Wow, so yea, kinda late with this one.
And I am really sorry about that, RL issues with my current job as well as still dealing with medical issues due to the extreme cold that we have been getting make it difficult to think and write. Especially when it comes to important parts of the story like this one.
But the next chapter is the big 5-0! can you believe there are going to be 50 chapters of this! I certainly didn't think so! :O
So yea, be prepared for that!
Also, as a break to try and plan out this chapter, I wrote a small story for another MHA X Random series... and the series it's cros\sing over with? ASTERIX!
The premise is "what if Izuku Midiorya fell into the Magic potion from Asterix and gave him powers Similar to Obelix?"
Initially, it was going to be a one-shot, but so many people loved the idea, I may continue it down the road.
The story is called "Izuku Midioriya: The Green Gaul" if you wanna check it out!
Review time:
Silvanium: Gonna have to disappoint you there with the Nomu-Ifrit fight there, as you'll soon see in this chapter. Plus Deku doesn't want to reveal himself to his "weak" side as of yet. and for what happens during that time.. you'll have to wait and see, sorry!
knightblazer85: It was always going to be Samurai tbh, given Stain's convictions as well as the Samurai story in FFXIV.
Geo995: After leveling the new Summoner... oh yea, totally going to be using the new system.
Guest: You'll just have to see and find out and hope you enjoy this chapter!
barrytrey0430: You'll have to read on and see!
Morbious20: Thank you! and hope you enjoy this chapter.
InfinityMask: The thing about white magic users is that they are around in FFXIv, the problem is that White Mages and any healers similar to them are VERY rare and could perform feats not normally done by say a common conjurer. And Nomu's can be created by either living bodies, or dead.
tmgoh: (sorry it's a pain to write your full name so it's not abbreviated ^^;) Trust me, in the beginning, a LOT of people thought Ninja too... but I have another person that fits the bill quite well.
fallendemon248: Well, let's hope you enjoy this chapter, I'll be honest, I always find it hard to write combat scenes.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia and Final Fantasy XIV, they belong to their copyright holders.
Chapter 49:
Truth's Told
"We go live to our HNN action helicopter for this breaking news happening in Hosu!" announced the newscaster, the scene flickering to a woman holding a microphone and describing the location with the freakish looking creatures attacking the search party full of heroes while also setting a good portion of the city on fire.
Kyoka sighed heavily as she was watching the Hero News Network, with one hand twirling an ear jack around her finger while the other one was gently petting a sleeping Eri who was resting her head on the punk rocker's thigh and gently sleeping off her rather delicious dessert of homemade apple and cinnamon pie, courtesy of her grandmother.
While she had turned the volume down quite a bit to not wake her pseudo daughter, Kyoka's exceptional hearing could listen in on what was being said. By the music gods, did she hope that Izuku was nowhere near that.
A shuffling of slippers across the floor caught Kyoka's attention as she whipped her head around to see a tired-looking Inko gently smiling at her, pressing a finger to her lips to get the message across to calm down and not stir so much so as not to wake Eri. The middle-aged woman's eyes shifted towards the television as well for a moment, before she too had a worried look on her face, "To think that you and the others would consider that a "normal day of work"..."
"To be honest, Inko…." Kyoka said softly, her gaze looking down at the sleeping child who murmured something and nuzzled closer to her mother, "I don't think that would even count as a normal day for even the pros right now…."
The UA student looked up to the dorm manager as Inko placed a reassuring hand on Kyoka's shoulder, "We can just pray that Izuku is on the other side of that fiery blaze… The last thing we need is for him to try and see if any of his kits are fire-proof."
Kyoka giggled gently as the hand on her shoulder lifted off before Inko slowly and carefully picked Eri up and held her close, partially using her telekinesis quirk to help do so, "I'll go put Eri to bed, it is getting rather late, and I'm sure Present Mic will expect you up bright and early."
"Yea… I'm going to watch a little more before putting the recording device on for Izuku; I know he'll want to review the footage when he gets back." Kyoka said with a smile, which Inko returned.
"I swear, you girls spoil him sometimes. Make sure he earns it though."
"Pfft, of course!" Kyoka said with a smug look, causing Inko to giggle silently as well before she and Eri made their way towards the elevator. Kyoka sighed softly as she turned her attention back to the television, seeing a close-up of the fire-breathing Nomu that sent chills down her spine when all of a sudden, her cellphone within her shorts pocket began to vibrate.
Thinking it was possibly Mina or one of the other girls asking if she was watching the news, Kyoka was surprised to see Izuku leave a class group chat message. What was odd was that it was a bunch of numbers.
A scream coming from the television brought Kyoka's up to the screen, seeing the pillar of light shoot out from somewhere not far from the blazing fires. The punk rocker's eyes shrunk as she quickly bolted from the couch, hoping to catch up with her boyfriend's mother as she shouted out, "INKO! CALL NEZU! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"
The sounds of metal echoing off of one another filled the alleyway as Tenya watched both in shock and in awe at the battle before him. Deep blue eyes watching as both hero killer and, well, samurai trading blows like something out of a movie.
While Stain was quicker than his classmate, Tenya watched as each thrown dagger, or short sword had been expertly knocked or blocked to the side by the rather gorgeous blade Izuku wielded. Each block chimed out with a brilliant trilling sound as Izuku would constantly close the gap between himself and the hero killer to strike back, landing a few blows himself.
What was odd, though, was while Stain had blocked a few of those hits, there were a few that did connect against his bare arm, but no blood had been drawn. Tenya continued to watch for a few moments, more puzzled before realizing something.
Izuku was attempting to subdue Stain with the blunt side of his sword, and while not lethal, it would still hurt to high heavens, which could be seen as Stain's face winced in pain before falling back from the teenager, who had not pursued the man and stayed his ground.
As the hero killer slowly began to pull out more blades, Izuku readied himself for the eventual strike, his gaze never leaving his foe, "You have been awfully quiet, boy… most heroes would boast how they are keeping up with me, which itself is a feat given how that fake and his brother quirks make them incredibly fast."
Izuku merely squinted his eyes as Stain readied himself and continued to talk, "So tell me, Samurai… if you agree with how rotten the system is, why do you defend it now? Why do you defend the fakes that plague the system!"
As he shouted this, the hero killer threw two daggers towards the green-haired warrior, who expertly parried the two away, only for a third he had failed to notice sliced at his knee, where his armor was the thinnest.
A blur of red moved past Izuku as he had taken a knee from the third knife, and desperately did the warrior of light try to give chase as Stain had raced off towards the still prone Iida. With a maddening grin on his thin lips, Stain had raised another blade up as he was closing in on Tenya, who had begun to raise his arms up weakly to try and block the attack as best as he could.
A rush of icy spikes suddenly moved past Tenya, heading directly towards the hero killer, who quickly sidestepped around the suddenly frozen obstacle only to be met with a torrent of fire and unable to do much of anything but put up his guard and be sent flying back from the sudden burst of heat and flames.
Izuku smiled brightly, with Tenya turning his head slightly to see another of his classmates rush past him, "T-Todoroki?!"
The stoic boy didn't reply to his class president's call but kept pressing his attack with alternating his fire and ice while making his way to the still kneeling Midoriya. Once he was close enough to the samurai, he remained beside him while keeping up his attack to the now dodging Stain, "Azem, you should have done more than leaving a bunch of coordinates."
Izuku chuckled with little breath, whispering out something when a green shimmer enveloped his body, "Right, Todoroki… thank you, can you keep him busy while I check on Iida and Native?"
A simple nod was all he got as the dual-quirked boy continued his assault; as Izuku was quickly making his way towards Tenya, he shouted out to his classmate, "His quirk requires blood, so don't let him cut you or burn the weapon if it does!" And not waiting for an acknowledgment from Todoroki, the currently outfitted samurai made his way to his fallen classmate who was watching the fight now between one of the other powerhouses of Class 1-A and the hero killer.
"No… no… I was supposed to fight him; he shouldn't be here…" Tenya said to himself, his eyes slowly shifting towards a now kneeling Izuku who was looking over him once more, "Neither of you should be here! Why are you-"
The sound of a hand slapping the speedster's cheek echoed in the alleyway, so much so that it had caught the combatant's attention somewhat. Tenya's gaze was wide-eyed as he slowly turned to look at the somewhat irritated and angry-looking Izuku, a relatively rare sight to behold.
"Tenya Iida, if the next words out of your mouth aren't 'Thank you for assisting me Midoriya and Todoroki, I am sorry for acting like a fool.' I am going to volunteer you to help Mei Hatsume test some of her inventions!"
Izuku huffed loudly before turning his gaze away from his class president and beginning to look over Native, squinting at the wounds on the pot hero before shifting back into his "hero" outfit and reaching into belt quickly to pull out some gauze and immediately began his work.
"I get it." Izuku said after a few moments of silence, "I get that you want to make Stain pay for what he did to your brother. To take up the mantle of Ingenium when you feel you are not ready for it… boy do I especially know that feeling." The green-haired boy said with a frustrated huff before quickly tying off the bandage and looking at Iida square in the eyes, "I told you before that you have all of us behind you, to support you during all this… just like I know, you'd have my back if I was in need."
Tenya watched the angered look of Izuku fade into a bright smile, "plus, did you forget I unlocked a healing kit back at the USJ?"
The blue-haired boy's eyes suddenly shot open, the dawning realization that a possible answer for his brother's injury was right in front of him this entire time. Looking down at his hands (not yet realizing that Stain's quirk had finally worn off), Tenya was staring at them with numerous thoughts running through his head.
What possessed him to think that going after the hero killer was the only option? To abandon his mentor when the real threats of those Nomu from before were the real dangers! What would his family say? His friends?
What would Tensei say?
A shift of movement brought him out of his inner thoughts to see Izuku standing before him, his hand down and offering to the fallen teenager, "We all make mistakes, so much as we learn from them and improve ourselves can we not only be better people… but heroes as well."
"So," Izuku said with a determined look and tone of voice, shifting back into his samurai kit, "Let's show Stain that people, including heroes, can be redeemed for their misdeeds, and the truth of our 'Justice'."
"So I ask… Are you ready, Ingenium?"
Stain huffed and growled as he leaped towards the fire and ice-wielding young hero that had been keeping him at bay, bringing down his sword upon Todoroki only to have it strike against a large thick sheet of ice that separated the boy from the deadly weapon.
"You are skilled," Stain huffed out as he quickly kicked himself off of the ice sheet towards one of the alleyway walls before doing the same thing in rapid succession that caught Todoroki off guard, enabling Stain to get a cut on his arm and send the boy in retreat from further strikes.
But Stain didn't continue his assault, quickly bringing the blade with some of Todoroki's blood up to his lips to partake, but the sudden blast of fire aimed at the sword caused the blood to evaporate and Stain to cry out in pain from the extreme heat.
"Damn, brat!" As all the hero killer could say before, the revving of an engine caught his attention, causing him to turn his head quickly, only for it to jerk the other way when the boot of one Tenya Iida launched Stain out of the alleyway.
The speedster slid across the cement floor before coming to a stop with smoke billowing out of the exhausts on his calves, panting for breath after having to quickly charge himself up for a 'Recipro Burst'. The taller hero student watched as Izuku dashed off to give chase out of the alleyway as Todoroki quickly moved himself up beside Iida, "You alright, Iida?"
"A-aside from using the last of my energy for that kick, I'm exhausted… and regretful." Tenya said as he weakly began to stand up, having the aid of Todoroki to help him despite the wound on his arm, nodding his head in gratitude, Tenya continued, "Midoriya suggested I stay back, hoping that without my or Native's presence, perhaps he could convince Stain to stand down."
"That plan doesn't seem like it will work." Todoroki said as he and Tenya headed back towards the still prone Native, "Given how hard the man fought and all the past crimes he's committed, he seems rather adamant to keep doing what he has been doing and not give up, outside of someone killing him."
"I trust that Midoriya will know what to do and make the correct decision." Tenya said with a serious tone to his voice as both teenagers kneeled down to pick up the pro hero, who at this point was passed out due to the blood loss but was still breathing at the very least. As they both began to pick up the unconscious man.
Stain groaned as he shook his head, slightly disoriented and feeling a rather sharp pain against the side of his chest where the fake hero had suckered kicked him, and sent him flying out into the middle of the vacant street. Using a sword to hoist himself up, the hero killer was beginning to think that this entire night had gone to hell and needed to retreat to only recuperate and continue his mission again.
"Stain," the familiar voice of the samurai interrupted his thoughts, looking up to see the lone hero student standing there, the cold breeze of the night causing the loose parts of his garments to waft gently as the look on the boy's face was stern, "I need to ask this since I doubt I'll ever get a chance like this again, but why didn't you become a pro hero? I know about your vigilantism as Stendhal, and while your methods were brutal, you saved many people."
Stain grit his teeth at the mention of his former alias; while some memories were pleasant, many of them were not. And despite knowing he needed to get away, there was something deep within Stain that was curious to see how Midoriya would react, so with a curl of his lips, he spoke, "I'll indulge your curiosity, if only because I deem you a proper hero in this corrupted society."
"Originally, I believed that those who wielded power without conviction were those that needed to be put to death, putting down the sinners like the rabid beasts that they were. However, after a confrontation with another vigilante, it dawned on me that the reason for society's problems was because of those who were not 'true heroes'. "
Stain stood fully now, his hand tightening over the handle of his weapon, "But, I doubt you would even understand that with a quirk like mine, as are ones similar in nature, we are often looked down upon for having 'villainous' quirks they call them."
"What about Vlad King?"
Stain blinked for a moment, "...Excuse me?"
"Vlad King, the hero that uses his blood for capture purposes as well as being able to harden it and use it as a weapon… granted, I don't know if he needs to consume blood to keep up with the needs of his quirk…." Izuku said to himself, rubbing his chin as Stain merely stared at the boy in disbelief.
"Regardless, I do understand where you're coming from-"
"HOW?! Your quirk is the epitome of what is desired! The only thing that matters to people!" Stain bellowed out in rage; how could this boy understand what it was like? How could this mere child even know the hardships that came with an undesired quirk-
"I was quirkless," Izuku said plainly; unknown to him was not only his fellow classmates with the pro hero on their shoulders having come to the opening of the alleyway to witness the fight but also the two lone figures that were watching and waiting to get to Stain, one with a complete look of shock on her face while the other merely grit his teeth.
"I was thought to be quirkless, being told that I'd never amount to anything nor would I ever obtain my dream of becoming a hero. For fourteen long years, it was nothing but being beaten and bullied for most of my life, even being told to jump off a building to see if I get a quirk in the next life."
Izuku huffed gently, "Funnily enough, it manifested when I rushed in during the sludge villain incident, so yes, I do understand from a certain view of what it's like. And I can tell you that there are no villainous quirks, any can be used for good or evil, but it's up to who wields it to do the right or wrong thing."
Another cool breeze whipped past the two lone figures in the middle of the road, both staring at one another in complete silence until after a few moments where stain lowered himself down into a stance, "What is your hero name, boy?"
Izuku slowly moved into a stance himself, seeing where this was going as his right hand hovered just above the handle of his sword, "I am Azem, Hero of Light."
"I shall remember that name…" was all Stain had said before he lunged towards Izuku, who in turn did the same thing at an incredible speed.
It was a real 'blink, and you missed it' moment from the speed the two had gone at, colliding into the middle of each other's path as when both Azem's and Stain's weapon connected, the shockwave of air that exploded forth from the two kicked up the dust on the ground as well as nearly overturning several of the parked cars from the wind pressure alone, with several windows in the nearby buildings suddenly breaking in a cacophony of shattered glass echoing out.
As everyone regained their bearings from the sudden explosion of dirt and wind, Tenya and Iida looked on in shock and awe as they could see both Stain and Izuku standing close to one another.
The blade that the hero killer had wielded had been blocked by the sheath of the samurai's weapon, while Izuku's pommel had dug deep into the ribcage of Stain. Both men stood their ground, silent as the two other hero students slowly began to make their way towards the pair and could hear Izuku speak softly to the villain.
"Society will change, even if it's being dragged across the floor, it will change, Stain… you just need to have more faith in the people and know that 'true heroes' will stand up to the injustices of their society and those who would abuse their power."
Whatever response he was hoping for died when the gurgling of blood was the only sound that escaped past Stain's lips before he crumpled to the ground and was unmoving.
At this point, Izuku sighed heavily, reverting back to his basic hero outfit, and nearly fell back onto his butt as his friends rushed over towards him. As both Tenya and Shoto laid the slightly recovering Native on the ground, Tenya was the first to rush over to his friend's side, "Midoriya! Are you alright?"
"Bit winded… to be honest." Izuku chuckled slightly as he looked down to the frozen Stain. Slowly beginning to pull himself up to his feet, with the aid of Tenya and Shoto to grab an arm each to do so, "We should try and get rid of any weapons he may have on his person, then use these handcuffs I have in my belt pouch to at least restrain him until the pro's show up." The green-haired boy said as he reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled out said pair of handcuffs.
As Izuku knelt down to begin looking for more weapons hidden on the hero killer's person, Tenya and Shoto looked to one another before the dual-quirked boy spoke up, "Midoriya, about what you told Stain-"
"Todoroki! Now is not the time to be asking for such personal and sensitive information!" Tenya said while waving his arm up and down robotically before the chuckle coming from Izuku caught both of their attention.
"It's fine, Tenya, but thanks anyway… and Shoto, if you don't mind, I can explain better once tonight is done and over with, o.k.?"
Izuku had looked up to the boy, unsaid words said between the two before the son of Endeavor nodded his head and knelt down to help his friend. Tenya raised an eyebrow at the interaction but decided not to comment on it, going and checking on Native instead.
Unbeknown to the three hero students, Toga was roughly pulling on Deku's arm down one of the alleyways as he led her away from the scene.
"Deku-kins!" Toga whined, "We need to help Stainy! We can take on those three easily!"
"No, Himiko… if Stain couldn't beat Azem, what chance would we have against them? Besides… we have another issue."
"What's that? What can be more important than freeing Stainy and feeding on his-" Toga began to complain once more before stopping when the pink-haired man brought her delicate fingers up to the side of his neck, one of the few spots where she could touch his skin and was shocked to feel not only warmth coming off of his skin but also something she had never felt once since the two had met.
A heartbeat.
As Deku stared at Toga for a brief few moments, their eyes caught one another before he turned on his heel and began heading back to their hideout. Toga immediately followed after him, curious and worried for her companion.
It took a solid ten minutes to not only restrain Stain in the handcuffs but also search his body for all the weapons the villain carried on him. Even then, Izuku felt that there were still probably some concealed weapons on the man they wouldn't be able to find no matter how thorough they could have gone.
By this time, Native had relatively regained consciousness and had taken over a supervisory role, as the pro hero was discussing how odd it was that three hero students could take down the man responsible for so many hero deaths.
When Izuku was about to refute Native and discuss how it was possible, a gleam coming off the back of Tenya's metallic costume caught his eye. Turning his head around and looking up, Izuku suddenly shifted into his Paladin kit and brought out his 'Passage of Arms', all the while shouting, "GET DOWN!"
A giant fireball landed not too far from the group, with a fiery explosion engulfing not only the various cars and buildings upon impact but also the heroes who were protected by the holy wings of light coming from Izuku's shield.
The impact had tossed and burnt whatever vehicles that were on the streets into the sides of buildings, the asphalt of the road was sizzling from the heat as the in the center of the impact, a plume of smoke was billowing out from the crater that wherever had landed there had caused.
The protection spell faded after that, the heroes and Stain none the worse for wear as a sickening squelch coming from within the smoke of the crater caught everyone's attention.
While whatever was inside of the smoke was practically hidden, glowing red eyes opened up to stare directly and burn hard at Izuku, with a crooked maw filled with teeth being illuminated from the darkness as the most guttural sound escaped and sent shivers down all of their spines.
"F̸i̷n̵a̶l̷l̸y̶ ̴f̷o̴u̴n̴d̷ ̸y̵o̵u̷,̶ ̴W̸a̷r̴r̸i̴o̸r̴ ̵o̴f̷ ̵L̶i̷g̶h̴t̷.̵"