Conviction Arc 3 - Chapter 20: Strike

Reviews!

NinjaFang1331: Thank you!

s8363417: They are indeed talking about the armor and if would take the form of a bunny, it would. If you want a visual image look at Izuku's vigilante outfit, but black, while also sharing some similarities to his outfit from the 3rd movie.

Nathair1: Yes, Izuku's darkness will manifest to the point where it will be seen by others at some point in the story, but it will make sense. And yes, it is, Gutz's teacher is a character that was mentioned previously by Nezu and Vlad King. Also thank you for telling me, I'll fix it. As for the Mutant Garaki looked at, that is the sludge villain and Like Garaki said, he'll be given one last quirk before being "given" to Monoma. Also, if you're looking for the cover, you can look for the story on Wattpad and the cover will be there.

lookatme7: He is, and he'll continue to be a menace because he's living in a world where everyone has quirks except him, and he has to be as powerful as them, In a way, he's the most normal human amongst a group of people who have amazing powers. Izuku is truly the only human in a world full of monsters

.

.

.

.

.

.

Currently, Kota and Toru were playing on a makeshift training ground that the Pussycats had, and from atop a small cliff, Izuku watched over two, making sure no harm came to them, but while he was watching them, he was being watched by Ibara who looked at the boy with worry after discovering what had truly happened that day on the eclipse.

'He must truly care for her if he's willing to watch her like a hawk' She thought to herself. 'Maybe he even... loves her?' Ibara thought.

She looked at the boy harder and she could see the expression on his face, while it held worry, there was something akin to happiness in his eyes. Happy to see Toru again despite the state she was in, happy that she seemed to be having a good time.

Seeing such an expression on the boy's face while watching Toru, gave her a slight sting to the chest. She had never seen the look on the boy's face before, until now, for the longest time, she had always seen this hateful and emotionless expression on his face. He didn't like anyone in their class, distancing himself from all of them, but that was until he met Mei again and came around to Tetsutetsu. The whole class noticed the slight change and even she did too, but at the time, she didn't care, all she cared about was getting her revenge, but after what happened between them... something changed.

She felt more attracted to him, and wanted to get to know him more, and yet... she knew it was for the wrong reasons. When she figured that out, she tried not to think about Izuku or what happened between them, but she couldn't, but she continued to try.

But even that was hard because now she saw the boy differently and saw him being different, it was as if she was seeing a glimpse of him of who he was before the eclipse before he became what he was now.

"Ibara?"

Ibara was taken out of her thoughts and she turned to see Itsuka, Tetsutetsu, and Awase still discussing what Izuku and Mei had told them.

"I-I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Ibara asked.

"What I was saying is that it's insane that Izuku survived something like that," Awase told her.

Ibara nodded, "Yes... it is,"

Itsuka nodded, "Been making me wonder what we're getting ourselves into," Itsuka replied. "Trying to fight a 100-year-old villain that has multiple quirks along with others just like him that even All-Might couldn't beat, is it even worth trying?"

"Of course it is!" Tetsutetsu said. "Look, I'm not the smartest guy in the block, but even I know better than to just give up before we even tried, we may not stand a chance but from what Izuku told us, All-Might and his mentor beat him one, and we can pick up where they left off,"

"You do know how crazy you sound, right?" Awase asked.

Ibara shook her head, "I don't think he's crazy," she chimed in

Itsuka looked at her friend, "Really?" She asked.

"You may be right, we're fighting against someone way older than any of us, but we must try, because all it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing," Ibara told them, "And I for one can not sit around and do nothing when someone as evil as All For One exists," Ibara said with a furious tone.

Itsuka looked and saw the determination on her face, and smiled, wondering what had happened to her that she wanted to help Izuku, but it wasn't her place to ask. "Alright, Guess, I've got no choice but to help as well, considering how you two are passionate about helping Izuku,"

Awase smiled as well, "Guess I'm in this too," He said.

Suddenly, A loud caw was heard and they all looked above to see someone flying up above them, and then Suddenly, appearing out of the trees near Kota and Toru, was a large muscular Nomu. Seeing it, Izuku quickly jumped down and raised his sword up to bring it down atop the Nomu's head, however, the Nomu sensed him and slapped him away and he was slammed into the small cliffside.

Izuku growled in pain as he got up and saw the Nomu was now focused on him, and realizing this, Izuku looked at Kota. "Get out of here, now!" He told him.

Kota nodded and took Toru away as Izuku charged at the Nomu and raised his sword up as he closed in on the Nomu, but just as he swung his sword, the Nomu jumped back and dodged the attack and Izuku's sword slashed into the ground. However, Izuku then flipped forward and held onto his sword and as he flipped he took the sword out of the ground and then brought it back down on the Nomu, slicing it down the middle.

Izuku was heaving heavily and that's when he felt anger growing inside of him and felt a presence behind him, and he quickly turned around and saw none other than Stain himself, with many other Nomu behind him.

"Impressive," Stain told him. Stain then sniffed the air, "You smell of blood... are you a hero?"

Izuku looked at Stain with a glare, "No," Izuku asked.

Stain smiled, "Another who stained themselves with blood," Stain told him, "I am Stain, the killer of the false heroes, who are you?" Stain asked.

Izuku got his sword at the ready and looked at Stain, "I'm Izuku," Izuku told him.

Stain smiled, "You looked like you know how to use that sword and appear to be rather skilled with it," Stain told him, "Are you going to give me a good fight?" He asked.

Izuku pulled his sword back and took a fighting position, "It'll be the last fight you'll ever have," Izuku seethed, letting out a dark aura.

Stain grabbed his katana and took a fighting stance as well, "Grab the others! They could be useful" Stain ordered, "This one's mine!"

Hearing his order and seeing some of the Nomu's run in the direction of the others, Izuku ran toward them to stop them, but Stain appeared right before him and swung at him, however, Izuku blocked the attack with the gauntlet that Mei made for him and the line in the gauntlet glowed red.

Izuku then pushed Stain's blade away and then, swung his sword with one hand, trying to cut the man in half, but Stain saw the attack incoming and the hero killer jumped up and avoided the attack.

Stain landed back on the ground and saw Izuku's back turned to him and was about to kill stab him, but Izuku's foot met with his face and the hero killer staggered to his right. After regaining his composure, Stain threw two daggers at Izuku, but once again, Izuku blocked them with the gauntlet and the red lines glowed again, Izuku smiled, and a new idea formed in his head.

Izuku grabbed his sword and ran toward Stain, ready to strike, but Stain saw this and tried to block the attack, but Izuku's blade cut right through his, breaking it and shocking the hero killer, Izuku smiled and then raised his right hand with the gauntlet and aimed it right at Stain. Stain's eyes widened with shock and Izuku fired a shot right into Stain's Stomach, blowing his guts out and sending Stain backward.

Izuku looked at the gauntlet and smiled, "You really outdone yourself, Mei!" Izuku cried with glee.

"That is indeed one powerful weapon,"

Hearing Stain's voice, Izuku's eyes widened with shock and he turned to see the hero killer getting up and the hole in his stomach healing.

Izuku growled in anger, "So... you're one of them," Izuku seethed.

Stain fully got up and smiled, "Yes," He replied. "And now, I think I'll stop playing around and get... serious!"

Stain then began to transform into his Nomu form, and Izuku's eyes widened with shock, as Stain's Nomu form possessed red and black scales his arms became sharp as blades and his mouth was wide with sharp teeth and a long tongue.

"Let's fight until the other falls!" Stain cried.

Izuku glared and prepared himself, knowing that he was in trouble as Stain wasn't like other mindless Nomu, and while he may not be one of the five, he was sure to be more dangerous than other Nomu he had faced before.

Stain took a running stance and ran toward Izuku with great speed, and Izuku focused on him, waiting for the right moment to strike, as Stain closed in, Izuku swung and at the same time, Stain did the same with his bladed arm.

Stain's side was split open but was already regenerating and the side of Izuku's head was cut, but thankfully not as deep as Stain's was.

Both turned back around and looked at the other with fierce glares, however, Stain was smiling and Izuku was furious.

"You survived! I'm impressed!" Stain cried, "Tell me your name, Hero," Stain cried.

"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku told him, taking a fighting stance with Apollyon.

Stain's eyes widened with surprise before he smiled, "So... You're the one who survived the Eclipse," Stain asked. "If you can survive that... I only hope you can survive this fight,"

Izuku gripped Apollyon and prepared to continue the fight with Stain, knowing that things were going to get harder.

.

.

.

With the others, they were dealing with many different types of Nomu that Stain had brought with them. Awase forged a pole and managed to daze a few as they walked around in a dazed state, but they regained themselves and ran to attack him again, but before they could all were struck in the brain by darts and they fell dead.

Awase turned around to see Mei with a gadget on her arm and she reloaded darts into the contraption. She looked at Awase with a bit of a glare, "Don't try and knock them out! Just kill them! They aren't human!" Mei cried.

Mei turned around and fired at another one that was coming toward her and he turned back to see another Nomu coming toward him, instead of trying to hit the Nomu in the chest, he pulled his pole back and thrust it forward into Nomu's brain, smashing it and killing the creature.

Seeing it die and bleed causing him to freeze up for a moment before he heard the cries of Toru and saw a medium-sized Nomu walking toward her and Kota. Kota tried to stop it only for it to shove him away, and seeing him be shoved to the ground, Toru screamed and tried to help him only for the Nomu to grab her and hold her tight as she squirmed.

"Shit!" Awase cried as he quickly ran toward the Nomu, swung his pole down on its head, and killed it.

Toru was let go and she rushed to Kota's side and helped him up, Awase turned toward them to help them only to be kicked in the face by a Nomu with wings and sent to the ground unconscious.

"No!" Kota cried and rushed to Awase's unconscious form as did Toru.

However, the Nomu with wings turned back around in the air, saw the two, and flew back down. As it closed in, it opened his hands to grab one of them, however, out of nowhere, Tetsutetsu appeared and punched the Nomu in the face, sending it to the ground and away from the two.

Tetsutetsu turned around to the two with a concerned look, "Get back to the lodge, quick!" He cried.

However, the winged Nomu tackled Tetsutetsu to the ground and tried to claw his face, but the young teen held him back. Kota and Toru ran passed the two and ran toward the lodge, but the winged Nomu was not letting them go as it flew up with Tetsutetsu into the air. The Metal skinned teen punched the Nomu a few times and becoming annoyed, the Nomu let him go, but the teen acted fast and grabbed onto its feet as it flew down back toward Toru and Kota and as they were close to the ground, Tetsutetsu slammed his feet into the ground and tried to slow down the Nomu but it was too powerful and too fast and instead of stopping it, his feet dragged along the dirt before he was dragged across the ground like a doll, eventually, he let go and the Nomu flew straight at Kota and Toru and they heard the Nomu's cry and they turned around to see the beast coming toward them.

Protecting the younger boy, Toru pushed him out of the way as the Nomu grabbed her, flew her up into the sky, and flew back toward the base.

Kota saw this and his eyes widened with fear as he stood up and ran after the flying Nomu, "TORU!" He cried, "HANG ON!"

Kota tried to chase after her, but he himself was grabbed by another Nomu and it too tried to take him away in the same direction Toru was taken, however, a tart was shot into its eye and it cried in pain. The creature's attention turned toward Mei, who looked disheveled and had some blood on her clothes.

The pink-haired girl glared at the Nomu, "Put him down!" Mei ordered.

The Nomu roared at her and the Nomu then threw Kota to the ground hard, and the boy helped in pain as he saw the Nomu run at her. Mei quickly aimed her gadget at the beast but she failed to notice it wasn't loaded until it was too late. She heard the empty click of her gadget and the Nomu had already closed in and it grabbed ahold of her and threw her into the ground, causing Mei to cry out in pain as she spat out blood.

Before the Nomu could do more, millions of Vine wrapped around its torso and arms, constricting the creature's movement. From behind the tied-up Nomu, two large hands appeared and were brought together in a loud slap, crushing the Nomu's head.

Ibara ran to Mei's side and helped her up, "Are you ok!?" Ibara asked.

Mei slowly nodded, "I-I'm fine," She told her. "B-But they have Toru! One of them flew off with Toru!"

Hearing this, Ibara's eyes widened with horror and she quickly searched the sky for the Nomu but saw that it was far in the distance, and she cursed to herself.

"We need to follow it!" Ibara cried.

Istauk shook her head, "We can't it's too far! We wouldn't be able to keep up!" She cried.

Mei knew Itsuka was right and knowing what she needed to do, the support student quickly searched through a few pouches in her pockets and found what she was looking for and looked at the two other girls. "We need to put one of these on one of the Nomu!" She said.

In her hand was a device about the size of a 500 Yen coin and was black. Figuring out what it was, Ibara took it from her and set Mei down before seeing a Nomu that was heading toward the unconscious body of Awase. Before it could grab him and take him away, she jumped at it and quickly wrapped her vines around the Nomu's body to hold it still. She then pulled herself toward the Nomu's back and placed the small device on the Nomu's back.

As she did this, Tetsutetsu grabbed Awase and took him away, and seeing that her friend was away from the Nomu's clutches, she moved away from the Nomu and released her vines from the Nomu. Yet, while she was done with it, the creature was not done with her and turned around and Ibara glared at the beast, knowing it was now going to target her.

'I can't kill it! If I do, we won't be able to find where the other one took Toru!' Ibara thought.

The Nomu tried the attack her but Ibara used her vines to quickly evade the attack and she was now back with Mei, with an unconscious Awase next to her. Alongside Ibara were both Itsuka, and Tetsutetsu, and the three saw that there were still quite a few Nomu's around them.

The three fighters were worried they were going to be overwhelmed, but suddenly, black goo appeared from each of the creature's mouths and they were being consumed by it.

"What's going on!?" Itsuka asked.

"I don't know!" Tetsutetsu replied.

Meanwhile and few minutes before, Izuku and Stain were across from each other, Izuku was covered in cuts and he was breathing heavily as he leaned on his sword, across from her was Stain, who was bisected and seemed to be regenerating slower.

'I...I don't know how long I can keep this up!' Izuku cried as he glared at the Hero killer. 'But I can't lose! Not when she's here! I have to keep her safe!' Izuku cried.

Stain sat up and saw that his waist was still regenerating and groaned, 'It seems I've spent up too much energy and my regeneration is slowing down, I need to retreat,' Stain thought, "Doctor, if you can hear me, get me out of here, the situation here has become dire," He told the Doctor through his earpiece.

[Understood, hopefully, some of the Nomu have taken at least a few of them,] Garaki said.

Suddenly, Black goo appeared out of Stain's mouth and he was consumed by it, seeing this and quickly knowing what was happening, he rushed at the man, hoping to bring his sword down on his head before he was teleported away, but Stain was quicker and threw a dagger at Izuku. The dagger struck and stabbed into Izuku's left leg and the pain caused Izuku to misstept and fall to the ground. Izuku growled in pain and quickly got back up only to see Stain be consumed by the goo and disappear.

Izuku growled in anger as he took the dagger out from his leg and got up, his focus quickly snapped to Toru and the others and he raced back toward the lodge. he passed where he was sure the other's fought the Nomu and saw some of their bodies, but still ran toward the lodge.

Once there, he saw Mei getting a bandage wrapped around her ribs and also saw Awase with a bandage around his head as he lay on one of the benches, as for Kota, he thankfully only needed one bandage around his arm and a few band-aids on his legs.

He looked around for Toru but didn't see her in sight, and his worries began to fill his head and a horrified and desperate look formed on his face. "Where's Toru!?" He asked.

Mei looked at him with a sad look, "Izuku... I... I'm sorry..." she said with a sad tone.

Izuku's fear became a reality and he was frozen in horror as he felt a stab to his heart, feeling that he had failed Toru a 2nd time...

Despite this, he steeled himself and turned and left, not saying a word, Ibara went to go after him but Itsuka stopped her, telling her with just a look to leave him be. Ibara did so, but a worried expression graced her features as she watched her forest-haired classmate walk into the forest, not knowing what he was going to do.

.

.

.

Dr. Garaki walked over to a table where an unconscious Toru lay tied down. Garaki smiled down at her, surprised to see her again, as he remembered her from the eclipse and couldn't help but think this was fate. He then looked over to the pod where the fifth was contained, of course, it was once Neito Monoma, but to still call it that and to even still call it human was a foolish notion, if anything, the fifth was different than just a simple Nomu, much different then himself and the other three god hand.

The Fifth was different. The fifth was something that was not going to be controlled... should he betray them for his own goals.

And with that thought, Garaki realized that something needed to be done about that. After all, All For One always had plans to take care of those who could betray him and whose hearts could be easily swayed, and while The God Hand were supposed to be his most loyal followers, they all had their own goals and the only reason the other two haven't betrayed them, is because their goals coincide with AFO's goals, but the goal of the fifth was to be the savior of Japan, to be a shining light like All-Might, and while he could achieve that with the plan they have for him, he could still betray them.

He then looked back at Toru and an evil thought formed inside of his head, and he smiled. 'Who would've thought someone such as yourself would be so useful... Toru Hagakure' Garaki thought sinisterly.

.

.

.

Garaki seems to have a plan B that involves Toru, what could it be? With Mei's help, they now can track where they took Nomu and find Toru, but all of this is part of Causality...