Chapter 26: Clash of ideals
Stain lurked on the rooftops of buildings in search of his next target, of the next fake he would purge. The meeting, if it could be called that, of earlier that night has been quite the disappointment but it thankfully hadn't taken long. After being returned by that masked boy to his original location, the Hero Killer got back to his duty, even while his mind returned to that moment over and over.
The boy that tried to be a leader didn't have conviction, at least, not yet. He was lost, with the drive to accomplish but without a clear goal to achieve, that could change but until it did, Stain didn't want anything to do with the hand-covered villain and his League of Villains.
The other one, the masked boy, had a goal, but in truth, he didn't want to reach it. Like an old knight clinging to dying honor, he fought for a meaningless ideal, maybe not even his own. Stain didn't see potential in him, only someone that needed a hero, a true hero, but was failed by the rotten society the world was cursed with. Maybe one day he would be saved when Stain finally reformed the world.
Away from the blade-covered fanatic, Shigaraki awaited the moment to enact what he liked to call a pro gamer move. Watching Stain with his binoculars, keeping his pinky from touching it and disintegrating the equipment by accident, Shigaraki awaited his opportunity. Vanitas at the side, leaning on an AC unit, finally got bored enough to ask, "Okay I'll bite, what's your brilliant idea now?"
Shigaraki grinned, "Well, as you asked so politely, I'll tell you. The reason I wanted Stain to join was not just because he's an elite unit but also for his rep value. There's a lot of people that eat his 'only true heroes' crap, people that could be useful, so if he joins the other psychos would too."
Vanitas raised an eyebrow, even if Shigaraki couldn't see it because of his helmet the doubt was clear, "But he didn't join, so now what?"
"They don't know that." Shigaraki's smirk grew, "If it looks like he joined, for example, if a Nomu and Heartless attack happen at the same time he is ambushing a hero, keeping other pesky heroes away while he acts, it would sure look like we're a team wouldn't you say? And if a tragic accident or a bastardly hero takes him down, well, too bad."
Vanitas too was smirking now, "That's not a bad plan Handsy, I'll admit that, but you're sure it's gonna work?"
Shigaraki snorted, "Of course not, but that's why I have plan C just in case."
The masked boy would never admit it, but he was intrigued, "And what's that."
"Ah, that would be simple my dear companion," Shigaraki explained, his ace up his sleeve, causing Vanitas to give a cruel laugh. On the other rooftop, Stain moved, diving after an unsuspecting hero below, "Mission start, call the Heartless." The villain pulled a burn phone, "Kurokiri, release the Nomus!" Shigaraki crackled, being prepared was more fun than he thought.
—
Tenya was starting to think he wouldn't go after Stain, simply for the fact he hadn't seen a hair of him since the week started. It was already the night of the third day of internship and he hadn't seen a single incident or criminal.
As if the universe heard the boy and decided to make him suffer, the wall right next to him exploded. Tenya was thrown to the ground along with his mentor, quickly getting up he saw the one responsible for it. A Fire Core like the ones Mashirao faced at the USJ, the beady yellow eyes staring ominously at the young speedster. He only had one second to panic before the implications hit him, that's not all that did it, more Heartless started to pop up, a Soldier lunged at Tenya and knocked him down.
Manual pushed the Heartless from atop his intern, "What are those things?!"
The youngest Iida stood up a second time, "Those are Heartless, if they are here then the League of Villains also is." He started to rev his Engines, the plating of his improved suit now had a cooling system that helped Tenya to keep them from stalling, now he could properly see for how long if nothing else.
The water-themed hero sighed, "And there goes our quiet night. Any tips on how to beat those things?"
"We can't." Tenya admitted bitterly, "The only person that can permanently dispatch them is one of my classmates, and he's not in Hosu."
"Oh, crap." Manuel doused a Fire Core that was getting too close for comfort, "There's nothing we can do?"
"We can only keep defeating them and wait for them to go away, Heartless only work on instinct so they retreat after realizing we are not prey." The classes on what to do in that situation from Izuku sure were coming in handy now. Tenya kicked another Soldier away but more and more kept appearing left and right.
Manuel pushed more water at the burning monsters to keep them away, already seeing more flying through the city's dark skyline, "This is gonna be a long night."
The hero didn't know how right he was
Fifteen minutes later and they hadn't put a dent in the crowd of enemies, but that was not Tenya's main concern. He knew Stain was there in Hosu, and with all the chaos happening, it would be the perfect opportunity for the murderer to strike again. Tenya couldn't let him get away, not after what he did, the boy needed to go after him now!
Just as he completed his thoughts, a group of Defenders, large armored Heartless carrying shields with three-eyed dog faces on them, materialized between the intern and his mentor.
Manuel shouted over the battlefield noise, "Tenya! Run, it's getting too dangerous here! Find somewhere safe and call backup, I'll try to lose those things!" The hero made a water whip and started to flail it around, getting the Heartless' attention, "Come uglies, I'm tastier." He ran, the mob at his tail.
Tenya could have followed orders, he could have asked for help, but the dark feeling in his chest grew heavy and he turned away. Speeding into the dark alleyways of Hosu, the young knight promised himself that it ended today.
—
Izuku gasped, seeing Hosu on fire from his spot on the train, the hole opened by the Nomu giving him a perfect view of the Heartless flying through the city and covering it in their dark presence.
"Look out!" Gran came flying and pushed Izuku away, saving him from the Nomu that decided to come back for round two.
"Gran Torino, there's Heartless in Hosu!" Izuku flipped himself back up and dashed at the Nomu. The Master summoned his Keyblade and charged it with One For All, with a heavy strike he threw the monster out of the train again and into the tracks before following right after.
Gran blitzed out of the train and at the Nomu, burying his feet on the thing's exposed brain, "What do you think you're doing brat?!"
"The Heartless, only a Keyblade can beat them for good, if I don't go there to help right now, there won't be a city tomorrow!" Izuku followed his mentor's assault with an offensive of his own, with a blinding fast series of strikes that left the bio-weapon dizzy.
"Dammit, fine! I give you permission to fight brat, now let's stop wasting time." Gran took a deep breath and rocked himself at the Nomu boot first. The propulsion was enough to carry both of them flying at the burning city below.
Izuku concentrated, he needed only a little more. The ghostly feeling of a hand on his head was followed by Nana's voice, "You can do it, take a deep breath, feel the air in your lungs, feel the power inside you, and go." The young hero felt twenty percent of the incredible power flowing through his veins flare, he took a step and flew.
First, he floated, then quickly picked up speed, until Izuku was a green comet crossing the night. Float made him light as a feather while One For All pushed him forward, in a second Izuku was already over Hosu.
A group of Wyverns manifested from the Darkness, the red-ish draconic Heartless roaring. Izuku flipped his Keyblade into a backward grip and flooded it with the energy of his quirk, then he gave it form. With a flourish, the young Master sent the chain formed beside Heroes Rising's Keychain at his enemies. It was an emerald green construct, looking completely solid, the links were a four-sided diamond format, and the tip an arrowhead with a fleur-de-lis for a base connecting it to the chain, making it somewhat heart-shaped. The sharp spearpoint buried itself into a Wyvern, with a flick Izuku pulled the monster close and bisected it with his Keyblade still in reverse.
Using the chain like a whip, Izuku spun, twisted, and danced his way through the air, each movement causing the construct to snap and cleave Heartless in half. The green warrior nailed a perfect three-point landing, the construct on his weapon dissolving into motes of light, looking up, he saw the freed hearts floating away.
The moment of peace was short-lived, a second later, a battalion of Neo Shadows and Large Bodies appeared. Izuku looked around and sighed, Danger Sense was going crazy with everything happening around him and the boy didn't have enough experience to ascertain what most of it meant, having only gotten the quirk. He would need to train with it more later, for now, he was just going to say Hosu was dangerous and move on, "You know, that's really not how I imagined my internship going." Izuku flared his power, another construct forming on Heroes Rising, this one a blade over its original one but more than two meters long, "I was expecting something different from usual, it would be more challenging." With his words said, the Keyblade Master moved.
Every slash cleaved through the Dwellers of Darkness by the handful, even the normally too tough to hit front of the Large Bodies offered little to no resistance. The quick-footed Neo Shadows barely could react before Izuku vanquished them, and when Red Nocturnes and Crimson Jazzes appeared, the floating bell-shaped red Heartless trying to rain fire on him, they couldn't even complete their spells before being taken out by Izuku and the newly unlocked Float.
Touching back down, hearts floating away all around, Izuku sighed. All those Heartless were gone and it didn't clear the air of Darkness even a little bit.
Cotton puffed into existence at his side, giving a determined cry. More Dream Eaters materialized, in all shapes and forms but giving equal resolute sounds. Izuku smiled, "Knew I could always count on you guys. C'mon, let's save this city!" The Spirits roared.
Izuku jumped and Floated away, knowing his friends could handle it. Cotton cried, the others responded in kind and broke out into groups, rushing to where they could help. Shiryu and Tesla followed Cotton as the Tama Sheep barreled down the street. Shiryu gave a snarky-sounding roar and Tesla made a sound too similar to a chuckle.
The squad of Spirits quickly reached their goal, an intersection full of Heartless. Heroes tried and failed to defeat the monsters, incapable of keeping them down for good.
Cotton gave an honestly adorable sounding roar and rushed to the Heartless, more Fire Cores and some Assault Riders, who barely had the time to react before a fluffy bowling ball of dreams and chaos sent them flying. Shiryu growled and leaped up, the dragon turned into a blur of sharp claws as he turned the dark beings into minced meat.
Tesla helped the confused heroes to evacuate the innocent people still in the combat zone when a Metal Troll manifested. The Electricorn huffed, annoyance clear to the people around him. The Spirit raised his lightning bolt-shaped horn, sparks coming from it, before snapping his head down. A pillar of electricity came from the heavens and obliterated the giant Heartless, carbonizing the asphalt where it was a moment ago.
While the trio of Dream Eaters that helped Izuku on his grand test did what they did best, other Spirits were also making waves in the battles through Hosu.
Manual ran for his life as the Soldiers followed in his heels, only for a Tatsu Steed and a Tatsu Blaze to come from above. The blue seahorse used bubbles and high-pressure water to not only cleave through the enemies but also put out many of the fires on the street, the red one shrugging off the fire attacks from the Fire Cores that tailed behind for long enough for the blue one to drown them too.
"The night just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Manual chuckled, relieved for the timely rescue.
In another place, a building's side exploded, throwing debris on the streets below. As people ran, trying to get away, a man fell. He looked up, at the concrete chunks fast approaching, and closed his eyes. A bang sounded, when the man opened his eyes, he saw a big and colorful panda with a cape holding tons of debris over their heads. The Kooma Panda gave a happy cry that sounded like bamboo wind chimes fluttering and boulders crumbling.
In yet another disaster site, a group of heroes tried to contain a phalanx of Mechanitaurs stampeding down the road, the metal monsters got stopped cold on their tracks as a Skelterwild crashed in front of them. The skeletal dinosaur stomped, causing a dark and purple wave to rob the Heartless of their gravity before a chilling cold breath flash froze them all. A swipe of the Spirit's club tail shattered them into bits.
—
A lone figure, at the top of one of Tokyo's skyscrapers seemingly stared at nothing, "Huh, good to see the kids having fun." The masculine voice was the only indication the figure was a man, "And our little hero is doing fine, all things considered. I just hope he can do it in the end."
Another figure, using an identical black coat, stepped beside the first, "You sure put a lot of hope in him."
"What can I do? We are so alike."
The second figure snickered, "You're both chaos gremlins?"
The first one's pout was audible in his voice, "That's mean. No, it's just that both of us have a plan."
The second one snorted, "May the stars have mercy on us all."
—
Izuku zoomed through the city, Floating above the streets and taking down all Heartless on sight. The young hero just finished another mob when one more formed. Izuku quickly tackled a Bookmaster out of the air. The mage Heartless was doomed by its spellbook, as Izuku used its weight to smash his enemy on the ground all the harder.
Focusing his magic, Izuku raised his Keyblade, "Thundara!" Lightning fell and took out the Crimson Jazzes thanks to the extra power from One For All. The boy huffed, "There's no end to them." As if to prove his words, a tower of darkness formed behind him, and from it, a Trickmaster arose. The Heartless towered over Izuku with its legs unfolded, the maracas on each hand set alight.
"I had to say it." Izuku sighed. Powering up, the Keyblade Master focused the magic on his legs, and the reinforced boots, his design aptly dubbed Tremor Greaves, started to light up. As the indentation on the sides of the shins and over the feet let out rays of yellow light, Izuku grinned, "Thunder Tremor!" He stomped down, yellow lines spread through the floor, then it blew up, violently. Electric arcs tore the street apart and held its pieces afloat for a long moment, jumping from one piece of the road to the next before it all finally came crashing down.
At the epicenter of the destruction, Izuku blinked, looked down at his boot, and blinked again, "That's… a little more potent than I was expecting." He chuckled awkwardly, "At least the Trickmaster is gone."
"And everything in twenty meters of you too." Nana sighed exasperatedly, "Didn't I say to test that before using." It wasn't a question.
"Well, it's field-tested now! So let's go before someone asks why there's a crater on the street." Izuku rushed away, jumping up and flying away from the scene. At the top of a building now, Izuku started to look around for somewhere else to go, be it to take out Heartless or help people evacuate the streets when a piercing feeling crossed his heart.
The boy gasped, "Tenya!" He could feel it, his friend was in danger! Izuku rushed from rooftop to rooftop, trying to locate the youngest Iida.
"Izuku! Calm down, you won't find him like that!" Nana's words did little to soothe Izuku's panic.
"He's here somewhere, in the middle of all these Heartless and… Stain." The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Stain was there, probably taking advantage of the chaos, and Tenya… had gone after him knowing just that. Izuku needed to get to Tenya right now! Before he killed himself.
The young hero tried to focus on the connection of their hearts, only for the Darkness that was still all but dripping off the city walls to get in the way. Danger Sense still buzzed on his head like a beehive, giving so many signals Izuku didn't know how to interpret. The situation just looked direr and direr, until a ray of Hope shone.
Izuku felt something warm in his "pocket", the one he kept all his most precious treasures. From it, he pulled the cause of the strange feeling, Eri's lucky charm. The red heart-shaped glass on the center glowed softly, then the light traversed to the green glass panel and flowed to one of the star tips. Izuku blinked, turning in the direction it showed. The light moved through the colored crystal to keep pointing in the same way, almost like… "A compass!"
The key bearer smiled and thanked his apprentice in his heart. The path illuminated by their Light would lead Izuku to where he needed to be, he knew it. For that reason, the Darkness rose to stop its counterpart's champion.
An orb of Shadows, glowing an angry red burst from the building below Izuku. Something so close caused Danger Sense to give a clear warning that thankfully made the boy jump away to safety. He looked down and frowned, "A Chaos Tide." Stopping himself in midair with Float, Izuku tried to find a way out of the mess he was in.
The Chaos Tide needed to go down or it could alone destroy Hosu, but Tenya was in danger and if Izuku didn't go after him now it would be too late. There was one problem with all this, he couldn't do both. The Dream Eaters already had their hands, paws, and claws full with all the other Heartless, Gran Torino was busy with the Nomu and he couldn't do much to a Heartless anyway. It looked more and more like Izuku would have to choose between saving his friends or the city.
If at least he wasn't alone!
That thought made the boy pause. Izuku was never alone. A smile started to grow on his lips until reaching blinding levels, that was a smile Nana learned to fear, "Please don't tell me…"
"I just had an idea!"
"Oh no. I honestly don't know if I should be relieved or immensely concerned."
"Why don't you decide after you deal with that thing." Izuku laughed and put a hand over his chest.
"What?" Nana didn't have time to ask what her boy was talking about. The pillar beneath her feet lit up brighter and brighter until the Vestige was consumed by the light. When she blinked her eyes open, the first thing Nana noticed was that she could feel. The hot breeze, the acrid smell of smoke, and the distinctive sensation of being alive, or something close to it. Looking down, the woman saw her body was now made of magenta light, and that she was there, Floating beside Izuku in the world of the living.
She wanted to say many things, and by the look on Izuku's face he was on the same boat, but the Chaos Tide didn't let them. The stream of Shadows descended on the two heroes, the countless yellow eyes turning red.
The Ninth and Seventh traded a glance, "Go, I'll deal with that thing." Izuku nodded back at Nana and dashed away, crossing the air in a blur. The old heroine cracked her knuckles, "Time to shake out the rust!" She winded back a fist and let the twenty percent of power Izuku could use flare out.
Dark red and bright magenta collided, and Shadows rained down. Nana grinned, while what Izuku could use still wasn't as much as she did back in her time, his version of One For All was so much more the fifth he could was practically worlds apart compared to what Nana's version of the quirk could do with the same portion.
"Hope you're hungry, mama is back in town and she's making knuckle sandwiches!" The summoned Vestige laughed and lunged at the Chaos Tide, fists ready.
Already far from there, Izuku zoomed through, following his lucky charm. So focused he didn't hear what one of his heart's occupants did.
"Hello. One, two, three. Testing, is this thing on?"
"Yoichi?!"
The Vestige nodded in his place on Izuku's Station of Awakening, "The one and only. As Seventh has her hands full with that sharknado wannabe, I'll be your guy on the chair."
Izuku tilted his head, confused, "What?"
Yoichi sighed, slumping down, "How did so many good movie references die? The memes lost were already bad enough, but kids need culture for goodness sake!" The First pouted.
"I'm… gonna look into it later." The boy offered.
"Better than nothing. C'mon Little Nine, you have a friend to save and while I'm not the best, I'll help any way I can."
The young Master smiled brightly before speeding up, "Thanks!"
He passed streets and buildings until finally reaching a maze of alleys, at that moment both the charm and Danger Sense flared, drowning everything else. Izuku Focused, crossing the distance to a wall in a nanosecond. Hitting it and kicking away, pinballing down the narrow space between buildings until he saw it.
Stain, blade raised and towering over the downed form of Tenya, another hero was slumped at their side on a wall, the red puddle and barely open eyes clear sign he was hurt. Izuku felt the almost frozen world slow down further, the power of Fa Jin surged through his legs, all the energy he stored that could send him to Second Form concentrated in a single movement. Izuku moved, the wall he perched himself for a moment only was covered by green lightning arcs almost completely, the innate power of Flowmotion the only reason it wasn't completely obliterated.
Stain didn't have the time to react. One second he was about to cut down another fake, the next a green comet crashed into him. His chipped katana was shattered from the impact of another blade cleaving it while the man himself was blown away by the force.
Izuku stood up, his back to Tenya and glaring at Stain's slowly rising form, "I'm really mad at you, but I'll leave to knock some sense into your thick skull after I save you." Maybe he was spending too much time with Gran Torino.
Tenya, for his part, was shocked beyond words. His friend, against all logic, had come to save him. But he couldn't, Tenya couldn't let him, that was his fight! The speedster tried to move, only for Stain's quirk to hold him still, "No, Izuku, this, I have to do this! I have to avenge my brother!"
"Shut up!" Izuku, for the first time since they met, raised his voice to Tenya in anger, "Everything you're doing is throwing your life away! You're not alone Tenya, if I had to drill that into your head too, I will!"
Stain huff cut their spat, "Another one in my way, another child thinking himself a hero, and for what? Leave boy, this doesn't concern you."
Izuku glared at the Hero Killer, "So what? Getting involved in other people's business is what a hero does!" He powered up, pure power in the form of a green aura covered by viridescent lightning enveloping the young hero, "I'm going to save everyone, and if you think you can stop me, then I'm gonna bring you down myself!" While his heated speech made Stain pause and grin, Izuku stealthy fidgeted with his phone behind his back. A distress signal was sent, now they could only hope someone would hear it.
—
Shoto planted his palm on the ground, raising a solid wall of ice. More Fire Cores crashed into it, but the wall held, barely. Another Soldier tried to jump him, only for Shoto to make it eat a stream of fire, "That's more annoying than dealing with my old man." He sighed as the Heartless reformed again.
Said old man was shooting javelins of flames at the Wyverns flying over them, with just as much success, "Those things are focusing on us, evacuate the area!" Endeavor shouted to any possible civilian still close by.
The Todorokis prepared for another round against the monsters when a roar sounded. Shoto saw the colorful lion with the Dream Eater Spirit symbol displayed proudly on his chest and smiled, "Izuku is here."
Endeavor, who almost attacked the creature on reflex, turned to his son, "An ally?" He prioritized the most pressing question.
"Yes, and Dream Eaters can keep Heartless down for good, that's how my class survived the USJ." His father nodded at that. While Shoto was busy explaining, the Aura Lion was dealing with the Heartless, a familiar Iceguin Ace joining him.
The heroes were about to join them when Shoto felt his phone vibrate. Normally he would ignore it in that situation, but something told him Shoto needed to see it. Pulling his phone quickly, he saw the reason for the feeling and the chatroom chaos that was happening.
Deku has shared his location
Cellophane: Oh crap.
Creati: Oh no.
Chargebolt: Oh shit!
Dynamight: Oh fuck it happened.
Dynamight: And of course, he's in Hosu!
Red Riot: What's the problem?
Dynamight: The fucking city is on fire!
Shoto: That's not all, there's Heartless everywhere.
Chargebolt: How do you know that?
Shoto: I'm in Hosu.
Dynamight: Well, double fuck! Anyone else?
A series of various kinds of "no"s happened.
Dynamight: Of course not.
Dynamight: Icyhot, you're the only one that is close enough to do something. Go help Deku!
Creati: Wait, wasn't Tenya in Hosu?
Shoto stopped cold, Tenya was in Hosu, the city was in the middle of a crisis and he didn't answer before.
Shoto: I think Tenya is in trouble, and Izuku is probably there with him.
Dynamight: OF FUCKING COURSE!
Dynamight: Four Eyes had probably gone after Stain. The location is on an alley and Deku's luck is shit.
Dynamight: Icyhot GO!
Shoto didn't need any more incentive, "Father, I sent you a location, sent any hero you can find to it!"
The flame-covered man struggled with a group of Wizards before the Aura Lion pounced at them, "What are you doing?!" He asked his son as the boy ran.
"Helping my friend!"
—
"Good one Little Nine, now you need to stall him and take care of these two."
Izuku nodded, "Cura!" The spell washed over Tenya and the hero, who Izuku recognized as Native, "Can you stand?"
The hero dressed in the style of his namesake huffed in relief, "No. Whatever you did helped with the wounds but Stain's quirk paralyzed us, don't let him cut you or the same will happen with you."
The young hero frowned at the slowly approaching villain, "That explains the blades. His quirk can work by cutting so it is the activation condition, it transfers some substance to the bloodstream and that paralyzes the target or he needs the target's blood to activate his quirk."
Stain's grin only grew, "The last, very good deduction. Now tell me, how are you going to defeat me if one cut and you lose?"
"Now Izuku, T-pose to assert dominance!" Yoichi's command, even if not nearly as serious as the situation at hand, conveyed the idea perfectly. Izuku smiled while One For All roared, the intimidation making even The Hero Killer pause his march.
"I'll just not get cut!" The young hero slapped the armor piece on his shoulder. It produced a flash of light that blinded all others inside the alley. When it died out, Izuku was covered in his Keyblade Armor once more, but it too was different. The gauntlets and greaves seemed to have fused with the ones from his costume, now having a black coloration with extra gold plating, the space between each metal segment having a red inner layer.
With his cape fluttering in the wind, the green knight pointed his blade at Stain, "You better give up."
The villain barked a laugh, "You think that is enough? Show me if you are worthy to be called a hero!" He lunged at Izuku, sword in one hand and a combat knife in the other.
Stain got surprised when instead of meeting him head-on, the boy instead planted his feet on the ground and took a defensive stance, his weapon over him like a steel wall. Izuku channeled the power of his quirk and a new construct formed, his Keyblade being enveloped by a green light that broadened and solidified, turning into what could only be called a tower shield.
The villain's blades impacted it to no avail, then the green knight pushed. Stain was forced back, but the boy didn't stop, rushing forward and taking the killer away from the incapacitated victims. The man grabbed the top of the construct and flipped himself over it, but he was already too far to try ending the fakes. He turned to the one he could see conviction on, maybe he would find a worthy hero that night, "That's all you got?"
"Nah, I just can go all out without friendly fire now." Behind the dark glass visor, Izuku's eyes were almost glowing with energy. The raised his blade, the construct over it shifting until a war ax of emerald blades was in his hands, double-sided and big enough to chop a car in half. The young warrior leaped up with a warcry, bringing the weapon on his hands down with the force of a meteor.
Stain leaped away, but the impact was so strong the shockwave still sent him reeling. Izuku spun on his heels and threw the ax at the man, spinning like an industrial buzzsaw. The villain dropped to his knees and let the weapon sail over his head, not even flinching when it hit the wall behind him and burring one of its faces on the concrete almost completely.
Izuku recalled his Keyblade and changed the construct again, this time into a spear. The boy charged at Stain. The villain, to his opponent's surprise, stepped into the attack.
Stain raised his foot and stomped on the spear, halting the knight's momentum and making him stumble. Izuku felt a sharp pang of Danger Sense and leaped back, abandoning his weapon but dodging a slash to the throat from Stain's katana. The villain gave chase and attacked again and again, the young hero keeping away thanks to Danger Sense but still on the defensive.
Flicking his wrists, the gauntlet's plates shifted to cup his hands, "Magic Force: Thunder Smash!" Izuku's fingers were covered by yellow light and the boy started to shoot his magic projectiles.
Stain leaped away, using the ACs, pipes, and fire escapes to maneuver and dodge Izuku's barrage of spells. The Hero Killer waited for the boy to stop and dived at him, blades first.
Izuku rolled away, only for Danger Sense to ping. Stain had thrown his knife at the boy, the first attack only a distraction, and it was close to hitting its mark. Just as Izuku prepared to take the hit, a wall of ice burst to life in front of him, blocking the weapon's path. The Keyblade Master looked in the direction the ice came from and his eyes shone, "Shoto!"
The youngest Todoroki was there, in the new costume Izuku and Mei had made for him. The blue short-sleeved tracksuit lined with Mythril to help him channel his quirk, the white chest piece with exhausters and heaters fueled by magical materials helping regulate his temperature, even then the bichromatic boy panted as sweat covered his face, "I'm here! I saw your message and came running. The heroes should be here soon!"
"Shoto, you too… Why do you all keep getting involved?! This is my fight, I have to avenge my brother and succeed Ingenium!" Tenya, who still couldn't move, roared out in a frailed voice.
"Because we're your friends!" Izuku shouted back, getting up and summoning Heroes Rising again.
"You also have your own problems with your family huh?" Shoto muttered while putting himself between his downed classmate and the fight. Tenya was shocked by that, but what he said next was what shook him the most, "It's okay, sometimes you want to lash out and do something stupid, believe me I know. But even then, some people want to be there for you, that want to help you, so please let them, let us help you."
Tenya blinked misty eyes and huffed, "You're starting to sound like Izuku."
Shoto smiled, "That's nice."
A bang sounded, breaking the boys from their little heart to heart. Izuku had struck the ice wall with his Keyblade, now in a warhammer construct, sending chunks of it flying at Stain.
The villain cut through the debris and approached, lunging at the boy. He threw another knife at him, making the knight hastily duck and using the opportunity to hop over him. Now Stain had a clear line to Shoto and Tenya, and he was closing the distance fast.
Shoto stomped, sending a wave of frost to stop the Hero Killer, only for him to jump over it. Izuku used the opportunity to throw his Keyblade at him, dismissing the construct in favor of more speed, the weapon hit Stain right on the chest and sent him crashing to the ground. Shoto looked up at the still airborne Keyblade and had an idea, using a pillar of ice to launch himself up, the boy closed on Heroes Rising. His hands grabbed onto the handle and instantly Shoto could feel the Keyblade latching into something warm in his chest.
With more confidence than he ever felt and the help of Heroes Rising surprising weight, the young hero dropped down at Stain with an overhead slash. The villain rolled back and away, making Shoto miss and the weapon struck the floor, but even then, half crouched from the drop and having failed his attack, the boy smiled. The Keyblade vanished from his grasp in a flash just as Izuku hopped over Shoto like Stain had done to him, sword in hand.
The green knight blitzed Stain with a combo of fast slashes, pushing him further away, before finishing with a kick in the gut. The Hero Killer skidded to a stop, clenching his midriff with a hand and coughing, "Good, good! There's still hope for the future, there are still young ones with the potential to be real heroes!" He glared at the forms of Native and Tenya, not noticing the latter starting to tremble, forcing himself against the loosening grip of his quirk, "But the only way to assure it will stay that way is getting rid of the rotten ones before they also taint you!"
Tenya finally, finally, was able to move. Slowly the boy forced himself to his feet, "No, you are doing no such a thing, you are only hurting innocent people with your misplaced ideals!" The helmet still in his head, thanks to the upgrades Izuku and Mei made, reached its limit, the breaking pieces falling to the ground and revealing Tenya's eyes set ablaze with his new conviction, "Not anymore, you won't force anyone to cry for your wrong beliefs ever again!"
"Shut your mouth, fake! You think you can lecture me after going out of your way for revenge?!" The fanatic barked.
"No, but I also can't fail my friends again!" Tenya's Engines roared alongside him, "I can't fail my family again, and I can fail myself like this! I will bring you down, but for justice!" Flames spilled from the pipes on his calves, "Recipro Burst!"
Izuku, seeing his friend finding his Light and conviction, smiled brightly under his helmet and decided to put his faith in him, "Tenya, catch!" He threw his Keyblade to the side, right in the middle of Tenya's path. The youngest Iida, the new Ingenium, zoomed by his friends, catching the weapon in the air, he instantly felt the Keyblade put it in the scales, his mistakes against his conviction. The Light burning the shadows in his heart away won.
The silver comet Tenya became closed at Stain in a blink, and a haymaker with Heroes Rising sent the villain flying. The weapon dematerialized from his grip and flashed back into Izuku's just as the boy leaped up, following after Stain. They crossed blades midair while Tenya ran at and up the wall, right at their heels. Izuku used a burst of Float to tackle Stain and grab, spin, and then throw him down, directly at Tenya, before dashing right after him.
Tenya and Izuku met at the middle point, Stain between them, leg and blade winded up to finish the fight, once and for all!
"Recipro Extend!"
"Smash!"
The two hits landed on the body of the villain like sledgehammers, causing it to spin on its axis. Shoto, from the ground, finished it up, "Sky Piercing Pillar!" He slammed his hand on the floor and a massive wave of ice rose, crashing into Stain and pressing his body against a building's side.
Izuku and Tenya slid down the glacier, ending up beside Shoto. They panted for breath, looking up at Stain, a long moment passed without them saying anything and preparing for the worst.
Izuku felt a ghostly touch on his shoulder, "Relax Little Nine, it's over." The young hero let out a sigh of relief.
"We won!"
—
Gran is too old for this shit, he has been since a decade or two ago. The old hero drop-kicked another black flaming monster into the Nomu he had been fighting for a while, then threw both away with a good roundhouse to the jaw. Just as his enemies were about to get up, again, something pounced on them.
Gran Torino had to rub his eyes to make sure the lion munching on the monsters was real, seeing it was, he huffed, "Yup, too old for this shit."
"Elder, please leave, this area is dangerous." Looking at the source of the voice, Gran saw Endeavor approaching, a penguin of all things on his trail.
"Oh please brat, this isn't even up there with the times I saw a city on fire. But if you would be so kind, could you roast that thing for me?" The older hero pointed at the Nomu, who was rolling around with the lion. Endeavor nodded and condensed flames on his hand.
The penguin made a sound between a glacier cracking and a splash of water, the lion looked back and then jumped away clearing the line of fire. Endeavor didn't waste time shooting a condensed stream of fire that carbonized the Nomu. Just as it looked that things would settle down, something else crashed on the street.
Cotton huffed as he stomped into a Nomu's head, this one black and without anything on the upper part of its head beside its brain. The Tama Sheep got grabbed and flung away, thankfully being caught by Shiryu, who then flew down beside the two heroes.
The dragon said something that they could somehow understand, and it caused Gran Torino to huff, "Of course, the brat would get into trouble." He turned to Endeavor, "Take care of that thing, I have to make sure my intern didn't get himself killed." With that, he took a deep breath and zoomed away before the other hero could say anything.
Gran flew from building to building, doing more stops than he would've liked because of his age. Just as he was closing on the place the dragon had told him about, Gran Torino wasn't going to question anymore, he saw a flash in the corner of his eyes.
He blinked, staring at the rain of dark monsters falling, he could have sworn he saw… "I really am too old for this if I'm starting to see ghosts." Gran shook his head, trying to clear it and the tears that built in his eyes without his consent. Gran Torino carried on, reaching the right street and jumping down to ground level, and just in time.
From a creak between buildings came out Tenya, Shoto, who was helping Native walk, and Izuku. Gran recognized the boy even in armor, and he couldn't help but huff at all the bells and whistles the kid's costume had, but what surprised him the most was the person he was dragging along, bound in green chains coming from the back end of his sword. The Hero Killer Stain, defeated, unconscious, and tied up, Gran was impressed and pissed, more pissed than anything else.
The old hero dashed at the boy and planted his boot on his helmet, "Who said you could fight a serial killer, brat?!"
Izuku didn't even flinch, "You did." He even had the gall to chuckle.
"Izuku, who's that?" Shoto, who didn't seem surprised by the violent greeting, asked his friend.
"This is Gran Torino, he's the hero I'm interning under."
"You're Endeavors kid, right? I just ran on your father, he should be finishing things with the Nomu, it's that what those dings are called? Oh well, he should be coming too." Gran informed, even if the kid didn't look too happy about it.
"Good, then we can leave him for the competent authorities." Tenya nodded, not noticing the looks Izuku and Shoto traded.
"Ah, you're the Ingenium runt." Gran Torino nodded to himself, then kicked Tenya on the face too, "Stop being stupid, brat. I already had one Ingenium dying on me, I can live without another one."
Tenya, like Izuku, took the kick without complaining, "Yes, I'm sorry sir!" He bowed deeply.
"Don't be too mad at the kids, they saved my bacon if nothing else," Native said weakly.
"We still have to take you to a hospital, my Cure spells can't do much for blood loss." Izuku passed Native a Potion, "Here, this should help some."
The man gulped it down without hesitation, "Ah, that hit the spot." His body gave a soft green glow, after it subsided he looked a little less pale, "Thanks, kid."
"You're welcome, now let's get going-" Izuku cut off mid-phrase. Looking up, Danger Sense flaring, he saw something fast approaching, "Lookout!"
A misshapen form dived at them, a Nomu with wings, and tried to pick up a victim. Thanks to Izuku's warning, Tenya, and Gran Torino ducked in time, but Shoto used his window of opportunity to push Native away from the monster. The youngest Todoroki grunted in pain as the talons of the Nomu dug onto his shoulders before he was forcefully dragged up in the air.
"Shoto!" Izuku didn't even think, he dismissed his construct holding Stain captive and jumped at the bioweapon, "Let him go!" He quickly used Float to close the gap between them and tackled the Nomu. That made the monster release Shoto, who Izuku quickly grabbed. The bichromatic boy held the hand his friend used to stop him from plummeting down for dear life.
Izuku, in an impressive display of dexterity, kept Shoto away from the Nomu's talons with one hand while pummeling him with the Keyblade in the other. With one last strike, the green knight sent his foe smashing into the asphalt, its body creating a crater on the street.
Slowly the two boys Floated down, "That was scary." Shoto said plainly.
"Yeah, at least you didn't turn into a pancake."
"True."
Izuku was about to say something when Danger Sense screamed. He snapped his head back, only to see Stain getting up, a knife he had hidden in his clothes in hand, "Get away from him!" Izuku yelled. Gran noticed the villain getting up and tackled Tenya and Native away. Stain staggered to his feet, surrounded by heroes but still standing.
Izuku rushed at the villain, Shoto right behind him when a wave of pure will crashed into them. Danger Sense background noise turned into a flat-out buzzer, Shoto froze behind Izuku while the others at the opposite end of the street did the same.
"I can't stop." Stain hoarse voice gritted at their ears, "I can't stop, not until I'm done, not until I purge all the fakes, not until I end all of those unworthy to be called heroes!" The Darkness in the city seemed to ripple at Stain's words, painting the environment with a hateful red hue.
That phrase that proclaimed his ideals to the world, was the last drop of patience Izuku had for Stain, "Shut up!" The young hero shouted, startling everyone on the street, "All of this, all these people you hurt, for that?!"
"And what do you know boy? What do you know about this world?! There are fakes that pose around, daring to call themselves heroes, not a single one of them is worthy of such a title. Only a true hero like All Might has the right!" Stain words had a weight to them that pressed down on all who listened, even from far away, even the person recording that moment that would go down in history.
"You're wrong!" Izuku pushed through the haze of rage that billowed out of Stain, "You don't get to choose who is worthy and who isn't! The only one that can is the person themselves, you don't get to lecture others about the world when you only make it worse! And you don't get to tell anyone that they can't be a hero!" At each word, at each step, Izuku's own will burned brighter, the power of One For All lighting up the dark city's sky and giving its chosen one the strength to make his ideals known for all eternity. With power coating his very being, Izuku roared, "Everyone can be a hero!"
The very air trembled, the Darkness was pushed away and the stars brightened at the future greatest hero's resolve.
Izuku was about to march at Stain and face him again, as many times as it took when Danger Sense abruptly cut off. The boy blinked, noticing the oppressive feeling coming from the villain had disappeared, looking closer he saw the reason why, "He passed out."
The Hero Killer had fallen unconscious on his feet, standing up even as his body failed him.
Up at one building's roof, overlooking the scene, Vanitas snorted, "All that hype for this, I feel cheated." He commented to Shigaraki, who was standing at his side.
"Me too, all that dialog and no Boss battle." He huffed, "Well, that's why we have plan C." He shot Vanitas a grin.
"I'm really starting to like your plans, Handsy. Now give me a minute so I can give Izzy his fight." With his piece said, Vanitas vanished from there into a Dark Corridor.
Izuku, having calmed down from his heated speech, approached Stain so he could bind him again, only for a snarky and familiar voice to stop him in his tracks.
"Oh, not going to stop now right? After such a heated speech too." From behind Stain, Vanitas stepped into view.
"Vanitas! What are you doing here? Why are you attacking Hosu?!" Izuku demanded, preparing himself for a fight.
"Me? I'm just helping a friend." The masked boy gave a cruel laugh, putting one hand on Stain's back.
Izuku felt the Darkness oozing from that hand and Danger Sense blaring at him. He rushed at the two, trying to stop what was about to happen, but unfortunately, he was too late. Darkness exploded from Stain's form as he fell, and from it, a Ronin arose.
The Heartless body, head, and limbs were covered by red clothes that looked like haggard bandages that came together in something similar to a ninja garb from old Japanese history, one on its neck like a bloody scarf billowing on the wind. Its humanoid form was almost the same as the person it originated from. In its hands, both bound shut by the cloths, were two jagged crimson katanas, the color making them look about to spill blood. The Ronin set his feet covered by boots with sharp edges apart, the beady yellow eyes glaring at the Keyblade Master.
Vanitas gave out a cruel laugh, raising his hand and trapping Izuku in a dome of Darkness with the Ronin, "Here, now you can have your fun without no one getting in the way." The darkling summoned a Dark Corridor and started to make his way back when a stream of fire came at him.
With a wave of his hand, Vanitas summoned his Keyblade, Void Gear, and batted it aside, "You should be more worried about him, don't you think so, Peppermint?"
Shoto, who only snapped out of his shock from Stain's terror-inducing aura when his friend got trapped, prepared another shot, "Let him go."
Vanitas made a show of looking up and holding his chin as if in thought, "Nah, I don't think I will." He laughed while walking away. Shoto tried to stop him, but his fire didn't reach the portal before it could close. He cursed under his breath and switched targets, sending flames at the dark dome. Unfortunately, it was useless, Izuku was trapped there with the even bigger monster Stain had become.
Izuku felt sweat run down his brown under the helmet, Danger Sense had never been so loud and clear to say he was in big trouble. Inside his heart, Yoichi was also panicking hard, even more so when he was joined by someone.
"Heyo, what did I miss?" Nana greeted her predecessor with a smile, only to see his pale face and let it fall, "What happened?"
Yoichi gulped, "Izuku found his friend and Stain, his other friend showed up and they kicked Stain's ass, a Nomu appeared, then that Vanitas guy appeared, and now we have Little Nine versus a Heartless Stain." He summarized twenty minutes of extreme situations in a sentence, then gave a dread-filled laugh, "And round two electric boogaloo is a solo flight."
Nana resumed their current extreme situation in one simple word, "Shit."
"Yup, now would be a good time for that back-to-life trick-" Yoichi got interrupted by Danger Sense giving a warning so loud even they could hear.
Back into the living world, Izuku and the Ronin glared at each other, until Danger Sense all but begged for the boy to dodge. The young hero tried to steep back, to get away, to move, and that is the only reason that when the Ronin crossed the distance between them faster than a blink of an eye, when the Heartless slashed upwards with one of his crimson blades, when the sound of metal tearing metal sounded on the dark night and sparks flew, Izuku didn't lose one of his eyes.
The boy landed on his back, his helmet falling behind him, a deep gash running from just over the chin all the way up, the glass visor cut and cracked. Izuku, now with visible wide eyes, rolled back to gain some distance and flip back up, only for his foe to be right on his face the moment he was back on his feet. He wouldn't be able to avoid another attack, not even with the warning the Fourth's quirk was giving, so he improvised, "Fa Jin: Second Form!"
The power of One For All exploded from Izuku's body like a wall of pure force, pushing the Heartless away from the boy. With thirty percent of the quirk running through him, he was now fast enough to put his Keyblade up to block the next offensive from the Ronin, barely.
Again the sound of metal clashing rang, and then the one from Izuku's greaves carving trenches on the asphalt. Even with Second Form active, his arms shook from the impact.
The Ronin didn't give the green knight the time to breathe, taking one step forward for every step back he made Izuku take. The katanas slashed into Heroes Rising, again and again, sparks flying for every clash until finally, Izuku focused enough power to form a construct. Once more an emerald tower shield stood in front of Izuku, but unlike Stain that couldn't scratch it, the Ronin chopped one of his blades down and cut into it, the edge only stopping halfway down, buried in the crystalline construct.
Izuku gasped as his shield failed, green motes of light bleeding from the damaged parts until it finally crumbled. The boy didn't have the chance to make another as a boot crashed on his side, a roundhouse kick folded Izuku on it before the boy was sent flying into the dark dome's wall.
The young hero wheezed as the air was forcefully pushed out of his lungs from the impact, if he was using less power in Full Cowling his ribs would have snapped like dry sticks. Izuku pushed himself from the wall of Darkness only to falter and fall to his knees. Gasping, the young boy looked up to the monster slowly marching to him, a sharp contrast from the speed it used before.
"Izuku, get up!" Nana's voice was dripping with horror from the beating she just saw her boy taking.
"Don't give up Little Nine, get up!" Yoichi tried to put more certainty in his voice, but he couldn't hide how frightened he was.
Izuku punched the ground, causing it to crack, he forced himself up, "I'm not done yet!"
The Ronin took that as a challenge and dashed at him, seeing that defending wasn't working, Izuku attacked. The two swords clashed, the Keyblade being pushed back. The green knight gritted his teeth and headbutted the Heartless, using the slight falter of his enemy to tackle the Ronin's midriff. Roaring, he rushed through the forced arena until Stain's Heartless crashed on the opposite wall.
Izuku used the chance to give the monster two punches while it recoiled from the impact, only for it to bring the back ends of his blades down on the boy's unprotected head. The young hero was forced to his knees, receiving a sharp boot to the gut for his troubles.
Rolling back head over heels again and again, Izuku ended up in the middle of the dome, laying face down. The boy coughed heavily, the last hit feeling as if All Might himself had decided to punch him.
In his heart the Vestiges, now all eight of them, argued in a panic to see if there was something, anything, they could do. Out of the dome, Shoto and Tenya hammered the wall with everything they had to try to get to their friend, at their side Gran Torino shouted at the recently arrived Endeavor, demanding the man get the kid out of this mess.
Izuku put one knee under him and forced himself to get out of the ground, planting Heroes Rising on the ground and using it as a clutch. Still kneeling, a haze of pain making him sluggish, the boy blinked blurry eyes from the last hit to the head. When his sight cleared, he looked at the Heartless one more time marching to him at a mockingly slow pace. He… he couldn't win that fight.
Putting the best he could use without breaking himself didn't make the Heartless flinch. If he used more and pushed past his limits, maybe he could, but even that wouldn't be a guarantee and Vanitas would be there to finish him even if he won. In the end, Izuku could lose now, or lose later, one way or the other, he would fail.
The more he looked at the situation in front of him, the more and more despair grabbed his heart. However, even while it tried to drown the young hero, there was a ray of Hope that cut through it, shining bright.
Izuku's eyes were almost forcefully dragged down, to Eri's lucky charm that now laid beside him, unblemished by the Darkness and destruction surrounding it. The boy smiled, then chuckled, and in the end, he was laughing. Eri would be disappointed if her Master gave up like that, if he lost the Hope she so dearly believed in now. Izuku's metal-clad left hand grasped the symbol of their connection, even as the Ronin loomed over him and raised its blade to end the boy's life.
Their Light shone, even so far away, even so deep in the dark, it refused to give out, and Izuku refused to give up, "I'm not done yet!" The fire in his heart turned into an inferno. Izuku raised his left arm as a pure golden light burst to life, and alongside it, a blade of Light and Hope materialized in a shower of feathers and crystalline fractals.
The Ronin blade clashed with the new Keyblade, and it didn't budge a single nanometer. The weapon looked like a piece of art, the handguard with two golden wings and the handle warped by a silky red cloth, the body of the blade was a green crystal encased by golden metal, it having a styled feathery design where they met, like if wings were embracing the center crystal. The teeth were the Kanji for Hope, the three lower points were red and served as the teeth while the rest was the top of the blade, with the cross being the same crystalline green of the center. The Keychain of the Keyblade, of Wings of Hope, was Eri's lucky charm.
Izuku started to stand up, golden Light, pure and bright, marked the viridescent aura of Full Cowling just like lines of blond marked his green hair. Like the time Eri and Izuku saved All Might's future, her power held him together even in the face of forty percent of One For All flowing through his veins like magma. The hero pushed, making the Ronin step back, then returned the kick and sent it skidding away.
"I promised someone I would come back, and I always keep my promises!" Izuku hoisted Heroes Rising on his shoulder with one hand and pointed Wings of Hope at the Heartless with the other, "So better get ready, because I'll beat you and as many others I need to!" He swiped the blade and laughed. With a single step, Izuku was right at Ronin's face even before the ground he was on a moment earlier exploded from the force of him moving.
The blades on his hands sang together as they sliced the Heartless, again and again, each counter from the crimson katanas being effortlessly bathed aside by the smaller and faster Wings of Hope for Heroes Rising to have the freedom to go to town on the Ronin.
Sparks flew, filling the air like a cloud of fireflies. Izuku gave every strike his everything, pushing the Ronin back and tearing the Darkness apart. With a backflip, Izuku kicked the monster on the jaw and sent it skyward. He crouched down and leaped up, keeping the assault on his foe. Izuku hacked, slashed, and cleaved into the Heartless in a deadly dance of blades, with a final frontflip he brought down his Keyblades into the monster's head and sent it to the ground.
"Time to finish this!" Izuku left the energy building up inside him to finally flow free. From his back, two wings burst out, constructs of pure Light, and with a beat they pushed him up, higher and higher, past the dome of Darkness, the city skyscrapers, and even further beyond. When he stopped, Izuku would have seen Hosu as nothing more than a small smudge in the distance, but he wasn't looking down, Izuku looked up at the bright night sky filled with stars and laughed joyfully.
Letting gravity take hold of him but for a moment, Izuku flipped back and faced the earth below. With another beat of wings, he shot down like a comet. Izuku crossed the blades over himself and shouted from the bottom of his heart, "SMAAAASHHHHHHH!"
The Keyblade Master descended onto the dome of Darkness and the monster inside it, the Light he brought forward vanquishing it all in a blinding flash. The people on the street blinked the spots out of their vision, and what greeted them was Izuku standing tall as a heart floated away. The young hero raised the hand still holding Wings of Hope and made a peace sign, a smile on his face as his aura faded away.
"I won!"
From up a building, Shigaraki huffed, "He won. C'mon, let's go home."
"Finally giving up?" Vanitas asked while opening a Dark Corridor back to the bar.
"Nah, I already got what I wanted." The villain grinned.
—
"I'm doomed." Izuku sighed from his bed so loudly that Shoto and Tenya could hear from the other side of the room. The boys, after the battle against the Heartless of Stain when things had calmed down in Hosu with the other Dweller of Darkness retreating, were brought to the local hospital. They weren't hurt, save a few scrapes and bruises, but they would still be held for the night for observation.
"Why?" Shoto asked, not understanding how Izuku could say that after the night they had.
"Because the video of me yelling at Stain is on the internet, and my mom saw it." She also had called to cry and berate him, then cry some more.
"Yes, it seems like you're doomed." Tenya tried to force a smile, failing somewhere halfway.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Izuku stood up and walked to Tenya's bed, where his friend was forced to stay for being the only one with relatively moderate injuries. The reinforced costume had stopped Stain's blades from doing more than shallow cuts, but no one knew where those things had been so Tenya took a few shots of vaccines and some medication to guarantee he wouldn't get any disease from it. Stopping In front of Tenya, Izuku picked up his friend's glasses, who didn't complain as he knew where that was going, from his face, "Shoto, hold these for me."
The youngest Todoroki tilted his head confused but obliged. He had, contrary to all expectations, or not, been given a clean bill of health after just some slight patching up, but as the others were already being kept they decided to hold him in too just to be sure. Shoto was completely fine with that, one more day with his friends and one less with his father was a plus in his books.
Izuku looked Tenya in the eyes, then he punched him. Hard. The young speedster's head whipped to the side and Izuku's knuckles stung, but both felt a lot better for it, "You deserved that."
Tenya held his red and already swollen cheek and nodded, "Yes, yes I did." He turned to his friends and gave the best bow he could from his position, "I'm sorry for how my actions put you two in danger and am grateful that you didn't give up on me."
Izuku smiled, "Hey, that's what friends do."
"Do they punch each other in the face too?" Shoto asked, now with Tenya's glasses on, earning a chuckle from the other two.
"Only when they need it." Izuku laughed, putting his hands behind his head.
Just as their little moment ended, the door for their hospital room opened. From it came their mentors for the week and one other.
He was very tall, close to Endeavor in height and bulk, and had the head of a beagle. The man was wearing a suit, which added to his imposing form, "So those are the three pups that took down Stain, woof."
The boys traded glances, pups? Woof? Was he messing with them? Before they could get even more confused, the man introduced himself.
"I'm the Chief of Police Tsuragamae Kenji, woof."
"Oh, crap." Izuku knew he was about to get in trouble.
"Scared now, brat?" Gran Torino huffed at him.
"Yeah, I just want to say I didn't think that ice cream cart would explode." Izuku's words made everyone in the room look at him weirdly.
"Izuku, as your lawyer I have to advise you to shut up." The boy felt a ghost of a chop to the head, courtesy of Nana.
"Do Ice cream carts explode?" Shoto whispered his question to Tenya, who shook his head, "Oh, okay then."
"That's… not what I came to talk about." The chief coughed on his hand awkwardly, "I'm here to talk about your actions in the recent crisis."
"Sir, I will take full responsibility for-" Tenya's tirade was interrupted by a very much physical chop on the head from Manual.
"Thank you. As I was saying, you have violated the law." The man's face turned grim, "Using your quirks without a hero license is an offense and not a minor one."
"What?!" Shoto didn't take that lying down, "Listen here, if Tenya hadn't confronted Stain then Native would be dead, and if Izuku didn't show up both of them would be dead! You can't arrest us for-" Now it was Shoto's turn for being interrupted, this time for Izuku who tapped his arm.
The young Keyblade Master smiled, "We didn't break the law."
Kenji raised an eyebrow, "Really, so you didn't use your quirks to take down Stain?"
"Oh we did, but we had permission to do it."
"And how-" Even another interruption in that conversation happened.
"Oh let's just get over it already! I gave permission for my brat to fight, Endeavor gave permission to his brat to fight. They fought, they won and we'll have the rest of the week to kick their arses for it." Gran decided he's officially too old for that shit and too old to give a shit. The only thing important for him was that the kids were fine and no one died, politics and bureaucracy could go complain with him when Gran was dead and buried.
The chief of police was taken aback, but he knew the old hero was right, and by Endeavor's nod he spoke the truth, "Be as it may, that doesn't mean they could just do as they please, and it seems the other pup didn't have his mentors blessing to use his quirk."
Izuku more than quickly jumped to help end the situation without more problems, "Don't worry Chief Kenji, we only did our best to protect Hosu's people and we wouldn't have done it without our mentors' green card." He heard eight different snorts in his mind, "And also, only me and Shoto fought, Tenya was down at the time. Right, Shoto?" He turned to the friend in question and winked.
"Oh, right, Tenya didn't get to fight." The bichromatic boy quickly nodded.
"You two, you don't have to cover for me!" Tenya berated the other two, only for Izuku to pull him in a headlock.
"Shush! Don't mind what he said."
"Yeah, Izuku may have punched him too hard." Shoto complimented the statement from his place trying to hold Tenya's flailing limbs down.
The adults traded exasperated looks, but in the end, they relented, "If that's the case, then I don't have any reason to be here as Chief of Police. However, as a resident of Hosu…" The dog-headed man bowed to the boys, who stopped their horseplay, "Thank you three for all the help, my city is safe because of you."
They traded glances, "You could have started with that." Shoto pointed out, aggravating Tenya.
"Well, if that's all, we'll be going."
Manual glared at Tenya, "You are not off the hook yet, but I'm glad you're safe." He finished with a sigh and walked out with Kenji.
"You're almost as big a headache as that big oaf, brat!" Gran Torino shot Izuku a side-eyed look, he huffed and started walking away too, "Nana would be proud."
"I am." The Vestige chuckled.
'Yeah… I have an idea.' Izuku said in his mind.
"Pride is gone, I'm worried again!"
Endeavor was about to walk away as silent as he stayed during the confrontation when Izuku stopped him, "Endeavor, can you stay back a minute?"
The boy's words surprised both the older and the youngest Todoroki. Izuku pulled out his phone, finally letting Tenya go, and called a certain someone.
"Hello?" The voice was another surprise for the father and son duo.
"Hey Rei, it's Izuku. I got Shoto and Endeavor here with me, you're on speaker."
"Oh, how wonderful! Huh, you didn't punch them, right?" Her joy was quickly changed to concern remembering Izuku's previous words, something Nana could relate to.
"Not yet." That didn't reassure the woman.
"How did you get that number?" Endeavor finally snapped out of his shock, asking what he thought was the most pressing question.
"I gave it to him when Shoto and Izuku came to visit me, don't worry Enji." Rei was the one to answer, which made her husband calm down but her son only got his world turned upside down more, "We need to talk, all of us. Can you bring the kids to visit?"
The flaming hero stayed silent for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I can do that. Next week, when Shoto's internship ends, we don't want him getting bad grades for missing part of it."
"Okay, now go rest, it's getting late." Rei chuckled from the other side of the line, her voice happy with the prospect of seeing her whole family again.
"Yes, don't stay up too late yourself reading your romance novels."
"I regret nothing and you can't stop me."
"Rei." Endeavor sighed, partly exasperated, partly amused.
"Bye! Oh, and thanks Izuku."
"You're welcome." The green-haired boy chuckled and finished the call. Looking away from his phone, he saw the other three people in the room looking at him strangely.
"What?"
—
The internships ended. Finally, after a whole week of ups and downs, with the occasional brush with death, the promising young heroes of Japan reached the last day away from home.
Izuku, back at Gran Torino's home, just finished packing his things. They had spent the remaining of the time after coming back just sparring, even if the boy thought it was just an excuse for Gran to beat him up. To be fair, Izuku probably deserved that after the scare he gave the man, and he had fun so there was no complaining on his part.
"Got everything?" The man in question asked from the doorway.
"Yup, just finished." He patted his suitcase, "I still can't believe nothing exploded, and that I wasn't sued by the owner of that ice cream cart."
Gran huffed and shook his head, "You don't want a lawsuit, believe me." The old hero shuddered, "And treat any loan shark as you would a real shark."
Izuku tilted his head, "So, punch it in the face?"
"Exactly."
They got back to the living room, now with all the walls patched up, and were about to say their goodbyes, when Izuku decided it was now or never.
"Are you sure about that?"
'It worked one time, and you two deserve it.' The boy nodded to himself. In Hosu, Izuku used the connection of their hearts in One For All to summon Nana like he saw himself doing in his visions, with the quirk itself working as an anchor. The young Keyblade Master had looked a little more into it after the crisis, and with time, patience, and a little luck, he finally fine-tuned it.
The time in Hosu was a one-in-a-thousand chance of working, even if both of them didn't realize it at the time, but now Izuku was sure he could do it without fail.
"Hey Gran, there's someone that wants to talk with you before I go."
"Another one of your Dream Eaters? I don't run a daycare brat." Gran Torino knew that Izuku's colorful friends were as childish and crazy as him, so they fell in the "brat" category for the man.
"Nope, someone I know you'll like to see again." Izuku smiled and put a hand over his chest, focusing his power on the connection between Nana and him. Light started to escape from the cracks of his fingers, in a last flash of magenta, he brought that connection to life and Nana with it.
Gran's cane slipped from his hand. A hand made of solid magenta light grabbed it from the ground, "Careful Gran, you don't want to fall too." Nana gave him a soft smile and offered the deadly (at least in Toshi and Izuku's opinion) walking stick back.
Gran Torino didn't even notice it, he could only stare with wet eyes, "Nana, you, how?"
The woman looked over her shoulder, "What can I say, my little troublemaker likes to make miracles too." She mock-glared at Izuku, who chuckled and scratched his head.
That was all Gran needed to hear, he jumped at Nana and brought her into a hug, one that she returned wholeheartedly. They cried together, even Izuku, they finally had the chance to be with each other again.
"I missed you." Gran's voice, for the first time in a long time, was weak.
"And I missed you too, but I saw it, everything." She leaned back and held Gran's shoulders, "You took care of Toshi, you two did it and…" Nana let more tears fall, even while her smile grew, "You took care of my boys, thank you."
He huffed, "Your boys, you mean your brats." The man gave a wet laugh, "Those two knuckleheads are a headache, but they are strong."
"They learned from the best."
Izuku, who was already staining his shirt with tears, chuckled, "That we did!"
Gran shook his head and finally grabbed his cane, "Come here brat!" He marched to the boy. Without giving him the chance to do anything, Gran smacked his feet and knees, making Izuku fall to his behind.
The boy blinked, Danger Sense didn't give a single blip, not even when Gran Torino smacked his head, "Close your eyes." Izuku did, for fear of another smack, then he felt something being secured on his neck, "You can open them now."
The young hero blinked his eyes open, looking down, he gasped. On his neck was a yellow short cape, Gran Torino's cape.
Nana chuckled, "Huh, so you finally admit you're a softie?" Her answer was a whack of Gran's walking stick on the shins. She yelped and Floated up, "Now I know why Toshi is so scared of those." The woman rubbed the assaulted parts.
"This is a thank you gift, brat. I can finally sleep in peace at night, so thank you for your little miracle." Torino grasped Izuku's shoulder firmly and nodded, "And you, you old ghost, I don't know what, how, or why, but keep your brats out of trouble! I'm too old for that shit."
Nana landed back on the floor and laughed, "Leave it to me. And take care of yourself too, okay? I don't want any surprise visits on the other side anytime soon!"
Gran Torino looked up, asking the heavens just what the hell had his life become, then shook his head, deciding he didn't want to know, "Fine."
Izuku, who had been silent and overwhelmed by the heartfelt gift from Gran Torino, finally snapped out of it. The first thing he decided to do was jump on the two old heroes and pull them on a Midoriya signature bone-breaking hug plus tears, "Thank you!"
Nana and Gran traded an amused glance, "You're welcome kiddo." They said in perfect synchrony. After the waterworks stopped and Izuku put them down, Nana's form started to blink.
"Oh, looks like my time is up." Nana shrugged, "Welp, back to being the disembodied voice of reason." She smiled. Before she could fully disappear, Nana pulled Gran into one more hug, "See ya, Sorahiko." She whispered to him, before fading away in motes of magenta.
The old and hardened man left one more tear fall, then he huffed, "Later Nana." He turned back to Izuku, who once more was openly crying a fountain, "Now go brat, you'll be late."
Izuku nodded and grabbed his things, with one last goodbye, the boy started to walk away from Gran Torino's home, when the man yelled.
"Hey, brat." When Izuku turned, he smirked, "Who are you?"
Izuku was about to complain when a breeze hit him and made his cape flutter. Of course, he knew who he was, "My name is Deku! And I'll be the greatest hero!" He raised his fist, a brilliant smile on his face. Gran Torino barked a laugh and waved the boy away.
The young hero Deku, using all the symbols of his journey so far, his crossed belts, the armor piece on his right shoulder, Eri's lucky charm in his pocket, and the new addition of Gran Torino's cape on his neck, walked away. Another chapter of the quest to his dream came to an end, and yet another was about to start.
For the path of our hero brought him ever closer to the promised day.
Done! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
This titanic wall of text was somehow created by me, and approved by keeperofhounds.
Now let's talk for a second, there are a lot of things that a have to make clear. First, Izuku can use constructs, yes, it was planned since the start that he would be doing it a la a Green Lanter, why? Because I think it's cool and for reasons, but I'll admit that the KH4 trailer gave me ideas (also, I see what you did that Nomura, but I will outsmart your outsmarting and outpredict your outpredicting!).
Second, Summons! Yup, Izuku can summon the past holders of OFA! If you think that's absurd, remember that in KH1 Sora summoned people whose worlds fell to Darkness, so it isn't that much of a stretch. Will that lead to high shenanigans? Absolutely!
Third, Wings of Hope! I will admit that Keyblade lived rent-free in my mind for a really long while, but can you judge me? It's such a cool design with a lot of meaning behind it. Is it OP? Yes, is it the most OP? No, but it is close to the top on the Keyblade list.
Fourth, The bois are worthy! What does that mean? In multiple ways? RAFO! (Read And Find Out!)
Fifth, there will be a lot of family drama and punching in the next chapter, so stay tuned!
And last but not least, Izuku gained Gran Torino's recognition in this chapter, so much so the old man gave him his cape! Remember that.
Now, the usual song and dance to wrap it up. Join the Discord! It's starting to become a really cool small community, so join the FUN!
discord . gg / stAGY4V