Beneath him, the undead woman made a final few twitches. Her eyes were wide, fearful, in shock. They stared up at him, accusingly. Then they went dull, as, after one final twitch of the body, she passed.
...
Izuku felt numb.
He stumbled back, only realizing the pain as it smashed through him anew with full ferocity.
Without thinking, Izuku reached his left hand back behind him. The black suit then shot out and enclosed around the rod, giving him a nice, solid grip on the thing.
He ripped it out in one move, one final burst of horrible, unimaginable pain, before it vanished, and was replaced with another, horrible, if much, much more manageable pain as the rod was replaced with the sweet, sweet healing liquid that was Venom.
As he got to his feet, feeling like utter shit, Izuku took in breaths slowly, and deeply. In the distance, there was the sign of fighting still to be had, but for some reason he just… Couldn't tear his eyes away from the body.
Then, when it all finally hit him, when the magnitude came crashing over him, he just buckled over, still gripping the metal rod in a death grip, and hurled. He threw up, and then, he threw up some more, as the tears just would not stop flowing.
---
Venom was in a conundrum.
Not too far from them, was two battles of life and death.
He knew the details of one of them. Mina versus Hoodie. Judging by the way the red one's soul had disappeared, it was not too hard to guess that the girl had dealt with her, leaving only Hoodie. And also there was that… Lion guy versus the flying one. But they could not have cared less about the outcome of that one.
On the other hand, there was some unknown conflict between three people, and some other party they didn't know.
Venom didn't have the faintest clue who their enemy was, but they could tell from just taking a look at the emotions of the 4 that one was fighting the other 3 with murderous intent.
As it happened, one of those three was Iida.
Which was great!
If he lost this battle and died, Venom would have his revenge upon him, all while not having to actually do anything or go behind Izuku's back to make it happen!
On the other hand… If Iida did die, then it seemed somewhat likely that the other two would. And as it happened, he and Izuku did owe one of those two a debt. Maybe not a large debt as such things went, but a debt nonetheless.
It would be a very, very dick move to leave him to face his potential death.
So, should he tell Izuku about it, or should he not? It might not change anything anyway. Izuku might very well go choose help Mina, even if he did tell him. Not that she needed it from what he'd seen. Other than the flying one, they'd removed everyone except Hoodie from the field.
And as it happened, Hoodie, despite his incredible potential for destruction, was not well suited against Mina. At all.
Decisions, decisions.
---
Amongst all the many, many powers that Quirks bestowed upon the human race, few were as useful, and all-around necessary to the line of work of the pro hero, like increased durability.
This wasn't as apparent in Japan, where possessing a firearm was a crime that relatively few criminals dared to indulge in due to the legal penalties that came with it, and almost no civilians had them either.
However, in plenty of other lands across the globe, firearms were so common that it was practically impossible to make it up the country's rankings without the innate ability to shrug off such common, yet deadly weaponry.
In the alleyway where the Drama between Iida Tenya, Stain, Native, and The Man Without Fear was happening, the enormous difference between those who had such abilities, and those who didn't was put on full display.
Of the four, the only one with true, increased durability was Iida, and he only in his superhuman legs. Other than that, he was as vulnerable to harm as everyone else. Hence why he had to compensate with a suit of armor.
Everything was coated in a thick, thick layer of dust.
The world was gray, and as he laid there, Iida could only spit, trying to clean his mouth.
Since he could not wipe the dust away, he had to watch the world through squinted eyes, everything just shapes around him.
Though he couldn't see it, all 4 in the alley were remarkably lucky, all things considered.
None of them had been killed by the shrapnel and falling stones. Though all four had dozens of bruises and smaller cuts, none had suffered a true, crushing deadly blow.
Iida in particular had been both lucky, and well protected. A stone that would have caved in his skull had missed it, by just 15 centimeters, and had bounced away from him, and another rock that would have smashed his spine beyond any hope of recovery had been deflected by his armor.
The 4 also had had the luck that the walls hadn't just completely broken and tumbled down. That would have killed all of them instantly.
The walls though really weren't stable whatsoever. But they were standing. For now.
Though Iida couldn't see anything, there were things to note.
For one was that none of the other 3 were standing. But all 3 seemed alive, if in bad shape, given the sounds of pain everyone made.
He distinctly made out Stain's voice amongst the others.
It really would have been too inconvenient for him to perish under the stones.
Now, it would all depend on who rose first. Him, Daredevil, Native, or Stain.
Through his teary, dust-filled eyes, the only thing Iida could make out as someone rose, was the color red.
And to his horror, when he heard the man speak, it was Stain. It was a pained, and heavily breathing voice, but it was no doubt who it belonged to.
"Ueeeh… Ueeh… It would seem you have bad luck Daredevil."
To that, Daredevil groaned in pain.
Then he bent down, and… Iida couldn't believe it, he seemed to lift him up, and over his shoulder. Then… He actually carried him out of the alleyway.
Was he for real?
It took a minute or two, but he eventually returned.
"And now… Let us finish our business here."
"You… You're not bluffing… You… Actually, respect him."
Stain snorted.
"Of course I do. The man is one of the greatest heroes there has ever been. Willing to stick to his principles no matter what, no matter the odds. He is what EVERY hero in training should aspire to be… But instead, almost all of them fall prey to the vices of fame, of money… Fame, Money, Prestige… All of it only means anything if it is used for the betterment of society… To make people feel safe... Of Japan's tops, almost all are fakes… All except All Might."
Stain paused for a moment, and… Made some gesture or something with his hand that Iida could not see.
"He is the only one who actually uses his wealth, his fame, his prestige, not for personal aggrandizement, but to better the people he is sworn to serve. To make the people feel safe through his smile, and his burning, unyielding determination, and power. And unlike all the rest, rather than sitting on his money, he practically throws it away to aid those in need."
As Stain continued, his voice got a clear warmth to it, the admiration seeping through.
"Real heroes are those who are not bound to the selfish vices of society, faker. The ones who are above greed, vainglory, and selfish pride. People like All Might. Like Daredevil. In other words…. People completely unlike you faker."
He raised something in his hand, something long, and aimed at Iida's head.
"And that is why… The best you have of serving society is to serve as an example of what happens to such vainglorious, greedy, and prideful little brats."
Iida didn't see what happened next, limited as his eyesight currently was.
It looked like Native tried to attack Stain from behind, and in response, Stain vaulted over Iida.
"Still some defiance left, eh Native?"
"You could say that. It's better to die defending someone than sitting, back against an alleyway."
Iida didn't know what native could do. He didn't know anything about the man.
He knew absolutely nothing about him whatsoever.
And yet, here he stood to defend him.
...
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