68

Chapter 68: Crusader

A/N: And here we all are with another chapter everyone! How you all enjoy; there's a bit of action this time around, after all.

"That wasn't cool man." Kaminari took a bite of his food, shoveling the contents of his spoon into his mouth. He didn't pause to chew, the next words coming from a mouth filled with food. "Really not cool."

"Are you still on that?" Izuku asked, taking his own bite of his food. "That was yesterday. A full day ago. And you're still mentioning it."

Kaminari pointed his spoon at Izuku. "You And Tokage could have at least told us! You could have given us some form of preparation!"

"And ruin all the fun?" Setsuna butted in. "Not in a million years I won't! If I'm going to choose between my fun versus your comfort, know that my fun always comes first."

Setsuna placed her hand under her chin in thought. "Unless you find a way to give me a live dino, that is. I might reconsider then."

"Besides," Izuku added, "that was the point of the exercise in the first place. Thinking on your feet in the situation where you get ambushed. It's something that happens pretty frequently out in the real world, you know."

"Still!" Kaminari countered. "I got the shit scared out of me because you dragged us in there without a warning!"

"Oh my," Shiozaki interrupted. "Such foul language is unbecoming of a hero, is it not? Do you feel no shame, Kaminari?"

"Ah! My apologies Shiozaki!" Kaminari clapped his hands together and bowed his head. "I will try to curb down my language for your sake!"

Mineta chuckled, leaning over to Sero with a smirk and a whisper. "Wow, look at Kaminari! He's getting along quite well with Shiozaki, huh? Quite the ladykiller, ain't he?"

Sero's outburst of laughter came out almost immediately. Kaminari, on the other hand, sent a hard glare over at the duo.

"Oh come on guys!" he whined. Stop that; you're not exactly helping here! Come on, complain with me!"

"Nah, I'm good," Mineta said.

"You're on your own… ladykiller," Sero added with a snicker.

Shiozaki tilted her head at the interaction with the three. "I'm confused. What exactly happened?"

Setsuna slid over and wrapped an arm around the vine-haired girl. "They're debating on whether or not Kaminari is a ladykiller, is all."

Shiozaki looked aghast at the implications. "You mean to say that Kaminari has been accused of killing women?"

Before a response could be given to Shiozaki's inquiry, the doors to the break room slammed open. Through them came a normally sized and uncostumed Highbrow, who instantly placed his attention on the group of gathered interns.

"Hi Highbrow!" Setsuna greeted the sidekick. "How's it going?"

Highbrow grunted, turning his attention away from the group and heading towards the counter. "Fine, I suppose."

Once Highbrow got to the counter, he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Just so you all know, we're meeting in the briefing room in five minutes," he supplied. And then he drank his newly poured coffee, and his cup's contents immediately disappeared in one large swig.

Once he finished and lowered his mug, he let out a satisfied sigh. And then he sent another look at the group. "And newbies!"

Mineta, Shiozaki, Sero and Kaminari all looked at the man in attention.

"Just go ahead and follow Dragonfly and Lizardy," Highbrow said as he filled his cup again. This time, he went for the door with a full cup. "They know where the room is. So as long as you four keep up with them you won't get lost. Capiche?"

"Yes sir!" the four of the newer interns all said at once.

At that, Highbrow left with a nod. "Good. You're learning already. I'll see you all there."

A lull of silence filled the room with the sidekick's departure, the interns suddenly unsure of their next actions. Well, until one of them shot out of her seat.

"Well, you heard the man!" Setsuna suddenly announced. "Meeting in five! Lunch is over! Move move move!"

"Alright. It seems as if we're all here," Edgeshot said, looking over the occupants in the room.

Of the three of his sidekicks in the room, Highbrow was off standing in the corner as per his usual self. Reverb and Snakeskin, meanwhile, were sitting in their seats near Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods.

The interns were in their own seats in the other half of the room. The four newer interns to the agency were in front while Izuku and Setsuna were seated further back.

"Now," Edgeshot continued, "let's start off with some introductions. While most of you have already met each other the past day or so, there is one of us who I'm sure you haven't met."

Edgeshot gestured over to Snakeskin, a rather lean built man wearing an olive green jumpsuit. "This is Snakeskin. He's a transformative type, and he usually is the one I send out on scouting missions. Today's his second day back after a week-long recon mission I had him on."

Everyone promptly shared their greetings with the man which Snakeskin returned in kind.

"Now that introductions are over," Edgeshot continued, "let's talk about the main event. As it stands, today will be the first official outing for you newcomers." He looked over at the new interns as he said this, gauging their reactions.

Shiozaki merely nodded, Mineta and Sero adopting intrigued faces, while Kaminari's entire face erupted in joy. Edgeshot then continued on with his explanation.

"Yesterday's exercise was only the first of many trails that you'll be undergoing for the next couple weeks. As is, today will stand for the second trial for you four. Today, you'll all be going on patrols."

He paused, sending over an observatory look over Kaminari, Mineta, Sero, and Shiozaki each. "But before that, I have a question to ask. What purpose do patrols have in the daily lives of professional heroes?"

Edgeshot looked over at Setsuna and Izuku. "You two are exempt from answering, of course."

"Oh!" Kaminari shouted out. "It's so we can find and fight crime! The underbelly of Japan's underworld isn't something that's so easily seen by the casual eye, after all!"

"Good answer," Edgeshot replied, "but not the full one. "There's a bit more to patrols than that. Anybody know what those components are?"

Shiozaki raised her hand slightly from where it laid in her lap. Once Edgeshot sent over a nod, she responded in kind. "They allow us to reassure the populace with our presence. Even the mere sight of the heroes patrolling the city helps ease the worries of everyday citizens, after all."

"Correct," Edgeshot praised. "It's those two reasons that we'll be having the four of you going on patrols today. Patrols serve many different purposes after all, and they are integral to even the most influential of heroes if they wish to maintain a well favored image with the media."

"Are we going as one big group or something?" Kaminari suddenly asked.

"I was just getting to that, actually," Edgeshot said. He cleared his throat.

"Now then. Tokage and Sero." The two perked at their names being called. "You two will be heading out with Kamui Woods and Snakeskin. You'll be taking the north side of the city."

Edgeshot turned his gaze to overlook the next pair. "Mineta and Shiozaki: you'll be with me and Reverb. We'll be patrolling in the eastern and southern fronts of the city."

Mineta let out an exaggerated sigh at that; no doubt was he relieved with not being paired up with Mt. Lady.

"As for Midoriya and Kaminari, you'll be with Mt. Lady and Highbrow. You'll be taking the west side of the city."

Edgeshot nodded, surveying the entirety of the group. "Well, that just about finishes our meeting for today. Any questions?"

Nobody raised a hand, leading to Edgeshot nodding once more.

"Good. But if any of you do come up with something, feel free to ask one of your superiors. Any lingering doubts or ignorance of protocol can be dangerous. Now, all of you get into your costumes and get your gear on. We'll be heading out in ten."

Before everyone started moving, however, Edgeshot sent another glance over the new interns. "And I want you four to remember: patrols aren't always eventful. They aren't always the most glorious or exciting parts of a hero's schedule, but they're something that all of you are going to have to get used to."

"Of course sir! We understand!"

"Good. Now go. And good luck out there."

"I still can't believe that the two of us got paired up together again! Our teamwork is legendary after all!" exclaimed Kaminari. He was currently knelt atop of a rooftop, surveying the busy city below. Izuku was knelt right beside him, doing much the same.

"Keep the comms clean of unnecessary chatter," Highbrow's voice came over the communicators. "Or at least remember to not have your headset on when you're talking about things unrelated to what's happening around us. It distracts from the mission."

"Ah shoot! Right, right, sorry." Kaminari uttered as he switched his side of the communicator off.

Once he was sure that he had muted himself, Kaminari went ahead and nudged Izuku with an elbow. "Am I right though? Or what?"

Izuku refrained from a verbal response, nodding instead. He was still busy with the mission, after all.

The comms crackled to life, Mt. Lady's voice coming through this time. "Anything on the perp, Dragonfly? I'm dying to apprehend the bastard."

She was referring to a petty robbery that the four of them had witnessed earlier on their patrol. The criminal in question had been holding up a convenience store, but was able to slip away before either of the heroes or interns were able to do much to capture him.

If Izuku wasn't mistaken, that was due to the man's quirk. It involved some sort of blinding flash that surprisingly affected his sight through his bugs as well — something Izuku attributed to the quirk possibly having a mental effect rather than a physical one.

At the moment, Izuku was surveying the streets within his radius of control. He and Kaminari had been hopping from rooftop to rooftop for the past couple minutes, moving whenever his radius was thoroughly checked. Mt. Lady and Highbrow, meanwhile, searched on the ground.

"Hmm…" Izuku hummed. "Nothing so— Ah! Nevermind," Izuku said while eyeing through a small group of flies. "I found him. He's… two streets down from you. In an alleyway in between a computer cafe and a bookstore."

"Wonderful!" Mt. Lady exclaimed. "That's—"

"Ah shoot," Izuku muttered. "You need to hurry. It looks like he's threatening someone in the alley. Might be a homeless individual, considering the state he's in."

"Well then we need to hurry!" Mt. Lady's voice rang. "You two hurry over there now! Do something if Highbrow and I don't get there first!"

Izuku stood up. Kaminari followed suit, but turned his attention yet again to Izuku."She really is a different person when she's out being a hero, huh?"

"No time for chatter!" Izuku exclaimed, already jumping to the next roof and towards his destination. With Kaminari already a roof behind him, he formed a swarm to talk instead.

"Trouble's brewing! Hurry it up!"

Kaminari sighed, but nonetheless followed suit. "Why don't you just sting the guy or something?" Kaminari asked the swarm. "Drop a bunch of bugs on him or tangle him in some webs?"

"Don't have enough nearby but a few flies. Same with any pre prepared threads. And besides we aren't that far away and— Ah, yes. No need anyways. Mt. Lady got there and took him down."

A few more seconds of roof hopping and Izuku reached the scene. Mt. Lady was cheerily tying up the subdued criminal and handing him over to Highbrow. The only thing left to do was to meet up with the two other heroes down below.

And so, Izuku jumped, landing the two story fall with grace. His bugs took a look back at Kaminari, who had finally caught up at the same roof just as Izuku touched the ground.

"Ladder's over by the left, by the way," Izuku swarm said to his wayward intern. "Just in case you can't make the jump that is."

"I can make the jump," Kaminari said. And so he jumped, landing with much less grace than Izuku, but still relatively unharmed.

"See," Kaminari said.

Izuku smiled. "Mhm. Just wa—"

Then Izuku notices something. Given the location and smell, it only made sense that the figure who was sitting in the alleyway had flies buzzing around him. They're the only warning he gets when the man suddenly leaps from his position and pounces towards Mt. Lady, who's still standing in the mouth of the alleyway.

"Mt. Lady! Move!"

She sidesteps, but it isn't enough. The blade rips through the fabric of her right arm and draws blood. She only makes it a few more steps away before she collapses in a paralyzed heap.

Before she hits the ground however, Highbrow swoops in and takes a hold of her, getting her out of harm's way.

And Stain, now bereft of his disguise of smelly rags and trash, stands not but ten feet away, lapping up the trail of blood from his sword.

When he's done, Stain takes a glance at the now heavily-muscled Highbrow holding Mt. Lady in tow, and then at the combat ready forms of Kaminari and Izuku. He tsks.

"I would have preferred that we had gotten here before the new wave of interns had come in," the serial killer remarks, pulling out another sword into his other hand. "But alas, we were a bit busy in Osaka."

Kaminari tilts his head, his face scrunching up as he takes in the villain's words. "Wait. We?"

The question only seems to signal the rest of Stain followers. Izuku's bugs notice one of the tables at the cafe across the street. While most of the tables had already been vacated the moment the petty criminal from before had shown up and had been taken down, one table in particular remained occupied.

The tall, grayed haired man and the shorter, pink-haired woman both tilted their hats back, revealing none other than Gentle Criminal and La Brava.

And then from the same alleyway Stain had ambushed them from, the lone dumpster within began to shake. The lid then suddenly slammed off, and out jumped a familiar reptilian man.

Spinner takes out an oversized sword alongside him, but not before spitting something out of his mouth and coughing. "Remind me why I had to be the one who hid in the dumpster?"

Stain lets out a grunt in response. "Focus, Spinner."

Spinner saluted in response. "Right sir! I'll— Oh right!" Spinner walked over to the man with the blinding flash quirk, who was lying forgotten against a nearby wall. "Thanks for the help in luring them here," Spinner said as he cut the man's restraints. "Now scram!"

The man didn't need to think twice. He ran down the street and straight out of sight.

All the while, Izuku surveyed the scene with his bugs. He eventually leaned himself a little closer to Highbrow and spoke to the man in a low whisper.

"I'm not sure if you've already noticed, but we're outnumbered now; at least until Mt. Lady gets up. And we don't know how long that would be. How far away are the others from here?"

"The closest is Kamui's group," Highbrow responded, not straying his gaze away from Stain. "I already sent a signal, so they know that we're in trouble. But they're still halfway across the city, and at the very least it'll take them eleven minutes to get here."

"Shit," cursed Kaminari. "We have to hold them off for eleven minutes?!"

"I'd hate to break up the little planning session," Spinner announced," but as you can clearly see the boss wants something from you. And you're holding her a bit too far away from us to reach. Why don't you make it easy for us and hand her over, eh?"

"Why exactly do you want her?" Highbrow asked, no doubt stalling for time.

"The same reason I've been going after other heroes, of course," Stain remarked. "I'm the only one willing to cull down the numbers of fake heroes. To ensure that only true heroism remains, fake heroes — those tainted by less than noble urges — must be exterminated."

"And Mt. Lady is one of these… 'tainted heroes' to you?" questioned Highbrow.

"She's media hungry for one, so yes," Stain started off. "And she is vain, and much too prideful — enough so that it borders on arrogance. And despite the fact that she takes heroing seriously from time to time, that does not absolve her of her sins."

"Yeah!" Spinner exclaimed. "The boss is the only one willing to do what it takes!" He raised his hand and gestured for them to come to him. "So kindly give the lady up! This doesn't have to get messy!"

"As if we'd give in to you!" Kaminari exclaimed as he planted a closed fist to his chest. He looked over at Stain with a glare. "You may be the hero killer, and your style may be cool, but you are still a villain! And villains always lose. And besides!"

Kaminari gestured to Izuku with a thumb. "We have Dragonfly. You're for sure going to lose since he's here."

Izuku jerked his head towards Kaminari. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" he hissed.

"What?" Kaminari countered with a whisper. "I thought it sounded cool. And besides, it's true! You always fight villains that should be way to much for you but you always end up bea—"

"Enough!" Stain's voice rang out. The others froze up for just a second, the bloodlust and anger emanating from Stain becoming almost palpable to them.

Stain looked ready to kill, and he looked ready to do whatever it took to reach his target. And with Spinner by his side, and Gentle Criminal and La Brava covering the heroes from the rear, chances in ensuring Mt. Lady's safety seemed a bit dim.

"Nine minutes thirty," Highbrow whispered.

Stain erupted into a growl, taking a step forward towards the heroes and clashing his swords together.

"I'm here to kill an unruly hero," he said, taking another step forward. "And I intend to leave with a dead hero. Even if that means that I'll have to go through the three of you."

A/N: The rest of the fight continues next time! Stay tuned!