Chapter 22: [Showing the World the True Ancestor's Power II]

[XXX]

Hosu Ward Streets

A few hours before the chaos was unleashed.

Iida was patrolling along his internship's hero of choice, Manual the busy streets of the Hosu Ward. The youngest son of the Tenya family had his mind muddled with many thoughts, most of which would revolve around his brother Tensei and his critical state in the hospital. Seeing his inspiration for heroics be crippled unjustly due to the whims of a crazy psychopath was sending a previously unknown fury coursing through his veins and the teen was left without a path to follow. No hero had been able so far to defeat and aprehend Stain, a great deal of those who tried had been left either permanently crippled or worse; yet all that run in Iida's mind was the idea of him encountering and facing the Hero Killer, taking revenge for his brother.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would eventually face the man, as Iida had chosen Manual due to his office being in the vicinities of the most likely area the villain would act about. Hosu was full of young heroes on the lower ranks of the system, the seemingly perfect target for the Hero Killer. Iida knew that Stain was a dangerous individual, as the number of his victims was too much for a simple petty crook. The Hero Killer was a monster in human flesh, one that the Tenya youngster would be sure to put down with all the retribution his brother deserved. Tensei had always been a splendid hero, always doing he right thing for the people. How dare Stain do this to his brother!

"...you okay there, kiddo?" Manual's voice finally reached Iida, causing the teen to flinch in place as he ended up bumping against the hero's back. "You were out of it for quite a while, but I guess it is understandable with the situation with your brother." The hero turned to meet the internee, laying a hand over on the teen's shoulder and giving him a wry smile. "I don't know what is going on in your head, and I guess that that shows my inexperience as a hero. I was quite happy when the famous youngest soon of the Tenya family chose my agency, but I should have figured out that it was because of the Hero Killer incident involving your brother, right?" As Manuel spelled exactly what Iida's intentions were, the boy couldn't help but feel bad about using Manual's honest offer for his selfish means.

"I-I would not dare to squander an opportunity like this on mere regenge, sir! I just feel that being here I could learn more and make a difference." It was a badly made lie, but it seemed to fool the hero, who returned a smile to the boy.

Manual released a sigh, a hand raising to rest over his chest almost as if the answer had relieved the hero of an unknown weight. "That's good to hear, kiddo! I hope that's true! I know that what you are feeling right now can be confusing and frustrating, but heroism should never be used as an excuse for revenge or vigilantism." The hero pointed out, busying himself with his radio as some comms echoed for him. "One moment, kid." He turned his back to Iida, his radio crackling to life as information about some patrols was communicated over.

Iida took off his helmet and stared at the ground, gnawing on his lower lip until it almost began bleeding. I know what you are saying! I know this! But, what I am supposed to do with this feelings? How is this fair to my brother? To mother and father? The teen tightened his right hand into a fist, clenching his eyes shut to steam back the prickling feeling of tears behind his eyes. He managed to keep himself in check, exhaling a tired huff before putting his helmet back on. The teen kept pace with Manual, as even if the hero was not his first or second option, he was still a respectable hero and someone who had experience in the industry for some time now.

It would be after many hours of quiet patrol that Manual's radio would crackle to life once more, but this time the emergency shouting was followed by a few explosions, taking attention away from the heroes around the Hosu plaza to a more downtown area, as reports of indiscriminate destruction began pouring out from the radio. That was followed with reports of a figure dressed with a red scarf and carrying many blades.

Iida couldn't disappear from Manual's sight fast enough, as the hero and his team (together with other local heroes) tried their best to stop the advance of flames and the sudden creatures that began causing havoc around the area, the teen rushed to try and find the one whom he had set his sights on. He would capture the Hero Killer and he would avenge his brother!

[XXX]

[XXX]

Back with Izuku and Janine on the rooftops.

The vampire wondered if he and Janine should be spending their time like this. He had released the girl from her dark bindings, now that she had calmed down a bit. She was still offering him her arm, the thought of sinking his fangs into her flesh an attractive offer, one that the vampire was weighting in his mind. He had no true problem with drinking Janine's blood, but he couldn't help the curiosity as to why the girl was in such a dire want to give him her blood.

He wondered if her frantic behavior had anything to do with the fact that he never saw the girl touch anyone. Why was that weird, you ask? Well, someone with Janine's personality normally would be a pretty physical person, looking for any and every excuse for some skinship among friends. Not out of malice, but simply due to how she was. Yet, he noticed that the girl usually avoided being too close to people. She was social alright, but it always seemed to be a measured distance, almost as if close contact would be dangerous to people around her. All of what was tossed out of the window the moment he reached Edgeshot's villa, the kunoichi immediately closing the gap and trying to touch him. Was there some circumstance that he was unware off? She didn't smell like Mei (or even Uraraka for that matter), so Izuku knew it she wasn't attracted to him. She seemed to want to be more of an Onee-san(Older, caring sister) type than anything else, so it got the vampre wondering why was she so insistent on this matter.

Izuku ran his tongue over his fangs, feeling a dull itch on his sharp teeth. He sighed in defeat, sure that whatever the situation was, the girl would explain to him after he took some of her lifeforce to himself. Thus, he walked closer to the older girl and asked for her arm.

"Will you explain what is going on after I drink from you?" He asked, already filling his mouth with numbing saliva. The kunoichi's expression brigthened as she nodded her head, eyes almost sparkling as she watched him fully focused. Izuku shook his head and grabbed a hold of Janine's arm, running his rough tongue over a short patch of her skin to allow his saliva to numb the area. It took a short while to work (he could get a rapid effect, but he wasn't going to pump aphrodisiacs in the girl), but eventually he sank his fangs into the girl's arm.

A spicy, tongue numbing flavor travelled down his throat, the hemomancer immediately allowing [True Ancestor] to begin its work of disassembly of the quirk factor inside the blood. He released Janine's arm after the third mouthful, the girl immediately doing her own first-aid over the puncture holes he left on her arm. He swallowed the blood inside his mouth and offered an apologetic glance at the wounds, yet Janine waved him off with a careless look on her face.

"Don't worry about it, spooky-kun! What I really want to know is what you will get out of that!" The kunoichi seemed more excited than the vampire to discover the results, but Izuku held his hands in the air, the spicy taste in his tongue not fading away even after he was sure he had drank everything in his gullet. The hemomancer figured he was lucky to have such powerful regeneration, else the poisonous blood he had ingested would have destroyed his insides.

"You quirk really does justice to its name." His comment made the girl give him a worried look, her brows creasing tensely as a weight seemed to set in her stomach. Izuku theorized that her [Poison] would allow her to create and control different types of poison. Well, she could so such, but her power was simpler. Janine's everything had poison. From her blood to her hair, it wouldn't be unfair to call the kunoichi a personification of the word. His internal temperature went up by a few degrees, [True Ancestor] already feeding him some snippets of information from the power. "The kind of focus training you do must be insane." He complimented her, her image raising quite a bunch in his head.

Embarassment dyed Janine's cheeks red, the kunoichi moving near the concrete railing of the roof and sitting on the edge. She raised one hand to eye level, streching her arm and allowing her digits to become covered by a thin layer of a magenta-colored fluid.

"Being the sole heir to a Shinobi family comes with a few responsabilities, spooky-kun. I guess I should apologize for coming so strong over you, but having someone that I don't have to fear poisoning merely due to a brush or a touch is kind of nice, a friend that I don't have to walk on eggshells." Janine's tone wasn't one of sadness, it was akin to a frustrated understanding of her own circumstances.

He understood why, as his quirk whispered the secrets of her own power to him. Janine's body was always producing a unique cocktail of poison that seeped into absolutely every cell of her being, meaning that even one touch from her could spread said poison and accidentaly harm someone. To continuously pull back said poison within herself and avoid accidents took an extreme level of concentration, and made sense as to why she was so cautious of touching people. It also explaining her continuous past attempts at touching him while back on the villa. He had sparred with her a few times, but never took notice of anything unusual; now that he knew what to look for, it made sense that her fighting style was so relying on blades (or on their sparring matches, blade-hand attacks).

For someone who had to always be mindful of the others surrounding her to find someone like Izuku, who could regenerate from almost anything, it was like a friend gifted from heaven.

"So, spooky-kun! Have you developed an increased resistance to it? Or maybe now you too can use poison? Having a pseudo-descendant to the line of Koga would drive some of the elders crazy, but I guess my pops wouldn't really mind. Uncle Edgeshot also likes you, so I guess all is well when it ends well." As nothing seemed to have gone wrong with the vampire, Janine found herself relaxing and lowering her guard. The tension on shoulders departed as she glanced at Izuku, finding the vampire with his eyes closed, deep in thought. She pouted a bit, as it seemed that he had ignored the revelation she just spoke. She approached him once more, this time blowing some wind over his face, a faint purplish glow following the breeze.

Izuku felt the poison in the air, opening his eyes to find Janine staring at him with a cheeky smile. He couldn't help but crack open one of his own, doing his best to accelerate the rate at which he fully uncovered the secrets behind [Poison]. He wasn't sure what he would get from it, but he was growing excited to find out. And speaking about secrets...

"Mind telling me why does the poison smell around you goes crazy when you do strenuous exercise?" He asked out of the blue, remembering that during their run to reach the train station on time he remembered that the poison scent around her became crazy strong during their time in the woods.

Janine tilted her head, wondering what he meant until it clicked in her head. "Oh, you mean that?" She exclaimed, once more glancing over the roof to keep an eye out on the population. She took one deep breath and slowly released it, the veins around her neck bulging a bit as her blood began to pick pace and flow faster and faster within her veins. Izuku's senses picked on the speeding of the flow, his brows frowing as he tried to understand the phenomenon. Janine's lips split into a savage grin, the wolf's bane scent increasing for a few seconds before it began to die down, her blood flow also slowing to reach a reasonable rate. "I haven't really named it, but it is something I figured out when training with my pops. You know that popular saying? That medicine and poison are only different due to dosage?" The kunoichi explained a few details, but Izuku already had a few ideas of his own.

"Doping due to poisoning? How is that even possible? Aren't you imune to your own poison?" He approached the roof's edge too, eyes a few teens pass by without any trouble.

Janine gave the vampire a side look, pouting a bit at him. "Can't a girl have some secrets of her own? Why do you want to know every thing?" The kunoichi's complaints fell on deaf ears, but the vampire dropped the questioning, letting their conversation die down.

He focused once more on his patrol, sometimes moving on Janine's orders to another building or rooftop to cover a wider area. Time went by slowly, surprising the vampire as his first true patrol went about rather quietly. Sometimes the kunoichi would offer a few tips on what to look for during their search, things to look out for or certain actions that would seem suspicious.

It was almost the end of the afternoon when Janine decided to take a breather for herself, leaving Izuku on a random rooftop as she went for some drinks and a bite to snack on as the vampire was left to oversee the streets of Kyoto. He didn't mind the slow day, it was good to watch people live their lives without trouble. His childhood was a bit rough due to his appearance and habits, but the vampire wasn't bitter over the past. He certainly would not tolerate such behavior anymore, the proof of his resolution when he faced Bakugou with his full might; managing to come out on top of the ash-blond bomber and win first place on the school festival event. He had received a few messages over the internet from some people calling him a monster or undeserving of his victory due to cheating (not his fault that he could use other people's powers), but the vampire learned to spot bothering over said words.

As the vampire focused his sights upon a mother and her child entering one store, he picked on the sound of wind rushing his way. His phone began pinging loudly with messages, a worrysome feeling beginning to grow in his gut. He quickly glanced at his phone, finding the messages to be from Edgeshot, the pro appearing before the vampire in one mighty leap.

"Get ready now! We are rushing to Hosu." The ninja barely explained his reasons before he was on the move again, Izuku doing his best to follow the pro. He was about to ask about his partner, but before he could the hero picked up his pace. Izuku was impressed that the pro's speed was much faster than what he originally thought it would be, as the emerald-haired hemomancer now found himself struggling to keep pace with the man. The air gained a poisonous scent, easing Izuku of his worry for Janine as the girl rushed to meet with them. Edgeshot continued his pace uninterrupted, guiding the other two as he began to gain a lead, even when both Izuku and Janine were doing their best to follow the man.

"Any idea of what is going on?" Izuku asked the girl, his blood flow accelerated and making his eyes gain their now famous look. The kunoichi nodded, her neck veins also bulging.

"Something happened over Hosu and there was an alert sent by the police. Apparently the Hero Killer is in town and causing chaos together with some weird monsters." Janine explained, motioning to her phone. The vampire's enhanced eyesight managed to capture the number on her screen, the direct hotline between the police's investigators and heroes and their agencies.

Izuku would ask why heroes from Kyoto were being called to solve a problem from the Hosu Ward, but he figured that Stain certainly required high caliber heroes to be subdued. Besides, it wasn't like Edgeshot could leave Izuku out on his own as a patroling internee without a supervisor would break many rules of the Hero Comitte Association; if things went bad and Izuku was caught in his costume around crime scenes or doing hero work without a license, he could get blacklisted or put into jail for vigilantism. He wasn't willing to end his hero career before it even began. Besides, if things went south, Izuku was sure that he could escape without getting caught by the authorities. You couldnt hold something over his head if you had no proof of any wrong doings after all.

Their legs carried the trio from rooftop to rooftop, their speed making the group resemble blurs as they pushed their legs to reach the Ward. Train stations would surely be shut down or stopped for the time being, to avoid the chance of villains fleeing or to stop civilians from cluelessly wandering into the danger zone and hurting themselves. You would think that civilians would flee from life-threatening danger, but in this age of heroes, fights sometimes were entertainement. As heroes' faces were plastered into any and everything, the threat-registering level of the population had become somewhat skewed, and you could witness some ridiculous sights as people would stand closeby when a fight between a villain and a hero broke out.

It was one of the reasons why the HCA (Hero Comittee Association) - with the aid of the government - had managed to get hero salaries to as high as they were (so long as the hero/heroine did their reports apropriatingly), as the hero profession was one that dealt with so many unknown variables that sprung on them, making said hero have to adapt and overcome the situations with the best results possible. Being a hero made big bucks, but could also cause high levels of stress and other medical conditions. Hence why many tried to become heroes, blinded by the fruits of the labor without truly being aware of the labor part of the deal.

The hour passed by excruciatingly slow to the vampire as he finally managed to set foot into the Hosu Ward along with his temporary teacher and partner. Edgeshot was a man of actions, not words, as he immediately moved to the closest officer to get further details. Izuku scanned his eyes along the plaza area they were at, seeing people being evacuated in a hurry. He could pick on the sound of explosions coming from afar, yelling and destruction. His instincts told him that something very wrong was happening today, and waiting like this was not something he wanted to do. Janine saw his manner and set a hand over his shoulder, trying to comfort the vampire. Finally after what felt to be the longest five minutes of his life, Edgeshot finished his conversation with the officer and returned to them.

"Information is not precise, but from what I managed to gather we might be facing a group that calls themselves the League of Villains." As the words left the pro's mouth, Izuku found himself clenching his jaw shut, a growling beginning to build in the back of his head as both he and the [Inner Beast] felt anger build up. "Besides the reports of sightings of Stain, there have been reports of four strange creatures rampaging around the ward, causing wantom destruction around the place. I'll join with the heroes around to subdue the villains; I'm granting you, Kodoku, the authority to teach Alucard how to act in these situations. Focus your efforts into civilian rescues and damage control." Edgeshot gave his command, rapidly vanishing from their sight as he showed what he was truly capabe off.

The vampire felt somewhat bitter to find out that he had been holding the Shinobi Hero back, but decided to place his efforts into something more productive than moping about. He glanced at Janine, now aware of her hero name. It felt strangely adequate to call Janine Kodoku, but it made complete sense, considering her quirk. Kodoku was a Japane take on the Chinese myth of the Poison Insect Jar, where several poisonous insects were traped inside a container and left to kill and eat each other until only one remained. The last one alive would consume the fluids of the other insects and thus become the most poisonous of the bunch. Knowing that just about every single cell of the Kunoichi could become a poisonous weapon, he could see how appropriate the name fell on her.

"Hurgh, I hate when he calls me that." Janine complained, motioning with her head for Izuku to follow her. They began to hop among the buildings, directing civilians away from the chaos of the inner parts of the streets of Hosu. Fires began to become a rather frequent sight as whatever was rampaging about was not messing around. Izuku took the order from Edgeshot to heart, focusing his senses to their limit and hunting down for anyone that might have been trapped or injuried.

Their job went like this for about half an hour before they ran into some other heroes. It surprised Izuku to find the group of seven heroes to also be hurt, many sporting a different array of injuries. He stopped the first one, a man dressed in knight-like motif.

"What happened?" The vampire asked the man, finding the hero to be nursing his left arm close to his chest. The hero was taken aback by the question, not even bothering to question why someone as young as Izuku was out and about.

"What happened is that we got stomped by those weird monsters! If Endeavor and his crew weren't close by we would have been gone! GONE!" The hero shouted at Izuku, stopping when the pain in his arm panged again. The other heroes behind him had down-cast gazes, many simply walking together with the fleeing civilians. "When I passed Hongoku (a random hero school) they didn't told us we would be fighting freaks like those, screw that!" The man took off his helmet with a bit of difficulty due to his wounded arm, throwing the head piece on the curb with a frustrated groan.

Izuku took the words silently, understanding that the man had been under great stress if his words were true. "I see. Do you want medical assistance with your arm? I think it might be broken." While he understood the frustrations of the hero, it didn't made taking the words easily, thus the vampire cooled his blood and went for a more professional approach to the situation.

"Just my luck!" The knightly-dressed man relented after his complaint, allowing Izuku a look at the injury. Under Janine's watch, he made quick work of the metal brace with his claws and examined the limb. He wasn't a trained physician, but first-aid was among his skills. He tenderly grabbed a hold of the limb, avoiding putting pressure over the purple, swollen area. The small medkit he carried among the pockets of his coat granted him the bandage that he used to wrap the arm on and improvise an brace for the man, sending him on his way. "Thanks kid." The man was quick to continue his way out, Izuku raising a brow at him, but saying nothing else as he looked over to Janine.

The kunoichi had a look at the other wounded heroes, not touching them and sending the group on their way. Izuku approached her to get new directions, the girl pointing deeper towards the danger zone. However, before they began to hop, she called his attention. "While it was kind of you to treat him, save your supplies for truly wounded civilians. Heroes must be able to look after themselves, not whine and moan at the first sight of conflict and then be useless when they can still work." Her reprimand was stern, Izuku lowering his head.

"I'm sorry." His answer made Kodoku shake her head, the shinobi guiding them to a street full of shops, from where people were pouring out in droves. A few othr heroes were on standby, guiding the populace. The kunoichi quickly looked over the area, sure that the current heroes had the situation under control. A explosion echoed far from the area, but it still spooked the civilians around. Some began to run to evacuate faster, but the heroes on the area managed to settle the comotion down before people got run over in an stampede. A jump had Janine reach a veranda on one of the shops while Izuku [Blink]'ed atop a lamp post. "Don't worry about it, sometimes you must trust others to do the small-scale work. If you try to do everything by yourself, you will end up doing nothing. Not everyone can be All Might." Kodoku explained, directing her attention to where the explosion had happened. She glanced back at Izuku, finding the vampire ready to move on her orders. She let a tiny smile paint her lips for a few seconds before she settled on for a poker face.

[XXX]

[XXX]

Among the streets of Hosu.

Endeavor huffed in displeasure, seeing his flame spear down the abomination that had been flying a few moments ago. The creature had been causing trouble for the pipsqueaks that called themselves heroes, creating chaos and destruction for seemingly no reason other than because it could. Well, it couldn't anymore, as the Flame Hero would not allow it.

"Do you see the versatility you can deploy when you master your fire, Shoto?" The man's booming voice called the teenager behind him, the dual-color haired teen firmly staring at the whining creature with a flaming projectile stuck in its head. Endeavor's youngest nodded, his face stoic as he let some fire build over his hand in a test to see if he could form the same fixed shape his father had deployed. The sidekicks of the Flame Hero began their work before the man needed to say a word, working on controling the fires breaking out and civilian rescue; the man himself busy examining his son.

The winged creature whined and moaned, gathering the last of its strength to try to follow the orders of its master. It tried to lunge for the closest target available, a pair of teenagers escaping on the street. The teens yelled in surprise at the creature's appearance, but the Nomu's mission would never be done. Having a fire spear stuck inside one of your eye sockets was bad both for cognitive abilities and depth perception. Not that this particular Nomu had much in the thinking department, but Endeavor's fire-clad fist pounding a devastating blow on the other side of the creature's face would certainly knock the sense out of anyone that wasn't All Might.

"Hellfire Flash-Fist!"

Shoto felt a bit bitter over the display of power. He had been trained by this man since the earliest years of his life, yet he could barely follow the speed at which Endeavor shot at the Nomu and cracked one mighty blow that definitively put the monster down for the count. The youngest Todoroki had went on a journey over his own feelings at the span of the previous weeks, having time to think over his life so far after his defeat at the hands of 1-A's personal vampire. He was still on the fence about using his fire power, but now the heavy disgust that normally followed the use of the flames was gone, replaced with the simple warmth of his own ability. It was simply power, his convictions and actions would mark what his power would be defined as.

"Did you see that, Shoto? You can accelerate your own speed almost instanteneously with the Flash-Fist." Todoroki Enji, or Endeavor as he preferred to be called during work hours, explained once more to his child. Seeing Shoto's stoic, but focused gaze upon his frame made the Flame Hero square his shoulders and puff his chest, even if the villain he faced was a small fry. All was worth when training Shoto, specially seeing as his child had finally come around with the use of his fire powers. The man might have to pay a visit and thank the green-haired hemomancer of UA, seeing as the kid had managed to make Shoto see something that not even the Second Ranker of Japan had accomplished. For now, his child's training took priority.

Among the sidekicks of the hero, one looked over the scene and laughed a bit to herself, her green locks of flaming hair dancing in amusement. Who would have ever thought that Burnin' would live to see the day that Endeavor began to act like a proud peacock, showing his prettiest feathers to gain the trust of his own child. Seeing the Todoroki kid also stoically stare at the display, not offering a single compliment but also staring at the show with laser-like focus was amusing on its own right. It had been the most fun she had on the job in foverer! Maybe the night won't end in a somber mood, Burnin' let the idea swim in her head.

[XXX]

[XXX]

Back with Izuku and Janine (Alucard and Kodoku)

Izuku's senses allowed him to aid many people away from dangerous areas and to safety. The vampire avoided using his [Advanced Hemomancy], as the scared population wouldn't react exactly well if tendrils of blood suddenly began to grab them away; Janine was more vocal on her efforts, also aiding other heroes on the rescue and evacuation. It seemed like the situation on Hosu was getting more and more troublesome as the explosions began to become a more frequent happenstance and the vampire could hear a lot of things happening all at once. He wouldn't be getting overwhelmed, but it was certain to say that there was a lot of noise that he had to filter out in order to save people.

Janine guided him to their next spot, this time their aim would be aiding the efforts to stop a fire that had broken out. There were some heroes at the scene, Izuku managing to see one man dressed in blue tones using the street's fire hidrant to extinguish the flames. His kunoichi partner jumped away to aid guiding civilians away while Izuku looked around to try and make himself useful. A few parts of the lit building threatened to break and fall on the people, so Izuku stood close to the fires. He let shadow matter spill from his own shadow, the multitude of tendrils ready to either catch or destroy any debree tht might hurt people.

Another thing added to his mental list was learning about the physical structure of buildings, since if he knew more about it he might be able to reinforce the structure instead of having to watch and wait for falling hazards. A few heroes glanced his away, somewhat weary of the tendrils of dark matter and the vampire controling them. His eyes also did nothing to disuade the intimidating factor he could have on people, so it was understandable that some of the heroes on duty were on edge around him. Thankfully, intervention on his part was unnecessary as the fires were soon put out by the pro nearby, whom the hemomancer soon recognized to be Manual, the Water Manipulator Hero.

He was a solid and trust-worthy hero that made the news once in a while due to his actions with Selkie. He had recently branched to form his own agency and was doing well for himself. His [Hydrokineses] quirk made him quite appreciated among the harbor cities (where he also worked as a Sea Watcher and Rescuer), charity events and among the fire-fighters. He was also the hero who Iida was supposed to be interning with.

The vampire scanned the area carefully, strangely not spotting his classmate among the sidekicks of the blue hero. He approached the hero once he was sure the fire situation was fully under control, waving to catch the attention of the man.

"Hello there, Manual-san." The hero turned to meet the vampire's gaze, widening his orbs as he laid eyes upon the recent news of Japan, the famely named Midoriya Izuku, aka UA's Blood-drinking vampire. Meeting UA's first-year student while on rescue duty certainly wasn't on the man's plans for the evening.

"How surprising to meet you here, Midoriya-san. I wish I could sit to talk with you, but the situation currently does not allow common courtesy." Even as he spoke with Izuku, the pro was still directing his team, pointing fingers at directions and shouting orders.

Izuku nodded, recalling his dark matter and allowing it to sink back into his own shadow. "Indeed, sir. I remember talking with a classmate of mine about our internships, and he mentioned that he would be interning with you. I can't seem to find him." Izuku went straight to the point, as beating around the bush wasn't his style. The situation also called for urgency, wasting time could lead to severe loss of lives among this chaos of flames.

Manual seemed troubled with the question from Izuku, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "That makes two of us, kid! I have not seen Iida-kun for a while and I'm quite worried about him, but I can't abandon post to go looking of him right now. Who is the superior in charge of you while on field?" Manual hurriedly looked around, Izuku managing to whistle rather loudly even among the cachophony of noises. Not a few seconds passed when Kodoku arrived, a serious look carved on her fair face.

"That would be me, Manual. Any problems with Alucard ?" Janine asked. The hero shook his head, seemingly relieved when the kunoichi showed him an identification with a picture of her, her credentials and hero name.

"Far from it! Considering the situation, he is a life-saver right now. I know I'm overstepping my boundaries, but could I commandeer Midoriya-kun and you to look for one of my internship juniors?" The man's hurried tone told Izuku that he was nervous about the situation. Too nervous. A strange feeling began to build on the vampire's stomach, the teen turning his head to silently plead for the kunoichi's permission.

Janine looked far from pleased with the situation, but the vampire's eyes expressed a genuine worry that the girl could not deny. She released a displeased huff, nodding to Manual and making the man release a sigh. However, she would not let the situation simply fly by without a warning. "The situation right now is extremely tense, so I shall allow Alucard to assist you. Yet, make no mistake Manual, I shall be reporting this situation to my superior. You can't simply tell me you lost a student that is interning with you while in the middle of a crisis situation. There have been reports of Stain being sighted around the area, and he has making Hosu into his current playground for quite a while, with no one being able to stop him so far. Allowing a student to get lost is far from exemplar heroic behavior." Kodoku stared at the man's eyes as she spoke out against his behavior.

Manual grimaced, aware of his failure. He should've kept a better eye on the kid, and now he could not fault the heroine for her harsh words.

"Alucard, you have my expressed permition to run a search-and-rescue op with the target being your classmate. Do not spare any efforts to find him. Do it quickly and do it safely. You have been accepted as a shinobi by Edgeshot, do not forget the responsability that the title grants you." Janine blessed Izuku, allowing the vampire his green card. The ground cracked under his feet as he [Blink]'ed to an alley and quickly went out of sight. "I hope that your kid is alright, Manual. Tonight is not going to be an easy night." Her words made the man nod in frustration, shamed that he had to resort to calling for help from a student due to his incompetence.

Iida-kun, please do not due anything foolish!

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[XXX]

Making effective use of his legs and the somewhat narrow alleys, Izuku began covering quite a lot of ground in his search for Iida. He also kept his ears open for any other civilians that might be stuck indoors or in need to help, but it seemed that the only sounds he was picking on were the sounds of fires sprouting out and fighting, explosiong echoed far. The vampire appeared atop an AC unit, keeping his momentum high as he jumped from the machine to a nearby wall, bouncing from that to a fire exit and climbing it to reach a rooftop. He stopped for a few seconds, closing his eyes to focus his hearing and try to capture any sound that might help him.

Faster! Faster! Expand your senses, filter the white noise! It is the same as a hunt, the target is Iida-kun! He chanted in his mind, the rushing wind on his ears ignored as he rushed from alley to rooftop, from streets to buildings. Where the hell are you, Iida! Izuku continued his hunt, the strange feeling in his stomach only worsening with each second the vampire hadn't spotted the white armor of his classmate. The vampire prayed to God, hoping that the spetacled teen had not done such a foolish thing and tried to track down or face Stain. Izuku wasn't one to really speak, but he had his regeneration to bail him out of the worst case scenario. Iida did not. Izuku had to make sure he found the teen before something happened or it was too late.

[Tasty morsels have been filleted!] [I taste blood in the air] [Delicious life-force is being shed. Master, let's get to it!]

[Hunter Insticts] were triggered by the sweet smell of blood, and now that his attention was called to it, Izuku could also detect it. Like a trail that led to the tastiest food imaginable, Izuku now had picked on the scent of freshly drawn blood. Like he was a shark, the vampire snapped his head towards the direction he could smell the blood, having zero hesitation to follow the trail. He was running on a few alleys, but seeing the opportunity to cover more ground had Izuku [Blink] to the rooftops once more, for the high ground advantage. However, his steps almost faultered when a second sweet scent was added to the mix, going from an invitation for a light snack to a ticket for an all-you-can-eat-buffet. That meant that two people were bleeding.

He pushed himself to the extreme to reach even a sound faster at the source of the blood, the rooftops ofering Izuku a perfect vision of the occurence. There was a man dressed in body armor, countless straps hang from his armoured vest and a sheath was being carried on his back. Said man had black hair and a scarf was draped around his neck, red in colour almost like the life-liquid. The smell of death was thick around this man, a mix of decayed blood and metal that both scared and stimulated the vampire and the [Inner Beast] to the point where the teen wasn't sure if his thoughts currently were his owns or just pure instict running over his mind. All that he knew was that his world slowed to a crawl as he saw the jagged sword of death currently sank into the flesh of his classmate.

The world slowed ever further as Izuku saw Stain slowly draw one of the many knives he carried on himself and approach the blade, surely intent on targeting Iida's currently exposed neck.

He was going to kill Iida.

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...

At the edge of his vision the vampire could also see another pro hero with a knife sticking out of his chest, his heartbeats slowing down.

A man had been stabbed and would bleed out or die due to a collapsed lung.

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...Huh?

Izuku wondered when had he even been so calm and rational in his line of thought.

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...

He wasn't sure why everything was so crystal-clear in his eyes, but the world suddenly sped up, akin to a tape that had suddenly been put on the max settings forward.

"ROOOOOOOOOAHHHHHHHHHHHRHRHHRHHHHHHRHHR!" So much so for the stealth approach, his mind joked as he [blink]'ed to rush Stain. His hand dove inside his coat, palming the handle of the kodachi blade that he had been gifted by Edgeshot. Drawing the blade from its sheath made no noise, but he already had that front covered with his roar. It served the purpose of distracting Stain, even if only for a second. That was all the time the vampire needed. A thin layer of blood flowed from his right hand, covering the blade; more life fluid accumulated on his left arm, hardening to become his Blood Gauntlet. His sheer speed combined with his natural strength would have sheared Stain's sword-wielding arm cleanly off had Izuku's blade connected with the villain's flesh. As things stood, the Hero Killer had managed to react in time to the vampire, raising his nicked blade to block the kodachi while his other hand lashed out along with the previously drawn knife, the weapon bouncing off the hardened blood that covered Izuku's left arm.

The momentum carried the blade-locked duo away from the victims, Izuku allowing green lightning to spark on his right hand and cover his blade. Stain managed to bouce his blade off before he was affected by the electricity, moving further back to avoid the slash the vampire did. Having managed to separate the villain from the victims, Izuku kept his eyes trailed on the man, his shadows emerging to move the bleeding Iida further to the back to avoid having the teen on the way. Trying to carry both Iida and the injuried pro away from the villain would be impossible, as the vampire would expose his back to a free shot. Scenarios began playing out on the hemomancer's mind, none good should he follow with such simple plan.

Stain's eyes were ablaze with fury, his purge of the unworthy interrupted by someone. The man set his eyes on the coat-wearing teenager, finding the emerald locks of hair to be a dead giveaway to the identity of the teen. His lips curled into a disgusting perversion of a smile, his long tongue sliping out of his mouth for a few moments to lick the blood that clung to his katana. Sure that neither of his purge targets could move, the vilain finally spoke.

"We meet again, kid."

Izuku aswered the man with silence, unwilling to fall whatever word game the villain might have planned. The vampire knew the man's quirk intimately, said power being one of the first he had decoded from drinking fresh blood.

Iida's shouting fell on deaf ears as Izuku fully focused on the menacing villain in front of him. The vampire, however, did speak this.

"Shut up Iida, and get quietly rescued. After I save you, I'll beat some sense into your head." His message passed along, Izuku tightened his hold over his kodachi. He could hear some crying from his classmate, but he had to keep his focus elsewhere. Strangely enough, Iida did stop talking after his command.

"Separating me from the wounded, recuing the hurt ones and analyzing the opponent instead of rushing head first into an unknown combat scenario. This is what I am talking about! This is it! Finally a true hero has shown up instead of these filthy fakers and gloryhounds. Shall I test you once more? You seem to have become an even finer hero than what I expected from our first encounter, Midoriya Izuku!" Stain continuously declared and ranted, his deranged smile never leaving his lips as he readied his weapons.

Izuku readied himself. He would have to stall for time and figure out an way to rescue Iida and the wounded hero without falling against the clearly more experienced and far lethal Hero Kiler Stain. He could not fail, else it meant the death of a friend and an innocent at the hands of this sociopath. He held his blade horizontaly, using his left-clad gauntlet as an impromptu shield.

"Carve a path to protect the innocent." Izuku chanted to himself, feelings of dread and fear trying to worm their way in his head. He cooled the blood flowing in his head and let his emotions be locked inside the cage of the [Inner Beast]. Cold rationale shaved away any trace of emotion from his face, the teen staring at Stain and remembering that there was also the danger of the League of Villains (and possibly Shiragaki to contend with). Anger bubbled forth, but was quenched under layers and layers of focus and precision. "Tear evil from its place of comfort and expose it to justice." Blood flowed to his face, covering both his neck and lower face into crimson fluid that hardened to become a mask featuring a draconian maw. The vampire would protect these two with the blade he had been granted by Edgeshot, as the hero trusted in him enough to have him come along when he could have simply ordered him to stay put and behave. The shinobi trusted the vampire. And so, the vampire would trust into and become a shinobi himself. "Be the deadliest blade, Nightedge!"

The chanting done, Izuku readied himself. He was aware that his fight could not be prolonged, else the hero - whom the vampire managed to recognize as Native, a C-tier hero - and Iida ran the risk of being injuried again, this time possibly in a fatal manner. Thus, Izuku had to take control over the situation. His instincts and reflexes were about the same as Stain (considering the villain's reaction time to his attack), but the Hero Killer had one great advantage over the vampire. Field experience. It was almost like Izuku was facing not only against the man, but also fighting an invisible clock that would spell doom for the two injuried people. He firmly grasped his kodachi and grounded his stance, waiting for the villain.

Stain was aware that the time for talking had been long past. He would not be able to speak or convey his message to the teen, as a true hero had arrived on the field. Yet, something nagged at the villain's mind. He was sure that Izuku was going to be a true hero, the vampire's eyes shone with determination to become one. However, his presence and aura felt completely different from All Might's illustrious presense; whereas the blonde hero seemed to represend undying hope and salvation, Izuku's aura exulted a calm reassurance. Differently from All Might, whose mere presence would pacify all, Izuku seemed to be a premeasured backer, someone that never shone unless necessary. A safety net on the dark that would do its work without the need to be seen. The Hero Killer narrowed his eyes. He would test the mettle of this kind once more, as something was amiss here.

Five seconds. That was the time that Stain needed to cross the distance and bring down his sword atop the vampire, the arc of the blade aiming to bite down on the teen's shoulder. Izuku's eyes widened at the attack, his armed hand moving to parry the blade, as trying to block it would definitively be a bad idea. Sparks flew and a screeching noise echoed as metal met metal, the katana and the kodachi bouncing off from each other; Stain stabbed with his knife, aiming for the jugular of the teen. His weapon was caught by the sharp claws that made the gauntlet cladding Izuku's left hand, the villain being forced to release the weapon, or else his hand would be crushed together with the metal. He backed off with a leap, avoiding the shadow matter that burst into spikes on the ground. Stain used the alley walls, jumping between them not unlike the vampire had previously done, but instead of pressing his advantage, he skipped past Izuku, holding his katana with his two hands and aiming for Tenya.

Tendrils of blood wrapped around his waist with a crushing grip, Izuku's gauntlet being the source of the crimson tentacle. He whip-lashed with it, throwing Stain against the wall with such force it cracked the mortar and bricks, raising a cloud of dust as the weakened parts of the wall fell off.

"Good! Good! You haven't forgotten yourself in the heat of battle and skimmed on the victims' defence." The raspy voice of the villain cut the air, together with two thrown knives. Izuku smacked the projectiles away with his tendril of blood, but was unable to predict Stain's next move as the man rushed from his previous place seemingly unaffected by the impact. His jagged blade was swung in a savage arc, surprising the hemomancer when the metal managed to slice into his tendril and separate a chunk of it away from his direct control. Izuku immediately activated [Explosive Blood] on the cut tendril, the blood dangerously bubbling and exploding behind the man. Stain was unprepaired for it, stumbling directly on Izuku's path as the hemomancer slashed with his blade.

Showing his experience, the Hero Killer managed to put his katana on the path of Izuku's weapon. His longer reach made the vampire worried. Izuku could control his blood to avoid having Stain having access to it, but if his focus was broken his blood would become common life-fluid, readily available for the villain. The vampire might have a high tolerance for pain, but having one's flesh shredded by such an ominous blade would surely make him lose focus. Thus, he had to get rid of that blade; seeing as Stain would not kindly let go of the weapon, the hemomancer would have to deploy other means.

The blood that had been coating Nightedge began to heat up. The vampire's blade had reached Stain's jagged one and once more they were blade-locked. That was fine, Izuku could use this. His gauntlet-clad left swipped where the villain's head was supposed to be, a flexible roll of the man's neck allowing him to dodge the claw-hand. The blood coating the kodachi heated further, beginning to sizzle and bubble. The vampire backed two steps and lunged, making the villain parry him to the side, opening the vampire to left hook that pushed him back. Izuku tried to stand his ground, but a boot to his chest sent him to the ground on a heap. Before the villain could pursue, shadow spikes burst from the ground and forced stain to stay back.

The vampire's armor took the brunt of the blow, his shadows helping him quickly recover his footing and get back into the fray of things.

Izuku tried coming with some plan, but nothing so far had bore fruits. None of his ultimate moves would work here, Stain being too careful and too strong for Izuku to rely on the raw savagery of [Rage] or the long-prep work of [Shadow Abyss]. The villain still had his katana and an unknown number of hidden blades, looked hale enough to find twenty Izukus and had enough blood-thirst that he was prepared to finish Iida and Native no matter what happened. A villain he was for sure, but damn did Stain have conviction. Native's breathing was becoming labored, meaning Izuku's timer was getting shorter and shorter. He had do act.

God-shattering Star also took too much preparation.

He should've called for backup before rushing in to stop Stain. It would have taken ten seconds at most, sending a message to Janine (Kodou) or Edgeshot. Yet, his mind looped to the sight of Iida under the villain's blade. Had he acted right? Was he too impulsive? It did not matter, he was past the point of "what ifs". Either he did save these two or he failed. There was no margin for error, he just needed to do it.

The bubbling blood that coated Nightedge reached a critical point, a misty red steam begining to be emitted from the blade as his blood began boiling due to the heat. Izuku crackled lightning on it, finally igniting the fluid and taking a refined stance. It resembled the stance Edgeshot would sometimes display to the media, a straight pose with one hand making a tiger seal while the hand holding his weapon was loose and relaxed. Stain was sure that the vampire was pulling some special move and readied himself once more. The villain rushed the teen, throwing a few more projectiles to serve as distractions, his jagged blade ready to rend flesh as Stain's right arm flexed his muscles, preparing to deliver one devastating blow upon the teen.

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Ninpou Hissatsu: Shutsugen Kira (Shinobi Arts Ultimate Move: Aparition Killer)

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Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

*crack*

Stain's jagged blade cracked under the strength and sheer heat of Izuku's blade, the weapon carving a line on the villain's body armor and searing shut the cut it had afflicted upon the Hero Killer. The broken part of the blade was flung into the air, spinning as the world seemed to slow down for both men. Izuku's left eye was facing another knife, a hunting model that resembled more a butcher's blade than one meant for hunting. The teen had managed to cut Stain, but it seemed that the villain's willpower was unending, as he could see in slow motion the man swing the rest of the katana down, the sword-turned-dagger perfect for cutting at neck height. A double cut coming from both above and bellow. Izuku's hiss of pain as the hunting knife hit his face and lodged on his left eye-socket echoed inside the alley, his neck protected by the hardened blood mask that covered both his neck and lower face. Another kick from Stain punted Izuku back the alley and close to his rescue targets, the teen's body dragging along the ground as he tried to take the weapon stuck on his face off.

Stain did not walk scotch-free either, as the villain felt his arms become heavy and his vision began to tunnel. Sweat quickly began to build on his forehead, the villain wondering what was the cause of this sudden bout of weakness. Shadow tendrils emerged from under Izuku's body and tried to attack the villain, Stain's movements beginning to slow down and become somewhat sluggish. He still dodged every attack, but he could feel his body shutting down for some reason. He glanced back at Izuku, finding the vampire holsting the two scum on his back. His body ached, the villain finding his arms peppered with a multitude of tiny bleeding wounds, almost as if he had been hit with buckshot from a shotgun shell. The diagonal cut on his torso also flared in pain, the burnt flesh complaining about every breath the Hero Killer took

Rage painted his vision red, the villain ready to pursuit the teen and lodge a knife down those fakers' throats. However, his body suddenly locked in place, almost like...Almost like his [Blood-curdling] quirk. A rage filled the villain with murderous intent. The vampire had done something to him. Stain would purge the filth, even when a good hero got in his way. The seeds of the future would be preserved, while the unworthy would be slaughtered. Someone had to do it, someone had to take the plunge. Unless he did that, society would still allow the fakers to grow like the parasitic leeches they were, being glory-hounds that would rather pose for a jornal or media post than busy themselves with saving lives.

Stain would purge! He would kill!

For a brigther future! For better heroes! For All Might!

Izuku did not turn back to face the villain. He secured the two men over his back, feeling his face wet with the fluid that began to run from his crushed eye-socket. The blade was still stuck on his face, but the vampire couldn't afford to let the damage stop him. He [blink]'ed to higher ground and began to make his escape, sure to trigger [Coagulation] at its maximun power upon the Hero Killer. He fled the scene at to speed, rushing to meet with Janine and other heroes to warn them of the Hero Killer. A shadow tendril fished his thankfully intact phone from inside his coat, the vampire's single good eye commanding the dark matter to call Kodoku and Edgeshot. Before either could pick up the call, [Hunter Insticts] triggered an alarm and Izuku dodged to the right, crushing some ventilation system with the combined weight of his body, Manual's, and Iida. He glanced at his previous location, a trio of knives stuck on the tubbing of another ventilation shaft.

His dark tendril brought his phone into vision, the device damaged beyond functionality due to the thrown knife that run through it. His tendril pulled the knife off and stuffed both items inside his coat, Izuku already rushing away to continue his escape plan. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Izuku felt Stain's killing intent flare up, the man no doubt free from the effects of [Coagulation]. More impressively was the man's resilience, as Izuku's new [Poisonous Blood] ran its course inside his veins, supposedly sapping away stamina from the monster.

The vampire eased some tendrils of his blood to examine both Iida and Manual, the dexterous tentacles plugging their wounds and serving as a makeshift platelet net. It carved away at Izuku's mind, the [Thirst] being teased with such proximity to fresh blood, yet being stopped from drinking the rivers of life being presented so graciously to it. It was this maddening desire, or run the risk of letting Manual bleed out. The vampire wasn't sure of the extend of Tenya's wounds, but he opted to do the emergency care anyway.

His ears picked on the sound of hurried steps, Stain's visage being that of a ravenous demon on the hunt for the souls of the dammed. With only one good eye and already using so much blood outside his body to secure the two wounded on his back, Izuku's current options were shortened into "run like the wind". [Shadow Control]'s power weakened the further he spawned it from his own shadow, so trying long distance attacks right now was a no-go. He grit his teeth and pushed his body harder, feeling his heartbeat pound extremely hard on his ears, the heartbeats of the two men on his back rather distracting.

[Blink] after [Blink], step after step, Izuku pushed himself to avoid drinking from the men and flee the villain hot on his heels. The vampire roared, finally hearing the sounds of fellow heroes. One last mighty push of his legs would have him on their range and reach and this battle would finally end. Even Stain wasn't crazy enough to face a plaza full of heroes. His boots were just leaving the ground when something was launched his way. His boots left the rooftop he was currently running on, his head turning to meet the villain and see what he might do, panic attacking the vampire as he saw Stain bend his legs to follow throught with a leap.

Right in midair, the vampire used all his might to launch his rescued victims to two different sides, both with having blood tendrils around their waists. Stain throw his broken katana at Iida and another blade at Manual, the precision of the throws something Izuku would be jealous if he wasn't currently between a life-or-death battle. Pulling the men close to himself, Izuku grasped their backs with his hands and only pushed the two after the dangerous weapons had missed their targets. Throwing Native to a group of heroes and Iida to another, Izuku recalled the tendrils of blood to his arms and equipped his gauntlets. Stain's jump had him on direct colision with Izuku, the vampire raising his guard and letting green lightning crackle to life on his arms. He tried to punch the villain midair, but the Hero Killer's reflexes were honed. He tilted his head to dodge the blow, a rising knee knocking the teen's head backwards, lodging the blade stuck in Izuku's face further into bone and finally earning a true shout of pain from the vampire.

Taking advantage of the teen's stunned pain, the villain grabbed the lapels of his coat and began to drive his booted foot into Izuku's torso, the third kick allowing the spikes on Stain's boot to pierce the teen's armor. The sight could be called morbidly comic as Stain literally rode on Izuku, the stuck boot moving Izuku to become a surfboard that the villain used to protect himself from their fall. The asphalt cracked under the two, the cloud of dust that rose up only high-lighting the frame of the villain atop the student.

A paralyzing panic spread among the present heroes as Stain's body sagged, his rapidly depleting strength being no bother as the killing intent that flowed from him stopped everyone on their tracks. The villain scoured the plaza, finding other heroes to be pouring in as they chased a flying and burnt creature. A Noumu, one of the disgusting creations that that brat Shigaraki had on his call. The man-child disgusted Stain, a mere spoiled brat that had no purpose behind his "cause", if one could call mindless destruction a cause. The Noumu's mere presence reminded Stain that the villain needed to be terminated too. No flawed people could exist in the perfect society. He would stain himself in their filthy blood; heroes needed to be bastions of hope. He, Stain, was no hero. All Might was the hero! He was always there!

A heat called his attention, the bright flames that adourned Endeavor's face calling his attention. Purge! Kill! These people stained the title of hero! He was here to purge their filthy existance! Those cameras that filmed him should spread the message that the unworthy were to be purged!

His killing intent spread all over the plaza like a mist. Neither poison, nor blade would make him hesitate!

The Nomu began flying his way, no doubt to either kill him or bring him to Shigaraki, to settle some sort of score the man-child thought he had with Stain. The villain welcomed it! He would purge him too. He began to reach for another knife, but something grasped his leg, his boot still stuck inside something.

Shadow matter wrapped around his leg like tentacles of an eldritch creature, the dust that settled over Izuku's face and the knife stuck in his eye-socket merely increasing the eerily sight that was his gleaming red eye, like a crimson moon swimming in a pool of inky darkness. Izuku grabbed the foot together with his shadow tendril, his hand sparking green wisps of lightning.

As the Noumu flew close to the Hero Killer and touched villain, A voice echoed as the plaza was lit with arcs of emerald plasma.

"Settle down."

[XXX]

[XXX]

Otonashi Kyomi was your average reporter. He was always on the hunt for the newest scoop of info, the next big thing that could net Tokyo-Times the attention and himself a higher position among the seats of the company. The grind was hard, and sometimes he felt hair-pulling frustration when someone else from the group would score an epic interview or shocking news. Yet, today Kyomi was feeling that this night would be the very night that one of his papers would be published front page.

Reporters were naturally curious and sometimes had a nasty tendendy to get themselves in situations that many would call dangerous/life-threatening. It was one of the risks of the profession and a good reporter would always follow his gut and risk something to get information to his press. Kyomi was no different in this aspect, but even among his colleagues some would call him reckless.

He had reached his position due said recklessness, as he had managed to interview Endeavor twice in the span of six months. An accomplishment rather grand as the Flame Hero normally would not bother with the reporters and would just finish his work, leaving the "vultures" to fight among themselves over interviewing a captain or lieutenant of the police, left with the intent of vaguely answering questions.

Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi was famous for the tactic, only giving out the answers he wanted to give.

Tonight Otonashi had gained a leak in intel, suggesting that many high profile heroes were aiming to patrol Hosu, as the city district had recently being plagued by the infamous Hero Killer Stain. The man's phylosophy had been gaining traction among some online posts and recently a page had been uploaded to the internet. A website that informed anyone about the reasons of the villain, as well as the detailings about his view on heroes. The man was a lunatic, but one with a strangely solid moral code that he abided by.

The reporter's expectations went to the roof when he took his three-man crew and arrived early on Hosu, hero patrols increasing in number since the earliest hours of the day. He interviewed some of the more common heroes of the area and asked the usual questions, as well as pressing the matter of when would be villain be captured. The interviewes were lackluster and bland, but would net him some views for sure as mini-vlogs on the jornal's site. The big scoop would come later in the day, as information about a possible visit of Endeavor to the ward was "leaked"; this would be the third interview that Kyomi would have with the Second Ranker of Japan, a record that his colleagues would be furiously jealous off.

Otonashi had his crew pay attention at all times to all corners of the district, the reporter himself calling all his contacts to try and see who else would be coming to the ward tonight.

By the evening, the big spoils came. Edgeshot was heading over, as police comms busily reported sightings of a strange man carrying a multitude of blades on his person. How did Tokyo-Times had access to government/public lines for the police? A question for another day, fine viewer!

As radio comms blared about the sudden attacks on the ward by four strange creatures, Otonashi and his crew dressed into their press/media vests and began their hunt for serious. The recordings about the fires and the rescue work deployed by the heroes was worth the weigth of the equipment in gold, Otonashi only voicing over a few clips to aovid breaking the immersion of the real-life situations that the crew was recording. They even managed to find Endeavor and his Fire Watcher's group, following them from a safe distance so as to be able to record their film without getting in the way of the heroes' work. Kyomi was called reckless because he poked around the fires for the scoops, but in reality he was much safer than most of his colleagues. It was how he managed to get his reviewes with Endeavor; by being insistent, but not becoming a pain in the hero's ass.

His recording of Endeavor's famous [Flashfire Fist] martial arts - developed by the hero himself to extract the maximum power out of fire quirks and traditional martial arts - would be a great success alone, but things had to get even more interesting.

A tremor happened not too far from the Flame Hero and his group, radio comms becoming a mess as many individuals shouted over each other as a new development happened on Hosu's Central Plaza, just two kilometers away from the Central Hospital. It seemed that the Hero Killer had shown himself. Kyomi and his crew were just behind Endeavor, lenses ready to capture the epic fight inbound to happen.

Reality could not be farther from the truth.

As the villain stood atop a body, his killing intent began radiating from him. For the heroes it was like the Grim Reaper's scythe was touching their necks, ready to render them mere headless bodies on the streets. Kyomi and his crew were just short of pissing themselves when another new development happened. A Nomu began flying torwards the villain, surely with the intent of saving him from the countless heroes that were around the plaza. Had they merely moved a bit, they would realize that Stain was apparently on his last legs, yet none could find the courage to face the villain and bring him down for good. His escape was all, but guaranteed.

"Settle down."

A hand grabbed the villain's leg, and suddenly the world was lit in a dizzing glow of emerald tones, both the villains becoming mere black silhoettes under the might of the lightining crackling down upon them. It was less than ten seconds, the burnt and smoking frame of the Hero Killer managing two steps away from his previous position before the villain fell on his knees and stayed still. The Noumu had was his rescue was also on the ground, the creature's frame twitching as a few arcs of green electricity still sparked around it. A third body slowly raised itself from the ground.

Dusty coat and battered frame, the body slowly made its way to the Noumu sprawled on the asphalt. The creature whined and whimpered, its exposed brain and empty gaze being a somewhat gruesome sight to see. The person grabbed the Noumu by its shoulders and raised it to eye level, staring into the eyes of the villain, seemingly searching for something. Whatever it was that the person was searching for, it seemed to not be there. As camera lenses better focused on the sight, Otonashi recognized the dark green hair and slightly producting fangs; Japan's most recent hot-topic among Hero High Schools, the so called Monster of UA, Midoriya Izuku. The reporter didn't have time to ask his crew if the recording film was live or not, being too busy transfixed by the sight: Izuku had a hold of the villain and had seemingly knocked out both the Noumu and the Hero Killer.

The vampire's face was expressionless. He released his left hand's hold over the creature and grasped at something that seemed to be stuck on his face, the angle not allowing the cameras to see what it was. The teen's expression tightened into one of displeasure, a snarl leaving his throat as he pulled on whatever item had glued itself to him. As he gave one last growl, Izuku pulled the item stuck on his face, Otonashi's stomach dropping and revolving around his insides in disgust and terror. A clear fluid squirted at the same time Izuku pulled the item off his face, discarting it as if it was trash. The metal clanging sound attracted gazes and the camera panned on it for a few seconds, hurriedly glancing back again when the object was shown to be a knife. It was a mistake to go back, seeing as blood also spurted from the significant wound.

Such wound would normally spell end of career for any normal hero.

Midoriya Izuku was not a normal hero.

Recommended OST: [Vampyr OST - The Thirst]

His pained expression persisted for a few more moments. Izuku glanced between the knife and his captured villain, who was not struggling or resisting.

It mattered not, apparently, as Izuku opened his mouth, his fangs gleaming with a sheen of saliva as he sank them on the Noumu's neck.

The creature released the barest of whines upon the bite, but began to struggle as Izuku continued to bite down on its neck, growling sounds echoing inside the vampire's throat, along with the sounds of his throat moving and liquid life being drunk.

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Eighty beats (one gulp)

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Seventy-two beats (two gulps)

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Sixty-nine beats (three gulps)

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Fifty-four beats (four gulps)

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Fourty-three beats (five gulps)

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Twenty-five beats (six gulps)

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Zero heart beats per minute (seven gulps)

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Izuku cast aside the Noumu's body, releasing a satisfied sigh as his face returned to its previous state, his red pupils and black sclera staring directly at the camera.