Between his Spider-Sense and the symbiote's second set of acute awareness as a dark passenger, there aren't many things that can shock or startle Izuku Midoriya regardless of if he's in or out of costume as Spider-Man. That's why somebody actually managing to sneak up on him from behind makes him flinch harder than if he were to instead have been straight up attacked; all that stops him from reacting in any other manner is the fact that his danger sense didn't warn him, indicating that whoever came from his blind spot is no genuine threat to react with hostility towards since there was – is – no hostility to begin with.

"Yo! Midori-bro!", Eijiro Kirishima drapes an arm around Izuku's shoulders – why his Spider-Sense didn't trigger or the symbiote didn't warn him when it feels like one of Doctor Octopus' metallic arms caught him instead is beyond him – but, also, he remembers Eijiro Kirishima as a good hearted 'bro' enough to actually understand how the Hero Course student got the drop on him if this is to be taken seriously. He just doesn't understand what Kirishima says next to have warranted this sneaky surprise, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Both of Izuku Midoriya's eyebrows raise until nearly to the point of elevating past his forehead and then flying completely off his face. He winds up stuttering when a second round of shock surges through his system, "Y- You have.. ?" He doesn't know Kirishima THAT well – nor does Kirishima know him that well – they're more like acquaintances rather than being fully friends. So what warrants the occasion of Kirishima acting all chummy so suddenly is the type of question that probes at the young loner's mind.

Kirishima's form of probing is more physical – in the sense that he picks at the pointed teeth in his sheepish smile. He forces down what looks like a wince to his expression. He then uses his free arm – the one not still basically headlocking Izuku; and it's technically his hand that he uses – anyways, he uses it to scratch behind his head of pointy red hair. "Er, well, I was doing so on behalf of your cousin…"

Izuku shakes his head – just slightly, but enough – to clear it. He was too busy focusing on the wrong things like how Kirishima was acting anxious rather than what Kirishima was actually saying. Now, Izuku needs to figure out what the heck Kirishima means by him having another surprise visitor. Izuku inquires by asking, "Cousin?", since … well … he doesn't have any cousins for relatives – not any that would be coming by to see him, at least.

Kirishima turns slightly pale. That's perhaps a tad bit funny since it should probably be Izuku between the two of them to be having that sort of reaction to this news. "Oh shit – was it meant to be a surprise? – don't tell em I told you then but he came here to find you for a visit!" Fortunately, the kind hearted hero hopeful is too busy slapping his palm against his face to realize he should be turning pale for a different reason. Out of all the misunderstandings that could be had, this may be the best one for Izuku though.

"That IS a surprise", Izuku goes along with what might have to be his cover story for what is actually going on while also trying not to be too insincere. "Thanks, Kirishima!" He shows his appreciation, at the very least, and then hurriedly heads in the direction that Kirishima came from to see if he can find this 'cousin' of his.

"Sure, bro, catch ya later!" Kirishima waves goodbye to the Gen Ed student despite Izuku having his back turned. Luckily, he doesn't notice how Izuku managed to break free from his arm hold during the abrupt exit. But he does notice how fast Izuku weaves through the crowd of the cafeteria. "Dude is always in such a hurry…"

Having just finished collecting his tray of lunch food during this moment, Katsuki Bakugo happens upon the scene to notice the exact same thing at the exact same time. His face basically has a natural frown at this point, but for the lack of a better way to describe an expression outside of his resting bitch face, he frowns. "Oi! Shitty hair! What was that crap about with the nerd?"

Kirishima turns around to see Bakugo. "Nothing really", he shrugs the prior interaction off as no big deal – unaware of how far from 'nothing' it 'really' is – but he does also happen to pause to consider things for a second more to curiously add & ask, "Didn't you two grow up together though? You didn't tell me Midoriya has a cousin."

Katsuki Bakugo's face tightens & twists like he tasted something sour despite having not taken anything off his tray to eat yet. "That's because he fucking doesn't…"

Kirishima tilts his head to one side, his slightly agape mouth of pointed teeth with such a motion making him look like a confused puppy. "Huh? No way! They looked practically like twins!"

Bakugo looks past Kirishima to try and get a good look at where his neighbor went, and maybe also to try and get a good look at this supposed 'cousin'. But all he sees is the cafeteria patrons pushing past one another to claim a table or a tray for their lunch period.

"Tch", Bakugo blows off the odd instance and gives up on trying to figure it out. He instead works on finding his own place to sit down for a quick meal, "Whatever.. It's not my fucking problem."

Thanks to the assistance of the symbiote and his spider powers, Izuku Midoriya will be able to catch up with his 'cousin' rather quickly. Fortunately, most people are too occupied at U.A's mess hall grabbing grub during this hour to notice anyone racing through the hallways. He's able to bounce off the walls without worrying about somebody seeing his abilities on display. He's also able to crawl out through a window and then scurry behind the back of the school to cut off his supposed cousin's exit route without causing a fuss with any teachers or peers.

Izuku manages to get the drop on his phoney familial relative this way – literally – by hopping down from above to corner his quarry by the school's dumpsite, he catches his target off guard. He pins what seems to be someone around his same height and age against U.A's waste container. "Hey there, 'cuz' .." And when he gets a good look at the fellow, he can understand how Kirishima made the mistake thinking that they are related. It's a boy with an uncanny resemblance to him.

"Hello", Izuku's doppelganger is only momentarily phased by the sneak attack before he grabs Izuku's wrist and begins to gradually pry the grip away, "Quite the greeting – but you're not the only one with spider strength" Even his voice sounds exactly the same. Aside from their hair and eye color, they could easily be perceived as twins.

Izuku's eyes are wide as they witness what comes as one shock after another. Then, through gritted teeth, he growls. "Apparently not", Izuku fights back to make sure this potential imposter doesn't get away. "But what about a symbiote?", he moves his 'cousin' from U.A's dumpster to a wall; the symbiote boosts his strength, causing an indent in the brick when the doppelganger gets slammed into it, all while it covers Izuku in a disguise as Spider-Man.

The doppelganger is overpowered and pinned in place for good this time. He marvels at his twin's superior skill and the transformation of the symbiote as a suit. "You got me there", his breath is a little winded but he shows no signs of resisting any further.

That's an especially very good thing to be the case since the commotion that they caused earned some attention. "Over there! I heard something!", a distant voice shouts but it gradually grows less and less distant as footsteps draw near.

Both boys whip their heads in the direction of what can be a disruption to their personal squabble before returning their gazes to looking at one another. "We both know it wouldn't be good for this altercation to happen out in the open", Izuku's possibly long lost twin proposes an idea for the both of them to not be interrupted, "Shall we go discuss this somewhere more private?"

Izuku – Spider-Man – spares only a second to think it over. Regretfully, there isn't much of a choice to be made nor is there the time to make any choice anyways. He lets the boy who is wearing his face go and nods to convey an agreement to a temporary truce, "Fine.."

When some school staff rounds the corner to the trash dumping area, both the boys are gone from being sighted. As a twin pair of wallcrawlers, they did what they do best and scaled the school's walls. Now, they convene on U.A's rooftop away from prying eyes or ears.

The.. 'other' Izuku.. He still sticks to the side of the school. "Not convinced that I'm your cousin yet?", he shows off the skill to adhere to the surface as though that is proof to his relatability to the OTHER other Izuku.

Izuku, suited up as Spider-Man, squints his eyes as he stares suspiciously at his second self. It's going to take a lot more than sticking to walls to convince him of anything. "If we really were related then you'd know that our spider abilities aren't something that was inherited", he aims a finger at his doppelganger as though he's poking a hole in what's obviously a made up tale.

At that, the doppelganger smiles and nods, admitting to some of what he said being bogus. He hops off the wall so that they can chat a little more personably. "Fair point, Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku's mask peels away – there's apparently not much of a need for it currently – and he fixes his lookalike with a serious stare. "Yes, we've already established that you're rather knowledgeable about all of this…" He crosses his arms over his chest and demands an answer to what the heck is going on, "Care to explain why?"

Izuku's lookalike leans his head back and closes his eyes. In that moment, he looks both fond of his technical twin and somber about what they share. "Ya know.. We technically are actually cousins.. Kinda.."

Izuku, still skeptical, narrows his eyes. "Is that so?", he uncrosses his arms in case he needs them to spring into action with.

But the other boy remains rather tranquil. He doesn't open his eyes. Nor is there any Spider-Sense activating to warrant hostility from either of them. "I like to think of it that way, at least.." He sighs and opens his eyes only when saying, "Putting it simply .. one of us is a clone."

The rooftop gets so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard if one were to be dropped. Izuku isn't sure whether he wants to laugh or scream. All he can do is respond with a question laced with disbelief, "...A clone?"

"I know! I know it sounds crazy but hear me out", the self proclaimed replica of Izuku gets more animated with some wild waving of his arms. "I woke up in a room being experimented on and barely made it out", but he settles down when getting serious again, "I think that some time in between the camp attack and All Might's retirement was when the League of Villains nabbed us – the real version of us, I mean – and one of us with our memories is living a lie."

Izuku takes a step back. He really wishes there was a chair behind him so that he could sit down. Whether what he's being told is true or not, that's a lot to take in. "That's quite the story..", he warily watches his copy as closely as possible.

"It gets better", Izuku's clone waits a moment before sharing more since he can see how hard it is for his other self to process all of this information, "I had to go into hiding to throw them off my – our – trail.." A second moment of silence passes between them – this one is for them to think seriously about how this correlates to their secret identity. "I changed my name to Akatani Mikumo and dyed my hair black–"

"At least you didn't go with making it blonde", Izuku suddenly interjects by jokingly discrediting the story with a wave of his hand.

Seeing that his other self still isn't fully convinced, the other Izuku gets a brief bout of anger. "This is serious!", he crosses the rooftop to grab his copy by the scruff of the symbiote.

Both boys are surprised when the symbiote reacts to the interaction in a strange way. Rather than protecting its host… it transfers over to the other version of Izuku.

Izuku's mouth hangs open, a gasp escaping as air leaves from his throat, all while he sees the transference happen. He can FEEL the disconnect from the symbiote. "H- Hey! What the– ?!"

The living costume coats the other Izuku in a fully fledged Spider-Man suit instead now. "See? Even the symbiote is confused about which of us is the real deal!", the self proclaimed replica now isn't just self proclaimed with this promising development of proof.

"That.. Yeah.. The symbiote wouldn't abandon the genuine article..", Izuku breathes heavily despite being left breathless. He looks at what has the appearance of himself and wonders how Spider-Man separated from Izuku Midoriya even works. "Would it?"

Izuku's twin places a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "At least you believe what's happening now.." The consoling gesture is appreciated and actually feels brotherly somehow.

However, the odd situation still doesn't allow much room for a full development of trust just yet. "To a certain extent..", Izuku knows that it's best to remain cautious. He asks, "Do you remember where the place you escaped from is?"

This question seems out of nowhere. The eyes on the Spider-Man clone's mask widen. "Yeah, but–"

"We should go back to it", Izuku interrupts his copy in order to leave no room for argument. He wants to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. "Together", he also figures he has some reasonably convincing incentive since his copy is apparently more trusting of him, "Two Spider-Men are better than one, afterall."

The second Spider-Man slowly nods his head. "That does seem to be really our only option.. Other than getting together to loop eachother in first, of course!" It doesn't take him much more convincing to get him on board afterall.

But what the duplicate of Izuku said gets another thought to cross Izuku's mind about this whole clone thing. "Uh.. There's no OTHER clones of us running – or swinging or crawling – around?", it's a concerning question that he has to make sure he gets an answer to … to make sure they'll all be 'looped in', of course.

The second Spider-Man shrugs. "Hopefully not", his tone tells Izuku that he is worried about the prospect of other clones too but maybe not for the same reasons.

Izuku sighs as he shakes his head. "We'd better get to that freaking cloning lab of yours", he motions for them to get a move on while heading for the ledge of U.A's rooftop.

Izuku's technically distant 'cousin' follows closely behind but shows some reluctance to do so when asking, "What about class?"

Izuku pauses to look back at his second self with an expression of dumbfoundedness, "Dude.. Seriously? Don't we share the same memories? This wouldn't be the first time either of us ditched."

"True..", the spitting image of Spider-Man snaps his fingers to point at the spitting image of Izuku before agreeing to team up and ditch school, "Alright then! Let's go!"

Spider-Man picks up the pace while preparing to spring off the roof. Izuku chases him from behind while shouting and waving to stop, "Hey! Hold it!"

Spider-Man stops just shy of leaping from the ledge of the roof into a swing. He looks back with an expression of confusion to his eye lens, "What is it?"

Izuku clears his throat and holds out his hand expectantly. "Forgetting something?", he reminds Spider-Man that he's Spider-Man too.

Apparently, he also reminded the symbiote. It stretches out to reconnect with its original host via the extended limb. The symbiote transfers back to Izuku Midoriya, taking the shape of the Spider-Man suit on him.

"Together again..", Izuku breathes a husky sigh of relief when he feels the symbiote rebonded with him.

Akatani Mikumo, now without a symbiote to give him a costume – or a mask – awkwardly motions to his exposed face as an identity. "I kinda do still need a suit too though", he chuckles nervously while trying to alleviate any cause for concern but has a big cause for concern of his own.

"Oh.. Yeah", Izuku sees the point to be made there. It takes him a moment to think of a solution. He recalls his original costume back in his closet. "We'll make a quick pit stop at home to grab a spare suit for you."

Akatani perks up at that suggestion, "Right!" He follows behind Izuku to then swing off into the city. The two Spider-Men set out on an agreed upon mission. "Then.. the cloning lab!"

When the two Spider-Men later arrive at the basement dwelling that had been transformed into a bunker of a lab, they find it vacant of any scientist. There's not much there at all actually, save for an empty cylindrical tank and what looks to be an operating table. The Spider-Men wander about the place, looking for any clues that may have been otherwise left behind to how they can find the doctor that made their shared company a thing to be dealt with.

The symbiote suited Spider-Man, Izuku Midoriya, approaches the glass storage container to survey and inspect it a little more closely. He'd rather look at that and imagine its uses rather than the operation table. Wanting to distract both his technical twin and himself from thinking of anything dark, he cracks a quip as he typically does when in anxiety-inducing situations. "This is taking 'test tube baby' to a whole new level…"

"Bro", Akatani Mikumo looks at his fellow Spider-Man with a squint through his now adorned mask, "Too far.." He doesn't sound genuinely bothered by the joke but Izuku can imagine it's a sensitive subject – especially if he were to put himself in the shoes of being the clone within this situation.

They truly are an indistinguishable match. The spare Spidey suit fits Akatani Mikumo perfectly. He doubts anyone would be able to tell them apart. As a matter of fact, it was such an eerily similar sight that it made him uncomfortable being in an all black variation of his own costume. He nearly made Akatani berid of the blue sections in the old suit and throw on a hoodie or something to try mixing things up.

Izuku shakes his head to clear out those thoughts. He forces himself to stay focused on the task at hand. It's what matters most. "Okay so let's just get one thing straight – do they know who we are?" It's really what matters most.

Akatani pauses to think but assures his counterpart that the entirety of the LOV aren't going to attack or expose his civilian life, "Only the small doctor guy" He pauses to think twice before adding, "Unless he went and told the others…"

That moment of his counterpart second guessing himself doesn't exactly fill Izuku with confidence. He gets antsy just waiting around not knowing, "If he's not here then–"

"He's probably out looking for us – me – you? – point being, a clone running off would probably tick off his villain buddies" Akatani is quick to reassure Izuku with some rational thinking though.

And that IS some logical thinking. Izuku nods along when mulling things over. "So he wants to cover up his screw up without the others knowing", he sums up the idea that his 'cousin' gave him.

"That's our gamble", Akatani sighs since he's still unsure of himself and there's no way of REALLY knowing if that's the case but it's a comforting concept for the time being.

Nevertheless, Izuku doesn't want to take any risks when it comes to his family and friends. "But still.. One of us should probably keep a close eye on mom", he gets serious about this whole predicament since it can possibly get about as serious as things can ever get at this rate.

The eyes on Akatani's mask widen when he realizes Izuku makes a good point. "Right", he too gets serious when being reminded that they themselves aren't the only ones at risk should their shared identity get out.

But before either one of them can be the bodyguard that their mother may need, they hear the sound of incoming company. A voice echos down into the basement, "Doc? You here?"

The two Spider-Men share an exchanged look of panic. "Hide!", Izuku hisses through a strained whisper for his counterpart to take cover somewhere. He himself has no problem disappearing with the help of the symbiote's camouflage skill.

"Hello?", a second later is all that they have before they are no longer the only people in the underground lab. Rhino – the Nomu-fied version of what was otherwise always a villain – is who stomps down into the dark dwelling of the basement. "Coulda sworn I heard somebody talking..", he looks around with a frown on his face.

One Spider-Man motions from across the room for the other to attack. But the other silently responds by vigorously shaking his head no. They aren't versed in sign language to communicate better from then onwards while wildly waving their hands at one another from their hiding spots.

Rhino scratches behind his lower backside before using that same hand as something to sneeze into. While his huge hand is still by his nose, he takes a sniff of it.

Watching this, both Spider-Men are disgusted. It's Akatani Mikumo who must be more grossed out though since he winds up nearly retching to the point of vomiting in his mask.

"Huh?! I thought I was alone?!", Rhino reacts to the noise with a wild swivel to face the source of sound.

Since they're now given away, the two Spider-Men come out of hiding. "We'd hate to see what else you do when you think you're alone!" They come at the villain from either side.

"Two of you?!", Rhino's baffled reaction to seeing two Spider-Men is priceless – because of how infuriated he looks, yes, but also because it goes to show Akatani's theory was right that not all of the LOV must know about the doctor's cloning experiment – Rhino roars with rage over having more than one of his most hated people in the room, "HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?!"

"Enough to screw in a lightbulb", Spider-Man #1 weaves a web under the Rhino's legs when sliding through the space between them.

Spider-Man #2 goes for an aerial approach, wrapping the villain's top half in sticky fluid while jumping overhead. "Or to bring down a rhino, at least!"

Rhino twists and turns while being coated in a cocoon of restrictive formula. He increasingly becomes frustrated with the unison of the two Spider-People, "You think you can defeat me?!"

"Yeah", Spider-Man #1 shrugs while hopping off the villain's back; he applies more binding goo to Rhino before landing at a safe distance away from being swatted, "Kinda."

"Pretty much", Spider-Man #2 coats Rhino in webbing from the front and then backflips to his own far away position, "Yeah."

Rhino is no match for the twin synergy and eventually loses all mobility. He's bound by webbing and held firmly in place. The final touch is a splotch of webbing over his mouth so that he doesn't shout profanities at them.

Akatani puts his hands on his hips while admiring their handiwork. "So do we just leave him here gift wrapped?"

"It might also give the police and the pros another lead on the LOV to find another base", Izuku doesn't spend too much time thinking about it since he's too busy writing a note to leave behind. It's his neighborhood courtesy to leave a signature, afterall.

Akatani playfully boops Rhino's nose while asking, "One of us stays behind to take care of it while the other checks on mom?"

Izuku thinks about it before nodding in agreement. But then he also thinks about how they'll decide who does what. "Neither of us have pockets to keep a coin to flip.."

The two Spider-Men look at Rhino, wondering if he somehow keeps spare change handy somewhere.

A set of steel plated boots set down on a nearby rooftop. They're spiked on the ends, pointed tips tugging at the corners of the ground. The wearer of these specialized shoes also carries just as sharp weaponry. He spins a dagger in his free hand while holding two fingers from his other hand up to the commlink in his ear.

"It is difficult to distinguish between the two but it seems they have split off from one another at long last", the blade wielding antagonist takes a whiff of the air while setting his sights on a particular underground lab entrance.

Through the communicator in his ear, the man that caught the scent of two Spider-Men listens to his colleague. "Whether you capture the clone or the real deal is of no concern to me", Doctor Garaki's voice carries over the connecting line, "Just remember to maintain your discretion about this to Tombstone and the others."

The Hero Hunter has a scowl on his face that the mad scientist cannot see. "If you want my discretion then you will allow me to hunt MY way", he agreed to working with the fellow antagonist only for the sake of getting a chance at bringing down his prey, "I am not the catch and release type of hunter", he doesn't otherwise take orders.

Hearing this, Garaki worries that the villain is bound to jeopardize his plans. "No, Stain! Listen to me! Stain– !"

Stain pulls the earpiece out from his ear and crushes the commlink with a mere flex of his fist. He ceases listening to the doctor. He's too busy honing in on the symbiote suited Spider-Man that's swinging out from the bunker down below.

The huntsman makes an attempt at stealthily bringing down his prey. With the element of surprise and silence otherwise muted by the city's atmosphere, he shoots a blow dart at the vigilante.

Spider-Man's Spider-Sense alerts him to the incoming dart before it can stab his neck. He catches it in mid air, "Whoa! Nice try– " He realizes too late while being cocky about stopping the attack that his Spider-Sense is still ringing.

The blow dart doesn't need to inject him. It only needs to be within close proximity. It releases a gaseous form of the hunter's specially mixed knockout drug.

Stain watches Spider-Man go down and victoriously smirks, "All too easy."

He hears the echoes of his own breath coming back to him from within pitch black darkness. Despite starting to fall short of breath, that reverberation only hastens. Faster, faster, and faster. When he shifts his body, he senses the nearness of an enclosed barrier on both sides of him. He has to hunch to keep his head from scraping against the top of whatever this enclosed space is. It's cramped and yet he can tell that he's all by himself within it.

Izuku Midoriya starts to stir and yet there's nowhere for him to go. He's being kept confined in a box shaped to his size. All by his lonesome company, he hugs himself, and he feels the symbiote like a security blanket draped around him. It rustles along the surface of his skin, blending into the dark atmosphere like it belongs there and brought him along. All Izuku wants to do is go. He sucks in a breath and shifts to stand despite being laid out on his back.

His hand comes up to feel above his head to see what's stopping him. There's a hard surface. Not like concrete, but still solid. Wood. He runs his fingers along the firm flat barrier. It feels that way all around him. As he slowly comes out of his groggy state and the knockout concoction that rendered him unconscious fades, his danger detection sense warns him of where it is that he is. He churns around and realizes that he truly is in a box suited to his height.

Izuku's quick breathing becomes more increasingly rapid. He's in a coffin. He's been buried alive. He brings his knees up but they can't lift high enough to reach his chest. His elbows knock the corner walls on either side of him. He has no room to move. He can't even rotate or turn over. Izuku brings his palm into the wood above him. A hard thud lets him know that there's already been dirt placed over his grave. If he breaks through the barrier then he'll have to deal with a rush of dirt falling over him.

Spider-Man's eyes narrow. There's not much of any other choice. He forces his palm into the wood and causes it to break when truly applying force to the hit. Dirt comes flowing through the opening in his coffin. He has to react just as fast and dig up through it at the same time. It's packed tightly against him and heavy. But his spider strength perseveres as he claws his way up. The symbiote burrows through the dirt with its own set of spiked tendrils for fingers. He crawls and he climbs until he breaches the ground and finds his way out of his grave.

Spider-Man breaks through the earth and comes out gasping for air. One arm over the other, he pulls himself up from the ground. He's halfway through the soil with only the top half of his torso sticking out when he looks up to see somebody standing over him. He tenses. But then sees an outstretched hand for him to take for help and realizes his Spider-Sense didn't trigger. Akatani Mikumo is there waiting for him.

Izuku looks past the other Spider-Man to see Stain lying on the ground behind them. A shovel is also there. The tale of what transpired is somewhat self explanatory. Akatani followed The Hero Hunter here and came to rescue his fellow Spider-Man. A fight must've broken out between them while Izuku was asleep.

Still, Izuku can't believe it took his counterpart so long to do something. "You let him dig a grave?!", he critiques his unreliable ally just a tiny bit for letting things get this far.

"You were the one that said to wait and see if he would lead us back to the doc!", Akatani counter argues towards his twin while lending a helping hand by pulling Izuku up the rest of the way from the ground.

Technically, this whole thing was basically all part of their plan. Before leaving the bunker, their mutually shared Spider-Sense registered another threat aside from Rhino. So, knowing there was a threat waiting for them, they planned to feign a capture. Basically, Izuku opted to be bait to see if they could catch their enemies with Akatani trailing behind.

"Touche..", Izuku can't really argue any further since it was his idea to begin with.

Akatani, true to his current attire, has a way of looking on the bright side of things. "Two out of six isn't so bad though!", he points out that they're gradually reducing the number of rogues that the League of Villains has banded together.

Again, Izuku can't refute much to argue or complain. "Yeah, we'll just web this one up like we did with horn head–" His Spider-Sense triggers and he sees Stain drawing a dagger; it turns out the Hero Hunter isn't quite down for the count afterall. "Look out!"

It all happens so fast. Izuku reacts with a burst of speed to push his twin out of the way of the blade. But he forgets that Akatani has a form of spider abilities too. Akatani is nearer to the dagger to begin with, and so he is quicker to push Izuku aside when they intersect. Akatani doesn't allow Izuku to sacrifice himself. He allows himself to be the one who gets stabbed.

Akatani goes down with the knife sticking out of his chest. It's stuck right where the spider emblem on his chest should be. Instead, there's blood there.

Izuku reacts with rage. The symbiote spurs on his anger. He cries out while swinging a fist wildly at Stain. If not for the Hero Hunter's reflexes and experienced skillset, he'd also have been killed.

Rather than taking a full frontal blow, Stain is simply grazed by the attack. But that's enough to do him in. He's knocked backwards and given enough broken bones to fall unconscious due to an overload of pain to his nervous system.

Izuku is prepared to do a lot more damage than even that. But before he can stride over to the knocked out villain to begin wailing on Stain, a firm grip catches him by the wrist. Akatani holds him back with whatever reserved spider strength he has left in him.

The symbiote peels back from Izuku's distraught face. He looks over his fallen twin with despair. "How.. How did you know that we'd try to save your life?", he chokes on his own voice while trying not to sob over the loss of what may have actually been his 'cousin' all along.

Akatani weakly pulls off his own mask to look Izuku in the eyes. But he doesn't look all that broken up about his own death. He's actually somehow got a smile on his face. "Because you are Spider-Man..", he says it as if the phrase embodies some sort of an answer.

Izuku is at a loss. He looks at his dying copy with confusion stricken across his facial features. "What's that supposed to mean… ?", his breath is as short as the other version of himself who was stabbed.

Akatani Mikumo lets out what might be considered a caustic laugh by the way it cracks. "Of course you can't see it.. Or else you wouldn't be who you are.."

And then, the Spider-Man that was stabbed starts to dissolve. More liquid than just blood pools from the injury of the dying boy. He melts from the corners of his eyes as though he's shedding tears. Gray goop oozes from his wrists and it's not web formula. The puddle of slime that Akatani Mikumo turns into is a side effect of what happens when the villain Twice's clones are killed, and thus is the same side effect to the experiment that Doctor Garaki created.

With that, the brief mystery – if there ever really was a mystery – is solved. They both now know in the end who was real and who was the clone.

Tomura Shigaraki is still undergoing the procedure of receiving his body enhancements. However, it is only a matter of time before that process is complete. Once Tombstone's transformation is finished, he'll be released from his temporary hibernation. That gives Doctor Garaki a short period of time to get his affairs in order.

The doctor hurriedly packs a bag of luggage – not with clothes, but with all necessary things to conduct his research elsewhere. He can't risk Shigaraki waking up and then killing him for his failure. He has only a matter of days to either resolve this issue with Spider-Man or to hide himself away.

While packing, Garaki grabs a vial of a specialized formula that he has been developing. It's his last resort for himself. For all the performance enhancers and all of the Nomus that he has created, each had a purpose to create a final perfect project. This secret project had always been intended for usage on himself. He just never thought that it'd have to be completed and used so soon.

Garaki closes his hand around the vial and puts in the pocket of his lab coat, effectively hiding the writing on the side of it that reads in bright kanji 'Project Jackal'.

AUTHOR NOTES

I'm a bit wary about this particular chapter since clone stuff is a hit or miss thing but it was fun writing a double Deku dynamic at least. It was also a good excuse to incorporate the Akatani Mikumo prototype identity as Izuku Midoriya's clone.

Nevertheless, I feel it was a risky chapter during a risky time what with the mixed reviews I got recently. Not many readers have been on board with the Midoriya Misfortune / Spidey suffering and this has caused some of you to abandon the fic. I've already covered this matter before so I won't bother writing a huge paragraph about it, but the bottom line is that this will be apart of the story to create suspense & drama so it's ultimately up to you how much you can handle knowing that will be the case. That being said, those of you who endure the hardship with Izuku / Spidey will eventually be rewarded with really sweet scenes that are planned for future chapters and the overall ending conclusion prelude chapter.

All the more reason for me to thank those of you who have been nothing but supportive of the story! It cheers me up to see reviews complimenting the plot and my writing ability to convey it all! Seriously, I can't thank you all enough. In times of self doubt, you spur me on to keep writing.

Until next time!

-Courtesy of your sappy neighborhood author!