I've gotten a few questions about Izuku's appearance. To clarify this, essentially take Peter Parker's Symbiote Spider-Man suit, and add a slim, razor sharp grin to it. Like, he's not a big bulking dude or anything. Just imagine Spiderman in a black suit with a creepy grin. That's it. I chose this for...reasons. Just google Symbiote spidersuit and it should pop up. Also, one of the reviews mentioned the flaw in Shinsou's quirk. The megaphone he carried with him wasn't an electronic one. It was one those megaphones cheerleader's use. I didn't actually bother to see if they had any special name, because I've only heard them called megaphones. Again, sorry if that wasn't clear. I probably should have been more clear about that. As for why I'm posting so much, I don't really have much else to do. I've done most of grad work for the next week, and I've beaten every game I've wanted to play that's out right now. So this is essentially ensuring I don't die of boredom. Plus, you guys don't mind right? :D
One last thing. I updated the last section of chapter six. I know I said I'd cease retroactive continuity changes, but I mostly just explained something I mentioned briefly, and elucidated some details. It makes more sense now, and teases some others.
I use an original character inspired by two DC villains. Peak-a-boo, and Mirror Master. This will not be a recurring trend.
Key:
Bold= Venom talking in Izuku's head.
All other's follow typical writing rules.
Chapter 9: The Lame and Edgy 3: Mustafa Shift.
Izuku knelt down on a roof top watching his targets in his full Venom gear. They were talking about whatever it was drug pushers talk about. He didn't have the faintest idea and he didn't particularly care. They were sitting at the docks in Mustafa City, clearly waiting for something. Their truck was near the gate that lead back to the main road. Drug running wasn't exactly common anymore, but the ones that did stay active were bad news. He'd even heard rumblings of Yakuza dealing in some shady stuff, but he hadn't come across anything concrete yet. Mostly just whispers here and there. But the group he was currently tailing were as good at covering their tracks. They were sloppy, and new. However, their leader, at least based off the few thugs he'd "spoken" to, was smart. And worse, had a very versatile Quirk that played a key in their operations. Izuku and Venom agreed this was the perfect chance to gain more public support. They didn't tell the others simply because they weren't ready, not when they had zero support. Izuku would be damned if he let them go before he could make lesson tapes using Venom at minimum, and ideally after they'd gotten gear for the others.
One of the dealers' phone went off, bringing Izuku out of his thoughts, and focused once again on the thugs. Judging by the dealer's rapidly paling face, he was probably talking to his boss. He seemed nervous, and he brought the phone in front of him. Suddenly, there was a flash and with it came a a lanky man wearing an expensive looking suit, who definitely did not look happy. The lanky man put his hand on the dealer's shoulder, and he looked down at the phone on the ground. There was another flash and suddenly they were gone. The remaining two dealers looked at each other and shrugged, before walking back to their truck they'd left at the gate. Izuku figured he'd follow them, if nothing else to get some leads on the rest of the operation.
They tried to drive as inconspicuously as possible, but Izuku remained vigilante in tailing them.
You know, you should consider using some tech along with us. Trackers, for example, would make this less urgent. Maybe even consider lenses you wear under the mask for night vision purposes. Plus, you know, everyone loves toys.
'Maybe, but I don't think that's something I'd be able to make. Perhaps we can bring it up with Hitoshi's friend?' Izuku thought back to his partner, recognizing the merits of incorporating some tools. He'd have to draw up a list of specs he wanted first though.
"Something to do after this, I guess." Izuku muttered, now consciously thinking about all the fun little goodies he could request. In the name of justice, of course.
As a jumped from building to building in a zig zag formation, he felt confusion from his partner.
That's something I've never understood. I know the buildings here aren't as big as New York, but you could still try to websling for movement. Instead, you vault across the street and jump building to building, only using weblines from quick ziplines. Why is that?
'It's better exercise this way, and it's not like the suit doesn't help my stamina. This way, I combine hero work with actual endurance training. Plus, I may be similar to Peter, but I'm not him, Venom. I use my arms mostly when I fight, but I doubt I'm as strong as he was. I'd get tired if I used my swinging a lot, which could come back to bite me later. Sure, we've yet to face anyone difficult outside of the Nomu, but it's better to err on the side of caution.' Izuku explained to his partner. Izuku then resumed his unique momentum propulsion, still tailing the car. He jumped over some roof tops, and under some clothes lines, and even in between the support beams of a Radio tower. Eventually, the truck drove to a rundown looking amusement park.
"This is likely the place." Izuku muttered.
Probably so, kid. Plus it just screams evil hideout. 10 bucks says they use the hall of mirrors for something nefarious.
'Come on, there's no way that's true. It's too...obvious.'
Before Izuku could make a move, his phone began buzzing, showing someone was calling him. He glanced down to see it was Mina. He slide the answer button and tapped the earbud in his left ear.
"Hello?" Izuku asked, feeling somewhat shy, now that he was speaking to his girlfriend.
"IZUUUUUKUUUU! Hi!" Came Mina's ever cheerful voice. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Do you want our alibi, or what we're actually doing?" He asked in an amused tone.
"Hmmmm I dunno. You do come up with some interesting ones. And just saying, it's still super weird to hear you refer to yourself in the plural sense." She replied teasingly, enjoying their banter.
"We apologize, but it's a side effect of our powers."
"I know, I know." He could almost imagine her waving her hand at this. "Anyway, so what's my dashing little vigilante boyfriend up to currently?"
"Well, we just finished tailing some new element in downtown Mustafa. We are planning to shut down their operation tonight, so we can meet up without time constraints with the group tomorrow." He heard Mina sigh into the phone.
"Izuku, I know the work you do as Venom is important. But don't forget to take care of Izuku, okay?" Her concern touched him, as he'd definitely not had people in his life who felt that way before. It was...nice.
"We will, Mina. We promise, okay?"
"Thank you. I'll let you go save the day, okay? Hugs." She said that when she was about to hang up. It was a dorky and cute little thing she did, and he honestly liked it a lot.
"Hugs, Mina. We'll call you after okay? So you'll know we're okay."
"Okay. Go get em, tiger." With that, they hung up, Izuku slide his phone back into his suit pouch.
'Time to go to work, partner.'
You're damn right. Let's kick some ass.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Izuku landed on a lamp post that gave him a solid view of the thugs in the immediate vicinity. He'd decided to take a stealthy approach as long as he could. He identified the easiest to reach thugs, and calmly move into position. The first was taking a leak against a building wall, which was rather unsanitary. As he finished his business, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around only to have a fist meet his face, and entered blissful unconsciousness. The rest of the guards out side went in much of the same way until there was only one left. Izuku stood watching him from a roof top, and shot a web at him, yanking him up to the ledge.
"Hi there, got some questions. See we were in the neighborhood, and looking for directions to the pizza parlor, a cellphone retailer, aaaaaand your bosses hideout. Think you can help us out?" Venom's manic grin widened, showcasing its even sharpened teeth. The thug looked damn near ready to piss him self. Whether it was from being held out from a three story building by one arm, or the psychotic looking guy in black, who can say.
"OH MY GOD-" Venom quickly shot a hand over his mouth, before he could scream.
"Ah ah ah!" Venom wagged a clawed finger "No shouting. Don't want to spoil the surprise now do we?" At this, the thug enthusiastically nodded. "Good, we are in agreement. Now, our directions please?"
"Um, he's in the hall of mirrors in the back of the park..." Venom twitched at this.
Hey kid, do you hear a phone ringing? BECAUSE I CALLED IT!
'Ugh. I hate it when you're right.' Izuku groaned mentally before focusing back on the thug in hand, so to speak.
"And our pizza parlor is where?" The thug looked very confused, and before he could respond, Venom clocked him and deposited him on the roof safely.
Bet you'll never doubt my awesome wisdom ever again.
'Venom?'
Yes, oh dear partner of mine?
'Please shut up.'
xxxxxxxxxxx
Venom stood on the rafters of the hall of mirrors, gazing down upon the various criminals running around setting up crates of drugs. He panned his eyes around the building, his eyes settling on the man he'd see at the docks.
'His quirk is clearly teleportation, but what are his limits?'
Before Izuku could think any further, one thug rushed to the sharp dressed man, and whispered something in his ear, before an angry expression appeared on the bosses face.
"LISTEN UP YOU FOOLS. SOMEONE IS HERE. SINCE THEY DIDN'T FLASHILY ANNOUNCE THEMSELVES, THAT MEANS IT'S EITHER THAT PRO ERASERHEAD OR THE VIGILANTE VENOM. SPREAD OUT, AND FIND EM!" With that, he shoved the underling, and moved into the actual hall of mirrors. The eight thugs ended up clustering up below Venom, so he decided he'd just make this fast. He dropped down onto one of them, slamming his head into the ground.
"Hi." Venom said simply, his grinned visage unnerving the group of thugs.
"Oh fuck guys. He's gonna eat us."
"Um, what?" Venom tilted his head in confusion. A thug freaked out and tried to slug him with a crowbar and suddenly all hell broke loose. Venom grabbed the crowbar thug, and flung him into a wall, before shooting a web at thug holding a pistol, and zipping him to a rafter beam, his screams echoing in the building. He landed backdown, before his spider sense went off, and he moved his head to the side just in time to avoid getting stabbed with a butterfly knife.
"You know guys, you should definitely work on your greeting technique. It's very rude to start with sharp objects. Should save that for when you're cooking dinner. Wait, how do you guys feel about the legendary Emeril Agassi?" They groaned at his lame commentary, before the remaining six all rushed him at the same time, and tried to swarm him. He ducked under one thugs legs, and kicked him into another. He uppercutted the third, and engaged in a midair combo, doing a flip kick backwards, before shifting into a scissor kick that caught the guy in the temple, sending him into a crate of drugs, into blissful consciousness.
"Aw, they're so cute when they're sleeping. And you know, the rest of you could do the smart thing and give up." Venom offered helpfully. The rest glanced at each other, before surprisingly nodding and taking off.
"Huh. Can't believe that actually worked."
"And here I thought I would get to hear more of your riveting dialogue." The boss waltzed up to Venom, hands at his sides, expensive looking shades on his face.
"Dude, who the hell where sunglasses at night? Especially in this dark ass warehouse?" Venom blinked, before suddenly the boss was in front of him, with a hand on his shoulder.
"I do, for one. Call it trend setting, kid. And now, I'm about to show you a magic trick."
"In the hall of mirrors? Seriously?"
"Oh yes. I'm about to make an asshole disappear." Suddenly, everything changed, and Venom was dropped into the depths of the walls of mirrors. "You see kid, my quirk is pretty useful."
"Oh great. A cliché villain speech. And here I thought I could go my career without hearing one."
"You've got a pretty smart mouth for someone so stupid. After all, you'd have to be, to stroll into my operation without a plan."
"Oh I had a plan. It just...lacked details." Venom's sense went off, and spun to the side, catching the guy in the head with a kick, before the guy disappeared again.
"Man, you don't know who I am do you?"
"I'm assuming you mean besides as the guy I just kicked in the temple?"
"Goddamnit brat, shut up for just a damn second. My name...is Shift."
"Okay, that's a pretty badass name, I'll give you that." Venom begrudgingly admitted.
"Why, thanks kid. The only problem is everyone only hears it once. So it hasn't caught on." Another tug at his spider sense, and Venom rolled to the side, shooting webs at the guy and pinned him to a wall for a few seconds before he disappeared again.
"Wait, I get it. Shift. Because you shift positions." He didn't get an answer before he was punched again.
'Okay this is getting really annoying. He's clearly got a limit to his power, I just don't know- Wait. Symbiote, when that thug at the docks answered his phone, do you think it was a video call?'
Could be. If it was, that means this guy can only teleport where he can see. There's probably other limitations, but that's the biggest.
'Then all we have to do is eliminate his vision...' Venom looked around, and spotted a fuse box for the lights in the catwalk above the mirrors. He zipped up there, and punched the fuse box, sending the whole building into total darkness.
"So that's your big plan? So what if you figured out my quirks weakness. If I can't see you, you can't see me." Shift called out into the dark, panicking. Venom quietly closed in on the source of the sound, using his enhanced hearing to locate Shift.
"Fight me like a man you coward!" Any composure that Shift had was gone by now. Venom stood a few feet away, before he shot some webbing into Shift's face, blocking his vision. He then shot them up into the air, and grabbed onto him in a body lock. They then descended towards the ground as gravity tugged at them, and Venom ensure that Shift his head on the ground, losing consciousness. Venom webbed him up, and then hefted him onto his shoulder.
"Let's get him to the cops so they can officially shut this guy down."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Venom had dropped Shift off with a note that detailed his quirk, and listed the locations of his warehouse and operations. With that, he headed home, calling Mina as he'd promised he would, and then promptly passing out almost as soon as he climbed into bed.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next day, school had flown by, and before he knew it, Izuku found himself in LeBlanc waiting for the others. Today was the day that he convinced the Hatsume girl to be their tech creator, and Shouto's friend to be their benefactor. The door chimed, and in walked his group of friends. Mina immediately rushed to him, and gave him a hug, pressing her athletic body against him. He turned crimson, but he still hugged her back. Hitoshi and Shouto just nodded their greetings to him.
"Hey, baby! Guess what? They agreed to talk to you!" Her face broke out into a wide smile, and subsequently brightening Izuku's day with it.
"R-Really? That's great." Two girls coughed, and drew Izuku's attention to themselves. Hatsume was a girl with a tank top, cargo pants, and pink dreadlocks. She also had welder's goggles on her head. The other girl was a rather prim and proper looking type, featuring rather aristocratic features. She had black hair that was tied into a messy pony tail, with a single bang hanging on the side of her face. "A-Ah! You must be Ms. Hatsume and Shouto's friend right?" At this, both girls nodded, hesitance was plain in their body language. "Well, let's sit down and talk, okay?" At this, they moved back to their usual table in the back; Mina sat snuggled into Izuku's left side, and Hitoshi sat to Izuku's right closest to the aisle. The unnamed girl, Shouto, and Hatsume moved across them, with Hatsume sitting across from Hitoshi. As Izuku opened his mouth to speak, the aristocrat girl cut him off.
"Before you begin, I want to clear somethings up. To be completely transparent, you are the vigilante known as Venom, correct?" At this, Izuku paused deliberating internally before speaking.
'Do I tell them? I mean, I need to trust me, and if they weren't trustworthy, I doubt they'd be here...'
"Yes, I'll be upfront, I am Venom, but I'm not the villain the media would lead you to think I am." Izuku spoke candidly, before nodding, allowing her to proceed.
Momo coughed, before resuming her point "I have...questions. I know nothing of you, beyond your reportings on the news. Before I commit to any aid, which will be purely financial, and occasional use of my Quirk, I want to get an idea for you as a person, and what you hope to accomplish." Izuku's eyes narrowed at this, prompting him to respond.
"How do I know you won't turn me in? I haven't hurt anyone. Well, besides criminals. And I don't even know your name." She nodded to him, recognizing his points.
"Very well, trust must be established first them. I am Momo Yaoyorozu. My quirk is creation, but I have to have a clear grasp of the composition of anything I make."
"My name is Izuku Midoriya. My quirk is...Arachnid, for the sake of simplicity. I am also the vigilante known as Venom. Now go ahead and ask your questions."
"I wish to know why you attacked Bakugo 3 months ago. And why you refuse to get a heroes license."
"That's personal. However, I will say I didn't attack him. He agreed to fight me. I guess the cops just took his statement the wrong way, or something got lost in translation." Izuku sighed, but continued. "As for why I don't get a license, it's simple. I can't. I'm technically wanted for acts of Vigilantism, which would disbar me from applying tradtionally. However, that's why I put together this group, in hopes of attaining legitimacy through righteous actions." Momo nodded, agreeing with this.
"I understand. One more question. Are you different from the Hero Killer in methodology?" This was a fair question, as she would have no way of knowing the truth of how he operated.
"Yes, I am. I have not, and will never kill. I also don't fight heroes unless I have to, and even then, I typically just web them to a wall for a few minutes until I escape. As for what I want to do with this group...I want to show that heroes don't need to paid to do good. And that they don't need a prestigious pedigree and schooling to be excellent heroes. I want to show that anyone can be a hero with enough effort." This answer impressed Momo, as Shouto observed. Much like himself, she seemed enraptured by his talk of justice, and what it meant to be a true hero.
"Very well. I accept your request for funding. Now, keep in mind, I can only provide a small amount of funds, which will come from my own allowance. My parents do not give me frivolous amounts of money, providing only a small amount of a million yen a month." At this, everyone jaw's dropped, thinking along of the lines of 'SMALL?!'
"That said, I would be happy to assist your crusade in any way I can. So you may count on 500,000 yen of my allowance a month for support. I cannot join you in the field however, as I cannot afford to be recognized. I am truly sorry for that."
Izuku nodded, glad she would assist them at all. He then looked at Hatsume, who was fiddling with something in her lap. Hitoshi coughed, before speaking: "Mei, it's your turn."
She jumped a bit, before she focused on Izuku.
"So you're Venom. Hitoshi hear tells me you want me to make you some of my babies." At this, Izuku's and Mina's eyes widened. How shameless was this girl?! Hitoshi coughed, before he interjected.
"When Mei says babies, she means her gadgets." Mei half heartedly glared at Hitoshi, unhappy with his referral to her pride and joy as mere gadgets.
"How dare you! My babies are much more than mere gadgets! THEY ARE WORKS OF ART!" She was shouting by the end, causing the rest of them to sweatdrop at her antics.
"Erm, right." Izuku coughed, before he tried to get the conversation back on track. "Yes, Mei, my team has strong members, but we need gear. I don't need much, due to how my quirk works, but my...actions last night convinced me I could use a few helpful tools."
"Why should I? I don't really care that you're a vigilante or anything. But helping you could be problematic for me."
"Well, if you're outfitting us, we could field test your prototypes for you. Plus, you get practice for custom orders from pros when you get signed by a gear company, assuming you don't just make your own." Mei nodded at his logic, but still seemed unsure.
"I don't know. I don't know that I can trust you with my babies. They're very important to me..."
Hitoshi sighed, knowing what he needed to do. "You know, Mei...If you help us out, I'll help with your countermeasure project that neutralizes my Quirk." At this her eyes widened, before she leaned over the table, her face getting close to Hitoshi's.
"DO YOU MEAN IT, HITOSHI?! BEFORE I WAS WORRIED YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO!" Hitoshi was blushing slightly, given the proximity of the girl he'd come to have a crush on.
"Y-Yeah, sure. As long as you help us, I'll give you a hand." Mei nodded her head excitedly, and rubbed her hands together.
"Excellent. This is perfect! Ahahahah!" Her laugh was kind of...evil, and Izuku briefly pondered the repercussions of this potentially Faustian bargain. Before anyone could voice their concerns, Mei resumed speaking. "So what do you want exactly?"
Izuku shared a looked with Mina, Hitoshi, and Shouto. He leaned forward, and pulled out the list they'd come up with in their group chat the day before.
"Well, I need to add my ideas to the list, but those are probably fairly simple. For Shouto, we need a fire proof body suit and mask that help with temperature regulation, so he isn't recognized before he formally recognizes us. For Mina, she had the idea of arm gauntlets that she can pump acid into for later use, to reduce the strain of her quirk on her pores. She also wanted an air tight body suit with a built in half mask, with protective chestplates, and scifi looking helmet. Hitoshi wanted something a little more protective than his vest, and taser gloves. He also wanted some boots that would up his mobility as well as some infrared goggles, for rescue ops. As for myself, I wanted some night vision lenses with tactical displays that I can link to my phone and headset. And maybe some tracker darts." As Mei looked over the list, she didn't seem that impressed.
"I thought you'd need something challenging. Don't get me wrong, I 'll still make it. But I reserve the right to make babies for you guys to field test later." They all shared a look, and nodded.
"We agree. So how long with this take you, Mei?" Izuku asked, having been the spokesman.
"Well, I don't know, it could take me awhile. I guess I could be finished by tomorrow?" Mei tapped her finger on her chin, wheels already turning in her head. At this, everyone besides Hitoshi sort of looked at Mei in awe, clearly unused to such ruthless efficiency.
"Tomorrow?!" Came Izuku's rather poised response.
"More or less. Yours, though, I can have finished by tonight. You just want face fitting lenses right?"
"Yeah, more or less."
"Okay, I'll start when I get home. I'll give them to Hitoshi so he can give them to you when they're done." Izuku and Hitoshi nodded at this, while Mina checked her watch.
"Um, guys, it's like 7pm. We should probably head home for the evening." She said hesitantly, clearly not wanting to go home and study.
"So that's pretty much everything I wanted to talk about anyway. Thanks for coming guys, and welcome to the Outsiders." Izuku gave a soft smile, and bid them farewell. Mina had remained glued to his side, as the others went their separate ways. She stopped walking, and began fiddling with her skirt. Izuku noticed she'd stopped and turned to her, curious.
"H-Hey, Izuku?" She spoke, uncharacteristically nervous.
"Yes, Mina? What's wrong?" His voice conveyed his concern, he reached out a hand to hers. She blushed slightly, before shaking her head.
"I um...I wanted to ask you two things." She paused, taking a breath before continuing. "My parents wanted to have a family meet up, with both our families. They want to do it sometime after my finals. Is...Is that okay? I don't want to pressure you or anything, you know?"
Izuku was confused for a moment, before he laughed.
"That's what you're worried about? Of course I'd agree to it. You're my girlfriend, and meeting your family is an important part of my job as such, isn't it." She adopted a sheepish expression, before nodding. "What's the other request?"
"Can...Can we go out on another date? Like a dinner and a movie? I just want to spend some time along together. It feels like it's been awhile, and things are about to get super busy." Yet again, Izuku was touched, and flattered that spending time with him meant that much to her.
He gently pulled her into a hug, before pulling away. He blushed as he realized how forward he'd been.
"A-ah! Sorry about that. We can, Mina. I'm sorry we haven't done something in a while. I guess I've been a bad boyfriend, huh?" He spoke a little sadly, feeling like he'd neglected Mina in some way.
Mina shook her head at this. "No, that's not what I meant. You haven't been a bad boyfriend at all, babe. I guess...I just wanted to pretend like we were normal teenagers again before things got busy." This brought a soft smile to his lips.
"Of course Mina. I'd love to." She jumped in excitement, and hugged him, before she gave him a series of soft kisses, before they resumed their walk to her train station hand in hand, lights twinkling as they walked in the night.
To be continued...
So yet another chapter down. I'm mostly content with it. Kind of a set up chapter, but shit's about to get nuts, as you guys probably guessed. I don't really have anything else to say, so I'll just end it here. I apologize in advance if this is edited a bit, as my beta and I don't have a solid way of making edits at the moment. The only way he can see these is after posting.
As for chapter 10, I probably won't be able to work on it until Tuesday, as I've got to do a paper for my class that's due at 5:30 tomorrow night.
Welp, I'll see you guys later. Raizen out.