The alleyway transformed from a damp, dark tomb into a roaring furnace the moment Endeavor stepped forward. The sheer heat was a physical weight, a shimmering wall that made the air wobble and the smell of ozone turn into the scent of scorched brick.
"Stay back," a cold, familiar voice commanded.
Izuku looked up as a jagged glacier of ice surged along the alley floor, passing right between him and the burning heat of the Number Two Hero. Shoto Todoroki arrived with a small squad of Endeavor's sidekicks, his expression as frozen as the ice he wielded. He didn't offer a smile or a word of comfort. He knelt beside Iida, his left hand glowing with a controlled, low-intensity flame to provide light, while his right hand pressed a thin, localized layer of ice against the gash on Iida's neck.
"It's shallow, but it needs to be cauterized or frozen. Don't move," Shoto said, his tone icy and detached. He looked over at Izuku, then at Native. "The sidekicks will get you out. Can you walk?"
Izuku took a tentative breath, expecting his muscles to remain locked. To his absolute shock, the paralysis snapped. He staggered to his feet, his foot throbbing from the sword wound, but his limbs were his own again.
"I... I can move!" Izuku gasped. He looked at Native and Iida, who remained slumped and motionless. "Why can't they?"
"Maybe your blood is just as restless as you are, Midoriya," Todoroki muttered, though his eyes were fixed on the battle unfolding ten feet away. He stood up, using his left side to create a thermal buffer, shielding the injured from the blistering heat radiating from his father. "All Might is in the city center. The Nomu are everywhere. A passerby saw you sprinting toward the alleys, I figured you were heading for trouble. My father... he's in a mood. He's been chasing this guy for months."
Izuku turned his attention to the fight, and his heart hammered against his ribs. It wasn't a duel, it was a demolition.
Endeavor moved with a lethal, predatory grace. He didn't just throw fire, he shaped it. "Hell-Fire: Ignis Sica!" he roared, a blade of pure, concentrated white-hot plasma extending from his forearm. He swung it in a wide arc, the heat so intense it turned the falling rain into a sudden, blinding fog of steam.
Stain danced through the inferno, his tattered clothes singeing at the edges. He moved like a shadow, his eyes fixed on Endeavor with a look of pure, unadulterated loathing. "You!" Stain hissed, vaulting off a melting fire escape. "The man who burns for rank! You are the epitome of the rot! You wear the mask of a hero, but you smell like ash and arrogance!"
"Silence, you pathetic worm!" Endeavor countered, his feet cracking the pavement as he lunged. He fired a Jet Burn, a concentrated blast of heat that missed Stain by an inch, instead vaporizing a chunk of the brick wall behind him.
Izuku watched with wide, terrified eyes. He could see the tactical brilliance in Endeavor's movements, but there was a recklessness to it, a jagged, desperate edge. Endeavor wasn't just trying to capture a criminal, he was trying to incinerate a stain on the world he intended to rule. Pieces of the surrounding buildings were charring and crumbling, the metal of the dumpsters glowing a dull, molten red.
"He's fighting like a man possessed," Izuku whispered, shielding his face from the heat.
"All Might is in the same city," Shoto said, his voice flat but knowing. "He can't stand the thought of the Symbol of Peace cleaning up before him. He's determined to end this before the 'number one' can even arrive to help."
Stain landed on a high ledge, his chest heaving. He threw three daggers in rapid succession, but they melted into droplets of liquid steel before they even touched Endeavor's uniform.
"You can't burn the truth, Endeavor!" Stain screamed, his voice reaching a fever pitch of fanaticism. "I don't plan on letting a fake like you take my head! Only a True Hero...!"
CRACK.
Endeavor moved faster than the eye could follow, a streak of orange light that ended with a brutal, flaming fist catching Stain square in the ribs. The sound of bone shattering echoed through the alley. Stain was propelled backward, coughing out a spray of blood that sizzled as it hit the ground.
He staggered to his feet, his body broken but his spirit still radiating a terrifying, dark energy. He looked like a demon rising from the pit. "I... I will purge... all of you..."
Endeavor stood before him, his entire body wreathed in a halo of fire so bright it was hard to look at. He looked every bit the god of destruction. "Burn in hell with your ideals," Endeavor growled, his voice a low, terrifying rumble.
Endeavor began to pull his arms back, the air around him beginning to howl as he charged up a massive, final heatwave, a move meant to end the Hero Killer once and for all.
Stain took one more step forward, his eyes rolling back in his head. A sudden, massive surge of bloodlust leaked from him, a physical pressure so heavy that the sidekicks behind Todoroki fell to their knees. It was the aura of a man who had stared into the void for too long.
Endeavor's flames flared, his eyes locked on the target.
Then, the pressure vanished.
Stain's legs buckled. His sword slipped from his fingers, clattering onto the scorched pavement. Without a word, the Hero Killer collapsed, falling forward into the ash and soot. He had passed out from the sheer physical trauma of the shattered ribs and internal bleeding before Endeavor could fire the final blow.
The alley went silent, save for the crackling of the small fires that still burned in the bricks. Endeavor stood there, his arms still glowing orange, staring down at the unconscious man at his feet. He looked unsatisfied, his chest heaving with a fury that had no more fuel to burn.
Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, his knees finally giving out. He looked at the scorched alley, at the broken villain, and then at the cold, flame-wreathed man standing over him.
___
The clinical scent of the hospital always seemed to sharpen the edges of Izuku's thoughts. He was folding his hero costume, now torn and smelling of scorched brick, into a duffel bag, his movements mechanical and stiff. His foot was bandaged, the puncture wound from Stain's blade a dull, rhythmic throb that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
All Might stood by the window, his gaunt silhouette framed by the morning light. He looked smaller in the quiet of the room, the weight of the Hosu incident visible in the deep hollows of his cheeks.
"Young Midoriya," All Might began, his voice barely a whisper. "I... I should have been there. I should have moved faster. I am so sorry."
Izuku didn't look up. He focused on a loose thread on his glove, his fingers trembling. "Don't be. You were saving the rest of the city. I was the one in the alley." He let out a short, bitter breath. "I went down so easily. One knife, All Might. One knife and I was pinned to the floor like a bug. I was pathetic. I couldn't even protect my friend."
"You stood against a monster that has ended more than a dozen professional careers," All Might countered, stepping toward the bed. "You aren't pathetic, Izuku. You are a student who survived another encounter with death."
"But I was blind," Izuku snapped, finally looking up. His emerald eyes were rimmed with red, burning with a mix of exhaustion and self-loathing. "Iida was drowning right in front of me for weeks. His brother was attacked, his world ended, and I didn't even notice because I was so caught up in my own head. My best friend was hunting a killer, and I was the last person in class to realize it. How can I call myself a hero, how can I call myself a Champion, if I can't even see the people standing right next to me?"
All Might reached out, but hesitated, his hand hovering in the air. "You have been under more pressure than any fifteen-year-old should ever know. Dealing with the transition of One For All is enough to break a man, but you... you have the added burden of Yoshi. The stress of that presence, the mental toll of having to share your own skin... it's not your fault that your peripheral vision was blurred."
Izuku went quiet, the mention of Yoshi making the air in the room feel suddenly thin. He tightened his grip on the duffel bag.
"I know why you did it, you know," Izuku said, his voice dropping into a cold, steady register. "Sending me to Gran Torino. Telling me it was for training. You didn't want me near the investigation. You wanted me distracted so you and Tsukauchi could dig into Yoshi's past without me watching."
All Might sighed, his shoulders sagging as he lowered his hands. "I won't lie to you. I did. But not out of a lack of trust in you, Izuku. I was afraid of him. I don't know the extent of what Yoshi can see or hear. I didn't want him gaining leverage. I didn't want him to see the leads we were following and use that information to hurt you further."
"It doesn't matter," Izuku said, a sudden flash of heat in his eyes. He stood up, the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm still going to do my own research. I'm going to find the truth about why he's here. Because the quickest way to solve this is to get him out of me. I want my life back. I want to be able to breathe without feeling the pressure of maintaining constant control or he'll have free reign to do as he pleases."
The tension in the room was suffocating, a jagged edge of desperation that All Might hadn't seen in his pupil before. Izuku realized he was breathing too hard and quickly bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I... I need to go see Iida-kun. He's in the next room."
Without waiting for a response, Izuku walked out, the door sliding shut behind him with a soft thud.
The hallway was quiet, the early morning light casting long shadows on the linoleum. Izuku stood outside Iida's door for a full minute, gathering his courage, before sliding it open.
Tenya Iida was sitting up in bed, his shoulder heavily bandaged and his neck encased in a protective brace. He was staring at his hands, hands that were usually moving in sharp, rhythmic gestures, but now lay still and heavy on the white sheets.
"Iida-kun," Izuku whispered.
Iida looked up, and the sight of his face made Izuku's heart ache. The rigid, disciplined mask was gone. In its place was a hollow, crushing shame.
"Midoriya-kun," Iida said, his voice raspy and small.
Izuku rushed to the side of the bed, bowing his head so low it nearly touched the mattress. "I'm so sorry! I should have seen it! I should have been a better friend. i could have figured it out after knowing you went to Hosu alone, I didn't even know about Tensei-san until it was too late..."
"Stop," Iida said, a single tear tracking down his cheek. "Please, Midoriya-kun. Don't apologize to me. Not after what I did."
Iida looked back at his hands, his voice trembling. "I used the privilege UA gave me for a grudge. I ignored the cries of a victim. I stood against the Hero Killer and thought only of my own heart, not the lives I was supposed to protect. I am a murderer who failed at his task. I am a fake."
"That's not true," Izuku urged.
"It is!" Iida cried, his voice breaking. "Native-san almost died because of me. You too almost died because of my arrogance. I don't deserve to be in the Hero Course. I don't deserve to stand beside you or the others. When I am discharged... I plan on submitting my withdrawal. I am going to drop out."
The room went silent. The weight of the words hung in the air like a death sentence. Izuku looked at his friend, and for a moment, he saw a darkness. A "Shadow" that comes when a Golden Child breaks.
"No," Izuku said. It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command.
Iida blinked, startled by the steel in Izuku's voice.
"You think dropping out is a solution? You think running away from your mistake is how you honor your brother?" Izuku stepped closer, his emerald eyes burning with an intense, righteous fury. "Iida-kun, you made a mistake. A terrible, dangerous mistake. But if you walk away now, you're just proving that the Hero Killer was right about you. You're proving that you were just a 'fake' all along."
Izuku grabbed the edge of the bedframe, his knuckles white. "You have a debt now. You owe it to Native-san. You owe it to the people you didn't save. And most of all, you owe it to Tensei-san. He gave his life to that name. He gave his legs to the legacy of Ingenium."
"I can't carry it," Iida sobbed, his head dropping. "I'm not like him."
"Then become like him!" Izuku roared. "Work until your engines scream! Train until you can't feel your legs! If you want to recompense for what happened in that alley, then you do your best to be the greatest hero this world has ever seen. You take the name 'Ingenium,' and you wear it until it shines again. You never, ever disrespect it by calling yourself a failure again. You carry that name for him, and you make sure that the next time someone is in trouble, you're the one who gets there first."
Iida looked up, his breath catching. He saw the "Champion" in front of him, not the boy he had met on the entrance exam day, but a hero who had looked into the abyss and refused to blink.
"Midoriya-kun..."
"Don't let the mistake be the end of your story, Tenya," Izuku said, his voice softening but remaining firm. "Let it be the beginning of the hero you were always meant to be."
Iida stared at Izuku for a long time, the silence in the room heavy with the ghost of the pride he had lost. Then, slowly, he reached up and wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. His jaw set, a flicker of that old, familiar fire returning to his gaze.
He reached out his right hand, the one that wasn't bandaged. "You're right. I have been... incredibly selfish. Even in my shame, I was only thinking of myself."
Iida gripped Izuku's hand in a firm, desperate shake. "I will not drop out. I will stay. I will take up my brother's name, and I will spend every day of the rest of my life making sure I am worthy of it. I promise you this, Midoriya-kun. I will be a hero."
Izuku squeezed his hand back, a heavy sense of relief washing over him. "I know you will."