Chapter 10: [Crimson Warrior/ Monster of the Night!]

The pain was overwhelming.

[HURTS!] It hurts!

There was not a muscle in his body that did not hurt.

Breathing was a challenge, his lungs filled with life-liquid, resulting in his attempts to breath failing like the stalling engine of an old car.

"Arhhhrrrrr..." He spat and hacked phlegm and saliva, his chest slowly expanding and letting a sickening sound as his broken bones were further damaged.

Yet, he could not stop the smile that crept on his lips.

Wheezing, Izuku tried to raise his upper body, his body screaming in pain as the broken bones and torn muscles were further pushed well past their limits. The vampire grits his teeth, the warped smile never fading, as the blood that caked the ground and his costume began moving to his command. He managed to regain only 30% of the blood he lost, which was making his head spin.

Like a hellish slime, the blood began gathering around Izuku, aiding him to stand up. All he could hear was a loud ringing, his eardrums no doubt burst. He let a pained laugh escape his lips, blood gauntlets encasing his arms to sustain the broken bones; blood greaves also doing a makeshift-job of gluing the bones into place. It could not hold the bones properly, the patchwork not firm enough for him to stand up. Izuku's will instructed his blood to work around the problem; if anchoring the bones in place was needed, it would be done.

His blood was all too willing to do his bidding, shifting into nano-sized tendrils, each boring into his bones and drilling until it could hold the bones in place. The sounds were terrible, and so was the pain that the vampire was experiencing.

All of this was done without any methods to relieve him of the pain, anesthetics never worked well enough on him. Something about [High-speed Regeneration] nulling the effects of the drugs.

His hero costume was tattered, thus he merely ripped away the useless Kevlar and stained shirt, leaving it on the ground. He was lucky that his pants had managed to survive the ordeal of his brutal beatdown, or so the ran though in his head. It was hard to think when your vision was dotted with black and red, and your head seemed to have been split open. Truth be told, it most definitively was. Still, the vampire rose like an undead creature, his bloody armor never truly solidifying as he was running low on blood.

He was [Thirsty].

His hearing began returning in bits, the colossal fight happening close by alerting the vampire that his enemy had moved along to another target. How arrogant! He scoffed, the sound coming out odd as he still had not fully healed his jawbone or the cracks in his skull. The vampire let his tongue ran all over his mouth, finding a few loosened teeth. There was no hesitation in his frame as he pulled them off. Dull fangs would only get in his way.

The black spots in his sight finally vanished, allowing Izuku to clearly see All Might fight against the hulking beast named Nomu. The hero, normally always sporting a reassuring smile, now had a fierce expression, looking like he was ready to go for the kill against the villain. Their fight took center stage, the duo of giants stopping at nothing to see the other defeated.

Izuku eyed the field of the plaza, not finding any of his classmates or his homeroom teacher nearby. Relief washed over his frame, probably All Might had rescued them. The ascending stairs of the USJ did not allow him to see if the rest of the class was safe, so Izuku could only pray for their safety.

His stomach complained to him, the sound guttural to anyone else that might listen. He licked his sharp canine teeth, finally managing to let some air into his lungs with a deep breath. It still sounded like a stalling engine was going on, but Izuku had a target to hunt.

[Blood.]

[Give us their blood.]

[Feed!]

[Feed!]

[FEED!]

For once, Izuku entirely agreed with the [Inner Beast].

[Rip him apart! Just like how he tried to destroy us! Tear his flesh, drink his blood!]

The vampire's eyes glowed with unearthly power, the crimson light being the indicator of his terrible thirst. Even so, Izuku's instincts said to be careful. His [High-Speed Regeneration] was reaching its limits without anything to fuel it up, considering he still had many broken bones and damaged internal organs. He could not simply jump in the fight, or else he ran the risk of being swatted away like a bug. Any more damage was would make him reach his limit, but he still was [Thirsty]. He needed sustenance badly. Blood.

Thus, Izuku first observed the battle happening on the plaza.

All Might seemed to be having difficulty facing the Nomu, the blows inflicted upon the beast not seeming to be affecting it at all. Shigaraki was a few paces away, speaking about something Izuku could not catch up as his eardrums were still very slowly healing. The two giants continued their fight, the hero doing his best to dodge incoming blows as he also delivered his own.

As it became obvious that punching the villain into submission was not an option, the American-themed hero changed his tactics, the overwhelming shout from the blond managed to get into the hemomancer's ears.

"...Then this will be quick!" The shout was followed by the hero entering the personal space of the villain and quickly going to his back, hands wrapping around Nomu's waist as All Might executed a perfect Supplex. There was an enormous cloud of dust that covered his vision, but the smell still told Izuku the outcome of the fight.

His mouth watered, but he knew the scent of that blood. It was a faint memory, the first time Izuku met All Might, back during the incident with the slime villain. The [Inner Beast] growled loudly, demanding that he began feasting on life-liquid. It took a colossal amount of willpower to hold still as he watched the dust settle and the scene unfold.

All Might had done his move alright. The problem was the warping gate under the villain had completely nullified any damage or effort in stopping the beast. The gate did, however, aid Nomu to attack the Symbol of Peace. The hulking beast had its fingers digging into the side of the hero with great pressure, blood staining the white shirt All Might was wearing.

Izuku almost did rush to aid the hero, since it looked like there was no other option for the Symbol of Peace than to be sheared in half or maybe decayed to death. Almost was the key word. His nose picked on the smell of acrid smoke, and while his ears could not hear the explosions, the smell was enough for him.

Bakugou literally blasted his way from wherever he had been earlier, rushing the main body of the warping villain and blasting the metallic neck-guard. The violent boy slammed the piece on the ground, his right hand was smoking and firmly over it as a telltale sign of what would happen should Kurogiri try to move.

"...nd I'll blow you...kin.,… ome!" The ash-blond shouted at the villain in his typical way.

Izuku was thankful for the distraction, now free to continue his stalking. He kept out of sight, everyone being busy with the major players allowed him to use the surrounding foliage of the plaza to his advantage. Well, what remained of it after that supplex. Nonetheless, now Izuku had one less thing to worry about as he moved his mangled body.

Kirishima approached the plaza running from the same direction Bakugou had appeared from, the redhead standing at the side of the ash-blond and activating his quirk. The vampire eyed the surroundings as he felt the temperature drop a few degrees, a wave of growing ice quickly approaching both All Might and the Nomu.

His head whipped into the direction the ice came from, finding an approaching Todoroki Shoto pointing his ice-covered right hand to the duo of giants. The freezing line of ice seemed alive, accurately targeting the Nomu, yet undamaging the Symbol of Peace, who managed to slip away.

More conversation issued, which annoyed the vampire as his regeneration was occupied keeping him alive, thus focusing on more important issues than his hearing. He could try prioritizing his auditory organs, but keeping a beating heart and barely functioning lungs were important. His classmates seemed to have challenged the villains, clearly having the upper hand on the situation.

That conviction proved wrong when the frozen villain began moving again, not even slightly bothered with the various chunks of ice that broke from his body, carrying a great deal of flesh and muscle with them. Now Izuku knew why the monster could keep fighting, even when earlier he had shredded hands.

A regeneration quirk.

The monster regained the missing arm and leg at an impossible rate; bone, muscles and skin tissue quickly reforming the previously lost members and allowing the creature to be in top shape once more.

More conversation ensued as the hero trainees were rightly scared at the sight, Shigaraki taking the opportunity to also talk more of his spiel. Then he pointed at Bakugou.

The vampire never managed to see how his childhood bully was rescued. All he managed to see (even with his improved eyesight) were blurs.

On one end, Bakugou suddenly appeared besides Todoroki and Kirishima. On the other, All Might had been pushed far, his arms raised into a guard and bruised. It was obvious that the hero had saved him, or the ash-blond would have become a bloody pancake, much like Izuku earlier. The problem laid on the fact that he could not regenerate like Izuku could.

Now, Izuku was a patient person. Yet, his current lack of proper hearing was pissing him off, the villain taking the chance to launch into another monologue. He knew that since his eyes could see the hand-mask of the villain moving, but he could not make out the contents of the dialogue, considering that the hand covered the mouth of the villain.

Not that it mattered to him. Izuku was in too much pain to be patient with the villain and his apparent passion for monologuing. All that he cared at the moment was satisfying his ever growing [Thirst]. And since he now knew someone that could provide him with all the blood that he needed, Izuku began formulating a plan.

His classmates seemed to have gotten their bearing back, fighting stances ready for the upcoming fight. Izuku was sure that such action was foolish. No one besides All Might was able to stand up to the Nomu, anyone else trying to do so would result into a horrible mess. The vampire would be surgical with his intervention.

For his plan to work, he would need to subdue Kurogiri, as the versatility of his [Warp] quirk made him into the perfect support for this fight. Following that, the vampire was counting on the help of his classmates to fight the [Decay]-possessing Shigaraki, which would consist mostly of Todoroki throwing ice at him while Bakugou used his explosions to pin the man down. Without the support, Nomu could be beaten by All Might.

And if Izuku happened to snack on the villains, the situation could not be helped, now could it?

He followed the groups with his eyes, ready to spring his plans into action. A pity that All Might seemed to completely throw his ideas under the bus, the hero once more going to exchange blows against the beast that seemed meant to counter him. It was heroic.

It also threw a big wrench into the vampire's plans as all the watching bystanders could not approach due to the sudden wind pressure being created. The two titans of strength began colliding fist against fist, their herculean power attracting the attention of all those that were inside the USJ.

...

...

..

.

[FFFFEEEEEEDDDDDDD UUUUUSSSSSS!]

...

..

.

[TTTTTHHHHIRRRRSSSTTTTTYYYYYY!]

...

...

..

.

[PREY! OURS! BLOOD! NOW!]

Izuku could not wait anymore. He'd tried, honestly did so. However, he could not afford to wait anymore.

The blood maintaining his gauntlets slithered its way into his face, once more becoming the fear-inducing mask, the shape shifting to deal with the lack of blood. Instead of the intricate design of an Oni-shaped mask, it became a simple and brutal looking bear-trap – if bear traps were decked out with shark teeth – as Izuku prepared to rush right into the fallout of the legendary beatdown happening.

Reaching deep in his mind, Izuku finally released the lock on the beaten iron cage that was his willpower. All rational thought left as Izuku [Rage]'d, relenting full control to the [Inner Beast]. Primal rage clouded his eyes into a fog of primitive savagery, the vampire snarling as he used [Flash-step] to surpass the wind pressure and reach the duo of juggernauts. The beast with green hair did not think twice as he opened his mouth - the slick mask of blood following the move - and surprising all present, sank his teeth into the exposed neck of the busy Nomu.

Time seemed to slow down for all the present people, a missile of red slamming into the black wall of violence named Nomu. As fangs sank into flesh and drew blood, the vampire began immediately drinking the blood that began to pour down from the wound and into his throat. He groaned in pleasure, strength returning just as quick as he drank blood, the battered teen suddenly finding his body becoming that more responsive as it finally was allowed sustenance.

Nomu screeched as it had done before, bulky hands already trying to throw off the sudden add-on, but it was not allowed a rest, immediately being assaulted by the continuous punches from All Might. The hero spared no time, a smile having returned to his face even as he kept his barrage of punches. Nomu was forced to raise its guard once more, trying to equal the ground of their fighting. Unfortunately, the vampire hanging from its back had a completely different plan.

Which began as the blood-sucker activated [Coagulation]. The effect was instantaneous, Nomu flinching still in place for a haymaker to crush the beak of the abomination, yellow teeth flying up. The creature broke from the spell not a second after, back into the clash against the hero once more. Only for Nomu to be interrupted a second time, another blow sinking in the left eyeball.

The fight continued in quick succession, All Might finding more and more ground as Izuku perfectly timed his use of [Coagulation] to aid the hero, the ability being activated on the moments the Hero would strike the fiercest. As Izuku continued his unstoppable drinking frenzy, his healing accelerated as allowed him to begin properly hearing. Shigaraki did not seem happy with his intervention!

"HOW! I saw Nomu kill him like a pancake! He was flattened! HOW? WHAT IS THIS CHEAT!?"

As the fight continued, and Izuku drained the villain, one thing became apparent. It seemed to have weakened. More and more blows from the hero were connecting as the monster began being pushed back into the defensive. Nomu flinched still again, eldritch power akin to a beacon flooding off the vampire's eyes as he began returning to prime.

No, Izuku was becoming stronger! Blood was how he did so, through the ways of imitating quirk-factors, his hemomancy and his enhanced physique. His cultivation allowed him to speed the time he broke down and understood quirk-factors, but it also required lots of the life-liquid. Having a free drink straight from the source that was Nomu, Izuku could not have asked for a better time!

His [High-speed Regeneration] kicked straight into high-gear, finally being allowed to work on all the damage that Izuku had accumulated at the hands of the very villain that now served as his nutrition. How hilarious! He darkly joked in his head as his fangs sank even deeper into the neck of his bloodbag. The healing that would have taken weeks even for him happened under seconds, his body now using the incoming blood for cultivation as opposed to nutrition.

Izuku, now having his arms back, once more called upon his blood gauntlets. Arms equipped with deadly armor, Izuku sank the claws of hardened blood into the monster's shoulders, cutting straight through flesh and cracking bone. As the vampire's and the villain's blood made direct contact, Izuku began the process of cultivation. His blood mask maintained the bear-trap shape, ideal to cling into the flesh of the hulking beast and continue his feeding.

He immediately identified the quirk factor in the blood, which to his surprise were actually two. This is not possible! His momentary distraction meant that he failed to constantly active [Coagulation], resulting in Izuku taking an elbow to the gut, his body being teared off from his perch on the Nomu's neck, together with a meaty chunk of flesh and also leaving nasty holes on the shoulders of the ebast. Creating a trench in the ground as he was carried by the momentum of the blow, the hemomancer used of his renewed supply of life-liquid to create tendrils to help him bleed off the force. He managed to stop not too far away from the two giants, raising himself from the dirt. As he stood perfectly up, Izuku could be seen chewing on something.

The vampire sucked the remaining blood off from the chunk of meat in his mouth, spatting the flesh from his mouth like one would bubblegum.

The flesh hit the ground with a wet splat, white-ish in color. Izuku wanted to return to his feast, but All Might took the advantage he provided and closed in the villain, his body steaming and having the sweet smell of blood.

"Thanks young-Midoriya for the magnificent assist. I will make up for my failing right now." The hero shouted, fixing his stance into what Izuku could tell would be the finishing move of this fight. The vampire found some annoyance in his mind as he would not be able to continue his feast, but he supposed that this would have to do.

The hero's eyes were fully focused in the Nomu beast, and for a moment Izuku swore that All Might had copied a page from his book as the hero blurred into action. No, he did not copy [Flash-step], he is just that fast! The beast-like mind of the teen stated, his ears now easily hearing the hero.

"Now villain! Prepare yourself, for I AM HERE!" All Might declared, already clashing fists against his nemesis. Izuku wondered what the hero was trying to accomplish, already aware of the quirk-factors that the monster had. The vampire's mind was full of questions, wondering how could someone have two quirks. For a moment his mind joked that he was not one to talk, but the situation was clearly different.

Izuku could replicate weakly the effects of other quirks, his biology shifted to adapt to the changes, Besides, some effects could never be copied, no matter how much blood he took in or how much he cultivated. This creature had complimentary powers alright, [Hyper Regeneration] and [Shock Absorption]; that did not mean that Nomu could be born with these quirks. Their effects were too different for one person to have them. Yet, he clearly does. Why? I want to know! I want more blood! This blood is so rich in flavor, so powerful!

The vampire was pulled away from his thoughts as the blurry of blows became indistinguishable, All Might clearly putting his all into the barrage of blows that followed.

"Hear these words, VILLAIN! For the good of those that need protection, I AM HERE. When the going gets tough, heroes stand up to protect! I'll carve into your spirit the meaning of these words! Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!" The America-themed hero finished with one crackling blow right into the torso of the Nomu. The beast folded under the punch before shooting at terrifying speed to the top of the USJ.

The reinforced glass and metalworks of the ceiling never stood a chance, crumpling and breaking as the Nomu shot through it and away from the facility, having been punched at least one hundred meters up.

The sight was one that made difficult for you to tear your eyes off.

Izuku managed to do so, eyes falling back into the frame of his battered hero. The man was expelling a great deal of steam, looking as if merely standing up was taking away strength from him.

"CHEATS! You cheating bastards! What sort of cheat codes do you have to revive like that?! I saw it! Saw Nomu beat you into a pulp! How can you have a second life?" Shigaraki looked on the verge of a mental breakdown, the villain furiously scratching at his neck. The warping villain that stood at his side had his mustard-yellow eyes wide in shock. He also had seen the brutality which Nomu had inflicted upon the teen, there was no escaping that.

"My plan was perfect! I used the perfect counter against All Might! There was no way for him to win! How can you two cheat like this?! Aren't heroes supposed to play fair? Being tricky is for us, game-masters!" The cerulean-haired villain slumped as he almost turned his voice course. He slowly rose his face to meet the hero's and the vampire's, his red eyes showed a maniac anger behind them.

All Might stood still, seemingly waiting for something. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the hero, wondering why had he stopped. Then, it struck the vampire. The wound at his side, the smell of old and fresh blood mixed with disinfectants. The earlier talk between the teachers about the time limit the hero was under. It all clicked in place for the vampire. He used [Flash-step] to close in at the side of the hero, fully equipped with his blood arms. The [Inner Beast] had been mostly satisfied, their meal managing to placate the vampire. That said, it still took colossal effort to not jump at All Might and have a taste of his blood. What kind of power would he gain if he were to do such? The thought made him salivate.

"When exposed to justice, any evil ploy shall fall by the wayside, villain! Now, show that determination from earlier, when you tried to harm my students! I dare you to try it, VILLAIN!" All Might shouted over at the two villains. The hero looked from the corner of his eyes at the young hemomancer, the blue eyes capturing the sight of someone who looked like they had fled from hell.

Izuku had plenty of dried blood stuck to his skin, his armored shirt long having been discarded as it had been smashed to bits by the first encounter between the teen and villain. There was a purple bruise on his stomach, the spot slowly returning to normal under their sight. His pants were barely held in place, various rips suggested the kind of abuse the material (and he) had gone through; the boots he wore were also mangled and covered in a mix of blood and dust. It was questionable to say that Izuku should be living, yet there he was. If the hero was honest with himself, the sight looked a little terrifying.

Not that he had time to be terrified. If he had time, he should be glad that a student had not died due to his foolishness. He knew he was working under a time-limit, and while a hero should strive to surpass their limits, they should also be aware of their responsibilities. He had failed his class as their teacher and their example of hero. To compensate for that, he would save them all without fail.

It infuriated the hero when he reached the USJ, seeing the Nomu pounding on what he presumed to be one of his students. As the monster's hands were dyed in crimson blood, the hero simply launched himself furiously at the villain, hoping that he had arrived too late. One quick glance at the bloody crater made the hero have the heavy realization that he had failed his duty.

Seeing as fate deemed to give him a second chance to correct his mistakes, All Might swore to himself. NEVER would he fail another student as he had failed Young Midoriya again.

Thus, All Might stood. Like a mountain that would never crumble, he stood. To be honest, standing still like this is all I can do right now. My body will not move, I pushed too hard! The hero grimly thought, maintaining his fierce expression. Reinforcements are close by, just a few more minutes!

"Shigaraki, focus! All that he doing is merely standing there, a false bravado! We may have lost Nomu, but we can still work to end his life. The damage is clearly there, it is up to us to finish the job!" Kurogiri snapped Shigaraki out of his hysterics, the villain stopped clawing at his throat to look closely at All Might.

The cerulean-haired villain hummed in a debauched manner. "Right! There would be no way for him to not have suffered damage. We are still in the game! We can kill him!" The villains reached an agreement. "That brat too! I want to kill him! If he hadn't got in the way, Nomu would have killed All Might!"

It was good for villains that they had not forgotten about Izuku.

[XXX]

[XXX]

The vampire could see that All Might was on his last legs. The steam emanating from the hero was hiding him from the eyes of the villains and the other students in the plaza, but Izuku could see it. A faint shadow inside the billows of steam, a weakened and withered frame.

Izuku wished that he could still [Rage], his ultimate skill would be a good trump card to deal with the remaining villains. It was unfortunate that all his time with the power had been used to assist All Might defeat the hulking monster that was Nomu. As it stood, Izuku was tired. He might have healed his completely from his imminent death, but he could still feel the toll it had taken on his body.

Healing the entirety of your fractured bones, burst internal organs and ruptured blood vessels was not an easy process. The vampire was exhausted, and even after his large meal had replenished his blood, he still needed rest. Something that he guessed would not come by easily, seeing as Shigaraki and Kurogiri were beginning to scheme their assault on both Izuku and All Might.

The vampire rose his gauntlets menacingly, his mask shifting as if to express his mood.

The villains began rushing once more to attack the Symbol of Peace, Shigaraki leading the attack with Kurogiri as a close-support. Izuku glanced at his classmates, wondering if they would help at any moment; not that he would wait for their assistance, considering he [Flash-step]'ed in front of All Might.

The villains were quick, in no time they had reached the hero and the vampire. Shigaraki extended his hand, aiming for the teen's face with nary a thought. Izuku's gauntlets became fluid once more, the left one shooting off his arm as [Blood Spear Burst] as the right sprouted a multitude of tendrils to capture the villain. The scattered drops of blood were all nulled by Kurogiri, the villain creating a warp gate in front of the projectiles.

Izuku dug his heels firmly, the hand closing in on his face seemed to be in slow motion. The vampire allowed his mask to open, the target of the crimson jaws coming straight for them. I can weather the attack, [High-speed Regeneration] will handle it. All Might is the priority, defending him is a priority. I can do this! I can do this!

When [Rage] ended, normally Izuku would be left wiped out. This time, his saving grace was the enormous quantity of blood he managed to extract from Nomu, which allowed him to push himself further. With no further access to such supply, Izuku could only pray that his healing could keep up.

Shigaraki's hand touched the crimson blood mask for only a second, the liquid immediately turning into a lifeless black sludge before falling outside of Izuku's control and splatting uselessly on the ground. The hand of the villain clenched around the teen's face and Izuku howled as the effects of [Decay] made themselves known.

Different from the searing hot pain of having his bones broken and flesh mangled, the decay of his skin was slowed down by his celular-regenerative properties, resulting into a different kind of hell for the vampire. Dead skin flaked and fell off from his face, his tendrils managing to capture the following hand into a crushing grip. Shigaraki seemed surprised that Izuku's head hadn't just disappeared already, before he himself cried in pain as the tendrils wrapped around his left arm crushed it by pressure, breaking both the radio and ulna.

Kurogiri, seeing his master being harmed, immediately created a warping gate between the broken arm and the blood crushing it, servering the connection and allowing the cerulean-haired villain a small respite.

Izuku would not allow it.

The vampire, even under terrible pain, did not miss the chance. Kurogiri could not warp Shigaraki as long as the villain held Izuku. Hence, the vampire knew what he had to do. His left hand was once more wrapped into Blood gauntlet, which he used to grab a hold of the arm holding his face, the sharp claws sinking into the arm of the lanky villain. His right hand was going to once more grab the villain's broken arm, but the warp villain decided to act.

Izuku's right arm sank into another warp gate, the purple haze immediately closing and taking the vampire's arm with it in a gruesome fashion. Another gargled sound exited the teen's throat, his voice warped by the ravenous pain.

"SHIGARAKI, LET GO!" Kurogiri shouted, surprised that his master had been harmed by the hero trainee. It was as if he had no fear of death, only charging ahead with indominable will. It scared the villain to think someone like that could exist.

"ARHHH, I NEED TO KILL THIS FUCKER! HE BROKE MY ARM!" The villain howled, pain and hatred mixed into one.

He wants retribution? He wants fairness? How about this then? Izuku let revenge guide his mind as the [Inner Beast] once more banged on the cages of his mind.

...

..

.

[INSOLENT PREY! IT DARES TO BARE ITS SMALL FANGS AT US!]

...

...

..

[DEFILE HIM! SHOW THE PRICE OF MESSING WITH US! WE ARE THE TRUE PREDATOR!]

...

..

.

[KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!]

[WE ARE THE HUNTER! THE NIGHT PROWLER! WE ARE THE KING OF THE DARK NIGHTS!]

...

..

.

[WE ARE MIDORIYA IZUKU!]

...

...

..

[We are TRUE ANCESTOR!]

...

Izuku opened his mouth, exposing it to the effects of [Decay]. It began eating at it, but the vampire was already working towards his goal. Bloody fangs sank into the palm of the hand that held his face, blood flowing into his mouth. Shigaraki's blood was disgusting and fetid, different from anything else that Izuku had tasted. Almost like drinking sewage water, the blood was simply disgusting in his palate. Yet, the hemomancer forced it down his throat.

The hold of the villain on his face slacked in a moment's notice, the hand backing away as the cerulean-haired villain felt the sharp bite of Izuku's decaying fangs. As the villain backed off, his hand slick with both their blood, Izuku pulled on the trigger of [Coagulation], readying his remaining arm for another [Blood Spear Burst]. Unfortunate for the vampire, Shigaraki's frame was covered by the wisps of the purple-black mist that made Kurogiri's body, warping the villain away from Izuku.

The vampire's head snapped into the direction of the villain, the metal neckguard being his focus. With nary a though, Izuku pointed his remaining stump of a right arm at the villain.

"EAT THIS!" All the blood that was around the vampire joined at the raw and mangled cut, the inner flesh exposed. The fluid became one single tendril of blood, which shot like a bullet towards the villain.

Kurogiri tried to create a portal to redirect the eldritch abomination, but he was a second too slow. The tip of the tendril hardened into a spearhead, drilling straight through the protection of the villain and connecting Izuku and Kurogiri by blood. [Coagulation] paralyzed the villain before he could use his quirk, allowing the hemomancer to begin sucking blood from the villain like one would suck juice from a straw.

Shigaraki had been teleported just a few meters from the conflict, but as he saw the horror show happening, he quickly stood up and rushed to attack Izuku once more.

"YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!" The horrible shout was heard alright by the vampire. He turned his bloody and raw face to the villain, dry and crimson eyes staring at the villain as if daring him to attack again.

BANG!

The cerulean-haired villain fell on the ground, immediately clutching at his leg. A round and red spot, which began growing. A gun shot, from far away.

"I suppos' a trooper like ye can handle a lil' pain, can't ya?" The accent was heavy, the barrel of his gun smoking; but most important, Sniper had arrived!

Not only him, but the major reinforcements from U.A had finally arrived. Power-Loader, Vlad King, Present Mic, Midnight, Cementoss, Feral Hound, Ectoplasm and even the famous principal of the school.

Shigaraki tried to stand up, only for Snipe to spin his revolver in a sleigh of hand, the barrel already pointed at the villain.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Four new holes appeared in the villain, who fell on the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. His blood began to pool around him, the villain gritting his teeth in a clear display of anger. Izuku almost smirked at the villain, but phantom pain began to sprout over his arm.

Or the missing arm. The vampire was sure that he wasn't supposed to feel this type of pain, but his focus was shot and he almost screamed. His tendril returned to him and began entering back into his system by the hole of the stump, the teen falling onto his knees and clutching at the wound.

[Coagulation] was undone on Kurogiri, who immediately warped close to Shigaraki. Sniper tried to intercept the villain, but found his shots simply phasing through the purple-black mist.

"...T-the mhetall b-brache! S-shooth dhe m-metal neckguard!" Izuku shouted, hoping that the hero had heard him. More shots were fired, but it was too late by them. The vampire rose his head to see the disappearing mist carrying the cerulean-haired villain, both villains boring holes in the frame of the vampire.

"I'll kill you! Even if it is the last thing I do! I will destroy everything you hold dear! I'll turn you into dust!" The derranged eyes of the villain spoke of a promise that he would not forget!

Izuku's gleaming eyes followed the villain tiredly. The vampire lifted his left hand, a middle finger proudly being displayed by the hemomancer. He was going to take a page out of Bakugou's book, only this time.

"Eat shit and die." His mouth healed enough to allow him a clear phrase, the warp gate fading out of existence.

[XXX]

[XXX]

The pros began their clean-up, defeating any remaining villain in the facility. Not that Izuku was in the spirit to follow the operation, too busy as he stared at the deflating form of All Might, the steam around him beginning to fade away. The hero had a mix of relief and panic in his face, watching one of his pupils push himself so hard.

Izuku let out a pained sigh, slowly standing up. He could hear a couple of steps coming their way, the heavy steps no doubt belonging to Kirishima. The redhead would be the only one to check up on Izuku, considering the other two either did not care or were shocked by the display.

"OI! Midoriya! Are you alive?!" There was a clear worried tone in the voice of the [Hardening]-quirk user, which made Izuku feel conflicted emotions. People cared about him, even when he showed the monster he could be?

He was glad, even if the pain was too bothersome to allow him to express his joy. And there was also the fact that All Might was deflating like a balloon at his side.

The vampire clutched his stump, bringing [Mesmerize] up in his eyes. While he was glad to have someone worry about his state, the sentiment was about to open an entirely different can of worms. He supposed it would be nice to have All Might own him one. His eyes gleamed in crimson light, ready to handle his friend. Fortunately, the use of his pseudo-brainwashing was not needed, a wall suddenly being erected between the two.

"Woah!" Izuku heard the redhead exclaim as he smacked dab into the concrete wall.

"Kirishima-kun, leave this to your sensei here. Gather the other students, we need to check for injuries or missing people." Cementoss seemed to be the responsible for the wall. The teacher spoke in a voice that left no ground for discussion. Luckily, Kirishima was a straight guy, understanding the reasoning of the hero.

Safe behind the security of the wall, All Might let go and fully deflated, becoming a skeletal man. The sight was a weird one, not at all something that screamed "Symbol of Peace". He immediately sat on the ground, coughing some blood.

"Thanks for the save, Cementoss. This one was too close." The blond hero said, wiping the blood that was in the corner of his mouth.

"Think nothing of it, All Might. Although, I don't think that we are completely in the green." The other hero said, pointing to the teen. Horror dawned in his face as he saw that Izuku was missing an arm. "We need to get him help immediately!"

Before the teacher could dash for help, Izuku approached the duo waving off. "Sensei, don't worry about it. My quirk gives me a healing factor, I won't be on the deep end just by losing an arm." he said in hopes that the information would calm the teacher.

The answer made both heroes give him serious looks.

"Young Midoriya..."

"Midoriya-san..."

The teen knew those looks. He let his eyes wander the plaza, searching for his missing appendage. He could grow his arm back, but he preferred to simply attach it back. It would hurt like hell as the nerve endings reconnected, but he could bear it. After the damage he bore through today, he wondered if other things could even phase him.

"I'll look for my arm." He stated as if it was a normal thing. The pangs of phantom pain were starting to become greater and greater, and he wished to reattach the limb as soon as possible.

"My boy." All Might called him, Cementoss almost raising another wall to block his way. Their faces seemed to ask something of him.

"Don't worry about it, I guessed something was wrong since you did not show up for our class. You have my word that I won't talk to anyone." Izuku said, walking away from the heroes. He managed to track his cut limb, not too far from the battle.

He calmly walked towards it, having to bite his lip to endure the following pang of phantom pain. Looking at your own severed limb was a different kind of experience that Izuku didn't wish on his worst enemy. He grabbed the arm, walking back to where Cementoss had raised the wall. The teachers waited his return, something about first aid being on their way.

He nodded to them, hiding from plain sight. It would not do for his classmates to see by mistake something so alien.

Izuku got close to the erected wall and sat with his back to it, angling so as to avoid his teachers seeing the severed stump or the cut limb. No need to traumatize them too. He joked in his head, getting his arm close to the stump. The skin around the exposed flesh had already healed over it, so as to avoid infection due to an open wound. He managed to stop his healing at that, else the bone might heal at a wrong angle or some other complication might happen.

A deep breath and a minor tug at his power, Izuku had [Advanced Hemomancy] act as a precision knife, slicing open the skin. He hissed, clenching his jaw shut to avoid making sounds. One quick peek at his teachers told him that he failed at that. It took a few seconds for the incisions to be done, small tendrils peeling back the skin and allowing him to see the bone of both arms; he cringed at the wet noise that echoed as more tendrils of blood connected from his stump to his limb, pumping blood into the other limb so as to avoid necrosis.

The two ends connected with a wet schesh, another line of life-liquid sewing the limbs together as a quick fix to hold them together while the bone reconnected, the nerve endings also doing the same. The first neurons to do so send a terrible shock into his system, and he avoided screaming thanks to already having his trap shut.

One minute.

During one minute, the time his nerve endings (bones and flesh included) reconnected, Izuku experienced earth-shattering pain.

By the time it ended, he found himself being carried by medical bots to an ambulance, together with All Might. For some, that sentence might have been a god-send. For Izuku, all he felt was a sore body. At least he could cultivate the quirk factors running through his bloodstream in his ride back to U.A's infirmary.

[XXX]

[XXX]

Izuku found himself lucky to be in bed, since that way Recovery Girl could not use her cane to beat him over the head for "problematic and suicidal behavior", whatever she meant with that. Everything he had done today was necessary and within the limits of his abilities, so the earful from the elder heroine felt as if she was punishing him from surviving the whole ordeal.

The olive branch he found was that All Might himself was not safe from the diminutive nurse and her youthful anger. How about that? He joked, smile sprouting in his lips as the woman went in between chastising him and the skeletal Symbol of Peace.

He mused the idea of pretending to sleep, wondering if she would catch him. Before he could put the plan into practice, a polite knock sounded on the door.

"You may enter!" The nurse sent the duo a dirty look, almost as if to say This is far from over! While she went to fill in their paperwork. The sliding door opened and a known figure of Izuku's middle school showed his face.

"Detective Tsukauchi!" Izuku rose his right hand to greet the police worker, the man taking his fedora hat and dipping his head to the teen, his expression lighting up at seeing the vampire.

"Izuku-kun, how about that? You barely enter U.A and are already causing this sort of chaos!" The detective joked, approaching the two bed-ridden patients. "All Might, how is it going?"

"Wait, how do you know this is All Might?" Izuku furrowed his brow, wondering if the detective was about to try some sort of memory wipe on him.

"The good detective is an old friend of mine! My best friend in fact!" The blond and deflated hero said, holding back a cough.

Izuku felt his fangs twitch as his nose picked the scent of the hero's blood.

"Well, that is certainly one way to introduce me." Tsukauchi rubbed the back of his head. The officer thanked Recovery Girl as the elder brought him a chair. "Sorry to bother you two while you are resting, but I already took testimony from all the other students and teachers involved in the issue. You are the last ones."

"I understand. Before that, can you tell me...how are the students? Eraserhead and Thirteen too." All Might asked, looking sullen.

The detective began to explain the situation to the hero, Izuku finding solace in listening to the officer.

"Well, I must admit. I knew that you were hard to surprise, but most people would be shocked to see All Might like...this." Tsukauchi suddenly brought the topic towards Izuku, the vampire blinking as everyone in the room focused on him.

"Well...I found it weird that All Might wasn't working at the sole class he was under, so I paid extra attention to the teachers. Aizawa-sensei and Thirteen-sensei were busy exchanging codes and hand-signs, so I peek a bit into their conversation. My senses are pretty sharp, so the rest was rather easy to put into place."

That stunned the blond hero and the nurse, while Tsukauchi merely shook his head sideways.

All Might exited his stupor and then coughed, calling attention to himself.

"Young Midoriya, I must apologize to you and make a request. It was my own negligence that endangered the students and put their lives at risk. Had I done so, this would never have happened. I failed my duty as a hero and as a teacher." The pro lowered his head to Izuku, making the vampire widen his eyes. Before he could ask the hero to stop, the blond continued. "No, Young Midoriya, I must do this properly. And while shameless of me to do so, must ask that you keep this form of mine a secret."

"I displayed a shameful front, as caused you great suffering. If there is anything that you wish for, ask away."

It was the vampire's turn to be stunned into silence. The teen mused to himself, tunning out the adults that began talking among each other as Recovery Girl began extracting information from All Might as to what he meant by failed Izuku.

Before the heroine could hit the blond over the head in an attempt to make him spill the beans, Izuku opened his mouth.

"Sir. There was an incident about two years ago in Dagobah. A slime villain doing some purse snatching, nothing too grand into the scheme of things. I honestly would not fault you if you forgot about such thing. I met you there, but you were in quite a rush; guess I now know why, hehe." He snorted, the words leaving his mouth seemed silly to himself. Yet, he had to ask the hero.

"I lost the opportunity back then, and kind of put things in the backburner. I mean, it is such a silly question." he eyed the hero dead in the eye, emerald staring deep into sapphire. "Can a monster like me really become a hero? I mean, who can escape being beaten into a literal pulp and just come back like that? And my arm? Can someone just do that? Stick their arm into place and boom, done! And the fact that I wanted to kill that thing? Not defeat or subdue, I legit wanted to kill him! What kind of hero does this! I mean, yeah it might happen, it is a dangerous job and all, but I wanted to kill him, full intent!"

"Can I be a hero? Am I allowed to do this?"

"You already are a hero!"