A susurrated stretch of the starter string applies a touch of tension to the spring system. Wire ratcheted, his sternum's center cranks forward with the pull stroke. The rope retracts quickly from Izuku's finger that slides out of the tiny grip handle. Reel recoiled with a ululated snapback that expedites another startup, his chainsaws are spurred on by a stimulated spin of acceleration.
Two spindrifts of saliva spray from the frothing mouths of Stain and Izuku, each of their elongated tongues flopping around with just as much affrayed aggro. Buffeted spritz of blood trails both of the contenders' movements amidst the fracas fight. Chainsaw crosses katana, squalling steel sliding across both sweeping motions until push comes to shove and their jagged blades begin grinding out a cross between squealing or screeching.
Izuku drives down with his left arm bar, battering Stain's sword haphazardly and sparking embers, a corybantic collision carrying each weapon back. The hero killer veers from the chainsaw mounted to the boy's head, his own head whipping away and twisting alongside his body with predetermined counter instinct to drag his second katana upwards. Izuku's skull saw meets the swordsman's blade at similar striking speeds that they abruptly stop one another's force.
Equal tumult comes from the two opponents before they return to frenzied flicks of sharp razor edged weapons. Incisions split open their clothing when each blade makes contact; red varnishes Izuku's originally white dress shirt, splotches pattern his torso until all crimson conjoins as one damp rag. Swept and swung overhead, his chainsaw crosses over until it comes between both blades of the hero killer.
Izuku jousts while stepping into a forward strike, "Raahh!", chained bar whizzing with burning blades. Stain careens and evades the incoming saw teeth. Izuku tries thrusting with his other arm bar as an incessant attack. Stain alters the course of his dual katanas so that they brandish into a crossed X formation. Blocking with this maneuver protects the hero killer from an impalement but he's still forced to take the brunt of the boy's blade ramming into him.
An apace swipe from Stain arcs so that his left handed katana catches Izuku's shoulder. Blood spurts out from the fresh groove in the boy's deltoid until the red liquid is prompted by the wound to come gushing forth instead. "Ow!", Izuku blenches while backing up. The boy's back hits one of the alley's brick walls, sparse space keeping him within striking range of his opponent's swords. It's his turn to bring his blades together so that they close off any impending spear attacks, pointed end of Stain's katanas deflected by the spin of his arm bar chains.
Pressed into a confined corner, Izuku drags one of his heels up the wall behind him. Using it as a springboard, he kicks out and brings his other leg up to lunge forward. Izuku thrusts his knee into the hero killer's stomach, closing the distance before regaining it a simultaneous second later. Spittle speckles Stain's jaw as he chokes out a grunt, recoiling from the abrupt impact to his gut. The swordsman guards himself during his recovery by swapping sides of his stance so that each katana aims in differing directions.
"Take–", Izuku bends back as he cocks an arm, "–THIS!" His body rotates as he hurdles himself at the hero killer, chainsaw mounted limb combing the air with a twisted stroke. Stain deflects with his own curvature cutting motion. Jagged ends rake across eachother, eliciting a shrill squeak and casting a spray of sparks.
Both combatants contort during the clash and wind up switching their sides of the alley. They each slide back due to the force of their collision, shoe outsoles scratching the pavement and kicking up dust. Pushed to an opposite end of the backstreet, Izuku looks down to check his footing, only to find a new gash added to his body's count. "Whuuh?! When did I get cut again?!", he winces despite his healing factor already sealing shut the scar, "Ow! That really hurts!"
Stain's tongue flits the central ridge of the katana that caught Izuku's shoulder, lapping up the blood smeared along its sharp trimming. Sudden suppression overcomes the chainsaw boy's body, bladed fetters muffling and reign of movement stifling. His muscles tighten until tensing into a dead stop. Not before he hoops a finger through the slot of his ripcord's handle though. Izuku flexes the digit just enough to trigger another jumpstart to the blood flow that circulates as fuel to his chainsaws. A caterwaul carries across the alley, heat wafting from fervid rotating blades.
Izuku dashes at the hero killer, a roaring upheaval of his chainsaw charge forcing the villain into a defensive block. Sparks streak along the clashing blades with a resounding clang. Izuku chops down with his other arm bar, forcing Stain to parry with another deflection. More embers stray from the heavy impact that clammers against their colliding weapons. Stain withdraws with an aerial maneuver, blood red scarf streaking behind him, regaining distance from his opponent.
Izuku vaults from his spot to keep up with the villain. A simultaneous swing of both the boy's right leg and arm's chainsaw attacks at above head level, a full body-swerve from the hero killer the only way the fiend avoids getting hit. As the hero in training buckles down on his landing, he brings his left arm's chainsaw chopping down with the squat. Stain stops the swing with his own and follows up with a secondary swipe to match the assault head on.
After Izuku stops the slashing motion, he rebounds to deliver a counter cutting current. Their exchange swerves side to side as they carry out a flourishment of waving their blades. When Stain brandishes a broad swing that takes a new axis, Izuku performs a curvet to spring himself up and over it. The hero hopeful soars as he delivers a butterfly twist kick to the hero killer's torso. Stain staggers a step while groaning. He has to bring his katanas up to shield himself from the boy's next attack.
The villain recoils from his opponent's chainsaws on the first push and sidesteps the second. Stain swings his sword down, tip streaking the cement of the alley floor with a scrape, applying power to a then charged uppercut that carries the blade high. Izuku makes dissonant sounds as he's blown back by a updraft of wind sliced into waves by Stain's katana. The hero killer carries his other sword down with equal thew to generate another blast of residual air. Izuku dives out of the strike zone and rolls with his landing.
Stain pivots to sweep in and assault his enemy. The U.A student is too distracted finding his footing. Izuku raises an arm bar as the hero killer enters his space but he's too late, the villain knicks his tricep. That moment of weakness allows another opportunity for Stain to follow up with a devastating blow that blasts the boy backwards. Izuku chokes down his cry of pain as he tumbles across the ground. He brings his chainsaws down hard for them to streak the pavement and stop his spill.
Stain flicks the katana that cut Izuku up towards his mouth so that he can wash the blood off with his tongue. Catching a glimpse of the movement with his gas lit orbs, the chainsaw boy yanks on his ripcord to keep his blades oscillating. Another shriek of the fetters fueled by circulating blood antagonizes the hero killer. The counter to Stain's quirk makes him curl his lip over, an expression that matches his glare.
The villain barrels forward to sunder with his sword, but Izuku's quick dodge results in only another split in the air. They withdraw immediately. Then re-engage. A confrontation of blades that volley one another meets in the middle of the alley. Their clangoring combat rotates with every vibrating collision. Izuku ducks under a swipe of Stain's left sword before clashing with the villain's right. Chainsaws crash into the hero killer's bladed block.
Izuku slides back before he somersaults to strike at Stain again. He presses into the push to jab the katana aside. The hero killer falters but makes a split second decision thereafter to drop his weapon and lead with the other that he still has a firm grip on. Izuku shouts when he's torn into but gets his revenge by shredding Stain's shoulder. Both fighters flick back on their blades as they swear under their breath. Blood splurts the way ketchup would fly from a torn package.
As each opponent skids away from the other, they begin reassessing their combat. Stain digs into his reserve of weapons for a dagger while Izuku untethers one of his arm bar's chains. The hero hopeful lashes out with the bladed wire while the hero killer hurls his bodkin. Steel strikes steel, interception radiating embers and diverting the course of their attacks. The jagged chain bends and whips Stain across the cheek, scratching his skin.
Izuku alternates with his other arm, that saw's chain detaching to thrash forwards. The hero killer flows with his enemy's extended line so that it zips beyond him. Despite Stain's surprise, he reacts to the links hitching in time to ricochet a snapback. Izuku retracts his chains so that they wind around his saws. Stain recuperates with a growl as he gauges the boy before him. The villain dives in with a stroke of his katana.
Izuku's foot slides, his balance slipping on the blood beneath him. But he brings his arm up nonetheless, chainsaw wedging itself into the crook of Stain's sword. His other foot plants itself firmly to support the other and he rises up in order to apply force to his bladed arm. A pushback shifts Stain away for Izuku to stave him off with a secondary swipe of the other arm. Stain and Izuku retreat from one another. They're breathing heavily now, bodies raising and falling with every intake of oxygen.
"I find it difficult to judge you", Stain shifts his sword to be at an angle so it guards his front as he tenderly touches the wound on his shoulder, "You could have cut deeper but I've determined that you haven't been going for killing blows this entire time" Stain's hand moves up, his thumb brushing away the oozing liquid from his cheek's open wound. "You only intend to immobilize me or stall for that other boy to return with help", the hero killer studies Izuku with his blood red eyes, "Was all that bravado about murdering me just for show?"
Izuku stifles his audible reaction as much as he can. His gaslit gaze winds up shifting towards Native's corpse. "You're one to talk – toying with that guy and Iida!", Izuku wriggles his tongue until it's dripping saliva, "Maybe I just like playing with my food too, ya know, tenderizing the meat a little!"
"You little–", Stain bites down on his anger with gritted teeth. A pause. A beat. A moment. Then the hero killer crouches down until he's stooped low enough to be kneeling. His knees are bent like his back as he lowers his katana's position.
Izuku tips his head up, stunned by his enemy's sudden shift in demeanor. "Hnnh?", but accepts the posture as a resignation from his foe; his muzzle breaks out into a broad fanged grin, "That's right! Sit your ass down!"
A dissipating blur becomes fully evanesce and takes the place of Stain. The hero killer vanishes from sight. Izuku gasps as he tries to turn his head to look for his opponent. When his head swivels far too much way too fast, he gasps again. He's had his neck slashed straight through by Stain's sword. Beheaded, the boy begins to fall. He catches a glimpse of Stain behind him, realizing the villain's attack was so fast that he barely has enough time to register anything more than what he has to do next.
Izuku catches his head by the handle atop his steel skull before it can fully detach from his body. Feeling himself about to faint, Izuku jerks on his starter string while pressing the body part back into place. Amped up once again, his chainsaws rev with rekindled energy and his healing factor reconnects the severed jugular. Izuku releases a sharp exhale as he stops his descent with a propped knee. The close call keeps him down a second but he pushes himself back to a standing position to face his opponent after the short breather.
Done holding back, Stain is already stepping into the boy's space again. Izuku flings his arms up to brace himself but one of the limbs is wrenched away when the villain's katana slides in. Amputated at the elbow, Izuku's appendage is removed by a bellicose hew of the blade. The boy cries out as he swivels to intercept the sword with his remaining arm's chainsaw. That forelimb is met with an abscise contiguity as well. Both of the boy's arms are lobbed off and completely removed. Blood streams projectile from the incisions.
Stain thrusts with his blade. Izuku is impaled by the katana, pointed end sliding out his back as he's skewered. The hero killer twists his sword so that it penetrates deeper before pulling it from the point of entry. More internal bodily fluids spill out and become external from Izuku. Stain swings his katana in a wide arc so that it rights itself. The villain is preparing for a final killing blow to finish their fight.
Izuku kicks his leg up when he sees Stain's sword slicing down. A last ditch effort to oppose the attack is to retaliate with his own. A chainsaw tears itself free from Izuku's calf, extending to split through his foot. The blades ram into eachother, rattling upon collision. The bar protruding from Izuku's leg cracks as it begins to fracture. Stain's sword shatters it completely when the chains disconnect upon rupturing too. Izuku's calf hemorrhages from losing the standoff.
The hero hopeful falls, landing on his buttocks. Stain towers over him, sword still intact and unwavering. Izuku glances down at the string attached to his sternum; he's already both used and lost so much of his blood that he knows he doesn't have very many remaining resets left in him. Not unless … Izuku shifts his weight so that he lands near Stain's feet, and then bites down on the hero killer's ankle. Stain roars with his head hitched back to the sky as Izuku draws on his blood.
The villain's katana juts down to spear his assailant but Izuku rolls out of the way to dodge its pointed end, the sword stabbing the pavement instead. Izuku tumbles further away until he collapses with his back to the hero killer. Though Stain doesn't have to see to know what his opponent does next, he just needs to hear it. That damned CHAINSAW. Stain sways as he respires deeply. The chainsaw boy revives himself once again.
Izuku spits from the side of his mouth as he heaves himself to stand up. "No wonder you only drink other people's blood – yours tastes so much like shit!", an open mouthed grin overcomes the motorized muzzle as his tongue gyrates from the opening.
Arms regenerated and wounds closed, Izuku throws his chainsaws up to meet Stain's sword.
The blades drift over eachother. Then fly back into a flurry of flashes, steel clashing against steel. A ricochet here and a parry there. Izuku blocks with one chainsaw before leading with the other. His attacks cause the katana to veer from its original course but he's met with an alternate path every time. Swerving and swinging, Izuku turns his chainsaws so that the blade bounces off his own. It's beginning to make the boy's stamina dwindle. His teacher however, Jirou, doesn't even break a sweat.
"You're trying too hard", Jirou's katana glances the chainsaw atop Izuku's head. It's a move she occasionally does to knock him off balance in order to put pauses in her lessons. It works every time, making the boy stumble and stagger back.
"What does that even mean?", Izuku groans as he fixes his posture upon recentering his footing, "Don't you want me to try my hardest?"
"Well, yes, but…", Jirou lets go of her double handed grip on her katana to run a hand through her hair. Seeing his trainer lose her form, Izuku untenses and lowers his own guard. "The katana is meant to be an extension of oneself. You should let it flow freely as you search for your enemy's opening instead of trying to force one", the girl rolls her eyes, "I keep telling you this stuff is perfect for you because of the actual attachment you have as an extension."
Izuku looks down at the chainsaws protruding from his arms. "Let them flow freely, huh?" He shakes his head before raising it to look back at Jirou, "But they're too dangerous to do that – I gotta be mindful of them at all times to keep em in check."
Jirou shocks the boy with a soft smile, one that would make him blush if not for his chainsaw form. "The katana is dangerous too, Midoriya, but that's the point I've been trying to make", she reapplies her hand to double grip the hande again, "It's not the weapon that controls you but it's you that controls the weapon."
Stain's two handed grasp applies power to his swing as he crosses blades with Izuku's chainsaws. Just like when clashing with the one that had protruded from the boy's leg, the swordsman's katana breaks through and makes them implode. Fragments of steel and chain shrapnel scatter from the impact. And yet, the hero hopeful still maintains a broad grin. The chainsaw erecting from Izuku's frontal lobe presses through with no opposition. Stain had been too focused on the boy's arms that he had failed to guard against what now clips his forehead.
The tattered cloth wrapped around the hero killer's head as a facemask rips down the middle, equal sides falling away. Flat features lie underneath, blood trailing down from the top of his skull to two nostrils where his nose should be. Izuku recoils when he realizes the villain's face is caved in, shooting out with a kick of his leg. The boy's foot connects with Stain's stomach and sends the criminal flying out of the alley.
The villain crashes into a car that's parked alongside the sidewalk's curb before flopping over. Izuku steps out of the alley, ready to continue their fight, when he spots two Todorokis returning with Iida and Manual. Shoto and Endeavor stop with the other two when they all see the hero killer hunched over. Stain shifts, not quite down for the count, noting their arrival. Iida sees the villain's exposed face and gasps.
"I swear he already looked like that before I got to em, his nose was totally missing before we even fought!", Izuku holds his hands up in defense of himself while simultaneously gesturing to the downed criminal.
Stain shifts his sight onto the flaming hero amongst the group, red eyed glare radiating more heat surmounted by his hatred than the man's quirk. "Endeavor", the hero killer hisses through gritted teeth as he uses his sword as a crutch to push himself back up to a standing position, "You're the worst out of them all."
Shoto shrugs, not really able to argue with that. Izuku glances towards Iida and Manual but they have no words of defense for the hero either. Endeavor grumbles, flames flickering with his flash of anger. "This is the end of the line for you, hero killer" He marches forward with heavy footfalls and primed fists.
Like a flare, Endeavor's light has begun to attract a crowd. The civilians that had been evacuating in this direction find the hero in his standoff with Stain. Many of them begin to pull out their phones and cameras to snap pictures or record the incident. Endeavor pauses his advancement, noting their presence and exercises restraint for once. Stain scoffs when he senses this, branding his sword. "The difference between you and All Might has always been that you care about your public perception more than the good will of heroic deeds", the hero killer lets hidden shurikens slip through the sleeve of his wrist so that they land in his palm, "That's why I will eliminate you!"
With a snap of Stain's arm, the throwing stars whisk through the air in a spin straight for Endeavor. Izuku jumps in the way, waving a damaged arm bar to block and deflect the projectiles so that they don't hit their target. The hero killer rushes to meet the boy with a clash of blades via katana versus the head mounted chainsaw, round two.
"Midoriya!", Izuku hears Iida shout behind him. But before the heir to Ingenium can do anything, the chainsaw boy's fellow classmate is held back by Manual. Shoto and his father are too stunned by the sudden change of events to do anything either.
"Why would you save scum like him?!", Stain snarls with his bared teeth seething spit like a wild animal embracing its savage side. He applies his full body weight to the pressure of his katana against Izuku's chainsaw.
"Even assholes like him don't deserve to be killed by assholes like you!", Izuku growls back with just as much savage intensity while returning the forceful shove with his own. The teeth of the saw grind against Stain's sword.
Stain shaves at the chain with an uptake that allows him to withdraw. Leaping back, the hero killer lands a few feet away. "Heh…", he wets his lips with a quick slither of his tongue before settling into a stance that unveils his stature, "You're an interesting one."
Suddenly, everyone within the hero killer's radius feels their feet sinking beneath them. Izuku checks to see if he's caught in quicksand, wondering if another villain's quirk has caught him. Instead, the boy and everyone else find that they're being swallowed whole by a blood red sea. Stain's surface level of killing intent is full of waves overshadowed by a greater tsunami preparing to destroy them. Even worse than that is how deep that bloodlust goes.
"All false idols will succumb to my purge, all for the sake of a better society!", the hero killer draws in a breath while drool dribbles down his chin, "If I don't fix it – if someone isn't stained with blood – if I don't reclaim what it means to be called a hero …" When Stain's boot stomps down, the blood ocean's current rises. "Come! Just try me, you fakes!"
Manual falls under the pressure, hyperventilating as he drowns in the bloodlust. Iida and the other interns tremble as they too are dragged under, no longer able to withstand its forceful pull. Only Endeavor is able to somehow keep himself upright, but even his fire is dying out, flames doused by the rising tide and body rendered immobile by all of Stain's killing intent.
"The only one allowed to kill me is All Might, the only true hero!" Stain bellows like he's declaring war with a roaring cry for violence. All of Hosu is shaken by a mighty pressure that vibrates the air like an electrical current mightier than that of the blood red sea; except, if a single spark zaps the ocean of blood lust, it spells disaster for everyone caught in its tide.
Izuku tries and fails to lift his arms, unable to reach the string shaking against his sternum. He can feel his heart trembling just as much as his body. God help him, he whimpers. A weak whine slips out as he slumps down. But the others are no better off. Both Todorokis are also down for the count. Iida and Manual can't move either. Stain only continues to come closer and none of them can do a thing about it.
Just as abruptly petrificational terror washed over them all, it rapidly recedes. The bloodlust drains away until everyone can breathe again, the heroes and interns and civilians all gasping for air alike. Izuku looks up from his knelt over position, still wheezing in between pants. Stain stands in place, seemingly stunned, almost as though their roles have been reversed. The hero killer shudders. Then falls. It's not until the villain slumps to the ground that Izuku discovers the reason why the criminal was rendered this way.
A brick, chipped and cracked but still intact, rests beside Stain's head. Izuku looks up at the building behind them. All of their fighting must've knocked one of the foundational stones loose. Pure luck would have it that the stone would fall out at this exact moment and save everyone. Stain was done in by the brick landing on his head.
Not just that, but when Izuku returns his gaze to the villain, he sees a puddle of blood expanding from beneath the unconscious body; the way that the hero killer fell made him land on his own blade, Stain stabbing himself by sheer accident. It doesn't look like anything fatal but it'll sure be enough to keep the villain down.
Izuku huffs out a cough, followed by another, but that raspy croak quickly morphs into laughter. He's hysterical, doubling over. It takes Manual a moment to look up and see the same result for the hero killer's defeat before chuckling in unison with the chainsaw boy. Shoto smiles, blowing air out through his nostrils with a hum of amusement. His father and Iida are the only ones who are too dumbfounded to react in such a way. Pretty soon, even the crowd of civilians find themselves laughing along.
A brush of brume into the air, violet and devoid from the black smog of the city, is enough to make everybody choke on their laughs and sober up. Whirling into the shape of a circular aperture, is one of Kurogiri's warpgates. It opens directly behind Stain's body. Reaching out from the rift, a pale familiar hand comes from within the darkness. Shigaraki stares out as four fingers from that hand clasp Stain by the scruff of his scarf.
Manual sweats as he tries to discern what he's seeing. Iida sits up, mouth widening as big as his eyes expand when he recognizes the villains from the USJ attack. Shoto sidles up next to Izuku as his father regains function in his body to move towards the newcomers. "What–", Endeavor begins to speak but stops when he sees the portal is starting to shrink.
Izuku straightens when he sees the size of the warpgate getting smaller. "No…", he grabs the cord connected to his chest and pulls on it. Nothing happens. He tugs again. Not even a sputter of attempted startup. Just a dry stretch of the line going taut and trilling. He'd been running on fumes up until now and has finally run out of blood to use as fuel.
Shigaraki smirks as he drags Stain into the shadowed vortex, "That speech probably convinced you all that the hero killer is a necessary evil – but that's just a term meant to justify the evil acts he committed – society doesn't need such excuses", darkness closes around him until all that remains are his parting words.
The villains escape. And Izuku succumbs to his blood loss, passing out.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
The Vaundy 'Chainsaw Blood' Ending is what I imagine playing to this chapter, especially with the way that the chainsaw startup sound is incorporated into the song. For the intended full immersive experience, I recommend listening to it for the vibes.
