Chapter Forty-Eight
Moving through the city at sunset was different than doing the same during the day, Midoriya reflected, as he followed Ms. Mirko over the rooftops of Hosu. His mentor had come to his house, and after his mother had almost had a panic attack, they'd left to go patrol this city. Moving around in the day had been just like they'd done before, but at night there was a different feel to it. More dangerous, like villains could hide in every shadow.
And they'd found a couple, but, from the way Ms. Mirko was complaining, she'd expected more.
It was all Midoriya could do to keep up with her, at first, as the woman bound across the rooftops, though she'd stop and look around, nose twitching in irritation, trying to find something she wasn't able to locate.
And Midoriya knew what, or who, that was.
Stain.
The Hero Killer had attacked people in Hosu, had attacked Ingenium in Hosu, had attacked Ida's brother in Hosu . The same Ida who Midoriya had seen walking around an hour ago with Manual. He hadn't really thought about it, hadn't wanted to think about it, but Midoriya was starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, Ida's statement of wanting to mentor under Manual to improve his public relations skills hadn't been entirely truthful.
Ms. Mirko, having spotted something in the distance, took off once more and Midoriya, keeping One-for-All running at a constant flow, followed her as she leapt a weaving path over the rooftops, the boy having to cut across other buildings to try to catch up.
He'd tried to follow her exactly at first, but even with All Might's Quirk, he couldn't manage it for longer than a few minutes at a time before he start to hurt. However, her paths always curved enough that he could split the difference, leading a little past her, and keep up. He'd thanked her after the first time she'd stopped, only for her to scoff, saying she wasn't doing it to help him, that she was 'Just looking for some fun', but she'd smiled as she turned away, and he had a feeling that Ms. Mirko wasn't the type to admit when she was being nice.
Seeing where she was going, he headed for that direction, jumping high and almost running into a man on a rooftop. He was smoking, and was a heteromorph, a full one like Tokoyami was, only instead of a black bird he had a black wolf's head, with green eyes that regarded the boy with interest, seemingly recognizing him.
"Sorry!" Midoriya apologized, darting around the man who'd gone completely still in surprise, probably at seeing the winner of the Sports festival. Midoriya was still getting used to having random people come up and praise him for his performance.
The wolf-man, who'd been overlooking the city, clad in a tailored suit, shrugged. "Don't worry," he replied, voice not growly at all, though with a bit of an odd accent, watching the hero-in-training as Midoriya jumped across the rooftop, spotted Ms. Mirko, and launched himself forward, heading for his mentor.
Glancing back, seeing the smoker watching him intently, the green-haired boy smiled and waved, getting a nod from the businessman before he was out of sight, the rising edge of the building between them. Midoriya spun about in mid-air to land in a roll from which he launched himself forward again, at the correct angle to meet up with his mentor as she slowed, looking around once more.
"How ya doin', kid?" the Pro-Hero asked, watching him as he bled off his momentum, slowing to a jog, coming to a stop next to her.
"I can keep going," he replied instantly, and she smiled, nodded, and took off again. He launched off after her once more, as she moved a bit slower than she normally did, looking around with each leap, and he tried to do the same. The city passed by quickly underneath them, alleys flashing by so fast it was hard to process what was in every single one, but Ms. Mirko seemed to be doing so with ease, so he tried harder, attempting to see them as she did.
The moon rose higher and higher in the sky as they kept up their patrol without stop, falling into a constant pattern of movement and mindfulness. It got easier and easier the more he did it, getting used to leaping like she was, making less mistakes, either over or under-shooting, the more he travelled the city. Time slipped by, until a flicker of something caught his eye.
Fire? he thought, spotting a group of people mustering in a back alley, large trucks nearby, though when he looked again, it was fire he saw, but an enormous man with flames rising off his shoulders. Endeavor!
"He's here?" Ms. Mirko scoffed beside him, leaping to land on a rooftop overlooking the group, Midoriya coming up beside her a moment later. "Then why did they ask me to. . . pfff, fight-stealing jerk."
The number two hero, as if he could sense the two of them staring, looked up back at them, before sneering and turning away. Midoriya saw Todoroki down there, and waved cheerily at his classmate, the other boy staring back awkwardly, lifting his hand a little to half-wave back, before Endeavor said something that made his classmate jump and turn away as well.
"C'mon, Midoriya," his mentor said, leaping away as the Endeavor Hero Agency deployed, and he followed.
Catching up to her, the green-haired boy asked, "But if we're both after the same Villain, shouldn't we work together?"
The Pro glanced back his way, and laughed. "No flies on you, kid. Nah, hot-head's not the sharin' type. 'Sides, this way we're doing better than we would've together. . ." she stated, with the kind of trailing off tone that told him there was a reason for that, and she wanted him to figure it out.
Leaping after her, he considered the problem. It seemed obvious that if they were working together, they'd be better able to coordinate the search for Stain, if he was even out there tonight. Midoriya hoped he wasn't, hoped he'd moved on, or would take a week off, not because he didn't want the Villain to get away, of course, but because he wanted Ida to be far away from the Villain that'd hurt his brother.
Shaking his head, Midoriya refocused. It seemed obvious that working with the other heroes was better, but Ms. Mirko was an experienced Pro, so it was just as obvious that, for some reason, it wasn't. With a larger team, they could cover more area, more angles of escape, but that only really worked if you knew where the Villain was, and they didn't. Heck, he and Ms. Mirko had probably crossed the city six times over in the last few hours, because they had no idea where Stain was.
And they weren't the only ones looking, not by a long shot.
And Stain still hadn't been caught.
"If we don't coordinate, it's harder to predict us, harder to avoid us," Midoriya thought out loud, but he caught Ms. Mirko's grin, telling him he was correct. "Stain's good at escaping, the fact that he's still out there shows that, so he knows how people would try and catch him, but if there's multiple groups, they'd do the stupid thing, which is the smart thing, if the person wants you to do the smart thing, which is normally stupid."
The Pro nodded. "And big groups like that? Ya can see 'em comin' a mile away. But us? We can just hop in and kick his ass."
"Understood," Midoriya nodded. Endeavor was powerful, but he was usually called in to handle known threats. He was more of a battle hero than a patrol hero, and definitely not a detective hero. His agency had both of those, but sightings of the Number Two were rare outside of fights against villains and the rare PR events. Ms. Mirko on the other hand was known for constantly patrolling, but never stopping, as she could be seen hopping all over the place, which was one of the reasons she'd risen as high in the rankings as she had, just like Hawks.
Hawks. . . Midoriya wondered how Denki was doing. He hoped his friend was doing well. Were they friends? Was that too presumptuous? He thought they were friends, but he hadn't asked. Should he? Would that be too presumptuous? Maybe if he-
Ms. Mirko cuffed him upside the head. " Focus, kid," she chided. "Just 'cause we're not in scrap doesn't mean you can stuff your ears full o' cotton. Now come on, we'll do this for a couple more hours and call it a night. Then we'll stop for dinner, my treat! There's a place here that's supposed to have some primo carrot-cake."
"I, ah, yeah!" he smiled, nodding quickly. "However long you want to go, I'll be there Ms. Mirko!"
She grinned, turning to leap again. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Midoriy-"
In the distance, the sound of an explosion tore across the city, both their heads snapping over as a plume of fire and smoke rose high into the air. "Follow me," Ms. Mirko ordered, all business and taking off at speed.
Midoriya pushed himself to follow her, the two of them shooting forward as the rooftops blurred underneath them, coming to a stop as they overlooked a plaza where fires burned, two enormous heteromorphs attacking everything in sight while other heroes tried to fight them. One hero, Native, was caught by a large blue-grey fist and sent flying, the Villain who did so looking just like Nomu had, only lanky instead of muscular, and with four eyes in his exposed brain.
"You know what these things are, Midoriya?" Ms. Mirko demanded, looking over the chaos as the other Villain roared, firing a laser from his mouth that cut cars in half, but didn't hit any of the fleeing innocents.
"Someone that looked similar is who attacked us at the USJ. Maybe they're Nomu's family? Nomu was strong enough to fight All Might, and the guy leading the League of Villains said he had multiple Quirks," the teen rattled off. "They have exposed brains, like Nomu did, and Nomu could regenerate, but I'm not sure about these guys."
The Pro beside him frowned. "Multiple. . . Okay then. Guess that means it'll be a good fight. You're not up to this yet, kid. Help others get to safety, I got this." When he didn't respond, she turned to give him a piercing look. " Midoriya."
He quickly nodded. "Y-Yes, I will!" he promised, and she launched herself down in a falling kick, driving the grey-skinned Villain to the ground, the asphalt cracking under it, but it was tough, and turned, too-long arms reaching with lightning speed. However, it wasn't quite fast enough to catch her as she leapt away, bouncing off a lamppost before coming back for another kick.
Looking around, a large, dark-skinned Villain with no eyes at all, just a lower jaw and all brain, picked up a car and hurled it towards a couple that were trying to flee, the woman having fallen, and Midoriya was in motion before he even realized what was going on, landing in front of them and pulling a gloved hand back with a call of "Smash!"
Slamming a fist into the front of the car, the entire thing exploded, but did so away from both him and the civilians, who stared, dumbstruck. Hand smarting from spiking All Might's Quirk, Midoriya looked back, terrified at what he'd just done and what would've happened if that hadn't worked, but, remembering his main mentor's words, he smiled, even if his voice was a little hesitant. "T-That was a little close. Maybe you should go somewhere else?"
The man shook his head, helping the woman to her feet, the latter of whom told Midoriya, "Thank you!" before both of them ran off as fast as they could, passing by a pair of heroes in matching dark-purple outfits, whose names Midoriya couldn't recall in the moment, and Manual.
"Ida!" The Pro Hero called, looking around, shaking his head as he rushed past Midoriya. "Damn, now's not the time to run off!"
Ida? the teen thought, looking around, not seeing any sign of his friend. Jumping up high, bouncing up an alley, he took a position on a ledge to try and spot his classmate, but all he saw was running innocents, fighting heroes, and fire. His friend was a hero, just as much as he was, and should've been running towards the danger, or helping people escape, but he was nowhere to be seen, and Midoriya had an idea of where his fellow student had gone, even if he desperately, desperately hoped he was wrong.
Ms. Mirko darted around one of the Villains, ducking underneath as it shot a beam that carved into a storefront, an explosion off going behind her. Not stopping, she leapt forward to launch a rising kick that closed the Villain's mouth with a ringing clang, the beam cutting off in an instant. As she came around for another kick, though, she had to leap backwards as another Villain, with an exposed brain like the others, only with wings, swooped down to grab her. It missed, and her return kick hurled it high up into the air, but it flapped and rose even higher, seeming to disappear into the night sky in an instant.
Looking around, the innocents had gotten clear, and the Villains seemed content to fight the heroes, leaving Midoriya with a choice. Did he stay here, just in case, or did he try and find Ida? He wasn't a hero, not yet, but. . . that hadn't stopped him before.
Nodding to himself, he looked out across the city that he'd spent the last several hours canvassing. Stain never attacks in populated areas. He focuses on back-alleys, where he can catch heroes on patrol.
And with everyone running around, fighting the Villains, it'd be all too easy to grab someone running to help, or someone running away from the fight, looking for Stain himself, and be sure no one would interrupt him. Midoriya knew that the city had several sections that were a bit empty like that. During the day, there'd be some people working, but now, at night, there wouldn't be a soul for blocks.
Moving like he'd been taught, and pushing himself hard to cover as much ground as possible, Midoriya bounded across the city, looking for the flash of crimson that was supposed to be the Hero Killer's distinct color, the villain costumed in a way that was a mockery of the heroes he killed.
It was only his training that let him sense the attack, something dropping down on him from above, silently. Acting on instinct, Midoriya turned and lashed out with a OfA empowered kick, just like Ms. Mirko would've, and just like she'd trained him to do when she jumped him from above.
The winged villain, its skin the same color as the sky, missed its grab and was slammed backwards as his hasty kick slammed into the monster's leg. Its skin shifted, dropping back to the beige-ish it'd been before as it flapped up silently, its mouth covered in a gas mask- no the bottom half of its face was a gas mask, and it gazed at him with its wide, lidless eyes emerging from its exposed brain.
As Midoriya fell, he spun himself to the side, shifting his path to land on a rooftop while doing his best to keep his eyes on the Villain, who seemed to ripple as it disappeared into the sky, like a giant chameleon. Is that his Quirk? The teen thought, only, as he'd told Ms. Mirko, he'd heard that Nomu had multiple Quirks, and wondered what else this Villain could do.
No, I need to find Ida! he thought, turning as he hit the rooftop with a roll and launching himself up into the air, looking down instead of up. He'd sensed the flying Villain before, maybe he'd heard it? He didn't think he had, but he'd somehow known. Shaking his head, he pushed away his fears. He didn't have time to think about that now; if the Villain attacked him again, he just had to hope he'd be able to tell before it was too late. No, he'd done it before, he'd do it again, but he couldn't let the Villain stop him from helping his friend!
Looking down, trying to see every alley as he sped past, he desperately searched everything, until he heard a voice call in the distance. A voice full of frustration, and pain, and despair. A voice that called out for help. A familiar voice.
Ida! Midoriya thought, turning on a dime and launching himself in that direction, searching for the- There! Oh no!
Ida was down on the ground, what had to be Stain standing above him, a shirtless man slumped against the alley wall. The Hero Killer lifted his sword up, preparing to stab down and kill Ida, so, to get his attention as Midoriya jumped down on a collision course with the Villain, foot swinging in a OfA empowered kick, the green haired boy yelled: "Luna Fall!"
Stain paused, glancing up at the yell, and leapt away just in time, trying to bring his sword around, but, as Ms. Mirko had done the first time Midoriya had tried just that thing in order to dodge her kick, the boy hit the ground, cracking the pavement, and immediately twisted into a roundhouse kick that caught the Villain in the side. The Hero Killer was thrown backwards from the force of the blow, bouncing off the alley wall and pulling himself in tight as he rolled, quickly coming out of it with his sword ready to parry a follow-up attack two dozen feet away.
Glancing at what Midoriya recognized as Bullrush, the Pro Hero was still slumped over, eyes half-closed, and not moving, but breathing, thank goodness. Midoriya kept Stain in his field of vision as Ida, still on the ground, asked, the words pained, "You found him too? But how?"
"I didn't find him, I found you," Midoriya corrected. "Stain likes places like this, so if you were looking for him, here's where you'd be. But we can't fight him, we need to get help from the Pros! You head towards the street, I'll grab Bullrush and follow you!"
" I-I can't move my body!" Ida bit out, and Midoriya was tempted to look back to see if the injuries were worse than he'd thought. He'd seen the blood start to pool, but if it was that bad. . . but the student kept his eyes on Stain. The Villain was an unknown, and if he was anything close to as fast as Ms. Mirko, he'd be on Midoriya in an instant. "It must be his Quirk!" Ida said, confirming Midoriya's suspicions. "Since he cut me, I've been paralyzed!"
Watching Stain, who seemed oddly content to let them just talk, Midoriya picked out the knives all over the Villain's outfit, as well as the spiked boots. "So cutting is how he activates his power. Or piercing, but that's close enough," he said, thinking out loud. That made things worse. If Ida was just hurt, he could've limped away while Midoriya held off Stain, as best he could, before grabbing Bullrush and escaping, but if they were both paralyzed, he might be able to carry both, but it'd slow him down and make him easy prey for the Hero Killer.
"Midoriya, please! Don't get involved! This doesn't have anything to do with you!" Ida begged, trying to protect his friend, and, while heroic, Midoriya was a hero too, and heroes protected people.
Stain, who had slowly lowered his guard, stood up from the crouch he'd been in, though he was still hunched over. The man's face looked. . . wrong, until Midoriya realized he didn't have a nose at all. Heteromorph? the boy thought, as Stain spoke for the first time.
"You showed up to save your friend's life. You even made a big entrance. But I have a duty to kill him and this so-called Pro. When your friend chose to fight me, it guaranteed that the weaker of us would be culled," the Villain pronounced, with such complete seriousness that it sent a shiver down Midoriya's spine, but, after several days with Ms. Mirko, he'd gotten used to someone saying they were going to hurt you, and meaning it. Heck, he'd grown up with it, and, while he felt that the Hero Killer meant every word, and that meant Midoriya was going to have to fight the Hero Killer, well, that's what he'd need to do. "So, what will you do?" Stain asked, staring straight at the teen, curious, but also ready.
There was one thing that set Stain apart, though, and that was his eyes. Kacchan had been brash and belligerent, All Might had been strong and supportive, Ms. Mirko had been an odd cross between the two, but Stain? Stain's eyes were those of a fanatic, so different from the casual cruelty of the Villains from the USJ, completely devoted to his beliefs, and who'd clearly hold nothing back to achieve victory.
I can't win this, Midoriya thought, as, behind his back, he sent his location to everyone in his class, hoping that someone would get it, and understand, and tell their mentors. If they did, he didn't have to win this, didn't have to take down the Hero Killer, he only had to hold him off long enough for help to arrive, and that, that Midoriya could do.
"Listen to me!" Ida commanded, as Midoriya slipped his phone back into his belt-pouch, making sure to hide the movement from Stain. "Stand down. Run away. I told you, this has nothing to do with you!"
The green-haired teen wanted to believe that Ida was just trying to protect him, but, with what Ida had done, Midoriya had his doubts. Taking him at his word, Midoriya replied, "If you really believe that, then why are you trying to become a hero in the first place!?"
Letting out a deep breath, Midoriya shifted his stance, arms up, legs slightly bent, ready to fight, as Stain, utterly still, looked on, almost puzzled. In one way, Midoriya could understand this wasn't the smart thing to do. This was the Hero Killer, and he hadn't even graduated yet, hadn't even finished his first year at UA! But being a Hero wasn't just doing what you were hired to do, what you were trained to do, capturing Villains and protecting the innocent only when it was your job. No, All Might was absolutely right when he said: "Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a Hero!"
At the teen's pronouncement, Stain pulled his head back in surprise, before breaking out into a wide grin. "Good," he declared, even as Midoriya charged forward, fully cowled in All Might's Quirk, the Villain swinging his chipped katana in a wide arc.
A too wide arc.
Days spent fighting Ms. Mirko made Midoriya paranoid, and having seen a leg just as deadly as that blade coming for his head had helped him see past it, spotting the Hero-Killer's other hand dart down to a sheathed knife at his waist.
"No!" Tenya screamed. "If you get cut-!"
But Midoriya was already moving, stomping hard to ground his momentum to nothing and bring himself up short, ducking under the sword's blade he yelled, "Detroit!" throwing himself to the left, even as Stain's knife left its sheath and sliced out at him, where he would've been if he hadn't stopped. Hitting the alley wall, Midoriya bounced off it, just like Ms. Mirko, and with a call of "Smash!" slammed the Hero Killer in the side, feeling the knives that made a pseudo-armor snap in their sheaths and sending Stain flying further down the alley.
His first instinct was to follow Stain, keep him away from the others, but, as the Hero Killer again recovered before he stopped moving, this time with a blind slash with both his weapons that probably would've caught the teen if he tried, Midoriya's caution paid off. He wasn't fighting to win, he was fighting to stall, which was very different.
It was something Ms. Mirko hadn't talked about much, not needing to wait for someone else to finish off her foe almost as much as All Might didn't have to, but she'd taught him how to in case they got separated and she needed to fight something else first, since Villains usually operated in small groups. He wished he had her number, as he would've just called her directly, but he hadn't even thought of it until now.
Stain charged him, breaking Midoriya out of his thoughts, throwing two daggers forward, making the teen dodge and leap backwards as the Hero Killer swung out, knife and sword weaving a deadly pattern. If he could, Midoriya would've fully retreated, using the hit-and-run attacks he'd been training the last few days, but with Bullrush and Ida at his back, he couldn't.
So instead, Midoriya, glad his gloves were cut-proof, tried to move to the Villain's side, using his own speed to try and even out the difference between them in skill. But, every time he tried, Stain was there, ready, forcing Midoriya to break off, or the teen would to try and slap away one blade to make an opening, only for the other to come slicing in for his outstretched arm before he could get a hit in.
Sweating, it was all Midoriya could do just to keep up, knowing that Stain could take his hits, as he'd shown twice now, but a single cut would be enough to end the fight right there. Pushed to the edge of his ability, body aching as he pulled more and more on OfA to keep up, more than he could handle comfortably, knowing he couldn't do so for long, he fought. While he was now working under a time-limit before his body gave out, the teen was able to replace his lack of fighting skill with power.
But only for so long.
Sweeping a leg low, Midoriya managed to connect, knocking the Hero Killer off his feet, and darted in for a punch as he reflexively called out "Detroit!", spiking OfA as he punched, slamming a fist right into Stain's side, feeling the man's ribs break under his hand, sending the Villain flying down the alley like he was fired from a cannon.
However, as he did so a hot line of pain ran down Midoriya's arm, a feeling completely unlike when he overstressed his own body with All Might's Quirk.
I've been cut! The teen thought, before frowning in confusion. But I'm not paralyzed?
Groaning, the Villain got to his feet. "You're good, kid, better than most, but you're not powerful enough," he commented, twirling his sword around, and raising the bloody edge to his lips, an unnaturally long and thick tongue reaching out to the red-coated metal.
No, it's my blood he needs! Midoriya realized. Now that his arm was bleeding freely from the long, but shallow cut along his arm, the teen knew that he'd already lost.
However, surprising them both, a bolt of flame flew over Midoriya's shoulder, right for Stain, who reflexively blocked the projectile with his sword, sending it off to the side of the alley where it exploded. Stain glanced down at his now steaming sword, the blood burned off, before giving a little shrug and looking over Midoriya's shoulder.
Risking it, Midoriya looked as well, to see Todoroki, his left side ablaze, staring at them both, holding his phone in his right hand. "Midoriya," the other boy said, almost blasé despite the desperate situation. "I got your message, but in the future you need more details. A few minutes more, and you might've been in trouble."
AN: As always, the next three chapters are up on !