He breathes in more of the room's recirculated & dry air. There's a tint of the hospital's antiseptic chemicals that spills, more than seeps, straight into his nostrils. Then the tinge of another odor follows suit – a smell that, despite his enhanced senses, he has still not yet been able to identify – he can actually almost taste it on his tongue.
Izuku Midoriya shakes his skull, as though that will get the combination of fowl flavor & scentage out somehow. Even if this motion were to manage to accomplish such a feat, there would still be no getting the negative thoughts that occupy that same head out. Not after he allows his hand to fall onto the cotton sheets that are draped over his unconscious mother.
The cotton sheets are clean, sure, but they are also stiff; they are purely made to be 'functional' and not comfortable. This is a place to lie. Not a bed. 'Bed' means soft sheets with a lavender perfume. A bed belongs somewhere as safe as a bear in its winter dean, where that bed should bring both comfort & privacy to a deep seeded slumber. This hospital room is nothing of the sort. And so, Izuku labels the thing that his mother lays upon a 'trolley' instead; afterall, it does have wheels and collapsible sides.
Above him, the ceiling fan continues to slowly spin. Coupled with the dim flicker of old bulbs no longer burning so bright, shadows swim around the small space. It makes Izuku wish that he could open a window. However, there is nothing but four corners of barren walls here. He may as well be as trapped as he feels when it comes to his mother's well-being.
And then, as a literal faint glimmer of hope casted across the trolley's top when the bulbs burn a little bit brighter from what might be a brief power surge, Izuku sees his mom move. It's just the tiniest bit, a flutter of her eyelids, but it's a difference to her current condition. She's stirring in her sleep not from pain but from some conceptual form of awareness to her surroundings.
Izuku sits up straighter in his seat, his butt then next coming up off of the chair as he rises to his feet. At long last, he doesn't feel so hopeless about everything anymore. All it took was a sign of his mom pulling through and it's like there's absolutely nothing wrong in his life anymore. A smile actually starts to pull at the corners of his mouth.
Inko Midoriya hadn't been admitted to the hospital for as long as it seemed to her son, but even so, her stay there has already had a significant show of change to her appearance. What was once a rather plump woman has now slimmed down; she lost enough weight to turn rather pale as well. Inko's light green locks of hair that are typically tied into a knot atop her head hangs down as unwashed curls. She might be worse for wear to the average eye, but to her son's, she looks alive and well – and that is enough for him.
Inko's eyelids very slowly start to open. When her emerald orbs meet her genetically matching set of Izuku's, both pairs become glossy – another inherited trait from the Midoriya lineage is their knack for always crying. They are both overcome with an enhanced emotional sense of relief to see eachother again.
"Wh- Why are you c- crying, Izuku? There's no reason t- to be s- sad", Inko can hardly manage to get a word out through her quivering lips – it didn't take long for some small & simple tears to turn into choked sobs.
Meanwhile, Izuku is in the exact same – currently flooding – boat. His choked cries come coupled in with coughs as he starts to laugh. "They're happy tears, mom! Wh- Why are YOU crying?"
Inko's metaphorical boat breaks as she laughs along through the flow of tears just like her son. "Mine are happy tears too, Izuku!" It becomes a mistake on the hospital architect's part that the room has no window when water starts to fill in the enclosed space.
The two Midoriyas get their crying all out of their system while hugging and holding one another. Both of them cling to the other person like THIS could be the last time that they ever see eachother. Neither of them want to ever let go. It's in a hospital just like this that Inko gave birth to her baby boy. And it's in a place like this that Izuku worried for a moment that he would have had to go on for the rest of his life without his mother.
When the mother and son eventually do separate from the loving embrace that they shared, each of them does so with subsequent sniffles. Izuku roughly rubs at his face with the back of his hand while Inko gently wipes away the residual remains of her own tears. The two look at one another with familial fondness. Izuku nor Inko can keep from smiling in this meaningful moment.
Until, every action that led up to this moment comes rushing back to Izuku's memories all at once. His smile falls from his face as he bends forwards to drop down onto his hands & knees. "I'M SORRY!", he shouts his apology so that the whole hospital may be able to hear it and even then he doesn't believe that he's begging for forgiveness loudly enough, "I'M SO SORRY! MOM, I'M SORRY!"
Inko is as startled by the outburst as she is confused. She holds a hand up over her mouth, stifling her own cries of distress upon seeing her son in such a state. "Izuku… ?! You're sorry? For what?", she motions for him to raise his head with her free hand so that he doesn't bow down on the dirty floor any longer.
When Izuku looks up, his eyes are filled with tears again, those tears spilling over and streaming down his freckled cheeks. "I'm sorry for EVERYTHING, mom!" He clutches the shirt that covers his chest as though it's the very flesh & skin that keeps his hands from reaching his heart. "I'm sorry for what I said wrong to you and for what I didn't say that I should have said!"
They had been so close before the spider bite happened. Somewhere along the way, with all of the lies to maintain his secret identity, they got far apart. Worse yet, is that he had noticed they were drifting from eachother long before it got this bad, and he didn't even try to do anything to fix it sooner. By prioritizing his alter ego as Spider-Man, he neglected his mother – and because of that, he left her vulnerable enough that he could have lost her for good.
"Oh, Izuku…" Inko looks at her son with wide eyes; the room's low lighting causes the tears trimming them to twinkle. "You act all grownup but you're still just a kid", she graces him with a warm expression that he never realized how much he missed receiving from her, "I never blamed you for your behavior. It's apart of transitioning from teen to adult. You're changing into the man that you are going to become for the rest of your life. I just wanted you to be careful about who it is that you were changing into."
As with alot of things in his life, his mom was right all along about his transformation being a dangerous one. He nearly turned into something ugly … and it's not just because of the symbiote … it'd be easy to blame the symbiote but he has himself to blame for his behavior just as much. It's his duty to take responsibility for his own thoughts and actions.
"Mom.. I've got something I need to tell you.." Izuku takes in a deep breath of the hospital's horrid airflow in order to prep himself for what he's about to do. There's no telling how she'll react. This is probably neither the time or place to tell her that he's been secretly sneaking out of the house as a vigilante. But, he just can't for a second longer bear to keep such a major part of himself hidden from the woman that raised him.
"Izuku.." Inko holds up a hand to halt his next words before they can come out though. She tells him, "It can wait", even though he feels as though it most certainly cannot. But Izuku has done enough rebelling against her; he holds his tongue instead of arguing. Seeing that they're both satisfied with the short silence, Inko speaks up instead. "What you need to do right now – this very instant – is to take a shower, young man!"
Izuku looks down at himself, only now registering that his physical form is shrouded with soot. He hadn't even thought once about how dirty or unhygienic he's been. Laughing in the face of his mother might not be the smartest thing to do, but he can't help it, not when he thinks about how funny it is for her to care so much about something as trivial as that while she's being held up in a hospital. He holds his gut while having a wild giggle fit.
Inko's face forms a frown – not a serious one; it's something more along the lines of a pout – she crosses her arms and tries to appear as intimidatingly tough as she can while being confined to a hospital bed. "I don't see what's so funny about you being filthy, Izuku!" Her chastising lacks the required 'oomph' behind it to make him all that afraid though.
Izuku forces himself to stop laughing nevertheless. "Alright, mom, I'll go wash up" He's just happy for things to go instantaneously back to normal in terms of having an established status quo, even if it truthfully means starting from scratch in a hospital.
After he gets up to go, about to leave his mom alone for the first time in what must be at least twenty four hours, Izuku hears her shout one final thing to him. "Be sure to grab and send in a nurse while you do, sweetie!" He nods, remembering & realizing that it's an important thing for her to get that medical attention and care; he had been so caught up with her waking up that he completely forgot to inform any hospital staff of her updated condition.
When Izuku exits the hospital room and steps into a busy hallway, he expects for the first person that he runs into to be the hospital staff that he's meant to be searching for. Who he finds instead certainly wasn't the alternative idea of whoever else he might have met. Hitoshi Shinso stuns Izuku Midoriya with a sudden presence from within their shared hallway.
Hitoshi leans against a railing, propped up with one leg crossed over the other and both arms completely crossed over his chest. Until, he undoes the crossing of his arms to give what looks like a lazy wave. "Hey, Izuku~" Hitoshi then fixes his feet in order to stand up straight while completing his greeting.
"Shinso…" Izuku speaks his old friend's name in the same exhaled breath that he secretes as a shocked gasp. What with the urgency of ensuring the safety of his mother, he had completely overlooked the other boy's well-being. Izuku entirely missed the thought that should have crossed his mind about Hitoshi staying in the same house that burned down. All he can think to say in this moment other than an apology is, "I'm glad you're okay."
Hitoshi cocks his head at an angle while asking, "That so?", there's something about his stance that suddenly seems … aggressive. But Izuku's Spider-Sense doesn't trigger, so he thinks nothing of it.
Instead, Izuku's concern is over Hitoshi's doubt over him having basic human decency. "Of course I'm glad you're okay..", he steps forward with an expression of sincerity on his face. Hitoshi takes a step back, steering clear.
Izuku notices how standoffish Hitoshi is being – which isn't all that abnormal – but he can't let it sit and rest like he's been doing. He takes responsibility for this like he did with his mom. "Look, I know I've not been a good friend to you lately – actually, I've been horrible really – but I DO still care about you, man.." Izuku gives Hitoshi a genuinely heartfelt apology that is long overdue. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything…"
And maybe for a fleeting moment, Hitoshi actually hears him. But the brief expression of shock on Hitoshi's face is gone just as quick as it appeared. "Man… You really are good at lying, Izuku Midoriya.."
Izuku is surprised both by that response and by Hitoshi stepping closer. It's so that he can lean in to whisper in Izuku's ear. "Or should we call you…", a humid & hot breath blows into Izuku Midoriya's hearing canal, "...Spider-Man… ?
"What did you just say?!" Izuku's instinctive reaction is one that he can't even give credit to the symbiote for having – he becomes aggressive thanks to a burst of adrenaline within his system, like a fight or flight response, and his body & mind both choose to go with 'fight' – he grabs ahold of Hitoshi by the shirt and hoists him up.
"Ooo! You can be quite the bully when you want!", Hitoshi's response being one of confidence that is coupled with a sly smirk certainly isn't what Izuku was expecting either though – it's enough to snap him out of his temporary blind anger – and he starts to see & notice other things about Hitoshi that he hadn't before.
Like the shirt that he's gripping. It feels like liquid oozing through his fingers. The dark material doesn't look like any regular fabric. Plus there's the build behind Hitoshi's clothing. Hitoshi's size and stature has changed. There hasn't been enough time for training and bulking to pay off like that. Even the classic indigo hair atop Hitoshi's head looks different – more primped and tuned up than messy.
Izuku pulls Hitoshi aside so that they aren't standing out in the middle of the hallway anymore. Where they go is more reserved – tucked away in a corner – where there is more privacy to have a much needed private chat. That conversation obviously has to begin with the question, "Who told you?"
Hitoshi's smirk stretches to inhumane proportions. "Allow us to introduce you to our better half…", his mouth parts as he shows his teeth like they are fangs bearing down on prey, "We call ourselves.."
Hitoshi Shinso's clothes boil away in a whirlwind of strands and threads and ribbons, flashing and hissing as each coil cuts through the air. Then they recontract, snuggling close, weaving and knitting until any semblance of fabric fades into a wet glaze. Centered at his chest, a jagged and angular design of a stylized white spider etches into the living material. Two huge pallid eyes take shape while an impossibly wide mouth crammed with jagged fangs gapes wide. An elongated tongue slathers out, covered in drool, flopping from between the picket fence of pointed teeth.
"Venom!"
Suddenly, as sudden as Hitoshi Shinso transformed into Venom, Izuku Midoriya is stricken with horror over the revelation that the symbiote not only survived his house fire but also managed to gain a new host. He can hardly stay standing upright while gazing up at the hulking monsterish malformation of what he himself once was.
"Impossible.." Izuku breathes a bated breath that he was unknowingly holding in.
"You have no idea what is possible!" Venom turns the tides on Izuku, pinning HIM against the wall now. "Like all there is for us to take from you … as you took away from us!"
Izuku desperately grabs at the thick bicep and forearm of the hand that is holding him down. But in his desperation, he fails to foresee how futile that resistance is. Nor does he realize or understand that what he says in response to Venom will only spur on the beast's hate fueled rage, "Shinso! This isn't you! It's the symbiote telling you that I took– !"
"Wrong! We are united as one! After what you did to us both, we found eachother to bond over our mutual hatred for you!" Venom lurches forward, his fangs a foot away from Izuku's face. The monster's mouth is occupied by a prehensile tongue that looms even closer – a mere centimeter from Izuku's nose – as saliva slips from that very same tongue.
"Hello? What's all that ruckus about?" Before things can escalate any further between the two friends now turned into enemies, the sound of somebody rounding the corner interrupts them. It is a member of the hospital staff – an anthropomorphic type with the appearance of a penguin – he comes upon them in a set of scrubs. "Eh?"
Venom has reverted from his monstrous form back into his unassuming appearance as Hitoshi Shinso by the time that the hospital staff spots him and Izuku Midoriya. "We're just two guys horsing around!" He plays off his roughhousing with a 'good natured' shove to separate himself from Izuku.
And since Izuku doesn't have much of any other choice but to play along, he nods to support that story. "Y- Yeah.. We're just messing about.. Sorry for the noise, sir.." It's like he's back in school with his bullies, covering up their behavior towards him with a false face as though they're close pals.
"This isn't the place for that, you two rambunctious teenagers!" The hospital staff gives them a firm reprimanding either way, unbeknownst to the truth of the situation or who these two 'rambunctious teenagers' actually are.
Izuku waits for the penguin personnel to walk away before going to return his attention to Hitoshi. "Shinso…" But when he turns around to face his new foe, a grave expression overcoming his features, he finds out that Hitoshi has vanished. "Wha–"
Izuku's eyes switch from spot to spot as they seek where Hitoshi may have relocated to. For a moment, he fears that Hitoshi – Venom – might have actually fled off to only God would know where. But then he sees the indigo haired fiend back in the hallway that they came from – he doesn't know if he should be relieved by that… probably not.
Izuku speed walks in pursuit of Hitoshi. Now that he's found his newly acquired foe, he won't again allow for his enemy to leave his sight. It's too much of a risk to do so since this particular adversary knows his secret identity – as well as all his loved ones that are associated with each alter ego. Izuku can only hope that the symbiote wouldn't influence Hitoshi to SUCH an extent that he'd harm his friends or family but that isn't enough to give him any reasonable comfort.
As he passes by a nurse's station, Izuku swiftly snatches a spare surgical face mask – real smooth – since he might have to make due without his standardized face covering. One person that he didn't want to find out about him now knowing his secret identity is enough already; he doesn't need anybody else figuring out who he is by witnessing Izuku Midoriya fight a fully fledged monster.
Hitoshi Shinso throws a look back over his shoulder, flashing a small smirk towards Izuku who trails a good number of paces behind. He knows Izuku is following him and he's purposely leading Izuku away from the populace of the hospital staff. Hitoshi ducks around a corner, taking a sharp & sudden turn. Izuku has to quicken his speed in order to keep up.
Now, they are in an empty corridor where the lights are drawn down to prevent people from taking it. That doesn't stop the monster that is Venom from going there, who excels in dark environments; the symbiote has already recoated and made Hitoshi into a massive creature again. What was a small smirk is now an open fanged smile when Venom glances behind himself a second time to taunt Izuku further.
Venom banks left – fast – another sudden sharp turn. Izuku looks behind himself to see that it's just him in the hall before breaking into something short of a sprint in order to catch up. When he gets to where Venom went, he finds himself at the bottom of a staircase. The flight of steps leads to a roof access point.
Up on the top of the hospital, there will be nobody to see or interfere with their altercation. Izuku covers his face with the surgical mask that he grabbed anyways – one can never be too careful. Bravely, the boy braces himself before climbing the staircase. Izuku accesses the rooftop where his former friend turned foe patiently waits.
It's a modern day David versus Goliath when the two have their standoff. Venom towers over the short teenager, the symbiote also supplying its new host with a bigger muscular mass & density. Gone is the mildly friendly neighborhood look that came with the original redesign concept of Izuku's Spider-Man suit; now, it's a pure villainous visage. All black with a pure purple sheen, this being seems almost alien.
Izuku looks up at his foreboding foe, eyes wide now that he's able to clearly see their size difference in a sunnier setting. He makes a squeaking sound, "You're … a lot bigger than I remember..", and his voice is as meek as a mouse when it comes to such a comparison should Venom be an elephant in this situation – or, rather, something more predatory like a bear makes more sense.
Venom chuckles, relishing in Izuku's fear. "Of course we are…" The bulky beast throws up an arm – from that arm, a pseudo web line lashes out – the elastic string stretches across the roof as a living tentacle. "We're the upgrade!"
Izuku kicks into high gear; his body bends backwards as he jumps away from the snaking extension of Venom's webbing. Continuing to veer from what keeps whipping about like a livewire, he finds himself resorting to his usual coping mechanism when becoming afraid of an opponent – he begins to joke around – the only issue with that is that his enemies never really support his comedy acts. "Look – Just because I dumped you, that doesn't mean you should resort to insults!" And Venom REALLY doesn't support it.
Venom roars with rage over the reminder of being rejected. Spurred on by his anger, the monstrous menace charges at Izuku. The mad rush is fast but predictable enough for Izuku to avoid getting steamrolled. Even so, the boy barely dodges Venom's assault and lands less than gracefully on his back. Hurriedly, he uses his shoulder as a means to roll himself over and returns to his feet.
Venom whirls around to glare down at his quarry. "You can run.." One heavy hand over the other, he lurches himself forward to go after Izuku – the launch blows by Izuku, but they do brush against eachother – Venom grazes the boy that pivots over the roof's ledge. "But you'll never escape us!" Venom follows Izuku over the side of the hospital. "We'll chase you to the ends of the earth!"
Izuku spider-scuttles along an angled wall, doing his best to steer clear of the occasional window, but doing even better to steer clear of the monster that chases after him. A huge fist smashes into the spot where he once was, leaving behind a massive indent. It's a big enough crater that he could probably climb inside of it to hide. Part of him wishes that he could. Instead, Izuku continues to flee.
Venom reigns down more heavy punches, all of them aimed at Izuku even if they don't quite make their mark. As Izuku keeps weaving his way to momentary safety, he can't help but ask aloud a serious question that's now nagging at him. "You can't seriously hate me this much?! Can you?!"
Venom answers immediately. "Oh, but we do!" The brutish beast bashes the boy into the side of the hospital, finally outracing the smaller statured combatant. Venom leans in with a giddy grin that's filled with jagged & pointed teeth while saying in a sing song tone of voice, "Izukuuuuu~"
Izuku struggles against the heavier set opponent that currently has him pinned. "I know I screwed up–", he grunts during his efforts to resist being crushed, "-I'm willing to admit that!" But it's to no avail. Since there's no hope of breaking free, he does the next best thing – he throws a punch – to be fair, he can't miss with his enemy being so up close and personal. "But this is going too far!"
The sudden strike surprises Venom enough to make his hold slacken on Izuku – and that split second is all Izuku needs in order to slip free. Venom bares his fangs while watching Izuku get out of his grasp. "Too far?! Was it never far enough for you with what you did to us?!"
Izuku ducks under a swipe of Venom's clawed fingers. "This isn't about just getting even!" He focuses on evasion rather than retaliation while trying to get through to his old friend, who he KNOWS there must still be good inside of if Hitoshi wanted to originally join the Hero Course. "Shinso, the symbiote won't stop at that! The hatred – the anger and the bitterness – it won't end with me!"
Venom growls while getting increasingly agitated. "Don't be so sure about that" The menacing monster moves quickly while trying to swat Izuku like a small insignificant spider that's more troublesome than it should be.
Izuku bounces back, the beast's knuckles catching his chest. He rotates himself while coughing up the pain out of his lungs and up through his gaping mouth. There's no time for recovery. There's no time to stall. He scurries along the roof as fast as he can in his current condition. "Listen to me! I know it feels good.. The power–"
"You wouldn't know REAL power if it bit you!" Venom comes down with full force. A wide mouth that's filled with sharpened teeth snaps at Izuku. The only way he manages to keep his head is to take the brunt of the tackle instead.
Laid out completely – mostly dazed – Izuku stirs more than struggles to get back up. He groans over both the aching protests of his body & the irony of Venom's accusation. "Yeah.. Thank goodness that's never happened..", he blames his fateful spider bite yet again for the predicaments that he's always finding himself in like this one.
Venom rains down a round of brutal blows on the still stunned teenager. Each one bruises the boy more than the last. There's definitely some cracked ribs and internal bleeding for the hospital staff here to treat – if he somehow survives this, that is. The roof beneath Izuku caves in bit by bit as it cracks and chips away underneath him. At a certain point, Izuku basically stops resisting the beatdown – he just doesn't have enough energy left in him to do anything.
Seeing this, Venom … actually eases up.. But not to be merciful. No, never that. Venom peels off Izuku's surgical mask to look into the eyes of the bloodied face behind it. Red paints everything below the boy's forehead, all the way down past his chin to his neckline.
Izuku stares up at Venom through clouded vision. Accepting his fate in that moment, he manages to rasp out the only thing that he can think to say to the enemy that bested him. "Go on then… Kill me.."
Venom laughs at that. "Kill you? We don't want to kill you!" The symbiotic state of Hitoshi Shinso stands over the defeated form of Izuku Midoriya, towering above the beaten boy victoriously. "Killing you would be all too easy!" He makes a point by showing his superiority here and now. "We want to make you SUFFER! The way you made us suffer!"
Izuku blinks with lidded eyes. Probably, the only thing currently keeping him conscious anymore is the unspoken threat of how Venom intends to make him suffer. His mom is under the roof that they're currently battling upon, afterall. "Shinso.. Don't do this..", he makes one final attempt – a last ditch effort – to try and get through to Hitoshi, "We were friends once.."
If Hitoshi has any hesitation, Venom doesn't show it. His only acknowledgement of Izuku's plea is to say, "Once", which admits they may have been friends at a point in time but also tells him all he needs to know that they no longer are.
Izuku watches as Venom then turns and .. leaves. Venom swings away using weblines – just like Spider-Man. This first encounter was about sending a message. It was to let Izuku know that he's out there. And now that Izuku does know that there's an enemy of his out there with all the knowledge of his life's secrets, he'll never be able to rest easy until there comes a resolution – maybe that alone is the suffering that Venom meant to bring on.
Izuku forces himself to wake up. He rolls over from his back to his stomach, dust draping down and sliding off of him as he does. There's no time to take a breather. Especially since he's pretty sure that he'd sleep for literal DAYS if he were to allow himself to pass out. He has to persevere and get back up. He tells himself, "I am so tired..", but he also tells himself that Spider-Man always gets back up. Spider-Man ALWAYS gets back up.
He crawls his way across the rooftop. As he does, he fishes out his cellphone in order to make a call. He knows it's a risky call to make, but he doesn't have much of a choice. If he is going to excuse himself from the hospital in order to chase after Venom, then he will need somebody else here watching over his mother. And it can't just be anyone. It needs to be someone that can protect her. It has to be pro heroes. And he can't think of any heroes better than a collective group of them that has some experience battling the symbiote already.
"Hey.. This is Spider-Man putting in a collective call to the Wild Wild Pussycats.." His pride might have been beaten out of him but his humor still remains.
"Spider-Man?!" Mandalay's voice comes from over the phone line. She sounds shocked to hear him – which makes a lot of sense what with what went down the last time that they saw eachother.
Izuku hesitates to say what it is that he's about to say next. It was risky enough already calling from his phone but giving them his mother's name will most certainly be the clue that gives away his secret identity if he isn't careful. "I need a favor.. That thing that took me over has taken over somebody else and now everyone close to me is in danger..", he starts out by sharing with them how serious & urgent this is for him to be backed into such a corner.
"No shit", Tiger chimes in with his – less than helpful – bit of input, "You really know how to stir up trouble! Dont'cha, kid?!"
"What is it that you need from us, Spider-Man?" Mandalay keeps the peace by keeping the conversation on track, to which Izuku is grateful, especially since she sounds supportively willing to help him.
"It's no secret that Izuku Midoriya and I are … close", he plays his cards carefully while treading the topic of his relation to – well, himself – but also his mother, "I fear for his and his family's lives.. Could you watch over Inko Midoriya for me?"
Pixie Bob starts to voice a curious concern, "Wouldn't Izuku be the only one that needs watching though– ?"
"Please!", but Izuku's desperation bleeds through as a sudden outburst before she can inquire about his request any further into detail. His eyes go wide when he pauses. Catching himself, he takes a deep breath and tries again to explain things without giving away too much, "Please.. This is a necessary precaution that I– that he needs for us to take.."
There's a brief moment of silence from the other end of the line from the Wild Wild Pussycats. During that moment, Izuku's worries rise to heights he never thought imaginable. But fortunately, they spare him when Mandalay finally agrees to work with him. "You can count on us to keep her safe."
Izuku breathes a sigh of relief as he gives what may be his most heartfelt expression of appreciation, "Thank you.." Putting the life of his mother in the hands of others is hard enough as it is. He doesn't think he can handle much else.
But with all that said and done, he still has to see her before he goes. He limps his way back to her room – without stopping to think or realizing what he looks like.
When he returns to his mom's bedside, she goes paler than she had appeared previously. "Izuku! What happened?!" The worried mother nearly climbs off her cot to coddle her son who returned to her badly bruised & bloodied.
He holds his hand up to his face to feel it since he doesn't have a mirror readily available to check himself. Izuku's fingers brush against layers of dried blood that has begun crusting between the space under his nose & directly above his lips. It must look pretty bad – with or without the proper context.
"I.. Uh.." He doesn't want to lie to her again. He was fully prepared to tell her the truth about his double life mere moments ago. But it's not like he can exactly explain things quickly about how his friend turned into a supervillain because of a symbiote that was influencing his dark impulses recently. He sadly sighs and makes up a lame excuse, "I tripped", just like the good ol' days.
Inko's face is a sad scowl as she stares at her son. Out of all the times that he's lied to her, this is one of the times that it's easy for her to know he isn't telling her the truth. "Well, it certainly wasn't in the shower.." She eyes him up and down with a critically harsh glare.
Izuku almost jumps out of his skin. He's still covered in soot since he never washed up. "Right.." He's too tired to come up with a logical explanation and so he winds up digging himself into a deeper ditch. "I, uh, I hit my head and–"
"Izuku.." Inko is having NONE of it though.
"I'm sorry, mom.." Izuku's shoulders that had been slumped due to being exhausted now slouch with a touch of sorrow too. "I need you to trust me on this that I'll explain everything later – but right now, I really need to go.." His eyes are wetter than the blood that covers his face as he looks her in her eyes.
Inko opens her mouth, prepared to protest – to reprimand – but she sees in his eyes the stare of the son that she remembers raising and thinks twice. She slowly nods to give him the permission to go. Whatever was going on with him before has clearly changed. And now, Inko must trust Izuku to do the right thing. She has no doubts that he will since he usually does.
"Just know that I love you, mom, I love you very much" Izuku begins backing out the door but not without telling her the most important thing that he can currently. It's something he has to say – it's something that he needs her to hear.
And, of course, Inko tells her son that she loves him too. "You're my world, Izuku, please always remember that. No matter where you go or what you do, you are always my baby boy."
Izuku Midoriya was birthed in a hospital just like this one. Perhaps, Spider-Man is being reborn in a hospital such as this as well.
He sifts through burnt shards of sheetrock and wood. He pushes pieces of his destroyed bedroom aside. And all the while, Izuku Midoriya doesn't spare a single tear for his damaged house. There are much too pressing of other matters for him to worry about. Still, he can't help but feel oddly detached from it all. As though this isn't his actual reality transpiring. It's just all so … unreal. But here is – digging through debris.
His hands brush up against a different texture. It's something still sturdy and burnt to a crisp along its outer layering, but the box shaped object IS different from the rest of the rubble. Izuku lifts it up out from the wreckage so that he can rest it atop his knees. It's his dad's old work briefcase – as claimed by the embroidered initials 'H.M' on it – and it wound up being fireproofed just enough that it could preserve his old Spider-Man costume.
His fingers tremble as they undo the clasps in order to open it up. His hands shake as they grab onto the material of a uniform he hasn't worn in a long time. The fire left his suit untouched. It remains perfectly intact for him to wear again – as though it has been waiting here all along for him to put it back on.
Izuku stares straight into the spider emblem as though it's his very soul being returned unto his fiber & being. Vibrant colors of red & blue inspire and instill hope in him as they had done when he saw All Might wearing those same colors. After what he went through with the symbiote and now Hitoshi Shinso, this is like genuinely being reunited with an old friend. Spider-Man had been stuffed and stowed away – replaced by something dark – but now the friendly neighborhood webhead is back.
That this came out of his father's briefcase is all the more meaningful to him. He can already imagine his dad's voice in his head, "With great power… there must also always come great responsibility", as he is reminded of who he is and what the symbol of Spider-Man is meant to mean. Like his mom, he finds his dad being a source of strength when he most needs it to continue soldiering on.
The classic costume still fits like a glove – probably because one of the first few things that he puts on IS the gloves. If he has big shoes to fill after the mistakes that he made, then his feet fill the booties just as fine too. He has a spider emblazoned upon both his front & back as he tugs the suit's top down over his head. Even his bottoms slide on smooth to meet his waistline and belt area.
Izuku also makes sure to grab a pair of the nearest other surviving articles of clothing – which just so happens to be one of his mom's pink robes and a pair of sweatpants. It doesn't make for the greatest look but it gets the job done when it comes to making sure nobody spots him in costume. He's in the neighborhood where he grew up with a lot of people that would be able to figure out his identity otherwise.
When he turns around to leave, he discovers that somebody has been standing behind him, which proves his point that it was right to be cautious. Izuku awkwardly fumbles with the fluffy robe that is draped around him while greeting the girl that he's surprised to see, "H- Hagakure.."
She looks around the burned ruins of Izuku's house. It's not what she was expecting to find when she decided to take a trip down to his neighborhood in order to try and pay him a visit. Hagakure throws her hands up in the air, somewhat defeated, "I can't tell if that's a normal greeting or not after what happened."
Izuku looks about the destroyed site as though he is only now seeing his surroundings for the first time too. He sighs and says, "That's … fair.."
Hagakure shakes her head, even if he can't see it. He at least can see her gesturing to his current set of attire as she asks, "Do I wanna know what that's all about?"
Izuku looks down at himself. Embarrassed, he rubs the back of his neck and forces out a huff of a laugh. "Probably not.."
Hagakure sighs since that's about the only appropriate reaction to this nonsense right now. Yet, somehow, it doesn't seem so despairing of a situation either. She notices a significant change to the boy's behavior and attitude. "You seem normal now – well, as normal as you can get–"
"Thanks", Izuku's deadpanned response comes with a contradictory small smile that he can't help but have.
Hagakure smiles too, even if he can't see it. But her smile doesn't stay on her invisible face for long. Not when she brings up the reason why she was so worried about him to come here in the first place, "Did you get that symbiote thing off?"
Izuku's eyes widen with shock. "Yeah.." But Hagakure is one of the few people that knows about all this stuff, and so he does his best to not withhold too much from her. "Yeah, I did.."
Hagakure's next sigh is one of relief, "Good", she visibly relaxes through the movement of her floating attire, "It's gone for good then."
Izuku winces. "Not exactly.."
"What?!", Hagakure does a doubletake, "Don't tell me you're keeping it–"
"No!", Izuku holds up and shakes his hands to let her know that it's not what she's thinking, "No way!" When he tries telling her what he actually means, he absentmindedly wonders what's worse. "It's Shinso.." She stares at him, silently and expectantly. "It got control of Shinso."
"Good God.. I knew I should have gone to Aizawa", Hagakure stumbles back a step as that information hits her – she has a hard time processing what Izuku just told her.
Izuku, as well, has a hard time processing the other conversationalist's words. "Wait – Huh? You were going to go to Eraserhead?" He has to make sure that he heard her correctly.
Hagakure defends herself when she sees the expression on his face, "You weren't giving me much of a choice! Besides, I didn't tell him everything anyways!"
"I don't have time for this..", Izuku drags a hand down over his face in order to outwardly convey his exasperation. "Look, just leave this to me.." He shakes his head while beginning to work his way around Hagakure in order to leave. "I'll deal with it all myself. Alright?"
Hagakure follows after him, not allowing him to leave just yet. "Nobody can do everything alone!" She gets in front of the boy again, this time, in order to block his path. "Everybody needs help sometimes!", she grabs him by the shoulders in order to get her point across, "Even Spider-Man."
But Izuku shrugs her hands off. "Maybe.. But this is all my doing, one way or another, and so it's my mess to clean up.."
Hagakure hopelessly backs away from him, knowing that there's nothing she can do to stop him. She looks down to see that he's holding his Spider-Man mask; he's preparing to put it on. Now, reality is starting to settle in when it comes to Izuku being a vigilante and all that comes with that lifestyle.
"Look me in the eyes without the mask and tell me that it's going to be okay then", she tries not to get choked up so that he can't know she's starting to cry but it's far too late for that.
Izuku looks away from her. He then wordlessly slips the mask on over his face, because they both know he can't possibly make that promise without knowing if he can keep it or not. But what really breaks Hagakure's heart is when he turns his back on her afterwards to leave anyways.
Spider-Man drops down and perches himself upon a dome shaped rooftop. Across the way, he has a view of Kyoka Jirou's house. After her confession about having feelings for him – something he still has yet to sit down and talk to her about – he felt this was the only other place than the hospital where his mom is at that Venom might intend to do something harmful to him. If that's the symbiote's game – to get to him through the people that he cares about – then he's positive this is the right place to be.
When it comes to anybody else, it's not like Hitoshi himself is in any danger and 'Kacchan' hasn't truly been his friend since probably pre-school. Hagakure has been made aware of the situation already, so she can lay low. That'd just leave MJ, but she and him have already dealt with their feelings for one another that he's sure the symbiote won't deem her worthwhile … he glances back, now unsure of himself. Spidey shakes his head. Kyoka confessed her feelings for him, and he'd be lying if he tried to deny having similar emotions; if anybody needs protection from Venom right now, it's her.
And to prove his point… "SURPRISE!" Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Venom sneaks up behind Spider-Man, and envelopes the webhead in a bone crushing bear hug.
Spider-Man shouts due to an overwhelming amount of agony when Venom tightens the grip that he has on him. While squirming in the monster's hold, he can't help but wonder why his danger detection ability didn't warn him to the sneak attack, "How– ?!"
"Even your subconscious mind can't deny the bond we had – your Spider-Sense doesn't register us as a threat – but you threw away that trust and so now it is mistaken!" The symbiote spent so much time connected with Izuku Midoriya that it has become difficult for his danger detection ability to distinguish it from a threat or an ally; Venom just became ten times more lethally dangerous to him and his loved ones.
Actually… the eyes on Spider-Man's mask widen. He now understands why his Spider-Sense didn't alert him sooner back at the hospital either, when Hitoshi first confronted him. It's been a problem right under his nose this entire time – he just didn't happen to realize or notice the issue. It wasn't just that he was tired during their first battle – Venom could keep up with him because of this major disadvantage. This is the equivalent of being blind. Without his instincts or natural reflexes to fall back on, he's left to his own devices and experience.
He starts with his ol' reliable webshooters. Spider-Man aims his hand upwards at an angle below the biceps of Venom that are wrapped around him. Then, pressing two fingers down on the trigger of the trusty support equipment that he himself developed, he sprays a glob of webbing straight up into Venom's face.
Venom rages as he's temporarily blinded. But it does the trick. Spider-Man flips free while his enemy struggles with the makeshift web blindfold. It doesn't take long for Venom to tear the covering free from his face though.
"Your vendetta is against ME! Not them! Leave them out of this!", Spider-Man lays on more webbing in an effort to draw the villain's attention while maintaining a relatively 'safe' distance; all he manages to do is aggravate the monstrous malefactor.
Venom slashes at the webbing while dashing forward. Spider-Man brings his arms up to block the incoming assault. This results in the symbiotic enemy being able to grab ahold of the vigilante's wrists – where the web secreting gadgets are – Venom applies pressure and crushes the web making devices.
Venom maintains his hold, dangling the now webless wallcrawler by the two arms that he has in his massive grip. He laughs triumphantly, "What are you going to do now?"
Spider-Man grunts as he twists and turns within Venom's grasp. "I dunno–", he looks down and remembers that he has more than just his arms (HE HAS LEGS!) before driving a foot under Venom's jaw, "-kick you in the face?!"
Spider-Man gets loose from the villain's hold and backflips away. When he regains his footing with a lowly poised crouched position, he pauses to momentarily check his arms. The gloved material around each of his wrists is torn away to expose damaged mechanisms – web fluid has already solidified and caked itself around his hands. There's no spare cartridges for him to resupply on back home since his house burned down and it's not like he has the time nor ingredients to whip up some new formula either. Now he's at a disadvantage with the lack of his Spider-Sense AND his webshooters.
"Bet you're missing us now~" Venom shows off the symbiote's ability to produce its own organic means of webbing – that never seems to run out, by the way – which Izuku DOES have to admit, makes him a tiny bit jealous. The black webbing also happens to be much stronger and more resilient – which makes being caught in it a huge pain in the ass.
Spider-Man falls over the side of the roof that they battle upon, now bound in a cocoon of symbiotic string. He pries at the dark material. He pushes with his elbows to tear himself free while pulling at the rest with his fingers. It takes a lot of energy & effort on his part but he manages to get it completely off. Not before he can do anything to stop himself from hitting the pavement though.
Spider-Man bounces against the ground, leaving an indent upon impact. The damage that's dealt unto him only doubles when Venom drops down and lands atop him. The beast's bulk & weight draws the boy's breath out of his mouth, and his mask makes it all the harder for him to regain that breath.
Venom slurps drool droppings from his sharp toothed smile. "If only Jirou could see the pathetic state that her 'hero' is in right now!" He revels in the moment of having claimed superiority against Spider-Man again during their battle.
Hearing the monstrous menace mention Kyoka manages to rejuvenate Spider-Man's fighting spirit though. He's reminded of his reason to fight. "I'm telling you, Shinso, leave her out of this! She didn't do anything–"
"Wrong! She falsely influenced you and tried to separate us!" Venom angrily presses down on his previous host, complaining like an ex might over a bad breakup.
Hearing this part of Venom's reasoning reminds Izuku that's dealing with a slimy creature and not just a human being buried beneath that slime. "The only false influence is you, symbie!" His eyes narrow as he looks directly into Venom's gaze – all while he gives up on trying to get through to Hitoshi.
The symbiote driven villain glares back in return. "If that's so, then you two can belong together on the streets without a home!" He then chucks Spider-Man at the tree that's planted directly outside of Kyoka's home. When Spider-Man crashes into it with such an extreme amount of force, a lumberjack may as well be yelling timber.
"NO!" Spider-Man reacts by planting himself in front of the large plant. He catches the tree by its trunk in order to prevent it from crashing into the house. Spider-Man yells while putting in all of the effort that he can to stop the heavy tree that is leaning against him.
Hearing all of the commotion out front, it was only a matter of time before Kyoka Jirou came outside to check on what all of the noise is about. She throws open the front door to her home while stepping outside. "What the hell is going on– ?!" But stops and gasps when seeing Venom battling Spider-Man.
She sees the monstrous version of the black suited Spider-Man that she fought against previously and becomes stunned from the amount of shock & surprise to her system. "Well, well, well!" Venom obviously recognizes her too but is MUCH giddier about their reunion. Immediately, the villain locks onto her and starts stomping in her direction.
Spider-Man, still struggling to support an entire tree while trying to make it stand upright, watches this interaction from the corner of his eye. He worriedly calls out to Kyoka as an attempt to snap her out of her momentary daze, "Get back inside! Run!"
Kyoka hears him and jumps to attention. She doesn't wait around to respond, she gets to running back inside as she's told. Her only mistake is leaving the door ajar in her haste. Not that Venom wouldn't just break it down anyways…
"Go ahead and run! We don't mind the thrill of the chase!" Venom follows her without any urgency. It may as well be a guarantee that she won't escape him – he moves slowly as though it is an inevitability – the villain casually takes his time.
That makes Izuku angry. "ENOUGH!" He uses the tree in his hands as a blunt force object and swings it at Venom as though he's a baseball player up to bat.
The trunk tears through Venom upon collision. Wood shatters & splinters into a spray that is coated with sap. Leaves are tossed into the sky as branches break apart and shower the front lawn that serves as a battlefield.
But Venom basically doesn't budge. Not even a bit. He shrugs off the blow with a snaggle toothed smile that's cocked to one side. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to stop us–"
Venom's smile drops when he sees Spider-Man switch into a new stance. "I said.." Spider-Man pulls back a fist, winding up as much as he can. Then, with all of the strength that he's got in him, he lets go. "..ENOUGH!"
There's a flick of the muscles along his arm before the punch lands. Spider-Man leans into it, driving his fist further into Venom. His knuckles don't just dig into the layer of symbiotic skin – they burrow in. All around his forearm, Spider-Man feels the throbbing transfer of force from him to his enemy.
Venom's head turns from the impinging collision. Spider-Man's knuckles slide out from the monster's face as the top heavy body of the beast bends back a step. The villain is sent reeling – a shockwave tremoring all around the symbiotic surface around the point of impact – a clap of sound follows suit.
Venom hunches over with a hand cupping the bottom half of his jaw. A tread of blood oozes out from his fanged mouth and drips down through the gaps of his fingers. He looks back at Spider-Man with wide eyes. "You haven't hit anyone this hard since you fought the Nomu at the USJ.."
Spider-Man's stance is slightly stooped as well; one hand holds the other, the fist that he used to swing at Venom still clenched into a compact ball. He breathes heavily over having exerted a lot of energy with that punch previously but his labored breaths hold a lot of energy left in them all the same. The lenses on his mask narrow when he gives Venom a venomous glare, "I'm done holding back on you."
Venom grows a grin that stretches from cheek to cheek. "Gooood~" To know that he was able to get under his most hated adversary's skin in such a way brings him joy.
Spider-Man steps in with another punch, opting to use his other fist this time. But now, Venom is ready. The beast blocks while returning the attack with one of his own. It's a counter strike that ought to knock Spider-Man off his feet. However, the vigilante's feet hold firmly to the ground. He takes the brunt of the blow head on, forcing himself to have it roll off his body.
Spider-Man shakes off the hit before returning the body blow with one of his own to Venom's stomach. He drives an uppercut straight into the giant's gut. Venom lets out something that sounds like a cross between growling & groaning. Spider-Man pushes his fist further into the villain's stomach. He feels the crunching of his knuckles but it's somehow satisfying this way.
Venom's turn. He slams a massive fist directly into Spider-Man's face. This time, Spider-Man is knocked off balance. He stumbles, tripping over himself. But he plants a leg back and prevents a total collapse from happening. He can't go down. Not until this fight is finished. Spider-Man grits his teeth and pushes past the protests of pain that keep coming from his body.
Spider-Man's fist connects with Venom's chin when he throws a wild cross. It's not the most refined punch, but it packs enough power to do damage. The material that makes up his gloves tears along with his skin all around his knuckles; whatever blood sprays & splatters upon impact could come from either himself or Venom, and there'd be no way of ever knowing without a DNA test.
The lower half of the vigilante's mask gets torn when Venom trades blows with Spider-Man some more. A fist that's the size of Spider-Man's head – if not bigger – passes right along his chin. Red seeps through the small gaps in Izuku's teeth as he bites down and resists crying out in agony. He refuses to give Venom the satisfaction of showing any signs of the hits doing him harm.
An extreme tremor wracks the boy's entire body when he takes another punch straight to the chest. Vibrations cause a shaking all throughout his skeleton as his bones struggle not to break from such an extreme amount of force. Izuku Midoriya is fortunate enough to have a high pain tolerance. He manages to ignore whatever parts of him are throbbing. Spider-Man continues to stand his ground.
Much like the villain Muscular, Venom has a thick torso that proves tough to penetrate. Spider-Man pounds at it – he works at both the soft deflective layer of the symbiote and its hardened defense – the strikes cause the powerful opponent to stall, at the very least. Spider-Man sees Venom's knees buckle – but so do his own – they both refuse to fall, their knees straining to keep them standing ever still.
This exchange of blows continues. Venom brutally bashes the vigilante. Spider-Man struggles to swing at the villain. They both reel from eachother's attacks. They each give the other an intense beating. It's not a matter of who clobbers their enemy more anymore so much as it is how much pain they can inflict in the power behind their punches.
Spider-Man channels all of his anger into his hits. Not just whatever anger he feels towards Venom, but also all of the anger that he feels for himself. Fists that are full of frustration stay focused on a tall target. Spider-Man screams as he tries to take down the symbiote, as though it is the sole source of all this indignation.
Venom's punches are packed with absolute hatred. Sheer strength is sent into every single swing that he takes at Spider-Man. He intends to pound the person that he deems responsible for his ill treatment to a pulp. He'd rather squash the spider than squash any beef.
It is inevitable that something eventually has to give between the two of them. And despite his best efforts, it is Izuku who winds up falling first. Regardless of a strong fighting spirit, the boy's body can no longer keep up. Spider-Man stumbles before dropping down into the dirt. He gags on his own blood while trying to catch a ragged breath. This is the point of which he has pushed passed his limits.
Venom goes down next – he drops down to one knee, having to prop himself up to keep from completely falling – his breaths come out as huge & heavy huffs. Spider-Man's last stand has left him visibly shaken; the symbiote tremors all along the monster's outer layer of slimy skin. Yet, he still smiles. He smiles because… "We're stronger than you, Izuku ~ We're better than you ~ And you WILL regret rejecting us!" …because he's proven that he's a physical match for Spider-Man.
Spider-Man sees Venom stand and start to head for Kyoka's house. "No…" His voice is weak & weary as it rasps out a futile plea for Venom to stop – the desperate & pitiful effort is no better than his outstretched hand, done as though it would ever manage to reach the villain or the girl that he's trying to save.
Venom ventures into Kyoka's house without any resistance from the defeated vigilante. His broad shoulders break either side of the small doorframe upon entry. His stomps cause bends in the wooden flooring. Within a dimly lit environment, Venom is a giant monstrous shadow. He looks about for the girl that he is hunting. He overturns the living room couch and tosses aside the kitchen table, checking under both. Venom searches for wherever Kyoka may be hiding without interference, which makes him out to be a terrifying seeker.
Venom steers his large mass through a tight hallway. Then, he ventures upstairs. Amused, he presumes Kyoka ran to her bedroom. But when he pushes open the door to enter it, he doesn't find her there. She's not hiding underneath her bed or in her closet. She's somewhere else. Venom growls, agitated, while taking out his vexation on her nightstand; he smashes it in a single blow.
After ransacking and searching the entire house, Venom is left with one final room to check. It's at the end of the hall upstairs. It's a recording room. When he steps into it, he sees an expensively impressive speaker system surrounding him at all sides. The sound equipment is trained on the door where he walks in, all of it primed & ready via Kyoka Jirou at a control center.
"Did you think that a Hero Course student like me would just run away and hide?", she smirks since she outsmarted the villain by luring him here as bait, "I remembered how much you loved vibrations the last time and thought you'd like to hear some new beats that I've been developing!"
Venom falters for a second too long as he tries to decide between fleeing or attacking. Kyoka activates the super sound system and the symbiotic threat is assaulted with insanely loud vibrational airwaves. Music at an extremely loud decibel pounds on the villain as hard as Spider-Man's punches had. Meanwhile, Kyoka wears a set of specialized earmuffs to protect herself from the audio's feedback.
Venom wails as he's brought down to his hands and knees. The symbiote shrivels and shrieks while flailing around in a series of tormented tendrils. The burly beast claws at the ground while suffering. It's as though it is being burned alive – a solidified structure of muscle melts into a black slime – it somewhat corrodes at the same time that it desperately tries to reach out for some sort of safe securement.
To make this all the more painful of an attack for Venom, the song that so happens to be playing actually IS Kyoka's most recently developed music and it's a lyrical tune about Spider-Man who she so much admires. The villain who despises the vigilante the most is forced to listen to how great she believes he is through the rock melody that she calls Kakero! Spider-Man!
"MAKE IT STOP!" Venom lurches forward with his clawed hands reaching for the giant array of speakers. His hope is that if he smashes some of them, then it may be bearable enough of an environment for him to survive.
But before he can make any real movement for the speakers, Spider-Man himself arrives on the scene to stop the villain, by wrapping an arm under Venom's neck and pulling back. The vigilante puts the symbiotic threat in a headlock made to harness & handle the monstrous menace. Spider-Man uses the last reserved remains of his strength to hold back Venom long enough for the vibrational assault to do its job.
Kyoka gasps – a blush overcomes her face as she buries it in her hands – whereas this isn't the time nor the situation to be embarrassed, she can't help but become red faced over Spider-Man hearing the song that she not only wrote but also sang & made for him. It wasn't ever really meant to be shared and it isn't even completely finished yet.
"-his eyes flashing anger~" Spider-Man glares through cracked lenses in his mask as he continues to restrain Venom. Kyoka's voice spurs him on to keep fighting as fiercely and as ferociously as he can, whether that embarrasses her or not.
"-enduring sorrow, he abandons even friendship~" Hitoshi Shinso struggles within the symbiote's struggling, now returning Spider-Man's glare with an intense stare of his own. He throws his head back, trying to butt it against the vigilante's face. It's a desperate effort to throw Spider-Man off. Whereas it does give Spider-Man a bloody nose, it doesn't make Spider-Man back down.
Spider-Man actually applies more pressure – as much pressure as possible – while trying to choke the villain harder & faster. He fights the jerking motions that come with the symbiotically steered body's resistance. With the symbiote enhancing Hitoshi's strength, Venom puts up a good fight by bucking back and forth.
Spider-Man doesn't let up though– "Why do you do it? Why do you continue to fight? Risking your life earnestly every single time? ~Spider-Man~ Spider-Man!" –he fights until the fight is officially over, and it's over when the song is over. It's over when Hitoshi slumps to the side, and when the symbiote slides off the unconscious boy's body.
Quickly, Spider-Man grabs a speaker sheet cover and uses it to bag up the symbiote before it can scurry away. The tarp twists about as the living sludge squirms from within its newly confined quarters. Without a way to latch onto or connect to a host though, the scientific slime isn't much of a threat otherwise.
Kyoka steps out from behind the audio control booth to join Spider-Man upfront where her surround sound speaker system is. She looks around at the considerable damage that's been done to the place, surveying what was damaged all around her house as well, with her hands placed on her hips and a frown on her face. "I'm sure glad that my mom and dad are away for a concert … dunno how I'm gonna explain all of this when they get back though.."
Spider-Man winces, "Sorry", he is genuinely apologetic since he can only imagine the way his mom would react if their roles were reversed and he doesn't envy Kyoka with parents who he imagines might react similarly.
Kyoka waves off his concern though, "Don't be", and shows no real animosity when she playfully punches him upside his shoulder, "Always here to have your back."
That makes the boy breathe a sigh of relief, even if that playful punch actually did manage to hurt with how tender his body is currently. He pauses when thinking about what Kyoka said and smiles while looking back at her. "Always, huh?"
Kyoka fixes him with a stare, "Don't make it weird."
"Sorry", he apologizes again but this apology is without as much genuinity as the last one since he's still smiling when additionally adding, "Would asking you about that song you wrote also be making it weird?"
Kyoka's ear jacks rise like a set of snakes preparing to strike. "Yes!" Her profuse blush makes her appear red with anger.
And that scary sight is enough to make even the mightiest of vigilantes cower in fear, "I'malreadyinjuredenough!I'malreadyinjuredenough!", he shields himself with his arms as though he's preparing to block another attack from Venom.
Kyoka lets out a huff as she crosses her arms. Fortunately for Spidey, she refrains from jabbing him with her ear jacks. "Just.. don't even mention it..", the embarrassed girl looks away while trying to hide the remaining blush on her face.
Spider-Man lowers his arms once he sees that it's safe to lower his guard. "Why? You've got a good voice–"
But it quickly becomes a false alarm when he makes the mistake of saying something to embarrass Kyoka more. She glares at him while taking a step forward, "DON'T– !"
"Okay! Okay!", he hurriedly protects himself again when he sees Kyoka's ear jacks return to an aggressive state of being poised.
Kyoka holds back a second time, but makes it clear that there will be no third warning should he slip up again. The two settle down, each taking a second to relax after – well, everything. They both don't realize how much they need the breather until they get this as a chance to take one.
Kyoka looks at the makeshift sack that Spider-Man is holding and then Hitoshi's unconscious condition. "So… I'm guessing there's a lot to explain about that black costume you had and what you're doing in my house now", she figures it's only right to ask what the hell it's all about since she finally can.
Spider-Man nods, since that's fair. But… "Another time.." It's a lot to explain in order to convey the full story properly and now isn't exactly the best moment to do that. "Jirou– Kyoka.." The girl's blush comes back when he uses her first name. "Really.. I'm going to explain everything to you."
"Everything.. ?" Kyoka blinks. When her eyes reopen, they're as wide as they have ever gotten. "By everything, do you mean- ?"
Spider-Man nods. It's an unspoken agreement that he's intending to share with her more than she was expecting him to. Not only is he going to give her the much needed explanation that she deserves about the symbiote, but he's also going to tell her his secret identity.
Kyoka is at a loss for words. If she's able to manage any at all, it's only one to ask him, "..Why?"
Spider-Man nervously looks away. And then forces himself to look back at her. He has to look her in the eyes for this. "What you said back when I was fighting Kami– Er, Electro – …did you mean it?"
Kyoka has to resist the urge to look away as well – or to jab him with her ear jacks – she turns a shade of red yet again as she tries to be bold & brave about her confession. It's for some reason a lot harder to do so without a supervillain present to endanger their lives. "Yes, you idiot, of course I meant it!"
Seeing her as equally as nervous as him helps to alleviate his anxiety, if at least a little. He smiles as a relieved laugh escapes his mouth. "I.. feel similarly", and he confesses to having shared feelings about the girl in front of him.
Slowly, Izuku draws closer to her. Kyoka does the same. Soon enough, there comes a point that they meet in the middle. Izuku's eyes close as he leans his head in. Her lips are soft, almost silken, and pillowy against his own. He feels a soft tickle from her breath beneath his nose. His hand comes up to cup her head, his fingers carding through her hair. They each breathe the other into themself. They can then taste a shared breath. And they can feel the thud of their combined heartbeat.
When Izuku pulls back from her, and he reopens his eyes, it's as though he is seeing her for the first time all over again. She has always been beautiful but now there is an added beauty to her that appears all the more magnificent to his vision. Sure, he could get lost in her onyx eyes. Right now though, he is lost in her face – completely mesmerized – he can't stop staring. "I could get used to this.."
Kyoka puts on a pretend pout while trying to hide her face in order to make him stop staring at her so intensely, "Sh- Shut it!", but she winds up smiling just the same as him since she feels similarly and secretly likes it.
Spider-Man backs away while stifling a laugh over her reaction – he knows that she'll probably jab him with her jacks if she catches him laughing too much. Nevertheless, he supposes it's all about working to please his newly acquired girlfriend now. So! "Yes, ma'am!" He shuts it as she said he should!
Until she tells him to speak up again, of course. "You'd better actually tell me everything!", she points at him as though she's bossier than she actually is.
Spidey doesn't mind. "You can count on it!" He has no intentions to go back on his promise. "No more secrets between me and the ones that I care about.." Kyoka and one other special lady in his life (his mom) are about to be clued into his world completely now.
When Spider-Man grabs Hitoshi Shinso and leaves, he leaves through the window on the second story. As such, he doesn't see the sliver of the symbiote that seeped through the floorboards to drop down onto the lower level right before he bagged it.
There's a part of the symbiote still out there. And whereas Izuku found new love with Kyoka, this symbiote fragment now seeks a new bond of its own to make.
Blending into the bushes with his green hide of hair is a creepy crawling creature. As a younger man, Kyudai Garaki had been a bit of a stalker. This isn't his first time staking out the front of a young lady's house. His pointed ears jerk back when he hears the front door's lock clicking. His enhanced set of eyes watch the knob turn. A blonde steps out, but not the blonde he was expecting. It's a gaunt fellow. The girl's new guardian.
Kyudai, now the genetically engineered Jackal, waits for who he presumes to be Toshinori Yagi to leave the residence. This is the depowered form of All Might – depowered, yes, but still All Might who caused his former master quite some strife – he'd rather not engage and risk anything with the man. He bides his time and waits a while longer. As he's been doing, he patiently stays still until the girl that he's come here for is left all alone.
Jackal had initially thought to work alongside David Shield in order to further develop his research. However, a secondary thought had crossed his mind that the other doctor is already working with Tombstone and that could obviously complicate some things. Whether she's a lesser mind or not, Jackal decided to then seek out the next best thing. With David Shield's daughter, Melissa Gwendoline Shield, he'd not only have another scientific mind to use but a potential bargaining chip should things go awry.
Right as the villainous being is about to abduct Melissa, he spots something else out of the corner of his eye thanks to his enhanced eyesight. It's the sliver of the symbiote that managed to slip away from Spider-Man undetected. Somewhere in its innate mind, it must have also thought to seek out David Shield – in its creation, the scientist is who it knew, and so that is who it searches to find on the brink of its demise – but the next best thing so happened to be David's daughter in this very same instance.
The small residual amount of the symbiote squiggles along as a worm might when dug up from the dirt. That makes it easy for Jackal to capture by scooping the symbiote up into a test tube that he keeps handy. This special specimen to just so happen to come along the same time as he did somewhat serves as the solution to his problem. Without Twice's quirk to use as a binding agent anymore, he has now found an alternative substance to implement as a foundational 'glue'.
Jackal throws a glance over his shoulder at the house where Melissa Shield resides. He knows that he can always find her there. He can always come back. What he has now though, is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something capable of creating REAL carnage.
AUTHOR NOTES
I hope all of the buildup has been worth the payoff of this chapter. It's one of my personal favorites that I've written. All the constant times that I promised the hardship Izuku faced, like with Inko, would get a heartfelt address - well, here's one of those chapters. I also finally got to have my fun writing Venom and officially sealed the ship for the story as Kyoka x Izuku. What more could anybody ask for aside from all of the references that I tossed in there (how many did you catch)?
I'm really hoping for some more real reviews sharing thoughts and feedback on this one and not these bot/scam 'commission' comments. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that there's actual readers who care about the story and it helps to get a reminder once in a while, so I do appreciate those of you who take the time to continually comment now and again.
That all being said and done, this isn't the last we've seen of the symbiote (or Venom for that matter) and the next storyline will be tackling Silvermane alongside Sin-Eater, so stay tuned!
~Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!