Chapter 52: The Sharpening of a Claw
Shouta Aizawa was angry. Granted, he was always in a bad mood, but he was very angry this morning. The reason? Two days ago, he had met Izuku Midoriya, also known as Spider-Man. Now, the man would admit that he probably overreacted two days ago when he had met the teen, or more precisely, the teen's mother, Inko Midoriya. What followed was a disaster, one that had been boiling for some time. After all, after finding out that Izuku Midoriya had been influencing his class into being vigilantes, got the teacher humiliated and kicked out of FEAST, and now the teen's mother had made Aizawa lose power in his class, things had turned into a total disaster for Shouta Aizawa.
Not only that, thanks to the teen's mother, Nezu was about to get his paws on his current best student, Katsuki Bakugo. Aizawa would admit the kid still needed a ton of work, in particular his attitude, but his drive...he had good grades and a true drive to be a hero! That was so rare! And yet, that too was now being messed with.
As such, the man was not in a good mood. At least he could admit that there was one good thing about to happen: He had a new tool to get his class in shape. They were nowhere near ready for final exams. Heck, they were just lucky in the sports festival this year. However, that would change since Nezu had still agreed to let him use the Top Four third years as teaching assistants. This led to where he was now, stomping down the hallway to his classroom. He could hear the students talking though, meaning they were still not alert enough. How annoying.
Taking a deep breath, he stopped at the room's door and grabbed the handle. And as he shifted the frame to the side, the students zipped to their seats, silence instantly hitting the room.
"Two seconds." Aizawa grumbled as he walked up to the podium in the room, "Villains would have still killed half of you, but you're doing slightly better." The class flinched at this as they saw their teacher's face, his usual bored expression now showing something they hadn't seen before: Genuine anger. That alone made at least half of them internally gulp as Aizawa let out a long sigh before saying, "Two things this morning for homeroom."
His eyes shifted over to Katsuki Bakugo, the anger slightly receding as he spoke up, "The first thing is you, Bakugo." The student raised an eyebrow at this, one of the few not showing fear on his face. "Principal Nezu wants to speak with you this morning before regular classes start." He pointed to the door, the teen letting out a 'tch' before getting up and pacing out of the room, the teacher glancing back at his students, "Don't ask what it's about."
A moment of silence followed this, Aizawa taking a small breath before speaking again, "Alright, now to the second thing. As you know, its one month before final exams. As such, we at UA usually put the students through the paces in order to prepare them. However..." Aizawa's eyes squinted at this, a glare behind them, "At your current rate, all of you are going to fail."
Fear washed over the whole room, some going wide-eyed as others opened their mouths to speak. However, nothing came out as Aizawa glared at them, the stare enough to keep them all quiet as he continued, "You are all not even close to being successful first years. Due to this, I originally asked the principal if I could expel all of you and blacklist you all from every hero school in the country." He let that statement sit for a second as he saw almost every student shiver in their seats. Students like Ashido and Kaminari were filled with fear, while the quieter students were taken aback by the ruthless proclamation. Good. That fear would push them to do better. Aizawa let out a low grumble at this, "However, due to a certain...incident, my request was rejected, so I have to stick to a plan B."
The students knew that this was part of his tactics, the fear of expelling to push the students. They had seen it firsthand with his quirk exams at the start of the semester, where he did actually expel a student. Granted, there was a chance this was nothing but a lie, a deception he loved to use, but it was still very possible this was real in the students' minds. It was the very thing that kept them all in check in the teacher's eyes.
As such, the students knew not to question it, instead listening as Aizawa added, "So...in order to fix this, I have whip you all into shape to pass the final exams. To do this, I've been given a special weapon to help prepare you for the tests." He turned and walked over to the class's door and opened it, glancing outside as he muttered out, "Come in."
One by one, four individuals walked into the room. The first was a girl with long striking purple hair with a big shining grin on her face. "Hello! I'm the third-year Nejire Hado!" She exclaimed while doing a short bow. "Nice to meet you all!"
And as she opened her mouth to say more, a second individual shuffled in. This one had short indigo colored hair, pointed ears, and a deep frown on his face. He shivered at the sight of the first-year students, only to spin around and mutter out, "I'm Tamaki Amajiki...also a third-year."
The students all blinked at this, unable to hear the young man. Seeing this, Nejire hopped in front of him and said, "That's Amajiki. He's a bit shy." Her grin grew at this, "Don't worry, he's here to help like the rest of us."
"Us?" Tsuyu spoke up, the first student in the class to say anything since Aizawa had entered the room.
"That's right!" exclaimed a third student as he strided into the room. This one was tall, with striking blonde hair designed to look like a cowlick, and had the plainest face possible. His eyes in particular looked like old cartoon beady eyes, and he had a big grin on his face. "My name is Mirio Togata, and myself along with these two are the Top Four of UA!"
The first-year students just stared at the trio, Aizawa letting out a small cough before anyone could say anything. "As you can see, these are all third-years, and they will be helping you with your training. Like they said, they're the top four, meaning they placed in top places in the sports festival, that being gold, silver and two of them tied for bronze." The teacher leaned over his podium and stared at the classroom door, "Say, why hasn't he walked in yet?''
Mirio turned to the door, "No idea. He was right behind me before we-"
"Sorry!" a fourth third-year said as they suddenly appeared in the doorway, the student putting away his phone in his pocket. "Last minute message." And as he stated what he was doing, the young man walked into the room. Just like the other three, he was wearing the typical school outfit for UA, though his main features were also entirely different from the other third-years. This individual had a very short yet striking hair, its colors being a combination of red and black, complete with a wavy-like complexion. His face was simplistic with slightly pointed characteristics, in particular being his eyebrows, which could almost be described as pointy and thick, but not quite there. Finally, his smile was simple yet pleasant, his teeth a nice shining white as he came to a stop right beside Mirio Togata and grinned at the class.
"Hello everyone, I'm also one of the Top Four. The name's Harry Osborn."
A few hours later...
The one called Izuku Midoriya fired a small webline as he swung across a few blocks. It was mid-day now, as he slept in that morning. He had honestly slept all yesterday, his body's healing factor repairing his body while trying to get any ounce of energy after the horrible day he had just had. Even now, that day was replaying in the teen's head, the death, surprises, and everything in between.
'But at least I got something out of it.' he thought as he swung down another block. The teen was wearing his usual Spider-Man attire, which his mom had helped stitch back up. However, the mask's lens was still broken, something he put down in his notebook to get fixed later. As such, he then took a sharp left while he pulled out his phone and stared at a map app. It had a certain location marked, one that Nezu had given him. The very idea of just following orders from someone to become a hero was still a bit foreign to the teen as he mindlessly kept webswinging, but he knew this was what he had to do now. And as he went down another street, a small yawn escaped his breath before a new thought went through his head, 'Okay Izuku, this is your first step to getting into UA and becoming a hero. It's what you've been trying to do ever since you started being Spider-Man. You can't mess this up...or anything else.'
With that statement going through his head, he thought back to when he had met Nezu.
Two days ago...
"Now, we still have quite a bit to talk about, but considering your...condition, I suppose that can wait." Nezu commented after he had shaken hands with the teen.
Izuku shook his head at this, "No, I'm okay. I'm just..." He let out a long sigh, "Tired." The teen got up from the couch at this, "Please, at least let me show you what I've got on the Kingpin...though it honestly isn't much."
"Very well." Nezu replied while hopping off his chair, "And if you don't mind, I'd also like to see this spider that bit you."
"Sure." Izuku responded as he slowly shuffled over to his room, everyone now noticing how the teen was slightly off balance. It seemed the long day had really hurt him more than he was showing. Despite this, he directed the stoat in, Inko following along next. Naomasa and Aizawa came after that, the latter glaring at the room before him. What followed was Izuku showing Nezu his notebooks, along with the photos he had taken from Li's hidden office. Nezu had Izuku put the photos and notes onto an usb drive, which Nezu somehow had on his person.
After that, Izuku showed the stoat his notes on the spider, along with the insect in the bottle. Taking it, Nezu glared at the vial before putting it away, telling the teen he would have some chemists and biologists take a look at the dead bug. And as he did this, he pulled out a small device to give the teen.
"Here. This is a specialized burner phone that will only call to me." Izuku stared down at the phone, only for Nezu to add, "You'll use it to contact me. We'll need it to be off main connections due to...well, let's just say the commission love trying to see my phone calls."
"Okay." Izuku replied as he took the phone. He then glanced up at his desk, staring at his equipment before looking back down at Nezu, "Say um...could I ask you something?"
"Absolutely."
"Well...it's actually two things." Nezu tilted his head at this, wondering where Izuku was going as the teen continued, "First, if um...if I'm going after this Kingpin guy and you said that if I do that, I can go to UA, well...is there uh...you see..." Izuku glanced away, his face slightly flushing before asking, "Is uh...is there any way I could have access to the support lab at UA?"
The stoat blinked once at this, his eyes then glancing around the room. He once again saw the equipment Izuku had scrapped together, as if it was a small lab made from a junkyard. Humming to himself, he replied, "You wish to create support equipment to help yourself as Spider-Man?"
"Yeah." Izuku responded while nodding. "As you can see, I uh..." the teen glanced away as he muttered out, "I...dumpster dive a lot for my stuff."
Nezu let out a small chuckle, "I can see that." The stoat then shook his head, "I will admit that the request is sound, but I won't be able to get you into UA as you are now."
Izuku's head spun back to Nezu, "What?! But-"
"I'm sorry. In order for you to pass the UA barrier, you'll have to be in our system." Nezu interrupted, "That includes our databases, which the hero commission does check regularly. Its part of...well, its just part of the hero system in place." Izuku opened his mouth at this, only for the stoat to flash a paw, "That being said, I won't leave you out to dry. It will take a bit, but just because I can't put you in the system yet, it doesn't mean I can't send support item parts to you."
Izuku went wide-eyed at that last statement, Nezu shining his usual grin at this, "We'll discuss what you want later. Now, what's the second request?"
"Well..." Izuku began to twiddle his thumbs at this, "Its about what happened earlier tonight. You see, there was this girl named Eri..."
The Present...
Izuku fired another webline, zipping over a street block. Another hour or two had passed, the afternoon sky now appearing. Nighttime was soon approaching, and even though he had been webswinging for a while now, he knew it was best to do this at night. After all, it was the best way to avoid any...heroes coming after him. That was still quite new to him, the fact that the hero commission had declared him a threat, and Nezu had warned him that heroes would eventually come after the teen.
However, that wasn't all on his mind, as he remembered something else. It was when he had asked Nezu about Eri, only to get two sentences in response.
"You said Ryukyu saved this Eri, correct? Well, she is an alumni of UA, so I should be able to contact her about the girl."
That was all Izuku could get about Eri. Granted, he wanted a lot more, but also knew the girl was probably in the hospital right now. The thought alone had made him come to a stop, taking out one of his notebooks, this one over villains he had encountered since becoming a vigilante. Opening it, he turned to a certain page, this one being on the villain known as the Chameleon. Unlike other entries, he had actually included a drawing, the sketch being of the blonde-haired individual that he had fought that night, complete with his beady eyes, cowlick hair, and that mockery of a hero costume he wore. That and several arrows pointing at the drawing with the words 'pure evil' and 'must find' nearby.
'Chameleon...I forgot to ask Nezu about him.' He snapped the notebook shut, 'Then again, I should probably consider Chameleon a separate case like I did with Gentle Criminal or Tombstone. One I'll figure out in my own time.'
The teen put the notebook away at this, letting out a small sigh before taking out the special burner phone Nezu had given him. This one had a single text, which showed the address: 100 Ryloth Street before a few other details. The text went over how this location was a warehouse in a district that heroes, both spotlight and underground, could not touch. The building in question was, on the books at least, technically hero commission owned property, though Nezu had explained that most places Izuku would be going to would be considered as such.
'This Kingpin guy has that much power, huh?' he thought as he stared at the nearby building, seeing the street address number on it. The warehouse was more long than wide, and was basically wide open. 'I don't see anyone on the roof. Better be safe and turn invisible though. Still...seems wild that villains can just openly go to a place like this while All Might is out there. Guess that's why I have to do this to get into UA.'
Turning invisible, Izuku fired a webline before swinging over to the rooftop of the building. He landed on the side, knowing the top would make too much noise before crawling down to a nearby window. Squinting at this, he stared inside and saw...well, what looked like a warehouse filled with boxes. Blinking at this, he stared at the mountains of crates, only for the sounds of a vehicle approaching to ring out. Turning to the side, he now saw a large semi-truck come to a stop by the warehouse before going in reverse, soon turning and placing its back into the main doors of the warehouse. Seeing this, Izuku invisibly crawled over to the main giant doors of the warehouse, holding in his breath for a second.
'What's this?' the teen mentally asked as he watched a large man hop out of the semi a second later. The man was large and bulky, complete with a rough face, giant boots, and a brown leather jacket with a bear logo on the back. He was wearing what looked like a permanent snarl on his face as he walked up to a group of thugs inside the warehouse.
"Alright boys, Hammerhead wants some of this stuff moved pronto! Get to it!"
"You got it boss!" the thugs all replied before moving over to the mountains of crates.
'Hammerhead? Who's that?' Izuku thought before feeling his invisibility start to fade. Sensing his brain couldn't take concentrating to stay invisible much longer, he quickly crawled through the top of the giant warehouse door and slithered up to the rafters of the warehouse before turning visible. 'Oof...that was close.'
Seeing no one had saw him, the teen pulled out a notebook and quicky wrote down the name 'Hammerhead' before putting the journal away. His eyes scanned the full building now, the lights coming on as the night's sky began to appear as the sun set. And as he did this, he saw one of the crates in the middle of the warehouse was open, allowing the teen to see what was inside.
'Guns! And really big ones...' he thought as he watched two henchmen put a lid on a box filled with what looked like a set of rifles. The teen's eyes squinted as he gazed over the whole area, watching more thugs take crates into the semi. There was around ten men or so, making it look like this was some quick job for them. Seeing this, Izuku began to think about why he was there. 'Mister Nezu said this place was one of the most known operations from the underground crowd...wait, are they gun smuggling? Is that what this is?!'
And as he watched another crate be lifted into the large truck, the teen reached into his hoodie and pulled out a pair of web cartridges. 'Better fill up first.' He refilled the webbing in his shooters a second later before glancing around again. 'Now...how should I do this?'
As that thought went through his head, he remembered what Nezu had told him after giving him the location. The stoat had called him for this first mission earlier today, saying he knew the teen would need to understand how to catch these criminals that for all intents and purposes, could get away with their crimes normally. This was why the stoat gave Izuku the special burner phone. Essentially, Izuku would have to catch all the thugs he could, then call the police as an 'anonymous' tip. Or a Spider-Man tip, as Nezu told him it didn't really matter, as the police would have to respond since there was now a bounty on the vigilante.
Due to this, Izuku stared down at the thugs below, soon staring at the man with the bear logo on his jacket. 'He's got to be the leader. Guess I should start with him.' He thought before his eyes caught something in the corner of the warehouse. It was a thug walking around a mountain of crates, now out of sight of everyone else. The man pulled out a cigarette and lighter, the teen blinking at the sight. 'Then again, maybe I should try what I did at Tombstone's hideout again. If I can knock a few of these guys out without anyone noticing, it'll make my job easier.' He flinched at his own thoughts, 'Wait...did I just call this my job?' The teen put a hand to his chin, 'Huh. I...guess it is. At least, so I can get into UA.'
His brain began to think about the heroic school, the chance of meeting his greatest hero All Might now swimming through his head. That was a dream come true. Not only that, he began to see the images of Ochako, Tsuyu, Iida, Kirishima, and Ashido. More began to appear, the teen smiling at the thought. They were all there...only for the image of Bakugo to appear.
"You'll never be hero!"
The teen flinched at the sudden memory, his body almost beginning to move. He stopped himself before even trying to lose balance, the teen now rapidly shaking his head before taking several deep breaths. 'No. That's not you. Mister Nezu believes in you...you can get into UA. You...you...'
"Alright, that's it!" yelled a voice, making Izuku shift himself back into reality. He glanced down and saw the large man pointing at a few thugs. "Just put the next few in and then we'll head out. Hammerhead needs the extra muscle tonight."
'So much for stealth. I gotta stop distracting myself.' Izuku thought while staring down at the thugs, 'Guess I should join the party. I think I got a quip or two in mind.' He tensed up his muscles at this, ready to hop down, only for a bulb to go off in his head. 'Actually, before I do that...' The teen reached into his hoodie again and took out a small spider tracer, placing it in his shooter before firing it at the bumper of the semi. 'That might help in the long run.'
Cricking his neck next, the teen pointed his wrists at two thugs that were transporting the last box into the semi. They had just picked it up and began to walk over, only for two globs of webbing to hit their feet. "Augh!" they both yelped as they hit the floor a split second later, the box's top flying off as the weapons inside fell out.
"What the-what are you two doing?!" The bear jacket man yelled.
"Sorry boss! We just-" one of the thugs replied as he tried to get up, only to feel something tugging his foot. "What the-I can't get up!" The thug glanced down at his feet, his eyes going wide as he saw the webbing, "What the heck is that?!"
"What? What is it?" the other thug asked.
"It's my calling card." chimed in a voice, "Just like these little gifts of mine."
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Several strands of webbing hit the two thugs that had just been tripped, the webs now sticking them to the floor. Flinching at this, the bear jacket man glanced up, only to see a certain spider-themed vigilante hop off a rafter and fire another webline. And with a wide-angled swing, he slammed his feet into a third thug as he exclaimed, "Web Swing Kick!"
"Its Spider-Man!" yelled another thug.
"Get him!" screeched the bear jacket man while pointing at the vigilante.
"I got him!" exclaimed another as they charged at the teen just as he landed from his earlier kick. The thug's hands turned into what looked like morning stars as he thrusted both at the vigilante. He swung the two at Izuku's head, his spider sense yelling before he ducked under the attack. A punch to the thug's face came next, knocking him off his feet.
This was followed by two more thugs opening a nearby crate. They grabbed a rifle each, only for Izuku to see this and fire two weblines, the webbing hitting the weapons before both thugs felt themselves being yanked. The two let out yelps as they were tugged off their feet and head-first into the box of guns, only for more webbing to hit their now exposed backs, sticking them to the crate.
"And that's another two webbed up." Izuku commented before glancing over to the rest of the warehouse, seeing only three more men, along with the bear jacket thug. "Who's next?"
"Me." the bear jacketed man replied before pointing to the semi. "Get going. I'll handle this."
"You got it boss!" one of the remaining thugs responded before cutting into a sprint.
"Not so fast!" Izuku exclaimed as he fired another line of webbing, only for the bear jacket man to suddenly side-step and reach out and grab the webline, his right hand seemingly slicing the webbing in two. Seeing the webs fall to the floor a second later, Izuku felt himself almost backpedal as he glanced back at the man. "Or not..."
"Name's Grizzly, bug." the thug said as he removed his jacket in one quick motion. As he did this, his hands began to change, morphing into large brown claws. The nails were pearly white and sharp, extending to be several inches while whole body began to bulk up. Brown fur appeared all over his face, turning his once human head into a bear head, a loud snarl escaping his breath. Izuku stared at the man as he grew about a foot in just a few seconds, seeing the clothes on the thug's body now stretching to fill out this transformation quirk he had just activated.
'Uh-oh.'
"Time to die, bug!" Grizzly roared before charging at the vigilante. Spider sense screaming at him at this, Izuku fired two weblines upward, quickly yanking himself just as the villain got close. Barely dodging a claw swipe, Izuku fired another webline, swinging himself across the warehouse. And as he did this, the sounds of a truck starting rang out, making he glance over and see that the rest of the thugs had closed the semi's back and were now fleeing in the truck. He then glanced down, seeing his tracer was still on it, making him smile before turning back to Grizzly.
'Okay Izuku, you can do this. You've fought big villains like this before, you can do it again!' he thought before the thug charged at him again. A claw went straight for the vigilante's head, Izuku letting his spider sense take over as he reflexively ducked under the attack. This was followed before a side-step as Grizzly thrusted a second claw, Izuku quickly dodging the blow. Electricity began to charge in his right hand at this, Izuku pulling back a fist a split-second later.
"Venom Punch!" the teen yelled as he thrust the punch right into the thug's chest.
"Raugh!" Grizzly yelled as the fist made contact, electricity surging through his body due to this blow. And as he got hit, his whole form slid back just an inch, but the thug kept his balance as the lightly sparked around him. "You little-" He thrust another claw at Izuku, the teen ducking again.
Danger!
As Izuku ducked under the attack, a giant bulky knee suddenly slammed into his face, knocking the teen stumbling back, only for a diagonal claw swipe to come next. Spider sense yelling at him, Izuku began to backpedal, the claw's nails almost nicking the teen as he tried to regain his balance. But before he could, a boot slammed into his stomach, smacking the teen off his feet.
"Blaugh!" he yelped as his back hit the floor. Eyes now closed as he felt pain strike his body, the same boot from before slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He felt the boot begin to push down a second later, causing the teen to slowly open his eyes.
There, he saw the villain grinning at the sight, the thug soon laughing before pointing at the teen. "HA! This is the great Spider-Man?! You're weak! AHAHAHA!" he guffawed, putting a hand to his stomach in laughter, "To think this is what some of my boys are afraid of." His grin grew at this, "This little...weak, worthless bug."
And as those words hit the teen's ears, more memories surfaced. It was the usual. It was Bakugo, telling him he was worthless. Telling him that he was nothing, and would never be anything. Telling him to kill himself.
It was always like that. No matter how much he tried, it would always lead back to that.
That is, till new words appeared in his head.
"You are my son, and if I say you have worth, you have worth! You are a sweet, intelligent and brilliant boy with a kind heart that's so big that I don't know how it fits in your body."
"You're my hero, you're Himiko's hero, and....and you were born to be a hero."
And as those words from his mother surfaced, Izuku saw Grizzly pull back one of his claws, ready to thrust it into the teen's face. Closing his eyes at this, the thug saw the eye in the open lens close, making him grin. "Too easy." he chuckled as he prepared to go for the kill.
That is, till Izuku raised both hands and grabbed the thug's boot currently resting on the teen's chest. And before the thug could react, the vigilante yelled out, "VENOM SHOCK!"
Electricity instantly consumed the leg, making Grizzly let out a scream of pain as the lightning surged up his body. He began to stumble back at this, electricity sparking all over him. "AAAAAAHHHH!" he yelped as the visible brown fur on his body began to tense up, making him continue to backpedal. And as he did this, Izuku scrambled to his feet, only to see the electricity calm down around the thug's body. But as this happened, Izuku charged at the thug and slammed a fist into the villain's face, only for another punch to hit the thug's gut.
"Blugh!" Grizzly spat out as the fist pushed him back. His reflexes kicked in at this, quickly trying to thrust at claw at the vigilante's head, only for Izuku to duck under it and slam another jab into the villain's face. "Blaugh! You little-"
"Lights out, hairy." Izuku responded as electricity covered his right hand, "Venom Punch!"
POW!
A fist slammed into Grizzly's face, lightning zapping his whole body at the same time as he was knocked off his feet. There was no scream this time, only a grunt as the thug felt his back now smack the floor. And as he landed, Izuku pointed both wrists at the man, webbing coming out a second later. It wasn't long till the bear thug was covered in webbing from neck to toe.
"You...you little-" Grizzly growled as he tried to move against the sticky substance, only to find he couldn't move an inch. "You're a dead man! You got that bug?! When I get out of this, I'm gonna rip you in half!"
But those threats fell on deaf ears as Izuku stumbled over to a nearby wall, placing a hand on it and balancing himself as he felt the adrenaline wear off. And as he did this, the bear man now starting yelling profanities, ones that would make some grown men blush. However, that didn't really affect the teen as he stared back at the work he had just done. Basically, all the thugs that he had caught were still webbed up, and he had beaten what he presumed was the biggest threat in the building.
'I did it. I...I actually did it. Just like Mister Nezu said.' He smiled underneath his mask, 'I stood my ground and won. How about that.' He let out a chuckle as he walked out of the building, only to remember those words his mother had said to him, ones that had pushed him to keep fighting. "Thanks mom." he muttered to himself, "I couldn't do it without you."
The teen let out a long breath at this, only for another thought to enter his head. 'Time to call the police...and then probably Mister Nezu.' He glanced back at the warehouse, 'Not bad for my first mission to take down the Kingpin.'
An hour or so later...
A small, almost delicate hand grabbed a desk drawer knob, pulling it back to reveal a thin tall bottle of whiskey. The hand gripped the vial's side and placed it on top of the desk, a long sigh coming from the hand's owner. It was the hero commission president, a long brooding expression on her face as she filled a small glass with the alcohol.
Taking a sip of whiskey a second later, she muttered out, "Why can't anything go right these days?" She slammed the glass down on the desk, a low growl escaping her mouth, "I've worked my hide off for years to create a perfect heroic society. I've done so much...and yet its barely hanging on." Her eyes glanced up at a screen in her room, the monitor showing a picture of Spider-Man, along with a police report about one of the commission's properties being raided by the cops. "Blasted vigilante..."
And as she poured another bit of whiskey, her desk slightly vibrated, making her turn to her phone. Seeing the shaking device, she picked it up and saw the number on it. "Oh great." She groaned as she tapped the screen before putting the phone to her ear, "Yes? What do you need, Mister Fisk?"
A low grumbly voice replied through the phone, the president putting a hand to her forehead and sighing as she listened to the man. Taking another sip of whiskey, she responded, "I know. And as I've told you before, I'm bringing in one of my best agents to deal with the vigilante." More noise came through the phone, the woman taking another drink in response before replying, "Yes. They'll be here soon."
Another minute later, the call ended as the woman let out a long sigh. She put her head in her hands as she leaned over her desk, "Ugh...what a mess."
"Seems there's always a mess when you ask for me." chimed in another voice, the president opening her eyes at this. Glancing up, she saw the owner of the voice. She was tall woman with long silver colored hair, the individual being someone that most would consider to be young and beautiful. She was wearing a white bodysuit and jacket, along with a belt with a holstered pistol on both sides. A few knives were also on that belt, along with a vest holster going across her body diagonally. The woman put her hand down on the right holster as she added, "Silver Sable, reporting for duty."
Chapter 53: The Targeted Web
The sound of delicate yet firm footsteps rang out as a certain individual walked down a sidewalk. To most walking by, the person would seem natural in this quirk-filled world. They were wearing a thin white overcoat, one designed for the more spring into summer-like weather, which accompanied their long flowing silver hair. Her name is Silvija Sablinova, though the few that know her know the woman by her other name: Silver Sable. As such, she was walking down this certain sidewalk for one simple reason: Her mission, which was to find and kill the one called Spider-Man.
"Tch." She muttered as she took a sharp right, her eyes glancing up to see a giant warehouse coming into view. Around it was a few police cars, along with a strand or two of long yellow tape. She had been given the rundown of the situation already by her boss, the hero commission president. Spider-Man had attacked a warehouse that the commission owned, which contained what the commission considered to be 'private arms and goods' that were sometimes 'borrowed' by 'other organizations'.
In other words, criminals smuggling guns.
Now, Sable knew all about the hero commission's dirty deals. You would have to be fool to not know as soon as you started working for them. However, the commission also had something the woman wanted. It was goal that she had been trying to accomplish the past few years by doing dirty jobs for the commission: The release of her master, Lady Nagant. Due to the 'incident' that caused her master to be sent to Tartarus, the courts had put Lady Nagant under a triple life sentence. A ridiculous sentence to be sure, as she had been arrested for killing one person, but Sable didn't know that part. All she knew was that her master had turned against the commission, and had paid a price for it.
As such, she was now the commission's new Lady Nagant, one that does the dirty jobs. She takes out the trash that no one else would, and every job meant a few years off her master's sentence. That also included this job, which if she succeeded, would mean another ten years off her master's sentence. Due to this, she came to a stop at the warehouse and took out a small badge, showing it to a police officer behind the yellow tape. He took it and squinted his eyes, only to gesture for another officer to come over.
"Silver...Sable." one officer read as the other stared at the woman. His eyes went up and down, a slight blush on his face as he saw how beautiful she actually was, only for his thoughts to be interrupted as the reading officer turned to him and asked, "Think she's real?"
"Huh?" the officer glanced over at him before looking back at Sable, a grin shining on his face, "Nah. I think she's fake."
"Excuse me?" Sable instantly responded, her voice sounding sharp and precise.
"Yeah..." he looked her over again before licking his lips. He then leaned over to the other officer and whispered, "Come on, do you think the commission would bring some hot chick to a place like this? Heck, just look at her."
The other officer stared at her now, admiring what he saw...except her face. Her face was showing a cold hard expression, one that looked like she could slit your throat any second. Intimidated for a bit, only for his eyes to glance back down, the man soon showing the same smirk the other officer was wearing. Chuckling to himself, he pointed at the badge, "So uh...Miss Silver Sable. Sorry, but I don't think you're a hero."
"And why would you think that?" she replied, her response just as instant as last time.
"Well...I've never heard of ya. And if you're that good lookin', I'm pretty sure I would have heard of ya." The first officer cackled.
"Yeah!" the second officer guffawed, "I mean, yeah the commission would definitely hire you for your looks, but I've never heard of you either. But since we're such nice guys, we'll give two options: Either leave right now or..." He licked his lips again, "Well, we could make an extra fun exception if you want."
Sable didn't respond to this, her eyes glaring holes at the men as she stared at their expressions. It had been a while since this happened, but she wasn't surprised. With everything she had already seen in her life, this was no different. Holding back a sigh, she leaned over the tape and presented her hand, "Give me back my badge." The two officers stared at the hand before one of them gave the badge back with the biggest grin on their face.
"So is that a no to the exception?" the other chuckled.
"No, I decided for a third option."
Both officers' grins disappeared at this, one asking, "Third?"
"Yeah." Sable replied as she stared at the duo. The officers blinked at this, only to notice her blue eyes turn white for a second. Their brains instantly told them that she was using her quirk...only for both to feel a sharp pain in their necks as she side-chopped them both with her right hand. The two hit the dirt a second later, their bodies slightly shaking before losing consciousness.
"Pathetic." Sable spat as she then walked over the police tape, shaking her head as she headed inside the warehouse. Letting out a small breath, she glanced in and saw what was already reported to the commission: A warehouse filled with boxes containing 'private arms and goods', or in other words, weapons to be smuggled. Not only that, parts of the place were destroyed as signs of a fight were everywhere. Despite this, she had to admit that the police had taken good care of the crime scene despite how...incompetent those two from before were.
But that didn't matter. She was here to investigate, and even if she didn't find anything physical, she knew it would give her ideas as she whispered to herself, "Now, let's see what my new prey is all about."
The day truly began for Izuku when the phone Nezu had given him began to vibrate. The teen had slept in, only to wake up and do a few of his online classes. And just as he got finished, the device began to move, making him take it out and put it to his ear. "Hello?" he robotically said, only to hear a familiar voice.
"Hello young Midoriya. I must say, you are already proving yourself very well."
Izuku blinked at the compliment, soon asking, "What do you mean?"
A small chuckle came out of the phone before Nezu replied, "Don't worry about it. I was just complimenting on your success yesterday. That location has been on the radar for some time, but the hero commission has kept it down lock and key despite what it probably looked like."
The teen sank down in his chair at that statement, remembering yesterday's events, 'He's not wrong. It was pretty easy for me to get in there...though maybe that's because I am a vigilante.'
As Izuku had found out last night, Nezu contacted the police shortly after he had beaten Grizzly and was able to get a warrant going. Turns out, the fight had created just enough noise to make a disturbance, and with an 'extra anonymous tip' from Nezu, the police got the warehouse shut down in no time. Not only that, Izuku had found out that the one called Grizzly was a C-Rank villain that worked for an A-Rank villain named Hammerhead. Izuku had asked Nezu about Hammerhead that night after overhearing the name, only for Nezu to guide Izuku to the public villain database.
If Izuku was honest, it was half what he was expecting when he saw Hammerhead's profile. The man looked close to what you would guess with the quirk he wielded. Not only that, he was also a very public villain, one that moved around a lot in the underground scene, yet only had a few crimes on his rap sheet. Nezu explained to Izuku that Hammerhead was a villain that was good at making others do his dirty work, which meant they could take the fall for him very easily. It was why most couldn't catch him, as they never could get proper evidence.
Izuku just decided to add both to the villain notebook and put in they would just be part of his path to taking down Kingpin. With that in mind, his conversation with Nezu continued as the stoat asked, "So, you told me last night that you got one of the spider tracers, which by the way I love that name, on a semi that left that warehouse, correct?"
"Yeah." Izuku responded, instinctively nodding despite no one in the room with him.
"Alright. I had two more locations I want you to check that are part of Li's notes that you gave me, but if that semi was transporting the amount you said, we will delay that. Instead, I want you to skim the city and see if you can find that semi." Izuku's eyes glanced back at his desk, his tracer detection device sitting beside an empty web cartridge. Taking it in his hand, Nezu added, "Is that acceptable?"
"Sure." Izuku put the device back down, "I mean, you said to beat this Kingpin guy, we have to go for his wallet, right? Gun smuggling sounds like a big money maker."
"Oh, it is. Not as much as the drug trade, but it's still up there." Nezu chuckled, only for the sound of keys clicking to ring out, "One moment. I'll be right back."
As Izuku waited, he spun around in the chair and grabbed his mask that was also sitting on the desk. He had just put in a new lens, glad he could find something in such short notice. His eyes then glanced over to a certain piece of tech also sitting on the desk, the little bit he popped off of Fishbowl-Head's helmet. 'I still want to upgrade my stuff.'
"Sorry about that, but I'm back. Now-"
"Say uh...Mister Nezu?"
"Yes?"
"About the...support materials you said you could send me."
"You wish to make a request?" Nezu instantly chimed in, "I had a feeling you would, and considering you've already proven yourself by taking down one of Kingpin's places, I'll try and see what I can get you. What would you like first?"
Izuku stared at his mask again, then the piece he had chipped off the helmet before turning to his webshooters that were also sitting on the desk. Humming to himself, he soon responded, "I...want to improve my webshooters. Can I text you a small list through the phone you gave me?"
"Absolutely. Anymore questions?"
"Yeah." Izuku's eyes went back to his mask, "I was gonna ask if you got any update on Eri."
There was a moment of silence after this question, only for Nezu to respond, "If I'm honest, I haven't gotten anything yet. It seems Ryukyu has been...very busy these past few days."
Meanwhile...
The Dragoon Hero was slowly walking through a hospital walkway with a cup filled with coffee in her hand as she took a sharp right. A second later, she came to a stop in front of a door before taking the knob and twisting it. Opening it a moment later, she peeked in to see a certain white-haired girl laying down in a bed, white sheets covering her. Small, almost silent snores were escaping the little one's breath as she lay there sleeping.
"Still nothing?" She asked a nurse that was sitting standing beside the bed.
The nurse shook their head. "No. She hasn't responded ever since we had to...you know."
"I know." The statement made Ryukyu grimace as a certain memory played in her head. After they had rescued the poor girl that night, they had taken her instantly here to hospital. The doctors were thankfully swift, quickly examining the girl and finding how both malnourished and just badly injured the little one was. In particular, there was a nasty bruise on her face, obviously from a fist to the face, and she looked like she was seconds from death. All the heroes that had brought her were disgusted at how Chisaki could have done this to such a tiny child. Crust cried over and over, Mr. Brave and Fatgum muttering how horrible it was while Rock Lock whispered that he would never let his child be like that.
However, things somehow got worse when Eri woke up. The girl instantly started screaming and thrashing, trying to escape without explaining why she was so scared. In response, Ryukyu tackled and hugged the girl, the warmness of the woman slowly calming the girl down...only for her to fall asleep.
She hadn't responded since then, and as such, Ryukyu agreed to watch over her if the other heroes would do the paperwork, all agreeing to do so. As such, she had been going back and forth with the hospital, as Nighteye had came a day ago and told the hero that the girl could still be in danger, so a solution would be needed. Ryukyu didn't like his attitude, but she knew he was probably right. Unfortunately, he wouldn't try to help with the solution part, saying he needed to investigate everything that had happened that night. As such, she was stuck, but also knew that until the girl was better, she wasn't going to let anything bother her.
"I still haven't gotten any response."
"I see." Izuku sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Well, I uh...sorry Mister Nezu, but I need to eat lunch first. Then I can go and find the tracer."
"Don't apologize for having to eat, young Midoriya." Nezu chuckled, "Take your time. Don't think you have to rush everything. There is a lot of work to do, and its something you can't just instantly do in one go."
"I understand." Izuku replied before slumping down, "And uh...Mister Nezu?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. For...you know, giving me a chance to become a hero."
Izuku could feel the smile on Nezu's face as the stoat replied, "You don't have to thank me for that. Now, go eat and prepare for the rest of your day. Until we talk again."
"Got it. Thanks."
With that, the phone let out a click, ending the conversation. Izuku cracked a smile at this, quickly texting Nezu a list of supplies before getting up and walking out of his room. And as he did this, the smell of food hit his nose, making it twitch as he turned to see his mother and Himiko already at the dining table.
"Just in time." Inko chuckled as she put a plate of food down. "Did you get your schoolwork done?"
"Yeah." Izuku replied as he walked over and sat down, "I was just uh...talking to Mister Nezu."
"Already got you working hard, doesn't he?" Inko asked as Izuku made a plate of food.
"Yup." Izuku responded before fixing his plate. "Thanks mom."
"No problem." Inko giggled as she sat down. The woman saw the calm smile on her son's face, something that she hadn't seen in quite a while, just like every other happy expression he would show recently. This one was a bit...shallow though. As if there was a bit of an edge to it. She figured it was because he still hadn't really gotten over some of the things that had happened recently, in particular Martin Li, but she knew better. This was Izuku's 'work mode', which meant he was focused, even if it was technically a distraction for himself.
As for Himiko, the girl started eating as she watched Izuku. Himiko had to admit, every day she realized more and more how similar she was to him. Izuku was just like her in terms of their place in the world. She was rejected due to her quirk, and Izuku was rejected due to not having one. He constantly kept a shell around himself, and even if he wanted to come out of it, he kept himself hidden. It was if Izuku needed to find a certain someone, perhaps someone he idolized to really make him come out of his shell and become something more. Until then, he kept himself to himself, something she had great experience with.
The difference was that Izuku was trying every way to escape that. She wanted that too...but she also knew why she had such problems with escaping. She didn't trust anyone. Granted, she didn't know if Izuku had trust issues, but he seemed like a trusting person compared to her, but that wasn't it though. Izuku was a good person, unlike her. He was a good guy in a world that treated him like garbage. A world that hated him...and that world hated her too. It was like an unending bad dream, but Izuku was trying to find a way to wake up while she just sat there.
'Maybe one day...' she thought as she continued to eat. And as she did this, Inko stared at her, only to mentally sigh and shake her head.
'These two...' Inko thought before taking a sip of a drink, only for her mind to no longer think about anything else. She decided today, she would just enjoy eating with the two.
A few minutes later, Izuku was finished. The teen quickly put the plate away, thanking his mom before retreating to his room. And as he did this, Himiko spoke up, "He's going out again, isn't he?"
"He is." Inko replied, nodding. "And before you ask, both of us can't stop him."
"I know." Himiko responded before finishing her food. "Think he'll still be able to come with me on my court date?"
"Of course." Inko nodded before giving the girl a small smirk, "I'll make sure of it."
"I'm going out!" Izuku chimed in as he poked his head out of his room, his face already covered by his Spider-Man mask.
"Be careful!" Inko replied as Izuku shut the door behind himself. Taking a deep breath, the teen checked his webshooters one more time before turning invisible and slipping out his window. Closing it as well, he crawled up the building before firing a webline, soon swinging into the city.
"Alright little spider tracer." Izuku commented to himself as he reached into his hoodie and pulled out a small gadget. "Where are you?"
A teen with long dark green hair sat at a cafeteria table, her face showing a mild frown as she tried to eat the food on her plate. She had just gone through one of the harshest classes ever. It was a combat trial, where the class she was part of would battle four third-years while also being attacked by her teacher at certain intervals. The teacher deemed it as 'random unfairness' that would happen once they were out in the field. To her, it felt more like the teacher was doing this just because he could, not because it was a lesson. The girl's name is Tsuyu Asui, and she was sitting beside her friends Ochako Uraraka and Tenya Iida, both who were showing even bigger frowns as they ate their lunches. A second later, three more people sat down at their table, all across from them.
"Hey everyone." muttered out a voice, the trio raising eyebrows as they saw the voice's owner. It was Mina Ashido, the usually peppiest member of their class. Though right now, she looked as if someone had taken all the fun out of her, along with her two friends now sitting beside her. One was Kirishima, who just looked exhausted, while the other was Hagakure Toru, who was invisible, but they could all tell based on her hunched over clothes that she was feeling what they were all feeling.
The trio didn't respond to Mina's 'hello', all just continuing to eat for a minute before Mina spoke up again, "So uh...does anyone know why Aizawa-sensei is on a warpath today? And yesterday?"
Everyone grimaced at that, Ochako replying, "I don't know, and I'm really afraid to ask."
"Same, kero." Tsuyu added as she took a sip of her drink, "He just suddenly came in angry yesterday, and it's like he's taking out his anger on us for some reason."
"No kidding." Kirishima responded as he gulped down a piece of beef, "Like, I'm all for the workout he's giving us, but it's almost too much."
"I hate it." Mina whined, slumping over and placing her head on the table, "It's like he went into 'super jerk' mode or something."
"Indeed." Iida chimed in, the group turning to the usual stiff student. They were surprised he would agree since out of all the students, he would try to follow everything UA did the most. Instead, he took a deep breath and said, "I do understand that our teacher wants to prepare us for the final exams in a month, but...it feels almost too far with these lessons."
"No kidding." Toru added, "I mean, I'm glad that the third years are so nice, but what Aizawa-sensei is having them do is too much." She shivered as she remembered getting attacked by several random 'boulders', which were just sandbags, while dodging the student Neijire Hado, who could shoot spiral energy blasts.
"Yeah. I mean, I really like that manly Togata guy, but the exercise we did was nuts." Kirishima commented as he remembered having to dodge Mirio's sneak attacks from under the ground as Aizawa fired tennis balls out of a machine at him.
The others began to complain as well, all going over how each exercise was too much. And as this happened, Tsuyu Asui stared at her friends before chiming in with the bluntest question she could think of, "Do you think it's because Bakugo was kicked out?"
All five turned to her at this, all not responding for a second. They remembered yesterday starting with Bakugo leaving the classroom...only to never come back. Then today came and he was still not in the classroom. It was like he was quietly removed, and Aizawa wouldn't say a single word about it. As such, Ochako tilted her head and asked, "Why do you think that, Tsu?"
"I don't know." Tsuyu replied while putting a finger to her chin, "Its just...its odd that the day he seemed to have left the class is the same day this all started happening with Aizawa-sensei."
The group all shared glances at this, Iida chiming in next, "I suppose. Though considering how Aizawa-sensei was acting yesterday, it didn't seem like that was the issue. It seemed to be when he said he wished to expel all of us."
"Do you really think he was going to do that?" Mina added, the group turning to her.
"I mean...he did it to that one guy on the first day." Ochako replied, "And we haven't seen Bakugo since. Maybe he got expelled too?"
Kirishima leaned back at this, "Dang. Hope that something else happened to Bakubro than getting expelled."
The students all frowned at this, all not wanting to acknowledge how naive sounding Kirishima was being at the moment. That is, except Tsuyu as she bluntly said, "I think he finally got in trouble for that awful attitude he has." Kirishima slightly glared at the girl, but his glare had no push to it. He knew the girl was always blunt, which was added as Tsuyu continued to speak, "Besides, even if he did get expelled, I don't see it stopping someone like him."
Everyone shared a glance at that, all knowing that Tsuyu was speaking the truth. And before they knew it, they were back to eating, soon finishing just as the lunch bell rang out. They still had a half of a school day ahead of them, and they knew it wasn't going to be easy.
Meanwhile...
Another hour passed as Izuku swung through the city, sighing to himself as he continued to stare at his tracking device. Landing on a nearby rooftop, he pulled out his phone at this, only to now see the time. He knew evening was coming, but the hours had passed by really quickly while webswinging.
Over the past few hours, Izuku had been mindlessly sweeping the city, trying to get any signal, only to run into petty crime after petty crime. He had stopped two muggings, a purse snatcher, and a car thief. Granted, they were all simple things that he probably should have left up to the police, but he also knew what Nezu had told him a day ago about his status as a vigilante. The voice of the stoat rang out in his head as he remembered something Nezu said after Izuku had reported beating Grizzly.
"Now, even though I want you to help me take down the Kingpin, I don't want you to stop being a vigilante. Don't think you just have to do what I say and go where I tell you to go. Trust your own morals and abilities, as they are just as important to any vigilante as they are to a hero."
Izuku couldn't help but think that those words were a bit...manipulative in a way, as his mom had warned him. She could tell Nezu wanted a lot from Izuku, and was against putting a ton on the teenager's plate. However, Izuku assured her that he could handle it. Or, at least he believed he could handle it.
As such, he was now staring at his phone, letting out a small sigh before saying his thoughts aloud, "Still nothing. Maybe I should go for a snack." He tapped the phone a few times, humming to himself, "What's around here that's good? Hmm...ah!" Izuku shined a grin under his mask at this, "There we go. Its a bit far, but webswinging will get me there lickety-split!"
The teen paused himself for a second there, wondering why he suddenly said such words before shaking his head. Pushing up the bottom of his mask, he tapped in a few numbers into the phone and spoke up, "Hey there, is this Edi's Pizza? I'd like to place a to-go order."
Another hour or so later...
"I see. Thank you, Mister Murdock." Inko responded into her cellphone before ending the conversation. She put the device into a pocket before turning to Himiko, the girl currently on the couch, going over some schoolwork she had missed when she had...left school for some time.
"Anything new?"
"No, not really." Inko replied as she sat down beside her, "Looks like Mister Murdock is friends with that principal, Nezu. He's agreed to help get even more evidence against your parents."
Himiko didn't respond to that, the girl boredly looking at the papers in front of her before writing on the bottom of one of them. She then took the papers and stacked them, letting out a sigh before slumping down on the couch. "Done."
"Oh? Good." Inko giggled as she took the pages, "I'll take to the school tomorrow. After that, you should be able to do everything else online like Izuku."
"Meh." Himiko muttered, only for Inko to hand her a bottle. The girl took it and began to drink, feeling the red liquid go into her system. She began to blush next as she glanced away, "Thank you."
"Of course." Inko chuckled as she put the papers away. "Now, about what we discussed earlier-"
"I don't wanna."
Inko let out a long sigh before shaking her head, "Himiko...you-"
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
A suddenly banging hit the front door, making the two turn to the sound. Both were wondering what it could be, only for the answer to suddenly ring out.
"DEKU! GET YOUR HIDE OUT HERE NOW!!!"
As that noise screeched out into the room, the two inside had completely different reactions. Himiko went almost wide-eyed before blurting out, "Who the heck is that?!"
And as she asked that, Inko's expression darkened. Himiko watched as the woman that had been so kind to her, who almost always showed this kind, though sometimes weary smile, suddenly morph her face into something else. Something Himiko had seen before on others, but never imagined it on Inko Midoriya's face. Granted, she had seen the woman angry, especially when she talked back to that Aizawa guy a few days ago, but nothing like this. This wasn't just anger on her face, it was pure hatred-filled rage.
Himiko opened her mouth, ready to ask if the woman was okay, only for Inko to hiss out, "Bakugo."
The word made Himiko's mind come to a stop. The name sounded familiar...only for a click to go off in her brain. Katsuki Bakugo. The guy she had described as somehow a 'former friend' for Izuku. And by 'friend', she meant a bully that beat Izuku for over a decade and convinced Izuku to kill himself. Not only that, Izuku was going to do it...only to get bitten by a spider that gave him superpowers.
It was quite the coincidence if one thought about it, but that wasn't on Himiko's mind at the moment. Instead, it was the sound of the front door getting hit repeatedly.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
"GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"
Himiko opened her mouth to say something again, this time asking if she should handle the door beater, only to see Inko slowly ascend from the couch. Her face gave the old saying 'if looks could kill' a run for its money as she slowly made her way to the door, only to glance back at Himiko. "Don't. Let me handle this."
The girl stared at the woman for a second, only to now notice she had a knife in one of her hands. Flinching at this, she put the weapon away and nodded, "Got it."
"Thank you." Inko replied as she spun back around and slowly walked up to the front door. Taking a deep long breath, the woman could feel her whole body tensing up for a second before grabbing the doorknob. As she did this, the memory of that day swam through her head. The day Izuku confessed everything that had happened since Katsuki got his quirk. How that spiraled into a seemingly infinite case of abuse and violence, one that led to today. One that she was now partly responsible for, as she told Nezu all about the teen and his horrible tendencies.
And with a small click, the woman twisted the knob and pulled the door back. There, she found herself standing in front of what could only be described as a blonde ball of pure anger and fury. Rage was the one word that the teen in front of her symbolized, and it was something she was feeling inside herself as well.
"Auntie..." Katsuki let out a low growl before taking a deep breath. The scowl on his face faded, showing an almost neutral expression, though there was a hint of anger there. The very motion made a click ring out in Inko's head. This was how Katsuki hid his abuse. He could calm himself at the drop of a hat to make sure no one saw. As such, the teen slowly asked, "Where's Izuku? I...need to talk to him. Privately."
Inko wanted to cross her arms and scowl at the teen, but felt she would do exactly what he just did, but in her own way. Instead, she slowly raised an eyebrow at this and replied, "Oh? And what will you two be discussing?"
Katsuki opened his mouth to respond, only to catch himself. His scowling expression tried to reappear, as if he wasn't expecting Inko's response, only to recover as he responded, "Um...you know. Guy stuff."
Inko could feel her eyes narrow at this, almost wanting to call him out on everything on the spot. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "He's not here."
Bakugo's expression switched back to the one he had at the start, only to let out a long deep breath again, "Okay. Where is he?"
"I'm not telling you." Inko instantly said before slowly leaning down, "And you...are not going near him ever again."
Katsuki's face showed a mix of anger and bewilderment at this. To the teen, Auntie Inko was always this weak, calm-minded soul that was always nice to him. He honestly barely acknowledged her existence, but that was mainly because of his stupid hag of a mother and that stupid creepy stalker Deku. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare even talk to her, as she was so beneath him that it was nothing but a waste of time.
That was not what he was looking at right now. For as she said those words, her face changed. It was something he had never seen from her. It was a face of pure anger. One filled with fury, rage, and hatred. He didn't know she could do that.
As such, he opened his mouth to respond, only for the woman to cut him off as she stated, "Be quiet."
A small explosion popped in Katsuki's hand at that. How dare she say such a thing to him. Doesn't she know who he is?!
And as a growl escaped his breath next, the teen replied, "Where. Is. He?!"
"I'm not telling you, as you will never go near him again." Inko instantly responded, the woman leaning down even further, "And before you ask, I know now. I know everything."
Katsuki just blinked at that. "What are you talking about?"
"You heard me." Inko hissed, "I know everything. I know all about what you did to my son, how treated him, how you think you had the right to hurt him, how you beat him, and how you told him to kill himself."
Katsuki went wide-eyed at this, a parade of mini-explosions reflexively popping in both of his palms. Growling and hissing spat out of his mouth, and his right eye was twitching. The sight to most would look like an animal ready to charge at its prey and rip it apart. And as this interaction happened, Himiko had gotten up and tiptoed over to the door, making sure to stay out of the teen's sight as she listened.
Then she felt it. Killing intent. She had felt it plenty of times while on the streets, and while she expected to feel some of it from Inko...she felt nothing from the woman. Just anger. That made sense, as she knew Inko wasn't the killing type. But this Bakugo...his anger was real. A flame that was ready to burst and take everything with it. And the killing intent inside? It was growing.
Only for it to vanish. Like a faucet being turned off. Bakugo took another deep breath, his expression going neutral again as he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Is that so?" Inko replied, the woman observing every bit of the teen as he continued to glare at her. "And why would my Izuku lie to me?"
But that question fell on deaf ears as Bakugo asked again, "Where is he?"
Izuku let out a long sigh as he exited Edi's, a big grin on his face. "Ahhh...that was good." He chuckled to himself as he began to walk down a sidewalk. Letting out a small yawn, he took out his phone and saw that it was almost evening time now. 'Wonder where I should go next. I could do another sweep of this part of city...or should I call it a day if I don't find anything?'
The teen then remembered Nezu's words about taking it slow at this, only to shake his head, 'No. I need to focus. I have to do this to become a hero, and so I can avenge Mister Li. Nothing else matters.' Putting his phone away, the teen glanced around before ducking into a nearby alleyway, the teen turning invisible next as he scaled up one of the alleyway's buildings. As the vigilante reached the top, he almost instantly changed into Spider-Man, the teen doing a quick stretch before checking his webshooters. 'Looks good. Time to go webswinging.'
Cricking his neck next, the teen leapt off the building, firing a webline before moving into a fluid aerial swing. The teen arced himself perfectly, his swing going just above the cars below before angling upward, Izuku letting go of the line as he was sent flying. He did a small flip before firing another webline, soon tugging at it as he began to swing again. Block after block, street after street he did this, his body flipping and flying at speeds others would love to be able to do.
And as he did this, another hour passed, the teen continuing to swing around before hearing a small 'beep'. Going wide-eyed at this, he glanced down at his tracer detector, grinning under his mask as he thought, 'Finally!'
Landing on a nearby rooftop, he watched the device beep a few times before following the signal, the teen swinging over a street before walking over a different roof. There, he saw where his tracer had gone. He was currently in what looked like a more dirty district, a type of downtown looking sort of place. It was a place filled with trash, a few homeless wondering around, and not many buildings that were in use. And right outside of a rather large yet abandoned looking building was the semi from yesterday.
Squinting his eyes, he saw the tracer was still attached to the bumper of the truck. He had a feeling no one would notice it. It was so tiny and well, as he had learned over these days of being a vigilante, most thugs weren't that bright. As such, he turned invisible and swung over to the semi, landing beside it while trying to not make any noise. Quietly tiptoeing over to the truck's bumper, he removed the tracer and put it into one of the hoodie's pockets. 'Keep you for later.' he thought before glancing inside the semi. Its back door was already open, but that was because there was nothing inside the truck now. 'Guess they already moved the guns inside.'
Turning to the nearby building, he glanced up and saw it had some high windows, the teen zipping over to the wall as he began to wall crawl up to the glass. As he did this, his invisibility ran out, but the teen's spider sense didn't ring out, meaning no one had saw him. A second later, he was staring into the window, only to blink at the new sight before him. It was just another warehouse filled with boxes. There was nothing special inside, no drug lab or some kind of motorpool like had seen with the masked men or Tombstone's gang. Just...another warehouse.
'Odd. Why would they transport the guns here?' Izuku thought to himself as he watched a few thugs walk around, the teen staring at the sight. The building was empty except for the thugs, just a few tables and one motorcycle sitting in the middle of the room. There was a crate or two, but nothing like how many that had been transported away yesterday. It was like it was just an abandoned building that you would see on a movie set or something.
'Strange. There's nothing here. But if there's nothing here, why park the semi here?' Izuku mentally asked before glancing back at the semi. 'Did they drop the guns off somewhere else?' He looked back at the building, 'Should I just go in and beat these guys? I mean, they aren't doing anything.'
As the vigilante stared through the window, three more thugs entered the building. And as they strode in, the men inside all turned to them, some flinching at the sight. The first of the trio was man wearing a bowler hat, a basic suit, and a low frown on his face. Behind him was another suited man with a brown stetson hat, and the third was a big man with an impressive handlebar mustache.
'Who are those guys?' Izuku thought as he watched the front one of the trio begin to talk to the thugs inside. It looked like he was telling the thugs some orders, the teen squinting his eyes at the sight as he tried to read their lips. 'What are they-'
Danger!
"Look! Up there!" yelled a voice, making Izuku almost flinch. He glanced away from the window, only to see one of the thugs now pointing at the vigilante. "Its Spider-Man!"
"Uh-oh." Izuku muttered, remembering he was no longer invisible. And as this happened, the thug pulled out a gun and pointed it at the vigilante. He began to pull the trigger, only for the teen to leap off the building. 'Spider sense, don't fail me now!' he thought as he fired a webline, the webbing instantly hitting the gun before the teen yanked it away.
"What the-" the thug yelped as he felt the webbing pull him slightly as well. And as he tried to keep his footing, Izuku landed on the semi from before and ran on its rooftop before leaping off, firing another bit of webbing. The liquid smacked the thug's face a second later, making him scream, "Augh!"
"Sorry pal, but you were trying to shoot me." Izuku commented as he landed in front of the thug and uppercutted the man, knocking him off his feet. A second later, webbing covered the thug, the teen then glancing to his right. And the sight before he was not pleasant. About ten thugs were now staring at him, only for the trio from before to walk through the group, the one in the bowler hat gesturing to them to move aside.
"Well well well...looks like the boss was right. The bug followed the semi, just like the boss thought he would." The front member of the trio from before commented as he glared at the vigilante. "We're getting paid well tonight, boys."
"I couldn't agree more partner." the stetson wearing man adding, his right hand shapeshifting into what looked like a lasso. Izuku could feel himself backpedaling at this, as the big moustache man also walked up to the side of the bowler hat man before cracking his knuckles.
The bowler hat man glanced back to the other thugs, "Get going boys! We'll handle this."
"You got it!" the others yelled back before spinning around and cutting into a sprint, some going back in the building while others ran away.
And as this happened, the bowler hat man reached around his back before pulling out what looked like a small gray metal stick. He then pressed a button on it, making it extend into a pole with bladed edges on both ends. The man spun the pole around once at this, the motion looking like he had done it all his life as he spoke up, "Time's up bug. Today, the Enforcers are gonna squash you."