The officers and heroes gathered around the table, including Heroes like Best Jeanist (#3) Hawks (#2) Gang Orca (#12) Kamui Woods (#7) and Edgeshot (#4) Preparing to go over the plans one more time.
Tsukachi laid the map of the abandoned bar on the table. “This is the suspected base of the LOV. Strike team 1 will hit here.” He pulled out a second map, showing the layout of an abandoned apartment Complex. “This is the suspected location of the Nomu factory, Strike teams 2 will head here.” “He pulled out a map of the headquarters of both Detrenat and Curik “Team 3 will head for the Detrenat headquarters, Strike team 3 will head here with a warrant, If they resist, act accordingly. Same goes for Strike team 4 and the Curik Headquarters. Strike Team 5 will be on standby, ready to assist anyone in need. Any questions.”
A man in a yellow coat, with matching glasses and huge red wings on his back raised his hand lazily. It was Hawks the number two hero, and the Hero Public Safety Commissions favorite. “Yea just one, where is the number one hero? Shouldn’t he be involved in a raid this big?”
Tsukachi sighed “He was busy.”
A voice that seemed on the edge of tears echoed throughout the hall “Too busy to stop the ones… the ones who took All Might’s life?”
Tsukachi turned to the voice, it was a child. He looked barely old enough to be a highschooler. He was standing next to Ingenium of team 5. Who looked around sheepishly “Don’t mind my brother, he is just a little heated due to him being there during the USJ”
Silence filled the room. Several heroes stared at the boy in pity.
A younger hero. Who Tsukachi recognized as Mount Lady piped in “Why did you bring your brother to this Ingenium? This is far too risky for a kid.”
Ingenium for his part seemed to smile softly “How could I say no to my bro wanting to intern under me? Plus we are just a part of the standby team, so we shouldn’t be in too much danger.” He put his hands on the younger boy’s shoulders in a calming manner. ‘I’ll make sure he doesn’t get into trouble”
Tsukachi decided to just move past that. “Ok everyone go to your Team leaders, as a reminder Strike Strike Team 1 is being led by Edgeshot
Strike Team 2 is being led by Best Jeanist
Strike Team 3 is being led by Gang Orca
Strike Team 4 is being led by Me
And Finally Strike Team 5 is being led by Hawks”
He watched as officers and heroes alike fell into their groups. His group is made up of mostly Officers with a few heroes mixed in. Not many heroes wanted to work under an officer, he had told the chief this, but the man had insisted he run this operation. But it wouldn’t matter, because If he was right about Curik, there wouldn’t be much resistance.
Iida stared in awe as the number two hero organized them. He did it effortlessly, even making jokes, putting those more on edge at ease. He eventually got to Iida who bowed in a robotic manner “It is a pleasure to work under you sir”
The man waved him off “ please kid, no need for the formalities, just call me Hawks.”
“Of course sir.. Hawks”
Hawks grinned at the boy, before quickly going to a mute expression. “Ingenium, nice to see you have recovered from your run in with the hero killer. “
Ingenium gave a half hearted laugh “You know about that huh”
Hawks shrugged “It was all over the news, that man doesn’t usually leave heroes in one piece.”
Iida grit his teeth, attempting to hide his anger at the thought of the hero killer. How dare he give his brother such a scar. Tensei works so hard to be a good hero.
Hawks side eyed the boy, noting the obvious rage written on his face. Must be a touchy subject. That rage could prove detrimental later. “Well Just make sure to not overdo it.” he said before moving on to the other heroes in his group. He needed this to go smoothly, his handler was breathing down his neck, He needed to be twice as good to make up for the hole All Might left. He put on a smile, Ever so glad that the makeup hid the bags under his eyes “This will be a piece of cake” he said more to himself than to the group of heroes and police around him. Although it seemed to lift the moods of those around him.
Later that night
Izuku was in his element, Jumping between rooftops with his teacher, they were approaching the tracked location of Endeavor. Nezu didn’t tell him how he put a tracker on the flame hero, but he was glad they didn’t have to track them down in the maze of alleys that littered Hosu.
Nezu spoke up, speaking through their headset’s “Keep an eye out Jade, If you see a crime please notify me and wait for my assistance. You are still in training.”
“Yes sensei” he took a breath of the cold night air. Nezu had already told him that 4 times tonight. The night had been so quiet so far. It seemed impossible that they’d run into any crime.
They made it to the heroes location, Seeing Endeavor and Todoroki walking down a wet looking alley.
Endeavor growled out “I thought publicizing my presence here would at least get the damn freaks attention. But we still haven’t seen a sign of the hero killer.”
Todoroki muttered out “Maybe the hero killer has better things to do”
He felt the heat rise in the alley, some steam escaping from under the flame hero's boots. “Better things than the Number One hero?!” Right as Endeavor finished that sentence there was the sound of blade on flesh, as endeavor reeled back from an attacker, shooting a tornado of flames towards his attacker.
“Ah Endeavor, the sorry excuse of a number one hero, I will savor this” He licked his blade, and Izuku watched as Endeavor collapsed to the ground, blood seeping into the water. Todoroki made a wall of ice between them and their attacker as Izuku jumped down, followed by Nezu.
Todoroki looked over in surprise “Midoriya, Principal, why are you here?”
Nezu stood in front of the two boys “Now isn’t the time, grab Endeavor and get out of here, help is on the way.”
Izuku nodded, beginning to lift the heavy set hero onto his shoulders.
“Put me down filth, I don’t need a null's help.’
Izuku sighed “Really? Because to me it seems like you were face first in your own blood just now?”
LOV Base
A large group of police and heroes gathered at the other side of the door. A officer knocked on the door
"Pizza delivery"
The door was kicked in and heroes and officers rushed in. Only to be met with an empty bar. Devoid of any of the villains. They scoured the building kicking down doors left and right. Finding what appeared to be a holding cell. A room full of consoles and pictures of underground heroes. And a mostly empty room, the only real piece of decoration was a photo of what appeared to be a younger version of Shigaraki who was smiling at the camera. Which an officer picked up
"All clear! But you will want to see this sir"
Edgeshot came in. Looking at the photo "were they tipped off?"
An officer piped in "if so it had to have been very recent. It seems as if they left everything."
A soul piercing laugh echoed throughout the main room. Edgeshot ran back in to see everyone looking around for the origin of the voice.
"It's the TV"
"Ah how observant. Shame for you heroes, the League seems to be busy with a chore. But don't worry. I have some friends that'd love to keep you all company"
"Who are you!" Yelled out a frightened officer
“Oh I’ve been called many things, but you have probably heard of me as the Boogeyman of the underground, or All for One.”
He shuddered involuntarily The Boogeyman of the underground. Edgeshot had heard that name plenty of times before, the man who is supposedly as old as quirks themselves. Able to take and give them at will. He believed it to be a story used to scare new heroes, but he never would’ve dreamed that the man was real.
“Everyone out of the building!”
As he began his exit, the roof above them exploded open, seeing something that he could only describe as a monstrosity entering the bar. It had green skin, several blades exciting its body from different limbs, and an exposed brain, followed by several others. All with different skin tones, one had extremely thick legs, glowing a searing hot red, another with a shark like mouth, its jaw seemingly dislocated, able to grab a man whole in one bite.
“Oh one more thing, I hope the city is still in one piece when you manage to finish entertaining your entourage. Nomu, kill”
The room erupted into carnage, one officer got bit in half, another got their arm sliced off whilst trying to escape the monstrosity that landed next to them. Edgeshot sped forward, his body thinning to that of a blade, he extended it, Aiming for the one with an exposed brain, Taking it out before it got the hero next to it. He reformed his original shape, before spotting another one attacking the officers who had grouped up in the panic, he shot forward aiming for the thing's throat as his limbs turned to thin strands of blades once again. He reformed on the other side of the beast, watching as it screamed in agony. Before it collapsed. Passed out from the lack of blood flow to its brain. His body ached, the familiar numbness coming back to him as he went for the third creature, But before he transformed the creature went down. Its head was blown clean off by a hero. Death Arms was breathing heavily over the creature, blood soaking his fists.
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“What the hell are these things?”
Edgeshot looked around, the bar a scene of carnage, several heroes and officers laid dead on the floor, caught in the first strike. An officer was calling for medical assistance whilst holding the body of another. “Let’s get the wounded out of here, warn the other teams. They know we are here.”
“Ah I see you all…” a loud bang erupted as glass fell onto the ground from the T.V fixture, smoke was trailing from the gun of an officer with a cat-like head. “Sorry, but he was getting damn annoying”
Edgeshot sighed “He could’ve given us some important information. Like what he meant about the city..”
Suddenly they heard a sound every hero dreads, a sound of a chorus of screams, followed by what sounded like an explosion. Edgeshot ran out, seeing smoke rising from several parts of the city. It seemed as if the entire city was a warzone. He activated his ear piece. Switching to the emergency channel “We have a calamity code in Hosu, I repeat a Calamity Code.”
This code was only to be used on threats that could affect entire cities, it sent a signal to every hero within range, including retired pros. It also alerted the emergency forces.
“Alright everyone who can still fight follow me!”
He charged towards the nearest smoke pillar, cursing under his breath.
Naomosa entered the now broken door to the Curik Headquarters. Officers rushed in after him as he eyed up the empty entrance. There was nothing really unusual about the lobby, a couple benches and tables. A couple posters on the wall showing inspirational quotes. ‘You are one step from normalcy’
‘Your quirk is our puzzle’ ‘Control is but one number away’
He expected there to at least be some people posted here. They cleared room after room, finding nothing until they got to the storage room. There they opened it up to find crates upon crates of documents. He opened it up to see a huge list of quirk registries. All from kids 4-7 some of which were x’d out.
He couldn’t shake this odd feeling. Why had there been no one here?
He continued to flip through, before finding something odd, a registry of what appeared to be every kid at UA. they seemed to be the odd ones out, and one student had theirs blanked out. A kid he recognized. Izuku Midoriya.
“Sir we got a distress call from Strike Team 1”
Naomosa looked over. 'Why didn’t they send it to Team 5 like it had been planned.’
“They did, sir, but they also sent out a Calamity code to every channel.”
Naomosa dropped the paper he was holding, a Calamity code meant the entire city of Hosu was in danger.
He cursed “ Sanki you and your squad will stay here with Backlog to gather evidence, Everyone else back to the vehicles, we are heading for Hosu”
Earlier in the alley
Stain cut right into the mammal's flank, jumping back as he licked the blood from his blade. Nezu took the chance to charge forward, slashing the surprised villain in the face. The villain took a deep breath “So the rumors are true. Stand aside Nezu, My blade isn’t meant for you today. You may not be a true hero, but I can see the good you attempt to make from the darkness, Staining your hands for a different tomorrow.”
Nezu growled “Hero Killer, We are nothing alike. You kill Hero's making them martyrs. I work to change the system that crafts such evils.”
Stain glared “That man you protect is nothing but a fraud, Hurting anyone in his path, even killing his own kin. I will not let a man like that escape my grasp” he charged forward, slashing down whilst attempting to jump over the rodent. But Nezu sunk a claw into the villain's leg, pulling him back before barely dodging a retaliatory slice.
Endeavor’s breath hitched on Izuku’s back, something that didn’t escape the boy’s notice.
Todoroki who had frozen at the mention of the name growled out. “What do you mean, killed?”
The villain glared at the man in question. “A 13 year old boy by the name of Touya Todoroki, burned to death by his own father.”
Endeavor growled “Don’t you dare utter his name as if you understand”
Todoroki lowered his arms, staring back at his father. “You said Touya died of quirk ”
Endeavor couldn’t face his son, his body paralyzed, but his voice rang clear through the alley, a heated voice “He’s a villain Shoto, don’t believe a word out of his mouth.”
Izuku felt searing anger rise into his soul. He had researched every victim of the hero killer, and all of them had committed the crimes he had accused them of.
“How, how could he have gotten away with it.” but even as the words escaped his mouth he knew the answer.
Stain pointed a blade at the hero on his back “The hero public safety commission buried his crimes. They couldn’t afford the public learning that the number two hero was a child killer, so they sent the only witness to an insane asylum, and paid off the doctor. The body was never found. Now step aside, this monster has evaded retribution for far too long, isn’t that right Nezu.”
Nezu remained silent, Ready for an attack.
Izuku took a deep breath, feeling a chill down his spine. This man may be a monster, but I can’t let him die today. Taking one step forward, only to slam directly into an ice wall. He turned around to see his classmate standing perfectly still, ice seeping out from his right side, and smoke from his right.
Endeavor called out to his son “What do you think you’re doing Shoto”
Nezu looked back to see an ice wall blocking their exit. “Now young Todoroki, I know this must be upsetting, but this isn't..”
“SHUT UP! All of you shut up!” the young boy yelled out. He hugged himself, attempting to put out the flames now arching from his left side. “NoNoNoNoNoNo.. I’m so sorry.” his breath hitched, curling in on himself. He’s having a panic attack. Izuku put the flame hero down, eying the hero killer as he rushes forward. “Todoroki li..”
“Don’t call me that!” Izuku had to cover his face as the flames grew, nearly covering the boy’s right side. “Ok. Shoto,. I need you to breathe with me ok.” he got in front of the boy, doing the same breathing pattern that would help him. “In through the nose. Out through the mouth.” He repeated this to him, watching the boy slowly match his pace. The flames dying down ever so slightly. He looked over at the hero killer, who had a strange glint in his eyes, staring directly at Izuku. Nezu made sure to stand in between them and the hero killer, claws at the ready. “What would you like to do right now..”
The boy looked up at him, tears stricken down his face. It was so strange to see any emotion on the boy’s face. But his breathing seemed to have calmed down a bit. The flames were finally dying out. “I… I..”
The next thing Izuku felt was a jet of heat as Shoto pushed him away, Izuku felt a searing pain in his leg, as his staff flew across the alley. He looked over to see Endeavor now standing on his feet, Glaring. “I don’t need anyone else poisoning my progeny. He just used his fire and you want to stop that? He needs his fire to beat the hero killer.”
Nezu turned around “Was that your plan! To put yourself and your son in mortal peril to scare him into using his fire?”
Endeavor Ignored his teacher as he pointed a hand directly at Izuku. He attempted to stand, only for his leg to scream in pain as he fell over. He looked down to see blisters all down his leg, his leg appearing wet. He couldn’t move away in time, this was how he was going to die. He braced himself for the inevitable as the alley heated up, watching his teacher run for him. He closed his eyes and covered his face.
Why am I not dead.. He opened his eyes to see Endeavor’s glassy eyes staring back at him, A giant piece of ice stabbed through his neck and chest, and a knife directly between his eyes. He turned over to see Shoto breathing heavily, His eyes wild. “I… He was gonna…”
Stain was also breathing heavily “The fake was a child killer in the end, At Least a potential hero didn’t lose their life today. The man began to turn away. Nezu ran up to Izuku, checking over him. “Can you walk?”
“I might be able to with my staff.”
Izuku was reaching for his staff, Nezu turning around to grab it for him. Before he felt a sharp pain in his shoulders, as he felt himself lift off the ground. He looked up to see a beak that connected to a light gray body.
Nezu turned around at the sound of his cry. “Midoriya!” He struggled against the monster, being rewarded with the things claws digging into his skin. He tried to lift his leg up far enough to grab his knife, but the movement of the beast, and his multiple injuries made it impossible to maneuver. They were almost above the rooftops when Izuku felt the monster’s trajectory change, before he began to plummet back towards the ground. An arm grabbed him, a red scarf billowing in front of his face. The hero killer jumped into a window, making sure the boy didn’t take the brunt of the impact. They landed into an empty living room, the lights dark. He coughed, his entire body sore. “Why?” was all he could think to ask his savior. Who began to stand up. “I couldn’t just watch a potential hero die, You haven’t been corrupted yet” He began to lift the boy up “Now let’s get you back to your compatriots.” But for some reason Stain stopped at the window, Izuku craned his neck to see Hawks flying above the alley, Talking into his headset. Hawks put on a smile. Izuku was about to call out when Stain covered his mouth. Shushing the boy. He fought against the man, until he could hear them.
Nezu’s ear twitched. Looking up to see the number 2…1 hero flying above the alley, just how long had he been there, “Stain attacked, we got one ”
Hawks “The city is in chaos, I responded to this distress call only because The HPSC asked me to”
Nezu was about to ignore the man and begin looking for his student himself, but something in that sentence seemed off. He hadn’t sent a distress beacon, and he was certain that the Endeavor hadn’t.
“I see, well then can you get this boy some medical attention, he seemed to have passed out from the whole affair, I will hunt down my student.” I don’t know what Hawks is doing, But I can’t let him know I’m aware of his lies.
Hawks swooped down, Nezu tried to dodge, he had been slowed by his injuries, ending up under the man, a blade to his throat.. “I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.” Nezu glared at the man, baring his teeth. “ Don’t look at me like that, I’ll make sure the boy get’s the proper help, But I’m afraid you have angered the HPSC one too many times.” Nezu struggled against the man’s grip, hoping his student wouldn’t have to hear this part. “They will ask questions you know”
The man laughed “You know this isn’t our first rodeo, Such a shame you and your little green friend ended up dead in the confusion,”
“How long…”
“Oh I had planned to step in, But my handler had told me to wait, apparently they had been waiting for this for a long time, Understand this is nothing personal.”
Izuku struggled harder, tears welling down his eyes. Nonononono
“ I assume you had some meddling in this. After all, you had been following them. To think you’d be bold enough to kill both Number One heroes. “
Nezu coughed “You know… I’d do no such thing…”
Hawks paused “But the public won’t, And you just happened to be the easiest scapegoat, sorry.”
Izuku heard the final scream of his teacher, tears flooding his vision. Stain hid from the hero's sight. "I'll have to find that kid, if he's not already dead. But first I got to get you to safety” the hero paused “Are you saying you don’t want to use the former Number One's hero kid in your little program?” He looked around, Picking up a Staff “ Relax, It didn’t look like the kid could move, I doubt he will get far." The hero flew off with an unconscious Shoto in one arm, a staff in the other.
Seconds passed in silence. Before Stain finally took his hand off of Izuku's mouth. Who was crying in silence. "Well I can't drop you off at a hospital now little hero." The villain cursed to himself as he began thinking on what to do with the boy.
"Medical supplies" the boy choked out between quiet sobs.
"I could take you to an underground doctor."
"No… just need. Supplies. Know how." The boy was hiccupping, tears streaming down his face.
He was honestly surprised the boy could still think at the moment. Stain weighed his options, He was a villain, the scummiest of them all, He should just leave the child to die. But as he thought about leaving the child to his fate, a twisted pain settled into his heart. This boy had tried to save the people around them, firstly from him, and then from themselves. He held the most heroic qualities he’s seen in a hero hopeful for quite some time. He cursed to himself, pulling the child onto his shoulders, being sure to avoid grabbing the boy’s bad leg. He was just gonna bring the boy to a safehouse until he could take care of himself, then the kid could decide from there.
He pushed open the empty warehouse, Opening the secret passage and jumping down. Walking through the dark tunnel, the only sound being his footsteps and the boys breathing. He opened the door to his tiny hideout. Setting the boy down on the couch as he walked into the bathroom, Pulling out a med kit. He handed it to the boy, receiving a curt nod before the boy got to work, as if he had practiced this a million times. He walked away to the kitchen, opening the near empty fridge and pulling out a bento box. He put it into the microwave. “So boy, How did you learn to do that”
The kid didn’t look over, still treating his own legs. “My mom taught me, or well I learned it from her treating me. Not many doctors would tr…” the boy seemed to clam up, flinching a bit. Stain thought of the implications of that. He was someone who had a ‘villainous’ quirk himself, But there were hospitals specifically set aside to treat people like them, even if they were much worse. How could they not find a doctor? There were places for each type of quirk.. A thought entered his mind, remembering a man on top of a rooftop. “You’re quirkless”
The boy flinched, holding onto the med kit as if his life depended on it, “So what if I am. Are you going to kill me for trying to be a hero despite not having a quirk?”
The man shrugged, pulling out the now done bento, putting it in front of the boy “ Many things make up the qualities of a true hero, A quirk isn’t one of them” Stain walked away, retiring to his room.
Izuku stared at the bento. Why was he being so nice to Izuku, surely someone with Stain’s ideals would’ve killed the vulnerable teen after his worst qualities were revealed. He could feel his body tiring out, he forced himself to stay awake, at least to finish treating the burns for the night, He began to bandage the area gently, wrapping it around his leg with care. With each rotation of his bandage his mind went back to the events of the alley, why had he survived, Why had Stain Saved him.. Why Did Hawks kill his mentor? these questions haunted his mind as he slowly passed out, the events of the day weighing heavy on his soul.