"I just… I want to know why and how?" Inko asks, Izuku sat across from her, his costume still on his body.
"In that order, or?" Izuku asks, Inko giving him a stern look in response. "Sorry. I uh, I make jokes to deal with the pressure."
Inko let's out a sigh, letting her arms rest across the table as she leans forward. She looks at her son, and notices the little details her mind ignored when he came home. His height was lanky, but his muscles shaped out well, showing strength in stores. His eyes took in the whole room, and possibly even more, with how sounds and smells could make him react in new ways as well. And his teeth… She didn't want to think she was seeing things, but here Izuku was, sporting a pair of fangs, that held just the slightest tint of green at their tips.
"Izuku… What did you do to yourself?" She asks, and Izuku's eyes shrink.
"What?! No no no no no no no!" Izuku shakes his hands and head, giving his mother a very worried look. "This, this didn't happen on purpose. It was an accident, it…"
An interior exhibition at the island. Izuku reluctantly dragged along by his new friend Melissa. Glass walls housing spiders, lizards, octopi, and many many more animals.
A janitor cleaning up shattered glass.
A stinging sensation in Izuku's hand. A slap in response. A dead spider on the ground.
A spider with a tattoo reading 'SM-3-2099'.
Dizziness, dorm, pain, sleep. Wake up, taller, sharper teeth, hyperactive senses…
Stuck to the ceiling.
"I didn't go to I-Island wanting to become… This." Izuku says, gesturing to his entire body. "I went there because… Because I wanted to get away from Musutafu. From Aldera, and Heroics, and… And I wanted to get away from you."
Inko is taken a bit aback, as Izuku lowers his head.
"All my life, I just wanted you to say… To say that I could do something. To say that I could get into a fight and come out okay, say that I could go to the park without needing mace and be okay, or even pick up a broken plate and be okay. I… I wanted you to look at me and not see me as lesser just because I didn't have power." He rubs at his arm, looking off to the side, a little hurt. "I went to I-Island to escape all my worries and learn how to make stuff that would make it, make me, okay in your eyes."
Inko watches as her son, her baby boy, jumps up onto the ceiling, sitting down and crossing his legs. "When I got these powers, I… I wanted nothing to do with them. Let them fade into the back of my mind and focus on learning so I could make you proud." He looks at her, and her mind wants her to see her boy at four years old, dressed up in his All Might onesie. But her heart keeps her in the present, focused on her son dressed in a costume of webs and casual attire, blood on his cheek, and eyes puffy with tears. "But when those villains raided the island for two days, and I saw those heroes captured… I remembered what dad said about Quirks before he died."
Inko takes a breath, as she remembers her late husband.
Hisashi smiles, patting his son on the head.
"All these heroes with their fancy powers… They forget the true weight of their lives. They ignore the little people, and bask in the riches and fame." He says, crouching down to look his son in the eye. "But the everyman, you and me? We see the people who hurt. The old woman struggling to cross the street, the kid hurt by bullies on his way home, the local grocery store worker who struggles to feed himself because their store just got robbed. We see them and emphasize with them, because we know the struggles they go through. Heroes and people so wrapped up in the excitement of that world always forget an important lesson, Izuku. Do you know what that is?"
Izuku shakes his head, and Hisashi's smile softens, as he puts his hands on his boy's shoulders.
"With great power comes great responsibility. No matter how big, no matter how small. If you have the means available to you, you help someone, okay?"
Izuku nods, and Hisashi's smile grows.
"If I ignore people, let myself fall into complacency… I'm no better than the people who refused to call for help when they saw me getting beat up. The heroes who ignored you when your legal documents were blown away by the wind. The… The people who sat back and watched as dad was killed by his own body." Izuku says, tears falling from his face.
Inko cries as well, before she looks up at her son.
Her son, who's going out at night, risking his life and limb for people he's never met. People like him and her and Hisashi. Her son, who is living life by the morals that she and her late husband instilled in him. Her son, who has hurt so much, finding something he wants to do, and doing it.
On reflex, her quirk activates, and by the hood of his jacket, Izuku is pulled towards her, as he lets himself fall down. Inko wraps her son in a hug, and Izuku melts, weeping into her shoulder, as he hunches over to hug her back.
"Izuku… I'm so sorry. I… Never wanted you to feel like I wasn't proud of you. I just… I didn't want to lose you too." Inko cries, clinging to her son. "I… I'm not gonna make you stop what you're doing, but you need to promise me you'll be okay. A light curfew, and occasional texts. Please… Please, I can't lose you too."
Izuku cries, holding onto his mother. "You won't lose me mom. You won't. I promise you won't."
The two Midoriya's weep into each other, as they finally come to terms with each other's lives.
"So, my mom knows now." Izuku speaks, face hidden behind his mask.
"And she's okay with it?" Melissa asks in response, sitting alone in her room back on I-Island.
"Yeah. Me and her we… We had a chat, like you said we should. It… It really cleared the air between us." Izuku says, beginning to run as he starts to swing through the air. "I thought she'd try to get me to stop, but when I talked about dad-!"
"You both remembered your morals outweighed your own wants and desires. Told you it would happen." Melissa smugly cuts him off, smile on her face. "Your dad was a great guy, Izuku. I'm sure he'd be proud of you."
"Thanks, Mel!" Izuku responds, landing on the side of a building, as he watches a group of cars speeding away on the street. Gunshots ring out, and his heat sensors detect something hot in the trunk of one of the vehicles. "Gonna have to call you back. I think someone just got kidnapped."
"Go get 'em, tiger." Melissa responds before the call ends. Izuku thwips out a pair of web lines, tugging back on them, until he slingshot forwards.
"Look, I'm just saying it would make more sense if it was one costume and not a whole outfit!" Hatsume chants, sitting down across from Izuku.
"And I'm trying to remind you that not everyone has that kind of money." Izuku says, picking at his katsudon. "Besides, how would you even design it?"
"Well, I'd keep the hood, maybe have interspersed lines that connect the limbs with a giant spider on the chest for intimidation tactics… Maybe glowing eyes?" Hatsume begins to ramble, and Izuku chuckles.
Maybe it's because they share a habit of rambling, but Izuku finds it easy to talk with Hatsume about anything, though her obsession with Spider-Man's tech really helps when it comes to conversation. (Especially since their talks actually help him plan out future additions to his line up.)
Suddenly, Izuku feels a tingle shoot through his spine, and itch at the back of his brain. 'Spidey Sense? Now?' His thoughts echo, when suddenly the entire school turns red and a siren sounds throughout. Students erupt into panic, and people start running everywhere. "What's going on?!"
A blonde third year with a muscular build runs past, looking at them with a smile. "Level Three Security Alarm! It's supposed to mean someone got on campus! I'm kind of excited, since this has never happened before!" The third year laughs, running off.
'Must be a hero course student.' Izuku thinks to himself, turning to see Hatsume getting up to go. She looks at him, expecting him to do the same. But something about this situation doesn't sit right with the boy, so, it's time to make up a good lie.
"Uhm, I think the system might be faulty. You heard those explosions in the second year hall yesterday, right? I'm gonna see if a teacher is working on it or something." He says, Hatsume shrugging and moving on. Izuku gets up and heads away from the other students, moving towards the currently empty janitor's closet.
He walks inside, stripping himself of his uniform, revealing his hero costume underneath. He swaps his shoes for the boots in his bag and throws the holder up the ceiling, webbing it up. He opens the door and quickly zips his way up to an air vent, hopping inside with relative ease. 'I've heard rumors the principal likes to travel through these, but I thought they were just jokes about his rodent biology. Guess those rumors might hold some weight to them."
He begins to crawl through, trying to be as silent as possible. He looks down, seeing the students crowding a hallway. There's a girl with a ponytail on the exit sign yelling at them all, megaphone in hand. 'Good job. Though, I better hurry, these guys might return to the lunch room soon.' He picks up the pace, moving through the vents, until hushed chatter enters his ears.
"And the schedule is set for tomorrow?" A raspy voice asks, Izuku moving closer to the edge of the vent cover to see.
A man with light blue hair, dressed in all black speaks to someone in a UA uniform, the decorations of which indicate it being a first year and someone in the hero course. The pants say it's one of the male students too. The lens of Izuku's eyes focuses in, as he takes a picture of the two. The student's body moves, indicating a nod.
"Good. I'll get our more expendable volunteers to crowd the streets. All Might will be so exhausted by the time he arrives, that Nomu will be able to kill him easily." The man states, and Izuku's eyes widen.
"Kill All Might?!" He yells in a whisper, the raspy man becoming hyper alert. Izuku stutters back, making his way back towards the cafeteria. 'Shit! I got careless! I've gotta be careful!'
He peers through the vent, finding the room empty. Slowly, he opens the vent, and zips back into the janitor's closet, closing the door behind him. He shoots a web up to his backpack, and tugs it down, starting to change back. Soon enough, Spider-Man is no longer in UA, and Izuku is out of the janitor's closet…
And bumping into the girl with the ponytail.
The two both fall to the ground, both landing with an "Oof." Izuku recovers first, but the girl is very quickly behind, as they scramble to get up.
"Apologies/My bad/I just came back from the hallway/I wasn't watching where I was going/and I just/and then I- Bumped into you." The two speak at the same time, both ending at the same words. They pause in silence, before laughing a small bit, their awkwardness melting away.
Izuku holds out his hand. "Izuku Midoriya, Support Course."
"Momo Yaoyorozu, Hero Course." She takes his hand and shakes it. "Oh, is that bracelet one of your inventions?" She asks, and Izuku looks at his wrist in surprise.
Shit! He forgot to turn one of his web shooters to incognito mode! "Uh, yeah!" He replies, lying out of his ass. "It's uhm, a very early stage vital checking watch, and a Hero Communications device. Can never have too many of those, and I've heard recent models malfunction a lot."
"Oh yes, I believe I heard about that. They say that radio frequencies can be intercepted and interrupted with a lot of ease." Yaoyorozu replies, and Izuku mentally cheers at his in.
"Yeah! I was thinking about finding ways to increase the security, maybe even make it based on different sound frequencies instead." Izuku starts to spout bullshit, but bullshit with enough believability to pass as truth, as he tries to quickly escape the topic. "Uhm, it's all a bit of nonsense conjecture right now, so it's really early days."
"Oh, nonsense! I'm quite interested in the scientific field, so this topic is something I find pleasure in." Yaoyorozu says, and now Izuku is regretting being so friendly. Why did this conversation have to keep going?
To Izuku's relief, the bell rings, and students begin to head back to class. "Oh, well I guess I should head out. It was nice talking to you, Yaoyorozu. Uhm, maybe we'll see each other again!" Izuku says, quickly making his way around her, as he heads back to Hatsume's and his table.
"Oh, uhm, you too, Midoriya!" She shouts back, as the boy rushes over, adjusting his web shooters to return them to bracelet mode.
"Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back." Hatsume says, watching as Izuku grabs his bowl and hurriedly eats his food. "We hadn't finished our conversation about Spider-Man's costume. Hey, did you change shoes?"
Izuku looks at his still boot-covered feet, and panics. "No, they change colors."
"Oh, cool. Anyways, so the tech his suit runs needs to be readjusted to fit a new hood, maybe even new shoes-."
Oh Hatsume, please never change.
Please.
"You know, coming home to you hanging from the ceiling is going to take some getting used to." Inko says, watching as Izuku sits crossed legged at the top of their apartment, scribbling away at a notebook. "Did you at least finish your homework?"
"Oh, yeah I finished that on the train home." Izuku replies, hopping down, landing on his feet with ease. "Pretty easy stuff. I got dinner ready for us, it's on the stove. I need to make sure this information is right…"
Inko let out a sigh. "Izuku, I know I'm approving of this whole 'Spider-Man' thing, but now that it's not a secret, I'd like a bit more information than it just being something you do. What are you working on? Is there any way I can help?"
Izuku pauses, looking at his mom. "Right. Uhm, sorry. I just… I'm used to doing this stuff alone. The only other person who knew didn't really want this kind of info." He says, putting the notebook down on the kitchen counter. "So, the press got into the school today, but it was a cover up for this guy to meet with a student and get this class information." Inko walks over, seeing the picture Izuku took earlier attached to the pad. A small file was in his gloved hand, with a bit of readable information. "It's a class schedule for the Hero Course, tomorrow specifically. They're going to a place called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or at least 1-A is. And, well, All Might is supposed to be there."
"Izuku, don't tell me you're breaking onto a bus to meet the number one hero and tell him your identity." Inko says bluntly, and Izuku chokes on air in response.
"What?! No! I'd rather All Might stay away from Spider-Man for as long as possible." He says, before pointing at the sketch pad. "No, if anything I might be doing something worse. I uh… I'm skipping school tomorrow."
"Izuku!" Inko chides, looking at her son in anger.
"I know, I know! But this is important! The raspy guy said that he had expendable members willing to distract All Might long enough to… Long enough to wear him out and then kill him." Inko gasps, as Izuku starts pointing a pencil at the page. "But, if these guys are expendable, my best guess is that if the plan fails or succeeds, they're going to kill some people. If I go out and stop these guys before All Might, maybe I can save a whole bunch of lives, without endangering a whole class of students."
"Izuku this is…" Inko goes to state how dangerous this is, but then she looks at her son. His eyes filled with fire and steel and hope and the knowledge that he may very well not make it home… The same look Hisashi had everyday. "This is a good plan, but I think it could be better. Your map of the city lists a full patrol route, but it's likely the villains will be in a straight line between the outskirts of the city and UA. It's best if you start out near Hansol and then come inwards."
Inko looks at Izuku, and he smiles, as he quickly joins her, sketching lines along the paper. Inko smiles, as she helps her son plan accordingly.
She can't stop him, just like she couldn't stop Hisashi, but she'll be damned if she doesn't try to help her boy help others and come home safe in the process.
The sun rises over Musutafu on a beautiful Friday morning. Birds singing, flowers blooming, and the local Wookies is on fire after someone threw a molotov cocktail inside.
"Coming through!" Spider-Man shouts, swinging down low across the street, jumping inside. He shoots webbing at the flames, managing to extinguish them, before jumping out, shooting a web net at the escaping criminals. He webs the stolen items next to them and takes off running, jumping up high as he starts to swing through the city once again.
"We've got a civil disturbance on the corner of Fett and Jang, units in the vicinity wait for heroes to arrive and then respond for the arrest." The police broadband echoes, Spidey's mask having hacked into the line in order to hear more accurately.
'Wish I could figure out how to hack into the hero net already. Would make my life so much easier.' He thinks to himself, as he thwips a line onto the corner of an office, turning widely onto the adjacent street as he continues to the crime scene.
A giant, pink, dog, man, thing is causing havoc in the street. Because of course he is. Spider-Man casts two lines out, tugging on them, as he slingshots down, hands glowing with blue electricity as he punches down the villain. He lands on his feet, turning quickly to see the villain spasming suddenly. "Venom Sting, always handy." The vigilante says to himself before shooting out another web and tying the villain up in his webs, stringing him up on a nearby lamp post.
An ear ringing boom fills the skies, as a large imposing figure suddenly lands on the street. Dressed in a tacky orange suit, and bound with muscles galore, that blonde hair in a V pattern could only belong to one man.
"All Might." Spider-Man says to himself, before pressing a finger to the side of his mask. Why is he out here so late? The class is happening as they speak, and those kids could be in danger!
"It seems the villain has been disposed of already." All Might, and the Vigilante snaps from his thoughts. He can't risk being caught by the man.
"Attention. Reported villain sighting at Ashoka Bridge. Units head in to provide emergency evacuation services and provide back up to any incoming heroes." The police broadband casts out, Spidey and All Might both turning to the location of the bridge.
The man launches into the sky, and Spider-Man has to use his sticky limbs to stick the ground in the resulting wind pressure. "No no no!" He says, before taking a running leap. "If he gets to the bridge before me, this could all be for nothing! Come on Spidey, pick up the pace!"
Swinging is out of the question. Yes ,it's fast, but only for long distances. The bridge is only so far out, so Web Zips are the way to go.
Spidey launches out a line and tugs himself against it, zooming forwards at insane speeds. He lands on a vent opening, and uses his arms to launch himself forward, wind pushing his hood back as he zooms through the city.
The bridge enters his sight, and people running away becomes his main focus. A large, bulky man with horse hoofed feet, a weird snake-like tail, and giant claws stands in the middle, slamming the side of his arm into an empty car, sending it over the bridge and into the waters of the Dagobah current system below. The vigilante lands on a nearby lamp post, taking a look at the man causing a riot. "Woah, look at Mister Chimera over here!"
The villain turns, looking at Spider-Man. "A child playing dress up. Get out of here boy, I'm only here for All Might." He speaks, Spidey hopping down onto the streets.
"Yeah, I heard about that plan. Can't say I'm a big fan of it. Tell me, big, tall, and stinky, what makes you think it'll even work?"
The villain smiles. "I don't care about killing him. I'm just here to see him rage!" The wicked smile growing on his face causes Spider-Man's worry to grow, before his senses start warning him of incoming danger.
"DETROIT…!" A mighty voice yells, and Spidey leaps out of the way, shooting a web onto the railing of the bridge, swinging underneath it, coming up the other side to see the impact in person. "SMASH!"
All Might's fist collides with the villain's claw, a mighty wind pressure bursting through the area. Cars move toward the edges, people scream (whether from fear or joy is unknown), and Spidey hangs on to his web for dear life. "Jeez, can't a spider catch a break?!"
The wind dies down and Spider-Man swings back around, landing on the railing where his web hangs. All Might is currently in a grapple with the villain, and that's not good in the vigilante's eyes.
'Dang it, if he gets caught up here, he and all of those students could be in danger!' He thinks, watching as he punches his fist into the villain's face, knocking him out. 'Or not.' The hero jumps away, and Spidey starts to crawl over. "Okay Spidey, make sure he's down, and then get back to stopping any more fights between here and UA. Just, make sure that this guy is-."
The Spider Sense shoots through his body, as he jumps up, the tail of the villain swiping around the bridge suddenly, swiping cars closer to the ledge. "Foolissssh, All Might. Leaving assss ssssoon as he thinksss he's won. I'll teach him what happenssss to the people he leavessss behind." The villain speaks in hisses, but even as the snake tail falls down, a hissing sound persists.
A green, acid-like substance covers the bridge, eating away at everything it touches. "No!" Spider-Man shouts as captures the villain in a web and jumps onto the nearest car. "Everyone off the bridge, let's go!" He shouts, people getting out of their cars and running, avoiding the now collapsing pieces of asphalt.
Larger chunks of the road begin to fall into the currents below, cars beginning to slip as well. Spidey jumps from car to car, webbing in between the hole and pulling loose rubble and cars into the holes, creating patchwork covers for people to cross.
"Help!" A man shouts, Spider-Man looking over to him as he pounds on a car door. "My son is trapped!" The vigilante zips over, landing on the car hood. He crawls to the front, before punching through the glass, and attaching a web to the kid, tugging him from his seat, before handing him over to his father. "Th-thank you!"
"Thank me by getting off the bridge." Spider-Man instructs before swinging back across, creating more paths to cross, before making it to both ends of the bridge, and then heading back to where his villain was. "Now what made this happen?" He asks, running over and looking at his arm. "Trigger… Is the group looking to kill All Might doing this too, or is this a coincidence?"
The sound of screeching tires fills the vigilantes ears, and he turns to see a black car zipping out from the inherent side of the bridge. "Well, that's not suspicious." The young man creates another slingshot, shooting himself off the bridge and away from the crowd of people watching him pass.
As well as the now arriving police.
"He… He saved my son." Hayato Shiniichiro, Age Thirty Three, Single Father of One answers, as Tsukauchi writes it down in his notebook. "Look, I know he's not a hero, he didn't showboat around like they usually do. Yeah, he made those jokes, but I think those are just nerves. He's… He's just a kid. Don't be an idiot and arrest him."
"We're not planning on it yet sir." Tsukauchi answers, giving Hayato a smile. "Spider-Man is a special interest case, and we want to see if we can get him into legal territory at some point."
"Do what you want, but don't let him become like everyone else. If even All Might didn't stick around to make sure we all got put safe, I don't want to think about where this world is going." Hayato leaves, and Tsukauchi is left alone to brew in his thoughts.
'You're slipping up, Toshinori. I know you messed up last year, but overworking yourself like this is gonna kill you. Focus on remembering the kid's name and apologizing, don't go hoping you can find him in the debris of a fight.' He monologs in his head, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. 'The kid checked his arm, and the med techs said this guy was shot up on Trigger. I've heard rumors of that stuff starting to circulate, but to actually see it in person? Spider-Man is hunting guys with these suspicions, and I suspect he's heading after the source, but why? It's not for his own use, he seems to treat the users like every other criminal, and witness testimony has said he prioritizes getting in and getting our with a few quips splattered here and there. So what's the relation between Spider-Man and Trigger?'
"Attention all units, we've received word that a villain attack has just been halted at UA High School's USJ Facility. Approach location and assist in villain round up." The broadcast rings out, and Tsukauchi shakes his head.
Looks like the bridge will be swept under the rug for now. If villains managed to get into UA, then his focus is gonna be on that school for weeks.
Izuku watches from the wall as the car parks, and a number of men in bird masks get out and enter an apartment building, duffle bags on their shoulders. His eyes focus on the address, a familiar hint filling his head.
"Obeewan and Tatone… This is the dealer's house!" He whispers, before web zipping his way over to the roof. He lands as softly as possible, before making his way to a vent, opening it and making his way inside.
'If I had a hundred yen for all the vents I've had to crawl in this week…' He thinks to himself, as he continues through, stopping when he sees the men in an empty room, save for the table with a map laying on it. His camera application opens up, and he zooms in, seeing different markings layer out. 'Are those other dealer houses? No, the map only shows a few main buildings, and those gray spots don't look like any streets I've seen in Musutafu. It's more like… A map for an underground complex.'
"Damnit Yuuki!" One of the men yells, slamming a fist on the table. "I told you selling to one of those League recruits would be a bad idea!"
"Hey, you saw how much he was paying! Even if he lost, we still made out with a pretty coin!" Another man, Yuuki apparently, responds, giving a shrug.
"Yeah, but we'd make more pretty coins if our buyers actually won!" Another man yells. "Bad enough he lost to All Might, but that Spider showed up again and made things worse! Chisaki is gonna be pissed when he finds out!"
"Woah, don't say the boss' name so loud. The walls are thin." Yuuki says, and Izuku's eyes narrow.
"Doesn't matter, they're all too scared to do anything with the info. And besides, this is the last night for this location, we're crossing it off the map, remember?" The second man says, reaching across the map and crossing a house off the map.
'Bingo.' Izuku thinks, as he takes a picture of the update map. 'With this, I can create an overlay with the city, and find their other houses. Maybe even find the entrance to their underground system and take the boss down.'
"Fine. You have the charges set, right?" The first man speaks, and the second nods, as Izuku's spider sense starts going nuts.
'Charges, what do they-?!' Beeping enters Izuku's ears, and the boy turns his head to the left. A small plastic wrapped thing beeps, a glowing red dot flashing in tandem. He looks down, the room empty, and his senses get more intense. He punches through the vent landing in the room, before looking around, finding the door. He runs towards it, reaching out his hand. And just as his fingertips are about to touch the handle…
B O O M
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