MY HERO ACADEMIA AU - The Spectacular Spider-Deku

Chapter 1: Awakening, in the literal sense of the word.

As he started to regain consciousness, the young boy didn't know where he was, but it certainly wasn't in his bed at home.

In fact, he was pretty certain he wasn't laying in any sort of bed at all. Finding himself tucked tight in a fetal position, he gingerly attempted to push out against the tough, yet flexible, slimy fabric that he felt was enveloping him while his sleep-addled brain wondered if he'd been tucked inside a large dirty sack of some sort — and in that case, for what? And by whom?

He was dimly aware of the fact that had he been more awake, he probably would've completely panicked at his situation — but as it stood, all he could think about at the moment was that he wanted to get out of this thing.

After taking a moment to ascertain his sense of gravity in order to find out which way was actually up or down, the boy started to scratch and claw into the tough fabric enveloping him — which kind of felt like some sort of flexible shell or membrane the more he thought about it — and eventually managed to pierce his fingers all the way through to the other side, providing him a handhold as he proceeded to stretch his arms apart and slowly tear open a large rift in front of himself.

Reaching out through the opening however, he came to realize that he'd been wrapped in not just one, but several thick layers — but fortuitously they were much more softer and pliable than the first set had been, and thus far more easier to tear upon or simply brush aside as he slowly tunneled his way out of the multiple bags(?) and to freedom.

As he finally pierced through the last layer, the sudden light assaulting his eyes caused him to instinctively bring back his arms to shield his face. But as this meant he was no longer bracing himself against the surrounding fabrics, gravity helped him take the final step from inside to outside as he slipped through the opening and fell three or so feet before landing unceremoniously on the floor face-first with a bang.

After a few long seconds, the boy went from balancing upside-down on his face to finally tip over and fall flat on his back, causing him to cough and groan from both impacts as he lay writhing on the floor. Deciding that his face was what hurt the most, he carefully nursed his nose with one hand while the other shielded his eyes as he tried to get used to the bright, clinical lighting shining down upon him from the tall ceiling.

As his eyes started to adjust, the first thing he noticed was that his scope of vision seemed a bit different than what he was used to, as if he could perceive a larger image of his surroundings than what should strictly be natural.

The second was that the sack he'd pried his way out of wasn't really a sack at all. It was hard to tell from his position underneath it on the floor, but the thing looked more like some sort of white cocoon — suspended some ways in the air by a plethora of thick and gooey-looking strings stretching and crisscrossing everywhere like some great, giant-sized spider-web.

Spider.

That word alone caused his daze and confusion to be quickly be brushed aside in favor for alarm, and he immediately jerked upright into a sitting position with wide, bloodshot eyes — only to freeze as he saw there was a row of figures currently standing a short distance away from him, surrounding the boy in a loose half-circle.

The people all wore armored gear and helmets donned over a nearly military-looking uniform, and they were all watching him closely as if waiting for him to make any sort of move. And though they weren't armed in the general sense, they were all displaying signs of possessing individual Quirks and gave the impression that they were ready to use them at a moment's notice, should they so chose to.

"Uwa-Wha-?! Whad's... going on?" the boy reacted nervously from the floor as he inched back against the wall of webbing behind him. "Who arr'h you ph-people...! Wherr... Wherr am I?" he let out, struggling to annunciate the words right as, like the rest of his body, his mouth felt stiff and lethargic like it hadn't been used properly in ages.

Seeing him withdraw rather than press forward, most of the soldier-looking people exchanged glances behind their dark visors and seemed to ease back a little, though they were obviously still keeping a close eye on him.

Looking around himself proper, the boy realized that he, the web-cocoon and the soldiers were all inside this large and square, clinical-looking room. The walls all looked slick and fortified, and the only exit seemed to be a single steel-gate located on the far wall behind the soldiers. Tilting his head slightly to the side in order to peer past them, he noticed that the same wall was also fitted with a wide window-panel where several people in long white coats seemed to be in a tizzy as they were observing him from outside of the room.

"Wha... Whad ish this place?" the boy let out nervously while he tried to sort out his dry throat. "Habe... Have I been k-k-kidnapped by some sh-shady gobernment organization to be ex-ex-ex-perimented on or shomething?"

"Hyoh-ho-ho. Calm down, young lad. There's no reason to fret."

Looking straight forward, the boy saw a small, wrinkled granny wearing a lab-coat and a visor over her eyes force her way past the soldiers' legs as she made her way towards him. Old though she may, the woman's presence made the boy distinctly aware of the fact that he was currently wearing nothing but torn and shredded rags, which honestly did little to cover his body.

"At the very least," the granny continued, supporting herself against her cane as she quietly regarded him. "You're probably only partially correct."

"...Huh?"

"Here," she held forward a small dispenser. "Do you want some candy? Don't be shy now."

While the flabbergasted boy was still trying to process the situation, another man in a lab coat had entered the room and was running up towards them.

"Doctor Shuuzenji!" the newcomer called, addressing the tiny old woman as the soldiers let him trough. "You mustn't just barge into the observation-room before we've ascertained the subject's threat-level. He might be dangerous-OW!"

"Most people could be dangerous in today's society if they so chose to be," the little old lady harrumphed as she retracted her cane from the man's shin before turning back to regard the boy on the floor. "And I can tell just from looking that this one doesn't mean to cause anyone any harm... Do you, boy?"

"Huh? Eh, n-no, I don't... At-At least I don't think so..."

At that response, the old woman's grandmotherly smile widened just a smidge and she nodded approvingly.

"Yes, that's good to hear, indeed. Now, lad, I'm certain you have plenty of questions to ask. But before we get started... can you please tell me your name?"

"My-My name...?"

"Yes. Surely you know what your own name is, don't you, lad?"

"Of... Of course I do," the boy spluttered as if anything else would be ludicrous. "It's Izuku. ...Midoriya Izuku."

Midoriya Inko, a pleasantly plump middle-aged woman, was breathing raggedly as she hurried down the hallways a fast as she could.

Making her way through a more secure and fortified wing of the city's main hospital, she'd nearly left the nurse guiding her in her dust as she swiftly moved through the corridors with the familiarity of someone who'd visited the facility often enough to learn its layout by heart, before eventually coming to a stop in front a door where two armored guards were standing vigil.

As she braced her hands on her knees and struggled to steady her breath, the nurse finally caught up and panted an explanation to the two guards who were quick to nod and stand aside, allowing the two women entrance as they opened the door for them.

Behind the door was a sophisticated hospital room filled with screens and machinery meant for various medical examinations — but among the handful of people inside the room, the middle-aged woman's attention locked directly onto the young, bushy haired boy in hospital pajamas who sat atop one of the benches while a little old doctor lady listened to his vitals with a stethoscope.

But like her gaze had locked onto him, his gaze had swiveled around to lock onto her as soon as she'd entered the room. The pair regarded one another in stunned silence for a few seconds until the boy seemed to be the first to snap out of it.

"Mo-MOM!"

"Iz-Iz-Iz-Iz-IZUkhUUUh~!"

While the bushy-haired boy was elated, the middle-aged woman was crying virtual rivers of tears as she stormed forwards. Ignoring the protests of the old doctor, the boy pushed himself off the bench and staggered unsteadily across the floor until he fell forwards into his mother's eager embrace.

"Izukuuu!" the woman continued crying as she clang onto him for dear life. "Thank ghoodnesh! Thank ghoodnesh! When it first happened, I was so worried! You were just so hurt, and the doctors, they couldn't help you...! And then you spent all those months in that cocoon-thing, and I.. I just... Uwaaahh~!"

"...I've... I've missed you too, Mom," the boy said softly as he weakly returned the hug and rested his head in-between her neck and her shoulder, relishing in the familiar scent and embrace of his beloved mother.

Once the woman's bawling had finally quieted down to more manageable levels, the woman released the embrace and stood back while cupping his face in her hands so that she could look at him properly.

While the boy before her was unquestioningly her son, his appearance had changed slightly since she'd last had gotten to look at him.

Leaving aside the longer and messier-looking hair which hid nearly half his face from view, the boy had also grown a few inches taller, forcing him to slouch forwards quite a bit in order to allow her to embrace him properly earlier. She could also tell from his open hospital shirt and slightly sharper jawline that he'd gotten a lot more ganglier, looking a bit undernourished, which given the circumstances didn't really come as a surprise.

Pulling him forwards and placing a big smooch on his cheek, the teary-eyed woman graced the boy with a frazzled but genuine, motherly smile.

"It's..." she sniffed. "It's so good to see you again, Izuku."

"Yeah... It's nice to see you too, Mom," he smiled back with that shy, tired smile he'd been sporting ever since they embraced.

"Is... Is you body alright? How are you feeling? You're not hurting anywhere, are you?"

"I... I feel fine, Mom," was the soft reply. "I mean, my body feels weak... And tired... Like I'm completely exhausted... But other than that, I... I feel fine, Mom. ...I feel fine."

"Oh, thank goodness..." Inko sighed, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. "Back when it first happened, I was so worried that you... That you wouldn't..." she trailed off, not daring to finish that particular sentence. "Oh, let me get all this hair of yours out of the way."

"Ah, Mom. Wait-"

As she'd reached up to brush away the long, frazzled locks, Izuku attempted to reach up a hand to stop her, but he was too late and saw his mother freeze up as she got an unobstructed view of his features.

While the freckled, wide-eyed face that stared back at her was indeed her son's, the woman noted in the back of her mind that he was doing so with several more sets of eyes than she was used to.

Spread out across the boy's forehead were several small dark orbs, shining with the same tint of green that adorned his regular sets of eyes, and they all seemed to be focusing back upon her as well.

In their modern society, where people possessing some kind of supernatural ability or feature was actually more common than the opposite, features like this were in no way horrid or freakish to behold. However, it DID come as a surprise for Inko to witness something like that upon her son's face, who for more than thirteen years had looked as plain and normal as a Quirkless human's face possibly could.

Eventually her brain rebooted, and she tore her gaze away from the small eyes on his forehead to take in his overall, hesitantly concerned expression.

"Are... Are you alright, Mom?"

"...Ah. I'm... I'm sorry, honey. I was... I was just surprised, that's all," she reassured him, giving him another quick hug for good measure.

"It's okay, Mom. I was kind of surprised myself when I found out about them," he claimed with a soft chuckle.

While true, it was also a gross understatement as the jittery boy had nearly screamed his head off in surprise while the old doctor had held up a handheld mirror for him with a jovial expression on her face.

"Those... Those extra eyes of yours..." Inko continued. "Are they a result of what happened to you? Has your body changed in any other ways as well?"

"That was what we've been trying to catalogue ever since the boy emerged earlier this morning," the aforementioned little old lady broke in, having quietly allowed the mother and son pair to enjoy their reunion uninterrupted up until now.

"'Emerged'," Inko carefully repeated the word as she looked over at her. "You mean from that large cocoon-thing?"

"Indeed," the old doctor nodded. "Once we ascertained that young Izuku here — despite his physical fatigue — was more or less in sound mind and health, we've been busy examining all the ways his body has mutated while inside the cocoon. The changes are multiple, but so far it's safe to say that they all share a similar characteristic..."

Inko gulped. She could see where this was going.

"Let me guess... They're spider-like?"

"Very much so," the doctor nodded once more.

"...Well. That's..." Inko blinked as her gaze flitted about uncertainly before finally coming to rest upon her son's face who gave her close-eyed smile.

"It's alright, Mom," he reassured her while nervously scratching at his cheek. "I mean... I was honestly pretty shocked at first, but... But now I'm actually feeling a little excited at the prospect..."

"Then... Then isn't this great, Izuku?" she said with careful, but rising optimism. "Despite the circumstances, you've finally gotten a Quirk of your own. That means you might one day be able to become a Hero, just like you've always wanted...!"

"I know, right?" he replied as they both broke into small, but heartfelt identical grins.

"N-Now hold on just a moment," the male doctor/scientist from earlier cut in. "We can't just release a boy with a highly unorthodox mutation out into the general public! The boy must be quarantined until we've properly tested and analyzed the risk of-OW!"

"What my colleague who's severely lacking in bedside manner is trying to get across," the little old lady spoke as she retracted her cane from the now-crouching man's shin once more, "is that we'd like some time to study his unusual condition in a controlled environment for a while — just until we can determine both the full scope of his new abilities, as well as help him control them so that he won't accidentally pose a risk to anyone, particularly himself."

"I... I guess that is reasonable..." Inko admitted after she and her son had exchanged glances, ending with a confident and affirmative nod from him. "Just as long as you can assure me that I'll be allowed to visit my little boy regularly, that is."

"But of course," the old lady smiled encouragingly. "To be frank, I already have some ideas about how to proceed with this matter that I'd like to discuss with the two of you. We're just waiting for someone else to arrive, and then we can get started."

"Someone else?" Inko blinked. "Who would that be?"

As soon as his mother had finished talking, Izuku suddenly felt an instinctual sense flash through his head, telling him to turn towards the door. Or at least he thought it was instinctual, because he'd honestly never felt anything like it before.

Regardless, the next second the door slammed open with enough force to nearly embed itself into the wall, thanks to the tall and muscular, larger-than-life figure who was posing in the doorway as he performed his 'dramatic entry'.

"NEVER FEAR, GOOD PEOPLE! WHY, YOU ASK?" His white, dazzling smile 'pinged' once for dramatic effect. "BECAUSE I AM HERE."

End of chapter 1.

Author's notes:

Heh. While I have no intention of aborting my TFA-fanfic, I just had to get this thing out of my system. Safe to say that this will be a somewhat more light-hearted project, but I hope it'll still be enjoyable to read.

While I'd personally prefer an AU-fic with a Quirkless Deku attending U.A. with skills and gadgets after getting trained by a Batman-expy or something (heh. If All Might is this world's "Superman", the Batman-expy could be called "Dark Knight" to mirror his name, lol), this however is the direction my inspiration took me, so I'll see where it goes for now.

In this fic Yamikumo-, er, I mean Midoriya will basically be a Spider-man-clone (not LITERALLY though) with a few tweaks and original touches, which kinda seems to suit his personality a little. Perhaps I'll go with a variation on the classic costume, using green and black instead of the ol' red and blue...

Until next time.