Welcome back to Musutafu's Spectacular Spider-Man! Let's take a look at some of your reviews before we get to the next issue.
SuperSonicHeroes: This looks like a good start to this alternate take of Izuku as Spider-Man. We might not have an entire Marvel Universe in this setting, but all the Spider-Man related stuff will easily be satisfying.
Now Izuku will take on the Fixers as seemingly his first real challenge as Spider-Man.
Part of my thinking when writing this was that a smaller scope might work better. After all, part of the reasons that the Raimi and Webb films and the Spectacular cartoon worked so well was that they weren't bogged down by a mountain of Marvel Comics continuity (which is sadly why Homecoming and Far From Home are a bit mid to me.)
Yep. And they're clearly not going to be as easy as the petty crooks he took down in his six month lead up to this.
501awezome: Looking forward for the next installment of this amazing fantasy, I recommend adapting MHA characters into well known Spider-man villains instead of just isekaing them here or just dropping them in. If so then I suggest adapting them as local japanese with modified backstories if they are the typical Spider-man street villains
Already planning to do that. I've already got ideas for who to adapt and who to modify. And I've got some ideas for a couple original villains as well.
Goofy ahh dude: I reckon it'd be pretty funny if Mineta ended up becoming better in some way because of spidey
I doubt All Might himself could get him to change for the better. And it doesn't matter, because I've already got plans for the little grapestain to get stomped. If it's not clear, I hate the little twerp.
MBS41: I love the story and it would be cool if the spider had a number on its back to indicate that it was it that number of attempts for the spiders or that it is from another universe
Good idea, though the spider won't be from another universe. I'm not doing any Spider-Verse stuff for a while. I want it to be special.
ProjectIceman: Wow. You put Izuku ib quite the bind (I swear I didnt mean for that to be a pun lol) so soon. Chapter 1 Cliffhanger? Fastest I've ever read.
Well like I said, the chapter was already about 8000 words, so frankly I felt it was a good place to take a break. Plus hey, it gives you guys a good reason to wait on the edge of your seat for the next chapter.
And with all that out of the way, load up your web shooters cause here we go!
Issue 2: Plans
Another lance of pain shot through his body again as Tremor smashed his metal-gloved fist into Spider-Man's chest again, made worse by his instinctual movement to try and break free of the bonds causing more electricity to surge through his body and elicit more cries of pain. "Son of a bitch," he choked out.
Tremor chuckled at this. "Don't ya know when to quit, bug?"
Glaring at him behind his mask, Spider-Man forced himself to his knees and growled out "Never!"
He had spent the last five minutes getting his shit wrecked by these guys. Crosshairs had blasted him several times with his rifle, the lasers not penetrating him but instead making him feel like he got hit by a sledgehammer. Tremor hadn't used his Quirk, but instead just used his bare hands and feet to hurt him. Last but not least, Stone had jabbed him multiple times for seconds at a time with his cattle prod weapon, sending even more electricity coursing through his body.
Honestly if it weren't for his enhanced durability and his healing factor, he'd probably have either passed out by now (though maybe not considering all the electricity being used on him) or died.
As it was, it looked like these guys weren't going to get bored of beating him up anytime soon.
His declaration of not surrendering had actually made all three laugh. "Bloody kid thinks he's some shonen anime protagonist," he said. "What a joke."
"Yeah. You gonna bust out of those and beat us up by raising your power level while screaming," Stone asked mockingly.
"Not likely," Tremor said while laughing. "Those things are designed specifically to hold people with super-strength Quirks. Even All Might would have a problem with that."
They had a point. While Spider-Man could pick up cars with little problem, he knew from what he'd seen online that he wasn't near All Might's god-like strength. After all, none of his punches could change the weather.
But still... he had to try.
He struggled against the binds, electricity coursing through his body as he saw Stone advancing on him. Ignoring that, he focused all his effort into breaking the bonds.
And as he did, something strange began to happen.
Among the blue sparks emanating from the red cables, smaller red sparks began to shoot out. They weren't noticeable at the moment to the other three but Spider-Man could feel something inside of him; something warm, moving under the surface of his skin and flowing into his heart.
Stone laughed as he approached. "You kids today just don't understand how the world works."
He focused on the feeling while still pushing against the bonds, feeling the electricity from the cables flowing into him and giving him a surge of strength. I have no idea what this is, but it had better be good he all but begged inside his head.
"You think that you can take on the world, unaware of just how harsh this world really is."
He could feel the electricity from the cables fading, and could hear and feel the cables stretching out to their breaking point as the red sparks began to get a lot brighter and a lot more prominent.
Not seeing this, Stone jabbed the cattle prod into Spider-Man's chest, delivering a dose of electricity into Spider-Man (that he didn't know was boosting Spider-Man's newfound well of power.) "Which is why people like us exist, to remind you punks that you-"
It was then that he and the other Fixers finally saw the red sparks moving around Spider-Man's body, getting brighter and brighter until he looked like a walking red star.
And if they could see Spider-Man's eyes, they would've seen his green eyes glowing red with this power.
He reached inside of himself and pulled, and with a cry of "Back! The Hell! OFF!" he unleashed the power from within.
The result?
A massive dome of red lightning shot out from his body (styled like a spider-web, naturally) as he threw his arms and shattered the cables. The wave of lightning washed over the roof, stunning and sending the three men backwards. Stone, being right at ground zero, was hit the hardest and was sent him flying across the roof, landing with a loud THUD!
Spider-Man looked at the rapidly dispersing sparks along his hands, feeling a bit drained from his new attack but much better than he had been. "Whoa. What the hell- is this a new power," he asked aloud.
A groan from Crosshairs and Tremor reminded him he was still in a fight, but as he went to web them up he saw that his little lightning blast had also fried the components for his web-shooters, rendering them inoperable. "Well, that's not good." Seeing he was at a disadvantage he decided a tactical retreat was in order, sprinting towards the edge of the roof and leaping, easily clearing the distance and landing on the other roof.
Seeing this, Tremor yelled "Crosshairs, nail that varmint!"
Crosshair brought his rifle up, but found that his Quirk: Scope, was only showing a field of static. "Damn it! The brat's little lightshow is messing with me scope!"
Surprised, Tremor tried to use his own Quirk, but found he couldn't use it either. "That damn kid somehow jammed up our Quirks. Stone?"
A low groan was heard from Stone's semi-conscious body, and they saw that his skin still looked like it was made out of rock. "Must not work on Mutant Quirks," Tremor noted. Seeing that Spider-Man was already out of sight and hearing sirens, he said "Alright, we'll cut our loses for tonight.
'But next time we'll make sure that the bug gets squashed for good."
Once he was a good distance away, Spider-Man landed on a roof and ducked behind an industrial air-conditioning unit to catch his breath. "I think... I lost them."
He pulled out his phone, which was thankfully okay thanks to the phone casing he made for it. And everyone at Aldera Junior High said I was stupid for putting my phone in a case that was waterproof, fireproof, insulated and immune to electromagnetic pulses.
Almost immediately, DECA started rapid-firing questions about his well-being, but he managed to talk her down so that he could talk. Eventually he managed to convince her that he was fine and had managed to get away from them without getting injured too much. DECA seemed to believe this, but insisted that he call it quits for the night so that he could rest and let his healing factor take care of his injuries. He agreed, if only to get her off his back, before putting his phone back in his pocket.
He was about to get back up but suddenly a massive wave of exhaustion hit him and he found he could barely move. Whatever that electrical discharge was, it must've taken a lot out of me, he thought to himself. Maybe I should just rest for a few minutes before I move on.
As he slumped back against the unit, he sighed and decided to focus on the aforementioned discharge of electricity. What exactly was that? Bio-Electricity? Some sort of field induction? I can think of all sorts of applications for it, though first I'm gonna have to properly insulate the Mark II Web Shooters and my other tech, otherwise I'll keep frying them. Speaking of which, I wonder if I could make my webbing hold the charge from this to-
"Wow. You really get into your own head there, don't ya?"
His train of thought hit an abrupt end as his head whipped around to his left to see who was talking.
The speaker was a girl around his age, with brown hair that matched her eyes, with two long bangs framing her face. She had rather fair skin with two perpetual blush on her cheeks, which (in his honest opinion) made her look very cute. She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with brown boots, though her clothes all looked to be a year or so old, all of which showed off her lean figure (almost too lean, he noticed, which made him frown behind his mask.)
While initially he was worried she might be there to call the cops, that was quashed by the fact that his Spider-Sense wasn't going off, which meant she was currently not a threat.
Plus, not only was there a friendly twinkle in her eyes, but she was smiling. Which means more than likely she was friendly.
He winced when he remembered her question before he replied "Yeah, it's an old habit. I'm trying to break it."
The girl giggled. "It's fine." She walked over in front of him and crouched down, before her face morphed into one of concern. "Ouch, you look like you got in one helluva fight."
He waved his one hand, thankfully without any issues. "It wasn't anything too big."
The girl raised an eyebrow, before pulling out her phone (a very old and cheap looking flip phone, to his surprise) and snapped a picture before showing it to him. "You're costume says otherwise."
While the camera's resolution wasn't great, it was still able to show a mostly clear picture of how he looked.
And frankly, he had to agree with the girl on this one.
The area around his arms, legs, and chest where the binder cables got him and shocked him were either burned from the electrical discharge or torn from when he broke through them. There were several holes and patches of cloth missing from when Crosshair shot him with his laser rifle and Stone jabbed his cattle prod into him.
Even his mask wasn't safe, with one of the goggle lenses missing after Tremor blasted his face with his Quirk. Fortunately the rest of the mask was intact, and it was too dark to see his green eye (not that he was worried, because ever since the Dawn of Quirks there were plenty of people born with green eyes.)
Still, he smiled beneath his mask and replied "You should see the other guy."
The girl rolled her eyes, before deleting the picture on her phone. "You need an ice pack or anything?"
A bit surprised by her concern, he shook his head. "Nah. I got a moderate healing factor, so this stuff'll be fixed by tomorrow." He then sat up straight, and a fresh spike of pain hit his body, though he remained firm. "Though, if you happen to have some aspirin and a bottle of water that would be very appreciated, miss...?"
The girl smiled and replied "Uraraka. Ochako Uraraka."
"Well, nice to meet you, Miss Uraraka. I'm-"
"Spider-Man."
Spider-Man blinked, before asking "How did you-?"
"Why wouldn't I remember the guy who saved me?"
Wracking his brain, he tried to remember what she was talking about-
-and the answer came to him when he finally recognized her voice. "Oh! Your were the girl who got cornered by those four guys on the edge of the Eisley District!"
She nodded and smiled. "Yep!"
-Five Months Ago: Edge of the Eisley District-
Spider-Man took a bite out of his sandwich as he sat on the edge of the rooftop, enjoying a quick snack before he went back out on patrol. Looking at his phone he said "Can't wait until I get DECA up and running. It'll probably make this a lot-"
The moment he heard the scream he dropped what was left of his sandwich (which was really just the crust) pulled down his mask and sprang into action, shooting out a web line and zipping across the rooftops towards the sound.
Once he got to the right alley, what he saw made his spider-blood boil.
Four large guys that he recognized as members of the Black Vipers gang were advancing on a girl, making all kinds of whistles and lewd comments. The girl in question didn't look much older than him, and they clearly looked like adults.
His spider-blood boiled, and before they could go any further, he struck.
THWIP!THWIP!THWIP!THWIP!
Four web lines, two from each web shooter, shot out and attached to the backs of the thugs. With a spider-strength enhanced pull, all four of them were yanked away from the girl and towards Spider-Man. He looked back at the girl and shouted "Get out of here! Go!"
She did so, yelling a quick "Thank you!" and Spider-Man front-flipped and twisted so that he landed facing the thugs. "Harassing and planning to sexually assault a minor? That's a new low, even for lowlifes like you guys!"
-Present Day-
"I made sure to let those guys know that that kinda bullshit wasn't gonna be tolerated no more," Spider-Man said.
She giggled as she handed him a bottle of water and an aspirin. "Yeah, I can imagine. You sounded pretty angry."
"I have a long list of types of people that I wanna punch in the face," he replied as he swallowed the pill and the water. "Rapists, pedophiles and child molesters are very close to the top."
Ochako raised up her fist and shouted "Preach!"
He laughed a little at that, and then asked "What exactly were you doing in Eisley, anyway? Most people I know try their best to stay out of it."
She was quiet for a minute, before she sighed. "I was... looking for someone. A friend of mine."
"Oh." Realization then dawned on him when he realized what she meant by "looking for someone." "OH."
Yeah, he should've seen that one coming. The Eisley district was a hotbed for crime; not just petty theft or street gangs, but also some of the bigger and far viler ones.
Such as the various forms of human trafficking; sex trafficking, child trafficking, and ever since the onset of Quirks, Quirk trafficking.
And sadly, considering the absence of Pro Heroes in Eisley and the abysmal police force (that wasn't taking bribes to look the other way) a lot of those people who went missing in the Eisley district were never even reported, let alone found.
Shifting around to look at her (and feeling his anger spike when he saw she was crying) he asked "Who's your friend?"
If she was surprised, she didn't show it. But she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet, before opening it to show a faded photograph of her with a girl with blond hair tied in two buns and cat-like yellow eyes. Her smile showed that her canines were like fangs, and while some would mistake it for predatory, Spider-Man could see that she was very happy next to Ochako.
Ochako then explained "Her name is Himiko Toga. She was my best friend throughout middle school, and honestly my only friend."
"How come?"
"Her Quirk. It lets her transform into other people-"
"Okay, that's not so bad-"
"-but she needs to drink other people's blood to do so."
And there it was. "And given the stigma against blood quirks, I'm guessing she was bullied for it."
"Oh, much worse than that. Her own parents hated her for it, called her all sorts of things I'd rather not say. All the kids at school made fun of her, said she was a monster and a villain in the making. I told her they were all full of shit." She put the photo away and continued "The worst part was that her Quirk required her to drink blood as a regular part of her diet, or else-"
"-she'd start breaking down," Spider-Man guessed, remembering reading a similar thing in a case about a similar Quirk. "She'd start becoming more predatory, more unhinged. Might even snap and go off the deep end."
Ochako nodded grimly at that. "I did my best to help her. I let her drink blood from me whenever she felt she was about to have an episode. And then it moved to giving her small amounts every day, since she was going through puberty and-"
"I get the picture, trust me," he cut in. "How'd she end up in Eisley?"
"Her parents got found out by Child Services, and they got arrested. She went to move in with her Grandma, who was much nicer to her, but she lived in Eisley. Maybe you heard of her: Komori Toga[1]?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Runs the local butcher shop. Has a Vampire Bat Quirk."
"Well because of that she understood Toga's situation. We kept in contact since that day. But seven months ago, she disappeared."
That definitely didn't sound promising, if he was being honest. If she was being child trafficked or sex trafficked than she would probably be halfway across Japan by now, if not out of the country.
If she was being trafficked because of her Quirk, then there was a chance she might still be in Musutafu, but in some underground lab of some kind while they did whatever horrible tests on her and her Quirk they could think of.
Assuming that she was still alive after seven months.
Still, seeing how torn up Ochako was about this, he felt a newfound determination coursing through his body as he stood up (or maybe the aspirin was finally kicking in. Or both.) He held his hand out to her, which she took as he helped her up and he said "Look, I can't promise anything. For all we know, she could not be in Musutafu or Japan anymore. Or..." He didn't finish, but the look in her eyes told him he understood. "But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to find her and bring her back."
Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she wiped a few stray tears from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you so much."
He waved her off. "Don't mention it." Stretching his back (with Ochako wincing as she heard a few pops, and seeing him rub his ribcage) before saying "Well, I better get going. I got a train to catch."
Ochako looked at him confused. "You're not just gonna swing there?"
Spider-Man shook his head before showing her his destroyed web-shooters. "Unfortunately not. My web-shooters kinda got destroyed in that fight."
"Huh. I figured you just made them yourself."
"Nah. Which is probably a blessing, considering where the webs come out of on actual spiders."
Ochako cringed at that. "Good point. Well, I guess I'll see you around."
Walking over to the ledge of the building, he replied "Hopefully it'll be after I found your friend."
He then backflipped off the edge, but not before flashing her the peace sign as he did.
She couldn't help but smile at that. "What a goofball."
Though I have to wonder, how come his voice sounded kinda squeaky?
-The Next Day-
"Okay, so things to do today," Izuku said, as he looked over his wrecked costume on his bed.
He had managed to get home the night before without too many problems. Especially since once he turned his hoodie inside out and shoved his mask in his pocket, he just looked like some poor street urchin riding a train.
Taking notice of everything that was wrong with his costume, he listed "First things first, new fabric for the suit that's more resistant to wear and tear, my new electrical powers, yet still give me freedom of movement and regulate my body temperature."
"You thinking Unstable Molecular Fabric or Nanofiber Mesh Weave," DECA asked.
"The latter, preferably. UMF has issues with electrical conduction. If I'm gonna use my... what did you call it? Bio-Electric Venom Blast?"
"Yep. Spiders have venom, and now so do you."
"Yeah, I need a fabric that will actually let it get out and without messing with my suit. Nanofiber will work much better for that. Plus it's more resistant to lasers, and it can incorporate my new HUD and the new Web Shooters. Speaking of which...
'The second thing I need is to finish the Mark II Web Shooters. If possible, get some of my new Spidey-Tools made. I definitely want to at least get the Impact Web made, since if I run into those Fixers it might give me an edge."
"Still think that's a silly name, but yeah."
Taking notice of the throat area, he pulled out what looked like a thin collar with two small speakers. "I'm also gonna have to get a new voice modulator-[2]" He paused and his face paled. "Um, DECA?"
"Yeah?"
"Was the voice modulator still functional when I was talking to that girl last night?"
"No. Based on the damage to it, I'd say it probably crapped out shortly after you gave the Fixers the slip. Why?"
He groaned. "Because I think she might've heard me talking in my real voice."
"Oh crud."
"No, no, it's fine." Izuku took a deep breath. "She's already a fan, and I doubt she'd get a good grasp of my voice just from that conversation. Plus, there's almost 9 million[3] people living in Musutafu. The odds of us running into her again are slim to none."
"You do know you probably just jinxed it, right," DECA replied, Izuku knowing that if she had a mouth she'd probably be smirking.
"Shut up. Anyway, new voice modulator."
"You might just wanna make that list on your train ride. Which you're gonna miss if you don't get moving."
"Thank you, DECA," he said while taking his trashed costume and shoving it under his bed before grabbing his backpack. "Let's hope today doesn't have anymore surprises."
"Again, you probably just jinxed it."
Izuku rolled his eyes. "Funny. In the meantime, look through the police reports and the security cameras in the area. See if you can get an idea of what happened to Himiko Toga."
"Already on it. Have a good day at school."
"I'll try."
It was times like these that Kaina wished she could punch someone in the face without getting charged for assault.
Seeing the pictures for the costumes that were supposed to be for her class, and the "creative changes" that were made to them without clearing it up with her first, really made her ask herself if six months behind bars would really be THAT bad.
Looking at her class from her podium, she pinched the bridge of her nose and said "Okay, so from what I understand, our beloved Principal decided to give an outside support company the designs for your first costumes. I don't know whether it was because he was trying to take a cheaper option since UA's budget got cut from last year, or if someone at said company managed to sweet talk him." A hand was raised and she sighed. "Yes Iida?"
Tenya Iida asked (while chopping his hand in front of him like an action figure with karate-chop action, for some reason) asked "Tsutsumi-sensei, are you saying that our costumes are not ready? If so, then that is rather unprofessional of that company considering-"
"Easy, Iida," she cut in, motioning him to stop. "The costumes are done. But... the support company Nezu decided to go with was Monoma Industries."
There was a loud THUD! and everyone turned to see that Momo Yaoyorozu had decided to acquaint her face with her desk. "This can't possibly be good," was the muffled grumble that they heard.
"Not a big fan of them," Denki Kaminari asked.
"Don't get me wrong, when it comes to their military, defense, and energy contracts a lot of their tech is hard to beat. Even my parents, albeit begrudgingly, will admit that they can give YaoyorozuCorp tech a run for its money. Unfortunately, when it comes to the safety and quality of hero support gear, unless you're in the Top 10 they've been known for cutting more corners than a paper snowflake."
That definitely didn't bode well for the class (save Bakugo but he really just didn't care as long as he got his gauntlets.) "How do they not get sued for that," Jirou Kyoka asked.
"An admittedly good legal team and the wonderful world of fine print and liability waivers."
"Ahem." Everyone stopped talking once Kaina got their attention. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu.
'Sadly, it's not just them cutting corners on this. Apparently the design team they assigned to your costumes decided to focus more on looks and sex appeal rather than practicality." She could see the faces of all the girls in her class turn as white as a sheet, while she felt a vein in her temple throb as she saw the perverted grin on Mineta's face that he didn't even bother trying to hide. Already gave him his warning yesterday. Three strikes and you're out, grapestain. "Anyway, even if that hadn't been the case we still would've spent today's Foundational Heroics going over your costumes and seeing whether or not they would pass my inspection." Seeing a student raise their hand she asked "Yes, Kaminari?"
"What happens if our costumes passed the test," the blonde-haired boy asked.
"Then you and everyone else who passed would run an obstacle course, to make sure that your costumes don't have any problems that could hinder you in the field. Everyone who failed would be grabbing a sketchbook or notebook and start working on a much better costume.
'But frankly since all of your costumes got screwed over by Monama Industries, instead we'll be spending homeroom discussing the problems with them, and for Foundational Heroics we'll be taking a trip down to the Support Lab so we can start working on your actual costumes." She gave them a few minutes to process that (and a few seconds to stop talking) before she activated her videoboard and brought up some of the costume designs. "Let's start with our rock bottom one. Toru Hagakure, this is the 'costume' that Monoma Industries made for you."
The picture that came up of her hero costume... was a pair of gloves and a pair of boots.
"And no, there's no invisible costume, there's no transparent clothing, it is in fact just a pair of boots and a pair of gloves."
The girls and some of the boys in the class (pretty much every boy except for Mineta) were all shocked and/or angry by that revelation, but Hagakure?
While they couldn't see it, based on her voice and how she was waving the sleeves of her uniform (and the steam coming from where her ears were) it was clear she was absolutely livid. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! DO THOSE MORONS SERIOUSLY EXPECT ME TO RUN AROUND IN MY BIRTHDAY SUIT?! WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO IF SOME GUY GRABS A HOLD OF ME? AND WHEN WINTER COMES, DO THEY SERIOUSLY WANT ME TO GET FROSTBITE?! WHAT THE ACTUAL SWEET FUCK WERE THOSE IDIOTS THINKING?! AND NO, IIDA!" She yelled while looking over at the glasses-wearing boy. "I WILL NOT WATCH MY LANGUAGE! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE WHO GOT THAT FUCKING COSTUME!"[4]
"Hagakure," everyone stopped talking when Kaina talked. "I understand your anger. Trust me, I do. But while I will allow some swearing in the classroom, you're pushing it."
Once everyone quieted down, she sighed and said "Well, next up is an improvement, but it's still at the bottom of the barrel. Yaoyorozu's costume."
Yaoyorozu sighed. "How bad is it, Sensei?"
"Well... you know how Midnight's hero costume, while risque, still manages to avoid crossing the line for Hero Decency Laws?"
"Yes."
"Well, yours doesn't cross it, exactly... It's more like it's tap dancing on it," she finished, as she brought up the picture.
The reactions were stunned silence from the whole class, as while it was better than Hagakure's in that it had actual clothing... it was also incredibly revealing, arguably more so than some swimsuits. When Kaina had shown it to the other teachers, Nemuri had even said that she saw less revealing clothes on strippers. Mineta looked like he wanted to say something perverted, but a face-melting glare from her convinced him to keep his mouth shut.
Yaoyorozu, however, took a deep breath and calmly said "Okay. I understand that my Quirk requires exposed skin for my Quirk to work. However, the Unstable Molecular Fabric I requested my costume to be made out of would've allowed me to bypass that issue. And if they couldn't provide that, there are DNA-fabrics that I would've gladly given some blood, hair, or skin cells to help craft. Even if those hadn't been an option, zippers and buttons are a thing. There is no conceivable reason for me to have that much exposed skin, since it would be so much easier for someone to put a knife or a bullet into something vital. Along with that, do they just expect me to put a cape or something over myself when winter comes around? And from what I'm seeing the material is way too thin and looks easily tear-able, which is the last thing I want. Also, I requested a visor with a digital heads up display linked to a computer on my right wrist. How is a shelf with a big heavy encyclopedia better? Do they really expect me to just pull out a book and look up chemical formulas and atomic structures when I'm in combat? And frankly, that shelf is arguably the most ill-advised thing I could ever think of, since not only does it throw my balance off with that book, but if I happen to fall on it there's a possibility it could shatter my spine and leave me paralyzed from the waist down. And that would be the best case scenario." She took one last deep breath (though everyone could see she was trembling in rage) and finished with "In conclusion, this is not a hero costume. IT'S A FUCKING JOKE!"[4]
The whole class felt their jaws drop at that last declaration, since they'd never believed that the elegant, prim and proper Yaoyorozu would ever swear like that.
Kaina actually smirked at that. "Well said, Yaoyorozu. Now then, let's continue."
The rest of the period passed without too much more outrage. Most of the costumes were in the category of Passable, but needed a few tweaks. The tweaks often revolved around incorporating lightweight body armor into their designs ("You kids don't have the reflexes to dodge bullets or a guy coming at you with a knife. And no, Kirishima, your Quirk does not give you a free pass on that. You're putting on a shirt. I don't care how much you wanna show off your abs.") getting rid of things she deemed as stupid or unnecessary ("Aoyoma, unless it's a glider like Batman's, a parachute, is part of your quirk, or works as a shield of some kind, NO! CAPES! Tokoyami's is a cloak for Dark Shadow, so he gets pass on that. If you don't need it for your Quirk, it's gone. Plain and simple.") or actually have the students have proper eye protection ("Glasses, goggles, visors, domino masks, I don't care. You're not going out there unless you have something to make sure shit doesn't get in your eyes and blind you.")
Of course, there were a few that needed a bit more work.
"Did they not bother to read my measurements," Ochako called out in outrage. "The only way I'm squeezing into that costume would involve me taking everything off! Even my underwear!"
The frog-girl named Tsuyu Asui muttered "Join the club, ribbit."
"There was supposed to be a set of batons I could conduct my electricity through included," Kaminari said. "What the hell?!"
And then they came to Bakugo's costume.
"The hell's wrong with it," the boy in question asked. Loudly.
"The gauntlets," she deadpanned. "Did you not bother to read the rules and regulations for support gear and weapons that was in the admissions packet?" Seeing his blank stare she groaned. "Of course you didn't. Yaoyorozu, could you kindly explain to Bakugo and the class the policy on firearms and heavy explosives?"
"Word for word or layman's terms?"
She couldn't help but smirk at that. "Layman's terms."
"All First Year Hero Course students are forbidden from having access to firearms or heavy explosives, whether they're part of the costume or not."
"WHAT?!"
Whether or not she heard him was unknown as she continued "Hero Course students are allowed access to that during their Second Year, but only after a six week training/certification period under Snipe-Sensei's tutelage."
"OH THAT IS BULL-!"
"Bakugo," Kaina warned, barely raising her voice but her glare making it clear she wasn't impressed. "Rules are rules, and when it comes to that there will be no exceptions. The gloves are good to keep since they are designed to cut back on the kickback from your Quirk. But the grenade bracers have to come off." Seeing him about to argue, she added "Unless of course you'd like to skip your warning and three strikes and just go straight to General Studies. Fair warning though, Nemuri is a LOT less tolerant of attitudes like yours."
He growled and seethed, but eventually grumbled "Fine."
That raised yet another red flag in Kaina's head, and from how some of the other students were looking at him, she wasn't alone. The design schematics he sent in said that each gauntlet was made to hold up to 10 litres of his explosive nitroglycerin sweat. That much explosive force could bring down a building, and would definitely leave someone with severe injuries, or kill them. I really gotta wonder, does he not know the strength of his own Quirk and what it can do to people, or DOES he know and just doesn't care?
She decided that neither option was particularly pleasant to think about.
Tremor looked at the holographic map of Musutafu that Crosshairs was projecting from his phone. "I've highlighted some good spots to try and ambush the bug," he stated coldly. "Plenty of high places for me and Ol' Bessie to work, and far enough away from known Hero Patrols that we can deal with him without drawing too much attention."
"Good job, but one slight problem," Tremor replied. "We got no idea where the hell he's gonna be tonight."
"I think I might have an idea how," Stone said, holding up something with a pair of tweezers.
It was a small red and gray metal disk, roughly the size of a small pill. Crosshairs gently took it and used his quirk to get a better look at it, noticing what looked like a transmitter on it and eight little tiny legs that were designed to hook into fabric, while a small magnet on the bottom would let it stick to metallic surfaces. "The little S.O.B. planted a tracker on ya, Stone," he concluded. "Must've been when he used that weird energy wave to knock us on our asses."
"Believe me, I haven't forgotten that," the stone giant grumbled. "How the hell didn't we know about that?"
"Based on what I heard through all the fog in my brain, the brat was just as confused as us," Tremor explained. "So more than likely us beating the shit outta him must've made him go through a Quirk Awakening."
"Either way, we'll be more prepared for it this time," Crosshairs said, with a small smile as he held up the tracer. "And I think we've got the perfect bait for the trap."
Ochako sighed as she exited the classroom with her lunch, having just gotten through a rather boring lecture from Present Mic on proper sentence structure. "Yeesh. You'd think Pro Hero teachers would manage to make this stuff somewhat more interesting, but nope," she muttered.
"Tell me about it, sister!"
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the familiar voice, and turned to see the familiar pink-skinned girl with yellow horns and yellow and black eyes, Mina Ashido. "Sheesh, Ashido! You should wear a bell!"
"Nah, I'm not a cat-girl." She smiled and said "So, you wanna eat lunch with us?"
"Sure," she replied.
"Cool, see you there! I gotta grab something from my locker quick!"
As Mina ran offt towards the lockers, Ochako sighed. "How the hell is she so energetic after that boring lecture?"
Deciding it wasn't worth worrying about, she turned around to head to the cafeteria with them-
THUD! "OOF!"
-only to collide into someone, knocking whatever he was holding to the ground in a clatter.
Taking a step back she quickly said "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention and I-"
The person she ran into, a boy with bushy green hair and emerald green eyes, with four freckles on each cheek (which she honestly found kinda cute) smiled and replied "Nah, it's fine. I didn't see you either!"
The moment he spoke, her eyes widened. That voice! Is it?!
The boy's eyes widened too, meaning that he obviously recognized her, but he quickly smiled and said "Really sorry about that. My name's Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to meet you."
He held out his hand to her, and she could immediately see the message scribbled on it in marker: Cameras everywhere. We'll talk about last night later.
Understanding, she nodded and shook his hand. "Ochako Uraraka. Again, I'm so sorry. Let me help you pick this up."
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"Nah. I made this mess. I'll help clean it up."
Izuku seemed a bit confused by that, but then smiled and said "Okay then."
As she helped him pick up his stuff, her eyes fell on a green notebook with a big number 9[5] on it, that had a lock on it. She handed it to him and asked "What's in here?"
He immediately snatched it out of her hand and said "Sorry. But that's a personal project of mine that I really don't want people seeing right now."
The way he stressed the words personal project obviously meant that it had to do with his Spider-Man stuff. But while her curiosity was strong, his warning about the cameras helped keep it down.
So instead she smiled as she helped him up and said "Well, whatever it is, I hope it turns out well for you." She then saw the patch on his uniform and asked "You in the Support Department?"
He smiled bashfully and said "Yeah."
"That's cool. I'm probably gonna be seeing you after lunch then."
"You're in the Hero Course?"
"Yep. Class 1-A."
His smile turned into a full on grin. "Cool. Your Quirk must be pretty good to get in there."
She blushed at that. "Ah, it's nothing special-"
"Excuse me."
The two of them turned to see Kaina standing in the hallway, holding a bento and a bottle of water. "Not to break up this little friendship moment, but shouldn't you kids be in the cafeteria?"
"Oh, sorry Tsutsumi-sensei," Ochako replied. "I was just helping Midoriya here pick up his things."
"Wait, Tsutsumi-sensei," Izuku asked, before his eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. "You mean you're the Sniper Heroine, Lady Nagant?!"
Seemingly a bit off-put by his question, she replied "Yes. Is that a prob-" The sentence died in her throat as he pulled out a notebook and a pen from... somewhere. She then smiled and took the notebook and pen. "Let me guess, hero nerd?"
"Yeah," he muttered bashfully as she scribbled a quick autograph into his notebook and handed it back to him. "Ever since I was a kid. I was one of the few kids in my old school who thought you were innocent during your-" Realizing where his train of thought was going he immediately stopped and bowed his head. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
She held up a hand. "Kid, it's fine. I came to terms with all that shit a long time ago."
The whole debacle with the old Commission President and being used as their personal assassin had definitely made the national news, especially after Nezu had managed to get the footage she recorded and get it online. The legal battle took the better part of a year, but she eventually got out of Tartarus and exonerated for her past crimes (a fact that no doubt pissed off the new president of the Commission, she imagined.)
"Either way, you two should get to the cafeteria and eat your lunches. The last thing you two need is to go through the other half of the day on an empty stomach," she said with a smile. "Off you go."
As the two walked off, Ochako couldn't help but look at Izuku strangely. The revelation of him being Spider-Man was still going through her head, but she couldn't help but notice that he didn't seem to have anything on his person that screamed "spider!" No extra limbs, no extra eyes, no fangs (his smile was wide enough to see his teeth looked normal) and he wasn't particularly hairy. All in all, he looked completely ordinary.
Then again, I guess it works in his favor, she mused. No one would think someone who looked so unassuming could be Spider-Man.
Lunch passed by rather quickly for Izuku, since Ochako went to go eat lunch with the girls in her class (she offered to introduce him but he politely declined, saying he'd see her and her class later) while Izuku went to eat lunch with the rest of his class.
Before lunch was over though, he got a text from DECA telling him that she had some intel for him to check out. Once he got to a bathroom and saw it was empty, he asked her what she had for him.
She showed him security footage from outside Komori Cuts, the butcher shop that Himiko's grandmother owned and lived in. The footage was dated back for roughly three weeks before Himiko Toga went missing...
...and showed a suspicious looking black van with tinted windows sitting across from the shop, arriving at the same time every day and leaving at the exact same time every day.
"Okay, that's definitely suspicious," Izuku noted. "Anyone ever report this van?"
"Nope. On the subject of the van, it's a total ghost. No plates, no registry, and seemingly no record that it even exists."
"Even more suspicious."
"That's not all. When we tapped into those Hero Network Towers, I got access to a bunch of security cameras in the districts we got covered. You're not gonna believe what I found."
She proceeded to show several photos and short snippets of video, each of them showing the same black van that had been outside Komoroi Cuts. "Is there something significant about these areas it shows up in," he asked, not quite getting the point at the moment.
The screen of his phone then showed him several missing persons reports as DECA explained "Each location this van shows up at? Within two to three weeks, someone goes missing. All of them teenagers."
That definitely wasn't good. "About how long has this been going on?"
"It's hard to say. Until you get me linked to all of the HN Towers in Musutafu, I won't know all the data. But from what I've got so far... it's been going on for a few years at least."
He sighed. "Well between the van scoping out the area and all of this new evidence, it's pretty clear that Toga was being targeted."
"Clearly. How do you want me to proceed?"
"Look through all the records of the missing teens. Look for anything they might have in common, and I do mean anything: family members, backgrounds, where they come from, and especially their Quirks. Leave no stone unturned."
"Affirmative, boss," DECA replied.
"And fair warning, I might be showing you off to Class 1-A, if only to prove that I earned my way into this school instead of cheating."
"Why would you be worried about- Bakugo's in that class, isn't he?"
Izuku groaned. "Unfortunately."
"You know I still have all of that footage of him being a jackass sandwich supreme if you want expose him," DECA suggested, almost gleefully.
He pondered that for a moment. "Let's put a pin in that one, DECA. Maybe Tsutsumi might be able to drill some sense into that skull of his."
DECA groaned. "Fine. But the moment that he puts you in the nurse's office, all of this is going on the internet. Okay?"
Izuku nodded at that. "Deal." Hearing the bell ring, he said "In the meantime, time for class."
"You cannot possibly be that stupid."
It was a few minutes before the bell was to ring, and Kaina was in the Teacher's Lounge with Sekijiro Kan, AKA the Blood Hero: Vlad King, talking to the new Foundational Heroics teacher.
Though in Kaina's opinion, "teacher" was SEVERELY streching it, since Toshinori Yagi didn't even have his teaching license yet.
Then again, when you're Japan's Number 1 Pro Hero: All Might, the self-proclaimed Symbol of Peace, the HPSC is willing to give you some leeway (and the school board is as well) and make everyone else give you some leeway.
Kaina was not a big fan of the idea of All Might teaching at UA. Frankly, none of the staff (save for Cementoss, though even he admitted it was probably a bad idea) were onboard with the idea of him joining the staff. Not only was it a slap in the face to the other teachers that he would be teaching without having to go through the grueling process of getting a degree and an actual teaching license (something they all went through, she herself getting hers while she was in Tartarus of all places) but that was hardly the only problem.
While initially she had thought that it was simply his inexperience as a teacher, the things that All Might had just told her pretty much solidified her opinion of him.
That underneath his Herculean strength and his million-yen smile (which he was only able to show for three hours at a time due to his injury, which was a WHOLE 'nother can of worms) he was arguably the biggest idiot in all of Japan.
The now near skeletal Toshinori Yagi sitting in front of them (wearing his Silver Age costume with the cape, which made Kaina and Kan mildly annoyed since they both subscribed to the School of No Capes) innocently asked "What do you mean by that?"
Kan sighed. "Yagi, your brilliant plan for the first day is to have the kids do Indoor Battle Trials, with their Quirks?"
"Yes. I figured it would be the best way to see what these kids are capable of-"
"Did you seriously not watch the videos we took from the Quirk Apprehension Tests," Kaina asked, the annoyance evident in her voice.
"W-well that was just going through some tests. If these kids are training to be heroes then they need to learn how to fight, and I feel they can learn better by doing then just sitting in a classroom-"
"Oh for the love of God, do you think that's all the old teachers did," Kan asked exasperatedly, desperately hoping to get his point across to the blond moron. "Yagi, these are 15-16 year olds who have never used their Quirks in combat scenarios outside of the Entrance Exam, and certainly never on another living person. At least I severely hope not. They're not going to know the right amount of restraint and could potentially kill someone."
"Especially true when you remember that some of our students have really powerful Quirks. Todoroki can summon a friggin glacier from his right foot, Bakugo can make huge explosions from the sweat on his palms, Ashido's acid has all sorts of things that could go wrong, Kaminari could kill someone if he amps the current of his electricity up too much... And frankly that's not going into Class 1-B." Seeing the shocked look on Yagi's face, she smirked and continued "Shall I go on, or do you feel stupid enough?"
"You're assuming of course that they don't just bring the building on top of them," Kan added. "This is why Battle Trials like that are usually saved for halfway through the 2nd Semester. First half of the first semester is all about Quirkless Sparring and Quirk Control, halfway through going into Quirked Sparring to prepare them for the Sports Festival and their Internships. The second half of the semester is dedicated to limited battle trials in open environments and team exercises until the Midterm Exams. After Midterms there's the Summer Training Camp, then after Summer Break is the 2nd Semester where we go through more outdoor battle trials and team exercises. Once the halfway point is reached, THEN we go to Indoor Battle Trials. But even then, those are usually supervised by at least three other teachers to make sure that nothing too extreme happens!"
"That's of course when they're not having lessons on Rescue Training, Tactics, and Stealth Training," Kaina added.[6]
Yagi sputtered for a few seconds, before finally sighing in defeat and asking "What should I be doing for the first day, then?"
"Well, originally it was going to be a Costume Critique and Inspection," Kaina replied. "Those who pass my inspection would then-"
"Wait, you're inspection," All Might asked, confused.
"I guess you didn't get the memo. The homeroom teachers for the Hero Course Students have the final say when it comes to Internships, Work Studies, and Costumes. As such it doesn't matter if you sign off on them or not, they still have to pass our standards."
"Oh. Okay."
"Also, due to your lack of experience, Nezu has decided that Vlad and I will be running Foundational Heroics for our respective homerooms, while you are demoted to Teaching Assistant."
"WHAT?!"
"And if you have a problem with that, you can take it up with Nezu." The bell rang and Kaina said "Speak of the devil. I'll see you in Class, Yagi."
Before she exited the door, she looked over her shoulder and said "BTW, you show up in my class with that stupid and impractical cape, I WILL shoot you in your ass."
Once she was out the door, Yagi asked "She wouldn't really shoot me, would she?"
Kan laughed. "Yagi, she hates capes like yours with a passion. I'd say just do what she says and put on a different costume quick."
Once he left, Yagi sighed. "What do people have against capes?"
Izuku sighed as he watched as Class 1-A walked into the Support Studio behind the two teachers. One of course was Kaina Tsutsumi, who he'd met earlier. And the other...
He couldn't help but feel a bit of anger as he saw All Might walk into the room, not that his face showed it. He still remembered that day, even after a year had passed.
"I'm sorry kid. But it's impossible to become a hero. Not without a Quirk. It's better to keep your dreams realistic."
He couldn't help but scoff at that. Realistic? The only realistic dream for Quirkless people like me is to either save up enough money to move to a country where Quirk Protection Laws are actually enforced, or find a tall building with rooftop access and take the express elevator down. Moron.
He was jarred out of his thoughts when Power Loader finished his brief talk on safety procedures and the rules of this studio to everyone, before saying "Now, we have plenty of students who would be willing to help you make your costumes and your gear. Personal pick? Our top scorer on the Entrance Exam, Izuku Midoriya!"
Thanks, sensei, for putting me on the spot like that, he mentally grumbled, realizing there was no way out of this one.
So instead, he turned around and put his goggles up on his forehead, before giving a tentative wave. "Hello everyone!"
Almost immediately there was a very loud and very familiar shout of "DEKU!?"
To Be Continued...
[1]: She's an OC. And fittingly enough, her first name means Bat in Japanese.
[2]: Yes, this version of Spider-Man uses a voice modulator to throw everyone off of what his real voice sounds like. Because voice recognition technology does exist and could potentially get him caught. (And in my personal headcanon, Izuku's VA is Justin Briner, just like in canon. While Spider-Man's voice actor is Josh Keaton, AKA Spectacular Spider-Man. I would've gone with Yuri Lowenthal, but honestly his Peter Parker sounds a bit too... old, in my opinion. Josh Keaton still sounds just enough like a teenager to make it work.)
[3]: I'm basing that number of the real-life population of New York City, which I did point out in the first chapter that Musutafu was roughly the same size as it.
[4]: Yeah, no surprise but I'm not a big fan of some of these costumes. Not only are some of them just really poorly designed, but from a practical standpoint most of them are just terrible. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. You could make a drinking game out of how many people hate/redesign Hagakure and Yaoyorozu's costumes, which is well earned because they're the most egregious. Seriously Horikoshi, what the hell?!
[5]: Yeah, a bit of a small reference to how in Canon Izuku's the 9th wielder of One For All (and other reasons that Izuku doesn't know yet. Spoiler.)
[6]: So, I've seen plenty of fanfics (usual Dadzawa fics but a few that weren't) where a teacher absolutely reams All Might out for doing Indoor Battle Trials when those are usually reserved for 2nd Year students. I don't ENTIRELY agree with that statement, but I do think that starting them off in what is essentially a 2v2 Deathmatch was NOT the right way to start off the year. Vlad King already listed my reasons for thinking that, and also gave what I felt would be a much more thought out and better paced lesson plan for the first year, with some additions from Kaina.
So yeah, cutting it off here because this feels like a good place to stop. Once the New Year starts we'll get his new threads and Round 2 with the Fixers.
Also yes, he has bioelectric Venom powers similar to Miles Morales. Because they're awesome. If you're wondering why I went with red lightning instead of green, it's because his costume will eventually be green and I wanted them to stand out a little better.
Also, he meets Ochako (AKA best girl in MHA) and she accidentally learns who he is. More on that next chapter.
Also also, Toga Himiko is not a villain in the making in this story. Because what happened to her in MHA Canon is a travesty and she deserved better. So much better.
Hope you guys enjoyed. Until next time, EXCELSIOR!