Chapter 21: The Knife That Cuts Webs

Izuku had found out recently that he hated waking up. Granted, he knew why waking up was going to be bad today, but it still didn't help that this kept happening. As such, he woke up in incredible pain, his whole body screaming at him as he let out a moan.

He slowly ascended out of his bed, glancing down to see he had been stripped and bandaged. He blinked at the sight before walking into the bathroom, soon doing a small morning routine. And as he did this, he took off the bandages, seeing most of his injuries had started to heal. 'Urgh...not sure I can Spider-Man today.' He glanced up at the bathroom mirror, now seeing an exhausted look on his face. 'Did yesterday really happen?'

The teen walked back into his room and grabbed his phone, turning on the Midoriya Hero App, only to see two news articles at the start. One was about himself, fighting two groups of villains as the heroes arrived too late. He saw it was linked to several other articles the app collected, all debating over vigilantism and how Spider-Man had done the heroes jobs.

But that was instantly ignored as he saw the headline for the second article. He sped through the writing, his eyes darting back and forth, 'Ingenium...was critically injured by a hero killer?! What?!' his brain mentally yelled. He turned to his desk, where his mom had put his vigilante costume and hoodie, quickly taking out the notebook inside before turning to Ingenium's autograph.

'I don't believe it...' He looked back at his phone, rereading the article. 'Ingenium...'

And as he thought about his encounter with that hero, a new face showed itself in his mind. Tenya Iida, one of Uraraka's friends she had brought over to FEAST. He remembered the smile on Tenya's face when he had talked about his brother, how he had said he was inspired by him to become a hero. 'Tenya...'

"Izuku!" yelled a voice, cutting Izuku's thoughts as he turned to his door, now seeing his mother staring at him. "There you are." Her eyes scanned him over and she let out a sigh, "Well, I see that healing factor of yours is working wonders again. Still, that was too much yesterday! You need to-"

"Mom...I'm sorry." Izuku interrupted, making her come to a stop. She stared directly into his eyes, seeing a mixture of exhaustion and pain. Despite this, she could also see that fire in him, the fire to be a hero, to help others. And she had a feeling what he was going to say next as he continued to speak, "I know yesterday got crazy, but-"

"I know." She now interrupted before sighing. "I...I know. You couldn't help it." She glanced away at this, "I'm still getting used to this."

"Yeah..." He walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at him, only for the teen to hug her. She slowly embraced back, letting out another sigh before pulling away.

"Just promise me to not go too far next time, alright?"

Izuku opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He glanced away, thinking back to the battle he had just done yesterday, only for Gran Torino's words to ring out in his head.

"If that's the case, don't go jumping into everything you can get yourself into. If you do, you'll start something that you can't escape."

This was followed by the next thing Gran had told him.

"And when you go down that rabbit hole, you'll never get out of it. You'll keep going in over your head and it won't stop."

Those words made him slowly say to his mom, "I...I don't think I can promise that."

Inko blinked at this, staring at him before taking a deep breath, "I know." She put a hand on his shoulder this time, "Why don't you be Izuku Midoriya for at least this morning? Come on, I'll make you some breakfast."

"Okay." Izuku responded as they left the room. And as they reached the kitchen, Izuku spoke up again, "Hey mom?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for bandaging me up...and for everything else."

Inko shined a big grin back, "No problem. That's why I'm here."

Aizawa had just received the internship offer files. He had done this for many years, but this year's was probably the worst it had ever been. Mainly because only two students really got any attention. Another was the fact that he was going to have to attend a meeting later today on the fact that the UA festival didn't get the full televised setting it usually gets, which is why the internship offers amount were even worse this year.

It also didn't help that Nezu had warned him that the news outlets were very angry about Katsuki winning the whole thing. Granted, he didn't like it either. The student was a typical thing he got every year: a blowhard that believed their quirk solves everything. And that was fine, because he knew how to handle students like him. They were usually kids that thought the world revolved around them, that they were born better than others. It was irrational, which meant it usually needed some strict schooling to teach them otherwise.

However, Aizawa quickly learned that there was no convincing Katsuki, though this was because he exceled at everything except heroic attitude. There was also the issue of him winning every event in the festival. That event should have been where he sees there are other students with just as much if not more power than him. However, that didn't happen to Aizawa's annoyance. Katsuki just beat everything, and he did it brutally. His fights were all one sided, even against Todoroki, which he had hoped would beat Bakugo, but due to him not using half his quirk, he was easily beaten. That meant that Katsuki Bakugo was now the face of the class. Granted, Aizawa would admit the kid has the most potential out of all of his class. He had the drive, which was so rare these days, the intelligence and the instincts...but his attitude was a problem.

But to be honest, Aizawa also wanted to expel all of his class just because he knew it would help them. Shock them into doing better than what they had done in the festival, but technically the class won the festival thanks to having Bakugo and Todoroki being in first and second place. If he expelled them now, they wouldn't realize why they're being expelled. What a pain.

It also didn't help that a gen-ed student, a Shinso Hitoshi, got third in the festival. That meant he'd probably be getting that one as a student. Aizawa honestly didn't mind this, but that also meant he couldn't expel the whole class due to the new student coming in. It would confuse Hitoshi, which is something that can't happen right as he joined heroics class. In other words, it was a pain, just like the rest of the nonsense.

However, Aizawa knew what the real problem was though. He was missing a key component in his class, something Vlad currently had. He needed that student that pushes the others, that inspires them. Its the type of student Aizawa always wants, though he also hates the most. They're usually people who think they can be a hero that can do it all, which is totally irrational and stupid, but the ability to inspire is something Aizawa would acknowledge is important. And while he could see that Vlad had that with two students, though they were a subdued version that he would admit did work with Itsuka Kendo and Neito Monoma, but Aizawa didn't have that. He just had a class that had a few with drive, but nothing that fully pushed them to go farther.

But that wasn't his biggest problem. His class could be fixed, the new student could be introduced and integrated, and he knew Katsuki was a long con, but the final exams should be the push he needed to fix all of it...if the students didn't get expelled by the teacher first. It was Spider-Man that was his true headache now. The vigilante that him and Naomasa suspect is his student's age somehow jumped into a gang war, one that Aizawa and a few others knew that Spider-Man had accidentally helped accelerate, and then just...won. He leapt into a war zone of villains and beat them all. Granted, they were all probably C-rank or lower, but that didn't really matter. Even Aizawa knew that he would have trouble going into that situation alone. Heck, he knew he wouldn't do it without calling for backup before leaping in.

And that event had caught the media's attention. Mainly, it was because it basically happened at UA's doorstep. Also, it was a vigilante doing what was essentially a team of heroes' jobs all alone. The situation was completely irrational, and yet it was happening. And he knew what this meant. It meant the meeting he would have later would involve Nezu meddling into his and Naomasa's investigation.

As such, he reached the Class 1-A door and slowly opened it, hearing the casual banter of the students. But as the door fully opened, everyone silenced themselves. "Three seconds." Aizawa commented as he walked up to the podium with a stack of papers. "Villains would have killed all of you instantly. You're still too slow."

He stared at the group of students, most showing their usual hesitant morning faces. He let out a long sigh, "As you all probably know, this next week will be internships. As such, there is usually a spread-out number for the offers each year, but due to...circumstances, that's not the case this year." He spun around and began writing out the numbers, showing that Shoto Todoroki had the most, being just over two thousand while second was Katsuki which was almost a thousand.

"What the-why does Half-and-half have more than me?! I'm the one that won the thing!" Katsuki yelled, Aizawa feeling one of his eyes twitch at this as he continued to write down the numbers on the board.

"Probably because of your attitude, kero." Tsuyu chimed in.

"What was that, you stinking toad?! I'll squash you!" Katsuki roared, explosions popping in his hands.

"See?" Tsuyu replied, Katsuki about to get up before his quirk suddenly stopped working. He turned to see Aizawa glaring at him.

"Enough. Winning the festival means nothing except getting your name out there." Aizawa grumbled, "Now shut up or you're expelled." Katsuki opened his mouth to bark back, only to close it as he saw Aizawa's glare intensify. The teacher let out a long sigh after this as he pointed back at the board, "As you can see, only some of you got offers, but all of you are going to take an internship. There are certain heroes that do it regardless of not giving offers, and if you need help setting something up, I'll help you later. I'll also need your response by tomorrow, which you'll then start your internship the next day. Now, we have something else to do today."

With that, Midnight walked into the room and exclaimed, "Today, you're making your hero codenames!"

The classroom erupted in cheers, Aizawa groaning as he pulled out his sleeping bag and crawled into it. It was going to be a long day. He just knew it.

Izuku had ended up agreeing to not go out as Spider-Man today and tomorrow. Despite the fact that part of him wanted too, this time both his body and mother teamed up to tell him no. It also didn't help that after reading the article over the hero killer, he knew that going after that would be him once again going in over his head...but he also knew he should go after someone like that eventually. Now, he was in his room with his breakfast, his mom going out to her job for the day.

'Even though I stopped those gangs' rampage yesterday, I didn't really solve anything.' he thought as he ate a bit of cereal while skimming through the net on his computer, 'I still got nothing on either gang leader. Heck, I still don't have a name for the masked guys. There's barely anything on them except failed crimes...that I mainly foiled.'

He scrolled down another page, sighing to himself, 'The police haven't really delivered any statement. There's nothing. I guess that's the struggle of being a vigilante. No police info for me.'

The teen then saw that the articles kept going over just Spider-Man and the hero killer, only for something else to ring out in his brain. 'There's no articles over the UA sports festival.' He typed in a search engine at this, only to see just a few pictures and articles, 'Kacchan won. Huh. Guess that means I would have lost if I had tried the festival. His quirk is so much better than mine...'

His mind went back to the bully, remembering the words that Bakugo had told him. The thought made him shake in his seat before eating another bit of cereal. 'Don't...don't think about it. You'll become a hero. You'll just have to...do a lot more.' He feels a small tear go down his face, 'I wish I could've got in. I wish I could've been in the festival. Stupid support exam.' Taking a second, he let out a sigh and shook his head, 'Eh, that's how it works. I need to figure out what I'm doing now. I just wish I could have watched it live. Maybe I'll watch it later.'

A deep breath later, he decided to go back to the hero killer case. And as he went to another page, he now saw a news outlet talking about previous kills from the hero killer. Apparently, he had ran wild in another district, killing four heroes. They were all D-list heroes, ones Izuku had heard of, but he knew most wouldn't have known them. All four had only done a few rescues and small-time criminal takedowns. Overall, they weren't much, and most news outlets wouldn't have cared. The only reason this article existed was because the reporter who made it was related to one of the killed heroes.

"Says here he's well known for spouting anti-hero philosophy. Believes most heroes to be fakes, and only true heroes like All Might are all but lost." Izuku read aloud, "Currently believed to be hopping district to district, choosing heroes that don't fit his ideology."

Izuku leaned back in his chair, "Sounds like a villain. But should I go after him? I mean, he's obviously got the other heroes attention. Maybe I shouldn't interfere."

He looked back at his computer, staring long and hard at the hero killer article again, 'What do I do? This guy's obviously going to be hunted down by the heroes...but other heroes will be danger cuz of this guy. I mean, he is the hero killer for a reason.' He closed his eyes for a second, remembering yesterday, the constant fighting and desperation he felt, only to feel something else. He felt...like he did the right thing. To go into the fray, saving others and beating the villains.

But then Gran Torino appeared in his head, telling him that he was going in over his head. That he shouldn't just jump into everything. That there were consequences for doing so. 'But I can't do that.' he mentally told himself, 'I...I want to be a hero. I can't just sit there and let bad things happen. But after yesterday...do I really want to go into something like that again?! I mean, that was crazy. What do I do if this is worse?!'

And then Gran's words rang out again.

"If that's the case, don't go jumping into everything you can get yourself into. If you do, you'll start something that you can't escape."

"If I go find him...will that happen?" He glanced down at one of his notebooks sitting in his lap, the pages turned to a new entry he was creating, one over the hero killer. He flipped to the pages of the gangs he had just fought yesterday, that event replaying in his head. 'I really did jump into something I wasn't ready for. I mean, I'm not even good enough to be a F-rank hero yet. Should I go into something like that?'

He closed the book at this, taking in a deep breath. And as he released it, he looked up at the All Might poster he had in his room. The hero shown there was shining his signature smile, the sight making Izuku feel like the hero was talking to him. "You would do it anyways, wouldn't you? You would go in and save the day, no matter what."

And after a second, he nodded, "I understand." He went back to the article on the hero killer on his computer, the teen biting his lip as he muttered out, "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go and find this guy, even if I'm not ready. Maybe there will be consequences like Gran Torino said, but...I can't just sit here. Even if I'm not a hero yet, I can still try and do something." He then turned in his chair and stared at his web making equipment, "But first, I'm running out of ingredients for web fluid. Better go buy some." He looked back at the computer, staring at the news article for a second, "I'll deal with you soon."

Two days later...

Izuku let out a long yawn as he woke up, slowly ascending from bed while doing several stretches. He had most of his bandages removed now, the teen going to the bathroom and taking off the rest. He found he was mostly healed, though some were still a tiny bit sore. Seeing this, he quickly did his routine and had some breakfast, Inko telling him she was going to the hospital to work today.

After saying goodbye to her, he switched into Spider-Man, invisibly crawling out his window and swinging into the city. His mother had found out he was going to go investigate the hero killer, which she was very against, even when he told her about the relationship with Tenya. She then told him that she knew he wouldn't listen, but to not overdo it.

Despite this, he had also spent the morning looking up extra information on the hero killer, only to find that he was last sighted in Hosu, mainly due to that being where he had fought Ingenium. As such, he swung over to the train station and landed on top of the building. After listening to the announcer for half an hour, he heard him talking about a train going to Hosu, Izuku smiling under the mask before hopping on top of the train.

One ride later, he was in Hosu, a few people gasping as they saw the vigilante swing away from the station. He zipped up to a nearby rooftop, perching on its edge before taking out his phone. 'Now, let's see...' He turned on the Midoriya Hero App and opened its other feature, a long list of all the heroes he had ever recorded. It was a list made from several years of analysis and fanboying, and he went to the ones that were in Hosu.

'So, the main heroes in Hosu are Manual, Native, The Fly and Takeshita. I need to figure out which ones the hero killer will go after...' Izuku mentally said as he tapped the phone, 'I don't have any of their routes, so I guess I'll just swing around and see if they're on patrol.' He turned on the police scanner app at this and pointed his wrist at a nearby building. 'I hope I'm not too late.'

Hours passed by as he swung around, quickly finding one of the four heroes. He first found The Fly, which he followed for an hour or so. Izuku realized he had never really tailed someone before, even with the years of seeking out heroes. Thankfully, staying on the rooftops made it easy, as most weren't going to look up.

He watched him for about two hours, jotting down a few notes as he saw the hero patrol around. 'So, according to what little there is online, it said the hero killer goes after what he considers to be fake heroes.' He glanced back down at the hero, watching him asking if everything was okay to a few civilians before continuing his patrol. The sight made Izuku tap his pencil on his chin, 'What does the killer qualify as fake though? One that just does it for money or glory? Or is it one that doesn't do enough?'

Izuku came to a stop at that thought, glancing back down at his notes, 'Do I qualify in that? I know I don't do enough. Would he hunt me down? I didn't see any reports on him going after vigilantes.' He looked back at The Fly one last time before turning away, 'Hmmm...I don't know enough. I don't think he'll go after The Fly though. I should look for another hero.'

He put his notebook away, firing a web line before slinging across another street. The teen swung around for another hour, taking a short break to eat a snack he had prepared before continuing. And as he did this, he found another hero, along with the one thing he was both fearing and expecting. A teen dressed up to look just like Ingenium.

'That's Manual! And that's got to be Tenya Iida!' he mentally commented as he saw the teen walking beside the hero. 'Oh no...the only reason he would be here is because of the hero killer.'

He sat down on the rooftop above them, putting a hand to his face, 'What do I do? I can't just swing down and tell him to not go for the killer. I also can't do that as Izuku Midoriya.' He pulled out his phone, staring at for a long hard second as he pulled up the texting app, 'Do I tell Uraraka? I mean, if I do...she'll probably figure out I'm Spider-Man. Would that put her in danger? I mean, I know she's training to be a hero, but...but...'

He slumped down at this before putting both hands on the sides of his head, 'Augh! I can't believe this! This is exactly what Gran Torino meant! I'm so in over my head!' He let out a long sigh at this, soon glancing back down to see that the duo had walked away. 'Ugh...maybe I should just follow them. I'll figure out what to do later.'

This was followed by another two hours of tailing, mainly seeing both do a long roundabout patrol. Izuku felt a bit nasty for having to tail someone that was friends with his only friend, but he also knew this was for the greater good. And after these two hours, he concluded that Manual seemed to be a truly upstanding hero. He only really knew that Manual had a water quirk, but he saw that the hero went out of his way to inspire people, constantly complimenting and helping others with little things while making sure to look out for crime and villains.

He could also tell Tenya was distracted. The teen was jittery, something Izuku could tell even from the long distance between sidewalk and rooftop. The sight made Izuku's heart drop, as he knew what this meant. Tenya was probably wanting to go on a war path, and this was the only way.

Despite this, after the two hours, he deciding to stop tailing them. He figured that the hero killer probably wouldn't go for Manual, as he was honestly an even better hero than The Fly in his opinion. Granted, he still didn't know what the hero killer would go for, but as he swung away and was about to go for another snack, he found his third hero.

It was Native, who was currently in the middle of a crowd of fans. He was signing autograph after autograph, along with taking selfies. The sight made Izuku blink, sitting down on the edge of a rooftop across the street. He watched as Native stood there, doing this...for over half an hour before moving through his patrol.

The sight made Izuku gulp. 'I think I know who the hero killer might go after next.' Izuku thought as he hopped onto another rooftop to follow Native. He then saw the hero go down two more streets before having another crowd surround him. Seeing this, Izuku sighed and took out another snack. 'Yeah...this is bad. Should I go find Takeshita first or stay watching him? I mean, I think he's probably gonna be targeted.'

Izuku pulled out his phone at this, tapping it a few times as he tried to look up Native. He found that he was considered on the lower end, though he was very public as well. Just a few rescues and villain takedowns, nothing really major though. Izuku sighed at this and closed the app before looking back at Native, who was giving out his last autograph. 'I should at least figure out his patrol route first. Then I can decide what to do next.'

It took three hours for Izuku to see Native's full route. This was mainly due to the constant stops, which Izuku found himself almost putting a spider tracer on Native and napping on the last hour due to just how much it happened. But he didn't, and as Izuku recorded the full route in his notebook, he put it away and decided it was time to go home. Native had stopped patrolling, going into a hero agency building. Izuku hadn't found anything on the hero killer attacking buildings, instead always attacking the heroes while they're on patrol, so he figured Native was probably safe for now.

As such, he swung back to the train station and took a ride home. 'I hope Takeshita isn't the next target. Then again, I'm surprised the hero killer didn't show up today. I didn't see him on any news...' He thought as he rode the train, 'Well, there's always tomorrow.'

The train soon came to a stop, the web-slinger hopping off and swinging away. It wasn't long till he got home, the vigilante going invisible before sneaking into his room through his window. His mother was thankfully no longer surprised at this, and revealed she had some katsudon waiting for him. Gladly taking it, the two talked about their days, Inko surprised that Izuku hadn't really fought anything today, not even a mugger. She then told him that FEAST was going to be doing a few events in the next few days and that Izuku should try and help. He agreed, but only if he didn't find anything tomorrow.

But as he went to sleep, he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case.

The next day...

Izuku woke up slow that day, the teen dragging through his morning routine, checking his body and seeing most of the wounds were gone. They were still some bruises, blue patches around his chest and back, but nothing that would slow him down. He went to his desk after this, fully stocking himself in web cartridges before switching to Spider-Man. And after telling his mom goodbye for the day, he crawled out his window, swung over to the train station and got on the first ride to Hosu.

It wasn't long till he got there, swinging off the train as he got up to the first rooftop he could reach. And as he got up there, he pulled out his notebook. 'Okay, I should probably go tail Native first. Good thing I recorded his route.'

He leapt off the rooftop at this, quickly swinging down a few streets. And as he did this, he felt his body tense up. It wasn't like when he went after Spinner, waiting for a single bank robber or when he went after a warehouse of thugs and drug dealers. He had spent another few hours last night looking into the hero killer, seeing that the man had killed a lot of people. He was nothing like anything he had faced before.

'I wonder what his quirk is. I better figure it out quickly when I find him.' he thought as he swung down another street. But as he did this, he stared in the distance, only to go wide-eyed. A few blocks ahead, what looked like a black portal opened up on a rooftop. The sight made him take a sharp turn and landed on a nearby roof. And as he got there, he turned invisible as he continued to stare at the portal.

'What is that?' He mentally asked, only to see a muscular man walk out of it. He was wearing a mish mash like outfit with an eyemask, long messy hair, no nose, and several blades all over his clothes. 'Great. More swords...'

This was followed by another person, a lanky white-haired individual with a hand on his face. The sight made Izuku lean back for a second before seeing the first man hop off the rooftop and leap to another. Izuku glanced between the two, only to look down at his web shooters. Switching out the cartridges, he then leapt off the roof and began swinging after the first man.

And as he did this, he found that the man had quickly came to a stop after a few rooftops. Izuku landed on the side of the building's wall, sill invisible as he slowly crawled over to the man, now getting just in earshot. "All fakes...they're all fakes." the man hissed, pulling out a blade and looking it over. "That worthless villain. To think he would want me to join him while he had no conviction."

'Worthless villain?' Izuku thought as he then glanced down to where the man was staring at, only to go wide-eyed. One street over was Native, who was currently doing a few autographs. He glanced back at the man, only to feel something come off the guy. It felt like...pressure. Like an invisible force hitting the teen like an unending burst of wind.

"Another fake." the man growled. "Your time is now."

'Fake?' Izuku did a slight gulp as he continued to feel the pressure. But as he felt this, his mind connected all the pieces, 'Its him! He's the hero killer!' He slowly crawled up to the rooftop at this, staying right behind the killer, only to feel another wave of pressure off of him. 'What is this? What is he doing?'

Despite being invisible, Izuku looked down at his unseeable body, feeling his legs shake. He felt it now: Fear. And as he glanced back up at the killer, he knew what it was now. 'This is...killing intent.' He bit his lip at this, his whole body shivering as he tried to point his wrists at the villain. 'I...I can't calm down. Why can't I-'

"Whoever you are, you are not worthy of fighting me." the villain suddenly said, slowly spinning around. Izuku went wide-eyed at this, glancing down at his hands and seeing he was still invisible as the killer continued to talk, "I don't see you, but I know you're there. You are hesitating. You are afraid."

'He knows I'm here? How...is he like Gran Torino? Am I really that loud?!' Izuku thought as he saw the villain slowly walk across the rooftop. The teen saw that the man was about to reach him, only to come to a stop just a few inches away from the teen.

"Well?! Where are you?!"

'So close...' Izuku mentally gulped, still feeling that killing intent pour over his entire body. But as he felt this, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 'I gotta move. I didn't come all this way to just be beaten right as I found him...though I didn't really think I would find him so fast.'

And as he finished his deep breath, he opened his eyes and saw the killer was still standing in front of him. The glare alone from the hero killer looked like it could kill, but Izuku felt his legs slowly stop shaking. 'No. I...I gotta try.' He was still slightly shivering, but then electricity began to crackle along his hands. And with swift motion, he balled up a fist and thrust it right at the villain.

"Hmm?" the villain slowly said, now hearing a tiny sound right in front of him.

"Venom Punch!" Izuku screamed as he turned visible, throwing the electric punch right at the villain's chest. But as he did this, the killer quickly unsheathed two knives, blocking the blow as he put them in a cross formation in front of his stomach.

"There you are." the villain commented as he uncrossed the blades and thrust one at Izuku, his spider sense screaming at him. The attack was the fastest thing Izuku had ever seen, but his spider sense was faster. He quickly backpedaled at this, dodging the first thrust, only for the killer to start swinging his blades everywhere. It was a rapid, fluid motion that he used those knives with, but it was an even greater dance that Izuku did. His spider sense rang out every split second, motioning him to do the slightest movements, ducking and dodging each blow.

And as this happened, the killer began to push Izuku over to the rooftop's edge, Izuku feeling his feet about to go over the edge. 'I gotta do something!' he mentally yelled, only to feel no more floor beneath him. And when the villain thrust the blade again, Izuku backpedaled off the building. 'Whoa!' He quickly fired a web line, catching the top of the roof as he planted his feet on the building's side.

Seeing this, the villain let out a snort. "Not bad. You have good instincts."

"I've been told that a lot recently." Izuku instantly quipped, only to blush under the mask as he realized how quickly he said that.

"Hmph." the killer grumbled, "So, who are you? Another fake hero trying to stop me? You look like you're a child."

"Um...not exactly." Izuku replied, "I'm uh...I'm actually a vigilante."

"A vigilante?"

"Yup. Name's Spider-Man. Who are you?"

The villain just glared at him, Izuku feeling like the killer was looking right through his costume before replying, "Stain."

"Stain?"

"Stain." The villain responded, "Now, why is a vigilante after me?"

Izuku blinked at this, "Well...you're the hero killer, right? So, I'm here to stop you."

Stain let out another snort at this, "Tch. That is no job for a child. Especially one that relies on parlor tricks. Only All Might is worthy of facing me." He spun around at this, "I won't kill you though. I have respect for vigilantes. You do not care about the law to do right. That is a good quality to have."

Izuku just stood on the side of the building after hearing that. 'What? He kills heroes but respects vigilantes? What kind of logic is that?!' he thought before seeing Stain leave. He was about to pull himself up to the roof, only to stay still for a second longer. 'Wait Izuku, don't just leap at him. Use your webbing this time.'

With a small yank, he hopped back up to the roof, now seeing Stain about to leap off it to go after Native. And as he saw this, he fired a line of webbing, instantly hitting Stain's back. Feeling this, the killer reflexively spun around and cut the line. But as he did this, Izuku fired two more shots of webbing, both at Stain's feet. As they hit the soles, Izuku yanked at both, Stain now finding himself losing balance. But at this happened, he quickly stretched his arms out and cut both lines, his back hitting the rooftop before instantly rolling and standing back up.

Seeing this, Izuku fired a third line, Stain blocking it with the flat side of his blade, only for Izuku to yank at it. But as the knife left Stain's hand, he used his now free hand to grab another knife and throw it at the teen. Spider sense blaring at this, Izuku reflexively thrust his leg upward as the knife came, kicking it at the precise moment it got close. The sight made Stain let out a hiss before charging at the teen, pulling out another blade at the same time.

"I don't have time to mess with you!" Stain roared as he thrust the blade at Izuku, the teen ducking under it before trying to throw a punch back. But as this happened, Stain easily side-stepped it before swiping with his other knife. Izuku quickly tried to backpedal at this, only for it to nic him in the arm.

Stain then leapt back at this, raising the blade to his mouth.

Danger!

'Huh? Why is my spider sense yelling at that?' Izuku thought before seeing Stain's mouth opened to show a long pulpy tongue. His brain instantly clicked, the teen firing a web line right at the knife. However, Stain saw this and lifted up his other blade, the webbing hitting it instead just as he licked the knife.

Izuku felt his body instantly tense up, the teen falling over a second later. 'What the-' he mentally gasped before glancing up to see Stain cut the web line off the knife.

"Not bad. I was right about you having good instincts." Stain commented as he put one of the knives away.

"I can't move..." Izuku muttered out, "The blood...did you-"

"Oh? You figured it out that quickly?" Stain responded, showing what could only be seen as an expression of a tiny bit of surprise. "Indeed. That is my quirk." The villain then walked over to the edge of the rooftop, now seeing Native finish his last autograph signing. "My prey is ready." He glanced back at the now squirming downed vigilante, holding a knife right above him.

Izuku saw the blade, aimed right at his head. He could feel another wave of killing intent pour off the man, Stain staring down at him as his tongue slithered out of his mouth. And though the killer couldn't see it, there was a look of both fear and determination on Izuku's face. He could feel his life about to flash before his eyes, only for Stain to say, "I have respect for you. You showed great fear in facing me, but still tried. I could sense your conviction. But none shall face me except All Might, for he is the only true hero."

He raised his knife at this, ready to strike downward...only for the killer to put it away, "I...will spare you. Just don't meddle with me again."

Those words made Izuku go wide-eyed, only to see Stain spin around, "No! Wait!" the teen yelled, but it was too late. Stain was already gone.