When the U.A staff members entered the hospital they could already tell something was wrong. Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Mineta were sitting next to one another by the waiting area looking like they had lost something of value to them. The bamf was in Jiro's lap, almost cuddling Jiro as if he was trying to find comfort. Jiro kept her one hand on his head and the other was wrapped around his body.
Immediately, the staff members approached the group, and without saying a word, the students looked towards the doorway where Kaminari and Uraraka were taken.
Midnight knelt in front of the students, her expression shifting to near motherlike, "Kids, I want to know everything…what happened?" Midnight asked.
Yaoyorozu lowered her head to Midnight, the lids under her eyes showing just how tired she was. She went on to tell the events of Spider-Man telling them to save everyone, who was in the group, the fight with the two villains, the security robots, their capture, and their escape.
After hearing the story of what the students went through, the staff was disheartened by the events that unfolded, and how Kaminari and Uraraka were getting treated for injuries. Their students were getting hurt and they couldn't do anything to prevent it. What hurts the most was knowing that Kaminari lost too much blood, and if he lost enough, would probably fall into a coma.
It was then a nurse walked through the door, "Excuse me," The nurse spoke and approached the group, "You can see your friends now."
Mineta was the first to get up and thank the nurse. He sped by her and past the doors. He didn't even pay attention to the nurse's outfit. The rest of the group followed and went to check on Kaminari first, except Dr. Banner, who went to Uraraka's room.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"
Mina was sliding on the acid she produced from her bare feet trying to avoid the large pieces of metal falling behind her, "Oh yeah sure Kurt, I'll go with you to the I-Island ball event! Nothing could possibly go wrong with heroes everywhere to protect us from any potential villain attacks! Waaaaaaah!" Mina jumped over a barrier as a sizable piece of debris almost struck her.
"To be fair, Mina," Nightcrawler suddenly appeared next to her and grabbed her wrist, "How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?!"
"You're a-" Nightcrawler teleported himself and Mina out of harm's way and behind a wall, "Hero! You should be prepared for this sort of stuff!"
"Then why aren't you ready?!" Nightcrawler poked his head out to get a view of the situation.
"Cause I'm not a pro!" Mina retorted and got next to Kurt, "Thank you, by the way."
"Don't mention it," Nightcrawler teleported again, leaving Mina to look at Wolfram tearing everything apart and everyone else desperately dodging everything.
Mina let out a small, sad, whistle, "When I agreed to go dancing with the hottest guy in class, I didn't expect to be part of a failed hostage situation." Nightcrawler reappeared with both of the Shields. Melissa and David were a bit doozy from not being used to teleporting but shook it quickly. "Are you two okay?" Mina approached the two scientists.
"We're fine," Melissa replied with a shake of her head to get her focus back, "But Wolfram is out of control. If we don't stop him now everything will be destroyed!"
Nightcrawler grimaced, "Was habe ich gebe nicht einen Tag lang mit einem Bösewicht beschäftigen. (What'd I give to not deal with a villain for one day.)"
Meanwhile, Deku, Spider-Man, Todoroki, and Bakugo were swiftly and precisely dodging any attacks that came their way whilst helping each other if they needed to.
"Oooowwww…" Spider-Man groaned, jumping over a large wire, "We need to get Wolfram… I'm not sure how much more punishment this tower can take."
"Judging from how much Wolfram ripped from the building," Todoroki sent a glacier of ice at a pillar to stop it from hitting him, "It won't hold up for long!"
"We need a plan!" Deku shouted, punching straight through a light block of metal.
"Webhead, what do you have in that skull of yours?!" Bakugo shouted, blasting through more debris.
Spider-Man landed on top of a pillar of metal and ran alongside it. Bakugo and Deku landed next to him and waited for another one to try and crush them. Just below them, Todoroki was skating across with ice under him to keep up. The three boys jumped and spread out as another pillar attempted to do so.
"You guys distract him! I'll try to-! Ooooof!" Spider-Man was tackled in mid-air by none other than Lizard.
"Did you forget about me, Parker?!" Lizard shouted with both of them heading straight to the ground.
"Spider-Man!" Deku shouted before sensing danger and immediately jumping away.
Bakugo and Todoroki attempted to go after Lizard, but both were stopped by several pillars aiming at them. Todoroki covered both of them while Bakugo was blasting them away. As they were defending themselves, they each felt the muscles in their arms shoot up in flames. Both paused momentarily with Bakugo shoving Todoroki away to the side and used his quirk to get away, just barely managing to fight through the pain and blast himself out of the way of another hit, "Damn it! I'm reaching my limit!"
From behind Bakugo, Deku burst through a pillar, "Kacchan! You get the device, Todoroki and I will cover for you!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Bakugo grunted and blasted towards Wolfram with Deku and Todoroki following behind him.
Lizard and Spider-Man landed on the floor and rolled for some feet before Lizard got up and threw Spider-Man at a nearby wall. Spider-Man's back hit the wall with the web-slinger yelling out in pain. Lizard got on all fours and charged at Spider-Man. He jumped with his arms reached out to stab Spider-Man, but Lizard was knocked away when Tsu when she dropped kicked him away.
"Spider-Man!" Tsu shouted out to him.
"I'm okay!" Spider-Man got off the wall. Without saying a word, he shot two heavy strands of webbing passed Tsu and pulled on it. Tsu looked behind her to see a large slab of concrete heading towards her. Tsu jumped over it as it collided with Lizard as he was looking to take down Tsu. Tsu hopped over to Spider-Man with her eyes kept on Lizard.
"So, mind telling me how that lizard knows your name?" Tsu asked, studying Lizard's stance to find an opening.
"His name is Dr. Curtis Conners," Spider-Man watched as Lizard got up from the ground with a loud hiss, "He was my previous science teacher who was studying on how to regrow limbs for both himself and for humanity. He experimented a theory on himself with lizard DNA, and, well, you're smart, you can see how that went."
Tsu nodded her head, "Science experiment went wrong so he turned into a mutated Lizard. But why does he hate you?"
"Numerous reasons," Spider-Man got into a defensive stance, "Too many to name, too little time to say."
"I'd figure you tell me that while we fight him," Tsu got into a stance of her own.
"Nah, I like to taunt my opponents, you know that," Spider-Man and Tsu waited for Lizard to come at them. Lizard did as predicted and charged at the couple.
Kirishima and Iida were breaking through pillars one by one. With their combined strength they were able to do it, but at the rate things were going, they were feeling the effects of overexerting themselves.
"Kirishima," Iida shouted, breaking through another pillar, "How are you feeling?"
"I can go all day, Iida," Kirishima replied with a grin, "How about you?"
"I wish I could say the same!" Iida grabbed hold of Kirishima and quickly got them away from being squished by three pillars, "I can feel my engines starting to heat up! I don't have much time left!"
Kirishima looked to his left. Deadpool and X-23 were doing fine on their own. Both of them were slicing through everything that came to them with either their claws or swords. Just past them was Nightcrawler and the others. Seems like Mina and Nightcrawler are on bodyguard duty for the Shields. They should switch out with Nightcrawler since he could possibly end this quickly if he's able to snatch away the device.
"Iida!" Kirishima pointed to Nightcrawler, "Let's tag out! We can watch over the Shield's and catch a break while Nightcrawler can help out!"
"Alright, good idea!" Iida sped on over to Nightcrawler with Kirishima in tow, "Nightcrawler, switch with us!"
Nightcrawler quickly teleported away. Iida stopped next to the Shield's and Mina with a look of determination and concern, "If my quirk is starting to become overexerted no doubt the others are tiring out too."
Kirishima let out a frustrated grunt, "We need to get to that device, but his offense is overwhelming!"
"Makes me wish we had All Might still…" Mina mumbled.
Lizard grabbed hold of Tsu's foot as she went for a roundhouse kick. Spider-Man quickly kicked Lizard's head and Lizard released Tsu. Spider-Man decked Lizard in the face with Tsu attempting to sweep Lizard off his feet, but found he was firmly planted into the ground. Lizard's tail rose and quickly came down to slam on Tsu, but Tsu was able to move away from the body-shattering slam.
Lizard and Spider-Man got into a scuffle with each fighter dodging each other's attacks. Lizard got the upper hand when he grabbed one of Spider-Man's wrists, lifted him into the air, and slammed him into the ground. Tsu jumped on Lizard's back and furiously punched Lizard's head. Lizard wasn't phased and quickly grabbed Tsu by the neck. Lizard randomly threw Tsu off of him and over the edge of the tower.
"Tsuyu!" Spider-Man yelled, jumped onto his feet, ran towards the edge of the building, and jumped. Spider-Man placed his arms to the side to fall faster as Tsu was wildly free falling. Spider-Man's body collided with Tsu, both of them quickly grasping onto each other, "Hang on!"
Tsu readjusted her arms so they were wrapped around Spider-Man's neck. Spider-Man held Tsu by her waist with his left hand and with his right shot another heavy strand of webbing at the building. Spider-Man swung towards the building and to a window. Spider-Man twisted his body so his back broke through the window with Tsu rolling across the floor.
Spider-Man moaned in pain and rolled off the broken glass, "Tsu?"
"...Kero…" Tsu let out a pained croak and got up. Her green dress had torn near the upper part of her chest with a small part of her bra revealed.
Both parties got up slowly, panting in both pain and exhaustion, "Next time," Spider-Man popped his back, "Don't fly off a building." Tsu walked towards Spider-Man and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Never heard of the flying frog?" Tsu replied, walking past Spider-Man and towards the window they crashed through.
Spider-Man followed Tsu and latched himself onto the wall, "I don't see you with webbed feet and hands." Tsu and Spider-Man climbed out of the window and scaled the tower to get back into the fight.
"It would be really nice to have you show up now, Hulk." Spider-Man internally wished.
"Uraraka?" Dr. Banner approached the bed Uraraka was laying in with her leg patched up and elevated. A single bandage was over her a small portion of her leg with tape around it to help it stick to her skin. There was some red tainting the white sheet as some blood was still leaking from the stitches.
Uraraka turned her head to the voice with a tired smile, "Hey, Bruce," Dr. Banner sat on the chair next to Uraraka. "Is Kaminari okay?"
"I don't know," Dr. Banner sighed, his eyes looking at the wall in front of him, "Everyone else went to go check on him. We're hoping he's okay."
Uraraka moved her head back into place and stared at the ceiling, "It was hard, Bruce. Between the robots and the villains and Taskmaster-"
"Taskmaster?!" Dr. Banner averted his gaze to Uraraka, "He's here?!" Dr. Banner's voice got slightly aggressive, "Did he do this to you?!"
"Bruce, please," Uraraka placed her hands over her ears, "You're kinda loud…"
"Sorry…" Dr. Banner took a deep breath and lowered his voice, "Taskmaster is here?"
"Yes," Uraraka was about to say what he did to her but decided against it in fear Dr. Banner might Hulk out. However, the sudden silence of Uraraka's voice made Dr. Banner speculate she was hiding something.
"Uraraka," Dr. Banner leaned closer to Uraraka, "Did something happen with Taskmaster?"
"N...no…" Uraraka looked to Dr. Banner and noticed he wasn't buying her response, "Sorry...I wanna tell you, but I don't want you to get mad…"
Dr. Banner placed his hand on the bed, "I understand, Uraraka, but I have to know. He's the reason I'm here. Why Deadpool, Nightcrawler, and X-23 are here. We need to capture Taskmaster. So, tell me what he did."
Uraraka looked at her injured leg. Uraraka could feel the pain, but it was numbed out due to painkillers, "Deku, Melissa, a bamf, and I were able to make it to the top of the tower. We took a shortcut outside to avoid fighting through more bots. The bamf teleported us to the top where a bridge was connected to two doors, one of which led to the control room." Uraraka looked away from Dr. Banner and out the window. "Behind it was Taskmaster. He took Melissa hostage as he aimed a gun at her and me, and threatened to kill me. Once Melissa was next to him, he…" Uraraka's voice trembled as she recalled being shot in the leg, "He shot me in the leg." Uraraka could feel Dr. Banner getting angry. This is what she wanted to avoid. Uraraka turned her head back to Dr. Banner, "Bruce, there was someone else too. Someone who was with Taskmaster."
Dr. Banner kept his emotions in check to not break out, "Who?"
"A giant lizard creature," Uraraka tried to remember it, "It was a lizard. I remember seeing it in a ripped scientist outfit. It attacked Deku after I was shot. I hope Deku is okay…" Uraraka's voice trailed off.
"A lizard?" Dr. Banner didn't want to think it was Dr. Conners, but at this rate with people from his world crossing into this one, why couldn't it be? Then again, it probably isn't Lizard. "Did you happen to catch the lizard's name?"
"No," Uraraka pointed to the door, "The bamf, he was with us the whole time we were trying to get Melissa to the roof. Maybe he knows the name of that lizard."
Dr. Banner nodded his head, "Maybe."
"Bruce?"
"Yeah?"
Uraraka placed her hands together, "Do you think Deku is okay? He was sneak attacked by that lizard and they fell off the bridge… I'm worried about him…"
Dr. Banner did his best to give Uraraka a reassuring smile, "Midoriya is special. I can tell. Peter speaks highly of him and says Midoriya reminds Peter of himself. Knowing Midoriya, he's probably won the fight already."
Uraraka smiled back at Dr. Banner, "You're right. Deku is strong and a great hero. He'll find a way to win. He always does."
Dr. Banner kept his smile and patted Uraraka's bed before getting up, "I'm going to talk to the bamf. If everyone else isn't here that means something is still happening."
Uraraka firmly nodded, "Agreed. I wish I could go back and help, but…they won't let me."
"You have a gunshot wound in your leg," Dr. Banner reminded her.
"And?" Uraraka's expression thickened, "As long as villains are still roaming, a hero's job isn't done. All Might wouldn't let a gunshot stop him nor would Deku."
Dr. Banner was surprised by Uraraka's resilience. If it weren't for the doctor's orders she would've jumped right back into the fray.
Dr. Banner made his way to the door, taking one last look at Uraraka, "You're strong, Uraraka. But you need rest. The others will take it from here." Uraraka nodded her head. Dr. Banner left the room. Instead of going to Kaminari's room where the bamf was, Dr. Banner exited the clinic and ran back to the tower. If Spider-Man and the others weren't back yet then something must be wrong. Dr. Banner looked up at the tower and his eyes widened. There was a large creature at the top of the tower!
"The kids!" Dr. Banner looked around, "Too many cameras around. I can't do it out here." Normally it wouldn't be a problem at home, but since his identity is a secret here, it would be dumb to blow his cover already.
According to Uraraka, only she and Iida know he is the Hulk outside of his friends and coworkers. Uraraka explained she accidentally revealed the secret to Iida and Deku when they were at the hospital after the Hosu City incident. She made sure both swore to keep it a secret for his and everyone's safety.
Dr. Banner halted his thoughts when he spotted a maintenance building. With a shrug of his shoulders, Dr. Banner got behind it and checked again for cameras. "A blind spot. Lucky me." Dr. Banner told himself, "Alright big guy, we don't get along much, but I would appreciate the help right now."
Lizard and Kirishima were tightly gripping each other's hands. They were in a stalemate in a test of strength. Lizard swung his tail at Kirishima and knocked away the redhead. Iida sped past Lizard and hit him with a clothesline. Lizard stumbled backward but managed to stay on his feet. Mina slid past Lizard and threw acid at his feet behind him. Lizard began to slip on the acid as all students simultaneously assaulted Lizard. Mina and Kirishima delivered a punch each to Lizard's stomach with Iida following it up with a powerful kick to the side of the head. Lizard fell on his back with Iida focusing his attention on the Shields.
"It's too dangerous, you two have to leave!" Iida shouted.
"Iida!" Mina jumped back as Lizard was quickly crawling towards her. Kirishima jumped onto Lizard to stop him; the two getting into a scuffle. Mina ran towards Lizard and placed her hands on his back. She began to secrete a more acidic acid as it melted through the scales and onto his skin. Lizard let out a roar of pain and slashed his hands wildly at Mina. Mina let out a pained scream as she was knocked away, blood gushing out from her.
"Mina!" Kirishima witnessed what happened to his longtime friend. Kirishima punched Lizard where he assumed the kidney was to stun Lizard, which it did, "How dare you hurt my friend!"
Iida and the Shields ran to Mina as she was bleeding profusely from her side and arm.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Mina squealed in pain, clutching her side.
David quickly took off his lab coat and pressed it against Mina's side to try and stop the bleeding, "Melissa, help me stop it!"
"Papa, it's coming out too fast, it's a very deep cut!" Melissa responded as she tried to help Mina as well, "Iida, get Nightcrawler to evacuate Mina!"
Iida looked into the carnage in front of him and tried to spot Nightcrawler, "Nightcrawler!" Iida yelled into the havoc. "Nightcrawler! We need you!" Iida yelled out again. "I don't think he can hear me!"
"Trying to find him will take too much time!" David turned to Lizard and gasped, "Iida! Kirishima needs help!"
Iida quickly ran over to Lizard and Kirishima. The Lizard was beginning to escape Kirishima's hold with Lizard trying to jam his claws into his eyes. Iida punted Lizard across the head to get him to stop. Lizard roared angrily as he suddenly sprang onto his feet, punched Kirishima square in the chest, and threw him at Iida. Both boys fell onto the floor with Lizard getting his focus back on Mina and the Shields, who coward back in fear.
Before Lizard could move, Tsu and Spider-Man ambushed him by kicking him away. Spider-Man quickly jumped high into the air, shot many webs at small random bits of debris, and brought them together. He quickly spun webbing around the debris and stuck them together to create a large ball. Spider-Man used his momentum to flip himself over the boulder with his hands grabbing onto a single strand, "Hey Lizard! Catch!"
Lizard looked up momentarily before being smashed by a giant rock.
Spider-Man smacked his hands together, "That should take him out for now."
"Spider-Man, we need help!" Tsu called out to him.
Spider-Man quickly approached everyone and examined the situation, "How bad is it?"
"Very," Melissa kept applying to the wound, "It won't stop. We tried calling Nightcrawler, but he couldn't hear us!"
Spider-Man let out an inaudible curse and began to think quickly, "Okay. Mina, hear me out…"
"Something tells me I'm not going to like this," Mina replied with a noticeable quiver in her voice.
"Yeah," Spider-Man shook his head, "You're not. We need to do a cauterization if you're gonna want to make it." Everyone around Mina suddenly grew disturbed.
"Cauterization?" Mina tilted her head with much concern, "What is that?"
"To put it simply…." Melissa gulped, "We burn your skin to stop the bleeding."
"You WHAT?!" Mina shouted and nearly scrambled away, only to be stopped by Tsu when she wrapped herself behind Mina, "No! No! No! I am not sealing my wounds shut with caution- whatever it's called!"
"Mina, we don't have time to get you to a clinic! Matter of fact, I don't know where it is!" Spider-Man explained to her. "I know it's scary, but it's better than dying!"
"Easy for you to say!" Mina yelled at Spider-Man angrily, "You're not the one about to be burned!"
"So you're gonna do it?" Spider-Man cautiously asked.
"Either that or I die, what choice do I have?" Mina replied with a somber and scared tone.
Kirishima and Iida walked up to the group with Kirishima kneeling to Mina's side. Mina quickly grabbed Kirishima's hand much to the boy's surprise and embarrassed look. "What's wrong?"
"They want to do a cauterization," Mina replied. Kirishima and Iida were shocked by her response.
"Cauterization?!" Kirishima looked at Spider-Man, "Isn't there another way?!"
"Unless we find Nightcrawler in the next 15 seconds then no," Spider-Man replied.
Kirishima took his hand away from Mina and quickly got up. He placed his hands over his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Bakugo!"
From a distance, everyone could hear Bakugo shouting back, "WHAT?!"
"Where's Nightcrawler?! It's urgent!"
They couldn't hear, but the students could feel Bakugo letting out a snarl. A few seconds later, Nightcrawler appeared next to everyone. They were all relieved with Mina being the biggest one.
Nightcrawler looked at Kirishima, "What is it?"
Just as Kirishima was about to reply, Mina tightly grabbed hold of Nightcrawler's hand, "Hospital! NOW!"
Nightcrawler looked down at Mina and saw the blood that was everywhere, "Making it sound like you're giving birth."
Mina yanked Nightcralwe to her level and drilled her eyes into his, "I AM NOT IN THE MOOD RIGHT NOW, KURT WAGNER!" Mina exploded causing Nightcrawler to recoil and nod his head profusely.
"Okay! Okay! Sorry!" Nightcrawler vanished with Mina.
Everyone let out a big sigh of comfort knowing they didn't have to do something so brutal on their friend.
"Does he even know where it is?" David asked.
"Better question," Tsu pipped in, "Why didn't you two go with him?"
Melissa let out a stressed laugh, "That's a good question!"
"Even better question," Iida jumped in, "How did Bakugo hear Kirishima?"
"Focus people," Spider-Man said, "We're not out of the woods yet. Kirishima, Iida, you three watch Lizard. Work together to take him down." Spider-Man looked at Wolfram. He watched Deku and Bakugo attempting to get close to Wolfram only to retreat when the area got too hot with Todoroki guarding their exits with both of his quirks. "I'm going to end this." Spider-Man shot two strands of webs at a fallen pillar and swung into battle once again.
"Man…" Kirishima whispered, "He's so manly!" Kirishima looked at Tsu, "You're not gonna jump in with him?"
Tsu crossed her arms over her chest, "I know when I am out of my league, kero."
"Son of a bitch!" Bakugo howled in pain, "My arms are at their limit!"
Todoroki got onto one knee. His arms were tiring out as well, "Guys, if I keep going, I'm going to overwork my quirk and destroy the fibers in my muscles!"
Seeing Todoroki on one knee, Deku swiftly jumped down and grabbed hold of Todoroki by his waist. Deku jumped away from Wolfram with Bakugo following him with little bursts of explosions seeping from his palms. Deku jumped over a fallen pillar and laid Todoroki against it. Bakugo sat several feet away from the two. Deku looked over his friend's bodies and observed the swelling that was building up in their arms.
"You guys need to rest," Deku said, "Like Todoroki said if you keep going you'll tear open the muscle fibers. There is a chance both of you will get rhabdomyolysis."
"English motherfucker!" Bakugo shouted.
Deku cringed slightly and was about to speak when Spider-Man landed next to them and spoke for him, "In Deadpool terms, Bakugo, that's when you open up a pinata filled with stuff that goes in the toilet. That same stuff then proceeds to enter your bloodstream and rocks a nasty, vile, party throughout your body."
Todoroki rested his head against the metal, "So the stuff that is supposed to leave through our-"
"Yes, that stuff we dispose of in the bathroom is now in our blood," Spider-Man quickly said, causing Bakugo to slightly gag.
"That is some disgusting shit," Bakugo muttered.
"That's the idea," Spider-Man placed his attention on Deku, "Are you good to fight or not?"
Deku looked at his arms and rotated them, "Yeah, I'm still able too. I can't say for how much longer though."
Spider-Man nodded his head and felt something was off. He peeked over the pillar and saw Wolfram wasn't attacking anymore, "He's stopped attacking for some reason." The three boys poked their heads out as well to get a look.
"Do you think he's overworked himself?" Deku asked.
"Unlikely," Todoroki replied, "If you look closely at Wolfram, you can see he is looking over the tower and below."
Bakugo's eyebrows furrowed, "The building is shaking."
Everyone felt the small vibration that the building was giving off. The shaking proceeded to get more vibrant and chaotic at a rapid pace. An all too familiar roar was heard when Hulk jumped over the edge and was seen flying in the sky.
"THE HULK IS HERE?!" Todoroki and Bakugo clamored.
"Right, only a select few people know Dr. Banner is Hulk," Spider-Man thought.
"If Uraraka didn't accidentally reveal that Hulk was Dr. Banner, and made me swear to not do anything with that information, I'd be in the mood to defeat him." Deku pondered to himself and clenched his fists, "I still want to, however."
Wolfram's voice could be heard echoing in the distance, "YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" Wolfram's attacks were all focused on Hulk with mountains of metal being thrown at him and metal pillars racing to attack him. Hulk swung his mighty fists and smacked away the feeble attacks, and smashed his fists against the pillars one by one to stall them in their tracks. Hulk landed on the ground and roared at the top of his lungs at Wolfram.
"That's our cue," Spider-Man got onto his feet.
"Huh?" Deku was confused, "We're going to help, Hulk?"
"Didn't have a problem with him back at Hosu City," Spider-Man replied.
"He had Uraraka with him! I didn't want to fight him with her in his grasp," Deku responded.
Spider-Man turned his head to Deku, "I get it, alright? If he took down one of my mentors permanently, I would be very pissed off too. But right now is not the time because Wolfram is still the bigger threat, and from the looks of it, Hulk wants to fight him. This is our chance to defeat him with Hulk dishing out as much as Wolfram."
Deku begrudgingly agreed and both heroes went into battle for the last time, leaving Todoroki and Bakugo to rest their bodies.
"We're going after Hulk at some point," Bakugo declared.
"Agreed," Todoroki coldly said.
David nor Melissa couldn't believe what they were seeing. Nothing could have made this day any worse, and now, the one villain they despise more than anyone is here. The Hulk somehow, someway, is present!
"How…" David muttered, "How is that...that monster here?!"
Melissa grabbed onto father in both fright and comfort, "How did we not notice him all day?! Where did he come from?! Did he play a part in the villain's plans?!"
Iida stayed silent. He knew how they came but didn't want to reveal it. After seeing how close the two were to All Might, it was best to let them ruminate in their mystery than to give them any sort of hint to an answer. He had promised Uraraka, too, after all. Iida was worried about how Midoriya and the others were feeling. All Might was an icon and a symbol of what a hero should be, and to see the beast that permanently ended him right here, at the most secretive and most random of places, would make them wonder if Hulk is among them at all times.
Kirishima and Tsu instinctively got to each other and to the Shields. Their focus on Lizard was all but lost after Hulk had appeared.
"Is he following us?" Kirishima asked shakily, "I understand seeing him in Japan, but here, of all places, no! This shouldn't be happening!"
Tsu gulped heavily at the sight of the Hulk, "This is impossible…" Tsu spotted Deku and Spider-Man running towards the Hulk, "No!" Tsu jumped in front of everyone, "Don't get near him you two!" Tsu was about to jump away but was stopped when Iida wrapped his body around her.
"No, Tsu!" Iida told her and held on tightly, "It's far too dangerous!"
"For them!" Tsu replied and tried to wrestle away from Iida, "Stop holding me back, Iida!"
"Tsu, look!" Iida pointed to the two as they stood side-by-side with Hulk, the three of them staring down Wolfram.
Tsu paused and had to process what was going on, "M-Midoriya…Peter?" Tsu fell onto her feet as Iida released his hold on her, "But why?"
"I think Hulk has a common enemy with us," Iida suggested to Tsu. It was the best he could think of at the moment.
"But why?" Tsu asked.
Iida tilted his head down slightly, "I don't know, but right now, I'd rather have him as a temporary ally than an enemy."
As much as Tsu despised it, she had to agree. Wolfram was too much for them to handle already. If Hulk was here for them they would be in grave trouble.
Behind them, the Shields overheard everything that Iida and Tsu said. Relief fell over them that Hulk wasn't gunning for them, but that didn't change how they felt about Hulk. David and Melissa glared daggers into Hulk. It was no secret between the two how much they hated Hulk. They hated him with every fiber of their beings. Everyone loved All Might, but they loved him more because All Might was family to them. He was there at the beginning of David's rise in support business and for part of Melissa's childhood. All Might is just as much family to the Shields as much as Sam was.
David clenched his teeth fiercely, "One day Hulk...one day…"
Melissa held onto her father's hand tightly, "We'll get you for what you did to Uncle Might…"
Hulk looked down at his new comrades. He let out a big breath of air from his nose, "Hulk no need help, Bugman and puny human."
Spider-Man stretched out his left arm, "Come on big guy we can all share the fun. Besides, Deku and I were here first."
Deku didn't say anything to Hulk out of fear and anger. Right now, Deku wanted to defeat Wolfram and let today be over with.
Hulk grumbled and walked forward, "Get in Hulk way, and Hulk smash you."
"Believe me, Hulk," Spider-Man walked with him, "I plan on being behind you."
Deku followed as well, still remaining silent.
"Hey! Don't forget we're still here!"
Everyone turned their heads to see Deadpool and X-23 running up to them. Deadpool had his swords out and X-23 with her claws.
"Don't forget we're part of this story too," Deadpool said, "This is my first real-time time on text too, so it's a big deal for me."
Ignoring Deadpool, X-23 eyed up Hulk, "You do your thing and we'll do our own. Let's just end this quickly." The group of five heroes got into a stance together with Hulk being at the center.
Wolfram was watching the last heroes round up to make a final stand. "If you think you'll defeat me, you're all wrong!" Wolfram raised his hands and collected every piece of metal around him.
The giant ball on top of Lizard rose as well. Iida, Kirishima, and Tsu saw the ball rise and got prepared for the Lizard, who was staggering to get up.
Wolfram began to swing his hands around as a massive amount of pillars charged at the heroes. Hulk ran straight towards the pillars and jumped over them whilst smashing through several that still came at him. X-23 and Deku teamed up as they slashed and smashed the rest of the pillars that Hulk wasn't able to get to. Deadpool and Spider-Man were jumping from pillar to pillar and quickly running towards Wolfram.
Wolfram kept launching his attacks at the heroes but watched on as Hulk, Deku, and X-23 obliterated them and guided Deadpool and Spider-Man. Wolfram yelled and began to throw massive metal balls at them. Hulk grabbed one and threw it directly at Wolfram. Wolfram stopped the ball in midair just before it reached him, but was taken aback when Deadpool sprang up from the ball with a pistol aimed at him. Deadpool shot his pistol as a rubber bullet bounced off Wolfram's head. Deadpool unloaded the rest of the clip at Wolfram. Wolfram put his arm up to cover himself. With a snarl, Wolfram swung his free hand and smacked Deadpool away with a slab of metal.
Spider-Man shot a large web net under Deadpool to keep him from falling off the building. Deadpool landed safely and immediately regrouped with the heroes to continue the charge.
"You're all getting on my nerves!" Wolfram announced to them with a hidden wicked smile.
Spider-Man, Deku, Deadpool, and X-23 all got in front of Hulk and destroyed the last pillar in front of them. Hulk ran through the four towards a wide-open Wolfram.
"Gotcha," Wolfram opened his arms widely as many heavy and large wires suddenly clamped themselves around Hulk's limbs. Hulk was stopped in place with the four heroes looking stunned by the trap.
"Hulk!" Spider-Man cried out when more wires began to appear and wrapped them up in it too, "Oh this is bad!" Spider-Man tried to break free but it was no use.
Deadpool and X-23 attempted to cut through the wires, but with their arms being stuck to their sides, they couldn't move. Deku; however, narrowly escaped his trap and fled back to the ground to avoid being captured. Deku's pupils shrank as he realized the grave situation they were in right now.
Hulk wildly struggled against the wires to rip himself free. Wolfram violently motioned his hands to the right to hurl Hulk off from the tower; then brought his hands together to smash X-23 and Deadpool next to each with two large blocks of metal squishing them.
Spider-Man couldn't see what was happening, but he knew something was wrong, "Guys! Are you okay?!" Suddenly, Wolfram gripped Spider-Man's neck. His arm glowed red as the sleeve ripped apart with his muscles expanding largely.
Wolfram had his evil smile on still as he tightened his hold on Spider-Man's neck making him wheeze for air, "Spider-Man, you really think I didn't prepare for any situation?" With his other hand, Wolfram rammed his fist directly into Spider-Man's ribs. Spider-Man let out a large howl of pain, causing him to lose more of his oxygen.
Hearing Spider-Man's cry of pain got Tsu's attention and lost focus on the battle in front of her for a moment. Lizard took the opportunity and tackled Tsu to the ground with himself being on top of her. Lizard raised a claw into the air to finish her off but was stopped when Kirishima grabbed onto the arm and held it back. Iida came rushing in and kicked Lizard in the face once more. Lizard got off of Tsu and went to pry Kirishima off of his arm. Kirishima released his arm and redirected his efforts to Lizard's waist. Kirishima wrapped his arms around his waist, and with all of his strength, picked up Lizard before slamming him into the ground.
Lizard's tail quickly grabbed Kirishima by his leg and violently flung him at the Shield's. David pushed Melissa away and dove to the ground. Kirishima flew past them and nearly fell off the edge of the tower, but was saved when he grabbed onto a loose wire that hadn't been collected by Wolfram.
"I need some help!" Kirishima yelled, not wanting to look down.
The Shields went to help Kirishima back up with Iida and Tsu continuing their efforts against Lizard. Iida was going for one more attack when his jets suddenly stopped running. Iida tripped over himself and rolled across the ground. Lizard took the opening, grabbed Iida, and proceeded to headbutt him harshly. The rough texture of the scales caused Iida to bust open from his forehead. Lizard attempted to do it again, but Tsu made the save by gripping Iida with her tongue and pulling him away.
Tsu knew Iida was out cold when he didn't respond to the save. She looked behind her to see Kirishima getting up, but he was out of his Hardening quirk, having gone overboard and taking too much damage from earlier against Wolfram.
Tsu refocused on Lizard for she was the last hero standing from amongst the three assigned to protect the Shields.
"No more allies left for you, froggy," Lizard told her, "And in terms of punishment, you give me the least amount."
Tsu reaffirmed herself, "Don't doubt me because I'm not a powerhouse."
Lizard scoffed, picked up a nearby boulder, and threw it at Tsu. Tsu slid under the rock and evaded Lizard's running attack. Tsu jumped away from Lizard's quick offense. Seizing an opening, Tsu used her tongue to trip up Lizard. Lizard fell onto his face and Tsu quickly capitalized by jumping high into the air and stomping on Lizard's back. Tsu heard the pain leave from Lizard's mouth and jumped off before he could grab her with his tail.
Tsu was panting. She was slowly getting exhausted, and having to put more power into her attacks now was draining her energy faster. Tsu hopped over Lizard and kept bouncing away from each attack. Lizard grabbed two rocks and chucked them at Tsu. Tsu twirled in the air to dodge both of them, falling into Lizard's trap. With his tail, Lizard threw one more rock as it connected with Tsu in the chest. Tsu fell flat onto the floor and felt her leg being grabbed. Lizard lifted Tsu up with his tail and slammed her into the ground repeatedly. Lizard smashed Tsu once more into the ground onto her back and let go of her. Tsu laid on the floor defeated; her body broken and cuts and bruises forming everywhere.
Lizard thought about killing her for a moment but went against it because he had another objective in mind. He pulled out a device that was given to him by Taskmaster after he had transformed. All Taskmaster told him all he had to do was to push the button when Spider-Man was caught. Seeing as Wolfram had him in his grasp, Lizard pressed the button.
Wolfram kept his hold on Spider-Man's neck, "This power, Spider-Man, it increases my muscles. In fact…" Wolfram's grin grew even larger, "I've obtained these powers through a special comrade. You don't know him, but to us villains, he's a living legend."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Spider-Man thought to himself, "All for One even buffed up this guy! The fact that Taskmaster is here already said enough about his involvement, but I didn't think he would aid this lame man's version of you know who readers!"
"I also had help from another friend," Wolfram said and looked down at Lizard. He saw Lizard pressing the button. "In fact, I think you would like to see him now." Wolfram cleared the metal behind him as the atmosphere behind him started to warp itself. The space around it was curling inwards before it glowed brightly. Spider-Man's pupils shrink as he recalls the light in front of him. It was a portal.
The portal was stable and showed a lab that was familiar to Spider-Man. Spider-Man felt dread creeping over him as he knew who's lab it was. Large metallic clanks were heard as from the other side appeared none other than one Dr. Otto Octavious!
Spider-Man was shocked to see one of his oldest arch-nemesis again. It has been over a year since he last saw Doc Ock. To see him again, and now knowing that he was also behind this villain heist, Spider-Man guessed Dr. Octopus wasn't done with him.
Instead of the usual green jumpsuit he always wore, Dr. Octavious had on a brown trench coat with a light brown coat under it. He also had on black gloves, black boots, and sunglasses. The four iconic metal arms kept Dr. Octopus off the ground as he smirked at Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man," Dr. Octopus said, "It's good to see you again, my old enemy. Did you think you could run forever without me finding you?" Spider-Man wanted to reply, but couldn't since Wolfram kept his hand on his neck. Dr. Octopus frowned slightly, "Wolfram, release him."
Wolfram did as told. Spider-Man took in deep breaths to regain oxygen into his lungs. After several seconds, Spider-Man locked eyes with his longtime enemy, "Didn't know you missed me that much, Doc Ock. Makes me feel like you really do care about me."
"I only care about ridding you myself," Dr. Octopus examined the world in front of him, "This world. This is where you've been for the longest time. I have to be honest, Spider-Man, it was through luck that I discovered it. For you see, when news broke out in the underworld that an accident happened in Wakanda that sent you through a portal, never to return, I thought you were gone."
Dr. Octopus' expression became furious with his claws upper clenched tightly as well, "I was angry because no one will take my right to end your life! That pleasure belongs to me!" Dr. Octopus turned his back to Spider-Man and continued to speak, "Wakanda isn't easy to break into. One cannot just waltz inside and not expect the Black Panther to ignore the intrusion. So, I retraced the rumors for months and found the ones who spilled the beans on your disappearance. I paid them off to get me more details on what happened. More time passed, but I was given the details I wanted."
Dr. Octopus turned his frontal side back to Spider-Man, his face now seemingly happy, "And who would have thought that Iron Man, Dr. Banner, and the Black Panther's sister would have built a portal to different realms to see if they existed. It malfunctioned and took you with it. With this new information, I took it upon myself to create my own interdimensional portal, one that wouldn't collapse due to the infinite amount of energy needed to sustain it." Dr. Octopus snickered, "Of course, I had to test it. And, well… you saw who my guinea pigs were. Sending Taskmaster was an accident, but that incident became water under the bridge when we met again and paid him off for information about this world."
Now hearing the full story from the man himself, Spider-Man knew this world was more endangered than he realized. If Doc Ock could send anyone through the portal without fail, who knows who could come through it next? Venom? Carnage? The Sinister Six?
Spider-Man was cut-off from his thoughts as one of Doc Ock's robotic arms clamped itself around his neck. "Seeing as you are helpless to stop me," Doc Ock said, "I'll take full advantage of that."
As Doc Ock was about to execute the killing blow, Deku sprang in front of everyone with green electricity shooting from his body and his arms in a cross position, "CAROLINA SMASH!" Deku unleashed the Carolina Smash, but not to hurt anyone, but to use the impact of the move to force the villains away from Spider-Man. Doc Ock was forced back into the portal whilst releasing his grasp on Spider-Man.
Wolfram moved in towards Deku to attack him but Deku quickly dodged the attack with his right hand reeled back, "TEXAS SMASH!" Deku fists didn't make contact with Wolfram as Wolfram put a shield up to block Deku's punch, yet the force behind the smash caused Wolfram to be sent backward a couple of feet.
Deku grabbed onto several wires that were holding back Spider-Man but wasn't able to rip him free.
"Deku," Spider-Man motioned his head towards the two giant blocks, "Free X-23 and Deadpool; they can get me out of this! Hurry!"
Deku propelled himself towards the blocks. He pulled his right arm back with the Full Gauntlet ready to protect his arm. "DETROIT….SMASH!" Deku rammed his fist against the metal block with as much power as he could put in. The block cracked and kept cracking until it broke apart. In an instant, X-23 and Deadpool were free-falling to the ground. Deku swiftly jumped off one of the large broken pieces and grabbed X-23 and Deadpool by their arms.
"Guys! You okay?!" Deku asked. Both of them were groggy but shook it off quickly thanks to quick regeneration.
"We're good!" X-23 answered.
"Great, now help me free Spider-Man!" Deku began to spin his body rapidly for a few seconds. He threw both X-Men at Spider-Man. The two unsheathed their sharpened weapons and were able to slice through the wires clean. As they flew by Spider-Man, they saw the portal and Doc Ock inside.
"Dr. Octopus!" Both of them shouted.
Dr. Octopus kept his face neutral. Despite Spider-Man being freed, he still had Lizard and Wolfram to help him right now. Dr. Octopus pulled up a small device from his pocket and raised it towards his mouth, "Dr. Conners?"
"Lizard!" Lizard hissed at the speaker.
"Spider-Man is back on the ground. Capture him and bring him to me." Dr. Octopus said.
Lizard hissed through the microphone again, "Why? You sent me here against my will!"
"If you love your family, Curt Conners, I suggest you do as I say," Dr. Octopus replied with a malice tone.
Lizard snarled and hung up the device. Dr. Octopus smiled in response, "Oh Spider-Man. Even with your friends, you still won't escape from -"
"Dr. Octopus!"
Doc Ock quickly adjusted his body to the voice behind him as two figures pounced on him, and knocked him away from the portal.
Spider-Man and Deku were back on the ground with Deadpool and X-23 quickly regrouping with them.
"One last push guys!" Spider-Man yelled out, "And this time, we finish the fight!" Spider-Man turned his head to the right, "Bakugo, Todoroki! Cover us!" The four heroes pushed in for the final time.
Bakugo and Todoroki left their cover and watched for any signs of trouble. They spotted the Lizard moving in on them. "Half-Half, you get that reptilian bastard! Your ice will knock him out quickly!"
Todoroki chased after Lizard with his ice slide technique as Bakugo hurled himself into the air with his quirk.
Wolfram was staring fiercely at the heroes. His patience reached its breaking point. "You intolerable heroes! I don't care if Dr. Octavious wants you alive or dead anymore, I'll kill you all!" Wolfram gathered the remaining scrap he could muster, formed them into either blocks of metal or pillars, and assaulted the heroes with a metallic blitzkrieg attack.
Bakugo placed his hands together, palms opened, and aimed at the blocks, "No you don't!" Bakugo unleashed the remaining energy he had left him and incinerated the blocks being hurled at the heroes.
X-23 and Deadpool dispatched the pillars as quickly as they could to allow Spider-Man and Deku to make their way towards Wolfram. Deadpool and X-23 were forced to move their focus elsewhere when they heard Lizard's roar behind them. In a split second, the ice-encased Lizard as Todoroki was behind him. Todoroki used the remaining power of his quirk to break off the ice that was holding Lizard and sent it towards Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man!" Todoroki called out to him, "Behind you!"
Spider-Man sensed the incoming projectile behind him. He jumped into the air, spun his body, and shot multiple strands of webs at Lizard. "Thanks, Todoroki!" A pillar abruptly appeared from the sky and was heading straight to the exposed Spider-Man. Spider-Man sensed the attack coming and knew it was going to be a hard hit on him, but the attack never came.
X-23 and Deadpool were able to destroy the pillar since Todoroki had gotten the Lizard, and they could refocus on the task at hand. Spider-Man hauled Lizard behind him as he caught up with Deku and stayed behind him.
"I've had enough of this!" Wolfram raised his arms into the air as all of the metal he launched at the heroes floated into the air. All at once, they began to compact into one area as they stacked on top of each other. Everyone below watched as a colossal block, one that could flatten the tower, was being created above Wolfram.
"Deku!" Spider-Man shouted at his partner but was cut-off.
"We got this, Peter!" Deku replied with contagious confidence, "I know we do!"
Spider-Man smirked under the mask, "What did you think I was going to say?"
"HUUUUUUULLLLLLLLKKKKKKK!"
Wolfram's eyes were filled with terror as from nowhere the Hulk reappeared at the far back of the tower. "How?! I threw you off the tower!"
"You think Hulk was beaten?!" Hulk roared, ignoring the question, "You no beat Hulk! Hulk strongest there is!"
In a desperate attempt to save himself, Wolfram threw the block before it was finished, hoping that this attack could stop the Hulk.
Hulk ran at full speed towards the block and jumped into the air, breaking the ground beneath him. As Hulk flew past the two heroes, Deku promptly launched himself towards the block, now side by side with Hulk. Both powerhouses reeled their arms back with Deku's Full Cowl at 100%.
"DETROIT….!"
"HULK….!"
At the top of their lungs, Deku and Hulk shouted the word that would ultimately put down Wolfram, "SMASH!"
Hulk and Deku collided with the block and stopped the block in its tracks. Their combined strength shattered the incomplete block and sent scrap flying everywhere. Wolfram wrapped himself up in metal to protect himself, but the protection was futile as Hulk and Deku slammed their fists into Wolfram's cover and shredded it too.
Spider-Man smiled widely as he saw an opportunity too great to pass up, "Hey, Doc Ock! If you can hear me, take your pet Lizard back!" Spider-Man swung Lizard at the portal with Lizard wallowing in agony as the cold was overtaking him. Spider-Man watched Wolfram's body soaring past the portal. Just as Wolfram's body was centered over the portal, Lizard collided with Wolfram, causing the two to be pushed into the portal.
"No!" Doc Ock shouted, "The portal can't handle transporting multiple people at once! It'll-"
Without warning, the portal began to change to colors hastily. Spider-Man's mind flashed back to when he was sucked into the portal as the changing of the colors reminded him of what was happening. "Hulk! Deku! The portal is closing in on itself! Get out of there!"
Deku's eyes latched onto the portal as he felt a strong force pulling him towards it. Deku searched frantically to find something to grab onto to stop himself from being sucked in but nothing was in reach, "Oh no! No! No! No! No!"
"Deku!" Spider-Man raised his arms to hopefully yank Deku away with his webs.
In the nick of time, Hulk grabbed onto Deku's arm with his right hand as his left was holding onto a giant piece of metal.
"Hulk!" Deku shouted to him.
Hulk didn't respond and instead pulled Deku towards him. Being stronger than the portal's pull, Hulk jumped away from the portal, not noticing three figures being sent through the portal into their world.
Hulk landed next to Spider-Man and released Deku. Everyone gathered around the heroes with Kirishima carrying Tsu in his arms.
Seeing Tsu in Kirishima's arm, Spider-Man speed walked to the redhead, "What happened?!" Spider-Man took Tsu into his arms, cradling her unconscious body in his arms.
Kirishima and Iida looked down because they felt shame in letting their friend get brutalized.
"It was the Lizard," Iida answered, "I blew out my engines, Kirishima was nearly thrown off the tower, and Tsu tried to fight him off on her own. We're sorry, Spider-Man…"
Spider-Man was glad Lizard was gone. Had he still been here, Spider-Man didn't know what he would do to him. With an angry sigh, Spider-Man wrapped Tsu's arms around his neck, hunched over, and placed her on his back to carry her. "It's over, we can go now…"
"Not yet," Bakugo muttered and pointed to the still active portal in the sky. It was continuing to self-destruct for what seemed like a long time before, but in a flash, it disappeared.
"Huh," Bakugo mumbled, "That was anti-drama-"
The sky exploded where the portal once was as the portal reopened and was expanding at a rapid pace. Spider-Man hastily shot webbing at everyone's feet to hold them in place as the portal began to suck scrap metal and parts of the tower into it. Before Tsu could be taken, Spider-Man tightly held onto her into his chest.
"Oh, what the fuck!" Bakugo cursed, "A black hole?! Are you kidding me?!"
"If that was a black hole, you wouldn't be able to finish that sentence!" David grunted, his glasses being pulled off his face and straight into the hole, "I've never created a portal before, but if I had to guess, the particles that were keeping the portal stabilized are collapsing on themselves!"
"Hulk no remember this happening when bugman fell into portal!" Hulk hollered, "Portal just closed!"
"Then what the hell do we do to stop this one?!" X-23 shouted.
The collapsing portal crackled and shot thunder from it as the interior of it was exposed. Spider-Man noticed that this one was different. Instead of the blinding lights that he saw when he was going through the portal, this one had cosmic clouds inside of it. It wasn't in space because stars nor planets could be seen on the other side. All that everyone could see was the debris that was sucked in floating around inside it with extra debris that didn't belong to the tower.
The inside of the portal started to flash rapidly as many different worlds were suddenly coming into view. In a slideshow manner, everyone was shown these undiscovered worlds and what they contained.
They saw Yaoyorozu wearing a golden suit and wielding a yellow bow working with a green archer to battle two dark archers; Hatsume putting on what appeared to be an Iron Man suit, Deku dressed in a green suit covered in question marks with a golden question mark cane in his hands, the six girls of Class 1-A wearing suits and masks and looking like they were about to commit a crime, Tsu in her hero outfit wearing sunglasses and fighting villains with her right hand transforming into a giant anvil, and a grown-up evil-looking Eri vanquishing what appeared to be a hero.
The portal suddenly stopped spazzing out and stalled on a particular world. In an instant, two more figures were seen passing through the portal at a high velocity and landing nearby behind large slabs of concrete that were slowly being lifted off the ground.
"Are those people?!" Kirishima asked.
"It won't matter if that portal isn't closed!" X-23 replied, not being able to unsee the image of a grown-up Eri killing someone.
The portal grew larger and got stronger. The webs on everyone's feet were starting to rip apart. "Everyone! Hold onto each other, we may be sucked in!" Everyone grabbed each other's hands with Hulk doing his best to wrap himself around everyone.
X-23 averted her eyes in the direction of the hotels where Eri and the others were, when, unexpectedly, from that direction, a rail of green light was seen shooting into the sky. "Okay! What is that now?!" X-23 exclaimed.
"Where?!" Spider-Man shouted, tightening his hold on Tsu's body.
X-23 watched the light remain in the sky for a brief moment. The light began to move slowly before speeding towards them at a speed faster than X-23 has ever seen. X-23 whipped her head towards the portal to see the light floating in between them and the portal. X-23 took a closer look at the light and couldn't conceive what was within the green light. A dark adult figure was floating inside it. X-23's mind went back to the picture Eri drew several days ago; the one that was colored green with a shadowy individual inside of it!
"What the heck is that thing?!" Kirishima questioned.
"Today is the weirdest fucking day ever!" Bakugo randomly shouted.
Everyone watched as the figure raised a single hand at the portal. The portal suddenly stopped sucking things into it. The shadow twisted its hand clockwise causing the portal to slowly shrink in size. X-23 focused her gaze on the figure and tried to see if she could see its face. X-23 couldn't see it as it was too well hidden, but she did witness the figure's long hair float in the air as it used its power on the portal. Some of the hair drifted out of the portal, and X-23 saw the color of the hair before it went back inside the green aura.
The color of the hair was silver.
The figure twisted its hand sharply to the left to force the portal close, and in a blink of an eye, the figure vanished without a trace.
Hulk moved away as everyone began to separate since the webbing that was holding them down was torn.
"I have so many questions," Spider-Man lifted Tsu onto his shoulders with a heavy sigh, "But I want to find those answers tomorrow. I'm beat."
"We can't leave just yet," X-23 began to walk towards where the figures had fallen. X-23 paused and sniffed the air. "Spider-Man, give Kirishima your girlfriend and follow me. All of you stay in place." Before X-23 left, she twirled her head to Bakugo and Deku and pointed to her left, "You two go in that direction. I think I saw something land over there."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Bakugo shouted before proceeding to head in the direction with Deku following along.
Spider-Man gave Tsu back to Kirishima and followed X-23 as she took off in a different direction. While all this was happening, Hulk decided he had done enough and jumped off the tower.
Spider-Man followed X-23 with curiosity in his mind, "So….why did we split from the others?"
"You'll see." X-23 hopped over a wall and Spider-Man followed. In front of them was what seemed to be a large red and blue robot. The limbs of the bot were completely severed from the somewhat circular body of the bot. There was a person on top of the robot too: A girl with short black hair dressed in a schoolgirl uniform with a green backpack.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" The girl groaned and lightly banged on the black screen of the robot, "Hey, Spider, are you okay?! Can you hear me?!" X-23 and Spider-Man noticed a blue and red spider was crawling on the girl's backpack and down her arms. "Oh, there you are. I was worried."
"Uhhhhh ma'am," Spider-Man spoke up.
The girl turned her head in Spider-Man's direction, her brown eyes staring upon Spider-Man. The girl blinked twice at Spider-Man, "Peter? When did you get here?" The girl then looked up and down at Spider-Man, "And when did you get so short?"
Spider-Man was flabbergasted, "P-Peter?! Who's Peter?! I'm Spider-Man!"
"I know that, Peter," The girl rolled her eyes and slid off her mech, "You're obviously not the Peter Parker I know. You're younger, shorter, and in shape. The one I knew was older, taller, and had a gut."
"Uh-huh…." Spider-Man pulled off his mask and rolled his neck.
The girl seemed to be stunned for a moment, "Oh, Peter! Are you okay? Your face is all messed up!" The girl then examined the area around her noticing how wrecked the place was, "What happened here?"
"I'll explain that later…..ummm…." Peter shrugged his shoulders.
"Peni." Peni said with an outstretched hand, "Peni Parker. "
Peter shook Peni's hand, "Peter. Peter Parker! Err…you know that already." Peni lightly smiled with a giggle. She can get used to this version of Peter quickly.
Peter releases his grasp and Peni turns toward the other hero, "Who are you?" Peni asked X-23, keeping her hand outstretched.
"I'm Wolverine's daughter, X-23," X-23 replied, promptly shaking Peni's briefly, "So, Peni, how did you get here?"
Peni walked around the area, recalling the events, "Well, I was a part of a group in New York City that was tasked with taking down Dr. Octavious because he had a weapon that could send people to other dimensions. We attacked him during a moment where the portal was activated. As my team was fighting him, Doc Ock managed to separate us with some robots he called in." Peni placed the spider on her head, "We kept battling them until myself and…" Peni's voice trailed off.
"And…?" Peter asked.
"Miles, Gwen!" Peni said, a little frantically, "Miles and Gwen came with me through the portal! Where are they?!"
"Over here, Peni."
The three turned their heads to the right to see two other Spider costumes individuals limping towards them. One Spider-suit was black and red instead of the original blue and red, and the other was white, black, and magenta with a hood.
"Miles, Gwen!" All three of them shouted and ran to them.
"Peter?!" Miles and Gwen asked in shock as Peter ran to the duo and enveloped both of them in a massive hug.
Peter was happily smiling with a few tears running down his face as he reunited with two of his closest comrades he has grown to know, "It's so good to see you two again!"
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Miles cried out, "It's great to see you too! Ow! But I'm in pain!"
Gwen winced in pain as pain, "I'm happy too, Peter, but I'm with Miles on this one! Ow!"
"Oh sorry!" Peter ended the hug watching the duo take their masks off.
Miles Morales, the son of an African American police officer father and a Puerto Rican nurse mother, dons the red and black Spider-Man outfit. Miles's hair was black and cut in a short fade, his eyes brown, and his body was similar to that of Peter's. Toned, but built.
Gwen Stacy, the American daughter of the former Captain of the NYPD's Special Crimes Task Force, wore the white, magenta, and black suit. Gwen's hair was blond but with a unique hairstyle. The left side was long and reached to her shoulders, but the lower right side was shaved to a fade similar to Miles, yet Gwen rocks the style only a few can. Her eyes were blue, her body was starting to mature, and with those developing features with curves her body was toned with some muscle to feature.
"We thought you were gone…" Miles mumbled.
Gwen looked to the side with relief, "I went through so many dimensions looking for you…"
Silence filled the air momentarily until Miles broke it with a hearty laugh, "So this is where you've been, Peter." Miles looked around the destroyed landscape, "And I assume you just got through beating up some villains."
Peter nodded his head, "Yeah, but that's a story for later. We have to regroup with the others."
"Others?" Peni, Gwen, Miles spoke together.
X-23 pointed behind her, "Our friends are looking at other unidentified objects that fell through the portal. You three aren't the only crossovers."
"X-23?" Gwen blinked, "You're here too?"
"Took ya long enough to notice," X-23 said, still pointing behind her.
"You think it's Spider-Ham? Noir?" Peni asked her two teammates.
"Doubt it," Miles replied, "They weren't near us when we went through the portal. Speaking of which, I swore I thought I saw Lizard passing through it with another person."
"Yeah, you did," Peter confirmed, "But like I said, a story for later."
X-23 and Peter led the newly arrived Miles, Gwen, and Peni to their classmates' location.
"Deku!" Peter shouted.
Peni was stumped by the shout, "Who are you calling useless?"
X-23 looked back to Peni, "No, Deku is a nickname of a friend of ours. It's also his hero name. Don't ask why, he seems to like it in a twisted, non-sickening way."
Peni's expression remained the same, "Oooookay?"
Instead of Deku appearing, Bakugo was the one to show up, "Who the fuck are they?!"
The trio were a bit surprised by Bakugo's lack of a word filter.
"Well hello to you too," Gwen shot back with Bakugo passing the comment off.
"Miles, Gwen, and Peni," Peter pointed to each of them to get quick introductions out of the way.
"Miles! Peni! And is that Gwen Stacy I see?!" Deadpool jumped up from the pillar.
The three groaned at the sight of Deadpool, "He's here too?" They asked simultaneously.
"Hey Spider-Team, how y'all doing?" Deadpool waved to them.
Miles waved back, "Fine, Deadpool. How about you?"
"Freakin 'fabulous," Deadpool rested against the pillar, "We just beat up a Magneto rip off and Lizard. You should have been here, it was wild!"
"So it seems," Peni surveyed the landscape once more.
"Where's Deku?" Peter asked Bakugo abruptly.
"Tending to a woman," Bakugo replied, hopping back behind the pillar.
Peter, Gwen, Miles, Peni, and X-23 jumped over the pillar and saw Deku tending to a girl around their age as well. She wore a skin tight black suit with white accents and black goggles with orange tinted lenses. The little armor she wore was on her wrists and forearms, knee pads, and her shins. Her eyes were closed, but the indistinguishable long silver hair told Peter who this was.
"Is that…Felicia?!" Peter shouted as he knelt next to Deku.
"Black Cat is here?" Miles said with confusion.
"She wasn't with your group?" Bakugo asked.
The three newcomers shook their heads. "No," Peni answered, "She was never with us. Matter of fact, I never met her till now."
Deku had two fingers pressed against Black Cat's neck checking for a pulse, "She's alive. I can feel her heartbeat." Deku then pointed to a slab of concrete, "Peter, go check over there, I thought I heard a groan before you showed up."
Peter nods and runs over to check for another possible visitor. Peter rounds the slab and catches a glimpse of a figure jumping off the building. Peter runs over to the side and looks down, but is unable to see anyone as it is too dark for Peter's eyes.
"They got away," Peter mumbles, still looking over the ledge, "But from the way things have been going, they'll make their presence known soon."
Peter takes his mind back to the others and jogs back to them seeing Miles with Gwen carrying Black Cat on her shoulders.
"You got her?" Gwen asks.
"Yeah," Miles replies and looks to X-23, "Do you know where a doctor is?"
"Their 200 stories down," X-23 says and gestures to Peter, "Peter will lead you down while I gather the others."
"What about my mech suit?" Peni asks, "How am I going to get that down?"
"In due time we'll figure that out. I'm sure the owner of this building will help us," X-23 responds, "We just saved his life and his daughter's so he owes us. Now go."
Without another word, Peter led the group towards the functioning elevator. X-23 looked over to where Eri should be, "That….thing. That was no dream, Eri. It's real. Either you met a superhuman or somehow were in contact with a more powerful being beyond this world's comprehension." X-23 balled up her fists and went to regroup with the others, "This world is starting to become like mine by the second, and that is the last thing that should happen considering they have no one as smart as Reed Richards around to help deal with such beings."
When the group of tired heroes arrived, they saw that everyone, including Dr. Banner, who had acquired a new set of clothes, was at the hospital getting checked by all the doctors and nurses. Mineta, Jiro, and All Might were the only ones at the hospital as everyone else had left back to the hotel seeing as Uraraka and Kaminari were doing okay and asleep. Upon hearing that, Deadpool left too but told them to update him on everyone's condition in the morning. They agreed and wished Deadpool a goodnight. The doctors placed Black Cat on a stretcher, and before they left to transport her to a room, Peter advised them to keep her in a secure location as he knew well enough that once Black Cat wakes up she'll be on the run, and Peter wants to talk to her to get answers from her on why she is here.
The doctors heeded Peter's advice and promised to keep her in a secure room with only one opening that required a fingerprint scan from David to open. It sounded a bit much at first, but Peter agreed. Black Cat has broken out of more secure places, but without any access to David's fingerprints, she won't be able to escape.
As the doctors left with Black Cat, Nightcrawler approached Miles, the latter having his mask on, with a lighthearted smile, "Miles, good to see you again."
Miles smiled back, "Likewise."
"How's Mina?" Peter asked, approaching Nightcrawler, also with his mask on.
"In stable condition," Nightcrawler answered, "I informed Hagakure. Poor girl was scared out of her mind, but I reassured her that all was well. I think the bamfs will spend the night with her to keep her company."
Peter nodded his head and took a seat against the wall.
"So, Peter," Mineta sat next to him, "You guys won, right?"
"We did, Mineta." Peter sat back in his chair with a relaxed gasp escaping his lips, "It was wild, but we won."
"Good," Mineta averted his eyes to Gwen, "Now onto more important questions, who is that hottie over there?" Mineta stared at her as Gwen and Peni had joined in the conversation with Nightcrawler and Miles, with Peni being amazed by Nightcrawler's appearance and how his attitude contradicted his demon image.
Peter was a bit agitated by Mineta's question, but was too tired to lambast his classmate, "That's Gwen Stacy, the Ghost Spider or Spider-Woman; the red and black one is Miles Morales, who is also called Spider-Man, and the schoolgirl - I don't know; I just met her - her name is Peni Parker."
"Well she's cute," Mineta commented, "In a non creepy way."
"That's a first," Peter quipped.
"Hey!" Mineta shouted before a thought crossed his mind, "Wait, if you are Spider-Man, and he is Spider-Man, how do others tell you two apart?"
Peter shrugged, "You'll figure it out."
"And Peni Parker? You just said you don't know her, so is it coincidental that she has your last name?"
"Yes and no," Peter stretched himself on the chair, "I would tell you, but I'd rather tell everyone too. Plus, I am too exhausted to go into detail about it."
Mineta nodded his head in understanding. A moment later, a doctor entered the room, catching everyone's attention, "Your friend is okay. The worst she has suffered is a broken rib, but seeing as U.A's doctor is Recovery Girl, and all of you are from U.A, she'll recover quickly."
"Any updates on Kaminari?" Jiro asked hopefully.
The doctor cleared his throat, "Mr. Kaminari will be okay. After all of you left his room, he awakened for a brief moment but fell back to sleep." Mineta and Jiro's eyes sprang with life hearing that Kaminari didn't fall into a coma, "However," The doctor's face contorted slightly, "I will send U.A a letter that Kaminari will not be allowed to partake in any physical activities for several weeks. The blood transplant was successful in getting him back the healthy amount a body needs, but his body still needs time to reproduce more blood cells because the blood that was transplanted into Mr. Kaminari wasn't produced from his body. To put it simply: Mr. Kaminari's body is treating the transferred blood as a placeholder until it replaces all of it with its own."
Peter's mask scrunched a bit at the news, "That isn't good for Kaminari. He'll fall behind in Mr. Aizawa's class."
"I'd say that is the least of his concerns," The doctor's expression softened, "Behind closed doors, all hero school's have a policy for dropping students who are unable to keep up due to injuries. And because we're living in a time where All Might isn't around, the rules have been more strictly enforced to produce waves of heroes as quickly as possible."
A collective gasp was heard around the room from the U.A students. None of them were aware of the consequences of what could happen to students who were terribly injured. Dread filled the students as they recalled Aizawa's reputation for dropping students who he deemed 'unqualified.'
All Might was looking down with regret on his face. Because of him and his coworker's inability to protect their students, Denki Kaminari may be dropped from the hero course due to being unable to continue his studies and training to be a hero.
The doctor fixed the glasses on his face, "I know this is the worst news for his potential career as a hero, but as a doctor, I must do what is right for my patients and this is the best solution for him. Back then, a body adjusting to a blood transfer could have taken up to a year, but due to advanced medication, the longest it takes is about 2 months. It's a dramatic decrease in recovery time, but not enough to keep him on a roster. I've seen this many times in Ireland before I agreed to work at I-Island, and if I have to compare Ireland and Japan's production of heroes, Japan outpaces Ireland by 75%."
The doctor headed back to the door but took one last look at everyone, "Technically visiting hours are over, but as long as Dr. Shield is here, you may stay as long as you like. Although, I cannot allow you to see your friends until morning. Goodnight, and….I'm sorry." The doctor left through the doors.
Bakugo punched the cushion of the couch he was sitting on, "Damn it, dunce face….what the hell happened to you…!"
Spider-Man glanced at everyone's expressions for all of them had some level of distraught or sadness, but none matched the look on Jiro's and Mineta's face, both of whom hid their faces by lowering their heads.
Peni, Miles, and Gwen didn't know who Kaminari was or what was going on but could tell the news they received was grave. The three felt awkward as they felt they're violating personal information. The three of them huddled together into a small space across the room away from everyone else whispering to each other about what was going on.
Deku was shaking his head in disbelief, tears leaving his eyes, "If only I had knocked out that villain faster, Kaminari wouldn't have been hurt. If I hadn't allowed Taskmaster and Lizard to get the best of me at the bridge, Kaminari wouldn't have bled out and been in this situation…"
Iida sat next to Deku and wrapped an arm around his friend, "Midoriya…I may not have been there, but I know you tried your best. You always do."
Melissa sat on the other side of Deku and gave him a hug, "Midoriya, you couldn't have known what was going to happen. This isn't your fault…"
Deku wiped his eyes and clenched his fists, "I should have done better…! I should have ended the fight with Nobu quicker! I should have thought ahead and known someone would be guarding the tower's security system! Whether it was Taskmaster or not, I should have been ready for all of it!"
"Young Midoriya," All Might stood in front of Deku. The face All Might had on said he understood what Deku was going through, "Like Melissa and Iida have told you, you tried your best and couldn't have known what was going to happen. I've had my fair share of times not being able to arrive at the scene on time and save someone from harm. I know I've always said, 'Have no fear, for I am here,' but that didn't mean I was there in time to prevent someone from being hurt." All Might placed his hands on Deku's shoulders, "What is happening with Young Kaminari is painful. It hurts me too as a former hero and as his teacher because I should have been there to protect him, quirk or no quirk, it is my duty to ensure his well being. I have failed that, and I understand you feel like you failed as a hero and a friend to preserve his safety as well." All Might got onto a knee and was at eye level with his crying disciple, "This isn't what you may want to hear, but you did all you could at that time, Midoriya. No matter how much you wish you could have done more or could have changed things, there is nothing you can do about it now other than be by Kaminari's side and support him for whatever is coming his way. You feel responsible, but you are not at fault." All Might let out a heavy sigh of sorrow, "This is one of the hardest parts of being a hero. Feeling responsible for events you couldn't have prevented…"
All Might hugged Deku as Deku cried into All Might's shoulders. The night has been hell for Deku, and Kaminari's situation was the straw that broke the camel's back. What started off as a memorable day full of fond memories was ending as a nightmare for everyone involved with the villain attack.
"You three," David approached Miles, Gwen, Peni, "Follow me. I'm the owner of this Island. I can give you all a room and some spare clothes to change into." David began to walk out of the hospital with the three newcomers following him. David wanted today to be over already, but he knew he had to take care of the new teens.
"Excuse me, Dr. Shield?" Peni spoke up.
"Call me, David," David replied without looking at her.
"Okay… David," Peni continued, "When I crashed into this world, I came in a robot mech. Would you mind helping me get it down from your tower? It's stuck up there."
"I'll have a crew retrieve it in the morning," David responded with the warmest tone he could muster. Peni smiled, not at his response, but for him trying to be welcoming despite what has happened to them.
Melissa had quietly excused herself from the hospital to follow her father. She knew her uncle would comfort Deku, and personally, for her, all she wanted was to go to sleep. She'll see them all tomorrow when everyone's had a chance to sleep tonight.
Kirishima looked away from Deku and All Might and went to look for Mienta and Jiro. "Mineta, Jiro?" Kirishima spoke softly, turning his head to see the duo walking out of the hospital together with their heads hung low. Kirishima was about to give chase to them but was stopped when Bakugo grabbed his arm and made the redhead look at him. The stern look on Bakugo's face quietly told Kirishima to let them be. Kirishima averted his head downward and pulled his arm gently out of Bakugo's grasp, "Let's just go… The doctors and nurses here will treat our classmates well…" Bakugo nodded his head and led Kirishima back to the hotel quietly.
After Deku had calmed down, the rest of the group left the hospital not long after. It was the longest walk any of them had taken in a long time. Everyone was tired and wanted to sleep on their rented beds; others, though, just wanted to go back home and forget today ever happened.
Once inside the hotel, they all split into separate elevators and went up to the same floor. When they reached their floors and went to their rooms, they all said their goodnights and entered their rooms for a restless night.
I-Island.
What was supposed to be a relaxing trip to ease their minds and get away from life has turned into a dark and bitter memory forever.
Though new friends were made and new allies were going to be recruited, it didn't wash away the feeling of pain and misery they fell asleep with. Many people were hurt, The Shield's suffered a tragedy, several classmates were wounded, and possibly having to face the probable reality that Denki Kaminari may never step foot in Class 1-A ever again because of his critical condition.
Today will leave a scar in everyone's mind permanently.