Chapter Text
“Miruko…” Stain was in turmoil. On one hand, Miruko was one of the top five, a true hero by nearly every definition; even his own, twisted one. On the other, there was more filth to be culled, more fakes to cleanse.
“That’s right.” She grinned viciously at him, her heel grinding into the pavement. Every muscle in her body was tensed, the coils of her thighs ready to snap.
Stain tensed up, his killing intent fully at odds with his desire to fight another day.
“You can surrender, but that wouldn’t be very fun.” She looked ready to take his head off. At least until Izuku stepped up beside her. “Hey, what gives?”
“I want to help.” She stared at him like he’d grown a second head and scoffed, crossing her arms as she stepped forward. Izuku had yet to take his eyes off of Stain, watching the man move like a caged animal.
“You’re kidding, right? I respect it, but you think I’d let you fight this psycho?” Miruko gave Izuku a sidelong glance.
“That’s what heroes do, right? Help even when they’re not wanted?” He smirked back at her, making her scoff and let out a small laugh.
“Fine, lets do this.” She nearly disappeared as her feet left indents in the pavement. Her blurred form stopped right behind Stain, an earth shattering roundhouse barely ducked as the Hero Killer scrambled to not get sheared in half.
He didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. He knew that from the moment a top five hero showed up. But Stain was smart, quick on his feet and had an escape plan. Or he would have, if not for the wall of strength that had his scarf in a titanium grip. A quick slash with one of his knives freed him, but not quickly enough to avoid a body blow to his liver.
Stain was accustomed to pain. Carving his own shattered nose off years ago was a lesson in agonies very few knew. But having a fist crashing into his liver at mach fuck you was a whole new world. Every passing moment after that initial hit was spent bracing himself for the inevitable drop.
He hit the ground, unable to even breath past the pain.
“Went down that easy, huh?” Miruko looked down at the fallen villain, an unimpressed look on her face. She didn’t get any closer however, what Stain was capable of was well known to every hero worth their salt, and she was, unfortunately, not knife proof.
Izuku just stared down at him, reaching to grab the man when he rolled to his feet with two daggers already thrown at the pair, each one glinting in an unnatural way. The first clinked harmlessly off of Izuku’s arm, the other lodging in a brick wall where Miruko had been.
“Only All Might has the right to beat me, to kill me!” He snarled, wrenching two more daggers from the sheathes along his ribs and brandishing them with enough bloodlust to flood the alleyway. He dashed forward, aiming to gut Izuku like a fish when Miruko clotheslined him with a spinning back kick that he could barely perceive. Stain managed to hold on to consciousness, even as his body flattened against the far wall.
He spat blood, a snarling grimace on his face as he used the extra space to draw another sword from his back, the twin to his shattered other.
“H-He can paralyze through blood consumption!” Iida shouted from his place on the ground, every muscle fiber in his body shaking as he tried to push past the unresponsiveness of it. His mind registered a knife thrown a moment after it left Stain’s hand, the serrated blade cutting across his cheek just below his eye.
Miruko snarled and dropped into a low crouch, ready to blitz her opponent into a bloody paste when Izuku put an arm out to hold her off. She looked at him in disbelief, wondering exactly what he was planning.
Before she could ask why, his body had begun to glow a vibrant orange.
He stepped forward, rolling his neck with a satisfying crack before doing the same with his knuckles, pounding then together like a boxer. “I was willing to make this easy, but you really made my shitlist, Stain. Now you’re gonna pay in blood.”
“A hero out for revenge is just another fake!” Stain snarled, his entire body ridged with rage. Izuku stared at him for a long moment, watching the manic man have a small psychotic break.
“You’re batshit insane.” That seemed to set the Hero Killer off one degree too many, the unchipped blade meeting the back of Izuku’s hand as he parried the attack with a slap, taking a few more swings before snatching the blade, squeezing slowly until it began creaking. Stain seethed, glaring daggers into Izuku’s eyes as sparks flew from the friction of metal on nano-enhanced skin.
“I won’t suffer more fakes! You’re no better than that filth on the grou-“ An unenhanced fist rocked his vision like a hurricane, the world spinning and static crawling up his legs before he was able to recover.
“Not. Another. Word.” Izuku bit out, squeezing the sword hard enough that it crumpled in his fist. He let it drop, watching the other man stumble and hack out a bloodied cloud. A wave of bloodlust hit him as Stain flew into a rage, beating Izuku bloody with his bare hands. Only, the blood splattering Izuku’s face wasn’t his, it was from the Hero Killer's broken hands, his fingers crooked as his wrists were snatched in a vice grip.
“Hero society is a disease, it’s rotten to the core! I’ll tear it out by the roots!” Stain snarled uncaring of his shattered hands as Izuku squeezed tighter, taking a spiked boot to the chin only for the metal nails to snap off from the impact.
“You’re not wrong, but, your path is a road to hell, and I won’t let you hurt anyone else!” Izuku roared back and pulled the killer forward and whipped him around, completing two full rotations before throwing him bodily into a wall, rushing him down with a knee to the stomach that had the older man folded over it. With two raised fists, he brought them down hard onto the Killer’s back, sending him to the concrete with a heavy thud. Izuku breathed out slowly, letting steam roll out and then knelt, pulling all of the blades off of Stain's person and tossed them aside before tearing his tattered scarf, using it to tie his hands behind his back.
“Not bad, kid. Not bad at all!” Miruko was helping Iida up, his body still somewhat jittery, but his expression solid.
“Midoriya, I… I am sorry…” He bowed at the waist, earning a knock on the head from the number five hero.
“You better be, this was reckless and nearly got you killed!” She admonished him none too gently, holding him by the back of his armor as she dragged him towards Izuku, a hand on her hip. “I already called the rest, so they’ll be here soon.” When Iida was situated against a wall, she walked over to check on Native, sighing with relief that he was still breathing.
Within five minutes, the alleyway was crawling with police and heroes, packing the Hero Killer away in an armored van and taking statements from Iida as Miruko and Izuku made their way back to her apartment.
“That was badass kid, but don’t expect every fight to go that clean.” She smirked at him, watching as he nodded along.
“I won’t, but he harmed one of my friends, I wasn’t going to stand for that.” He clenched his jaw tightly and then released it, smiling softly. “I am glad we got the Hero Killer put away though.”
Miruko went to answer when an explosion rocked the block, the entire street engulfed in flame as inhuman screams sounded from every corner, creatures out of nightmares crawling across rooftops and over cars.
“Nomu.” Izuku immediately recognized the beasts, already hardening his body and slowly bulking up for the first time that night.
“Like that thing from the USJ? Heh, should be a good fight!” Miruko slammed a foot into the concrete, cracking it.
“Don’t hold back even a little, these things are monsters.”