Chapter 14: The Hero Killer

Hey howdy hey hello, welcome to the show! Enigma's back with another chapter.

Sorry this one took a minute! I wasn't super sure where I wanted to take things, had some plans for Mirko to show up that I ended up changing. She'll just have to show up later, I suppose.

I've also been working on an idea for another fic, because I've suddenly found myself with more time on my hands but I'm not ready to take my Tapas work off hiatus. It's a Pokemon fic, but I don't know much about it yet, keep an eye out for it in the next week or two.

Anyways, that's enough rambling, enjoy!

Feel free to review, but don't just rip into me. I'm doing this for fun, not excessive criticism.

"D'ya know why we patrol, kid?" Fatgum asked Moxie as the two of them, as well as the kid from before, who Moxie learned was named Amajiki, walked through the busy streets.

"To catch Villains and beat 'em up!" Moxie grinned.

"Yeah, but also ta put da people at ease." Fatgum explained, "Seein' us Heroes out n' about makes 'em feel safe."

"That makes sense!" Moxie laughed, "Think we'll run into any Villains?"

"Maybe, 'dere have been some problems round here recently." Fatgum nodded, "Not sure why."

"Maybe we'll find out!" Moxie laughed again.

"You're so… jubilant." Amajiki observed.

"Hey, my purse!"

A woman in a pink dress screamed after a Villain in a black hoodie, running down the street with her purse in arms.

"Ooh, can I take him down?" Moxie asked Fatgum.

"Y'should really just be observin'…" Fatgum scratched his chin.

"He's getting away…" Amajiki commented.

"It's one guy!" Moxie groaned.

"Alright, fine, but don't get too far away." Fatgum told him.

"Whoo!"

Moxie leapt into the air and bounced off a nearby building, rocketing forwards to slam into the thief's back, knocking them to the ground.

"What?! D#mnit!"

"Gotcha!" Moxie laughed, pinning the Villain to the ground.

"'Dat was fast!" Fatgum grinned, walking up to the pair.

"I told you I could handle it." Moxie smiled, tossing the woman her purse.

Meanwhile, in Gang Orca's office, Hiryu and Gang Orca were discussing the plans for Hiryu's work study.

"So… you're worried you aren't good enough in combat?" Gang Orca asked.

"Th-that's… the gist of it really." Hiryu coughed.

"Then that's what we'll focus on." Gang Orca nodded, "Now, show me what you can do."

"R-Right!" Hiryu nodded, taking off.

"I'll be holding back, but I'm still a strong opponent!" Gang Orca warned, "Try to immobilize me, if you can!"

Hiryu circled around Gang Orca, the Pro tracking her movements as she went. Inhaling, she let out a blast of her frost breath, which he handily dodged.

Seeing her opening as he dodged, Hiryu rushed in, soaring straight towards Gang Orca while prepping her claws.

She swiped as soon as she got in range, but Gang Orca side-stepped her, grabbing her tail and swinging her around, slamming her into the ground.

"You move predictably. Try again." He told her, unimpressed.

Three Days Later

"Why are we patrolling in Hosu?" Moxie asked Fatgum, following the large Pro Hero through the darkened streets, "And why didn't we bring Amajiki? I thought you wanted him to break out of his shell!"

"'Dis is a little treat for 'da two o' us, Amajiki didn't want ta come." Fatgum explained, "Hosu has 'dis great little candy shop I like to visit."

"So we're… not on patrol?" Moxie asked.

"Well, officially we are, yeah. We'll get involved if anythin' happens." Fatgum nodded.

"Oh, cool! Hopefully, nothin' does, I really want to check out this candy shop…" Moxie scratched his chin.

Up ahead, a building exploded, and a Nomu like the one from the USJ rampaged onto the street.

"Ya just had ta jinx us." Fatgum sighed.

"Me and my big mouth!" Moxie groaned, as the two of them rushed towards the Nomu.

"There's more o' 'dem, get the civilians!" Fatgum shouted.

"Right!" Moxie nodded, bouncing off as Fatgum clashed with the black-skinned Nomu.

"Get outta here!" Moxie landed next to the group of watching civilians, shouting at them, "Go on!"

The civilians were slow at first, but did eventually leave, moving away as quickly as they could.

"Come on, everyone ou- woah!"

Moxie was forced to leap to the side as a winged Nomu swooped towards him. He slid to a halt and lashed out with a kick, but the Nomu had already flown out of his reach.

The black Nomu overpowered Fatgum and shoved the Hero back, knocking him through a streetlamp.

"Fatgum!" Moxie bounced into action, ricocheting off a car and slamming his leg into the Nomu's head, but the Nomu didn't even flinch, "O-Oh sh#t!" Moxie shouted as the Nomu grabbed his leg, slamming him into the ground.

Fatgum picked himself up and plowed into the Nomu, freeing Moxie, who immediately popped to his feet, bouncing back.

"Fatgum, we gotta pull back!" Moxie shouted, landing on the roof of a car, "All the civilians are away but we can't take him!"

"I got it, just hang on!" Fatgum responded, continuing to wrestle with the Nomu.

"Wh-Why are we in Hosu?" Hiryu asked, stepping off the train with Gang Orca.

"Hosu's under attack by creatures, like what attacked the USJ. We're here to handle it." Gang Orca explained, as Hiryu's phone buzzed, "What is it?"

"My friend just sent me a message…" Hiryu told him, "It's just his location, nothing else… apparently he's here in Hosu."

"Go investigate, but if anything's wrong you pull back and get me, got it?" Gang Orca told her.

"R-Right!" Hiryu nodded, taking to the sky to find Midoriya.

It took a minute of flying, but she eventually approached the location Midoriya had sent. From an alleyway, she saw orange light, like some kind of fire was raging, but it quickly vanished.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Hiryu wondered aloud, swooping in for a closer look.

Landing on the rooftop nearby, she peered into the alley, spying Todoroki facing off with a Villain.

"Wait, is that… the Hero Killer?" Hiryu's eyes widened in shock, "What are you doing Todoroki, get out of there!" Scanning the alley, Hiryu saw Iida, Midoriya and a hero she didn't recognize laying on the ground, "Oh… right, then…"

The Hero Killer dodged a wave of ice from Todoroki, tossing his sword into the air. Todoroki's eyes were drawn up to the blade, as the Hero Killer rushed in low, reaching for Todoroki.

Without thinking, Hiryu dove off the side of the building, falling towards the Hero Killer. She let out a blast of frost breath as she dove, forcing him back, and flapped her wings just before hitting the ground, pushing the frost further towards the Hero Killer and catching herself.

"More Heroes… how troublesome…" Stain growled.

"Hiryu? Did you get his message as well?" Todoroki asked.

Hiryu turned her head to respond to Todoroki, but the Hero Killer took advantage of her moment of distraction to rush in with a blade in hand, slashing at her.

Midoriya leapt in out of nowhere, his fist colliding with the Hero Killer's chest, pushing him back.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki shouted.

"Somehow, I can move just fine!" Midoriya told them.

"So it has a time limit?" Todoroki asked.

"No. He was the last of us to get hit! And I still can't move." Native replied.

"Th-Then, maybe it's based on how much he gets? Or maybe it's blood type?" Hiryu theorized.

"Not like knowing will really help us." Todoroki scoffed, "We need to hurry and get these two out of here."

"But he moves fast enough to react to your ice and fire, I don't really see an opening." Midoriya shook his head, "Maybe with Hiryu here, though…"

"M-M-Me? Hang on, I'm not that great a fighter! Todoroki took me down really quick!" Hiryu argued.

"You still made it to the semi-finals." Todoroki shot back.

"Arguing at a time like this? How stupid!" Stain charged in, sword in hand, flinging three blades towards Hiryu.

Hiryu threw herself to the side to dodge. The first blade went wide, and the second clanged off the hard scales of her tail, but the third found its mark, sinking into her shoulder.

"Gah!" Hiryu cried out as the Hero Killer closed in, but with a blast of fire Todoroki forced him back.

Iida stared up at the blade in Hiryu's shoulder, blood dripping from it, and it forced him to see exactly what Stain had been telling him.

"Stop it… please…" Iida begged.

"If you want it to stop, then stand up and be Ingenium! Be the Hero he wanted you to be!" Todoroki shouted, sending out a wave of ice in an attempt to block Stain, but he only succeeded in blocking Midoriya from helping him as the Hero Killer licked up Hiryu's blood, paralyzing her.

The Hero Killer closed in on Todoroki at lightning speed as Hiryu collapsed, stuck. Todoroki was only saved by Iida finally getting back into the fight, shattering Stain's sword with a single kick. A burst of his engines spun him around for another kick, which Stain blocked, but it forced the Hero Killer to retreat.

Hiryu's breath was shaky as she stared up at the others, trying desperately to force her body to move, to no avail. She could only watch as they faced off with the Hero Killer, fighting for their lives and hers.

"This had nothing to do with any of you… I'm sorry…" Iida apologized to them.

Elsewhere, Moxie and Fatgum continued to face off with the Nomu. A third, white one, had slipped away, but they had their hands full with the winged and black Nomu and couldn't look for it.

"Fatgum, this Nomu's too tough! I can take it down, but I'd have to push my Quirk to its limit for a while!" Moxie told the Pro, who had just been pushed back again by the black Nomu, the winged one circling up above.

"Don't take any risk you don't have to! Just leave!" Fatgum shouted.

"Sorry, but I won't leave you here! I won't let myself regret anything!" Moxie grit his teeth, dodging another swipe from the black Nomu and landing on the roof of a parked car, "I'm going full force!"

"Kid, hang on-"

"Ricochet Riot!"

With a Bounce strong enough to dent the car roof, Moxie rocketed towards a nearby building, slamming into the wall and bouncing off it. He slammed his foot into the Nomu with enough force to stagger it and hit the ground, bouncing off again for the same move. Over and over he pounded the Nomu, forcing himself to hold the move longer than ever before in hopes of taking it down, bouncing into and off the Nomu over and over again.

He could feel the recoil from each Bounce in his legs as he attacked, with every hit it shook him to the bone. After about six seconds of sustained assault, he was forced to push back. He landed one more solid kick to the Nomu's head and bounced away.

He slid to a halt next to another Pro, a woman in a pair of black jeans and a grey shirt. He stumbled and nearly fell over, his legs like jelly, but she caught him.

"Hey, you alright kid?" She asked.

"Did I get him?" Moxie asked.

"No… he just healed any damage you actually did." She told him with a sigh.

"Ah, sh#t… guess I'll just have to hit him again." Moxie responded, a smile still plastered to his face.

"You can't even walk straight after that!" She shouted at him, as Gang Orca took over for Fatgum and Moxie, clashing with the Nomu.

Gang Orca let loose a paralyzing wave attack, but somehow the Nomu shook it off, landing a blow to his stomach that sent him skidding back.

"Of course we'd find rope in a back alley." Todoroki remarked, as the five left the alley.

"Here, let me take him." Hiryu said, reaching to take the rope, "It's the least I can do after getting paralyzed for so long…"

"How's your shoulder?" Todoroki asked, pulling it away from her.

"It hurts… a lot…" Hiryu admitted.

"Then you need to take it easy, I've got him." Todoroki told her.

"A-Alright…" Hiryu sighed, stepping away.

"Huh?! Wha… why are you here?!"

The sudden yell caused everyone to look up. Gran Torino, the Hero Midoriya was mentoring with, rounded the corner off another street, glaring at Midoriya.

"I told you to stay in your seat!" Gran Torino snapped, looking them all over, noting the blade in Hiryu's shoulder. "I don't know what happened here, but… glad to see you're still alive."

A group of Heroes arrived as well, then, crowding in around the student, checking on them. Hiryu heard them say something about a back-up request from Endeavor. One of the Heroes had a first aid kit, and forced Hiryu to took a seat on a bench so they could patch her up.

"So he's… Endeavor's still over there fighting, then?" Todoroki asked.

"Yes! Those of us whose Quirks had no effect on those Villains came to help you guys." The Hero patching up Hiryu explained, "Gang Orca, Fatgum and some kid with rabbit ears on his hood stayed behind to help."

"Moxie's there, too?" Midoriya scratched his chin.

"If that's what his name is, yeah." The Hero nodded, "He hasn't really been all that helpful, but he refused to leave."

"The three of you." Hiryu, Todoroki and Midoriya all turned towards Iida when he spoke, the boy bowing to them, "You were wounded because of me. I am so terribly sorry. I… was blind… I lost sight of everything."

"No, I'm sorry too. I couldn't tell at all that you were so upset about it. And I'm supposed to be your friend." Midoriya told him.

"I couldn't tell either, sorry…" Hiryu mumbled just loudly enough to be heard.

Hearing their apologies, Iida's eyes watered, tears dripping onto the cement beneath his feet.

"Get it together. You're the class president, aren't you?" Todoroki asked.

Iida agreed, wiping his eyes with a sniffle. The moment didn't last long, though, as a shout of warning from Gran Torino broke through it.

Midoriya was suddenly snatched out of nowhere by the winged Nomu, which had flown away from the fight with Endeavor and the others. Moxie was hot on its trail, shouting at it.

"Get back here, you winged freak!" Moxie yelled, bouncing from building to building as he raced after the Nomu. He tried to land on a lamppost, but using his Quirk again so soon after pushing past the limit left him imprecise, and he slipped.

Suddenly, Stain rushed in. He swiped up a bit of blood from a Hero's cheek to paralyze the Nomu, and leapt onto its back, stabbing it through its exposed brain, killing it and grabbing Midoriya by the back of his outfit.

Endeavor arrived then, along with Gang Orca and Fatgum, which only served to set the Hero Killer off, his blood lusting becoming nearly overwhelming, everyone freezing in place from the frightening intensity.

"Endeavor! You false Hero! I'll make this right!" Stain stepped forward, "Come on! Just try and stop me you fakes! There is only one man I'll let kill me! Only All Might is worthy!"

"You sure do talk a whole lot, but you don't make any sense at all!" Moxie shouted. He wasn't really sure why he was yelling, but it was all he could think to do in the moment. He couldn't force his legs to move, and he couldn't seem to think to activate his Quirk, the intensity was paralyzing.

Then… the knife the Hero Killer held in his hand clattered to the ground, and he froze.

"I think… he's… out cold." Endeavor said, as several of them collapsed to their knees.

Moxie, himself, fell back onto his butt, exhausted and terrified, his breath shaky.

"Moxie… why'd you go and run your mouth? How'd you go and run your mouth?" Todoroki demanded.

"I talk when I'm scared." Moxie admitted, heaving a heavy sigh.

And that's the whole thing! Juggling both Hiryu and Moxie's individual stories is kinda tough sometimes, but I'm happy with it in this chapter.

Next chapter will be a nice little break with the rescue race, and some stuff between Moxie and Kendo, so I guess look forward to that?

Enigma, signing off.