What's this? A new chapter so soon? Well, my sleep schedule is shot to hell right now, and as I've said before, sleep deprivation is apparently a reliable way for me to barrel through writer's block and I upload as soon as I have a finished product. So to everyone involved, Enjoy!
Shouto was patrolling the streets with Endeavor once again. It was a nice day, with a warm sun and a cool breeze. He hadn't seen any villain activity, but with the notification that Izuku sent, he was expecting that to change.
"Are you sure the info you got was accurate? Wasting time on rumors won't get us anywhere." the #2 "hero" asked his offspring.
"Deku said it came from Fiara's contacts, so it's only inaccurate if the informant was misled." the dual quirk user said without hesitation. If either of those two said that something was up, he'd act accordingly; they never joked about the safety of others.
"Deku? Fiara?" Endeavor didn't recognize the names. "Are they classmates of yours?"
"Deku is; I lost to him in the festival, remember?" Shouto watched his old man grimace at the memory with satisfaction. It was odd to him that losing that fight felt better than winning.
"And Fiara?"
"He substitutes for All Might in foundational hero studies and is the club teacher for martial arts. I heard he finally got his hero license, so he should rise in the ranks soon." Shouto stated simply, causing the flaming man to turn his head.
"Wait, you mean that Fiara was-" an explosion a few blocks away cut the "hero's" thoughts off. The two started running towards the danger only to find something shouto didn't want to imagine.
Two Nomu.
At least that's what he thought at first before he reevaluated the situation. One had a gas mask under it's exposed brain and a pale skin with wings as opposed to the black hide that the ape-like Nomu at the USJ had. The other one there was darker skinned, but it had no eyes and red lines on its body in odd places.
"Hey, Todoroki! Slow them down!" looking at the heroes on site, the dual quirk user saw the person the voice belonged to.
"I'll ground the airborne one, but you'll have to keep it there for a few seconds, Ingenerate." even under his classmate's helmet, he could feel the smile the engine user had when he planned with a classmate. Shouto launched a shotgun of ice shards at the airborne Nomu, causing it to fall to the ground. Ingenerate sped in and started to keep the monster off balance long enough for his classmate to encase it up to its hips in ice. While they and other heroes worked on restraining the winged Nomu (manual making it easier by using the water from a hydrant to give todoroki more to work with), Endeavor had neutralized the larger one with blue flames.
"I hate to admit it, but your father is strong," Ingenerate said bluntly. Shouto nodded in agreement. The two students heard their phones go off at the same time. Checking it, they saw that Deku had given them his location with no context.
""Something's up!"" they chorused. Ingenerate turned to Manual quickly.
"Sir! An acquaintance of mine is requesting assistance. Permission to assist?" the hydro-hero looked over to the saluting teen and gave him his decision.
"Granted, and take someone with you!" the engine quirk user pointed to Shouta, who had just gotten permission from Endeavor, with a promise of backup when they finish here. Shouta grabbed Ingenerate's shoulder and put a layer or ice on his feet to burden the speedster less. The duo bolted for the place marked on the GPS.
Deku and Gran Torino had split up. 'I'm giving you free range to do what you can, so don't get killed.' for the elderly hero, those were as close as one would get for trusting words. Gran had gone to the area near the tracks while the green hero had gone towards the area near the hero offices. He took back alleys to ensure he could move unimpeded with One For All. He heard faraway explosions, but before he could run to the source of the noise, the hero heard a raspy voice.
"So damn noisy, so the dumbass arrived then. I'll dispose of him later. Until then, I'm doing what I gotta do." he ran towards the alley the voice came from and saw a terrifying sight; Stain, the hero killer, was holding the hero Native to the wall with an o katana poised to kill. Without thinking, the green haired hero-in-training rushed in to save the pro hero. His knee connected with Stain's jaw, sending him a good couple meters away.
"Are you okay enough to escape?" he asked native, only to hear the worst words in that situation.
"I can't move, it must be his quirk." the pro was shocked but thankful to see any form of help. The hero killer stood upright before brandishing his sword.
"Can't say I like the idea of killing a kid," he said in a dull tone. "Get out of here, this is no place for a child." Stain's words made Deku think as he texted his friends where he was behind his back.
'If he doesn't kill indiscriminately, then maybe I can buy some time until his quirk wears off of native.' with a plan in mind, he took a stance in between the murderer and the incapacitated hero.
"I'm scared to say I can't do that." his voice was shaking, and it was probably going to crack sooner or later, but he held his ground. "After all, 'butting your nose in one of the principle qualities of a hero'" Stain gave a leering smile at his words.
"I like that attitude, I should let you live to be a real hero, unlike the counterfeits like him," he motioned his head towards Native. "that plague today's society." Deku was, thankfully, getting more to work with as the conversation progressed.
"Counterfeits? A hero's job is to help the public. If they do that, what makes them fake?" Stain's eyes turned dark at the teen's logic.
"Have you heard of heroes before the career, when the very term was synonymous with 'vigilante'? A hero should be selfless, putting his life on the line without expectation for a reward. Fakers wearing the title today are only those who use the career to get money or fame. I'll purge this society of the filth that stains that honored title!" Stain rushed forward as he spoke his creed, causing Deku to respond by mirroring the murderer. The hero killer swung the pitted o katana in a wide arc, but it was unrefined compared to the training the hero in green had. Deku used his chi to block the initial impact before holding onto the blade with his thick-gloved hand as firmly as he could. The pitted blade caught in the fibers of the glove and with that, coupled with the strong grip, the blade didn't have enough give to do a draw-cut and cause any damage to the teen. With the killer's primary weapon immobilized, Deku came in to step on the arch and ankle of the villain, but Stain reacted fast enough. The hero killer let go of his sword and backed away before throwing a knife at the martial artist. Deku dodged by a hair's breadth before he swore he heard the voices of saints.
"Deku, we have come to your aid!"
"Give more context next time you send us something. Now we're late."
Stain wasn't sure if he was having a good day, or a bad one. One one hand, he was being prevented from Purging the false-hero Native by kids, while on the other hand, the kids in question seemed to have the mindset of proper heroes and would make the next generation better than the current. It was ironic that the son of the #1 faker and the brother of the hero he put out of commission were two of those real heroes. He hated leaving a job half finished, but with the hero they called Deku being better at close quarters combat, that Todoroki kid giving long-range support, and Ingenerate beating him in speed, he was at a serious disadvantage, especially since he lost his primary weapon.
He threw a knife at Shouto, leaving a small blood trail. He was trying to get his bloodied instruments in a position he could grab them and it didn't seem they understood that yet. When he got close enough to pick a knife with the dual quirk user's blood off the ground, he quickly licked the blade. The kid hit the ground fast, but he wasn't done yet.
"Todoroki!"
"His quirk involves ingesting blood!" unfortunately, Deku figure it out almost instantly when he saw it in action. Stain rushed at Deku when he focused more on his companion than the opponent in front of him, hoping to get two heroes in one move. He could handle any of them one on one, but they were too much at once. He pulled one of his four large knives and poised himself for a stab, but it was blocked by Ingenerate. He swiped at the armored hero to see if he could get a different target, but the steel only glanced off the hard plastic armor. He settled for kicking the teen away, and his strike sent the Ingenerate into the wall, knocking his breath away from him. He turned to the green-clad hero, only to find him holding his blade in an iaido stance. The next moment ended the fight.
'Swords are not a tool that you use lightly.' Anima said simply. 'They are meant to draw blood, to kill and maim. I don't think you can use them because of that very reason. You care too much to purposefully draw blood.'
'But what If I have little choice.' Izuku spoke in a soft voice. 'I want to know how to use a sword in case I need to end a fight faster than what I can do with my fist and feet.' Anima smiled sadly at the twelve-year old's reasoning.
'Alright, but promise me you won't use it to kill. The blood on your hands can't be washed away easily.' The teacher received a nod.
'I'm only teaching you one move, so polish it to perfection.'
Deku swung the blade at Stain's collarbone with the back of the o katana. When it connected, he felt the bone break under the force of the three-pound steel, and the hero killer fell. Deku tossed the blade aside before going to his knees from the exhaustion and adrenaline crash hitting him hard. He used Chi liberally in that fight, so he wasn't as injured as his classmates, but chi use was tiring to the bone. With the killer unconscious, his quirk deactivated, freeing Shouta and Native. The pro hero ran to Deku's side to check his condition while berating the three students for recklessly putting their lives at risk.
"It wasn't reckless, it was a calculated risk between our injuries and your life based on Midori- I mean, Deku's plan." Shouto corrected himself.
"Deku-san always makes plans based on what resources he has, so although it was on the fly, we obtained our goals." Deku nodded and stood up, now over the adrenaline crash.
"Goal one for heroes: safety of the endangered people and property. Goal two: subjugation of the villain. Goal three: self-safety. I think we nailed number one and two, though we have to work on number three." the hero in green scratched the back of his head while giving a sheepish smile while his classmates shook their heads in exasperation; they were covered in bruises as a result of getting too close to the homicidal maniac with steel-rimmed boots. They tied the hero up with some rope that was by the dumpster for newspapers and such. Stain woke up in a half-lucid state, simply going where they pulled him, which was out into the street where the other heroes were waiting, along with Gran Torino.
"I leave ya alone for twelve minutes and ya already found trouble. I swear, kids these days…" although his tone was admonishing, Deku saw a small smile creep up the old man's face. The other heroes were already calling for ambulances until Gran Torino shouted.
"GIT DOWN!" while everyone heeded his words, a Nomu had come flying in to grab someone while bleeding from it's left eye. The abomination grabbed Deku, who was to exhausted to dodge in time, and started flying off.
Stain saw the kid get grabbed, and soon found himself angry.
'That's a real goddamn hero! Even with my hands covered in blood, I'm not going to let those bastards kill him!' his mind raced as he made a plan. He saw the creature's blood on the heroine's face and moved. He pulled the knife he hid under his wrist guard and cut his bindings before licking the blood off the woman's cheek. He saw the abomination freeze and ran full sprint despite the immense pain he felt. When it was within range of his jump, he launched himself on the monster before stabbing it in the head and grabbing Deku. The heroes were stupidly talking amongst themselves about his actions until he heard the voice of the #1 faker.
"Endeavor!" his mask fell off, but it was only a side thought as he glared daggers at the "hero".
"Another phony!" his voice was filled with venom as he directed all of the killing intent he had at the flame user.
"The fakes must be purged. Someone… someone has to stain themselves with the blood of fakes. The meaning of the word hero must be restored to its glory!" Stain took a step before putting his entire intent behind his next words.
"Just try it, you counterfeits! The only one allowed to kill me is All Might!" he felt his consciousness slipping as he felt something behind him. He turned to find that Deku was standing eye level with him.
"The original meaning of a hero comes from the Greeks. It simply meant anyone with divine ancestry. When the middle ages turned around, it meant anyone with military merits. During the great depression of 1938 to the start of the quirk hero system in 2135, it meant one who tried to help others any way they could. Now, it's a profession, with rules and guidelines. but the ones who made the laws tried their damnedest to keep the essence of heroes in the profession. Of course, people are going to look at heroing as a way to make money or get famous, but they've been doing it longer than most realize." it was strange for the hero killer. He wanted to refute the words, but the kid's intent was strong, and he felt the protective aura he was emitting engulf the area. He didn't know how, but the kid's naive convictions were strong enough to combat his creed.
"Heroes are humans, and humans are flawed. Even All Might isn't infallible; he's going to screw up, just like anyone else." as Stain's eyes were starting to fall, he had a betraying thought.
'What is a hero?'
I feel like I could have done better in the last stretch, but alas. I'll iterate once more; it's fun to write combat scenes! The matter of Izuku grabbing the blade is something that can absolutely work (Google half swording if you don't believe me). I was honestly wondering which of the trio would be the one to find Stain, and so I left it up to chance; I literally rolled a four-sided dice to find out. if you have any criticisms or comments, tell me! I love reading every review I get. Until next time!