Ultra Responsibility (My Hero Academia X Spider-Man Reader)

Issue 98 - The Faceless Part 2

I stood just off stage and watched the reporters pile in like vultures in sensible shoes.

Cameras. Flash bulbs. Microphones with little logos on the side. Too many faces. Too many people I did not know all deciding at once that I was worth looking at. It made the back of my neck itch.

Jubilee, naturally, was handling it far better than the rest of us.

She spun once in her yellow jacket, arms out, grinning at no one and everyone. "I'm just saying, matching outfits would go hard. Big A on the chest, dramatic capes optional, maybe colour coding."

Hiro adjusted his collar for the third time in under a minute. "Do the actual Avengers even have a set uniform? I'm pretty sure they all just wear different stuff."

Psylocke crossed her arms. "When they fought Ultron, they did have matching suits. It helped them avoid his virus and identify friend from foe."

Mina looked at her, then at the ceiling like she was asking fate not to be listening. "Pretty sure we're not going to be fighting Ultron anytime soon."

She paused.

Then muttered, "I hope."

Jubilee pointed at me. "What about you, spooky boy? Thoughts on the costume idea?"

I had been leaning just enough past the curtain to see the press area filling up, and for half a second I genuinely had no idea she was talking to me.

"Huh?"

"The outfits," she said. "Matching team look. Branding. Merch. Tiny action figures. Focus."

I blinked at her, then looked down at the black suit wrapped around me like it belonged there.

"Why would I change my suit?" I asked.

Jubilee threw both hands up. "Because teams have themes!"

I shrugged. "This suit makes me a better Spider-Man."

That got a look out of her.

"Really," she said flatly, "a suit does that?"

I folded my arms. "Yes."

She rocked back on her heels. "Well. He's not wrong. But like..." She made a vague gesture at me. "Isn't the whole colour scheme a little too, y'know..." She dropped her voice into a gravelly growl. "'I am vengeance, I am the night, I am'"

"That's quite enough of that," I cut in.

Jubilee clicked her tongue. "Party pooper."

"There is no suit change on the agenda."

She huffed. "Fine. I'll put a pin in it."

The way she said it made me very sure she was not putting a pin in it at all.

Hawkeye came in then, looking a lot more official than I was used to seeing him. Suit, tie, everything in place except for the slight stiffness in one shoulder that told me he was still feeling the last few days more than he was letting on.

He gave us all a once-over and nodded.

"Good. Everyone's here."

He stepped in front of us like a teacher doing one last check before opening night. "Quick reminder. Today you're being introduced as the future Avengers. The first of the new branches opening worldwide."

That landed differently when he said it out loud.

I could feel the room on the other side of the curtain shift in my head. The cameras. The questions. The headlines.