Chapter 29 - Ingenium
"Todoroki… you too?" Ida muttered.
"Woah, Todoroki?! What the hell are you doing here?" Ryuko shouted.
Ryuko Matoi and Shoto Todoroki currently stood firm, opposing the Hero Killer: Stain. The battlefield ahead of them had a small amount of ice coating it, a byproduct of Shoto joining the fight. Beside them were both Tenya Ida and the pro hero Manual, the latter of which was knocked out, and the former of which was currently paralyzed by the Hero Killer's quirk.
"I had more to say to you, so I came here." Shoto explained, "But… I suppose that'll have to wait."
"Alright then… be careful!" Ryuko commented, picking up her Scissor Blade, "This guy seems to be able to paralyze you by consuming your blood, so…"
In the next instant, Stain quickly vanished. Reclaiming his sword in one moment, the next, he was in front of both Ryuko and Shoto, attempting to slash them both with his sword. Before the Hero Killer could do this, Shoto reacted, however, bursting his flames on and towards Stain.
Jumping backwards to avoid Shoto's fire, the Hero Killer threw three knives, the first two aimed at Shoto and Ryuko. Seeing this, Shoto blocked the one approaching him with his ice, while Ryuko countered by blocking the approaching knife with her blade.
The Hero Killer acted a moment later, slashing through Shoto's ice with a single strike.
"Obstructing your vision when your foe's faster than you…" Stain commented, "Poor strategy."
The Hero Killer approached Shoto, attempting to slash him, but Shoto dodged backwards, barely being hit in the chest by the Hero Killer's blade. This wasn't all he had to look out for though, as the Hero Killer quickly glanced upwards, cluing in Shoto that something was above him; the third knife.
Distracted due to his attention being pulled to the airborne knife, Shoto didn't even notice Stain approaching his chest with his tongue outstretched. Fortunately for Shoto, he wasn't the only one who noticed this.
"Todoroki!" Ryuko shouted, slashing Stain to intercept his action, but the Hero Killer dodged backwards before Ryuko could land a hit on him, "You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks for covering me." Shoto responded, managing to dodge the third knife, "This guy… every move he makes sets up multiple openings. He's dangerous."
With his friends putting their lives on the line to fight for him, Ida's face held a dark look… not just because of that, but also because his heart was too tainted by revenge to let go of this fight so easily.
"Why… both of you, stop this!" Ida shouted from the ground, "I've inherited my brother's name… I have to be the one to do this! He's mine to-"
"Inherited his name? That's weird…" Shoto said, as the Hero Killer began to approach both him and Ryuko, "Cause the Ingenium I knew never made faces like that!"
Creating a glacier ahead of himself, Shoto blocked the way that the Hero Killer could approach.
"Obstructing his vision from me again?" Stain questioned, "He'll predict me slashing through this. I'll just have to go up."
Seemingly jumping off of air, the Hero Killer reached the top of the glacier. This is where the true intention of Shoto's previous move was revealed. It wasn't just made to wall off Stain's approach, it was to set up his own, as Ryuko had intercepted the Hero Killer at the top.
Unleashing a fierce slash onto the Hero Killer's head, Ryuko realized this blow would hit her foe, and turned her blade flat before she hit him. As such, instead of being slashed in half, Stain was sent plummeting to the ground.
"Ryuko, did you get him?!" Shoto asked.
"Yeah, I got him with the blunt edge of my Scissor!" Ryuko stated.
"Then is he down?"
Before Ryuko could mutter a response, the Hero Killer's eyes shone. Before he could even think, his blade took action, as the glacier that lay before him was sliced into a thousand tiny pieces.
"What the…" Ryuko began, as her foothold was broken due to the Hero Killer's last attack.
The Hero Killer then vanished from sight, and the next instant, he was in front of Shoto.
The Hero Killer then took his left hand, and stabbed Shoto in his body's left side before he could dodge. Pulling the knife he had used out of Shoto's body, the Hero Killer attempted to lick Shoto's blood, but a scarf covered his face before he could.
"Crap… missed again!" Ryuko scoffed, as nonetheless, she attempted to capitalize on this interaction. Ryuko tugged on her scarf, as she was launched towards Stain as penance.
Stain wasn't so intent to sit idly while Ryuko acted, however, as he merely cut Ryuko's cloth with the knife he held. Ryuko had still gone a decent bit ahead, however, so after landing on the ground, she then rushed towards Stain in order to hit him in the face with her Scissor Blade.
With enough time to react, the Hero Killer attempted to dodge, but he couldn't; his feet had been frozen over by Shoto Todoroki.
Ryuko launched her blade onto her foe, but Stain wasn't intent to give up that easily. Throwing a knife with his free hand at Ryuko, Ryuko was forced to change targets from Stain to the knife which she now had to dodge.
Shoto attempted to launch his flames at the Hero Killer, but he had a good countermeasure to deal with the boy already, as he licked the blade that contained Shoto Todoroki's blood, rendering him paralyzed.
"Todoroki!" Ryuko shouted, as without another word, Shoto fell to his knees.
"You fought valiantly, but relied on your quirk." Stain said, offering a short piece of advice to the boy who he had considered a promising hero, "Now… onto you."
Slicing the ice around his feet so that he could move, Stain vanished from sight yet before Ryuko could react. Stain appeared behind Ryuko, as doing a spin in the air, the Hero Killer kicked Ryuko in the back of the head, sending her forwards so that she found herself beside Shoto.
"Shit!" Ryuko muttered.
"You only stood a chance due to your teamwork with that other kid." Stain said, "Give up."
"Never!" Ryuko shouted.
"Matoi… Todoroki… please… stop…" Ida began, tears beginning to well up in his eyes, "I can't… take this!"
"You wanna stop this?! Then quit your whinin' and stand up!" Ryuko shouted, changing Ida's face for the first time since the fight began.
Stain then unleashed a move he hadn't yet showcased in this fight. Doing a flip and a kick in midair, a massive blade of compressed air began to shoot towards Ryuko.
Shocked by the approaching wave, Ryuko was just barely able to use her Scissor Blade to block the attack, and even then, it strained her massively to do so.
"My friends… while I'm on the ground, they're protecting me, bleeding for me." Ida thought to himself, a face of regret now appearing on his face, "To remind the Hero Killer of his crime… I took on my brother's name. But, nothing's changed since the Entrance Exam."
Back then, Ida had recalled his reaction to Izuku sacrificing himself at the Entrance Exam to save Ochaco from the Zero Pointer… if it weren't just an exam, he would've done the same thing as Izuku… right?
"Midoriya… I called you a rival back at the Sports Festival, but I haven't been able to match you even once!" Ida noted, "I'm pathetic! I don't deserve the name Ingenium!"
"You wanna be a hero too, Tenya?"
More than five years ago, Tenya Ida and his brother, Tensei Ida, both stood in a workshop of sorts.
"Yes, brother. Being a hero… so cool!" Tenya said, "Teach me how? For when I graduate? I want to learn how to be a hero!"
"Well… there's a lot of ways to be a hero, Tenya." Tensei replied, "Being a pro isn't the only way to go, you know…"
"Why are you a pro then?" Tenya asked.
"Well… to be popular!"
"How base!"
"Ha, I'm half joking." Tensei began, "Well, for one, grandpa and dad were heroes… so, I guess everyone expected me to be a hero as well, but… the reason I want to be a pro is pretty simple."
Tensei continued, "People who find a lost child and bring them to a lost child center… I always thought those types of people were the coolest."
"Then… why not work at a lost child center?" Tenya asked innocently.
"Don't be so literal! Are you really a robot?!" Tensei asked jokingly, "Either way, believe me when I say you'll figure this all out. You're way smarter than I was at your age, and you've got better reflexes too."
Tensei's face then burst into one of a sort of fake shock, "But, the fact that you're asking me all this… it must mean you really look up to me, Tenya! Seems my popularity is already soaring with my target demographic!"
"Hero Killer… you're right." Ida admitted to himself, as he grabbed the knife that previously lay in his left hand, pulling it out, "Compared to Matoi, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Midoriya… I'm no hero."
Stain tapped his feet on the ground ten times and seemingly teleported to Ryuko's front yet again. Stabbing his knife forwards, Ryuko was able to dodge to her right, but Stain still grazed her left cheek.
"Be that as it may…" Tenya thought, "I have to stand up!"
Redirecting his attack, Stain then attempted to move his knife to the left in order to stab Ryuko, but Tenya intercepted his blow.
"ENGINE BOOST!" Tenya shouted, kicking the Hero Killer's arm to ensure his attack wouldn't connect with Ryuko.
"Heh. Seems you took my words to heart!" Ryuko said with a smirk, "Damn... I didn't realize just how fast Ida was!"
"Never again…" Tenya thought, "Will you all leave me in the dust!"
Stain was shocked, and attempted to grab and launch another blade at Tenya. Not allowing for the Hero Killer to have even so much as an instant to recover, however, Tenya launched a fierce roundhouse kick at Stain while he was running at him, launching the villain backwards.
"He's different now!" Stain thought.
"Ida…" Shoto muttered, currently on the ground behind him and Ryuko.
"This fight had nothing to do with either of you." Tenya began, "I'm-"
"Quit your yapping." Ryuko interjected, "We're friends. Any crazy shit you get pulled into, we'll be there to pull you out."
Hearing Ryuko's confident words, Tenya couldn't help but put a smirk on his face.
"So, what do you say we finish this?" Ryuko proposed.
"I'll put forth my best effort!"
"It's no use pretending." Stain commented, "You can't change your true nature so easily… you're a fake who prioritized his own selfish desires over helping others; a cancer on this society ruled by 'heroes' that needs to be snuffed out!"
"Be that as it may, I cannot stand aside now." Tenya commented, "I will not allow my friends to spill any more blood!"
"Seems you're already back to making promises you can't keep!" Stain said, as he vanished yet again.
Nonetheless, Tenya now had undergone a pivotal shift in how he understood the fight. He was no longer attempting to selfishly and recklessly engage or kill the Hero Killer, but instead, he was here to save those who Stain targeted. No longer was he focused on who the Hero Killer had hurt, as instead, he was focusing on who the Hero Killer would try to hurt in the future... he was now making sure nobody would go through the pain he went through.
Attempting to quickly incapacitate Ryuko, the Hero Killer had vanished, reaching the front of Ryuko in an instant.
"The Hero Killer… he's different now." Shoto thought, still incapacitated, "He knows he has no idea when the pros will show up… and because of that, he's gotten serious!"
Before Stain could capitalize on this, Tenya's leg already reached the Hero Killer's head. Kicking Stain with all his might, the Hero Killer was knocked back a decent bit, but not enough.
"What is he made out of?!" Tenya questioned internally, "It's like I just hit a wall!"
Stain then threw a knife into the distance. Unsure of who it was aiming for, Ryuko and Tenya didn't make any attempts to block the attack, but upon looking back, they realized who it was for: Manual.
"RECIPRO…" Tenya began, as before Ryuko could blink, the hero had already shot off, "BURST!"
Reaching Manual in mere moments, Tenya didn't have so much as an instant to think. Extending his body out as large as he could, Tenya blocked the incoming knife with his body, which hit the hero squarely in the chest.
"Bastard!" Ryuko shouted, turning her attention back to the Hero Killer, but before she could make a move, Stain had vanished from sight yet again.
Arriving in front of Tenya, Stain charged his foot back, and began to charge up a fierce attack in his leg… and the next moment, he kicked forwards, as with a powerful slash of compressed air, a massive cut penetrated Tenya's chest… if the blow was a bit stronger, it may have even cut the hero in half.
Tenya let out a noise of intense pain and coughed up heaps of blood, as Ryuko and Shoto's eyes both widened in shock. Once more, the true danger of this situation set in for them.
Dropping to his knees in an instant, blood began to spurt out of Tenya's open wounds. Nonetheless, when Stain began to get a knife, signifying that he was approaching Manual, Tenya brought himself upwards, placing his arms outwards to protect his mentor.
"I won't… let you hurt him!"
"So be it." Stain said, but before he could do anything more, Ryuko's Scissor Blade had grazed his cheek, having been thrown at him from afar; Stain had been given his first wound from this fight.
Stain turned around, but before he could do anything, Ryuko's Scissor Blade came flying back to her, having been attached to her through her Binding Scarf.
"I see what you and Endeavor have been talkin' about up until now." Ryuko commented, "My moves, up until now, they were so slow you must've been crazy to not see through them… but trust me, you won't be able to do that any more!"
Ryuko then began to rush towards Stain, as Stain responded in turn. Approaching Ryuko at a normal speed, Ryuko first attempted a simple slash on Stain, which he blocked with his knife.
Using this as an opportunity, Stain attempted to stab Ryuko with his free hand, but Ryuko simply threw her Scissor Blade up at the Hero Killer's arm and into the air to stop the Hero Killer's thrust. A moment later, before Stain could react, Ryuko used her Binding Scarf, wrapping it around Stain's head, and launching a dropkick onto him a moment later. Bringing back her scarf back to herself while Stain was knocked back, she then caught her Scissor Blade when it fell down onto her.
Not flinching even despite Ryuko's enhanced mobility, Stain began to use even more of his power. Utilizing the aforementioned blades of air he could summon with his feet, Stain kicked the air ahead of him.
In order to dodge, Ryuko slid underneath the slash, but Stain took advantage of this. Seemingly jumping off of air yet again, Stain propelled himself towards Ryuko, his weight increasing a moment later as he fell down directly onto the sliding Ryuko.
Forced to block with her Scissor Blade, even that wasn't enough to fully stop Stain's force accumulated by gravity. Ryuko's Scissor Blade fell down onto her chest, and the wind was knocked out of her as a result.
Stain then capitalized on this, bringing out his knife and stabbing it into Ryuko's shoulder, causing her to let out a noise of pain. Stain was about to put another into Ryuko's arm, but a hero intervened before he could.
"RECIPRO… EXTEND!"
Reaching the Hero Killer in an instant, Tenya Ida had arrived yet again. He was severely injured, but he still knew he had to get up… he couldn't let Ryuko get hurt any more than she already had.
Having caught Stain off guard, Tenya was able to hit him with a fierce kick to the face… though unfortunately, like before, this was in his form where any hit he suffered felt like the attacker just hit an iron wall.
Retaliating in an instant, Stain reached out his long tongue, licking the wound on Tenya's chest… and in an instant, Tenya returned to his paralyzed state… and with all his attackers incapacitated, the battle was over. Stain had won.
"Damn it… DAMN IT!" Ryuko shouted.
"Now that everyone's down…" Stain began, "It's about time my purge truly begins."
"Please! Even if you kill me… spare everyone else!" Tenya pleaded.
"Hmph. You're in no position to give orders." Stain stated, "But… take solace in the fact that your sacrifice will forge a brighter future."
The next moment for the students of U.A. was like a blur. Without so much as a hint of mercy, Stain pulled out yet another knife from his person, and prepared himself to bring it down on Tenya's neck.
While Shoto could barely see ahead of him, he cursed his body for being unable to move, even though he had gained enough feeling to use his quirk (he had regulated the temperature on Tenya's legs for him to use Recipro Extend). Ryuko herself cursed her own weakness. If anyone else was here… could they have done more than her?
And Tenya… in his last moments, thought of his friend.
"Midoriya… Uraraka…" Tenya thought, "I'm… sorry."
And the moment after that… it happened.
Two strands of a black substance appeared around the arm where Stain held his knife. In an instant, Stain's knife was thrown out of his hands by one strand, and the other was used by a person who launched himself down towards the scene with it, placing his foot directly into Stain's person and knocking him back.
Rolling along the floor, Stain looked up with pure distaste at the one who lay before him… but the moment he saw who it was, his face changed into one of relative surprise.
"Oh… it's you."
The sight which lay before him was an odd one. It was a boy, no older than fifteen, who had messy and grimey green hair, as well as emotionless green eyes. His hero costume was just as poorly kept as well, as bunches of dirt, blood, and holes seemed to plaster the outfit which was originally green with orange accents to match. Around the boy's neck were the chipped remains of a plastic mask, and he wore shoulder pads below that. There was more, from his white gloves stained beige, to his faded green cloth mask laying down upon his back, but whatever the case… you'd never guess that this figure was a hero from his appearance alone.
"The vigilante with a 91 million berry bounty." Stain noted, a smile appearing on his face as he let out a light chuckle, "I've been waiting to be challenged by a hero such as yourself… Izuku Midoriya."
AUTHORS NOTE
A little bit of Shonen plot armor to ensure that nobody in Class 1-A dies never hurt anybody, right?
But, yeah. Deku's joined in on the fight now. We'll get to see some cool stuff this chapter, and it'll be a little bit longer than this admittedly super short chapter. See you all then, peace!
(Oh yeah also thank you hdzalex084 for your review. I appreciate it :D)