Chapter 1: No. 1 - Brave New WorldChapter TextMy Hero Academia: Heroes Across Dimensions – Part 1
No. 1 – Brave New World
It was the dead of night in Tokyo, Japan. Normally, this would be a time of peace and quiet, as ordinary citizens retired from the bustle of the workday and passed the dark hours asleep in their homes or whiling the time away with any number of leisure activities. However, in a world where eighty percent of the population has some kind of superhuman ability, the dead of night was hardly ever peaceful; it was a time when those who would abuse their powers for their own benefit would prowl the streets – such criminals were known as Villains; but where there were evildoers, there were also those who dedicated their lives to stopping them – those that used their gifts to defend the innocent and bring criminals to justice were known as Heroes.
This night was just so, as a massive, sapient tank made of steel rolled down the highway; within him sat a man with a large, snakelike jaw lined with sharp fangs, and a rather large but ordinary-looking man with squinted eyes and crew cut hair.
"Hahaha, that was too easy!" boasted the snake-jawed man, as he patted a pile of bags behind him with his hand. "That convoy should'a had better security!"
"We're not out of the woods yet," said the large man, calmly, "we still need to make it back to the safehouse and find a way to launder all of these bills."
"Heh, long as we don't run into any heroes, we'll be golden! Full speed ahead, Chiro!"
"Aye, aye," said the living tank.
Suddenly, a wall of ice appeared and blocked the villains' path; the tank attempted to ram through, but the wall was far too thick, and the tank was stopped in its tracks. The two passengers got out and readied themselves for a fight.
Sliding in on a slide being materialized out of ice, a boy with half-white-half-red hair and a burn scar over one of his eyes arrived on the scene; he wore a high-collared blue bodysuit with a belt, wrist cuffs, and a metal backpack. Rocketing up from below the bridge, a blonde, spiky-haired boy with a savage grin on his face joined him; the boy wore a black bodysuit with an orange 'X' across the chest, with heavy boots, a metal neck guard, a black face mask that fanned out into black and orange spikes on the sides of his head, and a large pair of gauntlets that looked like giant grenades.
"Hey, why'd you go on ahead of me, Icy-Hot Bastard!?" shouted the blonde boy.
"Is now really the time?" asked the blue-clad boy, calmly.
The villains stared down their interceptors, picking their targets.
"You just had to open your mouth," sniped the large man to his snake-mouthed comrade.
"At least they just look like heroes-in-training and not the real deal. I'll take the loud one; you take the boring one."
As soon as the snake-like man finished speaking, his head shot forward towards the blonde boy; the young hero reflexively shot an explosion out of his hand to defend himself, but the snake-headed villain just as quickly withdrew his attack, before his head snapped forward again from a different angle. As the explosive hero took evasive action, the blue-clad boy squared up with his own opponent; he took the initiative and used his right hand to launch a wall of ice at the villain, only for the large man to step out from behind it, seemingly unharmed.
"I would tell you to just walk away, but somehow I don't think Endeavor's son would be the type to back down."
"You're right," answered the icy hero. "So, will you surrender and come quietly?"
"Unfortunately, I'll have to decline."
"Then I'll have to take you in by force!"
The red-and-white-haired hero slid forward by creating ice beneath his feet, then launched a few small icicles at his opponent. Shockingly, the villain erased the icicles with nothing more than a wave of his hand; then, with another wave of his hand, he brought a spiked wall of ice down from the sky, which the hero promptly blocked with another ice wall of his own.
"Damn, does he have his own ice Quirk," thought the young man. "No, that's not it; it's something else."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the highway, the snake-headed villain continued to attack the blonde hero from a distance, all the while keeping the boy contained in one area by using his elongated neck to corral the boy. Every time the young hero fired off an explosion, the snake man would move his head out of the way in the blink of an eye, then try to strike again from the boy's blind spot.
The blonde boy was getting increasingly frustrated with the situation. "Grrgh! You're PISSING ME OFF!" he shouted, as he spun around and made a ring of explosive flame all around him.
The snake-headed villain was forced back by the explosion and retracted his neck; before he could reposition himself, however, the blonde hero rocketed towards him and blasted him back to the other side of the highway.
Seeing that his overzealous partner was nearly losing consciousness, the large man placed his hand on the ice wall blocking their tank and caused a large portion of it to melt in an instant. "Chiro, take the money and go; don't let anything stop you!" he ordered.
"You got it," said the living vehicle, "see you back at the safehouse!"
The sapient tank spun its wheels and took off down the highway at full speed. The ice-wielding hero attempted to stop him by throwing up another ice wall, but the large man melted it with a touch of his hand.
"Hey, one's coming your way, Deku!" shouted the blonde boy.
Ahead of the sentient tank, a green haired boy, clad in a costume of the same color, swung up from beneath the bridge on a glowing black tendril made of energy; he flung himself into the air in front of the tank and cocked back his leg, as his body began to glow and surround itself with green lightning.
"Manchester SMASH!" he called out.
With a twist of his body, a black armored shoe collided with the living tank, stopping it in its tracks and sending it flying backwards. As the newly arrived hero skidded to a halt on the bridge, the tank bounced along the road before his body disassembled and shifted itself into the shape of a robotic-looking man, the bags of money falling alongside him.
"Whoa, a Quirk that lets you transform into a vehicle!?" commented the freckle-faced youth.
"Rrrgh, yeah," said the tank-man, as he struggled to his feet, "but I don't need to be a tank to do this!" he exclaimed, as he fired a cannon shell out of his arm.
The green-haired boy bobbed and weaved at incredible speed, dodging the oncoming shells as he charged towards his assailant. He pulled back a white-gloved fist, and then punched the robotic man backwards into what was left of the ice wall on the bridge.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice wall, the young hero that had created it used his left hand to create a jet of fire, using it to surround the large man he had been fighting. The older man waved his hand and put out the flames with a torrent of water.
"Bakugo," said the now flame-wielding hero, addressing his blonde comrade, "I've figured out his Quirk; he can change the state of water with his hands, including ice and the water vapor in the air."
"Easy, then; we burn him!" said the explosive hero, making sparks in his hands before blasting himself into the air.
As the blue-clad boy kept the villain busy with fire and ice, the blonde began spinning in the air as he flew towards his target.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!" he yelled, as he set off a massive explosion right in front of the villain, shattering the ice wall in the process.
With the three robbers unconscious, the young heroes quickly restrained them and secured the area. The blue-clad hero got on the radio and reported their success.
Burnin," he called, "we've captured the thieves that robbed that armored car convoy. We've got them and the stolen money on the highway bridge in the city center." When his call was finished, he turned back to his friends. "Burnin says she'll be here with the car in five minutes."
"Good. We can finally finish this damn night patrol," griped the blonde hero.
"Hey, Todoroki," called out the green-haired boy to his blue-clad friend, "can you tell me what you found out about that big guy's Quirk; I want to keep my notes up to date."
"Sure, he—"
Before Todoroki could start his explanation, a blur of light cut through the bridge, erasing a chunk of the road in its wake. The three young heroes were on high alert. Above them, floating in the air, they saw a tall, athletically built man with long hair down to his mid back; he didn't appear to have any clothes on, and his skin and hair were golden in color and appeared to be translucent. None of them had never seen anyone like him.
"The hell!?" asked Bakugo, already making sparks in his hands.
"Did they have a fourth teammate lying in wait somewhere?" asked Todoroki, forming fire and ice on either side of his body.
"I don't know, something seems different about him," said Deku, body glowing with energy, but hesitant to fight.
They observed the strange man to see what he would do. Without warning, his body spasmed towards them, seeming to split into multiple transparent copies as it moved through the air. The heroes evaded and retaliated with their respective powers; Bakugo blasted the man with concentrated explosive shots, Todoroki fired probing shots of fire and ice, and Deku used his high-tech gloves to fire off blasts of air pressure; none of the attacks had any effect.
"Dammit, we can't even touch this thing!"
Surrounded and seemingly confused, the glowing being suddenly lurched towards Deku.
"Midoriya, look out!" called Todoroki.
Deku tried to kick the apparent villain to defend himself, but suddenly found his foot being absorbed into the man's body. Bakugo and Todoroki moved in to help, but with a wave of his hand, the mysterious man caused all four of them to vanish.
A minute later, an armored car pulled up to the scene, stopping in front of the handcuffed villains lying unconscious on the road. A young woman in a light-gray double-breasted minidress and black thigh-high socks, with hair made of yellow-green fire got out of the driver's seat. She checked over the villains and inspected the area, before pulling out a radio.
"Midoriya, Bakugo, Shoto, I've arrived at the scene; where are you guys?"
Light and darkness were all that was visible, like a void of equal parts stark white and inky black. Space and gravity held no meaning in this place, as the green-haired boy floated and spun in place, unable to get a grip on where he was. Just when he thought he was going to be sick, he suddenly snapped back to reality and found himself falling against the rough pavement.
With a groan, Deku got to his feet and looked around, spotting Bakugo and Todoroki nearby. They were in an alleyway between high-rise buildings, far from the highway they were on previously, inviting the possibility that they were transported to another part of the city somehow. The strangest part, however, is that it was now daylight out rather than the middle of the night.
"Todoroki, Ka-chan; are you two alright?" asked Deku, referring to Bakugo by the nickname he's had since childhood.
"I think I'm fine; nothing appears to be broken," responded Todoroki.
"The hell; why's the sun out already?" asked Bakugo, shading his eyes with his hand to block out the glare.
"I don't know; it's possible we were knocked out for a while," theorized Deku. "Let's have a look around and find out where we are."
The three young heroes stepped out of the alley onto the streets and were greeted with the sight of skyscrapers and cars as far as the eye could see; but something was off, however. The makes and models of the vehicles on the roads were rather unusual compared to the ones they were used to seeing, and there were far more of them than they expected. The streetlights also looked to be of a different design than the ones they typically saw in Tokyo, as well. The most egregious discrepancy, though, was the street signs, which were all written in English; English text was not out of place on street signs in Tokyo, as the city saw an extremely large volume of tourists every year, but the English would always be in accompaniment of the Japanese on the sign.
"I…don't think we're in Tokyo anymore," said Deku. "In fact, I don't think we're even in Japan right now."
The three of them looked at the tops of the buildings around them, trying to spot any high-rises that looked familiar. In the distance, Todoroki spotted an unmistakable radio tower standing high above the other buildings.
"That's the Empire State Building," he said, "so we must be in New York City in the United States."
"THE HELL!?" exclaimed Bakugo.
"That would mean that villain had a teleportation Quirk powerful enough to transport us to the other side of the globe," mused Deku. "I've never heard of anyone having a Quirk that powerful; not even Kurogiri could transport people that far."
"At least we know where we are now; let's see if we can find some way to get in contact with my father's agency and get back home."
The three set out to find someone who could point them in the right direction. Fortunately, even though they were Japanese, the three of them knew how to speak English. As heroes in training, English was a mandatory course to take due to it being the world's most prominent language, since the there was always the possibility that they could have to travel to other countries to do hero work; in fact, the three of them had already had a number of overseas excursions during their first year at UA High School – going to I-Island for an expo during summer break, and more recently a mission to the European country of Otheon to take down the anti-Quirk cult, Humarise; as such, they decided to switch languages so long as they were here.
As they attempted to talk to the locals and find someone who could help them, Deku couldn't help but notice something out of place – a building he had never heard of being part of the New York City skyline. It was a curious thing – a tower, not nearly the tallest in the city, but distinctive in its design, with an encircled 'A' on the side of it. He wondered if it had been a recent addition. He turned back to Todoroki holding Bakugo back from being rude to the office worker they were asking for help, when an explosion suddenly went off a few blocks away. The heroes-in-training urged the citizen to get to safety, then ran off in the direction of the danger.
When they arrived, they found a group of villains outside of the building that had exploded; the damage to the outer wall was severe, leaving a gaping hole in it, and the villains looked like they had just left.
"It looks like they just raided that building!" exclaimed Deku.
"Not on our watch!" said Bakugo, with a feral smile. He leapt forward directly towards the villain without a second thought. "Hey, you guys need an explosion, try this on for size!" he shouted, as he let off a massive blast that slammed the villains against the wall.
Deku and Todoroki were at his side shortly after, and the three of them sized up the villains they were facing. There were six of them in total, making it two-to-one odds against them. One was a bipedal, green lizard man wearing a lab coat; another was a man in a large, gunmetal gray mechanized suit that had some kind of armor around his shoulders; the third was also wearing a mechanical suit, though green in color, with a scorpion-like tail; the fourth also wore a green suit, though his was made of a form-fitting fabric with gold armor and a red cape over it, and wore a spherical glass helmet filled with fog, and he was levitating in place; the fifth was a man with dark skin who wore a black uniform with yellow straps, covered in cables conducting electricity, and was also floating in the air; and the final villain, who appeared to be the leader, wore a brown trench coat and black sunglasses, and was holding himself in the air with four mechanical tentacles coming out of his back.
"Hold it right there," said Deku, "surrender peacefully and—"
He didn't get to finish, as the man in the gray mech suit immediately opened fire on them with wrist-mounted machine guns. Todoroki managed to put up an ice wall just in time to black the shots.
"Hey, these guys have powers," said one of the villains.
"Then take them down," ordered another.
The three heroes scattered, just before the ice wall shattered to pieces; the man in the gray mech suit had charged through it on all fours, the armor around his shoulders having closed over his head in the shape of a rhino's horn. Todoroki attempted to freeze him in place with more ice, but had to make ice shields to block several bolts of yellow lightning shot at him instead; the black man floated over to get in front of him.
"Easy there, ice man; I ain't gon' let you do that again."
Todoroki responded with a wave of fire, but quickly had to jet into the air to avoid another charge from the rhino-armored man. Across the street, Deku jumped and flipped in the air as he fought off the man in scorpion armor, all while dodging the enemy leader's tentacles and the lizard-man throwing chemical bombs. Bakugo, meanwhile, went airborne to try and knock down the fog-headed man in the golden armor; before he could reach him, however, the man waved his hands, and in a flash of light, there were suddenly ten more of him floating around the makeshift battlefield. The eleven floating men thrust their hands downward, causing the street to be filled with smoke.
Before he was completely blinded, Deku kicked the scorpion-man away and grabbed one of the leader's tentacles, before swinging him into the rhino-man to give Todoroki some breathing room. Todoroki tried to clear the smoke away with his fire, and took a few shots at the green-and-gold men that summoned it, but to no effect.
"Are they illusions?" asked Todoroki in confusion.
Bakugo bounced himself around in the air, going from fishbowl-head to fishbowl-head, only for more of them to appear around him; as he flew around, he was intercepted by the electric man, but blasted him away with an explosion. As Deku moved to regroup with Todoroki, he found himself grabbed and thrown around by the lizard-man; he got one of his hands free and managed to blast him away with a burst of air pressure.
The streets were in chaos, and the battle would only continue to escalate if it continued. The trainees were holding their own, but were in real need of another hero to even the odds.
"Heads up, coming through!" called out a voice from above.
Suddenly, an athletically-built young man wearing a tight, red-and-blue bodysuit swung in and kicked one of the gold-armored men; the floating villain careened into the ground, and all of his duplicates and smoke simply vanished. The red-and-blue man, who Deku could now see had a long-legged, red spider logo on his back, shot what appeared to be webs out of his wrists, sticking the lizard and scorpion men to the road.
"Spider-Man!" yelled the man in the rhino armor, charging forward.
Deku and his newfound ally jumped out of the way, but were then quickly electrocuted by the man in black. The tentacled man in the trench coat quickly snatched up his two comrades who had been stuck to the street.
"Let's get out of here; we already have what we came for!" he shouted, holding up a sturdy-looking briefcase.
"Like hell!" shouted Bakugo, flying forward.
Before he could attack, though, the golden armored man summoned another smokescreen, and the six villains vanished.
"Damn, they got away," said Todoroki, joining the others.
"Can't win 'em all," said the spider-like hero, the white eye-lenses on his mask adjusting themselves as he looked at the kids he just helped. "You guys did an awesome job holding your own against the Sinister Six, though. Who are you guys?"
Before anyone could say anything, they heard the sound of police sirens headed their way.
"On second thought, follow me; we can talk somewhere quieter while New York's finest check out the crime scene."
Again, before anyone could say anything, the masked hero shot a web at a building and swung away into the air. Though they were confused as to why they weren't waiting for the police to give a report on the incident, the three students decided to follow their helper into the skies, each using their own abilities to get to the rooftops.
The three heroes-in-training arrived at the top of one of New York's many high-rises and looked around for their fellow hero; a few seconds later, the red-and-blue-clad American swung in from nearby, landing in front of the students. Now that they got a better look at him, they could see the red had a matte-like finish to it, while the blue was quite shiny, and both had a subtle black spider-web design going through them; he also had a smaller, black spider logo on his chest.
"This is a bit better than talking on the ground. So, what's up? I'm Spider-Man, nice to meet you," he greeted, offering a handshake. "Never seen you guys around."
Deku was the first to extend his hand in response. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, but you can just call me by my Hero Name, Deku."
"Katsuki Bakugo; I go by Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!"
"So, Dynamight; got it," replied Spider-Man, drawing an irritated scowl from the spiky-haired blonde.
"Shoto Todoroki."
"Okay, so, from your names I'm guessing you guys are Japanese; that explains why I've never heard of you before; you're not from around here. So, you guys on vacation in the States?"
"Well, not quite," said Deku, as he began to explain their circumstances thus far. He went over how they were students from UA High School in Japan, their battle on the highway in Tokyo, and the mysterious glowing villain that transported them to New York City. "So, do you know anyone that can help us get back home?"
"Whoa, whoa, back up; there's a high school in Japan that trains superheroes!? That's awesome! Why can't I go there?"
"Wait, you haven't heard of UA before?" asked Deku, scrutinizing his fellow hero's words.
"That…seems unusual," added Todoroki. "Even though it's Japanese, UA is one of the most famous hero academies in the world."
"Come to think of it," continued Deku, "I've never heard of an American hero named Spider-Man, and it's notable that you still haven't told us your real name."
"And if a hero nerd like Deku's never heard of you, that says a lot," added Bakugo.
"Well, I keep my identity secret for privacy, y'know, to protect my family, and also so my aunt doesn't freak out about me putting myself in danger like this."
The UA students exchanged looks, figuring there must be some kind of circumstances in his life.
"I'm also not really all that well known outside of New York, though I did almost join the Avengers at one point."
The three Japanese heroes stared at him with looks of confusion.
"Who are the Avengers?" asked Deku.
"Y'know, Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Spider-Man tried to explain, only to get even more confused looks in response. "Wait a minute, you seriously don't know?"
"No," replied Todoroki, "we've never heard of hero team by that name."
"C'mon, that's impossible; there's no way you've never heard of the Avengers, unless…" Spider-Man trailed off, becoming lost in thought for a while before throwing his hands over his head. "Oh man; oh man, oh man, oh man, that's not good."
"Mind speaking English, or Japanese, spider boy? What's not good?" asked Bakugo.
Spider-Man composed himself before responding. "You guys' situation might be a lot more complicated than you originally thought."
"What do you mean?" asked Deku.
"I'm not really the best person to ask, but I do know someone who might be able to better figure out what's going on. C'mon, follow me; we're going to Avenger's Tower."
Spider-Man led them across the rooftops of New York City, each of them using their respective powers to follow along. Their destination was the building Deku had noticed earlier with the large 'A' on the side of it, which he now pieced together must be some kind of headquarters for the Avengers. They arrived on the landing pad outside the penthouse and, upon introducing himself at the door, Spider-Man was let inside by an electronic voice.
"Whoa, this place is incredible!" exclaimed Deku.
"It's more upscale than my or Yaoyorozu's houses," added Todoroki.
"Guy who owns this place must be pretty rich," said Bakugo. "So, who're we supposed to be meeting here?"
"That would be Mr. Stark; he's basically the smartest guy in the world. He should be able to help figure out exactly what kind of situation you guys're in," explained Spider-Man, as he turned to face the room. "Hey, Friday, is Mr. Stark in right now!?"
"No, Peter, the boss isn't here right now," said the same electronic voice that let them in, surprising the UA trio, "but he will be arriving at the tower shortly."
"I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer," said Todoroki.
"Tch, how long's this gonna take!?"
"Whoa!" exclaimed Deku, as he turned to look out the window.
In the distance, something was flying towards the tower. As it got closer, Deku was able to see it seemed to be some kind of red-armored robot. When the machine arrived at the tower, it near-instantly stopped its momentum, before landing gracefully on the helipad. The doors opened to let the robotic humanoid in, and it stepped forward to meet the four young heroes.
"Okay, Spider-Man; who're your guests?" spoke the robot.
Chapter 2
The UA students stood in awe at the hero that now stood before them. Now that he was able to get a closer look, Deku could see the fine details, advanced technology, and superb craftsmanship on the robot's body. The vibrant red color he had seen flying towards the tower was actually complemented by a majestic gold. The machine was made from countless armored plates, all designed to fit together seamlessly and adjust as it moved. White light glowed from the eyes, chest, and the palms of the hands, showing the power flowing through them. Mechanical servos could be heard with every movement, implying the insane level of engineering going on inside to even get a machine like this working. It truly was awe-inspiring. Deku had never seen something so advanced, moving in such a lifelike way; between that and the fact that it had spoken earlier, he started to wonder if it even was a machine, or if it was actually a hero with a Quirk that gave him a robotic body, maybe in combination with a Support Item.
The students had seen heroes use Support Items back in their world – all three of them were, in fact, using Support Items of their own to make the most of their powers – but they had never seen the technology used on this scale before; the closest Deku had ever seen to it was a suit of powered armor made by a certain girl in the Support Course, and even that was just a bulky, barely functioning prototype, not this sleek, professional-looking, flying exoskeleton.
At this point, Spider-Man decided to chime in, realizing that his newfound peers would probably continue to gawk all day if nothing was said. "Guys, may I present Tony Stark; or, as the world has come to know him, Iron Man."
Upon the spider hero's introduction, the suit of armor split itself open lengthwise across its arms, legs, and torso, as if it was unwrapping itself from its wearer. Out stepped a man in a tailored, three-piece, navy-blue suit with matching shoes; he had short black hair styled to stand up on its own, and a finely trimmed mustache matched with a goatee in the shape of an hourglass with a pair of 'horns' fanning out from the bottom.
The young heroes gawked even more. They were in disbelief that the whole of what they had just witnessed was not a robotic hero at all, but actually just an extraordinary suit of armor being worn by a seemingly ordinary man.
"He's one of the leaders of the Avengers – the superhero team I told you guys about," added Spider-Man.
"No, I'm not the leader, Cap's the leader," said Mr. Stark, finally getting a word in between Spider-Man's motor-like mouth. "I just pay for everything, build everything…make everyone look cool." He came off as a bit of a cocky man, which seemed to be fitting for his billionaire status.
"You mean like your suit!?" asked Deku, already standing directly in front of the man with a look of intense curiosity on his face.
"Yep, like my suit," replied Stark, raising his hands in surprise. "Pride and joy, helps me keep the bad guys in check."
"With just the suit!? No powers of your own!?" shouted Deku, practically in the man's ear.
"That's…incredible," added Todoroki. "I've never heard of someone being a hero without a Quirk before."
"Huh, I guess that's unusual where you kids are from," speculated Stark, as he gently pushed Deku back towards the others. "Speaking of which, Spidey's-teenage-pals, I'm guessing that his introduction means none of you have ever heard of me, which begs the question of exactly who you are and where you're from."
"Right, sorry; let me start at the beginning," said Deku.
The three students explained to Stark everything that had happened to them over the last few hours, as well as some of the details about their world and school life that they thought might be relevant to the situation. The whole while, Stark listened to them intently and typed out some notes on a transparent tablet computer, presumably of his own design.
"So, where you're from, eighty percent of the population has some kind of superpower, and you even have schools that specialize in training people to be heroes?" asked Stark.
The students nodded.
"Yeah, none of their story checks out," added Spider-Man, "I've never heard of any kind of school like that, in Japan or anywhere else…well, I mean, besides the X-Men. Anyway, that's why I brought them here to see you."
"Yeah, I know what you're getting at kid, and it sounds crazy."
"But it's possible, right?"
"The hell are you two talking about!?" asked Bakugo, losing his patience. "Spider freak, you said earlier that our situation was more complicated than we thought; what did you mean by that!?"
"That is what I'm going to confirm," said Stark, "but first I need to run some quick tests on you all."
The three Japanese boys waited patiently for the procedure to conclude. They had stripped down to their boxers and strapped themselves into chambers that would scan their entire bodies for any kind of anomaly; Stark had apparently made them to detect injuries and illnesses, but had since upgraded them to scan for various supernatural phenomena. Bakugo and Deku shivered slightly from the cold of the chamber, while Todoroki didn't really seem to mind. Bakugo, of course, was the first to lose his composure.
"Hey, rich guy; how much longer is this gonna take!?"
"We're just about…done," replied Stark, as the scan came to an end. He pulled three levers on the console he was supervising to release the restraints and open the canopies.
The boys got out of the chambers and put their hero costumes back on, before joining their new benefactor behind the console.
"So, were you able to find anything out that can help us?" asked Deku.
"Yep, I sure did," replied Stark. "It's exactly as the kid thought; you guys are far from home – very, very far from home."
"I'm assuming you mean that in more than just a geographical sense?" said Todoroki.
"That's right. According to my scan here, you guys are not even from this universe."
"The hell!?"
"Another universe?" asked Deku. "You mean like the multiverse theory?"
"Exactly. There are other universes and dimensions out these besides this one, and it seems like you kids somehow travelled here from one of them."
"How do you figure that from those scanners of yours?" asked Bakugo.
"Your bodies' vibrational frequency, mostly; it doesn't match with the frequency of this world, which means you originated from a different one. There are also other factors that are more subtle like cellular and genetic differences, but the vibrational frequency is the big one."
"So, when that glowing villain suddenly appeared and attacked us, he must've transported us not just through space, but to a whole other dimension; it's also entirely likely he wasn't even from our universe," surmised Deku.
"I agree," added Todoroki. "I've never heard of a Quirk that powerful before, so it stands to reason that he wasn't from our world."
"The only question now is, how do we get back to our world?"
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Bakugo. "We find the glowy bastard and make him take us back!" he declared, while making a small explosion by pounding his fist into his palm.
"What, how would we even do that!?" asked Deku.
"He has a point, Bakugo; even if we could find the villain, there's no guarantee we'd be able to defeat him judging by how our last encounter went – we couldn't even touch him."
"Actually, I agree with the human hand grenade," Stark chimed in. "Right now, finding that villain of yours is probably your best lead, and if you're in need of extra muscle, this world has plenty of heroes of its own that can probably help you out with that. In the meantime, I'm gonna do some research and see if I can build you something to get you back home."
"Can you really do that, Mr. Stark?" asked Deku.
"Well, I happen to know a wizard who travels to other dimensions pretty regularly, as well as a scientist and his protégé that deal with subatomic quantum mechanics, so I'm sure I can throw something together."
"That's awesome!" exclaimed Deku.
"A wizard? The hell!?" questioned Bakugo, now a little less sure of Stark's sanity.
"Fair warning though, the scientist I mentioned doesn't really like me all that much."
"Thank you for doing this for us, and for all your help so far," said Todoroki humbly. "If there's anything we can do to repay you…"
"Oh, I know!" said Deku, quickly thinking of a solution. "We were in the middle of our internship with Endeavor's hero agency before we got sent here, so why don't we help the Avengers with their work while we're here?"
Mr. Stark went quiet, clearly hesitant to accept the idea. "Well, Spider-Man did say you kids held your own, and you did say you were heroes in training back on your world. I can't make any promises, but how 'bout you show me what you can do?"
Stark brought the students further downstairs, even deeper into Avengers Tower, to a high-ceiling floor; the central room of the floor was a large, open chamber made from reinforced metal and glass, with a floor made of white, hexagonal tiles.
"Welcome, students, to Avengers Tower's very own training floor," announced Stark, as if he was putting on a stage show. "We have a full weight room and gym in the other room, but this here is our in-house combat simulator where you can fight each other or, in today's case, an Iron Legion of simulated enemies."
Deku was already gawking at all of the controls and setting on the console in the observation room they were currently standing in. "Wow, I have an inventor friend who would probably think she found heaven if she saw this place; this whole tower is full of state-of-the-art tech."
"Only the best from Stark Industries. So, who wants to go first?"
"It's about time I got to blow off some steam!" To no one's surprise, including Stark's, Bakugo was the first to step forward into the arena.
Mr. Stark began tapping various screens on the console, setting the room for the explosive boy's combat test. "I'll start you off easy with some Legionnaires," he said into a headset that he had put on, "don't worry about breaking them – they're older models that I've repurposed for this training room. Just fight them however you see fit."
Several of the hexagonal tiles on the floor extended upwards, revealing themselves to be elevators, with each one deploying a blue and white colored robot that looked similar to Stark's armor into the arena. When each robot stepped forward, its respective lift slid back down into the floor.
Bakugo flashed his signature toothy smile, he crouched down slightly, and his fingers started to crackle with explosive energy. With a blast from both of his hands, he launched himself towards the closest robot.
"DIE!"
Bakugo blew up the robot with an explosion, and with the same explosion, launched himself to the next automaton. With a level of skill and grace unbecoming of such a boisterous individual, he bounced himself around the room like a pinball, moving from bot to bot with precision until none were left standing.
"Is that all you got?"
"Okay, not bad," said Stark, as he adjusted the controls, "but let's see how you do against targets that actually fight back."
The next wave of machines immediately opened fire with lasers fired from their palms; Bakugo was pushed around a little by the concussive beams, but quickly recovered. He fired off some long-range explosions of his own, before taking to the air once more. He repeated his aerial maneuvers from the first wave, this time adjusting his trajectory mid-flight to avoid the lasers being fired at him.
"He's honestly not bad at all," commented Stark. "His, what did you call it, 'Quirk,' is a lot more versatile than I would've thought."
"His Quirk is called Explosion, and its versatility and use in combat were apparent even from a very young age," explained Deku. "The sweat secreted by the palms of his hands is like nitroglycerin, and depending on its concentration and distribution when he sets it off, it can create a wide variety of different effects; he can create explosions of various sizes, smokescreens to blind or disorient his opponents, and use directional blasts to augment his mobility significantly. Out of everyone in our class, Ka-chan is easily one of the most gifted; but on top of his natural talent, he's been working hard to make the most of those gifts."
Mr. Stark mentally noted Deku's explanation, as he turned his attention back to the arena.
"C'mon, is that all you've got!? Gimme a challenge!" yelled Bakugo from within the training room.
"O-kaay, Mr. Bakugo; how about something a little more armored?"
The platform that was raised this time brought out a bulkier-looking Legionnaire that quickly put up a metal shield in front of it. It advanced slowly, looking to drive the boy into a corner.
"Hah, that's nothing!" exclaimed Bakugo, as he formed a circle with one of his hands and placed it in front of the other's open palm. "AP SHOT!" A searing beam erupted from his hands and burned straight through the shield and the robot holding it after only a few seconds of sustained fire.
"Wow, I didn't expect him to be able to do that," noted Stark. "Maybe I'll have him play with the big boy."
When the shielded Legionnaire fell, several of the floor tiles rose up at once; they brought up with them a massive, red and black, spider-like tank. Bakugo immediately launched himself to the side to avoid the oncoming blast; the shockwave from the explosion sent him hurtling to the floor, but he recovered quickly enough to start dodging the smaller shots that followed. He worked his way around the enormous drone, studying its body as he evaded its attacks.
"There!" he said, as he quickly moved himself between several points around the tank in rapid succession.
While the robot was disoriented from the quick movements of its target, Bakugo positioned himself behind it, right arm pointed at a radiator on its back. Rather than fire a blast from his hand, however, he instead pulled the pin out of his large, grenade-shaped gauntlet; instantly, an enormous blast of flame shot forth and completely engulfed the spider-tank. The screech of rending metal could be heard, as the large drone crumpled into a heap on the floor.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that; I thought those things were just for show," said Stark. "Come on back in, Bakugo."
"He normally can't let off large explosions like that without seriously straining his arms," explained Deku. "He had those gauntlets designed to collect and store the sweat from his hands over time, allowing him to keep two massive, directional explosions stored up at any given time. Those grenades on his belt work the same way, letting him have portable bombs he can drop or throw if needed."
"He acts like a loud bruiser, but he's actually thought through how to use his powers very well. So, two-tone, you wanna go next?"
Todoroki questioned the nickname he had just been given, but obliged and headed towards the door.
"Don't bother going easy on him," said Bakugo, as he entered the observation room. "He can easily take the challenge you just gave me."
When Todoroki was at the ready in the middle of the chamber, Stark obliged Bakugo's request, setting hostile Legionnaires pouring out of the floor from all sides.
Todoroki merely stepped forward with his right foot, and suddenly the entire floor of the arena and all of the robots standing on it were flash-frozen; with a wave of his right hand, spears of ice erupted from the floor and shattered their immobilized targets.
"Ice powers, huh? Alright; let's see how you do against flying targets."
The new set of Legionnaires popped out of the floor straight into the air, where they hovered around the room taking potshots at the blue-clad boy. As Todoroki dodged their attacks by ice-sliding around the floor, he launched icicles at his adversaries to knock them out of the air; his projectiles, however, turned to water before ever reaching their marks.
"Oh, did I mention I also had them emit a heat-field that'll melt your ice before it can hit them?" said Stark, mockingly, clearly having a bit of fun.
Todoroki showed no signs of distress. He simply waved his left arm this time, and a wave of flame consumed the three robots nearest to him. He wasted no time launching sustained blasts of fire at his targets, avoiding their fire as he slowly turned them all to melted scrap metal.
"Oh, he does fire, too."
"Todoroki's Quirk is Half-Cold Half-Hot," Deku said, once again explaining his teammate's abilities. "The right side of his body produces ice, while the left produces fire. His father, Endeavor, is currently the Number-One Hero in Japan in our world; his Quirk, Hellflame, is well-known for its destructive power, but its critical drawback is that it can overheat and injure its user if taken too far. Todoroki's mother, though, had an ice Quirk, and he inherited the abilities of both of his parents. Not only does he have incredible in combat, but his two sides actively prevent each other's weaknesses; his flames prevent him from getting frostbite and hypothermia from his ice, while his ice cools down his body and prevents overheating. Among our class, I'd say his Quirk is the closest one can be to perfect."
By the time Deku was finished, Todoroki's bout in the arena had come to an end. Mr. Stark was impressed, not only with the split-haired boy's power, but with Deku's knowledge.
"What about you, smart-guy? Don't tell me your power is super intelligence, get in there."
Deku did as he was told and took position inside the arena. He concentrated; from his feet to his head, a golden glow and angry red veins of energy surged up his body, filling him with power before stabilizing. "One For All: Full Cowling – 8%," he thought, as he felt his body strengthen. His body now luminesced and was surrounded by green electricity.
"Nice light show," said Stark's voice from the loud speaker, "but what can you actually do?"
The hexagonal tiles on the floor began raising up like Deku had already seen during Bakugo and Todoroki's demonstrations; Legionnaires filed out of the lifts, some of them firing at him with lasers, while others rushed his position.
Deku took a brief glance at the formation the robots were approaching him in, planned his route, and then he was off. He had become a bolt of lightning, moving around the room in a blur of light and motion, destroying each Legionnaire with a precisely placed punch or kick; for the ones on the ground, he punched straight through them without breaking his stride; for the ones in the air, he pushed off the ground with his legs and launched himself towards them, delivering a flying roundhouse kick to each of them. He continued to race around the room, dodging enemy attacks all the while, as more Legionnaires continued to enter the chamber.
Suddenly, the hexagonal tile directly in front of him shot upward in an instant. Deku managed to block the impact using the iron armor on his legs, but not without him being catapulted into the air; without a moment's hesitation, he used the knuckle-ports on his left-hand glove to emit several tendrils of black energy, wrapping them around the machine that lifted the floor tile, and then pulled himself back down to the floor while destroying the floor trap with a flying kick.
Back in the observation room, Stark was rather impressed by Deku's performance, having not expected such a strong showing after the impressive displays from Bakugo and Todoroki. "So his power is to be fast and strong, huh? I know a few guys like that."
"Midoriya's Quirk allows him to enhance his body's physical capabilities – strength, speed, endurance; but he's holding himself back considerably," commented Todoroki, as he took particular note of Deku using his gloves to push away several drones with a blast of air pressure.
"He's holding back?" asked Stark, a bit incredulously.
"His body can't handle the full power of his Quirk," added Bakugo. "He still needs a lot more training before he can fully master it."
Back in the arena, Deku finished off the last remaining robots by grabbing them using his energy tendrils and pulling them all into one spot, smashing them together. Satisfied with his performance, Stark asked him to come back to the observation room.
"Alright, I'm convinced; you kids are pretty impressive. I don't mind you helping out while you're here."
Deku reacted with excitement to the news, Bakugo scoffed, and Todoroki gave a respectful 'thank you.'
"So, do you have anything for us to work on right now?" asked Deku. "Or should we remain on standby?"
"Well, Spider-Man is out on patrol right now, but I can call him back here. I think he'd appreciate having some friends who can watch over the city for him while he's in school, especially with the Sinister Six on the loose."
"You mean those villains we encountered earlier?" asked Todoroki. "I remember Spider-Man calling them by that name."
"Yeah, they're basically a collection of some of Spidey's biggest bad guys. You can help out in New York by helping him catch them."
Bakugo flashed a feral smile. "Good. We still have a score to settle with them."
Chapter 3
Just as Mr. Stark said, Spider-Man met up with them on the balcony of Avengers Tower a few minutes after their Quirk demonstration had ended. After planning a starting route, the four heroes dove between the skyscrapers of New York City, before setting down on the empty rooftop of an office building that had a good view of the ground below.
"I can't believe you're really a student like us," said Deku, curious about his new, arachnid-themed ally.
"Actually, I'm already a second year in university, so I'm a few years older than you guys; but yeah, I've been doing this Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man thing since high school."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"How did you wind up becoming a hero at such a young age?" asked Todoroki.
"A big string of coincidences, mostly. I got bit by a genetically engineered, possibly radioactive super-spider, got super powers, then had some bad experiences, and then realized I had to use these powers to help people now that I had them."
"Wait, you weren't born with your powers?" asked Deku, becoming particularly interested.
"Nope. Most people in this world aren't born with powers; those that are tend to face some pretty bad prejudice depending on their circumstances."
Deku was practically floored by this revelation, mostly because it was the complete opposite of how their own world functioned. He could hardly imagine how his life might've been different had he been born into this universe instead; his own Quirk was, after all, not something he had been born with either.
"If most people aren't born with powers here, how do they get them?" asked Bakugo.
Spider-Man thought about the question for a minute. "Hmm. Some of them by accident or coincidence, like me; others build their own powers, like Mr. Stark; and others are deliberately enhanced with super serums or cosmic artifacts."
"I think Mr. Stark also mentioned something about a wizard," added Todoroki.
"Oh yeah, there are wizards; they study how to draw power from other dimensions to power magic spells and stuff."
"Whoa!" shouted Deku. "Maybe that's why Mr. Stark said his wizard friend could help us get home!"
"That's still a ways off, though," said Bakugo. "Anyway, enough about that; tell us about the powers of these villains we're fighting!"
"Right, the Sinister Six; basically, a collection of six of the biggest villains I've ever faced."
"They all seemed so different," added Deku, "I wonder what they're after."
"Their leader is Dr. Otto Octavius, or Dr. Octopus, or Doc Ock; whichever you prefer, really."
"That's the guy with the big metal tentacles, right?" asked Bakugo.
"Yeah. They're bionic arms grafted to his back that he created to help him with a fusion experiment, but the experiment went horribly wrong and damaged the arms; now they're permanently fused to his spine, and their AI has warped Dr. Octavius' mind to pursue his research with reckless abandon. From what I've heard recently, Ock is trying to build a new type of cold fusion reactor that can rival Mr. Stark's Arc Reactor technology."
"How do the rest of them fit into that?" asked Todoroki.
"Electro, used to be a nice guy until he fell into a vat of genetically engineered electric eels, probably wants the reactor to give himself a near unlimited power supply, making himself stronger. Rhino and Scorpion are criminals who got their hands on suits of mechanized armor, as well as some biological augmentations like mine; they're probably in it for the money; they sell that tech to other countries and they can get real rich, real quick."
"Depending on what countries they sell to, that could cause major geopolitical fallout," added Todoroki.
"What about that lizard guy?" asked Deku, "He was throwing chemical bombs around, what's his story?"
"Right, the Lizard, originally known as Dr. Curt Connors; he was also a scientist researching cross-species genetics, and was backed into testing his research on himself. He probably wants the money and energy supply to continue his own work."
"How 'bout that guy flying around making all the illusions?" asked Bakugo.
"That's Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio; he's an inventor who was wronged by both Stark Industries and Oscorp; if I had to guess, he just wants revenge on both of them."
The UA students took some time to process everything they had just learned. The group they were up against had a varied history and skill set – they wouldn't be easy to defeat; but they had what seemed to be a concrete goal, which would at least make it easier to track them.
"You're sure this reactor is what they're after?" asked Deku.
"Yeah. That building you caught them robbing earlier was an Oscorp-funded biochemical lab; I scoped it out while I was on patrol, and it turns out they stole numerous chemicals that they'll need to complete the reactor."
"Okay, so we know what they're after and where they've been," said Deku, working out a plan in his mind, "now we just need to know where they're going."
"Most likely science and engineering labs all around the city," said Spider-Man. "Physics labs, nuclear research labs, Oscorp, and Stark Industries are probably our best bets."
"Alright, but we'll probably need to split up to cover more ground in a city this big," said Todoroki.
"Couldn't agree more!" exclaimed the slightly older hero. "We'll patrol the city, dealing with any crimes we see as we go, all while keeping an eye out for the Sinister Six!"
"Alright!" said Deku, excitedly. "Where do we start? This is your city, so we're better off leading the breakdown to you."
Spider-Man considered it for a moment, remembering the powers he had seen them use against the Sinister Six earlier, as well as what Stark had told him. "I'll take Queens and Brooklyn, since I know them best; Deku, take the Bronx; Todoroki, take Manhattan; and Bakugo, Staten Island."
"Okay."
"Roger that."
"Got it."
"You guys got those communicators Mr. Stark gave you, right?"
The UA students pointed to the small devices now nestled within their ears.
"Perfect. We'll meet back up at Avengers Tower at sunset."
And with that, the young heroes went their separate ways.
A woman walked down the street frantically, eyes constantly on her wristwatch. She looked around in a panic, surveying the streets around her.
"Dammit, I'm gonna be late," she said under her breath. "Guess I've got no choice."
She slowed down and hesitantly walked over to an alley. She looked down the narrow passageway, checking to see if there was anyone waiting inside. Satisfied that the coast appeared clear, she began walking through at a brisk pace. She only got halfway through, however, when a hooded man appeared at the other end; she made to turn around, only to find another waiting for her back the way she came.
"Oh, no. Please, no!" she stammered in a fearful tone.
"Purse and phone, lady," demanded one of the men. "You're work bag, too."
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," said the other.
"No, please; I'll give you my purse, but I need this bag and my phone for work; I'll lose my job without them!"
"Not our problem," said the first man, as the two quickly closed in on her.
"No! Please! Someone, help me!"
A flash of green light swung down from above, crashing into one of the muggers and sending him falling back; before anyone else could react, the light bounced off the walls of the alley and slammed into the second man, knocking him down as well. Wrapped in the sparking light was a young man in a green costume, with a metal breathing mask and a green hood shaped like two bunny-ear-like spikes covering his face and head.
"I think the police will like to have a word with you two," said the boy, as black tendrils of light extended from his hands and pulled the men towards him; he pulled some kind of tape out of one of the pouches on his red belt, and used it to tie the men's hands together. "Are you alright, miss?"
"Um, yes," she answered, nervously.
"Don't worry, I'm a hero; you're safe now."
"Oh, um, t-thank you for saving me. If you'll excuse me, I'm late getting back to work."
"Oh, where is it; I can help you get there faster if you'd like!" said the boy, cheerfully.
The next thing the young lady knew, she was holding onto the boy as he swung between the buildings at high speed with the same black tendrils he used before. She was a little scared, but somehow could tell the young man was a lot stronger than he looked and wouldn't drop her. Before she knew it, they had landed in front of her office building with time to spare.
"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, as she left the boy's grasp.
"Always happy to help."
"So, are you, like, a new Spider-Man or something?"
"No, nothing like that, though I am working together with him right now; you can call me Deku."
"Okay; thanks again, Deku!" she said cheerfully, before running into the office.
With another citizen assisted, Deku shot a Blackwhip onto a nearby building and took to the air again.
"Deku, reporting in; I've stopped a few crimes already, but so far nothing on the Sinister Six. How are you guys doing?"
"Dealing with police trying to stop some gang of thugs from getting onto the island!" said Bakugo's voice through the earpiece.
On the bridge to Staten Island, a line of squad cars was blockading an angry mob from crossing onto the island. Bakugo walked menacingly toward the scene.
"Let me get back to you," he said, before using an explosion to jump into the middle of the standoff. "Alright, you punks, time to go home!"
The gang members did not take kindly to being shouted at by the new arrival and all began to charge him.
"Hey, get out of there, kid!" yelled a police officer.
"Heh," was the only sound the blonde boy made, before a bomb went off around him, covering the area in thick black smoke.
All that could be heard within the plume was fighting and shouting. More explosions rang out, illuminating the silhouettes of flying bodies against the canvas of smog. When the smoke began to clear, about half of their number were lying in crumpled heaps on the asphalt. The spiky-haired teen that had provoked them was flying through the air with fiery explosive force, punching each thug that got in his way with his large grenade-shaped gauntlets. A few of the gangbangers tried to draw handguns on him, but quickly found themselves floored by a long-range explosion before they could pull the trigger. It only took a few more minutes for all of them to be taken down.
The lead officer met the boy halfway, as he walked back towards the line of cop cars. "That was some impressive work, kid. You a new superhero in town?"
"Yeah; call me Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!"
"So, Dynamight, then; got it."
"Dammit, why doesn't anyone say the whole thing!?" he screamed in protest, before pressing a finger to his ear. "Grrgh. Dynamight, here; gang's all cleared out. I'm heading to the industrial park now to see if I can pick up the trail of the Six; labs here have been a bust so far."
"Same here," said Todoroki over the comms.
High above the streets of Manhattan, Todoroki flew through the air on a slide made of ice. He kept a bird's eye view of the ground as he traveled.
"Maybe they're lying low for the rest of the day, or maybe their plan requires something other than what they can find in labs," he continued to his allies.
"Hmm. They would probably need power and raw materials, too," said Spider-Man's voice. "I think Bakugo's got the right idea; expand the search to industrial zones."
"Got it, I'll start heading in that—" Todoroki cut himself off. "Hold on, there's a situation on the ground."
"The Six?" asked Deku.
"Probably not, just looks like a normal car chase; moving to intercept!"
Todoroki angled his ice slide downward, sending him flying towards the streets below. He cornered around the skyscrapers flawlessly, all while keeping his eyes locked on the police cruisers down below chasing a red sedan that had gunfire coming out of its rear side windows.
When he closed in on the criminals' vehicle, he froze their guns first, to prevent them from firing, making them less of a threat to himself, the police, and the innocent bystanders. The criminals reacted by pulling out replacement firearms, only to have those quickly frozen over as well; when they realized they could no longer shoot their pursuers, they resorted to flooring the gas and driving recklessly to throw off the chase. They didn't get very far, as the next thing Todoroki did was end the chase by getting closer to the car and freezing its wheels to the road, stopping it cold. The police quickly surrounded the now immobile vehicle with their squad cars and apprehended the men inside.
"Thanks for the help, kid; but who are you?" said one of the officers.
"I'm a hero visiting from Japan," replied Todoroki, figuring that would be a more sufficient explanation than detailing his full situation. "I'm currently helping Spider-Man track down the Sinister Six; have you heard any reports recently of industrial areas in Manhattan being attacked?"
"Oh, you know Spider-Man? Sure, I'll help you out; is what I would say, but I haven't heard anything like that today. Sorry, kid."
"That's fine. Thank you for you help," said Todoroki, before he used his flames to melt the ice he had left on the road, then took off back into the sky with his ice slide.
"The police here haven't heard anything," he said into his communicator.
Over in Queens, Spider-Man finished webbing a pair of petty crooks to the walls of a building. "Don't give up just because its quiet; keep looking," he said, encouragingly, as he swung back up to the top of a building. He looked around and saw a strange shimmer in the air a few blocks away. "Hey, wait a minute; I think I got something."
The friendly neighborhood hero swung over to the disturbance; it was surrounding a Stark Industries laboratory. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Spider-Man's eyes were sharper than most; every once in a while, he could see a slight shimmer or a minute twitch in the air, like reality itself was glitching out in front of him. He probed the space in front of him with a finger, causing the empty sky to spark and ripple; he stuck his whole hand in, and then his entire body, pushing through a sort of digital wall.
Inside the projected image, the Stark lab, which had seemed perfectly normal from a distance, was flashing with red lights and ringing with alarm bells; Spider-Man looked down at street level and saw hologram projectors on either side, putting up the virtual curtain. He swung down and kicked each projector, destroying them. The way the holographic illusion distorted in the sky above implied that there were two more on the other side of the building, but only taking down half of the digital diversion would do for now. With the reality of the break-in exposed to the outside world, Spider-Man rushed into the lab to investigate.
The inside of the facility was on high alert – the hallways were dark from the power being out, but the auxiliary-powered alarms were drenched the blackened halls in blaring bells and strobing red lights. Spider-Man ran through the halls and looked around for any sign of the intruders. He made his way fairly deep into the lab when his senses shifted; time seemed to slow down and everything around him became hazy, save for one single point right behind him. Near-instantly, Spider-Man turned around and caught the thick, green tail that was about to collide with his spine; he twisted his body and threw the Lizard against the wall.
"Dr. Connors!"
The Lizard leaped forward to attack once more, but Spider-Man used his webs to pull himself forward and slide under his reptilian adversary. He kicked off of the wall into a backflip and kicked the Lizard in the back, then shot some webs at his hands and feet to bind him in place. They didn't hold long, as the mutated scientist pulled himself loose.
"Dr. Connors, stop! You don't have to work with them!"
"On the contrary, boy," responded the anthropomorphic reptile, "this is the fastest way for me to acquire an adequate facility for my research."
"We can help you! You can still atone for everything!"
"No, it's far too late for that. Now, I'm sorry, but I've been assigned to stop you from interfering."
The Lizard leaped forward once again. Spider-Man caught him in midair, but the two fell to the ground and began grappling for the advantage. With both of their strength far beyond human norms, neither was giving up without a fight; they switched positions on the ground, and put each other's limbs into various holds, as each struggled to restrain the other. Things got even more complicated when multiple Lizards appeared in the hallway, followed shortly by Mysterio, who was holding a case.
Spider-Man managed to break free from Connors' grasp and stood to face his now two enemies.
"That what you guys're here for?"
"That's right; specialized metals and a stabilizing agent," replied the Lizard.
"Do you have to tell him what we took?" asked Mysterio with an exasperated tone.
"He's a smart boy; I'm sure he's already figured out what we're planning to do with them."
"Yeah, and a smart guy would also tell his team when he's found what he's looking for," continued Spider-Man, putting his finger to his ear. "Guys, I've got Lizard and Mysterio in a Stark lab in Queens!"
Back above the streets of Manhattan, Todoroki responded first. "I've got something happening on my end, as well; moving to investigate."
He slid down to the intersection where a massive traffic jam was occurring. Cars where honking at each other to get out of the way, fists were raised in anger, and several curses could be heard shouted over the din – drivers in New York City were every bit as aggressive as Todoroki had heard. He approached one of the calmer-looking motorists and knocked on the man's window, and asked him why the traffic suddenly intensified.
"Dunno. Looks like the traffic light up ahead is out."
Todoroki made an ice platform to lift himself up for a better view. It wasn't just this intersection; every traffic signal as far as he could see was turned off, as well as several digital advertisements lining the walls of the buildings.
"It looks like power is out around the whole city," he relayed to the driver when he got back down. "Do you know where the power plant is located? I'll look into it and see if there's a problem there."
"Sure, super-kid; it's over on 74th Street, can't miss it."
"Thank you."
His new destination set, Todoroki took off in the direction of Central Park. When he got closer, he could see the pylons at the power plant below alight with electricity; it seemed the entire plant was completely covered in lightning. At the center of it all floated a blue figure in the shape of a man, all of the lightning seemingly being drawn toward him. It was a risky move, but Todoroki shot a blast of flame at the figure to interrupt what it seemed to be doing; the fireball was instantly deflected by a spark of electricity.
The blue figure rose into the sky, as the electricity surrounding the power plant dissipated. The humanoid lightning coalesced into a more solid shape and changed from blue to yellow, before discharging to reveal a dark-skinned man in a black suit with yellow straps.
"Oh, the new kid, with the fire and ice," said the man, "You up for a rematch?"
"I've encountered Electro siphoning electricity at the Manhattan power plant," said Todoroki into his comms. "Preparing to engage."
Over in Staten Island's industrial park, Bakugo found himself staring down two men in mechanized armor; they had been operating a large flatbed truck hauling a large amount of metal. The one in the green, scorpion-like armor got out of the driver's seat, while the large rhino-armored man jumped off the back of the trailer.
"I've got the horn-head and the bug-man at the Staten Island Industrial Park!"
Deku, meanwhile, was following up on a lead he had received about a lab that made use of radioactive isotopes located in the Bronx. He had arrived just in time to see a man in a trench coat blow out the front door with a pair of mechanical tentacles, before "walking" out on a second pair of them, yet another briefcase in his hand.
"And I've got Doctor Octopus here in the Bronx!" said Deku, as his body glowed with power.
With their targets found, the heroes all prepared to fight.