It was now day three of the internships and Izuku found himself being flung into a wall by Gran Torino's kick. "Gagh!"
"Hmm. We should switch up the training," Gran Torino said coming to a stop on the floor. If you get too used to fighting against my distinct style you might develop some weird habits."
Izuku fought not to yell, and lost. "W-what habits! I'm just t-trying to keep up with y-you right now! Please let m-me fight more."
"No, we're done here. Change into your costume, boy. We're moving onto Phase Two," Gran Torino said with a smirk.
"Huh?"
As soon as Izuku had his costume on they were out the door.
"I hope you're ready, cause we're going out to fight some villains," Gran Torino lifted his cane in the air as he spoke.
"Huh?! W-what, just like t-that?" Izuku yelled.
"If you only fight against me, you'll be in trouble when you come across someone who's the complete opposite. The key is to let you get experience with different types of villains and situations. This is an internship after all. You really shouldn't be that surprised by this."
"I-i get what you're s-saying, and I t-totally agree, but I s-still think I need more t-time to prepare myself."
"From what I hear you've already been in contact with some real villains," when Gran Torino said that Izuku gulped. He couldn't help but think about how he'd cut off Shigaraki's hand. Honestly he was surprised the villain hadn't come after him yet, though then again he was healing from losing a limb.
"You'll be just fine. We aren't gonna go after anyone that big." Gran Torino put his hand out for a taxi. "And it won't do us any good hanging around here. Because of the small population of this area the crime rate is pretty low. That's why there are so many hero agencies in urban areas, there's a lot more crime there. The higher the population density the more trouble there is. Now in Shibuya there'll be plenty of small fights to break up, I guarantee."
"W-wait you mean we're g-going to Shibuya in Tokyo? I-i'm not sure my c-costume is hip e-enough."
"That costume costume of yours tells everyone you're a hero. You should be happy you get to display it in such a bright spotlight."
"Uh... H-hold on. Are we gonna b-be taking the bullet t-train toward Shinjuku?
"Yup."
'We'll pass by Hosu. I wonder how Iida is doing there. I'll have to message him later.'
(Time skip to the Nomu's attack on the bullet train.)
"So uh, t-this train isn't going to a-arrive until pretty late. Are y-you sure that's o-okay?" Izuku asked Gran Torino.
"That's why I picked it. There'll be more skirmishes then so it'll be more fun!" Gran Torino said.
"I-i think we have different i-ideas about what f-fun is." Izuku pulled out his phone and texted Iida.
"You kids these days, you're constantly buried in your cell phones."
'He read the message, but he didn't reply. I don't think Iida has ever waited more than three minutes before replying. We're almost at Hosu station,' Izuku thought.
"Hey, did you see that?" a passenger asked. "A building exploded."
"What where?" asked a female passenger.
Gran Torino leaned into the aisle and turned around. "What's the ruckus?"
"S-some kind of fire?" offered Izuku.
"Passengers, please hold onto your seats," said an announcement as the train suddenly lurched. Izuku was flung forward and then a hero was shoved through the train wall, beaten and bloody.
"What the hell?" asked the hero as he struggled to get up. He was stopped in his tracks by a pale blue arm. Izuku watched as a creature with four eyes showing from an exposed brain ripped through more of the train wall.
"N-nomu!" Izuku yelled standing up.
Gran Torino stood up next to him. "I want you to stay back, you hear me?"
"H-hey, wait!" Izuku tried to stop the hero, but before he knew it the man was grabbing the Nomu and flying out of the train. "Gran Torino!" Izuku moved to the opening in the train wall and looked out. A large portion of the city of Hosu was in flames. Buildings were exploding left and right. "N-no way... What the h-heck is going on h-here?"
"Everyone stay calm!" The conductor called to the passengers. "Return to your seats! The villain is no longer here! More heroes will arrive soon I'm sure!"
"K-keep them calm!" Izuku yelled. "I'm g-going after him!" And with that Izuku jumped onto the track and ran towards where Gran Torino went, ignoring the conductor's calls telling him to come back.
'He looked different, but there can't be that many people with wild eyes and their brains spilling out,' Izuku thought. 'Is he Nomu's brother? What is he doing in the city? No time for detours or stairs. Gotta put my training to the test.'
Izuku activated One for All Full Cowling and then used it to jump over the the barrier that separated him from the city below. 'I've totally got this. He rolled as he hit the roof of an office building. 'Gran Torino please be okay!'
'Their probably at the center of this craziness. I don't get it why did that guy look like Nomu? If he's got insane power like the one that was at U.S.J. this could be really bad,' Izuku thought. 'It won't just be Gran Torino in trouble. It'll be the entire city, that includes Iida. He's interning here! Crap, what do I do? Come on think? How do I be the best possible hero right now?
"Tenya!" Izuku stopped. "Where are you, Tenya?" Izuku ran towards the voice in time to see a semi truck explode in a massive ball of flame.
In the midst of the chaos stood the Nomu from the U.S.J. attack, as well as two others that looked similar to it, one of which was flying.
A hero broke a fire hydrant letting out a fountain of water.
"Manual, stop the fire!" yelled the hero.
Manual immediately jumped into action controlling the water towards the fire. "Yeah. Got it!"
'That's Manual the normal hero. He's the one Iida is interning with.'
"Damn it, why'd you have to go off on your own, Tenya?" yelled Manual.
'Wait, he went off on his own? Despite what's happening? That doesn't sound like something he'd do.
"You're in the way kid," said a female hero. "Get out of here."
"R-right, I'm so s-sorry."
"We can hold these things back on our own. Evacuate with everyone else."
'I can't believe Tenya would run off with such a huge disaster right in front of him,' Suddenly Izuku realized. 'Hosu City... Guys who look like Nomu and the Nomu we fought at U.S.J... Iida... Hosu... Where the Hero Killer attacked... Don't tell me!' Izuku turned around and ran into an alley way. He had to find Iida!
As he navigated his way through the alley's Izuku had only one thought on his mind. 'Stain always kills in a place without many people, so I need to find... there!" Izuku spotted it. A man with a blood red scarf holding what looked like a katana over someone's fallen form. No, not someone, that was Iida! He used Full Cowling to quickly make his way to the villain, and... "Smash!" punched him in the face, knocking him off of his friend.
"Who's there?" Iida asked looking up at the person before him. "Midoriya? How?"
Izuku put a wavering smile on his face. "D-don't worry, Iida. I'm g-going to save y-you!" he proclaimed. "We need to go, b-back to the street. W-we have to get h-help from the pros. C-can you move?"
"I can't move my body. I think it's his quirk. Ever since he cut me I've been paralyzed," Iida struggled to say.
"That's t-the kind of quirk the p-people on t.v. said h-he might have," Izuku said keeping his eyes on the Hero Killer. "So cutting somehow activates his quirk." A groan came from the hero Native who was passed out and leaning against a building wall. 'There's someone else? If it was just Iida I could have gotten us out of here, but with someone else here...'
"Midoriya! Get out of here. This has nothing to do with you!" Iida said.
"I-iida, what are you s-saying?"
"You came here to save your friend," said Stain. "But I've a duty to kill him and this so called pro. When your friend chose to fight me it was determined that the weaker of us would die. So, what will you do?"
'He's different from the villains we fought before. His eyes are those of a fanatic.' Izuku grabbed his phone and sent his location to a random person. He didn't know who they were, but he hoped that they would understand what he meant and send backup. 'Even though it was just a guess, and I didn't have any proof, I still should have brought a pro with me. Now all I can do is protect these two who can't move and stall for time all by myself.'
"Listen to me!" yelled Iida. "Stand down, run away! This has nothing to do with you!"
"I-if you really believe t-that, then why are you t-trying to become a hero i-in the first place?" asked Izuku. "T-there are plenty of things I-i'd like to say, but I w-won't. However, A-all Might was right. Meddling i-in things when you don't n-need to, is the essence o-of being a hero!" Izuku grabbed one of his longer knives from his weapon's pouch and held it up, ready for a fight.
Izuku rushed forwards, the villain in front of him holding out his own sword for a swing. 'Watch the blade,' Izuku thought as he saw another knife appear in the man's hand.
"Don't let him cut you!" Iida yelled. Izuku dodged the sword and the knife and slid under the man's legs, Full Cowling activated. Then he left up and over the villain, five percent Detroit Smashing him over the end before jumping away.
'Did that work?' Suddenly Izuku dropped, he struggled to keep himself off the ground. Had the Hero Killer cut him? Izuku turned his head, a tiny scratch on his arm was bleeding just a little bit. 'Even something like that?' Izuku noticed the blood on his enemies blade. 'No, it's the blood!'
"You're not powerful enough," Stain said surprising Izuku. "It's not that you predicted my movements. You just moved outside of my field of vision and maneuvered so that you'd be able to get a clean shot. But I saw through your plan." Stain started walking away, towards Iida. "There are countless of heroes who are all talk, but I think you're worthy of staying alive. You're different from these two." He put his sword above Iida's head and prepared to kill him.
"W-wait, don't stop i-it!" Izuku yelled desperately. "Get away!" A sudden burst of flame sent Stain flying backwards.
"Another pest to try and stop me," Stain said, bracing for the newcomer.
"Midoriya," spoke Todoroki, holding out his phone. "You really should elaborate in times like this."
'Wait, if Todoroki-kun got my message,' Izuku thought. 'Then shouldn't...'
"Deku!" Yep there he was. The protective older brother threw himself forward using his explosions. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?!" Katsuki prepared to blast Stain into the next century, but Izuku stopped him.
"W-wait! Kaachan, Todoroki-kun, y-you can't let him c-cut you! If h-he ingests your blood h-he can paralyze y-you!"
"Tch, of course he'd have a troublesome quirk," Katsuki said, letting off an explosion in his hand.
"Bakugou," Todoroki said, getting the attention of the explosive teen. "Don't do anything rash, we're in a alley, you easily hit one of us with your explosions."
"Whatever." Katsuki didn't like the idea of hitting Izuku with his quirk, but he didn't care too much for the others. "Oi, Deku, he cut you didn't he?"
"I-it was just a g-graze!"
"Why didn't you use your telekinesis to stop him?! Huh, you stupid, Deku?!"
"I-i'm sorry," Izuku hung his head. He hadn't really thought of that.
"Are you really going to fight when you're about to killed?" Stain asked. He grabbed his knife and sword and ran for Katsuki. The blonde teen used a small explosion the launch himself into the air over the villain and then set off another explosion on the guys back, causing the hero killer to pause for a moment as the pain set in. Todoroki took that moment to freeze Stain in place with his ice.
"That's a pretty neat trick kid, but it's not enough," Stain swung his knife down and broke the ice enough to allow him to move.
"Get out of here!" yelled Iida. "This isn't your problem!"
"Shut up, Glasses! I ain't here for you, so deal with your own damn problems. I'm here cause stupid Deku got into trouble!"
"The pros will be here any minute, so we just need to hold off until then," Todoroki told the boys."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever half 'n half bastard. Just shut up and fight!" Katsuki yelled.
Stain threw his knife at Todoroki causing his cheek to bleed as it sped by. Then the villain jumped at the boy, needing to get him out of the way first.
"You've got good friends, Ingenium," Stain said to Iida and he slashed at Todoroki with his sword. "Or at least you did." Todoroki put up a blast of ice to stop the man from cutting him and jumped back.
"I'm the one that inherited my brother's name! I'm the one that should stop him! The hero killer is mine!"
"You're Ingenium now?" asked Todoroki letting off a burst of flame at Stain while Katsuki used to explosions to fly at the villain and let out a barrage of blows. "Strange. I don't think I've ever seen him make that kind of face!"
"Be c-careful, Kaachan! Todoroki!" Izuku yelled, he struggled to move, wait, he could move! He watched as Stain grabbed Katsuki and threw him at Todoroki, causing the heterochromatic to stop his wall of fire so that he didn't hurt the explosive teen.
"You should be watching everything around you!" yelled Stain. He ran forward, throwing knives that hit Todoroki in the arm and Katsuki in the leg. In his other hand was his sword. Stain leapt, his sword flying through the air, but was stopped by Izuku smashing a punch into the side of his head.
"D-don't touch them!" He yelled.
"Midoriya/Deku!" yelled Iida and Katsuki.
"I-i'm not sure why, but I can move now!" Izuku jumped and landed a punch in Stain's stomach, moving quickly so that the villain couldn't cut him.
"So the quirk has a time limit then," Todoroki decided.
"No, that's not it," Native said. "If that were the case then that kid should been the last one to be freed."
"I still can't move a muscle," Iida said, trying to move.
"Get out of my way, Deku!" Katsuki yelled as he set off a larger blast at the villain. Izuku jumped back, standing with Todoroki.
"H-he swallows peoples b-blood to freeze them, but I was f-freed first. I can only t-think of three reasons why," Izuku said. "First, it g-gets harder to control someone t-the more people he has f-frozen, but I don't think that o-one is very likely. Second, t-the time limit is equal to h-how much blood he swallows. A-and third, different blood t-types could mean varying t-times."
"If it's the last one, my blood type is B," Native said.
"I'm type A," added Iida.
"What the fuck do your blood types matter for? Just hurry up and get moving, I can't handle this guy on my own!" Katsuki yelled. Stain grabbed the boy, pinning him down, and cut his cheek before licking the blood, causing Katsuki to be frozen in place.
"It's important, cause they're right," Stain said. "And now you're going to die!"
"Don't t-touch, my brother!" Izuku yelled, running forward and grabbing the villain from off of Katsuki.
"Brother?" Stain asked. "You sure don't look very much alike, one of you must be adopted."
"Shut up!" Izuku yelled.
The Hero Killer switched his grip on his sword and swung down, surprised to see Izuku blocking him with a similar sword of his own, made from blood.
"Y-you're not the only o-one, with a blood related q-quirk!" Izuku yelled. He knocked Stains blade aside with his own and staggered into a standing position. "I won't let y-you hurt them!"
"You're noble kid, but it's really starting to get on my nerves!" Stain lashed out with his sword, managing to cut Izuku from his eyebrow down his eye, and all the way to his chin on the left side of his face.
"Arrgh!" Izuku yelled reeling backwards and hitting the wall. Stain licked the blood on his sword, freezing Izuku in place and allowing the blood to flow freely from his wound. Izuku knew, he'd lost so much blood already. He could feel his consciousness leaving him, and barely heard Todoroki yell something to Iida about standing up and being Ingenium before the icy-hot teen was rushing Stain.
Katsuki was yelling out his brother's name, realizing he was about to fall asleep, he tried desperately to keep him awake. "Come on, Deku! You've got to stay awake! If you fall asleep now you could die!"
That shocked Izuku enough to fight for his awareness. Just in time to watch Stain trying to cut the arm off of his friend.
"T-todoroki!" he yelled. At that moment Iida rushed forward, finally able to move, and kicked the sword away from Todoroki's arm and breaking it in half in the process. "Iida!"
"You're free too?" Todoroki said. "I guess his quirk wasn't as great as I thought.
"Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, this wasn't your fight, I apologize for dragging you into it," Iida said.
"Come on, not this bullshit again!" Katsuki yelled.
"I'm okay," Iida said. As he stood his eyes held a new look of determination. "But I won't let the three of you shed anymore blood for me."
"It's no use trying to pretend you're a hero now," Stain said, his hand dripping with blood. "A person's nature doesn't change in just a few minutes. You'll never be anything but a fraud who prioritizes his own desires. You're a sickness that's infected society and ruined the name 'hero'. Someone must teach you a lesson." Stain narrowed his eyes and prepared to attack again.
"You're a fundamentalist lunatic," Todoroki told the villain. "Iida, don't listen to this murderer's nonsense."
Iida replied solemnly, "No. He's completely correct. I have no right to call myself a hero... at all. Even so, there's no way I can back down. If I give up now, then the name 'Ingenium' will die!" Iida lifted his head, a fire burning in his eyes.
"Pathetic!" Stain yelled, running forward. He launched himself at Iida, but Todoroki sent out a surge of fire, keeping the villain away.
"Idiots!" Native yelled. "The Hero Killer is only after me and the kid in the white armor. Stop fighting back and get out of here!"
Todoroki yelled back his response while keeping his onslaught of fire going. "I don't think he'd let me leave even if I wanted to! Something in him clearly changed just now. He seems rattled." Stain leapt up and Todoroki quickly switched to using his ice in an attempt to catch the man.
While the villain's quirk itself wasn't strong, the man had clearly trained himself so that it wasn't a disadvantage, not to mention, now the man was desperate. He needed to kill Iida and Native before the pros arrived. Plus get himself out of there. Todoroki let out a short burst of fire that the villain just jumped through.
Iida went to help his friend, but his engines stalled and he couldn't use his quirk. He must've broken the radiator with his kick. "Hey, Todoroki, can you regulate your temperatures?" he asked the two-toned teen who was continuing to let off burst of flame.
"Not very well with my left, why?"
"I need you to freeze my leg, for me, without clogging the exhausts!"
"You're in the way!" Stain yelled throwing a knife at Todoroki. Iida jumped in the way and the knife went into his shoulder. The blue haired teen grunted in pain.
"No, Iida!" Izuku yelled pushing his upper body forward. Even Katsuki was jerking forward when he saw what was happening. Both teens realized, they had moved, the quirk finally wore off.
"Why won't you stay down!" Stain yelled. He threw another knife that pinned Iida to the ground by piercing his forearm.
"Iida..." Todoroki went to help his friend, but Iida yelled at him.
"Just do it, hurry!"
Katsuki stood, wiping the blood from his cheek.
"You okay, Deku?" he asked his brother.
"No, I'll p-probably die from blood l-loss after this, but r-right now, that doesn't m-matter!" Izuku stood up and wobbled. His vision was blurry, and his depth perception was off since he couldn't see from his left eye. He hoped that Recovery Girl would be able to save it.
"Then let's go kill this bastard!"
"K-killing isn't very h-heroic, but okay!"
'I can't see out of my eye, and I'm pretty sure I'll pass out soon, but I have to do something!" Izuku fired up One for All at the same time that Todoroki froze Iida's leg and Katsuki leapt into the air prepared for a Howitzer Impact.
"It's done," Todoroki said, and Iida ripped the knife out of his forearm with his teeth.
"Thank you, Todoroki." The boy launched forward, Todoroki letting off another burst of fire. "Recipro Extend!"
'One for All: Full Cowling!"
"Howitzer Impact!"
The three teens smashed into Stain, Iida kicking him the side, Izuku punching him in the opposite side, and Katsuki blasting him from above. Todoroki, seeing everyone about to fall creates a slide from his ice that allows the teen to slip down it safely, while keeping Stain at the top.
"Get ready," Todoroki said, his left side ablaze, "he's still..." The teen looked up to see that Stain was unconscious. "Oh."
A few minutes later Stain was tied up, Todoroki amazed at what you could find in a alley. Izuku had pulled out his first aid kit from the pouch on his belt. Katsuki took the bandages from it and used them to wrap up everyone's wounds.
"You're surprisingly good at this, Bakugou," Iida told the explosive teen.
"Shut up, glasses. It's just cause Deku was always getting injured!" Bakugou yelled.
"We need to hand Stain over to the police," Todoroki said. Native, who was released from the quirk minutes prior, grabbed Izuku carrying him in a piggy back, making sure his injured eye was facing away from his neck.
"I-i'm sorry," Izuku said. He was struggling to stay conscious so his words were quiet and weak.
"You're fine, I'm a pro and I couldn't even prevent this," Native said as they walked out of the alley.
"No. In a o-one-on-one fight with the H-hero Killer's quirk I d-don't think there's a-anything you could have done... h-he's just too strong," Izuku said.
"Even four-on-one we barely managed to win thanks to mistakes the man made himself. Maybe he was panicked that he let the time for Midoriya to recover slip from his head. Plus, if you set aside Bakugou and Iida's attacks, he couldn't handle Midoriya's moves."
Suddenly Gran Torino came running from and alley and yelled at Izuku, "What the hell are you doing here boy?!"
"G-gran Torino!" Izuku yelled weakly.
Gran Torino kicked Izuku in the face. "I told you to stay put, didn't I?!"
"Gran T-torino."
"Well, I don't know what happened, but... for the time being I'm glad your alright."
"Oi, you call that alright?!" yelled Katsuki.
More heroes arrived on the spot explaining that Endeavor had sent them because they didn't have quirks that were combatable to fight with the Nomus. A female her even freaked out when she realized the tied up man was the hero killer.
Native let Izuku down from his back when the teen told him he was okay, he could feel his strength returning, even if only a little.
"All of you, you were injured because of me. I'm truly sorry," Iida said to Todoroki, Katsuki, and Izuku while bowing at a ninety degree angle. "I... I became so blind... I couldn't see anything...!"
"I-i'm sorry too, man," Izuku said. "You w-were brooding so much, but I-i completely overlooked that, even though we're friends..."
"Pull yourself together. Your the class president," Todoroki spoke bluntly.
"Right."
Suddenly Gran Torino turned around, and seeing the flying Nomu head straight for them yelled, "Duck!"
It was too late however as when the beast flew by the group it grabbed Izuku, it's clawed toes digging into his stomach and rib cage, aggravating his wounds.
"Midoriya/Deku!" yelled Todoroki, Iida, and Bakugou.
"Did it flee after getting gouged?" asked the female hero who had some of the Nomu's blood on her cheek.
Out of nowhere Stain was grabbing a hidden knife from his sleeve, licking the blood from the heroes cheek, and leaping into the air while cutting through his bonds.
"The phonies that have overrun society, and the criminals who so aimlessly sprinkle around their 'power', those are the targets of my purge." He plunged the knife through the Nomu's exposed brain as it fell from the sky, crushing Izuku beneath it who promptly fell unconscious, any adrenaline he had keeping him awake rushing from his body. "All of this is for the sake if a just world!"
"Why are you all standing around?!" boomed the voice of Endeavor. "He must have fled over there by now!"
Stain stood when he heard the voice. "Endeavor," he said.
"The Hero Killer!" Endeavor leapt forward, his flames large and bright.
"Wait, Todoroki!" yelled Gran Torino.
"Another phony..." Stain said taking a step forward. "The fake must be rectified... Someone... someone must stain himself in his blood!" Stain yelled taking a second step. "The word 'hero' must be restored!" A third step. Everyone, including Endeavor, were frozen in place. "Come! Just try it pretenders! The only one who gets to kill me is the true hero, All Might!"
With his proclamation Stain fell silent, unconscious on his feet. And though he'd ingested no one's blood, none of the people on the street could find the strength to move.
Wow, that chapter was a doozy. I keep hurting Izuku, and I'm sorry. But at the same time I'm not sorry so deal with it.
Please comment and tell me what you think, I put a lot of effort in and it's really nice to hear from you guys. So please comment! But anyway, I'll see you next chapter.