Chapter 55
[78]
A group of men in masks stood in an alleyway in Shibuya early in the morning, dividing up the loot from their robbery.
“Damn dude! I can’t believe how easy that was! I was expecting at least someone to try to stop us!” One of the robbers said excitedly, waiting to get his cash.
“I told you dude. The cops and Spider-Man, they’re too busy dealing with all the costumed freaks running rampant. They don’t have time for us. Ain’t that right Uchimura?” Another robber asked while digging through his bag of loot.
“...”
“Uchimura?”
“Your friend is dead. His liver was delicious.” A low raspy voice said from above.
The men looked up at the source of the voice and saw a large black creature crawling down the wall of the alley. It’s distorted jaw held dozens of razor sharp teeth and a long tongue that looked more like a pink tentacle.
“What the fuck dude!? What the hell is that thing!?” Another robber shouted while pulling out his gun. Firing off his entire clip into it did nothing to slow the beast down as it continued stalking towards them.
Suddenly, a tentacle shot out from the creature’s back and wrapped around the robber’s feet. Dangling the man by his feet, the creature’s jaws engulfed the man’s head in one bite before carelessly dropping his body.
The remaining two robbers immediately fled in fear, sprinting to the street outside. As they approached the light of the street, their hopes began to rise, only for fear to set in once more as one of the fleeing men’s legs were ensnared and he was dragged back into the dark alley screaming.
The last remaining robber reached the street, the morning sunlight shined brightly on him. No cars were on the road and not a single person seemed to be on the street aside from him. He turned back to the alleyway, unable to see the thing that’d just killed his friends. He let his arms rest on his knees, panting heavily after his sprint. What the fuck had just killed his friends!? Whatever it was he had to get out of here and-
“Boo.”
As the robber turned around, the creature was standing right in front of him. It’s foul breath blowing in his face, he tried to let out a scream but was silenced by its massive hand wrapping around his neck.
“Mmmm.” It stared him down with a hungry look before snaking its long tongue across his face. “Eyes, lungs, pancreas, so many snacks, so little time.”
“P-P-Please!” The robber pleaded.
“Please? You’re right, where are my manners? Thank you for the meal.” Venom finished by biting the man’s head off, tossing his headless body back into the alleyway to be discovered in a few hours.
As Venom walked down the street, satisfied with his meal, a sudden buzzing noise could be heard from inside of him. He quickly began to sink back into his host’s body, giving Goro Akechi control once again.
“Hello?” Goro answered his phone in his usual calm demeanor.
“Akechi where the hell are you? The governor is about to give his address and we need a photographer here asap!” Ichiko Ohya’s voice came from the other end.
“Sorry, I stopped for a bite to eat on the way. I’ll be right there.” The boy hung up the phone and continued his walk to work.
“Governor hmm? Can we eat him too?” Venom asked in Goro’s head.
“You’re already hungry again?” Akechi sighed at the symbiote. “No, remember the deal? Bad guys only. And as corrupt as I’m sure the governor is, killing him would lead to some...complications.”
“Rrrrg.” Venom growled unhappily. “Fine. But I expect a snack later.”
“I’m sure I can arrange that.” Goro smiled before hopping on the subway to the Diet Building.
Across town at Protein Lover’s Gym, two teenagers stood in front of each other, arms up and hands wrapped, they took turns jabbing at one another, each quickly dodging the others punches.
“Alright,” Makoto said, halting the training session. “I think you’ve got a good grasp on weaving. We’ll switch it up before coming back to that.”
“Huh, looks like fighting isn’t as hard as I thought. I’ll have this mastered in no ti-” Ren was interrupted by a blow to the nose. He stumbled back clutching his face before looking up at Makoto and giving her a ‘what the hell?’ look.
“That was for getting cocky.” Makoto said while pulling back her fist. “Don’t think this will be easy. Right now I’m teaching you the basics of the basics. There are little kids who are at a higher level than you.”
“Pfft, I could beat up a little kid.”
“Yeah well, you can also lift a car over your head so I think you’ve got a bit of a handicap.” She said as she picked up her water bottle and took a drink.
Ren couldn’t help but admire how good Makoto looked right now, wearing a light blue sports bra and black shorts, he may have been a bit distracted during their bout.
“Y’know I can’t help but feel like you’re reverting back to your strict self from when we first met.” Ren commented to the girl.
“Got a problem with that?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“N-No ma’am!”
“Good. I have to be strict, otherwise you won’t take this as seriously as you should. I don’t know if you’ve noticed Ren, but you have a tendency to joke around during serious situations.” Makoto said as she got back onto the mat.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ren said before cracking a smile. “So what’s next?”
“Next...” Makoto said before grabbing his arm and throwing him over her back. She looked down at Ren with his back on the mat. “I’m going to teach you how to do that.” She outstretched her hand to help him up which he accepted.
Standing up, Ren stretched and his spine let out a series of pops. Makoto put her hand to her mouth in shock.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot about your injury! Are you okay?” Ren chuckled at the girl’s display of concern. “What?” Makoto asked angrily, stomping her foot on the mat.
“Sorry, it’s just...You did such a complete 180 from tough and serious to cute and concerned.” The boy said while popping his neck. Looking up, he saw that Makoto was wide-eyed and blushing.
“C-Cute?”
Suddenly Ren’s eyes went wide as well. “What? I mean uhhh, I-y’see what I meant by that was…*ahem* Um, what did you say we were practicing next?” He quickly changed the subject.
“K-Kicks! Yeah, let’s practice kicks!”
The rest of the practice session that morning was awkward. The two continued until the time came to get ready for school. Sweaty and tired after training, they entered the gym’s locker rooms and changed into their school uniforms. When they were finished, the pair began their trip to school which was luckily within walking distance.
“Ren! Dude what’s bonkin’?” A voice called from behind, suddenly an arm wrapped around Ren’s shoulder and a head of bleached blonde hair came into sight.
“Bonkin’?” Ren asked his best friend as the trio continued walking.
“Yeah like, ‘Oh I haven’t seen you in forever, what’s bonkin’?’”
“Ryuji, no human being has ever said that sentence before you did just now.” Makoto said.
“Are you trying to start a thing? Like a new phrase?” Ren asked.
Ryuji scoffed. “Maybe. What do you think?”
“I think you need to workshop it man.”
“Dude, mark my words, by the end of the year, everyone’s gonna be saying it. Anyways, where were you guys coming from? And why are you both sweaty?” Ryuji paused for a second before a thought donned on him. “For real!? Ren, my boy! Way to-”
“That is not what was happening!” Makoto yelled at the blond, her face red.
“Makoto’s teaching me how to fight.” Ren explained.
“Ohhh! For helping you as Spi-”
“Ryuji, I swear to God, if you let that slip one more time I’ll throw you through a wall.”
“Right...my bad.”
“Hey guys! What’s going on?” The voice of Ann called as she joined the group from the side.
“Oh hey Ann, Ryuji’s just being his normal self.” Ren said.
“So an idiot, got it.”
“Hey!” Ryuji cried.
“Man, I’m tired this morning. Adjusting back to school hours sucks! Ren do you think you could buy me a coffee?” Ann asked in her sweet voice.
“Sorry Ann, no cash.” Ren said while showing his empty pockets.
“Seriously? None? Don’t you think you should get a job?”
“I have a job.” Ren replied.
“Really? Where?” Ryuji asked before everyone turned to him with an exasperated expression. “Oh...ooooh I get it.”
“Did someone say job?” Morgana said as he joined the group on their walk.
“Okay, did everyone choose to walk to school today!?” Ren asked rhetorically.
“I can get you a job.” Morgana offered Ren. ‘Plus, if you’re busy working full time, then you won’t have time to flirt with Lady Ann!’ He thought to himself while rubbing his hands together evilly.
“You can?” Ren asked, surprised at the generous offer.
“Yeah, at my family’s night club. They’re desperate for new blood and are pretty generous with the hours.”
“That sounds great! Thanks man.”
“Hehehe of course, anything for a friend.”
[79]
Ms. Kawakami had given the class the hour to ‘study independently’ which was code for ‘do whatever you want while I take a nap.’ Honestly, Ren felt really bad for his teacher, from what Ren could gather, she seemed to be struggling financially and he couldn’t help but feel bad for the older woman.
“Hey Ren.” A voice called from Ren’s right.
He jumped in surprise as he saw a blue haired boy standing next to him. “Mishima! Damn, we need to put a bell on you!”
“Sorry about that, I’ve been told I’m hard to notice sometimes.”
Ren instantly felt bad about what he’d said. “I’m sorry Mishima, I didn’t mean it like that. What was it you wanted to talk about?”
“Oh right!” Mishima pulled out his phone. “Have you seen the news lately? They’ve been absolutely slamming Spider-Man. Can you believe that?”
“They have?” Ren’s curiosity was piqued. “What have they been saying?”
“They’re saying he’s causing too much damage to property and is directly responsible for the rising crime rate!”
“That’s ridiculous! He’s obviously doing this because of the rise in crime.”
“Right!? I actually created a website in support of Spider-Man, where people can post photos of him and tell stories about times he’s saved them.” Mishima looked glad to have someone to speak to. “What’re you working on there?” He asked while pointing to Ren’s desk.
Sitting on the desk was Ren’s broken webshooter, still destroyed after his fight with Ms. Negative. Ren wasn’t worried about being discovered though, the general public had no knowledge about webshooters, as far as they knew, the webs actually came out of his body.
“Uhh, it’s a new kind of...watch I’m working on.” He lied. “Left the damn thing on the charger too long and the battery blew out, destroyed the whole thing.”
“Oh, well it doesn’t look like you’ve got the proper tools.” He pointed towards the tiny screwdriver in Ren’s hand which was ill-fitted for the screws on his webshooter. “If you need any extra tools or help with repairs, you could head to the Mech E. Department.”
“We have one of those?”
“Uh yeah? Didn’t you see it on your tour of the school?” Mishima gave him an odd look.
“Tour?”
“Oh boy.” Mishima put his head in his palm.
Later after the school day ended, the two boys approached a large shed detached from the main school building, but still on campus. Ren had never given the building much thought before, dismissing it as a storage area.
“Most students steer clear of this building, the teacher in charge has a bit of a...reputation.” Mishima explained as they reached the door.
“A reputation? For what exactly?”
“Well y’see, the students who do come here tend to end up in the nurse’s office not long after, myself included.”
“What!? Does the school know about this?” Ren asked angrily.
“They know but well...it’s better if I just show you.” Mishima said.
Did this school have another abusive teacher like Kamoshida? Why hadn’t they done anything about it yet? As Mishima pushed open the door, Ren couldn’t help but picture what kind of evil bastard he’d find on the other side.
Shujin Academy’s Mechanical Engineering department was an absolute mess. The tiny building was filled to the brim with tools, computer parts, and scrap metal. The concrete floor was barely visible beneath the junk that was lying around. And aside from the duo who’d just entered, no one else appeared to be here.
“Ms. Yamagishi?” Mishima called out to the vacant room.
Suddenly, a rumbling noise could be heard from somewhere in the room before a loud bump sounded out.
“Ouch!” A female voice cried out before a head of short teal hair wearing a large pair of headphones popped up across the room. The head turned around and looked at the two boys with dark brown eyes. “Hello Mishima! Hold on, I’ll be right over.”
Ms. Yamagishi began carefully walking over towards them while carrying a computer tower she seemed to be struggling with. As she was about to reach them, the teacher tripped over the cord and fell forward, tossing the computer at the boys.
Mishima flinched and closed his eyes, expecting to be hit, but the blow never came. He opened his eyes and saw that Ren had caught the large computer before it hit him.
“Whoa!” The teacher said while getting up. “Great reflexes. Sorry about that!” When she stood up at full height, she only reached Ren’s chest. The woman held out her hands to accept the large device.
“Y’know what, why don’t I just hold onto this for now?” Ren said holding the tower under one arm.
“Good idea.” The woman said before holding out her hand. “Hi, I’m Fuuka Yamagishi, the Mech E. professor here. And if you haven't noticed, I’m a little bit of a clutz. It’s probably why I don’t have many students.”
“Ren Amamiya.” Ren introduced himself, shaking the professor’s hand. Ms. Yamagishi was certainly strange, quirky was probably a more apt description. Her attire was a teal and orange hoodie with black pants and mismatched socks. He had to admit, based on what Mishima had described, this was not what he’d expected.
“So what can I do for you, Mr. Amamiya?” Ms. Yamagishi asked.
“I was wondering if I could use some of your tools for some repairs.” Ren explained.
“Oh sure, no problem. Mi tools es su tools. Always happy to lend a hand to a student in need.” She said trying to give a salute but forgetting she had a wrench in her hand, so she knocked herself in the head. “Ouch.”
“OkaygreatseeingyouagainSenseibye!” Mishima quickly left the building, scared of any more accidents.
“Huh, wonder what that was all about. Anyways come on in! I’ll show you around.” Ms. Yamagishi excitedly led the way.
After several grueling hours of work on the webshooters and several more near death experiences that he was only saved from by his spider-sense, Ren exited the school campus with his gear repaired.
Seeing how late it already was, the sun was nearly down, he shot Naoto a quick text that he’d be back late tonight. He then went to his texts from Morgana and saw the address for the night club. It looked like it was all the way over in Kichijoji. Luckily his webshooters were back up and running because he couldn’t afford the train fee.
When he finally arrived in Kichijoji, the sky was dark above him. He stood in front of the address, the outside of the building stood out among its neighbors as it was painted a dark blue color and had a strange, almost mystical aura about it. Looking back to his phone, he saw the name of the club which hadn’t been written on the outside, it was a unique name he hadn’t ever heard before.
“The Velvet Room?”