Katsuki Bakugo growled at the nuisance nervously chattering his ear off as he ran.

How the damn nerd had caught up to him, he had no fucking clue. Hell, he was even keeping pace with him as he blasted forward in between checking his phone. But if the fact the guy's legs were crackling with lightning-like power had anything to do with it, Katsuki was going to kill someone.

"I saw it on TV though, Kacchan! They had some stats about the Hero Killer, and most of his victims were found where there weren't many people! Her location ping narrows it down, but not enough! In order to find her, we need to get further away from the panic, and move through the back alleys of Hosu-"

"I said SHUT IT!" Katsuki growled. He hesitated though, and turned into the alleyway, ignoring the irritation flooding through him.

As much as he hated the damn nerd, analyzing was what he was annoyingly good at. And if it meant finding Red faster, then he wasn't going to let his hatred get in the way. It's not like he had to admit out loud he-

Deku's gasp was the only thing he heard before the view in front of him was taken over completely.

The Hero Killer chuckled as the tears fell steadily down her face.

Katsuki felt something foreign and cold infect his veins as he saw the scene through her eyes. It felt like when the villains came out of the portal at the USJ, but worse. The wall of pain he was slammed with made it feel like his breath was leaking out of his (her?) wounds faster than he could replenish it.

Deku stumbled in his movements as well before shouting. "That's near the smoothie shop! I can get there faster, Kacchan-"

"I guess your colors were true after all." He pulled the blade out of her shoulder, and a soft whimper left her throat.

"GO THEN, FUCK!" Katsuki roared, the vision flashing as it started to falter, taking the pain with it. When he temporarily got his vision back again the ice in his veins hadn't gone away, and he realized that the feeling of dread wasn't in her head, but in his own. Only a streak of light showed that Deku had been there seconds prior, and Katsuki let off a blast after him as he sent the message and shoved his phone in his pocket.

"What a waste this will be then… but you see… If I kill the daughter he didn't throw away… He'll have to come here… And I'll be waiting."

He forced his explosions to go faster as the vision faltered out completely this time, fearing the worst. He was less than a minute away, he needed to make it. The Hero Killer had found her. He shouldn't have agreed to patrol with Hawks. Where the fuck was Endeavor? What kind of number two hero leaves the person they're protecting for even a second?!

If there's anything he'll be thankful to that Deku for, it'll be if he can keep the bastard villain stalled just long enough until he reaches them. He had to reach them in time. He wouldn't know what to do if he didn't-

"5% Detroit Smash!"

He heard Deku's shout in the distance and headed towards the direction. He was almost there, just a few damn seconds-

As the Hero Killer came into view, a dagger hovering above Red, it dawned on Katsuki the gravity of the situation. This was the man who had killed so many heroes, and injured many more to the point of no recovery. The air around them felt stained with the gravity of his sins, of the lives he's ruined. Quirks caused injuries, sure. But that knife was hovering over her heart, and the murderous intent was rolling off of him in waves so vicious that Katsuki had to fight to keep flying towards them.

How quickly a life that mattered for so many years could be taken. It was like a piece of hair. Taking years to grow, but only seconds to cut away. And that's all Katsuki had.

Seconds.

He didn't have time to think about why Deku was frozen on the ground. He didn't have time to think about the Pro Hero slumped against the wall. The dagger glinted as it fell, and the piercing scream that filled the air filled him with a white hot rage he didn't know was possible. As something hotter than fire replaced the ice in his veins, all he could think about was saving the freckled menace that had drank her way into his life. Pulling the pin on his gauntlet, he flew forward.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER, DAMN OFF-BRAND MUMMY!" He roared, the echo in the alley adding fuel to the noise.

Time seemed to stop.

And then it went off.

The explosion was unlike anything Katsuki had felt before. The recoil jerked his arm back violently, and he felt something snap.

The killer tried to leap above the absolute vortex of flames, but instead took the brunt of the attack. Red's hair whipped around her face as if to join the column of fire above her before falling back down around her in swirls as the explosion faded.

The adrenaline pushed him forward towards her as his feet moved on their own, the villain now collapsed on the other side of the alley. He stepped in front of Red, putting himself between her and the villain as he crouched down next to her. His anger caught in his throat, and his whole body chilled as he finally looked at her.

She was absolutely… covered in blood. It was soaking through her tank top and through one side of her pants, as well as covering her arm. It was pooling around her upper body faster than it should be, meaning there was a wound there too.

If he thought he had felt nauseous at the USJ, then he didn't know how to describe what he was feeling now. If she was dead…

His arm trembled slightly as he reached to touch her unblushing, grime covered freckled cheek. Unsure if his arm was shaking from overexertion, or from the sight before him. As his hand cupped her face and wiped where a streak stood out from a tear, she breathed in deeply, sky blue eyes fluttering open. He let out a breath. She was alive.

"Katsuki…" She breathed in awe, eyes wide in amazement. He decided right then and there that that was the best way anyone had ever looked at him before.

"Kacchan, watch out!" Deku cried, and Katsuki turned just in time to see a brilliant burst of flames intercept the Hero Killer from reaching him.

He let out a 'tch' when he spotted the man who protected them, annoyed at having to have been saved while he was caught up in the woman at his knees. "About damn time, ya Icyhot bastard."

"It's not like you sent an exact address, Bakugo. 'That one smoothie shop she likes' wasn't much help." Todoroki deadpanned, holding up his phone with Red's location pinging.

"You're lucky I had the picture of you arguing. The name was on the cup."

Bakugo huffed in response, carefully putting his arms under Red as he picked her up to move her. She let out a groan in pain, and this time he didn't miss the blood soaking his hero costume.

"I sent the shop's address and name to my old man. The Pros will be here any minute." Icyhot continued, preparing to fight.

As Katsuki walked over to set Freckles down behind Icyhot and himself, ice crept through the alleyway. The Hero Killer had to jump as the ice also created a slope that brought the frozen student and Pro back to Icyhot's side safely.

"He thinks the time will be up for one of us soon." Red breathed. Before Katsuki could ask what she meant, her eyes snapped to Icyhot, who tilted his head.

She responded without anyone talking out loud. "Bloodcurdle, it lets him paralyze his opponent by tasting their blood. The time spent paralyzed depends on your blood type. The longest being B at eight minutes, and the shortest being O at one or two minutes. He keeps track with the watch on his wrist."

Katsuki tried not to let it bother him that she appeared used to conversing with Icyhot in his head, and focused on the Hero Killer in front of them. "What's your damn blood type then?"

"Native's is B, he has 3 more minutes left. I'm AB, I have 4 left, but…"

She didn't have to say it outloud. She wouldn't be able to do much once she was free. The chances of her bleeding out were already too high, making Katsuki clench his teeth.

"Todoroki and Midoriya are O, and you're A... So don't you dare get hit, Katsuki." Red warned, putting on a strong face. But he could hear the anxiety in her voice when she reached his type. What a hell of a quirk. He felt a pang in his chest. This shouldn't be happening. Bad shit happens sometimes, but for it to happen this many times in a few months? In a few days? This can't be real, it has to be a dream. Stuff like this doesn't happen to the heroes, right?

He looked back at her, meeting her worried eyes. He tried not to let the blood smeared on the ground around her distract him, but found himself doing a mental once over and categorizing her injuries anyway. It looks like the blade had missed her heart, and it hitting her injured shoulder is what caused the screaming.

The villain's voice raised above their conversation, drawing Katsuki's eyes back to him.

"So you have a mental quirk like your father's. Should've known it wasn't just illusions. Now I see why he altered your brain. What a troublesome quirk for a child to have when you're trying to make them forget. He probably had to alter everyone because of you."

Red breathed in at the words before her eyes widened. "Slushie, move!"

Icyhot moved just in time to miss the throwing knife heading towards his face.

Stain's eyes narrowed before he chuckled menacingly. "You have good friends, Star Skyline. Too bad they'll have to die as well." The air around the villain seemed to be tainted in death. As Stain charged for Icyhot, Katsuki knew that if he got caught in it, he would face a similar fate.

Icyhot put up a wall, blocking the blade swung by Stain from hitting him.

Katsuki saw the sword in the air, and realized what was happening, letting out a growl of annoyance as he lunged forward. When Icyhot looked up at the sword, the Hero Killer pulled another dagger from its metal holster, taking advantage of his distraction.

Katsuki let off an explosion and shot forward, bringing his foot to the villain's face. His foot barely connected, allowing the villain an opening to bring up a knife to Katsuki's side. Shit shit he couldn't get hit, if he gets hit he'll be worthless to them all, shit- Flames reflected in the villain's red irises, causing him to leap back to avoid being burned.

"I had that handled!" Katsuki lied, landing on his feet next to the lit up Icyhot.

"So did I." The bastard deadpanned, referring to the dagger Katsuki had stopped.

"Tch."

Icyhot let out a huge wall of ice, and Katsuki shot into the air, jumping off of the peaks as they grew in size. The Hero Killer was concentrating on doing the same, and Katsuki let off another blast from his gauntlet towards the villain as the ice rose beneath him. Icy hot caught on fast, lowering the peak Katsuki was standing on after the blast went off, until he was back on the ground next to him.

Suddenly, the ice in front of them shattered. A blade shot out and Katsuki dodged it. He heard a grunt of pain next to him, and turned to see a different blade lodged into Icyhot's arm.

Stain leaped above them. "You're not bad. I have something that needs to be taken care of though."

Katsuki's hand lit up as the villainous bastard aimed for the woman behind him, and he let out a feral growl as he put his other arm out to his side, protecting her.

Suddenly, a streak of green flashed past him, pulling the Hero Killer along with it.

"Olivia was right! I can move my body now!" Deku shouted back to them.

The Hero Killer let out a growl and elbowed Deku in the stomach sharply. Stumbling, Deku barely had time to move when Icyhot shouted, "Midoriya, dodge!" and ice shot towards the villain.

Suddenly, an arrow with a stone arrowhead shot past the ice towards Stain, honing in on its target. Stain barely made it behind the ice before the arrow and ice both shattered in unison. Katsuki turned around to see the Pro shakily standing with a bow and arrow, his bloodied side trembling slightly.

"Native." Red said anxiously, apparently knowing the guy.

Stain went still, eye twitching as he stared at the Pro. "It's no use trying to pretend you're a hero now. A person's true nature doesn't change in just a few minutes." Stain taunted.

"It does when innocents are involved." The Pro said shakily, glancing at Red bleeding out in the dark alley. Stain's quirk must've worn off on her, because her entire body was trembling now as she tried to apply pressure to her own wounds.

"You'll never be anything but a freud who prioritizes his own selfish desires! You're the sickness that's infected this society and ruined the name 'hero'!" Stain yelled. His voice was off though, his eyes darting between them all desperately.

"That may be so, but these people are not. I cannot stand by as they suffer for my wrongdoings." Notching another arrow, Native let loose another tracking arrow.

Stain almost didn't dodge this one, surprised by the Pro Hero's words, but brought up his sword and sliced it out of the air just in time.

"Take Starry and get out of here!" The Pro grunted, notching another arrow.

"No! You'd die!" Red vehemently hissed, shifting anxiously before groaning in pain at the movement.

"He's not going to let us! Something clearly just changed in him right now, he's rattled!" Deku cried out as Icyhot and Katsuki both let off their fire.

The Hero Killer did indeed seem more desperate now, trying to find any opening to get to Red, his ultimate target. Katsuki backed off slightly, taking a stance in front of her as the Pro Hero supported him from behind, and Deku and Icyhot moved around the frontlines.

"Our best option is to hold off until the Pros arrive." Icyhot agreed.

"Our best option is to kick the bastard's ass!" Katsuki growled, charging towards the villain. He didn't wait for their response, but he knew he didn't have to.

A column of fire shot next to him on one side, and a streak of green lightning on the other. Katsuki felt a smirk on his face as he shot off explosions in one hand, causing him to spin. Icyhot shot his fire into the spiral Katsuki was creating, fueling his attack before allowing ice to crawl towards the villain.

Katsuki smirked viciously. Icyhot had the same thing in mind as he did. This villainous bastard was going to pay.

"Howitzer... IMPACT!"

"One for All... FULL COWLING!"

Red, green, and white collided in one blinding moment, the world seeming to shatter around them.

And as the smoke cleared, the three men's eyes widened.

The Hero Killer Stain, was no more.

Shoto Todoroki let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the notorious Hero Killer's unconscious body encased in his ice. "Let's restrain him and get him to the street. Maybe we can find some rope."

Midoriya was standing next to him when he nodded. "Yeah, we should probably take all his weapons too."

"Tch, you losers can go do that on your own." Bakugo scoffed, walking past them and the Hero Killer to Olivia.

Native started pulling the weapons off of the hero. Shoto and Midoriya paused for a moment, watching as Bakugo and Olivia interacted.

They couldn't hear what Bakugo was mumbling to her, and that in itself was already strange enough. It wasn't his lack of yelling that surprised them the most though. Shoto had never seen Bakugo move so… carefully. So gently. Shoto glanced over at Midoriya, and the look on his face told him that he hadn't either.

Once Bakugo had the bloodied woman in his arms, he turned around to face them, eyes locked on her face as it rested against his chest. She said something softly that made Bakugo's ears tinge pink, before she let out a louder groan, eyes shifting to them. "Midoriya, please stop thinking so loud about this, the last thing I need is a headache on top of five stab wounds."

Her voice broke occasionally as she spoke, showing her lack of strength, even as her words tried to hide it. She's had to have lost enough blood to be falling unconscious soon, if not more. If they didn't get her help…

"What did I say about being bait, Starling? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure I made it clear you weren't, and yet here we are."

Shoto looked up as the number three Pro Hero swooped down into the alley. He was missing quite a few feathers and had some burn marks on his clothes, but his casual smile stayed.

"I'm pretty sure that stopped being the case the second you stationed me in Hosu…" She groaned, glaring at the Winged Hero. Bakugo's grip on her tightened as her breathing started faltering while she spoke.

"She needs a doctor, you damn Pigeon, not your sass." He growled, starting to move her out of the alley. Shoto couldn't help but agree, but understood the Pro's casual behavior. The fight had taken less than ten minutes to everyone else… but to them, it had felt much longer.

"Glad you're alive too, Pilot. I knew you missed me!" Hawks chuckled, sending a wink.

He helped them tie up the villain, and dragged him along behind him like a toy. Turning to him and Midoriya as they walked, he tilted his head.

"Hey, you're the guy I sent after him! And the cooler Todoroki is here too! Ha ha, get it? Cooler?"

No one laughed, and Hawks sighed, shaking his head. Shoto noticed how the Pro Hero's eyes lingered on the trembling woman in Bakugo's arms.

Hawks frowned curiously, before realizing he wasn't smiling, putting the casual expression back on his face. When the screech of a Nomu somewhere above them grew in volume as they approached the street, she trembled more.

The Pro Hero ran a hand through his windswept hair, and took off his headphones. He ignored Bakugo's protest as he put them on Olivia's ears, and clicked a button. Whatever it was supposed to do seemed to work. The trembling slowed, and her eyes slowly closed, her cheek against Bakugo's chest.

As they made it out into the street, the old man from before came flying at Midoriya, who barely dodged in time. Other Pros followed after, taking in the sight before them.

"Endeavor sent us!"

"Those injuries look really bad, I'll call an ambulance."

"No fucking shit, you moron!" Bakugo yelled, and Shoto shook his head. Now that Olivia's ears were covered and she was passed out, his loud voice had finally returned.

"Is that… The Hero Killer?"

"Yes! Fuck, how the hell are you guys Pros?!"

"I'll get the police on the line!"

Bakugo got distracted again by the blood coming out of the small woman in his arms, and Shoto was distracted by the fact his old man had listened to him for once and sent back up. So when the older man yelled, "GET DOWN!", no one had seen it coming.

Suddenly, Midoriya was in the air, grasped tightly in a Nomu's claws. The wind from the thing's wings kept everyone back as they shielded their eyes. Before anyone could react, Stain sliced free of his bindings, kicking back Hawks as he caught the blood in the air.

The Nomu fell, paralyzed, and Stain leaped up to meet it. Putting his hand on the creature's head, he pushed it down to meet the pavement, stabbing into its brain as it skidded.

Everyone was too stunned to react as he turned to them.

"The word 'hero' has lost all meaning in this society. The world is overrun with fakes and criminals like Captain Celebrity who chase petty dreams! You must all be purged!" Stain licked his lips, pulling his small knife from the creature's head.

"Everything that I do, is to create a stronger society." As he stood, his eyes fell on Endeavor, who had just arrived on the scene.

"Endeavor…"

As his mask fell off, Shoto felt something creep into every pore of his mind and body. The murderous intent rolled off the Villain in waves, causing even the Pro Heroes to tremble, leaning back in absolute fear as the fight left them all. "You false hero!"

"I'll make this right! This street must run with the blood of hypocrites!"

As Stain stumbled forward slowly, step by step, it felt like all the stars in the sky had turned their back on the heroes below them, leaving them to the fate of the darkness in front of them.

"'Hero'! I will reclaim that word! If I don't fix it... if someone isn't... stained with blood...! If heroes aren't restored...! Come forward, and just try to stop me, you fakes!"

Endeavor took a step back, his eyes wide. In that moment, Shoto realized that even someone like his old man could feel fear. Could feel weak. Even heroes can fall.

"There is only one man I'll let kill me! He is a true hero!" He panted, eyes glinting against the moon behind him.

He threw his head back, and his roar echoed around them, like a mantra that cut through the night. "All Might… ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!"

One of the Pro Heroes next to him fell back as the roar filled the air, eyes wide in terror. No one could move. No one could breathe.

Stain's eyes glazed over. His breathing stopped.

The knife fell from the unmoving Villain's hands, falling through the air in slow motion.

And as the metal hit the pavement, the sound echoed in everyone's ears… and the world around them fell silent.