Chapter 17: Fear
"So, how did it go?"
This was the question that their companions immediately began asking the exact moment they entered the dormitory. They had all been waiting for both of them in the common area, waiting for their return from Tartarus. If it had been a different situation, Bakugou would have shouted at them, telling them to 'mind their fucking business'.
But this was by no means a situation like any other.
Bakugou just looked at his classmates with a look devoid of any emotion, and this took everyone present by surprise except Midoriya who entered the dormitory immediately after the blond.
Bakugou looked at those present for a few seconds... and then began to head towards the elevator.
"Huh? Where are you going, Bakugou?" Mina asked.
"In my room...".
"What's wrong, man? What happened during the interrogation? " Kaminari asked.
"Yeah, what did Honda say?" Mineta echoed him as the elevator doors opened in front of Bakugou.
The latter remained silent for a few seconds, and without even turning around he said "Ask Deku if you are so curious..." and entered the elevator, with its doors closing behind him.
All those present then turned to Midoriya, who had remained silent looking at everything with a look full of sadness and concern.
"Midoriya ..." Iida said looking worried at his friend "What happened during the interrogation? What did Honda say? ".
The green-haired boy looked at those present for a few seconds and sighed, then went to one of the sofas in the common area to sit down "It's... a very long story... and let's say it upset both me and Kacchan...".
Uraraka immediately sat down next to Midoriya, placing a comfortable hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to say what happened, Deku. Just as Bakugou was not forced to say it, you are not too…".
Midoriya smiled slightly at his friend "Thanks but... no. No, I can't keep it all inside. Sooner or later Kacchan and I will have to tell you what we discovered at the interrogation... so..." he breathed another sigh "Here's what we found out... you already know that Ryo moved to Jaku City with his parents after his mother found out that Kacchan tormented…".
The others nodded, motioning him to continue.
"Well..." Midoriya ran a hand over his hair, sighing "Apparently... on the way to Jaku City they found themselves in the middle of an accident... more precisely, the Shocker incident.".
The eyes of those present opened wide.
"The Shocker incident?" Sero repeated "You mean that... that ...".
Midoriya nodded, a sad expression painted on his face "Yes. Ryo's parents died in that accident.".
There was a moment of silence, in which those present processed the revelation they just received.
"And this..." Midoriya continued "is the reason why Ryo hates Kacchan...".
"Uh?" Sato said, scratching his head with a confused expression "And why on earth would Honda hate Bakugou for that? In the end it was that Villain... that Shocker who caused the accident and the death of his parents.".
Midoriya heaved another sigh "As I already said… Ryo's parents decided to move because of Kacchan's bullying towards him… so Ryo considers Kacchan to be responsible for all this. Since Kacchan was the reason why they moved and found themselves in the middle of that street, in the midst of the accident that caused the death of his parents, for Ryo, Kacchan is as guilty of the death of his parents as Shocker himself.".
Midoriya looked at the thoughtful and shocked expressions of her companions and then resumed speaking "After that, he was sent to live in an orphanage right in Jaku City… and things certainly did not improve there. The children of the orphanage treated him horribly, bullied him continuously for the simple fact that he was without Quirk...".
The eyes of those present seemed to widen even more, a sense of anger and sorrow that grew inside them: anger towards the inhabitants of the orphanage who had discriminated against Ryo for being 'different' and displeasure towards Ryo himself, who had gone through all this.
"How long... has he been going on like this?" Tsuyu asked.
Midoriya looked down "For 10 years. From the age of 5 until the age of 15, Ryo had to suffer abuse in that orphanage.".
Those present jumped, not believing what they had just heard.
"This… certainly didn't improve how Ryo felt about Kacchan. Those 10 years at the orphanage... those ten years of abuse and bullying did nothing but remind him of what Kacchan had done to him, making him grow even more hatred towards him and the idea that it was all his fault if he was in that situation.".
Midoriya clenched his fists on his knees "Then one day… all that rage… all that resentment... exploded. During the Sports Festival he saw Kacchan and he exploded. All that hatred that grew inside him .. finally came out. For Ryo, Kacchan was like a Villain, so he could not understand how he managed to enter the UA ... and for this reason he escaped from the orphanage, with only hatred towards Kacchan that kept him going... ".
And he stopped talking. Those present remained silent, not even knowing what to say.
"And... what about that... thing?" Momo asked. Everyone immediately understood what she was talking about. "Did he say anything about it? What is it and how did it give him all those powers? ".
Midoriya immediately remembered Nomasa's words: "Regarding what we discovered from the interrogation with Honda ... I would like you to keep most of it secret… and with 'most of it' I mean the alien nature of his symbiote. Try to understand… it is not to cause panic.".
"The true nature of the symbiote... must remain a secret" Midoriya thought "I don't want to lie to my friends... but I promised it to the detective...".
"No" Midoriya lied "Ryo... he hasn't revealed anything about it.".
Meanwhile, on the road to Tartarus…
Some Heroes had been rushed to the prison to help the guards watch over Ryo after the symbiote escaped from Professor Hirano's laboratory. The Heroes sent there were two of UA, Hound Dog and Present Mic, his voice being strong enough to hurt the symbiote, accompanied by some other Heroes called immediately by the members of the Commission: Miruko, Edgeshot and Endeavor.
Endeavor had been called as with his powers he would be able to injure the symbiote should it come to Tartarus, or separate it from Ryo if it reunited with him. With both him and Present Mic in the same team, the Commission was absolutely sure that victory was assured.
"So we have to go to Tartarus to observe this Ryo Honda and prevent him from escaping?" asked Miruko sitting in the backseat of Endeavor's car.
"Precisely" replied Edgeshot sitting on the seat next to the driver "The members of the Commission have been very vague... they said that they fear an evasion from him.".
"They told me my Quirk would be indispensable" Endeavor said in the driver's seat, his eyes fixed on the road and his gaze serious. "And that alongside Present Mic's Quirk we can have more chances of stopping Honda in case he tries to evade. Apparently his powers are weak to fire and loud sound waves."
They did not know, of course, of the symbiote's alien nature as the members of the Commission had only had time to tell them that 'there was the danger of Ryo Honda escaping from Tartarus'.
"Bha, in any case I really hope that he TRIES to escape" said Miruko, a predatory smirk painted on her face, eager for a possible challenge "I have heard a lot about what he is capable of, especially after what he did last night . I really want to fight him and see what he's made of!" She finished by cracking her knuckles, also causing Edgeshot to sigh in exasperation.
In the meantime, in the other car, Mic and Hound Dog were in deep silence. The car was of Hound Dog himself, so it was big enough to let the Hero drive and fit in without problem. Mic, wanting to break the awkward silence, began to talk "Sooooo… going to watch out for Honda, uh?".
"Mhmh…" merely hummed the canine hero.
"Nervous about it?".
"Not at all.".
Mic scratched his own head "Lucky you because honestly, I'm pretty nervous.".
"Why is that? Your screams can hurt that thing… that symbiote, don't they? After all, high sound waves can hurt it and we have Endeavor with us, who can hurt it with his flames. With both you and him together we can stop that thing to reunite with Honda for good.".
"Yeah but… we just learned that thing… the symbiote… isn't even an artificial Quirk. It's an alien, for crying out loud. My Quirk is capable to hurt it, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm pretty shaken by the fact that we have to fight some alien goo… and that there are more out there, beyond the stars and that we might face them too if they ever come here. We now know that there is other life out there… and we can't even tell that to the public to avoid panic. It's like… too much in just one day, man.".
Hound Dog remained in silence for some seconds. The dread of knowing we aren't alone in the universe… and can't even be capable of telling it to others.
"Yeah…" muttered Hound Dog "If you put that this way, then I can say I'm pretty nervous too…".
As soon as they arrived near the prison, the two groups of Heroes immediately realized that something was wrong. Something inside them was telling them that something had happened in that prison. And in fact, as soon as they were near the immense structure, they could hear its alarms ringing madly.
The two cars stopped and the two groups pulled out of them, running towards the prison at great speed. They entered and were greeted by some guards, their expressions shocked.
"The Heroes!".
"Don't worry! We are here to help you!" Mic said.
"Now tell us what happened!" Endeavor continued.
"Honda... Ryo Honda..." another guard said.
"Honda? What has Honda done?!" Hound Dog barked, his teeth bare behind the muzzle.
"He ran away..." continued that same guard "he ran away!".
Nomasa was pacing back and forth in the UA meeting room, his eyes filled with anxiety and nervousness. This sentiment was also shared by those present, who either sat looking at the void or went back and forth like Naomasa.
Suddenly, the ringing of a phone interrupted the silence of those present. It was Aizawa's phone.
The latter took the phone from his pocket and saw that Mic was calling him. He answered the call, putting the phone close to his ear "Yamada? How is it going to Tartarus?".
"Well Shota, my friend... how can I say this?".
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at his friend's worried voice "Yamada... what happened?".
Mic was standing in front of Ryo's cell... or rather, what was his cell since Ryo was no longer in there, with a large hole in the wall that showed the sea surrounding the prison. The guards imprisoned by Ryo's tentacles on the wall had been released by the heat of Endeavor's flames, and were explaining the situation to the Heroes.
"Honda... reunited with the symbiote and managed to escape from Tartarus".
Aizawa was silent for a few seconds, his eyes slightly wide. Toshinori looked at his colleague with concern, asking "Aizawa... is everything okay?".
Aizawa looked towards those present, pulling the phone away from his ear. He sighed and said, in a voice as calm as possible "There is bad news... the symbiote has reunited with Honda... and in doing so Honda managed to escape from Tartarus.".
Meanwhile in Bakugou's room ...
As soon as he arrived in his room, Bakugou immediately threw himself on his bed to rest after everything that had happened up to that moment.
So much stress, so much tiredness...
So much fear.
He needed to rest.
But he couldn't do that either, not even for an idea.
Because every time he fell asleep, he saw him.
Ryo.
No.
Venom.
Every time he fell asleep he saw him, in the middle of some deserted street, attacking him.
And him?
He couldn't defend himself.
He couldn't defend himself in any way.
And Venom hit him with punches, kicks, claws and accused him of all the pain he had felt, all the horrible things he had been through.
Deku had told him it wasn't his fault.
And fuck if he wanted to believe it.
Fuck he wanted it so badly.
But a part of him could not help but agree with Venom.
That it was his fault.
After yet another nightmare, Bakugou could take no more.
He left the room and headed for the stairs, going down slowly to get to the common area.
He didn't want to use the lift, he wanted to stretch his legs a little.
He finally reached the common area, and all those present turned their gaze towards him. There was worry and sadness in their eyes. Probably Deku had told them what they had discovered at the interrogation, apart from the true nature of the symbiont.
"Bakugou..." Kirishima tried to say, approaching him.
But he didn't listen. He walked over to the sofa and sat on it, turning on the TV. He wanted to see it just to forget about everything.
Of Ryo.
Of his symbiote.
Of his hatred of him.
Of his fear.
Of his fucking guilt.
"Latest news!" A journalist from his study said "An incredible event happened today! For the first time, perhaps since its origins, there has been an escape from the Tartarus prison!".
Everyone present immediately shifted their gazes to the TV.
An escape from Tartarus?
That Tartarus?
Was that even possible?
Escaping from the most technologically advanced and most guarded prison in human history?
Meanwhile, Midoriya and Bakugou stood stiff for a second. Something in their minds said they knew exactly who had escaped.
But they refused to believe it.
"Ryo Honda, a sixteen-year-old boy born on July 6, 2XXX, and known as Venom the Vigilante of Jaku City, escaped from prison after being taken there only yesterday after his attack at the UA dormitories. This is an event that has never happened before in the history of the prison, and it is also a real record given that, as we said, Honda was only imprisoned yesterday. The members of the Commission of Heroes of Public Safety have revealed to us about the breakout of Honda, and have also told us that they will make available all the Heroes available for the search and capture of this bloodthirsty vigilante. We don't know anything else at the moment, but… ".
But no one else listened to what he had to say.
All the members of Class 1-A were all in complete silence, the shock clearly visible in their faces.
But it was definitely more present in the faces of Midoriya and Bakugou.
Both stared silently at the TV screen, eyes wide and their skin as pale as that of a corpse.
But there was something else in Bakugou's expression, unlike Midoriya.
There was another emotion.
There was fear.
Meanwhile, in a secret base in Jaku City ...
Six individuals listened to this news with interest. Five of them each sat in their own chairs, placed in a semicircle while the sixth stood in a corner, he being too big for a chair and all their expressions were intrigued. Especially the man who was in the center of this semicircle, sitting with his hands resting on his chin, and who seemed the most intrigued of all.
Another man with a black beard and long hair of the same color as the beard turned off the TV and addressed the man in the center "This news was of vital importance to us, boss." His voice had a heavy accent, he must have been Russian.
"Yeah" said another bald, older-looking man seated further to the right "We finally know the identity of this Vigilante who in recent months has put a spoke in the wheels of our operations, killing so many of our men! ".
"And we also know his position." Another man with his hair half-shaved said "We couldn't have had a better opportunity."
"You are right, my friends" said the man in the center, the boss, a man with very short black hair. "For months we have been trying to figure out who this Vigilante, who almost destroyed our gang, was... but to no avail. We had known that he had been imprisoned, so we thought we had got rid of a problem. But now that he's free... we'll have to take care of it. The elite group of the Black Dragon, of which I too am a part, despite the fact that I am the leader of the gang. We will find this Ryo Honda… we will find this Venom… and we will kill him! By doing so, the Black Dragon will finally be able to continue its operations! Or I am no longer Herman Schultz, Shocker, the leader of the Black Dragon!".
End of the Venom Arc.
To be continued in the Black Dragon Arc.