TheRedeemer1995: Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to The Venom Inside! Well, before we kick things off, there are a few things I'd like to go over.

So, the extended epilogue of MHA came out, and it seems that IzuOcha is canon. And, as I predicted, the fandom has imploded, and fans of certain ships are going ballistic. It's reasons like this that I prefer to not only stay out of shipping wars, at least on major social media websites, but it's also why I prefer to write AUs and crossover fanfiction projects, because in an AU, the world of a certain piece of media is mine to remold and remake however I see fit, and whatever ships I decide to sail in my remade and remolded world are whatever I feel like shipping at the time. After all, in a parallel universe, anthyding can hadplen!

That being said, I would appreciate it if we could keep the shipping wars out of the comments and/or reviews, please. We're here because Izuku Midoriya bonded to the Venom Symbiote and being a badass vigilante anti-hero kicking ass and taking names is awesome! Not to throw shade at each other over who is romantically involved with who.

Also, some clarification would appear to be in order on how our version of One For All works. First off, as mentioned earlier, our version of OFA does not shorten the life span of its bearer if they already have a Quirk. How it works is that, when it is passed on to a bearer who has a Quirk, OFA merges with and augments said Quirk, and in Ochako's case, not only can she nullify gravity, but she can also increase it on a target as well, in addition to the other Quirks that OFA's final evolution bestows upon Izuku in canon. When and if Ochako passes it on to a successor, while she will lose the Quirks of the previous OFA users, she will still have the augmented version of her own Gravity Manipulation Quirk, while said successor inherits those abilities plus Ochako's Gravity Manipulation.

Moving on, one other thing I'd like to talk about. After mulling things over, and after seeing the reaction of the author of My Hero Academia: Symbiosis, the fic that gave me the idea to begin working on The Venom Inside in response to his fic getting made into podfics, I've decided it's not worth going with the nuclear option right away, or cauterizing a portion of my fanbase. So, you know what, if anybody wants to make a podfic of my MHA works, be my guest, I don't really care one way or another. It's not worth cauterizing a portion of me and legionnaire's fanbase for the fanfic series. Besides, the receipts show that it was me and legionnaire's story first.

Well, that covers everything I wanted to go over. Legionnaire, anything you wanna add?

LegionnaireBlaze: I can't think of anything to add to that, except that I'm disappointed that, spoiler alert, Izuku lost One for All. He's doing fine as a teacher in the epilogue, but why the hell did he need to lose his quirk to do that?

TheRedeemer1995: Heck if I know, but on the plus side, at least Izuku is now Iron Deku, so he can still be a hero alongside his friends, so there's that. Alrighty then, let's begin!

UPDATE: Well, holy shit! How about that?! Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit the big time! I have great pleasure in announcing that The Venom Inside now has it's very own, official TVtropes page! The link will be up on my profile if you all want to check it out!

Chapter XI

Retribution

Izuku's Apartment Complex Rooftop-10:00 pm local time

As he made his way onto the rooftop of his apartment complex, Izuku stared into the distance while feeling particularly anxious. Two days had gone by since he had first entangled himself in the nasty business that was Project Paragon, and in that time, Izuku discovered that someone was keeping tabs on him. Not on Venom, but Izuku Midoriya. On more than one occasion, Izuku had found himself being tailed by what he quickly recognized as an off-duty Hero. He noticed this due to having an alien symbiote bonded to himself, allowing him literally have eyes in the back of his head. With Venom tipping him off, and with a little shapeshifting, Izuku had been able to lose his stalkers rather easily.

Still, Izuku had to wonder if they were onto his double life. And if they were, who had asked them to keep tabs on him? Was it a high-ranked Pro Hero, or was it someone else?

Izuku frowned at that thought. He still hadn't found Overhaul, which made him think that the heroes tailing him could be working for Overhaul like Electrus and Gremlin? That didn't feel quite right. If Overhaul, or anyone from the Eight Precepts as Izuku's research had revealed Overhaul's crew to be called, were keeping tabs on him, they would have done something by now. Mainly in the category of trying to kill him in his sleep or something. No, it had to be another pro, but who? All Might?

Izuku snorted at the thought. The Number One Hero had better things to do with his time than have some pals follow some reject of society around on a guess. No, it had to be someone else…but who?

Eh, it didn't matter. At least, not tonight that is. Not when he had worked out a plan to at long last destroy Aldera Junior High. The plan would destroy the school, the heroes and police investigators in their pocket, and most importantly of all, Katsuki Bakugou, the explosive asshole he'd once been foolish enough to call his friend.

Izuku's fists clenched at the thought. Bakugou was no hero, just a supervillain waiting to happen. A punk deluding himself into thinking he was hero material because of how flashy and powerful his quirk was. And as long as Izuku and Venom drew breath, he would see to it that Bakugou would never get the chance to go pro and become another Endeavor. After all, if Bakugou became a hero, Izuku knew that the first thing Bakugou would do would be him abusing his power and never facing the consequences of his actions.

Izuku shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in his rage-filled thoughts. Not when it was time to put the plan he and Venom had devised into action at long last.

"Ready, partner?" Izuku asked the klyntar before the symbiote formed over him into the familiar form of Venom.

"Always," Venom replied before leaping off the building, soon swinging toward the general vicinity of Aldera Middle School. The sight made Izuku smile inside the symbiote. By the time the sun rose, Aldera and Katsuki Bakugou would have fallen, Venom would make sure of it…as would one other piece of the puzzle that the vigilante needed to get onto the board.

Near Aldera Junior High-11:30 pm local time…

Shouta Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, was currently on patrol outside the Aldera Junior High School building, per the request of the boss of his day job, Nedzu. The principal had been tipped off about there being some dirty dealings going on at the school, and in all honesty, he didn't know why anyone would do anything unscrupulous at a middle school of all places. However, as he thought about it, he was pretty sure this was where that Bakugou boy had attended.

Truth be told, something didn't sit well with him about Katsuki Bakugou getting into U.A. High School. For one thing, he had an incredibly overinflated opinion of himself, but apart from that, his personality was simply not suited for a hero, and his Quirk was questionably suited for hero work at best. Although, after he had an altercation with the boy who had dropped off that sweet little girl Eri, he had seemed troubled somehow. Not only that, when that idiot All Might tried to fight the new vigilante, only to retreat, he seemed further troubled. However, he doubted that he'd get the boy to open up about what was troubling him with that stubborn pride and temper of his being just as explosive as his Quirk.

Eraserhead was then pulled out of his thoughts when a sinister voice rang out in the night, "Nice night, isn't it teach?"

Eraserhead spun around, only to see Venom leaning against the wall of a nearby building, a mischievous grin on his face as he looked at the Underground Pro Hero. The hero quickly used his quirk to disable the vigilante's quirk, only for Venom to let out a cackle, "Don't bother, teach. Your Quirk is powerless against us." Eraserhead went wide-eyed at this, making Venom laugh even more, "Oh yeah, we know all about you, Mister Underground Pro Hero Eraserhead. You have the ability to disable the Quirks of your enemies, rendering them powerless against you. Good trick for a schoolteacher to know. Unfortunately for you however, our powers come from a much older rule of nature, from before the Dawn of Quirks. In other words, even with your Quirk, to us…you're just a little man."

Eraserhead growled at this, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Venom's grin grew wider. "If you wanna know…you're gonna have to catch us!" the monstrous being cackled before leaping into the air and started swinging again, Eraserhead now in hot pursuit after him.

Venom grinned at the sight as he continued to swing around. All according to plan…

Forty-Five Minutes Later…

Eraserhead was getting out of breath from his pursuit of the vigilante. He hadn't had to work this hard to catch a target in a long time. Worse, it seemed like the vigilante was right, as Erasure had no effect on him. That meant his tremendous power wasn't from a Quirk, which was really worrying…but not as worrying as his current problem: he'd just lost track of Venom.

Eraserhead frowned at this, growling as he came to a stop. Questions now filled his head: Had all of that been just for the sake of it? Nothing more than a game to the vigilante? No, somehow that didn't feel right. From what he saw of the fight between All Might and Venom, and from the meeting he and his fellow U.A. faculty members had had prior to the mess at the USJ, Venom had a keen analytical mind underneath his monstrous appearance. That meant Venom was planning something and had intended to bait the Underground Pro into getting into position. Question was, what was the black-clad vigilante up to?

Meanwhile, with said vigilante…

Venom was standing on the rooftop of Aldera Middle School, looking over the edge. In another time, another life, Izuku could have very well taken Bakugou's advice and taken a swan dive off the roof and been reunited with his best friend, Inoichi. Truth be told, he had a hard time seeing this hellhole of a school wiggling their way out of that scenario…but they probably would have. Whoever investigated his death would probably decide to half ass it, or Aldera would manage to pay off the investigators, like they had with Ichi and who knows who else over the years this bullshit has been going on.

However, not only was he made of tougher stuff than that, Izuku now had a new purpose to live for as Venom: to show this world just how twisted and corrupt the society they so dearly valued had become. The so-called Rejects, comprised of those without powers or weak abilities, and those "cursed" with "evil" powers who were treated like dirt and even hated for the simple fact of just being alive, would still be beaten by this society. And while that happened, those with showy and flashy powers, even the absolute monsters of human beings, were worshiped like gods and became fabulously wealthy. It was a status quo that needed to be shaken up and set right.

And now, it was time for Venom to begin making some further steps to that goal, as well as begin correcting a few wrongs in his own life in the process. As such, Venom jumped off the building and shot a web upward to the side of the building and swung through a window, demolishing a part of the wall in the process as he landed inside.

"'Take a swan dive off the roof…' thanks for the advice, Kaachan! Or rather, what's left of you inside that monster you've become because of your Quirk," Venom snarled, "Now then…we have a score to settle with this corrupt trash hole of a school. Let's see…if we were a crooked school principal hiding evidence of bribery, illegal modification of records, discrimination against the Quirkless, and a severe bullying problem that resulted in at least one student taking their own life, where would we hide the evidence? Hmm…suppose we could check the office. Doubt it's there, but it never hurts to check. And in the meantime…suppose we can make a little mess!"

And as Venom began making his way toward the main office, trashing everything in his path along the way, Izuku began to think. A couple weeks ago at this time, he couldn't even begin to imagine doing something like this, destroying the place that had been the closest thing to Hell with his bare hands. Not only that, he was about to finally get revenge on Katsuki Bakugou, who he'd once called his best friend, who he tried to stay friends with against his better judgement and constant beatings. And it was all thanks to Venom. Because of him, for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel like a broken shell or a miserable failure. He finally felt like himself again.

"You're welcome, partner," Venom said to his host, causing Izuku to smile. "That said, I still say that we should kick the crap out of bomber boy."

'Oh, don't worry about that. If he finds out our part in all this, I'm sure we'll get that chance,' Izuku replied, 'Assholes fueled by nothing but rage, ego, and self-entitlement like him are so easy to predict, and I predict that if he finds out that we were responsible for the sudden turn his life is about to take, he'll be gunning for us with all the subtlety and nuance of a napalm bomb.'

"And then we break him like a toothpick," Venom hissed as he arrived at the main office and smashed down the door, almost immediately catching sight of the safe inside.

"'Bingo,'" Izuku and Venom growled before tearing off the safe door, easily finding the contents he sought inside. Ledgers with payments going directly into the accounts of several notable investigative heroes, the genuine copies of his and Bakugou's records prior to Aldera switching them, as well as those of several other students, including those of Inoichi, among several other pieces of incriminating evidence.

"And now…to bring in the proper authorities…"

Two Hours Later…

Shouta Aizawa had been searching the area around Aldera Junior High before he received a wad of black webbing in his face. Growling at this, the Underground Pro quickly ripped off the offending goop before giving chase to the perpetrator. Venom chuckled as he led the hobo-looking hero toward Aldera. "You suck at hide and seek, you know that?" Venom taunted as he saw Aldera come into view.

"Well, you certainly aren't making it easy for me." Eraserhead complained to the black-and-white being.

"Well maybe you just rely too much on your Quirk to give yourself an edge. Maybe you should work more on improving your physical capabilities, rather than using your powers as a crutch," Venom replied as he landed on Aldera's rooftop. "Catch us if you can, Penciltopper!" Venom then charged into Aldera, or at least it looked like he did. That was enough for Shouta Aizawa as he entered the building through the front door. Inside, he found various webs and scratches on the walls, ceiling, and floor as he searched. And as he saw this, he saw a pattern of the webs and scratches, each forming arrows. Running as fast as he could, the hero followed each arrow, hoping he wasn't being led into a trap.

That is, till he arrived at the Principal's office for the school, where in the center of the now dilapidated room was a large black web with the words 'Well? Take it, dumb dumb.' written over it and a final arrow pointing to the center of the web where a large web pouch was hanging.

Cautiously, Eraserhead removed the web pouch from the wall and opened it, only to go wide-eyed before slowly smiling as he browsed the contents. Aizawa may not agree with the gratuitous and oftentimes brutal violence that Venom unleashed when the black-clad vigilante was on patrol and stopping street crimes…but when it came to exposing the wrongdoings that he and his colleagues had allowed to go unnoticed, Aizawa certainly couldn't argue with, nor help but be impressed with, his results. Not only that, considering where Aizawa was right now, Aldera Junior High, he found new insight as to who could possibly be inside that suit, narrowing down the list of potential candidates. For his part, Aizawa knew exactly what Venom was, even if he didn't know who exactly was wearing the suit. That is, what he was apart from being a brutal near-lethal protector of a vigilante.

"Bravo, problem child…bravo…" Eraserhead muttered to himself.

U.A. High School - The Following Afternoon…

Being his default emotional state, Katsuki Bakugou being angry was nothing new to those around him.

Today though? He was beyond furious.

How? How the Hell was all of this happening to him?! He was supposed to become the greatest hero who had ever lived! Women, wealth, power, everything he ever wanted, all his!

And yet, it had all come unraveled for him faster than blinking. First, it had started when the entirety of Class 1-A, including Krishima whom he'd actually started to become friends with, all of a sudden started treating him like he was complete and utter villain scum. Alright, whatever, he didn't need a bunch of extras like them hanging around. He was the hero of this story after all, heck the main character of the entire world, dammit! They'd be lucky to make a C-List hero's sidekick while he would be worshipped as the greatest SSS-list hero ever. And all had been well for a while, only with a few hiccups. Mainly the freak in black who may or may not be stupid, delusional Deku somehow using him as a grenade notwithstanding.

Until today, that is.

Somehow, U.A. had unearthed his "extensive history of bullying and violent tendencies," that Aldera had apparently covered up. And as a result of this deception, Katsuki Bakugou had not only been kicked out of the Hero Course and stuck in the General Studies track, but his parents had given him a vicious tongue lashing about how he'd treated Deku!

Katsuki let out a roar of anger and punched a nearby locker. How? How could this have happened?! How could his destiny have been stolen from him like this?!

One thing was certain though…when he found out who was behind all this, there would be nothing but ashes left!

Meanwhile, Across The Street From Aldera Junior High…

"Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the evidence Nedzu needs will turn up before long..."

Ochako remembered what Izuku had told her and her friends at the diner a while back. And lo and behold, almost a month later, Venom had exposed the wrongdoings going on at Aldera, causing Bakugou to get the boot from the hero course, much to her and her classmates' joy. There was also the immediate blacklisting of Aldera's entire faculty, and the immediate arrest of several investigative Pro Heroes, plus the annihilation of their hero agencies.

Taken together, it was fairly easy for a suspicion to sneak its way into Ochako's mind about who might possibly be underneath Venom's terrifying visage…and that suspicion made her heart hurt even more for Izuku Midoriya. All Might had informed her about All For One and his hunch that he was pulling the League of Villains' strings. Those facts alone had an undeniable similarity between Venom and that green creature Lasher, if Ochako remembered correctly. That made a new question appear in her head: Could Izuku, in his pain and despair, have made a deal with the devil that was All For One in exchange for the power to become Venom?

Either way, she needed solid evidence if she was to confirm her theory that it was Izuku behind Venom's mask. That meant she had to get closer to Izuku. Also, she could use someone of Izuku's particular expertise to help her figure her way through some of the new developments that her recently-attained power from All Might had undergone, hopefully before the Sports Festival in a couple weeks.

Two birds, one stone.

Ochako smiled brightly as she saw Izuku a few minutes later, a satisfied smile on his face as he leaned on his cane. He was clad in a very stylish black outfit, watching the police as they continued to tear Aldera apart, bringing box upon box out of the building.

"This has got to feel very satisfying after the crap that Aldera has put you through," Ochako commented, catching Izuku's attention.

Izuku smiled as he limped up to Ochako. "Like you would not believe. I don't know if I ever told you this, but my mom's actually a lawyer, and she's putting together a class-action lawsuit that will leave Aldera and its faculty penniless, and the victims, myself included, very happy. Personally though, I just hope that Ichi can finally rest in peace." He shined a big grin at her before asking, "But what about you? You looked troubled. What's wrong?"

Ochako nervously rubbed the back of her neck in response. "I, um…I need your help with something, but I can't talk about it here. You know, in public, as this is kinda on a need-to-know basis. Do you have somewhere we can talk?"

TheRedeemer: And that's a bingo! If you folks liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and join us next time as Ochako spills the beans about All For One and One For All! See you then!

LegionnaireBlaze: Bye-Bye!