12: Assault on the U.S.J. - 2: Lemillion & Spider-Man

Shigaraki smiled beneath his father's hand as he returned to the bowels of the Doctor's laboratory.

The day of the attack was drawing near. He had gathered a force large enough to give the advantage over even All Might, and even if they failed, they were all nothing but pawns to him.

The real threat lay in the creations that he was now seeing.

The doctor was in the middle of injecting some sort of substance into Black Spider's arm as he turned to the young man with a welcoming smile on his face. "Tomura, good to see you again, my boy," the man smiled as he finished with his creation, "I take it the preparations are all in order?"

"We're ready," Shigaraki said, "All we need now is the time of attack."

The Doctor grinned impossibly wide at him, "And that, my dear boy, is what I have." He said gesturing for the creature move back into its pod while he motioned for the younger man to follow him, "The files you managed to get for me were of great use. All Might is scheduled to teach a class off campus in two days' time."

"That would be Monday, then," Shigaraki said with a hint of excitement, "This is gonna be so exciting! I can't wait to rub the peoples' faces in it when their favorite Hero is lying dead in the dirt!"

The Doctor chuckled deep in his throat, "Indeed, my boy, I've lived through far too many of these puffed up goody two-shoes doing Hero work," he frowned as he pulled at his mustache, "But let's not forget that I will need all of the samples I can get." He reminded the young man, "And there is one child in particular that I'm greatly interested in." He pulled a photo from the pocket of his lab coat and showed it to the boy, "I think I've told you about her, haven't I?"

Shigaraki nodded as he looked down at the photo, "Yeah, I think so, but I really don't care," he said, "I just want to kill All Might."

"Ah, yes, I know," he said, "And believe you me, my boy, even if we do not kill All Might, this time, the data I gather from the battle will give me all the information that I need to create my...true masterpiece."

"Those two spiders aren't?" Shigaraki asked.

The Doctor shook his head, "Far from it," he led the boy deeper into his lab, passing various pods that held other Nomu inside, "My creations all have their flaws, my boy, but when the process is complete, my creation will have not a single, solitary weakness or flaw when they is born." He turned to the boy, "Even my own Quirk wasn't perfect, you see, but that is what I strive for: absolute perfection of a Quirk."

Shigaraki nodded slowly as they passed a four-armed mechanism attached to what looked like a spinal cord. "And the Master's been helping you do that."

"He has," the Doctor said, "And it's for that very reason that he has my total loyalty." He continued, "Now, while my body has aged, my Quirk research has allowed me to evolve my Quirk from Life Force to Immortality." He grinned, "I know more about Quirks than any other human being on this planet, because I go beyond what normal people are willing to do."

"And it is for that reason that I absolutely must have this child," he said with a determination that almost scared the withered teen, "She, according to Kurono and Chisaki, has the power to Rewind an organism to nonexistence if she didn't control her power properly...that means she could, theoretically, restore a being to their prime." He turned to the boy with his impossibly wide grin, "Do you see where I'm going with this, Tomura?"

The teen did as his beady red eyes widened, "You think you can use her to restore Master!"

"Precisely, my boy," he grinned, "And I do not care how much of her I have to disect, I will have her power and I will bring the Master back to full power."

Shigaraki smiled beneath the hand on his face, "Then we should find this little brat while we're out having fun, shouldn't we?"

"Indeed we should, my dear boy," the man grinned wickedly, "Indeed we should."

スパイダーマン

To say that Izuku was nervous at the moment was a massive understatement.

He was about to meet one of All Might's two former sidekicks!

But judging by Toshinori's behavior, he should have been terrified. The man was worried, and seeing the man, in his skeletal form or his muscle form, worried about him just meeting one of his old friends of all things had Izuku more nervous than he usually would have been.

Standing outside one of the teacher's lounge, the man took a breath before looking at the young man, "Put your mask on," he told the boy as Izuku gave him a look of confusion, "His Quirk requires direct eye contact, and I don't want him using it on you."

"Um...okay...why?" Izuku asked as he pulled the mask on.

Toshinori sighed, "Mirai can be...a tad bit paranoid." He explained, "And he's just about as fond of me as you are yourself."

Izuku blinked, "Oh...so he's...?"

"A huge mega dork fanboy," Toshinori said, then chuckled, "But he is a good man, and a fine Hero." He frowned, "Even if he is a bit overprotective." He straightened and reached for the knob and opened the door.

Mirai was no longer alone.

"Hey! I know you!" The blond-haired boy in the room yelled excitedly, "You're that Spider-Guy that the Daily Bugle's been writing about!"

The Hero sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose, "Mirio, what have I told you about reading that Hero-Hating nonsense?" Sir Nighteye asked in a drone, "Aside from that horrible newspaper, I understand that he's been the talk among the first year students." He nodded to Toshinori, "Thank you for bringing him to meet with me so quickly...and I see that you've warned him about my Quirk."

Toshinori nodded, "Can you blame me?" The skeletal man asked as he took a seat on the couch opposite of the man, "And I see that you've brought your young protégé, Mirio Togata, wasn't it?"

The boy beamed at him, "That's me, Sir," he said whit an outheld hand, "Mirio Togata, Hero name: Lemilion, the Hero that will save one million lives."

Toshinori chuckled as he shook the boy's hand before he he say, Izuku following suit. [I can see why Nighteye likes him,] the man thought, [He's much like myself after receiving my Quirk from Nana.]

Izuku, thankful for the mask since his smile would have put All Might's to shame, kept his voice level and calm, "Mister Yagi said that you had information on Eri," his voice then hardened, "And who might have tortured her."

The blond boy, Mirio, looked horrified, "Tortured - ?" His voice came out in a strangled croak.

Mirai kept his face just as calm as Izuku's voice seemed to be. "That all depends on who this young lady might be," he said as he reached into his breast pocket. He pulled out what appeared to be a polaroid photo, "Is this the little girl that's currently under your care?" He held it out, face down, toward the spider-themed Hero in training.

Izuku was already prepared for the worst when he took the photo, but when he turned it over to see the image...

The glow from the spider emblem on his chest intensified while sparks of electricity erupted all over his body, "Whoa there, Young Midoriya!" Toshinori shouted as he was nearly hit by one of the miniature lightning bolts. "Easy!" The blond man soothed him, careful of the sparks.

Mirio and Nighteye had leaned back from the display, the younger blond nearly climbing over the back of the seat, while his mentor remained calm and simply leaned back.

He frowned at the emotional display as he leaned back in and laced his fingers together, "Judging by your reaction, I assume that she truly is the little girl I've been investigating." He sighed and laced his fingers together. "Mister Midoriya, I would like you to tell me everything about the day that you met this girl, from the moment you left your home up until the very moment she left your sight."

Izuku, bringing himself back under control, nodded before handing the photo back to him. He then launched into a very detailed explanation of the moments leading up to his meeting of Eri on that day, from the rotten mood he had been in, right up until he shoved the quivering little girl into Bakugo's arms, ordering him to take her and run.

All the while Sir Nighteye was taking vigorous notes on all that the boy said. Mirio was looking at the younger teenager with a deep newfound respect, and no small amount of aw. "You're a very brave young man," Nighteye finally said as Izuku finished, "I can see why my old friend is so willing to help you."

"Thank you," Izuku said, "But you haven't answered my question, yet."

The tall man sighed, "I suppose I haven't," he said with a nod, "The picture I showed you is from exactly one year ago, just before meeting you. The figure you saw with her was one of her...caretakers, I suppose you could call them, but really they're just her guard dogs." He gave the boy a look over his laced fingers, "I don't know why anyone would want this girl, other than the fact that she must possess a highly dangerous Quirk, and these men are making use of it."

Izuku frowned at that, then looked at the man, "First of all, you're not telling me everything there is to it." The boy said, catching the man by surprise, "Yes, Eri has an extremely dangerous Quirk, one that I've actively tried to help her with, and safely restrained for the time being until her body is strong enough to handle the backlash, but these men?" He gestured to the photo, "What could they - what have they done to make use of her Quirk when she can't even control it?"

"He has a point," Toshinori said, "What are you not telling us, Mirai?"

Night looked between the two of them, then at Mirio who nodded, "I'd like to know, too, Sir," the young man said with a look of concern, which he then turned on the older blond and younger Hero, "These guys that were holding onto this girl? They're all that remains of the yakuza." He said, "Sir Nighteye's been trying to link them to the illegal sales of Trigger that's been growing in the last three years."

"And I have," Mirai said, hanging his head, "I just don't have enough proof to lock them away for good. They have so many branches that they move their product through that it's legally impossible to pin them unless I catch one of them in the act." He said, then looked at his former mentor, "However these men weren't always this brutal, or organized. They once had a code of honor, as all yakuza did...however, in recent years, the new head of the this clan, the Shie Hassaikai, has been selling something new...a bullet...that erases Quirks."

"What?!" Izuku and Toshinori rose to their feet, the latter coughing up a large amount of blood. Mirio offered the man a tissue to clean himself up as the coughing fit subsided. But the glare he cast at the man from his electric-blue eyes was one of shock and anger, "No wonder you wouldn't let me near this case!"

"You're already limited in your abilities thanks to your old injuries," Mirai said, which thanks to secrecy, went right over Mirio's head, "I couldn't risk you being hit with one of these bullets, even if the ones I've seen have only been temporary in their effectiveness."

Toshinori held up a hand and used the other to pinch his brow, "No, no, you're right. I would've gone charging in guns blazing and not even thinking of the consequences...but what does this have to do with Eri?"

For the first time in his life, Izuku's analytical mind was a curse, because, since he had spent so much time with Eri, and attempted to help her control her Quirk so that she wouldn't be afraid of it anymore, he knew exactly how the sweet little girl's could be related to a Quirk Erasing Bullet, "The bullets..." he muttered, his voice trembling, "They're darts, aren't they?" Mirai looked at him and nodded, "And the substance inside them that erases a person's Quirk...there's human cells mixed in with them, isn't there?"

Now Mirio jumped out of his chair, "They wouldn't!"

But the gauntlets on Izuku's hands were already charged with electricity. "Eri has the ability to Rewind living organisms to a certain point in time," he ground out, the green on his suit glowing dangerously bright, "If a person was skilled enough, they could use the Quirk genes she has and..." He stood up abruptly.

"Young Midoriya?" Toshinori said as the boy moved toward the door, "Kid, listen, I - "

"I need to be with my daughter right now," Izuku said heavily, his voice thick, before looking back over his shoulder "If you want to use your Quirk on her, then the three of you are invited to dinner, but I'll understand if you have prior engagements." He turned his lensed eyes on Sir Nighteye, "Just promise me that you won't ask her any questions involving her captivity." He said while the man gave him a slow nod, "And when you use your Quirk on her...find these sons of bitches!"

He opened, then closed the door with a heavy slam, making the three men wince. Mirai looked at Toshinori, "I knew you said he was smart, but..."

Toshinori nodded, "He's near genius, Mirai, but he's like me and wears his heart on his sleeve." He looked down at the floor, "Honestly...sometimes I think he's too pure for this world." He raised his head up, "Enough of this! Mirai, we have a dinner to prepare for." He said, trying to sound cheerful, "Young Togata, why don't you come with me for a bit? I bet the ladies of the houses would love a bouquet of flowers from such a nice young man. I'll provide some sake and wine."

"I'll bring some sort of desert, then," Mirai provided, "Izuku's offer...it is too promising a lead to pass on." He rose with a look at his protégé, "I'll let your teachers know that you are to be excused for the rest of the day, Mirio. And All...erm, Toshinori, I trust you'll speak to Mirio of your situation?"

Toshinori regarded the boy for a moment as he looked at him with a small smile, then looked to the door that Izuku had left from, "Tonight, at dinner." Mirai looked at him sharply, "No more lies. No more secrets." He said to his former Sidekick, "These boys are in the thick of it now. One, perhaps both of them should understand what's coming. I owe it to both of them...especially Young Midoriya."

Meanwhile...

Kyoka was sitting on the floor next to the coffee table as she watched Eri drawing pictures. "That's really good, Squirt," she said, pointing to a mostly green figure, "Is that your daddy?"

Eri beamed at her, "Uh-huh," she then picked up a purple crayon, "This one's gonna be you, Mo - oh...Kyoka!" She corrected herself as she began drawing again.

Kyoka bit her lip as it started quivering. "Hey, um," Eri looked up at her with those pretty red eyes of hers, "You know, if you want to, you can...you know..." she started fiddling with her jacks, "...call me mom...or something...B-But only if you want to!" She yelped in a slight panic.

The little girl looked down at her drawing shyly. "Is...is that really okay?"

Kyoka looked at her, "Well...well, yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Eri smiled, abandoned her crayons and rushed around the table. She then jumped right onto her, "I'll call you Momma, okay!"

Kyoka giggled and hugged her tightly, "You bet! I'll be the best momma ever!"

The front door jerked open then, startling them both as Izuku walked into the house. Kyoka rose with Eri in her arms, "Hey, Greenie! How'd it...go...?" She trailed off when she saw the look on his face when he pulled his mask off.

Eri was the one to say something, "Daddy's sad?"

Izuku jumped, not even noticing that they had been there until then, "Oh...hey, you two..." He said, not sounding like himself.

Eri wriggled out of Kyoka's arms and ran right for him. She hugged him around his knees, "Don't be sad, Daddy!" She practically begged, "If you're sad, then I'll be sad, and so will Momma!"

Izuku choked on a laugh when he looked at his girlfriend, "Since when does she call you Momma?" He quirked his brow at her.

She huffed and crossed her arms, her cheeks red as apples. "Since now, but so what?" She demanded with a hint of embarrassment. "She needs a strong mother figure in her life, and since we're dating, I figure that I'd be it." Izuku chuckled and shook his head as he picked Eri up in his arms. He then surprised her by walking over and enveloping her in a hug that Eri could be part of. "Hey, seriously, what's the matter with you?" She asked as she patted his back. "What did Mister Yagi say that has you acting like someone just died?"

Izuku just shook his head, "Later..." he turned his head and kissed her cheek before doing the same to Eri, "Right now...I just need both of you."

Kyoka felt him shiver for a moment before putting her arms around his chest, "Yeah...okay..." She felt a small smile coming to her face, even though she was worried for him, it felt nice. [He needs me.]

スパイダーマン

"Are you truly planning to go through with your plan to invade U.A. alongside Tomura Shigaraki?" The Master asked as the Doctor was bent over a microscope, "You do realize that you are one of the very few indispensable people around me, do you not?"

The Doctor chuckled, "Yes, I do," he said as he raised his eyes from the equipment, "I realize that it will be quite a risk, but think of the possibilities my old friend." He turned to the screen that was black, and read Sound Only, "Not only would I have the opportunity to harvest some potentially worthwhile Quirks for my research, and perhaps your use if you think them useful, but it would give me a much needed chance to see just what my firstborn has endeavored to become since our last meeting."

The Master chuckled, "To say that his subject is one of your children must mean he is quite special, is he not?"

"Oh, he is," the Doctor smiled fondly, "The samples I took from him gave me these clones," he gestured to the pods all around him, many containing horrendously mutated arachnid-like creatures, "And my more advanced Black and White Spider subjects, but they are far from perfect." He sighed, "This boy...I believe he could be the answer in creating my perfect child involving this truly unique Quirk that I have created." He cackled, "Do you realize that, Sir? I created his Quirk!" He laughed which was joined by the Master's laughter, "How many scientists can say that they have successfully created a viable Quirk? And all it took was one Quirkless individual among a veritable ocean of Quirked individuals."

"Just don't do anything to jeopardize yourself," the Master said. "As I said once before, you are irreplaceable in my court of friends."

The Doctor smiled, "Worry not, my old friend," he turned to a case containing four, long tentacle-like arms attached to a cybernetic spine, "I have ways of keeping myself safe while collecting my samples."

スパイダーマン

Dinner that evening in the combined Midoriya/Jiro households was a tense affair after dessert ended. Mirai used his Quirk on Eri not long after the meal ended, and he learned all that he needed to know. Izuku wanted to ask him what he had seen, but Toshinori forbade it in consideration of the boy's earlier reactions to Eri's mistreatment.

"I know that you want to do something about these people," the blond told him in a hushed tone, "But if I know you like I think I do, then you'll go off on your own, and possibly get yourself killed." He told the boy, "And that is not something you can afford right now. Eri needs you, and so does Young Jiro, even though she won't openly admit it."

Mirai nodded as Kyoka and her family took Eri into the living room, "He's right," he said, "These men are nothing like what you've faced up to this point. Even Rappa is considered low in their ranks."

Izuku frowned as Mirio took a seat next to Nighteye, "It doesn't make it any easier." Izuku said, casting a glance over his shoulder at his little family.

Hisashi nodded in agreement with his son, "I won't say I don't know how you feel," he said to his son, he gave him a small glare, "Because I know that I'd do anything if I knew you were being hurt."

"Says the man that was on the run for eleven years." Izuku grumbled.

"I'll tell you the story someday," Hisashi promised pinching the bridge of his nose, "Anyway, I have to go on patrol. Stay out of trouble." He ruffled the boy's hair and left the kitchen.

Toshinori waited until Inko finished clearing the table and started washing the dishes before he looked at the two young men, "Now then," he laced his fingers together, "I think it's time you two knew something about myself...and All Might...and my Quirk."

And, as Izuku and Mirio sat and listened to Toshinori, All Might, speak, both boys gained palid complections as he spoke of his Quirk, his time as a Hero, and the one that had laid him low, forcing him to reduce his time as a Hero.

"All for One was, and always will be a terrifying Villain," Toshinori said, "Even now his name is spoken as if he were some sort of boogeyman." He looked at the two pale-faced boys, "But make no mistake, he was, without a doubt, a very real very dangerous Villain." He said as he unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the horrendous scar on his left side.

"And this is why he needs a successor," Nighteye said, his gaze falling on Mirio, "And I believe that you are the perfect candidate, Togata," he said to the blond, "And for that reason - "

"I don't want it."

"..."

"..."

"I'm sorry?" Nighteye blinked.

"I don't want All Might's Quirk," Mirio said, then looked at the man himself, "Don't get me wrong! I'm honored!" He said hurriedly, "But...well, I'm already well known for what my Quirk allows me to do, but what happens when I suddenly start throwing punches that can knock down a whole city block?" He asked, "Plus...I'm...I'm Lemillion: the Hero that will save a million lives." He nodded, smiling, "That's who I am. That's who I want to be."

He gave the withered Hero a small smile, "If I take your power, then I'm going to have to learn how to use your Quirk and probably mine all over again," he shook his head, "And then I won't be...well, I'll be me, but I won't be the same me I used to be, so - "

The elder blond reached across the table and grasped his shoulder, smiling widely, "That," Toshinori smiled, "Was very well said. I'm actually quite impressed." He said, then looked at Izuku, "And, truthfully, after all that I've put you through, Izuku, I wanted to offer it to you first, but you..." the boy looked at him in confusion as Toshinori shook his head and smiled at him, "No...I know that someday, both of you will be neck and neck for the No.1 spot."

Nighteye looked at him, "But what about your Quirk?"

"Relax, Mirai, I have plenty of time." He smiled, "And who knows, I may find someone that is just as good as one of these boys." He smiled at Izuku and Mirio, "But knowing that I can pass my Quirk onto another...Izuku, I'm so sorry for how we met all those months ago."

Izuku smiled at the man, "It's okay," the boy said, "If you had given me your Quirk back then, I probably wouldn't be where I am right now." He said, then looked into the living room where his family was, "I would never have met Kyoka when I did...and knowing what I do now about Eri's past, I might have never met her, either." Then he returned to the blond man with a smile, "And even if I could go back and accept it, I wouldn't...because I wouldn't change one minute of my life: no matter what kind of pain or hardships I had to endure."

Toshinori smiled and watched as the boy excused himself to head into the living room where his mother and the Jiros were playing with Eri. Mirio was next as he went to speak with Izuku a little more before excusing himself for the night.

When Mirai and Toshinori left for the evening, the blond man was smiling as widely as he ever did when he was doing Hero work. Mirai on the other hand was looking rather depressed, "I'm sorry, All Might...I truly thought that Mirio would accept the Quirk."

Toshinori just looked at him with that same smile on his face, "Don't apologize, my old friend," he said, "Tonight I witnessed something that would make any mentor proud," he looked back at the Midoriya and Jiro homes, "I saw two young men becoming amazing Heroes in the future, and I don't even have your Foresight." He smiled at the home, "Lemillion, the Hero that will save a million lives," he chuckled as the image of the young blond appeared in his mind's eye standing upon the stage of the top Heroes, "And your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Those two are going to rock this world to its core."

スパイダーマン

Author's Note: Bet'cha didn't see that one coming!

Wanna see what happens next? Review! Adios Amigos!