It's just like old times. Being shoved up against a locker, his shirt sizzling under a vice grip. What better way than to start the first school semester than to revisit routine? Izuku could probably think of a few alternatives. He thinks about shifting himself and the bully bruising him up to be in opposite positions, that maybe good ol' Kacchan should see things from his perspective for a change. But then, he also thinks about his late father's words of wisdom. Hisashi Midoriya once told his son that the reason Katsuki abuses his quirk is that he was never taught 'with a great quirk that there must also come great responsibility'. That had been before Izuku acquired a technical 'quirk' of his own and learned that lesson the hard way. So, understanding full well what his dad meant now more than ever… Izuku withholds his power and doesn't fight back. He lets himself get bullied. Yup. It's just like old times.
"I don't know how a worm like you weaseled your way into U.A–", Izuku has just as much of a hard time refraining from making a wisecrack about being a spider and not a worm as he does hiding his abilities, "-but you'd better not let me catch you anywhere near the Hero Course!"
Playing up the act of being weaker than he actually is, Izuku wriggles within his bully's hold. It's actually not all that hard when he has the former experience; he doesn't think that he's out of practice from summer break either. "Like I told you at the Entrance Exam, I- I'm only in General Education!", he holds up his hands as a show of surrender, "You probably won't even see me anywhere around here!"
Katsuki sneers at Izuku with contempt. Surely, there would have been more of an exchange between the two of them and this interaction. If not for the morning bell chiming to notify students of their classes beginning soon. Izuku prays a silent thank you. Katsuki drops his victim and turns to leave but makes sure to give one last comment before he goes, "I'd better not! Or else I'll pound you for being on my turf!"
Izuku knows better than to request a definition from the blonde bully for his meaning of 'pounding'. He's been roughed up enough as it is. And he really doesn't want to take any chances being late to his first class on his first day. So, he bends down and scoops up the textbooks that were originally in his locker before his encounter with Katsuki. And then he makes a beeline for his homeroom.
Ordinarily, Izuku would be thrilled about the prospect of starting his semester at U.A of all places. Anyone would assume that moving into a new school would come with a fresh start. Except, according to Katsuki, this turf is no different from Aldera High. And if that close brush between the two of them was of any indication, there won't be much of a difference in terms of what comes with being on Katsuki's kind of turf.
And as though to prove that point… "Didn't hear the bell? I told Nezu we should have made it louder", he's already being hassled by his homeroom teacher as soon as he steps foot through the door, "Try not to make a habit of being tardy anyways" Izuku turns to apologize, not expecting to find himself face to face with a pro hero. Present Mic is his homeroom teacher even though he's only in General Studies. It's so sudden a revelation that it stuns the poor otaku. The licensed professional must notice that his latest student is starstruck because he doesn't seem bothered by Izuku's unresponsiveness, "Why don't you go grab a seat before you're too late for that too?"
Izuku nods, regaining enough motor function to steer his body to a desk in the back. It's not the first impression that he would have liked to make, much less to PRESENT MIC of all people, but he's still super stoked about meeting the pro hero that he doesn't dwell on it. Getting into U.A was worth it afterall, for the sake of simply getting to be around heroes like Mic, or so Izuku personally believes. He just hopes that Katsuki doesn't hold it against him somehow.
Speaking of people holding grudges, it would just have to be Izuku's luck that the only remaining desk is one beside the boy that he ghosted. Well, at least it's nice knowing that Shinso managed to get into the Gen Ed course too. "H- Hey..", Izuku tries to defuse the awkward tension between the two of them with a wave but Shinso doesn't even acknowledge the gesture that he decides to give up and just sit down already.
It's not going to be easy getting through the rest of the semester if every day is going to be like this one. Izuku plants a hand against his forehead, propping it up on one elbow. Already, the boy is mulling over methods to resolve the problem that he's made for himself. He can't come right out and explain his duties as a vigilante got in the way but maybe he can try being transparent with Shinso to a certain extent. It's not like Izuku's had a lot of experience in friendship and how friends are meant to interact with one another, not since Katsuki turned on him, but he knows that friends trust eachother enough to share things and so he knows he should start there if he's going to fix & forge this friendship.
Izuku finds enough resolve to make a vow to himself then and there to fix things as soon as the first period ends. He figures it won't hurt to invite Shinso to lunch so that they can talk, at the very least. He spares a glance at his classmate, seeing that Shinso still hasn't returned a single stare. It might be more difficult than he previously thought… but he doesn't need another Katsuki Bakugo on his case, so it's still worth trying to absolve.
Present Mic gets the attention of him and the class, snapping Izuku out of his angst ridden thoughts. It's pretty easy to listen to the teacher when the teacher has a quirk that amplifies their voice. Mic goes over some syllabus stuff for the semester. There's roll call. First day details to iron out. Then the real schooling starts. Which, proves more boring and difficult than Izuku remembers from Aldera. Learning English as a whole other language is not as fun as it sounds.
But nevertheless, Izuku gets through it somehow. And the time for him to flag down Shinso for their much needed conversation comes. "Hey, Shinso, wait up!" He calls after the brainwashing boy whilst stuffing his textbooks into his backpack. In his scrambled effort to not let Shinso get away from him, Izuku winds up spilling the books all over the floor rather than zipping his bag closed. "Crud.."
As expected, nobody stops to help him. There's only a few quick looks of pity. At least none of them step on his books or hands as they walk by – he figures that'll change when they learn about his quirkless status. Sighing with sorrow and feeling sorry for himself, Izuku bends down to scoop the books into his bag.
"If you're always clumsy like that, then it's no wonder why you were late to class!", Izuku looks up to see none other than Present Mic approaching him from the other side of the room. Izuku diverts his gaze, worried that his opinion of the hero is about to get tarnished since he hasn't had the best of experience with past teachers. But when Mic squats to help Izuku, the boy is delightfully relieved of his concern. "Here, Little Listener, we wouldn't want you being late for your next class too."
Izuku is at a loss for words again, albeit this time for a different reason. He's so emotionally embarrassed that he could cry. Shutting his eyes and shaking his head, he mentally resets himself. "Th- Thank you… S- Sir..", Izuku forces himself to show his appreciation to the hero that helped him in a time of need when others wouldn't.
Which makes Present Mic super happy. Mic smiles, beaming brightly. "He talks!", the Gen Ed Homeroom Teacher stands with Izuku, "I'd love to hear you speak up a bit though! Don't be so shy, kid!" Most would consider the extroverted fellow a bit much, what with his blonde hair styled into a large spiked tuft making him seem arrogant, but Izuku understands that the man is genuinely trying to help in his own way.
"Y- Yes sir!", Izuku forces himself to shout a little. Much to he and Mic's elation, it makes for a good moment between the two to share some smiles.
"That's the spirit!", Present Mic laughs and gives Izuku two thumbs up. Then Mic uses those hands to usher Izuku out the door and into the hall, "Now get a move on! We're trying not to make you late again! Remember?!"
"A- Ah! Right!", Izuku waves behind himself as he jogs down the hall. He catches a glimpse of Mic waving back. For a moment, he thinks that it may not be like Aldera here afterall.
But when he's inevitably late for his second period, his second teacher isn't as forgiving as his first. Cementoss, also a pro hero but with a heart of stone (literally? Izuku plans on researching that later) scolds him for being tardy – and he even gets a pink slip for it! Cementoss makes it clear from the get-go that he's much more of a stickler for the rules. And so Izuku finds himself sulking in a seat beside the ever still unsociable Hitoshi Shinso again.
After English is apparently History. Izuku knows all about the lesson in which the past is doomed to repeat itself thanks to personal experience. But he knows better than to make light of such a joke with how serious Cementoss is. The guy is actually a big block and that's not just his personality. No, literally, he's stone shaped into a humanoid cube. It's interesting considering the man somehow has that stone pulled back into a ponytail behind his head but Izuku doesn't want to risk getting caught doing quirk analysis instead of taking notes that he doesn't linger on that thought.
Instead, Izuku focuses on being ready to actually stop Shinso this time. Or, at the very least, keep up. As soon as class lets out, Izuku chases the other boy out the door and into the hall. "Wait! We need to talk!", he weaves his way through other students of the school and actually requires aid from his spider abilities to be able to do so that he wonders how Shinso is able to do this without a similar quirk.
"I personally think actions speak louder than words", Shinso shoots a stare behind himself back at Izuku. Glaring daggers are surprisingly harder to dodge than real daggers, the look effectively slowing Izuku for a fraction. But Izuku insists of staying a step behind Shinso anyways, still trailing the other boy.
"Look – I know what I did was messed up – but I want to apologize!", Izuku pleas for Shinso to stop but the pace only gets picked up, "All I'm asking for is a chance to explain myself!" The two weave their way around a corner opposite to the direction of the cafeteria. "This isn't towards the mess hall?", Izuku wonders aloud why Shinso steered them this way.
He gets his answer, "Because I'm not interested in eating with you", Shinso shows no restraint in trying to shake Izuku off his trail when he makes another sharp turn. Where they're going, Izuku has no idea and he's pretty sure neither does Shinso, but it's evident that they're bound to become lost at this rate. "Just leave me alone", Shinso says.
"Not until you hear me out first", Izuku hurries to catch up before the chase gets too out of hand. But as he draws nearer to Shinso, he receives a sudden spike of his Spider-Sense.
He half expects that his body will instinctively pull him away from a punch. If Shinso is annoyed enough, that shouldn't be too far fetched. Surprisingly, instead, Izuku finds himself flying towards Shinso rather than away. When he turns his head to the left, he sees why. "Look out!", Izuku tackles and throws Shinso along with himself out of the way of a giant steel door.
Smoke surrounds the two boys, making them cough when they try to catch their breath. Having more experience with recovering from explosions, Izuku gets on his feet first. He worries that a villain may have followed him to U.A, somehow having discovered his secret identity as Spider-Man. Except, his Spider-Sense has stopped signaling him to any signs of danger. Which means this explosion came from U.A itself somehow… ?
"Hatsume! That's the tenth time today!", an angry shout comes from within the smoke shrouded frame of a missing doorway. But when the smoke starts to clear, it becomes clear as well as to what happened and why somebody is shouting. Izuku and Shinso stumbled upon the Support Studio where a gadget must have malfunctioned and exploded. "You're banned from working here until further notice!", the same shout continues and confirms Izuku's observation.
"Hmph! Fine, but you can't stop me from working elsewhere!" A girl with pink dreadlocks comes storming out, just about as mad as the voice shouting at her sounded. She must be Hatsume, Izuku figures. And she doesn't seem to notice or care to notice that her accident nearly crushed him or Shinso, brushing by the boys without sparing a single glance in their direction.
"No, I'll let that be another hero's job", the voice arguing with Hatsume draws closer that it no longer needs to shout anymore. And the owner of the voice is revealed to be another pro hero that Izuku as a hero otaku recognizes immediately. Power Loader as the teacher of the Support Department makes so much sense and also explains the Entrance Exam robots. Even now the man is in his bright yellow excavation power suit, making it easier to recognize him. Power Loader asks, "You boys alright?", when noticing Shinso and Izuku.
"Y- Yeah..", Izuku dusts himself off alongside Shinso. The two share a quickly exchanged glance at one another.
"You two shouldn't loiter around the studio", Power Loader shoos them away from an otherwise unsafe environment, "It can get a bit dicey with or without protective gear like my own, as you saw firsthand."
"We were just passing by", Shinso steps in with an explanation for himself and Izuku before heading back the way that they came, "Sorry for the intrusion."
And it seems to be more than enough for Power Loader since the man allows them to walk away without asking anything else. Izuku falls in pace alongside Shinso, grateful that it's an ordinary speed compared to previously. And now that they're heading for the cafeteria, it's also nice to have an idea of where they're at.
"I owe you for pushing me aside back there so I'll give you five minutes", Shinso speaks without bothering to look at the person that he's addressing. Not until they reach the mess hall, which is when and where he whirls on Izuku to look him in the eyes, "Five minutes only. Understood?"
Izuku swallows a lump in his throat, opting for a nod to answer with, for fear of accidentally starting the timer on those five minutes. When he sees Shinso still waiting on him, he ultimately caves and gives a verbal response. He promises, "Five minutes is all I need", hoping that it's a promise that he can keep.
The two of them separate to grab their food before reconjoining at a table. And it's then that the official five minutes start. Izuku pushes his lunch aside, not wanting to waste any of the time given to him on chewing or drinking. Shinso is super focused as well, not touching his meal either.
"The truth is…", Izuku pauses when he feels his mouth go dry; he now wishes that he had stopped to take a sip of his drink, "I had to take pictures.."
"Pictures?", Shinso gives Izuku a skeptical stare. It prompts Izuku to elaborate.
"For Juko News", Izuku pulls out his phone to pull up an article on their site, "There was a villain attack and I wound up – uh – having to stick around.." He hands his cellular over to Shinso when finding a story that uses some of his shots.
Shinso browses and scrolls a bit before handing the phone back. He still doesn't seem all that convinced by the explanation if his expression is anything to go by. "So you forgot about me or you chose to do this instead?", there's an accusatory tone in there that makes Izuku flinch a little.
"I…", Izuku doesn't have an answer for that. "Look.. I'm gonna level with you", but he does have what he believes to be a good reason otherwise for his cover story that isn't exactly a lie, "My family really needs the money right now. It's just me and my mom and I want to help support her with the bills as much as I can ever since my dad died."
Hearing that, Shinso's stern expression drops completely. "Oh..", he breaks eye contact by turning his head away; ashamed, he apologetically bows his head and says, "I'm sorry.."
"It's okay", Izuku waves his hand for Shinso to stop bowing, "You didn't know" He didn't mean to guilt trip the guy and now he too feels bad about it.
Shinso shifts in his seat. Suddenly, there's an awkward silence between them. Shinso starts eating. Izuku takes that as a sign that he probably should too. It's not much of a help for them to be chewing and drinking across from one another without talking to change the mood of the moment. So, eventually Shinso sighs and shoves his meal aside so that he can address it.
"Alright, I'll let you off the hook this time" Shinso gestures toward the phone on the table and adds, "Just text me and let me know you aren't coming next time."
Izuku is so relieved by his friend's forgiveness that he can't help but smile. "Thank you", he shyly stirs the straw sticking out of his cup while admitting, "I'm still not used to this whole 'friendship' thing yet that I don't really know how it fully works.."
Shinso lets out a huff of a laugh. "You're preaching to the choir…", and he can't help but smile somewhat too.
"I dunno about singing or preaching but I promise not to leave you hanging again", Izuku pauses to take a bite from his bento box before adding, "Even if it means missing out on snagging shots of Spider-Man."
"Wait – You're the dude that takes pictures of Spider-Man?" Izuku jumps in his seat when his Spider-Sense doesn't warn him of somebody sneaking up behind him. He internally curses the selective timing of the power when he turns around and sees that the person is also a GIRL. And not just any girl, but the one he so happened to save from Dabi just a few days ago. She's as cute as she was then, even more so now that she's cleaned up and shyly tucking an ear jack behind one of her ears like a stray strand of hair. "Did you ever get to meet him? I mean… What's he like?", Izuku's eyes are drawn to the girl's lips as she asks him questions that he has a hard time registering any answers for.
"Yeah! Is he as freaky as they say?!", Izuku snaps out of his daze when he realizes that there are in fact MORE THAN ONE girl crowding around him; the one who wants to know if Spider-Man is freaky has a pink shade of skin that makes her stand out as much as her extroverted personality does.
"He definitely looks freaky", a floating girl's uniform is just as vocal and energetic if the swishing of the suspended skirt is anything to go by. The invisible girl and the pink girl damper Izuku's mood a bit over being flocked by them since they're inadvertently calling HIM freaky.
But he's perked back up when his supporter of the bunch chimes back in to defend his alter ego's honor, "He's not freaky!" The girl who had seemed so reserved and introverted earlier shocks them all with her outburst, even herself if her recoil is anything to go by. She returns to her shy state and quietly adds, "He's – He's – Heroic.."
The pink girl grows a mischievous grin while sing songingly saying, "Does somebody have a celebrity crush~ ?", and begins hanging off of the ear jack girl. She's joined by her invisible partner, the two tag teaming their teasing.
"No! No! I mean–", the ear jack girl is reduced to a stammering mess that has to cover her blushing face with her hands to hide her shame. Unbeknownst to her or the girl's friends, Izuku is blushing too at the mention of her potential crush on Spider-Man.
But Shinso notices. He rolls his eyes, not knowing about his friend's alter ego but knowing from the short time that he's shared with Izuku that the boy isn't used to receiving such attention. Already fed up with the girl's roudiness, he interjects with a feigned cough to gain their attention. "If you don't mind..", he drawls and gestures to the food on the table, "We're busy trying to eat here."
"Oh! S- Sorry for the intrusion!", the ear jack girl is quick to apologize on behalf of herself and her friends. Though her friends don't appear all that apologetic themselves, or so anyone could imagine the invisible girl shares a pout similar to that of the pink girl's expression.
Before Izuku can alleviate the situation, somebody somehow manages to escalate it. "Don't mind them", he's shocked to see that the person is none other than Itsuka; Izuku is starting to understand just how small a world it is that he lives on, "They're jerks not worth talking to" Izuku winces when Itsuka directs that statement towards him with her stare.
Whatever the odds are that all these girls would share the Hero Course together is just his kind of luck. His father had always called it the 'Midoriya Misfortune', and while his mom took to denying such a thing, Izuku is starting to believe in the superstition. Shinso glares right back at them, not really helping matters. But whether it's for the best or the worst, any further development in their confrontation is cut short by Itsuka dragging the girls away from conflict.
"WE'RE the jerks not worth talking to?", Shinso scoffs at the receding backs of the Hero Course girls. He's acting like he was the one that got personally insulted. For all Shinso knows, Izuku figures that would be the obvious conclusion without context. So he turns back towards his friend and decides to clear up the confusion.
"She and I have a… short history…", he realizes that explanation is rather ambiguous when Shinso blinks at him with raised eyebrows and elaborates, "Uh – I kinda ghosted her…"
Izuku isn't sure what kind of reaction he was expecting to receive, but it certainly wasn't Shinso bursting out in laughter. Shinso wipes at his eyebags like he's drying tears, "I guess it's not a thing to be taken personally with you, huh?"
"Hey! It's not like I did it on purpose!", Izuku responds a little too defensively but Shinso doesn't seem to take it the wrong way if his continued laughter is to provide any sort of clarity.
"If it were anyone other than you saying that..", Shinso smirks and shakes his head, "I don't know how it's possible to pull off but I believe you."
Izuku opens his mouth to retort but relents and huffs out a laugh instead. "Thanks", he stops to think about whether or not it's a compliment that he was given before adding, "I guess?"
"Don't mention it", Shinso returns to polishing off the last of his meal when he sees his friend lost in thought. It makes for a good show to go along with his lunch.
But Izuku's phone chiming with a notification cuts the entertainment short. Izuku takes a glance at the screen to see his Hero Feed app blowing up with news relating to spider themed robots terrorizing the city. Izuku does a doubletake. He has to grab his phone and get a closer look to make sure he's seeing things right. And unfortunately, he is. Robots designed to scuttle around on eight tripoded legs were caught on camera causing property damage. And, of course, the media is taking to blaming Spider-Man for the spider themed destructors.
"I- I, uh… I need to go..", Izuku starts to subconsciously stand up despite still thumbing through the Hero Feed reports. He's unaware of Shinso doing the same across from him, albeit the other boy wearing a confused expression.
Shinso sees the strange state Izuku is in and immediately questions it, "What? What's going on?"
"Um..", Izuku shoves his phone in his pocket as he prepares an excuse to use. When he lifts his head up and meets Shinso's eyes though … he just can't do it. He has a hard time lying to his friend that he just repaired that friendship with over having told lies before. "It's a Spider-Man thing–", but he realizes he can't tell the truth either as soon as the words leave his mouth, "-I mean I need to go take pictures of a Spider-Man thing."
Shinso slowly sits back down, processing that reason for Izuku's abrupt departure. Oddly enough, he isn't mad; he's just confused. "Right now? You'll never make it back in time for class", nevermind the personal argument he could make about their friendship and the promise that was LITERALLY just made about this when the bell for their next period rings as though on cue.
Izuku's facial expression twists & screws when he hears Shinso's statement backed by the bell, as though he himself hadn't considered this a problem until having it pointed out. "Cover for me?", he begs his buddy more-so than asks him to find a solution for his absence.
Whether or not Shinso is willing to agree to that request remains to be known, since he's still too shocked by Izuku's desire to run out already. "You really need money that bad?!", Shinso stands up as he shouts with an open mouth of surprise.
Izuku begins backing away, answering that question before actually answering it. "You're really gonna ask me that with how much U.A's tuition costs?!", Izuku then turns and runs the rest of the way out.
Left alone at the table and stunned, all Shinso can say in response to that is, "Touche…"
Suited up and swinging, the resident vigilante of Musutafu takes to clinging next – clinging to the smooth windowless face of a private garage based across from U.A – and then promptly climbs up to sit on its corner ledge. From there, in a poised position that would strain an ordinary person's knees until they buckle, the red and blue figure fishes out his phone from the waistband of his colorful suit.
The Hero Feed app requires some refreshing to generate new articles and postings, but it's full of live reports and instantaneous updates; with enough tech savvy, it'll be easy to figure out a trail or a pattern in terms of locating the spider robots. Izuku scrolls past information on Hawks' trial, some blind big shot American lawyer flew out to defend the hero in court, the Vulture scandal still getting plenty of coverage; while interesting to keep up with, it's not what he needs to be reading about right now.
Izuku tugs at an uneven fold in his mask that started making his face itch. He's starting to get anxious. Thumbing through updates on these robots with other articles appearing in between can make the work a little tedious. As the elders of Japan would say about his generation though, they're handy with the internet. Izuku eventually figures out what areas and hot spots make for the warpath of the spider robots. It's an expensive district that Izuku is certain there must be some bigger scheme revolving around making money.
Spider-Man stops scrolling and stuffs the cellphone back into the waistline of his suit. He'll need both hands available to swing faster if he's to make it in time for the robots not to flee the scene. And so, Spider-Man dives into a somersaulted swing. His body careens and his web line carries him into the city. The vigilante flips forward, fires another strand of webbing, and takes a turn around a building.
It makes for a good mode of transportation aside from the train. It's especially better than sitting in traffic. Which is likely due to those cars getting into way too many wrecks. Down the street from which Spider-Man swings, a truck tumbles across the road end over end. It bounces along like a child's Hot Wheels toy that's been tossed aside. The vehicle knocks over a fire hydrant, sending a geyser of water into the air, and then crashes through the front window of a bookstore.
If property damage is the goal here, then the spider robots are doing a mighty good job. Spider-Man lets loose the hold that he has on his current web line and doesn't bother spinning a new one. It's his drop into the scene that he plans on using as an opening attack. While certainly not being able to make heavyweight, the impact from his fall will be enough to bring one of the bots down; or so he hopes, if the machines are anything like what he fought at U.A with Eraserhead.
Spider-Man stomps the spider robot responsible for chucking that truck earlier. It caves, crushed down by the pressure of his landing; each of the mechanism's legs snap off as it loses its structural integrity. That's one down. Spider-Man raises his head to get a good look at what else he'll be dealing with. Three more to go. Each of the robots are similarly designed as the damaged one.
"Do I waste my good quips on you guys or is it not worth it since you aren't human?", Spider-Man feigns worry with a stroke of his nonexistent beard. But if he is to be concerned about anything, it certainly isn't that. Rather, he worries about what these robots are capable of should they not be remote piloted by a person.
The trio of spider slayers advance on the vigilante, forcing him to maneuver himself away from them. Having restocked and refueled his webbing, Spider-Man is able to keep his distance while still fighting back; he releases a good glob of the sticky stuff to coat them in a cocoon. His experience with fighting U.A's Entrance Exam robots reminds him of how useful it is to stall their rotors with webbing. It slows the spider slayers down, at the very least.
Spider-Man slides under the belly of the nearest one. From there, he punches into its gut. Wired intestines spill out, sparking somewhat as they get torn free from the machine's insides. Compromised of what makes its system run, the robot sways and staggers with its steps before toppling over. Spider-Man kicks off of it to go for the other two next.
His Spider-Sense sends a warning. That's the only reason that he's able to duck under a swing from one of the spider slaying machines' leg spears. All of the other limbs tear free of Spider-Man's webbing and the robot pivots. Its partner does the same. Spider-Man does an aerial backflip to clear the distance between himself and the ceiling. From above, the robots can't wallop him with their metallic limbs.
Until, the spider slayers steal his shtick and start climbing the walls too. "Hey! I'll sue!", Spider-Man halfheartedly swears. He has to survive this battle first if he ever wants to try though. The vigilante scurries out of reach as the machines chase him on the ceiling.
Turned upside down, he imagines the robot's programming requires a more intense processing speed; with luck, that leaves room for error. Spider-Man suspends himself upright to get under one of the spider slayers, which is on the thing's back from such an angle. Breaking the body rather than the belly still releases a spray of slickened oil. It twitches and falls free from the ceiling, bleeding out a black fluid.
That only leaves one remaining. Except, Spider-Man has learned from previous encounters not to destroy it just yet. If he had followed Screwball's drones back to her base all the way when they first tussled, maybe she wouldn't have had the chance to become La Brava. But then again, that was before he developed his trusty Spider Tracers. Since they already had their field test up against Vulture, Spider-Man relies on them again now. He chucks the small tracking device at the remaining robot.
It doesn't notice, too transfixed on its opponent and lacking a human mind to comprehend anything other than its current directive. Which means that while Spidey accomplished his goal, he now has another problem, which is somehow getting it to run back to its inventor rather than sticking around to keep fighting. Regrettably, the only solution Spider-Man can think of is to take a fall this time around.
Spider-Man allows himself to get smacked by one of the robot's legs. It certainly doesn't pull its punches. He gets knocked into a wall; brick buries the vigilante. Presumably, that means the spider slayer won. The robot turns and leaves. But just because it won the battle, that doesn't mean it won the war. Spider-Man climbs out of the wreckage a moment later, still alive.
"Alright, Sparky, take me to your leader!" The vigilante follows closely behind, already putting his plan with his tracer to the test.
After battling the likes of Mysterio, Spider-Man expected to be led to an abandoned warehouse again per the usual villain hideout status quo. An industrial plant is close enough. And judging by the means of which the spider slayer enters the property, the owner of the place either rents cheap or not at all. The robot crawls through an already torn into metallic fencing, followed by its pursuer. Within a narrow peninsula of land is a brick building supported by landfill.
Spider-Man separates from following his mechanical mascot for a moment, opting to find a different point of entry in order to remain stealthy. He crawls up the wall while searching for an unboarded window. When he does locate a way in, he goes about it very cautiously. Even though his Spider-Sense hasn't alerted him to any trouble, he knows it's only a matter of time.
Especially when he ventures into the building to get up close and personal. In doing so, he discovers mechanical parts no doubt intended to be constructed into more spider slayers. As a matter of fact, there's a reason the robots seemed so familiar. Spider-Man lowers himself down to see that the dismembered parts come from U.A's Entrance Exam faux villains. They're being rebuilt, reprogrammed, and repurposed.
Spider-Man hears something distant and ducks down behind a crate containing machinery. It sounded strangely like a woman's voice. No. Not an adult. A girl's voice. He thinks back to his close call with Shinso earlier; Hatsume stormed off with a temper and a motive while having access to these spare robot parts, he thinks. Maybe there's a connection there. He figures there's no point in waiting around to find out.
Spider-Man hops up to the walls again, taking to his usual vantage point tactics. And it's there that he sees the source of who spoke. As he thought, it appears to be a girl. She's seated in some sort of hover chair while she tinkers at a table. And on that work station alongside widgets and tech is a cellphone. She's talking to someone.
"There's no way it can lead back to us", the suspicious girl speaks assuredly to whoever is on the other side of the phone, "Don't worry. We won't get caught."
While he could and probably should stick around to hear more, Spidey can't help himself. "Are you sure about that?", he announces himself while dropping down to let the girl know that she's been caught red handed.
"Huh?! Spider-Man?!", she spins herself around in her hover chair to face him. And she's not Hatsume. But she IS someone that Izuku recognizes and remembers. She's the brunette girl that he bumped into at the Entrance Exam.
"And you must be the little Tinkerer that went about framing me as of late", Spider-Man plays it cool and acts like he doesn't know her since she wouldn't know otherwise; plus, he still needs to know what the motive of a prospective U.A student would be in such a situation.
"Sorry", she apologizes and the apology sounds sincere, "That was … an occupational hazard.." She taps her cellphone to hang up the call with whoever she was talking to before refocusing on the vigilante. "I needed to divert attention from myself and what I was doing, and you were the most recently obvious option to go with…" Her explanation thus far still isn't very assuring though.
"And what exactly is it that you're doing? Who were you talking to?", Spider-Man continues prying for answers. He doesn't want to spring into action without getting all the facts first. Even with whatever lingering doubts or concerns that he may have.
The tinkerer hesitates, uncertainty flashing across her face as she glances back at her phone. "I wouldn't expect you to understand", she then taps at what appears to be a hidden keyboard on the armrest of her hover hair before apologizing again, "Sorry."
"Oh, brother…" Spider-Man already knows that whatever she did isn't good, his Spider-Sense saying so. And he and his sense is right. She must have reactivated the spider slayer that he was following, the robot scuttling towards them to intervene.
It puts itself between its creator and Spider-Man. Not that one robot will be enough to do anything as opposed to the group of them that he fought earlier. Spider-Man kicks one of its legs out before using another as a brace to pull himself up onto its backside. As he did with the others, he punches it inward until it breaks down. It's as fragile as it was originally. No matter the rematches, that's robots zero and Spidey still victorious.
"Wanna try that again?", Spider-Man turns around to face the girl again; before she can hit anything else on her keyboard and hover away, he spins a glob of webbing over the small console and hops aboard.
"I still have my quirk, Spider-Man" She's close enough to him now to reach out and touch his arm. And it's then that he remembers more about her. The way that they had met was by her removing his gravity to keep him from tripping. Their reunion though, is her taking away his gravity to make him trip up.
"I hope you don't get air sick like I do!", but he's able to bring her along by keeping himself adhered to her hovercraft. His feet stay firmly planted to the special chair so that his floating takes her along for the ride.
"Now that you mention it..", the girl's face gets a little green as her already chubby cheeks blow up even bigger. She's holding back from puking. And until she releases her quirk's hold on them, she stays sick like that.
"Now that we've got that out of our system… Wanna finally explain all of this to me?", Spider-Man crosses his arms over his chest when he sees that the girl has essentially tuckered herself out.
She nods, albeit still reluctant about doing so. Though she must realize she doesn't have much of any other choice and relents. "I did it for my parents.. They were who I was talking to on the phone..", she solemnly starts.
Noticing her pause, Spider-Man tries to help her along. He guesses, "They put you up to this?"
"No!", but she's quick to correct him on that assumption, "No.. They actually.. They weren't all that keen about this.. Know that it was all my idea and none of it REALLY their fault.."
"Okay..", Spider-Man nods along while probing her for more information.
"They work in construction. I figured if I used these old U.A bots to demolish expensive districts that they'd be able to pick up more work. You see… They're very poor and.. I just wanted to help them", the girl blinks back tears that have begun to stream down her chubby cheeks.
Anybody else would have probably left it at that and convicted her a criminal. But having met her before, Izuku knows that there's more to this story. She wasn't in a motorized wheelchair before. Not at the Entrance Exam. Plus there's the matter of how she managed to get ahold of the spare U.A bot parts to pull this whole scheme off.
"They could afford this though?", Spider-Man raps on the hovercraft with his knuckles to prompt another explanation from the girl. And it works.
"No", she shakes her head and reveals, "This was a … 'consolation gift' from U.A.." Spider-Man must convey some sort of shock through his mask since she doesn't waste time on continuing her expositional dump like she was earlier, "I partook in their Entrance Exam for the Hero Course – I thought I could make money as a hero to support my parents – but one of the robots from the exam malfunctioned and.." She sniffles as she looks down at herself in the hovercraft.
Spider-Man realizes that she must have been severely injured during the exam thanks to Electro's tampering. If she was paralyzed from the waist down somehow then it's no wonder why she would give up her dream of becoming a hero. "What did they do about it?", Spider-Man breathlessly asks one of many questions on his mind about the matter.
The girl looks down. Spider-Man follows her gaze. The hover chair that she's sitting in is the answer. Or, at least a part of it. The brunette shrugs, "They compensated me and my family a little … in return, we signed an NDA to keep U.A's mistake off the record.." She looks into the white eye lenses of the vigilante's mask, "They said it would ruin the reputation of heroes and ultimately disrupt society that it would be too great a risk to share publicly."
First Hawks as The Vulture for the HPSC and now U.A. Spider-Man starts to wonder if All Might ever did anything scandalous that got covered up. He shakes his head, clearing that thought out; he decides there and then that there's no way EVERY hero is like that, least of all All Might. But then again… U.A let Katsuki Bakugo into their school and the things he has done as a bully are… That inkling of doubt makes Spider-Man sulk. He doesn't know who to trust anymore. Even the underground hero that he's teamed up with is supposed to catch and arrest him.
"For a while, that was okay… We made peace with it and we made our dues.." The paralyzed girl continues her story; Spider-Man goes back to listening when she shares what led to her becoming a 'villain'. "But then I saw you, a vigilante, and I got to questioning the whole system – if anybody knows better, then it should be you how flawed and corrupt it is that sometimes we need to do things outside the law – so I went into mechanical engineering through my parent's company to get ahold of what was scrapped by U.A at the Entrance Exam and redesigned their robots to be based on you."
Hearing that he himself had a part to play in this only brings Spider-Man's mood down even further. He had hoped to inspire people, but it wasn't his intention to inspire them THIS way. He feels responsible for this whole turn of events as much as U.A should. He tries wrapping his head around how this girl could have gone down such a path, "You were going to be a hero.. You should have known better than to wreak havoc–"
"The robots were never going to hurt anybody! I activated the U.A failsafe chip in them and set their prerogative to only destroy buildings! I swear it was never meant to cause any harm!", the girl is quick to try and justify her actions but Spider-Man stays unconvinced.
"I'm sorry but I can't let you go after this", he uses a web line to snatch and yank the girl's phone to his hand before passing it to her, "You might want to call your parents back and tell them."
The girl looks like she's about to continue protesting, tears welling up in her eyes until they stream down her cheeks, but she winds up surrendering peacefully. Remorseful for her actions, she nods and accepts Spider-Man's offer to at least speak with her parents before being taken into custody.
Returning to school when classes for the day are already over might not have been the best idea. Izuku finds himself being escorted to the principal's office. Not even Shinso's cover story that he 'got terrible diarrhea' from the cafeteria food was able to spare him the remedial trip apparently. Probably because the staff checked the restrooms and didn't find him there. Plus it's hard to believe the pro hero Lunch Rush's cooking could cause stomach problems. Izuku can't be too mad at Shinso though since his friend DID at least try.
He expects expulsion. And that's somehow only the least of his worries once his mother finds out. Izuku's double life was bound to cause problems with his schooling, he had figured as much, but he hadn't imagined that it would come to such a tipping point already on his first day. He sighs. He drags his feet. He sulks. Typical teenage angst. Hound Dog, the pro hero school staff escorting him, must see and deal with it enough to not be phased by it.
After hearing Ochaco Uraraka's story (he had later learned during her arrest that this is The Tinkerer's real name) there's a small part of the boy's brain that tells him this is for the best. He doesn't want to be associated with U.A if it's in any way shady as she said. There's always hero schools like Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu that he can try applying to instead. He'd be able to avoid any further encounters with Katsuki or Itsuka as well. Though, he would have liked to try clearing things up with the latter half.
Hound Dog stops and holds the door open for Izuku once they reach their destination. After some courteous thanks and bows, he's let into the principal's office. Izuku walks in with his eyes closed as he takes a deep breath. He prepares himself for the worst. Once he exhales, he reopens his eyes. He expects to find an expulsion letter in front of him. What he finds instead is a police badge.
Izuku stops short. A police detective stands idly by to greet him. Suddenly, he starts to reconsider the reason for why he was brought here. He worries that they may have deduced something about his secret identity. Then again, his Spider-Sense hasn't triggered or warned him of anything that would make this feel like a trap. He has to do something very difficult after his recent revelation from Uraraka; he has to trust U.A's intentions.
Across the way, separated by a desk, is the hero school's principal. It's not a shock to anyone versed with hero media like Izuku, but it is surreal to see firsthand; the tall tales are true that the head of U.A is not human but indeed some sort of animal with human intelligence. It's half the height of Izuku and what part of it isn't covered by a business suit is covered in white fur. Izuku's eyes stare into beady black eyes, one of which is glossy from an old injury that has scarred over.
"How nice of you to join us, Mister Midoriya!" The critter carries a cheerful chirp to its voice as it gestures with its paws to a set of lounge chairs, "Please! You and Detective Naomasa should sit down."
Izuku glances over at the detective he has yet to have a formal introduction with, but obliges anyways. Naomasa does the same, but with a slight smile. "I'm sure you have questions as to why I'm here – funnily enough, it's because I have a few questions for you too", Naomasa crosses one leg over the other as he gets comfortable.
Izuku swallows his initial retort, thinking better of himself to say anything rash. "Oh? Am I in trouble for something?", he instead chooses to continue acting oblivious.
"Not necessarily", the detective keeps his answer vague.
U.A's principal, on the other hand, chimes in with a different response. "Likely not with Detective Naomasa. As for being late to two and then skipping the remainder of your classes…", Izuku nervously wriggles in his seat as he prepares to be reprimanded as initially expected, "Well.. That can wait. Or, perhaps, we shall manage to kill two birds with one stone."
Izuku has his expectations subverted once again. In his confusion, he only gets further confused. Especially when the principal chuckles as though just telling a joke and the detective groans. It makes a little more sense when Naomasa elaborates a little, "I'm here in partial regard to The Vulture case with Hawks."
"Hawks? What do I have to do with that?", Izuku avoids making eye contact with either of the two when his reason for thinking this might actually have something to do with Spider-Man becomes a little more justified.
Naomasa uncrosses his legs in order to lean forward a little. "Well, it's public information that you take pictures for Juko News – most notably, pictures of Spider-Man – and Spider-Man is notoriously known for being apart of the case pertaining to Hawks", Izuku bites his bottom lip to keep from blurting anything out that he might regret as he listens to what led the detective to him, "While the photojournalist who broke the story behind Hawks denies your involvement… It's all but confirmed by his checkbook and my quirk that there's more going on there."
Izuku stiffens up at the mention of the detective's quirk; there's no telling what it is or how it can confirm or deny Tokuda's telling of events, but there's a good likelihood that it will work on him too. "I'm not sure what to say", he tries not to give away too much while still feigning innocence, "It's a sensitive matter that requires anonymity amongst the staff and I need to honor that even if I am a freelancer."
Naomasa hums, as though actually taking that line of reasoning into consideration. But when he asks, "Did you sign an NDA?", it's clear that he like U.A knows what limits the law bends before breaking apparently.
"..Y-", Izuku notices the detective's facial expression subtly shifting, "-yyyyyeess?" He knows while dragging it out that he gave the wrong answer.
Naomasa sighs. He shares a look with the principal who has quietly been observing with its paws clasped together. "Okay, Midoriya" The detective returns his focus to Izuku and delivers spine shivering news to the boy, "I suppose I should tell you that my quirk is a form of lie detection. I know what you told me just now was a lie."
Izuku has to clench his jaw to keep it from going slack. The last thing he wants to do right now is react to that information more than he probably already has. While he'd ordinarily be super enthused about the detective's quirk, he knows now is not the best time to geek out either. He has to do his best to continue playing it cool.
"Not to worry though", Naomasa placates some of the boy's concerns by saying, "I don't really care whether or not you signed an NDA or why you lied about it" Though there's still plenty of concerns left to have as he adds, "That was just a precursor for the fact that you tend to put yourself into dangerous situations in order to get these pictures; all of them relating somehow to Spider-Man."
Izuku carefully considers his response. He doesn't know whether or not the detective's quirk only registers yes or no questions or what other type of technicalities he may be able to scrape by on. So he tries to test his theory on it, even now in the midst of potentially getting caught, unable to avoid doing quirk analysis on some scale; he answers, "I guess I'm just lucky."
"Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and the rest…" But Naomasa doesn't need to rely on his quirk to pull the truth out of somebody, not when he's been working in the line of law enforcement for years. "I'm sure you know that vigilantism is illegal. It's part of my job to bring Spider-Man into custody. If you happen to know him on a personal level, then I'm going to need you to comply with me on this."
Izuku shifts in his seat, struggling to decide on whether he should get comfortable or attempt to bolt out of the room. He figures a good course of action is to answer questions with questions when actual answers are only a no-win situation, "What makes you think I would know him like that?"
"For starters, we know Spider-Man is around the same age as you are" Izuku knows he shouldn't be shocked by that response, especially since Eraserhead likely reports back to whoever, but he's still shaken somewhat to know the police are gradually narrowing down their search to his age. "Secondly, that's the most plausible explanation I can come up with as to how you manage to get an inside scoop every single time Spider-Man shows up somewhere."
"Imagine my surprise when I discovered Spider-Man's personal photographer attends my school", the principal makes Izuku jump with a sudden interjection, "I'm just giddy about it!"
"I wouldn't say I'm his personal photographer or anything…" Izuku tries denying their claims but knows better than to lie about it either. "I'm telling you, I just have a natural knack for being a magnet to villains" That isn't necessarily a lie. Happening across Electro is a perfect example.
"You're what Aizawa would call a problem child", the principal flashes a set of sharp canines when it grins, "It's a shame that you aren't in the Hero Course with him as your teacher."
Hearing that is Izuku's last straw. "Don't you know? I'm quirkless", he can't help but let some of his annoyance from this confrontational conversation ooze into his tone.
"Of course", but the principal remains unphased and ever so constantly cheerful.
"That's the only reason I'd be led to believe your reasoning", Naomasa reinserts himself into what was originally his interrogation to begin with. No longer content with allowing this to go on as it is, he sums up the situation. "Let me get this straight for you… Because you're quirkless and can't be a hero, you thought you'd better use your problem with getting drawn towards villains as a solution by becoming a photographer of them", he skewers his stare at the boy.
Izuku narrows his eyes too, returning the look, "You said it. Not me."
Naomasa picks up on the kid's attitude. Having had enough of it, he gets straight to the point. He asks a question that leaves no room for error, "When you left U.A during your lunch period, you went to sell shots of the spider robots causing chaos downtown, didn't you?"
"No need to answer what we already know, Young Midoriya" But the principal interjects once again. The critter's calm mannerisms are intended to dissolve any tension in the room, though it is still an animal and can sometimes unintentionally drudge up the wrong human emotions; Naomasa glares at the creature for interrupting him. "I'm sure we'll be seeing fine angles of the action in tomorrow's paper, Detective" But again, the principal is unphased by any signs of anger or resentment.
"I'm sure we will..", Naomasa grumbles under his breath as he relents to knowing that fact is more than enough to answer the question later. But he's still not done with Izuku Midoriya just yet. He asks a series of questions to try and get more out of the boy, "And that's all you got out of it? Pictures at a distance? Nothing more, nothing less?"
"Um..", Izuku knows that he's screwed if he answers that question this way but he does it anyways, "Yeah."
Naomasa stares at Izuku. The two of them know already the answer but the detective asks anyways, "Are you lying to me, Midoriya?"
Izuku has no choice but to say, "..Yes"
The detective's face softens. Maybe it's because Izuku finally told the truth. Maybe it's because Izuku is just a kid. Either way, Naomasa eases up a bit. He asks, "Do you have to?"
Izuku thinks about Uraraka and how even though he didn't sign anything that she did and how that could affect her. He feels it's the truth when he responds with, "Yes."
Naomasa nods, and then stands. "I understand", he sighs before offering a small smile, "You can't blame a detective for following a lead, can you?"
Izuku smiles in return. "No hard feelings, sir."
"Glad to hear it", Naomasa digs into his coat pocket to produce a business card, "If there's anything you ever want to share with me more that you might feel more comfortable about sharing later… Well…"
Izuku takes the card, sparing a quick glance at the contact info inscribed on it. "Thanks", it goes into his pants pocket, "I'll keep that in mind."
And with that, Naomasa grabs what must be his fedora from a hanging rack, tips the hat to both Izuku and U.A's principal, and then exits. Izuku is left alone with the creature that called him there. Its name is scrolled across a toblerone plate, the kanji reading 'Principal Nezu'.
Nezu claps its paws together. "Well, now that I know what you prioritized over your classes, I suppose that resolves that!"
"It does?", Izuku must admit to being baffled since he had been fully anticipating some sort of punishment.
"For now", but Nezu's ominous reply is punishment enough. "All that I ask in return is that if you do happen to know anything more about the spider robots and what occurred today, that you kindly share that information with me before it makes any headlines" Izuku stares into the abyss that is the creature's black beady eyes; he doesn't dare to blink.
"Don't worry.. There's nothing you don't already know yourself that won't make for a headline", Izuku clenches his hands into fists at his sides under the principal's desk where Nezu can't see.
"Splendid", Nezu produces a cup of tea from seemingly nowhere to sip on; Izuku pauses to imagine that must be what it's like for people when he does the same with his notebooks. But his mind quickly returns to U.A's principal when he hears the creature continue talking, "Next time that you wish to dismiss your classes for other duties though, please try to be more considerate and communicative."
Izuku nods in response. He can come to a temporary compromise if it means eventually exposing U.A the same way that he did to Hawks and The Commission. Sometimes it takes doing things from the inside and being patient. He doesn't know if he can trust Eraserhead, but he imagines the underground hero would agree with that sentiment.
Nezu reveals its pointed set of teeth when it grins again while saying, "We wouldn't want any more misunderstandings…"
AUTHOR NOTES
I've returned, and with my return also the return of longer chapters! The premise for this one and making Uraraka a cross between Alistair Smythe & Tinkerer to build the Spider Slayers was something I wrestled with since it wasn't as seamless a character meshing as some of the others I came up with, but it made sense in essence through motivation of how she'd become handicapped to a wheelchair and use the Slayers for her parent's business; I also wanted to use Hatsume as a red herring considering she'd be a more logical choice considering her background in mechanics. Otherwise, it was also a big chapter to introduce U.A as an implementation into the story for you all to get an idea of how it'll affect things going forward. I'm interested in the feedback since I can imagine it getting mixed responses but hopefully you're all vibing with it on a more positive note.
Carrying on the topic of Deadpool's inclusion into the story, I appreciate a Guest's shared opinion and with that am leaning more towards making the merc with the mouth another character meshing rather than crossing over. So, you may or may not see a future chapter introducing that dynamic into the fold as well.
Until next time, True Believers!
-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!