TRIGGER WARNING: EXPLICIT TORTURE; IMPLIED ABUSE

As of the posting of this chapter, the first two chapters of this fic have been updated as I said in the now-deleted author's note. The rest will come slowly over the next few days.

RE: ZERO SEASON TWO HYPE! JULY 8th IS WHEN IT'S COMING OUT! LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Uh, if you guys don't mind, could you tell me how I did with Endeavor and Shoto this chapter? I'm trying to balance Endeavor's selfishness and asshole behavior with just a small bit of regret. I want to allow him to admit he was wrong and seek to do better while making sure his family DOESN'T forgive him, or at least not completely. No matter what Endeavor does, their relationship can never be fully rebuilt and I want to emphasize that as much as possible. Even if they feel conflicted, they can't just get over it. Endeavor's acceptance of this fact is the main focus of his arc, and I really want to do it justice.

I experimented a lot with the way the information and sensations of the characters were communicated in this chapter, so I'd appreciate feedback on if I did good or bad with it if you guys have any.

The tension in the air was palpable. Neither man had so much as twitched for the last minute, seemingly waiting for the other to make a move.

The mysterious stranger stared straight ahead at Stain, the blue devil mask that covered the top half of his face glinting brightly in the moonlight. His visible black hair swayed in the wind as he held his sword out in front of him. He stayed in a purely neutral stance, refusing to show his intention to go on the offensive or defensive. With his powerful aura and the moonlight shining so brightly behind him, it would've been easy to mistake him for the Moon God, Tsukuyomi, given flesh.

Even though he couldn't see Stain, Tenya could tell he was hesitating to continue forward. Something about the man left him too nervous to end him. For now at least, the two men were at a complete standstill, his body acting as the no man's land neither side wanted to move towards.

"Can you move?"

It took Tenya a second to realize that the question from the mysterious stranger had been aimed at him. His voice was deep and commanding, but had a soft quality to it. It was also vaguely familiar…..

Tenya gritted his teeth, trying his best to move, but found that he was still paralyzed on the ground. He couldn't get his body to listen to him, no matter how hard he pushed it.

"No, he somehow paralyzed me. I think it's his quir-"

The man cut him off, annoyance clear in his voice.

"He can paralyze someone by simply tasting their blood. He must've cut you and licked up whatever blood was dra-."

Tenya heard movement behind him and watched as the man in front of him's eyes widened, shortly before he dashed towards him with unnatural speed for someone who obviously lacked a speed quirk.

"Run the second you can!"

Tenya heard the hissing sound of two swords whipping through the air before a loud metallic clang rang out directly above him. The battle between the two of them had finally begun.

The young hero in training was unable to see the fight, having been paralyzed in a position that only allowed him to look forward. The sounds of the fight happening right behind him were more than enough to tell how intense the fight was.

Loud metallic clangs rang out through the air one after another, always preceded by a whining, whistling, or hissing sound that pierced through the silence of the night. The sound of gravel being crunched underfoot and cries of pain that followed the noise of flesh being slashed by a blade revealed that one of them was gaining ground, but Tenya was unable to tell who from his current position.

Tenya gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to move.

Damn it all! If he could just get up he could get out of this situation and find help! Why could he still not move?! He was so useless that he couldn't get up and move even ten feet!

Tenya grit his teeth harder, even as the sounds of clashing blades rang out louder, the reverberation of metal meeting metal occurring closer and closer together. The fight was intensifying and all he could do was lie here and do nothing!

Why was he so pitiful?! Why was he such a failur-

"STOP PITYING YOURSELF KID AND PREPARE TO RUN!"

Tenya was stupefied as he heard the stranger's voice rang out through the night.

"YOU'RE ALL BUT BROADCASTING THAT SELF-LOATHING LOOK ON YOUR FACE! DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU'RE JUST SITTING THERE, PITYING YOURSELF?! DO YOU THINK I CAN'T TELL THAT WHEN THE PARALYZATION RUNS OUT, YOU WON'T IMMEDIATELY STAND UP AND MAKE A RUN FOR IT BECAUSE YOU FEEL BAD OVER ACTING LIKE A CHILD?!"

The sounds of combat intensified, growing louder and louder, even as the familiar stranger continued to scream at him.

"NEWS FLASH TENYA, YOU ARE A CHILD! YOU'RE STILL YOUNG, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! YOU CAN MAKE MISTAKES, YOU CAN GET HURT, AND YOU CAN FAIL! IT'S NATURAL FOR THOSE THINGS TO HAPPEN, AND YOU HAVE YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN FRONT OF YOU TO MAKE UP FOR THAT!"

Tenya was struck silent as the man continued to rant at him. He could do nothing but listen as the man continued to yell while simultaneously dueling the Hero Killer.

"BUT YOU WON'T HAVE THAT CHANCE UNLESS YOU GET UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN AND RUN! I DIDN'T STICK MY NECK OUT FOR YOU HERE AND WASTE MY ONE SHOT OF ENDING THIS QUICKLY JUST FOR YOU TO DIE DUE TO TEENAGE ANGST!"

The man's words resonated through Tenya, causing an unknown feeling to start burning in his chest.

"YOU MADE A MISTAKE, MAKE UP FOR IT BY RUNNING AWAY FROM HERE!"

What was this feeling within him? Anger? Rage? Hatred?

"THERE ARE PEOPLE WAITING FOR YOU, PEOPLE WHO ARE WORRYING!"

No, it wasn't any of those.

"ISN'T THERE SOMEONE YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO?!"

Izuku's kind face flashed through Tenya's mind. He remembered how hurt he had looked when he had ignored him, refusing to listen to his pleas for reason. Tenya had considered it a necessary sacrifice for his vengeance at the time, but now….he could see just how wrong he was. Izuku had seen this whole thing happening, yet Tenya, like the idiot he was, ignored him and insulted him for caring. The closest friend he had made in years and Tenya had pushed him away due to his selfish desire for revenge.

He had to make up for it. He had to apologize for being such an idiot.

This burning feeling in his soul, the emotion that ran through every atom of his being, quelled his thoughts of self-pity. It began to build in him as the muscles in his body began to finally respond to him again.

That's right, he knew what this emotion was! It was-

In one fluid motion, Tenya stood up and began sprinting to the end of the alleyway.

-DETERMINATION!

As Tenya reached the end of the alleyway, he pivoted on his heel and started pumping as much as he could into the engine on his legs, sending them into overdrive.

Like hell was he going to run away though! This man had been selfless enough to risk himself to save a useless fool like him! There was no way that he was going to abandon him to die, leaving him as another stain on his conscience!

Time began to slow down around Tenya as he surveyed the situation. Now that he could get a good view of the fight, it was plain to see that Stain had taken a major beating from the mysterious stranger. Tiny cuts littered his entire body, and it was quite clear that the infamous Hero Killer was at the end of his rope. The stranger on the other hand looked absolutely tranquil, not a single cut on him.

However, Tenya watched in slow motion as Stain finally found an opening, the stranger being distracted for just a millisecond at his leave, and sliced through their arm. Stain moved to lick the blade-

Time all but stopped for Tenya, as his engines kicked into overdrive. It was ready.

Moving at what felt like a normal sprint for him, but was in reality faster than the speed of sound, Tenya dashed towards the two duelists.

This was risky, but it had to work! He still needed to apologize to Izuku after all!

Stopping Recipro Burst for a moment and slowing down to a normal sprint again, Tenya screamed out.

"DODGE!"

Both duelists were moving before he even finished the word, having heard the sonic boom caused by his short Recipro Burst. Without even glancing at him, the two combatants leaped to the wall beside them and into the air.

Tenya dashed right past them, before activating his Recipro Burst for one more second, allowing him to pivot and get into position. He threw a determined glance at the stranger, one that was met with the cold eyes of his mask. Silently he tried to communicate his plan, as the flames coming out of his engines shifted once again from orange to blue.

A smirk from the exposed bottom half of the man's face was all he needed to see to know he got the message across.

To Tenya's surprise, the stranger turned to Stain and shot out a massive plume of fire from his mouth. The Hero Killer, having no other option, stabbed into the wall beside him and pressed against his sword, allowing him to dodge under the flames but leaving him weaponless.

As he landed on the ground, time stopped for Tenya once again. In what was likely a blink of an eye to the stranger, Tenya ran forward and, slowing down a little bit just before impact, smashed his leg into the Hero Killer's side. His Recipro Burst finally running out, Tenya heard the sounds of ribs shattering and organs being crushed as Stain was sent flying into the wall, slumping to the ground.

Tenya panted in exertion feeling his engines begin to smoke and whine from being overused. It was going to be a massive pain later, but he had done it. The Hero Killer was defeated.

The stranger gracefully landed on the ground in a crouch. He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath, before standing and turning to look at Tenya.

"That was a dumb as hell move kid-"

The stranger's dangerous tone was hard to take seriously with the obvious grin on his face.

"-but I guess I can't complain too much. Thanks for the assist. Forcing Stain into a position where I was out of harm's way while he would be unable to dodge due to his own momentum was rather intelligent. How did you know that I breathed fire though?"

Tenya rubbed his head.

"Honestly, I kind of just hoped that you had some way to force him into my path. If you didn't though, he likely wouldn't have been able to react upon hitting the ground anyway."

The stranger's smile dropped and Tenya could swear that he felt a judgemental gaze emanating from him.

"Next time you make a plan like that, make sure that you have all the details planned out before attempting it."

Tenya laughed nervously.

"Noted."

The stranger stared at him for a moment, before he handed his sword to Tenya, hilt first.

"Here."

Tenya tentatively took the sword, perplexed at the gesture.

"Why are you giving me this?"

The stranger took a step back, subsequently gesturing to the limp body lying only a few feet away.

"You came here to kill him, didn't you? I'm supposed to capture him, but I won't take away your vengeance if you still want it. In the end though, it's ultimately up to you."

Tenya looked down at the blade in his hand and felt his rage begin to return.

The Hero Killer had hurt so many people! His brother, the dead hero lying only a few feet away from him, and several others he didn't know! He was an absolute monster with no remorse who deserved to die! Wouldn't he be doing the world a favor by killing him?!

Tenya turned to Stain, raising the blade into the air above him…..

…...before stabbing it into the ground.

No, that was just his anger talking. Stain was an utter monster, but he deserved to be brought in like any other villain. His personal feelings shouldn't interfere with the matter. More than that, wouldn't he just be proving Stain right by killing him? He would be showing off how selfish he was once again, putting his own feelings before his ideals. As much as he hated to admit it, Stain was right about that at the very least. Discarding friends and morals for the sake of vengeance was the furthest one could be from heroism.

Besides, he still had a future at U.A. to look forward to. He wasn't going to waste his life in prison for vigilantism just to prove this jackass right. He had too many people he needed to apologize to, too many people he wanted to see again. One insane vigilante wasn't worth it.

"I'm not going to kill him. You can go ahead and take him away."

He turned to the stranger, who he could've sworn was looking at him with pride.

"I'm proud of you, Tenya."

Tenya took a step back.

"Wait, how did you know my name? Your voice sounds familiar. Have I met you somewhere befor-"

Tenya didn't have a chance to respond as the stranger harshly struck him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him struggling to breathe.

Immense pain shot through his body as he fell to his knees, gasping for air on the ground.

The man gave him an apologetic grin as he took his blade out of the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm sure you've already figured out that I'm not a hero. I don't want to be arrested, so I'm going to have to leave. Thanks for the assist anyway. Have a nice life."

With speed and grace that was completely unnatural, the stranger sheathed his sword, scooped up the Hero Killer's unconscious body with one arm, and climbed the side of the alleyway.

Tenya trembled in shock on the ground, his breathing slowly returning to normal, still trying to process what had just happened.

Dabi leaned back against the bar, watching the current news report about the escaped Nomus that had attacked Hosu. He scratched absentmindedly at his burns, not particularly caring if it got infected.

"Kurogiri, can you hit me up with something to drink?"

Dabi heard a sink behind him turn on and felt a light stream of water begin to drizzle down onto his head.

"...hilarious. Now can I get an actual glass of something?"

A glass suddenly landed on his head, before bouncing back onto the bar behind him and shattering. Dabi felt a small bit of blood trickle down his head.

"You could've just said no."

Kurogiri, still not saying a word, turned off the sink behind him and Dabi felt the drizzle of water on his head halt.

Dabi growled in frustration and finally turned to face the mist-covered man, who was currently cleaning the glass off the bar with his mist.

"Ok, can you please just tell me what your problem is? I haven't done anything to you."

Kurogiri finally rotated his head to look at him.

"You know perfectly well what you did."

Dabi sneered.

"You're still mad over the mental hospital? Please, all I did was relieve those people of their suffering. Their families are probably thankful that they don't have to pay for them anymore."

Kurogiri's yellow-eyed glare intensified.

"Are you really so naively monstrous that you believe the things which you claim? Every last one of those people had someone who cared about them and left them there to get better. The doctors and nurses weren't exactly suffering either, yet you still killed them. Admit it, you just did that to satisfy your own murderous desires."

Dabi grimaced.

He really had no way to argue back against that. He main reason to be there was rescuing mom-

Rei reached out her hand to him.

"Touya-"

Dabi winced at the memory before forcing it out of his mind.

-but he had been planning from the start to burn the hospital down as soon as he left. It was petty and psychotic, but honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care.

In an over-exaggerated manner, Dabi held up his hands in surrender and spoke in the most sarcastic voice he could muster.

"Oh no, you caught me! I did so much wrong by murdering all those innocent people! I should've just showered them with love and affection like a true villain, right?!"

Kurogiri didn't give Dabi a chance to react as he grabbed him by the head and slammed him face-first into the counter.

Dabi hissed in pain as Kurogiri pressed down harder on the back of his head.

"You disgust me. I despise you with every fiber of my being and I would give nearly anything to take you as far away from Shigaraki as possible. Both him and All for One want to keep you around though, for some inexplicable reason, so I won't end you as I so desperately want to. Just let me ask you this."

Kurogiri raised Dabi's head so he could stare him in the eyes.

"Do you even think about all the people you've killed? Do you reflect on the pain you cause families when their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters don't come home? Do you even care about the countless lives you ruin?"

Dabi growled and began to heat up, making the mist-covered villain let go of him.

"Ruminating about people crying over piles of ash isn't my thing, you misty freak! I don't regret a single thing I've done in my life!"

He was completely quiet. All he could do was stare at the scene in front of him.

Dabi collapsed to his knees.

Dabi shrugged nonchalantly.

"Besides, I'm sure you've done similar things, if not worse. Come on, you don't expect me to believe that the psychopath you call a boss never told you to drop a building on a children's ward or something."

The mist from Kurogirir's body began to crawl outwards, making him appear larger.

"I have never once claimed that I was better than you. There's a good chance that I'm worse if I'm being completely honest. You want to know something though?"

Kurogiri's seemingly larger body towered over Dabi.

"Everything I have done, I did for a reason. I wasn't going around killing people without discrimination as you have done. I made mistakes, but at least I can admit to them."

Kurogiri craned his neck to leer menacingly into Dabi's eyes.

"You can't even admit that you've done anything wrong."

Dabi was heating his hand up when he noticed that Kurogiri's mist was slowly rotating around his chair beneath him. The implication was clear.

If he even attempted to fight back, Kurogiri would end his life.

Dabi, not wanting to lose face but needing a topic change, sneered hatefully.

"Didn't that faceless excuse for a man ask you to train me or some shit? Why don't you go ahead and teach me, coward?"

For a second, Dabi was sure he went too far, as Kurogiri seemed to grow just a little bit more. However, he eventually relented, the mist covering the bar all receding back to the livid bartender.

"Your first lesson is a simple one. Provide guidance to your master as best as you can while servicing their every need. Be forceful with your suggestion, but make sure to stay submissive."

Dabi slightly recoiled in surprise.

"Wait, you're actually teaching me?"

Kurogiri ignored him, continuing on with his speech.

"Your master will often need your consul in matters that involve the organization. Your job as the right-hand man is to listen to him and provide a judgment on what you believe would be the most helpful, even if he doesn't ask for it."

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"I never would've guessed."

Kurogiri gave him a look that implied his desire to murder him but continued anyway.

"In addition, you need to service your master's every need, regardless of how you feel about the task. If someone needs to die, you kill them. If a politician needs to be strongarmed into making a law, you torture them. If your master needs a glass of water straight out of a hot spring, you travel to that hot spring and bring it back. Your lord should rarely have to get their hands dirty with you around."

Dabi smirked deviously.

"What if Shigaraki asks me to sleep with him? Should I obey that too?"

When the temperature of the room felt like it dropped ten degrees, Dabi knew he had fucked up.

Before he could react, Kurogiri's mist had coiled around him like a snake, the black-misted villain glaring down at him like a serpent that was about to swallow its prey.

Kurogiri's voice came out somewhat distorted, rage being very clear in his tone.

"I am about to do the entire world a favor. I'm going to kill you right now."

Dabi shifted his eyes around, desperately looking for an escape route, but the entire room was flooded with mist. He was trapped.

"Hey, no need to be hasty. It was just a joke."

Kurogiri's malicious gaze intensified and his voice seemed to distort itself as he looked leered over him.

"How did you find out about what All for One did to me? Did that bastard tell you? Do you really think you can use that to one-up me?!"

Dabi shivered as the mist around him seemed to grow darker.

"What?"

A knife fell out of nowhere and speared into the counter in front of him, leaving a massive crack straight down the middle of the stone where it was embedded.

Kurogiri's distorted voice seemed to grow even more intense.

"Don't play dumb with me, you just referenced it so casually like it was nothing! Do you think I don't regret fulfilling that bastard's sick desires? Do you think I'm happy that I was used as a toy?!"

Dabi saw his unsatisfying, hate-filled life flash before his eyes as he became more and more sure that he was about to die.

"What are you talking about?! I was just joking!"

Kurogiri's eyes pierced through him, seeming to almost read him like a book.

"...you're not lying."

All at once, the mist retracted onto the man once again.

Kurogiri turned away from Dabi, grabbing a bottle of Vodka off the shelf behind him, and began downing it

Uncomfortable and confused, Dabi let out a hesitant statement.

"I was just joking about the Shigaraki thing."

After he had surely downed at least three shots worth, Kurogiri turned to him with an annoyed glare.

"I know that already. Shigaraki is asexual. He doesn't feel sexual attraction"

"..."

Dabi did not know how to respond to that statement, so he just chose to ignore it.

"So why did you-"

Kurogiri handed him the bottle and a shot glass.

"I believed that you were referencing something I would rather forget. I apologize for jumping to such a ludicrous conclusion."

Dabi hesitantly looked at the bottle, before pouring himself a glass.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kurogiri's mist expanded the slightest bit before it contracted back into him, showing the briefest hint of emotion.

"If you value your life, you will never ask that question again."

Dabi, getting the message, downed the shot glass of Vodka.

Honestly, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but he was certainly not going to say what he was thinking. He may be misinterpreting it, but it seemed like the mist man's boss may have gotten a bit too close with Kurogiri, perhaps even against his will. It was a sobering reminder that the man in charge of this operation cared for nobody.

Dabi felt the burning feeling of the drink as it went down his throat, not caring as he had experienced far worse pain.

He didn't particularly care about the man in front of him, but he could at least spare a little pity for his situation. Just a little though, he still hated the fucker's guts after all.

The door to the bar opened, Dabi glancing over to see Toga and Twice entering alongside a new guy dressed like a villainous magician. He raised a glass to them lazily.

"Welcome back you two nutjobs, I see that you've brought a new face back for us to meet."

The magician moved forward.

"The name is Mr. Compress, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Dabi sneered.

"The feeling isn't mutual."

Dabi felt quite pleased with himself when he saw the flashy villain clenched his fist subtly.

Before he got the chance to antagonize the guest any further though, he returned to a standing position and turned to face Kurogiri with a raised hand.

"You must be the infamous Kurogiri! It is a pleasure to meet you, sir!"

The black mist-covered man reciprocated the handshake, using as polite of a tone as he could.

"The pleasure is all mine. I welcome you to the team, good sir. Would you care for a drink?"

Despite wearing a mask, Dabi got a distinct impression that the man was smiling. He could also swear that he heard him murmur something about there being at least one sane person in the group besides him.

"Yes, I would quite enjoy that."

Kurogiri took the bottle from his hand, not caring for his obviously offended reaction, and poured Compress a glass. As he gave it to their newest member, he spoke to Toga and Twice casually.

"By the way, how is Shigaraki doing?"

Toga responded to his questioning in her normal creepy voice.

"Why are you asking me?"

Kurogiri poured out another shot of Vodka.

"He didn't come back last night, so he must've contacted you at the very least."

Twice, of all people, was surprisingly the one who answered.

"Nope, we haven't heard anything from him! I'm assuming you have-I mean, haven't either."

Kurogiri paused.

"You haven't heard anything?"

Both of the nutcases shook their heads in a clear negative response.

Compress casually spoke up.

"He's an S class villain, isn't he? I'm sure he can take care of himsel-"

Kurogiri formed a portal behind him. He moved towards it for a millisecond before hesitating and turning to glance at Dabi.

"Dabi, come with me. Toga and Twice, watch our new guest."

The four villains all gave him a perplexed stare.

Kurogiri's mist began to flare up around him again, his voice distorting once more.

"Do what I said, or I will murder all of you right now. I am not playing games."

Dabi hopped over the counter without a second word, as Toga and Twice sat down on either side of Compress, looking at him with just as much confusion as he felt.

The villain covered in scars opened his mouth to speak but was quickly shoved into the portal in front of him.

Cursing, Dabi regained his footing, looking upwards to find himself ten feet away from the sociopath that was Kurogiri's boss.

His words came out like sweet honey on a mousetrap, alluring but clearly dangerous. Of course, even with the seductive sound, Dabi could not shake the feeling that the man was faking every emotion he displayed.

"Ah, Dabi and Kurogiri. For what reason have you decided to grace me with your presence?"

Kurogiri walked right past Dabi, going straight-up to the abomination in front of him. Said abomination held out smiled ear to ear at the approaching villain.

"This must be about Shigaraki, right? For what other reason would you bring Dab-"

Kurogiri smashed his fist into the side of the monster's jaw.

There was silence for a moment, both Dabi and the terror being too shocked to speak.

Suddenly the air seemed to thicken, making it harder to breathe as they all stood in silence. Dabi's heart beat faster than it had ever beaten before. Fear radiated off of him as pure, unadulterated killing intent rolled off the man in waves. Despite the malicious air though, Kurogiri didn't even take a step back.

Dabi collapsed to the ground, finding it more and more difficult to breathe. It was like he was suffocating from his own fear.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

Dabi turned his attention to the ancient quirk user sitting in front of him. For the briefest of moments, he could have sworn that he saw every way the abomination could kill him flash before his eyes.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

This…..thing couldn't be human. That was the only logical explanation. His utter lack of any emotion, his insane power, and the sheer fear he felt staring at him could only be explained through that idea.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

It stopped as suddenly as it started, the air returning to normal and his heart slowing down enough for him to calm down. He gawked upwards shocked to see Kurogiri still standing his ground in front of his boss. Despite what had just happened, Kurogiri had stood in front of the abomination, refusing to back down even for a moment.

"You knew Overhaul would kidnap him, didn't you?"

Not even bothering to hide his apathy anymore, All for One responded in a voice that made it clear just how truly empty he was.

"Yes. Shigaraki needs to grow up, and this was the perfect opportunity to make him do so."

Dabi watched as the two men, both arguably in the running for having the strongest quirks in history, stared each other down.

"I'm going to rescue him."

All for One responded emotionlessly.

"Then I'll kill you. He needs to escape on his own."

Kurogiri's reply was immediate.

"I'd like to see you try!"

Dabi began to feel left out in this conversation, trying to process that Shigaraki had been kidnapped while remaining a passive observer.

What was he supposed to do? Why did Kurogiri think bringing him was important? He had to have been brought along for some reason after all. What could he accomplish that Kurogiri couldn't? It wasn't like he could convince All for One of any-

Dabi's mind flashed to the fascinated looks All for One had given him when they had last talked. Kurogiri's words about providing counsel to a master also passed briefly through his head.

Ah, so that's why. He was hoping for him to be a mediator. Why though? Could he not control himself around his boss or something? What was he supposed to say though? If he said the wrong thing, he would surely be wiped off the face of the earth.

After some deliberation, Dabi came up with an answer so obvious, that he wanted to slap himself.

"How about a compromise?"

Dabi's heart nearly stopped as the two powerful quirk users gave him a death glare. Wanting their gazes off him as quickly as possible, he stammered out his thoughts.

"Sh-Shigaraki is too valuable to lose. If Ov-Overhaul is even h-half as competent as people claim, Shigaraki may not be able to get out alone. Maybe we should be ready to save him as a back-up plan if he doesn't escape in a certain time frame?"

Dabi braced himself, hoping he made the right decision by speaking up.

The two powerhouses kept their gazes on him for a moment, before turning to face each other once again. Dabi sighed in relief that they hadn't killed him.

The monster spoke up.

"Three days. That's the lowest I'll go."

Kurogiri's eyes narrowed, but he reluctantly nodded his head.

"Alright. If he dies though, I will decapitate you without hesitation."

The closest thing to a genuine smile that All for One could make formed on his face.

"I'd like to see you try."

Kurogiri turned around, formed a portal behind Dabi, and shot him a look of what might've been gratitude. Dabi ignored him, however, quickly turning around to leave, not giving him the chance to invite him somewhere else.

He had experienced enough near-certain death experiences for today, thank you very much.

Izuku jotted down notes in his Hero Journal, sitting carefully on the ledge of the building that overlooked the street below. He mumbled to himself softly as he jotted down the information he had learned.

"Mirio's ability to phase through things makes him basically invincible in a pure fistfight, his impressive strength serving as the icing on the cake. His reaction speed is insane as well, meaning long-range attacks like bullets would not be effective against him either. An effective strategy would be…..."

The young teen frowned, unable to think of a way to counter Mirio's quirk. He was powerful at every range, the switch from tangible to intangible was near-instant, and he wasn't really weak in any particular area. The best you could do was hit him with a surprise attack or force him to take a blow for someone else, but even then that would require a large amount of luck. He erased the beginning of the sentence he had just started and begun again.

"No effective strategy has been identified yet. Further research is required."

"Those are some pretty stellar notes!"

Izuku nearly fell off the rooftop as Mirio's voice suddenly spoke up from behind him. Getting himself back into a stable position, he turned around to his senior and gave him a piqued look.

"You know, it's rude to sneak up on people."

The larger teen shrugged good-naturedly, letting out a small chuckle.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Mirio moved to his side and sat down next to him, taking the chance to peer at his notebook a little bit more.

"Seriously though, this is all quite impressive. You could make quite a bit of money as a quirk analyst if you ever need some extra cash."

Izuku let out a nervous laugh.

"I suppose I could, but I doubt that I could ever find the time to do it. I'm already busy enough with the heroics course and this internship. Besides, I doubt that I could match a trained professional."

Mirio gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"Don't put yourself down like that, I'm sure you could be a great analyst. Comparing yourself to people who have had far more time to practice their skills than you will get you nowhere. Instead, just try and make yourself up to their level. Even if you're not currently there, you can be just as great as them with a little practice."

Izuku blushed, rubbing the eraser on his pencil against the shiny metal of his gauntlets.

"I suppose you're right."

The thing was, he didn't want to be as good as others, he wanted to be better. If he was just as good as someone, then people had every right to choose them over himself every single time. It was almost like how All Might had picked-

Izuku paused mentally, frowning in displeasure as the thought that had been eating away at him reared its ugly head once again. He really didn't want to think about it, but it just refused to go away. He couldn't figure out the answer no matter how he trie-

The young teen suddenly remembered the older and more experienced Mirio was sitting beside him. Hesitating for just a moment, Izuku let out the question that had been bothering his mind for more than a while.

"Mirio, if someone gave you a way to help people, but you felt that others could do better with the gift, what would you do?"

The older teen grabbed his chin with three fingers.

"Hm, that's a fascinating question. I'm not really sure honestly. Can you give me some time to ruminate on it?"

Izuku frowned but nodded reluctantly anyways.

"Alrigh-"

Suddenly a deafening bang rang out in front of the two heroes-in-training. They both swerved their heads forwards, several men in plague doctor's masks standing on the opposite side of the street with pistols in their hand. Many of them had sobbing hostages in their arms, unable to even squirm with a gun up against their temple. They were screaming something neither could hear, but the threat they were posing was very clear.

Izuku started to call upon One for All but stopped when Mirio held out his hand in front of him.

"No."

The younger teen looked at him, astounded that he was being told to wait.

"Mirio-"

The larger hero-in-training shook his head, a stern expression on his face.

"This is an internship, you're only supposed to be learning the basics. This is too serious of a situation for you to get caught up in. I can handle this myself. Just stay here."

Izuku tried to protest, but Mirio was already phasing down the two-story building to the street below.

Unhappily, the younger teen stood indecisively on the edge of the rooftop.

He could help him! Why couldn't he see that?! They could get the civilians out of there and beat the thugs quicker if they were working together! Why was Mirio holding him back?!

Izuku tensed his muscles, preparing to leap down with One for All, but stopped immediately as another thought came into his mind.

Mirio wouldn't hold him back unless he believed that he could escalate the situation. Did- Did Mirio also not believe in him? Was he just as much of a failure in his eyes as he was to Nighteye?

Izuku clenched his fist.

It all made sense now. He had thought that Mirio truly believed that he could make a difference as well, but he clearly had the exact same opinions as his master. He was just being nice, patronizing him with kind words and empty encouragement. Mirio didn't truly believe in him.

Izuku's anxiety and self-doubt began to run rapid, his fear quickly overtaking his every thought.

How many other people were acting nice just to patronize him? Were Shoto, Uraraka, Tenya, and the rest of his classmates doing the same thing? Was his father only teaching him because he believed he couldn't handle himself? Did All Might give him his quirk out of pity?

The teen didn't notice as blood poured out of the reopened wounds on his neck, having started scratching it subconsciously with furious vigor.

That had to be it. Who would ever want to be friends with a destructive loser like him? All he did was hurt people, something even elementary schoolers had been able to recognize. It was why he had been so alone before going to U.A. Everyone had been scared of him, no one truly believing he could be a hero. It was what made it so easy to latch onto Shigaraki when he had come into his life, pretending to be a friendly stranger who just had an interest in him. No one had ever been so invested in learning about him before, no one had been so genuinely interested in talking to him about mundane, everyday things. As much as he felt guilty for admitting it, their talks had been genuinely nice. Perhaps it said bad things about him when the first person to ever show so much interest in him outside of his family was one of the most notorious villains in Japan.

New wounds opened on his neck as he scratched harder and harder.

He had been kidding himself to think that people would treat him well out of anything other than pity. No one had ever believed in him, and no one ever would. He was and always would be a pathetic, friendless loser, just as Katsuki constantly claimed.

As Izuku all but massacred his poor neck, a shrill, female scream suddenly rang out from the alleyway next to him, catching his attention and halting his self-abuse.

"HELP ME!"

The teen glanced across the street at Mirio, who was currently locked in combat with the villains, doing his best to move civilians out of harm's way. He wouldn't be able to interfere.

"PLEASE, HELP ME!"

Izuku looked around desperately, trying to find another hero, but saw none in sight. There was no one else who could help the woman. He wasn't supposed to leave this spot though, and what could a pitiful excuse for a hero like him actually do?! He would probably just cause more problems. He should just wait for Miri-

"PLEASE!"

Before Izuku knew what he was doing, he cloaked himself with One for All, using the technique he had recently decided to name 'Full Cowl'. Moving on pure instinct, he leaped into the alley below.

Time slowed for Izuku, allowing him to have a few more seconds to observe the situation. A woman was surrounded by three men in plague doctor masks, one of whom was absolutely massive. The large one stood over the woman menacingly, leaning over her with a massive arm pressed into the wall next to her head.

Thinking quickly, the teen landed on the ground and bolted forward, using his strength to knock the first two villains aside, before turning to the largest one.

Moving faster than most people would be able to react to, Izuku streaked towards the villain and aimed a feint for his head, before switching to a punch to the solar plexus. As his attack landed though and he turned to help the woman, it dawned on Izuku that the man had not let out a single noise at his blow.

A hand that seemed to be able to wrap around his entire torso grabbed him before throwing him deeper into the alley like a baseball. Thinking fast, Izuku was able to grab onto a nearby fire escape to slow his momentum, stopping him from flying into the dead-end that trapped him in the alley.

The teen gritted his teeth and let go of the rusty metal, falling back to the ground in a battle-ready stance.

The woman he had just attempted to save let out a groan.

"Damn, and here I was hoping that we could bring him in with very little trouble. Couldn't you have thrown him a little harder?"

The two smaller men got up behind the large villain, moaning in pain.

"Fucking hell, that kid really packs a punch. You should be careful, big guy."

Izuku processed their words quickly, near-instantly concluding that this had been a trap and the woman had been bait. He started thinking about some possible explanations for why someone would want to kidnap him but pushed his thoughts aside. The reason for why didn't matter right now, all that mattered was getting out of here.

As Izuku tried to form a plan, the large villain moved forward, blocking his view of the entranceway.

"That was an impressive hit kid, if I had been anyone else, I would've keeled over struggling to breathe."

Izuku ignored him, glancing at the sides of the alleyway.

He could try climbing them, but he doubted that he could do it very easily. He didn't have practice with scaling walls, and he didn't know enough about the quirks of the thugs in front of him to be assured that they wouldn't be able to easily catch up to him. The path behind him was blocked so that meant-

Izuku turned his gaze back forward, the large man still blocking his path.

-his best bet to get out was right in front of him.

The man noticed his look of determination and held out his hands, trying to seem rational.

"Look, kid, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. That Mirio guy is too far away to hear you and he's too busy dealing with the goons over there to help you. The only entrance and exit is behind us, and I doubt you can beat us in a four-"

Izuku dashed forward slamming his foot into the woman's forehead, instantly knocking her out. Using the momentum of the kick, the young hero-in-training leaped backward going into a crouch against the wall. The millisecond his legs were fully tensed against the side of the alleyway, Izuku dashed towards one of the two smaller men, using the wall as leverage to fly forward. Gliding through the air, he held his arm out, clotheslining the second villain to the ground. Izuku quickly held out his hands to stop his momentum allowing him to land and on the concrete safely with a handstand. Pushing off against the dement beneath him, he vaulted himself into the air before landing safely on his feet back where he had been standing before.

The two remaining villains stared at him in shock, incredulous of the event that had just occurred in front of them.

In the span of only a few seconds, he had taken down two of the villains. Without even trying, the fight had been changed from a four-on-one to a two-on-one.

The smaller villain stepped back.

"Rappa, we need to think of a plan."

The larger villain, who Izuku now knew was named Rappa, cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah, I've got a plan."

The smaller villain threw him a glance.

"You, of all peop-"

The man didn't get to finish his sentence as Rappa simply slammed his fist into his face, sending him flying through the air into the side of the alleyway.

Izuku recoiled in shock.

"Huh?!"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Rappa immediately rushed forward, beginning the duel between the two.

It only took Izuku a few seconds to realize that the man in front of him was nothing like the two thugs he had just knocked out.

The young hero-in-training found himself kept on the defensive, blow after blow being just a hair away from hitting him. He tried to find some way to escape the barrage so he could think and re-engage, but couldn't find even the smallest openings in Rappa's attacks. Izuku, trying to force his own opening, dashed to the man's left with his 5% Full Cowl, only to be immediately grabbed and smashed viciously into the ground. The young teen gasped desperately for breath as the wind was knocked out of him.

Rappa wasn't just some hired thug. He was skilled, powerful, and very, very fast.

Fear gripping his body, Izuku tried to kick the man as he pulled him closer for another attack, only for his leg to be immediately caught by the larger man. Staring at him with the emotionless eyes of his mask, Rappa lifted him into the air and slammed him into the wall of the alleyway. Izuku heard his bones crunch and felt a rib crack as he was once again raised up.

He was outmatched beyond a shadow of a doubt. Every move he made was immediately countered and he couldn't even find a single second to run. He was utterly and completely at the mercy of the far larger villain.

Unfortunately for Izuku, as he soon realized when the villain slammed him back into the ground, Rappa was very lacking when it came to mercy. The young teen couldn't even try to struggle as Rappa lifted him a third time and ruthlessly smashed him back into the concrete.

Izuku lay against the ground, unable to move even as the large villain let go of him and walked over to grab his head. The teen was limply peeled off the ground and held in the air by his massive opponent.

He was strong, far too strong for him to handle. This had been a mistake, he had utterly fucked up.

An arm wrapped around his neck and Izuku felt sure that he was about to die.

Rappa squeezed on his neck, applying heavy amounts of pressure to it.

"Just go to sleep, it will be a lot easier for both of us."

There was surprisingly little pain as he felt his vision begin to blur. The edges of his vision grew fuzzy, black dots appearing all over the place in front of him.

He was so pathetic, being lured into a trap like this so easily. Mirio was only a few feet away and he couldn't even scream out for help.

Adrenaline began to flow through his body as his panic began to rapidly increase. He struggled in Rappa's arms, kicking back at him as hard as he could, but none of his blows even caused him to flinch as his vision went completely black.

He was finished.

The last thought that went through his mind was how sorry he was to All Might for being such a terrible successor.

"Uh, hello? This is Izuku Midoriya and I can't come to the phone right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Shoto redialed. The voice message played once again.

"Uh, hello? This is Izuku Midoriya and I can't come to the phon-"

The red-and-white-haired teen grimaced, slight frost forming on the gauze over his right eye.

"Come on….just answer….."

Shoto dialed the number again.

"Uh, he-"

As Shoto squeezed hard on the phone, the right side of his body cooled down to sub-zero temperatures, accidentally freezing the phone over. Yelping in surprise, Shoto dropped the phone, the metal device shattering on the floor

The young teen gawked at the shards for a moment. Blood rushed to his cheeks, embarrassment and humiliation filling his body.

Damn it all!

Shoto smashed his fist into the wall, putting a hole in it.

Could he not even control his damn powers anymore?! Was he so useless that he couldn't even do something as simple as that?!

"You'll have to fix that yourself."

Shoto whirled around, pissed off to see his haggard father leaning against the inside of his door frame.

"What do you want?!"

His exhausted father raised his eyebrow.

"You're being so loud that I was distracted from my research for a case. I came to tell you to quiet down."

Shoto's death stare intensified.

"Are you literally not even going to ask why I'm pissed off?! Do you not even care why I'm upset?!"

His father closed his eyes.

"You're just experiencing grief; I've seen it plenty of times before. You'll get over it eventually. If you're looking for coddling, you aren't going to find any."

At the flippant response, his volatile emotions began to boil up, the left and right sides began to heat up and cool down respectively.

"Is that it?! Is that all you have to say?!"

His father winced, before grabbing his face.

"This was a mistake."

Shoto sarcastically responded back.

"What, coming to check on your son?!"

His father shook his head.

"No, having children."

Shoto stepped back, unable to say a word as his father gripped his face harder.

"Wait, no! That's not what I meant!"

Shoto, not listening at this point, screamed at him.

"What, so you wouldn't have to deal with your sins? So you wouldn't have to worry about your reputation being ruined by one of us?!"

His father shook his head.

"I said that's not what I meant!"

Shoto continued to screech at his father, thin layers of frost and smoke covering the sides of his body.

"Why do you hate us so much?! Why don't you care?!"

Tears poured down from Shoto's left eyes.

"What did mother ever do to you?! What do you want me to do?!"

The Todoroki Patriarch shook his head once again, clearly distressed.

"No, I-"

Shoto's body trembled, betraying the sheer grief he was feeling.

"Do you want me to just go die like Touya and mom?! Would you like me to just disappear?"

Small jets of fire began to blaze from his father's back as he let out a growl.

"Fuck, I'm trying to say I'm sorry!"

Shoto felt bafflement fill him at his father's words, still reeling from shock at his father's earlier statement.

"W-what?!"

His father had never apologized for anything in his whole life. This couldn't be real.

The Todoroki patriarch turned away from him, refusing to meet his eye.

"It doesn't matter. It was a mistake to come up here. I'm tired and unreasonable right now."

As his father took a step away, Shoto hesitated before tentatively speaking up. He didn't want to end this conversation yet, as he hadn't said everything he wanted to say. He also still didn't understand his father's words and wanted to figure them out.

"I need my gauze changed and Fuyumi and Natsuo aren't here. Since they won't be back for a while, can you change my gauze? It's immensely difficult to change it myself."

The patriarch's posture looked uncertain for a moment before he turned around.

Shoto sat down on the bed behind him, placing his hands in his lap as his father grabbed the medical supplies next to his bed.

With the slightest amount of tentativeness, the patriarch of the Todoroki household slowly removed the gauze from his right eye. He did nothing but stare for a moment as he looked at the wound underneath with pity and something that looked suspiciously like guilt.

Shoto snorted.

"It's fucking hideous isn't it?"

His father blankly responded to his self-deprecating attempt at humor.

"Yes."

Shoto gave him an irk-filled look.

"Thanks for the comfort."

He had only had a few glances of his new burn in the mirror, but it had been enough to tell that it was far larger than the one covering his left eye. It was in the rough shape of a hand and covered the majority of the right side of his face. Dabi made sure that his hand would be permanently etched into his skin.

The patriarch ignored his sarcasm, immediately focusing on treating the wound.

Shoto winced as he did so, the rough feeling of his father trying to apply the burn salve to him being immensely uncomfortable.

His old man paused, noticing the obvious pain on his face. Without saying a word, his treatment grew more gentle. Neither commented on the increased care, both just wanting to get the process over with.

As his father traced around the bridge of his nose, he finally spoke up.

"You're lucky that you still have a working right eye."

Shoto didn't respond, making the tense atmosphere even more so.

For a moment, he considered just outright speaking his mind but quelled the thought. After all, he probably shouldn't make his father angry while he was applying necessary medical treatment to him.

His father finished applying the salve and subsequently grabbed a few strips of gauze and began wrapping it around the burn. He was noticeably careful to avoid hurting him as much as possible as he did so, treating him with caution like a glass vase.

"Did you finally speak with someone?"

Shoto responded as sharply and concisely as he could.

"No, he hasn't been able to answer."

His father finished wrapping the gauze around the right half of his face. After taking a moment to check that it would stay secure, he stood up quietly. Shoto was about to speak his mind, when with a dithered look, his father spoke up near-inaudibly.

"I'll help you with your gauze if you need me to, but I can't help you with your grief. Don't come to me looking for comfort; I can't provide any.

Shoto glared up at him with his uncovered eye, before responding in a scathing voice.

"I despise you. If Dabi didn't exist, you would be the person I most wanted to see die a painful death. Why would I ever go to you of all people for hate?"

His father closed his eyes.

"I know, I was just making sure that you knew."

Before his father had a chance to leave though, Shoto finally spoke up.

"I'll never forgive you. I doubt Fuyumi or Natsuo will either. You ruined all of our childhoods, and you can't take that back. You destroyed my mother's life, and you can't take that back. You committed some form of action that resulted in Touya's death, and you can't take it back."

Shoto gripped his thigh strongly as his father tensed up in front of him.

"Stop acting like you regret your actions or care about me when we both know that's not true. All it does is piss me off. I think the same goes for my siblings."

Shoto shifted his gaze to his father's eyes, needing to make sure he heard every word.

"You are the scum of the earth, and I hope that one day karma turns around and pays you back for everything you've done to this family! Don't try to score sympathy points with me! I will never forgive you!"

His father did not respond for a very long time, just standing there quietly. After what felt like hours, he finally turned around and said one simple word.

"Good."

Before Shoto could clarify what he meant, he was gone.

"I commend you, Dragon! You are a hero nearly as worthy of the title as All Might!"

Hisashi groaned, a migraine headache beginning to form from the ludicrous amount of time he had been forced to wait. If his boss took any longer to get here, he might just stab the tied-up Stain and go home. Jaldabaoth knew he had a meeting with Rappa in the morning! Why had he been standing out here waiting, being forced to listen to an obvious nutjob, for so damn long?!

Stain continued to ramble in the background, preaching more exposition about the greatness of his future. He just went on and on and on!

"May the future we build together look bright! Ensure my message continue-"

That's it, he was going to kill him.

As Hisashi reached for his sword though, he finally heard the telltale sound of a portal being formed behind him. Sighing in relief he turned to look at the glowing white hole in front of him.

"Took you long enough, bastard."

Hisashi gave Stain a glance, revealing the relief on his face.

"Between you and me, you may want to be on your best behavior. I'm not responsible for anything if my boss decides that you're more valuable dead than alive."

Stain eyes widened and eagerly turned his head to look at the master of the true hero beside him! He must be a truly spectacular man to command such a phenomenal hero!

A massive, muscular outline formed in the portal, before a man large enough to make Endeavor look tiny stepped out of the portal-

Stain felt awe at the man's appearance.

What dedication! What perseverance! To achieve such strength he must have worked harder than any fake hero ever possibly could! What a fitting man to be Dragon's master!

-and promptly fell face-first to the ground limply, revealing 5…..strings of some kind sticking out of his back that led to the portal. As he watched, a far smaller man stepped out, each one of the strings attached to one of the five claws on his left hand. He noticed the man disapprovingly click his tongue, before carefully moving his hand around like a puppeteer. Stain watched in some amount of surprise as the muscular man connected to the strings, jerkily stood up, his body still limp like a marionette, before falling into a sitting position on the ground. His dead-looking eyes showed his lack of reaction or care for the blood pouring down his head, obviously having been caused by his fall to the ground.

He was so…..lifeless. He seemed more like a puppet than an actual human being. It would've been easy to mistake him for one if it wasn't for the dripping blood that marked him as a living being.

To Stain's utter shock, however, he watched as the wound began to close, the edges very, very slowly coming back together. Hypnotized by the process, he didn't even notice that nearly twenty minutes had passed by the time the wound finally disappeared completely.

Stain shook his head, snapping back to reality, and quickly went back to trying to get his hands out of the rope Dragon had tied him up in. He almost had it….

Wanting to make sure that the two of them weren't watching his careful escape attempt, he turned his eyes back to the man who had come through the portal, getting a good look at him for the first time.

Stain blinked in a perplexed manner.

Was this really the true master of the mysterious Dragon? He looked so….average.

Truly, that was the best word to describe the man in front of him. He was not particularly short or tall, perhaps standing at about 171 centimeters tall, maybe a little shorter. He was of about average build as well, not being particularly muscular or thin. His face was covered with some kind of ornate blue laughing devil mask, so he couldn't quite tell what ethnicity he was. A dark black suit covered his body, making him look like he could be a businessman out on an evening stroll if it wasn't for the mask. He was likely foreign though, considering the short, dirty blonde hair that rested on his head. The only real notable thing about him besides the mask was the long, black claws he had in place of fingers, string sticking out from each of the tips on the left hand.

Dragon and the man were deep in conversation, not paying attention to him as they spoke quietly in a language that was distinctly not Japanese. Stain roughly recognized it as Russian, but understood nothing that the two were saying. From what he could tell, they were likely talking about him.

The two men chatted for a while, the one in charge occasionally glancing at the dead-eyed, limp body that was held up by his left hand's string-like appendages. They consistently ignored him, only glancing in his direction every couple minutes or so.

Stain growled at the disrespect.

It was decidedly unheroic to ignore an enemy, even if they were tied up. It displayed nothing but arrogance and reflected poorly on the individual. After all, your enemy could always escape-

Stain finally felt the ropes on his wrists loosen enough for him to pull them out.

-and end you.

Quickly grabbing the one dagger he always kept in his boot as a back-up, Stain dashed forward like a burst of lightning and slashed at the puppeteer. A dark grin formed on his face when he saw the man turn his head towards him and hold his free arm out.

Stain sneered.

Fool! Didn't he know how much easier that made incapacitating him? This man wasn't heroic at all, he was just a faker leading around a true hero!

Stain slashed downwards at the man's forearm, almost seeming to blur from the speed he was moving at. There was no way he could block it!

A loud, metallic clang rang out as a familiar sword intercepted his swing.

Stain's eyes widened, surprised at being so quickly intercepted by Dragon. He turned his gaze over to the man, preparing to counter his next move-

The Hero Killer's body limply fell to the ground, face-first. He remained conscious, still being able to hear, see, and think; but not a single part of his body responded to him. The only thing he could feel was five small pinpricks of pain on his chest.

No small amount of shock filled the man.

How was he already down for the count? He had just started. More than that, didn't the true hero only block his strike? How was he lying on the ground, unable to move?

Dragon calmly glared down at him with condescending eyes.

"It was immensely cocky of you to assume that I was the most immediate threat."

It struck suddenly, like a knife to the back. A powerful, stabbing pain that sliced through his flesh down to the bone, making him feel like his very body was being torn apart.

He wanted to scream! He wanted to screech so badly over how he just wanted it to end! It hurt so much! He was dying! He wanted to scream for the pain to stop! Make it stop! Make it STOP! MAKE IT STOP! MAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP!

But he could not scream, his body simply lying limply and motionlessly as the pain intensified more and more.

Unbelievable torment! Inconceivable torture! All he knew was pain! How long had it been already?! One minute?! An hour?! A millennia?! Maybe even longer?! Every nerve ending was flaring with searing agony! He wanted to die! Anything to make it stop would be acceptable! Someone save him!

It hurt! It HURT! IT HURT! ITHURTITHURTITHURTITHURTITHURT!

Despite his desire to make it stop, however, Stain could not so much as squeal. His body was no longer his to control. Even the smallest movement like twitching was restricted, the only thing his body seemed to do was breathe and blink, forcing him to suffer in silence as his mind was worn down.

After an eternity, the torment finally stopped.

He was still unable to even move, but at this point, he didn't care. He was just glad the pain was gone. He could finally think again.

Stain stared at the ground with unmoving dead eyes as he heard Dragon talk to his boss, both of them now using Japanese, apathetic to the pain-stricken villain at his feet.

"-I don't think I need the next treatment yet. It can wait until after Dabi and Overhaul are dealt with. Besides, we still don't have enough of Ujiko's research to initiate the final phase."

The puppeteer let out an exasperated sigh before he finally spoke in Japanese for the first time, the Hero Killer now clearly hearing his Serbian accent.

"Fine, just make sure to be quick about it. I want to try the process on this man as soon as possible so we can get you ready. After all, what better test subject is there than a man who deserves death?"

Stain felt Dragon's disdainful stare against the back of his head as he spoke up once again.

"I don't want to watch this shit. Am I allowed to leave now?"

A groan fell from the puppeteer's mouth.

"Come on Hisashi, the fun is about to begin. Don't you want to watch him squirm a little or at least show him the punishment you chose?"

Dragon's voice remained stony and impassive.

"No, not particularly. I've seen what you do to people like him, and I'd prefer to avoid seeing it again. I already got my revenge by beating him, thank you very much, the punishment I chose was just a bonus. Besides, I have an important meeting to attend to in the morning. I'd like to get some sleep before then."

The masked man let out a noise of disappointment.

"Fine, you spoilsport. I guess you'll just miss out on a fun time."

As Dragon's shadow strolled out of Stain's sight, his boss threw him one last command.

"Oh yes, please don't forget to let me know as soon as you're ready to finish the final part of your treatment. I'll run some final tests on this miserable wretch and use him as a prototype, so it'll have to wait until after that and the acquisition of Ujiko's research, but I do need to make preparations."

Dragon answered absent-mindedly, clearly not paying too much attention.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not going to back out of the deal now, especially after how much work we've already put in."

Stain watched as Dragon moved across the rooftop, grabbing every bit of equipment littering it such as the untied rope and his back-up dagger. He strapped them all to his body and threw him one last look.

"You know, I normally would say how much I pity your position, but frankly my conscience is feeling pretty clear right now. I guess I'll see you around….."

A knowing and surprisingly cruel smirk formed on the true hero's face.

"...or at least whatever's left of you."

Without any hesitation, the man jumped off the roof into the alleyway below, equipment in hand.

The puppeteer chortled loudly at his subordinate's actions.

"That man is far too soft-hearted for this job. Of course, that's part of what makes him so much fun to work with!"

Stain's body was flipped onto its back, finally allowing him to see the five string-like appendages speared into his body. He was unable to see where they led, but he suspected that each finger on the puppeteer's right hand now had a string poking out of it that directly led to his chest. He almost felt sick, as he watched them wriggle around, noticing for the first time the feeling of them moving inside his body. It felt and looked like some sort of tapeworm or parasite digging into his chest to devour his innards.

"Now, where were we?"

The masked man tapped his chin in mock thought with the back of one of his clawed fingers.

"Ah yes, I said that I'd break you mentally, didn't I? I should get started. Though, I suppose I should at least let you have some last words before I kill the person you currently are."

Stain felt a small amount of his body return to his control, allowing him just enough freedom to look up at the man and screech his anger.

"MISERABLE KUR! YOU AND DRAGON ARE AS FAR FROM HEROISM AS POSSIBLE! CRUELTY HAS NO PLACE IN HEROICS, YET YOU'RE OVERLY EAGER TO USE IT! FREE ME SO I CAN STRIKE YOU AND HIM DOWN FOR MY BETTER FUTURE!"

The puppeteer laughed boisterously.

"Are you seriously trying to take the moral high ground here? I've seen the reports you imbecile, you were plenty cruel to every hero you encountered, excessively so in Ingenium's case. I'm merely returning the favor for all of them. And seriously, 'better future?' From what I've heard, that future sounds like a nightmarish dystopia where too few heroes exist and villains run rampant."

The last few muscles Stain could control trembled as he continued to screech insanely, desperately trying to delay the inevitable.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME! I AM AN IDEA, AND IDEAS ARE BULLETPROOF! MY MESSAGE WILL LIVE ON! IT WILL INSPIRE OTHERS! MY PERFECT FUTURE OF HEROES WILL COME TO B-"

"Hello world, I am the Hero Killer Stain. I am posting this video for one reason and one reason alone, to explain my goal to the world. Do you want to know what it is?"

Stain whipped his head towards the puppeteer, watching in frozen shock as his face and voice spoke to a camera, saying lines he had never said.

How-

The Stain in the video laughed maniacally.

"It's nothing! Isn't it so brilliant! Nothing matters! I'm doing this because I want to do it, as simple as that! This world is one of murder and destruction, so we should all just go crazy and destroy everything! RAMPAGE! MURDER! END EVERYTHING! I AM THE ALL-POWERFUL HERO KILLER AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!"

The puppeteer paused the video, merely staring ahead at Stain's vacant expression.

"This footage goes on for another seventy-nine minutes and thirty-six seconds, but I think you get the point. This video's already spread like wildfire across the internet. Now, this is the public's consensus on who you are."

Stain stared vacantly at the phone, continuing to stare at where it had just been even after the puppeteer pocketed it.

"The few people who knew your ideals in the first place are seen as crazy nihilists or sociopaths who refuse to face reality by the vast majority of the public. No one is willing to listen to anyone trying to spread those claims since the video is such obvious proof against them. Your ideals are all but dead, and next to no one wants to hear them. You're just some crazy villain that went on a rampage, similar to many others before you."

Stain continued to stare blankly.

The puppeteer snorted.

"Seriously, it's amazing how easy it is to fake this kind of stuff with nothing more than a shapeshifter under your command and a cheap laptop. All Hisashi had to do was send us a picture of your face and upper body while you were unconscious, and we were able to get the video up within the hour."

Stain once again did not respond.

The puppeteer was silent for a second, his laughing mask staring down at him coldly.

"It's impolite not to speak when spoken to. I was going to give you a little bit more time to cry and beg, but you're obviously too broken now to even form a coherent sentence. I'll do you a favor and shatter your mind already."

Stain remained quiet.

The boss of Dragon lowered his hand slightly, and Stain felt the five strings begin to crawl around inside his body, burrowing themselves deeper and deeper.

"Do you want to know a fact about torture that I've learned from my years of experience with it? Constant pain is not the way to go. People can get desensitized to it pretty easily. It's all about changing what you're doing, sometimes depriving sensations and giving them back or playing on different fears. The most effective method, in my opinion, however…."

Stain felt a heat form in his chest, causing the few muscles he had control over to tense in fear, only for them to immediately loosen as he lost control over his body once again.

"...is providing contrasting sensations. After all, experiencing the bottomless abyss of pain will always feel so much worse after feeling the endless heights of pleasure."

Ecstasy. That was the one word to describe how he felt. It was the highest of highs, lifting him above the clouds and beyond. It was like eating the coldest ice cream on the hottest day or having the most mind-blowing night with a lover after being separated for decades. It was overwhelming and all-encompassing, devouring his every thought and idea.

He wanted to scream! He wanted to screech so badly over how he never wanted it to end! It felt so good! Nothing would ever feel as good as this! He never wanted it to end! Everything would feel pointless after this! Why couldn't it last forever?! Forever! Forever! FOREVER! FOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVERFOREVER!

But he could not scream his desires, his body simply lying limply and motionlessly as the pleasure intensified more and more.

Unthinkable sensations! Fulfillment beyond anything! All he knew was pleasure! How long had it been already?! One minute?! An hour?! A millennia?! Maybe even longer?! Every nerve ending was flaring with pleasure! He wanted to die! Life would not be worth living if this pleasure ended! Someone had to kill him!

It felt so good! It felt SO GOOD! IT FELT SO GOOD! ITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOODITFELTSOGOOD!

Without warning, the pleasure faded away, bringing Stain back to the reality of his situation.

No! He needed that pleasure! If he couldn't have it, he'd rather die! Every moment without it was agony! How could he ever enjoy anything again when he knew such a sensation existed?!

And then the pain started up again, sending him back into agony.

It was worse than before! The bottomless pain felt even more bottomless after such an experience! It was unbearable! It was the feeling of nails being peeled off their appendages as spikes were shoved in your body! It was burning and freezing to death at the same time! It was drowning while dying of dehydration! It was the end of all things sane!

He distantly heard the laughter of his foe.

Kill him! He couldn't handle this pain anymore! Please, why wasn't anyone killing him! Anything was better than this! KILL HIM!

Then the pleasure flared back up, the heights feeling even higher than before! It was finding love after spending years alone! It was the feeling of dying happy and satisfied after a long, peaceful life! It was too much! It was overloading him! It felt like he was going to explode from the unbearable feelings that only got stronger!

The pain returned. Worthlessness! Hate!

The pleasure returned. Love! Happiness!

The pain returned. Depression! Nails on a chalkboard!

The pleasure returned. A warm hug! A happy life!

The pain. Shards of glass underneath the skin! Holes being drilled in the head!

The pleasure. Every dream being accomplished! Every wish coming true!

Pain.

Pleasure.

Pain.

Pleasure.

PAIN!

PLEASURE!

PLEASURABLE PAIN!

PAINFUL PLEASURE!

PAIN WAS PLEASURE!

PLEASURE WAS PAIN!

There was no difference! Nothing had a difference anymore! Left was right and ice was hot! Laughter was crying and outside was inside! Acceptance was denial and everything was nothing! Differences didn't exist! There was only sensation and him! He was nothing but a sensation! He was nothing! He was nothing! He was nothing!

The puppeteer laughed as he finally released control over the Hero Killer's body, not a single muscle moving as every bit of physical control returned to him.

Endeavor groaned and all but fell backward into the booth behind him. After taking a second to rest his aching muscles, he sat back up and turned to look at the rather nervous looking waiter in front of him.

The teen in front of him fidgeted under his gaze and nervously stuttered out a question.

"W-wh-what would y-you l-like, sir?"

Endeavor resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

He really needed to speak with the manager about sending new employees to take his order. He'd been coming here for fifteen years and he still sent nervous, stuttering children to take his damn order.

Endeavor growled his response, all but piercing right through the kid with his gaze.

"Just tell the chefs in the back to get me the usual, they'll know what you mean."

The teen's apprehension over his order was clear on his face, but he didn't seem to desire starting an argument with him, so he simply walked away.

Endeavor waited until the kid was out of sight before he relaxed his tense posture and slumped down in his seat. He felt the urge to close his eyes but denied it to the best of his ability as he lost himself in thoughts.

48 hours. He had spent 48 hours doing a near non-stop search for information on Dabi and all he had to show for it was a theory on his identity and nothing else. He was almost certain that this previously unknown criminal was Touya, but he had no real evidence to prove it. Even if he did possess sufficient proof though, he would still be lacking in terms of any clues to his location or his next target.

Endeavor felt the burning urge to let loose his flames in frustration, but quickly quelled the desire to simmering embers. The last thing he needed to do was get himself banned from the one place he could relax.

He really needed to thank the manager of this diner sometime. It was almost suspiciously kind of him to give him a private room to eat in for no extra cost while asking for nothing in return. His criminal records had been spotless when he had checked though, so he would trust him for the time being.

Endeavor leaned back with a sigh and closed his eyes, just wanting to take a moment to relax while his food was being made after several hours of working.

Out of nowhere, a strong burst of wind smashed into him and what sounded like a sonic boom went off in his ears, causing him to sit up in an alert position.

A blonde man with abnormally large red wings was sitting across from him with an easy-going smirk. He gave him a small smile before shooting him a salute.

"Yo!"

Endeavor could not stop himself from immediately leering at the man in front of him, instantly recognizing him.

"What are you doing here, Hawks?"

The winged hero raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Come on, not even a hello?"

Endeavor could not stop the growl that came out his lips at the arrogant man's taunting response.

He had met Hawks a grand total of two times, briefly interacting with him at both of the previous Hero Billboard Chart events. He had not been able to get a good impression of the man from the few words they spoke to each other, but what little he had summarized was not promising. From every inconceivable angle, Hawks had seemed like a lazy, callous child who had no business being in the world of heroics. He was arrogant to a fault and extravagant in everything he did.

Endeavor's frown deepened.

That was also ignoring the….other rumors he had dug up revolving around him. Word around the hero business suggested that Hawks was in the corrupt Hero Commission's lap, only achieving such a high ranking due to how much of a loyal dog he was to them. He was also nearly as much of a notorious flirt as Captain Celebrity, many believing that he had been sleeping around to work his way even further up the ranks. But even those paled in comparison to the rumors revolving around the amount of villains he had killed. More than one had privately reported to him or All Might that they had seen Hawks end the lives of several high-class villains without giving them a chance to surrender. Neither of them had ever found any proof though. The man was suspicious, and Endeavor had already been setting up countermeasures to take him down.

Which made the fact that he was here talking to him even more dodgy.

"Answer my question."

Hawks' smirk fell, his expression suddenly turning bored.

"The commission sent me to warn you about what they can do if you dodge your duties again. You signed up to patrol Hosu yesterday on the database but did not respond to the request to deal with the Nomu that showed up last night. If you fail to show up again, they will dock your pay and possibly lower your ranking."

Endeavor's glare intensified at the shoddy explanation.

"That's not all. If that was everything, the commission could have just sent me a letter."

A dark smirk crawled onto the young hero's face as he shrugged in an attempt to look carefree.

"How perceptive of you. Well, all I have to say is that there's some unfinished business the two of us need to take care of….."

Hawks shifted slightly in his seat, and Endeavor suddenly went on high alert.

To anyone else, Hawks' shift of posture would seem relatively normal. Hell, he himself almost thought he was reading too much into it when Hawks moved just the most minuscule amount. Yet, he was known for having resolved the most number of cases out of any heroes for a reason. As arrogant as it was for him to claim, he was very observant when it came to the tiny details of cases that most would miss.

This is why it agitated him so much when the feathers on Hawks' wings angled slightly more towards him, the almost unnoticeable shaking of his feathers betraying how primed they were to attack him if Hawks needed to.

Endeavor's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion before he swiftly re-evaluated the young hero in front of him.

Suddenly, little details he had written off as unimportant before gained a whole new level of relevance. The young pro hero's posture was now more clearly that of someone attempting to look at ease rather than someone who was actually relaxed. It was a damn good mockery, but it was off just enough that Endeavor could notice it. His expressive smile and joyous countenance appeared far more practiced and fake the more he looked at them, the tiniest muscle strain from keeping the mask of positivity showing on his face. His eyes were also far too excited and hungry, even for someone who was as happy as the young pro pretended to be. The near maniac happiness was too apparent to ignore.

The final detail Endeavor noticed, however, nearly made him attempt to incapacitate the bird-like hero right there and then.

It had been unnoticeable at first, but his wings were somewhat smaller than they usually appeared to be. Either he had lost his feathers during a fight sometime earlier that day, or-

Endeavor leaned back allowing him to glance up discreetly towards the ceiling. As he did so, he noticed for the first time the slight movement of several red quills above him, Hawks' feathers.

Ready to fight his way out if necessary, Endeavor whipped his hand around towards Hawks, flames at the ready, but found the hero gone. He recoiled in shock at the sight.

What?! How did he-

"It's good to see that you're as phenomenal of a detective as your case history would suggest. I was really trying to make this a challenge, but you figured it out before I even got ten sentences out."

Endeavor whirled around in his seat, now noticing the winged hero sitting several booths away with his drink in his hand. He had an expression of clear admiration and reverence on his face.

He took his eyes off him for only a second! When did he-

A far more genuine and pleasant smile appeared on the winged hero's face.

"Really, I should've never expected anything less from you. You're truly as phenomenal as I thought you would be."

Endeavor growled, perplexed at Hawks' words and behavior.

"What the fuck are you babbling about?!"

Hawks' now far more genuine care-free expression remained even as he took a small sip of a drink that seemed to have come from nowhere. As he relaxed far more openly, feathers from the ceiling flew down to him and reattached themselves to his wings. After a few more sips, the young pro hero lowered the cup down as his whole body visibly relaxed.

"I guess you could say that I'm a bit of a fan of yours, Endeavor. I've been wanting to meet and work with you for a substantial amount of time, but I have lacked the proper excuse until now."

The young pro hero tipped his drink to him, almost as if he were offering a toast.

"With nothing but our brief interaction just now, I can tell that you are more than living up to my expectations so far. You are truly as powerful, intelligent, and heroic as I hoped."

…..was he mocking him?

Endeavor sneered at the seemingly condescending words.

"Don't flatter me, brat. It will get you nowhere."

Hawks' infuriating smile grew.

"Thanks for the tip."

Endeavor's eye twitched. He was tempted to blast the fucker right now to wipe that fucking grin off his face, but he managed to calm himself and re-focus back on the task of figuring out what Hawks had just done. A direct approach would likely be the most effective one considering the cooperativeness of the young adult.

"What did you just do all that for, you spoiled lapdog?! Was that an act or something?! You should know better than to mess with me, little birdy!"

His insults and threats appeared to have no effect, the young hero's posture and expression not even slightly changing.

"It's quite simple. I wanted to see your detective skills in action firsthand, so I did my best to appear aggressive as subtly as I could in the hopes that you would catch on. I'm very impressed that you figured out my false agitation so quickly, and you have my most sincere admiration for such a feat."

Endeavor was sure that if he clenched his hands even slightly harder, he would draw blood.

Blasting this brat was getting more and more tempting by the second. There was something about him that just got under his skin. It irked at his mind and made him want to destroy the smug expression on Hawks' face. He still needed information out of him though, so with immense difficulty, he managed to force down his rage for just a moment more.

"How did you get over there so fast?!"

Hawks shrugged, that damned smirk continuing to mock him.

"I'm very fast if you haven't heard. I can also be quite sneaky when I want to be as well. I simply moved here in the time it took you to glance up at my feathers. I suspected you might react negatively, so I wanted to ensure that this talk wouldn't get cut short."

Endeavor's scowl grew.

"That's impossible, I looked away from you for one, maybe two seconds. Do you really expect me to believe that you got out of your seat, sped over to that booth, and sat down all in that minimal amount of time?!"

Hawks nodded, continuing to be infuriatingly cheery as he did so.

"Yup!"

…

Endeavor made a mental note to research the young pro's top speed.

Hawks piped up, interrupting his thoughts with his mirth-filled voice.

"So, do you want to go ahead and negotiate?! How about I go first?!"

Endeavor felt perplexed for a brief second.

"What?"

Hawks chuckled joyfully, irritating the older pro even more.

"Have I not mentioned it yet? Sorry, sometimes it's easy to get ahead of myself."

The young hero held out his hand.

"Let me help you with Dabi."

Endeavor froze.

How did he know he was looking into Dabi? He hadn't even informed his sidekicks yet, much less the commission? Has this boy been spying on him?

Ignoring his clear distress, the young hero continued to prattle on.

"If we're going to do a team-up though, we need to set up some ground rules in order to work as efficiently together as possible. You know, like who does what and when."

Endeavor refocused on the conversation, choosing to save his questions for later. He responded to Hawks' assertion with as much passive-aggressiveness as he could muster.

"And why exactly would I agree to that?"

Hawks giggled infuriatingly.

"Did you forget the past two minutes? We both could easily benefit each other. You're an amazing detective with pure raw power on your side, but you're clearly a bit lacking when it comes to the social aspects of an investigation. You lack subtlety, scaring everyone off with your boisterous entrances and non-existent charisma. Also, from what I've seen, it's difficult for you to chase down particularly fast opponents without causing property damage."

Endeavor eye twitched once again, as he started to wonder if he would be demoted for burning off just a few of Hawks' feathers.

"Meanwhile, I far exceed you when it comes to speed, stealth, and social skills. In exchange, I lack a lot of your pure power in a fight and am quite lacking when it comes to detective work. You cover my weaknesses and I cover yours. If we worked together, we could find and eliminate Dabi in no time at all."

Endeavor noticed the use of the term eliminate, but chose not to comment on it.

As much as he hated to admit it, the kid was kind of right. He was already giving him terrible vibes and the rumors surrounding him were suspicious, but he could not deny the pure display of speed and espionage he had just seen. Their strengths would complement each other quite well in the quest to find Touya.

Endeavor shifted in his seat, trying to appear slightly larger.

He needed to know the terms for this deal though. If Hawks was just going to interfere with the investigation, he would just hinder his attempts to find Touya.

The flame hero glowered at the winged pro.

"The only thing I want is for you to stay out of my way."

Hawks' smirk grew slightly.

"Straight to the point, eh? Man, how awkward can one guy be?"

Maybe being demoted would be worth it if he could destroy Hawks' far too excited expression.

Hawks raised up one finger.

"First, I want us to treat each other like equal colleagues. I do not intend to become your unofficial sidekick or something idiotic like that."

Endeavor waved it off.

"Whatever."

Hawks raised a second finger.

"Secondly, I want you to assist me with a little side project I'm trying to resolve after we finally deal with Dabi. I'll need a lot of support from other heroes to complete it, and it would be greatly appreciated if you could help it."

Endeavor raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

"What kind of project are we talking about?"

The moment the question left his mouth, it felt like the young hero in front of him became a whole new person. Hawks' expression and demeanor suddenly became uncomfortably serious. His eyes were vacant and his posture became uncharacteristically angry. Endeavor would've taken a step back if he had been standing.

"Some people don't deserve the power they currently possess."

Endeavor, not expecting the sudden demeanor shifter the question did not know how to respond. His mind raced, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Was Hawks referring to him?

"W-what?"

Hawks' smile returned, although this time it looked far more bitter and unnatural.

"Sorry, that was an odd statement. I'd prefer to keep what the project is secret for now, but I will be willing to tell you eventually. I won't say much more, but I promise that everyone in Japan will benefit from it, especially you. As long as you find it reasonable when I tell you it, will you help me?"

Endeavor hesitated for a moment before nodding, suspicion flowing through him, but his curiosity over the last term overshadowing his better judgment.

The winged hero's previous posture and smile returned, a small sigh of relief escaping him.

"Good, that's a relief."

Endeavor was perplexed at the direction of this conversation. This man had come in here so suddenly, appeared threatening, revealed it as a ruse, and then proceeded to offer him a deal to help take down Dabi with little to no build-up. The conversation was moving almost too fast to keep track of. Speaking of requests, his first one had seemed simple enough but the second had been undeniably suspicious. It had sounded almost like a threat, but the flame hero lacked a valid reason to pursue the reasoning behind it. Hawks was hiding something, albeit what exactly he was concealing eluded him.

Hawks held up a third finger, not waiting for his response.

"Finally, I want to be the one to kill Dabi."

Endeavor froze in shock for a moment, before his hate-filled voice growled out a response.

"What did you just say?"

Hawks ignored the clear aggression in his voice.

"I wish to be the one to kill Dabi."

Endeavor narrowed his eyes and felt his hands begin to smoke with rage.

"We are heroes. Killing is strictly prohibited in nearly every situation."

Hawks did not bat an eyelash as he responded calmly.

"We're allowed to end an opponent's life if we believe they are too significant of a threat to the public's safety as a whole to be left alive. Dabi has already more than fulfilled that criteria."

Endeavor grit his teeth and tried to argue with the younger hero.

"We need him for information on the League. Besides, we may be able to incapacitate him without killing him."

Hawks shrugged.

"There are other ways to get information on the League. If we can incapacitate him, I would be fine with it. I just find the scenario where we can do it without significant loss of life unlikely. In almost every situation it would be much safer to take him out in one fatal strike, especially if we're in a public setting when we eventually duel him."

Endeavor's hand burned through the wood underneath them.

"WE ARE NOT KILLING HIM!"

Hawks raised an eyebrow at his aggressive behavior, seemingly confused.

"Why are you so worked up over this? You have two kills on record Endeavor, the S-Class villains Grendel and Sabretooth. Surely, you understand how it is sometimes necessary to end villains before they can cause more harm to civilians."

Endeavor felt his flames grow more intense as his rage boiled.

"THOSE WERE DIFFERENT!"

Hawks cocked his head.

"How? If anything, they were both less of a threat than Dabi is. They were both certainly strong, but they were rated as S-Class villains due to the number of heroes they killed, not civilians. They were a threat to everyday citizens, but they only really seemed to act maliciously towards heroes. Dabi, on the other hand, has murdered several hundred heroes and civilians alike. He's dangerous to everyone around him and it would be pure idiocy to hold back against him in the middle of a city filled with innocents. That's not even mentioning the difference in their potential for destruction. Why are you so admittedly against this?"

Endeavor did not respond for a moment.

Hawks cocked his head.

"Endeavo-"

"I'm not going to let him die again."

Endeavor blanched at his quiet admission of guilt. He didn't speak for a moment, waiting for the younger hero to respond.

"..."

Endeavor glanced up at Hawks, prepared for the suspicious look he was likely to receive. To his surprise, however, the winged hero's expression only contained empathy.

"I see."

Endeavor blinked and the winged hero was suddenly beside him with his hand on his shoulder.

"You're not a bad person for letting someone die. The fact that you care at all shows just how much the opposite is true."

The Flame Hero gave him a withering glare.

"What do you know about me? We haven't even really met before today."

Hawks gave him the most genuine smile he had formed throughout the entire conversation.

"I know enough to definitively say that I don't believe you're not a bad person. They expect people like you and I to murder when necessary and not feel bad about it. They expect us to be unstoppable paragons of virtue who can handle taking a life without guilt. They expect us to be perfect."

Hawks' wings noticeably drooped on his back. A sour laugh rang out from him as his demeanor once again shifted to one of untold anger and bitterness.

"It's hilarious, isn't it? How they expect us to be paragons when we can't possibly save everyone. Villains are as many people as you and me, but we're expected to ignore the fact when it's necessary. They expect us to be killers for the greater good."

Hawks chuckles grew more bitter.

"What failures we are, not even being able to accomplish our one job."

He bowed his head.

"How truly pathetic of us."

Endeavor couldn't help but feel he was missing a piece of the puzzle as Hawks spoke. Who the hell was 'they'? Why would they expect either of them to not feel guilt for ending the life of a villain?

Before he could even get out a word though, the younger hero finished speaking.

"I understand why you want to help him. If we work together, I'll at least try to bring Dabi in alive."

Hawks smiled with intense bitterness.

"However, I can't promise beyond a shadow of a doubt I can make good on my word. As pathetic as it is to say, he's far too gone for either of us to save. If it comes down to it, I will put the lives of Japan's citizens over his every time. But-"

Hawks squeezed harder on his shoulder.

"-I promise that I won't be so pathetic that someone like you will be forced to deal the killing blow. If nothing else, I can take that burden for you."

Endeavor still trying to figure out Hawks' words snarled out the first thought that came to mind.

"We haven't agreed to anything yet, kid."

The younger hero laughed once again.

"No, I suppose we haven't. I should give you time to decide if you want to take this deal. As an act of good faith though-"

Hawks held out a hard drive that Endeavor swore wasn't in his hand a second ago.

"-I figured I would give you this.

Endeavor took the small object and scrutinized it.

"What does it contain?"

Hawks responded in the most matter-of-fact tone he could use.

"A collection of every single bit of dirt the hero commission has on you."

Endeavor looked up with alarm.

"What?!"

Hawks smirked.

"I didn't look at anything on there, but I figured it would be beneficial for you to know what the commission will try to charge you with if you ever step out of line. You can prepare for that situation and be ready to defend yourself."

Hawks winked.

"Consider this a gift of goodwill. Even if you don't work with me, you can keep that for no extra charge, albeit I'll be a bit disappointed."

Hawks saluted the hero, not giving him the time to process the information of the past few seconds.

"Either way, I have to leave. There are people to be saved and I'll be even more of a useless bum than I already am if I don't rescue them. You know where to find me when you make a decision."

The young pro gave him one last smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Even if you deny my request, know that I'll always be rooting for you."

Hawks' eyes shined with child-like glee.

"You truly are a hero among heroes Endeavor."

Endeavor moved to speak, still having some questions for the younger hero, only to find himself completely alone, the only proof of Hawks having been there being the hard drive in his hands and the gust of air that blew onto his face. He was left utterly isolated with only a single thought echoing through his mind.

Who the hell are you, Hawks?

Rappa sat on the park bench, languidly basking in the sun while waiting for his possible new ally.

Ah, it was so nice to just be able to relax for a while. Overhaul rarely gave his henchmen days off, so even if this park visit wasn't purely for pleasure, he would enjoy it as much as he could.

Rappa closed his eyes shook his loose hair in the air, enjoying the feeling of the wind flowing through it.

Holy shit, how long had it been since he last took off his mask outside of when he was sleeping, showering, or eating? A couple of months at the very least. Letting his hair just fly around in the wind felt so nic-

Rappa suddenly felt an object weakly impact his tank top covered chest, before falling into his lap, bringing him back to reality. He looked down, not surprised to see a baseball lying there.

A frightened shriek rang out and Rappa looked upwards to see a young boy about Eri's age trembling a few feet in front of him. He had a baseball mitt on and he looked about ten seconds away from pissing his pants.

Rappa took a moment to glance past the boy, surprised to see a little league baseball game taking place not too far from where he was sitting. Several men and women were walking over to the child, probably quite panicked to see him standing next to such a large, scary man.

The Yakuza smirked before turning his gaze back to the boy, grabbing the baseball in his lap. He held it up above him.

"Is this yours, kid?"

Seeming absolutely terrified, the kid let out a short squeak as he nodded his head.

Rappa felt tempted to roll his eyes at the kid's cowardly antics.

Nonetheless, he held it out to him, the ball appearing tiny in his massively oversized palm.

The child hesitated, switching his gaze from the ball to his face several times.

Rappa sighed in exasperation.

"Kid, just take the ball. I don't have all day."

At the sound of the annoyance in his voice, the child quickly grabbed the ball and ran off in terror towards the several parents standing not too far away. His excessive fright amused the giant Yakuza a bit more than it probably should have.

"That was quite nice of you."

Rappa didn't even have to turn around to tell who said that.

"Took you long enough, Dragon, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

Rappa suddenly felt a blade press directly into the back of his neck.

"Move and I'll kill you. Shout for help and I'll kill you. Breathe wrong and I'll kill you. I am not playing games."

Too late, Rappa recognized the sheer level of malice in Dragon's voice. Almost out of nowhere, an aura of bloodlust seemed to radiate from directly behind him. Dragon was angry, angry enough to kill him without letting him explain.

Rappa tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as the man behind him started to breathe smoke directly onto the nape of his neck.

"I am only going to give you one chance on each question. First, where is my son?!"

Rappa didn't even bother trying to keep the stutter out of his voice.

"O-Overhole's containment room b-back in the Yakuza compound. Hey, can we talk about this?"

The aura of murderous desire flared up, making Rappa's heart speed up faster than it ever had before. The sheer level of malice and hatred that came from the voice of Dragon as he spat out his next words left no room to imagine what he was thinking.

"Talk without being spoken to again and I'll burn your head right off your shoulders. Why did Overhaul kidnap him?"

Rappa responded rapidly, not willing to chance taking too long.

"He desires to kill you, your boss, and your organization more than anything. Overhole is willing to go to any length to ensure that you'll come after him. He said it himself before he sent me to kidnap him-."

Rappa felt the blade pierce his skin just enough to draw blood and he was sure for a second he was about to die.

Dragon retorted back in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"And why, pray tell, did you kidnap my son?"

Working up every bit of courage he had, Rappa replied.

"Insurance for my little sister."

The malicious aura weakened just slightly.

"...explain."

Rappa winced as he felt the pressure from the blade stop, but continued anyway.

"Overhole is keeping a six-year-old girl named Eri prisoner. I'm not going to tell you why he wants to keep her so badly, but she's practically my little sister for all intents and purposes. I need to get her out of that place as soon as possible."

The intent in the air disappeared and the blade fully pulled away from the back of his neck.

"So you assisted in the kidnapping of my precious child to ensure that I had no choice but to work with you. If I didn't want to kill you so badly right now, I would compliment you on the ingenuity of that plan."

As smoothly as a serpent, Dragon stepped over the top of the bench next to him and sat down quietly. Rappa glanced him up and down, surprised at how normal he looked with the exception of a small scar on his forehead.

"I'll work with you."

Rappa turned to Dragon, flabbergasted that he had agreed so easily.

"Really?"

Dragon did not look at him as he responded.

"I have no other option. I can't handle this operation alone, and you're the only contact I can establish on such short notice."

Brown eyes that were just a few shades off of being black suddenly pinned Rappa to his seat, the sheer fury on his face leaving no room for argument.

"Make no mistake, if Izuku dies or is hurt, you won't get out of this alive."

The Yakuza closed his eyes with a groan and nodded reluctantly.

"That's fair. Can you at least promise to save Eri though if you do kill me?"

The enigmatic operative let out a snort.

"I would've saved her regardless of whether you took my son as insurance or not. I'm not heartless enough to ignore a girl that's not too much older than a toddler."

Dragon leaned back, seemingly content with basking in the sun for a moment just as he had done earlier.

"So are the two of them being held together, or will we have to raid two separate cells?"

Rappa shook his head.

"No, they're in the same room. Believe it or not, but we only have one room that we can house prisoners in. You would not believe the sheer lack of space we have at the hideout. A guard is always stationed outside to monitor the room and ensure the prisoners don't kill each other, as well as several other safety measures. They'll be there together, along with that pale fuck who personally experienced Overhaul's quirk."

Dragon suddenly stilled, before slowly turning to look at him.

"Out of curiosity, what is the name of the other prisoner?"

Bewildered at his reaction, Rappa simply stated the prisoner's name.

Dragon clutched his head as if he was suffering from a headache.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!"

Izuku woke groggily on an unfamiliar floor. He lifted his head up, not recognizing the walls or door in front of him either. The light was also weirdly dim, clear visibility being only a few feet in front of him.

Huh, he didn't remember falling asleep on the floor. How did he-

Izuku's eyes jolted open before he leaped to his feet.

Shit, he had been kidnapped! Holy crap he was so screwed! This had to be All for One's doing, right?! If he visited him, he was certainly dead! Crap, he needed to escape as soon as possible!

Not even taking a second to glance around, Izuku dashed to the metal door, calling upon One for All to give him the strength to bust right through it.

When his hand slammed into the door, not even denting it, Izuku realized something was off. When his hand began to throb in pain, dread began to fill him. When he finally registered that time was moving normally around him, he comprehended that One for All was not responding to him. When he instead planted his hand, which he noted to now be uncovered, against the door attempting to disintegrate it, Izuku began to discern just how bad of a situation he was in.

He reached deep into his mind calling upon One for All desperately. He could still feel it, albeit faintly, but it refused to respond to him. It was like his connection to it had been suppressed, despite it still very clearly being there.

Suddenly, a groggy male voice rang out behind him.

"Will you shut up?! I'm trying to sleep here! Hitting the door won't work, I've already tried!"

Izuku whirled around towards the sound noting the familiarity of the voice. He saw the outline of someone lying on the ground, facing the wall opposite of him.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!"

The man who had yelled at him went silent and Izuku noted that his body suddenly tensed up. Slowly the man began to roll over on the floor to look at him. He stared at Izuku for a second, what expression his face held being impossible to see in the dim light.

"Izuku?!"

His heart skipped a beat.

Izuku stepped back, fear eating at the very core of his being as he finally placed the voice.

No, please don't let that be him! Please let it be anyone else! Anyone! Anyone but him!

The man slowly stood up, his height towering over Izuku despite his thin frame. As he stepped closer, heavy scaring became visible on the dry skin of his neck and face, similar to many that he himself had. His piercing red eyes were exact duplicates of his own, disbelief and maniac joy radiating from them. Light blue hair, with a near-identical style to his, fell from his head.

Izuku backed up until he felt himself press against the door, leaving him nowhere left to go as the man in front of him forcefully grabbed his face and shifted his gaze upwards, leaving him no other option but to stare into a face that was an exact mirror of his own.

An unnatural grin spread on the man's face as he looked over Izuku's features.

"It is you…."

Izuku squealed in fear as the man's gangly, but deceivingly sturdy arms wrapped around him in a hug. He shivered as the now unmistakable man squeezed him tighter, almost as if he were trying to absorb Izuku's body into his own.

"I'm so happy to see you! I can't believe you've been brought back to where you rightfully belong after oh so long, at my side! Let's be friends again!"

Horror began to dawn on Izuku as he struggled in the grip of the man.

He was trapped, forced to be at the side of this trust-betraying monster. Neither of his quirks were responding and the man squeezed him tighter and tighter as he squirmed, preventing his escape from his grasp. He was all alone, with the worst person besides All for One he could've been trapped with.

Izuku felt tears roll down his eyes as Shigaraki Tomura, the man he feared to face nearly as much as the two-hundred-year-old leader of the underworld himself, gushed happily in the darkness nonsensically.

Hisashi's Quirk Files:

Code Name: Stain; formerly Stendhal

Real Name: Akaguro Chizome

Quirk Name: Bloodcurdle

Quirk Description: Stain's Quirk allows him to paralyze his target upon tasting a sample of their blood. The amount of time a victim remains paralyzed depends on their blood type; with B being the longest and time paralyzed decreasing in the following order: AB, A, and O. The maximum amount of time anyone can be paralyzed was five minutes when he was a child, but it is believed to have increased to an unknown amount now.

Strengths: Stain's quirk is odd, in that it is actually quite weak. Most of the time, if you've already slashed someone, they'll be too distracted by the pain to counter you. Despite that, he is immensely skilled at using it, having several tools and techniques in his arsenal entirely dedicated to getting an opponent's blood. Stain may also be modified genetically in some manner. He has at several points in his career displayed speed and strength that seems straight-up impossible for someone without a physical enhancement based quirk(Note: Ask Jaldabaoth to analyze his genes and past to see if he can find an explanation). He is immensely skilled with a sword, a tactical genius, and has one of the most indomitable wills I've seen in another human being. He has also been noted to use the same killing intent technique that I and several others like All for One use, albeit this seems to be done subconsciously.

Weaknesses: Stain's main weakness is his extreme mental instability. He has a very warped view on reality, and if you figure out how to get on his good side, it is likely that he will not harm you, making him far easier to take down. He has next to no combative ability at a range, albeit attacking him from a distance will likely get you nowhere due to his speed. He is also noted to perform poorly under extreme pressure.

Recommended plan of attack: Attack relentlessly, trying to get on his good side. The more you figure out his warped perception of reality, the easier fighting him will be. Don't let even a single blade slice you, as that will be enough for him to win in most scenarios. Area of effect attacks in narrow spaces are the ideal counter. For example, my fire breath in an alleyway would leave him no choice but to move into a less favorable position. Traps and teamwork may also be effective.

Personal notes: The man appears to suffer from some sort of disorder, possibly a form of psychosis. His perception of reality is quite flawed, and while I admit that his philosophy is interesting, it doesn't make much sense logically. The world he calls for is an impossible one, where heroes don't receive compensation, something that would actively detriment the career in general. Taking him off the streets and preventing the spread of his message was ultimately the right decision. Though I must admit, I feel at least a little guilty at the experimentation he'll undergo with my boss. Hopefully, once the process is done, he can be used as a force to help rather than harm.

Izuku has relapsed into his depression and anxiety once again. From experience, I can say that a seemingly mundane and reasonable action, similar to what Mirio did in this very chapter, can very easily cause a massive regression in progress. It's a shame too, considering how well Izuku had been adjusting to friends. Hisashi and Inko really need to get the kid a therapist.

For anyone who wants to comment on Tenya's speed, let me remind you that Izuku himself states that his 'Recipro Burst' is faster than Gran Torino, who I have established in this fic at moving at speeds of Mach 3. I already stated my case for the whole speedster perception of time thing in the last chapter, so I won't do it again here.

Overhaul went through everything Stain went through in this chapter when he was temporarily captured by Jaldabaoth. I think this alone shows just why he hates him and Hisashi so much.

And here, we get one of the biggest canon divergences in the fic: Stain's message and ideas never spread. As far as the world is concerned, Stain is just another villain who went on a killing spree against heroes and disappeared. He was never arrested or killed, so the news had no real reason to report on him anymore. The media only became interested in showing him off after his arrest, with his ideas being relatively unknown before then. Since that never happened, however, the news had nothing to really report on involving him other than his sighting and his attack of Iida and the hero killed in the alley with him. His confrontation with the other heroes never happened either, since Hisashi immediately took him away.

Even if they did want to, however, the video posted of Stain makes him seem like any other generic, nihilistic villain with no purpose, something Izuku himself in canon notes as something unappealing to the vast majority of people. The media has likely encountered many nihilistic villains like they believe Stain to be who are just as uninteresting to report on, making them even less likely to so heavily cover him. Individual people like Spinner and Mustard know about his ideals and agree with them, but they have little proof or ground to stand on with such damning evidence already available of Stain being nothing more than a nutjob. This is so important, however, because now the first event in the chain reaction leading to the distrust of heroes in canon has not taken root. Heroism's decline in the public eye has not started yet, and the public as a whole still mostly trusts them. Will this change stop the fall of heroism in the public eye from ever happening? Or will this just make the seemingly inevitable crash and burn of the system even more sudden and destructive? I guess you'll just have to see.

As for Stain, this is not the last you'll see of him, but he will be VERY different when he becomes relevant again in the later parts of this fic. In terms of his fate, the most painful thing I could imagine for Stain was his ideals never getting a chance to spread. After all, what worse fate for an idealist is there than their ideal dying with them, albeit in Stain's case dying with his metaphorical 'death'. His physical torment is of course horrid, but the destruction of his ideals will break him more than any pain ever could.

I hope someone got the "V is for Vendetta" reference I made in this chapter. I love that comic.

As for my chapter question of the day, what are everyone's top 10 favorite fictional characters? Mine, in no particular order, is as follows.

Johnny Joestar (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7)

Morpheus/Dream (Sandman)

Guts (Berserk)

Meruem (Hunter x Hunter)

Thanos (Marvel Comics)

(Watchmen/DC Comics)

Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)

Lucifer (DC)

Shinji Ikari (Evangelion)

Natsuki Subaru (Re: Zero)

Honorable mentions: Funny Valentine, Gyro Zeppeli, and Giorno Giovanna (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure). Griffith (Berserk). Akira and Ryu (Devilman). Gon, Killua, and Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter). Askeladd (Vinland Saga). Kaworu and Rei (Evangelion). Spike (Cowboy Bebop).

Next Time: Chapter 22: Trapped Together