AN: Heya! I know it's only one chapter this time but I enjoy messing with you guys with cliffhangers so hope you're ready :D Don't worry, chaps will come out quicker here to compensate
Also, huge shoutout to NewMystery356. Just wanted to say that my jaw absolutely dropped when I saw you left a review on every chapter. Thank you for leaving them and I immensely enjoyed reading them and laughing at your reactions. You're awesome.
Enjoy!
It isn't the first time he's had the thought since meeting the alien, but every time Chizome Akaguro believes he has a handle on just how crazy his partner, Gorr, is, he's proven wrong. His latest evidence? Watching Gorr both laugh and cry over a daughter he had believed to be on the roof with him. A daughter that was never there.
Now, Stain is not going to make fun of any being for missing family that has passed. Don't get him wrong, he is a monster that deserves to die by the hand of All Might once his mission is complete, but not even he will take joy in a father mourning his daughter.
What is concerning, however, is Gorr believing said daughter was with him a moment ago and is no longer there. It's hard to hear the alien's howls of anguish at this point. Between the wind and the sounds of screaming and battle as heroes confront Gorr's monsters, his sense of hearing is quickly becoming overwhelmed.
But finally, Gorr stops, rising to his feet and turning around to face him. "Do you remember your call to action, Hero Killer? When you decided you would devote your life to something more? To become more?"
A fated confrontation with Knuckleduster flashes through Chizome's mind, but he stays silent. One of the few things that works about his partnership with the alien is that Stain knows he can be a man of few words. The void of silence is filled by Gorr, who lifts his hand, forming a blade made of seemingly pure darkness in his grasp.
"I remember when that day came for me." Gorr looks over the sword, caressing it in his hands as if it was the child he lost. "The Necrosword fell from the sky onto my world as I watched two gods squabble in the distance. All the while, their people, my family, perished around them.
"So I picked up the sword, and on that day, I butchered my first gods. And then, as I stood there, baptized in their blood, a question formed in my… simple little brain." Gorr looks up, his eyes wide. "I wondered if there were more?"
The God Butcher's musings are brought to an end when there's a crash on the roof behind them, and when both killers turn to look, they see an older man wearing a full set of Japanese armor with a red cape tied around his torso.
"Well!" Gorr smiles hungrily. "He is certainly no god, but he will do to start. Tell me, Hero Killer, do you know this human?"
"Yoroi Musha. Number 9 pro hero," Stain informs the alien, putting as much disgust and disdain as he can into his voice. Chizome is confident in his ability to judge the character of others, and all he has found in Musha is a coward. A little rat that would scurry away at the first sign of trouble.
"Villains!!" Musha yells triumphantly, as if he's already won. "Give yourselves up!"
Gorr squeals, fucking squeals, in delight. "Oh, I love it when they're so confident!" He looks back at Stain. "You don't mind if I get the first, do you? I'm just so full of energy right now!"
He doesn't know whether it's the deranged smile or the wild look in his eyes, probably a mixture of both, but Chizome nods, letting Gorr at the first hero they encounter.
"Thank you!" Gorr spins back around, pure glee radiating off of him. "It's just so interesting to me that you humans weren't content with just worshiping your gods! No, you had to make pretend-gods to adore and put your faith in!"
Gorr laughs once again, backing up a step to regain his balance. "I suppose I can't blame you all for your arrogance! I also blindly put my faith in a higher power once! Stupidly doing whatever I was told like the good dog that I was to my religion. Tell me, pretend-god, do you know where you'd be without the creatures who support you?"
"That's enough out of you!" Musha prepares to move, but Gorr is much faster, jumping at the hero while laughing with joy. Musha tries to block, but the Necroblade slices through his thigh easily, causing Musha to cry out in pain, falling to one knee.
"Anticlimactic," Gorr observes with a sigh, walking over to where the hero kneels. "I suppose it should be expected that the pretenders would be just as arrogant as the gods they hope to be. Did you not believe I was worth your full power?"
Gorr clenches his fist and his sword disappears, turning into four shadowy tendrils that wrap around Musha's arms and legs. "How about now?" When the hero only answers with a glare, Gorr sighs again. "Then perhaps you can assist me. I've heard you humans love it when you have your limbs torn off, humor me!"
Yoroi Musha can't even scream when, in a display that makes even Stain grimace, the tendrils pull and the hero is unceremoniously torn apart in front of them, eliciting another laugh from Gorr. "Well, I suppose he liked it until a second ago!"
Turning his symbiote back into a cloak, Gorr exhales happily. "Thank you for allowing that, Hero Killer."
Deciding he's seen enough, Stain doesn't answer, choosing to slip away in the shadows and traverse the city using the building rooftops, something made explicitly easier by Gorr's monsters who terrorize the streets below.
Chizome knows from their attack on the city of gods that the berserkers will leave him alone, even going so far as to follow his basic commands, should he need it. Stain looks down as he runs, watching various heroes fight the monsters, some shaped like animals you'd find on earth or alien creatures that he can only describe as monsters.
No matter. While he may disapprove of Gorr's methods, his mission must be put above all else, and if these creatures will make a good distraction for him, then he'll use it. Chizome flips to the next building, admittedly enjoying being able to scour the city without having to worry about the heroes. Now to find some that are isolated…
"Yes, that's right! Come now, you must keep moving, post haste!"
Gentle Hero beckons civilians behind him, using air membranes to keep ranged attacks from the creatures away while Izuku uses the water from a nearby destroyed fire hydrant to construct a wall of ice to keep the berserkers back.
"Uh…" he starts, straining and quickly reforming a part of the destroyed wall. "How are we doing sir?! This won't hold much longer!"
"Not much longer, young man! You are doing a marvelous job!"
"Gentle!" Majestic calls down from above on one of his platforms. "Communication just came in from Sir Nighteye! They've set up a temporary command center and hospital! I can transport them there!"
"Crap!" Izuku freezes more water to keep his wall up. The berserkers are just about through! They need time for the civilians to escape! He needs a plan! C'mon! Think outside the box! There's gotta be-
It really is like one of those old cartoons, and if Izuku makes an illusion of a light bulb turning on over his head as he gets his idea, then that's his prerogative.
So Izuku runs back to his superior. "I got an idea! Please trust me!" The boy pulls his arms back and the ice wall stopping the monsters follows suit, being pulled to be next to the heroes. "Use your quirk on the wall, sir!"
"I see!" Gentle places his hand on the ice, applying his elasticity to it. And not a moment too soon because just then, the shadow monsters jump on the wall, but make noises of surprise when the wall bends backward with their weight.
The creatures have no time to react before the wall flings itself forward, launching all the monsters away. Izuku breathes a sigh of relief. "I hope everyone was watching that!" he says, turning around. "Because I don't think that'll work again in a million years!" A few of the people let off nervous chuckles.
"Excellent innovation, Mischief!" Gentle compliments, while platforms are lowered for the civilians to climb onto.
Izuku smiles at the compliment, looking over as he hears the monsters roar in the distance, getting ready to return. He just hopes everyone else caught in this is doing okay.
Narrowing her eyes and flipping back, Hirona slices through the next wave of monsters with an energy disc, relieved when they wisp away. Gunshots above her take her attention as she glances up, making sure to keep the platforms Nagant stands on stable while the sniper keeps the flying monsters off them.
She puts up a barrier to protect herself as a creature tries to bring its claws down on top of her, gritting her teeth in frustration. They were endless! She releases a pulse of energy, blasting the monster back before cutting it and its nearby friends up.
One of the berserkers grabs her arm from behind and Hirona yelps as she's yanked back, before destroying the creature. But the opportunity allowed at least a dozen more to close in on her, forcing the villain to create a shield around herself, but the monsters start to quickly overwhelm it.
"Shit!" She's running out of stamina fast and she doesn't know how long she can keep-
A yellow wave of spiraling energy blasts the monsters off of her as Nejire Chan destroys the creatures around them, and with one last gunshot, the last berserker is destroyed for now.
"You got a minute," Nagant informs her from her vantage point, looking through her scope. "More on the way."
Hirona uses the time to drop to her knees, gasping for air, slowly lowering Nagant back down to the street. "I told you…" she raises her head to glare at Nejire, who seems unaffected. "We don't need your help! And I didn't need you to save me!"
"Didn't look that way to me," Nejire responds with just as much attitude. "You had more monsters on you than I could count! And believe me, I tried! it's a hero's job to save everyone, no matter how bad or ungrateful they are!" She finishes, puffing out her cheeks.
All for One's apprentice rises to her feet and looks at Nagant, as if to say, 'are you really gonna let her talk to me like that?!' To her frustration, Nagant just chuckles, shaking her head, content to just watch them.
"Look, it's clear these things don't care what side we're on," Nejire says, rubbing her arm. "So if we want to survive, we have to work together for now."
"You make it sound like it's so obvious-"
"Because it is."
Hirona groans in annoyance, marching up to the other girl and getting in her face. "Is it?! And how do I know you won't arrest me the second these things are gone?!"
Nejire doesn't back down, meeting her brown eyes with her own blue ones in opposition. "And how do I know you won't kill me?"
"That's- I won't…" Hirona throws her hands up in the air. "Why are you so infuriating?!" Nagant laughs a little more next to her. "And you! Why aren't you helping me with her?!"
"Look, kid, one of the things you learn when you do what I do is 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend.'"
Deflating, Hirona asks, "so you're just okay with this?"
"No," Nagant admits. "But I'd prefer it if neither of us died." Sharp purple eyes zero in on Nejire. "And I will be keeping an eye on you."
"Ditto." Nejire refuses to back down from either of them. The sounds of running monsters lets them know their time is up, so Hirona raises Nagant on another platform and eyes Nejire next to her, with the hero student doing the same.
A little confused about why the other girl isn't looking at her with hate like she expected, Hirona shakes her head. She doesn't like this but what choice does she have?
Tensei involuntarily hits his useless legs over and over while watching the news from his hospital bed. It didn't look good. These strange monsters appearing out of nowhere, hurting people, and he can't be there to help!
Not to mention it's in Hosu! He knows that's where Tenya took his internship! And his brother won't answer his texts! Seriously?! Tenya spends his whole life answering all of his messages within a minute and this is the time he chooses not to?!
The door opens, but Tensei can't bring himself to look away from the tv, hoping the news helicopter will catch some glimpse of Tenya, letting him know he's okay.
"Quite the sight, wouldn't you say?" he hears Dr. Reiwaru observe.
"That's one way to put it." Tensei's gripping his sheets so hard, his knuckles are white. "I haven't heard from Tenya. And- and I can't stop worrying about him. There's gotta be something I can do!"
"Be careful now, Mr. Iida," Reiwaru advises from the doorway. Tensei is so caught up in his fears, he doesn't notice the man closing the door and locking it behind him. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop."
Stain looks away from the hero Manual and his intern as they keep the monsters back from other heroes. They would be prime targets, but like the others, the area they were in was too crowded. He searches around him before breaking out a grin.
Finally, Chizome finds one. Thankful his search is done, at least for the moment, Stain watches an isolated Native take down the last berserker in a lone alley. It's almost too easy, like fate.
When the hero stops to take his breath is when the Hero Killer strikes. It's over almost instantly. Native has no time to react as Stain's blade pierces his skin and he licks the blood from it, immobilizing the man. He'd complain it was too easy, but he has far more to do.
"For a better world, for a society where the term hero has meaning…" Stain grabs Native by the head and lifts him up against the wall, the hero groaning in pain. Chizome lifts his blade. "You must be culled."
He draws his arm back, but something in his instincts scream and he turns just in time to see a second hero charging him at great speeds. There's a flash of silver and Stain is able to knock the newcomer away, simultaneously knocking his helmet off.
When he gets a good look at him, however, the Hero Killer scoffs in annoyance. It's nothing more than a boy wearing a costume that resembles a knight. "A child wearing a suit…go away. This is not a place for children."
"You… you're the Hero Killer: Stain! I've been chasing you!" Chizome tilts his head, studying the boy. The eyes specifically, so full of hate. "I am-"
Stain snaps his sword in front of the little hero's face. "Watch your words and release your engines of vengeance, for anyone can become my target." Let it be known that Chizome tried to grant mercy, but he knows it's too late.
"I am not even a target? Listen well, criminal! I am the younger brother of the hero you attacked!" The child stands slowly. "A most excellent older brother, and I am here to stop you in his place! So remember this name!"
The stupid boy looks up at him. "Ingenium!" He unsheathes the sword strapped to his side, the black metal pointed threateningly at him. "It's the name of the hero who will defeat you!"
Chizome isn't like Gorr. He doesn't fight or kill for pleasure. Only when it is necessary. And Ingenium's brother has made it clear he's not leaving.
"Very well," Stain says calmly, readying his sword and letting Native drop to the ground. "Then die."
"Like hell, I would!" the boy roars. The engines on his calves explode and the student rushes him, sword raised and poised to strike.
Chizome can see it coming a mile away and raises his sword to block. Another benefit to his partnership with Gorr is having access to materials and metals not from Earth. And obviously, the first thing he did was replace the metal of all his blades with a stronger one of alien origin.
His sword will easily break the student's sword with ease and his momentum will carry him right into the blade, impaling himself. Simple.
Or at least, it should've been. So imagine his surprise when the blades clashed together, causing a clanging sound to pulse through the alley. Ingenium struggles to push his blade away and Stain recovers to shove the boy back.
"Your sword…is not of this world," Stain observes darkly. Just what is he getting himself into?
That only seems to enrage the boy more. "Your nonsense won't distract me!" He charges again, trying a side swipe with his sword but Stain easily dodges, twisting away.
"So focused on enacting your revenge, shouldn't you be focused on saving that guy?!" Stain points at Native to emphasize his point. "I left your brother alive to spread my word, but you and your brother are nothing but fakes!"
Little Ingenium growls, and as he does, it's as if the sword he holds starts to bleed into his body. The boy's armor darkens a little and Chizome swears he can hear the sword vibrating. "You have no right! I'll kill you!!"
The student charges again, noticeably faster, and angrier. The sudden speed increase catches Chizome off-guard, but only for a moment, as he's in the air, avoiding Ingenium's attack again. Stain moves to plant his boot in the boy's back, but the blue-haired boy spins around before he can, attempting to slice his foot clean off!
Chizome blocks the attempted dismemberment and the two separate once more. It's clear to him now that there is something very wrong with the weapon the child carries. Ingenium may not even know it himself. It's time he ended this.
The blue-haired boy's sword continues to bleed onto him. His knightly armor turns more noticeably black as their seconds ticked by.
"You move more swiftly but do not even attempt to grab the fallen hero. Japan will be glad to be rid of you." Stain moves at blinding speeds and is in front of the boy, a second knife drawn and already almost grazing his armor. Chizome smiles, tongue extended to lick whatever blood he acquires.
Ingenium yells in defiance and as he does, what happens next is near instant. The sword the child carries surrounds itself with a dark energy, as if responding to the boy's hate, and it explodes, sending out an energy wave that crashes into Chizome, sending him hurtling back-first into the alley wall.
But he knows his opponent is fast, so Stain is back on his feet, ignoring the pain in his back. The student, instead of attempting to take advantage of his surprise attack, stares in shock at his blade. It appears he was right about the boy not knowing what he holds.
Unfortunately for the kid, Stain is not one to waste an advantage. Before Ingenium can recover, a throwing knife soars through the air and pierces the hand of the boy that holds the sword. Ingenium yells in pain but before he can finish, Chizome has him on ground as he drives his sword into his shoulder.
A lick of his blade and Ingenium is paralyzed below his feet. "All that power, and yet, still so weak. Because you're a fake who aspires to use that power for his own selfish desires."
"Bastard! I'll kill you!!"
Stain raises his sword. "You are the farthest thing from a hero. Goodbye, and become an offering to a more just world!" Chizome brings the blade up some more, ready to drive it down-
And then, he feels his stomach lurch.
Chizome looks down and is confused when he sees black tendrils wrapping around his midsection. Suddenly, he's pulled hard and away from Ingenium and sent careening into a nearby dumpster, which he hits hard.
The Hero Killer growls in annoyance, standing back up just in time to see another child land in front of Ingenium, the black tendrils retracting into his forearm under the black trench coat he wears, with some sort of special shoes and gloves over his hands with a utility belt to boot.
"T-Tenko!" Ingenium cries out in surprise. "What are you doing here?! And what were those black vines you used?!"
"Yeah? Well what's going on with your armor? Sorry Iida," the new boy apologizes, his light blue hair blowing in the breeze while his red eyes narrow at Chizome. "But I decided to interrupt your combat and ended up rolling a pretty high initiative."
Ah, he remembers now, another child from the Sports Festival. Tenko Shimura. Stain watches curiously as the boy's eyes flicker to Native on the ground before moving back to him. Interesting, this one is actually taking note of the fallen hero.
"Don't worry, I'll get you both out of here." Shimura puts one of his hands behind his back for a moment, before returning said hand up front to press a button on the tech he wears over his hand.
"This isn't your fight, Tenko! Get out of here while you can!"
"You best listen to him," Stain adds, while Shimura looks at Iida flabbergasted. "It's my duty to kill him, and anyone who stands in the way of that will face the same fate. Are you prepared for that?"
Shimura looks down at Iida. "What are you talking about? You think I'm just gonna leave you here so you can feed his stats? Don't be a spherical dumbass!"
"Spherical-"
"Because no matter how you look at it, you're a dumbass!" Shimura tells the other boy harshly, before looking back up. "And sorry Hero Killer, but I've heard about how high your K/D is…" Shimura fires a pellet at Chizome and before he can move, it lands at his feet expanding into foam that hardens at his ankles and traps him where he stands.
The red-eyed boy grits his teeth and aims his black tendrils at Native, concentrating hard as he roughly pulls the hero to him, gasping for air when it's done. "Iida, can you move?"
"No…I think it's his quirk…"
"Okay…" Shimura nods, making a decision. "I'm gonna use Blackwhip to carry you both for a second but with my thrusters, we should be able to make it a fair distance."
That's when Chizome notices them, so he yells out. "Keep them trapped in this alley!" The heroes all seem confused at first, but quickly realize who Stain was talking to when several berserkers move to block the exit of the alley, while others with wings perch on the roofs above them, effectively cutting off all means of escape.
"What will you do now, hero?" Stain uses a knife to easily free himself from the foam. "Try to escape while fighting me, these monsters, and protecting your comrades?"
Shimura looks around them, scratching his neck while weighing his options before exhaling and facing Stain once more. "It looks like your bots aren't attacking, so I'm guessing they only will if I try to leave. So if you want a 1v1 Hero Killer, then you got it! Because I'm not letting anyone die!"
Chizome smiles, excited. At last! Someone who wasn't all talk! He flicks two throwing knives, aimed at the boy's arms. Let's see if he can translate that conviction into action!
Just in time, Shimura uses the repulsors in his hands to blast the knives out of the air, not that Stain expected them to hit, as he was already barreling down on the child, blade raised.
But, as if he knew the attack was coming, the boy moves out of the way just in time. As he does, Chizome notices more pellets on the ground that expand and blanket the alley in a smokescreen.
Not bad. If it wasn't for Gorr's monsters, the child might be able to use this to escape. But Stain knows he'll come in for an attack. And unlike Stain, the child hasn't trained to fight in shadows like he has.
The Hero Killer closes his eyes and lets the ambiance of his environment wash over him. Every sound, every movement, all coming to him. A scuff to his right and Stain spins, dodging Shimura's mid-air punch before kicking him hard, sending the kid flying to the back of the alley and dissolving most of the smokescreen.
As he flies, Shimura fires more black tendrils from both of his arms to both walls and they slowly stop his impromptu flight. Then, like a slingshot, he flings himself right back toward the Hero Killer.
Stain attempts to cut him with his knife as he does, but Shimura uses the thrusters in his feet to move out of the blade's way while at the same time, flexing his hand and grabbing the knife with all five fingers. Chizome yells in frustration at having to drop the decaying weapon.
The Hero Killer draws a new knife and wall jumps in an attempt to attack the boy, but Shimura flies higher, dodging the attack and using his black tendrils to lift up the nearby dumpster and hurl it at Stain.
With his much stronger alien metal, Chizome places his sword in front of him and cuts the dumpster clean in half, but as he does, Shimura appears in front of him, his thrusters giving him speed as he punches Stain right in the chest with a repulsor powered fist.
He's barely able to lift his knife before being sent flying back into the alley. Stain flips mid-air and groans as he lands back on his feet, sliding back an extra meter for good measure. He finds he admires the boy's tenacity when he looks back up to see him standing protectively over the paralyzed heroes, but it matters not.
Stain smirks as he lifts his knife up, a few drops of blood on it from when he grazed Shimura as he punched him. He licks the blade, and the boy lets out a noise of confusion as he drops.
"You…have potential," Stain compliments as he walks back up to a struggling Shimura. "It seems you are not all talk."
"What kind of OP quirk is that, you frickin' hacker!"
Chizome chuckles as he walks past. "Do not fret, as you won't die today. I'm curious to see how you'll turn out."
"Don't ignore me!" Shimura struggles more as Stain nears Iida. "Just wait until your ability is on cooldown!" He tries and tries but Shimura just can't get up. "Shit, shit!! Leave him alone!" Stain raises his sword above Iida once again, ready to complete his culling.
"Goodbye, little Ingenium."
"Iida!"
"You won't get away with this, bastard!"
Later, Chizome would try to decide if everything that happened this night was fate, or if he was just plain unlucky. The jury is still out.
All he knows is right then, there is a shimmer of the air in front of him, and in a flash of green light, a smiling green-haired boy appears in front of him out of thin air, while he holds his palm in front of him with a jug of water.
"Ice to meet ya!" There's a surge of green energy through his body, and he fires something at Chizome. He's not sure what, but it's powerful and cold and it takes his breath away as Stain flies back for the upteenth time tonight, this time landing on his back.
"Midoriya!" he hears a pair of voices yell.
"What are you doing here?!" Iida questions in disbelief.
"I got Tenko's text." Midoriya holds up his phone. "He sent out his location to the group chat. Gentle gave me permission to come here and said he'd be on his way after he cleared the last of the monsters by him."
"Oh, thank god," Shimura says in relief. "Iida's not dead and an adult is coming. For once, pinging my teammates worked!"
"You may want to hold off on that…" Midoriya replies carefully. "Tsu has been freaking out in the chat and seems pretty upset."
"…Take Iida and Native and get out of here," Shimura finally says solemnly. "Anything the Hero Killer does to me can't be as bad as her."
"I'll make sure to let Tsu know that."
"Hey, you know I was kidding!"
"Midoriya…" Iida grits out in frustration. "Take the other two and leave. This isn't your fight, any of yours! Leave and let me finish what I started!"
"And leave you to die?!" Midoriya responds with the same amount of frustration. Stain gets back to his feet, the cold still burning his chest, but he can fight through it. "What kind of plan is that?! Did you inhale paint fumes while you made your armor darker?! We leave you alone with the Hero Killer and you do what exactly?!"
"Ignore him," Shimura interjects. "He has the map awareness of Christopher Columbus right now."
"How did you get past the berserkers?" Stain growls out, moving closer to the group.
"I can turn invisible," Midoriya shrugs, conjuring a pair of daggers. "Happy to see my new ice beam worked so well. Just a little ice pumped up with the magic I use to transform and boom! Ice beam."
"For one who talks so much, are you prepared to die for them?"
"His quirk has something to do with blood!" Tenko warns.
Midoriya nods at his friend and smirks at Stain, bending down into a fighting position. "The name's Mischief. And I'm burdened with glorious purpose…to be a hero!"
The kid runs forward and Stain meets him head-on, swinging his sword. But the green-haired boy slides underneath him, in between his legs, to dodge.
Stain is quick to swing his sword behind him, but instead of cutting Midoriya, his sword hits an ice clone of him, one that quickly freezes the sword and Chizome's hand to the handle.
His opponent appears behind him and Stain is able to parry one of his daggers with a knife of his own, an action that shocks the kid, but Stain can't stop it when Midoriya stabs him in the shoulder.
The Hero Killer yells in pain and anger as he kicks his foot forward, feeling satisfied when the attack connects. "Ah!!" Midoriya is quick to jump away, and Stain doesn't need to be told twice to free his hand and sword from the ice clone.
Chizome grabs his shoulder while Midoriya does the same to his side. "Your blades are alien," Midoriya accuses. Iida's and Tenko's eyes widen. "If they weren't, my daggers would've broken them."
"It would take an alien to know, no?" Stain readies himself for the next attack.
Midoriya vanishes one of his daggers. "That's none of your business." The kid conjures a sword in its place, an all black blade and handle that's curved on both sides.
"Very well." Stain takes the initiative this time, dashing and attempting to strike the boy with his sword. Midoriya spins and drops to his knees, dodging the strike. He jumps back up, trying to bring his own sword down on Stain's back, his blade emitting a light blue, almost white, sheen as he does.
But the villain is fast, and he kicks back, hitting Midoriya in the gut and making him stumble.
Stain whirls around and is on Midoriya again, attacking twice in quick succession, but the greenette is able to dodge both before countering. Their swords meet with another clang before both try stabbing each other with their daggers, forcing the smaller blades to collide together as well.
Hero student and villain stare each other down before jumping back. It doesn't last long before both combatants are together again, their swords creating sparks as both Midoriya and Stain weave through each other's attacks and clash blades.
All he needs is one little cut to down this kid!
'Clang! Clang! Clang!'
The blades continue to collide as they fight, until Midoriya takes a few steps back and Stain rushes him, the tip of his knife right next to the kid. He's got him now! But his anticipation turns to dread as the blade goes through a clone with the real Midoriya getting a clean cut on the back of his arm.
Whirling around, Stain thrusts his sword into Midoriya's gut, only to have infuriatingly go through another clone, and again, the real Midoriya cuts him before disappearing.
The two engage again and Midoriya creates three clones around himself. Stain drops his blades and throws four knives, one for each boy, certain one would hit. But to his ever-increasing anger, they all turn out to be clones, and Stain roars in pain when Midoriya stabs him in the arm.
He elbows the punk in the face as hard as he can, earning a grunt of pain before throwing Midoriya over his shoulder harshly. He moves to pick up his weapons, but Midoriya disappears when he hits the ground.
Appearing above him, Midoriya brings down his sword on top of the killer, but Stain blocks it…only for Midoriya to turn into an alligator mid-air and crush Stain under his weight, bringing them both to the ground.
In another flash of green light, Midoriya is a kangaroo, punching Stain in the face over and over, before jumping away when the killer recovers and tries to slice him.
Like clockwork, the two fighters meet in a clash of blades once again, but Stain is ready when Midoriya tries his little trick again. Correctly guessing based on his fight patterns, the Hero Killer turns at just the right moment when the real Midoriya appears, taken aback by Stain staring at him.
Midoriya isn't ready when Stain disarms his dagger and finally takes a nice chunk out of the kid's arm, his blood splashing in front of them both.
The villain grins, sticking his tongue out and waiting for the blood to land on it, but it never did. Midoriya sticks his hand out in desperation and freezes the blood mid-air, forming it into the shape of a dagger. One which he grabs and attempts to slice Stain's tongue. He misses but manages to leave a nice sized cut down Stain's side.
"I didn't even know I could do that!" Midoriya cheers before vanishing the blood dagger. "No reason to risk it.
"Listen," Midoriya pants. "How about this? If you surrender now, I promise to only stab you three…maybe seven more times before you go to jail."
"Was that supposed to be funny?"
"I'm just being honest," Midoriya shrugs before wincing a little. "It'll be a lot worse for you if the heroes get here and you're still fighting."
"If you let me complete my mission, I'm still willing to let you leave this place," Stain offers. "You and the other boy are not hopeless yet. All you would need to do is let me cull little Ingenium."
"If we're the heroes you think we are…" Midoriya vanishes his sword before conjuring several jugs of water in their place. "Then you know we'd never even think to take that offer!" Midoriya throws the jugs in the air before piercing them all with throwing knives to spill the water.
Stain dashes to the side to avoid several large ice spikes sent in his direction and catches the green-haired boy just as he attempts to impale him in his side with a sword.
Like he'd let that happen. Chizome goes to get his footing and-
He slips.
Stain's eyes widen as he looks down and sees a small patch of ice under his foot, making him lose his balance. Midoriya smiles. "Made you look."
The ice spikes were a distraction.
And he can only watch as Midoriya's sword nears him. Shit. It's too close. He doesn't think he can dodge-
Fortunately for him, he wouldn't have to.
From the shadows in the back of the alley, shadowy tendrils emerge and wrap themselves around Midoriya tightly, before hurling the kid against a wall, the boy groaning in pain as he does.
"Midoriya!" His friends shout.
"Ah, Lokison… how unexpected…" Stain gathers his footing and looks to the shadows for the source of the voice, as does everyone else, only to watch as Gorr calmly walks out. "And by unexpected, I mean utterly predictable!"
Gorr snickers to himself, moving to stand in front of Midoriya, who is unsuccessfully trying to escape his bindings. "I thank you Stain for luring him here; who knows how long it would've taken this coward to show himself otherwise." Gorr laughs in anticipation, grabbing Midoriya by the hair and forcing the demigod to look at him. "Do you know who I am?"
The kid tries not to make a sound but can't help a little noise of pain that escapes his lips. "You?" he croaks out. "Oh! You're Luna Snow! I love your music, can I get an autograph?"
"Mouthy, aren't you?" Gorr grabs his face. "Who am I?"
Midoriya takes a few quick breaths, not taking his eyes off the other alien. "You're Gorr, the God Butcher. And you're supposed to be dead."
"Good!" Gorr laughs. "Good! You're not ignoring your studies, that's very good, little lord. And do you believe after being bonded to the Necrosword for thousands of years, it would let me die? I am immortal and all-powerful."
He gives Midoriya's face a little slap before letting go. "After eons of neglect by you gods, I come as the cure for all peoples. So do make sure to scream loudly so your fathers may hear and come to be butchered as well."
Chizome will give the boy this, he never drops his look of defiance. "The things you're saying don't make sense. You claim that gods are cowards and only care about themselves, but you also say I'm predictable for wanting to save my friends? And you expect my apparently selfish family to come save me? Which is it?"
He won't say it out loud, but Stain can't help but agree. Gorr has strong convictions but that doesn't stop them from contradicting each other.
"Trying to project your faults onto me won't save you, boy," Gorr growls.
"How about logic?" A little smirk finds its way on Midoriya's face. "You're the God Butcher, but I'm only half-god so technically…not a god."
The two aliens stare each other down for a moment, before Gorr wheezes and begins to laugh heartily, looking like he's seemingly enjoying himself. "Oh, I like you! This is gonna be fun." Gorr grabs his hair again. "Do try not to die too quickly, won't you?"
Stain will admit, he believes the Midoriya boy could live up to his ideals of being a hero, but he can't let one life sidetrack him from all the others who won't. He will complete his mission. Chizome adjusts the grip on his sword and trudges over to Iida, hopefully done with interruptions for the evening.
Shimura and Midoriya struggle pointlessly while Iida glares at him. "No amount of children can save you, Ingenium." This time, before he can even raise his sword, the berserkers around them begin to scream in pain as fire, a type of fire that Stain has never seen before, destroys the monster above before engulfing the creatures who block the alley.
As if it's alive, the hottest fire the Hero Killer has ever felt lunges at him, as if targeting him and only him. Stain is quick to jump back to avoid the flames. 'What is it this time?!'
The screams of Gorr's monsters die out and the smoke clears to reveal a figure surrounded by flame, standing at the entrance of the alley. Stain's mind stops as he stares, trying to process what he's seeing.
Even Gorr lets go of Midoriya, eyeing the new arrival warily.
The fire around the figure dies down and slowly, a more familiar person is revealed underneath. Unbridled rage and disbelief fill Stain's insides as he stares down the person.
"You?!"