So this is the Finale guys. The height of the crescendo. The pinnacle of everything I strove to do with this story. After this, there's just the epilogue. Looking back, I'd do somethings differently. Mostly, pick a different fandom and not do another Venom-Izuku fic. Because Christ those are overly abundant now. As you guys know, I'm out of the MHA game after this, but I will be working on The Crazy Life of Ben Reilly. That's gonna be a lot darker. I won't say much, but I assure you that it'll be much much better than this was, simply because I know more about DC comics than I do about MHA.

Now,

Chapter 16- Revelations and Birth of the Second Symbol

Izuku woke up with a dull tug at his spider sense. He groaned before looking at his clock, which read half past 8 in the morning. He didn't have to meet up with Mina and the others for another hour, and given his method of travel, he could be there in five minutes. As the fog of drowsiness faded, he realized that the tug hadn't faded. He wasn't sure why, but there was an ominous note in the air. It hung like a cloud of foreboding, but without the telltale signs of ongoing crisis, there wasn't much he could do about it. So he shrugged, and got out of bed, readying himself to meet up with his friends at UA, and maybe make some breakfast. He sent a mental greeting to his partner, who more or less gave the non corporeal being's equivalent of a ' I am not ready to function yet'

Izuku noticed his mother sitting in their living room, drinking coffee while she watched the news.

"Morning, Mom." Izuku greeted, catching his mother's attention. She smiled at him, and set her coffee cup down, before she replied.

"Izuku! Good morning. What's got you up so early? You usually like to sleep in on your days off."

Izuku chuckled. "Mina gets back from her licensure trip today. I wanted to greet her when she arrived back at her dorms."

Inko's eyes welled up with her trademark tears, before she wailed out, "OH IZUKU! My baby boy is a romantic gentleman. I'm so proud!"

Izuku just patted his mom on the shoulder, unsure of what else to do. He was about to reply, when his eyes caught something on the news. He grabbed the remote, and unmuted the TV.

"...the warehouse was completely destroyed. While it was on the outskirts of Mustafa, authorities are advising caution as it could be the work of a villain. We will update this story as details come in." The screen shifted between an overlay of the anchor and field reporters into an overhead view of a decimated warehouse. It wasn't in a very populated location, but the level of destruction was immense. Rubble was everywhere, with burn marks discoloring the walls that were still standing. Some rocks were charred black and there were small indentions scattered throughout the ruins. There weren't any bodies yet, but they could just be hidden under the piles of debris. Given what Izuku could see, it could have resulted from a gas line rupturing and combusting. Only issue with that theory is the small claw marks that were interspersed across the rubble. Granted, it could be nothing, but the scene made him feel even more uneasy than before. He was tempted to try to investigate, but he didn't want to upset the uneasy peace he currently had with pros and law enforcement officials. Shaking his head, he checked his watch. He still had about ten minutes before he needed to leave.

"Izuku?" His mother's voice jarred him from his thoughts. He looked at her, noticing the look of worry on her face.

"Yes, mom? What's wrong?" He replied evenly, not wanting to upset her or cause more tears this early in the morning.

"I know things are going well in school for you, as you're currently ranked second in your class. I know things are going well for you with Mina as well, but we never talked about you wanting to be a hero again after you graduated. I wanted to bring it up sooner, but you're always so busy. Are you okay honey? I know that was your dream, and I don't want you to be disappointed."

Izuku was surprised. Had he really never spoken to his mom after getting his powers? That would explain why she always seemed so uneasy whenever the topic of futures came up when Mina visited, he mused. He realized he hadn't replied to her, and he smiled reassuringly.

"Mom, don't worry. I know what I want to do, and believe it or not, being a pro hero doesn't totally have the same appeal to me that it did before. I'm happy, though. I promise." He gave her a hug, before he shrugged on his green hoodie and moved to the door. "Love you, mom. I'll try to be home early tonight, so we can watch movies or something, okay?"

Inko looked much more relieved at hearing her son's answer, and she gave a nod, before smiling.

"Sounds good, Izuku. Be safe, okay?"

"You know me, mom. I'm always careful."

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Elsewhere...

A bulking figure stumbled through the forest, walking with no real aim or reason. Explosions danced on its right arm, while the left wriggled wildly of its own volition. It lumbered towards the sounds of the city, longing to fulfill its purpose, the one it was given in the taken. To kill and destroy. These words also filled it with unease at the same time, for reasons it could not remember. The creature shook it's head, before turning towards the pair of hikers that had come across its journey. It watched them, waiting for them to attack and try to defeat him. They stood shaking in fear, and turned to run away. The creature clicked its beak at the show of weakness, raised a hand, and uttered one of the few words it knew:

"Die."

Explosions ripped out through the clearing, before an eerie silence settle in their place. The creature continued onward, looking towards Musatafa Town.

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Izuku was decked in his partial suit, jumping from roof to roof towards UA, hoping to be the first to arrive. Call him old fashioned, but the leader should be the first and last to leave a meeting. Leading by example, and such. He passed several heroes on duty in the streets, but as he'd discovered in his times as a vigilante, many heroes simply do not think to look up when they patrol. Odd, but he wasn't about to complain about something that worked to his advantage.

The feeling of dread that lingered in the air didn't seem to effect anyone but him, as the people were carrying on about their day as normal. No sirens, no screams. Izuku shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in thoughts. He had to go greet his team, and more importantly, his wonderful girlfriend who passed her license exam. But should he bring her a gift as a congratulatory reward?

Yes.

The sudden input by his partner startled Izuku, and he came an inch from smacking his face into a wall. Only between his reflexes and experience with his movements prevented him from looking rather lame.

Smooth, kid. Real smooth. And to offer my awesome advice, yes, you should get her a gift. Peter did that a lot for Felicia. Conversely, her reactions usually left deep scars on me. She was freaky.

Izuku paused at that. 'Freaky?' he silently asked his partner, his poor, sweet innocent mind not realizing the implication in his symbiote's words.

You don't want to know. But trust me, Mina will be glad. Small, but spontaneous gestures that show you care often go over the best. Take if from someone who coached a guy even more awkward than you.

Izuku sweatdropped. His partner never was one for modesty. Shaking his head, he changed direction to swing by a retro video outlet. With any luck, they'd have Alien's merchandise.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mina Ashido was tired. Very, very tired. She slugged her way off the bus. She cast her tired gaze at Todoroki, who looked no worse for wear than he had before they'd left for the exams. Momo looked flawless as always, and she was holding Shouto's hand rather firmly. Their seemingly uneffected-ness irked Mina a bit. While Mina found the practical portion of the exam to be a breeze, given the level of Izuku's torture(read: Training), she and the rest of the Outsider's had very little trouble with the other applicants. Some students from Shiketsu High School were really the only people who gave them issues. Mina never got their names, but they weren't able to overcome the combined teamwork of her, Shouto, and Momo.

No, Mina Ashido was tired for one very simple reason: the written exam! It made her brain hurt, and she hated that stupid paper. She'd scored enough to pass given her impeccable score on the practical, but she was still burned out from taking the stupid thing. All she knew, is that Izuku owed her some cuddles and smooches. She chuckled darkly at her plans for her little cinnamon roll. (Izuku who was sitting on a nearby roof top felt a dark, yet exciting chill go up his spine for reasons he could not explain.) Mina glanced around for Izuku and Hitoshi, but didn't immediately see either of them. She sighed in disappointment.

"Who are you looking for?" Izuku's teasing voice rang out behind her, causing her to screech and jump a few feet in the air. This got some concerned looks from the surrounding students, but when they realized there was no immediate threat, they went back to their own conversations. She turned around and glared at him, while he smiled softly at her. However, the smile faded a bit when she swatted him on the head.

"IZUKU! You meany! You scared me!" Mina paused a moment, realizing who she was talking to. "IZUKU~!" This was a much less angry exclamation, and it was punctuated by Mina launching herself at her curly headed boyfriend. He laughed, before returning the hug.

"I wanted to mess with you a bit. I couldn't help it. Plus, I had to make a small detour." He held up a small stuffed Alien plushie, which Mina had not noticed in his hand. "Congratulations on passing Mina!"

Mina didn't say anything for a moment, before she slammed her lips against his and did her best to suffocate him with her lips. Izuku waved his arms frantically in the air, before she pulled away, allowing him to reunite with oxygen. Mina noted the goofy grin on his face.

"Thank you, tiger. I love him." She beamed at him, causing him to go beet red in the face.

Izuku scratched his cheek nervously as he replied, "O-of course, Mina! I know how much you like xenomorphs, so I tried to find one for you. I also was going to take you to a dinner and a movie as part of the congratulations as well. I got us reservations at a cool restaurant that I...crashed into."

At this, Mina looked amused. "The owner wouldn't happen to owe Venom a favor would they?"

At Izuku's silence, she took pity on him, and laughed.

"Relax, Izuku. I'm just kidding. If the food is great, then that's all that matters to me."

It was this point that Hitoshi and Shouto joined them, and brought them back to their surroundings.

"So now that the gang is back together, what's the plan?" Hitoshi asked in his usual bored drawl. Shouto merely nodded his head, showing he too was curious. Izuku was about to answer when a huge explosion ripped in the distance, roughly on the outskirts of Mustafa. The shockwave was big enough that it made them stumble, which was not exactly a promising sign for anyone who was closer to the blast. Izuku got to his feet, before he looked at his team.

"The plan? We go see what the hell caused that, and if needed, stop it.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere...

Mirio Togata climbed out of the rubble the creature had blasted him into. He glanced around himself, noting that what had previously been a city block was now a crater. He had stumbled onto the creature during his patrol for his practical hours he needed for graduation. He recognized it as a Nomu from the League of Villains, but this one was different than the others he'd read about. It was roughly six and half feet tall, and possessed a muscular frame. Its eyes were red and crazed, and its face had a beak over the mouth, which was lined with razor sharp teeth. Spikey blonde hair was visible on top of its head, and explosions rippled on its right arm. Speaking of the creature's arms, the right arm was very different from the left. The right looked like it was made of tough, yet rubbery sinew, and was a mixture of maroon and black in color. Running along the back of that arm appeared to be a tube that had a hole above the back of its wrist. The left arm was just a writing mass of what looked like a shadow. It was formed into a claw like appendage currently, but there were two yellow eyes in between the knuckles surround the middle claw, as well as a mouth in the palm of the hand. The creature's body was milky white, with black lines running down the chest and sides. It was every bit as muscular as the arm was, and also seemed to be made of rubbery flesh. It wore green shorts which were currently ripped, probably due to how massive the beast was. It's legs were no different, and were proportional to the rest of its body. All in all, it was a monster, and Mirio wasn't sure that even with his progress into 50% of One For All would be enough to stop it. But he also knew that there was only one or two other heroes he felt could fight this thing to the degree he could. The other pros weren't equipped to handle a creature like this. Mirio shook his head. He couldn't think in such fatalistic terms. He was Lemillion, successor to All Might. He would stop this beast, and prove he was worthy. He was about to make his move when psychotic laughter rang out through the now quiet area.

"Oh man, Kurogiri. This thing is even more deadly than I thought..."

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Izuku stood on the roof overlooking the scene in his Venom suit. He examined and analyzed the scene below him. There was some sort of creature(probably a Nomu), that Mirio guy, and a group of people that were probably villains. At the helm of the villains was a guy with shaggy light blue hair, who wore a bunch of glove looking things on his body. The guy was clearly the leader of the villains, if his posture and psychotic laughter was any indication. All around the crater, there were bystanders and a news chopper circled overhead. This was it. After this, they would either be true heroes, or outlaws. Venom turned his head enough to glance back at his team. They nodded, and Shouto removed his helmet. They all moved to the ledge. They had to make an entrance. After all, everyone loves shock and awe.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The silence was oppressive, and the tension was thick in the air. Lemillion was starting to get worried. He was sure he could handle the group of Villains and the creature individually, but together? The odds weren't so great. However, before he could do anything, a huge fireball shot through the sky, and several figures landed between him and the villains. As the dust cleared, the slim figure of Venom rose up, and looked to the bystanders and the news chopper. In his dark distorted voice, one sentence rang out for everyone to hear:

"FEAR NOT CITIZENS! FOR WE ARE HERE!"

And with that, Venom raised an arm, and a thumbs up to those around him. Cheers broke out among the crowd, and Venom turned his gaze to the League.

"We don't know your name, but give your...attire...you're clearly the crazy ass leader. We will give you one chance to end this peacefully, villain." It was then that Venom felt the ground next to him shift, before the muscular figure of Mirio rose up beside him, a heroic grin on his face and his arms crossed.

"Indeed, Villain, for how could you stand against the might of Venom and Lemillion, let alone the Outsider's as well!"

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The TV displayed a frantic news anchor, who was in the process of losing his mind over the entrance of Venom and the Outsiders. Despite the optimism of the reporter, All Might watched the TV with worry. This was it. He couldn't save the day anymore. This time, he was the powerless observer. He could only hope that Mirio's prodigal talent with One For All combined with his own Quirk would be enough. He knew that Venom would be a help, but he didn't think that the kid would be much use to Mirio. He knew Venom was tough, and was better than a lot of pros out there. But this was All-For-One's final move. The contingency he'd planned in the event he was removed from the chessboard. A Super Nomu, with abilities they were not totally aware of. Throw in the entirety of the remaining League of Villains members, and this was a fight on par with his own with All-For-One. Toshinori bit his lip with worry. The other big name pros were busy handling other supervillains in the city. The League's movement brought both big and small time independent villains out of the woodwork, so it was an all hands on deck situation. So for now, Venom and Lemillion-No, Izuku and Mirio- were on their own.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Silence. The villain stared at them, before his shoulders began to shake, subtle at first with chuckles soft until it grew into full peals of psychotic cackling.

"I don't think you have a grasp of the situation at all. I have as much control over this thing as you do. It vaguely recognizes me as someone not to kill. That's about it. Other than that, everything is a target to that hulking monstrosity. It's wonderful, right?" The villain smiled widely in a manic fashion, peals of crazed laughter escaping him, all while spreading his arms out in that grandiose way villains typically do.

This made both Venom and Lemillion share a glance and frown. This guy was clearly unhinged and had a lust for destruction. That made him more unpredictable and dangerous than your run of the mill villain. Not to mention they had no idea what the hell his quirk was. All in all, this was a far from an ideal scenario.

"Hey, Venom..." Lemillion's voice brought Venom out of his tactical analysis. "I say we rush the guy, take him out, and let the rest of your team handle to small timers. They can handle that right?"

Venom racked his brain at the suggestion, and failed to find an issue with it. "Yes, while they don't have the experience we have fighting actual villains, but they're more than capable of handling the average villain." Venom spoke calmly, for some reason, looking at the bulking beast filled him with a sense of familiarity...and dread. "We will relay the plan to our team. If they make a move, can you run interference for us until we finish?"

Lemillion nodded, before subtly shifting to a reactionary stance. Venom tapped his ear piece under his mask.

"Guys, We along with Lemillion are going to handle Handjob and Monstro over there. You guys are going to have to handle the generic villain brigade. Think you can handle it, team?" His tone was joking but there was a hint of worry in voice. He wouldn't be able to pull them out of the fire if they got in over their heads, if the big baddies were even half as powerful as he thought they would be.

Alien Queen blew a raspberry at him, Hivemind grunted, and Celsius just raised a brow skeptically, like he'd just asked the dumbest question in the world.

"I mean if we aren't, then I guess you're just a shitty teacher." Hivemind remarked dryly. Alien Queen laughed and Celsius snorted in amusement.

Venom's eye twitched under his mask, but he realized the banter helped calm the nerves. It was a strategy he himself employed when he had first started out, and it had just stuck with him.

"Alright...Outsiders...GO!"

The Outsider leapt into action towards the villains, while Lemillion and Venom rushed the leader and the monster.

The fight between the Outsiders and the League of Villains had just started.

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To be conti- Just Kidding.

Hivemind stood with Alien Queen and Celsius at his side, staring at the villains with a bored expression. "So out of curiousity, how many of you actually like working for Handjob?" At this, about a third of them voiced some complaints. Hivemind grinned like a kid in a candy store when they did. "Alright, go beat the shit out of the rest." At the command, the horde of villains were now split three ways: the brainwashed(and conditioned, heh), the ones fighting the brainswashed, and the ones that would be fighting the Outsiders. All in all, this left about 20 villains they would have to between the three of them.

Celsius looked at the remaining twenty analytically, the gears in his head spinning rapidly. He nodded to himself, plan in mind. "I say we fight in tandem. Hivemind needs to maintain concentration, so he won't be able to fight too much." Hivemind nodded, and Alien Queen pouted, clearly wanting to show off how much she'd grown to the world at large. "That means you handle two of them, Hive, while Queen and I can handle the remaining 18 villains." Both nodded their agreement, before they activated their HUDs in their helmets. Celsius tapped a few buttons on the side of his helmet, which tapped them into the broadcast frequency the news chopper that was nearby was utilizing, and he began to address both the nation and the villains.

"Attention, Citizens of Japan and the villains before us. My name is Celsius, and I'm a member of the hero group known as the Outsiders. However, you may know me better as the son of the number one hero Endeavor. As such, I would recommend you surrender, given that a third of you are currently under our control and fighting another third. We are heroes, and we are here to help. We may not be licensed, but we will fight tooth and nail to defend you."

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The Chief of Police stood watching the broadcast with both the Mayor of Mustafa and Principle Nezu of UA.

He looked at his fellow onlookers, before sighing. "We cannot ignore this any longer. We must either formally arrest Venom and his accomplices-" He ceased speaking when he caught the visage of one of the vigilantes speaking on the TV.

"My name is Celsius, and I'm a member of the hero group known as the Outsiders. However, you may know me better as the son of the number one hero Endeavor..."

All three men/sentient beings jumped to their feet at this information. The winner of the school festival and son of the new number one hero was a vigilante?! This completely derailed any thoughts of arrest. There would be riots if they moved to arrest people who rose to action in a crisis, particularly when one was the child of a prolific hero like Endeavor, while the other was a man of the people like Venom was. And that's without taking into consideration that they are currently fighting off one of the largest organized villain attacks in recent history. No, this took arresting them off the table, leaving only one option that didn't lead to people losing faith in authority figures' sense of justice.

As the chief looked at both the Mayor and Nezu, it appeared they too had come to the same conclusion. Nezu was the next to speak.

"So here is what me must do..."

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Lemillion was rocketed backwards by an explosion, while venom leaped to the side and clung to a pile of rubble. Handsie seemed to be less interested in a fight he viewed as futile, so he was more focused on the fight between the other members of the Outsiders and his forces. He laughed derisively as he saw them begin fighting among themselves.

"Man, you guys have some interesting members. It's a shame I couldn't get my hands on them before you."

"Come on, Tall-Pale-and-Crazy. You don't really think they'd join your creepy looking self do you? Seriously, Dio called. He wants his obnoxious Sunday outfit back."

"You talk a lot. I don't like that very much. So I'm going to shut you up now." At this, the guy rushed Venom, grabbing the rubble Venom was sticking to.

"What the hell is he doing?" As if answering his question, in typical villain style, the blue haired creep made the fatal flaw of any credible villain: explaining his powers.

"Impressive, huh? I breakdown anything I touch with all five fingers on a cellular level-"

"So that leads us to the obvious question: Did you find this out when you tried to choke the chicken for the first time? We bet that was a rude surprise." This lead to another angry swipe and attempt at grabbing Venom's throat, which was easily dodged.

"Hold still you damn nuisance!" Tomura growled in anger, starting to lose his cool from the taunts.

"We suppose that's better than some recurring gag of being called an insect and being forced to explain that arachnids are not insects. That would be...annoying."

Venom punched Tomura, before following up with a back flip kick to the blue haired teen's chin. This sent him flying backwards, skidding across the dirt. Tomura growled, clearly pissed by this point. He looked over at the Nomu, before he barked out a command. "NOMU! Release inhibitors. Blast this city to pieces!"

The hulking Nomu, which had previously been fighting Lemillion to a standstill, froze a moment, before it roared out "KILL!", with the left arm began writing uncontrollable and large explosions rippled out from it body, which then decimated the surrounding area. The blast threw everyone back, and took out a good chunk of the infighting villains who were too close to survive the blast. The shockwaves from the blast even rocked the news helicopter that was circling over head. Dust settled in and around the crater, with Lemillion emerging unscathed from the ground in front of the monster. The creature was breathing heavily, red eyes crazed and wild darting around the crater. The fights with the "fodder villains" had mostly subsided, with many either killed or too injured by the blast, or incapacitated by the Outsiders, who had dispatched quite a few before they'd been interrupted by the Nomu going nuclear. They shook their heads, before tying up any remaining villains, and then moving their attention to the crater, unsure of what to do next.

Venom climbed out of some rubble, with a bloodied Tomura in tow.

"Wow, you really did not think that through did you? Or maybe you ARE that crazy? Serious question: Did you take villain lessons from Heath Ledger's Joker? Because if so, you may want to pick a more successful villain to idolize." Despite his quips, Venom was not as unscathed as he appeared to be. He definitely had some cracked ribs, and Mr. Handy there had grabbed his left arm in the confusion and seared through his suit down to his muscle tissue. His symbiote had regenerated, but he'd probably need to see a doctor after this. This prompted a groan. Hospitals were expensive, which meant he'd have to get a lot more pictures of himself to sell to the paper to cover those bills.

Looking back at Tomura, who hadn't responded verbally to his jabs, only choosing to spit at him. This annoyed Venom, so he threw the injured villain to his team. "Geez, you save a guy's life and his response is attempted maiming as well as spit on you. What's the world coming to?"

Venom shook his head, before he looked to Hivemind "Deal with him. He's hurt, and you're the best equipped to handle him. Lemillion's going to nee d my help. I have a feeling this creature was going easy before."

Having said his piece, Venom jumped back down into the crater for the biggest fight of his life.

Hivemind and the others just looked at Tomura, who stared back.

Hivemind shrugged, and asked, "So...what do you do for fun besides orchestrate cosplay conventions?"

Tomura shook in anger at being mocked. "How dare you insult-" He stopped mid-sentence before shifted into a robotic stance.

"Okay, first thing first, how does your quirk work? Can't have you using it to get away from us, can we?"

"I disintegrate anything I touch with all five of my finger tips."

"Oh. Well that's an easy fix." He turned his attention to Celsius, before removing his gloves, and handing them to the Half and Half hero. "Here, burn the pinky finger off of these, then give them back to me."

Realizing what he was getting at, Celsius quickly did as he was asked. Taking the gloves back from his teammate, Hivemind walked back over to Tomura, and handed him the gloves, along with some medical tape, some finger splints, and handcuffs.

"Okay, put these gloves on first, and then wrap your pinkies up with the splints to keep the finger straight. When you're done, put the hand cuffs on behind your back. Tightly."

"Nice job, Hypnotoad!" Alien Queen cheered happily.

"No problem, and never call me that again." Hivemind replied in an annoyed manner.

Having effectively neutralized the leader with minimal effort, they turned their attention back to what would be the monstrous fight that lay ahead...

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Lemillion didn't turn to face his contemporary as Venom landed beside him. No, he kept his eyes locked on the creature before him. To look away for a second would be to invite disaster.

"So I'm assuming you've come to the same conclusion I did. This thing has two main quirks for offense, and a litany of others to amplify and mitigate negative effects of the others." Venom nodded in response. "Any ideas as to what they might be?"

Venom was quiet a moment. "So far, it looks like combustion and shadow manipulation. Think you can fight him for a few minutes while I analyze him? I know it's risky but so is trying to learn on the fly. I promise I only need 2 minutes to get enough information we need."

Lemillion grimaced, but nodded. Holding out against the creature for that long wasn't an issue. It was more a matter of how much collateral damage would there be as result of that engagement.

"Okay, here goes nothing..." Lemillion rushed the creature, drawing back a punch with his right arm and charging it up with energy, before crying out "BLINDER TOUCH EYEBALL CRUSH!"

The attack sounded rather brutal...so Venom was very confused when the punch when right through the creature's head. However, he then saw Lemillion slam his left fist directly into the creature's gut, sending the creature flying like it'd just been punch by All Might himself. It slammed into the far wall of the crater, sinking into it slightly. However, it didn't seem very worse for wear, as it climbed out of the impact hole rather quickly, though Venom noted an odd shiver that ran through the creatures body from its abdomen as it did so.

'Any idea what that was?' It seemed like it was shock absorption...but that seems too obvious." He asked his symbiote, since he needed as much help as he could get in this fight.

As far as I can tell? It seems like it has shock absorption to an extent but take a look at its arms and chest. They're a little different than they were before the huge blast.

Venom used his lens' zoom feature to closer examine the creatures body. Sure enough, the skin was more...calloused and darker in color than it had been before, particularly around the blast generation zones. 'Rapid regeneration? No, or else the skin would be more or less the same, without the addition of callouses...' Izuku stopped cold. A chilling thought, one he prayed was wrong, ran through his head. Shaking his head, he then zoomed in on the creature's hands, specifically on its palm on the . 'I hope I'm wrong but...' Zooming in, he saw that the right hand was the most calloused in its palm, which was the epicenter of the bigger blasts.

Before Venom could stop himself, two words slipped out of his mouth:

"Kacchan? Bakugo?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mitsuki Bakugo had not been having a good year. She was volatile at the best of times, and the disappearance of her son had only exacerbated that to the point her marriage was falling apart around her. She had tuned into the news broadcast when she'd heard that the self proclaimed "League of Villains", the one's who had taken her son, were enacting a grand finale. She had rushed home to watch the TV broadcast, hoping for some hint of her son's fate, where he was now a villain, or dead, or just anything that would help her finally start the process of moving on. So when the broadcast picked up Venom's words, she came to two very world shattering realizations, which caused the normally fiery woman into tears. She doubted the first word would mean much to most people, but to her it was damning. The first conclusion? Her son's childhood friend was the country's number one vigilante. But that wasn't why she was sobbing. No, the reason she was sobbing was because it meant her son was now a monster.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Those words rang out through the crater. The creature, which had been readying to launch itself at Lemillion, stopped, and cocked it's head to the side. It seemed to be confused by Venom's words, so much so that it had stopped growling, explosions halted, and the shadowy left arm seemed to dull in its writhing.

"Kill?" The simple response would normally be menacing, but in this case, it just seemed confused by something. Like the vaguest hint of a memory that tugs at your mind before slipping through into the foggy forest of forgetfulness.

The cessation of its hostility was enough to confirm Venom's suspicions. And that? That was the most horrifying part of the entire ordeal.

"Do you know the person that was the basis for this Nomu?" Lemillion's words shattered Venom's tunnel vision, bringing him back to the here and now. "This is not the best time, but I know you have experience with fighting these things. You probably realize there is not a way to bring back anyone who is turned into one of these things..."

"Shut up. Don't you think I know that?!"

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"That...That thing is Bakugo?" Alien Queen's voice was trembling. It was a terrifying notion, that a human being could be distorted into a monster like that. "I'd always figured he'd just show up one day, battered and bruised, at the gates of the school. Just to say, 'I escaped. No thanks to you losers'. Does that mean that Tokoyami was made into one of those things too?"

Celsius kept looking at the creature, specifically its left arm. He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Look at it's left arm. That thing is clearly Dark Shadow. This tells us three important things. One, Tokoyami is most likely dead. Two, they used his quirk to make Bakugo a new arm before they made him into this creature. Lastly, it means it's arm has the same weaknesses as Tokoyami's quirk did. Namely, bright lights."

Hivemind nodded at this, taking Celsius at his word. He wasn't familiar with either of the students that had gone missing, but he knew that Venom would need this information. He quickly typed up a message that would show up on Venom's suit lenses, informing him of the left arms weaknesses.

"Alright, so Celcius, at some point, you need make the biggest and brightest fire you possible can..."

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Kid, breaktime is over. That thing is ready to attack again. You can mourn your friend later. Right now, you have to stop that thing-

'THAT THING WAS MY FRIEND, VENOM! And there's no way to save him.'

You don't know that for sure-

'I don't, but Mirio does. He has access to files pertaining to All-For-One, and his creations, since he is the successor to All Might. We don't. If he says Bakugo can't be saved? Then he can't be saved.'

Venom shook his head. Now wasn't the time to argue with both sides of himself. He had to stop this creature. His eyes caught a text sent by Hivemind: left arm is a shadow manipulation quirk, weak to bright lights, stronger in dark. Have something planned to stop that quirk, just need time.

He looked to Lemillion, who was shaking his fist out after the punch.

"We're pretty sure we have figured out what we need to know to stop this creature. The left arm is a shadow manipulation quirk, stronger in darkness and weaker in bright light."

Lemillion frowned a bit. "There was a student with a quirk like that in the freshman year, but he went missing..."

"Be that as it may, that's not important right now. We have to stop this thing before it hurts anyone else."

Lemillion sighed, but nodded. "Alright, while it wasn't a two minute fight like I expected, we did get some information. What have you got?"

"Adaptive resistance combined with shock absorption. The absorption was the reason it shook after the punch. We are sure it has adaptive resistance because the skin on the body where explosions occur is calloused up, to prevent self damage. The explosions are bigger than what Bakugo could generate on his own, so we think they added a passive ability to control oxygen levels in the vicinity of his body. Then you have the shapeshifting shadow control of the left arm that seems autonomous."

"Fucking hell. You said adaptive resistance? That's arguably the most problematic. Meaning the longer we drag this out, the less likely we are to win."

"We know. We must fight together. What are you skills, Lemillion?"

Lemillion sighed, but nodded. "You know All Might basically made me his successor. That basically means he gave me his quirk in conjunction with my own. My quirk was originally just Permeation, which I had mastered to the point of being able to become intangible at will. Now I can use the abilities of All Might along with my own. It's a rather symbiotic partnership." Venom twitched at the word symbiotic, but said nothing. "I'm not at All Might's level. I can't go into specifics, but basically, I'm only able to use 60% of his quirk right now. He says I have a rather prodigious grasp for it, but that's not the point."

"Okay, intangible and All Might power. Okay, I can work with that. I'm sure you know enough about me to know I'm essentially the second coming of Spider-Man. So you know what I can do. So I'm thinking I do hit and runs, while you catch him with devastating blows. Sound good?" Lemillion nodded. "Alright. Let's go!"

They lept into action. Well, Venom did. Lemillion just sank into the ground. Using the various pipes that were sticking out of the ground in the crater, Venom swung around Bakunomu, propelling himself forward at rapid pace. As he swung around the creature, he shot webbing at its body in order to render it immobile. The malleability of the shadow arm made that difficult to do, as it was able to circumvent the webbing without much effort. Even still, the left the other 75 percent of it's body immobile long enough for Lemillion to shoot out of the ground beneath it.

"PHANTOM...MENACE!" He shouted as planted a massive fist into Bakunomu's face, sending it skyward. Venom, however, wasn't one to rest on his laurels, so he leaped towards Lemillion.

"Lemillion! Up!" Venom cried, causing Lemillion to grip his fists, and charge them, before grasping them together. Venom then placed his foot on the clasped hands, and jumped just as Lemillion shot his fists up to the sky, sending Venom flying rapidly towards Bakunomu.

"Alright, this is so over used, big guy, but you know what they say." Venom shot as much webbing as he could before, he began to swing Bakunomu around and around in the air, before flinging him back to Lemillion, who was spinning with an arm drew back, energy crackling around the bit of his forearm. "BACK TO YOU, LEMILLION!"

"Phase-shift...LARIAT!" Lemillion's form phased through the creature,before his right forearm caught Bakunomu in the neck, and then transferred the momentum into creature's body, and slammed it into ground. It twitched for a few seconds before it stopped moving all together.

Venom landed on the ground in front of a crowd, unintentionally. They rushed for him, and Lemillion soon joined him, having checked the creature, and found no pulse. 'Regrettable, but necessary.' Lemillion thought to himself. He glanced at Venom, who was kneeling down to talk to a kid.

"Whoa! Mr. Venom, you and that blonde guy made such a cool team!" Venom and Lemillion chuckled, but didn't say anythiing. "Do...do you think I can be a hero some day too? My mom worries because my quirk isn't anything super special..." This caused Venom and Lemillion to glance at each other. They both kneeled down to look the child in the eyes, and each put a hand on his shoulder.

"You may find this difficult to believe kid, but can you keep a secret for us?" The child nodded rapidly. This caused Venom to chuckle again, before he leaned in conspiratorially, and whispered "We are actually quirkless. Or we were." This made the child's eyes grow large.

Lemillion nodded as well. "My mother also thought my quirk wasn't suited to hero work. But I told myself that I would surpass All Might, and save one million people! To do that, I mastered my quirk to the point I could use it offensively." Another shared look between the two heroes.

"Young man, you too can be a hero!" Venom and Lemillion spoke in unison, causing the young boy's eyes to well with tears.

"It takes a lot of hard work, and a firm sense of justice."

"And you can't lose faith in yourself when you make mistakes."

"If you can do this, then you will be a true hero like us one day."

The child hugged their legs, and was crying his eyes out. Venom opened his mouth to speak, but his blood froze at a scream that sounded from the crowd and his spider sense going haywire.

"LOOK OUT!"

Venom had enough time to turn around to see Bakunomu holding its right arm, and the tube that ran along it in its mouth.

It screamed "KILL! ME!" And it unleashed a huge blast that ripped towards the crowd and him.

He shielded the boy and his used as much of his symbiote to form a shield behind his back, leaving his left arm with minimal protection. He heard a second boom, and what sounded like two trains crashing before he lost consciousness.

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"As you can see, the creature was not yet defeated by the two brightest rising stars of the hero world. However, they were able to quickly react, though we do not have a picture of where they are now. Currently, the other members of the Vigilante group of the Outsider's is engaged with the creature, and are working to contain it while the civilians are evacuated."

The TV that Momo and Mei were watching spoke calmly. How the hell the reporter was speaking so calmly while talking about the death of potential heroes was horrifying.

The image showed Venom forming a shield of sorts with his suit to protect the boy, while Lemillion had slammed his fist into the ground to cause a plate of earth to lurch in front of the blast. It didn't completely stop it, but it probably saved the civilians from being killed.

"This is crazy...I need to make more babies to help them!" Mei's wording was funny but her demeanor was not. She was speaking hysterically.

Momo did the only thing she could, and hugged her friend.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Venom groaned as he returned to the realm of consciousness. He got up to move, but was forced to stop when a sharp pain shot through his left arm. He couldn't move it, and there was a piece of metal sticking out of his bicep. So he was down to one arm, which was rather ironic.

"Your shoulder is dislocated, and I don't really know what else to do to stop this creature." Lemillion's voice sounded beside him. Venom shook his head, before climbing to his feet.

"Go help them. They're not experienced enough to fight this thing yet. I'll think of something. We just need time." Venom spoke through gritted teeth, the pain really messing with his head. Lemillion just nodded, and leapt back into the fray.

Kid, I don't know how you're going to stop it.

'I can only really think of one way. You're going to have to cannibalize it's internal organs.'

How can you even suggest that! That is NOT something a hero would do!That is not what Peter would do!

Izuku growled through his teeth, before his shot back a retort to his partner. 'I don't know why you keep failing to notice this, but I am NOT PETER PARKER! I AM IZUKU MIDORIYA, and I AM VENOM! NOT PETER!'

His partner went quiet. 'I don't like it anymore than you do, but my arm is completely disabled right now. We have civilians that are injured. We don't have time to deliberate, partner. I need you on my side. These people, need you on my side. Will you do it? Its adaptive resistance and shock absorption have taken out all other options for the time frame we have. Please, Venom.'

...Fine. But know this is something I will never do again. And I expect lots of chocolate for my troubles.

Izuku grinned a bit, and chuckled, before the pain in his side reminded him of his broken ribs. 'You got it, partner. Let's go save the city, shall we?'

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Hivemind was having mixed success using his quirk on the creature. For some reason, he was able to effect it enough to make it docile every few seconds.

"Kill. Me." The creature would say this every time it was under his control. It was...concerning to say the least. He glanced at the others. Most of Celsius' suit was shredded and burnt. Alien Queen was at her limit for acid production. Lemillion's left eye was swollen shut and he had a cut over it that bleed profusely. All in all they, could use a miracle.

"LEMILLION!" Venom called as if on que. "WE NEED YOU TO PRY ITS MOUTH OPEN! QUICKLY!" They all turned to see Izuku without the majority of his outfit on. Only the black face mask and the tech lenses shielded his identity. What stood out, was the giant writing mass of black that was formed around his right arm. It had teeth, spread in that same manic grin Izuku usually had on in costume. Without another word, he charged down the side of the crater, rushing towards Bakunomu. Lemillion grabbed the beast, prying opens its mouth, while Hivemind made it as docile as he could with his own quirk. Venom lept up in the air, before shoving his writhing right arm down the creatures mouth, with a roar of triumph.

With only minor resistance from Bakunomu's left arm, the creature did not struggle as much as it should have. It slowed down as the symbiote cannibalized it...until Bakunomu stopped moving...This time, for good. The left arm dissipated entirely, it stopped breathing. Its eyes shut.

He drew his arm out of what was left of his first friend. He felt a lot of things. Regret being the most prevalent. However, he stumbled back a bit, and almost fell, but Lemillion caught him. He didn't say anything, he turned them to face the crowd that had returned, as well as the news helicopter. He shared a look with the blond hero, and in a single motion, they both raised their arms, Venom's right and Lemillion's Left, and struck the pose of Victory the former Symbol of Peace had after his own triumphant victory. As the cheers began, they smiled, and laughed. The other Outsider's moved up beside them, and they knew they had done it.

They had stopped the monster.

And they were finally the heroes they'd wanted to be.

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To Be continued...

AN: I cut it here guys, so all that's left is the epilogue. I may come back and add a bit more to the last bit, but probably not. I'll probably just pick it up at the next chapter, and then do an time skip a few years later. Whatever I decide, I hope you've enjoyed this story. And I hope you'll read my next work, The Crazy Life of Ben Reilly. :)