Katsuki grinned under his mask as he removed his glove and carefully placed a drop of sweat on the concrete that was currently blocking the road. Some idiots had decided, with all the confusion, to try and take over a small section of street and make it their own private fiefdom. It was fucking stupid, in Katsuki's opinion, and just went to show how only morons became villains and criminals. It hadn't even been the heroes that had ended up stopping the gang but some local police, easily rounding up the dimwits. The problem was though that they had made crude barriers around the road, blocking it so they could create a 'wall' around their 'palace'. The barriers were made of stonework form a post office that had been hit by a Nomu. Along with that were bits of lumber, some trash cans and benches, and other junk.

All of this wouldn't have been that big of a deal save for the fact that one of the criminals had possessed a wasp or bee quirk of some kind and thus coated everything in a sticky whitish-yellow gunk that had hardened into a hard resin. Emergency crews needed to get through though and thus why Katsuki had been asked to clear the way.

However… Gentle had commanded him to be careful. "We can't have the road destroyed," he'd informed Katsuki. "And we don't want to send stone and such flying all over. So you need to control the explosions." And then Gentle had smirked. "Think you can get creative?"

Katsuki had RELISHED the challenge.

He knew how people saw him. He had an explosive quirk and a temper and tended to be loud. That meant most people saw him as utterly dumb. 'Boom Boom' had been an early taunting nickname that he'd received from the older kids at his last school, jealous that all the teachers were focusing their attention on him. They always said it in a caveman dumb-guy voice too. "I Boom Boom, I Boom Boom things!". They thought because they only saw a single use for his quirk that he was the same way.

But Katsuki was smart. Very smart. And creative. Often he'd managed to ditch Deku (having to sometimes physically shove the little annoying idiot away lest he tag after and end up getting fucking hurt worse because that would only make Katsuki's life a raging storm of suck with his parents and Auntie) to go practice his quirk and there was a reason why no one reported massive explosions anywhere other than the rock quarry where he'd arranged to try out his big explosions.

Frog Girl had pushed him even harder to get creative, which was one of the reasons why he allowed her to stick around and didn't shove her away. She was a creative one, that was for sure, and that made him be even more creative.

Case in point, applying small droplets of sweat to the barriers, careful to not detonate them, and each placed at weak points.

Katsuki picked up a piece of rubble, roughly the size of a baseball, and tossed it up and down before he cocked his hand back.

"HEADS DOWN, FUCKERS!" he roared before throwing the rock.

The moment it struck the barrier trembled as the globs of sweat reacted to the strike, first settling off a few and then setting off others until the entire barrier came crashing down, reduced to little chunks.

"Excuse me," a civilian called out and Katsuki turned to see it was a man… holding a broom. "Is it safe for me to clean that up?"

Katsuki smirked under his mask. FINALLY a civilian with some fucking common sense. "One sec!" he shouted and threw three more rocks at the pile just to make sure he hadn't missed any of his sweat. But when nothing happened he turned and nodded to the man who began to work on sweeping the pellets away, others hurrying to join him.

Satisfied, Katsuki turned only to frown when he saw someone wearing armor similar to Deku's but... different. There was more leather pieces, blue trim, holsters and such…

It reminded Katsuki of a line of Hero Toys that had come out years earlier, back when he was 9 or 10. You got the basic hero but they also came with all sorts of add ons so you could customize them into new designs for any type of mission. Depthdiver, for instance, was in his basic wetsuit but also came with different armor pieces and weapons and gear so you could have him fully armored up for a fight or give him different tools. Same with Skyspinner, who could have his normal wings or armored ones.

They were utterly silly and Deku had whined about them for WEEKS. 'Why would All Might need a jackhammer attachment?' he had complained. 'He's All Might!'

But that was what the new arrival reminded him off. Deku's armor but… advanced. Added onto and altered.

'So… this is the guy that has begun training Deku,' he thought to himself. 'The so called hero who decided-'

The man removed his helmet and Katsuki's thoughts came to a screeching halt.

The old hag had been so excited to show him the pictures a week back. "Wish we had run into them at the Sports Festival, brat, but they got some nice seats apparently. Still, Inko looks so happy, doesn't she?"

Katsuki had looked at the photos with little complaint other than his normal griping at her distracting him from his studies and had admitted that the dark skinned man standing next to Auntie Inko, smiling with a mix of awkwardness and bashfulness, did look to make her happy. Of course Katsuki had sworn mentally that if the bastard was using her for some sick reason he'd take him down hard.

(He… maybe had considered asking Deku what he thought of the man… just to make sure the bastard wasn't being an abusive little bitch… but in the end hadn't been able to find a way to do so that wouldn't come off as… well…)

The figure before him, the hero Dualshot, the one that was training Deku… was also Auntie Inko's new boyfriend.

Suddenly so many things made sense.

And Katsuki, much to his own surprise… merely nodded to him.

"You the one that took out the barrier?"

"What of it?" Katsuki asked with a huff.

"Easy there," Dualshot said. "We have a collapsed building about three blocks down the way; civilians are safe but still trapped and we want to get to them. Think you can help out?"

Katsuki at once touched his earpiece. "I've been asked to assist with a building that collapsed. That gonna be a fu… gonna be a problem?"

"None at all," Gentle replied back. "Just transmit your location once you arrival."

Katsuki merely clicked his tongue at that before looking at Dualshot. "Alright then, lets fucking do this." The hero nodded and continued on and Katsuki and him began to run to the building, the teen wondering if there was any way he could, without breaking his Black Suit cover, tell the bastard that he better treat Auntie Inko right…

(And… if he hurt Deku…)

~MC~MC~MC~

Ochaco pulled herself from the rubble the Nomu had thrown her into and looked at the villain, pressing her hand to her shoulder. It was burning something fierce.

"It get you?" Mirko asked from the opposite side of it. In order to take the monster (and it was a monster… according to Ahsoka the reports coming in were that the Nomu were nothing like human beings and as such wasn't to be given any quarter) down and out of the fight they had split up, alternating distracting it so that Mirko could finally go in for the finishing strike, using a supporting weapon on her boots to drive a steel spike into the Nomu's spinal column to paralyze it.

"…yeah," Ochaco admitted. She had thought about lying, trying to not reveal that the Nomu had managed to cleave through her hero costume and get to her skin, but considering that her mentor currently was sporting a busted lip she figured she wouldn't hold it against her. "I think-"

She suddenly swayed as the world tilted at an odd angle.

"Fucking hell, kid!" Mirko exclaimed and the next thing Ochaco knew she was in her mentor's arms. "Shit kid! Hold on!"

Ochaco tilted her head, confused. "What… I…"

Mirko touched her ear with her free hand. "I need medics to my location." After a moment the Rabbit hero looked down at Ochaco. "Okay… fuck, I am bad at this… kid, you're in shock right now. But I need you to stay with me."

"I don't…" She trailed off, slowly turned her head towards her wounded shoulder but Mirko grabbed her chin and forced her to look away. "What's… what's wrong?"

"Don't look, okay? It looks worse than what it is."

"What… what's wrong? It burns but-"

Mirko grit her teeth. "So… you know how that thing was able to fire nails from its fingertips?"

She did. And Mirko didn't mean finger nails. The Nomu had been able to fire actual nails, like the ones used in construction work. It couldn't do it that fast, needing some sort of recharge time to do so, but that had made the fight tricky.

"When it shoved you… kid…"

Ochaco, before Mirko could stop her, looked at her left shoulder.

Nails were deeply embedded into it, driving bits of her costume into the skin and muscle, to the point that there were five little dents in her shoulder with bits of bloody fabric around the edges. She shifted and felt one nail rub against her shoulder blade.

Ochaco began to giggle.

"Tell… tell the paramedics… to save them. My dad… can use them. Don't waste…"

She continued to giggle even as she felt her eyelids grow heavy.

"Kid… kid, don't you fucking pass out on me!" Mirko shouted. "Kid!"

But Ochaco merely giggled before letting the darkness claim her.

~MC~MC~MC~

In the end the battle did not end with some epic super attack that heralded the end of the villains. There was no explosion that lit up the sky or some ground cracking tremble that threw everyone off their feet.

No… in the end the battle just kind of… petered off. The reports coming in over the comm lessened. The sounds of heroes taking on the Nomu and the villains that had been seeking out to take advantage of the situation faded, and all that was left was the distance sound of sirens as people looked about and found their lives shattered… but that said lives still existed.

'Sometimes that's the best one can hope for,' Izuku thought as he repelled down from his perch. Tenya and Aoyama had radioed earlier that they were still getting people through the tunnel and there was a chance they would have to stay there until relief support came in as already some of the citizens wanted to return home and see if their houses and businesses had survived the battle. Izuku, for his part, wasn't sure what he was going to be able to do but figured that he would find someone that needed his help.

Checking one more time to make sure his sniper rifle was secure, while also checking his hip blaster (while he preferred the larger gun he still knew that sometimes something he could draw quickly was the better option), Izuku was just ready to head out when he spotted a man walking towards him.

"Are you looking for the tunnels?" he called out, on guard in case the man was a villain. He wasn't dressed like a villain… but he wasn't exactly looking like a civilian either. He was wearing a crisp white suit with shiny black boots, looking utterly clean and professional. He had blue skin but Izuku couldn't tell if that was connected to his quirk or if it was just a mutation. His black hair was slicked back and he held himself with an utterly regal bearing, like a king walking through his kingdom, taking pleasure in all he saw. His eyes were a brilliant red and while they did make Izuku nervous they weren't malicious. No… while he sensed the man was calculating he didn't get the impression that he was wicked.

"No, though I must commend you for both offering to assist me while also remaining on guard," the man stated. "Too many would have become laxed upon the end of the violence and allowed themselves to be taken by surprise."

"My mentor taught me to always be on my guard," Izuku stated.

"Indeed." The man came to a stop before Izuku and slowly looked his armor up and down. "I must say it is a pleasure to see that armor once more. It has been a while since I saw it."

Izuku perked up. "Oh! Are you from where Rex is from?" But at once he winced, glad his helmet hid his blush. "Uh. I'm sorry. That's rude to assume everyone must know everyone. I mean-"

But the blue-skinned man held up his hand. "It is quite alright. And while I don't know this 'Rex' we are from the same place, if we both recognize the armor. It is rather common nowadays in our galaxy."

Izuku thought that an odd thing to say but pushed it aside.

"In truth I heard you were here, Mr. Midoriya, and wished to see you."

"You… you do?"

"But of course." He gave a light bow; not the Japanese style but rather the European way." I am Mitth'raw'nuruodo. But of course you may call me Thrawn."

"Which do you prefer?" Izuku asked.

"Pardon?"

"Do you… like people calling you Thrawn? Because I will if you like it or prefer it. But if you prefer your full name I can call you that." Izuku knew he was rambling but he couldn't help it; even with Rex working with him on that he still felt a bit out of sorts taking to the new arrival. "I don't mean any offense either way its just that I have met people who prefer being called by their actual names but because no one actually takes the time to learn how to say them properly they just give up and go with the nickname to save time. But it seems like that's just letting people have their way instead of correcting them, which would be better…" He trailed off.

But Thrawn smiled. "How delightful. You are of course correct: I use Thrawn because so many do have problems saying my name in full. But it also is shorter and sometimes in life such things are better and as such I have grown used to it. Thank you for asking however… it speaks highly of you."

Izuku nodded and then, quickly, he removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm. "You said you were looking for me?"

"I was," Thrawn said pleasantly. "I am a member of the Hero Commission." Izuku's eyes widened at that. "Don't worry," Thrawn said with a soft chuckle, "you have done nothing wrong. In fact you have impressed me greatly, now on three separate occasions."

"Sir?"

"The Sports Festival, of course. And I am sorry I did not attend. I really should have and next year I plan to do so. The Commission has failed in properly representing ourselves at such events… how can we hope to have proper relationships with heroes when, in their youth, we make no attempt to connect with them? Foolish, wouldn't you say?"

"Well… yes, actually," Izuku agreed. "There are a lot of questions I have about becoming a hero and I hope UA answers them but the Hero Commission might be better."

"Sadly we'll have to wait to answer them," Thrawn said, answering at least one of Izuku's unasked questions. "As for the second when I was informed you were here in Hosu, protecting these tunnels, I found myself impressed once again. Far too many youths would have rushed off demanding a chance to find glory to coat themselves in. Yet you remained here… you understood that it was far more important to protect the people." He smiled once more. "And third was our interaction and your question about my name."

And with that he paused, Izuku remaining silent.

"I have looked into you, Mr. Midoriya. You are an intelligent young man and as such, out of a courtesy to you, I will not lie nor will I blunt the truth. You deserve it in full. There are many within the Hero Commission who are displeased with you winning the Sports Festival. And there are those who disagree with UA accepting you. Let alone the thought of you being a hero." Thrawn narrowed his eyes. "They are fools. All of them. A quirk does not make a hero. In fact I have found in my time there that often it ruins a hero. You work to protect the people… that is what matters. You won the Sports Festival and earned your spot at UA. And know that while you face a long and difficult climb… there are those that wish for you to succeed."

"…thank you, Mitth'raw'nuruodo."

Upon saying his name Izuku swallowed, hoping he had judged right. Thrawn didn't waste a second, coming over and patting Izuku on the shoulder.

"I will be watching your career with great interest."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Sir Steel," Nedzu said, "we are getting reports that there is a potential fire at the Toru Toru building. You should be in visual range. Can you confirm?"

Anakin, standing on top of a grocery store after he had dealt with some thieves that were attempting to break in, tapped his ear to activate his comm. "There is smoke but I'm not seeing flames." He looked over at Rex who nodded; no flames leaping out from the roof and the Toru Toru building's windows were all dark.

"I'll alert the Black Suits that there may be a fire. I am checking the cameras-"

But Anakin cut the principal off, taking a step forward. Even though his gaze was on the building… he wasn't seeing it. Not truly. "There's something wrong…" The Force whispered to him to move and at once Anakin was racing forward, catching up with Rex who was running away from a building that had collapsed. "Rex… Dualshot… Force, I'll never get used to this… come on!" He leapt into the air, reaching out and grabbing the grapple wire that Rex had shot out in order to get to the next building and with a yank sent Rex racing past him, Anakin landing on another building and using the force to leap once more, this time getting ahead of Rex. He landed and stuck out his hand, catching the trooper before he landed.

"…sir… never… do that… again," Rex panted.

"Come on Rex, I haven't made you scream in terror in over a year. I had to make up for lost time."

"I am getting a bloody jet pack," Rex muttered. "ARC Troopers had them, how hard can they be?"

"I-"

"Not you," Rex snapped. "Power Loader can make it."

Anakin pouted but only for a moment; his attention was on the building. The smoke was still coming from it and now he could hear the familiar sound of flames. "There is a fire…"

"But it doesn't sound right," Rex finished for him. "Its not consistent." Before Anakin could say another word Rex fired his grapple and launched himself towards the top of the Toru Toru Building. The Jedi merely shook his head before making sure his helmet was in place before leaping up, grabbing onto handholds and quickly following after. "Down on the ground!" Rex shouted above him… and Anakin sped up as he heard blaster fire.

"Rex!" he yelled, flinging himself over the edge of the building and staring in shock at the sight before him.

Rex was firing upon Stain, who was flipping and twisting through the air, using his blades to actually block his blaster bolts no different than one would with a lightsaber. They were deflecting back at Rex like how they would if he had fired at someone like Obi Wan and it was make the roof far more chaotic. Lying on the ground was Endeavor, the Number 2 hero letting out a weak groan and reaching out with his hand… before it flopped back down. But most distressing was the amount of blood that was pooled around him.

Anakin moved to yank Endeavor away with the force before stopping himself. 'If I do that there is a chance I could injure him even further,' Anakin thought darkly. 'I can't risk that.' Not just because of the potential injury but because he didn't need to deal with Endeavor and his people coming after him. He had done a bit of research on the hero and knew he was impatient, brash, and LOVED to sue anyone that did anything to tarnish his image. Getting him further injured would only see Endeavor trying to send every lawyer he had after him. 'Have to get Stain away then,' Anakin thought before racing towards Stain, swinging his lightsaber at the Hero Killer.

Just like when he'd fought him as Vader the man managed to duck his blow and move to stab him with his sword. Anakin managed to avoid the strike and went in with another swing but Stain was like mercury, easily slipping away from him and moving to his side, plunging his sword forward only to suddenly stop and draw it back; if Anakin hadn't been already moving to try and get around Stain he would have found himself sliced open just below the ribs.

"I recognize that form," Stain said with a leering grin.

"Been studying up on me? Thinking of making me your next target?"

"Not at all," Stain said as he spun his blades, the two fighters eyeing each other up. "Not at all… I don't even know your name… which means you're either new… or you might have a shred of the fabric needed to weave a hero within you. I just have to see which it is… though I think I already have an idea. I remember everyone who I trade blows with."

Anakin mentally cursed himself. 'I should have guessed that this lunatic would be able to remember what I was like as Vader. My style… he must have gone over that fight between us for days, remembering exactly what moves I made.' But then the Jedi smirked under his helmet. 'Too bad I did the same thing.'

With that he launched himself again, delivering a flurry of strikes he would have normally saved for the likes of Ventress or Dooku. Ones that normally would have easily been deflected… but Stain didn't have a lightsaber. He knew he'd have to deal with the hero commission wondering why he had killed Stain… but considering the problems the Hero Killer had been causing he was willing to bet that they wouldn't throw much of a fuss at all for-

He had gone in for a false swing, driving towards Stain's neck only to then suddenly change directions and move for his hand. Take that off and he would have the battle almost won. But Stain suddenly dropped his left hand from his katana and pulled out a long hunting knife, jabbing it at Anakin who just managed to twist away… right as Stain lashed out with his foot.

One that had a blade embedded in the toe.

Anakin let out a grunt of pain as he was struck; thankfully the blade wasn't too long so it didn't hit anything more than flesh and muscle but it still burned rather badly. He grit his teeth and prepared to fight through the pain only for Stain… to bring his foot up and look his boot.

"What the-" Anakin began to say only to find himself falling to the ground, his lightsaber rolling out of his hand and deactivating. 'His quirk!' he remembered suddenly. 'Ingenium said that its blood based… that he's able to paralyze people by tasting their blood!'

"You have interfered twice now in my quest," Stain said. "But you will not-"

The Hero Killer had forgotten about Rex.

The trooper lobbed a flash bang grenade and Anakin shut his eyes just before it went off. Stain must have done the same as well as he was moving at Rex far too quickly once Anakin opened his eyes, blade raised up to take off his head. But Rex opened fire, sending bolts of plasma right at the Hero Killer. Stain may have been able to simply avoid or deflect the blows if Rex had been like most troopers and using the standard blaster… but his name wasn't Dualshot just because it sounded nice. Both of his pistols screamed as he fired off blast after blast and Stain was forced to stop and focus on trying to block the bolts lest he be hit.

'Damn it… I have to help Rex,' Anakin thought. His eyes were beginning to burn because he couldn't blink but he pushed that pain aside; he was of the desert and in the desert one didn't cry. It was a waste of water. Instead he began to focus on different parts of his body. His legs were useless. As was his left arm.

But… his right could still move.

'Of course… he froze me in place but my nerves are still sending signals to my limbs… and my prosthetic isn't affected by his quirk!' Anakin would have grinned, if he had the ability to move his lips. But his delight in that discovery quikly faded as he realized that it didn't due him much good. 'I am going to install some weapons in this thing,' he thought to himself.

"You will die here, false hero!" Stain roared. "You and every other fraud! Your blood will be the red carpet upon which the true heroes of tomorrow will walk towards their destiny! For too long you have stood in the way of them and I will now cleanse the world of your filth, so you might not leave your mark upon them. I stain myself with these crimes so that-"

Anakin tuned Stain out. 'There has to be something I can do. Come on, body! Begin to…'

He mentally slapped himself.

'My ally the Force is,' Master Yoda's voice rang out in his head, 'and powerful ally it is.'

Anakin focused and extended his right hand… and yanked hard on Stain's ankle.

The Hero Killer let out a cry of shock, stumbling. Rex smirked at that and lined up his shot, firing… only for Stain to avoid the bolt that would have gone right between his eyes. Anakin tried to snag him again but the Hero Killer was already on the move, leaping off the roof and into the chaos below.

Rex looked ready to pursue but after a moment heaved a sigh and went over to Anakin, checking him over. "Are you alright sir?"

Anakin tried to move his jaw but found it was still not responding. He was slowly getting… something from his body though. His legs no longer felt like dead weight and instead were just utterly heavy, like he had a Hutt sitting on him. With his right hand he tapped the 'I'm good' code on the ground, Rex nodding; his relief was clear in the Force.

"Fraid he got away."

"…yeah," Anakin managed to get out after a moment. "But I'll get him next time."

"What did he mean, that he had fought you before?"

"Long story," Anakin said; while Rex knew about the Vader outfit Anakin hadn't been telling him everything he was doing at night. "We can… discuss it later." He slowly pushed himself onto his knees. "That… is an annoying quirk."

"Reports said its blood base, right?"

"Yeah… not for sure why the Hero Commission didn't put out a notice that all heroes should be more heavily armored."

"Probably care more about action figure sales than safety," Rex muttered darkly and Anakin found himself agreeing. "But its wearing off."

"Yeah…" His brow furrowed. "Endeavor!" He crawled over to the hero, leaning over him only to grimace.

"Is he dead?" Rex asked as he looked over Endeavor's mangled form. There were multiple gashes along his face, including one near his eye that was so crusted with blood that Anakin couldn't tell if the socket was empty or just scabbed over thanks to the other wounds. Endeavor's costume had been torn and slashed apart and Anakin slowly began to probe the wounds, seeing if they had gotten any foreign material embedded in them.

"No… no I don't-" he began to say only for Endeavor to let out a groan. "He's still alive. Call it in." Anakin turned back to the Number 2 Hero in Japan even as Rex began to call in for medical assistance. "Careful… Stain used his quirk on you but it should have worn off by now."

"It hasn't," Endeavor growled. "Who… who the fuck are you?"

"Sir Steel."

"Never heard of you," Endeavor grunted.

"I'm new. And not that famous."

"Of course not…" Endeavor coughed. "You'll have to… sign a bunch of forms… don't think of giving an interview until my lawyers meet with you."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that is my biggest concern at the moment."

"Don't fucking sass back at me you little-" Endeavor tried to sit up only to fall back over. "Damn it all… when his quirk wears off I am going to find that bastard and burn him alive!"

Anakin though frowned. "You can use your arms?" he asked slowly.

"Of course I can!" Endeavor snapped, jabbing a finger at Anakin.

"Then why aren't you getting up?"

"Because his quirk is still affecting me! How the hell did the Comission let someone as fucking brainless as you become a hero?"

Anakin merely stepped away from Endeavor and walked over to Rex who was shaking his head. "They are working to get permission to air lift him."

"Tell them to hurry it up."

"Why?"

Anakin glanced back at Endeavor… and the blood he was still lying in. "Because I think Endeavor is paralyzed."