I was fully expecting to read the reviews on the last chapter and have a big list of people complaining about the last chapter and my little message at the end. So it was a bit surprising to get some nice comments. Thank you, and I promise I'll try to keep making this story enjoyable.
Nearly 5 minutes passed in silence. Peter sat on the ceiling, waiting patiently for somebody to say something. Then, finally…
"Go fuck yourself." Shigaraki scowled at Peter. The rest of the villains followed suit, voicing their displeasure. Even Toga frowned a little.
"You think just because you show up and don't immediately try to arrest us we'll tell you our life stories?" Magne scoffed at Peter.
"Nah. To be honest I kind of expected this." Peter shrugged. "I figured it could go one of two ways. Either you trusted me and I got what I came for, or you do something like this, and I go to my next idea." Peter dropped from the ceiling, landing in the center of the group. Again, some of the villains put their guard up.
"I'm just gonna be totally honest with you guys, I could easily take all of you out right now. Think about how easily I beat you back at the USJ and even then, I was holding back a lot. The only reason you even escaped was because I was busy fighting Big Bird's long lost cousin. Tell me honestly, how hard do you think it would be for me to knock all of you out and drag you to the police station? How quickly do you think I could do it? 1 minute? 2?"
They couldn't respond. He was right. Even at their best, he had easily defeated all of them. If he started fighting, they would have no chance in their injured state.
"I'm not going to do that though." All the villains in the room collectively thought they had lost it. This boy, the one who had constantly shown how he cared about protecting the innocent and capturing the dangerous was going to leave them be?
"What are you playing at?" Dabi asked suspiciously.
"I understand. You don't want to trust me because you don't know me. I just met all of you today. You've seen more of me on TV than you've seen of me in person. That said, I still don't know enough about any of you to decide whether or not I can help you. So I'll leave. If I could, I'd bring you with me, but it might be a bit hard to explain to aunty Mirko why I've brought the villains that appeared on every news station in Japan to her house. I'll keep coming back, and I'll get you to trust me, somehow." Peter jumped out of the circle and walked towards the door.
"Do you know who we are? We're killers, thieves, psychopaths. You're really okay with letting us roam free?" Mr. Compress yelled to him.
Peter stopped, looking over his shoulder as he responded. "It's called trust. And besides, it wouldn't be the first time I've done something like this. Oh, by the way, you can change locations if you want, but there's really no point. I won't tell anybody about this place, and even if you move, I'll find you."
It would likely be a while until Shigaraki figured out that Peter had bugged him, and by the time he did, the tracker would have already left an imprint on him Peter could follow permanently. Wherever he went, Peter could always find him.
"I'll be back tomorrow around noon. I'll see you guys then." Peter walked out of the bar. Closing the door behind him. The villains didn't move, staring at the door. 2 minutes passed, then 3. Finally, they were sure that he wasn't coming back.
"So...what do we do about this?" Spinner turned to Kurogiri.
"...He hasn't lied to us once so far, and he's shown nothing but genuine concern. If he found us once, it's true he could find us again, and if he wanted to arrest us, he had countless opportunities to detain us."
"So what you're trying to say is…" Twice stopped, allowing Kurogiri to finish for him.
"...I believe we can trust him. We shouldn't need to change locations. However, we should still be prepared tomorrow just in case."
"Yay! Peter's coming back!" Toga danced happily, catching strange looks from the others.
"Why do you like this kid so much Toga?" Magne hadn't understood at the start and she didn't understand now.
"Because big sis Mag, Peter is...Peter." Toga said simply. "He's the second person I've ever met with a personality like his. He's kind. He doesn't turn away from us. He was fine being my friend, and he even thought my quirk was cool. Nobody ever thinks my quirk is cool, not even you guys." The villains regarded the girl carefully. Usually she only cared about blood and killing. This was the first time they'd seen her so passionate over something else.
"Plus, his blood is beautiful." Toga got a far-off look in her eyes as she remembered Peter, injured and bleeding during his fight with the Nomu.
"There it is." They all inwardly groaned, chastising themselves for thinking Toga was thinking about something besides blood for once.
"Well, if we're expecting company tomorrow, we may as well clean up for once." Dabi glanced around the nameless bar. Everything was covered in dust, there were chairs and tables strewn about randomly, some not even set up properly. Random bottles were laying around, and broken glass was everywhere.
"Indeed. We're long overdue for a cleaning anyway." Kurogiri agreed.
"But that means…" Spinner trailed off, knowing what was coming next.
"No sleep tonight." Twice groaned. Kurogiri believed in doing what needed to be done as soon as possible. They could do the cleaning tomorrow, but Kurogiri would be livid. Which meant a sleepless night of cleaning.
All of them groaning, the villains set about grabbing cleaning supplies to tidy up their home.
The Next Day
Peter was happy. School was out for 4 days, which meant he had plenty of time to get to know his new "friends." He left his home around 10:00. When Mirko asked where he was going, he simply said "I'm meeting some new friends near the bar with no name." Not a full lie, and not a full truth. Perfectly fitting Peter's style. Mirko only shrugged, figuring it was one of those stupid teenage hangout spots.
Peter was in a hurry last night, so he had swung there. But now, in the light of day, he couldn't risk being seen. People knew the Spider-Man attended UA, plus, he had told everybody that the deal was that he would be allowed to join the school if he gave up on being a vigilante. Low profile meant no swinging, and no swinging meant taking the train.
It was kind of nice. It reminded Peter of taking the subway around New York, if a bit more cramped than the New York trains he was used to. He spent most of the ride plastered against a glass door and was thankful when the ride finally ended an hour later.
The tracker hadn't moved since last night, and the bar was about an hour's walk from the train station. Along the way, Peter realized just how much crime was in this city. It seemed that he couldn't go a full block without somebody yelling about how their purse was stolen or that some guy was rampaging around. Several times, he nearly said screw it and donned his suit, but a pro hero always showed up to help. However, they showed up much faster when there was a large amount of people watching, something that did not go unnoticed by Peter.
"They just want attention, they don't care about helping these people." Peter frowned at the ground as he continued his walk. He did make a stop at a small corner store before he continued on. There were some things he needed to get before he could go to the bar. Finally, he reached the dark alley and was faced with the cold metal door. Glancing around a few times to make sure nobody was around, Peter tapped the compartment on his chest and formed his suit. He then knocked on the door.
"Guys, are you home?" No response. "Ding dong." Still nothing. "Landlord. Pizza delivery. Fire department. Bank manager, you have an appointment." Peter continued pulling out aliases one after the other, changing his voice each time, yet not even bothering to hide that it was the same person.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE, JUST OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" An angry voice shouted from inside. Chuckling to himself, Peter opened the door and walked in. He was surprised by what he saw inside.
The dirty bar he had been in last night was gone. The random furniture laying around was now organized, the dust and glass were both gone, all the items on the floor were back where they belonged, and there was music playing from...somewhere. It was a bit odd to see the occupants though. Toga, Twice, and Magne sat at a table together, talking, but everybody else was crouched in different places around the room, as though they were taking cover.
"What's wrong? Worried I was gonna kick the door down again? I fixed it last time, didn't I?"
The door was indeed back on its hinges, albeit a bit loose and slightly sagging down.
"Kurogiri, is he alone?" Shigaraki growled.
"...I sense nobody else. He is indeed by himself."
"That's what this is? Listen guys, if I ever lie to you, you'll know. I'm a terrible liar, like the worst ever."
The villains crept out of their cover positions, walking towards Peter. They hadn't known each other long, but after their past experiences, they decided to place some small amount of trust in Peter, some of them giving him tiny smiles in welcome. Dabi even reached his hand out, which Peter shook.
"What's in the bag? Did you bring us presents?" Toga eyed the large white bag in Peter's right hand.
"Oh, right. Last night, I noticed you guys were hurt pretty bad and you weren't taking care of your injuries very well. I don't know if you can't afford proper medical supplies or whatever, but I had some money saved up, so…" Peter dumped the bag onto a nearby table. There were bandage rolls, painkillers, and other assorted medical supplies. The villains were at a loss. It seemed that every time this boy showed up or even spoke, he found a new way to surprise them. Who buys medical supplies for the people who tried to kill them only a day ago? How good hearted was this boy?"
"Well? Let's get this over with. Dabi, you're first."
Dabi was silent for a few seconds, before removing his shirt. His entire right side was covered in a deep purple, nearly black bruise from where Peter smashed the manhole cover into him. His "treatment" had been to wet a large rag with warm water and press it onto his side.
Peter took some kind of ointment from the bag and handed it to him. Dabi very painfully put it on his raw injury before Peter, just to be safe, wrapped one of the bandage rolls over his body. Now properly taken care of, Dabi put his shirt back on as Peter tended to the other members.
There wasn't much he could do for Shigaraki, as bullet wounds required a hospital. So instead, Peter just bandaged him up, handed him the bottle of painkillers, and wished him luck. Magne outright refused his help, saying she could do it herself, though Peter could hear her quietly thank him for the supplies. As for Toga, she only had a few bruises and cuts, so Peter told her to hold still while he put a few band-aids on her face and arms.
6 minutes later, everybody in the room had received some kind of proper treatment. Dabi was satisfied with his bandages, Magne had simply wrapped some gauze on the side of her head, and Mr. Compress put some numbing lotion on the large cut on his forehead. They still weren't sure what to make of this boy, but at the very least, they were beginning to trust him more.
Toga was happier than anybody. She had told them from the start that Peter was a good person, and it felt good that they finally started to agree with her. She was smiling happily the whole time Peter was putting band-aids on her, as though the simple act of kindness was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.
Now that everybody was tended to, they all chose a seat at one of the the many tables. Mr. Compress, Spinner, and Twice sat together, Kurogiri remained behind the bar counter, with Shigaraki on the opposite side, while Toga, Magne, and Peter shared a table. Dabi sat by himself at a table nearby.
"I know I still haven't done much to get you to trust me, so I figured that today, instead of asking you questions, you could ask me questions. What would you like to know?" Peter asked the room.
"Why are you helping us?" Shigaraki blurted out. You want to gain our trust, fine, but why all this? You could easily have shipped us off to prison and gotten answers there. But here you are, alone in a villain group's hideout, giving us medical attention, and sitting around like we're old friends. What are you after?"
"As I said before, I only want to help. At the core of every villain is a problem, something that led them to the life they lead. Even the worst, most irredeemable of people have one of these 'problems' at their core. Anybody can be understood, helped, saved, you just need to figure them out. The best people can be the worst villains all because of one terrible experience. Like a certain famous madman once said, 'All it takes is one bad day.' [1]
They all took a moment to think on his words. He was right. Once upon a time, they had all been good people. But there was one thing, one person, one traumatic experience that led them to become who they were. But he would need to gain a lot more trust before he could learn about them.
"Have you gone on a lot of adventures? How many people have you helped? What kind of crazy stuff have you done? Do you make your own costumes?" Toga and Twice took turns excitedly asking Peter questions. Peter laughed a little and answered all their questions.
"Yes, I make my own costumes. I've helped a lot of people, gone on a lot of adventures, and done a lot of crazy stuff. I'll gladly tell you all about them."
The villains leaned in. They wouldn't admit it, but they were eager to hear about the things Peter had done.
There was a lot to talk about, and Peter wasn't sure where to start, so he told them as much as he good. He told them about Doc. Connors, how he'd tried to infect the city and killed Gwen's dad. He told them about Scorpion, and Rhino, and his other long-time foes and how he'd beaten them. He took special care going through every little detail of his experience with the Vulture. About how he'd followed his weapons deal, how he'd held a ferry together, how he'd lifted a building off himself, and how he'd fought his girlfriend's dad on the outside of an invisible jet.
The whole time Peter was talking, the villains were silent. They felt like they were getting to know him better through his stories. Normally, they would be angry to hear of so many villains being defeated, but they noticed a common occurrence in each of his stories. In almost every fight, he tried to avoid the battle. He always tried to talk things out, to avoid fighting and to try and understand the villains before he threw a punch at them. And he wasn't lying before. Hearing about Black Cat, Electro, Green Goblin, and many others, it became apparent just how many people Peter had helped to change their lives for the better.
He really was a good person, a true hero, interested more in helping people, regardless of who they were than he was in getting famous.
Hours flew by as Peter recounted many of his experiences. In all that time, none of the villains said anything, save for Toga, who constantly asked questions and made comments.
Finally, it became dark outside, and Peter had to leave, though he promised he'd be back the next day.
Each day, he came back at noon, and each day, he told the villains of his experiences until it became dark. Through his stories, they slowly got to know Peter better, and they found themselves growing fond of him. He was slowly earning their trust, albeit at a snail's pace. Even still, they slowly grew more comfortable around him and became friendlier. Magne began smiling at him, Shigaraki stopped constantly growling at him, and Spinner always greeted him kindly. On the third day, Toga greeted him at the door, welcoming him in like he was royalty.
It was on this third day that Peter tried something. He kept his nanotech compartment on him, but he didn't activate it. He walked into the bar in his street clothes. He wanted to see if they would try anything now that he was vulnerable, but they didn't. If anything, they looked happier now that he had come in without activating his suit.
It had to end eventually though. On the fourth and final day before school began again, Peter got the best welcome. Toga actually hugged him when he came in, as did Dabi and Spinner. Magne, for the first time ever, greeted him instead of ignoring him. Kurogiri even offered Peter something from behind the counter. It may have been legal in this country, but to Peter, it just felt wrong, so he politely refused. He promised that he would try to come often, but he wouldn't be around as much now that school was starting again. The group was a bit sad to see him go, but they understood. He spent his final full day telling them stories as usual before leaving. Toga followed him out, stopping him outside the door.
She stood for a short time, not saying anything just staring at her feet. Peter was about check to see if she was alright before she finally spoke.
"Can you promise me something?" She asked him, looking up from her shoes. Peter was a bit weirded out by how she appeared. She always had a manic grin on her face and a cheery attitude. Now she looked almost sad, her cat-like eyes downtrodden. "When you become a big famous hero, don't forget about us, and if you need a win, don't use us as a stepping stone to become more popular. Don't forget what you mean to us. Don't be like all the other heroes." Her voice was sad.
"Why would I do that? I told you, I'm your friend. Friend's don't sell each other out. I won't forget you and I won't betray you. Who would do that?"
"That's why I'm asking. I've known people like you before. People who said they were friends, then ended up hurting us...hurting me. We all like you Peter, we know you're a good person. Please don't be like everybody else. Please don't turn on us because we're different. Please don't hate me because I'm a bad person." Toga sounded like she was about to cry. Peter was a bit concerned. He didn't know much about Toga, or any of them, so he couldn't offer much comfort. It was bad enough one of his friends was sad, and it was worse because he didn't know how to help them, and even if he knew her better, he was never the best at cheering people up. His bad jokes tended to make the situation worse.
"Think Peter, what do you do here?" Peter racked his brain for an answer but found nothing.
"Screw it, Occam's Razor it is then." He muttered to himself, too quiet for Toga to hear. He walked up to her and hugged her, saying nothing. Mr. Stark always told him that if a woman started crying, you either left them alone, listened to them, or just stayed quiet. So Peter did his best to make her feel better, hugging her tight while she quietly cried on his shoulder.
"I really hope I'm doing this right." Peter thought, staring up at the sky, still holding Toga.
The other villains watched all of this from inside the bar. They had also heard everything and were now quietly observing the scene in front of them.
"Still think he can't be trusted, Shigaraki?"
"...We'll see Dabi." Shigaraki turned away from the window, walking off to his room. The scarred man watched him before turning to Magne.
"What about you?"
"...Toga's right. Not all of us will admit it, especially Shigaraki, but we all like the kid. It's obvious Toga sees him as an actual friend, not just one of her victims. He better not betray us, or he'll have hell to pay. Girl's been through enough. She doesn't need this to make it worse."
"Yeah...haven't we all?" Dabi returned his gaze to the two outside.
A few minutes went by before Toga calmed down. Peter wasn't sure what to do from here. Mr. Stark only taught him what to do in the moment, never what to do afterwards.
"WHAT NOW?! Do I ask her about her feelings? Do I leave it alone, make a joke? Do I just leave?" Peter was panicking. He didn't want to screw this up. He had failed his friends enough times in his life, just once he didn't want to screw things up. What was he supposed to do?
"Thank you."
Toga's voice was so quiet Peter almost didn't hear her. He slowly drew back his arms and released her. He must have looked confused, because she said it again.
"Thank you. For...for being here. I'll trust you Peter. I'll trust you to come back, I'll trust you to keep being our friend, and...I'll trust you...not to hate me." Her smile slowly grew back as she spoke.
"...Um, y-yeah. No problem Toga. I promised you I'd be there for all of you and I meant it. I won't leave you, any of you. You're all important to me, and I don't leave people who are important to me."
"But," Toga's smile faded again. "What if you have to? You're a hero, you have a job. What happens if we get caught, if some other hero finds us and you have to choose between helping the hero or helping us?"
That was a loaded question, one that made Peter think. If they really were caught, he had two choices. He could do his job as a hero, and help to apprehend the "dangerous villains," betraying his friends and breaking his promise in the process. Or, he could join them, help them escape, and be labeled a villain himself in turn. He would no longer be able to work as a hero, and he'd be a criminal wherever he went.
But...did that really matter?
"I wouldn't leave you." he promised. "Yes, my job as a hero is to catch villains. But it's also to protect people, to stand by my friends, and to put others before myself. You're all important to me. What kind of hero would I be if I turned on my friends to cover my own ass? Toga, listen to me." Peter's joking tone was gone, as was his relaxed expression. He looked and sounded serious, wanting her to understand what he was about to say was the absolute truth.
"I will not leave you. Any of you. I don't care what I have to do, or what bridges I have to burn. I'll gladly do whatever it takes to keep all of you safe. I'll accept being called a villain, I'll go on the run, I'll even fight the other heroes. I don't care what I have to do. I will never abandon you, never betray you, never fear you, never hate you. I promise, I'll always be there for all of you."
Peter's words had a large impact on Toga and the other villains. He was completely serious, anybody could see that. He meant every word of what he said. Peter really would do all those things to keep them safe.
Toga remained silent for a few seconds before her usual grin reappeared all at once.
"THANK YOU!" She jumped at him, giving him a hug of her own. Peter was a bit shocked, but he soon smiled and hugged her back. "Thank you so much."
"I promise, I'll never leave." He said again.
Inside the bar, the other villains were all smiling.
"He's telling the truth, isn't he?" Spinner asked nobody in particular.
"I believe so. He means all of it." Kurogiri responded.
"I was right." Everybody turned to Dabi, who was leaning against the wall. "He's willing to put us before himself, regardless of the life he's forced to lead. He really is a true hero."
The villains all watched as Toga released Peter and he waved her goodbye, walking down the alley to return home.
"Peter, you truly are the best thing to happen to me." Dabi left the window, walking to his room. "No, to all of us. Truly, thank you."
You know, I wasn't expecting to write a feels chapter. I had about a million different ideas on how I could write this chapter, all of them very different. But after I wrote Peter leaving the bar and the villains cleaning up, I stopped planning. Everything just kind of wrote itself out. I stopped paying attention to what I was doing and just wrote down whatever I thought of next. It wasn't until I finished this chapter and looked back for spelling errors that I actually realized what I'd written, and I gotta say, I'm pretty happy with it.
[1]: Yes, I'm aware Joker is DC. But the quote was just so perfect for this situation, so just roll with it.
This was a really fun chapter to write and I hope you all enjoyed it. We'll be doing the sports festival soon, so that should be exciting.
Thank you for reading and remember to leave a review.
Aren signing off.