Second Fiddle

Spider-Man, Captain Britain, and all associated characters, are property of Marvel. My Hero Academia and all related characters are property of Kohei Horikoshi

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"If everyone would move back so my sidekicks could clean up the mess," Todoroki Enji—better known as the Pro-Hero Endeavor—sternly stated to the amassing crowd. When no one moved—in fact they all clamored forward—Enji glowered, flames shooting out from his suit. That sent everyone scurrying away, more than a few dark glares sent his way.

Enji snorted, turning back around to direct his sidekicks. He scanned the area—it was a tough battle, he could admit. The Villain—some blowhard he couldn't be bothered to remember the name of—had a simple enough Quirk that allowed him to manipulate sand. Enji tracked him to Dagobah Beach—which was more landfill than beach—and was pleased to discover that the man couldn't control wet sand, much less sand superheated into glass.

He was a slippery bastard, though, and managed to run to a nearby Zen garden. After which Enji just blasted the whole area to kingdom come. He ended up destroying the garden—which he could admit would be a P.R. disaster—but the Villain had been harassing people for months. That, at the very least, would even out the rankings.

THUD

Enji turned at the loud sound, "What the hell was that?!" he shouted. Only to pause at the sight of one of his sidekicks—a new one named Kido, who Enji had never seen not wrapped head-to-toe in bandages—staring up at the sky.

Enji looked up, blood running cold at the sight of a black void hanging in the sky. A void that was steadily growing larger. There were more shouts as the crowd noticed it. And then the panic began.

Depsite himself, Enji felt fear. Japan—and all of Asia, really—didn't really deal with extraterrestrial threats. Given the fact that the actual Norse god Thor claimed the United States as his haunting grounds, most alien life decided to start any potential invasions over there. Idiots, the lot of them, (Enji wavered on whether or not he actually wanted to deal with semi-regular extraterrestrial crises in exchange for the increase in P.R.).

Thus far, the only ones to buck the trend were the Skrull. Even now, Enji still felt tremors in his heart whenever he thought back to those dark months. Never truly knowing who you could trust—wondering if your colleagues, your neighbors, your own family, had been replaced by fanatic aliens intent on destroying your way of life.

But this…this couldn't be the Skrull. They were more subtle in their ways (after the invasion was officially quelled, Enji absorbed any and all information on the green-skinned, wrinkly freaks). This was…he honestly couldn't say.

Shoving aside his trepidations, Enji rolled his neck, fire flaring from his body. "Prepare yourselves!" he shouted to his sidekicks.

"S-S-Shouldn't we call someone?!" a fearful voice cried out.

Pushing back the instinctive desire to say 'no', Enji nodded, "Send in a call to U.A—from there, Principle Nezu can get in touch with—"

"Something's coming out!"

Indeed, the void grew brighter, a terrible mix of orange and red, until that light coalesced in the center. Enji swept his gaze across his sidekicks, nodding as they started to herd people away. Good—no one to get in his way. Then, there was a loud boom as the light shot out of the void. Enji tensed, forming an orb of fire in his hands. But then the light changed, becoming sleeker and lifting in the air. The light quickly shrank, growing streamlined and almost human—oh. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.

Alas, the humanoid fire landed in the middle of the destroyed garden. The fires disappeared, revealing blue-eyed blonde man in a dark blue uniform, the number '4' emblazoned in white on his chest.

Johnny Storm looked around with a frown, before a smile lit up his features, "Am I in Japan?"

Silence followed his question.

And then the dam burst.

"Hey, it's the Human Torch!"

"He's so cool!"

"Johnny, I love you!"

The Human Torch raised his hands high, smile somehow growing wider, "Ha! Nice to know I've got fans so far east!" He turned, eyes locking with Enji's, "Hey!" he shouted, walking towards the Japan's number two Pro-Hero, "You're Japan's go-to fire guy! Er…Enlighten, right?"

"Endeavor," Enji ground out, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring.

"Ah, sorry," the American had reached Enji, shaking his head, "I'll remember that—us fire-types gotta stick together, right? Hey," quick as a flash, the Hero sidled next to Enji, draping his arm over his emflamed shoulders and waving to the clamoring crowd, "why don't we show the people some love?"

Enji did his best to not combust from sheer rage.

"Not much of a smiler, huh? You should look up Wolverine, you guys could trade scowling tips."

"Mr. Torch, Mr. Torch!" one of the reporters cried.

"Please," the American flashed a pearl-white smile, "call me Johnny."

Journalistic integrity must've died in the last five minutes, because the reporter blushed heavily, nearly averting his gaze. "Er…what were you just doing? What's with that portal in the sky?"

"Ah," the Human Torch dismissively waved a hand, "it's no big deal. Just a solar storm over some five-thousand light-years past Pluto. We were just going to deliver supplies to some scientists that are studying them, but then this group of Shi'ar radicals decided to use the storm as an energy source for instantaneous wormholes—hence the hole in the sky."

One of the reporters released a shaky breath. "Man…the things you get up to must make our Earth problems seem like nothing, huh?"

"Ah, I wouldn't say that," the Human Torch jovially replied. He squeezed Enji's shoulders, "Everyone does their part." If the American noticed that Enji's flames has intensified tenfold, he didn't say anything. He then looked up, grimacing, "Yeesh, better get going." Enji looked up, noting that the void was slowly shrinking. Yes, the Human Torch should leave soon, otherwise he'd have to stay.

The Human Torch stepped away, winking at Endeavor, "Nice meeting you!" Enji stayed silent—not that that wiped the smirk off the other Hero's face. No, he just laughed, bringing his hands to his sides.

"Flame on!" he shouted, engulfing his body in fire and shooting into the air like a rocket, entering the void just before it blinked out of existence.

Enji stared up at the sky, willing himself to relax.

"Man, the Human Torch is so cool!"

"Hey, can Endavor do that?"

"Do what?"

"Fly?"

"Never seen it."

"Don't think he can turn himself into pure fire either."

"Huh. Kinda lame."

Never mind.

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Todoroki Fuyumi gulped audibly as the newscaster—and the common citizens—quickly abandoned her father, instead gushing about the Human Torch. This was looking to be a…rough night.

Briiiing…Briiing…Briiing

Fuyumi yelped, flinching before grabbing her phone. 'Incoming call from: Natuso', it read.

She quickly answered it. "Hello?" she said in greeting.

"You see the interview?" her brother asked in lieu of a greeting.

Fuyumi grimaced, "Yeah…"

"You know, you are legally allowed to move out."

"And leave Shoto alone?" she hissed.

"Better than damning yourself in the process," Natsuo blithely retorted. Fuyumi made to reply, only for a red and white head of hair to burst past her. Fuyumi blinked, following after her little brother just in time to see him slam his door shut. "What was that?"

"Shoto locking the door to his room."

"See," Natsuo chuckled, "kid already knows the ropes!"

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Enji barely managed to keep himself from breaking the front door off its hinges. He stomped through the house—though he did force himself to slow down as he passed Toya's room—to the dojo.

Not even bothering to take off his uniform, he strode over to the Wing Chun stands—one of the metal ones.

Fire blazing in his hands, he struck.

WHAM

Oh, how he despised the Human Torch.

WHAM

Bad enough the insufferable moron had a powerset that was just…better than his own.

WHAM

Bad enough that whenever the Hero decided to just drop in that every man, woman and child forgot everything else existed.

WHAM

But the worst part…the worst part was that he had to be that he was another blonde, blue-eyed, ever-smiling jackass from America!

WHAM—BOOM

Enji was left panting, glaring at the remains of the melted dummy before him, flames spreading further and further out from his body.

"Figures you'd be here."

At once, Enji cut off his flames, though his scowl remained. He worked his jaw several times before he was sure a growl wasn't the only thing to spill out of his lips. "I thought you'd be asleep," he rumbled, not turning around.

Rei scoffed, "I saw the interview, if you could call it that." The flames returned once again. The air grew chillier—even through his fire—and Enji quickly composed himself. "Better," his wife teased. She crossed the length of the dojo, standing behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders. There was a slight hiss in the air as her natural cold met his natural heat, and Enji allowed her touch to sooth him.

"You need to relax," she whispered, leaning up into his ear and rubbing his shoulders.

The Pro-Hero clenched his fists. "How can I?!" he spat. "How can I relax when all my hard work—my goals, my dreams—threatens to fade to ash when some shiny new…toy comes into town?!"

"You're overreacting."

Enji froze. "Overreacting," he hissed, looking over his shoulder.

Rei met his blazing sneer with a cool frown, gray eyes shining. "Yes, you are." He grit his teeth. "You're right, though." He arched a brow, "People—Heroes, I suppose—like the Human Torch are like…fireworks. They're bright, loud, colorful, and never fail to grab everyone's attention." Enji growled lowly, looking forward once more; what was she hoping to accomplish.

"But," Rei forcibly turned him around, making him to stare into her cool, gray eyes, "fireworks are only temporary, and are just there to look pretty. You," she leaned up into his ear, breath tickling it and sending a shiver down his spine, "are much more than that. You are like the sun, always present, ever burning. Most are too foolish to appreciate all you do, but the second you're gone they beg for your return."

Enji sighed, deeply, bending his head down to rest upon her shoulder. "You…are right." He chuckled, "You always know what to say."

"Of course I do," he could hear the smile on her lips, and feel it when she pressed her lips against his neck. "Ooh, you're still so tense," she pulled back, smile turning…sultry, "you need to cool down, and I need to warm up." It was only then that Enji realized she was wearing one agency's, trademarked fire kanji robes. And nothing else.

He groaned loudly, hungrily, readily melting under her touch.

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SLAM

"What the—" Fuyumi shot up from her bed, just in time to see her little brother seal her door in a thick layer of ice.

"Shoto?" she blearily asked, "What—"

"They're in the dojo," he gravely cut her off.

Fuyumi's shoulders dropped, face twisting into a disgusted grimace. "Are you kidding me? What's wrong with their room?!" Her adorable little brother just looked up at her with defeated eyes. She sighed, shifting over to the left and patting the bed. He trudged over, lying down and snuggling next to her. He closed his eyes, humming contentedly, and she couldn't resist the urge to coo and stroke his left cheek. Unbidden, a giggle burst past her lips, "You're pretty unlucky—you know that." More giggles came out, "I've only run into them twice, and Natuso—"

"In the morning I'm going to burn down the dojo," he cut her off, not opening his eyes.

Fuyumi snorted, "You know Mother and Father will still be there in the morning?"

"They can burn."

Fuyumi giggled once more, before drifting off to sleep.

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A/N: This is a serious AU, in case you couldn't tell. Be sure to leave a review. Later.