Y/n's POV

It was another normal day of interning under the Pro Hero Wringer. And by normal, I mean it was a constant balancing act of life or death in this city. A whole day had passed since the run-in with that guy that manipulated water. I had already forgotten his name by then. Wringer and I were responding to reports of hostages being held by superpowered criminals. Everything was going fine until one of them managed to make a getaway in a truck and started speeding down the wrong side of the road.

"Sir, could you please slow down?" I shouted as I swung behind his vehicle. "Or at least drive on the correct side of the road?"

"How 'bout you stop chasing me and I'll take it nice and slow?" He shouted back while popping his head out the window.

"How about you look where you're going!?"

He glanced forward to where he was going to see multiple cars barreling towards him. He swerved and he miraculously dodged all the oncoming vehicles.

While I was giving chase, I got a call from Wringer on an earpiece she gave me. "Hey, kid. I'm cleaning up the villains over here. How's that pursuit going?"

"Well, our guy is driving irresponsibly and refuses to hit the brakes, so everything's going great."

"I'll be over as soon as I can. Just as soon as I sweep up." I heard gunshots on the other side of the line. "DO YOU MIND?! I'M HAVING AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION! ...I'll call you back, Yamori."

Guess I'm on my own for the time being. At least it seems like there isn't much traffic anymor-

I didn't even get to finish my own thoughts when the truck turned sharply into a narrow street. Luckily, the street was mostly empty, but it seemed to me that this guy was heading nowhere specific. That meant there was a good chance we'd end up somewhere packed with even more obstacles, or worse, people. I urgently sped up my swinging and was just barely able to zip to the roof of the truck. I then climbed my way to the front near the driver's seat.

"Hey, hit the brakes, before you get someone killed!" I shouted.

"So you can catch me? No, thank you." He replied.

I figured I wouldn't get anywhere talking to him, so I climbed back up to the roof to figure out a solution. Just then, I got another call from Wringer.

"Hey, I'm back. I'm trying to get to where you are right now. Just a heads up, I'm gonna be a few minutes out."

"No rush, but this thing is speeding around the city, and the roads are gonna start filling up at this hour."

"Gotcha. Just try your best."

Okay, need a plan. I need a plan really damn fast.

I dismounted off the back of the truck and latched onto it with my tethers and tried to pull it back by sticking to the floor. My efforts were in vain however, as the truck was moving so fast that I was basically skiing on the road instead of slowing down what I was supposed to be stopping. The vehicle suddenly swerved around another corner, slamming me into the side of a building with the momentum. However, I was determined not to let go. I attempted to brace my footing on the corner of a building, but I got instantly yanked back towards the truck.

This isn't good. With how fast the truck's moving, I won't be able to stop it normally. I've got to try something soon, though.

I looked back around my surroundings and thought of one last-ditch maneuver. I zipped back to the roof of the vehicle and climbed to the front. From there, I placed my footing on the bumper of the truck and used my tethers to latch on to two sound-looking buildings on each side of the street, so I could push against the truck with all of my strength.

"Come on! Stop, stop, stop!" I all but growled out in exertion.

The truck skidded to a stop as its driver continued to try and press the gas. To keep him from trying to drive further, I delivered several kicks to the grill of the truck until I heard the engine pop and stutter before stopping altogether.
Exhausted, I detached the tethers from the buildings I stuck them to before collapsing to the ground. While I was trying to catch my breath, the driver of the truck stumbled out of the door. He mumbled something under his breath before making his way over to me. Before he could get too close, Wringer swung in and knocked him out with a surprise attack.

"I am so sorry for being late," She said, reaching out her hand to help me up. "Are you hurt?"

"Just a few bruises here and there." I answered, staggering on my way up.

"That was more than enough for one day. You did really well. Go on back to the agency and rest up. I'll help sort out the mess here, and we can talk later."

I nodded in affirmation and began to zip off. I didn't get far because my arms felt like they were burning up. Rather than risk tearing something in my arms, I just called a taxi to take me back. After a long ride, I arrived back at Wringer's agency where I immediately went to my dorm, got changed, and promptly fell asleep for the night.

The next morning, I felt completely rested. Thanks to my regeneration, I only felt a little sore from yesterday. I left my dorm and checked in with Wringer before getting suited up for today's hero work. Today seemed to just be a patrol day.
Wringer and I split up to keep watch over the city across a wider area. I spent the whole day swinging across buildings, giving people assistance, and checking out some landmarks when I had some free time. After a while, I stopped to perch on top of the Tokyo Tower. I had ended up wandering a bit of a ways off from Hosu City, but I was getting pretty good at traversing this urban landscape so I could return quickly if I needed.

During my short break, I felt my phone buzzing. I looked to see a text from Masa.

<[Yo, I hear you're doing hero internships]
<[How's yours going?]
<[oh wait you might be busy rn]

[nah, I'm on break for now]>
[but things have been going okay since Wringer's a good mentor]>

<[Good to hear]
<[But I worry about you sometimes, you know?]
<[Worried that you might get in over your head]
<[There're some real tough villains out there]

[well I appreciate you being worried]>
[but don't you worry about me]>

<[Aight]
<[I gtg now, but be careful]

I started to head back towards Hosu City before it got too dark. After a bit of swinging, I arrived back just as the sun had set. Luckily, there were no major villain incidents like there were the past two days. I perched atop Wringer's agency to relax for a bit before turning in for the day.

...You know what? I should text Iida and see how he's holding up.

[How're your internships going?]>
[stop any villains recently?]>

I waited a bit for a response, but he hadn't replied even though it said he read it. 

Usually, Iida responds in a flash. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's still busy doing hero stuff.

Just then, a building in the distance exploded.

"The hell?" I said to myself. "So much for no villain incidents..."

I jumped off the building to swing to the source of the explosion. On the way there, I crossed paths with Wringer.

"How awkward, we're both heading to the same place." She joked with a bit of a serious expression.

"What could have caused this?" I asked.

"A lot of things cause explosions. Let's just hope it wasn't a person."

We both arrived to see fire blazing across the street. We both perched on a nearby building to get the lay of the land. I scanned the scene to see a large hulking figure walking out of the fire. Upon closer inspection, I noticed what looked like a brain sticking out of its head.

Don't tell me...

"Wringer!" I called out. "The culprit is one of those things from the U.S.J.!"

"That amusement park that Mr. Pressure Washer wouldn't stop babbling about the other day?"

"Not the amusement park! That place where me and my classmates got attacked by villains."

"And now another one of those attackers is here? Just how many villains slipped away from there?"

"No, it's not the same guy as the U.S.J. It's something called a Nomu. Altered humans designed to have multiple Quirks, at the cost of their sentience."

"So all brawn, no brains. Should be easy enou-"

Wringer didn't get to finish her sentence when she got snatched up by something. It was hard to see in the middle of the night, even with all of this fire lighting up the area, but I could just barely make out the shape of another Nomu, this one sporting large wings.

"Hey! It's rude to interrupt!" She said. She threw a punch at its face. The Nomu recoiled, but still continued to fly. It then dove right into the ground, slamming her into the street.

This is really bad. There's multiple Nomus, each with different Quirks.

While I was thinking, I sensed something coming from behind me. I turned to see that large Nomu sizing up a punch aimed right at me. I jumped backwards in the nick of time, but something was off. It seemed as if the Nomu couldn't actually see me. I looked closer to see that this one had no eyes on it. I tried to use the brief respite to run and help Wringer, but as soon as I took a step, the monster was back to pursuing me.

This damn thing has some crazy speed. If it can't see at all, it's probably hearing my movements and taking a wild guess. And because it's so big and imposing, swinging wildly is more than likely to at least hit something.

I continued making my way to Wringer who was now being flown to a nearby construction site. I swung after her, with the Nomu hot on my trail. He did a high jump to try and reach me, barely missing me.

Boy, am I glad I don't actually have a gecko tail.

When I got to the construction site, Wringer began to hold her own better, since there was more terrain to work with. I led the large Nomu into the construction site with me, who was having a hard time fitting through the foundation of the unfinished building. Every time it attempted to fit in, it would knock loose some construction equipment. Wringer looked as if she acknowledged this, and used the brief opening to try and take both Nomus down at once.
She waited for the flying one to make another round to try and dive bomb her again. When it did, she jumped out of the way, making it slam into the building. This incapacitated it, also knocking a metal girder off in the process. I latched on to it and shifted its momentum just enough so that  it crashed on top of the large Nomu, striking its exposed brain, taking it out at the same time.

"And that is why you wear a hardhat." She quipped as she wiped the sweat off her brow.

As we were briefly catching our breath, I saw someone jumping from building to building, with what looked like green lightning surrounding them. Wringer noticed this too, so we both went off to follow it. 

"Is that another hero? Never seen them around this town." Wringer said as we approached.

"Wait, that's not some hero." I said, realizing. "That's my classmate, Midoriya."

"The one that screws up his arms?"

"Yo, Deku!" I yelled out.

He turned back to me. "L/n? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. I didn't recognize you with your new sparkly thing going on."

"Have you seen Iida at all?" He asked urgently.

"No. Why?"

"I have a hunch on where Iida's gone, and I don't like it. Which is why I'm looking for him."

"I wish I could help, but Wringer still needs my-" I started.

"Just go. I can handle it here." Wringer said, interrupting me. "And I know you can handle it. Don't have too much fun, now."

We nodded and ran off to go search for Iida. Midoriya filled me in while we were searching that Iida had most likely went to go find the Hero Killer in this city. He ran and searched the alleyways while I would scan the roofs of buildings. While I was searching, I spotted a commotion in an alleyway. It looked as if Midoriya noticed this at the same time, as we both rushed in to help. As I approached, I saw none other than Iida pinned to the ground by a man carrying a bunch of swords. Midoriya jumped in first to land a punch on the villain's face, knocking him backwards.

"Midoriya, L/n, why?" Iida asked weakly.

"What, you want me to just sit back and watch you get cooked?" I replied.

"Can you move?" Midoriya asked Iida. "Let's get to a bigger street. We need help from the pros."

"I can't move my body..." Iida said. "Ever since he cut me... I think it's his Quirk."

"So cutting is how he activates his Quirk."

"Hey, there's another hero here." I informed. "You think we'd be able to take him and Iida out of this alley?"

"You guys... Don't get involved!" Iida said. "This has nothing to do with you! Stain is mine!"

"...The hell are you on about?" I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Your friends came to save you. That's a great line, isn't it?" Said the Hero Killer. "But I have a duty to kill him.  If we clash, of course, the weaker will be culled. Now, what will you do?"

In hindsight, it would have been way better if I brought Wringer with us. It'd be three versus one that way. But for now, we'll just have to hold out. 

"I told you, didn't I? It has nothing to do with you!" Iida yelled out.

"All the time, heroes get involved in shit that has nothing to do with them because they're doing what's right." I said.

"Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of a hero!" Midoriya added, taking a fighting stance.

We both rushed our opponent at the other end of the alley. I used my tethers to grab a nearby garbage can and fling it at Stain. He deflected it and prepared to swing at Midoriya. He slid between his legs, dodging the Hero Killer's attack. He then jumped above him and landed a strong hit to his head. As Midoriya landed, he found himself frozen in place. I looked over to see the Hero Killer licking his blade.

"It wasn't powerful enough." The Hero Killer began. "It's not that you saw through my movements. You left my field of vision and maneuvered so that you would definitely be able to bring me down. People who are all talk are a dime a dozen, but you are worth letting live."

He began to walk back towards Iida, sword in hand. He was about to stab Iida once more, but before he could, I pulled Iida away with my tethers.

"Just give it a rest, man!" I said. "Look, he did something real stupid, I'll admit. But do you have to go around parading as this 'Hero Killer'? Couldn't you just be like a 'Hero Demoralizer' instead?"

He said nothing and lunged at me. I jumped to the wall to avoid his attacks, which he delivered one after another.

This guy is not playing games, I see. His moves are so violent, and I feel like everywhere his sword might reach is a real danger zone. Even if I find an opening within his large swings, he's still carrying another four blades to counterattack with.

He kicked off the opposite wall in order to reach me with his strikes. I slipped out of the way, but he forced me off the wall I was sticking to, ridding me of my high ground advantage. When he came at me once more, he managed to nick me in the arm. I was sure I was about to be frozen just like everyone else in this alleyway, but I was still moving.

This is strange. I know he hit me, since my arm hurts like crazy, but how come I'm not frozen yet?

"L/n!" Midoriya called out. "It has to do with blood, not cutting!"

With that, I looked over to see the Hero Killer bringing the sword he used up to his face. I still wasn't sure about why I could still move, but I wasn't going to let my opponent do what he needed to do to get the upper hand.
I sprinted in and swung at his face, causing him to dodge back. I sensed something coming from my side, so I reflexively grabbed at that general area. By doing so, I managed to catch his arm about to thrust one of his knives into me. He then tried to stab me with his large sword, forcing me to catch the blade with my bare hands to avoid being stabbed through the chest. The katana sliced the palm of my hand as I caught it, causing blood to start running down my arm.

"Why are you so unyielding?" He asked under his breath.

"I'd rather you take my fingers than peoples' heads." I answered through gritted teeth.

I ducked down, releasing the grip of both my hands which caused him to lose his balance slightly. I took advantage of the opening, trying to sweep his legs out from under him. I rebounded up to my feet, only to be pinned against the wall. He stuck his tongue out and moved his head towards my open wound.

"Hey, I don't swing that way." I said as I reeled my head back as much as I could before swinging it forward with intense force, stunning the Hero Killer. I used the opening to punch him in the chest with enough power to send him flying back into the opposite wall. However, he was cunning, as he jumped high off the wall that my attack had pressed him into. I looked to see where he was landing and realized that he would land right on top of Iida.

"Shit!" I cursed as I attempted to send my tethers at Iida to try and pull him out of the way. At this rate though, Stain would reach him before I did, and Midoriya was still frozen, so there was no way of helping him.

Before he could land his killing blow on Iida, and blast of fire shot through the alleyway just in time. I glanced over at the source of the attack to see none other than Todoroki.

"One after another..." The Hero Killer said. "There are a lot of people getting in my way today."

"Midoriya. You need to give more details in times like this." Todoroki said, holding up his phone. "You made me late."

"I see you're using your left side. I knew you'd warm up to the idea." I joked. Todoroki just looked at me and said nothing. "Still not a fan of the temperature puns, huh?"

"Why are you here?" Midoriya asked.

"Why? That's my line. It took me a few seconds to figure out what you meant since you only sent your location info."

Todoroki sent a sheet of ice down the alleyway, causing the Hero Killer to jump back even further. The ice also lifted up Midoriya and the other pro hero that was in the alley and brought them behind Todoroki.

"Don't worry. The pros will also get here in a few minutes." Todoroki said, sending another fiery attack at our opponent. "I won't let you kill these guys, Hero Killer."

"Todoroki, you can't let this guy see your blood!" Midoriya warned. "I think he controls his opponents' actions by ingesting their blood orally."

Speaking of which, how come I'm still kicking? I know my blood had to have been on his sword since he made my hand bleed. Then again, I notice that his katana is very finely made, so maybe my blood just got shaken off his sword with all the movement he was doing.

"I see why he uses blades then. I can just keep my distance and-" Todoroki wasn't able to finish as the Hero Killer flung a knife at him. He would have been stabbed in the face if he didn't move out of the way in time.

"You have good friends, Ingenium!" The Hero Killer said as he tried to follow up with a cut from his knife. Todoroki was able to block with an ice stalagmite but got distracted as he noticed that his opponent had thrown his sword up in the air. I jumped, grabbed it, and attempted to snap it over my knee. Before I had a chance to do so, the Hero Killer was already back on me.

He swung at me with another knife, forcing me to twist in midair to dodge it. I landed on the wall, but he kept the pressure going by jabbing his knife into the wall to hold himself up while he attacked with his free arm. I had to take care not to use my bleeding hand unless absolutely necessary, lest I track blood somewhere for the Hero Killer to take advantage of.

"Why are you three..." Iida began. "Please, stop! I've inherited my brother's name. I have to do it! That guy's mine!"

"You inherited it? That's strange." Todoroki replied as he attacked with both his fire and ice, bringing some of the offense off of me.

"Last I recall, your hero name was Tenya." I followed.

"The Ingenium I saw before didn't have that scornful look on his face, either. You've got a lot going on behind the scenes in your family, too, huh?"

Todoroki created another one of his giant ice walls to create space between us and the Hero Killer. It didn't have much effect however, as he swiftly diced up the wall into large chunks of ice.

"To block your own view against an opponent faster than you... What a foolish plan." He said.

"Do you have to talk like you're giving a play-by-play? It's kind of annoying now." I interjected as I grabbed one of the fallen pieces of ice and heaved it at him.

Todoroki readied another fire attack only to get shut down by two throwing knives getting lodged in his arm. Our enemy took the opening to try and finish off the other injured pro hero.

"Not again!" I said to myself.

Before he could pierce the hero's skull, Midoriya somehow jumped up and was able to grab the Hero Killer and drag him against the wall.

"I can move normally for some reason now!" Midoriya said.

"A time limit?" Todoroki speculated.

"No, that kid should've been the last one he got." The wounded hero said. "I can't move yet."

The Hero Killer elbowed Midoriya to get him off.

"Get back, Midoriya!" Todoroki warned as he sent another sheet of ice in their direction.

"He takes in a person's blood to keep them from moving." Midoriya began analyzing. "Since I got free first, I can think of three possible reasons. It could be less effective with more people, the amount ingested could affect how long it works, or there could be a difference in effectiveness based on a person's blood type!"

"Blood type? That's correct." The Hero Killer confirmed with a smile.

"This dude really snitched on himself..." I said, with a confused expression.

"I can't really do anything just by knowing his Quirk, though." Midoriya continued.

"I wanted to hurry up and carry those two out of here, but he can react so fast, he can avoid ice and fire." Todoroki added. "I think our best option is to hold on by avoiding close combat until the pros get here."

I really considered calling or at least texting Wringer on her phone, but I feel like the time that it'd take would give our opponent just enough of a ceasefire to be able to recuperate.

"There's gotta be a reason he strikes in secluded places though, right?" I said. "If he were so bold, he could pick people off in the middle of the day and get away with it. Which is why all his attacks happen individually in the dead of night."

"So with that logic, he likely struggles with crowd control. If we work in tandem, he could get overwhelmed." Midoriya reasoned.

"Take my deduction with a grain of salt, though. From what I've seen of this guy, he might just do that 'midnight assassination' schtick just for the hell of it."

"Alright, then. Todoroki, you've already shed too much blood. We'll distract him, so you can support us from behind!"

"That's a pretty big risk, but okay. The three of us will protect them!" Todoroki affirmed.

"Three against one, huh? It won't be easy." Said the Hero Killer. 

Midoriya and I both rushed him swiftly. I got in first and started sparring, being extra careful of the blades. By this point in the fight, I was getting more confident with fighting him, since I had grown accustomed to the ferocity of the Hero Killer's attacks. While I continued to parry and weave through his attacks, Midoriya would come from other angles and land hits. When things got dicey, we'd back off with Todoroki's support.

This is different from before. This isn't the same Todoroki. The old Todoroki might not have been so cooperative, and without his fire, this fight would be way harder.

I thought back to the Sports festival when Midoriya fought Todoroki. In the moment, I didn't think much of it, partially because I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I just assumed Midoriya riled up Todoroki to the point of using his fire. But everything became clear to me now. At the point when Todoroki used his fire, I noticed that his face was a little less resentful. I don't know what goes on in his life, but being the son of the second best hero must do stuff to you. And thinking now about the sheer heat that struck our faces when he first used his fire was a stark contrast to the blistering cold I felt when I fought him.
And now, he's a whole different beast.

"Midoriya! On your right!" Todoroki called out. Midoriya jumped out of the way as another fire attack was sent his direction. 

The Hero Killer tried to follow up, but I used a tether to snatch him down by the ankle. Without delay, he pulled on the cable to try and yank me closer to him. I detached my tether, but that led to me having to dodge once more.

He must be getting pissed by now, because his movements are starting to pick up more. I'm noticing the margin for error is starting to get a bit smaller now, too.

Midoriya tried to strike him from behind to keep some pressure off me, but the Hero Killer caught on, and was able to preempt his sneak attack by nicking his leg.

It definitely doesn't help that he's getting used to our strategy now. Straight up jumping him isn't going to work soon.

Todoroki was fortunately able to keep Midoriya from getting cut up even further by use of another fire attack. However, one little cut was all that needed to happen for him to get frozen again.

"Please stop..." Iida said with tears in his eyes. "I'm already..."

"If you want us to stop, then stand up!" Todoroki snapped back. "The only words I can say to you are: Look properly at what you want to be!"

Even while approaching Todoroki, the Hero Killer had somehow found time to fling a knife right towards where Midoriya was frozen, forcing me to divert attention away from helping Todoroki. I was just barely able to grapple it out of the air from a distance and pull it back to me with the cables. Knowing that the menacing guy with swords all over would never give me a chance to use it myself, I just flung it all the way across the street where he couldn't get it.

"We're kinda short on people right now. If any of those heroes would like to show up anytime today, I'd appreciate it." I said, starting to get a little winded.

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Midoriya commented. "Maybe there were more Nomus than we thought..."

Todoroki used another blast of fire, but this time, Stain dodged over and landed on a stray chunk of ice.

"From the right!" Midoriya called out.

I yanked the Hero Killer by the legs with a tether once more, making him lose balance in the air. "Watch your step." I quipped as I retracted the cable, learning from the last time.

He seemed to ignore me, despite having throwing off his assault on Todoroki several times by this point. He continued to sprint towards the source of the fire and ice that he was being pelted with.

"Ice and flame." Stain narrated. "No one's ever told you? You're too focused on your Quirk. You're being careless!"

"Why do you think we're still in hero school, dumbass?" I retorted as I latched on to his sword this time, throwing off his swings.

It seemed that the Hero Killer had finally gotten enough of my meddling and quipping, so he  decided to swing his sword in a way that would rip me off of the ground I was clinging to before forcefully flinging me into the wall.
He then took advantage of the opening he provided for himself to try and take Todoroki's arm off. He would have succeeded, had Iida not regained movement just in time. He dashed in and managed to snap the Hero Killer's sword whilst creating distance at the same time.

"About time you got in on the real action." I muttered.

"Todoroki, L/n, Midoriya, this has nothing to do with you three, and I apologize." Iida said, still seemingly regaining his bearings. "That's why I can't allow you all to bleed more than this!"

"It's no use trying to be reformed for appearance's sake." Said Stain.

"Here we go again with the damn monologuing..." I groaned.

"A person's essence does not change so easily. You will never be anything but a fake who prioritizes his own selfish desires. You are a cancer to society that warps the idea of heroes. Someone must set you straight."

"Have you considered using Twitter? You sound like you'd fit right in."

"He's an anachronistic fundamentalist." Todoroki added. "Iida, don't listen to the logic of a murderer."

"No, he's right." Iida replied. "I have no right to call myself a hero. Even so, I cannot give in. If I give in, then Ingenium will die."

"Out of the question." Said the Hero Killer with even more anger in his tone. He began to rush us, but Todoroki sent an even more fierce stream of fire in response.

"Idiot!" The injured pro hero yelled. "The Hero Killer is after me and that kid in white armor, right? Don't fight back. It'd be better if you ran away!"

"You're telling us this after I went and pissed him off?" I responded.

"It doesn't look like he'll even give me an opening to do that anyway." Todoroki added. "Something clearly changed just now. He's flustered."

While Todoroki applied pressure with his ice, I made it harder for him to dodge by approaching from the sides opposite from where the ice attacks were coming from. Things seemed to be getting easier at this point with the fact that the Hero Killer seemed to be tunneling in to just killing Iida and the other guy before he gets overwhelmed.

"You're in the way!" Shouted Stain as he flung a knife at Todoroki. Iida threw himself in the way before it could hit its mark. The Hero Killer threw one more which pinned Iida to the floor.

"Dude, you're such a hater." I commented as I zipped over to where he was and punched him square in the face. "Random question, what happened to your nose? Does the blood of innocents smell that bad?"

"Many people can't even stand the sight of blood, so I do what I must." He growled out as he swung at me fiercely. 

"Uh oh. Strawman fallacy. Can't have that." I said as I twisted in the air to dodge his attacks. I backed off to where Todoroki was so I could pull out the knives lodged in Iida's arm.

"Thank you, L/n!" Iida said as his engines started firing more than ever.

I caught on to what he wanted to do, so I zipped back up to the wall above where Stain was and used my other tether to hinder his movement as he ran down the wall just enough so that he wouldn't notice until it was too late.
Iida approached from the ground as a newly freed Midoriya had jumped from the side so the both of them could land powerful attacks at the same time on the Hero Killer.

Now if I can just reach his weapons and disarm him, this fight's in the bag...

I wasn't able to reach him in time, allowing Stain to regain his bearings and retaliate at Iida. He narrowly dodged the attack, giving him an opening to land a mighty blow to his stomach. Todoroki was finally able to land a plume of fire on the Hero Killer, who was almost completely out. I detached from the wall and dove towards Stain headfirst, before flipping and kicking with both of my legs, sending him straight down into the column of ice Todoroki formed under him.
Just to top it all off, I made sure to properly stick the landing after that display.

"Cleanup on aisle four. We've got a stain here tha-" I didn't get to finish my line as Iida and Midoriya both landed on top of me. "Come on, man!"

"Are you all okay?" Todoroki asked.

"More or less."

"He's probably knocked out after all that, right?" Midoriya said. 

"Then, let's restrain him and get out to the street." Todoroki suggested. "Is there anything to tie him up with?"

"I'm pretty sure there's a way to detach these tethers from my wrist..." I offered, fiddling with the gadget.

"Just in case, let's take all his weapons off him." Midoriya added.

"Right. Make sure you check his sleeves and his boots."

We pulled him down from the ice and started taking his weapons from him, one by one. In the end I counted a total of 14 blades, if we're including the ones he threw out during the battle.

"Native, can you move?" Midoriya asked the injured hero.

"Yeah, I'm okay now." He replied, lifting Midoriya up on his back. "You hurt your legs, right? Let me do this, at least."

"Thank you very much."

"That oughta hold him," I said, clapping my hands together to clean the dust after tying up Stain.

"Todoroki, I'll pull it!" Said Iida.

"Your arms are all messed up, right?" He replied. "I got it."

"Ladies, ladies, you're both plenty strong." I interjected, lifting Stain over one shoulder.

"Sorry guys. Even though I'm a pro, I was just in the way." Native apologized.

"No, I don't think you could've done anything one-on-one with the Hero Killer's Quirk." Midoriya replied.

"The dude's a walking cheat code..." I commented.

"Even fighting four-on-one with the guy making mistakes was a close shave." Todoroki remarked. "He was probably flustered and forgot about Midoriya's recovery time. Combine that with L/n's disruptions and Iida's final Reciproburst and he just found himself overwhelmed, like we speculated."

"Now, let's quickly get him to the police-" Said Native.

"Wha? Why are you here?" Asked a voice from across the street. We looked to see an elderly man in a hero suit.

"Gran Torino!" Midoriya called out. 

In a flash, the old man jumped over from across the street to deliver a kick to Midoriya's face.

"I thought I told you to stay seated on the bullet train!" He scolded. 

"Who's that?" Todoroki asked.

"The hero I'm interning with. But why is he here?" Said Midoriya.

"I was told to come here all of a sudden." Said Gran Torino, still fuming. "Well I don't really know what's going on, but I'm glad you're okay.

Shortly after, I heard the sound of footsteps landing behind me. I turned to see a visibly upset Wringer glaring at me. She grabbed me by the collar and shook me back and forth.

"If you were going to fight the Hero Killer, of all villains, why the hell didn't you call me!?" She shouted in my face. 

"Well, he was kinda scary, and you always tell me not to text and fight, anyways!" I defended, still being shaken.

"They don't call him the Hero Killer because he goes around handing out candy! Or because he's such an upstanding guy or whatever. They call him that because he KILLS people. ACTIVELY."

"Could you at least not shake me while I'm carrying him? I feel like he'd snap awake at any moment..."

"I'll kick his ass if he wakes up! Right now, I'm more concerned about you throwing yourself in danger instead of telling me about it ASAP."

"I'm sorry..."

She finally stopped shaking me. "We'll talk later, alright? For now, I'm just glad you're okay, more or less."

While she was scolding me, another party of heroes had arrived around the corner.

"Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but..." One of them trailed off.

"Children?" Another questioned.

"Those injuries look serious!" Said a male hero. "I'll call an ambulance right away."

One of them noticed the person I was carrying on my back. "Don't tell me... It's the Hero Killer? Call the police too!"

"You three," Called Iida. "You were injured because of me. I am truly sorry." He was fighting back tears in his eyes now. "I couldn't... see anything... through my anger..."

I considered making a joke about eyeglasses but I decided against it in the moment.

"I'm sorry, too." Said Midoriya. "Even though you were feeling so cornered, I didn't notice at all. Even though we're friends..."

"Pull yourself together. You're the class rep, right?" Todoroki said encouragingly. 

"And besides," Wringer began to add, placing a hand on my head. "This scrappy little bugger would've found a way to get himself hurt anyway. Might as well do it while saving a friend, right?"

In the end, the fight against the Hero Killer had only took about ten minutes, though it felt like an eternity to us. Luckily, we'd finally be able to get some rest.

Or so I thought.

"Get down!" Yelled Gran Torino. I heard a shriek coming from the end of the street. Though it was hard to make out in the night sky, it looked to be another winged Nomu flying around.

"Midoriya, watch yourself!" I warned, but he wasn't able to move in time. The Nomu had snatched him up and started flying off with him.

Wringer was able to grapple on to one of its legs before it flew too far, but the thing's wingbeats created a gust so powerful that it was pushing every one of us back a bit. Just then, I felt a weight get lifted off of my back as I noticed that the Nomu had stopped flapping its wings.

"There's no way he-" I said to myself as I looked to see the Hero Killer nowhere to be found except dashing to the now plummeting Nomu.

"This society overgrown with fake heroes..." He said out loud.

"Is he... narrating himself?" Wringer asked.

"Don't worry about it at this point." I responded, exasperated.

"...and the criminals who wave their power around idly..." He continued as he jabbed a knife into the Nomu's head, killing it instantly. "...should all be purged. This is all to create a more just society."

"Midori-" I started before Wringer put her hand up to stop me.

"Give it a sec..." She whispered.

Stain stood up, letting go of his grip on Midoriya. He slowly turned, allowing the mask around his eyes to fall to the ground.

"You fakes..." He bellowed. The atmosphere almost felt as if it had turned red, just for what this man was saying. "I must make things right. Someone must be dyed in blood. I must take back what it means to be a hero! Come! Try and get me, you fakes! The only one I'll let kill me is the true hero... All Might!"

Everyone seemed to be frozen, even Endeavor, who had just arrived. I shakily took a fighting stance in preparation for a possible attack. However the attack never came. I saw his knife drop to the floor as he seemed to stop in his tracks. A close look at his face would tell that he had blacked out while standing up.

The other heroes stood back in silence. Others fell to the ground in awe. Even Wringer, who always seemed to be too confident or too much of a jokester to be afraid of anything, admitted to me later that even she was shaken by the resolve of the Hero Killer.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket in the minutes following as police arrived. I checked it to see that Toru was calling me.

"Hello." I answered.

"Y/n? Are you okay?! I just got off from doing hero work and I see this breaking news about a villain attack in Hosu City! And then they cut to this drone footage of you and some other hero fighting two of those things from the U.S.J.!"

"Slow down, Toru. I'm okay. I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Alive isn't good enough! I need you to tell me you're not bleeding out on the pavement right now!"

I looked down at my hand that had just gotten patched up by the paramedics. 

"I'm not bleeding anymore..."

"..." I heard silence from her end.

"Shit, I mean I was never bleeding to begin with!"

"Y/n! You're gonna give me a heart attack, I swear..."

"I mean, at the end of the day, we won. We beat the Hero Kille-" I paused, realizing my mistake. I winced, bracing for what she was gonna say next.

"YOU WERE FIGHTING THE HERO KILLER?! WHY?! ARE YOU NUTS?!"

"Well, he stabbed Iida! And Iida's brother! Then he tried to stab me! Several times!"

"...I-I need to go. I need to think about some stuff." I could hear her voice breaking a bit.

"Oh, shit, wait. Don't hang up. I'm so sorry."

But she had already gone. I put my phone back in my pocket and planted my face in my palms as I squatted down to process everything. 

"I'm such a screw-up, I'm such a screw-up..." I repeated to myself.

Todoroki approached me as I was beating myself up about it.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Well, I think I just made my best friend cry. And she just hung up on me after telling me she needed to think about stuff. But that's just an average Wednesday, isn't it..."

He squatted down to my level. "Communication is hard. And sometimes that causes the people we care about to worry about us. Because we have feelings we don't know how to express."

"It's just... I don't want her to stress out about me, but I keep doing shit that stresses her out and at this point, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

"I get how you feel. I say give it some time and make amends when neither of you are emotional about things."

I looked at him for a few seconds. "You know, you're an okay guy, Todoroki."

"...I half-expected you to say I'm pretty cool, or something."

"So you do like the temperature puns."

"I don't know about 'like'. More like I'm accustomed to them."

I resumed sulking in silence for a little while longer. Strangely enough, it was easier for my brain to process the run-in with the Hero Killer than my conversation with Toru. It didn't quite feel real. It just stung a bit to have her yell at me.
I resolved that there was nothing to be done at the present moment, and that I should follow Todoroki's advice.

Here's hoping it works out...

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Another one down! This chapter was actually a lot of fun to write, though I don't know why. At any rate, I hope you all enjoyed.
I'm noticing that I'm starting to include more back-and-forth dialogue (like long conversations) in my writing now, so I should find a way to structure them better in the future. As always, if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism, don't be afraid to drop 'em in the comments.
Anyways, that's enough out of me. Thank you all for 200 votes, and I'll catch y'all next time.

7144 words. Finished and published on 10-12-23