A/N: I've read of this chapter a dozen times but mistakes always slip through..i was made aware of a mistake in Chapter 1 by a couple people and I've found mistakes in chapter 2 that I will fix at a later date. If there's any issues in this chapter let me know, though I do feel like the pacing is kind of fast but I'm working on it, I'm not really much of a good writer if you couldn't tell.
WARNING, DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE FROM HERE ON OUT. If a chapter is particularly bad i'll add a trigger warning.
Izuku grunted as a foot slammed into his chest, sending him flying back onto the dirt. It had been three months since he started training with All-Might in the mornings and occasionally with Stain at nights, but the pain from the training remained constant at all times.
Izuku groaned as he looked up to the dark sky, wondering if the decisions he made leading up to this moment were the right ones. Stain leaped through the trees, somersaulting in the air and aiming his blade downward straight for Izuku's face. The ghostly left hand of The World materialized out of the ground at the last second, catching the blade in between two fingers. The right hand shot out and sent a fist for Stain's head - stopping right before contact. Stain twisted away and used his stand to skewer the hand of The World, causing Izuku's hand to bleed as well.
"Damn it." Izuku gritted his teeth in pain. As Black Chariot pulled the blade out, Stain licked the blood.
"You hesitated. In a fight against Enyaba's Stand Users you will die, your stand is incredibly powerful but given the opportunity, they would still be able to kill you in an instant." Stain explained. He slammed a fist into Izuku's stomach and then launched a barrage of hits on the boy, bruising every contact point. Izuku wanted to throw up from the pain but he was strong enough to keep his nausea under control - he was getting used to these beatdowns. "Why did you hesitate? If you were anyone else you'd be dead by now."
The man was brutal, a cold-hearted killer - of heroes nonetheless, but Izuku could almost enjoy his presence, as if the man was a friend, or maybe not that close - more like a mentor with a couple of bad habits. Izuku wished he could have a conviction as strong as him. When Izuku felt himself regain control of his muscles he sat up and wiped the droplets of blood from his nose. All-Might did his best to instill dignity in Izuku and help him become physically strong, but Stain did his best to instill the harsh pain of reality.
Their training together was often inconsistent - some weeks they trained four times, some weeks they would only train once, but over time he mastered the ability to bring out his stand and a few other techniques… Now it was just a matter of getting experience with the stand to get ahead of his peers.
"It still feels weird hurting someone even if it is practice. Besides, why do you always talk about me killing or getting killed by other Stand Users?" Izuku asked. "Aren't we all on the same team?"
"What are your plans for the future?" Stain asked as he paced around the boy.
"You know my goal is to be a hero, so that way I can stand up for people who are quirkless like I was..." Izuku always felt nervous telling Stain his heroic ambitions. He was the HERO KILLER after all.
"And have you met any of the new stand users?" Stain asked. Technically no, but in the couple of times Izuku had met with Enyaba she would talk a bit about her new henchmen.
"W-well no bu-" Izuku started but Stain swung a blade and held it right up to Izuku's face.
"There's a reason for that. She wants to make sure you end up a monster like Muscular… or me." Stain seethed. He sheathed his blade. "That's why. If she needs to send a Stand User to kill you then you won't know who or what kind of stand you would be facing."
Izuku shivered at the thought. Why would Enyaba want to kill him? She made him feel like he was an important player in the group of stand users. Was she only hyping him up to get him to lower his guard?
"You've been training with All-Might, that's why. She doesn't know that though," Stain said as if he read the boy's mind. Izuku was visibly taken aback. "I've been keeping tabs on you. How do you think Enyaba would feel if she heard that you are training under the number one hero All-Might while planning to go to the U.A., She might want you dead, right?"
Izuku's blood ran cold. "W-w, I u-uh I-it's, a-are you g-g-going to kill me?"
"Haven't you learned anything about me… I hate the disgusting filth that are the Stand Users." Stain started stretching his muscles. "You know I kill fake heroes who are only in it for fame instead of for actually protecting people. Do you know how insufferable it is working with people who kill for fun? She is recruiting real bottom-of-the-barrel filth, which is even lower than fake heroes."
Stain spat on the ground as Izuku dusted himself off and stood up. "You only ever hear about me killing heroes but there are villains on my radar too."
"Then why don't you just kill the other stand users?" Izuku asked.
"Because the number of stand users in Enyaba's ranks is rising, and I can't take them all on at once, I doubt I can take some of them on in a one versus one anyway." Stain answered. "If I did turn and she told you to hunt me down like a beast, would you do it?"
"W-well…" Izuku looked down at the ground. So far Enyaba hasn't done anything wrong to him but he wouldn't say he was completely loyal to her. "No obviously... My real goal is that I want to destroy the stand arrow."
Stain's eyes widened before he grinned. "Good choice, she is not to be trusted, but here's the thing, if she tells you to kill someone and you don't then she will kill you as well for betrayal. That's another reason you're at a risk, the fact is that you will have to learn to put an end to a life. You are on a path that will pit you against Enyaba so it is either your life or hers, there's no way she will give up the arrow while she is alive."
"I don't know…" Izuku rubbed his arm anxiously. "If I get into the U.A. then I'll be safe there, right? I'll leave an anonymous tip and the heroes will take care of the Stand Users, or I'll leave on good terms with them and they'll leave me alone."
"Just throw her under the bus, eh? Not bad but the heroes won't catch all of the Stand Users." Stain laughed, before returning to seriousness. "Seriously, are you saying you'd let the stand users do their own thing as long as you don't have to kill them? What about before you get into the U.A? You'll just let them continue their slaughter of innocents?"
"No, I'll just need time to g- or tell… All-Might?" Izuku gradually became more unsure of his answers causing them to come out more like questions. "I guess you're… right…"
"I'll only say this once kid, either you get strong enough to protect yourself and your loved ones, or you stay under Enyaba's control - those are the only two options. These are real killers." Stain said, visibly getting heated. "The Stand Users aren't a happy fun time kid group, you're dealing with real shit, real consequence, real people's lives are at stake whether you become a hero or remain on Team Enyaba - if you're not strong enough to do what it takes to protect those you care about don't even think about becoming a hero! There are stands that even All-Might will die fighting against."
Izuku started sweating under the pressure as he was starting to understand Stains harsh words but he didn't necessarily like them, he started to feel the tears falling from his eyes. Stain grunted in anger. He wiped the tears off Izuku's face with a roundhouse kick.
"Instead of crying about it, focus on becoming stronger. I'm not hard on you because you want to be a hero, I'm hard on you because you're just a kid." Stain offered Izuku a hand. "You'll have to make choices you shouldn't have to at this age. Either you betray Enyaba, or you get arrested by the Hero Commission and you'll never be able to do hero work. The Hero Commission is especially harsh to Stand Users - I've seen Stand Users come and go, but just remember you'd rather die than get caught by them."
"So what is your advice?" Izuku asked.
"You already know, I've said it a couple of times now." Was Stain's simple answer. "Realize that sometimes to be a hero, you must do things unbecoming of a hero."
Izuku cast his eyes to the moonlit ground.
"Let's move away from talking about stand users for a moment. Say a villain says he is going to wipe out a city, and you know for sure he can do so. Hundreds of thousands or even millions will die. You are also sure you can stop him, but his partners are on the way as his back up and you can't stop them all. What would you do?" Stain asked.
"I would-"
"Back-up heroes aren't going to be able to make it in time." Stain cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. "Just think about it. It's illegal for a hero to use their judgment to decide to kill a villain, but how many innocent lives are worth the life of a villain? What about your mother's life? Would you trade her life for a villain?"
"Of course not!" Izuku snapped. "If I couldn't arrest them or knock them out… then I'll do whatever it takes."
"So you are beginning to understand. When we first started training together, you said everyone is not created equal, it's the same thing here - not everyone deserves the same punishment." Stain said. "We like to think we know what we would do in a situation until it happens. Maybe now you say you won't kill, but we will see. When your adrenaline kicks in it'll be interesting to see."
"You asked if I would kill you for betraying the Stand Users… would you kill me if Enyaba ordered it?" Izuku asked, already thinking he knew the answer. Stain looked him in the eye.
"No. There are a million reasons why I would end you, but some old hag telling me too isn't one of them, I've grown rather fond of you." Stain answered, it was the best answer Izuku would get. "While Enyaba doesn't dislike you she also loves nobody but her son and herself. So tell me, what are the reasons why I believe Enyaba will turn on you."
Izuku started biting his fingernails nervously, but Stain slapped his hand away.
"Well… like you said, if she knew All-Might himself was training me, then she would think I may build a relationship with him and come clean to him. Same if I'm at the U.A., she might think the teachers will either put two and two together or I'll slip up. Since I'm training with All-Might, if I decide not to go to the U.A. at all then All-Might would raise questions. It's a risk she'd rather just kill me right away to prevent." Izuku muttered, suddenly Stain's line of thinking was clear to Izuku. "If I ditch All-Might and stick with Enyaba, then I'll be forced to kill innocent people, but I'll refuse and she'll think I'm not loyal, won't she? I don't know what to do!"
"I've said it like FOUR times now kid, it's getting redundant." Stain reminded him, starting to shout. He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand and started yelling. "Even if you manifested a stand and didn't join Enyaba's group and went straight to hero school, stand users are drawn to each other, so a confrontation is a matter of time. There are stand users out there who didn't join Enyaba's little club, and she's actively sending killers after them. Once you are stronger than them, then you can decide how to deal with them - but if you are weak then you play any dirty trick you need to put them down permanently. If you don't want to be a killer then your strength must dwarf theirs and put striking terror in their hearts!"
Stain was huffing after his rant, he took a moment to catch his breath. "The real reason I think you need to kill them, however, is because they won't stop until you are dead. Most prisons can detect quirk activation but not a stand activation. A jailbreak would be easy for a stand user, You would never be safe unless they fear you enough to stay away."
"That's true. If Muscular for example can scrape away matter, he could just erase his cell. Plus his natural brute strength is incredible as well." Izuku grimaced at this horrifying fact, that a real menace to society that no prison could hold on to, would only be stopped by death. He didn't want to admit it out loud but Stain was making a convincing point.
"That's a good example to keep in mind. How about this, we do a bit of real-world training, and when you see what I'm going to show you, keep the Stand Users in mind. Do you want to be the hero or villain?"
Izuku gave it a thought. He assumed Stain was asking him to roleplay either the hero or the villain, and that Stain would take the opposite role and they would do some sort of exercise. For now, Izuku was going to take the hero role but he didn't expect Stain to take it easy on him.
"I'll be the hero this time. I'm guessing you're a villain that I have to stop?" The greenette asked. Stain chuckled.
"It's a little more complex than that. Use your stand to keep up kid." Stain leaped away as Izuku summoned the aura of The World to surround him, ghostly legs glowing over his own.
Stain had taught him that certain stands could augment the physical attributes of the user, such as making him punch harder or run faster - the only limit was Izuku's endurance.
When he used this technique, Izuku could feel his adrenaline start to spike. It was exhilarating moving this fast, jumping this high - but he was still nowhere near as fast as Stain, even Bakugou was faster than this but it was a massive improvement from his regular speed.
He barely managed to track Stain in the moonlight as the hero killer sped through the forest but Izuku was determined not to fall behind9. They gradually made their way closer to the edge of the city, by the time they stopped on the roof of a high-rise building in the heart of the city Izuku was already out of breath. Stain, however, was not even fazed. Izuku wondered if he trained hard enough he could build up an endurance like that as well.
"You have no time to be out of breath. You chose to play hero today, but to be honest I didn't have anything planned if you said villain" Stain said. He looked out over the city. "How many videos of heroes taking out villains have you watched, and how many have shown you what happened before the hero arrived?"
"Well, I've been watching them since I was very young so I'd have to say I've watched a couple thousand." Izuku scratched his chin as he wondered. "But you're right, they do often start after the heroes already arrive."
"It's a law that bans showing anything too gruesome on live television but as a result, everyone began to think being a hero is all sunshine and rainbows. Well, today we're hunting a real villain, and you'll see what they don't show you on the news." Stain was solemn. "The T.V. heroes are always happy and bright, smiling after defeating a villain, happy that they are about to have a fat check cut in their name. Think about it though, sometimes there's a casualty or two, or if they're unlucky, there are dozens. Do you think the families of the casualties are smiling? Do you think they get paid once their loved ones die? How about the terror the victims felt moments before their demise?"
Izuku felt chills run through his body, he'd thought about casualties but never really put too much into it. He squatted down as his stomach started to ache. It was such a simple concept - how did he not think of it like that before? A battle between a hero and villain was both awesome and terrifying - though Izuku remembered how utterly frightening it was when his life was almost taken by the Sludge Villain, and how seeing his old friend almost get suffocated was equally as terrifying. For people caught up in the battle, there was nothing cool about it.
"It's not a reality many people think about, kid." Stain lowered his voice and patted Izuku on the back. "It's better you learn the reality sooner rather than later. I've seen it time and time again, fresh young heroes straight out of school seeing their first dead body in an active villain attack. That's why I cull the weak, it may lower the number of heroes, but it forces those remaining to become stronger, ever closer to true heroes and forces lawmakers to think harder about how we deal with villains."
Izuku shuddered, Stain was going to show him a dead body or something close to that.
"Once you see how terrifying it is, you'll see some people do deserve death. You'll be stronger because of it. I've had my eyes on a villain that's been eluding the heroes for a couple of days. I don't usually track villains but I thought it would be a good experience for you to grow up. Follow."
Izuku followed Stain as they jumped from building to building, away from the center of the city towards more quiet parts of the area.
"He's right ahead." Stain stopped on a building, Izuku landing next to him. He handed Izuku a piece of cloth and motioned for him to tie it around his eyes, just like the hero killer had. Izuku did so while Stain pointed at a hulking beast barely visible in the light of the dim alleyway. The villain was bald, and his skin was a pasty light blue with dark veins showing from below the surface. His lidless eyes were empty, pure white and soulless, his face expression empty. His nose was long and pointed, his mouth was gaping and lined with multiple rows of pointed teeth - he was a hulking humanoid shark. Izuku could barely see what the shark-like man was hunching over when suddenly another shark-like human came out from behind the shadows, except this one was light pink. Izuku put a hand over his mouth, trying not to gag - the Pink Shark had a woman in their mouth, limp and lifeless.
The sound from the figure underneath the Blue shark thrust a morbid realization on Izuku, the small shape, the high-pitched whimper, tiny limbs… The pieces of the puzzle before him started falling into place.
"That's her kid!" Izuku shouted. A fit of blinding, uncontrollable anger overtook him. He clenched his fists and teeth, and his body went on autopilot. The Shark villains looked towards the green hair intruder, his expression unchanged. Izuku jumped off the building, landing in front of the Blue Shark. The kid wasn't in good shape as far as Izuku could tell. The boy was close to losing consciousness and one of his legs was completely smashed - he only looked to be about six years of age. Izuku had to hold his breath due to the overwhelming stench of blood in the air.
"Help… them." The voice came from the woman in the Pink Shark's mouth - causing the Pink Shark to bite down harder but the woman no longer had energy left to scream out in pain. Two knives hit the Pink Shark in both eyes, it dropped the woman as it screamed.
"Wi...fe…" The Blue shark spoke slowly before two more knives struck out his eyes but he was unfazed.
"If they're sharks then they don't need their eyes to fight. I wasn't aware there were two of them so be wary of them." Stain said as he licked the blade that was in Pink's eye.
Blue went to pick up the boy but The World punched his hand. Izuku heard a loud cracking as the fist connected, shattering Blue's hand.
'The World is fast and Blue's speed is far too slow, this shouldn't be too hard of a fight!' Izuku thought, confident in the power of his stand. He needed to end this fight as fast as possible.
The beast took a step back and looked at his hand, then over to his wife who was paralyzed. The World grabbed the boy and sat him down far behind Izuku. Blue's eye twitched and his breathing grew heavy.
"Hun-gry," Blue grunted, instead of reaching around Izuku for his prey he went for the woman his partner dropped. The World grabbed Blue's tail, wagging his finger at the villain.
The shark tried to hit the golden man but The World caught his hand and twisted it. Blue's face turned from emotionless into a deep scowl.
'He must realize he doesn't have the upper hand after all,' Izuku thought.
Blue's pale skin started becoming a darker blue and thickened like plated armor, his muscles bulked up and the veins below his skin started to bulge and his teeth grew so much longer that his mouth could barely contain them. Pink was attempting to do the same transformation but Stain was too busy punishing her - she looked bloodied and beaten up and her breathing was ragged as she struggled against paralysis.
"The World!" Izuku cried and pointed towards the blue beast. The World let forth a barrage of punches, striking any surface it could of the villain - chipping away at the armor.
The villain growled and endured the barrage until it found a brief moment to counterattack. It sent a massive right hook towards The World, completely blowing the side of a building out. The massive boom reverberated through the alley. The hit connected with the golden man, striking The World in the chest. Izuku felt a massive pain in his chest as the damage The World felt was transferred to him - his ribs probably received fractures from that blow. If that same right hook had hit Izuku directly there was no doubt he would've died on impact.
"Take his arms out, if he throws another punch like that the buildings will collapse and endanger the boy you're trying to save. The heroes are probably not the way after that," Stain advised, Pink attempted to fight back but her efforts were pitiful.
The World dodged a straight jab from Blue and counterattacked with a blow to the beast's right elbow. He put more force into this punch focusing on breaking the chitinous armor protecting the villain. The hit blew away the armor and staggered Blue, and The World followed through with another hit, this time doing more than breaking the arm of the beast - it tore partly through Blues muscles, leaving the villain screaming in pain as his now useless arm sprayed blood everywhere. The beast stumbled back a few steps, now wary of the Golden Man standing menacingly in front of him. Izuku was unsettled by hurting someone like that, but Stain was right about taking away his ability to cause massive damage. He didn't have to kill him, but this villain needed to be stopped at all costs.
"Even after he transformed The World outclasses him," Izuku said to himself.
Izuku mentally directed The World to hit Blue again, however this time the fist just bounced off. He realized that The World must have been extended beyond its five-meter range. It was unsettling to get closer to a raging villain but Izuku couldn't let him kill these helpless people. A bout of courage filled his heart as he trusted The World would protect him, and he moved closer to the villain until he was only a single meter away from him. The villain went in for a bite but The World held his jaws open with his bare hands, before quickly using one hand to slam a fist down on the villain's head and shattering all of the shark's teeth. The villain was smashed into the ground, cracking the cement beneath them and sending up a massive plume of dust.
Izuku didn't have time to be amazed at the strength of his Stand, he and The World watched the dust for any signs of movement. Suddenly Blue shot out of the smoke in the opposite direction of Izuku, running around a corner and further into the dark alleys. Izuku used The World to chase after him, he turned the corner and stopped at the sight before him. Blue had picked up an unconscious man with his mouth. His large frame turned to see Izuku and swallowed the man whole - his body already starting to heal. Blue then picked up a young girl who had passed out as well and got ready to consume her.
'Save them' is what that woman had said. Them, as in the rest of her family, not just the boy… and Izuku had already failed that. Izuku's anger came back in full force.
"The World!" Izuku commanded. He heard the sound of a ticking clock, then the sound of gears grinding to a halt as he ran towards Blue. He used The World to hit the villain in the face as hard as he could, but the villain didn't budge any more than a couple of inches. In one smooth motion, Izuku grabbed the girl and slid to a stop a few meters away from the villain.
The imaginary gears he heard stop began moving again, and the villain was suddenly sent flying into a wall. Izuku used The World to head back towards Stain instead of waiting around, back to where he'd left the boy and the mother. He was careful while running with the girl, hoping that he didn't make her wounds worse by running around with her.
When he reached his location he didn't see Stain anywhere -probably finishing off Blue - but there was no doubt Pink was dead, her huge lifeless body slumped on a pile of trash; he didn't have time to feel bad. He set the girl down and assessed the situation.
The daughter seemed in the best condition, the mother was breathing raggedly and her son wasn't breathing at all as far as he could tell. Izuku started to feel his heart beat faster, he didn't know how to save a life, the best he could do was perform CPR.
"We have to go." Stain interrupted his thoughts.
"B-but he needs help!" Izuku cried.
"There are police on the way." Stain grabbed Izuku's arm but the greenette broke free. Izuku went to help the boy but he was grabbed by his hair. Stain kicked Izuku's legs out from beneath him. "Look!"
Izuku opened his eyes and was staring at the bloodied face of the mother on the ground. He tried to pull his hair free from Stain's iron grip but was powerless. He started crying.
"I said look! Look at what the fucking villains did to her!" Stain seethed. Her teeth were broken, skin missing in some places, holes in her chest from the bites she suffered. The blood pouring out of her wounds was surely fatal. "You stopped the villains that's the best you can do. Listen."
He shoved Izuku's face closer, he could hear her ragged, stuttering breaths - it's as if her airways were clogged with something, probably her lungs filling with her blood. She didn't have long left to live.
"Burn the image into your brain." Stain demanded. "This is what the fake hero doesn't show you, she will never get to say goodbye to her kids before she dies."
Izuku never felt more pathetic, helpless, powerless. That woman wanted him to save her kids and husband, more than she wanted herself to be saved… and Izuku failed to fulfill that wish, he didn't know if any one of them was going to live or die but the kids would probably never see their parents alive again. They'd never have dinner together, never smile together, have memories, see their kids graduate from school. Izuku wept harder even as the sirens were extremely close - this was his fault for not being strong enough.
"The police are here." He picked Izuku up and scaled the buildings. He tossed Izuku down watched below. The police pulled up, a hero with them. The police immediately went and checked on the unconscious civilians while the hero scouted for the villains. A couple of minutes after an ambulance showed up. "Even though it's after midnight, in a couple of minutes the media will arrive and the hero will take the credit."
Stain turned to walk away, and Izuku followed him, the tears still falling down his face.
"This sad suffering is why I want to bring about change to hero society." Stain spoke gently. "This is just one instance of the human suffering that goes on due to heroes without any diligence. You did what you could."
"We were there to step in this time but this is why I believe death is a valuable option," Stain continued. "Remember the face of that woman, her rasping breath. Her husband is dead, her son is probably dead, even she may be dead already. That would leave the poor daughter alone in this world - a cycle of cruelty."
Izuku couldn't find the words for what he was trying to say. Stain was right, Izuku thought that fighting villains would be fun - to protect people was the most important aspect but especially in the media, the heroes were much more carefree about collateral damage. Imagining the stakes versus seeing them up close were two completely different things. The smell of blood still stained Izuku's sense of smell.
"Is this why you want me to kill the Stand Users if I ever have to fight them?" Izuku asked. "Because they are people that I know the faces of, and that they are causing suffering like this to other people? Because I might end up like these innocent people?"
"Not just you, your mother too, the friends you make, anyone you care about will end up like those people we 'saved'," Stain corrected. "Enyaba is evil and so are her stand users… they know where you live, after all, it could get ugly fast, especially with a Long Range Stand, you'd be at a huge disadvantage. The destruction those villains cause is nothing compared to a stand. Some stands could destroy an entire city in a few minutes if their users were more competent."
Izuku thought for a moment… It is true they knew where he lived, and if his home were to be attacked by a long-range stand then they could wreak an unimaginable amount of carnage before they could be stopped. The image of the woman attacked by the Shark villains flashed in his mind but this time it was his mother. He nearly slipped as they jumped between buildings, barely getting caught by Stain. The hero killer raised a brow.
"I can't stop imagining that woman back there as my mother." Izuku felt his eyes getting wet.
"Good. That's a start, so many heroes think this shit is a game when thousands of people die daily. That's why you need to see what reality is, so you can change it to reduce suffering. Each time you won't be as weak as you were before," Stain said. "How was it using your Stand in battle? You were able to blow through the armor of that villain like it was nothing."
"I was angry but..." Izuku trailed off. "The power of my stand is incredible, it might not change air pressure like All-Might but it's striking damage is probably close to him. Also, I think I know what my Stand's ability is now, at first I wasn't entirely sure but suddenly it's like something in my mind is clearing up, and showing me how the ability works. It's li-"
"Don't tell me what your ability is." Stain cut him off quickly. "Keep it to yourself, it'll be better to use as a surprise. Who knows if there will arise a situation where I betray you. It's better safe than sorry."
"Oh." Izuku nodded. The World had stopped time, such an ability would be unparalleled if Izuku trained more. "Well, I just know it's powerful, but my question is how come I haven't found out before if everyone else can use their ability so easily?"
"I think it's because of your anger, it put you more in sync with your stand." The pair stopped moving for a moment. "Not too much is known about Stands, but I think it's kind of like leveling up in a video game, Stands have developmental potential. Most short-range stands like yours usually have a very low potential, most development usually comes in the form of unlocking your stand's ability or prolonging the duration of that ability and the speed of discovery is different for everyone."
"I see," Izuku noted.
"Your anger probably helped. Most stands are a manifestation of you, deep down you have deep-seated anger at society, so your stand manifests that anger or something like that. Think of either your deepest feelings or wants and that will relate somewhat to your stand's ability or at least better using your stand. However, just because The World used your anger to unlock his ability doesn't mean you can only use the ability while angry - it's hard to explain, nobody really knows much about stands except for the old hag." Stain explained.
The power to stop time, how did that relate to his wants? Maybe it was because he often wished to go back in time and enjoy his childhood a bit more and to be happy - so even though he didn't have the ability to rewind time, his stand gave him all the time in The World. It's an awe-inspiring ability.
Izuku didn't have the best knowledge of physics, but if The World stopped time which meant in essence pausing the movement of microscopic particles - and Izuku could move freely - then that would mean he was moving near a speed infinitely faster than the speed of light. That couldn't be the case though, because if time was stopped, then a few things could happen - his movements would cause a nuclear explosion or break reality once time resumed, he wouldn't be able to see anything after moving from his initial position, and he wouldn't be able to breathe.
Izuku had no doubt The World was probably making millions of minute calculations and micro-adjustments that allowed the ability to function without the complete collapse of reality.
"You're rambling again kid," Stain said. Izuku completely forgot what was going on.
"Sorry, just trying to figure things out," Izuku muttered.
"I was just telling you I'm going to be gone for a little while to take care of some things so keep your head above water while I'm gone," Stain said the silence made it clear he didn't want to elaborate further on what his plans were. "I have the feeling Enyaba wants you out in the field soon. You know how to contact me in case of an emergency."
"I understand. I'll keep working with my stand to become stronger." Izuku promised. Stain nodded and leaped away without saying another word.
Izuku continued the rest of the walk home alone with his only company being his thoughts. Through harsh training, he was gaining his confidence and cultivating his power, but it felt like something was missing inside that made him still feel like an empty shell - seeing that family torn apart by villains like that deepened Izuku's emptiness even further. Stain wasn't right to kill heroes but his ideology wasn't completely flawed.
Stain said The World was born from Izuku's anger - he wondered what would happen if the emptiness inside was filled with that resentment. He would be lying if he said he didn't often wish to just one day get all his anger out and go on a small rampage, but if his rage took hold of him would he become a monster?
Izuku was angry all the time, but he could never bring himself to show it for fear of being made fun of or bullied. He knew it was extremely toxic to keep such burning feelings inside balled up inside with nowhere to direct but at least his rage turned into a steady stream of sadness which he could just cry out.
Izuku dug his fingernails into his forearms and scratched himself, breaking his chain of thought. He couldn't let the negativity continue like that, otherwise, the irrational thoughts would take over and he'd have another mental breakdown. He stepped inside his house and let the nostalgic air surround him… he hated it here. Even if none of the bullying happened here specifically, Izuku couldn't help but attach the negative feelings to this home of so many memories he wished he could forget. The first thing he would do with money from being a hero is move far away. He clenched his fist. His mom had to work two jobs to afford this place, she was constantly tired and drain but still had to out a smile on her face for him - she worked so much for a place that Izuku hated.
He pressed his ear against his mom's bedroom door and listened for a moment to make sure he heard snoring - he let out a sigh of relief after hearing a slight rumble of her snores. He was glad his mom was asleep, all the bruises and cuts usually faded in the morning, if his mom were up to see him right now she would cause one hell of a storm - he would still probably have to wear a sweater and leave before she woke up though.
Izuku let out a heavy sigh as he flopped down on his mattress - nothing felt better than rest after an entire day of strenuous training. He relaxed there for a moment, enjoying his brief moment of peace - he was glad he didn't have to train with Stain for the next couple of weeks, it made doing the beach clean-up for All-Might harder with his entire body bruised and broken, plus he didn't want to see any more dead bodies. He almost dozed off when he heard a loud tap at the window.
He shot up and immediately went to check it out. He peeked through the curtains but didn't see anything suspicious but he noticed a note taped to his window - the usual way that Enyaba would get in contact with him. He retrieved the note and opened it up. His eyes widened after reading the message.
'Kill List:' Enyaba's message read, Izuku went cold. 'Gentle, La Brava, Hawks, Shigechi. Make haste."
Four names. Gentle and La Brava were criminals but not killers so a difference of opinions was Izuku's guess. Hawks was a pro-hero after all so there was a real possibility he was a mole and got burned. Shigechi? Izuku didn't know who that was - but four people is still a pretty big chunk of Enayaba's team. Even if those four were in hiding, Stand Users are drawn to each other…
He turned the lights out and got in bed. He pulled his blankets around him, it was already well after midnight and he had school in the morning. He wasn't worried much about the kill list; Enyaba sent out a kill list to everyone then he wouldn't have to do anything - someone would take care of it. An ever so slight creaking of the floorboard drew his attention - Izuku nearly shit himself.
The woman who had died in that villain attack was standing in the darknesses, her hollow eyes and elongated mouth gaping at Izuku. Her long, thin arms hanging down by her side. The sound of shuddering, raspy breathing filled his room.
He remembered a legend about how if a person requests a promise of you with their last breath, not having that promise fulfilled will turn them into a cursed spirit.
Izuku didn't move from his reclined position and kept his gaze on the cursed spirit as The World manifested itself to guard over Izuku. Even if it had a kind of physical body, The World WAS technically a spirit too so he should be able to hurt a ghost… except Izuku didn't believe in ghosts.
He kept his eyes on the spirit until after a couple of minutes it faded back into the dark, even then Izuku could still feel the presence. He'd have to get in contact with Stain sooner rather than later.
'There's no doubt about it, a stand battle is closer than I thought.'
A/N: like I said the facing is a little off, against the villains it was a quick win but against stands it won't be a beat down like in this chapter. If you have any input id like to hear it, whether it be either characters, stands or fights you'd like to see. I've come up with some interesting ideas for the future for the story, I hope you guys enjoy. If you're following this story for quirk/stand battles, they are on the way!
