Chương 19: Chapter 19: Festering Evil
Stain loathed what he was about to do.
He was a crusader, a staunch believer in the ideals of the old ways of heroism before the corruption took over the modern Hero Society. He was always alone in his fight, and he wouldn't compromise his ideals under any circumstance.
However, these days were different. A dark shadow overwhelmed his mission, jeopardizing his life's work. Something that he could not hope to overcome alone, not without significant assistance.
The Hero Hunter.
Garou, the despicable hypocrite… yet a powerful one he could not overcome.
Once upon a time, Stain challenged Garou in the dark of night. Unlike the rest of the villains, he wanted no part of being in the public spotlight. His work was meant to be in the shadows, where the world could not see.
However, he suffered greatly for that, beaten black and blue, and left in the trash as an insult - as if to show that he was nothing special, just… garbage to throw out like the rest of those he preyed upon.
If he wished to move forward, he must break some taboos and seek… aid from others that shared his concern about the Hero Hunter of all people. The alliance would be temporary at best, meaning he could dispose of them after dispatching the Hero Hunter.
No matter what the Hero Hunter claimed himself to be, he is still a man, and men can be killed. Stain would make sure of it one way or another.
Even so, Stain didn't like the patrons that invited him and those like him. Out of all the villains, these were among the worst kinds, a cult of hypocrites that spout freedom while causing as much chaos as the villains.
The Meta Liberation Front was a terrorist organization founded by the now-deceased Destro, the legendary figure crushed by the allied nations' combined forces years ago. After that, the Meta Liberation Army vanished from the face of Earth, or so everyone believed. To his surprise, they were still thriving in the shadows, away from the notice of the world.
While Stain abhorred Garou for his actions, Stain at least agreed with Garou's disdain for the overreliance of Quirks in general. These people were the epitome of Quirk dependence, the kind that revolved their world around their unearned special abilities. Stain views Quirks as nothing more than tools to be used and nothing more. Relying on Quirks solely breeds lethargy.
And one of them personally invited Stain with a letter, using his personal defeat as the leading hook and bait to come. And Stain must admit, it had worked substantially.
Stain arrived at Deika City in a car driven by one of the members, where the secret organization resided. Stain was reluctant to join them, but the invitation arrived with gifts, a new sword, armor, and other contraband suitable for his needs - the quality of the items rivaling those of heroes'. The messenger told him they were custom made for him.
Stain usually didn't care about such weapons as he was able to make do with his own carefully honed skills, but after that one faceoff with the Hero Hunter in the night of Hosu, his confidence failed to heal alongside his body.
The Hero Hunter left him there in that alley amongst the trash bags without a word and didn't give him a second glance. He had never faced such humiliation before. Not a single policeman was there to arrest him when he woke up. The citizens didn't report or take notice of him in that alleyway. He was defeated and forgotten in that single moment when he ambushed him from above.
Just how a fisherman threw the fish back into the pond for being too small.
It was a certain humiliation more extreme than anything he felt before. This wasn't like facing Heroes and Villains like before, no, not this defeat.
This was a soul-crushing sensation one would receive after losing to a competitor, one whose career lifespan was barely a few months old, a fellow hunter of false heroes that symbolized everything he stood against, and still crushed him and his ideals.
That was why Stain decided to accept the invitation. He wanted to reclaim his pride with the death of the Hero Hunter.
"We are almost there, Mr. Stain." The driver stated as he stopped at the exit of the highway lane descent. "What do you think of our base?"
Stain looked out the window, seeing skyscrapers boxed in by the wilderness green and pastoral fields. He did not comment, for there was no need to. Right now, his only focus was to end the Hero Hunter and the plague of his existence. Right now, both the Heroes and Villains were powerless against this one man, which was a first in recorded history as far as he knew.
If Garou continued to remain dominant without repercussion, both heroes and villains would be crushed under his heel.
The car drove into the city past the checkpoint, the scenery of a calm town passing by the windows.
The driver drove them through between the buildings without taking any turns towards the center's tallest building. It was a spire of glass windows, the topping of the skyscraper decorated in the shape of a round onion holding satellite rods on its head.
Stain could see other cars like his up ahead, parked by the tallest building until the passengers left their rides, heading towards the building. The passengers were of his kind; Villains cloaked in their dark menacing costumes.
"Woooowie. Gotta say, we sure are packing with enlisters!" The driver commented before he parked by the sidewalk.
"Off you go, mister Stain. Oh, and don't worry about directions. A guide will come for the reception."
Stain did not answer as he pushed the car door open, heading out with a snarl.
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"Welcome to the headquarters of the Meta Liberation Front, honored guests!" A woman bedecked in gems announced before the podium on a dais.
Her hands were like topaz while her fingernails were like faceted rubies. Diamonds seemingly replacing the soft eyeballs as her sight, her hair was sapphire blue, tied in a ponytail, and her face was like that of a doll's. Her uniform seemed designed for the sexual appeal more than efficiency, grey-white, skintight with patterns across the surface mimicking the faceted look of polished gems, as she stood on blunted high heels.
"As you know, my name is Gem! I will be your host for the Meta Liberation Army's first convention of guest Villains since… like ever!" She jubilantly announced with a flamboyant twirl, flicking the hair of her ponytail as she gestured to the flat white wall behind her.
"I don't need to explain why we invited you all over to our little hideout. We are all here for one thing, and that thing is tearing at the throats of our little order of heroes and Villains. Need I say his name?"
Many scowls and frowned appeared on the faces of the audience before her. Whispered growls hummed in her ear before they dimmed back to silence.
"Before we start, I would like to point out some rules for the sake of our organization. One, do not vandalize the property while you're here." Gem narrowed her eyes at some of the villains that were scoffing mockingly at her.
"Two, no infighting in town. We absolutely do not need the heroes to catch a whiff of our scent in this crucial period, don't you agree? Three, no murder. I know you are all villains, but surely there should be some modicum of respect for at least the most important rules, at least for now." Gem forewarned.
The light of a projector shone on the white wall behind Gem. All eyes laid onto the screen as the picture of a certain man appeared.
"Now, without further ado, time to start the presentation with an introduction of our glorious organization."
All of the villains knew the face of the man on the screen. His hair was light brown, worn in a simple ponytail. His uniform was military in origin, dark-green grey with a red corrugated ascot. Black ink streaked across his eyes, functioning like a Rorschach mask for his eyes.
Every villain knew the founder of the Meta Liberation Army. Destro, the man who incited all the major countries to act against him, succeeded in his defeat.
"I do not need to introduce the man behind me. As you all know, he is the founder of our wonderful institution, to create a world where no one can restrain us from our Quirks. But our history is not what you're here for, aren't you?" Gem flashed a smile, showing her sparkly, crystalline teeth.
"To cut to the point for the impatient ones out there, we are not dead as the world believed. No, in fact, we are the legacy of Destro's ideals, and as for the name of our current leader… well, let's just say his name is privy to anyone willing to join us. Now, moving on to the most important topic!" Gem threw her arm to gesture to the screen as it transitioned to another man, the man that garnered many faces of anger and fear amongst the audience.
The Demon of Hosu, The Hunter Amongst Villains, the Destroyer of Heroes, The Hero Hunter himself - Garou.
"As you all know, the now costumed man you see is the reason we reached out to every villain interested in his downfall."
The projected screen then shifted to Garou, scenes flickering from him battling heroes and Villains, from Mt Lady to Mirko, moving on towards the other heroes that challenged Garou during the last two weeks, including top heroes like Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, Crimson Riot, and Yoroi Musha along with lesser-known heroes like Death Arms, Gunhead, and more. The heroes were starting to challenge Garou more often, more out of the need to challenge themselves than apprehend the menace threatening the balance of Good and Evil, after the Hosu-Native Hero Ingenium requested a spar in front of the Hero Hunter and others in public.
"As you can see," Gem gestured to the recording of Garou fighting Ingenium, "this is the Hero Hunter, currently known as the Demon of Hosu at the moment."
The screen showed the Demon entertaining the local hero's request, knocking the armored man down, again and again, only this time he allowed Ingenium to walk away with minor bruises.
"I do not need to say much about how infamous and terrifying the Demon of Hosu is to you lot, yes? And why we all want to see him gone?"
Her rhetoric question received many disgruntled snorts and snarls along with silence and wordless glares.
"Good." Gem smiled at the villains, disregarding their menacing mien. "During our careful observation of The Demon of Hosu and his activities, we have come to learn something interesting if we graph the rate of his Hunts up to recent times, his frequency of brutalities have… degraded with each month."
The villains started to murmur in agreement in the seats.
"As for why we do not know. All we know is that the Demon's iconic atrocities have come to a cease, well, active atrocities. There are still Villains foolish enough to challenge the Demon of Hosu. As for why, it is either their confidence stems from the statement of Garou's 'Quirklessness' or their confidence in sheer numbers, according to some data we accrued from questioning." Gem continued her narration as the screen flicked to Garou, facing some Villains.
The audience watched as the masked man proceeded to thrash his challengers with skill and violence, a graceful mix of the two that inspired awe and fear simultaneously. Despite the villains' hatred for the masked man, they still could not withhold their respect for the Hunter Amongst Villains.
"At least they will serve as our sacrifices to understand the Demon of Hosu's tactics, which we will now move onto." Gem smiled as the screen flicked towards Garou facing the Top Ten heroes, showing a screen pic of Garou smashing his palm into Edgeshot's paper-thin chin with success, a picture of Garou smacking Crust's head with Crust's own shield, and the picture of Garou decimating Crimson Riot once more.
"As you can see, we have spent many hours deciphering the Hero Hunter's skills and tactics. In this screen, you are seeing the Hero Hunter's ability to challenge any Hero in close range, regardless of their Quirks, with ease. After Garou's victory over the Rabbit Hero, we have concluded that his ability to match All Might in strength has some credence."
The screenshots changed to snapped photos of Garou facing giant Villains, some prerecorded scenes which the Villains watched as Garou tore into three gigantified villains at the same time.
"Size nor Quirks doesn't matter to the Hero Hunter. Not even the newcomer Mt Lady could survive a single second in the presence of the Hero Hunter. However, reminding you of his dangers isn't what my guests came here for, no?" Gem giggled as the screen flickered to several screenshots of the Hero Hunter deflecting miscellaneous projectiles and some long-range Quirks.
"However, there is one thing we are sure of. He has no long-range attacks as far as we know. As you can see, Garou facing off against Death Arms, he danced around the Hero's bone bullets with ease and took him out with a single blow. The same case went for every other Villain that dared to attack him from a distance, so we might be able to use this to our advantage. However, there is a problem."
Gem pointed at the recorded scenes behind her, at Garou brushing away every form of long-range attacks and other Quirks, redirecting trajectories of all manners of harm, physical or energy.
"For some reason, Garou can deflect all manners of Quirks with his hands alone, which should be impossible for a Quirkless man. Not only that, the man has an uncanny resistance to… certain Quirks." Gem pursed her lips as she showed Garou's scene staring down at a certain masked villain holding a beige faceless doll in his hands. The man looked middle age, his skin dark brown, the mask covering only the top half of his face, letting his confident smile show to the world.
"This is the villain, Witch Doctor. He is a wanted man with the infamous ability to control his victims with his doll, and I am not kidding, made out of his skin and hair. However, his weakness is that making a doll like this requires time and effort, and he can only control one person at a time. It did not work on Garou."
The Villains watched as Garou planted the Witch Doctor's head into the stone, walking away back to his spot as the ambulance entered the ring to pick up the Villain away.
"As for why, we do not know, but a second opinion is welcome. Do any of you care to share your thoughts on the matter?" Gem gestured to her guests in the seats.
The Villains started to mutter amongst themselves, filling the silent hall with chatter—one hand raised from the audience.
The hand was covered in yellow abrasive rock, or more accurately, in a glove with texture themed after rough stone. The man was tall, bore a very muscular physique, his orange hair stylized, and his skin pale as white. His attire was a baggy, navy blue bodysuit with very bulky, rock-like boots, gauntlets, and shoulders, various protrusions and holes coming out of them. On his face was a gas mask of metal covering his mouth with the tubes strapped to his shoulder pads.
"Ah, yes. The bulky gentleman in the back." Gem pointed at the man.
"These villains. Why? Why are they throwing themselves at the Hero Hunter?" The man gruffly rasped, taking deep breaths through his gas mask.
"That is a good question that we're trying to answer for ourselves for a while. According to our investigation, most of their motivation derives from… revenge." Gem explained.
"You telling me they signed their death warrants on a grudge? Is that even possible? Does the guy have the time to piss off that many cannon fodder?" The woman with the ashen gray ponytail next to the bulky man scoffed in response.
"Don't be mistaken. The Hero Hunter, in his early months, was almost like… a symbol. He was the Villains' symbol of hope. Of anarchy against the Hero Society. Don't forget that we have once considered him a revolutionary figure able to stand against the Heroes of Japan on his own, and he did inspire us… until he betrayed our expectations and hunted us as well." One of the other villains responded one with the left side of his face covered by a gray diving helmet with barnacle-shaped protrusions.
"Correct, the gentlemen over there." Gem pointed at the other speaker. "He had the strength to lead the villains in a new age and gave the impression of doing so. He was a Hero to the villains. But when the Hero betrays his subjects, however…"
"...it instills a grudge that would last a lifetime." Another Villain spoke out, the infamous Hero Killer, Stain.
"And leave an opportunity for another villain to replace him." Gem finished. "I take it some of you would wish to claim infamy from slaying Garou?"
The Villains remained silent, but there was some quiet laughter among them.
"Well, I do understand the appeal of obtaining the rewards of defeating Garou, loyalty, and a following of villains that would last a lifetime perhaps, but at this time, we must place our needs over our wants. Nothing about this situation is healthy. For all of us." Gem reminded the Villains of the point at stake.
"What about the rise in cliques 'inspired' by the Hero Hunter?"
Another Villain asked, raising his hand.
The individuals inspired by the Hero Hunter to hunt Heroes and Villains mostly to challenge the status quo did not affiliate themselves with Heroes nor Villains, only to ideals inspired by the Hero Hunter, or so they believed. They were summarily emulators, people trying to follow the Hero Hunter's way, and a spreading myth that they would be rewarded with great strength if one followed the Hunter's path.
No one knew who spread the myth, but there were a lot of pseudo-heroes and pseudo-villains fighting both Heroes and Villains nowadays in an attempt to break the Hero-Villain way of life. The only thing that separated them from the Villains was that they never dragged a bystander or any civilian into harm's way.
"Well, that is a difficult question to answer. Apparently, the Demon of Hosu has started a new trend with his… actions. I am sure some of you noticed the change after he set up shop in Hosu."
"That makes us wonder if he planned all this…" The half barnacle-helmeted villain muttered.
"Or if it was unintentional." The bulky volcano-themed villain scoffed.
"Either way, The Demon of Hosu's actions have touched our society in more ways than one, to our detriment. Whittling down our numbers as a symbol of our downfall. That does not change the fact that he is a menace that must be put down as soon as possible," Gem explained.
Another hand rose among the audience.
The villain in question was covered in many severed hands, his skin pale white, and his eyes peering through the hand holding his face.
"Interesting. I am curious." The Villain, Shigaraki Tomura, pointed at Gem. "One thing I want to know is, what is the Meta Liberation's purpose in bringing us all here?"
On his other hand, Tomura lifted the paper, the invitation, and a flyer, holding a list of benefits if one accepted the invitation.
"You are throwing quite a lot of money just to kill an arrogant pretender. I know your kind's preference for those with strong and powerful Quirks, those with Quirks in general. I sincerely doubted that your motive here is simply for the benefit of Villains overall… since 'generosity' is never in our nature."
Gem remained silent; her jubilant welcoming smile remained stoic as she stared at the villain covered in hands.
"What are you implying, Mr. Shigaraki? We are simply one of you share a common goal."
"I heard rumors that the Hero Hunter abhors Quirks," Shigaraki answered.
"Really?" The volcano-themed villain asked. "That's a new one. Where'd you heard it from?"
"Quiet. My sources do not concern you." Tomura disregarded him as the villain narrowed his eyes at Tomura.
"Back to the point, the Hero Hunter's ideals are gaining traction in the world… there is a small rise in protests in Japan opposing society's… value in Quirks, overall. And supporting tighter restrictions on Quirks?"
Tomura's last remark sparked a twitch in Gem's smile. Her cheerful front seemingly trembled at the Villain's remark.
"Shiguraki Tomura." Gem spoke out. "I-"
However, before she could continue, the phone in her pants vibrated. Gem took out the phone and looked at the screen.
"...oh." Gem widened her eyes.
The phones of everyone present rang. They took out their respective devices. Each Villain looked at the screen with interest upon seeing.
Everyone's phone lit up with a notification. What appeared on their screens was that another fight of the Hero Hunter had appeared, and the Demon of Hosu was facing Endeavour's Sidekicks.
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"Hero Hunter!"
One of the Heroes shouted at the demon of the crossroads, a brazen young woman with flaming hair and an equally flaming personality.
Her most distinguishable feature was her long hair of dancing green flames, dangling a bang on each side of her head with a wider bang slithering from the center of her forehead to the right.
Her jacket was light grey, her collar, belt, and wrist guards are black with a smaller red line, and she wore a belt with a temperature gauge on the front while a fire extinguisher was horizontally fastened to her back. On her legs were black knee-high socks and short black boots, and her black mask covered the face above her mouth.
"We, the Flaming Sidekickers, have trained our asses off to avenge our boss! Prepare for a reckoning, you poser!" The woman shouted as she pointed her finger at the cross-legged demon.
The demon did not look impressed by her and her ten other friends behind her, though they could not tell through his mask. All Garou saw other than her was a hero that looked more mummy than the Mummy he personally sent to the hospital, a horse-themed weirdo, and another bland man was wearing a horned happuri to look like an oni. The rest Garou droned out since he already stopped trying to remember the faces of the less impressive fodder after crushing so many of them.
Not only that, they were sidekicks. Sidekicks. He had his fair share of the main course, and now the appetizers were biting at his heels.
"Come on! Aren't you gonna sit there, or are you gonna fight?!" The woman at the front shouted at him.
A sigh escaped his lips. He could feel the reluctance pulling him down as he picked himself to his feet. His spirit did not match the leading woman whose name he did not know.
"Sidekicks…"
"Eeeehhh, sidekicks? Really?"
The spectators around the fences were muttering amongst themselves. More spectators, more people, gathered around the cordon.
Some of Hosu's former residents returned to the city, his territory like he hoped. As he hoped, his plan to accept public challengers have given the residents a sense of safety, enough for them to return to the quiet city, perhaps attracting new residents as well.
The area around his arena had turned into a tourist attraction. Stalls were set up, various merchandise featuring him in smaller versions were being sold here and there, him in various martial poses and such.
His apprentice was very eager regarding that, purchasing various products related to him. It was a little endearing when Ghin bought one and showed it to him.
Ebiken managed to move his food stall in the spectator's area, selling to hungry watchers with a thriving business. Ebiken looked happy, though Garou could not tell due to Ebiken's shrimp head.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, did we hit the bottom of the barrel?" One spectator asked, chewing a piece of takoyaki from the stand behind them.
"Did we? I mean… wait, he faced every hero I can think of."
"The good ones?"
"Definitely the good ones. I think… there are a few still missing."
"Then, if that's true… ohhhh."
"We can bloody hear you, and your gestures of confidence are not inspiring!" The loudmouth sidekick with the flaming hair shouted from the ring.
The spectators sealed their lips at the woman's retort as she stretched her arms and legs, warming herself up before the bored Demon. Garou felt like speaking his mind on this matter, considering all he got was the lower echelons of Hero Society, including the sorry excuses of what this world considered the 'Top Ten.'
Some he still hadn't managed to crush, albeit he bit enough of the finest ilk that his expectations were so low. Garou considered hunting the rest of them to deliver to All Might as a message to speed his recovery.
Languidly, Garou gestured at them to come at him, not looking forward to the fight.
In the months, his growth of power surpassed the heroes so much that their performance grew more and more lacking with each hero that came after. Either way, Garou must accept all challengers and send them away, either in the hospital or back in their beds at home. He did make it clear that he would accept challengers of all types, regardless of their standing in Hero Society, and not send them to the hospital in a brutal fashion.
With some help, at least from Ingenium.
Ingenium made him promise a favor in return, but Garou couldn't complain. Ever since their chat, the man got the courage to speak with him on equal grounds, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome, a great change of pace compared to the daily fodder he faced.
"Charge!" The woman leader shouted as she and the others behind her rushed, spreading around him in a preplanned formation.
Garou experienced many Hero tactics and strategies, and he rebuffed them regardless of his martial arts and experience from his other quarries.
Without another thought, Garou slid towards the one with the horned happuri and elbowed his gut, knocking him over the cordon and the crowd before he leaped towards the mummier mummy and descended with a roundhouse kick.
"Kido! Onima!" The flaming woman shouted as the mummy man spun in his collapse faster than a second.
"You bastard!" The woman ran towards Garou and fired a strong stream of flame, enough to engulf the Hero Hunter in inferno.
Garou did not move as he swung his arm, moving the wind and flame as the fires coiled around his hand while blowing the woman's flames away. Without another word, Garou swung his flame-shrouded arm, throwing the woman's fire past her and towards the other sidekicks.
The crowd remained silent as the sidekicks screamed, knocked away by fire and wind, as they fell on the ground.
The sidekick, Burnin, blinked as she turned around. The flames Garou threw back knocked half of the sidekicks away, unconscious.
"...How the hell did you do that?" Burnin uttered as she turned back to the Hero Hunter.
The demon did not answer, only languidly striding to her with unhurried steps.
Many hours were spent honing his techniques. It was within his martial arts' capacity to control and redirect his opponents' power, even to the point of manipulating their own power against them. He wanted to test this on the more supernatural Quirks, though, but he would have to use the fodder as practice.
Several other surviving sidekicks stood beside Burnin, each standing strong yet with palpable nervousness.
If Garou could allow himself to speak, he would lash out at their lack of preparations since there was no way any of them could beat him. The remaining sidekicks moved in on the sauntering Garou, charging with a screaming warcry as they threw their Quirks at him, heroic lines mixed in, but Garou droned out the routine propaganda.
It didn't take a minute before each one of them laid on the ground, him standing before the lone woman as he stared into his eyes through his demonic mask. The fighting spirit that burned in her eyes was still there, slightly dimmed by the overwhelming difference between them, but still there.
"You think this is enough to break my spirit? I'm not gonna give up just because you-"
Garou did not bother to listen to her speech as he grabbed her throat and lifted her in the air. She gagged in his hand, pounding on his holding arm to no avail as Garou sighed through his mask. He preferred something more stimulating than just performing for the masses, something worth his attention this month.
However, before he could choke her consciousness out and throw her to the ambulance, a familiar, stentorian voice boomed from the skies.
"Garoooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Someone landed behind him.
Garou did not need to look back. He could feel the heat radiating behind him, a warmth he recognized, other than his recognizable voice.
"Well…" Garou whispered, speaking for the first time in his mask, as he dropped Burnin as she gagged near his feet. His lips parted into a grin as he turned around, seeing the familiar figure of the Number Two hero.
Bloodshot eyes glowered, hiding a mellower fire Garou could see. He could tell that his victory back then changed the fire hero.
"B-B-Boss?!" Burnin shouted. "What are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?!"
"...I already recovered." Endeavour solemnly answered.
It was strange that the Number Two Hero would stay in the hospital for that long. Garou wondered if Endeavour spent time there longer than needed.
Without haste, Garou wagged his finger at Endeavour. Motivation to entertain the masses swelled, ideas overflowing inside the Hero Hunter's head.
Fingers clenched in response, so hard that Garou could hear the latex straining.
"Burnin… help the paramedics carry the others," Endeavour requested.
A need for redemption burned inside Endeavour. Yet a creeping omen in his spine lingered, whispering wordlessly that even at his full power, he could not win against the demon.
"Eh? B-B-But?! What are you talking about?! Didn't you… we've trained our asses to avenge you!" Burnin threw her head back and forth, between her boss and the man that crushed her boss.
Endeavour did not answer. He merely threw her a glance, Burnin flinching upon seeing his eyes filled with resolve.
Garou circled the hero, inspecting him like a vulture hovering fresh meat, his attention no longer on the flaming woman.
Endeavour remained still, tracking Garou with his eyes as Burnin reluctantly gulped. She could feel the tension between the two rising like a stoking flame.
Burnin reluctantly withdrew as the paramedics immediately entered Garou's arena. Everyone on the medical team could cross inside his territory without fear of retaliation as Garou left them in peace, though that didn't mean they could cross without fear shivering in their hearts.
Burnin and the others carried the unconscious heroes out of the cordon and into the ambulances. She cast one last look at Endeavour as the last sidekick was ferried into the vehicle.
"...you better return in one piece, Boss," Burnin muttered before joining the rest in spectating.
As Garou circled Endeavour, he felt the need to ask what Endeavour was doing since his rehabilitation. Unfortunately, he could not be this talkative in this persona.
"...I've been watching you," Endeavour asked.
Garou remained silent as he shrugged back at Endeavour. The Number Two Hero grimaced upon receiving his casual answer.
"You have changed ever since then." Endeavour flames flared, from his eyebrows to his mustache.
Garou tilted his head a little at his provocative flames. He pointed at Endeavour and then at himself, asking if the guy actually wanted a rematch.
"If you're asking me that I dare myself to fight you, then yes."
Garou nearly doubled over. He nearly broke his persona upon hearing that. The poser actually wanted to face him again. Alone.
"After all, I have a debt to repay after what you did to me. When I saw my sidekicks…"
Endeavour clenched his fists.
"And comparing them to myself… I made up my mind."
Garou scoffed through his mask at Endeavour, even when the Number Two Hero took a basic fighting stance, flames enveloping his fist as he charged at Garou.
"I refuse to let myself fall like this. I will not rot away in shame when there are heroes with such courage burning in their hearts."
Garou disappeared, becoming a blur in his sprint towards Endeavour, and blasted Endeavour towards the ambulance, blood coughing from the hero's mouth as he flew, his chest bearing the imprint of Garou's fist. When the hero crashed into the ambulance car through the back door, everyone turned their heads towards the noise.
"...what just happened?" One asked, darting his head back and forth between the Demon and the noise, the former striking a pose with two fingers slightly protruding from his fist.
"...I think Garou just knocked Endeavour's lights out." Another one guessed as Garou walked back to the center.
Garou moved so fast that none of the audience could register his speed.
"RAAAAAAGH!"
The hero exploded out of the vehicle like a cannon—rage burning like the fire he wore. Endeavour, blood trickling his lips, threw his right punch directly at Garou in his flight.
Yet Endeavour saw Garou ducking under his fist, a sharp pain ringing from the stretching muscle of his armpit before every fiber of his right arm stiffened, prompting a pained wince from Endeavour as his flight fell into a rolling landing.
Groans exhaled, Endeavour looked at his right arm, seeing it stiffly outstretched like a tree branch. He hissed as he tried to move his arm, but the right arm could not listen to his command, quickly realizing his limb was disabled somehow.
"What did you do?!" Endeavour shouted as he got up, his left arm holding his stiff limb.
Garou did not answer as he faced him, yet Endeavour could feel his smile behind his mask.
Before, Garou felled him because of his hubris, his arrogance. Now, Garou played with him for his entertainment, seeing that the Hero Hunter did not decide to end him just as quickly as before. The sheer memory of his defeat swelled a rebellious emotion within Endeavour's stomach as his will burned.
He will not return to the ashes of shame that refused to leave the hospital anymore.
Jets of flame spewed beneath his soles, and Endeavour took flight. He roared and threw his left fist at the Hero Hunter. Garou caught his fist and coiled around, hands clutching his arms and legs as he threw Endeavour's flight balance off and into a skidding landing on his face.
Endeavour coughed as Garou continued landing beside him. Endeavour threw a fist of fire at Garou, but his foot crushed his offending hand into the concrete, prompting a wince.
Endeavour tried to throw himself to his feet, but Garou stomped the back of Endeavour's right leg and pressed down his weight and brought Endeavour to a knee.
Garou exploited Endeavour's defenseless right side as the audience watched as Garou stood on Endeavour's back leg, lifted himself to Endeavour's eye level, and threw a curved punch at Endeavour's chin.
His head rang from the chin up; the shock stilling his thoughts. Hard knuckles rained into the right of his crown, soft yet devastating blows rapidly hammering into Endeavour's temple as his consciousness shook with each rapid strike.
After the tenth strike, Garou dropped an ax kick on Endeavour's head, skull bouncing back up with concussive delirium stunning his thoughts before Garou dropped to the street concrete and whammed his chin with another practiced swing of his fist.
Endeavour's world started to ring, and all sound drowned as his vision started to tilt as he spirally collapsed face-first into the concrete.
"And Endeavour's down!"
The crowd gasped, a few chanting Garou's name while others roared at Endeavour to rise.
Endeavour could barely register the sound as he laid there, waiting for the ringing to stop as darkness crept close to the corners of his consciousness. His mind blanked as he slowly slipped away from reality to his dreams as Garou watched his descent with slight amusement.
The hero's eyes were perpetually staring at the empty space, unable to think as his mind swirled from the concussive force.
To Garou's slight surprise, Endeavour slowly pushed himself up. All could feel the tangible concentration and effort courses into his muscles, trying to take his second wind.
"I…" Endeavour stumbled left and right, his center balance in disarray. His eyes blanked with wooziness for a brief second before he shook his head back into focus. "Will not… let myself…"
Garou stomp-kicked his knee, yanking a pained yell from the victim as Garou grabbed his limp right arm and twisted it in one hand, milking more screams of pain from the number two Hero.
Garou stood, wondering if he should do the same to Endeavour's arm as he did All Might's for a quick second. But in that second, Garou let go and raised his guard the moment Endeavour turned his head to him with a clenched fist.
"Jet Burn!" Endeavour threw it at Garou despite the awkward position.
A massive stream of fire blew towards Garou, but it did not hit him. Garou pirouetted around Endeavour, moving to his right but not without glancing at the flame.
It shot out strong like a laser, flying above the civilians in a sloping ascent between the buildings and into the sky.
Using his momentum, Garou threw a sidekick and dug the tip of his foot below Endeavour's left shoulder, right at the tender, strained muscle point.
Endeavour winced as he felt a sprain in his muscles like someone smacked the tight string's chord with a whip.
Because of that, Endeavour had confirmed his worst fear.
Garou was not the same man that defeated him and his fellow heroes as before.
His moves were sharper, his precision stronger. Endeavour could see the smoothness of his transitions with every move, something that not only inspired a shudder within the Flame Hero but also a sense of… inspiration within him.
"You have this much firepower in you?" Garou spoke softly, soft enough for only Endeavour to hear.
"Hah… hah… Are you impressed?" Endeavour asked.
"I've seen better."
"Shame…" Endeavour lost half of his feeling in his left arm as he did right, yet Endeavour still struggled to make a stand.
"Why are you fighting me?" Garou asked. "You just got out, right? Like hell that will make a difference."
"Heh, so now you're talking in public." Endeavour shot back.
"Answer. Or I will send you back as a cripple." Garou threatened.
"Heh. Isn't it obvious?" Endeavour gave a brief smile. "I refuse to cower in the shadow of fear you casted on us."
Garou quirked a brow behind his mask.
"Excuse me?"
"...I'm fighting for the same reason every hero did." Endeavour rose, coughing, his heavy breaths returning to its rhythm. "To fight back the fear you instilled in us all."
Garou narrowed his eyes behind his mask. A mixed feeling swelled within the Demon of Hosu when he heard the word, 'fear.'
It reminded him of his main objective, to become the Symbol of Fear… what was he doing wasting time here? In the streets, performing for the masses?
"Go, Garou!"
A lone voice cheered amongst the crowd. Garou turned to the voice, seeing the boy riding the shoulders of the green boy. The kid was wearing a replica of his demonic mask and waving at Garou with an action figure of him in his hand. The green boy was standing beside Skeleton with wide eyes of awe and slight apprehension. Skeleton looked so nervous that blood might spill out his lips again.
Within the cheers for Endeavour, there were cheers for Garou as well. Since when did they start cheering for him?
Garou brushed the thought aside as he returned his focus on Endeavour.
"The fear you felt is nothing," Garou responded. He remembered why he was doing this.
This wasn't the 'fear' he wished for. He was waiting for the time to arrive when he achieved his vision, to become the true Symbol, one that would dwarf All Might.
"The fear I aspire to reach is much worse."
"Then, why are you here? Fighting for their entertainment?" Endeavour accused.
"To find someone worthy of my fists." Garou rebuked. "And you, Matchstick, are not worthy."
Like a hammer to a nail, the words rung in his ear. With gritted teeth, Endeavour shouted back.
"And you think you have the right to judge me?! To judge all of us!?"
Without a word, Garou entered his stance. Endeavour did not need to hear a response to know his answer.
"I won't let your selfishness infest our society any longer, Garou." Flames rose from Endeavour, heat permeating through the air, rising with his anger.
Midoriya watched intensely.
Garou was showing him a lesson, a lesson in dealing with opponents with bigger sizes.
"Watch closely," Ghin said as he pointed at Garou.
"Aniki is aiming for his throat.
Leaving a blazing trail, Endeavour made the first move, but when he entered Garou's range, Endeavour found Garou foot pressing on his throat, the force making him keel back halfway.
Toshinori dropped his jaw when he saw Garou practically standing on Endeavour's throat on the toes of one foot with the latter gagging and unable to reach Garou. Endeavour already fell on his knees, his eyes rolling up as his upper body nearly curved back ninety degrees before Garou jumped off Endeavour.
However, Garou grabbed Endeavour's ear before he landed and yanked when his feet touched the ground, flipping Endeavour off his feet in a twisting spiral.
"H-How did you know he'll aim there?" Midoriya asked, watching Garou slam both of his fists into Endeavour, launching him into the ambulance.
"I've known him for a while." Ghin shrugged atop Midoriya's head as Endeavour walked out of the ambulance once more, struggling to return to the battle as the paramedics held him by the arms.
"His eyes were lazily browsing how to humiliate him."
Toshinori joined the conversation.
"Ummm… is it possible for Garou to… be gentler?"
"Aim for the crotch!" Ghin shouted at Garou.
Toshinori paled upon seeing Ghin's impish smile. There were a few eyes attracted to Ghin's direction, a few slack-jawed from his words. Endeavour even turned his head towards Ghin's direction.
Garou himself was rubbing his chin in contemplation.
There were no words to describe how evil Ghin could be as his seemingly innocent smile grew wider and wider, and the sadistic glee behind it.
Garou was even walking towards Endeavour. Toshinori and Midoriya could barely contain their reactions when Garou successfully delivered the fatal blow despite Endeavour's attempts.
Some were wincing in phantom pain. Others were containing their laughter as they recorded Endeavour's overdramatic response to the pain in his groin - the stupidly painful face, how he held his crotch that Garou just kicked as he fell to his knees.
"Yessssssss! Brutalityyyyy!" Ghin cheered, pumping his little arms up the air.
Midoriya and Toshinori did not share Ghin's enthusiasm in seeing Endeavour groveling in pain - only pity and empathy for the number two hero. Garou, on the other hand, was walking back to his spot, his gait seemingly relaxed as if his stress left his shoulders.
Toshinori could see that Garou enjoyed that behind that mask. Toshinori looked at the boy riding Izuku's shoulder.
At this rate, the boy would grow into a bad influence… he had obtained Garou's taste of receiving joy from inflicting suffering on Heroes.
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