Chapter Text
A few hours ago...
Mirio Togata continued to walk down a hallway behind his mentor as the expression on Sir Nighteye's face hardened. They had just got done discussing on how Nighteye had to make an improvised plan, something the man hated to do. However, it was necessary due to the circ*mstances. But as they continued to walk, Mirio pulled out a folder and stared at a certain paper inside this.
"Sir?"
Nighteye came to a stop and glanced back at his intern, "Yes?"
"One more question." Mirio replied as he continued to stare at the folder, "This...Spider-Man. You said in the meeting that the hero commission put a bounty on him now."
"That's correct. Why do you ask?"
Mirio looked back up at his mentor, "Why did they do that?"
Nighteye responded by pushing up his glasses, "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Mirio's eyes went back down at the papers, this one showing a picture of the vigilante, "I mean, everything on him says he's a teen and he's done nothing but good. Why do the hero commission think he's that big a threat?"
Mirai sucked in a long breath at this before saying, "Vigilantes are...special cases." He took off his glasses at this and seemingly created a cloth to wipe the frames, "The hero commission believe that if a vigilante is allowed to go free for too long, two things will happen. One, they will upset the hero system that now exists in our society. The vigilante will literally influence others that it is okay to use their quirks in public. That alone will disrupt all manners of heroics."
"I get that Sir." Mirio replied while closing the folder, "I just don't get why a kid would have that kind of bounty? Wouldn't it be better to just try and make some sort of plan to recruit him?"
Nighteye put his glasses back on and shook his head, "While there is logic to that, the vigilante known as Spider-Man is breaking the law. Even if you think the commission is overreacting, the facts are still the facts. Those who commit crimes while using their quirks are villains, even if it is just the crime of vigilantism. Besides, there is also the second reason."
"What's that Sir?"
"The second is..." Mirai took another deep breath, "The second is that if a vigilante is allowed to go free, death will follow."
"Death?" Mirio tilted his head at the word. "You...you think he'll kill someone?"
"Not necessarily," Nighteye responded, "But chances are high that he will eventually either become a killer...or his actions will lead to an unnecessary death. One that could have been prevented if he had just gone down the hero path instead." The hero then walked up to his intern and grabbed his shoulder, Mirio flinching at the gesture. The hero in training had a conflicted look on his face, one that Nighteye did not want to see. As such, he continued to speak, "Listen Mirio. You have a good heart, and a wonderful way of looking at the world. It is something this world constantly needs."
"I know Sir."
"I know you do. That is why we must set the better example." He then took the folder from Mirio's hands and flipped to the page on Spider-Man, "This vigilante is a wild card, one that is using his powers for good, but also using his quirk in the wrong way. He is misguided, and those who are misguided have the potential to be very dangerous. That's why the commission has issued a bounty and villain ranking on him." Nighteye handed the folder back to his intern, "That is why...if you do encounter him tonight, do not hesitate to bring him in. I will admit, his current record in terms of the villains he has faced is impressive, but he must be stopped at some point, even if that point is today. Do you understand?"
Hearing this, Mirio responded with a swift nod, "I understand. I won't let you down."
The Present...
Time seemed to stop as the vigilante known as Spider-Man and the hero in training Lemillion charged at each other. Both were soon mere inches away from each other as lightning poured out of Izuku's arms, only for the vigilante to swing a hard right at the intern. In response, Mirio activated his quirk, allowing the punch to go right through his head just as he swung his own right fist at Izuku. But as the punch came for the vigilante, Izuku just tilted his head, barely dodging the blow before his whole body went through Mirio.
'What the heck?!' Izuku mentally yelped as he came to a stop before spinning around, only for his spider sense to ring out. He went wide-eyed as he saw that Lemillion had already spun around and thrusted another punch, the teen ducking under this one before seeing the intern swing his other fist into Izuku's stomach. Seeing this, Izuku closed his eyes, allowing his spider sense to take over as he reflexively spun just as the fist hit his chest. And with a quick fluid motion, the fist only skidded across Izuku's costume as Izuku continued to turn his body, making Mirio go wide-eyed this time before just phasing through Izuku entirely.
Lemillion paced a few steps at this before turning around, only to see Izuku had also spun around as well. Electricity cackled around the teen, Izuku's exposed eye glaring at the intern. "So your quirk can do that too, huh?!" Izuku growled, "Guess it doesn't help with murder that much, does it?!"
"Murder?!" Lemillion yelped, "I haven't killed-"
"Shut up!" Izuku interrupted before pointing an electrified finger at the intern, "You'll pay for what you did to Mister Li and Eri!"
"Mister Li?" Lemillion muttered out, only for Izuku to charge at him with two electricized fists again. Taking a deep breath, Mirio's lower half of his body instantly shrunk down into the floor, easily dodging the next two punches from the vigilante.
"What?!" Izuku yelled as his opponent's body fully vanished from sight. He began to dart his head around, "Where did you-"
Danger!
Feeling his spider sense yell at him, Izuku's brain instantly surmised that Lemillion was now behind him. He quickly ducked down at this, only to feel the breeze of a punch touch the back of his neck. Izuku then spun around with a Venom Punch, only for it to go right through Mirio's stomach, Izuku's spider sense ringing again at the same time.
POW!
A left fist smack Izuku's face, knocking him back before his spider sense rang out again. Another fist came for the vigilante's face as Izuku closed his eyes, the teen blindly sidestepping the punch in a split second. This was followed by two more jabs from Lemillion, Izuku backpedaling from both as he kept his eyes closed.
And as this happened, the moon that shined over both began to hide behind a cloud, covering the duo in darkness. Mirio saw that his opponent was slowly vanishing from his eyes thanks to the night's darkness, only for the electricity around the teen's fists to fizzle out as well. A few seconds later, Mirio couldn't see a thing.
'Shoot!' Mirio thought as he quickly shuffled back, his eyes staring straight ahead. 'I thought for sure I had him after I got that first hit in. How did he-' The intern's thoughts came to a stop as he heard the sound of footsteps ring out on that rooftop. And as they made noise, the cloud covering the moon began to move. Light began to shine back down on the rooftop...only to reveal nothing.
Spider-Man was gone.
'Huh?' was all Mirio could think before glancing over at the certain girl on that rooftop. She was still knocked out cold, the sight making him grimace before-
POW!
A fist slammed into Mirio's face, clocking his jaw. The blow made him spin around, his feet scrambling to keep him standing. This was followed by Mirio instantly activating his quirk, only to feel something go right through him. He couldn't see it, only for Spider-Man to just suddenly appear in front of him. Izuku followed this by another punch to Mirio's face, only for it go right through the intern as well.
Mirio saw the vigilante hesitate at this, trying to backpedal as he fully recovered from the earlier blow. Lemillion thrust a punch for Izuku's head, only for the teen to duck under it. This was followed by a two-punch combo that Nighteye had taught him, one being a solar plexus punch before a jab at the opponent's chin. However, Izuku shifted his body at the stomach punch before tilting his head, Mirio's fist nicking the teen's chin. This was followed by a counter punch to Mirio's face, Lemillion activating his quirk to dodge the blow.
And as this happened, Izuku then hopped back, dodging another punch from Lemillion. This caused the duo to be on the other side of the rooftop from the knocked out Eri, both glaring at each other as the fight continued.
Meanwhile, just a few minutes ago...
Sir Nighteye could feel his eyes twitching as he stared at the man before him. The Rose. A low ranked, underground hero that worked for the hero commission. He appeared a few years ago and quickly became infamous in the criminal underworld, a supposed 'organizer of crime' that the commission hired to keep tabs on villain gangs.
What a joke. Nighteye knew that was a total lie, as it was suspected by multiple investigative heroes, Nighteye included, that the man was involved with all sorts of crimes, villains and just about everything else. The man was infamous for his ability to seemingly appear in certain cases, quickly have the hero commission come in and push the heroes away, erase the evidence, and then vanish like the wind. And no matter how many cases were made against the man, no matter how much evidence or proof, the hero commission always made sure the Rose would get out scot free.
And now the Rose was here, interfering with yet another hero case.
"What are you doing here Rose?" Nighteye hissed.
"I just told you." Rose replied while pointing to his phone, "By order of the HPSC, this operation you are doing is cancelled."
The heroes behind Nighteye all shared glances, Rock Lock speaking up, "Who the heck is this guy?!"
Nighteye opened his mouth to respond, only for the purple masked man to do a slight bow, "Hello Rock Lock. I am the Rose, hired underground hero for the HPSC."
"And what is a commission agent doing here?" Ryukyu chimed in while crossing her arms. "And what's with the wall of vines?"
"For your second question, the vines are my quirk." Rose replied while snapping his free hand, causing a small rose to appear in it. Snapping them again, the flower disappeared before he added, "As for why I am here, I was ordered from the higher ups to stop your operation effective immediately."
"You mean you need your thugs to finish their crimes and then you get away scot free." Nighteye growled, Fat Gum, Mr. Brave and Rock Lock all turning to the hero.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rose responded with a slight chuckle. "I am merely a humble agent for-"
"Shut it." Nighteye interrupted, "We both know why you're here." He then pointed at the purple masked man, "I suggest you take down that vine wall right now or-"
"Or you and your comrades will lose their hero licenses." Rose replied as he pointed at the phone again, "That is why I am here." All the heroes behind Nighteye went wide-eyed at this, only for Rose to add, "And that is why you will not move an inch until I say so."
And as he said this, Nighteye glanced over at Ryukyu, an intense glare coming out of his eyes. The heroine saw this, only to give a slight nod. She silently nudged Fat Gum right beside her, the large hero looking down at her as Nighteye stared back at Rose. "I suppose you think you've got us, don't you?" Mirai asked, unable to see the now narrowing eyes of the Rose.
"Considering what I just said, yes." Rose responded with a slight snark, "You will not-"
"A child's life hangs in the balance Rose. A child that needs to be rescued by a hero." Sir interrupted before reaching into his pocket and pulled out a hyper-density seal. "Even if our licenses are on the line, we will save that child." The hero then flexed his wrist, showing he was about to throw the tiny weapon. "What will you do if we don't cooperate?"
Rose stood there while still presenting his phone, only to let out a long sigh. "Figures with an All Might fanboy like you would do this, thinking you can just break all the rules with no consequences." Rose spun the phone around and shut off the screen, the vines behind him now rustling. He began to snap his fingers, only for his phone to start vibrating. Feeling this, he glanced back at its screen and saw a text had just come in. His eyes instantly skimming it over, he smiled under his mask before saying, "Then again, perhaps luck is on your side heroes. Seems my work here is done."
Snapping his fingers next, the vine wall behind him instantly shrunk down into the ground. The sight made all the heroes tense up, only for Rose to give them a small bow, "And with that, I bid thee adieu."
"No!" Nighteye yelled as he threw the seal at the man, but with a small snap of his fingers, a wall of vines appeared before Rose, instantly blocking the tiny weapon. And as it bounced off, Sir let out a small growl before walking over and picking up the seal. He then glared back at his comrades, "Ryukyu, fly us out of here. We need to find the yakuza now."
"Understood!" she exclaimed, only for the vine wall behind them to suddenly go into the ground as well. Seeing this, she ran out to the exit of the alleyway and transformed, the group hopping on a second later.
"Hope we're not too late." Crust added as he got on the dragon last.
"Here's hoping." Rock Lock finished as he helped the hero onto the transformed hero.
Meanwhile...
"Eri..."
That was the word Kai Chisaki kept repeating as he tried to climb a building. He had checked alleyway after alleyway for the girl, only to find nothing but a dead body. A man in a white suit that he didn't recognize. Another diseased ridden being he failed to save from this quirk infested world.
"Eri. Must...find...Eri." He moaned as he continued to climb some stairs on the side of a building, his legs now weak from everything that had happened today. And as he went up another flight, he found himself on the rooftop of the building. Seeing this, he glanced around, only for the moon to shine down on a rooftop just a few over from him.
One with a certain knocked out girl on it.
Izuku stared at his opponent, his breath slightly hitching as he felt the adrenaline in his body struggling to keep going. It was basically all that was keeping him going at this point. After all, he had already been zapped, blown up and now smacked around by this final enemy, all to save one little girl. And yet, despite his injures, despite his body wanting to go out, he could still think clearly as he stared ahead at the plain-faced blonde hero in training in front of him.
'I don't get it.'
That was what Izuku was thinking as he stared at Mirio. He knew the fact wasn't completely true, as he had hit his opponent twice now. And that was also on his mind as his next thoughts came through. 'Why can't I hit him? No matter what I do, I can't seem to touch him most of the time. And it's not some kind of phasing quirk or I wouldn't be able to hit him at all...is it permutation? Could that really be part of his shapeshifting quirk? If that's the case, can he willfully alter his body that much?' Izuku closed his eyes at this, 'Think Izuku, think! If he really can change his body this much, there must be some kind of flaw.'
A click goes off in Izuku's brain, causing him to open his eyes, 'Or a limit. That must be it. That's why he hasn't shapeshifted again. He can only do so much with that body of his.' Izuku takes a long deep breath as lightning continues to spark around his arms, 'What a magnificent quirk...and yet it's being used for evil. Evil that killed Mister Li.'
That thought made electricity appear all over the vigilante's arms, the sound of electricity crackling as sparks began popping around the teen. The sight made Mirio tense up, the intern staring the vigilante over.
'I don't get it.'
Those were the words going through Mirio's head as he slightly moved his legs, trying to tense up into a fighting stance. 'Every time I think I've got him, he dodges at the last second. It's like fighting someone who can reflexively dodge everything...but his fighting style doesn't display that at all!'
Opponents who were better at fighting than him was nothing new for Mirio Togata. His best friend, Tamaki Amajiki, was the best example of this. Despite his...depressive personality, Amajiki was a fighting machine when he got serious. Mirio fought him at the semifinals of this year's sports festival, only to barely touch the man before losing despite having a quirk that literally let him not get hurt. Amajiki was infamous in Class 3 of being probably the number one of the Top Four of UA, and him winning this year's sport festival proved it, having beaten Hado in the finals. Amajiki's fighting skills were top notch, allowing him to improvise, yet cleanly and accurately take down anyone. It was something Mirio had fought repeatedly over the years to help both of them become better heroes, and he felt that training truly helped him become the hero he wanted to be.
However, despite it being a good example of fighting someone who can fight Mirio at a reflex level, that was not what Mirio was looking at right now. The opponent before him was clumsy, swung way too wide, and seemed to have issues constantly keeping balance. It was like he still didn't fully understand his own strength, something that shouldn't be possible. Mirio could tell that Spider-Man was probably just a year or two younger than him, but he fought like he had just received his quirk.
And yet, Mirio also couldn't hit him. Every time he tried, the vigilante would seem to dodge at the last second. It didn't matter what kind of punch he tried, nothing seemed to work. For instance, phasing into the floor and slipping out behind the opponent was one of Mirio's bread and butter techniques, but even that failed. It was if Spider-Man had eyes in the back of his head, as every sneak attack failed.
As this thought entered his head, Mirio felt a gear shift in his brain. 'What do I do? Its nothing like the file Sir gave me. It said that quirk analysts thought Spider-Man has a spider mutant quirk mixed with some kind of electric quirk. Yeah, the mutant quirk would give him better reflexes and strength, but...but it's like he has no training. Sure, he obviously has some experience...' His eyes darted over to the still knocked out Eri before back to Spider-Man, only for him to take a deep breath before trying to smile. 'Forget about that. Remember what Sir taught you. There are times where words are pointless. Instead, you need to just smile and fight the good fight. I will win this!'
And with that, Lemillion charged with a small smile on his face.
He had just gotten over the second rooftop, his legs barely moving as he dragged himself along.
"Eri..."
That was all Kai Chisaki could say as he got closer, his form stumbling over the next rooftop. Just two more buildings over and she would be his. The sight was like a million miles away for the man, but he would not stop. Not until he had her. Not until he had Eri.
For she was key to this world's salvation. She alone would let him cleanse this world.
"RAAAH!" Izuku roared as he swung another punch, his fist going right through Mirio.
It was a feeling Izuku was getting used to as he missed hitting the intern for what felt like the hundredth time in those few minutes of fighting. The two hadn't said any words, Mirio now feeling a little uncomfortable as he had never fully done a fight without some talking. Even against his friends at school, he felt some dialogue was necessary, but not tonight.
Instead, Mirio spun around and thrusted a punch directly at Izuku's head just as the vigilante went through the hero in training, only for Izuku's head to tilt, dodging the blow. Spider-Man then spun his whole body with a leg stretched out, only for the leg to go straight through Mirio's chest. This was followed by two more punches, both going through Mirio's face in rapid succession.
Releasing a small breath, Mirio tried to counter with a quick jab to the vigilante's face, Izuku tilting again at the last second, only for a second jab to go for vigilante's stomach. And as it was about to hit, Izuku backpedaled, the blow almost nicking the vigilante's costume. This was followed by an upward thrusted kick to Mirio's face, only for the foot to go right through the intern. And as this attack missed as well, Izuku fired a shot of webbing behind him and pulled, yanking himself a few feet away from Lemillion before he could even try to counter the teen.
Skidding to a stop a second later, Izuku felt his body tense up. Certain aches and pains were now flaring in his body. The electrocution from Electro, the explosions that Li had hit his back and side with...he could feel it now. His body was out of adrenaline.
'No...' Izuku thought as he stared at Mirio, the moonlight shining down on the hero in training. He saw a calm smile, one that made Izuku's eye twitch. It was like the person before him was mocking the vigilante. Mocking that he killed Mister Li. And yet, he felt his body slow down. His muscles cramping up. His tendons flaring in pain. 'Not yet. Gotta...keep going.'
Electricity flared around his arms again, slowing rising to an awkward boxing like stance. 'I haven't even hit him with a Venom Punch.' He then saw his Venom powers already sputtering, the electricity barely sparking at this point. The sight made Mirio's smile grow, knowing this might be his chance.
As such, Mirio stood tall, lowering his fists as he said, "Give up."
Izuku's eyes went down to his fists, seeing the electricity trying to form before looking back up at Lemillion. "What'd you just say?!"
"I said, give up." Lemillion replied before presenting a hand to the vigilante, "I know this isn't like you. I've read your file, and you're a good person that could be a great hero. I don't know why you think I'm bad, but...I also know that you're misguided."
And as those words entered Izuku's ears, his mind flashed to the scene of Mirio shooting Mister Li, the calm, uncaring look on the individual's face as they did this deed. "Misguided?! MISGUIDED?!" Izuku screeched before electricity began to flow again in his arms, only for the teen to flinch. The lightning sputtered out at this, making Izuku slightly stumble.
"Listen, we don't need to fight anymore. Just let me-"
"SHUT UP!" Izuku screamed, his exposed eye seeing nothing but red before charging at the intern again. And as he did this, Lemillion tensed up and activated his quirk...only for the vigilante to suddenly vanish. Realizing that Spider-Man had used his invisibility again, Mirio quickly backpedaled as his eyes darted around, trying to see some sign of the incoming attack.
But as Lemillion did this, he felt the back of his feet suddenly lose grip with the ground. Glancing back for a second, he saw he was at the edge of the roof, his eyes now looking down an alleyway. Across the alley was another building, this one being two floors higher, complete with several broken windows. And as he glanced back at the rooftop he was on, he felt it.
In that split second of hesitation as he shuffled to the edge of the roof, he had turned off his quirk.
POW!
A fist slammed into his face, pushing Mirio back a slight half-foot.
BAM!
A second blow swung into Mirio's stomach, making him tense up as he felt the wind get knocked out of him.
"Hi-yah!" Izuku roared as he turned visible, thrusting a third punch straight for Mirio's jaw. And in that split-second, Mirio's quirk activated, Izuku's fist going straight through him before Mirio took one step forward and spun around. Spider sense screaming at the vigilante, Izuku tried to sidestep the now incoming kick from Mirio...only for his muscles to flare up in pain.
WHAM! CRASH!
"Augh!" Izuku yelped as the kick knocked him off his feet, the teen flying off the rooftop, over the alleyway and into the nearby building's window. Glass flew everywhere as his back collided with the frame, Izuku's body soon smacking the floor inside as darkness covered him thanks to the night's shade.
And as the sounds of tumbling rang out into the night, Lemillion stared at the shattered window and let out a gasp of air. "Finally...I finally got him." He tensed himself up to leap off the roof next, ready to phase through the wall and finish the fight-
"Eri."
One word hit his ears, making Mirio spin around to see a certain bird-masked man picking up the still knocked out girl. The moon's light was barely shining down on the rooftop at this point, but it was enough for Mirio to see Kai Chisaki's deranged, wrath-filled face.
"I finally have you again." Chisaki muttered as he took her in his hands before glaring up at Mirio, "You..."
"Let. Her. Go." Lemillion said as his smile switched to a frown, the teen pulling his arm back to wind up for a punch.
"Never! I will never-"
THWACK!
"Blugh!" Chisaki yelped as something suddenly smacked the side of his face, making his form slump over a second later. Mirio went wide-eyed at this, only for to see a certain familiar hyper dense seal now lodged into the side of Chisaki's face before falling off the man. The sight made him smile before glancing over and seeing his mentor hopping off the dragon hero Ryukyu.
"Sir!" He exclaimed before running over to him.
"Mirio, report." Nighteye responded while walking over to pick up the seal.
"Yes sir!"
And as Mirio began to speak, Crust and Fat Gum hopped off the dragon as well. They quickly helped pick up Eri and put her on the dragon's back while Nighteye listened to his intern. The night's sky then covered the moon, quickly taking that last bit of moonlight the group had just as a certain vigilante crawled up to the window he had crashed through.
"Gotta...get...up...there..." Izuku moaned to himself as he started to go through the window. And as he did this, the heroes on the dragon's back pulled out some flashlights, giving themselves some light as Izuku turned invisible and crawled onto this new building's roof. But as he did this, he saw the dragon floating over the rooftop he had just fought on, the sight making him go wide-eyed.
'What the-why is Ryukyu here?! And on her back...that's Rock Lock, Mr. Brave, Crust and Fat Gum! So cool!' He could feel his inner hero fanboy explode within at this, not realizing he had forgotten about the fight he was just in. That is, till he shook his head, 'Wait, why are they here?! Why would-' his thoughts came to a stop as he saw Eri was now in Fat Gum's hands as Crust and Mr. Brave looked her over with their flashlights.
'They...they have Eri! I should-' He pointed his wrist at the dragon...only to lower his arm a second later. 'What am I doing?! They're heroes! They...' His thoughts halted again as he was reminded of something his mom told him back when he was hunting Tombstone.
"But don't go too far. If something goes wrong, call the heroes. Got it?"
'Oh yeah. That's a good point mom.' he mentally reminded himself before glancing back at the rooftop he had just had a fight on...only to see nothing. The moon's light was gone, and the night had covered the roof in darkness. 'He got away. Chameleon...'
He could feel his hands tense up into fists at this, anger boiling in his mind again, only to hear a small gasp. Making him glance back up, he saw that Eri was waking up in Fat Gum's arms, the girl's body slightly moving in the teen's eyes. Seeing this, the anger ceased. The words 'hospital' and 'don't worry' came out of one of the heroes' mouths, though Izuku couldn't tell who it was, only for Ryukyu to start flapping her wings.
A second later, the dragon took flight. Before Izuku could even do anything, they were gone. But the sight was enough for the teen. "Goodbye Eri." Izuku whispered before looking back at the rooftop one last time, only to still see nothing. "Chameleon..." He felt his body tense in pain again.
And in that moment, he realized it was hopeless. He was in no shape to go after the killer.
"Darn it. I...I guess...I better go too." He glanced back up at the sky Ryukyu had vanished into and said, "Hope everything goes well Eri. I...I know the heroes will help you."
With that in mind, the invisible vigilante leapt off the rooftop and fired a line of webbing, soon swinging away into the darkness of the night.
The Rose was wearing a half smile under his mask. Despite how good the day had started, after his calls from Chameleon and Fancy Dan, the overall results were mixed. They had told him that they had succeeded in wiping out all yakuza but Chisaki, Martin Li was dead, (Which was probably a good thing now that he thought about it) and Eri had gotten away due to a certain vigilante.
Spider-Man. The vigilante had been interfering quite a bit recently. Granted, he was just fumbling into the Rose's boss's operations, but it was still annoying. Even in this hero flooded society where it was so easy to control the rules, there were still rulebreakers. How truly, utterly annoying.
As such, Rose continued his stride down an alleyway, taking a deep breath before doing a sharp right turn. There, he saw a van with three riders in the back. Ox, Montana and Electro, the latter wearing a scowl on his face. His eyes then turned to the only person standing outside of the vehicle, Rose assuming Dan was probably in the driver's seat.
The person standing outside of the van was Chameleon, her usual smirk on her face. Her ponytail was slightly moving thanks to the night wind as she walked up to Rose and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked like a tiny object wrapped in paper, Rose taking it and unwrapping it. A second later, he saw the object inside: A flashdrive.
"Is this-"
"Yup." Chameleon chuckled, "Chisaki's Trigger formula. His latest stuff, ingredient lists, and other prototype versions."
"Good." Rose put the drive in his suit chest pocket, "At least this whole debacle wasn't a total waste."
"And my money?" Chameleon instantly asked, only for Rose to gesture to the van.
"I'll give it to you at the hideout, along with everyone else's pay."
"Nice." Chameleon laughed before hopping in the vehicle, Rose quickly shuffling up to the passenger seat as Ox closed the back doors of the van.
"Let's get out of here. I have a lot to report to the boss." Rose commented as laid back in his seat.
"Understood." Dan replied before hitting the gas. A few seconds later, the vehicle was gone.
"Urgh!" Izuku grunted as his body landed onto his home's rooftop, his invisibility turning off. He rolled across the surface, his mind just now going over everything that had just happened. The fights, Eri....and the death.
The day was finally over.
And Izuku was not happy. His brain hadn't thought of a thing as he webswung home. His mind was muddled, barely able to process the past few hours. He wasn't even fully sure how he had gotten home. All he knew was that it felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.
As such, he just laid there for a minute, closing his eyes as he remembered everything...only for one image to appear in his head. Martin Li. The man he admired, who had helped him find a path...was now dead. Dead in an alleyway, a bullet splitting his heart in two. A puddle of blood surrounded the image in Izuku's head, making tears began to form in his eyes. Before he knew it, he was crying again.
Izuku was always a crier. His whole family was, at least on his mom's side. The Midoriyas were just known for crying, and Izuku was no different. Water poured out of his eyes as he took off his mask so it wouldn't get too wet.
"Mister Li..." he muttered as he slowly got up, "Oh, Mister Li..."
Tears continued to fall at this, the teen not sure how long he stood there, crying over the one image in his head. He hadn't let himself mourn over what had happened, as Eri was there and Izuku knew he needed to help her...but now it was laid bare in his mind.
His friend was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.
And after what seemed like hours, though it was only a few minutes, Izuku turned invisible again and crawled down the roof and to his room's window. He glanced inside and saw it was closed and empty, just like usual. Slowly opening the window, as he assumed his mom and Himiko were probably already asleep, he slid into the room before quietly closing the window behind him.
"Guess...guess I still have a long way to go." He told himself as he now stared at his bed.
Danger!
Izuku went wide-eyed as his spider sense suddenly went off, making him spin around. The sound of a door creaking open came next, only for the teen to see his mom peek through. Light from the room she was in shone through the door's opening, showing her son's face to the woman.
"Izuku? You okay?" She asked as she saw those tears.
"Mom..." he slowly said, "I-"
"Greetings, Spider-Man!" interrupted a voice, making both Midoriyas jump in place. Izuku glanced down, as he heard the noise coming from that direction, only to see a certain stoat standing there. A huge grin was on his face as he added, "Hello there! Am I a mouse, or a dog, or a bear? None of those matter because I am the principal of UA, Nezu!" His smile grew wider at this, soon splitting his face as he finished, "And I've been wanting to meet you for quite a while now, Izuku Midoriya."
