Chapter 20: While A Festival Roars, A City Goes to War
Izuku woke up earlier than usual. He had noticed recently that he had a lot more energy and didn't have to sleep as much, but he found he still needed to sleep. Despite this, he pulled out his phone and saw he had woken up two hours early, making him sigh. Last night, he had come home and crashed, which he had expected would make him sleep in, but that didn't happen. Shuffling over to his desk, he stared at the web cartridges he had made. Yesterday had drained out quite a few, which made him spend the next hour creating the fluid, only to go back to bed after checking his online classes and seeing he was a month ahead now.
After this, he woke up an hour later, letting out a yawn as his mom came into his room. She told him she was going to FEAST today, and wanted him to come there too for the rest of the day. They were going to watch the UA sports festival with the rest of FEAST. As such, the two ate a semi-large breakfast before Izuku told her he was going to do a small patrol before heading to FEAST, his mom not liking this, but relented on the fact that he promised to come by FEAST afterward.
Another hour or so later, he was swinging through the city. His mom had called him, telling him she had just got to FEAST as he swung around, the teen telling her he'll be over there in a bit. 'The UA Sports Festival...' he thought as he did a backflip after a long-arced web swing, 'Man, could you imagine me in that festival with this quirk? That would be so cool...'
He then grimaced at his own thoughts, shaking his head as he fired another web line, 'Then again, I probably would die of embarrassment first. I still can't imagine myself on TV.' And as he thought that, he stared straight ahead and saw a certain series of buildings in the distance: UA.
The sight was something else to the teen, its size alone being beyond incredible in his mind. And as he swung over to it, he turned invisible and landed on a nearby rooftop, glancing down to see a few heroes walking around. 'So it is true. They do go all out with the security.' he thought, remembering that the only times he had seen the festival was on TV. This was the closest he had ever been to the event, and he had a feeling he shouldn't get any closer.
'Still, this is cool to see this many heroes together. I think every hero in Musutafu is here! Maybe I should change and go down and get a few autographs.' He then saw a group of police officers put up a small barrier, pushing out a growing crowd outside of the building. 'Or not. Better not push my luck.'
He walked back at this, turning visible but out of sight as he pulled out his phone at this, his fingers shaking as he went to his contacts and sent a text.
Midoriya Izuku: Hey Uraraka. I just wanted to say good luck!
He pressed the send button, his hand still shivering as he stared at the phone. 'I hope I did that right.' he thought, only to get a reply.
Uraraka Ochako: Thanks! If you don't mind, please root for my friends as well! Oh, I already talked to Gloria, so you don't have to tell everyone at FEAST to root for us.
Izuku blinked at the text, only to let out a hum. 'Huh. Guess I should get over to FEAST. The festival will be starting soon...' He sent a small text that just said 'ok' before spinning around, firing a web line and swinging away. As he did this, he took a few turns, zipping down a street or two as he stared ahead, 'Let's see...FEAST should be three streets over, and then-'
KA-BOOM!
The noise rang out, sounding like a bomb going off. Izuku turned to his right, only to see nothing but a row of buildings. Despite this, he quickly fired two web lines, soon slingshotting himself over a few buildings. And as he flung himself over, he went wide-eyed at the next sight. On the streets below at a four-way crossing was a gang of more than thirty masked men, most equipped with guns as they began firing shots across the crossing. On the other side of the crossing was a whole group of mutant quirk users, all of them leaping over cars as they charged at the masked men.
'The masked guys and Tombstone's gang! Wait...are they fighting right now?! They can't be serious!' he mentally gasped before swinging over to a nearby rooftop. As he landed and perched, he found himself looking at exactly what Gran Torino had warned him about. Before him was a full-on gang war battle, Tombstone's men grabbing cars and throwing them like baseballs while the masked men were firing guns off like everything was a target. Screams could be heard everywhere, Izuku seeing a bystander getting shot down by a stray bullet in the moment he had landed on the roof.
The sight made him freeze up, his eyes going back and forth as he watched these gangs just...attack each other. It was like two groups of wild animals going in a frenzy. And as another scream rang out, he returned to reality as he aimed both wrists at the battle below him. But as he did this, his mind told him one thing, 'Don't just jump in.'
He quickly switched his web cartridges at this before looking back at the ongoing battle, his eyes darting around. 'Assess the situation Izuku. Don't be stupid. Take out the worst stuff and then get in there. And then...I guess I'll have to improvise as much as I can until the heroes show up.'
There was hesitation after this. He turned invisible and fired a web line and swung down to a nearby traffic light. Landing on it, he pointed at the masked men and fired a volley of webbing, each one hitting the guns they were wielding. And in those next few seconds, he yanked every single one of them out of their hands. Before he had known it, he had grabbed over twenty guns, all quickly webbing them up into one single package that he plastered to the traffic light pole.
"The spider!" one of the masked men yelled, pointing at the light as Izuku felt his head start to hurt, making him turn off his invisibility. And as the masked man exclaimed this, the others that had their guns taken all started yelling. It was here that Izuku noticed a black van in the corner of the crossing, which opened up as a few masked men ran out of it, all of them holding a bunch of katanas.
'Oh, come on!' Izuku mentally growled as he saw the masked men began to replace their guns with swords. He then aimed his wrist at them, ready to yank those away as well-
Danger!
Izuku went slightly wide-eyed before leaping off the light, only to glance down to see a shark man hit the traffic light and rip it off with his teeth. He then spit it out as he turned to Izuku, the vigilante landing on a nearby overturned taxicab. "Nice teeth." He commented, only for a weasel man to leap at him, spider sense screaming at Izuku as he fired a blast of webbing at the thug's face. It instantly blinded him, making the weasel man collide with the car, shaking it slightly as Izuku looked back at the shark man.
"Here we go." Electricity sparked off his hands at this, "Let's do this."
The shark man leapt at him, spider sense blaring as Izuku charged at him. And as the shark man lunged his head forward, Izuku pushed his strength into his feet and jumped, hopping over the thug as he thrust both hands into the shark man's shoulders. Electricity surged through the villain, instantly falling over as Izuku spun around and fired a blast of webbing, sticking the thug into the street. And as he landed, two masked men charged, swinging their katanas wildly.
"I've said this like ten times already!" Izuku growled as he side-stepped one of the blades, the second thug thrusting a sword after that, Izuku leaping back to dodge this one. "No more sharp pointy weapons!" He fired a web line at the first thug's foot and yanked it, the masked man instantly flopping over. The second then tried to slash at Izuku again, his spider sense yelling as he ducked under it before doing a sweeping leg kick, knocking the thug down. He then fired two globs of webbing, sticking both to the street as his spider sense flared again.
Danger!
Izuku turned to see three more charging masked thugs, only for his spider sense to yell again, making him glance back to see a tiger man and a puma man now leaping over a car. Seeing this, Izuku fired two shots of webbing, hitting the mutant men's faces, blinding both. As this happened, Izuku glanced back at the masked thugs, dodging a katana swipe before thrusting a punch into the thug's chest. The blow knocked him off his feet as the other two thrust their swords at him. Izuku ducked under both, his spider sense screaming as he jabbed at one thug as electricity surged through the fist, zapping the masked man. As this happened, the other raised his blade up high and swung it down, Izuku spinning around before hopping back, only for it to nick his arm.
"Urgh!" he grunted before firing a glob of webbing into the thug's mask before yanking, pulling the thug into the street, shattering the mask. A second later, a blast of webbing struck him the thug into the street, Izuku spinning around to see the tiger man ripping the webbing off his face. He then leapt at Izuku, the teen quickly hopping to the side, barely dodging the animal man before grabbing the tiger's side. Electricity flew through his hand, shocking the beast man.
As this happened, Izuku glanced back to see the puma man leaping at him. But as he leapt, Izuku fired two shots of webbing, hitting the thug before Izuku yanked downward, slamming the puma man into the street before he could even get close to the vigilante. 'That was awesome.' Izuku thought, only for his spider sense to yell again, making him turn to now see seven charging masked men. 'And that's not awesome.'
He fired a web line upward, yanking himself onto a nearby building's wall. As he landed, the thugs all turned to stare at him, only to swing their swords, firing energy waves. Seeing this, Izuku leapt off the building and started web swinging around, dodging the attacks. 'This is crazy! Where are the heroes?!' he thought before swinging down, slamming his feet into one of the thugs, knocking the thug flying. He landed on a wall again, leaping off a second later as an energy wave hit the wall.
The teen landed on one of the thugs, grabbing his shoulders and zapping him before leaping over to another thug, swinging his foot into the masked man's chest. The blow knocked the thug across the street, only for two thugs with swords to charge at him. Spider sense blaring, Izuku spun around and fired two web lines at the thugs' legs, yanking at both. They were flung off their feet, only for a tiger man to leap at Izuku as his spider sense yelled at him again, the teen turning to the animal man. However, Izuku was too late, the tiger thug tackling him into the street. They both hit the dirt, the tiger man opening his mouth as he tilted his head to bite right into Izuku's neck.
"Bad kitty!" the vigilante yelled as he grabbed the tiger man and charged bio-electricity into him. The thug screamed as the electricity surged through him, Izuku then slamming his knees into the thug's chest before kicking him off. As he did this, a masked man stood over the still downed vigilante, thrusting a blade right at Izuku's head. He went wide-eyed before rolling to the right, dodging the sword before kicking the thug's feet, knocking him over.
"I'd like to keep my head, thank you!" Izuku yelled as he fired several shots of webbing, tying down both the tiger thug and the masked man. As he did this, his spider sense yelled again, only to feel a giant fist hit his side. "Blaugh!" Izuku yelped as he was sent flying across the crossing, slamming into a car. "Urgh..." he spat as he felt himself slump down the car, making him glance up and see that a walrus man had hit him. Three masked men then charged at the walrus man, only for him to knock them all away with a single punch.
"Not good..." Izuku moaned, only to see two more masked men charge at him with blades in hand. He pointed his wrists upward, firing the webbing before slinging himself up again. As he did this, the masked men swung their blades, energy waves flying out as one of them hit Izuku's foot, an explosion happening next, "Augh!" Izuku lost grip with the two web lines, but shot another as his spider sense yelled again, yanking at the line as it pulled him upward again. He fired a second line, quickly getting into a swinging motion as he began dodging energy waves again, gasping under his mask.
'Gotta keep moving and stall these guys. The heroes have to show up eventually.'
Meanwhile...
Ochako Uraraka was doing a few stretches as the rest of class 1-A walked up to the starting line of the event. The first trial of the festival was going to be an obstacle course, the classes all staring at what was ahead. As she did this, Iida walked up to her, pushing his glasses up his face. "It seems we have quite the competition ahead of us today. Not only that, I saw the crowd of heroes they have here for security. Its a huge number! Three times more than usual!"
"Yup!" Uraraka replied, her face morphing to one filled with determination. "Let's win this thing!"
"Tch. You're better off just giving up." growled a voice beside her, the girl turning to see Katsuki Bakugo, "You worthless extras are all going to fail."
"Bakugo, please refrain from saying such things!" Iida yelled as he chopped the air with one of his hands.
"Oh yeah? And who beat all you worthless weak trash in all the combat exercises and the tests? Oh yeah, me!" Katsuki spat as he pointed at himself, "You're all garbage extras, so just stay out of my way."
Katsuki walked away at this, Uraraka and Iida both glaring at him, "Hmph! How rude! With that attitude, he is nothing like a hero!"
"I don't think he wants to be a hero." Uraraka added with crossed arms, "I think he just wants attention." She then turned to Iida, "Oh yeah, I just got a text from Midoriya and Gloria. They said everyone is rooting for us!"
"Oh? Wonderful!" Iida exclaimed, "If that is the case, we must show them that we are true heroes in training! Especially Midoriya!"
And as Iida yelled this, Katsuki stopped and glanced back, seeing the two continue to banter before growling, "Deku?!" He grit his teeth at this, tiny explosions popping off his hands as he let out a low growl. 'That quirkless loser?! How do those worthless extras know him?!' Another explosion went off in his hand, 'They said he was rooting for them...that means he's here. I told him to never step foot in UA or else!'
Smoke began to float off the teen as he growled, walking away as he hissed, "Where are you, you worthless pebble?"
"Web Swing Kick!" Izuku yelled as he swung down and slammed both feet into a masked man's stomach. The thug went flying into two more masked thugs as Izuku landed, dodging a katana swipe from another thug before exclaiming, "Venom Punch!"
ZAP!
The masked thug went flying at this, his back hitting an overturned car as Izuku fired another web line and swung back up into the air. 'There's no end to these guys!' he thought as he flipped over two energy waves before swinging down and punching another thug. He then leapt away just as the walrus man from earlier charged at him, quickly dodging him before seeing another tiger man jumping at him. Izuku spun and kicked him in the chin, knocking the thug back before firing another web and yanked himself up into the air. And as he started swinging, he felt himself panting, 'Gotta keep moving...gotta keep moving!'
Izuku then fired two web lines and slingshotted himself back down, slamming his feet into one of the masked thugs. As he did this, spider sense flared as he leapt off the thug, dodging two more swords before spinning around, firing two web lines at the masked men before yanking, knocking both off their feet. He fired several globs of webbing at this, sticking them to the street just as a shark man leapt at him. Spider sense yelling, Izuku turned to the thug and flicked his wrists, only to hear a small 'psst.'
'Oh no.' he thought before the shark man tackled him, punching the vigilante in the face a second later. And as he pinned Izuku down, the teen grunted as he put both hands on the shark man's shoulders, surging electricity through them. The shark man screamed at this, Izuku kicking him off. But as he did this, the teen tried to get back up just as he saw three more thugs charging at him.
'Oh, come on!' he mentally yelled before clenching his eyes for a second. He turned invisible at this, the masked men coming to a stop as they saw their prey vanish. Izuku then opened his eyes and began to walk away, slipping behind an overturned car as he fiddled with his web shooters, reloading both with new web cartridges. 'Gran Torino was right. I'm in way over my head. I need the heroes to get here now or-' His thoughts came to a stop as another scream could be heard behind him, making him go wide-eyed. He glanced back at the disaster around him, the two gangs still fighting each other as he saw one of Tombstone's gang grabbing a nearby woman, 'No!'
He turned visible and fired a web line, instantly yanking himself over to the thug. He tackled the villain, both slamming into the street before Izuku leapt off him and fired a glob of webbing. It instantly stuck the thug to the street before he fired another web line at the woman. He pulled her over to him, catching her as she let out an 'eep!'.
"Get out of here! Now!" He yelled, the woman flinching at this before nodding and running away.
"Thank you!" She exclaimed back as she cut into a sprint, Izuku looking back at the crossing.
The two gangs were still clashing as a pair of masked men charged at him. He let out a long sigh as electricity surged through his hands. 'Got no choice. Until the heroes get here, I'll knock out every villain I can!'
Back at UA...
"And that's it for the Preliminary Event!" Present Mic exclaimed in the commentor's box, his co-host Aizawa putting in ear plugs at this. "For first place, we have Katsuki Bakugo, along with second place Shoto Todoroki and third Ibara Shiozaki!" He turned to his co-host, "I noticed all of your class made it. Surprised?"
"A little." Aizawa grumbled, "But they're showing potential. Of course, that was nothing compared to what's next."
"Ain't that the truth!" Mic laughed before wildly gesturing to the microphone before him, "Anyways, we'll be going to the next event now! Midnight, take it away!"
He then tapped the mic mute button on the system, only for both to hear the door to the office open. The duo spun around to see Nezu walk in, "Hey boss! How's it going?"
"Not well." Nezu replied, "It seems there may be a problem outside of UA."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I've been watching all the news feeds that tune into our event and one of them is not showing us. I checked it and they seem to be doing a different story in Musutafu."
"Seriously?! What's bigger than us?!"
"I don't know. However, they're not showing footage yet, but say they're about to report it." Nezu replied, only to see a fierce glare from Aizawa, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"A villain is taking advantage of all the heroes being here along with other heroes watching this?" Aizawa asked, Nezu nodding back.
"Wait...I get that, as it happens all the time, but the heroes in other districts are still there. Why do it in Musutafu?! That's where we are!" Mic exclaimed, "There's a ton of heroes here! Who'd have the balls to do that?!"
"Doesn't matter." Aizawa grumbled before pointing to at Mic, "Send a message to all heroes here. Tell them they need to respond to whatever's going on."
"Uh...okay." Mic muttered out before turning back to the audio equipment, "I really hope its nothing too bad."
Nezu pulled out his phone at this, another news channel now showing footage, "I wouldn't be so sure. A second channel just switched away from UA to the other news story."
"What do you mean? What's the story?" Aizawa asked next, only for Nezu to show him the footage. "Oh no."
Mic then glanced over to see it, grimacing at the headline: Mini-Army of Villains attacking Musutafu, right at UA's doorstep! Spider-Man seemingly taking them all on alone! Where are the heroes?!
"That's bad for business." Mic gulped, Aziawa glaring back at him.
"Call the heroes and get someone over there now!"
"Venom Punch!" Izuku screamed as he slammed an electric fist into a Tombstone goon, sending them flying into two more, zapping them as well. As he did this, his spider sense yelled at him, making him duck as a blade just barely missed him. He then thrust a leg upward, smacking his foot into a masked thug's chin. The man went flying back as Izuku then fired a web line, yanking himself up and over the street.
The teen wasn't sure how many he had beaten now. It felt like this fight had been going on for hours, even though he knew it was nowhere near that long. He didn't even really react when a news helicopter suddenly appeared above the fighting. Instead, he just leapt at the enemies now, barely feeling the few blows they could land as he let his spider sense guide him. He had been trying to figure out a fighting style, writing page after page on how it would work, but found that in practice, all fighting styles didn't exactly work the way he wanted it to.
Improvising was everything. Plans were only good if everything worked out perfectly, and Izuku knew by now, even with just the two weeks of vigilantism he had on his belt, nothing went perfectly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the injuries he kept getting. Instead, he found that his spider sense was everything when it came to fighting. It always gave him the idea on where to go next, the teen flipping, swinging and ducking around everything he could. It wasn't perfect, but it was all he had.
As such, he swung down at a group of three masked thugs, "Web Swing Kick!" He slammed both feet into one of the goons, knocking him flying before firing a glob of webbing at him, sticking him to the street as soon as he landed. And as Izuku landed, he quickly ducked under both masked thugs as they swung their katanas at him. He then tapped one on the side, zapping him with electricity before side-stepping around the other as he tried to stab Izuku. And as he dodged the blade, he thrusted a fist into the thug's face, the blow instantly knocking the goon off his feet before webbing covered him as well.
However, two more Tombstone thugs appeared at this, the walrus man from earlier along with a hippo man. Izuku leapt over both, only for a third thug to suddenly appear behind them, bodychecking into the vigilante. He felt the blow, pushing him back as the hippo and walrus men spun around, both then slamming fists into Izuku's back. The teen was knocked into the third thug at this, the thug grabbing him in a waist hold and tried to squeeze him. But as he did this, Izuku just grabbed his shoulders, zapping him with ease. The thug fell over at this, letting Izuku go as he turned back to the other two, both throwing punches. Izuku just side-stepped both before countering with a jab into the walrus man's face, making him stumble back before ducking under another punch from the hippo man.
And as he ducked under this, the teen bent down and did a leg sweep, knocking the hippo down with ease. He fired some webbing next, sticking the hippo to the pavement as the walrus charged at him. However, Izuku just charged a Venom Punch, slamming it into the walrus man's stomach, knocking him across the street.
'There's so many...' Izuku thought, his mind slowing down as he spun around and saw three more masked goons charging at him.
"Kill the spider! He must die!" One of them yelled, Izuku sighing at the sight.
"Come on guys." Izuku moaned as he fired two shots of webbing, grabbing two of the thugs' chests before being yanked, making both stumble and fall over. The third thrust his blade at Izuku, the teen backstepping before throwing a punch right in his face, breaking the mask. The blow knocked him over, Izuku firing globs of webbing, sticking them all to the pavement. But as he did this another masked man ran up to him, katana in hand. "Seriously?! Can't you just...you know, give up?! I've beaten like two million of you guys already!"
"Kill the spider!" he roared as he leapt at Izuku, the teen just side-stepping as the goon slashed downward, only for his sword to hit pavement instead.
"Nope." Izuku muttered as he kicked the thug's side, the blow flinging the goon into an overturned car. He hit it and slumped over, Izuku turning back to the crossing. The teen now saw most of the Tombstone gang knocked out, their numbers less than the masked men, and most were all webbed up. Seeing this, he turned to find three more masked thugs climbing over the car. Electricity sparking in his hands, Izuku charged at them, 'Come on Izuku, you got this! Just a few more till the heroes show up!'
"Dang, that was intense." Gloria commented as they watched the second event come to an end at the UA sports festival. It showed Katsuki Bakugo in first place, yelling profanities as he declared how great he was. Gloria's small tongue stuck out for a second before turning to Inko, the woman watching the television with a blank stare. "Hey, you okay?"
Inko didn't respond, prompting Gloria to poke her shoulder. "Hmm?" Inko asked as she turned to Gloria.
"You okay?"
"Huh? Oh uh..." Inko barely replied before glancing away, "Just worried about Izuku."
"Oh yeah." Gloria chimed before looking back at the rest of FEAST. Everyone was crowded around to the place's television, only one or two not watching. "Little guy still isn't here. Wonder why he's late."
"Knowing him, he's got himself into something..." Inko sighed, making Gloria glance back at her.
"What do you mean?"
Inko just waved a hand at her, "Oh, its nothing."
Gloria chuckled at this, "I wouldn't say that. I think that shows you really love your son."
Inko just let out a sigh, "I do." She glanced down at her phone, "Still, I hope he responds soon."
As she said this, one of the people watching the television said, "What the-what's going on?!" Inko and Gloria looked back up at the screen, only to see the UA sports festival disappear and show something else.
"Breaking news!" a reporter said as footage showed a battle happening in a street crossing. "For unknown reasons, two gangs of villains are fighting and tearing apart the crossing of Jelucan Drive and Umbara Street in Musutafu! However, it seems the vigilante known as Spider-Man has come in and is trying to shut the situation down, but for some reason, the heroes have not arrived!"
"Whoa." Gloria muttered out, "That's just a few streets over! I hope it doesn't end up here..."
And as she said that, she didn't see Inko's face now paling as she stared at the footage of her son taking out another masked thug. 'Oh Izuku...please be careful.'
"RAAAAH!" Izuku roared as he punched another masked thug, the man slamming into two more. Spider sense rang out next, a hyena man running up to him next, leaping at the vigilante. In response, Izuku sidestepped, dodging the thug as the hyena guy spun around and threw a punch. But as he did this, Izuku threw his own, his fist hitting first, causing the thug's punch to hit air as he felt the blow slam into his big nose.
"Kill the spider!" yelled a masked thug as they leapt over an overturned car, slashing a katana down right at the teen. Spider sense screaming again, Izuku leapt to the side, dodging the weapon before firing a webline at the masked man's weapon, pulling it a split second later. The thug kept his grip on the weapon as Izuku did this, only to feel the teen's foot slam into his face, knocking the thug off his feet. Webbing covered him next, Izuku then firing another web upward and yanking himself back into the air.
'There's no end to this.' the teen thought as he stared down at the street, seeing two masked men get beat up by an alligator man while another masked man punched a rat faced man. The sight made him sigh before he swung down and exclaim, "Web Swing Kick!"
Two feet slammed into two masked men's faces, flinging them across the crossway as Izuku fired a webline at a third masked thug before yanking, sending him straight into the man. "Hi-ya!" Izuku yelled as he zipped right up to the thug and thrust a kick into the man's stomach, sending the thug into a man with a weasel face.
'Gotta keep moving...gotta stop these guys!' Izuku thought as his spider sense rang out again, making him instinctively duck down, avoiding a katana slicing through the air. This was followed by an uppercut from the teen, smacking a masked thug off his feet. But as this happened, spider sense kept yelling at him, only to see two more masked men, these just throwing punches. The teen sidestepped the first one, only for another to slam a fist into his face. "Urgh!"
Three more punches smacked Izuku's face, the teen closing his eyes from the blows before blindly swinging a punch back, knocking away the one that had missed hitting Izuku. This allowed the other to keep punching Izuku, slamming a fist into Izuku's stomach before doing a side-jab into the teen's face. He felt the blow as his spider sense kept yelling at him, Izuku's eyes creaking back open as he saw another punch come for his face. Reflexes took over next, Izuku tilting his head to dodge the blow before throwing a punch back, slamming it into the thug's face. The man's mask broke instantly, the thug falling over a second later before Izuku fired a glob of webbing, sticking the thug to the concrete.
'Ugh...that hurt.' Izuku mentally groaned as he fired a webline upward, yanking himself back up into the air once again. But as he did this, his eyes scanned over the whole situation, his mind going over what just happened, 'Each time I beat one of these guys, two more pop up! Is there no end?!' He then swung down and kicked another thug off his feet before firing a glob of webbing over another, the teen leaping at a third and throwing a punch. And as the blow connected, one more thought went through his head, 'I keep beating them though...'
Spider sense rang out at this, Izuku jumping away as three more thugs leapt at him, the teen dodging them all. As he did this, he whispered to himself, "I think...I think I can do this." Electricity appeared around his arms at this, "No. I will do this. Like a real hero would." The masked thugs charged at him next, Izuku yelling back, "Bring it on!"
Katsuki Bakugo was angry. Granted, that was his normal mindset, he was rarely anything but angry, but he was really angry right now. The UA sports festival, something he had watched for years, imagining himself on that podium, being cheered on and worshipped like he deserved...only to finally be a part of the festival, and found it was filled with nothing but weaklings.
They were all trash! Worthless pebbles that weren't even worthy of being a piece of a stepping stone! The first round was a dumb obstacle course, the second round was a stupid calvary battle where he had to 'cooperate' with a bunch of pathetic losers...and this final round was the most worthless of them all.
He had just won his second fight of the final round, and it was a disappointment. It was another weakling, a piece of trash. It was that orange ponytail chick of the other class, who he beat without trying. All he had to do was push through her worthless giant hands, grab the top of her head and slam his explosive quirk in her face a few times. She was knocked out almost instantly, only for Midnight to say he had to stop or be disqualified for being 'too rough'. What a load of garbage! If she was that weak, she shouldn't be here!
Same goes for his first fight, which was Round Cheeks, the girl with gravity powers. What a pointless weak quirk. She doesn't deserve to be a hero. She thought she could trap him by levitating the pebbles around the arena. What a stupid plan. It was so easy to beat, and then she stood there...showing those defiant eyes. She could barely stand, her legs shaking as she charged at him after failing her trap, thinking she stood a chance. How pointless. How stupid. And her eyes...those defiant eyes. Eyes that reminded Katsuki of...him. Deku.
He was here. Deku had to be here. That made him so angry. He had spent years telling that quirkless loser he wasn't allowed to set foot, not even a toe, into UA. If he did, he would turn that piece of trash into ash. Its what Deku deserved. He believed he could be a hero. That thought made him want to explode. It made him so angry. Didn't Deku know that quirkless trash only exist to be put in the ground?! Didn't he spend years telling that piece of garbage that he'll never amount to anything?! Didn't Deku know he'll never become or deserve to be a hero?!
His palms kept crackling, popping every second as he stared out at the stadium. Each fight he did, they kept booing him after he won. Why are they booing?! He's the greatest! He's the best there is! They should be worshipping him, Katsuki Bakugo, the next Number One Hero! He was already better than All Might!
He let out a growl next, making him look down at the arena, only to see...was that bird head? Whatever. He's another pathetic pebble that was now walking out of the arena while some purple-haired gen-ed noodle-looking garbage just stood there. And everyone looked like they were confused about what that guy's quirk was. It was so obvious! It was a villain quirk! Why is everyone so stupid?!
"Worthless extras." He growled as he saw his future opponent be declared worthy of going to the next round. An extra with an obvious brainwashing quirk was next. "Tch. At least I'll win the next round easily. Here's hoping Half-and-half will give me a good fight in the final round."
And as he said this, he glanced out at the stadium, only to see a ton of people staring at their phones. Like, half the stadium weren't paying attention to the festival. Eh, whatever. As long as they watch him, it didn't matter. His eyes darted around next, searching for a certain green-haired teen...but found nothing. "Where are you, Deku?! I know you're here, mocking me!" He let out a low hiss, "Where are you?!"
"Venom Smash!" Izuku roared as he slammed his fist into the ground, electricity surging out of him, knocking four more masked goons back. He had just taken out the last Tombstone thug before using that Venom Smash, and now his ears heard the sounds of screeching tires, making him turn to see two black vans drive up to crossing.
'Seriously?!' He mentally yelled before his spider sense screamed at him, making him duck down just as a blade swung over his head. He spun around to see another masked thug thrusting a sword at the teen, only for Izuku to swing his leg upward, kicking the goon right in the face. The thug hit the pavement a second later, Izuku firing another glob of webbing, sticking him into the street.
He glanced back at the black vans, now seeing a few thugs walk out of vehicles, along with two bulky masked men. "Oh great, so you're all...sextuplets? Or is it septuplets? Eh, I give up." Izuku fired two web lines at this, yanking at them as he threw himself at the thugs, "Venom Punch!"
He thrust an electric fist into one of them, slamming it into the thug's chest. The blow knocked the guy flying, only for two goons to charge in with blades, Izuku quickly leaping onto one of the black vans before they could get close. "You know, I'm gonna declare this as another no sharp deadly weapons zone."
"Die spider!" the other bulky thug yelled as energy poured out of his fists. He then swung his fist at the van Izuku was on, the teen's spider sense yelling as he quickly leapt off the vehicle just as the fist hit it. The blow made the car go flying, slamming it into a nearby building as Izuku landed across the rest of the masked men, Izuku seeing there was only five left beside the bulky thug.
"Kill the spider!" the masked thugs roared as they charged at Izuku, the teen just pointing his wrists at them, firing a round of webbing at their faces. Blinding four of them, they began tripping into objects that were scattered across the street, the four falling over as Izuku ran in and punched the remaining one in the face, shattering his mask and knocking him out. As this happened, he fired webbing over the other four, sticking them all to the pavement.
But as he did this, his spider sense yelled before looking back up and seeing a giant fist slam into his chest. "Blaugh!" Izuku yelped as the bulky thug's fist knocked the vigilante across the street, his back hitting a building. "Urgh!" Izuku moaned before hitting the pavement, almost slumping over.
"Ow." Izuku muttered out, clutching his chest as he tried to stay standing.
"You will die today, spider." the bulky thug said as he slowly stomped over to him.
"And I still can't understand you." Izuku replied as he pointed his wrist at the thug and pressed the web shooter trigger, only to hear a 'psst'. "Oh, great."
"Die!" the thug roared as he pulled back a fist before thrusting it. Seeing this, Izuku just ducked under the jab before slamming his own fist into the thug's stomach. The blow made the thug slightly stumble back, only to swing another punch, but Izuku caught it with his own hand.
"Gotcha!" Izuku laughed as electricity charged into the hand, zapping the thug. Izuku then pushed forward, knocking the thug off his feet. The teen glanced up at this, now seeing no more villains charging at him. Nothing but a bunch of webbed up thugs, several overturned cars and a small fire coming from two vans. Scorch marks littered the crossing, and parts of nearby buildings had giant burn marks on them.
"I...I did it. I won. I...I beat them all." Izuku muttered out as he leaned on the building behind him. He then grabbed a web cartridge out of his hoodie and switched it out of his web shooter, only to hear a new noise. It was the sound of police sirens, making him turn and see several police cars, along with a certain giant hero walking up to the crossing. It was Mount Lady, Kamui Woods on her shoulder as they got ahead of the police cars.
'There they are. What took them so long?' he thought before a surge of pain hit his entire body, adrenaline now wearing off as he grabbed his chest and slumped down, 'No...hurts...everywhere. Gotta...get...outta...here.'
He took a deep breath before turning invisible, the teen then crawling up the building he was leaning on. And when he reached the top, he fired a web line and began to invisibly swing away.
The UA sports festival was over. Katsuki Bakugo stood on the top podium, roaring at the crowd as he was tied down in chains. In second place was Shoto Todoroki, whose face was covered in burns, his non-scarred eye closed while leaning on a crutch. Third was Shinso Hitoshi, who was also covered in burns and had an arm in a sling. All Might had appeared next, giving the medals out as the crowd mainly cheered for the number one hero.
But as this happened, Nezu was now in his office. He usually was part of the entire UA festival every year, but this one was different. This was because he found himself getting multiple calls from news outlets, all complaining that the winner of the sports festival looked like some violent thug rather than a hero. Granted, he agreed to an extent, but Aizawa told him that was what Endeavor was, and Katsuki had only been a student for two weeks, not enough to change personalities.
However, that wasn't the main topic of the phone call he was on right now. It was the hero commission president, who was chewing him out for taking all the heroes of Musutafu to the UA sports festival, only for half of the news outlets that covered the festival to suddenly switch to the Spider-Man story, and then no heroes showed up until Spider-Man had already saved the day.
"This is unacceptable!" the president screamed, Nezu just sighing at her reaction.
"Listen, we can not help it when villains attack. What happened-"
"I don't care about what happened! I care that there weren't heroes there to deal with it as soon as it started because they were at your festival! You have All Might at your disposal! Use him!"
"All Might is not a tool-"
"All Might can beat any villain two seconds flat!" the president roared, the sound of a fist hitting a table ringing out through the phone, "He's the greatest hero this world has ever seen, so don't tell me he couldn't have gone in there and handled that!"
Nezu let out another sigh, "I understand your frustration, but we did send heroes to the situation. It is not our fault how long it took them to get there."
He could hear the president grinding her teeth before letting out a hiss, "Listen here rat, I have already told that dog Tsuragamae that Spider-Man must be arrested! We can not allow a vigilante to do a hero's job, especially not after this! Do you understand?!"
"Listen-"
"Do you understand?!" She screeched, making Nezu pause for a second.
"Understood."
"Good. I'm hanging up now because I now have to talk to every news outlet that decided that a vigilante is more important than the UA sports festival!"
A click could be heard before Nezu leaned back in his chair, sighing yet again. He rubbed his face with his hand as he muttered out, "It seems this could be a problem." He then pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a quick smoke, "Perhaps Aizawa will now allow me to be part of his investigation with Naomasa."
Izuku wasn't sure when he got home. He knew it took him a bit longer, mainly cuz he swung one-handed due to his injuries. It had actually only took him a few minutes after beating all the thugs to get home, but it felt like hours to him. As such, he crawled into his room's window, opened and closed it, and crashed onto his bed. He tried to do a text on his phone, only to fall asleep before he could even tap out a word.
An hour or so later, his mom came home. She found him knocked out, sighing at the sight before stripping and bandaging him up. She was so glad he had that healing factor, even if it was super slow. She then put his costume in the wash and just shook her head at the sight of her sleeping son.
"You're going to be the end of me, aren't you?" she whispered to herself before walking into the living room and turning on the television. There, it showed the footage she had seen earlier. It was her son fighting a giant group of villains, the sight of him flipping around, kicking and punching made her go wide-eyed.
'He really was born to be hero, wasn't he?' she thought as she leaned back into the couch, 'I can't stop worrying about him...and yet I feel so proud.'
But as she did this, she glanced back at the television, only to see it turn to another news piece. One that made her go wide-eyed as she whispered, "Oh dear. I hope Izuku doesn't see this."
Tombstone took a swig of whiskey as he walked into a stained blue-colored warehouse on the edge of town. It was a perfect place to hide things away, as it had a long old wire fence around it and broken street lights. And as he walked in, he saw the lights inside were on, showing several piles of boxes...and a group of masked men laying out on the floor, the villain staring at the sight.
"So...were we right?" he grumbled as he walked up to one of the masked men. "Was the whole point of the street fight was so they could try to rob this place?"
"Yeah boss."
"I figured." Tombstone sighed as he picked up one of the masked men like a ragdoll, the thug not responding to even the slightest touch. "And they're still doing that weird not moving thing." He dropped the thug before putting his foot over the thug's face and slammed it down, the sound of crunching bones ringing out next.
It made his men in the warehouse flinch at the sound, only to see Tombstone take another swig of whiskey, "So much for war. And it looks like that spider-whatever is gonna be a pain now."
And as he smacked his lips at this, he put his drink down on a nearby table before taking out a phone, which showed a news feed of Spider-Man fighting his gang on television. "Guess we'll need to do some more recruiting. The heroes will actually start trying to find us now." He then saw the feed change to show another message:
Breaking news! Pro Hero Ingenium severely injured by Hero Killer!
Tombstone's mouth slowly formed a tiny smile, "Then again, maybe not." He turned to one of the thugs, "Call the boys. I want the shipment done asap."
"Sure boss."
And as the thug took out his own phone, Tombstone grabbed his whiskey and took another swig, "Looks like Lady Luck's on my side. Time to get rich while the heroes stay distracted." He wiped his lips at this, "And maybe that spider guy will get caught in the mess as well."