Then, no more capable of resisting this new force, than he had been the words of Shinsou, he turned around, slowly and methodically.
Shinsou's face became a mixture between anger and surprise.
"How? You shouldn't have any control at all!"
...
His voice pierced into Izuku's ears, with no difficulty at all. Everything else was muted, but everything about them was deafening to him.
-Alrighty then, let's finish him off.-
His body began to walk over towards Shinsou in a calm, collected manner like he was out buying groceries.
Shinsou was sweating, but he had a smile on his face as they began approaching. A forced one.
"Let me guess, your quirk took over, didn't it? Damn, that must be good, being blessed with such power!"
Venom kept the slow, casual walk as he moved over to Shinsou's doom.
"Thanks to my quirk's nature, I never got to enter the golden gates myself! But I guess you wouldn't get that, since you're naturally blessed and all!"
Izuku tried to think over the words Shinsou said, to decipher the meaning of them. But it was like looking through crack glass that was underwater. He just didn't understand what he was talking about. He felt like he should though. Like what was being said was of great importance.
It wasn't a command, and thus he just couldn't see the meaning. His mind was like thick porridge.
To Shinsou's credit, he didn't back away from the approaching alien, instead standing his ground.
"You people… Born with your awesome quirks… Getting to follow all your damned dreams!".
Suddenly, as Venom got close to him, Shinsou lunged forward, bringing his fist up against Venom's head.
The punch landed hard but did about as much damage against him as a needle against plated steel. While he didn't hurt his hand nearly as bad as if he'd punched steel, he didn't manage to make a dent in the liquid that was surrounding Izuku either. Nor would he have had any better luck had he aimed for the natural weak spots of the human body, like the eyes or the groin.
The second skin of a Klyntar host could stand up against most firearms short of machine guns and sniper rifles and had no problem defending him against the punches of a skinny, teenage, human boy.
A black hand closed around the scruff of his jacket, lifted him up, and, in the ultimate power move, simply walked towards the exit while carrying him until he crossed the line near the edge that marked the end of the ring.
All the way, Shinsou desperately tried to punch, push, and kick his way out of the grasp, but it was as futile as a snake in the jaw of a jaguar.
"WINNER, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
The proclamation of victory was the first thing Izuku heard as his mind suddenly returned to normal, and reasserting control over his own body, his grip around Shinsou's shirt broke, making the other teenager plopped down on his own feet.
His expression was one of ultimate frustration, forcing his eyes closed as he gritted his teeth.
It all came back in a rush, sounds from all around him, cheers from the crowd, one particularly loud one he somehow manage to make out as Mina, thoughts flushing through his now reawoken mind.
As Present Mic continued with proclaiming that he had made it to the second round, Shinsou just stood there in front of him, as the suit around his head dissolved.
After maybe 10-15 seconds, he recomposed himself and headed over towards the center of the ring, where the two of them would bow to each other as a sign of a good match.
Izuku felt… Not jubilation, or joy, or even a sense of shame he hadn't been able to win on his own.
More than anything, as he and Shinsou bowed while the crowds clapped, he felt a sense of deep confusion.
-Well, that went well enough. You're lucky we're here though. Cause that would have been a really fucking embarrassing way to lose in the finals.-
Izuku did not disagree.
At this moment though, that wasn't what he was focusing on. Instead, as he watched Shinsou turn his back and leave, he wondered about his purple-haired foe.
He felt like… He was missing something really, really important, something right in front of his face. Something that had been said.
The boy who walked away was filled, no, absolutely crushed by disappointment.
It made Izuku feel… Kinda guilty to have crushed him as they had. This was how it was in tournaments though. One winner and all others would lose. There wasn't much he could do about that.
---
After his victory, Izuku got back up to where 1-A's students sat to watch the matches.
"Ah, Midoriya! I must say, you had us worried there for a second, yet you turned it around like it was nothing. Truly remarkable."
Tenya's tone was warm, and like Mina and Uraraka, he wore a smile as he welcomed him to the stands.
Venom, as he popped out of his shoulder to reply, had neither a smile, nor warmth in his tone as he scowled ad Iida.
"Correction, WE turned it around! If it hadn't been for us, this idiot would have easily lost in his very first match."
Izuku blushed and scratched the back of his head, but he didn't make an argument. Venom was completely right.
"Well, it worked out in the end, so that's good." Uraraka said, with a relieved tone.
Mina on the other hand just stared at Venom with a curious expression.
She opened her mouth to say something, only to get interrupted by Present Mic, announcing Sero and Todoroki's entrance to the ring.
Izuku winced as the loud tone echoed across the arena.
...
Venom was not a stranger to hatred. It was the nature of Klyntars to hate those who wronged them and seek brutal vengeance for slights.
Nor was their current situation without anyone to hate. There was both Katsuki Bakugou, whose feelings towards burned bright in both Izuku and Venom in a symbiotic bond. Then there was Iida, who had abandoned them in their time of need.
And right now, there was Present Mic.
Venom hated Present Mic with a passion.
"HE'S TURNED AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR, AND YET, WHAT IS WITH THAT PLAIN JANE EXPRESSION? DOES IT EVER COME OFF? SERO HANTA OF THE HEROIC DEPARTMENT!"
"VERSUS"
"AT THE START OF THE DAY, HE WAS DEEMED BY MOST AS THE MOST LIKELY TO WIN THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT! WILL THE BOY WHO ONCE STOOD UNCHALLENGED AT THE TOP, BE ABLE TO PERSEVERE AGAINST HIS ENEMIES? OR WILL HE FALL HERE AT THE FINAL STEPS??? TODOROKI SHOUTO OF THAT SAME HEROIC DEPARTMENT!!!"
Yes. Venom hated Present Mic and his shrill horrifying voice with every liquid of their being.
As he finally shut up, Venom was able to finally get to watch the two contestants in peace.
Earlier today, he had pegged Todoroki Shouto as the biggest enemy that had in 1-A.
Now, however… Well, it didn't matter if you had a superweapon or not. If you weren't willing to use it, it was worthless. They had seen that lesson play out again, and again throughout the Cosmos.
They had learned a lot by listening in on the conversation between Todoroki and Uraraka.
For one thing, they had decided that Izuku's theory on Uraraka being All Might's child was most certainly correct. Todoroki had confronted her with that very same accusation, and she had simply kept her mouth shut on the topic, not confirming, or denying the accusation.
Secondly, they had learned a lot of Todoroki himself, and how he ticked. Venom could both understand and sympathize with his desire for vengeance upon his sire. In fact, if he had been Venom's own host, they would probably have given him several pointers on how to take a much better thought out revenge.
Right now though, they and Todoroki were enemies, and Venom had no plans of not taking full advantage of Todoroki hamstringing his own powers.
Without fire, there was little to fear from Todoroki.
...
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