Chapitre 2106: 36
Chapter Text
Izuku swallowed as he looked over Hosu's night-time cityscape. Nerves were dancing around his gut, twisting it into knots. Somewhere down there in the city was Katsuki Bakugo. Izuku's first friend and his biggest tormenter. The person who Izuku, despite everything, tried to defend and help only for it to backfire and give Katsuki the chance to run and cause problems for the heroes.
"Take a deep breath, kid." Shade said as she crouched next to him. "Tell me the plan."
"What?" Izuku asked. They both knew the plan. They had just left the meeting where the plan was discussed and made.
Shade stared at him, and he couldn't tell what her face was like behind her mask. "Come on. Run me through how we're gonna bring Lord Explosion down."
Izuku realized she was trying to get him to calm down and refocus. "Um... we've been split into ten teams of two. We're to scour the city top to bottom, each team sticking to their own section while trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Upon contact with Lord Explosion, the team will ping their location with a message saying LE and then attempt to arrest Lord Explosion while the others move in to assist."
Shade nodded. "And if we come into contact with Stain?"
"Then the team will send their location with an S and then perform delaying tactics but won't try to arrest him until the rest of the teams arrive," Izuku responded automatically. He really hoped they didn't run into Stain.
"Good. Which do we prioritize if both are found by our people?"
"We prioritize Stain. He's more dangerous than Bak- Lord Explosion; he needs to be off the streets first."
Shade stood up. "Good, now let's go; it's time to start."
Izuku stood and made sure his mask was secure. His nerves felt a little less on edge as they started moving.
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"So, as you know, most heroes don't patrol later at night. We've got probably two more hours of standard hero patrol time, then the underground heroes will take over." Xeno leaned over as he and Mina walked. "Though honestly, they're most likely already out and patrolling the parts of the city we aren't at. A good overlap of patrol routes helps keep criminals from being able to do much."
Mina nodded as she took in the info. She was getting used to patrolling the mutant quirk neighborhoods, but Xeno said they couldn't just stick around there, so they were heading to one of the busier streets. It wasn't so bad; she was used to people staring at her sometimes though there was a bit more than usual since a famous pro was with her chatting happily to her and anyone who said hi as they walked by.
All in all, the patrol was going well, and Mina felt like she had been learning a lot. Then the air shifted, and Mina's stomach dropped as she watched the swirling purple portal of Kurogiri open up above an intersection, and three nomu fell from the portal, landing on several cars.
There was a beat of silence before all hell broke loose as the nomu started indiscriminately destroying the area and attacking civilians. Xeno cursed and started running towards the chaos as he shouted. "Acid Queen, start leading people away from the area! Make sure no one gets left behind! The other sidekicks will be here soon; assist them once they arrive!"
Mina nodded. "Understood."
Acid Queen spotted some people too stunned to run away and ran over to them to help them get on their feet and away from the danger.
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Tenya ran behind Manual and several other heroes towards the chaos. His internship hadn't been going how he had hoped. When he arrived, Manual informed him that they would be working with several other heroes of the Hosu area. He didn't even have a chance to look for Stain, which infuriated him even more.
As they approached the intersection where the chaos had started, they had to scatter as a car went flying at them. The hero's spotted Xeno King blasting his purple fire at the two nomu on the ground while another hero attempted to get himself out of the grip of the flying nomu.
As Tenya got to his feet, a flash of red caught his eye, and he saw him. The man who hurt his older brother Stain. The villain ran down an alleyway, and Tenya was giving chase before he could even fully think about the situation.
Mina watched in disbelief as her classmate suddenly sprinted away from the action. Mina weighed her options before running up to Xeno King as he fell back to catch his breath. She quickly explained what she saw, and Xeno cursed. "Manual!"
The hero in question ran over after putting out a car fire. "What's happening, Xeno?"
"Your intern ran off somewhere. Acid Queen can go get him back-"
"No!" Manual cut in. "No, he probably ran off to go after Stain. You can't just send your intern by herself."
Xeno cursed and quickly examined the situation before tapping his earpiece. "Drake, you're in charge now. I'm going after someone who's likely going after Stain."
He got an affirmative and turned to Mina. "Come on, Acid Queen, I'd rather have you with me than in this fight."
Mina swallowed her nerves and gave an affirmative. Manual wished them luck before running back into the fight against the nomu. Xeno followed Mina's directions, and they started looking for Tenya and possibly Stain.
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Izuku stared at the light of the fires burning in the distance. Shade's voice cut through his thoughts as she said. "Focus Hypno. I think I see something down there."
Izuku tore his eyes away from the chaos happening elsewhere and silently hoped Mina and Tenya weren't too involved in it. He stopped on the roof next to Shade and looked down. In the dim light, they could see a figure moving quickly down the alleyway.
Shade nodded to Izuku before started to descend. Izuku quickly followed behind her, and the two landed on either side of the figure who clicked his tongue, and Izuku was fairly sure they had hit the mark. Shade stepped towards the man. "Lord Explosion, you're under arrest. Give up and come quietly."
Izuku saw her nod as she spoke, and he quickly sent off the signal informing the other groups to come to their position. He hoped they got here soon because he really didn't want to have to fight Katsuki.
"You two-bit extras aren't gonna stop me. Move before you get hurt." Katsuki said as he stomped toward Shade, who grabbed a smoke grenade off her bandolier.
Izuku sighed internally. He really hadn't changed at all. Izuku activated his quirk, and Katsuki turned as the green smoke poured from Izuku's arm and formed a ring around Izuku.
"Deku." The venom dripping from Katsuki's voice made Izuku shiver. He hadn't been the subject of this kind of hate for a long time, but old wounds still ached like they happened yesterday.
Izuku shifted his feet and unfurled his fans. But unlike back then, he wasn't going to just lay down and take it. He wasn't going to go easy on Katsuki because of an old friendship that died long ago. "Lord Explosion, surrender now. You won't be hurting anyone else anymore."
Katsuki screamed as he blasted himself towards Izuku, and as his feet touched down, Izuku saw the right hook coming and willed his gas to rise, hoping to just hit Katsuki in the face and end this, but Katsuki was nothing if not smart.
As Izuku was stepping back to avoid the right hook and willing his gas up, Katsuki's hand sparked, and an explosion blew Izuku's gas away and sent Izuku tumbling back. Before Katsuki could follow up with another attack, Shade intervened, blocking his vision of Izuku as her foot connected with the back of Katuski's knee, making him drop.
Shade jumped to the side as Katsuki fired off an explosion and quickly put distance between them while blowing her smoke away. "You good Hypno?"
"Yes, ma'am," Izuku said as he stood next to Shade and stared down Katsuki, who gritted his teeth and stared at Izuku with murder in his eyes.
"Deku, you fuck. You ruined my life and then mock me by making them 'go easy on me.' You even tricked All Might."
Izuku sighed. He was kinda regretting his choice of words back then. "I didn't think Nezu would actually get All Might to talk to you. Not like it matters, though. This isn't my fault Bakugo. You chose this path, and you ignored every chance you got. I'm done trying to help you. It's time for you to surrender and take your punishment."
"I never needed your help, you useless fuck! You've done nothing but ruin my life!" Katsuki screamed as he launched himself at the heroes and readied explosions.
Shade and Hypno were on the defensive for the most part. Shade had experience on her side, and Izuku was tough, but it was a bad quirk match-up, and Katsuki was a natural fighter. They knew that going into this, but they were heroes, and Katsuki needed to be off the streets before he killed someone.
A huge factor that Izuku hadn't thought of until Katsuki started screaming at him that was making it easier was Katsuki's hatred of him. Based on reports, Katsuki usually avoided confronting heroes, choosing to run from them. This time though, Izuku, the perceived source of all of Katsuki's problems, was standing in front of him in a hero costume with a code name and interning with a hero, all things Katsuki felt he was robbed of.
Katsuki yelled as he threw an explosion as he flew through the air. Izuku slid under the explosion and sent a shaft of gas up, which Katsuki was barely able to twist and avoid. As the explosive vigilante landed, Shade closed the gap and delivered an ax kick to Katsuki's shoulder.
With a crack, Katsuki cried out and pushed her back with an explosion and stumbled away, gripping his now dislocated shoulder. His eyes flicked around as panic started to set in, and then all three fighters stopped and watched as two portals opened and two nomu stepped out between Katsuki and Izuku.
One of the nomu was a gray-skinned quadruped with an exposed brain and six eyes evenly spaced around its head, giving three-sixty vision. The other was a tall, lanky black-skinned nomu with a single large eye sticking out the front of its brain.
The lanky nomu's eye started to glow, and Shade shoved Izuku to the side before diving in the opposite direction as a laser fired from the eye and sliced through the concrete of the alleyway.
Shade stood up as the nomu started to advance on Katsuki. "Fuck... hurry up, everyone; we could really use some help now."
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Tenya cursed as Stain's blade took his helmet off, barely missing the hero in training's eye. Tenya stumbled back, and Stain thrust his blade forward and stabbed Tenya in the shoulder before quickly pulling it back and licking the blood off it, causing Tenya to freeze up and fall to the ground.
Stain looked into the hate-filled eyes of this newcomer. He resembled Ingenium, someone Stain considered a true hero but not a strong enough hero to stop him and fix this broken world. "Who are you, boy? Why do you look like Ingenium?"
Tenya grit his teeth and let out all his pent-up emotions and feelings. "I'm his younger brother! I'm here to avenge him and make you pay for all the pain and suffering you've caused, Stain! I'll kill you and make sure no one is ever hurt by you again!"
Stain clicked his tongue. "Another false, I see. You're so driven by your hatred that you've lost sight of the path if you even saw it in the first place." Stain approached him slowly as he readied his sword. "I will remove you before you have a chance to taint this world. Your death will be another step forward to a better world full of true heroes."
The Hero Killer jumped back suddenly as a spray of acid shot over Tenya's head and melted the floor where Stain had been standing. Tenya strained his eyes to look over, and he saw Mina and Xeno King standing a few feet behind him. "Why are you here?! Ashido-"
Xeno stepped forward as purple wisp of fire dripped from his mouth as he spoke. "Quiet down, young man. I'm not sure why you decided to pursue such a dangerous villain alone, but I'll let Manual discipline you. For now, stay there and let me handle this."
Xeno looked back at Mina. "get these two out of here and call for backup. Then come back and play support."
Stain grunted as he adjusted his grip on his katana. "Xeno King. A true hero who uses his power and money to help uplift the downtrodden and speak out against the injustice of this world. You use the system to accomplish good things."
Xeno grinned. "Oh, a fan. Well, I'd love to sign something for you, so why not hand over the katana, and I'll sign it."
Stain adjusted his footing and brandished his sword. "While you are a true hero, I will not simply surrender. If you are strong enough to defeat me, then I will believe the world can be saved."
"Then I guess I'll have to defeat you, Stain," Xeno said as he adjusted his footing, and Mina took up position behind him, ready to grab Native and Tenya.
Xeno sucked in his breath, and purple flames bellowed down the alleyway as Stain jumped back to avoid them. At the same time, Mina rushed over and helped Tenya to his feet. "Damn it, Iida, use your legs. I know you wanna take him on for your brother's sake but cooperate with me here."
"I can't," Tenya said. "He stabbed me and licked the blood. After that, I couldn't move. I apologize, but please leave me here; this is my fight."
Mina scoffed as she dragged him out of the alleyway. "Shut up. You're not a licensed pro yet, and besides, do you think this is gonna make your brother happy? Breaking the law and going after some villain by yourself? I thought you were smarter than this."
Tenya opened his mouth but closed it as Mina set him down and pulled her phone out. For her internship, like everyone else, she was granted temporary access to the HN. she fired off a message giving her location and info about the situation. "Iida, just sit here and wait for the other heroes to show up."
Tenya watched as Mina ran back into the alleyway to retrieve Native. He thought about what she said about how his brother would feel about this. He had broken the rules; he knew that, but... what else was he supposed to do? Let others get hurt and possibly die trying to bring Stain in? Though... Stain had just been very close to killing him as well. What would his death have accomplished?
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Izuku snapped his fans shut and delivered a series of strikes to the one-eyed nomu's joints cracking its knee and making it kneel. As it did, Mr.Brave jumped from above and drove his sword into its brain. "Hypno, CrossHatch, and Twin Shot go chase down Lord Explosion and the other nomu. We'll be right behind you once we're sure this thing is dead."
"Yes, sir." The three cried out as they ran down the alleyway. Izuku looked back at Shade, who was getting her leg bandaged. She had saved him and got her leg broken by the quadruped nomu just before help arrived.
As they ran CrossHatch, a girl a few years older than Izuku pointed down another side road. "Hypno go that way and try to cut them off. They're headed for the main road. Twin Shot and I will focus on the nomu you try to keep Lord Explosion from running if you can, but don't put your life at risk alright. You're still a student."
Izuku nodded and shouted, "yes ma'am." before running down the street, hoping he got there in time to cut Katsuki off.
This felt surreal to him. There was some kind of fight happening on the other side of the city from Izuku, and here he was chasing down his former bully and a nomu with help from a bunch of heroes. Izuku chuckled a bit as he remembered what Nezu told him when he learned that Katsuki had turned vigilante.
"So much for leaving it to the adults," Izuku said as nervous laughter bubbled up in his chest.
Izuku nearly tripped as he came to a stop just before the exit of the alleyway. He could hear Katsuki's explosions as he approached the exit. Izuku took a deep breath and pulled up a large cloud of gas, and right as Katsuki's hair started to poke around the edge, Izuku shoved the cloud forward, and Katsuki swore and blasted the cloud away before falling and tumbling onto the road.
Katsuki coughed and stumbled as he staggered to his feet. That bastard Deku had cut him off, and he breathed in some of his stupid quirk. His head felt dizzy as he stared at the fuck who ruined his life. "You bastard. You're too much of a coward to fight me face to face."
Izuku unclipped his fans, and gas leaked from his legs and slowly seeped out of the various vents in his pants. "Bakugo, just give up. You already breathed in some of my gas. You're not getting away, and you're not gonna be a hero doing this. You've broken the law so many times they're throwing you in prison this time, and no one can help you."
"I don't need anyone's help!" Katsuki slurred slightly as he struggled to stay standing. "I'm gonna show them all that I'm the best and that you're just a villain who ruins other people's lives."
Izuku sighed. "There's no helping you. I hope Auntie and Uncle aren't too torn up about you getting arrested."
Katsuki grit his teeth before charging at Izuku. He went to throw an explosive right hook, but Izuku dodged into him and tackled Katsuki to the ground, pulling him into a grapple as gas swirled and climbed to Katsuki's face.
Katsuki thrashed and tried to free himself, even landing several explosions to Izuku's side, but it wasn't working. Izuku powered through the pain and forced his gas into Katsuki's face before suddenly applying pressure to Katsuki's arm, making the explosive vigilante gasp in pain before realizing his mistake as he sucked in enough gas to force himself to sleep.
Izuku held Katsuki for a few moments to make sure he was out cold before slowly untangling himself as CrossHatch and Twin Shot came out looking a little battered from their fight with the quadruped nomu. CrossHatch smiled. "Nice going Hypno."
Izuku set about securing Katsuki as Twin Shot called Mr. Brave and informed him of the situation. Lord Explosion had been caught, and the second nomu was dead. Once Katsuki was secured, and they were just waiting for the police and other heroes to show up, Izuku sat down and stared at his former bully. Katsuki looked tired, and his hair was dyed. He had been on the run for a while and had fought a lot before Izuku and Shade showed up. Idly Izuku wondered if they would have caught Katsuki if he hadn't been worn down beforehand.
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Stain bit back his anger as purple flames consumed his sword arm, and he felt his stamina rapidly draining before he could pat it out. Xeno rushed the hero killer and ducked under the killer's sword before delivering a powerful punch to the man's sternum and sending him stumbling back.
Xeno hopped back as he sucked in a breath and sent a quick shot of fire that made Stain jump back more. Xeno clicked his tongue and thought, 'Damn, this guy has some stamina. I'm running out of flames here. Where the hell is backup?'
Stain rushed the hero suddenly but was forced to back off as a shot of acid nearly hit him. The hero killer glared at Mina, who was still assisting Xeno King even after taking a throwing knife to the arm. The girl was persistent, and her aim was solid, much to Stain's annoyance. If he didn't end this soon, there would be more heroes-
A screeching noise caught everyone's attention, and Mina cursed loudly as the flying nomu descended from the sky suddenly and sank its claws into her shoulders before taking off again. As they rose, Xeno turned his back on Stain and rushed to help his intern.
Mina winced and cursed as she rose higher up and tried to lift her arms. It was no good the claws were keeping her from getting an angle. Her mind was panicking as she saw the ground get farther and farther away. Toru and Izuku came to mind suddenly, and an idea struck her. Mina sucked in a deep breath before forcing her quirk out on her face and making it as viscous as she could.
Mina jerked her head to one side, sloping the thick acid off her head and onto the leg of the nomu, which quickly started to dissolve, making the creature scream as it lost its grip on Mina and the remaining leg's claws tore through her shoulder. Mina cried out in pain as she started to fall towards the street.
She couldn't do anything to break her fall, and they were several stories up. Mina felt tears being ripped from her eyes as the ground approached. Her partners were the only thing on her mind as she closed her eyes and plummeted.
Mina's eyes shot open as something rammed into her from the side, and she saw Tenya had run and jumped, intercepting her midair. The two hit the ground hard but managed to break the fall. Mina heard Tenya cry out in pain and looked over after regaining her bearings to see he had landed badly and broken his arm.
Xeno was suddenly in her vision as he looked her over and anxiously asked. "You ok Acid Queen? Can you tell me how you're feeling?"
Mina winced as she tried to move. "Everything hurts."
"You're bleeding a lot. Don't worry, though; the ambulance and police are coming."
Mina nodded before panic gripped her. "Wait, what about Stain?"
Before Xeno could answer, a plume of orange fire sent Stain flying into the street, and as he stood, a fire hydrant broke, and the water was redirected and hit the killer in the face. Endeavour stepped out of the alleyway flanked by Manual, the other heroes, and Shoto, who looked surprised when he saw Tenya and Mina.
Xeno helped Mina to her feet as he said. "They'll take Stain down. Let's get you and your classmate to safety."
As Mina and Tenya were pulled farther from the fight, they could see the heroes keep the pressure on Stain, and after a final desperate act failed, the Hero Killer was brought down.
Notes:
this chapter was kinda fun to write. poor Toru though she wasn't in Hosu for all the fun. a little preview though the next chapter will show what Toru's up to and also what Himiko is getting up to. I know it's been a bit since we saw everyone's favorite vampire but her story will be taking its next step in the coming chapters.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone