Kendo stood facing him directly with an expression that he didn't quite recognize….anticipation….nervousness? He never knew her to be…well, like him…..which told him that this was an important request. "O-oh...I…..um….y-yes! I'd like that." He replied with a sputter, the implications of her ask may not have completely registered but he could tell that…..this was only for him.
Relief flooded her features, "Great! We….um…." She began before letting out a laugh, "I'm sorry I…didn't even think of something yet." She admitted sheepishly.
Izuku laughed, shaking his head, "We can figure something out. Probably after the Christmas party right?" She nodded, "Alright then, how about after the Christmas party?"
"After the party." She parroted back with a beaming smile. She looked….she looked really pretty with a smile like that, before he could chastise himself for that thought she stepped in and embraced him again. "See you later…..Izuku." she whispered to him.
She stepped back and briefly saw his shocked face before turning around and walking out the apartment door. He listened to her footsteps as she left, and the green haired teen's face exploded in a blush. "I….i...I….Izu….." he muttered, steam seemingly coming out of his head as his brain tried to wrap around what just happened.
As Kendo walked back home, she was beaming, pleased with herself.
The shared apartment of Katsumi and Hodo wasn't anything special, it was a one bedroom place with some finishing they both had shaved down to their essentials and then moved into the same space. Katsumi called it cozy, shy Hodo called it cramped, but she didn't mind it as she laid on the couch with her laptop while her girlfriend flipped over tv channels. She was holding her head on her hand, which was supported by the ark of the couch, while Hodo's feet idly wiggled in her lap.
"Are you going out tonight to freeze your ass off again?" She teased with a playful smirk as she looked over at the reporter.
Hodo sighed, rubbing her eyes which had started to have rings underneath them, "No. Midoriya's lead on Fisk is just a rabbit hole of connections. I'm sure he's the Kingpin but I need something to prove it." She said, staring hard at the documents she pulled up on her screen.
Katsumi watched as her face cinched up in frustration, frowning slightly as she muted the TV before leaning over and closing the laptop in her girlfriend's lap. "Hodo. Slow down." The reporter looked up at her, bags starting to form under her eyes, "You got some good info, you can take a break."
Hodo shook her head, "Katsumi I can't, if I take a break now this will just slip through my fingers and…." She began, but trailed off as Katsumi gave her a patient expression. Hodo took a long, deep breath, held it, and then let it out, "I need to keep working on this."
Katsumi pulled the laptop away, and before she could ask for it back Hodo found her girlfriend snuggled into her chest. She found herself relaxing, the tense feeling in her shoulders and back ebbing away, and she wrapped her arms around her blonde girlfriend. "....this is manipulation." She accused.
"Yes. I'm manipulating you to get out of your own head." Katsumi corrected smugly. Hodo sighed, running her hand through her girlfriend's hair as she looked down at her, she was right of course. When it came to stories she would be like, as Katsumi once put it, a bitch with a bone to gnaw on, she didn't want to let go of it for even a second. It would cause…..friction, not only with the people around her but with herself, feeling that if she wasn't always working on it she was just wasting her time.
She buried her head in Katsumi's hair, "I'm sorry." She muffled out.
Katsumi smiled, "It's ok....your allowed to take a break. You don't need to do this stuff right away." she gently reminded. She lifted her head and looked up at Hodo, she rubbed her eyes again, "...but seriously, get some sleep tonight. Ok? You look exhausted." she told her.
Hodo grumbled, but didn't exactly deny that. However before she could reply, her cell chimed, reaching over to the coffee table where it and the food they ordered sat, she unlocked it. Her eyes widened at the message, "Oh shit."
"What?" Katsumi asked, sitting up.
Hodo showed her the message.
'Kingpin is going to move.
Tomorrow at 9 p.m..' - A Friend.
Katsumi frowned, "I don't like this." she stated as Hodo read over the message again.
"I know…..I don't either but….." she took another breath, and then put it down on the table, and leaned back on the couch. "It's tomorrow's problem." She spread her arms out, and Katsumi smiled before returning to her, laying her head on her girlfriend's chest and listening to her heartbeat. "Love ya."
"You too doofus." Katsumi snorted back.
Izuku was...a little confused. On a couple fronts.
Firstly, Hodo messaged him to let him know that her source got in contact with her and that Fisk was moving tonight. Which, while helpful, wasn't exactly clear? What was he moving? Was it an actual thing or more like 'making a move' where you do something to order to obtain something? Regardless it meant that he had to get that security footage sooner rather than later. Secondly was what Itsuka said to him yesterday.
She called him by his first name. While in some cultures that was no big deal it often meant being used informally. Usually between friends….siblings...or…..people in a a relationship
And thinking about that nearly made him swing right into a truck if it didn't blare its horn. "GAHHHH!!!!" He yelled, using a webline to pull himself to the side as he swung forward on another. "Sorry!" He called back.
He pulled himself up on the web as it lifted up, he couldn't deny that Kendo had been on his mind a lot lately. First it had been their families getting together for dinner, where he had told her things that…..well he never told anyone else, then the time on the beach after his first defeat, his first real defeat as a hero, where she was also feeling down and they helped uplift each other. And then their training with their friends, and her subsequent birthday party. And then, her helping him out of his own self destructive mindset about being a burden. Without realizing it? Itsuka had become his best friend.
The thought made him blush, but it was hidden by his mask.
Swinging up into the air, he ran along the side of a building before leaping off and using a web to tug himself over another rooftop, landing on the edge where Lotus Export's main office was located. Ok, so I remember that most of these rooftops have cameras on them. My Spider Sense can help me avoid them…..hmm….actually, maybe I should use those to my advantage. He thought as an idea came to mind.
Swinging to a building that was close to the penthouse, he crawled down the wall above one of the hidden cameras, this one on the underside of a window mounted AC unit, and smashed it. He found the rest of the building's cameras and did the same, He then leapt off onto the side of Lotus Exports and crawled around to the rear of it, during his last trip here he was more careful and scouted out the building more thoroughly. What he had discovered was along with the parking garage and front entrance there was a private back entrance marked 'Employees Only' on it. And given that Fisk owned this building, it had to mean that he also owned the security. And what better place to look for security tapes?
Waiting above the door for ten minutes, a security guard exited the door in a rush and headed towards the building that Izuku had disabled the cameras at. Before the door could swing shut, Spider-Man caught it and opened it to crawl inside on the ceiling. He considered webbing the door closed, but dismissed the idea, if the guard came back and tried to open it and only found it stuck with webbing? Then Fisk would know right away what was going on, right now he needed to keep this quiet for as long as possible while he retrieved the video evidence he hoped was here.
However as he went about his task, what Izuku didn't realize that he was being watched by a camera, just not one being operated by Wilson Fisk. "Well, well, isn't that interesting?" Taneo Tokuda asked as he used the camera poking out of his hand, his quirk, to watch from a long distance away as the vigilante Spider-Man infiltrated the building which Hodo had asked him to stake out for the night while she worked on the story surrounding it.
Crawling along the ceiling he passed the security pen where a bunch of guards were on monitors, but peeking inside he didn't see any that showed a feed of the penthouse so he kept going. His Spider sense warned him to stop as two guards walked by talking about their Christmas plan, looking the way they came he saw a door marked 'Sever Room'. Entering it he found no one and dropped to the floor and walked through the large room, looking over the labeled racks until he found one that was labeled, 'Private'.
"Well criminal activity is pretty private." he said as he walked over to the computer that was connected to the rack. It took ten minutes of searching but he finally found what he was looking for. Archived footage, and what he found was...a lot. Him speaking and ordering Dangan, the Tinkerer, and some masked man he didn't know or see the face of for a lot of them as he scrubbed through a couple, and going back to the date that he faced Kingpin in the penthouse, the footage was clear as day….and so was the audio.
Ok, this is perfect, I can take this. Copy it onto a flash drive, and drop it off at Hodo's as an anonymous tip, this gets the pros to act on Kingpin, and he goes to jail. Even if he gets on a plane tonight there'll be heroes waiting for him almost everywhere in the world once word gets out. Izuku thought as he reached under his glove where he had stuffed a USB stick. Sticking it into the port on the keyboard's side, he figured he could simply download the video and come out the way he had come in. Easy as pie.
So of course that was when the alarm sounded.
'Intruder Alert. Unauthorized Download Detected'
"Crap!" Spider-Man hissed, turning to the computer and only seeing a black screen with a flashing dialogue box saying 'Alarm in effect. Server 15 locked down'. He peeked around the corner and saw that they were all labeled by number…..and if 15 had what he needed on it…..well…..
Shutting the server off and unplugging it, he easily tore off the lock it held and carried it under his arm as the door burst open. "Oh hey guys, don't worry I found the bug with the system." he patted the server chassis fondly as the two guards drew their weapons, Spider-Man was faster with his hand and stuck them to the walls on either side of the door. Rushing out with the server under his arm he turned towards the way he came….and saw a horde of security guards rushing down the hall towards him.
He could blitz through them but carrying a delicate machine under his arm that had the evidence that would put an end to the Kingpin. So he ran the other way.
"What is going on here?!" Fisk bellowed as he stormed out of his penthouse with the Rose behind him on his tablet. The people who were moving the last items he owned to the shipping containers in the garage were now rushing to finish their work, "Why is the alarm going off?"
The Rose pulled up the security cameras, "We detected someone trying to download a file from our secure servers-" and then halted to a stop. "Sir?" He asked, Fisk turned to him as the Rose held up the tablet, on the touch screen was video footage of Spider-Man bouncing through the halls of the security wing, kicking one of the guards in the face with a sever tucked underneath his arm.
Fisk glowered, the smart thing to do would be to leave now, the Rose had the Time Dilation Accelerator. He could open a portal to escape to and hide out at his compound in China. While the Rose toiled to undo the damage done to his public image.
But two things held him.
One was that sever, his people had not yet transferred all their files to their new location so they hadn't burned the storage on those yet. Meaning it had whatever data it still held on it. And the fact that Spider-Man was stealing, meant there was something of great value on it. And it could lead to something worse than flash accusations.
And two….and he knew it was petty…..but he wanted to get his hands wrapped around that child's neck.
"Where is he going?" He growled out as the Rose tapped the screen.
The Rose watched for a brief moment, "He's avoiding our men, but he's making his way to the elevators." He explained.
"He's trying to escape...fine. Then lead him here." He growled as he stormed towards the penthouse elevator. He unbuttoned his jacket as the Rose stumbled after him in confusion, "This pest has been a thorn in our side for too long, and I finally have the opportunity to deal with it." he growled as he loosened his tie and dropped it. "This single boy has torn down everything I've spent my life building, my empire, my kingdom. And this freckle little…. thinghas pulled it apart on it's foundation." He rolled his sleeves up. "I'm going to kill him."
Hodo was drinking coffee when the door to her office slammed open, making it shoot out her nose, "GAH! MOTHERFUCKER!" the reporter coughed as she held a napkin up to her burning nose while her girlfriend stopped to watch. She turned to her, "Katsumi the hell???" she asked through her muffled and plugged nose.
Was it possible to get second degree burns up your nose?
"Sorry! I didn't mean to-nevermind, look, that building you had Taneo scope out? He just called me. Spider-Man was seen going inside and now all hell is breaking loose. People are being moved out of it." she explained.
That made whatever possible third degree burns she sustained fade out of her mind, "What!?" she exclaimed before quickly grabbing her coat and pulling it on. "Shit, we need to get there now!" she said as she ran out the door and turned towards the elevators before Katsumi grabbed her by the back of her coat.
"I just checked traffic, it's a nightmare. But I got Chitose's permission to use the helicopter. I had to grab my gear before coming here." she said, lifting up her camera.
Hodo smiled at her with a beaming grin, "Baby I could kiss you right now." she said as they both ran towards the stairs which led to the roof. They got there within a few minutes just as the pilot was taking a drink from a cup of hot chocolate when the reporter and her camerawoman climbed into the helicopter with their flight path set for Lotus Exports.
Pulling the Elevator doors open was nothing for Spider-Man, running up a skyscraper's elevator shaft for however many stories with valuable evidence of a criminal empire's leader tucked underneath your arm in a server? Also not as difficult as it sounded when you were able to stick to pretty much any surface he came across. But when each floor he tried to open was met with security guards, and he found himself going higher and higher…..Izuku realized that he was being led into a trap.
And it seemed like he didn't have any real option but to spring it. So after hiding the server where only he could find it, he kicked down the elevator doors and landed atop of them. "Room service!" He called out, looking around the foyer and seeing no one around.
His spider sense was buzzing lightly, a general sense of danger but nothing that alerted him. Walking to the double wooden doors, he stopped when his sixth sense blared, right before a massive hand burst through the wood and grabbed him by the head, pulling him through he was flung across the room and into the opposing wall, hitting the ground with a grunt as the Kingpin stalked towards him. "I am going to kill you." he threatened, raising both his fists up, only for the vigilante to quickly shoot webbing into his face and blind him.
As the Kingpin tore the webbing off, "Well that's no way to talk to company." the vigilante joked, rolling through the gap of Kingpin's stance and shooting his foot out into the back of leg! Falling to his knees, the Kingpin turned his head to see Spider-Man jump up, shoot a pair of weblines on either side of him, and pull his feet into him with enough force to send him through the wall! He crashed into the kitchen, slamming against the granite counter, the large wall windows looking out to the city.
Webbing covered the Kingpin to the counter, "It's over Fisk." he said, making the Kingpin glower at him using his real name.
"Do you really think that?" he growled out as he began to pull against the webbing, the substance straining against the great strength that it was trying to contain. "I wasn't threatening you back there, saying I'm going to kill you. That was a promise." he growled out as some of the webbing snapped, Spider-Man clenched his fists.
"Give up." he told him.
Kingpin sneered, "You seem to forget how our last physical confrontation ended, boy." the webbing tore and he rose up, the vigilante standing firmly with his fists raised in the hole he made to the kitchen.
"Painfully. But like I said before, you're wrong." he countered. Kingpin rushed in, just like last time, but last time he didn't go through drills with Itsuka on what to do with a larger opponent. She taught him that their weight and balance was the key to countering them so he leapt to the ceiling, sprung off it, and shot a webline to Kingpin's back, landing and sticking to the ground, he pulled back, and yanked the Kingpin back. He spun around to try and brace himself but managed to slam his head into the counter, he looked up with a cut on his forehead.
He didn't so much as leap over the counter as slide over it and charged into the teen, slamming him against the bulletproof glass hard enough to make it spiderweb. With him pinned, Kingpin punched into the vigilante's head with rage. "You! Are! A! Idiot!" he yelled before Spider-Man's hand shot up and caught the fist. And then responded with his own, making Fisk stumble back as Spider-Man stuck to the glass before throwing his fist out!
Spider-Man swung himself to the side to the next glass window, Fisk's hand shattering the glass and cutting himself in the process. He either ignored the pain or was too angry to care. He retreated back, Spider-Man lunged for him as Kingpin grabbed the handle of the fridge and ripped the door off and slammed it into Landing on the dining room table, Izuku groaned as he lifted his head up, "Ok, I wasn't gonna do any fat jokes because that's kinda mean but your making it very hard for me right now." he said as Kingpin ran in with hands raised up.
At the last second, Spider-Man rolled back as Fisks' fists came crashing down onto the table, caving it in two with the side Spider-Man was on rising, kneeing the kingpin in the face in the process. As Fisk stumbled back to the counter, he sneered through the cuts and bruises on his face. Readying himself for another bout, Fisk paused when he felt the penthouse shake…..consistently. A sudden light shined through the large window, both combatants turned their heads to the light.
It was a helicopter, a news helicopter.
Oh you gotta be kidding me Hodo!!! Izuku thought with alarm as he saw his co-worker and her girlfriend in the copter's passenger section, Katsumi training her camera squarely on them for who knows how long.
'If you're just tuning in, we received reports of Spider-Man breaking into Lotus Exports moments ago, and arrived on the scene to witness the known vigilante in the middle of a fight with the owner. Wilson Fisk.' The news reporter on Hodo's phone said as she watched the livestream video play. She was in the lobby of All Might's agency, he had texted her about the gift she was going to get for Izuku when a news alert on her phone got her attention.
"Ah, young Kendo." All Might greeted with a pre-wrapped gift under his arm, "What are you…..oh." he said in surprise upon her showing him her phone. "That's...huh."
"Yeah.....don't suppose you're gonna go over there and….take care of things?" she asked.
"....I already used up my All Might time today." the number one hero winced.
Ryukuyu nearly choked on her water when she saw the footage that was on the television, "Hey isn't that big guy the one who the HSPC guy is trying to get a warrant for?" Nejire asked as she pointed her finger at the large man who was on camera with a gobsmacked expression. He then turned the vigilante and with a roar that wasn't caught on audio, charged the vigilante through the wall! "Oooh, ouch." Nejire winced.
'For those unaware, Lotus Exports has been identified as a shell company which criminals the like of Mysterio, the once pro hero, and ex-proscutor Dangen, used to not only move their illicit money, but pay for illegal services to be conducted on their behalf.' the reporter continued to explain.
".....what does….Illegal services mean?" a little girl with sandy blonde hair underneath a straw hat asked to no one in particular while her younger brother leaned in closer to the TV as the red and blue suited hero on TV dodged a strike aimed at his head. He then countered with an uppercut and followed up by stepping onto the larger man and shooting his knee up into his head as well!
"OOooh!" they both winced.
"HA! He got decked in the face!" Toga cheered from the Uraraka family living room. Uraraka, who had a bowl of popcorn in hand from the microwave, peered in from the kitchen.
"Shoot! Mom, Dad! Hurry up! They're fighting again!" she called out, rushing to Toga's side and holding the bowl of popcorn between them. Toga had a small plate of 'dipping sauce' for herself.
"We're picking up audio now, let's listen in!" And in a darkened room, someone watches the fight on TV unfold with undivided attention. They watched as a vigilante took on one of the most powerful criminals Japan has seen in recent years. They looked over to where their gear was laid out on a long workbench. "Alright." they nodded, stepping towards their gear.
Spider-Man grunted as he was sent through another wall, his costume cut and torn across his arms, legs, and a few on his body, but it was just the suit. His flesh remained together aside from a few nicks, but it popped goosebumps against the chilling winter night air. "Oooh! That's brisk!" he yelped as he looked around. He was out on the terrace, the Kingpin however wasn't. He instead used the chance to retreat towards the study, which Spider-Man saw through the hole.
"Rose! We must leave, now! Get the-" he shouted as he threw the doors open, only for the command to die in his throat when he saw his office empty…..the only thing left being a photograph on his desk…..of him…his wife…..and the son….with the boy cut out of it. "....oh…" was all he could muster to say before weblines attached to his back and pulled him away and through the hole, making a larger one in the process.
"There! See how you like it. Not fun is it?" Spider-Man asked, Kingpin turned to him with utter rage in his eyes and charged.
"Your fault! This is all your fault you insolent pest!" Spider-Man flipped back away from the swing of his fist.
"Me!? Fisk, you have no one to blame but yourself!" he countered, shooting a web at the man's foot to make him falter, closing the distance he landed a strike to Fisk's side, it was like hitting something hard but it made Fisk wince. "You talk about me being a fool? Maybe I am, but I'd rather be a stupid child who tries to make the world better than someone who feeds off making it worse." the vigilante said in disgust.Kinpin's arm swung back faster than his Spider Sense could register.
"That's reality!" Fisk roared as he stomped towards the teen, "Morality doesn't matter, strength does, quirks, money, fear, that's all that matters." He lifted his foot up and slammed it down to the vigilante as he was on his knees getting up, only for Spider-Man to catch it, straining against not only the weight, but the strength behind it. His angled lenses narrowed at Kingpin's eyes.
"That's not strength." he pushed.
The strength caused Fisk to lose his balance, "You want strength? Strength is fighting for something greater than yourself." he punched Fisk, "It's standing up to the monsters of the world like you, people who think they're untouchable, and proving you wrong!" WHAM!
Kingpin faltered, falling back onto his hand and looking at the vigilante through his swelling eye. The man sprung forward, shoulder checking the teen who was sent back and recovered with a roll, skidding to a halt. Fisk'd faces a mixture of rage, uncertainty, and fear. There was no way out of this, his escape was gone, his secret on the verge of exposure to thee ed world….and there was nothing he could do.
His glanced over to the stone bench, and then at the helicopter. "Fine. A pyrrhaic victory." He reached for the beck, and ripped it out of the ground, spinning it around, Spider-Man prepared for it. However when he lobbed it into the open air his head turned and his eyes widened when he saw its target.
"No!!" He yelled as the stone bench collided with the tail rotor of the helicopter!
The helicopter spun wildly out of control, it dipped and waved through the air, maybe it was ok? Maybe Fisk's spiteful attack was fruitless….bit no, it spun out, right towards the penthouse!
No buildings to attach a web to, nothing I can spin a web between to make a net with, I-I-I gotta save them but how do I stop…. Spider-Man's eyes narrowed as he suddenly rushed forward towards the helicopter, he's seen All Might do things like this before with no problem. He wasn't All Might, but the least he could do is try as hard as he would!
He opened his arms wide as the front of the copter slammed into him! It knocked the wind out of him but he remained on his feet as they dug into the wood floor beneath him, splitting as they slid back towards the edge. Spider-Man grunted with exertion as he kept the copter up, the pilot inside was staring at him with alarm while Hodo and Katsumi were holding onto each other. "Cut…..the…..rotors!"
The pilot was taken out of his trance and did so, the blades stopped whirling and allowed the vigilante to set the aircraft down on its legs. Leaning against the helicopter for support, he groaned, "Oh yeah…gonna be feeling that tomorrow morning….ouch." He bemoaned before Kingpin's fist slammed his head into the front of the helicopter!
From inside the Helicopter, Hodo gripped Katsumi's shoulders, "Are you ok?" She asked fearfully. The camerawoman shakily nodded and Hodo pulled her into a hug, the helicopter jerked as Spider-Man was slammed into it. The two looked out the front to see Fisk slamming him into the front of the chopper. Hodo's fear quickly turned to rage, "You! You son of a-you nearly killed us!!" The roasted, almost scrambling to join in the fight if not for her girlfriend grabbing her and pulling her back.
Kingpin pulled Spider-Man from the chopper, holding up with one hand, "I may go away but I will kill you before I do." Fisk growled out as he raised a fist, Izuku watched as he raised it, the helicopter blades behind him, thinking quickly he connected a webline with the fist and blade of the helicopter as he was about to throw it, making him falter. Kingpin looked back, tuned to get some slack and then watched his arm forward, causing the blade to spin up!
Spider-Man used the chance to kick himself away from Fisk, "You're insane! You could have killed them!"
"No, I'm a realist who knows you. Your bleeding heart, it's just a weakness, it'll be your end." He growled. Spider-Man's lenses narrowed, but his eyes were trained in the helicopter blades spinning.
He looked at the Kingpin, "Maybe. But I'll be your end first." He raised his hand and triggered his webs. They shot it in a strand that Kingpin sidestepped, and hooked onto the spinning blade. Tanking him off the ground and spinning him around, gaining speed, momentum, and most importantly? Mass.
Booking around the helicopter, Kingpin turned around just in time to see Spider-Man kick both his feet out into a swing kick that kicked him off his feet and into the air! Crashing onto the terrace and crashing through the railing! A series of webs wrapping around him asks catching him as he fell against the ledge, dangling off it with his arms bound to their sides.
Fisk blinked away the concussion he almost certainly had, and attempted to break the webbing. "I wouldn't recommend that, it's a pretty steep fall." He looked over to see Spider-Man clinging to the wall beside him. "And maybe this is in bad taste, but we don't want you falling and creating a crater." He joked before pulling himself up over the ledge to the roof.
He ran to the side of the helicopter where the pilot, Hodo and Katsumi were attempting to open it from within. "Stand back, I got this!" He called inside, sticking his hand to the door, he jerked it to the side, something broke but it slid open. He offered his hand, "Is everyone ok?" He asked. Hodo took it and shakily stepped out.
"I….I'm fine….katsumi?" She asked, turning to her girlfriend who the pilot helped out, and immediately bent forward and supported herself by placing her hands on her knees.
"Fine…..just…..life still flashing before my eyes." She laughed.
Hodo nodded, then turning to Spider-Oh holy crap she was talking to Spider-Man! This was perfect! She straightened herself out in a second as best she could. Katsumi saw this as the vigilante checked on the pilot and rolled her eyes, grabbing the camera she poised it up with her in the center frame. Hodo cleared her throat and turned to Spider-Man.
"Ahem! Spider-Man, do you have a moment?" She asked, the vigilante turned to her, and faltered when he saw Katsumi training the camera on him.
Because despite the fact that Izuku Midoriya, Spider-Man, was capable of incredible feats of strength and brave enough to stand up to someone like the kingpin? He was still camera shy.
"I...erk!" He managed to get out.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Hodo confirmed while Katsumi gave her a blank look. "How did you become aware of the Kingpin in the first place? What led you to uncover his organization?" She asked.
"I…..um…..crime?" He nervously replied.
"...ok then." Hodo replied, "Where did you get your costume?"
"…..a place…." Spider-Man's reply caused her to facepalm. "Um…..if you're all safe then I should probably go." He said, raising a stiff hand and pointing away. He slowly backed off but Hodo stepped after him.
"Ok look I…..just…..can you tell us why you're doing this?" She asked more earnestly, causing the vigilante to pause.
He turned halfway, contemplating if he should say anything at all, under normal circumstances he'd just leave without saying anything but...he just brought down the Kingpin. And it was Hodo….someone he knew wasn't going to bend the truth like so many other had before, "....I do this because….with great power, there must also, always come great responsibility…..I do this because I have the ability to help people. And so I should." he told her earnestly.
Hodo, for maybe the first time since Izuku had known her, was rendered speechless. "....um…that's it. You better call the cops, or Pros actually." he began to turn before stopping himself, "Oh! Right, there's a server stuck to the top of the elevator shaft? It has more evidence against that guy." he said, pointing to fisk before taking a running start to the ledge of the roof and swinging away.
Itsuka had watched the whole fight with baited breath, silly as it may sound she actually really liked Spider-Man. Maybe it was in part because she had seen him and spoken with him when he was still getting his feet wet as a vigilante at the beach with that Shocker guy. Or maybe it was the fact that he saved Set and her sister from the Lizard shortly thereafter, but in her book? He was a good guy, and he managed to take down someone that not even the pros and the police could have.
So you know what? Good for him.
She walked down the road to her place with the gift from All Might under her arm, it was perfect, a new figure that wasn't even out yet, and with All Might's signature. That last bit might be a little too much though, but All Might insisted on doing it for a fan of his and she couldn't really think of a reason to say no...however now that she thought about it he might straight up pass out from shock when she gave it to him. Which she'll admit, would be funny.
And then...we'll go out. She thought with a determined smile….her cheeks flushing a little, not from the cold but from what she said to him. His first name, what was she thinking? She wasn't, that's the answer…..and honestly it just felt good to say.
"Well hey there sweetheart." a familiar voice that made Kendo's smile disappear in a flash. She turned her head to the voice, and who else would it be but the same three boys from the other night who hassled her. The leader stepped out, a much more confident smirk on his face that she really wanted to wipe away with the back of her hand.
She took a deep breath, and let out a tired sigh, "Seriously? Again?"
"Yeah, again." the leader said, the friendly tone completely gone as something flashed in his hand, Kendo looked down to see his hand had clawed tips at the ends of them. "You know, we really didn't appreciate you talking to me like that yesterday." he said with a sneer.
Kendo raised a brow, "Really?" she asked unimpressed.
He raised his hand, "So how about this, you owe me for that little embarrassment. So how about me and my friends here take some…repayment?" he propositioned as his two friends on either side of him stepped forward.
Kendo glowered at him, ".....you know I was fine with letting you jackasses off easy the other day, thought maybe you might learn a lesson. But if you seriously take away, 'Well let's just rape her' from that? I really made an error." she growled out as she lifted her hand that grew in size. The leader swung his clawed hand out to her, she raised her hand to shield herself, wincing at her cut flesh, but when she felt her present slip from her grip? That's what made her curse out, "Shit!"
She turned to see the present hit the ground….and then one of the other boys stepped on it.
"....Oh fuck this." she punched the lead boy right in the face as hard as she could, she felt bone crunch beneath her fist and blood fly out of his nose as he tumbled back, the larger boy behind her moved to capture her….before a sticky white substance stuck to his face.
"M-M-Man I am just really n-n-not lucky tonight." a shivering voice said before a red and blue figure came down on the third young man's back, flipped off over Kendo's head and delivered a flying kick to the larger boy. Kendo turned her head and her mouth dropped in surprise at the appearance of Spider-Man. "S-Sorry, I f-f-figured you had that, but I couldn't just watch a one sided beatdown…..on them, not you." he added.
Itsuka would have smiled….but then she saw the present at his feet….and then she turned around to the leader and with her enlarged hand, grabbed him, and slammed him down onto the pavement hard enough to make the vigilante wince. "Oooh…..forget me, he's having a bad night."
Kendo dropped him, the small, pathetic boy. And as he scurried away, his friends in tow, Itsuka didn't call out and threaten him. She just turned to the now crushed present….and fell to her knees, "God….damnit." she hissed out as Spider-Man knelt beside her.
"Hey I'm….I'm sorry, if I had acted sooner-" he began as Kendo rubbed her eyes and shook her head.
"No it….fuck I just...that was a really...." she took a shaky breath. "...it was for someone special." was all she could think to say.
Izuku frowned beneath his mask, he had never seen Kendo look so…..distraught. "I'm...is there anything I can do?" he asked. She shook her head, and part of his heart ached, he wished she could…..just comfort her, like she had done for him yesterday after talking about his dad. But he was Spider-Man...and pulling her into a hug might not be the best move right now. But he still reached out, a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
She looked over to him, "....thanks." she said quietly. She looked down at it and gathered it in her arms, "It's probably fine…..but the packaging is…..the guy I got it for he….he's kind of a collector." she admitted, causing Izuku's lenses to widen in recognition. He looked at the gift again and felt a pang in his heart.
"I…..I'm sure he'll understand." he said encouragingly.
Itsuka actually smiled a little. "Yeah…..he probably will…..he's…god, he's good like that." she said as she stood up.
Spider-Man's head nodded in relief, "That's good."
"Yeah it's…..it sucks." she said, her shoulders slumping before shaking her head. "I don't mean, he does, but....he's such a good person. He's bullied at school for being quirkless, and instead of being jealous, which I'm pretty sure most people would be, he's fascinated with quirks." she says with a smile. "And he's been alone all his life and despite that? He's still a good person…..he's…..he might be the best guy….man….I've ever met." she admitted aloud.
It was a good thing the mask Izuku wore covered his face completely, because it was blushing the shade of red a thermometer had right now. Itsuka looked at the present, "....I wanted to give him this as a thank you. He got me this awesome gift for my birthday but....I sort of realized something…..about him and me."
Spider-Man cleared his throat before asking, "W….what?"
".....I realized I…..I might be in love with him." she admitted.
Izuku's entire world froze.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Itsuka sighed, "I'm gonna go home and...take a bath. A nice long bath to just….relax in…..thanks." she said, turning to the vigilante to find him oddly quiet. Looking him over however she winced when she noticed how beaten up he looked. "You uh….might want to get one too. You look like you really need one." she joked lightly. The vigilante's head nodded and he stepped away, and without a word, shot a webline up and pulled himself away. As Kendo continued on towards her home, Izuku stumbled across the rooftop until he reached a wall to lean on, pulling his mask off.
He blinked as he turned around and leaned his back against the surface, a blush covering his face and his heart thundering in his ears from what Kendo just spilled to him. She…..she might love him? HIM??!?!?!
"What….the….FU-"
The police and pro hero Ryukyu arrived at the Lotus Exports main building minutes after Spider-Man left it. With Hodo and Kastsumi being eyewitnesses to his attempt on their lives in order to distract Spider-Man, he was read his rights and shuffled into a specialized police transport vehicle. The suppression cuffs on his hands and feet were designed specifically to counter his quirk. Which allowed his body mass to be treated as pure muscle, not the most incredible quirk but one that made him appear more unassuming.
The Rose watched this from the monitor the Tinkerer had set up in his new office, the man himself standing on the other side pacing back and forth. "And you're sure he won't be able to get to us from inside?" the support villain asked the masked man.
The Rose nodded, "Positive. He won't suspect your involvement with leaking the information to the press. And I had all his assets transferred to accounts that I own. That and the items he shipped out." he said, looking at the Time Dilation Accelerator on the desk. "A remarkable piece of technology. But Fisk thinking of selling this was a wasteful idea." he said.
The tinkerer nodded in agreement, "Yes….if we proliferated this technology then it would only draw more attention to us. Having it as a service is a much better option I think." he said. "Speaking of which, Giran reached out to us, he said that he might have someone wanting to use that technology soon." he added.
The Rose nodded thoughtfully, "Tell him that we need to have the heat die down first. We'll take the job but if he needs us right away, we'll have to charge him extra for it." he said. While they might have stolen much of Kingpin's empire, the truth was that they had to burn most of it in order to get away scott free. They needed time to rebuild their operations, but they had it. Fisk's imprisonment would satisfy the search for another crime boss for a while, and while there might usually be a fear that Fisk could turn on them? This time there was no such worry.
After all, what kind of father would betray his own son?
The Truck containing Fisk sped along the highway, he was the only one in the prisoner section of the truck, security cameras in the corners monitoring him. They were installed to make sure none of the prisoners harmed themselves or others, but the Kingpin was still. He had known that this was a possibility, as they usually where for people in his position. However he had never suspected Rose…..no…Richard, to betray him. While it burned him, burned him deeply as a matter of fact….there was a part of him that held pride for what his son had managed to do. He had been outplayed, simple as that may be it wasn't as easy at that sounded.
He had surmised as much during this ride, thinking back to how Dangan was the one to suggest dealing with Spider-Man face to face. In retrospect that must have been Rose's idea to get the vigilante on board to begin with. And in fact Rose was the one to suggest sending the Shocker to deal with him in the first place, it must have been a test to see if he was a capable enough threat to them. And then he just set Spider-Man on him, in fact outside of Tinkerer and Dangan, the webhead probably didn't even know of the Rose's existence to begin with, nor their relation to one another.
The Kingpin couldn't help but smile, it was almost artistic.
BANG!!!
The car jutted to a halt briefly, then it started up again, and the Kingpin smiled. Richard was a good planner, a good tactician, but he had learned from his father. His father, who always made sure that half of the people who worked on villain transport detail had something that they didn't want to be made public. He couldn't hear the radio from where he was but he assumed they were trailing to find out why the transport truck was off course now, it wouldn't matter because in ten minutes he'd be out of this thing and in a nondescript van that would take him to the shipyar-
KABOOOM!
The transport truck tumbled down the road, going end over end until it slid across the pavement, sparks flying up from the metal contacting the ground. It collided with the guard rail, causing an abrupt stop. As the guard who had killed the other driver fell out of the broken glass window in a daze. The loosened back door was thrown open as Fisk stumbled out onto his hands and knees while he tried to regain his bearings. As he knelt on the ground, the sound of a engine made him look up.
"You know, I was going to come after you. But someone else actually beat me to it tonight. It took me a long time to find you, but if you knock the right heads to gether, threaten the right people? You'd be surprised how loose lipped some people are." a pair of metal boots dropped down on the pavement. Fisk blinked, his one eye which was now almost swollen shut could barely make out the figure.
"Who…..are…you?" he wheezed out.
"....I've been asking myself that same question...and I thought when I found you? I'd have an answer." the voice asked as the metal boots stepped forth. Kingpin looked up and saw man….in a metal suit. It covered him head to toe, and he realized upon closer inspection that it was an…armor? He looked up further and saw the mask the…man was wearing. It was almost a helmet, with the top portion curved back almost like a helmet that bikers wore. As the van caught on fire behind him, the shadowy figure lit up.
The man's armor, and that's what it was, was green on the arms, legs, toro, and collar, with the other parts looking more flexible and colored purple. With deep green eyes looking down at him, a faceplate over where the mouth would be. The top of his helmet was purple as well, he didn't look like a man…..instead more like….a creature….like a goblin.
"I thought that when I had you like this, beaten down, bloody, and out of breath? I'd know, if I was a boy, or a man. A hero…or something else. The armored man's head tilted down, the eyes, which glowed a shade of yellow, seemed to glower at Fisk. "I guess we're about to find out."