9

Chapter Text

After class got out, Peter was happy to get away from all the hubbub and mobbing his classmates were giving him. Eijirou wanted to do a friendly spar, Sato wanted to arm wrestle, Hagakure Tooru wanted to see his Iron Spider again, as did Aoyama, but it was too much for him. He remembered Momo's words and managed to duck out of class when the bell sounded. He said goodbyes towards his classmates and to Momo and jogged on out.

"Let's see... Support Department... Development Studio." Peter murmured as he looked over a map. It was in that part of campus, okay then. He looked in his backpack where his folded up suit was located and remembered his conversation with Momo.

"U.A. has some of the best facilities in the world, and their Support Department did design many of our hero costumes and equipment. I'm sure they can do something about your suit to improve or repair anything."

Those were her words. If they can find a way to do what he has failed to do in the last year to free Karen... who knows what he can do. But now that he's a student, he has more access to resources he didn't have prior. No longer can he simply use homemade stuff with parts and tools from the garbage. Now he can get top of the line tools needed to access her.

But the suit... he remembered how complex it was when he first utilized it. How it had multiple wirings and intricate connections that he was only able to access thanks to having Stark Industry-brand tools. That and his own know-how.

He texted Yu. 'Will be late heading home. Doing an errand.' Send. Peter pocketed his phone and walked towards the building that contained U.A. Academy's Support Department. Before long, he came upon a massive metal door with the words DEVELOPMENT STUDIO written at the top. "Okay... here-"

And he heard the sound of machinery activate from within, along with...cackling laughter. "MWAAAHAHAHA! YES! LIFT OFF MY DARLINGS! TAKE FLIGHT AND BE FREE AS A BIIIIRD~!" Peter sidestepped the door, and the metal doors flew open as someone came sprawling out onto the floor. The voice was female, and she was wearing something large and clumsy looking on her feet that was whirring and smoking.

"Dangit Hatsume!" Yelled a voice from within. "You better not have caused any damage in the hallway ya hear!"

"Gyahaha! Rest assured Power Loader Sensei!" The prone person, Hatsume gave a thumbs up even with her voice muffled by the floor. She was in baggy cargo points as she was on her knees, bottom sticking out. Peter was wide eyed at this exchange. "Nothing damaged! Just my dead skin on the rug for the janitorial bots to clean!"

Okay now thats just going too specific.

"Honestly, you develop something as complex as this in day two and I'm contemplating putting a child-leash on ya." The older-sounding male voice tsked as Peter saw him walk out. He was a short and skinny man wearing nothing but jeans, boots, fingerless gloves and a rectangular excavator claw for a helmet for sorts. He can see some orange hair sticking out from the back. "But if you damage things up, I'm gonna have to kick you out for good!"

"Okay Sensei!" The girl was up on her feet, wobbling a bit thanks to her very complex metal boots and Peter noticed her pink hair. Very very pink yet all natural. Kind of like Mina. He saw her turn and Peter noticed a wide grin on her visage combined with bright yellow eyes that... lookd like targets? Bullseyes? "Oh hi there!"

"eh? Who's-oh, it's you." Power Loader said with crossed arms. "You must be Peter Parker right?"

"Oh-Uh, hello there Power Loader Sensei!" Peter bowed. "Y-Yeah, that's me."

"You're in the hero course right? What are you doing around here? Class is out for the day."

"Peter Parker?" Hatsume spoke out, and Peter saw her stomp towards him, eyes wide as Peter stepped back, until he found himself against the wall. Here it comes... more silly unwanted praise. "Never heard of ya!"

Wait, what?

"Hatsume, down. Please." Power Loader rolled his eyes as he stepped forward. "Get back inside the studio and take off your boots. You're making more of a mess in the hallway!"

"Okay!" Hatsume pressed something on her belt, and Peter noticed some wires conencted to her boots as she... floated, whirring as she hopped up and down. He can hear her giggle as Peter saw her go.

She... doesn't know about him? How? Was she pulling his leg?

"I apologize for my student's forward nature, turns out she's like that all time." Power Loader focused his attention on Peter. "And doesn't have volume control too..."

"I can tell...Oh, and to answer your question, well..." Peter unshouldered his backpack and held it in his arms. "Is it possible for you to maybe give a look at my costume? I... I need your help." He felt his heart tigthen. It's now or never.

"Oh? What for? Of all the students of Class 1-A you didn't submit a Costume Request, saying you already had one." He crossed his arms. Peter couldn't read his face given how it was hidden behind the mask. "Did you get it damaged during the Battle Training today or somethin'?"

"Oh no not that, I... it happened before and-"

"Is a costume damaged!" Hatsume came jogging out, her chest...bouncing up and down in her charcoal grey blouse which made Peter pucker his lips at the sight and moved his eyes away. "Can I fix it! Please please please?!"

"I never gave ya persmission! And you just finished your first piece of equipment! You need a break Hatsume."

"Breaks are for the weak!" She declared, face and tone of constant joy and enthusasiam not changing. "I wanna have a looksie at equipment! Tech! Anything!" She stood in front of Peter, beaming. "I am Hatsume Mei of the Support Course! First year! Now gimme your suit!"

Peter held onto his backpack a little, and Power Loader put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's the issue? Come on inside." He gestured Peter to follow, and the boy did just that. This... Hatsume was weird, as she kept walking with him, smile seemingly glued onto her face like All Might as her yellow eyes was...

Oh god was she looking him over!

Maybe coming here was a mist-

No... do it for Karen. He has to ask. He has to try!

The inside of the Development Studio was like a complex first class engineering room... And it made Peter gasp at all the tools stacked on the various shelves. The computers. The 3-D Printers. The machines needed to make parts and circuitry board makers. The countless measuring machines and deburring devices. The assembly lines. A room to the side with the words BAR STOCK being labed. The metalic saws. The workbenches. The blueprints.

Oh gosh... was... was this...

Heaven?

"Uhhh Parker?" Power Loader waved a hand in front of his face. "You're drooling."

"You are an inventor too! I know those eyes of yours!" Peter felt someone take his hand and he clammed up. How come he didn't sense it coming! Mei took Peter's hand into her own, and Peter can feel all the oil and grime and calouses on her fingers.

Has she been doing this all her life? Hatsume tilted her head. "The look of your eyes as you inspected the Kanban Mk. 4 3-D Printers, or the Kilgore Diamond-Edged Saws, and the state of the art computer modules! I know it, you!" She held it up, smiling with unbridled joy and hugging his arm. "Are like me~. Someone who absolutely adore and lives for the art of making so...so many..."

"Babies." She said, almost... huskily. But still loud.

Wait... making babi-

Oh god his arm was in her cleavage! Those eyes looking at him like meat!

Oh god he was being hit on!

Somebody heeeelp! He can't mooooove!

"Hatsume, let'em go and speak. Seriously, he's turning as a red as a tomato, you mad witch." Power Loader cut in and the girl let go of Peter, but she had her hands behind her back as she gave the American space. Didn't stop those bullseye-eyes of hers to keep roving over him like a weaponsight. "So, you need help with your gear? What is it then?"

"Oh ummm..." Peter took a deep breath. Focus on the Pro Hero Teacher before him and the objective at hand. Not the pink haired grease girl who was softer than he had originally thought thanks to her embrace and sudden declaration. "Well... it is kind of a long story... see, I got my gear." He remembered his cover story and took a deep breath. "From my role model back in America. He handed me two pieces of equipment. The Spider Suit and the Iron Spider Module, which acts as a reinforcment piece of gear for the Spider suit." There, step one complete. "But... sometime in the past I... I made a mistake and ummm..." Peter looked at the floor, his shoulders deflating.

If only he didn't take his mask off when on the Space Donut like an idiot.

Karen could have helped back on Titan. She could have offered a different plan. Maybe turn the tide against Thanos.

And the fact that his suit was still functioning and able to receive web fluid injections manually proves that she is still active. But he can't see her. Nor talk to her. Nor hear her.

She was alive. Trapped. And he had to do something. The resources he had back home at Yu's was inadequate. But here in U.A.? It maybe possible to free her!

"I lost something very vital and important to this costume. It's... how do I say this." Peter bit his lip, seeing how Power Loader and Hatsume was giving him their full attention. He took a deep breath. "Would you... believe me if I told you that this suit had a... unique function to it?"

"All hero costumes are unique kid. It comes with the business. Some maybe similar, but just like with Quirks, no one costume is the same unless it's intentional." Power Loader elaborated. "What is it? Going by the look on your face, ya seem to have a connection with this suit."

"Well yeah, and.. well... it happened months ago, before I came to Japan and... I wouldn't be troubling you about it if I could handle it or fix it on my own and-"

"So you do invent things?" Power Loader inquired, his tone belaying a raised eye.

"Well. Yeah, I do and uhhh-" He saw Power Loader raise a hand, towards Hatsume who seemed ready to pounce. The girl seemed to be busy unhooking her complex hoverboots. "This suit I tried to fix myself in my own time while learning the lanaguage here, but I can't. Tools I had on me were no good."

"So how come your role model can't fix it?" Hatsume asked.

Peter felt his heart clamp up, and he looked away. The girl's question was blunt yet sharp like an arrow. He let out an exhale.

"Because he... he's gone." He heard Hatsume yelp when he noticed out of the corner of his eye Power Loader swat her upside the head. Hatsume's smile turned a little upside down.

"oh... Uhh... Sorry, didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Her voice was a bit low.

"We won't ask how he passed. We won't pry Parker." Power Loader toned. "So, you lost your access to your mentor's resources when he died I assume? That suit and your Iron Spider module must be his last mementos to you."

"you...can say that."

"And you want us to fix the suit? And not the module?"

"Yeah but... there's a lot mroe to the suit. Very very complex stuff."

"Like what?"

Here goes. Time to drop the bomb.

"Would you believe if I told you my hero costume has an Artificial Intelligence attached to it but I can no longer access it due to a dumb mistake I made and lost my one and only way of communicating with said AI in my hero costume, that also has an unlimited power source?"

Hatsume's jaw dropped, eyes wide.

Power Loader stood there, still as stone. He might've blinked behind his helmet, but Peter couldn't tell. A second later, the teacher clicks his tongue and held up a finger.

"Say that again, I don't think I heard ya right."

Peter tried not to chuckle, not too far off from what he expected. At least they didn't laugh.

"There's an AI," Peter paused for a second, "In the suit. It controls the main functions, gives me advice, and is… a friend."

Hatsume's bottom lip trembled, her smile which was coming back after she unintentionally brought up Mr. Stark faltering yet again. Power Loader's face was a thin line. After a few seconds he jerked his head towards a machine in the back.

"Put her on the X-Ray, we'll get things sorted out."

"You believe me?" Peter asked, perking up,

"Not in the slightest," Power Loader admitted, putting a placating hand before Peter could say anything, "Don't get me wrong, I've seen some pretty nifty stuff come out of this here lab. Built the holo-projectors myself during my second year, but ya gotta understand where I'm comin from."

"Where's there to come from?!" Hatsume screeched with her hands in the air, "Peter's friend is trapped! We have to rescue them!"

"Her name is Karen." Peter added.

Power Loader's mouth quirked into one of surprise, and Hatsume's eyes looked like they were going to bust out of her head and he could hear her whine in anticipation. She snapped back to Power Loader so fast that Peter wouldn't be surprised if she got whiplash.

"You see! This is nothing short of a rescue operation! We need to act now before-"

"I get it! Will you let me finish!?" Power Loader screamed, pushing the young girl back, "I'm just saying, I've got a pretty fine source of intel coming out of every major tech outlet this side of the world, and every one of em says the same thing: Artificial Intelligence is at least twenty years away at the earliest estimates. Then you throw on infinite power source on top of it? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I've gotta say how it is and what is it is too good to be true."

"It's just in my suit!" Peter said, "You don't have to worry about any robot going crazy or anything. Oh! Like uhhh, liek the bad guys from those robot people movies, the one with the glowing red eyes and from a bad future and uhh... but yeah! Karen's harmless!"

"And how many villians wouldn't kill to get that from yah?" Power Loader shot, looking back with what Peter had to guess to be a mild glare.

Peter froze, even Hatsume seemed shocked by the seriousness in her teacher's tone. The support hero leaned against the nearby desk, barely managing it from the bulk strapped to his back.

"I saw your suit on display during the Practical Exam. Best damn tech that I've ever seen in a while, pushin into the best gear most pros walk out with. And a workin complex AI? Son, you're asking for a target on your back, and as a teacher, your teacher since you're a student here, I can't let yah do that to yourself without looking into it. Normally I could call you crazy and leave my studio, but considering your suit and how it performed, there is some benefit of the doubt here. And this is very dangerous waters we're about to tread, going into tech we aren't even ready for."

Peter… couldn't argue with him. Mr. Stark had god knows how many people try to get their hands on his suit, what could they do if they had access to the Iron Spider or Karen? He bit his lip as he looked down. Wow he... he's gotten by nicely.

"Course, that's what I'm supposed to say to ya," Power Loader continued.

Peter perked up, what was that?

The teacher smirked, "But I can't really call myself a hero if I keep someone from helping their friend now can I?" Peter brightened up like the sun, letting out a laugh.

This… this was great. No, better than great, this was everything that Peter had hoped for. A hopeful smile split his face, and the loud cheer of Hatsume next to him only made it grow.

"Alright!" Hatsume cheered.

"Thank you so much," Peter bowed, taking a deep breath to stymy the overflow of emotion inside him.

"Don't sweat it kid," Power Loader waving off the praise, "but I gotta say this stays between us, which means you gotta keep your trap shut Hatsume." He said, turning towards the pinkette.

"Why are you only telling me?" Hatsume asked with an oblivious grin.

"You know why," Power Loader deadpanned.

The girl tilted her head. Power Loader looked like he needed a stiff drink as he sighed. Moving away from the enthusiastic inventor, he headed over to the machine that Peter guessed was the residential X-Ray machine. With the teacher behind the controls, Peter unzipped his bag and pulled out his suit.

The first gift that Mr. Stark had given him, the thing that he gave back when he showed he was something without it.

Peter's first suit.

"Ooooo! A fiber optic interface with a centralized vacuum seal!" Hatsume squeeled behind him, eyes gazing down at it. "Only the best space suits have that kind of make up!" Peter jerked back, holding the suit and the girl back at arm's length. "Gimme gimme!"

"Hatsume! Down!" Power Loader yelled, "Making me feel my age." the hero muttered. "Not even thirty-two yet..."

"Sorry~" Hatsume said in a singsong.

The girl casually hummed a tune, looking over Power Loaders work with fake interest. Her eyes never left the suit, not that Peter could blame her. Clearly she was… really into machines. Poor girl would've flipped if she saw Mr. Stark's suit. And... are her eyes zeroing in, like a camera zoom? Those bullseyes looked more intense...

In front of him, the machine wirled to life, a scanning pad lighting up in the center that Power Loader pointed at.

"Right on there."

Peter nodded, placing the suit down. The pad lit up, a line of light tracing the suit before the monitor at the end of the lad lit up with an outline of the suit. Peter remembered the lining of the suit from the Homecoming fiasco, but seeing just how much wiring there was in the suit was still a sight to behold. It was like looking at the circulation map of the human body. Dozens of circuits spreading out from a central hub located just over the spider symbol. In the center of it all, a bright light that eclipsed everything else sat, ready and waiting.

The greatest technological marvel in the world, created in a cave nonetheless, the Arc Reactor.

Peter remembered reading about it growing up, an essentially unlimited pool of clean energy to power anything given the resources capable of handling the charge. Before the Battle of New York, Mr. Stark was planning on powering the entire city with the energy stemming from the hub at the base of what would become the Avengers Tower. He still was, although politicians blocked him from time to time, so other cities and towns got it instead. It was slow and gradual, but it would have brought a clean world without the use of fossil fuels.

"It's… it's…. Beautiful," Hatsume drooled, her eyes sparkling over the X-Ray blueprint. It was as if she was gazing at something she had never seen before, something so mesmerizing to the eyes it would make most men weep. Heck even her eyes looked a bit wet!

"Well now, I'll be damned," Power Loader swore, taking a deep breath to soak in the new information. "That's some power. You know it's output?" He reached for his pocket, grabbing a canteen and drinking some water, or tea, the American couldn't tell.

"Don't know exactly," Peter admitted, "but if my math is correct," and most of the time it was, "About 2.6 gigajoules a second."

Power Loader spat out his water and began to cough, turning away.

"2.6 gigajoules?!" Hatsume screamed, "That's amazing! How does it work?" she asked, getting far, far too close for comfort. "What's its function? Running time? Does it need a charge? Is it solar powered!"

Peter could barely lean back far enough to avoid… those from touching him. She was... just below Momo...mayb- Mind out of the gutter! Out out out!

"It cycles an assigned input around a palladium core and feeds the excess through the suit, and it has small solar fibers inbedded to let it recharge out in daylight."

"Avoiding overload by keeping the energy contained and providing a continuous stream of energy in case of system failure." Power Loader finished, hand on chin. "Combined with a backup of power to help recharge it..."

Peter nodded and Power Loader whistled, and let out a laugh of disbelief.

"And here I thought the toys out in I-Island are neat, you're sitting on a technological marvel here Parker. Like..." He lifted a hand. "Your mentor could have sold this for a fortune, hell, he would have set up five generations for life if he sold this. And knowing you, you want to honor his legacy... Wow..."

"Maybe," Peter admitted with a blush, "But the problem is that Karen is right in the center of… all that. Near the Arc Reactor."

"Arc Reactor? That's the power source?" Power Loader asked.

"Yeah."

He pointed at the center mass of circuits surrounding the miniature Arc Reactor. An AI chip the size of a penny right beside it, in the center of the most intricate system that any engineer could ever hope to build in this world. And Mr. Stark built the first model in a cave!

"Then we sure got a pickle on our hands," Power Loader admitted, "But I don't think that it'll be a problem."

"Your really think so!?" Peter asked, loud and surprised.

"Yep," Power Loader said pointing to Hatsume, "Little witch over there might be a pain, but her eyes have got the best focus this side of a atomic scope with steady hands to boot. Only two days and she's been killing it and has a ton of promise. So long as she's willing to-"

"I can start right now!" Hatsume declared, holding a scalpel high, a printed out X-Ray blueprint and pens and others measuring tools in her arms "Let me at those sweet circuits! I'll have Parker-san's adopted baby out in no time!"

That's… not what Karen was, but this was great! Momo was right, this really was the perfect place to get what he needed. Peter beamed from ear to ear.

"At least let me get a better scan of the suit before you get your greedy hands on it," Power Loader scowled, "And don't you have homework you need to finish? You need to make your second piece of viable equipment, those hover boots may be incredible for someone on their second day, but that still only counts as one item."

"Oh that's nothing," Hatsume waved off, "I'll have it done in ten hours or so~." She giggled with a toothy girn.

Peter checked the clock and blanched, "Isn't that… three in the morning?"

"Yep," Hatsume said, popping the 'p'.

"What about, you know, sleep? Parents? Eating?"

Hatsume blew a raspberry, rolling her eyes, "Sleep is for those who can't see that there are babies that need to be saved! And my parents don't mind! They love the fact I'm not around much, they snooze they lose!"

"Scan first!" Power loader screamed, before muttering something about doing one nice thing for first years. "Can't believe I'm gonna have to sleep in my office... That should take the rest of the night, by the way," the hero continued, "Can't be too careful with something like this. I'll help supervise. You, Parker, should head on home. Only students with permsission from their teachers are allowed on campus after hours."

Peter nodded, "Alright, when should I come in?" It was getting a bit late anyway.

"How about lunch?" Hatsume offered, "You won't have to miss out on your big important hero classes and we can have plenty of time looking over this…" the girl looked at the scream, foaming at the mouth as she stared at the suit, "Beautiful baby~." She spoke that out almost low, bed-like.

Peter… didn't know what to think. Weird? Definitely. Helpful?

Peter couldn't thank them enough.

For the first time since he got here, the idea of talking to Karen wasn't a dream anymore, and it was all because of these two.

"Thank you." He said softly, and both the pinkette and the armored hero looked back with matching grins.

"Don't mention, we're just doing our jobs. Besides, I wanna have a hand at this too whenever I can. You should head on home, leave it to us." And Peter felt at ease, leaving the suit with the two as he left campus for home.

(X)

Aizawa Shouta turned off the window of the last Battle Trial that All Might had going earlier today. Today he took a day off to prepare some curriculum for the semester ahead, as well as make a pitch to some hero firms out there that were willing to do a summer based internship for the entire class. He sent out some emails, hoping for a bite and got back a couple, but they were all on a 'play by ear' basis considering their work as pros. The closest one, an hour and half drive to the mainland of Honshu was the national park where the Wild Wild Pussycats, who specialize in forest and mountain rescue missions, were located. He may have to stick with them, but even then the internship camp is something he'll have to toss by the Principal.

Heroes have little if any days off. It is something Class A will have to learn. So far it's only a bud, an idea. Hopefully the mouse will approve and the Pussycats aren't tangled up in any rescue operations.

Along with that, and getting much needed sleep for nearly eight hours, the black haired man looked out to the city of Korozan, the neighboring ward next to Musutafu polluting the night sky with its many lights, and sighed as he sipped some coffee and turned around in his chair. Being a hero who specialized in the underground meant zero endorsement deals... but the government pay was twice, if not triple the normal rate. After all, Shouta had to deal with the most heinous of villains who didn't show out in daylight. Being a teacher at U.A. was a decent change of pace, and a much safer salary, but the man still had that itch... The thirst to know. To investigate.

Before him on a small bulletin board was a fledging case bulletin board.

PETER PARKER. In bright red English letters.

And below that, lines connecting several facts based on the info in U.A.'s database and his observations.

BORN: QUEENS BORROUGH, NEW YORK USA.

NO KNOWN RELATIVES, ALL DECEASED ACCORDING TO APPLICATION.

LEGAL GUARDIAN: TAKEYAMA YU, AKA MT. LADY.

He had a photo of Mt. Lady beside it.

QUIRK: 'SPIDER'. POSSESSES THE STRENGTH, SPEED, AND REFLEXES OF A SPIDER RELATIVE TO HIS SIZE.

-Could possess spatial awareness or some measure of precognition. Able to foresee danger or anyone coming when not in his line of sight.

-Could fire webbing from wrist or other locations? Need to learn more.

HERO COSTUME: UNKNOWN, BUILT BY AN UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER, CLAIMS TO BE DECEASED ACCORDING TO APPLICATION.

A picture of Parker in his metalic-red and gold costume flying around in Battle Center B was beside it, and Shouta crossed his arms. He even had a photo of a quirk test softball beside it.

TAKEYAMA'S RELATION: 'FRIEND OF A RELATIVE'.

-All relatives deceased. Did he have no where to go?

-If so, why didn't the US put him in foster care? Why come to Japan?

EXPERIENCE: ONE VIGILANTE REPORT IN THE MUSUTAFU WARD DEALING WITH A GIANT VILLAIN. MT. LADY, KAMUI WOODS, AND MUSUTAFU POLICE DEPARTMENT WERE INVOLVED. NOTHING ELSE MENTIONED.

Many photos beside this factoid, with the villain getting drop kicked by the giantess, with Parker... colliding into her big rump in midflight like a fly to a windshield.

It was the only good picture he can find of that incident. The search engines had nothing but ass shots.

And in that same photo, Parker was in the same uniform as the one he used in the Practical exam.

"Alright..." Shouta muttered aloud, blinking in the sanctuary of his luxury high rise flat. "Let's see..."

Parker is in Japan, based on a story where all of his relatives were deceased, Mt. Lady happened to be a close friend of one of them, and took him in, despite being a professional hero and a relative newcomer wanting to make her mark in the competitive hero business.

Top it all off with a costume most pros would salivate over, combined with experience of one, at least one as experienced as Mt. Lady going over the video clips of the giant villain incident and the Practical Exam.

All of this... sounds so unrealistic. Did Parker's family have no other friends to take in the poor child? Was foster care that ineffective in America to take in a kid as talented as this? No body? Were his family recluses? Then how does that explain the suit? Were they inventors? The legs that come from nowhere. The webs. The durability and power.

He narrowed his eyes. All of this... just isn't adding up. At all. And it was wracking at his brain. His experience investigating underground villains, crime rings, and deadly serial killers was telling him that all of this, did not make any sense. Shouta had to get to the bottom of it. Leaving any stone unturned can leave a deadly spider to sink its fangs into some innocent. His mentor said it best:

"Seek the truth, for truth will forever bring peace of mind. It may not be you, but it may be others."

There was no doubting Parker's personality. He was a bit bumbling. Nice to others. Tries to avoid confrontation, and is altruistic given his gang rush of Bakugo during the Quirk Test to save Midoriya and his actions during the Practical. Unnecessary given his carbon scarf's reaction time, but a noteworthy observation nonetheless.

He scanned over the board, looking for an angle. A starting line for his little side investigation.

No relatives. Moved from New York to Japan just last year. Vigilante report occured right after as Parker moved to help Mt. Lady with a villain.

Did... he have no knowledge on Quirk Laws, something that was instilled into all children as to not interfere with hero and villain business without being certified? Was his family former heroes? Where did he get his gear? Why would an American prodigy, perhaps the best student Shouta may have had in his class ever with his work ethic, smarts, Quirk, potential, everything checked out. He had the makings of a model student.

But his gear... the pro gear that shredded robots like paper. His experience in fighting them... and it only doubled down too after seeing his fight with Todoroki and Shoji. He is not an inexperienced first year. Not even close. He reminds him more of Togota Mirio, the exemplary third year who was in Class 1-B two years back, and had been one of the most progidigal U.A. students to date.

It just is not adding up. Where to begin... where...

"The best start is..." His eyes scanned over his fledging board, and his brain racked. His mentor said that locations were key. They are the backdrop of all incidents and people will remember the location of whenever an incident occured.

Shouta's eyes grabbed a dart. In what free time he had not spent sleeping, he would enjoy a good scotch and play some darts in a local bar to take some stress out before heading back to his flat for, well, sleeping. It helped him even blend in whenever he was in a seedy establishment too, playing with thugs in order to overhear deals, transactions, or wait till a suspect arrived for him to tail.

"There."

He flung it, and it hit the POLICE in MUSUTAFU POLICE DEPARTMENT.

(X)

"What's it like having All Might as a teacher?"

"Can you tell us anything about the hero course now that he's teaching?"

"How do you think he's doing as a teacher?"

"How are you enjoying Japan so far?"

Peter groaned externally, could he just get to class? What is with all these reporters? The second he got off the bus the hoard of reporters had hounded him the instant they saw him in the U.A. uniform. Next thing he knew cameras, phones, mics you name it and they were being thrown in his face before he could do anything. Midoriya looked as mortified as he did, but his green haired classmate had enough sense to leave with an excuse about needing to get to the nurse's office before it got to bad for him.

"Tell us, the people of Japan need to know!" demanded a particularly pushy reporter.

"He… smiles a lot?" Peter offered. "He's big and strong, jumps over a building in a single leap, blazes trails when he runs. I don't know, this is only day three for me here at U.A."

The reporter gave him a flat look and Peter tried to move back. This is what Mr. Stark dealt with daily? Geeze there was praise and then there was this. A whole nother level of crazy.

"Sorry," Peter said gently pushing the mic away, "I got to get to class."

"Wait!" The reporter called. "I have a couple more-ack!"

Peter scooted back, but the poor man was already in the center of a group. Didn't give much room to move your legs. His foot hitched against another reporter's leg, and from there, gravity did its magic. The man toppled forward, and Peter winced at a crunch. The man picked himself up and glanced down. The mic… was toast. At least several hundred thousand yen of recording equipment destroyed beyond repair.

The reporter slowly looked back up at Peter, pure rage in his eyes.

"I'm sorry!" Peter apologized in English out of habit, but it only seemed to ignite the rage even further.

"You little menace!" The reporter bellowed, "Mark my words, I'll have your-"

"You'll have nothing."

The man stopped, and Peter's head snapped to see Mr. Aizawa lazily shuffle over to the horde, hands in pockets. His droopy eyes glanced his way, "Get to class Parker. I'll handle this."

"Yes sir," Peter said, grateful for the save. "Thank you."

"Hnn."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Peter made it about halfway to the door before a boom stopped him in his tracks. He turned around, and-wait? Does this school have blast doors on the gate? Geez, combined with the robots, the teachers... what was wrong with this school?

He made it to class, walking through the halls with a renewed step in his vigor. Eh, it was an accident. The reporter will probably bill it to his newspaper company as such. Can't charge a kid after all.

Then Peter noticed more looks his way as he made his way to class, and he can guess why. The rumors are still going on through out school. He slumped in his jacket, biting his lip as he kept his eyes to the ground.

No, gotta be like Mr. Stark! He can't help it when he does so good that people know! This is a hero school! Be proud! Show it! Flaunt it!

...

Okay that didn't last long. Peter groaned again as he can hear whispers from other first year students. He climbed up the stairs fast, and he saw Pony approaching from the hallway!

"Hey Peter!" Pony called out with a friendly wave, walking towards him with a bright expression. Peter relaxed, waving back. "So, I was wondering, do you wanna hang out for lunch today?" She asked in English. Close by, Peter saw some other students mingling, one of them being Setsuna, some chubby kid and a girl with very long and wide brown hair covering her eyes, making her head look almost like a mushroom in a way.

"Oh, hey Pony ummm." Peter paused, taking a deep breath. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm gonna be busy during lunch. Working on a project." The blond texan girl blinked, and he saw her shoulders fall a bit. "And it's super important, has to relate to my costume and all."

"Oh!" She perked up, and Peter didn't feel as guilty. Gosh Pony has the best, and the worst puppy eyes. "Did your costume get damaged in your Battle Trials? We had ours in the morning, and I was paired with Kinoko over there!" She pointed over to the group towards the mushroom-looking girl who perked up. She offered a light wave, and the chubby kid turned, noticing Peter and Pony talking before whispering with her.

"No not really... in a sense. It's just getting a good look over and I'm needed there is all." Peter offered an apologetic smile. "Maybe tomorrow or after school? I saw a great ice-cream and taiyaki shop close by we can hit up whenever." Pony's ears perked up and her tail swished.

"That's amazing! I'll see how our class is like, since Mr. Vlad teaches us a lot and helps us refine our abilities. I gotta get to class, so we'll see how our homework is like and go from there!"

He saw Setsuna throw in a wave after as Pony went to join her classmates.

"Sounds like a plan Pony. Later!" Peter turned towards the Class 1-A door and entered, taking his seat behind Momo. "Morning, Yaoyorozu-san." He greeted in English.

"Good morning Parker-san. Did you sleep well?" She replied back softly as Peter went to grab his notebooks. He replied with a "Mmhmm". He can hear the other students mingle and socialize with each other, and Peter was silently glad they got all their mobbing of him after his clash with Todoroki out of their system. He saw Shoji nod his head, or an arm-head, in his direction, almost out of acknowledgement. He looked around, seeing Todoroki in his desk.

"Morning Todoroki-san."

"Good morning." He replied back neutrally and curt. Peter opened his mouth in hopes of starting a conversation, but paused when he looked at how Todoroki... didn't seem to be in much of a mood. Then again, as long as he's known him, he never is.

Bakugo up in front only gave Peter a glare before looking back in front.

"Alright, quiet down." Everyone in class stopped their talking when they saw Mr. Aizawa enter the classroom. "Good, instant response. Let's start up some homeroom." He reached down, pulling out some paper. "I looked over all of your grades and evaluations from yesterday's Battle Training. Good work, all of you." His gaze went to Peter's side of the room.

"Bakugo," Peter saw the blond perk up and Peter looked away, scowling. He almost forgot about him. And they're in the same row too. He may not be barking loud and proud, but that doesn't excuse what he did prior. "Grow up and stop sulking like a child. You're talented, don't let one loss be the end of the world." He can hear the frustration in Bakugo's sigh as he looked down.

"Yeah, whatever..."

"And it looks like Midoriya ended the day with another broken arm," Izuku perked up, and while Peter couldn't see his face, his body language was obvious. He wasn't happy with himself. "Get your quirk under control, we can't keep having you be broken after every exercise. Trying ain't gonna cut it. You have the potential to overcome this with hard work. Get to work on it, and show some urgency. You can do it."

"Right!" Izuku replied, his tone bright. Peter felt Aizawa's eyes on him and Momo.

"Parker and Yaoyorozu got top marks, although if I had to critique you two I suggest trying to keep damage to your base to a minimal next time, but given your opponent and their abilities with the environment it was necessary, so I am not going to rag too much on that. Good work communicating with each other and formulating a plan to counter your opponents. You aced it."

"Thank you sensei." Momo said with a bow.

"Y-Yeah, thank's sir." Peter stammered. Not everyday he expected his long haired shaggy teacher to give out praise like this. He could hear Eijirou give a chuckle and give him a sideways smirk. Up past Izuku, the American can see Bakugo's shoulders slump just a little.

"Todoroki. Shoji. Be more diligent next time when in the villain's lair. Showing such discipline can mean the difference between victory and defeat, otherwise you two did good despite your setback. Learn from it and keep your heads up. You'll get'em next time."

"Yes sir." Shoji replied, and Todoroki gave a nod.

"Now then, our first order of business will decide this class' fate." Aizawa said sternly, and everyone in class was on edge. Was it another Qurik Test? Could it be another pass or expel exercise?!

"You all need to pick a Class Representative."

There was a massive sigh of relief amongst the students. Finally, normal school stuff!

And Peter groaned as he heard everyone in class yelled and gave their pitches. It was as loud as a dang sportsbar. Everyone from Eijirou to Jirou Kyouka, Mina and Aoyama, even Bakugo got into the race as they spoke over each other on wanting to be the one to represent Class A. Back home, Peter never sought to be elected or lead like that. He just wanted to do his job and the tasks necessary to get through life. That and his duty to be a friendly neighborhood Spider Man would have clashed with class politics.

Would Mr. Stark want to be the leader? Well, he was the leader of his company, but everyone knew Captain America lead the Avengers. Mr. Stark was mainly his number two. But... he still led his company.

Peter sighed. He's dealt with enough people looking his way and praising him. He already had enough as is, he'll sit this out.

"Please quiet everyone!" Showed Tenya whom Peter looked over behind the mob of students with their hands raised. Everyone in class settled down, turning towards the blue haired young man. "The duty of Class Representative is a great responsibility to bear, but ambition does not equal merit or ability! The position requires that the Class Representative in question earn the trust and respect of all the constituents within its classroom. Therefore, the most logical objective to find our Class Representative is through a democratic election, and leave it to a vote!"

Tenya said all of this, with his hand raised in the air, and he seemed to know it too, considering he was shaking in shame. Everyone had the same thought: you just want all of us to vote for you.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Denki had his eyebrows raised.

"We've only known each other for a few days, how do we know who to trust?" Asui asked,

"Yeah, and everyone will just vote for themselves right?" the red haired boy added.

"And that is precisely why anyone who manages to acquire multiple votes, will be best suited for the job! They will have earned the trust and respect of their fellow man to lead them in our class going forward! Sensei, is this alright by you! The voting that is!" Tenya inquired. Aizawa seemed sleepy, getting into his sleeping bag.

"Don't care, just make sure it's done by the time my nap's done." And then he fell to the floor with a flop.

"Alright! Everyone take a piece of paper and put their name on it, and then pass it forward! I will do a voting count and list all nominees on the board!" Tenya had finished writing down on a piece of paper, folding it and placing it in a pile on the front desk as Aizawa... slithered his way to a corner to get out of the way and closed his eyes.

"Okay... Who to vote..." Peter murmured as he began to go over the class. Class President... who is best suited... He looked behind him, and saw Momo handing him a piece of paper. She had a soft look on her face as he took it and passed it forward. Everyone in the class was muttering to themselves...

And he felt several eyes on him. Some students were staring his and her way.

'I have a bad feeling about this.' He took a deep breath, looking down...

He made his choice, wrote it down and passed it forward to Izuku.

Five minutes later, the votes were tallied and the results were posted on the chalkboard. Like Eijirou said, a lot of people just voted for themselves, earning at least a spot on the board.

The results though… weren't what Peter was expecting.

"I got four votes?" he asked.

He blinked, sure he was seeing something, but the results remained. Sure it was nothing compared to Momo's five, but still!

"Ok you idiots!" Bakugo screamed, jumping from his desk in a blind rage, "Who the fuck voted for the redshirt!?"

"What did you think someone was going to vote for you?" Sero asked with a snarky smirk.

The boy with tape coming out of his arms quickly held up his hands in surrender as the blond bomber turned on him. Peter on the other hand… didn't know what to make of this. Why the heck would someone vote for him? He barely talked to anyone in 1A, he wasn't the social butterfly like Mina was; he talked to Pony more than some.

But his name was there, so he had to be the deputy.

He sighed, slumping in his chair. When he thought that he should be more like Mr. Stark, he didn't mean so soon.

"Zero votes..." Peter winced, yeah this definitely hurt Tenya more than it did him. The tall and broad boy was downtrodden, barely hanging on as he fought with the urge to break down right then and there. "I thought this might happen, but I can't argue with the system that I created." He uttered, lower lip shaking. "This is the bed I made... I must lie in it!"

He turned to look at the victors, Peter smiling nervously.

"S-Sorry man, it just worked out like this."

The American wanted to cheer the guy up, he wasn't good with social cues but it was probably pretty obvious where he stood. Instead, Tenya's head only dipped further. On the plus side, Izuku looked relieved. At least one of them is coming out of this relaxed.

"If you're all finished, come up to the front of the class," Mr. Aizawa called from his corner groggily.

Wait they had to go up front? Oh why did this happen? Peter felt a tap on his shoulder, Momo gesturing to the front. 'Why did it have to be me?' Peter thought solemnly taking a spot next to her up front. He groaned lightly as he followed her up.

"Alright the Class Rep is Yaoyorozu, and the Deputy is Parker." Aizawa said.

Was that man ever going to come out of his sleeping bag? Next to him, Momo sighed, "Not what I had in mind..." Guess she didn't vote for herself. She wasn't a part of the big hullabaloo of students making pitches, and neither was he. And yet, here they were.

"Right there with you," Peter whispered.

Good, at least Momo was with him in not wanting this. Didn't really matter because everyone else looked ecstatic with only two big no's. Bakugo looked ready to blow him through a wall, even halfway across the room Peter felt his hair stand on end. Tenya looked ready to find a shovel and dig a hole to lie in. Todoroki looked as stoic as ever.

"You know, this might be pretty good," Asui said from the front row, finger to her chin.

"Yeah, now that I think about it..." Mina mused as she narrowed her eyes and began to think. "I think we really got the best possible candidates!"

"Yeah I'm down with the smartest girl and strongest guy leading the charge," Eijirou added. "Only makes sense for our elites to take charge."

"Yaoyorozu was on top of our training results, plus Parker is our Ace!" Denki added.

"The elites on top..." Tokoyami uttered.

If anything, that made Bakugo even angrier, growling louder in frustration. Peter and Momo shared a look as Aizawa went over the schedule on the day, the black haired beauty offering an apologetic smile.

Didn't help, but it was better than nothing. And Peter couldn't help but return it.

(X)

Ah the media. What good little vultures, picking and scrapping at every little piece of fame that they could get their hands on. Stupid pesky things trying in vain to share in the spotlight, trapped in the spur of the moment.

Completely forgetting about the entire point.

Chasing their heroes, groveling at their feet and worshiping them like gods. Not the new gods, the first, those little eyesores that no one likes to talk about. The ones that came down with lightning and fire the second they didn't get their way, destroying everything that they didn't agree with. They brought order and justice by their rules. Their merit made them kings.

As was their right.

But these new gods? They were nothing. Cheap action figures playing at greatness, breaking and implementing justice when it suited them.

Puppets, tangled in strings at the bottom of a chest, waiting for the real players to come around.

Cause that's all this was. A big game between those who had their eyes opened wide enough to see the pieces. To see who controlled who.

One player looked out, over the crowd of vultures as they pecked at the castle of his final boss. So close, but out of reach like all pesky invisible walls or rainbow bridges.

He'd have to get rid of it, and go straight for the prize.

And why shouldn't he? Why waste so many hours of gameplay fighting the mooks and throw away NPC's that won't matter. All that mattered, was getting to the final boss.

Though, taking out some NPC's along the way sounded pretty fun.

What's stopping him from doing that? He was the player, why shouldn't he play? In fact, he was the only player. The main protagonist of his story, his game of righteous retribution to bring down the society that ruined his life.

First move of the day… start the main quest.

(X)

Math was a bore, more so than usual. When you're seventeen years of age posing as a sixteen year old, and your birthday was this August, it made for the fact that Peter redoing similar math he did back in his world, it was like being held back due to failure, yet he didn't fail his classes. He failed- Forget it move on. This class made him think because it was such a breeze. That was totally fine with Peter, any time that he could spend thinking was a good thing.

Wait, not good thing, a bad thing, very very bad thing. Thinking would let his mind travel places. Sometimes when Mr. Snipe would hear a correct answer, Peter would shiver and feel cold at the sound of him on occasion, snapping. He didn't know why.

And now he has more duties... because now? He was the Deputy Rep.

What was he supposed to do!? He didn't even know what the Class Rep and the Deputy were supposed to do. No one ever voted for him back home, and he made it intentionally so as to not let it get in the way of his hero work, plus he had no idea how to even lead. Not that Peter ever put himself out there to get the votes, but that's besides the point. What was the point was that Peter had no clue what he was supposed to do. Did he have to organize things? He could probably do that so long as he knew what the heck he was doing. He needed guidance.

Did he have to speak for the class? Oh god the thought alone made him groan lightly. Public speaking was always a hit or miss, but for an entire class of future superheroes? Count him out! Maybe easy for Mr. Stark but he has like, three decades on him! How can he?!

The bell chimes and Mr Snipe left the room, a mass of sighs following in his wake. Peter on the other hand jerked forward from the slap on his back.

"Look whose thinkin' like Aristotle!" Eijirou said, his shark grin flashing in the light, "Already putting yourself to work there aren't ya Ace."

Peter wanted to die. First that nickname and now this!

"I didn't ask for this," Peter mumbled, looking at his desk with a slump to his shoulders.

"Whether you asked for it or not." Tenya said from the side, walking over. "It is your duty to uphold your station to the best of your ability."

"I… ugh," peter groaned, letting his head fall to his desk. "I dunno how..."

"Hey don't sweat it!" Eijiro said, barely managing to make peter twitch with another hard pat on the back, "You've busted up robots this stuff should be a piece of cake! Just do you and adapt! You'll be fine!"

"You have no idea what Class Rep's do do you?" Tokoyomi commented, his normal glare looking his way, but Peter can sense no malice from him. He always seemed to glare, but he seemed...well... affable enough?

The wall crawler's face just went blank, answering the question for everyone.

"I don't either," Peter admitted. "This... is my first time ever being elected by a vote." He looked away, unable to look at his peers.

"Really?" Tenya asked, surprise clear in his tone, "I would've thought you were familiar with such a position. "

Peter looked up from his seat, blinking the spots from his eyes.

"Really?"

Tenya nodded, "You really must stop selling yourself short Parker-San. You've shown to be extremely observant, thoughtful and resourceful." He stated with hand gestures. "Only you and Midoriya were capable of seeing through the Practical Exam's true hidden purpose, and even went a step beyond in helping the less fortunate in their struggles. Combine that with your humble nature, quick thinking on your feet and affable personality, and you were an obvious choice." He gulped, biting his lip. "Even I must admit that, as much as I dislike it, but the facts are the facts."

Peter blinked again, and noticed a good chunk of the class had also listened in to Tenya's little spiel. Momo was nodding her encouragement, same with Midoriya. Shoto… couldn't care less.

Bakugo wanted to kill him, nothing new there.

So it was just him?

Huh, Peter didn't know how to take this. He scratched the back of his head, offering a small smile.

"Umm... Thanks man... I'll do my best not to let all of you down."

"No worries Parker-san." Tenya adjusted his glasses.

"He brings up some excellent points," Momo adds on softly "Besides, this job is going to be draining," Momo admits, "But after yesterday, it's nothing we can't handle, as long as we support each other and put our minds to it." She then smiled a bit wider.

That put Peter at ease. After her reaction, he would've thought that Momo would be having second thoughts. Of course she was getting over this faster than him. She probably had to deal with this more than he did, considering her intelligence and stature and good lucks she must have been elected a lot in her junior high! Girl was a mini Mr. Stark with how smart she was.

Top it all off, she was going to be dealing with more than he could ever handle. The least he could do was support her the best he can. He's been voted by his peers and friends. It's now his responsibility.

Eijirou whistled, "Damn you really are confident aren't yah?"

Momo shook her head, shocking the brawler, "Not at all, there's simply no reason to complain about it. Everyone votes for one reason or another."

Eijirou shrugged "I just figured the best should be doing that kinda stuff from jump, hence my vote for him."

"What did you say!?" Bakugo screamed.

The boy seemingly flew over to their side of the classroom, over a horrified Midoriya and a confused Sero.

"You voted for him!?"

The red headed boy just shrugged as Bakugo's rage went straight over his head. "What of it? Use your head man, I mean, it was down to those two, since Tenya was clearly thirsty for it, so I went with a coin flip on those two."

"Got some nerve saying that with a straight face about that redshirt! And you!" Bakugo rounded on Peter. "You don't deserve it one bit, even with all your power you never belonged here!"

It could have been a HIM as the Class Rep and he did it by a coin flip?! Peter could see the steam exiting the blond bomber's ears.

Just one more class and it would be lunch. Then finally he would be safe, just a little bit longer. He sighed in frustration, looking off.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you damnit!" Peter moved his hand, seeing the blond slam his hand on his desk, his red eyes boring down at him. Those same murderous red eyes that... almost tried to kill Izuku with that gauntlet blast. The brown haired American gritted his teeth, glaring back.

"Back off." He said quietly. "You're on my desk." Bakugo sneered, baring his teeth.

"Make me, American." He hissed back in English, hand gripping the side of Peter's desk.

"H-Hang on Kacchan, n-no need for violence!" Izuku waved his arms, and he got a full on glare from the blond. He shrinked back behind his chair.

"Fuck off Deku, this has nothing to do with you!"

"Kacchan?" Peter asked aloud, looking at Izuku and then at Bakugo. His name is Bakugo Katsuki, and the chan suffix is usually reserved for those with a great deal of affection. It also kinda sounded like a more formal term for mother. So...

His anger faded, replaced with confusion.

"Cease your bickering Bakugo!" Tenya shouted, "You're disturbing the rest of the class!"

"Piss off four eyes!"

"Geez some guys have no chill," Denki said from his seat, leaning back and resting his feet atop of it.

"Hey, look at it like this, we get a show before lunch bell," Mina smiled, amused by the theatrics.

"I wouldn't call this a show." Shoji deadpanned from one of his mouth-arms.

"More of an annoyance," Tokoyami chimed. The silent and shy Koda seemed to nod with the bird-headed boy.

"I heard that bird brain!"

The blond shifted away from Peter, his new target known. As one Peter heard him and Izuku sigh. He glanced at him and gave a wry smile.

Looks like both of them wanted lunch to get here sooner.

"So... uh..." He saw Bakugo stomp over and rant at Tokoyami, but the shadow-using boy simply closed his eyes and replied back in simple retorts. "Kacchan? You know him?" Peter asked, and Izuku perked up. "That name and stuff..."

"Oh! Well, me and Kacchan were childhood friends actually." Izuku answered, fiddling his fingers. "We live in the same neighborhood too. And I've known him since forever!"

"So like..." Peter tilted his head. "You two exchange nicknames and he..." He heard Bakugo pause, turning around from Tokoyami. "Uhhh... how do I say this..." Izuku blinked, and then he paled as if he knew what was coming. "Bullies you? This an inside joke you two have as friends? I'm lost here."

Izuku looked as white as a ghost as he waved his arms, while Bakugo was back by him now, blushing and angry. Sero and Denki were guffawing in their seats while Mina was sniggering. Even Tokoyami had a ghost of a smile on his beak. "N-n-n-n-n-no at at all! It's not like that at all! We were just f-f-friends!"

"That doesn't explain anything," Ochako said from her side of the room..

"Yeah, what's the deal? He pissed you beat him or something?"

Peter didn't think that Izuku could get any paler, but that's what happened. Kid looked like Peter just stepped onto sacred ground.

Different note, why did he feel like he needed to duck?

Peter's head snapped down right as a mini pop crashed over him.

"The fuck did you just say ya bastard?!" Well he sure was acting defensive! Way to go Peter, first day as Deputy and you question you're starting this. Crapbaskets.

"Hey man don't take it personally, everyone loses!"

"I don't think-!"

And finally the lunch bell rang out, and Peter got out of his seat, and he walked past a seething Bakugo with his bags. He sidestepped a hand and walked out, pinching the bridge of his nose. He ignored Bakugo's shouts for him to come back.

Faster he gets to the studio to work on Karen, the better. He even planned ahead and brought a homemade lunch.

Maybe Hatsume likes sushi?

(X)

Peter didn't know what to think when he arrived at the support lab. Power Loader and Hatsume were here just like they said they would be. Only Power Loader looked ready to face palm and Hatsume was…

"So beautiful~."

...drooling.

On the main monitor, the first true Spider-suit was displayed in all its glory. Where once was nothing but a mess of circuits and veins was a detailed map, each layer describing a different set of circuits in the intricate system. The teacher even went a step further, creating a small table that stretched out the suit. The initial layer was off, something Peter couldn't do back at the apartment with the tools he had, revealing the mass underneath. A crazy mess that Peter remembered fiddling with back during Homecoming, but the table was set up to highlight the map of the circuits as lights underneath the suit. All in all, it looked like a really expensive, really fancy game of operation.

A game of operation that probably costs a few billion yen, but that's a thought for another day.

What needed to be thought about was the fact that Hatsume looked ready to snuggle with the suit. She didn't even notice when he came in.

"Is she gonna be ok?" he asked.

Power Loader glanced at the girl, "Probably not."

Peter tried not to frown, the teacher didn't sound too worried about that. Moving on, he put a hand on Hatsume. She didn't flinch. He gave her a quick shake, "Hey Hatsume-"

"Parker! Good morning!" Hatsume screamed, her head snapping back to him so fast she had to have given herself whiplash.

"It's ah, afternoon Hatsume."

"Is it?" Hatsume glanced at a clock and shrugged, "Didn't notice."

She reached over and took a long swig of something in a thermos. Peter didn't know what was in it, but he could make a pretty good guess.

"Did you… sleep?"

"Nope." she and Power Loader said simultaneously.

That… couldn't be good.

"Don't bother," Power Loader grumbled, "Been there, wasted the time, and no, it wasn't worth it."

Okay then.

"So…" Peter trailed off, stepping around Hatsume to look over the suit, "Do you have any idea how to start?"

"We were waiting for you actually," Power Loader admitted.

His large metal hand pointed at the mini Arc Reactor in the center of the chest.

"See the biggest problem that we'll have to deal with is this little beauty. Damn things sittin' right on top of what we think is the housing component of your little AI friend."

He turned to the monitor and the layers peeled away until just the circuits connected directly to the arc reactor remained. That included one particular wire connected to something no bigger than a flash drive under it.

"Hooked that thing up to the breaker and nearly blasted every piece of tech by overload in this here room," Power Loader explained.

"Can't you take it out?"

"I was getting to that," Power Loader said, "First step that you kids will have to do is reroute the power from this… battery?"

"Arc Reactor." Peter corrected.

"So cool~." Hatsume cooed. Power Loader gave his student a sideways looks, shaking it off.

"Anyways, this here Arc Reactor is providing the power to this whole deal as you know." Power Loader explained, "You can get to individual blocks in the programing, but this little drive has more wires sticking out of it than All Might has reporters. Removing it from the connection could cause overloads in other areas, short circuiting the entire suit, and if that happens you can kiss your friend goodbye. And maybe your entire suit all together, since your webshooters are a part of it."

Peter blanched, that definitely wasn't something that needed to happen.

"So we gotta keep everything cycling while removing it?" Peter guessed.

Power Loader nodded, "That's the idea. Not right now though. You've got your hero courses that need your suit, and I still haven't gotten a full scan of this thing. We will need to do it in spurts. Give you back the suit, you do your exercises, then your return the suit here and we can get back to work, make some degree of progress whenever we can, then give it back to you whenever you do more hero training."

Peter blinked, what was the monitor for then? Power Loader chuckled, "That's only around half. I haven't even gotten to the internal circuitry of the Arc Reactor and who knows what'll happen if we mess with that. And I doubt I wanna go into the details if we get that power source messed up."

Peter's shoulders slumped. So long story short, they were still a long way from getting Karen out. But, at least... finally, after nearly a year of adjusting to a brand new world, a brand new culture and language, it was happening. Power Loader looked the boy over and smiled.

"Don't worry kid. Just let my make a few calls, I can get this entire thing a project for Hatsume and I'll be able to work as much magic that I can. I'll need her eyes in order to surgically remove the wires without damaging the thing, but it'll take time. In the meantime," his smile fell off his face, a frown surging to replace it, "You can keep that little witch off the suit!"

Peter turned and... what was Hatsume doing? She was all over the suit, running her finger along the circuitry. She has letting out a soft sigh and... blushing.

"For god sake Hatsume! No touching until the scan is finished!"

"Oops," the mechanic said, not even bothering to look guilty.

Peter heard the old hero groan and shoo the boy away.

"Start working on that redirection issue. Keep you and the mad genius busy for now."

"A-alright," Peter said, "Do you have any old computers?"

The older hero frowned, "What you need those for?"

Peter chuckled nervously, "Well, the Arc Reactor is giving out a lot of power. Whatever we're building is going to have to have plenty of copper wiring to handle the power surge."

Power Loader stood there for a second before nodding his head.

"Yer right, you got a brain between your shoulders after all." He smirked under his helmet. "As expected of the rumored 'First Year Phenom'."

"Uh… thanks?"

"Nothing against you, but more than one hero course student has gotten out of this school not knowing the difference between a wrench and a crowbar," Power Loader jokes, "All of our scrapped stuff is in the other room, Hatsume knows where."

With that, the older hero went back to his station, which left Peter to talk to Hatsume. Who was at least wasn't touching the suit anymore. She was so close that she could probably smell his deodorant off of it, but Peter will take what he can get.

"Hey Hatsume."

The girl glanced up, target eyes shining, "Batteries." she said.

Peter blinked, "What?"

"If your little guess on the power output of your suit is right, we're going to need something that'll hold all that power and there's only a few batteries that I know can withstand that kind of wattage."

Peter nodded, "Okay, where are they."

"No where, I just haven't made it yet! Will soon though!"

That… honestly, Peter didn't know what he was expecting.

"So where should we start."

The girl paused.

"We're going to need supplies."

"A lot of copper?" Peter offered.

The mechanic beamed.

(X)

As Parker and Hatsume talked over electronics and engineering to themselves, locking themselves within the scrap room, the pro hero teacher Maijima Higari, also known as Power Loader, couldn't help but shake his head and smile. He had very little sleep, having to sleep in his office chair and giving Hatsume a stern warning on if she broke anything while he was asleep she would get kicked out, for good. For real too, since he's not around to watch.

Hatsume Mei was a first year student in his few years of teaching he'd never thought he would get. A mad genius whose ambition and passion to create her 'babies' was so strong her own parents were nearly at wits end trying to get their daughter from ruining their garage. Thankfully they sent her to U.A., and she aced the Support Department Entrance Exam with near-perfect marks. And Higari knew he had a prodigy on his hands, one he had to let grow and flourish and evolve to new heights. While this may seem unfair to other Support Course students, in his mind, fair was a place that judges pigs. You judge heroes by their merit. By that same token, the ones who support the heroes should be evaluated in a similar light and given just as affordable privleges. He did create the reward for whoever got top marks in his course to get access to his studio while his Teacher Assistants helped with the majority of the students in the Support Course. And Hatsume earned it with her hard work and natural talent. A rare combination that the orange haired bachelor couldn't afford to hold such a talent back.

She grated his nerves, and she was mad. Yet the old saying 'as mad as a fox' existed. Combined with her quirk Zoom, she can create parts and equipment with pinpoint accuracy and best of all, isn't afraid of failure. Hell, she laughs at it when she made a nearly functional set of hover boots on day one. Many in the Support Course would whisper about how Peter Parker was doing from rumors spreading about, but soon many within U.A.'s halls will know the name of Hatsume Mei.

It made Higari grin with pride. He'll give her the warnings just enough for her not to abuse the rules, and last night showed she was willing to toe the line and displayed an altruistic spirit befitting of those who want to be heroes. Parker's suit was out of this world, stuff he's only seen at I-Island. And that Iron Spider Module of his was but an asset to this suit, one that made it even better.

"If only I could meet his mentor and shake his hand." He talked to himself as he looked at the clock. It was lunch time, and Hatsume would usually just eat protein bars on the go between work stations for nourishment. Now he can finally get to work and eat something of sustenance. He walked over to his personal fridge and opened it, licking his chops at the sight of his personal homemade bento. He reached in-

The warning claxons broke his personal reverie, and Power Loader perked up, hearing the alarms outside the hallway. Those alarms... someone infiltrated the school and broke through the blast doors?!

"SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BROKEN. ALL STUDENTS, PLEASE EVACULATE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION."

"Mr. Power Loader!" Parker's head poked out of the scrap shed. "What's going on?!"

The Studio was too far away for an evacuation site, and during lunch hour the hallways will be packed, and the students may be panicking too. This wasn't a drill. Higari turned towards him.

"Stay in that room and hide." Power Loader pointed. "Don't come out until the coast is clear or I come back. This is an order." He ran over to a bookshelf, pulling a book out and finding a keypad inbedded in. He tapped his password, 4L13N, and out came his special mech suit. He got inside, strapping in and hooking up.

"W-What do we do? What's Level 3?"

"Just stay in there! I'll tell you everything when I get back. And lock the door. And tell Hatsume if she breaks this I won't just kick her out for good I'll expel her!" No time to play around. A villain had attacked the campus. Genius or no, the threat of expulsion should set her straight to follow his orders.

Parker nodded, closing the door as Higari let out a sigh of relief. The suit activated, he began to slide downwards and then down a hall and then upwards, leaving the studio and his personal hangar bay to a launch funnel which sent him out into one of the courtyards on campus.

The Pro Hero, Power Loader, was locked and loaded. He heard his comm crackle in his helmet.

"What's the situation? Where's the villains?!" He yelled.

"It's okay Loader." It was Thirteen. "The press mob outside the school is inside."

Wait... no villains? The media was here?!

"How the hell they get past the blast doors?!" He barked as he looked around, unsure of if he should head to the front. "A villain could have snuck in right? I mean, for them to do so they have had to destroy the blast doors?!"

"Only one was destroyed, and don't worry, Eraser and Mic are handling it as best they can." Thirteen replied. "But, Nezu wants all the teachers to try and calm the students. From the camera feeds, it's utter bedlam over in the cafeteria!"

"No kidding, always hated that place. Way too crowded." Higari muttered under his breath. "Well, we should remain careful. I'll tell my students it's just a false alarm. Does Nezu wants us to convene soon?"

"Read my mind. He's already called the police, they should handle the media mob soon enough. I'm gonna calm down my students. Thirteen, out."

"Got it." Higari sighed, slumping in his mechsuit. "Press corp huh... damn vultures... Did they bring a bomb to the blast door? Those things were designed to withstand friggin cannon fire, I designed'em myself..."

It had to be a Quirk, and Higari gritted his teeth. Someone had to have destroyed the blast door and let the media inside.

Still, nothing he can do about it. He had to tell his TAs everything is fine and assure his students. He was a teacher after all. He piloted his suit back to his hangar and jumped down.

In ten minutes time he disembarked, called in his TAs giving the all clear and returned to his studio. He walked over to the scrap room and knocked on the door.

"Parker, Hatsume, coast is clear." He said. He waited, and Higari heard the door unlock and out came Parker.

"What happened? Was the villain caught? Anyone hurt?"

"Don't worry, it was just the press corps." He held up his hands. "Nothing to worry about." He lied a little at the end. Some students had to have gotten some bruises during the frarackus in the cafeteria. Those hallways couldn't handle hundreds of students at once running for their lives. Say...

"Where's Hatsume?" He asked, looking around.

"Oh yeah, she's-" Parker stepped aside, moving away from a fallen scrap computer brain. "Up there." And he stepped to the side. "And there." And another came crashing down.

"Hatsume you're gonna cause a concussion to someone who isn't careful! Stop tossing them like they're hot potatoes!" Higari shook his fist.

"We just need the copper from the PC units Sensei! Nothing more nothing less, and time is of the essence!" She called out from the top most shelf of the many scrap shelves within the gym-sized scrap room. He looked down, and the usually clear front area was litered with busted and tossed computers.

"Did... she not even hear the alarm?"

"I told her, but it didn't register." Parker shrugged, seeing another PC unit fall out and break into pieces.

In one ear and out the other... Higari couldn't help but laugh.

She was mad alright. As mad as a fox.

"Alright. Lunch should be ending soon thanks to that premature alarm. Parker, you should head back to your hero class. Depending on how things go after we deal with those vultures." Power Loader tossed a thumb over his shoulder. "We may have to do a thorough investigation of the school. I'll have Mei re-calibrate your suit back to normal for you to take home. While the press may have got on campus, they may have had help..."

"From what?" Parker asked, biting his lip.

"A villain."

(X)

A villain.

It had to be. Shouta glared at the ruined blast door in front of him. He had to place his hero course in study hall so he and his colleagues could investigate the damage. The blast door, a part of the U.A. Barrier System, strong enough to withstand a ramming car, tank shells, four layers deep of the toughest steel money could buy and Power Loader can refine, reduced to dust.

Parker returned last to his class after the students got the all clear from the security system, ending lunch early. He said he was having lunch at the Support Department, to which a quick text to Maijima confirmed. They finished up some remaining homeroom activities, with Parker apologizing for not being there to help in the chaos. Yaoyorozu handled it well too. The two may have not appreciated getting their new positions, but accountability was important, and the class accepted their apologies, even if Yaoyorozu was not to blame, and Parker was on the other side of the school, there was nothing he could do. It was just mass mania and scared children being scared children. Midoriya suggested that Iida could have a position as an assistant to the Class Rep and her deputy in the form of a Class Secretary. Parker took that idea and morphed it around into a Chief of Staff, to which many of the class voiced their approval. The second oldest son of the Iida clan looked almost ready to cry on the spot before accepting the position and vowing his utmost to help.

Iida has a good head on his shoulders and was as by-the-book as any, if a bit too strict with himself. He'll be a good hero worthy of his family's name, and the fact for Parker and Yaoyorozu to listen to the class for a suggestion to better it and for their future was a good sign for them to delegate their authority.

All well and good, but damn did they take too long.

"No ordinary reporter did this." Principal Nezu, the short mouse-dog-bear said darkly with his hands behind his back, surveying the damage. "This was the work of a villain... did they infiltrate our campus..."

Infiltration of the campus... This was not the start of the year Shouta wanted. He gripped his fists. It had to be because of All Might's presence. And someone was smart enough not to engage in a direct fight and assault, since they would have been defeated within minutes from the heroes defending their institution, to say nothing of All Might rushing in, even if he was off-campus on a day off.

Parker's investigation will have to wait. This was more pressing. And this...

"Or was this a declaration of war?"

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