Izuku had meticulously trained and explored most of his powers and limitations.
He knew better than anyone that he had struggled mightily at the start of it all with pretty much everything.
Jumping, landing, punching without smashing anything to pieces, using his strength for basic things without breaking them, and a lot of things.
But he had thought that of all his powers, the one he understood from the start had been running. Just the thrill of moving at great speeds was something he'd been relatively good at from the start with relatively little training.
He'd thought he'd gotten running.
He'd been wrong.
He'd been capable of running at great speeds with little problem, but he had never gotten it.
Web swinging, Izuku understood . He got it. Down to his bones.
As he soared above the streets of Hosu city, moving at immense speeds, and letting go at just the right moment to let the momentum carry him forward the furthest, he felt the thrill of it all surge through him as a big grin was plastered on his face beneath his mask.
A quick webbing to a tall office building's steel beam between windows immediately changed his trajectory to go around the corner, but he let go immediately after changing his direction, then let loose another web line to another building at the opposite side of the streets.
Frankly speaking, he had expected this to be awkward and clunky.
It was not.
Not by any stretch of the imagination.
It was like he had been born to do this, like every part of this, from his powers and his body, to the very environment of modern cities had been carefully crafted for him to achieve this level of movement, speed, and agility with ease.
As he made his way through the city towards his target, he actually hummed a tune as he moved from building to building faster than a sports car.
It was flat-out AMAZING. The speed, the mobility, the kick of adrenaline pumping through his veins as he moved through the air like an especially agile and mobile wrecking ball on a chain.
All of it was amazing enough on it's own, but there was something about discovering something that just clicked with him from the very start.
He had no problem aiming where he wanted to go(Something he could thank his training before the tournament for) and despite Black Cat's warnings, he had so far not even once webbed himself to something that couldn't support his weight(Something he knew from hard bitter experience how catastrophical it could end up if he did) and put all his weight on it to move.
He also had no problem with the way he constantly moved around like a pendulum, despite Black Cat warning him about it being the trickiest part of this, as it was very easy to undershoot how far down you would go as you swung.
He'd had nonproblems predicting his movement, however. It was easy to do in his head on the fly. It was just math and prediction from experience, and he was good at both.
There was definitely room for improvement, unlike Mina and especially Black Cat, he had no experience utilizing both jumping from and running sideways along walls along with the webs and the swinging, nor did hr have any experience running up walls(Something Venom had told him was absolutely gonna be useful to mix with this).
Still, it was incredible the way he just… Got it.
When Izuku had jumped through the air at great heights, he'd felt like it was just him and the Wind. The way things were meant to be.
He'd felt at peace, and like it was up there that he'd belonged.
Web swinging was nothing like that.
It was like lightning shooting down his spine.
Instead of feeling like he was at peace, it was like he had felt sluggish his whole life, and that it was only now that he finally came awake and alive for the first time.
It was amazing. It was wonderful. It was just… It was FUN!
Izuku had always liked his powers, but that was more in a practical way. He'd wanted powers to achieve his dreams and goals.
He'd never really freaking loved his powers in the way he did as he swung down, just a mere two meters above the heads of the crowd before speeding up again with a blinding speed, then just before momentum halted, let go, and fired another line to anchor himself to another building.
He freaking loved this!
It was like this was what his powers had actually been designed to do, and that everything else was just a side effect of it all.
He hadn't really considered it before, but it was as he was swinging downtown towards the great, big skyscraper that was his set target, and the sun began to go down, that Izuku had a revelation.
His hero name… Suddenly didn't seem so awkward to him anymore.
This was what he was. A spider and man, and something more.
Something that hadn't been seen on planet Earth before. Something Spectacular.
---
Things were going well. Really
As Venom had predicted, the human body(helped greatly by Izuku's surprisingly good aim and prediction abilities) was absolutely perfect for web-swinging.
Two legs, two strong arms, good at running, and a strong balance along with relatively good sight.
Yes, the human race was perfectly suited to this kind of movement. They had experienced plenty of races who were not, and it was quite the contrast.
And as usual, the adrenaline was astonishing .
It was glorious. So glorious that Venom had just shut up, and basked in it. The thrill, the excitement, the rush of energy coursing through their shared bond.
It was all that Venom lived for.
Yes… Web swinging truly was the greatest recreational art in the universe.
And to literally top it all off, if Venom was reading the mood right as the three humans settled in at the top of the large skyscraper, as the crown on this splendid day of rediscovery of the ancient arts, the day might end in yet another win for Venom and Izuku.
---
"And you've never tried swinging at all before today? Seriously?"
Mina's voice was incredulous, but also warm as she sat up on a small ledge, putting her slightly above Izuku who was standing while leaning against the wall.
Unlike him, she(and her mom) was both absolutely drenched in sweat from an entire day of just swinging around, running, and jumping across the top of the roofs.
It had been an interesting contrast.
While both of them were faster than him in the short term while using the web slingers(not to mention both had way more experience getting across rooftops), if the distance was anything more than a few hundred meters, and it was anything else than directly getting across rooftops, his almost perfect rhythm and reading the timing of when to let go, where to fasten himself, and so on, would see him overtake both of them, and leave them behind.
He was also far, far more endurant than either of them, feeling only mildly tired after the day's work, while Mina and Black Cat was visibly tired from it all.
It was… Surprising, to realize that he was actually capable of surpassing not only Mina but Black Cat as well in any aspects at all.
"No, I haven't. At all. The closest thing was when… Well, Venom wanted me to jump off a skyscraper once to test this out."
Mina burst out laughing.
"Seriously? Man, I learn something new about you two every day."
Mina was about to continue, only for her mom to come up to them.
Black Cat's expression as she looked Izuku over was… A strange one.
It was a strange mix between a serious and stern teacher, a parent who obviously had a lot of pride whenever she looked at Mina, and yet whenever she had looked at Izuku during every break they'd taken today, her eyes would turn… Melancholic. Extremely so.
In fact, at first, he'd thought he'd misread them, only to check out her emotions as well. And he hadn't been wrong. The main feeling that Black Cat was feeling was a strange form of melancholy.
It wasn't the only thing she'd felt today, but it was the main feeling.
"Well… This has been progressing WAY quicker than I had thought it would. I thought we'd be working at the smokestack most of the day. Not 30 minutes."
Her eyes went down to the spider on Izuku's chest, then back to his eyes.
"We're done with heavy swinging today. For the next few hours, you two are going to be practicing another art, namely-"
And there she was interrupted by her phone.
She quickly fished it out, took one look at the screen, then simply said "Breaktime." Before answering. Then she walked off to the other side of the level of the skyscraper, leaving the two teenagers alone for the moment.
Having jumped down from her perch to be ready when her mom gave them their next task, Mina, now free, instead walked over to the ledge of the roof.
"I bet you a 1000 yen, the next thing she'll ask us to do is jump off the tower. Can't think of any other reason she'd want us to come up here."
Earlier today, that would have brought real, genuine fear into Izuku's heart. Now though…
As he stepped up to the edge, and looked down over the city, bathed in the beautiful orange of the sunset, all Izuku felt at the idea of jumping down and webbing himself to another building was… Excitement.
It was ludicrously unlike Izuku, but the simple fact was that Izuku loved this new thing he had discovered.
It was a completely new feeling for him.
The joy not of just doing something he genuinely loved, but excitement at the prospect of doing it again.
...
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