SPIDER SECRET
The Six Eyed Sand Spider hunts by ambush rather than by spinning a web. Bonus: Scorpions are apart of their diet instead of the other way around.
It's maddening how little of the Midoriya family's once-home became a mini population of boxes. Especially since everything familiar to them resides within those tight packed cardboard cubes – their memories are stocked & stowed away like a beloved collection of old movies – and so, they had written 'fragile' on the side in bold letters to ensure movers would take great care of them. It's all they have left to hold onto.
For they themselves are as fragile as their heavy load of baggage. They had gone through alot – endured alot – and drift about at a laggard pace. Inko and Izuku Midoriya had really lost their homely living arrangement long before it burned down … they lost it when they lost Hisashi. Now, it really is a matter of finally moving on from what held them in the past. They're forced to live in and to acknowledge the present – for better or for worse.
It's a new start in a new house, as people often say. Whatever fond family memories resided in the place where they used to live are since passed. All that remains are some surviving photos from the fire that they managed to salvage and save in a smaller packing container. But it still comes with them, because it always will, no matter how damaged or how dwindled down. Inko carries a part of her husband with her. Izuku keeps a part of his father with him.
And, they ultimately still have eachother. It was a close call with the fire and then the quirk virus that was released by Doctor Octopus. But they're still standing; albeit with a slight slouch. It's like each recovery process gets elongated by another these days. Though, it became a little easier with the way the world itself slowed down too. Everybody was reeling from the disaster that struck. While some people recuperated quickly, not everyone was able to shrug it off and get back to normal so easily.
Izuku stacks one box atop another. He wants to spare his mom any extra trips. Packing and unpacking in her current condition, even if she was released from the hospital recently, seems like it could be too much on her right now. When she sees him straining to carry more than he'd usually take with him, she lightly scolds him. "Take it easy, Izuku! We're BOTH recovering!", she fixes him with a parenting look.
He gives her a wobbly smile, preparing to remind her that he has spider strength on his side to help spare him the trouble. "Ow! Ow! Ow!", but then his muscle soreness from his fight with Doctor Octopus protests against the weight that he is attempting to carry and he decides it's probably a good idea to hold his tongue for the sake of being spared a longer lecture over his well-being.
Inko sighs as she shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Some of us more so than the other…", she frets and tisk-tisks about her son pushing himself too much lately.
Izuku was surprised that his mom didn't come down on him too hard for putting his life on the line during the whole quirk virus debacle. She must have realized when coming to how dire and severe the situation truly was for him to have to risk himself in such a way. Of course, she held him so tightly that his muscles hurt more than they did when lifting an entire underwater station up and she shed more tears than the amount of water that flooded that same station, but it was nice to see she could understand what comes with his lifestyle as Spider-Man.
They seem to have reached a relatively reasonable understanding about all of that. It took a super serious circumstance like the world being swept up by a pandemic for her to get it, but Inko now knows that Spider-Man is necessary to stay swinging around. She promised not to fight him on his wishes to keep being a vigilante so long as he promised to always come back home to her. Since she's the one who Izuku is fighting for, that was an easy enough agreement to make.
Izuku pauses when his cellphone chimes from within his pants pocket. He checks his notifications and is reminded of the other ladies in his life. That's right. He's not just fighting for his mom anymore.
He received texts from his girlfriend, Kyoka, and from his friend who also happens to be a girl, Hagakure. They're both inviting him to a beach get-together with everyone from their class. U.A is still apparently temporarily closed post-pandemic, so they want to use the day off as a chance to get some R .
Just as he's about to politely turn down the offer, since he's occupied helping his mom, she happens to materialize behind him and peer over his shoulder. "You should go", she scares him so badly that he worries for a moment that Venom somehow returned to sneak up on him without triggering his Spider-Sense.
Izuku fumbles with his phone while he simultaneously fumbles with a response. "Ah – I, uh, I think I had enough of the ocean.." That's true. After his fight with Doc Ock, he's not all that eager to go back in the water anyways.
Inko places both hands on each of her son's shoulders, steeling him. "Izuku.. You deserve the day off", she gives him a slight shake and soft squeeze, "Go be with your friends."
He hesitates. Izuku looks down, away, and back at his mom. His voice is quieter than usual when he asks her, "What about you?"
Inko smiles despite the twinge she feels in her chest. After her hospital stay, they've both been overly watchful of eachother. But that's all the more reason they may need some space. "I've got plenty to keep me occupied", she urges him to spend time with friends who haven't been possessed by symbiotic substances.
But Izuku remains wary of leaving. Venom and Doc Ock he can handle. It's the new house catching fire like the old one or his mom getting sick again that he's concerned over. "That's what I'm worried about", he looks around at all the waiting boxes and can't bring himself to expect her to go through it all alone, "You do too much."
Inko huffs out a cross between a short laugh and a stretched sigh. Sure, the doctors may have told her not to go too long without rest until a full week of recovery, but it's not like she's been able to maintain her old routine of cleaning and housekeeping previously. "Izuku, I've been cooped up in a hospital this past week.." In all honesty, she could use the distraction and SOME semblance of familiarity in the form of a return to normalcy.
Izuku gets hung up on the hospital part still, "Exactly my point", and continues to display an inherited sense of stubbornness that he must have gotten a combined version of between Hisashi and her.
But Inko is his mother and she has a way of dealing with that stubbornness. Even as tired as she is, she can be intimidatingly strong in her presence. "Go to the beach or you're going to wish that you were back underwater fighting David Shield!", she puts her hands on her hips to make a pose that Izuku is all too familiar with when she decides to be firm about something.
Izuku squeaks as he shies away. "Y- Yes, ma'am!" He doesn't need his Spider-Sense to know that it'd be dangerous to argue any further.
And that settles it. Izuku texts both girls that he'll be meeting them at the beach.
Sand grains twinkle where sunlight washes over them instead of foam from the sea, casting a crispy golden glow. Takoba Beach has come a long way from being the garbage dumping site that it previously was. Where tall towers of trash once stood, now there is a vast expanse of freedom as far as the ocean stretches. Only umbrellas and towels litter the sand these days.
A rush of wind uplifts and tussles Izuku Midoriya's green curls of hair. The breeze blowing against his freckled face reminds him of when he's swinging over Musutafu as Spider-Man and an instinctive smile quirks at the corners of his mouth. Warmth all along his skin makes him want to stay there on the boardwalk all day long. It's the right level of temperature that isn't too hot like the summer or too cold like the winter.
"Izuku!" A voice calling out his name suddenly startles him and snaps him out of his daydreaming daze. He's reminded of why he even bothered coming to the beach like this in the first place when he spins himself around. A collection of Hero Course students is heading his way – he hardly sees most of who they are or what they're wearing though – his gaze settles & focuses on one person in particular. The girl who called his name gives a greetable wave and a sun beaming smile.
Kyoka Jirou, his girlfriend, stands at the forefront of the approaching group; he silently wonders what other way it would be since, of course, she as a spectacle to himself should be at the forefront of anything. His eyes widen when seeing her as she is now though, especially since she's currently wearing a purple two-piece bikini that showcases her stomach and other exposed areas of her skin. Her modest bust catches his gaze and he blushes since her breast isn't all that small, according to him.
She notices his open mouthed & wide eyed stare and forms her own blush. Quickly, Kyoka covers up with the beach towel that she brought; she shyly shields herself out of more-so embarrassment than anything else – perhaps, also some insecurity on her part. "S- Stop staring.. Idiot..", she slightly stutters while whispering to him and him alone so that only he can hear her.
Izuku's eyes rapidly blink when he realizes that he IS staring and has been called out on it. "S- Sorry!" He covers his face with his hands to hide his profuse blush of embarrassment. His own whisper is only heard by her in return, "Hard not to..", and Kyoka smiles despite being beside herself as so self-conscious.
He himself didn't go all in on the bathing suit attire so it's a bit unbalanced between the two of them, even with Kyoka's towel dress. Izuku came wearing sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt that dumbly has 't-shirt' written on the front of it. He didn't want to showcase his physique for the sake of usually wearing baggier clothes in order to hide his secret identity as Spider-Man. It hadn't really occurred to him that he might actually try swimming, even if this IS a beach.
Kyoka and Izuku are soon joined by the other members of Class 1-A. Itsuka Kendo happens to be directly behind Kyoka, the nearest to the two of them. She glances about Takoba and flashes a self-satisfied smile since it is all her own doing per the cleanup efforts. "So, how are you liking the beach since the last time you saw it?" She chimes into the conversation with Izuku, giving him a glance.
"Huh?", a couple of her classmates make varying noises in order to convey their confusion over the question; not everybody is aware of what she did to train before entering U.A's Hero Course.
"Oh, yeah!" Izuku helps them all along by sharing the story of their initial meeting. "It's come a long ways since then", he gives the girl a thumbs up since there's nobody afraid to go in the unpolluted water now. "You did a mighty fine job, MJ!"
MJ smirks, amused. "Was that a purposeful play on words?"
Izuku looks away, trying to hide a sheepish smile. It's been a while since he referred to the girl by her nickname that he gave her and referencing the 'mighty' part may have been going a tad bit overboard. "Maybe…"
Kyoka gives a good natured roll of her eyes as she shakes her head in disbelief, "You are such a dork…" Now that she knows his secret that Izuku Midoriya and Spider-Man are one and the same, she can easily pick up on the correlation between each identity's cheesy jokes.
Exclamation marks appear as onomatopoeia when Manga Fukidashi does a doubletake on MJ. "Wait, Kendo, YOU cleaned this place up?!" He looks about the beach with comically large eyes.
Itsuka Kendo soaks in the praise like it's apart of the sunny sky. She wears a proud grin on her face as she nods, "Sure did!"
Tenya Iida adjusts his glasses, sunbeams glinting across the lenses. "That is not only admirable of you, Kendo, but truly remarkable as well."
Eijiro Kirishima flashes a mouthful of fangs when he grins. "Yeah! That's so incredibly manly!", he throws up a fist pump.
"Thanks, everyone!" Kendo bows to show her appreciation. "But for the record, Kirishima.." She then turns towards Kirishima and gives him a light chop on his pointy haired head. "..This was all GIRL power."
The brightening burn of red all around the surface of his skin suddenly matching the color of his hair causes a chorus of giggles & laughs. It's all in good fun though and so he laughs along right with them all while maintaining his shark toothed smile.
Watching the class carry on and get along so seamlessly is amusingly enjoyable but also has a way of making Izuku Midoriya feel like the odd one out. He awkwardly shifts as he rubs the back of his neck and apologizes, "I hope you all don't mind me tagging along.."
Momo Yaoyorozu notices his disposition and waves her hand as though casting it aside, "Not at all!" She's wearing a bikini as crimson colored as Kirishima currently – and now Izuku too since he noticed. But whatever feelings Izuku has towards that swiftly slip away when Yaoyorozu gestures to another girl, "We also invited Melissa", but not for the reason of bikinis or anything like that.
Izuku tenses. Things have been strange between him and Melissa Shield since what happened with the quirk virus and her father. He's not entirely sure where they stand with eachother. It's a concern still, clearly, since the only thing holding back the girl's glare currently are her glasses.
"H- Hey..", he weakly waves to her as a desperate attempt to somehow smooth things over.
Setsuna Tokage, wearing a sparkling green bikini like she has a set of scales, pushes her way through the crowded group and shifts all of the attention onto her when she decides things are too lackluster for her liking. "Enough standing around! When are we gonna get to swimming and playing volleyball?!"
Just as energetically excited as Tokage, Mina Ashido joins in on the hype train – a conga line starts to form a literal train of people – the pinkette gets a few others to chant with her, "Whoo~hoo! Volleyball!"
Tsuyu Asui – much more passive – gets dragged along as the caboose when she says, "I could go for a swim."
Kyoka begins to undo her towel as the group collectively moves from the boardwalk onto the beach. She shyly glances back at her – secretive – boyfriend. "Are you coming, Izuku?"
He's reluctant to follow but shakily nods his head and does so. "Uh, yeah– Yeah, sure…" When Izuku slowly slides off his shirt, he's hoping that nobody will pay much attention to his physique – afterall, they're surrounded by Hero Course students who are about just as fit.
But he's much more active as a vigilante than they are heroes in the making – especially after his 'workout' in Doctor Octopus' underwater lair. Izuku's muscles have gone from being a bi-product of his quirk to an earned sign of his efforts. Despite his modest demeanor, it's nothing to scoff at that he has a much more defined physique than most of the students of Class 1-A.
Izuku's bare back & chest earns some shocked expressions from the boys and MORE than only some ogling gazes from the girls. Tokage practically salivates at the sight. Ashido's already pink toned face turns a tad pinker as she whistles over how impressed by the boy's body that she is. Kyoka may as well have forgotten to apply sunblock by how red & overheated she's become – and that appearance-like estimation is along with the steam that emits from her gaping mouth and ears.
Kirishima whistles right alongside Ashido. "Damn, Midoriya! I didn't expect you to be so jacked!" He uses his quirk to harden himself, but not even 'rock hard abs' are that up to par to challenge Izuku's set of muscles.
Izuku – more used to being under a set of scrutinizing stares rather than gazes of admiration – shrinks down a bit in order to try and hide his athletic build. "A- Ah – well, ya know.." He struggles with making an excuse before he settles on, "Even us quirkless people gotta stay in shape.."
Shoto Todoroki suddenly interjects in between all of the excited clamors & praises to point out something everybody else overlooked. He asks, "What about the scars?"
Izuku freezes up – and it's not because of Todoroki's quirk. Sure, it's hard not to notice some of the bruises & injuries all over the boy's body like they're tattoos, but nobody had thought to mention it for the sake of that being a potentially sensitive subject. Yaoyorozu chastises the more socially awkward member of their class, "Todoroki!", her whispered shout just above being a whisper – but it's too late.
Many other members agree with Yaoyorozu by admonishing Todoroki with exclamations of, "So blunt!", or, "Too blunt!" But the damage has been done. They're all equally as curious as to how Izuku will answer the posed question about his scars.
Everybody quiets down when Izuku responds by saying, "They're the reason why I've gotta stay in shape."
Nobody pushes it further and leaves it at that. Izuku hadn't meant to make the mood so muddled with his answer – it IS technically the truth what with his being Spider-Man and all – he imagines they're coming up with all sorts of alternative conclusions though. Katsuki Bakugo has been uncharacteristically quiet this entire time, just simply side longingly staring at the scars. Melissa has been maintaining her critical gaze too.
"One of the perks of being invisible for me I guess!", Toru Hagakure inserts herself with a forced laugh while trying to lighten the mood and take the attention off of Izuku – even being transparent, it's not all that hard to make herself known with her frilly & flashy stylized choice of swimwear.
Tokage, wanting to help in her own way as well, places an assuring hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Don't feel self conscious about it! Can't be worse than missing an arm!", she wriggles the stump she has and does her best to make him feel better by also laughing it off.
Izuku smiles, appreciative of their efforts. "Thanks, everyone" He's reminded of why these people are enrolled in the Hero Course; they all have good hearts that wish to do good.
Speaking of 'good' … Kyoka mumbles, "I think they make you look good", in regards to Izuku's scars.
Ashido's expression morphs into a mischievous grin since she overhears Kyoka. The pinkette talks much MUCH more loudly than Izuku's – secretive – girlfriend, "She means they make you look HOT!"
Instantaneously, both Kyoka and Izuku are reduced to cringeworthy clumsiness & fidgeting. Kyoka's ear jacks twist and tangle in front of her rosy red face. She squeaks and shouts as she fumbles for a means to talk her way out of this, "N- No! I mean, uh, more – uh, more–"
"Manly!", Kirishima helps her out. Kinda.
"Y- Yeah! More manly!", Kyoka rolls with it since that's a better descriptor than 'hot' if she's supposed to be keeping her relationship a secret – and keeping her dignity.
But Kirishima may as well have handed her a shovel to dig her own grave with. And Kyoka foolishly accepted it. Tokage joins in on the teasing while wiggling her eyebrows. "More adult and mature, eh?"
"Noooo! That's not what I meant!", Kyoka falls to her knees as she buries her face in her hands and prepares to fully bury the rest of her head in the sand.
Even Asui partakes in the humiliation ritual of Kyoka Jirou by joining in with a dry deadpanned statement, "It's absolutely what she meant."
Randomly, "Revelry in the dark", Fumikage Tokoyami chimes into the chaos with some offhanded input.
Fukidashi jumps ten feet in the air like a cartoon character – all while exclamation points fly out from his floating form. "Christ, man, I didn't even notice you were there!"
Hagakure huffs out a cross between a sigh and a laugh. "Doesn't take long for our class to dissolve into chaos.."
She and Izuku watch as wrestling matches break out between people and others fight to break them all up. It makes the freckled boy chuckle a bit to himself, "I can see that."
Hagakure steps closer and lowers her voice, "Ya know.. If you told Aizawa the truth.. Then you could probably join it."
Izuku turns his head to look at her, surprised by that suggestion. It had been discussed before somewhat when she told him about going to Aizawa and when she had also suggested him opening up to more people – and having a hero license over being a vigilante is always still a concern – but… All he can say in response is, "Probably."
Hagakure asks him, "Then why don't you?" And he does have to ask himself once more about his indecision when it comes to Gen Ed and the Hero Course since times have since then changed.
Before he can come up with any sortof answer to say, the two are interrupted. "Yeah, Midoriya, why don't you?" Or, rather, Melissa Shield interjects.
"Oh! Melissa!", Hagakure hops back – startled – and she immediately tries to salvage the situation to try and save Izuku's secret from being exposed, "We were just–"
Izuku holds up a hand, stopping her. "It's okay", he gives Hagakure a nod, "Shield knows."
There's no telling what kindof expression Hagakure is making on her face when all that she whispers back is a super silent exhale, "...She does… ?"
"It's a bit of a long story", Izuku sighs, "Can you give us a moment?"
Hagakure looks between the two of them before sighing too. "Sure.." She gives them their privacy.
Whatever Toru Hagakure is feeling fluttering from within her heart – if it's a form of jealousy – Kyoka Jirou feels it too when she happens to notice Melissa & Izuku wandering off from everybody else. She can't help but, of course, feel that pang in her chest. Melissa & Izuku have the whole quirkless relatability thing going – even if Izuku now technically has a 'quirk' – and Kyoka can't help but feel insecure about herself when comparing her beach body with the other girl's.
If only she knew the type of conversation that they are having.
Izuku tries to start things off, "Melissa… I know where we left things off wasn't the best place–"
"Stop", but she doesn't let him, "Just.. stop.." She shakes her head, instead choosing to begin things on her own accord. "I know I can't blame you anymore for what happened.." What she says first surprises Izuku immensely. "Deep down, even before knowing who you are now, I always knew it was never really your fault.." And as she continues to say what she has to say, he further becomes confused by her feelings. "Regardless of what some people may say, Spider-Man is considered a hero to most despite being a vigilante."
He ducks his head down, but his eyebrows are raised. "Then.. Why are you still looking at me like you wanna kill me?"
"I don't…", Melissa opens her mouth to say something but all that comes out is a frustrated sigh, "I don't know."
Izuku nods – albeit slowly. He can't say he understands her completely but he doesn't misunderstand what she means either. She must be looking for somebody to blame as a way to try and feel better about what happened – she did lose basically EVERYTHING, afterall – but the thing about blame is that it almost never truly does make a person feel better. "I guess it's not an easy thing to process overnight."
"It's not", Melissa agrees with him that her feelings are complicated & complex for a reason.
And, in that case, there's not much that he can do to help her heal currently. "That's okay", there's nothing that he can do but be patient and be there for when he can do something for her, "Take the time you need."
A beat. And another beat. It begins to become awkward – as though it weren't already plenty enough awkward as it was – and then Melissa's face forms a frown. She goes back to being upset with him, "Why are you lying to everyone though? Why the secrecy?"
Izuku barely suppresses a wince. He can understand why she out of everyone would be so upset about that. It's rather insensitive to lie about being quirkless – even if he truly once was. But it's not like he doesn't feel bad about withholding the truth either. "At this point? Maybe I got in too deep… If people found out who I am now then it'd do more harm than good because of my reputation as a vigilante."
Melissa doesn't seem to like that answer very much. She presses him further for another – for a better one. "But before now, what was the reason?"
Izuku's shoulders fall and his face softens. "I didn't want to hurt my mom..", he can see that Melissa is having a similar reaction as he explains himself, "That kinda ended up backfiring and having the opposite effect for awhile" He sighs and shrugs. "But also, because 'anyone can wear the mask' for as much as the world knows – and it may do them well to think of a face that isn't mine under it sometimes."
Melissa stares at Izuku and sees the sincerity radiating off the boy like the sun's rays. She gets that. Not many heroes have that type of anonymity that can allow their fans to relate to them in such a way. "That's something not even All Might was able to do for everybody", she instead can see how having an idol so high on the pedestal to aspire towards becoming could be deemed unrealistic for her Uncle Might & it suddenly makes sense why somebody like Spider-Man would inspire a different type of aspiration for the future generation of heroism.
Izuku thinks about Iguchi and animal hybrid quirk types – despite what happened with 'The Punisher' – he was able to do something for them that no other heroes could. He chuckles a little, "Imagine how I felt when I realized that for myself", it now feels so long ago that he came to such a conclusion.
He has a somber smile on his face as his head dips down. It feels so long ago that he was an All Might fanboy. Okay, he's STILL an All Might fanboy. But… he's gone from comparing himself to an idol and trying to become like the symbol of peace to now trying to become his own symbol. He still looks up to All Might with a much deserved amount of respect, but it feels like he's now had some firsthand experience to help him grow up a bit.
Just as he's about to get caught up in his teenage angst – as he so frequently often does – he's pulled from his inner thoughts by Kyoka's calling out to him. "Need rescuing from me for once?", she puts herself in between him and Melissa like the other girl is the reason for his sad expression.
Izuku shakes off his momentary sorrow and forces a smile; it's a smile that doesn't remain forced for very long, fortunately. He asks Kyoka, "Did Hagakure send you over?"
Kyoka places her hands on her hips and huffs, "She tried to stop me", the petite girl's pout causes a cuteness overload in Izuku's brain. He's only spared from short circuiting when he spots Hagakure in the background making exaggerated apologetic gestures.
Izuku breathes out a humored sigh, "Everything's fine", before he adds, "Thank you."
Melissa, watching this exchange, quirks an eyebrow. The blonde asks Izuku, "Does she know?", her voice being hardly a whisper.
Izuku's eyes widen. "I– Uh–", he realizes just how many girls know his secret identity now and finds himself floundering a bit.
Kyoka must come to the same realization. "Wait… Does SHE know?", but his girlfriend is having a different kindof reaction to it than him for a differing reason.
Izuku cowers, caught between the two girls like they're supervillains, and he's pretty sure that they're tougher than ACTUAL supervillains. "Oh, boy…" He'd honestly trade them for a villain right about now.
The boy gets his wish when the sand suddenly starts shifting beneath his feet. Grains move in succession all along the beach, gathering as a cloud despite a lack of any sortof wind blowing as an updraft. Soon, there's a whirlwind of the particles. Beach goers begin to panic. Screams erupt. Civilians flee from the disturbance of what should be an otherwise peaceful setting.
Izuku says again, "Oh.. boy.."
Kyoka motions for him and Melissa to follow the flow of evacuating people, "We have to go!", but doesn't budge without them moving first.
She's shocked to see Izuku head in the opposite direction when he does decide to make a move, "I should–"
"Seriously?!", Kyoka and Melissa are both baffled by his decision to go headfirst into the danger without his costume.
He hesitates only for a brief moment, "Cover for me!", before turning to go again.
Kyoka calls after him, "What do we even say?!", since she didn't expect this to be apart of the packaged deal in their newly established relationship.
Izuku shouts back, "Tell them I shit myself!"
Kyoka doesn't let him off easy – not for that one – she chases him. "You shit yourself?!"
"What?! It works every time!", Izuku stalls when he sees Kyoka following close behind and stops to make sure that she doesn't get any closer to the sandstorm up ahead.
He's surprised that she seems more concerned about his excuse for slipping away than the sandy threat at hand. "I'm not saying that!", she refuses to go along with it.
Melissa joins them, "I'll say it", neither concerned with the villain attack or the excuse apparently. She must be more hardened after the experiences with Doctor Doom and her father.
Izuku mumbles a brief, "Thanks."
To which she responds, "You're welcome."
Kyoka looks between them like they're both crazy, "No! We're not–"
That's enough. They're increasingly more in danger the longer that this takes. Izuku grabs ahold of his girlfriend's shoulders to steel her and make her look in his eyes. "Kyoka, now really isn't the time for this" He's stern. And then he's gentle by giving her a light kiss on the forehead, "Just do this for me?"
The sudden mixture of her boyfriend taking charge and still being super sweet reduces Kyoka to a blushing mess. She shakily nods while trying to formulate the right words to respond with, "I–"
"Thanks! You're the best!", but Izuku doesn't waste time in seizing the chance to hurriedly run off while he can. Just like that, he's gone.
Izuku is soon replaced by Kyoka's classmates jogging in her direction. Tenya Iida, the fastest of the bunch, takes the lead. "We have to evacuate the beach!", he goes into 'hero mode' like a switch being flipped on within a robot.
Itsuka Kendo – MJ – has fallen into her own version of 'hero mode'. She does a crowd scan to make sure that everybody is accounted for. Her eyes widen when she finds someone is missing, "Where's Midoriya?!"
Melissa and Kyoka share a strained look. "He…" Kyoka sighs and submits to the only excuse that she has to give. "He shit himself.."
He uses the back of his aged & wrinkled hand to wipe away the blood beneath his nose – and then he uses the other side of that same hand to wipe at the other liquid that is seeping through his lips. Some of that darker liquid dripped past his mouth and dotted his long beard. It comes from the tube he was given – a vial full of the Trigger drug so that he can enhance his quirk's potential. At his elderly age, he requires the upper edge.
As a villain, the people call him Starservant. He much prefers to instead be called a prophet. That's why he constantly gets nosebleeds. He foresees the end times and he pushes himself with his quirk to help others see it too. Instead of allowing the masses to be oblivious and enjoy a day on the beach, he's come to make them all aware. With the Trigger drug, his quirk ability to control glass also now allows him to control sand.
"Wake up and understand! Seek and you shall find!", he shouts down at them from above so that they may know his message comes from the heavens. But they're all so busy looking down. They run from him and what he tries to show them through the sandstorm that he's created. "Accept this truth or be swept away with the lies!"
The sand under his control carries across the boardwalk, catching some of the slower runners. He's certain that they will find their peace – until something else comes from the sky. He's surprised to see a person take them away from the truth, moving them away from his message. It's a masked individual adorned in red. A fallen angel, perhaps. Now, a demon.
"Hi! I'm Spider-Man and I'll be your superhero rescuer today", the masked vigilante greets the beach goers that he saved with a chipper attitude despite the mass of sand whirling around them. Starservant sees this as more lies – more deceit veiled by an insincere kindness.
"You dare interfere?!", Starservant motions for the sand to shift away from the beach and go after the enemy that has shown himself.
"Yeah, I guess I do" Spider-Man pulls himself up and away. It's a maneuver that keeps himself and the civilians safe. "I've been told not to disrespect my elders but I think I can make an exception just this once."
Izuku fortunately packed a spare suit in his backpack just for an occasion such as this. He came to the beach anticipating the possibility of trouble. His mom may call that a bad habit and get on his case if she finds out but it clearly paid off to stash the bag away for an emergency situation. Now, Spider-Man is able to show up and stay on the scene to help.
"So, Sandman, I know you're supposed to be the one putting me to sleep – but how about that naptime, eh, gramps?" Spider-Man keeps baiting the sand manipulator to stay focused on him while the rest of the beach finishes being evacuated.
In all honesty though, he's not very sure of how much more he can keep that up. He's still sore from the whole underwater base battle with Doc Ock. Plus, it's not like he can beat up SAND. It's bad enough that he's got grains causing itching in places no man should normally itch. Spider-Man swoops around a building to try and throw the cloud of particles off his trail but it doesn't work.
He only gets lucky that there's a time limit to how much 'Sandman' can continue being Sandman instead of Starservant. The elderly villain is sweating – he shows signs of being strained too. And he has to keep refilling his stamina with the vial of Trigger that he's got. Spider-Man spots the drug and yanks it away with a web before the time length of sand manipulation can be extended.
"No!" The villain loses his upper edge just like that. Or, well, for awhile at least. Glass manipulation when they're surrounded by skyscrapers with dozens of windows is just as bad as sand manipulation on a beach. "You'll pay for that!"
"I hear that alot", Spider-Man dodges shards of glass – courtesy of his Spider-Sense & agility – before delivering a kick to the old menace, "But I never actually wind up owing anything."
The villain goes down. Spidey is kind enough to cushion the criminal's fall with a web mattress to land on. And then, the vigilante lays on extra webs to keep the bad guy stuck there. Sandman – Starservant – whatever his name … is down for the count.
"Still got the moves", Spider-Man rolls his shoulders – his mask makes a wincing expression when he hears a pop – it might do well to stretch first before doing anything too physical from now on.
But fighting Starservant may as well have been the warmup – since now his Spider-Sense is registering a new threat. He becomes on guard. But nothing prepares him for when he's tackled by the large mass that is Mashirao Ojiro as The Scorpion. The Nomu-fied former U.A student screeches as it bares fangs just an inch shy from Spider-Man's masked face.
"Whoa! Good to see you too!", he's aware that this isn't necessarily the best set of circumstances to be making jokes but it just sorta slips out.
The two of them go crashing through cars and then into a building. Spidey grunts as he puts in a lot of physical effort in order to keep up. Not only is he being dealt alot of punishment so soon after his fight with Doc Ock, but he's got to hold back dishing out too much of his own on Scorpion for the sake of sparing Ojiro. Still, this kindof battle calls for an exchange of blows. He punches the Nomu off and hops away.
The Scorpion strikes with its tail. Spider-Man bends beneath the outstretched pincer blade. When the tail coils and wraps back around, he arches himself backwards to flip over and dodge it. He's got the light footed grace but lacks the technique to fight a karate skilled appendage though. It winds up knocking him for a loop.
From a nearby rooftop, Tomura Shigaraki watches. The newly awakened villain breathes the high risen air like a newborn, and he IS reborn. As Tombstone, he strategically plotted to capitalize on Spider-Man's weakness after the confrontation with David Shield. By supplying Starservant with Trigger, the drug seized from the Yakuza's assets once liquidated, he was able to further weaken the vigilante. And his pet Nomu created just for Spider-Man can now finish the deed.
Spider-Man had proven himself to be a pest at first. Meddlesome. Troublesome. But as Sensei may have put it back in the day, no more than that. Now though, Spider-Man has proven to be more of a threat than originally anticipated. This is not just a personal grudge or vendetta anymore that Shigaraki has. Tombstone saw firsthand the potential promise of a problem Spider-Man can be when the vigilante single handedly stopped Doctor Octopus from collapsing society on a national level. Now that he is back up and operational, he wants to berid of that problem before it has a chance to fully flourish into something greater.
Spider-Man struggles to keep the fight contained so that it doesn't endanger civilians. He's back to being the friendly neighborhood and considerate goody two shoes hero now that he's gotten rid of the dark costume. It's pathetic as it is sickening that he doesn't exercise the full extent of his power – and that will precisely be the cause of his downfall. Spider-Man resists harming 'Mashirao Ojiro' too much. He takes more damage than he deals. It's naive and foolish. A stupid mistake only a 'hero' would ever make.
If Spider-Man were to try to defeat the Nomu alone, this time, he would surely fail. Except, the blasted brat receives assistance. Hero Course students from U.A come to his aid. The one with glasses and engines in his calves kicks the Nomu away. Once Scorpion is isolated onto the beach, the pink girl covers him with restrictive acid and Endeavor's offspring double layers the sealant with ice.
The Scorpion breaks free of its temporary imprisonment, of course. It hardly flinches when a hardened hero hopeful with pointed red hair wrestles it. These brats are holding back just as much as Spider-Man – they're too afraid to harm their former classmate. If the Nomu were given more orders than to just kill Spider-Man, then they'd all be dead already too. But he can't go down there and compromise himself to make that happen. He must remain unseen and merely observe for the time being.
Scorpion solos most of U.A's star hero class. The greenette with a frog quirk gets swatted aside by the Nomu's superior strength. The bird headed boy doesn't appear to have as strong of a shadow quirk within sunlight and hardly stands a chance either. There's a girl missing an arm – she's stupid to go up against his powerful pet with such a handicap – Scorpion plows right through her too. The blonde boy who makes explosions does the most out of them all; not even he is enough to stop the armored creature in the end though.
Itsuka Kendo – Mighty Jab – snares Scorpion with black binding whips. It struggles to tear itself free before being swung across the sandy stretch of beach. She slams an enlarged fist into the Nomu and it cries out in pain. She matches the monster's power with blocks and blows to its abdomen. Whatever combat skills that the Nomu inherited from its core corpse of creation are evenly met by her karate knowledge.
But she's not fighting in her hero outfit. She's only got an orange bikini top on, which exposes her skin and provides a lack of protection. Her high cut jean shorts leave her legs bare as well. The Scorpion slices at her unguarded areas with its bladed tail. Kendo goes down, the Nomu's poisonous weapon immediately taking effect.
"NO!" That's when Spider-Man re-enters the fight. He forcibly holds down the Nomu so that it can do no more harm. But it bucks and it jerks about, opposing his opposition. "STOP!" He can only restrain the beast for so long. Eventually, he will tire enough for it to break free. "PLEASE! STOP!"
"STOP, OJIRO!" A shout – not Spider-Man's – manages to get through to the Nomu-fied boy. When Tombstone sees Scorpion stall, even if it's only for a second, his darkened eyes narrow into a harsh glare. That order to stop had not come from him and yet it still registered. That is a problem. All because of some invisible girl, his pet proves to be disloyal. "Stop fighting!", the invisible girl appeals to whatever humanity remains in the Nomu.
She says something else. Whatever it is, it apparently works better than just 'stop'. But he doesn't need to stick around to hear it. Tombstone already sees the way this will be ended. His plan to destroy Spider-Man sooner rather than later has been foiled. There's no point waiting to watch that inevitable disappointing conclusion. He begins to leave.
But not without first sending a signal to Chameleon over at the HPSC. She'll need to send a pickup squad to discreetly retrieve Scorpion for a later date. It's much more subtle to do so through the 'law' that they tramp atop of than to stage a breakout or something. That's the beauty of all this destruction. They can keep destroying. Little by little. Again and again. Until there is nothing left to be rebuilt.
Before long, the entire area is sanctioned off. Police cars line the border of the boardwalk and helicopters flutter overhead. The HPSC secures what is beyond the perimeter of the scene. The Division Director herself oversees the operation as Scorpion is captured & detained. The Nomu proves more docile than anticipated, courtesy of Toru Hagakure talking it down. But the armed men are still rough with the potentially dangerous creature when cuffing and dragging it away.
Himiko Toga, disguised as the HPSC Division Director, hides a smirk behind the tall collar tufts of her overcoat jacket. It's all too easy being in control of everything – manipulating everyone behind the scenes – they even managed to retrieve some remaining Trigger from Starservant. Spider-Man can't even get in her way by knowing the truth because he has no proof, and he'd have a hard time challenging the courts of law what with his own illegal status.
Then she sees someone who CAN put a damper in things. Toshinori Yagi, formerly known as the pro hero All Might, flashes his updated license to gain access to the scene. She put him in charge of a subdivision to keep him out of her way but that apparently backfired a bit. S.H.I.E.L.D does fall under the jurisdiction of such a setting as this. Her smile becomes forced as she greets her colleague, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Toshinori puts on a smile too – though it's tough to tell whether his is legit or also fraudulent. "I could be asking you the same question, Madame Director.. Do you normally make appearances at all scenes such as this?"
"That would require me to be in more places than one at a time", the disguised villain covers up her disgruntlement with a joke to stall before giving him her best logical ruse of an excuse, "It's a vigilante matter to do with Spider-Man so I wanted to oversee the operation."
Toshinori looks around at the minimal property damage, finding zero casualties. "He may be a vigilante but he does tight proficient work", there had been times he met Spider-Man before his retirement and he can stand by this particular vigilante to a certain extent. But that's not why he's here. And neither is that why the HPSC Director is here. "I would like S.H.I.E.L.D to take Ojiro for treatment", he addresses the real reason for all of this.
Chameleon loses her smile, her disguise as director of the HPSC slipping slightly. "I can't allow Scorpion to receive transit anywhere other than Tartarus", she forces herself to not lose her composure no matter how badly she wants to just stab or strangle the retired hero to be done with him already.
Toshinori notices the way that she refers to the tragically Nomu-fied boy and frowns. "With all due respect.. Ojiro deserves treatment in a place other than prison", he stands his ground even firmer.
She releases a strained sigh, realizing that there's no winning the argument now. She messed up. These types of do-gooders don't budge when it comes to 'saving' somebody. "..Still ever the hero, aren't you, All Might?"
Toshinori fixes her with a glare, using his one good eye to do so. "It's my job to care, Madame Director."
"It's your job to lead S.H.I.E.L.D", she steps forward in order to push past him – but pauses midway to say one final thing first, "I expect your fury to be directed towards the enemies and not me."
Toshinori turns as she goes by. "You haven't invoked my fury yet, Madame Director" For some reason, it doesn't feel like he's won this. And so he warns her, "But you'll know when you do."
She pauses. "I'll leave this one in your capable hands then", her glance back comes with a hard look, "Just be sure to have a report on my desk by tonight to keep me in the loop" She gives him a command as his superior that he can't overstep on, "I want to know this Nomu's location and where it's being kept" And then she leaves before he can try.
She's already gone before he can offer any kindof retort, so she doesn't hear his rough whisper. "Ojiro is more than just a Nomu…"
When Chameleon gets in her car to leave, she spots something strange within the reflection of her rearview mirror. She gasps. Her hand goes to her face. It's melting – not of her own accord. Himiko Toga had never experienced difficulty maintaining her disguises before. Maybe with a blood shortage, but she has always stayed consciously aware of those limits.
No. This is different. As of late, due to the overly extended usage of her quirk, her face has been taking a strain. It droops at corners sometimes. She noticed it happening last week. Though, back then, it wasn't so bad. She could crease it in with the wrinkles of the old woman that she's playing the part of. She could reshape the molding and put it back in place. But it's now getting much worse … these … these side effects that she is experiencing.
Himiko digs into her glove compartment in order to retrieve an emergency blood pack. It's prolonging the usage of her quirk, sure, but it ought to strengthen it for awhile longer while she figures something out. Never before has she had to reuse and maintain a disguise for this long. At a certain point, Himiko wonders if she'll even be able to recognize her own face anymore.
Alongside her blood pack, she keeps a burner phone for emergencies too. Shigaraki already won't be pleased by her performance with All Might & losing Scorpion – she doesn't want to give him another reason to be upset with her by telling her about this too. So, she instead uses the phone to contact her OTHER associate. Now referring to himself as Jackal, she gives the good doctor a call to help her.
Masks seem to be slipping off more than usual for everyone these days, exposing alot of identities and who people TRULY are.
AUTHOR NOTES
No anime/manga themed anything is complete without the 'beach episode' and who better to include as the villain for a sandy setting than some variant of Sandman!?
Working more on turning Toshinori into 'Fury' and will delve more into the reason why Himiko will have to where the classic Chameleon mask next chapter, but it's a start.
Till then, I must express my disappointment in your lack of comments/reviews - except for you, CapoPerk, you're cool - and I strongly urge you all to say something this time around!
-Courtesy of your review wanting author!