Chapter 28: Finding a Fake

Too much was happening too suddenly. As soon as they heard the first sign of destruction and Tenya catching sight of a flying Nomu, it seemed like the city finally woke up but on the wrong side of the bed and it was flipped over.

They ran towards the building closest to them that had a good portion of its top floor completely open to the air from where the Nomu smashed through. Small tongues of fire were already licking at the pieces of furniture and pictures that got thrown over the stovetops, the dinners that were being prepared left unfinished. The sound of gas hissing out of the pipes could be heard in the rooms. Those that were still inside ran out as fast as they could once they realized what was happening.

As Manual and Tenya got closer, one of the rooms must've reached the ignition point as a huge explosion sounded out, creating a chain reaction amongst the apartments. One by one they saw what windows that weren't already broken being blown out, destroying what was left of the top floor.

They ducked reflexively, staring in desperation as the building was starting to come down. The front doors burst open, the residents covering their heads with their hands, some covered in ash and soot, others bleeding from unseen injuries, many of them carrying their children in their arms, all of them screaming or coughing. Manual and Tenya shared a look and nodded in understanding, they jumped into action, assessing the victims, applying first aid where needed, and ushering them to a safer location.

They continued like this as they made their way closer to the city center, the crowd growing steadily with every building that got affected. Both had tried calling out to the other heroes for support, but all they were met with was static silence. Either all heroes were too preoccupied to answer, which would be expected, or there was an electrical outage or energy disruption. A quick look around disproved the outage. Manual tried to keep the worry from his face, and judging from the looks he was receiving, he was doing a decent job at it. He swallowed heavily, watching over Tenya as he was checking over another civilian.

A communications blackout, on top of an enemy attack with an undetermined number of dangerous individuals, on top of a citywide search for a serial killer known to kill heroes who are alone. Manual wasn't remotely religious, but right then he prayed to any and every god out there that the heroes would make it through the night.

He was snapped out of his spiral by Tenya roughly gripping his arm, "Manual! I can't get in touch with any heroes. What should we do?"

Manual took stock of the people gathered around them, noting how they were all able to walk with only superficial wounds. At this point they were shepherding a small mob, trying to corral them would only slow them down, and trying to protect everyone was far outside their capabilities. He raised his head to address the people following them, "Tenya and I will escort you all to the safety shelters. The fit may be tight all things considered, but if that's the case, we will continue to protect you all to the best of our abilities until each and every one of you are safe."

Eventually, they were able to get everyone deposited at one safety shelter or another until it was just the two of them once again. Manual and Tenya broke into a jog, hoping to get a wider view of the carnage. Neither of them could believe the scope of the damage they were seeing. They were only able to confirm one of those Nomu, but it looked like the city got run over by an army of them. Mercifully, they didn't see any dead civilians among the wreckage, but he wasn't willing to hold his breath.

Iida stopped jogging abruptly, his arms nearly shaking in anger, "Manual, don't you see what's going on? This is all a distraction. While the heroes are busy with the Nomu, Stain is making his getaway. We need to be searching for him, not helping suppress the attack!"

"Are you serious-" Manual groaned in frustration, "Tenya, you need to forget about Stain, at least for right now. Do you not see what's happening in the city? Heroes are meant to protect and save, first. Despite your grievances with and the risk of letting Stain walk away, we need to prioritize rescue and first aid where needed. We have no idea the scope of this attack, the instigation, the involved parties, nothing."

Iida tried to press the issue, but Manual's firm glare discouraged his attempt. "Stain getting away is a risk we need to take. It may not be us who takes him down, but he will be brought to justice, just not tonight. But here? Right now? All that matters is helping the civilians, suppressing the attack, and supporting each other. Heroes are strongest when they work together, and that's exactly what we need if the city is going to last through the night."

Iida stared for a few seconds longer at Manual, but eventually huffed in subdued agreement. Even if Stain wasn't the cause, a hero shouldn't abandon people in need, and right now, everyone in Hosu needs a hero. He jogged next to Manual in a contemplative silence.

A thought eventually passed through Iida's head. That didn't mean he had to be with Manual, right? Manual said heroes are strongest together, and Stain likes to go after heroes who are alone. He just had to be with a hero, and if that hero happened to be targeted by Stain? Well, that's just the icing on the cake.

Sounds of fighting and screams were growing, indicating they were probably getting close to ground zero of the attack. It was then that Iida made up his mind. Once they made contact with the enemy and Manual would be sufficiently distracted with trying to take them down, Iida will go looking for a hero who's all alone.

As they rounded a corner, they could see what the commotion was. Seeing what was happening stopped both in their tracks. The heroes weren't fighting one Nomu. They were fighting two, and neither was the one they saw flying around. Hosu was under attack by at least three Nomus and the heroes were losing the fight badly.

A scattered group of heroes attempted surrounding the Nomus. A pale green one was causing damage with reckless abandonment, attacking heroes at random and then turning right around to smash the walls of a building in, all the while wailing like a banshee. Any attack that it got hit with was eventually returned two-fold, further exacerbating the damage in that area. The other was black and muscular, actively attacking the heroes nearby. Other than seeing them at the debrief, Tenya had no idea who the assembled heroes were, but he knew that they weren't enough to bring the two Nomu down.

The black Nomu slowly walked to a bus that was abandoned on the street, paying no heed to the attacks that it was receiving from the heroes spread around it. Bringing its hands underneath, the Nomu heaved and lifted the bus above its head, throwing it past the assembled heroes. Those in the car's path ducked as it soared overhead, following it as it crashed into a row of cars, exploding on impact. Too distracted by the display of strength and destruction, the heroes took their eyes off the Nomu.

The black Nomu lifted its tree trunk of an arm and swung out, catching the heroes off guard, throwing each of them a distance. Those that weren't hit all jumped back, giving themselves extra space between them and its next attack. A bare-chested hero with ram horns on his head was crouched next to a fire hydrant, ripping the top off with his hands.

"Manual!" the hero called out, "Hurry up and put the fires out before it spreads to the buildings!"

"Already on it!" Manual pointed his fingers at the spray of water, directing it towards the fire, "Tenya! Do a quick sweep of the surrounding area! Make sure there aren't any stragglers."

"Sir!" Tenya saluted and turned to run off, finally seeing his chance to look for Stain.

"And Tenya!" Manual added on, almost as if he was reading his mind. He was grunting with exertion as he focused the stream of water as far and wide as he could. "Once you confirm the area is clear, you are to go with the police and help with evacuation. No detours. This is beyond your capabilities."

"But Manual, I can still help! I can do more!" Tenya faltered in his step only a little. He knew that Manual knew that he was going to use the opportunity to go looking for Stain, and he cursed him for having yelled his instructions in the presence of multiple other heroes.

"Listen to your mentor, kid!" another hero called out, this one dressed in a green and white body suit with a solid red bandana around her neck. She stepped between Tenya and the Nomu to shield him from any attacks. "You're more in the way here. We've got this, you keep yourself and the civilians safe!"

Tenya ground his teeth, the frustration and humiliation on his face hidden by his helmet. He silently swore and nodded, "I understand. Please stay safe!" He turned and fled the scene, tears of anger in his eyes. It was just like at the USJ. He was the one that was forced to run away while his comrades stayed back to fight for their lives. Now he's being forced to run away again.

He couldn't do anything to help his classmates back then. He couldn't do anything for his brother when Stain attacked him. He couldn't even do anything right now even though there were problems right in front of him!

Through blurry eyes he still scanned the surrounding area like he was told, looping around the vicinity one block away, and then two blocks, before confirming no one was there. As he ran to the evacuation areas, in the very corner of his eye he saw a flash of red turn a corner. He stopped in his tracks, studying the corner where he saw it disappear behind. He turned his head to look at the street sign.

"Five-one-eight Ekou Street…" Iida spoke to himself, his eyes narrowing in thought. He drew a sharp breath in realization and ran towards the alley, a twisted grin finding its way on his face. Manual said no detours, but he also said that heroes are stronger together, and if what he saw was accurate, there's a hero that's alone and needs support. He can do something after all.

As he jumped off the tower, Stain begrudgingly acknowledged Kagero's plan. It was simple and kept all parties satisfied, though how he went about it was far too drastic in his opinion. Regardless of his personal feelings, it did bear fruit.

From the water tower he acquired his first target. Too far away to make out any defining details so he couldn't identify which hero it was, but it didn't matter. Looks meant nothing to him, it was the actions the heroes took and this one was displaying truly unheroic ones.

The over exaggerated movements of the hero was the first clue, the second was the direction they were headed. The hero was running wildly, their arms flailing as though they were wading through chest-high water. They didn't stop once to look back, nor did they stop to answer a civilian that poked their head out of their front door, probably having heard the first explosion and trying to figure out the cause. The hero just ran past them, not paying them any attention. Most disappointingly, the hero's back was squarely facing the action, where they were needed most. They were heading out of the city, away from the attack, away from the danger, away from the endangered citizens, and that's just not what a hero does.

Stain licked his lips in anticipation as he bounded across the rooftops to catch his prey. He decided to give the hero one last chance, though he was certain the hero would miss it.

Stain ran ahead of the hero to get into his path. He dropped down to the street level and made himself reasonably visible, hanging out just barely hidden in the shadows of an alley that was within the hero's line of sight. He heard the slap of the hero's shoes on the concrete, the labored breaths from running, the swishing of what sounded like a cape flowing behind him as they got closer. As the hero came into view, Stain was finally able to recognize the hero turned coward.

The red headband with a feather sticking out of it, the red markings under their eyes and the brown suit with a large "N" plastered on their chest was enough for Stain to recognize the hero as Native. Stain smiled contemptibly; Native was number three on his list for the next city.

Native got closer, his eyes sweeping ahead of him, with Stain standing out in the open. Stain could see the moment Native finally noticed him, could see the very short argument he held within himself before Native finally made up his mind. Native shook his head and muttered something before adjusting his course to run straight at Stain. His arms stopped flailing and Native fought to bring his breathing back under control. Stain smirked and turned his back, heading deeper into the alley. He heard Native maintain his course, trying to hype himself up by saying if he brought Stain in, then he would be worshipped among the rookie pros and forgiven for going a little AWOL when the attack started.

Stain silently growled, disappointed but not surprised. Native failed the last test, although he was doomed to from the start.

In the safety of the back alleys, Stain picked up the pace, but never went too fast. He wanted to make sure he kept Native on his tail, but far enough away so that he could still have time to properly set up his ambush. Native followed him like a search dog would a scent, his vision tunneling as he homed in on every small glimpse of Stain's scarf he caught.

Native followed Stain like this through a few twists and turns, but as he turned right around a corner, his tunnel vision became his downfall. Stain stood right at the other side, a dagger held in a reverse grip in his left hand. Native didn't have time to react as Stain swung his arm, clotheslining him and stabbing his left shoulder. Native cried out in shock and pain. Before he could activate his quirk to counterattack, Stain pulled him close, grabbing the back of his neck with his right hand and pulling him deeper into the alley.

He yelled as the dagger removed itself from his shoulder. Through the pain, he brought his hands up in the position for a shadow puppet bear. "Give me strength," he prayed, as his body was briefly covered in a brown hue, the aura shaping into bear paws as it covered his hands.

As if sounding the start of the fight, an explosion boomed in the distance. Invigorated and now armed, Native swung at Stain who leaned back to dodge. Native pressed the attack, swinging wildly and without purpose as Stain calmly ducked and parried, moving both deeper into the alley and out towards the street, wearing Native's stamina down, completely in control of the flow of the fight. Eventually, Stain attacked back. Native swung wide with his left arm but Stain raised his right to block it. With a quick jab, Stain struck the stab wound on Native's shoulder, immediately earning himself a cry in pain. Stain didn't let up. Each and every attack Native tried, stain blocked and returned with a pointed strike at his injury.

Through the blood loss and pain, the aura surrounding Native eventually faded, leaving him tired and battered. Too spent to put up a proper fight, Stain effortlessly grabbed him by the face, pressing him up against the wall. Unseen by Native, Stain brought the dagger he stabbed him with to his mouth, his long tongue licking at the blood still on the blade. In his hand, he felt Native tense and freeze.

"I… I can't move," Native commented. "What did you do?! You bastard! I'll get you, I swear on…"

Native was interrupted by another explosion, Stain looked up to the sky at the direction he heard the explosion come from, "Too loud. Too chaotic. Too excessive. No matter, it's nothing but a means to an end. As for you…" Stain took his dagger and wiped the blood off on Native's chest, intentionally leaving a thin cut that followed the down slash on his "N", before re-sheathing it, "Do you really want your last words to be that of promising revenge? How unheroic and fake of you."

Stain reached up with his free hand to the katana on his back, the chipped metal making a haunting trill and not the clean shing of a treated and cleaned blade. He flicked it out to the side, poised for the kill, "May your death help usher in a new era of…"

Before he could finish his sentence, he let go of Native, letting him fold to the floor, swinging his sword out to the side. A loud clang filled the air as metal hit metal, his sword making contact with a white helmet. The helmet went flying as the person that wore it spun around at the impact as they fell.

Stain looked upon the newcomer, seeing the white armor and helmet, the navy-blue hair, the exhaust pipes sprouting out of their legs like another hero he came across. The connection was made instantly, "The youngest of the Iida family. Run along now, this is no place for a child." Stain turned his attention back to Native.

"A blood red scarf," Tenya commented in a low voice, standing up slowly. "Three blocks away from the nearest agency, police station, or location frequented by a hero. In a quiet back alley, armed with a multitude of knives and blades. There's no doubt. You're Stain."

Tenya was hunched over and shaking with fury. He raised his head, glaring at Stain, hatred burning brightly in his eyes, "I've been looking for you. Chasing after your shadow, learning all your tricks, memorizing everything I could. I was praying for the chance I could meet you, if only so that I could take you down…!"

His tirade cut short as Stain pushed his katana right in his face, Tenya slightly going cross-eyed as he stared at the tip of the blade, "I've seen your eyes before, boy. They're filled with pain and anger. You didn't come looking for me to arrest me. If you did, you would've brought heroes along with you. No, you came for me to get revenge." Stain pushed his katana closer so that it was just resting on the bridge of Tenya's nose, "Mind your next words. Not even your age can save you if you prove yourself to be a Fake."

Despite the situation, Tenya couldn't help but laugh dryly, "What a joke. Only someone as deluded as you would attempt to convince someone to walk away just so he could kill someone else. Listen up, villain. I am the younger brother of a hero you attacked and crippled! The brother of a hero beyond measure! One who is loved by family, civilians, and sidekicks alike!"

Tenya batted the katana away from his face, Stain allowing it to be swept aside. Face-to-face with the cause of his anger, he was letting it all out, "I have come to finish what my brother has started! To succeed in what he failed at! Remember my name, Stain. For it will be the one you will be cursing as you descend to the deepest pit in Hell. I am Ingenium. The hero that will bring. You. Down."

For all the vitriol Tenya put into his words, Stain was unimpressed. If his head were clearer, Iida would've seen the almost disappointed look that quickly passed over Stain's face before it was replaced with a wide-eyed and manic grin.

"Is that so?" Stain asked, his pupils shrinking to slits, "Then come! Let's see if your Ingenium is any better than your brother's!"

Ingenium shot forward, the engines in his legs turning over as blue flames blew out of the exhaust pipes, "I'll kill you!"

The distance between the two closed in an instant as Ingenium ran forward, his steps perfectly timed as if he were going to punt a ball. His left leg swung up, looking to kick Stain where it would hurt the most, but he was already moving. Stain jumped high, easily clearing Ingenium, and kicked out with his left foot, the spikes on his boot digging into Ingenium's shoulder.

"Is this the best that your Ingenium can do?" Stain taunted. "Your brother's was far more impressive, your father's even more so before him. I almost broke a sweat fighting your brother, but you?" Stain stomped his right foot down on Ingenium's head, forcing him to faceplant on the ground. Ingenium grunted as he felt Stain's boot dig into his skull, forcing him to eat the concrete. "You thought you could hold a candle to your brother? You're nothing more than a singular spark on wet wood."

Stain reversed the grip on his katana, driving it down into Ingenium's other shoulder, earning him a cry of pain, "You and your brother are weak, but at least he was a Hero. Why else would he still be alive?"

"Alive, but at what cost!?" Ingenium cried out, "He's paralyzed from the waist down, his days of being a hero are over, all because you picked a fight with him! He was a Hero! You said it yourself! So why? Why did you take away his ability to help others?" He fought hard to choke back the tears that was building, his voice cracking slightly, "He was a Hero who inspired many, who is loved by many, who inspired my dreams to become a hero. My brother was- is my Hero. I'll never forgive you for what you did to him! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!"

Stain looked down at Ingenium, he face expressionless, "And what would you do if your brother heard you say that right now? If he saw you in this pathetic state? Do you think he'd be proud?" Beneath his boot, Iida drew a sharp breath. Stain pointed to Native behind him, "And what about him? Were you too blinded by your rage to see that there was someone else here? You let your anger blind you to the point you couldn't see past your own nose.

"Forgetting about yourself and trying to save others. Wielding your power for the sake of the many rather than for the few or yourself. Putting everyone else before yourself. These are the tenets which make a true Hero. These are what your brother followed. Getting consumed by anger and hate, acting on your emotions and self-interest, openly proclaiming your intent to kill. You are the furthest from being a hero than any Fake that I have killed to date."

Stain twisted his katana before yanking it out of Ingenium's arm, eliciting a sharp cry of pain. He licked at the blood on his blade, Ingenium felt Stain's quirk instantly, as if he were under increased gravity. Stain raised his katana up once more, aiming it above Ingenium's heart, "That is why you will die tonight, and the hero Ingenium will die with your brother, for you are nothing."

"Shut up… shut up… shut up! It doesn't matter your reasons or goals, you're nothing more than a lowly criminal who crippled my brother!" Iida closed his eyes, the tears he fought to keep back now streaming down his face. He braced himself, accepting his death but cursing Stain in every way he could imagine.

Iida heard Stain hum. His mind was replaying every memory he had of his brother. Every time Tensei told a silly joke or embarrassed himself. Every time Iida was reminded of just how great of a hero and person Tensei was. Iida was ashamed to admit that Stain was right. Tensei wouldn't be proud of how he acted tonight. Instead of doing his brother proud, he no doubt disappointed him beyond comparison.

His thoughts came to his parents. His stern but loving father chastising the both of them when they rough-housed a little too hard in the house. His caring mother who always made sure to smother them in hugs and kisses whenever she saw them.

His thoughts came to the friends he's made along the way. Remembering the antics they got into while in school with him scolding them the whole time, never truly trying to lecture them, but trying to guide them to being model citizens. Thinking of his friends led him to remember Kaminari and Shimura, the only two that tried reaching out to him when he was hurting. He remembered when they first asked if he was alright, and he gave them a fake smile and told them he was fine. He remembered the last time he saw Shimura, back at the train station. Shimura was trying once again to reach out before they went their separate ways, but he pushed him away. He remembered the defeated look Shimura had on his face before he turned away without any further discussion, his last words to him were callous and impersonal.

Everyone. I'm sorry. He thought to himself before he felt the blade pierce his armor, his body racked with pain. In the moments he had left of consciousness, he thought he heard someone yell out to him, but he must've been imagining it.

No backup would be coming, he stupidly made sure of that himself. He was alone. The pain faded into nothing.