Chapter 18: The World Keeps Turning

"Gotta say, that kid sure gets around." Sansa Tamakawa commented as he read the report from a late night arrest.

Naomasa was sitting at a desk in front of him, the man sighing, "No kidding." Naomasa then shuffled some papers in front of himself before taking the paper Sansa was reading.

"Ready to do the interrogation?" Sansa asked next.

"Honestly, no. I really wish I had Eraserhead here, as he's good at improvising certain questions."

"But your quirk-"

"Is perfect for interrogations. I know." Naomasa interrupted as he stood up. His quirk was Lie Detection, something that made him perfect for police work. He had used it more times than he could ever count, and as he had just said, it was perfect for interrogation. As such, the two men walked out of the office and into the hallway, shuffling down to a door that had the words: 'Interrogation Room #2' on it.

"Here we go." Naomasa commented as he opened the door, quickly walking in with Sansa following him. The room was a simple, dull gray affair, complete with just three chairs and table. And in one chair was Spinner, his hands handcuffed to the table with a tired look on his face. It showed he hadn't slept in some time.

"Hello there, I'm Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. You are Shuichi Iguchi, correct?"

"Call me Spinner." He grumbled, glancing slightly away.

"Alright." Naomasa wrote that down before gesturing to Sansa, the cat man taking out a recording device. "Let's begin."

Izuku had slept in for over the half the day. He had never slept that much, feeling his mind slightly muddle as he woke up. The teen slowly got out of bed, feeling himself drag through the entire house. And as he ate a super late lunch, he decided he would only do a small patrol today.

"Hope I didn't get sick." he whispered to himself as he turned on the television. There it showed a few basic news stories, only to switch to a news table talking about a certain event.

"As we all know, the UA sports festival is four days away now! Are you all excited?" one lady asked.

A well shaved man responded to this, "Oh yes. As everyone knows, it will be the first classes that were able to learn from All Might firsthand. We suspect they'll be something truly spectacular."

The next words fell on deaf ears as Izuku went wide-eyed at that statement. He faceplamed as he thought about yesterday. "Augh! I forgot to ask Uraraka about what its like getting taught by All Might again!"

He slumped down into the couch, munching on a piece of meat as he sulked, "I can't go to UA, I miss getting taught by All Might, I don't get to try the UA sports festival..." He raised his right hand, seeing a bit electricity spark around it, "Well, at least I have this."

He gulped down the last piece of meat and took a sip of his drink, 'When the festival happens, I should root for Uraraka and the others. I just hope they don't have to fight Kacchan.' He put the drink back down, 'I wonder what Kacchan's up too. I bet he's top of the class...while I'm still a useless Deku.'

The teen felt himself shake at those thoughts, memories of his once friend hurting him again. He felt a bit of sweat appear on his forehead as he rubbed his face, shivering as he clenched up. 'No...don't think about that. Those times are over. You're...you're a vigilante now. You'll become a hero. You'll figure it out. Its just...gonna take a while.'

He took a long deep breath before standing up, a determined stare now appearing on his face. "I'll figure it out." And with that, he ate the rest of his food, put it away and put on his costume.

An hour or so later, the teen was web-swinging through the city, a grin on his face under his mask. As he swung, he began to do flips and spins, all things he had thought up last night during the stakeout. He found it refreshing, as if he could do anything as he swung around.

As he did this, a small kid pointed up at the sky, gasping as he then tugged on his mom's skirt, "Look mommy!"

The woman looked up, now seeing the vigilante swing away, letting out a "WOOOO!" as he disappeared down the street.

"That was so cool! Can I do that?" the kid asked next, his mother sighing and shaking her head.

"Not until you're older." She replied as she took her son's hand.

"Awww...but I wanna try that now!"

And as this happened, Izuku took a left, going down another street. The grin on his face kept growing, only to let out a sigh, "Ahhh...I needed this. Just a good old fashioned swing across the city."

He then took out the police scanner, having a feeling it was going to dictate today's events. And is if right on schedule, a voice spoke up.

"This is Musutafu police. We have a runaway vehicle going down Bracca Boulevard, any hero present, please respond."

"Bracca? That's not too far away." Izuku commented as he took another turn, "Maybe I can intercept it."

A few minutes of swinging later, he got to the street, only to find a trail of knocked over cars. The sight made him go wide-eyed, only to then see a few police cars race by, all blaring their sirens. "Looks like someone's trying out for demolition derby." He chuckled to himself, "That's a good one. I should write that down."

He followed the trail of destruction, only to spot a hero or two run down the street, helping the people who's cars were overturned. He felt himself wanting to go down and help as well, only to glance back up and see the vehicle responsible. It was a jet black semi, and the back door of the truck was open. And inside was a familiar sight.

'Its those masked guys again!' he mentally gasped, only to see one of the thugs pull out what looked like a bazooka. 'Holy cow!'

The teen quickly fired two web lines and yanked himself, slingshotting over the police cars. And as he did this, one of the masked men pointed to the sky. "The spider!"

The thug with the bazooka looked up, leaning slightly back at the sight before aiming the weapon upward. 'Uh-oh.' Izuku thought as his spider sense began to scream at him. A second later, a loud boom could be heard as the rocket went flying out of the bazooka. Izuku quickly fired a web line to his left and yanked it, pulling him away from the projectile just in time. And as he did this, he glanced back at the flying explosive and aimed his wrist at it. 'Can't let that go flying into the city!'

He fired a web line, grabbing it before he did a single pull. "How about we return to sender?!" He yelled as he swung the web line downward, slinging it right back at the semi.

"Destroy it!" yelled the masked thug holding the bazooka, the other thug pulling out a katana and swinging it. A wave of energy came out next, hitting the rocket and making it explode in mid-air.

Seeing this, Izuku let out a breath, 'Not what I wanted, but at least it didn't hurt anybody.' He fired another web line at the semi's roof and pulled, quickly yanking himself over to the vehicle with a single motion. And as he landed, he rolled along the truck's roof, letting out a groan as he tried to stand back up.

"The spider is on the roof!" the masked thug with the bazooka roared, "You, get me another rocket! The rest of you, get up there and kill the spider! I will handle the police!" The other thugs nodded and one quickly grabbed the roof's edge, pulling himself up. But as he did this, a strand of webbing suddenly hit the climbing thug's chest.

"Surprise!" Izuku exclaimed as he pulled on the web line, instantly flinging the thug across the roof. This was followed by a kick to the face, shattering the mask as the thug was knocked onto his back. A second later, webbing covered his body, the teen yanking the katana from him at the same time.

"No more swords. Seriously, what is with you villains and your sharp objects?!" Izuku commented as threw the sword behind him and webbed it to the roof, out of the thug's reach. But as he did this, two more thugs climbed onto the roof, one with a pair of energy whips while another had just a katana. "Oh great. This is gonna be another one of those 'fifty thugs in a semi' thing, isn't it?"

"Kill the spider!" the katana thug yelled as he charged at Izuku. He quickly thrust his blade at the teen, only for Izuku to side-step the attack before doing a quick spin, lifting and slamming his foot into the masked thug's side. The man fell over at this, Izuku quickly firing a glob of webbing over him.

Danger!

Izuku tried to turn around as his spider sense blared, only for an energy whip to suddenly appear and quickly wrap around his neck. "Urk!" he gasped as he grabbed the whip, trying to pull it off. But as he did this, the masked thug's fists surged with black and white energy, the energy then flowing through the whip and zapping the vigilante. "AAAAAAHHHH!" Izuku screamed, only to turn to the masked man and aimed his wrist at him.

Psst!

"Oh, come on!" He grunted out before putting his hands back on the whips. He then began to try and charge some Venom Power in the weapon, only for the whips to surge with energy again, zapping the teen instead. "Augh!"

"You die today spider!" the whip guy yelled as he kept pouring energy from his hands into the whips. And as he did this, Izuku's spider sense went wild, screaming at him as the masked man inside the semi had just finished loading the bazooka again. And though Izuku couldn't see it, his spider sense was telling him something bad was coming.

'Gotta...get...free!' His mind yelled at him, only to clench his hands around the whip. And with one mighty pull, he yanked them off his neck. The masked man flinched at this for a second before flicking the whips, only for Izuku to leap at him. Before the masked man could react, Izuku tackled him with both hands on the thug's shoulders. "Sorry, this is now a no-whip zone!"

ZAP!

Electricity surged for a split second, zapping the thug as it instantly knocked him out. And as Izuku tried to get up, his spider sense kept screaming, making him glance over the truck's edge and see to thug about to aim at the police car. "NO!" He yelled as he grabbed the roof's edge and spun around, quickly thrusting his feet into the thug's face. Knocking the masked man back, the bazooka flew out of his hands, knocking into another thug inside the semi.

And as Izuku landed inside, he found he was staring at ten more masked men, including a bulky one in the very back. "Oh great, they're quintuplets. Lovely."

"The spider!" one of them yelled before two leapt at Izuku. Electricity surged in both of his fists at this, quickly throwing two Venom Punches at them. And as he knocked both back, a third pulled out a blade and thrust it. Spider sense blaring, Izuku side-stepped it with ease before throwing another punch. This one didn't have the bio-electricity in it, but the blow was enough to make the thug stumble. Seeing this, Izuku turned to see two more thugs charging at him, both with energy pouring around their fists. They each threw jabs at him, Izuku ducking and dodging both.

'Darn it! If only my web shooters weren't empty right now!' he thought as he kept evading the attacks, his spider sense blaring as it warned him of every attack. He kept dancing, finding that the two masked thugs were surprising slow with their punches, but were making Izuku backpedal to the edge of the semi. And as this happened, he soon noticed he was out of room as the back of his right foot went slightly over the edge.

'Oh no...' Izuku glanced back up to see a third thug joining the two, the trio's fists all surging with black and white energy. 'I gotta do something! I-'

THOOM!

What sounded like a tank falling onto something suddenly rang out, everyone in the semi now stumbling as the whole truck shook. Feeling this, Izuku glanced up and outside of the semi, only to go wide-eyed as he saw the face of a giant dragon. "Ryukyu?!"

The Dragoon Hero in her dragon form was on top of the semi, grabbing it in her giant claws. "This chase ends now!" she declared, only for Izuku to feel the semi now getting yanked upward. He looked back and saw she was now pulling the truck off the ground, making him gasp as she roared, "You're all under arrest! Surrender now!"

"Holy cow!" Izuku yelped, only for his spider sense to scream at him. Glancing back inside the semi, one of the thugs grabbed a sword and thrust it at him, Izuku falling back as the masked man tried to stab him. This made Izuku drop right out of the truck, the teen quickly flipping his body as he grabbed the bottom of the semi. And with a mighty heave, he pulled himself upward, soon clinging to the vehicle's underbelly.

"That...was nuts." He whispered before noticing that the road that was supposed to be below him was now just a few feet away, along with police cars now moving around to create some kind of formation.

'Oookay then. I'm pretty sure Ryukyu can handle this. Time to refill my webbing and get out of here.' he thought to himself as he quickly grabbed the web cartridges. A few seconds later, he was back in web-shooter mode before going invisible and looking back into the semi. There, he saw one of the masked thugs looking outside the truck with bazooka in hand.

"Oh no you don't!" he yelled as he reached up and grabbed the thug's ankle, zapping it with a surge of bio-electricity. The thug screamed before slumping over, his body flopping out of the now flying semi. Seeing this, Izuku quickly fired a web-line, catching the man by the chest. "Hang on there!"

He yanked the man back up and fired another round of webbing over the thug before slinging him to the side of the semi, his body soon sticking onto the truck's right side before climbing onto the side as well. After this, he glanced back inside and saw another thug trying to get the bazooka ready, only to sigh, 'They don't give up, do they?!'

But as he saw this, the passenger door opened, a masked thug pulling out an automatic rifle and pointing it at the dragon. "Die hero!" he barked, making Izuku look back and saw the man.

"Uh-oh." Izuku whispered before pointing his wrist at the thug, "Not today!"

Thwip!

A single strand of webbing instantly hit the rifle, Izuku yanking it a second later. The thug let out a yelp before turning to see Spider-Man crawling on the right side of the truck. "Curse you spider!" he growled before slamming the passenger door shut.

"Oookay." Izuku then looked back at the end of the semi, only to see a giant dragon claw slamming into it, knocking the thugs inside back. The sight made him go wide-eyed, flinching for a second as he began to hear the police tell Ryukyu to put the semi down. He glanced down at the street, now seeing the police fully surround the descending vehicle.

'Um...maybe I should leave. I mean, Ryukyu looks like she's got this handled.' He looked back at the passenger door again, only to see the bare results he had just prodcued. 'Darn it. Just another pointless fight with these guys...'

He glanced up at Ryukyu, the dragon now slowly descending. Seeing this, he fired a web line and yanked himself away, switching into a swing a second later. He heard a few yells at this, but the voices drowned out quickly. He swung down street after street, his mind going over what had just happened.

'What was that? That was the third time I've been in a car chase with those masked goons, and its like...they don't care. They just drive around and cause trouble. I didn't even do anything this time honestly...' he thought before sighing, "I guess I'll just go and find something else to do."

Izuku swung for another thirty minutes after that, unable to get how the situation went out of his head. He had just tried to stop the masked gang again, only for another hero to swoop in and do a better job than him. That had never happened before. Everytime he found himself going into a fight, either the heroes weren't there, or they were in trouble.

And as he stopped a swing and landed on a rooftop, perching on the corner of the building, his mind raced back to all his previous encounters. 'Have I just been lucky?' he thought before taking out his cases notebook, looking them over and sighing, 'Maybe...maybe I have. I mean, I was useless back there. That whip guy beat me up, and I wasn't even close to stopping the truck. Ryukyu just came in and fixed everything while I was struggling.'

He rubbed his face at this, shaking his head, 'I'm still not a hero yet, am I? I'm not even close. I mean, I've saved people and heroes have thanked me...and yet, I keep failing. I failed today, I failed with that Gentle Criminal guy, and that masked gang keeps getting away...'

He put the notebook away, closing his eyes for a second, "Mom told me I shouldn't have to become a criminal to be a hero. Maybe she was right." He sat down at this, his feet dangling over the roof, "Huh. Maybe I should go to UA and ask to be a student." He let out a low chuckle at this, shaking his head, "Yeah, like they'd accept a Deku like me."

The teen looked up at the sky at this, exhaling a deep breath, "I guess the vigilante thing wasn't the best idea." He looked down at his hands, flexing them as he sighed, "I wonder...what is it really like to be a hero?"

It was nearing evening now as Naomasa sat in his office. He was looking over the transcript of the interrogation he had just done this morning. To the left of him was his computer, which was showing Spider-Man being part of a car chase situation that was later solved by Ryukyu. She had finished the job, capturing the gang of masked goons with ease after Spider-Man had softened them up.

And though Naomasa would easily admit he had great respect for the Dragoon hero, he felt that the situation just made his case worse. After all, despite Spider-Man actually not solving the issue here, he had still got there before the heroes. That alone will make the hero commission go after Ryukyu, telling her to be better because a vigilante 'tried to upstage her' or some nonsense like that.

It gave the detective a headache, one that he knew Eraserhead would share once he came in and saw today's reports. And as if on cue, the office door opened to the reveal the scraggy, always tired looking man. He had a cup of coffee in one hand, and a glare on his face as he sat down.

"Bad day?" Naomasa asked, the Pro Hero just grumbling in response. "I'm guessing so."

"Problem children." Aizawa growled as he took a sip of coffee. "They're going to embarrass me so much in the UA sports festival."

"That bad?"

The teacher just shook his head, "They have potential...but that's it." He rubbed his face at this, "Its going to be a disaster, I just know it."

"You know, maybe you shouldn't be that negative." Naomasa chuckled before spinning around the transcript papers and lightly moving them over to the hero. "Here, take a look at this."

"What is it?"

"Transcript of today's interrogation. Spider-Man stopped a bank robber last night and the robber was...different. Like, he acted like he might become a fan of the vigilante after losing to him."

"Really? That's a new one." Aizawa replied as he looked it over, "You sure he wasn't yanking your chain?"

"He wasn't. I mean, he tried to lie at first, but soon realized he couldn't get around my quirk."

"Figures." Aizawa commented, "So, it says here this...Spinner, was robbing banks due to being desperate after he ran out of money."

"Yeah. I looked up his profile, and what I can determine, he's been discriminated most of his life." Naomasa added, "As such, he eventually went to crime since no one would hire him anywhere. Before this though, it seems he was just a shut-in."

"Huh." Aizawa responded as he read the second and third page, "So...he went to rob the bank on Eadu Drive last night, only for Spider-Man to suddenly appear. The vigilante beats him, and then started asking why he did it?"

Aizawa glanced up at Naomasa, the detective shrugging in response. "Don't ask me. I don't know why he did it either."

Eraserhead looked back at the paper, "Then Spider-Man told him to tell the police everything, and told him that...he was just like him?!" His voice increased at the end there as he glanced up at Naomasa, the detective shrugging in response. "Seriously?!"

"I know. Spinner wouldn't tell me anything else after that, but I could tell that Spider-Man inspired him."

Aizawa slumped back in his chair, letting out a groan, "Well, that changes the profile we were making for Spider-Man." He lifted up the papers over his head, glaring at the words, "I don't believe this. There's got to be something we're missing here."

"Would you like to hear my theory?"

"Sure, why not?"

Naomasa pulled out another paper, this one showing a picture of Spider-Man and a list of believed quirks. Five were currently on the list, three confirmed, which were a spider mutant quirk, invisibility and bio-electricity. The other two were considered to be pure theory, that being a type of sensory quirk and a webbing emitter quirk. "I think that whatever gave him these quirks is why he's like this."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at this, taking the paper and humming at the sight, "Well...I mean, you could be right. Whatever gave him all these quirks has to be connected to him being a vigilante." A small bulb went off in his head at this, "Say, you think Spider-Man's not registered?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what if he's like the League of Villains? Their two main members we know of aren't in the database or quirk registry. What if Spider-Man doesn't have an identity either and that's why they're a vigilante. I mean, if he has no background, most hero schools aren't going to accept him."

Naomasa bit his lip at that, "In other words, he's an escaped experiment or something like that?"

"We live in a world ruled by superpowers that can do some seriously irrational stuff." Aizawa put the paper down on the desk, "I mean, he could still just be a citizen. It just doesn't make sense that he's a vigilante though."

"I know." Naomasa sighed, "That's why this is so difficult." He turned to watch the footage of Spider-Man in the car chase from earlier today, "I can't help but think we're missing just one piece of the puzzle." Aizawa let out a snort at that, making the detective look back at him. He could tell the teacher was already back to thinking about his students rather than the case. As such, he shined a small smile and asked, "Say, if you had the chance to catch Spider-Man now, what would you do? Would you let him in your class?"

Aizawa blinked at that, his head turning to the footage before humming, "Maybe. Seems like a real problem child though." The teacher then looked down at the paper again, "Say, do we have anything on these...'Inner Demons' he keeps fighting?"

Naomasa shook his head, "Nope. Just like the last time I brought you in for them, its the same. They come in clueless, as if they've been brainwashed and know nothing as soon as the brainwashing is removed." The detective pulled out another folder at this, "The only other thing we have is that they don't seem to use quirks when brainwashed. They seem to gain an energy quirk while brainwashed and just use that or weapons like swords and guns."

"But once the brainwashing is gone, they can't remember or use the energy quirk. That's awfully convenient." Aizawa grumbled as he took the folder, "There has to be some sort of catch. There's no quirk that good that could do this."

"I agree." Naomasa replied as he rubbed the temple of his nose. "But that case has been put on the backburner for now. The chief thinks that if this gets out, the hero commission will go nuts on Spider-Man...and ignore the Inner Demons altogether."

Aizawa glanced down at the folder again, his eyes squinting at a photo of Spider-Man fighting the masked thugs. "I could see it...especially with a problem child like that."

Two hands tugged a white tie as a man sat behind his desk, pulling and shaking it a second later. He let out a long sigh next before glancing down at the desk, glancing over several papers. And as he reached down for one of them, the room's door opened, making the man glance up.

"Master." said a masked man as he walked into the room and closed the door. "I have a report."

"Go ahead."

"The spider interfered again. He delayed the men until the heroes arrived, just as you planned."

The man's eyes narrowed at this, "I figured. Did the others at least succeed?"

The masked thug nodded, "Yes master."

"Good. It is a shame that we've had to move so slowly thanks to the spider and Tombstone...but perhaps that's a good thing." The man leaned back at this, putting his hand to his chin and closed his eyes, "I think it is time to get rid of both of our problems."

"What do you mean, master?"

The man looked up at the thug again, "It is time for war."

Izuku didn't immediately go home after his small internal crisis. To be fair, he was still thinking about, thinking if he was really accomplishing anything. He knew had prevented some crimes, but they all felt like lucky breaks now. It was if they didn't truly matter in his mind, but at the same time, he kept telling himself they did.

As such, he swung around the city, stopping two muggings before finally going home a few hours later. It seemed small time crime always happened, but it was nothing compared to what he wanted to be. He wanted to be that hero that inspired hope, that helped anyone and everyone all the time. To be like All Might.

Instead, he felt he was stuck, just swinging around aimlessly. As such, he went home, invisibly going over and crawling through the window. And when he got there, he found his mom had just cooked supper, the teen quickly taking and eating it. She found recently she had to make bigger meals for him, though she didn't mind since he devoured them like they were nothing.

After that, he shuffled into his room, checked his online classes and laid down. He let out a long sigh at this, staring at the ceiling as his mind began to wonder.

'You know, maybe I should just take a day or two off from being Spider-Man. I mean, if I can't accomplish much right now, maybe I should wait a bit.'

As he thought this, the image of Uraraka's friends came into his mind. The idea of friends, something he hadn't had in so long suddenly there. He still couldn't believe it, someone wanting to be his friend. That idea led to the memory of him fighting Spinner, seeing what could have happened to him down that path. However, Martin Li and Gloria appeared next in his head, Li telling him to just go be a hero. And finally, his mom, who told him to not give up and she would always be there for him now. The memories made him tear up, new ones coming to mind as he remembered the heroes telling him he did good. He still couldn't believe the ones he had met.

But then Katsuki appeared in his head. The boys that always followed Katsuki around. The teachers of Aldera. The doctor that told him to forget being a hero. Adults and teens his age telling him that his life was pointless, even with his big brain, all because of how he was born. And then the explosions came next, a quirk so superior to Izuku's new spider quirk, worthy of one that would become the greatest hero...and Izuku would just be a worthless Deku.

"You'll never be hero!"

"Listen here loser, if you really wanna be hero...go take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in the next life."

Izuku felt tears well up at those thoughts, 'Kacchan's right. I'm still not there. I'm still not a true hero.' He felt water go down his face at this, his eyes slowly glancing back up as he saw his vigilante costume resting on a chair. The sight made him remember the people he had saved, memories now surfacing. He remembered when he saw that kid thank him on television for stopping the van from crashing the playground. The people he had saved from muggings. All those small thank yous and smiles they showed.

But all those memories vanished as Katsuki's face appeared again. His mouth moved and told him one thing:

"You'll never be hero!"

That line went through Izuku's head, making him tear up again. That is, till his eyes glanced away from the vigilante costume and onto an All Might poster he had in his room. That shining smile on the hero's face, one that always made Izuku grin. The hero he wanted to become.

And as he stared at it, his eyes went back to his vigilante costume as a certain flame lit itself in his eyes. It was the one Inko always saw when he talked about being a hero, one that made Katsuki hate him with a passion, the eyes of one that wants to do everything they can to help and save others. But as the flame began to burn...its fire wavered slightly as he got up and walked over to his costume, grabbing the mask. Staring at it, he saw his reflection in the eye lens as he thought, 'No. I...I can't stop. Even if I'm a useless Deku...I want to help as many people as I can, even if its a few. That's...that's all I can do. What a hero can do.'