Disclaimer: I don't own this fandom, or its fans, or its ideas, or its characters, or...you get it.
AN: Two in a row to make up for my laziness. It WILL be finished, don't you worry. I'll get there, evetually. So, when you can, enjoy!
Chapter 14: Intense Internships
Manual was a modest kind of hero, one good enough to keep his name on the radar, but also stay humble and just as busy as he wanted to be. He was in with an organization close to Hosu which sustained a gaggle of sidekicks, interns, and fresh pros. It was a transition space, perfectly calm, but still busy enough to build everyone's skillset. Manual was like a captain there, edging into the experience of an average to slightly above average pro. That's why, even with the sign-up warning, he was shocked to see them there. Thought it was a wasted opportunity.
They stuck mostly to patrols and low-level arrests, occasionally spending time in the pro's training yard. Manual taught them some mixed martial arts so they could take down criminals faster and with less of a risk. He even gave them tips on their own training after learning what effects their quirks had.
He told Izuki to improve her ranged attacks because it was a terrible idea to have only close-combat in the bag. That wasn't as much of a problem for Tenya because of his speed, so Manual taught him a few moves that could be improved by Tenya's boosts into power attacks. Izuki also secretly trained herself a bit in speed, because like Manual said, she'd previously been focusing on close-combat which relied too much on her quirk.
Tenya admitted to coming for revenge after a lesson on the fact that heroes never succeed alone, and Manual appeared to have known the entire time. But he sent Izuki a once over, like he also knew Tenya hadn't a reason for revenge anymore if she was there. Ingenium's fight with the Herokiller also meant the villain was less likely to return to Hosu since the streets would be crawling with pros.
…
They ran into Stain anyway.
They'd been patrolling with Manual's assistant at the time, watching out normally alone one random block. Tenya, who'd was standing closer to the side with a plethora of alley-ways, caught the scream. But the building ahead was full of screeching too. The beginnings of a fire was clawing at the metal structure.
The assistant ordered them down the alley, and sprinted to help with the flames. Izuki guarded Tenya's back, skimming the pavement with a fast pace. He kept his engine boosts to a minimum so they could fight together if it came to it. In a back alley with far too many shadows, there was the Herokiller.
He crouched over a half-bloodied man, grinning from ear to ear. He welcomed them as they came, spinning with inhuman grace.
"Well hello there little ones, I hope you don't dream of being heroes." He spat the last word like he was choking, and slinked just slightly passed his immobilized victim. Blackish blood fell from his blades, and his eyes flashed with bloodlust. His killing intent slowed their sprint to a crawl.
They split apart, hoping he couldn't be two places at once. Without hesitation, the killer targeted Tenya, looking at his likeness in disgust.
"My, you sure do look a lot like someone else I know. How is Ingenium anyway?" Izuki knew he was baiting Tenya, and she hoped the speedster could see that too. Believing in her friend's ability, she aimed to get the drop on Stain. She darted quietly forward, taking a knife from her utility belt. She used it to block his blades, attempting for a hit while Tenya distracted him with a kick.
The vigilante ducked away into an expert roll, repositioning his knives. Stain's grin grew impossibly wicked as he held up one of his swords to flicker his tongue over it, licking it clean. Izuki shivered violently, and Tenya took a step back. They shared a glance and kicked off once again, using the close-quartered walls to their advantage.
Izuki faced the Herokiller from the front, Tenya preparing to flip over and around to cover his back. They were hoping to keep him caged long enough to guarantee professional help, and keep his victim alive. Izuki went in to swipe at Stain's ankle and Tenya jumped beyond him, and it seemed as if everything else happened in slow motion.
Stain used his left-most sword to block Izuki's attack, and spun with his other arm to stab his opposing blade in Tenya's thigh. Then, he flung the speedster into the wall of the alley and turned back to slice at Izuki. Shocked and worried, she could barely just dodge. And then, just as Tenya was picking himself up, Stain drank the red from his sword again, and Tenya was frozen.
Izuki began analyzing his quirk in her head. Something that paralyzes his victims. Did it require the blood, or did he just need to touch them with the blade? Tenya had only frozen after he licked it, so it was the blood then. Izuki had a priority now. Don't bleed.
Since Stain no longer needed to balance divide his attention, he could focus on Izuki, and Izuki could thank Manual for pushing her to develop a ranged attack. Stain's quirk meant she couldn't get in close, and her quirk required that she would, so she would've been dead meat if it wasn't for that chill pro.
She used the pressure in her nerve endings to attach to the wall, glad she hadn't put on gloves for this fight. It was harder to spring around the alley with the constant swinging of Stain's blades, and Izuki started to wish she didn't have boots either. It'd be much faster.
Stain swung to where his swords just barely missed the cement on the walls, so they got no duller, and his grin stayed just as wicked strike after strike. After what might've been two minutes, Izuki noticed something odd. Tenya was twitching. She hid a smirk. His quirk had a time limit.
Trying to distract the Herokiller from Tenya unfreezing, she prepared her ranged attack. It was something she'd come up with when Hitoshi had told her about how she'd described her quirk. He'd said it wasn't originally anything to do with nerves, but synapse. Meaning she was supposed to target people's brains from the start. And she'd wanted to try doing so for a while but hadn't had the chance against an opponent. So she did now, momentarily stopping to meet Stain's gaze.
Then she focused, pulling her quirk energy into her brain and projecting it outward toward his amygdala, the part of the brain that registered pain and emotion. Stain's irises sparkled with a hint of something, and he was slowed for half a terrible second, swords arching upward to her location. She sent a stronger wave of energy instead of dodging, hoping her power would be just enough to make him fumble. It wasn't.
Izuki sprung away too late and the tip of the blade grazed her arm, sending a stream of blood onto the ground. She panic-rolled back from his range and clamped a hand over the wound. Herokiller grinned and Tenya twitched and Izuki inched back. Slowly, racing against each other, Tenya pushed himself up and Stain snapped out his tongue. Izuki watched as Tenya sweep-kicked from the ground just as Stain reached the blood.
Nothing happened.
Izuki didn't freeze, Tenya's kick didn't hit, and Stain got every last drop of red from his sword once again at the same time as dodging. He looked confused for a moment, when nothing happened. Izuki smirked.
"Hope you like suppressants." Stain's eyes flashed with something and his bloodlust charged with suffering intensity. Then, something Izuki hadn't predicted happened.
With a shiver down his spine, the Herokiller collapsed, taking a second more before he was turned into a writhing mass of limbs. Tenya and Izuki stared. Her blood had given the vigilante seizures. Izuki's brows pulled together.
What, exactly, was in it?
AN: Hint: it wasn't just the suppressants. There are a few mysterious things about Izuki I haven't touched on yet, because even she doesn't know them yet. Gotta make things interesting. Thanks for reading!