"What?" Todoroki asks, turning around to face Hijiri's frozen form. "Izuku?"
"Something's wrong." Hijiri says simply before running into the nearby alley. Todoroki takes a step to follow when his phone buzzes and he pulls it out to find Izuku had sent him a location.
"Endeavour! When you've finished, come to this location!" Todoroki yells, tossing Endeavour his phone before rushing after Hijiri.
In an alleyway far from the chaos in the streets a man with a blood red scarf and standing opposite Izuku, who was standing protectively in front of Iida and a downed Hero. The man looks between the three with a bloodthirsty grin.
'If it was just Iida, I could probably grab him and run. But there's also someone else.' Izuku thinks, watching the person he believed to be Stain carefully. 'I'm not strong enough to carry both of them and outrun someone like the Hero Killer.'
"A friend showed up and said he would save you. A good line for sure." Stain says. Izuku lift his arms to stand protectively in front of the paralysed Iida. "But... my duty is to kill those two. And if we're forced to fight, well naturally... the weaker of us will be culled. So, what now, Hero?"
'This guy isn't like the people at the USJ...' Izuku thinks as he steadies his stance. 'I need to protect the two who are downed, buy some time, or if at all possible... drive off the Hero Killer by myself.'
"No!" Iida yells at Izuku. "I told you to run! This is none of your business!"
"What's a Hero supposed to do when you say something like that?" Izuku asks rhetorically. "I've got a lot to say, but that can wait. For now, it's like All Might said. Giving help, even when it isn't wanted, is what makes a true Hero."
"Ah! Good!" Stain says, grinning crazily at Izuku. Izuku blasts forward, activating 5% Full Cowl, getting too close for Stain to use his long sword. Stain grins again and pulls out a knife and swings at Izuku, who ducks underneath and between Stain's legs. Stain instantly turns to slash at Izuku with his sword, but Izuku had jumped over his head and cocked back his fist in preparation to punch.
Izuku skids back to standing in front of Iida, preparing to continue protecting him. Stain raises his knife and licks the smallest trace of Izuku's blood on it. Izuku freezes and collapses onto the ground, suddenly loosing his strength.
'What?! He grazed me! I didn't even feel it! Was that really enough?' izuku thinks rapidly, then spots what's left of the tiny amount of blood on the knife. 'No! It's blood!'
"You lack power, but you planned for that. You exploited my blind spot and planned to bring me down." Stain says as he stalks past Izuku. "There are a lot of fools out there who are all talk. But you're worth letting live. Unlike these two." Stain points his sword at Iida's eye.
"No!" Izuku yells as two blasts of flame erupt from one end of the alley. Stain leaps over the orange and red fire that was launched at him while green and blue fire engulfs the three paralysed people and the floor.
When it clears it reveals Iida, Izuku and the downed Hero standing behind Hijiri and Todoroki. Hijiri was crouched down, holding his hands to the ground as his wings spread wide the hide the three partially from view while Todoroki pulled back his left arm, which had flames flickering over it.
"One after another. So many interruptions." Stain grumbles as he takes in the two new arrivals.
"Good thing I noticed something was wrong." Hijiri growls. "I almost wasn't able to save someone."
"Hijiri, Todoroki, but how...?" Izuku says, watching as Hijiri rises to stand tall next to Todoroki.
"I'm not sure, but thankfully it worked out." Todoroki says. "The Pros will be here in a few minutes."
"I sensed that Izuku was in trouble." Hijiri explains. "And went were he was to help him." Hijiri turns his wings into arms and prepares to rush forward.
"Wait! Don't let him draw blood!" Izuku yells from the ground. "He paralyses his opponents by ingesting their blood!"
"That explains the blades." Todoroki says, pulling his left arm back again. Hijiri takes half a step back and aims his four arms forward, balls of fire appearing in each of them. "So, we've got to keep our distance."
A knife flies at Todoroki's face as he barely leans out of the way with it only grazing his cheek. Stain launches forward at Hijiri, swinging his sword at his chest. Hijiri leans away from him as the blade slightly digs into the chestplate. Stain glances up, Hijiri following his gaze to see the spinning sword he had thrown. Hijiri launches a blast of flame at the sword, knocking it away.
Stain leaps at Todoroki and tries to lick his bleeding cheek, but Todoroki erupts into flame which forces Stain to leap away from the group again.
"Close one." Todoroki says. Hijiri nods as he analyses Stain again. Stain tries to grab the sword he threw but yanks his hand away from it when the revealed metal burns him.
"He's fast." Hijiri says, crouching down as he launches the three remaining fireballs at Stain, who cuts through one before dodging the next two. Todoroki then sends a wave of ice at Stain, which he slices through and counters by throwing another knife at them. Hijiri catches the knife with one of his fire arms. Todoroki launches a stream of fire at Stain, which he dodges.
"Why? All three of you, just stop it..." Iida says, his tone getting angrier and angrier. "I've inherited my brother's name! I have to do this! He's mine to-"
"Inherited his name? That's odd." Todoroki cuts Iida off, launching another wall of ice at Stain, which Hijiri follows up by blasting fire at Stain when he cuts through the ice. "Because the Ingenium I know, never made a face like that." Todoroki tells Iida.
Stain jumps from the wall and launches two knives around the fire, hitting Hijiri in both of his thighs. Hijiri collapses to the ground with a scream. Todoroki looks at Hijiri for a second before turning to face Stain, who had nearly closed the gap between them. Todoroki lights his arm on fire, but Stain retaliates by throwing aknife into his arm, pushing it away from him.
"Looking away from someone faster than you!" Stain says. "That's a rookie mistake!" Stain launches above Hijiri and Todoroki and aims to stab the Hero with his sword. Izuku twitches his hand. "You two aren't bad either!"
Hijiri's fire arms break apart and blast upwards at Stain like two cannons. Stain barely dodges getting burnt, only to get punched in the face courtesy of a now moving Izuku. Stain spun around and landed down the alley as he glared at the three boys.
"Izuku." Hijiri grunts.
"I can move now." Izuku says, then glances at Hijiri for a second. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, just can't really walk at the moment." Hijiri says, recreating his fire arms and wrapping his original ones in flames. "But, I'll act as supporting fire."
"His Quirk apparently has a time limit." Todoroki says, blasting flames at Stain to keep him moving.
"But I was the last one affected by it." Izuku says. "There are three explanations. Either it's weaker the more people paralysed, or it depends on the amount of consumed blood. Or it's based on blood type."
"Blood type?" The downed Hero says. "I'm B."
"I'm A." Iida says next.
"Izuku and I are O." Hijiri says, glancing at Izuku.
"Blood type... that's right." Stain reveals.
"Though, it's not like knowing will help us too much." Izuku says, lifting his hands into fists.
"We need to somehow get five people out of here." Todoroki says with a scowl. "He's fast enough to fight against both my fire and ice, so I don't have any openings."
"I'll only be able to support from a distance now." Hijiri grunts, using his fire to shift his position slight to get a better view on Stain. "Our best bet would be to keep him at a distance. Izuku, stay close to us to act as close range defence if he gets past us."
"Yeah!" Izuku responds, crouching in preparation to move as soon as he needs to.
"This is a risky plan, but it's all we've got." Todoroki says, clutching his bleeding arm. "The three of us, will protect them."
"Three-on-one. At least you aren't naive." Stain says, before blasting around the alleyway as new speeds. Hijiri sends a barrage of fireballs after Stain, making some of them fly in front of Stain when he gets too close to the group. Todoroki sends a thin layer of ice over the floor that erupts into spikes below Stain's feet. Stain slams his foot onto the ice, breaking the tips of the spikes before leaping out of the way of Todoroki's follow up blast of flames.
Stain then bounces between the walls and past all of their attacks to come face to face with Hijiri. Time seems to slow for Hijiri as Stain's sword inches towards his stomach. Stain's grin widens slightly as Izuku turns and makes a last ditch leap to tackle Stain.
'C'mon! 6%! Move!' Izuku pleads with his body as he seemingly moves at a snail's pace towards Stain and Hijiri.
'Not again.' Hijiri thinks. Fire erupts out Hijiri's body like an explosion, slamming into Stain. Stain's mask and scarf get burnt from the sudden fire.
"Ergh!" Stain grunts as he feels his skin burn. Hijiri aims his arm at Stain's face and makes flames erupt from between the gaps in his arm guards, launching his fist into Stain's face, sending him flying back down the alley where he slides to a standstill in a crouched position. Todoroki sends a large wave of ice to try and engulf Stain, but he slices through the ice and flies at group again.
Hijiri sends his fire arms forward to try and hit Stain, who dances through them and the throws a knife at Iida, that Izuku catches before it lands. Stain blitzes around again, throwing a seemingly endless amount of blades at the five with pin point accuracy. The sheer number and speed meant the even with three people defending together, some got through.
Hijiri grunts as another blade slashes his shoulder. He burns the blade when it lands to solidify his blood and coats the cut with fire, not having time or focus to stop his fire from cauterizing it. Izuku barely moves out of the way of a knife aimed for his stomach a second later.
"Please, stop it..." Iida says, making Izuku look at him in shock. "I can't take it..." Iida groans, tearing leaking from his eyes as he watches the three of them fight.
"If you can't take it!" Todoroki yells, sending two trails of ice spikes at Stain while Hijiri takes potshots with small balls of fire, having started having to rely on the extra water storage he got from Burnin'. "Then get up! Don't forget the type of Hero you want to be!"
"Be like Ingenium!" Hijiri yells also, flaring his fire arms to swipe at Stain, who easily avoids them and closes in again. Izuku rushes to meet his charge. Stain pulls out another knife and swings at Izuku's stomach from below his line of sight, but has to abandon that when Todoroki's ice catches the knife and tries to encase Stain's hand with it. Izuku lands two punches on Stain before he retreats, jumping away while swinging his remaining sword in a wide arc to ward off Iizuku following him.
'He's a monster!' Todoroki thinks as he has to duck another knife. 'He's taking on the three of us and nearly has us on the ropes!'
"Ice and fire." Stain says to himself as he dives around Todoroki's rapid fire attacks. "And fire." Stain adds, spinning around Hijiri's blast of flame. Stain gets close to Todoroki and slashes with his sword, getting dangerously lose to Todoroki's midsection. "Has no-one ever taught you that relying on your Quirk. Makes you sloppy."
"Recipro Burst!" Iida yells, appearing between Stain and Todoroki, using his leg to break Stain's last sword with a kick. The Iida spins using a burst of his engines, blue fire billowing out of them, to send a kick into Stain's hastily thrown up guard to launch him out of range again.
"Iida!" Izuku cries as he and Iida prepare to fight side-by-side.
"It finally wore off." Hijiri grins, letting his fire arms shrink to try and save some for the next round.
"This had nothing to do with you three." Iida says and Izuku looks at him in shock. "So, I'm sorry..."
"Not this ag-" Izuku starts when Iida interrupts him.
"But, that's why. I won't let any of you bleed anymore here." Iida announces, sweating slightly from the Recipro Burst.
"You don't need to pretend." Stain growls. "A person's true nature isn't so easily changed. You acted for your own selfish desires!" Stain's eyes look pissed as a vein starts pulsing in his burnt forehead. "There's a cancer afflicting this society, these so-called 'Heroes'! Someone needs to correct this society."
"So, you're a fundamentalist? Don't listen to him, Iida, and his so-called reasoning." Todoroki says.
"No." Iida stops him. "I have no right to call myself a Hero when compared to you three. But I'll become a true Hero, because if I don't Ingenium's truly dead."
"You're hopeless." Stain says calmly. Hijiri shifts uneasily, Stain just got serious.
"Take the kid in black and run! He's after me and the kid in armour!" The downed Hero yells as Todoroki and Hijiri send large waves of fire at Stain, only for him to avoid them completely.
"Todoroki, can you manipulate temperatures?!" Iida asks as Hijiri bombards Stain, who had somehow gotten even faster and more risky with his manouvers making it much more difficult to keep him at a distance.
"I'm not used to my left! Why?" Todoroki retorts, sending a blast of flame at Stain to try and relieve Hijiri slightly, even if his fire wasn't as fast as Hijiri's.
"Freeze my calves, without blocking the exhaust pipes!" Iida yells back.
"Stop interfering!" Stain yells, weaving through multiple blasts of flame and throwing a knife straight at Todoroki. Iida lunges forward and throws his arm out to block the knife with. "And you, stay down!" Stain yells, throwing a larger knife into Iida's arm, pushing him to the ground. Stain then bends unnaturally around a barrage of fire blasts that now resembled flying knifes than fireballs due to their speed.
"Iida, be quick about it!" Todoroki yells, dropping down and freezing Iida's calves as power flickers over Izuku's skin. "There!" Todoroki exclaims, turning to send another blast of flame at the rapidly approaching Stain.
'Two jumps, that's all I've got to do!' Izuku thinks, flooding his body with 6% of One for All and jumps. Iida rips the knives from his arm with his teeth and rockets at Stain.
Izuku cocks back his fist and Iida cocks back his leg as they both land a final attack on Stain. Izuku hitting a punch to the head, with Iida's kick landing in Stain's side.
Stain then launches one final strike at Iida, pulling out a huge serrated knife from nowhere he swipes at Iida, right before a wave of flames, courtesy of Todoroki blasts into him, right before Hijiri's enlarged fire arms grab his unconscious body tightly. Todoroki creates an ice slope to catch Iida and Izuku, who both spring back up instantly in preparation to continue the fight.
Though Stain's body stayed still and lifeless.
"He's knocked out, right?" Izuku asks the silence. Everyone slowly starts relaxing and everyone, except Hijiri and the Hero stand up straight.
"Anyone have rope to tie him up with?" Hijiri asks, starting to pant from using so much fire. "I don't think I'll be able to keep these hands up for too much longer."
"Look for some rope." Todoroki instructs. "Then we'll take him out to the main road."
"We should take any weapons he has left also." Izuku says nervously.
"I'd be shocked if he had any left." Hijiri jokes slightly, looking at the many knives and two swords littered around the alley.
The group of five walk out of the alleyway and onto the main road, well four of them walked. Hijiri was being carried by the Hero who Stain had caught before everyone else arrived, who they had learnt was called Native.
"Of course we found rope in that alley way." Todoroki says, dragging the tied up Stain behind him.
"Todoroki, let me drag him." Iida says, Todoroki looks at him blankly.
"You're arms are messed up though." Todoroki responds.
"Thanks for carrying me." Hijiri thanks Native, who just shakes his head in response.
"All I did was get in the way, and I'm supposed to be the Pro." Native sighs sadly.
"W-well anyone would've struggled against him and his Quirk one-on-one... he's really strong..." Izuku says, sagging slightly as his body throbs from using 6% for so long.
"Even in a four-on-one, we barely won. That was mostly due to him making small mistakes that added up." Todoroki says seriously. "He seemingly forgot about Izuku, he got too close to Hijiri, and because of Iida's final Recipro Burst he wasn't able to react to Izuku and Iida."
"Oh, yeah." Hijiri says, turning to look at Iida. "Since when could you do that? That was awesome."
"Huh?" A old voice says from down the road. The group turn to see who it was and spot an old guy in a white costume with a yellow cape, gloves, boots and belt. "Why're you here?!"
"Who-?" Hijiri begins when Izuku jumps in surprise.
"Gran Torino!" Izuku greets nevously, Gran Torino rockets down the street and slams a kick into Izuku's face.
"I told you to stay in your seat!" Gran Torino yells at Izuku. "Well, I don't know what happened here, but I'm glad you're still alive..."
"I'm sorry..." Izuku apologises, bowing.
A group of Heroes run out of the same alleyway Gran Torino did, looking around before spotting the group of, now, six. They rush over quickly once they realise they were injured kids.
"Call an ambulance, they're badly hurt!" A guy in full armour instructs quickly.
"Hey, is that... the Hero Killer?!" The only woman in the group realises, spotting Stain's body.
"Is he... Endeavour still fighting then?" Todoroki asks the woman, dragging her attention away from Stain.
"Yeah, those Noumu sibling things." Izuku says, getting Hijiri to look at him in confusion.
"What Noumu things? Like from the USJ?" Hijiri asks him, trying to climb off of Native, who stubbornly didn't let him do it in fear of him hurting himself further.
"They looked weaker. Endeavour should be fine!" Izuku quickly reassures Hijiri, who doesn't look totally convinced but stops struggling against Native.
"Yeah, those that had Quirk ineffective against them came here to help." The woman explains quickly.
"I'm sorry." Iida suddenly apologises from behind the group. The three students turn to look at him. "You were wounded because of me, I'm sorry. I was blinded, I lost sight of everything!"
"It's also my fault." Izuku says. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you were so upset. I'm supposed to be your friend."
"Iida..." Hijiri says, making Iida look up at him. "It's fine. We got hurt making sure you weren't killed. It's part of the territory when you're a Hero. Just don't make a habit of chasing Hero Killers, I'd rather make it to my graduation."
"Yes!" Iida agrees, tears flooding from his eyes.