Three weeks had passed since the incident in the safe house, since Grey had torn the group apart with his uncompromising vengeance. He had become a leader now, commanding a faction that thirsted for retribution. Yet, the fire within him still burned with restless intensity.
He hunched over a new set of documents, gathered from his operatives. Reports, photos, and intercepted transmissions were evidence of heroes who had aided villains, whether through negligence, corruption, or something darker.
He read the files in silence.
A support hero had supplied defective gear to a known villain, claiming it was a manufacturing error, but the pattern was too consistent to ignore. A pro hero's aide had leaked patrol routes, enabling a villain ambush that left civilians dead. One of the Naruhata Vigilantes, Koichi, had been collaborating with pro heroes like Eraser Head and Midnight to share intel, but the documents suggested some of that information was being withheld, allowing certain villains to slip through the cracks.
Koichi, I almost forgot the vigilante arc. Yes, it was good but not important here.
He classified it like it was not important to him, just some hero apprehended the corrupt supplier and traitorous aide before more lives were lost.
A collaboration between Koichi and the pro heroes, hmm? Why not?
After reading the file, Grey sighed. He began to feel tired from all this lecture. Behind him, one of his operatives, a sharp-eyed man named Sato, cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence. "What will you do with this?" he asked, voice low and cautious.
Grey didn't look up. His fingers traced the edge of a photo showing a set of equipment. He spoke quietly, his voice cold and unwavering:
"If we want to act more freely, we have to show people the true face of their heroes. Don't worry, it's all for the cause." The cause that will finally bring about the change we've all been waiting for.
Sato nodded, eyes flickering with a mix of fear and conviction. He understood. For Grey and his faction, the line between hero and villain had blurred, and vengeance had become justice.
Sato turned to leave. As the door clicked shut behind him, Grey remained motionless for a moment, the weight of his dark resolve settling into place.
Then, he rose and walked over to the stack of files on the desk. He flipped through them methodically, his fingers brushing over names and images: support heroes, aides, vigilantes… And finally, the one that made his blood run cold, Yuga Aoyama.
The flashy Class 1‑A student who fired lasers from his belly button, "Navel Laser" and who had betrayed U.A. by leaking critical information to the League of Villains. Coerced by All For One, he was manipulated into treachery to protect his family.Even if in the end, Yuga redeemed himself by bravely standing up against the League of Villains and saving his classmates.
Grey stared at the file, fury and contempt boiling beneath his calm exterior. He finally spoke, voice ice-cold and clipped:
"This world doesn't need heroes who crumble under pressure."
With a deliberate motion, he closed the file and left it on the desk. No grand gesture, just a silent conviction that spoke volumes. The room fell into a tense stillness, the single file resting among many, marking the next name on a growing list of those who would be unmasked.
Overnight
Grey's reflection in the glass felt distant and fractured. His mind replayed the horrors of that day. Unaffected by the chaos below, Inferno Wings were blazing above the wreckage. The hero who let his colleagues perish.
A soft knock at the door snapped him back. Sato's voice drifted in, cautious.
"Sir, we've just intercepted movement… Stain's been spotted tailing Inferno Wings."
Grey's breath caught. Stain the Hero Killer. The one who killed heroes he deemed unworthy. A hero himself, now a murderer.
Grey rose, voice quiet with a small smile. "Follow them."
Grey stepped back, his gaze fixed on the file of Inferno Wings lying on the desk. The hero is responsible for the death of all his colleagues, burning them to ashes, both literally and figuratively. A hero stained by negligence, consumed by fame, who watched others perish without flinching.
A cold whisper escaped his lips, barely audible:
"What a beautiful day."
That little thought brought back the memory of his first use of Stain as an instrument of vengeance. It was the day Stain was supposed to encounter Deku. Grey had twisted the narrative, telling his operatives that the heroes the hero Stain targeted were all corrupt and dangerous. But it wasn't true. It was a lie he crafted. Grey's manipulation led to the tragic demise of innocent heroes, staining his own hands with their blood. But at that time the only thought that came was
there are times when sacrifices are needed, when we need heroes to sacrifice their lives for our cause.
But it was all a facade, a deception to cover up his own selfish desires. Grey's concept of justice collapsed when the truth came to light, revealing his true motives and the extent of his manipulation. The heroes who fell victim to his deception were not sacrifices for a greater cause but innocent casualties of his greed and deceit.
He orchestrated a diversion: his faction attacked a villainous front, drawing attention away from the real plan. With the chaos as cover, Stain's moves remained undetected. No reports, no records, just a perfect setup. In the end, the battle with Stain ends in chaos. Instead of being captured, Stain disappears into the night after delivering a final, brutal strike. The police and pro heroes arrive too late; the Hero Killer has vanished. This failure sends shockwaves through society.
After that, fear quickly spreads. The U.S.J. event and what happened afterward have already scared people, and now they have to face the scary truth that Stain is still out there. There is a lot of fear, and the news calls it "The Stain's bloody night."
At U.A., the students were thrown into disarray. Hero-name selection was postponed, and both staff and students were on edge. Tenya Iida, in particular, sank into a deep depression not because he had faced Stain and survived, but because he never even encountered him. He had expected to avenge his brother, Tensei (Ingenium); instead, he was left with guilt, regret, and the painful realization that he had failed to act when it mattered most. The weight of his inaction crushed him more than any injury could.
Grey closed his eyes, recalling the thrill of that manipulation. A faint pang of regret flickered in his chest; he thought of Tenya Iida's older brother, Tensei Iida (Ingenium), who had been targeted during Stain's crusade against heroes he deemed unworthy. The memory was sharp and painful. But he pushed it aside; regret was a luxury he could not afford. He had a mission to complete. He knew that dwelling on the past would only hinder his progress. With a deep breath, he refocused his mind on the task at hand and took a determined step forward, ready to fulfill his mission no matter the cost.
But the most surprising thing that happened during those three weeks was that Hana and the remaining members of the original cell, those who rejected Grey's path, acted in complete secrecy with the mission to preserve heroism without surrendering to vengeance.
A type of joke to Grey. Who finds it more hilarious than other things.
They worked in the shadows. No grand confrontations. No direct interference with high-profile heroes. Instead, they sent anonymous tips, small but strategic, to trusted contacts, support agencies, hero networks, and independent investigators. Their goal was to expose corruption and injustice within the hero community, without resorting to violence or retaliation.
They send warnings to the city council some talking about: "An attack is planned on a local hero tonight. Please warn them." And thanks to that, the hero, alerted in time, avoided the setup entirely. A hero agency found a note in their mailbox: "Check your supply chain for defective gear." Suspicious items were intercepted before they reached the field. A minor news outlet ran a brief, anonymous exposé: "A hero's aide may be leaking patrol routes. Investigation underway." The aide was quietly reassigned, halting the leak.
Each incident was small. To the public, they looked like minor operational hiccups.
But to Grey, they were just small disruptions that were frustrating, unnerving, and inexplicable.
And all that thought led him to some choices. Maybe he needs to act for them, taking matters into my own hands. But every time these thoughts came, he couldn't shake this feeling that Hana was just maybe like him, someone who fights for a purpose and that she will make everything for that. So instead of acting impulsively, Grey decided to see what Hana's next move would be before deciding to act.
Rain drummed relentlessly on the rooftop above the abandoned warehouse district. Each drop echoed like a heartbeat, relentless and unforgiving.
Inside, the dim light flickered over shattered glass and wet concrete.
Stain stood motionless in the center of the space, his cloak soaked and plastered to his form, eyes cold and unyielding as he fixed his gaze on Inferno Wings. Flames curled from the hero's hands, casting dancing reflections on the puddles that pooled around them.
Inferno Wings stood defiant, his wings aflame despite the downpour. The hero who had watched colleagues perish while watching but not helping now faced the reckoning. Rain hissed against his fiery aura, steam rising in ghostly tendrils.
Stain's voice cut through the roar of water and flame:
"You burn others to ashes without remorse. Today, you face your judgment."
Inferno Wings snarled, flames surging. "You're no judge," he spat, voice trembling. "You're just a murderer."
Stain's lips curled into a grim smile. "I'm the reckoning."
In a blur of motion, Stain vanished only to reappear behind the hero. His blade flashed, and the hero collapsed, extinguished. The rain washed over them, steam rising from the fallen hero's body, mingling with the cold droplets.
Grey was watching the scene through a screen in his hidden command room. His clothes were dry, but the flickering video cast shadows that mimicked the rain-soaked scene. Relief and something darker pulsed through him. The world had been cleansed of another hypocrite.
He exhaled, his voice barely audible over the storm:
A beautiful day for justice.
Somewhere in the city
Hana pressed her palm against the small windowpane, watching the rain-soaked city lights blur into streaks of orange and red. Every drop echoed the urgency in her chest. She wasn't a hero; she was just a woman trying to make a difference in a world that seemed to be falling apart. But tonight, she knew she had to act. She was trying to act as a guardian in the shadow, but tonight, that role made her feel useless. As she watched the storm rage on, Hana made a silent vow to herself to not let fear hold her back any longer. She knew that even in the darkness, a single light could make a difference.
"Breaking news: these worlds make her lift her to the screen.
"A new victim; the Stain's bloody night keeps going," and add also Inferno Wings's bad action was also revealed in the new show, with some people in the background praising Stain, which made Hana lose force, like things weren't supposed to be like that. Hana's heart sank as she became aware of the extent of the chaos that the Stain and Inferno Wings had caused. The feeling of helplessness crept back in, but she reminded herself of her vow to not let fear control her anymore.
The only sounds in her safe house were the soft beeping of monitors and the rain falling far away. She looked around the room and saw that everyone there was focused on their work. One of them was a young tech agent, typing quickly on a keyboard to mix information with quiet sabotage. The speech of Hana was soft and steady.
"We can't stop every attack." She takes a deep breath and then continues.
"But we can minimize the damage and protect as many innocent lives as possible."
She continued, her eyes meeting each of her team members with unwavering determination. "Let's focus on what we can control and work together to make a difference in this chaos."