spidey sense (Bakugo x Spider-Woman OC AU)

chapter two

(Official character art for Mara)

My vision blurred. My breaths were wheezed. I felt my whole body begin to shake as the panic set in. 

"Are you okay?" Dr. Watanabe asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I jerked away. My heart was pounding and everything around me looked fuzzy. Was this real? Was I really in another universe?

I stumbled out the door.

"Wait!" the doctor called. "I only let you come in because I thought you had a teleportation quirk, but since you don't can you please come back at some point with some form of payment?"

I didn't respond. Nausea was rolling in my stomach. I felt like I was going to puke. 

I had to get out of here. I had to go... I had to... There was nowhere to go. My head spun. Train station, map... I needed to find some way to get back to home. 

The sidewalk felt like it was tipping under my feet. My head rang violently. And suddenly my back was smacking against the hot pavement. 

I lay there for a minute, staring up at the blue sky, constant and ever-present. 

What was I going to do? How was I going to get back ho--

The back of my skull tingled. 

And then it itched.

And then it buzzed.

My eyes widened. Spider sense. I shot to my feet, glancing around me. Smoke spiraled over a few streets to my right. Someone was in danger. 

Zipping up my jacket, I pulled the yellow hood over my face, hiding it from any potential onlookers. I shot a web at the nearest building and swung up. There appeared to be some kind of situation on the street below, but I couldn't make it out through the smoke. Police sirens bellowed and firemen desperately tried to put out the growing flames. 

BOOM!

A huge explosion rocked through the smoke. I squinted, seeing a figure for a brief moment. Something green and slimy. I needed to get closer. Taking a deep breath, I set aside my confused feelings for a moment. This was more important. I made sure my hood covered my face before swinging down, my feet landing on a pile of rubble just behind the crowd. 

Ahead of the onlookers, a giant slime-like creature squirmed around another form. All I could see from where I stood was spiky blond hair.

"The villain's got a kid hostage!" someone shouted. 

It looked like the monster was suffocating the kid, forcing its ooze down his throat. Wasting no time, I shot another web and swung over the crowd. They looked up, gasping at my appearance.

"Stop those kids!" a deep voice yelled.

"Are they suicidal?"

I touched down a few feet away from the beast.

"Let the kid go!" I shouted.

It paused and looked at me, rumbling with laughter. "Why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't, it's about to get ugly."

It laughed again, tightening its grip around the boy. His head lurched forward and I could tell he was screaming in pain under all that slime. For a tiny moment, my eyes connected with his. 

Everything else froze.

I'd never seen eyes as deep and red as those.

They were alight and on fire and desperate.

Never had I seen eyes so, so desperate.

Yes, his eyes were deep and red and full of a plea for help. 

I knew what I had to do. My webs weren't going to be able to bind this guy. My best hope was to hit him with enough momentum to splash him all over the place and separate him from the boy.  

I wound myself up, preparing to let my webs loose.

A green streak of hair burst pass me. 

Izuku, sobbing desperately, had lurched forward and began clawing at the monster. 

"Let Kacchan go!" he cried.

The monster lifted a makeshift slimy arm to smack him out of the way, but before he got the chance, I shot a web and latched onto Izuku, swinging him out of the way.

Without wasting another second, I wound my webs around two parallel light posts as fast as I could, packing them over each other to form a sort of slingshot. Once I did enough layers, I backed myself into it, pushing it as far back as I could. Arms and legs shaking, I did a silent countdown.

One.

Two.

Three.

I released myself, catapulting forward. Gripping my hood as I flew through the air, I positioned myself so that I'd hit the monster with the full force of my legs. I aimed for its middle, feeling my feet connect with its gross figure. 

"DETROIT--"

SPLAT! 

The slime flew everywhere, losing its grip on the blond guy. Still in the air, I shot a web to catch myself and landed next to the boy.

"Are you okay?" I breathed, checking him for injuries. 

"Smash...?" someone behind me said. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a huge muscular man with weirdly styled hair and a raised fist. He let it drop to his side.

"Wow, you really just did that," he said. "Good job, kid. You saved him."

I turned back to the spiky blond. 

"Are you okay?" I asked again, gripping his arm.

"G-get off of me you hooded creep!" He shoved me aside forcefully. "I had it under control."

I scoffed, standing up. "Yeah, right. If you had it under control why'd I have to save your ass?"

"YOU DIDN'T SAVE ME! I WAS ABOUT TO EXPLODE THE DAMN CREATURE BUT THEN DEKU GOT IN MY WAY. WHERE IS THAT UGLY LOSER ANYWAY?" He stormed past me, looking around. Medics swarmed him quickly to check for injuries.

I glanced back at the muscle man. "Tough crowd," I muttered. "Usually they're thankful after being saved."

He cocked his head at me. "Usually? Who are you? Why are you hiding your face?"

Oh, right. Spider-Woman didn't exist here. 

"I'm--"

"Excuse me, who are you and why did you rescue that boy?" 

"Are you prepared for the consequences of your intervention?"

"Can you please explain your spider quirk to us?"

A crowd of reporters surrounded us, holding mics in my face. 

"I-what?"

Two policemen pushed through the crowd. "You are being detained for unauthorized quirk usage for violence and potential citizen endangerment." One of them reached out to grab me.

"Welp, I think that's my cue to get out of here. Bye, y'all." I shot a web up and jumped, swinging away from the crowd. 

"Haha, suckers--"

A strong hand wrapped around my ankle. 

The muscle man had grabbed me.

"I don't think so. You're not going anywhere."