Chapter 28

The Next Day

"Looks like you've had quite the spectacle." Rhomann Dey, officer of the Nova Corp, comments.

He had been sent by the Nova corp to recover the alien that had been marooned to earth once they had bene notified by the Earth's government's per protocol. Since it was a simple enough assignment, he decided to have his rookie partner, Sam Alexander, tag along for a much easier going day on the beat. A stark contrast to the business they had in the A'skvarii sector. It's gonna take weeks for the smell of swamp outta my uniform.

Tony clears his throat as they survey the damage in the Archive room, or what was left of it. "On behalf of… Earth, I'd like to apologize. We had some unruly fellows who decided to play rough house in our building."

Rhomann waves it off, "No worries. Every world has their politics and problems. I'd much rather fill out the paperwork for this than Earth declaring war or something."

Tony gives him a deadpan look. "yea that-that would be very much appreciated."

Sam laughs as he joins in on the conversation, "Oh I know! Cause you'd be royally screwed! Like I know you guys have all these powerful people and all that but we're talking billions of worlds coming down on your asses!"

Tony sighs as he closes his eyes. His heart has barely recovered from nearly being skewered he really doesn't need to have his blood pressure rise at the thought of narrowly missing intergalactic annihilation.

"Hey kid, let's cool it on the what ifs, Terran ain't looking that good." Rhomann points a thumb at the green looking billionaire and Sam apologizes.

Then his eyes lit up, "hey where's that big blonde guy everyone talks about! H'es supposed to be really cool and everyone in the Guardians liked him! Might guy or something?"

"All Might." Rhomman corrects him then asks Tony, "Yea where is he? I was told he'd be here."

Remembering that All Might is currently visiting David Shield he covers for him. "Um a personal matter came up and he had to book it."

"oh that's too bad. Well let's just see where this hitchhiker is so we can take him off your hands."

Tony leads them to the storage unit that holds the alien… Or rather held. "Oh no." Tony whimpers as he runs a hand down his face.

Where the Storage unit stood, was now a destroyed and flat surface, obviously not surviving the destruction of the final showdown against Wolfram. "Yikes, that's gonna be more paperwork!" Rhomann whistles.

He taps Sam on the shoulder, "Hey kid, make yourself useful and do a scan."

"Why me?"

"cause you're still learning the ropes now get to it!"

"Ugh, fine!"

Grumbling Sam crouches down to the poleaxed unit and taps his helmet. "How do I work this thing again, oh aha! Got it! Ok let's see, um scan, scan, scan, scan, how do I scan again?"

"any time now kid!" Rhomann yells.

"Hang on I got it!" He yells over his shoulder.

"Need help?"

"No I got it!" Sam replies with frustration.

His helmet displays a variety of options and he raises a confused eyebrow. "I… Think I got it? Aha! I do!"

The helmet begins to scan the residue the lifeform had left and once done he cockily struts back to the grown men as he informs them, "First gen Klyntarran!"

"Klyntarran?" Tony asks.

And Rhomann explains, "They're inorganic amorphous, symbiotic creatures. Can't survive on their own and need a host or else they'll quickly die. That things actually an endangered species, they've had a bad run and most had to go into hibernation before they went extinct."

"So it could take over someones body?"

"Only if they get their grubby… uh… huh. Well they don't have hands so I wonder what to call it?"

"Please focus!" Tony snarls in frustration.

"Look you don't have to worry, it can't go far, besides kid picked up a trial, right Sam?"

Said rookie perks up, "Huh?"

"… You picked up a trail after scanning didn't you?"

"Uh, yea yea I did! Come on you think I'm a rookie or something?"

"That's exactly what you are."

He crosses his arms in a huff, "Well I didn't make a rookie mistake ok!"

Now Rhomann taps his foot patiently, "So where'd it go?"

"… No where…. It uh, it died!"

"It did?!" Tony screams.

"Now now calm down!"

"How exactly, should I calm down when an alien life form just died in our custody! This could turn into an intergalactic incident!"

"It's ok! Alright, we'll just tell them it had already died before it made it to earth!"

Tony looks at him disbelievingly, "That simple?"

"Yup!"

"And they'll buy it?"

"They haven't questioned it before! You know how many times I've had to use that excuse just to keep the planet from being vaporized?"

"I don't wanna know!" The armored avenger deadpans.

Rhomann deflates, "Yea you're better off not knowing anyway. Alright, looks like we're all done here. Let's go kid!"

"But we just got here!"

"And now we're leaving, I got a wife and kid waiting for me, I don't wanna end up on their bad side."

"Fine." He grumbles and the two begin to depart after bidding their goodbye to Tony stark.

Once they get outside Rhomann has to ask, "Are you sure it's dead?"

"I already said it was! Can't you start trusting me? I'm supposed to be your partner!"

"Alright Alright! Quit getting your panties in a bunch geez!"

Sam pouts though a thought begins to creep in his mind. What if it isn't dead? Ah forget it, there's no way a klyntarran can survive any of this. Even if it was alive ona very very very off chance, how much damage could it really cause?

Kaminari adjusts the collar to his dress shirt, letting out a long winded exhale, his fingers drumming the surface of the table he was stationed at for work. Did he need to show up? No, no he didn't. Sure the café was surprisingly open but really it was only to lend a resting place and services for emergency personnel who were making quick work of cleaning up the chaos that had overtaken I-Island. His boss had notified them that today was simply volunteer work, if he didn't feel physically or emotionally ready for the task, he didn't need to come. But he did, he needed to get away, to feel useful.

The door chimes open and in walks Mina, dressed in her waitress uniform as well. She beams when she sees that was not alone. "hey you!"

He half smirks, "sup mina."

"Thought I'd swing by and pick up the slack but it looks like there wasn't much a reason too, it's pretty vacant here." She comments, noting that they're the only souls around.

Kaminari shrugs one shoulder, "Not many people have stopped by, Boss was here but he went to double check our stock in the back."

Mina is to pick up on the dejected tone in the electrically charged Teen's voice and, being the good friend she was, asks, "What's got you so down?"

He snorts humorlessly, wringing his hands to keep off the tremors that came every now and then. "Can I confess to you something?"

"If it's your passionate love for me, I hate to see but you'll be sorely disappointed—"

He rolls his eyes with a chuckle, "No definitely not that."

"Ok," she pulls a chair and sits on it backwards, focused on her friend, "So spill."

He sighs, "You know, when I decided to go to attend UA to be a hero, it-it was for pretty selfish reasons. You know? The fame, the glory, sponsorship deals! It was like the best way to set yourself up for life. But… last night, when we went up against those villains. It hit me just how tough this could get. Everyone's always told me how powerful my quirk is, that it'd be a piece of cake for me to fight villains, and yet I was the first one taken out. It was the first time I was ever electrocuted. I felt like I was dying and the worst part was I wasn't even thinking about me. But that everyone else would be next because I was to dumb to do anything right. Everyone could've died, Parker-San almost did die!"

He takes a shuddering breath to keep himself from breaking down, still unable to meet Mina's eyes. "Some hero I am, even protect my friends."

He feels a soft hand grasp his shoulder and he meets Mina's emphatic eyes, "I think I understand. I've always been told how strong my quirk is my whole life too. Big help it was against Scorpion."

"Yea but you took down Molten Man." He protests.

She shakes her head, "No, I helped. I didn't actually do it. Todoroki figured it out I just played bait. And honestly? I was breaking."

Taken aback, Kaminari asks, "You were?!"

She nods her head, "But-but you didn't look it at all, you were brave and getting everyone fired up to fight!"

"But I was scared. I – I didn't do it to help everyone fight, but because I wanted someone braver to step in and do something. If they couldn't, then what chance did I have?" She confesses.

To say the least, Kaminari is shocked. Mina has always been loud and proud of who she is, to the point of being presented as someone without fear. He's never seen her without an ounce of confidence. Even when they failed their Exam against principal Nezu. Seeing her like this, it just seemed so wrong.

"It's not the first time either. When I was in middle school, this giant thug was threatening my friends, asking for someone's agency. I stepped in and sent him to a police department instead. My friends? They kept thanking me telling me that I saved them. And I thought I did, but later on the news, I found out that the same police department I sent him to was destroyed, 17 cops were left permanently injured because he just attacked them, all of them were either quirkless or with weak quirks. They didn't stand a chance. I could've sent him anywhere else, or to Crimson Riot's agency, but I was too scared to think straight. I hated that feeling, I hated feeling paralyzed with fear. And I never wanted to feel that way again. That's why I worked hard to attend UA, I thought this would make me a better hero. Instead I just, slacked. I fooled around, didn't take things so seriously because that time felt so far away. And now look, I'm right back at square one. Sometimes I wonder why I should even stay in UA."

Kaminari slams his palm on the table, the sound startling the poor girl. "No! No don't start with that! You… you deserve to be in UA way more than me."

"Now don't you start! You were the one who brought Peter back to life!"

"—It was mostly Gwen and Momo—"

"—And You! You played just as important a part as them, so don't doubt yourself." She points out again.

He nods and gives her a mischievous look, "And you played just as important a part as Iida and Todoroki, so don't you sell yourself short."

She laughs boisterously, "Ya got me there!... Guess we should stop feeling sorry for ourselves."

"And start trying to be heroes?" He asks.

She grins and gives him a thumbs up, "You got it! Let's do our best in summer camp! And let's promise to never give up!" She raises a fist.

He bumps it enthusiastically, "Never again!"

"So you're really leaving already?"

Gwen shrugs her bag over her shoulder as Peter helps her with the other. She had argued that she could do it herself since it has wheels and all but he insisted and frankly, she was too tired to argue.

"It'd be nice to spend more time on I-Island but sadly, having a terrorist attack puts a pause on all types of plans. Roxxon has recalled all their employees and since Rick took me along I have to leave with him unless I want to be stranded here." She explains.

He raises an eyebrow with a smirk. "That doesn't sound that bad to me. Feels like a reward."

She scoffs, "It would but after having to fight the whole night to keep this island from falling into the sea with heels no less, I think I had my fill."

"Hh. Pretty bad ass story to tell when you get home though, probably will earn you a few brownie points for being one of I-Islands saviors."

She beams, "Mr Mason already has ideas, says there might even be an actual employment offer too!"

Peter grins, "I'm really happy for you Gwen. Least one of us is is doing alright with life."

"Quite the woe is me act Pete. You aren't doing so bad yourself. You really took to this whole Hero thing better than anybody could ever imagine. You really got a knack for it."

He rubs his still sore neck, "More like I'm better at taking a beating than before. Guess I should thank Flash and Kong for prepping me for my hero life with those practice runs."

Gwen giggles, "It's not just that. You've got great friends, people who care for you and stick their necks out for you. I think you're doing pretty good with this life stuff too."

"I sure hope so. It was great seeing you again Gwen."

She pulls Peter into a warm hug. Years ago this would've made her heart skip but now, it feels better. Like home. "It was great seeing you too Pete. Don't be a stranger! Midoriya gave me your number so you won't be able to escape from me!"

"Wouldn't dream of it! Take care Gwen."

She enters the open elevator and smiles once more, confident they'll see each other again. The doors close and Peter lets out a sigh that seems to deflate his entire body. He didn't want Gwen to leave worried so he did his absolute best too look like his normal laid back self. But in reality, he feels so weighed down at the moment. He'd like nothing more than to have a time alone to decompress, But the others need me right now.

After a short walk, Peter rubs his neck and he knocks on the door to Mei Hatsume's room. He hears quite the tumble as the sounds of tools and metal clanging and banging can easily reach his ears as well as a few grunts and expletives before Hatsume finally opens the door. Peter raises an eyebrow as he takes the state of his friend. Clear bags under her eyes, the grin she normally has plastered on her face has dimmed to a slight curling of the corners of her mouth that barely resembles a smile.

"you uh, you don't look so good."

She throws a hand up and tries to laugh, but even to her own ears it's not that convincing. "Well didn't get a chance to exhibit my babies but that just means I have more time to tweak a few things to give off the best impressions!"

"I hate to break it to you, but everything's pretty much canceled for the next month."

She smacks her lips and shrugs noncommittally, "Always next time! Now if you'll excuse me I just—"

He places a foot in the way to keep her from closing the door. "I wanted to check up on you. You seem… frazzled."

She takes a wrench and swings it in one finger, not looking in Peter's eyes as she redraws new blueprints in the other hand. "I think I told you quite a while ago that fighting villains and playing hero was not exactly something I signed up fro nor was I prepared for! So, frazzled is the perfect word to describe me at the moment, especially with how long it took for me to stop my hair from sticking up thanks to sparkplug. Speaking of which it birthed me a very productive brainstorm that birthed a new insulation material I'll be working on once back in my home awa from home!"

Peter watches his friend in worry. She's trying hard to keep up the pretense that she was unaffected by the previous nights events, but he can clearly see that it got to her. He can say the shake in her once steady hands. The bits of panic that flashes in her bullseyed eyes whenever she doesn't look at him for too long. "Hatsume, you know you can talk to me—"

"I know!" She cuts him off, " 'ppreciate the concern but I'm fine!"

Now I know you're definitely not fine!

He takes a half step forward, "Mei—"

"Peter." She says firmly, the sheer seriousness in her voice stopping Peter in his tracks. "Please, just let it go right now."

She's never pleaded before. She's never sounded so desperate. Because of that, Peter is lost as to how to help. He'll regret it later, but for now he obliges. "Ok. I'll uh, I'll catch you later then?"

Her back is still to him but she nods, "Catch ya later web slinger."

He chuckles, gives her one more concerned look then leaves. Hatsume waits a minute before collapsing onto her seat. She clutches her chest as she desperately tries to catch her breath, feeling like her lungs were constricting and not enough oxygen was circulating in her systems. Like him. The memory of Peter slowly losing the ability to breath, losing consciousness, assaults her mind. The sound of the steady beep that was sounding off to the beat of his heart drowning out any sound from her ears. She puts a gloved hand to her mouth and she bites hard, letting out a silent scream that leaves her drained emotionally. Catching her breath, she hits the table with the wrench and starts redrawing new blueprints. Never again. She promises to herself.

Out side of her room, Peter shakes his head. Truth be told, everyone was still processing the nights debacle. He still is too. The Green Goblin. Not only is he connected to the league of villains, clearly, but even Norman Osborn. A wave of guilt washes over the teen. This whole thing is my fault. These people were here because of me. They had to have been. God… how many people died, just cause they wanted what's in me? He looks at the palms of his hands. They've healed now, but when he returned to his room and entered the bathroom, he spent an hour scrubing his hands raw. He just couldn't get the image of bloodstains on his hands out of his head.

"Parker?"

Peter breaks from his angst thanks to Midoriya's presence. "H-Hey Midoriya."

"Are you ok?"

He sighs, running a tired hand through his hair, "About as well as I can be. I'm just glad everyone's alive."

He smiles, "Alive and well thanks to All Might."

Peter rolls his eyes, "All due respect, I think we did like 90% percent of the work."

"Heh I guess you're right."

"Guess? Uh-uh, I am right!"

Now Izuku rolls his eyes, walking down the hall with Peter by his side. "Hey Peter, can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"I mean another thing."

"Sure."

Izuku inhales deeply, "What did the goblin mean when he said he knew you're secret?"

The American freezes. He had forgotten that the Goblin had taunted him in front of Izuku. OF course someone as perceptive as his neighbor would pick up on it even in the heat of battle. He clears his throat, beginning to feel sweaty. He wasn't expecting Midoriya to ask him so soon. He did want to bring it up to midoriya but, it never felt like the right time. What- what should I do? I have to tell him. I can't just lie to him! But what if he thinks it was my fault too? What if he tells everyone else and they start to hate me? What if—

He stops his train of thought. This… this was exactly what Midoriya had told him. His worries and fears when he first told me about One for all. About his quirkless life before meeting All Might. He was worried that after he told me, I would hate him just as much as bakugo did as well as the rest of his school growing up. He was afraid, just like me. But he was still brave enough to take that leap. He quickly pulls Midoriya into his room.

The green haired teen gets a sense of déjà vu, as the turn of events reminded him of when Peter confessed to him his history with Gwen. It's even more apparent as Peter sits on his bed in the same way he did earlier, fidgeting just the same.

"Peter?"

"I… I haven't been completely honest with you Izuku." Peter mumble.

The one for all inheritor slowly takes a seat infront of him, confusion apparent in his expression.

Peter continues, "I told you that my quirk came in late like yours apparently did. But, that's not the case. In fact we're a lot more alike than you think."

Peter inhales deeply, "I was truly quirkless. But… I got my quirk from outside forces."

Instantly Midoriya's mind gets to work, "Wait! Are you saying that someone passed on their quirk to you too?! This can't just be a coincidence! Could it be that quirk transference is a lot more common then we think? Why isn't it common knowledge then? Could it be some people are doing so subconsciously, or that their quirks aren't noticeable like changing your hair color—"

"MIDORIYA!"

"S-Sorry!" He cringes.

Peter sighs, "Normally I appreciate your brainstorms but, let's just focus up here. Look, my powers weren't given to me by someone else, per say. My dad, he was a brilliant scientist ok? He studied quirks to try and figure out a way to make them better peoples lives. With Norman Osborn—"

"The CEO of Oscorp?"

"Yea him." The sheer amount of venom laced in his tone stuns the 1A student, halting the next question he was going to ask. "With Osborn, he tried creating a way to give people quirks so as to do things like heal them from ailments. And he succeeded."

Midoriya's eyes widened, "You?"

Peter nodded, "Yea. But not on purpose, I don't know much on why or how, but the only times he had any success was when he created a breed of spider's that carried the formula he created. From what I've been told, this was the breakthrough he needed. But, Osborn, he didn't want to create artificial quirks to help people. He had less 'honorable' ideas in mind for them."

From the look of his friend, Izuku quickly came to the correct conclusion concerning the billionaire's machinations. "To replicate it and weaponize it." He whispers, horror accompanying the realization.

Midoriya's mind is filled with the thoughts of Nomu's. People who were experimented on by All for One, giving them quirks strong enough to put up a fight with All Might. The thought of it was bad enough that one person was capable of doing so. Hearing that there's someone else with the same goal? He shudders to think what could happen, especially if All for One gets wind of it.

"exactly. My dad figured out what Osborn wanted and kept most of the research to himself so that he'd be the only one to correctly make the formula. I don't know if he was gonna go public or try the authorities cause before he could do much, from what I know, Norman hunted him into hiding. I-I don't even know if he's alive with my mom."

Midoriya's eyes are filled with sorrow, but Peter ignores it, not wanting pity. "Whatever my dad did, Osborn still can't figure it out. Clearly he's been obsessed with it but couldn't ever find any success. Until me. Universe loves to play tricks on me I guess cause the same spider my dad made, bit me and in doing so—"

"It gave you the formula and replicated the abilities of a spider in you!"

"Yup."

"That's… insane. And really weird. A spider bit you and now you have spider powers?" He asks incredulously at the absurdity of Peter's experience.

Peter gives him a deadpanned look, "Well it's more dignified than eating someone's hair!"

Izuku turns green for a moment. He clears his throat, "Point taken. But what does this have to do with the Goblin? Or-or Osborn?"

"Everything. Osborn's been aware of my powers from the beginning and he's been after me ever since. He's been relentless and Mr Stark was the only one who's kept him at bay. That's why I ended up here, it was Mr Stark's idea and he helped me move here to put as much distance between me and Osborn as he can to protect me, but he followed anyway like a moth to the flame. And he's been part of everything that's happened."

Peter's haunted eyes darken with his hair covering them. "Vulture and the Enforcers were working with Osborn, one of them took my blood. Scorpion said that Osborn pumped him up with it and now he's how he is. And when Shigaraki attacked you? He told me that the Green one was after me."

"Wait you mean—"

"Yea, the Green goblin. He's gotta be working with Norman in some way." His chin shakes and he grips his hair, "This was all my fault. He attacked I-Island because of me, I know it!"

"That's not true!" Midoriya surprises Peter with his instant rebuttal.

"Huh?"

"Peter, the Goblin wasn't here for you."

Now it's his turn to sit. "Peter… When Melissa and I went up to reboot the system, Wolfram caught us and Goblin forced David Shield to confess everything. He planned it."

Peter's jaw drops, dismayed that one of the greatest scientific minds in the world who he held in such high regard was behind this. "He what?!"

"It's complicated! He-He knew All Might was losing his quirk and created a device that would amplify it."

"The same device Wolfram used against you and All Might." Peter surmises.

Izuku scratches his head out of habit, "Yea that one, but it was confiscated by the board because they were afraid of it falling into the wrong hands. Something like that—"

"Could start a superhuman arms race, like the formula in me." Peter looked at his hands, feeling a heaviness in them.

"They were right. But knowing that he did it all because All Might gave me his quirk…" He begins to sniffle, his voice cracking. " Peter you shouldn't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. It was mine. All this happened because of me." The green haired teen begins to cry, sniffling to keep the tears at bay.

"Midoriya," Peter's voice is full of sorrow. He tries to get Izuku to stop crying as he firmly tells him, "Look at me Izuku!"

With great hesitance, he does so. "This isn't your fault. Remember? Remember what All might told us? Even before he met you, he was already losing his power. He could only use it for 3 hours a day."

"But how would David know?!" He asks desperately.

" David Shield, he knew All Might a long time! If anyone could see a dip in his power output it'd be him! This couldn't of been planned overnight Izuku! This would've happened regardless."

He hopes with all he has that Midoriya believes him. As time goes on, his sniffles lessen. "I –I guess."

"And regardless, you're doing great with All Might's quirk. You should've seen the class, they were inspired bro."

The corners of Izuku's mouth twitches and he shyly asks, "They-They were?"

"yup! It's like you were their All Might!" He bumps Midoriya's shoulder with his. "Trust me, you're making him proud. Neither of us think he made the wrong choice when he chose you."

Midoriya was so grateful he started crying again, splashing Peter with tears, "Hey hey calm the water works! My suit was already damaged enough I don't need you adding water damage to this one!" He spoke of his casual civilian attire.

"Sorry!" Midoryia laughs as he wipes away his tears. "Thank you Peter."

"No prob Izuku."

"… Why didn't you tell me before?" There wasn't any hint of accusation in his question, but Peter flinched nonetheless.

"I'm sorry, I just was so worried. I guess you can understand. I mean how the hell do you explain that I've put everyone around me in danger by association because some rich nutjob wants to dissect me like a frog? No offense to Tsu. And seeing that everyone really was put in danger, I guess a part of me blamed myself and hated myself for it."

"None of us would hate you, we'd do everything we could to help!"

Peter smiles tiredly, "Whether I'd like it or not."

"You got that right!" Izuku says with a grin.

The American teen snorts, "You really are a stubborn guy?"

"I learned from the best. So if I can't blame myself, then neither can you. Deal?"

He sticks out his hand. Peter shakes his head with a smirk as he shakes his fiends hand, "Deal."

Izuku checks his phone and sees the time, "I gotta go, I promised to check up on Melissa before she sees her father."

Getting a sudden idea Peter tells him, "Maybe you should check up on Uraraka before that."

Stammering, Izuku asks, "Uraraka? W-Why?"

Peter half shrugs, "She was beating herself up pretty bad once things were over. I think she needs to be reminded of her worth. That's something you can do like no one else in the class."

Izuku's heart skips a beat and his face turns into a slight shade of pink. "M-me?"

"yea, your words are worth a lot to her."

Izuku fights to keep the smile from growing too large on his face and says, "Yea, ok. I'll do that."

"Alright… Hey." He calls out.

"Think this can stay between us? I'm not ready to tell anyone else about this."

Midoriya bows, "You have my word."

"thanks bro."

Peter watches him leave. He's glad to see that his talk had brightened up Midoriya's day, if only a little. Too bad it didn't do so for him. Nothing can shake just how guilty he felt. And now, he worries if it was right to tell Midoriya about this. Why did I tell him? He's already got enough of his plate dealing with one for all now this?! Things could end badly if both our secrets are exposed. The whole class would probably turn against us. Hell this would be the perfect ammo for someone like Monoma to make everyone hate us. Gosh, what did I get him into? I should've just lied or said that Goblinw as making things up or something. Unbeknownst to him, in his bag holding his tattered suit, the sludge he had stepped in has completely absorbed it. Since it was placed in the luggage it had remained dormant. But the negative emotions swirling inside Peter was palpable so much so that the sludge could feel it and react to it, as if savoring the smell of a wonderful meal before the feast.

Momo watches the numbers in the elevator drop little by little. Last night was a very eventful night. It still shook her to her core, knowing that villains were able to not only break into the supposedly most secure facility on the planet. Not only break in, but lay waste to it. So many people were hurt, she couldn't bring herself to count how many died. Even worse, Peter could've been one of them. She shook her head. There it is again. She was ashamed to admit to herself that of everyone who got hurt, Peter's near death was the one that affected her the most. It drowned away all the others. I hate that feeling. It makes me feel so selfish to think that I was relieved that he survived over everyone else. But is it really wrong? From the experiences I've read from people surviving disasters, they've always shown relief when theyir loved ones had survived—wait loved ones?! Wh-who said anything about loved ones!?

She shakes her head, willing those treacherous thoughts out from the forefront of her mind. She's supposed to be a hero dammit. She shouldn't be distracted by all this, especially with all that's happened. And not just to her, but her class as well. She isn't so blind to see that the night has left its mark on everyone. Mina and Kaminari's normally carefree attitude's were clearly dimmed. Jiro herself was rather quiet, Todoroki seemed rather unaffected but she did pick up on whispers he's made that he needs to improve further. Uraraka was putting herself down because she felt like she hadn't contributed enough. Iida looked distracted but kept to himself, but she did hear him say to himself, '… great power.. great responsibility.' She smirked when she heard that though. Seems your uncle's values are reaching more hearts than you thought Peter.

The only ones she hadn't seen since then were Hatsume, Midoriya, and Gwen. I wonder how they're faring? Perhaps I should check in on their wellness.

The elevator dings as it stops on a floor and the doors open to reveal Gwen Stacy. The blonde stops in between her steps, neither one expecting to see the other and staring for a moment. "Umm..."

"C-Come in!" Momo waves her in the elevator.

They ride in silence for a bit, both wanting to speak but neither one knowing how to get the conversation started. A few seconds pass and nothing but the occasional ding and elevator music fills the space that's beginning to feel more and more cramped as time goes on. Deciding enough is enough, Gwen clears her throat.

"Hey, good job back there. I don't think I properly commended you."

Momo smiles gratefully but tries to wave it off. "Oh I didn't do much, it was a class effort. Definitely lead by Pe-Parker-kun, Midoriya-san, and todoroki-san."

"And You!" Gwen pointedly retorts, "You were the main driving force of the class. And might I add that shooting grenades out of your hands is pretty badass!"

Yaoyorozu is flustered by the praise and shyly tucks hair behind her ear, "Th-Thank you. It wasn't my idea though. Parker-kun had thought of it, I simply implemented it."

Gwen is quick to note how bad the beautiful girl's confidence is, to the point of putting herself down at every opportunity. "As helpful as the webhead is, you still handled your business. And you helped us keep him alive remember? Plus out of everyone you were the one who took down the most drones."

"Thank you Gwen!" Momo smiles sincerely. "I should be the one commending you! More than anyone you were in the most danger and yet you had not even the slightest bit of fear! This whole Island and everyone in it owes you their gratitude!"

"Oh trust me, I was plenty scared! I just couldn't find it in me to let it stop me from saving people who needed saving. I guess I have to blame that trait on my dad!"

"Being a hero must run in the family."

"Oh no, not your way, fun as it was I prefer a lab. That's how I'll save jobs!"

Momo gives her an admiring look, marveling at how good of a person Gwen Stacy was. "I should also thank you, for saving Peter's life."

"You helped too remember?" Gwen points out.

"I-I know but still, thank you."

"He really means a lot to you doesn't he?"

She giggles from how flustered Yaoyorozu gets, "W-Well I-I-I –"

"Calm down! I promise I won't tease. And, I'm preemptively telling you that I'm not getting in your way."

"WHAT?!"

"A blind man can see what's going on between you two. You're not gonna be able to convince me otherwise." The blonde genius firmly states.

Momo sighs, "There is. But this isn't the right time! Both of us are trying to become heroes and I've I've never experienced any of this before! I-I shouldn't even be thinking about it, I'm a student in UA, I shouldn't be thinking about love, I should be thinking about my future as a pro hero!"

"No one said anything about love." Gwen mumbles, to which Yaoyorozu does her best to ignore. "Look, I'm not saying that you should make this all you're about or what you should base your life on. But if there's one thing my mom taught me that I try my hardest to take to heart, is that as much as it hurt to lose dad, she was glad she could live without the regret of wasting her time. She makes sure that any choice she makes is one without regrets. I try to live my life like that. I think you should too. With Peter, with the pro hero life, with everything! And yea maybe not everyone's gonna like it. But it's not up to them. Only you."

Momo stares at the blonde slack jawed. She made it sound so simple. But maybe that's what she needs to do. Everything she's thought since the Sports Festival was always what could go wrong, how she's too slow to make the right choice and is it even the right choice to make at any given situation? And of course what if she upsets her father too, or ruin their image any further than she already has? But, could it really be that simple to just throw that all away? Could she just do what she wants? Exactly what is it that I want?

She wasn't aware that she said that out loud as Gwen answers, "You gotta figure that out yourself."

"O-Oh, thank you. I mean it sincerely."

"Of course. The Elevator starts to slow down and come to arrest at Gwen's floor and the door slowly opens. "You know we should hang out sometime too. It'd be nice to have a friend and a break from all the testosterone." Gwen asks.

"That would very much be appreciated. I hope my second impression will make up for my first." Yaoyorozu jokes. Though she is half serious about it.

Gwen snickers for a moment, "Trust me it wasn't a bad first impression. Very understandable actually. Oh, and I'm sure it goes without saying that, whatever happens, whether you decide to be with Peter or not; don't hurt him. Or you'll have me to answer to, quirk or no quirk."

She hadn't stated it in a threatening manner, but Momo took it just as seriously nonetheless. Having seen her bravery first hand despite only being a civilian, Ms Stacy has earned the respect of the UA students. "Of course." She replies.

Norman adjust the welders goggles he's wearing and goes back to modifying his glider, the blowtorch sparking as it meets the metal. And yet they fizzle out once it reaches his skin, leaving it unscathed as though it had never existed in the first place. The entrance to his lab is opened and in walks Dr Warren holding a tablet that has his current data on his work on the little reserve of Peter's blood they had.

"No rest for the wicked?"

Osborn shuts off the flame and removes the goggles, "If I stop now then my enemies will overtake me. I have to keep myself two steps ahead. What do you have?"

"We've managed to slow the decay rate by 10% but end results remain the same. The subject dies after prolonged exposure to the formula. We've already exhausted our reserves, we need more." Dr warren informs his superior.

Osborn snatches the tablet from his hands, a move that Warren has grown accustomed to but finds it annoying nonetheless. "Why haven't you synthesized more of his blood?" he asks in a dangerous tone.

"The more I use the more his blood dilutes. I need a fresh batch."

"You'll get it soon enough."

Warren takes back the tablet and watches Osborn inject himself with the temporary antidote. "Was it truly a wise decision to sabotage the device? It could've proven useful."

Norman finishes the modifications he's made and begins wrapping up his work as he answers. "Too many unknown variables, the device amplifies the user's quirks but it could prove dangerous to user's who's x-gene is currently unstable such as Scorpion."

"And yourself." Warren points out.

Norman simply glares at him. "Watch it."

"Apologies. And if I may ask, was there any other reason?"

Osborn now goes to his monitor and after a few tics on the keypad, it showed a news anchor reporting on the attack on I-Island:

" It has been confirmed that I-Island was indeed attacked by a group of villains dubbed the Sinister Six. Led by the self proclaimed 'Green Goblin'. Witnesses state that The Green goblin had not only taken control of the entire Island's security system, but was also successful in restraining All might himself. Eventually the number one Hero managed to free himself, but not before the Island suffered severe damage under the villains machinations. So far only two had been successfully taken into custody, Maxwell Dillon, AKA Electro; a villain responsible for many grizzly murders including some high profile heroes worldwide and Wolfram, an underground villain who gained a following thanks to rumors of his being a direct descendant of 1st generation quirk historical figure, Erik Lensherr who was then known as Magneto. The latter of which caused severe damage to the Dibianksy Tower, the shining light of I-Island itself. And with Electro nearly depowering the entire island, many officials worldwide are beginning to question All Might's ability in protecting the inhabitants of this planet while others are lambasting the myriad of pro heroes who contributed nothing to ending last nights terrorist attack. This is just the latest of many recent occurrences that has the public at large divided. Some are questioning the Pro heroes efficiency, made even worse thanks to the sudden leak of the now apprehended Hero Killer; Stain's virtual diary. In it the madman went into great detail explaining his perceived corruption of justice in the hero society, with only All Might being the single example of true heroism."

The reporter drones on as Warren watches with great interest. " 'If you can make god bleed, then people will cease to believe in him.'"

"This is why. I wasn't lying when I told the hostages that this was my great debut as the Green Goblin. I've established myself as a player on the chess board. People will remember what happened but they won't think about All for One. No they'll think about the Green goblin and his Sinister Six. They'll remember that the Green Goblin was the one who brought All Might down to his knees before him without even throwing a single punch. They'll remember that thanks to The Green Goblin, what was considered the most secure place on the planet was laid to waste. Everyone will remember the Green Goblin. And All Might's status as the symbol of peace will begin to weaken and All for One's hold on the underworld will be that much looser. This is the first step to building my new empire. More will follow me now. More will fall under my control while their house of cards crumbles. And once I have the formula, I'll be able to create a nation of my own." Osborn grins maniacally his hands laced under his chin as he watches the anchor argue over how much of a threat the green Goblin poses.

"Is it truly wise to undermine All for One? He's kept a firm grip on his powers for centuries, even after his 'death'. He can turn into a very overwhelming foe."

"Patience. I already have plans for that. That was why I destroyed the device. From the little Intel I was able to gather, it would've sped up whatever process he had in mind for Shigaraki. Sabotaging it kept his time table aligned with mine. He doesn't suspect a thing at the moment. He arrogantly believes that I'm an upstart eager to make a name for myself but to afraid to make a move against him. I'll keep it that way until I see fit otherwise. But make no mistake, I will usurp his crown and have control of the light and the dark."

"Admirable as it may be, I worry it would prove to be too ambitious. Having the formula will make you powerful enough. Why choose to risk it all against such an overwhelming foe?" Warren asks with clear hints of trepidation.

Osborn scoffs, "Billions of people live in this world. And those teeming masses exist for the sole purpose of lifting the very few exceptional people onto their shoulders. I am beyond those exceptional people." He steps closer and closer to the ethically skewed scientist, his skin turning more and more green as his true face of the goblin comes back into existence. " I'm a God. I don't have to choose. I take what I want, when I want. And I?... I want it all."

Authors note: I know i promised a momo/Peter moment but it wasn't gonna mix well with what happens next. But as you can see, everyone has been affected in some way by the I-Island attack. And yes Stain will come up in conversation again, Iida will have some things to say and come to terms with cause the 'great power' philosophy will in his mind be too close to the Stain ideology. And yea it was on purpose the lackluster way PEter got the symbiotic. Honestly it was never a huge union. In the comics he thought the container for the symbiote was a device that fixes his costume so eh i didn't see a big deal with it. Others such as All Might will have their reaction to the I-Island icident revealed in the following chapters and rthis will not be the last tiem we see Gwen either!

Side note, why is there so many kachako stories mixed with Izuocha? Like i've been reading different fics and yet whenever i come across issue/ochako it's always her leaving Midoriya for Bakugo? And the comments are even more confusing to me cause some people are like yea Bakugo seems more compromising than Izuku or Izuku would neglect his own child to be a hero. Like I'm pretty sure that a guy growing up without a dad and never having any real friends would actually overcompensate for it with his own child. At least that's been the case with my freinds and cousins (ive been surrounded by people growing up with single parents. Hell my half brother never met his biological father and when he became a father hismelf, he was pretty clingy). It's things liek that that cuases me to not like Kachako stories cause they seem to write Midroiya and Bakugo out of character to jsutify the divorces or break ups. Sorry about the weird rant, jsut soemthing that bothered me.

Anyway, thansk everyone for favoriting, following and commenting!

Batlord76: Just wait till venom arrives! lol thanks!

Guest DCDGojira: Thank you! Hope you tick around for the symbiotic arc!

Guest: Yea it's probably strange having the symbiote arc coming here at this point but as you can see, things are affecting PEter negatively and what better way to worsen it than to bring in the creature that thrives in a persons darkness!

AnimeKing6: Thank you! Yea goblin always enjoys to make people squirm, especially in no way home ( won't say exactly when in case some people still haven't watched it but it was after the last fight if you know what i mean), Also the introduction was purposefully lackluster. I've never seen it be a big thing at least in his perspective when he got the suit, hell the 90's show he thought it was dirty sludge from the hudson river and in spectacular spiderman he didn't even relaize he had it on him, so i rolled with it. Plus i thought it was funny how everyone expected it to be some big moment, so srry about that! And sorry about not adding the mom/PEter moment, like i said, symbiote likes the negative emotions and a moment with momo would not be a good meal for him, but a pretty big moment will coem soon enough. (Hint, the union won't be for too long!)

Bunny Vip34: They'll be in for a surprise alright!

vladimirvip34: They'll be shocked to deal with it for sure!

Anti-Mage 29: You'll see soon enough, that will actually be the arc I'll most likely post all at once. I understand what you mean about the whole Strange thing, part of me still feels like he shares some of the blame though but yea you're right PEter did mess up the spell a lot. Although from what i've seen online, pleading your case to a college was not as well known knowledge as strange thought it'd be. Still hope you like this one!

Guest: He may make an appearance!

TheGreatGodzilla: I headcannon that there are many descendants of magneto but his 'quirk'became diluted over time. Yea some are more powerful than others but its not as strong as his until Wolfram same around. He has a skewed view of Magnetos life and legacy which we'll see when he comes back. Imma be honest, i don't know a lot about Ghenghis Khan or or anything of that time peroid so i'll take your word for it. It's kinda funny you said that about endevor cause it seems that as time goes on, we find out just how horrible people a lot of historical figures we learned about were behind closed doors. Like i didn't know until recently that Thomas jefferson owened the most slaves, or that henry ford was a figure of inspiration to Adolft hitler. The more you know i guess. I am interested to see what you write, so i'll keep an eye out! you'll have to wait and see how i have tsuyu find out about Uncle ben's mantra's, it'll eventually come from soem of peters actions udner the symbiote's influence though, it'll kick start their conversation. Again, you'll have to wait and see how they convince aunt may, can't give too much spoilers though. But They'll definitely all try her wheatcakes and apple pie! I'm not sure who i'd pair Tsuyu with, sometimes i feel like she's a character who's better off on her own isntead of beign paired with someone to be honest. Same with Bakugo. Although if there's ever a person who'd capture her heart, they'll have the whole class to get rhroguh before doing so! Same thignw ith the venom stuff man, i can't talk much or else it'll reveal too much. But i can say that many pro heroes will eventually hear the great power line, some earlier than others. I'll be adding All Might's reaction to I-island for later, probably the next chapter including Izuku's talk with him. They'll eventuslly be a change that PEter will have on Izuku that'l help him evolve what kind of symbol Izuku is supposed to be. All thsoe other tpoics will come up in conversstion but in different times and places. I actually would love to see the hobgoblin come around in the MCU and defintiely the black cat or even Silver sable. Both are great characters themselves and it'd be nice to see peter have a lvoe interest who's also involved in his superhero life. But it's gonna be hard fro anyone to top Emma stone's Gwen stacy for me! I'm not entirely knowledgable about predator x but i'll check him out and see if he fits in the story. I do want to have the class interact with 2A, so yea ill have them make an appearance of some kind I'll see though.

CRUDEN: It's something i want to explore ocne they visit the current roster of the Xmen, and yea Wolfram will make an appearance at that point!, like a said before, thought that this would be a great time to give peter a little more darkness but also kick him into gear into finding out more about his parents and their connection to tony as well...

joeyginise: I undertsand, I'm trying to do better on itand i am going to go back and polish a few things up. it's tough though cause, like i said I'm not a greta writer. I have a lot of ideas but translating. i am practicing more and I've taken to reading spiderman novels to see if it can help me improve, plus to give me a better idea on how to describe his battles and internal struggles. I've toyed with the idea of a beta but the last time that i had a beta for my sotry they took liberties in chanign my stories to soemthing i didn't want them to and eventually i deleted everything concerning that sotry so that they couldn't use it anymore. Left a bad taste in my mouth but maybe i'll go fro ti in the future.

Nathan Ramos: Those are some thigns i thought of, though for how it'll look, it's gonna be like in spectacular spiderman. It'll start off as a black version of his classic suit, but as time goes on and the symbiote influences him more and more, it'll eventually turn into the classic symbiotic interpretation.

Guest: Sorry it didn't happen that way!

Guest: Maybe, it's jsut form what i have planned, Toga won't be the one to offend Wakanda enough to warrant that treatment, someone else will though.

OKKO3 Requiem: hmm I'd say maximum carnage, i just love how carnage was introduced and how he was so powerful, venom and Spiderman had to call a truce to fight him.

ManCaptainPokey: Maybe, i'm planning a spider verse thing, not like the mystical sotryline they have in the comics but somethign and spidergwen might show up.

BladeRunner2099: I am planning on doing the movies, heroes rising i'm bringing back to the drawing baord but World mission is when i'm gonna have Bakugo and PEter together in an adventure that was inspired by the Hitman's bodyguard lol.

Amtpro: Thank you! Nice to know i'm not over doing it! Most of the spdierman media will influence my story so it won't be the last time it's referenced.

Nathan Ramos: Not just yet, If/when tony gives them upgrades it'll be later on, but you'll see! Way of the spider will be developed but later on and as you can see, things are not going as planned when it coems to the symbiote!

Vector: Yup!

Guest DCDGojira: Thank you! I'm kinda iffy on Madame Webb but there is a possibility that she'll make an appearance once i adapt a story arc from the 90s show, the battleworld story arc. Toga with Carnage, hmm, that's not a bad idea at all! But we'll see! And maybe to the sider slayers, but no to gwen getting bit. I will check out your art though!

Caddy: I'll think about it, but when i have Momo improve i'd like it to be with her own quirk isntead of using the shield, msotly cause i like the challeneg of trying to get the sutdents strong on their own merit with some inspiration from other marvel heroes.

Till the next time guys!