AN: FINALLY! I am SO sorry for the delay. I had trouble trying to figure out how to do this chapter. I have no excuse as to why this took so long.
Also, my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine, all of whom are going through an unimaginable experience. Let us all pray that the madness of Putin stops before it takes too many lives.
Anyway, on that "fun" note, let's get to the chapter. And again, I'm sorry it took so long to get it up. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
"What the hell is going on!?" Liana exclaimed. The Black Knight agency was patrolling through the streets, chatting among themselves, when the first explosions sounded off in the distance.
Zero quickly tapped the headset within his helmet. "This is Zero, what's the situation?"
What he got was several garbled messages at the same time.
"The whole block is on fire-"
"We need back up!"
"Confirm the presence of fourth Nomu-"
"Fourth!?" Zero exclaimed. He had read about the Nomu that appeared at the USJ. If there were four of those things here…
*BOOM!*
The sudden explosion broke him out of his thoughts. The blast originated from a nearby building, where a car (one that was thankfully empty) had been thrown in the air. Guren quickly ran up, her left arm elongated, turning red and black. "Get back!" She yelled at the others as orange, radioactive energy began to permeate around her transformed arm. Guren hit the car, partially melting it and sending it off to the side, safely away from the crowd.
"What the hell caused that!?" One of the sidekicks exclaimed.
Suddenly, something pushed through the building, this one black with four arms, red scars all over its body, ram horns, and one eye. Behind it was another dark gray Nomu. Unlike all the other Nomu, this one was deathly thin, to the point where one could make out its ribcage, with two long, thin arms that end in two-finger hands. The imp Nomu let out what sounded like a laugh as it tore apart a car, throwing the dismembered pieces without care.
"NOMU!?" Liana and Setsuna exclaimed.
"Those are Nomu?" One of the sidekicks asked. "They're even uglier than I thought they be."
"Focus, Tamaki!"
Pawing its hooved foot on the ground, the ram Nomu charged forward, lowering its head as sparks of electricity danced off its horns.
"Look out!"
The heroes jumped out of the Nomu's way. The beast continued to charge forward, plowing away anything that was in its path before it crashed into an adjacent building.
'Looks like it can only charge forward like that,' Zero noted. "Crossbone, Lizardy, we'll handle this! You go help evacuate the civilians!" Zero ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
The two girls ran off, Liana glaring back for a moment before continuing. The ram Nomu roared as it burst out of the holding it crashed into, fires beginning to spread.
"Water Hazard! Stop the fire!"
"On it!" Cynthia rushed to the nearest flames and raised her arms. Two torrents of presumed water fired from ports on her hands, using her Quirk to increase the range of the water to douse as much of the flames as possible.
Cynthia Fenette AKA Water Hazard. Quirk, Hydro. She can manipulate water molecules, having complete control over anything liquid or made of water, but she can lose control if she isn't concentrating.
The ram Nomu noticed Cynthia and prepared to charge her, but Guren got in-between them. "Like hell, I'm letting you touch her!"
Kallen's claws glowed brightly as she then began to furiously swipe at the Nomu. "Radiant Claws!" Kallen clawed across the air at the Nomu, scoring strike after strike after strike after strike, pushing the beast back and leaving festering, boiling wounds in its chest, the monster screaming in pain.
Kallen Kozuki-Lamperouge AKA Radiant Hero: Guren. Quirk, Demonic Claws. Her left arm can turn into a demon's, capable of generating heat energy that can burn and/or melt anything it touches.
The Nomu seemingly had enough, swiping its arm to push Guren back. But the red-haired pro avoided the swipe and, channeling large amounts of energy in her transformed arm, grabbed the Nomu's head. The beast roared in pain as a massive surge of thermal energy shot throughout its body, which began to glow and melt due to the intense heat, before it suddenly went silent and collapsed to the ground, dead.
Zero, meanwhile, was dealing with the imp Nomu, which easily jumped and avoided any of his swords swings. It continued to make the laughing sound, seemingly amused by Zero's efforts. Zero wasn't sure if it truly was laughing or if it was just simply making a sound that was like laughter. Either way, he had just about enough of this.
Acting quickly, Zero raised his arm as the imp Nomu landed on a car. Suddenly, its arm began to twist in ways that it shouldn't, yet the Nomu didn't seem to react as Zero movie his hands in intricate ways, causing the Nomu's body to twist and contort in ways no human being should move, ending in the Nomu's body being twisted, all the while it continued to show no reaction.
Lelouch Lamperouge AKA Zero. Quirk, Bone Control. He can control the bones of anyone within 20 meters of him, controlling them like puppets. Talk about creepy.
'It's not reacting all?' Lelouch thought in surprise. When he usually used her Quirk on criminals, they always screamed in pain. The Nomu didn't show any sign it was in pain at all. Not to mention there didn't seem to be any blood. Acting on a hunch, Zero pulled out a pistol and fired several shots into the Nomu's head.
The Nomu finally stopped laughing and collapsed to the ground, dead. But then it began to disintegrate, turning into a puff of smoke in a few seconds. "I thought so, a cloning or duplication Quirk," Zero muttered. "This isn't the original. It's still out in the city somewhere."
"How are we supposed to find your classmate?" Nejire asked, she, Izuku, and Milia looking for Iida.
"We'll have to split up, cover more ground!" Izuku said.
"Is that a good idea?" Milia asked.
"It's the only way to find Iida in time." Izuku didn't even wait for Nejire or Milia's responses as he had already flown off. Nejire did so as well, going in the opposite direction, while Milia continued ahead.
Iida's engines activated and he swung a kick at Stain. But the Hero Killer swiftly and easily jumped up and dodged the kick. But Iida counted on this as he quickly made for Native, only to just barely dodge several thrown knives. One knife managed to cut through his armor, piercing his arm, causing Iida the hiss, but he ignored the pain. Grabbing Native, Iida sped away, the knife having dislodged from his arm in the process.
'I have to get Naive to safety,' Iida thought as he neared the exit to the alley. Suddenly, the muscles in his arms and legs stopped and he fell to the ground. 'What!?'
Iida and Native tumbled to the ground, the former's glasses breaking as he fell. Iida grunted as he tried to move, but couldn't.
"Native, status!"
"Alive, but still can't move," Native grunted, having landed against a nearby wall.
Iida struggled to move but found himself unable to. He couldn't even activate his engines. 'What's happening!? Why can't I move?!' That's when he realized, the knife that had hit his arm. Was that somehow the cause of this sudden paralysis?
"You still have much to learn," Stain said, walking ups to the two paralyzed men. "Had you been more experienced, you could've avoided my knife earlier. You have the potential to be a true hero, boy, which is why I'll spare you."
Iida growled, unable to look the Villain in the eyes. "Why do this? Why attack Native? Why attack my brother?!"
"The word 'hero' has been corrupted by filth like them," Stain replied. "The allure of fame and fortune has tainted the pure altruism that should be the only motivation for any true Hero. Only men like All Might, who stand above such petty motivations, can be worthy of the title."
"How has Native 'corrupted' the title?!" Iida roared. "How did my brother?! Or any of the other heroes you've butchered?!"
Seemingly magnanimous in victory, Stain stopped in front of Iida. "Your brother has a decent record of saving people, hence why I allowed him to live. However, he was tainted by materialism. Sponsorship deals and commercial appearances that detract from the goal. The same as with the rest of those fakes, some more than others. I'm sure you've heard of Silver Falcom, right?"
Iida stopped struggling for a moment. He had heard about the former hero Silver Falcon, and what he had done. But still… "That doesn't mean every hero who isn't All Might is like him!" Iida rebutted.
Stain did not seem to pay attention to him as he began to walk towards Native, but before he could reach the down Pro he stopped as if he had heard-
"SMASH!"
Suddenly, Stain was sent flying away from him as something hit his head, the sword clanging as it was ripped from his hand and fell to the ground.
Iida gasped as a figure landed in front of him. "Get away from him!" The new arrival shouted. For a second, just a mad second, he thought that his brother had somehow managed to come to his rescue, but a blink allowed him to see the green costume of his savior.
"Mi… Midoriya?"
"It's alright, Iida. I'm here to help!" Izuku reassured.
Stain shook his head, shaking off the concussion he was feeling as he looked up to see Izuku. Stain immediately recognized him. 'It's him. He's the winner of the sports festival, the kid in Shigaraki's photo…'
"You found him, too? But how?" Iida asked, still bleeding from the shoulder.
"I heard about Stain on the news. They even had some of the Hero Killer's stats. Most of his victims were found where there weren't many people. So I figured the best place to start looking is the back alleys of Hosu," Izuku said, glaring at Stain. But that's when he noticed the injured pro. 'That's Native! Why's he here?'
"We need to get Native out of here, Iida," Izuku said to his friend, not taking his eyes off Stain.
"I… I can't move," Iida grunted in frustration, surprising Izuku. "Not since he cut my body. It must be his Quirk!"
Izuku's eyes widened. "Just like what theorists said about the Hero Killer." He said, before turning back to Stain. 'Crap. If it was just Iida I could easily carry him out of here, but it'll be a little hard to carry the both of them, especially if Stain comes after us.'
"Midoriya, please! Get Native out of here," Iida pleaded, breaking the green-haired devil out of his thoughts. Izuku turned his head to give a side glance at his friend. Shock and confusion were written on his face as to what he said. "Forget about me and run!"
"I can't just leave you!" Izuku retorted.
"Quite the conundrum you've found yourself in," Stain replied, getting Izuku's attention. "You made a flashy entrance, but now the friend you came to save has told you to save someone else. What will you do?" Stain asked. "Will you take the fake and run, leaving your friend behind? Or will you stay and fight? Either way, it is inevitable that the weaker of us will be culled. Now, what will you do?"
Izuku flinched as he felt Stain's killing intent as well as those eyes glaring at him with no hesitation in his actions. 'He's different from every else I fought before,' Izuku thought, glaring as he fished out his phone. 'Stain… he has clear conviction.'
[What will you do, partner?] Ddraig asked as Izuku discreetly put away his phone.
"What I came here to do," Izuku answered. "It's like All Might says, meddling when you aren't needed is the essence of a hero. And right now how could I ever call myself a hero if I didn't try to save those before me?"
Itsuka bolted away from Lailah as fast as she could, not wanting to even risk fighting her. Lailah, for her part, gave an amused laugh as Itsuka ran. "I love it when they play hard to get."
Lailah casually threw the light spear at Itsuka. The girl, moving as fast as her legs could carry her, narrowly avoided the impact from the light spear before it exploded, the force of which sent her flying down the alley.
Standing up, Itsuka hurriedly pulled out her phone. She needed to call for help, now! But she couldn't get the chance as a small projectile of light hit the phone, destroying it. "Now now," Lailah wagged her finger. "Let's just keep this between us girls."
"Hey, Fumi, your phone's buzzing."
"I am aware," Tokoyami said. "I'll have to check it after we deal with this crisis."
"Tsukuyomi! Let's go!" Called out one of Hawks' sidekicks.
Liana and Setsuna had found themselves at Hosu General Hospital, helping any injured that came in. They were near the entrance, looking at the billowing smoke and orange glow with worry. Setsuna glanced over at Liana. Though the girl didn't show it, Setsuna could tell that she was worried for her family.
"I'm sure your parents and sis are fine, Liana," Setsuna reassured.
"Yeah," Liana nodded.
"Kozuki! Setsuna!"
The aforementioned girls looked up to see Milia running towards them.
"Takamaki," Liana said in surprise. "Why are you here?"
"I'm looking for Iida. Have either of you seen him?"
"Iida?" Setsuna questioned. "You mean the tall guy with glasses and a stick up his ass?"
"We haven't seen him," Liana answered. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Izuku and I ran into the hero Iida's interning with and he said that Iida ran off," Milia answered, surprising the two.
"He ran off?" Liana asked. "That doesn't sound like Iida at all. Why would he…" she trailed off, slowly realizing why. "Stain… He went after the Hero Killer?!"
"What?!" Setsuna exclaimed.
Before the two could process this information, Milia, Setsuna, and Liana's phones all suddenly pinged. Milia pulled her phone out from one of her fanny packs and saw that Izuku had sent out his location in Hosu… and that's it. "Huh? Why would Izuku…" she trailed off, dread slowly taking over, realizing that Izuku wasn't able to send a message… because he can't send one.
'No…nononono.'
Liana and Setsuna's faces paled as well, having reached a similar conclusion. In moments, the three ran off. As they ran, Milia dialed a number on her phone. She couldn't get Ryukyu as she was likely still dealing with the Nomu, that left Nejire-senpai. "Please pick up," Milia muttered as she called. After four rings, it went to voicemail. She knew Nejire didn't leave it at the agency, so she must've either put it on silent or was busy. "Senpai, when you get this message, head to 4210 Ekou Street! Bring any pros you find. Hurry!"
"And right now how could I ever call myself a hero if I didn't try to save those before me?"
Stain's eyes lit up at Izuku's declaration. His lips pulled upwards in a smile. "Ahh… Good!" Stain moved first, dashing forward his sword poised to slash him across his chest.
Izuku, activating Dragon Veil, charged at Stain, veering to the left. 'I need to get past his sword,' he thought, readying a Dragon Shot.
Stain grinned, realizing Izuku's strategy. 'He's trying to get in close so I can't strike him. Smart move.' But not smart enough. When he swung at Izuku, he grabbed a dagger for a counter-attack.
"5%… San Fransisco Dragon Shot!" Izuku fired the enhanced Dragon Shot at the Hero Killer, but Stain easily dodged the attack while he closed in, chucking the dagger at Izuku, who, thanks to One For All still roaring through his body, snatched it out of the air by the blade with the Boosted Gear gauntlet. Izuku quickly crushed the blade in his hand before looking back at Stain but was surprised to see he had already cleared the distance once more, blade swinging down in a vicious slash. Without thinking he raised his Sacred Gear to block the strike, Stain's chipped blade sliding down the gauntlet before slipping off and cutting into Izuku's costume.
Izuku didn't notice, though. With a sudden push, he was able to force the murderer away, but Stain quickly retaliated by attacking with another dagger. Izuku managed to avoid it by jumping over the Hero Killer, taking advantage of both his wings and of the move.
[Boost!]
"5% doubled… Dragon Smash!" Izuku landed the Smash on Stain's head, sending him down to the ground with a thud.
Izuku stayed in the air as he observed Stain, who was somehow still conscious. 'That should've knocked him out,' Izuku thought. 'I'll keep to the air. That way I can avoid his attacks more easily.'
However, Stain grinned as he licked a small drop of blood that was on his sword. Izuku suddenly lost feeling throughout his body as he fell to the ground, paralyzed. 'What!? How…?' It was then that Izuku felt a slight discomfort on his left arm and turned his eyes towards it. To his shock, right above where his Boosted Gear ends, was a small cut in his costume with a tiny amount of blood leaking from it.
"W-What the… That's all it took?!" Izuku grunted as he tried to move his body. Hearing footsteps, Izuku turned his eyes to see Stain standing back up again.
But then something caught Izuku's attention. It was the small speck of blood that the chipped sword had on it.
Izuku's eyes widened in horror. 'No… It's the blood!'
"You're not bad, but you made a mistake," coughed Stain. "You let me get too close. You also lowered your guard when I was down. That was quite a powerful blow," Stain admitted. "Enough to knock most people out. But not enough for one with such convictions like me. There are countless so-called 'heroes' who are all talk, but you and your friend are worth letting live. But the filth of this generation will stain you, him, and all of your cohort. So I will stain my own hands to keep yours clean."
Stain walked toward Native, readying his sword, with Izuku and Iida helpless to stop him. But then, just as Stain was about to end Native's life, a torrent of flames was shot towards him, forcing the villain to jump back to dodge the attack. "Even more children determined to get in my way." Stain growled in annoyance. "Today has been full of distractions."
"Midoriya, you need to give more details in times like this. We were almost too late to stop this guy," said Todoroki, holding up her phone. Next to her were Milia, Liana, and Setsuna.
"Todoroki, Kozuki, Tokage, and Takamaki?" Iida muttered in shock.
Izuku grinned, even while paralyzed and stuck to the ground. "I'm glad you guys came."
Iida looked to Izuku as best he could. "You knew they were here?"
"The heroes we're all interning with are part of the hunt for Stain," Liana quickly explained.
"We'll discuss the details later," said Todoroki, not taking her eyes off of their opponent for a second as the flames on her left side dwindled. "Next time, try to send more than just your specific location, Midoriya. But you're not really one to send cryptic messages without a reason, are you?" From her right foot, a large patch of ice rushed towards the Hero Killer. He dodged, but what had been done was done. The ice crawled under Native and Izuku, lifting them both.
"We figured out that you needed some help when we realized what must've happened," Liana finished explaining as Todoroki's ice slid the villain's victims safely towards them.
"Everything's okay. The Pro Heroes will be here any minute!" Todoroki launched another jet of fire at Stain in order to keep him at bay.
Setsuna crouched down and caught both Native and Izuku at the bottom of the ramp. "You guys okay?" she asked.
"Could be better…" Izuku replied, sounding pained as he seemingly spoke through his teeth. "I can't move…"
Setsuna blinked. "What?"
Stain landed back several meters after avoiding Todoroki's attack. 'The time will be up for one of them soon,' the Hero Killer silently mused.
"Guys, listen! You can't let him get near your blood. He paralyzes his opponent's actions by swallowing it. That's how he got us!" Izuku warned.
"He ingests blood to keep people from moving? That explains the blades," Todoroki slid into a central defensive position. "All we've gotta do is keep our distance."
"For some reason, I get the feeling it'll be easier said than done," Liana said.
Without warning, a knife suddenly flew between them. Todoroki, Setsuna, and Milia managed to dodge it. Liana wasn't as lucky, the thrown knife having sliced open her cheek.
"You have good friends, boy," Stain jumped at Liana. Thinking fast, the young woman formed a thick, bone shield to block his dagger. "Or you did!"
Liana winced as Stain's dagger embedded itself into the bone, large cracks forming dude to the fore of the impact.
Liane then noticed the Hero Killer looking up. Liana followed his gaze up and saw his chipped sword spinning in the air.
'What? When did he throw that-'
Stain took advantage of their distraction to jump ahead and grab Liana by the collar, pulling her closer as his tongue stuck out, clearly intending to lick the cut on her cheek and take her out of the fight.
Milia acted before Stain could, though, aiming two fingers at the Hero Killer and letting two claws shoot forward, forcing Stain back.
Stain jumped up to reach his sword, only for two disembodied hands to beat him to it. "What?"
"Don't think so!" Setsuna grinned, firing off chucks of her body to keep Stain away from his main weapon.
Stain tsked in annoyance as Setsuna pushed him back. If she can split her limbs apart at will then he won't be able to cut her. Not to mention the time will be up for one of them soon. That won't stop him.
Pushing aside the body parts Setsuna had thrown, Stain skid along the ground as he landed before running forward, throwing a knife at Setsuna. The green-haired girl ha dot split her head in half to avoid the blade, but that lapse in concentration was enough for Stain to reach his sword. Retaking the chipped blade, Stain tried to swiped away Setsuna's hands.
"Oh no, you don't!" Setsuna growled, not letting go of the blade. Todoroki took this opportunity to shoot more flames at the Hero Killer. But Stain merely adjusted himself in the air, allowing the sword, and consequently Setsuna's hands, to take the brunt of the fire.
"AGH!" Setsuna lost her grip on the sword, allowing Stain to retrieve it without interference.
"Sorry," Todoroki quickly said to Setsuna.
"It's fine," Setsuna winced, her collecting her body parts, with the exception of her hands which fell to the ground. "I can regenerate them."
"Look out!" Milia's warning came too late, as Setsuna only had time to look up to see Stain descending upon her.
*Clang!*
A trashcan suddenly hit Stain in the face, causing him to recoil from the pain, giving Setsuna time to back away as Milia used her claws to force Stain back.
Turning around, they saw a pony-tailed girl in a turquoise qipao, her right hand incredibly large.
"Is everyone okay?" Kendo Itsuka asked.
"Kendo?!" Iida gasped. "You too?"
"You got Midoriya's message, also?" Todoroki asked.
"I didn't get any message, I just happened to find you guys," Itsuka answered, holding up the broken remains of her phone when a loud hiss came from above. "And I've been dealing with my own problems," she glanced upward, Lailah crawling along between the walls of the alleyway above them.
The spider woman gave a soft chuckle at what she saw. "What do we have here?" Lailah lowered herself down to the ground.
Izuku's eyes widened when he saw Lailah. He recognized her from before, as well as when Xenovia described her own encounter with the sadistic angel. If it was just Stain then he was sure they could win, but Stain and Lailah?
"Stain," the spider woman greeted. "I'm hurt you were having this party and didn't invite me."
Stain spat back. "I was merely dealing with a fake hero when these children intervened."
"Oh, does that mean anyone is invited?" Lailah smirked sadistically as she looked at the hero students, particularly Itsuka, Milia, and Izuku. "Because I have business of my own with a couple of them."
"Very well," Stain relented. "But if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to strike you down as well."
'At least they're not working together,' Izuku thought in relief.
With a hiss, Lailah charged at Itsuka and Milia, the two jumping out of the way as Lailah pursued them. Stain took this chance to charge forward, but Todoroki attacked with a wave of ice to keep the Hero Killer at bay. But Stain proved stronger than expected, effortlessly cutting through the ice with a single swing of his sword.
Todoroki quickly responded by shooting a torrent of flames at the Hero Killer, but he was too fast, avoiding the fire with ease.
Meanwhile, Lailah shot some web out to pin Itsuka to the wall and trap her. However, this left Lailah open for Liana to zoom in and lash out a bone knife, forcing Lailah to leap back where she tried to ensnare her as well with her webbing, but Liana dodged the webbing before zooming forward and delivering a roundhouse kick, landing a solid kick on Lailah's face and knock her back.
Milia quickly went to Itsuka's side and cut her free from the webbing. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks," Itsuka nodded, but a hiss quickly got their attention back on Lailah.
"I suppose it makes sense for a couple of devils to look out for each other," the spider woman chuckled.
"Devils?" Itsuka questioned, while Milia looked at Itsuka in shock.
"What are you talking about?" Liana questioned.
Lailah didn't answer. Instead, she propelled herself up onto a higher perch and fired several light blasts from her hands at the girls.
The three, however, were able to avoid the blades of light. Itsuka jumped and flip in the air, enlarging one of her hands to try and bring a karate chop down on where Lailah was once perched, but the spider woman leaped down back to the ground to avoid it, but Liana quickly attacked her with large, bone claws. Lailah tried to lash out with her upper two spider-legs on her, but Liana quickly changed one of the claws into a shield that blocked Lailah's strike. This left Lailah open for Milia to lash out from the side with her claws, her attack managing to slash Lailah in the face, creating a long cut underneath her eyes.
A pissed Lailah hissed at Liana and was ready to attack again, but this left her open for Itsuka, who quickly enlarged her right hand and delivered an uppercut that actually launched Lailah into the air. The spider woman quickly righted herself and landed on the wall, glaring down at the three girls.
As this was happening, all Izuku could do was lie on the ground and watch, unable to do anything. "Be careful, guys," he groaned as he tried to move. Slowly, his fingers began to move.
Todoroki unleashed a massive wave of ice at Stain, intending to crush, or at least slowdown, the villain. But Stain just jumps right towards the crashing wave of ice, and with just a few slices of his sword, dices his way through the overwhelming attack. "You blocked your own field of vision against an opponent who's faster than you. Rookie mistake."
"Come get me then!" Todoroki shouted, igniting his flames. Only for her left arm to be stabbed by two throwing knives.
"You kids are good. Unlike him!" Stain said, jumping in and aiming his sword towards Native. Milia was about to intercept, when suddenly, Izuku was up and about, kicking off the walls to rush at Stain. Before Stain could react, Izuku had grabbed Stain by the scruff of his shirt and already started spinning, hurling Stain into Lailah painfully, not willing to stay close to Stain any more than necessary.
"Midoriya!" Both Setsuna and Todoroki exclaimed.
'He must be type O!' Winced the Hero Killer as he and Lailah hit the ground several meters away.
"You okay, green bean?" Setsuna asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Izuku replied. "I'm not sure why, but I can move normally again."
"Does that mean there's a time limit on Stain's Quirk?" Todoroki asked.
"No. If that were the case then he should have been the last one to be freed. I still can't move a muscle," Native grunted, still on the ground with Iida. The students who could still move then heard Stain and Lailah getting back up and turned back to face them. The villains grunted in pain as they stood back up and glared at them.
"Maybe his Quirk's effects vary from person to person," Liana guessed.
"I was thinking the same," Izuku added. "I have three theories on how his Quirk works. Either his Quirk could be less effective the more people he uses it on, the amount ingested determines how long it works, or it all depends on our blood type." He said without lowering his guard.
"If it's the last one, my blood type is B," Native said.
"I'm type A," Iida added.
Stain was silent for a moment before smirking. "Blood type is correct. Bravo for figuring it out."
Hero Killer: Stain. Quirk, Bloodcurdle. By ingesting someone's blood he can freeze them for up to 8 minutes, depending on their blood type. From shortest to longest is O, A, AB, and B. He himself is blood type B.
"Knowing what Stain's Quirk is doesn't really help us," Liana said, clenching her fist.
"Yeah," Todoroki nodded, holding onto her bleeding arm. "I thought we could hurry and carry those two out of here, but that's not an option. They're both too fast."
"Even if we did run, there's no way they'll let us go," Itsuka added. Stain was after Native, while Lailah was after her. She still had no idea why, though.
"From what I can tell, our best option is to hold on until the Pros arrive," Liana said. "If it was just Satin we would have a chance of winning, but…" she placed at Lailah, a complete unknown.
"Who is she, anyway?" Todoroki asked, turning to look at Itsuka.
"Don't know. She didn't exactly give a name," Itsuka replied.
"I suppose it doesn't matter," Todoroki said. "It may be best for us to avoid close combat."
"You already lost a lot of blood, Todoroki, and your hands are still regenerating, Tokage," Izuku said. "We'll distract them while you support us from behind."
"A risky plan, but the best one we got," Liana nodded, eyes flared in determination along with everyone else.
"This is gonna be interesting…" Stain said venomously, getting ready to fight.
Lailah gave an amused laugh, already ready to dismember them.
Izuku gulped nervously, agreeing with Liana that this was a risky plan. But, as long as nothing else happens, he was confident that they will win.
*CRASH!*
Something fast and big crashed into the ground behind the young heroes. The impact shakes the ground right underneath their feet, a dust cloud blasts out of the ground, along with pieces of rubble. The students spin around in shock, even Stain and Lailah were taken by surprise by the sudden arrival.
"RYEEEEE!" A pair of giant wings swing open blowing away the dust and rubble as an ear-piercing shriek filled their ears. The Winged Nomu, despite its damaged wings, had managed to track them down.
"…You have got to be kidding me!" Liana groaned.
On the streets of Hosu, Thunder Fist sent the four-eyed Nomu crashing into another building, quickly jumping off to get a breather in. The Nomu screamed in anger as it burst out of the building, sending debris flying towards innocent civilians. The passersby screamed in fear as they quickly fled the scene.
"Ready to go for another round, huh?" Akihiko grinned, his fists sparking with electricity. The four-eyed beast roared as it charged at Thunder First, only for a stream of fire suddenly struck Nomu. "What the?"
"I was looking for the elusive Hero Killer, but this thing takes priority right now," the number 2 Hero announced as he stepped forward. "Thunder Fist, right? I don't know you well, but leave the rest to me."
"I'm not planning on losing this match, Endeavor," Akihiko retorted. "We'll take it down together."
The beast howled in pain before standing up, still engulfed in flames, and seemingly absorbing them into its body, though the burns still remained. "That was only a low-temperature warning shot. But still, it always KO's my opponent," Endeavor noted, taking note of the way the Nomu's body was twitching, almost like-
Eyes widening, Endeavor shouted, "Get back!" The Nomu raised its head skyward with a scream and flames exploded out of its body in all directions. "It has an absorb and release Quirk? Huh. At least the damage I inflicted remains, that makes it a small fry power."
"Wait, if this thing is like the one at the USJ, then wouldn't that mean…" The Nomu suddenly began to bulk up in muscle mass before it attempted to tackle Endeavor with a web-like tongue. "It has multiple Quirks!"
Endeavor leaped into a roll to avoid the blow that sent fragments of concrete exploding in all directions and twisted, the Flame Hero quickly got back to his feet, sending yet another stream of flames at the monster.
Thunder Fist was about to assist when something slammed into his gut, sending him back. Coughing out some of his stomach, Akihiko shakily stood back up and looked around. Aside from Endeavor and the Nomu he was facing, no one else was here.
"What was-GAH!"
Something hard smacked him, sending the Boxing Hero skidding across the street. Akihiko groaned as he stood up, spitting up blood before he glared at where he was standing. He still couldn't see anything, but quickly realized what was happening. "An invisibility or camouflage Quirk, huh?" He smiled, wiping away the blood dripping from his mouth.
He waited, listening for whatever it was that hit him to get closer. Sure enough, along with all the other noises coming from both Endeavor's fight but the battle further away, he could hear something approach him from his right.
Taking a deep breath, Akihiko spits blood in the direction his attacker was coming from. The blood stopped seemingly in midair, but it caused something to flicker. "Gotcha!" With a yell, Thunder First threw and electrically charged punched, hitting something hard.
Flickering into existence, a dark gray Nomu with a single eye and no visible mouth growled in pain as it staggered back. Akihiko didn't let the monster recover as he decked it across the face, before following with another electrically charged punch. Akihiko dealt the final blow with a powerful uppercut that sent the Nomu soaring high into the air before crashing down onto the ground.
Once it was down, Akihiko rotated his right arm quickly, building a large charge of electricity within it, so much that large sparks began forming around his arm, before he jumped into the air, aiming the fully charged arm at the downed Nomu.
"Earth Breaker!" The Nomu let out a sickening cry as Akihiko's attack struck, causing the pavement underneath it to crack, electricity frying the beast.
Nearby, Endeavor braced himself as a massive fist crashed into him, sending a jolt of pain through the Flame Hero's left shoulder as the follow-through carried him off of the ground and launched him skyward. The Nomu chased after him on the ground, hooting triumphantly.
'I haven't been thrown around like this in a long time… I guess that only leaves me with one option. I might need to cool down a bit after this.'
Endeavor righted himself in midair, raised his clenched right fist towards the heavens, and began to focus his heat into it. It ignited at once, as usual, but as he concentrated, the flames began to flicker more wildly and their orange hue became lighter, brightening until his hand was enveloped in white-hot flames. But he didn't stop there. This needed to be a one-shot kill or he would most likely become too injured to move on as the fight dragged out.
As Endeavor began to descend, he pointed his head downwards towards his opponent, fist held out to the side as the white flames became tinted with a blue that gradually deepened until it actually started to look dimmer by comparison. These were the hottest, most powerful flames that the Number Two Hero was able to produce.
"I normally don't use this on human opponents," the Flame Hero said to the Nomu, though he doubted it understood him. "But you're not exactly human. Flashfire Fist…" a sudden jet of flames from the soles of his feet sent the Hero shooting towards the Nomu with a burst of speed that caught the creature off-guard and left it wide open, "HELL STRIKE!"
Endeavor did not reduce his speed for fear of colliding with the ground. He did not pull back to brace himself for impact. He simply poured as much power as he could into his fist and used the body of his target to break his fall. There was a bounce or two as they skidded to a stop and once they had stopped moving, the victor tugged his fist free in a single, smooth motion before quenching the flames surrounding it, observing the carbonized flesh left behind in the gaping hole where the monster's heart used to be.
"Overkill, much?" Akihiko commented as he walked over to the Number 2 Hero.
Endeavor didn't retort, the sound of a loud rumbling in the distance catching his attention. The two heroes look to the distance, seeing the glow of flames and smoke rising over the buildings just a few city blocks away.
"That must be where the rest of the heroes are fighting these things," Endeavor noted. "Based on the reports, there are seven Nomu total. With these two taken care of, that leaves five," Endeavor noted.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Akihiko asked. "The cops will wrap things up here, and we need to move."
"Not yet," Endeavor stopped the Boxing Hero from charging on ahead to the battle. "There's an address that I need you to investigate for me."
Total pandemonium had erupted in the alley due to the Nomu's sudden arrival. The beast had zeroed in on Izuku right away, smacking him against the wall, taking Liana with him.
Lailah quickly used the chance the Nomu provided to fire her webbing at the others, taking hold of Itsuka, Todoroki, and Milia, though Todoroki managed to use her flames to burn up the webbing before she could get dragged away.
Todoroki wanted to help her friends, but she was occupied with keeping Stain at bay with a wall of flames. All the while Iida and Native watched on, uselessly and helplessly, still paralyzed due to Stain's Quirk.
Izuku barely avoided a punch from the Winged Nomu, the force easily pushing through the concert wall. "Why are you after me?!"
The Nomu roared as it attacked again, only for bone claws to suddenly grab it by its arm and smash it against the wall.
"Does it matter?" Liana asked him. "Just focus on beating this thing!"
Izuku nodded, bracing himself as the monster stood back up. It was bleeding in a few areas, and one of its wings was mangled, but it didn't seem to react at all.
"It isn't healing, but it's not reacting to any damage it takes. It must have a Quirk that can null or block out pain," Izuku realized.
"That's a good thing," Liana grinned. "Without pain, it can't tell how much damage its body is taking. We'll just have to keep hitting it until it goes down."
The Nomu turned to glare at them. At Izuku, in particular. "D…ku!"
Izuku blinked in surprise. "Is it… trying to say 'Deku'?"
"Isn't that the nickname Bakugo calls you?" Liana asked. "How does this thing know about it?"
"I don't know," Izuku shook his head.
Lailah fired several light blasts from her palms, though Milia managed to avoid them and tried to slash her claws at the spider woman, but Lailah caught it with her upper spider-legs before using her lower ones to snap and knock Milia back. Lailah then swiftly pinned her to the ground with her webbing.
"Those claws of yours are starting to get on my nerves, little succubus. Of course, I can think of one permanent way to take them out of the equation," she readied her razor-sharp spider-legs with deadly intent.
"Not happening!" Itsuka suddenly tackled Lailah, pushing her away from Milia. As Itsuka engaged Lailah, Milia quickly used her claws the cut through the webbing.
Lailah suddenly webbed Itsuka's right hand and pulled it toward her, taking the redhead with her as the spider-woman leaped up and lunged all her spider-legs at Itsuka, kicking her to the ground as she stood on top of Itsuka, keeping one of her hands on Itsuka's webbed hand in an attempt to keep her pinned. "One hand tied, five more to play with!" Lailah tried to slash with her claws on her open hand, but Itsuka caught it with her left hand.
Itsuka then enlarged her right hand, breaking it free from the webbing and pushing Lailah back before delivering a swift kick to Lailah's gut.
"Quality, not quantity, bitch!" Itsuka replied.
Lailah hissed at the girl, but her anger quickly turned to panic as some of Milia's claws pierced her right arm. "You bitch!" The sadistic angel growled, pulling free from Milia's claws before the succubus could skewer her with her other hand.
"You okay, Itsuka?" Milia asked.
"Yeah," Itsuka nodded before glaring at Lailah, who was webbing her arm to stop the bleeding.
Lailah then glared hatefully at Milia. "I shouldn't be surprised to find a devil who doesn't fight fair."
"What in the world are you talking about?" Itsuka asked, finally having enough of Lailah.
"Don't you get it, dear?" Lailah asked the redhead. "Your friend here is a devil. And so are you."
Milia's eyes widened while Itsuka simply looked confused. "What?" Itsuka asked.
"Well, half-devil, but it's true," Lailah continued. "And you're not the only ones. That green one fighting the Nomu? He's a devil also."
Itsuka, while still looking confused, glared at Lailah. "Yeah right. There's no such thing as devils."
"Want proof? Very well," Lailah smiled. "May God bless you."
Both Milia and Itsuka suddenly cradled their heads, a sudden sharp pain hitting. Nearby, Izuku also had a sudden headache. "Gah! What the hell!?" Itsuka winced as the sudden pain began to subside. And just in time, as Itsuka had to avoid Lailah's claws along with Milia.
"That happens to any and all devils simply when someone says His name near them, and it gets slightly worse when they receive a blessing from Him," Lailah smirked. "It's delightfully petty and spiteful, isn't it?"
Itsuka could only look at Lailah in shock as the information began to sink in. She was half-devil? But that can't be. She knew she was human her whole life. Right?
Lailah hissed, charging at the distracted Itsuka, but Milia quickly got between them, using her claws to block Lailah's spider legs. "Itsuka, don't let her get to you!" Milia said to her friend. "We'll worry about it later! Right now we need to stop her!"
Itsuka shook her head, getting a determined look on her face. "Right."
Todoroki continued to keep Stain at a distance, but that was becoming difficult due to Stain's insane speed and strength. Setsuna aided Todoroki by using pieces of her body to distract Stain, but the Hero Killer had caught on to her tricks and either avoided or disposed of the pieces, which began to take a toll on Setsuna.
"How much longer can you keep this up?" Todoroki asked her.
"Not sure," Setsuna breathed out. "Maybe a few more minutes."
As this was happening, Iida was still paralyzed on the ground, guilt wearing away at him. It was his decision to go after Stain. He was the reason his classmates, his friends, were all in danger. And he couldn't do anything to help them.
Stain rushed at Todoroki again, weaving through the shards of ice. Todoroki fired a column of flames at him, but the villain just dodged the attack. "Ice and Fire! And splitting your own body!" Stain shouted as Todoroki attacked with her ice, but Stain dodged the multiple shards of ice sent at him. "You two rely far too much on your Quirks. It's making you careless!"
Todoroki tried to stop Stain with a veil of flames, but Stain cut his way through the inferno, his katana in a position that it was between her arm and shoulder.
However, at the same time, Iida was finally able to move. "RECIPRO BURST!" Iida's engines revved up, allowing him to move fast enough to get to Todoroki in time. He swung his leg around, colliding with Stain's sword and breaking it clean in half. A follow-up strike sent the Hero Killer flying backward.
Izuku, upon hearing Iida's voice, grinned. "Iida!"
"Nice to see you back on your feet," Setsuna grinned, recalling her body parts.
"You're free too, now?" Todoroki asked in surprise before a smug smile grew on her face. "Guess that Quirk of his isn't so great."
"Everyone… This had nothing to do with you. I apologize for dragging you all into this," Iida said with his head down in shame.
"Iida…"
The moment was ruined, though, as the Nomu roared and charged at Izuku again. "We'll have the sentimental moment later when we're not in life for death situation!" Liana exclaimed.
Using 5% of One for All, Izuku landed a blow on the Nomu's face. "Dragon Smash!" There was a notable crack as the Nomu's head bent backwards, yet it remained in place. Then, in a sudden display of speed, the Nomu knocked Liana aside and rushed at Izuku, grabbing him by the neck. Izuku gags as the Nomu's grip tightens around his neck, lifting him off the ground and pinning him against the side of the building.
"Midoriya!" Liana exclaimed, getting the other's attention.
"Izuku!"
"No!"
Izuku tried to use other the Boosted Gear or One for All to break out of the Nomu's grip, but it just grew tighter if he tried, the Nomu, despite its dead eyes, seemed to be glaring hatefully at him.
"De-!"
A burst of spiraling yellow energy suddenly rushed towards the Nomu. The spiral streak slammed into the Nomu, blasting the beast away with a mighty cry, sending it out of the alley, across the street, and into a building.
Izuku gasped for breath, he and the others looking up in surprise.
"Sorry I'm late! Took a little while to find this place," Nejire said, floating above them.
"Nejire/Senpai!" Milia and Izuku both said in relief.
Stain leered at the new arrival. 'There's too many of them, I need to take some of them out.' He quickly dodged Nejire's attack. Iida then raced in to deliver quick strikes at the Hero Killer, who parries Iida's armored kicks. But before he can counter Todoroki forces him back with an ice or flame barrage. Liana quickly dove in, using a bone blade to attack Stain. Setsuna had her body parts fly around Stain, keeping the Hero Killer distracted.
They keep at this with Iida delivering quick kicks, Liana with slashes and punches before speeding away for Todoroki to take over, while Setsuna kept Stain disorientated by ramming her pieces at him.
'They're trying to keep me off balance.' Stain leaps away as flames race by. 'Not giving me any openings to strike.' He blocks a harsh kick aimed at his head. 'Smart, but not good enough.' His tongue lashes out as he thrusts his knife forward.
Nejire screamed when Lailah attempted to pounce on her, the blue-haired teen barely avoiding the strike. Nejire retaliated by firing another spiral blast, but the spider woman avoided it, jumping off the walls of the alleyway until she was above Nejire.
*Thwip!*
Lailah quickly webbed up Nejire, falling back down to the ground, her momentum taking Nejire with her. Nejire blasted spiral energy from her feet in an attempt to stay in the air, but Milia cut the web keeping her tied to Lailah.
On the ground, Itsuka charged in with both of her fists enlarged, but Lailah simply jumped over the redhead, chuckling as she readied to stop Itsuka in the back with one of her spider legs, only for Izuku to fly in, delivering a One for All powered kick to Lailah's face, before aiming his Sacred Gear at her, a powered. "San Fransisco Dragon Shot!" The empowered Dragon Shot hit Lailah right in the stomach, making her spit up blood as she crashed against the wall. "Todoroki!" Izuku called out.
Todoroki quickly knew what Izuku wanted and placed her right hand on the ground, sending a wave of ice in their direction. Lailah grunted and hissed as the ice covered her body, leaving only her head exposed. "You little…" she hissed as she struggled to escape.
"That's two. Only one left," Izuku, Milia, Itsuka, and Nejire quickly turned their attention to Stain, still engaging Iida and Liana.
Iida tried to activate his engines again, but they were not working. He cursed the weak point of Recipro Burst and how it left him inactive for a time. Realizing that his Quirk had reached its limit, Stain attempted to stab Iida, but Liana blocked it, giving Iida a chance to back up to Todoroki.
"Todoroki-kun, can you regulate temperature?"
"Not with my left side, but yes. Why?"
"I need you to cover my legs in ice, just don't plug the exhausts!"
"You're in the way!" Stain shouted as he threw a knife towards Todoroki, only for a yellow spiral fired by Nejire to shoot it away as she moved to protect Native. "You troublesome girl, stop right now!"
Stain attempted to throw another knife, but Milia immediately jumped in and tried to slash him with her claws, but Stain managed to stop it, leaving them both in a sword lock as they glared at each other.
Stain suddenly leaped back, avoiding a fist from Itsuka. But he didn't jump back far enough as Itsuka's fist grew, kicking Stain back. Liana creating two giant bone gauntlets, attempted to grab Stain, but the Hero Killer jumped in the air. But Izuku was waiting, flying towards Stain and readying a punch.
[Boost!]
'Dragon Veil, 10% doubled!' "Dragon Smash!" Izuku roared as he slammed his fist into the side of Stain's head, sending the Hero Killer down.
Todoroki had finished cooling Iida's legs, allowing him to start his engines again. "Recipro… EXTEND!" He shouted as the engines burst to life with blue flames. He jumped up and flew straight for Stain, kicking the man in the ribs across.
"Now's my chance!" Todoroki shouted as he fired another burst of fire at Stain, consuming his whole body in the attack.
Stain landed limply on the ground, his body smoking and covered in burns.
"Is he…" Milia began.
Todoroki looked the Hero Killer over, keeping her distance as she encased the man in ice for the time being. "He appears to be knocked out, but no telling how long for." Regardless, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is everyone okay?" Nejire asked landing on the ground. "How'd you know the Hero Killer would be here? Who was that scary spider lady? Was that icky thing a Nomu? Why was its brain exposed?"
"Can we please focus?" Liana, holding her left arm with her right, turned from the unconscious Stain to Lailah. "We need to get them restrained now before- Wait, what?"
Startled, everyone turned to look at what Liana was seeing and gasped in shock. Lailah was gone, with only chunks of her icy prison remaining.
"She's gone!?" Itsuka exclaimed.
"How did we not notice?" Todoroki wondered.
"We'll have to worry about her later. Right now let's focus on Stain and the Nomu," Izuku stated.
"I'll go see if I can find something to tie them up with," Milia offered.
"No need," Native grunted, managing to stand up. "I always have some rope with me."
"You can move now, Native?" Izuku asked, he and Liana rushing to the pro's side.
"Yeah," Native nodded. "Started around when you froze that spider bitch."
"You okay?" Setsuna asked.
"Lost a bit of blood, but other than that I'm fine," Native replied.
"We better search and take away Stain's weapons," Liana added.
"Yeah, good idea," Todoroki nodded. "We also better have someone keep an eye on the Nomu."
Meanwhile, Iida couldn't take his eyes off the Hero Killer's still form. He can't believe it, they won.
When Izuku, Milia, and Nejire left, Ryukyu and the other pros were fighting three Nomu, with one leaving to go after them. While the pros were concerned about the Winged Nomu escaping, they also took it as a sign of relief because that meant it should be easier to deal with the remaining two.
They were proven wrong when another Nomu, one identical to the one Zero fought, appeared… with a dozen other copies of itself. Luckily for the heroes, help had arrived to deal with the Imp Nomu
"Fierce Wings, go!" Hawks' feathers spread throughout the area, striking down each copy of the Imp Nomu, the copies vaporizing as a result.
Several more of the Imp Nomu's jumped down from the buildings to replace them. "There's no end to them!" One of the heroes exclaimed.
"Where are they coming from?!"
Hawks glared at the Nomu, wondering the same thing. The only good news so far was that there seemed to be a limit to how many copies can exist, about 13. His sidekicks and intern were busy helping civilians evacuate and keeping these things contained to this area.
Ryukyu was still dealing with the Fox Nomu, part of her hero costume burned by the Nomu's flames. With a sudden lunge, the Fox Nomu tackled Ryukyu to the ground, the two wrestling as Ryukyu tried to keep the Nomu away from her fellow pros and the intact buildings.
"Okay, I've had enough!" Ryukyu pushed the Fox Nomu back before swiping its face with her talons. The Nomu cried in pain, one of its eyes missing. The Nomu attempted to retaliate by breathing blue fire at her, but Ryukyu simply grabbed its snout and kept it shut.
"I'm sorry," Ryukyu said before, using her free hand, stabbed the Nomu directly in its brain before ripping it out. The Fox Nomu gurgled and shook violently before going limp, prompting Ryukyu to let go.
The rest of the heroes were busy with the Eyeless Nomu, who kept shrugging off their attacks. A group of ninja heroes, out of lack of other options, decided to throw several shurikens at one of them, but they all bounced off of its skin. "Crap! That didn't work! It's too strong!"
"Then we'll have to work as one if we want to beat it. Everyone, attack it all together!" A group tried to attack the Eyeless Nomu, but it smashed the ground, creating a cloud of dust and rubble it could use to hide.
"Damnit, where is it?"
"Can't see a thing…"
Manual was clearing his eyes from the wind and dust right before he spots something standing behind a female pro: the Nomu. "Watch out!"
All of a sudden, the Nomu that had been about to kill the pro heroine was assaulted by Endeavor dropping from the sky. The Flame Hero aimed his punch for its ribs, but the Nomu was intelligent enough to raise both arms to defend itself – not that it helped, because Endeavor flared up the air between his fist and the monster, causing a small airburst that burned the monster's arm and sent it flying.
"Endeavor!" Manual gasped in surprise.
Soon enough, though, the Nomu's burns began to heal, and it stood up facing the one that had attacked it.
"So, it can regenerate," Endeavor growled.
"Not a problem!"
The Eyeless Nomu turned around, only for a glowing demonic arm to grab its head, it screamed in pain as its upper body burned and burst before it collapsed, dead.
"Guren!" A hero gasped, shocked at how easily and wiling the Radiant Hero killed the Nomu.
"Two more down," Zero noted, walking up from behind his wife before he and the other Pros turned their attention to all the Imp Nomu, which seemed to be lagging at them, almost mocking. "One left. We need to find the original."
"How the hell do we do that?!" One of the pros exclaimed.
"Don't worry," Hawks smirked. "It took a bit of time, but I think I narrowed down where the original is at," the Wing Hero directed some of his feathers towards a destroyed truck, piecing it. Something burst out of it screaming. It resembled all the other Imp Nomu, only it was easily twice as tall.
The real Imp Nomu didn't have time to escape, as Endeavor had already rushed over grabbing its head. The Nomu seemed to sense what was about to happen and attempted to punch him away, but Endeavor was stronger and promptly began to burn it alive with flames that went blue almost instantly, going well beyond what a human being could stand, only stopping when the Nomu stopped moving as its brain was left fully charred.
With their connection to the original gone, the remaining Imp Nomu fell over and began to evaporate. "Was that the last of them?" Endeavor asked.
"No," Manual shook his head. "There's one more left. It flew off earlier in that direction," the Normal Hero pointed southward.
Endeavor nodded. "Any hero whose Quirk isn't suited for dealing with the fire or pursing the last Nomu, go to 4210 Ekou Street."
"There's another villain there as well?"
"Possibly."
"I'll check it out, too," Guren offered.
The sidekicks and heroes get to work, Manual leading a group to extinguish the fires while Guren leads the rest away.
All the while Hawks, Endeavor, Zero, and Ryukyu take off for the nearest rooftop where Hawks can better use his Quirk to locate the last Nomu.
The students quickly removed all the weapons they could find on the Hero Killer before binding him with Native's rope. "So many weapons," Izuku remarked once they were done. Before them were the broken katana, at least six folding pocket knives, two throwing knives, and four combat knives, one of which looked decayed.
"You sure you're okay, Native?" Milia asked the pro.
"I should be worried about you and your friends," he said with a smile before a downcast look spread across his face. "I have to apologize. I'm supposed to be a pro, but I was useless back there."
"No," Setsuna responded. "I don't think any one person could take the Hero Killer on. Not with that weird Quirk of his."
"Don't forget we also had to deal with that Nomu and the other villain, too," Liana added.
Izuku glanced out the alley and stared at the Nomu, which hadn't moved since Nejire's arrival. His eyes shifted to its wings. For some reason, those wings looked vaguely familiar.
After a few seconds, the students and pro made it out of the alleyway and into the open streets.
"Right, I appreciate your assistance though," Native said with a smile. "Anyway, let's get him and the Nomu to the police as fast as we can."
"Is it still down?" Liana asked.
"Looks like it," Nejire said. Sure enough, the Nomu hadn't moved from its place at all since Nejire's attack.
"Battle Fist?!"
Itsuka's eyes widened when she heard the voice as she turned her head in the direction of the voice. Standing on the other side of the road was Akihiko.
"Thunder Fist!" Itsuka said in surprise as the pro ran up to them.
"What're you doing here?" Akihiko asked. Then he noticed the Nomu that was lying across the street. Akihiko glanced at each of them, noting their injuries, before noticing the tied-up Hero Killer behind them. Akihiko then sighed. "I'll ask for details later," he pulled out a phone. "I'll call an ambulance to get you kids looked at."
Itsuka smiled. "Thank you."
"Around the corner!" Yelled a woman's voice. Liana's eyes widened, recognizing it. She and the others turned their heads to see other pro heroes running towards them.
"Endeavor told us there as a request for help here, but…" One of the Heroes trailed off when he saw the students. "Children?"
"Wait, isn't that Midoriya Izuku? The boy who won the Sports Festival?" Another hero recognized the boy's face.
"Liana!" Guren ran up. "What are you doing here!?"
"It's… a bit of a long story, mother," Liana answered.
"Those injuries look serious. Let's call an ambulance!"
"Already did," Akihiko revealed, putting away his phone. "But we need a police escort here stat to deal with that thing," he gestured over to the Nomu, still laying against the building. "And him," he gestured to the tied-up Stain.
One of the heroes gasped. "Wait… is that… the Hero Killer?!"
"Native!" One of the pros came over and put a grateful hand on Native's shoulder. "Thank goodness. Your sidekicks were worried sick about you, Native."
After the initial shock had passed over, the Pros started checking the wounds of each of them while one of them called an ambulance and police to come and help. Iida had tried to apologize to his classmates for dragging them into his mess, but they had shot the apologies down, stating that they were friends and that they should have helped sooner.
As they waited, a couple of the heroes cautiously approached the Winged Nomu. "Is it dead?"
"Was it even alive to begin with?" As they drew closer, one of the Nomu's wings started to twitch.
The eyes of the two pros quickly widened. "LOOK OUT!"
A shriek suddenly ripped through the air as the Nomu suddenly lunged forward. It took about a second for everyone to register that the Nomu was up in the air, flying away, leaving a trail of blood that splattered on some of the heroes, winds buffeting them all… carrying someone in its talons.
It didn't take them long to realize who it was. "KENDO!/ITSUKA!"
"Let me go!" Itsuka screamed as the Nomu's talons harshly sunk into her shoulders, drawing blood.
"Was that thing playing dead the whole time?!" Liana exclaimed.
"We need to help her!" Izuku was about to spread his wings to fly up to the Nomu, but before he could, Stain suddenly broke out of his bindings with a hidden knife that they had failed to find. He simultaneously licked the blood off of a Heroine's face, paralyzing the Nomu before dashing off to chase after it.
"The word 'Hero' has lost all meaning in this society," Stain growled as he jumped into the air, landing on Nomu's back. "The world is overrun by fake Heroes and criminals like you who chase petty dreams!"
The Hero Killer stabbed his knife into the exposed brain of the Nomu. Causing it to fall down, while letting go of Itsuka. Stain grabbed her by the back of her costume as they fell down to the ground. When they landed, Stain was still holding onto Itsuka while having his knife lodged deep in the brain of the Nomu.
"You must all be purged," Stain stated with venom in his voice. The Heroes had recovered from their shock and were now approaching the place the two and the corpse were.
"Did he just save that girl?"
"Idiot! He obviously took her hostage!"
"He… He killed that thing with no hesitation."
Native hesitated, remembering what Stain said before he was about to kill him. Seeing him take down one of those monsters with such ease made him even more scared.
As drool dripped from his teeth, Stain said, "Everything that I do…" He twisted the knife inside the Nomu's brain, right before yanking it out, killing the creature. "…is to create a stronger, more just society!"
Izuku and the other students were shocked that Stain was still standing despite all the hits they had landed on him. They were sure he would've been unconscious for a while, definitely more than a minute.
"Everyone be on your guard! We've got a fight on our hands!" Akihiko exclaimed, getting into a fighting stance. The others followed his example.
"Hey, is everyone alright?" The heroes look over to find Endeavor marching towards them all, Ryukyu and Zero following him from behind. Above them was Hawks, leading them. "I heard some commotion going on here. What's…" Hawks trailed off upon seeing Stain and the Nomu's corpse.
Endeavor stopped, noticing Stain. "Hold on. Don't tell me that man is-"
"The Hero Killer!" Zero gasped, he and Ryukyu tensing at the sight of the infamous villain.
Stain's bloodthirsty gaze finally lands on the Number Two Hero, his red eyes narrowing with hatred and disgust. "Endeavor… You fake…" Stain declared in a harsh voice as his mask fell off, revealing his noseless face. "I must make things… right…"
Even though he had suffered multiple injuries that could be considered crippling, everyone was frozen to the spot in horror as Stain seemingly emitted his killing intent in waves, threatening to consume them all. Even Endeavor, Zero, Guren, Hawks, and Ryukyu, experienced Heroes with years of meeting terrible villains, unconsciously stepped back.
"This society is overgrown with fake heroes and criminals who wave their powers around idly for their own benefit, striving only for fame and glory. YOU should all be purged!"
Stain taunted the Heroes, some of whom fell onto their rears in fear.
"I'll purge all you fakers. I shall stain myself with the blood of the unworthy of the title 'Hero'! The only person that can kill me is the true hero! All Might is worthy! So come! ENDEAVOOOOOOORRRR!"
Stain shouted as a menacing and suffocating aura of killing intent oozed from his body like a raging storm. It scared the group so much that it made them freeze up or begin to tremble or take steps back. Filled with absolute fear of the Hero Killer.
*Cling*
At that sound, the tension caused by Stain's sheer killing intent vanished. Everyone was suddenly able to breathe again. The Hero Killer remained still, unmoving, but still standing with a huge derange grin plastered to his face, frozen in place.
"I think…he's out cold," Endeavor noted.
Hearing that, the interns finally break out of their fight or flight mode, causing them all to collapse to the ground as exhaustion overtook them all. Even after everything, it was only Stain that still had the will to fight to the end.
On top of a water tower, Shigaraki looked at all the Nomus that had been defeated. His grip on his binoculars began to tighten each time he went over each Nomus' location, scratching his neck harder and harder as he saw them defeated. As far as he could tell, there had been few casualties among the so-called Heroes and the civilians, and the damage caused seemed minimal.
Behind him, Kurogiri waited patiently for Shigaraki's next command, when Lailah climbed up to them, her arm wrapped in webbing, bits of ice and frost covering her body.
"Nice to know I'm not the only one having a bad night," Lailah quipped upon noticing Shigaraki's behavior.
Shigaraki finally disintegrated the binoculars he had been using to spy on the fight in agitation. "Let's go back," Shigaraki grumbled.
"Were you satisfied with the results, Shigaraki Tomura?" Kurogiri asked as he created a portal back to the bar he managed.
"That depends on tomorrow," Shigaraki answered as he entered.
As Lailah followed through the warp gate, her mind wandered back to the U.A. Students, Itsuka and Milia in particular. The spider woman hissed at the thought of them, vowing that one day she will have all of their heads.
AN: Again, I'm sorry for how long this chapter took. The fight with Stain, which include more students as well as Lailah and the Winged Nomu, along with detailing the battles with the other Nomu that were included and detailing what Quirks they had, proved harder to do than I thought.
But FINALLY! We've made it past Hosu! Gotta be honest, this was harder than I thought, but it was worth it.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and again I'm sorry for the delay. Next time we'll see the aftermath of Hosu and what the other hero course students are doing. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, and don't be racist. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!