Chapter 16: Escape
The symbiote... the Other... had clear ideas in his mind.
Escape from this place, follow Ryo's emotions and return in symbiosis with him.
The problem was only one: the Heroes.
If he escaped, the Heroes would no doubt try to stop him and bring him back to this place… he didn't know if they would kill him, but it was a risk he preferred to avoid at the moment.
With the human scientist now out of the lab to do who knows what... it was time to act.
He began to hit with his shapeless body the glass case that kept him imprisoned, with each hit stronger than the one before. He had recovered from the night before, had recovered the strength lost due to that infernal scream thrown at him by that Hero (what was he called? Mic, or something like that) and in fact... that case was beginning to crack.
"Yes! I'm doing it! I'm breaking free!".
But it was precisely when the first cracks had formed that the speakers on its sides immediately activated, hitting it with their sound waves.
"What?! The human scientist is not here to activate them! How is it possible?!" The Other thought, beginning to wriggle in pain.
Unless…
"He automated them so they would activate in case I tried to break free" he thought, trying to ignore the pain. "Cunning… but that won't stop me! I have to reach Ryo! I have to go to him! I need him and he needs me!".
In the meantime, Hideki was enjoying a good sandwich in the cafeteria. He was about to take his first bite, but was interrupted by the familiar 'PING' of his phone.
A notification?
With his free hand he took the phone from his pocket... and stared with wide eyes at the notification on his phone: the speakers in his laboratory were activated after the symbiote tried to escape.
He immediately got up from the table where he was eating, dropping his sandwich, and started running towards his laboratory, praying with all his heart that the symbiote had not escaped.
As soon as he entered the laboratory, he could breathe a sigh of relief seeing the symbiote still inside the case, writhing in pain because of the sound waves of the speakers. He could immediately notice cracks on the case, a sign that he had hit it trying to free himself.
He widened his eyes again, however, when he saw the symbiote continuing to hit the glass of the case, despite the sound waves that hit him.
He ran to one of the keyboards, pressing a button to increase the noise of the sound waves. The symbiote began to tremble and writhe more... but nevertheless he did not stop, and continued undaunted to hit the case.
"He's ignoring the pain that the sound waves are causing him... just so he can free himself!" Hideki thought with wide eyes "How ?! What makes him ignore all that pain?!".
Oh if only he knew ...
The Other continued undeterred to hit the case.
He didn't care if the sound waves were boosted by the newly entered scientist.
He didn't care if he felt so much pain.
Only one thing mattered to him: break free and reach Ryo!
He struck, again and again, until...
*CRASH*
He finally managed to destroy the glass of the case that held him prisoner.
He could vaguely hear the scientist say something like 'This is impossible' on the other side of the glass window that divided the place where he had been locked up until that moment and the rest of the laboratory.
"Oh believe me... this is more than possible.".
By creating large tentacles from its shapeless mass, the Other hit the speakers who had wounded him up to that moment, destroying them immediately. Having done this, he shifted his 'gaze' beyond the glass, seeing the scientist look at him with wide and fearful eyes... and he immediately turned around, running towards the wall where there was a red button.
An alarm perhaps?
He wouldn't let him.
With his tentacles the Other broke through the glass, then taking Hideki with them by the wrists and ankles. To keep him from screaming, he covered his mouth with another tentacle.
Hideki began to fidget, trying to free himself from the grip of the tentacles, in vain. Despite having the appearance of a shapeless slime, the Other was certainly not weak. He began to crawl out of the place where he had been held prisoner up to that moment, while holding Hideki in midair and closing the door with another tentacle. He certainly didn't want anyone to see what was happening and call the Heroes.
The Other shifted his 'gaze' to Hideki, still imprisoned among his tentacles. He heard him murmur on his tentacle a plea "Please... d-don't kill me."
"Kill him?" He thought "Why should I kill him? Sure, I'm still a little angry about being bombarded with sound waves from those speakers of his… but I don't see the point of killing him after all. Ryo and I made a promise: to protect the innocent, at any cost. And this human is, athe the end of the day, an innocent so I'll let him live. It doesn't mean I'll let him go though. He could warn the Heroes of my escape… so better put him to sleep for a while.".
The tentacle that covered Hideki's mouth widened to cover his nose as well, and the scientist began to fidget even more, unable to breathe.
"A little bit…".
His movements began to slow down.
"A little bit…".
His eyes began to close.
"Now.".
The Other placed Hideki on the ground, passed out due to lack of oxygen but still alive.
The Other began to look around the laboratory. With Hideki now unconscious, he could escape. The question was… how?
He could not certainly crawl out of the laboratory like nothing had happened, and he refused to enter into symbiosis with Hideki. In the end, his gaze fell on a part of the wall where there was the grate of the air duct.
Of course!
He could get out of that place through that duct!.
He began to crawl around the wall, until he was able to enter the shaft through the grate, his lump making its way through it. He began to crawl through the air duct with extreme ease until, at the end, he arrived in front of another grate through which he could see an alley… freedom.
He came out of the shaft through that passage and crawled to the ground, where he paused for a moment to look out of the alley: from the position of the sun he must have deduced that it was afternoon, and people were walking quietly outside the alley. No one could see him as the alley was incredibly dark, so now the Other had to think of a way to reach Ryo.
He focused on the emotions of Ryo that he could feel up to here: he was somewhere beyond the sea... in what looked like a prison cell.
He began to look around the alley… until he saw a manhole.
Of course!
Through the sewers he would reach the sea and then… the prison where Ryo had been imprisoned.
He crawled to the manhole, opening it easily and stepping inside. It ended up in the sewers and, without even a second to waste, began crawling through the sewers.
"Don't worry Ryo… I'm coming!".
Meanwhile, in the laboratories...
A woman in a white coat was walking towards Dr. Hirano's laboratory, her expression thoughtful.
"I wonder why Dr. Hirano ran so quickly to his lab" she thought. "In fact, it's been since that thing arrived last night that the doctor has been acting weird. It will be better to see how he is ... ".
She arrived in front of the door of the laboratory and knocked saying "Professor? Are you in there? ".
No reply.
She knocked again "Professor? Is everything okay? ".
No answer yet.
The woman began to worry. "Now... I will come in, Professor... okay?".
She opened the door... and widened her eyes to see Hirano on the ground, unconscious with the large glass window that divided that part of the laboratory with the part where the creature was held prisoner totally destroyed.
"PROFESSOR!" Screamed the woman running close to Hirano's body. She began to shake him, concern evident in her eyes and voice. "Professor, wake up! Wake up! ".
Hirano slowly began to open his eyes again, coughing heavily. "What... w-what happened?".
"Oh professor, luckily you're fine!" The woman said with relief "What happened here? Where is the creature?".
Hirano coughed for a few more seconds and then widened his eyes "Oh no .." he immediately stood up and looked towards the broken glass window "No, no, no, NO!". He turned to the woman saying "It... it ran away ...".
"What?!".
"We need to notify the Heroes right away! " Hirano continued taking the phone "We have to warn them and tell them where the creature is headed!".
"How do you know where it is headed?!".
Hirano froze for a second. Somehow he knew that the symbiote was headed for Ryo… why on earth would it try to escape after all if not to reach its host? There was no other explanation.
"I just know!" Hirano simply answered, starting to dial the number of detective Naomasa. The phone rang for a few seconds, with Hirano stamping his foot on the ground in worry and fear.
Meanwhile, at the UA ...
Naomasa sat as he watched the discussion between the various Heroes of the school and the members of the Hero Public Safety Commission regarding the situation on Ryo. Everyone agreed to keep the true nature of the symbiote secret but were discussing at the moment what would happen if other members of the symbiote race arrived on Earth.
His phone started ringing and he took it from his pocket saying to all the other people of the meeting "Excuse me a second." He got up from his chair and walked away from the table to answer the phone. "Is talking Detective Naomasa.".
"Detective! Oh thank goodness you answered! ".
"Professor Hirano? ".
"Where are you now?"
"Uh? I am at the UA with the Heroes and some members of the Commission. Why? What happens?" Naomasa asked in a worried tone. Hirano's voice was filled with panic and fear. The Heroes present there and the members of the Commission turned to Naomasa with curious expressions: what was happening now?
"The... the symbiote...".
"'The symbiote' what professor? Has something happened to the symbiote? ".
"The symbiote has escaped!"
There was a moment of silence, in which Naomasa's heartbeat quickened. His eyes widened and his body shook. "…What?".
"It ran away, detective! It managed to escape and is headed for Honda! ".
"And... and how do you know this?".
"It's a symbiote! It will certainly want to go back to its host! You need to warn the Heroes right away! Warn the Tartarus guards to stay on high alert and check Honda! He and the symbiote... they must not reunite!".
Naomasa nodded saying "I'll do it immediately professor! Thank you for informing us immediately!".
He closed the call and turned to those present saying "We have a problem! The symbiote has escaped! ".
"What?!" A member of the Commission said, widening his eyes and jumping up from his chair.
"But how did it do that? We both saw that it was surrounded by speakers capable of firing sound waves strong enough to prevent it from escaping." Aizawa said, eyes slightly wider to show his concern.
"I don't know that" replied Naomasa "But at the moment we have to worry about notifying the Tartarus guards. It is Professor Hirano's idea that the symbiote is headed there to reunite with Honda.".
"If those two are reunited ..." Toshinori murmured.
Naomasa nodded "Yes. They would be able to escape and not only would he return to kill Villains and criminals… but Katsuki Bakugou's life would be in danger again!".
Tartarus, Ryo Honda's cell ...
Ryo sat on his bed, his arms resting on his legs and his head lowered. After the interrogation and the outburst towards Bakugou he was immediately returned to his cell. He felt shattered and drained after that… but then he started to feel something.
A presence.
The presence of his Other.
The presence of V.
There was a little detail that Ryo never told during the interrogation, and that was his Other's name.
While it was true that the members of his Other's species didn't have actual names, Ryo felt like he needed a name. His Other didn't mind being given a name, and at the end they both came with one, inspired by the first letter of Ryo's Hero name, Venom: and from this came the Other's name, V, a name that both Ryo and the Other quite liked.
And now V was near. He was coming to him, he was returning to him.
Having been together for so long, he too could feel V and what he was feeling even when separated, even if faintly.
But what he felt was enough to improve his mood: his Other had managed to free himself from whatever prison he was in, and now he was heading right where he was... he was coming to him, to reunite with him.
He couldn't hold back the smile on his face. A smile this time full of happiness, of hope.
"Soon..." thought Ryo "You and I will be back together."
Meanwhile, in the middle of the sea that surrounds the Tartarus prison...
"Yes Ryo... hold on a little longer... soon you and I will be back together.".
The journey into the sewers had led him to a drain that led directly to the sea and he was now swimming in the direction of the place where Ryo was being held captive. It would take a normal human a long time to swim to that place, but he was definitely faster than any normal human, even without a host… so swimming to that prison would be a child's play for him. In a short time he found himself in front of an immense structure attached to a bridge that led to the mainland.
So this was the prison.
He remained there looking at the enormous prison for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to get in there. Of course this structure was huge, and it didn't take long to realize that it was well guarded. Eventually his 'gaze' fell on a ventilation duct.
"Will you look at that... it seems that luck is smiling at me today.".
He swam towards the wall and stuck to it, at the same time coming out of the water, and started to climb towards the ventilation duct, entering it through its grate. Ryo's presence was growing stronger: he was close. And he began to crawl through the ducts in search of his host.
The Tartarus' guards, meanwhile, were in the control center watching the cameras with restlessness and nervousness.
They had received a call from Detective Naomasa, who told them that the symbiote that was fused with Ryo had escaped and was presumably heading right there to return with its host. Some Heroes were coming here to guard Ryo but, until then, it was the guards' job to keep an eye on what was happening and prevent the symbiote from getting close to Ryo, should he arrive at Tartarus.
"I don't like this..." said one of the guards looking at the cameras "We already have to worry about the madmen imprisoned here... now we also have to worry about an alien parasite that risks coming here?!".
"We are all worried about this situation," another guard said, his eyes serious. "But we have to be ready for anything. What is Honda doing right now?".
The guards looked at the camera which showed Ryo's cell and saw him just staying there… sitting on the bed doing nothing, staring down.
"I repeat" said the guard from before "I don't like this... and the fact that Honda is just sitting there doing nothing certainly doesn't help."
Suddenly, as if he had heard them, Ryo looked up and pointed his gaze straight at the camera. He had a neutral expression and remained like this for a few seconds, until he smiled arrogantly at the camera. For some reason, the guards shuddered… not noticing, in another camera, the symbiote coming out of a ventilation duct, finally entering Tartarus.
"Finally… I'm in! I hear you Ryo! You are closer than ever!" V thought, while crawling along the wall at high speed towards Ryo's cell.
"I feel you, V... you are here, you are very close." Ryo thought while continuing to observe the camera.
V increased his speed and, with a leap, broke away from the wall and landed in front of a cell door. But not just any cell... but Ryo's.
"There you are… here you are Ryo! I found you!".
From its mass V fired black tentacles that attached themselves to the iron door and began to pull. The sound attracted Ryo's attention who turned to the door, a smile full of joy painted on his face, and stood up exactly in front of it.
Through the camera's audio, the noise was also heard by the guards who blinked their eyes. "That noise..." said one of them "It comes from the door of Honda's cell!".
"Let's see what the hell is going on outside his cell! Soon!".
Everyone looked at the camera that showed Ryo's cell outside… and stared at a black, almost liquid mass, which with tentacles was trying to pull away the door of Ryo's cell.
"W-that's..." one of the guards tried to say. There was no need for him to finish the sentence.
Everyone understood that.
It was the symbiote.
It had arrived.
"SOON! WE MUST IMMEDIATELY GO AND STOP THEM! " A guard yelled, setting off the alarm.
Stain's cell...
The Hero Killer heard the sound of the alarm immediately. He looked towards the door, a confused expression painted on his face. "What the hell is going on now?"
Lady Nagant's cell
The former heroine was somewhat confused at the sound of the alarm, despite her almost indifferent expression suggesting the opposite. "The alarm? What is happening?" she wondered "Is an evasion taking place? It has never happened before…".
All For One cell ...
The founder and former leader of the League of Villains was not very surprised at the sound of the alarm. He had heard the arrival of... that being in the prison thanks to one of his many Quirks and, if he had to guess, it must have had something to do with Ryo Honda, the newcomer of the prison. "Oh well..." a smile appeared on his mangled face "Now things are getting very interesting...".
"I admit it, this door is really resistant" thought V, almost impressed. The alarm was not as strong as the sound waves of that Present Mic or those speakers, so he didn't think it would hurt him "Unfortunately, though... it's not enough... to STOP ME!" And finally, with a last effort he pulled the door away and tossed it away. In front of where it was there was Ryo, standing, waiting for his symbiote with a joyful smile.
"Hello V.".
"Hi Ryo." greeted the symbiote as he entered the cell. If someone would have been there, they would have heard only Ryo talking and not V, considering only Ryo was capable to hear him and understand him since they have been bonded for so long.
"Not even a day has passed since they separated us... and yet it seemed like an eternity to me."
"Same thing here, Ryo.".
"You have no idea how bad I felt without you...".
"I know this well, Ryo. Having been united for a long time, I can feel your presence and your emotions even when separated, even from a distance… and I know that you too could feel me.".
"Exactly. I also felt you, your presence, your emotions, your journey up to here… I will sound dramatic since not even a day has passed but… I missed you a lot, V… ".
"I missed you too, Ryo...".
"But now everything is fine" continued Ryo, smiling and reaching out a hand. His Other reached towards it and began to merge with him. Both could hear the footsteps of the guards getting closer and closer... but it didn't matter now. It was too late.
"For once again..." Ryo's body began to be surrounded by V's black mass, starting to grow in stature until he reached 7 feet and 6 inches in height, the body now black becoming more muscular and crossed by white veins .
"... and forever we are..." his voice returned to have two tones as when it was transformed. His face, in the end, was the last part to transform, being surrounded by the monstrous face with large white eyes and white, sharp fangs. It was done. Ryo and V were back together again.
"VENOM!".
The guards finally arrived at the door, weapons in hand. "Stop where... you are... oh my god..." one of them said, seeing Ryo transformed and back to being Venom.
"The vacation here was certainly not one of the best" said the monstrous vigilante. "And it was an experience I'd rather forget. So forgive us if we leave immediately.".
"S-stop where you are now ..." the guard tried to scream, ready to shoot at the prisoner with his companions... unfortunately he could neither finish the sentence nor shoot, as Venom fired tentacles from the palms of his hands which hit the guard and his companions, sticking them to the wall, almost as if those tentacles were spider webs.
"Don't worry… we are sure that either your companions or the Heroes will free you. Meanwhile… we have to go." Venom said, turning towards the wall and walking towards it. "After all, we have a lot to do.".
He started hitting the wall hard with his fists until, finally, he destroyed it. He looked towards the horizon: there was only the sea and, five kilometers away, civilization. With one leap he jumped into the sea and began to swim away at great speed. With V he had a lot of Stamina and could easily breathe underwater, so he didn't have to worry too much.
Now he had to reach the mainland. Find a place to hide and… plan.
He had been stupid to immediately attack the dorms to kill Bakugou without first having a plan.
He had to make a plan that would allow him to kill Bakugo without being captured by the Heroes. And once he finally made that plan ...
He would finally make Bakugou pay for everything he had done.