuku's bewilderment got way worse. Blinking dumbly as it took him a minute to process this knowledge. "She ran away? I... didn't expect that of Diana."

"I know, right? The rest of us were just as shocked."

"What about those trials of Athena and Aphrodite she mentioned?"

"She did those behind her mom's back, too."

"Wow, she really went on a rebel streak.." Izuku shook his head, getting back to the main topic. "So, let me guess, the reason you're calling is because you wanna try and bring her back?" He determined.

"...Don't you?"

"I mean... yeah, I do.." Izuku sighed. "But, Barbara, you know her mom's not just gonna let us take her. She, and whoever's with her, will put up a fight, a fight that will probably end in our deaths. And we both know that's the last thing Diana would want for any of us. These are soldiers who are far more skilled and experienced in combat than we could ever hope to be. They're literally trained to fight wars. How can we top that? If they're anything like Diana. Their abilities are nothing to scoff at." The suffering of guilt struck Izuku once again, cringing as he hated saying these things. Damn him and his realistic thinking..

"...You think I don't know any of that.." Babs replied softly. "Izuku, I know that things will probably not end well for us, but you know what? I don't care! Diana's our friend, and all she ever wanted to do with her life, more than anything in the world... was to be a hero. A hero in a world that she hardly knows anything about. Hell, a world that doesn't deserve her! Yet, despite all that, she was willing to take that risk because that's how much her dream meant to her. 'cause that's how strong she is. Did you know that she's 317 years old? Isn't it crazy that after literally three centuries of living and learning the ways of the warrior, her mother still won't allow her to venture out on her own. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute and think on how that'd make you feel."

"I... guess I'd think that it's pretty unfair.." Izuku frowned, wiping a hand down his face after getting over the shock of hearing Diana's age.

"Exactly. If 300 hundred years isn't enough time for her to be ready, who knows when her mom will think she'll be.. We'll probably be long gone by the time that happens. Besides, out of all of us, you're the first person she'd wanna see trying to bring her back."

"...What makes you say that..?"

"Because you didn't stop believing in her. When everyone else was ready to give up on her after the movie incident, you're the only one who kept their faith and was patient with her. Me? It was the team, the superheroing I wasn't willing to give up. But you? You wanted to keep helping her. And you have no idea how much that meant to her.. Before she left, she wanted me to tell you... that she's sorry. It's not because of what happened to Sweet Justice, or letting her mom take her. No, she's sorry because... she let YOU down. That's what crushed her the most. She feels as if she's no longer deserving of that hope you had in her. Or your friendship. Now, we both know that isn't true. You and her, you're the best out of all of us. If anyone can lead this team into greatness, it's you two together. So, we made some mistakes. That just means we still have some stuff to learn. And we can learn. But, if we give up now, we'll never have those chances.. So, please, Izuku. Don't give up on the team just yet.. Don't give up on HER when she needs you the most. Let's go save OUR friend."

After Babs finished, Izuku remained silent for a good minute or two, his face neutral as he tried coming to a decision. Damn it, was she ever right..

When he did eventually get it together and make his crazy choice, Izuku wasted no time as he brought the phone back to his ear. "Where are we meeting?" He inquired with a smile, already getting out of bed to fish out his costume from his bag.

"You're coming? Yes! Oh, I just knew I'd get through to you, too! The others are already with me, so we'll be waiting for you over by the pier. But I suggest you hurry, we don't know how much longer we got before we lose her."

"Got it. Do we even know where she is? The ocean is a vast place, Babs. She could be... I don't even wanna know how far out by now." Spider-Man said as he finished putting on his mask.

"Don't even worry about it. We know which way to go."

"How?"

"Let's just say I have a... source keeping us posted."

'Well that didn't sound fishy at all.' Izuku thought in suspicion upon opening his window, immediately curious about this so called source. It'd have to wait though, as time was of the essense. "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Just leaving my place now." He advised, wall crawling out to the side of his window.

"We'll be here, bestie."

Thus, ends their call as Izuku carefully reached back into his room to toss his phone on the bed, gently shutting the window afterwards.

"I really gotta get pockets on this thing." He commented on his costume. "Or maybe even a utility belt would work..? Nah." Before taking off when casting a web, Izuku looked over at his window, hoping he'd make it back before his parents noticed he was gone. "I'm sorry about this, Mom... Eri... Dad.. But my friend needs me." He said with resolve.

Without further ado, he jumped off the wall and began swinging to the pier.

Yeah, risking sleep, and possibly his life, to save his friend/co-leader... Totally worth it.

A/N: All right! Next chapter, finished. Now, onto the results of the second poll!

Anime/Manga Crossover Results! ( 25 votes )

- Fairy Tail ( 8 votes ) ( WINNER! )

- Sekirei ( 7 votes )

- Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma ( 5 votes )

- Rosario Vampire ( 2 votes )

- Quintessential Quintuplets ( 2 votes )

- Akame Ga Kill ( 1 votes )

And there you have it. God, another one that could've ended in a tie if I had finished just a few hours earlier. XD Anyway, looks like Izuku's gonna be getting lucky with some Fairy Tail girls! Wooh! I look forward to this one. Now, as for the last poll, I'm curious to see which one comes out on top as it's... quite different. You'll see what I mean if you go check out the poll. Have fun voting! (:

Harem is still the same! See Chapter 13 (#BlastOfATime) for the list if you need a reminder!

Follow, Favorite and Review if you'd be so kind! It is always greatly appreciated to know what you guys think of the story so far!

Until next chapter, deuces!