And like all such products, that meant everything the original creators had ever made, was long, long since in the public domain.
Which meant that there were bound to be filmmakers out there who had just decided to make their own version.
...
It was the reason why there had been 4 different adaptations of the DC animated universe over the years, of varying levels of quality, depending on who took a shot at it.
What surprised him, was just how many people had apparently decided to take a crack at Alien. He honestly hadn't thought a film series without superheroes or quirks would be that popular.
-Anyway, this will be a long-time project. Anyway, your address Midori?
-I could just take a train you know?
-God, you're just like Uraraka🙄 Seriously dude, I get 100 000 Yen in pocket money every month. I'll be fine.
Izuku suddenly felt an incredible sense of awkwardness and self-consciousness wash over him. He got a whopping 5% of that every month.
Izuku didn't normally feel much shame at the fact his family wasn't exactly well off. It was just something you learned to live with, and always act in accordance with how much cash you had on hand.
In that moment though, the difference in wealth between his and Mina's Allowance really, really stung.
Not wanting to dwell on that feeling, and wanting this chat over with, he quickly tasted in his address, hoping it would satisfy Mina, so they could move on to something, ANYTHING else.
-Alright, I'll have a cab at your house then. Also, no need to bring snacks, I'll get everything we need for the movies 😏
-You're not planning to prepare a ton of chocolate are you?
-Nah. I'm getting the old school stuff, like popcorn and soda. Speaking of, you want sprite, cola, or Fanta?
-Fanta, I guess?
-Alright oranges it is. Also… You a fan of Ramen? Like, hardcore old-school ramen?
-...Yes?
-Awesome. We eat dinner at 17.30. Shoyu Ramen.
-Sounds great.
-OH it will be🍜 Dad always pulls out all the stops when Guests come. Anyway, it's a date😜 See you tomorrow.
With that abrupt ending to their conversation, Izuku lowered his phone, and let out a long sigh.
An entire day watching horror movies. Greeeeeaaat… Just what he wanted…
Well, at least Mina and Venom would have some fun.
---
Actually having to talk with his mom when she returned from work was a rather awkward experience.
Apparently, she hadn't had too much of a good time watching him compete, being absolutely terrified at every single bad moment for him. Especially in the way she talked about Mei, who Inko spoke of with a tone of underlying anger, completely unlike her normal, friendly self.
"I think the absolutely worst was when you two were lying together being electrocuted. Shouldn't Yuei have stopped the match, or stepped in at that point?"
Izuku opened his mouth to reply in some attempt to soothe her, then blinked as he realized the implications of what she had said.
"That… Was the moment that looked the worst? What about the… The part near the ending?"
"Oh, it was horrible too. I fainted in terror at that. But… well… As awful as it was, I… Well, I thought that was the end you know. You were hit by that… Taser ball, screamed then collapsed. It was like when you were intertwined, only much shorter. I really thought that was it dear. It was amazing you managed to actually win against that… Terrible girl, in the end."
Huh… Izuku would have to take a look at the recording of the fight. From how she described it, it seemed like Eren had only been active for a brief, brief moment.
He vaguely remembered Recovery Girl saying something along those lines. He hadn't exactly been at the top of his game in the aftermath of it. Either way, to think that Eren could inflict such incredible agony over just a few seconds was… beyond terrifying.
"And then there was your fight with your friend Uraraka…"
She shuddered. Then quickly glanced over at Venom who was still watching TV as they ate.
He really should go and have look at that recording.
"So, did you two… Make up or…"
"I haven't really talked to her since I woke up. And Venom-" "She's fine. The girl didn't hold any anger or resentment over her brutal, and unavoidable loss. Only sadness."
Inko did not look at Venom though, instead looking at Izuku instead with a worried, inquisitive look on her face.
"You're not… Bothered about how it turned out?"
"Should I?"
"She caved in your teeth Izuku. That's not something most people just shrug their shoulders at."
He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, then almost shrugged his shoulder(Barely stopping himself in time), as he replied.
"We both went into this knowing how it might turn out. And besides, it all turned out fine in the end right?"
Inko's worried look did not disappear, instead she simply looked down at her food as she continued eating.
"I suppose…"
The rest of the dinner was rather awkward, until the end, when Izuku suddenly remembered he should probably tell his mom about his plans for the morrow.
"By the way, mom… I'm heading out tomorrow, at around 14.00."
She turned her head sharply and replied in a rather incredulous tone.
"Please don't tell me you're planning to go train again, you've barely recovered from the tournament!"
"Oh, no, no, no I'm not going training. I'm heading out for the day to hang out at a friend's place."
Inko visibly relaxed.
"Oh, well… That's good. Who're you hanging out with?"
"I'm Heading over to Mina's place. We're… going to do a movie marathon."
Inko froze.
"Mina. The pink girl right?"
"Yeah, that's her."
Inko's face turned into a bright, happy smile that was such a tonal whiplash from Her earlier expressions, that it caught Izuku completely off guard.
"So, how long will you be out then?"
"Fro-from two-thirty to ten, or about that."
At that she nodded, then just went on in silence as she finished eating, still grinning to herself.
As he also ate in silence, Izuku felt like… He'd missed something in this conversation.
He almost questioned it, but in the end, he shrugged his shoulders, and just went on with his day. If his mom was happy about him going over to Mina for a movie marathon, then that was a good thing… Wasn't it?
...
As he watched the videos of his bouts on his phone, Izuku picked up a lot of details he hadn't noticed in the moment.
For one thing, his mom was right. Eren didn't LOOK nearly as devastating as it felt.
It looked like Mei had thrown a baseball at him, which then exploded into a short burst of red, electrical power. Said power then burned it's way through his body visibly, then after a few seconds, it petered out.
The part where he and Mei had been interlocked together as he broke the gauntlets looked way, way worse, as the two teenagers screamed their lungs out from the pain.
He'd screamed while he suffered under Eren too, but it was not particularly louder or more frantic than when from the gauntlets. And it had been way, way shorter, before the terrible orb had burned itself out, leaving him lying on the floor, broken and silenced.
It… Was probably best not to give a thorough explanation of just how horrible the pain had been to his mom. She was worried enough as it was. Not to mention he didn't want to break her strangely good current mood.
Beyond Eren though, Izuku also got to watch his and Venom's fight against Uraraka. He winced at his obvious mistakes in the battle. Being high did not make for a good performance in battle.
He had been sloppy, overeager, way too eager to just throw himself into going fisticuffs with Uraraka.
It was a flat-out terrible performance on his part, and looking at it objectively, he realized he could see a whole host of what-if moments where he could probably have turned in a win, without having to rely on Venom to carry the day.
Speaking of…
What surprised Izuku the most about seeing the footage of Venom taking control, was the fact that he could see one thing crystal clearly.
Venom was just as affected by the high as Izuku had been. It was just that with all that additional muscles that could be broken apart without any harm to Venom himself, he was able to tank blows way, way better, and so, a battle of Endurance had really favored him.
...
If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.
You can join my p atreon :
[email protected]/Huvnn