The brightest (and sometimes hottest) time of the summer is here and so is a new chapter.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 72: A Threat or Ally

Izuku forced himself to walk calmly, back excessively straight with a confident expression as he left his now ex-mentor's house. His almost smirk wavered as soon as he turned a corner. Cocky grinning had never been his strongest expression even if he sometimes annoyed Hitoshi with it during training. Izuku wasn't sure if Hitoshi even realized, but he trained harder when annoyed at being bested.

Making him wrestle Eijiro had proven most efficient at that, and Eijiro's smile was a less cruel way of doing it than any smirk Izuku could put up.

Those thoughts helped Izuku get on a few more blocks, but then he stepped aside to lean on a wall. He'd almost lost, not just Hitoshi but everyone, whether to death or truth of who he was. Somehow Izuku had managed to suppress and bottle it all up out of sight of Gran Torino's stare, just as he did when having to talk to All Might, but now… It was getting harder to breath. Izuku glanced around as his knees shook, but no-one able to help him would just appear out of thin air.

Well, there was one.

Izuku stumbled on the first alley he found and pressed a button on his watch repeatedly like it was a stress toy. In a way it was. Soon he felt cool darkness flow over his shoulder and embraced the feeling. There wasn't even a warp gate to step into. Darkness simply engulfed Izuku and he could breathe a little easier.

He had hoped to reappear in the familiar training room, maybe at home if Kurogiri was being careless. Instead, he found himself in the same luxurious apartment his father had taken him to after mother died, and his father was there. A large chair in front of the window turned, revealing his eyeless face with breathing mask over his mouth.

Izuku had not wanted for his father to see him like this. He tried to pull himself together, but it was too late even with dark mist flowing over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Kurogiri said in voice quiet enough to be for Izuku's ears only.

"So, your little rescue project succeeded, in a way, since it quite efficiently rescued Endeavour's reputation and directed attention away from recent suspicion of heroes."

Normally Izuku would have at least squeezed his hands to fist and tried to argue, but he was still coming back from his panic attack, if that was even the right term for the giant mess going on in his head. Maybe he should study psychology for his own sake? He shook his head in an attempt to focus. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts.

His father looked at him quietly. Well, "looked" maybe wasn't the right word for it.

"Come here son."

The words were unusually gentle. Izuku should have been more suspicious, but he stepped closer. Father gestured to come even closer until Izuku was an arm's reach away and father rested his hand on Izuku's head. Izuku braced for something to dodge. Instead, he suddenly felt groggy. His eyes blinked trying to stay open and the earlier emotions became too tiring to keep up. His heart slowed down like preparing to go to sleep. The only thing that did not change were the shaky legs, though for different reasons, but misty arms appeared to support him.

The hand pulled away and Izuku drew a quick, deep breath, once again fully awake, just without the earlier storm in his head.

"What… was that."

"Just a little quirk that proved less efficient than I originally hoped for. It is a form of telepathy, but requires touch, like the quirk of Ms. Shinso…"

Izuku was suddenly fully awake and tense like a fight was about to start.

"…but rather than communicate it can suppress mental activity," he continued talking like the comparison was meaningless. "I was hoping for it to work as a way to knock people out, but the effect is too weak and slow for any form of combat. Seems it still has some uses. Are you thinking straight again?"

Izuku nodded.

"This world is harsh. Fighting against it can be tough for the mind. That is part of the reason I gave you Calm Mind."

Izuku stayed quiet and tugged on said quirk to keep himself focused.

"Unfortunately the world won't wait for you to take a break. Have you considered what recent events mean for your goals?"

"No," Izuku admitted and looked down. "There is something I haven't told you yet. Stain knows who I am, or more like who Shirokuro is."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," All for One shook his head. "Did you open your big mouth again?"

"No," Izuku denied. "You already knew that. He was able to recognize my moves from our training."

"That is a sign of true master you know. You should learn from him," Izuku's father said with a smirk.

"Dad," Izuku accidentally shifted back into complaining teenager mode. "It is serious. He got arrested and already hinted he might expose me if they interrogate him too long."

"I think it is quite clear what he is hoping to happen."

"We have to bust him out or it's all over."

"And then? What are you going to do with him once you get him out? He still knows who you are and has already refused to cooperate with us, or at least Tomura. If he simply goes free…"

The words were left hanging in the air.

The answer should have been easy. Especially after who Stain had tried to kill. Izuku absolutely had done all he could to kill the man already. Perhaps it was because of his father's quirk, but now that he wasn't charging the killer in mad rage the thought of taking a life, however guilty that life may be, was...

"I… I'll decide when we get him."

"I hope so. And how are you planning to do that? Wish to borrow my Nomus again?"

His father's selection of pronouns finally got through. Izuku sought an answer. He tried to pull the mask back together.

"I have already started. I know where they are keeping Stain for now. I'll break him out Sunday evening."

"Once you are not held busy organizing the largest gathering of UA hero students outside of UA itself."

Izuku pressed his lips together.

"I need time to plan."

"Don't forget our goals while you are playing hero with friends, or why you are in UA in the first place. Both can only continue as long as you keep the lie going."

"I won't… They can help our goals."

"Putting better people in places to have influence?"

"Something like that, and expose the rotten ones at the same time."

"You are an optimist, but at least you think more carefully how to reach what you want to achieve than Tomura."

"Sometimes I'm not sure what he is planning to achieve, besides destroying things," Izuku said, turning away from his father, feeling a little more comfortable not facing him, even if his father could not see him either way. "Hopefully his actions at least expose false heroes."

"Now you are starting to sound like Stain," father said, a grin audible in his voice. Izuku felt he should have been concerned for the comparison. He wasn't that mad yet, was he?

"Do what you need to do, everything you need to do." The words were both encouraging and dark with their suggestion. "You cannot execute your plan, or keep your current company, if Izuku Midoriya is exposed as Shirokuro Shigaraki."

After that conversation, Izuku couldn't stop thinking about what he needed to do over the weekend, to the point he could feel more than just Hitoshi's stare in the back of his neck. Even Eijiro noticed despite his own burdens, though trying to support Eijiro with that was the best distraction Izuku could come up with all weekend, besides having Hitoshi put him to sleep for about 12 hours.

Then it was Sunday. He was left alone. A warp gate opened next to him at the basement gym and Kurogiri stepped through carrying a suitcase with Shirokuro's costume. A new one. The previous one already had more than enough cuts the Nomu had sewn back together. Though the un-washable bloodstains could have been helpful for intimidation.

"Do you have a plan, young Shigaraki? Are you planning to use Nomu for distraction again?"

"No," Shirokuro responded as he placed the helmet on, "I don't want to risk what happened last time. Taking more Nomus only risks causing more of a mess and losing them. We just have to move quickly. Did you get the floorplan I sent you?"

"Yes, I have the coordinates, but he is certainly under heavy guard."

"Police, hospital security, and at least one pro hero, but many of them should be focused on guarding exits," Shirokuro listed as they stepped through the warp gate into a hall where the large Nomu waited.

"How are you Anti?" Shirokuro asked, addressing the large Nomu Tomura had called the Anti Symbol of Peace. The Nomu let out a low screech in response. The noise had nothing to do with a human voice, but it was at least softer than in the past. Shirokuro patted its thick arm and the monster tilted its head to look at him with another sound more like a groan.

"No, you don't need to fight me today, but we have some work to do. I hope you won't mind," Shirokuro said and Nomu let out another sound.

"Stay here and if a warp gate opens in front of you after we are gone, come through as quickly as you can to help us, and… try not to kill anyone or maim them too badly, okay? They won't heal like I do."

The Nomu did not respond. Shirokuro hoped for the best and adjusted the new knives hanging from his belt. After a deep breath he nodded to Kurogiri as he crouched like preparing for a running race."

"Remember, both of you, we are going for speed this time. Find him and get out. More shock and awe, less fighting, I hope."

"Yes, young Shigaraki," Kurogiri responded, and a warp gate opened in front of them. Shirokuro bolted through like he was back at the sports festival. One moment he was in a shady training room, the next he was in a well-lit hospital corridor with a line of reinforced doors with small peeping windows on them, like one might have in a prison. He'd have to check all of them.

Except there were two nurses in front of him that almost stumbled to the ground. To avoid them in the narrow corridor Shirokuro jumped against the wall, but then skid to a halt. Under his helmet he pressed his lips together, hating on himself as he grabbed one of them from the collar of her shirt and pulled her up to face the front of the helmet. He held onto the Calm Mind to make sure his voice did not shake or stutter.

"The hero killer Stain was brought here after his defeat… against Endeavour. Where is he being held?"

"I... I cannot tell you."

Shirokuro let Killing Intent out of its cage and both of the women started shaking, staring at him, and the dark cloud hovering over his shoulders. He raised his free hand in front of her face and a long sharp nail grew out of a slit on the finger of his glove."

"Don't…" The other nurse said and took to a sprint towards a nearby alarm button. Shirokuro had to throw his first victim against the wall and charge after the other.

She never had a chance and she was still a couple arm's lengths from the alarm as Shirokuro caught up to her and grabbed her arm. Shirokuro spun her around and brought her on her stomach against the floor, but she kept struggling. It was roughly as effective as a quirkless boxer going a round against Eijiro, but Shirokuro didn't have time for this, or many ways of neutralizing the woman without too much injury.

He scratched her neck with his extended nail. She kept struggling just for a few more seconds until she jolted, whined and started shaking on the floor, unable to move any more or say anything but whine as the pain struck. Shirokuro got up, holding back a wish to say sorry. He had a job to do and had to focus on the mission.

He looked at the other nurse that had gotten on her feet and was staring at him. Shirokuro pushed the Killing Intent to work overtime. The twitching person by his feet and dark cloud of mist around him certainly helped as the other nurse seemed to wet herself.

"Where...?" Shirokuro asked again, walking towards her.

"Upstairs," she blurted out, "fifth floor monitoring unit, one of the inside rooms. I don't know the exact room, please…"

Shirokuro could not leave her to make an alarm. A nail shone from a drop of venom on its tip.

An alarm rung across the hospital.

There were security cameras down the corridor and someone had to have seen him. Still, if they didn't have sound… He had to hurry. A lightning-fast strike scratched the second nurse before she had time to even try to defend herself. As the Venom took effect Shirokuro felt even worse than before.

He caught the nurse under the arms as she collapsed and laid her on the floor softly.

"Thank you," he said as sorry would have seemed too soft. "Try to endure it, the effect only last for a moment with such small dose. It's not deadly. Both of you will recover soon."

He jumped into a new Warp Gate, landing in a large room or lobby with a few more nurses and doctors walking around, one just stepping out of one of the rooms. Shirokuro ignored their stares, focusing on a door with a police officer outside of it. He rushed towards it. The officer started pulling out her gun as someone else shouted.

"Hey! Sto…!"

Shirokuro released Killing Intent.

"Send them outside," Shirokuro shouted, and dark mist spread from behind him across the room. He only needed to dodge one rushed shot before he reached the police officer, got a hold of her arm, and tossed her into a handy warp gate.

"On the ground," Shirokuro specified, just in case, remembering what happened with his last hospital escape, "alive in one piece."

It was always smart to be specific with Nomus. Even if Kurogiri was good in understanding his intent, if Shirokuro mistakenly gave a careless order the Nomu would be obliged to do what he said more so than what he intended. Others in the room shouted and screamed around Shirokuro as they disappeared into the floor as it turned into warp gates. Shirokuro ran to the door.

At the last second, he got a bad feeling and stepped aside from only reaching to place a few fingers on the lock. A single shock of Vibration shattered the whole locking mechanism and the hinges across the door. The whole thing fell into the room, but before it hit the floor a green spear of fire flew out of the room.

Another fire user, Shirokuro grimaced. He had about had it with fire users, excluding those who were frozen on their other half. Unfortunately this one was a pro hero and Shirokuro couldn't even shelter himself with the Dragon Blade.

"You are not going to get in here villain!" A woman's voice shouted.

Shirokuro's fingers brushed the handle of his physical blades, but did not grab them. He gestured to Kurogiri and soon the floor disappeared under his feet too. He reappeared near the ceiling next to a hospital bed and behind a woman with flames for hair and another spear like flame in her hand.

Shirokuro reached for the back of her neck as he fell, trying to avoid the flaming hair, but she spun around before his feet even hit the ground and swung the flame weapon. Shirokuro blocked it with his armguards. Good thing he had switched to tougher ones after training with Stain.

Her other hand… pulled out a bit of her own flaming hair and threw it at Shirokuro like a fire ball. By then Shirokuro's feet were on the ground and he leant back to dodge like playing limbo. His foot shot up in a kick towards her chin. It didn't hit but got him the distance he needed to get up. The female hero was smirking. Shirokuro recognized her. Her name evaded him, but she worked for Endeavour, that he was sure of.

"You are pretty good," she said, "or at least fast. Usually people get hit by at least the second burn."

"You must enjoy it, burning people."

"Oh, a chatty one," she said and shrugged. "Maybe, it is good for villains to feel some consequences for their actions."

"Alleged actions, you are not a judge," Shirokuro stated as he moved slowly forward and to the side so Stain's bed was more behind him.

"Maybe, but usually it is pretty obvious. You aren't exactly in the position to criticize me, attacking doctors and using an injured man as a human shield," she pointed her flame spear... stick, thing past Shirokuro at Stain.

"You think I won't fight you because the serial killer could be hurt?"

Shirokuro smirked under his helmet.

"What serial killer?"

He hadn't even finished when he could feel the edge of the mist touch the back of his foot.

"We didn't come for…" Shirokuro started, but she struck out and he had to block another attack with an already smoking armguard. She tried to push him aside to get after the hospital bed that sunk into the floor, but Shirokuro braced himself and when she tried to twist past him he got a grip of her arm and pushed her away. She quickly recovered and avoided Shirokuro's next punch, but by then the Warp Gate on the floor had already closed.

"You bastard!" She shouted. "That was a serial killer you just released!"

"I know. Now, goodbye," Shirokuro said as a warp gate opened behind him. He half-turned and jumped into the gate. His hand already passed through.

Something squeezed his leg and it burned. Shirokuro let out a shout before he could consciously make himself shut up. He was yanked back. His hand pulled out of the comforting mist. His head twisted around. The hero had turned her flaming hair not into a spear but a flaming whip that was tangled around his leg. His pant leg was smoking and from the feel of things skin too was smoking despite the resistant material. She used this on regular suspects on the street?

Then again, she was from Endeavour's agency.

Shirokuro braced his legs and hands on the ground, pulling back, but she was full on standing while he had just been tripped so she was able to pull him closer, grinning. There were noises approaching outside the room.

"You aren't going anywhere. Better give up before I really turn up the heat."

"Not going to happen."

Shirokuro twisted around and jumped at the hero, now with a knife in his hand. He swung it like he had learned from Stain, targeting her arm. For Stain it would have been a simple attempt to draw blood, but Shirokuro just needed to make her let go.

Though part of him wanted to do more. If she worked for Endeavour and treated burning people as something to smirk about, she would likely deserve way more.

Unfortunately she was still a pro and avoided Shirokuro's first slash without letting go of the flaming whip. A second slash followed immediately, scratching her arm. The flaming whip was still burning Shirokuro's leg but at least not pulling him away. His vision was filled by a green glow. He swung one of his armguards to block the fireball, but parts of it splashed around and disrupted his vision.

He could feel hands grabbing his and hear the noise of people running into the room. The female hero tried to bend Shirokuro's arms into a hold, but it was easier said than done against someone who had trained wrestling with a walking boulder that also challenged him to a weightlifting contest at least twice a week. Weapons clicking on the other hand were more of a problem.

"Watch out for a black mist!" she shouted. "It has a transport quirk and can get under y… YAAH!"

She screamed as Shirokuro managed to bend his fingers against her arm and vibrated it hard enough that her bone cracked.

Shirokuro was an expert at recognizing that sound.

He was finally free but left facing five armed guards holding not just pistols but full-on assault rifles, not that they could kill him, but he didn't much care about digging bullets out, and cleaning his DNA in time from inside the hospital in lockdown might be beyond even Kurogiri.

Except they did not point at him. The room shook with a heavy step. Light from behind Shirokuro was blocked by a large shadow.

"I didn't call you?"

The Nomu screeched unnecessarily loudly for the tight space. It was as incomprehensible as ever but felt strangely defiant. It lowered its massive arms between Shirokuro and the guards standing over him protectively.

"This is the Nomu that drove All Might to his limits," he declared. "How do you feel about your chances?"

They didn't move. Some guns lowered or shook. There was a flash as a beam of fire struck towards Anti and sunk into its arm. The Nomu did not even flinch and the foolish hero had only a second to realize her foolishness while that was the case.

The next instant she flew across the room and crashed into several guards after being backhanded by Anti. Shirokuro turned away towards the warp gate.

"I wouldn't repeat her mistake if I was you."

They didn't. Shirokuro stopped at the gate to make sure Anti got through safely. He would not leave anyone behind. They returned to the dark hall. Stain wasn't here but Kurogiri stood right in front of Shirokuro. As soon as the warp gate disappeared Shirokuro's knees failed, but rather than the floor or comforting mist he found himself caught by a large dark purple hand. After a quick adjustment he was sitting on the hand like a chair.

"Thank you Anti," Shirokuro said and pulled off his helmet. Izuku looked at Kurogiri with tired eyes. "How…?

"I am unharmed, as is Anti. Your burns were the only injuries suffered, once again."

Anti let out a short high-pitched screech.

"Good," Izuku took a few more moments to just breathe and collect himself now that he wasn't held together by the pressure of the situation. "How about Stain?"

"In a locked-up treatment room still bound to his bed, waiting for your decision," Kurogiri said. "You can make it later."

"No, this gets finished today," Izuku said, shaking his head. He got back on his feet, placing a hand on Anti's arm. "Thank you."

Anti groaned unusually softly. Izuku left the room with Kurogiri following. As they approached where the killer was held Izuku raised his helmet to put it back on, but stopped as he was already looking in it. His hand dropped.

"I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

Izuku took a deep breath and drew on the Calm Mind to prepare for the impending meeting. Kurogiri opened the thick metal door just as Izuku was blinking.

A long metal piece with a medical needle stuck to its end with fabric pointed at Izuku's neck. A shadow descended over them with a thud as a giant pair of feet touched the floor behind Izuku. With Kurogiri and Anti with him Izuku did not need to face the killer with any fear, at least of physical danger.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. He met the stare of the serial killer, but it was tired.

"We both know that isn't going to do anything that would last long."

"Unlike a few words for the right people would," Stain shot back. Izuku's stare hardened.

"You aren't making a strong argument for you… living."

"Assuming you can make that choice before I get to talk," the one-armed killer in the hospital gown said.

"You got tossed around and maimed by a high school student. Drop the overconfident act. You are the best fighter I've met, but not as powerful as people think." Izuku stepped closer until the needle was stabbing his chin. "You've already given me more than enough reason to kill you. Truthfully, I'm not sure why I haven't gotten onto it already."

The needle moved back and Stain scoffed.

"You aren't a killer, too soft."

"You are wrong. I…"

"If you are going to tell me you have killed, maybe you have, but you are not a killer, at least not cold blooded. Back in that alley you might have sought my death, but rage is different. You have more than enough reason to kill me and could already have done so, yet you have not even tried."

He wasn't wrong. He had tried to kill Tenya, Eijiro, even Hitoshi. For that crime Izuku wanted his death more than almost anyone else. Yet, he had not attacked the man or even sent Nomu to finish him.

"You won't purge the world with rage. One of the reasons I said no to your so-called brother, so don't even try to make me reconsider. I would rather die than work for that nut wanting to burn down everything for no other reason than his rage. Not like it will correct this world."

"About as well as going around killing any hero that does not perfectly fulfil your ideals, to be declared martyr and replaced by someone similar."

"This again. Kill me if you will but spare me your naiveness."

"Naiveness?" Izuku asked as something about the man's words got irritating. "You killed dozens of heroes, who is the one people are still talking about by name?"

Silence.

"I know you saw it start before going to hospital. People are actually questioning heroes. At least they did, until police gave credit for your defeat to Endeavour of all people. Now it is even harder to take him down. Need even more evidence."

Izuku muttered the last part and Stain too was quiet. Izuku gathered his thoughts back together, figuring he could test one more time if the killer could see reason.

Basically, he had a big mouth and Stain was annoying him.

"After how things went with Long Arm I can only imagine what happens if Endeavour gets really exposed. Imagine what would have already happened if everyone you killed were actual scum and you had exposed them instead… at least before killing them."

The other killer in the room huffed.

"It caused larger ruckus than I expected."

That had sounded less hostile than his earlier words, but the man's stare quickly hardened. He raised his remaining hand on the bandage and plaster-covered remains of his used-to-be shoulder and squeezed it. Izuku's eyes narrowed.

"You deserved that injury for your own actions. Don't even think about revenge," Izuku paused, and a blue spark flickered over his hand. "I won't give you that chance."

Stain smirked.

"Now, I can hear a cold-blooded killer even if the rage is there. Perhaps you have what it takes to make this world change."

"I'm serious. If you as much as look at anyone who was in that alley again, except Native and maybe Brave," Izuku specified.

"Yes, you are not as soft as I though. Just haven't felt the wrongs of this world enough to do whatever is needed," Stain said as Izuku kept staring. "As for revenge, why would I? I was bested in a fight, nothing else, and it is not every night I get a chance to face someone with actual potential to be a real one."

"Real?"

"A real hero, not just a fake in it for themselves, the kid with red hair, not sure about the others, except the first one."

"He'll be one. You don't get to complain after what you did to his brother."

"He better," Stain responded, far grumpier than with his earlier surprise statement. "I lost an arm because you wanted to defend him."

Izuku almost threatened him with losing the other one too if he went after Tenya, but he had already exposed too much of what he cared about.

Stain suddenly sat on the edge of his hospital bed and stared at Izuku, still holding his improvised weapon. Izuku had no doubt he had already hidden at least one other either under his hospital gown or in the bed.

"So now what?" Stain asked the question Izuku had dreaded. He should have worn Shirokuro's helmet. At least his face would not have exposed him all the time.

"I… am still deciding. You know too much to just let you go and hope for the best."

"Oh yes, who would have thought the mysterious agent for the shadow behind the League of Villains is an UA student, the famous Quirk Stealer UA student at that," Stain pulled his head back and grinned in a deranged killer way, basically a lot like Bakugo. "No wonder you always seemed more like a wannabe hero than whatever villain you pretend to be. I wonder if you could have been a real one."

"I've never pretended to be one, just want to change things for the better, and to help a couple of better people become heroes," Izuku huffed. "Don't really have anything else. At least I haven't become a mass murderer yet."

"You still have hope you can change things in any other ways? That naiveté will die eventually. The only question is whether it dies before you do."

"At least I'm trying to think of how to make actual change. Even if it takes killing, that will never be enough alone. Just because you kill a person does not mean you have destroyed them."

Stain raised his eyebrow and his face tensed. Izuku would not have noticed it if he had not been held up by Calm Mind forcing him to focus on the killer.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you since you met Shirokuro. If you had actual conviction beyond liking killing, you'd understand the difference, but maybe you really just are only a killer and everything else is just an excuse."

Stain turned to stare at him and his improvised weapon flinched, but quickly some tension disappeared from his face. A weaker man's chin might have dropped in a sign of admission, but this one refused.

"Perhaps there is more I could do to the fakes. There are many things I have learned of my targets before ending them, many things I did not use for anything else."

They were quiet for a moment. Izuku was mostly surprised as Stain's words almost sounded like he was coming around on how to actually seek change. Considering how successfully he had hunted pro heroes he could no doubt find the skeletons in their closets too, and he had already made Izuku a better fighter.

"So is that what you want from me?"

"What?" Izuku asked. Stain got back up and stood in front of and over Izuku. He still had his improvised weapon on hand, but it was down, pointing at the floor, smart with the two Nomus behind Izuku following his every move.

"I know who you are, so I doubt you are going to let me go freely on my own. You would be foolish to do so, even for someone naïve," he took a step closer. "So, you are going to pick between two options. Either you are going to ask me to do something, and make sure I stay quiet, freedom with strings attached, or you are going to kill me in cold blood."

Izuku bit his teeth together, but Stain hadn't said anything both of them hadn't already realized, though there was one more question.

"So what were you hoping for?" Izuku said suddenly. "You threatened to talk to get me to get you from the police. What were you expecting to happen?"

"Anything is better than rotting in a prison run by fakes. Whatever happens, at least it is now on my terms."

"It is on young Shigaraki's terms," Kurogiri commented unexpectedly.

"Right," Stain scoffed, "lesser of two evils. This way there is still a chance I might be able to fight those fakes."

Probably without even realizing, he glanced at his missing arm. He might have sought to hide it, but even this monster did not trust his ability to fight any hero with one arm.

"And if you did how could I know you would not expose me?"

Stain returned his stare to Izuku and, while full of contained anger and determination, it also seemed genuine.

"That would help the fakes, and the system we both hate."

That wasn't a bad argument, but all it would take was a single disagreement.

"I may be able to provide you some security," a voice came from a nearby computer screen. Instead of the black screen father usually spoke from the screen switched to an image of another old man sitting in darkness lit only by screen, his moustache the main detail visible on his face. Izuku looked at the doctor.

"You want to make him into a Nomu?"

Stain twitched and his improvised weapon rose higher.

"That is always an option, but you seem unwilling to, even though you never took much issue with the previous three that attacked you. This is, however, not what I planned to offer. While developing Nomus I explored many paths in… ensuring their loyalty."

Stain pointed his weapon at his own neck.

"I will not be one of those mindless slaves."

"Killing yourself now would not stop that from happening, a live subject is not necessary as long as it is sufficiently fresh and properly stored upon expiring," the doctor said without a hint of emotion, "if anything dying would make your only possible value to be used in my experiments."

Izuku wasn't sure what to think, let alone do about the doctor, not that he could do anything to father's closest ally, no matter what he might do in his experiments. At least he had made Stain seem genuinely afraid for the first time. Izuku could take some satisfaction in that.

"That said, there is an alternative. There is a pair of quirks I have experimented with called Twins. They were originally possessed by a pair of twins that were linked by the quirk, sharing experiences, and consequences of those experiences sometimes willingly, sometimes not."

Izuku shook his head.

"No. Even if that helped keep an eye on him I can't let him do the same. I don't want to be tied to someone like him."

In a different life that quirk sounded like something he could very much have enjoyed having with different people.

"You don't need to. Before I chose a different path, I made great progress in modifying the quirk, enhancing one side, blocking the other. The original possessors were equals, but if my version were to be implanted on you two, only one will control the link, know what the other knows and only share consequences he wants, especially with your ability to supress the quirks you posses. The other can at most beg to talk. To betray the one in control is nearly impossible and comes with a heavy price. I have yet failed to establish a mechanism for instant death, but it is quite sufficient to deter betrayal."

That sounded too perfect for their situation, but Izuku was still hesitant with the doctor. Although he could always transfer the quirk away if there were any surprises…

"If it works that well, why would you not use it with the Nomus?" Izuku asked.

"I found better ways, but those require larger… modifications. This quirk would also be ill suited for controlling larger groups, but that is not a concern here. I could also transfer an arm from a Nomu. Their regenerative abilities should enable a successful transplantation."

"No," Stain declared, "or you will need one."

"A shame. Well, how would you like to proceed Midoriya? If you chose to spare his life, I can finish his treatment and begin preparations."

It was now or never. Izuku could kill Stain, punish him for everything he did and make sure he would not go after anyone Izuku cared about. It would have been simple enough. He didn't even need to stain his hands, a single word to Anti would be enough. Yet the longer he hesitated the more he couldn't help but think about the opportunities.

Izuku swung his head to the side, squeezing his eyes shut and hands into fists.

"DAMN IT!"

Anti let out a screech and took a step closer.

"No, stop," Izuku raised his hand. Everything was still for a moment.

"Do what you need to doctor. Just keep him out of sight. I don't know how Tomura is going to react," Izuku muttered, "but if he tries to escape or turn on us…"

"He will pray you had only taken his life," the doctor said. The gleefulness in his voice made Izuku feel worse.