Izuku felt nervous as he walked down to the first battle.
Maybe it was just his regular nerves once more rearing up. Maybe it was the fact that as the first bout in this final part of the tournament, it would by its very nature be focused more on than most of those that followed it. Maybe it was his enemy with a mind control power he didn't understand fully.
Or maybe it was all of these combined.
Probably that.
As he walked out from the entrance to the arena, he felt once more the eyes of the hundreds of people in the seats above them.
All watching him, judging him, evaluating him.
It was an unnerving feeling, yet right now, as he stepped up to the heightened arena, all of it seemed to fade away into the background as his opponent did the same on the opposite end.
Hitoshi Shinsou seemed rather laid back and disinterested as he stepped up into the rectangular ring. That was just his face however, as Izuku briefly closed his eyes to feel Shinsou out, he could sense how the purple-haired guy actually felt.
Nervousness, bitterness, a desperate wish, a desire for something, probably winning this match.
He… Wasn't all that different than Izuku. At least in how he was worried and nervous. He just hid it better, under a mask of indifference.
In the background, Present Mic both made introductions and explained the rules.
"THE FIRST MATCH! IN ONE CORNER WE HAVE IZUKU MIDORIYA! DON'T BE FOOLED BY HIS NERVOUS LOOKS, THIS BLACK SPIDERMAN HAS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES TODAY! A TRUE EXAMPLE OF THE HERO COURSE!"
"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, WE HAVE HITOSHI SHINSOU FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES! SORRY TO SAY, BUT THIS GUY HASN'T REALLY STOOD OUT SO FAR, WILL HE BE DIFFERENT HERE? OR WILL HIS UNEXPECTED SUCCESS BE STOPPED IN IT'S TRACKS BY THE SPIDERMAN!?"
"THE RULES ARE PRETTY SIMPLE! YOU WIN BY KNOCKING YOUR ENEMY OUT OF THE RING, IMMOBILIZING THEM, OR MAKING THEM SURRENDER BY SAYING, I GIVE UP!"
"OH, AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO BEING THE PAIN! WE'VE GOT OUR GOOD OLD RECOVERY GIRL READY ON STANDBY! FIGHT DIRTY IF YOU MUST! ETHICS HAVE NO MEANING HERE!"
"WELL, OF COURSE, GOING FOR THE KILL IS A NO-NO! YOU'LL BE DISQUALIFIED IMMEDIATELY! A TRUE HERO'S FISTS ONLY STARTS TO FLY FOR REAL, WHEN BARED AGAINST A VILLAIN!"
He finished the speech with a resounding and piercing "YEEEEAAAHHH!" which made Izuku and Venom both Vince in pain.
-We hate that guy so much.-
Shinsou for his part just kept up the stoic act.
"I give up huh?"
Izuku almost answered by force of habit, but he remembered just in time and kept his mouth shut
"Get Izuku Midoriya? This battle is going to test your strength of will."
-Actually, it's going to test our force of arms. Which against this guy is gonna be a piece of chocolate cake.-
"If you've got any kind of vision for the future, there's no sense in worrying about how you get there."
"NOW, LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED!"
"Like that damned Monkey babbling about his sense of pride."
A jolt of anger shot through Izuku's mind. Not just from the way Shinsou described Ojiro's decision to forfeit, but also the very old, anti-quirk way he did it.
"READYYYYYYY!"
"What kind of dumbass throws away a chance like this?"
"START!"
Izuku moved forward. Stupidly though, anger made him shout back. He just wasn't the kind of guy who could keep his mouth shut in situations like this.
"THE HELL DID YOU SAY?"
He froze. His body completely froze up, and his consciousness seemed to stop completely.
Inside of his mind, Venom sighed loudly, and theatrically.
-Seriously man? Holy shit, you would never survive in this world if it wasn't for us.-
"It's my win." Shinsou said, calmly and stoically.
There was some other sound in the distant, distant background, but he didn't hear it. The only things he heard… Was Venom and Shinsou.
They were the only things that mattered in the world.
"You… Must be nice to have everything handed to you, Izuku Midoriya."
The voice tried to be calm, but the bitterness seeped through, before regaining its calmness with the next line.
"Now turn around, and walk out of the ring."
He turned, obediently.
Then he began to walk. He got two steps before his feet were glued to the ground. He tried to walk, he really, really did.
Then, around his entire body, a black liquid encased him, not just his gym clothes and socks(He had ditched his shoes for the moment since one of them was ruined), but his entire body from toes to fingertips, to his head.
The old feeling he got when Venom's white eyes formed over his own, permeated, for some reason, it didn't immediately fade, instead lingering. Then his sight returned.
His hand went up in front of his face, seemingly just to get a good look at it as it splayed all his fingers outwards like he was painting a stone wall with an open hand.
He tried to do something, anything else, but as the hand suddenly clenched into a fist, it was like he had just become a prisoner inside of his own skull.
-Ah, no resistance at all. It's just like you've been knocked unconscious. Just without any potential brain damage.-
Down below, he felt a rip open where his mouth should have been.
Then, no more capable of resisting this new force, than he had been the words of Shinsou, he turned around, slowly and methodically.
Shinsou's face became a mixture between anger and surprise.
"How? You shouldn't have any control at all!"
His voice pierced into Izuku's ears, with no difficulty at all. Everything else was muted, but everything about them was deafening to him.
-Alrighty then, let's finish him off.-
His body began to walk over towards Shinsou in a calm, collected manner like he was out buying groceries.
Shinsou was sweating, but he had a smile on his face as they began approaching. A forced one.
"Let me guess, your quirk took over, didn't it? Damn, that must be good, being blessed with such power!"
Venom kept the slow, casual walk as he moved over to Shinsou's doom.
"Thanks to my quirk's nature, I never got to enter the golden gates myself! But I guess you wouldn't get that, since you're naturally blessed and all!"
Izuku tried to think over the words Shinsou said, to decipher the meaning of them. But it was like looking through crack glass that was underwater. He just didn't understand what he was talking about. He felt like he should though. Like what was being said was of great importance.
It wasn't a command, and thus he just couldn't see the meaning. His mind was like thick porridge.
To Shinsou's credit, he didn't back away from the approaching alien, instead standing his ground.
"You people… Born with your awesome quirks… Getting to follow all your damned dreams!".
Suddenly, as Venom got close to him, Shinsou lunged forward, bringing his fist up against Venom's head.
The punch landed hard but did about as much damage against him as a needle against plated steel. While he didn't hurt his hand nearly as bad as if he'd punched steel, he didn't manage to make a dent in the liquid that was surrounding Izuku either. Nor would he have had any better luck had he aimed for the natural weak spots of the human body, like the eyes or the groin.
The second skin of a Klyntar host could stand up against most firearms short of machine guns and sniper rifles and had no problem defending him against the punches of a skinny, teenage, human boy.
A black hand closed around the scruff of his jacket, lifted him up, and, in the ultimate power move, simply walked towards the exit while carrying him until he crossed the line near the edge that marked the end of the ring.
All the way, Shinsou desperately tried to punch, push, and kick his way out of the grasp, but it was as futile as a snake in the jaw of a jaguar.
"WINNER, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
The proclamation of victory was the first thing Izuku heard as his mind suddenly returned to normal, and reasserting control over his own body, his grip around Shinsou's shirt broke, making the other teenager plopped down on his own feet.
His expression was one of ultimate frustration, forcing his eyes closed as he gritted his teeth.
It all came back in a rush, sounds from all around him, cheers from the crowd, one particularly loud one he somehow manage to make out as Mina, thoughts flushing through his now reawoken mind.
As Present Mic continued with proclaiming that he had made it to the second round, Shinsou just stood there in front of him, as the suit around his head dissolved.
After maybe 10-15 seconds, he recomposed himself and headed over towards the center of the ring, where the two of them would bow to each other as a sign of a good match.
Izuku felt… Not jubilation, or joy, or even a sense of shame he hadn't been able to win on his own.
More than anything, as he and Shinsou bowed while the crowds clapped, he felt a sense of deep confusion.
-Well, that went well enough. You're lucky we're here though. Cause that would have been a really fucking embarrassing way to lose in the finals.-
Izuku did not disagree.
At this moment though, that wasn't what he was focusing on. Instead, as he watched Shinsou turn his back and leave, he wondered about his purple-haired foe.
He felt like… He was missing something really, really important, something right in front of his face. Something that had been said.
The boy who walked away was filled, no, absolutely crushed by disappointment.
It made Izuku feel… Kinda guilty to have crushed him as they had. This was how it was in tournaments though. One winner and all others would lose. There wasn't much he could do about that.
I
After his victory, Izuku got back up to where 1-A's students sat to watch the matches.
"Ah, Midoriya! I must say, you had us worried there for a second, yet you turned it around like it was nothing. Truly remarkable."
Tenya's tone was warm, and like Mina and Uraraka, he wore a smile as he welcomed him to the stands.
Venom, as he popped out of his shoulder to reply, had neither a smile, nor warmth in his tone as he scowled ad Iida.
"Correction, WE turned it around! If it hadn't been for us, this idiot would have easily lost in his very first match."
Izuku blushed and scratched the back of his head, but he didn't make an argument. Venom was completely right.
"Well, it worked out in the end, so that's good." Uraraka said, with a relieved tone.
Mina on the other hand just stared at Venom with a curious expression.
She opened her mouth to say something, only to get interrupted by Present Mic, announcing Sero and Todoroki's entrance to the ring.
Izuku winced as the loud tone echoed across the arena.
I
Venom was not a stranger to hatred. It was the nature of Klyntars to hate those who wronged them and seek brutal vengeance for slights.
Nor was their current situation without anyone to hate. There was both Katsuki Bakugou, whose feelings towards burned bright in both Izuku and Venom in a symbiotic bond. Then there was Iida, who had abandoned them in their time of need.
And right now, there was Present Mic.
Venom hated Present Mic with a passion.
"HE'S TURNED AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR, AND YET, WHAT IS WITH THAT PLAIN JANE EXPRESSION? DOES IT EVER COME OFF? SERO HANTA OF THE HEROIC DEPARTMENT!"
"VERSUS"
"AT THE START OF THE DAY, HE WAS DEEMED BY MOST AS THE MOST LIKELY TO WIN THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT! WILL THE BOY WHO ONCE STOOD UNCHALLENGED AT THE TOP, BE ABLE TO PERSEVERE AGAINST HIS ENEMIES? OR WILL HE FALL HERE AT THE FINAL STEPS? TODOROKI SHOUTO OF THAT SAME HEROIC DEPARTMENT!"
Yes. Venom hated Present Mic and his shrill horrifying voice with every liquid of their being.
As he finally shut up, Venom was able to finally get to watch the two contestants in peace.
Earlier today, he had pegged Todoroki Shouto as the biggest enemy that had in 1-A.
Now, however… Well, it didn't matter if you had a superweapon or not. If you weren't willing to use it, it was worthless. They had seen that lesson play out again, and again throughout the Cosmos.
They had learned a lot by listening in on the conversation between Todoroki and Uraraka.
For one thing, they had decided that Izuku's theory on Uraraka being All Might's child was most certainly correct. Todoroki had confronted her with that very same accusation, and she had simply kept her mouth shut on the topic, not confirming, or denying the accusation.
Secondly, they had learned a lot of Todoroki himself, and how he ticked. Venom could both understand and sympathize with his desire for vengeance upon his sire. In fact, if he had been Venom's own host, they would probably have given him several pointers on how to take a much better thought out revenge.
Right now though, they and Todoroki were enemies, and Venom had no plans of not taking full advantage of Todoroki hamstringing his own powers.
Without fire, there was little to fear from Todoroki.
If this had been a real fight, they would have had to fear impalement, but without that… Well, there wasnt much to fear for the two of them.
They would crush him with ease. Unless Todoroki managed to work through his issues and bring forth his flames during battle, this fight was as good as won.
I
Izuku stared in shock at the giant piece of ice that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere to encase Sero, going upwards, up far over the arena.
It was like someone had dropped an iceberg in the middle of the arena.
He couldn't see Sero, but apparently, the poor guy was immobilized at the epicenter of the suddenly appearing iceberg. In any case, he was declared the loser due to not being able to move.
Izuku stood by the railing, looking down as in a massive flash of flame the iceberg was turned to nothing more than water vapor.
He could feel his friends gazes on his back as he stared down in silence. They all understood, just as he did. He would have to face that enormous power in the next round.
After the whole ice mountain was gone, and the two guys had exited the ring, the next pair was 1-A's Kaminari against 1-B's Shiozaki Ibara, the girl with the thorny green plant hair.
It was briefly put on halt, however, as the girl apparently took great offense at being referred to as a thorny assassin by Present Mic, and called him out on it, proclaiming that as a hero, she was planning on dedicating herself to doing the work of "Our Lord Jesus", not to committing murders. Afterwards, she made a huge flowery speech about God's mercy upon criminals and the condemned.
Izuku, who had very little knowledge of Christianity, beyond some very vague memories of personal rituals his father had done, took her word for it.
Venom, on the other hand, seemed fascinated by her.
"So that's a Christian."
"You… You don't need to say that like she's an animal at a zoo."
Venom didn't answer. Instead, he just kept staring down on her, giving her speech.
"Why do you care about that anyway? I mean… Why would You care about that kinda thing?"
-It is our experience that if there is any truth to a planet's religious beliefs, then 9 times out of 10, it's to be found in the dominant religion of the planet. In this case, that would be the Christian God.-
Izuku stared at him, then turned his head back to look behind him, but none of the other guys paid him any heed, all were focused on Ibara.
As he replied, he did so with a whisper.
"What… What, you think there is some truth to… God?"
-That depends heavily on what you mean. If you're asking if we believe this possible God of man created the universe, then we would answer hell no. We've heard that claim far, far too many times by Gods across the universe to take it seriously. If there is some God that is the one above all others, we've yet to meet it.-
Izuku just stared at him in dumbfounded silence as he continued, his mouth open.
-On the other hand, if you're asking if some divine creature kickstarted your race's rise as sentient creatures, or made you whole cloth from scratch, then yeah, that's completely possible. That's not too out of the ordinary.-
Izuku continued to stare at him, before finally managing a weak reply.
"You're… Talking like… You've actually met Gods…"
This time it was Venom's turn to look at him dumbfounded.
-We have. We were created by one, remember?-
Izuku blinked. Oh yeah, that… Knull guy. Venom had been rather adamant that Knull was the true divine God of the Klyntar race, though to be honest, Izuku hadn't really fully bought it when Venom had explained his backstory to his mom.
He… Kinda had assumed Knull was just some super proto symbiote of some kind. The fact he had been killed kinda made that theory way more believable. After all, what kind of God could die?
Venom seemingly could sense, or at least guess what Izuku was thinking at the moment.
-He was a GOD, Izuku. You would have known that if you had ever been unfortunate enough to meet him.-
Below, Ibara finally stopped her speech, the battle finally began, and the proud follower of Christ crushed her blonde opponent in less than 10 seconds.