Author's Note: Whoa! Two Chapters in two days, I gotta stop being so prolific in my writing, its exhausting! I tell ya guys, this has been a blast to write so far, and all the views I've received in just a single day (NEARLY 200!), and I am pleasantly surprised at that. Thank you all for reading Viral Toxin and I promise I will try to make more chapters whenever I get the chance. And just as a reminder, there is a poll going on to decide the Best Girl for Mikumo! So please check that out and make your decision! Poll Ends December 1! I also made some modifications so that I won't have to try doing 2 girls on one guy. So anyway Here is the next chapter, and please tell me what you think about the Puns in this chapter XD! WEB SWING!
Chapter 2: Virulent Decisions
Mikumo smiles as he trains with his cousin, Izuku, the two of them smiling as they push themselves through the last month of training, using Dagobah Beach to work on their base strength while clearing out massive amounts of garbage from it using only their physical bodies alone, their symbiotes feasting on the hormones their hosts produce. They have just about moved out the bigger stuff thanks to All Might finding Izuku and volunteering to help them train. Now that all of the big stuff has been moved, this is the time to work with their symbiotes to perform accuracy training while cleaning up the smaller stuff, using their tendrils from holding themselves up and collecting as much litter as they can within a short span of time. It is hard work as trying to keep themselves aloft while gathering garbage from such a height and such small targets is tricky.
"Come on you two, keep going! You got ten seconds left on the clock!" All Might calls out, which the two boys collide with one another and crash to new positions. Mikumo spits out a mouthful of sand while Izuku jumps out of the water. "Now lets tally up the garbage you collected in less than a minute!" He then begins counting each of their tallies and nods, "Fairly Good, you two have been working hard, and your accuracy is nothing to sneeze at either!"
"Thanks, All Might!" Mikumo says, breathing hard.
"That was grueling…" Virus says, his head resting against Mikumo's shoulder
"You're telling me!" Toxin replies, practically a glob of slime on his host's head.
"But we're getting better!" Izuku says. "And we still have a month left to clean all of this up!" His optimism is somewhat infectious as it reaches both Symbiotes and Mikumo, the three of them smiling. All Might smiles at these two boys and then sits down, watching them strategize as he remembers the image of a partner he once had, one who went by the hero name of Valiant, who died during the final battle with… He shakes his head as the image of his partner's corpse lies in his hands, and the anger he felt that day at the loss of his best friend. The world's first Quirkless Hero, dead at the hands of… Him… Since then, it has become impossible for the Quirkless to become Heroes, and All Might feels ashamed for adopting the same mentality, not only because of his own pass, but knowing he would've crushed these boys' dreams in order to protect them from facing Valiant's fate. He looks at them, conversing and thinking of ways they could improve upon their faults.
After one month of training, Izuku and Mikmo smile as they stand before the gates of UA Academy, both of them smiling as they fist bump one another, both of them smiling big as they begin to make their way towards the academy smiles on their faces but both of them stop as they turn around, sensing an angry presence. "Bakugou…" Izuku says.
"Out of my way losers!" He pushes them aside.
"That coming from the guy who Izuku beat half to death!" Mikumo says, smiling. Bakugo glares at him and jumps at him, only for Mikumo to grab the explosive idiot's face.
"How do you know about that!?"
"Izuku takes a lot of pride in the fact he gave you an Ode to the Nutshot before thoroughly kicking your ass in order to collect on a 10 year old Karmic Debt!"Mikumo says. "And sorry buddy, but I know all about your little explosion trick, so back off!" He throws Bakugo aside and sighs. "Bullies, am I right?"
"Yeah…" Izuku says, looking down. "Still, I couldn't just sit there and take it anymore…"
"I can understand that, Izuku, but you need to let go of your regrets, he had it coming!"
Mikumo is correct on that, had you let it continue, it would've gotten a lot worse here…
"I guess you guys are right, but still… I went to far when I went in for payback." Izuku says, tripping, only for a young woman to tap his shoulder and stop him.
"Whoopsie daisy, that would've been bad!" The brown haired girl says, righting him as he looks at her. "Oh and you!" She turns to Mikumo, "I overheard everything, and I agree, I hate bullies like him, so whatever this guy did to him, it was deserved!" She smiles and turns around, "Anyway see you two inside!"
"We…" Izuku says.
"Just talked to a girl…!" Mikumo finishes.
Wrong! This is both from Toxin and Virus, as they both speak at the same time.
The written test isn't much of a test for Izuku or Mikumo the two of them being more than smart enough to pass it with ease, however, as they are given the rundown for the Practical, the two boys are muttering to each other about what strategies they could use against the robots. "I have a question! This school handout clearly lists four different types of villains, such an error would be a great embarrassment for such a Top Tier National Academy like UA. The very reason we came here was to become Model Heroes!" He then turns to Mikum and Izuku, "And you two! Could you keep it down, you're distracting! If you think this is just a leisure school then get out!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Mikumo shouts.
"Cus, calm down!"
"Izuku and I were just discussing the same thing you were asking about, Richie Rich! So don't go bad mouthing us just because you're better off than the rest of us!" Mikumo shouts, clearly upset.
"What was that!?" The glasses wearing examinee shouts, clearly angry.
"Okay okay that is enough you two! Examinee 7111, what you said to them was highly uncalled for, but to answer your Question, the Fourth Villain Type you will be facing are Zero-Pointers. Has anyone played any of the games from the Mario Franchise, specifically the Super Mario Brothers?"
"I have sir!" Mikumo says, "And it's a rather fun Retro if I do say so myself!"
"Good, now tell me, do you know of those block shaped things with the spikes on them?"
"Yes sir, they were called Thwomps, enemies that are pretty much designed as indestructible traps that you had to avoid at all cost!" Mikumo says.
"Correct, Listener! Now these Zero Pointers are pretty much the same thing, however they are designed to react when they become crowded, rather than at calculated intervals like the Thwomps!" Present Mic explains. "They are the Gimmick of these exams if a large crowd gathers around them, they will react and rampage indiscriminately!"
"Thank you very much, both of you, and I apologize for being rude!"
"Humph…" Mikumo says, sitting down, clearly not in the mood to deal with this jerk after attacking his cousin like that.
"Welp anyway that's all the time we have for an explanation, but remember this, as a Hero named Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "A True Hero never stops overcoming the Misfortunes of Life"! So let us begin Plus Ultra, and I wish you all the best of luck in the trials to come!"
The group is soon lead to their selected Simulated Cities for their Practical Exams, where Izuku looks out to the city, stunned at the actual size of the place, but that is when he notices a certain pink girl amongst the crowd, and in that moment, the memories come flooding back from nearly a year ago. He smiles as he sees her and begins to walk towards her when a hand grabs his shoulder. "Hold it right there!"
"E-eh!?" Izuku asks, looking at him
"Who are you and what exactly are you doing here!?"
"I-I am here to take the entrance exams of course, but please don't take my timid nature as something you can take advantage of!" Izuku says, growing bolder by the second as his trauma comes back to his mind. "I am not one to be trifled with, one particular examinee in one of these crowds found that out the hard way after bullying me for nearly 10 years!"
"My apologies, it's just your timid nature was something I would not expect of a Hero! It seems you go to great lengths to keep whatever kind of Quirk you have under control!" Tenya Iida says.
"I-its no trouble, I've just developed this personality to avoid fighting fellow students until they push me beyond what I could take!"
That's putting it mildly!
"AAAAAND START!" Present Mic shouts, to which Izuku's mind recovers.
"Eh?"
The Exam has begun, Izuku! GET MOVING!
"Uh oh!" Izuku says, rushing past everyone using his tendrils and moving as fast as they will carry him.
"I see one of the Listeners was listening! What are you kiddies waiting for!?" Present Mic calls out "There is no such thing as a count down when there are the lives of innocent people or injured heroes on the line! The Baton has already been tossed, and one, no two, of you have already gotten a head start of the rest!"
The other examinees realize what is going on and everyone begins to rush for the battlefield, but by the time they catch up, Izuku has already collected at least 30 points. Moving to a ledge on a nearby building, taking a breather as he looks to see the other examinees getting their licks in on the robots. A very good start, Izuku, rest a moment before continuing on, there is still plenty of time left!
"Thanks Toxin…" Izuku says, smiling "These past five years, training with you, have been a blessing!"
Agreed, you have indeed grown well ever since we first met, and I am proud to have bonded to you! That is when suddenly there is the sound of loud mechanisms powering up as everyone looks to see the Gimmick appearing. Now that is big!
"NO KIDDING!" Izuku shouts, honestly terrified as the machine begins to rampage, but as he turns to run, he hears something.
"Ow! Damn It!" Izuku turns to see the girl he had saved before, pinned beneath rubble she is currently trying to melt with her acid. It is then his instincts kick in once again as the Gimmick readies to reach for the girl, his desire to protect welling in his body whilst he forms a sword with his tendrils. That is when there is a loud ringing as everyone turns to see the hand of the Gimmick crashing into a nearby building, and out of pure instinct, Izuku has transformed into his Toxin Hero Suit, and readies a gigantic fist made from every single one of Toxin's tendrils.
"IT'S TIME FOR SOME… INTOXICATION!" Izuku shouts slamming the fist into the Gimmick's face and sends it crashing backwards. Izuku looks in awe at the raw power he drew out, surprising even Toxin at the spectacle. The tendrils return to Izuku's body, recreating his Toxin Suit, then from his arms form a pair of wings, along with a shape shifting into a more aerodynamic design so that he may glide down. Shocked at this, Izuku simply allows himself to descend slowly as he leans his body to land near the Pink Girl, her acid having melted the stone around her body and she crawls out as quickly as she can to look at her hero.
"Toxin? Is that you?" She asks.
"Yes…" Izuku says, the mask flowing backwards and revealing his face, and every single one of the Examinees recognizes him as the Vigilante who appeared nearly a year ago who saved this girl. "I came to the exams in hopes of eventually obtaining my Hero's License so that I can operate without facing legal repercussions."
"So that's why you haven't appeared in the news since!" The girl says. "Still…" She looks down at his suit, "Who'd have thought you were a showoff? Your suit doesn't leave much for the imagination…" She is staring at his built figure that is on display thanks to the suit. "I am impressed!" Izuku can't help but blush while Toxin is just laughing inside of his head.
"AND THE TEST IS OOOOVER!" Present Mic calls out.
Meanwhile, Ten Minutes Earlier:
Mikumo is sitting in meditation as he waits patiently for Present Mic to call the start, and a young girl with long green hair and a frog-like appearance walks over to him. "Hello there…!"
"Hmmm?" Mikumo asks, looking up. "Oh hello! Who might you be?"
Careful Mikumo, you may not know who this girl will turn out to be later in your life! Mikumo just ignores him as the girl speaks up.
"My name is Asui Tsuyu, but please call me Tsu!" Tsuyu says, "I noticed how you were arguing with that boy with the glasses. I was wondering what caused you to snap at him like that."
"Well to tell you the truth, Izuku and I were pretty late bloomers when it came to our Quirks, we suffer from a very rare genetic disorder called Singularity, where our Quirks appear years later than most, usually between the ages of 10 and 15." Mikumo explains, which is actually something that is completely true. There are cases of latent quirks that don't appear at the normal times, and sometimes they have to be forced to wake up. Singularity is the most common cause of this, a genetic disorder that compiles a Quirk's latent power until environmental and emotional factors are just right for a flashy, and often destructive, first usage. However, it is a genetic disorder that is much rarer than being Quirkless, and usually only appears in families that have a Quirkless member in their family line, or who have a Quirkless parent.
"I see, so since you two had been bullied most of your lives due to your Quirks not showing up, you pretty much developed a hatred for those who throw around their weight for their own gain, huh?" Tsuyu asks.
"Yeah, and what Iida said really pissed me off… Sorry for the Foul Language but when I'm angry i say what's on my mind, consequences be damned." Mikumo explains.
"It's no trouble, I say what's on my mind with little to no self control myself." Tsuyu says. "Though I have to say, you really are a brave person, pretty much challenging somebody you don't know in order to protect someone who has shared your pain. It's kind of reckless when you think about it."
"Heh, "Reckless" was pretty much a nickname everyone gave me throughout Middle School, due to the fact i would always challenge anyone stronger than myself to a fight whenever they tried picking on me or people weaker than themselves. They would always call me Yamikumo, but I digress, it was a lot better than being a punching bag." Mikumo explains.
"Gero…" Tsuyu croaks, but then Mikumo stands up. "What's wrong?"
"Get ready to run…" Mikumo says, a serious look on his face.
"Huh?"
'You sense that presence, Virus?'
I do, time to suit up?
'Yeah!'
"AAAAND START!" Present Mic shouts, to which Mikumo jumps over the group.
'Keep the mask off, and focus on keeping the suit under my clothes! We can't let them see everything before school starts!'
Roger Roger! Jumping over the crowd, glad he is wearing a loose and light long sleeve shirt and jeans, with tennis shoes, he runs past the group, Tsuyu realizing what he meant by that, tries to move through the crowd to chase after him. However, after Present Mic admonishes them, the crowd quickly begins to move into the city, quickly falling behind Mikumo. Three o'clock!
'Copy!' Mikumo thinks, his spider sense going off as three tendrils strike several 3 Pointers down quickly, racking him up 15 points. The students below look in awe, especially Tsuyu and Ochako, who watch as he quickly destroys the Robots near him. "Long Range Fighters, form up on me! Close Combats, charge ahead, we'll cover you!"
"What does that guy think he's doing?" one of the examinees says, "Does he think he's the boss of us?"
"Nah, not likely going to listen to that jerk!"
"Is he trying to coordinate us so we all get points?" Tsuyu asks. Mikumo jumps to the highest point and unleashes his tendrils as far as they can reach then weaves them into a large cloth, something akin to a massive cloak with a large collar at his neck. What the other Examinees don't notice is that this display catches the attention of the other Point Bots and draws them in. In the Examiner's room, one person in particular is smiling.
"Rather impressive, and well thought out, this tactic!" A wise voice says. "He's using his Quirk to act as a beacon to attract the robots, and with them concentrated all in one place, the other students, as well as he, can pick them off from alternate angles. Ingenious!"
"Yes, rather ingenious indeed, and a few of the examinees have caught onto his plan…" A tired voice says, pointing out the Frog Girl, the Gravity girl, two boys with transformation quirks, as well as a quite a few others have taken notice of Mikumo's actions. The Robots move in and begin to gather at the point the Red Symbiote Host is located, the young man smiling as he looks towards the ground and sees those who understood his plan are hiding amongst the building's surrounding them.
"NOW!" Mikumo shouts, once enough have gathered, and Mikumo roars. "TIME TO GO VIRAL!" Virus then covers Mikumo's face and the group begins to fight for as many points as they can get, quickly thinning out the numbers as Mikumo uses his tendrils to get the backs of his allies.
"Going Viral…? Intoxication? Couldn't they come up with better puns?" All Might asks.
"That coming from the guy whose hero name is a play on the word "Almighty"..." The Tired Voice says, yawning.
"Hey!"
"Now now, you two, I think that is enough for today!"
"HOLY CRAP!" A shocked voice calls out, revealing Mikumo tearing off the Gimmick's head and throwing it onto the ground. The other examinees had evacuated, save for the Frog Girl and Gravity Girl, who were being held in the hands of the Gimmick. Using his tendrils Mikumo grabs the two and trans forms his arms into wings as he glides down, all of them landing safely as Present Mic calls Time.
Both Izuku and Mikumo look towards Present Mic's location with smiles on their faces, satisfied with whatever scores they get, and there is only one thing they want to have in order to celebrate this occasion: Chocolate Milkshakes! Due to cheese being made from milk, the two and their symbiotes often treat themselves to chocolate milkshakes to not only satisfy the sweet tooth they both developed, but it gives their symbiotes their much needed Meal of Phenethylamine. As the group exit the school's grounds, the two cousins are smiling at each other, and talking about how they performed on their tests. Within a few hours, they are at their favorite shop called Aquamarines, a nice little shop that makes custom ice cream treats and meals for cheap, and is very popular with many people, and its hear that Mikumo and Izuku often come to grab milkshakes. Mikumo, being a man of rather well developed tastes, has a chocolate milkshake with peanut butter and banana mixed in, while Izuku just takes a straight chocolate milkshake, but topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle on top, and to go with their shakes, they share a sausage and mushroom pizza, which makes the Symbiotes dance for joy, figuratively. "Delicious as usual!" both cousins say, smiling as they fist bump each other.
"Why thank you!" A man named Korito Yosamuu says, smiling. He is the owner of Aquamarine along with his sister Atsui, and he smiles at his two favorite customers. "It's also thanks to your quirks being so dependant on our recipes that e can further refine them!"
"Well we're happy to help!" Mikumo says, smiling, "Just as long as we get our milkshakes out of this, we're even!"
"Glad you think so!" Korito says, laughing arrogantly.
We're just here for the food…
"Anyway how much do we owe you this time?"
"Well based on your stories about you pretty much smashing the competition at the Entrance Exams, I say you guys get this meal at half price!" The man says, "That will be in total…." He runs the numbers on the register, "About 1,500 yen!"
"I'll pay this time, Izuku!" Mikumo says, paying for the meal. The two go home and soon nearly a week passes, in which Izuku waits impatiently for the results of his exam to arrive, to see if he made it into UA. He is confident he did, but somewhere, deep inside, the very back of his mind, something is eating away at him… Doubt…
Relax, Izuku, it is going to be alright, you did fairly well during the exams and I am sure we have gotten into UA. So just stay calm and focus on your training.
'You're right, Toxin, but I just can't help but worry about not doing good enough!'
I can understand, your old trauma is beginning to resurface, but you should have confidence Izuku, you've done quite well for yourself! Izuku tries to stay confident but its been nearly a week since the exams finished, and by now the results would've been given to him, and he's been trying to keep his confidence up about this. However, it is slowly eating at him, and with every day that passes, his confidence is slowly eaten away. His thoughts are disturbed, however, when there is a knock on the door as his mother brings him the results of his Exam. "I-i-i-Izuku! They're here! Your Results!" Izuku rushes to his mother. "I'll leave you alone to examine the results yourself, please tell me when you're done!"
"Alright!" Izuku says, to which Inko starts pacing outside the door, anxious to hear the results. Izuku meanwhile, tears open the package, to find a miniature projector that plays a message for Izuku. "All Might!?"
"Hello there, I am sorry for taking so long, but to make this year's results truly extraordinary, I had to go through ten cubic buttloads of paperwork! So please accept my sincerest apologies! On the bright side, I will be teaching at UA, and thanks to you, i can get back into my training in order to restore my powers to their fullest! So we'll be seeing a lot more of each other!" All Might explains. "Anyway onto your results, as I don't have much time left! You scored a flat…!" The screen flashes next to him. "One Hundred Points! Now as you were likely keeping track, you only managed to get a whopping 30 Points for taking out the Mock Villains, however, we were also measuring a student's performance on another factor, Rescue Points! And what you did against the Gimmick, saving several of your fellow Examinees, especially…" He shows the pink girl on the screen, "Her! She was so moved by your willingness to put yourself in danger that she asked if a few of her points could be transferred to yours to improve your score."
"That girl…!" Izuku says.
"However, you earned the highest number of Rescue Points possible by not only saving her, but your fellow Hero Candidates! So this is where a majority of your score came from!" He poses to the screen again, revealing a whopping 70 Rescue Points. "So congratulations you got into UA Academy, kid! However, you had revealed yourself to be Toxin, which caused some of the examiners to doubt your integrity, due to your act of Vigilantism nearly a year ago, so I suggest you take the time to modify your "suit", that way the "old" Toxin doesn't clash with the "new" Toxin! Anyway, that is all the time I have, congratulations Izuku Midoriya, and let me be the first to welcome to your Hero Academia!"
WE DID IT! Izuku tells his mother the great news and the mother and son cheer as they embrace each other through waterfalls of tears, and before Izuku goes to bed, he and Toxin go over the design of his costume once more, and finding a new design, hopefully it would put the teacher's minds at ease, and he would do his best not to disappoint anyone, not himself, not his mother, not even All Might, with a terrible performance at school! "When spring comes, it will be time for us to go… To..." Izuku's eyes gleam with a terrifying grin on his face as Toxin appears on half of his face. "Our Hero Academia…!"
Author's Note: Man this was a bit of a chore to write, but I managed to do it^^ Before we cut out today, I want to clear up a few things, I'm going to try and stick as close to MHA Canon as possible while keeping as true to the Klyntar Symbiote Information as I can. That being said, I am not going to make these chapters overly long like most people do, I just don't have the time in my days off to do such a thing! I'm a very busy man even when I am resting, especially with Thanksgiving and the Holidays coming up! So please forgive me for being blunt about my information. Anyway I thank you all for reading my story and I hope you MikuTsuyu Fans liked the little interaction with them, and in the next chapter I intend to do some interactions with MikuOcha until the poll ends and the pairing is decided! Once it is, one pairing will be discarded for another and I'll figure things out from there! Anyway you guys are awesome, thank you again for giving me your support, your criticisms, and your opinions on the Poll. Remember it ends on the First of December, and the winning pairing will get a Pairing focused chapter come Christmas Time as my gift to all of you, which will be a bit longer than most of my other chapters, and will act as one of the many glimpses into the pairing when I'm not focusing on the canon story! Catch you on the Flip Side, WEB SWING!