Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Hoppin' Down The Bunny Trail I
Along the way, he spotted a few photos with what looked to be a teenage Mirko aggressively playing volleyball and even some of her having a few drinks with what looked to be Hawks and Edgeshot.
Huh, who knew they were friends?
...
Soon enough, the two of them reached a normal-looking door, the shorter woman opening it to reveal a normal-looking room with a TV, bed, desk, and everything else he had back home.
Well, except more expensive.
Peter looked at the giant flat-screen TV on the wall and frowned.
A lot more expensive.
Who the hell puts that in a guest room?
"Here it is, brat! Your home for the next 2 weeks or some shit." The woman motioned her head into the room as she leaned on the doorway, Peter simply walking in and throwing both his backpack and suitcase on the bed.
"So… Now what? Sorry but I'm not really sure how this whole internship is supposed to go down." Peter asked, the woman snorting.
Pretty sure they're kinda like being interns at regular jobs, but… this was Mirko.
Something told him she'd make his stay there a lot crazier than it should be.
"Put on some workout clothes and meet me in the training room, just go up the stairs down the hall and onto the third floor. Don't keep me waiting, kid!" With that, she hopped away.
Guess he should get to it.
...
Sporting some shorts the same red as his costume along with a Nightwing shirt that he didn't even remember packing, Peter went up the stairs of the building before finally reaching the training floor.
And yes, he meant floor.
It was just… a giant space filled with workout machines, training dummies along with random fighting robots of various sizes.
It was like an ultra-hardcore gym for insane people!
Looking at the walls, Peter chuckled at seeing a few motivational posters with bunnies on them.
At least it kept up with her theme.
"Fucking finally! Get your ass over here, brat!" Mirko yelled from across the… room? The floor? What does he call this place? He'll stick with floor.
Also, he literally took 2 minutes to change! Was it a rabbit thing to be impatient or was that just her?
Jogging from his side of the floor to hers, Peter caught up with Mirko as the shorter woman stood next to a human-looking training dummy.
"Alright, first things first." She began, waving Peter closer to her. "What made you pick me? And don't say shit about my rank or I'll kick you right the fuck out."
Huh, what a way to start training! Already on the verge of losing the internship.
Great.
"I guess… it's because you're the type of hero I was before I got arrested? like… you do things kinda how I like doing them, you know?" Peter responded, awkwardly shrugging while Mirko raised an eyebrow.
Crap, did that even make sense?
"Uh, I probably said that wrong, right? Sorry." Peter laughed a bit before continuing. "I know we fight by jumping around a lot and getting strong hits in, so there's also that. Also… you just seem more… down to earth than other heroes, I guess."
Again, Peter paused, and Mirko rolled her hand to get him to go on. Was he wasting her time? It felt like it.
"Like, people like All Might and a bunch of heroes in the top ten? They don't.. do things as you do, I guess. It always felt like you care a lot about helping the little guy along with fighting big monsters and villains, and that's something I like seeing. Guess I felt it'd be nice learning under someone similar to me."
Alright, that was… kinda coherent! Maybe, he wasn't sure. Mirko was one of his favorite heroes because that's the type of hero Peter wanted to be when he grew up, you know?
Like… it always felt as if she was a better version of Spider-Man! More experienced, like she had her stuff together.
God knows Peter was still working on that last part.
So that's why he thought he'd go with her! That was a good reason, right?
The sound of Mirko snorting snapped him out of his thoughts, the woman putting a gloved hand on his shoulder as she chuckled.
"Y'know what? I like that answer! Could've done without you stumbling all over it but you got it out!" She said, patting his shoulder with a lot more force than he expected.
Suddenly, the woman pulled him down to her height. Peter noticed how her ruby eyes had the slightest bit of purple in them.
"So, next question." Peter gulped a bit, the woman narrowing her eyes at him. "Why do you think you're the first intern I've ever taken? Try to get that shit out in fewer words than last time."
Okay, this was a question he could actually respond to quickly.
"I honestly have no idea. Kinda expected to not get any good offers because of that Endeavor thing." Peter shrugged again.
A beat of silence passed, Mirko holding her gaze for a bit longer before she let go of his shoulders.
"Eh, guess I should've expected that shit! Not like I gave you hints or anything." She shrugged, Peter raising an eyebrow at her.
The woman took a second, searching his face for something before continuing.
"To put this simply? What I saw on TV was a kid with potential who needed a lot of fucking help in a lot of fucking areas. You may have won the sports festival, but that doesn't excuse the fact you can't fight for shit." She told him, jabbing a finger into his chest.
Can't fight? He knew how to fight! Kinda. But he's gotten by just fine! Except for those times that he almost died, but still.
Man, did he not know how to fight?
"So far? You've been getting by on the fact that your quirk seems real fucking powerful and you have a functioning brain, that and because the people you fight barely know what they're doing either.
Did ya ever wonder why you got so fucked by Endeavor at the museum? It's cause he knows what he's doing, and you barely do." She jabbed her finger onto his chest again, Peter bit the inside of his cheek.
Now, he knew she wasn't actually trying to be hurtful about it or anything, but it still hurt to hear! Even more when he had to hear it from her!
"You're strong and you're smart, that's good but that's not enough." Mirko began, putting her hands on her hips. "You just need a badass like me to put those two together! People like you and me can't go fighting like All Might, that guy actually has the strength to make up for ignoring finesse."
Huh.
That… kinda made sense, he guessed.
All Might wouldn't need to fight smart since he just won automatically when he punched someone
Most of the time he just punched and kicked people while letting his spider-sense tell him when to jump away from stuff.
Besides! Mirko was regarded as one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Japan! Wouldn't hurt to learn from her, right?
Another moment of silence passed, Mirko looking away for a moment while Peter stood by.
"Also, I know what it's like to be in your shoes." She said, tapping her foot on the floor and making Peter raise an eyebrow. "Trying to be a hero when you got a record and shit. Having people doubt you cause of your past, it fucking sucks."
Wait, having a record? Like, having been arrested before?
"I mean, yeah it- Hold up." Peter cut himself off, quickly realizing something. " You got arrested before? Like, when you were my age? Seriously?"
There was no way, he's never heard of that!
Well, probably cause he had only paid attention to Japanese hero news for like a year but whatever.
Still, that was insane! To think someone in the top ten got arrested like him? It was… kinda nice to hear.
"Yep, used to crash underground fighting rings back in middle school. Someone leaked my name so I got arrested." She shrugged, walking over to the dummy and throwing a few quick jabs at it. "Used to go by tiger bunny back then! Mirko's a way better name, huh?"
About to talk, Peter stopped himself as his brain named a connection.
Did she say… Tiger bunny? He'd heard that name before, right?
His mind wandered back to his days in the fighting ring, remembering random conversations of some rabbit girl crashing the ring years ago.
It was like an urban legend, but Peter didn't pay attention to it!
And you're telling him that was Mirko? No way!
"Holy shit." Peter chuckled, making the woman stop hitting the dummy to look at him. "I heard about that, man! I did fight rings before vigilantism, tiger bunny was like an urban legend back there! That was you ?"
Again, Peter laughed at the coincidence as Mirko chuckled and widened her eyes.
"You did fight rings, too?" She laughed, Peter nodding. "No fucking way! Shit, we might have more in common than I thought!"
...
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