Chapter 25 Lemon Fresh

To the people living in the slums of Musutafu there were three types of businesses. The first was the mom and pop shop. These beloved bars, cafes, and corner stores were invariably in a state of constant disrepair and whose owners were either cantankerous, withered old prunes filled with wisdom or affable sages that would always be willing to part with a candy or two to help out a down on his luck kid. They had always been there and they would never leave; stark and treasured reminders of the neighbourhood that once was.

The second were the "Pay! Now get out!" joints. Occasionally some enterprising young street rat would scrap together enough money working a shit job or three to open up a business of their own. For these individuals survival was a constant struggle. Shoplifters, muggers, vagrants; everyone wanted a piece and nobody was willing to pay for it. Without the armour of nostalgia, their owners relied on bulletproof glass and concealed weapons to stay afloat. If you went inside one of these stores you were expected to know what you wanted, get it, then leave. No questions, no chit chat, no loitering.

The third type of business were those places that everybody knew, but nobody talked about and nobody went there to shop. True, every once and a while you might see someone walk inside, but you quickly forgot about it. Overly curious people didn't live long in the slums.

One such business was Lemon Fresh - a dumpy old laundromat on 77th Street that was open odd hours and only had two working machines. Every once and a while a car would stop by and drop off some "laundry" in a duffle bag, but other than that nobody ever went in there.

That Wednesday it was business as usual at Lemon Fresh. The owner was expecting three deliveries: One from Piranha who worked the docks, another from Claw who had been promoted to protection, and one from Big Spin's casino.

However unbeknownst to the owner of the Lemon Fresh Laundromat, far above them perched in the shadow of a roof top water tower was a curious onlooker.

I can wait all day guys. Izuku thought idly as he traced his finger across the hot tar rooftop.

His plan was simple. Big Spin had told him the Lemon Fresh was where Shocker collected his protection money so he would just follow the money as it changed hands up the ladder. This wasn't some rinky dink drug money that was being collected either. Big Spin's casino alone generated tens of millions of yen a month in revenue and Izuku was willing to bet that whoever handled that kind of cash had to be pretty high up in the Shocker's organization. Possibly even high enough to know where to find the boss man himself.

However as essential as this task was, staking out a money laundering building wasn't exactly his idea of a fun vacation activity. No doubt while all his classmates were partying it up, he was stuck watching a building all day.

While he waited he found his mind wandering. He wondered where Weasel was and what sort of mischief he was getting himself into. Maybe he was racing his gold car down the freeway, or sunning himself in Dubai, or swimming with dolphins somewhere.

He flicked a beetle off the ledge of the roof and pressed himself against the cool metal sheeting of the water tower. Hopefully wherever Weasel was he didn't get himself in over his head. Though lord knows he deserved every bit of trouble heading his way.

His cloud watching was interrupted by a buzzing in his pocket. Whipping off his gloved hand, he pulled out his phone. It was his mother. After a moment's indecision he answered.

'Hey, Mom. How's it going?'

'Hello, Izu. I was just wondering when you were coming home. I have dinner all ready…'

He bit his lip in frustration. He couldn't afford to abandon his post.

'Uh, well. I'm sort of hanging out with my friends right now. We're actually having a bite and afterwards we were all going to see a movie…' he said, trailing off meaningfully.

'Ooh, that's great news, Izu! I'll let you go then, but don't stay up too late! It's a school night remember.'

'Okay Mom, I won't. Don't wait up though. Bye!'

He hung up the phone and gazed past the Grey Towers in the direction of his own apartment building. He couldn't see it through the haze of smog, but he was sure that his Mother was there, jumping for joy at the prospect of him having made some friends.

He could only smile faintly. He supposed he could have called up some of his classmates and seen what they were up to, but he couldn't spare the time. Also, he wasn't sure if he could stomach being out in public any time soon.

Since the Sports Festival, with the exception of his Spider-Man activities he hadn't been around the city much so he hadn't had any interactions with anyone. During his patrols though he kept seeing his face pop up everywhere. He was on posters, television, the news; it was too much. Not to mention what the slavering hordes of possessive creeps on the internet had made of him. Rather than deal with the degeneracy that his social media had become, he had just deleted everything and moved on. To his amusement, he noticed that Bakugo had done the same. For all Bakugo's pomp and bluster, he knew that Bakugo was probably just as uncomfortable with his new-found fame as he was.

Putting himself back against the water tower, he thought about the lie he had just told his mother. These days it seemed like the only friend he had was Knuckleduster – if you could call exchanging information in a parking lot a friendship. Truth be told, he and his classmates had a working relationship and that had largely been based off of prepping for the Sports Festival. If he had called, would any of his classmates want to hang out with him now that it was over?

He sighed. Probably not. Well I guess it doesn't really matter. I don't have time for friends anyway.

Hours passed and the sun started to set. Finally, just as he was starting to think about sneaking off to get a bite to eat, he spotted a luxurious SUV approaching.

Claw thumbed the stirring wheel angrily as he slowly drove closer to the cleaners. Between his splitting headache and his partner's nonstop babbling, his patience was almost at its limit.

'And then the stupid fucking bitch gets herself covered in muck or some shit and she starts screamin' and rollin' around, crying like a baby.' his partner suddenly put on a piercingly high-pitched voice, "OoOoooOooo it hurts! Make it stop!" laughing uproariously, he slapped the dash.

Claw glanced over at his partner with disdain.

'Why are you even watching the Sports Festival in the first place? It's nothing but a bunch of goody two shoes jerking each other off. Pointless waste of time if you ask me. I never bother with it.' Claw muttered as he prepared to parallel park.

'Yeah, but its fun! You should've seen it! Midnight was there, trouncing around in that fucking costume of hers. Goddamn! Those kids are so lucky.' he said wistfully, 'She could subdue me any day of the week, you know what I'm sayin'?' he said, jostling Claw in the arm. Claw shot the man a pitying look as he put the SUV into park.

'I bet you a lot of guys have said that about Midnight right before she cracked their skull open. Seriously did you even stop and think what kind of risk you were taking sitting in that stadium? All Might, Endeavour, hell half of the pro heroes in this shithole city were in those seats.'

His partner scoffed, 'Sixty thousand people in there, you think they're going to do a back-ground check on everyone? Please. I'm just some schmuck from the Towers. Nobody gives a shit about me. You know, I heard the boss man was there. Checking out the future competition.'

Claw smirked in disbelief and his partner continued.

'Besides,' he said slyly, 'I kind of thought you'd be interested in the games considering who won second place…'

Claw's smirk quickly turned into an ugly scowl. Everyone had been giving him shit about the fucking, green haired, freckly kid. His partner smiled upon seeing his reaction and he continued.

'Y'know all things considered, I'm not surprised you and that other guy -what was his name?- Shush, Mum, Swoosh…?'

'Hush. His name was Hush and he was a good guy.' Claw said in an even, calm voice.

He was twice the partner you'll ever be. Claw thought bitterly. He and Hush went way back. They had come up the ranks together back when the Shocker was just a member of The Squadron Sinister. Last year he had been devastated when Hush was killed by one of Speed Demon's guys during the turf war.

'Well anyway, I'm surprised you aren't even interested in ya' boy no more. He's a real-'

'Look, let's just get this over with, alright?' Claw said gruffly, opening his door.

The other man snickered as he grabbed the "laundry bag" from the back seat before he too exited the vehicle. Walking side by side, the pair entered the dingy laundromat.

A bell mounted to the top of the door jingled merrily upon the two men's arrival into the small, narrow store. Claw scowled as he walked in. The place stank like mold and rot and it wasn't hard to see why. The floors were filthy and stained, and around the rusted, broken down laundry machines, small pools of milky water had collected. No doubt they had never been installed properly. Considering how much money passed through this place, you'd think they would invest more in a believable cover.

'Hey. Hey! Is anybody here?' Claw called out loudly as he walked up to the counter. Stopping at the front, he rapped his knuckles across the chipped linoleum wrapped surface. Nobody answered him.

'Hellooo?' he called out, still banging on the counter.

After a moment they heard rustling from up above.

'Alright! Alright, damn you. Just give me a moment…' wheezed a voice from the backroom.

Claw leaned over the counter and scowled at the doorway for a moment before checking his watch. He was already running a little late. After he was done with the drop, he still needed to collect rent from over a dozen overdue deadbeats across the city and tracking down those cockroaches took time.

'Hey. What are you doing back there?' called out his partner.

The pair heard some unintelligible mumbling and the sound of creaking stairs before at last the wiry old bastard who ran the store appeared in the back doorway before them. Nobody knew where the old geezer had come from, but they knew he was a career criminal before any of them were even born.

'You guys are early.' the old man said sullenly.

'Actually, we're late.' Claw said, lip curling as he noticed the old man's dishevelled appearance, 'Jesus what the fuck happened to professionalism?'

'Yeah, yeah.' rasped the old man as he extended a bony hand for the duffle bag, 'Look, you see the neighbourhood around here? Run down shitholes the lot of them. I'm just blending in.'

'Yeah, you're a real method actor.' sneered his partner as he plopped the bag on the counter.

The old man grumbled incoherently and snatched the bag away. Before either of them could say anything further, the front door swung open accompanied by the soft jingling of the store bell.

The three men quickly looked over, hands reaching into their jacket pockets before they relaxed somewhat. It was Piranha.

'Greeeetings boyyssss.' Piranha gargled past his bulbous lips, 'Isssss it a paaarty in here?'

'Hey, Piranha. How's the sun treating ya?' Claw's partner said jovially and Piranha hissed at him.

Claw watched as the giant fish man hybrid pulled out a bottle from his overcoat jacket. Popping the lid with a flick of his chitinous webbed hands, he upended the container on himself and spilled water over his emerald scaled skin. At the liquids touch, the room immediately began to reek of rotting fish. Claw grimaced before pinching his nose shut as Piranha let out a sigh of pleasure.

'Itsssss not fair. Making me driiive all the way here.' Piranha gargled, tossing the bottle aside.

'Is the floor a dump to you, Piranha?' Claw said moving to the side so the fish-man could drop his own duffle bag on the counter, 'No wonder this city has such a rat problem.'

'Pleasssse.' he said, rotating one of his bulging eyes to face Claw, 'I live in the bay. You want to ssseee a real garbage problem? Vissssit one of the underwater ghettoessss.'

Claw and his partner backed apart to opposite walls to make room for him. It was getting crowded.

As Piranha gingerly placed his own duffle bag on the counter the door's entrance bell jingled yet again. Piranha growled and twisted his giant body around while Claw and his partner once again reached for their weapons, but it was just Big Spin's courier.

'What's- Woo! Jesus, it stinks!' cried the man tucking his nose into his elbow.

Piranha turned his head and flashed the newcomer a smile; his gaping mouth revealing rows upon rows of jagged teeth. Big Spin's courier floundered before the crowded counter for a moment before throwing his duffle bag over to the shop keep who looked on with a surly expression.

'Here.' he said as he the old man caught the bag, 'Enjoy.'

Without another word the courier turned and stumbled out the door. Claw likewise motioned to his partner. If he was stuck in here for much longer, he was going to pass out.

'Well Piranha, would you be so inclined as to get out the way? Some of us have things to do.'

'Alriiiight, alriiiight…'

Eventually they were able to extract themselves and Claw and his partner stepped out into the street, grateful for the fresh air.

'I don't know why Piranha insists on delivering his laundry himself if he dislikes being out of the water so much.' Claw mumbled as they walked back to the SUV.

'He's just paranoid.' replied his partner, 'Nobody would ever mess with this place.'

The two men stepped into their vehicle and drove off. Before long the fish man also lumbered outside and into his brine filled camper. Although he mumbled and hissed loudly, everybody on the street was careful not to meet his gaze and instead continued on with their business.

It was no surprise then that when one more person entered the cleaners; nobody batted an eye or remembered a thing.

Izuku creaked the front door to the laundromat open just enough to fit in his fingers. Grabbing the store bell, he ripped out it's tongue before stepping inside. The shop owner was nowhere to be seen, but he could hear sounds from the floor above. He quickly strode across the store. Hopping over the puddle of Piranha water on the floor and across the countertop, he entered into a dingy storeroom. Walking past shelves of detergent and cleaning compounds, he scaled a set of rickety stairs towards the second floor.

Coming around the corner, he saw that the door at the head of the stairs was open. Walking on tiptoe, he entered the second floor and found himself standing in a loft apartment.

The loft was certainly a lived-in space. Every inch of the room was utilized. Shelves lined with books and belongings covered the walls between cheap dressers and a couch. Fans filled the room, each one pointing towards the slightly ajar window overlooking the street. They did little to reduce the smell of mold, though the noise they made had masked the sound of his footsteps. Standing unaware by the window was the old shop owner. His back was to the doorway while he fiddled with a wall mounted safe. By his feet were the three dufflebugs, bulging with dirty money. Izuku silently padded over to the man. Once he was right behind him, he spoke.

'Hey-'

Immediately the old man whirled around. In an instant a crackling corona of glowing orange light formed around his head framing his eyes and mouth in a horrifying glow. The old man's rapid response startled him, and he took a step back.

As Izuku considered his new opponent, energy raced down the old man's wrinkled neck and chest concentrating in his rising arms and down his hands. With a soundless snarl, he pushed out with his now incandescent palms as though shoving the air.

Izuku flipped over to the wall as a wave of orange energy blew past him. The old man's strange attack ripped through the loft, blasting apart the shelves and sending their now smoldering contents flying. Without a second thought Izuku sprang off the wall and tackled into the old man, headbutting him to the floor. Smacking into the hardwood, the old man appeared stunned while Izuku forcibly pinned him.

'Hey!' he shouted, 'Cut it out, gramps!'

'Spider-Man!' the old man growled, 'You want to talk?'

'Something like tha-' Izuku froze as in that instant, the old man's eyes briefly flashed orange again. Arching himself backward, he threw back his chin just in time to dodge past another blast of energy. He watched wide eyed as a perfectly circular hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling above him, the edges charred black with carbonized ceiling tile.

Jerking his neck back down to his struggling opponent, he punched the geezer across the face. To his amazement however the tough old bastard kept struggling. Wriggling a hand loose, the gangster managed to point his finger's at Izuku's chest.

With a yelp, Izuku rolled away just as another blast rocketed outward, lancing into the wall and scoring its surface with intense heat.

Screw this! I need to finish this guy off before he brings the cops down on us!

Springing up, he charged into the old man and threw him back against the wall safe. Before the old man could react, he launched a volley of punches across the gangster's stomach and lower chest. Caught between the safe and the flurry of blows, he was battered like a piece of metal between a hammer and an anvil. The blows proved too much and he nearly collapsed to his knees while hacking and coughing up blood.

'Stay down!' Izuku shouted, roughly grabbing the sputtering old man by the collar, 'You can't beat me.'

The old man spat out a glob of blood on his arm in response and glared up at him in silent defiance.

'I'm not here for you.' he continued as he hoisted the man up with one arm, pinning him against the safe, 'I want Shocker. Where is he?'

'Shocker? What makes you think I know anything about where he is?'

'Because he needs to get his hands on his money from someone and I'm willing to bet that you're ranked high enough to know where to find him! So where is he?!'

The old man sighed and turned his wrinkled eyes past him and out towards the window.

'If I tell you I'm a dead man.' he said thoughtfully, 'But I suppose you'll kill me if I don't talk right?' he let out a pained chuckle.

Izuku's instinct told him to stay silent.

'Let's cut a deal.' the old man said in a suddenly crisp voice, 'I tell you what you want and I walk out of here. With all the money.' he added, arching his eyebrows, 'Deal?'

'No!' Izuku said, 'There are no deals! You tell me what I want and you can leave in police custody instead of a hearse!'

The old man laughed again however his laughter quickly subsided into a fit of coughing and he stopped himself.

'Naw. If I tell you anything, I'm dead anyway. All this-' he said, bumping his head against the safe, 'Will be the only thing keeping me alive if I tell you anything. Because trust me, you aren't beating Shocker. Once he's finished with you, he'll find out who squealed and I'll be spending the rest of my days on the run.'

Izuku frowned. He didn't like the idea of letting someone go free, much less one of Shocker's top men, but he didn't see any other way. He couldn't exactly torture the guy. With a sigh of resignation, he lowered the old man down to the floor.

'Alright deal. You tell me where he is, and I'll leave you be. So, where is he?' Izuku asked as the old man wiped some bloody spittle off his chin.

'Downtown. In the Penthouse suite of the Glass Way Tower.'

Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. The Glass Way Tower was the last place he expected someone like Shocker to be.

'The Glass Way Tower? Why is he up there? I thought he was all about discretion.'

'What can I say? He's moving up in the world. He can't stay a crime boss running from safehouse to safehouse forever.' he chuckled, flecks of red falling from his lips, 'This life gets tiring Spider-Man…'

Izuku stood silent and thought things over. The Glass Way Tower was in the city centre and there were sure to be several hero agencies nearby. If the alarm was raised, he would be done for. Still, what other choice did he have?

'Does Shocker have anybody with him?'

'Maybe a butler or secretary, but I doubt it. He doesn't let anybody see him there. He likes to keep the place clean.'

Izuku nodded. At least he wouldn't have to fight a bunch of his goons. Getting ambushed by somebody like Speed Demon again was the last thing he wanted. Taking down Shocker alone was going to be difficult enough as is.

'Alright.' Izuku said finally, 'A deal's a deal. I'll let you go…this time. But, if I get to the Glass Way Tower and I find out that you've alerted Shocker…'

The man shrugged, 'I wouldn't worry about me, Spider-Man. As far as I'm concerned, all this-' he said gesturing to the duffle bags, '-is my retirement fund. See I've been in this game for a long time too and I'm sick of growing old watching somebody else's money in a mold infested shit hole. You get me?'

'You should have come to that realization years ago.' Izuku said, frowning as the old man coughed up more blood, 'Maybe you should spend some of your new fortune on a doctor.'

The old man chuckled again and Izuku warily stepped over to the open window. Maintaining eye contact, he shot out his web and jumped outside. It was early evening and before the night was over, Shocker would be behind bars. This time he was sure of it.