TheRedeemer1995: Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to The Venom Inside. Well, LegionnaireBlaze is still busy with their personal life, but he was able to tinker with it a little bit, so that works out nicely. That being said, since LegionnaireBlaze is preoccupied with their personal life, and I'm still a newcomer when it comes to My Hero Academia, on top of this story is getting really popular. I have made the executive decision to bring in a beta reader and/or an editor, in order to ensure that this story and its eventual series and spin-offs, live up to the support you guys have given it. Who is this beta reader/editor? Why, none other than PrinceRiolu! If you guys haven't checked out his story on Ao3, it's called: The Green Spider. It's a story where Izuku Midoriya gains the powers of Miles Morales' incarnation of Spider-Man and, having botched his Hero Support Course Exam, becomes a vigilante. After you're done reading this, why not go give it a read? It got a recommendation on TVTropes, so that has to count for something.
In any case, now that that's out of the way, let's get this show on the road!
Also, please note that this version of the chapter has not been fully edited, I just wanted to get something out there, as I feel I have kept you guys waiting long enough. When this chapter has been fully edited, then that version of the chapter will be uploaded in place of this one.
Chapter VII
Positives and Negatives
As he made his way down one of Mustafu's streets after school the following day, Izuku pondered over the hospital robbery he and Venom had stumbled across the night prior before they got entangled with Desert. Izuku was relieved to learn that Desert was expected to make a full recovery after having been blasted by the stream of water, although he was far less relieved to learn that the HPSC had announced that because of the 'attempt on Desert's life', Venom had not only been labeled a full-fledged villain, but the HPSC had announced that when captured, he would be locked away and left to rot in Tartarus Prison.
That aside, Izuku was somewhat surprised to learn that All Might of all people, had released a statement criticizing the overly heavy-handed approach the HPSC was taking in regards to handling the situation. Not only that, while he didn't condone the sheer brutality and viciousness of Venom's methods or his apparent preference of punishing the guilty rather than protecting the innocent, he did sympathize with Venom's professed goal of becoming a symbol that those that society had seemingly all but abandoned and trodden upon could look up to and rally behind. However, despite this surprise, it did little to restore Izuku's faith in his fallen idol. He had been burned too many times by people he once looked up to to be won over that easily.
Either way, with the HPSC labeling Venom as a villain, it was more important than ever for Izuku and his symbiote ally to acquire the evidence that proved the HPSC had lied about the Trigger-Enhanced Thug's death. That, and get the target they had painted on his back at least somewhat removed.
"I still don't get it, though… why were those goons stealing brains of all things?" Izuku asked the symbiote.
"They need the DNA? They're attempting to make cyborgs?" suggested Venom from within Izuku's mind.
Izuku sighed and shook his head. "No, that can't be it. Only I-Island would be capable of pulling off something like that. That and they wouldn't hire a bunch of villains and thugs to steal them, they'd probably just flat-out buy a stockpile of brains. Besides, last I heard, David Shield and his daughter were working on an instantaneous transportation device of some kind. I think it had something to do with the multiverse or something, I don't know," he let out a long sigh. "I guess we can figure the whole brain heist thing out later. Right now we need to scope out that morgue and figure out how to get in there and get the evidence to clear our names."
"We could do that… or we could work on expanding your social circle," replied Venom, making Izuku look across the street to find none other than Ochako Uraraka walking down the opposite sidewalk. She was chatting away with what looked like a trio of other girls that Izuku could only assume were her friends.
"Oh come on Venom, we shouldn't bother Ochako. She's hanging out with her friends from U.A." said Izuku.
"Izuku, if you're gonna win the heart of the fair Ochako Uraraka, you're gonna need to meet and leave a good impression on her friends. Don't bother lying and saying you don't have those kinds of feelings for her, you know there are no secrets between us. I know you have a crush on her. A small, yet constantly growing and evolving crush, but a crush none the less," Venom told his host, causing Izuku to sigh again, his face slightly red before shaking his head.
"Alright…you made your point," Izuku grumbled before making his way across the street, "Hey, Ochako!"
Ochako and her friends turned to see Izuku hobbling his way toward them. "Oh, hey Izuku!" she happily replied while waving at him.
"So, this is the guy you were telling us about, kero?" a girl with long black hair and what seemed to be a frog mutation quirk instantly asked.
"Hmm, yes, I see…" said another one of Ochako's friends, this one having pink skin, pink hair, and was wearing a pink outfit, who was also looking at him with a discerning eye. "Yes… yes, he certainly does seem like good boyfriend materia-ow!" she yelped as the third friend, a girl who had black hair tied in a ponytail, elbowed her in the side, cutting her off.
"Hush, Mina! He doesn't need to be getting the wrong idea!" the third friend whispered before adding, "Even if it is totally accurate," under her breath.
Izuku, who had heard none of what had just been said, smiled brightly as he reached Ochako and her friends. "I was on my way back to my apartment when I saw you and your friends walking by, so I thought I'd come and say hello," he said.
"Well, then, this is Tsuyu Asui-" Ochako said, indicating the girl with the frog mutation Quirk, who smiled at Izuku. "-Mina Ashido-" Ochako continued, indicating the pink haired and skinned girl who was rubbing her side where the third girl had elbowed her as she smiled at Izuku. "-and Momo Yaoyozoru," Ochako said as she finished introducing her friends.
"Ochako has told us quite a bit about you, Izuku… I can see why you would want to become a hero badly enough that you would attempt to take the U.A. Entrance Exam on despite being Quirkless," said Momo as she smiled at Izuku.
"Yeah, she's totally head over heels for-ow!" Mina started to say before getting another elbow to the side, this time from Ochako.
"Hush, Mina! Not now!" hissed Ochako, who had a small blush on her face before she turned to face Izuku, who was raising his eyebrow in confusion. "Sorry about Mina… she's really into romance, even though I keep telling her that you and I are just friends."
"Hey, I'm flattered," said Izuku as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Say, you guys want to go hang out someplace and chat a bit? I'd love to get to know you guys a bit better and I know this great cafe near here, best french fries in the city if you ask me."
Mina, Momo, and Tsuyu all looked at Ochako with, unless he was very much mistaken, devious grins on their faces as they all subtly nodded their heads, silently telling her to say yes.
Her face as red as a tomato from embarrassment, Ochako smiled and said, "Sure, we'd love to hang out with you, Izuku."
"Great! If you'll follow me then," said Izuku as he led the way to the cafe he was talking about.
Mick's Diner-Forty-Five Minutes Later
Momo, Tsuyu, Mina, and Ochako had to admit, these were some pretty good fries, an opinion that was shared by Venom. Izuku, for his part, was surprised to see the old man he'd run into while he was cleaning the beach prior to the Entrance Exam working here as a short order cook. More than that, Izuku was rather delighted as to how things at U.A. were going. And in all honesty, he really needed some good news after how the last few days had gone.
According to the girls, Eri had been taken into the care of one Shouta Aizawa, better known as the Underground Hero Eraserhead, who was rumored to be dating a hero by the name of Ms. Joke, and was apparently making great progress on getting a better grasp on her Quirk, which was apparently a chronological Rewind Quirk that worked on living creatures, working to master it by using it on small insects and the like, and that apparently when she used her Quirk, the horn on her head shrunk down, only to grow again as more of her power built up.
"Principal Nedzu and the rest of the U.A. Staff think that when and if Eri gets full mastery of her Quirk, she could be the greatest recovery hero of her generation. Degenerative diseases could become ancient history, cancer nothing more than a bad memory. Crippling paralysis, nothing more than an inconvience. If nothing else, her Quirk could buy those suffering from such afflictions more time until they can figure out what's causing the disease and cure it permanently. Recovery Girl was practically over the moon when she realized the restorative potential of Eri's Quirk," Momo told Izuku.
"That's nothing compared to how doting both Sir Nighteye and his intern Mirio are," said Mina. "I think if Mr. Aizawa hadn't volunteered to take care of Eri, Sir Nighteye definitely would have taken her in himself. And Mirio's practically become Eri's big brother."
"Sir Nighteye is a teacher at U.A.?" Izuku asked. "I thought he and All Might had some kind of falling out."
"No," Ochako explained. "But, apparently the guy who imprisoned and experimented on Eri was a key figure in a big investigation Sir Nighteye and Mirio are conducting, so he came to talk to her to see if she could tell him anything that might help his investigation, and, well, he took a liking to her. But, really, who wouldn't take a liking to Eri? She's so adorable!"
'Hmm… perhaps we should pay a visit to U.A. at some point, check and see how little Eri is doing among the heroes for ourselves,' Venom said within Izuku's mind.
'Agreed. Seems like Nedzu and the staff are putting the cart before the horse by assuming that Eri wants to become a recovery hero, or even a hero at all,' thought Izuku with a mild bitterness. 'Then again, Nedzu isn't exactly a human, so maybe we should cut him some slack.'
"Oh, Izuku, I should probably tell you this before I forget…" said Ochako, a serious expression on her face. "...I told my friends and Principal Nedzu about what you told me about your friend, Bakugou, and Aldera…"
An unreadable look crossed Izuku's face as he took this information in. "...and what did your friends have to say about what I told you?" he asked quietly, looking at Tsuyu, Mina, and Momo.
"Well, for one thing, you seem like every bit as great of a guy as she said, who doesn't deserve all the crap that life and that explosive asshole has put you through, for starters, kero," said Tsuyu.
"And that the rest of our friends are really interested in meeting you sometime," added Mina.
"One of our friends used to be Bakugou's best friend, and when he found out what he did to your friend and to you, he ended his friendship with Bakugou on the spot. In fact, I think no one wants to be Bakugou's friend, not after what Ochako told us," said Momo.
A grateful smile spread across Izuku's face. "Thanks for that. Truly," he said. "Now, what about Nedzu? What did he have to say about Aldera and Bakugou's true colors?"
"Unfortunately, there's not much to be done on that front," Ochako said. "While Nedzu did say that he believed me and by extension you, unfortunately, there's not much he can do without hard proof."
'Sounds like another item for our to-do list, once we expose the HPSC's lies about us,' Venom said from within Izuku's mind.
'Indeed,' replied Izuku within his mind before he spoke aloud. "You know, call me crazy, but I have a hunch that evidence Nedzu needs to bring that hellhole of a school crumbling down will show up before long. Now then, I have to meet up with my Mom, I will see you guys later."
And with that, Izuku left his payment on the table, before standing up and departing the restaurant, all four girls watching him go.
"Yeah, Ochako, you were right. He really does seem like he needs a real friend, really badly, kero," said Tsuyu, feeling sympathy for the green haired boy she'd just met.
"I just hope we and the rest of our little squad can provide the support he needs and help restore his faith in the good of this world. Though I suspect it won't be easy, not with everything he's been through because of his Quirklessness and Bakugou's… I'm not even sure it can be called bullying, I think it's more along the lines of torture. And he went through that for ten years straight… and I thought Shouto was a mess from what his dad put him through," said Momo.
"Well, if anyone can fix Shouto, it's you, Momo… just like Ochako is the one with the best chance to fix Izuku," said Mina.
Ochako, for her part, chose to say nothing, as she was troubled by what Izuku had said before he left.
"I have a hunch that evidence Nedzu needs to bring that hellhole of a school crumbling down will show up before long…"
'Izuku… you're gonna do something… dangerous, aren't you?' Ochako thought worriedly.
Above Mustafu Streets-Later That Night
As Venom swung above the Mustafu streets, Izuku was formulating a plan for exposing Aldera and Bakugou for who and what they truly were. He likely couldn't do it as either Venom or Izuku, as the latter would likely get him arrested for breaking and entering, while the former would probably cause other problems for him to deal with… so, what to do…?
'I'll figure that out later,' Izuku decided. 'Right now, I gotta figure out how to get inside that morgue and get the evidence we need to-'
Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts when his Symbiote Sense, as he had decided to call it, went off, mere moments before a blast of black, blue, and whitish energy struck Venom in the side, knocking him out of the air and sending him crashing down to the streets below.
"Ugh…" Venom groaned as he struggled to pull himself up off the ground, only to have his wrists bound by what seemed to be some kind of support device. Venom then pulled his head up enough to see that there was someone approaching him.
It was a man who looked like a living photonegative with short hair clad in a business that was no doubt modified with additional protections despite it appearing completely normal. In his left hand, he carried a baton that seemed to resemble a highly ornamental sword, but if Izuku knew his heroes right, which he was proud to say he did, it wasn't actually a sword.
'Oh, great. It's the Photonegative Hero, Number 18 on the Japanese Pro Hero Charts, Mr. Inverter. In addition to those energy blasts, his Quirk allows him to 'invert' people,' explained Izuku.
'What do you mean, 'invert' people?' Venom asked his host.
'I mean that he has the ability to flip around people's perception of right and wrong through prolonged physical contact, so good becomes bad, and bad becomes good,' Izuku explained.
'Seriously? A Quirk like that and he's only the number 18 hero? How is he not number one?' asked Venom.
'His power doesn't last forever, but it does last long enough for the villains and criminals he captures to be arrested. That, and he isn't really into the Top Heroes little contest to out-vigilante each other,' explained Izuku.
As he reached Venom, Mr. Inverter crouched down to look the vigilante in the eyes and chuckled. "I gotta admit, that was easier than I was expecting it to be, considering you're supposed to be the villain who made All Might turn tail and retreat," the photonegative man said, his voice distorted by his Quirk.
Venom roared in outrage. "We are NOT a villain! The HPSC is lying! We did not kill that thug or anyone else! And Desert attacked us first while we were investigating that hospital break-in! We only acted in self-defense!" he snarled.
"Uh-huh, sure," Mr, Inverter said as he placed his hand on Venom's chest, clearly not believing the vigilante. "Now then… do me a favor and try to relax."
Mr. Inverter's power then began coursing from his hand into Venom and into Izuku as a result, causing Venom to start struggling as his black body suddenly turned white, while his white eyes, the white spider symbol on his chest, and the white patches on the back of his hands turned black.
After a few moments, Mr. Inverter removed his hand. "That should do the trick. Now, what say we head down to the station and get you into a nice warm cell before you get shipped off to Tartarus?"
"Yeah, sure, just one question," Venom said. "Was that actually supposed to do anything, or was it just supposed to give us a new color scheme? Because while we'll agree that white is probably more heroic, black is more our color."
A confused look crossed Mr. Inverter's face before one of Venom's trapped arms broke free from the device restraining it and grabbed Mr. Inverter by the front of his shirt and threw him across the street into the wall on the other side, causing him to drop his sword-like baton, before Venom's other arm broke free of its restraint and he pulled himself up off the ground and made his way towards the Photonegative Hero as he pulled himself out of the wall.
"What is this?! You should be consumed by guilt over your crimes! So, why didn't my Quirk work?!" demanded Mr. Inverter.
"Unless we're mistaken, your Quirk inverts people, so bad becomes good, and good becomes bad. White turns to black, black turns to white. But, tell me something, what if the person you use it on is neither good nor evil, neither white nor black, but rather resides in the gray somewhere in between? What happens then?" asked Venom as he lumbered toward Mr. Inverter.
"But… but that's impossible! No one can exist in the gray between hero and villain! It simply doesn't exist!" said Mr. Inverter before firing a blast of energy at Venom, who was sent flying through the air and into the wall behind him, leaving a large crater.
"That's what the distorted society built by the HPSC wants you and the rest of this world to believe. That black and white, good and evil, are clearly distinct, without even a speck of gray in between. But, then again, what do you expect of the organization who says that only those with specific Quirks can be heroes, while those with 'villainous' Quirks are automatically labeled as supervillains, and those without any power at all can do nothing but worship the ground the ego maniacs who think themselves gods among men walk on, even if they're completely horrible human beings?" said Venom with a growl as he pulled himself out of the wall.
"Take Endeavor for example. He ENDANGERS more people in his fights against villains alone, as opposed to the people he saves, to say nothing of what we've heard of his parenting and family man skills, and yet he still has people who idolize him as the Number Two hero. This society has been distorted and twisted from what it should be, where Quirks and powers are everything, and who the people with those powers are as human beings means nothing. And it is our new purpose in life to take it back kicking and screaming back to the realm of decency and common sense, no one else has to suffer for daring to reach for the impossible as we did! NO ONE ELSE!" Venom roared as he shot his arm out at Mr. Inverter, grabbed him, and glued him to the wall directly behind him before turning around and starting to walk away before Mr. Inverter spoke up.
"You… aren't going to kill me? You had no problem trying to kill Desert!" said Mr. Inverter called out to Venom.
Venom stopped and turned to face Mr. Inverter. "We told you before, we're not murderers. Our mother did not raise a supervillain. Our father might have for all we know, but he left us a long time ago. Mom thinks she can hide it from us, but we're not idiots. Besides, you were just doing your job as a hero, trying to take down a wanted 'villain,'" Venom said, using air quotes before his body changed back to its regular color scheme in a puff of blue, black, and whitish energy.
"Ah, that's more like it. Was worried we'd have to change our name to Anti-Venom or something. Anyway, where were we? Oh, yeah. As we were saying, we don't fight real heroes like you and Desert. We only fight villains, criminals, corrupt heroes who care more about themselves and their wallets rather than the safety and protection of the innocent, and people who just REALLY piss us off. You do not fit any of those criteria, so you just get to stick to that wall and think about what we told you," said Venom before he leapt into the air and began swinging away into the night.
…
What neither Izuku nor Venom realized was that, in truth, Mr. Inverter's power actually did have an effect on them, just not one that anyone could have predicted. The energy from Mr. Inverter that was sent into Izuku caused an odd reaction, resulting in bits of Venom merging with Izuku's white blood cells, and even his bone marrow, thanks to Venom healing Izuku's injured leg.
However, it would be many more months of trials, battles, and tribulations before the results of this reaction would become apparent, and when it did, Izuku's old dream of becoming a hero and saving people with a smile, new life.
TheRedeemer1995: Hmm… I wonder what that last part is going to lead to? I wonder… I'm sure if you know you Spider-Man stuff, you'll know what legionnaireblaze and I are planning for Izuku, but don't get your hopes up. It ain't happening in this story, we got four other stories, five counting this one, to get through before that happens, assuming it is what you think it is.
In any case, if you guys liked what you saw here, then be sure to fav, follow, review, give lots of love and support to PrinceRiolu for his wonderful editing work, and join us next time as Izuku and Venom FINALLY get the evidence they need to clear their names… something that proves to be quite the ENDEAVOR, if you catch my drift. See you then!