Hello everyone, Lealius here with a new chapter
In this one, Izumi meets a new opponent
With that, please enjoy
Shikimori´s not Just a Cutie and its characters belong to Keigo Maki
Spider-man and its characters belong to Marvel Comics
Cover Image made by KrystalDragonArt
Fisk, also known as Kingpin, was at an abandoned warehouse, accompanied by his right hand man, and a nervous Nakamura
-"Why so nervous, doc?" the right hand man mockingly asked "Not used to being outside the lab?"
To this, Nakamura gave no answer
-"The doctor is simply nervous" Kingpin said, wrapping an arm around said doctor "But don´t worry, we are among friends here, isn't that right?"
-"Y-Yes" he nervously replied
The door to the warehouse opened, revealing a man of relatively good high
He had red-brick like hair, and he was wearing a white cowboy hat, a brown leather suit above a turquoise shirt and a green tie, and blue jeans with brown shoes
Truly a person that adopted the western style, and his face looked hardened, like he has seen battle before
He had a toothpick on his mouth
-"Glad you could join us, Montana" Kingpin said
-"Thanks to you for the free trip" Montana replied nonchalantly "This jet lag is killing me though" he looked at the doctor "Who´s the scrawny lab rat?"
-"This is Nakamura, an… associate of mine, if you would"
To this, Montana just shrugged "Anyway, I heard you have a bug problem, and that you want me to squash it"
-"Pretty much, don´t worry, I am not sending you unarmed though" he looked at Montana "Doctor, if you could"
-"Y-Yes" the doctor put a briefcase on the table, and opened it
Montana raised an eyebrow to this "It's already november, halloween has already passed doc"
-"It's not an ordinary costume" the doctor said
-"Put it on Montana" Kingpin said
Letting out a sigh, he felt annoyed, Montana did so
He was now wearing a two piece suit, yellow chest and boots, with red embroidered to the yellow parts, the boots and chest areas were covered by a sort of net, and to cover his eyes, a transparent green visor
But what stood out the most were two gauntlets like devices attached to his hands, made out of some metallic material with a circuit inside of them
The suit also included some sort of utility belt
-"Hmm, I had wear worse" Montana said, not entirely bothered by the strange suit "But I am guessing this is more than just a fashion statement"
-"Indeed" Nakamura continued "This suit is equipped with technology, the gauntlets that is, that can generate shockwaves"
-"Shockwaves?" the right hand man asked
-"I believe a demonstration is in order" he went and activated the gauntlets "Montana-san, if you could aim at those bottles over there, just press the button on the sides of the gauntlets"
Looking at said bottles, Montana aimed his right hand, and did as instructed
The result was circular shaped waves of green energy being emanated from the gauntlets, creating a trembling sensation as they were fired like a ray towards the bottles
The shocks generated by these waves were enough to shatter not only the bottles, but also leave a hole in the back wall
-"Well, I´ll be damned" Montana was impressed "Quite the little gadget you´ve made doctor"
-"Not for its intended purpose though" the doctor said, not proud of his part on this
-"Now, my good doctor, there's no need for that attitude" Kingpin coldly said "After all, if it wasn't for my intervention, the board of the university would had have your ass out due to you losing that spider, or whatever it was, you are in debt to me, remember?"
To this, he gave a nervous nod
-"Getting back on business" Montana said "What exactly do you need me to do with the bug?"
-"Keeping him distracted so he won't interfere with my operations, do try to not let yourself be capture though, not that the police will have a chance against you with this suit"
-"Heh" he fired another shockwave "With this, those boys and girls should start looking for another job" he then remembered something "One more thing, want this bug killed? I am feeling a little trigger happy here"
To this, the Kingpin gave a feral smile "Do it to your heart content"
Having taking off the suit, Montana began to head towards the exit "Consider your bug infection taken care off"
-"Izumi-kun!" the teacher called "Continue from where Inuzuka-kun left off!"
-"Oh" having his name called brought him back to reality and made him realize he was not following the text "I-I´m sorry, where were you?"
-"Here" Inuzuka patiently pointed out
-"Do pay more attention Izumi-kun" the teacher called
-"Y-Yeah, sorry, it won't happen again" he felt embarrassed
To say that Izumi had problems to focus on todays lessons would be an understatement, after all, it's not everyday that you walk right into an enemy´s trap, and, suddenly, a good portion of the city´s population wants you arrested
And those were only the "nice" comments he had seen on different internet forums
Not only that, but, and in synchronization with his usual bad luck, he has heard some of his classmates express their own opinions about his superhero persona
Things along the lines of "My father works at Fisk Industries, and this bug freak and his actions could cost him his job, how are we gonna survive then?" or "Why is he sticking his nose where nobody calls him? He thinks just because he has powers the law does not apply to him?"
"Stupid freak" "Go to hell" "Nobody wants you, leave!"
Each word hurt, and yet, he couldn't defend himself, because there was the chance of his identity getting exposed
-"If my identity were to be exposed"
Forget him being arrested, or on trial, the negative attention his mother and friends would gain
With headlines like
The mother of a criminal
I am dating a criminal
How to tell if your friend is a criminal?
Each of those headlines made him shudder
-"Thank goodness the police has yet to make an official announcement"
That was his only silver lining
Question is, how long will it last?
The bell rang, it was time to lunch, he let out a sigh of relief, maybe a good meal is just what he needs
Having selected his food, he was now sitting with his friends and girlfriend
-"This is ridiculous" Nekozai said while looking at her phone, and she was not happy
-"What´s wrong?" Shikimori asked
-"The people on the internet, that´s what is wrong, I can't believe they are tainting Spider-man like that!"
That part got Izumi´s attention
-"What does it say?" Inuzuka asked
-"Stuff like "Have the freak arrested" or "Justice to Fisk-san" and some others that…" she shudder "People should really watch what they say on the internet"
Izumi gulped, he does not need a description, thank you very much
-"Say" he spoke up, he wanted to ask something that's been on his mind for the last couple of hours "How do you guys feel about this?"
They all looked at him
-"What do you mean?" Inuzuka asked
-"Well, about Spider-man in general, including this…" he hated saying this "Crime he committed against Fisk-san"
-"Well" Hachimitsu was the first to speak "It seems out of nowhere, that's for sure, for some people, it makes you wonder if this is who spiderman truly is"
He felt hurt, did one of his friends truly feel like that?
-"But I am not one of those people" she added
-"Huh?"
-"As I said, it's out of nowhere, plus, the footage on the internet only shows him attack his workers and Fisk, but it does not show the full context"
-"Exactly!" Nekozaki added "There must be a good reason as to why Spider-man did what he did, and I refuse to believe otherwise"
-"You start to sound like one of my siblings" Inuzuka added with a chuckle "But yeah, seems pretty fishy to me"
-"I feel the same way" Shikimori asked "After all, for a person to risk his life to stop crime, only for him to suddenly do a turn, it simply doesn't make sense, and I get the feeling he wouldn't commit crime or hurt others"
-"You guys" he felt both touched and relieved
-"What about you, Izumi-san?" Shikimori asked "How do you feel about Spider-man?"
-"Well" he thought about his words very carefully "I think he must be going through a hard time with all of this, I just hope he can catch a break soon"
-"I agree"
-"Still" he looked at his girlfriend "He ain't cooler than you, Shikimori-san"
To this, the pink haired blushed deeply "W-Well, I wouldn´t be to sure about that"
-"Smooth" Nekozaki said" But yeah, as Izumi says, no one deserves this!" Nekozaki added
-"Thus" Hachimitsu said "The president of Spider-mans fan club has spoken"
-"Why, you" Nekozaki grabbed the shorter girl into a headlock
-"Knock it off you two, we are at lunch" Inuzuka groaned
To this, Shikimori just laughed
Izumi could not help but laugh too
He felt happy that they were on his side, even if they didn´t know the truth behind the mask
Once classes were over, it was his turn to help at the library once more
He entered said library, and went to one of the book shelves, where he saw Kamiya placing some books
-"Hello, Kamiya-san"
He got no answer
The volleyball team´s ace was deep in thought
-"Kamiya-san?" he repeated, somewhat concerned
-"Huh?" she was brought back to reality, she noticed Izumi standing a couple of feet away "Oh, hello, Izumi-kun, sorry, I didn't notice you"
-"No problem, are you ok though?"
-"Yeah, just… deep in thought about something"
-"Oh?" he was curious "What is it about? If you don't mind me asking though"
-"Hmmm" she was conflicted
-"S-sorry" he felt embarrassed "Guess I overstep my boundaries"
-"N-No" she quickly replied "Not at all, I appreciate your concern, and I guess talking about it could help"
-"Sounds good, only share what you are comfortable with though"
-"It's about Spider-man"
That certainly got his attention, he was not planning to bring up the topic, but might as well know her opinion
-"What about him?"
-"Well, you have probably seen the news already, about him and Fisk-san, right?"
-"Y-Yeah" not only that, he was the target of said news "Crazy"
-"I know"
-"Do you feel that way too?" he felt afraid asking this
-"No, of course not, I know Spider-man´s a hero, and that there's more to this than meets the eye, and I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way"
He felt happy that she was also on his side
-"It's not my opinion on him that worries me though"
-"Oh?"
She looked down "I am more concerned about how this will affect father"
-"Your father?" he was confused
-"Well, ever since Spider-man entered the scene, and this was before the situation with Fisk-san happened, he's been under a lot of stress"
Izumi felt ashamed, the last thing he wanted was to cause problems to his friends, directly and indirectly
-"I am sorry"
Kamiya looked at him, with an eyebrow raised "Why are you apologizing?"
-"Oh" he realized his slip of tongue "I am just sorry that your father has to go through this"
-"Thank you for your concern, Izumi-kun, I trust that he will overcome this, he always has"
Her phone vibrated, she looked at the screen "It´s mother, give me a moment"
She went outside the library to answer her call
Once he was alone, Izumi let out a sigh
-"I am glad she's still on my side, like the others, but I can't help but feel guilty that I am putting her father through a stressful situation" he put a hand on his chin "I wonder how exactly though, but I can´t ask her without risking my identity, plus, she has her right to her privacy"
She came back into the library
-"Sorry about that. Anyway, we should get back to work"
-"Good idea"
And so, they kept on working, occasionally chatting about anything
The day at school was over, after parting ways, Izumi went to do his little side job, cleaning the house of a neighbor
Once he was done, he put on his suit to do some patrolling
Despite the recent changes in the public's opinion, he couldn´t exactly abandon his duties as a superhero, right?
-"Glad to know Shikimori-san and the others are still on my side" he thought while overlooking the city, the sun beginning to set in the horizon, and so far, no crimes
The protesters had already gone home, although he has a feeling that tomorrow will be the same
-"Still hurts knowing that the inhabitants hate me now"
He remembered the words that Kingpin told him yesterday
-"Maybe I am not needed after all then if it's gonna be like this"
He shook his head to dispel those negative thoughts
-"No! Dont think like that Izumi, you made a promise to protect them, and a promise to your father! It hurts now, but it won't always be like this"
He wasn't so confident on that last part
-"Right?"
His train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound on a nearby stores alarm
Looking towards the direction of the sound, he saw two robbers with masks exiting with a bag of money, and getting into a car
-"Framed or not, I have to stop them!"
Putting his mask on, he began to give chase to the criminals
-"Here he comes" the criminal on the passenger side said "Make sure he doesn't lose us"
-"Got it"
Izumi kept following, jumping from building to building
Eventually, they arrived to a nearby warehouse next to the Asakawa River
The two criminals left the car and entered the warehouse
Izumi following suit
Once inside, the lights of the warehouse were turned on
Izumi was surrounded by nothing but containers
The two criminals faced him
-"Glad you could join us, freak" one said
That's when Izumi realized what happened
-"Oh no, it's a trap again!"
Before he could say anything, he felt his vibrations going off on his head
Suddenly, a container started to fly like a projectile towards him
Eyes wide, he rolled out of the way, the container bouncing a few times on the ground before fully stopping
-"W-What was that?" he thought confused
-"Gotta hand it to you, bug" Montana, in his suit, said as he appeared from the shadows "You´re more agile than I thought"
-"W-Who are you?"
-"Sorry, that´s on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know" he aimed one of his gauntlets at the young hero "What you do need to know is… You´re gonna die here"
He fired the same waves from before, forming a ray at the hero
-"What the?" Izumi was so in disbelief that he failed to dodge
The waves sending him flying
He could feel the vibration of said waves crawling through his body, like punches
Eventually, he crashed against the wall, leaving a crack on it
-"Ugh" he could feel his body in pain "Those waves… they hurt"
Despite his body trembling, he stood up, holding the right side of his abdomen
-"Ho… You´re tougher than you look, though I reckon that came as a bit of a shocker, right, bug?"
-"You have no idea" he thought to himself
-"Well" he aimed his gauntlet "So will this" he fired once more
Thankfully, Izumi fired a web line to a nearby metal column, and yanked himself out of harm's way
-"You really are like a spider"
-"I´ll ask again, who are you?"
-"What? Think you´re the only one who can dress up?" he fired another shot, which the young hero dodged once more "Why don't you hold still, son, so I can put you out of your misery? I mean, with the city hating you, I might be doing you a favor" he fired another blast
Izumi once again dodged, this time resting on another column
-"Well, if you´re so interested in names, how about… Shocker" he fired another blast
Izumi again dodged, this time landing on the ground
Taking advantage of this, he jumped at his opponent, and threw a punch
-"Take this!"
However, before the punch could collide with its target, Shocker generated waves from his chestplate
-"Gah!" Izumi yelled as he was send flying backwards, bouncing a few times before stopping "Ugh" he groaned
Shocker began to walk towards him "Either you got less kick than a three-legged mule, or this suit here does more than protect me from my own power" he lifted Izumi´s body "Well" he prepared his gauntlet "Not that you will find out anyway"
However, Izumi lifted his hand, and fired web at the villains visor, partially blocking his sight
-"Agh!" Shocker took a step back, using his free hand to get rid of the web
Taking advantage of his temporal distraction, Izumi lifted his leg, and impacted it against Shockers chest, allowing him to break free, as well as gain some distance
-"Clever little trick" Montana said once he broke free from the web in his visor
Before they could continue, the two thugs from before joined the fight, trying to hit Izumi with some crowbars, to no luck, since the hero dodged them
-"What on a dingo´s name are you doing?" Montana asked annoyed
-"Payback time!" one of them yelled
-"Napping time, that's what it is" the main villain fired a blast of waves to each thug, sending them flying against the wall "Don´t bother now, adults are talking"
-"You attack your own teammates?!" Izumi asked shocked
-"Got no time for amateurs, plus, now you can't say that it's an unfair advantage" he fired another blast at Izumi, who managed to dodge
-"You did need their help to set me up, though" Izumi said
-"Minor details, plus, you´re the one who fell in a trap, again"
-"So it was a trap" his eyes went wide when he made the connection "You´re working with Fis, I mean, Kingpin, aren't you?"
-"As I said, that´s on a need to know basis" he fired another blast, which Izumi dodged, by using a web line to yanked himself to the ceiling
However, anticipating this, Shocker fired a second blast to where the web was attached to, crumbling that portion of the ceiling, and making Izumi fall
-"Oh no" he was worried
But, he was met mid air by another ray of waves, sending him flying towards containers
-"And you don't need to know" the criminal finished
Izumi layed down on top of the scrambled containers, his body in pain
-"Ugh, I can't win this one" he could hear Shocker approaching
He was worried, he couldn't defeat him, he needed a plan
And he had one, rather, it was a risky one
-"Let's see" Shocker check on Izumis body, poking the fallens hero body with his leg, no answer
-"Please, let this work" Izumi thought, he was pretending to be unconscious
-"Seems he's out cold" Montana said, he then noticed the two criminals recovering "He's out, proceed to burn down this place" and he headed towards the exit
-"Burn down?!" Izumi thought alarmed
Taking advantage of this "unconscious" state, Izumi could see the two other thugs spilling a strange liquid all over the floor
He recognized the smell
-"Thats gasoline!"
One of the ruffians lit up a match, and threw it at the liquid while running away
In the blink of an eye, the warehouse began to be engulfed by flames and smoke
Izumi stood up, despite the pain
He began to cough
-"Have to find an exit!" looking around he noticed a window
Throwing a web line at it, he yanked himself up, and break through the glass as he left the warehouse
Once he was safe at a nearby rooftop, he took off his mask, and coughed some more
-"God blessed the fresh air"
He saw the warehouse being burnt down, all while firemen trucks got near to put down the fire
-"That was terrible"
He lifted his suit, time to check the damage on his body
Inspecting his left abdomen side, he could see a few bruises, touching then, he winced in pain
-"It hurts, but It could be much worse, I don't see any blood, and I don't feel any broken bones, I was able to move to get out of there after all" he let out a sigh of relief "Guess these powers do more than just letting me shoot web and crawl"
He stood up, still in pain, but alive
-"I bet I still have more bruises in other parts of my body, though I already had scars before, so even if someone sees them, I can use that as an excuse" he let out a sigh once more "Never thought I would be grateful of my daily misfortunes, shows what you know"
He smelled his armpits "I do have some smell of smoke, better stop by the laundromat on the way home"
Deciding that, he left
Once back home, and after having dinner, and miraculously hiding his bruises, thank goodness there weren't on his face, he was resting on his bed, looking at the ceiling
-"What a day, I become a sort of wanted criminal to some, and now there's a new villain to worry about" he remembered his fight against Shocker "He has to be working with Kingpin, but why?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone
It was Shikimori
-"Hello, Shikimori-san" he felt happy to hear her
-"Hi, Izumi-san, how are you?"
-"Doing good" despite the beating he just took "You?"
-"I am also good, just calling to check when should we go to the amusement park"
He remembered his proposal, despite his sick state "Does this sunday sound good to you?"
-Fine by me, let's meet up at the entrance"
-"Works for me, it's bound to be crowded though, so keep your phone ready in case we need to call each other"
-"I will"
Having decided that, the couple kept on talking until it was time to sleep
-"I am glad I can go on a date with Shikimori-san, it's been too long" he then thought about the villains he has faced so far, as well as the news
He shook his head
-"No, now it's time to focus on the date, and to make sure Shikimori-san has fun!"
With a newfound determination, he went to sleep
Meanwhile, at his office, Kingpin and his right hand man were meeting with Montana
-"Good work, Montana" the crime lord was pleased
-"It's what I do, was hoping for more of a fight though"
-"You made sure to burn the building, correct?"
-"Did that, went down faster than a wildfire, so no evidence left"
-"What if Spider-man escaped though?" the right hand man asked
To this, Montana was not pleased "You think I'd make such an amateur mistake?"
-"Gentlemen, please" Kingpin interrupted "Even if he did, he´ll think twice before picking up a fight, plus, it was good enough of a distraction for us to carry out our business"
-"Hmph, if the bug does show up, he won't be getting away a second time"
-"I am sure of that, but, in the case he does, I've thought of a way to kill two birds with one store"
-"What do you mean?"
-"Theres this place I´ve been meaning to buy and demolish to expand one of my legitimate business, gotta keep the legitimate front, but the owner is refusing to sell, so if he won´t bent to my good side, well have to resort to… other tactics"
He pulled a brochure of a certain amusement park, and showed it to Montana
-"Consider this the battlefield for you and the freak, he won't resist saving them, do go on sunday though, there's bound to be more people that day, and more chances of him showing up"
To this, Montana had a blood-thirsty smile
He couldn't wait for the second round
And that´s the end of that, we have the first secondary villain, Shocker (Spectacular Spider-man version) and Izumi took his first defeat, not to mention that the public aren´t pleased with him, what will he do?
Next time, Izumi and Shikimori go on a date, but there will be a certain someone playing thirdwheel
So, what do you think? Leave any comments or send a PM, and I will gladly answer
As usual, thank you all for reading
See you next time
Peace