Chapter 28: Chasing The Demon
"The spider." one masked man remarked as they removed the box that was over Izuku. The teen was just laying there, the thug lifting his blade up as a black and white energy poured out of it. And with just a split second pause, the sword came down.
DANGER!
Izuku's spider sense screamed at him, making his eyes burst open as he saw the sword coming straight for his head. And in that split second, he shifted his head to the right, the blade thrusting into the floor instead.
"Whoa!" Izuku yelped before firing a web line straight up, the teen quickly yanking it. The pull shot him to his feet and into the air, flipping over the crowd of thugs. He then shot a second web, soon swinging across the room as the thugs all yelled at him. He began to swing around, dodging several energy waves from the thug's swords as he swung around them.
'Holy cow...that was too close. Another second and I would have been dead!' Izuku thought before firing a web line at one of the masked men, grabbing his right knee. He yanked at this, making the thug flip over before swinging down and thrusting both legs into another thug, "Web Swing Kick!"
The thug went screaming into a pile of crates, two more yelling as they fired a set of energy waves at the vigilante. But as they did this, Izuku just zipped across the room, evading every blow as he swung down and kicked another in the stomach. And as he did this, Izuku glanced back at the room and saw there was only five thugs left...and they were all bunched together.
'Got ya.' he thought before firing web lines straight up and yanking himself. And as the masked men saw this and began to swing their swords, Izuku let out a yell, "Venom Smash!" He shot himself down as electricity flowed through a fist, slamming it into the ground a second later as the bolts surged off him, each one hitting the thugs. They all cried out before getting flung into the crates surrounding the room, knocking them all out.
Seeing this, Izuku let out a long breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. He put his hand to his mask and rubbed it down, muttering to himself, "That was too close. And Mister Li...he's a lot more powerful than these guys." As he said that, the teen went wide-eyed, "Oh no! Mister Li!"
The sound of a truck revving up could be heard just as he exclaimed that, making Izuku glance back at the double doors. He pointed his web shooters at the edges of the doors, only to hear: Psst!
"Oh, come on!" Izuku growled as he quickly switched out web fluid. "Stupid web shooters. I don't need that right now!"
The truck sound got louder, only to start getting quieter a second later, telling Izuku only one thing: The vehicle was about to start moving. "No!" He yelled before firing the webs this time, slingshotting himself into the double doors. He kicked both down, the metal frames going flying across the room he had just entered. There, he saw several masked men with gasoline cans, all turning to him.
"Where's Li?!" He roared, only for one of the masked thugs to yell back.
"The spider!"
"Oh yeah...still can't understand you guys." Izuku deadpanned before turning and seeing two thugs walk into the back of a semi that was in a large open garage that seemed to be a foot or so off the ground. "Oh, no you don't!" Izuku yelled before his spider sense rang out, glancing back to see the thugs from before all charging at him. But as they did this, Izuku just clenched his fists, "Out of my way!"
Two thugs swung their fists at him, Izuku ducking under both before slamming a fist into a thug's stomach, knocking him off his feet. This was followed by two more thugs throwing punches at Izuku, the teen backpedaling to dodge both before firing webs at their feet. He did a quick yank, knocking both off balance before Izuku punched a third thug, all three's backs now hitting the floor. Webs covered them all next, sticking them to the ground before one final thug leapt at the teen.
"Urgh!" Izuku grunted as masked man slammed his fist into the teen's face, almost knocking him back. But as the thug tried to hit him a second time, Izuku caught the fist as electricity surged through him.
ZAP!
The thug fell back with a single bolt, Izuku webbing him to the floor a second later. But at this happened, he turned to see the semi was now gone. "Shoot!" he yelped before firing two webs at the garage's edges before slingshotting himself outside, "Gotta go! I'll call the police on you guys later!"
And as Izuku began to swing over the streets, he pulled out his tracker, only to see a dot now moving away. 'Its the one I tagged earlier. Nice.' He looked ahead as he fired another web line. 'I will catch you Mister Li. Count on it!'
"That's the last one!" Death Arms roared as he hid behind a shield made by Crust. A barrage of bullets hit the barrier, both heroes hiding behind the shield. And as the bullets rained onto the two heroes, a certain capture weapon suddenly flew over the duo, hitting and tying up the armed thug, making him drop his machine gun. Seeing this, Crust made another shield that Death Arms leapt onto. He was thrust into the air, only to quickly tackle the thug, knocking him out in one blow.
"Nice!" Crust cheered and gave a thumbs up, Eraserhead walking up to him with a long sigh.
"Don't celebrate. This fight was pointless."
The heroes turned to him, Crust yelling, "But we just beat the entire gang here! We've captured a ton of villains!"
Aizawa shook his head, "Didn't you notice how little resistance we faced here? We just won in under half an hour. That means that whatever this place was for, it wasn't that important."
"But..." Crust tried to say, only for Death Arms to land beside him and cross his arms.
"He's right." Arms sighed while glaring at Aizawa, "I've read up on the Inner Demons case. They're known to be very well armed, and they're all brainwashed, right?"
"That's the theory." Eraser replied, "But I'm guessing you noticed there weren't that many here."
"I did." Arms responded, Crust now showing a huge frown.
"So...this was pointless?"
"Not quite." Naomasa chimed in as he walked up to them, several officers behind him as they began handcuffing and dragging away the masked men. "We shut this place down. That alone should slow down the Inner Demons' operations."
Aizawa glared at Naomasa at that comment, the detective giving a light shake of the head in response. Rolling his eyes at this, Eraser began to walk out of the building, Crust glaring at the leaving figure, "He needs to be more optimistic. We defeated villains tonight! That alone should be considered a great feat!"
Naomasa let out a chuckle at that, "I don't think he's ever been optimistic in his entire life." The detective began to follow Aizawa at this, repressing a sigh as he thought about what this meant. He knew Eraser was right. They had gotten to the building just a few minutes after the heroes had charged in, only find themselves just fighting a few at a time. The masked men had fought like animals, just charging in with blades and guns, thinking they could just fight with those weapons and no quirks. Instead, they got ran over by the group of heroes here, only to find that the warehouse was barely filled with the masked goons.
All in all, they cleared out the place in under half an hour. That alone made Naomasa nervous, because he knew this meant only one thing: Whatever Spider-Man was doing, that was probably where most of the Inner Demons were.
Izuku had never really realized till now just how fast web-swinging could be. He had tested his speed with it before, but nothing like this. His mind told him it was probably the adrenaline, the body pumping as he tried to get every bit of speed possible. Granted, he had done car chases before, but they had always been small, as he quickly caught up to the car.
However, the vehicle he was chasing had a head start, something that thankfully wasn't too much thanks to it being a semi. Still, he had to admit that the swinging did make it easy to traverse a city, allowing him to switch streets on the fly, as he could just zip over rooftops with ease. And he also felt he should record in his notebook that he should teach himself a bit of parkour later.
But as he did this, he fired another web line before glancing down at the tracker, seeing the vehicle was still ahead of him. It was also nighttime, making vision harder despite the many city lights. And as he did this, he glanced back up and saw a certain giant semi a few blocks away. It was armored on its sides, but still sleek looking.
'There it is. And if I'm right, Mister Li should be in that semi...I hope. I didn't actually see him get into it, but there wasn't any other moving vehicles.' He thought as he did a low swing, 'You can do this Izuku. You can do this.'
He then fired two web lines, slingshotting himself to the top of the semi. And as he hit the roof, he did a small roll, making a clanging noise. As he did this, his spider sense rang out, only to hear the sound of a door being opened. "Oh boy." He glanced over the side and saw that the back door of the semi was now moving. "Not this time. I'm not fighting another army of thugs coming out of a semi."
Izuku fired a web line at the edge of the roof and leapt off, doing a spin in mid-air as two thugs glanced up and saw the vigilante now about to swing right into the semi. "Web Swing Kick!" he yelled as he thrust both legs into the thugs, knocking them back. The two collided into a mountain of boxes, Izuku landing inside the truck. It was here he noticed that the two masked men were the only ones inside, the sight making him blink.
"Huh. There's only you two? That's...nice, yet disappointing." Izuku commented before firing two globs of webbing, sticking both to the truck floor. They began to yell at him, the teen just shaking his head before walking past them, "Let's see what you got back here. Maybe it'll help me figure out what's going on with Mister Li..." he commented as he opened one of the boxes. There, his eyes went wide as he saw it was filled with cash. 'Even more money. How much does Mister Li need?!'
He began to open the other boxes, finding a few had weapons, others had money, and a few had stashes of liquid containers. 'Is this...Trigger? I know its a quirk enhancing drug according to what I've looked up. Did they make this, or did they steal it from Tombstone?'
And as he inspected the box, the sound of footsteps above him suddenly rang out. Izuku glanced back and saw the thugs were still webbed up, but he also saw that the truck was still moving. 'Right. Got distracted.' He thought before closing his eyes, turning invisible. He then began to crawl up the semi's walls, soon slithering up its ceiling as he made his way back outside. The teen raised his head out of the semi at this, only to go wide-eyed again. On that truck's roof was Martin Li, the man still showing the inverted color scheme as he had earlier. The sight made Izuku's invisibility stop, the sight of the man shocking the teen as he saw Li now stare down at his head peeking out of the truck.
"The spider." Li remarked before gesturing to a sheathed katana in his right hand.
"Uh...hi." Izuku muttered out before crawling onto the semi's roof, slowly standing up as Li put his hand on the katana's handle. Seeing this, Izuku flashed both palms at the man, "Wait!" Li gripped the handle, but didn't pull out the blade. Instead, he just glared at the teen as Izuku slowly asked, "I uh...can I ask you something?"
Li's eyes narrowed at this, "What?!"
"Um..." Izuku stuttered out, only to feel his mind go blank. 'Come on Izuku, don't just freeze up! You...you got to know why he's doing this! Ask him!' He took a deep breath before asking, "I just have know...why?"
Li tilted his head at this, "Why?"
"Yeah!" Izuku exclaimed, not meaning to raise his voice, "I mean...why do this, Li? Why...why be a villain?! You run FEAST, don't you?! You made that to help others!" He raised his hands up, gesturing them, "Why do all this?! Why hurt people and...and...and run this weird masked gang?!"
And as Izuku's voice got louder and louder, Li just stood there. He stared directly at Izuku, as if looking into his soul before slowly responding, "I see. You seem to misunderstand something, spider."
"Misunderstand?"
Li did the smallest of nods before saying, "Indeed. You see...I am not Martin Li."
"You're not...what?!" Izuku muttered, "What are you talking about?! Of course you're Martin Li!"
Li shook his head, "I am not. You see, Li and I...we are two sides of the opposite coin. He is...the positive of our being."
"The...positive?" Izuku slowly replied, his mind now racing, 'He's not Mister Li? But...I saw him transform! I saw him turn into this...this...weird photonegative thing! Wait...he said there are two sides. Is...is Mister Li possessed or something? Is it his quirk?!' The teen did a slight shake of the head before asking, "If you're not Li, who are you?!"
"I...am the true Li. The one that will accomplish everything he can not. To do what he can not. That is my purpose." He responded, only to pull out the katana from its sheath. "I am the one that will cleanse this world of the evil I seek to destroy." As he said this, Izuku felt his body tense up, clenching his fists as he saw Li point the blade at him, "As for myself, call me...Mister Negative."
And in that moment, a black and white energy poured off the sword, more than anything Izuku had ever seen from the masked goons. Li then twirled the blade once before throwing the sheath away. "And now, I will destroy you."
Izuku's body shifted at this, his tightened fists raising up from his sides as his mind began to race, 'Cleanse an evil? But what would-' That thought made his brain go back to the hidden room, one word hitting his mind, his mouth opening at the same time, "Do...do you mean the Kingpin?"
Mister Negative's eyebrows slightly raised at this, only for him to respond, "I am surprised you know of him. However, he is but one of many I must eliminate."
Though Li couldn't see it, Izuku blinked at the response, "One of many?" He felt his fists tighten again, "Then...then why be a villain, Li?! Why commit all these crimes?!"
Li let out a low chuckle at that, "You are naive, spider. In order to win this battle, one must fight fire with fire. That is the way of a demon." A flare of black and white energy surged out of the man's katana as he added, "And that is my way. The way of Mister Negative." He then pointed the blade at the vigilante, "I won't let you interfere anymore. As the leader of the Inner Demons, I will cut you down!"
And as he declared this, Izuku felt his body tense again, his eyes staring at the man before him. The very sight made his mind say, 'I have to fight him. I...I don't think I have a choice.' Li then pointed the sword away, the blade now horizontal and just at the man's belt. As such, the energy flowing out of it looking like a shade of smoke that began to cover Li's face. The sight made it look like a black and white mask, one more demonic than any of the thugs under him.
Seeing this, Izuku's eyes narrowed as he slowly got into a fighting stance, only for his quirk analysis part of his brain to go into overdrive, 'I see. Mister Li did say his quirk is a 'villain quirk'. I don't know what his quirk is, but its like I'm looking at some sort of inner demon inside of Mister Li. Of what I saw before, the quirk does seem to do some kind of brainwashing element. Does that mean it brainwashes him as well?' At that thought, Izuku slightly shook his head, 'Focus Izuku! Just...if that's really the case, I'll just have to find a way to save him, even if it means fighting him.'
"Okay, Mister Negative...if you're not Li, I'm gonna beat you out of him! I will save him from you!" Izuku declared as electricity surged around his hands.
The declaration just made the villain laugh, "Save him?! HA! You foolish child..." He pointed the blade at Izuku again, "Did you not hear me before? I am the true Li."
Izuku shook his head, "No. You're just some...monster inside of him. And I'll find a way to save him!" Electricity crackled off him as he got down into a crouched position. "Let's go!"
Li just smirked at that before swinging his katana, an energy wave flying out of it a split second later. Spider sense screaming at him, Izuku quickly leapt over the attack, glad his spider strength gave him a boost to his jumping. And as he landed from dodging the first blow, Li thrust the blade at Izuku, the teen side-stepping away from it. Izuku then spun around and swung a kick up to Li's face, only for the villain to raise an arm and block the blow.
Seeing this, Izuku hopped back, dodging another sword swipe from Li at the same time. But as he got back into a position, he saw that the back of his feet were at the end of the semi. 'Shoot. Already about to lose my footing.' He glanced back at Li, seeing a burst of energy surge from his katana. 'I gotta be careful here. I don't want to get hit by that giant energy wave thing that he did back at the hideout.'
Li then swiped the blade again, firing another energy wave. Izuku leapt over it as well, only for Li to thrust his blade upward, firing a second wave at the airborne teen. Spider sense screamed at him at this, Izuku quickly firing a web line at the semi roof, yanking himself down to dodge the wave. His body hit the roof and did a roll, getting back onto his feet as he thrust an electrified fist at the villain. "Venom Punch!" He yelled, only for Li to hop back, avoiding the blow before thrusting the blade at Izuku again. But as he did this, Izuku just side-stepped again, dodging the sword.
This was followed by Li swinging the blade again and again, Izuku backpedaling as he tried to evade each attack, no energy waves coming out this time. And as this happened, Izuku tried to point his wrist at Li, firing a glob of webbing at the man's face, only for Li to swipe it away with a flick of his sword before thrusting it at Izuku again.
The two began a dance at this, Li swinging his sword in precise movements as Izuku's spider sense kept yelling at him. Improvising was taking over the vigilante again, feeling the same adrenaline he felt dodging the hero killer. But despite this, he felt himself hesitating, his eyes staring straight at Li as the man continued to try and hit the teen. There wasn't much killing intent from him, or at least compared to the hero killer. Instead, Izuku felt nothing but raw power coming from the villain. As if he was fighting an intelligent animal compared to the raving crazed hero killer.
But as this happened, Izuku found that every dodge wasn't enough. Li kept nicking him, the energy coming off the blade just scratching the teen as he danced around the villain. Not only that, every energy wave that shot of the blade collided with the nearby buildings and cars, Izuku hearing the sounds of the few vehicles at night exploding and honking at the still moving semi as it passed through red light after red light. Damage was happening all around him, the teen finding himself unable to stop the slowly increasing destruction as he dodged another thrust, only to swing a punch at the villain that Li quickly hopped back to evade.
"You will not beat me, spider." Li remarked as energy flared off his blade, "You can not even touch me."
And as he said that, Li slashed at Izuku's chest, the very tip of the blade drawing blood. "Yaugh!" Izuku yelped as the blow slightly sliced open his costume. It was just a nick, but the teen felt it. The vigilante was heavily panting now, feeling the pressure of everything he had already done tonight now hitting his body. Despite this, he didn't reply, instead backpedaling one foot before firing another shot of webbing at the villain. Li just spun his blade in front of himself, blocking the webs before feeling something hit his feet. He glanced down to see Izuku had webbed them to the semi's roof, Li quickly slashing the blade at the webs. But as the webs were cut down, another web line hit the katana, only for Li to feel a sudden yank.
"Gimme that!" Izuku roared as he pulled the blade out of Li's hands. The villain stumbled for a second at this, Izuku catching the blade before throwing it off the semi.
"NO!" Li yelled as he saw his katana now hit the street behind Izuku, clanging and bouncing on the asphalt.
"Sorry, but just like I told your masked goons: When I'm around, its a no sharp deadly weapon zone!" Izuku declared before electricity charged out of his right arm. "This ends here! Venom Punch!"
And as he charged at Li, the villain just raised his hand at the incoming blow. He caught the electrified fist, the electricity surging through his body. But as he caught it, Izuku felt he couldn't pull his hand away, only to see black and white energy pour out of Li's hand...and into Izuku's fist.
"What are you...doing?!"
"Giving you a new perspective." Mister Negative spat as Izuku saw the energy now cover his fist. But as Izuku saw this, he suddenly felt a headache coming on, as if something was hammering away at his head. And as this happened, his spider sense let out a scream, Izuku feeling like his brain flicked on a switch as he suddenly charged in more electricity than he had ever done before into his fist.
"Yaugh!" Li yelped as the electricity zapped his hand, making him let go of Izuku's fist. The two both stumbled back, Izuku flicking his hand up and down as Li just gripped his hand. "How did you-" Li glanced back up at Izuku, the teen now flexing his hand before glaring back at the villain, "You...you resisted the negative?!"
"The negative?" Izuku blurted out.
Li's eyes narrowed in response as energy began to pour out of his hands again. "It seems I underestimated you. I see now why my demons were having such trouble with you."
"Demons? You mean your goons?"
"Yes." Li replied before holding up his palm, the sight making Izuku flinch.
Danger!
"Uh-oh." Izuku muttered out as energy began swirl around Li's hand.
"Die spider!" he roared as a giant blast of energy shot out of his hand, instantly consuming everything around Izuku.
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the back of the semi, slightly contorting the end of its roof as Li fell to one knee. He stared at the energy blast he had just made, the blast having knocked Spider-Man off the vehicle. The teen hit the road, rolling on the concrete as the semi kept moving. And as Izuku came to a stop, his eyes were closed as he felt nothing but pain wrack his entire body. This was followed by him feeling the ground shake, as if giant footsteps were rocking the street he was laying on now.
The vigilante slowly opened his eyes at this, seeing nothing but a blur as he tried to glance around. "Oooohhhh..." He moaned, his hands rubbing the hard pavement before glancing up. The semi Li was on had vanished, as it had already taken a turn down another street.
'My...head. It...hurts. Everything...hurts.' Izuku barely thought as he tried to get up, only to feel his knees buckle in pain. 'No...no! Move Izuku! Move!'
His head slowly looked up at this, only to see another sight. The source of the giant footsteps was now in the distance, as he now saw Mount Lady running down a street with Kamui Woods and Edgeshot on her shoulders. 'The Lurkers.' he mentally commented before trying to get onto his feet again. 'They must be...going after Li.' He then looked down at his hands, seeing the collision with the pavement had ripped up the gloves, but the healing factor was slowly starting its process. His web shooters were fine though.
And with a long deep breath and one big push, he stood up. Taking a long deep breath, he clutched his side before telling himself, "I gotta...go help. Gotta...stop Mister Nega-" He slightly shook his head, "No. Mister Li. Gotta help...Mister Li."
With that, he pointed his web shooters at a nearby building and fired, yanking himself back into the air. And as he began web-swinging, he felt his body clench up, but ignored the pain as he knew he had to do one thing. He had to keep going.
"There's the target!" Kamui announced as Mount Lady chased down what looked like to be a slightly damaged semi. "Look!" Kamui pointed to the insides of the semi, the two other heroes barely able to see the duo of webbed up thugs inside the vehicle under the night sky. They then saw Mister Negative standing on top of the semi, the man just staring at them. "I don't understand. We were told Spider-Man would be part of this. He's obviously been here, but...where is he?"
"That doesn't matter. Whomever is on that roof must be a villain! He certainly looks the part with that energy quirk coming out of his hands." Edgeshot declared as he put two fingers up to his forehead. "Mount Lady, try to stop the vehicle. Me and Kamui will subdue the villain!"
"Got it!" Mount Lady replied as she kept running after the semi.
"I'll go first. Throw me!" Kamui exclaimed as he leapt down into Mount Lady's palm, the giant woman throwing the hero a second later. He then shot out a barrage of wood over the truck as he landed on the roof, Li just watching as the branches quickly thrust into him, the wood instantly wrapping around his chest and arms. Kamui slightly hesitated at this, surprised he was able to easily grab the villain.
That is, till Li just flicked his hand and had it grab the branches now wrapped around him. The branches instantly turned black, Kamui's eye slightly widening before he tried to pull the wood back. But as he did this, he suddenly felt Li gripping the wood he had used to tie the villain up with, only for every bit of those branches to turn jet black. The brown color of wood began to turn more and more black, the color soon consuming every bit of wood as Kamui tried to pull away, only for the black part to reach his arm...and it went up to his face.
"What are you-"
"I'm giving you a new perspective." Li interrupted as Kamui let out a scream as the black energy consumed him, the other heroes gasping.
It had all happened in just a few seconds, the other heroes yelling, "Kamui!"
But as they screamed this, Mount Lady trying to go even faster, the branches wrapped around Li instantly went limp before going back into Kamui. The hero was now glowing black and white as Li smiled at the sight. He then pointed at the other members of the Lurkers and said, "Kill the heroes."
"Yes master." Kamui responded as he spun around and fired a barrage of wood at both. The branches instantly hit Mount Lady, pushing her back as Edgeshot leapt off the giant woman, dodging the attack.
"Ack! Kamui!" Lady yelped as the branches instantly wrapped around her and began to constrict, "AAAAHHHH!"
"Mount Lady!" Edgeshot gasped before glaring back at the hero now attacking her, "Kamui! What are you doing?!" Kamui responded by firing another volley of lumber at Edgeshot, the ninja hero instantly turning into string to dodge the attack. As he did this, Kamui leapt off the semi as he continued to constrict Mount Lady, Edgeshot then folding his body as he zipped himself down one of Kamui's branches.
But as he was about to reach Kamui, the hero summoned a barrier of wood, stopping the hero before he folded his body as he avoided another attack of branches. "Blast it! Snap out of it Kamui!" Edgeshot yelled as he wrapped around another branch before slamming a foot into Kamui's head, knocking the hero back. The blow made him loosen his grip on Mount Lady slightly, causing her to flex out her arms, breaking through the lumber.
"Raaaah!" She roared as she got free, only to glance down and see Kamui fire another branch that smacked Edgeshot in the head. Her eyes slightly widening at this, she pulled back a fist, "Sorry Kamui, but this is for your own good."
She thrust a fist straight down at the wood hero, Kamui quickly creating a shield of lumber around his whole body as the fist slammed into it. The branches began to crack and break at the attack, Edgeshot getting back up as he exclaimed, "Good! Keep him like that, Mount Lady!" He then began to fold his body, turning into a strand of string as he zipped into the wood barrier, quickly slithering through the cracks.
And as this happened, Li had watched the start of the fight against Kamui from the fleeing semi with a smirk before it took another turn, the sight vanishing before his eyes. "It seems I have both won and lost this day. I lost my hideouts...but these heroes will no longer bother me. Including that vigilante Spider-Man. There is no way he survived that blast." He commented before spinning around, "A shame I lost my blade...but I suppose I can always get another."
Li began dusting off his suit, tugging at it for a second before spinning around. He slowly walked up the roof, the smirk on his face turning into a grin. But that smile would not last, as the sound of something landing on the semi made him glance back, only to see a certain vigilante known as Spider-Man. Part of his costume was ripped up, especially his gloves and a rip down the chest. Despite this, the mask was still intact along with the hoodie, and the teen was now in a crouched fighting stance.
"How...how are you still alive?! You took that blast head-on! It should have killed you!" Li yelped as energy surged around his hands, both tensing up into fists.
"Sorry, but I have a lot of experience when it comes to explosion quirk users." Izuku replied as electricity appeared around his hands. "Ready for round two? Or is it three now?"
"It is the final. You will die here, spider." Mister Negative replied as his hand switched from fist to open palm as he pointed it at Izuku.
"Not this time!" the teen yelled as he pointed his wrist and fired. Webbing instantly hit the palm as he yanked it, Li's hand being pulled upward before energy began to burst out of it. But before it could become the giant energy attack like before, Li grabbed the webbing with his other hand, all that energy now going through that one as he burned the webbing off of him.
And as this happened, Izuku charged at him with an electric surging fist. "Venom Punch!" He roared as he thrust the jab right at Li, only for the villain to side-step, dodging the attack as Izuku went past him. The teen almost stumbled, quickly getting his footing as he spun around to see Li about to throw a punch at him.
Danger!
Spider sense blared at this, Izuku now backpedaling as he shifted his head to the right, barely dodging the fist. This was followed by two more punches, Izuku quickly sidestepping as he just stayed a hair ahead of Li, only for a fourth jab to hit Izuku in the face. Li began a fifth swing at this, Izuku raising a hand to catch the fist. And as he caught it, Li slammed a fist into the teen's stomach, making Izuku clench up.
"Weak!" Li hissed as he hit Izuku in the stomach again. He then pulled a fist back, energy surging around it as he was about to thrust it into Izuku's face. But as he did this, the teen's spider sense screamed at him before raising a palm right up to the fist. And as he caught this, Li felt his fist suddenly get zapped as Izuku surged electricity through. "Yaugh!"
Li stumbled back at this, only to feel Izuku's fist smack his face, then a second jab. And as Izuku thrust a third punch, Li backpedaled, dodging the blow before trying to throw another punch. Spider sense yelling at him, Izuku ducked under the jab, only to evade two more. He could feel this spider sense guiding him, now getting just a split second ahead of the villain.
And as they did this dance of evasion, the semi began to take a long turn. At the same time, Li's fists began to surge with black and white energy again. Izuku felt his spider sense scream at this, knowing this meant only one thing. Li was about to do another giant energy attack, making the teen flinch as he hopped back to the end of the semi. Seeing this, the villain pointed his palm at the vigilante. "Fool. Now you die!"
Energy began to swirl into the palm, Izuku staring at it as the attack that had almost killed him twice was about to happen again. But as it was about to come of the villain, Izuku fired two web lines upward...and yanked. The teen was thrusted right up, the energy blast surging out of Li just as Izuku pulled himself skyward. He felt himself curl up, doing a flip as the energy wave went right under his feet. And as Izuku glanced back down to the still moving semi, he saw the blast hit the street, hitting several cars and building, ripping them apart before looking back at Li.
And then he saw the villain on one knee, letting out a long heavy pant. 'That attack...it takes a lot out of him.' He pointed his wrist down at the semi, 'This is my chance!'
Thwip!
As the webbing hit the truck, the vigilante yanked himself right down onto the vehicle. Landing in a crouched position, Li glanced up to see as he saw the teen rush up to him. He tried to lift his arms over his face, trying to put up his guard, but it was too late.
"Venom Punch!" Izuku roared as an electrified fist slammed into Li's face, making him scream out in pain. Li was knocked right off his feet, only for Izuku to fire a web line into the villain's chest and yank him back. Izuku followed this with another punch, this one without electricity, Li's back hitting the semi's roof a second later. Webs covered his body next, Li's hands surging with energy as they instantly ripped through the webs, only for Izuku to fire more and more down on him.
"Stay down! Please stay down!" Izuku yelled as kept firing webbing at him. But as he did this, Li continued to rip through the webbing with hands, only to hear a 'psst!'. The noise made both freeze up, Izuku grimacing under his mask as he yelped, "Oh, come on!"
"Spider!" Li screeched as his energy surging hands ripped through webbing again, now pulling out his arms as he began to rip up the webbing covering his chest. Thankfully, his legs were fully webbed up, giving Izuku the time he needed to switch webbing cartridges. And as he refilled the webbing, his spider sense blared as he looked back at Li as he pointed his palm at him, energy pouring out of it. "Die!"
The palm began to glow white, about to fire the energy blast as Izuku stared at it. And in that split second, Izuku pointed his wrist at the hand and fired a strand of webbing. The web hit just as the energy began to flow, only for the teen to yank at it, causing him to fire the energy to the side, just missing the vigilante.
"This ends now!" Izuku yelled as he let go of the webs, electricity surging through his right hand. He leapt at Li just as he lifted his other palm at the vigilante, but it was too late. In that split second, Izuku grabbed his shoulder, lightning surging through the palm into the villain.
"YEAUGH!" Li screamed as the electricity surged through his whole body, Izuku grabbing the other shoulder as more and more lightning pumped through. But as he did this, Li grabbed his shoulders, black and white energy now going through his hands as he zapped Izuku.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Izuku cried as he closed his eyes for a second, only to squeeze them open a second later, now seeing Li glare at him, electricity flying off his body as Izuku kept zapping him. It felt as if both were pulling and pushing at the same time, the duo screaming as they kept trying to knock the other out with their strongest power.
And as the seconds passed, black and white energy began to crawl off Izuku's shoulders, slowly going up to his face. The energy was about to go right up to Izuku's brain...and then it happened. Darkness filled Izuku's vision, everything around him turning black and white. The semi they were on, his costume, the buildings they were passing by, all of them turned black and white.
"What did you-" Izuku muttered out, not noticing his bio-electricity sputtering out as he saw Li now grinning.
"You are now in my domain!" he laughed, only for Izuku's eyes to go wide as he saw a pillar of blackish smoke rise out of the villain. It then formed a giant being, complete with a mask just like all the other thugs wore, though it was several times bigger.
"What in the-" Izuku stuttered before glancing back at Li, the two still locked as they gripped each others' shoulders. The teen's eyes shifted between the two, his mind now reeling, 'That giant thing...its just like what I saw earlier. Is this...is this thing Mister Li's inner demon or something? Is it warping his mind?!'
"You will now become mine Spider! I now know how you resisted me before with your...electricity power, but it won't work this time! Behold, my quirk, my Inner Demon, The Negative!" Li exclaimed as Izuku looked back at him, now seeing a crazed grin on the villain's face.
And as he stared at Li as the giant masked monster behind him began to move, Izuku's eyes narrowed as he increased his grip on Li. The villain slightly flinched at this, only to let out a roar, "Become mine, Spider!"
"I'm not yours or anyone else's!" Izuku yelled as electricity began to flow through him again. "And I'll save you right now Li!"
"YEAUGH!" Li yelped, his hands quickly shifting from Izuku's shoulders to the teen's arms. He then surged the energy from before into Izuku, making the vigilante let go. Seeing this, Li then raised his leg and kicked Izuku in the stomach, making the teen stumble back for just a second before his spider sense screamed at him. Li pointed a palm right at Izuku, energy swirling in it as Izuku glanced at him, pointed his wrist, and fired. The web line instantly hit Li's chest just as the energy was about to come out of his palm, and with a mighty yank, he pulled the villain off his feet.
"No, wait-" Li tried to say as Izuku pulled back a fist.
"Venom Uppercut!" Izuku roared as he slammed his electrified fist into Li's chin. And as the blow connected, the black and white world around Izuku instantly disappeared. He blinked at the sight, only to look down in front of him. Li's entire form was now laying on the semi's roof, completely and utterly knocked out. He took a deep breath at this, and pointed his wrist at the villain. A second later, webbing covered the man.
'I...I did it.' Izuku thought before glancing back up and seeing that the semi was still moving, only for its horn to suddenly ring out. Blinking at this, the teen quickly ran up to the front and glanced down through the front window, now seeing the thug driving the truck face down on the vehicle's wheel, looking like he was unconscious. 'Did me taking out Mister Li knock him out too? If that's the case, I better stop this thing!' The teen crawled over to the driver's door and yanked it open with his spider strength, glancing down to the pedals, 'I think this one is the brake.'
Thwip!
Webbing covered the break as the truck began to rapidly come to a stop, almost yanking Izuku off the side. And as it came to a complete stop, Izuku climbed back onto the roof and stared down at the still knocked out Mister Negative. He was still in the photonegative form, the sight just confusing the poor teen.
'Mister Li...why? Why did you do all this? I...I still don't understand.' He glanced down at his hands, seeing they were still red and scratched up from the earlier asphalt tumble, 'I...I still solve anything. Should I have not fought him? Was this even a good idea?' He flexed his hands, feeling a tinge of pain, 'Did I even do anything to help him?'
That thought made the teen fill like a hole had just appeared in his stomach. As such, the teen went back to staring at the villain, his mind going over question after question...and not a single answer. He had never felt more clueless. And as these thoughts flowed through his mind, a rumbling sound cut him out of thoughts. Izuku spun around and now saw a certain giant woman a few blocks away.
'The Lurkers...' He looked back at Li one last time, 'Mister Li...just what were you trying to do?' And with that thought, he put his hand in his hoodie and pulled out a small card and pencil, 'Maybe...maybe this is all a useless Deku like me is good for.'
A few written words later, the teen was gone. Turning invisible and swung away, what was left was what looked like several scorched streets and overturned cars, along with a stopped semi with three knocked out masked thugs, and one unmasked villain fully webbed up on top. That was the sight the Lurkers were greeted with, confusion on all three faces.
And as Izuku got home, he found his mother asleep. It looked like she had tried to wait for him, only to fall into the land of dreams anyways. The sight didn't make Izuku show any emotion though. Instead, he stripped out of his costume, several tears slightly growing in his eyes before flopping onto the bed, instantly passing out.
A certain man's footsteps were almost silent as he walked down an alleyway, eyes glancing back and forth. He had been following the action for some time in a slow pace. After all, he knew exactly what he was looking for. A grin appeared on his face as he walked through another alley, only to come to a stop.
"Bingo." he whispered to himself as he leaned down and picked up something on the ground. His grin widened as he stared at the object: A katana with blood on the tip.
Putting his hand in his pocket next, he pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number. A second later, a voice responded as the man said, "Its me." Another voice murmured through the phone, the man responding a second later, "Yes sir. You were right, and unfortunately, its out of reach now." A grin shined on the man's face, "However, I believe I have something that will compensate." He held up the katana at this, his eyes staring at the red liquid on its tip, "Trust me, you'll like what I just found."
Chapter 29: The First Curtain Closes
The week was now over. School was starting up again for UA, all its first year students now coming back from their internships. To many, it was an informative week, to some it was...challenging. For one in particular, it was a total waste of time, and for another, it was something they did not expect. In fact, they went into this week dreading it, only to come out beyond surprised.
That one was Shoto Todoroki, son of the Number Two Hero, Endeavor. He had gone into the week with his usual indrawn, aloof self, hiding the annoyance and hatred that he had for his old man. This was followed by his father repeatedly yelling at him, telling him to use his flames, saying that was the reason Bakugo easily beat him, and why there was burn marks all over Shoto's body now. But the teen didn't want to use those flames, ones he considered to be pure evil.
No, he held nothing but hatred for his father, but only agreed to take his internship because he knew it was the best way to get experience. He still wanted to be a hero, something his mom had told him he could do...though it didn't really help when he was constantly getting berated all the time.
But that changed once the two of them went villain hunting. Specifically, the hero hunter. Shoto didn't ask or complain about it, as he knew it would be good experience despite going after something that was way out of his league. And as they went to Hosu, the duo soon found it being attacked by the monsters that he had seen at the USJ. This was followed by him helping the evacuation while his father beat the Nomu, only for the attack to come to an abrupt end.
And then they found the hero killer...who had been already beaten by a vigilante. Spider-Man. The teen didn't really know anything about him, all he remembered was hearing the class he was part of talk about it at lunch one day, but he didn't pay it any mind. Now, he was regretting that. For right after Spider-Man had beaten the hero killer, he talked back to Endeavor. No one talked back to his father. Even Shoto had a hard time doing it and the vigilante just...made fun of him to his face! Incredible! And this was followed by his father chasing after Spider-Man, losing him and then went home furious. Spider-Man had made fun of his father and successfully evaded him! It was something Shoto didn't think was even possible.
And that wasn't all, as for the rest of the week, the news kept going over and over the footage of the hero killer and Spider-Man, saying how he had done the heroes' job. For Endeavor, his anger had no bounds. He lectured Shoto on the ride home about how vigilantes had ruined everything in an incident a few years back and how Spider-Man was no different. It was a story Shoto had never heard before, but after hearing it and what had happened that day, Shoto wished he had known about it sooner. He would have gone into vigilantism on the spot if this was what made his father this angry.
Instead, the teen went to bed that night, pulled out his phone and spent some time looking up everything he could on the vigilante. He found that there wasn't much on him, but a forum known as the 'Spidey Squad' had just been formed a few days ago. The teen instantly signed up for it, making him a 'spidey-fan' on the site. He then looked up to see if there was any merchandise, only to find nothing...at least, in terms of what he could buy online without his father knowing. He might be able to find something local though, but it would have to be later.
As such, Shoto found Endeavor growling at the news all week long while trying to train Shoto and do small patrols, only to see the vigilante on even more news, along with the hero killer proclaiming 'the word hero holds no meaning anymore' or something like that. But that stuff with the hero killer didn't really interest Shoto. And as the week came to an end, Shoto knew what he wanted to do when he got back to school. He wanted to ask his classmates what they knew about Spider-Man.
Naomasa let out a long sigh as he walked down a hallway. He rubbed his eyes at this, having just woken up from a small nap after the crazy ending of last night. Though he would admit that the ending was the worse part of that night as well. It began when him and Aizawa had finished locking down the hideout that Death Arms, Crust and X-Less had helped take out. That event was fine, mainly because they captured everything, not a single member of the Inner Demons getting away.
It was the few minutes after that that was the issue. For after him and Aizawa had got back to Naomasa's car, an officer rang out on the scanner, saying the Lurkers were in pursuit of something. Sharing a glance with the underground hero, the two quickly drove off. This was followed by them driving through the city, only to come to a stop when they found the Lurkers stuck in a street...fighting each other. The sight made them raise eyebrows before getting out to figure out what was going on, only for the fight to come to a stop.
This was followed by the Lurkers trying to repeat their earlier chase, only for them to find a semi with several webbed up people on the vehicle. The trio of heroes told the detective what had happened next, saying the villain had somehow brainwashed Kamui Woods and the two had to try and contain him. Aizawa then used his quirk on Kamui, but found it did nothing, making them conclude the quirk had already lost its effects on the pro hero.
After that, they investigated the semi, now finding even more money, drugs and weapons. That and on the roof was the villain behind it all, a man none of them recognized. It wasn't till they had him cuffed with quirk nullifying handcuffs and hauled off to the station that they found out that it was a man named Martin Li. His profile showed him as a philanthropist, one who had made an organization to help the needy. This information was the final straw for Aizawa, as he said he was sick of all the irrational stuff the last few hours had done and told he'd help Naomasa with the case after a nap and a day of classes.
Naomasa was fine with this, but also found himself in a standstill. For when they picked up Martin, they found a note from Spider-Man that said: This may sound strange, but please go easy on him. I believe there's still good within him. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
That note was something he had read over and over as he finished his walk down that hallway and opened a door, glancing inside to see Martin Li cuffed to a makeshift hospital bed with quirk nullifying handcuffs on him. The man had been unresponsive since they found him, but his injuries weren't bad. Nothing life threatening, just some broken bones.
This was then followed by the police chief telling him that the hero commission is now repeatedly asking every day when the Spider-Man case is going to be solved. He told him that they're going to start really breathing down the police's necks soon, and Naomasa has to figure out something. However, the detective had a feeling that this was just the beginning.
"Tough night, huh?" chimed in a voice, making Naomasa turn to see it was cat-headed Sansa.
"Oh yeah." Naomasa sighed as he shook his head, "Not sure if I can take it anymore, honestly."
"That bad?" Sansa asked with a tilted head. "You know, you could just tell the chief you need a break."
"I..." Naomasa tried to say, only to look back at Li before glancing down at the note from the crime scene, which was now just a photo on his phone as the real one had been placed into evidence. "I don't know Sansa. I just...I don't know. I don't get how one vigilante is doing this much so quickly." He shut off the phone at this and put it back in his pocket, "I just...I get the feeling this is going to get even worse before it gets better."
Sansa patted his back at that, "Come on, let's go talk to the chief and see if he can let you get some rest. You need it."
Naomasa stared at him for a second, only to nod, "Thanks..."
Midnight had just walked into the teacher's lounge when she saw it. It was Aizawa's giant yellow sleeping bag, fully zipped up to signify the man was fast asleep inside. The sight made her shake her head, knowing that she should wake him, but she had also heard that he had a case literally last night.
Seeing this, she left the room and waltzed over to the classroom for class 1-A, glancing inside with a big grin. However, the sight inside made her smile slowly change to a frown. In the classroom was only one student, Tenya Iida, who had a dead stare on his face. She had been given a rundown on what had happened to him over the internships, mainly over the hero killer and Spider-Man. She had been hearing a lot of stuff on that vigilante recently, mainly on the news of how he was doing the heroes' jobs, the thought making her want to sigh. She was really hoping the students won't get attached to something like that.
It was here that the other students began to file in. The relatively quiet ones were first, such as Todoroki and Shoji, the rest soon walking into the room. It wasn't until a certain blonde boy named Katsuki Bakugo walked in that things started to get loud. A few were laughing at his hair, which was a combover, the woman stifling a giggle as well. This was followed by the final student walking into the classroom, Ochako Uraraka. She had a long frown on her face, and Midnight could see she was beat up and bruised despite hiding it under her clothes.
But before she could ask what happened, the girl walked in and gasped, "Iida!" The glasses wearing boy turned to her, the girl showing a concerned frown, "Hey, you okay? I heard about what happened."
Iida slowly replied at that, "I am...unsure."
"Oh. I'm so sorry." Uraraka responded as she sat down beside him, "Do you uh...wanna talk about it?"
Iida stared at her for a second, only to glance away, "I...I don't know."
"What happened?" chimed in a voice, making Uraraka turn to see Mina and Tsuyu staring at them.
"Oh, uh...Iida apparently fought the hero killer with Spider-Man last week." Uraraka responded, making Mina go wide-eyed while Tsuyu put her finger to her chin. Todoroki and Kirishima turned to them at this, both hearing the vigilante's name as she glanced back at Iida, "Anyways, I just wanted to see if you were okay. I heard about what the hero killer did to your brother. I'm sorry about what happened."
"I...will be fine." Iida replied as he closed his eyes. "My apologies. I'm still...recovering."
Uraraka nodded at this, "I understand." She then put her hand on the teen's shoulder, "Just know we're all here to help." Iida glanced back up at her at this, now seeing Mina, Tsuyu and Kirishima also nod.
And before he could thank them, Todoroki walked over and spoke up, "Iida, could I ask you something?" They all turned to him, surprised the usually quiet teen was asking for anything. The sight made a few others in the class glance over, including Katsuki.
"Um...sure." Iida slowly responded.
"I know I was there at the end of the fight with the hero killer, but I never got to ask you: What was meeting Spider-Man like?"
Multiple students showed different reactions at this, Uraraka and Iida showing surprise, Tsuyu just blinking at him while Mina and Kirishima whispered to each other. A few others in class began to murmur at this, only for Katsuki to speak up, "Who?"
Almost all of the class turned to the blonde, the teen raising an eyebrow at the sudden stares as Kirishima said, "Don't you know about Spider-Man, Bakubro? He's all over the news!"
"No. And stop calling me that or I'll turn you into ash, you worthless extra." Katsuki growled, making Kirishima glare at him before he turned back to the others, "Who the heck is Spider-Man?! What, is he some hero that's been rising the ranks or something?!"
Everyone was about to respond, but Iida beat them to the punch as he pushed his glasses up his face, "Spider-Man is a vigilante that has been making news recently. He is the reason why the sports festival we were part of had such low viewership, and he is the one that defeated the villain who hurt my brother, the hero killer."
And as those words entered Katsuki's ears, he let out a cackle, "Pfft! Seriously?! Wow. Then your brother must have been some loser!"
"What did you just say?!" Iida barked back, the teen now glaring at the explosive blonde. "My brother is a great hero who took on a monster of a villain!"
Katsuki just leaned back in his seat and waved a hand, "No, he's a total loser. If this so-called hero killer got beat by a vigilante, then he must have just been some F-rank villain."
Iida slammed a fist on his desk at that, his glare intensifying as he growled, "He wasn't some F-rank villain! He was a monster!"
"Yeah right." Katsuki spat as he stuck out his tongue, "If some nobody vigilante can beat him, then this hero killer must have been a weakling." The teen then saw the glare he was getting from Iida and now Todoroki staring at him, making him let out a scoff, "Oh please, everyone knows vigilantes are losers that failed to become heroes. That means this Spider-Man is the same, just worthless trash." Over half the class was now staring at the blonde as he added, "Wait...you said he's the reason the festival got low views. Why?! What could some pathetic vigilante do to make that happen?!"
"He fought a gang war all by himself just outside of UA's doorstep." Todoroki instantly responded in a flat tone, everyone turning to him.
"Seriously?!" Bakugo sneered, "You're joking, right? There's no way the media would rather talk about that instead of the festival."
"What, you think you're more important?" Todoroki asked in a low voice.
"Uh, yeah! Of course I am!" Bakugo yelled as he stopped leaning back, "I won the festival, didn't I?!" He pointed to himself, "That makes it more important than some loser vigilante!"
Iida opened his mouth to respond to this one, only for Todoroki to chime in again, "I wouldn't speak lightly over Spider-Man. I've seen what he's done, and I know for a fact that he could easily beat you."
Katsuki's face lit up at that, slamming his hand into his desk as an explosion came off his palm, "What was that, Half-and-half?! Want me to roast you again like I did at the festival?!" He stood up and got right up into Todoroki's face, "It'll only take me a second to beat a worthless Endeavor-wannabe like you!"
Ice began to form off Todoroki's side at that, his usual blank expression showing a hint of anger at the comment, only to see Iida stand up as well. Explosions began to pop off Katsuki's hands at this, a vicious grin appearing on his face. "You wanna go too? Come on then, you pathetic extras. I'll kick both your-"
"Stop!" Kirishima yelled as he got between the three, "Don't start the day off with a fight! There's no need-"
"Shut it, extra." Katsuki spat as he grabbed Kirishima's shoulder and pushed him away, the boy stumbling into some chairs as Bakugo cricked his neck, "These losers think they can take me, and I know I can beat them without trying."
"You..." Iida growled, the rest of the class now staring at the three. Some were grimacing at the sight, teens like Hagakure, Yaoyorozu, and Koda were all fidgeting. Tsuyu grabbed Uraraka's shoulder as she was about to try and interfere, the girl glancing back at the frog quirk user as Tsuyu shook her head. Mina had gone over to Kirishima, pulling him back to make sure he didn't just straight up attack Katsuki. The rest were all just watching, their eyes going back and forth between the two sides.
And watching it all was Midnight, the teacher about to walk in, only for a hand to grab her side. She glanced back and saw it was Aizawa, a dead tired look in his eyes as he said, "Don't bother."
"But-"
"Forget it. It's not worth it." Aizawa grumbled as he let go of her and took out a cup of coffee from his sleeping bag. He took a sip as he added, "I know what you're going to say, and the answer is no. I'm not doing anything about Bakugo."
"Seriously?! Shouta, despite how much I disagree with your love for expulsions, you have to admit you need to do something about Bakugo!" She pointed to the classroom as Bakugo leaned up closer to Todoroki's face, "Did not see the festival and the battle trials?! I watched the footage, and the injuries he gave to Aoyama and Uraraka in the trials were terrible!" Aizawa just stared blankly away from her at this, making the woman groan, "Shouta...I know Nezu told you to do something about him-"
Aizawa rolled his eyes, "I'm not doing a thing. He has the most potential, the best grades and the best control of his quirk. The rest should be expelled instead. They have no drive and don't take heroics seriously."
Midnight shook her head at this, "They're just kids, Shouta. You know your expulsion method doesn't always work. You need to-"
"It works." Aizawa grumbled before sighing, "Unfortunately, the internships had some...consequences, which of course were related to this stupid case I'm part of." The man put a hand to his face and pinched his temple, "Stupid Spider-Man. I can't believe I lost so much sleep over a bunch of dead ends and pointless villain fights."
"Shouta-"
"Anyways," Aizawa interrupted, "If I expel them right now, they might think its because of the internships going wrong instead of them realizing why they're expelled." He turned to her with a glare, "My method works. If they think they're just allowed to be heroes because they can beat up a bunch of toys in the entrance exam and win a few festival games against a bunch of other incompetent kids, they don't deserve to be here." He let out a low growl as he began to move around her, "Get to your class Kayama. I have work to do."
Midnight shook her head at this before sighing and walking away as Aizawa entered the classroom doorframe. And as he did this, Katsuki continued to pop tiny explosions in his palms, "Oh yeah, four-eyes?! I bet you learned nothing over your internships! Heck, I bet all of you didn't improve a bit because you're nothing but a bunch of worthless-"
"Say another word and you're expelled." interrupted a voice, everyone turning to see Aizawa. "Get to your seats. Now. You're wasting time, which is irrational, and I will expel all of you for it."
Katsuki growled at the teacher at that, Iida and Todoroki spinning around and quickly taking their seats. As they did this, Uraraka watched her classmates sit down with a long frown on her face. Most were wearing frowns just like hers, the sight making her feel even more uneasy as her teacher made an announcement, stating they would be getting a new student. A minute later, the gen-ed kid that made third in the festival, Shinso Hitoshi, walked into the room.
And as he was introduced, she slumped back into her seat as a single thought went through her head, 'I wonder how everyone else's internships went...'
Naomasa's eyes creaked open, his mouth letting out a long yawn. He slowly got out of his desk chair, having just finished a small cat nap. He rubbed his face as he walked out of his office, only for another officer to walk up to him just as he closed the door.
"Naomasa!" The voice exclaimed, Naomasa turning to see it was his old partner Eizo Tanuma.
"Hey Tanuma," Naomasa replied, "What's up?"
"Got more info on your case." Tanuma chuckled as he gestured to him a folder. Naomasa took it, opening it as Tanuma commented, "Gotta say, you take on the craziest cases. Anyways, that's the report on that other location you had that other team go to a few hours ago. Looks like that vigilante got there before us as well."
"I see..." Naomasa muttered as he began reading several pages, "So the Inner Demons also had that building and the officers found them webbed up and half the place was coated in gasoline?"
"Yup." Tanuma nodded, "Looks like they were trying to get rid of all their stuff, but Spider-Man stopped them."
Naomasa let out a long sigh as he closed the folder in one quick motion, "Figures."
Tanuma shined a small smile at this. He had been Naomasa's partner for a long time, and even though they didn't work together that much anymore, he knew the man well. It had been a while since he had seen Naomasa that frustrated. "The case that bad?"
"No." Naomasa shook his head.
"I think it is." Tanuma chuckled before slinging an arm over Naomasa's shoulders, "Come on, let's go get a cup of coffee. I've been out of town for the past week or so, so you can update me on everything and maybe I can help you out."
Naomasa stared at the man for a second, seeing his usual casual smile before nodding. "Okay. Just...don't expect too much. This case is honestly so crazy that I don't know where to fully start."
"We'll start with a cup, simple as that."
The sound of a liquid pouring into a bottle could barely be heard as a chalk white hand handled a small jug of whiskey. A long sigh escaped the man's breath as he eyes stared at the drink. And after another few seconds of pouring, he stopped the flow and put the jug down, taking a sip later.
"Ugh...still not enough." He grumbled as his ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind him. "What?!" he asked without turning around.
"Phone call, boss." The thug replied with a gulp.
"Is it him?"
"Yes, boss." The thug muttered out.
"Figures." the man spun around at this, revealing a frowning Tombstone as he took the phone out of the thug's hand, "What do you want?! I already got you the shipment, and my boys are loading up another batch right now!"
"Now now, the boss didn't want me to call you about that." replied the phone, making Tombstone sigh as he heard the voice.
"Hammerhead." Tombstone growled, "Where's your boss?"
"He's busy. And before you yell at me, I'm here to give you some good news." Hammerhead responded as Tombstone hissed into the phone. But as the thug on the other line began to talk, the long scowl on Tombstone's face began to disappear. Instead, his lips went into a neutral position as he raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" Tombstone let out a small chuckle, "Now that's a surprise."
"I know." Hammerhead added before switching to a deep gravely tone, "But that's not all. The boss thinks things will start moving again."
"That's not my job." Tombstone grumbled.
"I know. That's why I'm calling instead of the boss."
"Tch. You mean that he just doesn't want to talk to me." Tombstone hummed before glancing back into the room, seeing a few thugs moving some boxes. "Alright. Tell your boss I got no interest in taking his stuff. I just want money, got it?"
The phone call ended a second later, Tombstone letting out a long hiss as he gave the device back to the thug, only to see an expectant face on the criminal. "Deal's still good if you're wondering. In fact, things are even better now."
"H-h-how so, boss?"
Tombstone chuckled and shook his head, "Simple. Our buyer has a boy in the police, and they just said that the leader of the Inner Demons got caught by that...Spider-Man guy." The villain got out of his seat at this and took a chug of whiskey, "Looks like one bit of competition is out of our way."
"That's great boss!" the thug responded, only to see Tombstone's face go back to a scowl, "Or...is it?"
"It ain't over." Tombstone grumbled as he took another swig of whiskey, "Get the shipments ready. If the Inner Demons are gone, that means two things. Some new gang will probably appear, thinking our racket is an easy target...or Spider-Man will start coming for us."
"And if its number two, boss?"
Tombstone put the bottle down on the desk behind him, "Then I'll break every bone in that bug's body."
Uraraka sat down her tray of food slowly, inhaling a deep breath before taking out a pair of chopsticks. As she did this, she glanced up to see Tsuyu, Iida, Mina and Kirishima all sit around her. But before any could say anything, Todoroki also sat down, right beside Iida. They turned to him, surprised the usually quiet boy was sitting here, as he preferred to be alone.
And as they began to eat, Iida turned to Todoroki and asked, "Todoroki, are you wishing for me to answer your earlier question?" The teen nodded back, Iida taking a small breath before replying, "Well...I apologize, but I don't have too much to tell you."
"That's fine. I understand." Todoroki responded.
"Before I begin, may I ask why the sudden interest?"
Todoroki slowly blinked at him, only to reply, "Let's just say...I was inspired by him." The group all went wide-eyed at this for a second, Tsuyu's eyes only slightly growing.
And after a moment, Iida pushed his glasses up his nose before speaking up, "To start, I...only met him for just a few minutes. However, I must say in those few minutes...it was like watching a pro." The others all raised eyebrows at this except Todoroki, only for Iida to say, "I had chased down the hero killer, only for him to beat me instantly." Everyone leaned in at this, surprised at Iida just admitting that as he continued, "And then Spider-Man just...jumped in and fought the hero killer with ease. He quickly got around all the hero killer's attacks as if he knew what to do, and yet he told me later in the fight he was improvising everything."
"Really? He improvised everything while fighting a killer?" Kirishima chimed in, the group turning to him. "What?"
"Don't interrupt Kiri, its rude." Mina added while nudging him.
"Sorry." Kirishima muttered out, only for Iida to chop his arm at him.
"Its fine! I understand your surprise! Its just...I didn't expect a vigilante to be so...skilled." Iida crossed his arms at that, "In fact, I keep thinking about what happened and it still feels unreal."
Everyone shared a glance at this, only for Todoroki to ask, "What's his quirk like? I saw online that people think he has several quirks."
"That's possible, kero?" Tsuyu added, "I thought at most you could be born with is two."
Todoroki nodded at that, "I thought so too, but they think he has several. That or he uses a lot of different support equipment."
Iida put his hand to his chin at this, "I'm not sure about that one. It seemed he could cling to walls, he could shoot webbing out of his hands, and he was invisible at one point...and he had electric powers as well." Iida blinked at his own words, "That does sound like multiple quirks, doesn't it?"
"That or a lot of support equipment like Todoroki said, kero." Tsuyu finished for him.
"That's gotta be it." Kirishima added, "I mean, no one has that many quirks. Isn't it like...impossible?"
And as Uraraka heard those words, she glanced back down at her arms, staring at the bruises. The sight made memories flow through her head before glancing up, unaware Tsuyu was staring at her as Uraraka noticed a certain blonde man walking across the other side of the cafeteria. He looked like a skeleton, a bit of blood dripping off his mouth as he grabbed a drink before leaving the cafeteria.
"You okay?" Tsuyu chimed in, Uraraka turning to her.
"I'm okay. Just...tired." Uraraka replied.
"You don't look it, kero. Did something happen to you on your internship?"
Uraraka bit her lip at that, "You could say that." She then saw Mina turn to her as well, making Uraraka glance away, "Sorry."
"Its fine, kero." Tsuyu added, Uraraka looking back at her. "Want to hear what happened to me on my internship?" The brown-haired girl nodded back, the frog girl giggling before starting a small tale of her being at sea.
Two pairs of eyes stared at the blade, the duo being a pair of men, one in a white lab coat while the other was in a formal suit. Both were cloaked in the shadows of the room, one of them taking out a small swiping device as he held it over the red liquid on the katana's tip, "Excellent. To think we would get a sample of Spider-Man's blood."
"Indeed. Perhaps now we can see if-"
"Sirs!" They turned to a third voice, another lab coat wearing man racing into the room, "The package. Its...its here!"
Two grins followed this, the one in the suit replying, "I see. Bring it in."
A few minutes later, a large cylinder container was wheeled into the room, its bottom part having a ton of wires dangling off it, all connected to a small generator. Inside the cylinder was a ton of glowing purple liquid...and a small jet black creature inside. The being was utterly grotesque, just the ugliest thing the duo had ever seen. It also didn't look the least bit alive, though that was because it was missing an arm, had an exposed brain that was half sunk in and one of his eyes was just an empty hole.
"Yes...this is definitely the work of All For One." the suited man commented.
"And Garaki. It has his style. That man is never subtle despite how much he wants to think he is." the lab coat man added as he walked up to the cylinder, his eyes scanning the creature over, "So this is a Nomu. Fascinating...and yet-"
"Slightly disappointing." the suited man finished for him, "Though he did say this one was a failed prototype, correct?"
"Indeed." The lab coat man sighed before spinning around, his eyes going back to the blood tipped blade on a nearby table. "Let's just hope its...enough."
"I believe it will be." The suited man replied while scratching his chin, "It seems All For One has been very busy. I wonder what he's doing right now if he's making creatures like this."
"Who knows." the lab coat man responded as he began to examine the blood again, "I suspect with him, its probably related to All Might. He's always been obsessed with that clown."
"True." the suited man hummed as he stared at the Nomu, the creature just floating in the cylinder without a single ounce of movement, "At least we were able to convince him to give us this. I can't wait to see what we can make with it."
Tomura Shigaraki let out the longest hiss he could as he sat on a bar stool, staring at the two that had just walked into the bar. He was already in a bad mood today, and this was about to make things a lot worse. "Seriously?!" the white-haired man growled as he pointed at Giran. "This is all you could find?! This...burned up chicken nugget?!"
The scruffy smoking villain just shook his head at this as he pointed at the scarred up man standing beside him. "He's the first one of a few I found. Just give him a chance."
Shigaraki hissed at Giran before his eyes turned to the burnt man, "Fine. Who are you then?!"
"Name's Dabi." replied the villain.
"That's not a name. What's your real name?" Shigaraki grumbled as he got off the bar stool he was sitting on.
"I'd rather not say." Dabi responded, a trickle of flames appearing on the back of his hand. He walked up to Shigaraki at this, both just a foot or so away from each other before the two thrust their hands at each other. And as their attacks were about to strike, two dark portals opened over the hands, making them both miss their targets.
"What the-Kurogiri!" Shigaraki roared as he turned to the bar, the misty villain standing behind it while cleaning a glass.
"You shouldn't immediately try killing a new ally, Master Shigaraki." Kurogiri coolly replied, "At least give them a chance."
"You..." Shigaraki hissed before glancing back at Giran, "Is this all you got?! I need more than this! We're going to destroy the hero society, and its not gonna happen with just one new guy!"
Giran took the cigarette out of his mouth and breathed out a puff of smoke, "I got some more coming in over the next few weeks. Though I gotta say, I was honestly surprised with one of the rejections." He put the white stick back in his mouth, "I really thought she would be down for this kind of gig."
A small pink tongue slithered out of a fanged mouth, licking the tiny drop of blood that was on a shining silver knife. The fangs from before turned into a vicious grin as the tongue licked the knife again.
"Mmm..." a feral yet feminine voice cooed, a steady blush on the person's face as she let out a giggle. It was a girl with blonde hair that was tied up into two messy buns. On her body was a schoolgirl's outfit along with several knives hidden on herself. Her eyes were that of a cat's, shining as she stared at a television.
The box was showing a certain dark green colored costumed vigilante. "Spider-Man, huh?" She muttered as her tongue took off the last drop of red liquid on the blade, "So you're the one Mr. Stainy picked." She then put the knife away before putting her hands up to her face, a large red blush shining on her cheeks, "I can't wait to meet you!"