Chapter 31 : Hoshu Premice
Aizawa wasn't amused. In front of him were Izuku, Tooru, Katsuki, Yui and Iida. To his great surprise, Izuku, Katsuki and Yui weren't truly part of the problem, as they acted perfectly according to their orders in what was known as the Hoshu Incident in the media now.
Aizawa was accompanied by Tsukauchi, to be sure they got every fact right from the four children in front of him. He would have loved to have Manual, Torino and Miruko with him, but two of them were being operated on and the last was actually bouncing in town to hunt down any Noumus left, just in case. Midnight had already given her testimony and was helping her.
It was still a better state than Native, who was presumed dead.
Stupid rule that stated that someone could only be declared dead by a doctor and for now, no one of them had the time to do that, because of the sheer amount of injuries to treat. Aizawa was still pretty sure that missing his head was lethal.
"So, problem children. Forgive my french, but what the fuck happened?"
The four children looked at each other, and Izuku began.
"Well, it all began for me when Torino learned that…"
——————
"THAT SON OF A WHORE!"
"Sir?"
Izuku was in the gym, trying to use new forms of his power, theorized thanks to Torino. It was actually quite on point and useful, and the young man understood why All Might had insisted he did his first internship with the old man. Sure, Torino was still trying to high-kick him even in his sleep, but Izuku was getting better at dodging and parrying him.
However, Izuku never saw the man lose his cool or his marble until he received a phone call. The old dwarf actually destroyed his phone with his sheer grip strength. He then propelled himself across the gym, destroyed several targets and Izuku's summons.
"SIR."
"TOO. BUSY. HITTING. THINGS."
Izuku decided wisely to wait a minute or two, letting his mentor calm down…
As he expected, after using his full speed mode to destroy a lot of things, Torino was finally in a state to speak. Which was clearly different from a calm state of mind, but Izuku would not be picky.
"So. Sir. What the fuck happened? I didn't see you that angry this week except that one time you heard a journalist say that Floaty was overrated as a hero."
Torino growled, before punching an old picture. It had two men, smiling and their arms across each other.
"My brother was arrested yesterday, as a part of a human trafficking ring."
Oh. Yes, Izuku can see why it would put his mentor in a sour mood, before he heard the man add.
"As a result, we are picking up his patrol sector in Hoshu this evening. Get ready for it."
"Yes, sir."
Torino wasn't someone who liked pity or compassion. The best thing could do to help his mentor was to do his job right.
"By the way, sir, since you share the same mom with your brother, doesn't that mean that…"
"I am a son of a bitch and I perfectly know that."
"Just to be sure, sir."
——————
"So this is why I was in Hoshu at that time."
"Very well, it shall be easy to check with the HPSC. As for you, Katsuki and Yui?"
"Miruko said she felt her battle instinct tingling and brought us to Hoshu."
Aizawa sighed, as he knew the reputation of the bunny hero and let's be honest, it was probably right.
"I am going to check-in with Kawauso. She should have the papers ready. As for Tooru, Midnight already told us about your training and how you were supposed to have some practical fighting experience."
Thank the gods for the small favors, and that Miruko's assistant was highly competent. Aizawa hated bureaucracy but this one time, however, that would protect his students from the media. As for Midnight, she had an idea about the fighting, but Aizawa wasn't sure Tooru was ready yet for the Club.
"And as for Iida, I guess you were there because Manual's area is there too."
"Yes, sir…"
"… I will not lie, Iida, but seeing how Manual is, you will be lucky if you simply have a demotion to General."
It was harsh, but Aizawa needed Iida to understand his actions had consequences. Here, the fact Manual almost died because of him and his choice. He didn't tell the kids that Manual regained consciousness briefly and said to not blame the young teen, but Aizawa knew better.
The young teen, in his hospital bed, looked down sadly.
"I… Understand, sir."
"Now, continue to explain to us what happened."
"Can you just tell me if my mom and dad are fine?" Izuku asked, with a bit of worry in his voice.
"Last time I checked, your mom was helping in the hall. As for your dad, he is apparently using random bullshit to help her. He got smacked with a newspaper when he said "Random Bullshit Go"."
This made Katsuki cackle, for reasons unknown to man.
———————
Izuku was in his new suit, courtesy of Mei. He went from full magician with a Compress's mask, to a purple suit, with various gadgets on it, and an eye mask. With his green hair, Torino looked suspiciously at the young Joker. Sure, the kid looked good in this suit, but Torino had to deal with All-Might's passion for American comics and recognized the design.
"Joker…"
"Yes?"
Except that the bright smile Izuku gave him convinced him it was most likely a coincidence, and that Izuku wasn't paying an homage to the Joker. Probably. Hopefully.
"… Never use white make-up."
The fact Izuku looked positively puzzled reassured Torino, and the two of them continued their patrol in Hoshu. Hopefully, it will be a nice Friday night and nothing will happen. In fact, if everything went fine, Izuku would get back home with his parents, as both of them decided to have a small evening in the city too, with some friends.
——————
"Thank you Inko, for taking the time for that dinner."
Atsuhiro was still forbidden by his soon to be wife, to go on another heist, after the last time. As a result, and to help Gentle and La Brava to smile again, he decided to invite them to dinner. Besides, if he had gotten the timing right, it would allow them to change their mind from Sophie. From what Atsuhiro got from them, they actually had second thoughts about staying with him and he could understand why. However, they were also thinking about Sophie, and were still taking care of her bike. Thankfully, they didn't go inside her room yet. Too early for them and too early according to Compress who was the last person who went inside, after the Triceps corporation.
So, Atsuhiro did what any reasonable boss would do, and asked them for a nice evening with Inko, in a good restaurant. It would change everyone's ideas for the better and honestly, Hoshu wasn't a bad place for a date. At least, better than some other ideas.
———————
"STOP SPAMMING SONIC BOOM!"
"NEVER! CAMMIE MUST DIE!"
What seemed as a weird idea as a date for some girls like Nejire turned out to be the perfect one, as Tomura discovered. Both of them had their competition drive turned to eleven, and damn didn't they have fun that evening.
As a result, they were on their 64th bout of Street Fighter II, and they loved it. Besides, it was a good warm-up before they went physical on each other and their sweat got mixed up, as their bodies smashed against each other, both of them trying to make the other submit. Furthermore, it would mean the temperature would rise in the room, as they would try to beat the other. Nejire had more flexibility, but Tomura compensated by having a better range.As for the protection, they would use it, as it would be highly idiotic for it to leave some permanent marks on them…
Nejire would manage to pin Tomura on the ground, to assert dominance, but the young man wouldn't allow himself to be dominated so easily, and would use more of his weight to crush Nejire under him… Their breathing became more and more erratic as it drew longer.
Of course, it meant they would spar a lot together in a place made for that, and nothing else. They didn't hold hands yet, after all.
This also explained why Tomura was only aware of what happened in Hoshu the next day.
———————
Stain hummed the vicious and polluted air in the city. It would be his last kill in town, before he would move from another city, another sector. Thanks to the LoV, his activity would expand… But for now, he had someone to hunt and talk.
The noseless man looked at the picture, showing Native.
The man who apparently knew how to make an investigation go sideways, as it is easy to botch up an investigation than simply stopping one.
"Well, look at the time."
Stain stared at his watch, All Might themed, of course. All hours pointed to 'Justice'.
————————
On a roof, a certain fog man sighed. He actually appreciated Stain, as he was a nice client, who knew when to stop to drink and actually avoided speaking politics when drunk.
Too bad the man was supposed to die, now.
"Master, I am in position, and apparently according to Garaki, he still has a few animal Noumus in stock, a few humans and High End 2. What do I deploy?"
All For One, on his throne, thought about it for a second before smiling.
"Everything. Tell High End 2 to focus primarily on getting my grandson to me."
"Very well. I shall deploy all the others and tell them to create havoc, and kill Stain and Native."
"Excellent. Once the objectives are fulfilled or impossible to fulfill, you shall bring back every noumus still alive back in the lab."
On that note, Kurogiri unleashed the legion of Hell, led by a man who got across the roof on his giant teeth… His saliva apparently eroded the cement beneath him.
"… I am just happy that young Tomura is somewhere else."
———————
"See, Joker, this peace is what every warrior and hero should fight for."
"I already know that, sir."
"Also, always be wary of your family, you never know what kind of asshole it can hide."
"Sir, my dad is dead, and all the family on my mom's side too."
Izuku actually enjoyed his banter with Torino, as the man liked to be called sir by his student, and as Izuku was being coy but still respectful.
Torino also liked that his student was a smartass that knew when to back off, and actually listened to his advice when they trained. That, and that Izuku was actually fairly good at cheating in poker and as such made a good opponent.
That was at that moment, of course, that everything went to hell, as a scorpio noumus jumped in the street and screeched so hard it made glasses explode… Before it turned its tails toward civilians. Thankfully for them, Torino was here, kicking the dart before it hit anyone.
Then, out of nowhere, Manual and another hero themed in ice came and began to freeze the scorpio, or at the very least his legs.
Izuku, having been trained by both Torino and Compress, had learned to not stay frozen during such an event and quickly understood all three heroes currently didn't have the power to smash/neutralize the monster properly.
The young man didn't choose the name Joker for nothing. The Joker is the only card that can fulfill any role, be it the support, the hitter or the healer.
This was why Izuku took five aces from his sleeves and threw them at the monster.
"POKER SMASH!"
One of the techniques Torino helped Izuku to make was to actually use more than one card at once. As a result, they discovered that Izuku could summon poker hands, such as pairs, flush, of a kind, etc.
Some might think that using an ace poker might be too much, but Izuku still remembered vividly the USJ and the Noumu… And the one before was a baseline human. This was a scorpio, giant sized. It meant it was probably highly dangerous and the ice would only hindered it for a bit.
He was soon proved right, as his Poker Creature punched the scorpio so hard that it broke the ground below them, and his chitin made an atrocious sound.
The monster still managed to plunge his dart inside the neck of Izuku's summon. Thankfully, it didn't have a mouth for once, otherwise it would have screamed.
"Frozen! Aim at the base of its tail!"
Manual yelled, before manipulating water around it. The blonde heroine was clearly used to working with him, as she expertly froze the water. Izuku, on his hand, quickly understood their idea. Torino too, as he bolted so hard in the middle of the tail he actually felt some bones of him protesting against such a treatment. He would worry about that later. Meanwhile, Izuku yelled at his creature to rip the tail, taking advantage of the ice weakening it… Before plunging the dart inside the noumu's brain.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?"
"We don't know!"
Suddenly, all pro heroes currently present got a message on their phone from the HPSC.
"Disaster: City Level. Unknown monsters attacking. Heroes were to take them down or evacuate the civilians. Reinforcements were on their way, such as Miruko.
Hazard: No heroes shall travel with a group less than three. Stain, the Hero Killer has been spotted."
Every last one of them looked at each other. It was going to be a messy night.
"… Where the fuck is my intern?"
Manual wasn't happy about Iida going AWOL, especially now…
Izuku raised his hand.
"I can try to find him quick and bring him back? If I leave Poker with you, it will help you take down others noumus, right? Meanwhile, I have some cards to defend myself or run away if necessary."
Torino thought about it before nodding. He actually tested Izuku's Flight or Fight reaction a few times, and the boy had a good instinct on when to run and when to stand his ground.
"Izuku Midoriya, aka Joker. You are allowed to use your quirk to locate your friend Iida, defend yourself and defend civilians. However, you are not to engage any enemy alone."
——————
"So, Frozen heard Torino give you his clear authorization?"
Izuku nodded his head, while Aizawa sighed, a weight disappearing from his shoulder. Thank god, this one student didn't creatively reinterpret orders to do shit. He actually had authorization and witness.
"At least someone remembered his lesson on clearance. Anyway, Iida? Explain to us now, what happened. I am pretty sure Izuku found you because of his quirk or something like that."
"I used his phone, actually. He never deactivated his geolocalisation and it is very useful when Tooru and I want to prank him a bit."
Iida clinched his eyes, at Izuku's confession.
"WAIT THAT WAS YOU WHO REPLACED MY ORANGE JUICE BY SOME CRAPPY SODA?!"
His only answer was an Izuku with a smug smile and a bright Tooru. Those little pranksters!
"Later Iida. Explain to us the whole Stain fuckery."
The young teen wailed like a dying whale, before beginning his tales.
Somehow, Katsuki and Yui found some popcorn and were sharing it. They actually didn't know this part of the night either. To them, a good part of the night was more…
——————
"HEY, YUI! I KILLED TWO ARACHNE THERE! 38, BITCH!"
Bakugou and Yui were fighting a giant spider venomous, who could produce younglings and was grabbing as many people as she could before cocooning them. Of course, the two young trainees were to stop her and were counting their kills.
Just when Katsuki said that, Yui used her miniature tank to blow up the mother spider. She looked at Katsuki and flipped him the bird.
"… THAT STILL COUNT AS ONE!"
——————
It was not the idea of fun he actually had planned for Yui and him that night, but honestly, it had been a good time for both of them. He could actually tell it from her body posture. Besides, it hadn't been the right time to think about that during the action but… a woman in a tank? Damn, that was a nice sight.
As for Tooru, currently hugging Izuku, her night was more… Bloody in a way.
——————
"SNEAK ATTACK IN THE JOINT, BITCH!"
Midnight looked proudly at her student, who had gotten a blade and was aiming at the weak points of the monster to help dismember them. Their strength training was not for nothing!
However, the underground hero was worried about the fact Tooru seemed to enjoy a bit too much to kill the emeu noumu.
"THAT IS FOR THE FUCKING WAR!"
Tooru's family, on her father's side, came from Australia. One must never forget the defeat in the Emu War. It was payback time, for everything that was lost that day.
———————
"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU CRIMINAL SCUM!"
"… I committed a crime against Skyrim?"
Stain was actually cleaning his knives after taking them out of Native's limping body… And kicking him in the knee, violently enough to break him, disgusted by the man. Finding Native hadn't been that hard. Also, credit due to where credit shall be given, Native actually managed to punch him more than a few times and a few of his arrows actually came way too close to Stain for his taste. However, the former vigilante turned up too strong for the hero and he had begun his interrogation.
Honestly, his only question now was to kill the man or spare him, as promised, for his information. The thing making Stain actually thinking of betraying his word was the fact he was indeed the man who fucked up the investigation and the trail Sophie was trying to find. Oh well, at the very least, he was now sure that her brother was alive. Hell, in fact, he actually had a good idea of where he was. Actually, all he needed to do was to call the Boss and arrange something.
Except that now, some kind of armored knight was bothering him in the alley.
"This kind of joke won't save you from jail, Stain!"
The voice betrayed the age of the hero… No, the trainee.
"Kid. I am an A-Class villain at the very least. I think you are barely one year over as a student. A fucking student."
"DO AS HE SAY, KID AND RUN!"
Stain actually looked surprised at Native, who was worried about the kid. Apparently, the hero had actual remorse over what he did. Neat. He would live, after all.
However, Iida took that opportunity to kick Stain in the face, using his high speed to take him by surprise.
The young man didn't expect to be met by a punch in his mask, and actually met the wall after that, as Stain sighed.
"… A-RANK VILLAIN, KID. I am used to fighting heroes and I even take down some of the top 100 alone! If I wanted, I think I might have a really decent odds against someone like Miruko!"
Only decent, not good or perfect because he actually saw that woman fight once and damn. To his credit, though, Iida could still speak, and tried to punch the noseless man, who dodged quite easily the weak attack.
"I shall… Avenge my brother…"
Those words actually made Stain facepalm, and Native cringed.
"ARE YOU DUMB KID?! YOU DO NOT BECOME A HERO FOR REVENGE! That is like a fucking bad idea, as you can easily turn into a murderer that way!"
"… Thanks Native, even though we know you shouldn't have much right to speak about that…"
"I know what I did. I never resorted to murder, though! Hell, I even fired sidekicks who crossed that line many times!"
Stain groaned, as the man did have a point while Iida yelled in anger.
"TAKE ME SERIOUSLY! I COMMAND YOUR RESPECT!"
"No. You beg for my attention, kid."
Stain looked done with Iida, and when the kid attacked one again, this time, the man used his knife expertly and stabbed him in the knee, making him fall on the ground. Then, the villain walked ominously toward the teen, as he tried to get up, only for Stain to slam him against the wall with a powerful kick.
"A true hero, kid, doesn't act for himself or for petty motives such as vengeance. A true hero acts for others. Heroes fight so other people don't get hurt."
Stain had drawn his sword, as suddenly, Iida considered he might have fucked up… While unknown to Iida, Stain didn't have any intention of killing him, only to scare (and scar) him straight. He wasn't a child killer.
"And what gives you the right to judge people like my brother?!"
"Boy, I don't even know who you are. And if you say "You will", I am going to stab you."
This actually shut up Iida, as Stain groaned.
"Rather, who is your brother? I will actually provide you with some answers then."
That would be faster too, but Stain didn't say that.
"MY BROTHER IS INGENIUM, YOU FU…"
"Not me."
This rebuttal from Stain actually surprised more than one person.
"What?"
"Yes, I have heard of the attack. However, during that time, I was actually training with a friend. Besides, Ingenium is one of the few heroes I respect, really. He does excellent work for his community and he isn't a dick against vigilantes."
Suddenly, Stain realized…That the whole situation was weird.
"And you expect me to believe you just like that?!"
"I don't fucking care if you believe me or not. Honestly, I am planning to just beat you up, so your own brother can yell at you. Seriously, he would be ashamed."
Native, still in pain, nodded with Stain's statement.
"I have worked with your brother a few times. He would really be angry that you actually rushed without investigation or any back-up. Outside of your dumb motive, that is stupid."
"STAY RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM! YOU HAVE COMMITTED CRIME AGAINST JAPAN!"
Iida wondered if Stain's blade was coated with some drugs, as he saw Izuku, on a unicorn with a flaming mane, standing up and bringing attention to him… Before he threw 5 cards at Stain.
"Oh fuck me, what is this? A clown?"
"I would rather be the fucking circus, and I will bring you to town too!"
This comeback actually made Stain smile before he licked his knife, still with Iida's blood, to paralyze him. This one, in his eccentric costume, seemed fun, if somewhat familiar.
"Well, kid, tell me at least you aren't here for something stupid."
"… Kinda actually? That is my friend over there, and since he is stupid…"
"HEY!"
"I am not the one who tried to run and fight an A-rank villain without a plan!"
Stain raised an eyebrow as he walked with as much intimidation as he could muster… Which was quite a lot and made everyone shiver.
"… Because you have a plan to deal with me?"
"Kinda?"
At the very least, this one actually seemed to know he was out of his league. Very well, Stain would engage him.
"Be prepared… Young Hero."
——————
"And that's how the fight began… And we didn't know how it would end, I promise!"