Chapter 60: The Spider and the Thorns
It had been just a little over an hour since Izuku had left Ryukyu's agency building. Since then, the teen had switched back to his regular clothes and got himself some supper at a nearby ramen place. After this, he decided to board the subway, as he knew he couldn't just go webswinging on a full stomach, and the subway would be faster to get to his destination. Despite telling the teen where Ryukyu's agency building was, Nezu didn't seem to be considerate over the fact that the location he wanted Izuku to investigate was on the other side of the city from Ryukyu's place. As such, Izuku spent most of the time on the train staring at his phone, his eyes scanning over each area Nezu had sent him.
'The commission location Mister Nezu sent me is part of a condemned district, mainly several abandoned buildings. Didn't know we had stuff like that around here...then again, I've found a lot more grimy alleyways than I thought I would while webswinging.' he thought as he opened a browser and began staring at pictures of the location. All they showed was blurry, low-quality pictures of broken buildings. The street address Nezu had given him didn't even have a picture, just some pics of the nearby blocks.
After a few more pics, he decided to put the other locations in the browser. The first one made him raise an eyebrow, only for him to put in two more, their locations also making him pause for a second. 'This is...' he mentally said as he continued to put in more locations, 'Mister Nezu wants me to investigate a pub, a car shop...looks like there's a warehouse or two, that makes sense. But then there's...a Chinese restaurant and a mattress store? Why would he want me to investigate that?'
The teen leaned back in the train chair, sighing as he put his phone away a second later. He let out a long breath as his mind went over the day, remembering how happy he was with Eri, trying to make her happy. It made him feel like...like a hero. Something he thought he would never feel like.
"You'll never be hero!"
"You're just a worthless pebble!"
That is, till those old thoughts went through his head again. It was like a loop, a cycle that kept repeating over and over for the teen as he slumped over in that train chair. The smile that was trying to form on his face began to switch to a frown, only for him to shake his head.
'Don't think like that. I gotta...I gotta stay positive.' he thought before pulling out his phone again. His eyes just barely registered the device as he tapped it a few times, only to see he had gotten a text from Ochako.
Uraraka Ochako: Hey there! Himiko wanted us to tell you we'll be at the mall for a bit longer than we thought. That and we might go out and eat afterward.
Izuku blinked at the text before responding, basically saying 'Okay, I'll tell my mom.' before sending another text, this one to his mother. And as he did this, the train's announcer rang out, saying the next destination. Realizing that it was his stop, Izuku got up from the seat, sighing as he put his phone away.
'Well, here we go. I hope this time it goes well. I just hope Mister Nezu is wrong about this...'
'Man, today is a long one.' Izuku thought as he landed on a rooftop, the teen now in costume as he slowly walked to the edge of the building. As he did this, he glanced up and saw the sun was still up in the sky. He had believed most of the day would be over now, as he had spent that time with Eri earlier and the long train ride, but it seemed time wasn't moving as fast as he thought. The teen then let out a small yawn as reached the edge before glancing down at his target.
The building was about as basic as you could get. Essentially, it was a car garage, complete with a second floor that looked to have a room or two judging by the two windows he could see. He stared down at the two big garage doors, both closed with a thug standing in between. He was glancing around, looking like he was ready for something to happen.
'This is already starting to look like a trap.' Izuku mentally told himself as he glanced up to the car garage's roof, the sight making him bite his lip. 'Now...do I want to spring it, or just report to Mister Nezu?' Crossing his arms next, the teen's eyes went back down to the car garage, then the sides of the building before going to his small pocket he had made for his costume in case he didn't have his hoodie on. Inside was his phone, which had the text from Nezu telling him to just report it if it looked like a trap.
And as he glanced back at the building again, the teen took in a deep breath before whispering, "Don't do it Izuku. You lost to this guy's traps the past like...four times now. Maybe I should just investigate and report back." He closed his eyes next, his mind repeating three words.
'Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it...'
Two minutes later...
'Aaaaand you did it. You moron.' Izuku thought as he invisibly landed on the car garage's rooftop, the teen wallcrawling down the side of the building before reaching a window just as his invisibility wore off. He quickly refilled his shooters before squinting his eyes at the sight inside, now seeing what he counted to be about fifteen thugs, all of them working on a series of bikes.
'Note to self: Look up trouble in the dictionary later and see if your face doesn't appear there, Izuku.' the teen mentally insulted himself before pressing his fingers on the window, soon seeing it wouldn't open. 'No, that would make too much noise. If I want to beat what is probably a trap, I better do it quietly for once.'
The vigilante began to crawl on the side of the building at this, glancing around for any kind of entrance. And after another minute, he found his answer as he smiled at the sight. 'Another air duct. Nice.' Slipping in with his wallcrawling, the vigilante began to shift through the filter, soon reaching the other side. There, he saw he was just over a pair of thugs working on a bike, one under the vehicle while the other was handing the first some tools. Slowly removing the vent cover, the teen slipped into the building, slowly crawling onto the ceiling.
'Huh. Its just like when I found Tombstone's place. Don't recognize any of these guys, but I bet they would have liked his garage.' Izuku thought as he stared at the thugs all doing their work. And as they did this, one of the garage doors opened up, just about everyone turning to the door as a semi truck began to back into the place. The thug that was standing out front walked inside at this, yelling at the crew.
"We're transferring tonight. How many are ready?"
The thugs all started talking to each other, only for one of them to reply, "We only got three ready."
"That's fine." the first thug responded before gesturing to the semi, "Hammerhead wants us to go slow anyways. Says the buyers he's trying to get are being stiff."
"No kidding." Another thug spoke up as they began to push one of the cycles into the semi, "At least we're getting good pay."
"True." The first thug sighed as he then gestured to a few others. Izuku watched as three thugs grabbed a few crates that were sitting in a corner and transported them to the semi. As they did this, a fourth walked over and checked another crate, Izuku squinting his eyes to see what was inside.
'More guns. Guess this is another smuggling operation. Is that all Hammerhead's guys do?' Izuku mentally commented as he continued to watch from the ceiling. Despite how many eyes were moving around, he noticed that no one looked up. He was glad, as he knew continuing to be invisible would hurt his head. After a few more minutes, he watched as five thugs now enter the semi's back while loading the last crates and three motorcycles. The first thug then gave the rest a wave before heading to the front of the vehicle, soon hopping into the passenger seat. 'And that's a third of the thugs gone. That's convenient. That being said...' The teen reached into his pocket and pulled out a spider tracer, the only one he had packed for the day since he didn't have his hoodie. 'I'll let them get away for now. Let's just clear this place out today.'
Putting the tracer in his webshooter, the teen fired the tiny spider onto the semi's bumper, the device instantly clinging onto the vehicle. Smiling at the sight, he then watched the semi start to move away before another thug closed the garage door. His eyes scanned the place next, blinking a few times as he watched most of the thugs get back to work. 'Nine criminals...' he took a deep breath at that thought, 'Let's do this.'
The teen stared at the thugs, his mind registering each one. Two were working on another bike, three more all going outside. Izuku watched them go, slowly following them across the ceiling to see them lighting up some cigarettes. A fourth soon joined them for the smoke break, Izuku smiling at the sight before looking back at the others. Two were at a desk, both debating something while a lone thug walked over to another corner of crates.
'Okay, this should work...' Izuku ceiling-crawled over to the lone thug, the teen taking a deep breath before shooting out a webline onto the ceiling before holding onto the webbing. Squeezing the trigger, he slowly lowered himself off the ceiling, the teen now right above the lone thug. And with a bit of sparks flying off his right hand, he reached out and grabbed the thug's shoulder, zapping and knocking him out instantly. 'Good night.' Izuku thought as he caught the thug as he began to fall over before climbing back up to the ceiling with the thug in one hand.
One webbing cocoon later, he stuck the thug to the ceiling before glancing over at the rest of the thugs. 'None of them noticed. Good.' The teen took a deep breath before crawling over to the thugs at the desk, one of them pulling out a bottle of whiskey and pouring two cups. And as they both took a drink, Izuku lowered himself on a webline. Adjusting himself so he was holding onto the webbing with his legs in an upside-down crossed pose, he grabbed both thugs with bio-electricity hands, zapping both. The two flopped over, about to smack the desk before Izuku yanked them, slowly their descents before silently laying them on the desk. Webbing came next, sticking both to the desk before glancing back at the two still working on the motorcycle.
'Just two more.' Izuku thought as he crawled up to the ceiling again. He made his way over the two, one working on the vehicle while the other took out a wrench from a nearby toolbox. The thug put the wrench back in a second later, only for webbing to hit the thug's hand, sticking him to the toolbox.
"What the-umf!" the thug muttered out before something smacked his mouth. Putting his other hand to his mouth, he now noticed there was a covering a webbing closing part of his face.
"What's wrong?" the other thug replied as he glanced back, only to see the webbing on the thug's face. "What the-"
"Hey guys." said another voice above them, making both look up to see the vigilante known as Spider-Man. He waved at them before grabbing both of their heads, "Always wanted to try this." With a swift motion, he smacked both thugs' heads into each other, knocking both out instantly. "Nice."
Another cocoon of webbing came next, sticking both to the motorcycle. And as he did this, Izuku turned to the door that the other four thugs had used to do their smoke break. Staring at it for a second, a bulb went off in the teen's head before walking over to the door and wallcrawling up the nearby wall and positioned himself above the door. Sticking to the wall with a smile on his face under the mask, he leaned over and knocked on the door.
"Hey guys! We got a problem!" Izuku yelled, the door opening a second later. All four thugs squeezed through the frame, Izuku then pointing his webshooters at the group.
"What the heck?!" one of them yelped.
"Look! That webbing...Spider-Man is here!" another exclaimed as they pointed at the webbed up thugs.
"You got that right." Izuku chuckled, the thugs all hearing the voice and spinning around.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Four globs of webbing smacked the thugs' feet, sticking them solid. A second later, webbing covered the rest of their bodies, instantly catching them all as they started yelling and squirming in the webbing. The teen hopped down next and zapped each one, knocking them all out. Grinning at the sight, he then watched the group slump over.
"And that's a wrap." Izuku laughed as he scanned the rest of the room, seeing all the thugs knocked out. The sight made him go wide-eyed, the utter shock of what he just did now hitting him. 'Wait...I did it. I really did it.'
Raising his hands up at this, the teen exclaiming, "YES!" He let out a long sigh of relief at this, the teen readjusting himself for a second before-
Danger!
"Well done." said a voice as the teen felt his spider sense ring out. Izuku spun around at this, only to go wide-eyed as he saw a new figure appear in the car garage. In front of another door, this one on the other side from the garage doors. It was a man in a white suit with a purple rose on it while wearing a full head purple mask. The sight made Izuku go wide-eyed, jaw trying to drop underneath his mask. And as he saw the man stand there, the teen felt that order from Nezu ring out in his head.
"I know what you're thinking. However, this time I want you to only scope it out. If anything seems fishy, do not engage, as it means its just another trap, and we will not spring it."
Izuku's wide eyes now shrunk, the teen gulping as he thought one simple sentence, 'I just sprung the trap, didn't I? And now...the Rose is here.' He bit his lip at this, another memory appearing in his head as he remembered a conversation he had with Nezu yesterday.
Yesterday...
"The Rose?" Izuku asks as he leaned back in his room's desk chair, his hand holding his phone to his ear. "He's after me? Why? I mean, I know he's one of the top commission underground hero agents, but you told me that Silver Sable is after me. She's more of a soldier compared to him."
Within the device, Nezu begins to speak, "You're not wrong, but there are two things you need to know. One, I'm glad you know about the Rose. Most individuals, even heroes employed by the commission, don't know about him. This is mainly due to his ranking, as in he makes sure he's not popular, but that's beside the point. Point is, he's not someone most know even exist." There was a slight pause as Izuku could hear the sound of a lighter clicking before the stoat let out a puff, "Second, though there is no direct evidence, most underground heroes that deal with the commission also know the rumor involving the man."
"Rumor?" Izuku tilted his head despite no one being able to see him doing so, "What rumor?"
"Before I answer that, I need to ask you about the first point I just made. How much do you know about the Rose?"
Izuku blinked at the question before scanning his desk, soon pulling out an old notebook. Flipping through it, his eyes stared at several entries, all of them on heroes before stopping at an entry over the Rose. "Uh...let's see. Known as the Masked Gentlemen Hero: The Rose, his quirk is a secret set by the hero commission. I suspect it's a kind of botany manipulation quirk based on what little I've found on the internet back when I took notes on him." Izuku flipped a few pages, stopping on an entry of the underground hero Eraserhead, "He's like most Underground Heroes. I can never find much."
Nezu slightly hummed at this, "I suspected as much. You are correct about his quirk though."
"Really?!"
"Oh yes." Nezu chuckled at the excitement in Izuku's voice, only to take another puff of smoke, "However, that is the only good news I can give you about the man."
"Why is that?"
"Well...it is believed that the Rose is the Kingpin's right-hand man."
As those words hit the teen's ears, he instantly went wide-eyed as he yelped, "What?!"
"I know." Nezu responded, cutting off the teen, "If you're wondering, it's a rumor that has existed for...several years, but never fully proven."
"But...but...but why?!" Izuku fumbled out, "I mean, I know you told me that the corruption was bad, but-"
"I know." Nezu repeated, "That is why I'm telling you this. It is to warn you of what you are about to do, and also...its why I will only have you investigate one last location owned by the hero commission. I believe it is these locations that are under his control, which in turn, have become traps for you."
"That's...that's crazy." Izuku muttered, his mind going over all this new information. "I mean, I can't believe-"
"Unfortunately, that is how things are." Nezu interrupted, the stoat putting his cigarette onto his desk's ashtray, "And this is yet another reason why we must go after the Kingpin."
And as those words hit Izuku, he fully slumped back in his chair, "Wow. That's...that's a lot."
"Its just the start. But don't worry, Young Midoriya." the smile on Nezu's face could be heard as he said these next words, "I believe you can do it."
The Present...
Izuku continued to the stare at the purple-masked man, the teen feeling a shiver go down his spine at the mere presence of the man. It was the second time he had encountered a hero commission agent, but this wasn't like when he was attacked by Silver Sable. There was no killing intent, no sudden violence...nothing. Instead, the teen felt nothing. It was like nothing was going on around him, including the individual in front of him.
Despite this, the Rose just did a small gesture-like bow before speaking up, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Spider-Man. I am from the hero commission. I am called-"
"The Rose." Izuku interrupted, his body tensing up as he said those two words.
The Rose came to a stop at that, only to let out a chuckle, "I see you've heard of me. Good. That makes things easier." He spun around at this, gesturing to the vigilante again, "Follow me. We have much to discuss." The man opened the door he had just came through at this, revealing a staircase. Walking up it next, Izuku blinked as his mind went over what was happening.
'He's asking me to...follow him?' Izuku mentally told himself before glancing around, staring at the knocked-out thugs. 'I mean, should I? Maybe I should just web up these guys in one package and deliver them to the police instead. Or I could-'
"You coming?" Rose interrupted, the teen turning back to the man. The Rose just chuckled again before adding, "Don't worry about these scum. I'll have the commission pick them up and put them in jail. Though..." He put his hand on his chest pocket, pulling out a small rose, "If you consider running right now, I will have to try and catch you. You do have a bounty with the hero commission after all."
Izuku blinked at that, feeling himself slightly lean back as he heard those words. Nezu had told him that the Rose would use that as a cover to catch Izuku, something that the teen knew he couldn't get around. And as his mind went over that fact, he took a deep breath and began to follow the man. The two went up to the building's second floor, Izuku soon seeing it was just a room for the staircase and one other very large room. In fact, the second room was just a big wooden and brick-walled area with two windows and a large light in the middle of the room. Shadows covered all four corners, the light slightly dim as the darkness could easily hide anything. Despite this, there was basically nothing in the room, as if it was designed that way.
"Here we go." The Rose chuckled as he closed the room's door behind Spider-Man. Fiddling with the rose in his pocket next, the man let out an exhale before continuing, "Now, onto business."
Izuku stared directly at the man, both expressions hidden by their masks as Izuku asked, "Business?"
"Indeed. After all, you are very important to my business as a hero for the commission." The Rose replied, his tone showing a slight chuckle, "You are a high priority target, one that has made many panic due to your effect on society."
"Effect? But I'm just a vigilante."
The Rose leaned back at this, as if he was surprised before continuing, "I see. It seems the situation is...nevermind." The man shook his head before adding, "If that's what you think, I'll just move on to the more important part. You see, its my job to hunt you down for the commission...but I honestly prefer getting answers out of you first. As such, I'll be completely straight up and honest with you. Why are you targeting hero commission owned sites?"
Izuku continued to stare at the man, his mind going over the question. 'What do I do here? I mean, he's a hero. Granted, Mister Nezu said he's dirty and works for the Kingpin...but I can't fight a hero. That's not why I'm a vigilante!' He bit his lip at that though, 'Then again, If I say the wrong thing, he'll probably attack me. Especially if he's after Mister Nezu as well. But if I don't say anything...it'll probably end the same way.' The teen's eyes shifted to the windows, 'I could probably get away...but then he would just release those thugs downstairs and-'
"Well?"
Izuku felt himself flinch at the one-word question. He had honestly been so lost in thought that he didn't realize how many seconds had passed. And as he tried to think of an answer, The Rose reached for the rose on his chest pocket. Seeing this, Izuku felt his spider sense begin to ring, as if it knew something bad was about to happen.
Taking a small breath, he began to reply, "Well...I'm trying to...stop certain crimes."
"Oh?" The Rose paused his hand over the flower, "And why would you be doing that?"
"I...have my reasons." Izuku responded as he felt his spider sense continue to barely ring. Something was wrong, he just knew it.
"And I believe you are lying." The Rose instantly replied, his fingers now touching the tip of the rose on his chest pocket, "I will give you one last chance. Tell me why you are attacking the hero commission."
Izuku felt himself freeze up at this. The tingling in his head was still happening, but he knew he couldn't say anything. Nezu had told him to try to keep everything under wraps. After all, if the connection between Izuku and Nezu was found out, it could mean the end of his path into UA.
And with another second passing, his spider sense still ringing in his head, Izuku made his decision.
"I won't fight you. I don't fight heroes." He then pointed his wrist at the hero, "But I'm not telling you a thing."
"I see." The Rose replied as he touched the rose on his shirt, "Then you must die."
Danger!
Izuku went wide-eyed as his spider sense flared at this. He spun around and pointed his web shooters at the windows, about to fired a webline to yank himself out of the room...only for two walls of vines to appear, blocking both windows. "What the-"
Danger!
BLAM!
The teen reflexively shifted his head as a bullet zipped past him. He spun around to see that in one of the four shadow-filled corners of the room, a silver-colored pistol was now shining in the darkness. This was followed by a second one as both began to fire a volley of bullets.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Ten bullets flew across the room, the teen instantly letting his reflexes kick in. And as the tiny metal barrage began, the vigilante started to cartwheel before doing a few flips, dodging each and every bullet.
BLAM!
That is, till the twelfth bullet came. This one went straight for the vigilante's head, ready to pierce the brain. But as it began its journey, Izuku fully ducked down, dodging the bullet as it flew over the teen and right for the Rose. And as it traveled, the man merely snapped his fingers before a wall of thorns instantly spawned in front of him. The bullet smacked the vines, cutting through the foliage, but their path was now diverged by the vines, sending the bullet into the wall behind the Rose.
"Silver! Watch it!" The Rose yelled behind his thorny shield.
"Shut up!" Silver Sable roared back as she dashed out of the shadowy corner. The silver-haired woman's eyes glowed blue at this, her body quickly shifting at high speed as she instantly reloaded both of her guns. And as she did this, Izuku saw her approach, gasping at the sight as she began to fire at him again.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Four bullets came for the teen, Izuku quickly flipping back as he dodged them all. And as the fourth exited the barrel, the teen's spider sense guided him as he pointed his wrist at the woman. Her eyes had stopped glowing at this moment as two weblines shot out of the teen's webshooters.
Thwip! Thwip!
Both weblines hit the woman's guns, only for both to be yanked away a split-second later. The two weapons went flying across the room, smacking another wall just as Izuku landed from another flip. And as this happened, Silver Sable just let out a growl before pulling out two knives in each hand and threw them straight for the teen's head.
Danger!
Izuku cartwheeled again, dodging both blades as they flew across the room and into the Rose's vine wall. And as they hit, Silver threw a third knife, Izuku finishing his cartwheel before sidestepping, evading the weapon. But as he did this, his spider sense rang out again. Silver's eyes shined blue, only for her to suddenly appear in front of the teen.
"What the-"
Thwack!
A foot smacked Izuku in the face, only for two fists to slam his stomach. This was followed by three rapid punches to his face, the third making him stumble back. And as this happened, Silver's eyes stopped glowing as she thrust another punch, Izuku's spider sense screaming at this. He lifted a palm, ready to catch the punch, only for Silver to pull back. Seeing this, the teen saw her spin around, raising her foot to kick his face again, making the teen duck under the attack. He followed with two thrown punches at the woman, only for her backpedal, evading both with ease.
Izuku then pointed his wrists downward, firing off globs of webbing as they smacked the floor. Two instantly struck Silver's feet, making her slightly flinch as she realized she couldn't move. And as this happened, Izuku opened his hand into a palm as electricity flowing around it as he reached out to grab her shoulder.
'I don't wanna fight a hero, so I'll just knock her out!' He thought as he was just about to touch her-
Danger!
WHACK!
"Blugh!" Izuku yelped as something instantly smacked his face, almost knocking him off his feet. And as he stumbled from the blow, Silver pulled out another knife and cut the webbing. As this happened, Izuku regained his balance, only to a long vine instantly shoot out, this one headed straight for the teen's head. Ducking under this, he was met with a knife now flying toward him, causing him to roll to the side, evading both attacks. But as he did this, his spider sense screamed at him again, only for another vine to appear, this one thrusting out of the vine walls that were covering the windows. Izuku quickly began to flip around at this, dodging three more vines as Silver stared at the sight before turning her head away. She zipped across the room at this, quickly grabbing the two guns that had been thrown away by Izuku's webbing. And as she recovered the weapons, Izuku dodged under vine, only for them to stop coming.
They both turned to see the vine wall the Rose had created to protect himself was gone, the man standing in the back of the room as he glanced over at Silver, "Well? Aren't you going to thank me?"
"Shut up or I'll put this next bullet in your skull." Silver growled as spun around to face Spider-Man again. She pointed both guns at him, the vigilante quickly switching to a spider-like fighting stance as he bent over.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Four bullets fired out of the dual pistols, Izuku quickly side-flipping to dodge each one. They flew by the vigilante, each almost grazing the teen as he continued to flip around. And as this happened, he fired two more weblines, ready to strike the guns, only for Silver's eyes to glow. She quickly began to accelerate, dodging both bits of webbing before firing again, two more bullets going for the vigilante. But as this happened, her eyes stopped glowing as the bullets left the barrels, Izuku spinning and evading both with ease.
"Blasted little-" Silver growled as she heard her guns click, only for two more weblines to appear on the guns. She felt Izuku try to yank the weapons away, only for her to pull back. But as she did this, the yank from the teen was too much, causing her to gasp as he slung both away again.
"Ha! Gotcha!" Izuku cheered as he did this, "Now you can't-blugh!"
He let out a yelped as his spider sense warned him too late as a vine smacked his face, knocking the teen back. And as this happened, a foot slammed into Izuku's stomach next, knocking the wind out of the teen. "Ugh!" he yelped before two more punches smacked Izuku's face, the teen stumbling back at the blow. Silver thrusted a third punch at this, only for Izuku's spider sense to scream at him, causing him to reflexively lift up a palm...and catch the punch.
ZAP!
"Yaugh!" the woman yelled as she felt the electricity surge into her, causing her to reflexively pull away. But as she tried to do this, Izuku held onto her fist, the electricity continuing to zap her.
'Can't...let go!' Izuku thought as he tried to keep his grip. The teen's eyes were blurry right now, his form trying to get his breath back as he felt winded from all the blows he had just been hit with.
Danger!
THWACK!
"Blaugh!" Izuku yelped as another vine slammed into his face, this blow knocking him over. His back smacked the floor as he released his grip on Silver at the same time, the woman stumbling back for a second. And as she did this, she saw what had happened, her eyes instantly glowing blue at this. Within a split second, her body accelerated, quickly reloading one of her guns before zipping over to the vigilante. And with a firm thrust, she pushed her right foot onto the teen's stomach, pinning him to the floor.
Izuku felt his body try to release a breath of air at the push, his vision slightly swirling as he looked up at the woman. Her eyes were filled with fire, killing intent pouring out of her as she moved her gun to point it at the teen's head.
"This is the end for you. May you find peace in the next life."
Meanwhile...
Nezu was in his office at UA, the stoat letting out a long puff. Despite the students being gone for the day, the school was also where the stoat did his main agency/hero duties. It had a full setup that allowed him to do just about anything. That and half his staff would usually be at the school anyways. UA was designed from the bottom up to be a hero school, but it was also Nezu's main center for everything he did as a hero.
As such, the stoat was currently staring at his office computer, typing away at the keyboard. He was looking over the current grades of second and third years, the stoat knowing they had less than four weeks before the finals, and he needed to figure out something. But as he did this, his office door suddenly opened, the stoat's beady eyes glancing over at the individual rudely walking in without even knocking or announcing themselves.
He knew who it would be though. For the individual was a tall, scraggly man wearing a long gray scarf around his upper body and a look of pure eye-twitching anger on his face.
"Aizawa." Nezu chuckled as he closed the documents on his computer before turning to the man now standing on the opposite of the desk. Seeing this, he put his paws in a temple-like gesture as he asked, "Why are you here on what is obviously not a school day?"
"I'm here to save my class." Aizawa instantly responded, his voice sour and filled with disdain.
"Save your class? Whatever do you mean?"
Aizawa replied by reaching into his scarf and pulling out a stack of papers. He slammed them down on the desk, the man leaning over at this as he growled at the stoat, "These are the current essays for Class 1-A."
"Oh?" Nezu took the top one, only to see the grade on it. It wasn't great, and the stoat glanced over and saw the next few had similar scores. "I see. This is unusual for UA students. Do we know why the grades are like this?"
Aizawa grinded his teeth at this, "You know exactly why."
"I don't." Nezu instantly countered, his beady eyes glaring up at the man, "I told you before Aizawa, I won't let you torment your students because you're upset about my decisions on your class."
"I'm not tormenting my students. I'm preparing them for being heroes!"
"You were tormenting them." Nezu repeated, the stoat's eye softening as replied, "You're a good teacher when it comes to making sure the student take their studies seriously, but I won't let you go that far."
"I...listen Nezu, I need control of the class! I need them to realize that heroics isn't a joke!"
"I know you do." Nezu responded while taking out a cigarette, the stoat lighting it with a quick flick of his lighter, "However, I also believe that the students needed a break. They can't go full throttle all the time like you do."
"But-"
"But nothing. Besides, this isn't what you want, is it?"
Aizawa stopped at that. The stoat was staring at him now, an almost casual expression on the principal's face. It was something that really ticked Aizawa off at times. But he knew what it meant. It meant Nezu was going to get his way, even if Aizawa did everything he could to prevent it.
And this time, Aizawa knew he had too.
Letting out a long sigh, Aizawa said a few words you would never regularly hear him say, "You're right."
"Oh?" Nezu tilted his head at this, a smirk about to appear on his face.
"You...you're right. I was going too far." Aizawa repeated while glancing away for just a second before glaring back at the stoat. "Listen. I want the expelling privileges, and Bakugo. I need both in order for my class to work."
"And I told you before, you're not getting either." Nezu responded while letting out a puff of smoke. "You may have your expelling privileges back if your students pass the finals, but Bakugo is off the table."
Aizawa's glare grew as he replied, "And I'm fine with the finals deal. I can fix that if I have control of the class. However, I need Bakugo. He's the closest to a pusher as I'm going to get."
"And I told you," Nezu let out a puff into Aizawa's face, making the man flinch, "No."
Aizawa growled at this, slamming his fist onto the desk, "Nezu, I need him. He's the best student I've had in years, and you're wasting him away in general services! He has the right to be a hero, unlike that vigilante snot, Midoriya!"
Nezu leaned back in his chair at this, "And I'll say it again, no. After all, did you not hear Inko Midoriya's testimony over the boy and how he tormented her son?"
Aizawa let out a loud groan, "That was the ravings of a bias parent."
"Naomasa confirmed she was telling the truth."
"And Aldera confirmed she was lying." Aizawa instantly countered, "Listen Nezu, I need that kid!"
"No." Nezu put the cigarette in a nearby ashtray, "You need Spider-Man, which is something I'm currently working on getting you."
And as that name entered Aizawa's ears, his teeth began to grind. His eye twitched at the mere mention of the one that had constantly made his life miserable recently. And with a hiss, he responded, "No, I don't. I don't need some arrogant, lazy delinquent that can barely function. What that kid needs is therapy."
"And I say he doesn't need such a thing." Nezu crossed his arms at this, "I say that I believe Spider-Man has the potential to become the greatest student we'll ever have here at UA, perhaps even surpassing All Might."
As Aizawa heard those words, he felt his stomach twist in a knot. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't be serious." he spat as the hero watched his boss just glare up at him.
"I am. I believe in Izuku Midoriya. I've seen what he can do, what power he wields...and the potential that is within him." Nezu replied, uncrossing his arms as his beady eyes stared directly into Aizawa's, "He will help me defeat the Kingpin, and he will join your class and become a great hero. A hero that UA will be proud of, and a shining example of what others should strive for."
And as those words hit Aizawa's ears, his mind told him one thing: This was pointless. He wasn't going to get his way today. He wasn't going to get his full control of his class today. Today...was a failure for Shouta Aizawa.
But it wasn't over.
"You're wrong." Aizawa growled as he stood up straight, his usual slouched demeanor completely gone as he said his next words. "You're going to kill that kid and ruin my class just so you can spite me."
"I am not-"
"I won't allow it." Aizawa interrupted, the stoat glaring back at him, but the man continued to talk, "I'll gladly go along with your deal over the finals, but I'm taking control back of my class whether you like it or not. That, and I will get Bakugo back from you. As for Izuku Midoriya, or Spider-Man as you like to call him..." the man took the papers and shoved them back in his scarf before glaring at the stoat one more time. "You're going to regret not listening to me. I know exactly what that kid is."
He shoved the last paper into the scarf as he declared his conclusions, "He's just an arrogant, delinquent snot, and even if his story about receiving a quirk from a spider of all things is true, he has no right to the quirk or being a hero."
He shook his head at this, "No, he deserves to be shut down now and put into therapy. Otherwise...you're just going to get him killed by the Kingpin."
"This is the end for you. May you find peace in the next life."
Those were about to be the last words Izuku ever heard. His spider sense was screaming at him at this, his mind going slightly blank as it was still trying to get over getting the wind knocked out of him. His body could move, but his nerves were concentrating on the pain of the foot currently square on his chest at the moment. The one known as Spider-Man was pinned down, and was about to be out.
But as this happened, Izuku's blurry eyes began to see something else. He saw that himself and Silver were directly under the only light in the room. And as Silver rested her finger on the trigger, spider sense still blaring in his head, the teen let his reflexes take control.
Thwip!
"What the-"
With a flick of the wrist, Izuku fired a glob of webbing at the only light in the building. It was still daytime outside, the sun still shining, but thanks to the vines covering the windows, the room now sunk into total darkness. Seeing this, Silver blinked for a second before pushing her finger down on the trigger, only to feel something.
ZAP!
"AAAAAHHHH!" she screamed as Izuku quickly grabbed her leg with his other hand, zapping her at the same time. Her body lit up as electricity surged through it, the Rose seeing the woman light up for a second. He followed this by summoning a vine to strike the vigilante, only for Izuku to thrust his hand upward, lifting the woman off the teen. She instantly fell back, her body slamming into the floor before Izuku spun, dodging the vine at the same time. Quickly scrambling back to his feet, the teen turned to where the Rose was, remembering that the man hadn't moved since the start of the fight.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
"What the heck?!" Rose yelped as webbing covered his body, the man just now remembering he had removed his previous vine wall shield, the webbing now sticking him to the wall behind him. He glanced back into the darkness-filled room, "Silver, do something!" A groan came out next, signifying the woman was still reeling from the electricity blow, making the purple-masked man sigh, "Useless woman. Seems I'll have to fix this myself."
Growling for a second, the Rose summoned a volley of vines to appear around himself, instantly cutting the webbing. But as this happened, the vines over the window shrunk down, disappearing a moment later. And as the sun's light shone into the room, the Rose went wide-eyed as he realized what this meant. Glancing back at the room, he saw Izuku turn to the window and fire two weblines.
"NO!"
But it was too late. With a quick yank, Izuku slingshot himself at one of the windows, instantly smashing through the glass. A wall of vines covered the window a second later, but it was no use. The attack had missed its mark.
As for the vigilante, Izuku quickly started webswinging, trying to run away as fast as possible. He had escaped the trap, and knew he wanted to get as far away as possible.
That is, till Silver walked up to the other window and fired two bullets.
BLAM!
SMASH!
The first bullet shattered the window instantly, turning it into a mess of glass. But then the second bullet came out of the barrel.
BLAM!
The tiny metal object flew out of the now open window, zipping through the air in a straight line. And as it continued to fly, it spun as it flew over one building, then two...
"Augh!"
And then it grazed Spider-Man's shoulder. The teen let out a scream as he felt the blow hit him. His hands instantly lost grip, his spider sense blaring as his nerves now throbbed in pain. And before he could react, his body smacked a roof, the teen tumbling on it before hitting the building's edge...and falling off a second later. A scream could be heard coming out of his mouth at this as his body fell two stories, this whole form smacking the alleyway concrete a second later.
"Ugh...oooohhh..." he moaned as he felt the pain consume him, the teen shaking at the damage he had just endured. He tried to open his eyes at this, as they had closed after getting grazed by the bullet. His shoulder was still bleeding, and the pain kept getting worse.
Danger!
His spider sense was also still flaring, still screaming at the vigilante. In fact, it was thing that was keeping Izuku from blacking out.
And as this happened, the two heroes that were trying to kill the vigilante exited the building they were just fighting in. Both had yelled at each other for a minute before Silver declared she would be going after the vigilante, saying she knew he couldn't get away. And as she began to run down the alleyways, searching for the teen, he continued to lay there in the alleyway.
'Well Izuku, looks like it's another failure.' he thought as he laid there. 'I just can't get a break. Heck, I can get any of it right as Spider-Man.'
He felt another surge of pain at this, making him tense up as he opened his eyes. Trying to glance around, he now saw that he was at the end of an alleyway with his stomach on the ground, his back exposed to the world. His shoulder was screaming in pain, and the teen had one of his eyes twitching due to the pain. Feeling the aches and damage, the teen continued to lay there, letting out a few groans.
'Can't move. Feels...strange. Pain everywhere.' he thought, only for his spider sense to blare again. 'Guess I'm still in trouble.' He then turned his head, feeling a slight tinge of pain doing that as he stared at his injured shoulder, 'Come on healing thing in my new spider quirk, do your job! Heal me! I need to-'
DANGER!
'Uh-oh.' Izuku mentally said as his spider sense ramped up its alerts. Knowing that meant danger was just around the corner, the teen tried to move...but felt the pain again. 'Okay. That's not gonna work. If that's the case...'
Closing his eyes next, the teen let out a long breath...and turned invisible. A second later, Silver Sable appeared in the alleyway, her gun by her side as she ran down the slim concrete street. Izuku could hear her footsteps as he laid there, still invisible with his eyes closed as she walked up beside him, her eyes glancing around before sprinting away.
And as she did this, Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. His invisibility stayed for a few seconds more at this before vanishing, the teen reappearing into the world. And as this happened, Izuku began to try and stand up, only to slightly slump over. Slowly shifting into a sitting position, the teen sank onto the nearby alleyway wall, letting out a groan of pain.
'Guess...guess my luck hasn't ran out just yet.' he mentally told himself before letting out another sigh. He glanced up and saw the sun was still shining, meaning there was still some part of the day left.
'Just...just rest a bit Izuku. Just rest a little bit.'
He closed his eyes and stayed there for what seemed like days, but it was only a little over an hour. Silver Sable never returned, which was a great relief for the teen. And as he sat there, he felt his healing slowly fix the bullet graze. And after a few more minutes, he slowly stood up, gasping for a second before standing completely up.
Despite sitting there, no one had come by. No one had really appeared for some time, something Izuku knew he wasn't going to complain about. However, he also saw that the day was slowly ending, the sun going to soon set. As this happened, Izuku glanced down at his vigilante costume, biting his lip for a second before nodding to himself.
'Time for Spider-Man to stop for the day. Let's switch back to Izuku Midoriya.'
Glancing around a bit to make sure no one was watching, the teen switching to his clothes under his costume, putting himself back into his civilian self. It was a bit reassuring, though he was still in unbelievable pain. And yet, he felt like he could keep going. Guess the spider powers were more than he thought as he began to walk down the streets of the city. He soon entered a more bustling area filled with people as he made his way to a train station. There, he took a ride back to Musutafu, sighing as he left the train.
All in all, Izuku knew the day was a bust. Granted, he loved the fact that he had gotten to play with Eri today, but the rest had not gone well. As such, he was now walking down another bit of sidewalk, his face showing the largest frown as he continued to shift back and forth. He felt pain in every step, his body aching as he kept his mind on his spider-sense, ready to be warned of anything. The teen knew he was being paranoid, Silver Sable and the Rose were long gone now, but he felt he didn't have a choice. Today just didn't work out.
'Gotta get home. Then I'll tell Mister Nezu I failed...again.' he sadly thought as he crossed a street and onto another sidewalk. He flinched slightly as he felt a tinge of pain surge from the bullet graze from earlier. Even with his healing working overtime, it felt like a million needles piercing his body. Granted, this is the first time he had actually been hit by a bullet, this one being a graze, but it still hurt like crazy.
And as he continued to walk, his feet slightly stumbling as he took a right. The teen's face started to show less of a frown and more just an expression of pain. He was tired. Very very tired. 'Wonder if real heroes ever feel like this? I know All Might never would, but...' his thoughts muddled out a second later as he thought back to what had just happened. 'Then again, All Might doesn't have to fight other heroes.'
As the thought of his favorite hero rang out through his head, the teen continued to stare at the streets ahead of him. Despite him wanting to think about how All Might would tell him to 'never give up' or something of that nature, he felt like today wasn't that day.
'I'm still so weak. If only I was stronger.' Izuku thought instead as he went over another crossing, sighing to himself as he continued down a sidewalk, 'If only...' His thoughts came to a stop as the same words that always haunted him came next.
"You'll never be hero!"
"You're just a worthless pebble!"
"Listen here loser, if you really wanna be hero...go take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in the next life."
'Yeah, that's sounds about right for a Deku like me.' he thought as he took a right, this time walking down an alleyway, 'No matter what I do, nothing ever works out.'
And as another sigh exited his mouth, he flinched again as he felt the earlier bullet graze still sting his body. He wanted to rub where it was, but his body told him no...only for his brain to chime in instead.
For in that moment, it happened.
Danger!
His spider-sense had gone off.
The teen froze at this, ready to cut into a sprint at a moment's notice if it was Silver Sable. Ready to run if it was villain.
But then he heard it. The voice was behind him, probably just a few feet...and it was a voice he knew very well. It was a voice that he had heard all his life, and it was saying one singular word.
"Deku."