I'm The Hero Deku
The sun was scorching, with the year progressing more and more, getting closer to the summer with each passing day, and with being on the sand so much, Izuku was starting to get tired with all the heat. He was already having to ditch his shirt each day and drink loads of water to stay at least a little cool, though it didn't help much, but now he had to take breaks to make sure he didn't pass out from heat exhaustion.
Today was no different from any of the other days from the past couple of months, working at Dagobah had become a repetitive task for him, and Izuku delved in head first each and every day no matter how mind numbing it was. He was already a few months in and he saw the progress he made every day. The finish line was practically in sight! And he continued to push through any and all exhaustion.
All Might would come and go as he pleased, sometimes the pro would come check to see how Izuku was progressing, other times he wouldn't. There wasn't a rhythm to how often he would come, just whenever he could, but he would always remind Izuku to never overwork himself.
Today was one of All Might's check in days apparently as Izuku heard the sound of the pro's old beat-up truck, the engine's roars, as it approached the beach, the sound died as All Might turned the truck off and made his way down to the shore from the stone path at the base of the sand.
All Might grinned at the boy's progress and Izuku felt warmth wash over him at his mentor's smile. "Hey All Might!" He yelled with a wave.
The pro laughed as he arrived at his pupil, "Young Midoriya, my boy! You seem to be doing really well!" He glanced at the muscles that were developing extremely nicely, before moving his eyes to his student's eyes. After all, he had to make sure Midoriya was resting, "No eye bags, good, how's your body been feeling, my boy?"
Izuku raised a brow, moving his body around and stretching a bit, "Just a bit sore that's all." Just a bit for him was a lot more compared to most people but All Might expected that since the American Dream Plan was very demanding. Izuku's pain tolerance was also ridiculously high.
"Well alright, think you can keep on hauling trash for the day?" All Might asked.
"Of course!" Izuku smiled.
The pro smiled at his student's excitement, "Then get to it you zygote!"
Izuku continued for the day, lugging trash around, stuffing it in piles and dumpsters, and doing his best to not die of the heat. His mentor had gone to get him even more water bottles, even bringing a pack of ice so they could both keep cool. At one point he placed the ice on Izuku's back and watched as it melted from how hot the boy was.
However, eventually the heat turned to cold, as day turned to not quite night, and Izuku sat on the beach with his mentor standing beside where he sat with the sun slowly descending in the sky. "I think I can finish before the entrance exam." He huffed aloud.
All Might laughed, "Perhaps, you'll be cutting it quite close though Young Midoriya." All Might looked down at his student, in deep thought, seemingly thinking a million different things before deciding on one singular thought. "My boy, I wanted to talk to you about something."
Izuku perked up and turned to his mentor, quirking his head. "W-What is it All Might?"
The old man sighed, stuffing his hands into his giant pants, looking up at the sky and imagining his own mentor flying, thinking back to simpler times. "I want you to promise me something." All Might said abruptly, turning back to his student.
That confused Izuku even more and he could only ask, "Y-Yes All Might?"
So innocent . All Might thought, thinking more about when she was still alive, how they would often have moments like this, he shook the thoughts away. Sitting down, All Might wrapped an arm around his student, pulling him close so that they could look eye to eye, "I want you to promise me that no matter what, no matter how strong you get, no matter how many villains you defeat, no matter your rank, that you will always hold true to the morals you have now."
Izuku's eyes shone in amazement as he grinned, "I will All Might!"
The Symbol of Peace smiled a bright wide smile, "That's all I ask, now let's get you home my boy."
Deku breathed deep, One For All flowing through him as he clashed with Stain, 'No matter what!' He jumped back, making sure not to collide with the injured Iida or Eraserhead, and that third person who he thought to be the hero Native but he would have to double check, 'I will stay true–' Deku crouched and felt One For All built up as he released the power into a leap, pulling a fist back he threw it forward with a yell 'MY IDEALS!'
Stain jumped over the attack, ready to swipe down with his blade, only for Deku to disappear right when Stain was about to stab him. "What?!"
Green Lighting bounced around the alley, jumping into the air before careening down towards Stain, the assassin barely had a moment before he raised his blade to block, still feeling the force of such an attack. The blow sent Stain backwards as Deku landed on the ground once more, the hero killer looking at the boy in front of him with strong curiosity. "What is your name, boy?"
Deku paused at the inquiry, "Like I said before, I'm the Unyielding–"
"No! Your real name!"
The boy almost tripped and gulped at the look on Stain's face. "I'm Izuku Midoriya…"
Stain grinned and pointed his blade at Izuku, "I will make sure to remember your name boy, when the new world rises with true heroes like yourself!"
The two jumped towards each other to once again engage in melee combat. While Izuku wasn't quite as skilled as Stain was, his quirk and training that he had done with Eraserhead had given him enough to meet Stain just a tad, there were still some close calls, but his costume was very durable.
Any attempted slashes at his arms were failed as his gauntlets were made of a strong material, his legs were out of the question due to the durability of his boots, so that only left a couple spots for Stain. His torso and his face, which were much harder to land blows on.
Though there was still a problem. Aizawa was stabbed, and the longer he lay there the worse his injuries would get, and Izuku didn't know how much time he had. "MIDORIYA, GET OUT OF HERE, THIS IS MY FIGHT!" Iida yelled, trying to force himself to get up with no avail.
"Shut your mouth, boy!" A boy flung at Iida, Izuku's eyes traced the blade and his hand shot out and caught it, 'Just like the ball throw…' he spun in place and charged up One For All in one digit, powering the quirk up to twenty percent, "SMASH!" Izuku threw it at Stain with all he had, the blade became a blur of silver as it shot out.
"WHAT?!" Stain tried to move in time, but the blade managed to graze into his side, not deep but still painful. The hero killer panted and touched his wound, looking in wonder at Izuku. Not even Eraserhead had managed to get such a good blow.
But Deku wasn't letting up, he charged at Stain in the man's moment of thought. The only problem for Stain was that he seemed to be faster than before. More electricity seemed to spark off of the boy's body in waves, lighting up the alley with its brightness. Izuku jumped back and pulled his hood over his head, sealing his mouth with his respirator, needing as much protection for his face as possible.
He also had to hide how much using more of One For All was hurting him.
The hood covered his eyes in darkness, the only thing visible was his emerald eyes. Stain could see how calculating those eyes were, "STAIN!" The boy yelled, though the sound was muffled due to his respirator, which made it sound slightly more threatening, before shooting towards the Hero Killer.
Iida was shocked at the speed at which Izuku fought, greater than even his own current output, though that was excluding his Recipro Burst. Though what he didn't expect either was for Izuku to pull his phone out while Stain was jumping at him, he seemed to do something on it before shoving it quickly back into his pants.
Iida didn't know what that was for, but he needed to get up, this was his fight. Midoriya and Aizawa-sensei shouldn't have gotten involved. But he couldn't move! No matter what he did, his body wouldn't respond, he prayed this wasn't permanent, and for now all he had to do was try to force himself up.
Because he would be the one to kill Stain.
They didn't expect Hosu to be in the state it was. Fires, some crumbling buildings, heroes doing their best to save some civilians that were trapped inside said buildings, and more of those things that had been reported at UA just a couple months prior were strewn across the city destroying everything.
Ryukyu instantly set her intern into clearing debris to allow more people to escape. While Emily did that, Rykukyu and Nejire-chan were engaged with one of those Nomus. The one she had currently engaged had wings and appeared to be mindless just like what was reported from the one that had attacked the USJ.
The Nomu was surprisingly nimble, evading all of her attempts to catch it and dodging all of Nejire-chan's attacks.
While they were dealing with that creature, Reiko, hero name Emily, continued her work with helping civilians escape buildings that had been damaged. There were lots of debris that she had to levitate using her quirk, and while she did that someone would trap the debris in place.
"Done." The monotone voice of Todoroki breathed out as he locked all of the debris in place with his ice. "I'll stay here and continue to strengthen the beams just in case anything happens." Despite him trying to sound confident, there was a slight strain in his voice, he had clearly been putting a lot of effort into keeping the building from falling.
"Got it!" Manual yelled as he and a group of pros entered the building to assist any trapped civilians.
Reiko couldn't help but notice that Todoroki seemed to be shivering, an obvious sign of overuse of his ice side. Izuku's analytical skills have begun rubbing off on the rest of them, they all had become more observant of slight things or signs related to quirks. Like Tetsu in his match against Kirishima in the Sports Festival, the boy had noticed he was slower due to his steel form so he turned it off to move and turned it back on at the moment of impact to win that fight.
As such, she knew that Todoroki's ice was too much for him, and even though he seemed more used to his fire now he wasn't using it for some unapparent reason. Though that's when it clicked, 'He can't use both at the same time…' She quickly deduced.
Sadness filled her heart, Todoroki was pushing himself to make sure everyone got out, even though he was likely getting frostbite from his overuse of his quirk. That on top of the cold night was terrible for his health. And she couldn't even do anything for him, she just had to leave him to his suffering as the pros pulled people out.
"Are you alright?" She found herself asking as she pulled off her kimono and placed it around him, revealing the black suit she had underneath. It stretched from her shoulders down to her legs acting as shorts, while it was cold without her coat she knew that Todoroki needed it more even though it wasn't much, it was the least she could do.
Todoroki nodded, the motion cracking some ice that had crawled up his neck.
Her frown deepened but she resigned herself, turning to the building and trying to hold some of it up as well to assist Todoroki from the strain. It was clear he wasn't the most social, even quieter than she was, but she would still try her best to befriend him as much as she could.
"Come on!" She quickly turned back to the building, seeing Manual come out carrying a little boy that couldn't be any older than eight. The boy was passed out with a cut above his head, "I need first aid!" The pro yelled.
Her body moved before she thought about what she had to, quickly pulling up first aid equipment that she had in her costume. Cleaning the blood off of the boy's head and applying alcohol wipes before bandaging it up, it wasn't the best but they hadn't fully covered first aid yet in class.
Manual grinned at her as he made sure everyone made their way out of the building. "Thanks!"
A smile came to her face, "I'm joyed to be able to offer assistance to those in need."
The pro nodded and started to do a headcount of all the people that had made their way out, finally nodding to himself he yelled, "That's everyone!" Todoroki finally shut his quirk off, his ice instantly cracked and the building fell once more. Flames slowly but surely sparked off of his body as he tried to get some sort of warmth.
"Are you okay?" She pushed herself to ask again as Todoroki gasped for air.
"Yeah–"
PING
Both of their phones went off in unison, and they shot each other confused glances as they both pulled them out to inspect them, on each screen was a message from Midoriya, the only thing attached was his current location. "Did you get a message from Midoriya?" Todoroki asked quickly. "Yes." Was her only response.
Manual glanced at the two, making sure none of the gathered civilians were wounded like the little boy was, inspecting their faces he knew something was up.
"We got a distress beacon from our friend."
"Can we go check it out?"
The pro looked distressed, thinking about his own intern who had been lost in all the chaos. Was it Iida that sent them that distress call? Iida was also a UA student, just like these two kids, they all had been shown on TV during the broadcast of the Sports Festival. They were all in the hero course.
On top of that, most, if not all of the buildings so far had been cleared thanks to these kids' help, surely they didn't need them for the last couple of buildings, right? They could go help Iida wherever he was stuck while they finished up rescue efforts?
Against his better judgment, Manual nodded, "Under express permission from Pro Hero Manual, interns Shoto and Emily are allowed to go assist and engage in rescue efforts on their own to inspect this beacon." The two students looked shocked that he actually gave them permission to do so, "Though they are NOT allowed to engage in combat!"
They once again exchanged glances and nodded, hoping that they didn't have to.
"Now get going, we have lives to save!"
Todoroki nodded and instantly began skating on his ice to the location of the beacon, despite his frostbite, while Reiko ran and grabbed a sewer grate and used it as a platform to fly on through the air. The two zoomed by streets and alleys, their hair brushing past their faces and making it hard to see, but they both found themselves not caring for that. "Do you think Midoriya could have found Iida?" Todoroki asked loudly over the sound of his ice being created and wind as they rushed to their friend.
"Perhaps, most likely, he does seem to be a magnet for trouble." She regretfully admitted.
Izuku always had to be at the center of something. During the battle trials he got more injured than anyone else in class, at the USJ he sustained the most injuries out of everyone besides 1A's homeroom teacher and had fought his way to the plaza where that Nomu was, he had gotten beat up by Gran Torino more than the entire rest of the class combined but saw the most rewards from doing so, he had to fight both Todoroki and Bakugo in the Sports Festival, had Eraserhead as his pro for internships, and now was off who knows where?
Izuku Midoriya was definitely a trouble magnet, maybe that was actually his quirk? Shaking her head, Reiko dispelled the thought. After all, it was ridiculous, though he did mention his mother's quirk attracted objects to her, so perhaps instead of attracting objects his quirk attracted danger? No, that was impossible, unless…
"Focus!" Todoroki chastised her as she almost hit a pole, still not used to soaring at such high speeds.
"Apologies, I was lost in thought."
The Son of Endeavour looked at her before looking back to the front, "Maybe Midoriya has rubbed off on you more than you previously thought." Wow, she didn't know Todoroki had sass.
'Damn it.'
Midoriya and Stain's fight had amped up to even higher levels that his eyes couldn't keep up.
'Damn it!'
How had Midoriya changed so much from the boy he had met at the entrance exam?
'DAMN IT!'
How was he fighting Stain one on one when even he couldn't! Iida's blood was boiling as he tried his damndest to get up, but his body just wouldn't move! It was like there were chains wrapped around him, holding him down and not letting him move at all. Just what was Stain quirk!
"Iida!"
The Vice Rep blinked at hearing his mentor's voice. It sounded strained, the man was obviously in pain, all because he had come to stop Iida from dying. Was that his fault? No! Aizawa had come on his own choice, Iida didn't make him come fight Stain!
That sounded extremely shallow now that he thought about it…
"Yes sensei?!" He yelled, being unable to look at his teacher. Before Eraserhead could respond, Iida felt his entire body go slack, and for the first time in the past half hour, he could move. The words of his mentor were tuned out as bile and rage built up inside him. It rose like smoke out of a chimney as his engines roared with power and fury. "STAIN!"
Red fire came out of his exhaust pipes as he shot forward towards Stain, yet no matter how fast he was it wasn't enough. Stain dodged under the swipe, Iida's leg passing by where the bastard's nose SHOULD have been, yet it was clear that the hero killer just didn't have a nose!
Izuku grimaced as Stain smiled, quickly trying to grab Iida to pull him backwards, "IIDA-KUN!" Knowing he wouldn't be able to reach in time, his hand entered a familiar form, "DELAWARE SMASH!" The force of wind sent Iida flying, fast enough that Stain's blade didn't reach the boy.
The Hero Killer chuckled as Iida got up after a shaky landing, the man being sandwiched between the both of them. "Well well well…" He pulled a second katana out of its sheath, "Things just got all the more interesting."
The man jumped high, avoiding a blow from Iida that Izuku didn't even realize was going to happen, the taller boy crashed into Izuku and sent them tumbling. Izuku cursed and threw Iida off and to the side, catching one blade between his hands, "What about the second one!" Stain yelled before sending the other one down.
That was when Iida came in and kicked the man in the mid-section, sending him sprawling down the alleyway.
Izuku winced under his mask, his body was starting to feel heavy, and it felt like he was being stabbed all over. He was slowing down… 'I overdid it with One For All….' Izuku could only hope that his body would keep up for the rest of this fight, and if he needed to push himself over his limit then so be it.
"Iida– stop fighting this instant– GAH!" Aizawa coughed, talking was too exerting.
Iida didn't listen, speeding down the alley and trying a number of kicks on Stain. Izuku knew they wouldn't land, Iida's costume was too reliant on cosmetics over practicality, while Izuku did have cosmetic aspects of his costume, a lot of it was to help with his quirk and make him stronger. The armor around Iida's legs were too much, they made him slower and his fighting style was too obvious.
It gave Stain too much to capitalize on.
Izuku didn't so much think as he did move. One For All burned inside of him, compelling him to move, to fight, to protect, and Izuku's body responded in kind, he disappeared from space and reappeared in front of Stain, lightning sparked off in waves as his fist shot forward, sinking into Stain's gut, the man wretched as Izuku twisted his fist, his fist did hurt, probably due to an overflow of One For All.
Stain felt his vision blur for a moment before he grit his teeth, but before he could do anything, a leg slammed into the back of his head.
'What the….' His mind was blank as he felt weightless for a moment, in front of him was Deku, the boy's eyes were wide in surprise at the fact that the other boy had gotten him in the back of the head. Stain could feel his mind slip, like a rope that went slack as he lost hold on it. 'No…' His eyes rolled into the back of his head, 'NO!' The rope was tight as he grabbed back on it and pulled.
His eyes were blank but held pure rage as, on pure instinct, he pulled a knife from his thigh holster, and threw it forward. With little distance, Izuku didn't have time to react, it didn't cut him, but it cut his respirator, detaching one of the sides and causing it to hang limp on his face.
Now he could see the face paired to those emerald eyes, that face, only the mouth and eyes he could see, held fear. But even though they held fear, Stain could see hope. And that smile, he expected it to be twisted in fear and surprise, but no, it held firm and strong.
Izuku's arms reached out and wrapped around around one of Stain's like a snake, Izuku pushed forward while turning around, holding onto Stain's arm with a firm grip before flipping the man onto the ground!
While Stain was trying to get up, Iida rushed past and readied a kick, though he didn't expect Stain to spin on the ground like a breakdancing turtle, causing Iida to miss his mark as a knife stabbed into his leg. He tumbled and fell onto the ground from the blade, getting ready to stand and fight again but his body seized and he fell slack. "NO!"
Stain was manic, his eyes shaking, he stood up and Izuku froze. Killer intent came off of Stain's body in waves, he could barely make out the man's features in the darkness of the alley, only the floating bandana, a glinting katana, those creepy teeth, and those eyes that held an indescribable amount of fury.
His throat was dry and tight, and finally Stain's white teeth shifted into a smile that reached his eyes, "There's that look of despair I've been waiting to see…" He completely ignored the downed Iida and instead focused completely on Izuku, red and black waves of death coming off of him.
Izuku felt like the reaper's scythe was on his throat.
But there was also a hand on his back, pushing him forward, no that wasn't right. It wasn't a hand, it was numerous hands. One… no two…. No five… no. Eight distinct hands, eight different people pushed him forward, whispering in his ear, egging him on.
Show him what a true hero is….
A true hero? Izuku knew what that was. It was someone that fought until the end to protect people, that always fought with a smile no matter how dark things looked, someone that always won because there was no other option. Today, this dark and stormy Hosu night, Izuku vowed, "Everyone's going home…."
He didn't think but his body entered the stance that Aizawa had drilled into him, he calmed his breath and sucked in a deep amount of air, he shut his eyes and felt his heart slow, One For All buzzed underneath his skin like a growing flame. Izuku's eyes shot open and his lightning roared.
And on his face was a smile that blinded Stain.
"We're approaching the beacon." The monotone of Todoroki's voice shook Reiko out of her musing, she swallowed deeply and nodded, getting ready to do whatever she had to do to protect her friend. "Remember, no combat." Almost whatever she had to do.
But… if he was in danger shouldn't she protect him from whatever villain was attacking him?
"SMASH!" The sound was familiar to the both of them, but also different, even so they quickened their pace. They couldn't afford to slow down, despite the exhaustion they were both feeling at this point. Ice spurred onto the scene as Reiko pulled back.
In the flesh, they both saw Izuku engaging a figure, a long and lanky man decked head to toe in blades and other sharp objects. He looked disheveled and crazed, but also infuriated. Because Izuku was holding his own, his blows had increased in speed and intensity and more often than not he was landing blows to Stain's body.
"Almost like a boxer…" Reiko muttered.
Todoroki shook his head and slammed his foot onto the ground, Stain jumped back as he saw a flurry of ice come towards him. The ice cut off and separated the alley in two, protecting them from Stain. Izuku gasped at the break of the motion and turned back with a smile that they were barely able to see due to his mask and hanging respirator, "Todoroki-kun! Reiko-chan!"
"Midoriya!" Todoroki yelled before noticing his classmate and teacher, running towards him and kneeling beside him, "Iida, Sensei, are you two alright?" Iida didn't look too damaged at all, some bleeding on his leg and his arms, but Aizawa had a knife sticking out his back, thankfully it wasn't near his spine. But that didn't mean it wasn't bad.
Aizawa grunted in his paralysis, "We'll be fine, but get Iida out of here!"
"Izuku!" Reiko moved to join her classmate, but the ice guarding them seemed to crack as she got closer.
Izuku's eyes widened as lightning sparked over his form once more, "No way…."
From the ice burst forth stain, his red eyes brimming with bloodshot rage, "When will you damned kids stop interfering with my purge!" The villain bounced off the ice to the wall of the alley, before jumping for Todoroki.
"REIKO!" The ghost girl instantly knew what to do and felt the familiar pull of her quirk as a pink glow appeared around Stain, the hero killer was launched backwards and into the ice, cracking and breaking it as he flew.
Izuku's mind ran a mile a minute as he thought of everything they could do, he could hold Stain off, while they got Iida, Native, and Eraserhead out. That would be the best option, Izuku could hold out until the pros arrived, the only problem was that Eraserhead was injured and probably shouldn't be moving around right now.
'But still, getting Iida and Native out is a huge help!' One For All sparked across his limbs as he prepared to fight, despite his body telling him to let up, "Get Iida and Native out of here, if you can get Eraserhead out too!" Stain got up and before he had a chance Izuku jumped through the alley, meeting the Hero Killer with a fist as they clashed.
Reiko gulped at her friend's behavior, fighting the hero killer?!
"Come on!" Todoroki's yell snapped her out of it and she picked up Iida with her telekinesis.
"No, let me go! Stain's mine to deal with!" The boy tried to squirm out of her hold but it was useless.
The ghost girl deadpanned, "Ingenium is your brother, correct?" That made the younger Iida stop and nod, "And not even he could take down Stain, do you believe you're better than him?"
"W-What, of course not!"
"Then what gave you the idea, the mere thought, that you by yourself could take down the Hero Killer!" She chucked him onto an ice sleigh that Todoroki had made, the other moving teen had already put Native on there. "Get them out of here, I'm going to check over Eraserhead and then try to get him out of here."
Todoroki frowned, "That's not the best idea and you know it, Midoriya will be able to cover him." He remained firm in his standing, even with the sounds of Izuku and Stain decking it out not too far away, "We have to go!" Quickly grabbing her arm, he got them moving and out of there as fast as he could, blocking off parts of the alley with ice walls as they left.
"Todoroki go back!" Iida yelled in his paralysis on the floor, and Reiko hated that she also wanted to go back despite the danger.
"I'm not going back, I'm not letting any of us get killed." Todoroki's monotone voice had some bite in it as they reached a main street. The majority of damage had been dealt with, some buildings had fallen, but gladly no one was dead, though there were a lot of ambulances strewn about, some streetlights were knocked over, yet all the fires were put out. That left the main street they found rather dark.
Despite that, they could clearly see the flying dragon coming towards them, the flapping wings producing a great amount of wind as Ryukyu lowered herself to the hero students. Reiko was happy to see their mentor coming towards them, but she still couldn't help but feel worry for her dear friend.
She had to take a page out of Shiozaki's book and pray for him to be okay.
Izuku hated to admit that he was starting to get tired, while he had used One For All for prolonged periods of time before, using it for this long in a fight where he had to be hyper focused for every little detail was quite tiring. Doing his best to not slow down or at least to keep up with Stain wasn't the easiest thing to do. And him pushing One For All at points definitely didn't help either!
But a hero always found a way to pull through! Iida and Native were safe now, but Eraserhead was still in danger. Izuku couldn't let that man get hurt, not after all he had done for Izuku and his friends, protecting them at the USJ, showing Izuku so much about what it meant to be a hero, the underground tactics, a fighting style. He wouldn't let Eraserhead down!
'Come on!' His arm stung as Stain hit it with the blunt of his blade, in a moment where Izuku parried the blade to the side.
Don't get tired!
A mixture of voices spoke in his ear and he found his focus tightening. Moving to the side to avoid the blade, Izuku struck a hand out, catching Stain in the face. But the killer's endurance and durability was crazy as he managed to stay in place. No, it was just from sheer willpower.
Don't give up!
A diagonal slice going up grazed Izuku's hanging respirator, chipping the blade slightly and sending sparks flying. Izuku winced at the sparks invading his vision but he had to press forward no matter what!
Ignore your pain!
Stain tried to bring his blade back down for another strike but Izuku pushed the man's arms up and struck him in the chest, making him slide back a couple feet.
FIGHT
One For All increased in magnitude as Izuku bounced off the alley walls and caught up to Stain, the villain's eyes widening and his face turning into a sneer as Izuku appeared in front of him.
TO PROTECT
But that sneer turned into a smile. In one moment of lapse in judgment, the Hero Killer grinned.
"GUH!" Stain surprisingly went for a simple kick, decking Izuku across the face and sending him flying back and landing on the floor. Throwing something random in had been quite effective. Izuku scrambled as he got up with a flip but he heard Stain yell, "NOW FALL!" With all the strength he had in his arm, Stain pressed his blade into Midoriya's stomach, waiting for the river of blood to flow out from the wound.
Instead he was met with his blade breaking in half. "W-What?!"
'NOW!' Izuku's arm drew back and One For All flooded the limb, overflowing to a point where he couldn't handle, 'One For All: 20%' Red veins and a glow appeared across Izuku's arm as the sleeve torn and Izuku stepped into Stain's defense, "DETROIT" His waist untwisted like a coil, sending all the force from his fist crashing forward into Stain's face, "SMASHHHHH!"
The group of two hero students and a number of pros approached the mouth of an alleyway, including Ryukyu and Endeavour. With Reiko and Todoroki manning the front. The son of Endeavour took up the role of speaking for the two of them, as Reiko was too far into her worry to really vocalize her thoughts."This way! Midoriya was over here–"
Todoroki paused as Stain came flying out of the alley, flying with enough force that sent him across the intersection and into the storefront of another building, breaking all of the glass and crashing into some shelving units, collapsing onto his back and for once not getting back up. His bandana had fallen off and it left his face exposed, allowing all to see his noseless form through the broken window.
The gathered pros and students paused as footsteps echoed from the alley, standing with a torn and tattered right sleeve and glove was a figure covered in green. Reaching up and pulling his hood off, Izuku Midoriya gasped for breath, "Is he…. Is he finally down?" He was covered in sweat, his eyes were still shaky, but he was standing.
Silence struck the pros, only the crackling of Endeavour's fire alerted them that the world had in fact not stopped. "H-He took down Stain…" One of them muttered, Reiko was exactly sure who.
Izuku's breathing was deep and greedy as he smiled, "That extra plating Hatsume added really helped…" He patted his stomach, feeling the extra plate that Hatsume had added, the material had been strong enough to completely snap Stain's blade in half. He took a step towards them before the world got blurry. "Oh boy…."
Before he could hit the ground he felt himself be caught by someone, slender arms wrapped around his shoulder and kept him grounded, Izuku couldn't help but smile, "Thanks Reiko-chan…" He huffed, being able to hear her sniffle as her grip around him tightened, "You're so reckless Izuku…"
"I'm sorry…" His voice was barely a whisper but for her it was all she could hear. Izuku wanted to hug her back but he could barely feel his arms at that moment. "Please… get Aizawa-sensei help…" He couldn't pay attention but he thought he heard Reiko telling the heroes to grab Eraserhead who was in the alley.
He heard the bustling of heroes, something akin to sirens, and then he felt himself laying on something soft, white around him. Izuku's bleary eyes looked up and all he saw was Reiko's face, tears leaking out of her eyes. He tried to lift a hand to clear those tears from her face but he couldn't do it. His eyes shut under the pressure of exhaustion as he mused to himself, 'Thank you for everything… Reiko.'
His mind went blank, everything around him was dark. The ground was hard stone but he couldn't see far past him as darkness encompassed wherever he looked. Wind pushed past his hair and messed up his already messy mop. Izuku, for some reason, was alarmed. He gasped for air, or at least he tried to, it was hard to do that when you didn't have a mouth.
It was a strange feeling, but he couldn't open his mouth, as if it had been sewn shut, or maybe as if had never been there at all. When he tried to reach up to feel for it he couldn't move his arm.
His emerald eyes looked around with alarm before landing on a group of people. Seven distinct individuals that he felt like he knew, he felt like they mattered to him, but he had never met these people before.
They all looked like heroes, but their gear was so… retro. Like something that hadn't been in circulation for a long time, at least 50 years but for others it looked like a lot longer. They were in a line, all gazing at something else, their faces in straight lines. Izuku could only see four of them, the other three were too far away for him to see. Izuku followed their eyes and saw two people facing each other.
One was kneeling, looking on the verge of passing out, while the other stood tall and calm, an air of arrogance around him.
Their features were similar, or at least the only features he could see was white hair. They appeared to be brothers, the kneeling one was small and weak looking, he wore a thin light blue long sleeve shirt and gray pants. The other brother, in a black suit, well he sent shivers down Izuku's spine for some unknown reason, all Izuku knew was that he had fear coursing through his veins as he watched the much bigger of the two brothers approach the smaller one.
A hand shot out and grabbed the kneeling brother by the head, lifting him off his feet. The smaller one seemed to struggle, grabbing onto his brother's arm and pulling, trying to get him off, but it was all for naught as his hands fell limply to his side.
Izuku reached out with his hand, trying to help the smaller and weaker one, and suddenly a hand was reaching out for him too. The tiny frail brother stood in front of Izuku as their fingers intertwined, and in a small and breaking voice the man spoke. "So youre… the ninth…"
The gazed at each other, and Izuku felt power coursing into his arm, before something–
CRACKKK!
Izuku looked up with wide eyes, sweat dripping down his body, breathing deep and greedy breaths as One For All crackled across his right arm. All of what appeared to be medical devices around him were broken due to some unknown reason. Small alarms were blaring wherever he was and Izuku tried to sit up but found his stomach hurting and he fell back onto the bed he was on.
Where was he? What happened to Stain? Was Iida okay? What about Eraserhead? Where was Reiko, he remembered being with her?
Before he could descend into madness, he heard a flurry of footsteps before the door to the room was thrown open, in walked a doctor with a man that looked like a pro hero and a man with the head of a dog? Izuku blinked his eyes as he felt his racing heart calm down.
The doctor came to his bed and looked around it in surprise and shock, "My goodness, I've never seen something so peculiar like this happen before!" His gaze landed on Izuku, "Are you alright? Did anything land on you or hurt you?"
Izuku shook his head, "N-No, I'm fine sir." He was still shaken up about One For All, and it was barely now that he realized the amount of bandages covering all of his body, but other than that he was fine. Well… his body was in incredible pain now that he thought about it. "If I can ask, how is my body doing?"
The man sighed and pulled a clipboard from a table nearby, "All in all, it's definitely not great but not terrible either." Grabbing a chair, the man sat with Izuku. "You are suffering from extreme quirk exhaustion as well as miniature tears along some of your muscles. Nothing too bad, Recovery Girl should be able to take care of that."
A smile graced the man's face as he tapped the top of Izuku's head with the clipboard, "You'll have great fatigue for a while, you probably shouldn't lift anything too heavy and I recommend against any straining activity." Though he stopped with a sigh, "Knowing you hero students you probably won't do either, but at least check in with Recovery Girl or your personal doctor once every two weeks to make sure you're progressing fine."
Izuku blushed, that probably was something he would do, but nodded nonetheless, "I will sir!"
Humming, the doctor got up and pulled a wheelchair close, "Thank you, moving on we'll get another room ready for you, for now we can visit your friends." The doctor patted the seat of the wheelchair. The hero and dog headed man helped Izuku into the wheelchair and followed as the doctor pushed him to another room.
Rolling down the halls, he could see that he was definitely in a hospital, not one he recognized but in one nonetheless. He didn't know what day it was, but through the sun coming in through the windows he assumed he had been out for at least twelve hours, since Stain attacked in the middle of the night.
"Alright, here we are." The kind doctor spoke as the detective opened the door, wheeling Izuku in and placing him next to a bed with a familiar student in it. "Hey, Iida-kun!" Izuku smiled, unable to wave.
The boy perked up and made a small wave. "Hello, Midoriya-san…" Iida sounded sad.
Izuku's eyes traced the boy's body, he wasn't injured too badly, unlike his own body was, but he did seem more damaged. His posture showed a lot of disappointment, how tired Iida was, and it made Izuku worry. The boy's eyes were dull under his glasses and Izuku noticed that Iida wasn't looking him in the eyes.
Iida sucked in a breath before continuing, "I apologize for my actions against Stain, I know you have no reason to accept my apology, even after everything I've done to you and your class…" Iida's hands clasped around his sheets, small almost unnoticeable tears leaking out of his eyes, "I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
A hand landed on Iida's, and he looked up to see Izuku smiling, that smile made him feel warm, like he was under the sun, like his mother was holding him after a bad day when he was a child, like he was talking with Tensei about being a hero and all the cool things his brother did while out on duty, "I already forgave you a long time ago Iida."
"W-What?"
Izuku nodded, "Ever since the USJ, you got the teachers there. If they had gotten there later then our classmates could have gotten hurt a lot worse than they did, or maybe even died. And they were only saved because of you. You saved my friends, Iida." Izuku's arm fell, it had taken him all his strength just to place it on Iida's, "I just paid back the favor."
The glasses wearing teen felt his chest grow time as more tears leaked out of his eyes. Before he knew it he was wailing, sobbing as tears cascaded down his cheeks like miniature waterfalls. Izuku smiled sadly as Iida cried, feeling guilty for how much sadness the boy had built up inside of him.
The detective smiled at the interaction, hearing the door crack, he turned to see two more teens entering the room. One was the son of Endeavor, and the other was another UA student. He took that as his moment to speak, "Good, come in come in you two." The two uninjured students perked up and nodded, Yanagi walking next to Izuku and fussing over him while Todoroki sat in a chair beside Iida's bed.
Todoroki took the time to place a hand on Iida's shoulder, despite not being the most social he knew that knowing someone else was there was a good feeling to have. 'Just like Yanagi-san did for me when we were getting people out of the buildings.' His gaze shifted and landed on the 1-B students.
Yanagi was fussing over Midoriya, being careful to not touch him as to not aggravate his already overused muscles. Though Midoriya just smiled up at her. Todoroki let a small smile grace his face as well, 'They look sweet together.'
"Ahem." The four students froze and finally looked towards the entrance, seeing the pro that all of them knew and the man with a dog head. "Doctor, can you give us some time and space, I have something to discuss that is rather private, woof." The man nodded and stepped out of the room, telling them to alert them if anyone was having trouble with their injuries.
With a click and thud, the door shut and the man's eyes furrowed, Izuku didn't know a dog's eyes could do that. "I must speak with all of you about the recent detainment and arrest of the Hero Killer, one individual known as Stain." The man's face was straight and serious, "I also must inform you that I am the police chief of Hosu's police department, Kenji Tsuragamae."
The teens' faces fell, but the Chief's own held firm. "Well you all had a role in taking down Stain, the law still stands." His eyes held no emotion as he dug into them, "None of you have provisional license, what you did was illegal, vigilantism."
Izuku perked up and shook his head, "No, it's not."
The dog turned to him, and somehow raised a brow? Izuku still wasn't sure how he managed to do that, "And why do you say that?"
"I received express permission from Underground Pro Hero: Eraserhead to engage in any actions, search, rescue, or battle, to protect Tenya Iida." His face held determination as he gazed at the chief. "I was acting as any hero should, sir. Within the bounds of the law."
The two stared at each other, Izuku felt his determination waiver but still held firm, "That still doesn't excuse the actions of the other three." Tsuragamae looked away, still remaining impassive as he gazed at the rest of the hero students. "They still acted outside of the bounds of our law."
"Actually–" Todoroki said as he stood up, sending a glare the chief's way, "Yanagi-san and I were given permission by the Pro Hero: Manual to engage in search and rescue efforts to investigate a beacon Midoriya sent us." His eyes held a steel gaze as cold as ice, "Try again."
"That still doesn't exclude the actions of Young Iida, who went on a personal manhunt, looking for the Hero Killer." The man's voice turned cold as he looked at Iida, the boy wilting under the chief's gaze. "Actions like that have no place in our society.
"So we're going to ignore the fact that he saved Native's life?" Izuku asked.
"He broke the law."
"In a time of crisis, all active individuals must work to protect and save."
"He's a student."
"He's a kid." Izuku's brows furrowed, "Who lost his idol, his big brother, you're an officer, you see horrible things every day, don't you have any compassion?" Izuku braced his arms on the rests of his wheelchair and flexed his legs and core, wincing at the immense pain that overcame him, 'I put up with All Might and Gran Torino's hellish training, I can put up with this for a bit!' With a suck in of air, he forced himself to his feet.
"Izuku." Reiko helped him walk, acting as his shoulder to lean on, as he moved to stand in front of the chief.
"Aizawa-sensei already said that he was going to be punished for his actions, isn't that enough for you?"
"Young Iida sets a bad example to all other heroes in training, all other citizens who want to freely use their quirks."
Izuku hummed, "Then don't release his name."
Surprisingly, Tsuragamae grinned, "Oh? And what's your thoughts behind that action, Young Midoriya?"
All Might's successor looked around in thought, "W-Well–" He took a breath, "If you keep Iida-kun's name in the public eye then you'll have to keep Eraserheads name in as well, which will only hurt his role as an underground hero, on top of that taking out Iida-kun's name also gets rid of the bad example for other students and civilians. Just keep my name in and say that I went to look for Native."
The chief smiled and barked, "A great idea, one that I already came up with, Young Midoriya." Tsuragamae let his gaze trace each of the hero students, "You did a good deal last night, Young Todoroki and Young Yanagi, you saved many civilians by working together for disaster relief." The two quiet teens perked up, Todoroki was surprised but nodded, Yanagi let a small smile grace her face, "Young Iida, despite your… less than heroic actions, you still have a pro's life, and for that our community thanks you." Iida nodded, quelling tears and not trusting himself to talk, "And you, Young Midoriya."
Izuku let his eyes lock with the chief once again, "Yes sir?"
"You've done something that many pro heroes couldn't do, allow me to ask you, how did you defeat Stain?"
Thinking back to it, Izuku had some answers but nothing concrete, "Mostly, I had really good teachers, Vlad King, Gran Torino, Eraserhead, they all helped build me into a great hero, the costume that Hatsume-san made me was really durable and the plating she added helped immensely, on top of that…"
He remembered the fear he felt when Stain had taken Iida down again, the amount of killing intent behind Stain's actions, the rage and fury. It was all so encompassing, yet something pushed him forward.
"As much as it was a clash of bodies it was also a clash of wills and ideals." Stain's views were twisted, corrupted. "I needed to prove that my ideals were true, and I needed to show him I had the strength to back up my ideals, there were lots of points where my body wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn't."
The emerald of his eyes seemed to shine as a new confidence entered his body and the pain he felt faded to the backside, "I needed to him to know that even though I was in training still that I wouldn't let him hurt innocents, even if I was meddling, a hero's job is to meddle even when they aren't asked."
Tsuragamae woofed, "You've got a good head on your shoulders Midoriya, though restrain yourself from doing something that destructive again, if not then I'll contact UA and see if you can get a punishment just like Young Iida here. Speaking of–"
"What were you thinking, you moron?!" Manual shook Iida by his shoulders, "Running off like that! Fighting Stain?! I thought you were one of the smartest kids in your class!"
Izuku laughed to himself as Reiko helped place him back in his wheelchair, which he was grateful for. But there were still a few things that we weren't looking forward to.
"YOU FOUGHT THE HERO KILLER?"
Izuku felt bad, he really did, worrying his mom like that, but he also had to admit something she got a little overzealous, 'Well I fought the hero killer who killed lots of pros, okay yeah she's justified….' He chuckled to himself. "Y-Yes mom… I'm sorry, but no one else could do it." He felt bad about scaring her so much and worrying her, yet there was nothing else he could do.
"B-But what if something happened to you–"
"Mom…" Izuku cut her off, trying to sound soothing, "Nothing happened to me, I'm okay, the only thing that happened is that I'm really tired and need to rest, that's all. Please don't think about all the what ifs, that's not healthy…" She worried about him too much, the stress wasn't good for her.
"I know Izuku… but as your mother I can't help it."
Izuku smiled, he knew she cared and it was sweet, "As soon as I'm discharged from the hospital I'll head back home, I know you're busy with work Mom so don't worry about taking time off, I'll come to you when I can." He kept his voice light and kind, helping to ease his mother's worries.
"I– Okay… but you better call everyday until you get discharged, alright?"
"I will mom, I promise.."
"Thank you Izuku, I'll make katsudon when you get back."
That made him smile, "Thanks mom, I'll talk to you later, I love you."
"I love you too, Izuku." The phone cut off and left with a ringing as the call ended. After finally hanging up and (hopefully) quelling his mother's worries, Izuku checked his call log and text logs, but there was nothing from any unknown numbers and he found himself frowning, "It looks like Toga-san didn't message or call…" He only hoped that he had managed to plant a seed in the girl's head, but he had no way of knowing.
There was too much to do, and Izuku couldn't do anything, all he had to do was rest. Leaning back on his hospital bed and looking towards the ceiling, he let out a sigh. 'FInally…' Izuku thought to himself, 'Time to rest…'
Little did Izuku know, as he succumbed to his exhaustion, numerous news reports spread across the country, going across the world.
"UA High School Student defeats Hero Killer!"
A pale hand grabbed a bottle at a bar, opening it and taking a sip. With a click of the tongue, the channel was changed.
"Are heroes really so useful? A kid took down the Hero Killer!"
The hand that held the bottle tensed as the news reported the same thing as the other channel before changing the channel again.
"Fifteen year old boy takes down a bloodthirsty murderer!"
"GAH!" The bottle laid, embedded in the television, as Tomura Shigaraki sat in rage, his fists shaking as he paced around the room. "That damn brat!" A couch flipped, "After everything I did!" A thrown bar stool. "He takes down that little shit Stain and now he has the attention of the entire world!" Decayed future sat across the room as Shigaraki fumed.
Kurogiri himself, the assistant to the face of the League of Villains, sat behind the bar, continuing to clean whatever glass he had his hands on and ignoring the tantrum that Shigaraki was throwing.
Though, something unusual about this anger fit compared to the ones that usually happened is that Young Tomura calmed down rather fast.
In the middle of the bar, with dust and knocked over furniture around him, Tomura suddenly smiled, "He has the entirety of Japan on him…" A small cackle, a little giggle, a chuckle, and then a chorus of laughter. Kurogiri didn't know what was going on in the young master's mind and he'd rather not ask.
"He has all of Japan eying him!" Tomura swept his arms wide with glee, "He's their hope, their glee, their next Symbol!" Tomura cackled in realization, "Take that brat down and then their hope will be dashed!" The villain stilled and sighed with happiness, "Kurogiri." The man made of mist turned in acknowledgement of the young master's voice, "Get in contact with Giran."
"We're going to be needing extra players."
END
SO, this one took a while but I kept on wanting to add to the Stain fight, originally Iida didn't even get back up to join Izuku and I thought it would be cool to add Iida in. But what did you guys think about it? Honestly, the hardest part was making Izuku too OP at some points, but he does have access to more than double the amount of One For All he did in canon, so I thought it'd be justified.
While his training has made him a lot stronger, the stress of the internships and overuse of One For All finally caught up to him, luckily Reiko could catch him before he fell.
Speaking of One For All, how did you all feel about the dream sequence :)
DON'T READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT MANGA SPOILERS
While it might seem early, Izuku has already used 20% of One For All like he did in canon. But what quirk should he get first? I think Black Whip is the best choice, since Fa Jin and Gearshift are too OP for this point in the story, (and the second and third don't like Izuku still.) Danger Sense is cool but I think I want to save it for later, Smoke is kinda….pointless (En is cool tho) and Float doesn't feel like it should be the first one unlocked.
OKAY YOU CAN READ NOW.
Next time we're gonna have a chill chapter with the race the students take and everyone getting back from internships, but I wanted to ask you guys something.
After the final exams should we get straight into the Forest Training Arc or should we go to I-Island and do the events of the Two Heroes Movie? I have an idea for the plot but let me know what you guys think!
Jay out!