His Instinct led the currently eating Kamijou into a rundown building.

'What is it with criminals and abandoned buildings?' Kamijou wondered to himself.

As he was still outside of the building he had no idea what was going on there.

He took another bite of his sandwich, however the ketchup spilled into his hoodie. 'Oh, rotten luck. Good thing I chose red.'

He wasn't usually this hungry, mostly he'd eat one hotdog and he'll be all set. But now, he's currently exhausting his budget through his constant buying of fast food.

'I've never been this hungry before. That's strange,' Kamijou mused. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw them.

Kamijou turned, and saw two figures walking out of the building. Kamijou wolfed the entire sandwich down, put on his mask, and jumped down.

-

Dealing with the two thugs, he interrogated them about what the building was.

From what he got, typical criminal stuff.

A hangout place, the usual stuff.

He had no problem with those types of things. He knew that no-good assholes would come in here and start thinking up some shit to harass students. That said, it wasn't his problem; as long as no one was immediately in danger Touma Kamijou wouldn't stick his nose into something if nothing had happened yet.

So why did his Instinct act up?

"So far nothing out of the ordinary," Kamijou said to no one. Something about this seemed rather fishy, and frankly he didn't want to stick around for long.

But the tingling of his Instinct seemed to get stronger the more he walked further into the building.

He just hoped he wasn't walking into a trap-

Instinct.

Kamijou turned to the corridor on his left and moved quickly.

Something was very wrong here.

He stopped at a slightly ajar doorframe. The knob was blown off of it, as if by a shotgun.

He slowly opened the door, waiting for his Instinct to come up.

Nothing.

He opened the door and-

Instinct.

He managed to jump back into the corridor as he felt wind swipe down into where he had been just now.

Using his hands he twisted his whole body and dropped to his feet. He went into his stance, ready to fight.

The man wore a purple Powered Suit, with black contours running down around the torso, legs, and face. The contours seemed to glow purple sometimes.

The Suit whirred as the man moved, and looking down to his hands Kamijou saw talons in his fingers, and with a quick flex of his fingers they retracted.

He rarely saw these types of Suits outside of exhibitions. Most of them in use were miniature bipedal tanks.

He had no idea what was going on, but he had an inkling that this was something an amateur like him was not supposed to come across.

The armored man strode towards him, his purple glowing eyes narrowing. Kamijou's instincts were signalling him to run away, to never come back from this place.

He would have if it weren't for the smell of iron in the air...

'Blood,' he thought.

"Funny. If it had been someone else they would've panicked and ran away," the modulated voice of the man sounded like chainsaws to Kamijou's ears. "No hard feelings though."

The man then rushed towards him at explosive speeds.

Kamijou acted fast by firing a glob of web toward the man's face. At the same time he charged towards him, fist cocked back. His goal was to blind him and strike him in the gut to knock him out.

It wasn't a well-thought out one, but it's a plan nonethelesss.

However the purple-colored ninja knight slightly moved his head to the side, and ducked under Kamijou's right hook before delivering a powerful gutshot into the vigilante.

Kamijou's eyes widened as the wind expelled from his lungs. He flew back a couple away from the man, but he barely managed to recover with a somersault.

His Instinct was supposed to account for that punch so why-

Instinct.

He barely blocked a kick from the knight, and another from the right leg.

Despite his hardened skin his blows were starting to hurt. The gutshot made sure he wouldn't forget.

He countered with another right hook but the man caught it, and brought him over his shoulder to deliver a judo takedown. He flew over him, hitting the wall in the process.

Winded once more from the attack he quickly tried to web the purple ninja's face. He did the same move as earlier and rushed towards him.

Acting purely on his street fighting experience Kamijou flung his arms towards the knight. He threw haymaker after haymaker at him, before switching up with a couple hooks and straights.

Kamijou made sure not to go overboard though, he only wanted to knock the guy out, not kill him.

He had to finish this fast.

-

"Now I know who I'm fighting against." The knight muttered to himseld as he ducked, weaved around, and evaded every single one of the amateur's attacks.

For an amateur the kid's blows were surprisingly powerful, but then he figured that he must have a strength-enhancing ability. They weren't terribly rare in the city, as these types would mostly pick fights with SkillOuts and delinquents. Sometimes even their fellow espers.

When he caught the kid's arm he felt as if a crowbar slammed into his arm; if it weren't for his armor his arm would be mangled.

Luckily for him this kid threw sloppy punch after sloppy punch.

Focusing the motors into his leg he ducked under another haymaker before driving his knee into their gut. He heard the amateur gasp in pain, lowering their body forward, before he rose his arm and plowed his elbow unto their back.

The red kid slammed into the ground, a yelp escaping them. But the kid seemed to possess more of a spirit than those assholes earlier as he quickly recovered, twisted his body and tried to sweep his legs.

An amateur perhaps, but his ability to recover from pain was impressive. Leaping back from the move he barely blocked the white rope they shot out of their hands-

'Wait, white rope?'

He couldn't continue his train of thought as he found his hands bound in some sort of silk. The red kid lunged towards him.

With some effort he broke out of his restraints and ducked under his lunge.

He rushed towards him again, and this time he was gonna finish this quickly.

The claws whistled as he aimed for this kid's neck. They put up their arm, and he felt his cloth and skin tear apart.

He heard them cry out in pain, clutching their currently bleeding arm.

But the knight didn't try to attack them right then and there.

A wounded, cornered animal is almost always more dangerous than an able-bodied one.

Even if he would win the fight, considering the kid's strength he might lose more than just his armor.

The kid then decided to run away from him.

'Trying to create some distance from me,' he thought.

But it was pointless.

-

"Shit! Of all the times I try to block was when he used those fucking claws against me!" Kamijou cursed to himself. "What rotten luck!"

The guy knew how to fight. Add in the Suit and he was able to go toe-to-toe with him.

He could only go so far with his Instinct and strength, as it seemed, against this guy.

He had to stop the bleeding in his arm fast.

Stopping behind a corner he quickly produced wrappings from his webbing. He slowly wrapped them around his right forearm, wincing as he does it, making sure it's nice and tight against his wound.

The last thing he wanted was to pass out from blood loss. Or worse...

"God, I hope I don't get sick after this, I don't want to miss school due to an infection," Kamijou groaned.

He was fighting the ninja one-handed at this point, putting him at a severe disadvantage.

He turned around the corner, scanning ahead of the corridor.

Nothing, it seemed, looked to be amiss.

Kamijou let out a sigh of relief as he slid down and sat on the ground.

Maybe a couple minutes of rest and he'll heal it just as good before.

Kamijou whispered, "Finally, some peace and quiet-"

ABOVE YOU

"I SPOKE TOO FUCKING SOON!" Kamijou yelled as he jumped off his resting spot, and saw dust explode around there.

Kamijou quickly backed away from there, and sprinted away from the former resting place.

Kamijou quickly got up and hauled ass as soon as he could.

He chanced a peek over his shoulder and saw the damn ninja advancing ever closerohshithe'sCLOSINGIN-

Kamijou threw his hands behind him, and expelled large amounts of webbing which blocked the purple metal ninja from pursuing.

He didn't look back this time. He turned to a corner, and continued to run.

Instinct.

He ducked under a thrown sack of concrete as he leaped up and bounced over the next corner, quickly turning to his left.

The whirring of the Powered Suit seemed to get closer, as much as he tried to sprint faster.

He had to get away somehow but there was nothing he could use except the damn lamp- which he used to throw at him to no avail.

He turned around and once more fired his webs towards his pursuer, hoping to stall him for some time.

They only ran up and scaled the wall before jumping off and continuing the chase without missing a beat.

Kamijou had to think fast.

He looked ahead, around, and behind, catching the eye of his pursuer.

Then an idea came to mind.

'I hope this works,' Kamijou thought.

Kamijou shot lines of web at the walls of the corridor. The wounds screamed from the movement, but he endured. He always had.

He felt himself pulled back into the corridor, and sensed the bastard advancing closer.

Good.

-

What was this amateur planning?

Whatever he shot out of his hands seemed to pull him back into his direction.

He didn't know whether he was stupid or something but it didn't matter.

He readied his claws as he advanced.

Only 20 meters away, and in 5 seconds he'll be able to catch up and kill him-!

-until the kid shot backwards into the corridor.

20 meters stood between him and the quickly approaching amateur.

Lines of web were spread out in the walls.

And he was holding the ends of those lines before he shot himself towards him.

Like a slingsho-

"SHIT!" On instinct he raised his arms to protect himself.

-

A crack was heard as the metal ninja was sent flying away from Kamijou's impromptu attack.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Kamijou exclaimed.

He didn't stick around to see if his attack was actually successful, managing to get out and leap unto the nearest building.

One anonymous call later and AntiSkill came in.

-

"We found four wounded suspects inside there," an officer said. "Apart from the two we found at the front."

"Another anonymous caller comes in and tells our operator about a scuffle around this part of District 7," Yomikawa spoke. "What are the extent of the 4's injuries?"

"Severe lacerations on the back and front. Honestly, it's a miracle they managed to hold out for that long."

"You think he did this?" Her bespectacled partner asked.

"I don't think so, this doesn't look like his usual MO.

But then again anything is possible. Or another student just ups and decides to copy him to do what he's doing." Yomikawa opined.

"So we should rule him out then?"

"No. Spi- the vigilante is still suspect.

While it's not our jurisdiction tell Judgement to lengthen their patrols. We don't want another 'hero' go around and cause any more trouble. Not with what's happening right now.

The last thing we need, is chaos erupting in the streets due to the ongoing conflict between the various Skill-Out gangs."

"Yes maam," the male officer saluted before leaving the two behind.

"That said... Spider-Man?"

"Apparently according to our tech guys numerous online forums were calling him that from now on. Saying that "the Red Man"'s too generic of a name." Tessou explained.

"Where do all these clowns crawl out of?" Yomikawa sighed.

-

"Sorry boss. I thought I could kill him, but he managed to land a good hit. And now he's out there."

"..."

"Don't worry, I got some of his blood. If I can just-"

"No. Not yet. Perhaps he might be of use to us."

"Sir?"

"Return back to your hideout Prowler. Aside from the goons I hired to guard the entrance you successfully completed your mission."

"They were still breathing-"

"As long as they don't know who you are it doesn't matter. Word goes to Tombstone, and he will eventually crack. They all do."

"Heh."

"Await further instructions Prowler. Enjoy yourself."

"Will do, boss," the Prowler said as he hung up, and put the earphone on the countertop.

He gotta admit, that maneuver got him good, as ballsy as it was.

He might need to strengthen his armor.

Well, they were due for an upgrade anyway, so he didn't complain.

That said he was thirsty.

Opening the fridge he looked around.

Leftover pizza, couple of apple beer cans, eggs, and-

"There she is," he grinned as he took out his favorite drink. "And still some inside to spare. Maybe I should buy tomorrow.

He took the milk carton out of the fridge and placed it on his desktop, where he went to business with his tech.

The sounds of metal sparking and clanging filled that room, that very evening.

-

Leave your comments down below, let me know your thoughts. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated! I aim to improve as much as I can.

And I will see you all in the next one.

Sincerely,

Komigakuo.