"Do you know of the turbo hero Ingenium?"

"Of course! He's the super popular pro who employs 65 sidekicks at his Tokyo agency!"

"He's my elder brother. He's a beloved hero who prizes the rules and guides the people! And I aspire to be a hero like him some day."

"Never forget who you want to become."

"Ingenium is the name of the hero who will take you down."

My friends' words, and then my own…

A hero? Some hero I am. My friends are protecting me. They're bleeding for me.

"Save him first."

In order to make him pay for his crimes, I used my brother's name. But nothing's changed since the entrance exam.

"If it hadn't been an exam, then of course I too would do the same"

All I ever see is what's right in front of me. All I ever see is myself.

"You wanna be a hero too?"

"Yes. Brother. Like you."

The words Tensei had said to me the first time I told him I wanted to be a hero.

It's just as you said, Hero Killer. I'm different from them. I'm immature. I can't hold a candle to them. But still…

The Hero Killer flying towards Todoroki - who couldn't seem to dodge in time -

"Hasn't anyone ever told you relying too much on your quirk makes you sloppy."

"He's a monster," gasped Todoroki.

I could move again. I could move - and stand up.

If I don't stand up here now, then once again -once again, they will outpace me. My brother will outpace me. And I'll never be able to catch up

"Recipro," I began quietly at first. And then "BURST!"

As I flew through the air, just in time to save Todoroki from being cut in half by kicking the Hero Killer's blade, and breaking it in two, throwing him backwards.

"Iida!" called the paralyzed Midoriya.

"It wore off," Todoroki muttered. This guy's quirk isn't so great after all."

"Todoroki, Midoriya," said Iida, in a slightly new tone. "This had nothing to do with e other of you, so I'm sorry."

"Not that again," groaned Midoriya.

"That's why I swear I won't let you two lose any more blood here," I told them.

"It's no use pretending," the Hero Killer snarled back. "A person's true nature is not so easily changed. You're a fake who prioritized his own selfish desires! A cancer on this society warped by heroes! Someone must teach you a lesson."

You already have.

"So you're a fundamentalist?" snapped Todoroki. "Iida, don't even think of listening to his so-called reasoning."

"No," I told him. "He's right. I have no right to call myself a hero. Still, I won't let him break me. Because if I break, then Ingenium's truly dead."

"You're hopeless." And he was coming at us again.

"Idiot!" cried the Pro Hero. "The Hero Killer's only after me and that dude in the white armor. Stop fighting back, just get out of here."

"I don't think he'd let me run, even if I wanted to," said Todoroki. "He went through a clear change a minute ago. He's all fired up too."

I tried to move to help him as he held the Hero Killer off with his flames, but -

My engine's are shot! Did I break the radiator with that kick?

"Todoroki!" I cried out to him, having a sudden idea. "Can you regulate your temperatures?"

"I'm not really used to my left, but why?"

"I need you to freeze my leg for me without plugging the exhaust."

"Stop interfering!" cried the Hero Kller. A knife was flying at Todoroki again -

I jumped in thew ay. This time, it hit my arm.

"Stay down!" screamed the villain, throwing yet another one - a bigger one, at my oustretched arm. I hit the ground, my arm searing over in true agony.

"Just do it, quickly!" I cried back at him. I felt the ice freezing over my leg. And bent down to pull the dagger from my arm. I can still fight. Who needs arms?

"There!" Todoroki called. I stood, and jumped upwards. At the same time, Midoriya - who it seemed and recovered again - flew from the other end of the alleyway. Both hit the Hero Killer at the same time, myself with a kick, Midoriya with a punch.

THe Hero Killer again swiped at me with a sword, but this time I dodged.

"I will defeat you, Stain," I told him, "Because you are ae criminal! And I am a hero!"

We all had fallen quickly - Todoroki caught us with ice and we slid to safety, while the ice trapped the Hero Killer.

"Get up, he's still - " Todoroki began, but then stopped…

"He's out cold," said Midoriya, as we stood there staring at the prone body of our unconscious enemy.

"Let's tie him up and get him out to the main road," said Todoroki. "See any sort of rope we can use?"

"We should take all his weapons too, just in case," said Midoriya.

A few minutes later, we were dragging the villain towards the street.

"Of course we'd find rope in a trash filled alleyway," said Todoroki, whose arms were still bleeding…

"Todoroki, let me drag him," I asked.

"Your arms are all messed up, though."

"Sorry," said the Pro Hero, who was now carrying Midoriya thanks to his injured leg. "I'm supposed to be a pro, but all I did was get in the way."

"Don't sweat it," said Midoryia. "It would've happened to anyone in a one on one against the hero killer and his quirk. He's so strong."

"Even in a three-on-one fight," Todoroki added, "we just barely won because he screwed up. He probably got so mad that he forgot about the effect wearing off on Midoriya. And then he wasn't able to dodge Iida's last Recipro, or Midoriya's assault."

We'd made to to the street, and suddenly were approached by a tiny old man in a white and yellow costume. When he spotted Midoriya, he screamed "why're you here?!"

"Gran Torino!" cried Midoriya. The pro leaped forward, and with Iida's speed, he kicked Midoryia in the face.

"I told you to stay on the bullet train!" he reprimanded, then added, "Well, I'm glad you're not dead at least."

Another voice called "Is this the alley?"

A group of pro heroes had arrived, at last, a few minutes too late. They gathered around us.

"We got a backup request from Endeavor, but…"

"Kids?"

"They're badly hurt. Call an ambulance."

"Hey, is that the Hero Killer?"

"So he's…Endeavor's still over there fighting, then?" Todoroki asked, glancing towards the old chaos.

"Oh they, those Nomu," said Midoriya.

"Yes," said a blonde female pro nearby. "Those of us whose quirks had no effect on those villains came to help you guys.

I came forward then; I couldn't stand it any longer. "Both of you were wounded because of me." He bowed. "I'm so terribly sorry." I could see then that he was crying. "I - was blind. I lost sight of everything."

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

I felt my self starting to cry

"Get it together," Todoroki told me. "You're the class rep."

I wiped the tears away. "Yes…"

"GET DOWN!" came a cry from nearby us.

It happened before we could even process what was going on. One of the Nomu flew down from the sky and seized -

"MIDORIYA!?" Todoroki cried, in a panic, as the creature flew skyward faster than I could comprehend, carrying Midoriya in its claws.

Everyone was panicking.

The Hero Killer had cut loose his bonds and licked the cheek of the blond pro. But rather than her falling - the flying Nomu was descending instead -

"BOTH THIS SHAM-FILLED SOCIETY, AND THE CRIMINALS WHO WIELD THEIR POWER IN THE NAME OF PETTY MISCHIEF ARE TARGETS OF MY PURGE," he cried, as he stabbed the Nomu through the head, and seized Midoriya for himself. "ALL FOR THE SAKE OF A BETTER SOCIETY."

THe pros around me were jittery. "He saved the kid?" 'No idiot, the boy's a hostage. This is an unrepentant murderer we're talking about." "Enough already, assume battle positions!"

"Why're you all bunched up together?" called a familiar voice. It was Endeavor. "One of them should've headed your way!"

'Endeavor, you're already finished?"

"More or less. I had to get a little rough…wait, is that…"

Midoriya was struggling and protesting as the Hero Killer held him down. THe villain turned and saw the old man with a malevolent grin.

"Endeavor…"

"Hero Killer!" said Endeavor, readying a fire blast.

'Wait, Todoroki!" called Midorwya's boss, Gran Torino.

"You false hero," snarled the villain as his mask slid away. That hideous visage - and the conviction coming out of it - froze us all in our tracks.

"If I don't fix this…if someone isn't stained with blood…if I don't reclaim my hero status…Come on, just try and stop me you fakes! There is only one man I'll let kill me, the true hero! All Might is worthy!"

We were paralyzed. No one could move. And then - the hero killer simply stopped. Out cold.

We learned later on that it wasn't a quirk. It was simply that one of his fractured ribs pierced his lung. No single one of us could bring ourselves to stand against him.