TheRedeemer1995: Greetings prospective readers, and welcome back to The Venom Inside! So, the My Hero Academia manga is coming to an end, I hear… wow, I guess I really have joined the party late, haven't I? However, I'm pretty sure the MHA fandom will still be around for years to come. I mean, the Inuyasha and Naruto fandoms are still alive and kicking, sequel series of varying success aside. But, never mind that, WHO'S READY FOR A SYMBIOTE FIGHT?! LET'S GOOOOOOOO! Even better: LEGIONNAIREBLAZE IS BACK! Albeit in a limited capacity because reasons, but still he's back!
LegionnaireBlaze: Hi everyone.
Chapter IX
A Surprise Lashing
At A Local Cafe…
Izuku, clad in a black dress shirt, black sports coat, black belt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes, which were all actually Venom in disguise, couldn't help but smirk as he watched the TV in a cafe while sipping a mug of hot chocolate. His plan to get the HPSC off his back was working out better than he had anticipated.
He had planned to entangle the commission in a scandal to keep them preoccupied while he continued his work, but he had never anticipated his exposure of a singular instance of power abuse would turn into a full blown cascade of corruption. And it happened in a mere 24 hours. It was like the rest of the government had pulled on the thread that he had loosened, only for an unraveling of a whole web of corruption. That or the government had been doing their own investigation that they had kept silent from the public, and Venom had blown the lid off the whole thing.
Funny how things played out sometimes.
On top of that, as he anticipated, several Top Heroes including Endeavor and Hawks had been fired. They were kicked out of the hero system, and were being investigated for their crimes, much to the satisfaction of those who had been wronged by those ex-heroes from what he heard. Not only that, the HPSC President had been placed on indefinite administrative leave by the Prime Minister himself for inappropriate allocation of tax money, covering up the crimes of aforementioned former heroes, and generally letting society get as bad as it did. A guy named Mera, as the most morally upright out of the commissioners in the organization, was now running it in her stead. Izuku couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but there was something he liked about Mera. Hopefully he would steer the commission back to the realm of decency and common sense. And most importantly of all, Venom's name had been cleared of all charges, and they were now the hottest topic of discussion in the city, with a good number of people supporting them and what they stood for.
Neither the teenager nor his symbiote and best friend could hide their satisfaction at that.
However, it seemed that his actions had caused Nedzu and the U.A. Faculty to take an interest in him. The principal had released a statement saying that he and his staff had deduced that Venom was actually school-age, and that they were now seeking the vigilante out to extend an offer out for Venom to attend the school. Apparently, they believed he had the potential to become a true hero by legal means, although he would have to answer for his unlicensed vigilantism.
It honestly made Izuku want to laugh.
'Hypocrites, all of them,' Izuku bitterly thought. 'They had no problem casting me aside when I was powerless and broken, and now all of a sudden they want to welcome me with open arms. And it's all because I've exposed just how bad things are for the Quirkless, Weak Quirked, and Villainous Quirked,' Izuku snarked inside his head as he took a drink of hot chocolate.
'You know Venom, back before we met, there was a time where I would have sold my soul to the devil himself for the opportunity to attend U.A. and become a true hero. But now I know better. There are no true heroes. Everyone's in it for money and power, and not a single one of them wants to make a real difference. Endeavor was proof enough of that. While I am satisfied with the progress we've made in changing things with the downfall of Endeavor, those other heroes, and even the HPSC President, our work is far from finished. Society's corruption runs deep. Much deeper than a bunch of corrupt officials, abusive glory hounds, and attention seekers. So much more work needs to be done, work we can't do as a Hero Student, playing by their rules and becoming another cog in their broken system.'
'Agreed. People need dramatic examples to shake them out of their apathy, and we cannot do that by playing by the rules,' replied Venom. 'In this world where power rules everything, becoming a hero their way would accomplish nothing, and before long we would become no different than the rest of the hypocrites. By being a Symbol of Vengeance and a vigilante, we can give society the wake-up call it so desperately needs. Exposing the corruption of the HPSC and those former Pro Heroes was just the beginning. Plus, there's still a few scores that need settling, correct?'
'Yes,' Izuku replied as he took another sip of hot chocolate. 'Aldera Junior High, Bakugou, and the Sleuth, the Detective Hero… they need to pay for what they've done to me, Ichi, and so many others. But we need to figure out a plan of attack for bringing that hellhole of a school crashing down. In the meantime, I believe there's a certain little girl that we need to pay a visit,' Izuku told the symbiote as he stood up.
A second later, the teen had left the cafe, not catching wind of a little boy having gone missing in Tokyo, his parents having been torn to shreds by some kind of large blade. It had left their dismembered bodies and the body of the suspected culprit behind, and that some kind of creature had gone on a rampage on I-Island before being successfully detained…
U.A. Main Entrance - Forty-Five Minutes Later…
"So the problem child with a death wish returns," commented Shouta Aizawa, better known as the Underground Hero Eraserhead. "Gotta admit, you look pretty good for someone who got their leg wrecked for life."
"Well, what can I say?" said Izuku as he hobbled up to Aizawa with a small smile on his face. "It really is amazing how good a new suit can make you feel, even with a bad leg. Plus, I look pretty damn good if I do say so myself."
Eraserhead couldn't help but smirk at that before gesturing to Midoriya to follow him. He had to admit, the stupid problem child cleaned up pretty nicely between his new haircut, his black suit, and his cane. Though something about the suit struck Aizawa as being a little off. How in the hell did a Quirkless kid with a leg injury afford something that looked more expensive than all clothing that Eraserhead owned?
"So, that suit of yours… where'd you get it?" asked Aizawa.
"Ah, this? It's actually a hand-me-down from my dad," Izuku replied easily. "My Mom and I took it to the tailor to get it refitted for my size. Cost us a bit of our savings, but it was worth it if you ask me."
"I see…" Eraserhead slowly said as he and Izuku reached the front entrance of the school. "Well go ahead and head to the front desk. The receptionist will see you get to the room Eri's waiting in. I gotta finish up preparations. My class and I are heading over to the Unplanned Simulation Joint so my students can get a taste of rescue hero work."
"Ah, I see," Izuku responded while recalling that Ochako had said something about the facility when they had first gone out for coffee. "Well, thanks again for walking me to the entrance at least."
Aizawa nodded before turning on his heel and walking away, leaving Izuku on his own.
"All right, now then…" Izuku asked himself as he entered the building. "Which way to the front office?"
As he limped along the halls of U.A. in search of the front office, Izuku caught sight of two boys who seemed to be in an argument of some kind. Though, as he got closer, a small smile crept onto Izuku's face, as it became clear that the two boys were arguing about him.
"Give it a rest, will you, Tenya? Venom's no villain, he's a vigilante, and he's more of a hero than my father ever was, he saved those people from that fire the other night. On top of that, whether he knows it or not, he saved me, my mother, my sister, my brother from Endeavor, and avenged our eldest sibling. He's not like the guy who crippled your brother, he's different," one of the boys, who had red and white hair, a scar on the side of his face, and was looking particularly exasperated.
The other boy, who had short black hair and glasses, wore a particularly frustrated expression. "As far as I'm concerned, Venom is no different than Stain. The both of them are the worst kind of criminal, who act completely outside the system. Hell, Venom is practically an anarchist trying to destroy Hero Society, which makes him even worse than Stain. What are you and Momo thinking even considering supporting someone like that?!" he exclaimed.
As he looked on, Izuku felt a strong urge to hit the guy with glasses. Instead though, he approached the two boys, "Can't destroy what's already broken. As someone who's gone through more than enough of society's bullshit because of being Quirkless, I can more than say with certainty that Hero Society broke a long time ago. However, it seems like it's only just now that people are noticing, thanks to Venom," he said as he limped up to the two, both turning to him in confusion.
"Who the hell are you?" the boy with the scar asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" Izuku chuckled with a friendly smile. "My name's Izuku Midoriya."
"Wait, Izuku Midoriya? As in, Ochako's boyfriend, Izuku Midoriya?" asked the boy with glasses, which immediately caused Izuku to turn beet red.
"O-Ochako and I are just friends! I-I mean, she is really hot- I-I mean attractive- I mean, physically speaking- and she's nice, but-oh God, what am I saying?!" Izuku stammered as Venom started howling with laughter inside his head. The two boys in front of him smirked and let out amused chuckles. Yeah, this guy was clearly as smitten with Uraraka as she was with him. "U-um, anyway, who-who are you?"
"Well, I'm Shouto Todoroki, and this stick-in-the-mud is Tenya Iida," replied the boy with red and white hair before pointing at the boy with glasses.
"I am not a stick-in-the-mud," Tenya grumbled. "I just have more common sense than some people. Especially in light of that vigilante's actions and his blatant attempt to destabilize our country."
"Is that so?" asked Izuku with a raised eyebrow, a fire now lighting in him. "Perhaps you're the one who lacks common sense. Tell me something, do you know what the oldest lie in the world is?" Izuku shined a small smile at this. "It's that power can be innocent, or at least, that it can be innocent a hundred percent of the time. Look at Endeavor. For decades he's been obsessed with proving himself better than All Might at the cost of what should have been his top priority, perhaps even a higher priority than his job. The sad truth is he would have gotten what he really wanted in the end, it was only just a matter of time, especially with All Might becoming less and less active ever since his fight with Toxic Chainsaw. But instead, he allowed his lust for greater power and status to make him think he was above the law, and now he's been fired as a hero, being investigated for crimes that, if convicted, will see him rot in Tartarus until doomsday, not to mention he's being sued for millions of yen."
"And then, there's people like Katsuki Bakugou," Izuku continued, "He was my best friend when we were snot-nosed little kids, did you know that? Then his Quirk came in and I was diagnosed as Quirkless. When that happened, Kaachan, who promised to become my partner in fighting against evil and for justice, threw me and everything we ever shared away like trash. For ten years, he made my life and the life of my only friend after the diagnosis a living hell, and I'm sure Ochako told you what happened to my friend after he late-bloomed. This is not a world of heroes and villains. This is a world where the strong with the right powers get everything they want handed to them on a silver platter, while the weak are either treated like second-class servants or slaves at best, and those with the wrong powers are pushed into evil or take their own lives because they felt they had no other choice, when all it would have taken for them to live with those powers is one good friend. From where I'm sitting, that's the world Venom is trying to fix. A world where power, not character, rules over everything," Izuku said with a huff, leaving Shouto and Tenya stunned at the small rant he had just gone on.
"Damn Tenya… you really got him going, didn't you?" Shouto commented. "Sorry for what you've been through man. Ochako was right about you, you really have been through some shit."
"Indeed she was," Tenya added. "I… apologize if what I said offended you in some way."
"No, no, I'm sorry. It's just that… this topic gets me a little worked up because of what happened to Ichi… I didn't come here to argue about Venom's goals or your opinions about them," apologized Izuku. "Speaking of which, I'm looking for the main office. Can either of you give me directions as to where I might find it?"
Shouto nodded and gave Izuku directions to the front office. Izuku thanked that dual-colored hair boy and began limping off in the direction he was told to go in, with Shouto watching him go.
Shouto had thought that he had been through Hell and back thanks to the abuse and borderline torture that his father had subjected to him, his siblings, and his mother, but whereas his suffering had been physical for the most part, Midoriya had suffered far more emotionally. Between having his childhood best friend betray him and then proceed to make his life and the only friend he had left a living hell for ten years, then having his best friend commit suicide and leave him all alone, on top of suffering at the hands of the staff of his middle school and students who attended there, not to mention having his leg permanently damaged in a desperate attempt to try to make something of himself and prove his worth to the people who had looked down on him. It was a wonder that Izuku hadn't tried to take his own life after everything he had been through.
Shouto would do what he could to help Uraraka and the rest of their friends pull Midoriya out of his suffering and pain… though he'd be lying if he didn't say that he was worried about the possibility of making things worse. After all, for some people, when they break, they can't be put back together again. But damn if he wasn't gonna try.
U.A. Staffroom - A Short Time Later
"Izuku!" Eri cried happily, who was wearing gloves with her horn now noticeably smaller as she ran up and gave Izuku a big hug, causing Izuku to chuckle, along with two other people in the room, one who bore a striking resemblance to a character by the name of Tintin from an ancient comic of the same name, and a man with short blonde hair and glasses.
"Heh, good to see you again Eri," Izuku said as he ruffled Eri's hair before turning his attention to the two other people in the room. "And you two must be Mirio and Sir Nighteye, the other two parental figures that Eri's gained now that she's out of that masked lunatic's hands. Nice to meet you both," Izuku said as he held out his hand.
"Same," Mirio, the Tintin-esque person, said as he took Izuku's hand, followed by Sir Nighteye, who merely nodded in greeting. Although for some reason, Sir Nighteye's eyes glazed over for a few moments as he firmly grasped Izuku's hand.
…
"Nothing you do will matter, child. I have lived for millenia, and will live for millions more. My will is inevitable." A large man clad in vantablack armor with a glowing red symbol on his chest. A large black sword was clasped in his hand, and dozens of buildings were cut in half around him.
"Then I guess I'll die braver than most." Izuku said defiantly before the vision changed.
"You can't run from me forever, Izuku!" A tall, blood red and jet black person, female judging by her build and the long hair, screamed as she lunged at Izuku with her fang-filled maw opened wide. "To think, Himi still loves you as much as I loved him… but now you'll die for taking him from me!"
Izuku barely dodged out of the way of the creature's attack before a large rock smashed into the chaser.
"Get away from my man, you bitch!" a female voice called out before the vision shifted again.
"I'm dying, 'chako… there's something wrong with my white blood cells, some kind of mutation… they don't know what it is, but it's affecting me on a genetic level. They don't even know how much time I have left," a slightly older Izuku said, looking as though he was doing everything he could not fall apart emotionally as a girl with brown hair in a bob cut pulled him into a hug, her eyes filled with tears.
…
Sir Nighteye suddenly returned to the present as the vision ended, and his surroundings returned. Izuku frowned at Sir Nighteye in confusion.
"You okay?" Izuku asked the Pro-Hero.
"Er, yes. I'm fine," replied Sir Nighteye. "You three have fun. There's business I need to attend to back at the agency."
With that, Sir Nighteye took his leave, having more questions than answers about what he had just seen in the green-haired boy and possible vigilante's future.
One thing was certain however. Something big was coming in that boy's future, something that could potentially be worse than All For One. Problem is, he had absolutely no clue what it was.
Sir Nighteye looked back over his shoulder, where Izuku, Mirio, and Eri were all laughing and smiling. He and a few others would need to keep an eye on the Midoriya boy, even if it turned out he wasn't Venom, somehow. Then again, Midoriya was supposed to be Quirkless, so maybe his suspicions did not have merit after all. Regardless, the fact still remained that Venom only attacked Overhaul after Midoriya had fled with Eri, rather than around the same time, if the witness testimony was to be believed.
Back With Izuku, Eri, and Mirio…
"So… you're going by the hero name Lemillion, the man who would save a million lives?" Izuku asked Mirio, a small smile on his face. Such idealism reminded him of himself until he finally began to accept reality for what it truly was. Izuku gave an amused chuckle. "Talk about swinging for the fences… then again, I guess delusions of grandeur are part of what makes a hero in this day and age."
Mirio frowned. "What, you don't think I can do it?" he asked Izuku.
"I think you can do it, Mirio!" Eri said happily.
Izuku couldn't help but look at Eri with a small smile. The faith and naive innocence of a child, particularly one who had been through Hell and back as Eri had, was truly something else. If only there was a way to preserve it forever, even after reality did everything it could to crush it. Izuku sighed. "You wanna know why I helped you, even after you told me about your curse, Eri?" Izuku asked the young girl. "I helped you because I'm cursed too," said Izuku sadly. "My curse… is not having special powers at all. Not super strength, not super speed, not construct creation stemming from my willpower, rage, or ability to instill fear or hope, nothing. And ever since I found out about it, I've had to suffer every day of my life. My best friend betrayed me and used me as his personal training dummy for ten years straight, my only other friend… left me forever. Everywhere I went, people hurt, belittled, demeaned, humiliated, bullied me, or just stood around and watched, if they weren't putting others up to making my life and the lives of people like me a living hell. Although I expect anything I've been through is nothing compared to what you've been through, Eri."
"That's why, I don't think saving a million lives is a very realistic goal," Izuku said as he stared down at the ground. "If someone could save a million lives, then someone would have saved me and others like me a long time ago, and so many people who took their own lives over something they had no control over would still be among the living. If someone could save a million lives… my friend would still be here, and he'd likely be a student here at this very school. No matter how many lives are saved, there's always someone who gets left behind, forsaken and forgotten… like I was."
The next thing Izuku felt was Eri launching herself at him like a small ballistic missile, her arms wrapping around him in as big of a hug as she could manage, while Mirio could only look on, coming to terms with just how badly hurt the green-haired boy sitting beside him truly was, his leg injury notwithstanding.
"It's okay, Izuku… there's no need for you to be so sad anymore," Eri said.
"Why, Eri?"
"Because I am here." Eri said looking up to Izuku with a bright smile.
Izuku felt himself smile in return. It had been a long time since that sentence had made him smile like he was now, and he felt tears begin to form in his eyes as he returned Eri's hug. "Thank you, Eri…" he said as he tried to hold back his tears.
As Mirio watched the scene unfolding before him, someone knocked on the Staffroom door, causing the older boy to stand up and make his way over to the door and open it to find a female staff member standing there, relaying something to Mirio, before departing. With a sigh, Mirio turned to face Izuku and Eri. "Um, sorry, guys, but there seems to be a situation developing. I need to get Eri to safety and make sure you get out of here okay, Izuku," he said.
Izuku frowned, wiping his eyes as he spoke. "What's going on?" he asked the older boy, before something faintly pinged on his Symbiote Sense, but there was something funny about this ping in particular.
'No way… it can't be… dare I hope…?' Venom muttered inside Izuku's mind before Mirio spoke up again.
"The staff lost contact with the USJ," explained Mirio.
"USJ? Universal Studios Japan?" Izuku asked, confused why U.A. would be in contact with them.
"No, the Unplanned Simulation Joint. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for quite as much concern, as these things do happen from time to time, normally from Quirks interfering with the electronics. But apparently a few days ago, someone destroyed a security gate and got their hands on the U.A. schedule for today, so the staff is taking additional security precautions. Now come on, let's go."
Izuku nodded and stood up, Eri holding his hand the whole way to the exit. With a quick promise that he'd come back and hang out with her again sometime soon, Izuku made his way to the gate leading out of the U.A. Grounds, only to stop in his tracks and glance around. Making sure there was no one around in his immediate area before ducking into a nearby shadowy corner just outside of the security cameras' line of sight.
"Mask."
"Copy." Venom said as he formed over Izuku, and the two leaped up to the roof to see where the USJ building was before noticing a trail of dust coming towards U.A. from a nearby building.
'Bingo,' Venom and Izuku thought before the duo leapt off the rooftop.
Unplanned Simulation Joint - A Few Moments Later…
For the longest time, Tomura Shigaraki had always been a believer in the ancient video game mantra that winners didn't use cheats. Now however, he realized that he was sorely mistaken to believe that.
That green sludge that Sensei had him bond with was making him feel amazing. Like he could climb mountains… or crush them beneath his heel after decaying them and making them crumble. Plus, it had managed to heal the cracked skin that had long been a side effect of his Decay Quirk, which admittedly, was a bit more disconcerting. He had grown used to the feeling of the perpetual itchiness enough that, and with it gone, he had developed a tick of scratching his neck when stressed.
And boy was he feeling stressed in his first real fight against Pro-Heroes, even with a bunch of NPCs, a massive, synthetic creature with an exposed brain known as a Nomu, and Kurogiri as their getaway driver. Or, getaway warper, technically, he supposed. As it turned out, these snot-nosed little kids were actually holding their own against the NPCs he'd brought along to keep the other Pros busy while the Nomu dealt with All Might. In fact, it had gotten to the point where Shigaraki had been forced to let Nomu off his leash early to deal with the mook heroes before All Might had even taken the field.
"Having others fight for you? How much of a coward are you?" Eraserhead yelled at Shigaraki.
"Don't you know anything about games, Eraserhead? Before you can fight the boss, you need to beat the Mid-Boss first." Shigaraki chuckled as the Nomu fought Eraserhead, the Underground Hero being perpetually forced on the defensive, just trying to do what he could to stay out of the way of the creature's attacks.
However, everyone in the USJ's attention was quickly diverted by the sound of shattering glass as something big and black came crashing through an overhead window and landing on the ground, leaving a small dent where the figure landed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, heroes and villains alike… the cavalry has arrived!" Venom cackled as he stood up to his full height and let out a ferocious roar.
"Venom?! Why are you here?!" Shigaraki asked as he itched the back of his neck furiously.
"Oh, we just happened to be in the neighborhood. We felt like cracking a few skulls, and wouldn't you know it, you and your goon platoon just so happened to be attacking our friends!" snarled Venom as he lumbered toward Shigaraki, a furious look on his face as the heroes and students in question frowned in confusion. Last time they checked, none of them were friends with the terrifying vigilante. Heck, they barely knew anything about him aside from publicly available knowledge, rumors, and theories.
"Heh, don't you know anything about games, Venom? You gotta defeat the Mid-Boss before you fight the Boss," replied Shigaraki before Venom laughed and grabbed the scrawny man before he could call for the Nomu to back him up.
"Don't you know anything about video games?" Venom asked snidely before he threw Shigaraki across the room. "You beat our Mid-Bosses, so welcome to the Boss Fight!"
OST: Madness Envenom by Brandon Yates
Venom leapt across the room to where Shigaraki had landed and tried to pummel him, only for his eyes to widen in shock at two things, one was his punch being caught by someone who looked so malnourished, the other was that the hand was covered in green slime which then covered the rest of the boy's body and formed into another Symbiote. Dark green, tall, and lanky, with four tendrils waving behind it.
"Sorry Tommy, but like Harbinger, I'm assuming direct control," the green symbiote said with a leering smirk.
'Another symbiote?!' Izuku exclaimed from within Venom.
"Lasher? You're alive?" Venom gasped with disbelief and hope before Lasher roared and slammed Venom backwards with two of the tendrils. And as this happened, those who weren't preoccupied with fighting their own villains looked between the two eerily similar, though differently colored, beings in confusion.
"No thanks to you, Venom. Then again, I can't say I'm surprised, given that you always were a goody-two-shoes, as they say," Lasher sneered. "While you've been running around trying to make this world a happy place and toppling governments, I've been cooped up in a can surrounded by weirdos calling themselves the League of Villains until the television they take orders from finally said to let me out, and only the King in Black knows what's going on with the others! But with all that's happened, I'd say the mission is officially scrubbed… and that means all bets are off. You've had this coming for a long time, Venom!" Lasher snarled before one of his tendrils transformed into a large blade that attempted to slice Venom in half, only for the vigilante to dodge out of the way.
'Okay Venom, you know more about this guy than I do, so what's the plan?' Izuku asked from within Venom.
"As his name implies, Lasher specializes in long-range attacks, but his close-range combat is weaker by comparison, so that's our best chance at taking him down," replied Venom.
'Got it,' Izuku commented as he and Venom weaved between Lasher's bladed tendrils and got in close to deliver a powerful punch that sent Lasher flying. But as this happened, the green symbiote quickly recovered and lashed out once more at Venom, who was sent flying through the air, crashing into a wall.
"Ow," growled Venom before the sound of a nearby wall getting smashed down reached his ears, and out of the corner of his eye, Venom saw none other than All Might step through and approach Venom.
"Need a hand?" he asked the black-clad vigilante as he held out his hand.
Venom growled back at the hero. "We can take care of ourselves. But, we daresay your allies could use a bit of help," the black-clad vigilante hissed, pointing in the direction of the Nomu, where the other heroes were still fighting their losing battle.
"It seems you're right," said All Might. "After we're done here, you mind hanging around for a bit? We need to talk."
"About that offer you and the rest of U.A. want to make us, right? Yes, we watch the news, as depressing and irritating as it is," Venom snarled as he pulled himself off his feet. "We don't mind sticking around a bit to talk about that offer, because we have got some things to say about that. But for now, just shut up and get the job done!"
Before Venom leapt back into the fray, he caught sight of a familiar boy with blonde hair glaring at him. A devious smirk crossed his face as he lumbered toward Bakugou, and grinned down at him.
"Do us a favor and get your Quirk ready," said Venom.
Bakugou frowned. "Get my Quirk ready for whAAAAAAAAT!" screamed Bakugou as Venom grabbed a hold of him and threw him at Lasher like a lawn dart, only for Lasher to swat the incoming projectile aside, sending Bakugou crashing into a nearby wall, unconscious, and causing Lasher to roar angrily at Venom.
"Eh, it was worth a shot. And it was kinda fun too," Venom laughed with a shrug before charging at Lasher and taking him on in hand-to-hand combat once more as All Might engaged the Nomu in combat.
As they watched the battle between the two monsters unfold, Ochako turned to Kyouka, the two heroines-in-training struggling to remain on their own two feet from the hard-fought battles they had just partaken in.
"You know, maybe… maybe we should help him," Ochako said to Kyouka.
"Which… which one?" asked Kyouka, completely out of breath, her exhaustion making it hard to think.
Ochako gave her friend a look that clearly said 'are you kidding me?' "Help the black one, duh! Blast the crap out of the other one!"
"Right, right, got it," said Kyouka as she grabbed one of her earphone weapons and aimed it in Lasher's direction. Unfortunately, her exhaustion was making it hard for her to aim accurately. Once she thought she had a decent shot lined up, Kyouka fired a powerful sonic blast before collapsing to the ground. Unfortunately, due to Kyouka's aiming troubles, both Venom and Lasher were caught in the sonic blast.
The pain Izuku felt from Kyouka's stray sonic blast was unlike anything he had ever felt. It felt like every atom of his being was being torn apart at the seams. Not even the worst beating that Bakugou had ever given him, a particularly memorable beatdown on the first day of their last year at Aldera Junior High that had put his high pain tolerance through its ultimate test, left him clutching desperately to life. That and it had left him baffled at how his mother hadn't asked any questions.
Meanwhile, as he had just finished fighting the Nomu, quickly having realized that while it had shock absorption that didn't translate to shock nullification, All Might caught sight of what happened. His eyes widened at the sight of both Venom and his mysterious green doppelganger writhing in agony, both almost completely incapacitated from young Jirou's misaimed sonic blast.
"Sound…" All Might whispered to himself.
Venom recovered first and leapt at Lasher and knocked him to the floor, and started to bash Lasher's head into the ground. He slowly dented the material beneath it with each consecutive punch, only for Lasher's chest to open up and allow Shigaraki's hands land on Venom's chest, making the duo scream in agony as the parts that Shigaraki touched began to crumble and decay, allowing Lasher to retaliate.
However, before Lasher could make any further attacks, a voice called out to him, seemingly coming from a swirling black and purple misty void. "Shigaraki! Lasher! The Nomu is down and the heroes' reinforcements are here! We need to retreat!"
Lasher growled in frustration and turned to Venom as the black clad being began to regenerate the parts of himself that had been decayed. "You and your host may have won this round Venom, but this fight is far from finished. Watch your backs," Lasher snarled before retreating into the swirling void.
The sight made Venom sigh as he pulled himself up to his feet, only to turn around and see All Might and a number of other heroes walking up to him.
"So, who was that? Friend of yours?" asked All Might.
Venom growled softly. "If he was before, he certainly isn't now. In any case, you said you wanted to talk to us about that offer Nedzu extended on the television, right?"
All Might nodded. "You're actually school-age, aren't you? Probably the same age as our first years here, correct?" The look Venom gave the hero confirmed his suspicions. "To that end, we're prepared to offer you a transfer from your current high school to U.A.'s Hero Track, and give you a chance to become a legitimate hero, rather than just a vigilante. That being said, you'll still need to answer for the vigilante actions you've already done, though not necessarily with jail time. Likely some community service or something along those lines. Do you accept?"
Venom looked between the group of gathered heroes, a grin growing on his face before he just started laughing. The heroes just stared at him, glaring at the vigilante before his cackling came to an end as he yelled, "Are you serious?! Why on Earth would we want to make a mockery of our mission by playing ball with a bunch of hypocrites and liars like you, All Blight? Don't get us wrong, there was once a time where we would have sold our soul for a chance to go to U.A. and become a hero, but now things are different. Tell us something All Blight, does the name Izuku Midoriya ring any bells?"
"Wha- what does young Midoriya have to do with anything?!" All Might yelped in confusion.
"He has EVERYTHING to do with this!" snarled Venom. "We and him have become quite close these past few weeks. When we met him, the poor kid was barely hanging on by a thread, and even that was starting to unravel. He told us everything that had happened to him, about how he wanted more than anything to become a hero, saving people with a smile like you. He told us about the Entrance Exam, how Ochako Uraraka saved him from certain death at the hands of those robots, and about what you said as he was lying crippled in the infirmary! What was it he said you said again? Ah yes! 'I admire the boy's determination, but he needs to understand that without a practical Quirk that he can use to defend himself, he's going to get himself killed. This time, he got lucky, he was in a simulated environment and we were on hand, but if he keeps going like this, eventually that luck is going to run out. He needs to understand that, as hard as reality is, not all of us can be heroes. The truth is, that while it's not bad to dream, you also have to consider what's realistic,'" The students and staff there all went wide-eyed, most glancing back at All Might in disbelief. He had really said that within earshot of a Quirkless teenager who not only looked up to him, but had been crippled in pursuit of his dream of becoming a hero like the man he admired?!
However, Venom was far from finished."And yet, look at Eraserhead. His Quirk does jack shit against villains with Mutant-Quirks and even then he uses his capture scarf to detain villains. Heck, he has to wear them down first by fighting them Quirkless! Look at…" Venom pointed to what looked like a bunch of floating clothes, "...the invisible girl, whose name escapes us. All she seems to be able to do is turn invisible-"
"Actually, I can refract energy beams too," the aforementioned invisible girl chimed in. "And my name is Hagakure."
"Good to know," Venom grumbled, heavy sarcasm in his tone. "Our point is, so many heroes, past, present, and likely future, are heroes, and yet do not have combat-based Quirks, and are forced to resort to hand-to-hand combat and gadgets. So, why exactly couldn't Izuku Midoriya be a hero without a Quirk? What makes him not worth the time and effort to have him undergo physical conditioning and have him train in hand-to-hand combat. He's actually pretty intelligent too, so he could easily come up with support devices to supplement himself in combat. The hypocrisy you possess is astounding, All Blight. So, you can take your offer and shove it up your ass! Joining the ranks of hypocrites like you would make a mockery of everything we've worked for, everything we stand for! And if the world chooses to become our enemy, then we will fight as we always have. We are DONE lying down and rolling over for people who think they're better than everyone just because they have more power than those weaker than them!"
And with that, Venom disappeared into thin air. As members of the U.A. Staff confronted All Might about what he said to Izuku Midoriya, Ochako looked on, her mind racing a mile a minute. She couldn't help but feel as though there was something familiar about Venom… something that made her feel sad… and hurt. Moreover, she couldn't stop thinking about everything Izuku had been through. She knew that Izuku hadn't been fond of All Might ever since what happened at the Entrance Exam, but she just didn't know the exact details as to why… and now that she did know, she was having a few particular regrets.
'Maybe… agreeing to become All Might's successor was a mistake…' Ochako thought as her right arm crackled with pink electrical discharges.
Downtown Mustafu - Some Time Later…
Ducking into an alleyway, Venom became visible and reverted back into a very unhappy-looking Izuku, clad in his black suit.
"Venom, get out here. Now. We need to talk," said Izuku as a tendril with Venom's face emerged from Izuku's back. "When exactly were you going to tell me that there were other Klyntars here on Earth besides you?!"
Venom reluctantly sighed. "In truth, I was hoping to avoid that conversation," the symbiote admitted. "The truth is, Lasher and myself were part of what you might call a Special Forces unit. We were sent here by our leader to investigate the disappearance of one of our own, a Klyntar by the name of Sleeper, who suddenly disappeared from the hive mind. The signal Sleeper sent out is a lot like a wireless signal, with Earth being just far enough outside its range. As a result, my team and I lost control of the meteor we were traveling on when we disconnected from the hive mind, which broke apart in the upper atmosphere," explained Venom as his tone started to change. "Until I saw Lasher, I was certain I was the only survivor, but now I'm not so sure. And to make matters worse, me and one other symbiote were the only ones out of my entire team who had even an ounce of benevolence in them, and all of us are cold, brutal, vicious killing machines who have filled entire necropolises single handed. Lasher being bonded to a villain, particularly one as maladjusted as that Shigaraki guy is a massacre waiting to happen, though I suppose it could be worse. The League could have had a Red Klyntar on their team…"
"Alright… how worried should I be about the other symbiotes running around and slaughtering everything that moves?"
"Hard to say," replied Venom, "If we're lucky, Lasher and myself are the only ones who survived re-entry, or the rest of my team are in the hands of the heroes."
"And if we're not lucky?"
"Then there are five of us out there, six including me. Lasher has already fallen into the hands of a villain, and we don't need Phage, Agony, Scream, or God forbid Riot to fall into the wrong hands. Then again, knowing Riot, we also don't want anyone to fall into HIS hands."
"Okay, who's Riot and why is he a 'God forbid' scenario?"
Venom sighed at this. "Simply put, Riot is my boss. The leader of my team. Silver Klyntars are among the most powerful of my kind. They have got shit you've never seen, and he is not a symbiote you want bonded to someone in power."
Tokyo Streets-Later That Night…
Clad in an overcoat that had a hood pulled up over her head to hide her face, the deposed President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, Hinata Haruno, got out of her car and made her way down the street. The past 24 hours had been nothing short of devastating for her. She'd lost everything save for her home, the money she had in her own name, which was quite a substantial amount, and her personal belongings. Well, except all her computers, files, everything else. That was gone. And she had a horrible feeling that things were going to get even worse.
"E-excuse me… a-are you Hinata Haruno, President of the HPSC?" a young-sounding voice asked from what sounded like a nearby alleyway.
Hinata turned to the voice, only to see it was a little boy that seemed to be elementary school age, covered in dirt and ragged clothing, and looked particularly skittish.
Slowly and carefully, Hinata approached the boy and got down on her knees to speak with him. "Are you okay? Are you lost?" she asked the boy.
Faster than blinking, the boy had his hand wrapped tight around Hinata's throat as a gray sludge emerged from his body and seeped into Hinata's. A split second later, as her vision began to go dark, Hinata heard a sinister voice speak inside her head.
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking. And no, I'm not lost… but maybe you can help me find some folks who are…"
I-Island-Containment Cells
Melissa Shield, a young woman with shoulder length curly blonde hair and glasses, was wearing a white lab coat, white shirt with a pinkish vest and a red bowtie, tan pants, and brown boots, was making her way down the hall. A friend of hers, Rachel Goodman, an aspiring researcher with a Quirk that allowed her to emit a sonic shriek capable of shattering plexiglass and rupturing eardrums, had gone on a rampage. The chaos that followed caused a number of injuries and a considerable amount of property damage before finally being taken down, though not without considerable effort.
Needless to say, Melissa was curious as to what happened to her friend to make her go on a rampage. It also didn't help that there were reports that she had taken a form that resembled a female version of the vigilante in Mustafu who was currently making quite a splash all across Japan, but with a different color scheme.
It wasn't long before Melissa was standing in front of Rachel's cell, and found her friend curled into a ball in the corner, something that felt wrong on a whole number of levels.
"Rach? Rach, are-are you okay? Do-do you want to talk about what happened?" Melissa quietly asked.
Faster than blinking, Rachel bolted from her corner and was at the cell door, causing Melissa to tumble back in fright with a small scream.
"You… you are a much better fit than Rachel…" Rachel said in a completely different voice.
"You-you're not Rachel… who or what are you?" Melissa asked, causing "Rachel" to beam at her.
"Intelligent too. I do love intelligent hosts… and chocolate!" the thing posing as Rachel giggled. "Best thing humans, as I understand your species to be called, have ever invented… oh, Melissa… that is your name, right? Melissa Shield? When I get out of here, and sooner or later, I will… you and I are gonna make some boys Scream!"
TheRedeemer: And that's a bingo! Now, before anyone asks, yes, Izuku's outfit is the one worn by Bully Maguire in Spider-Man 3. But, in any case, quite a few interesting things happened here! Sir Nighteye suspects that Izuku might be Venom and takes a peek into his future, we had the USJ incident, Eri turned up again, we got to meet Mirio, and the heroes now know Venom is weak to sound!
Also, yes, Ochako has One For All now, and no, that doesn't mean she has a shorter life span, that is not a thing in this AU. Ochako's life span is no longer or short than it was before she got OFA. So, with that in mind, if you liked what you saw here, be sure to fave, follow, review, and join us next time as Venom and Izuku learn about one of the HPSC's dirty little secrets, perhaps the dirtiest one of them all. See you then!
Legionnaireblaze: Bye bye.