December

The snow was stained red, indented by a body slumped down into a fetal position. A knife protruded out of the corpses neck, it wasn't a regular civilian either rather, a costumed hero who lay down in the snow without dignity. The body quickly froze over in the ice cold conditions, a figure watching on with muted disgust as his ally nearby called for help.

"Purge these fools, purge them now!"

"SOMEONE! HELP US PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET!" A cheetah faced hero screamed for help, his leg was bleeding and he could barely move.

Ignoring the desperate plight, "Purge these false idols Stain, your work IS NOT FINISHED YET. FOR THESE FAKE HEROES STILL ROAM ABOUT, MY BLADE STILL YEARNS." The macabre ridden man plunged down with his red eyes glowing, kicking snow into the air and revealing red eyes behind the mist. He shot across the ground at ridiculous speeds before raising a chipped katana into the air, his muscles contracting and pushing the blade hurtling down towards it's target. "And on this night! ANOTHER FAKE SHALL DIE."

*SHSHHKE!

They never stood a chance.


Standing at 6'4, Chizome Akaguro was not a happy man, nor a sane one. He wiped the blood clean off his blade, his body fitted with head to toe dark blood red body armor that left no skin in view, almost like a cyborg instead of a man with a helmet that had a flat dark visor covering his entire face. His weaponry held in various compartments and sheaths. This was Stain, the hero killer.

The hero killer would like to spit on these two bastard heroes he'd just culled, fakes the lot of them. Instead he moved on, walking forth in the snow undeterred by the cold. He need not rest, need not wait, need not recuperate for even a moment. Stain had a mission, one he'd uphold until his dying breath.

"Disgusting." He kicked one in the throat.


It took two hours before the two heroes were recovered, relatively low ranked heroes not even popular enough to make the news. Not that the government would allow any hero deaths to make the news, but regardless.

Stain was long gone, he'd hitched a ride in a van under the guise of a traveling mercenary. His next target was currently in Tokyo, a dangerous city to act in but unfortunately where most of his targets were.

One of the 1A brats… Recalling them initiated a smoldering rage inside, especially at their explosive leader, he could still feel the burning pain from their last encounter all those years ago. He crumpled the image of his target in his hands, tossing it to the floor of the truck bed.

"You will taste my sword…" his muttering caught the attention of the driver, he'd been cautiously glancing back at the sword wielding man this entire time.

"Er, sir. Are you okay back there?" A slight nod.

"Just keep driving."

"Alright alright, cut my head off will ya?"

"I'd never do such a thing to an innocent."

The phrasing of that sentence spooked the driver, but he tried to ignore it. The snowy view of Tokyo coming into view, the man shook his head.


Somewhere deep in Tokyo…

Weaving under the blow, the fist flies over his body at incredible speeds leaving a cascading gust in the wind following the trajectory of the punch. Rippling muscles contracted in an instant, he shot a fist of his own out into a violent right cross, sweat glistening off his fist as it impacted into the side of his opponent who lurched away with a gasping groan.

The smaller figure performed a small flip backwards and bent his knees to stick the landing, his left fist cocking back like a rifle preparing to fire before firing out like a cannon. It was bait and the hulking behemoth of an opponent he was fighting against fell for it, putting up his block with a panicked urgency. Instantly canceling the momentum of his punch; he jumped into the air and rotated a dozen times in a second, building rotational energy with each rotation, the world slowed to a stop, the crowd was silent and the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.

With a yell, he finally swung his leg at breakneck speeds, slamming his soles against his opponent which elicited a visible shockwave, the force behind his blow was so mighty that even though his opponent had a rock hard body, he went flying through the air and slid across the ground before crashing into a wall with a large thud.

Breathing heavily, the victorious man stood tall at the center of the ring, his muscled body glistening with sweat, a light warm up. The crowd roared after he bowed with his fist against his palm.

"ANNDDD THAT'S ANOTHER ONE DOWN! CAN NO ONE BEAT HIM? OUR VERY OWN SPIDER-MAN?" The man in question shook his head at the theatrics, his face covered by a weird mask that resembled a spider, he looked like a budget pro wrestler with his outfit having a spider insignia on it.

The ringleader of the underground fight club whistled at him, "Here ya go kid, 50000 yen." The man sputtered as a string of web shot out and grabbed the stack of money from him, the masked man left without a word.


It had been a month since Izuku got his powers, and in all the time since he'd grown with them every day, becoming more and more proficient. He decided to keep them secret for the time being, he needed more time to consider who he'd tell and after being quirkless for so long, having one suddenly would attract a lot of attention.

In the time he'd spent, Izuku had gotten used to Tokyo, the bustling city was a far cry from Musustafu, but he actually liked it better. It was exhilarating, heroes around every corner in the major metropolitan city… Izuku had never seen so many in his life, not since before Jaku. Izuku constantly wrote to his mother, never mentioning that he attended underground fighting rings of course.

As he leapt onto the side of a building after getting dressed for the weather, Izuku watched as the man he just defeated was carried out in a stretcher to the small medical building across the street. He sighed and continued on, his legs carrying him across the rooftops at high speeds. Something that had become a fun pastime for the superpowered Izuku, but right now he was in turmoil.

He thought back to all the people he's been hurting, it was a combat sport so obviously people would get hurt but Izuku could never forget his first match… He'd badly injured someone without knowing the true extents of his strength, with a full forced punch he could easily shatter someone into bits from the pure concussive force, with a strong punch he could create gusts of wind strong enough to knock a man down. Izuku swore to never use his full strength against a human unless it was life or death.

Izuku couldn't help it, his body burned with energy and the urge to fight, and plus, it was an easy source of income. It gave him a steady source of confidence, he was stronger than men 5 times his size now and he reveled in the fact… It was payback for all those years he spent getting pushed around by others, he wouldn't let himself get bullied by anyone, not anymore.

Regardless, Izuku had all the time to contemplate his life from the skytree, his favorite place in all of Tokyo, being up high was a natural urge for the young man. The snow capped rooftops were beautiful with the moon reflecting off them so ephemerally, like a white covered painting.

Sneezing, Izuku rubbed his nose. Up so high in this climate wasn't helpful, his layered clothing along with his gloves and scarf doing little to protect him from the cold. As amazing as his new powers were, they didn't prevent him from freezing.

But, they might let him do something else.

'These webs of mine are strong, strong enough to hold me… Theoretically I could…'

Izuku stepped on the railing, his body facing the rest of Tokyo and embracing the wind. 'Alright, you've thought of this dozens of times before, you can do this!' he psyched himself up in his mind, his body shaking from excitement.

Turning around, Izuku closed his eyes. Spreading his arms out, it was time to test a theory of his. These spider webs he produced out of his wrists were basically an idealized version of his web shooters, and he just knew that they could be used for something special…

Breathe….

Breathe…

Breathe...

He jumped.

Eyes still closed, Izuku felt the wind crashing against his back, the bone chilling air biting against him and so his heart beated twice as fast to match. It was magical in a sense to feel like this, to trust one's instincts so naturally and to feel them coursing through your body without ever leading you astray.

Falling perpendicular to the ground, Izuku felt the world move by in slow motion, watching as the upside down view of a snowy Tokyo skyline imprinted itself into his memory like a work of art unreplicatable by any means, Izuku fluttered his eyes open…

Finally, with a flick of the wrist his web line shot out like a bullet from a rifle and attached to another building in a split second. The web line easily held up his body weight and utilized his momentum from reaching terminal velocity, he yelled in excitement as he dropped down faster and faster, his iron grip refusing to budge as G forces bombarded his body.

"WOOOHHOOOOO." He soared through the skyline at incredible speeds, kicking forward with his legs to push himself that much further and faster, Izuku sling shotted himself into the air and leaned backwards as he reached the precipice of his flight, his chest facing the sky, he sprawled out in the air with a resounding cheer before gravity took affect. Floating in the air for a second or a two with his hands outstretched, Izuku's bleeding emerald eyes absorbed the full moon above him with a smile on his face; a gorgeous sight!

It was freedom to move like this, Izuku had always been constrained to the normal of humanity, living amongst the ground and being stuck there naturally, but with these powers?

"I am FREE!"

Thwip!

"YEAHHH!" He pulled himself rightwards with his arm muscles rippling, easily exerting enough force to pull him through the air. Izuku ran across a building for a second or two with a burst of athleticism propelling him forth, suddenly he surged into the air with a mighty leap. Flicking his wrist and shooting a web, he grabbed on with both hands before shooting out another, swinging between buildings at high speeds.

Swinging into another building, Izuku ran up while still holding onto the web he created before jumping straight off and plunging through the air with a quick twist of the body.

Thwip!

Slingshotting himself around a building to the left, Izuku shot through the air like a missile, flipping several times while he moved before gravity took effect once more and he had to shoot out another webline, swinging for, Izuku kicked out as he reached the apex of his climb.

Izuku did a double frontflip before landing on his hands, keeping his momentum, the green haired man pushed himself up with a mighty shove against the roof, soaring into the air feet first with a mighty handspring; he slid down the horizontal roof of the building after hurdling over the rail, jumping as he reached the ledge.

Thwip!

With a flick of both wrists, Izuku pulled himself forward through a tight alleyway, his body barely fitting through the tight fit. Vaulting and hurdling, Izuku moved over porches and scaffolding at immense speeds. With a final handspring, Izuku exited the alley with a triumphant twirl. Side flipping over traffic, Izuku cleared the street in a single bound.

The world slowed to a crawl, the lights of the streets and cars below shimmering in the background as he flew over with a smile and a quick twirl.

Jumping back and forth between buildings and exponentially upping his speed every time, Izuku finally reaches the center of the two perpendicular buildings of equal height. Flicking his wrists out, two web lines attached to each building, the lines bent when Izuku fell back to the earth and shuddered with elastic energy. After reaching the street, Izuku grinned at the center of an intersection for a split second before being catapulted into the sky, reaching the low hanging clouds in a single second.

Feeling his phone vibrate, Izuku propped his left leg up and checked his text messages, still soaring high into the sky before gravity took effect.

meli: Hey tiger, where are you at? 7:34pm

meli: Are you safe?

Now.

Me: Yeah, I'm safe, are you alright Meli?

Now.

meli 3: Ok good:), yeah I'm fine silly it's you I'm worried about.

Now.

Thwip!

He swung over to a building and perched atop it, his heart rate lowering as he continued to text.

Me: What are you up to then? Nothing illegal right?

Now.

meli: Of course not you jerk, just having a calm nightly walk at Oshinari, thank you!

Now.

Me: Need some company?

Now.

meli: sure

Now.


Izuku saw her sitting on a bench from his perch, mittons, a white snow jacket, a scarf, and a cute beanie with floppy sides. She was gorgeous in this winter snow, she always was. The bespectacled woman turned his innards to mush, Izuku felt at peace with her around. Swinging close, Izuku slowly descended from above and dropped behind her without a sound. Athletically vaulting over the bench and taking a seat right next to her; she wasn't shocked.

Sitting a respectable distance away, Izuku waved. "Yo." He'd gotten considerably more relaxed around her than when they first met.

She looked at him with those beautiful sapphire eyes of hers, "Hey tiger, fancy seeing you in these parts." She snarked, only this time Izuku snarked back.

"Don't get used to it, I'm pretty working for David Shield, inventing and stuff. Not that you'd know anything about that." He chuckled when he felt a light punch on his side, his sarcastic streak was a surprise for both of them after he discovered it.

"Rude, next time you're paying for sushi." He sputtered, she ignored his plight with a haughty smirk. Izuku quickly recollected himself, shrugging and reapplying his smile.

She shifted closer to him, "Darn, but it's not a problem for me, you do love sushi after a-all" His slightly awkward words caused Melissa to flush deeply despite their relatively innocent implications, emphasized more by the cold bone chilling weather they found themselves in.

"Well…" she trailed off.

"I-it's a beautiful sight tonight, isn't it?" Changing the subject, Melissa reigned on her flush.

"Yeah, it doesn't snow too often here so I'm glad you got to experience one of the rare times it does…"

The greenette smiled warmly at her, bringing a gentle silence. They sat in that silence for a bit, alone in the park at 10 pm at night with temps reaching near freezing levels. Izuku noticed her shudders, the cold obviously getting to her.

'Maybe I could…' a month ago, he'd be deathly afraid to even consider this action; he wanted to prove his newfound confidence that he'd acquired around her over the last month, he was still socially awkward around others but with her? Everything just… clicked.

Shifting, Izuku sat right next to Melissa, slipping his arm over and around her shoulder, he pulled the gorgeous and intelligent woman tight to him and shared his warmth. She looked up to him in shock, feeling his breath on her cheeks as she flushed further.

He offered her a small grin, "You're c-cold right?" She replied with a mere smile, leaning into his embrace and sharing his warmth, her head falling on his shoulder, she sighed contently. Izuku felt his body jolt, being this close to the woman he liked was intoxicating.

They remained like that for a few minutes, watching the snowflakes fall at their leisure. But something was on the blond woman's mind, Izuku could practically sense the question.

"Izuku?" Melissa whispered his name. Izuku hummed in response, too relaxed to speak.

"Aren't you scared for other people?" She asked him, her voice quiet all of the sudden. Izuku nodded, he'd seen the news after all.

"The meta liberation army… it's attacks in the states are only growing more numerous every day…" Melissa shivered against him, her face contorting with sadness at the fact her home country was in such chaos.

"There's nothing we can do about it, Meli." Izuku said, his emerald green eyes staring off into the distance. The heroes would handle it, they had to… but he sensed that she was also afraid of something else.

"We could help fight against them! Just like my father! Those savages will do anything to get what they want..." Ah, she had a history with them...

'I won't pry into her history... But I can promise one thing...'

"I don't have the best way with words, but I can say this, as long as I'm around, I'll never let anything hurt you, so don't worry about them alright?" He flushed at his own declaration, coughing and adjusting his scarf slightly.

"I'll take your word for it, but I feel like the world is going crazy right now, heroes and villains alike. "

On the topic… "I don't get why, but the heroes of the world look aimless to me now. Heck, the top hero in America is just a corporate mascot." Melissa stared up at his focused face, pulling up her scarf slightly to savor warmth as she huffed out her frustration.

"Captain Celebrity?" A tilt of the head.

"Yea, I met him once, total doofus who only cares about publicity." Melissa said, ragging on her number one hero.

He chuckled to himself, "Ever since I was a kid, all anyone ever wanted to be was a hero, the world seemed… Brighter back then, but now?" Izuku sighed, holding his right hand and inspecting it.

"I couldn't see myself becoming a hero, not anymore, not like that." Not to mention, it was highly improbable. He smiled at his realization of the future, finally he had an answer to that question he asked himself… What were these powers for? Did it really matter? Money and transportation, he wanted to take care of his mother by himself one day after all...

"Agreed, wouldn't want you risking that brain of yours fighting criminals anyways." And plus, all heroes were government employees now, and Izuku definitely didn't want to be micromanaged like that…

But… "Do you think… In some world, maybe one not so different from our own, that a true hero existed?" Izuku asked himself mostly, for some reason his brain was fixated on this idea.

"You mean, like superman?" Izuku snorted at her innocent question, Melissa was actually an avid fan of comic books and specifically superman.

"Yeah, like him, saving innocents with a smile and never faltering against his beliefs. That kind of hero, do you think he could actually exist?" He locked eyes with her. Izuku was serious, his freckled face pleading for her response.

A shrug, "Maybe, but I don't think we create heroes like that… Too prideful, Superman would throw up at the sight of the heroes we got right now." Izuku sighed at her answer, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What if someone had acquired a quirk, someone who was formerly quirkless?" He postulated further, stifling a smile at her initially shocked face.

"Er, well that's not possible firstly, secondly… Yeah." Izuku's posture straightened, his body warming up.

"I do think a quirkless person would be a good hero, a huge part of superman is him relating to the common man like us you know?" Said Melissa, still snuggling into his side.

Izuku's eyes shimmered, for only a small second.

"Maybe, that's what we need actually… A hero for the people." She yawned, shutting her eyes drowsily.

"A hero… for the people." Izuku said, repeating his best friend.

He didn't know what to think about that, and he didn't know what to think about the sudden influx of dread that flooded his heart.