Something so significant does not just simply become misplaced. What may be the only means of sustaining All Might's career as a pro hero does not just go missing. This doesn't happen when it comes to a state of the art invention that has so much potential use. And yet, when David Shield returns to his lab in the morning to study what Tsukauchi referred to as a 'symbiote', the symbiote is absent from its storage unit. At the man's sides, his fists are clenched due to frustration; the man's additional appendages clamp closed their metallic pincers in a similar expression of that same stress. He's not only embarrassed by how he's been compromised but he's humiliated as well that this had to happen now of all times while All Might himself is visiting.

Since nobody but himself had known previously about the symbiote, it's highly unlikely that any other researchers or staff came overnight to move it elsewhere. Not to mention, there's a carved circular cutout of a hole in the glass that had been keeping the symbiote contained. Someone stole his scientific specimen. The unthinkable has happened. Security has been dispatched all across the island and all exit routes have been put on a temporary lockdown. In the meantime, David deems himself fortunate enough to have an ally within law enforcement to help; Tsukauchi was not just a detective but now holds the title of police captain elsewhere. Tsukauchi inspects the crime scene for him better than any of his own security workers would be able to. This is the researcher's single saving grace at this moment in time.

Even without caution tape streaming across all entrances and exits or any of that other fancy stuff, it's a pretty elaborate setup Tsukauchi has made. Along with the rest of the ex-detective's luggage, he packed his work briefcase. A collective kit of tools for field work is kept handy by David's fellow workaholic just for occasions such as this one. Whereas guys like Toshinori would make fun of them, such precautionary measures clearly pay off when they need to. It's something that David can be grateful for, at the very least. He watches his old colleague, and just as age old friend, work diligently within the cordoned area. It's fascinating to see firsthand and would be rather entertaining if done under different circumstances; the fact that this is no crime documentary though and that the police work affects him detrimentally changes his attitude towards watching & waiting.

"No fingerprints", the investigator eventually finishes dusting around the empty cylindrical container and solemnly shakes his head, "As to be expected but always worth a shot.." David takes the update of bad news well for someone who lost something so important; the scientist refrains from expressing any disappointment outside of an intense frown. But still, Tsukauchi sighs as he starts to stand; he wore a pair of latex gloves so as to not contaminate the crime scene but peels them off since they aren't very useful anymore. Or so he starts to – he stops when getting up from his crouch in order to squat back down – from the corner of his eye, he catches the glint of the piece of glass that had been removed from the containment unit. "Hold on now.."

While such an insignificant detail can very easily go overlooked, Tsukauchi deems the additional piece of evidence worth dusting for prints as well. And it pays off. He gets a whole handprint out of it. He and David exchange a matching set of grins. The odds of getting this lead were slim and they both know how fortunate they are to have gotten this lucky. Tsukauchi bags the evidence so that he can run an analysis check back in his private room. It may not be the same as a crime lab or having the full police DNA database at his disposal, but there he can cross check & confirm with his travel laptop through the precinct's system. Not to mention that's probably where Tamakawa is still sleeping in, so he can wake up his lazy co-worker and get a second opinion.

While Tsukauchi packs to get an early start on the processing, he notices his friend still has reserved worries. "I appreciate the discretion surrounding this", David glances about as though some stray reporter is about to get the scoop of the century on him; for I-Island's reputation to be brought into question could cause quite the commotional concern. Tsukauchi has qualms about keeping things under wraps since it reminds him of how he'd done the same for Nezu, but this is his close friend that it also feels different at the same time.

"Of course", the police captain places a hand on his friend's shoulder to offer some sense of consolement, "Any time" David looks at the physical contact before having one of his robotic arms gently lift Tsukauchi's hand away – a second mechanical limb lightly dusts off the spot that had been touched – Tsukauchi would be offended if not for the highly stressful situation that must be affecting the poor guy. What with what transpired at U.A, nobody wants another scandal on their hands. The last thing anyone needs is for there to be some sort of panic about a potential security breach on I-Island.

But, of course, before Tsukauchi exits the research facility… one of David's staff enters through the same set of sliding doors with more bad news. The two nearly bump into one another, having to twist at the last second to avoid doing so. The police captain, with all his prior years of experience as a detective, is able to pick up on this person's troubled demeanor much like David's. "Mr. Shield!", the staff shoots Tsukauchi a quick glance before wiping a bead of sweat from their forehead, "There's something you should see!" Tsukauchi looks back, wondering if it's something that he should get to see too.

David makes his staff sweat some more with what may as well be a death glare. "I thought I told you and the others not to disturb us..", his mechanical arms follow behind him as he stalks towards his employee; the robotic limbs lift above their wielder's head to convey a more menacing mode of appearance, "That had not been a request. That was an order. Are you incapable of following orders?" Tsukauchi himself starts to feel unsettled; this is a side to his friend that he has never seen before.

"Yes sir! I mean – no sir!", the I-Island personnel fidgets whilst cowering under the looming shadow of their boss. But bravely, they still carry out the duty of delivering the message that they came to tell. A tablet gets produced for the worker to share, a security screen displaying air traffic. "But.. There's been an unidentified aircraft seen approaching the island", David's employee nervously glances at Tsukauchi again out of fear that sharing this information with anyone other than the boss man himself can invoke more of David's wrath, "We have been working on making radio contact but it looks like the aircraft wishes to land here."

Tsukauchi raises a single eyebrow. "Think it's connected to.. ?", he trails off for the sake of his friend and not mentioning the missing symbiote in the presence of another person; instead, he indicates towards the empty cylindrical container with a flick of his eyes and feigns clearing his throat. That the timing of an unexpected visitor would come now seems like a strange coincidence that he thinks to give it more than a single thought. The detective part of his brain believes someone has come to retrieve the stolen specimen.

But David attempts to alleviate any of those concerns by otherwise saying, "No. I think I know who it is. I'll go and meet their arrival myself.." There's some uncertainty to the assurement since there is no absolute sure way of knowing that but Tsukauchi trusts his friend enough to just nod along and accept the island director's decision. Maybe there's potential investors and business associates coming by for a board meeting that Tsukauchi doesn't know about and this all truly is a matter of bad timing.

"Very well", Tsukauchi bids farewell with a wave in any case before he turns to go, "If something changes though then you have my number to give me a call" Since the breach, security has tightened on the island. If this unidentified aircraft does happen to be something out of the ordinary, then Tsukauchi imagines the guards staffed on the island can handle it just as well as he'd be able to – if not better since he's technically meant to be off duty and on vacation – so there's no need for him to linger around and provide his friend extra security coverage like a bodyguard.

David waves goodbye in return, both with one of his birth given appendages and one of his robotic tendrils. Only after Tsukauchi leaves does he exude his full disgruntlement with a heavy strained sigh. The employee who came as the bearer of bad news quietly sneaks off as to not upset their boss any further. And then, only once he's been left fully alone does David exude his disgruntlement with any sort of verbiage, "Wolfram..", he spits out the name like it's a curse word and it just may as well be exactly that.

A helicopter slowly descends from the sky, hovering over what is typically a restricted private helipad. However, now, the airzone is made available to the aircraft as a special exceptional case. David Shield himself waves away security personnel to not occupy too much space on the rooftop. Once things are cleared away and made accessible for the copter's pilot, the mechanical bird steadily drops and touches down. On landing, the chopper's rotary blades continue to still spin. Large lappings of wind blow David's labcoat and hair behind him as he strides forwards to greet the helicopter's occupancy.

David stops at the foot of the grounded aircraft. As he was expecting, the man that he had dealt with previously is aboard the helicopter. He just wasn't expecting for the man to have undergone a slight change since then. What steps outside of the helicopter and onto the rooftop are heavy metal foot soles. Covering the rest of him, and his face as well, is more metal; part of that armored mask is shadowed by a hood covering that connects to a much longer dark green cloak. The emerald cape billows behind the man as wind gusts channeled by the copter brush against his form.

David knows full well what kind of man it is that he's dealt with preceding this physical change in appearance, that he has entered into the world of villainy through black market trades, but this is his first time truly seeing the truth of that reality. Before, his 'associate' may have had a scar to suggest some less than legal activity, but covering that facial mark in such an extreme way somehow seems to define a villainy status more-so. David addresses the illegitimate businessman with an uncertainty that he should have felt before already having tried forming an alliance previously, "Wolfram?"

The hooded figure tilts his head up, the shadows draped over by his cloaked covering receding enough for him to meet David's gaze. His eyes narrow as they squint through the slits in his metallic mask. "I have acquired a doctorate since our last meeting and would much prefer to be addressed with that honorific", the tone of the fiendish fellow's voice is that of a commanding kind and not suggestive of allowing David to address him as anything less.

David isn't used to being intimidated these days. Now, more than often, he's used to being the intimidator. But being haunted by his past sins & mistakes has a way of making him feel as weak as he did back then to stoop so low. He buckles under pressure and bows his head, "My apologies.. Doctor.. ?"

The villain that had previously just been 'Wolfram', a crooked dealer and not to be trifled with but still just that, now generates an aura that belongs to a completely different kind of identity. His cape blows behind him and the sun starts to sheen off of his armored body. "Doom, will do.."

"Doctor Doom then…", David ducks down a little lower – any more of a bow would have him be down on one knee – but he refuses to grovel at anyone's feet regardless of who they are. When he straightens his posture again, David looks the hooded criminal in the eyes. Sure, the two of them are acquainted to an extent, but that relationship should be history. Why it's not leads him to asking, "To what do I owe the 'pleasure' of this visit?"

"This is more than a visit, Doctor Shield.." Doom surprises David by having his pilot hand him a stack of paper documents, which in turn gets handed over by Doom to David. To put it short and bluntly, the forms are in regards to ownership of property. "I am commandeering your island within the next twenty four hours."

"What?!", David crumples the papers in his hands while his robotic arms respond just as aggressively by bending around as though to rip the documentation to shreds, "How so?!" That he could have possibly been somehow tricked into forfeiting I-Island's ownership through their prior processes doesn't sit right with him. He demands answers. "What is the meaning of this, Wolfram?!"

But in David's brief bout of anger, he forgets who it is that he's giving opposition to. He's reminded when Doom raises an armored hand and his helper arms respond to the motion by also raising; the limbs are controlled by some form of magnetism, or rather a metal manipulating quirk, and bound by a whim of their manipulator's mercy. "Doom", the doctor's deep villainous voice vocalizes an even greater amount of displeasure coming from him to rival David's, "My name… is Doom."

David looks up at his helper arms that have been so easily rendered completely helpless in a matter of a single motion. His eyes are wide with horror as he begins to sweat from the stress that starts to overtake him. Those arms are made of a special rare metallic alloy that he doesn't want to risk them becoming damaged. They are as precious to him as an inventor as his daughter is to him as a father. He pleads and begs for Doctor Doom not to punish him by destroying one of his greatest works, "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Doom suspends David's additional appendages further as he contemplates whether or not he'll accept the man's apology. The glare he gives his fellow doctor from behind the eye holes of his metallic mask is unforgiving; however, Doom's actions are more merciful than his stare when he ultimately decides to release his magnetized hold on David's helper arms. "Our prior arrangement.. You promised me power to enhance my quirk if I helped you achieve the means to do so.. It was a costly mistake you made to try severing that contractual agreement."

Before deciding to develop the symbiote for All Might, David had originally thought to build a quirk amplification device. This plan required resources that he couldn't obtain through traditional methods. Before making a switch to an organic approach within quirk enhancement studies, he had contracted hired help from Doctor Doom (previously known then as Wolfram), but that deal fell through when those changes in research came about. David had thought nothing of it back then since they never moved forward with anything. Clearly he thought wrong.

"Did you not think the written forms I had you sign to negotiate terms was worth reading? Did you believe our transaction to be so under the table that it would not have any legal binding?", Doctor Doom strides forwards and past David to leave behind the man who is nothing much of an obstacle in his path anymore.

But David is still in denial. He turns to follow closely behind what he had believed to be a visitor but has now become very comfortable in staying as a thorn in his side. It'll be a major headache and quite possibly could be more scandalous than a project being stolen should it come out, but he's willing to fight this even if it must go to court. David dares to declare, "You cannot have my island."

"MY island", but Doom clarifies what's already been finalized in formal writing that deems otherwise. "I can", he keeps walking with his back turned to the previous land owner, "And I do."

Wolfram has changed since they last met. It's like the quirk amplification device was completed and utilized – but that's impossible without David's aid, so that can't be it – it's evident that the villain has progressed in power somehow whatever the method though. David considers what Tsukauchi suggested that this could tie to the symbiote having been stolen but there's no way it could have been delivered prior to the helicopter's transportive arrival so that can't be it either. "How?!", David wonders where it is else that he could have gone wrong, "How have you made yourself this way since then without me?!"

Doom pauses his stride. He stops to respond but doesn't fully look back to acknowledge his former 'partner' either. "I made the same arrangement we had with another client", his answer is as simple as that he had another offer from somebody else, "The promise of power that time was sealed by an agreed upon vow.." However, this elusive dealer doesn't sound all that simplistic when Doom adds, "Your relationship to All Might has cost you since the man I met with wanted to harm him by extension of harming you this way."

All Might has tons of enemies, as any pro hero does, so it should be expected that any one of them might resort to underhanded tactics of attacking All Might through his allies & friends … except, from the sound of it, this particular enemy of All Might's doesn't sound like just any run of the mill villain. David wonders if the villain in question is one and the same that started this in the first place – All For One – the ultimate villain who gave the ultimate hero a fatal lasting injury which led to the current condition of things now. That must be it, since All Might shared during a conversation about disclosing his origin that All For One is capable of transferring & enhancing quirks much like the nature of One For All as a power. Wolfram likely received a form of quirk enhancement from All For One and has since then been transformed into Doctor Doom.

Whereas All For One sought to use this as a means to get at All Might in some capacity, Wolfram accepted the villain's deal for the sake of wanting some form of vengeance on David Shield. Contractual obligations & agreements aside, this was a way to show he can achieve their goals on his own while simultaneously taking away everything David has worked for. When David stepped foot into the dark oceanic vastness of villainy, he had only been dipping his toes in a shallow section, but he is now being drawn in by the tide. It's now up to him whether he will adapt and learn to swim or whether he will wind up drowning in that darkness. The robotic tendrils that are attached to David Shield swim for the doctor, circling the scientist like sea snakes.

"It was nothing personal when I canceled our deal", David calls after Doctor Doom one last time when it comes to the grudge that they both now mutually share. He glowers at the villain's cloaked back like the cape flowing from it is a closed curtain that he desires to tear down in order to prove that things are not actually over just yet. The best he can do for now is try to get the last word in, "I thought I needed you previously but then I realized I didn't!"

But it is DOOM, and as well DOOM itself, that forever shall have the final word. "Precisely, my fellow doctor…" David Shield is left standing alone to be lost in the wind while Doctor Doom takes I-Island for himself. "It is now I who does not need you."

The light forensics investigative kit Tsukauchi brought along with him lays open on his bed, not being anywhere near quite as lazily strewn or sprawled out the way that Tamakawa is on the bed directly beside it, but just about as orderly placed as Tsukauchi's work laptop that runs processing analysis from atop a work desk. When the processing work on the analyzed handprint Tsukauchi brought back bleeps to indicate it has finished, the sound alerts the two policemen that a match has been made DNA wise; chills cover each of their bodies – though that's likely due to the air conditioner being put on blast AND the windows being propped open because of Tamakawa's shedding – though to Tamakawa's credit, he hops up with attentiveness to join Tsukauchi at the computer when the time to work arrives.

When they both peer over at the screen in front of them, their chills subside at the same time as the room's air conditioning cutting off & the breeze blowing in through the open windows ceases. Tamakawa scratches behind one of his triangular cat ears, "Well.. That can't be right..", his whiskers downturn with his scrunched up expression of confusion. According to the database results, the DNA match that has been produced is a teenager of all possible people to identify as potential suspects. The kid doesn't even appear to be the punkish delinquent type; he's got a full head of hair instead of a buzzcut and freckles instead of bruises or scars. Even the kid's name, Izuku Midoriya, isn't all that incriminating – it's more cinnamon roll than SINnamon roll – it just doesn't add up.

But when Tamakawa looks over at his partner in law enforcement, he sees that Tsukauchi is actually taking this kid's involvement seriously under consideration. "I know this boy..", Tsukauchi has had way too many 'coincidental' encounters with Izuku Midoriya to be as dismissive about this as Tamakawa is. It doesn't matter that the kid has ties to U.A and a photojournalism career in the making, the kid also has ties to vigilantes and all sorts of other trouble. Tsukauchi knows that this kid has ties directly to Spider-Man and if Spider-Man is somehow involved then that just about resolves the mystery right then and there – or rather, here and now – he stares at the screen expecting it to be a glitch he's seeing but knows this is the truth.

The irony in how this piece of evidence came to link Izuku Midoriya & Spider-Man as a connection to the night prior is that it doesn't even have to do with the theft itself despite there actually being a connection. This handprint of evidence just so happened to come into the former detective's possession because the part of the glass container Black Cat carved a hole into just so happened to be the same spot Izuku Midoriya had touched when visiting the lab with Melissa Shield & Momo Yaoyorozu. Yet again, this makes for more than just happenstance or one too many coincidences. It's just dumb ol' luck – or, in this case, unluck – Izuku would be cursing the Midoriya Misfortune yet again if he only knew.

Tamakawa does a doubletake while trying to process what Tsukauchi said about knowing the suspect for their current case. "Eh?", he has to flick his gaze between the picture of the boy on screen and his partner several times while blinking, "EH?!" He may have an investigative bone or two that flexes from within his body when mulling over that connection, "Is he your secret love child?!", or he might not have any investigative bones at all and only a singular funny bone.

"NO!", Tsukauchi tries slapping some sense into his dumbass partner by whacking the off duty cop upside the head. The flustered police captain shakes his head over the sheer stupidity before sighing and saying, "But.. He may as well be my responsibility to take care of.."

Tamakawa rubs the back of his head where he was hit while taking another crack at figuring out his colleague's connection to Izuku Midoriya, "..He's adopted?" The look Tsukauchi gives Tamakawa makes the poor guy's hair stand on end as he flinches back believing that another wallop is bound to happen.

Tsukauchi spares smacking Tamakawa again for the sake of not partaking any more in animal abuse than he already technically has. He instead delivers a verbal blow to the cat-like cop, "This is why you never made detective", though that jesting may be just as damaging.

"That's just mean", Tamakawa's ears flatten as he sulks for a second. When finished goofing around though, he puts his hands on his hips and gets back to business. "But seriously, you think this kid stole something overnight? He doesn't seem to be the type."

"He's not", Tsukauchi looks back at the ID of Izuku Midoriya that's been pulled and recalls all the times that he saw that face in the flesh, "I mean.. probably not.." Things have come quite a ways since then and they have had plenty of misunderstandings before so he tries not to dwell or jump to any conclusions. "I guess we won't know for sure until I confront him", Tsukauchi instead decides to head out and get the answers straight from the source.

Tamakawa cocks his head to one side, "I noticed a severe lack of 'we' in that sentence", he wonders whether he needs to slide his slippers on or not to get out of the hotel room while putting them on anyways.

Tsukauchi spares his comrade a glance before grabbing his signature coat & hat that he so much loves to wear. "You're staying here until you stop shedding", it's like the police captain can't wait to get back out in the field to perform detective work again and a lost kitten following him around will only get in his way.

"Again, that's just being mean.." Tamakawa feigns having his feelings hurt by placing his hand over his chest where his 'wounded heart' is. Funnily enough, he licks the back of that same hand to run over his fur, which goes to prove Tsukauchi right about the shedding at least.

"Not even", Tsukauchi offers the cat-like cop a smile before reminding him of the reason that they're staying in a hotel on I-Island in the first place, "We're supposed to be on vacation" That reminder coupled with some extra reassurement gradually does the trick, "If the kid IS involved then he'll tell me and we'll figure it out. It's nothing for you to be concerned about."

Still, Tamakawa crosses his arms over his chest and hums to express his hesitancy. "You gonna tell that to Mr. Shield?", it's not often that personal feelings arise as a conflict of interest when it comes to his friend but he feels the need to point out that this particular case hits kinda close to home.

"The less he knows about this for the time being the better", Tsukauchi waves off those concerns along with the others before walking out the door, "He didn't want things being blown out of proportion anyways."

If that is the case… "Yeah, yeah" Tamakawa falls backwards onto his bed to resume resting, "Case closed then!" Per captain's orders, he figures he actually can stay behind and let this all resolve itself without him. "Wake me up when there's REAL trouble!"

Little does Tamakawa know that his last comment rings true. There's about to be a lot of really real trouble that will keep him wide awake for many nights to come.

I-Island is more than a wonderworks for scientific innovation. It's a home. The island is a place where a little quirkless girl who is different from everybody else can grow up without being ridiculed by others. I-Island is where Melissa Shield was raised by her father in a sheltered environment – much like a protective bubble, she was daddy's princess in a custom built palace just for her – and so she's known not much of anything else. As such, to have that safe sanctuary be compromised is a world shattering event to experience for her.

Melissa comes face to face with cold hard reality – and metal – when Doctor Doom arrives in the same stationary as her. I-Tower, the epicenter spire of the island, is where an open broadcast PA & televised service allows for announcements to be made. Growing up, even when she was no more than six years old and sitting in her father's lap, Melissa has always been making morning advisements and giving commentary. This had been a day just like any other until she was joined in the tower's announcer booth.

The girl is scared to see the hooded visage of Doom, along with her befriended guests from U.A who have seen enough villains before to know when they see one now. Hitoshi Shinso nervously glances at Izuku Midoriya, the two of them being more-so the odd ones out along with Melissa when it comes to experienced Hero Course kids. Meanwhile, the heroes in training are anxious themselves, wary to act or make any moves. Shoto Todoroki stands protectively in front of the group, preventing Itsuka Kendo from doing so first. Behind him, Momo Yaoyorozu and Setsuna Tokage back up along with Toru Hagakure. Eijiro Kirishima and Kyoka Jirou exchange a quick look, sharing the same sentiment that they're not given permission to act without having acquired their hero licenses and so they must idly stand by. Denki Kaminari just stands there and stares with a bewildered look, completely confused by what is transpiring.

"I hereby declare that this island now belongs to me", Doctor Doom hijacks the morning announcements to make his own opening statement, "It shall be renamed Latveria and anyone who does not have residency as a Latverian will be exiled by force" The bold declaration causes many mutterings. A few people believe it's a joke of some kind and snicker over the absurdity. But Doom makes it apparent that this is no joke rather quickly, "Anyone who disobeys my decreement will find their rebellion is punishable by death."

Everyone watching and listening, even if somewhat startled by such a statement, wonders how someone can say such a thing on an island mostly populated by heroes; they feel safe so long as there is no given reason to the question of why they should think the heroes won't keep them safe. Doom has their answer currently present with him in I-Tower. "These children will be eliminated should someone dare to defy me", the villain turns the kids into hostages to utilize as a bargaining form of blackmail, "I want all of those who should oppose me off my island by the next hour.. "

Toshinori watches while stuck in his debuffed form, feeling helpless to do anything even as All Might so long as children's lives are at risk. It doesn't matter that he can transform and travel from his hotel room to I-Tower in a matter of seconds if going there would only cause more harm than good. Pretty much the same goes for every other pro hero currently vacationing or visiting the island. If not even the number one hero is able to step in and save the day then any number of them trying to do anything would absolutely make things worse.

David is scared to risk losing his daughter but the protective will of a father won't let him just wait around either; the doctor is afraid of losing everything that he has built and so his pride won't allow it all to be stolen. He begins heading for I-Tower, believing Doom will at least be willing to negotiate if it's him that appears and not a hero. He carries with him a security tablet, watching the broadcast from its small screen. The thing is, the tablet is useful in more ways than that. It also allows him to manually override all island functions with a master control key. If push comes to shove, he can activate a self destruct sequence and sink the entire foundation as a failsafe.

The only other person willing to act anyways is Tsukauchi Naomasa. He had been en route to the tower regardless, hoping to find and speak to Izuku Midoriya. Now, he heads there to climb it and reach the top for the sake of stopping this madness. Doom may have an eye out for heroes but someone as unsuspecting as him may have a chance of sneaking in. The police captain considers himself crazy for going without a firearm or any other defensive weapon. But, if there's anything working with a vigilante as of late has taught him, sometimes someone needs to be a little crazy if it means having the will to try.

But having the will or not to make a definitive move of what's right or wrong in this set of circumstances can come even more into question when confronted at the source of the presented dilemma. Doctor Doom is a seasoned villain that knows there are bound to be people who think they can get one over on him. Decisively, to let the heroes and anyone else witnessing his hostile takeover know that he means business, he makes an example of what he had promised he will do. It's not a matter of whether or not he'll begin killing to prove his claim, it's a matter of whether or not there will be an end to the killings.

"Dare to defy me .. and I won't stop at one", Doctor Doom casually waves for one of the children present to be removed from his vicinity. The villain's quirk responds to the motion by springing the metal flooring forward from under their feet.

Izuku Midoriya is thrown outside through the window behind him that shatters upon his abrupt departure.

Izuku is used to free falling from tall buildings. As Spider-Man, he does this kinda stunt stuff regularly. Now is no different from those other times. Aside from the unexpectancy of it, of course. Whatever the case may be… He's able to react well with his akimbo form before spinning himself over to catch the tower's siding. His fingers slide along the wall until planting down a tad firmer to make himself stop from slipping any further. Even with shoes on and just his hands to work with, he hangs on tight to the tower.

Izuku looks up to make sure nobody sees him from the window that he got tossed out of. A quick glance down confirms he's still too high up that someone shouldn't be able to see him from below either. His secret identity is safe. For now. Which is what exactly? Ten seconds? Izuku thinks about what the heck he's going to do. He's not got his 'Bag Man' paper bag with him to use as a mask again. And he can't NOT go back up there to try and stop a villain from potentially harming his friends.

Izuku wishes he had his Spider-Man costume. In response to that desire, something as alien as a meteorite passing by in the shape of a shooting star starts to take its own shape. From the bottom of his foot, the symbiote that had slithered its way onto his body starts to stretch across his leg and travel up his torso. Izuku chokes out a gasp but his reflex to shout is swallowed when he himself is swallowed by the dark substance. His wish to have his costume grants him a suit that coats him in a newly colored version of an otherwise Spidey inspired theme.

As black as it is a dark shade of purple, Spider-Man's new style is fully fitted to his form. His eyes convey his mixture of shock & confusion through the signature white patches that his old costume featured on its mask. A matching shade of white shines through as a symbol spreads across his chest and carries along his sides to his back; a large spider emblem covers his abdomen to make his identity apparent without any need for a web pattern on the suit. Izuku shudders as the symbiote crawls along his skin, its free flow of liquidized movement breathing as a second layer of flesh.

There's a lot happening all at once right now. He's found the stolen symbiote. Which isn't a good look for him – well, it IS a pretty good look fashion wise – but reputation wise, he's sure it'll make him look bad. There's also the matter that the symbiote is more than just a suit; he can feel it responding to his thoughts the way it had when gifting him this customized mode of wearability. He's as freaked out by a living lifeform on top of him as he is amazed by it. But all of that can wait because, last but not least, there's a villain back up in the tower who needs thwarting of evil plans.

"Midoriya!", most of the remaining children cry out for their friend who was just ejected from the premises. Some of them express woe in the form of tears while others express their grief with glares of anger.

Doctor Doom's returned glare tells everyone that the same fate will be bestowed unto them should they try to foolishly avenge their fallen friend. But of course, kids are recklessly naive & irrationally emotional. Only one of the teens, a boy with electric blonde hair, appears smart enough to grab the girl beside him and restrain her from also being foolish.

An invisible girl rushes forward, along with a boy whose skin hardens to solid stone & rock, as well as another boy who has flames on one side of his body, and a girl whose fists inflate. The small team stands at the forefront of two girls behind them who are still wary about what to do. The villain they face would find it amusing if not for being overridden with feeling irked by their insolence, "You four truly think you can challenge Doom?"

"Maybe not – but how about a single spider?", though all attention shifts from their potential standoff to a new challenger before a fight can begin anyways. A dark suited figure enters from the tower's broken window opening, springing forward before landing in a crouch ahead of the U.A students and Melissa.

Doctor Doom's patience has been tried and run thin to the point of running out. Whereas he doesn't recognize this interloper as a licensed pro hero, the villain is true to keeping his word should ANYONE interfere. He wants the island and its inhabitants to know who's to blame for the repercussions that are about to be invoked, "Who are you?"

"I'm the emissary from hell…", the dark figure quickly alternates from stance to stance to showcase his prowess before striking a final pose, "Spider-Man."

"SPIDER-MAN?!", varying degrees of surprise comes from the tower's occupants. Whereas some are relieved to see him akin to when All Might arrived at the USJ, others are worried about how the interloper's interference will further affect things. If one emotion can be mutually shared though, it is certainly the shock of seeing Spider-Man there at all.

"Ignorant fools", Doctor Doom expresses his annoyance with an outward display of power by shaking the tower's metallic foundation. Plated pieces of infrastructure lose their integrity as they are peeled off by a seemingly magnetic manipulative force. Doom raises his hands and the place bends to his every willed whim.

During the show of force from Doom, a part of what gets caught in the controlled radius is the announcement booth's control station. The camera setup is crushed and consumed by the magnetic field that washes over everything metallic. With the feed to what transpires in the tower cut abruptly, the heroes are at an even more insurmountable disadvantage in knowing what to do about the hostage situation.

Toshinori looks up from the screen that lost connection to any broadcasted footage and instead stares at the tower itself that resides in the distance. He clenches a hand into a fist. He wishes to transform and go there immediately. But… "Now, it is your turn.. Spider-Man!" Toshinori leaves it to the vigilante since there are still too many unknown variables to go interfering with the hostile takeover himself. He'll have to wait to see his students and Melissa exiting the tower before doing anything rash.

Spider-Man springs from the floor that becomes unhinged beneath his feet. He refuses to allow a repeat of what happened last time with himself getting tossed out the window. As he moves to dodge the tower's surrounding metal that is being manipulated, he makes sure to keep Doom's attention all on him. The U.A students seem to get the underlying hint that this is his strategy and get right to evacuating the premises. They start funneling into the emergency staircase to escape – which is probably for the best considering the elevator is bound to be out of order now – and things look to be going smoothly.

They go smoothly up until Doom catches sight of their exit in his peripheral vision. "There is nowhere for you to flee from me", the villain motions for the staircase to be sealed shut by layers upon layers of metal. In doing so, only a few of the hostages are able to make it out.

Setsuna Tokage splits herself in two before she can involuntarily be chopped in half. It's ironic that she made so many comments about Spidey's ass when it's her lower body that remains in the room and her upper half that makes it into the staircase. Melissa Shield doesn't have a quirk like that to save herself though. She's well within proximity of being crushed without any means of getting out of harm's way.

Spider-Man jumps down, making haste to try and reach her. Without his web shooters, he's not able to pull her away in time. Alongside him, having been blocked off and held back, is someone who has a means of reaching Melissa instead though. Mighty Jab – MJ – uses a form of black whips to wrap up Melissa and pull her out of harm's way.

The symbiote senses this method of snaring as a similar form of webbing and dispenses elastic tendrils of its own akin to the black whips. Spider-Man is surprised to discover he has an organic method to spinning 'webs' when his newfound costume mimics Itsuka Kendo's quirk. And better yet, this version of 'webbing' proves to be much stronger than his usual formula. The tendrils bind Doctor Doom and keep the villain from squirming in the slightest.

"Well.. How about that.. ?", Spider-Man utters his awe aloud. Much like the symbiote granted his wish to have his suit back and responded to his will by creating one, it actively fulfills his desires more-so with wanting webbing too.

He looks back to do a headcount of who was left behind and who made it out of the room. All he sees is Melissa, Itsuka, and Setsuna's legs. It's not the worst odds but Doctor Doom is still able to control metal despite being physically restrained so they're still a liability. The villain is relentlessly ruthless by attacking them all along with the vigilante.

"So why Doctor Doom? Why not Magneto? You could've kept the cape and helmet shtick, but your name would have made more sense!" The best he can do is try and distract the villain with his usual quippy commentary. Doom seems to have a short enough temper to fall for it. "Was it the color scheme? You were dead set on having a green cape and not a red one", it sure enough works when Doom directs most of the manipulated metal Spider-Man's way.

"Silence!", the villain turns beams into narrow points to try and stab Spider-Man with spikes. Fortunately for the vigilante, he's much more agile than the others to be more than capable enough to dodge those attacks as easily as the previous attacks.

Spider-Man keeps it up, drawing Doom's focus from MJ and Gwen. "Latveria is a stupid name for an island too – why not go with Genosha – I'd hate to think what your name was before becoming Doctor Doom with the track record you've got!", the vigilante maneuvers to avoid getting caught up by the spikes but it takes his Spider-Sense alerting him for him to realize the walls are closing in now. He gets trapped in an iron coffin of sorts.

"Spider-Man!", MJ worries for the vigilante's safety when she sees him sealed inside a steel box. But her concerns are quickly quelled when he breaks himself out of it just as fast as he was trapped inside of it.

"You're gonna have to do better than that", Spider-Man reels Doom in with his tendril-like webbing while applying pressure to their hold. The metal armor encasing the villain begins to cave in from the force. Doom's eyes grow wide, as do Itsuka's and Melissa's. Spider-Man's squint into thin lines.

Spider-Man whips Doom down into the ground, a strong impact denting the floor. Under the pressurized strain of the binding tendrils, the villain starts to lose concentrated control of the tower. But Spider-Man is squeezing him so much that he just might pop like a can of tuna – except it won't be tuna that comes spraying out – the intensity of how far Spider-Man is willing to go is brought into question.

"Ease up!", Itsuka uses her own black binding whips to grab ahold of Spider-Man. She gives him a gentle tug in an effort to snap him out of his current state. The small head turn of a glance that he gives her makes her instinctively retract her quirk. But seeing as how he's not released the villain, she just might have to snare him again anyways.

It doesn't come to that since her disruption did distract him long enough for the villain to regain some semblance of strength. "Unhand me at once!", Doctor Doom retaliates by dismantling the foundation of the tower and making it cave in on itself. The building buckles and bends which causes Spider-Man to have to let him go in order to use the black whip replica as a means to swing and not fall.

Itsuka lassos Melissa by her waist so that they don't fall from the deconstructing tower. But unlike Spider-Man's liquid extensions, her black whips have a limit to their usage. Her training has helped her with the time of duration that she can bring them out but it's a new skill set that is yet to be fully developed. Itsuka feels her ability to keep the black whips conjured is slowly exhausting to a close of what's possible at this moment.

Itsuka winces and grits her teeth as she strains to surpass her limits. Not wanting to take any chances with how much longer she can hold out for, the girl performs a hail mary upswing of a throw to bring her roped catch up onto a higher ledge. Melissa screams all the while as she's moved by the slowly dematerializing extension. Before Itsuka's black whips fully dissolve and retract, they do manage to get Melissa over a platformed area. Melissa lands roughly but it's better that way than the even rougher way that would have been from a much worse landing should she have fallen.

Spider-Man swings around twisting and contorting metallic beams as Doctor Doom distorts the top of the tower into more of a pointed spire. Their battle causes the lower half of the destabilized structure to slowly dwindle in resources as parts are moved upwards like a deadly giant game of Jenga. These shifting pieces make Itsuka and Melissa gradually lose more and more space to stay supported themselves. Soon, the girls will have nowhere left to go and will certainly fall to their demise if nothing is done to stop Doom.

Spider-Man sees the floor below about to fall through and recklessly abandons his post in favor of trying to save the girls. Doom seizes the opportunity to pin the webhead with binding pieces of metal. Spider-Man's strength impressively bends the steel but Doom just as promptly bends it back into place. It's an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object as they fight for superiority in who can outlast the other. The only problem is that this endurance test isn't boding well in Spidey's favor with a time limit on how long the girls have to hold out for and not just himself.

"Watch and know that their demise is your fault", Doctor Doom knows that the odds are in his favor as Spider-Man struggles to get past their battle in order to rescue Itsuka & Melissa. And worse yet, it truly will be the vigilante's fault if he fails since he was the only one to intervene in the hostage situation.

MJ uses her recently acquired float ability to hold out a little while longer. But that aspect of her quirk too is limited to what she can handle for now. The girl is tired enough already from using black whip excessively and her stamina is going from dwindling to draining fast. When there's nothing beneath their feet to keep them from plummeting to a certain death, that's the worst time possible for the hero hopeful's power to run out. She and Melissa grab onto one another as they brace themselves.

Suddenly, something swerves directly beneath the two girls and catches them before they can fall further than a few feet. It's the Fantasti-Car! And it's being piloted by Black Cat of all people! She must have stolen the vehicle to make use out of it. Why she's using it here to help is beyond Spider-Man's understanding but he ultimately decides not to look a gift horse (or cat in this case) in the mouth.

"Sorry I'm late", Black Cat cracks a smile to go along with her wisecrack as she flips her white locks behind her head, "Couldn't do anything with my hair."

Spidey breathes a sigh of relief, "Yeah", he gets back in the mood to bounce banter off of her and gratefully quips back, "That's why I wear a mask."

Black Cat cocks her head like a curious cat, as though she's only just now noticing he has a different set of attire compared to when he was wearing a bag over his head. "Mmm, yes, love the new threads!" Whether she means it or she's just saying that because she recognizes the symbiote and wants it for herself is lost to Spider-Man but he takes the compliment anyways.

Hovering alongside the Fantasti-Car, also stolen from the Future Foundation exhibit, is the odd little robot that had been disabled while on display. H.E.R.B.I.E flies beside its creator, Melissa Shield, and drapes one small mechanical arm across the inventor's shoulders while throwing up a gang sign with the other. "Look who has two fine babes and a cool car!", the robot has a quirky personality of its own to match the two teenagers' energy, "I'll give ya'll a hint! It's not any of you!"

Doctor Doom, however, is the odd one out in being light hearted or whimsical. The villain ceases the carefree casualty of everybody's commentary by reaching out towards H.E.R.B.I.E with his metal manipulation quirk and closing his hand into a fist to magnetically cause the robot to cave inwards and become crushed. H.E.R.B.I.E dies while releasing an electronic whine, its voicebox destroyed along with the rest of its body.

Black Cat swallows a lump in her throat in order to get some semblance of a joke out ever still, "That's our cue", though she dares not to stay there for Doom to get fed up with her quips too.

Except, when the cat burglar – also vigilante? anti-hero? – steers the strange ship that is the Fantasti-Car … it doesn't get very far. Doctor Doom shifts his hold from H.E.R.B.I.E's remains to the flying vehicle. The car crumples at its corners as the villain's magnetic grip tightens in order to prevent it from leaving. Not just is the aircraft held still, it starts to be pulled forcibly inwards. The ship's turbines sputter as it struggles to go anywhere with its thrusters being opposed by Doom's power.

"Whoa, that's awesome, you're like Darth Vader" Izuku Midoriya as an observer is fascinated by the display of power and his inner nerd geeks out while wishing to perform quirk analysis. As Spider-Man, he's horrified by the prospect of what it is he's up against and how he's unable to save his friends. He hides his horror with humor but his squirming from within Doom's bindings gives it away.

Fortunately for Spidey, somebody else other than Black Cat has arrived to get involved. A robotic tentacle reaches across the tower and grabs Doctor Doom by the wrist to tug his arm back. The brief interference breaks Doom's concentrated hold on the Fantasti-Car long enough for Black Cat to enable a full boost blastoff. The aircraft rockets away to move the girls to safety, Setsuna Tokage's legs hopping in at the last second to also escape. Doom locks eyes with the wielder of the robot tentacle, David Shield.

"First you try taking my island and now my daughter?!", David uses the additional arms to carry himself up the tower so that he can join Doom and Spider-Man at the top, "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged", Doctor Doom raises his other hand in order to shift his magnetic control onto David's helper arms, "You seem to forget easily what it is your inventions are made out of."

Having the metal manipulation moved from his bindings to David Shield allows Spider-Man to get himself loose from captivity. "Not all his inventions are metal!", the vigilante flexes the muscles that he used to overwhelm his steel prison and the symbiote that enhances their strength output ripples over them, "Let's finish this."

"Yes", Doom waves for David to be discarded and fixes his focus back onto facing Spider-Man, "Let's!"

The forceful shove from Doctor Doom tosses David off the tower's spire. He falls for a short while but his helper arms recover soon after and reach back out to latch onto the building's siding. He comes to an abrupt halt before crashing into a panel piece that serves as a platform. His harsh landing makes the tablet that he brought with him fall free from his lab coat. Its screen cracks as it bounces from just as rough a fall.

Up above, Spider-Man sprouts a mimicry of MJ's black whips that serve just as well as David's tentacles do. The additional web limbs swing Spidey through Doctor Doom's tornado of metallic tower parts. Doom tries slamming steel pieces into the vigilante but they are avoided along with any spike shaped components from the tower. Residual shrapnel and debris falls from their suspended fight and rains down upon an already destabilized structure. A single screw drops along with everything else and hits David's tablet.

That tiny tap is all it takes to activate the island self destruct sequence that David had readily prepared.

Sansa Tamakawa springs up from his bed, frightened by a sudden shrill alarm sounding, and awoken from his nap. When he stumbles across the room in a still dreary daze, he grabs onto the room window's ledge to look outside. What he sees with blinking bleary eyes makes him hope that he's still sleeping and what's happening right now is nothing short of a nightmare. The hotel occupants, along with the rest of the island's residents, appear to be dispersing out onto pathways in a frenzy. An alarm wails while they hurry to get going.

It takes Tamakawa a second to register that this must be some sort of evacuation. Everybody is looking to get to the boats and planes before anyone else and this has caused a crazy commotional panic. If there has ever been a time or a need for a police officer, it's now so that there can be some proper crowd control. He hurriedly runs out the door so that he can get to work. As he races through hallways, he produces his police badge to have people make way for him. His other hand digs out his cellphone so that he can call Captain Naomasa.

People roughly butt shoulders with him while trying to squeeze by. It gets even worse outside where the crowds have started climbing over the top of one another. Civilians and heroes alike are starting to get trampled by a stampeding sea of people. Tamakawa himself has to duck under an awning not to get knocked down. He holds his phone close to his ear while it rings so that he can hear if Naomasa answers; screams and shouts make it hard to hear the dial tone but he strains to listen and waits anyways.

When the line clicks over, Tamakawa has to shout over everybody else's shouts, "WHERE ARE YOU?!" His eyes frantically search the sea of civilians passing by for the police captain just in case Naomasa got caught up in it. What he winds up looking at instead is I-Tower when the structure bends & buckles like it is about to topple over. It's that same time he hears Naomasa give a location and he realizes it's one and the same as what he's seeing fall, "YOU'RE WHERE?!"

Toshinori had no choice but to enter his empowered form as All Might. The island's occupancy was too distressed to do without someone to offer some semblance of hope. He helps with the evacuation process while trying to keep things as orderly as possible. It's not putting a stop to the villain who caused this disaster in the first place but it's better than doing absolutely nothing either. He periodically looks upwards to check on the status of the battle on I-Tower. Spider-Man hangs in there pretty well but it's still an ongoing fight he really wishes he could involve himself in.

He whirls around when hearing something that sounds like the pop of a gunshot. Everyone ducks down but he stands tall. It wasn't the sound of an attack. It's a busted flying vehicle with a damaged engine coming in for a landing. It takes All Might a second to realize the people using it happens to contain his successor and his niece. "Melissa! Kendo!", he hurries over to wrap them in a hug when seeing that they got away from I-Tower safely.

"Uncle Might! Dad is up there!", Melissa holds her uncle back and refuses to let go despite her directed worry being that he goes to help her father.

All Might tenderly pulls away from the scared girl's embrace so that he can get going, "Don't worry. I'll bring him back. You get on one of the boats."

But Melissa grabs one of his hefty arms to prevent him from leaving. "No! I'm not going without you or dad!", she refuses to be part of the evacuation so long as her family stays behind.

All Might starts to protest, "Melissa–"

But the girl is as stubborn as they come. "I'm NOT going without you!", she may not fare well fighting against the tears in her eyes but she does stand her ground when fighting the pro hero on this matter.

"I want to help too", the hero's successor isn't very different in that regard either. Itsuka looks back at the masked girl that came piloting the damaged aircraft and– ..a pair of legs? "What about you?"

The mystery girl sighs and shakes her head like she doesn't like the idea of tagging along. All Might would have been grateful for at least one of these girls to have some sanity in order to spare him the trouble. Except… "Why the hell not?", this one seems to be just as resolute as the rest afterall.

All Might sighs and shakes his head too. He reiterates the stranger's statement, "Why the hell not?"

Spider-Man is so preoccupied dodging Doctor Doom's attacks that he nearly fails to account for David Shield's robotic arms being thrown into the mix. Thanks to the boy's ingrained danger detection, he narrowly avoids getting caught by a stray mechanical tentacle. When he lands on a steel beam some distance away, he looks at David with a bewildered stare. "Dude?! What the heck?! I thought we were on the same side!"

David grimaces at the notion of teaming up with Spider-Man. While his helper arms work to steer & navigate him, he points with one of his regular arms to aim a finger in the vigilante's direction. "You took my first attempt to save All Might and now you're stealing my second one!", David believes Spider-Man stole the spider specimen and has now taken the symbiote specimen – as far as the doctor is concerned or aware, Spider-Man is a thief and just as bad as Doctor Doom – he thinks he has two enemies to deal with here.

Spider-Man flings himself from the beam that he's posted on before it gets ripped away by Doom's magnetic pull. When Spider-Man spins a symbiotic web strand, he swings in a wide arc to then avoid getting caught by David's additional appendages. "I know this is gonna be hard for you to believe but it was completely unintentional", Spider-Man tries appealing to the scientist as he stays at a safe distance.

David chases after Spider-Man, not willing to listen. He believes it's an illogical ruse and demands logic by shouting, "Both times?!"

If they could have a nickel for each time a misunderstanding of stolen power occurred, they would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but is strange that it happened twice. "..Yes..", Spider-Man honestly has no other answer to give.

Doctor Doom sees David Shield with his back turned. On the back of the helper arms is a telepathic receiver. Doom figures if that gets damaged then the robot limbs will be rendered disabled and useless. He forcibly pulls with his power for the receiver to be removed. It gets torn out in a flash of sparks. David cries out with agony as his tentacles frantically flick around in response to having a severed brain transmissionable nerve connection.

"Shield!", Spider-Man worries for the man who crumples over in pain. Sure, David Shield had been attacking him, but he's sure it was just a big misunderstanding that could have been worked out. He didn't want the poor guy to get hurt.

"Worry about yourself", Doctor Doom redirects Spider-Man's attention by sending another flurry of fragmented metal parts. The flying objects pass by the vigilante and crash behind him.

Spider-Man jumps down to deliver a kick against Doom's chest. "It's YOU who should be doing the worrying!", the blow knocks the villain backwards.

As Spidey and Doom duke it out, David Shield clambers back to his feet. His hand shakily reaches behind his back where the receiver to his helper arms was ripped off. Before his fingers can brush against the dangerously exposed mechanics & wires, a helper arm grabs him by the wrist to prevent an accidental self-inflicted injury. Whereas Doom thought the receiver was a power outlet for the mechanical limbs, the receiver in reality was actually a way for David to communicate and control his tentacles through a neural connection without them being able to control HIM in return. Without the receiver, his helper arms are able to have an influence on his mind.

The helper arms were designed to help him, but their prerogative can confuse the human mind's balance between rational and emotion. When he sees Spider-Man with the symbiote, the belief he has about it being stolen is backed even further. He thinks about how he had the spider specimen taken and now this. He sees Spider-Man as a menace much like Doom. The helper arms want to help him get the symbiote back. Even if it means peeling the symbiote off from Spider-Man's lifeless corpse to remove it.

Across the way, Spidey sees David's recovery and makes the mistake of being relieved. "Oh, THANK GOD, you're okay!" He's not expecting the armed & dangerous individual to begin attacking him again. When the mechanical limbs sweep and swing at him, he hops out of range. "Hey! What gives now, Doctor Octopus?!"

David pauses, turning his head to one side and nearly doing a doubletake. "What did you just call me?", his breath is heavy as he hisses his contempt for the title that's been bestowed unto him by the vigilante.

"Doctor Octopus?", Spider-Man stops momentarily too in order to look back at the inventor gone mad; one eye squints while the other expands in order to convey an expression of befuddlement, "Doc Ock? Science Squid? You know.. Cause–"

"Yes, on account of my added arms" David disrupts the quippage in favor for trying to silence the irritating wisecracks. He lacks any real sincerity in complimenting the vigilante when he angrily shouts, "How clever of you!"

"Thanks! I try!", Spider-Man continues to flee from fighting who he still considers to be a respectable scientist. David Shield worked alongside All Might. That's something he'll always have to hold the man in high esteem for. Maybe they are at odds with one another now but he figures things will be resolved after he deals with Doom so that he can properly explain things. Until then.. He dodges, jumps, ducks, and runs.

Meanwhile, Tsukauchi Naomasa finally begins to reach their level. Where stairs were sealed off and dismantled, the captain of police took to craftily climbing and parkouring a rough terrain. He dangles from bent support beams and clings to jutted out corners to use as restful ledges. There's no looking nor going back as he continues to ascend the tower's heightened reconstruction. It's when he reaches the top that he makes it just in time to make a decisive change in the ongoing battle.

Naomasa sees Doctor Doom preparing to pull the floor out from under Spider-Man and David Shield. Utilizing the element of surprise that he has while he still can, he grabs Doom's cloak from behind and pulls on it as hard as he can. The villain falls off from the lack of remaining flooring instead of the vigilante and the scientist. Doom grabs ahold of David's helper arms as a lifeline to prevent falling any farther. And Spider-Man, who had been tangled in between the two, gets caught up in their wrestling as well.

Everyone drops down a level. The structure destabilizes even further. Spider-Man bats Doctor Doom where the remains of the foundation gives in and the villain becomes pinned under rubble. But 'Doctor Octopus' is able to hold up the collapsing wall with two mechanical arms while grappling Spider-Man with the other two.

'Doc Ock' looks around at the environment and surmises with a hum that his opponent accounted for it. "Perspicacious boy", he's slightly more sincere with the compliment that he gives this time. But only slightly.

"Gee", Spider-Man struggles against the doctor's robotic bindings with a grunt of effort, "You know such big words doc!"

David bashes Spider-Man against the collapsing wall ahead of them. Then again. Twice in quick succession. Like how someone would hit an insect that they want to flatten.

That does it. I-Tower no longer supports itself to stand properly. And without Doctor Doom to magnetize the integrity as a last resort, the monument can't hold up anymore that way either. I-Tower buckles and breaks before capsizing. Everything crumbles as each floor falls and the layers cave inward. David releases Spider-Man in order to use his arms as a means to stay alive. The symbiote attached to Spider-Man reacts with protective 'webbing' to prevent getting rattled around too much. Doctor Doom becomes further buried. And Naomasa tumbles with everything else that falls.

Smoke clouds the vicinity of the disaster zone when everything crashes into a huge heap of scrap metal. Dust drags along everything on the site as a huge wave of debris. The island itself quakes from the collapse of a centerpiece and quakes with a responsive timing of self destruction. All around, other buildings begin to break down. Slowly but surely, I-Island – or Latveria or whatever it's called – all of the island starts to sink.

Spider-Man lays under a beam that fell on top of him. Before he can toss it off of himself, the symbiote that he's wearing shifts the girder to be pushed aside on his behalf. The symbiote even pushes him to his feet with tentacle-like-webbing so that he doesn't have to struggle to stand. It tends to him per his thoughts as though it has an autopilot function enabled to help him out.

But before he can be grateful or gush over the specialized suit's capabilities, Spider-Man's momentary development of awe discovering power gets interrupted. David Shield, the symbiote's creator, grabs Spider-Man by the throat. Three more robotic tendrils ensnare the rest of Spider-Man so that his movement becomes limited.

Despite his clear disadvantage by being bound within David's mechanically engineered arms, Spider-Man chokes out some trash talk. "Good thing you're a doctor.. Cause you're gonna need a lot of bandaids when I'm done with you, pal!"

David glowers as he pulls Spider-Man a little closer. The two are practically nose to nose now. "I'm not that kind of doctor..", his whisper is full of vexation and meant to be menacing.

Spider-Man would admit to being intimidated if he weren't already on a self destructing island out in the middle of nowhere. He keeps deflecting his anxieties and fears with humor per the normal status quo that he is accustomed to, "Let me guess.. Marine biologist?", but he can only do that for so long until time runs out.

And time does run out. All at once.

It's then that the cavalry arrives. A search and rescue team assembled of All Might, MJ, Black Cat, and David's daughter splits up to scout the area. It just so happens that Melissa Shield is the one to stumble upon her dad and Spider-Man locked in a feuded staredown.

It's then that the collapsing island loses another foundational monument. One in similar size to that of I-Tower when it existed. The falling structure crumbles into debris directly above Melissa and is about to fall right on top of her. She'll be buried and killed simultaneously if caught under the raining detritus.

It's then that Naomasa stumbles out of the smokey surroundings to see this all happening. He runs and jumps to reach Melissa before the debris can. His tackle is just enough to push her away from getting caught in the collapsing rubble. But his tackle is not enough to get himself out from under the building that was dropped.

"Captain Naomasa!", Spider-Man cries out in anguish as he watches the man that he's become close with make a heroic sacrifice.

"Uncle!", Melissa looks back with horror to see the same.

Whatever remains of David Shield recognizes both his daughter and his friend caught up in this awful turn of events. It's enough to make him release his hold on Spider-Man, at the very least. But the self preservation that his helper arms have as a prerogative overrides the rest of his mind that he chooses to flee rather than stay.

"This isn't over", he gives Spider-Man – whom he blames for this entire disaster – a final glare goodbye. And then his arms carry him up and away. He built this island. He knows where hidden escape pods are and anything else that he can to ensure his survival.

Spider-Man lets David go. He cares more about his ally who just got crushed by debris. He hurries over to the man's side. A strength that he doesn't usually display helps him to remove the rubble and drag the police captain out. But it's still too late. Naomasa's lower half is mangled and bloodied.

"Kid..", Naomasa rasps out with what little remaining breath that he has a wry laugh. He looks up into Spider-Man's masked face. Until the facial covering peels back to unveil Izuku Midoriya. "Kid.."

Izuku sheds silent tears. Which is a rarity for a Midoriya with how wild their weeping waterworks typically are. "No.. No.. Captain Naomasa.. Tsukauchi..", he cradles the dying man's head while mourning the loss of his partner, "I'm so sorry.."

Thus marks the loss of another father figure. He closes his eyes and invisions Naomasa together with his father and Tokuda. They're all looking at him as the smoke dissipates on the site and he's left alone with a corpse. "Not you too.."

Melissa Shield was too occupied with chasing after her father to witness Spider-Man's despair. "Dad?! DAD?!", she calls out to the vanished inventor even after he has left her.

When she looks back at Spider-Man, the vigilante's face is covered again to conceal his identity. He stops holding Naomasa and slowly stands up. Spider-Man turns just as slowly to face her and says, "I'm sorry for your losses… I know how it feels.."

Melissa becomes furious. She approaches the dark suited figure and points a finger directly into his chest where his spider insignia is located. He looks down as she shouts the question, "What would YOU know about losing an uncle or a father?!"

Spider-Man says nothing.

Moments later, the sounds of shouting and footsteps draw near. The callouts belong to the rest of the search & rescue party that came with Melissa. She turns to respond to them, "Over here! We're over here!" But when she looks back, Spider-Man is gone, and it's just her who is standing there.

All Might runs up with his successor and Black Cat to see that he has arrived too late to save anybody. "Tsukauchi..", the hero is without his usual smile when finding his friend is dead. When his niece hugs him and begins to cry, he knows that Tsukauchi isn't the only friend that he's lost there this day either.

Black Cat recedes from the tragic scene while mourning is in progress. Only Itsuka notices. But Itsuka does not stop the mysterious girl. She understands that Black Cat is like Spider-Man in some essence and figures she owes the anti-hero her life anyhow.

When Black Cat leaves them behind, she finds Spider-Man watching from afar on one of the few remaining buildings yet to be caught in demolition. She climbs up behind the brooding vigilante and asks, "Is this your first time losing someone while it's on your watch?"

Spider-Man continues staring ahead, not bothering to look back. He responds, "No. No, it's not."

Black Cat says nothing more after that. She understands that he wants to be left alone. So she goes for good this time.

Izuku Midoriya arrives on one of the few remaining evacuation boats with the last of I-Island's rescues. He's covered in ash and soot, as well as a few scrapes, but it's his internal wounds that really bring him down. He sits down and finally allows himself to rest. In doing so, all of what had been put off by adrenaline catches up to him and he starts to feel defeated. He looks at himself and despite his newly acquired power scoffs with sadness.

All around him, he sees the sight of his failure here today. As the boat begins to depart, he watches I-Island become enveloped by the ocean behind him. The other people on the boat look just as awful as he does. A man with an anthropomorphic cat quirk holds a badge in his trembling hands. Yaoyorozu creates a blanket to cover herself and Melissa with. All Might's once powerful form is now a deflated husk of woe and misery, one of the hero's hands holding MJ's.

A hand grabs Izuku by the shoulder, startling him. Especially since the hand isn't placed there gently to be consoling. It's a rough grab. He turns and looks up to see that the hand belongs to his 'friend' Hitoshi Shinso. "There you are! What the hell happened back there?!", Shinso has questions as always that exhaust & annoy Izuku further, "Don't tell me your pal Spider-Man saved you and then did all of this!"

Across the surface of Izuku's skin, the symbiote rustles; it's a quick movement like the tremble of a horse when a fly bites it – a gesture of mingled disgust – he shakes Shinso's hand off his shoulder and stands up to face his 'friend' head on.

"We're so sick and tired of all your whining!", he snaps at Shinso with a bitter bite to express his irritation.

Shinso staggers back a step, shocked by the sudden outburst.

It's so out of character for his friend that he didn't expect that sort of thing. He doesn't expect Izuku to storm off and leave him standing there either. Sure, they've been having their disagreements as of late, but he never actually thought or meant to break their bond.

If Izuku Midoriya were completely in control of his right mind, maybe he would have realized the same since his Spider-Sense didn't register Shinso as a threat despite the roughness of that shoulder grab earlier. Maybe Izuku would have realized his friend's aggression was coming from a place of concern for his well being.

Hitoshi Shinso and Izuku Midoriya are then left wondering the same thing… Is there anything left between the two of them? For the both of them and their friendship, is there still a we?

AUTHOR NOTES

You really thought Naomasa could escape the canon event fate that comes with becoming a police captain? I just HAD to do the iconic Captain Stacy death in some manner. Sorry, but not sorry!

And now, also thus officially begins the symbiote saga! I hope it's everything you and everyone else is hoping for, CapoPerk!

My aim is now to knock you OFF your feet, Nova-x-Prime! Thanks for being invested in the story so far!

I was saving the Wolfram/Doctor Doom topic for my reply to you, theMAX360, since you came extremely close to figuring out that character meshing. I did originally plan to do a Magneto & Genosha thing (which was instead written as a quip) but it turns out Wolfram's character was actually inspired by Doctor Doom that the character meshing was there the whole time. The armored mask and Doom even having metal manipulation as an ability kinda worked out with the character and what I did previously with some Future Foundation nods.

Thank you for finding my story binge worthy, Wizzard War, and for catching up! It means a lot!

Animeworld2.0, I could've sworn I gave you permission already. Yes, you or anyone else who wants to share my story in some creative capacity are able to do so, just please be sure to provide proper credit! Thank you for asking!

Until next time, hang tight my dear readers!

-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!