We are back and with another milestone of a chapter. It's hard to believe that it's been sixty chapters since I began this. I do have an announcement regarding the schedule of these posts in the post-chapter A/N, which also explains why this one missed what would have ordinarily been its date, so have a look at that if you're curious.

Review time:

uchihaNaruto247, Batmarcus, D3lph0xL0v3r, Constipated Genius, Dragon Man 180, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3: Izuku definitely needs some help putting everything in perspective. Fortunately, as a few of you have said, he has a pretty good support network in terms of friends, loved ones, mentors, teachers, etc. He'll be alright...after a fashion.

Constipated Genius, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver: I'm glad people liked how I handled the debriefing with Chief Tsuragamae. Endeavor made sure everything was done by the book and had no qualms about vouching for the legality of his intern's actions, which only left room for praise. I always got the impression that the Chief really didn't like having to reprimand the boys in canon but, being the face of the law, he had to make sure it was upheld. Canon! Izuku did the right thing, absolutely, but he was explicitly told to stay put, meaning his actions were tantamount to Vigilantism. Same goes for Shoto and Tenya, unfortunately.

D3lph0xL0v3r: It's funny that you mention Spinner...

Tzekel Khan: You know, I've been trying to follow the meaningful naming trend for most of my other OC's so far, but Saotome I deliberately didn't (unless it's a coincidence, since I didn't look up if her name means anything). That might give you a hint depending on how you notice things.

Renegade Remade (formerly Superf7n Guy): Izuku will indeed be getting better at using Flame Cowl in the future. That's really been the whole theme behind it, since I don't want to take the route that canon has and just give him more powers. It should be about mastery of the powers he has, in my opinion. I won't say what precisely I have planned apart from steadily increasing his fuel reserves, but I will say we've seen a proto version of one technique already when he was working on Flame Cowl (Complete).

As for utility, you are quite right that he needs some focus on that and now that he's gotten more efficient with his Quirk, it might be about time. In terms of cost, Flame Cowl uses one percent fuel per one percent power output every six seconds, so yes, higher output is more expensive. This need not apply to the ignition, he just hasn't gotten that good at controlling that part yet. Five percent (for a two-and-a-half times boost) is his low point, since that's the base enhancement he gets from regular smashes.

Regarding Katsuki, his Quirk description specifically says "from the palms of his hands," so I'm guessing feet are a no-go. He likes his boots too much anyway.

Constipated Genius: Interesting guesses for Saotome's Quirk, but unfortunately not correct. When it comes to her, it's really all about what you notice.

Alex Focker: Regarding Izuku's sanity, saying anything one way or the other is potential spoilers for anyone who hasn't entirely figured it out yet. If he is in fact insane, it's probably not Schizophrenia since multiple personalities is not a symptom of that. Either way, I think we can all agree that he's a little kooky at the very least but, then again, who in this cast isn't? Apart from Mezo.

The 0bservanc3: We can all agree that Stain is faster than he has any right to be, even in canon. He probably has a bit of extra strength too, given how he's able to cleave through solid hunks of ice like he does. Or maybe he's just a badass like Aizawa is? Hard to say. As far as Stain goes, we'll start to see the beginnings of those changes in this chapter.

Katsuki did not change his hair. He meant that there's a science to how it is normally and a hat would force him to change that, so he decided to forego the hat. 2222 was mostly chosen arbitrarily. I wanted to give enough time that multiple generations of Quirk users would have had time to exist and some of this crazier technology was feasible, but the actual year was just for funzies.

ocomhdhain1: As far as I am aware, nobody has made the canon MHA characters react to Torchbearer yet. I have a standing offer that they are free to do so, however, as long as they credit me for the Torchbearer versions and notify me so I can read it, because that'd be fun.

tacktician, The Keeper of Worlds, Brightwizard21, NazgulBelserion, Noxlux013, An awfully bored chap, Narukami97, Z-ro, Guest, Slayer of The Abyss: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!

Now, rumor has it there's a certain video that's been making the rounds on the internet lately...

Chapter Sixty: Carry On

Hello to all of my viewers. Apologies if this video is of lower quality than you have come to expect from me, but current circumstances surrounding this event have necessitated that I take certain steps to avoid the mass takedown that the government is orchestrating. Until this all blows over, I will not be able to post this in any of my usual locations or I risk my accounts being banned. As such, I shall be live streaming this recording at thirty-seven-minute intervals with the timer beginning immediately after the previous stream has ended. The footage has also been reversed with the outer edges cropped out and the audio pitched down slightly.

Those of you who have taken the time to find this stream likely already know that I am referring to the recent incident that occurred in ***u City on the evening of May twenty-first wherein the League of Villains and the Hero Killer wreaked havoc on civilians and Heroes alike, all taking place within a mere twenty-two minutes.

As I'm sure you know, public footage of the Hero Killer has been more or less nonexistent...until now. That's right: one brave, anonymous soul happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right Quirk to allow them to take a video recording of the Hero Killer clashing with two young Heroes. Without further ado, let's get to the footage. Be warned, this may be too graphic for some.

A shaking image of the street with the sound of hurried footsteps and breathless speech appeared as whoever was taking the video rushed towards an alley. The sounds of shouting and screaming filled the air.

"I just saw...just saw a pillar of fire come from over there! And, and there was a guy inside of it! Flying up into the air!"

The video suddenly veered off to the side as the holder of the camera ran to a nearby wall and leapt at it, impacting with a slight "oof" before beginning to climb apparently one-handed, grunting with the effort.

"It's obviously...some sort of fight...so I need to make sure I don't get caught up in that. Hang on, I can hear voices! Is the camera picking this up? Damn! Need to get closer..."

"BURN!"

*POW*

"Whoa! Someone just ate shit! Hang on, I'm almost to the edge!"

The camera's field of view was suddenly clear of brick and was looking down into the alleyway. Near the entrance there was a man dressed like a Native American slumped against a wall while a man in a full-body blue costume with glowing orange lines that mirrored the flames that covered him faced off against a taller man with a blood-red scarf and holding a sword who was approaching him steadily. The flaming one charged the taller man suddenly, only to be kicked forcefully into a wall.

"Naive!"

"OOF!"

The Hero Killer immediately capitalized on his opening, driving his sword into the smaller man and creating a tear in his costume, slicing into the shoulder beneath and eliciting a cry of pain, the flames dissipating as the smaller man tried to escape.

"It...for that...you."

The noise of the surrounding chaos was too loud to hear all of what Stain said as he licked his sword and the other man collapsed, his strength seeming to have left him, though his exclamation of pain as a swift kick to the ribs flipped him onto his back was audible enough. Whether due to nerves of steel or simply because he was enthralled by the sight, the bearer of the camera shifted to the roof of the building in an effort to get closer still. As he did, the Hero Killer's voice became clearer.

"While...hope to...difference in...of things, I believe that you have both potential and the correct mindset. Accept my praise, Deku."

A weak response from the incapacitated Deku and Stain's subsequent response were muffled as the Villain knelt and shifted him into a sitting position, leaning him against a dumpster.

"You made the correct decisions and committed to the correct actions, yet your hesitation has caused you to fail. Fear not, however: failure is a necessary step on the path to success. Before one can succeed, they must fail. As such, allow me to leave you with a parting gift of sorts, that you might become worthy."

What the Hero Killer said to Native as he lifted him up was inaudible, but the moment he impaled the Hero with his sword was clearly visible.

"NO!"

An eerie silence fell over the alley. The noise from the surrounding chaos seemed to have been dulled somehow. Stain spoke to Deku again, but he was too far away and speaking too softly for the camera to pick it up.

"Deku!"

"Oh, shit!"

The scene suddenly shifted to the sky as a burst of fire filled the alley and impacted the wall beneath the holder, causing some of it to shoot upwards.

"Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!"

As the camera's holder sat up, a mass of ice came into view. The person recording the video scrambled to get back into position as the new voice rang out again.

"I'm not letting you get away that easily! Cold Snap!"

"Cold! Cold! Cold!"

A thin layer of frost accumulated on the camera's lens from the sudden blast of frigid air. The watcher hurriedly cleaned it off as sounds of combat emanated from the unseen alley. He refocused the camera just in time to see Stain knock the new Hero away and point his sword at him, foot planted on a platform of ice that he had clearly sliced the top off of.

"I cannot be stopped by the likes of you! Only the worthy may be allowed to strike me down! Only those who have proven themselves as true Heroes have earned the right!"

The camera was jerked away again as combat began anew and the man recording the footage clearly didn't wish to risk himself again. Eventually the violence died down and he felt comfortable peeking over the edge again.

"Celsius!" Deku shouted at the newcomer, who sent a wave of flames at Stain, which he avoided, but the flames were then consumed by Deku.

"IGNITE!"

*BOO-ck-fzzzt*

The video went dead as an explosion filled the frame and the shockwave seemingly damaged the camera.

From what the video shows, the outcome of this battle with the Hero Killer is unclear. However, the public statement released by the Police Force reveals that he is still at large and may in fact be working together with the League of Villains, the same group who was responsible for-

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Damn, they got him already. They're really double-timing getting these things taken down." Dabi griped as he refreshed the page in a futile attempt to get the stream going again.

"It's bad publicity." Tomura swirled his Cuba Libre, thoughtfully watching a few bits of lime move around as he composed his thoughts. He was a few celebratory drinks deep and didn't want to flub his skill check by slurring his words, "It's one thing for people to know that Stain's still out there, but it's another thing to have actual video footage of him killing a Hero and kicking the crap out of two wannabes. Speaking of that, actually," he took a sip while he gestured to the man of the hour, who was sitting at the bar and had, after some convincing, agreed to let Kurogiri pour him another beer, "you're sure you don't have any idea who might've taken that video? I mean, I get that sometimes natural twenties just happen, but he was practically on top of you."

"No, I don't." Stain glared at his drink before taking a hearty gulp, "I thought I might have heard something towards the end of the recording, but I was preoccupied with securing my escape at that point and I couldn't feel any bloodlust, so I ignored it."

"I don't really get why you're letting it bother you so much." Himiko said from the center of the room, as she had gotten up to stretch her legs a bit, "From what we've heard, the video is really making the rounds, so now everyone gets to see how awesome you are!"

The day after their mission had been spent resting and recovering, though nobody was too banged up apart from Stain. The release of the Police Force's official statement had gone more or less as everyone had expected with them trying to downplay how thoroughly the League had handed them their asses. Instead, they focused on the facts and the information that they had available to them, including hinting that they had figured out what the Hero Killer's Quirk was thanks to the commendable efforts of Endeavor's agency.

Dabi, who had decided to stick around and take advantage of the room and board for the time being, had not taken kindly to that last bit at all. It quickly became apparent that he hated Endeavor's guts for some reason or another, which suited Tomura just fine. He was the Number Two Hero after all, which meant he was almost as much of a pain in the ass as All Might. Or rather, as All Might had been. The recent decrease in All Might's deeds following their attack on USJ had made it obvious that the Symbol of Peace had decided to turtle up as it were and prioritize his position at U.A. above all else, which Tomura honestly didn't mind.

True, this made his goal of seeing the man dead a bit more difficult to achieve, but it wasn't as though he was in any position to make another attempt anyway. Things might have been different if they had managed to do more damage with the USJ attack or if he hadn't lost all of his minions, but it was what it was. Games weren't anywhere near as fun unless you had to deal with the occasional setback.

Then the video had started making the rounds and all hell had broken loose. Tomura wasn't much for social media, so it had been Himiko and Dabi who had noticed first. She had heard about it while chatting online using a social media profile she had made using the face of a girl whose blood she had taken and, at almost the same time, he had come across a previous version of the video on an anonymous dark web message board he frequented.

Come to find that, safe in the anonymity provided by the internet, a lot of people were discussing what they had come to view as Stain's ideology and its place in modern society. There were many who had gotten it wrong but, judging by the initial sets of posts the two had found, there were some who seemed to understand and support it.

One thing was certain though: the timing of the video and the government's efforts to fight it had ensured that absolutely everyone had either heard of it, seen it, or both. Stain had gone viral.

This fact, when combined with the amount of hell they had raised in Hosu, warranted a celebration. It had originally been Kurogiri's suggestion, which Himiko had immediately agreed to. Tomura had agreed as well after he realized that this sort of thing was commonplace when one wanted to raise the party's morale and reward a job well done.

And that was how Tomura found himself lounging comfortably in his favorite booth with a drink in his hand as he watched the members of his slowly-growing League interact.

"Maybe we'll get a few more members out of this? It'd be nice to have ten or so…"

He trailed off and stared at nothing for a few moments before he became aware of someone poking him in the head.

"Hey, Shiga. What're you talking to yourself about? You drunk?"

"Probably." he threw back the remaining half of his Cuba Libre in one large gulp as Himiko sat down next to him, "Definitely."

"Feel like making a midsummer mistake?" he turned to see her smiling impishly at him.

"It's May. And are you even legal?"

"What do you care, Villain-san?"

"I've got principles, damnit!"

"Well said!" Kurogiri called out from the bar, though he had no way of hearing anything that was said until that point.

"I know, I know. To be honest, I was mostly just teasing you."

It took more effort than it should have to focus entirely on her face and he felt a mischievous grin tugging at one corner of his mouth.

"What if I'd said 'yes?'"

"Huh?" she looked at him in surprise, face reddening a bit as she realized what he'd said.

"Your idea. What would you have done if I said 'yes?'"

It was the first time he'd seen her this flustered, but she was spared any further torment by a sudden exclamation from Dabi.

"Wait a minute! Say that part again!"

Tomura had been vaguely aware of Stain telling Dabi and Kurogiri the details of his fight with Endeavor's interns, but he hadn't really been listening. He sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the bar to see an unruffled Stain looking quizzically at Dabi, who had shot to his feet and was pointing at him while Kurogiri's eyes widened steadily with surprise…or was that recognition?

"He breathed a stream of fire at me as I descended in an effort to-"

"And you said he was young? How young exactly?" Kurogiri urged, "College? High school?"

"High school probably. It was difficult to tell because of his costume."

Oh.

Oh shit.

"Shiga? What is it?" Himiko was giving him a concerned look which probably had something to do with the massive grin he belatedly realized was plastered onto his face.

"Kurogiri, the…the pictures! Get the one…the one that shows the kid…from the thing!" he attempted to stand but collapsed back into his seat almost immediately because the table in the booth was very much a solid object, "Himiko, I need you to bring the bar over here, the table won't let me."

Kurogiri meanwhile was rummaging beneath the bar through the various folders and files he kept down there. Eventually Tomura found that the bar had indeed gotten closer and he was looking at a few images of a particular U.A. student.

"Stain, is this the kid you saw?"

"Hard to say for certain, since none of these show that costume…" Stain shifted the photos around, thinking carefully, "His build appears to be similar and the shots of his Quirk…they appear to match. There is a good chance they are the same person. Why?"

"Because this is the kid that nearly roasted me at USJ! Seriously, what are the odds of this shit?" Tomura put a hand to his forehead out of sheer disbelief. How was it that this same kid kept getting in their way? They hadn't been anywhere near U.A. that time!

"You don't say?" silence immediately fell over the bar as the television on the wall crackled to life and Sensei spoke to them, his deep voice sounding vaguely amused, "An interesting coincidence…if it is one."

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Kurogiri inquired as Stain and Dabi looked at the television with surprised interest, this being the first time they had heard Sensei speak. Dabi, this being only his second day, hadn't heard very much about him apart from the fact that he was the League's overseer while Tomura was its acting leader.

"Dabi, is it? Would you kindly open HeroTube on your computer's web browser and search for a certain incident which took place in April of 2221? I believe 'All Might Sludge Villain' should produce a workable result. Find a video that is at least ten minutes long and scrub to roughly the three-minute mark."

"Uh, sure." Dabi did as he was told and sure enough, they found themselves looking at a slightly younger version of the boy in the pictures, "Whoa."

"Kurogiri, have you been able to keep up with the task I assigned you?"

"Of course, sir."

"Please summarize the report beginning from around that time."

"Immediately after the so-called Sludge Villain Incident, All Might's public appearance rate decreased by approximately seventy percent. The number of sightings reported in the general Musutafu area nearly doubled beginning at this same time, with many of these sightings being in the vicinity of Dagobah Beach, which was also mysteriously cleaned in full by February 2222. It was subsequently revealed that he had taken up a teaching position at U.A., which was the reason he gave for his lack of public appearances. Namely, that he had been getting a crash-course in education and was familiarizing himself with the area."

"So he got some on the job training and decided to clean a beach. So what? He's that kind of guy." Himiko shrugged.

"That is one way of looking at it. Indeed, that is the logical way of looking at it. But what if we assumed instead that All Might took that boy on as his apprentice and spent that time training him, having been impressed by his display of Heroism? That too would be in-character for him."

"Don't you think that seems like kind of a stretch?" Dabi protested, "I mean, yeah, it fits the situation, but so would All Might suddenly taking up knitting or deciding to jerk off onto all of the awards and commendations he's received in chronological order. It'd probably take him about that long and would explain why nobody saw him anymore until he started teaching."

"What he means to say, sir, is that you must have more evidence than just this to come to that sort of conclusion." Kurogiri gave Dabi a disapproving look.

"The evidence has been broadcast throughout the country on numerous occasions. The actions he took in USJ, the rivalry he has with Endeavor's son that mirrors All Might's relationship with the boy's father, the fact that he managed to interest the man enough to take him on as an intern and, most recently, Stain's own account of his encounter with the boy."

"To say that he follows All Might's ideals would be an understatement." Stain replied, "He outright quoted him to me with a completely straight face. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to become All Might."

"A successor, then?" Sensei mused.

"I saw the potential in him. Whether it takes him that far remains to be seen, but I gave him a push in the right direction."

"Really?" Himiko suddenly became interested in the pictures, "He's alright, I guess, but he doesn't look that special to me."

"As I said, it remains to be seen." Stain gave a small shrug, "Deku will need to face many trials before he rises to that level. Any one of them has the potential to break a man beyond fixing. Only a true Hero can conquer them all and remain steadfast in his ideals."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to how much a guy who is literally known for slaughtering Heroes seems to worship the ground they walk on. It's such a contradiction." Tomura groused as he drank the water Kurogiri had provided for him.

"I only cull those who are unworthy of being called Heroes. As it happens, that's most of them."

"I agree wholeheartedly. Now, what was that boy's name, Kurogiri? You did say you would try to find out."

"I have succeeded in that, sir. His name is Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya…you don't say." though none of them could see his face, Tomura thought his mentor sounded taken aback.

"Do you know that name, Sensei?"

"I feel as though I may have heard it once before, but it must have been quite some time ago. Think nothing of it."

"So we're thinking that in addition to being linked to Endeavor, there's a good chance that this kid is linked to All Might, possibly as his successor. This all adds up to him being a pain-in-the-ass in-the-making." Dabi scratched his head, "Are we doing anything about that, or can I go back to drinking? Been a while since I've had a nice buzz."

Though his tone was as flippant as ever, Tomura noticed that he had looked at him while asking that. Indeed, all eyes were now on him.

"Shiga?" Himiko got his attention, "Whatever it is, I'll do it. You know that, right? If you say to leave him alone, that's what we'll do. If you say to kill him, that's what we'll do. Stain probably won't be happy about it, but…"

"Not much sense in killing kids. They generally don't deserve it." Dabi chimed in, "Situation being what it is though, I guess I could make an exception."

"You know my opinion on the matter already." Stain frowned, "I'll need a very convincing argument to reverse my decision."

"The choice is yours, Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri inclined his head.

"Fucking hell…" Tomura groaned, internally bemoaning the fact that he was far to intoxicated for him to have to make these sorts of decisions right now and that this must be the GM's way of getting back at him for something he had done before.

Still, he had to decide.

"We won't do anything…at least not just yet." he paused, trying to form a coherent reason, "For one thing, we won't have the opportunity. Stain beat him up good enough that he won't be back in the field for a bit and by the time that happens he'll be back in class…right? These things don't last that long, do they?"

"Upperclassmen sometimes have ongoing work studies, but since Midoriya's a freshman, it'll probably only be for a week or something." Himiko confirmed.

"Right. Second, even if we had the opportunity, he's not the easiest target to get to at the moment. He's in Endeavor's care right now and then he's going back to U.A., where we've got All Might and all those other teachers to deal with. Not to mention that after USJ they'll have made it harder to pull something like that again, which brings me to the third reason: Our party's too small. I don't want an army of cannon fodder like we had before; I'm fine with a smaller, more elite group, but we still need more bodies. Even if an opportunity comes up, we don't have enough people to pull off an operation that risky and we can't just keep throwing more Nomus at the problem either. Strong ones take time to make."

He thought for a moment and tossed one more reason out there.

"Lastly, I'm not entirely sure we need to do anything about the kid, at least not right away. It's like Stain said: he's still a long way from being any kind of actual threat. We can revisit this later, when he's worth more XP."

Not to mention it would suck to have gone to all the trouble of getting him on our side for good just to piss him off right away.

"Well-reasoned, Tomura. My apologies for interrupting your celebration. You have done well and deserve to relax. Please, carry on."

With that, the speakers went dead.

"Well, if he approves, I guess it's all good?" Himiko asked.

"He's usually pretty hands-off, honestly." Tomura explained, "He doesn't step in and actually give orders unless the situation is serious or I'm about to really screw up. He's still got stuff in the works off-screen, I'm sure, but he usually leaves us to do our own thing."

"Kinda gives me the creeps, if I'm being honest." Dabi had apparently decided that since he was already on HeroTube, he should look up funny videos, "He kind of pulls off the whole 'faceless, omniscient overlord' thing a little too well, you know? Can't help but think there's a lot going on that he's not telling anyone."

"The man is a living legend." Kurogiri chuckled, "Of course he has more going on. Now, we are under orders to carry on; who wants another?"

Everyone who could legally drink raised their hands.

I originally intended for there to be another scene or two here, but I just couldn't drag myself out of the bar.

Now, regarding that announcement I was talking about up top. The reason this didn't come out two weeks ago is because, due to a combination of layoffs and internal shifting, my workload at my job has noticeably increased. As I generally get a healthy amount of work done on each chapter during my downtime there, this has impacted my production schedule. While this situation persists, I cannot guarantee a chapter every two weeks like I have been doing. I can still guarantee at least one a month and will do two if I find myself able, but for the time being there will likely be longer stretches in-between.

I thank you for your continued support and understanding in this matter.

If you'd like to see more of my stuff and support me in a more direct way though, I encourage you to check out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation. Just $1 a month gets you access to patron-exclusive omakes, an ongoing Audiobook adaptation of Torchbearer, monthly chapters of my original work, ContRact, as well as access to a patron-exclusive Discord server where, among other things, I post snippets of new chapters a day or two prior to posting them.

Hey, if I get enough support I'll be able to quit that job and then production time won't be nearly as much of an issue XD.

Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of the others who are already supporting me in this way.

Next time we'll be back with the students. Might be Izuku, might be other internships, might be both. Probably be both.

And as always, thank you for reading!