Chapter 5: On Metal Wings
Izuku didn't find anymore crimes to stop that night. And after another hour of patrolling and almost crashing as one of the shooters ran out of webbing, he switched the cartridges and headed home. He had the biggest smile on his face as he got back into his bed, the memory of him beating those robbers going through his head.
"That was so awesome." Izuku muttered to himself. "I already love doing this."
He closed his eyes a second later, instantly falling asleep. And as he did this, he didn't see his mom slightly opening his door, her eyes glancing down at her son's face. She saw the giant smile on his face, something she hadn't seen for a very long time. Worry still racked her brain, but that sight...it was the best thing she could hope for right now.
Her son was happy.
The Next Day...
Izuku didn't sleep in. Despite what he did last night, and the fact he got to bed really late, he found himself instantly rested when he woke up. Izuku had found that over the past month, his newfound power gave him a bunch of extra energy. And with this, he spent the first two or so hours of the day doing a basic morning routine before looking up his online classes. Seeing there wasn't much at the start, he went ahead and did the first two weeks of homework, finding all of it to be super easy.
While he did this, his mom asked him how last night was, Izuku replying and saying it was beyond great. He told her he now truly thinks he can do this, and then promised her to do the homework. And as he finished it, he shined the biggest smile he could before putting his costume on.
'Spider-Man...I think that name works well.' He thought as he put on his mask and then put on the web shooters, 'I wonder what the police think about the card I left. I mean, I beat those bank robbers really easily, though that might have been their first try at crime too.' He snorted at that thought, 'That would figure for me. The first criminals I beat are also first time criminals...'
He then walked into his bathroom, staring at the mirror there. He looked himself over, the lens in the mask zooming in and out. "Not bad. It still looks good, even after last night." He commented before looking down at his shooters, opening up the cartridges. "All full, and I got about ten in reserve. Better make some more tonight."
And with a click on the wrist, he checked his front door, making sure it was locked, and then went over to his window. Opening it, he turned himself invisible and crawled out, closing the window behind him before getting up to the roof. As he got there, he leapt off and started swinging, a smile under his mask.
"Ahh...this feels so awesome. I still can't believe I have a quirk now." He whispered to himself as he swung building to building, passing blocks in mere seconds. "Guess I'll try a day patrol."
He then landed on a rooftop and pulled out his phone from his hoodie, tapping it a few times. It switched to a police scanner app Izuku had created a while back, a spin-off of his hero app. "There we go. We'll keep you on just in case I can't find anything." He put it back into his pocket, reminding himself that he should have done that last night, but it was too late now.
With that, he began to swing again, his form quickly zipping through town. As he did this, he saw that several people below were gasping, all seeing the masked teen seemingly fly past them. But as he passed another block, a single thought went through his head. 'I hope I'm not making too much of a spectacle. I don't want a hero suddenly chasing me again like Kamui Woods did the other day.'
He pulled out his phone as he shot another web line, seeing the scanner begin to beep. A crackled voice came out of next as Izuku glanced away from the device and stared directly ahead as swung down another street.
"This is Musutafu police. We have a mobile villain going down Dathomir Street, Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, please respond."
"Dathomir...that's not too far." Izuku commented to himself as he took a tight right swing, "Maybe I can at least see what's up."
He shot two web lines at the same time, slingshotting himself three blocks before going back to a regular web swing. And as he did this, he saw a black figure flying in the distance. This was followed by Mount Lady taking a swing at it, missing before a flood of wood shot off her shoulder. The flying thing quickly dodged the lumber attack, Izuku hopping over to a roof as he watched what was going on.
"What are they chasing? Is that the villain?" He whispered while squinting his eyes, the lens mimicking this. It was here that he saw what they were chasing. It was a man in a blackish green suit that had a pair of light green wings, though if you looked closely, you could tell they were made of metal. He had a bag in one of his hands, but his wings kept flapping despite this. The man was bald, and seemed to be yelling at the two heroes as Izuku leapt over to the next rooftop.
"You'll never catch the Vulture, you two-bit heroes!" The bird man roared as he swung his wings down, cutting through Kamui Woods forest attack.
'A villain? Don't recognize him, so he's probably E or F-rank...though if he's new and can avoid them, he might be at least C-rank.'
This was followed by Mount Lady lunging a giant hand at him, but the bird just spun around and slashed her, making her flinch back.
"Yeow!" she yelped as a thin line of blood appeared in her right palm.
Seeing this, Izuku went wide-eyed before narrowing his eyes. 'I gotta get in there and help them!' He glanced down at his shooters, quickly switching to a full cartridge. 'Here we go. Let's see how I do against my first villain.'
He looked back up at the battle, the fight now going a block away from Izuku. Taking a deep breath, he leapt off the roof and shot a web, quickly shifting into a swing. He began to zip up to the block the battle was going on, now seeing the Vulture dodge Mount Lady again.
"You'll never catch me!" Vulture barked as he spun around, turning to try and slash at the hero again. But as he did this, a line of lumber shot out at him, making him flap his wings, pushing himself back. "Blast it! Just leave me alone already!"
"You're not getting away, villain!" Kamui exclaimed as he swung a long vine of wood at the bird man, Vulture slicing it as it came close.
"That's not enough!" Vulture countered before stretching his wings up and slamming them down, firing a gust of wind that knocked Kamui off of Mount Lady's shoulder.
"Kamui!" she gasped as she spun around to catch him.
"Ha! Later losers!" Vulture laughed as he quickly shot away, zipping down an alleyway. "No one can catch me!"
"Wanna bet?" said a new voice, making the villain raise an eyebrow, only to feel something hit his back.
"What the-" Vulture yelped before trying to do a barrel roll, only to feel the weight still on his back. He then glanced behind himself, now seeing a certain green costumed teen on his back. "Wha-get off of me!"
"Nah, I don't think so." Izuku replied before aiming his wrists at Vulture's wings, "How about we ground you instead?"
Vulture went wide-eyed at this, only to quickly spin around again, "Whoa!" Izuku yelped as he tried to hold on, his spider powers trying to help him keep his grip.
"Get. Off. Of. Me!" Vulture roared before flailing his right wing up, smacking Izuku in the head.
"Ack!" he yelped, losing his grip off the bird man. He fell off at this, his spider sense yelling at him before firing a web to a nearby building. Swinging back up, he saw Vulture try to flap away, only to swing right up to him in two quick bursts.
"Get back here!" Izuku yelled as he thrusted his legs at Vulture's back, only for the villain to spin around and smack him with his wing. "Augh!" Izuku cried as he was flung over to a nearby building, his form smashing through a window. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"
He felt himself roll across a hard floor, only to shake his head as he got up, "Oookay. Gotta be quicker." he whispered before glancing around, seeing he was in an abandoned building. "Well, at least I didn't destroy anything."
He then raced out the window he had been flung into, quickly going into a swing as he saw the Vulture in distance, dodging another attack from Mount Lady. "Will you heroes go away already?!" He screeched as he zipped past the giant.
'Gotta get ahead of him if I wanna beat him.' Izuku thought before taking a left, swinging down an alleyway. He zoomed through there, quickly coming out to the next block. There, he saw the Vulture flying away from the two heroes again, narrowing his eyes at the sight. He swung down another alleyway before swinging out to the next block, now seeing the Vulture about to fly toward him. Izuku then fired two lines, preparing to slingshot himself at the villain.
"Gotta line this up...now!" He let go and shot up, thrusting both legs ahead as he exclaimed, "Hey bird boy!"
The Vulture turned to the voice, only to feel two feet slam into his chest, "Augh!" he yelped, Izuku then firing a web at Vulture's legs. He swung down and then upward, flipping over the bird man and landing on his back again.
"You again?! Get off of me!" Vulture screeched as he flapped the wings, Izuku this time dodging both. But as this happened, Vulture turned to an alleyway to the right, only to flap his wings and let out a burst of speed. Izuku quickly gripped onto his back, only to see that Vulture was about to fly into a very very thin alley. So much so that the bird man had to go to sideways.
Danger!
His spider sense blaring, Izuku quickly jumped off, grabbing the side of the building to the side of the alleyway. Izuku took a deep breath at that, soon crawling up to the roof. "Okay...almost got squashed there. Maybe I should just web him up from a distance."
He got up to the roof and began to run, soon seeing the Vulture fly out to the next street. Izuku quickly leapt off the roof, firing a web right at Vulture's feet again. It instantly struck the villain's soles, making the bird man look back, "What the-"
"Sorry birdie, your flight is cancelled!" Izuku yelled as he held onto the web line. "Your next flight is a one-way ticket to prison!"
"Grrr...what is with you?! Leave me alone!"
"Nope!" Izuku chuckled as he pointed the wrist right up at Vulture's right wing...and fired.
THWIP!
The web instantly struck, making the Vulture suddenly wobble. "My wing!" he yelped as he tried to flap the wing, only to see his metal feathers were now stuck. "What is this?!"
"Flight's over!" Izuku yelled as he let go of the strand, only to fire two to both his sides, trying the slingshot trick again. And with a mighty pull and release, he fired himself up at the bird man.
"Aaah!" Vulture yelped as Izuku's legs slammed into his back. And as he screamed out a cry of pain, webs suddenly wrapped up both his wings, making him instantly nosedive. "Wait! Stop! I'm gonna die at this height!"
"You haven't been paying attention, have you?" Izuku remarked as the Vulture felt something grab his back, only to be yanked up. The villain looked up at this, now seeing Izuku fire a web line and started swinging one-handed while the other held up the bird man. That is, till Izuku landed on a rooftop, Vulture's body hitting the side of the building. Seeing this, Izuku quickly yanked him up to the top, only to web him up even more.
"And that's one bird down thanks to Spider-Man!" Izuku commented before patting Vulture's head, "Now, be a good birdy and stay here for the authorities." He then straightened up at that, quickly pulling out his notebook. "Huh. That's a good one. Heck, that was several good quips. I gotta record-"
Danger!
"Huh?!" Izuku yelped before leaping back, only for two wood lines to shoot past him. He glanced back, now seeing Kamui Woods on Mount Lady's shoulder.
"Halt villain!" he yells as he fires a third branch, only for Izuku to duck right under it.
"Hey! Come on, I just helped you stop that guy!"
"So that makes you a vigilante! You're under arrest!" Kamui barked back, Izuku now finding himself backpedal, only for his foot to tap the side of the roof.
Looking back for a second, Izuku let out a sigh before staring at Kamui, "Listen, the name's Spider-Man. I saw you were having trouble with birdie over there and just wanted to help."
"You can help by surrendering!" Kamui roared as a stream of branches shot out of him, "Lacquered Chain Prison!"
And as the lumber attack came, Izuku quickly leapt off the roof. His body then turned invisible, making him vanish just as Kamui ran over to the other side of the roof. "What the-where'd he go?!" Mount Lady yelled as Izuku began to swing away.
"Grrr...he did that last time too." Kamui growled before looking back at the webbed up Vulture. "Well, at least you're caught."
Izuku came to a stop a few blocks away, his form still invisible as he swung up onto a nearby rooftop. Letting out a long breath before partially opening his mask, he revealed only his mouth as his invisibility stopped. And as he sat down, he began to catch his breath. "Whoa. That...was intense." he gasped before staring down at his hands, seeing them both shake. "Wow. This quirk the spider gave me is so awesome! It made that fight so...amazing." Izuku blinked at that statement, "I need better words."
He then pulled out his notebook, quickly jotting down the quips he used, "I need to figure out a good way to fight airborne opponents..." He commented to himself while opening the bottom of his mask, "Maybe I should add a section on fighting styles..." He licked his finger and turned a few pages, soon writing down a new step.
'Step four: Figure out your own fighting style. Observe heroes and fight villains to figure it out.' He stopped writing after that, instead staring at his hand with the pencil in it. 'Fighting styles mean super moves for heroes.'
He closed his eyes at this, remembering the support exam and what happened. 'That bio-electric thing. I wonder if that's supposed to be my super move.' He put the notebook away before crossing his arms, 'But if that's the case, why can't I summon it again?! Its been a whole month and I still can't make it appear again!'
Gritting his teeth at that, the teen got up and glanced down at his web shooters. Switching out cartridges for a second, he then began to swing across the city again. "Eh, I'll figure it out." He told himself while swinging down a block. "Until then, might as well get some practice swinging."
It was an hour later that Izuku found another crime, that just being a mugger in an alleyway. He had a mutant quirk, that being what looked like a porcupine human. The thug had a woman up to a wall, hand over her mouth.
"Now listen here missy, just give me your purse and-"
Thwip!
"Huh?" the thug yelped as a web line was now on his hand over the lady's mouth. He followed the line up and saw Izuku sticking to the side of a wall, just staring at the mugger.
"Good morning. Why don't you let that lady go?" Izuku yanked at the web at that, flinging the mugger off his feet. A second later, Izuku dropped down to the ground, the thug yelling a profanity as he got onto his feet.
"I'll kill you!" he roared as his arm was now covered in quills. Izuku quickly ducked under the punch, the quilled fist hitting a brick wall instead. This was followed by a web plastering itself over his arm, sticking him to the wall. "What the-"
"Just stay there for a bit, would ya?" Izuku commented as he then webbed up the other arm, sticking both to the brick wall.
"Hey! Lemme go!" the porcupine man yelled as he tried to move, only to then feel his feet get webbed into the wall as well.
"No, I think you should just stay right there." Izuku chuckled before turning to the lady, "Hey, you okay?"
"Um...uh..." the woman squirmed, Izuku blinking at her.
'She's really scared. Maybe I should just get going.' he thought before looking back at the mugger, and then back at the lady, "Um...you don't mind calling the police on this punk for me, do ya?"
"Uh...sure?"
"Thanks. You okay?"
"Um...I think so?" She muttered out, Izuku nodding at this.
"Okay. I gotta go. Stay safe, alright?" He then shot a web, ready to pull himself up the alley wall.
"Wait!" Izuku glanced back at her, the girl taking a deep breath, "W-w-who are you?"
"Me? I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" Izuku exclaimed before shooting up and out of the alleyway, the woman watching him flee with wide eyes.
"Spider-Man..."
"So that's what you look like in color." Detective Naomasa sighed as he watched the news recording of the Vulture fight. Despite how far the fight went into the city, some reporter got some footage of Spider-Man tackling the villain. He then glanced back to another screen at his desk, showing footage of the bank from yesterday, though it was in black and white.
He watched as the vigilante slightly flail around while beating the bank robbers before looking back at the Vulture fight, showing a bit more direct movement from Spider-Man. "Looks like I was right. This could be a problem."
He glanced back at the bank footage, zooming in for a second, "You're obviously young, so why are you a vigilante and not trying to be a hero?"
It was an hour or so later that Izuku decided to go back home. Before this, he found two more muggers, quickly webbing them up before having a passerby call the police. Each time he did this, he found himself able to handle the situation just a tiny bit faster, though still found the following conversations to the victims in the mugging to be very awkward. Izuku knew it was because he had never really talked to many others in his life, and he knew that was gonna make things so much harder.
But as he got home and took off his costume, he had the biggest smile on his face. "Today...was...awesome!" he cheered, raising his hands up high. The teen soon changed, going into the kitchen and microwaved some food for himself.
A few minutes later, he was on the living room couch, turning on the local news on the TV. He saw a reporter going over today, which was over several hero stories...only to go wide-eyed when he saw himself.
"And for a special hero report today, we have news on a new vigilante in Musutafu. We have reports from three people he saved today that the vigilante's name is Spider-Man!"
"No way...they're talking about me!" Izuku gasped as a bit of meat fell out of his mouth.
"Not only that, this new vigilante seemed to have fought a villain that was fighting up coming pro heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. Here's footage of him now."
The screen turned to footage of him fighting the Vulture, showing him launch himself at the villain before the camera lost track of the fight. As this happened, Izuku saw the news headline at the bottom of the screen, saying a new vigilante had saved the day.
The tagline made tears appear in Izuku's eyes, making him sniff, "I...I actually succeeded! I'm not useless!" He leaned back into the couch, "I saved people."
And then he shined a giant grin. 'And this is just the beginning. I'm gonna be a hero!'