Stain took in the new arrival for just a moment before a smile formed once more on his lips. "You are not the first sheep to come wandering away from the flock, seeking me out to avenge those that I have culled. You believe yourself on some noble quest, some mission to right a terrible wrong. But you are no such savior!"
He pointed his sword right at Vader's chest while reaching up with his other hand to lick a little blood from his forefinger. He heard Ingenium grunt behind him; the paralysis had been wearing off and Stain didn't feel like trying to deal with two heroes. He'd barely managed to surprise the gleaming "hero" who had come racing to his faked call of distress… if Ingenium were allowed to move again he wouldn't allow himself to be trapped the same way again. And Stain could not afford the false hero to escape and ponder their confrontation, letting the other fakes know just who he was and what he could do. He survived by being in the shadows, the phantom that could come at any time with his scythe to reap the sinful. He could not be dragged into the light; not if he wished to complete his task to craft a better society.
"You are not hero. You are a plague rat, rushing from home to home, spreading your infection before moving on your way. And I am the doctor that will burn away the corruption you have spread! I am the rat catcher who lays his traps and allows the vermin like you to happily scurry your way inside only to catch you and drown you. I will cut away the infection that has root in our society, so that all that remains is the healthy tissue that might grow again!"
He stared at Vader, tongue lazily licking his lips. He knew that people thought he did that to be disgusting or offputting, to force people to tense or be on edge, but in reality it kept them distracted while he studied his foes for weaknesses. They stared at his tongue and thus never saw his eyes scan them. Every hero was different and the reason why he had gotten so good at culling the false heroes was that he took his time to learn how to eliminate them. He was not the hunter that wandered into the field, waiting to see what might stumble upon his blind. No… he learned about his prey. Would find the weaknesses in their gaudy armor, the sections that did not protect and instead became their doom. Sometimes it was a place where he might cut into the tender flesh and gather up the blood he needed in order to use his quirk. Other times it was something that allowed him to trip a false hero up, using their need for attention to trap them and allow him the time to get to their flesh.
The arms and the legs looked to be Stain's best bet. Vader's chest was covered with some kind of armor and his head was completely covered with his helmet. But the arms and legs had some kind of flexible material, something he could easily cut into if he got the chance. The glowing red sword was troubling but Stain had dealt with heroes that tried to use weapons to take out his sword. He wrapped the hilt fully in leather and his gloves, while looking old and ragged, were actually designed to protect him from extreme temperatures, meaning that he could stab someone with a heat or ice quirk without worry of damaging his hands.
Yes. The arms and the legs. Get around Vader's guard, nick him, take his blood, and then claim the false hero along with Ingenium.
"You think you are the hero?" Stain asked as he continued to point his blade at Vader, studying him carefully, deciding on how he would battle. The man was large so he most likely went with hard hits, using his blade like it was a bludgeon rather than an elegant weapon. "You don't even hide your darkness! A carrion bird who lurks in the shadows, waiting for the easy meal. Did you watch as I injured your ally hero? Did you allow poor Ingenium to be wounded before you acted, so you might claim all the glory for yourself? I can see it written all over you… the darkness. The sin."
Stain launched himself forward.
"Let me take it from you!"
He swung his blade, waiting till the last moment before dropping his left hand from his katana to go for one of the many knives he kept on his person. When the blow was met he would-
Stain stumbled, crashing to the ground.
Vader calmly turned, now between him and Ingenium, saber still raised. Stain, for his part, looked at his katana, seeing that a good 9 inches of it had been cleaved away.
He hadn't even felt the strike!
"Sheep, rat, bird," Vader stated. "You must make up your mind."
He said not another word. And for Stain that was the greatest taunt of all. No noble speeches. No declarations that he would stop him. Just mocking his desires, however brief, and then looking down on him.
Stain rose up.
"Then let us see what you really are."
~MC~MC~MC~
Rikiya leaned back in his chair, a glass of Pre-Quirk brandy held in his hand. Perfectly aged and one of the few things he honestly could say was better than what they had now. With the dawn of quirks people were far too quick to use their abilities to speed up the process of making fine drinks and that always affected the flavor. It was… an annoyance. Everything his group worked for was about the strength of their society thanks to quirks and how rather than hiding from them they should embrace them. Yet he could not get a good whiskey or brandy or rum that was made after the Dawn of Quirks… or at least as good as what had come before.
It was something he'd have to ponder. Perhaps it was merely an issue of training? Yes… yes that might be it. People weren't allowed to properly explore their quirks and that is what caused them, when using their quirks to create the wonderful drinks, to end up with weaker products.
He pulled himself from his thoughts, looking at the two lieutenants before him. "What have you learned about the League?"
Kizuki was the first to speak, which wasn't shocking as she loved to share information she had dug up. She had gone after the project like a pit bull ripping into a bag of popcorn.
"Most of the villains that were captured were known criminals. Thieves, arsonists, nothing of major interest. They apparently joined up thanks to postings made on online forums; a few are claiming they thought it was going to be a flash mob or the like and were startled when it turned into a full assault. But not true heavy hitters… no well known criminals or established villains took part."
"So either hastily thrown together at the last moment or someone wishing to test them out and see how well they did," Rikiya muttered. "None connected to us?"
"I have checked several times; other than a few who worked for associates of our own companies no. I had the closest connections as a few were snitches that I've used to get stories from." Kizuki looked up. "I'll eliminate them if you wish but I'd rather not. They are just all so interesting and useful."
He waved his hand dismissively. "No. They know nothing of us so they can live. And it might be useful if we need more information." He took another drink, Kizuki helping herself to a glass. "You said most of them… then there are a few…"
Kizuki nodded rapidly. "Three in particular are rather interesting!" She laid out photos of the ones that had gotten her excited. Pointing to the first, a pale-haired youth with severed hands grasping onto his body, she stated, "he is the apparent leader of the group though if he is the head of the League or just a commander I haven't been able to determine yet. My gut tells me its something in-between."
"He has a powerful quirk," Rikiya commented, "but his youth is a strike against him. And from what I've heard he was rather impulsive. I would have put him-" he pointed to the man whose head was coated in purple… fog? Energy? It was hard to tell, "-as the leader."
"No, reports were very clear that he obeyed the commands of the leader, Shigaraki."
That made Rikiya pause. "You have a name?"
"Yes," Kizuki said with a sharp smile. "I was able to confirm that multiple people heard at least three of the League of Villain members call out that name."
"What do we know of the Shigaraki family?"
Here Kizuki's smile fell. "Little," she said with a pout. "Someone has done well to cover their tracks."
He wasn't surprised she was upset. Kizuki believed that no one should have secrets… save her.
"According to medical records the family is dead," she continued. "Died out just before the Dawn of Quirks."
"Meaning that they aren't actually dead," Rikiya stated. "Obviously," he added with a smirk. He pointed at the other two photos. "What of these two?"
Chikazoku spoke up, the first time since he'd started the meeting. "I hacked into the police departments database… it was rather easy, even without my skill. A child could have done it and I am disappointed our tax dollars go towards such shoddy protections." He glowered, disappointed he hadn't been given the challenge he desired. "Nomu," he pointed to the truly monstrous looking villain with the exposed brain, "is causing a stir."
"How so?" Rikiya asked.
"Blood work was naturally ordered when he was brought in." That was a common thing with all arrests now; with people that could shapeshift, change their features, shift to different forms, and other ways of concealing themselves the police needed to often resort to DNA to confirm the person they had was the one they wanted. More than one person had been arrested for a crime only for it to be found that the real criminal had disguised themselves as the sap. Even getting a speeding ticket could result in a blood test.
"And what was found?"
"Nomu is four people."
Rikiya raised an eyebrow at that and Chikazoku laid out several photos.
"According to the DNA tested he is this man here, Ringo Nori." The photo in question was of a man with sandy blond hair and overly large lips. "But he also has the dna of these three other men." He gestured at the three photos in questions, each of a vastly different figure. "All four have been reported missing or wanted by the police for at least 6 months."
Kizuki leaned forward in her chair. "A quirk that merges people into one being?"
"Or someone experimenting with quirks," Chikazoku replied. "Based on the appearance of Nomu I believe that he was genetically altered. The police and the Hero Commission are coming to the same conclusion."
Rikiya's lips pressed together at that.
"That makes them a great threat to our goals, if true." He stood up and walked over to the window, staring out at the city below him. "The entire purpose of our organization is to develop a world where quirks are celebrated, not hidden away. We are the most successful species this planet created and quirks are just the next step in our evolution. To tell a child they can not use their ability to fly or to produce plasma from their fingertips or any other quirk is to cripple them. The government wants us all to be restrained.
"There was a story I read when I was young. It was of a society where the desperate need to make everyone equal led to them creating 'handicaps' on those that were blessed. A smart man had to wear an earpiece that would disrupt his thoughts. The beautiful had to wear hideous masks. The strong were forced to don weights that would pull them down to the ground." He paused, swirling his drink. "I read that story and saw it as a roadmap for the society we are now in. The Government is so concerned about fairness… what will stop them from cutting off our legs, so we are now equal with those that do not have them? Gouge out our eyes so we are not seen as 'mocking' the blind? We work to free ourselves of these self-made handicaps.
"But the Nomu… that is not evolution. It is not the natural order. It is something foul. A mockery of what we strive towards."
He turned and glared at the two.
"I want them dead."
"We are working on that," Chikazoku assured him. "We have reports that the Warp Gate creator has been spotted in Kamino Ward. Once we narrow it down we will have the base for the League of Villains."
"See to it then," Rikiya said. "But get some rest… tomorrow is the Sports Festival." He paused, a smirk forming once more on his lean features. "it is always so nice to see UA adopt our beliefs without even realizing it."
~MC~MC~MC~
'Form IV,' Anakin thought to himself as he battled Stain. 'Good and bad.'
Their duel was probably one of the strangest ones Anakin had ever had. Because Stain knew that Anakin's lightsaber could cut through his katana he was focused on feints and misdirects, trying to find a way through his defenses and manage an attack that would actually wound him. Thus neither of them had managed to land a true blow. Anakin wondered what Obi Wan would think of such a duel; knowing his master he would have been rather impressed by it, bringing up which technique involved shutting off a lightsaber during the duel only to rapidly reactivate it. It certainly was similar.
'Stain is using Form Iv, though he doesn't realize it,' Anakin thought to himself. 'Aggressive. Quick. Always in motion.' Normally that would be a problem for Anakin as his preferred form, Form V, was better suited for multiple opponents rather than one and the flurry of attacks made his own chances to counter attack not as plentiful. 'But the alley is hampering him,' he thought. 'And luckily Obi Wan taught me enough of Form III…'
He was wearing the man down, forcing him to get sloppy. That was what Anakin needed. Stain would fall, he could feel it, so long as he-
Stain suddenly leapt back, dropping his katana. Anakin at once realized what he was doing and raised his blade only to curse himself, remembering his master's warning about slug slingers and how dangerous it could be to try and deflect a shot from one of those. Thus he dropped his own lightsaber and raised his hand, using the Force to catch the five knives that Stain sent his way. He just managed to stop them but when he looked up Stain had already fled, making him mentally curse.
"T-thank you," Ingenium got out and Anakin turned to him, remembering why he'd attacked the Hero Killer in the first place.
"Are you well? Where are you hurt?"
"He got me on my leg but I'm fine, Vader," the hero said.
Anakin grimaced. He had meant to declare he was 'Invader', as he thought it sounded intimidating and was a play on the fact that he was an 'invader' when it came to Earth. But the stupid oxygen recycler on his suit had fritzed, causing the 'in' to be cut off, leaving him 'Vader'. And he couldn't just go correcting it now, it would sound stupid.
"You are still unable to move," he said.
"I think he used his quirk to freeze me in place." Anakin nodded his head at that. A quirk like that did align with the reports on the hero killer and how all of his victims showed little signs of injury save for the blow that killed them. "I… can move my toes so I think it is wearing off."
"Very good," Anakin said, rising up. "I've contacted the police… they will be here in a minute so I need to leave."
"Wait!" Ingenium called out as Anakin turned. "Why… why did you help me?"
"Because no one else could."
And with that he left the hero be, hoping against hope he might find the hero killer once more.