The Heroic God Slayer
Chapter 23
Time to deal with a troublesome foe. Xeimei will have her hands a bit full with this nutcase. Stain may not be a properly trained or refined swordsman, but he's made his unhinged style his own. Especially to use in parallel with his quirk. So on with the show.
(No POV)
Xeimei flourished her blade a bit before bringing it up next to her eyes. Said crimson orbs were narrowed at Stain who held two knives in a reverse grip X in front of him. "An impressive blade. And you wield it like a well-trained warrior. Family heirloom?"
"Yes. I wanted to use it at least with the costume because I want to respect my family. And before you ask, no one in my family were heroes. It's about my ancestors who were warriors. Like the Tiger of Wu."
Stain's eyes widened slightly but he nodded in respect before remembering who she was. "Don't assume I'll make this easy, Lady Sun. I'll give you everything I've got!" he said before rushing Xeimei with both blades.
Steel clashed upon steel, and Xeimei had to give ground. The Hero Killer continued to strike and slash at her with a speed most would be easily overwhelmed by. But Xeimei had faced gods and won. 'This is nothing!' she thought before pushing the villain back.
As he was sliding, Xeimei thrust her blade forward and tried to stab Stain a few times. But he was able to anticipate or deflect quickly. 'There!' he thought as he tried to feint with lowering his guard on the right side.
Xeimei initially went for it, but she noticed something off at the last second. And shifted her thrust into a few spinning cuts before deflecting the resumed attacks of the Hero Killer. He went for a spinning slash but instead put his hand to the ground and spun upon it. Kicking at Xeimei with his spiked boots.
The Chinese girl grunted before bending backwards and then low flipping to avoid the attack. She then lashed out with her own kicks. A flurry of them so fast that the villain could barely keep up.
Something Xeimei didn't notice though, was that she had been nicked by some of the extra spikes and edges to Stain's costume. Leaving a bit of blood on a knife in it's sheath. Stain charged forward to land a major blow on the heroine and was met by her fist and then the hilt of her blade.
Finally kicking him away and causing him to drop his knives. "Fine then! I've still got more… Well now. It seems as though your impressive assault might have cost you more than you realize!"
He held up the knife that had a bit of her blood on it. His tongue hung out a bit, disgusting Xeimei as he prepared to lick the blood and activate his quirk. Only for something strange to happen. Just as he was about to finish the fight, he stopped.
'What?! Why am I hesitating!? I've never bothered to worry about that with any other fake that I've come against! So why now?!' he thought to himself while Xeimei looked at him in confusion.
And then realized what the villain had been talking about. Her eyes widened and she rushed the man with a stab and then a few kicks. 'Enough of this! Time to trap him!' she thought before reaching down to cast a spell to entrap the villain. But she stopped as well.
Just above the concrete, her hand wavered. She kept pushing toward it, but her body refused to listen. Much the same way Stain's refused to lick her blood and stop her. "I don't understand! Why can't I use my quirk?! Or rather…. What is stopping me from using it!?" Stain asked aloud while trying to do as he had done many times before.
Only for Xeimei to realize what was stopping them both. "Our pride and wills as warriors. You may attack those you see as fakes with your blades to kill or maim them. But you've never fought one who fought as I did. They fought you with quirks. I've only been using my blade."
Stain's eyes widen for a moment and notes that she was correct. "They all sought to use their quirks and prove they were stronger. Be it me or anyone else. The Ida's I'll admit were more just distaste for being family business of heroes. But you….. you've not once used that quirk you won the Sports Festival with. You've fought me as a warrior."
"And you in turn have as well. Perhaps this is a bit of my family blade talking to me as well. Shall we continue?" Xeimei says with a bemused look. Retaking her stance and keeping focused on Stain.
The man smiles a bit despite himself and throws away the blade that had blood on it. Drawing a new one to face Xeimei. The pair of blade wielders circle while waiting for any kind of tell. Metal clashing as they come together. Sparks flying from their blades as they continued to counter back and forth. Slashing, stabbing, and lashing out with martial arts.
It was to the point that neither noticed that they had wandered out into the main street. Stain being knocked into the air slightly before flipping and landing beside some streetlamps. "Sun! What are you doing?! Stand down! I'll take it from here!"
A torrent of flame was shot towards Stain as Endeavor and a few other heroes arrived. They quickly surrounded the pair and were about to attack the villain. As well as pulling Xeimei away. But the mage grit her teeth before knocking the hero away and getting close to Stain.
She then slammed her palm onto the ground and created a small arena for the pair. As it was lit up by some minor flames she quickly created, Stain questioned why she stopped the heroes from taking him down.
"This isn't some bull about wanting to be the one who stops you. I don't want to do this for that shallow pride. I don't want have regrets after facing you. And I want to honor how you've been fighting as well."
The villain's eyes widened and then closed. He took a breath before thanking the girl. "I doubt we have long. But I will give you the best fight I can. As a warrior who was trying to cut out the cancer of society."
Xeimei nodded in respect before flourishing her blade. The two charge as they hear and feel Endeavor trying to melt through the cement surrounding them. Their blades flashed and struck time after time. Each looking for that final moment and opportunity to strike.
Each finding it as Endeavor managed to create an opening to the arena. At the last moment, Xeimei deflected one slash from Stain and then caught the hilt and a bit of the second blade with her left hand. Before quickly rotating the blade and stabbing Stain in the abdomen.
The Hero Killer grunted in pain as he felt the blade enter. But he did not feel rage or bloodlust fill him. Instead, he had a feeling he could almost compare to calm wash over him as his knees buckled.
"Well done. You have earned this victory. Lady Sun. And thank you. For a fight I could be proud of." Stain said as he closed his eyes and relaxed the grip on his blades. Xeimei didn't relax until she couldn't feel him moving. Gently pushing the man back and resting him down on the ground.
The other heroes rushed to her and surrounded Stain. One had medical supplies and bandaged both up. While Endeavor berated Xeimei for her reckless actions. "What were you thinking?! You should have left this to me or the others! What possible reason could you have for fighting him by yourself?!"
Xeimei looked up at her "mentor" before looking to her sword, Stain, and her hand. "I was thinking….. that I wanted to respect the warrior that he is and was. And I wanted to win my fight with him as a warrior alone. Aside from separating us, I never once used my quirk against him. And he didn't use it against me."
This shocked all of the heroes as they looked between the two in question. Endeavor himself was stunned, while internally questioning why she wouldn't want to use her quirk at all for this fight. Let alone Stain not using his against her.
'It's like they….. shared a respect that had nothing to do with their positions. Like the samurai of old or….. I guess that's it. I'll still have to punish her later.' Endeavor thought as the police arrived. Stain was treated and the put away for all of his murders.
Xeimei meanwhile was looked at as a hero and yet noted with confusion. "She has this incredible power that could outdo the Number 2 hero's son. And yet against this villain that had killed over 40 heroes, she didn't even consider using it?!"
"I'd call it an insult, but the villain himself didn't use his quirk on her. Despite using it against a different student and a pro earlier. It's like…. Their quirks weren't important. They were pointless to the two of them. And it was more about their honor or something old fashioned like that."
Hearing that debate going on made a few ponder the matter. Tenya being one of them. "Why did you stop me? I had to take him down or in!" Ida said while recovering in the hospital. He had an injured arm and some other damage, but that wasn't what he was focused on at the moment.
"Will you drop it?! You almost got yourself, Native, and even me killed! We were lucky that Todoroki and Xeimei could step in when they did." Mina said while grunting a bit from her own bed. She had a few broken ribs and a number of small cuts, but the hospital wanted to make sure she was fine.
And thus she was stuck with having to listen to the somewhat healed second Ida son rage about how he lost his shot at avenging his brother. "See if you're thinking in those terms, then you don't really deserve to be called a hero." Xeimei said while scratching at her bandages a bit. And wishing she could use her magic to heal instead.
But she presses forward on Ida's failings by noting, "we fought and respected elements of each other during our battle. Neither of us using our powers. You rushed in with your engines overheating and ready to crash into someone. To say nothing of you leaving your post!"
"I have to agree young lady. And as much as I'd like you to also be held a bit responsible, we know that you were the one who defeated the villain." The one saying this was the recently arrived chief of police. The beagle headed Tsuragamae Kenji looked at all of the students in the room with a glare.
Or at least they assumed it was a glare. His features made it harder to tell since he wasn't snarling and his eyes weren't as expressive. He let out a sigh before saying, "the fact is we can't deny that it was Sun-san who defeated Stain. The man himself loudly announced it as he awoke as we were loading him up. Add in that he showed the stab wound and…. well there's no way to bury this set of bones."
Xeimei's eyes twitched a bit at the bad joke but agreed. "There is some good news though. And it's mostly thanks to the way you defeated him." Endeavor said as he arrived to confront this matter. He noted that since she didn't really use her quirk other than to isolate the two, they couldn't say she was acting illegally in that regard.
"As such we can at least give her credit for defeating a foe that was able to kill many other heroes. Though I have to admit, no one ever thought to face him like you did. Most tried or thought they'd need to use their quirk to face him."
Manual was the one saying this before reprimanding Ida for his recklessness and foolishness in facing the villain. Saying his actions would be reported to UA and the teachers would decide the full punishment. Ida was wide-eyed but sighed in acceptance that he had brought the matter upon himself.
Endeavor hummed for a moment before reflecting on the whole fight she had with the Hero Killer. 'The use of blades was frankly a necessity for Stain, but it's often seen as a lost art. She faced him with that sword of hers. Perhaps that shows how we've fallen in his eyes. They have skills that we've ignored in favor of our flashy powers.'
When Shoto asked what his father was thinking about, the flame hero cleared his throat and noted it was nothing. "Anyway, we'll keep a bit of heat off of you and be up front about the fact that you defeated Stain. But that is as far as we can go with the matter," he says with a nod towards Xeimei. And then complimented Mina on how quickly she found and protected the downed heroes.
Tsuragamae meanwhile bowed to the mage and thanked her for finishing the fight they had failed to stop. And within a day, the hospital was swarmed by various reporters looking to talk with Xeimei. As well as the others who faced the Hero Killer and lived to tell the tale.
Mina was excited about it at first, but she was quickly drained after a few hours of taking questions. "Now I get why you don't want to leave the room Xeimei. Too bad we can't sneak away somehow." Mina said after a few more reporters were run off. It got bad enough that Ida was secreted away by his family so he wouldn't have to keep listening to the reporters.
"Who's to say we can't?" Xeimei said with a coy look in her red eyes. Mina looked at her funny as the Chinese sorceress checked all around. With a few quick gestures, she created a portal back to her apartment.
Mina was freaking out a bit and asked what they would do about the staff. "Not to worry. I thought it might be best to have you sneak away as is," the dinosaur headed Dr Yoshi said. He winked to the girl before asking if she could pass something to the Committee of True History.
"Wait….. what?!" Mina asked before being led through the portal to Xeimei's apartment. "What? You didn't think the magic organizations would employ those who use or have quirks?" Xeimei said with a teasing smile. Mina grunts out a yes before accepting some tea the mage had quickly made.
After a few seconds, Xeimei admitted it wasn't that cut and dry. "Certain organizations have more of what you'd call a purity mindset. But those are further removed ones compared to the major players." She noted that all of the American, South and North, organizations were accepting of those with quirks.
"Europe is hit or miss really. Asia, well we're not too bad as far as that goes. But there are some within that don't approve of the changes done by quirks. Your skin tone and odd eyes for example. Australia is… an enigma honestly. By far the worst when it comes to intolerance is Africa. And its only gotten worse thanks to Lady Owasu."
Mina gulped and hoped that they would never have to meet her or go to the regions Xeimei mentioned. Who just laughed before saying, "you might have just raised a flag and set yourself up to go there with Izuku. For more than one reason." Thus the duo's internships were brought to a close in an odd way.
But for the other students of UA their internships led to a variety of experiences. After Izuku had dealt with his angry brother, he practiced with Mirio in anticipating attacks and pure combat training. Tsuyu helped catch a gang of smugglers. While Momo and Itsuka….. were used as models and extras for a shampoo commercial.
"I hope no one we know saw that!" Itsuka said while her face matched her hair color. Momo agreed. Though some part of her mind felt that she wouldn't mind if Izuku saw it. And thus her face matched the color of her costume before both relaxed and returned to Uwabami's side.
Upon seeing said commercial though, a few were intrigued by the duo of girls. "Well now. Quite the lovely pair this time. Though they were not too graceful from what I saw in the festival de esportes."
The one saying this was the second Campione, slightly shadowed as she cradled her cheek in her hand. Her blue hair shimmering a bit in the low light. Her eyes flashed green before uttering a set of words that would seal their fate. "I want them."
Beside her, a few of the mages subordinate to her nodded and bowed. Marcia Serafim licked her lips as she watched the commercial a few times over. Imagining the best ways to dance with the young ladies who would be before her soon.
As much as I wanted to make this all about the Stain fight, I knew I had to get the next stage set. And I think we all have something of an idea of how that will go. Especially if you've seen the original Campione series. Also yes, Ida hasn't' gotten the best wake up call here. The rest will happen later.
At the same time, I wanted to give Stain a different way to go out. This time, Izuku isn't involved to inspire him and he at times struck me as more of a warrior. And they can be heroes or villains depending on the context. Not to mention giving the villain a foe he could respect as just a warrior. As well as showing the problem to heroes, quirks, and Ida especially in this arc.
Besides, it's become redundant to just have Izuku (or whoever has OFA) be the one who saves the day. There are other ways to inspire. Please review!