Hi there UltimateDemonBeast65 here with the new chapter of MVA: Symbiote's Justice! Thank you everyone for favoriting and following the story. I am enjoying this much more than my previous stories, especially with all the material I can adapt and use. So without further ado, here are the responses to my reviews:
Zekken182: Yes, this is based on Tom Hardy's incarnation of the character. I chose this version of him because he doesn't require Spider-Man to be part of his lore and character.
Crossroads of Illusion: You guessed it! Good job!
Trux-Killer: Two reviews this time which I will answer for you.
1. It seems that way, doesn't it? And don't worry, Sleeper will have an important role in the story soon.
2. Though that is a cool concept, only Eddie and one or maybe two other characters become hosts for symbiotes and none of those include Midoriya.
SpideyFan2001: Glad you're enjoying the story, and thank you for praising my co-writer's original character Thundermane, who I intend to have remain an important character in the story if she is received well enough by others. Though I do need to ensure this story isn't dominated by OCs.
Gamzo: Thank you for also praising Thundermane as a character, we were cautious with adding OCs as me and my co-writer have done nothing but OC orientated stories for a while and we wanted a change. Also I can assure you that the TVA, Illuminati or any other dimensional groups won't interfere in this story. I however don't know who you mean about a certain detective with Vigilante problems. Please provide context next time when you make comments about certain characters.
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
Hosu City was plagued by many things that night. Monstrosities from the League of Villains rampaged about destroying buildings and vehicles, the infamous Hero Killer stalked the shadows in order to claim a Pro Hero as his next victim, but one other thing had appeared tonight: A Vigilante, a black clad individual had not only killed one of the monsters in Hosu, but ate them as well, tearing their skull open and devoured their brain before taking off. Many people had caught sight of this monstrous saviour, taking photos and recording the fight in which he supposedly helped Number 15 Hero Thundermane fight this eyeless beast. The photos and video went viral soon enough, but the one thing they were lacking was an official name, a name that was the Lethal Protector, Venom.
Venom had leaped onto another rooftop while grasping his injured shoulder as he just narrowly avoided a fiery projectile that was aimed at his head, then he leapt to another rooftop before choosing to slide down one of its walls and into an alleyway that was covered in sheets and wood. After landing on the ground, Venom retracted back into Eddie, who then quickly took cover underneath one of the sheets in an effort to hide.
"What are you doing, Eddie?" Venom asked.
"I'm hiding." Eddie whispered.
"We shouldn't be hiding, we should be running!" Venom exclaimed.
"We're too weak right now, that blast from Endeavour nearly took our arm off if we hadn't dodged." Eddie whispered angrily. "You went back inside me, so now it's my turn to decide what we do."
Up on the rooftops, Endeavour, Gran Torino and Thundermane were searching the perimeter, looking into the alleyways as well as nearby junk and boxes a person could hide in.
"He couldn't have gotten far." Endeavour said with an intense tone of voice. "We already had the Hero Killer and Nomus to worry about, we don't need some Vigilante that eats Villains running around either!"
"We can split up, Endeavour.", Thundermane suggested while still searching in the alleyway she was in, "I noticed that the Vigilante seemed to be weakened by your attacks, so I think it would be better for you to stop them! Gran Torino and I can go back and stop the Nomus!"
"Very well." Endeavour said as he conjured up a torrent of flames around his body before leaping into one of the alleyways.
Gran Torino sighed before looking at Thundermane.
"You know more than you're letting us know, young lady." He said with a stern tone. "I know you and the suspect fought together against those Nomus, and now the public knows that we have a man-eating Vigilante in our country."
"The Vigilante was already fighting the Nomu.", Thundermane stated half-truthfully, "Their fight just so happened to end up in front of me while I was taking care of the Hero Killer. But Stain left before I could capture him and so I decided to help out with the Nomu instead."
Gran Torino looked at Thundermane curiously before letting out a sigh.
"Regardless, we should head back into the streets and get the public to safety."
"Right, let's go!", Thundermane said with a nod before she ran towards where the other Nomus were causing chaos.
Back in one of the alleyways, Eddie slowly lifted himself up from the sheets that covered him and checked his surroundings. He let out a sigh before he quietly snuck out of the alleyway, spotting a crowd of civilians being evacuated by Pro Heroes. Eddie decided to then jumped into the crowd and walked in the same direction as them.
"Why are we in this crowd, Eddie? We should be trying to move a bit faster, don't you think?" Venom asked his host.
"We're blending in, you doofus, no one has seen what I looked like yet." Eddie whispered.
"But a few people have! The witnesses, Thundermane, that psycho!" Venom argued.
"Not enough to be ratted out, unless Thundermane feels like doing that herself." Eddie whispered, raising his voice slightly.
As Eddie walked silently through the crowd and watched the Pro Heroes do their work, they spotted Endeavour land on the road nearby which made the San Franciscan nearly drop bricks. Eddie looked left and right before he did his best to try and blend in with the crowd, despite his ethnicity being quite obvious. The Number 2 Hero scanned the crowd for anything suspicious or out of place, staring with his blue piercing eyes.
"The report my agency received said that the Vigilante can shift between human and monster form at will, and that they're a foreigner." Endeavour thought out loud. "So what I'm looking for in this crowd is the odd one out…"
Endeavour then approached one of the Pro Heroes that was guiding the crowd to safety.
"Have you noticed if any of the civilians in this crowd aren't Japanese?"
"No, we haven't seen any foreigners in this crowd.", one Pro Hero replied, "I assume this is about Vigilante?"
"He defeated and ate one of the Nomus attacking Hosu." Endeavour replied. "I was in pursuit and lost his trail. He might have transformed back into his human form to avoid detection."
"We'll be sure to keep an eye out for him, Endeavour.", the Pro Hero stated.
Endeavour nodded in agreement before he continued his search among the crowd. Eddie tried his best to not attract any attention, but he unfortunately stuck out, with people besides him giving him strange looks as they walked. Eddie then started to subtly move away from the crowd and towards a nearby alleyway.
"You there!" A voice called out, which caused the crowd to stop in place.
Eddie then turned around slowly as he saw one of the Pro Heroes was looking right at him. They were a man wearing a green and black costume that was lizard themed.
"Stay where you are!" The Pro Hero said as he approached Eddie and looked at him carefully. "You're not from Japan. What are you doing here in Hosu, Gaijin?"
Eddie was looking at the Pro Hero nervously, trying to think of an answer or comeback.
"Hello? Can you even understand what I'm saying, American boy?"
"Let me eat this racist asshole, Eddie!" Venom roared angrily before Eddie composed himself in front of the Pro Hero.
"Yes, I understand what you're saying, sir." Eddie finally answered. "And might I add, that's no way for a professional to be talking to a civilian."
"Did you just talk back to me, Gaijin?" The Pro Hero retorted in an arrogant tone. "I'm a licensed Hero of Japan, I spent years training to save lives, not to be criticised by some uppity smartass Westerner who picked the wrong country to visit!"
"I'll kill him, Eddie! I'll tear him limb from limb!" Venom said, as his anger started to boil.
"I'm not questioning your authority, man, all I'm saying is this is a different world from back in the day and that we should be more open minded-" Eddie said before being cut off by the Pro Hero.
"The embassy is all the way in Minato, so why don't you and the police go there right now so you can fly back to your country and never come back, that fair enough for you, Gaijin?" The Pro Hero said with a smug grin on his face.
"RACIST PRICK!" Venom screamed as he formed over Eddie and quickly grabbed and lifted the Pro Hero by his neck, the symbiote's expression being one of pure rage and hatred toward the racist individual.
The crowd reacted in a mix of shock, fear and curiosity as some of them took photos and recorded the scene in question, which made Eddie and Venom realised too late that they had outed themselves. Soon enough, they spotted a familiar fiery projectile as Venom decided to move the Pro Hero in front of him, using their body as a shield that caused Endeavour's Ignited Arrow to hit the racist professional in one of his legs. Venom quickly dropped the Pro Hero, who started screaming like a wounded animal as he felt the projectile burning on the inside of his leg as the Lethal Protector made another attempt to flee.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why did you do that?!" Eddie yelled angrily.
"That Hero was being racist and rude to you, Eddie! He deserved worse than what happened!" Venom retorted as he climbed up a nearby building.
"That's all he was doing! He wasn't breaking the law or hurting any civilians!" Eddie argued back. "This is just like what happened with Kasady, he insulted my career and family and you attacked him! And then what happened? Oh I don't know, he got a symbiote of his own that nearly destroyed the city and almost killed Anne and Mulligan!"
"I'm sorry, Eddie! Okay, I'm sorry! I was only trying to protect you!" Venom said as he made it up to the rooftop of the building.
"You lost control again, man…" Eddie said in a solemn tone. "After everything that happened, you're going to lose it again? I thought we were past this…"
"Can we talk about this later, when we're not being chased by a flaming man?" Venom asked as he watched Endeavour get closer and closer to their location.
"Fine! But we're not done talking about this!" Eddie replied as he let out an angry groan.
Endeavour soon made it up to the same rooftop as Venom and began to stare down the Lethal Protector with a strong gaze as the fire around his body and face flickered violently.
"You used a Pro Hero as a human shield before, almost leading to said Hero being killed or crippled for life." Endeavour said sternly. "Then again, you already eat your victims, so I doubt your moral standards are that great anyway."
Venom glared back at Endeavour, though his fear of being burnt was still a top priority in his mind. He clenched his fists and stood his ground in a failed attempt at trying to intimidate the Number 2 Hero, but Endeavour wasn't afraid for a second, especially given that he now knew his Quirk had an effect on their biological armour.
"Well then, Eddie, it was nice knowing you…" Venom said in a defeated and solemn tone.
"Venom, stand down." Eddie said quietly.
"What? Are you serious?!" Venom retorted in disbelief.
"Yes, I'm serious! You were out of line before, especially in front of so many people!" Eddie shouted. "Now we still don't know how we got here or how to get back to our universe, but I can't do that without you! We need to survive, and sometimes that means giving up to fight another day! So if you truly care about me, Venom, then stand down and let me handle this."
Venom looked at Endeavour and then to himself, or rather at Eddie inside of him. He was right, they couldn't beat Endeavour who could use one of their greatest weaknesses against them, and if Venom died then Eddie would be alone and trapped in a universe not his own without any power to survive in a world dominated by superpowers. Venom sighed before he retracted back into Eddie, who then looked at Endeavour contently before raising his hands.
"I surrender." He said to the Number 2 Hero.
Endeavour let out a huff before he approached Eddie slowly, but the American symbiote host flinched when he was a few inches closer.
"Can you turn that off or like get someone without fire powers to cuff me?" Eddie asked as the heat from the flames was also agonising to him. "I'm sure you noticed, but we don't do well with fire…"
Endeavour groaned before he made the flames on his face and body disappear, to which he now more or less looked mostly clean shaven with a few stray stubbles on his chin. He took out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on Eddie's wrists.
"Move it, Vigilante." Endeavour said sternly, to which Eddie started to move towards the door on the rooftop that would lead them down the staircase to the first floor.
A few blocks away from the Number 2 Hero and his captive, there was an epic battle that had taken place. It was between the Hero Killer Stain, who the Lethal Protector fought and overpowered, and three young Heroes in training.
One of them was a young man with black short hair, blue eyes and wore glasses and a costume consisting of white armour, a black unitard and several exhaust pipes around his body, including the back of his calves. He was Tenya Iida, a U.A student and member of the prestigious Iida Family who had been doing Hero work for generations. Iida came to Hosu City through his internship to hunt down the Hero Killer who had crippled his older brother Tensei, the Pro Hero known as Ingenium, and wanted revenge. However, not only was outclassed by Stain, he was helpless against his Quirk, Bloodcurdle, which can paralyse anyone whose blood he licks.
Another one was Izuku Midoriya, who upon taking a train to Shibuya with his mentor Gran Torino were caught up in the attack on Hosu when one of the Nomus crashed their train. He had been worried about Iida ever since hearing of his brother's attack and upon coming to Hosu he chased after his friend in order to save him from the Hero Killer.
And finally the other young Hero in training was a young man with one half white hair and the other half red, with one eye being brown and the other being blue, though the most notable feature was a large scar around his eye and face where his red hair and blue were, as if someone had burnt it with hot water. He wore a costume that included a blue jumpsuit, white boots and a red and yellow utility belt. His name was Shoto Todoroki, a fellow student of Midorya and Iida's who was the son of the Number 2 Hero Endeavour, who tried to groom Todoroki into a Hero capable of defeating and surpassing the current Number 1 Hero All-Might. He also arrived to help after Midoriya had given him his coordinates.
The three boys had what felt like a fight for their lives against the Hero Killer, especially in Iida's case who was down for the count for most of it. He in turn reflected on his thirst for vengeance and realised through the likes of Stain's own words that the path he had chosen was foolish and selfish, especially given how he ignored the Pro Hero who was in need of help upon encountering Stain. It took effort and determination, but the three students were able to band together and defeat the Hero Killer, ending his rampage. Todoroki was in the middle of tying up Stain after they removed all of the weapons he had on him.
"Native, can you move…?" Midoriya asked weakly to the Pro Hero Stain had targeted, called Native.
"Yeah, I think I'm as good as new now…" Native replied as he picked up Midoriya and put him on his back.
"You sure..?" Midoriya asked.
"I saw you hurt your leg back there." Native replied to the inheritor of One For All. "At least let me do this for you."
"Thank you very much." Midoriya said sheepishly.
"I should be thanking you."
"We're lucky someone threw this into the dumpster." Todoroki remarked as he finished tying up Stain with some ropes.
"Todoroki, I can drag him from here!" Iida insisted nervously.
"Are you forgetting your arms are messed up?" Todoroki retorted to which Iida relented at his request.
"I have to apologise, I'm supposed to be a Pro but I was useless back there." Native said in a guilty tone.
"No… I don't think any one person could take the Hero Killer on…not with that weird Quirk of his…he's too strong…" Midoriya said, still exhausted and injured from his fight.
"The three of us barely won against him, and even then it was because of his own mistakes." Todoroki said. "He was getting riled up and desperate and forgot all about Midoriya's quick recovery time. Then he wasn't able to block Iida's last Recipro Burst or Midoriya's assault."
The group of Heroes in training alongside Native moved Stain out of the alleyway and into the streets.
"Right, let's get him to the police as fast as we can." Native said.
"What are you doing here, boy?!" A familiar voice yelled out.
Midoriya turned towards the source of the voice as he saw his mentor Gran Torino standing on the opposite side of the street with Thundermane.
"Gran Torino!" Midoriya said before looking at Thundermane. "And you're the Number 15 Hero, Thundermane!"
"Wait, you know this kid, Gran Torino?", Thundermane asked.
"Yeah, that foolish boy was doing Work Studies under me, but the moment our train arrived in Hosu and was attacked, he got off just like I did rather than follow my orders!" Gran Torino replied in frustration.
"At least their injuries aren't any worse.", Thundermane sighed in relief as she crossed the street.
Gran Torino after conversing with Thundermane angrily propelled himself towards Midoriya and kicked him gently in the face.
"I told you to stay on the bullet train!"
"Who's this?" Todoroki asked.
"Gran Torino, the hero I'm interning with." Midoriya replied weakly. "I don't get it, how'd you find us?"
"I was told to come here by someone else." Gran Torino replied, still fuming. "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm glad you're not dead at least."
"Me too, and I'm sorry." Midoriya said in a guilty but weak tone.
Gran Torino let out a small 'tsk' before retreating into his thoughts.
"Geez, this side of him reminds me so much of Toshinori. I'm also glad he never ended up running into that Vigilante either." Gran Torino thought as they heard the sound of people approaching.
"Around the corner!" A female voice yelled which caught everyone's attention.
"Who's that?" Midoriya wondered.
"Endeavour told us there was a request for help here, but…" A male voice belonging to a Pro Hero whose head resembled a wrap said before stopping to take a look at who they were sent to.
"Children…?" A Pro Hero with a red mask said.
"Those injuries look bad," A grey haired Pro Hero commented. "I'll call an ambulance right away."
"Hey, look!", a Pro Hero in a white mask said.
The source of the female voice, a female Pro Hero with short blonde hair wearing a green and white costume with a red scarf, gasped at the sight of the Hero Killer who had been captured and tied up.
"Is that….the Hero Killer?!"
"What? I'll get the police on the line!" The grey haired Pro Hero said who took out his phone and called both the ambulance and police force.
"Can you walk?" The white masked Pro Hero asked Midoriya.
"If you prop me up, then I think so." Midoriya replied.
"Okay, and you?" The white masked Hero asked Todoroki.
"Only minor injuries, but Iida..." Todoroki replied.
Iida gritted his teeth as he walked forward to which the red masked Pro Hero noticed his injuries, especially the large cut on his shoulder.
"You're bleeding badly, the ambulance will be here soon." The red masked Hero said. "But until then…"
"You guys…" Iida said, addressing Midoriya and Todoroki before bowing his head to them. "You were both hurt because of me… I'm truly sorry…"
Tears started to form in Iida's eyes as he spoke to them.
"I was just so angry, I couldn't…see anything else…"
Midoriya looked at Iida with pity and remorse in his eyes.
"I'm sorry too, Iida….you were going through so much by yourself, but I couldn't tell that anything was wrong even though I'm your friend…"
Iida was struggling to keep his cool as his tears started to run down his face, on the verge of crying.
"Hey, pull yourself together. You're the class rep.", Todoroki said.
"Right…" Iida said as he wiped away the tears from his face.
The three young Heroes had fought the Hero Killer for 10 minutes, but to them, it felt like forever. The Pro Heroes stayed with the injured boys as help was on the way.
"Hey, do any of you know if the Hero Killer attacked anyone else before Native?" Thundermane asked a couple of the Pro Heroes.
"No, most of the Pros that are accounted for were helping with evacuation and fending off the Nomu attacks." The red masked Hero replied.
"After this, we should definitely search the alleyways, just in case.", Thundermane stated as she finally then looked down to see more blood coming from her wounds, and felt more pain now that she was more at rest, "...but perhaps I should get patched up instead."
"Agreed, you look like you were powering through all of those injuries for so long." The female Pro Hero said concerned. "Just what were you doing that led to so many wounds?"
"I was fighting the Hero Killer.", Thundermane simply replied, "And then I was fighting one of the Nomus, but each time that new Vigilante appeared and intervened."
"You mean that Vigilante that's been apparently eating people?!" The grey haired Hero asked in surprise. "You encountered them?!"
"Yes I did, but Endeavour is dealing with them at the moment.", Thundermane said, "As he is the only one that can penetrate his defenses."
"That's the Number 2 Hero for you." The red masked Hero said.
All seemed to finally be settling down for the Heroes, until Gran Torino spotted what appeared to be the flying Nomu heading straight towards them.
"Get down!", he shouted as the flying Nomu raced towards them at top speeds.
"Oh no!" The female green and white clad Hero shouted.
The flying Nomu, before anyone could register what had happened, scooped up Midoriya with one of his feet like a bird of prey snatching a rodent from the ground.
"Hey, let go!" Midoriya yelled.
"Midoriya!" Everyone else exclaimed.
"It's bleeding! It must be trying to escape!" The female Hero yelled as some of the flying Nomu's blood fell on her cheek.
"Shoot! If it takes him too high, I won't be able to reach him with my Quirk!" Gran Torino thought, as it felt the intense gust of wind that the fly Nomu had created from its movement alone.
Meanwhile, Stain, who had regained consciousness after his fight, slipped one of his folding knives out of his wristband to cut himself loose before leaping up and licking the flying Nomu's blood that was on the female Hero's cheek. This in turn activated his Quirk, Bloodcurdle, which caused the flying Nomu to be paralysed as he slowly drifted towards the ground while still holding Midoriya in its foot.
"The word 'Hero' has lost all meaning in this society!" Stain yelled as he rushed toward the flying Nomu and Midoriya at blinding speeds while cutting the rest of the ropes loose and lunging at them with his folding knife. "The world is overrun by fakes and criminals like you that chase petty dreams!"
Stain then rammed his folding knife into the flying Nomu's brain before planting his feet on their back and riding their now dead body to ground which skidded a few metres before stopping. Stain has also released Midoriya from the Nomu's grip while doing so, effectively saving the young Hero in training who during their fight he acknowledged as being a genuine Hero.
"You must all be purged…" Stain said as Midoriya was visibly now in shock and fear seeing the Hero Killer was now free and able to rampage once more.
Native, who was horrified seeing his attempted killer was free, remembered how the Hero Killer acknowledged the League of Villains had released these Nomus in the first place while promising to deal with them after he had killed Native. Stain in turn after killing the flying Nomu let out a heavy breath of air before speaking once more.
"Everything I do…" He said as he took out his folding knife from the Nomu's brain violently, spraying its blood around. "...is to create a stronger society!"
"Did he just save that kid?" The red masked Hero asked.
"He took him hostage, idiot." The white masked Hero replied.
"He killed that guy with no hesitation." The grey haired Pro Hero said.
"Everyone be on your guard! We've got a fight on our hands!" The female Hero exclaimed as she and her fellow Heroes were on guard.
"Why are you all standing around like fools? The Villain must have flown this way, right?" A deep male voice shouted, which belonged to the Number 2 Hero Endeavour.
Following behind Endeavour from a distance was Eddie, who was in cuffs and averted his gaze when in view of the Pro Hero's flames.
"You took care of the rest?" One of the Pro Heroes asked Endeavour.
"Mostly, things got rough at the end, and I can't take full credit for dealing with all of them either…" Endeavour said begrudgingly before subtly eyeing his captive.
"Who the hell is that, Endeavour?", the grey haired Pro Hero asked while pointing at Eddie.
"This man is a violent Vigilante who was responsible for killing one of these monsters that attacked Hosu. I was able to apprehend him and then encountered the Villain that had thrown down this street." Endeavour replied.
"He's also the one that bit Nailgun's head off a couple of days ago." Thundermane added.
"He did what?!" A few of the Pro Heroes exclaimed in horror.
"Hold on…" Endeavour said as he looked over to where Stain and Midoriya were. "Don't tell me that man is…"
Stain had Midoriya pinned to the ground with one hand as he was trying to catch his breath, only to turn his gaze to Endeavour and the other Heroes. He then also spotted that Eddie was one of the people among the group as well.
"That's the one that overpowered me before…Venom…and yet he was also captured by those fakes!" He thought before he turned his attention to the Number 2 Hero.
"Endeavour!" Stain yelled with hate in his voice.
"Hero Killer!" Endeavour yelled back as he smirked and lunged towards the serial killer with fire in his hand.
"Wait Todoroki!" Gran Torino shouted at Endeavour, referring to him by his surname, which made him stop in place.
Stain let go of Midoriya as he stood up slowly while his white bandana started to fall off. Midoriya turned his head to glare at the Hero Killer, but soon his face turned to a look of fear upon gazing at Stain's face with his disfigured nose exposed and a feeling of dread consuming the street itself.
"You false Hero!" Stain shouted in rage as his look became more deranged and unstable.
The Hero Killer's presence appeared to be drowning everyone around him in an intense pressure, a feeling of dread, hatred and bloodlust boiling up like a malefic energy force that wanted to kill and destroy everything and everyone it touched.
"I'll make this right! These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites!" Stain screamed as the pressure around him grew more intense, to the point where even Gran Torino was visibly afraid and Thundermane staggered as she took a step backwards. "Hero! I WILL RECLAIM THAT WORD!"
Stain took a step forward as his gaze grew darker and more malicious with each moment. Eddie who was also watching could also feel it and was sweating quite profusely.
"I knew this guy was a psycho when we first encountered him, but his bloodlust and hatred is like a tidal wave of negative energy!" Venom exclaimed in horror.
"COME ON! JUST TRY AND STOP ME YOU FAKES!", Stain continued.
Endeavour, though he was initially quite confident in his odds against the Hero Killer, had now finally froze up in horror and dread as he felt Stain's malefic killing intent in all of its glory.
"THERE'S ONLY ONE MAN I'LL LET KILL ME, HE IS A TRUE HERO!" Stain screamed as a wave of his malicious intent and pressure washed over everyone present, looking as if two large glowing eyes were staring into their very souls. "ALL-MIGHT IS WORTHY!"
The female Pro Hero was knocked over her feet, and both Gran Torino and Midoriya were more or less frozen in pure fear. However, the intense pressure disappeared and the sound of Stain's folding knife was heard hitting the ground. Everyone looked and saw that the Hero Killer was now standing there, frozen as his eyes rolled back into his head and looked almost as if he was in a catatonic state.
"I….think….he's out cold…" Endeavour said, finally able to speak.
The others were finally able to relax as the intense pressure was gone from the streets, which included Eddie who tried his hardest to remain calm both out of fear and also to prevent Venom from trying anything reckless like eating Stain. Thundermane had leaned up against one of the nearby buildings with one hand placed on it, trying to slow down her breathing as Stain's dreadful aura had piled on with the fear she had from her near-death experience.
"That was by far the scariest moment of my entire life…" Eddie said, finally speaking albeit with a high pitched voice from all the fear that washed over his body.
"Way to make us sound like a pussy, Eddie!" Venom interjected.
"Don't lie to me, man! You were freaking out just as much as me!" Eddie argued.
"Quiet, Vigilante!" Endeavour shouted at Eddie. "Both you and the Hero Killer can look forward to being thrown in Tartarus for your crimes!"
"What?! Hey come on, man, I'm not even from here!" Eddie exclaimed.
"The foreigner is right, Todoroki." Gran Torino said to Endeavour. "Though his crimes were committed here on Japanese soil, he clearly is an American citizen who needs to be trialled by his own country."
"That's not what I-oh forget it! It's not like you'd believe my story anyway…" Eddie said with a defeated tone.
"We shall see…" Endeavour said with a groan. "The Commission will need to run a background check on him anyway given his crimes are Quirk orientated…"
"We could always break these cuffs and escape…" Venom suggested.
"Out of the question, pal, or do you want a flaming spear through our torso?" Eddie whispered.
"You!" Endeavour said, pointing at Thundermane.
"Yes, Endeavour?" Thundermane asked as she looked up at him.
"Take the Vigilante to the authorities, we'll need to question him before any legal actions are taken, especially from the U.S. Embassy." Endeavour ordered.
"Understood, I'll be right on it.", Thundermane said as she then walked towards Endeavour and held Eddie by one of his wrists, walking him towards the nearby police station.
"Is this really necessary?" Eddie asked, gesturing to his cuffs.
"You wanted to surrender, remember?" Venom snarked.
An hour had passed since Thundermane brought Eddie into the Hosu Police Station, to which they had placed him into an interrogation room as they tried to get a positive ID on him from the U.S. database. Eddie had let out a sigh, this being the third time he was in the situation of being questioned and threatened by others.
"So, how did surrendering go for us, Eddie? We're in an interrogation room where they're going to discover that we are not from this universe!" Venom exclaimed.
"Wouldn't that be a good thing though? If they see we're from another universe then-Oh right of course, we're basically aliens to them…well you more, but still…" Eddie said, now realising what his partner meant.
"From what I know about him is that he is the one that killed Nailgun a couple of days ago in the Yamanashi Prefecture, with his Quirk allowing him to transform into a large creature with big sharp teeth and biological armour." Thundermane explained to an officer as a paramedic was patching up her wounds, "I encountered him earlier tonight because as I was fighting Stain in one of the alleyways, he showed up out of nowhere and intervened, managing to make the Hero Killer run off. And soon after that, a similar creature from the USJ incident appeared and…we had to work together at that moment, but I did report him to other Pro Heroes after he bit off its head. Me, Endeavour, and Gran Torino gave chase on the rooftops. And during the chase, I found out that he was weak to fire after Endeavour shot out a fireball that flew right by his shoulder, and that was enough to cause him to be in immense pain while using his Quirk. That's all I have as me and Gran Torino split off from Endeavour to help fight the other creatures causing chaos in Hosu."
"Alright, thank you for your statement, Thundermane. Also, one more thing…" The officer said, before he then pulled out a T-Shirt which had the Thundermane insignia on it. "... Can I have your autograph?"
"Sure thing.", Thundermane answered with a small smile on her face, "Got a pen or marker?"
"Use mine." The officer replied, pulling it out of his shirt pocket with an excited tone. "I have all three of the shirts from your brand line, as well as your keychains and collectable figures!"
"Glad to hear that you are such a fan. Salamat.", Thundermane said as she took the pen and started to sign the t-shirt.
"Looks like she's popular…" Venom remarked.
"Who?" Eddie asked.
"Thundermane, the officer questioning her said he had quite the amount of merchandise from her brand!" Eddie replied.
"How do you know that…?" Eddie asked sceptically. "You can't see or hear through walls."
"We can now!" Venom said smugly. "Eating Carnage and crossing into this universe has made us stronger if you didn't notice..."
"So does that mean that…eventually if we get stronger and stronger…that we'll be able to make weapons like Riot…?" Eddie asked curiously.
"I don't know!" Venom said bluntly. "But that would be cool!"
Soon after, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi arrived at Hosu Police Station and was accompanied by two other people, one being the true form of the Number 1 Hero All-Might and the other being Nezu, the principal of U.A. High. All-Might was a tall and slender but sickly looking man with tan skin, blonde messy hair with two ear shaped tufts and blue beady eyes with sunken cheeks and eye sockets and wore a yellow and brown striped suit with a white undershirt, blue tie and brown shoes. Nezu meanwhile appeared to be some sort of short male bipedal animal with white fur that looked to be a mix between a ferret, dog or cat with a scar over one of his eyes and wore a white undershirt, red tie and a black vest and slacks with brown high top sneakers.
"Thank you for both coming on such short notice." Tsukauchi said, taking off his fedora. "The minute we heard they apprehended this Vigilante, I was quick to call you both given your experience and expertise on Quirks and Villains."
"You are quite welcome, Detective Tsukauchi." Nezu said in a soft and polite tone. "I was intrigued by what All-Might had learned from you about this individual, given that it seems to match similar Quirks and projects under All For One's jurisdiction."
"Meaning what exactly? Are you saying that this Vigilante is some sort of new Nomu?" Tsukauchi asked curiously.
"We're not sure about that exactly.", All-Might replied, "Because while he and the Nomus are similar in appearance, his brain isn't exposed and he appears to be fully human, not to mention alive."
"And as we've discovered, Nomus appear to be made from dead humans, given that they possess no higher brain functions or any recollection of who they were prior. I have a hunch this individual is not associated with All For One or the League of Villains, especially given that he took down one of their Nomus over an hour ago." Nezu explained.
"Either way, we're checking the database that the U.S. Embassy that granted us access so we can identify him." Tsukauchi said. "By the way you two, I checked in with Hosu General Hospital and your students are recovering quite well after what they went through tonight."
"Thank goodness…", All-Might sighed, "To think they'd end up running into the Hero Killer of all people. They're lucky to be alive…"
"I hope they aren't in too much trouble for using their Quirks against him." Nezu said, looking at his colleague.
"It's true they acted without licenses and disobeyed orders." Tsukauchi said in a serious tone. "But we also can't ignore that they took him down, even if the public will never know of the great service they did tonight…"
"A shame, but it what needs to be done.", All-Might said, "Anyway, I assume you want us to be a part of the Vigilante's interrogation?"
"That's correct, if you'll just follow me, gentlemen." Tsukauchi said as he led the two towards the interrogation room, passing by Thundermane, who simply waved at them as she was walking towards the exit of the station.
The three men first entered the viewing room, allowing them to see Eddie through the two way glass and allowed All-Might and Nezu to look at the individual.
"Well just like you said, he is an American." Nezu said curiously. "His Caucasian skin, height and facial features are a dead giveaway in that regard."
"Has anyone been able to identify him yet?" All-Might asked Tsukauchi who in turn looked at the officer who was currently on the Japan and U.S. databases.
"We haven't had much luck, sir…" The officer admitted. "We've tried mugshots, fingerprints, dental records and birth certificates, but there's nothing matching his description or the driver's license we found in his wallet."
"W-what?!", All-Might exclaimed, "You mean to tell us that this man has no records or proof of identification in the slightest?"
"Which would mean either he somehow was never documented or recorded legally as a citizen or someone erased his records." Nezu speculated.
"But he has a driver's license, which no one could obtain unless you have a birth certificate." Tsukauchi argued. "So what do we know about this man?"
"The license is under the name 'Edward Brock', 29 years of age." The officer explained. "It was issued at a DMV in San Francisco, yet when we contacted them they had no recollection of ever giving this man a license."
"Could the license be a fake?" Tsukauchi asked.
"We thought so as well, but fake IDs have telltale signs, rigid and uneven width and weight, rounded edges and clear evidence of physical tampering. This has none of those signs, so either he got a really talented forger or it's somehow a real license from a DMV with no record of ever giving it to him." The officer replied.
"What is the issuing year of the license?" All-Might asked.
The officer then re-checked the license and he nearly had a stroke looking at the date.
"What the? This can't be possible! There's no fucking way!" The officer exclaimed.
"Calm down, what's on the date, sir?" Tsukauchi asked.
"It….it says that he was….that he was born in 1993! That's like nearly 200 years ago!" The officer retorted.
"But how can this be?" All-Might asked in shock. "Has he really lived for that long? Is that why the DMV has no records of him?"
"We're not going to learn more if we stand here and speculate." Nezu replied. "If we wish to truly learn more about Mr. Brock, if that is his name, then we need to question him."
"Of course…", All-Might said with a nod, "Let's start asking him some questions."
"Agreed." Tsukauchi said as he took off his trench coat. "Nezu, you stay in the viewing room and see if you pick up on anything as we interrogated him. All-Might, you're with me."
"Alright, let's go.", All-Might said as he walked towards the door of the viewing room.
Tsukauchi and All-Might then entered the interrogation room where Eddie was sitting at the table, appearing to be talking to himself. Eddie however went silent after he noticed them both in the interrogation room.
"Mr. Brock?" Tsukauchi said.
"Yeah, that's me, pal…" Eddie answered.
"I'm Detective Tsukauchi, and this is an associate of mine. We're here to ask you some questions regarding your less than stellar actions and your identification." Tsukauchi explained.
"Oh shit, this looks bad, Eddie!" Venom exclaimed.
"Where do you really come from?" All-Might asked. "We had a look over your driver's license and there are many things that don't add up. It says on your license that you were born in 1993, which was nearly 200 years ago. Not only that, but the DMV over at San Francisco doesn't have any record of ever giving you a license, let alone anyone matching your description and biometrics."
"Getting right to the point, aren't we?" Eddie retorted.
"You showed up three days ago in Japan, no means of transportation or airfare that could prove you got into Japan through legal channels, you were accused of not being able to our language yet somehow after killing and eating the E-Rank Villain Nailgun, you then show that you can speak our language." Tsukauchi stated. "So not only do you have zero proof of identification or citizenship in the United States or anywhere on the globe, you are also in our country as an illegal foreigner and Vigilante. Does any of that sound good to you at all?"
"Well I mean, you put it that way it makes it sound like I don't even exist…" Eddie said nervously.
"And yet you do." All-Might said with a stern look. "So we ask this again, where do you come from exactly?"
Eddie took a deep breath before wiping the sweat off of his brow.
"The truth…" He muttered to himself. "The truth about me…about us…"
Tsukauchi heard Eddie but decided to wait for his answer instead. All-Might also heard him and crossed his arms as he waited.
"Eddie, don't!" Venom objected.
Eddie however sighed before he looked at the two, waiting for an answer.
"Do…you believe in the multiverse…?" He asked sheepishly.
The day after what the media dubbed the "Hosu Incident", the news was wild about what had taken place, given the attacks on the city and the battle with the Hero Killer Stain. However, the authorities and media had fabricated and altered the recollection of events both to protect those involved and to focus on the most important aspects of the incident. For example, though it was three U.A. students that defeated the Hero Killer, Endeavour was given credit for Stain's defeat and capture to protect the Heroes in training from legal action due to possessing no license to use their Quirks on Villians.
Back in a certain bar in Kamino, Shigaraki and Kurogiri were both checking in with the news, both on the newspaper and television. Suffice to say that the leader of the League of Villains was not amused by their coverage of Stain.
"I'm coming to you live from Echo Street in Hosu City. Last night just after 8 PM, the Hero Killer Stain was arrested by Endeavour on this very-"
Kurogiri turned off the television, seeing that it was only making Shigaraki more angry as he read today's newspaper.
"He's all they're talking about, what about my Nomus?" Shigaraki said as he crumpled the newspaper up and tossed it aside as he remembered his words from that night.
"Hehehehe! Once this night is over, the world will have forgotten you ever existed!"
"Not only have they not forgotten, but we didn't even make the front page…" Shigaraki said, squinting his eyes as his anger boiled. "And yet the media has the audacity to say that the League and the Hero Killer are affiliated with each other!"
"It looks as though that not only has the media chosen to focus on the Hero Killer, but social media is also speaking about him, especially after an anonymous source who was at the scene uploaded this video." Kurogiri said as he held up his phone and played the video for Shigaraki.
The video had imagery and writing about the Hero Killer, with the title of said video being "Kill the Hero, Stain" which then transitions through a blood splatter effect as the narration starts.
"The Hero Killer Stain, real name Chizome Akaguro. As a child, he was greatly inspired by All-Might's debut."
The video showed the photo of his capture by the police then transitioned through a fire effect to a side shot of his arrest.
"He enrolled into a private Hero high school, but was dismayed by what he viewed as the educational systems' skewed understanding of what it meant to be a Hero."
The scene transitioned into a black silhouetted man, symbolic of Stain, preaching to people in the street only for them to ignore him, in which he showed a scene of him suiting up in his gear and weapons.
Throughout his teenage years, Chizome advocated for the return of the early days of Heroes but quickly realised that words had no power. For the next ten years he trained in killing techniques in order to fulfil his self-appointed duty. During this time his parents passed away and what police eventually ruled as a tragic accident."
The video transitioned into a view of a metropolitan city.
"His focus was on a return to the old days. He believed Heroes should not seek compensation, that one should epitomise the idea of self-sacrifice. He believed that present day Pros were frauds, through his violent purges he hoped society would eventually side with him."
The video showed a shot of Stain kneeling on a rooftop and looking down below before it started to play the infamous speech that Stain had given to the Pros responsible for his defeat.
"These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites! Hero! I WILL RECLAIM THAT WORD!"
It was now showing footage of Stain in the street after he walked away from Midoriya and the dead flying Nomu.
"COME ON! JUST TRY AND STOP ME YOU FAKES! THERE'S ONLY ONE MAN I'LL LET KILL ME, HE IS A TRUE HERO! ALL-MIGHT IS WORTHY!"
The video then ended with a shot of Stain finally passing out due to a broken rib puncturing his lung. Shigaraki in anger slammed his fist into the counter, hitting it enough to bloody his knuckles.
"You took the media's attention, and now you've gone and taken the internet's attention as well! Damn you, Hero Killer! If we either cross paths again, I'll kill you!" Shigaraki screamed in rage before he accidentally hit the TV remote which caused the television to switch back on.
"While many are pondering and speculating about the Hero Killer, his capture and his motives, a series of photos and videos have been appearing online showing what appears to be another sinister individual who law enforcement suspect of being a new Vigilante. The individual was wearing a black flesh like suit over their body, over 7 feet in height and looked to have a gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth and white pupiless eyes. The black clad Vigilante was seen allegedly working alongside Number 15 Hero Thundermane taking on one of the creatures that attacked Hosu, in which the Vigilante not only killed the creature but devoured their brain like a ravenous beast."
"Who the fuck is this guy?" Shigaraki said, his eyes widened in surprise at this individual's actions. "He killed and ate one of my Nomus, and he's getting the same amount of media coverage as the Hero Killer! I thought the League had two problems to deal with, but now we have three! Kurogiri, find whatever you can dig up about this Vigilante! We need to crush him before he becomes a real threat to our plans…"
Did you enjoy the chapter? If so, please favourite and follow the story and give me your feedback! And now is the time I explain some of the decisions I made with this chapter:
So as you may have noticed, I skipped the fight between Stain and the U.A. boys and went to the aftermath of the fight instead. There are a few reasons for why I did this, mainly because this fight doesn't involve Venom who is the main focus of the story, and so why should I show a fight unless it's relevant to him or connected to the overall plot? Venom already fought Stain and overpowered him after all. Also Venom's fight with Stain doesn't affect his fight with the others as he didn't damage him enough to give the boys a greater advantage.
If that is all, then I will see you guys next chapter! MVA: Symbiote's Justice, Lethal Protectors away!