Chapter 27 – Hero Killer: Stain
In the sky over Hosu City, a battle was taking place. The Villain was a Nomu with wings, shrieking as it fought with two Heroes. The pair that were combating the Nomu were Pro Hero Ryukyu and her protégé Hadō Nejire. The fight in the sky was mirrored by the fighting going on below them as well. Two more Nomu, one with long limbs and four eyes in its exposed brain, and another a hulking form of muscle with pitch-black skin and the top of its head missing, were fighting Endeavor, Ingenium, and the combined Sidekicks of their Agencies.
"Nejire, strike!" Ryukyu batted the flying Nomu backwards with her Dragon Form's talons. The shrieking bioweapon struggled to right itself as it flailed through the air from the blow.
"Full charge, output level fifteen: Nejire Wave!" Nejire's golden energy spiraled around her arms before it blasted forward to slam into the Nomu. The winged-monster was sent hurtling towards the ground from the blast and shattered the concrete below when it impacted the ground. "I got it, Ryukyu!"
"Excellent work!" Ryukyu entered a sharp dive towards the downed bioweapon. The dust kicked up from its impact was blown away as Ryukyu slammed down on top of it with the weight of her Dragon Form.
"Greeeeeiiigghgh!" The winged-Nomu screeched through its respirator-like mask. It didn't seem to be regenerating like the one with jet-black skin, but Ryukyu wouldn't take any chances with this abomination.
"Stay down!" Ryukyu roared and her taloned right arm slammed down onto the Nomu's head with all the force that she could put behind it. The concrete shattered and blood splattered as the bioweapon's head was completely crushed. "Threat has been neutralized." She spoke clearly as Nejire floated down to join her.
Nejire's hero costume was a royal blue skin-tight bodysuit with a high black collar, pale mint green markings covered her torso from over her shoulders to between her legs, framed with turquoise, and there was a matching stripe of the same two colors around both of her upper arms. On her feet, she wore a pair of knee-high boots, a thinning flap buttoned on each thigh, with turquoise spirals around her ankles, matching the thicker ones above her yellow gauntlets and wrist-guards. She had a black strap around the top of each thigh, two small satchels attached, and two spiraling horns of her periwinkle-blue hair protruded from behind her ears straight upwards.
"Eww…" Nejire grimaced at the blood splatter. She knew it was necessary in this case, but it was still gross.
"I know, Nejire, but there is a blanket elimination order for these Nomu." Ryukyu gave the best smile she could in her Dragon Form. The gray scales and reptilian features made that a bit harder than normal, of course. "You've gotten much better at controlling your power as well." She vaguely motioned to the surrounding area and the lack of damage.
"I've been practicing as much as possible!" Nejire raised her fists in front of her with a smile. A golden spark emitted from both of her fists to wind around her forearms like bent lightning before disappearing. "I don't have to charge up as much to get the same results anymore."
"Ryukyu, we need some assistance with the long-limbed Nomu!" A few Sidekicks requested. "Several of our Emitter Quirks are being turned back against us by one of its Quirks!"
"Watch over this Nomu, we'll handle it!" Ryukyu ordered, getting nods of acceptance from the Sidekicks.
"It's an absorb and release mechanism, Ryukyu!" One of the Sidekicks informed the Dragoon Hero. "If you blast it with things like fire or electricity, it absorbs them, builds them up, and then releases all that at once in a blast."
"Thank you for the information." Ryukyu appreciated the heads up. "Nejire, stay here, we can't risk this Nomu absorbing your energy and releasing an even bigger blast in such a crowded area."
"Right, Ryukyu!" Nejire agreed with a quick salute. She knew how powerful her Quirk was. Letting a Villain get ahold of her energy would be bad!
Ryukyu quickly flapped her large wings to get airborne and glide over to where the fight with the four-eyed Nomu was still happening.
-Endeavor and Ingenium-
"Hah…hah…it regenerates from every bit of damage that we cause it." Ingenium remarked while he caught his breath and watched the large headless Nomu recover rapidly from their last strikes against it.
"Attacking its body isn't getting us anywhere." Endeavor agreed, eyeing the exposed brain of the bioweapon. "All Regeneration Quirks are controlled by the brain…so I might have a way to deal with this thing permanently."
"What do you need?" Ingenium's Engine Quirk revved loudly as the large Nomu leapt at them with a gurgled bellow.
"Distract it long enough for me to get behind it." Endeavor and Ingenium both dashed aside as the hulking monster slammed into their previous position. The concrete shattered into pebbles and sand from the force of the blow and the tremor could be felt through the ground.
"Got it!" Ingenium literally blurred as his engines roared and blue flames could be seen from the exhausts. "Recipro Burst!" Like that, Ingenium vanished from the sight of anyone that didn't have the senses and cognitive perception to keep up with his ludicrous speed.
"Raaaarrr...ggaaaaakkkhhh!" The headless Nomu's bellowing roar was cut off as it gurgled from the impact of Ingenium. The leg of the speedster was suddenly folding the beast nearly in half. The sheer speed that the Turbo Hero had built up had transferred into an insane amount of force when it met a solid object.
"Endeavor!" Ingenium used his still flaring Engine Quirk to vanish before the Nomu could attempt to recover and grab him with its insane strength.
"You can't regenerate cells if they're carbonized…" Endeavor's large hands grabbed the Nomu's head from behind.
An intense blast of flames went off and the Nomu shrieked a horrid sound as the Flame Hero literally cooked its brain. The orange flames near-instantly went to orange-yellow. In mere seconds the heat skyrocketed as orange-yellow went to pure yellow, then to yellow-white, pure-white, and then blue. With a sound almost like a jet-engine's afterburners, the flailing Nomu's arms went limp. The bioweapon made no more sound as Endeavor finished it off. The blue flames disappeared and Endeavor let go of the abomination's head. It fell forward and the charcoal that its head had become shattered on the concrete.
"Threat eliminated." Ingenium's Recipro Burst had ended as he made the call-in to the rest of the Sidekicks. "You alright Endeavor?"
"I'm fine." Endeavor waved the other Hero off as sweat ran down his face. He was able to produce that level of heat, but his body couldn't disperse it at the same rate. His Hell Flame Quirk's biggest drawback was that it produced more heat than even his fire-resistant body could technically handle. When he pushed it into the blue fire range of roughly 1,600 degrees C, even his body broke out into a heavy sweat from the intensity of the heat. "Are the other Nomu dealt with yet?"
"Ryukyu has already taken down the flying Nomu, and is currently assisting the elimination of the four-eyed Nomu." Ingenium informed as he'd just been updated himself through the earpieces that they all had. "Civilians are being evacuated, but so far no one has been harmed and everything is proceeding according to plan."
"Good, we still have the Hero Killer to deal with too." Endeavor looked around the area, saw how torn up the square has been in such a short time, and wondered why these Nomu were here in the first place. "Aren't these bioweapons supposed to be part of that League of Villains? Why are they in Hosu?"
"I'm not sure…it does seem odd though." Ingenium stood over the dead Nomu with Endeavor beside him. "You don't think they've made contact with the Hero Killer, do you?" He truly hoped that the serial killer hadn't become part of a group that had already targeted students in the past. Even U.A. couldn't protect all of their students if Stain decided to make 'examples' of them.
"If that happens, we'll need to step up the manhunt for the League of Villains before anyone else gets targeted." Endeavor narrowed his eyes at the thought, unknowingly thinking the same thing that Ingenium was.
-Back Alleys ~ Hosu City-
"Where did he go?" Todoroki whispered to Izuku. The two had been doing their best to tail Stain without the serial killer noticing them. They'd kept their distance, but that may have come back to bite them as they'd lost track of the man.
"I don't have a Quirk that lets me search large areas to find people." Izuku shook his head and made a mental note to see if he could copy such a Quirk sometime in the future.
"We can't just go around looking for him either." Todoroki shook his head. That would invite the possibility of stumbling upon the serial killer and being attacked when they least expected it.
"Gah!" A short, but loud, cry of shock and pain rang out from a distance.
"There!" Izuku and Todoroki both exclaimed as they tried to pinpoint where the distant sound had come from as they moved forward.
The duo of interns made their way quickly towards where they thought the cry had originated from. Several alleyways over, in a wide alley between two multistory buildings, the two teens caught sight of the Hero Killer again. Obviously, a short exchange had taken place in the time before they'd arrived. There were a few marks on the walls of the alleyway from some kind of struggle. But it had not ended in the Hero's favor. Pro Hero Native was being held against the wall by his face and Stain stood before him with his ragged sword in hand.
"So flashy…what's that idiot doing?" Stain wondered, facing towards the distant sounds of explosions and screaming of panicked civilians. "I'll take care of him later…but for now…" He turned to face the immobile Native. "I'll do what I came to do."
"I can't move…" Native let out a pained grunt. "You bastard…I'll get you."
"If you're a Hero," Stain drew back his sword. "Then choose your last words wisely."
"Shut…up, you murderer." Native glared as harshly as he could at Stain. "You're nothing but a Villain."
"And you're not a Hero." Stain replied with his own glare. "You started patrolling this area only after it was known that I was here in Hosu."
"Of course…I did…if you weren't here…then I'd have no reason to patrol this area." Native ground out, trying to move his body against whatever Stain had done to him. "I'll…take you…down. For all of…the Heroes that you've killed!"
"Save them first." Stain motioned his head to the still audible screams from the incident going on in the city's entertainment district. "Forget about yourself for a second and try saving others." Stain narrowed his eyes at the Pro Hero that hadn't gone towards the sounds of chaos and had instead continued to look for him specifically. "Don't wield your power for your own sake. Getting wrapped up in your own fame and notoriety, acting out of pure self-interest…that makes you the furthest thing from a Hero." Stain lowered the paralyzed Native to his knees as he readied his sword. "That's why you have to die. Consider yourself a humble offering towards the betterment of society."
"It doesn't matter…what you say…" Native's words were quieter now, lacking the sharpness of before. Perhaps realizing that he was about to die had cleared his head in some weird way. But in that state, he could admit that what Stain had said about him wasn't wrong. He'd heard the commotion, should've gone to help the ones under threat, but he'd stayed in this area pursuing the Hero Killer instead. If he wasn't about to die, maybe he could've really looked at his actions as a Pro Hero and changed himself for the better. Stopped himself from craving the attention and the limelight and really focused on helping the people he was supposed to be protecting from Villains.
Crack
The loud sound made Stain whip his head around to the street entrance of the alleyway. A massive wall of ice had blocked off the alleyway in seconds, but Stain didn't see anyone facing him. He vaguely saw something green out of his peripheral vision and swung his sword at it. The blade bounced off the green thing, and Stain only had a fraction of a second to realize that he was now surrounded in a semi-transparent green cube.
"Rescue successful." Izuku called out to Todoroki, looking up to the top of the building on the left-hand side of the alleyway. Todoroki waved that he'd heard his fellow intern and placed his hand on top of the wall of ice he'd made to distract Stain. It would've also kept him trapped in the alley if anything had gone wrong with the rescue of Native and the capture of Stain. But now it wasn't needed so he slid down it carefully, occasionally using his Quirk to create footholds to slow his descent. Once he reached the ground, he switched hands and placed his left hand on the ice. Steam rose up as the ice rapidly began to melt away from the heat of his left side.
"What? Children?" Stain looked confused by what had just happened. He kicked at the barrier containing him with his spiked boots, but his foot just bounced off the construct.
"Your Warp Gate is very useful, Midoriya." Todoroki nodded to Izuku. He'd been transported through the swirling gate to the top of the building for their plan and it had made it much easier to execute. "How long can you keep him in there?"
"The longest that I've ever held my Barrier Quirk for was thirty minutes." Izuku recalled even as Stain continued to try and break his way out. "It gets harder to maintain the longer I hold it, and splitting my focus can shorten that time."
"Don't ignore me." Stain growled from within the cube. "This is no place for children."
"I'll check on Native then." Todoroki had completely ignored the trapped Villain's words. "You keep your focus on your barrier." The dual-toned boy moved over to try and assess Native's injuries.
"Yah!" Stain swung his worn sword at the barrier only to hear a snap as the blade broke against the cube holding him. His eyes widened behind his cloth mask as the top half of his blade fell to the bottom of the cube.
"You can't break that barrier by force." Izuku looked at the Hero Killer resolutely. "At least not any force that a regular human body could hope to generate."
"Are you another fake playing Hero?" Stain questioned the teen.
"I'm an intern right now." Izuku decided to keep the man talking to buy time.
"Native isn't too injured, Midoriya, he should be fine with some treatment and rest." Todoroki called out as he helped Native lean against the wall.
"Careful," Native warned the teens. "Don't let him out of there, one cut and he'll paralyze you like me." He was relieved that he'd been rescued, but now he realized that he really needed to re-evaluate himself and his actions. If two interns could make the right call in such a situation, what did that say about him?
"I wasn't planning on it." Izuku shook his head. As long as he kept Stain trapped inside his barrier, then he wasn't a threat to anyone.
"Can you move the barrier once you've made it?" Todoroki wasn't familiar with the working of most of Izuku's Quirks.
"I can, but it's slow, like less than walking speed." Izuku had found that out after the USJ. He'd initially assumed that he couldn't move his barriers at all once they were formed. But the reality was they could be moved very slowly if he focused on it.
"Two-on-one…at least you weren't naïve about it." Stain looked at the teens flatly. He'd had plenty come after him one-on-one looking to take down the Hero Killer for the fame and notoriety it would bring them. He'd purged all of them for sullying the Title of Hero. These two hadn't come after him though. They'd seen what he was about to do and distracted him, then trapped him, all to rescue Native. "Why put yourselves at risk for that fake?" He gestured to the still down Pro Hero.
"Because it's the right thing to do." Izuku replied instantly. Todoroki nodded his agreement with Izuku's words from his spot next to Native.
"You kids…make me realize that I need to do better." Native spoke with a heavy breath.
"It's no use pretending." Stain turned to glare death at Native. "A person's true nature is not so easily changed." He nearly pressed his face against the barrier to growl at the Pro. "You're nothing but a fake who prioritized his own selfish desires! A cancer on this society warped by people that call themselves 'Heroes' and make a mockery of the Title! Someone needs to correct the system."
"So, you're a fundamentalist?" Todoroki knew that some people believed that Heroes shouldn't be able to make the lucrative merchandising deals and side businesses that they currently were allowed to. But that was a pretty old way of thinking that only a few people held onto nowadays. "Get with the times. Who would even listen to your so-called reasoning?"
"No." Native spoke from his position against the wall. "He's right. I have no right to call myself a Hero. I should've gone towards the trouble, but I didn't, I chose to keep looking for the Hero Killer." He admitted with a heavy sigh. "I've been making choices in my career based on how much notoriety it would get me for way too long."
"You're hopeless." Stain looked like he wanted to kill Native right this second.
"Enough," Izuku spoke up, raising his voice to break the tension. "Regardless of how you see it or what you say, murder is murder, and you're still a Villain. Let's go." He made the barrier move at the slow crawl that he could move it at as they headed for the street.
"As long as a person lives, they can still change." Todoroki helped Native stand up, Stain's Quirk seemed to have started wearing off. "You took that chance away from everyone that you killed, Hero Killer." The dual-toned boy looked at the masked man strapped with blades. "How is that 'betterment' of any kind? You stopped them from being able to get better." He was still going through his own change in attitude and looking to become the Hero that he wanted to be. Hound Dog's sessions with him had made him realize that even his old man had been making changes over the last few years. Changes that he'd refused to see or acknowledge in his own anger and loathing of his father.
It took a few minutes to move the barrier containing Stain out onto the sidewalk. Once they were out in the open, Todoroki made the call-in through his earpiece. Both teens were fairly certain that they were going to get some form of punishment for not following orders, but they'd saved a life tonight and that meant more than whatever punishment might come.
"This is Todoroki Shoto, we've got the Hero Killer: Stain restrained, we need Pro Heroes and police support at our location." Todoroki spoke to all the coms linked to their earpieces.
"SHOTO!" Endeavor's voice roared over the communicator a split-second later. Izuku actually took his earpiece out in surprise at the volume.
-Rooftop ~ Hosu City-
"What the hell?" Shigaraki looked through a pair of binoculars. "The Heroes actually killed all of my Nomu? Since when do those self-righteous bastards kill?" He turned his gaze to a different location when he saw a group emerge from an alley slightly closer to his current position. "Is that?" Making sure of what he saw, he was at war with himself. "Midoriya Izuku…and Stain?" He nearly ground his teeth at seeing that fucking cheat again! But a powerful urge to laugh loudly was warring with his rage. Stain was caged up like a damned animal! That was hilarious!
Kurogiri looked on, not saying a word. But the fog-like Villain knew already that things hadn't gone as Tomura had expected them to. There was an almost guarantee that the young man would blow up about this shortly. If that happened, then he'd need to take Tomura back to their hideout so that Sensei could talk him down quickly.
"Why the hell did they instantly go for the kill against the Nomu? Why the hell is that brat here? So many questions, but no answers." He started to scratch at his neck in aggravation. "Why…aren't things going my way?"
-Street with Izuku-
It hadn't taken long, a few minutes at best, before Endeavor had come barreling around the corner at speed. He was followed by multiple Sidekicks, some from the Ingenium Agency even, as he rushed towards his interns. But the second his eyes met Stain's the Hero Killer went off like a bomb.
"ENDEAVOR!" Stain slammed his fists against the barrier with a howl. "You FAKE!" Spit flew from his mouth as he bellowed at the Number Two Pro Hero. Stain's eyes were wide in a vicious, nearly psychotic, rage at seeing the Flame Hero. "I'll purge you! You and all those other fakes that taint the Title of 'Hero'!" The Villain almost seemed to be going into a fit as his rage overtook him entirely. There was almost a pressure in the air from the trapped Hero Killer. A bloodlust and determination so strong as to toe the line into outright insanity. "If I don't fix it…" He slammed his fists against the cube again. "If someone isn't…stained with blood…!" Another slam against the barrier even as a crack was heard from his fists. "If I don't reclaim the Title of 'Hero'…" He slammed his forehead against the semi-transparent wall, uncaring of the blood that started to flow from doing so. "Come…! Just try me, you fakes!" The pressure in the air continued to increase as he raged. "The only one allowed to kill me is…All Might, a True Hero!"
"What the hell?" Todoroki instinctively took a step backwards, as did several of the Sidekicks. Even Endeavor's hackles rose in response to the sheer psychotic rage the Villain was giving off.
"Stop it…just stop already…" Izuku felt the minute tremors in his body as he stepped forward. Stain's wrathful gaze didn't leave Endeavor until Izuku was face-to-face with the man. 'Amplification' 'Enhance Function' 'Efficiency' 'Paralyze Glare' Izuku compiled the Quirks together and his eyes flashed bright green as he looked into Stain's crazed gaze. The Villain collapsed like a sack of rocks to the bottom of the cube. The pressure in the air disappeared and most people wondered what Izuku had just done.
"Synthesis, explain." Endeavor moved to stand at his intern's side.
"I used one of my Quirks on him, Paralyze Glare." Izuku looked at his internship mentor. "The last time I boosted it like I just did, the paralysis lasted ten minutes. All of his motor nerves are basically shut off, he can't move anything more than closing his eyes." He let the barrier fade and everyone saw that Stain hadn't tried to lash out at anyone. The man just continued to lay on the ground unmoving.
"Good work, but you're both still in for punishment for disobeying instructions." Endeavor shot a look at both Izuku and his son. Police sirens were heard as two squad cars and a transport truck sped around the corner towards their location. "They've arrived, good, we'll hand Stain over so that the police can place him under arrest and take him away."
-Rooftop-
"Let's head back." Shigaraki scoffed as the binoculars in his hand disintegrated from his Quirk. He was still warring between rage and hysteric laughter at what had happened to Stain and it was confusing him.
"Did you achieve the results that you were hoping for, Shigaraki Tomura?" Kurogiri asked as the black-purple fog that made up his body swirled around next to him and formed a Warp Gate.
"Idiot." Shigaraki sent one last glare at Hosu as he stepped back into the portal. "That all depends on everyone's reactions tomorrow." The Villain disappeared into the gate and Kurogiri followed after him. The fog swirled into itself and vanished as if it was never there a few seconds later.
-Izuku-
Izuku watched on as Endeavor stood with the police near Stain. The serial killer was being stripped of every weapon the police officers could find on his person. Dozens of knives of various sizes were collected from the temporarily paralyzed Villain. They removed his spiked boots, took off his vest, mask, and headband, found another small knife hidden in his left wristband, and then they held him up as a Suppression Jacket was put on him. Izuku had never seen one of the items in-person before. They wrapped around a person's body to restrain them, making the use of one's arms impossible. Even top tier Strength Quirks couldn't force their way out of one of the specialized law enforcement restraints.
"It's a thorough process." Todoroki mentioned from beside Izuku as they both watched as the various blades were lined up on the ground, along with Stain's spiked boots. A policeman placed a numbered marker next to each weapon, and once they were all numbered a different police officer began taking pictures of them one by one for evidence purposes.
"Yeah," Izuku nodded as both teens came down from the realization of what they'd done tonight. "I see why law enforcement and Heroes are separate entities even better now." The thought of having to try and go through this whole process for every Villain by himself made Izuku's head spin. It was best to let the police handle arrests and evidence gathering like this. It made things far simpler for Pro Heroes that may resolve multiple incidents in a single day. "What kind of punishment do you think we'll get?"
"Probably have to clean the entire training area at the Agency with hand brushes." Todoroki replied while still watching the processing and arrest. "We might also have to write a report on what we did wrong and why we did it."
"I'm sure Endeavor will understand our reasoning." Izuku looked at the Flame Hero from where they stood.
"Don't count on it." Todoroki spoke flatly and Izuku was suddenly much less sure of his theory.
Chapter 28 – Punishment and the end of Internships
"Make it shine!" Burnin ordered Izuku and Shoto with a stern look on her face. She kind of wanted to crack a joke right now, as was more in-line with her personality, but what the two interns had done warranted actual punishment.
"Yes ma'am." The two teens responded as they continued to scrub the floor of the training room with a single hand brush each. Shoto may not have the best relationship with his father, but he'd been spot on in the punishment that they'd been given by Endeavor.
The main training hall of the Endeavor Agency was over two-hundred square meters of floor space. Cleaning it with two buckets and two hand brushes was going to take most of the day, especially when they had to change out the water in the two buckets multiple times. They also had to write an essay explaining what they'd done wrong in Hosu, give their reasons for disobeying orders, and then explain what the proper response to their sighting of the Hero Killer should've been. It was going to be a very long day for the two teens, but neither of them regretted saving Native's life.
"Do you think we'll still have training and patrols tomorrow?" Izuku scrubbed the floor not too far away from Shoto.
"Yes, but it'll be a harder training, focused mostly on control." Todoroki spoke up after a moment. "My father is likely to drill us on control until we improve to a degree that he's satisfied with."
"I did want to learn how to better control my Fire Breath Quirk." Izuku smiled at the thought, but he quickly lost his smile when he saw the look on his classmate's face.
"You say that now." Todoroki gave Izuku the flattest look possible. "You won't once the training begins…and continues…and continues…until you're barely able to stand."
"Uh…Todoroki…are you okay?" Izuku asked at the other boy's reaction to what would be occurring tomorrow.
"I'm fine…just…memories." Todoroki took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. His father hadn't forced him to train since his first year of Junior High. A change that he'd not cared to notice in his loathing of his father, until one of his sessions with Hound Dog had made him face it. "I doubt he'll make us collapse. Just be prepared to have everything you're doing be questioned. Until you get it 'right', my father will continue to drill you on your use of a Fire Quirk."
"Right." Izuku went back to scrubbing the floor. He wondered how strained the familial relationship was, but it wasn't his place to pry into Todoroki's family life. The dual-toned teen probably wouldn't appreciate it either.
-Selkie's Agency-
Tsuyu breached the surface of the water at speed, rising a couple of meters above the water's surface. She whipped her tongue around, the lengthy appendage blurring from the speed as Selkie emerged from the water as well. The Spotted Seal Quirk user breached even higher than Tsuyu had done, easily dodging her whipping tongue, and launched a punch at the girl.
"Guh!" Tsuyu guarded, but without any footing to brace herself, she was sent flying back into the water.
"Come on, Froppy! You can do it!" Selkie encouraged his intern as he dove back into the water to continue their spar. Tsuyu had wanted to improve during her internship and Selkie had approved of her spirit. As a fellow Animal Type Mutant Quirk holder, he knew the best ways to help the girl improve her physicality, her reaction times, decision-making skills, and even how to help her improve her Quirk. 'Hmm? Where'd she go?' The Pro Hero looked around under the water but didn't see the verdette girl. He used his whiskers to try and sense vibrations in the water and only got the girl's location a second before she slammed into him from behind with her powerful legs. "Blrbgh!" Bubbles flew from Selkie's mouth at the blow as Tsuyu's long prehensile tongue wrapped around him.
'Got him!' Tsuyu kicked as powerfully as she could, dragging Selkie to the surface with her. When she breached the surface, she threw her head and upper body to the right, and used her tongue to throw Selkie out of the water and into the air.
"Not yet!" Selkie grabbed her tongue as it unwound from him. Using his impressive strength, the Pro Hero yanked Tsuyu out of the water and into the air. A kick sent the Frog Quirk user rocketing back down into the water, throwing up a huge splash in the process. Selkie dived back into the water and came up with Tsuyu a moment later. "You alright, Froppy?"
"Yes, sir." Tsuyu nodded while rubbing her jaw. "I wasn't expecting you to grab my tongue like that."
"Sorry about that." Selkie let the teen tread water on her own now that he knew she was alright. "But when it comes to grapples like that, you need to be quicker when you release your hold, otherwise you leave yourself open to get grabbed as well."
"Hey! That's thirty minutes! It's time for a break!" Sirius yelled from the pier, her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice a bit.
"Good spar today, Froppy. You're really improving." Selkie praised his intern with a smile, making his 'cute' expression again.
"Thank you, sir." Tsuyu smiled back. 'Adorable.' She thought of the cutesy act in her own head. The two swam back to the pier and climbed out of the water.
"I saw you toss Selkie right out of the water, Tsu, that was great." Sirius laughed as she handed them both towels.
"Yep! She really got me that time!" Selkie laughed heartily as he toweled off. "Her camouflage ability has really started to improve with all of this practice!"
"Kero." Tsuyu blushed lightly with a happy smile on her face.
"You're so adorable, Tsu." Sirius giggled at the teen.
"Almost as adorable as me!" Selkie, once more using his 'cute' face, declared.
"For the last time, you're too macho to be adorable!" Sirius pointed at Selkie with a shake of her head.
"Impossible!" Selkie denied as he crossed his arms. "The kids love my adorable features!"
"I'm telling you that they're laughing at you, not because of you!" Sirius facepalmed at the large man's refusal to see the truth.
'Adorable.' Tsuyu grinned at the byplay between the two Pros.
-Gunhead Agency ~ Patrol-
"Uravity, do you have eyes on the target?" Gunhead questioned his intern through the coms they had.
"Yes, sir!" Ochako confirmed, floating in the air and using the small air jets in her boots to fly. "He's heading down Hachiban street, if you take the side street coming up on your left then you'll get ahead of him!"
"Got it!" Gunhead confirmed as he dashed around the corner and into the side street. Thankfully it wasn't very crowded and he could maintain his speed. Just as he emerged onto Hachiban street, he saw the Villain rushing in his direction. Quickly checking that the area was clear of civilians, Gunhead raised his arms and used the gatling gear that augmented his Quirk. He fired a spray of keratin bullets in front of the Villain as a warning.
"A Hero?!" The Villain nearly tripped over himself as he tried to stop his sprint.
"Drop the stolen items and keep your hands where I can see them." Gunhead ordered as he got closer to the Villain. It was a simple case of snatch-and-grab theft at a local jewelry store. The Villain had used his Quirk, reported by the shopkeepers as a Body Hardening Quirk of some type, to smash the displays and grab as much as he could carry in the backpack that he had with him.
"Out of my way!" The Villain's skin turned rigid and almost metallic-looking as he threw a punch at Gunhead.
"Resisting is only another crime added to your arrest record, you know?" Gunhead easily dodged around the wild punch with some simple footwork. He grabbed the extended wrist with his left hand and pulled the arm downward, rotating it through its full-range of motion while his right hand grabbed the back of the Villain's neck and forced him face-first towards the ground.
"Ow, ow, ow!" The Villain cried out as Gunhead held his right arm painfully upright behind his back while the Hero's knee was placed on his back to keep him on the ground. His body may be tough, but his joints weren't nearly so. Not to mention he didn't get any kind of strength boost from his Quirk. When compared to a rough-and-tumble scrapper like the Pro Hero Gunhead, the Villain was barely more than an untrained civilian.
"Uravity, do you have the stolen merchandise?" Gunhead questioned as he looked over his shoulder.
"Yes, sir!" Ochako picked up the fallen backpack and held it securely. Seeing the martial arts that Gunhead was teaching her in action was impressive. It was quick, simple, didn't cause unnecessary harm, and completely invalidated the Villain's Quirk.
"Great, the police should be here shortly." Gunhead was smiling, but his mask made that impossible to see. One of his Sidekicks led the police through the gathered crowd that had witnessed the takedown of the Villain. These crowds always formed when Pro Heroes went into action. No matter how many PSAs were done to try and prevent them, the civilians loved seeing their favorite Pro Heroes in action up close.
The flash of cameras from the various phones in the crowd nearly made Ochako blush. This was the first patrol they'd done that she'd assisted in the capture of a Villain and now it might make it into the local news! The thought was a little nerve-wracking since she was just a first year Hero Course student.
'Calm down, this is normal, you'll have to get used to this when you go Pro after U.A. graduation.' Ochako thought to herself as the police were handcuffing the Villain and speaking with Gunhead.
"I'll take that, Miss Uravity." An officer smiled at the intern as he motioned to the backpack full of stolen merchandise that she was still holding.
"Oh! Right! Here you go!" Ochako nearly flailed at being broken from her inner musings. "Sorry about that."
"No problem, you did great today." The officer chuckled as he took the backpack and placed a sticker on it, marking it as evidence. "We'll be looking forward to working with you in the future when you go Pro." He saluted and Ochako smiled happily at the recognition and praise.
"Thank you, sir." Ochako nodded as the officer turned to head back with the rest, the arrested Villain in the back of one of the squad cars already. This day was going great!
-Edgeshot Agency ~ Patrol-
Duck. Side step. Pivot. Get out of the opponent's range. 'Now create!' Momo outmaneuvered her opponent and from her arm the glow of her Quirk created a steel chain. The swing of the same arm saw the heavy chain wrap around her opponent and made her stumble.
"What the hell?!" The woman cried out as she tripped and fell to the ground. Her Claws Quirk couldn't slice the steel apart and the weight had thrown her off balance.
"One more." Momo's hands glowed as she placed them above the female Villain's. Without a sound, capture foam coated the dangerous claws and then swelled up to completely encase them in the soft foam.
"You little bitch!" The woman cursed at Momo as her Quirk was nullified.
"Your words don't mean much." Momo let the insult roll off her easily. Edgeshot had taught them that they should just roll with such things. Getting distracted by what a Villain said could spell certain defeat or worse for a Hero in the field.
Camie was dealing with her own Villain, a woman that blasted small, but powerful, balls of water from her hands. This group of female Villains had been moving throughout the large metropolis committing various crimes from theft, to assault, and several others. It was their bad luck to encounter Edgeshot and his interns as they fled from their latest crime scene.
"Damn it! Where are you?!" The Villain nearly screeched as she fired at another Camie only to disperse the illusion again. She was getting sick of this game of cat-and-mouse! Every single time that she thought she'd hit the teen, it was always a fake!
A strong arm wrapping around her neck in a chokehold while two strong legs pinned her arms to her sides was her answer. "Right here, fam." Camie spoke as her weight toppled the woman and put them both on the ground.
"You…bisch…" The Villain's words were barely coming out through Camie's chokehold. A few more of the water balls were fired in desperation, but with the way Camie's legs were pinning the woman's arms, the shots had no chance of hitting her. The balls of water splashed harmlessly against the concrete a dozen meters away.
"Go to sleep, alright?" Camie tightened her hold further while breathing out more of her Glamor. The Villain saw over a dozen Camies standing over her now and even knowing about the illusions, she still struggled less at seeing she was 'surrounded' even if it was more a psychological thing. The Villain's sight faded to black as she passed out a second later. "Whew, that went pretty well." Camie grinned as she took the woman's jacket off of her. Using the jacket, she tied up the woman's hands in a bundle. The waterproof nature of the garment would actually help quell the Villain's Quirk until the police arrested them. She patted the woman's face a few times and smiled when the woman was clearly breathing on her own. You had to be careful with chokeholds, too long and the person would not only pass out, you could end up actually strangling them to death.
"Are you both finished?" Edgeshot questioned his two interns. "Any injuries?" Wrapped up in the extended fingers of Edgeshot's left hand, the 'leader' of the Villainess Trio was forced to walk forward. Her Gigantification Quirk (tripling her height rather than something like Mt. Lady's Quirk) had proven a bad match up against Edgeshot's own Quirk. Even now the Villain could barely walk and whatever the ninja-like Pro Hero had done while passing through her body had left her arms numb.
"No injuries here." Camie gave a salute with her index and middle fingers touching the brim of her cap.
"I'm uninjured, sir." Momo nodded as she pulled on the chain around her Villain. The woman was still growling out curses at them all even now.
"You both did excellently, I'm very proud." Edgeshot smiled, though the only way to tell was by the movement of his eyes. "You've taken what you've learned to heart and applied it well." The sound of police sirens approaching got the attention of the group. "Ah, good, the police will be here momentarily to take these three into custody."
"We're becoming good kunoichi, eh Momo?" Camie grinned at the ravenette.
"The tactics are very effective, but I don't think that makes us kunoichi, Camie." Momo shook her head at her friend with a smile.
"I still think we should buy the outfits." Camie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Camie…" Momo blushed as the police cars rounded the corner. With a shake of her head, the redness faded and she was back to being professional. Camie quickly straightened up as well, having a lot of respect for the police force since both her father and grandfather were part of it.
-That Night-
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Camie, Tsuyu, Ochako, and Momo exclaimed on their four-way video call with Izuku. He'd just told them about what had happened with the Hero Killer in Hosu and this reaction was about what he expected.
"Why would you go after the Hero Killer?!" Camie gaped at Izuku like he was insane. "Are you alright?"
"That was so dangerous!" Ochako was clearly worried about their boyfriend. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"Are you okay?" Momo questioned him, leaning closer to her screen to try and get a better look at Izuku.
"You are okay, right?" Tsuyu looked to be on the verge of worried tears.
"I'm fine, I promise! I'm sorry for worrying you, but I thought it would be better to tell you face-to-face rather than over a text." Izuku bowed his head to his girlfriends. "We didn't actually fight him or anything. We weren't crazy. Todoroki distracted him with an ice wall, and then I separated him from Native with a barrier, that's it."
"That's…that's not as bad as what I was thinking." Camie admitted, calming down a bit as she let out a relieved breath.
"Not fighting him directly was definitely a good choice, Izukun." Tsuyu wiped the tears out of the corners of her eyes.
"I'm glad you're safe, Izuku." Ochako smiled beautifully at her boyfriend.
"Thank you for telling us directly, Izu." Momo also gave him a warm smile. She leaned against Camie a little since the two were sharing their screen at the Edgeshot Agency.
"Still, you guys saved a Pro Hero and brought in the Hero Killer, that's amazing." Camie gave praise where it was due.
"It is, even if it was reckless." Momo's smile shrank a bit as her eyes narrowed on Izuku. "We're only students right now. We really shouldn't be going after A Rank Villains."
"I know, but we couldn't just let him go on killing Heroes." Izuku rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. He knew it was reckless, but he and Todoroki had done everything possible to limit the danger that they were in. Still, if anything had gone wrong… "I don't plan on making this a regular thing. I know it was dangerous and I'm sorry that I startled you with the information."
"I'm glad you told us yourself though." Ochako shook her head lightly. "I prefer to hear it from you, rather than read about it online tomorrow."
"Same here, thank you for telling us and letting us know that you're okay." Tsuyu's smile was adorable and Izuku felt himself smile back immediately.
"Same." Camie smiled softly at her boyfriend. "Don't go scaring us though, or we might have to take away some boyfriend privileges." She teased to help lighten the mood.
"B-Boyfriend privileges?" Izuku blinked at Camie's words.
"Uh huh." Camie nodded with her arms crossed and a grin on her lips even as Momo' face started turning red beside her.
There was a knock on the door and Izuku turned just as Todoroki poked his head into the room.
"Midoriya, it's almost lights out…oh, sorry…I didn't know that you were still doing couple's stuff. My apologies." Todoroki closed the door behind him.
"C-Couple's stuff…?" Izuku's whole face just turned a deep red and he woodenly turned back to the video call. Ochako, Tsuyu, and Momo were all equally red in the face at what Todoroki might think they were doing.
"I mean…if I was at home in my room, I could lock my door, then maybe we could do some couple's stuff." Camie had a remorseless smirk on her face as she teased her boyfriend and friends (girlfriends? They would have to see how that went as they continued their relationship).
"CAMIE!" Ochako, Momo, and Tsuyu all cried out, and Momo looked like she was about to shove the fawn-haired girl away from the computer that they were sharing. Izuku's head was practically steaming as his teenage mind played out imagined scenarios of what Camie had said.
"You were all thinking it!" Camie defended her statement even as Momo created a small pillow and hit her with it. "Ack! Momo!"
"Silence!" Momo swatted her with the pillow again, the rich girl's cheeks still a bright red.
The rest of the call was quickly filled with laughter (as Camie had intended) while Momo tried to silence Camie with a one-sided pillow fight.
-The Next Morning-
"Alright, you two are staying off patrols today so that we can work on your Quirk control." Endeavor stood before both Izuku and Shoto with his arms crossed.
"Yes, sir!" Izuku nodded, eager to get started.
"Yes." Shoto was less enthusiastic, having seen the most brutal side of his father's training in his youth.
"Midoriya," Endeavor turned his sharp eyes on Izuku first. "What about your Quirk are you most hoping to improve while you're here?"
"Well, I'd like to gain better control of my Fire Breath Quirk." Izuku replied quickly. "I can boost it with other Quirks, but I'd like to see how well I could control it so that I can get even more of a boost out of it when I need to."
"I see," Endeavor understood the desire to completely control the flames. He'd spent the majority of his life learning to control every aspect of his own fire. "We'll test out the range of heat that you can produce with it at the base level and then I'll want to see the absolute limit of what you can boost it to. Once I have that information, then I'll be able to determine how best to help you."
"Yes, sir, thank you very much!" Izuku gave a short bow to the man.
"Shoto, same question." Endeavor turned to his son, his eyes still sharp, but with a series of emotions behind them that Shoto was only just beginning to see.
"I need to work on my flame control." Shoto spoke as he ignited a flame in his left hand. "I can blast it out and use it to help regulate my temperature, but it's lagging behind my right side. Ideally, I'd like to learn how to use both simultaneously without them compromising each other. I think that's the best way to become the Hero that I want to be in the future."
"Well said," Endeavor nodded to his son. "I'll do my utmost to teach you so that you can follow that path."
"Yes, sir." Shoto nodded slightly. A small shrinking of the chasm between them took place, but it was still a large distance before they could hope to truly understand each other.
"Midoriya, show me the base level of your Fire Breath." Endeavor faced his Multi-Quirked intern and watched closely.
"Yes, sir." Izuku inhaled deeply before spewing out the flames of his father's Quirk. The burst of fire wasn't spectacular, only extending from Izuku's mouth about a meter or so, but it lasted until Izuku ran out of breath.
"Yellow-orange flames, so the temperature is about 1,100 C, that's not bad." Endeavor nodded after the demonstration. "You're limited by your lung capacity, correct?"
"Yes, sir." Izuku nodded to confirm.
"Now show me what I saw at the Sports Festival." Endeavor requested while pointing at the far wall. "Don't worry about burning anything, this room was made to withstand my flames."
"Alright, here I go." Izuku took a deep breath as he began to compile Quirks together. 'Enhance Function', 'Amplification', 'Gas Manipulation', 'Temperature Fluctuation', 'Heat Generation', 'Efficiency', 'Fire Breath' the Quirks compiled quickly before Izuku threw his head forward and blasted out the massive torrent of flames. Endeavor watched the firestorm roar for the whole time that Izuku was able to hold it. When the flames shrank and then guttered out completely, he spoke on his observation.
"Your temperature increases, but only by roughly 200 C from what I could tell." Endeavor commented on the heat output first. "The flames begin to show a little white in them when you boost it like that. However, it's clear that most of the boost is to the size and duration of the base Quirk instead of its temperature."
"Is there a different way to use it that would let me generate more heat?" Izuku asked the Number Two Pro Hero.
"Of course, focusing on the temperature will be the first part. Narrowing the stream of flames and fueling them properly will make increasing the temperature much easier." Endeavor spoke from his decades of experience. "Even with only two days left of your internship, we should be able to get your temperature up to about 1,400 C to 1,500 C where the flames will burn white."
"Yes, sir, thank you!" Izuku bowed slightly with a wide smile on his face. This is the improvement he'd been hoping for during this internship.
"Shoto, show me what you can do with your left side, so far." Endeavor turned to face his youngest child.
"Right." Shoto nodded before flames blasted off his left side. The yellow-orange fire roared before he got them under control. The reduced flames shrank too much though and were on the verge of almost going out. It was clear that Shoto had very little control over his left side after years of neglecting it.
'Another of my failures…' Endeavor cursed his short-sightedness in the past and his obsession with All Might and being the Number One. His own son had shut off all connection with him, going so far as to refuse to use his own Quirk. 'But I can still help him. I owe it to Shoto to make him a better person than I am. I owe it to all of them.' He thought of Fuyumi and Natsuo, to his late son Toya, and to Rei…the woman that he loved and then hurt, all in blind pursuit of his obsession.
"It takes a bit to balance the output and temperature when I use it." Shoto explained as the sputtering flames slowly grew until they were like a cloak around his left side again. "Once I have it though, I can use it pretty freely as long as I don't go overboard."
"We'll work on control and temperature regulation then. It'll be different from what Midoriya will need to do as he's fueling fire rather than pyrokinetically creating it as we do." Endeavor nodded to his son. "Can you use both simultaneously at all?"
"Yes, but it's difficult." Shoto's right side began to emit frosty steam as ice appeared on his body. The young man was clearly struggling as he made minute adjustments to the output of both sides of his Quirk to keep them balanced. "I can't really move or fight like this; it takes too much focus just to keep them both going at once."
"Not unexpected, we'll work on getting your control over your left side closer to the control you have over your right side. Similar levels of proficiency should help you in being able to balance each side with the other so that it doesn't take all of your focus." Endeavor quickly deduced as he watched Shoto maintain both sides of his Quirk.
"Yes, sir." Shoto nodded as he stopped using his Quirk, letting the opposing heat and cold cancel each other out and leaving him at his normal body temperature. He didn't show it on his face, but he was already very surprised at the difference in this lesson compared to the ones that he remembered as a little boy.
"Alright then, we have work to do." Endeavor looked at both boys sharply. "No slacking off."
"Yes, sir!" Izuku and Shoto both nodded to the Number Two Pro Hero.
Chapter 29 – News Breaks
"They caught the Hero Killer! Amazing!"
"Seriously?! Who beat him?"
"I'm relieved, but also a little disappointed."
"I know what you mean."
The news that Hero Killer Stain had been apprehended and was in custody had broken this morning. It was everywhere in the media along with the Hosu incident. People read or watched the news on their phones, listened to it on the radio, read about it in newspapers, saw it on TV, or online at home or work. The impact of Stain's capture couldn't be downplayed. The man was singlehandedly responsible for the murder of seventeen Pro Heroes. He had the highest Hero body count of any independent Villain since All Might had become the Symbol of Peace; there was no way that Stain's arrest wouldn't be huge news.
The fact that interns from the Endeavor Agency (names withheld as the interns are minors) had been the ones to apprehend the infamous Hero Killer were huge parts of the various articles and news stories. Endeavor had to give a small interview to confirm that the interns in question were unharmed and that their safety was a top priority. Most people didn't much care beyond the fact that two high school kids had been the ones to finally take down the Villain that no one else had even been able to corner.
"At present, the point of origin of these mysterious 'Nomu' creatures is unknown." Daikaku Miyagi, a well-known and respected news reporter, spoke on the screens of TVs and phones all over the country. "However, due to the sighting of two men watching over the event from an NHA TV helicopter, many are speculating that they're linked to the incident at the USJ last month. The group of attackers, known as the League of Villains, have not made it clear what the purpose of the attack in Hosu was." He moved a paper in front of him to the side before continuing. "With the largest number of murders of Pro Heroes since the advent of All Might, Hero Killer Stain has certainly left a mark on the history books. Up next, a look into the motives behind this Villain's crimes. Haruna." He turned to his co-anchor with a nod.
"Hero Killer Stain, real name: Akaguro Chizome, age thirty-one…" Haruna began her segment on Stain.
Neither of the two news anchors could know that several people were reacting strongly to the possible link between the Hero Killer and the League of Villains. But it was happening in various parts of the country. From hardened criminals with horrible crimes under their belts, to first time offenders that wanted to follow in Stain's footsteps, things were beginning to stir.
-League of Villains Hideout-
"No matter where I turn, the Nomu are just an afterthought." Shigaraki glared at the TV and then crumbled up the newspaper in his hands. "Far from forgetting about him, now it's like we were the sideshow." He nearly growled as the newspaper disintegrated to dust between his hands.
-Genius Hero Agency-
"The incident in Hosu City last night…" Best Jeanist looked over at his multiple Sidekicks with serious eyes. "It certainly worries me. Yes, it worries me quite a bit." He continued to comb a shaking Bakugo's hair, the explosive blonde suppressing a growl at the waste of time coming here had been. "People are so easily distracted by big incidents like these. But it's now, more than ever, that Heroes need to remain calm and composed. Because chaos is often so good at drawing out the slumbering brutality in people's hearts." He finished combing Bakugo's hair into a tamed part, so very different from the ash-blonde's normal spiky hair. "As such, we'll continue our usual operations today, just as always. Let our jeans keep our bodies and minds bound upright."
"Sure! Best Jeanist!" The group of Sidekicks, all in fact wearing jeans of some types, chorused back their agreement.
'I came to the wrong place!' Bakugo's combed hair suddenly poofed out into its normal spikes as his irritation grew. He didn't even care for jeans, but had been forced to wear them as an intern of Best Jeanist's Agency.
-Gunhead Agency-
"So, Stain's finally been arrested." Gunhead held up the newspaper to show his Sidekicks and intern. "This is good news, but we mustn't drop our guard. Incidents like this embolden several of the criminal elements of society who think that they can get away with crimes while everyone's attention is diverted."
"Yes, sir!" The Sidekicks and Ochako nodded in confirmation.
"We'll be performing our normal patrols today, as usual. Don't become lax, keep being vigilant. We all know that some of the worst Villains operate in the shadows. The arrest of an infamous Villain is just the kind of opportunity they'll try and take advantage of, so keep up your awareness."
"Yes, sir!" Ochako and the rest of the Sidekicks called back.
-Selkie Agency-
"Well damn…" Selkie shook his head at the news today. "The Hero Killer finally got taken down." Honestly, he thought it was about time, but he knew how slippery the Villain was. "It was doubtful he'd ever come after me, given his MO, but I can't say that I wasn't being vigilant for any suspicious activity around the harbor."
"Everyone was worried about having a run-in with Stain." Sirius looked at her boss with understanding. "The man has some twisted convictions. His ideas about Heroes and how they should act and operate are incredibly fundamentalist as well."
"Kero." Tsuyu let out a soft croak, knowing that Izuku had been one of the two interns to help apprehend the Hero Killer. "His ideals weren't bad initially," She listened to the reporter talk about how Chizome had once given soapbox speeches about needing to reform the Hero profession away from the media and business influence that had pervaded it over the decades. "But he became a murderer over them."
"Some people can't take the fact that the majority don't agree with their views, Froppy." Selkie explained to the teen. "Having your own idea of what being a Hero means is fine. I don't personally do much in the way of merchandising, though I've appeared on some shows and given interviews, even had a few PSAs about safety in the ocean and such. But I understand why some Heroes do much more, getting their names and faces out there. This is a dangerous profession and there's no reason that people shouldn't be paid for putting their lives on the line."
"Having ideals doesn't mean forcing them on to others though." Sirius shook her head. "What he did was unforgivable. He became the very thing he claimed that Heroes should fight against. I fail to see how that proves his ideals at all. It was just murder." The bluenette wasn't forgiving of the Hero Killer's action at all.
"Selkie!" One of the Sidekicks in a traditional sailor outfit came into the galley of the ship. "We've got a call from the Coast Guard! They believe they've found foreign smugglers and are requesting assistance. The suspected smugglers apparently have Mutation Quirks that make them highly mobile in the water."
"Alright!" Selkie stood up from the table quickly. "Let's ship out and meet up with them!" He was out of the galley and heading for the top deck in seconds.
"Time to go, Froppy!" Sirius nodded to Tsuyu as the two girls hurried after Selkie.
"Kero!" Tsuyu nearly cleared the stairs up to the deck with a simple hop, barely needing to bend her knees at all. Her strength had certainly improved while training under Selkie.
-Edgeshot Agency-
"I can't say that I'm unhappy to see the Hero Killer finally brought to justice." Edgeshot mentioned as he, Camie, and Momo prepared to head out on patrol. "There was a chance that I could've been on his list as well. Such a waste of skills." He admonished Stain's use of his skill with weapons to become a murderer. "Changing the Hero profession cannot be achieved by becoming a Villain."
"He's a total psycho, an absolute head case." Camie gave her opinion as she put her hat on. "How do you inspire change in Heroes by killing them? It makes no sense."
"Perhaps he clung to his ideals too tightly?" Momo suggested while pulling on her boots. "He became fanatical about them, and fanaticism breeds violence more often than not, right?"
"Indeed." Edgeshot confirmed his intern's thoughts. "If he wanted to promote a positive change in the Hero profession, he could've become a Hero and led by example. Entered the top five while refusing merchandising offers, ignoring the limelight, and even speaking about the issues he had with the way things are now. All of that would've done more and moved his cause forward better than what he did. Instead, he became the exact opposite of what he claimed to stand for. The sad part is that he probably doesn't even realize it himself."
"True that." Camie let out a small sigh. Villains had always had a myriad of motives for their actions ever since the dawn of Quirks. It was just a part of a Hero's job to try and make some sense of them while investigating to establish motive.
"I'm ready." Momo stood up, fully in costume now and ready to start their patrol.
"We'll be maintaining the standard patrol route today." Edgeshot informed them as they took the elevator down to the ground floor. "There's no reason to deviate and change our patrols today just because a big incident happened elsewhere. People use familiar routines to reassure themselves that everything is normal. Seeing us on our normal routes will provide assurance that everything is as it's supposed to be here."
"Yes, sir." Momo and Camie agreed just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
-U.A. Faculty Lounge-
"A phone call is here! A phone call is here!" The ringtone on Toshinori's cellphone went off. He picked it up and excused himself from his colleagues to take the call. Seeing the number, his eyes widened and his legs started to shake slightly.
"Hello, Gran Torino, it's been a while." Toshinori greeted his old mentor.
"I saw the news, Toshi; more of those Nomu creatures showed up in Hosu." Gran Torino's elderly voice came through the phone. "Two suspected League of Villain members were caught on camera watching over the chaos."
"Yes, but the Heroes dealt with the Nomu, and the Hero Killer, Stain, was also apprehended. That's all good news." Toshinori replied, occasionally looking towards the door in the small meeting room he'd appropriated for himself.
"Toshi, you know that the Hero Killer isn't why I called." Gran Torino's tone left no room for any distractions or other news. "Monsters with multiple Quirks, a group of fanatics willing to kill children to get at you, seemingly perfect plans to compromise a U.A. Facility, and now possible connections to a serial killer that specifically targets Heroes and has a clear fixation on you. I believe you know what I'm thinking, right?"
Toshinori grimaced, knowing exactly where Gran Torino was going with this. He'd hoped to have more leads to go on by now, or that Nezu and the group of Investigation Heroes he was working with would've found the medical expert responsible for the Nomu. "I'm sure I do." He replied to his old mentor.
"That Villain, Stain, he's got a powerful belief in his ideals." Gran Torino stated plainly. "As the investigation continues, his ideals and opinions are going to become known to the public. On the internet. In papers and magazines. On TV." He took a breath that Toshinori could hear clearly through the phone. "For better or worse, this age we live in is one of suppression. But mark my words, people are going to be influenced by this."
"The Heroes will deal with them, just like Stain." Toshinori spoke with belief in his fellow Pro Heroes.
"Then there's this League of Villains." Gran Torino didn't bother responding to his old student's words. "The media is already making connections, whether they're true or not, so this League is going to go from a gang of upstarts that attacked U.A. and got beaten, to an organization with something to say." He cleared his throat quietly. "In other words, they're the perfect magnet. The evil of individual thugs isn't worth much, but when it's all united under a single will…it'll become a hundred times more dangerous."
"I know…" Toshinori admitted as his free hand tightened into a fist.
"If this situation was what they were gunning for from the start, then their head honcho isn't a slouch." Gran Torino's eyes narrowed as he continued. "Steadily removing their obstacles, manipulating the whole situation from the shadows, making sure everything goes according to their plan. That way of doing things…" He took a deep breath. "Shimura was my friend, your predecessor as the holder of One for All. And the man that killed her, the one that tore that hole in your gut…I think we both know that All for One is behind this."
"Yes…" Toshinori admitted with a grimace, feeling an ache from his injury. "To think he somehow survived after those wounds…I didn't want to believe it."
"That successor that you've chosen." Gran Torino spoke softer this time. "You need to make sure that you sit down and tell them everything. About you, about One for All, and especially about All for One."
"I know…" Toshinori accepted that with a heavy sigh. Even though such deep breaths or exhalations irritated his damaged respiratory system.
-Kanrakuga Alley ~ Bar 'Basue'-
"Seems like no one is willing to break the law these days." A somewhat heavyset man sighed. He had his black hair pulled back into a short ponytail, an eyepatch covered his right eye, and he had about four days of unshaven stubble on his face. "All this whining about not selling out their friends. It's a real pain." He picked up his drink from the table and took a sip.
"That's because producing and selling support items and costumes without a license is considered a major crime." The man across from him spoke up with what looked like a revolver in his left hand. He was a middle-aged man of moderate height and slight build, with round glasses over his notably narrow pink eyes. He had short gray hair worn parted to his right with side bangs hanging above his eyes, along with a small mustache and a goatee on his chin. One of his front teeth was missing, leaving a gap when he grinned. He currently had an unlit cigarette hanging from the edge of his mouth.
"What's your point, Giran?" The larger man raised his left eyebrow.
"Don't you know?" Giran chuckled lightly at the other man. "Recently the established Support companies have been selling their goods to non-Heroes through back channels. Or so I've heard."
"Tch!" The scruffy man grunted. "No wonder all of our business suddenly started drying up." He downed the rest of his drink with a scowl. "Man, I miss the days before All Might came along. I was young, and this country was a way more impulsive place. 'Bout time to retire, I suppose." He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Hold on now." Giran leaned forward a bit with a grin. "This is between you and me, but I've got the opportunity of a lifetime here." He raised the revolver right beside his head, pointing the barrel towards the ceiling. He pulled the trigger and a click was heard, a flame appearing from the end of the barrel and lighting his cigarette. The 'gun' was nothing more than a fancy lighter. "Now I'm only telling you this because your people have a reputation for quality." He held up his cellphone and showed the other man the screen. "Have you seen this video? The Hero Killer is the man of the hour." He hit play and the video, taken from an odd angle, showed Stain trapped in a green transparent cube. The Hero Killer was slamming his head and fists against the construct while ranting at Endeavor with such conviction that all of the present Sidekicks took an instinctive step backwards from the trapped man.
"The hell?" The rotund man blinked as the video cut off after Stain was subdued by a short guy in a green costume and fell to the ground limply. "The hair on my arms is standing up after that rant." He grinned at the screen.
"This clip keeps getting put up and then taken down, because both sides get it. Especially that last part, this guy's whole style is going to spread like a plague." Giran put his phone away and looked at his fellow criminal seriously. "From the punks with a few priors, to the really bad guys on the run, anyone who's anyone…including brokers like me…are going to be drawn by this." He exhaled a small cloud of cigarette smoke into the air. "All that evil scattered around out there is going to be gripped by the same fever. Every one of them will be drawn to the organization that the Hero Killer was working with…the League of Villains."
-U.A. High School ~ First day back after Internships-
"Hahahaha!" Sero and Kirishima howled with laughter at seeing Bakugo's hair.
"Really?! Really, Bakugo?!" Sero pointed at his head, still laughing uncontrollably.
"Stop laughing!" Bakugo snarled at the both of them. "It's stuck like this, even after a good washing!" He raised his hand, crackles going off above his palm. "Keep it up and I'll murder the both of you!" He was shaking with rage that the stupid hairstyle that Best Jeanist had forced on him over and over had seemingly stuck.
"Look at that hair! It's a perfect 2:8 ratio part!" Kirishima banged on the desk beside him as he laughed.
"You two are dead!" Bakugo leapt at the laughing boys, his ash-blonde hair appearing to explode as it returned to its normal look.
"It changed back! Bwahahahahaha!" Sero and Kirishima nearly busted a gut even as Bakugo grabbed hold of them.
On the other side of the room, ignoring the loud trio of boys, Mina, Jiro, and Tsuyu were chatting together.
"Wow! You got to take on Villains?" Mina gushed as Jiro told them about her time at Death Arms's Agency. "I'm so jealous! All of my patrols were completely uneventful."
"It was just evacuation procedures and logistical support. No real fighting." Jiro shrugged, winding one of her jacks around her index finger.
"That's still awesome!" Mina bounced in place a little.
"It was just training and patrol for me." Tsuyu put her index finger on her chin. "Though one time, we did catch some foreign smugglers. I only helped a little though."
"That's amazing!" Mina and Jiro stared at her with wide eyes.
"The past week went well for you too, right, Ochako?" Tsuyu smiled at her best friend.
"Yes, it was very…" Ochako threw a good punch into Camie's outstretched palm. "Instructive."
"I'll say," Camie shook her hand a little. "Your punches are packing some more power, girl." She wrapped Ochako in a hug. "We'll have to spar a bit after school! See just how much you've learned."
"You're on!" Ochako's competitive spirit was practically flaring around her. The big smile on her face made it look kind of adorable though.
"Heh, me and Momo learned some ninja tricks!" Camie smiled brightly at the girls. "Now we just need to get the outfits and tease Izukun!" She giggled and shot a wink at her boyfriend. For his part, Izuku only went nuclear red in the face, rather than locking up and stuttering incoherently. So, progress!
"Camie…" Momo was also blushing adorably and Camie almost cooed at her friend.
"Hey, hey, Chi-chan! Who did you end up interning with?" Toru, ever the bubbly one, asked the newest girl in their class.
"Chi-chan?" Chikuchi blinked at Toru's nickname for her. After a second to seemingly mull it over, a grin formed on the brunette's lips. "You're lucky that you're endearing, Toru-chan." She giggled as Toru's clothes bounced around a bit as the invisible girl laughed.
"So, which Pro Hero was it?" Toru asked again.
"I got an offer from Backdraft, so I went to his Agency." Chikuchi informed and several of the class nodded at the good match up. "I learned a lot about water manipulation and fire suppression while I was there. Even though my hydrokinesis is limited to forming spikes and cone shapes, Backdraft showed me how to make the most of it in various scenarios. It really opened my eyes to how versatile I can be if I think a bit outside of the box."
"What did you call your Quirk? I don't think you've ever told us?" Sato looked like he was trying to recall if she had.
"I do not recall either, mademoiselle." Aoyama shook his head and made a pose, sparkles seeming to come off of him.
"It's called Water Spike, for obvious reasons." Chikuchi shrugged with a small grin.
"I'm glad that you three made it out of Hosu alright." Shoji looked at Iida, Izuku, and Todoroki.
"Yeah, you two captured the Hero Killer, that was crazy!" Kaminari pointed at Izuku and then Todoroki.
"We didn't fight him." Todoroki cleared up any misunderstanding that might be in anyone's mind.
"A wise choice." Tokoyami nodded to both of them. "I doubt that would've ended well."
"I distracted him, then Midoriya captured him, that's all." Todoroki explained to the class at large. "Stain couldn't break out of Midoriya's barrier, so he wasn't a threat once he was trapped."
"That is a much wiser alternative than fighting, but you both still disobeyed instructions. As interns that was improper, even though it did allow you to perform a truly Heroic act." Iida lightly chastised them, but gave them credit as well for bringing down the Villain that had nearly ended his brother's Hero career and left him crippled for life.
"Oh man, I can only imagine the kind of punishment that Endeavor gave you two for that." Kirishima winced, having gotten out of Bakugo's grip.
"We had to write an essay on what we did wrong and scrubbed the floor of the main training hall with only a hand brush and bucket for each of us." Izuku informed them easily.
"That doesn't sound so bad." Sero mentioned; Bakugo seemed to have gotten through with them both and was now sitting in his seat, ignoring everyone.
"The main training hall is over two-hundred square meters of floor space." Todoroki clarified, looking at the Tape Quirk user.
"I take that back." Sero apologized, rubbing his knees as a sympathetic phantom pain went through them.
"Something wrong, Mina?" Sato noticed that Mina was looking at him with narrowed eyes.
"You didn't tell us about your girlfriend." Mina leaned closer, her black and yellow eyes nearly drilling into the larger teen's eyes. "After the excitement from the Sports Festival, I forgot to ask about it again. Then we had the internships and I forgot even longer. But now I remember! So, spill it, mister!" She pointed at Sato with a wide grin and shining eyes.
"Ooh, me too, me too! I wanna know!" Toru was beside Mina in an instant. Both of the girls were interested in the gossip.
"Uh, sure, it's no big deal." Sato blinked at how excited the two were about this. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and then tapped the screen a couple of times. "Here, this is my girlfriend, Ruri." He let them see the screen after looking at the picture for a moment.
"Ooh, she's cute!" Mina gushed at the girl on the screen.
Ruri had light blue hair down to her shoulders, bright green eyes, and in the picture was wearing a green apron over what appeared to be a purple shirt. The rest of her couldn't be seen since she was standing behind a counter.
"Yep, really cute." Toru agreed with Mina. "How tall is she? The counter is throwing off my estimation."
"She's about Mina's height." Sato flipped to another picture, showing Ruri beside him, both smiling at the camera.
"What's her Quirk? Is she in U.A.?" Mina knew it was a long shot, but maybe she was in General Studies, or Business Course.
"Nah, she goes to a High School not too far from my neighborhood." Sato shrugged since he still saw her in person almost every day. "Her Quirk is called 'Blue', it lets her turn things various shades of blue for a short time. But she has to touch them to do it, and it has a limit to the size of the object."
"Does she bake like you?" Toru asked with a giggle as another picture of Ruri and Sato in a kitchen together, both wearing aprons, was flipped to on the phone.
"Actually, I'm kind of teaching her how." Sato rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle. "She tried a cake I baked once and liked it a lot. Then we started talking, and that led to some cooking and baking lessons, and then…you know…one day I worked up the nerve to ask her out." He had some red on his cheeks now.
"So cute!" Mina giggled, nearly hopping in place at how cute the relationship was.
"How long have you two been together?" Toru was giggling along with Mina.
"Coming up on a year now." Sato smiled at the picture of his girlfriend on his phone.
"Anniversary!" Toru and Mina cheered and Sato couldn't help but chuckle at their exuberance.
The door to the classroom slid open and everyone rushed to their seats as Aizawa entered the room. "Welcome back, students. I hope that your internships were productive." He scanned the room and saw all of his students looking attentive. "We'll be going over the reports that your internship mentors have sent me, in detail. But before that, a pop quiz about Hero Law and Licensing." His eyes locked onto Izuku and Todoroki as he said this.
"No…" Kaminari let his head hit his desk.
"Not a pop quiz…" Mina flopped onto her desk with crocodile tears.
"Sorry." Izuku looked down at his desk after his quiet apology.