Chapter 48 - Protecting my Friends

Joshua had disappeared into the walk-around area of the stadium, where all the concession stands and bathrooms were. Jiro, Hagakure, and Murdock had followed him there, but he had seemingly vanished without a trace. They began looking for him, checking over counters and peeking into the bathrooms, but there was no sign of him. The back areas were completely empty as well; all citizens had fled when the Nomus attacked.

"Should we yell out for him?" Murdock asked, as he and Jiro peeked their heads over a counter.

"No." Jiro replied. "If we do, the villains will hear, and they could end up finding us."

"Okay then. So, why are we looking for him, even though he's a villain?"

"Joshua's a not a villain. He used to be, but is no longer one."

"Really? How does that work?"

"I can't tell you that." said Jiro. "I don't think he would like me telling where he comes from without his permission."

"I'm fine with that, little missy." Murdock replied. "But, I wonder where Joshua ran off to."

As they were looking, Hagakure heard what sounded like crying, and she peeked over the counter of a concessions stand. Sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall and his head in his hands, was Joshua. He was turned from her, so he didn't see her, and he was crying. Hagakure then moved silently away from him, and back to Murdock and Jiro.

"I found him." Hagakure spoke, her tone quiet. "He's over there, and he's crying."

Jiro and Murdock followed Hagakure back to the concession stand, peeked over it, and saw Joshua. All three were silent, as they didn't know what to do, and they just watched as Joshua sat there and cried.

"Uh… Joshua?" Murdock asked, breaking the silence.

Joshua let out a frightened gasp and looked up quickly. His eyes were red from crying, and he had a look of both sadness and anger on his face.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Joshua asked, his tone bitter. "You're here to 'defeat' me, and throw me in jail? Go ahead and do it; I'll get what I deserve."

"Why would we throw a friend in jail?" asked Murdock, his tone confused.

"Because I'm not your friend, Murdock." Joshua replied, standing up and wiping his teary face. "You heard it yourself that I'm the son of a villain. My real last name's not even 'Graham'."

"But you're still a good guy." Hagakure spoke up. "Just because your father's a villain, doesn't mean you have to be."

Joshua let out a sarcastic chuckle and said, "I wish that was true, Hagakure. But, I was born a villain, raised as a villain, and that's what I'm going to end up being. No matter what I do, I can't run from it."

"Then change who you are." said Jiro, her tone calm.

"I can't, Kyoka! I can't change who I am!" Joshua replied, his tone upset. "I'm stuck this way! For the first time in my life, I had something good, and now its all ruined! Even if we do get out of this, it won't be the same! I should've just stayed back in the states! I should've never come here! If I just stayed a villain, I wouldn't feel like this! I- I- I'm just messed up! I don't know what to do! Why does it have to be me?! I- I-"

Joshua then put his fists to his face and began crying quietly again, putting his head down on the counter of the concessions stand. Murdock's expression turned solemn, and if Hagakure wasn't invisible, she would look solemn as well. As for Jiro, she looked saddened by what her boyfriend was going through; it was hard for him to have this war of emotions that he never felt before.

Jiro then slowly went over and opened the door to the concessions stand, to which she went in. She then stood beside Joshua and placed her hand in his, and her arm around is. Joshua didn't look up, but continued to sob quietly.

"I don't care who you were before, Josh." Jiro spoke, her tone kind. "You're brave, selfless, and thoughtful, all of which are traits that heroes have. And you were willing to give yourself up for your friends, because you didn't want to see them get hurt. I've never heard of a villain being selfless before, as all they want to do is kill and destroy. I'm not really one for mushy stuff, but… no matter what happens, I still love you, and I'm glad that I got to meet you. So, I don't care if your name is 'Graham' or 'Rourke', I'm here for you. And you're going to be a hero, no matter what."

After listening to that, Joshua calmed down, and stopped crying. He then sniffed, and looked up at Jiro, a grateful smile on his face. Jiro let go of his hand, wiped away some tears that were on his cheek, and then hugged him. Joshua put his arms around her and returned the embrace, grateful that she wasn't going to leave him. Murdock smiled as well, and Hagakure let out a small squeal of happiness.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" A sarcastic sounding voice asked. "Makes me want to puke."

Joshua and Jiro quickly stopped embracing, and the smiles disappeared from everyone's faces. They all looked and saw a man of Japanese descent. He had black hair, a black goatee, grey eyes, and pale skin. The clothing he wore was a black bandanna around his forehead, a white t-shirt, a black short sleeved jacket, black fingerless gloves, black pants, and black sneakers with black laces. It was Daisuke Haruki, also known as Stonefish!

"Stonefish!" Joshua growled, as he and Jiro got out of behind the concession stand.

"Can't believe you decided to turn chicken on us, son of Death Wish." said Stonefish, his tone annoyed. "It's a real shame, I was growing fond of you. But now, I guess I'm going to have to kill you."

After he said that, Stonefish activated his quirk. From his arms, legs, and back, he ejected several sharp, needle-like spines! They were clear looking, and they had sacs on the bottom of them, which contained the toxin that paralyzes people, and makes them hallucinate!

"That's the 'anonymous source', right?" Jiro asked, her tone quiet.

"Yeah, that's him." Joshua replied, his tone equally quiet. He then said aloud, "Answer me this, Stonefish, how did the villains know to attack this rock concert instead of Zoo Dreamland?"

A sinister smile appeared on Stonefish's face, and he replied, "This may surprise you, Death Wish II, but I've been working for U.A long before this plan came to mind. I worked as a janitor; I tried out for the hero course when I was younger, but they said I wasn't 'good enough' to join. It was then that I realized how warped, how wretched, how sick this society is. They treat heroes as gods, and says whatever they do is the right thing, choosing to stay blind to what goes on behind the closed doors. With their silly little rules, their hero licenses, how they choose which quirk is best suited for being a great hero, it just makes me sick! So when Shigaraki came to me, and offered me a place among them to help take down hero society, I found no other reason but to join! He didn't question me, he didn't declare me not 'good enough', but he found me to be an asset! So, I became his spy in U.A, his 'informant' if you can call it that."

"And you overheard us deciding to go to the rock concert, instead of Zoo Dreamland. Then you told Shigaraki about what we were doing, right?"

"Yes, yes I did. Now U.A will pay for its mistake of not accepting me. We will crush our enemies, and grind their bones into dust! And you, Joshua Rourke, you will be the first to go!"

Joshua was about to say something, when Murdock stepped in front of him. He then walked out in front of all three of his friends, and took a stance like a gunfighter.

"Murdock, what are you doing?" Joshua asked, his tone both confused and quiet.

"Protecting my friends." Murdock replied, his tone equally quiet. "I may not know that much about you, Joshua, but I know that you're my friend. And I don't care if you're the son of a villain or not, because I'm still going to protect you as if you weren't."

"But Murdock, those spines of his carry a toxin that will not only paralyze whoever get stung by them, it makes the victim hallucinate for a short time. If you get stung, not only will not be able to get back up, but you'll be seeing things that aren't real!"

"Then I better not get stung by him. Just get Jiro, Hagakure, and yourself to safety; I'll hold this guy off."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, this is one cowboy who won't be going to the last roundup."

Joshua let out a breath, nodded, and replied in a kind tone, "Thanks, hick."

Murdock nodded in reply, and then turned back to face Stonefish. Joshua began ushering the girls away, and they protested against that. However, Joshua just told them to get moving, and they obeyed, though they were still worried about what was going to happen. The three then ran off running, leaving Murdock to face off against Stonefish.

"Well pilgrim." Murdock spoke, putting his hands to his belt. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way, you surrender and give yourself up. The hard way… well, I defeat you, and then give you over to the authorities. What'll it be?"

"I'll take the easy way." Stonefish replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a revolver, which he aimed at Murdock. "I shoot you, and then I kill you."

Murdock paused for a few seconds, and then used his 'Stretch' quirk to make his legs into springs, and he shot himself at Stonefish! Stonefish fired his gun, but fortunately, Murdock dodged the bullet! He was about to punch Stonefish in the face, but he pulled back and didn't, because Stonefish blocked with a spine-covered arm! Remembering Joshua's warning, Murdock didn't want to touch the spines and get poisoned by the toxin!

Stonefish then used Murdock's hesitation to go on the offensive, and Murdock had to duck and dodge his swings! Stonefish wasn't punching, but was trying to stiff-arm Murdock, so that his spines would hit him, and the toxin would go into him! Murdock then jumped back, and Stonefish fired his revolver at him again!

The bullet missed, and Murdock took this opportunity to use his 'Stretch' quirk and punch Stonefish in the stomach, where he didn't have any spines! The punch connected, and Stonefish let out a grunt of pain, before grabbing Murdock's wrist! He then used his other arm to stick his spines in Murdock's arm, who let out a yell of pain and quickly retracted his arm to normal!

The toxin began pumping through his veins, and Murdock felt his body becoming weak! His vision also began swimming, and he shook his head, trying to keep from falling under the toxin! But they were getting stronger, and his movements became sloppy, and his limbs felt heavy! The toxin began cranking his brain as well, and he began seeing Stonefish as some deformed, bent out of shape, two dimensional cowboy!

"The toxin are messing with your mind." said Stonefish, his tone sinister, and his voice sounding like he was underwater. "Pretty soon, your entire muscle and nervous system will shut down, and you'll be stuck in a bad dream you can't awake from!"

Murdock tried punching Stonefish, who began dodging his clumsy attacks! Stonefish then kicked Murdock, which sent him rolling, and he found that he couldn't get back up, no matter what he did! He then craned his neck, and saw that Stonefish had picked up the revolver, and was walking over to him!

Stonefish, still looking like some creepy looking cowboy, then aimed the gun at his chest and pulled back the hammer of the revolver!

"Any last words, cowboy?" asked Stonefish, preparing to fire.

"Yeah… you should quit while you're 'a head'!" Murdock replied.

Suddenly, Murdock used his 'Stretch' quirk on his neck, which allowed him to head-butt Stonefish in the nose! Stonefish was sent teetering, and Murdock tried to get up! To his amazement, he felt that the toxin had weakened over his muscles and mind; apparently, Stonefish had some kind of mental connection with it! The more he got hurt, the less the toxin had power over its victim! Stonefish then recovered, but he know had blood running from his nose, and an angered look on his face!

"You little rapscallion!" Stonefish growled, aiming the revolver at Murdock.

Murdock then stretched his arm, which was somewhat floppy, and smacked the revolver out of Stonefish's hand! He then punched Stonefish, and felt the toxin weaken even more, allowing him to sit up! He then saw the revolver and picked it up, but found that he couldn't hold it quite, due to still being under the toxin's power!

Stonefish then leapt for Murdock, who rolled out of the way clumsily! He still held on to the revolver, but now he was flopping around like a squid out of water! He flopped very quickly, though, and was able to avoid Stonefish's attacks!

After a few minutes, Stonefish got fed up with his dodging, and tried to get the revolver back! But Murdock was able to keep it out of his reach, and began trying to run, or rather 'flop', away from his opponent! But then, Stonefish jumped on top of Murdock's back, his spines digging all over his body! Murdock let out a loud and long yell of pain, as the spines dug into him, and he was pumped with even more toxin! In desperation, Murdock decided to do something extreme, even though it went against being a hero! It was either him or Stonefish, and Murdock didn't want it to be himself!

Murdock felt the control of his muscles fading, and he clumsily wrapped his hand around the revolver! Stonefish then pulled himself off of Murdock's back, Murdock flipped around, dug the revolver into Stonefish's shoulder and-

BLAM!

Stonefish let out a yell of pain and jumped back, as the quirk-erasing bullet took effect on him! Murdock watched, and felt, in amazement, as the toxins lost their effects on him, and Stonefish's spines turned into dust, and melted away! Stonefish then collapsed to the ground, clutching his shoulder, and crying out in pain and anger!

"What the?" Murdock asked, as he sat up. "What happened?"

"You moron!" Stonefish cried out. "You shot me with a quirk-erasing bullet! I'm useless now!"

Murdock then looked at his hands and moved them; he was no longer paralyzed. He then stood up, and kept the revolver aimed on Stonefish, just in case he tried anything.

"Okay dude, I got this gun aimed on you." said Murdock. "Don't try anything funny, or I'll shoot."

"I don't care! Just finish me now!" Stonefish replied, his tone defeated. "I lost my quirk, and now I'm a quirkless! Just shoot me and put me out of my misery!"

Murdock looked at the revolver, and then slipped it into his jacket; he wasn't going to leave the gun with Stonefish, as he could either shoot Murdock, or himself. Besides, if the gun had quirk-erasing bullets, he could use it to his advantage.

"I don't kill." Murdock replied. "Sorry, guy."

After he said that, he turned around began running down the halls, leaving Stonefish breaking down on the floor. The villain didn't care what happened to him now; he felt useless, and didn't know what to do…

Author's Notes: Sorry if the writing in this chapter kind of fell flat, but I was dealing with a bad case of writer's block. Still, we're almost up to fifty chapters! Can you believe that?

R&R,

Heroboy005