The first thing anyone did was get Peter to the nurse, Recovery Girl. From there everything was easier. They got his arm healed with her kiss, and all wrapped up. He was told by her not to get into any type of altercation, and told Mei to calm down on her inventions. She wasn't listening at all.
After they were both given a lecture, Mei silently left, not a word as she left him with his teachers, Steve and Pepper.
"Recovery Girl," Steve turned to the nurse with a raised brow. "You wouldn't mind giving us some privacy, right?"
The aged short woman turned her back to the three, shrugging and walking towatds the open door. "Fine. Do what you have to, I suppose..." She walked out the door, before sliding it shut.
The room fell silent as they heard her footsteps echo away through the halls. The moment none of them heard those footsteps, Peter spoke, rather sporadically.
"How are you guys here?! What's happening?! Where's Mr. Stark?!
"Queens! Peter, calm down." the Captain attempted to soothe the young man while Pepper explained. She laid everything on the table. How they got there, why they are there, who else tgat they know of is there, and the gravity of the situation. As for where Tony was, they had no idea.
By the end of it Peter was near emotionally crippled. He was about to be responsible for trillions upon trillions of deaths because he thought he was doing the right thing.
Sitting on that medical bed he looked down at his legs, narrowing his eyes as tears began to spill. "I'm sorry..." he choked out in nothing but pure remorse. "I didn't mean to..."
"Didn't mean to what?" Steve questioned as he stared at the boy.
"I killed all those people...Everybody!" He looked up at the two, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I wanted to do the right thing and..."
He cut himself off, when he felt arms wrap around him. Steve held onto him, letting the young man cry into his shoulder to his heart's contempt.
"It's okay." Steve gave him a pat on the back.
All the while Pepper ran her hand through his puffy hair, leaning in closer. "It isn't your fault. Because of you, we're still here. Everyone is still here. But they won't be without those stones."
Steve pulled from the young man, who let out a shaky breath before nodding softly. He looked at the two heroes, while wiping his new tears away. "I...I know where one of them is...Or, I don't know where exactly but I have the coordinates. It's with what's left of my other suit."
The orangette nodded, her face inches closer to his as she asked, "Where is it?"
Peter had returned nearly late to class. But, even with his arm broken and being sent to the nurse he was still on time.
He got no praise from Aizawa for it, but he wasn't coming under the impression that was the case so it made little difference. He simply went to his seat. When some of them saw the bandages around his right arm they asked what happened. He simply waved it off as an accident and nothing more, before sitting down beside Gwen, who glanced at him for a quick second before looking ahead of her.
From there the school day didn't last long. Peter didn't see Steve or Pepper the rest of the day, they were apparently meeting the other teachers from other courses. All of them were surprised that they were Quirkless. School let them out, and they were all quick to leave. Especially Bakugo, who hours prior had a talk with Aizawa that seemed to irritate him to no end.
As the red sun faded slowly into the waters before their eyes, the students of U.A made their way home. And Peter waited on the steps of the Support Course building for his host. Sitting as students went by. None of them the one he was waiting for.
He was looking toward the doors the whole time not paying attention to his surroundings. So he didn't notice the blonde come up behind him until she spoke.
"Who're you waiting for?" She asked in a blunt tone, cauding the young man to jump some, looking in the direction of where the voice came from. He looked up, and was immediately greeted with a view up her skirt.
Because of her both having leggings on and keeping her legs closed, Peter wasn't able to see anything, thankfully. Still he couldn't help but quickly look away and face the ground. When she didn't get an answer, she pressed more. "It's your host, right? Who was it? It was a Mei someth-"
"Okay..." Peter sighed as he pushed himself onto his feet and stood up. He turned to her, and she hopped off the ledge onto the stairs to look him straight in the eye. "What's your game? I've never met you before! And..." he leaned a bit closer so no else could hear. "Stark Academy shouldn't even exist! So what do you gain from posing as a student?"
The blonde let out a sigh, leaning back against the concrete slab and railing behind her. "Professionally? I assume our 'teachers' told you about my predicament..."
Peter looked away, and gave a small nod as he sighed softly. "Yeah...I know..."
"Then you should know that if this place is gonna come crashing down, it's better to get the hell outta dodge before then." Gwen raised a brow as she spoke. "The only problem is I don't know how, and those three told me they'd help me."
That reasoning was pretty solid. Even if she was lying, it was damn good. Not that Peter would even know. And he didn't. But for the moment, if he believed her or not she had no choice in the matter on whether to work with her or not.
"Personally...I'm a mess when it comes to friends..." Gwen shrugged while looking away towards the entrance across the courtyard. "I'm gonna go, before my host blows his lid." She then walked down the steps, wacing away without evem looking back. "And thanks for trying to save me, by the way."
As she walked off, Peter stared off in slight confusion on what exactly that meant. But ultimately, there was no point. He wasted no more time, and went into the Support Course building.
The train ride home was silent. Not like the first time. Mei did her best not to look in his direction. No smile on her face. She was busy thinking about something. Something he didn't want to interrupt. Since he was under the assumption that she was in a bad mood he'd rather not confront it in public.
But the apartment wasn't in public. The moment they got inside, and Peter closed the door he asked.
"Is something wrong?"
Immediately the young inventor turned herself around, that usual grin on her face as she waved it off as quickly as possible. "No, not at all! What would possibly make you think that Peter?"
To that he raised a brow. "I mean...you haven't said a word to me, since your door-"
"Since what? What happened with my door again?!" She attempted to brush it off with that grin.
She was deflecting. Trying to forget it as fast as possible but being unsuccessful.
The young wall crawler simply put his hands on his hips as he looked at her. "Never...Nevermind. It's late, and I'm hungry. I bet you are too." He looked down at the briefcase holding his suit inside. "I'm gonna put this away, and make us something to ea-" When he looked up Mei was gone, and he heard the slam of a door.
He let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Or I could just grab some stuff from the vending machine downstairs and doze off. Yeah..."
While Peter and Mei didn't seem to be on speaking terms, Gwen and her host were the opposite. At least, they had no problem speaking their mind. Him or his mother.
"PUT A SOCK IN IT, HAG!" Bakugo cried out in a fit of rage, only to receive a powerful blow at the back of the head. He let out a groan, before growling like an animal.
"WHAT DO I KEEP TELLING YOU?! USE YOUR INSIDE VOICE!" His mother screamed right back him. They've been yelling back and forth since she got there.
The Bakugo family had just finished dinner around the table, and while Katsuki did the dishes with his mother Mitsuki, Gwen sat with his father, Masaru, on the couch in the livingroom.
Mitsuki made her way into the livingroom as the young woman and father looked through a book, filled with pictures of a child with spiky blonde hair, some in regular clothing and some in a blue gold and red onsie with bunny ears on the hoodie.
"Ah man! I remember that." the mother smiled softly as she got behind the couch and leaned towards the two from behind. Gwen glanced up at her with a raised brow as she explained. "Katsuki was so excited when he opened up that box on his birthday. I swear, him and Midoriya were the cutest thing you've ever seen!"
"SHUT IT HAG!" They all heard from the kitchen as their timebomb of a son scrubbed away viciously at the dirty plates.
"MAKE SURE TO PUT THE DISHES IN THE WASHER WHEN YOU'RE DONE! GOT IT?!" Mitsuki screamed back at him in an aggressive manner.
Masaru sighed softly and looked over at Gwen, smiling apologetically. "I apologize for those two...They can seem really aggressive now, but I promise once you get to know them you'll love them."
She looked over at the two parents, a small warm smiling forming from her lips. She then got up, smiling softly. "I'm going to bed now, if you two don't mind."
Masaru gave a thumbs up as him and his wife smiled warmly. "We'll try to be quiet for you." Mitsuki stated, but after gave a shrug. "No promises, though."
The blonde gave a thumbs up back, before heading for the stairs.
They knew where one stone was, at least. Pepper got the coordinates to the A-17 nanites and with that the stone. They knew they would be going in short handed, with Scott in the hospital, and two more of their group coming up missing. Not to mention thanks to this reality's laws Wanda couldn't get caught in with any of this, as well as Cap or Pepper. So that left one person.
The coordinates to the A-17 suit resided inside a building in Hosu. In the HAAD building. The Hero Association Administration Department building. One of a few dozen buildings around the world, that holds three major roles: Keeping a tabs on hero agencies all around the globe, enforcing the new laws for Quirk users on those agencies and by extension heroes involved, and serving as a super safe for items of which they have no understanding, at least until it could be transported to a more secure facility.
Forging a fake ID card for Hope was easy. Since Karen created an entire identity for Peter, it was no stretch to think that she could forge another one that allowed one of them through the door, which was really going to be the hardest part.
Hope let out a breath as she made her way to the doors of the building from the sidewalks of Central Hosu. She made sure not to stand out, or attempted not to, as the evening crowd was varying in appearance thanks to the multiple mutated people. She wore a regular trenchcoat, which covered her from neck to knees, with nothing underneath but her suit just in case.
"You ready, Hope?" She heard in her ear. Just as she turned from the sidewalk to the concrete path that lead to the entrance of the building, she lifted her hand and with a finger carefully adjusted the earpiece in her ear.
"I don't have a choice..." She whispered seemingly to herself as she walked through the moving door in front of her in order to get herself into the lobby.
"Well, I mean there's always a choice." Scott shrugged. He was still at the hospital, in bed. In his lap was a laptop which was wirelessly hooked into the HAAD building surveillance system thanks to Pepper's AI and Karen. Securitywas nothing Hope couldn't handle, just getting passed the front desk. "Okay, you just need to get past the front desk. Okay?"
"Right..." she nodded to herself. The moment she entered the lobby she took a look at her surroundings. The lobby was massive. its walls high with its decorations being rather minimal. There were chairs lined up as well as tables for waiting, but no one was there that she could see.
The Wasp stepped towards the massive front desk in the back of the lobby, cracking her neck in front of the secretary before looking down at him. And she was pleasantly surprised.
Sitting at the desk was a man, with a Ant head for a head. That was all there was to his Quirk. A literal Ant-Man.
"Hiya." the Ant-headed man greeted, with a regular human voice exiting through its mouth parts. "What can I do you for today?"
Now that took her aback. Much like it did other people who first met him. Even in a world where a majority of the population have some type of power, an ant head on a human body was still very jarring.
"Uhm...I uh..." Hope stared at the secretary right in front of her. Not at all disgusted. She spent her whole life around ants, both normal and small. Just not like this. She cleared her throat, standing stratight and firm. "I'm here for the item of the Stark Academy student? Peter B. Parker?"
The secretary tilted his head with a quick twitch as he stared for a second, before looking down at the computer monitor and typing away. "Peter...Benjamin Parker..." He mumbled to himself. Once he entered that name only one item came up.
Slowly he looked up at Hope. If he could raise a brow in suspicion he would, but he settled with one of his antennae flicking upwards. "I'm gonna need some ID verification..."
Hope gave a nod, reaching into one of her many packets and pulling out an ID card with her name and picture. She handed it to him, of which he took before typing away again. Using the verification number on the card he found her name 'Hope Pym' among the database, in the San Fransisco branch of the National HAAD.
"Alright...Looks like you're clear." the ant man stated as he continued to type away. "One moment, please..."
The wasp gave a nod, looking away from the secretary as he slid a key card into a small machine. Seconds later he pulled it out, and handed it, as well as her ID, to her. "Just stay for a second, I don't think all the guards are gone...I'll call someone down to escort you." He stated, pushing himself ib his rolling chair to the right and towards the phone. He was about to puck it up to call, but was halted.
"Oh, no. That's okay, I can find it on my own..." Hope nodded with a warm smile, before walking off hastily past the desk and down the massive hall. The ant man simply watched from his rolling chair.
Meanwhile, the three new teachers of U.A had decided it would be best to set up an alibi. And who better than a dinner with their fellow staff members.
Pepper had invited a majority of the 1-A teachers, as well as the principal of the school. Unfortunately most of them were busy themselves preparing for the Final Exams around the corner. So it boiled down to Toshinori Yagi, Present Mic and Nemuri Kayami. Arguably the three most social teachers of the course.
Pepper picked a lovely casual restaurant in Hosu, forty blocks away from the HAAD building, in uptown. Even agreeing to pay for everything, not like she couldn't.
The three teachers arrived early, none of them truly able to wait to meet their new faculty members. Midnight especially.
Present Mic had worn a formal black suit, with a colorful T-shirt under it, terrible taste in fashion. Toshinori with a grey suit, white dress shirt and black tie, which was too big for his emaciated form. Nemuri was in a dress, one she bought on her 'date' with Peter, a royal blue halter dress with a formal suit jacket and boots.
They sat in the back, much to Toshi's request, waiting for the teachers with small conversation. The skeleton was the first to ask.
"Have you guys actually met any of the other teachers?" He looked between Mic, as well as Nemuri, who gave a nod.
"I was able to meet one of them. Miss Maximoff." she stated as she rested her head in her hand with the table below her as support. "She's...green when it comes to teaching..."
"Really?!" Mic grinned at the two with a raised brow, leaning back in his chair with a laigh. "Kinda like you, huh AM? Maybe you two can take the crash course together!" he pointed towards him dramatically, only getting a chuckle out of the man. "Hey, I'm serious! I'm sure you two can crack this teaching thing together! No?"
"Yeah, maybe..." Yagi sighed softly as he kept his smile. "But don't count on that. Alright?"
"Hey, you know what I just realized?" Kayami gave a rhetorical question to the two, lifting the hand on the table with a finger pointing towards the ceiling. "Perhaps you met one of the teachers during your time overseas! You know, when you were training to become a hero?"
"What? No, that was a long time ago!" Toshi shook his head at her with a smile. "Besides, America has a lot heroes, I doubt it."
"It'd be a nice coincidence though." Nemuri shrugged.
"Come to think of it, ya ever stay in touch with ya old classmates over seas?" Mic raised a brow and looked towards the blonde skeleton.
"Well of course!" Toshi answered with his usual dried vigor.
Meanwhile the three interdimensional travelers readied themselves, before heading inside.
Steve was clean-shaven, having cut off his majestic beard. He wore a red flannel dress shirt, blue jeans and combat boots. On his forearms were carbon braces under his sleeves.
Pepper kept her hair in a ponytail with her bangs in her eyes. She wore black framed 'Cat Eye' glasses with slight tinted lenses. She wore a simple grey suit and pants with simple heels.
Wanda wore a red leather waistcoat over a red wrap dress and black high heel boots.
They made their way to the back, Steve taking a look around as he walked with the two.
Nemuri was the first to notice the three, who were looking around, seemingly clueless. She noticed in particular Wanda, and stood up from her seat, much to the other two's surprise. "Wanda, over here." she spoke out, enough to get their attention, but not attract too much.
Wanda, Pepper and Steve looked over at who spoke one of their names to see Midnight.
Wanda was the first to walk forward, followed by Steve and then Pepper. The Scarlet Witch waved gently at the three, losing her footing in her heels and almost falling to the side, but catching her balance quickly.
The U.A teachers simply watched. Especially the emaciated Toshinori up at the fit Steve, and vice versa. Pepper and Nemuri were the first to pick up on the two, and the first to ask.
"What's...What's the matter? Is something wrong?..." Pepper looked between the two, showing slight unease as they continued to stare.
"No..." Steve continued to stare at Yagi. Both looked like they saw a ghost. "Just..."
"Feeling quite the deja vu..." Toshinori continued that sentence. To which the soldier nodded in silence.
feeling the new awkward tension in the group of teachers, Pepper was the first to say anything.
"Miss Kayami, Peter's told us...about you you.." she stated, grabbing the seat in front of her and pulling it back some, before taking a seat.
That got things rolling.
"Oh, Peter?" Toshinori raised what would have been a brow. "Yes, I hear young Parker is a handful. That is what Aizawa told me."
"Take it from someone who does know him, he is." Steve nodded with a soft smile.
"Even I haven't figured out how to...discipline him..." Wanda chimed in awkwardly, only to look to the two for help.
"Not that he really needs discipline." Pepper stated. "He's a good kid, who just wants to do what's best...Even if he becomes a bit of a pain.." She spoke that second part in a joking tense tone, getting at least a chuckle from the others.
Hope roamed the massive halls of the HAAD building, surveying her surroundings as best she could. All the while Scott was givint directions to the storage room the orb was held. So far she found no one, so there didn't seem to be any danger. Still she was on her toes.
She came across one of many doors. To her left, it was the same as any other. Except for one difference. All the other doors were sealed shut, and the security pad on the side was smashed in, sparking.
She stared at the door, taking a step up as she put a hand up to her ear and whispered. "Scott?...Are you there?..." No answer. Nothing but static. "Scott?! Scott talk to me!" she whispered into her earpiece. Still nothing.
Just like that her passive approach turned defensive. With the silver helmet shifting from the back of her suit all the way around her head she stepped forward to the door, her thumb on the trigger of the palm of her glove.
All of a sudden the cracked door in front of her slid wide open, and immediately she pressed the button on her palm. A man stepped out the room, in what looked like an Ant-Man suit.
A darkish purple and black outfit, with leather black gloves reaching his forearms, and what looked like retracted talons on the tip of his index, middle and ring fingers. He wore black boots, with what seemed like metal soles. On his back with a pack, made of carbon material hooked up with one strap each tight on his shoulders, with a buckle connecting each other across his chest. His helmet was like hers, but there were two antennae on the front of his head and a grey tint to his lenses. In his hand was the metallic red and blue orb.
The man looked towards where Hope was, but she wasn't there. She was gone He looked the other way, and began to walk away from where Hope came in, lifing his free hand up to the ear of his helmet. "Kurogiri, I got it. Heading to the extraction point." He spoke, with a bit of a raspy tone.
A sound then filled his ears, a warping sound. He quickly turned himself around, and there she was.
The Wasp jumped onto the wall with one leg, elevating herself up above him with her arm reeled back. But just as she was about to connect the punch the man had disappeared, letting her go off balance and fall onto her shoulder, before rolling onto her stomach. She quickly pushed herself onto her feet, hunching over some as she looked around. He was gone, she couldn't find the man anywhere. But the orb was on the floor right in front of her.
Hope stepped closer, before bending over and grabbing the orb firmly. She sighed softly as she stared at the sphere, smiling behind the helmet. Until she noticed something. There was a tiny man, the size of an ant, planted firmly on the top of the sphere but leaping onto her wrist. Her eyes widened, but before she could do anything her arm twisted forwards sending her off balance.
With a purple afterimage the Black Ant grew to his previous size right under her, crouching down. Using her off balance he picked her up and tossed her across the hall.
Being caught so off guard she let go of the sphere in her possession, letting it onto the floor. She however did not land. She pressed the button on the palm of glove, and immediately her whole body condensed, shrinking to the size of an ant while insect-like wings sprouted from her back. She regained her balance, wings fluttering to keep her in the air.
She watched as the Black Ant stepped forward to the red and blue sphere, kneeling down and picking it up once more. "Now, this belongs to me, thank you." he spoke, before getting up on his feet.
With a warp the Wasp grew back to previous size, hunched over still. She squinted behind her helmet at the Black Ant, staring. "What the hell...Who are you?.."
"Listen lady, the less you know, the better off you'll be." Black Ant stated, rolling his head between his shoulders.
"I'm not letting you out of here with that orb..." Hope adjusted her stance, spreading her legs open some while her arms raised defensively.
"And I'm not leaving without it..." the man replied as he stepped back. "So if you want it so badly, come get it.."
Both stood opposite of each other, Wasp ready to pounce while the Black Ant stood firm, his thumb on the trigger of his palm.
Wasp lunged forward towards the man, reeling her arm back. But before her fist could connect the man shrunk down, sending her spiralling.
As the sphere hit the floor Hope shrunk down before hitting the ground, sprouting her wings once more to stabilize herself.
She looked ahead to the sphere on the ground, the visor of her helmet magnifying on the black moving spec in sight. She then charged in as fast as she could down on him. Just as he was about to grow Wasp flew into his back, sending him forward with her into the metal orb.
From anyone else's perspective the otborb was just miraculously beginning to roll itself across the hall. But on the surface was war.
The two rolled onto the surface of the moving battlfield. The Black Ant was the first to get onto his feet, jumping into the air above the Wasp. The talons on his fingers shot out, the blades glowing with a purple glow.
Hope's eyes widened and, quickly she lifted her arm, firing a shot of yellow energy from her wrist blasters, hitting him straight in the chest and sending him flying.
A crack in the paint of the wall formed, with the tiny man bouncing off and falling to the floor.
Wasp leaped back, shifting size and growing back to her previous size. She landed on her feet and swiftly picked up the sphere in front of her before walking off. She didn't get far, getting tackled seconds later and falling to the floor as she lost her grip on the sphere. It landed on the floor once more, rolling off away from them both.
Hope attempted to reach out to it as it rolled, but Black Ant pinned her down, his knee burying into her back and his hand pushing her head into the ground.
"You're getting on my nerves..." The man groaned lowly, with his freehand picking a small disk from his wrist, which began to glow a bright purple.
Hope was about to press the trigger in her palm, only for Black Ant's boot to come down on her forearm. She let out a groan of pain, balling her hand into a fist instinctively. Black Ant took the small disk in his fingers and rammed it into her back, cables shooting out of it and thrusting its metal hooks into the ground around her, purple electricity cackling around the cables. Even so, she pressed the button on her palm. Nothing. She was stuck, trapped on the floor.
The man jumped back and up onto his feet, letting out a sigh before walking forward over the Wasp to the orb.
"No..." Hope struggled against her restraints as she looked up to the man's feet as he stepped closer towards the sphere. "You don't...You don't understand! I...I need that..."
"I don't huh?" Black Ant stopped in his tracks and looked back at the woman. "I think I do..." He bended over, grabbing the orb below him before standing back up. He looked down at the orb, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but I have people to get back to, thank you."
After, the man turned away, walking down the hall with the orb, letting out a groan of exhaustion. But then he stopped, when he felt the ground begin to shake. Both the Ant and the Wasp looked around them, falling silent.
Not moments later the rumbling stopped. Only to be replaced with the doors all the way down the hall blowing open with scorching hot flames engulfing hald the hall, Knocking Black Ant back with concussive force and sending him flying, causing him to drop the sphere in his hand right in front of Hope.
Mei's apartment was mostly quiet for the evening. As the young inventor occupied herself with something in her workshop all alone with nothing but her computer and materials.
Meanwhile Peter was cooped up in his room, laying on his bed with his hands together on his chest. His mask was on his face as he seemingly talked to himself.
"Hey, Karen?..." He spoke softly to himself as he stared at the ceiling.
"Yes, Peter? Is something bothering you?" The AI questioned calmly.
He simply shook his head, the eyes of his mask narrowing. "No, not at all. What makes you think that?"
"Peter, if there's something wrong you can tell me." he heard. He sat up in bed, looking down as his lenses widened.
"Karen, I'm fine. Okay?" He stated with a nervous chuckle. He attempt to get out what he wanted to say, but was stopped before he could even get a word out.
"I can tell when you're agitated about something. You always tap your right middle finger when you are."
"Wait, I do?" Peter sat silent, looking down at his right hand, and he still was tapping, against the bed sheet without even knowing.
"I also know that you were sent to the nurse's office on account of a fractured humerus. However I can't be certain, you haven't put the suit back on yet so I can't run a proper scan." Peter let out a sigh, shaking his head as he kept silent for a moment. "Yeah I...I got hit by a door-"
"Someone hit you with a DOOR?!" Karen screamed into his ear, causing him to groan as he leaned to his side.
"No, no no! No one hit me with a door!" The young man groaned softly. "It was an accident, something blew up in Mei's lab...And I got a door in the face..."
"Mei did this to you?" Karen's tone grew cold, something he picked up on quickly.
Peter jumped out of bed, looking down while shaking his head. "No no no no no! It was just an accident, I promise!..."
The AI then fell silent for a moment.
Peter let out a sigh, sitting back down on the bed. The eyes of his mask widened as he looked up. "Karen? Are you there?..."
"Yes, Peter. You were about to ask something?"
"Yeah I...I was wondering about...Gwen. Gwen Stacy? She said she was from Stark Academy?" The young hero spoke as he paced around the room. "Do you...Do you know who that is? Any records?"
The HUD of his mask became flooded with information, of the records of 'Stark Academy', which was full of nothing but skeleton profiles aside from Peter's, and of course, Gwen.
Gwendolyn Stacy, of Stark Academy. A quiet individual in class, and nothing else. Her Quirk, not on file but confirmed she did have one. Something was off about that. Why would her powers not be registered like his?
"What...was there an error here?" He tilted his head, squinting his eyes as he looked down to his feet.
"I'm not sure. I hadn't uploaded the profile." That caused the young man to lift his head up.
"You didn't upload it?" He spoke to himself. "Then who did?"
"I don't know..." The both stood silent at that, both were attempting to find an answer to the question. But both were caught off guard by a sudden sound.
It was subtle for him, but he heard an explosion. Quickly, after looking toward the window of the room he stepped around his bed towards it. He opened the window wide and poked his head out. In the distance, in Hosu he saw smoke, a fire big enough to see from there.
Already he sprung into action, pulling his head back into the room, grabbing the open briefcase with his suit, grabbing the webshooters inside, slamming it shut and getting ready to go, before hearing Karen's voice once more.
"Peter, you don't! the suit's healing unit hasn't been fixed!" she stated, causing Peter to squint.
"I..I'll manage..." He then tossed the briefcase out the window, before diving out himself. Immediately he shot a webline to the briefcase, with the end latching onto it before he shot another line at a building, swinging off.
"No, I'm sorry. I don't drink." Pepper spoke to the waiter, shaking her head with a soft smile. Something that seemed to be repeating among the group of teachers, with Toshinori, Pepper and Steve turning down the wine. But Nemuri was on her third glass.
"So you're husband doesn't have a Quirk, But he's one of the best heroes in America?..." She asked with a bit of a smile, to which the orangette shrugged.
"Yeah, he even made my suit. And a lot of others." She explained. "He actually makes all our gear really."
"Really?" Toshi raised a brow as he listened, to which the soldier nodded.
"Everything." Steve spoke. His legs crossed.
"That's so sweet!" Present Mic chimed in with a grin. "He's gotta have some type of Quirk! That's just too good to be true!"
Wanda simply shrugged, looking up some smugly. "He did pump a bunch of stuff into him last time I checked..."
"Really? Again?" Steve turned to the two others and tilted his head.
"Well he pumped himself full of mild-ended Extremis for the new suit. Kinda like me..." Pepper explained to the two beside her.
"Extremis?..." Nemuri questioned, confused. But that question was quickly blown off.
"Don't worry about it, we already handled it." Wanda spoke, lifting up her glass and taking a sip before putting it back down.
Suddenly they heard an explosion, loud in audio. Everyone jumped up at it, most in shock and all in surprise.
Steve jumped onto his feet, looking towards the entrance from all the way in the back, before looking back at Pepper, who put her glasses over her eyes. "Pepper, what's going on?"
"I don't know!" She replies, her lenses gaining a blue tint as information filled her vision. She stood up, looking to the captain. "An explosion just occurred at the HAAD building."
Steve then turned her attention to the Witch, nodding. "Wanda, with me." He spoke. Wanda stood up from her seat, and the two headed towards the door.
Pepper looked back at the other three, smiling softly and apologetically. "I'm so sorry. I plan to pay for everything, so don't worry about the che-" she then drifted off, a something appearing on the lenses of her glasses. She grew speechless as he looked away. "What?...Did you try to stop him?...Oh god..."
"What's wrong?" Toshi stood up, hunching some.
"It's nothing, I promise!" she hastily dismissed, stepping backwards to the door. "Have a nice night, I have to go!" was all she said before turning around and running out.
Fire was everywhere. Everything. The hall, the lobby, half of the whole building was gone.
Under small pieces of debris Wasp laid, groaning softly like Black Ant right in front of her, who slowly got onto his feet with a groan. "The hell was that?..."
"That wasn't you?!" Hope shouted out at him from under the rubble, slowly pushing herself up.
"Nope...I don't have a guy like that..."He shook his head as he looked on to what was the hall, before turning back to her direction. "Which means I'm gettin' the hell outta here." He walked forwards, over the Wasp's body as she pushed the pieces of debris off her body. "You should quit, while you're still alive lady. You're ahead-" he turned around, and was tackled by the woman, sending them both flying into a wall.
Hope pinned the man into the wall, reaching out to grab the sphere. He quickly tossed the sphere into the air, getting her off guard enough to headbutt her dead in the helmet, sending her stumbling back with a groan.
Swiftly he went for the legs, heeling his leg back before ramming it into the back of her knee, causing her to fall the floor with a yelp. Then she received a metal backhand to her face, sending her back a little to fall on her back, unconscious.
The sphere fell to the floor with a clank, and the Black Ant wasted no time sprinting towards it, leaning to the floor to pick it up before heading towards the massive opening in the wall. He jumped onto a slab of debris, before propelling himself up towards and out the hole, landing in the alleyway.
He sighed softly, hunching over as he took in heavy breaths. He looked and the red and blue orb in his hand, nodding softly as he lifted his freehand to the side of his helmet. "Okay...Heading to the extraction point now-"
"Yoink!" Someone called out, as a webline attached to the orb, swiftly pulling it out of the Black Ant's hands and into the air.
The webline was tugged, pulling it into anither direction, before it was caught by a woman crouching on the edge of what was left of the rood above him
It was a young woman, in a black form-fitting suit, with thin armor, white being the primary color and red as the secondary. Over her head was a white hood, with a red inside. lenses of her mask outlined by black. On her back, a black spider insignia.
She looked over the orb in her hand, with a raised brow expression on her mask. "What do we have here?" Gwen asked quizzically. "Some super advanced baseball?"
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." Black Ant groaned softly. He cracked his neck as he looked up at the young hero. "That thing is way more important than you think. Hand it over!"
"Really? Or what?" Gwen shrugged smuggly as she turned her attention to the man below her. "How do I know you won't use it for anything bad if that's the case? No, I think I'm gonna hold onto-" She was abruptly cut off by something hitting her back, a ball of fire pushing her upwards into a wall. She felt the snap of her neck on impact before falling to the cement ground and dropping the sphere.
It rolled to the Black Ant, and he quickly picked it up, letting out a breath. "Christ, what is with this place..."
There was a sudden rumble. Then another. Getting closer and closer with each thud. There was a light, burning bright, brighter than the flames that engulfed the building. A low growl from inside the building.
"Nrgh..." A groan came from the limp female as she laid on her stomach. She cracked her neck back into place, letting out another groan of pain. "Okay...I am never gonna get used to that..." She slowly began to push herself up, whining lowly from the pain of her bones cutting through her nerves. She look up to the flames as they burned brightly, the eyes of her mask widening as she stared at the figure in the center. "Oh..."
"What's going on?..." Uraraka questioned softly as she looked up at the cloud of smoke escaping into the sky.
Since the two exchange students from America had arrived so abruptly, Class 1-A hadn't gotten the chance to get any gifts for them. So they took this evening to find something. Izuku, Uraraka, Yayarozou and Iida, with the addition of the representative of 1-B Itsuka Kendo and Yui Kodai. They had bought a fair amount of things, thanks to Momo, and they were heading to their host's home to keep them until tomorrow. But they found themselves stopped in their tracks by the sudden commotion a few blocks ahead of them.
"Someone caused a fire..." Midoriya gulped as he stared at the direction the smoke came from.
"We should go the other way..." Yui spoke quietly while backing away, clenching the skirt of her flower dress. Kendo put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, promise." The 1-B representative smiled softly while tilting her head.
"Perhaps we'll simply go around!" Iida suggested, or more so stated loudly to the group.
"That would be best. If we don't want to get involve in whatever's happening..." Momo nodded as she looked on at the group.
All of a sudden the flames in the distance spiraled, rising to the heights of the nearby buildings and then above them, swirling like an inferno. A hurricane of orange red and green light. The U.A students stared in awe. It was beautiful, if nothing else. Then, they heard a screech, like that of a demon.
Not even moments later did the tornado of flame disperse, shooting itself down to the ground before spreading through the streets like a tidal wave. It spread fast, engulfing the streets and knocking down buildings with all that concussive force.
Midoriya's eyes widened. They barely had any time to react. He dropped the bags in hand, and quickly turned towards Uraraka, streaks of electricity spreading through his body. He lunged towards her, wrapping his arms around her and Momo before leaping away from the flames coming their way, much to their surprise.
Tenya was quick to follow, grabbing onto both Kendo and Kodai as the calves in his legs kicked into gear. "Hold on you two!" He shouted as the rods of the engines in his legs spewed blue concentrated flames. He propelled himself forwards with the two, following his classmates.
"W-What was that?!" Uraraka screamed out against the wind in their ears.
"Must be some type of villain..." Midoriya thought out loud, not like anyone could hear him. "His Quirk, it's so powerful! He may have just decimated twenty city blocks!"
Tenya, Kendo and Kodai got ahead of the three in the air, as the flames began to wither away behind them. But that wasn't all.
Iida let go of the two in his arms, letting Yui fall onto her knees with a bit of a whimper, and Kendo stumble a bit. They were nowhere near used to that. Turning his attention to Izuku and the two other girls. All three of their eyes widened.
"Midoriya! Above you!" Iida called out to the three, causing Momo and Ochako to look up while Izuku looked over his shoulder. Their eyes went wide.
Above them was a boulder, a massive piece of debris from one of the buildings blown sky high in their direction, followed by others, smaller but still a massive problem.
They were at a loss. They were in mid-air, they couldn't change their direction, no one knew how. But the barrage of debris was heading straight for them.
He had to think fast. He couldn't just get out of the way. But maybe he could bust it apart.
Midoriya spun himself around with the veins of his legs charging under his clothes. "Hold on!" he screamed out while reeling one of his legs back for a powerful kick. But he found himself taken off guard when he felt something splat onto his shirt. He looked down to see a webline.
Suddenly his body was pulled to the side, sending him, Ochako and Momo into another direction, towards the intersection of a street.
"Web Grenade!" they all heard, a familiar one, from earlier that day. Momo looked down at the concrete floor coming up fast, as Ochako scrambled to grab onto Midoriya. Suddenly a white, silky blanket appeared right below them, catching them all like flies in a web. They bounced some, but the webbing stuck to them like fly paper.
The three yelped out in surprise, Midoriya having let go of both girls and as a result have one of the land right on top of him.
Iida, Kendo and Kodai just stared. What just happened? That's what was going through their heads at the moment.
Out of the corner of her eye Yui saw something. She turned her head across the street, seeing a young man in a red and blue form-fitting suit and mask, who had slid to a stop, on all fours with the eyes of his mask narrowing. That one moment caused her stale expression to shift into that of awe.
Iida was the next person to notice, as the Spider-Man got onto his feet with a soft breath. Then he heard the familiar voice from across the street, turning his head towards it with the eyes of his mask going wide.
"Peter! What are you doing! You shouldn't be wearing that costume, you don't have your Provisional license anymore!" Iida shouted, much to his confusion after the shock.
"Class Rep?! You're here too?!" Spider-Man questioned as he looked towards the scorched part of town, before looking back at the three. "Okay, get those three somewhere safe, I'll catch you guys later!" was all he said before running off, shooting a webline up a building in front of him and pulling himself into the air, before letting go and shooting out another one to swing off.
Steve and Wanda were the first on the scene, before the inferno erupted into the sky. They found themselves dumbfounded by it, but they were still on guard. Then inferno slammed itself into the ground and scorched the mass if the area.
Wanda was quick, forming a tangible field of red energy to block the flames, just barely, and giving everyone enough time to get away. Only after the flames died down did the Scarlet Witch lower her hands, her breathing growing heavy. "Okay...That was harder than it should be..." she huffed as she looked down at her hands, then Steve.
Steve looked over at her, before giving a nod. "Stay behind me. I'm heading in." He looked forward and rolled up the sleeves of his shir to reveal the carbon braces on his forearms. He stepped forward and balled his hands into fists as nanotech covered his arms in metalic blue gauntlets. He made his way into the rubble, towards the remains of the HAAD building, where the source of the fire was. Wanda wasn't far behind.
But the moment they reached the source they were met with a corpse landikg face first into the undercarriage of a burning car flipped on its side, toppling it over.
Wanda did jump just a little, but Steve wasn't much phased. He's seen too much of it to be. He lifted one of his arms, the gauntlet on his arm shifting to firm a round red white and blue shield, with a white star on the top. He was ready for the worst.
What they got was a red and blue metal ball rolling through the charcoal rubble. It definitely took the Captain by surprise and it confused Wanda greatly. But neither got closer, the Witch simply backing away.
"Ugh..." They both heard. The captain looked out the corner of his eye at the source.
The corpse that had been thrown into the car groaned, slowly pushing herself up from the ground. With each movement she cracked something back into alignment, wincing in nothing but pain each time. "Yeah...I'm still alive...Either that or this is hell...Thought it'd be worse..."
Seeing her up and moving again did take Rogers by surprise. He turned his full attention to her, and ran towards her as she pulled her hood down to reveal her damaged mask, revealing her left green eye and brownish blonde tips of her hair, but nothing else.
"Gwen, are you alright?" Steve questioned once he got close, a look of worry on his face.
"Eh...Once you get a limb ripped off, breaking bones become really..." Gwen winced in pain as she tried to get back on her feet, using the car behind her as leverage. "Really trivial..."
"What happened?" Steve asked more, as Gwen looked down at her hands, wiggling her fingers viciously.
She looked up at him, shaking her head. "No idea. Whatever's going on, its got something to do with..." Out the corner of her eye she saw the orb, and pointed towards it. "That!"
The two looked towards the metallic ball laying a top the rubble. Wanda slowly stepped towards it, and once she got close she crouched down and grabbed it, before giving an observant glace over. She knew what was inside. That distinct power of the universe, that was not of this one.
She stood up, looking towards the two and taking a step to them. "This is it. It's one of the stones!" She stated to the both of them with a grin growing upon her lips.
Steve grew a small smile at that, nodding softly. "Alright...Lets survey the area, see what else we can fin-"
"Wanda! Behind you!" Gwen shouted out towards Wanda, as they all heard a low growl from only yards away. The Witch slowly turned around, looking up to be greeted by a burning light behind the smoke.
Something stepped out of the smoke, three toed talon-like feet slamming into the rubble and leaving its scorch mark. Standing over the three was a creature, humanoid in figure. Standing eighteen feet tall, hunched over with flames spewing out its back and down its spine. Its body was composed completely of molten rock, which was engulfed by orange and yellow flames. Its arms were skinny like sticks, much like its malnourished physique. The head hanging from its long neck resembled that of a crow's burning skull. As it stared down at the three with its burning eye holes, it slowly opened its maw, giving a low chilling growl.
Gwen was the first to ask the question. "You know this guy?" she asked while her remaining lense narrow some, as she got into a weak fighting stance.
"Never seen him before in my life..." Steve lifted the Nanotech Shield, looking at Wanda who tossed the orb towards the young woman in white and black. "Get this thing out of here!"
Gwen caught the sphere with one hand, nodding as she turned away from the two and the monster. "On it!" she nodded as she as she ran off, jumping over the debris to make her escape.
All the while the demon of flame kept its eyes on her. Or, more specifically the sphere she was holding. The monster took a step forward, ready to blast past the two Avengers in front of it. They both stood ready.
"COWABUNGA!" a familiar voice called out.
And everyone was taken by surprise. Especially the Elemental once he was hit with the sole of a foot at high velocity. By none other than the full costumed Peter Parker, Spider-Man.
The Elemental wasn't much phased, only stepping to the side from surprise with its head forced the other way towards the ground.
Peter shot out a webline behind him to a slab of rubble with his right arm, and with it swung that debris up into the air before pulling it down with all his might, slamming it over the monster's head and causing it to stumble to the ground on all fours. Unfortunately, that much strength caused a crack. Not a total break in his humerus, but enough for him to stop and grab his forearm, wincing in pain.
"Queens?!" Steve called out to him, as the young masked man looked up from his right arm to the Captain and Witch.
"What are you doing?! You shouldn't be here!" Wanda called out as she ran for him.
"No, I shouldn't!" He called back to them, turning his full attention to them. "What is this thing?!"
"No idea!" Steve walked to him as Wanda reached his side. "He came out of nowhere! Probably here for the stone!"
Hearing that Peter let his guard down some, looking down and narrowing his eyes. "Huh...Makes sense...Any idea how to beat it?"
"Yeah..." Rogers nodded with a sigh. "Hit it, really hard..." he cracked his neck, the shield on his forearm dematerializing, before envoloping his hand into gauntlets with surging electricity between the knuckles.
"That...That sounds like something Mister Stark would say..." Peter pointed out as he looked over at Rogers, before quickly turning back to the fire monster in front of them, all three getting into fighting position.
The Elemental let out a low growl as it lifted itself up, twisting its head to the three. With a shrilling cry it lunged itself at the three, jumping into the air ready to kill. Captain America reeled his arm back, the electricity surging between the knuckles of his gauntlets as he braced for impact.
But, something was off. In this type of situation, Peter's sixth sense would've been on full blast, telling him to do something. But, that wasn't the case. There wasn't anything, not even his hairs standing and tingling.
Just as Wanda began to form a tangible shield around the three, they heard a voice, as well as the air split in half.
"Detroit!"
From the smoke came a figure, massive in build, reeling an arm back as it threw itself at the burning monster. Only when he was close did Peter and everyone else see that wide smile.
"SMASH!"
He rammed his fist square into the Elemental's jaw, the impact causing a small whirlwind itself, that nearly knocked down what was left of the buildings around them, and almost knocking Scarlet Witch's shield out.
The monster was sent flying into a pile of rubble that used to be a building, tumbling around until landing on its stomach.
Wanda let out a groan, putting down her shield and staring along with the other two to the man in the grey business suit. His hands were on his hips, with his back turned to them, his perfect blonde flowing in the wind. "There's no need to fear! For I, am here!" He called out as he looked back at the three. All in awe of what just happened.
Peter was the first to ask. "Who is this guy?"
While Steve and Wanda took the objective of taking care of what happened in Central Hosu, Pepper took it upon herself to help the heroes around the area. She sent all the drones on her that she could to find anyone in the rubble, or in need of treatment in the immediate area.
One feed she found intriguing was among the rubble of Central Hosu, where she found a black mist in what used to be an alleyway. She was the first to the scene, not with any intent to engage, but to figure out what was going on. Taking one of the pros with her she went to investigate.
Gwen traversed the ruins of Central Hosu to the end of the line, moving as swiftly as she could, jumping onto a slab of obscure debris before leap up into the air, and shooting out a webline back to the yards away. But before she hit the ground she heard a warp, as a fist connected to her jaw.
The Black Ant appeared right in front of her, uppercutting her as he grew to full size. The sudden blow caused her to release the sphere in her hand as she lost her footing. Quickly the masked man reached out and snatched the orb, simultaneously ramming his feet into her torso. The metal soles of his boots began to glow purple, before he thrusted his legs out and pushed her whole body to the rubble, a purple purple shockwave propelling him upwards while shooting her into the ground.
Hitting the ground with a bone shattering thud Gwen bounced up into the air some, using that inertia to roll herself onto her hands and feet. Wincing in pain of her shoulder and collarbone shattered she looked over at where Black Ant landed, rolling from his arms to his back, to his feet, before beginning to run.
Gwen let out a growl, getting onto her feet as her remaining lense narrowed. "Oh no you don't!" she called out, shooting out a webline at his back. But it never hit, as a black mist appeared right in front of her to swallow it. Her eyes widened in surprise, and in mere moments the mist left. She got up, and followed where the Black Ant ran to. Only to find in the alley she saw him head to, that he was gone.
Gwen let out a groan of frustration seeing she lost the trail, looking for something, anything to track him down. The only thing she found, was the red and blue sphere, ripped into with something hollowed out. She looked down at it on the ground, taking steps closer to it before crouching down to it.
She heard the sound of thrusters, getting clooser, and looked over her shoulder for who it might be. It was Rescue, seemingly just arriving to the scene. She landed on her feet, making her way closer to the young woman. "Gwen? What just happened?"
The young blonde looked down at the orb, before turning her attention back to the teacher, chuckling nervously as she hunched over. "I...Have absolutely no idea..."
Sorry this took so long. I usually have gotten these out on a weekweekly basis for consumption, but not this time. I also might not get the other chapters done for a while either, as I am starting my new job next week.While I'm here, I want to address a few things a few people may be confused with. Like why Gwen is here. Well, the same reason any other Marvel character not from the MCU will be here. That being, Don't expect her or Black Ant to be the last. Because I'm only getting started.And uh...quick question. What's y'all opinions on OC characters? Keep in mind, likely none of your opinions will stop me from implementing one I've come up with. But, it does open the door for me to ask you guys for help. I want Peter and or Gwen to have interactions with not just 1-A, and that means bringing in Class 1-B and 1-C. One problem is, 1-C has no one in that class except Shinso! So I ask, give me some OCs! And I will try to represent them, but I probably won't...maybe. Drop some OCs, their personalities and Quirks, and I will do my best. Until then, have a nice life.
