Chapter 5: On Metal Wings
Izuku didn't find anymore crimes to stop that night. And after another hour of patrolling and almost crashing as one of the shooters ran out of webbing, he switched the cartridges and headed home. He had the biggest smile on his face as he got back into his bed, the memory of him beating those robbers going through his head.
"That was so awesome." Izuku muttered to himself. "I already love doing this."
He closed his eyes a second later, instantly falling asleep. And as he did this, he didn't see his mom slightly opening his door, her eyes glancing down at her son's face. She saw the giant smile on his face, something she hadn't seen for a very long time. Worry still racked her brain, but that sight...it was the best thing she could hope for right now.
Her son was happy.
The Next Day...
Izuku didn't sleep in. Despite what he did last night, and the fact he got to bed really late, he found himself instantly rested when he woke up. Izuku had found that over the past month, his newfound power gave him a bunch of extra energy. And with this, he spent the first two or so hours of the day doing a basic morning routine before looking up his online classes. Seeing there wasn't much at the start, he went ahead and did the first two weeks of homework, finding all of it to be super easy.
While he did this, his mom asked him how last night was, Izuku replying and saying it was beyond great. He told her he now truly thinks he can do this, and then promised her to do the homework. And as he finished it, he shined the biggest smile he could before putting his costume on.
'Spider-Man...I think that name works well.' He thought as he put on his mask and then put on the web shooters, 'I wonder what the police think about the card I left. I mean, I beat those bank robbers really easily, though that might have been their first try at crime too.' He snorted at that thought, 'That would figure for me. The first criminals I beat are also first time criminals...'
He then walked into his bathroom, staring at the mirror there. He looked himself over, the lens in the mask zooming in and out. "Not bad. It still looks good, even after last night." He commented before looking down at his shooters, opening up the cartridges. "All full, and I got about ten in reserve. Better make some more tonight."
And with a click on the wrist, he checked his front door, making sure it was locked, and then went over to his window. Opening it, he turned himself invisible and crawled out, closing the window behind him before getting up to the roof. As he got there, he leapt off and started swinging, a smile under his mask.
"Ahh...this feels so awesome. I still can't believe I have a quirk now." He whispered to himself as he swung building to building, passing blocks in mere seconds. "Guess I'll try a day patrol."
He then landed on a rooftop and pulled out his phone from his hoodie, tapping it a few times. It switched to a police scanner app Izuku had created a while back, a spin-off of his hero app. "There we go. We'll keep you on just in case I can't find anything." He put it back into his pocket, reminding himself that he should have done that last night, but it was too late now.
With that, he began to swing again, his form quickly zipping through town. As he did this, he saw that several people below were gasping, all seeing the masked teen seemingly fly past them. But as he passed another block, a single thought went through his head. 'I hope I'm not making too much of a spectacle. I don't want a hero suddenly chasing me again like Kamui Woods did the other day.'
He pulled out his phone as he shot another web line, seeing the scanner begin to beep. A crackled voice came out of next as Izuku glanced away from the device and stared directly ahead as swung down another street.
"This is Musutafu police. We have a mobile villain going down Dathomir Street, Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, please respond."
"Dathomir...that's not too far." Izuku commented to himself as he took a tight right swing, "Maybe I can at least see what's up."
He shot two web lines at the same time, slingshotting himself three blocks before going back to a regular web swing. And as he did this, he saw a black figure flying in the distance. This was followed by Mount Lady taking a swing at it, missing before a flood of wood shot off her shoulder. The flying thing quickly dodged the lumber attack, Izuku hopping over to a roof as he watched what was going on.
"What are they chasing? Is that the villain?" He whispered while squinting his eyes, the lens mimicking this. It was here that he saw what they were chasing. It was a man in a blackish green suit that had a pair of light green wings, though if you looked closely, you could tell they were made of metal. He had a bag in one of his hands, but his wings kept flapping despite this. The man was bald, and seemed to be yelling at the two heroes as Izuku leapt over to the next rooftop.
"You'll never catch the Vulture, you two-bit heroes!" The bird man roared as he swung his wings down, cutting through Kamui Woods forest attack.
'A villain? Don't recognize him, so he's probably E or F-rank...though if he's new and can avoid them, he might be at least C-rank.'
This was followed by Mount Lady lunging a giant hand at him, but the bird just spun around and slashed her, making her flinch back.
"Yeow!" she yelped as a thin line of blood appeared in her right palm.
Seeing this, Izuku went wide-eyed before narrowing his eyes. 'I gotta get in there and help them!' He glanced down at his shooters, quickly switching to a full cartridge. 'Here we go. Let's see how I do against my first villain.'
He looked back up at the battle, the fight now going a block away from Izuku. Taking a deep breath, he leapt off the roof and shot a web, quickly shifting into a swing. He began to zip up to the block the battle was going on, now seeing the Vulture dodge Mount Lady again.
"You'll never catch me!" Vulture barked as he spun around, turning to try and slash at the hero again. But as he did this, a line of lumber shot out at him, making him flap his wings, pushing himself back. "Blast it! Just leave me alone already!"
"You're not getting away, villain!" Kamui exclaimed as he swung a long vine of wood at the bird man, Vulture slicing it as it came close.
"That's not enough!" Vulture countered before stretching his wings up and slamming them down, firing a gust of wind that knocked Kamui off of Mount Lady's shoulder.
"Kamui!" she gasped as she spun around to catch him.
"Ha! Later losers!" Vulture laughed as he quickly shot away, zipping down an alleyway. "No one can catch me!"
"Wanna bet?" said a new voice, making the villain raise an eyebrow, only to feel something hit his back.
"What the-" Vulture yelped before trying to do a barrel roll, only to feel the weight still on his back. He then glanced behind himself, now seeing a certain green costumed teen on his back. "Wha-get off of me!"
"Nah, I don't think so." Izuku replied before aiming his wrists at Vulture's wings, "How about we ground you instead?"
Vulture went wide-eyed at this, only to quickly spin around again, "Whoa!" Izuku yelped as he tried to hold on, his spider powers trying to help him keep his grip.
"Get. Off. Of. Me!" Vulture roared before flailing his right wing up, smacking Izuku in the head.
"Ack!" he yelped, losing his grip off the bird man. He fell off at this, his spider sense yelling at him before firing a web to a nearby building. Swinging back up, he saw Vulture try to flap away, only to swing right up to him in two quick bursts.
"Get back here!" Izuku yelled as he thrusted his legs at Vulture's back, only for the villain to spin around and smack him with his wing. "Augh!" Izuku cried as he was flung over to a nearby building, his form smashing through a window. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"
He felt himself roll across a hard floor, only to shake his head as he got up, "Oookay. Gotta be quicker." he whispered before glancing around, seeing he was in an abandoned building. "Well, at least I didn't destroy anything."
He then raced out the window he had been flung into, quickly going into a swing as he saw the Vulture in distance, dodging another attack from Mount Lady. "Will you heroes go away already?!" He screeched as he zipped past the giant.
'Gotta get ahead of him if I wanna beat him.' Izuku thought before taking a left, swinging down an alleyway. He zoomed through there, quickly coming out to the next block. There, he saw the Vulture flying away from the two heroes again, narrowing his eyes at the sight. He swung down another alleyway before swinging out to the next block, now seeing the Vulture about to fly toward him. Izuku then fired two lines, preparing to slingshot himself at the villain.
"Gotta line this up...now!" He let go and shot up, thrusting both legs ahead as he exclaimed, "Hey bird boy!"
The Vulture turned to the voice, only to feel two feet slam into his chest, "Augh!" he yelped, Izuku then firing a web at Vulture's legs. He swung down and then upward, flipping over the bird man and landing on his back again.
"You again?! Get off of me!" Vulture screeched as he flapped the wings, Izuku this time dodging both. But as this happened, Vulture turned to an alleyway to the right, only to flap his wings and let out a burst of speed. Izuku quickly gripped onto his back, only to see that Vulture was about to fly into a very very thin alley. So much so that the bird man had to go to sideways.
Danger!
His spider sense blaring, Izuku quickly jumped off, grabbing the side of the building to the side of the alleyway. Izuku took a deep breath at that, soon crawling up to the roof. "Okay...almost got squashed there. Maybe I should just web him up from a distance."
He got up to the roof and began to run, soon seeing the Vulture fly out to the next street. Izuku quickly leapt off the roof, firing a web right at Vulture's feet again. It instantly struck the villain's soles, making the bird man look back, "What the-"
"Sorry birdie, your flight is cancelled!" Izuku yelled as he held onto the web line. "Your next flight is a one-way ticket to prison!"
"Grrr...what is with you?! Leave me alone!"
"Nope!" Izuku chuckled as he pointed the wrist right up at Vulture's right wing...and fired.
THWIP!
The web instantly struck, making the Vulture suddenly wobble. "My wing!" he yelped as he tried to flap the wing, only to see his metal feathers were now stuck. "What is this?!"
"Flight's over!" Izuku yelled as he let go of the strand, only to fire two to both his sides, trying the slingshot trick again. And with a mighty pull and release, he fired himself up at the bird man.
"Aaah!" Vulture yelped as Izuku's legs slammed into his back. And as he screamed out a cry of pain, webs suddenly wrapped up both his wings, making him instantly nosedive. "Wait! Stop! I'm gonna die at this height!"
"You haven't been paying attention, have you?" Izuku remarked as the Vulture felt something grab his back, only to be yanked up. The villain looked up at this, now seeing Izuku fire a web line and started swinging one-handed while the other held up the bird man. That is, till Izuku landed on a rooftop, Vulture's body hitting the side of the building. Seeing this, Izuku quickly yanked him up to the top, only to web him up even more.
"And that's one bird down thanks to Spider-Man!" Izuku commented before patting Vulture's head, "Now, be a good birdy and stay here for the authorities." He then straightened up at that, quickly pulling out his notebook. "Huh. That's a good one. Heck, that was several good quips. I gotta record-"
Danger!
"Huh?!" Izuku yelped before leaping back, only for two wood lines to shoot past him. He glanced back, now seeing Kamui Woods on Mount Lady's shoulder.
"Halt villain!" he yells as he fires a third branch, only for Izuku to duck right under it.
"Hey! Come on, I just helped you stop that guy!"
"So that makes you a vigilante! You're under arrest!" Kamui barked back, Izuku now finding himself backpedal, only for his foot to tap the side of the roof.
Looking back for a second, Izuku let out a sigh before staring at Kamui, "Listen, the name's Spider-Man. I saw you were having trouble with birdie over there and just wanted to help."
"You can help by surrendering!" Kamui roared as a stream of branches shot out of him, "Lacquered Chain Prison!"
And as the lumber attack came, Izuku quickly leapt off the roof. His body then turned invisible, making him vanish just as Kamui ran over to the other side of the roof. "What the-where'd he go?!" Mount Lady yelled as Izuku began to swing away.
"Grrr...he did that last time too." Kamui growled before looking back at the webbed up Vulture. "Well, at least you're caught."
Izuku came to a stop a few blocks away, his form still invisible as he swung up onto a nearby rooftop. Letting out a long breath before partially opening his mask, he revealed only his mouth as his invisibility stopped. And as he sat down, he began to catch his breath. "Whoa. That...was intense." he gasped before staring down at his hands, seeing them both shake. "Wow. This quirk the spider gave me is so awesome! It made that fight so...amazing." Izuku blinked at that statement, "I need better words."
He then pulled out his notebook, quickly jotting down the quips he used, "I need to figure out a good way to fight airborne opponents..." He commented to himself while opening the bottom of his mask, "Maybe I should add a section on fighting styles..." He licked his finger and turned a few pages, soon writing down a new step.
'Step four: Figure out your own fighting style. Observe heroes and fight villains to figure it out.' He stopped writing after that, instead staring at his hand with the pencil in it. 'Fighting styles mean super moves for heroes.'
He closed his eyes at this, remembering the support exam and what happened. 'That bio-electric thing. I wonder if that's supposed to be my super move.' He put the notebook away before crossing his arms, 'But if that's the case, why can't I summon it again?! Its been a whole month and I still can't make it appear again!'
Gritting his teeth at that, the teen got up and glanced down at his web shooters. Switching out cartridges for a second, he then began to swing across the city again. "Eh, I'll figure it out." He told himself while swinging down a block. "Until then, might as well get some practice swinging."
It was an hour later that Izuku found another crime, that just being a mugger in an alleyway. He had a mutant quirk, that being what looked like a porcupine human. The thug had a woman up to a wall, hand over her mouth.
"Now listen here missy, just give me your purse and-"
Thwip!
"Huh?" the thug yelped as a web line was now on his hand over the lady's mouth. He followed the line up and saw Izuku sticking to the side of a wall, just staring at the mugger.
"Good morning. Why don't you let that lady go?" Izuku yanked at the web at that, flinging the mugger off his feet. A second later, Izuku dropped down to the ground, the thug yelling a profanity as he got onto his feet.
"I'll kill you!" he roared as his arm was now covered in quills. Izuku quickly ducked under the punch, the quilled fist hitting a brick wall instead. This was followed by a web plastering itself over his arm, sticking him to the wall. "What the-"
"Just stay there for a bit, would ya?" Izuku commented as he then webbed up the other arm, sticking both to the brick wall.
"Hey! Lemme go!" the porcupine man yelled as he tried to move, only to then feel his feet get webbed into the wall as well.
"No, I think you should just stay right there." Izuku chuckled before turning to the lady, "Hey, you okay?"
"Um...uh..." the woman squirmed, Izuku blinking at her.
'She's really scared. Maybe I should just get going.' he thought before looking back at the mugger, and then back at the lady, "Um...you don't mind calling the police on this punk for me, do ya?"
"Uh...sure?"
"Thanks. You okay?"
"Um...I think so?" She muttered out, Izuku nodding at this.
"Okay. I gotta go. Stay safe, alright?" He then shot a web, ready to pull himself up the alley wall.
"Wait!" Izuku glanced back at her, the girl taking a deep breath, "W-w-who are you?"
"Me? I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" Izuku exclaimed before shooting up and out of the alleyway, the woman watching him flee with wide eyes.
"Spider-Man..."
"So that's what you look like in color." Detective Naomasa sighed as he watched the news recording of the Vulture fight. Despite how far the fight went into the city, some reporter got some footage of Spider-Man tackling the villain. He then glanced back to another screen at his desk, showing footage of the bank from yesterday, though it was in black and white.
He watched as the vigilante slightly flail around while beating the bank robbers before looking back at the Vulture fight, showing a bit more direct movement from Spider-Man. "Looks like I was right. This could be a problem."
He glanced back at the bank footage, zooming in for a second, "You're obviously young, so why are you a vigilante and not trying to be a hero?"
It was an hour or so later that Izuku decided to go back home. Before this, he found two more muggers, quickly webbing them up before having a passerby call the police. Each time he did this, he found himself able to handle the situation just a tiny bit faster, though still found the following conversations to the victims in the mugging to be very awkward. Izuku knew it was because he had never really talked to many others in his life, and he knew that was gonna make things so much harder.
But as he got home and took off his costume, he had the biggest smile on his face. "Today...was...awesome!" he cheered, raising his hands up high. The teen soon changed, going into the kitchen and microwaved some food for himself.
A few minutes later, he was on the living room couch, turning on the local news on the TV. He saw a reporter going over today, which was over several hero stories...only to go wide-eyed when he saw himself.
"And for a special hero report today, we have news on a new vigilante in Musutafu. We have reports from three people he saved today that the vigilante's name is Spider-Man!"
"No way...they're talking about me!" Izuku gasped as a bit of meat fell out of his mouth.
"Not only that, this new vigilante seemed to have fought a villain that was fighting up coming pro heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. Here's footage of him now."
The screen turned to footage of him fighting the Vulture, showing him launch himself at the villain before the camera lost track of the fight. As this happened, Izuku saw the news headline at the bottom of the screen, saying a new vigilante had saved the day.
The tagline made tears appear in Izuku's eyes, making him sniff, "I...I actually succeeded! I'm not useless!" He leaned back into the couch, "I saved people."
And then he shined a giant grin. 'And this is just the beginning. I'm gonna be a hero!'
Chapter 6: Crimes of the Demons
Izuku rested for the last part of the day, deciding that it would be better to take it slow. That and his mother soon called him after she saw him on TV. She mainly asked if he was okay, but he confirmed to her he was just fine. He found that his healing factor had mostly healed him after the fight with Vulture, though he hadn't been injured that much.
As such, he spent some time making a few more cartridges of web fluid and made sure his costume wasn't damaged. After this, he decided to try and summon his bio-electric powers again, only to see find nothing. Despite all his attempts, he found he could only make himself invisible and his regular spider powers.
After this, he pulled out a new notebook and began to write about his encounter against the Vulture, doing a full analysis on the villain. He tried to think up all the problems and mistakes he did, writing down a few pages as he wrote how he would get around the villain if he ever fought him or someone like him again.
His mom came home a little later, quicky hugging him as he told her he was okay. It wasn't long till the rest of the day was done, the teen vigilante soon going to sleep. And as he began to fall asleep, he thought back to all he had done and the road ahead, knowing this was just the beginning.
The Next Day...
Izuku did his morning routine in a quick and formal fashion, soon fully dressed as he checked his classes. He saw he was still ahead and decided to work on his costume instead. He found that while there was no damage from yesterday's fight, the suit still got dirty, and was now looking up new material online to help with that.
That is, till he saw the price tag. After this, he went back to his notebook, reading everything he had written down. 'Hmmm...what else can I do? I know I need to make a reputation for myself, but there should be something else.'
He glanced over at his computer and decided to try out an old past time of his: Watching hero interviews. He took the next hour watching several interviews all about All Might, the hero talking about how heroes should inspire hope and good. To be better, and to help others while showing a big bright smile.
"I hope I can be a hero like that someday..." he said to himself as he finished watching the fifth video. He saw there was a few more left on the playlist, but decided to turn the computer off. "That's enough for today."
He stretched his arms out, glancing over at the clock and saw it was almost noon. His mother had left an hour or so ago, and Izuku decided that he would do a quick lunch and then out to patrol. And as he did that fast meal, he put his costume on and swung out into the city.
"Aaaah..." Izuku sighed as he went down a few blocks. 'This feels so good.'
And as he did this, he landed on a rooftop and pulled out his phone, checking the police scanner. He stayed there for a few minutes, only for nothing to come in. "Guess crime isn't happening today." He commented as he put the phone away, quickly zipping down another street.
But as he did this, he swung over to another one of Musutafu's banks, one of the oldest in the city. It was a huge building, several stories tall despite its old marble-ish look. And as he landed on a roof across the street from it, he glanced down and saw two black vans drive up to the place. Raising an eyebrow at the sight, he then saw a group of masked men all get out of the vehicles.
The group were all wearing black and white suits and had black and white masks on, the masks all looking like demonic creatures. Izuku saw eleven thin looking ones along with one buff bulky man all walk up the bank's stairs, the sight making Izuku going wide-eyed.
"They're not...surely they're not just gonna go and rob the bank in broad daylight looking like that, right?"
But then they slammed the bank's front doors opened and gunfire started to ring out, making Izuku flinch. "Guess they are. I gotta say, either they're really ballsy or really stupid."
And as he said that, a loud noise rang out behind him.
BOOM!
He glanced back and saw a pillar of smoke now appearing several blocks away. "Or...they just did a distraction for their bank heist." He looked down at the bank next, "I...better go try and stop them."
He then shot a web line at the bank before swinging down, aiming straight for the already busted in front doors. "Coming through!" He exclaimed as he swung in, his legs slamming into one of the thugs.
"What the?!" yelled one of the gang in a language Izuku didn't recognize, all of them turning around to see Izuku web up to a wall, sticking to it while staring down at the masked thugs. Behind them was a ton of terrified people, all of them cowering on the floor or under the bank's desks.
"Hey there! I'm Spider-Man, nice to meet you. You wouldn't mind just giving up and not robbing the bank, would ya?"
"Get him!" another yelled, Izuku's spider sense blaring as he saw four of the masked thugs point their rifles at him.
"Uh-oh." Izuku gulped before leaping off the wall, quickly firing a web at one of the rifles. It instantly jammed it as the other three began firing, Izuku dodging the bullets as he swung across the room. The main room was giant one, which Izuku was glad for, as it gave him flexibility as he began to swing around.
"You three, take care of him. The rest, get the money!" commanded one of the two bulky thugs, the trio of gun wielders all still firing at Izuku as the others began to storm past the bank's desks.
"Hey! No illegal transactions while I'm around!" Izuku yelled before firing another web line at one of the gun-wielding thugs, this time grabbing the rifle before yanking it away with a quick tug. The other two kept trying to hit the vigilante, only for Izuku to fire webbing at both their feet before pulling on the web lines, knocking them off balance. Seeing this, he quickly shot more webs at the two, sticking their whole bodies to the ground before landing on the bank's floor.
One of the thugs then charged at him, this one being the one Izuku had kicked in the back at the start, and now the vigilante saw that the thug's fists had started to glow black and white. "What is that?" Izuku asked as he ducked under the first attack, only to backpedal as the thug tried to jab at him twice. This was followed by the teen throwing an uppercut, knocking the thug off his feet and over the bulky thug behind him.
"What are you doing?! Get him now!" the bulky thug roared, two more charging at Izuku. But as they were about to each him, he ducked under both punches from the thugs before doing a spinning leg sweep, knocking both off balance. And as they hit the floor, he fired another batch of webbing, tying them to the floor.
"Holy cow! Did you see that?! I did like a kung fu move there! Or a-"
BOOM!
Izuku turned to see smoke now appearing beyond the bank's main desk, meaning only one thing: They had blown up the main safe. He was about to cut into a run, only for the bulky thug to walk in front of him, making Izuku come to a stop.
"Out of the way, you...uh...big round guy!" Izuku shook his head at that, "Okay, not a great quip. Anyways, I'm not gonna let you-
"You will pay for this, Spider."
Izuku blinked at this, "Oh hey, I can actually understand you." But as he said that, he saw black and white energy pour out of the bulky thug's fists, "And you're a lot scarier than the others...say, you wouldn't mind not fighting me and sitting down for a cup of tea or something, would ya?"
"Die!" the thug roared before slamming his fists into the floor, Izuku's spider sense blaring at this. But it was too late, a shockwave firing out of the floor and hitting the vigilante.
"Augh!" he yelped as he was knocked back, hitting a wall a second later. "Ow..." he moaned as he slumped down, only to look up and see the bulky thug was now charging at him. Going wide-eyed, he fired a web up to the ceiling and yanked it, flinging himself over the thug just as he punched the wall behind Izuku.
Izuku then swung over to the opposite wall before hopping back down to the floor, panting as stared at the thug. 'Okay...that hurt. I'll need to hit hard to beat this guy.' The thug then charged at him, quickly swinging another fist at Izuku. The teen ducked under the first jab, soon dodging another before throwing a punch right at the thug's gut...only for the thug to not budge an inch. "That's not good."
WHAM!
"Waugh!" Izuku cried as the thug backhanded him, knocking the vigilante across the room. He collided with a desk, almost splitting it in half as he let out a groan, "Ow...guess I didn't hit hard enough."
"You will die here, Spider." the thug growled as he began to slowly walk up to the still knocked down Izuku. The teen looked up at him, his eyes slightly blurring at the sight.
'Get up Izuku! Get up! You gotta get up!' He inwardly yelled, his spider sense screaming at him as the thug got closer. At the same time, he began to hear a barrage of voices, his eyes slowly turning to see the rest of the gang that had gone to the bank's safe now running out into the room. They were all carrying duffel bags of money, the sight making Izuku start to get up, 'No...they're getting away! Come on, get...up!'
And as he thought this, sparks began to cover his right hand. His eyes began to focus again, soon staring straight ahead as the thug was now mere feet away. The bulky man then leapt at him with a glowing black and white fist, the sight making the teen tense up before shifting his body as he got up and charged at the villain, "Back...off!" Izuku roared as he pulled back his right fist, the hand now sparking blue lightning.
BAM!
The punch slammed into the thug's face, instantly knocking him off his feet. Izuku came to a stop at this, going wide-eyed as he saw the thug go flying into the opposite wall. "Whoa..." Izuku gasped before looking down at his right fist, now seeing it spark like crazy.
And then the lightning stopped. He blinked for a second before trying to summon what he felt at that moment, only for the fist to spark again. "Yes! I got it!" He then turned to his left fist, glaring at it before lightning started to spark around it as well. "Yes!"
But as he began to celebrate, a new sound made him see the bulky thug peel himself off the bank's wall. However, Izuku just pointed his shooters at him. "Nope, we're done fighting. I gotta go get the rest of your pals." A barrage of webs came next, webbing the thug up to the wall.
He then fired a web to the top of the front doors, quickly zipping over. But as he got outside, he saw one of the vans the gang came in was now racing off. "No!" Izuku yelled as he pointed his web shooter at the van-
Psst!
And no webbing came out. Izuku blinked at this before mentally facepalming. 'No! I forgot to check my shooters before fighting them!' He quickly took out the cartridges and replaced them, only to look back up and see the van was now gone. They had gotten away.
"Dang it..." He sighed before turning back to the bank. But before he could go in and check, he heard police sirens ring out in the distance. He quickly zipped up to a nearby rooftop, soon seeing several red, blue and white lights coming for the bank. He glanced down at his hands, now seeing the electricity spark across them. "Well, at least I figured this out."
He leapt off the roof at this before swinging away, "Guess my work here is done. Still...who were those guys?"
Naomasa knew something like this was coming. Whenever a talented vigilante appears, tons of trouble always seemed to follow. To be fair, that happens anytime new heroes come onto the scene, but vigilantes always seem to help make more trouble than usual.
Despite this, he was now watching security camera footage of Spider-Man fighting a gang of masked men in a bank, and he had to admit he was impressed. Spider-Man beat basically half the gang, and seemed to take down five of the six with ease. It wasn't till the big guy started fighting the vigilante that things got more dicey, only for the detective to go wide-eyed as he saw Spider-Man knock the thug away with some kind of energy punch.
And then he saw Spider-Man cheer about it. Like it was some part of his quirk he didn't understand, but knew he had. "Strange...he seems to have multiple quirks, but also seems to be surprised that he has them. Why?" Naomasa whispered to himself as he watched Spider-Man beat the thug before swinging out of the bank...and that was all the footage he had.
"The robbers must have got away." He commented as he pulled out a small pad and wrote some notes. "Guess I have more to add to this case."
As he said this, a head poked into Naomasa's room, "Yo Naomasa!" The detective turned to see his fellow officer, the cat-headed Sansa Tamakawa. "How's it going?"
"Oh, you know. The usual." Naomasa sighed as the officer walked in and saw what the detective was watching.
"Spider-Man, huh? You've been assigned to his case?"
Naomasa shook his head, "No. There's no direct case yet, mainly just the usual when it comes to vigilantes. Did you get anything out of the bank robbers?"
Sansa shook his head, "No. We got a translator come in to help interrogate them, but all of them are acting like they have no idea where they are or what they were doing. They also can't do that energy quirk anymore. You know, the one we saw them all do in the footage."
"So...some combination of energy transfer and brainwashing quirk?" Sansa shrugged at this, making Naomasa sigh, "Ugh...that means we need Eraserhead to check them with his quirk. They might still be brainwashed...and they're a brand new gang, aren't they?"
Sansa shook his head. "Not quite. We've had like...four reports on them for the past two months, all random small time events. They're not brand new, but relatively new. Though they haven't done anything quite like this. They mainly just appear for a bit and then disappear. This is the first time we've caught some of them."
Naomasa raised an eyebrow at this, "Did we get anything out of 'em?"
The cat man shrugged, "Not much. Just a name. They call themselves the Inner Demons."
"Well, that's a villainous name, and it goes with their masks. Though it figures that this happens on the week Eraserhead starts up his class."
"We can get him over here later. He's already responded to our call."
"True...guess its back to this then." Naomasa groaned as he pointed at the footage of Spider-Man.
"Yup. Though I gotta say, surprising that he's a vigilante. I mean, look at him take those guys out. A bit messy, but I'm guessing he went in with no information and it mostly worked."
"Yeah..." Naomasa muttered as he tapped his pad with his pencil. "He's got a very powerful quirk and he's talented...but his timing is something that happens when it comes to vigilantes."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that the hero entrance exams are done for the year." Naomasa sighed again, "Every year after the UA entrance exams happen, one or two kid vigilantes appear."
"You mean, they fail the exam and go into this?" Sansa asked as he pointed at Spider-Man as he showed him take out two of the thugs with ease. "You think he failed? Really?"
Naomasa nodded, "Oh yeah. Just cuz he's strong doesn't mean he can crack the exams. Anyways, what usually happens is that the rejected students will try their hand at vigilantism, only to fail, realize they're in over their head, and give up. That or they get caught. However, considering what we've seen with Spider-Man..."
"He's probably gonna stick around." Sansa finished, "That is worrying. Think you can ask UA for their records on all who failed the exams?"
"I already have. Nezu said he can get them to me soon."
"Nice. Well, I gotta go. Need to talk to DeWolff about that other case."
"Got it. I'll be in here." Sansa nodded and left the room, leaving Naomasa as he bit the top of his pencil's eraser as he rewatched Spider-Man hit the thug with his new electric punch, "And why do I get a feeling those records aren't gonna help?"
It wasn't long till Izuku returned home. Despite the happiness that came with figuring out his bio-electricity powers, he was depressed that part of the gang he was fighting got away. This was followed by him going to the computer and trying to look up the gang he had just fought.
But after two to three hours, he came to the conclusion that they must be new. After all, they were quite flashy with their debut at the bank, making it quite obvious that they were new since there were no reports on them despite being so flashy...or just really ballsy. Seeing this, Izuku began looking up other spiders, trying to figure out if any had something similar to the bio-elec powers, but found nothing.
"Guess its something special with you." he commented as he stared at the dead spider in the bottle. "Figures. Maybe I should name the attack after stuff other spiders can do?"
He glanced back at the screen, his eyes squinting, "Says here a lot of them use venom and poison..." He looked down at his hand, seeing a small surge of power in it. "Maybe...Poison Power? Or Venom Power?"
He hummed at those words, "Yeah, that's good. Venom Power sounds really powerful...and cool."
He then clicked another tab, which changed to the playlist from earlier, this one showing another interview with All Might.
"So All Might, what is the one thing you think heroes should do more?"
The hero shined a huge grin at this, "I think out of all the things that heroes should do, which many have forgotten about in these days of heroes, is charity! Helping others that can not help themselves is a sign of a true hero!"
"Charity..." Izuku repeated as the interview kept going, "I could do that. It sounds really important. Though...I can't really do that much since I have a secret identity and...vigilantes do have problems with money." He leaned back in his chair, only for a small bulb to go off in his head. "But that doesn't mean I can't get some experience in it before becoming a true hero."
He looked back at the computer and began to type away as he said to himself, "I'll just...have to do it as Izuku Midoriya." And as he typed 'charity events' in a search engine, it popped up something he didn't expect. It showed a picture of a building on a news article about a charity organization that had been made a while back in Musutafu.
"Food, Emergency, Aid, Shelter and Training, also known as FEAST, is an organization for the homeless and underprivileged." The teen read before nodding, "Huh. Maybe I could start there tomorrow."
Chapter 7: The Prelude to Something More
Izuku woke up a bit early the next day. He spent the morning making an extra bit of web fluid while also writing up some notes. They were mainly on his new Venom Powers, thinking on how all they could be used in his arsenal, only to keep going back to using it as a super move.
"I just don't know. I need to figure out just how powerful my Venom Power attacks are..." he sighed to himself as he filled another cartridge. "Eh, I'll figure it out later. I do need more experience in the fighting department."
He did a quick stretch as he began to put on the costume. "I got a good feeling about today. I can't wait to do some heroics!"
He then grabbed his phone and turned on the police scanner, waiting to hear something, only to get nothing but silence as he finished his setup. Humming at that, he declared to himself he would just go patrol today. Quickly crawling out his window while invisible, he soon swung off into the city.
And as he began that first hour of patrolling, Izuku's mind wandered, now realizing something. With the exception of when he tried out his web shooters, the heroes really hadn't tried to chase him. He didn't understand why, as he saw on multiple sites that heroes usually try to chase down vigilantes, but he wasn't complaining. Maybe the good he's done has made them realize he's on their side.
But as he thought that, a loud humming sound rang out. "Huh?" He glanced down, only to see a window suddenly shatter as what looked like a mid-air shockwave shot through it.
"Go go go!" yelled a voice, Izuku quickly swinging over to a nearby rooftop and seeing that the voice came from a jewelry store. There he saw a young man in a purple and gray vested outfit with two large metal gauntlets over his hands jump through the now shattered window, along with two other thugs.
"Shut up Shocker!" yelled one of the thugs as they began to scramble into a brown car, Izuku now seeing that the thugs had bags of jewels. The man called Shocker got into the car last, Izuku leaping off the rooftop at this. He fired two webs and slingshot himself right on top of the car, a loud thud ringing out as the car shook from the impact.
"What the-" one thug yelped before seeing a small hand tap the driver window. Spider-Man's upside-down head came down next for the thug, making the other one in the passenger seat gasp.
"Hey fellas!" Izuku chuckled, "So...robbing the jewelry store this early in the morning? Couldn't you have robbed a coffee shop instead? Its too early for this!" Izuku then snapped his fingers, "Oh, that's a good one. I'll need to write that down later."
"Aaaah! Shocker, get him!" the thug in the driver seat screamed.
"Shut up! Just give me a sec!" Shocker yelled from the backseat, rolling down the window and pointing his gauntlet at Spider-Man.
But as he did this, Izuku's spider-sense blared, making him turn and grab the gauntlet just as Shocker pointed it at him...and then surged some Venom Power into it. "Oooh! I can use it that way?" Izuku slightly whispered as the gauntlet began to spark.
"DIE!" Shocker roared as he fired the gauntlet...only for the device to let out a sputter. "Huh?"
"Hmm...looks like its not working. Guess that's what happens when you don't read the manual." Izuku laughed before tapping two fingers on Shocker's shoulder, "Let's try this now."
ZAP!
Shocker let out a yelp of pain, only to slump over in the car.
"Huh. So it works that way too. Guess I should only use a lot of power on the big villains."
It was here that Izuku looked back at the thugs in the driver and passenger seats, only to see they hadn't started driving yet. In fact, they were just frozen there, wide-eyed and speechless as they saw Spider-Man easily take out their muscle with just a poke.
"So...you two ready to go to jail now?" The thugs shared a glance at this, only to slowly nod back. "Okay! We'll just wait here and-oh!"
The sound of police sirens rang out as he spun around, now seeing two cars race up to them.
"Ah! They're here. Welp, its been fun fellas. I'll see you later!"
With that, he shot a web line and swung off, a smile on his face under the mask. "Well, that was easy. I wish all the fights were that simple. Still, that felt good." He then pulled out his phone, switching to the Midoriya Hero App, "Wonder if there's any-whoa!"
The teen quickly zipped over to a rooftop, his eyes now glued to his phone as it showed a video of the press at UA.
"Excuse me!" One of the press yelled at a student, "What's it like having All Might as a teacher?!"
The camera turned to a girl with short brown hair and two blush marks on her cheeks. She began to talk about how cool All Might was, only for it to turn to another student, this one was wearing glasses and was shouting out a long rant over the hero. But Izuku didn't hear the words coming out of their mouths. Instead, his mind was racing with something else as he slumped over on that rooftop.
'All Might...is teaching at UA?!' He felt tears began to appear in his eyes, 'I...I lost my chance to get taught by All Might?!'
He felt his rear touch the roof's surface, weakly chuckling to himself as he reached into his mask and wiped his tears. "Figures...I start feeling good doing this, and then I'm reminded just how much of a failure I am."
He glanced back at his phone and turned off the app, sighing to himself before looking up at the sky. "I just can't win for losing, huh? Kacchan was right, I really am just a worthless Deku."
With that, he got back up and began to go swinging again, the teen's mind now muddled as he swung across the city. 'Guess I'll go and find out what that FEAST place is like.'
It only took a few minutes to find the FEAST building. It was a large structure, about three stories high, the size impressing Izuku as he landed on a rooftop a little bit aways. After seeing no one was looking, he switched into his civilian clothes, now sporting a shirt that said 'shirt' and walked across the street over to the building.
Despite the depression he felt swinging over here, that was now knocked away for nervousness. Izuku had never really interacted much with others, mainly due to his quirklessness. All his birthdays and Christmases were all spent alone with his mother, no friends or other family. Nothing.
As such, the building before him felt like a whole new world, as he knew there were tons of unknown faces inside. The teen took a deep breath at this, and slowly opened the front door.
Now, Izuku had never gone to place like this, and he was expecting a big version of a soup kitchen, or a giant homeless shelter. Turns out, it was kind of both, as he saw that the entrance was just a small lobby with a bland white colored wall that had the word FEAST on it. As he walked in here, he saw there was no one at the reception desk and went to the next door, only to go wide-eyed.
In front of him was basically a giant gym with beds, blankets and chairs placed everywhere. All the people inside looked to be at least ten to thirty years older than him, a few elderly in the very back. He saw that most had mutant quirks, a random assortment of creature faces, only for a girl with a snake face to walk up to him.
"Hello there. Are you new?"
The teen turned to the girl, his mouth instantly not working. She blinked at him, Izuku now shaking as he tried to form words, "U-u-um...h-h-hi." he stuttered out.
The girl giggled at this, a tiny forked tongue slightly vibrating out of her mouth. "Nervous little guy, aren't ya?"
"Uh...er..." Izuku muttered, his brain now kicking him as he tried to form words.
"Its okay. Take your time."
"Th-th-thank you." Izuku slowly said, taking a few deep breaths. "Sorry about that."
"No problem." The snake girl extended a hand at this, "I'm Gloria Davila. Who are you?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya. N-n-nice to meet you, Davilla."
"Same. Just call me Gloria."
"Wha-I can't do that! I-I-I just m-m-met you and-"
"You can, and you will." Gloria chuckled before crossing her arms, "So, you look new. Are ya?"
"Y-y-yes." Izuku replied, doing a slight gulp. "Um...you see, I uh...wanted to volunteer."
She tilted her head at this, blinking for a second before responding, "Oh? Why?"
Izuku slightly flinched at the question, his eyes trying to stay on her as he said, "Well...I uh...this may sound s-s-stupid, but I want to be a hero and...I-I-I want to learn charity."
The girl's eyes narrowed at this, her eye slits almost hiding her pupils before gesturing to him with a single finger, "Follow me."
"Okay..." Izuku squeaked out, the teen slowly following her as they went back to the lobby and then up some stairs. It was here he saw that the gym had a slight second story, which seemed to be a place for two offices. One office had a glass wall showing the gym while the other was inside a wall, Gloria leading him into the wall version.
She opened the door at this, gesturing Izuku to walk in as she said, "Yo Mister Li! I need you to meet someone!"
Izuku looked inside the room and saw a clean brown colored office, a big desk in the middle with a man sitting behind it. The man looked middle-aged, with slick jet black hair and was wearing thick black suit. He showed her a small smile as he responded, "Hello Gloria. Who is this?"
"This here is Izuku Midoriya. Says he wants to volunteer."
"Oh?" the man replied before gesturing to the two, "Come in then, please."
The duo slowly walked in, Izuku seeing there was only one chair in front of the desk. He was about to sit in it, only for the man to flash a hand at Izuku, "Hello there. I'm Martin Li, owner of FEAST. Its nice to meet you."
"Oh! Um...i-i-its n-n-nice to meet you t-t-too, Li." Izuku responded while taking the hand. And as he shook, he felt a strong grip in the man before sitting down.
"Please, call me Mister Li. Everyone here does." Izuku opened his mouth at this, only for Li to continue, "So Midoriya, I'll just cut to the chase. Why do you want to volunteer here?"
Izuku felt a slight chill down his spine as he tried to speak, "Well...I uh..." his eyes slightly looked away as he twiddled his thumbs, "You see...I failed to become a hero and...well...I want to help people anyways."
"You failed to become a hero?" Martin replied while tilting his head, "Why?"
"I...uh..." Izuku stuttered out, his mind now locking up. His brain began to yell at him at this, telling him to just say anything, only for one lie to come to mind. One that used to not be a lie. "I'm quirkless."
The words came out instantly, the statement making Martin raise an eyebrow while Gloria was wide-eyed, as if she had never heard that before. But before Izuku could continue, Martin spoke up, "I see. I will admit, I've never met one your age." Izuku flinched at that, only for Li to add, "And you want to volunteer here? To help others?"
Izuku did a slow nod.
Li then shook his head. "No. You're not allowed to help."
"Huh?"
And before Izuku could ask if it was because of his quirklessness, Martin shook his head again and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "Kid, I mean no offense, but its obvious you're the one that needs help."
That made Izuku blink, his brain stopping as he muttered out, "Wha...w-w-what do you mean?"
Martin patted his shoulder before letting out a calm chuckle, "Let me show you something." He gestured to Izuku to follow, all three leaving the office, Martin making him go to the siding, which showed the entire gym, all of it filled with its beds and blankets. There, all the people were talking or laying down, Li pointing at them, "See that? I made this place to help people like that. To help those who are rejected in this quirk ruled society."
Izuku just stared at the sight before turning to Martin as he continued, "You said you're quirkless, right?" Izuku slowly nodded back, "You're definitely someone that we would help, but instead you came to do help. That's a good quality to have."
Martin pointed to Gloria at this, "See Gloria there? She's looked down on because of her appearance. However, I and others here have tried everyway to help her with that."
"And you have." Gloria replied while sticking out her tongue, "And you were way too forceful about it."
Martin let out a laugh, "Oh, I wouldn't say that." He then tapped Izuku's shoulder, making the teen look back at him, "Now, do you know why I was able to help her?"
"Um...y-y-you showed her people who accept her?" he guessed.
"That's one part. But there's another." Li pointed to himself, "You see, I obtained a fortune a long time ago. And instead of just wasting it like some rich slob, I created FEAST. Its a place to help others. Sure, some may call it a glorified homeless shelter or some giant soup kitchen, and it kinda is...but that's okay. Because those things help those in need. But, in order to do that, I had to help myself first."
"Y-y-you had to...help yourself?"
"Yeah. My quirk is what many would call a 'villain quirk'. And if you're wondering, I don't show it to anyone. Its dangerous." He put his hand back on Izuku's shoulder, "But I don't let it control me. Its obvious when looking at you that you let your quirklessness control you. That's why you need help."
"Oh..." Izuku barely whispered, his mind now yelling at him, 'But I'm no longer quirkless.'
"Seems you're thinking about it now, aren't ya?" Martin chuckled before crossing his arms, "Tell you what. I'll let Gloria introduce you to some of the other volunteers here and you can decide for yourself if this is the place for you, okay?"
Izuku blinked at him, his mind reeling at the conversation. He had never met someone like this, and his mindset sounded like a hero...but he wasn't one. The man just wanted to help without being a hero. The teen just nodded back as he said, "Okay. T-t-thank you Mister Li."
"No problem." Li nodded before pointing at Gloria, "Now, go follow Gloria. She'll help you out."
"Follow me squirt." She said as she stuck out her forked tongue. Izuku slowly followed behind her as they went back down to the first floor.
It turned out, there wasn't many volunteers. Mainly, there was a pair of helpers that had dog quirks, one having a poodle face while the other had a pug face. There was also another snake mutant quirk, a girl named Steff, and the final helper was their cook, Wanze, who says he's an inspired follower of Lunch Rush.
After this, he met most of the people on the gym floor. He found they were mostly elderly, three of them being retired heroes that ended up down on their luck, along with several mutant quirks, all adults who were rejected for theirs looks. He found none were quirkless, but once it was revealed, most said they understood his pain.
Despite this, Izuku found himself stuttering at every introduction, but he also found that everyone was patient with him. The teen was utterly shocked at this, finding it made it even harder to respond. And as he talked to everyone, an hour or so passed before he took his leave.
"Wow..." Izuku whispered as he left the FEAST building, now walking down a few streets. "I've never met so many...nice people." He looked down at the street as he continued to walk, "And they didn't mind me saying I'm quirkless, even though that's a lie now."
'I didn't know people like that existed.' He glanced back at this, FEAST now not even visible. 'Mister Li is amazing.'
And as he looked back to the road ahead, he felt something boil in him. A spark of determination before his eyes shifted to a nearby alleyway. He quickly zipped into it, turning invisible before crawling up the building's wall. "Mister Li is right." Izuku commented to himself as he got to the rooftop, soon taking out his costume. "If I want to help others, I need to help myself first."
He checked his web shooters before leaping off a rooftop, feeling a burst of wind in his face. Taking a deep breath, he fired a web line and shot across a street. He wasn't sure how long he swung, his mind wandering as he continued to zip across the city.
'Maybe I'm thinking about this too hard. I mean, I'm a vigilante, I'm Spider-Man...and I've done some good. Maybe I could do more, but...I think I'm doing well.' He let out a long inward sigh, 'I guess...I guess I'm still hoping to just have some miracle happen that gets me into UA.'
Izuku shook his head at this as he whispered, "Guess that's not in the cards for a worthless Deku like me."
And as he swung down another street, he zipped up to a rooftop and checked his web shooters, "Need to change 'em." he commented to himself as he switched the fluid. But as he did this, he heard a series of grunts and yells, "Hmm?"
He leapt over to the next rooftop, soon glancing down an alleyway and going wide-eyed. A gang of ten thugs, all in biker outfits were all ganging up on a round man in a large yellowish hoodie. "Fat Gum? What's he doing here? Isn't he based in Esuha City?"
The teen blinked at the sight, only for his brain to catch up as he saw one thug, a guy with what looked like a bear mutant quirk, continue to push the hero back into a dead end in the alleyway with a series of punches. 'Stop staring and help Izuku!' he mentally told himself before going invisible.
He hopped off the rooftop, firing a web to slow his descent before almost silently landing behind the gang. He looked down at his hands as he began to charge his Venom Power, only to see his invisibility glitch. 'What the-can I not do both?' He saw the invisibility continue to glitch, making him grimace. 'Not quite. But that's okay. I'll figure around that later.'
He then tiptoed up to two of the thugs, both hands now sparking as he tapped the back of their necks. "Huh?" they both said as they slapped their necks before turning around.
ZAP!
Electricity covered them for a split-second before slumping over, the sound of them hitting the ground making three others spin around. They all went wide-eyed as they saw their comrades on the floor as Izuku materialized as his invisibility wore off. "Hey fellas. Why don't you pick on someone less your size?"
"What the heck?! Get him!" One roared before the other two charged. One of them hands turned into a brick while the other, which had a shark for a head, pulled out a syringe and injected himself. Izuku ducked under a jab from the brick quirk user before uppercutting him, sending him flying off his feet. But as he did this, his spider sense flared, making him to turn to see the shark man now screaming as he charged at Izuku.
"Holy-" Izuku tried to say just as the shark man tilted his head to try and bite Izuku's head, the teen quickly leaping back. The shark man chomped nothing but air before Izuku fired a burst of webbing at his face, closing the fish's mouth shut. "No Spider-Man flesh for you!"
"Mmmrrrgh!" The shark man growled as he tried to open his mouth, his flipper hands now clawing at his face. Seeing this, Izuku fired more webbing, now sticking the shark's hands to his face. Izuku's fingers sparked next as he quickly ran up and tapped the thug's shoulder.
"Good night!" Izuku declared as electricity surged through the fish man, making him flop over.
"You little-guys!" yelled the third thug, making three more glance back. "I need some help here!" He added as he injected a syringe into himself. His hand turned into a long claw at this, Izuku glancing up to see the thug's face. It was that of a weasel, his nose slightly stretching out as he showed both hands as they became super long claws.
"Uh-oh." Izuku whispered as the weasel man charged at him, quickly doing a horizontal claw swipe. Izuku leaned back at this, dodging the first attack before backpedaling, evading two more swipes before pulling a fist back, "Sorry, this is a no claw zone."
He swung a direct punch at the weasel man, the thug ducking under it before trying to slash at Izuku again. Spider-Man quickly backpedaled again, dodging the attack as he then heard two thunderous growls. His spider sense yelling at him again, he glanced up and saw the three thugs from before were now on the alley's walls, each one showing a different animal head. One was a puma, another a leopard, and the final one being a tiger.
"Oh great. The one day I forgot the catnip at home." Izuku quipped before firing two webs up the side walls, quickly yanking himself over the weasel man. As he did this, the puma lunged at him, grabbing Izuku out of mid-air.
"Ack!" he yelped as the puma man slammed him into the concrete, a jolt of pain hitting Izuku's back.
"You're gonna regret ever fighting us, the Tombstone Gang!" The puma man hissed as he showed his giant fangs. "Now I'm gonna tear you to shreds!"
"Nice...breath." Izuku moaned out before lifting his hand and poking the side of the thug, sparks flying out of his fingers.
ZAP!
"Augh!" The puma man yelped as he felt electricity surge through him. And as he began to slump over, Izuku raised his knees and then legs, kicking him off.
"Bad kitty!" Izuku yelled before the tiger and leopard leapt at him, Izuku quickly firing webbing at the leopard's mouth. The two quickly tackled him, the tiger punching him in the face before the leopard tried to bite him, only to let out a mumble as the webbing kept the leopard from chomping him. And as they did this, Izuku grabbed both, electricity surging as he zapped them. The leopard man slumped over instantly, but the tiger man just let out a roar, shaking off the pain before punching Izuku again.
He proceeded with three more punches, Izuku feeling his face scream in pain. "Urgh...forgot your claws today?" Izuku groaned as he lifted his arms up to protect his face from another punch.
"No. Just like toying with my prey!" the tiger man hissed before grabbing Izuku's arms and pulling them apart, his mouth now wide open as drool dripped out, "Now, let's have a bite."
"No, let me shred him first!" The weasel man declared as he appeared above Izuku, "Let me cut him a-Oomph!"
Suddenly, another thug slammed into the weasel man, knocking him over. The tiger man glanced up at this before looking back in the alley, only to see the other thugs all knocked out. Standing above them was Fat Gum, a glare on his face. "Get off him! Now!"
"Make us, hero!" Weasel man spat before charging at the hero, Fat Gum bracing himself.
As this happened, Izuku thrusted a knee upward, slamming the distracted tiger's man chest. The thug clenched at this, Izuku taking this chance to slip his arms away from the tiger man's hands before slamming them into the sides of the tiger's head. He yelped in pain before Izuku thrusted his knee up again, this time knocking the thug off him before stretching his legs back and thrusting them into the tiger man's chin.
THWACK!
The tiger man went flying, falling back first in front of Fat Gum as he knocked out the weasel man. The hero blinked at the sight before staring at the alleyway, now seeing all ten thugs knocked out as Izuku got back up.
"You okay?" The hero asked as he saw Spider-Man get up, his legs slightly shaking.
"I'm good." Izuku moaned as he flashed a weak thumbs up.
"Good." Fat Gum chuckled as he walked up to Izuku, "I remember you. You're Spider-Man, aren't ya? The new vigilante?"
"Yup." Izuku coughed before standing up straight. "Are you okay, Mister Fat Gum sir?"
"Mister Fat Gum sir? Ahaha!" The hero laughed before patting Izuku's shoulder, "Don't worry, it'll take more than that to take me down."
"Oh..." Izuku muttered out, "S-s-sorry for interfering sir."
"Sorry?" The hero shook his head, "You helped me, boy! Thank you. Though...why are you here?"
"Uh...I just wanted to try and help. You looked like you were overwhelmed." Izuku answered, blushing under the mask. "Though um...are you gonna try to arrest me now?"
Fat Gum just chuckled at that, "No, I don't have problems with vigilantes. Besides, you saved me. Though..." He then tilted his head at this, "Why are you a vigilante? You showed some considerable skill there, especially against triggered villains."
"Triggered...villains?"
Fat Gum nodded. "Trigger. That drug you saw them shoot up with. It makes quirks get stronger, but also makes the person go wild. I've been hunting this gang for a bit. Calls themselves the Tombstone gang, and they've been making the drug." He turned back to the alley of knocked out thugs, "Though...they didn't go as wild. Might be a new version of it."
"Huh. Well, sorry for interrupting your investigation."
"Nah, this fight was part of it." Fat Gum laughed before pointing at the vigilante, "But enough about that. You wouldn't mind answering my first question, would ya? Why are you vigilante?"
"Well...that's...uh..." Izuku muttered out before pointing his hand upward and firing a web line. He quickly leapt and yanked himself away, "Sorry Mister Fat Gum!"
"Hey, wait!" The hero yelled, but Spider-Man was already a half a block away, "Shoot..." Fat Gum sighed as Spider-Man vanished into the city. Shaking his head at this, he looked back at the thugs and pulled out a phone, "Better get these guys settled away. Still...poor kid. Reminds me of my intern, tons of skill but no self-confidence." As he tapped a few buttons, he put the phone to his ear as he added, "Hope you get some help Spider-Man."
'Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!' Izuku thought as he swung back to his house, growling as he landed on his rooftop before crawling through his window. 'Why?! First time meeting a hero that will actually talk to you and you just run?! WHY?!'
Izuku threw his mask off, facepalming as he landed on his desk chair. "Why?! Why do I keep messing up?!" And then smacked himself again, "And you didn't even ask for an autograph! Augh!"
He slumped over at this, slowly moving his hand down his face. 'You gotta stop doing this Izuku...' he mentally told himself before sighing. 'I mean, to be fair, you've barely been able to interact with anyone for all your life before all this and...and...and you're Spider-Man now! You need to be better Izuku!'
And after a minute of just sitting there, he took off the rest of his costume, took a shower, and went back to his desk. 'Just...figure out what to do next Izuku.' He slumped down in a chair at that thought, 'Need to get my mind off of this.' That thought made him hum, now remembering what had just happened before turning to his computer, "What did those guys say they were? Tombstone's gang?"
He began to typing away at his computer at this, "Tombstone...Tombstone..." He whispered as he pulled up the public villain database. And after a bit of searching, he found what he was looking for.
And it didn't look pretty.
Izuku crossed his arms as he read aloud the villain's profile, "Tombstone, A-rank villain. Quirk is Unyielding Wall, which is a mutant quirk. It allows him to have an almost invulnerable body. Considered highly dangerous." He scrolled down the page for a bit, "Was last seen being beaten by All Might two years ago, but escaped from the police van taking him to prison. Hasn't been seen since."
The teen scratched his chin at this, now reading that Tombstone was originally a drug lord, and liked hiring mutant quirks like himself, which explained why Izuku was fighting so many animal quirks earlier, Tombstone saying they follow him better, but nothing else to note. Seeing this, he looked up Trigger, only to find nothing but warnings or obvious spam links to dangerous sites. The rest was redacted, and after another hour, he turned off the computer and laid down on his bed.
"I need...to help myself." He slowly said to himself as he stared at the ceiling. "I need...to want to help myself."
His eyes began to close, his mind beginning to swim as he started to go to sleep. 'I gotta be better. And I will be better. I have to.'