Dragon of the Academia-13
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the broadcast of the U.A Sports Festival. Now that we're done with the recreational games, let's get back to the main attraction." Present Mic called out.
"That's it, I'm pretty much done here." Cementous exclaimed as he finished building the fight arena.
"Thank you Cementous." Present Mic exclaimed over the speakers. "Hey sports fans, are you ready?" He questioned as the crowds went wild. "After all the action you've witnessed it's time for the real battles to begin. Can you feel the excitement? Our competitors are on their own now, sometimes heroes only have themselves to rely on. Heart, skill, strength, wisdom, courage, they'll have to use all these things to rise to the top."
Up on the roof of the stadium, sat a web head with the bottom half of his mask up, as he was eating some takoyaki, and drinking a soda. He'd been waiting all day for the U.A Finals, and couldn't wait to see Athena in action.
"I'm seriously considering taking that girl under as an intern." Spiderman said.
"Didn't peg you for the sidekick type Tiger."
"What can I say Rumi? The last side kick I had was in America, and he did an excellent job, taking my place as Spiderman in the Big Apple." Spiderman said, as the Rabbit Hero Mirko sat down beside him. "So, you're not giving up on trying to get me to agree to a date with you, are you?"
"Nope." Mirko smiled.
"You do know I'm, twice your age right?"
"That doesn't matter to me. My mom's half my dad's age."
"Of course she is." Spiderman sighed.
"So why the interest in Golden Huntresses daughter?" Mirko asked.
"I've actually played a big part in her recovery and getting over her PTSD of what happened at the USJ. So I figure, if I take her on as my sidekick during the internships, I'd at least be able to keep a closer eye on her, you know?" Spiderman said.
"Peter Parker, are you getting all parental on that girl?" Mirko asked.
"I guess you could say, I've started seeing her as a sort of daughter I've never had." Spiderman said.
"Now that is so like you." Mirko smiled.
"One more thing, please don't use my real name when we're out in public and in our hero costumes." Spiderman stated, pulling his mask down.
"Only if you go on a date with me." Mirko said.
"Fine." Spiderman sighed. "One date, and we'll see where things go from there."
"Yes." Mirko cheered.
Down in one of the tunnel's, Athena was standing by the entrance, preparing herself by drinking a four pack of Fruit Punch Rockstar Energy Drinks, getting her pumped for of caffeine and adrenaline.
"Hey."
Scythe turned around, munching on the last can to see Toshinori, Ghira, Kali, Eri, and Jack all coming up to him.
"Uncle Toshi, what are you all doing here?" Athena asked.
"I came to wish you good luck, and not to worry about disappointing me or your parents." Toshinori said. "No matter if you win or lose, you're gonna be fine."
"Yeah, thanks." Athena sighed, leaning against the wall.
"What's wrong? You look upset." Toshinori questioned.
"I'm just concerned. This Shinso guy, he's got a similar Quirk to what All-for-One used to control me. I know I've got Saffron in my corner to prevent him from doing anything, but it doesn't mean brainwashing doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth." Athena sighed.
"Well, he is allowed to use his Quirk during the tournament. But whenever you're scared or nervous about a fight, just try and deal with it by smiling." Toshinori stated, beefing up into All Might, and giving a big smile with a thumbs up. "You've made it this far, even if you're worried, you must stand tall."
Athena smiled, and gave a single nod, turning to the exit of the tunnel to the fighting arena.
"Alright audience, let's get to the good stuff and not delay these finals any longer." Present Mic exclaimed. "Welcome our first fighters."
On the monitor, two images appeared on the screen, one of Shinso, and one of Athena, both of them standing with confidence, as the crowd cheered on in excitement, wanting for the fight to start already.
"Whoa, she's carrying herself with an air of confidence in that picture, isn't she? It's my daughter, Athena Xiao Long from the Hero Course." Yang commented. "Make me proud baby girl."
"Mom, you're so embarrassing." Athena hissed, covering her face with one hand as she blushed.
"Her opponent is… Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies, who really hasn't done anything to standout yet." Present Mic exclaimed.
"Besides giving the crowd a comedic laugh by have Neito Monoma punch himself in the nuts, before the cavalry battle started." Yang added with a laugh.
"The rules are simple. Immobilize your opponent, or force them out of the ring." Present Mic announced. "You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle, or by a KO. Bring on the injuries because we have our very own Recovery Girl, waiting on standby."
"Try not to get hurt too badly." Yang exclaimed.
"So put your morals and ethics aside folks, you can bend, break or play dirty, but of course, no life-threatening crowd folks, it's not allowed." Present Mic exclaimed. "Real Heroes use their power to throw people in jail, not kill them."
"I'll stop anyone who tries to get too rough." Cementous exclaimed creating a chair of cement.
Athena took in a deep breath and exhaled as she cleared her mind.
"So you can just give up huh?" Shinso asked, gaining her attention. "In a way, this is a test of how strong your spirit is. If you know what you want your future to hold for you, then you can't worry about what other people think."
"Ready?" Present Mic announced.
"That monkey was going on about his pride earlier…"
"Begin."
"But I just think he's an idiot, for…"
"I'm gonna stop you right there Shinso." Athena said. "I know about your Quirk, and it's not gonna work on me, so how about we go about this, with good old fashioned fist fighting and no powers?"
"What makes you so sure my Quirk won't work on you?" Shinso asked, squinting his eyes at her.
Athena smiled, knowing that he was trying to use his Quirk with that question.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Athena smiled, before she felt Shinso's Quirk take effect on her, causing Shinso to smirk, thinking he'd won.
"That's it I…" Shinso stopped, and looked as though he'd seen something terrifying.
Inside Athena's mindscape, and ethereal Shinso was standing in the dark void that was Athena's subconscious. Across from him, stood Athena with her arms chained to a brick wall, but standing over the wall, and looking directly at Shinso with a growl echoing from her throat, was a larger than life winged panther, with bone plate armor, etched with violet decorative designs, and the wings looking like dragon wings.
"This, is why your Quirk doesn't work on me Shinso." Athena said, breaking through the chains holding her to the wall, and walking towards him, putting one hand on the underside of Saffron's chin, causing her to purr. "I've already been brainwashed once before by a villain who sought to use me as a weapon, but he failed because Saffron here, is my protector. So that is why, I recommended we do this, the old fashioned way." Athena smiled pushing Shinso back by tapping his forehead.
Back out in reality, Shinso took in a deep breath, standing across from Athena, who was back I control of herself.
"So…" Shinso said, trying to calm himself. "You were saying something about fisticuffs without our powers?"
"Let's get to it." Athena smiled taking a fighting stance.
Shinso and Athena charged at each other, with Shinso landing the first hit, before Athena quickly countered, by swerving around and leg sweeping his feet out from under him. Rolling over to avoid getting stomped on, Shinso got back up on his feet, and swung his fist at Athena, but she moved back, dodging the attack, before she grabbed Shinso's arm, and threw him over her shoulder, hard, throwing him out of bounds and, onto the grass.
"An' that's it, Hitoshi Shinso is out of bounds, making Athena Xiao Long, the winner." Midnight called out.
Athena sighed, and went to where Shinso landed, offering him a hand up.
"Sorry about that, I wanted to make the fight as fair as possible without using my powers, since your Quirk isn't really suited for combat. But hey, you did really well, I'm impressed you didn't just run off in terror once you saw Saffron." Athena smiled.
"Heh, I guess you could say, I'm kinda used to the unexpected." Shinso said, accepting her helping hand. "That fighting prowess of yours is impressive, you really are something else."
"I've been training in martial arts since I was a kid. I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" Athena asked.
"Just my pride, but I'll live." Shinso chuckled.
"You know, that Quirk of yours is something else. You could catch a lot of villains with it." Athena smiled. "Minimalize the amount of property damage, and casualties by a great deal."
"You are literally the first person to say something like that about my Quirk." Shinso said. "Thanks."
After the ending ceremony of the fight, Shinso and Athena went back to their respective tunnels. With Shinso walking back to his seats, he had to pass by Class-B's, and unsurprisingly, he saw Monoma standing there, waiting for him.
"Oh, too bad. You didn't win the fight Shinso." Monoma said, tapping his arm with the back of his hand. "Then again, you can't really win at a hero school, with a villainous Quirk. So why bother with trying to get into the hero course, when you're clearly suited for villainy?"
Shinso just sighed, and decided to ignore his taunts, it didn't matter what Monoma said, the daughter of the current #2Hero, had said he had the potential to be a hero, and that was all he needed.
Unbeknownst to him though, Monoma had another motive, when he tapped his arm, and went to intercept Athena, as she was coming back from a vending machine, with a soda in hand.
"Hey Slut." Monoma said.
"What do you wa…" Athena stopped, as she felt the familiar sensation of Shinso's Quirk took effect.
"Oh, too bad. Now here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna strip down, to nothing and pose for me, and then you're gonna go to the roof of the stadium and jump off it, after I…" Monoma stopped as his eyes widened in fear and horror, when his ethereal form inside Athena's mind, caught sight of Saffron, before the winged panther came and swiped at him with a roar.
Back in reality, Monoma was sent flying back and hit the pillar separating Classes A and B, drawing their attention. Mina and Midoriya running up to look at what had happened, and saw Athena on the ground, sitting against the wall, holding her head.
"Go get a teacher." Midoriya said, turning to Iida.
"Right." Iida said, before running off.
After reaching the faculty seats, Nezu had sent Snipe to the announcer's booth, to tell Yang what had happened, and for Mic to do what came with protocol.
"Ladies and Gentlemen I apologize for the delay, but the fights are temporarily on hold, due to an incident happening between two students outside the ring, involving Quirk usage." Mic said.
Iida came back to their seats, with Vlad King, Hound Dog, and Nezu following, finding Midoriya and Mina holding Athena close, trying to comfort her.
"What happened here?" Vlad questioned.
"One of your students happened." Midoriya said.
"No more control, no more control." Athena repeated.
"Please explain what happened specifically." Nezu said.
"From what we could gather of Athena's gibberish, Monoma had somehow used Shinso's Quirk, and was ordering her to… do some unspeakable things, one of them involving going to the stadium roof and jumping off it. But her mental defenses kicked in and…" Midoriya stopped and turned to see Monoma with claw marks in his chest, his classmate Itsuka Kendo, was trying to stop the bleeding of. "That happened."
"This is troubling." Nezu said. "Vlad, have you been feeding your students unnecessary lessons?"
"No. I teach them what they need to know, and how important it is to make sure we show up Class-A no matter what." Vlad said.
"That last bit, is unnecessary. The classes aren't in competition with each other, for who can outshine the other the best. They're all students, and are all equal at this school." Nezu said. "I would like to see you in my office, after the Sports Festival."
"But, I'm just teaching my students they need to be strong, and show their strength no matter what." Vlad said, desperately trying to defend himself.
"Well I hope you're proud of yourself for what your student did." Hound Dog said, bringing Athena in for a hug. He was allowed to do that, since he'd spent the last couple weeks, helping Athena get over her trauma. "Because of him, Athena's mental state has worsened, and he's become a villain."
"You know, the meeting later won't be necessary." Nezu said, turning to Vlad King. "You're fired."
"But sir."
"This is not up for debate. You let your competitiveness get in the way of what you're supposed to actually be teaching the students." Nezu said. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. An' I've given you plenty of chances, more than you deserves, to shape up and prove to me you're capable of being a proper teacher and hero. But you've left me with no choice with this latest incident. So leave the stadium, go pack your things from the teacher's lounge, and you can pick up your final pay at the end of the day."
"You can't do this to me." Vlad said.
"I can and I have. Now leave." Nezu said. "An' take Monoma to Recovery Girl on your way out. She's gonna be needed."
So with that, Vlad begrudgingly left dragging his failure of a student off to Recovery Girl's office, leaving Nezu to help Hound Dog, Midoriya, and Mina, comfort Athena.
"Are you gonna be okay Ms. Xiao Long?" Nezu asked.
"I-I'll be fine." Athena managed to say. "Just, bad memories of someone brainwashing me with malicious intent."
"I understand." Nezu said. "Now, seeing as your next fight isn't gonna be for a little while, I'd highly recommend you go and enjoy some of the festivities out in the fairgrounds. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time."
"Right." Athena said, turning to Mina and Midoriya. "One of you give me a call when it's close to my next fight starting up?"
"You got it." Mina smiled.
After picking herself up, and dusting herself off, not to mention cleaning up her face from the tears she cried, Athena went to the fairgrounds, as the fights started up again.
"Sorry for that ladies and gentlemen, but the issue has been resolved, and we can proceed with the fights." Mic announced, as Athena walked out of the stadium.
"Might as well get to, enjoying the festivities." Athena smiled.
~Elsewhere~
The hall leading to the student prep room was quiet, as the only sound that could be heard, were the echoing footsteps of Todoroki making his way to the arena.
'Of course Xiao Long won.' He thought rounding to corner to the tunnel leading to the arena, only to stop, seeing an unwanted face waiting for him leaning against the wall with his arms folded. "What do you want?"
"You're acting disgracefully Shoto." Endeavor stated. "If you had simply used the power in your left side, you would have had an overwhelming victory in both of the first rounds. It's time to stop this childish rebellion of yours. You have a duty to surpass that imbecile All Might. Do you understand what I'm saying? You're different from your siblings, you're my greatest Master Piece."
"You know what Endeavor." Todoroki exclaimed stopping in his tracks. "Fuck you."
"What was that?" Endeavor questioned his eyes squinting at him.
"I said, Fuck. You." Todoroki stated, turning around to look him in the eye. "I am not a piece of artwork. I am not a weapon for you to use to claim a victory. I don't have a duty to surpass All Might, that's your ambition, not mine. My ambition is to become like him, not to surpass him. I've always favored him above you, and that will never change."
"Is that so?" Endeavor asked, pushing himself off the wall and standing tall. "Who put these foolish thoughts into your head Shoto? Who told you your destiny isn't what I say it is?"
"I have actual friends now Endeavor. So if you're wanting, to turn my body into a weapon for your own selfish desires, then you might as well put a gun to my head, and pull the trigger, because I would rather die, then play your game." Todoroki stated. "You are the reason mom went insane, why she scared my left eye. You didn't pursue her in an act of love, you pursued her, because you thought that if she had me, you'd create the perfect weapon. Well guess what, I'm not a weapon, I'm my own person. An' I am never going to use your damned power, not ever. If all you came here to do was lecture me about getting in line to follow your lead, and that's all you have to say to me you bastard, then you can go and shove it. I'll win this match and advance using only mom's Quirk. I won't give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours." Shoto said, turning and walking away.
"Even if that works for you in this tournament, you'll soon find the limits of that power." Endeavor stated, before the scene changed to the stadium ring.
"Enough standing around. Now welcome to the ring, our next players." Present Mic's voice echoed around the arena as the images of Todoroki and Sero came up on the screen. "He's got skills, but at the expense of some really creepy looking Elbows, from the Hero Course, it's Hanta Sero."
"That was so uncalled for. Insulting him just because his elbows are tape dispensers." Ruby stated, unknowingly saying something similar to what Sero said.
"Verses, an early front runner in the competition who's way too strong for his own good. Someone who rightfully got into the hero course based on recommendations, it's Shoto Todoroki. An' now for the second match of the finals." Present Mic called out. "An' BEGIN."
"Eh, I probably don't stand much of a chance." Sero said, stretching his arms, before he whipped them forward, and snagged Todoroki in a surprise attack. "Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try though." He said, swinging Todoroki out to where he'd end up out of bounds.
That was when the tables turned as Todoroki found his footing, and shot ice out of his right foot. In an instant, Sero was enveloped in frost and a thin layer of ice, before Todoroki's attack, turned him into a glacier that covered half the stadium, and traveled over the edge, casting a shadow over the festival grounds, causing all the pro heroes and spectators to go wide eyed at the ice covering the arena.
"Tell the truth Sero. Can you still move?" Midnight questioned, half her body covered in ice.
"Are you kidding me?" Sero questioned. "I can't even move a finger, let alone my whole body."
"Sero has been immobilized, Todoroki advances to the second round." Midnight announced.
Todoroki took a sigh of relief and sadness, as he felt bad for having to do that to his fellow classmate, as the crowd began chanting, nice try, to Sero for his efforts, after coming out of their shocked silence.
"Sorry, it was a bit much." Todoroki said, helping Sero out of the ice, and knock the rest of the frost off his body. "I was angry, is all."
"Um, yeah sure." Sero exclaimed shivering like a maraca in a broken centrifuge.
~Festival Grounds~
"Todoroki went overboard." Athena sighed, finishing up at one of the shooting range attractions in the fairgrounds after looking at the giant iceberg that came up over the wall of the stadium, winning a stuffed white tiger, about as big as her.
"Nice prize there Athena. What'd you pay to win it?"
Athena turned around to see Spiderman and the hero Mirko standing next to him.
"Around 400 Yen."
"An' you only had to pay it once?" Mirko asked.
"I have many talents, one of them just happens to be sniping." Athena smiled.
"So what are you doing out here, instead of preparing for your next fight?" Spiderman asked.
"You are aware of the situation that forced the fights to come to a standstill, right?" Athena asked.
"Let me guess you were part of it?" Mirko asked.
"Yep. Principle Nezu said I could enjoy the fairgrounds until my next fight." Athena said, putting the stuffed tiger in a wagon filled with other prizes.
"What exactly happened if I may ask?" Spiderman inquired.
"Neito Monoma used his Quirk to copy Hitoshi Shinso's Quirk and used it on me. He was gonna order me to do some… inappropriate things, before he'd make me take my own life by jumping off the roof of the stadium. But my mental protection stopped him, and… I've had some bad experience in the past with brain washing, so I kinda got upset and broke down."
"Monoma's the one you beat up a couple weeks ago right?" Spiderman asked.
"Yep."
"Well, I can't really say I'm surprised then." Spiderman said.
"What'd he do a couple weeks ago, that was so bad you had to beat him up?" Mirko asked.
"You mind if I tell her?" Spiderman asked.
"Go ahead."
"Listen Mirko, Monoma…" Everything went quiet as Spiderman whispered to Mirko what Monoma had done to get beaten up by Athena. When he had finished, Mirko looked as though she was about to blow a gasket. "You doing okay Mirko?"
"Where. Is. That. Punk?" Mirko questioned.
"He's in Recovery Girl's temporary office, while at the same time, under arrest for villainous actions." Athena explained.
"I've got some friends on the inside, I'll be sure to tell them he's coming." Mirko said.
"So, aside from the murderous aura she's giving off… I actually enjoyed your speech Athena." Spiderman said.
"Well, you did kinda help me out of my depression a couple weeks ago, and what you told me about great power, inspired me to keep going." Athena said.
"I could tell." Spiderman said, smiling under his mask. "I'm glad that I could help you out of your funk. I was honestly worried I'd have made it worse."
"Nah, to be honest, a pep-talk was actually just the thing I needed." Athena smiled, before pulling a plushy from her cart. "Look, it's a little you." She said, showing it was of Spiderman.
"Neato that's a limited edition plushy. Only fifty were made." Spiderman said.
"I will pay you, eight million yen, for that plushy." Mirko said.
"What?" Athena questioned a little freaked out.
"Oh yeah, bunny girl over here has a huge crush on me, and practically has a shrine of me in her closet." Spiderman said.
"How did you know about that?" Mirko asked, getting in his face.
"Easy I was just kidding." Spiderman exclaimed. "I didn't think you actually did that old cliché."
"Oh, now I'm embarrassed." Mirko said, crouching down over on the ground.
"Well, sorry, but I'm not selling it. I won it in a game and I thought it'd be a nice gift for one of my sisters. Look, I even got the other a Miles Morales Spiderman Plushy." Athena smiled, picking up a plushy of a black and red Spiderman suited plushy.
"Oh, yeah sure. I understand, family first." Mirko said.
"Is she seriously moping about, over not being able to have this plushy of you?" Athena questioned.
"That's Mirko for you." Spiderman sighed. "So anyway, why aren't you with your Mama, isn't she enjoying the festival with your sisters?"
"She is, I just haven't been able to find her. I can't track her scent with how crowded it is, and it is a pretty big place." Athena said, smacking Mirko's hand away as she tried to sneakily steal the plushy she put back in the cart. "Bad rabbit."
"Ow, no fair. Your sister's probably just gonna be putting makeup and marker on it anyways." Mirko said.
"My sisters aren't even six months old yet." Athena said. "You'd basically be stealing from a baby."
"Aw, now that's just adorable. You're being such a good big sister." Spiderman smiled. "Tell you what, if you're called back to the stadium before you meet up with Blake and your sisters, I'll find them, and bring them all this stuff."
"Thanks Spiderman." Athena smiled, before she felt a vibration in her pocket. Reaching in, Athena pulled out her Scroll, finding it was Midoriya called. "What's up Izuku?"
"Hey, you said to call when it was close to your next fight, well the only fight left is Bakugo's and Uraraka's, and Kirishima and Tetsutetsu's fight is about to end, so hurry up and get here." Midoriya's voice echoed from her Scroll. "The other fights didn't last very long after what Todoroki did to Sero."
"Alright, on my way." Athena said, before ending the call. "Sorry to be a bother but…"
"It was good timing when I made that offer." Spiderman said. "Get going."
"Thanks, I owe you." Athena said, before running off.
"No problem." Spiderman exclaimed, before smacking Mirko's hand away from the cart, without even looking, and put webbing over the top of it, to keep Mirko out. "Bad rabbit." He said, unaware of the black goop that was clinging to Athena's back.
~Stadium~
"An' now ladies and gentlemen. The final fight of the first round, Ochako Uraraka, versus Katsuki Bakugo." Present Mic called out as the two fighters came up to the fight ring.
"Fighters, are you ready?" Midnight questioned, raising her tussled whip.
"Um, excuse me Midnight Sensei." Uraraka said, holding up her hand. "I'd like to forfeit this fight."
"Are you sure Uraraka?" Midnight asked.
"Ha, she's smart enough to know she doesn't stand a chance against the awesome might of my power." Bakugo said cockily.
"Can I borrow the mic please?" Uraraka asked.
"Um, sure." Midnight said, before tossing Uraraka her mic piece.
"Thanks." Uraraka said, putting it on. "No Bakugo. Honestly, your puny power doesn't even scare me."
"What did you just say?" Bakugo questioned.
"You heard me. Your fireworks don't scare me. In fact, how far does your long range attack reach, five feet? That's probably four feet, eleven inches longer than your manhood." Uraraka said, getting the entire stadium to, let out a sound that said, they were impressed by the burn Uraraka just gave him. "Honestly, the only reason why I'd like to forfeit, is because I'm not interested in fighting a bully, who gets his jollies by encouraging suicide, and spreading nasty rumors about his classmate. I ain't gotta deal with you, I ain't gotta agree to anything. You wanna fight, try fighting your inner demons, and get over your superiority complex. Because I can guarantee, in front of me, heroes betting on you, would lose a whole month's salary. You don't scare me, you don't matter, because the only thing funny about you, is your face that looks like the Mad Hatter."
Athena got to the balcony and saw, and heard, Uraraka burning Bakugo left and right.
"Damn Uraraka, got some sick rhymes." Athena smiled, realizing she just stepped into a rap battle.
"Check it folks, this just went from a fisticuffs fight, to an all-out rap battle, let's get it on." Present Mic stated, as he began to play some beats.
"How in the world, did the announcers booth, get turned into a DJ's Booth?" Yang questioned.
"You think you're bad, you think you scary, honestly I've had more frightening breakfasts served by a man named Harry." Uraraka continued. "You think yourself superior, while the rest of us are inferior, when in reality, you can't even come back to my burns with your rotten demeanor. You fight for yourself, you don't care who gets hurt, when you think being a hero means you don't have to put in the work. I can honestly say, I'm fighting for my family, because I speak from the heart, and not some empty fallacy. Some come at me suicide boy, prove to the world that I'm right. Because after today, you're gonna be sleeping with Bubba tonight."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP." Bakugo shouted, slamming his open palm on her stomach, and letting off a big explosion, knocking her into the wall of the stadium. "A real hero doesn't need weaknesses like friends, compassion, or empathy. All that matters for a hero to be great, is power, and nothing else. So just shut the hell up and die already you weakling. Know your place as a stepping stone to my greatness." Bakugo exclaimed, using his explosions to fly towards her. The smoke and dust from her impact cleared to show her tracksuit top was completely destroyed, with a large, bleeding burn on her stomach. Bakugo grabbed her by the hair, and raised her face to where it was in her hand. "Now die." He said, preparing an attack that was sure to end her life.
"NO." Athena shouted, jumping on the railing of the balcony, as a black substance began to surround her. She was unaware of this, as she jumped forward, bending the railing as she sent herself flying at Bakugo, slamming her foot into his ribcage, sending him flying while also breaking several of his ribs. "Ochako, say something." Athena said, before noticing what was surrounding her. "What the hell is this stuff?"
"Do not struggle against. Do not fear. We are here to help you." A voice echoed in her head as the black stuff enveloping Athena, began to form a cocoon around her, sealing off Athena's view of the outside world. "We are your friend. We can grant you power beyond your wildest imagining, we are Venom."