Chapter 21: Chaos in Hosu
"A child wearing a suit…" Stain hissed. "Who are you?"
Tenya honestly couldn't believe his luck.
It all began less than half an hour ago, when chaos erupted within Hosu. Nomus, and lots of them had invaded the city and had begun wrecking things, causing all of the Heroes in the area to go after them immediately, both himself and Manual included.
The damage was pretty severe. Fires and ruined buildings everywhere, all while the lower-ranked Heroes were doing their best to not become Nomu kibble.
Manual had immediately told Tenya to get out of the impromptu warzone and search around the area for citizens to evacuate. The bespectacled teen agreed, but it was for his own personal benefit. Instead of going around searching for the injured, he searched for the Hero Killer.
And a few alleyways later, lo and behold, Tenya found the bastard.
The cretin was about to plunge their sword into another downed Hero, Native if Tenya identified him correctly. He immediately acted on instinct, speeding down towards the alley and kicking Stain squarely in the head. Unfortunately, Tenya didn't account for the fact that Stain would react quickly enough to also throw off the teen's helmet, or to knock him into the concrete.
And now, the Hero Killer had one of his katanas pointed towards Tenya's direction, all while asking the boy who he was. He didn't even recognize a costume similar to Tensei's?!
Was Tensei just another Tuesday to this monster?
Shaking his head, Tenya swallowed his fear and looked the Hero Killer straight in the eyes. He was going to show this maniac who he was and why he shouldn't mess with the Iidas.
"I am the brother of an incredible Hero who you attacked," Tenya said, standing up. "He's the best older brother anyone could hope for. I have come to stop you… because he can't anymore.
"I want you to take the name… Will you do that… for me, Tenya?"
"You're going to remember my name for as long as you live…" Fueled by that memory, Tenya glared right at the Hero Killer, and said, "I am Ingenium, and I will defeat you! That, I promise!"
"Then so be it," the Hero Killer said, his red eyes staring at the boy. "Die."
"FOR TENSEI!"
Ochako ran through the city of Hosu, alone.
She didn't come alone, not originally. She came alongside Ryukyu and Nejire-chan in hopes of finding the Hero Killer, only for things to suddenly go to shit when those Nomus appeared.
Both the Pro Hero and her senior immediately got to work taking down those monstrosities, while Ochako ran off to assist Manual. But she couldn't see Iida. Heck, Manual said that he couldn't even get into contact with his student, which meant only two things: Either Iida was ignoring the comms, or he was unable to respond, meaning he was in trouble.
The brown-haired girl could feel her stomach sinking as she slowly began connecting the dots. The whole reason for coming to Hosu was to find the Hero Killer… the very same man who hurt Iida's big brother… and if Iida was currently out there… shit.
Powering up One For All to its highest capabilities, she immediately ran off to where the least amount of damage was being caused by the Nomus. She may have not been the biggest Hero nerd, but Ochako still understood the concepts of common sense and patterns.
All of the reported cases with Stain's victims indicated that his preferred method of hunting was in alleyways where no one could see him coming, like some kind of ambush predator. That meant that even if he was somehow involved with the League of Villains, he still wouldn't be out in the open where every single Hero could see him. It didn't fit with his modus operandi.
Wow, Yaoyorozu's vocabulary is really affecting me…
Anyways, it made sense. For every single one of his attacks, it happened where there were no other Heroes to help the victim. If she applied that knowledge to the current situation, it meant that Stain (and Iida) would be as far away from the attacks as possible.
Running and jumping through the alleys and buildings, Ochako kept searching the dark streets of Hosu, when she turned to look at a corner… and found who she was looking for.
Well, actually, she found both Stain and Iida, because the former was right about to plunge their katana straight into the latter, all while muttering something about "a better world".
She immediately rocketed towards the two of them, angry. Angry at Stain for doing something so horrendous, and angry at Iida for doing something so stupid.
"SMAAAAASH!"
SLAM!
Her fist immediately connected with the Hero Killer's face, and she even added a bit of extra heavy gravity for good measure, sending the man flying backwards.
"Who's… there…?"
Ochako looked back at her friend. He was a wreck, but honestly it could have been worse. He may have been bleeding from his shoulder, but he was still alive.
"Uraraka…? How…?"
Ochako wanted to yell at him for doing something as insane as going after the man who killed multiple Pros with absolutely no backup, but she knew she needed to say something else at the moment. If she was going to be a Hero, she needed to act the part.
"Don't you worry, Iida… I'm gonna save you!"
"I can't move my body…" Iida grunted. "It must be his Quirk… since he cut me, I'm paralyzed…"
"So, cutting somehow activates his power, huh?" Ochako gathered, as she looked towards where Stain was, only to see… that there was another injured Hero.
"Uraraka, please… don't get involved! This doesn't have anything to do with you!"
Ochako stared at her friend in apprehension. "What are you saying…?"
"You showed up to save your friend's life," the Hero Killer said, grabbing the brown-haired girl's attention. "You even made a big entrance. But I have a duty to kill him and this so-called Pro. When your friend chose to fight me… it guaranteed that the weaker of us would be culled."
The ninth One For All wielder felt her skin crawl as she stared at the Hero Killer. Those eyes of his… they were almost as terrifying as All For One's faceless mask. Almost.
"So, what will you do?"
Rikiya Katsumake, better known as Siphon, observed the Nomu attacks from above. He wasn't alone, though, as he was with both Chojuro Kon, aka Chimera, and Leviathan.
All three of them could see the target from their vantage point. Standing up, Chimera said, "Okay, we go in, we grab the Kodai girl amidst the distraction, and we get out."
Seemed like an easy plan. The second the three of them jumped down from the rooftops and down to the streets, their plan immediately went to shit as the Nomus jumped them.
"SKREEEEE!"
"SHE'S GETTING AWAY!" Chimera shouted, as he crushed a Nomu's head in.
"FUCK!" Rikiya shouted. "OKAY, NEW PLAN: KILL THE NOMUS, AND RUN FOR IT!"
Now Rikiya understood why Overhaul hated the League of Villains so fucking much.
"Picked a fine time to patrol," Ryukuy said, as she used her massive arm to swat away several of the Nomus in her dragon form. "THAT'S RIGHT, BRING IT ON, UGLY!"
FWOOM!
In a matter of seconds, several of the grouped-up Nomus were burned alive, as Endeavor had crashed the party. "I was looking for the elusive Hero Killer… but this will have to do."
Shoto could only stare at his father. Was this really the time for jokes?
"Thanks, Ryukyu, but I can handle this from here on out."
Burning this? Yeah, that checks out.
As several more civilians ran, Shoto decided to head out on his own. His father knew what he was doing, plus, the old man gave him permission to act if someone needed saving.
Turning towards another street, Shoto looked around to see –
BOOOOOM!
Shoto covered his eyes from the explosion, as he looked out to see flames everywhere. It looked like someone had thrown a bus over before lighting it on fire or something.
But the weirdest part were the ones who were fighting the Nomus in the area.
One big Nomu that resembled the one from the USJ (minus the lack of eyes) was currently being fought off by a giant wolf guy with talon-like hands and a lizard tail. A second Nomu with wings was being tossed around by a giant white guy with red appendages. Meanwhile, several other Nomu were being beaten down by a massive man wearing a plague doctor mask.
Shoto looked around to see that several of the Pro Heroes in the area were also looking at the scene dumbfounded. These guys don't look like Pros… maybe they're Vigilantes…?
"Manual, stop the fire!"
"Yeah, got it!"
Shoto looked over his shoulder to see a normal-looking dude with a fin on his helmet controlling the water bursting out from a broken fire hydrant towards the flames, all while the rest of the Pros in the vicinity were trying to figure out how to deal with the newcomers.
"Why'd you run off by yourself?! Where the hell are you, Tenya?! Dammit!"
Wait, Iida went off alone? Despite what's happening? That doesn't sound like something he would do, Shoto thought to himself. Then again, this was Hosu…
"You're in the way, kid!" Mount Lady shouted. "Get out of here!"
Shoto was about to respond, before he suddenly felt himself get dragged away. Looking back, he saw that it was Kodai. "We'll evacuate! You take on these things!"
"Right!" Mount Lady said, as she grew bigger and went into the fray.
As the two Heroes-in-training headed away from the heat of the flames, Shoto asked, "Kodai, I know Hosu is big, but do you think that Iida would get himself lost like that?"
The black-haired girl didn't give him a straight answer. She just said, "Follow me."
Guess I don't have much of a choice…
One graze was all it took.
Ochako had decided to fight off the Hero Killer, and frankly, for the start of the fight, she was doing pretty well. She couldn't use Zero Gravity on the account that there wasn't much she could use as ammunition. One For All-based combat was all she had.
The brown-haired girl figured that she would just need to touch the Hero Killer once, and then she would be able to increase his gravity to the point that he'd collapse to the floor, buuut…
Stain had managed to nick her in the arm before she could even touch him.
Even with the world's greatest Quirk within her, Ochako Uraraka was still a child with less than two months of actual Hero training. When put up against an adult with far more experience, it didn't matter how much raw talent someone had, experience would win.
Ochako collapsed down to the floor as if she was under the effects of her own evolved Quirk, as Stain said, "You're not powerful enough. It's not that you predicted my movements, but I saw through your plan. There are countless false Heroes around here who are all talk, but I think that you're worthy of staying alive. You're different from these two…"
"Wait… don't… STOP IT!"
Stain approached Iida, katana poised to stab him, when –
FWOOOOOM!
A massive plume of fire was launched towards the armed maniac, causing him to dodge. All three of them looked towards the direction of the flames to see… Todoroki.
"Someone else to get in my way," Stain growled. "Today's been full of distractions."
"Got here just in time," Todoroki said. "Still, I was almost too late to stop this guy."
"You, too, Todoroki…?" Iida slurred out.
"Hold on, how did you get here?" Ochako asked.
"How did I get here? Good question," the peppermint-haired boy said. "I guess Kodai knew what she was talking about. She led me here, but already left to go get more help."
SHHKKK!
"Everything's okay!" Ice erupted from Todoroki's right foot, causing the Hero Killer to leap away, as the scarred boy continued. "Kodai will bring the Pro Heroes here any minute!"
FWOOOOOM!
More flames launched out of Todoroki's arm, as the ice melted, sliding the injured behind him. "You're just as they said you were. But you won't be taking any more lives, Hero Killer."
"Todoroki!" the brown-haired girl shouted at her classmate. "You can't let that guy get your blood! I think he controls his enemy's actions by swallowing it! That's how he got us!"
"He ingests blood to keep people from moving… that explains the blades," the teen with the red-and-white surmised. "All I gotta do is keep my distance –"
SHINK!
Todoroki was caught off-guard as a blade went flying and scratched his face, allowing the masked maniac to lunge at him. "You have good friends, Ingenium, or you did –"
SHHKKK!
On instinct, Todoroki launched a pillar of ice upwards to where the Hero Killer was, stopping the secondary blade, only to suddenly get grabbed by the creep, who had his tongue extended, ready to lick his blood. He immediately activated his fire, and not a second sooner.
The two of them continued their back-and-forth, with the armed psycho dodging every elemental attack Todoroki shot out, and with Endeavor's son trying to burn and freeze the psycho.
Iida could only look on in confusion. "Why are you… doing this…? This fight is with me… I inherited my brother's name… I'm the one that should stop him… the Hero Killer is mine!"
"You're Ingenium now?" Todoroki said, as if he had heard some bad joke. "Strage… the Ingenium I knew before never had that look on his face!"
As Stain sliced apart an entire iceberg and fell towards his target, he said, "You blocked your own field of vision against an opponent who's faster than you. Rookie mistake!"
"Come get me, then!" Todoroki growled, activating his flames, and –
SHUNK!
Todoroki grunted in pain as two of Stain's knives hit him in the arm, stopping him.
"You're good, kid!" the Hero Killer said, leaping down. "Unlike him!"
"WATCH OUT!"
As Todoroki yelled that out, the whole world seemed to slow down for Uraraka. It was like she could see Stain leap down and prepare to stab Native in slow motion.
Come on, Ochako… MOVE!
She still couldn't move. Todoroki would be fast enough to block the attack, but only if his left side hadn't just been disabled. Nobody could do anything, and Native was about to die.
They had failed. They had failed to protect Native, and as things were going, they were gonna fail to protect themselves, too. This would be where their Hero careers would end: Being another statistic for the Hero Killer. Todoroki would never be able to become whatever person he wished to be. Iida would never be able to carry on his family's legacy. And Ochako…
She would never be able to take care of her parents. Even if they no longer needed the money, she still wanted to treat them, to thank them for everything they had done for her. But now, they would just be mourning her. And All Might… he entrusted his Quirk with her… and now it was going to die alongside her, leaving All For One alone to wreak havoc on the world…
She hated it. She had failed, and it made her angry…
IT. MADE. HER. ANGRY.
BA-DUMP!
Ochako suddenly felt weird, as the world around her first changed to a shade of red… then green… then black. Everyone was still there, but… it was like they were frozen.
Looking down, she was now that… she could move her arm? No, it didn't feel like she was the one moving it. Regardless, her arm moved, directed towards the Hero Killer, and then…
…out came the black stuff.
Enji Todoroki had no idea what to make of the situation.
When he heard that there were several possible Vigilantes taking on the Nomus, he immediately headed over with Ryukyu, only for the party to have seemingly ended already.
"Yeah, the second we managed to put out the fires, they were gone," Manual said.
Enji nodded. It's what Mount Lady and the other Heroes at the site said, too.
"GUYS!"
Speaking of Mount Lady, he and Ryukyu turned around to see said Hero alongside her student, the one that could give Shoto a run for his money when it came to their expressions.
"What is it?" Ryukyu's blue-haired intern asked.
"Kodai said that her classmates are engaging the Hero Killer."
WHAT?!
That was all Ochako could think of right now.
Just a few seconds ago, she was watching everything in slow-mo: Stain was leaping down to finish Natvie, both she and Iida were down, Todoroki couldn't move in time…
And then all of a sudden a bunch of dark tentacle things erupted from her arm, sending the Hero Killer jumping back in surprise, as everyone stared at the One For All user in shock.
"SERIOUSLY?!" Todoroki shouted.
"A new power…?" Iida wondered aloud.
I don't understand… What's going on?! Ochako gritted her teeth in pain. Whatever the fuck this was, it wasn't done escaping, and she was pretty sure it was just acting on impulse.
"RUN!"
Unfortunately, before Todoroki could even react, he, along with everyone else (Hero Killer included), were grabbed by the black-and-green tendrils, launching them all to the walls.
BOOM!
Ochako's arm spasmed as she tried to fight off whatever the hell this thing was, but it was no use. It was too much. She couldn't hold back this power. She couldn't even tell the others to get out of here anymore; they were all pinned to the wall, looking at her in fear.
It's like… IT'S EXPLODING OUT OF ME!
Several more of these energy whips shout out of her arm, and immediately went to the skies above the alleyway, wrecking any bricks they came into contact with.
BOOOOOM!
Nejire couldn't help but gawk at what she was witnessing.
If she thought that the Nomus were the most exciting thing she was gonna see tonight, she was dead wrong, because the giant black tentacles spreading over Hosu took that cake.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Endeavor asked.
"I don't recognize it…" Mount Lady said.
"It's Occhan."
Nejire turned around to see Yui-chan. "That power… it's Occhan's."
The blue-haired girl immediately understood what that meant.
The black whips shot up into the air, before spawning even more versions of themselves, every strand of them wreaking havoc across any building they could find, all while dragging Iida, Todoroki, Native, Stain, and Ochako along for the ride.
This isn't my power! How is this happening?! It hurts! WHY?!
Those were the questions that were going on through Ochako's head, as the whips slammed her to the walls, dropping her, before swinging her again, as if they were children.
In fact, that analogy worked for everyone. If these dark tentacles were children, then everyone, Hero or Villain, was just a ragdoll that the tendrils were merely tossing around.
One For All… GET IT TOGETHER!
"URARAKA! PLEASE CALM DOWN!"
Ochako looked up to see that, despite the fact everyone was now mid-air, Stain was still trying to reach Iida with his blades. Todoroki was right, she needed to stop herself!
Eyeing a rooftop they were right above, it was the perfect place to set everyone down! Close enough that their fall wouldn't hurt, and with enough space to both continue the fight and to regain control of her power. There was only one foolproof way down, however…
Struggling against her arm, Ochako used all of her willpower to move it. She creeped slowly, but surely, until her fingers touched her body, until… HEAVY GRAVITY!
Her body plummeted down to the rooftop, taking everyone with her.
BOOOM!
Tenya felt his body go all tingly as he hit the rooftop. But the pain he felt from that was mild compared to the emotional pain of everything that had happened tonight.
Stain called him out as a fake. While he normally wouldn't listen to the ramblings of a madman, the Hero Killer called out the fact that he decided to pursue vengeance over helping save Native. And being down for the majority of the battle didn't help either.
It wasn't right. Todoroki and Uraraka were the ones who were cleaning up his mess, and now Uraraka herself was hurting because of this new power! He slammed the roof in anger, and…
Wait a minute. He slammed the roof. He could move again!
Looking around, he saw that Uraraka was still bust dealing with the tendrils, but thankfully winning. Todoroki, meanwhile, was checking to make sure Native was still alive, which only left Stain. Tenya quickly checked the area to see that the Hero Killer was still conscious.
This was bad. He needed to act now!
"RECIRPO… BUUURST!"
Rocketing straight towards the Hero Killer, Tenya used his legs to destroy his katana and kick him in the head. The armed maniac skidded away, but Tenya knew this Villain wouldn't give up that easily. He needed to go further! He needed to protect his friends!
HE NEEDED TO BE INGENIUM!
"RECIPRO… EXTEEEEEND!"
The blue-haired teen could feel his legs burning with this move, but it didn't matter. As the masked psycho launched himself towards Tenya, the young man launched forward. If he was a rocket before, he was now a goodman missile. Faster, and faster, until…
KRAAAK!
…he managed to kick Stain in the face.
Tenya could feel his legs collapse underneath him. He had done it. With the help of his friends, he ensured that the Hero Killer would never hurt anyone else ever again. Wait…
"Uraraka!"
"She's unconscious," Todoroki said. "She was able to get those weird tentacle things under control while you were taking on Stain, but she passed out afterwards."
"That's… good," Tenya said, between breaths. "What about Native?"
"Passed out as well, but he'll live," the peppermint-haired teenager said. "Now, come on, we gotta figure out a way to detain Stain before the Heroes arrive, or worse, if he wakes up."
"Right, of course –"
Tenya stopped as he turned back to check on the Hero Killer. Todoroki looked in his direction, as well, only for his breath to hitch as well. Stain was gone. Like he vanished from thin air.
Unfortunately for Katsuki, the goodman rat was the helicopter pilot.
"Nedzu, can you see anything?" Aizawa-sensei asked.
"There are multiple flames being put out below us as we speak," the white-furred mammal said. Honestly, Katsuki had no idea how his principal could even look out the window.
Seriously, was there a booster seat up there?!
"Hang on," the Erasure Hero said. "I see our Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki. Ryukyu and Endeavor are with them. I can see Kodai and Mount Lady heading towards their direction, too."
"Then at least we know our students are safe," Nedzu said. "That's good to hear."
The explosive blond wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment.
Ochako found herself back in the same place she dreamed of the night before. The dark void. None of the others from her last dream were with her. Well, none but one of them…
"Crap, kid! Ya got it wrong!" the bald man with goggles shouted. "Dang it! Didn't we tell you?! You're not alone out there, ya got that?! It's manifesting! Now's the time, so shape up! Ya gotta start thinking more! From now on, ya can't use your power casually, it's something bigger."
Ochako couldn't help but stare at the man in shock. His choice of fashion was odd at best, and his figure of speech made him sound drunk. He's one of the past users of One For All…?
"Whoa, where's your mouth kid?! That's freaky! Whatever, don't sweat it!" the weird dude said, before looking at himself. "Feels like my time is running out, that was fast. One more thing, kid, the power you just shout out of ya was originally my Quirk! Earlier, you were dead set on stopping that Stain dude from killing anyone, it was all you could think about!"
Ochako nodded along with that.
"It just so happened that the best Quirk for that was Blackwhip, which belonged to me! So, you get to meet yours truly first! But be careful, this Quirk has evolved. Blackwhip's got the might of One For All swirling within it, which means it's much stronger now than when it was mine."
The brown-haired girl listened closely as her predecessor continued. "If you use One For All in anger, the power will react to that feeling. What's important… is keeping tabs on your heart. It's fine to get mad; rage can be the source of incredible strength. But you need control, and not just over your body, but over your emotions, as well! After being passed down from eight people, One For All has become an awesome force! Prepare yourself… you'll have six more Quirks manifest as you improve! Control your heart and master those who live in this power!"
And with that, the bald man began to fade away, as Ochako started to wake up.
"Good luck. We're with ya, kid. You're the one who will complete One For All!"
Ochako opened her eyes to see that… Ryukyu was carrying her. "Hey there, Uravity. I know you're worried, but don't be. Both your friends and Native are alive and well."
Ochako looked around to see that everyone was now down on street level, with Manual chewing out Iida and Endeavor hugging Todoroki. Even Yui-chan was there with Mount Lady.
"That's good. Where's Stain…?"
"We don't know," the blonde Hero said. "He disappeared after Iida kicked his face in. But what I'm more interested in right now are those weird tendrils you suddenly manifested –"
"Hey, hey!" Nejire-senpai shouted. "Everyone! Look at the billboards!"
Ochako, along with everyone else, looked up to see that all the giant screens in the area were glitching out. But soon enough… there was a new picture. A live video.
The Hero Killer was on the screen, tied up, but… he wasn't alone.
"Hello, Heroes."
All For One and the League of Villains were right behind him.
Author's Note: The Hosu finale is coming up in the next chapter!
Yeah, so Blackwhip has shown up. Thanks to Ochako's natural Quirk, One For All's evolution has been sped up. Expect more Quikrs in the future. Also, we've got a new Villain group hunting for Kodai, that's pretty big. Now, for our weekly comment!
Knightmare Lord: Yup! Overhaul is here, and he's here to wreck stuff up!
As a special announcement, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.
So! If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore