Chapter 36
And things had been going so well.
The next day had arrived quickly, and to Kaina's mild relief, it had been shaping up to be a quieter, if by no means less complicated, time. She had spent most of the morning down at the shooting range with the kid, trying to give what pointers she could (it had swiftly become clear that trying to get him to conserve ammo was an exercise in futility, but at least he had been attempting to be a bit more careful with his aiming by the end of it, so baby steps and all that, she supposed), and after lunch, she had tried to teach him the proper ways of handling the paperwork from the previous night's events, but if anything all that did was confirm what she had already suspected. The kid has absolutely no mind for bureaucracy, and getting someone else to do take care of that for him was going to be a must when his career started kicking off. The heroine had to admit she didn't envy whichever poor sap ended up saddled with that job in the slightest…
And it had been then, a little while after the kid looked like his brain was about to leak through his ears and she had given him leave to go check on his "gizmos" to unwind while she finished up the work, that she had gotten a notice via the Hero Network.
After the gruesome confirmation of Stain's presence in Hosu, even if the victim had at least survived this time (Kaina didn't personally know Ingenium, but even as someone who knew better than most the dark side of heroes, she'd never known him to have much in the way of skeletons in his closet, which would've made the whole situation confusing if one didn't stop to realize they were dealing with a psychopathic serial killer), the call was being made for heroes to converge on the ward and tighten the net, in an attempt to finally capture the hero killer. She'd known that some of the top ten were already on the prowl, Endeavour in particular.
Now, Kaina was far from being prideful or arrogant, but she had been at this long enough to be able to read between the lines. It was no coincidence or quirk of circumstance, no pun intended, that she had gotten this notice. No, it was a very direct callout. Someone in the top brass was probably patting themselves in the back right now for the brilliant idea of tossing a hero killer at another hero killer, probably thought that whole thing would be poetic justice if it panned out.
The heroine had half a mind to disregard the notice entirely on that alone, nevermind the fact that she was currently responsible for a minor who had no business being anywhere near a villain of that level yet, much as he would probably be delighted by the very idea. But in the end, despite everything, Kaina was a heroine, and the thought of all the people that could potentially suffer for her inaction did not sit well in her conscience.
She supposed that, weighing both sides of the situation, there was a compromised that could be made.
"Hey, kid!" She called out, and sure enough, not a moment later loud stomping echoed through the apartment as he came 'a running, skidding to a stop right before her desk. She had to give it to him, he knew how to react promptly. It almost felt like instinct.
"Yes, Boss?" The boy asked, though she did not miss how warily he was looking at the papers she had been finishing up.
"Get your gear and meet me downstairs in 10, we're heading out." She replied, and his shoulders seemed to sag slightly in relief.
"We doin' anothah round? Seems a bit early tah be seeing trouble hereaboutz, no?" He asked, with a sudden expression of keen interest on his face.
"Yes and no." Kaina replied patiently. Some heroes might have taken issue with their orders being questioned, but she found clarifying as much as possible wasn't a bad thing. "We are heading out on patrol, yes, but we are heading out a bit further. The plan is to crisscross around the border with the neighboring Hosu ward, so we'll be taking the jeep."
"Hosu, uh? Hhhhm…" Her change replied, his expression now pensive, to which Kain couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"There a problem, Mekboy?"
"Nah, not really." Was the reply, accompanied by a slight shrug. "Iz just dat I wuz asked tah keep an eye on a classmate 'a mine dat'z workin' around dere, so I wuz wonderin' if we'd find him.
"A classmate? You mean Endeavour's kid?" The heroine asked, thinking back on what she'd checked about the class internship placements, somewhat confused despite herself. Considering what happened during the tournament, she wouldn't have thought them to be on speaking terms…
"Nah, anothah classmate mate, stuffy git with glasses. Been even more stuffy dese last few days fer wot happened tah his bruddah."
Oh, right, Kaina realized, Ingenium's brother was working with Manual, who was operating from Hosu and… the realization was ringing all sorts of alarm bells in her head. Surely, UA wouldn't have greenlighted that particular internship if they had thought there'd be cause for concern, right…?
But try as she might to tell herself that she was overthinking it, that UA had thought this through, and that Manual was a capable hero that'd be able to keep things under control, the heroine still couldn't quite shake off the feeling that she now had an extra reason to see this through…
"We'll see if we can check in on that depending on how things go. No go suit up."
Ten minutes later, a black, bulky car was leaving the building from the garage level. Kaina did not miss the evaluating, hungry way her charge had been looking at the vehicle, but right now there were bigger concerns.
/
They had made good time. Most average people wouldn't usually expect heroes to go around in vehicle unless those vehicles had been heavily modified to fit the hero's theme or supplement their style and quirk, but that just played right into Kaina's preferences and helped her moved around discreetly. She had been at this long enough that she had managed to avoid the worst of the rush hour, and gotten them through to Hosu just as the night was falling and hero patrols hunting for the hero killer would start picking up.
At a first glance at the streets, much calmer than what was common to see back in Narushada, nothing seemed particularly amiss, and for a minute there, the heroine allowed herself to think that maybe she had assumed too much…
…And it was of course right as she had thought that that an explosion happened on a nearby high rise building, and people all around started screaming.
"Wot dah zog was dat?" The kid asked, looking up through the window in the direction of the loud noise, trying to figure out its source.
"Your guess's as good as mine kid, but we're gonna find-shit!"
The heroine's reply was abruptly cut off as she was forced to suddenly hit the brakes, skidding the car to a stop in order to avoid hitting whatever it was that has just crashed into the intersection right before them in an obstructing cloud of dust and debris, to the general panic of all nearby civilians.
After a brief shared glance and a nod, Nagant and Mekboy left the vehicle, slowly approaching the newly formed crater, weapons cautiously drawn.
A caution that proved completely justified when out of the cloud came a nightmarish sight that prompted even more screams from the people that hadn't ran away yet. It was a creature of sickly, bruised purple skin, which looked taut and stretched to the point of nearly tearing by the sheer, grotesque muscle mass that seemed to be barely supported by its vaguely humanoid frame, requiring the help of one gruesomely enlarged arm ending in digits as thick as tree trunks just to remain upright. And worse than that was the head, an eyeless, keel-shaped head with a maw of shark-like teeth, its entire top-half occupied by nothing but exposed brain matter.
The creature seemed to swiftly notice their presence despite lacking any sight, and with a monstrous roar it started trundling towards them with a speed that should've been physically impossible.
But Mekboy was faster.
"WAAAAAAAGGGGGGH!" The boy bellowed as he unloaded his triple-barreled gun on the creature. To his surprise, it proved effective, as it punctured through its flesh and made it stagger and stop in its charge, roaring louder in pain and rage. Such was the sheer muscle mass that the bullets failed to hit anything vital, causing little more than a flesh wound.
Lady Nagant was not about to let it recover, however, firing off her own shot straight at the obviously exposed weak spot. Her bullet entered its open maw and went out the back, the roaring fading into silence as it toppled backwards with the ponderous slowness of some twisted, demented tree.
"Dat looked like dat one birdbrain git. Tho dis one weren't nearly as tuff as dat one. Dat one wuldn't go down dat easy." The teen commented in the silence that followed, looking over the downed monster with all the demeanour of someone pleasantly surprised to find an old acquaintance. "Dah zog wuz it doin' here?"
Nagant could only frown at the confirmation of what she'd suspected. She had seen the reports on the USJ attack, she knew all about the bio-engineered monstrosity called the Noumu. All Might has shared some suspicions it wouldn't be the only such creature they'd find, but see it confirmed like this…
More screams echoed in the distance, and sounds of battle could be heard all over the streets as hero comms blared loudly various alerts. This was no isolated assault.
"Mekboy, listen up." She said, and her deathly serious tone immediately drew his attention. "We're walking into a widespread villain attack. Under the circumstances, even more than before, I expect you to stick close and to do exactly what I tell you to do. However, if something should happen to split us up in the chaos, I give you permission to make full use of your quirk, but only, and I repeat only, in self-defense or in defense of someone else. Otherwise, you are to help in evacuating civvies and stay out of trouble. Understood?"
"…Yes, boss." The boy replied without argument, a deep serious frown on his face.
And with that they were off, to do what they could in the face of the chaos.
Chapter 37
Well, wasn't this a mighty big mess.
Everywhere that Izuku could see, as he and the boss passed by, panicking people were running the other way, sometimes escorted by one or another suited up git that was clearly a sidekick, sometimes not. More than once the boss had needed to raise her voice to keep the panic from turning into a stampede that might have caused people to get hurt, whenever nobody else was around. They hadn't run into any other of the brainy gits just yet, but there had been signs of their passage here and there, with streets and walls of buildings looking damaged in a clear sign of a fight that had happened there before getting dragged elsewhere, and sounds of battle could still be heard in the distance, echoing through the streets, the boy looking their way in eager anticipation.
Izuku knew that he had his orders, but you couldn't blame a guy for hoping, right? First night of internship had been decent enough, but this was a right'n proper scrap and it felt like a zogging waste if he didn't get to have a go before it was over.
And speaking of, those sounds were getting closer.
Sure enough, at the next intersection there was fighting going down. He white clad hero, someone that Izuku recognized vaguely as low-rank local, had engaged another of the brainy gits in a brawl. Whatever civilians there had been had already bailed from the scene, except…
"Mekboy, over there." The boss called to him sternly, nodding towards a car that had crashed against the wall of a nearby building. There was movement inside, and the hero was clearly trying to keep the fight away from it. "Check who's in there. If they're not seriously injured, see if you can get them out and away from the fight. I'm gonna try to get a better angle for a clean shot…"
"Aight, Boss." He confirmed with a grunt, walking towards the vehicle like he wasn't too fussed about the whole mess going on nearby as the heroine walked the other way, eyes set on the brawling combatants as she patiently waited for an opening.
Giving the car a quick once over, the boy could see that it did look pretty banged up, likely tried to swerve out of the way after the fight literally crashed into its path, if he had to guess. The engine was smashed up pretty good, and the front doors seemed slightly bent out of shape, likely stuck, if he had to guess.
"Oi, anybody in dere?" He asked, giving the glass a light tap as he glanced inside. Sure enough, there was a driver, a man in a business suit, with no visible outstanding traits that indicated what his quirk might be, looking kinda dazed, but other than a slight gash on his forehead, there didn't seem to be any problem that Izuku could immediately make out.
"Help…" The man groaned upon noticing him, not too picky about being saved by a kid.
"Fink ya can move out of dah car?" The teen asked, just to make sure he didn't judge the git's state wrong.
Shaking of more of the daze, the man reached for the door with effort. "I can't open the door, it's stuck…"
Yep, he had figured. At least the git was fine enough to try to get out on his own.
"Hhhhmm…" Izuku considered, glancing between the busted door and his outfit's front pocket. "Just tah confirm, how attached are you'ze tah dis' ere ride?"
No sooner had the words come out than there had been a crash behind him, closer than before.
"I don't care!" The man replied loudly, now fully aware of what was going on around him. "Just get me out of here, please!"
"Aight, den. Lean as far away from dah door as ya can an' cover yer eyes," The goggled teen replied, reaching into his pocket, before remembering. "If ya wuld."
That briefly confused the man, but hesitantly he complied. Meanwhile, Izuku pulled out his power klaw, a low thrum making itself heard alongside a faint green light briefly surging over sharp metal as he turned on the weapon.
Then there was a keening groan of tearing steel (masking the driver's own terrified, high-pitched shriek) as scything talons sank into the most damaged part of the door, tearing through like a hot knife through butter, and with a heave Izuku ripped the obstacle right off its hinges.
"Dere, all clear!" He declared with chipper satisfaction as he powered down the klaw. "Now out with you'ze."
Gingerly sitting back up, the man took a moment to gawk at the ruin that had once been his car door, muttering something about insurance in a dubious tone, and then swiftly, if a bit nervously, he stepped out.
"T-thanks." He said, clearly rattled, nervously looking around, wishing he was anywhere but here right now.
Izuku made to reply, when a loud bang echoed through the intersection. He barely paid the man nearly jumping out of his skin any mind as he glance back. Sure enough, the brainy git was toppling over, missing a chunk of his head from Boss' shot. Really, wherever it was that the Facepalmy git got these things from, he was slacking off on the quality. You'd think regeneration woulda been a baseline stapple if you were giving your mooks more than one quirk, even if you weren't setting all of them up to fight All Might…
"Thanks for the save." The white-clad hero, White Tiger if he recalled properly, called out as he approached the boss, clearly winded, noticeable rips and injuries all over his body. "Not sure how much longer I could-Holy shit, it's you." He cut himself off with sudden apprehension as he finally recognized who had bailed him out.
Kaina had to make some effort not to roll her eyes. She was used to her reputation preceding her, but you'd think people would stop having this "Oh, shit's gotten that bad" reaction to her presence eventually.
"You're welcome." She replied dryly, before following up. "Now if you're done gawking, what can you tell me about the situation? Details aren't too clear yet over the hero network, other than confirmation of who's behind this attack."
"Oh, right, right," The hero coughed before centering himself, assuming a more professional demeanour. "Multiple of these things have been popping up all over the ward. We local heroes have been trying our best to keep them contained and away from the civilians. I was keeping this one busy while two of my sidekicks moved the people away from here. That car appeared after they left and it was all I could do to just keep that thing away from it. I could dance around it, but it was barely feeling what I was throwing at it, and eventually it got a few shots in. If you hadn't arrived when you did…" He shook his head, then pointed down the road. "There's an evacuation area set up in a park down that way." Then he pointed in another. "Meanwhile, as of last I heard, Endeavour was facing off against more than one of these creeps a few blocks that way."
That last statement was punctuated by another explosion going off in the indicated direction.
"So I see." Nagant commented, with a deep pondering frown, before noticing her student and the civilian approaching, the latter limping slightly. "You should get yourself and this man over to the evac area. You're clearly in no condition to keep fighting."
"No argument there." The hero replied with a slight wince, clutching gingerly at what Nagant guessed were some bruised ribs. "What about you?"
"I am going to get a better vantage point to support Endeavor." She replied simply, before turning to her trainee with a slightly hesitant, yet resigned expression. "Mekboy, help these two get to the park, then stay there to help the evacuation. And while you're at it, remember my orders."
"Aight, Boss." The teen replied, sounding for all the world like he'd just been asked to take a leisurely stroll rather than escorting injured people through an active villain attack.
"Well then, good luck." The other hero told her, as he went to the limping civilian and helped him along as best as his own injured self could. "Right this way."
With that they were off, Mekboy following after them. He looked almost casual, but Nagant didn't miss how he was looking every which way, alert to any sign of trouble.
Shaking her head, the heroine made for a nearby building. There were bigger concerns right now. Like dealing with all the monsters running around, and figuring out whether this whole thing was just to spread panic and destruction, or if that was just a cover for something else going on…
/
"Well, there it is." The hero said as trees could be seen at the end of the road, alongside with the flashing lights and sirens of ambulances and firetrucks. "C'mon, we're almost there."
There hadn't been any trouble on the way here, which was quite frankly kinda disappointing, but nonetheless, as they approached the park and paramedics came rushing in to check on them and lead the injured off for patching up, Izuku could at least take satisfaction in having completed yet another assignment from the boss.
Now, he should probably check up with whoever was in charge around here and-
"Iida! Are you here?! Iida!" A distressed voice suddenly called out, immediately drawing his attention.
Another hero was arriving to the park, one that Izuku immediately recognized by his blue outfit and finned helmet. He was also, as made obviously by his loud calling, alone. Needless to say, Izuku immediately felt like there might be trouble.
"Oi," He called out as he approached Manual with a heavy frown. "Where's dah stuffy git?"
"Stuffy? What are- Wait, you're… you're Iida's classmate. From the festival…" The hero replied, startled at first, then immediately connecting the dots as recognition set in, his expression turning grim as he shook his head. "I… I don't know. We were escorting some civilians here, but there was an attack by one of those things. While I was trying to put out the fire it caused, we got separated in the commotion. I've got no idea where he might be." He hesitated, a grimace of clear concern growing on his face. "But I am worried. It doesn't take a genius to know why he picked me, and he was so angry, for all that he tried to hide it. These things aren't the only ones out and about tonight, and I'm afraid he might try to do something stupid…"
Izuku frowned at that, immediately realizing what the man was implying, his eyes looking back the way that the hero had come from.
"Hhhm, aight. Ya shuld stay here, yer prolly gun be called on tah put out Endeavor's fires soon. I'll go see tah Stuffy."
"What-Hey, wait, stop!" The shocked hero called out, reaching for the teen, but he was rushing down the road, reaching into his pocket as he went.
/
Iida realized that he was going to die.
Here where he was, in some back alley of Hosu, down on the ground, incapable of moving so much as a muscle, that moment of clarity was all that he was afforded.
And there he was looming over him, the monster that he had been after, the one against whom Iida's whole being demanded righteous justice. He had stumbled into Stain attacking another hero, Native, and had immediately tried to intervene, do bring about the justice he so desired.
It had taken the hero killer all of 4 seconds to take him down, locking him in this paralyzed state via his weird, mysterious quirk. All that righteous anger and desire for justice, all for nothing in the end.
And even worse than the sting of failure, were the murderer's scornful words, decrying him as a fake hero, who sought revenge instead of justice. Words that, as much as he did not want to, deep down inside he could not really deny.
Iida was going to die. And he had no one to blame but himself.
I'm sorry, brother, He thought sadly, as the blade of his executioner loomed over him, poised to strike, I couldn't be a hero like you…
"Consider this a mercy," The murderer declared, looking down at him. "You will not grow to be as bad as all the other fakes that I-"
"A GIT SEZ WOT?"
"What-?"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!"
Something came rushing down the alley in heavy stomps, taking a swing at a surprised villain. Only instinct and blistering reflexes allowed the Hero Killer to dodge the attack and leap back, carefully considering the newcomer that was now standing between him and the paralyzed hero and student on the ground.
Iida's eyes went wide, recognizing who this was. The armor looked slightly different, as if built out of different components, and with extra bits attached, but there was no mistaking the ramshackle design, nor the sharp metallic talons, nor the blatant allusion of the color scheme.
"I'z really gotta hand it tah you'ze, Stuffy." The crackling, modulated voice of Midoriya blared out from the armored suit, green lenses flaring from a grotesque looking, yellow painted helmet, in something that sounded almost like pleasant surprise. "I didn' fink ya had in you'ze tah be pullin' a sneaky stunt like dis. Dere may be hope for ya yet."
Chapter 38
Silence fell over the alleyway, as all eyes fell on the new arrival. For the downed hero and student, the stares were of open-mouthed shock, surprise, and in the case of the former, no small amount of concern that someone else had gotten dragged into the mess they found themselves in, while the latter seemed to still be frozen in utter incomprehension of his savior's words.
As for the Hero Killer, however, it was a whole other matter. His eyes were narrowed as he glanced over the bulky, metallic frame, the leering helmet with a grinning, massive underbite, and the twin sets of metallic claws. It was a look that Izuku was more than familiar with, the look of someone who was sizing up a newly met opponent, judging strength and seeking weaknesses, but there was something else there, something that the green-haired boy couldn't really say he had been expecting.
The initial surprise was swiftly giving way to a wary recognition.
"You. So you're the one he was talking about…" Stain said, more to himself than anything else, eyes narrowing, his expression oddly suspicious. "A fake among fakes, or was that just further proof of his poor judgement…?"
Izuku could only really blink at the odd statement. Sure, he liked a good fight as much as the next git, but as far as he knew, it didn't seem likely that he and the villain before him shared social circles…
"M-Midoriya, what are you doing?!" Iida, having apparently finally rebooted his brain, called out disbelievingly. "Get out of here! This isn't your fight and-!"
"Ok, first of all, it'z Mekboy. just cuz ya culdn't be arsed tah pick a name fer yerself fer some weird reason, don't mean ya shuldn't be using dem while we'z on dah field." Izuku cut him off chidingly, not bothering to glance back to the other boy's flabbergasted expression, partly because he wasn't about to take his eyes off the villain, and partly because it wouldn't be noticed through the bulk of his armor even if he did. "Second of all, ya don' get tah be demandin' me tah leave aftah ya came a rushin' tah have a go against dah Hero Killa and it clearly didn'go well fer you'ze. Dat ain't how dis works. I knew you wuz stuffy, but I didn' figure ya fer a poor sport too."
Iida couldn't help but briefly sputter at the retort, even as Native glanced between the boys in obvious confusion, while the villain before them couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow.
"T-that's not the point! Don't you see that he's too dan-"
"Hhmm, nah, I dun really see yer point. Now unless ya got somethin' useful tah say, shut up and stay put. It'z my turn." Izuku said with cheerful finality before once again turning his full attention to the villain, who's frown deepened at the words.
"So you're just another brat, trying to take me down for selfish, unworthy reasons." He said, voice thick with disgust, and Izuku could only blink at the words.
"I mean, I'z here tah be keeping people wot needed helpin' safe. You'z trying tah krump dese two, I'd say stoppin' ya fits. Dat I get tah have a fite in dah doin' is just a nice bonus." He replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and for a moment, Stain seemed to consider this.
"So it would seem that you at least have your priorities somewhat straighter than these two, and so there might be potential in you yet," He conceded, if somewhat grudgingly. "But that is not enough to stop my mission. These two fakes need to die, and if you choose to stand in my way, then I'll-"
Before the villain could finish his threat, Izuku raised a klaw towards him, and out from the bottom, an underslung barrel popped out and lit up the alley with a hail of bullets. Shocked at the sudden, brazen interruption, the Hero Killer leapt back, but it only took him a moment to realize that even with the hard-earned, blistering reflexes from a life time of training, there was no way he could've dodged that after being caught so off-guard. The teen had been aiming at the ground in front of his feet, not directly at him. This had been merely a warning salvo.
"Ah, sorry, I figured since we we'z gotten to tah baddie threats we wuz done with dah formalahties." Izuku said chipperly in response to the villain's surprised stare, before gesturing vaguely towards the end of the narrow alley behind the man. "Now den, if ya try to run dat away, you'ze got no way tah be gettin' out of dis'ere alley without me fillin' ya full'a dakka. Dat means ya'd have tah get thru me tah get out, and ya ain't getting' past me long as I'z keepin' dem safe."
The hero killer's eyes narrowed once again as he processed the words, and he realized, at once impressed and unamused, that this new brat wasn't a brash fool like the last one, mannerisms aside. In the narrow confines of this alley, with so little room to maneuver and no cover to speak off, his margin for error had just been drastically reduced…
"So den, it'z yer move." The boy said, as the eye lenses of his helmet momentaneously flared green.
It did not escape the villain's notice, the sudden, steely edge that had crept into the armored teen's chipper tone. It was something that Hero Killer had heard a fair few times before. A warning, the kind of warning that promised violence if not heeded, that almost hoped it would be so.
Interesting…
"…And you would do it too, wouldn't you." Stain said more than asked. "I can hear it in your voice. You'd kill me without hesitation, if it came down to it. And not out of petty rage, like that fake there."
Iida grit his teeth, barely restraining himself from growling at the words, if only because it had been a similar taunt that had made him recklessly charge the villain and end up in his current position.
"Ya messed his brotha up pretty bad." Izuku replied, his voice losing its chipper tone. "I'z pretty sure most people wuld call bein' mad dah right reaction fer it."
"Bah, another fake, that one. It's in the blood, clearly." The villain scoffed dismissively. "Taking money from corporate sponsors, pure selfish greed. And seeking the gratification of the self before the duty of the name. Those are the marks of the fake and the false that taint the name of a heroism. A hero should be above such things, be held to a higher standard. And yet so few these days can manage that besides All Might, it is disgusting. And precisely why I am needed."
…
…
…
"…Uuuuuh, have ya evah even met All Moigt?" The boy ask, the unpleasant, grinding noise of metal on metal following as he reflexively scratched at his helmet with one of the suits talons in confusion.
"What…?" Was all that the villain could think to say. He was used to various different kinds of reactions when he made his ideals clear, but that one was new to the list.
"I mean, I'z known him fer quite a while, and I'z kinda thinkin' ya gotz no clue wot ya'z talkin' about." The boy stated, with a slight shrug.
"All Might is the greatest hero that ever lived!" Stain bellowed, suddenly incensed, eyes wide and wild as he glared at Izuku. "You dare doubt him?!"
"Oh zog yeah, he's dah greatest, bestest hero evah, of all timez, no queshtoon. I've seen it up close'n personal, I shuld know." The boy agreed easily enough with a sage nod. "But ya know wot else I'z seen? I'z seen All Moigt bein' a big dork. I'z seen him fumblin' his way thru trying tah teach us at UA. I'z seen him bein' angry at people. I'z seen him bein' a person like all dah othah gits out dere. So ya'z here, preachin' and saying all dah bad stuff ya do iz so people are more like All Moigt, but in dah end? You'ze don't know All Moigt."
Once again, silence fell upon the alleyway, but still, both Iida and Native nearly gasped and choked as something else also filled the space. The Hero Killer stood very still, his manic eyes drilling into Izuku, and the sheer weight behind that stare was almost suffocating. It was almost as if the Hero Killer's presence was far, far larger than his physical form, a great of terrible thing that promised nothing but death to those that dared stand in his way. This was Stain as his brother had faced, the teen realized, the last sight that his victims saw.
But amidst the dread and horror that he couldn't stop himself from feeling, Iida looked up at his classmate. Midoriya stood against the murderer's sheer hatred, and even hidden beneath his armor, his entire demeanour seemed thoroughly unbothered, as if the intensity of Stain's madness was no more than a gentle breeze, easily ignored.
And apparently, the hero killer had a similar realization, which seemed to draw him away from his sudden rage, his presence fading, his eyes once again narrowing in a reassessment of what stood before him.
"I will not be swayed from my duty. By you or anyone." He said in a harsh hiss, cold and unyielding. It was clear that he didn't intend to speak any further.
"Great." Izuku replied simply, voice once again chipper. "I wuz startin' tah get bored wiff dah crazy talk."
With a growl that barely seemed human, it was the Hero Killer's turn to move far too suddenly and swiftly for his opponent to react, throwing a couple of masterfully aimed knives that flew true, straight at the underside of the boy's claws and the lense of his helmet… only to suddenly ping and veer off-course inches from their target, repelled by some unseen force as the humming noise from the blocky back of the boy's armor intensified.
"Sneaky shot dere, but ya'z gun need more dan dat." The boy stated, his modulated voice sounding downright taunting as his whole frame squared up. "So, are we'z finally gettin' started?"
Chapter 39
"Kid, be careful!" Native called out, apparently deciding that if he could do nothing about the kind of backup he had gotten, he might as well do what he could to pitch in and keep them all alive. "He's got some kind of paralyzing quirk that's still affecting us! It happened after he cut us with his sword, so even if you're better equipped for that don't let him get too close!"
Izuku didn't give any reply other than an acknowledging grunt, but he did think about this new bit of info. Discussions about it were frequent, but part of Stain's rep was precisely because nobody was quite sure what his quirk actually did. Paralysis went a long way to explain just how he had managed to get the drop on so many heroes. Sneaky, if kinda cheap. Still, the specifics of its activation weren't clear. Did he just need to get a hit in, or was there something else…?
…Ah, well, it wasn't like he wasn't gonna be careful either way, choppas were only fun if you were the one doing the choppin'.
It seemed however that Stain really was done waiting around, one moment he was standing there, the next he was blitzing forward. Git was fast, Izuku had to admit in the split-second he had to think, and was even zigzagging in his approach to make targeting him harder. It was almost funny that he thought that would make any difference.
"WAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" Izuku roared, raising up his hands and opening fire, showering bullets on everything immediately in front of him, riddling the walls and that one unfortunate dumpster with holes. He was fairly certain that, under the circumstances, nobody was gonna give him much grief for going for the real dakka.
It seemed however, that the hero killer was faster still. Even before the barrage began, the man had leapt, summersaulting over the armored teen and landing clean on his feet, facing the his two fallen would be victims. He tried to stab his blade backwards, aiming for the blocky contraption in the back, but again some unseen force seemed to deter the blow. Not ideal, but no matter, his targets were now expo-
The villain's eyes went wide as they caught moving blurring towards him from the right, and it was only barely that he managed to bring his blade up in time to block, a shower of sparks flying as steel talons clashed and raked against his blade. What he didn't expect, however, was for the force of the blow to push him aside and slam him against the wall. So jarred was he from the impact, he almost didn't see the next blow coming for him, a blow that he leaned away from, claws biting into brick and mortar where his head had been just a moment prior. Not that he had the time to notice as he found himself immediately avoiding more sweeping swings and stabs, each once leaving noticeable dents and grooves on the wall where each had just barely missed him, until the Hero Killer finally managed to get enough distance to disengage, realizing as he did that he was once again where had started, standing before his opponent, his targets still lying helplessly behind the armored bulk.
"Now why did ya go and do dat? I toldja, yer fite's with me." The boy said, an edge of warning to his voice as claws clenched and unclenched. "Let'z not try dat again, yeah?"
Stain frowned at that, torn between grudging acknowledgement of the kid's bravery and seething fury at the interruption of his duty. Even worse, he knew that even if trying to escape had been an option he'd consider, it'd be no use while those guns were working. For the first time in a long, long while, the Hero Killer felt trapped, and he did not care for it.
"Seems like you're not as slow as you look." He grunted, eyes narrowing. "No matter, you're not the first armored opponent I've had to put down."
With that, the Hero Killer charged again. This time, Izuku did not open fire, figuring his opponent had avoided it too easily, and instead let Stain come to him, claws at the ready. Within moments, the man was within his guard, stabbing his blade upwards into the boy's armored torso, only to once again be repelled, the edge of the sword just barely scratching the paint before he was forced to lean backwards to avoid the backhanded swing seeking to push him back. Instead of backing away however, the villain jumped, using the next clawing sweep at him as a stepping stone to stand right on boy's shoulders. Noting that his feet did find land upon the armored frame without being repelled, he made to stab down into the shoulder joint, only to once again be deterred, in a way that to the villain was not unlike magnetic force pushing metal apart. A thought that he didn't have much time to consider before he was shrugged off his perch and forced to roll away from the seeking metal talons.
Even as he immediately stood up and made to look for another opening to strike, the irony was not lost upon the Hero Killer that he was now the one trying to figure out how his opponents abilities worked, rather than the other way around.
And as they clashed again and again, the downed hero and student could only watch in quiet tension, one not desiring to do anything that might cause a fatal distraction to the only thing standing between them and death, the other feeling in full the weight of his own guilt and helplessness, as he watched a classmate that he wasn't particularly fond of risk his life to save him from his own rash mistake.
There just had to be something he could do, he thought as he tried his best to get his unresponsive body to move, and getting just the faintest of twitches to his finger in return…
/
Shouto had to admit, when he had considered all the ways that this internship could've gone, this one hadn't really been part of the list.
After the disastrous end to the Festival, the scarred teen had thought a lot about everything that had happened, everything that had been said, everything that he had set out to do, and perhaps most important of all, how it all eventually boiled down to that one question of 'why?', and the answer that he had failed to consider for so long.
It was hard, very hard, to confront it all head on, but in the end, after finding the courage to see his mother for the first time in years, Shouto certainly liked to think that the… manner in which the point had been made for him might be worth it in the end.
His father at least seemed satisfied when Shouto had chosen to pick an internship with him, even if the boy had made it clear it had absolutely nothing to do with the man himself or anything he had told him and more with simple, pragmatic necessity. Shouto had to admit, he had half expected to be subjected to a level of training that made everything that he'd faced up to now seem tame by comparison, but to his honest surprise, that hadn't been the case. Sure he was still a harsh and demanding teacher, but either he was just that glad that Shouto was finally trying to use to full extent of his own quirk, or it was simply that the somewhat more public environment of the agency forced him to be more professional, but regardless, Shouto wasn't complaining.
But then they had been doing the rounds in Hosu as part of Endeavor's ongoing efforts to hunt down the hero killer, and all hell broke loose. Shouto certainly hadn't expected to see more of these freaky creatures, with their lifeless stares and exposed brains, so soon after the debacle at the USJ, but his recognition had helped the heroes in the immediate vicinity to realize what they were up against and who might be behind the attack, which he was guessing might be considered a silver lining.
And now, here he was, using his ice to form walls and help his father's sidekicks in keeping the plaza isolated and contained, watching as his father took on three of the Noumu. If Shouto had to guess, Endeavor was taking how the one at the USJ had been supposedly meant to stand up to All Might himself as a challenge. He never did miss an opportunity to try to upstage the number 1 hero, never mind that such a confrontation never actually happened.
One of the monsters was already down, charred beyond recovery by the number 2 hero's flames (Shouto didn't think this one could regenerate like the one he himself had impaled with little effect back then, but then regeneration hadn't helped that one either in the end…), and its fall seemed to instill some sort of wary caution on the other two, who had stopped rampaging wantonly and had taken to circling around his father, like predators seeking an opening to strike at their prey.
But despite everything else he might think about his father, Shouto didn't doubt that the man had the situation well in hand. It was just a matter of time before the two remaining creatures, one thin and lanky and disgustingly wide and flat maw, and the other bulky and fat and eyes popping out all around its brain matter, were taken down, and watching it happening would be a learning experience…
Blam!
…Or one of them could just immediately keel over dead with a hole blown into the side of its head, that worked too. If nothing else, it confirmed this lot wasn't packing regeneration…
To Endeavor's credit, as everyone else present was still blinking and processing what had just happened, the number 2 hero reacted immediately, taking advantage of the remaining creature's momentary confusion to get in close and take it out with a well-placed, blazing fist to the brain.
Then, in the brief silence that followed, father glanced down at the creature that went down first, considered the hole that had neatly pierced through the brain stem and exploded out the other side in shower of gore, and looked out into the distance, towards the general direction he imagined the shot had come from, and reached up to the comm in his year.
"I had the situation well in hand, Nagant." He grunted, clear displeasure showing in his face.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome, Endeavor." A female voice replied dryly, and Shouto's eyes widened as he recognized it. It was that lady from the festival. (If he was being completely honest, he had briefly considered looking her up for an internship, but unfortunately she hadn't been on the list of offers he had gotten). "But don't worry, pretty sure there's other creeps around for you to deal with. Just doing my part to help make sure you don't get too bogged down with that."
…Yep, Shouto really liked this woman. Shame she hadn't been an option. His father was clearly unamused, but self-control kept him from immediately replying, and in that moment of silence another voice spoke up through the hero comms.
"This is Manual speaking, I take it the situation at Skeru plaza is controlled? Will there need to be a clean-up?"
Shouto looked around. A solid 65% of the place was wrecked, partly from the Noumu rampage, partly from his father's flames. He kind of assumed the answer would be yes.
"Endeavor speaking," His father replied, gruff but professional. "The creatures are down, but the effort to subdue them has started a few fires. Your presence is needed here, Manual."
"I am on my way already, an intern was saying it might be necessary. Guess the kid was right…" The other hero replied, that last part apparently mumbled more to himself. "You wouldn't happen to know him? Short kid, wild green-hair, had some goggles on?"
Shouto blinked, that sounded like Midoriya…
"That one's with me." The woman, Nagant, suddenly cut in, sounding very serious. "You've seen him? He made it to the evacuation area, then?"
"Well, about that…" Manual replied awkwardly. "I lost track of my own intern in the middle of this mess. While I was looking for him, that kid came to me, and when I told him what happened he ran off to look for his classmate. I tried to stop him, but he was gone too fast and more people were arriving to the park needing my attention which stopped me from giving chase."
The only reply coming through the comms was a sigh, which, Shouto couldn't help but note, sounded thoroughly unsurprised.
Then before anything else could be said, a ping seemed to go off. It took the boy a moment to realize it was not just his phone, but also the comm devices of every hero and side-kick around him. Checking it, it seemed to be an alert, showing a set of coordinates, somewhere within the ward.
"…Oh hell." Nagant said, and before her line cut off the sound of rushing, running footsteps could be heard.
"Everyone," Endeavor called out, his stern frown pensive, drawing the attention of every sidekick around. "I want half of you to wait here for Manual and to follow his lead in containing the damage here. The rest of you, with me. That means you too, Shouto."
The situation was serious enough that Shouto simply nodded and went along.
Chapter 40
Stain was a man to whom the world was simple. The weak and the corrupt would look at the way things were and find excuses, trying to paint circumstances in shades of gray, and come up with whatever petty justification they could to maintain the ways that benefitted them. But Stain, knew better, he knew the truth of things. He knew that there was the white, there was the black, and that everything in between was just rationalization by the wretches of this world who fell firmly in the latter category.
That was why his mission was necessary, why so many unworthy heroes had been disposed of, for the sake not of how the world is, but of how the world should be. This was and would always be Stain's conviction, and the sheer fervor with which he believed had put him beyond such petty things as doubt or fear.
That was not to say, however, that he was not above concern or frustration, such as what he was feeling right now, because this was taking far too long for his liking. Here were two fakes in need of culling, but despite his best efforts and superior speed, he simply wasn't able to get past the one that stood in the way of his duty.
The Hero Killer was no fool, and despite the focus on his mission, he did keep an ear to the ground about what else was going on in the spheres of heroes and villains. He'd heard about the foolish attack against All Might that had failed even before the greatest hero of all had been present. He had even gotten to meet the perpetrators of said attack just before the current mess in his latest hunting ground.
The so-called "League of Villains", he had quickly surmised, were doomed to failure, either being run to the ground by the fool with no convictions other than to see the world destroyed they had for a leader, or disposed of by whoever had so clearly been pulling his strings when they had served their purpose. Even the current chaos around Hosu that was their doing, little more than a petty act of spite, just further proved their unworthiness, and Stain had made a mental note to fix the mistake of letting them live if the heroes failed to shape up and get to it first, for it was not just fake heroes that were deserving of his blade.
He did pay very close attention to that foolish brat's words however, about the one that had foiled them before at the USJ, and how they were more villain than hero. He wasn't going to take it at face value given the source, but still, another fake in needing of purging was always of great interest to Stain, certainly something to keep an eye on.
That he had ended up running into the potential fake in question so immediately after than encounter almost felt like providence, a chance to see the truth of the matter for himself.
And if truth be told, from his arrival to their current fight, Stain had been getting so many mixed signals that he had yet to form a set opinion on this "Mekboy", too many signs of unworthiness being immediately countered by signs of worthiness. He felt like a walking contradiction, something that didn't quite seem to fall on either side of how the Hero Killer saw the world.
And to Stain's exasperation, he knew he was running out time to reach a conclusion on the this. He had thought he'd he fully capable of getting past the boy, ending the fakes, and either leave him or finish him too depending, but the brat proved cannier and more resilient than the hero killer had given him credit for. Still the fakes lived, still the boy stood, with nary a scratch on him and every second this standoff lasted was another second of times heroes had to close in on them.
Now, while it was something he hated, loathed with every fiber of his being, Stain was not above being pragmatic and escaping to finish the job another day. In fact, at this point, on any other occasion, he would have cut his losses and left already… Except the brat wasn't letting him.
That rickety armored suit, its colors something he couldn't decide if it was supposed to be homage or mockery, while deceptively fast, was so obvious in telegraphing its movements that so far he'd managed to dance around it, but the second he took his eyes off it, he'd be an easy target to those guns. And for obvious reasons, such outcome was simply unacceptable. There was only one hero Stain would be stopped by, and that was All Might himself, any other outcome, until another, true hero appeared, didn't even bear considering.
And such was the core of the hero killer's mounting frustration. He wasn't managing to get past the child to finish his work, he wasn't in any position to be able to make an escape, and time was running out. For the first time in as long as Stain could remember, he did not feel in control of the situation, and he found that he did not much care for the feeling.
All of this and more crossed through his mind in moments just after the latest clash, where he once again failed to get past the boy or pierce through his armor and invisible shielding (metal clearly didn't work, but he didn't have many more options available…) to get at the blood beneath. This wasn't the first time that the Hero Killer had been faced with a bad match up to his own set of skills, but it was the first time he faced a foe that so thoroughly and coincidentally (there was no way the brat could've known) countered him, without having his preferred element of surprise to compensate.
It was then that something else caught his attention. From behind the boy's armored bulk, he could noticed the fake, the child that had been seeking revenge, slowly and sluggishly struggling to move his hands, fighting against his own still unresponsive weight in an effort to get up. The sight had the villain greeting his teeth in anger, for that could only mean Bloodcurdle was starting to wear off, something he had seldom seen happen before as his targets were usual dead and him long gone before the limit was reached.
He was running out of time…
…
…
…
…So be it. One way or another, he wasn't going to leave here empty-handed. One way or another, this was going to end on his terms.
Without a word, Stain surged forward once again, for his neck as he did. Mekboy braced, claws extended and arms in a wide stance, clearly intent on not letting him pass, but just as he was entering his opponent's guard, Stain lashed out, his scarlet scarf at straight into the boy's visor. A harmless maneuver, but the sudden, momentary obstruction was enough to make him take a single step back, grunting with displeasure as a set of claw came up to rip the fabric with deceptive dexterity.
But that moment was all that Stain needed, as he immediately dove between the armored suit's legs, rolling with the momentum, and a soon as his feet were under him again, he leapt, blade drawn as he went straight for fake. Native cried out in warning and the boy looked up, eyes wide in sudden realization of his own impending demise. The hero killer could heard the movement behind him, almost hear those talons slashing through the air as they made to grab at him, but no matter. Only the boy's firearms would've stopped him now, and he would not risk using them with the people he'd been defending in the line of fire.
Stain grinned, his blade fell. One less fake in the world-
Blam!
-And then suddenly the Hero Killer's world blurred into a dizzying spin as searing pain suddenly stabbed into his shoulder. He felt himself pushed back, landing in a rough tumble back on hard concrete. Within a few moments, his vision recovered, and he found himself still on that same dirty alleyway. The agony remained though, and as he fought to rise into a kneeling position, he looked down, and immediately realized why. His left shoulder was a bloody ruin, a hole the size of a coin blown straight through, cratering his shoulder blade and leaving his arm hanging limply, useless.
Eyes wide and frantic, Stain looked up to see the boy, once again standing before him. The force of the shot had been such that he had been blown back to his starting point, he realized, but it couldn't have been the child that shot him. The angles and positioning were all wrong. Which meant…
Mekboy looked down at him, his helmet's leering visage almost seeming disappointed, disapproving, before he turned to the side and took a few steps back, giving room for a new figure to approach from that end of the alley, a figure that had the fakes gawking at her, a figure that had the villain's eyes widen further in recognition.
"Glad ya got me pings, Boss. Made it just in time tah stop dis last bit'a sneakiness." The boy said as Lady Nagant strode forward, her rifle out, sliding another bullet into her hand as she walked, her face a stone-wrought frown as she glanced at him, looking him up and down, evaluating and assessing.
"Kid, we are going to have a long talk when this whole mess is over and done with about the right and wrong way to do things." She said, sounding at once stern, displeased and relieved. "…But good job."
The green lenses of the helmet seemed to shift, giving the leering, toothy grin a happy look, but the heroine strode past him. Until she stood but a short distance away, looking down at the villain before her, her stare cold, her expression blank.
"Stain, I presume." She said, her tone sardonic. "At last we meet. You've been causing quite a stir, pissing off a lot of people."
"…I suppose I should feel flattered." The hero killer hissed through the pain, chuckling dryly despite himself. "Most of your targets never got so much as a glimpse at you, or so I've heard."
"Oh, believe me, you wouldn't have either, under normal circumstances, but I think we can both agree normal circumstances these are not." Nagant replied, shaking her head much in the same way a disappointed parent would. "But I gotta admit, for all the hype you've been building up, I am not impressed. Like, I already knew that you were a coward, but even for what I was expecting, this is low. Pathetic, even."
"What…?" Stain growled lowly, incensed at the dismissive words.
"Yeah, I mean, I've read the files on you, you know. They painted you as such a piece of work. Chizome Akaguro, hero school dropout turned soapbox activist turned vigilante turned villain." The heroine replied, as if this was all just a casual chat, making the villain's eyes go wide, to which she reacted with mock surprise. "What, you thought the police and the heroes wouldn't try to find out as much about you as possible? That they wouldn't eventually pick up on the similarities in MO between Stain and Stendhal, or the convenient timing of the former's rise and the latter's disappearance? Granted, the reports were uncertain, and this was all mostly unproven theory, but your reaction just now confirmed it. Thanks for that. But the point is, all the backstory doesn't change the fact that you are a killer."
"And you would judge me for that? You of all people?" Stain challenged, glaring angrily at the woman. "How much blood is on your hands, Nagant?"
"Oh, buckets full, buddy." The heroine replied with a conceding nod. "I spent too long going about things the wrong way, buying into someone else's vision of what a just world was. We both got blood in our hands. The thing is, I eventually figured out the lies I was told by someone else, and decided to do better. You have never believed anyone's lies but your own."
"Lies?!" The Hero Killer yelled, all but frothing at the mouth in violent rage. "Is it a lie that this world is a wretched place?! That the people we trust to be the defenders of peace and justice are nothing but fools that seek only to satisfy their own greed, to bask in fame and glory?! All I want, all I have ever worked for, was a world where heroes hold themselves to the standards the people should expect of them, where All Might is not the only shining light of true heroism, but instead every hero is! You would call that a lie?!"
"Cool motive." Nagant replied casually, before giving a light shrug. "Still murder."
In the silence that followed, the air seemed to grow thick and heavy. Iida and Native almost gasping, so oppressive did their surroundings suddenly feel. Such was the rage and hatred that seemed to be radiating off of the Hero Killer, such was the weight of the glare he was leveling at the heroine before him, that in the minds of those present, that glare almost seemed to have its own being, a wrath greater than the man it sprang from, looming over them all, drowning them with its presence…
"I had thought that you of all people would understand." Stain said, voice thick with disgust and anger. "But now I see you are just another fake, the first and only mistake that All Might ever made. Fakes, all of you! AND I WILL NOT REST, WILL NOT STOP, UNTIL YOU ARE ALL-"
"Shut. Up."
…The calm, still voice cut through the tension in the air, sharper than any blade, destroying it more thoroughly than any quirk, and replacing it with something quieter, something colder.
Suddenly, it was Stain that found himself frozen in place, choking as he felt those purple eyes, those cold, cold eyes, stare into his very being with unmasked contempt.
"Let's make one thing clear here." Lady Nagant said, her voice calm, pleasant, and utterly glacial in its fury. "I really could not care less for what your background is, or whatever excuses you came up with to rationalize what you do. I did not come here to hear you preach. I came here to retrieve my student, and I arrived to see you fully prepared and willing to kill children. Which is all the proof I need to know that you are just another psychopathic murderer, no better, no different, than any other I have put down before you, except for having come up with a better sounding excuse to justify your desire to kill than most others."
As she spoke, with uncanny casualness, the heroine slid a bullet into her hand, loading up her riffle…
"Now, you are going to shut up with the preaching nobody here cares to hear, drop your weapons, and come quietly. If you make any hostile moves, if you even glance in the kids' direction, if you so much as twitch in a way I do not like, then I am going to put a bullet between your eyes. And if you think, for even a moment, that I am going to lose any sleep over it because of everything I went through, then by all means…
…Then she took aim squarely at the villain's head.
"…Try me."
And Stain stood there, staring at the woman before him, and the weapon now pointed at him, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
Never before, in his entire life, had his ideals been so thoroughly spurned. Never before, had the weight of his convictions been so easily brushed aside. It made a shiver run up his spine, an unpleasant, unfamiliar sensation, so much so that it took a moment for the villain to recognize what it was.
For the first time, in as far as Stain could remember, he knew fear. Fear of this woman that so thoroughly denied him, fear that this would be his end. Fear that he would die with his task left unfinished.
And in the end, it was this unfamiliarity with such a basic, human emotion that sealed his fate.
"NO!" He bellowed, brandishing his blade as he made to dash forward, trying to zigzag towards the heroine. "I WILL NOT FAIL! NOT HERE, ONLY ALL-"
Blam!
And so Stain's world went black.
/
In the silence that followed, Izuku approached his mentor, and quietly observed her handiwork. Or rather, the lack thereof.
"…Ya didn't really krump him, did you'ze?"
"What? Oh, Naaaah. No, he's not dead. That was a taser bullet. Nifty little gadget I can add to my ammo for this kind of occasion. Between it and the amount of blood he just lost, I'd guess by the time he wakes up he'll be in a cozy cell in Tartarus. Did you see the look on his face, though? Man, I kinda wish I had recorded it."
Chapter 41
They weren't sure if it was because there had been some sort of time limit to Stain's quirk, or if it was just because he had been knocked out cold, but the moment the villain went down Iida found himself able to move increasingly more freely, if still a bit stiffly, while Native himself also began to stir. By the time they had staunched the bleeding from Stain's gunshot wound, thoroughly checked him for any hidden weaponry (Izuku honestly had to respect how the guy had more choppas and stabbas on hand than even he himself had on storage, an oversight he would look into rectifying, but even he couldn't help but find just how he had actually been carrying some of them excessive. No wonder he'd been such an angry git…) and restrained him good, the two of them were up and about, although the hero was still limping badly from the injury he had suffered during the ambush, the details of which he was now, rather nervously, relaying to their latest backup.
Iida however, was more focused on the hero killer, looking down at the villain's unconscious form with a complicated expression.
This had been the man that had crippled his brother, the monster that had ended the Ingenium name and nearly killed the hero that he admired most… And for what? Because his brother didn't fit a set of insane standards that completely disregarded the good he did, the hero he was. It made the boy angry, just to think about it. Looking upon the Hero Killer downed and defeated, Iida felt rage… and with that rage, came shame.
What had he been thinking? Trying to pick a fight with a known murderer like that. Even if there had been a desire for justice, someone who had lived all his life firmly believing in upholding the rules and the law definitely should've known better. Perhaps, the boy found himself forced to consider, all those people who had called him rigid and unbending, in far less flattering terms more often than not, had a point. Perhaps that had been why he'd reacted like he did when the world he staunchly believed in had come crashing down around him…
And now the culprit behind it all was beaten, and it hadn't been because of anything he had done. If anything, it had been despite his foolish actions…
Iida closed his eyes, frowning deeply and clenching his fists tightly as he tried to deal with all the emotions he was currently feeling…
"Gah!"
…And when he opened them up he nearly fell flat on his behind, as he stumbled back in shock from seeing Stain's unconscious face suddenly so close to his own. It took him a moment to understand the scene before him, and to realize that while he was struggling with his thoughts, Midoriya had picked up the hero killer, one clawed hand wrapping around his unconscious frame as if holding a ragdoll, and was holding the villain out to him.
"Wanna give him one punt fer dah road?" The boy offered cheerily, as if it just the natural, correct thing to do.
Iida could only gape, staring between his classmate and the villain as he processed the offer and all its implications. It was such an unheroic, unlawful, immoral, rule breaking, downright petty thing…
…And Dear Lord he couldn't help but be tempted. So very tempted… But in the end, something else spoke louder.
"…No." Iida replied with a shake of his head, taking a step back. "My obsession with Stain already caused enough trouble as it is. I am done with him."
"Aight, have it yer way." Midoriya with a light shrug, neither supporting nor condemning, as he stopped holding the villain out to him, but still held in firmly in his grasp.
"Well, glad to see that you seem to have learned something out of all this mess." A voice cut in, almost startling Iida as the woman (he hadn't immediately recognized her with everything that had been happening, but now it didn't take much to put two and two together) who had taken down Stain approached. "I hope you do realize, however, that it's probably not gonna be that simple?"
"…Yes, I understand." Iida replied after a moment, doing his best to stand tall and look dignified. "I am ready to face whatever consequences may come from my actions."
"Good to hear, but yeessh, kid, lighten up a little. What you just tried to pull is definitely going too far in the other direction, but you are entirely too young to be talking and acting like a middle-aged office worker." Lady Nagant replied dryly, leaving the spectacled boy to balk and sputter as she turned to look at her charge. "And Mekboy, while I agree that the dirtbag would deserve it, and heck, I'd probably watch, kicking people when they are down and no longer a threat is a big no no when we're on the clock."
"Aye, Boss…" The replied, sounding like a kid that had been told not to eat cookies just before dinner.
After that, with Nagant helping Native and Midoriya carrying the unconscious villain, the heroes and trainees walked out of the alleyway and into the street, where they were swiftly spotted by people arriving from the distance.
"Oh, would you look at that." Nagant commented casually, as the newcomers approached, and it became clear to see that it was the number two hero and his sidekicks. "There comes the cavalry."
Endeavor ignored her words, glancing around those present until his eyes zeroed in on the Hero Killer.
"…I see you have apprehended Stain." He grunted, his tone professional, to the point, if somewhat forced. "What happened?"
Nagant fought down the urge to smirk. As ever, Endeavor hated being beaten to the punch.
"Well, as it happens-"
"LOOK OUT!"
The startled call came too late, and the heroes and sidekicks present couldn't quite react in time to the large shadow bearing down on them.
/
Izuku blinked owlishly as his whole world seemed to lurch, making let go of the hero killer in surprise. Suddenly, all his armor's systems seemed to indicate there was no solid ground under his feet, and far as he could tell the road seemed to be getting further and further away. While the enclosed helmet of his mega armor wasn't exactly the most mobile, he could still move it around just enough that he managed to glance up, and the multiple sensors and cameras he had installed helped to compensate for any flaws in his line of sight. So it was that he managed to realize what was going on.
A lanky figure, skin of a sickly yellow, head all but completely covered by what seemed to be a gasmask, except for a clearly exposed brain, was struggling to carry him away, large, bat-like wings, that for some reason niggled at the back of Izuku's mind, beating furiously to lift them both high above the street. Another of the brainy gits from Facepalmy, he realized. Frankly, the boy was mildly impressed that it was doing so well, but chalked it up to the foldable frame making his mega-armor lighter than the vehicle weight class it would've had if he hadn't built it that way. Still, there was really only one course of action available to him at this juncture.
"Oi, let go, ya batty git." He said, klaws whirring with a momentary green glow as he stabbed them upwards, and then opened fire at point blank.
The Noumu briefly screamed a gurgled shriek of agony before quickly going silent as the double whammy of matter-disrupting klaws digging into its shoulders and chest and the follow up spray of dakka tore it apart, sending a wing and an arm flying one way and the rest of it the other. Izuku allowed himself a moment of satisfaction at showing the git who was boss, before gravity suddenly reasserted itself and he had no way to go but down.
Oh right, he thought to himself in mild annoyance as the ground grew closer and closer, he had forgotten these brainy gits weren't built as tough as the USJ one had been.
/
That Noumu had swooped in too fast for anyone to react. Not that Kaina didn't try, but she'd been helping Native along and they hadn't managed to let go of each other fast enough. After that both her and Endeavor had a clear shot at the thing, but it had managed to get far up enough that anything they did might put Mekboy at risk.
In hindsight, it really shouldn't have surprised her that the kid took matters into his own hands, rather literally. She could only watch as he tore the creature a new one and started going down.
Within moments he had crashed back into the road like a meteor, kicking up a cloud of dust on impact. Kaina immediately rushed towards him, followed closely by the other kid.
"Mekboy!" She called out in alarm, trying to fan away some of the dust as she approached.
By then the cloud had settled enough for her to see the damage. Midoriya had landed with enough force to crack the road. His armor was all but indented into the ground, sprawled awkwardly and the right shoulder sunk deeper into the pavement. If concern for his well-being hadn't been the priority at the moment, she might have found the sight almost comical.
"You ok?! Come on, kid, talk to me…" She tried again, looking around the armor and wondering how to pry it off.
"Hhhuurrrrgghhh…" Came a groaning reply, as the armored form twitched slightly, and green eye lenses flared back to life. "I'z gonna be feelin' dat tomorrow."
Kaina allowed herself a slight breath relief at that. "I'm just gonna leave the lecturing about this crazy stunt for that talk we are going to have later. Are you hurt, and can you move?"
"Just sore, Boss. Me shields an' armor took dah brunt of dat crash. As fer movin'…" The boy tried, and while his free arm seemed to work just fine, the rest of the armor seemed too deeply indented to do more than strain and twitch. "Zog, some of dah pistons must'a gotten banged up. Just a sec…"
There was a faint click from inside the suit, and then with a hissing sound, the helmet and chest started peeling and folding open, revealing a slightly dazed, but otherwise unharmed looking teen, who slowly got up and out of the armor, gingerly rubbing at this right shoulder.
"Is your shoulder broken, Mid-Mekboy?" Iida inquired in concern, just catching himself with name at the last moment. "Or dislocated?"
"Nah, I'd know if it wuz. I'z dislocated me shouldahs so many times from gizmo buildin' mishaps I'z can pretty much pop'em on an' off. Dis if gun bruise fer sure, but besides dat it'z fine." The boy replied casually, like he hadn't just taken a fall that would've put many a veteran hero out of comission for a while.
"…Let's just wait for the paramedics to see." Kaina replied with a sigh as sirens could be heard from a distance, deciding that there was too much in that statement to unpack at the moment.
/
"Well, that's annoying." A raspy voice grumbled from the safety of the top of one of the highest buildings in Hosu as they watched the scene from afar. "Didn't expect him to go and do that."
"In fairness, Tomura Shigaraki, you did threaten him with an agonizing death the last you two met." Another calmer voiced replied from a shadowy figure. "He wouldn't have reason to not resist. Alas, it happened too fast for me to be able to intervene."
"I mean, yeah, fair, but that was before I realized the potential here. You saw what he did to that Noumu. Zero hesitation. That ain't exactly hero behavior." The first one grumbled again, a bit more petulantly. "I can already hear the Doctor bitching and moaning about all of his "work" that we lost tonight, specially that last one that he seemed oddly attached to… Ah well, guess there'll be other opportunities."
"Shall we retreat, then?"
"Yeah, tonight was a bust, but it's not a total loss. The heroes got that annoying two-bit side character out of our hair, and there's ways we can still take advantage of that…"
The two figures disappeared into dark mist, leaving behind only an empty roof.