Yo guys. I'm going to clarify that I am NOT leaving this unfinished. That was always my intention because it irks the shit out of me to find a shiny new fic, only for it go unfinished and my questions left unanswered. Now, as you guys probably picked up, I don't explain everything explicitly. Somethings are implied, others are left to interpretation. I chalk this up to me loving Dark Souls and Darker than Black. At any rate, I'm getting side tracked.
TLDR: Author person guy is not abandoning this fic. My update rate will drop though. Got work all weekend and huge test next week.
Chapter 11:Much Ado About Nomu
Izuku had run around frantically, trying to get everything together for his master plan. Basket? Check. The best of admittedly awful hospital because technically patients aren't supposed to have outside food? Check...ish.
Kid, you're really overthinking this. We both know you could do practically any kind gesture and she'd squeeze you like some kind of plushie.
'I know but I have to make up for missing our date!' Izuku thought back to his partner frantically. 'IT HAS TO BE PERFECT' As Izuku's internal freakout continued unabated, he resumed packing the basket with...whatever the hell you'd call this slop. It LOOKED like chicken and dumplings...and yet, he couldn't be sure, because it didn't SMELL like chicken and dumplings.
Kid, she's gonna get discharged before you finish if you keep going this slow. Also, you're muttering. A lot. Please stop. Your head gets...crowded, when you mutter.
Izuku jumped a bit, before doubling his pace, finishing the packing the food and the blankets, before grabbing his phone with his headphones. He wanted it to be perfect. Well, as perfect as the situation allowed. He exited the hospital's cafeteria, having been allowed to bring a basket to use for his idea in "Operation: Cheer Up Mina".
He quickly found himself outside her room, before he knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Came her energetic voice, although it did sound a little forced. Izuku opened her door, walking in, basket in hand.
"Izuku?" She asked quizzically, upon noticing noticing the basket, she grinned, "Well if it isn't Little Red Riding Hood."
"M-Mina-" Izuku stammered before composing himself "I've come to take you on a picnic on the hospital roof!" Mina's eyebrows shot into her hairline. Whatever she expected, that clearly wasn't it.
"A picnic?"
"You seemed down, so I wanted to do something to cheer you up!" He took another calming breath. "I wanted us to have a picnic and watch a movie. It's not the same as our original dinner date...but I wanted to make it up to you for missing it." He finished in a bitter tone.
"Izuku..." She yet again found herself in awe by his thoughtfulness. For all her teasing she put him through, he really did make her feel like a princess sometimes. "Okay, but first, you have to help me up." Her eyes flashed with mischief, but (un)fortunately for our fluffy green friend, he didn't notice. She made a beckoning gesture with her left hand index finger, prompting him to move towards her. As he moved to lift her arm, she quickly pulled him down onto her bed.
"Min-MMPH!" She locked lips with him in a searing kiss, pouring as much of her feelings into the kiss as she could, her hands on his rapidly heating cheeks. A few moments later, Izuku was reunited with oxygen, his eyes essentially forming swirls.
"W-What was that for?" Izuku managed to get out in between filling his lungs.
"For being my fluffy freckled boyfriend. I love you, Izuku." There they were again. Four simple little words that lit up his whole world.
"I love you too, Mina. Now, come on, before the food gets cold."
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Izuku had spread out the blanket on the ground next to one of the walls of the Staircase, allowing them to have a backrest to support themselves. Izuku quickly pulled up the movie he'd wanted them to watch. It was an older American movie, that was about a Princess Bride. He offered Mina a headphone bud, and she quickly snuggled into him, resting her head on his shoulder, quietly munching on some crackers that came with her "chicken dumplings". She found the movie hilarious, particularly the man who constantly yelled "INCONCEIVABLE". When the credits rolled, she closed her eyes, enjoying the rhythmic beating of Izuku's heart.
"Hey, baby?" He glanced down at her.
"Yes, Mina?"
"Thank you...for everything." At this, Izuku didn't say anything. He did, however, gently lift Mina's chin, making her look up at him with those golden eyes of hers. He then brought his lips to hers, meeting in a tender kiss.
They remained on the roof for quite some awhile, just enjoying the company.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bakugo awoke to dull lights shining in his, the smell of alcohol prevalent in the ambient air. He tried to rub his eyes, before realizing he couldn't move.
"GODDAMNIT, DID I LOSE THE OTHER ONE TOO?!" before he quickly realized he'd merely been restrained. "Hmph." He noticed he was surrounded by individuals that he assumed to be members that had attacked him at the camp. Some he recognized, some he didn't. His attention was focused on the figure looking at him most intently.
"Welcome to our humble abode, Bakugo. My name's Tomura. We have a proposition for you." A teenager with pale blue hair spoke to him, "Dabi, release his restraints." At this, a guy with burnt and discolored skin looked back at Tomura incredulously.
"You can't be serious. He could attack us." Dabi responded, not seeing the point in reducing leverage.
" It's fine." Tomura waved off his concerns. "We want him seen as an equal. Besides, if he does, there's plenty of us here to hand it." Dabi looked at Bakugo a moment, before scoffing, and turning to a different member. It was a man wearing a white mask a black body suit with a few white lines on the shoulders. The man in question sighed, before moving to Bakugo.
"I apologize for such forceful methods, but this was not an accidental kidnapping." One of the other spoke, while Twice just worked on his binds.
Bakugo just listened as the villains spoke, a plan already working in his head. He tuned out a majority of what they were saying. He didn't give a damn about these wannabe villains.
"Listen, I don't give a damn about your speeches. You prattled on and on, but damn if you don't bore the hell out of me. I lost my arm because of heroes. I may not idolize All Might the way I did before, but why the hell should I join you?" Bakugo spat out. He had to make this look good. No one would know what he was doing, and probably never would. He didn't give a damn about redemption or anything, but All Might would use the tools he had to find a way to win, right?
"Well, for starters, we can give you back your arm."
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Izuku walked out the hospital, knowing what he needed to do.
Kid...You sure you wanna do this?
'I don't have a choice, Venom. This guy is no joke, and if I don't stop him, someone else is going to get hurt, or worse.' Izuku thought back to his partner, determination setting features. He casually strolled to the nearest alleyway, before he placed two lenses over his eyes, and two bands around his wrists. Then, his form shifted. Black ooze seeped from under his clothes before overtaking his form. The chestplate was the first form, his white spider bleeding into the black frame. From there, his legs and arms shifted, the sleeves and arm guards molded out of the ooze, followed by his clawed finger tips. His leggings formed, before leg guards formed around the body suit, with his boots shifting last. Lastly, the area around his neck rippled, creeping up around his head, forming the hood and the bottom half of his mask, the grin ever present.
Before he finished, he heard someone moving behind him, causing him to turn around. Shouto Todoroki stared back at his friend, knowing what he was about to do.
"Do you even know where to begin, Izuku?" Came his reasonable question.
"No...but that's never stopped us from trying before." Izuku's voice was distorted with a second voice overlapping his.
"Then allow me to make a suggestion. Try heading to UA and tailing Mr. Aizawa. I doubt the teacher's, for all their shortcomings, would just leave Bakugo captured."
"Hmm, it's not much, but it's a lead." He turned his back to Shouto, the rest of his mask forming under his hood.
"If nothing else, someone at UA probably knows something. Oh, and Izuku? The new look suits you." At this, Venom turned enough to show a partial grin under the hood, before he shot up into the air.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Katsuki warped along with Tomura to another unknown location. He then looked at the creepy dude in front of him. He wasn't in the mood for games. He needed to get what he needed and get away from these guys. He may not have aspired to be a hero anymore, but he would show them he didn't need a damn license to save people. Turning from his thoughts, he focused back on the guy in front of him. He had a black cloth mask over his entire face, and tubes sticking out around his neck. The man turned to face them, before speaking in an oddly warm tone.
"Ah, my dear Tomura. Welcome. How may your humble teacher assist you?" He spoke jovially, before he took notice of Bakugo. "And you must be Young Bakugo. Welcome to you as well."
"Who the hell are you?" Katsuki knew if he acted too cooperative they'd see through him. He needed them to get set up as a vigilante. He'd enjoy coming back here and knocking the smirks off their damn faces.
"Ah, such boldness. You may call me...All-For-One." He spoke in that same oddly warm tone, which began to send shivers up Bakugo's spine. "I can give you special training that will help your already formidable skills. Would you like that? But first we need to fix your arm. Allow me." As he spoke, he put a hand on Katsuki's forehead, his eyes widened, before they dulled considerably. "And now that we have him, we can begin. Place him in the apparatus, while I decide what quirks we should give him." At this, Tomura nodded to his teacher, obeying obediently. "Ah! One more thing, my dear boy. Take this." All-For-One placed a small jump drive in Tomura's hand. Tomura looked confused, before he slipped it in his pocket. "When the time comes, you'll know why I gave you that, my pupil."
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Venom stood on a roof top above the entrance to UA, the night air crisp and cool. He glanced around for any obvious security measures, but upon seeing there were none on the upper levels, he crossed the border into the school's campus. He didn't hear any alarms go off, so he zipped himself up to a roof, and began looking for Eraserhead. He spotted the man inside one of the school buildings, as Aizawa exited his classroom. He shuffled tiredly down the hall, before he went into the doors marked "Teacher's lounge."
Izuku couldn't get a view from this side, so he quickly moved to the building that Aizawa was in, and climbed up the wall, before positioning himself outside the window. He froze a bit, as the window opened, With Aizawa glancing at the various roof tops, before closing it almost completely. He'd left enough of a crack for sound to pass through unimpeded. This allowed Izuku to hear every word spoken. He didn't get a chance to look inside, but he heard several voices.
"So we're all here then?" One spoke.
"Get on with it. We know why we're here. We just haven't talked why I should be here." Came the annoyed voice of Endeavor. He sounded like it was filtered though.
"We must rescue Young Bakugo and Young Tokoyami. This is not negotiable." Venom stiffened at this voice in particular, All Might's voice involuntarily reminding him of his rejection.
Kid, he missed out. You're a fine hero. I'm proud to call you my partner. And I know Peter would be proud of you carrying on his legacy.
Venom nodded at this, before focusing on his spycraft.
"We think we have the possible locations for the villain's hideout, but it's not 100%. There's been rumors of a lot of strange activities, so we've been investigating the area for months. There's also been reportings of individuals matching the descriptions of several League members hanging around a bar in these areas. If they were going to take Bakugo anywhere, that's where he'd be." A stern voice spoke through what sounded like a telephone speaker.
"It's not a bad set up either. A bar doesn't stick out in terms of people coming and going, and they could claim it's just a local hangout." A cool voice spoke out, analyzing the information provided. "It'd be a rather logical deception."
"So let's move out. We don't have time to waste." At this, there was shuffling of movement, before things got silent. The window opened again, and the face of Eraserhead poked out and stared at Venom.
"So I assume you heard all that? Good. Saves time. Listen. I know you by reputation. The way I see it, you haven't done anything illegal besides operate without a license. Anything else you've done was...heroic, in a sense. So I'm going to leave it up to you to decide what you do with the information I just let you overhear. This conversation? Didn't happen." Before Venom could even say anything, the window closed in his face.
"So...we should probably follow the heroes then. Since he clearly isn't going to tell us where to go."
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Venom followed the heroes on the roof tops, making sure to stay out of their sight. He didn't want to risk engaging until they would have to choose between him and the villains. His eyes lingered on All Might as he walked with determination at the head of the group.
"In another life, we would be fighting proudly beside him." Venom mused wistfully, before shaking his head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. He had to take out Muscular. He wasn't sure the pros could handle him, with the exception of All Might and Endeavor. He couldn't chance any of them escaping. With that in mind, he continued on.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After what seemed like an eternity, the heroes and the police arrived outside the bar in question. Venom watched as All Might nodded to his fellow pros, before walking up to one of the building's walls. He drew his fist back. Despite being hurt by the man, Izuku still could feel the excitement of seeing the number one hero use his signature move. He saw the pro Edgeshot walk up to the front door with a crowd of armored police officers. He firmly knocked on the door, calling out "Hello? Pizza delivery."
Whatever sarcastic remark Venom was going to make to himself, he froze when All Might charged up his fist, before his epic shout of "DETROOOOOIT...SMASH" right before he busted through the wall, catching the villains unaware.
Okay, we should definitely take notes on how to make an entrance like that.
Venom didn't reply to his partner. Instead, observing as the pros effortlessly neutralized the entire league in a matter of moments. Between Kamui Woods binding of the criminals, to the agile old man who knocked out one of them that looked like a burn victim, it was over as quickly as it began. However, the pros quickly became concerned. From his position, Venom could just make out the question from All Might's mouth: "Where's Young Bakugo and Tokoyami?"
Venom saw his chance, and jumped into the building, landing in the midst of the heroes.
"All Might." Venom stated simply. All Might was surprised by sudden appearance of the country's number one vigilante.
"Why are you here?" The Symbol of Peace spoke firmly, clearly on edge from the variety of factors that made this situation problematic.
"Welp, after all, we are the friendly neighborhood Venom." He paused a moment. "That sounded less stupid in my head. By the way, huge fan."
"You still didn't answer question. But if you're here to help us, I won't say no to an extra pair of hands. Just don't get in our way."
"Man, do you not watch the news? We've taken down more criminals than Morning Wood over there." This prompted an indignant 'Hey!' from Kamui. "When all this is over with, expect a vistor." At this, Venom walked up to All Might. They locked eyes, before Venom spoke again. "As for why we are here...we have a score to settle with these fine upstanding citizens" As he said this, he gestured sarcastically to the bound villains. "But since you seem everything in hand, we'll be going now." As Venom began to move away, before his spider-sense went ballistic, more so than it had ever gone before. He clutched his head, before frantically looking around. All the villains were out cold. None of the heroes were moving to stop him. That's when he noticed it. The slight ripple in the air above each villain.
"EVERYONE MOVE!" Venom shot a sweeping tendril at the villains, the first of which being Muscular, in an attempt to stop whatever the hell was happening. However, he was only successful in nabbing only his first target. Whatever the hell that stuff was, it had enveloped the other villains. Well, except Muscular, who'd been blasted out of a wall and out of Kamui's grip. Venom jumped after him, and landed next to his prone form. Suddenly, more ripples formed across the air, and from them, Nomu crawled out. As this happened, Venom slammed his fist into the car beside him before screaming at the sky:
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS THESE GODDAMN CREATURES!?"
To be continued...
So guys, yet another chapter. It's hard to say where we are in the story, because while I have an end in mind(beyond the epilogues and shit), it has left me with the question of how to get there, and how to make the most interesting story while we take that journey together. I can't abandon this. Not when I have so many things you guys are gonna love left in store. At least I hope you love them. At any rate guys, that's all from me for this week, probably. Got too much to do after today. But I WILL NOT abandon this. I'll try to have something written and posted by Sunday night okay? Don't lose faith.
Raizen out.