That idiot is making a move… Stain thought, blade hanging casually at his side as he watched another explosion rip through the night. I'll have to dispose of him later… At the moment I have… unfinished business…
"My bo- dy…" Native stammered. "Can't... move! You… bastard! I'll kill you!"
Stain slowly twisted his gaze back to the hero.
"If you call yourself a hero…" He grumbled. "You should really choose your last words more carefully…"
Before he could put the hero down, he dodged an attack, retaliating by striking at his attacker with his sword. He watched the armoured attacker fall to the ground, his helmet bouncing away. He was careful to make a cut deep enough to draw blood, just in case.
"A child in a suit?" The Hero Killer straightened. "Who are you?"
"They're on the overpass!" Izuku explained quickly to the rescue heroes. "The train was safe when I left but people could be injured… I didn't check. I- I came here as fast as I could to make sure Onima was okay."
"You did the right thing." Red Star nodded. "We could have died if you hadn't been here."
Power Ox gave a solemn nod, his arms crossed.
"Go back to Endeavour, stay close to him. If I know him at all, he'll want to go after the flying creature."
"Right!" Izuku bowed, jogging over to Shoto and Endeavour.
"They're called Noumu." Shoto was saying. "If they are the same creatures that attacked us at the USJ, that means the league of villains is involved."
"I see." Endeavour said, before turning to Midoriya. "I hear you took one of these… Noumu down single handedly. Perhaps I underestimated you after all."
Izuku bowed deeply.
"If it wasn't for your training I would not have been able to." He said. "I should not have been as disrespectful as I was."
"No." Endeavour rumbled. "You should not have. But if you had not spurred me into this reckless idea we likely would not have arrived in time to save this city."
Endeavour crossed his arms, his body exuding the energy of a coiled spring.
"Regardless, we can address this later. For now we have work to do."
"Hai sensei!" Izuku bowed.
"It's coming back!" Manual cried as the flying Noumu landed, perched on the corner of a building.
It shuddered as its back bulged, launching projectiles from the bulbous growths across its spine.
"Take cover!" Power Ox shouted, directing with an open arm.
"No!" Endeavour cried as the spheres landed, unfurling on the ground. "This was not an attack! It has a cloning quirk of some kind!"
He held his hands out, palms forward, showering the newly spawned, smaller Noumu in fire. A few fell, smouldering to the ground as the remaining Noumu started spewing out clones as well. The lead Noumu looked on in curiosity as a small swarm formed from its children.
"Manual! Power Ox!" Endeavour called, continuously pouring torrents of flame. "Herd them towards us! Shoto! Red Star! Help me take them down! Midoriya, status?"
"Recharging!" He called back, throwing a rock at a Noumu where it bounced off pathetically.
"Join us when you can!" Shoto said, blasting a Noumu out of the sky with a burst of flame.
"You're using your fire quirk?" Izuku exclaimed in surprise.
"Like you said!" Shoto skidded around the area, herding the Noumu towards his father. "This isn't about me! I can't hold back when lives are at stake!"
Izuku nodded, a smile breaking out under his resolute expression.
"Let's make this quick." Endeavour intoned.
"Goodbye, child." Stain hissed, hefting his blade over the false hero. "May your death help bring about a better world…"
He plunged the sword down, finishing the job.
"We are nearly done!" Endeavour crushed another Noumu to the ground, melting it. He turned, shooting another one out of the sky.
"Above you!" Red Star shouted, trying to shoot at the main Noumu.
"Stop!" Endeavour twisted Red Star's arms out of the way. "You imbecile! It has a hostage!"
Endeavour sprinted after the flying Noumu, but he quickly realised he would be too slow to catch it.
"Midoriya!" He called, melting the side of a building with his feet to gain altitude.
"Ready!" Izuku yelled, sprinting over.
"Cannonbolt!" Endeavour demanded, leaping from the building to spear the Noumu with serrated construct of flame. The Noumu dropped its hostage as it winced in pain, flapping away faster. Endeavour caught the woman, skidding to a halt on the ground by melting the asphalt. "Here!"
"Right!" A flash of green light revealed the spinning ball form of Cannonbolt blasting towards the flame hero. When he was just ahead of Endeavour, Cannonbolt blasted upwards, propelled by a blast of fire from the flame hero. He was right on target, feeling the Noumu's weight on his shell, blasted into the side of the building.
Cannonbolt dropped to the ground, spinning with his ball form to not only negate any damage to himself but also cause minimum damage to the street. The Noumu landed in a fleshy heap next to him.
"Good work." Endeavour nodded. "Now we see to the injured."
"How can I help?" Green light flashed as Izuku followed after the pro.
"I should have known you'd try something like this…" Stain said, perched on the water tower across from Shigaraki and Kurogiri. "Let me guess? Make your message louder than mine? Drown out my noble crusade with your childish drive for destruction?"
"I didn't know you could think straight." Shigaraki muttered. "I thought your Ninja Turtle bandanna cut off the blood to your brain."
Stain flipped forward, drawing his sword in the process, landing silently across from the villains.
"You here to try and make me join your little club again?" Stain sneered.
"Hardly." Shigaraki scratched his neck slowly. "I was hoping you'd die in the process, but it seems I'm out of Noumu. And still injured. Guess I had to bump up the difficulty some time."
Stain darted forward, sword flashing. Tomura reached out, hand grasping. One portal opened. Blood spilled over the roof.
"Man, you're even better in person!" Red Star exclaimed. "But why didn't you use Big Guy?"
"Way Big?" Izuku flushed, the chaos had died down, and now everyone was unwinding together. All in all, there were mostly minor injuries and a few broken bones among the population, and apart from Native and one of Manual's interns, everyone was accounted for. "He's really powerful, that's true, but he's not well suited to fighting in a dense, urban environment. At least, not without causing a lot of property damage."
"Oh yeah." Power Ox said, flexing. "I know what that's like."
"Midoriya." Shoto's voice was quiet and sincere. His right arm had been injured and was draped in a sling, but the paramedics had said it would be fully healed shortly. "I wanted to thank you for helping me."
"You don't need to thank me." Izuku smiled, waving him off.
"But I do." Shoto insisted. "You helped me to realise how selfish I was being. If I had only used my Ice quirk today… People could, no, would have been injured. That weight would have been on my conscience. Thank you for helping me see things in a different way."
With that, Shoto bowed deeply.
"Thanks, Todoroki." Izuku flushed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "But it was you who made that choice. You're a hero in your own right."
"Hey, Midoriya-kun!" Kido called. "Over here!"
Izuku followed the bandaged sidekick to an open ambulance where Burnin' was sitting with Kido, whose arm was being strapped by a paramedic.
"You're okay!" Tears of relief prickled Izuku's eyes.
"Thanks in large part to you, we've been told." Burnin' smirked, crossing her arms.
"That's not true." Izuku flushed, babbling nervously. "It was a team effort. I was pretty much useless for the first part, and it was only seeing you guys injured that inspired me to fight harder."
"Look at him." Kido folded his arms teasingly.
"I taught him that." Onima observed smugly.
"Model hero." Burnin' winked, causing Izuku's blush to worsen.
"He must be Father's true prodigy." Shoto chimed in, causing the group to stare at him shocked.
"Prince Shoto!" Burnin' breathed, eyes mischievous.
"We are honoured by your presence!" Onima bowed deeply and dramatically.
Shoto smiled lightly, rolling his eyes.
"Okay, that's enough." The paramedic shook his head after he finished putting Onima's broken arm in a sling. "We need to get you to the hospital. The rest of you, get some rest. You've done good work here."
Tomura gasped, drawing rasping breaths, as his arm hung limply at his side. Blood flowed freely from a deep gash in his side.
"Can you move yet?" He asked the prone form of Kurogiri.
"Yes." Kurogiri said. "I am shocked that he managed to cut me… It should not have been possible."
"Well it's over now." Tomura said, staring distastefully at the headless form of Stain, the Hero Killer. "Count that side quest finished."
"Such a waste." Kurogiri lamented. "If only we could have swayed him to our side…"
"He was a worshipper of the final boss." Tomura hissed, the itch in his neck unbearable. "We would have had to dispose of him eventually. I prefer to get the XP early, when it makes more of an impact."
"What shall I do with the body?" Kurogiri queried, shakily getting to his feet.
"Dump it in the alley." Tomura waved the comment off. "Let the cops think they took each other out."
"It will be done." Kurogiri bowed. "But I will see to your wounds first."
Only one vehicle took the heroes of Endeavour agency home that night. Even Endeavour seemed in high spirits, listening to his Sidekicks and Interns banter with a smile.
Their high spirits lasted early into the morning and it was a very contented Izuku Midoriya lying, sleepless, in his bed. He couldn't wipe the smile from his face. For the first time since he got the Omnitrix, he was able to use his abilities to help people, really help people.
Tears of joy threatened to spill from eyes at that thought. He was a hero. He saved people. He was there for the Hosu incident. He fought alongside Pro Heroes to defeat a threat to the safety of the city.
Izuku Midoriya, hero. He thought, grinning to himself like a loon. He rolled over to his side, his smile growing wider. No, the versatile hero: Alien Force.
"Midoriya?" Shoto whispered from the other side of the room.
"Yeah?" Izuku answered quietly.
"Can't sleep either?" Shoto's voice queried.
"You too?" Izuku laughed softly. "I thought I was being weird."
"You are weird." Shoto teased.
"Well then so are you, since you're still up too." Izuku teased right back.
"Oh no." Shoto said innocently. "The yellow light from your watch is what's keeping me up."
"Oh." Izuku sat upright to look at the watch again. "I don't know why this happens. It's only when I'm in this room, and that one time at the training facility."
"Is it just me," Shoto hesitated. "Or is the light following me?"
Izuku snapped his mouth shut and looked over to Shoto, illuminated by the yellow glow from the Omnitrix. Izuku moved his arm. The light stayed on Shoto. Shoto moved to the foot of the bed. The light stuck to him.
"That's… really strange…" Izuku furrowed his brow. He got up and started crossing the room.
"What are you doing?" Shoto asked, slightly nervous.
"I don't really know." Izuku admitted. "But something tells me it wants to… I don't know… be near you?"
"Can it rather not do that?" Shoto asked. "Is it safe to do this? We don't even know why it's doing that. It could be dangerous or-"
"Approximating Unavailable Powerset from internal storage." The Omnitrix announced startling Shoto so badly that he fell off the bed on the other side.
"Did your quirk just talk?!" He cried out.
"This is so cool!" Izuku grinned, watching the Omnitrix dial spin faster before coming to a standstill. The dial slowly raised upwards, displaying a new silhouette.
"Is it going to explode?" Shoto asked, eyes wide.
"I think I just unlocked a new form!" Izuku said excitedly. "He looks like… a… guy in a hooded bathrobe?"
"Sounds useful if you're ever facing a villain whose weakness is lazy sundays." Shoto snarked, causing Izuku to stick out his tongue and head back to bed. Izuku seemed to collapse into his pillow. Shoto tilted his head curiously. "You're just going to sleep? Are you not the least bit curious about what your new form can do?"
"Of course I am." Izuku yawned. "But I feel… really tired… Like I just… Worked out with Onima instead of Burnin'."
"That is pretty bad." Shoto allowed. The silence deepened, and soon enough, Izuku was breathing rhythmically from across the room. "Good night, Midoriya."
He settled back in his bed, head still spinning.
Izuku dragged himself up to breakfast, the strain from the previous day making itself nice and comfortable in his tired muscles.
"You look like how I feel." Burnin' noted. Her flaming hair had regrown into a short bob, just under her ears.
Izuku grunted in response, grabbing a cup of coffee and a plate of pastries. In the time he had been interning with Endeavour, the catering staff had increased the amount of food available at any given time by nearly half of what they usually made.
Just as he was starting to feel human again, a white faced Shoto entered the room.
"Midoriya…" He said quietly. "You need to see this…"
Izuku followed Shoto to a side room where Endeavour sat, fuming on a couch. A news report was playing on a television on the far wall. It seemed to be a report on the Hosu incident of the night before.
"-and that concludes our top story." The anchor announced. "Powerful villains attacked Hosu last night, and while the heroes handled this threat diligently, tragedy struck elsewhere in the city, as the Hero Killer Stain was finally brought to justice, but at a great cost. After the conclusion of this morning's press conference, Chief of Police, Kenji Tsuragamae, had this to say:"
The image on screen shifted to the hound faced Chief of Police.
"Last night at approximately 23h00 hours," He announced, taking a deep breath. "The Hero Killer Stain was killed in a battle against the Pro Hero known as Native and a UA student who was interning with Manual's agency, Tenya Iida, under the hero name Tenya. As far as we have been able to tell, there is no connection between the Hero Killer and the incident where several powerful villains attacked the city of Hosu. Unfortunately, Tenya and Native seemingly died of their injuries shortly after the battle. Our thoughts are with the Iida family during this trying period."
The image cut back to the news anchor who hung his head in silence for a moment before speaking.
"Pro Hero Manual has also made an official statement." The anchor continued. "He said that he himself was separated from Tenya during the chaos of the incident, and that he will carry the responsibility for his intern's death to his grave."
Izuku's stomach felt leaden.
They were there.
In Hosu.
Possibly only blocks away from where their classmate had been killed… and they hadn't even known.
Any and all feeling of being a capable hero drained from his body, leaving a prickling sickness that made him dizzy.
He stumbled from the room, nauseous with guilt.
Endeavour clenched his jaw as he watched his son leave the room after Midoriya. He had known the Hero Killer would be in Hosu. That is why he had decided to go there instead of patrolling the city. He wanted to bring the killer to justice… instead… innocent people were killed where he could have easily given aid… he should have sent Midoriya to scout the city, or done so himself.
But in the end, hindsight is a dangerous drug, so he clamped down on the guilt and anger he felt, letting his heart grow cold to the lives lost. After all, he couldn't be expected to save everyone.
No one could.
AN
That sucked to write actually. I spent a long time thinking about how I could have Izuku or Shoto stumble upon that alley and save Iida, but every scenario I came up with ended up being more convoluted than the previous.
In the end, my commitment to logical storytelling won out…
This Izuku doesn't know Iida. He wouldn't even know to go looking, let alone know that Iida was interning in Hosu, or about how much Tensei's injuries were affecting him.
Ripple effects.
||Review Review||
Thisisalinebreak
DarkSpeed
Your comment disturbs and intrigues me… I sincerely hope I misunderstood it, and yet now I am considering it. You have a twisted mind, and I vibe with you.
Laitou
Pleasure to hear from you as always, mate.
Not really keen on that idea…
I will keep it in mind, but they don't really know each other at all in this story. At least not yet.
I'm really glad you like the direction I'm going in. :3
You've also made a really good guess there, and it is revealed in this chapter.
I tried to be as faithful to the shows as I can when writing Izu10K :)
Thxndergod
Leaning that way myself currently…
AtlasKP
I am a pretty big fan of IzuJirou :3
CCSakuraforever
Yeah, you have a pretty good guess going on how I'm going to solve that particular issue. :)
Symbo
Top name, mate! :D
That's cool too. Means as long as I don't mess up too bad you'll be cool? Cool. :)
bignathan02
Glad you liked it xD
KazoomTheGreat
Yeah, hopefully this chapter illustrates the start of that journey for Izu10K. Time will tell whether our Izuku follows in his path…
Also yeah, The future is very scared of Alien Force. He is OP.
Yeah, having 10K is an invaluable tool to illustrate things that can't be clearly stated because I would be treading dangerously close to the cardinal sin of expository dialogue. xD
This Omnitrix has more in common with Eunice than the 'Trix we see in OG Ben 10. ;)
Yeah, I wanted to make my 10K feel familiar, but still be distinct from the ones we've seen already.
Paradox is incredibly fun to write. xD
Izuku and Shoto's budding friendship isn't something I planned, but it just wrecked so well that I couldn't resist making it a thing. I hope I didn't bollocks it up this chapter.
Yeh. Sick iz not phun.
Yeah, this chapter is once again a major divergence from canon that will also have major implications, personal and practical, going forward.
I am of the mindset that writing the canon plot and all the events still happen in slightly different ways but with the same outcome makes a very bland and boring story.
Also, I just want to point out I love your rambling. xD
If I do end up including romance it would not be just smacking a label on two characters and calling them a ship. I prefer, much like writing any relationship, to build the characters towards their eventual romance in a natural way that doesn't make either character seem like an accessory.
I'll definitely keep your advice in mind if/when the time comes.
I agree with you on harems needing to be the focus of the story, or end up detracting from instead of adding to the logic of the story.
Imagine having a list with more than two points… cringe… couldn't be me… xD