So Stain finally flipped Izuku's murder anyone who looks at his friends wrong -switch. Lets see how that goes.
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Chapter 67: Staying Down
Izuku charged, boosting his speed with his jets. His arm was reached out and launched another Hellfire arrow at Stain before even reaching within sword's reach. Shirokuro might have lost to this man repeatedly, but he had to hold back on Izuku's most destructive quirks.
And he had needed the killer alive, there had been no need to defeat him no matter what.
Izuku had neither restriction.
His second shot was smaller than the previous one, but still blew another sizable hole in a wall after Stain dodged it. Didn't matter. He had already embraced Calm Mind although his mind was nothing of the sort as the quirk had cleared any distractions from his murderous goal.
There was only the soon to be dead man and the need to end it. With Izuku's speed he was already upon Stain swinging the white-hot Dragon Blade.
"No Izuku listen!" Tenya shouted from the ground.
Stain had pulled out a large knife. If Izuku's face had not been stuck at the murder stare -setting he might have smirked before the Dragon Blade slid through the metal like hot katana through molten butter.
"Run, get help. I don't want you to get hurt too."
Unfortunately death still evaded Stain as he had evaded the strike behind the useless act of blocking it. He even let go and pulled his hand away to avoid most of the molten metal that sprayed from the stump of the knife.
His other arm swung the katana at great speed. Even in the haze of bloodlust Izuku knew even a single scratch would mean losing if Stain got to his blood. One of the glowing blades had already shrunk and spread into a shield moving in the way of the sword.
Stain pulled it back at the last moment and tried to strike from a different angle, but Izuku dodged and rushed to fire another two Hellfire arrows in rapid succession.
"Izuku?"
Somehow Stain avoided that, only losing a chunk of his long scarf disintegrated into nothing as he ran and hopped backwards on the alley followed by Izuku. The background hum of Tenya's worried pleads got more distant.
Izuku fired a few more times. Anything that got them further away from Tenya was good.
The motions of dodging took Stain's free hand out of Izuku's sight for an instance but his shoulder twitched fraction of a second before the knife flew at Izuku. The smart thing would have been to evade or block with his quirk.
Izuku dodged to the side as hand shot out the Dragon Blade disappearing just before his fingers closed around the handle of the knife near perfectly. It was much easier without extra armguards and while embracing Calm Mind so deeply.
Izuku held onto the large knife as he reignited the Dragon Blade, each of them being in 90 degree angle to each other.
Stain was already upon him. The katana strike ended up much like the previous one, but yet another now smaller knife had appeared in Stain's other hand.
Izuku moved other Dragon Blade to block, but Stain was too quick manoeuvring the smaller blade around the quirk even though heat radiating from it burned his hand. Pain cut through Izuku's forearm and the knife he had stolen fell from his grasp.
The Dragon Blade freed from blocking the Katana slashed at the smaller blade faster than Izuku had ever struck, like a reflex when you touch a hot stove. The blade moved close enough to his own hand to melt the gloves even more than they already had and cut through the knife while Stain was still pulling it back. All blood was either vaporized or left sizzling on the cut off piece of now heated metal as it clang against the ground.
His forearm was still cut open radiating pain throughout his arm, but it wasn't anything he didn't endure regularly including from the killer in front of him. It would not be a hindrance for long. The bleeding was already slowing.
He instantly moved back into a defensive stance but even in his quirk enhanced battle focus he was able to be surprised by the fact he hadn't been struck again. No, instead of continuing with a barrage of attacks the killer was grinning.
"I didn't expect to fight you tonight. I knew you acted more like wannabe hero than so called villain," he paused,
"Shirokuro Shigaraki."
Izuku's eyes widened and only Calm Mind prevented him from exposing everything right there. The words were enough to get through the bloodlust behind his attacks and he adjusted some of his focus from the fight to a verbal confrontation.
"Who?" he asked feigning confusion. Stain's grin only got wider.
"You may have covered your face before, but I know when I am fighting the same person. You lack experience even in one style and don't seem to be even trying to fake another. The quirks you use may be different, but the basis are the same."
There wasn't even a hint of doubt in the killer's voice.
"Also your wound just healed."
Izuku grimaced and bit his teeth together.
"Now I wonder who are into your secret. I'm sure your fake hero of a friend laying on the ground back there is impressed with your rapid recovery."
Izuku glanced at his bloodied but no longer bleeding arm and grimaced. He couldn't. He couldn't let Tenya find out who he really was. Izuku had to jump back as Stain swung his Katana at him. He didn't even take the small opportunity to strike back. Shirokuro could afford to risk being cut to take an opportunity Izuku could not.
Even knowing the risk, he pushed Regeneration to wait in the corner as he brought Dragon Blade up as a shield to deter another sword strike.
"No wonder you were so soft on those fakes. You are trying to be one of them."
"No," Izuku struck back with a swing that burned line onto a wall as Stain dodged, "but there are a few good ones. I will help them become heroes, and that includes making sure madmen like you won't kill them."
Izuku turned after the killer to not be outmanoeuvred barely avoiding a thrown knife that passed Izuku's shoulder centimetres away.
"Hero?" Stain asked more loudly and raised his Katana causing Izuku to shift in defence, but he only pointed past Izuku back down the alley where Tenya lied. At least Stain didn't keep shouting.
"Real heroes are supposed to work to safe people. He came here for no other reason than to kill for revenge. Didn't even think about saving my target. I doubt you have shared the truth of this fake with that kid. He simply didn't care for anything but his personal desires."
Izuku slashed at the sword trying to destroy the weapon, but Stain pulled it back too soon.
"He is a human," Izuku responded starting to seethe, "one whose brother you permanently crippled."
"No wonder you were so interested in Ingenium," Stain sneered. "I was hoping you had genuine conviction about him."
"I am getting tired of getting lectured about conviction from a murderer that kills for nothing but his personal desires," Izuku struck back both verbally and with a shot of Hellfire Arrow. Stain's expression turned darker and Izuku recognized the twitch of shoulder too late.
The Katana which had dropped as Stain dodged the last attack now swung up stabbing Izuku's arm from below the Dragon Blade's protection. The stabbing pain struck the same forearm again, except this time the blade reached bone and something else essential. Izuku's hand now refused to do what he wanted.
He slashed the weapon cutting the blade in two with a spray of molten metal before Stain could fully pull it back, but it left his other side open. By the time Izuku could have moved to defend against the knife that had appeared from somewhere like his notebooks, it already sunk into his leg right under his hip.
Stain's Katana fell and Stain's freed hand moved forward to grab Izuku's remaining working arm. Izuku tried to twist his hand to counter it somehow and changing Dragon Blade's shape certainly caused burns, but Stain had caught him far enough above the hand to avoid Dragon Blade, Vibration or Venomous nail all of which were applied from the hands.
There was a brief contest of strength between them, but even with all Izuku's training and density of muscle regeneration had helped him pack on a small frame, Stain still had the advantage in size and Izuku had lost half of his leverage as his injured leg failed him. The alley spun around Izuku until his sight was filled by the ground and nothing else. He was still recovering from the impact as pain pierced his remaining good leg, and then the other leg again, and the shoulder of his injured arm.
Izuku could only hiss and crush his teeth together and that was with all his experience of pain. He tried to pull himself up but even tensing a muscle to turn his leg came with paralysing pain and his limbs just refusing to work.
Even if Stain had not used his quirk he had Izuku trapped on the ground just like Tenya Izuku could see down the alley as he raised his head.
It was starting to look like he couldn't avoid it. He'd have to heal right there.
"Now," Stain said quietly, "lets see where your convictions lie and what they are worth. We both know I have not done anything you could not quickly come back from."
Izuku gasped for air realizing…
"But they don't, he doesn't," Stain's hate for Tenya came through even in his tone.
"I don't know what you are seeking from playing a hero, but if you are exposed as Shigaraki, it will certainly be ruined. If you truly have conviction like you have pretended, you are prepared to do for what needs to be done and will not risk it. You will not allow yourself to be exposed."
Stain paused and a cold shiver went through Izuku.
"True conviction is something you never abandon, even if it requires sacrifice. Not that one fake should count as such. Show your conviction. Stay down and your secret is safe."
Stain stepped past Izuku stabbing the back of his remaining good hand as he did.
"I will spare you to see what you choose, at least until you have made your choice, but you have to choose quickly."
Stain continued walking towards Tenya, a second sword in his hand as he approached Tenya. The image of the killer about to deliver the killing blow flashed in Izuku's eyes, no, in Shirokuro's eyes.
The life of Izuku Midoriya was over. If this madman thought he couldn't work for his goals without the charade of Izuku, if he thought Izuku would sacrifice the one thing that made his own life worth living, the one thing, or five, that gave him hope that heroes could be better...
Stain would be wrong. Izuku began releasing the regeneration from its shackles.
Running steps approached from behind him. Could it be help? All heroes had already headed to the Nomu attack.
"Izuku! Izuku are you here?!" was shouted behind Izuku, shouted by an intensely familiar voice that made Izuku hope, dread and almost smile at the same time from hearing it. He held back on the regeneration. It might have been stupid, but…
There was still a chance, however slight, that everything might be okay.
"Kirishima don't run in alone!" an unknown voice shouted. There was no response in words only two pairs of running steps.
"Check on him. he needs first aid," the strange voice said just behind Izuku before a pair of feet ran past Izuku and there was a thump as something hit the ground next to him.
"I should have paid more attention on the first aid lesson," Eijiro muttered.
A strong hand grabbed Izuku's shoulder and head and tried to turn him around but even Izuku couldn't take that without a hiss and didn't even need to pretend by resisting a whimper.
"Sorry, sorry, are you okay?"
"No… Tenya," Izuku gasped and nodded his head forward as soon as he caught his breath.
The hero with Tenya had something black in the shape of a sword that clashed with what was left of Stain's Katana.
"It's okay. Mr Brave is a pro. Everything is going to be okay."
Izuku almost believed it when Eijiro said it, but as subtle as it was, he could hear rare doubt sneaking into Eijiro's voice.
It did not suit him.
"Everything is going to be okay."
Repeating the words didn't help.