"An obsession is where something will not leave your mind." – Eric Clapton
The sun had barely risen over the horizon when Enji finished up with his morning workout routine. It wasn't unusual for him to be the first person awake in his home. The only difference about today is his sidekicks, mainly Moe, forcing him to take the day off. Most people would be getting up to go to work around this time in the morning. Instead, he was forced out of the office for some reason.
'I have no clue why they think I should be out of the office right now,' He thought, frowning at the idea of taking time off with the end of the year in sight. 'There are numerous cases that need to be handled, and a vacation is the last thing I need, especially if those reports about that villain are true.'
Enji had grown used to the workload he's taken on since starting his agency. Although, he's eased back over the years after realizing he won't stay young forever. The daily pain in his knees and lower back proved father time is unbeatable, even for someone like him. He briefly thought about the object of his obsession.
Out of everyone in Japan, Enji always wondered if All Might was slowing down. He did know the man was around his same age, but being in his mid-to-late forties seemed to have no effect on the man. There's hardly any difference between his early days and now. Enji knew his chances of surpassing the man were all but gone.
But he received a second chance in the form of his youngest son. Compared to his siblings, Shoto was confirmed to have inherited both quirks. The boy's raw potential was almost scary, but the opportunity to train and mold his successor was an opportunity he couldn't afford to pass up, especially since Shoto was about to finish junior high in the near future.
Shoto is entering a crucial period of his training. Time will tell if Enji's efforts to train his youngest son will result in a powerful hero capable of upstaging All Might.
Now, he only needed to find something that could take up his time. He knows if he tries heading back to the agency and attempting to work as if everything is normal, it will only lead to Moe and the others kicking him out of his own building. While lost in his thoughts, the towering man walked into the main living area.
That was when he heard the front door being opened up by someone.
He was slightly surprised to see his daughter arriving home so early in the morning. The man expected his only daughter to arrive in the afternoon, especially considering she was on her winter break. From a quick glance, he could tell Fuyumi was on the verge of falling asleep. That was until she noticed him.
"D-Dad," She greeted him with a nervous expression. "Um, good morning."
Enji nodded back.
Among his three children, Fuyumi was the only one who never seemed to give him problems. She always followed his rules and stayed out of trouble, but while he was focusing on training Shoto for his future, there were moments when he paid attention to his only daughter. He remembered she went to some sort of event in Tokyo.
He cleared his throat and spoke up, "So…"
"Huh?"
"I just was about to make some…" Enji, unsure of what to say, peeked over his shoulder. His turquoise eyes searched the kitchen to find anything. It wasn't too long before he found a container. "Coffee," He said. "I was getting ready to make a fresh pot. Do you want some?"
His daughter smiled awkwardly at him and shook her head, "I was, um, actually thinking about getting some sleep. We had to leave early from Tokyo. So I'm still a little tired."
"Ah, I see."
Enji kept his response on the simple side of things. After all, this is probably the first time he's actually been the one to engage with Fuyumi in perhaps years if he remembers correctly. That's why he didn't blame his daughter for being unsure of his offer. Lying to him was likely the first thought to pop into her mind.
The conversation between them died out quickly. Neither of them said a word for what felt like forever until Fuyumi broke the silence.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
She looked at him with an unusual expression before saying something out of the ordinary. "C-Can we talk for a minute," Fuyumi said nervously, her own turquoise eyes looking down at the ground while tapping her foot against the floor. However, there was a hint of seriousness in her next words, "I have something I want to tell you."
"Alright."
Enji was somewhat curious about what his only daughter wanted to tell him. From a distance, Fuyumi was never one to be confrontational or take the first step. She preferred to let others speak first. It's one of the reasons he knew she was never going to make it as a hero. Although, he wasn't surprised after he learned about her dream of becoming a teacher.
That role suited her much better than a pro-hero.
They walked over to the table in the eating area and sat across from each other. Even now, after taking the first step to grab his attention, Fuyumi kept looking at the table.
"It's rude to not look at the person you're speaking to directly," Enji scolded his daughter. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows, "As a member of the Todoroki family, you must always be straightforward and focused on whatever it is you're doing. Never act cowardly in the face of others. Now, what is it you wanted to tell me, Fuyumi?"
He waited for his daughter to finally say whatever it was on her chest. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Fuyumi looked as if she let out a deep. She then spoke what was on her mind while looking at him with her bright turquoise eyes.
"...Dad, have you ever been in situations where you could've...lost your life?"
Among the many potential things she could've said or asked, Enji hadn't expected her to ask about the dangers associated with a pro-hero. Or, more appropriately, asking him about the dangers he's faced as the number two hero of Japan. The professional hero placed his hand underneath his chin, trying to come up with a reasonable answer to give his daughter.
That only made him curious as to what led to her asking such a question.
"While I've never dealt with anyone who truly could've hurt me, there have been situations throughout my career that ended up in less than ideal situations," Enji admitted to his daughter. People across their nation believed heroes were infallible. Even Enji wasn't stupid enough to pretend he was unbeatable in a fight, but that doesn't mean he's pitiful enough to be worried about the outcome of every fight. "Most of those situations came in my early days. However, I can't recall any recent incidents of such nature."
His answer must've been surprising because Fuyumi's eyes widened in surprise. "So...you really could have lost your life out there?" She asked.
"Of course, I'm a pro-hero," Enji said without any hesitation. "There is always the chance for any one of us to lose our life out there while performing our duty to the people."
None of what he was telling her was new or anything special. It left Enji somewhat irritated such basic common sense eluded Fuyumi. Had she never thought about the potential harm a hero can face on an everyday basis? Well, Enji can't exactly say most citizens are aware of what people like him and others do to protect them.
He's resolved more cases than any other hero in the history of their nation. An accomplishment touted by the media often, but never more than the feats of All Might. Nothing he does will ever escape the man's shadow. His final chance to upstage the Symbol of Peace is through Shoto. At this point, Enji is certain he will fade from the history books.
After all, no one remembers the second best.
"I'm...I'm really glad, you know?" Fuyumi suddenly said, her hands folded together on top of the table, but what surprised the man was the quiver in her voice. She raised her hand and wiped her eyes, "I...I know I've never said this before, but...I'm...I'm really glad whenever you come home, Dad."
"What?"
Fuyumi smiled sadly at him, "I-I know this may be coming from out of nowhere. I just thought I should tell you. This...This must sound really weird, but I wanted to get this off my chest, Dad."
There weren't many things in the world capable of leaving Enji speechless. In the aftermath of Shoto's injury, Enji remembered how little Fuyumi spoke to him, especially if it involved her feelings. He thought once more about what spurred his daughter to suddenly admit these feelings about his job as a pro-hero.
"Hmm."
Once she came clean about her thoughts, the room became eerily silent. Enji kept a stoic expression on his face as he contemplated a possible response. Most of his experience came from dealing with Shoto, the most defiant of his children, on a regular basis. Yelling was pointless. They didn't train together. It was a strange conversation that made him uncomfortable.
That's why he simply stood up from the table and started walking away. However, before he left the room, Enji glanced over his shoulder to see Fuyumi sitting at the table. He heard a quiet sob coming from his daughter. A lot of fathers would walk over and see if she was okay. Enji, on the other hand, didn't know what to do in this situation.
"I…"
(X)
(Six Months Later)
"...Can't believe you dragged me down here."
Among the many roles played by pro-heroes within their society, Enji held a particular dislike towards the reason behind his appearance today in Tokyo. The hero combine, in his opinion, was simply a waste of time and resources for the Hero Public Safety Commission. It was nothing more than a chance to let rejects and failures humiliate themselves once more in front of professional pro-heroes and sidekicks.
"You seriously still can't be mad about Mr. Miyagi retiring? He's been with you for years. The old man was bound to call it quits at some point." Not many in the country had the gall to speak to him bluntly, but Burnin was his main sidekick for a reason. "So suck it up for a few days and we'll be back to doing hero things soon enough."
Enji held back from scowling at his sidekick because it would be pointless. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and aimed his attention at the sight taking below him in the arena.
Dozens of workers were doing a final check over the obstacle courses, drills and other tasks created for the sole purpose of testing the former high school graduates who were dumb enough to show their face today. He assumed all of them were beneath the arena in the room used to give them some speech made to ease their nerves. A pointless endeavor, but it's their money they're wasting.
Not his.
"God, this is boring. Why did they ask us to show up so early?"
The number two hero scoffed at the words coming from Burnin. "What did you say earlier? Just suck it up for the next days and we'll be back to doing hero things soon enough?" Enji threw her words from earlier back in the woman's face. "Be glad we're not asked to help watch over these people during their written portion. I'd hate to see how many fail."
His sidekick placed her hands behind her head, "You got a point there."
"Of course, I do."
"You don't have to be a prick about it."
Enji chose not to pay his sidekick any mind. He had better things to worry about a group of high school failures who couldn't obtain their licenses. Besides, he knew this combine was nothing more than a test run for the actual students in the coming weeks. The only thing of value he could take away from today is getting, perhaps, a glimpse of what Shoto might need to know for the future.
The entrance exam for U.A. High was coming up in the next few months. There wasn't much time left before his masterpiece would take his first steps to upstage All Might.
'Unlike these failures pretending to think a second chance will erase the past, Shoto will never sink to the level of these people.' Enji took note of the instructors and workers giving each other a thumbs-up as they began heading for the exits. It was a sign that the week-long combine would begin. Every hero who showed up to this waste of time had already been given a heads-up of what was going to happen for the next week. 'They must certainly enjoy running these openings to the main event.'
One glance around the arena told him everything he needed to know about this event. The place has the capacity to handle nearly eighty-thousand people.
"There's barely over a hundred in the stands," He muttered, amused at how little interest the rest of the hero community showed toward the combine.
He hardly recognized any of the heroes who showed up today. If Enji had to take a wild guess, many of them were small agencies with no real reputation outside of their towns or districts. That was until his eyes landed on a rather familiar face. 'Of course, why am I not surprised to see Ingenium here?' Among the pro-heroes operating in Japan, the speedster was known for his willingness to give handouts to the rejects participating today.
The man apparently once said heroes can be found in the unlikeliest of spots.
Enji may respect the speedster for being a competent hero and leader in the field, but comments of that nature are what is preventing him from cracking the top ten or stemming the rumors regarding his skills. His eyes soon caught sight of another familiar face sitting next to him. 'And his whore isn't too far behind,' He thought, scoffing at the sight of Midnight. 'I still question the rat's decision to make her a teacher.'
"Honestly, I thought more heroes would've attended this kind of thing," Burnin said casually, putting her feet up on top of the seat in front. "Aren't we supposed to be all about helping our fellow heroes in the field? Plus, I thought most be salivating at the chance to find the next Hawks. It amazes how quick the commission is to toss that fun fact about Hawks underneath the table."
"You know why they don't bring it up."
Burnin let out a snort, "I get you don't like All Might, but you can't blame the guy for this one. I mean, what idiot wouldn't tout Hawks as a success story and use it to promote this combine."
"It's because we already have too many people pretending to be heroes," Enji stated bluntly. "It's why I believe this little try-out is nothing more than a farce. If the commission wants to waste their time with a bunch of rejects who couldn't make it through the first time, they're free to do whatever they want."
In the end, Enji was only here because the president of the commission didn't give him a choice.
"You think so?"
Enji scoffed at the question, "Of course I do."
The number of heroes operating in the country was in the thousands, but Enji was certain the public can only name a handful off the top of their heads. Most of these heroes are hardly noticed. Outside of the occasional media spotlight, he suspected even local communities might not entirely know all the heroes in their area.
"You're more grouchy than usual today, boss."
"Quiet."
His sidekick rolled her eyes at him, "Ah, you're in that kind of mood. What? Did one of your kids piss you off or something this morning?"
Enji didn't initially respond to her comments, preferring to remain silent. Over the past few months, the number two hero has been lost in his thoughts more and more these days. The strangest part is he has no idea what's been the cause of it. Training Shoto has always been frustrating since the beginning, but Enji couldn't say his youngest son's behavior was the reason.
He couldn't say much about Natsuo as his oldest son was hardly around these days. Outside of dinner, the man doesn't recall the last time they spoke to each other.
"Boss?"
"What is it?"
"You okay?"
"There's no need to ask me such a ridiculous question," Enji said, looking away from his sidekick and focusing on the arena. "I'm simply thinking about the work potentially pilling up at the agency."
"Forget about the agency." Burnin dismissed his concerns. "I'm sure the others can keep things under control for the next few days. If they can't handle you being gone, I doubt you would've hired them in the first place."
He chose not to respond. There was no denying the truth behind her words. When it came to hiring new sidekicks, Enji was strict about those who came to work under him, which was why he couldn't pretend the reason for his silence was because of the agency.
"Hmm."
"So what is bugging you?" She asked once more, waiting for him to reply.
"It's none of your concern."
Burnin cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow at him. "You're my boss. I think I'm allowed to ask what's wrong when it looks like something is up with you."
"The answer is no."
She shrugged her shoulders, "Sheesh, if you say so."
Once his sidekick gave up on playing twenty questions with him, the number two hero heard the sound of hydraulics. His eyes locked onto the center of the arena as a metal box rose up from below. A couple of seconds later, it opened up like a Christmas present. There, in all their glory, stood a group of rejects and failures. At first glance, almost none of them stood out to him. Except for one. Unlike many of the simple costumes being worn, the one person to catch his interest wore a rather interesting costume with a giant golden spider symbol on their chest.
'Who are you?'
(X)
"...I wish you all the luck in the world and may the odds ever be in your favor…"
Those words had been bouncing around in Peter's head since the conclusion of the man's speech along with the walls of the room suddenly opening up as if it were a box of some kind. The young man, for the first time in a year, felt a surge of adrenaline throughout his body as he knew today was going to be a chance like no other.
He was going to be afforded the opportunity to obtain his hero license and, if he did well enough, get a chance to be recruited by some of the heroes representing their agencies. For a second, he wonders if this is what it feels like for collegiate athletes when they participate in combines, showing off for scouts of the big teams. 'Well, there was a big difference between what college athletes can do and what I can do,' Peter thought, recalling his gym class experience in high school.
It always frustrated him to hold back in order to keep up appearances. Today, however, was going to be different because he was going to be able to unleash every ounce of his abilities without hesitating.
After they were broken up into random groups, the combine official led his particular group to the first task. Peter lightly whistled at the sight of a large faux building, which was made all the more complete with a sign above with the word 'Bank' written on it. Everything about it seemed real, even down to the brick looking like it was ripped off an actual building.
What added to the atmosphere were the numerous fake cop cars with their lights turned on. Hell, there are even a few guys wearing police uniforms to add to the scenario they're going to be partaking in.
'...Man, this commission must have some serious money to throw around.'
Apparently, the goal was quite simple; prevent a group of criminals from robbing the place and prevent any civilians from being hurt or killed during the entire thing.
Many of the others in his group talked about how they'd impress the heroes in the stands. Peter, on the other hand, recalled the night when he first caught wind of Vulture's weapons on the streets back home, and he could already see how many of these people weren't taking it seriously.
The official hadn't even finished explaining the entire scenario before someone volunteered to go first within the group. Sadly, Peter was right to be concerned as they failed within the first few minutes. Yet it was only the beginning as many of the others failed, leaving only him as the last person left to take a turn.
"Alright, we have one more person left to go," The official said, barely looking up from the tablet in his hands. The man gestured for him to line up. "American, get up here. Let's get this over with."
Peter rolled his eyes at the nickname. However, he decided against a witty comment. The last thing he's in the mood to find out is these officials are like driving examiner. As Peter walked up to the spot, he was able to catch a few of the comments from the people in his group, and many of them weren't very kind.
"A hundred yen says the guy barely gets to the building."
Someone laughed. "Pfft, I bet he won't even understand the official telling him to start," They said, not even bothering to hide their conversation.
'These guys are funny.' Peter smirked underneath his mask. He was used to the media and some people writing him off on a regular basis. If these clowns wanted to join the crowd, the young hero was happy to prove them wrong, and the moment soon came when the official said the one word he'd been waiting to hear for an entire year.
"Go!"
Thwip!
(X)
"Well, I'll be damned." Tensei whistled at the sight of Parker already covering the distance between the start line and the building in a single motion using those web shooters. He watched the young man land on the side of it with grace. "You sure Parker didn't go to a hero school in America, babe?"
Nemuri shrugged her shoulders. "Outside of some personal training with a mentor, Peter wasn't able to attend one because of family matters," She explained to him.
The speedster had a feeling there was more to the story surrounding his girlfriend's ward. During some of his conversations with Parker about his desire to become a hero, Tensei had the weirdest feeling that he wasn't talking with to some kid. No, it felt like he was talking with a veteran trying to come back to the world of heroics. It was bizarre to him. However, he trusted Nemuri.
If she had a good reason to avoid talking about Parker's past, he would respect it. A lot of other heroes might've been less understanding of the matter. Or maybe it's because of how long he's known her for.
"That may give him a leg up in the matter."
"Do you think it will?"
Tensei nodded his head. "I do," He said, taking note of how Peter found a ventilation shaft near the top of the building. Many of the other participants failed to take advantage of it. They all went for a more flashy entrance using their quirks, which mainly resulted in them either being 'killed' or some civilians being hurt in the process. "There's a difference between how a rookie handles themselves in these types of situations compared to a veteran."
He smiled at the sight of Parker ripping off the covering for the ventilation shaft. A moment later, they weren't able to see him anymore as he crawled into the narrow space.
"Parker may be young, but I definitely can tell he isn't new to the idea of being a pro-hero...or, maybe I should say, he's familiar with the rigors of being one."
Nemuri let out a snort. "And you gleaned all that from the footage we recorded and what you're seeing from him?" She asked, amused at his line of thinking. "I'm surprised you're not a teacher with how good you are at this."
"Eh." Tensei shook his head before leaning against the back of the seat. "I'm just happy to see some of these people get a second chance. The amount of sidekick-turned-heroes who've worked at my agency over the years astounds even me at times," He said, not bothering to hide disappointment when it came to how heroes are trained these days.
"I feel required to apologize on behalf of Shouta," She said in a half-joking and half-serious manner.
Tensei shook his head, "You don't need to apologize."
"But you aren't wrong," Nemuri lamented, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "My time with Peter made me look at how we train the next generation of heroes. Or rather I should say how willing we are as an institution to throw away those who don't fit the mold."
The speedster lightly bumped his shoulder against hers. "Those first-year students are going to be really lucky to have someone like you as their homeroom teacher." His words managed to elicit a very rare kind of reaction from the woman sitting next to him. Nemuri actually blushed at his words. "And don't think for a second you don't deserve this opportunity."
He saw the hesitancy on her face.
There was only a handful of things he disliked about being a hero. One of them was the media and the willingness to lie or smear mud about certain individuals. 'If only the media knew what Nemuri was truly like,' He thought, remembering how much she cared about helping others. 'It makes me feel lucky I can say I know such a wonderful person.'
"Thanks."
The moment between them was, unfortunately, brought to a halt by the sound of snoring. Both heroes looked behind them to see a familiar face sleeping a few seats away.
"Typical." He heard Nemuri mutter, even seeing her roll her eyes at the woman in question. "Of course, she would fall asleep here of all places."
The woman was none other than Mount Lady. A new hero on the block after she made her debut only a few months ago. Tensei remembered how much media coverage the heroine got because of her looks, as well as her willingness to use, said looks to her advantage. While he's never worked with her personally, Tensei heard a few nuggets of praise for the woman.
Suddenly, her snoring got even louder.
'We can't, you know, judge a book by its cover, right?'
(X)
Peter was starting to remember why he hated using ventilation shafts as a way to get around. 'Did they really need to use the dirtiest vents they could find? I swear, some of these looked like the ones I used to crawl around in at Midtown,' He grumpily thought. 'I'm going to be spending the next week cleaning if I have to stay in these any longer than I have to.'
After he rounded the corner, the young hero laid eyes on the first glimmer of light since he entered the building. He made his way over carefully, not wanting to alert the criminals to his presence. The young hero reached yet another ventilation covering. However, he smirked upon seeing the main lobby of the bank below.
'Jackpot!'
Quietly, Peter lifted the covering and placed it behind him. The spider-themed hero crawled out of the tight environment into the open space of the main lobby. Back home, Peter might've been a little more reckless, but he had be careful here.
Quirks tended to make even the simplest of criminals into dangerous foes. It meant he couldn't be sure if they had someone in their ranks with a quirk capable of sniffing him out.
'Time to test out this new feature of mine.' Peter stayed attached to the ceiling as he raised his wrist and turned it over to look at his web shooter. Over the past couple of weeks, Peter's been spending a lot of time trying to get the suit's systems back online. It was mostly failures. Unfortunately, dumpster diving doesn't mean he finds a state-of-the-art computer capable of cracking Mr. Stark's security systems just lying around.
Now, that doesn't mean he wasn't able to add a few things of his own design.
'Come on.' Peter tapped on a few of the holographic buttons. The system glitched out for a second as it responded to his command. Luckily, Peter witnessed what looked like a sonar pulse being sent out from his suit. Soon, his HUD lit up with a plethora of information. 'Yes!'
The system highlighted over three dozen people below him. The majority were marked in a yellow-like color, but there were more than half a dozen individuals labeled with a red designation.
He smirked underneath his mask, 'Oh, these guys are so much in trouble.'
While he would've loved to wail on these guys, Peter had to approach the situation carefully. Civilians were always the priority. He had to make sure they were safe, and taking a stealthy approach wasn't the worst thing in the world. Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton did it all the time when they were spies.
'Time to start thinning out the herd.' Peter observed the positions of the bad guys. Three of them were guarding the civilians while the other six were a level below them. 'Probably went to gocheck out the safe.'
Surprise was going to be his best friend in this situation, and he was gifted yet another advantage as he heard one of the 'criminals' speak up.
"I gotta take a leak."
"Seriously? We're almost done, Hikoaki."
The 'criminal' scoffed at him. "Come on, it's not gonna hurt. Have you seen how horrible these idiots have been performing? I think taking a piss isn't going to kill anyone. Just keep an eye out for the last guy and we can grab a beer after this whole thing is done."
"Dude, where you going?"
Peter raised a brow at their conversation. There's no way they're dumb enough to split up even more in this situation. However, the young hero was proven wrong as one of the 'criminals' walked away. Peter shook his head at their actions but wasn't going to complain. The sound of a door closing allowed him to strike.
The remaining two were forced to watch over two dozen people, which meant their backs were to each other as they walked around the place. It left them vulnerable to what Peter had in mind.
'Alright, time to go to work.'
He immediately leaped down onto a nearby flag pole and fired off his web shooters. The webbing flew through the air in record speed before landing on their target; the ankles of one of the criminals. As one might expect, the person looked down. However, he didn't get a chance to even scream for help before Peter yanked on the webbing, dragging them up into the air with his strength.
The man's brown eyes momentarily met the white lenses of Peter's mask. The young man let his fist fly into his face, knocking the 'criminal' out cold. His body went rag doll.
His friend must've heard the noise because he quickly turned around with his weapon, but Peter fired a web ball at the gun, rendering it useless once it clogged up the barrel. Afterward, the spider-themed hero closed the distance between him and the criminal in a single leap and delivered a powerful strike to the jaw. For a second, Peter clenched his fist as it felt like he smacked a wall.
'I don't think I'll ever get used to quirks being this prevalent.'
In order to prevent the 'criminal' from being a threat once more, Peter used some of his webbing to tie him up. That was when he heard the sound of a toilet flushing followed by a door opening.
"Uh…"
Standing near the entrance to the bathroom was the other criminal. His eyes widened in surprise. Peter saw him raising his weapon but stopped him by using a more powerful version of his web ball. The man soon went flying and became stuck to the wall. At first, he tried to free himself but to no avail. He had one option; scream for help.
Peter prevented that with yet another web ball, covering his mouth. Although, he did remember to poke two holes in the webbing for the guy's nostrils to breathe through. He remembered a story from one of the other Peters about his early days.
Now, with the criminals guarding the hostages out of the way, Peter focused on getting these people out of the building. The bank vault was secondary to him. Once he got their restraints off, Peter knew it was only a matter of time before someone from downstairs realized the guys upstairs weren't responding.
"Alright, everybody, it's time for ya to go," Peter said in Japanese, grabbing their attention. He aimed a web shooter at the main doors and fired another glob of webbing. When it came into contact with the door, it suddenly came to life with electricity before exploding outwards. People briefly cowered in fear at the sound, but Peter barely flinched as he narrowed his eyes at what just happened. He looked back at the people and pointed at the blown entrance, "All you need to do is go through that door and police officers will be there to meet you. You're safe now."
The people listened to his instructions as they headed straight for the door. Nearly everyone escaped to safety except for an old man. He stopped at the threshold and looked over at Peter with a curious look on his face, "...Who are you?"
For a moment, Peter felt like the test was put on hold by the man's question.
"I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." The young man smiled underneath his mask as he felt like a weight was lifted off of him. "Now, get to safety, sir. I'll take care of the bozos inside."
(X)
Enji rubbed his chin while deep in concentration, witnessing the most unusual sight in his life. Most of the people participating in the combine were useless and proved him correct on how most of them did not deserve a second chance at being heroes. The number two hero, however, watched the young man with the golden spider symbol on their chest exceed what he thought was possible from those attending the event.
'It seems they've found someone who isn't a complete failure,' Enji thought, narrowing his eyes. 'But I don't understand something; why is he here?'
He thought nothing of the person originally, believing they were simply trying to overcompensate for a weak quirk with a flashy costume. The man saw it plenty of times throughout his time as a high school student and as a professional hero. However, that wasn't the case. While everybody in his group failed spectacularly on camera, the young man seemed to be excelling.
Even at a glance, Enji suspected the young man wasn't some rookie or drop-out. The boy witnessed an opening and took advantage of it. He was quite effective at using his quirk. 'It seems the spider on his chest isn't for show,' Enji realized, narrowing his eyes as he continued to watch the boy's performance.
Once the civilians were rescued, most people would think his job was done. Enji was mildly impressed as he watched the young man head deeper into the building to search out the rest of the criminals.
"I'll be damned. The guy isn't an idiot," Burnin remarked, who appeared to be impressed. "Well, he's the first guy to actually rescue any of the civilians without screwing up badly. He's earned a couple of points in my book."
His sidekick wasn't wrong to point out how poorly the others in his group had done. Frankly, everything the young man has done so far would be a considerable improvement over those who failed.
"That does beg the question; if someone here actually knows what they're doing, why are they here in the first place?" It's odd to see such skills and talent today. Outside of the rare exception of Hawks, the number two hero can't recall another time when this has happened. He looked at the screen displaying the information of the young man with the golden spider symbol. "Peter Benjamin Parker."
The boy named Parker wasn't Japanese in the slightest bit. On the screen, it said he's American, which would be enough to make people confused. Why is an American trying to earn their hero license all the way in Japan?
"Talented and cute." The predatory-like grin on his sidekick's face was a clear sign of her interest in the young man. "Hell of a combo, ain't it?" She asked with thinly veiled hunger in her eyes.
Enji barely reacted to her words as he continued to focus on the live feed of the basement. Although, he did want to make one thing very clear to Burnin about the boy. "Don't let your sudden attraction cloud your judgment. You understand me?" A hero has to see things with a clear mind. Enji wanted to make it clear to Burnin.
There was a moment of silence before his sidekick muttered something about him being an 'asshole.'
(X)
Locating the elevator to take him down to the lower levels wasn't difficult at all. 'If you've seen the inside of one bank, you've seen them all.' Peter, however, had to be careful. During his little encounter with the three 'criminals' upstairs, he noticed how the cameras were still functioning, and all of them were focused on him. Either it meant they were motion-based or, potentially, being controlled by someone.
Who knows if a quirk is responsible? They're weird, after all.
Peter also suspected the commission was using every bank robbery pro-heroes have stopped in the past to test the people attending the combine, who they automatically assume don't recall much of their hero education or aren't things seriously. Well, that's what separates Peter from the rest of the people here.
He looked up at the camera right over the door to the elevator and gave a thumbs up before using more of his electrified webbing to knock it out of commission. Peter repeated this with a few others before he deemed it safe enough to head down.
'Alright, that takes care of their potential eyes.'
Peter stepped up to the elevator landing doors and ripped them open with his strength. He was greeted by the sight of an empty shaft. Looking over the edge, Peter saw the elevator was at the bottom. If he had to take a guess, it was no more than thirty feet.
Some might've been hesitant to jump from such a height, but it was child's play compared to what he's usually doing. It's why Peter barely thought about stepping over the edge, allowing gravity to take hold of his body.
"Geronimo."
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, his body felt weightless. A rush of air streaming past his face as he headed for the bottom. Thirty feet went by really quickly for the spider-themed hero. At the last second, Peter aimed his web shooter straight up and held the trigger near the bottom of his hand. It took a moment, but his momentum slowed down enough for him to land on top of the elevator without making much noise.
Peter threw open the panel on top and jumped down. As his feet hit the ground, he saw the temperature steadily decline on his HUD. However, it dropped even faster once he tore open the sealed doors.
"Holy crap, it's cold." Peter was surprised by the effect it was having on him. The suit was rated to deal with some pretty damn cold places like Earth's upper atmosphere, and it only seemed to get worse as he stepped into the hallway. "And I'm saying it's cold in August," He muttered.
His thoughts on the situation came to a screeching halt. Everything slowed down to a crawl as he felt a ringing-like sensation in the back of his head. Without thinking about it, Peter instinctively leaped onto the ceiling, narrowly avoiding a shard of ice. He saw it go flying toward the elevator and pierce through the metal without issue.
"Whoa…!"
"Look, what we got here, an actual hero!"
Standing near the entrance to a large vault were the remaining bad guys. Four of them were henchmen if their outfits indicated anything. 'And I've seen these two on the news before,' Peter thought, taking note of the appearances of the two heroes acting as the main bad guys.
One of them, in particular, stood out to Peter.
The man he suspected to be in charge of the bank robbery (and probably his win condition) was the guy who looked like a walking orca. Peter recalled a lot of internet forums bringing up how this guy always ranks in the top five for some national poll dedicated to finding out what hero has the most villain-like appearance. Apparently, the walking orca has never been outside the top five once since he debuted all those years ago.
Meanwhile, the woman standing next to him had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and long black hair. Peter was definitely going to have to be careful about her.
If these are the main bad guys, Peter decides it's time for him to do what he does best; talk.
"Hey guys, forget your pin?"
He barked out an order toward her, "Killer Frost, another one!"
"O-Okay!" She stumbled around for a second before working on another ice spear. "J-Just a minute!"
Peter fired off a flurry of webbing at the group in response. The baseball-sized objects did their job and slowed down the woman with ice powers as she was forced to stop creating the spear for the orca dude.
The brief moment of chaos created by his attack allowed Peter to quickly close the distance by firing a line of webbing at one of the nearby 'villains' and using it to close the distance. A moment later, Peter kicked the man in the chest, which sent the henchmen flying. He barely had time to see if the guy was out cold as his spider-sense went off.
Peter leaped over one of the helpers trying to catch him off-guard.
"Sorry, buddy, this is going to hurt a lot."
"Wha–"
Thwip!
The henchman barely had a chance to turn his head around when he saw a foot enter his vision. All the man would recall afterward was his face being in a lot of pain. Once the henchman was knocked out for good, Peter turned to face the remaining bad guys. He focused on the orca in particular and smiled under his mask.
"You should really invest in better henchmen. I hear finding good help is hard these days. Does Indeed exist for criminals?"
His question earned another ice spear from the orca. Afterward, the killer whale pointed at Peter and barked out orders to the remaining henchmen.
"Get him."
The last two helpers followed their boss' orders without hesitation. 'These guys must really respect the killer whale dude if they're willing to charge me.' He thought it was nice to see how loyal these guys were to their boss. 'Eh, maybe I can talk to them after this whole thing is done.'
Peter saved those thoughts for a later date as he focused back on the test. The young hero rushed them, but at the last second, he leaped over them and slammed their heads together, knocking them out.
He looked at the killer whale and ice woman.
"Guess it's just us left."
The killer whale glared at him before speaking to his partner, "Killer Frost, I suggest you take this seriously."
"C-Can you use a different name? Killer Frost sounds...I don't know...r-really aggressive, sir."
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the test being serious vanished for a moment as the pale-skinned woman asked an unusual question, leaving Peter confused. The orca facepalmed for some reason as he began to mutter something about Ms. Freeze being wholly unprepared to assume the role of a villain. Looks like today wasn't only a try out for him.
The orca let out a sigh of pure exasperation. "This is not the time," He told her in a stern tone. "Focus on the task at hand."
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Now, where were we?"
Peter thought he could see a maniacal grin on the guy's face.
'Lovely.'