Chapter 27: Pursuing the The sound of pool balls hitting rang out as a certain purple-suited man stood over a billiards table. A thin trail of smoke went out of the cigarette in his mouth as he stared at the table before looking up at the man currently playing the game. The man was wearing a dark blue suit with black vertical lines and had a long frown on his face, his mouth being the only thing on his head visible under the low light hanging above the table.

"Hey there." the purple suited man chuckled as he took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Get lost Giran." the other man replied, "I'm not dealing with you today."

Giran chuckled at this, tugging at his purple suit before doing a slight shrug, "Oh come now, there's no need for hostilities. I just want to talk."

"You can still forget it." the man responded, his eyes glaring at Giran as he just stood there, Giran grinning as he put the cigarette back in his mouth. A few seconds later, a long sigh escaped the man's breath, "What do you want Giran?"

"Knew you'd come around." Giran took a deep breath before letting out a puff of smoke, "My new employer wants me to do some recruitment, and I know you have some of the best around. I can offer you some serious cash if-"

"No." the other man interrupted.

Giran twirled the cigarette in his fingers, "Now hang on, this is a good deal."

"And I'll tell you again. Forget it." the man replied, "I don't have anything for you."

Giran raised an eyebrow at this, "Any reason for the hostility? I know you have plenty of guys right now, your boss-"

"Don't say his name."

"I know." Giran sighed, "I know not to say his name. Anyways, why is there no one for sale? Can I least get that?"

"Simple." The other man thrusted the cue stick, knocking the eight ball into a corner pocket. "Some competition is about to be knocked out, and we're gonna need all hands on deck."

"Competition?"

"The Inner Demons." The man put the cue stick on the table, "Our man on the inside says they're about to taken out." He then pulled out his phone at this, letting out a small hum, "And it looks like things are about to get busier."

And as the man walked out of the room, Giran watched him leave with a small frown, only for it to turn into a tiny grin, "Gotta say, that guy is too serious." He put a new cigarette in his mouth, "Shigaraki's gonna throw a fit."

"Sounds like he just wasn't interested." said a third voice, Giran turning to see another man walk into the bar's dim lighting. The man is in a black coat and covered in burn scars and piercings, in particular around his eyes and neck. "Got anymore places to check?"

"Just one more for the night." Giran replied as he let out a puff of smoke, "I figure Shigaraki won't approve of me just delivering you. No offense."

"None taken." the man responded while crossing his arms, "You need plenty of recruits to make a message these days."

"True." Giran chuckled before sighing. "At least, when it comes to villains. Too bad on the timing though. Sounds like the underworld is about to shift again. That's been happening a lot lately."

"How so?"

Giran twiddled with the cigarette as he stared at the man, "If what he says is true and the Demons are finished, it means two things. One, Tombstone's gang is gonna try and take over Musutafu. They'll probably fail, or get caught before they can take it all, which will make an even bigger mess."

"And the second?"

"Well, I'm a betting man...and I'm betting the one that's gonna take down the Demons is Spider-Man." Giran put the cigarette back in his mouth, "And that means only one thing: Spider-Man is gonna become top priority for the law and the underworld."

"Seriously? Can one vigilante really do that?"

Giran smirked at the question as he flicked his cigarette perfectly into a nearby ashtray, "Oh yeah. Heroes these days are a dime a dozen, which means in the grand scheme of things...they don't matter. Well, except the big ones, like All Might." The two began to walk away from the pool table, heading for the exit, "But vigilantes? If they make enough noise, everyone will dogpile..." Giran's grin grew at his next words as they left the building, "And when the real mess happens, we'll be there to pick up the scraps."

Police Chief Tsuragamae let out a sigh as he walked back into the police department. He had been called in after Naomasa had told him about Spider-Man taking out a building of villains, only to be going after another villain tonight. Now, he regularly didn't have too much of a problem with vigilantes. The dog man was a big pusher of underground heroes, which were considered the closest to vigilantes, but this case was different. Spider-Man had caught the attention of the hero commission, something that would usually take a lot to happen.

As such, he was now walking up to his office, letting out a low woof as another officer walked up to him.

"Chief!"

He turned to a cat headed man, "What is it Tamakawa?"

"I called in the heroes you wanted. Two of them are in the back, Death Arms will be here in a few minutes, and the full team of the Lurkers are on standby!"

"Good." the dog man replied, "Get an extra small force ready with Dewolff as a backup. Naomasa is already on route with Eraserhead to the address and we need to move fast. If Spider-Man really is going to do what he says he's going to do, we need to strike the Inner Demons now."

"Yes sir!"

And as the officer ran away, gesturing to a few to follow him, the chief let out a long sigh and another woof. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Izuku landed on the building he had followed Li to a few days ago, pulling out his tracker and seeing two dots right where he was. He had made sure to remove the tracers from the other cars before coming over here, and had eaten his bento on his way there. He pulled out his water bottle and took a swig before putting it away, checked his web shooters, and then crawled down to the duct he had used before.

'Here we go. I hope he's still here.' Izuku thought as he put his hands on the duct cover, taking a deep breath, 'Am I...really gonna do this? I mean, I want to find out why mister Li did this, but...but...' He took his hands off the cover, 'Maybe mom is right. Maybe I should just call for the heroes.'

He closed his eyes at this, taking another deep breath. His mind began to think back to everything that had happened recently, on how crazy these past three weeks had been. Every encounter went through his head before putting his hand to his nose, squeezing it. 'Mister Li...' he mentally said as he then remembered his time at FEAST, the smiling faces and how he felt helping others.

And as he opened his eyes, he put his hand back on the vent cover. 'No. I have to stop him. Even if I don't get any answers.'

He pushed the vent open, his form slithering into the air ducts. He zipped through the enclosed space, taking a few turns before going to the cover from before. And as he got there, he saw a room now filled with masked thugs. 'Whoa. Did he bring the entire gang here?!' he mentally commented before he saw a new person walk into the room, the man's body still showing that black skin while wearing a pure white suit. 'Mister Li...'

"Is the truck ready?" Li asked one of the thugs.

"Yes master. They are putting in the last of the supplies in it now."

"Good." Li replied before pulling out a phone, tapping it a few times. A call went through a second later, "Do it." He then ended the call before putting away the phone. Another masked man walked up to him, a sheathed katana in his hands, Li taking it. "Inner Demons...it is time. We will not fall here, but we will be moving to our new location."

"And the spider, master?"

Li closed his shining white eyes at this, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes, "He will come...and he will die. All of you in here, stay and welcome him."

"Yes master!" they all yelled, making Izuku flinch.

The teen had watched the scene unfold, wishing he could understand what they were saying. Despite this, he let out a long sigh before putting his hands on the cover and slowly pulled it upward, putting the vent cover to the side. He then gripped the open vent, taking a deep breath. 'You can do this Izuku. Granted, there's a ton of guys here, but you do have a main target compared to the usual...take everyone out alone plan.'

And as he thought this, he saw Li walk out of the room, two thugs opening a double door for him. Seeing this, Izuku began to crawl out of the vent, slithering his way up to the ceiling. As he did this, he glanced down and saw the masked men began to move around the room.

"Prepare yourself!" one of them said, "We must be ready for the spider!"

A few began to open some boxes, pulling out rifles and katanas. 'Great. This whole place is an armory for them.' Izuku mentally groaned as he then hopped off the ceiling and onto a catwalk. 'Guess I better get started.'

The vigilante pointed both web shooters down, aiming at two thugs that took rifles out before walking over to the double doors. And as they got close, Izuku fired the webbing at the feet, instantly yanking the lines. Both fell face first into the floor, letting out yelps of pain before two globs of webbing hit their backs, sticking them to the ground, nullifying both thugs and their guns.

"What the-the spider!" a thug yelled, only for a web line to hit his back before feeling himself now defy gravity as he pulled up to the catwalk.

"Howdy! Mind if I join the party?!" Izuku cackled as he kicked the yanked thug in the back, sending him flying into a stack of crates.

Danger!

"Uh-oh." Izuku muttered before leaping off the catwalk, a split second before a volley of bullets were shot right into the ceiling. He then fired a web line upward, turning into a swing as he did a wide arc across the room. As he did this, he glanced back at the thugs, quickly cutting his line before landing on the far wall before firing two web lines, each instantly hitting two rifles. He pulled on them next, yanking them out of the masked men's hands before jumping off the wall as a third thug swung his katana, firing an energy wave where Izuku had been.

And as Izuku landed in the middle of the room next, a thug roared, "Kill the spider!"

As that line was said, ten men instantly charged at the teen, his spider sense screaming at him. Two blades came for his face first, Izuku leaning back as both just went over him. This was followed by a third sword, only for Izuku to thrust a leg upward, his foot smacking the thug in the chin, knocking him over. Izuku then backflipped away, the first two thugs now thrusting their katanas at him. But as they did this, Izuku went down to all fours before doing a leg sweep, knocking both off their feet. A fourth thug came next, thrusting an energy punch that smacked Izuku in the face, making him stumble back. But as the thug tried to do a second jab, Izuku ducked under it before slamming a fist into the man's stomach, making him bend over before doing an uppercut into the thug.

Danger!

Three of the ten thugs that had charged suddenly switched their method of attack, instead going to the nearest crates and pulling out guns. Spider Sense screamed at Izuku at this, making him fire two web lines upward before yanking himself away. And as this happened, the thugs began lighting up the ceiling, the vigilante quickly swinging around. He felt a small bullet graze his shoulder, the teen flinching for a second before firing two globs of webbing, both covering two of the three guns. This was followed by Izuku doing a dive before firing another web line upward and yanking himself into a swing.

"Web Swing Kick!" Izuku yelled as he slammed two feet into the third armed thug, knocking him flying into two more masked men. Izuku then fired a glob of webbing at them, sticking all three to the floor. And as he did this, the two katana wielders from before got up and began to fire energy waves from their blades. Izuku began to swing around the room again at this, dodging each one as small explosions rocked the walls as the attacks missed the vigilante. And after a third round of dodging, Izuku fired a web line at a nearby stack of crates and pulled it, causing the tower to fall on the two.

"Augh!" the thugs yelled as the boxes collapsed on them.

'Seriously? Even their cries are in that other language of theirs?' Izuku thought before his spider sense went off again. It was here he saw four more thugs appear, all pulling out katanas.

"Aw, come on guys! Enough with the sharp deadly weapons!" Izuku moaned before landing on another stack of crates and fired two web lines. Both hit the swords of two of the thugs before being yanked away, Izuku then leaping from the crate as the other two fired energy waves. And as he did this, Izuku landed between the duo and fired two more web lines, this time grabbing their masks. He then pulled the lines in a criss-cross shape, both thugs being slung into each other as they hit, a clang ringing out before both fell over. This was followed by several blasts of webbing, sticking all four to the floor.

Izuku then glanced up and saw five more thugs, all pulling out katanas as well. 'Darn it. I need to get to Li! I can't be wasting time-'

Danger!

As his spider sense warned him of something, the sound of doors opening behind him made him glance back. And as he did this, his eyes went wide when he saw the double doors from before open...and reveal Martin Li.

"Uh-oh."

"The spider. We finally meet..." Li proclaimed as two masked men appeared by his sides. He grabbed both on the shoulders as energy flowed out of his hands, the two thugs then contorting, looking like their life was now being sucked out of them, both soon flopping over.

The sight made Izuku's already wide eyes begin to widen even further. He almost felt like he was gonna throw up. "What did...what did you just do to them?!" He yelled, only to see Li shine a small smile.

"They served their purpose." Li remarked, Izuku surprised he could understand him. He then raised one hand upward, black and white energy pouring out of it, "Inner Demons, step aside."

The thugs behind Izuku quickly ran around the teen, the vigilante just now remembering they were there. And before he could react, his spider sense began to scream at him. Feeling this, Izuku reflexively flicked his wrist at Li at this, firing a web line straight for the man's face. And as the line of webbing began to exit out of the shooter, Li pointed his hand at Izuku.

THOOM!

An energy wave burst out of Li's hand, Izuku unable to even flinch as the wave covered half the room. The attack instantly hit Izuku's entire body, thrusting him into a full stack of crates. "AUGH!" Izuku screamed as his back went through box after box before hitting a brick wall, the blow making the teen cry out. A second later, the teen slumped down as a pile of crates covered the vigilante.

"No...Li..." Izuku muttered out, pain surging over his entire body as he felt more and more boxes begin to weigh down on his body.

And as Izuku's eyes began to close, Li fell to his knees, panting and shaking his head. A second later, he began to stand up and pointed at the mess he had now created. "Make sure the spider is finished."

"Yes master. And you?"

Li replied as he tugged at his suit, "I will now take my leave. Kill the spider and destroy this place. Leave no trace behind."

"Yes master."

Meanwhile...

"Take 'em down!" Death Arms roared as he swung his giant arms, knocking three masked thugs off their feet. Two more then appeared and pointed their rifles at him, soon opening fire.

"Hang on!" yelled another hero as he landed in front of Death Arms, creating a shield that blocked every bullet.

"Thanks Crust!" Arms replied as Crust threw a shield next, smacking the guns away from the two criminals. This was followed by Death Arms charging at them, quickly thrusting fists into their stomachs as both thugs cried out in pain.

"The heroes are here!" screamed another masked thug, "Destroy everything and flee! We must-"

ZAP!

A laser shot straight up at the thug, hitting his back before he slumped over instantly. Two more thugs turned to the laser's origin, only to see the Pro Hero X-Less. "You're done here." he remarked before firing his laser at the other, striking both in the stomach. The blows knocked them off their feet, the trio of heroes then glaring up at the building before them. It was a gigantic warehouse, which was currently closed off except for a giant shutter that was barely moving. The three had been called to rout out the villains here, only to find themselves fighting a constant wave of thugs as suddenly tons of masked men ran out from under the slowly opening shutter.

"We need to get in there." Death Arms commented as he charged ahead, smacking two more thugs away with giant swipes of his huge arms.

"Agreed!" Crust responded as he created a wall of shields as three more gun-wielding thugs came out next, bullets already flying out of their weapons. This was followed by X-Less firing his laser at each gun, knocking each one of the thugs' hands.

And as they kept pushing the masked criminals back, several police cars arrived on the scene. Officer after officer ran onto the scene, only for another car to arrive. It was Naomasa, a pistol in his hand as Eraserhead walked out of the passenger side of his car.

"Seems Spider-Man was right."

"Ya think?!" Aizawa grumbled before pulling on his scarf. "Wanna bet Spider-Man isn't even here?"

"No." Naomasa replied as the two ran up beside the other officers, soon taking cover behind one of the cars, "But you're probably right. I'm just hoping whatever he's doing won't be an even bigger mess than what this is gonna be."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Aizawa moaned as he began to stand up, his fingers fiddling with his capture weapon, "I got a feeling this night is just getting started."

The sounds of boxes being moved rang out, several masked thugs pushing aside everything they could as quickly as possible. And as they did this, Li left the room, gesturing to two men to follow him. They went into the next room, where he saw a line of masked men all carrying boxes into what looked like a modified semi. On the sides were shielded metal plating, and the inside was much longer than a usual truck of his size, showing the load he had used was custom.

"Is everything ready?" he asked as he saw the last box be put into the vehicle.

"Yes master. The driver should be in the front now."

"Good. I will be riding in this one. The rest of you, help out the others to destroy this place and then flee. If you know you are not followed, meet up at the new hideout."

"Yes master."

And as Li walked around the semi, the thugs all gathered around some crates they had left behind. Opening one, they found exactly what they needed: Cans of gasoline. Each took one, all taking off the caps before they began to pour it all over the room.

But as they did this, in the other room, a final box was lifted up to reveal a slumped over Spider-Man. And as the thugs around him saw this, one lifted a blade upward...and swung it down on the vigilante's head.