Hello, everyone!

Glad that you guys liked Victoria Von Doom. I was inspired to make the character based on the likes of Emilia Burbank from Amazing Fantasy and Alexis Luthor from Neither a bird nor a plane, it's Deku stories.

I would have told you all to check out those stories but I am sure you already have since they are so awesome.

On another note, this story got a TV TROPES page! So thanks to whomever made it for me! Really, thank you so much!

I also made the cover for the story so you may all look at Izuku's Spider-Man suit.

Otto was no stranger to the limitations of the flesh.

Even before his numerous battles left him a dying man, his body never matched his intelligence. Despite this, he faced the adversaries and challenges with a raised head. He broke bones and tore muscles and spilled blood. And in doing so, he had forged his body into a mighty weapon even before he performed the coup de grace on Spider-Man.

Because, in the end, what truly mattered in the fight was not only the powerful body but the knowledge how to use it.

"We need to start on your combat training."

That was the first thing Otto said in their shared headspace when they woke up. While Otto himself didn't feel pain to the same extent as Midoriya, the sensation was far from pleasant. Made all the worse by how avoidable all the damage was.

The last night's maniac should have been a non-threat for someone with Spider-Man's powers and equipment. Midoriya had the power and speed to overpower the man. He had the Spider-Sense to warn him off any danger and bioelectric charge to stun the escapee.

If it were him in control, Otto would have finished the entire fight without sustaining any damage.

But the child panicked and almost got both of them killed. He would give the child points for quick thinking in the last minutes. But such risky tactics had to be abandoned now if he wanted to have any chance at the proper career as a hero.

"Sorry, doctor. Won't happen again."

"It better not," Otto said, taking note of the number of injuries the teen received in a single battle. Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable. "Otherwise, we both will be dead before the start of the year."

Their attention turned to the click of the door.

It was only now that both realized, they were not in Midoriya's room. Instead, they were in some dusty and old room with only a single bed and a small table near it. Otto cursed at his failure to notice the change in the surroundings.

"Prepare to fight, Midoriya."

"Spider-Sense doesn't detect any danger."

"Still, remain alert."

They watched the door slowly creak open, letting in the man in loose-fitting black clothes. His face was partially obscured with the crudely-made mask. In his hands were the plastic bags of boxed lunches and bottled water.

"You are awake. Good," his voice was rough, somewhat raspy. "Eat up."

Doctor Octavius said they should run. Stun the man and get out of here. It did sound logical... But also very ungrateful to someone who brought him here and treated his wounds.

Spider-Sense didn't detect any danger from the man. Neither did it alert him of anything in the food. Quietly munching on the convenience store lunchbox, Izuku took in the details of the man's appearance.

His clothes were dirty. Old and torn in places, too. One of his hands had the white cloth with small spots of red. A homeless, then? Possible but somehow not quite fitting the man's image. He doubted someone like that would have a developed physique like this man. Maybe he was-

"If you wanted to say something, kid, then say it."

Crap, was his staring so obvious?

Doctor's groan of frustration indicated that it was.

"I- I wanted to thank you," Izuku said carefully. He didn't wish to startle or piss off the man by speaking out of turn. When his mysterious benefactor said nothing, Izuku took it as a cue to continue. "I am sorry, what was your name again, sir?"

"Stain."

Stain, huh? An alias? Coupled with the man's well-developed physique and a mask, the man could've been a hero. However, he didn't recognize the man and the fact that he wasn't currently at the police station suggested something else.

A vigilante.

Pushing his initial surprise to the back of his mind, Izuku gave the man a light bow.

"Thank you, Stain-san," he said politely. "I don't know what would happen if you didn't bring me here."

Stain scoffed and said with a note of derision in his voice, "You would be found by the arriving fakes and police. And then you'd fall victim to the rotten system of this country."

Izuku swallowed his bite with a sudden difficulty, uncomfortable with the choice of words. Fakes? Whom could he mean by that?

No, Izuku told himself, there was no way he was talking about pro heroes.

"I saw you on tv before," the man said. "You jumped in to save the other kid. The news mentioned you didn't have a Quirk."

He saw the broadcast? Being a shy kid his entire life, Izuku found being recognized more than a little embarrassing.

"Uh, yeah, I was Quirkless then," He was getting better at making these small lies and half-truths. He wasn't yet sure whether he should have felt so casual about it. "I got it less than a week ago. A late bloomer, I guess."

The man hummed, not quite showing whether he believed him or not. It seemed he didn't actually care about it.

"Why did you do it?"

Why did he help? The answer came naturally, almost automatically.

"Because he needed help," He spent some time wondering why he ran in there, even at the risk of his own life and almost zero chances of succeeding. And in the end, he was no closer to the answer more detailed than that.

It always boiled down to the simple fact that, in that moment, he couldn't do anything but try and save Kacchan. "I couldn't just stand there and watch it happen."

"Not what those on the scene said," the man said. For a brief moment, Izuku saw the man's face twist in a scowl. "According to them, you should have stay put."

They did say that much, didn't they? And Izuku wouldn't lie, it hurt at first. He didn't run in there for fun or some sick thrill. So being scolded for doing the only thing he could think of was certainly one of the less pleasant experiences. But now?

He couldn't exactly blame them.

As much as it first hurt to be told off for trying to help, he could see why they would be angry with him. He was Quirkless then, after all. The best he was able to do was throw his backpack into the villain's eye and barely scrape some off the sludge from Kacchan's face. And that was the limit of his abilities.

Were it not for All Might's arrival, he would end up simply as another hostage.

"I guess, I just can't stay out of trouble."

Izuku heard a small chuckle and looked up from his container at the man.

As he watched the man's chapped lips curl into a smile, he felt the pit in his stomach form and deepened with each passing second. His accelerated perception allowed Izuku to see the man's smile widen and twist into something... inhumane.

The man's next words - the words Izuku spent years wishing to hear from someone - sent shivers down his spine.

"Then you will be a great hero."

It was not the words themselves that disturbed Izuku.

It was the eyes. The look on the man's face that was both starving and sated at the same time. At this moment, it wasn't even Izuku himself the man was looking at. But something bigger than him. Than both of them.

It was the smile. That wide and hollow grin that showed way too many teeth and threatened to split the man's face apart.

It was the voice. Light, almost euphoric.

"In the old days, the heroes were the true pillars of the society. They rose from nothing and served for the sake of the common good. Never seeking reward or adoration for their actions."

Just as suddenly, his gaze shifted from satisfaction to rage.

The man slammed his fist against the dusty floor, causing the wood to crack under its impact.

"But now they have been usurped! And the stupid masses encourage the fakes that did it!" the man spat out venomously. "Pathetic phonies that serve only to enrich and glorify themselves!" the man growled, eyes burning with rage at the unseen enemies in the room. "They taint the word 'hero' with their greed and vanity!"

Izuku remained still, his Spider-Sense remained silent. There was no danger to him from Stain. The same, clearly, couldn't be said for whoever the man considered a fake.

"It was a good talk, kid. A very good talk."

Stain exhaled, the mood in the room changing to the prior awkward calm. The man turned around quietly, almost as if it all was some kind of act. The end to his one-minute one-man performance. For a brief second, Izuku allowed himself to hope that it was all that this was. A joke. A play.

The way the man looked at him on the way out, however, was the indication it was anything but.

He had to be stopped!

Izuku moved channeling the charge through his hand, ready to take him down.

He was inches away from the man's back when his whole body froze in place. His limbs went numb without warning or reason and he crashed onto the floor with a loud thud. Looking up at Stain, he saw the man's tongue leave the bandage on his hand. It was now that Izuku noticed that the man had no fresh wounds.

Which means that the bandage had his blood on it.

Was that his Quirk? Paralysis through blood ingestion?

"You still have room to grow," Stain showed no anger or disappointment in Izuku's attempted attack. In fact, he looked even more satisfied. "Don't worry, I am not one to taste such valuable talents. I know you will come around to my ways. Until then, do your best to grow into a good hero, Midoriya Izuku."

The man stepped outside.

The paralysis wore off in the next three minutes. But by then, Stain had disappeared entirely from the building. Izuku must have spent almost two hours looking for him but with no results.

The chilling promise made Izuku wonder if he would have more luck being found by the pro heroes or police.

)O(

Inko could still remember the day she first held her baby. Her term went without trouble and the delivery had no complications. Her baby was a healthy and strong little infant.

And yet, when she held him in her arms, she couldn't imagine anything more fragile and precious in her life.

She made a silent promise to protect this little bundle of life. To always be there for him. And she did her best to make good on that promise.

"Mama, I want to be a hero."

But in her heart, she knew she couldn't support that dream of his.

She respected heroes. Who didn't? The brave men and women who fought villains and saved the day. There were far worse role models for a child.

However, even with the positive and uplifting stories outnumbering the bad ones fifty-to-one, her eyes and ears always focused on the latter.

Heroes leaving their children orphans. Heroes suffering life-long injuries. Heroes dying at the hands of some villain. The incidents were far and far between these days. So few that one could ignore them entirely and see only the peaceful and protected world around themselves.

And yet, her heart refused to find peace.

When the doctor said her child was Quirkless, Inko was overwhelmed with emotions.

She wanted to scold the doctor for being so rude and dismissive. She wanted to comfort Izuku. She wanted to... She wanted to do so many things. But most of all, she wanted to make herself feel anything instead of what she felt that day.

Because that night, even as she cried tears of sympathy for her boy's dream, Inko felt relieved.

What kind of mother felt that way?

What kind of monster could look at their own child's tears and think, 'This is for the best'? And now those same feelings were all the stronger. Now that Izuku somehow got a Quirk and was going to pursue his childhood dream, she kept waking up to the same nightmare she thought no longer possible.

She should have been happy for him. She should encourage him and wish him good luck. That was what a good mother would do. Instead, all she could do was force a smile and lie to his face. She felt sick of herself. Of her own weakness.

Perhaps... Izuku saw through her. He was a smart and observant boy. Always has been. So Inko wouldn't be surprised if he knew what she really thought of his dream. Could it be why he was lying to her recently? Because he didn't trust her?

She couldn't bear it any longer. It was selfish. But seeing her son walk in home after an entire night missing gave her all the push she needed.

"Where have you been?" she spoke softly. Gently, so that it never came off as judgemental or accusational. "You didn't answer any of my calls."

"I-uh... I forgot to charge it before leaving last night."

"But where did you leave?" she pressed on. "You told me you'd go meet Katsuki-kun but he told me you never came."

She could see panic flash in her son's eyes. She could gears turning in his head, going through excuses and lies in the search of the one that would help him.

"Izuku," she placed her hands on his. "Please, just tell me the truth."

She needed to hear the truth. As bad as it could be, she had to hear it.

"Please, just... Just don't freak out, okay?" Inko nodded even as she felt the knot grow tighter in her stomach. "Last night, I was walking to meet Kacchan. I promise, I didn't lie about that. But then, when I arrived at the station... I got into a fight."

She listened to his story with a quiet horror. From the moment some man tried to attack the nearby people and right until when Izuku got stabbed by him in the shoulder. Her son could have died last night... And she wouldn't have known until someone found him in the alley.

"But why didn't you call the police?" she wished she didn't sound so upset. So angry. "Izuku, you- You can't just keep doing this!"

"Mom, please, I- I didn't think at that time, okay? I had to help those people or he would have hurt them."

"It was not your place to do this," she felt awful for saying this. For feeling this way. For meaning every word she said. "You are just a kid. You are not even a student at one of the hero schools yet. What if that man had some dangerous Quirk? What if there was more than one man? What would you do then?"

Silence. That damning silence. An escaped serial killer was captured just last night! If Izuku saw him, would he have fought him, too?

"I-" he averted his eyes. "I don't know... But I wouldn't stay and do nothing. I can't do this, mom! That's not what heroes do!"

Heroes. Inko felt bitter shame at how much she hated that word right now.

"You are not a hero!"

The words left her mouth before she could fully process them. Before she could even consider how angry she was right now. How loud and furious she sounded. It was barely more than a second but, as if time itself slowed down to a crawl, she saw the way those words tore into Izuku, each syllable like a knife.

"Izuku, son, wait-!" She held onto his wrist before he could run away. "Please, I am sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Was it true? Or just a way to make him stay?

"I... Izuku... I am very proud of you. I am so happy you grew up such a kind and brave boy. But please, you can't just rush into things you are not ready for."

First, Sludge Incident. Now this.

"Izuku, please, you must promise me that you will be more careful. Please."

She looked him in the eye and searched for any hint of a lie brewing in his head.

"Mom... I promise, I will be more careful."

With a gentle smile and a warm hug, she watched Izuku walk upstairs and disappear into his room. As she collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion, she couldn't shake off the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Her son was telling the truth.

Or convinced himself he was.

)O(

Sundays were the days of relaxation. Even geniuses like Katsuki needed those.

Which is why, standing in the middle of the abandoned warehouse, Katsuki was all the more pissed off. If it was any other situation, he would have just told Deku to shove his phone up his ass and never message him again.

But this was the message he got the day after the fucking nerd ditched him. What made his mood even worse was the fact that the rest of their class was there yesterday to see it. The whole class was there to see Deku ignore his orders. Some were smart enough to see that it was Deku's cowardice. The majority though?

To them, it was Deku saying that he didn't consider his words important enough to follow. That he was better than that. Better than him. That he was so much higher than Katsuki that he didn't have to listen to a word he said.

Which is why, once Deku arrived, Katsuki was going to make this one hurt.

"And speak of the Devil..."

There he was.

The expression he wore was the same annoying mix of uncertainty and awkwardness. With that irritating spark of defiance in his green eyes. The presence so small and yet so aggravating that it could only belong to Deku.

"You have some nerve showing up late, you fucking nerd."

Especially after bitching out on him yesterday.

"I-I am sorry, Kacchan," and there was that stammer. The sheep-like voice that grated his nerves with every breath. "Mom was really worried after yesterday."

Ah yes... His 'disappearance'.

Katsuki couldn't help but scoff at the cheap excuse he somehow sold to Midoriya-san and the cops. Well, if they were going to fall for such stupid lie, he could care less. He knew what the loser was doing last night. Hiding from him, as he always did.

"Do I look like I give a shit?"

Deku averted looking him in the eye.

Heh, pathetic. Even now... the nerd didn't have the guys to look him straight in the eye.

"Please, Kacchan, I don't want to fight you... Let's just talk this out, okay? Please?"

Talk? He wanted to talk now after all the humiliation he put him through? Fat fucking chance.

"Just you and me, Deku," Kacchan growled, as steam rose from his bare arms. The blonde ignored all his pleas and attempts to find another way to solve this mess. "It's about fucking time we ended this shit."

He moved, propelled forth by the compact blasts. Spider-Sense screeched. Stepping to the side, he barely avoided a kick to the jaw. He leapt back and landed on all fours. There was no room for talk. And yet, Izuku found himself frustrated enough to try.

"Just what did I ever do to you?" Izuku cried out. "Tell me! Tell me what I did that you hate me so much, Kacchan!"

If they were going to fight, then he might as well find out just what ruined their friendship.

Katsuki couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Fucker... Still acting as if he didn't know.

"You were playing a weakling this whole time just to screw with me!" the blonde roared over the explosions. "And then you revealed you had a Quirk just to make me an even bigger laughing stock! You've been playing me for a fucking idiot this whole time!"

The future Number One saved by a Quirkless kid he bullied? He would never live that one down!

As a blonde kept blasting with rage, Izuku could only stare at his friend incredulously. Was this what Kacchan believed all this time? That he wanted to humiliate the blonde? Hurt his reputation and pride?

"You are a fucking idiot!"

It was the first time Katsuki saw Deku so angry. The first time he heard the guy curse so loud.

"Are you insane?!"

All these years... All this time... Over something so stupid!

"I have always admired you!"

So many would have coasted on a Quirk alone. But Kacchan was different. He always pushed himself further. Always looked towards the top spot among the heroes. How could Izuku not admire that?

"Your strength! Your resolve! Your talent! I have always wished I had even a fraction of those. Any one of those! So why do you think I ever looked down on you?"

Trying to suck up to him now, huh? How dumb did Deku think he was? He knew that he was awesome. And he knew that Deku knew that, too. He knew that the little shit was palling around with him in some stupid hope some of his talent would rub off on his miserable self.

"Becoming the top hero has been my dream. I have done and will continue to do everything I can to make that dream a reality. Which is why having you around has been a fucking eyesore all these years," Kacchan approached him, eyes blazing. "Because you were never serious about becoming a hero!"

And still, even with his ruse clear, the little shit denied it.

"Yes, I was!" He blocked another strike and pushed back. Hard. "Becoming a hero was my dream, too, Kacchan." Not this fucking drivel again. He wanted to be a hero? Becoming a hero was his dream, huh?

What a load of bullshit.

"Even without a Quirk, I-"

He had no wish to listen to his delusional crap.

"Then why the fuck did you give up on your training, huh?" Kacchan roared. "If you wanted to be a hero without a Quirk so damn much, why did you fucking give up?"

He could still remember those days when he would come over and find comic books and manga all over Deku's floor. His notes on how to train like one of those fictional guys. How to build stuff to make up for his lack of Quirk. The sight of it back then made him wish to vomit. It was so pathetic it wasn't even funny!

"I fucking hated how you tried to make up for the lack of Quirk with some stupid shit you saw in the comics. That was the stupidest shit I ever heard!"

And yet...

"But fuck, I could at least respect you for trying!"

The blonde bristled, as though the word made him sick.

"Maybe you'd end up failing and becoming a cop. Maybe you'd end up a sidekick or some shit-tier hero who just gives directions or rescues cats from the trees," the blonde spread his arms out. "I didn't give a shit about what you'd do with your life, anyway. Losers like you never had much weight in my life, you fucker! But at least, you'd put effort into whatever you ended up being, I thought. And then you broke your damn leg and gave up!"

He gave a short mirthless laugh.

"Fucking fine, too. I thought, finally, Deku learned his place! But no," the blonde looked at him with the cold disdain. The kind of look one gave the worms lying on the streets. "Even though you were Quirkless... Even though you gave up after a broken leg like the loser you always were and still are... You continued to follow me around. Because you still believed you could be a hero!"

All the times the nerd would talk about his dream.

All the times he would write in that stupid notebooks of his.

All the times Deku would give him those looks...

All of it reminded Katsuki just how half-assed Deku was about the hero career.

"Heroes always win, Deku," Kacchan hissed. "They always save the day. They always defeat the villain. That's my ideal of a hero. That's what I built my life around! And you thought you could just waltz into this work with nothing but your notes and some pathetic training! This is what makes me sick!"

Another blast. Rows of abandoned tech and piles of garbage were blown to bits, breaking and burning but failing to hurt either of the boys.

"You think being a hero is some joke?"

He blasted through the piles of scrap metal and garbage. Izuku swatted his open palm aside causing it to blow up the rusted machine instead of him.

"Some way to prove you are not fucking useless?! Well, I got news for you, friend..."

Kacchan grabbed onto his forearm and twisted his body around, lifting the green-haired teen into the air.

"You are!"

Izuku slipped out of his grasp seconds before the blonde could slam him into the pile of metal. Landing on top of the small mountain of the metal and rust, he couldn't help the small sad smile on his lips. All these years...

"... So that's why we ended up like this?" Izuku asked out loud. "Because you thought I didn't take being a hero seriously?"

He smiled, feeling in a way he hadn't felt in years with Kacchan. Relief, understanding, anger, sincerity, hope, envy, confidence... All of those mixed and fused together, overlapping and overwhelming one another in Izuku's heart.

"Then I will prove how serious I am about becoming one," Izuku smiled. "I have always been serious about becoming a hero, Kacchan. And I am going to prove that by passing U.A. entrance exam."

His smile widened even as tears started running down his face.

"I will not only pass the U.A. entrance exam... But I will score higher than you. I will take that number one spot from under you."

This goddamn... fucking...

"Take the number one spot from me?" He scoffed. "Man, I must have hit you too fucking hard if you actually believe that shit. Number one spot in both the exam and history books are both going to be mine, Deku."

Izuku looked at Kacchan. Perhaps, for the first time in years, really looked at him.

"I am not going to back down," he said earnestly. "Now when I finally have the chance to achieve my dreams."

Not when he had someone actually believe in him.

"... Fine, if you honestly believe that you can beat me, let's have a fucking bet then," Bakugou said. "Whoever gets the highest score on the entrance exam will go to U.A. The loser must look for some other school."

The words cut through the air. Izuku couldn't help a dry laugh that escaped his lips.

"Now who is treating the hero career as a joke?" he whispered. "You are going to bet your dream school out of petty grudge?"

"You said it yourself, Deku. You want to prove how serious you are about becoming a hero? Then stop playing the fucking sheep and go for the top spot. Fight your damn fucking hardest to prove you are worth shit. Break yourself in twice trying to score above me but know this," he grinned savagely. "I ain't losing, Deku."

So that was it, huh? If that was what he really wanted... Then Izuku saw no other choice either.

"Neither am I," Izuku said firmly. "Good luck with your training."

"Asshole... Don't talk like we are fucking buddies now."

"I am not," Izuku said. He didn't bother to hide the hints of regret in his voice. If they talked this out sooner, would they still be friends today? "I... I know that we are definitely not friends, Bakugou."

Perhaps, this fight - this confrontation - was necessary for them both. To either bury the hatcher and one day repair their friendship. Or end this connection between each other and move on for good.

As Izuku boarded the train back home, he couldn't help but wonder which one he would prefer more.

"We are not losing this bet, Midoriya Izuku," Otto whispered in his head. "I expect nothing but the best of your performance during the exam. Understood?"

He nodded.

"Yes, Doctor. Understood."

Long time, no see, everyone!

Man, the past month or so have been brutal at work. So much work. So much unnecessary modifications to the working papers and reports because the supervisor kept changing the approach.

Oh well, finally had some time to finish this short transition chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!

See you soon!