Team STIK (Strike)

by Aragon365

One born without the power to make a difference. Another gifted with an incredibly powerful dual semblance. One who wishes to live up to his elder brother. And a faunus whose anger makes him almost as brutal as the Grimm. At Beacon Academy, these four unlikely souls would meet, and forever change the face of Remnant. These are their exploits. (Discontinued)

13. Painting the Town

A/N: Well, this was a long time coming. I hope its length is enough to make up for the two-week absence. Enjoy the chapter!

Also, there will be other POV's besides Izuku's this chapter! Shocking, I know.

Edit (11/22/18): This was actually one of the lengthier edits I've done. In addition to the usual A/N deletions and rewordings, I made the conversation between Izuku and Yang a lot longer than it used to be. I hope it was a good addition!

Review Responses (for the ones I didn't/couldn't directly message):

FlamesOfJustice: I will! PLUS ULTRA!

fernandamichelleraya: Those are actually the reasons why he sees Ruby as a little sister. Nice deduction!

Guest: He's my favorite too! He's the most relatable out of all the MHA cast, and the fact that he managed to get someone as famous as All Might to notice him for his actions is really inspiring. He actually makes me want to better myself, and that's not something that a lot of fictional characters can do very easily, if they can at all.

JustSomeGuy: All for One will eventually come into play for the main story, but he won't even be mentioned for a while. Yes, Izuku is going to become more powerful than his current canon counterpart, but that won't be until he meets Torino near the end of Volume 2. Yang won't exactly be teaching him Shoot Style, he still needs to figure that out on his own, she'll just give him a basis for it, which is, as she previously said, kickboxing. Also, nice pairing suggestion, but I already have something planned for Izuku. It's a good idea, just not something I can use since I've already planned out about half of the story in advance.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 13: Painting the Town

Izuku put his hands on his knees, barely keeping himself upright as he panted incessantly, being incredibly tired after going for thirty minutes non-stop against Yang. The aforementioned blonde stood across from him with her arms crossed just beneath her bust, barely even tired as she simply stood there with a neutral expression on her face, one that he'd become rather accustomed to as they continued to train together.

Okay, time for some context. It had been another week since the meeting between Ruby, Shoto, Yang, and Izuku, where they managed to agree on a schedule that would give him time with all of them. Shoto would teach him on Monday and Tuesday, Yang would teach him on Wednesday and Thursday, and Ruby would teach him on Fridays and sometimes Saturdays when they weren't overloaded with homework. Sunday was their only confirmed free day, aside from the various holidays that were dotted throughout the year. But I digress...

Yang, taking pity on the green haired boy, uncrossed her arms and breathed out heavily, her usual grin returning to her face as she said, "That's it for today. Good hustle!"

Izuku, still not quite able to speak, simply gave his instructor a brief thumbs up before he fell onto his side in exhaustion. He never could beat Yang in combat class. Or Pyrrha. He hadn't fought Bakugo in ages, so that was still up for debate. And he definitely couldn't match Shoto or Ruby in terms of skill, he still had a long way to go before he could hope to match any of them in a one v one fight.

Yang walked over to her friend and sat him upright, briefly grabbing the coffee cup he kept in his bag and opening the top, passing it under his nose. Izuku's eyes shot open as he smelled the aroma of his favorite drink, causing him to uncharacteristically swipe the cup from Yang's hand and gulp down all of its contents in three swigs. He then calmly put the cup down and bowed slightly to the blonde brawler, saying, "Thank you for the coffee."

"Don't mention it!" Yang said in her boisterous tone as she sat next to Izuku, uncapping her own water bottle and drinking her fill.

Izuku looked down at his own empty coffee cup as he reminisced about the past week. Surprising both him and Ruby, he was actually quite adept with a scythe, able to master the basic movements and techniques with Gale in the first hour of practice. He didn't know how he was so skilled with Gale's scythe form, but when Shoto learned that little fact, he brought the hammer down hard. No, seriously, the training during the previous two days had been even more brutal than the previous week when Shoto was his only teacher; he could almost compare it to cleaning the beach all over again. Almost. Those months were their own circle of hell. Moving on...

"Holy crap, that was a match and a half. I wish I could talk to your dad. What's he like, actually? From what I've heard, you seem to be pretty fond of him. E-erm, not that you're a bad teacher or anything! You're actually a really good one!" Izuku quickly added to not hurt Yang's feelings.

However, the topic actually made her brighten up a bit more as she continued with a chuckle, "Relax, Greenie. You didn't say anything wrong. He's definitely a better teacher than I am. Besides, I think he'd like you. You're a lot nicer than some of my other friends. If they even were my friends...

"Well, that's nothing to worry about right now. Not to brag or anything, but he allegedly used to be one of the best martial artists in Vale, before he had me and became a teacher instead. He was... well, he was a hard teacher, that was for sure, but he was a good one. An amazing dad too. Didn't let me stop until my knuckles were blue, but he still loves Ruby and I to death. And he wasn't at all that fond of guys who looked at either of us in perverted ways."

"What happened to them?"

"I actually have no idea. Though I can personally say that I've put more than a few of them in hospital." Yang laughed at her own statement, while Izuku momentarily looked rather terrified, though he quickly shook himself out of it.

"I see... what about your mom? What was she like?"

Yang's face immediately went pale, her joyful demeanor from just seconds earlier completely vanishing. Her gaze trailed downwards and into her lap, causing Izuku to realize that he'd brought up a rather sensitive subject for the blonde brawler. "I-I-I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that."

Yang was silent for a few moments before she turned her head towards Izuku before she sighed and said, "Don't be. You didn't know," and the silence encompassed them once more, in a more uncomfortable way than the last one had.

"Well... on the subject of parents and parental figures, how about you?" Yang asked as she tried to salvage the situation they were in, simultaneously steering the conversation away from her mother. She wasn't ready to share that story. Not quite yet.

Izuku complied, saying, "Well, there's my grandparents. Grandpa's originally from far-eastern Mistral, but he fought in the Great War on Vale's side. Which didn't sit so well with the family he had back there. But he didn't really care all that much about hurting their pride or their feelings, even though they were family and it hurt like hell to leave them behind. He could see how the war was going down, and that Mistral was on the wrong side of history. A lot of people will say he's a brute, but he's actually pretty clever, and a great conversationalist. Even though he can't exactly speak Central Common that well. You'd like him.

"My grandma was born in western Mistral, but she was raised here in Vale. She was never one for fighting, but she loved learning everything that she could about... well, anything that she could cram into her brain, really. I still think she could answer almost anything I ask her about. And she's an amazing cook. Just don't get her mad. Even grandpa's scared of her when she gets mad.

"And then there's my mom. She's one of the kindest people I have the honor of knowing, and she's an awesome mom. She's always kinda been the rock in my world for as long as I can remember. She was there for everything I went through. I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for her."

Izuku's smile, however, was bittersweet, unlike the gigantic grin that Yang had held for most of the time she had talked about her father. There was obviously more to the story than he was letting on. The silence between the two was an odd one, and neither of them made to break it for several seconds. If Izuku wanted to talk about this, then he'd do it in his own time.

And, as it turned out, that was exactly what he did.

"I wasn't what most people would call 'strong,' as a kid. I know that it seems like something stupid to say, what with everything I can do now, but I wasn't. I couldn't even manifest enough of a soul signature to form even a basic Aura until about a year ago. Heck, I still don't think I'm that strong, especially compared to everyone else here. I've been playing catch up for the last few months because I... well, I never went to a combat school. Mom thought it was too dangerous. And I get why, but... I wanted to have a fighting chance to be on the same footing as the rest of you guys, and I just... I'm not sure I'm even supposed to-"

It was at this point in Izuku's rambling that Yang proceeded to lightly tap him on the head with a chopping motion, almost immediately stopping his speech dead in its tracks. She then removed said hand as she looked him dead in the eyes and said to him, "Hey. It doesn't matter where you started from. We've all got baggage we need to deal with sometimes. I've got my fair share, and so do Weiss and Blake. Hell, I'm willing to bet the same for everyone else we know. Besides, look at where you are now! You made it to Beacon! If anyone was doubting you before, you've damn well proven them wrong! If you weren't here, I think this place would be pretty damn different than it is for most of us, and not in a good way. You're the heart of your team, and you bring out the best in them; in a lot of us, just like Ruby and Nora can. Well, Bakugo's... Bakugo, but you get what I mean.

"So don't go thinking you're not supposed to be here, okay? You're here in spite of everything, Izuku. It's more than okay to be proud of that."

For whatever reason, Izuku couldn't even begin to think of one, Yang's speech had reassured him of most of the doubts he had, and would no doubt continue to have even after he graduated. She really cared. That fact alone was enough for him to crack a bit of a smile, and he could actually feel his heart skip a beat or two.

"... thank you. I think I needed that," Izuku said as he smiled back at Yang, who said, "Don't mention it, Greenie."

The silence between the two of them returned, but it wasn't nearly as awkward as it had been before. It was more understanding, and for a while, they simply stayed that way, the heat from their earlier match hanging in the air as they let their tired muscles and joints take a breather before they had to return to their rooms for the rest of the day.

...

"Hey, Greenie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could take tomorrow off?" Izuku's expression seemed to drop the smallest bit, causing Yang to stutter out, "N-n-no! You didn't do anything wrong! Ruby wanted to go see the CCT tomorrow, and I didn't want her to go alone, so the whole team's going with her so that she doesn't get lost. You know how she is with directions, hehehehehehehehehe..." the blonde brawler let out an awkward laugh as she finished her sentence, though her explanation did manage to brighten Izuku's expression somewhat.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Yang ran over to her gym bag and dug through it, eventually pulling out a white, plated half mask shaped like a diamond at the front with a loose strap attached to both ends of it.

The blonde brawler then walked back to Izuku and offered him a hand up, further explaining, "I think you mentioned your lack of armor a couple of times before, and I saw this the last time I was down in Vale. I thought you'd like it."

Yang presented the mask to him, a sheepish grin on her face as she tried to dispel the awkward tension she'd created a few moments earlier. Izuku slowly took the mask out of her hands and looked it over, his small smile slowly turning into a full grin as he put it on, though the strap was loosened too much for him to actually wear it properly, so it hung loosely around his neck as a result.

"It looks good on you," Yang observed, more than a little pride hidden in her voice. Izuku managed to stutter out, "I-i-it's awesome! T-t-thank you."

"Glad you like it! I'll seeya around, Greenie!" She then zipped up her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder before she walked out of the training arena with a cheery skip in her step.

Izuku's scroll then began buzzing rather loudly. He brought the device out of his pocket, finding that his leader was currently calling him. He answered the call, asking, "What is it, Shoto?"

"Do you think that you could cancel with Yang? Everything's ready, and tomorrow will be our only shot at this."

"Actually, she called it off. Something about going to the CCT."

"What? Why would they go over there? If they need information, they could just make a request from the library."

"Yang said Ruby wanted to see the CCT in person, and she didn't want her to go alone. It was a pretty rapid-fire explanation, so I don't think I caught everything she said."

"Well, it works out either way. Bring Gale. And your boots."

"I know, I know. See you at the dorm."

He then hung up the call and walked out of the training arena, a determined gaze in his eyes and confusing thoughts about Yang clouding his mind in an oddly pleasant way.

(the next day, 4:38 pm, Team STIK's dorm room)

Izuku, now done with a long and arduous day of classes, strapped Gale to the magnetic holster on his back, his teammates similarly equipping and holstering their own respective weapons as they prepared for a night of what Bakugo had nicknamed "Killer Hunting," which was itself ironic, since Stain's primary alias was due to the number of huntsmen and huntresses he'd killed.

Shoto stretched his arms above his head, and said, "I thought that class was never going to end."

"No shit. If Port ever goes on a tangent like that again, Four Eyes, do me a favor and knock me out," Bakugo said as he loaded his bracelet guns.

"I am not that barbaric, and you really ought to pay more attention to your seniors. You could learn a thing or two from his lectures," Tenya said as he tightened his greaves onto his legs.

Izuku remained silent as he draped the half mask Yang had given him the previous day around his neck, much to the confusion of his teammates, his leader asking him, "Where did you get that mask?"

Izuku promptly answered him, with a slight blush on his face, "Yang gave it to me yesterday."

His teammates had varying reactions to this. Well, Shoto simply asked if Izuku thanked the blonde brawler while Tenya gave a brief thumbs up and Bakugo facepalmed and muttered something incoherent into his hand. Something involving 'stupid Deku' and 'damn blonde bimbo,' or something to that effect.

A knock then sounded from the other side of their door. Shoto cautiously walked across to open it, and found Kirishima and Tokoyami on the other side.

They both wore their combat outfits, as did the rest of Team STIK, though Izuku now noticed a three-pronged claw mark emblem in an almost crimson red on the back of Kirishima's vest. Tokoyami's outfit, like Shoto's, was rather simple in its design; a black, zip-up jacket and a light gray scarf with a black feather emblem on both ends of it. He also wore a pair of black pants and gray combat boots, and on the outside of either thigh was a holster for a flintlock pistol/dagger combo.

Kirishima, a grin ever present upon his face, asked, "You called?"

"It's about time you got here. Now get in." Shoto said before ushering them inside, silently shutting the door behind them.

"Okay, let's go over everything we've planned so that we don't miss anything," Shoto said before he began the summary of the plan that the six had been putting together for the past week or so.

"Tenya, you, Bakugo, and Kirishima will go to Vale's main underground fighting arena. Information is more valuable than Lien there, so be sure to make the right bets and win when you can, but be sure to get as much info as you can remember. And don't die. Or kill anyone." He looked at Bakugo when he punctuated his last point, who said, "Fine. I'll try not to kill anyone."

"Alright. Now, me, Izuku, and Tokoyami will be going to the shady side of Vale a couple of miles from the main fighting ring. We've got a couple of leads on weapon dealers there; one of them could be Stains. I've also heard rumors of a certain info broker called 'Junior.' They say he knows about just about everything that goes on in Vale. With any luck, we should be able to pick up a trail and eventually get Stain behind bars. Maybe not tonight, but eventually. Right now, we need to get as much information on him as we can.

"But remember, he's stronger, smarter, and far more experienced than any one of us. If you encounter him, do not engage him alone; doing that's practically a death wish. The only chance we may have of defeating Stain is with all of us working together and overwhelming him. He might not be able to handle more than three opponents, according to you guys," he gestured towards Izuku and Tenya. "That's all we got. We leave in a few minutes. Any questions beforehand?"

The room was silent for several moments, inferring a lack of questions and extreme motivation. Satisfied with this response, Shoto's normally neutral lip line curved into the slightest of all smirks before he responded, "Good. We'll meet up later tonight near Vale Airport. Now then...

"...let's go hunting."

(two hours later, the main underground arena, Tenya's POV)

The fighting arena was... well, it was a lot larger than Tenya was expecting. Nearly every seat held a spectator of some demeanor, all with gleeful smiles on their faces as they cheered for the next battle to begin. Tenya was, obviously, also spectating, while Bakugo and Kirishima, being the battle craving knuckleheads that they were, competed in the battles inside the arena as a duo, much to Bakugo's dismay.

"So, what are you willing to bet for the next fight?" The man with a black, hooded cloak next to Tenya asked. This same man had been Tenya's betting partner for the last hour, though the only reason he'd stuck with the man for this long was he'd heard a few whispers about him, and while they didn't include the man's identity, they did include the fact that he supposedly knew how to find Stain.

He answered, "I'll bet... the location of the Iida clan relics."

The man, though only his mouth was at all clearly visible beneath his hood, was clearly shocked that Tenya knew this information. However, this expression turned to a confident smile, saying, "Alright. If your favorite duo wins the next bout, I'll give you the information you originally came here for." He revealed a roll of parchment from the inside of his cloak, continuing with, "You want to catch Stain for the tragedy he brought upon your hometown... and your brother. Do you not?"

Tenya, shocked that the man had this information at all, whisper-shouted so that only he could hear him over the cheering crowd. "How do you know that?! I kept that a secret from everyone, even my own mother."

"That tidbit was... a recent acquisition." He put the parchment back into the folds of his cloak. "About two and a half months ago, you mentioned in an alleyway that Stain had killed your brother, and that the damage that had been wrought during their battle beforehand in Mistral had only been fully repaired last year. Naturally, I could only assume that you spoke of "Ingenium's Downfall." That would make you Tenya Iida, and the next in line to take up the Ingenium mantle. Am I wrong? Oh! And my condolences for your brother. Remnant lost a brilliant huntsman in him that day."

Tenya, while he was still slightly on edge, eased back into his seat, admitting, "Yes. I am the next to take up the mantle of Ingenium. Might I ask your name, sir?"

The hooded man chuckled at this statement, explaining, "Dear boy, I gave up my true name long ago. I cannot recall what it even began with now. You may, however, know me by another name. Thoth, perhaps?"

Tenya's eyes quickly widened yet again in shock. Thoth, as was the name most people referred to him by, was an incredibly famous information broker who appeared all throughout Remnant's underworld, though he mainly resided within Mistral, to sell information of varying degrees of value for two things: cold hard Lien, and new information on... well, damn near anything; as long as the information you brought was as valuable as the information that you wanted, there were no strings attached. Several famous criminals, business people, and even some huntsmen and huntresses had taken to using his services; the information was just that good.

"Are you truly that Thoth?!"

"Indeed I am. However, I think that it will take a bit more than that to convince someone of your intellect. Do you remember the bouncers near the entrance of the spectator's area?"

"Yes. Why?"

"They're spies for the White Fang, specifically to take note of the fancy humans who come here to bet on fights. Did you and your colleagues give fake names?" Tenya nodded. "Good. That will make you much harder for them to identify. And that one, up there, behind us." He motioned his head slightly towards one of the guards by the start of the stairs. "He works for Junior. Tries to find some good people to recruit. Very bad judge of character, I assure you.

"And the young woman down there-"

"Is one of Roman's?"

"A good guess, but sadly, no. She is one of mine. There are a few more people here who work for the four of us. But I am the only one that has influence in all four kingdoms. Be thankful that you ran into me and not one of the others, or you'd already be in debt.

"But we're getting off topic. Now, the value of the information you've promised me is... well, quite frankly, it's too valuable to simply be exchanged for a way to locate a serial killer." He brought a shrouded hand to his chin, shifting into his thoughts as he worked out a solution. "I have a proposition for you. If your compatriots manage to win the next bout, in addition to the information you originally came for, I'll owe you a favor, redeemable at any time. Keep in mind that I do not make this offer lightly. So... do we have a deal?"

Tenya held no hesitation in his voice when he said, "I agree to your proposition." He had confidence that his friends would win. They hadn't lost a match yet, and he didn't believe they would start now.

All he had to do now was wait.

(five minutes later, locker room 5, Bakugo's POV)

The ash blonde dire wolf faunus tapped his finger against his knee in a rapid tattoo of impatience and anger. At what? Need you even ask? At Shoto, at Stain, at the other contestants, but most of all, at Deku. No matter how hard he tried when he fought, he always seemed to relive that battle during the first sparring match of the year. This didn't so much stop him as it did cause him to go into a nearly unstoppable rage that wouldn't die down until he stopped fighting, and sometimes not even after that.

"Hey! Bakugo!" Kirishima practically yelled into his ear. The redhead wolverine faunus was having a much better time than his nearly edgelord counterpart, and, despite his reputation as a full-on brute, was actually fully willing to go along with anyone's battle plan, provided that the plan didn't put anyone in unnecessary danger. The fact that Shoto had even thought to invite the two was atrocious to him. This was supposed to be a team thing, damn it! Why did he have to go inviting other people to get in their way?!

"WHAT?!" He yelled at the boy, his anger obvious within his own voice and even moreso in his eyes. However, Kirishima hardly even noticed that it happened, and deadpanned, "We're up in two minutes. You alright?"

Bakugo stood up from his earlier position on the bench and walked past Kirishima, telling him, "Outta my way, porcupine."

"Well, at least you're ready to fight. And I'm a wolverine," Kirishima responded with the same grin on his face as he followed the ashen-haired faunus to the arena.

Their footsteps echoed off of the walls of the tunnel as they walked towards the entrance to the arena they'd fought in for the last four rounds. All victories of course. The clinking metal from Feral Blades' knuckles bumping against each other in their retracted mode as Kirishima cracked his own underneath his gauntlets caused Bakugo to check the cartridges on his own weapon, which were, thankfully, locked and loaded.

They emerged from their dark entryway to the arena, spectators of all kinds cheering for them upon their fifth arrival. The arena itself had an almost two story tall interior, made of smooth, slowly browning stone, the only gaps in the walls being the four archways, two of which had their gates down.

The loudspeaker overhead introduced them for their fifth round, allowing the crowd to cheer for them for a good twenty uninterrupted seconds. Kirishima practically bathed in the attention, waving to people as they chanted his and Bakugo's names. The aforementioned dire wolf faunus, however, didn't even acknowledge that they were cheering, instead glaring forward at the archway across from them, slowly opening up as their next opponents emerged from within. And, surprisingly enough, their next opponents were...

...Team CRDL? What the hell?!

Sure enough, every member of Team CRDL, or as Bakugo nicknamed them, the "Loudmouth Brigade," emerged from the now open archway opposite them, with the only really notable person in the entirety of their posse towering over the rest, his gigantic mace slung over his shoulder and his right hand carelessly draped over the handle.

"What the fuck are you dumbasses doing here? This where actual warriors come to fight each other, not you glorified punching bags." Bakugo asked as he gave them a casual glare, though it was enough to send shivers down the majority of their spines, except for Cardin, who was on a whole other level of moronic bravery at that point.

"Oh really? Cause the people we've fought here have been nothing but pushovers. Isn't that right boys?" His teammates all nervously made their own sounds of agreement, remembering the almost unhinged wrath of the ashen blonde across from them a few months prior.

Bakugo simply deadpanned, "How many rounds have you gone through?"

"Three!" Cardin stated a little too proudly.

"Four for us. And believe me when I say that you're nowhere near worthy of even licking the boots of the extras we've been dealing with, you smug fuckwit."

This caused Cardin the begin fuming in anger, causing his team to begin to back away from him as he slammed his mace on the ground, creating a crater that encompassed the aforementioned weapon. He then responded to Bakugo's insult, "YOU WANN BACK THAT UP, DOGS EARS?!"

"YOU BETTER DAMN WELL BELIEVE I WILL, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!"

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

(A/N: Bombing King OST from My Hero Academia)

Bakugo launched himself towards them with a brief but brilliant explosion erupting from his palms, reaching Russel in less than a second before he gave the lithe boy a straight uppercut to the jaw and an explosion assisted palm slam to his gut, sending him flying across the arena and into the wall, making a rather large indention when he did.

Bakugo held his arms in a wide stance near the height his knees, the fingers angled as if they had claws on them, and he taunted CDL, "C'MON!" his feral and berserker-esque look never leaving his face. Dove and Sky attacked him simultaneously, the former going for Bakugo's legs with his sword while the latter aimed to skewer him through with his halberd. He had no escape. At least, that's what they thought would happen.

Bakugo then made a standing b twist flip, dodging both of their attacks in the process, and mid-flip, punched Sky across his cheekbone, sending him tumbling across the ground. When Bakugo finished his flip, before Sky could even attempt to defend himself, Bakugo kicked him hard in the gut, sending him tumbli- okay, you get the point.

Cardin, seeing an opening where there wasn't anything of the sort, came behind Bakugo with his mace over his head, a battle cry escaping his lips as he brought it down in a heavy overhead swing, though Bakugo managed to dodge the strike and used the kinetic force of the impact to launch himself upwards and deliver a satisfying elbow strike to Cardin's exposed face, followed by a left hook to his jaw and an explosion assisted jab to his abdomen, sending Cardin flying back into the wall, his hand still having a death grip on his mace.

It was at this time that Russel came back into the fray, coming at Bakugo with his knives drawn to bare as he attacked the dire wolf faunus in a myriad of slashes and stabs, all of which Bakugo managed to avoid with extreme precision and, in some cases, luck. Russel made a rather mad gamble with one final skewer stab, causing him to overextend and giving Bakugo an opportunity to grab his arm, pulling him into a straight elbow jab that managed to almost break his nose, followed by another explosion assisted punch to the abdomen, again sending him towards the arena walls, ironically enough, landing in the same crater he'd made earlier, only this time he didn't climb out.

Dove then came at him with an upward vertical swing followed by a shot of the gun built into his sword, causing Bakugo to dodge and put himself directly underneath Sky's downward arc with his halberd. He dodged the strike and grabbed the shaft of Sky's weapon, wrenching it free of his hands and knocking him across the arena with a spinning strike. Dove the slashed at him in a sideways arc, which Bakugo blocked with the shaft of the recently acquired halberd he now bore, jabbing at him with the blunt end of the weapon and hitting him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards before Bakugo threw the weapon javelin style, hooking onto the shirt underneath Sky's armor and pinning him to the wall.

Now, the only two competitors left in the arena were Bakugo and Cardin, the latter glaring at the former with a nearly unquenchable rage. Well, Kirishima was still there, but he was just standing off to the side recording the entire fight.

Cardin was the first to charge, his weapon once more raised high above his head to attempt to strike Bakugo in reckless abandon. The dire wolf faunus simply held his hand out and caught the gigantic mace by the hilt, pulling Cardin closer and headbutting him, his hands losing their grip on his weapon as they shot up to his face to hold his painfully throbbing nose. Bakugo brought his free hand to the hilt of the mace, yelling, "HAVE A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE, YA LOUDASS PRICK!" before swinging the mace at him baseball style, hitting him in the abdomen and sending him across the arena into the wall with a sickening crunch and a large crater around his body.

Bakugo breathed in and out slowly, looking at each of the opponent's he'd just felled. None were left standing. He'd won. So why didn't he feel satisfied? Why was the sense of defeat still lingering in the back of his mind?

He then dropped the mace he'd used to knock Cardin out of the fight, turning around and leaving the arena through the now open gate, a look of anger still ever present on his face.

(A/N: End Song)

(spectator area, Tenya's POV)

Thoth's mouth hung open in utter surprise. He didn't expect a full team of trainee hunter to win against the combined might of both Bakugo and Kirishima, but he didn't expect the dire wolf faunus to beat the team by himself, and in only two minutes no less!

Tenya, while he wasn't exactly surprised by Bakugo's actions, held a similar expression to the one that Thoth likely had under his hood. He quickly sobered himself, however, his business face returning to replace his expression of shock, and said to Thoth, "I do believe you owe me something."

Thoth turned to Tenya, his earlier face turning to a slight 'you got me' smirk, and replied, "Yes, I believe I do." He pulled out the roll of parchment he'd revealed just a few minutes earlier, as well as two small golden colored rectangles with the word FAVOR written on both sides in contrasting black.

"Why are you giving me two of these? You only promised one," Tenya stated, caught off guard by Thoth's rather unexpected gesture.

The information lord answered him, "Your teammate. He's done something that no one has done in a very long time. Quite frankly, he... surprised me. That extra favor I've given you is for him. I do hope that he continues to surprise people. Whether they'll be as generous as me... well, that's another story." He then stood up and began to walk amidst the crowd, but not before turning to Tenya and saying his departing words, "Good luck on your hunt... Ingenium." before he disappeared entirely, leaving the spectacled trainee huntsman to ponder what he meant and to retrieve his teammates from the arena.

(the shady side of Vale, 6:45 pm, Shoto POV)

"Well, thank you again for your time." Shoto bowed slightly as they walked away from yet another weapons dealer empty handed.

As the door to the dealer shut rather loudly in front of them, Shoto punched the wall in frustration, which wasn't exactly something he was used to feeling. "Dammit! This is the fifth dealer! Why can't we find this guy?!"

"Calm yourself, Shoto." Tokoyami intervened, trying his best to calm the boy down. "We all knew that doing it this way was either a hit or miss, and we missed this time. That doesn't mean we can't take another shot."

Izuku then piped in, "And besides, we still have a backup plan. We'll just go to Junior's and try to get something out of him. And if I know Tenya and Bakugo at all, they won't accept coming back empty-handed."

"Yes, those two do seem particularly determined to catch this man. And since Kirishima's with them, I doubt anyone who stands in their way will be left unscathed. We ought to go see this Junior, even if it's just to confirm that he doesn't know anything."

Shoto, now thoroughly calmed and back to his usual neutral state, apologized to the two, "You're right. Sorry for the outburst. That was rather rude."

"No need to apologize. I'm kinda frustrated too. Now let's get to Junior's!" Izuku said as he began to walk out of the alleyway before Shoto called to him, "His club's the other way!"

"The right way this time!" Izuku said as he went in the opposite direction he began to walk in just a moment earlier, Shoto and Tokoyami trailing behind him.

They soon arrived at their destination, a nightclub called "The Black Bear Den." Loud but muffled music could be heard echoing from within, an odd sense of dread hanging about the entrance, the lack of bouncers clearly giving away the fact that something wasn't quite right.

As they entered the club, they noticed the fact that several bodyguards in matching suits were unpacking various proportions of alcohol, as well as what looked to be what was probably a pair of sisters; likely twins, judging by their hair color; in dresses that matched in all but color, one in black and red whilst the other was in white and icy blue, were glaring particularly harshly towards someone at the main bar. When the three turned to see who they were glaring at, Izuku in particular was shocked to find Yang and Neptune on the patron side of the bar, confronting the man who looked to be a match for the man they were looking for.

But, said man obviously didn't appreciate having his conversation interrupted, yelling to his henchmen, "See them out!" Which caused the nearby thugs to draw their weapons and drew the girls attention towards them, their own weapons coming to bare as they joined the thugs that surrounded them.

"So... one of you wanna take these guys, or should I?" Tokoyami asked the other two as they stood back to back, to which Shoto replied, "Let Izuku take care of it. I've been meaning to see how the training's been coming along."

"But there's twenty of them!" Izuku objected.

"That's the point."

Izuku then sighed in defeat as he drew Gale from the magnetic sheath on his back while Shoto and Tokoyami walked towards the bar, various fighting noises coming from behind them.

"What the hell?! I said-"

"Don't bother calling for anyone else. I'm pretty sure all the guys you've got on hand are rather busy at the moment." Shoto said as he and Tokoyami sat down on bar stools next to Yang and Neptune, the leader quickly realizing that the former of the two looked quite different.

Her new outfit consisted of a deep-collared cream vest worn over a low cut black shirt; both were covered by a dark gray shrug with a raised collar, three-quarter sleeves adorned with a single black stripe down the outside of each sleeve with gold cuffs and a black miniskirt was worn under the cream vest. A pair of crooked black belts with gold accents were slung around her hip, with a purple piece of fabric attached to the left-rear section of the lower belt. She wore thigh high stockings attached to her miniskirt by garter-belts on the front and back of each thigh, decorated with four golden studs above her knee and her emblem on the outside of each thigh in gold. She also wore black ankle boots with multiple buckles and white ribbons on the back tied in a bow. Around her neck was a purple pendant set in silver.

Junior then sighed in defeat and turned once more to Yang and Neptune, saying, "Look, blondie, iceberg. I don't know how I can possibly tell you this so that you'll understand, but I'll repeat myself just this once. I haven't seen or even spoken with Torchwick since the night you came in here and wrecked the place. He paid up front for some temporary manpower, I lent him my guys, and none of them ever. Came. Back."

"Are you talking about these guys?" Shoto pulled out his scroll with a list of everyone who'd been arrested during one of Torchwick's heists a few months earlier. Junior took the scroll from Shoto's hands, his eyes widening in recognition as he said, "Yeah. This is them. But why are you showing me this?"

"They're currently being held in the local prison on the northeastern side of Vale. If you don't get them out of there within the next few weeks, they'll probably be transferred all over Remnant." Shoto stated blatantly, not even acknowledging Junior's question.

The aforementioned information lord then restated his question, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need something from you. Whether or not you'll get your guys back as a result of this deal, I don't really know or care." He then pulled out a dossier on Stain, or at least who he was before he became the enigma he was now, and continued, "I need everything you know on this guy," before he punched a spare thug out of the air without even looking, before shouting to Izuku, "Try to keep the fight over there please!"

"Sorry!" was Izuku's only reply before he brought Gale upwards to block the twin's respective weapons from slashing through his blazer.

Yang seemed to notice the difficulty he was having with the twins, and rose from her seat to help him out when she was stopped by Shoto when he grabbed her arm. "He needs to fight those two on his own. Don't worry, he'll win. They look to be easier than any of us were in Combat Class."

Yang opened her mouth to argue with the half and half leader before the howling of wind and the echo of buckshot shells caused the two pains in the ass that called themselves bodyguards to be smashed into the wall opposite the entrance of the club.

Izuku the snapped Gale to his back and walked over to the bar where the others currently sat with the exception of Yang, who he stopped in front of before awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

.

..

...

"So... the CCT?"

"Yeah... I'll explain that later." Yang said before she called to Neptune and walked over to the entrance, ready to leave the club before she yelled to Izuku, "Also, use your boots a little more. It should help you with your mobility problem."

Izuku promptly blushed as he nodded back to the blonde brawler before she and her slick companion waltzed out of the club with a look of frustration upon her normally rather cheery face. Shoto then gave his attention once more to Junior, his eyes once more widening in surprise as he read the dossier in detail. He then closed it and once more sighed heavily, telling Shoto, "Look, kid, I need to ask you something, and you gotta be honest with me, alright?"

"Sure."

"Why are you after this guy? He's a psychopath who's killed almost two hundred huntsmen. I can only think of two reasons for it, and neither of them are necessarily good. So, spill it."

There was a rather long pause between the two as he answered the information lord, "My friend's brother was one of his first victims. We're trying to catch him so that he can be properly incarcerated and hopefully never see the light of day ever again."

Junior then placed his head on one of his outstretched hands, muttering the phrase "Fuck it all," before he reached under the bar and pulled out what looked to be a map, and further explained, "This is all the places and weapon dealers he's gone to ever since he showed up in Vale. He's killed a lot of good people, and some of my guys were among his targets. Don't get killed." He then turned around and began to sort through the various alcohol bottles behind him, telling the three, "Now get out of here, before I change my mind."

Shoto then got up from the bar and left for the entrance with Izuku and Tokoyami trailing behind him the sound of a muffled explosion of shattering glass and the fading whirring of a Bullhead greeting them as they made their way back towards Beacon.

A/N: And that's a wrap! This chapter was going to be a lot longer than it is right now, but the only fight scene that actually made sense was the one where Bakugo kicked CRDL's collective asses in the arena, plus I felt that focusing too much on Izuku's tussle with the thugs and the Malachite sisters would've taken away from the main purpose of this chapter, which was to basically gather information on Stain.

Also, a couple of questions for you, who do you think the leader of Team TAKT is, and who do you think was the inspiration for Thoth? Let me know!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And as a bit of a treat for you guys, I've made profiles for Tokoyami and Stain! Here they are:

6-Tokoyami Fumikage

Age: 17

Race: Raven Faunus

BDay:10/30

Handedness: Ambidextrous

Hair: Black and Feathery

Eyes: Red

Blood Type: AB

Height: 5' 5 ¼"/ 165.735 cm

Gender: M

Semblance: Shadow, allows Tokoyami to animate and control his own sentient shadow, which becomes stronger but less controllable in darker places, while the vice versa is also true in the light.

Weapon: Celestial Legacy, a pair of basic flintlock daggers which, while not much, are incredibly deadly in the right hands.

Range: Close-Mid

Fighting Style: Tantojutsu

7-Stain/Chizome Akaguro

Age: 33

Race: Snake Faunus

BDay: N/A

Handedness: Right

Hair: Long and Black and Messy

Eyes: Red/Brown when normal

Blood Type: B

Height: N/A

Gender: M

Semblance: Bloodbind, allows Stain to bind a person in place with their own blood, though the effectiveness of this power can depend on several factors, including the number of people under the control of it, blood type, whether or not he's engaged in combat, etc.

Weapon: Bloody Reign, an odachi sized katana with a rough and worn-down edge and various bits taken off of the edge.

Range: Close

Fighting Style: Kenjutsu & Instinct

That's all for now, guys! See you in the next one!

Next Chapter: Oct 1st