IMPORTANT A.N. PLS READ.
To the reviewer who suggested I write an Ironman crossover, I believe that's been done already, and while this is probably blasphemous to admit, I only really know Spider-Man when it comes to Marvel. I'm more into DC, and giving Izuku the Speed Force was actually my first idea, but I realized how damn overpowered he'd be. Also, you should check out "Quirkless Hero: Deku" If you wanted something like that.
Other info: For the reviewers who were asking about other symbiotes. I stated in chapter two in Venom's dialogue with Izuku that Venom is the last. To clear up some inconsistency with Izuku's character, I added some dialogue at the behest of my partner Bentholomew. He pointed out that Izuku wouldn't ask if Venom subtly steered him away, which WAS my original idea, it just needed a few more bits of dialogue. Also, added an Izuku wordvomit. Besides that, it's mostly the same, and it definitely plays out the same. Adding other symbiotes just doesn't fit into to what I want to do with this story. This may disappoint some of you. But I don't think you'll feel that way for long. As for the request to change outfit, It's happening, but it's not gonna be a rehash of AV. I just can't see Izuku using weapons like AV did.
Chapter 10: No More Heroes.
Izuku was sitting in his room, brainstorming ideas for new gadgets. He didn't necessarily need anything beyond what Mei had given him a few days prior, but it never hurt to be thinking of new ideas. A knock on his door interrupted his train of thought.
"Izuku?" came the soft, nervous voice of Inko Midoriya. "Can I come in?"
Izuku moved his idea pad into his desk, before he got up and allowed his mother in. "Hey, mom. What's going on?"
His mother fidgeted nervously, as if unsure of what exactly to say. "Well, since you started high school, we haven't spent as much time together as we used to. I was hoping we could do a family dinner tomorrow night?" His mother asked hopefully, her eyes watering slightly. Izuku's eyes widened, not realizing he'd inadvertently been avoiding his mom a bit.
His eyes watered, and he wailed out "I'M SO SORRY MOM!" and then proceeded to hug his mother tightly, to reassure her he wasn't avoiding her deliberately. "I've just been so busy with my group of friends that I hadn't realized how long it's been since we spent time together."
"Oh, Izuku, I'm so proud of the man you're becoming. You're making excellent grades in school, you're exercising regularly, and you've got yourself a lovely girlfriend." Izuku blushed at the praise, before he sweatdropped, remembering how emotional his mother was when told her baby boy had a girlfriend.
"Thanks, mom. I'll make sure to come home right after school tomorrow." At this, his phone began buzzing, showing Mina was calling him. Inko saw the caller ID before she smiled and walked to the door.
"Oh I'll leave you to your phone call, Izuku. Tell Mina I said hello." With that, his mother left the room, which prompted Izuku to answer.
"Hello?" He spoke into the phone, not looking forward to telling Mina they'd have to reschedule their date.
"Hey, baby. Just wanted to check up on you. Are you busy?" Mina's cheerful voice made him smile softly, before his features shifted into a frown.
"U-Um, Mina?" He began timidly.
"Yes, Izuku? What's wrong?" She replied, worry slipping into her voice.
"I kind of have to cancel our date. My mom asked if I could have a family dinner tomorrow, which made me realize how little time I've spent with her between my schoolwork and patrols." He rambled nervously, not wanting upset his girlfriend. He was confused when she chuckled into the receiver.
"Oh, is that all? Sheesh, I thought it was something serious. Don't even worry about it, babe. We can just go when I get back from this trip. How's that sound?" She replied reassuringly.
"That sounds perfect. Again, I'm sorry, I was really looking forward to it."
"Izuku, don't worry about it okay? Enjoy your dinner with your mom. I know you two are super close. It's really not a big deal." At this, Izuku sighed in relief, feeling he'd dodged a proverbial bullet, no spider-sense required.
"I'm gonna make our date next week the best date you've ever had, Mina!" He spoke confidently, making her laugh.
"That's really not necessary babe, but I look forward to it." She yawned as she said this. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now, Izuku. Don't stay up too late thinking yourself to death."
Izuku sweatdropped, shuffling his notes awkwardly, placing them under a book. "O-Oh yeah...I won't do that. H-Hugs, Mina." He smiled softly, feeling so happy that his girlfriend was so understanding and generally good for him.
"Hugs, Izuku. Sleep well. We can have a video call before the bus leaves on Monday, okay?" Izuku leaned back in his chair, looking at his ceiling with a smile.
"Sounds good Mina. Goodnight. Sleep well." Izuku spoke softly.
"I always do. Night!" The connection cut and Izuku decided to go to bed early tonight, taking advantage of his day off to the fullest.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday afternoon came, and Izuku had yet to hear from Mina, Shouto, or Momo since Monday. He didn't know why, but he a sort of anxiety about that fact. He shook his head as he walked up to his school roof, wanting to talk to his partner about some idea's he'd had.
As he walked up to the fence around the ledge, he stared at the city skyline.
'So, partner, I've been thinking about the costume and I'd like to make some changes, to accommodate Mei's gear.' Izuku thought to his friend, wanting to hear his feedback.
Alright kid, just think about what you want to change to, and I'll make it happen.
'That's it?' Izuku thought back incredulously.
What? Were you expecting some sort of montage? Don't worry I'll take care of it.
'Why does that sound...ominous?' Izuku shook his head, before imagining the costume he wanted. It had a hood with white spider web patterns over the outside of it. Next, it had his trade mark grin, his nod to All Might's inspiration to his desire to be a hero. He then imagine the mask being formfitting enough to accommodate his night vision lenses, and the chest to be reinforced to mimic body armor. His signature white spider rib cage design flowed flawlessly over the armor. His gloves had claws at the end for utility purposes, and he had forearm guards reinforced to block anything swing he couldn't dodge, but held a slot for his tracer dart launcher. He had shin guards over his legs, and his feet now resembled steel toe boots. (AN Think Agent Venom with the hood from Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider issue 1).
He felt a wave of aw from his partner.
Okay kid, I approve. That's pretty badass.
Izuku was about to reply, when he felt phone go off. Shouto was calling him.
"Shouto? Shouldn't he still be at camp?" He asked to no one in particular, as his moved his finger to answer.
"Izuku, you need to listen to me, and I need you to remain calm. Mina's in the hospital, along with the majority of our class."
"What?! What happened?!" Izuku felt panic rising in him.
"It started on yesterday around evening..."
xxxxxxx
Shouto sat by himself, quietly eating a snack he'd brought with him to the training field. He glanced around the area he found himself in, waiting for Aizawa to return. Suddenly, a female voice rang out in his head. It was Mandalay of the Wild Pussycats, the super hero team that had been hired to assist the UA students' training.
"EVERYONE! PLEASE RETURN TO THE LODGE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS. DO NOT ENGAGE THEM. I REPEAT, DO NOT ENGAGE."
And with that, the atmosphere took on a dark and foreboding tone, before the inevitable panic set in.
Shouto looked around for Mina. He knew he didn't have to look out for her, but given they were eventually going to working together, he figured this would be a good time to start working on his teamwork. His brow knit in confusion when he didn't see her.
Xxxxxxx
Mina knelt down, angrily glaring at the blond man in front of her, tears building at the corner of her eyes. He was giant of man, shirtless and extra muscle fiber swirling around his body. His right eye swirled with barely restrained psychopathy. His left eye was an artificial one, the tissue around it scarred.
"I don't know why you're glaring at me, girly. All I did was reunite that kid with his parents. Honestly, you should be thanking me."
Mina said nothing, angry tears beginning to fall. She got up to fight. She would make this heartless bastard pay.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Shouto searched frantically around the lodge. He was worried, anxiety gnawing at his gut. "Where is she?" Suddenly, he heard an anguished scream come from the direction he'd seen the the young boy often slink off to. No one really ever bothered to follow him, figuring he wished to be alone. Shouto's face paled, before he rushed towards the scream, his ice sliding propelling him towards his destination with precision and speed. As he drew closer, the prevalent feeling of dread grew ever stronger. When he landed, his eyes widened in shock.
Mina lay beaten on the ground in front of a looming figure, bleeding from her head, her horn- 'Wait horn? She had two-' Shouto felt sick to his stomach when he realized what this meant.
"Oh, another one? Maybe you'll put up more fight than the girly here...or that kid I killed." The man spoke almost...jovially. The swirling feeling in Shouto's stomach intensified. He couldn't do anything for the boy, but he could save Mina. He owed that much to Izuku.
'Judging by the extra muscle fiber he's got, I probably take him down on my own. Right now, my best bet is immobilize him long enough with ice quirk to get away with Mina. Muscles have difficulty contracting in the cold.' With that thought, Shouto set his plan in motion...
xxxxxxx
Izuku rushed to the hospital where Mina and the rest of her class were at while they recovered. He landed in alley next to the hospital, before his Venom suit receded. He ran into the lobby, only faintly registering the cries of "No running!" As he entered, he overheard some screaming that had a sort of...pathetic tone to it. He ignored it for the moment, looking for Shouto, who he spotted staring blankly at a vending machine.
"Shouto?" He jumped a bit, before turning to face Izuku. "Shouto, are you okay?" Shouto sighed and recounted the exact events, and occurrences. He explained how he'd saved Mina, but had inadvertently allowed the muscular villain to go on a rampage. Several students in class 1A were injured by him. One student was apparently down to 5 arms. One had his tail broken in multiple places. Those two statements confused Izuku, but it wasn't his primary concern at the moment. Apparently, the League had kidnapped two students and one of their hosts, and injured a dozen others from the entire group of UA students. Izuku put a hand on Shouto's shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Shouto who spoke first.
"I feel like I failed them. I saved Mina, but at what cost?" Izuku tightened his grip on Shouto's shoulder causing him to look at Izuku.
"Shouto, you guys were outmatched and outgunned. Though I am confused as to why there are so many injuries. From the brief discussions I've had with Mina, it sounded like you guys had a lot of strong quirks." At this statement, Shouto's eyes darkened.
"It doesn't matter how strong our quirks are if we aren't allowed to use them." Anger welled up in Izuku. They hadn't been allowed to fight back? Then it was a damn miracle that there had only been a single death, tragic though it was. "This, more than anything, has led me to believe that professional heroism has lost it's way, or at least, the way we train our future heroes. I'm not saying we could have defeated all of the League members. But we could have at least stalled them until we got help from the pros that were there." Shouto took a breath here.
"Shouto, I don't even know what to say. You guys just went into a hell you weren't prepared for. But how did the villains know where you guys were?"
"I don't know. We didn't even arrive at our destination. Supposedly, the location itself was a tightly kept secret. We were supposed to train at a lodge for quirk training. Well, before the incident anyway." That got both Shouto and Izuku thinking, both of them coming to the same conclusion.
"Then... it sounds like UA has a leak somewhere. We could and probably should figure it out. But right now, I'm going to go see Mina. Can you compile a list of students who did not sustain serious injury in either the USJ attack or this one?" Shouto nodded in confirmation "Okay. I'm going to check on Mina. We'll talk later, okay man?"
"I'll show you to her room. She's pretty upset, so be patient with anything she might say okay?"
"Of course."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mina was laying in her hospital bed, eyes focused on something outside her window. Izuku quietly slipped into her room, before taking a seat beside her bed.
"Hey, Mina." Instantly, she turned to face him, eyes brimming with tears.
"Izuku..." She tried to speak, but her sobs prevented her from saying more. Izuku bit back his shyness and enveloped her in a tight hug. She reciprocated instantly, and the tears fell even harder.
"He killed him. Right in front of me. The kid couldn't have been more than six, Izuku. He smashed him into the ground until his little body was broken and bloody. I tried to stop him, but I was too tired. I couldn't produce strong enough acid to burn him, not when I'd been straining them all day. My hands still hurt." At this, Izuku took one of her hands into his, rubbing gentle circles into her palms, trying to sooth the pain she was in. "I wasn't good enough, and I almost got myself killed." She croaked out. "All I could think about was how my death was going to effect you. If Shouto hadn't dragged me to safety, I'd be dead right now." She clung to him, like a lifeline, afraid to let go. "Izuku, I love you."
Instantly, his world slowed to a crawl. Had he heard her correctly?
"You love me?" At this, he felt her nod her head, which was still buried in his chest.
"I do. I was so scared I was going to die before I could tell you. I don't care that society disproves of what you do, Izuku. I don't care whether you have a Quirk or not. I don't care about anything right now except you knowing that I love you, Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku's face turned redder and redder, and he clutched her tighter at her confession. It was so genuine and heartfelt, that he couldn't help himself. He teared up, showing he was his mother's child.
"I-I love you too, Mina. When Shouto told me you were in the hospital, my mind went blank. Nothing else mattered to me. I rushed here, in full Venom outfit. Anyone who tried to stop me be damned. My body moved without thinking. I just needed to know that you were okay." He pressed his lips into the top of her head, before brushing a hand through her hair. He froze as he did so, when he realized her left horn was missing.
"Mina..." He shook furiously, anger filling him to the core. To know that someone alive held such a vast capacity for cruelty ate at him. But he knew now wasn't the time. She trembled, obviously still shaken up.
"He did it anyway, Izuku. I begged him to stop, but he didn't care. He just laughed, and snapped it between his fingers. I blacked out from the pain. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital."
"Mina...I won't let him hurt you again. I promise you that." Mina looked up from her perch into Izuku's eyes, seeing something that she didn't see very often: Confidence. Confidence that he would protect her. She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss, which he returned gladly. A few long moments later, they stopped, and Izuku pulled away.
"Hold on, I need to call my mom and let her know what happened, and then I need to go talk to Shouto. But I'll be back in a few minutes." He let her go, before getting up and walking out of her room. He didn't see Shouto, so he texted him. After getting the room number he needed, Izuku found Shouto sitting next to Momo's hospital bed. She was asleep, and he was silently keeping watch over her peaceful slumber. It didn't escape Izuku's notice that Shouto had one of her hands in his. He'd noticed someone walking into the room in the glass reflection, causing him to turn around and face Izuku.
"We need to talk."
xxxxxxxxxx
After extracting himself from Momo's grip, and ensuring her comfort by placing a blanket over her, Shouto motioned for Izuku to follow him. As they walked, Shouto spoke out.
"How was she?" Izuku regarded Shouto a moment, before replying.
"She's as good as can be expected." Shouto nodded at this, expecting that to be the case.
"What about Momo?" Shouto's face darkened at the question.
"She was seriously hurt during the incident. I don't know exactly what happened though.
"Alright. Tell me the rest of what happened." Izuku's expression spoke of barely restrained fury at the injustice of it all. Where were the rest of the pros? Even if it had been a secret, only sending two pros for such a large number of students was naive. He shook himself. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts. He needed to gather information before he could decide his next move.
Shouto took a deep breath. "Do you want to know everything, or the highlights?"
"Tell me about the villains you encountered, as well as your kidnapped classmates."
"I only encountered the muscular guy, but all he told me he was new. That either means he was recruited for his power...or he was the weakest one there. However, I don't think the latter is the case."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, apparently, one of my classmates took out one before he was taken. His quirk apparently went ballistic according to an eyewitness, and took out a villain. Additionally, a few students from our rival class also managed to take out another member of the League." At this Shouto adopted an amused expression. "You have a fan in that class. His name is TetsuTetsu. He claims you're super manly. His words." Izuku wasn't sure how to take that at the moment.
At seeing Izuku's expression, Shouto coughed, before pressing on, "Apparently, there was a girl with them. She seemed obsessed with blood and...friendship, believe it or not. From what I gathered about her behavior, she seemed to suffer from some form of psychopathy, as well as severe delusions. She injured two female students in our class before withdrawing. There were reports that the two students who were taken were taken by someone calling himself "Mr. Compress."
"This is a lot to process. If only I'd been there." Shouto shook his head.
"I'm not finished, Izuku. I personally saw a villain with a fire quirk fight with the two teachers who were present. You probably know my teachers by reputation. Eraserhead and Blood King?" Izuku nodded in affirmation, causing Shouto to press onward.
"As for who was kidnapped, it was two of my classmates: Katsuki Bakugo and Tokoyami Fumikage." Izuku's face paled, but he remained calm, as he had to.
"That's pretty much all I know right now."
Izuku looked down, gears turning wildly in his head. They could track them down with the information they had, but then they'd have to contend with the entire League of Villains most likely. Still, Izuku didn't want this attack to go unpunished. Not just because they'd hurt his girlfriend. No, this couldn't go unpunished because lives were on the line and that would set a precedent. If UA wouldn't take action...then the Outsiders would.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Izuku slipped back into Mina's room as quietly as he could, not sure if she as asleep or not. He saw her watching something on her phone, she jumped a bit when she noticed him.
"Geez, Izuku. Give a girl some warning, would you?" She spoke in an exasperated manner. She looked at him, and noticed he had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.
"I'm going to start training you guys. I don't want you to ever feel that helpless again. So please. Let me help you Mina." He took her hand in his, trying to massage her sore palms a bit. She groaned a bit, before trying to reply.
"Man Izuku. You really know how to spoil a girl. Offering to train her to kick ass AND massaging her sore spots? Definitely a keeper right here." She spoke teasingly, her eyes alight with amusement. Izuku was now flustered, both from her noises and from her teasing.
"M-Mina, please!" Izuku stammered out, trying to keep them on topic. "So what do you say?"
"I accept, of course. It's not like I have much choice. I need to be stronger." He smiled at her, but she noticed his eyes kept being drawn to her missing horn, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. She sighed, before a proverbial light went off in her head.
"You know, Izuku..." She began slyly. "Look at the bright side."
"The bright side?" He answered, confused as to where she was going.
"Yeah. After that makeover, I'm way less 'horny' now." Izuku went supernova scarlet at this.
"MINA!"
Oh myyyyyyyy...
To be contiuned...
Yeah guys, sorry this took so long. I actually had most of yesterday free after my class was canceled...but some things happened that killed my motivation to do anything, let alone write. There was a point when I considered just deleting the whole thing, and wiping my hands of writing entirely. But that wouldn't be fair to you guys, so I still plan to finish this story. But I've pretty much decided this is going to my first and only attempt at writing fanfiction. At the barest minimum, I will no longer write MHA stories after this one. Honestly? I genuinely regret choosing Izuku/Mina and MHA as my template over DC and Jason Todd/Donna Troy. In any case, I hope you guys will stick with me. Raizen out.