Spider-Man springs from his spot on a column to a matching support beam opposing his prior placement, one hand carrying his cellphone and the other hand holding onto a skull shaped helmet. Below him, black robed individuals with similarly designed masks reach for his flying form. They surround a pedestal that's been decorated to be more like a sacrificial offering table, from which the vigilante thwarted exactly that type of usage; a young girl who's quirk gives her a horse snout and hooves for hands flees from the fight scene.
Spider-Man places his phone to his chest in order to muffle most of the noise that his pursuers are making. It also helps to take one of the noisiest members out by chucking the skull helmet that he was carrying at them. They're the CRC, or the 'Creature Rejection Clan', a cult that gathers at this abandoned church on a routinely basis to perform messed up rituals; they're a quirkist group that Spider-Man started looking into after the whole Scorpion fiasco that brought light to his own quirk situation and enlightened mask meaning.
As the vigilante pivots to avoid getting grabbed and pulled down by them, he shifts his cellphone back to his ear to listen to the voice that's coming from the other end of the receiver. "Let me get this straight.. You want me to do your job for you now?", Hitoshi Shinso's lazy drawl is as distinguishable as ever when he hears it.
He'd asked his friend to cover for him before, but this time is a little different from coming up with reasons for his tardiness to classes. Since Spider-Man and Izuku Midoriya can't be at the same place at the same time, he'd asked Shinso to shoot photos of the Sports Festival for him. "I didn't think of it that way before but kinda..", he reflects on his request and realizes that's exactly what he wound up asking of his friend to do.
Shinso's voice fades from the receiver as he says, "I'm hanging up now."
"No! Wait!", Spider-Man shouts into the phone but the cult trying to capture him all pause at his request. Seizing their confusion as an opportunity to get a leg up, he quite literally bounds over them with an outstretched leg and lands back on the other column that he had originally left. "I'll split the profits with you", he tries convincing Shinso to help him while firing globs of webbing at the bad guys beneath him.
A moment later, Shinso sighs and responds, "You need the money more than me.." To which Izuku feels guilty for tacking on an additional lie about why he can't take the pictures of the festival himself; he claimed to be sick and bedridden. Shinso kindly says, "I'll try and get some pictures but don't expect a lot."
"Thanks, man! You're the best!", Izuku vows then and there that he'll find a way to make it up to his friend somehow at a later date. In the meantime, he returns to focusing on the fight at hand and kicks a cult member across the room into a row of empty pews.
But dropping down closer to the CRC gives them a better chance at grabbing him. They pull at his limbs in an effort to drag him every which way. The only way to get them off is to thrust his fist forward into the nearest guy's throat. Choked coughs and gags are followed by the bad guy loosening his grip.
"What was that?", Shinso hears the scuffling and the retching that it's kinda hard not for him to notice and ask about it.
But Izuku has his hands way too full to be bothered with giving an answer more than, "I just threw up! Gotta go! Bye!", before ending the call and using his other hand as a way to bat off the remaining cultists.
Now freed up and able to operate at full functionality, Spider-Man makes quick work of the remaining enemies. They're tossed and thrown around like the sacks of shit that they are. He doesn't even deem them worth the web fluid to hold them and he uses an old curtain instead to wrap them up in.
"Now.. To get to the festival!", Spider-Man prays that he won't be late as he swings out of the church.
Overlooking the Sports Festival Stadium from a suspended commentary booth, are the event's two commentators. One being a frequent talk show host that makes him more than qualified for the job and the other his best friend who got coaxed into being apart of it. Present Mic flips switches and turns dials methodically, used to operating soundboard systems. Beside him, Eraserhead tries to get used to having only one hand for holding his mug of coffee. The underground hero is still undergoing recovery, a big part of his seating arrangement meant to hide that recovery process from the general public.
"I hope the Support Studio gets that prosthetic to me soon..", Aizawa muses aloud since he and Mic have yet to begin broadcasting their voices. He feels a phantom pain ghosting around the absence of his arm; he practically takes a bite out of the bitter coffee he has to substitute the feeling with something else.
In all the years Hizashi Yamada has known his partner in heroism, the man has never managed to fully pry emotion out of his friend to such an extent as this. He just wishes for it to have happened with better timing. "I'm sure that they will", Yamada places a consoling hand on Aizawa's shoulder, "And then you'll be back out there in no time."
Aizawa scoffs into his coffee mug before taking another sip from it. There's some part appreciation and some part argument on the tip of his tongue that he chooses to remain silent.
"Until then..", Yamada returns his hand to hitting buttons on the control console; his signature shades cover his eyes as the sun shines into their viewing box, "Enjoy the show!"
Some students are still warming up for the Sports Festival. Or, in the case of Shoto Todoroki, icing their muscles. That's what the prep rooms are made for, afterall. Most take to their private spaces to prepare in their own ways. Tenya Iida talks to his brother on the phone to get a pep talk. Fumikage Tokoyami dwells in the dim setting of a solo scene to hone his mind. And others take to the group lounge to talk to their fellow classmates & competitors.
"I didn't think we'd still be having the Festival after what happened..", Eijiro Kirishima looks around the room to see everyone in similar states of mind. He winds up sitting down beside two of his female classmates, Toru Hagakure and Itsuka Kendo.
"I know", the former sounds somber as she responds; he can imagine the invisible girl lowering her head, "It doesn't feel right without Ojiro."
At the mention of their classmate that got abducted, Kirishima can't help but wince. "But Ojiro was found and he's being treated now! So don't feel too bad, Hagakure!" He shakes off his own sorrow over the tragedy and tries looking on the bright side of things.
To which both girls are grateful. Kendo forces herself to smile, even if it's a small smile. She and Kirishima like to imagine Hagakure is doing the same. "I guess that's just one more thing we have Spider-Man to thank for", Kendo tries lightening the mood even further by mentioning the vigilante that helped to alleviate that whole situation; most of everyone in Class 1-A is practically a fan now, regardless of what she has to say about quirk law.
At the mention of Spider-Man, it's as though on cue to call some of those fans over. "Oh how I'd love to personally thank him", Setsuna Tokage licks her lips without any regard for how shameless she appears whilst doing so.
If Kendo were Kirishima, she'd probably say 'bruh' right about now. Instead, she says it with her expression and asks, "Really?"
Tokage feigns defense, holding up her hands in a show of surrender. "What? He's hot!", she then uses those hands to mime squeezing something, "Did you not all see his butt in those spandex?"
"Dude does have a pretty manly ass", Kirishima nods along as though to admit she has a point there.
Kendo scoffs and stands up, eager to walk away from this kind of conversation. "Try to have a little class, guys!" The redhead ties her hair back into its usual ponytail fashion.
And just in time too, as then comes the last call for everyone to come out onto the field. Signaling that they have five minutes left to get ready, the speaker system blares a sound akin to that of a horn.
Kendo sees everyone else funneling out of their private rooms to share the lounge space, so she starts heading for the halls. Hagakure tags along, and so she decides to return to their previous conversation topic by asking, "Did you try getting in touch with Ojiro?"
There's a silence that is probably Hagakure nodding. And then the invisible girl quietly answers aloud, "I did but they're still very particular about who's allowed to visit him."
"I can only imagine", Kendo goes to place a hand on her friend's shoulder but opts to clench her hand into an oversized fist instead, "We need to show those villains what we're made of today! For Ojiro!"
Hagakure hesitates at first but gets the gist and plays into the hype, "Yeah! For Ojiro!"
A few paces behind the two girls is an eavesdropping blonde. Make that two, the second picking up his speed to catch up. "Yo! Bakubro!", Denki Kaminari grabs Katsuki Bakugo by the shoulder, "Hold on a second!"
Bakugo tugs his shoulder free from the hold whilst simultaneously twisting to face his classmate. "The fuck are you holding me up for?", he barks out an aggressive voice but still stops to talk briefly.
Kaminari takes that stalling as a sign to go ahead with what he has to say. Not without a quick glance left and right to make sure there aren't any stragglers that might overhear though. "You seem like a guy who takes his strength pretty seriously", the low whisper perks Bakugo's interest, "I was thinking maybe you'd like to up your ante a little to show off today" He looks with raised eyebrows at what's in Kaminari's outstretched hand.
The electric quirked blonde uncurls his fingers to unveil a small vial of what looks like a green liquid of some kind. "The hell is that.. ?", Bakugo is breathless as his voice trails off.
Kaminari smirks, "A new version of Trigger – it makes people go freaking Goblin Mode basically", his smile shifts into a grin when he shows a few teeth. "Figured maybe you needed it after your losses during the Battle Trials and what happened at the USJ", he holds the drug out for Bakugo to take.
But the vial falls free from anyone's possession, dropped when Kaminari is suddenly grabbed by Bakugo. Kaminari is roughly slammed against the wall opposite to him, shifted around forcefully and pinned there. The drug's casing doesn't break when it bounces along the floor; it instead rolls a good distance away, far enough to make it under a bench.
"I oughta kill you!", Bakugo tightens his grip on the fabric of Kaminari's jacket; it takes a lot of restraint to not let off an explosion right then and there. "Not only do you offer me fucking steroid drug shit but you have the audacity to call me a weakling?!", Bakugo's spit mingles with his sweat as he furiously fumes.
Kaminari is taken aback, squirming to get himself free and yet failing to get loose. He starts to say, "Chill! I didn't mean it like that– !"
"Like hell you didn't!", but Bakugo doesn't allow any excuses. Used to roughhousing Izuku, he pulls Kaminari back and then slams the blonde into the wall again. "As if I'd ever be as low to stoop down and use some shit like Trigger!"
Kaminari places his hands on Bakugo's arms, attempting to pry them off. He even contemplates giving the explosive teen an electric shock. Bakugo finally lets go so that he doesn't have to. "Alright, man, I was only trying to help" Kaminari heaves out a heavy sigh of relief and begins dusting off the creased area of his jacket.
"Do us both a favor and help yourself, dipshit!" Bakugo gives Kaminari one last parting shot; the universal sign for 'fuck you' being the middle finger. "You'll be lucky if I don't rat your ass out for sneaking that shit in! Don't let me catch you cheating your way through!", but the real threat is a few sparks radiating off that same hand.
"Yeah, yeah.. I get the message", Kaminari gestures for Bakugo to go while still catching his breath.
"Tch", to which Bakugo obliges.
Once alone, the electric quirked blonde immediately throws a look in the direction of where the quirk enhancement drug rolled off to. While he can't see that it went under a bench, he knows the general direction of its disappearance. But the Sports Festival is about to begin and he has no time to retrieve it.
So, he instead digs into his pants pocket to pull out his cellphone and give his boss an update. He texts to a private number, Didn't take the bait, and begins his stride down the corridor that leads to the field.
As he steps onto the green grass ahead of him, surrounded by cheers of an oblivious crowded stadium, he sends a second text. This one says, Will try again when he gets more desperate.
Comfortably cross legged on the couch with a tub of buttered popcorn to munch on, Himiko Toga does her best to ignore the distraction that is her uncle making noise behind her. There's metallic clangs, one after another, undoubtedly his weapons being moved around. Himiko grabs the TV remote. She has to raise the volume on the television in order to help tune him out. Otherwise, she might miss out on hearing something interesting regarding the Sports Festival.
Chizome, or better known as The Hero Hunter, takes note of this. He sniffs and he sneers like he smells something rotten. "I thought I told you to stop giving in to that sort of propaganda", he certainly has an opinion regarding the event. One that he shares with his niece every time that the festival rolls around.
Himiko rolls her head back with her eyes, tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. "I know but they sometimes get a little bloody beating eachother up", she protests against his protest through a mouthful of popcorn; the blonde girl pats the empty seat cushion beside her to beckon her uncle over, "Come and watch with me this time! It'll be fun!"
But he waves off the invitation, still occupied with gathering his arsenal of bladed weapons. "I can't pass up this opportunity to hunt", he's currently preparing to use the sharp tools, "Those fools will be too busy showboating to notice the folly of their own destructive design!" The Hero Hunter plans on using the Sports Festival as an opportunity to pick off a hero from the sidelines whereas everyone will be too fixated on the show to care or notice.
And while Himiko often likes to tag along and watch the real deal since there's always a guarantee of blood there, she also doesn't want to record over any of the other shows she has saved on the VCR. "Suit yourself", she shrugs and returns her attention to the television. The commercials are coming to a close and the festival is about to start.
As Chizome finishes sheathing one of his many swords, he begins to head out. But not without pausing halfway to lean down and give his niece a peck on the head from behind first. "Promise me that you will watch for exploitable weaknesses, at the very least."
He has a way of making everything about hero hunting that Himiko has to giggle. "I promise~", she has no intention of actually doing any homework such as that but says so anyways.
"I'll see you when I return then", The Hero Hunter is content enough to believe she'll naturally take mental notes. And so, he leaves her to her vices while tending to his own.
Himiko devours a handful of popcorn, her fangs mashing the kernels in her mouth. She salivates at the thought of biting into something more fleshy. But for now, popcorn will do.
Kurogiri finishes replacing Shigaraki's old bandages with fresh gauze. Shigaraki takes that as a sign that he can finally get some rest and relaxation. He grabs the television remote and lounges across his cot. Typically he'd tune into whatever anime is currently running. But what he finds instead is the U.A Sports Festival on nearly every channel; it replaces more time slots than sporting events do.
"Damned brats.. Always getting in the way of what I want", he clutches the clicker with all five of his fingers and it rapidly decays as a result. Kurogiri sighs when seeing this before retrieving one of the spares that they keep on hand in a nearby drawer.
Before the young villain can change the channel to something else though, his elder raises a hand to signal for a pause. "Just a moment", the older villain gazes with his eyeless features as though he can somehow see what's displayed on the television screen, "It may be fruitful to watch this year's festivities."
Shigaraki scratches at his throat, that telltale tick of an itch the only way for him to avoid groaning from irritation. "Sensei, do I really have to?" But that doesn't stop him from still complaining.
Behind the fogged up venturi mask that provides the man breathing support, is the man's wicked smile. "Yes, Tomura, it is important to monitor your enemies!" He raises a finger for each point that he makes whilst listing them off one by one, "To monitor their current strength, to monitor their growth and development, to monitor their weaknesses and their mindsets; these are all things that you must learn if you are to dismantle and defeat them."
Shigaraki tilts his chin down, a cross between bowing and nodding. He understands to an extent. Like with how close they came to destroying All Might, even if there were a few minor oversights, that plan took a lot of spying and preparation. Their next strike on the heroes will likely be no different. These sort of things require patience, as Tomura Shigaraki is slowly learning.
But then again, Tomura Shigaraki is not one for being patient during times of unrest. Especially when watching the very people it is that he wants to destroy so badly. He clutches the clicker in his hand, destroying the spare just like he dusted the first. Kurogiri sighs a second time whilst providing a third remote.
Inko Midoriya carefully cups a bowl of soup in her hands, balancing it just enough to not accidentally spill any. Her poor baby boy is sick and confined to his bed. And aside from medicine, she wants to make sure that he has everything he needs.
"Izuku? Honey?", she announces herself before entering his room. As of late, he's been really uptight about her knocking first. She figures this is a rare exception considering his sick state of being.
When the door to her son's bedroom creaks open, she sees a lumpy shape in bed and is relieved to not have found him at his computer trying to sneak watch the festival. "I brought you some soup", she carries the bowl over to him.
At first, she thinks he fell asleep. But when she draws nearer, she realizes that there's something off. Inko sets the bowl down so that she can move the blankets and covers. Underneath are a set of pillows set up to make it look like a body was laying underneath. She nearly fell for the oldest trick in the book.
"Izuku… !", the mother hurriedly moves towards her son's bedroom window to see it unlocked and immediately puts it together that he snuck out, "He better not have gone to the Sports Festival!"
An assortment of colors light up the sky over the stadium as fireworks and smoke bombs are set off. In between various clouds of pink and blue are sparkling shapes such as twinkling yellow stars or shiny red smiley faces. The crowded stands surrounding this extravagant show erupts into cheers so loud that the music accompanying the pyrotechnics can hardly be heard. Hardly even Present Mic's commentary makes it over the ambient screams.
But nevertheless, the DJ doubling as the event's host announces the first class to step foot out onto the open field. The Hero Course students wave to everybody upon introduction. The groups following them, such as General Education and Support, don't get quite as lively a reception – but it's still quite the show opener. Everyone groups up in front of what's practically a stone stage built by Cementoss.
Atop that stage, front and center, is another pro hero. This one is dressed a little R rated, her dominatrix outfit as suggestive as the whip she wields to snap for everybody's attention. Her length of hair is as midnight as her namesake, Midnight; she saunters over to a microphone that raises up to be grabbed from its stand.
"Now for the Athlete's Oath!", she whips her hair back for extra effect and gets the crowd going again – most of the male members in the audience, at least – before strutting around the stage, "This year we have a very special guest making an appearance to give us the oath .. Give it up for …"
Her eyes search the sky as the smoke and light show dissipates. When she spots what it is – or rather, who it is – that she's looking for, the woman stretches out an arm to point in that direction. "The amazing, the sensational, the SPECTACULAR … SPIDER-MAN!", and she announces the entry of the red & blue individual that comes swinging in on a web line.
Once more, the crowd causes a commotion of cheering. Spider-Man swings in at a level that he's able to pass them by overhead. He even gets close enough to lower a hand and high five some of the audience members. Then, to really play into the entry, he lets loose on his web line with a thrust into the air to perform an aerial acrobatic move. A resounding applause follows his showy move before and after he sticks the landing beside Midnight on stage.
"Quite the entrance, Spider-Man!" The heroine claps along while getting an up close look at the vigilante. Despite his being shorter than her, she eyes him up and down for a tad longer than one normally would. She holds the microphone away from her mouth so that only he hears the next part, "And what a man you are~"
Spider-Man nervously shies away at that. He whispers to her, "I- I'm not even eighteen yet.."
Midnight's eyes nearly bulge out from the holes in her domino mask. She clears her throat before moving the microphone back in front of her mouth, "Anyways! Onto the oath!" She thrusts the mic into Spider-Man's hands before taking a few steps back from him.
"Oh, uh.." Spider-Man winces when the microphone gives a little feedback. Suddenly, all of that bravado and confidence he usually has when not being Izuku Midoriya goes away. Even with the mask on, he finds it hard to address the massive audience surrounding him. Then there's also the numerous cameras at every angle livestreaming to more people watching from home. It's a bit overwhelming. "I.. Um.."
He winds up looking down at his feet, unable to look at anything else. It's there, staring down at the bottom, that he remembers how he rose up to the top. "With great power.. There must also come great responsibility…", he whispers it more-so to himself than everybody else before stating the quote that resonates within him so deeply a little more firmly for all of them to hear as well, "With great power comes great responsibility."
"This was something said to me before I even got my powers – uh, my quirk – before everything bad that could happen did happen", he swallows hard to choke down a sob when recalling the roots of what led him down this path of vigilantism, "When you can do the things that we can but you don't and then the bad things happen.. They happen because of you."
"The thing is, when I was first told about this responsibility, I didn't know what it truly meant. I didn't figure it out until it was too late", Spider-Man who seemed so small beside Midnight only mere moments ago raises his head and suddenly appears so much taller, "And ever since then I've been trying to live a life that resembles what those words mean. And I can tell you they mean everything."
"The man who told me those words believed that if you can do good things for other people then you have a moral obligation to do those things", the Hero Course students of U.A reflect in the lenses of Spider-Man's mask when he looks at them and they look back, "That's what is at stake here. Not choice. Responsibility."
He practically just told them and the world why it is that he chose to become a vigilante. Without the whole spiel around what led to this understanding, at least. And he hopes that it's enough. He hopes that they hear him. He grips the handle of the microphone in his hand and finishes his short speech so that they can show whether or not they listened, "So today choose to use your quirks responsibly when presenting yourselves as who you are."
Watching from a private viewing box, one eye scarred over, the principal of the hero school does well to pay close attention to Spider-Man's speech. Every word is transcribed for later review as well. The clever creature's ears twitch and fidget with its paws.
Amused, the mammal muses to itself.
"It's a shame that Midoriya is sick..", the paws settle to hold a cup of tea, "I'm sure this would have made for a wonderful photo to go along with a wonderful story."
AUTHOR NOTES
A bit of a shorter chapter, but I'm going to likely be splitting up the Sports Festival into separate chapters anyways since there's alot that'll be going on throughout it (some of which you already see seeds are being planted for).
To answer your question about Denki, SonicMax, he just slipped back out of his Electro outfit and back into the class group later - a bit of an off screen/unwritten thing that I had just assumed would make sense but I wanted to clarify that he didn't vanish along with Mashirao as far as anyone was aware.
And thank you for the positive review, CapoPerk! I'll keep trying to deliver!
-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author