Izuku hums, his hand moving to his face. There, his fingers feel a piece of paper stuck to his forehead. It's not as firm as the gripping that his spider powers give him but it definitely has a good holding that slightly stings when he peels it away; that pain blends in well with the bruises from last night that have now had time to stiffen up during his sleep, the sticky note he's holding no different from taking off a bandage at this point. It's a post-it left behind by his mom with small handwriting to let him know that she's gone out for the day.

The boy sighs, partially with relief and partially due to stress. He considers himself lucky to have the time alone so that he can mend his wounds without having to hide them but the secret is starting to take its toll still. He knows that he can't tell his mother that he's Spider-Man; otherwise, he'd be laying in a hospital bed right now instead of his own. Inko's overprotectiveness would never allow him to go out and be a vigilante ever again, ESPECIALLY if she ever sees him like this. But to keep having to lie to her… It hurts to do since he has such a close trusting relationship with her.

He's pulled from yet another one of his many commonly recurring moral dilemmas when the doorbell rings. "So much for being alone..", Izuku's groan of complaint is only half committed to being genuine though; he's somewhat grateful for the disruption to his moment of teen angst since it can sometimes lead to straight up depression otherwise.

Izuku rolls himself out of bed, also grateful that there's no sharp feathers or explosions to evade as he does. A couple of stretches to get his joints back in sync helps him to finish the waking up process. And then he's off to answer the door. He's assuming that it's his mom doing a quick turnaround because she forgot her keys or something. Maybe it's the mailman or a package delivery. Whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn't who's actually there.

"Shinso?!", Izuku is shocked to see the fellow Gen Ed applicant from yesterday standing at his doorstep.

With tired eyes, Shinso blinks. "Midoriya", his greeting is much more reserved.

"How the heck did you find me?!", Izuku fully steps out of the house to speak with the boy who managed to track him down to it. He worriedly looks around, paying acute attention for any signal from his Spider-Sense.

Shinso raises a brow. "Did you think you could get rid of me that easily?", he has some semblance of a smile to go along with his snarkiness but it's all sarcastic ever still. After Shinso has had his fun with Izuku, he hoists up a familiar looking backpack. "You left your bag on the train", the sack hangs by one strap as he hands it over, "I thought it best to return it."

"Ah, jeez, thanks" Izuku checks the zipper to confirm Shinso didn't sneak a peek inside, "You didn't have to-" He sees where his mom wrote their address in sharpie if he were to ever lose it and connects the dots, forgetting about the risk to his identity as Spider-Man for a moment. "You'd make a heck of an underground hero the way you tracked me down", he breathes out through his mouth with a short laugh.

Shinso shrugs, "Maybe I've got a bright future as a detective ahead of me", his small smile returning for a second.

Izuku does an underhand toss of his backpack so that it lands in the house before turning back around to face Shinso and asking, "Would that be so bad?"

Shinso's eye sags sizen up as he considers the question. He scratches behind his messy indigo bedhead of hair and mumbles quietly, "I dunno…"

Izuku nods, understanding more than anyone how hard it is to imagine a profession other than heroism in one's preferable future. He clears his throat in an effort to clear the conversation as well. "So, uh, um…" And remembers his manners. Izuku gestures at the doorway behind him, "You wanna come in?"

"Oh", Shinso awkwardly steps forward and then backpedals. "No, that's fine, I was just passing through" He waves off the offer.

"Oh, okay" Izuku instead steps further outside to join Shinso on the sidewalk.

After a beat of silence, Shinso crosses his arms and raises both his eyebrows. "So, we're not gonna talk about your vanishing act on the train?"

Izuku winces, wishing that he'd somehow get out of having to explain himself. Or, at the very least, he was hoping to have enough time to think up an excuse for the next time he saw Shinso rather than getting blindsided so soon. "Do we have to?"

After a lapse of time that feels like forever, Shinso sighs and shakes his head. "Nah", he unfolds his arms to throw them up in the air, "I guess a little mystery ought to make this interesting" He smirks and points at Izuku, "I'd suggest YOU try to be an underground hero with style like that though."

Izuku huffs, keeping himself from laughing at the irony of Spider-Man becoming dark and gritty with his bright red and blue outfit. "A quirkless hero? Imagine that", he instead tries picturing himself as some separate entity – like, he could call himself Dusk and work only at dusk.

"Hey, you're unassuming as it is, that would only help in getting your enemies to underestimate you" Shinso somehow stays serious with his suggestion. He even goes as far to admit, "I know that I underestimated you when we first met", while tacking on, "I won't make that mistake again."

Izuku swallows a retort, realizing that it's not so much of a joke anymore since it might mean Shinso paying close attention to him can compromise his identity. "Right.. So.." He tries changing the subject, "Did you get your letter from U.A yet?"

Shinso shakes his head, "Not yet."

"Me neither", Izuku pauses when he rethinks what he said. "Er, well, I haven't actually checked the mail yet but.." He waves his hands like he's wiping down a whiteboard with all of his thoughts on it. "Anyways! I was gonna suggest we open our letters together if you, I dunno, wanna hangout later?" Izuku sees Shinso's hesitation and starts to take back his suggestion, "Unless you're gonna open them with your parents or–"

"My parents don't care", Shinso interjects with maybe just a tad too much force. He bites his bottom lip and recovers his cool demeanor. "I mean, sure, we can open our letters together.."

"Cool", Izuku smiles in relief, "We can go get a pizza or something and do it at the same time."

"Sounds good", Shinso pulls his cellphone out of his pants pocket before holding it out for Izuku to take, "Text me the details?"

Izuku nods while typing in his contact info. "Yeah, I gotcha" He's just about to finish entering everything when he hears something strange that makes him glance up.

Shinso says, "Thanks.."

"Thanks?", Izuku's face curls up with confusion, "YOU'RE the one who brought me my bag back!"

Shinso dithers when it comes to his response, "I meant thanks for being a fri–" Shinso stops short. He takes his phone back, "Nevermind", and waves to leave. "I'll see you later", the farewell leaves Izuku dumbfounded.

"Yeah.. See ya", he waves back before stepping backwards back into the house and closing the door.

A sigh and a second later, he gets ready to start what he's sure will be a long day ahead of him.

Stepping out of the elevator and nearly getting run over by frenzied journalists is surprisingly comparable to when he got off the A train this morning to be almost stampeded by work commuters. But nevertheless, Izuku shakes it off along with his head while letting his Spider-Sense guide him through the hustle & bustle. He'd never seen Juko News so busy before. Usually he'd be able to waltz into Tokuda's office without an issue. Now he's wondering what all the buzz is about.

And he gets his answer. "We don't have anyone to give us coverage! We need to get on this NOW!", Izuku overhears someone shouting within Tokuda's office. The muffled yelling breaches out into the lobby when he lets himself in.

Tokuda, from behind his desk, perches up a bit. The man that he was talking to turns around. They both stare at Izuku, as though waiting for him to break the awkward tension. That's obviously a mistake since the only way that he knows how to handle the pressure is to smile and wave.

"Why don't we send Midoriya?", Tokuda gestures towards the freelancer as the solution to the problem that they were having.

And Izuku gets to know more about what exactly that problem really is. "You want to send a kid to an active robbery where no heroes have shown up to yet? Are you crazy?" Tokuda's co-worker somehow makes their frowny face more wrinkled. But Izuku isn't all that concerned with making impressions anymore. Once he heard about a robbery in progress, he'd already begun backing out of the office.

Tokuda shrugs, not expressing as much concern about the issue anymore. "He's our best photographer", he gives high praise to Izuku that makes his co-worker even more baffled. Which shockingly can only escalate to even more puzzlement when Tokuda points back to the boy's absence to say, "See?"

"Huh? Where'd he go?!", Tokuda's co-worker shouts to express his surprise.

Tokuda smiles, knowing exactly where Izuku has gone.

Spider-Man swings around a corner, rapidly gathering momentum, before entering what he has no other words to describe as than a scene of pure chaos. Emergency units cordon off the bank below, doing their best to minimize the problem until heroes arrive. But that obviously isn't going over so well. Several of their cars and cruisers are upturned. Fires are burning. Smoke is rolling; some of that smog isn't from the inferno either, but what appears to be a purple gas that could be anything depending on a person's quirk or support item. Then there's the alarms beeping and whooping all around. It's enough to make anyone nauseous.

The red and blue webslinger lets loose the line that he's holding, allowing himself to come in hot. As he does, he sticks his landing on a billboard for Best Jeanist's latest summer attire. From there, closer to the street, he can see where the bank's windows were broken and glass lay everywhere. He can also now smell what all that caused havoc has concocted; a stench of burning plastic and motor oil by his guess. That aforementioned purple smoke coils around the bank in particular, confirming his suspicions that it must be a controlled gas to conceal its manipulator or ward off anyone who tries entering.

Careful not to inhale it through his mask, Spider-Man sucks in a lungful of air and holds his breath before breaching the purple smog. There's no telling whether this smokescreen is for show or if it's poisonous; so far his Spider-Sense hasn't warned him of it being too dangerous but he doesn't take any chances. Spider-Man waits until he's inside the bank and past it all to breathe again. And even then he remains cautionary, taking to the ceiling where he's got some distance on the residual fumes inside.

Exactly how a real spider would scurry around, the vigilante takes to crawling his way between corners and crevices. He's learned his lesson from going against Electro all willy nilly that it's better to scout out the scene first. He doesn't want a repeat of getting his butt kicked. So Spider-Man stays to the shadows, moving in and out of those special spots where light doesn't quite reach. The vigilante does this until he reaches the bank's vault; once he gets there it becomes a little harder to stay out of sight due to the building's architecture. Spider-Man takes a moment to appreciate the irony that the design layout was likely meant to prevent robberies before going for the gusto.

Except, what he sees once he climbs into the vault is enough to make anyone stop short. A person wearing what can only be described as a fishbowl on their head turns his way, a purple cloak shrouding their body swaying with the motion. It's a villain getup that he isn't familiar with but that's probably for a reason due to how much of a fashion disaster it is. Spidey contemplates cracking a quip about that in particular but deems it way too easy to pick on and instead leads with the fact that this villain is a newbie.

"First time in the city?", Spider-Man stands up straight so that he can gesture with his arms and hands; he stays stuck firm to the ceiling by his feet as he continues walking forward, "Lucky you! Turns out I'm a good guide! Let me show you around!" Once close enough, Spider-Man drops down while turning himself upright. "How about we start with a visit to the police department?", the vigilante rears back a fist.

What follows is an onomatopoeic CRACK that he's more than familiar with when punching a baddie. Except, this time, the crack is followed by a shattering. Fortunately, it's not from a skull. Or maybe unfortunately… It's the glass orb atop the villain's head that breaks. Though, instead of finding a face beneath it, purple smoke and a matching tone of light comes pouring out.

Spider-Man shields himself with his arms. The light subsides and the smoke filters away. He warily moves his arms aside to see that the villain has disappeared. For a moment, he worries that the thief may have escaped. But then, "I can't leave without my money", the mysterious menace reappears behind him.

Spider-Man glances around, checking for any signs of duplicates or partners that may be aiding the criminal. When he finds that they're all alone and all he can see is the bank's cash supply, he regains his confidence. "Well.. You should've probably thought about how you were gonna transport it all then", he puts his hands on his hips as he assumes a humored posture.

But the villain doesn't fret for lack of bags or a getaway vehicle as Spider-Man had imagined they would. Instead, the stranger has the gull to chuckle. With a snap of the cloaked criminal's fingers, all of the money in the room somehow vanishes within a flash of light. Once the sudden surge of brightness recedes, Spider-Man notices that a green marble is now clutched between the villain's fingers.

"Oh, I did!" What may as well be a magician's trick comes next; the stranger removes their spherical head from their neck and replaces it with the marble. Both balls resized to conveniently be swapped is shocking enough. But the real spine tingler is when the shrunken sphere releases a flash of light that's followed by a big ol' bus barreling forwards.

Spider-Man's Spider-Sense doesn't warn him any faster than his eyes do. He's hit by the large vehicle like roadkill. The vigilante grunts as he's rammed through the wall behind him and out into an alley.

"Freaking Fortnite, man…" Spider-Man groans from his prone position on a pile of bricks for cushioning, his head that's titled up to look at the big blue bus falling backwards to gaze upward at the sky.

What he sees above him is what he almost thinks is a hallucination brought on by a concussion. But his eyes don't deceive him afterall, the underground hero dropping down from the fire escape to land beside him all too real. "Fortnite? Christ, you really are a kid" Eraserhead is undoubtedly giving the boy a disapproving look under his goggles.

But Spider-Man pays the supposed stare no mind, considering that to be the man's default 'resting bitch face'. "How would you even know what Fortnite is, old man?" The vigilante returns the look with what he can manage using the white eye lenses of his mask.

"...No comment…" Eraserhead glances away. And then back, a more concerned expression crossing his facial features. "You alright?", he asks.

"Yeah", Spider-Man forces himself to his feet as if to prove his point to the licensed hero that he can keep up, "I've shrugged off a lot worse before."

But for some reason, that doesn't alleviate the underground hero's worries any better. Eraserhead just keeps staring at him with that face. Spider-Man stares back. Eventually Eraserhead stops and gets back to being his serious straightforward self. "Let's stop this guy then", he motions for them to enter the bank.

"So, what brings you to the neighborhood?" Spider-Man strikes up some casual chit chat conversation as they venture through the gaping hole in the wall and into the now empty bank vault.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was the one deemed most suitable to deal with this villain considering we don't know their quirk yet" Eraserhead grabs at the capture cloth around his neck as he prepares to do his job.

"Ah", Spider-Man blinks behind his mask, "That actually makes sense! Because then you'd be able to erase their quirk and–"

Eraserhead silences the reckless youth with a finger to the boy's masked mouth. "It's not wise to openly discuss strategy when the enemy can potentially hear us", the underground hero fixes his temporary ally with a stern stare far worse than the one from earlier.

Spider-Man shrinks under the man's glare. He squeaks out a soft, "Sorry!"

"I couldn't agree more", the two turn and strike stances when they hear a voice that's not their own. Levitating off the ground by a few feet is the cloaked criminal responsible for fender bending Spidey. "As Mysterio, I know better than anyone that some things are better left just that – a mystery!", the villain proudly proclaims their presence once gaining the duo's attention.

Spider-Man squints one eye on his mask while the other expands, giving him an expressionism that resembles befuddlement. "Wait, wait, wait – I thought your quirk had something to do with smoke and lights? Now you're floating? Pick a power, dude!" As soon as he says that, Spidey recalls that he's one to talk due to the amount of things that he can do himself, but he decides to keep that thought just a thought.

Mysterio chuckles to themself again, amused. "As I said… A mystery!" Spider-Man can sense even without his Spider-Sense that the villain is about to act on that declaration. So, thinking fast, the vigilante quickly shoots out one of his recently developed Spider Tracers. The small tracking device lands on the criminal's cloak, attaching itself to the fabric like a tick sinking into skin. And good thing too, because his sense was right. Before Eraserhead can throw out his capture cloth, Mysterio vanishes in a flash of light and purple smoke.

"Damn", Eraserhead swears through gritted teeth. When he's through mentally beating himself up over Mysterio's vanishing act, he turns towards Spider-Man. "At least I've still got YOU", he reels his capture cloth back in so that he can use it on the vigilante instead.

But Spider-Man has other plans. Rather than waiting around to be caught, the vigilante throws himself backwards to perform an acrobatic exit. "Uuhh – See ya on the flippity flip!", his quip goes along with some actual flipping until he too escapes the bank.

Eraserhead could probably pursue Spider-Man. He himself is well versed in parkour enough to chase the vigilante down. But something holds him back. He hesitates for too long. And by the time that he's ready to do anything, it's already too late to bother trying to catch up. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head.

She's so used to finding her solace by sitting alone in the dark, with her computer monitor's HEV light being the only thing worth setting her sight on. But now, she's no longer alone. And now, there's something – someONE – who is far brighter, and far more worth looking at. Her sweet gentle Gentle, who so caringly flips on the lights to the room so that she doesn't strain her eyes anymore; he is more motivating than any number of subscribers to her streams, he is but one number and that is enough for her.

The redhead swoons, also grateful to him for her recent rebranding. Once previously known as Screwball, a name that was born of mockery – she'd realized her fans were rather laughing AT her instead of with her when they turned on her to help Spider-Man – she has now taken on a different persona. This new identity of hers fits The Gentle Criminal's style so much better that they can now stand side by side as partners and be a perfectly matched couple. She is La Brava, the frills and pinstripes of her outfit that comes with this guise finishing her transformation.

La Brava plans on making an announcement about this collaboration turned forever-union soon, as a big debut crossover stream between her old Screwball account and Gentle's. She just needs to come up with something clever and big enough to wow her audience first. It's hard to up the ante after going for planes and trains. And despite Gentle's brilliance, even he has a hard time thinking up something for them to do.

So she sits and she schemes. Her malware feelers browse the dark web for avenues that might develop into something bigger. And after a few pings, each hit becomes something to save aside. But then there's something different. Something, not quite an IP address, seeks HER out.

"Hello, my fellow criminal performance artists!" A bubble headed figure appears on her screen without warning. She doesn't know how but someone has hijacked her system. This hacker, whoever they are, has a collared cape similar to the aesthetic of Gentle; La Brava believes they may be a fan but doesn't want to take any risks without asking first.

"Who are you? What do you want?", La Brava does her best to block whatever feeds that she can to prevent any further intrusion to her servers while stalling for time with her questions. At the very least, she can cut the video camera's readout.

"I am the master of illusion! Mysterio!", Mysterio doesn't seem bothered by the lack of visual reception if his continued bravado is anything to go by, "And I come seeking an alliance!"

Gentle toys with his mustache, pinching the ends between two fingers. La Brava glances his way, watching him think. When the criminal finally figures out what it is that he's putting together in his mind, he snaps with those same fingers. "Aha! I recognize that voice!", he grins and nods for La Brava to turn their video back on, "You wouldn't happen to be Mr. Compress would you?"

"Ah, so you're familiar with my work! I'm charmed", the hacker places their hands together to convey their pleasure. While La Brava personally has never heard of Mr. Compress or Mysterio before now, she holds her tongue, thinking it best to keep her ignorance a secret. "But I must request that you keep my past exactly that – a thing of the past."

Gentle comes closer, sharing the seat at the screen with La Brava and making the woman blush. "Why?", Gentle Criminal shows some sincere curiosity in his question that La Brava stops trying to hack her hacker back; she ultimately decides that she's much too distracted by her proximity to her partner to focus enough anyways.

"The same reason Miss Screwball altered her appearance, I imagine" The former Mr. Compress gestures enthusiastically to his new appearance. "A stage artist, performer, or magician, must never reveal their secrets! Part of the allure is the mystery! And what better a mystery than Mysterio himself?"

"So this is all a publicity stunt?", Gentle hums as he follows along with the man's reasoning.

La Brava glances between both villainous performers and gasps. "Ooohh, I get it now! He's trying to mooch off of us! He's a has-been!", she points an accusatory finger at the menace who dares to hack and attempt using them.

"I am no has-been!", she's met with even greater aggression than her own. "I am Mysterio!", the fury she feels through her computer speakers makes her jump backwards into Gentle's arms, "I am… I will become the greatest villain that this world has ever seen!"

After a moment of stunned silence, Gentle clears his throat to ask, "And how do you suppose you'll do that?"

"Gentle, you can't seriously be considering working with this guy?" La Brava gazes up at her idol with indecision over whether she herself would like to participate in collabing with anyone other than him.

But Gentle has such a way with words. "Let's face it, dear, our well has run dry and we could use a fresh perspective" And his hands and the way that he caringly caresses her cheeks. She folds. Like a lawn chair. Not literally, but it's close to happening with how she melts into his touch.

"Come", Mysterio's image is replaced by a GPS location as he invites the two of them to his hideout, "Let's meet and discuss how we might perform together."

Gentle Criminal and La Brava accept the offer, hand in hand, with a polite bow. "We'll bring the tea", they say in unison.

Spider-Man swings clear of a guard tower. As he passes by, he sneaks a peek, and exhales with relief when seeing there's no occupant within the stand. It seems whatever sort of studio that he's stumbled upon has been shut down and abandoned. Various stages are closed off and materials covered with thick tarps. But when he checks his Spider Tracer's signal, it sure enough continues to tell him that this is where Mysterio is hiding out.

He moves from a warehouse roof to a radio tower. It's not like he's expecting to find a film crew waiting for him or anything, but he doesn't want to take any chances. This is all a little too fishy and it's not because of the fishbowl Mysterio wears for a helmet. The way that the site is set up appears to be too spacious for anything other than storage but what the villain could be keeping stored is but a mystery of its own.

Just as Spider-Man thinks that he's doing a pretty good job of sneaking around, he senses something behind him that makes him instinctively leap away. It's only when he realizes that it was his natural sense of surrounding and not his Spider Sense which triggered that he allows himself to unclench his hands from fists. "Oh, it's only you" The vigilante reconsiders lowering his guard though, uncertain of whether he should be relieved or not when seeing the ever familiar underground hero that he's slowly starting to grow accustomed to sharing scenes with.

"That's not the reaction from you that I was expecting", Eraserhead raises a brow above his goggles, "What are you doing here?"

Spider-Man crosses his arms over his chest, squinting the lenses of his mask in Eraserhead's direction. "I think the real question is: what are YOU doing here? I put a Spider Tracer on Mysterio but you found him HOW exactly?", he waits on an actual answer to let the underground hero know that this isn't one of his rhetorical question type of quips.

But Eraserhead is just as mysterious as Mysterio and doesn't really offer much of a real answer other than, "It gets easier to track down bad guys when you've been doing it for so long", he lifts up his goggles from his eyes to his forehead to look at Spider-Man more seriously afterwards and adds, "Go home and leave the rest to me."

Spidey shakes his head, "No can do", and hops down to join Eraserhead on equal footing – minus their major height difference, of course. "I think you're gonna need my help on this one", he places his hands on his hips to show some sass.

"Doubtful", Eraserhead grumbles under his breath as he looks off to the side. But before he can turn his head back, it's from that direction in his peripheral vision that he catches with his eye a contradiction to that mumble. "Move back!", the underground hero orders the vigilante to hide immediately.

Spider-Man and Eraserhead take cover in a shaded section of a warehouse's corner. Their backs are flush up against the wall to keep themselves as hidden as possible. But just because nobody should be able to see them, that doesn't mean they can't still see whoever is around that corner. Which means Spidey can get a good look at who caused such a disturbance to he and Eraserhead's conversation.

A very short woman with red pigtails and a funny outfit walks alongside an elegantly dressed man. Spider-Man can't say he recognizes them all that well but he's willing to bet they're bad news if Eraserhead does. He's also willing to bet that they're associates of Mysterio. He keeps his voice low while poking fun at the underground hero, "See? Even Mysterio has teammates."

Eraserhead responds without looking back, also speaking in a hushed tone. "Teammates are a liability", he brushes Spider-Man off before making his move from the corner's cover to a closer spot.

Spider-Man follows along, keeping up with both Eraserhead and the two that they're tracking. Not quite done messing with the man who so clearly needs to lighten up, he continues his teasing. "Really? Then what am I to you?", he plants himself on the ceiling to crouch beside the underground hero but at an upside down eye level.

Eraserhead glances up with just his eyes before meeting Spidey's gaze, unamused. "An unavoidable irritation", his grumble is back. And with it, so is his goggles over eyes look, the underground hero gearing up to make another move.

The unlikely duo weaves up behind a stack of crates, using every few groupings as steps on an impromptu staircase. And as they venture further and further, they wind up finding themselves deeper and deeper into a storage station. "An abandoned warehouse? In this economy?", Spider-Man tries quelling the nerves rising up inside of him when he sees the villain duo below opening up a trap door.

Eraserhead exchanges a quick look with his temporary partner, and gives a nod. Spider-Man is confused at first but soon understands the gesture as some sort of signal. Since, well, the underground hero then springs into action before he can. Two grunts sound out below where Eraserhead tackles the two villains into the hole that they had been preparing to climb into.

Spider-Man follows closely behind, throwing a fast glance over his shoulder when he hears the trap door close off the exit upon his entering it. But there's more than just that problem. Another major concern is the fact that it's pitch black where they are. Unable to see a thing in the dark dungeon (he's assuming it's an evil dungeon) he relies on his Spider-Sense to help him navigate.

"Gentle!? Gentle?!", a voice that he regrettably recognizes calls out before anybody else can. "Whoever attacked us, you won't get away with this!" Yep, he's absolutely positive that he can match the sound of that voice to a name now.

Since he knows who he's dealing with and that Eraserhead has no Spider-Sense like he does, Spider-Man decides it's time to test out his latest invention. He had planned on using it as a beacon in the sky or something but this is as good a trial run as any. The room illuminates with a red hued light fashioned into the same design as his mask. It's a circle that shines right on the pig tailed woman. "Gah!", she shields her eyes from the sudden blinding shift in light spectrum.

"Oh, come on Screwball! I thought you liked the spotlight!", he announces himself and what he knows with glee over the fact that he's finally caught her.

But that excitement is short lived. Suddenly, his tiny utility belt spotlight isn't the only source of light in the room. Everything brightens as stage lights activate. And Spider-Man finds himself in a scene that he certainly wasn't ready for. He had been expecting a dungeon but where he's at looks a lot like the moon of all places.

Considering Eraserhead, Screwball, and Gentle aren't suffocating from a lack of oxygen and neither is he though, he's hoping that it's safe to assume they're only on a set made to look like the moon. Which also hopefully means the martians marching towards him are also fake. "Wait – Martians?!", Spider-Man can hardly believe his eyes when he sees the uncanny little green men just like they're portrayed in the movies.

Eraserhead kicks one when it tries to grab him, knocking its head clean off. "Robots", he seems unphased by them regardless of if they're sparking from damage or growling like the real deal.

And while he could potentially wrestle with whether it's all that surprising to discover the aliens are fake, Spider-Man instead thinks about his sudden case of deja vu from them. He fights Eraserhead back to back just like their first teamup at U.A against Electro's hijacked exam bots. "We really need to stop meeting like this", the vigilante decks one of the robots as he tries getting the underground hero to appreciate that fact.

But Eraserhead isn't as willing to participate in witty banter. He dispatches his enemies silently. Likely because he's a licensed pro and older, but Spidey also likes to think maybe the man just isn't that used to having a sidekick around either. Speaking of sidekicks, Spider-Man literally kicks one of the robots aside to protect his partner.

"What's going on?", the recently rebranded Screwball clings to her partner's side as they watch the show that's being put on.

Gentle Criminal rubs his head, still recovering from how he landed when being tackled by Eraserhead. "I wish I knew, my dear…" He can hardly understand the current set of circumstances as much as anyone else.

That is, until Mysterio materializes out of a thick purple fog. The master magician sits upon a throne of his own design. "I see you have stumbled upon my little secret", and from there is where he operates the martian machines by using a scepter that doubles as a magic wand, "I am here to invade your planet."

"Sure", but Spider-Man doesn't buy the act one bit, "And you'd be surprised to discover I'm actually All Might under this mask!" The vigilante's sarcasm has a bit of a sting to it that makes Mysterio glower even through the spherical helmet covering his face.

Eraserhead doesn't bother saying a single word. He'd seen through the villain's parlor tricks long ago. Besides, it's not really his style to brag or boast. He simply focuses on dispatching the remaining robotic enemies so that he can hopefully put an end to this and finally call it a night.

"Then perhaps you'll believe my alternative story", Mysterio drops a handful of what looks like marbles as he rises from his throne. The balls bounce their way towards Eraserhead and Spider-Man where the two brace for whatever tricks that they hold. In a stunning array of flashing lights, the scenery shifts and changes to that of an ancient Egyptian tomb. "I am a past prophet who rose from the pyramids!"

"I feel like the first story was better sold…", even Gentle Criminal can't back up the fellow villainous performer on that one.

"You're all out of robots", Eraserhead stalks towards Mysterio with his capture cloth wound around his arm, "Give it up."

"I don't think my loyal servants will allow that", Mysterio folds his arms across his chest as he taunts the underground hero. From high above upon his perch, he's mighty prideful. "Even from beyond the dead, they do not forsake me!" Because down below is where crypts uncover to release what looks like mummified zombies.

"More robots?", Spider-Man wastes no time punching one of the 'undead'. Except, when he tries, his punch winds up going right through it. "Wha– ?!"

"They're holograms!", Eraserhead swears under his breath when he realizes that the bluff had just been a ploy for Mysterio to start running, "Don't let them distract you!"

But as Spider-Man starts to push past the mummies, a few of them wind up triggering his Spider-Sense. He's grabbed and restrained by what are certainly tangible zombies. "Oh yeah?! Easy for you to say! Cause' these guys definitely seem real!", the vigilante struggles and resists until managing to break free.

Eraserhead turns back to help. What few of the zombies aren't illusions get caught in his capture cloth and flung against a wall where they are reduced to shambles. Spider-Man dusts himself off, grateful for the rescue.

"It seems that those two are a bit preoccupied", Gentle pulls his partner away while watching the entire exchange, "Perhaps it's best for us to take our leave while we can."

But Eraserhead spots them straight away, his eyes flaring red behind his goggles when he turns his head to glare at them. "Go deal with Mysterio", he addresses Spider-Man despite having his gaze focused on the pair of villains, "I'll handle these two troublemakers."

Spider-Man is about to object, but quickly remembers that he's working alongside a licensed professional. "You got it, boss!" He leaves that problem for Eraserhead while pursuing his own, and he's dead set on not slipping up this time when it comes to letting villains get away while on his watch.

Mysterio may have all sorts of tricks up his sleeve, but he doesn't have web shooters. Spidey spins a glob of fresh fluid that he had handy to snag the villain's cloak. Mysterio trips and tumbles, the fishbowl covering his head flying off and shattering. The man's face underneath isn't one that Spider-Man recognizes but that's of no concern as he lets loose another round of webbing to wrap the guy up in a cocoon.

"Looks like it's curtains down for you, pal!" Spider-Man can't help but quip one final time.

Or maybe he quipped too soon. That blasted purple smoke returns, and it's apparently toxic enough to melt through his webbing. Spider-Man grimaces under his mask. He obviously won't be able to wrap this guy up in webbing, the way he had planned.

"The show must go on, wallcrawler!" Mysterio tosses another handful of marbles at the vigilante once his arms are free.

But Spider-Man has learned his lesson about those marbles. He creates a web sack to catch them in and closes it before they can do their thing. What feels like a miniature explosion nearly makes him drop the bag, but it manages to hold.

"Now you see me", Spider-Man tosses the sack aside to free his hand up. Once flexing that hand into a fist, he uses it to knock out Mysterio. "Now you don't…"

"Good work", Eraserhead finishes tying up his own quarry from across the room. And getting that compliment from him really stirs something up in the ol' hero otaku.

"Ah, well, ya know!" The bashful boy blushes under his mask. Once seeing their handiwork put together though, he sobers up, and he's reminded that what they did was a team effort. "We make a pretty good team you and I", he holds his hand out to shake on it the way adults would.

Eraserhead pauses, looking down at the extended hand. Spider-Man is about to retract it, embarrassed that he even tried. But then the underground hero accepts the gesture. "Maybe it IS good to have friends you can rely on", Eraserhead shakes the surprised Spider-Man's hand.

"Wow… Yeah… Friends..", the vigilante is left in a dazed stupor. Not only did he get to team up with Eraserhead again, but he got formally acknowledged by the guy. They shook on it and everything! And Eraserhead called him his friend!

"Wait.. Friends?", Spider-Man stops short when realizing he forgot something important. "Oh no…", he smacks his palm to his forehead, "Shinso!"

Shinso casts aside his acceptance letter from U.A, not caring that it's now covered in greasy fingerprints or sauce specks. With nobody to share it with, it's nothing more than a piece of paper anyways. He had expected to feel sour over his newfound 'friend' ghosting him in what should have been an otherwise happy moment in his life. But like the remains of the pizza slice that he stuffs in his mouth, it's a basic blandness that he tastes on his tongue.

Having lost his appetite – and having lost his 'friend', if they ever even were friends – the recently accepted Gen Ed student of U.A gets up and leaves the pizza parlor.

AUTHOR NOTES

With the loss of one sleep deprived friend, there comes another. When Spider-Man wins, Izuku Midoriya loses - and vice versa. Will Deku ever manage to juggle both of his lives properly without there being a tradeoff? That's just one of many mysteries yet to be solved. But I digress, onto solving a few...

Welcome, and thank you, Pikapowerz! I appreciate the positivity and the questions! To answer them, starting with if there'll be a symbiote/Venom arc; I absolutely have plans for how that storyline will be adapted into the fic so that's hopefully the response you wanted. As for Izuku's vigilante status, I really want to maintain the secret identity aspect of Spider-Man, so the plan for now is to prolong his vigilante activities one way or another. As for teamups, there'll be occasional ones to some degree (like this chapter with Eraserhead for example) but he won't be getting a sidekick any time soon if that's what you mean. Hope you stick around to see it all come into fruition!

Thank you, equinoxhun! There's still plenty pesky secret identity struggles to come, so I'm glad you like them! And while Itsuka is somewhat MIA in recent chapters, she will be making her return soon enough for those dramatic moments.

Thanks again to everyone still reading! Hope you all swing by again next time!

-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!