47 The Power Of Vengeance

~{Uwabami Internship}~

Momo sat on a chair a good space away from the film set for a commercial featuring the Snake Hero, Uwabami. She had a depressing look of disappointment on her face, having expected to learn some valuable information from the hero about things such as combat or appearance.

Well... She did learn about keeping an appearance, but not the kind she had in mind. After all, Momo didn't think she would take part in matters such as commercials or shows that Uwabami seemed to specialize in, and now, she was regretting coming to the pro's agency.

Kendo was sitting right beside Momo, undoing the twirls of her hair done for the commercial they both starred in earlier. She noticed her friend looking down with a pout on her face, still thinking about the commercial featuring her that would be released in about a month, thinking about how foolish she believed she appeared in it.

"Um, you alright, Yaoyorozu?" Kendo asked her.

"To a degree..." Momo sighed.

Kendo smiled, "What? Are you that worried about being seen in that commercial? You looked great in it!"

Momo buried her head in her hands and groaned. "I know I tried way too hard to present myself... you can clearly tell. And I feel foolish because I thought I would benefit by learning something from it..."

"Heh, yeah. I really feel like I'm not learning much here... At least we learned how to curl up our hair in a cute way." Kendo awkwardly chuckled.

"I've never felt more foolish in my entire life..." Momo grumbled from her hands.

"Oh yeah, she's feeling really bad." Kendo sighed.

Suddenly, both Kendo and Momo felt their phones vibrate, snapping them out of their self-loathing.

Momo pulled out her phone, and her eyes perked up as she formed a bubbly smile. "Izuku?"

"Huh, you too?" Kendo glanced at her own phone before she heard Momo say that, then turning her head to her.

"Eh?" Momo turned to Kendo with her smile falling into confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I got a message from him too." Kendo confirmed to her as she tapped the notification.

Only her eyebrows raised when she saw the message.

"Hosu City? That's it?"

Momo stared down at her own phone, seeing that she got sent the exact same thing.

"Hosu... Isn't that where...?" Her eyes widened, but her pupils shrunk, knowing fully well who had been terrorizing the city.

She frantically started texting as her heart rate increased, sending Izuku several messages in a span of a minute.

While she did that, Kendo searched up any news about Hosu, immediately finding several reports of Nomu's terrorizing the city.

Kendo's phone trembled hands as she felt an uneasiness creep up on her, eyes glued to her phone screen.

"Oh, no..."

Momo picked up on her tone and turned to her friend, looking frantically worried.

"What is it!?"

Kendo just showed her a live feed of what was going on.

Momo's eyes had fear in them as she watched the Nomus lash out at everything in Hosu, knocking down heroes and causing several explosions around the city.

"W-We have to go!" Momo shot up to her feet.

"Hold it, Yaoyorozu!" Kendo got up and grabbed her by the wrist, keeping her there.

Momo turned to her, "B-But Izuku is-!"

"I know, you're worried. And I am too, but... We're two hours away from Hosu by train! And we'll be in huge trouble if we suddenly leave! Besides, Midoriya can protect himself! Isn't he one of the best in your class?"

Momo still didn't calm down, "B-But, then why did he send just his location without any context!?"

"He probably just needs some help! And isn't Iida interning in Hosu? I'm sure he'll help Midoriya!" Kendo reassured her.

The creating hero took a deep breath before sitting back down, still looking rather tense about the situation. "I-I know Izuku can fight well, and if Iida helps him, then I know they'll be fine. But... I'm more worried... about what he'll do to himself..."

Kendo instantly realized what she meant, recalling Izuku's festival battle against Enso. The fury on his face, his trembling arms, and the purple color with blood leaking from them."

"That's... But you guys made him promise not to hurt himself, right?" Kendo tried to reassure her.

Being reminded that they did, Momo felt herself calm down, even if only a little.

"Yes... we did. But even then, right now, I just have a... bad feeling."

Kendo hugged her friend.

"It'll be fine. Midoriya always makes it through anything... He'll be alright, I can guarantee it."

Momo rested her head on Kendo's shoulder.

"I sure hope so..."

_____________________________

~{Meanwhile}~

Mina held her phone right in front of her. She was on her bed in a room provided to her by her agency, but she had her back to the wall with the lights turned off, her phone being the only thing illuminating the room.

She stared at her phone screen as her eyelids slightly fell, just staring at the message sent by Izuku. She had finished the day doing some hero work and had gone into her room. But this is when she discovered this message from the boy without any explanation.

After five minutes of texting several messages and a dozen more minutes waiting, she never got any responses.

She let her phone fall on the bed and hugged her legs, burying her head in them. She knew what was happening in Hosu, she knew who was there, and Midori wasn't responding to her messages. These were all bad just bad signs.

"Midori... Please be alright..."

____________________________________________

~{Hosu City}~

"ONRYŌ'S FURY!" "ONRYŌ'S FURY!"

Both Izuku and Ikari's eyes flared up red while their black auras intensely blazed up.

Stain's eyes seemed to flare up in his own blood-red color, giving the look of someone who's about had enough.

"WOULD YOU STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!?!" Despite the new sight, he immediately bolted forward with a growl, firmly holding his long sword in his right while his small dagger in his left.

There were no bright colors of One For All around Izuku, just the darkness that was Ikari. The boy started by aiming his palms forward and fired several orbs of dark energy in Stain's path.

Stain jumped to the side, to the wall, and back to the ground, as the new projectiles whisked passed him through the air. He then sped side to side along the floor to get closer to Izuku while avoiding these spheres of hatred.

He managed to get close and jumped over one last sphere, then swinging his blade down while in the air, "IF YOU'RE NEVER GONNA STAY DOWN, THEN DIE!"

"NGAH!" Izuku's voice shrieked as he raised his right arm. The aura around it changed shape, suddenly forming some sort of blade that clashed with Stain's own.

Stain's eyes widened at this newfound ability before feeling himself nailed in the stomach by something.

"HMMGH!! But how!?" His eyes looked down to see that a black arm had formed from the aura of Izuku's stomach, shooting up and nailing the villain in a strong uppercut.

Stain's was sent flying backwards as the black arm retracted back, to which Izuku let out another yell before slamming both of his fists into the ground.

There was a moment of rumbling before tall, jagged black spikes erupted violently from the concrete, spreading in a path towards the Hero Killer.

Stain landed just in time to leap out of the way of the jagged deathtrap and landed on the fire escape, gazing down in shock as the tall pillars of black spikes then retracted back into the ground and back to Izuku.

"What the hell is his quirk!?!"

Izuku aimed his right arm at the Hero Killer and sent a barrage of black flames upward, but missed due to the villain's sharp reflexes having him jump from his spot.

"He's..."

Stain landed on the ground in a roll before getting up with a jump to avoid a giant, stretched black fist smashing the ground.

"He's actually-!?!"

The Hero Killer dropped his small dagger and gripped his sword with both hands, using it to parry several black spikes shot at him, but still ended up taking one in the shoulder.

Stain panted as he backed up, feeling blood trickle where he was hit but staring at the murderous gaze of Izuku across from him.

"He's actually trying to kill me!?!"

He felt all the intention from Izuku. He saw the look in his eyes, felt the force of his demeanor, and it's clear that his attacks were precise in trying to do extreme damage.

"Was this his true intention from the start!? To kill me!? No... He isn't like those fakes, I felt it. But... then why...?"

Stain jumped onto the wall and avoided a path of jagged black crystallization sent at him, the ice-like look resembling someone's quirk, but suddenly evaporating into nothing.

"He's mimicking the quirk of Endeavor's son!?"

Stain ran forward to Izuku, only for the boy to stick out his arm and send out a giant, aura-black arm once again. It stretched forward at the villain with its palm opening in an attempt to grab him.

The villains' eyes widened at the large hand, but he flung two daggers forward right at it.

Both daggers pierced right into the palm, causing the large arm to wince and disintegrate, with its aura retracting back into Izuku.

Stain stopped for a second as he saw this, noticing Izuku in pain and his actual hand bleeding by the palm.

"It's... It's connected to him." The Hero Killer realized as he started running forward again.

Izuku grit his teeth as he pointed his other forward, send out a large beam of black energy straight ahead.

Stain was forced to jump high into the air to avoid such a blast, hearing it explode behind him but not bothering to look back.

"He doesn't even care what he's destroying... This kid's lost it."

He landed on the wall and jumped to the side, avoiding yet another large, black fist stretching up and punching the spot he jumped off.

Stain threw his last pocketed dagger as he landed, piercing the side of the large black arm.

"NNGH!!" Izuku cried in pain as the arm retracted back, then showing his real arm to be bleeding.

Todoroki's body shivered on the floor as he saw blood drip down from Izuku, noticing that he mysteriously started bleeding even when he wasn't close to Stain.

"He's receiving the same injuries his quirk takes! It's not like Tokoyami's Dark Shadow that can take attacks without much of an effect!"

He then noticed Izuku breathing hard in obvious pain. But this pain didn't appear to be from his cuts. It appeared to be from his head, indicated by how he was now clutching it with both hands. Izuku looked to be trying to focus on Stain, but was clearly unable to stay composed as he let out more shouts of agony.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!" His screams echoed in the alleyway as he hunched over and got blood from his hands into his hair.

"He... He's not able to control it completely! It's overwhelming him!"

Sure enough, even when looking back up and trying to send out flames and other projectiles, Izuku was stumbling back and closing his eyes with a groan.

This gave Stain a small opening as he made a beeline right at him, ducking under another laser blasted before leaping forward and swinging his blade horizontally right at Izuku's neck.

"MIDORIYA!" Iida shouted.

Izuku's eyes snapped open at the warning, then quickly raising a hand with some of Ikari's black aura hardening around it.

This allowed him to catch the blade right in his palm.

"He grabbed it!?" Stain felt Izuku firmly hold his sword as the boy used his other arm to reach out and grab the villain by his neck, hoisting him up.

Izuku then twisted his hand, snapping the blade in two.

Stain felt overwhelmed as he struggled to pull out of the boy's grip, feeling Izuku's hand tighten around his neck. But saw plenty of blood on the arm Izuku was holding him with, so his tongue slithered from his mouth in an attempt to lick it.

Only...

"Die."

Instead, Stain felt something pierce him underneath, making him completely freeze.

His eyes slowly looked down and saw that a black spike came from the aura around Izuku's stomach, which had impaled him.

"Wh-What... the hell?" He already felt his breathing choking up.

Izuku then cocked his right arm back, his eyes blazing in black and red as swung it right into Stain's chest. The moment his fist connected, a black explosion actually occurred that sent the murderer flying back with smoke trailing off him. More black smoke kicked up and obscured the area, hiding Stain as Izuku now backed up, breathing harder than ever.

It only took a few moments for the smoke to clear away, revealing Stain on one knee while gripping the part of his stomach where he had been impaled.

"He... He actually-!"

Stain saw Ikari appear like a ghost behind Izuku, forming his body with his red eyes and jagged... smile opening.

"No... It wasn't the kid... It was... that 'thing.'"

He narrowed his eyes at Ikari's figure, watching as the being opened his claw-like hands to show his sharp finers. Izuku was just below him, panting hard as he didn't even seem to acknowledge what he just did.

Iida and Todoroki both stared in horror, knowing fully well that this was too much for their friend to do.

"Midoriya! Call off your quirk!" Iida shouted.

"Don't let it control you!" Todoorki added, trying to force himself to move.

Stain dropped the remains of his broken blade, then picking up one of his smaller daggers from the ground while his other hand still held the bloody hole in his body.

Although Iida and Todoroki were frightened for their friend, they couldn't help but feel a mixture of impressed but scared that the Hero Killer just kept refusing to go down.

"He won't back down, even if it... kills... him..." Iida knew with his pupils shaking, knowing that his death was possible because of their friend.

Stain tightly gripped his dagger, looking a deep breath. And with one last yell, Stain put everything he had in him and ran forward, ignoring the pain in his left side.

Ikari let out a murderous screech as more arms formed on the being himself. Then more arms formed on those arms, splitting until there were about thirty hands with their palms opening. Then each hand sent black spikes straight at the incoming villain.

Stain moved left to right in a blur while lashing out with his small dagger, somehow actually avoiding or parrying many of the spikes shot at him. However, there was still a good amount that pierced or grazed different parts of his body before fading away, Yet he just kept making his way closer to Izuku as his breathing hardened, the red veins in his eyes popped out clearer.

Ikari's several arms then combined together to form two large ones, holding them both over his head.

"DIE!!"

He slammed them right onto the ground. The concrete that had been cracked from his previous attacks now shattered from the ground by the force of the attack. The debris was all sent hurtling forward in heaps right at the oncoming target.

Stain ducked and jumped from piece to piece of rubble, ignoring the bleeding of his body as he then disappeared into the dust clouds created by such an attack.

Throughout all of this, Izuku was clutching his heart with one hand and holding his head with the other, gasping for air. He couldn't think straight as all these feelings of pain and resentment clouded his mind.

"E-Enough..." He cried weakly, falling to his knees and now clutching his head with both hands. His hair was catching blood from his hand, Izuku felt his body turn cold and empty, and the boy's skin was now abnormally pale.

Using a decent amount of Ikari's energy and losing his own blood in the process? It was no wonder he was started to feel dizzy. For a moment, Ikari's large figure seemed to disperse, his energy simply surrounding Izuku weakly.

But Stain's eyes flashed red through the clouds of dust before he came out of them, his dagger reaching towards Izuku's head in one final attempt to end this fight.

Feeling the murderous intent seemed to trigger Izuku. The boy rose his head with his eyes filled to the brim in black and red, clear hatred in them.

His black aura flared up one last time and several tendrils shot out from him. They stretched up in blinding speeds and wrapped around different parts of Stain's body, resulting in him being immobile.

"Nggh!" Stain's dagger ended up being only an inch from Izuku's face, the villain just short and now at the mercy of the hero.

In Stain's eyes, he saw Izuku's body replaced as a black silhouette like his quirk, only seeing his bloodlust flaring up as he gazed into the eyes of fury. The next moment, he was slammed into the wall by the tendrils, causing him to let go of his dagger while coughing up blood.

Izuku walked over in an almost zombie-like manner to Stain, his breathing echoing in the alleyway.

Both of his hands tightly gripped into fists as he got close, then raising them as he clenched his teeth together.

Stain took a right hook swing right on his face from Izuku, getting nailed right in the bone area of his nonexistent nose.

"YOU KILLED THEM ALL!"

Izuku then struck Stain's face with another punch, making some blood fly from his mouth.

"ALL THOSE HEROES!"

He repeatedly struck him mercilessly, screaming from the top of his lungs as Ikari formed behind him with his jagged, red open smile there in satisfaction.

"THEY DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!! THEY STILL SAVED PEOPLE! THEY STILL HAD PEOPLE WHO ADMIRED THEM!!"

"Midoriya! STOP!" Todoroki shouted, feeling his body twitch.

"His quirk is wearing off!"

"That's enough!" Iida shouted as well, already starting to force himself off the ground.

Ikari's eyes narrowed, and Izuku pulled his arm back, stopping for a moment. His dark partner then wrapped himself around it and solidified into a jagged blade.

"NO!" Iida's engines blasted him forward, the boy managing to ram himself into his friend before he could finish his opponent off. The attack was sudden and with enough force to cause Ikari to untangle Stain while retreating back to his host.

Despite being released, Stain's body just fell to the floor, his eyes completely white with his face bloodied. His body was limp, his tongue was sticking out, and it was clear that he was no longer conscious.

Izuku fell to the floor with Iida on top of him, "Midoriya! Snap out of-!"

"GET OFF!" Ikari's voice roared from Izuku. His black aura started violently vibrating before suddenly giving off a shockwave that propelled Iida backwards.

The engine hero fell on his back with a grunt but quickly sat up to see Izuku forming black blades around both arms.

"M-Midoriya! It's me!!" Iida shouted desperately to him, seeing the pained expression of anger on his friend as he started walking towards him.

Seeing Iida's expression of fear, Izuku stopped, his expression changing from rage to confusion.

"I-Iida?" The black blades around Izuku's arms faded away, he instinctively stepped back, and his eyes were filling to the brim in horror as he then stared down into his bloodied hands.

"H-Huh?" His voice cracked.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki had gotten up and ran beside Iida, both of them staring ahead at their friend while also trying to keep an eye on Stain in case he moved.

"Wh-What was I-?" Izuku whimpered as his hands trembled. The black aura around him weakened and one of his eyes turned back to green.

"I-I... I-I was-? Wh-What?" Izuku felt tears forming in the corners of both eyes, then quickly trailing down his face.

"Get him... KILL HIM!!" Ikari appeared behind Izuku once more.

The being leaned forward and gripping the boy's shoulders, the being's aura intensifying and making Izuku wince as his pupils shrunk.

"I-Ikari?" Izuku slowly, and cautiously glanced back at his quirk.

"NO! THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Iida shouted, pointing at Stain's body. "He's already unconscious! There's no need to do anymore!"

"SHUT UP! YOU WANTED TO KILL HIM TOO, DIDN'T YOU!?!" Ikari boomed, even creating a small shockwave that sent rocks and trash scattering around.

Iida flinched as he felt intimidated by the quirk, but he then lowered his head and tightly gripped his hands.

"I-I did... I wanted to finish him off myself. B-But... Look what it did to me..."

He raised head back up with a glare, "It nearly got me killed! It put my friends in danger! It turned me into someone I shouldn't be, someone who actually thought that he would be a good hero despite doing the exact opposite of what one would do!"

Ikari narrowed his eyes at Iida and let out growl, but Izuku shook his arms off him and turned to face him.

"N-No more!! No more, Ikari! P-Please!" He pleaded, his other eye turning back to green and his scleras turned back to white too. More tears than ever fell as he raised his arms up in a halting stance, not wanting any more pain for anyone.

With his host's emotions clearly being changed out of anger, Ikari's fury quickly faded. His intense black body lost tension, his claw-like fingers turned into the shape of normal human ones, and the red glowing of his eyes dimmed down.

It took a few more moments, but soon, Ikari's shape changed back into the black silhouette of Izuku's upper body.

"Huh? I-I..." Even his voice changed from a violent demon, to a squeaking boy that was Izuku himself.

"It's over! I-It's over..." Izuku whimpered, slowly lowering his trembling arms. "I-It's over..."

Ikari stared down at his hands, thinking about what it was he was just doing. He then slowly looked up at Iida and Todoroki, who were both cautiously staring at him, almost as if ready to fire at any moment.

"..."

His eyes fell.

"Sorry..."

His body then slowly faded away, the remains of him visibly moving to Izuku before disappearing, leaving no sign of himself behind.

All that was left behind was a moody atmosphere among the group. Izuku's breathing was the loudest thing in the area as he turned back to his friends while shaking, almost looking unsure if it was over despite saying so.

"H-He's... He's okay... right?" Izuku asked, almost too scared to even utter the words.

Todoroki cautiously crouched down to Stain and felt his pulse.

"He's alive. Unconscious, but alive. We have to treat these wounds, though." He said, looking at the injuries Stain received when Ikari pierced him several times, especially when he stabbed him in his side. "I can at least stop some of these from bleeding any more." He said, pulling a few medical items off from his belt.

Izuku still didn't look any better. Instead, he looked even more panicked as he stared into his hands, "I-I almost..."

"It's alright, Midoriya! It wasn't your fault!" Iida marched over to his friend and put his hands on his shoulders, making him look him in the eyes. "We're still alive because of you! You saved us!" he said, trying to keep him calm.

"B-But..." Izuku uttered, his head glancing over to Stain's condition.

The villain's face was bloodied up due to Izuku repeatedly bashing him, red and purple bruises were on both his arms and upper chest area after taking so many attacks from the heroes in training, and he had a large batch of blood just left of his stomach. In addition to this were the small patches of blood around him from when some of Ikari's spikes managed to nail them, leaving some holes behind.

"I… I tried to kill him..."

"I wouldn't say it was 'you' specifically." Todoroki said, searching Stain for weapons before starting to treat his large wound to a degree. "Plus, a part of you was still in there, if you weren't, then your quirk might've tried to kill him a lot sooner..."

"I-I tried to kill him... To kill him! I-I can't- I shouldn't have- I mean-!"

"Midoriya!" Iida grabbed Izuku's head this time, forcing him to look at his stern expression. "It's alright, it's over... W-We did it. For now..." Iida sighed and let go, looking down in exhaustion but also uncertainty. "Let's just wait for the pros... Don't act like you're the bad guy here. If anything,

Izuku looked down with guilt still written all over his face, staring down at his gloves covered in blood.

"B-But… didn't Ikari and I come to an understanding?" He thought to himself.

He balled his hands tightly.

"No, it isn't that we didn't... It's just that in the end, the previous holders still have influence over him... Their anger, their desire for vengeance..."

Izuku felt his body go limp, and he fell with his back to the wall, his legs shaking after the whole experience he had.

"Midoriya!? Are you alright!?" Iida asked, crouching down to him in concern.

"I-I'm fine, Iida... I-I just think... I'm gonna be sick." Izuku muttered, burying his face in his legs. "I-I feel so cold..."

Iida stared sympathetically to him as he noticed how pale his friend was too.

"You stated that your quirk's energy was like blood... You used up a good amount, but then your own blood was lost too..."

"Y-Yeah..." Izuku muffled from his legs. "I-I think everything's catching up to me... I can't move. I can't feel anything..."

"We'll help you, just... rest for now." Iida said with a weak smile.

"Iida, try to use some of the bandages I've got to at least stop Izuku's arms from bleeding any more." Todoroki called as he continued fixing up Stain... to a degree.

"Alright..." Iida walked over to his friend and took a small role of bandages, then getting back to Izuku and wrapping them around his arm.

There was a moment of silence between the two, where Iida stared down at Izuku while he thought of something, then finding himself asking something.

"Midoirya... Did you mean to bring him out?"

Izuku weakly nodded. "Yeah... B-But... not like this..."

"I... See..."

"Stain should be good for now..." Todoroki said as he stood up and closed the cap for a capsule. "But we need something to tie him up."

"I - Ow... got some rope." Someone called to them.

The trio glanced at the pro hero, Native, slowly rising off the ground, just barely feeling the effects of Stain's quirk wear off.

"May we please use it?" Todoroki asked as he hurried over to help the hero up.

Native just chuckled as Todoroki supported him with his shoulder. "Why do you think I brought it up? To climb out of here?"

The students couldn't help but smile just a bit from his sarcasm.

____________________________

~{Meanwhile}~

"Why hasn't he texted back...?"

Toru was lying on top of a bed in some cute pink pajamas, her head imprinted on her pillow while her see-through hands held her phone.

"I sent him five texts..."

She turned her body and curled up a bit, knowing that something was clearly wrong. Izuku usually answered back rather quickly, and yes, they did talk sometimes over texts. Other times it took a bit, but he'd get back and say he was doing something. But this was the longest he hadn't answered, he hadn't texted back ever since he sent that message with just his location.

She knew waiting wouldn't help with anything, so she went to the next person to text.

Her best friend.

Toru: Hey Mina, you up?

It wasn't even half a minute before she responded.

Mina: Toru! So you're awake!

Mina: Did you get that message from Midori!?

Mina: Why is he in Hosu!? Why did he only send his location!?!

Mina: I sent him over a dozen texts but he hasn't responded! Did something happen!?

"Oh boy..." Toru sweatdropped, knowing fully well how much the pink hero must be freaking out.

She didn't even get a chance to answer any of the questions because her phone suddenly started to ring.

She sighed before answering, "Hey Mina-"

"TORU! Did you get that message from Midori!? Why is he in Hosu!? I texted him but he hasn't said anything back yet!"

"Mina! Calm down! You literally just asked me those things!" Toru rose her voice, getting her friend quiet for a moment.

Now hearing some silence, Toru took a deep breath as she thought about what to say.

"So...Yeah, I did get that message from him too. I even sent him a few back, but he hasn't responded..."

"Th-Then do you think something bad happened to him!?"

"I don't know Mina, I really don't... I looked at the news in Hosu but didn't see him anywhere there, so at least we know he isn't fighting those... 'things.'"

"But... then why did he send that message?" Mina asked worryingly.

"I... I'm not sure. But I know we're both too late to head over there now. So... we can only hope that everyone else went to help him."

They remained in an eerie silence, thinking about just what kind of terrible events must be going on with the boy.

"Hey... Toru?"

"Yeah, Mina?"

"Do you..."

There was a pause.

"...like Midori?"

Toru flinched and moved her head away from the phone, taking a deep breath to answer how she rehearsed.

She made sure she didn't stutter, "No, Mina! We've talked about this already. I think he's cute, and he's super fun to tease, but nothing beyond that. Plus, you and literally EVERY other girl in our class likes him, I'm not crazy enough to join that, hehe. I mean, how does that even happen!?!" She laughed in a fake, cheerful voice.

There was a moment of silence on Mina's side before Toru heard an awkward laugh.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I really just thought that... I mean, everyone else does, so you know...?"

"Heh! I get it, Mina, but don't worry! I'm even helping you get together with him! And as for Midori himself, I'm sure he's fine! He's one of the strongest guys in our class. He wouldn't just..."

There was a moment of dreadful silence between them, with Toru knowing she shouldn't have said that last part.

"Th-The point is, he can get through anything! So whatever he's facing right now, I know he'll beat it! I'm sure we'll hear from him by tomorrow, so don't worry, Mina!"

He heard a light chuckle from her friend, "I... I hope you're right, Toru... Thanks for talking to me."

"Anytime bestie." The invisible girl chuckled back.

They talked for a few more minutes, said goodbye, and then hung up for the night.

Once doing so, Toru sighed and dropped her phone.

"See Toru... It isn't that hard..."

She slowly brought her arms to hug her legs.

"Not hard at all..."

She buried her head in them.

"Lying... Isn't... hard..."

_______________________________________________

~{Back to Hosu}~

"You can't move?" Todoroki asked Izuku, who still sitting with his back against the wall.

"I can't..." Izuku mumbled, feeling his body not listening to him. "It might because of my exhaustion or losing too much... blood? Energy? I think both... Or it could be another side effect of using Ikari... I don't know since I was knocked out after the other times he came out."

Native walked over to him and crouched down, then lifting Izuku and giving him a piggyback ride.

"Should... you really be carrying me?" Izuku asked in a low tone, his tired eyes still showing some concern for the hero that been injured on the ground for some time.

"I'm okay, at least let me do this for you." Native smiled.

"Thank you... very much…" Izuku said weakly.

"That should be my line. You save my life." Native chuckled. He turned to Iida and Todoroki, "You all did."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Todoroki muttered.

Iida finished tying Stain with the rope Native provided, he and Todoroki then pulling the villain towards the street.

As they pulled him through the alleyway, the group couldn't help but notice all the destruction that had occurred because of their battle, or more because of Ikari. There was char on the floor and walls, cracks and broken concrete all over the ground, and trails of blood scattered around the area.

Izuku looked down, shadowing his eyes.

"I... I'm sorry..."

Iida turned to him, "No, don't apologize. I'm the one that got us into this mess..."

"And even though I'm a pro, I was just in the way..." Native added in some shame.

"No, I don't think you could've done anything one-on-one with the Hero Killer's quirk, he's too strong for one person to take on alone..." Izuku mumbled.

The boy then turned his head to the engine-quirk lad. "Iida, I wanna ask you now... Do you know exactly what you want to be?"

Iida stopped walking and formed a sad smile, making the others stop to face him.

"Yes... A hero. One that everyone can look up to... One that can lead others responsibly..."

He weakly bowed down, still feeling his cuts sting.

"Thank you, Midoirya... And you too, Todoroki. You both came to fix what I've caused, you helped me see what I should be..."

Native chuckled, "Sounds like all of you are really close... What are your hero names?"

Iida didn't look so sure about saying it, but Todoroki patted him on the shoulder encouragingly.

He looked down, "In... Ingenium."

Native gave him a kind smile, "So your brother's name-" He stopped himself and shook his head. "No... Your name."

Iida raised his head as he heard that, forming a genuinely happy smile.

"What about you two?" Native asked curiously.

"Thermo." Todoroki answered blankly.

"So he really went with Enso's suggestion?" Iida chuckled.

As for Izuku, he weakly mumbled, "D-Deku...", feeling awkward telling a random pro his name for the first time.

Native seemed surprised to hear this as they finally ended up in the middle of the street, but then that surprise turned into a chuckle.

"I'm gonna guess it's supposed to be ironic."

That made Izuku smile.

"Wha-!? Why are you here!?!"

"Eh?" Izuku turned his head and saw a familiar yellow hero, making his eyes widen.

"Gran Torin- ACK!!"

The elder's foot was suddenly on his face.

"I thought I told you to stay seated on the train!?" He fumed angrily.

Todoroki tilted his head at the newcomer, "Who's that?"

Gran Torino jumped off Izuku, leaving behind a red imprint of a foot on the boy's face.

"O-Ow... He's the hero that I'm interning with. His name is Gran Torino." Izuku told Todoroki, even ignoring that the elder had just kicked his face.

Native looked down at Gran Torino with a grin, "You've got quite the student with you."

Gran Torino scoffed with his hands on his hips, "Yeah, he's crazy."

Izuku sweatdropped.

"Anyway... Why are you here? Weren't you fighting the Nomus?" He asked him.

"I was told to come here all of a sudden after taking one of those things out. I don't really know what's going on here, but I'm glad you're okay." Gran Torino said with a stern look.

"S-Sorry Gran Torino…" Izuku said in some shame.

"What the hell happened to ya anyway? And why are ya getting carried like a spoiled toddler?" The veteran hero asked, taking note of the boy being carried with all the blood on him.

"Well, we fought... 'him.'"

Gran Torino raised an eyebrow.

"Who-?"

"It's over here!" Someone else yelled.

"Huh?" Everyone turned their heads and saw a small group of heroes running towards the group.

The heroes were surprised to see three students there.

"Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but… children?" One hero asked.

"Those injuries look serious!" Another said, noticing the blood on the group dripping from their backs. Or in Izuku's case, all over his body, whether his or Stain's. "Let's call an ambulance!"

A blonde, female hero looked down and saw the villain himself tied up on the ground with his head down. "I-Isn't that...the Hero Killer!?"

Gran Torino's eyes shot to the villain on the ground, then back to Izuku as he jumped up and comedically karate chopped him on the head.

"Ow! B-Bu-!?"

"You went off to fight the Hero Killer!? Are you crazy!? Actually, wait, don't answer that, I already did moments ago..." Gran Torino shouted, then sighed.

He turned to the group of heroes that arrived. "One of you bring the police."

"Y-Yes!"

Gran Torino glanced down at Stain, glaring at him as he thought about All Might's successor fighting him.

"Crazy kids..."

He then saw the villain's finger twitch.

"Huh? Did he-?"

"Izuku!!"

Izuku heard a familiar voice, and his eyes widened.

"Hold on, was that-!?"

He turned his head to the right to see out of everyone, a familiar friend in a suit was panting as he stood in place, his yellow aura fading away when his eyes locked on Izuku's.

The group, mostly the U.A students and Gran Torino, were all surprised to see him.

"HUH!? Enso!? What are you doing here!?" Izuku shouted to him in the distance.

Enso slightly calmed down as he started running normally over, seeing that his student was alright.

"Okay... He hasn't come yet, it wasn't him. He's fine-"

He then caught sight of something else suddenly diving down from above, something heading right at Izuku.

"I let my relief hinder me!" Enso thought as his eyes widened.

"Get down!!"

"Wha-?"

Izuku didn't finish as he felt something sink into his back, making his pupils shrink.

"Huh!?"

His fear only grew when he felt his body get pulled from Native and was hoisted up into the air. The corners of his eyes glanced back to see that yellow, talon-like toes had grabbed him and sunk around his waist. And these talons belonged to a pale yellow Nomu with dragon-like wings.

Its wings were already flapping fiercely, creating large gusts of wind as it raised itself and Izuku up into the sky.

"MIDORIYA!" Iida shouted in terror as he looked up.

Many of the group covered their faces due to the intense winds pushing down at them, but they peeked out and saw that Izuku was being carried off.

On a rooftop, watching far away using binoculars, Shigaraki stood with a crazed smile on his face.

"Good Nomu... Bring him to me."

Gran Torino looked shocked as he bent his knees, ready to blast forward. "Oh no! If he gets too high, then I won't be able to reach him with my qui-!"

"Snipe Style!"

Gran Torino turned right and saw a yellow blur already running up the walls of one of the buildings.

Enso took deep breaths as he ran up along the wall in a diagonal path, heading towards the very corner of the building as his yellow aura intensified.

"Snipe Style-!" He said as he reached near the top, eyeing his target in the sky.

"-Piercing Shot!"

With a powerful glow coursing in his feet, Enso basically exploded off the side of the building from his jump, leaving a crater behind and shattering windows as he blazed up into the air towards his friend.

His yellow aura then changed to an intense black, his eyes changing to a bloody red as his black dagger formed into his right hand.

"Reaper Of Worlds Style-!"

He held his dagger close in a slashing ready position, sailing closer to the flying Nomu.

"Utter E-!"

He never finished, as from the corner of his eye, he saw a faint glowing red source.

His gaze went to the left, seeing a large figure standing atop one of the buildings.

One with a bony hand aimed at him.

"Dark Pulse."

A beam of black and purple circles was fired in an instant, Enso's eyes widening in pure shock before he was struck by the attack and exploded in purple.

"ENSO!?!" Izuku shouted, seeing a trail of smoke fly from the explosion and crash all the way down into one of the buildings.

He turned his head to face where the attack came from.

But the moment he did... His pupils shrunk, his mouth opened, and he felt whatever blood he had left just freeze. He had never encountered the figure he saw, he had never seen him at all, and yet... The moment Izuku saw his mask, the completely red filled eyeholes, the glowing red jagged smile, and his corpse-like skin, he knew. Izuku just knew. Everything he was training for, everything he was learning, everything he's been fighting, it was all leading him to face the very threat he saw right ahead.

But... he had never expected to see him so soon.

"No... No way... This isn't right."

The whole world just seemed to slow down as Izuku's green eyes of fear looked into the empty void that was red eyes, watching as the large figure stared right at him with his palm steaming from his attack on Enso.

"This can't be him... Right, Enso?" Izuku found himself whimpering in his mind.

"I-It's too soon... H-He's already...? That isn't..."

Even some water formed in the corners of his eyes, whether it was from keeping them open in the intense blowing or if it due to the sheer despair he felt.

"L-Lynch?"

Down below, Todoroki and the others had gasped when they saw Enso get blasted out of nowhere, wondering what the hell just happened.

And someone used this as a chance, indicated by the sound of slicing.

One of the heroes felt chills in her spine as she felt a long tongue lick something off her face.

"What the-!?"

The flying Nomu suddenly felt its entire body get paralyzed.

"Kraoao!?" It shrieked, its wings being forced to stop flapping and resulting in his elevation starting to lower rather quickly.

Even when falling, Izuku's eyes were just glued to the sight of the monster on the building, watching as he and the Nomu fell low enough to where he could no longer see Lynch.

"W-We have to run-!"

Izuku then heard someone rushing quickly with a stressful voice, turning his head to see Stain running right at him.

"This society overgrown with fake heroes-!!"

The villain leaped into the air, getting close to the two.

"-and the criminals who wave their power idly-!!"

His eyes flashed red as he tightly held a small knife right over the Nomu.

"-WILL BE PURGED!!" He screamed, plunging his blade right into the Nomu's brain.

The impact of the Hero Killer landing on them resulted in them being forcefully pushed down even faster, but the villain grabbed the back of Izuku's shirt and pulled him up as they all crashed to the ground, allowing the Nomu's body to absorb the fall damage.

Dust kicked up and obscured the area, the crowd of heroes staring with mixed expressions of fear and confusion.

"Th-The Hero Killer just...?" Iida thought in awe, processing Stain having saved Izuku.

When the clouds cleared up, Stain was panting hard on top of the Nomu, firmly gripping his blade as some blood dripped from his own mouth. He let go of Izuku and the boy plopped onto the ground, completely unable to move his body. He didn't know if it was still due to the after-effects of using Ikari or if he was so scared that he couldn't move.

He was only able to turn his head, glancing up at Stain, almost as if planning to warn him, to warn anyone about what he had seen. Only...

He found himself unable to speak, just choking on his breath as his eyes witnessed Stain's mask falling off.

"This is all..."

Stain pulled out his blade hard from the Nomu's brain, causing blood to gush up.

"TO CREATE A MORE JUST SOCIETY!"

Stain then slowly stood back up, his breathing hardening as drool dripped from his mouth and blood from his blade.

"Hey... Hey...! HEY!" Shigaraki shouted as his hands shook with the binoculars in hand. "What the hell!? Why did that brat come here!? Why did the Hero Killer kill that Nomu!? Why did it have to die!? And what was that black blast!?"

He turned his binoculars in the direction where the beam that had stuck Enso came from, only to see nothing on the rooftop.

"What's going on!?!" Shigaraki growled.

The pro heroes and students watched in a scared silence at the Hero Killer ahead. Several questions went through their minds, like how did he get out of his ropes? Why did he save Izuku? Why was he already awake? They all got into fighting positions while gulping nervously, knowing that Izuku was in trouble and that it may be inevitable to fight.

"Why the hell are you all standing around!?" Someone shouted.

Their attention was then placed on Endeavor running on the scene with a frown.

"The villain should've..."

His voice trailed off as he caught sight of Stain, making his eyes narrow.

"Don't tell me...?"

Hearing him, Stain turned his head back with a murderous glare.

"Endeavor." He hissed in a fury.

Endeavor grinned, flames forming on his arm. "Hero Kill-!"

"Don't Endeavor! He has a hostage!" Native shouted to the number two hero.

Endeavor stopped when he indeed saw Izuku on the floor beside the villain, only... he looked absolutely horrified.

Stain's entire face was shown at the group, giving a clear view of his lack of a nose with his bloodthirsty red eyes showing how furious he was.

"You fake!" His voice echoed, seeming to cause the world to shake.

The heroes all suddenly felt frozen, with Iida and Todororoki realizing that they were feeling pressure coming from Stain that wasn't anything like before. Even though the hatred wasn't directed at them, even though Stain's murderous aura was focused on Endeavor, they all felt the full extent of it.

"I have to fix it..." Stain stepped forward as he firmly held his blade.

"There must be blood... There must be someone to die!" He dragged himself while heavily panting, whether it was due to the booming anger he felt or the feeling of exhaustion catching up to him.

"I must take back what it means..."

His entire silhouette seemed to turn black in a red world, his red eyes piercing through everyone.

"-to be a hero!"

His voice sounded like thunder in the sky, just booming with sheer power.

"Come and try to get me... YOU FAKES!!"

Even Endeavor cautiously backed up as he felt the pressure of the villain getting to him.

"THE ONLY ONE I'LL LET KILL ME IS THE TRUE HERO-!!"

His red pupils shook as he took one long, final breath.

"ALL MIIIIIIIIGHT!!!"

His aura seemed to burst around the entire world, turning everything into black and red as the heroes trembled in place. Everyone remained in either stunned or scared silence, with some of the pros even falling down on their bottoms while shaking.

Stain was in terrible condition, he had a large area of blood from his wounds, his face was bloodied and arms bruised, yet he was still standing up. He was still willing to fight for what he believed despite all the odds placed against him, despite how injured he was and all the heroes right in front of him.

It was clear his conviction was the most terrifying part about him.

And everyone was so engrossed in this conviction, that they didn't notice a portal emerge from above.

"Well, aren't you something?"

"!?!" Izuku practically snapped his head by how fast he looked up, seeing a shadow coming from above.

Something crashed right behind him and Stain, the impact sending up chips of the ground while also kicking up strong gusts of wind. Everyone's eyes widened in shock again by a new arrival, one that looked simply like a large silhouette due to the shading the moonlight provided, but with his face illuminating red.

Stain's eyes flashed as he immediately turned around and swung his dagger with all his strength, actually stabbing the figure's arm with his knife sinking all the way to the handle.

"So, you actually have some fight left in you?"

Stain then felt a punch going right into his chest, some cracking echoing as he basically barfed up more blood.

"UURFF!" Stain only caught a glimpse of the figure that struck him, the monster revealing himself more in the moonlight.

All he picked up on was the sight of a trauma mask.

"I like you, but I don't NEED you."

Lynch's bony fist pushed on and sent Stain flying to the side, the beat-up villain crashing into a building and continuously smashing through several walls.

"He punched the Hero Killer!?!" Endeavor thought in shock, understanding that this new arrival wasn't with the wanted criminal.

Iida and Todoroki stared at the large figure as they saw his full body revealed in the light now, their pupils shrinking and mouths opening up as they saw something terrifying. His body wasn't like anything you would ever see, even if in a superhuman world full of quirks, this villain's appearance seemed to be something even more. His body was clearly decomposed, you could see some of his bones through holes in his skin. The blade left behind from Stain was still lodged in the villain's arm, and yet, there wasn't any blood at all.

They knew they were in more danger than ever before, yet they couldn't move at all as they saw the empty void of red in the villain's eyes. They felt as if any move they made, anything they tried to do, would result in something disastrous. This villain didn't give off the same overwhelming pressure like Stain gave off, but he still had an overwhelming appearance and crazed gaze that anyone would shiver just to see it, like they were right now.

"Wh-Who is that!?" Iida uttered out.

"Hell if I know." Todorki narrowed his eyes.

"Now then..." Lynch's head cracked as he glanced down at a frightened Izuku, his large body looming over the boy.

"So, you're the one?" He said in more of a statement than a question, not sounding angry nor happy to meet him.

Endeavor's eyes widened as he saw the villain's hand move as if to grab Izuku, making him raise his arm with flames.

But Gran Torino had acted first, already blasting forward right at Lynch, "RUN KID!"

"Snipe Style... Piercing shot!" Another shouted.

Enso came flying out of the building he had crashed into, his suit partially ripped, and blood going down his head from taking the direct blast from before. Yet his eyes flared in yellow as he pointed his fist forward at Lynch, he and Gran Torino's speeds reaching him in a near second.

Lynch raised an arm and a transparent blue dome formed around him, clashing with Enso's and Gran Torino's attacks. A shockwave spread through the area with intense winds coming up, making the other heroes cover their faces and hold their ground.

"Hello, Reapy." Lynch just chuckled through the barrier, his face a few feet from Enso's eyes of anger.

"Don't you dare-!"

"Oh, don't worry."

Izuku suddenly felt himself sinking, making him look down to a sludge-like black portal forming under him.

"Wh-What!?"

"I'll return him when I'm done." If Lynch's mask could use facial muscles, then you'd be able to see the most sadistic of grins on his face.

"E-ENSO! GRAN TORINO!" Izuku shouted in desperation. He tried to do anything to move, trying to force himself to do so, but he just couldn't. He could only watch and whimper as he sank into the portal.

"KID!" Gran Torino blasted around to the other side of the dome closer to Izuku and swung leg, yet it bounced right off the barrier.

"I can't break through!"

"LET HIM GO!"

For the first time ever, Izuku heard Enso scream from the top of his lungs, his mentor pulling his fist back as his aura flared into black.

"Whoops, this might be bad, so..."

Lynch's eyeholes and mouth started intensely glowing.

"UNTIL NEXT TIME, REAPY!!"

The blue barrier then started glowing red, making Enso's eyes widen.

Izuku's head sunk into the portal with a desperate look, tears going down his eyes.

"NO-!" Enso was just starting to swing his fist forward.

But an explosion rang throughout the area, creating a shockwave that caused all the windows in the area to shatter while sending debris flying all over the place.

"ENSO! MIDORIYA!!" Iida and Todoroki had just started running forward before this occurred, which then resulted in them being sent flying back and crashing into the other running heroes.

The area was obscured in dust, smoke rose up, and glass from the surrounding buildings was scattered all over the ground. There was dead silence in the air, the smoke rising slowly but surely clearing up the area.

The one to break this silence was Todoroki, the boy groaning as he sat up from the ground and felt his head.

Iida was right beside him, pushing himself up while the left side of his face partially bled from the blast.

"What... What just happened?" Iida groaned.

"I don't... Where's Midoriya?" Todoroki asked instead of answering.

They two of them looked ahead as the smoke cleared up, only for their eyes to widen upon seeing Enso. He was holding his arm while his back was against the building, standing up despite somewhat shaking.

Gran Torino was sitting up and holding his head in some pain, yet already looking around for Izuku.

Endeavor stepped passed Iida and Todoroki, glaring around at the area that had been turned into a charred crater, the spot where Lynch just was. The pale Nomu had been burnt to a crisp, but the large figure and Izuku were nowhere to be seen.

"Tsk!" He turned to Enso as he got up. "YOU!" He started marching towards him. "Ureshi! I know you have something to do with this! What just happened!?"

Enso stared at the charred area in silence, his eyes losing some color in them to show a blank gaze.

Iida was staring right where Izuku had just been, tears going down his eyes as he realized that his friend was gone.

"Mi...doriya? Where... Wh-What?"

"What was that?" Endeavor growled as he approached Enso, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up to look at him directly in the eyes.

Enso just looked down, shadowing his eyes as his hand tightly gripped hard into a fist.

"I'm sorry, Izuku..."

That was all he could say.

"Kurogiri..."

The portal man flinched when he heard the man child right beside him, catching a new tone that he didn't recognize.

"Y-Yes Tomura!?"

Shigaraki decayed his binoculars into dust. His eyes remaining open as they just stared ahead in the area the heroes were at, even ignoring the sounds of a helicopter flying over them.

"What... the hell just happened?"