Chapter Text
The hero killer Stain held his hand down on the boy's back, pinning him to the ground. He squirmed under his hold and yelled at him. If one listened closely they could hear the panic that laced his voice. “Let me go!”
Stain ignored him and caught his breath. This boy was a true hero. He knew that Shigaraki was the one who sent this nomu after the boy. Shigaraki was going to take him away from his future as a true hero. Destroy the path this child walked unmarked by greed or the sins of the hero society.
He was going to kill the league. He planned on doing so even before meeting this child, but only now did he have a way to get to them. Shigaraki called this boy his brother, saying he wanted to protect him. The boy was the key to drawing out his enemies and delivering the final blow to destroy them.
He picked up his knife and quickly sliced the boy across the cheek. The teen hissed and cringed at the sting. Blood rose from the cut bountifully and Chizome licked it, paralyzing the boy. That gave him a time limit before he unfroze.
The heroes behind them were planning their best methods to charge them. He paid them no mind as he picked up the child and slung him over his shoulder. He turned to look at them as he put his hands on the boys back and ankles, making sure he had him firmly in his hold before he ran off with him.
“Normally I would kill you all. You’re all fakes and will be the end of our society, but for now I’ll let you live. If any of you follow me or attempt to stop me I’ll kill the boy. I’ll rid society of you one day. One day...”
With a bounding leap he made his way to the top of the closet building, captive firmly in grasp. Shouts rose from the street below. The two boys yelled the young hero's name in a panic as they saw Stain make his escape with him. He paid them no mind as he sprinted away. The boy said nothing the whole time. Chizome supposed he was too shocked too. Either that or he saw how pointless it would be. Stain wasn’t going to let him go no matter what he said.
Stain ran with the boy over his shoulder for a considerable amount of time. He couldn’t move while his quirk was active, so Chizome stopped every two minutes or so to take more blood. It was tedious and a bit time consuming, but he needed to make sure the boy didn’t regain mobility.
He took bounding leaps along the building tops heading to his current hideout. He made sure to keep a fast pace. Soon the heroes would come after him even though he threatened to kill his captive. He wasn’t going to give the boy up easily. He needed him as bait for the stunt he was about to pull.
Suddenly, the boy shifted and before Stain could do anything to stop him he punched the back of his knee. Hard. He lost his balance and tripped. That brat-
He grunted in pain and dropped the kid. The brat didn’t waste any time before darting away, not looking back. Stain watched as green lighting seemingly darted away from him. He chuckled. Smart kid. He bided his time till the exact moment he regained movement to give a super powered punch to his captor’s knee to trip the killer up.
He ran from roof to roof, using his quirk to give him boosts along the way. He was limping, Stain noted, opting to favor his left leg.
Chizome felt a twinge of annoyance. The hero was getting too far and he didn’t feel like chasing him. He had his fun. It was time to go.
There was blood on Stain’s hand from where he held the boys ankles to keep him from slipping. He licked it and the effect was immediate. He watched as the kid froze and didn’t move again. He couldn’t. Stain glared darkly as made his way over to him. The heroes were going to come and they needed to get out of here. He didn’t need any of these escape attempts.
The young hero was on the roof he had been on when Stain used his quirk, frozen as if he was ready to bound away. Stain crouched down next to him with an amused smirk. The student couldn’t move his head to look at Stain from that angle, so he glared at the ground with vigor. A sharp look, but he still couldn’t stop himself from trembling. He bared his teeth in a snarl as obvious frustration gripped him.
“That was a smart move, kid. It threw me off balance for a moment there. It was a nice attempt, but I don’t have time for games.” Stain mused.
The boy swallowed thickly. His voice wasn’t as shaky as his body when he growled at Stain. “What do you want with me? Why did you take me?”
Stain put one hand on his back, shoving him down to the concrete. He steadied himself and he positioned his hand above the base of his neck. “I need you because you’re important to someone I need to kill. I need to end him and the only thing he seems to care about besides himself is you. I won’t kill you, child. You’re a true hero, one of the only three I’ve ever met. I have no intention of cutting your path to heroism short. For now, though, I need you to stop fighting me.”
He didn’t let him get any words in before he brought his hand down in a swift chop. The boy was rendered unconscious by the blow. Stain quickly gathered him up again and put him back over his shoulder.
In twenty minutes Chizome was back at his temporary home. It was an old abandoned warehouse that was a great place to go if you wanted tetanus. It was a rundown, crappy, and dangerous area that no heroes would ever check out. Therefore it was the perfect place for him to stay while he went on his sprees.
He walked over to the cot he had set up for himself and set the boy down. Thankfully he was as limp and unresponsive as the hero killer needed him the be to get through these next few hours. He walked around the small living space he set up and collected the select items he needed before sitting next to the unconscious hero.
The first thing he did was remove the boys utility belt, mask, shoes, and gloves. He set them aside and moved down to his injured leg. During the fight, he had cut his shin pretty deep with his katana. Even with him running so fast, he could tell he limped. In reality, he had woken up long before he escaped. So he heard that the greenet had to be carried out of the alley they fought in and that he needed some support when standing on his own. He removed his leg brace and rolled up his pant leg. The man assumed that the boy made his escape with the aid of pure adrenaline to dull the pain in his leg. Either that or he had an impressive pain tolerance. He carefully cleaned and bandaged the wound so it wouldn’t get infected. That would cause far to big a problem that he was able or even willing to deal with.
After he was done he put away the medical supplies, trading it for a set of quirk canceling handcuffs. He had picked these up off the black market somewhere. He didn’t need them at the time, but he felt like they would be good to have around just in case. He didn’t bind the boys feet because he was worried about harming his leg further, and only put the handcuffs on him.
When he was finally done cleaning and restraining him, Stain carefully picked the limp child up and brought him over to one of the large shipping containers left over in the warehouse. He found the one that was the cleanest and set him down on the floor in the back. He walked out and grabbed a blanket and water bottle, going back to set them back down next to the hero. He studied him for a moment. He would have to find out his name. The two boys who knew him called him ‘Midori’ or something. He couldn’t remember exactly. He hadn’t watched the sports festival this year, so he didn’t know the Yuei students this year, however it might be worthwhile to study the boys performance in it.
He left the storage unit and the student inside it. There were four latches on the outside of each container. He set each one in place and attempted to open the doors. To his satisfaction, they didn’t budge. The only time the boy would be able to get out was when he let him do so.
Stain supposed he could attempt to ram into the doors repeatedly until they busted open. He highly doubted that would work, though. Besides, he’d hear him before he could get even a few good hits in.
Now that he had finished taking care of the boy, he started to work on himself. He treated his burns and bandaged up any cuts he had. Those kids had done a number on him. He made sure he wasn’t going to kneel over and die before unearthing his phone from the depths of his few possessions.
He dialed the number he had been given in case he wanted to join the league. It only took several rings before the current thorn in his side answered the phone.
“What?”
Tomura Shigaraki grumbled as he sat at the old bar. That damned hero killer had ruined his plans in Hosu. The nomu he had sent out had caused plenty of destruction, yes, but they didn’t kill the Hero Killer.
Instead, the last thing Tomura saw before leaving the city was his brother, who wasn’t even supposed to be there, and two other brats drag Stain out of an alley. He wasn’t able to see what happened after because some damned heroes had noticed Kurogiri and he were on the water tower. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he went back to get Izuku amongst the chaos.
His phone rang. It was an unknown number. Ugh. Who had a death wish now? He picked it up and answered the call with a forceful tap of the screen.
“What?” Tomura growled. He didn’t have enough patience for this.
“Hello, Shigaraki. I see you’re doing alright. Good.”
Tomura scoffed. Stain. He got away from the heroes as well apparently. “I wish I could say the same for you. However. You’re a pain, so I really can’t. How are you? From what I could tell, my little brother did a number on you. Is that true? You lost to a high schooler? How does that feel?” Tomura taunted the other man. If he couldn’t physically hurt Stain, this would have to do.
“He did. He's a true hero. Would you mind telling me his name so I know who to refer to him as?”
Tomura paused. Why would he need to know his name? “What’s it to you?”
Stain was silent for a moment. “If you’re not already going at my throat I’m guessing you didn’t stay long enough to see the end of the little incident in Hosu. Have you seen the news yet? Although I don’t know if the news would have been covered just yet.”
A twinge of annoyance pinged in Tomuras chest. He started scratching his neck subconsciously.
“No. I haven’t. What the hell are you talking about? What did you do?”
The scratching became more violent. It wasn’t physically harmful yet, but it would soon.
“You care for your younger brother. That’s what you told me. I escaped the heroes and I brought him with me.”
Tomura saw red. He slammed his fist down on the table. That bastard did what?!
“You kidnaped my brother!?” He shrieked.
He was going to kill him. He was going to find Stain and make him suffer. Poor Izuku must have been terrified. He cursed himself for ever mentioning Izuku in front of that madman.
“I swear with every bone in my body, Stain, if you lay a single hand on him I’m going to rip you to shreds.” Tomura ground his teeth together so hard it was amazing they didn’t crack. He took a moment to collect himself.
“How do I know you have him? Let me talk to him.”
“He’s unconscious. Besides, you’re not exactly in the place to make demands.”
Tomura growled. He fucking hurt Izuku.
“Tomorrow night, at eight pm, I’ll send you a location. You’ll go there to meet me. I’ll bring the boy. From there I’ll make my demands and if you follow them I let him go unharmed. If you don’t I’ll slit his throat.”
Tomura growled and tore into his neck. “You bastard...”
Was there really anything else he could do? If he didn’t meet those demands his brother would die. “Fine. Still, how do I know you actually have him?”
There was a dull thunk in the background. Stain paused.
“You’re in luck. He's awake.”
When Izuku woke up the first thing he noticed was how dark it was around him. He opened and closed his eyes several times. It was pitch black wherever he was. It was not only dark, it was cold. The air was musty and he could practically taste the dust. He was propped up in the corner of a room with his hands behind his back. He hissed in pain and sat up. His head and leg ached with each movement. His hands were numb from the cold. He tried to move them forward to warm them but was stopped short. Cold metal bit painfully into his wrists. Hie breath caught and he leaned forward to tug his hands away from each other again. He got the same outcome as before. He was handcuffed.
Trying his best not to panic, Izuku reached for One For All and found it missing. He inhaled sharply in surprise. His quirk was gone. Panic filled his chest as he choked on his own breath. He couldn’t use his quirk to get free. He was stuck here. But why? His mind flashed back to the handcuffs. Wanting to test his theory, he put his hands close enough for the chain between them to go slack. Izuku grabbed the chain and fingered it until he touched a small box. It dawned on him. These were quirk cancellers. How the hell did Stain get a quirk canceller?
He took a deep breath. His gloves were gone. The ice cold floor told him he was barefoot as well. He couldn’t hear anything when he strained to listen.
Was he alone? No, Stain wouldn’t leave him alone. Would he? If he was alone then he had a chance to escape.
Izuku leaned back against the wall and sighed. Stain said he needed to kill someone who thought Izuku was important. He racked his brain for what guy that could be. His dad? No. He was in the states. All Might? When he thought about it, it was the most logical. There wasn’t anyone else in his life Stain would even notice. Why though? Didn’t Stain admire All Might? It confused him. Maybe it was someone else he couldn’t think of. All Izuku knew was that he needed to get out of there or else he would be used against whoever it was.
Mentally collecting himself, he shimmied up the wall. That took a lot more effort than he thought it would. Once he was standing he grasped the wall behind him for support. he didn’t know where the door was, but he assumed it was on the other side of the room. He let go of the wall and tried to walk forward, but a spike of pain shot up his leg. He cried out and stumbled forward, inevitably falling on his face. He groaned and sat up. He couldn’t even walk. How the hell was he going to escape?
There was a clunking in the front of the room. Izuku panicked. Stain was coming in. He quickly stood up despite the pain and propped himself against the wall. He didn’t want to make whatever the man was planning on doing to him do easy.
One door opened, allowing light to flood the room. He now was able to tell that it wasn’t a room, but an industrial shipping container. The kind he saw on trains or construction sights. The sudden light stabbed his eyes and he winced, sliding one of his feet back to support him.
The killer walked into the container and looked at him. His gut twisted with unease. He glared at him coldly. Izuku cringed at the thought that, at the mercy of this man, making himself ‘more intimidating’ must have given off the impression of an angry kitten. He had to remind himself that kittens still had claws.
“Where am I?”
Stain ignored his question and walked towards him instead. Izuku squeaked in surprise and stepped back, tripping over his own feet. He fell and scrambled back as Stain advanced. He crouched in front of where Izuku sat, pushing his trembling body against the wall.
He pulled out a phone and held it out to him.
“Say something. He doesn’t believe I have you.”
Izuku flushed and sputtered.
“Hello?”
It wasn’t a voice he admired. Not All Might or his fathers. Not a teacher at UA.
“Izuku! Are you okay? Did that ||bastard|| hurt you?”
His blood ran cold. That’s who Stain wanted to kill!? He cared for him!?
“S-shigaraki!?”
He was so confused. Stain had no expression on his face as he listened to them talk.
“Yeah Izu. It’s me. You’re gonna be okay. I’m going to stop him. Don’t worry.”
Izuku felt like screaming. He decided he couldn’t stand listening to Shigaraki be nice to him.
“Wha-“
Stain took the phone away from his before he could continue. He watched him intently as he spoke to Shigaraki. The look made his skin crawl.
“See? He’s safe. I’ll send you the meeting location tomorrow.”
There was a string of curses from the other line, but they were cut short when Stain ended the call. The thick silence that followed had Izuku squirm uncomfortably and timidly avert his gaze.
“Your name is Izuku?”
Izuku looked up in surprise. Did Stain not already know his name? He knew that he was important to Shigaraki, and yet he still didn’t know what his name was?
“Umm... yeah. It’s Izuku Midoriya.”
Stain nodded.
“And your hero name?”
Izuku shifted his arms to give his hands more circulation.
“Deku.”
Stain looked at him quizzically.
“Useless? Why would you choose that?”
Izuku paused. He really didn’t want to tell this guy why he chose his hero name, but he knew he wasn’t exactly in a position to say ‘no’.
“It was a childhood nickname used as an insult. Everyone said I was a ‘useless Deku’, but now, I’m the ‘Deku who can’. I’m going to make sure that when people who are in trouble hear that name they feel safe.”
Stain smirked slightly. It quickly disappeared and he talked in a serious voice.
“Tomorrow night I’m bringing you to the more industrial part of town. It’s not that far so we’ll walk.”
He paused, giving an unsaid cue for Izuku to nod his head to show he was paying attention. He listened quietly as the man continued.
“When we get there I’ll use my quirk on you.”
Izuku's stomach jolted. He didn’t want to experience Blood Curdle again, but then again he really didn’t have much of a say.
“I’m putting you off to the side. That way you’ll be harder for Shigaraki to get to. By the time he shows up my quirk will be close to losing its effects on you. As soon as you regain your movement, I want you to run to the nearest police station or hero agency. I’ll make sure you can use your quirk then.”
Izuku had to process what he said for a moment. He was telling him to leave? He was letting Izuku leave after he kidnapped him?! Not that he was complaining.
“You’re letting me escape?”
Stain nodded, to Izuku's joy.
“I’m letting you go. Once I have Shigaraki you’ll have served your purpose as the bait. I won’t need you anymore and you’ll end up a liability. Besides, if I fail Shigaraki will try to take you back with him if you’re not already long gone.”
Stain grabbed a blanket that Izuku hadn’t noticed until then.
“It’s late. Get some sleep for now and I’ll bring breakfast in the morning.”
He stood up and unceremoniously covered Izuku with the blanket.
“Don’t try to escape. The doors are impossible to open once they’re locked and you’ll end up hurting yourself.”
Stain walked away and didn’t say anything else. He closed the door. Izuku felt a pang in his chest as the last of the light disappeared, engulfing him in darkness. The clanging was back, telling him that he was locked inside with no chance of escape. He scooted his way over to the corner he woke up in. Thankfully he was able to keep the blanket with him.
Once Izuku was able to get into a semi comfortable position after a bit of shuffling he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He couldn’t sleep even though he was exhausted. His mind was racing.
Eventually he drifted off. Replacing his dark prison with sleep.